Anita Rachman, Jakarta – National leaders have taken the president to task for his perceived weak leadership and demanded the government work more closely with community groups to resolve a plethora of problems.

The call came at a discussion on Tuesday hosted by Muhammadiyah, the country's second-biggest Islamic organization, and involved more than 20 prominent national figures.

They included former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud MD, House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie, and Sofyan Wanandi, the chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo).

The main grievances raised at the discussion, led by Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin, concerned poverty and the "criminalization of democracy" by those with money and power.

The speakers said the government's weak leadership in responding to pressing issues had resulted in the public losing faith in the government.

Kalla said he was particularly concerned about the growing gap between the rich and the poor, arguing that in Thailand, a similar situation had led to a loss of trust in the government, "which can become very dangerous."

Sofyan agreed that poverty was a pressing problem and said that, along with unemployment, it needed to be tackled urgently by the government.

He suggested the two problems could be solved if the country could draw in more foreign investment, but said that would first require political and legal stability. "Can we unite? Do we have a leader who is open to discussion? If we're not united, the investments will never get here," he said.

Soetrisno Bachir, a former chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), questioned the leadership of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"We don't need to force the president to step down, just pretend he doesn't exist," he said. "I'm not against the president. I just think it's time for organizations such as Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama [the country's biggest Islamic group] to step in to solve these problems."

But Marzuki, from the president's ruling Democratic Party, said the multitude of complaints leveled against the government highlighted how ungrateful Indonesians were as a nation. Despite there being many problems, Indonesians should be thankful for having made so much progress in terms of democracy, he said.

"We are an ungrateful nation," Marzuki said. "We should be more thankful for the way things are right now so that the future only gets better, not worse."

Marzuki said the sense of ungratefulness would only incite "Allah's wrath." "But if we're grateful, more blessings will be showered upon us," he said.

The House speaker also said the right way to resolve the many issues was through legislation, given that "Indonesia is a country based on the rule of law."

"If a problem stems from a law, then we should fix the law in question," he said. "The House is very open to this. Just stop calling for the president to step down."

However, Mahfud said Indonesia already had "a complete legal system," and all that was missing to tie it together was "a leader who can unite the nation."

He also argued that being grateful did not mean having to accept things as they were without any objections. "We should get mad at the things that aren't right," he said. "To be grateful is a dynamic state. To be patient means to be brave enough to fight back."

Mahfud added the nation had "run out of theories" on how to address the host of problems and challenges it faced. "We've had these kinds of discussions and angry rhetoric since way back, but we've never managed to change," he said.

In his closing speech at the discussion, Muhammadiyah's Din called for more debates involving various elements of society, to which he said the president and vice president should pay particular heed.

Lawmaker calls for tougher stance on RMS

Jakarta Globe - October 7, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – The government should openly push for the Netherlands to have a tougher policy on the activities of the separatist group South Maluku Republic (RMS), said Machfudz Siddiq, chairman of the House's Commission I, which oversees defense and foreign affairs.

Speaking in Jakarta on Thursday, Machfudz said that he understands why President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono chose to reschedule his trip to the Netherlands, even though a Dutch court had already issued a verdict rejecting a request to arrest the president.

The government said on Wednesday that the president needed more information before he could decide on whether to reschedule his state visit to the Netherlands. The RMS had asked a Dutch court to have the president arrested on alleged human rights violations in Indonesia.

Machfudz said that Indonesia was mainly concerned about Dutch nationals who have become RMS activists and who are actively demanding for the separation of Maluku from Indonesia. According to him, the Dutch government is doing nothing against them. The RMS separatist movement is even protected to do their activities there, Machfudz said.

"Can you imagine, they let their own citizens do something aimed at disturbing Indonesia's sovereignty? This is actually the main problem, about the political will of the Dutch government and their citizens over RMS and the sovereignty of Indonesian," he added.

Machfudz said that the House will fully support Yudhoyono should he announce that any Indonesian president would not visit the Netherlands unless the Dutch government implements a change of policy in connection to RMS and their activities.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister of political, legal and security affairs, said that the Dutch court had yet to issue verdicts on all RMS' requests.

The requests he was referring to include requiring the Indonesian government to explain where the body of the late Chris Soumokil – one of the founders and the first leader of separatist group RMS – is located. Soumokil was arrested on Seram Island in December 1962 and sentenced to death by a military court. He was executed in the Thousand Islands on April 12, 1966.

The RMS also requested that the Dutch courts help facilitate a dialogue with the Indonesian government with regard to the issue of self- determination. Djoko said that the president wants the process to be conclusively settled before rescheduling his visit.

On April 25, 1950, the Republic of South Maluku proclaimed its independence, but the Indonesian government quashed the movement and outlawed it. The movement was revived following the fall of Suharto in 1998.

Indonesia, the angry nation?

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2010

Tasa Nugraza Barley – Like any Indonesian, Endah Puspita, 27, was taught growing up that she lived in a nation of friendly and polite people.

Recent events, however, have made her question if this reputation still held true. "I'm extremely sad to see all these violent conflicts happening in this country," said Endah, who works as a project administrator for a multinational company in Jakarta.

She is not alone. More and more Indonesians are starting to become apprehensive about the prevalence of violent events in the news every day.

Gracia Cassandra, a public relations practitioner in Jakarta, feels the situation has gotten much worse. "I'm so angry with the current condition," she said, adding that many contentious issues need to be solved.

The numerous conflicts – seen as mostly stemming from religious and ethnic intolerance and a lack of respect for law enforcement – have led many to question whether the national motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity"), is still something that Indonesians can be proud of.

Recent incidents have not supported the famous motto. In August, hard-line Islamic groups were suspected to be behind a series of attacks on the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in Bekasi.

In late September, clashes erupted in Tarakan, East Kalimantan, between the ethnic groups Dayak Tidung and Bugis. At least five people died as a result. And in Hamparan Perak subdistrict outside Medan, an attack on a police outpost left three officers dead.

There were more conflicts last week. First was a brawl involving two gangs armed with firearms and machetes outside a South Jakarta court. Three people died and dozens more were injured, with property ending up vandalized along Jalan Ampera Raya.

In addition, the Ahmadiyah – a minority Islamic sect deemed deviant by many mainstream Muslims – also fell victim when their mosque in Bogor and some of their houses in the area were burned down.

Some experts have weighed in on the recent spate of events. Mohammad Kemal Dermawan, a sociologist and criminologist from the University of Indonesia, said the significant increase in violent acts can turn into an alarming social problem.

He said things started to change after the Reform Era. "Under Suharto's regime, people couldn't mess around," he said.

People have started to express their dissatisfaction in more harmful ways, however, mostly because they don't trust law enforcers. Fostering peace means giving the public "a fast and just method of dispute settlement," which they are not able to currently get.

Rather than endlessly wait, they choose to settle their disputes through violent means instead. Kemal said the government must do more by finding the root causes of problems and fixing them.

For Andi Ardillah Pratiwi, a psychologist from the University of Indonesia, these recent incidents are pure acts of aggression.

And Andi said the seeming readiness to use violence as a tool presents a real cause for concern. She said she finds the current atmosphere frustrating because "there are actually many win-win solutions that people can always use."

Andi said none of these incidents would have occurred if people were more tolerant of each other's differences and set aside their prejudices. She added that many of these prejudices were often proven to be based in ignorance, but they were all too capable of stirring violence.

There may be many reasons for the current spike in violent disorder, and these reasons vary from chronic poverty to inaction from the government, depending on who one asks.

Gracia said poverty and lack of education may be why many people have become intolerant of others. "When people are uneducated and poor, they are easily provoked and manipulated," she said.

She said the government is blinded by the spirit of democracy and that it must be able to differentiate between the expression of opinion and the act of oppressing other people's rights and freedom. "Now we see radical groups violating other groups' freedom while the government just remains silent. This is very wrong," she said.

Though she confesses to not know much about politics, Endah said she still can't understand why the government doesn't strictly punish troublemakers. "The government should do better than this."

Oky Marzuki, a government employee, said the current education system doesn't provide the early moral, mental and cultural development needed to foster a sense of tolerance.

He believes violent TV programming is to blame for the current mood of unrest. "The government must do something about this, otherwise our young generation will be more violent," he said.

Andi agreed that poverty could easily trigger conflict. "Poverty can make someone or some groups very frustrated," she said.

Based on the 2010 census, about 31.2 million of the 230 million Indonesians still live below the poverty line. They earn less than Rp 167,000 ($19) each month.

According to Andi, this wide gap between the reality that Indonesians are currently experiencing and what they are hoping for can easily ignite anger in stressful situations.

But Kemal does not agree that poverty is a key condition. "It might be a contributing factor, I think, but it's not the only one," he said, adding that poverty does not necessarily result in violence.

According to Kemal, the government must make sure that "the country's ideology, such as Pancasila," must be thoroughly disseminated in society. At the same time, officials have to rebuild their reputations and regain the public's trust.

Andi thinks education is key to helping shape how people think. She said Indonesian children should be taught that tolerance is a virtue. "They should not only be taught theories, but also actual implementation," she said.

Parents should teach their children about tolerance at home in creative ways, she said, and children should learn about conflict resolution early on.

The rash of conflicts are a bad reflection on government officials, she said. "Instead of giving good examples to our young generation, our officials have consistently shown bad examples."

Andi pointed out how lawmakers regularly fall into furious conflict with each other. "If our officials keep fighting with each other, how can they expect the people not to fight?"

Obviously, the issue runs deep and solutions to the matter are complex. However, there is an Indonesian saying that goes, "Guru kencing berdiri, murid kencing berlari" ("Students will look up to whatever their teachers do").

The government, if they lead by example, will be able to effect a good start, but ultimately, the burden for creating a tolerant and peaceful society rests on the shoulders of all Indonesians.

Malukan bid to have president arrested

Sydney Morning Herald - October 6, 2010

Tom Allard, Jakarta – The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has abruptly postponed a visit to Holland after Malukan activists there launched a court bid in the Hague to have him arrested, citing alleged human rights abuses in the eastern Indonesian province.

The visit – the first in 40 years by an Indonesian president to the former colonial overseer – was called off at the last moment.

Officials and journalists had been assembled at an air force base before the departure and luggage had been loaded on to the jet before news emerged that the flight had been cancelled.

Dr Yudhoyono said he accepted he would face criticism when he travelled but said it was unacceptable to be visiting the Hague while his fate was before a local court. "If I continued the visit, it will result in misperception, misunderstanding and poor psychological condition," he said.

The legal action against Dr Yudhoyono was launched by the "government in exile" of the Republic of South Maluku in a district court and was due to begin yesterday, according to Radio Netherlands. Malukan activists were also planning protests while Dr Yudhoyono was in Holland.

While the legal action had a tiny chance of any success, Dr Yudhoyono said his trip had to be postponed as the case would "disturb the nation's dignity".

Many people from Maluku, centred on the spice island of Ambon, were sympathetic to Holland when it was the colonial power in Indonesia. They are predominantly Christian, and served as administrators and in the Dutch East Indies armed forces.

When Indonesia declared independence, many Malukans wanted a separate state. Their bid had little support internationally and foundered, prompting tens of thousands of Malukans to migrate to Holland.

A small but persistent group of separatists left behind have agitated for their own state ever since, using non-violent but imaginative techniques.

The Herald revealed last month the arrest and alleged torture of Malukan separatists by members of the elite Detachment 88 anti-terrorism unit, which is partly funded by Australia.

It followed reports of similar brutality in 2007, when more than 70 people were rounded up, allegedly tortured and jailed for up to 20 years after they posed as dancers and infiltrated a ceremony hosted by Dr Yudhoyono in Ambon and unfurled a large separatist flag.

No decision yet on Gus Dur national hero status, minister says

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2010

Jakarta – The Ministry of Social Affairs has denied that it has decided to declare former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid a national hero.

"Nothing has been decided so far," Minister Salim Segaf Al-Jufri said on Tuesday, responding to reports that Gus Dur will join the names of Indonesia's national heroes by Nov. 10 to coincide with National Heroes Day.

He said the decision was ultimately up to the award committee under the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.

But officials might be hard-pressed to honor Gus Dur in time for this year's National Heroes Day, as Salim said his ministry would not be calling a meeting to make a recommendation to the committee until mid-November.

"We will consider the aspirations and hopes of the people and weigh all of the requirements," he said of the process for deciding candidates for national hero status.

On Monday, East Java's deputy governor, Syaifullah Yusuf, said he had received verbal notification from the Ministry of Social Affairs agreeing to declare the popular former president a national hero.

The provincial government said it was seeking national hero status for Gus Dur in response to widespread public demand to recognize his achievements in promoting pluralism.

"We are waiting for the president to sign the letter to be handed over in time for National Heroes Day," Syaifullah said when thanking the government for its prompt response.

There have been many calls for the government to grant Gus Dur the honor. However, his family has said it has not been notified by the government of the plan.

"Our family has never proposed anything to the government to honor Gus Dur in any form," his third daughter, Annita Hayatunnufus, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

"We did not ask the government to renovate his grave, nor did we ask for a national hero title." The family said it would wait for formal notification before responding to the proposal.

The provincial government is also planning to renovate the former president's burial site by widening the access road to allow more visitors.

About 8,000 visitors make their way to the tomb for weekend pilgrimages, with 4,000 more coming during the week, according to provincial government data.

Gus Dur was born in Jombang, East Java, and died at the age of 69 last December. He was educated in Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq and Canada, and was known as a champion of democracy and moderate Islam.

Gus Dur was Indonesia's fourth president and the first elected head of state after the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998.

Aside from his prominent political role, he was also a leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim organization with about 40 million members. (Antara, JG)

Fearful Indonesian villagers discard gas canisters for wood

Antara - October 4, 2010

Jakarta – Residents of Siak district in Riau are fast abandoning their three-kilogram gas canisters in favor of firewood because of safety fears.

The canisters, distributed by the government under a program to get people to switch from using the more expensive subsidized kerosene, have long been blamed for a series of explosions that have claimed scores of lives.

Darwilis, the head of the Riau Trade and Industry Office, said many Siak residents feared their canisters could explode at any moment.

"The thing is, they're still unfamiliar with how to use the gas canister and stove properly," he said. "That's why they've been abandoning the canisters outside their homes.

"Everyone's afraid that their canister will explode because they have no clue how to use it, and there's been no effort from the government to teach them."

One of the residents, Sumiati, said recent TV news reports about exploding canisters had prompted her to stop using her gas stove and instead use firewood for cooking.

"There's just been so many explosions killing so many people," she said. "These canisters are just like bombs. Who wouldn't be scared with so many accidents?" She has dumped her gas canister in the backyard.

Samsiah, another resident, also said she had been scared off by the news reports. "I'm afraid the thing will explode," she said.

She said that while she felt safer cooking with wood, it took much longer to prepare meals than when using the gas stove. "My son said the regulator that connects the canister to the hose is the source of the explosions," Samsiah said.

Critics and experts have blamed faulty canisters and regulators for most of the accidents.

Investigations this year found that illegal operators were jimmying regulators to siphon gas from the subsidized three-kilogram canisters to fill non-subsidized 12-kilogram containers and selling them for a hefty profit.

The practice, experts say, weakens the regulator valves and makes a gas leak more likely, leading to an explosion.

Meanwhile, spot checks on factories supplying the canisters have found some producers churning out cylinders with substandard seals and below- specification wall thickness.

The government has since introduced regulators and hoses it says are safer. However, explosions have continued, even in cases where the new parts were used.

The last reported explosion of a three-kilogram canister occurred in South Jakarta last week, when one person was injured and a roadside eatery was burned.

Indonesian minister draws fire for AIDS comment

Associated Press - October 4, 2010

Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – An Indonesian government minister who has in the past blamed natural disasters on immorality has caused more controversy by posting anti-gay comments on Twitter and joking about people with AIDS.

Tifatul Sembiring, who is information minister and also a member of the National AIDS commission, jumped into a debate about a gay film festival being held in Jakarta, which was protested by Islamic hard-liners and students.

"Behaviors which are potentially carrying the virus must be prevented," he tweeted last week, adding that even the Quran had things to say about homosexuals: "God turned the earth upside down" and "rained them with stones from the burnt land."

In his most controversial comment, however, he recalled a former health minister's joke about AIDS. "AIDS – Akibat Itunya Dipakai Sembarangan," which translates as "because they were reckless about where they put their genitals."

He later said he didn't mean to offend anyone, adding: "But everyone has the right to voice their opinion."

Ricky Gunawan, the program director of the Legal Aid Foundation, was quoted as saying by The Globe newspaper that, as a public figure and member of the AIDS commission, Sembiring should be more responsible.

The comments are "misleading" and further stigmatize those living with the disease, said Gunawan, who noted that only 3 percent of the country's estimated 21,000 AIDS patients are believed to be homosexuals.

Sembiring, a member of the Prosperous Justice Party, which believes Islam should play a central role in public life, eagerly embraced social networking site Twitter when he assumed his ministerial post last year and has more than 92,000 followers.

The 49-year-old has used Twitter to share his views on the dangers posed by pornography in Indonesia, a secular country with more Muslims than any other. He also said last year that a link between natural disasters and immoral behavior couldn't be ruled out, drawing sharp criticism from earthquake victims.

While the minister's micro-blogging exploits have gotten widespread attention in the local media, there is little chance he will punished. He was well-known for his conservative views before he was appointed.

Q! Film Festival

Top Muslim body seeks ban on gay, lesbian film festival

Agence France Presse - October 1, 2010

Jakarta – Indonesia's top Islamic body reiterated on Friday that homosexuality is an abuse of human rights and demanded the government ban an ongoing gay and lesbian film festival.

It also condemned foreign cultural centres for showing the films at private screenings, three days after angry Muslims held protests outside the venues.

"We reject the screening of the films which contain gay and homosexual lives as they are against Islamic and Indonesian cultural values," Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma'ruf Amin said.

"The foreign representatives including the German and French cultural centres must show their respect for our sovereignty. They should not bring their culture which goes against our local values," he said.

The German Goethe Institute, the Japan Foundation, Erasmus House of The Netherlands and the French Cultural Centre are showing the films but were not involved in organising the festival, which is the work of local enthusiasts.

Q! is in its ninth edition and has become the biggest festival of its kind in Asia and the only one in the Muslim world, testifying to Indonesia's reputation as a moderate and generally tolerant country.

But religious intolerance has been on the rise in recent years, with the authorities unable or unwilling to prevent vigilante outfits from attacking and intimidating minority groups in the name of Islam. Voices of Islamic conservatism are growing louder and more strident.

Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring on Wednesday posted comments on microblogging website Twitter blaming "perverted sex acts" for the spread of AIDS, and quoted a Koranic verse about stoning homosexuals.

In a statement, the Ulema Council said homosexuality was "against human rights because human rights were given by God basically for pairs of men and women to legally marry... Same-sex marriage is haram [forbidden]."

Amin called on the government's censorship body to "firmly ban" the festival, echoing similar calls from hard-line extremists.

About 150 films from more than 20 countries including France, Japan and the Philippines are being shown during the month-long festival which began last Friday. Homosexuality is technically legal in the country of 240 million people, 80 percent of whom are Muslims.

FPI now offended by Indonesian gay film web site

Jakarta Globe - October 1, 2010

Zaky Pawas, Jakarta – The Islamic Defenders Front on Friday filed a police complaint against John Badalu, organizer of the Q! Film Festival, condemning the event's Web site as pornographic.

Habib Salim Alatas, chief of the hard-line group's Jakarta Representative Council, said the site had homosexual content and used pornographic words.

Habib's lawyer, Munarman, said the complaint accused Badalu of violating the 2008 Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE).

"The Web site contains the words 'f!!king different.' On the same Web site there are pornographic pictures of men kissing other men," Munarman said.

"We are not too worried about the existence of such a Web site. But we believe it could violate the laws of humanity. And it also clearly disturbs the norms of public decency."

He said the site could have a dangerous influence on youth. "If they continue to run such movies, we will report them because the film festival has not passed censors, in accordance to existing regulations. They could face a jail term."

Habib Salim said he had a DVD that contained clips of the movies in the festival. "We have the evidence of those movies showing men kissing men," he said. "I have not seen it myself. I just saw it on the Web site. That [is] clearly a violation."

On Tuesday, 100 FPI members protested at film festival venues.

In its ninth year, Q! is the biggest gay film showcase in Asia and the only one in the Muslim world, testifying to Indonesia's reputation as a moderate country.

But religious intolerance has been rising in recent years, with the authorities unable or unwilling to prevent vigilantes from attacking and intimidating minority groups in the name of Islam.

Earlier, Indonesia's top Islamic body reiterated its claim that homosexuality was an abuse of human rights and demanded the government ban the gay and lesbian film festival.

It condemned foreign cultural centers for showing the films at private screenings as angry Muslims protested outside.

"We reject the screening of the films which concern the lives of gay and homosexual people as they are against Islamic and Indonesian cultural values," said Ma'ruf Amin, chairman of the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI).

Aceh

'Women unfit to lead' says Acehnese district council chairman

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – In a move criticized as an insult to the dignity of women, an Aceh district speaker has called for the replacement of a female subdistrict head, arguing that women were unfit to lead under Islamic law.

Ridwan Muhammad, the Bireuen district council chairman, said on Thursday that the move against Anisah, head of Plimbang subdistrict, was prompted by complaints from the public.

"It's what the people and the clerics... are calling for," he told the Jakarta Globe. "According to Shariah, a woman is prohibited from becoming a leader."

Ridwan said Anisah's appointment as subdistrict chief in April had caused a rift in the community, "with one side supporting her and the other against her."

The council had received petitions from both camps, he said. "Rather than allow this rift to lead to social unrest, we've asked the district head to replace Anisah," he said.

"I'll admit she's deft and quite competent, but in order to avoid riots, we advise that she be replaced immediately," Ridwan said.

He added that the Bireuen district council had already met with the district head, Nurdin Abdul Rahman, to discuss the issue. "Nurdin didn't make any decision during the meeting; perhaps he needs more time to consider it," Ridwan said.

Nurdin could not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, Anisah said most of the criticism directed at her had come from two district councilors from the Aceh Party, which dominates the local legislature, who objected to a female subdistrict head.

Ridwan is also from the Aceh Party. "They've raised the issue in their Friday prayer sermons at mosques, which is what provoked the people," she said, declining to name the councilors.

"Perhaps they're unaware that a subdistrict head isn't a leadership post, but only an extension of the district administration's authority," Anisah said. She claimed that Nurdin had encouraged her to stay.

Evi Narti Zain, executive director of the human rights coalition HAM Aceh, said Ridwan's move discriminated against women and was a violation of basic human rights.

"He has also insulted the dignity of women as a whole," she said, calling for his dismissal. Evi pointed out that Aceh itself had been ruled by successive female sultans in the 19th century.

Three lashes for selling cooked rice during Ramadan in Aceh

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2010

Nurdin Hasan, Jantho, Aceh – With heads bowed, two young women walked toward a wooden stage outside Al Munawwarah Mosque in Jantho, Aceh Besar. Friday prayers had just ended, and hundreds of residents surrounded the platform, keeping a respectful distance but keen to watch.

The eyes of Murni binti Amris, 27, and Rukiah binti Abdullah, 22, began to water. They feared the worst when officers of the Shariah Police dragged them to the center of the stage.

The women had dared to sell cooked rice in the daytime during Ramadan, violating the 2002 Islamic bylaw in Aceh.

With a quivering voice, Murni said: "Wait, sir." She wanted to correct her sitting position. However, the man standing over her brandishing a rattan cane took no heed, lashing her three times across the back.

When it was Rukiah's turn, she was whipped twice. She did not make a sound, although her face was wet with tears. A shout was heard from the crowd: "Add to it. Let her feel it."

A top official of the Shariah Police, Marzuki Abdullah, told the Jakarta Globe the women had been arrested on Aug. 23 for violating the regulation that stipulates: "Whosoever prepares facilities for Muslims that do not fulfill religious standards during the fasting month of Ramadan faces either a year in jail, a fine of Rp 3 million ($340) or being caned in front of an audience for a maximum of six times."

"They were selling cooked rice in the daytime during Ramadan. They were arrested by Shariah officers at a small stall in the Baitussalam district," Marzuki said.

The ruling was issued by the Jantho Shariah Court on Thursday. "Both women were of good character and did not make a fuss in court," Marzuki said. "They did not have a lawyer. We told them they could be represented by a lawyer but they refused," he said.

Next it was the turn of Fakhruddin bin Teuku Harun, who was caned eight times for gambling. Marzuki said Fakhruddin also chose not to be represented by a lawyer in court.

Speaking outside the mosque before the canings, Marzuki said Acehnese authorities had had the right to cane those who broke Shariah law since 2005. "The Wilayatul Hisbah [Shariah Police] were handed the right in order to uphold Shariah in Aceh," Marzuki said.

When asked if this law applied to legislators and councilors, Marzuki said it did, but if they had not been caned it was because they had appealed their sentences.

West Papua

Indonesia flood toll rises to 110: Official

Agence France Presse - October 8, 2010

Manokwari – The death toll from flash floods in eastern Indonesia has risen to 110 with bodies still lying unclaimed in the mud four days after the disaster, an official said on Friday.

The remote seaside town of Wasior in West Papua province was devastated after a torrent of mud, rocks and logs struck it on Monday following torrential downpours.

Hundreds of homes were swept away and scores of people remain missing feared dead, with rescue workers unable to clear huge piles of debris due to shortages of heavy equipment.

"We face difficulties removing dead bodies as our rescuers don't have enough excavators," local official Yappi Akwan said, adding that 80 people were listed as missing.

He said thousands of residents faced shortages of food, clean water, medicine and shelters, and there were growing fears of disease outbreaks.

"The town already smells of rotting bodies and we all have to wear masks," he said. "We hope there'll be a quick response. We need the town to be sprayed with disinfectant to ward off disease."

Around 4,000 people, or almost a third of the population in Wasior's three worst affected neighborhoods, have fled to neighboring districts, the official said.

Wasior is 240 kilometers southeast of Manokwari, the capital of West Papua province, one of the poorest and least developed parts of the massive Indonesian archipelago.

The floods and landslides that hit the town on Monday came down from surrounding hills with a thunderous roar but many residents did not have time to escape.

Survivors said many of the victims drowned or were crushed by boulders and logs, which had been felled by timber workers in nearby forests.

Such events are expected to become more common in Indonesia due to a combination of climate change, land conversion and logging.

Logging blamed for floods in West Papua

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Fidelis E. Satriastanti & Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Activists on Friday blamed environmental degradation and forest conversions for the recent flash floods in Wasior, West Papua, that left more than 100 people dead, and demanded the government immediately review development policies in the area.

"The Wasior disaster could be considered an ecological disaster triggered by environmental destruction and land use changes over the past few years," said Chalid Muhammad, chair of the Indonesian Green Institute.

"Wasior, which is located in a lowland area, consists of swamps and sago plantations that have been transformed to other uses like mining, which contributed to the disaster.

"Meanwhile, in the upstream area, forests are being decimated through logging concessions or illegal logging."

His statement comes a day after Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said rampant illegal logging could have caused the floods as he had found around 200,000 square meters of illegal logs in his recent field trip in Sorong, also in West Papua.

Environmentalists have long been calling on the government to clamp down on illegal logging in Papua, which still has some of the country's most dense primary forests.

Data compiled by the Indonesian Green Institute and Yappika foundation earlier this year showed that West Papua was vulnerable to ecological disasters as a result of plans to allow the conversion of more than 5 million hectares of primary forests and 1.4 million hectares of secondary forests.

In addition, from 2005 to 2009, satellite image analysis have shown a deforestation rate of 254,460.41 hectares per year in the province – a total of 1,017,841.66 hectares. Chalid said that accounted for 25 percent of the national deforestation rate.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reported that the floods were not related to illegal logging.

"However, this Sunday I will directly see whether it is related to environment destruction," he said. "That way, I could see for myself, and with the help of experts will analyze the cause of the disaster."

Antung Deddy Radiansyah, assistant deputy for lake and river damage control at the State Ministry for the Environment, said earlier on Friday the ministry had conducted field checks on the areas before the flood and found that 90 percent of the forest coverage was still in good condition.

"The flash floods occurred because the steep slopes of the Wasior river upstream had already collapsed and covered the river areas," Antung said. "The slides covered the river just like a dam, causing the flash floods."

[Additional reporting from Antara.]

Papua is part of Indonesia, US ambassador affirms

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2010

Jayapura – US ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel reiterated his country's full support for Papua as part of the integrated nation of the Republic of Indonesia and for the implementation of the 2001 Special Autonomy Law in the province.

During a three-day official visit to Papua, Marciel repeated his statement when meeting local figures and university students, including at Cenderawasih University in Jayapura, where students in attendance called for independence.

Marciel said the US government supported the implementation of special autonomy in Papua and hoped for better implementation of the law in the future for the sake of the Papuan people.

The US, he said, would not interfere in the domestic affairs of Indonesia.

Bodies unclaimed as Indonesia flood toll rises

Agence France Presse - October 6, 2010

Wasior, West Papua – The remote Indonesian town of Wasior was a scene of devastation on Wednesday, with bodies lying unclaimed in the debris of flash floods that killed at least 86 people and left dozens missing.

The seaside town's Sanduay neighborhood was all but flattened when a wall of mud, rocks and logs hit it on Monday.

An AFP reporter who reached the area, 240 kilometers southeast of Manokwari, West Papua province, said hundreds of homes had been destroyed.

Residents and rescue teams were searching the mud and debris for survivors but officials said the death toll is almost certain to rise. Several bodies could be seen wedged beneath rocks and logs that were washed into the town from surrounding hillsides.

Some of the logs – felled by timber workers in nearby forests – were two metres wide and left a trail of destruction as they swept through the town on the raging flood waters.

"Earlier Monday morning there were sudden floods but on a small scale. But 30 minutes later I heard a kind of big thunder and I saw powerful waters coming from the mountain," 50-year-old resident Wilem Imburi said. "There was chaos and people panicked and tried to run to safety."

Father-of-two Mahmud, 36, said he managed to hold on to his son but lost his two-year-old daughter. "I was holding my two kids when the waters came, but I didn't have enough strength and lost grip of my daughter," he said. The flood carried him and his four-year-old son into the sea about 500 meters away from his home.

Papua search and rescue official Mochamad Arifin said at least 86 people were killed and 81 were injured in the disaster. "We are still searching for dozens of missing people," he said. "The chance of survival for the missing people is slim."

Experts fear such events will become more common in Indonesia due to a combination of climate change, land conversion and logging, which can contribute to landslides and flash floods after monsoonal downpours.

Indonesia's climatology agency said most parts of the Southeast Asian archipelago had experienced torrential rains, strong winds, high waves and flooding due to extreme weather this year.

Papuan leaders call off talks with Jakarta over autonomy

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2010

Nivell Rayda & Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – As calls for independence in Papua and West Papua intensify, leaders in the restive provinces have rejected the possibility of talks with the government until it acknowledges human rights abuses and ensures economic development.

"We don't want to talk to Jakarta because Jakarta never wants to talk to us," said Herman Awom, from the Papuan People's Council (MRP), a body set up under special autonomy legislation to protect Papuan cultural values.

"Jakarta does this because they don't want to admit that Papuans are killed through military oppression and they don't want to acknowledge that the special autonomy status... has failed to empower the locals," he said at a Jakarta news conference on Tuesday.

Forkorus Yobiosembut, the head of the Papua Traditional Council (DAP), said Papuans wanted more interaction with the international community.

"We challenge Jakarta to allow international researchers to come to Papua and conduct an investigation into the conditions of the Papuan people," he said.

"Jakarta is afraid because the researchers will certainly find that most Papuans are restless and resent the central government. If there was a referendum, I'm sure that more than 90 percent of Papuans would prefer independence over remaining a part of Indonesia." Papua was granted autonomy in 2001 to suppress calls for independence and to give the provincial administration more power to manage its own financial affairs.

Jakarta later broke it up to create the province of West Papua, which a court ruled was in violation of the autonomy law. Observers and government officials have since acknowledged that autonomy and the split have not helped the provinces develop.

Salmon Jumame, chairman of the Forum for Democracy in Papua, said the government had been inconsistent in its attempts to implement the special autonomy status, leading to growing calls for independence.

"Special autonomy has allowed a massive influx of migrants to Papua," he said. "Papuans are now a minority in their own home and most of them unable to compete economically with the migrants.

"Autonomy has only brought unemployment, poverty and ecological destruction to native Papuans, because the government has failed to implement it properly, with complete disregard for the principles of empowerment."

On Sept. 22, the US Congress invited the Papuan leaders to testify about cases of human rights violations as well as the economic and social conditions of their people. Officials from the US State Department and Defense Department also urged Jakarta to resolve cases of human rights abuses but remained supportive of the autonomy program.

In the latest violence to hit the restive region, two people were allegedly gunned down by police officers at an airport in Wamena, Papua, on Monday.

While there have been conflicting reports about the incident, the Papuan leaders said the men were shot for carrying colored hats that, when worn together by a coordinated group, depicted a map of the province.

The men were said to be anticipating Wednesday's return of the Papuan leaders from their visits to Washington and Jakarta. Thousands in the province are expected to be on hand to welcome the leaders home.

Forkorus said various organizations planned a coalition to unify movements in Papua.

"We've agreed to call the people of Papua to conduct mass prayers and fasting throughout the provinces, which will be conducted simultaneously and regularly," he said. "This is no longer the prayer of a certain group, but the prayer of the entire Papuan people."

However, Velix Wanggai, a presidential adviser for regional autonomy and a Papuan native, called the MRP's decision to halt the talks "inappropriate."

"The MRP is an integral part of the regional administration," he said. "They're the Papuan people's cultural representatives, so they shouldn't get involved in politics. They're also highly dependent on the central government, so it's strange that they've rejected the dialogue."

[Additional reporting from Ismira Lutfia.]

One killed in Papua clash with Indonesian police

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2010

Timika – One man was killed and at least three injured on Monday in a clash between Indonesian police and dozens of locals over a security check dispute in the restive province of Papua, an official said.

Police stationed at an airport in Wamena district had wanted to check two bags "believed to contain suspicious items" arriving from Jayapura district but were refused permission, provincial police spokesman Wachyono said.

"They [the locals] then attacked police with sharp objects and stones. In that situation, police had to open fire," he said. Three policemen were injured by flying stones, he added.

"Police wanted to check those bags because several times, we've found evidence that ammunition and weapons had been sent through Wamena," Wachyono said. Three people were arrested for allegedly attacking the police, he added.

Papuan tribal representative Dominikus Sorabut, from the Papuan Customary Council, said the locals were members of the council's security body and the bags had contained berets.

He alleged that one of the group was killed and two others wounded when police shot at them, but police said an autopsy needs to be carried out to determine the cause of death.

The police are widely accused of abusing the basic rights of indigenous Melanesians in Papua, where a low-level insurgency has simmered for decades.

Last month police killed two men and wounded a woman after a dispute over a traffic accident spun out of control in West Papua province.

Vanuatu PM yet to raise Papua issue at UN

Radio New Zealand International - October 4, 2010

A spokesman for Vanuatu's Prime Minister Edward Natapei has confirmed he did not raise the issue of the status of Indonesia's Papua last week while attending the United Nations General Assembly.

In June, Vanuatu's parliament unanimously passed a motion, sponsored by Mr Natapei, to raise issues around the status of Indonesian territories of New Guinea at the UN.

Under the motion, Vanuatu was to request General Assembly support for the International Court of Justice to provide an advisory opinion on the process in which the former Netherlands New Guinea was ceded to Indonesia in the 1960s.

A spokesman for Mr Natapei said the Prime Minister feels the Papua issue is very sensitive and that it was not the right time to raise it at the UN level.

He said it is thought that the issue should be raised at the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders level first. However, some MPs say that Mr Natapei could be held in contempt of Parliament for failing to follow through on the motion.

US calls on Indonesia to advance Papua autonomy

Radio New Zealand International - October 3, 2010

The United States has called for Indonesia to move forward on autonomy in its Papua region and insisted it would not overlook human rights as it seeks broader relations with Jakarta.

The AFP reports testifying in a first-ever congressional hearing on the long-simmering conflict, senior US officials pledged to investigate abuse allegations in Papua. But the hearing said said there was no evidence to back charges of genocide.

Indonesia in 2001 introduced autonomy in Papua but local activists say that the law has half-hearted and not improved their rights.

The US deputy assistant secretary of state tasked with Southeast Asia, Joseph Yun, says the US opposed separatism in Papua province and neighboring West Papua.

But he says it support autonomy. He says if the 2001 Special Autonomy Law can be fully implemented, the US believes a lot of frustration currently felt by Papuans would decrease.

He says Indonesia's overall human rights situation has improved along with the country's rapid democratic development. But he says the US is concerned by allegations of human rights violations in Papua and continuously monitor the situation.

Military ties

Australian activists demand severing of ties with TNI

Jakarta Globe - October 1, 2010

Jakarta – The Australian government has again been urged to sever ties with the Indonesian Military following joint exercises between elite units from both countries in Bali.

Joe Collins of the Australia West Papua Association, in a news release, queries the claim by Australian Special Air Services Comr. Maj. Gen. Tim McOwan "that Kopassus was a professional outfit" citing a report by Human Rights Watch report titled "What Did I Do Wrong?" Papuans in Merauke Face Abuses by Indonesian Special Forces," which documents a number of cases of West Papuans who were allegedly tortured by Kopassus troops.

He says AWPA was concerned that special forces will always be used in conflict areas and that any training given to the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) will be used against the West Papuan people who are struggling for their right to self determination.

"We are also concerned by the fact that Kopassus may receive training in urban warfare within Australia. Is it not time for Commander Maj. Gen. Tim McOwan and some of his troops to visit West Papua to ascertain the views of the West Papuan people on Australian military involvement with Kopassus?"

On Tuesday, members of the SAS and Kopassus staged antiterror drills at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Human rights & law

Indonesian rights groups call for truth about murder of Munir

Direct Action - October 2010

James Balowski, Jakarta – In November 2004, Indonesia's newly elected president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, pledged to bring to justice the murderers of Indonesia's most prominent human rights activist, Munir Said Thalib. Yudhoyono called the killing a "test case for the nation" on "how much Indonesia has changed".

Six years later and one year into Yudhoyono's second term, those who masterminded his murder remain free. Numerous other cases of past human rights violations remain unsolved. For many, Munir's death represents one of the most obvious examples of the impunity enjoyed by human rights violators in Indonesia.

Munir died on a Garuda Airlines flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands on September 7, 2004. An autopsy by Dutch authorities found he had died of arsenic poisoning. Although two people were later convicted for the killing, rights organisations say that those responsible for masterminding the murder have yet to be convicted.

Munir's work angered many powerful figures by exposing human rights abuses in Aceh, East Timor and West Papua, along with the military's involvement in drug trafficking and illegal logging. He led an investigation into the abduction of 13 activists by the Army's Kopassus special forces in 1997-98. Munir also founded the human rights group Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial).

Parallel investigation

In response to the outcry over Munir's killing, Yudhoyono ordered an independent fact-finding team to work in parallel with the police investigation. This team gave the president its report in June 2005. It has never been made public, despite this being one of the recommendations in the presidential decree to establish the team.

A former pilot for Garuda Airlines, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, was convicted of the premeditated murder of Munir and received a 20-year sentence in January 2008. A former Garuda chief executive, Indra Setiawan, was sentenced in February 2008 to one year as an accessory to murder for falsifying documents that allowed Priyanto to travel on Munir's flight.

On December 31, 2008, Muchdi Purwoprandjono, a former state intelligence agency deputy who was sacked from Kopassus as a result of Munir's investigations into the 1997-98 abductions, was acquitted of the murder. Rights groups say the trial failed to meet international standards of fairness after three key prosecution witnesses retracted their sworn testimonies.

In February 2010, a special National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) team identified flaws in the police investigation, prosecution and trial of Purwoprandjono and recommended a new police investigation. This has not happened.

Commemorating the sixth anniversary of Munir's death, hundreds of people gathered in front of the State Palace in central Jakarta on September 7, calling on Yudhoyono to expose the truth behind Munir's murder. Groups taking part in the protest included the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (Kasum), Kontras, Imparsial, the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation, the Jakarta Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, students and victims of human rights violations. The 700 protesters made speeches and performed a theatrical action complete with a human effigy wrapped in a burial shroud. Several wore masks with the faces of Yudhoyono, Pollycarpus and Purwoprandjono.

Action coordinator Poltak Agustinus Sinaga said that the effigy symbolised the fact that there has been no resolution for the victims of rights violations. "Many victims of human rights violations have died, but there has been no settlement. So we are asking for a full resolution", he told Tempo Interactive. The aim of the action, Sinaga continued, was to call on law enforcement agencies to settle these cases, particularly the death of Munir. "The Munir case is now six years old but only Pollycarpus has been jailed. There has clearly been collusion to ensure the case ends with Pollycarpus alone", he said.

Earlier, on September 5, the group Friends of Munir gathered to commemorate Munir's death at the Kontras offices, where they held joint prayers and issued a statement condemning law enforcement agencies' failure to solve the murder.

Kasum executive secretary Choirul Anam said that over the last few years the government has done almost nothing to resolve the case. Law enforcement agencies have failed to fulfil the public's hope for justice as one of the principles of a constitutional state. "We have seen over the last few years that the Munir case has been systematically weakened and neglected. It is as if Munir's death has simply evaporated... The neglect of the Munir case is one among many instances of human rights cases being ignored", Anam told Tribune News.

As well as questioning what follow-up efforts are being made, the Friends of Munir demanded that the government immediately arrest the intellectual actors behind Munir's murder in addition to Purwoprandjono. They also called on the government to declare September 7 Human Rights Defenders Day.

Imparsial executive director Poengky Indrawati said that Munir had inspired a new generation of human rights activists. "Munir is a figure that inspires and encourages people to never give up the fight for their own rights and others whose rights have been violated. Munir's principle was that if you are right then you must be courageous and that resonates in a lot of the young activists today", she told the September 6 Jakarta Globe.

New attacks

In a statement on September 6, Amnesty International said that accountability for Munir's killing was vital to protect human rights defenders. It called on the national police chief to initiate a new independent investigation into the murder to ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice. Amnesty added that the government must also make public the 2005 fact-finding report. "Human rights defenders must be allowed to carry out their peaceful activities without fear. Accountability for Munir's killing will send a clear message that intimidation and attacks against human rights defenders will not be tolerated", the group said. "The lack of full accountability in Munir's case contributes to an ongoing climate of fear among human rights defenders, some of whom have recently come under attack."

On July 30 the body of journalist Ardiansyah Matra was found naked and handcuffed in a river in Merauke, West Papua. Police investigations revealed that Matra was struck several times before falling into the water and drowning. Local activists believe his death may be linked to his work covering corruption and illegal logging in Papua, and the recent local elections in Merauke.

On July 8 two unidentified people brutally attacked and severely injured Tama Satya Langkun, a researcher for Indonesia Corruption Watch in Jakarta, who had been investigating suspicious bank accounts linked to several high-ranking police officers. No one has been arrested for either attack.

Victims of communist purge seek justice after a lifetime of pain

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – A group of people imprisoned in the aftermath of the 1965 coup attempt that swept strongman Suharto into power have demanded the government apologize and clear their names.

The failed coup, which was blamed on the communists, began with the kidnapping and assassination of six military generals in Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta, by soldiers calling themselves the September 30 Movement.

An estimated 500,000 people were killed in the nationwide anticommunist pogrom that followed, while thousands more were forced into exile or, like Mudjaydin, now 80, given long prison sentences.

For Mudjaydin, the events of this time were distorted by Suharto, who pinned the blame on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and its sympathizers.

"I was a journalist with Minggoean Sport [a sports weekly] and I never supported any communist movement," he said. "I didn't even know about the coup attempt at the time."

He said that did not stop the military from forcing him to admit to being involved in the deaths of the generals in a bid to overthrow President Sukarno.

"I was interrogated by the military, prosecuted by the military and convicted by the military," Mudjaydin said. "I never received a fair trial but was jailed for 12 years, all because I was a supporter of Sukarno."

The family of the late Setiadi Reksoprodjo says the communist purge was simply an excuse by Suharto to crack down on Sukarno's supporters.

Setiadi, who died in July at the age of 88, served in Sukarno's cabinet as minister of information and later minister of mines and electricity. He and 20 other ministers were arrested in 1966 and imprisoned without trial. They were only released in 1977.

Both Mudjaydin and Setiadi were labeled "ex-tapol," or former political prisoners – a tag that carries with it a world of discrimination.

At least 36 regulations are still in place forbidding ex-tapol from a host of civic duties, including voting. "We can't even gather in groups of more than 30 ex-tapol," Mudjaydin said.

"We had an 'ET' stamped on our ID card to mark us out as ex-tapol. It made it difficult to get a job, even in the private sector."

For Muji, 61, her lifelong ordeal began simply because she joined the wrong club. A singer and dancer at the time, she could never have imagined that her involvement in the youth wing of the PKI would land her in prison for 14 years. "I was only 16 and didn't know anything. How could they say I was involved in killing the generals" she said.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the government must acknowledge there were massacres and vindicate those wrongfully prosecuted.

"The government must also investigate the military's involvement in the violence," he said. "Resolving the mystery behind the massacres will be instrumental in preventing similar acts of mass slaughter.

DPR leader promises quick action on convention on disappearances

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2010

Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – Activists have asked the House of Representatives to speed up the ratification of a legal instrument that protects people from enforced disappearances.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa signed the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances last week in New York.

Adopted in December 2006, the convention forbids states from subjecting their people to enforced disappearances in times of war, political instability and other state emergency situations.

Priyo Budi Santoso, a House deputy speaker from the Golkar Party, said on Thursday that the House "greatly welcomes" the signing. "This is not simply the demand of the international community. The House is committed to eradicating outdated practices in this era of democracy." He said the House would wait for an official letter from the government, and then "immediately process [the ratification]."

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said it was important the House ratify the convention as soon as possible. "With the signing, the government is politically tied to key regulations in the convention, but a ratification would bind the country legally," it said in a statement.

Chrisbiantoro, from Kontras, welcomed Priyo's support but said he would not rest until "the political will" resulted in ratification. "We do not have a single legal instrument that punishes enforced disappearances."

He said he did not expect much political resistance to the ratification because the convention was not retroactive, meaning that past cases could not be prosecuted under the convention.

According to Kontras, 13 political activists were victims of enforced disappearances by the military between 1997 and 1998, in the dying days of the Suharto regime.

The UN convention has been signed by 86 countries, but only 19 have ratified it. Indonesia would be the third Asian country to ratify the convention, after Japan and Kazakhstan. Its ratification would be crucial because the instrument can only come into force after being ratified by at least 20 signatories.

Nasir Jamil of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, also lauded the signing of the convention. "This shows that the government is making progress in its commitment to human rights," he said. He added, however, that signing the convention was just the beginning and the government also had to set up an ad hoc human rights court.

He said the House could pass a law on a human rights court, if necessary. Otherwise, he said, the government could integrate it into the existing court system.

In Sept. 2009, a House special committee came up with a four-point recommendation urging the government to play a greater role in resolving the problem of enforced disappearances.

Kontras backs claims Maluku prisoners have been tortured

Jakarta Globe - October 1, 2010

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – A leading human rights organization says its investigations found that political prisoners in Maluku have been tortured by police officers and soldiers.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said interviews with 23 political prisoners, members of the separatist group South Maluku Republic (RMS), showed they had been tortured.

"They kick them, punch their faces, with or without weapons such as iron bars. Sometimes the prisoners are blindfolded," he said. "They even forced two political prisoners to kiss. When they refused to, they were beaten."

Haris said 17 of the prisoners had been arrested without a warrant. "That makes it an unlawful arrest," he said. Haris said the perpetrators were members of the elite police counterterrorism unit Densus 88 and local police officers.

He identified the attackers as a Densus duty officer, four Densus investigators, the head of the monitoring division of a local patrol and crowd control unit, the head of a detachment of the Maluku Police, an officer from the Ambon and Lease Islands Police, and an officer from the Saparua Police. Saparua is a city near the provincial capital, Ambon.

"We also discovered that some of the perpetrators were not from the police," Haris said.

"There was a member of the Armed Forces from Saparua subdiscrict and the subdistrict head of Saparua. We want Irwasum [the police General Oversight Inspectorate] and Propam [Bureau of Professionalism and Security Affairs] to investigate the misuse of power by the Maluku Police."

The torture allegations first surfaced in mid-September after the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper ran statements from seven of the alleged separatists.

A day later, Yusuf Sipakoly, 52, who was jailed for 12 years for treason for helping unfurl a banned RMS flag during a visit by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Ambon in 2007, died.

Yusuf's family and rights activists said he was severely beaten and denied medical treatment despite his failing health and need for dialysis. The National Police denied the allegations, but a few days later it sent a team to Ambon to investigate the claims.

But Semuel Wailaruny, from the Maluku People's Advocacy Team, which has been working closely with the political prisoners, said the police team did not even meet his group, as planned.

"They are not carrying out an objective investigation. They didn't even ask us about what was going on with the prisoners," Semuel said.

He said one of the prisoners, Yonias Siahaya, was left paralyzed after he was beaten by members of the counterterrorism squad. "The doctor said he will be paralyzed for the rest of his life," Semuel said. "But he is still handcuffed in the hospital bed."

He said Yonias had been blindfolded while the Densus 88 officers beat him and "now he could not talk." The officers reportedly tried to cover up the incident by telling Yonias's family that he had lung disease, even though he had never had lung problems before.

The Jakarta Globe contacted National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan on Friday, but he declined to comment.

Victims recollect fear and injustice

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2010

Jakarta – For some, the end of September is the time of year that brings back memories of family tragedies and loosing their rights to justice simply because their ideological affiliations were not in line with that of the winner of a power struggle during the decisive year of the mid 1960s.

Post Sep. 30, 1965, the rising-to-power New Order government, under then president Soeharto, jailed thousands of ordinary people without trial or stigmatized them as being communist, then used as a demonized label that helped the New Order authoritarian ruler to come into power.

M. Iswara, 83, is one of the citizens who was summoned for police questioning in 1966 for reasons then unclear to him. "I was so scared to death at that time, I thought I would end up dead," he told The Jakarta Post. He was then a lecturer on Accounting at (then) leftist Res Publica University (Ureca) that was under the Consultative Body for Indonesian Citizenship (Baperki), the Chinese political party.

Baperki was accused of being affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and was disbanded by the government after the Sep. 30, 1965 tragedy, which is often referred to as a "failed coup" allegedly instigated by the PKI.

There was a nation-wide anti-Communist propaganda campaign. Many people were killed. Some said the death toll exceeded 1 million, while some others were exiled.

Iswara said that in the police headquarters he was interrogated for the whole day before he was finally released. "I don't know why they released me, because I heard many others were imprisoned. Maybe it was just my luck."

He was asked whether he was a member of Baperki and why he was teaching at Ureca, now Trisakti University in West Jakarta. "I replied that almost all people of Chinese descent were members of Baperki. And I was the only Chinese who graduated from the Accounting Department of the University of Indonesia, therefore I was called to the job in Ureca," Iswara said.

It was common for Chinese-Indonesians at that time to affiliate to the Baperki which was regarded as accommodating their aspirations, but they were not necessarily leftist.

Iswara was indeed lucky as many others were arrested without trial, tortured, murdered or banished. There were others who disappeared, like Larasati, who was taken away from her family because she was active in the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani). Gerwani was affiliated with PKI, but was an independent organization concerned with socialist and feminist issues, including labor rights and Indonesian nationalism. The organization was later banned and thousands of its members raped and killed.

The Army alleged Gerwani members had helped to kill the generals but most contemporary historians disagree with such allegations.

Maryoto, 75, Larasati's younger brother, said that he never met his sister again after she was taken away. "I don't know who took her. I have no idea whether she is still alive. Our family did not try to find her because we were afraid that we could end up just like her," Maryoto said.

He felt guilty for not trying to find his sister, however, things were much more complicated at that time, he said. "I was even afraid to tell other people that I lost my sister because they could label us as being affiliated with PKI," he said.

The organization was founded in 1950, and had about 1.5 million members in 1965. (not)

Freedom of expression & press

Supreme Court wipes Prita Mulyasari's fine for alleged defamation

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The Supreme Court have found in favor of Indonesian mother-of-two Prita Mulyasari, striking out a lower court ruling that she pay Omni International Hospital Rp 204 million ($23,000) for alleged defamation.

"The Supreme Court has decided to accept Prita's appeal in her civil case," Slamet Yuwono, one of Prita's lawyers, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday. "It means that Ibu Prita is free from the obligation of having to pay a Rp 204 million in fine to Omni Hospital and to apologize in national newspapers."

The mother of two was charged with libel after an e-mail she sent complaining about the alleged poor service she received at the private hospital was circulated on Internet mailing lists.

Prita, however, is still waiting for the Supreme Court verdict against her criminal conviction. "We're optimistic that we will receive good news from the appeal against Prita's criminal because it's unheard of for the Supreme Court to deliver two opposite verdicts," Slamet said.

OC Kaligis, the head of Prita's legal team, said the landmark verdict would set an example for other victims of hospital mistreatment.

Prita was charged under the controversial 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction Law that mandates up to six years in prison for defamation. There is a move underway in the House of Representatives to amend the law.

Prita was held in jail for three weeks earlier this year as she awaited trial, but media coverage and a swell of support on the social networking site Facebook compelled police to release her on bail.

The "Prita case," has been a public relations nightmare for Omni, which from the beginning has been seen in the public's eyes as attempting to bully a middle-class housewife.

The hospital won a separate civil case against Prita and recently was awarded Rp 204 million in damages, but it decided to drop the suit after Prita appealed.

Indonesians from all walks off life, ranging from scavengers to schoolchildren to members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, donated more than Rp 800 million to pay the fine.

As the tide began to turn, Prita struck back with a Rp 1 trillion countersuit against Omni, which is now seeking an out-of-court settlement.

Indonesian watchdog wants book-ban law lifted

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – A media watchdog has urged the House of Representatives to repeal a law giving the government absolute power to ban certain books, saying it curtails freedom of expression.

PR2Media raised this with House Commission I, which oversees communications and information affairs, on Monday.

PR2Media coordinator Amir Effendi Siregar said it was ironic that Indonesia was lauded as a democratic country by the international community when it still has a law banning books.

Amir said press freedom was already recognized by the Indonesian government, hence the freedom of book distribution must also be acknowledged. "The government must annul the law on book banning," he said. "The House must help us deliver this demand to the government."

The group also gave the legislators a book on the history of book-banning in Indonesia.

He added that PR2Media, along with other nongovernmental groups, would seek a judicial review with the Constitutional Court to annul the law. "Under this law, hundreds of books have been banned and thousands have been burned. This must be stopped," he said.

The law in question, on "securing printed materials," was passed in 1963 and used under the regime of former President Suharto to clamp down on dissent.

More recently, it has been used by the Attorney General's Office to ban 22 books, most of them dealing with the alleged communist coup attempt of 1965, in the past six years. The AGO's latest blacklist included a book on the 1965 pogrom of suspected communists, the insurgency in Papua, and two books on religion.

PR2Media researcher Iwan Awaluddin said authors should be allowed to defend their works from being banned through the legal process. "If the government decides to retain its authority to ban books, then it should allow authors to mount a legal challenge through the court," he said.

He added books are important in letting people now the truth about a variety of issues. By granting freedom only to the press, he went on, the government had failed to ensure that the people had access to the truth.

He cited a US study which showed that most news media outlets tend to be less than objective in their news coverage. "We need to have freedom to distribute books because the press could potentially air fake reports," he said.

Politics & political parties

Golkar says new Indonesian cabinet needed

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman, Jakarta – A Golkar Party official has called on the president to use the upcoming annual evaluation of the cabinet as an opportunity to implement a reshuffle.

Golkar's secretary general, Idrus Marham, criticized the cabinet's performance as "unsatisfactory" on Monday, adding the party wanted a "more dynamic, harmonious and productive" cabinet.

"This year marks the best opportunity for the president to use his prerogative to form a better cabinet," Idrus said. "If any of the current ministers are delaying the president's efforts to improve the country, then a reshuffle is called for."

Saan Mustopha, a deputy secretary general of the president's Democratic Party, responded by questioning Golkar's motives for calling for a cabinet revamp.

"A reshuffle may be good for Golkar, but who's to say they want it for the reasons they've given?" he said. "I don't know what Golkar is playing at with such statements, but we hope they don't raise a political ruckus."

The National Mandate Party (PAN) said that it would support an evaluation of the cabinet, but not a reshuffle.

Tjatur Sapto Edy, the PAN chairman at the House of Representatives, also criticized Idrus's call for a reshuffle, saying no party had the right to judge the performance of ministers. "The decision to replace a minister is the president's to make," he said.

Anis Matta, the secretary general of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), agreed that only the president could decide who served in his cabinet.

The PKS appears likely to lose a minister in any reshuffle. Analysts have said Tifatul Sembiring, the controversial minister of communications and information technology, is likely to be dropped from the cabinet.

Dems 'may prepare' Pramono for president

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2010

Jakarta – The ruling Democratic Party is probably preparing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's brother-in-law, Maj. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, for the 2014 presidential race, observers said Sunday.

Maj. Gen. Pramono, the Siliwangi Military Command chief, will soon be inaugurated as Commander of the Army's Strategic Reserve (Kostrad). Some observers believe that Pramono's rank promotion was part of Yudhoyono's technique to fast track his political career for the race for presidency.

Political observer Syamsuddin Haris of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) is one of those who believe in the theory.

"The problem is that Pramono is not part of the Democratic Party. He needs to join the party first in order to enter the 2014 presidential race," Syamsuddin told The Jakarta Post.

Pramono's prospective to represent the Democratic Party in the 2014 presidential bid was brought to the surface when the party's spokesman Ruhut Sitompul told a media outlet Sunday that Pramono could possibly be paired with former finance minister Sri Mulyani and be nominated as president and vice president candidates, respectively.

Ruhut said there would be a chance for the two figures to serve as alternative candidates to the primary party's nominee Anas Urbaningrum, the chairman of the Democratic Party.

Syamsuddin said the chance for Pramono and Sri to be elected as president and vice president in 2014 would be small, as the two were not affiliated with any political parties in the country.

"Pramono is a military figure, while Sri is an economist. In order for them to win the upcoming election, if they were nominated, the Democratic Party would need to prepare them as early as possible," Syamsuddin said.

Another of LIPI's political pundit, Siti Zuhro, also said the Democratic Party might be considering a political strategy to field Pramono to run for president. "It has been a nationwide phenomenon. We can see how some local regents prepare their wife, or even their second wife, for political succession," she said.

With regard to Purnomo's chance of being elected as president in 2014, Siti said 2014 would take elections to a new level that would open the door for non-military candidates and young political cadres to take on the challenges of leading this country.

"I think the era of military-affiliated forces coming into play in the presidential elections ended in 2009. The country is now seeing a different reality in which the public desires non-military candidates to become their new president," she said.

Meanwhile, legislators from the Democratic Party said the party was now focusing on how to support the Yudhoyono administration and make it successful.

Deputy chairman of House of Representatives Commission VI on trade, Agus Hermanto, from the Democratic Party, told the Post that the party had not discussed any plans related to nominating certain figures for the presidential race in 2014.

"That is just not our primary focus in the interim. We're now concentrating on how to support the President and his government achieve their goals," he said.

Another Democratic Party lawmaker Taufik Effendi, said: "We have never discussed such issues in any prior internal advisory council meetings. It is also important to note that this matter falls under the domain of the party's upper assembly," he said. (tsy)

Tommy Suharto says he would consider presidential run

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2010

Anita Rachman & Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former President Suharto, hinted at presidential ambitions on Friday, saying he would consider accepting a nomination in 2014.

Speaking at an event at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Tommy said he was open to offers but would have to weigh the parties making them. "Political parties can nominate anyone they like, but it's up to the nominee to accept or not," he said.

Tommy, who previously served in high positions within the Golkar Party during his father's time in power, has since drifted off the political stage. Last year, however, he was launched an audacious bid to chair Golkar. He went on to lose spectacularly to Aburizal Bakrie, garnering no votes.

In August, he tried for the more modest chair of the Mutual Assistance Families Society (MKGR), one of Golkar's three core organizations, but lost again, this time to Priyo Budi Santoso, an Aburizal loyalist.

In September, Yus Usman Sumanegara, a member of the Republican Party and a former secretary general of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), said several small parties had scheduled a meeting "to introduce ourselves to Tommy."

Yus declined to name the parties involved but said at least 14 of them had contested the 2009 general elections but failed to get into the House of Representatives. He said the meeting would discuss "the possibility of nominating Tommy as a presidential candidate."

"Although we're still in the early stages of our relationship with Tommy, there's a big possibility we'll back him," Yus said at the time.

Under electoral laws, a presidential candidate may only be nominated by a party or coalition that has won at least 20 percent of votes in the general election.

Last year, the only party that met the 20 percent threshold was the Democratic Party, while Golkar, which got 21 percent in 2004, had to bring other parties on board to augment the 14 percent it got in the polls.

On Friday, Lili Romli, a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said Tommy's chances of being nominated by Golkar or any other big parties were slim. "They've already got their own prominent figures, as do the smaller parties," Lili told the Jakarta Globe.

"But Tommy's wealthy, so he could afford to set up a new party, just as Prabowo and Wiranto did. However, I doubt his party would get a lot of votes because he lacks charm and character. He doesn't have a very magnetic personality, despite being Suharto's son."

Prabowo Subianto, formerly married to Tommy's sister, and Wiranto are both former generals who went on to establish political parties that won seats in the House in the 2009 polls.

Meanwhile, Tommy used his speech on Friday at the MPR to rant against what he called the disintegration of the country, calling the secession of East Timor in 1999 "the worst thing" for the nation as a whole.

He also accused the current government of not maximizing Indonesia's economic potential, saying it was still considered high-risk by investors and was not as competitive as other countries in the region.

SBY's image consciousness 'could backfire'

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2010

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must stop skirting issues that could compromise his image, because such a strategy could backfire if his inaction ends up exacerbating social issues, experts say.

A political expert from Pelita Harapan University, Tjipta Lesmana, said the President had attended to issues where action was likely to benefit his image, and kept silent on more controversial issues.

"The President will quickly attend [to an issue] if it enhances his image," he said. "He keeps silent on those things that can injure [his reputation]."

He said the President had not commented on Wednesday's deadly clash between Flores and Ambon ethnic gangs in South Jakarta, despite that the incident had seen gangsters carrying out murders unchallenged in the city in broad daylight.

Shotgun and sword-wielding gang members engaged in a deadly fight in front of the South Jakarta District Court, killing three people although 286 police officers were deployed.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political expert from the Indonesian Survey Institute, said the President divided his approach toward crucial issues depending on "electoral politics" by playing to his constituents' views. "Electoral politics and political image come in one package," he said.

He added Yudhoyono had urged a comprehensive settlement of the Tarakan ethnic clash because his constituents widely supported the need to restore peace in the East Kalimantan town.

He said the President did not respond sufficiently to recent religious tensions, such as acts of violence against Muslim sect Ahmadiyah and the HKBP church in Ciketing, because he was respecting his constituents' preferences on the issues.

The President instructed Tarakan officials to "make real efforts" to prevent the conflict between Bugis settlers and the indigenous Tarakan from flaring up.

He said the attack on two HKBP leaders by religious fundamentalists made him "unhappy", and has ordered the disbandment of Ahmadiyah, which some consider heretical.

"Religious minorities are the ones who suffer when the President plays it safe by putting his constituency above the Constitution," Burhanuddin said, adding that religious violence had the potential to "threaten the country's plurality".

"We have experienced a surplus of politicians but a paucity of statesmen since reform set in," he said. "Statesmen would place the Constitution above the constituency."

Sociologist Wimar Witoelar said Yudhoyono must put straight his priorities and make steadfast decisions in light of the country's many issues. "During times of crisis, his approach must change," he said. (JP/gzl)

PPP considers supporting Sri Mulyani's presidential bid

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2010

Jakarta – The United Development Party (PPP) has become the first political grouping that openly supports Sri Mulyani Indrawati's presidential bid in 2014 if the former finance minister decides to contest the election, regardless of her link to the Bank Century controversy.

PPP secretary general Irgan Chairul Mahfidz said the Muslim-based party considered Mulyani eligible for the top executive post due to her competence, intelligence and integrity. "PPP opens up a possibility to support her if surveys prove her popularity," Irgan told Antara news agency on Friday.

He suggested that other political parties and possible presidential candidates take Mulyani seriously. "Only because of political interests she had to quit the Cabinet. If she enters politics and announces her bid for presidency, her rivals must take her into consideration," Irgan said.

The discourse over Mulyani's possible comeback has been rife after a non- governmental organization launched Thursday a website named after the former finance minister, who is now a World Bank managing director.

Todung Mulya Lubis, senior lawyer and co-founder of the Alliance for Democracy Education, said the website, www.srimulyani.net, was aimed at collecting participation from the public to watch the implementation of ethics and integrity in the government's public policies, and had nothing to do with efforts to woo public support for Mulyani's bid for presidency.

Electoral commission & elections

Surveys find that too many parties crowd the house

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2010

Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – Most Indonesians want the number of parties at the House of Representatives trimmed down to improve the effectiveness of the legislature, recent surveys suggest.

In questioning 2,500 respondents in all 33 provinces across the country, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems found that most people wanted a slimmer legislature.

"Fifty-eight percent of Indonesians somewhat or strongly agree that the number of parties in the House should be reduced so that the House can be more effective in dealing with the country's issues," IFES said in a statement over the weekend.

"Only 32 percent agree that the number of parties in the House should stay the same because they represent the views of the different types of people who live in Indonesia."

The results of the study, conducted in August, echo those from a survey last month by Indo Barometer, in which 42 percent of 1,200 respondents said the nine parties currently at the House were too many. By contrast, only 16 percent said they wanted to see more than nine parties.

A quarter of those surveyed by Indo Barometer said the legislative threshold – the percentage of votes a party must win in the general elections in order to be represented at the House – was too low. Of those, 40 percent said the threshold should be quadrupled to 10 percent.

Meanwhile, a separate survey by consulting firm Charta Politika showed 56 percent of 378 respondents believed the high number of parties was having an adverse effect on the House's performance.

Almost 69 percent of respondents believed the number of parties should be reduced to five or fewer – 38 percent wanted between three and five, while 30 percent wanted just one to three.

Arya Fernandes, an analyst with Charta Politika, said this reflected the public's concerns that having too many parties in the House had affected both the government and the legislature in performing their duties.

Proponents of simplification have long argued that the presence of more parties makes the task of pushing through key government policies more difficult.

"When no party in the House has a majority... it forces the ruling party to form a coalition to get policies approved," Arya said. Even with coalitions, he said, negotiations were needed because some parties tended to buck the coalition trend.

Arya said the results of the various surveys also reflected public disappointment over the House's performance. "This month marks a year since the current legislators were inaugurated, and in that time the public hasn't seen any positive achievements," he said.

However, opponents of simplification, including several of the smaller parties, argue that raising the threshold to reduce the number of parties would unconstitutionally bar them from the legislative process.

Despite this, the House seems almost certain to approve the proposal for a doubling of the threshold, which has the support of the four biggest parties, accounting for 405 of the 560 seats at the House.

Keep Indonesia's political parties out of poll bodies: Survey

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2010

Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – An attempt by political parties to insert their members into election organizers is gaining little ground with the public, which a survey says is pleased with the bodies as they are.

The House of Representatives is deliberating an amendment to the 2007 Election Organizers Law, at the heart of which is a proposal that political party members be allowed to serve on electoral bodies, such as the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), to improve their performance.

The KPU was widely lambasted by parties and political analysts alike for its poor handling of last year's elections, which were fraught with violations and fraud. Currently, only those who have not been affiliated with a political party for the past five years may serve on either body.

Seven of the nine parties deliberating the bill at House Commission II, which oversees domestic affairs, want the time limit scrapped, while only the ruling Democrats and the National Mandate Party (PAN) support the existing restrictions.

However, a survey by the International Foundation for Election Systems indicated that the public believed the KPU was doing a good job.

"Of those aware of the various electoral institutions, there are fairly high levels of satisfaction with these institutions," IFES said in a statement.

Some 72 percent of the study's 2,500 respondents said they were satisfied with the KPU, holding steady from 71 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, 70 percent were satisfied with Bawaslu, while 71 percent were satisfied with the provincial-level Elections Supervisory Committees (Panwas).

The survey also showed that 65 percent of respondents believed the results released by provincial polling commissions, also known as KPUD, reflected the actual vote, with only 9 percent doubting the results. The study, conducted across all 33 provinces in August, also indicated that a majority of the people wanted to see the polling bodies free from influence from political parties.

"There is also general support for insulating the KPU from political pressures, as 62 percent support barring election commissioners from joining a political party for five years after they leave the KPU," IFES said, referring to a proposed change to law.

While most respondents were satisfied with the KPU, they also believed there was plenty of room for improvement.

The survey showed that 74 percent of respondents wanted more information on the vote-counting process, 73 percent on the participating parties and candidates, 64 percent on how to mark the ballot, and 57 percent on voter registration.

Indonesia's democratic system fits well: Survey

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2010

Jakarta – Majority of Indonesians believe in elections as a means to influence political decision-making processes and support democracy, according to a survey by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

IFES country director Peter Erben said on Thursday the survey, conducted nationwide from Aug. 20-27 and funded by the Australian Agency for International Development, focused mainly on issues of democracy and elections as well as social and economic trends since last year's general elections.

"This is a survey involving a large number of respondents and is expected to be a good representation of the country's population," Eben said. The study surveyed 2,500 Indonesian men and women of various ages and from varied economic and educational backgrounds in all 33 provinces.

In terms of the perception of voting, around 78 percent of those surveyed in 2010 agreed that voting provided them with the opportunity to influence political decisions, a 6 percent increase compared to 2008. Only 13 percent of the respondents this year said they disagreed with the idea.

The study also revealed that the majority of respondents (62 percent) said religion still played an influential role in how they vote. The figure, however, is a 17 percent decrease from 2008.

According to Rakesh Sharma, the director of the F. Clinton White Applied Research Center at IFES in Washington DC, the high level of positive responses to voting corresponded positively with the public's approval of Indonesia's democratic form of government.

"In one of the follow-up questions, we asked the respondents to choose the most favorable form of government for the country," Sharma added.

He said the level of support for a democratic government in the country was high, about 72 percent, while around 20 percent of the respondents believed that the matter was not important. In addition, only 4 percent of those surveyed favor a non-democratic government.

Commenting on the survey results, a senior political researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Syamsuddin Haris, said "the fact that majority of respondents believe in the power of voting is a positive thing. It means the public is aware about the importance of political participation in elections."

Syamsuddin highlighted the reason why many Indonesians still lacked an understanding of democracy. "I think that phenomenon is normal, as we were under the authoritarian regime of Soeharto for 32 years. The people still need time to understand democracy," he said.

Education and promoting public awareness about democracy are effective in ensuring the public understands the value of democracy, according to Syamsuddin.

"For a country with a very young democracy like Indonesia, it is not the people who enjoy the benefits of democracy, but the political elite," Syamsuddin said. (tsy)

Labour & migrant workers

'Slavery' in ADB, World Bank projects, say unions

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2010

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Indonesian labor unions grouped under the Asian Labor Networking in International Financing Institutions (ALNI) said "slavery" occurs in projects funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

ALNI reported serious ADB violations of core International Labour Organization (ILO) standards in its infrastructure projects in Kalimantan, West Java and Riau, and violations committed by the World Bank in Bali.

Concluding their two-day meeting in Jakarta on Friday, union members planned a rally at the ADB and World Bank offices in Jakarta, the Presidential Palace and the House of Representatives to convey their story of institutional slavery. They also called for close monitoring of labor conditions in both of the banks' projects in Indonesia.

The ALNI would pressure the House to push the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to investigate the ADB and World Bank-funded development projects and review the government's proposed loans, ALNI and All-Indonesian Workers Organization (OPSI) secretary-general Timbul Siregar said.

"The funds Indonesia has received from the ADB and the World Bank are foreign loans that must be paid back with interest. We suspect corrupt government officials receive kickbacks to maintain the country's dependence on foreign loans," he said, adding that Indonesia has received US$151 billion in loans from the ADB.

ALNI conducted a survey of the ADB's Rp 100 billion road rehabilitation projects between June and July and found that more than 1,000 workers employed in the project in Sanggau, West Kalimantan, were underpaid, housed in inhumane accommodations and were not insured by the compulsory social security programs (Jamsostek).

ADB spokeswoman Ayun Sundari questioned the results of ALNI's survey, which she said was conducted unsystematically and without any information from the bank's management.

"In consultation with the executing agency we are reviewing the issues brought to our attention with respect to the road rehabilitation project in Kalimantan. As stated earlier, the ADB is committed to ensuring the project is implemented in accordance with the prevailing labor standards," she said.

The ADB had already checked with state-owned construction company Waskita Karya, which operates the project, and learned that all 300 workers employed by the project have been registered with Jamsostek, but some may not know they have been insured.

The House would ask the government to suspend the programs if it had to borrow money from international financing institutions to provide social security, United Development Party legislator Surya Chandra Surapaty said.

Environment & natural disasters

Mudflow villagers won't budge without more cash

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2010

Amir Tejo, Surabaya – Residents of three villages in Jabon subdistrict in Sidoarjo, East Java, have refused to leave their homes as part of a government plan to use the area as a reservoir for mud from the Lapindo mud volcano.

Under an earlier agreement, residents of Pejarakan, Besuki, and Kedungcungkring villages were to leave after receiving 20 percent of the compensation promised to them by the government, with the rest to follow.

However, the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS) said on Tuesday that the residents were refusing to honor the agreement, despite have already received more than the initial 20 percent.

"The villagers have received 50 percent of the total compensation the government promised them, as well as daily allowances and evacuation money, but they still refuse to leave," said Kusairi, a spokesman for the BPLS.

He said the villagers needed to evacuate the area as soon as possible because new mud wells were erupting more frequently in the villages, spewing hot mud and flammable gases.

"There have been many fires in the area recently because irresponsible people recklessly keep lighting matches there," Kusairi said.

However, the villagers deny they have been paid 50 percent of the compensation. They acknowledge they have been paid the 20 percent, but say they want more.

Abdul Rokhim, the coordinator of the mud victims' group in Besuki village, said the residents would not oppose the government's plan as long as the compensation was sufficient.

"The government should pay us at least 30 percent of the promised compensation," he said. "Only then will the people consider moving." Abdul said the villagers were holding out for more money because they needed it to build or buy new homes elsewhere.

The Sidoarjo mud volcano has been spewing thousands of cubic meters of hot mud and gas every day from a fissure that appeared near a gas drilling well operated by Lapindo Brantas in May 2006, swamping much of Porong subdistrict.

Lapindo, partly owned by the family of Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, has since been widely criticized for not owning up to the incident and failing to compensate families whose properties have been swamped.

Meanwhile, another mud well has erupted in the neighboring village of West Siring. The well began spewing hot mud and water 30 centimeters into the air on Monday night. However, no damage to property was reported because the well erupted in a vacant lot.

Health & education

Rights body promises to help teachers expose school corruption

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Bilhuda Haryanto, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights is planning to help teachers file corruption complaints with the antigraft body.

M Ridha Saleh, a member of the commission, known as Komnas HAM, told a group of visiting teachers on Thursday that it would help file complaints with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) if enough data were provided.

"This issue is not about these teachers but also about the image of our national education system," he said. "We will demand a clear confirmation from the concerned ministries, school commissions and principals."

Retno Listyanti, chairwoman of the Jakarta Teachers Council, said the need for action had been highlighted by the dismissal of 12 teachers at SMAN 1 high school in Puwarkarta, West Java, in July last year who had alleged irregularities in the management of the school budget.

"Teachers are being intimidated when they question irregularities. Their voices are muzzled and they are even dismissed," she said.

Teachers, she added, have to be more proactive in fighting for their rights. Retno said the "unjust dismissals" had been reported to Purwakarta officials and the education office but there had been no follow up.

She suspected school officials and members of the local education office had colluded in an effort to silence the teachers.

One of the dismissed teachers said the layoffs came after they had complained the school's registration fund was open to graft. "According to data we have received, there was Rp 1.2 billion [$135,000] in the fund," the teacher said. "But the principal told us it had just Rp 800 million."

Indonesia Corruption Watch has said there are indications of irregularities pointing toward corruption involving schools' registration funds. "The amounts are quite alarming," the ICW's Ade Irawan said on Thursday while declining to name any school.

"From Rp 1.5 billion up to Rp 10 billion, school principals sometimes reserve 20 to 30 percent for themselves." Ade said ignoring small corruption cases like that at SMAN 1 Purwakarta "could become a bad precedent unless we take immediate action to fix it as soon as possible."

Jimmy F Paat, from the Coalition of Education, encouraged teachers nationwide to expose problems in the school system.

"Corruption in education institutions is supposed to receive the upmost attention from legal authorities," he said. "It is ironic how the government always insists that teachers guide students away from corruption, while teachers who fight against corruption are being intimidated."

Students confused by conflicting 'facts' about Sept. 30 coup

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2010

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – In the eyes of many senior high-school students in Bandung, West Java, a famous New Order propaganda film documenting the Sept. 30, 1965, attempted coup by the now-disbanded Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), is as familiar as it is confusing.

After the screening of the film Pemberontakan G30S PKI (The Sept. 30 PKI Rebellion) at the Indonesia Menggugat Building in Bandung on Thursday, many students stood around chatting with one another, others sat in silence.

Several students who had already seen the film, which was made in 1984, slept in a mosque outside of the screening room. Several students confessed they simply did not "get" the film.

"I don't understand the story line. But I definitely disagree with what the PKI did," said 16-year-old Trisya, one of 320 students from SMAN 9 senior high-school who attended the film screening.

Another student, Sarah Hafitriani, had previously watched the film on TV. During the New Order era, the film was aired on TV every Sept. 30. That tradition ended with the fall of the regime's strong man Soeharto in 1998.

"Basically, the film is about the coup attempt, with some sort of war scenes – people getting cruelly tortured, not given food," the 17-year-old replied when asked to describe the film.

The senior high school's history teacher, Ema Watiamah, said the screening of the film – directed by noted director Arifin C. Noer – had been instructed by the city's Education Office.

The teachers downloaded the film from YouTube for the screening because the school library did not have a copy, nor did local video rental shops, she added. She said all available historical facts incriminated the PKI.

She said she hoped the government would officially provide an accurate historical account of the event to properly educate students and teachers, adding that she knew of at least five books that documented the Sept. 30 abortive coup, and that each pointed to different masterminds.

All of these different versions, she added, were taught to students in classrooms. "We encourage students to read all versions but there's a lack of existing historical documents. However, we still try to stay neutral when teaching about the event although frankly, I'm personally confused about which one is right or wrong," Ema said.

The school's spokesman, Iwan Hermawan, said it was once obligatory for schools to screen the film, but not since 1998. "We try to show the students [the film] to help them clearly understand [the event] and if there's any correction to the film's story line, they know where it is," he said.

The National Education Ministry rewrote school history books in 2004, saying the PKI had been only one of several instigators in the 1965 rebellion. However, in 2006 the ministry went back to solely blaming the PKI on the grounds that positioning the PKI as the main perpetrator was the most acceptable version for Indonesians. The ministry said there had been widespread public resistance to the 2004 version.

Nine provinces 'in dire medical state'

Jakarta Globe - October 1, 2010

Nurfika Osman – Nine provinces have huge health problems because of a lack of medical practitioners and prevention efforts, the government says.

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said on Friday that the main diseases affecting these areas were largely preventable, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. "These three also account for the highest number of illnesses in the country," she said.

The inability to tackle them was largely because of a lack of qualified doctors and nurses, even in regions where the government had set up health centers to cater to remote communities.

"For this reason, we're offering full scholarships for doctors from these provinces who want to specialize and return to their provinces," Endang said.

The nine are Aceh, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, West Papua, Papua, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Maluku and Gorontalo – the latter eight all in the country's less-developed eastern half.

Another challenge, Endang said, was to boost preventive measures in the provinces. "In places such as Papua and West Papua, the lack of access to health centers remains the biggest barrier, even though we have mobile clinics," the minister said. "But these clinics can't teach the locals to adopt healthy practices once they leave."

Endang cited the example of diarrhea, a common ailment in regions lacking clean water.

"A mobile clinic can provide clean water to a village for a week, as well as medicine to treat diarrhea patients, but it can't help the residents build a water reservoir," she said.

"While technically the construction of a water reservoir is the responsibility of the public works office, as health officials we need to be more proactive in helping the people."

These challenges threatened to set back Indonesia's progress toward meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals on eradicating poverty and raising health standards, she said.

Endang also called for more meetings between regional officials and medical practitioners to streamline and optimize health programs at the local level.

She said West Nusa Tenggara had made progress by encouraging healthy living among its residents, including by rolling out campaigns to promote better nutrition for children and expectant mothers.

In 2007, 13 percent of children under the age of 5 were deemed moderately malnourished, while 5.4 percent were chronically malnourished. This year, the number of moderately malnourished children is the same, but fewer are chronically underfed.

Graft & corruption

Legislators hound KPK in BI corruption scandal

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2010

Jakarta – A hearing between legislators and leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Thursday turned into an opportunity for several lawmakers to bash the KPK for naming fellow politicians as graft suspects.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Panda Nababan, recently named a suspect in a high-profile graft case pertaining to the 2004 election of Miranda Goeltom as central bank senior deputy governor, was present at the meeting and used the occasion to protest the ill- treatment he claimed to receive during questioning by KPK investigators.

PDI-P legislator Gayus Lumbuun criticized the procedures used by the commission in handling corruption cases, citing the Miranda case as an example.

"The commission violated the principle of legal certainty guaranteed by law. It's still not clear whether the traveler's checks [allegedly paid out to legislators] were gratuities or supporting funds for political parties," Gayus said.

"It looks as if the KPK is showing off. It never took into consideration the best solution for the suspect," he said.

Last month, the commission named 26 former members of the House's Commission IX, including Panda and the Golkar Party's Paskah Suzetta, as suspects for accepting bribes to support Miranda's bid to be Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor in 2004.

He added that the KPK had to suspend the probe into his fellow politicians until sufficient evidence had been found to avoid character assassination.

Panda claimed the commission had succeeded in muddying his name. "Now my friends are reluctant to call me because they are worried our conversations will be wiretapped. They also avoid meeting with me," he said.

Panda also questioned KPK procedures, which he said tended to ignore the rights of both witnesses and suspects. "Investigators are granted huge authority. They may talk to the press freely, while we cannot even get a copy of our case file."

Golkar's Dewi Asmara also criticized KPK procedures. "We don't expect KPK procedures to hold precedence over the law. Its procedures should not be used to create double standards in probing cases," she said.

Dewi added that in several corruption cases, the KPK stopped investigations after the Corruption Court sentenced graft convicts, while in other cases, such as the Bank Indonesia vote-rigging scandal, it continued the legal process before the motive behind the alleged bribery could be established. "We really need to know the KPK's procedures in prioritizing a case," she said.

KPK deputy chairman Chandra M. Hamzah denied the allegations, saying the KPK already had clear standards both during investigations and trials. "It's normal for people to have questions about the traveler's checks. We are still investigating," he said. "It all hinges on how much evidence we can collect."

Febri Diansyah from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said that as a graft suspect, Panda should have been banned from attending the hearing. "He has to be excluded from the session because he has a conflict of interest. The House's monitoring function should not be hijacked by corruption suspects," he said. (lnd)

Susno lawyers want prosecutor, police generals investigated

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2010

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The defense team for former chief of detectives Susno Duadji, on trial for allegedly taking bribes and misusing police funds, on Wednesday became the latest to question why prosecutor Cirus Sinaga and two police generals were not implicated in the money-laundering trial of a tax official.

In March, Susno said that law enforcers had taken bribes from rogue taxman Gayus Tambunan to knock down money-laundering and corruption charges to a minor embezzlement case, allowing Gayus to escape imprisonment despite his suspicious Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) bank accounts.

Susno's lawyers told the South Jakarta District Court that police investigators and the prosecution team in the Gayus case consisted of the same key people who had handled the murder charge against former antigraft agency chairman Antasari Azhar.

"One fact is never revealed to the public: for what reasons did the police hand the corruption and money-laundering case against Gayus to Cirus Sinaga?," lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat said when presenting the preliminary defense.

"Cirus served with the general crimes unit in the prosecutor's office but he actively attempted to bring the case to his desk."

The lawyer said Cirus did not have the authority to handle the case, which should have gone instead to the special crimes unit of the Attorney General's Office, and so he had added the embezzlement charge to pave the way for his involvement.

"There was a sinister conspiracy between prosecutors and police, with just one aim, namely, to loot the money in Gayus's accounts," he said.

Speaking after the hearing, Henry told reporters he would call acting Attorney General Darmono in person to demand action against Cirus. However, on Tuesday, Darmono reiterated the AGO's position that there was no evidence to indicate Cirus accepted a bribe from the former tax official.

"As for the two high-ranking officers mentioned earlier by the defendant, they escaped prosecution and were even recently promoted by the police chief," Henry said, referring to Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman and Brig. Gen. Edmon Ilyas.

Susno, who is accused of accepting a bribe of Rp 500 million when handling a case involving a dispute over a fish farm and the theft of Rp 8 billion from a security fund while West Java Police chief, demanded that he be cleared of any charges and released immediately because the indictment was unclear.

He also argued that the two unrelated charges could not be combined into a single indictment.

In a separate hearing earlier in the day, co-defendant Sjahril Djohan said he was the victim of a groundless accusation by Susno. Susno had said previously in a hearing with lawmakers that Sjahril brokered the Gayus and the fish farm cases in exchange for bribes.

"Susno Duadji, at the start of his political adventure at the House of Representatives, said that he didn't know me. To him, I would like to say never sacrifice everything and abandon people in your quest to achieve your personal ambition," a tearful Sjahril said when presenting his personal defense.

He made the remarks in response to last week's prosecution demand that he serve two years in jail for allegedly channeling bribes to Susno.

Sjahril described himself as a fierce fighter against corruption who had helped the government uncover many major cases. He said he had helped Jakarta to coordinate with police in Australia to capture fugitive embezzler Hendra Raharja, assisted then antigraft agency chairman Antasari Azhar in uncovering a graft scandal in the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, and even played a role in the ongoing graft probe at the Foreign Ministry.

His attorney, Hotma Sitompul, said it was Susno alone who put Sjahril in the defendant's chair.

"The source of the information came from one man, Susno Duadji, who at that time was facing a very serious personal problem, namely losing his job as chief of detectives," said the lawyer.

"It seemed to be a matter of life or death for [Susno] so he couldn't control his actions and words and it ultimately backfired as he himself also became a defendant."

Indonesian house passes beefed-up law to tackle graft

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2010

Anita Rachman & Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – The House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed a revised Anti-Money Laundering Law that gives anticorruption officials more power to tackle graft.

The revisions allow the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate cases based on reports from the anti-money laundering agency and puts the onus on graft suspects to prove their wealth is legal.

Syarifuddin Sudding, a legislator from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) who helped draft the amendments, said the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) would send its reports to investigators and if the KPK found signs of money laundering in a corruption case, it could open a probe.

"So it's not only in the hands of the police and the Attorney General's Office anymore," Syarifuddin said.

Giving the KPK the authority to probe suspicious transactions based on PPATK reports had been strongly advocated by antigraft activists, who said it would boost the fight against corruption.

According to a PPATK report, the agency has detected 2,442 suspicious transactions since it was established in 2004, 92 percent of which were forwarded to the National Police and the rest to the prosecutors' office. But only 26 of those cases have ended with convictions.

In the only two cases where the KPK was authorized to use PPATK reports, 10 lawmakers ended up being charged with receiving bribes, most of them from major parties, including Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Ecky Awal Mucharam, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), who was on the committee considering the revisions, confirmed that under the new law, the KPK would automatically receive copies of PPATK reports.

Ecky said the new law also gave the PPATK the authority to examine and analyze a wider set of documents and freeze accounts involved in suspicious financial transactions.

Another crucial point in the amended law is the introduction of the burden of proof system when it comes to graft suspects.

"In the past it has been the prosecutor who has had to prove how the suspect got the money, now it's different," Ecky said. "Prosecutors will be able to demand suspects give proof of their wealth, how they amassed it."

He said the changes proved the country's seriousness in eliminating money laundering.

The minister of justice and human rights, Patrialis Akbar, who attended the House plenary session, said the law would help eradicate corruption.

"All this time the PPATK's authority has been very limited," he said. "Now it has been given increased authority." Patrialis said that a number of clauses in the original law had left room for multiple interpretations, presenting legal loopholes that encouraged financial crimes.

"It needed to be adjusted according to the developing needs of law enforcement, current practices and international standards," Patrialis said.

Police officer tells the court how prosecutors rigged Gayus trial

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2010

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Prosecutors pressured police to charge rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan with embezzlement as part of a conspiracy to help the suspect evade justice, a court heard on Monday,

A prosecutor demanded that police add the charge so he would be able to handle the case, Sri Sumartini, a police officer, told the South Jakarta District Court during Gayus's latest graft trial.

The former taxman was acquitted on March 12 of the relatively minor charge of embezzlement after allegedly paying police officers, prosecutors and a judge billions of rupiah in bribes. His acquittal came despite the presence of Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) in his personal bank accounts.

Gayus was initially charged with money laundering and graft, but prosecutors subsequently dropped the money laundering charge.

Two police officers, the presiding judge in Gayus's original trial at the Tangerang District Court, Gayus's lawyers and several alleged case brokers have been named suspects in the case. However, the two prosecutors who have been implicated in the case have so far avoided being named suspects.

Sri told the court that Fadil Regan, a prosecutor, called her late last year and asked that she add the embezzlement charge against Gayus. Sri was testifying as a witness for the prosecution. "Fadil called me to add Article 273" of the Criminal Code on embezzlement, she told the court.

Prosecutors in the current trial said earlier that the prosecutors who handled Gayus's original trial had asked police to add the embezzlement charge because corruption charges alone would have drawn the involvement of a separate division at the Attorney General's Office.

Corruption is handled by the AGO's special crimes unit, while Fadil and Cirus Sinaga, who led the prosecution against Gayus, were assigned to the office's general crimes unit.

After police added the embezzlement charge, the two prosecutors allegedly allowed Gayus's bank accounts to be partially unfrozen. Sri told the court on Monday that the freeze on the accounts was lifted last November.

Sri is being tried separately in the same case and a ruling in her trial, also being held at the South Jakarta District Court, is expected on Wednesday.

Prosecutors handling Gayus's original trial set aside the primary charges – money laundering and graft – and instead focused on the relatively minor charge of embezzlement.

They asked the Tangerang District Court to sentence Gayus to just a year in jail, for embezzling Rp 370 million from a private firm. The court acquitted him, citing a lack of evidence.

Following Sri's testimony on Monday, Gayus told the court that Cirus had helped him win an acquittal in the first case. He said the prosecutor had warned him to be consistent in his story – that the Rp 28 billion in his bank accounts had come from a legal land deal with businessman Andi Kosasih.

Gayus earlier said he arranged the bogus business deal with Andi, brokered by his lawyer and with the full knowledge of Arafat Enanie, a police investigator. Arafat has been sentenced to five years in jail in the scandal.

Adnan Buyung Nasution, Gayus's lawyer, slammed the prosecution for not calling Cirus and Fadil as witnesses in the current trial, labeling the decision a "cover-up." He said he would call the prosecutors himself.

Travel check was for Megawati campaign: Max Moein

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2010

Jakarta – Former Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Max Moein on Tuesday admitted to have accepted travelers' checks worth a total of Rp 500 million (US$56,069), which he said were spent on campaigning for party leader Megawati Soekarnoputri in the 2004 presidential election.

"However, I did not know where the checks came from because I received them from my party, which had instructed us to help 'Mega' win the most votes in our respective constituencies," Moein said after a questioning session at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The KPK has named Moein and 25 other former and current members of the House of Representatives graft suspects for allegedly accepting bribes to vote for Miranda S. Goeltom in the election for the Bank Indonesia deputy senior governor post in 2004.

Moein said that while the PDI-P had ordered he vote for Miranda, the money had nothing to do with the election. "I accepted it from the party treasurer at the House [Dudhie Makmun Murod] several weeks after Miranda's election," he said. (lnd)

Don't pick on Aburizal Bakrie firms in tax probe: Golkar lawmaker

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Officials must investigate all the alleged corporate tax cheats linked to rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan and not focus only on those owned by the Golkar chairman, a lawmaker says.

Gayus, who amassed more than Rp 100 billion ($11.2 million) in bank accounts, gold and foreign currency, has said most of it came from bribes from 140 companies, including miners Kaltim Prima Coal, Arutmin and Bumi Resources.

Those three are owned by the family of Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie and have been embroiled in a spat with the tax office over unpaid taxes. Gayus claims to have received a total of $3 million from them.

However, police have investigated only four companies, identified only as SAT, DAS, E and I. No charges have been pressed against any of these or the Bakrie companies. Gayus is on trial for money-laundering and corruption.

On Sunday, however, Golkar's Bambang Soesatyo, who serves on the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said there were indications that Gayus had been ordered to highlight only the Bakrie companies.

Bambang said he was collecting information about legal violations allegedly committed by some of the companies involved that were backed by other politicians, which he said had not been investigated.

However, he declined to name the companies or officials, saying only that the allegations against the Bakrie miners were part of a wider pattern to target Golkar.

"We all know Gayus was linked to more than 140 companies, so why have the police not probed all the links?" Bambang said. "We urge the National Police and the Attorney General's Office to investigate the cases, reveal what went on and prosecute all those involved."

Meanwhile, Bonyamin Saiman, an activist from the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI), accused the police and AGO of dragging their feet on investigations into the companies linked to Gayus.

The former tax official worked on the tax returns of at least 149 companies during his time with the office, according to the Finance Ministry's Directorate General of Taxation.

Besides the Bakrie companies, some of the other major ones include oil major Chevron Oil Products Indonesia, offshore contractor Dowell Anadrill Schlumberger, automaker Ford Indonesia, and telecommunications operator Excelcomindo Pratama.

Gayus has indicated he helped only 44 of those companies evade taxes. "Despite what Gayus has claimed, the police and AGO must follow up on all the links," Bonyamin said. "It's a big scandal and must be investigated thoroughly."

He added that MAKI would file a pretrial motion for an investigation into the cases if Gayus's trial focused only on the Bakrie companies.

AGO spokesman Babul Khoir Harahap said the office intended to "reveal the scandal thoroughly," but he added it could not take any steps without police investigators first releasing the results of their own investigation.

"We still haven't received any of the investigation files from the police dealing with the case," he said.

Meanwhile, Arbi Sanit, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia, said the high prevalence of major scandals erupting across the country were a "clear reflection of leadership weaknesses."

Weak leadership, he said, would always result in wrong policies and nurture a climate of corruption. "We must now start fixing all of this," Arbi said. "We should not let any more scandals break open without coming up with a fair and proper resolution."

War on terror

Cleric Ba'asyir linked to raid on police post and robbery

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2010

Dicky Christanto and Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta/medan – Police said Thursday they had evidence suggesting firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir may have masterminded a recent deadly bank heist and an attack on a police post in North Sumatra.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said his office had evidence that Ba'asyir had visited Hamparan Perak in North Sumatra twice earlier this year to preach at private gatherings. "He preached about why the use of violence was justified as long as it served the good of religion," Iskandar said.

In a holdup of a CIMB Niaga bank branch in Medan, North Sumatra, on Aug. 18, robbers shot dead a police officer before fleeing with Rp 300 million (US$33,100).

A month later on Sept. 22, armed men attacked the Hamparan Perak police precinct, killing three officers in an apparent retaliation for the killing and arrests of their colleagues involved in the bank robbery.

Ba'asyir was arrested in West Java and taken into police custody on Aug. 10, two days before the fasting month of Ramadan, on charges of involvement in fund-raising activities for an Islamic militant training camp in Jantho, Aceh province, that police raided earlier.

Ba'asyir was found guilty by the South Jakarta District Court in 2005 of conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

But in December 2006, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ba'asyir after an appeal. Ba'asyir at the time was the chairman of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council.

When asked why Ba'asyir endorsed such criminal acts as robbery and killing, Iskandar said it was an efficient means to recruit fanatics who were interested in following in the cleric's radical footsteps.

"We got this information from gang members in police custody. Although Ba'asyir did not directly order the crimes, he passed on to his congregation his wrong interpretation [of the Koran]," Iskandar said.

Police said that through Ubaid Al Lutfi Haidaroh, one of his confidants, Ba'asyir had contributed more than $5,000 to the establishment of the Aceh training facility. They added that Ba'asyir also held several fund-raisers to help establish the camp.

Ubaid, who was also arrested in Aceh, is expected to stand trial soon in Jakarta.

Iskandar said police were collecting more evidence about Ba'asyir's possible involvement in the Medan robbery and the attack on the police precinct.

As of Thursday, police had arrested 25 people as well as shot dead several others they believed were involved in the two incidents.

Commenting on the latest development, Mahendradatta, one of Ba'asyir's lawyers, said the police suspicion of his client was a baseless and misleading attempt at discrediting the cleric's reputation.

Meanwhile in North Sumatra, police and Army officers on Thursday combed an area believed to be the training ground of suspected terrorists at the foot of Mount Sinabung, Karo regency. The area has been on heightened alert following volcanic eruptions last month.

The manhunt was conducted following a series of gunshots believed to have come from the terrorist suspects.

North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno said the search had been conducted for the past two days. "The team is still tracing the gunshots. So far it is not clear who fired the shots, but we will continue to comb the area to the peak of the mountain if we have to," Oegroseno said.

On Oct. 5, several residents and foreign tourists who were climbing the mountain heard gunshots. They then informed police, Oegroseno said.

SBY calls for better police, TNI cooperation in 'war on terror'

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2010

Andi Hajramurni, Jakarta/Makassar – The Indonesian Military (TNI) should work better with the National Police to fight terrorism, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday at an event to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the TNI in Halim Perdanakusuma, East Jakarta.

"The country's development will succeed if we as a nation are able to maintain security, stability, public order and cohesion. In this era of reformation, these things are absolute," Yudhoyono said at the commemoration.

The President asserted that strategic and operational measures were needed to combat terrorism. "The country cannot lose the fight against terror. We have to win as terrorists are our enemies, as well as those of the country," he added.

Indonesia has witnessed an increase in underground activities linked to terrorism, especially in Sumatra. A series of joint operations by police and the military in North Sumatra last weekend, for example, resulted in the arrest of three terrorism suspects, two in Dali Serdang regency and one in Serdang Bedagai regency. Another six suspects were reportedly killed in the operation, with two of the dead believed to be associated with robbers who held up a CIMB Niaga bank in Medan in August.

Yudhoyono requested that cooperation between the TNI and police be enhanced in order to suppress terrorism. He also instructed government officials to play an active role in maintaining security, as social conflicts – sometimes followed by violence – had increased recently.

"In this instance, I hope police can be more proactive in resolving problems. We need to ensure that law and justice are enforced and upheld in this country," Yudhoyono said. Mass organizations should not resort to violence, instigate riots or attack police officers, the President added.

A rising tide of ethnic and religious violence has increased in intensity and frequency across the country. A recent communal clash in Tarakan, East Kalimantan, a deadly gang brawl near the South Jakarta District Court building and the Sept. 12 stabbing of two church leaders in Bekasi, West Java, are just the latest in a spate of incidents of violence sparked by ethnic and religious elements.

During commemorations of the TNI's 65th anniversary in Makassar, South Sulawesi, 100 TNI veterans and their families voiced concerns about the current state of the armed forces in front of the West Irian Liberation Monument.

The veterans, with many decked head-to-toe in military uniforms, did not hoist the national flag or sing the national anthem, but raised a white flag and a paper national flag, while standing in a circle.

Col. (Ret.) Muhammad Idris, who led the ceremony, said the armed forces had departed from their principle of being "the people's soldiers and fighters" striving to maintain the sovereignty of the Republic.

Idris said he was concerned about the way in which many TNI veterans and their families were treated, especially those who had been evicted from state-owned army housing complexes in South Sulawesi.

"All of us who are present here share the same unfortunate circumstances. We have been ignored and pitted against our children, as well as against other active military personnel. It's so sad that even our own institutional leaders have kicked us out of our own houses in which we have lived for years," he said.

On Aug. 9, the Army chief of staff issued an eviction notice to the veterans and ordered them to vacate their property within six months.

During the ceremony, Let. Col. (Ret.) Djaenal Gultom, the chairman of the Coordination Forum of the Defense Ministry's office of state-owned housing for TNI and police officers in South Sulawesi, rejected the notice, saying that the letter did not accord with a 2008 Presidential decree, which guarantees the rights of TNI veterans to file a property lien. (tsy)

Military role in terror fight 'needs rules'

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2010

Dicky Christanto and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The government should devise clear regulations to govern the military's role in the fight against terrorism, analysts say, citing concerns on a potential military-police rivalry and the potential abuse of power by the armed forces.

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Adm. Agus Suhartono said Sunday the military would provide necessary assistance required by the police to combat terrorists, adding that a regulation outlining technical procedures for cooperation was still being drafted.

"We are currently discussing it with the National Antiterrorism Agency [BNPT]. It is expected that we are going to see the results in the immediate future," he told reporters after inspecting final preparations for the TNI's anniversary celebration, which has been slated for Oct. 5 at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base.

Despite the absence of regulation, the military recently joined a four-day police operation against suspected terrorists in Serdang Bedagai regency, North Sumatra. TNI members were reported to have given the police information on the location of the armed militants and were involved in surrounding the suspects.

Bambang Widodo Umar of the University of Indonesia said that terrorism had become a national threat and the military's involvement was necessary. But the TNI's role should be clearly regulated, he added.

"We should make it clear how far the military can be involved. Otherwise, we are likely to see additional problems, mainly in the field," he said.

Al Araf from human rights group Imparsial said the government had not yet made a regulation governing the military operations outside a time of war.

"The 2004 Law on The Indonesian Military ordered the administration to deliberate on an operating regulation to regulate the details of the military's involvement in operations other than in wartime. To this date, we still don't have any regulations," he said.

He added that the President could issue a regulation by decree. "What we have here is more important, which is providing a legal standing for all military personnel who will be involved in hunting terrorists."

BNPT chief Insp. Gen. (ret) Ansyaad Mbai previously said that the police would still be the lead agency in the hunt for terrorists. "The military will be in standby mode, meaning they will jump in whenever their services are required by the police in the pursuit of terrorists," he said recently.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) military observer Jaleswari Pramodhawardani expressed fears that a "row" between the military and the police might hinder collaboration between the institutions.

"Under the BNPT, such an issue should not present anymore. The institution was formed by the President as the highest leader in the country, who must be obeyed by both the police and the military," she said.

Jaleswari agreed with Ansyaad, saying that the police would still have the lead role in fighting terrorism.

"In case the police are overwhelmed and need support, they can request assistance from the BNPT. The agency will then report to the President, who will order the army to dispatch troops to accompany the police," she said.

Indonesia police kill six suspected Indonesian terrorists

Agence France Presse - October 3, 2010

Dolok Sagala, Indonesia – Indonesian police shot dead six suspected Islamist militants and arrested four others in a raid on their hideout on Sumatra island, police said Sunday.

Four suspects were killed and a policeman injured in a gunbattle on Saturday on an oil-palm plantation in Dolok Sagala village in North Sumatra province, provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno said.

Two more were killed on Sunday, he said in an update to reporters. "The [sixth] suspect was shot dead after he tried to throw a hand grenade at the police. The grenade then exploded near him," he added.

Earlier, he said the suspects had put up a fight during the raid and police had "fired a warning shot but they continued to resist."

Three suspects were arrested Saturday night and one surrendered to residents Sunday, who then handed him over to the police.

Police are hunting several other suspects. The suspects are believed to be linked to a group suspected of killing a police officer in a spectacular bank robbery in Medan city in August to raise funds for terrorist attacks, he said.

They were also involved in an attack on a police station near Medan in which three police officers were killed, Oegroseno said.

Indonesian anti-terror police last month shot dead three suspects and arrested 15 others in a series of raids in which militants used women and children as human shields.

Muslim-majority Indonesia is struggling to deal with the threat of homegrown Islamist militants who oppose the country's secular, democratic system and want to create a caliphate across much of Southeast Asia.

Bars won't stop Ba'asyir from preaching for jihad

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2010

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – A humid 9-square-meter cell equipped with an air conditioner, a modest queen-sized bed and a private bathroom is where hard-line cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, 72, spends his days since his arrest by the police counterterrorism squad on Aug. 9.

Located inside the detective building at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta, cell A4 is specifically tailored to confine the alleged terror mastermind whose many followers have been convicted of terrorism.

A security camera in the corner of the cell and bugging devices to monitor Ba'asyir's activities around the clock differentiate the cell from others.

When visited by The Jakarta Post several days before the Idul Fitri holiday, Ba'asyir was seen gearing up to cite the verses of the Koran inside his cell, which was also filled with packaged food, prescription drugs and neatly folded Islamic attire.

"They treat me well here," Ba'asyir said, adding that the only problem he had was with the condition of his stomach and heart.

"I have a chronic heart problem. But it has not flared up in the last month. Thank God for that. And the problem with my stomach is because I don't have much of an appetite here," he said, adding that he loved mutton dishes.

Ba'asyir's only complaint is with the police's decision to prohibit him from having an electric water heater to make hot drinks. "I'm just too old to walk to the kitchen and back every time I want a hot drink, so I need a kettle," he said.

Ba'asyir spent the first three weeks in the prison in solitary confinement, prohibited from interacting with other inmates. His neighboring inmates include the vocalist of pop rock band Peterpan Nazriel "Ariel" Irham, who was arrested on charges related to a sex video scandal allegedly involving the singer and two female celebrities.

After the solitary detention ended, Ba'asyir was free to walk throughout the prison compound, his charisma starting to lure many inmates to his daily sermons held at 10 a.m. in the prison's only spot for catching the day's sunlight.

At least a dozen inmates, but not including Ariel, have now become faithful listeners to Ba'asyir's sermon, mostly about tawhid (the concept of monotheism in Islam) and fi sabilillah jihad (armed fighting for the way of God).

"Ba'asyir is not the kind of cleric who regularly forces us to implement Islamic rules. He also never forces us to join his sermons. That's why we respect him," said one of the inmates. "We are drawn to him because he has this charisma and wisdom and he lets us interpret the sermons our own way."

Ba'asyir's charms are also evident during visiting hours every Tuesday afternoon and Friday evening when many relatives and friends of inmates approach Ba'asyir to shake or kiss his hand as a token of respect.

It has also become a common sight during visiting hours to see dozens of Ba'asyir followers traveling from Central Java and East Java to flock to a special room inside the prison compound set up specifically for Ba'asyir to receive them.

The male followers are mostly dressed in Afghan-style attire resembling Mujahideen fighters during the war in Afghanistan to fend off the invading Soviet Union in the 1980s, while the women are imprisoned in black burqas.

No tight security inspections are deployed to scan their belongings upon entering the prison other than separating them from regular visitors.

When meeting his followers, Ba'asyir regularly preaches about the importance of keeping the spirit alive in upholding the rules of Islam.

In an interview last week, Ba'asyir said prison walls would not stop him from spreading the word of God. "I can preach anywhere. It's my obligation to do so where ever I am," he said.

Ba'asyir was arrested for allegedly financing and organizing a terrorist military training camp in Aceh. The camp, operated by the late Dulmatin, was raided by police early this year.

This was Ba'asyir's second arrest on terrorism-related charges. He was first arrested in 2004 in relation to the 2002 Bali bombing. He was sentenced to 30 months prison in 2005 for his part in an "evil conspiracy".

Ba'asyir helped found the Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Surakarta, Central Java. Several graduates of the school were involved in terrorist attacks, including Muklas, who was executed for masterminding the 2002 Bali bombing.

As the spiritual leader of terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), Ba'asyir has since the 1970s been the country's most persistent figure in demanding the establishment of an Islamic state.

In 1983, he was arrested along with his partner Abdullah Sungkar for encouraging followers to reject Pancasila (Indonesia's state ideology) and for teaching students to not acknowledge the Indonesian flag.

They were sentenced to nine years in prison but fled to Malaysia in 1985. It was during his time in Malaysia that he formed JI, forging ties with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network. Ba'asyir also sent a group of Al Mukmin graduates to Afghanistan for military training.

The cleric is also the founder of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), an above- ground jihadist movement group whose members were involved in organizing the Aceh camp and were allegedly involved in the 2009 attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta.

Ba'asyir said his activities in organizations related with the jihadist movement were aimed at correcting Islamic teaching and transforming Indonesia into an Islamic state through sermons.

"Define terrorism for me. What we do is actually the right path to correct the teachings, which have been abused for so long that it is no longer technically correct to call it Islam. I am obliged to spread the correct teaching to every Muslim who is now lost," he said.

Freedom of religion & worship

Two nabbed in Indonesian church attack not FPI: Police

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Zaki Pawas, Jakarta – Police in Bekasi arrested a struggling poet and a street singer on Thursday evening, accusing them of involvement in last month's attack on members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church of Pondok Timur Indah in Bekasi.

Police say the men were not members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). That group had been strongly suspected of orchestrating the Sept. 12 attack, in which a church elder was stabbed and the minister beaten.

Comr. Ade Ary Syam, head of the crime investigation unit within the Bekasi Police, identified the men as Aji Ahmad Faisal, 28, of Kampung Bojong in Bekasi, and Supriyanto, 25, of Cililitan in East Jakarta. "Ari writes poetry while Supriyanto is a street singer who usually performs on buses," Ade Ary said.

Supriyanto was arrested at a bus stop in front of the Indonesia Christian University (UKI) in East Jakarta at around 4:30 pm, while Aji was arrested near the Crown Hotel in South Jakarta.

Aji has confessed to stabbing one member of the congregation, also known as HKBP, and police found and confiscated the weapon that was thrown at a bush near the stabbing site, police alleged.

Police said Supriyatno had admitted during interrogation that he had wanted to pick a fight. "They acted in solidarity with the Muslims to reject HKBP in Ciketing," police said.

Both are charged with Article 170 of the Criminal Code for battery. If found guilty they could face five years in prison.

Police continue to look for another suspect, identified only by the initial Z, also believed to have participated in the attack.

Witnesses of the Sept. 12 attack said a group of men on motorcycles accosted the churchgoers as they walked to hold their services at the Ciketing vacant lot they had used since their church was sealed last year.

Separately, a lawyer representing members of the FPI who had been arrested in the attack, said it was the result of a dispute between some members of the congregation and a random motorcyclist who accidentally hit one of them. The church has been at odds with Islamic hard-liners, who have objected to its presence in the area.

Police said there was no proof that the attack was related to religious conflict, but a leader of the FPI's Bekasi chapter has been named a suspect for inciting violence. They have accused FPI leader Murhali Barda of provoking the attack against church leaders.

He may face charges of violating four articles of the criminal code – inciting people to violence, group violence, maltreatment and a premeditated attempt to cause serious injuries, and faces up to 12 years in jail if found guilty.

HKBP congregations in Bekasi and East Karawang in West Java, as well as the GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor, have also seen their places of worship sealed off or blocked by protesters this year because they did not have permits to worship there.

Pekanbaru closes down Ahmadiyah building

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2010

Rizal Harahap, Jakarta – Public pressure prompted the Pekanbaru city administration to finally close down a house of worship owned by followers of the Ahmadiyah sect.

The house of worship – a musholla or small mosque – is located on Jl. Cipta Karya, Tuah Karya subdistrict, Tampan district. Deputy Mayor Erizal Muluk said the building was sealed off following growing demands from Muslim organizations over fear of destabilizing religious harmony in the city.

"This is more a preventative measure. We closed down the house of worship before a possible escalation of conflict in the community," Erizal said Tuesday.

Followers of Ahmadiyah have been under increased persecution recently from hard-line Muslim groups for their religious teachings, which critics say strayed from true Islam.

The latest incident was an arson attack on Ahmadis' houses and places of worship in Bogor, West Java, last week, prompting the government to consider reviewing a 2008 joint ministerial decree.

Erizal denied accusations that the closure stripped the Ahmadis of the right to gather and to worship according to their beliefs. "We sealed off their building for their own good," he said.

Ahmadiyah followers, he added, claimed to be Muslims, however, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and other institutions have declared the sect deviant.

"If they are Muslims like the rest, why should they build their own houses of worship and separate themselves from the rest while praying? They can join others at the nearest mosque," he said.

The closure, Erizal added, would also eliminate the perception that the house of worship was exclusive to Ahmadiyah followers.

The local deputy chairman of Ahmadiyah, Susilo Haryono, said they did not object to the closure in principle, but that the act required a written warrant. "There should have been a written decision, not just a verbal one," he said.

Ahmadis established themselves in the city in 1991, and they now number 52. "So far we have never had any conflict with others," Susilo said.

Government blames Ahmadiyah for attacks

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2010

Erwida Maulia and Theresia Sufa, Jakarta/Bogor – Ahmadiyah followers continue to encounter challenges in Indonesia in practicing their religion freely, with the government sticking to its belief that violent acts against the group is their own fault.

After Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said Ahmadiyah "must be disbanded immediately" for allegedly violating an agreement it had earlier promised to comply with; Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi similarly criticized Ahmadiyah's failure to comply with the agreement, although he said nothing about disbanding the group.

Speaking to reporters before a Cabinet plenary meeting at the Presidential Office on Monday, Gamawan said, "Ahmadiyah has agreed on the 12 points, and yet it fails to comply with them, which makes non-Ahmadiyah Muslims question it."

"Had they implemented all the 12 points, I think other Muslims will accept them. If they fail to fully comply, [the violence] will continue."

Gamawan was referring to a 2008 agreement between Jamaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI) and the Supervision Committee on Cults and Sects (Bakorpakem), which consists of 12 points including that Ahmadis should regard Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of Ahmadiyah, as a guru instead of a prophet, and that Ahmadiyah should not deem non-Ahmadiyah Muslims as non- Muslims.

He stopped short, however, at mentioning what points the Ahmadis have violated, saying the government was seeking a "permanent solution" to the issue, and that it wanted to collect views from different parties to do so. "We can't decide on the solution yet as we haven't had a hearing with Ahmadiyah," Gamawan said.

Violent acts against Ahmadis in Indonesia have been rising at an alarming rate over the past few years, with the latest incident involving the arson attack on houses and a place of worship of Ahmadis in Cisalada village in West Java regency of Bogor last Friday.

The attack is rumored to have been triggered after a non-Ahmadiyah member of a neighboring village had been stabbed by the Ahmadis.

Bogor Police criminal division chief Adj. Comr. Zulkarnaen Harahap said Monday the police had questioned 16 witnesses and named four of them suspects; a Cisalada resident for stabbing Rendi, 16, from the neighboring Pasar Salasa village, and three unidentified persons for the arson attack.

Separately in Bandung, the Alliance for Religious tolerance (AKUR) claimed it had found evidence that the Cisalada attack had been planned, and that the police had learned about the plan before the attack occurred.

"Thus, it is not true that there had been a stabbing by the Ahmadis prior [to the attack]," AKUR chairman Asep Hadian Pernama told reporters in the West Java capital.

[Arya Dipa contributed to the story from Bandung.]

Decree on houses of worship to become law: Ministers

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Despite intense public criticism of a 2006 joint ministerial decree requiring neighbors' approval for houses of worship, ministers on Monday said the government planned to make it a law.

Rights and tolerance watchdog groups have said the joint decree needed to be revised as it was discriminative to minority religions and was at the core of the string of violence against them in recent years.

"There is no plan to revise the decree, but there has been an idea, also proposed by the House, to upgrade it into a law," Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said. "That plan is now being discussed" in the House.

The decree, issued by the ministries of religious affairs and home affairs, requires a religious group to obtain the approval of at least 60 households in the immediate vicinity before building a house of worship.

It has been criticized for making it almost impossible for minority faiths to build houses of worship in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali confirmed that the decree was to be turned into a law. "The most important function is to calm the people, to prevent an escalation of conflicts," he said. "That's what we are doing now."

Gamawan said the content of the law would be the same as in the decree although "the standards might change slightly". "We only need to find common ground," he said. "We don't see it from the perspective of just one religion, but of all religions."

He said 60 residential signatures of approval were relatively few and shouldn't be too large a hurdle for houses of worship.

Calls to amend the decree resurfaced following recent mob violence against several protestant churches and their congregations in several areas of West Java, including Bekasi, Karawang and Bogor.

Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on participants of a Koranic reading competition here to help promote tolerance.

"We have to fix the wrong understanding and misinterpretation of the Koran," he said. "For example, no one should use religion as an instrument for violence and terror. Fighting for Islam should be based on good behavior instead of non-Islamic actions."

The younger generation should not wrongly interpret the word "jihad" in the Koran as a path of violence, he added. "Don't use Islamic teachings as a shield to justify terrorism," he said.

"Let us interpret jihad as it is, a fight against lust, poverty, backwardness, corruption and fight to enhance people's welfare and advance the nation."

Government to review Ahmadiyah joint decree

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2010

Arghea Desafti Hapsari and Theresia Sufa, Jakarta/Bogor – In a bid to seek a "permanent solution" to the burning issue of Ahmadiyah, the government will review the controversial decree on the religious sect.

The director general of guidance to the Muslim community at the Religious Affairs Ministry, Nasaruddin Umar, said Sunday that there have been requests to "[assess] if the Ahmadis have actually complied with the [2008 joint ministerial] decree and whether the public in general have also done the same". He added that the decree was bound not only to Ahmadis but also to people outside of the group.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali and Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said last week they would meet to find a "permanent solution" to the Ahmadiyah problem. The talks are slated to start Monday.

The plan came on the heels of an arson attack on Ahmadis' houses and places of worship in Ciampea village in the West Java regency of Bogor on Friday night.

Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia's representative to ASEAN's Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, said the talks would likely "lead to justifying a ban" on the religious sect.

"This is apparent from the fact that the government, through the Attorney General's Office and the Religious Affairs Ministry, still supports the Indonesian Ulema Council's interpretation of Islam. Besides, the minister himself has time and again given his personal stance to disband the Ahmadiyah."

Suryadharma has said Ahmadiyah "must be disbanded immediately" because it violated the decree, which states that Ahmadiyah cannot propagate its teachings. Jamaah Ahmadiyah, which has about 200,000 followers in Indonesia, has been the target of attacks from hard-line Islamic groups who demand that the sect be banned.

A mosque, five houses, a car and two motorcycles were burnt in the latest in a string of attacks on Ahmadis. On Sunday, the daughter of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, Inayah Wahid and the chairman of the National Commission on Children Protection, Seto Mulyadi visited the Ahmadi enclave.

Inayah said that whoever committed attacks on the minorities did not represent Muslims but only some people who wanted to destroy other beliefs. The attackers' actions, she said, is based on "little knowledge of their religion" and "their own fears." "I'm representing the Wahid family to show our support for the minority who are under attack," she said.

Lawmaker Gayus Lumbuun from the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs expressed his concerns over "people who no longer have any regard for the law".

"This is a tremendous threat to the nation's unity," he said, adding that both the religious affairs minister and home minister were responsible for the violence on Ahmadis. He promised to pool support from other House commissions to summon the ministers. "Warnings against them are useless. We will hold them responsible."

He also said the talks should involve the National Commission on Human Rights, the National Commission on Violence against Women, interfaith groups and civil society groups that advocate on religious freedom.

The deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, said: "The talks should definitely involve Ahmadiyah members. There is no way the government can make a decision without taking the subject at hand into account."

He urged the government to raise the awareness of followers of mainstream religions to show more tolerance to the minorities. "It is high time that tolerance comes from the majority," he added.

Villagers relive torching of Ahmadiyah mosque and their homes

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Bogor – Ahmad Zainuddin, 75, had returned home to Cisalada village in Bogor after a trip into Jakarta to pick up his monthly pension stipend, just hours before his home was looted and ransacked by unknown attackers on Friday.

"All I could do was watch from a safe distance when they knocked down my front door using a bamboo chair that was sitting on my porch," Ahmad told the Jakarta Globe on Saturday in the village.

Like Zainuddin, all 600 residents of the village are members of the Ahmadiyah, a sect deemed deviant by hard-line and mainstream Islamic groups.

Followers of Ahmadiyah, a sect founded in India in 1889, profess that the group's founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is the last prophet, a belief that runs counter to mainstream Islamic beliefs that reserve that claim for the Prophet Muhammad.

The nation's highest authority on Islamic affairs, the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), issued a fatwa in 2005 against the Ahmadiyah, calling its teachings blasphemous. And the government issued a joint ministerial decree in 2008 banning its members from practicing their faith in public or spreading its beliefs.

That condemnation came to a fiery head on Friday evening when a mob of some 200 outsiders arrived at the remote village and attacked the At-Taufiq mosque, smashing its windows with rocks and setting the building alight with Molotov cocktails.

"They came with their motorbikes, honking their horns and shouting 'Allahu Akbar' ['God is great']," Syaidatur Rohmi, 55, told the Globe. "Most of them were teenagers. There were hundreds of them. I just hid behind the sofa and could only stare in tears as they burned the mosque."

Village inferno

But the destruction did not stop there. "After the first group of attackers left, a second group arrived 30 minutes later," Syaidatur said. "This time they were targeting homes. My children and I fled for our lives along with other villagers, hiding in the graveyards."

She said her back door was knocked open, and her sofas and coffee table were carried outside and burned. But Syaidatur was among the more fortunate. Fellow villager Bashir Newai's home was completely burned to the ground.

"They broke into my house and took everything. Jewelry, figurines and cash – all were stolen. They torched everything else," he told the Globe. In total, 17 homes were ransacked and looted. Two of them, like Bashir's, were burned beyond repair. The attackers also destroyed a kindergarten and an Islamic elementary school, as well as a car and seven motorcycles. No residents, however, were injured in the assault.

"I don't see how we could use the mosque again," said 57-year-old Cisalada resident Muhmiddin as he gazed at the soot-blackened walls and ceiling of the house of worship.

"The wooden beams look like they will fall apart soon," he said. A few minutes later, one beam did just that, taking with it a portion of the ceiling. Struggling to contain his emotions, Muhmiddin managed to keep his composure as he gave a tour of the ruins. He burst into tears however, when he came across a burned section of the Koran in a field next to the mosque. "Whoever did this are heartless monsters," he said.

Unknown attackers

No one had claimed responsibility for the violence over the weekend. West Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said he had heard two versions of the attack's chronology – the first being that the assault was sparked by resentment of mainstream Muslim groups toward the sect, and the second being that it was triggered after an Ahmadiyah member was stabbed by someone from another village.

Sutarman declined to elaborate where the latter rumor originated from, or the identity of the person allegedly stabbed.

"We are trying to establish what had really happened. Our team is now gathering the evidence from the scene," he said. Around 500 heavily armed police officers, many from the elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) were deployed to safeguard the village. Some 50 troops from the local military command were also stationed around the village.

"Our target right now is to ensure the safety of the villagers and to maintain security," Sutarman said. On Saturday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed police to punish those responsible for the attack.

"President SBY has urged people not to get easily provoked by issues from unclear sources. Do not listen to rumors," said Julian Aldrin Pasha, the head of state's spokesman. The attack occurred on the same day that Yudhoyono had urged Indonesians not to use mosques to preach hate and violence, and instead use them as places where brotherhood and close ties between all peoples would be encouraged.

Brother against brother

The Ahmadiyah in Cisalada date back to 1933. Back then, the members of the sect lived in harmony with other Muslim groups. It wasn't until the end of President Suharto's regime in the late 1990s that the first stirrings of resentment arose. In 2001, after former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid – considered a champion of pluralism – stepped down, the calls for the sect's disbandment intensified.

There are currently around 600,000 Ahmadiyah members throughout the country. Since 2001, many of them have faced near-constant harassment and discrimination.

Similar burnings and attacks on Ahmadiyah mosques and homes have occurred in West Java, Central Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara, where in 2006, homes belonging to members of the group were burned, leaving hundreds homeless.

More recently, mainstream Muslims, attempting to seal off an Ahmadiyah mosque, clashed with sect members in Kuningan, West Java, in July.

Harassment against Ahmadiyah members in Cisalada was first recorded in 2007, when hundreds of people protested the renovation of the mosque there. Some even went as far as to vandalize the steel rods and concrete used for the foundation of the new structure.

"Rejection against the Ahmadis in Cisalada seem to come from outside of Ciampea [in Bogor]. They are not from around here," A. Hidayatullah, a congregation leader in the village, said on Saturday.

"Friday's incident is by far the worse that has happened to us. Our children can't go to school, we can't pray at our mosque and some people are now homeless." With his home ransacked and his money stolen, Zainuddin said that he was not quite sure what he would do.

"This will be my lunch and dinner, unless the neighbors are kind enough to spare me their food," he said, pointing to a bunch of unripe bananas from his garden.

"I guess I'll have to make good of the Rp 200,000 [$22] I still have in my pocket until the end of the month. All my money was stolen and I guess I have a lot of cleaning to do since I live by myself and my house was looted."

The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, which promotes religious freedom, released a statement on Saturday demanding the government put a stop to its repeated calls to ban the sect. "Statements from the Religion Minister [Suryadharma Ali] are provocative and have only justified countless intimidations toward Ahmadiyah."

The show of support arrived too late to stop the destruction of the mosque, but the Ahmadiyah have not lost faith. Hidayatullah said the congregation used the burned-out building for services on Sunday night. "We won't let this attack deter us from practicing our beliefs."

[Additional reporting by Camelia Pasandaran.]

Yudhoyono again appeals for calm after Islamic sect attacked

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has again appealed to the nation for calm after members of the minority Ahmadiyah sect in Ciampea, Bogor, were targeted by a violent mob.

Presidential spokesman Julian Pasha, speaking a news conference at the Presidential Palace on Saturday, said Yudhoyono had asked Indonesians "not to be easily provoked" by rumors and instead join the government in helping provide secure the country.

He was commenting in relation to the attack on Ahmadiyah, in which hundreds of villagers armed with sticks, axes and sharp weapons torched a car, four houses and part of a mosque on Friday.

The attack was reportedly motivated by false rumors that two members of Ahmadiyah – which is based on Islamic teachings but is considered heretical by mainstream Indonesian Muslims – had stabbed and killed two villagers.

The attack came just hours after Yudhoyono addressed the nation at the Baiturrahim Mosque inside the State Palace complex to ask for religious tolerance.

Julian said Yudhoyono had instructed Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, National Police and the local government to address and solve the problems in Ciampea.

"The president asks that the system function well and whenever there is a violation of the law violation by anyone, those people should be sanctioned." Yudhoyono also said that those responsible for spreading the rumors "should be handled properly," Julian said.

Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), meanwhile, condemned the violence against Ahmadiyah.

She said people should be free to follow their religion, without exception, and the government should act to ensure the Constitution was upheld. Those responsible for the violence should be charged, she said.

Sex & pornography

Officials launch nationwide manhunt for fugitive Playboy editor

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Jakarta Globe/AP, Jakarta – The South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office say they have launched a nationwide manhunt for the former editor of Indonesia's short-lived edition of Playboy magazine after he failed to turn himself in on Friday.

"We have coordinated with other prosecutor's offices to arrest Erwin Arnada," Muhammad Yusuf, head of South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, told state news agency Antara on Friday.

He said prosecutors would deploy search teams in Bali, West Jakarta, Tangerang and Parung in Bogor, West Java.

Yusuf said Erwin had previously broken promises that he would hand himself in on Sept. 5 and Oct. 7.

The South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office said Erwin Arnada would show up to start serving his two-year jail term – imposed by the Supreme Court – for his indecency conviction. The magazine contained no nudity and is considered much tamer than other magazines available in shops.

Indonesia, a secular nation with more Muslims than any other in the world, has a vibrant free press and a long history of tolerance, though a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

Arnada faced loud protests from the time the toned-down version of the American magazine hit news stands in 2006. Within weeks, members of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front stormed the magazine's offices in south Jakarta.

They also started legal proceedings against him, but judges at the South Jakarta District Court acquitted the editor in 2007, saying pictures that appeared in the magazine could not be categorised as obscene.

The hard-liners appealed to the Supreme Court, which issued its decision during a closed-door session in August, said Yusuf, the chief of Jakarta's prosecutor's office who goes by one name.

Agriculture & food security

Indonesia set to import rice as stocks dwindle

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Reuters, Bloomberg & JG, Jakarta – Heavy rains have hit rice production hard, forcing Indonesia, a top rice producer, to import the crop for the first time since 2007, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) confirmed on Friday.

Traders and market watchers say the purchases, along with surprise imports by China and the massive flooding in Pakistan, are raising concerns about the rising prices of rice at a time when other grain prices have also risen sharply. This has stoked fears of serious food inflation.

Indonesia and the Philippines, the world's top rice importer, are looking to buy over 2.2 million tonnes of rice from Vietnam, a newspaper reported on Friday.

The Vietnam Economic Times newspaper said Indonesia was looking to import 700,000 tonnes, in addition to the 500,000 tons reported earlier this week. According to the newspaper, the Philippines wants to buy between 1 million and 1.5 million tonnes of rice.

Sutarto Alimoeso, Bulog's president director, confirmed reports that Bulog was preparing to buy large amounts of rice from Vietnam and Thailand. However, he cited amounts that conflicted with reports from traders and government agencies in those countries.

"We are exploring the possibility of importing 300,000 tonnes from both Vietnam and Thailand and the process is nearly finished," he said, when asked about the import figure cited by the Vietnam Economic Times.

Rice is Indonesia's most important staple and the country has been self- sufficient for the last two years. It last shipped in 1.2 million tons of white rice for consumption in 2007, mostly from Vietnam and Thailand.

Bulog, which manages the government's stockpiles, buys the crop from farmers during harvests and sells the grain later to help keep prices stable.

"We cannot buy sufficient supplies from farmers because longer-than-normal rains have reduced the yield, which led to a decline in output and quality," Sutarto said.

Indonesia, the world's third-largest rice producer, imports small amounts of specialty rice every year. Sutarto said that Bulog would continue to buy good-quality rice from farmers even while it imports from other countries.

He had met with traders and officials from Thailand and Vietnam last week and discussed the import plan.

La Nina, marked by colder ocean temperatures, has brought heavier-than- usual rainfall to parts of Australia and Asia this year, including Indonesia. Industry groups have blamed the rains for lower output or missed forecasts for cocoa, tin, palm oil and coal.

The surprise imports and the size of Thailand's upcoming harvest will be the dominant issues at industry conferences in Singapore and Phuket next week. The move is expected to push up Asian rice prices even more, as supply tightens in Vietnam.

"People will be trying to figure out the supply and demand situation after we saw additional demand from Indonesia and China this year," said a trading manager at a Singapore-based international trading company.

"How much has been lost in Pakistan due to the floods will also be on everyone's mind," the trader said.

Legislation & parliament

US-bound lawmakers: We aren't insensitive

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Lawmakers have denied they are insensitive to the dire plight of flood victims in West Papua by pressing ahead with a study trip to the United States.

Lawmakers from House Commission VIII, which oversees religious affairs, social affairs and women's empowerment, fly out on Saturday for a visit to Washington and an Amish community in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, residents of flood-ravaged Wasior in West Papua are begging for help. Thirteen lawmakers from the commission will spend a week studying America's social policies and programs.

Chairun Nisa, a deputy chairwoman of the commission, said other lawmakers would take care of the problem. "We will have a team flying to Papua," she said. "A study trip will not distract our focus from helping the flood victims. We still have people here in the country to help with the disaster."

The lawmakers will visit 12 government agencies in Washington to study models for child protection, religious harmony, caring for the elderly and social security.

Unlike previous much-criticized comparative study trips taken by legislators, this one is unrelated to any bill. But Chairun said it was important to meet officials from some of the departments in the United States to learn how they managed their budgets.

"We would like to know whether they have good budgeting for promoting the empowerment of women, for example, and how they do that," she said. "As you know, the budget for the Women's Empowerment Ministry is very small."

Commission deputy chairman Radityo Gambiro said the trip would be funded by an unused part of the budget allocated for the commission from the 2004-09 term.

House defends dismal failure to meet lofty 70-bill target

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2010

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Lawmakers defended their meager output at the House of Representatives this year, after being criticized for passing only eight bills out of the targeted 70.

Tjatur Sapto Edy, the House chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said legislators had deliberately set a lofty target to encourage them to work hard.

"What if we only set a target of deliberating 20 bills? We would have met 50 percent of the target by now," Tjatur told the Jakarta Globe. "We should set our target high."

On Thursday, the Concerned Citizens for the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi), a political watchdog, gave House members failing marks in a one-year performance evaluation.

According to Formappi, the legislators, who were sworn into office on Oct. 1 last year, failed to execute almost all their duties: legislating, budgeting, monitoring and accommodating the aspirations of the people.

Formappi highlighted passing bills as one of the House's most important responsibilities, criticizing its failure to reach its ambitious target.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie, however, brushed aside Formappi's criticism, despite saying this year that the House might only be able to deliberate half of the targeted bills, or around 35 – a figure that was deemed "too big" by the watchdog at the time.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said more could have been done if lawmakers had not needed to make adjustments when new members took about 80 percent of the seats at the House.

The process of acquainting oneself with the new members takes time, according to Mahfud Siddiq, deputy secretary general of the PKS. "The House's mark is 6.5 [out of 10]," he said, giving his own assessment of the body.

Mahfud said the House would seek to improve its performance in the second year of its term, while hoping for better cooperation from House leadership and its supporting offices in order to speed up the legislative process.

Hasrul Azwar, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), said that in budgeting and monitoring functions, the House has done a good job. As for legislation, he said, the House was still deliberating several pending bills.

Meanwhile, Ganjar Pranowo, deputy chairman of House Commission II that oversees home affairs and a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the process was slowed because it was impossible to have a unified voice during the deliberation process.

He said he had strong doubts when the House vowed to pass 70 pieces of legislation during the first year of its term. "My expectation is only 20, and it will really be completed by the end of the year," Ganjar said.

Meanwhile, Saan Mustopha, a member of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said all criticism against the legislature was welcome, as long as it was based on factual data.

He also lawmakers would take the evaluation from Formappi, however negative, in stride. "We can make improvements," Saan said. "We will consider this [evaluation] as a valuable input to improve our work in the future."

Jakarta & urban life

NGO rates Fauzi, Priyanto's work as mediocre

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2010

Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo and Deputy Governor Priyanto's performance over their first three years in office has been rated mediocre by a local NGO.

"[Fauzi-Priyanto's performance is] quite standard. I'll grade them five or six [out of 10]. There is nothing new about their policies," Nurkolis Hidayat from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said Thursday as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.

Nurkolis said the Jakarta administration had not been transparent, participative or accountable in terms of budgeting. "Furthermore, the administration is still applying the same old forceful eviction policy," he added.

Nurkolis suggested the governor apply a systematical approach to evictions, rather than just announcing a due date and expecting the intended target to vacate their premises.

"It is important to reform the Public Order Office's regulation in order to reduce conflict during evictions," Nurkolis said.

Nevertheless, Nurkolis praised Fauzi and Priyanto for raising the education budget by 37 percent.

Communication & transport

Indonesian train crash disaster raises railway safety fears

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2010

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – The National Police are questioning 11 people in connection with two deadly train crashes in Central Java that left 35 people dead over the weekend.

In the deadlier of the two incidents, an Argo Bromo Anggrek train, traveling from Jakarta to Surabaya, slammed into a stationary Senja Utama train, which was en route to Semarang from Jakarta, about 100 meters west of the Petarukan station near Pemalang, at about 3 a.m. on Saturday.

Ignatius Jonan, president director of state railway company Kerita Api, told the Jakarta Globe that 34 people died in the crash and that 36 others were injured.

About an hour later, a Bima express train collided with a Gaya Baru Malam train near Purwosari station in Solo, killing one Gaya Baru Malam passenger and injuring four others, said Sr. Comr. Joko Erwanto, a spokesman for the Central Java Police.

A National Police spokesman, Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan, said eight people were being questioned in the Petarukan crash but that no one had been named a suspect. Those being questioned are the engineers and assistant engineers of the two trains and four employees at the train station.

However, Tugiman, a lawyer for the engineer of one of the trains involved in the accident, said that police had named his client a suspect.

"Khalik Rusianto, the conductor of the Argo Bromo Anggrek train, has been charged under articles 359 and 360 of the Criminal Code on negligence resulting in death or serious injuries, in conjunction with Article 361 on crimes committed while on duty or working," he said.

Joko said that the engineers of the Bima and Gaya baru Malam trains, as well as one guard at the station, were being questioned in connection with the Purwosari crash.

JA Barata, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that a total of 10 investigators have been dispatched to the two crash sites.

"We have sent seven people to Petarukan and three people to Purwosari to investigate the crashes," Barata said. "We will need at least three months for a thorough investigation."

However, he said it would likely be closer to six months before investigators were ready to hand over their results to the Ministry of Transportation.

"We need to evaluate the facilities, infrastructure, regulations, human factors and any condition that were present that could have caused a crash, such as the weather," Barata said.

Yudi Widiana Adia, a member of House Representatives Commission V, which oversees transportation, told the Globe on Sunday that the commission was unhappy with the work of the Transportation Ministry as well as the service provided by KA.

"We are disappointed with their work, particularly because they have been slow to serve the public," Yudi said.

He said one issue that needed to be looked at was the ministry's collaboration with investors to improve transportation services, which he described as a good plan that had never been properly implemented.

Meanwhile, Ignatius, the president director of KA, said there had been no delays on Sunday as a result of the crashes. "We have not had any problems and all trains are going to their destination cities as scheduled," he said.

Top officials from the Ministry of Transportation and the railway company are scheduled to meet with House Commission V today at 4 p.m., where they are expected to face tough questions over the crashes.

Hermanto Dwiatmoko, the ministry's director of train safety, told the Globe that the number of train accidents had gone down in recent years because of efforts to improve railroad infrastructure and facilities.

"From 2008 to 2009, there was a 20 percent decrease in the number of train accidents in the country," he said.

Armed forces & defense

Military's new chief calls for modernization, more money

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Adm. Agus Suhartono officially took over as chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) on Saturday, in an inauguration ceremony where he called for greater state support for the military.

Agus, the former chief of staff of the Navy, said in his speech that he was prepared for the challenge of "improving soldiers' capabilities to better defend the country's sovereignty."

But he said the military needed the support of the government and the House of Representatives to reach this goal, such as by increasing the defense budget. "We all know the military needs to modernize its weaponry," Agus said. "For this, we need the support of all parties."

The ceremony on Saturday was attended by Gen. Djoko Santoso, the outgoing military chief; Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro; House Speaker Marzukie Alie and around 3,000 TNI officers and personnel.

In a speech at the inauguration, Djoko described his successor as a capable leader. He also stressed that it was necessary to focus on training soldiers. "It's crucial that we also modernize the personal skills of each soldier," Djoko said.

At the ceremony, Agus denied allegations that renegade soldiers were behind the recent surge in criminal and terrorist activities across the country. Several media reports suggested that soldiers, disgruntled over their meager pay and benefits, were behind these crimes.

The incidents cited by these publications included armed robberies and a police slaying in North Sumatra, ethnic clashes in South Jakarta and East Kalimantan, attacks on churches and a minority Islamic sect in Bekasi and Bogor, as well as a clash between police and protesters in Southeast Sulawesi.

"We certainly hope that [the allegations] aren't true," Agus said, adding that the issue of soldiers' salaries and benefits also needed to be addressed.

However, Agus says the military leadership "has no authority or resources" to increase the pay or benefits of its soldiers, since the military relies on the government to gradually increase the salaries of public servants.

The new TNI chief said any extra funding approved by the state would be used to provide incentives for soldiers to serve in remote or border regions. "The incentives must be put into place immediately," he said.

In his speech, Agus also addressed claims that the TNI was again seeking to become directly involved in counterterrorism efforts – a role it was barred from playing, by virtue of a presidential decree in 1999.

Currently, the military is tasked to provide support to Densus 88, the police's elite counterterrorism unit. However, there is speculation that the military is withholding key information about possible security threats.

Agus glossed over these claims, saying the TNI's intelligence unit "respected" its counterparts in other institutions, such as the National Police.

He added that the military was prepared "to handle any threats, whenever the country requires our assistance". "The same goes for terrorist threats," the admiral said. "We are ready to be deployed any time we are needed."

Police & law enforcement

Reform 'may see setback' under Timur's leadership

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih and Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo could not hide his happiness during his farewell party at Jakarta Police headquarters Thursday despite heavy criticism of his appointment as the sole candidate for the post of National Police chief.

After raising doubts about his commitment to human rights and his embrace of vigilante groups such as the Islam Defenders Front, critics continued to question his track records, saying that under his leadership, reform within the National Police might fail.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW)'s Emerson Yuntho questioned Timur's commitment to fighting corruption. "We've never seen any breakthrough to tackle corruption within the police force under his leadership," he said.

Anticorruption is key to police reform, which started several years ago but has not shown any significant progress, he said. "Corruption is an acute disease. A police chief should take the lead in tackling it otherwise police reform will never happen," Emerson added.

Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) echoed the sentiment, saying that police reform, which had stagnated during the tenure of Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, would be a tough challenge for Timur, who had a less than stellar record on many issues. "Timur has the experience of being a regional police chief several times but that is not enough," IPW's Neta S. Pane said.

The National Police have seen little progress in their "community policing" program, which aims to bridge the gap between law enforcers and the public, he added. "The Jakarta Police, under Timur's leadership, have also failed to improve on the program's results," Neta said.

Al Araf from human rights NGO Imparsial said Timur's disregard of a summons from the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) was indicative of the police's grip on its "culture of violence".

Several critics questioned Timur's commitment to upholding human rights when in 2003 he ignored a summons from Komnas HAM to testify in the case of the fatal Trisakti riots, where four students were shot dead. Komnas HAM chairman Ifdhal Kasim said Timur's attitude was inappropriate for a high- ranking officer.

"The police have received the most complaints of all state institutions in terms of human rights violations. Given Timur's record, we doubt he can remove the stigma from the police force," Ifdhal said.

Timur himself has not been budged by the criticism. "I have proven myself to the public during my service here. The people of Jakarta can judge my performance," he said.

There is widespread speculation that Timur's sudden appointment as the sole candidate by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was politically motivated.

"Internal rifts in the police, resentment and high-level politicking have heightened the tension surrounding his appointment," Neta said.

A police source said outgoing police chief Bambang was surprised to hear of Timur's appointment as he had nominated Comr. Gen. Nanan Sukarna and Comr. Gen. Imam Sudjarwo. Sources said Bambang himself favored Nanan but Yudhoyono was wary of Nanan's political stance.

Timur, however, received a warm welcome from the House of Representatives as most political parties had signaled that Timur would not face difficulties during the fit-and-proper test scheduled for next week.

Taufiq Kiemas, the chief patron of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said his party had no problems with Timur.

The Golkar Party's Priyo Budi Santoso said, "We will accept anybody proposed by the President." Similar statements were also voiced by the United Development Party, the People's Awakening Party and the Prosperous Justice Party. (ipa)

Indonesian radical groups 'can help security'

Jakarta Globe - October 7, 2010

Farouk Arnaz & Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Despite public calls for the government to disband violent hard-line groups, the sole candidate to lead the National Police on Wednesday did not appear inclined to oblige.

"We should be close to all" societal groups, Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo told journalists after meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives. However, Timur, did not specifically name the radical Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which has often been involved in violence.

"All elements of society and all public figures that can help maintain security must be included and empowered to help preserve security," Timur told reporters later in the day.

Timur, who was the only candidate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tapped to be the next National Police chief, added that he had no special relationship with hard-line groups, including the FPI.

"I reiterate that we should involve all sides in our society to overcome problems that could potentially occur in this country," Timur said.

He said that all groups, including FPI, were part of society and as such "could be used to maintain security."

However, he also warned that he would not tolerate any violations of the law, including by members of the FPI. "Upholding the law is our concern," he said.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, said that Timur's statement was certainly a setback but was not surprising.

He said it was legally wrong to invite the FPI to help maintain security because the group was not a part of law enforcement. "It will only raise people's concerns, because his statement will provide the FPI room to act more arrogantly," he said.

Bonar also said that Timur was among the founding members of the FPI in 1998. "And he came to the FPI anniversary this year with [Jakarta Governor] Fauzi Bowo, so what he said is not surprising at all," he said.

Bonar accused Yudhoyono of having lost his focus following political maneuvering within his political coalition, and therefore appointing the "wrong officials," including Timur.

Rights activists have accused Timur of being responsible for a number of fatal shootings, including of students during the months of unrest that surrounded the resignation of longtime dictator Suharto in May 1998.

He was chief of the West Jakarta Police at the time, whose jurisdiction included the site of the fatal shooting of four students from Trisakti University in May 1998.

He was Central Jakarta Police chief when 11 people were shot and killed during a protest near the Semanggi overpass in Central Jakarta in November that year.

But on Wednesday, Timur claimed that the judicial process related to the cases had cleared him of any wrongdoing.

"It was a long [legal] process that anybody at the time could watch and follow. However, I welcome anyone who wants to evaluate the case," Timur said.

He argued that he had refused to cooperate when summoned over the shootings by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) because he deemed the shootings to be legal cases and was "only willing to follow the legal process."

House concerned over SBY's pick for Indonesian police chief

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Anita Rachman, Armando Siahaan & Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – Despite being President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's sole nominee for National Police chief, Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo may have to go through the eye of a needle to earn the House of Representatives' stamp of approval.

Syarifuddin Sudding, deputy chair of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) faction in the legislature and a member of House Commission III overseeing security, said the former Jakarta Police chief had some explaining to do.

He cited the deadly gang clashes outside the South Jakarta District Court last week and the "impression" that Timur had let the situation slip out of control.

The House is set to conduct its final review over the next two weeks, with Timur to be approved or rejected for the post at a House plenary session.

Another sticking point appears to be Timur's alleged involvement in the May 1998 shooting of students at Trisakti University when he was West Jakarta Police chief, and November shooting of students in Semanggi that same year, when he headed the Central Jakarta Police. Officers were implicated in both cases.

Human rights activists cite these incidents as reasons why the House should reject him. "Timur's nomination is irrational," said Al Araf, program director for rights group Imparsial.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which investigated the incidents, said it had summoned Timur for questioning three times but he refused to cooperate. "We fear that if Timur is selected, these cases will never be resolved," Al Araf said.

Golkar Party legislator Azis Syamsuddin, a deputy chairman of Commission III, rated Timur's chances as 50-50 and confirmed the candidate would be asked to explain his role in the 1998 shootings.

Ahmad Yani, from the United Development Party (PPP) and another member of Commission III, said Timur's bank accounts and records with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) would be examined thoroughly.

The KPK's latest records show that Timur had a net worth exceeding Rp 2.1 billion ($235,000) as of 2008. The majority of his wealth was in real estate in the Tangerang area valued at Rp 1.3 billion, which he said was inherited. He also has four cars worth Rp 340 million, with the rest of his wealth in cash, bank deposits and precious stones and metals.

Another issue that could be examined by the House was Timur's sudden promotion on Monday to the rank of a three-star general, a move that made him eligible to become National Police chief.

"The president needs to explain to the House Timur's fast-tracked promotion before House Commission III reviews his nomination," said Gayus Lumbuun, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

According to the law, the president is required to explain his reasons for nominating candidates for the post.

Fahri Hamzah, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and a deputy chairman of House Commission III, said Timur's sudden promotion and nomination could raise suspicions that the top police post was being politicized.

Meanwhile, senior officials from the National Police gathered on Tuesday at the Police College (PTIK) to lend their support to Timur's nomination.

"There is nothing left to discuss now," said Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan, a spokesman for the force. "We have to fully support the new police chief."

Iskandar said Timur was not involved in the 1998 shootings. "This is a legal case. The process was followed and Pak Timur was declared innocent," he said.

Timur, who was also at the gathering, said that if his candidacy were approved, he would continue outgoing National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri's programs.

"God willing, I will continue [Bambang's programs] but my focus now is on my position as the head of the Security Affairs Division," he said, referring to his promotion on Monday.

Rights activists urge house to reject police chief candidate

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Human rights activists urged the House of Representatives to reject Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo's nomination as the next National Police chief on Tuesday saying that the sole candidate has a questionable track record.

In a surprise move, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday night announced Timur as the sole to replace Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, who is retiring this month.

The announcement came just hours after Timur was promoted to the rank of three star general, making him eligible to run as the next police chief. For the next twenty days the House will conduct a fit and proper test and could reject Timur's bid.

"Timur's nomination is irrational," Al-Araf, program director of the human rights group Imparsial, said. "In 1998, Timur was chief of the West Jakarta police and the shooting of students at Trisakti University and the May 1998 riot occurred in his jurisdiction and during his tenure."

Al-Araf added that Timur had also failed to clarify his involvement in the shooting of students in the Semanggi area of Jakarta in November 1998, when he was still active as chief of Central Jakarta Police. The National Commission for Human Rights later conducted an investigation into all three incidents and summoned Timur for questioning three times but Timur refused to cooperate.

"We fear that if Timur is elected, these cases will never be resolved," Al-Araf said.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that Timur also had an appalling record during his recent post as chief of the Jakarta Metro Police. "Timur achieved virtually nothing during his tenure. In fact there are a lot of unresolved cases," he said.

Haris said that Timur had failed to prevent last week's riot in front of the South Jakarta district court that saw at least three people killed, despite the fact that a similar brawl had occurred a week earlier.

Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch also questioned the Jakarta Police's investigation into the assault of one of its researchers, Tama Satrya Langkun.

Three months since Tama was ambushed, police have failed to catch anyone responsible for the attack. "We question Timur's commitment to the antigraft drive and his seriousness in protecting anticorruption fighters and human rights activists," Emerson said.

Kontras said that it is planning to bring families of the victims of the 1998 shootings to talk with lawmakers from House Commission III, overseeing legal affairs, which will conduct the fit and proper test.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) reported that Timur had more than Rp 2.1 billion in wealth in 2008. The majority of his assets are in land and buildings, all of which are in Tangerang, Banten, totalling Rp 1.3 billion. Timur also has four cars totalling Rp 340 million while the rest of his wealth is in cash, deposits and precious stones and metals.

Timur Pradopo's commitment on human rights questioned

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The only president-proposed National Police chief candidate, Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo, has ignored requests from human rights commission for questioning, raising questions over his commitment on human rights.

National Commission for Human Rights chief Ifdhal Kasim said on Tuesday the commission had sent two letters requesting Timur to give testimonies over the 1998 Trisakti bloody incident.

"We sent the letters twice, back in 2005. Pak Timur never showed up. He has also never informed us why he ignored our summons," Ifdhal told The Jakarta Post.

After then, the commission requested a forced summon through the Central Jakarta District Court but the judges rejected it due to "differences in law interpretation".

By ignoring the commission's call, Timur had disobeyed the law, Ifdhal said. "Our authority to investigate human rights cases and summon people we consider relevant to the case is accommodated by the law. Everybody we summon should appear under the law," he said.

Ifdal also expressed disappointment over President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's choice to propose Timur as the next police chief.

"Most human rights complaints we receive from the public involve the police. If the police chief has bad human rights record like Timur, I'm afraid the force will be worse in the future in term of human rights," he said.

Al Araf from human rights-concerned NGO, Imparsial, shared Ifdhal's remarks. "The parliament members should have noticed those facts. Lawmakers have the right to reject President's candidate for police chief, and they should do that in regards with Timur's record on human rights in the past," Al Araf told the Post.

Police hold riot drill amid skepticism

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2010

Jakarta – Jakarta Police conducted a joint riot control exercise with the National Police on Monday in the wake of a gang brawl last week that killed three people. But some activists were skeptical about the police's commitment in handling such incidents.

More than 700 police officers, including 139 National Police officers, participated in the drill on a field at City Police headquarters.

"We are conducting this exercise in anticipation of any anarchic actions, such as the one that occurred on Jl. Ampera," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said.

Dozens of rival gang members from Flores and Ambon fought with machetes, blades, homemade guns and rocks outside the South Jakarta District Court on Jl. Ampera Raya, South Jakarta, on Wednesday. Three people were killed in the melee and 12 injured, including three police officers.

During the exercise, the police did not hesitate to take strict action against the mock perpetrators, particularly those carrying firearms and sharp weapons to prevent riots.

In a scenario similar to the Ampera clash, riot troops fired warning shots and tear gas. Officers fired shots at the legs of "armed" culprits to paralyze them and medical teams immediately evacuated the injured.

The exercise stood in stark contrast to the Ampera brawl, when more than 500 police officers failed to contain the violence.

Jakarta Police chief Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo, who was nominated to be the next National Police chief on Monday, said that the police should be extremely careful when handling such incidents. "If we used our power, the public would perceive us as violating human rights," he said.

Haris Azhar from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that the police's failure to protect citizens and ensure security during the Ampera brawl violated the public's right to security.

"The police should be able to act firmly in handling such clashes by disabling culprits and instead of taking a lethal action against them. By doing so, the police would not violate human rights," he told The Jakarta Post.

Indonesian Police Watch chairman Neta S. Pane said he believed that the police allowed the clash break out and did nothing to stop it.

"This definitely is a conflict of interest. Why do the police act so hard against terrorists but are scared when facing thugs? It is a common knowledge that some police nurture thugs," he said.

He said the police should follow standard operating procedures to prevent riots. "First, the police should deploy riot units with riot shields and batons. In the second step, they should use tear gas followed by water canons. Then, they might use plastic bullets," he said.

He said that officers should use firearms only if the situation worsened and the perpetrators used firearms. "Clearly, a warning shot or a shot in the leg is enough to stop a culprit," he said.

The police have been criticized for failing to secure violent incidents, such as the Koja incident in April and the riots in Rempoa, South Jakarta, in late July. (ipa)

It is as though the state has ceased to exist

Kompas - October 4, 2010

Jakarta – It is as though state has no presence any more. Thus was an assessment by Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud MD in depicting the endless cases of violence in this country. Law enforcers, which it would be hoped are the means to resolve social conflicts, instead generate injustice.

This injustice does not just occur in the law enforcement agencies' treatment of the public and those in power/businesspeople, but also in court verdicts. Many ordinary people who are forced to commit crimes are given heaver sentences that the perpetrators of corruption who clearly harm the country.

Indonesian Islamic University (UII) legal sociologist Suparman Marzuki from Yogyakarta, Sunday (3/10), conceded that the widespread mass violence of late is caused by an accumulation of disillusionment among ordinary people over the failure to uphold formal law. People then seek their own solutions because the law in this country does not resolve problems. "Law enforcement institutions' resolution methods in fact give rise to new problems, new injustices, and new forms of violence", he said.

This disillusionment further accumulates because as well as experiencing injustice in the judicial system, said lawmaking body deputy chairperson Masdar Farid Mas'udi from the Islamic mass organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, ordinary people are also suffering from economic difficulties. Unemployment and poverty levels in the country remain high and this problem cannot be resolved overnight, but requires that concrete steps be taken by the government.

Moreover, this injustice becomes even more palpable if the suspicions by National Land Agency (BPN) head Joyo Winoto are true. At a meeting with Kompas editorial staff last week, Winoto estimated that 56 percent of the country's assets are controlled by just 0.2 percent of the population. "[Although] this data could still be reexamined," he said.

The BPN however does indeed note that farmers' control over land in this country is steadily declining. Conversely, there are 7.3 hectares of land owned by companies that have been left abandoned.

This situation, said sociologist William Chang, gives rise to social frustration in society (Kompas, October 1). This condition is worsening further because state officials are not improving, but rather are acting in a corrupt manner and worsening the situation.

"Public officials that are corrupt, dirty, destructive, and have no commitment to fighting for the ordinary people, must be removed. Leaders must be firm and have the courage to replace them with people who are clean, have integrity and are prepared to sacrifice themselves for the sake of national improvement", added William.

Golkar Party advisory board chairperson Akbar Tandjung concedes that the violence that has been occurring of late is cased by social unrest. The factors that trigger this are very diverse. "Conflicts cannot possibly be avoided so they must be managed lest it disrupt the principles of living together", he said.

Mending their ways

Mahfud admits to being surprised at how the cases of violence in the country can drag on. He gives as an example residents of the Ahmadiyah religious sect in Mataram, Lombok Island, who to this day are still displaced. "This is a persons' basic right. Imagine if you were treated like that, thrown out of your own house. Leaving out of fear. It is as if there is no state there", he said.

He also suspects that the prolonged cases of violence in society are caused by a lack of firmness on the part of law enforcement officials, yet the regulations are clear.

Marzuki is asking the government to fix law enforcement institutions such as the Attorney General's Office and the national police, along with their internal culture. The police as the gateway of criminal justice are still dominated by a culture of militarism and power.

"The cultural transformation of the police has been very slow. Every single problem is overcome with violence, by arresting and silencing people. This kind of culture must be fixed. [Problem] resolution must pay attention to the context and its variables", he said.

Conversely, Masdar believes that curing law enforcement and the elite of behaviour that hurt the people's feelings is a short-term solution that must be carried out immediately in order to overcome the recent spate of violence. Without these two things, he worries that the people will become even more frustrated and violence will spread and become difficult to overcome.

According to Masdar, the roots of the recent violence are caused by three things, which include economic difficulties that are increasingly bearing down on the people, the poor example set by the elite and weak law enforcement. "When some of the people are finding life difficult, precisely at the same time the people see many officials misusing authority, being corrupt, and enriching themselves, without concern for the people who they should serve. This is worsened by weak law enforcement and hurting the people's sense of justice", he said.

In order to overcome this problem, strong efforts are needed by various parties over a long period. Because of this, what must be done most immediately is taking firm action against the perpetrators of unrest and changing the character of leadership between the national elite. All of the political elite and the government must improve themselves by mending their ways nationally.

"All public officials must ask for forgiveness and mend their ways. Conscious life is not forever. They must realise, God who they refer to in oaths and promises will ask for accountability", said Masdar.

Once again he warned, "Public officials are given authority and are paid a salary by the people not to lie to and hurt the people's feelings. They must protect rights and serve the people".

In the same vein, William also said, "What is needed is to carry out a total clean up of officials from the central [government] down to the regions. Indonesia's population is more than 230 million people and there are many daughters and sons of the nation that are clean and have integrity".

People's welfare

House of Representatives (DPR) speaker Marzuki Alie is calling on the government, the business world and other components of the nation along with the DPR and other institutions to accelerate the realisation of improving the people's standard of living. This is important to prevent social frustration in society and eliminate the violence that has been spreading up until now.

People's welfare can be created by improving the economy through creating as many employment opportunities as possible and law enforcement. "Now it is how to accelerate the achievement of people's welfare by overcoming poverty and minimising unemployment. There is no other way except increasing economic growth as much as possible accompanied by even distribution that is a just as possible", said Alie.

According to Alie, this is not just the obligation of the government and the DPR, but rather is also the responsibly of the business world and society, not to mention that up until now there is still much national potential, including youth, which have been overlooked. (ato/nwo/ana/har/why/tra)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

International solidarity

Asia Solidarity website: a gold mine of information on struggles

Direct Action - October 2010

Max Lane – In the Indonesia News Digest 31, August 16-23 there are more than 70 news items covering a wide range of issues relating to struggles for social justice and full democracy in Indonesia. The items are listed under categories such as issues, actions, demos, protests, Aceh, West Papua, human rights & law, freedom of expression & press, politics & political parties, electoral commission & elections, environment & natural disasters, health & education, women & gender, graft & corruption, war on terror, ethnic & religious conflicts, Islam & religion, land disputes & evictions, legislation & parliament, armed forces & defence, judiciary & legal system, police & law enforcement, criminal justice & prison system as well as analysis & opinion.

The news items include reports from a range of English language media as well as some items translated into English especially for the Indonesia News Digest by one of its subsidiary services, Indoleft, which specialises in publishing English translations of documents and news reports that have come out of the Indonesian left.

What is most amazing is that these weekly categorised digests on Indonesian politics have been put together and maintained online now for more than 13 years. They are maintained on the excellent Asia Pacific Solidarity Network (APSN) news and affairs website. The site has been maintained by activist James Balowski since its beginning.

Balowski was active in the group AKSI, which later became Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET). ASIET played a significant role in building solidarity in Australia and internationally with the struggle for East Timorese independence and the leading role in supporting the radical pro-democracy movement that grew in Indonesia in the 1990s until the overthrow of the dictator Suharto. The APSN website has archived documents and publications from ASIET during that period also.

These materials alone would have been enough for the National Library of Australia and the United States Library of Congress to request permission to archive the material to ensure that it is never lost. The National Library of Australia archives are part of the Pandora project, and the APSN material can also be accessed there at .

However, APSN also holds more than that. There is also an archive of the Indoleft news service for 2003-10 and of the East Timor News Digest for 2002-10. All this material is also listed under categories making information quickly and easily accessible. It is also one of the best sources of English language news on the politics and society of West Papua. There are also news items on almost all the countries of South-East Asia. A new section in 2010 is Drunken Republic, which reproduces political cartoons from the Indonesian media. These are in Indonesian but come with excellent English translations and explanations.

Balowski has created an incredible archive of material extremely useful to anybody conducting research on the 1997-2010 period in Indonesia and East Timor, as well as the region. The APSN site is oriented to today's activists. It carries a comprehensive Speaking Out section of statements and petitions from groups around the region as well as a What's On section. The latter is oriented to activities in Australia but also carries announcements of regional and international activities.

Economy & investment

Indonesia to sell 60% of oil stock to meet 2010 revenue target

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2010

Ririn Radiawati Kusuma & Bloomberg, Jakarta – In what analysts labeled a risky move, the government on Wednesday said it would sell about 60 percent of the nation's stock of crude oil by December to make up for lost revenue this year as national output looked increasingly likely to fall short of its target.

Evita Legowo, director general of oil and gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said the government planned to sell a total of 7.2 million barrels of crude oil from its stock by the end of November, including the three million barrels announced last month by upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas.

Evita declined to estimate the national output for the full year, but said the recent shutdown at the Duri and Minas oil fields in Sumatra had likely put the target of 965,000 barrels per day – projected for revenue purposes in the 2010 state budget – out of reach.

She noted that Chevron Pacific Indonesia, which accounts for 40 percent of national output, had been operating at full capacity before a gas leak last week forced it to shut down, meaning it would be difficult at best for it to make up for lost production.

BPMigas has said more than 150,000 bpd of production was lost since the shutdown on Sept. 29.

Pri Agung Rakhmanto, an energy analyst at the Reforminer Institute, said selling so much of the nation's stockpile posed a danger to short-term energy security. "Our oil stock only covers 12 days of emergency sales. It is a reckless move," he said.

Pri Agung said the move would add pressure on producers over the coming years as they tried to reach the production targets while replenishing the nation's stocks.

Under pressure from lawmakers, the government has proposed raising the target for next year to 970,000 bpd. Average production for this year was 956,000 bpd as of the end of September. Output has been declining for years because of aging fields and stagnant investment.

A leak in a gas pipeline used to power operations at the Duri and Minas fields last week forced CPI and Pertamina-Bumi Siak Pusako, a unit of the state oil and gas company, to stop production for several days. The leak has been patched, but production must be resumed gradually and has not yet returned to full volume.

Meanwhile, Abdul Hamid Batubara, president director of CPI, said the company had declared a "force majeure" and told customers exports of Duri and Minas crude would be disrupted. Force majeure is a legal clause which allows producers to miss shipments because of circumstances beyond their control.

"The gas supply is starting to increase and will reach the same level as before the pipeline leakage in several days," Abdul said. "Oil production is starting to increase but needs several days to reach the same level as before the pipeline leakage."

Oil has been produced at Duri in south central Sumatra since 1941, according to CPI's Web site. Due to the age of the field, it now uses steamflood technology to inject heated water vapor into the wells to loosen the crude.

Exports touch new heights on industrial performance

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2010

Indonesia's monthly exports climbed to their highest value ever in August, totaling US$13.71 billion, a 9.76 percent increase from the $12.49 billion recorded in July, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said Friday.

"It is the highest export value we have ever seen," BPS chairman Rusman Heriawan said, adding that the previous record was $13.35 billion, set in December last year.

Non-oil and gas exports reached $11.77 billion in August, a 10.94 percent increase from $10.60 billion in the previous month. Meanwhile, oil and gas exports reached $1.94 billion in August, a 3.12 percent increase from $1.88 billion in the previous month.

In the export of non-oil and gas products, Rusman said, coal remained the biggest contributor, accounting for 15.09 percent of total in the first seven months, followed by CPO with 10.72 percent.

Indonesia's exports of crude palm oil in August increased 45 percent to 1.72 million metric tons from 1.19 million metric tons in July, as floods in India spurred demand for cooking oil, Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) said as quoted by Bloomberg.

India imported 726,000 tons of crude palm oil and related products in August, up from 449,000 tons in July, Gapki said.

Exports to the European Union increased to 429,000 tons in August from 284,000 tons in July, with crude palm oil comprising 317,000 tons, the Gapki statement said.

Cumulatively, Indonesia's exports in the first eight months reached $98.71 billion, a 40.42 percent increase over the same period last year, with non-oil and gas exports contributing $81.73 billion, a 36.25 percent increase from over their contribution in the same period last year.

In the first eight months of this year, exports of Indonesia's manufactured products increased by 34.7 percent to $61.4 billion, the Trade Ministry said in a statement.

"The global economic recovery has stimulated growing demand for Indonesia's manufactured products. The increase was also seen in exports of mining and agricultural products," Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said Friday.

Mari said the increase in exports of manufactured goods was mainly a result of significant export growth in several products, including rubber which in the first half grew by 103.9 percent to $5.2 billion compared to the comparable period last year. The value automotive exports also grew by 46.1 percent to $1.5 billion, cacao by 41.5 percent to $977 million and footwear by 33.1 percent to $1.4 billion.

Rusman said Indonesia's trade surplus reached $1.49 billion in August, accumulating a total surplus of $10.93 billion with all countries in the January-August period. Indonesia's imports reached $12.22 billion in August, a 3.21 percent decline from $12.63 billion in the previous month. In the January-August period, imports reached $87.78 billion or 46.87 percent compared to the same period last year.

Imports of non-oil and gas reached $10.01 billion in August, a 4.79 percent decline from $10.52 billion in the previous month. In the January-August period, imports of non-oil and gas reached $70.35 billion or 43.56 increase from the same period last year.

Non-oil and gas imports in August were dominated by machinery and mechanical equipment, worth $1.82 billion, showing a 6.54 decline from the previous month. "August imports were dominated by capital goods," Rusman said.

Analysis & opinion

SBY missed big picture yet again in canceling Netherlands visit

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2010

Could President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's skin be any thinner? Once again the president has lashed out after perceiving an incident as a personal transgression against him. And once again, he seemed clueless about the larger picture.

Last month, Yudhoyono gave a tongue lashing to an official from Telkomsel in West Java after a technical glitch ended a teleconference he was chairing.

This week, he blasted the Netherlands and its judicial system, and also canceled a state visit, because some has-been Indonesian separatist group filed a case against him in a Dutch human rights court.

It didn't matter that the sudden cancellation was a massive insult to Dutch Queen Beatrix, or that The Hague District Court summarily rejected the case or that Yudhoyono has diplomatic immunity.

Giving credence to critics who called him paranoid for claiming last year that the Bank Century scandal was being used to topple his government, the president said there might be an attempt to arrest him during his state visit.

The key word here is "him." Wouldn't the first state visit to the Netherlands by an Indonesian president in some 40 years benefit the country, even if there were protesters there? Yudhoyono tried to further justify his behavior by saying The Hague District Court acted unethically in setting a hearing on the human rights lawsuit for the day after it was filed. Unethically?

That's a strong word coming from someone whose country's judiciary is so rotten that verdicts often favor the highest bidder.

Yudhoyono also claimed that the court set a world record for holding a hearing after a lawsuit was filed – one day. Where did that come from?

Was it as fast as Yudhoyono moved to sign a presidential order in September 2009 to temporarily replace anticorruption officials Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto after they were charged in a bogus police graft investigation?

Diplomatic affronts aside, what's really disturbing about the canceled state visit is that Yudhoyono doesn't seem to understand the real issue – or is continuing to ignore it.

The South Maluku Republic's lawsuit was about the alleged torture of at least 21 of its members by a counterterrorism unit during Yudhoyono's visit to Maluku in August.

The separatist group had also filed another report on human rights abuses after activists were arrested and allegedly tortured for performing a traditional war dance and unfurling an outlawed independence flag in front of Yudhoyono during his visit to Ambon in 2007.

While it's far-fetched to attempt to jail the president for torture allegedly carried out by the police, he reportedly did tell police during the 2007 incident to heavily punish the protesters.

So why didn't he at least acknowledge the serious allegations in the lawsuit as he was canceling his state visit, given that the two alleged incidents of torture in Maluku were related to his trips there?

Maybe Yudhoyono doesn't feel personally affronted by the torture allegations, or is oblivious to them.

Speaking of oblivious, how about lawmaker Mahfudz Siddiq trying to place the blame on the Dutch government for allowing an anti-Yudhoyono protest as well as the lawsuit.

Pardon me, but in democratic countries governments don't arrest and ban protesters for exercising their rights of free speech and assembly, and they don't meddle in the judicial system.

This confusion about democracy is apparently spreading like a flu bug at the House of Representatives. House Speaker Marzuki Alie on Thursday said that Indonesia was more democratic than the United States because of the religious and ethnic diversity of its cabinet.

As an example, Alie said the United States had only recently elected a Muslim. I can only assume he wasn't talking about Barack Obama, who is a Christian, but Keith Ellison, who was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006.

Four years ago is not that recent, but in any event, numerous Muslims have been elected to smaller offices in US states.

They key word there is "elected." The members of Yudhoyono's cabinet, as ethnically and religiously diverse as they are, were not elected. They were appointed and many of them are unqualified to hold their jobs. If cabinet members were elected, I doubt many of them would still be ministers.

There's also the little problem of radical Islamist sympathies seeping into Yudhoyono's cabinet. Despite pleas from interfaith groups and Muslim scholars to go easy on the Ahmadiyah sect, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has continued his campaign to ban the group.

And despite calls for the repeal of a controversial regulation on houses of worship, Ali and Ministry of Home Affairs officials are drafting a law that will only lead to more discriminatory treatment against Christians.

And let's not forget Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo, the sole candidate to become the next National Police chief. He apparently wants to invite the Islamic Defenders Front to help provide security in Jakarta and across Indonesia.

What is going on here? Last week, I warned that Indonesia's moral compass is seriously out of whack. This week, it's even more so. But what's even more disturbing is the lack of public outrage.

In 2006, author and former dissident Pramoedya Ananta Toer predicted a second revolution was coming to Indonesia.

As fanciful as that may have sounded coming during the reformasi era, the country's powerful leadership is increasingly isolated and oblivious to the public's wishes, impunity and injustice are rising, and more than 100 million people live on $2 a day or less.

To me, these sound like key ingredients to the kind of revolution Pramoedya was talking about.

[Joe Cochrane is a Jakarta Globe contributing editor.]

Reasons for cancelled SBY trip don't fly

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2010

Christian Donny Putranto – Just moments before what was to be a historic flight to the Netherlands on Tuesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono surprised quite a few people – his entourage included – by canceling the trip.

There had been rumors that Yudhoyono – who was to receive the Order of the Dutch Lion from Queen Beatrix – was considering canceling the state visit after a recent Dutch poll showed impressive gains by anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders.

But what caused our president to cancel wasn't politics but a lawsuit filed against him in a Dutch court by a group claiming to represent the unrecognized South Maluku Republic (RMS).

A group of Dutch nationals, along with John Wattilete, the exiled president of the separatist RMS, initiated the proceedings, alleging human rights violations in Maluku and Papua.

The grounds for cancellation? Indignation at the "indignity" of the law suit and a planned protest.

Yudhoyono should eventually go through with his visit the Netherlands because it could help the two nations further improve their warming relations.

Just five years ago, the Netherlands acknowledged Aug. 17 as Indonesia's official Independence Day, and the Dutch foreign minister attended the ceremony at the State Palace. Since then, ties have continued to grow.

Specifically, there are two reasons why Yudhoyono should have not have bailed out on his state visit.

First, under international law, Yudhoyono has absolute sovereign immunity as a head of state. He enjoys protection from foreign jurisdiction, either civil or criminal, and that immunity must be duly observed by the Dutch government while Yudhoyono is within its territory.

The International Court of Justice affirmed this immunity principle in a case involving the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium in 2001. In that case, after a series of legal proceedings Belgium issued an international arrest warrant for the then-Congolese foreign minister for gross human rights violations.

The ICJ ruled that a high-ranking official – such as a head of state, head of government or foreign minister – enjoys sovereign immunity and therefore the arrest warrant was unlawful.

Based on the maxim par in parem non habet imperium – an equal has no authority over an equal – Yudhoyono should have known that in even the worst-case scenario he would not have been subject to Dutch jurisdiction.

Many nations' leaders have been subject to a lawsuit overseas, but canceled visits are rare. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has traveled overseas despite being the target of legal action in many European countries, including Germany and France, for his denial of the Holocaust.

The admirable qualities of SBY's international affairs and legal advisers notwithstanding, it may be argued that our government is still immature when it comes to handling such a legal-political situation in the international sphere.

As noted international law scholar Prof. Hikmahanto Juwana has said, the legal dispute is not between Indonesia and the Netherlands; it's a problem between the RMS and Indonesia.

The most disturbing effect of the cancellation is the RMS's perceived victory. This unprecedented "triumph" can be used in the future by other separatist movements in exile.

By backing out of the trip, Yudhoyono may have given fresh life to the RMS separatist movement, and support from the international community might significantly increase as a result.

Yudhoyono's administration should show the world that Indonesia is much stronger than a tiny separatist organization like the RMS and that the country has no tolerance for such movements.

Another reason of the cancellation, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah, was that Yudhoyono didn't want the legal situation to take attention away from the core purpose of his visit, which was to strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

In his news conference, Yudhoyono also said that his dignity, as well as the dignity of Indonesia, had been insulted by the lawsuit.

But it is hardly logical to say that the dignity of Indonesia as a nation was infringed upon or disturbed by the filing of a lawsuit in the Netherlands.

To the contrary, it is our dignity as Indonesian people that has been indirectly harmed by SBY's response. We should be showing the world that we are not afraid of such separatist groups.

In Indonesia, only a few people would have been aware of the RMS lawsuit had Yudhoyono not overreacted.

Next time, the president should think hard about what kind of offenses are serious enough to occasion the cancellation of a state visit. An "insulting" lawsuit is not one of them.

[Christian Donny Putranto is a law graduate of the Atma Jaya University.]

An errant tweet, ignored rights and a president out of touch

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2010

Bramantyo Prijosusilo – In the wake of the threats and wrath coming from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) against the gay film festival in Jakarta, a Democratic Party politician questioned the need to have such a festival.

Unwittingly, our honorable communications and information minister, Tifatul Sembiring, demonstrated just why public education about non-heterosexuality is an urgent issue in this country.

The minister, who is not exactly known to be a person consistently capable of making the kind of intelligent statements expected from an individual of his standing, posted his callous and ignorant jokes about homosexuality and AIDS on Twitter, causing yet another wave of ridicule for his predictably bizarre thoughts.

Still, Tifatul's thinking on homosexuality and AIDS is not at all rare in Indonesia. In fact, it definitely is the norm.

Tifatul was only parroting what any rickshaw driver or vegetable vendor would tell you: that homosexuality is a disease and a mortal sin and that AIDS is spread because of homosexuality.

When someone as high up as Tifatul has such beliefs, it clearly demonstrates the absolute urgency of the Q! Film Festival, which has been silently educating Jakarta residents about issues of sexual orientation for several years.

Discrimination and hate crimes are still so common in this country that every effort to educate people in ways that will free them from their fears of, and violence against, "the other" should be warmly welcomed and supported.

It is not only sexual orientation that brings discrimination in our country of smiles and tolerance.

Our society is full of discrimination against women, against Chinese- Indonesians, against Ahmadi Muslims, against Batak Christians, against Madurese people, against dark-skinned eastern Indonesians, against indigenous beliefs.

As an indicator of how insensitive we are to the needs of others, we see that there is even widespread discrimination against the mainstream poor and the weak, such as children, the elderly and frail people.

At the root of this under-siege mentality of fear is deep-rooted ignorance, born of poverty and lack of access to quality information and education.

Often, when dealing with certain dogma-related issues, we find discrimination masquerading as religious teaching.

Because of the involvement of religion in promoting ignorance on issues such as gender and sexual orientation, discrimination is even more difficult to eradicate in Indonesia.

For this reason we must learn to consciously appreciate the courage of the likes of John Badalu, who initiated the Q! Film Festival, for sticking their necks out to educate people through art and culture, promoting tolerance and understanding and combating discrimination.

While we learn to make an effort to support citizens' bold efforts to combat discrimination, we should not tire of calling out public officials who make ignorant and callous statements such as Tifatul's pronouncements about homosexuality and AIDS, or, a little further back, the irresponsible comments by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali about banning the Ahmadiyah Islamic faith.

As citizens we should not tire of shouting out loud and clear the fact that divisive and discriminatory statements coming from public officials are a threat to the integrity and very existence of our country.

Divisive and discriminatory statements from public officials as high up as a minister are surely very serious mistakes.

Indeed, they might also be seen as grave crimes, akin to treason, because they attack the very foundation of our independent republic and the very fabric of our pluralistic society.

Even without the help of blundering ministers, our society is ripping at the seams in many places.

The recent street brawl in Jakarta where thugs fired guns and chopped to death three members of an opposing gang was just one more incident in a string of eruptions of communal violence across the archipelago, from the remote Tarakan to the streets of the capital.

We have organizations like the FPI that feel it is their right to use threats and violence to fulfill their agendas, and while petty thieves who are caught might expect to be beaten to death, corrupt officials are defended by the prosecution in court. Considering that at all levels of society there is a belief that justice is not something the state can guarantee its citizens, it's a miracle we still have a country at all.

After all, one main reason behind organizing a state is to guarantee justice for its citizens – to protect people from the law of the jungle where might is right and the weak are preyed upon by the strong.

People have long been calling on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to act firmly against those undermining the culture of tolerance that we want our society to be known for.

Waiting so long to see him act, many have given up expecting any change until a regime shift several years from now. The tragedy is that if we continue on this downward spiral we can expect far worse as 2014 approaches.

With demagogues seizing the opportunity to whip up emotions and manipulate the masses, the horrors of a collapsing state and society are too close for comfort.

What chance is there of the aloof SBY listening to pleas of reason to step in and halt the divisive actions of organizations and officials?

When a recent peaceful protest including elderly women at the Presidential Palace demanded justice over the disappearances of activists around the troubles of 1998, demonstrators were forcefully moved by the police and SBY continued to ignore the issue.

One would be forgiven for wondering whether or not our president has any inclination to answer these kinds of grievances at all. All this indicates just how out of touch SBY has become.

[Bramantyo Prijosusilo is an artist, poet and organic farmer in Ngawi, East Java.]

Indonesia: where do we go from here?

Direct Action - October 2010

Zely Ariane – We undertake united front work because it is a principal tactic with which to bring broader layers of the poor majority into the movement challenging the power of the ruling class. It is a tool to bring together and mobilise different forces and build consciousness on a common platform of struggle. For revolutionary forces, it is also an arena to propagate the strategic aims of socialism through overthrowing pro- capitalist and imperialist governments and their state and establishing a government of the working class and the poor.

August 7 protest against electricity price hikes, Yogyakarta

The majority of the Third World's working poor have a dream: equality and prosperity. It is a matter of life and death. No one will give it to us. Because that dream is a political one, the struggle must also be political.

Socialism of the 21st century fits with this dream. Genuine socialism has learnt from the 20th century's mistakes. It will be a socialism that is democratic and participatory, ecological and feminist something like Venezuela and Cuba, two countries from which we have gained so many lessons. The suffering of the billions of poor in the world is caused by capitalism, ruling through its small capitalist class and its supporters. In describing these political forces in Indonesia, we have called them the five political enemies of the people: imperialism and pro-imperialist puppet governments, the remnants of former dictator Suharto's New Order, the fake reformist political parties, the military and the reactionary militias.

To bring down capitalism and imperialism, the people themselves have to mobilise. This will give a political foundation to a government of the poor: to build national industry by and for the people; to concentrate domestic funding; to fulfil the immediate demands of the people (and build national industry); and to develop a progressive culture.

Today's poor of around 140 million of Indonesia's population of 250 million live on less than US$2 a day. This cannot be tolerated, so we prioritise campaigning for 10 immediate demands of the people. We call these immediate not just because the content is a matter of life and death but also because people are already mobilised around and discussing these demands.

Those demands are: (1) lower prices of basic commodities; (2) free health care and education; (3) a reasonable minimum wage and employment opportunities for all; (4) affordable housing, clean water, energy and transportation; (5) democratic political and electoral laws, (6) the straightening out of Indonesia's written history; (7) the trial of human rights violators and dissolution of the Indonesian military's territorial command structure; (8) the trial and seizure of Suharto's, his cronies' and other big corrupters' assets; (9) a 50% quota for women in all public offices; (10) rehabilitation of the environment. The recent attacks on the freedom of religious expression, the press and women's rights also raise demands that need to be campaigned for.

When we propagandise for people's power as one of the five principal solution for Indonesian people, it means people's independent organisations and a united people's movement; direct participation in democracy; a government of the poor; education that is scientific and equitable, with development of technology and sustainable natural resources; healthy, productive and free human beings in solidarity with each other and a mentality of resistance.

This is also our platform for joint work. United fronts can be based on one or more common programs or aims in the short or long term.

Importance of August 7 protests

On August 7 in Jakarta, at least 40 grassroots and people's organisations under the banner of the National Movement took to the street to oppose increases in the prices of electricity and basic commodities. Similar mobilisations took place in at least six large cities with hundreds to a thousand participating. To have this many taking part was good given that the momentum had passed: the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) announced the electricity hike on July 1, while the increases to basic commodities had been ongoing for some time.

The initiative to bring these forces together came in July from the Indonesian Struggle Union (PPI), the Political Union of the Poor (PPRM) and Indonesian Transportation Trade Union of Struggle (SBTPI), all of which are radical left forces.

Entering its second term, the Yudhoyono government has been the target of constant protests over its anti-people economic policies and issues of corruption and democracy. In general, spontaneous protest actions were also widely dispersed. Meanwhile, the left was not able to consistently present a political alternative on the national stage. That is also why the many spontaneous and fragmented protests have gone nowhere and in many cases were defeated, leaving their participants demoralised.

Objectively, the left has a very good opportunity to present an alternative. The problem mostly lies in subjective factors.

The other significant challenge is to formulate tactics in a way that can create and maintain a political atmosphere of resistance and at the same time find ways to speak to and reach out broadly to the masses. The August 7 initiative was part of this process. Prior to August 7, the main left and democratic forces consolidated in a fragmented way under different projects and vehicles.

The Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) was established in 2006 as a progressive confederation of workers. The objective conditions for it to develop were the radicalisation of workers in 2004-05 against an anti- labour ministerial decree and draft revisions to the labour law. On every May Day since then, the ABM has articulated the demands of more radical workers and mobilised no fewer than 5000 workers in Jakarta and thousands across the country.

The Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI), the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle, the SBTPI and the Greater Jakarta Workers Federation of Struggle have been the main forces behind the ABM. Several months ago however, KASBI, the biggest trade union in the ABM, decided to leave primarily because it was unwilling to wait any longer for ABM to become a confederation, and KASBI's membership had been pushing for KASBI itself to become a confederation since 2009. The ABM also in 2008 facilitated the establishment of the National Liberation Front (FPN), another radical united front. But the FPN ceased to exist with the dissipation of the fuel price campaign.

The establishment of the Indonesian People's Opposition Front (FORI) was led by the Working People's Association (PRP) and KASBI in Jakarta, and gained support from some other left forces including ourselves in early 2010. In its call for an action on January 28, there were 17 signatures of grassroots organisations in Jakarta. At first, there were two different processes of consolidation at the "national" and "Jakarta" levels, but then it managed to unite into one alliance comprising 47 organisations, many of them NGOs. This also happened in several other large cities, with more or less similar groups participating, but some with different names for the alliance.

Establishing FORI as an alternative vehicle for the people's opposition was a good idea, but the problem lay in the fact that you cannot push unity from above. It should be a democratic process supported by different initiatives in different regions. Of course it would be good, especially for political campaigning, to have the same united front name throughout Indonesia, but we cannot force all the groups to adopt the same name. This was one of the differences in tactical approach between us and the PRP.

The SBTPI appears to have a similar position. Its leader, Ilhamsyah, said in June: "We understand the need for left unity, but this has to be organised democratically and equally among the different groups that established it, meaning not to judge different organisations based on their size. We consider there was an undemocratically organised process in the formation of the national FORI and greater Jakarta FORI..."

These differences also resulted in different mobilisations on May Day, the ABM and FORI establishing new action committees and mobilising separately. Recently, these two forces appear to be facing more problems. There is little news about FORI consolidation or actions, especially in the regions. The ABM is also having problems convincing people and maintaining its project to organise a national conference. The platforms of the two groups are more or less the same, especially in their position on the need for an independent movement to challenge and replace the political elite and pro- capitalist government and present an alternative of the anti-imperialist movement. But again, this is still a process of finding a better approach to build a larger radical movement.

August 7 was a step forward because it united both main forces, as well as the People's Democratic Party (PRD). It was the first time that the PRD and the KPRM-PRD worked together in a united front since they split in 2007, and was in fact a kind of "reunion" for the PRD, which had been absent from and not prioritised left unity since their 2009 election intervention, which we saw as being on opportunist parliamentary lines.

Although the August 7 movement was closer to an action committee than a form of strategic or long-term unity, it represented a stage in the process, and we need to think about a formulation to maintain the common project together with propaganda for a more strategic consolidation.

Three meetings were held in August to discuss the future of Indonesia and a common response to the first year of the second term of the Yudhoyono administration. The idea to have a series of regular discussions was a good one, and the debate that developed during the course of the three discussions was useful. Of the different groups that participated unfortunately the PRP could not see and learn from the different approaches to strategy and tactics between, for example, us and the PRD.

The main differences have now become obvious. The PRD advocate what they call "progressive nationalism" under the banner of "Sukarnoism" and see the Yudhoyono government as the main enemy. They propagandise for broad anti- neoliberal unity against the government. In doing this, they can easily switch between prioritising left movement intervention and the parliamentary opportunism of an "anti-SBY government". For them, it is a matter of balancing between parliament and the left, the latter being less important.

However, we can still work with the PRD, as long as it is not in contradiction with building the movement. For us, it will be contradictory and obstruct the development of the people's movement if the PRD seek to subjugate it to or create the illusion as they did in 2009 that the political parties in the parliament are tactical allies.

Subjective factors

The urgent task for the Indonesian left and people's movement is having a larger intervention in national politics to compete with the bourgeoisie's political hegemony. The left has the capacity for a bigger and wider political influence. The FPN in 2008 is one of the best examples of this.

The FPN experience and the People's Struggle Front in 2008 show that if the left and people's movement unite, they can play a leading role in the national political arena, and can provide an alternative leadership for the spontaneous and fragmented protests that are taking place across the country.

But this will not automatically lead to the advancement of the left. Some efforts have been made through publishing four editions of the Journal of Unity, but the project was unable to be maintained for a variety of reasons. Other efforts were undertaken, mostly by the PPI, the PPRM and the PRP, through discussions in 2009 to continue the collaboration through the Left League. But this process has also stalled.

Problems and challenges

All left forces are calling for and pressing for unity. But this unity has failed to really develop and grow due to the strategic differences. The main problem probably lies in understanding (and consciousness) about the politics of united front work, since it is also quite a new tactical approach for the Indonesian left.

A good general line for left unity would be: for the left to publish its own progressive journal; working in unity they can have a greater political influence and bigger mobilisations and also can present their own political leadership; organising joint Marxist and political education, as ABM has done recently; developing as a pole of attraction for the spontaneous movement.

The other challenge is the dynamic between each organisation's existence and activities and united front work: how to combine the two. United front work and organisational development are dialectical. The bigger the movement brought together by united front work, the bigger the chance is for each organisation to develop, or even unite together, and at the same time the bigger the chance for the people to win against the state.

Another problem is the notion of the "main enemy". The very dangerous aspect of this notion is seeing one faction of the bourgeoisie as more evil than others. All the political elite in the government and legislature are equally dangerous. All of them support capitalist neoliberal agendas, although of course some play the role of fake opposition on certain policies. This is the kind of politics still being played by the PRD with their "progressive or Sukarnoist nationalism".

There is no section of the Indonesian bourgeoisie that has the will or interest to break with imperialism. All elements of the bourgeoisie are dependent upon foreign capital, and they all compete to be the best agent of imperialism. The capitalist elite do not have the capacity to overcome the country's problems. There's no "national" bourgeoisie that can play a dominant role in the political area. And none of the elite politicians have any popular legitimacy.

What we want to campaign for is the unity of the people's movement against imperialism and the pro-imperialist government and establishing the people's movement's own political vehicle, whatever the form. Initially, a form of unity and consolidation based on anti-neoliberalism, anti- capitalism/imperialism or even simply anti-poverty and for other democratic issues would benefit the left. At the same time a consolidation among the more or less similar platforms on the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist left needs to be strengthened through ongoing discussions, joint protests, Marxist political education, left publications and sectoral collaboration.

And then we will see where we will go from there.

[Zely Ariane is national spokesperson for the Political Committee of the Poor - People's Democratic Party (KPRM-PRD), and a member of the national executive board of the Political Union of the Poor (PPRM). A longer version of this article is available on the KPRM-PRD English language website.]

Indonesia's uncertain dance

Asia Times - October 5, 2010

Stanley A Weiss, Jakarta – One of the mesmerizing dances performed here is Jaipongan, a style that mixes Indonesian martial arts with village ritual music. It features graceful arm movements and slow, lunging steps that create the appearance of forward momentum. While the dancer floats across the floor, you never really notice that she's moving in a circle until the dance ends and she is standing back where she started.

The real question is not whether the racier version of Jaipongan performed by young dancers here is out of step with this conservative Muslim nation, which US President Barack Obama announced this week that he'll finally be visiting in November. The real question is whether President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration is performing an economic Jaipongan for the investors of the world.

Certainly, the country's forward momentum is unquestionable. Earlier this month, Indonesia jumped 10 places in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index, vaulting to 44th overall, placing it well ahead of better-known BRIC competitors Brazil (58), Russia (63) and India (51), while still trailing China (27).

A few days later, "BRIC" morphed to "BRICI" as the Boston Consulting Group reported the BRIC namesakes plus Indonesia would drive a massive digital revolution in coming years as disposable incomes increased. The faster-than-expected 6.2% growth here last quarter is expected to carry through 2011.

It is a long way from where Indonesia was a decade ago, with an economy in free-fall, religious violence in the east, separatist slaughter in the west, and riots in the capital city.

"Eleven years ago, Indonesia was the basket case of Asia. Now, it's an emerging Asian powerhouse," says Fauzi Ichsan, the senior economist at Jakarta's Standard Chartered Bank. "I have been talking to many investors that I never spoke to before who want to invest here."

Former US ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume adds, "Indonesia has had a stable monetary policy through a time of crisis. People are moderately optimistic. There's no allergy under the skin ready to erupt."

For investors, however, one allergy remains all too visible above the skin: corruption. Everybody here has a story about corruption. Need a driver's license? Pay a bribe. Get stopped for speeding? Pay a bribe (the going rate is about 50,000 rupiah, or US$5).

"The law enforcers are like hunters in a zoo," Indonesia Corruption Watch researcher Febri Hendri has said. "Corruption is so widespread that they can take a shot and easily catch something."

"I interviewed one governor not long ago who told me that even though Jakarta has an emissions test for buses now, the pollution problem remains because before the buses arrive at the test facility, they stop off at a place and rent a clean muffler for the test, and then return it after it passes," says journalist Lin Neumann. "The governor thought it was hilarious."

During Yudhoyono's first term as president, global investors and Indonesians alike were impressed by the strides his government made against corruption. From 2004 to 2009, Indonesia's standing in Transparency International's corruption perception index – where a score of zero is most corrupt and 10 is cleanest – rose from 2.0 to 2.8. Convinced that he was the only candidate willing to curb corruption further, Indonesian voters re-elected SBY, as he is known here, in 2009, and his Democratic party won last year's legislative elections.

But since re-election, as Sidney Jones, the senior adviser to the International Crisis Group says, "The shine is off SBY."

First, Yudhoyono pardoned former local government officials who had been imprisoned for embezzling state funds. Then, he reduced the sentences of several former central bank officials who had been imprisoned for corruption, including the father-in-law of SBY's eldest son.

Widespread reports of corruption in the attorney general's office and the national police took another hit last month when a businessman sentenced to four years in jail for attempting to bribe anti-graft investigators allegedly did so with the backing of top police and prosecutors – a case so outrageous that Yudhoyono was forced to publicly pledge to replace top police officials.

Lastly, the once-powerful Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has yet to replace its former chairman, who was convicted in a murder case, even though SBY finally put forward two candidates this month.

"Some say corruption doesn't matter and some fund managers have already factored it in," says Neumann. Journalist Kath Demopoulos says, "It's also about lost opportunity and stagnation. The country isn't booming as it should because of corruption" – something Fauzi agrees with. "If the government is disciplined and has political will," he says, "nine percent growth is achievable."

Next year, Indonesia will chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is expected to renew emphasis on its 2015 goal of regional economic integration. As the region's largest economy, Indonesia will also play a lead role in restarting a potential US-ASEAN free-trade agreement (FTA), an agenda topic last week when ASEAN leaders met with Obama around the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Obama also accepted ASEAN's invitation to attend the East Asia Summit, scheduled for Jakarta next year. A similar FTA agreement with China, signed earlier this year, has already boosted trade by 50%.

Will the ASEAN spotlight help bring Indonesia's anti-corruption efforts back out of the shadows, or dance them back to where they started? Nobody knows for sure. In the 1960s, Jaipongan was a response to former president and independence hero Sukarno's banning of rock and roll. Today, if Yudhoyono ultimately gives reform the shake, it is investors that will be rattled and rolled.

[Stanley A Weiss is founding chairman of Business Executives for National Security, a non-partisan organization based in Washington.]

Clowns in court

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 4, 2010

"If you want to borrow some too, I have some [money] here," Gayus Tambunan, a defendant in a tax corruption mega-case told the judge during a hearing last week at South Jakarta District Court last week.

The audience laughed, but how could Gayus, who is facing life imprisonment, be so bold?

In his testimony at the trial of another graft defendant, businessman Andi Kosasih, Gayus told the court he had lent Rp 2 billion (US$224,000) to Kosasih to bribe law enforcement officials. In front of the judge, Gayus reminded Kosasih to repay his debt. The former low-level tax official made the joke when the judge asked why it was so easy for Gayus to lend money to other people.

Throughout the world, court hearings are often marked by light moments when defendants, prosecutors, defense attorneys and even judges make amusing remarks. Sometimes judges must pound their gavels to return order to the court.

Sometimes they don't mean to be funny. Indonesians had a roaring time during the cross examination of the former chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Antasari Azhar, who was eventually convicted for murder.

The judges probed into the details of his alleged sexual encounter with one of the witnesses; and while the questions were hilarious, they also raised suspicion on where the trial was heading, and its impact on the national fight against corruption.

Whether the various graft trials currently in progress will help Indonesia in this war is on everyone's mind. Gayus' joke was among many disheartening signs.

What was he thinking? If we knew the real reason it would more likely make us sick. Many Indonesians have been impressed with Gayus because he has been very open in discussing the bribes he has received, including huge sums from a company owned by a famous conglomerate. Gayus fearlessly told the court how he distributed those bribes to several police generals and to his superior at the Taxation Directorate.

Facing life imprisonment, has Gayus repented for his evil acts against taxpayers? Is he ready to suffer a harsh sentence?

According to recent reports, Gayus has every reason to be relaxed. Many officials – be they judges, police generals or prosecutors – have allegedly enjoyed the money Gayus extorted from taxpayers.

Indonesia's judicial system is often a source of trauma for poor justice seekers. Petty crimes are severely punished, such as in the recent case of the theft of cacao fruits.

But high-class bandits and the robbers of state coffers need not worry, as long as they can bribe those assigned by the state to ensure the supremacy of the law. Justice is all about money – that is a common complaint voiced by many Indonesians. Law enforcement officials are hard pressed to deny it.

Gayus' joke is a strong reflection of how disrespectful our judiciary system is. Gayus and other mega-corruptors and power abusers must have laughed about the trial, knowing full well how money and power can ensure what they want from the law enforcement.

So far the KPK and the Corruption Court still have public respect because no single person accused of corruption has been acquitted by the court. But what about those at the level of the district or provincial courts or the Supreme Court? Are the police and prosecutors any cleaner? Gayus laughs, and he is not alone.

By the way... A solution to traffic jams, MUI prohibition of cars

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2010

Duncan Graham – Traffic jams are expected to vanish throughout Indonesia once a new edict by a leading agency takes effect.

The surprise fatwa from the MUI (Motorcyclists' Union of Indonesia) was announced just before mudik, the annual pilgrimage to hometowns and parents undertaken by many Indonesians at the end of the slowing month.

MUI secretary Bangbang Twostroke said the fatwa prohibited the use of cars, which were now haram.

Although it was difficult to impose a fatwa on those groups that didn't follow MUI's teachings, it was expected that most would accept the ruling to avoid drawing attention to themselves and creating unnecessary conflict.

The roads would be far less congested once the fatwa was in place and all four-wheel vehicles were either locked up or deported. He added that two- wheel transport goes back centuries so reverting to the past would create a purer nation.

"You can't hide on a motorbike," Bangbang said. "Everyone can see what you're up to. Behind the tinted windows of cars all sorts of immorality can take place.

"The MUI has long been concerned about the rise in popularity of other means of transport.

"We've had to accept the government's five-brand policy, but there have been issues in some regions that have disturbed local communities.

"Allegations have been made of moves to Toyotarize Indonesians. I've even heard of preman [thugs] with Manado accents trying to Nissanize locals with promises of high trade-ins and cashbacks.

"The Mercedes trinity star is known to have other meanings. Those of us who believe in only one brand find the symbol offensive."

The police have been instructed not to tolerate attempted conversions from two to four wheels by outside forces with other agendas.

FPI (Friendly People of Indonesia) squads were ready to assist the police and ensure the fatwa was obeyed. Mr. Bangbang rejected reports that FPI members had already started trashing cars as "baseless accusations from dark forces planning to overthrow the Unitary State".

A spokesman for the Ministry of Agama (Automobile, Gasoline and Mechanical Appliances) said no comment would be made on the MUI's fatwa, though the minister welcomed any moves to restrict the number of road users, particularly those who didn't follow the number one brand. "In the past we've been tolerant of deviants like Suzuki and Yamaha, but it's now time to disband them," he said.

"The minister realizes this is a controversial move. It may be in breach of the Constitution, which allows citizens freedom to ride the brand of their choice. But no matter. Our founding fathers did not appreciate the threats now coming from outside. Public order must be maintained."

During the slowing month, when petrol tanks may only be filled between dusk and dawn, reports of surly young men in gangs hanging around food stalls at nightfall astride motorcycles have been causing concern among supporters of cars.

Last month it was claimed motorcycle numbers in Indonesia would double by 2015. Last year 6.5 million pedestrians converted to motorbikes, the majority choosing to follow Honda. For every car that rolls onto the road, five motorbikes take to the streets.

Mr. Bangbang said it was clear the infrastructure could not cope. There just wasn't enough room on public roads, so some users have to go. It was right and proper that those evicted from the highways should be the rich driving foreign cars and taking up too much space.

If action wasn't taken now Jakarta could suffer a stroke as its traffic arteries became clogged by the cholesterol of unconstrained private transport.

"The reality is that this is a Honda nation," he said. "Those who want to follow other forms of transport should move to North Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara or Bali where different brands are tolerated.

"However the transmigration of motorbikes from the overcrowded roads of Java to the quiet tracks of Central Kalimantan and elsewhere will continue. This means that the majorities in those regions may soon become the minorities.

"The alternative if for dissidents to embrace two-wheels with fervor if they want to remain citizens. This is a move that can only enhance democracy by ensuring that all Indonesians follow only one way."