Ulma Haryanto, Fitri & Rahmat, Jakarta – One of the country's most conservative hard-line Islamic groups has lashed out against the upcoming visit by the "cruel" US President Barack Obama, despite most commentators viewing it as an embrace of the Muslim world.

On Saturday and Sunday, there were rallies organized by Hizbut Tahrir in Jakarta, Mataram in East Nusa Tenggara, and Makassar in South Sulawesi. A spokesman for the group estimated that across the three cities 20,000 took part, while independent estimates put the Jakarta protest at about 2,000.

Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the group, called Obama "a cruel president, no different from [George W.] Bush, with blood on his hands, and without [showing] the slightest compassion."

He lashed out against the role he said the US played in the "destruction of Muslim countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan and the killing of the people there." "Obama may be a guest, but there are two kinds of guests: the good kind and the problematic kind," Ismail said, adding that Obama fell in the latter category.

The hostile reaction in the run-up to the landmark visit comes amid reconciliatory moves by the White House toward Muslims following Obama's 2009 Cairo speech. Then, he said he was seeking "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world."

Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, previously said a planned visit to Istiqlal Mosque, Indonesia's largest, would "underscore the themes that he's made in terms of outreach to [Muslims] around the world."

He said the president would also "be able to speak to Indonesia's rise as a democracy, Indonesia's rise as an emerging economy, and the pluralism that its story represents."

Similarly, Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, said Obama's visit would strengthen ties between the United States and the Islamic world, and condemned the small groups of extremists opposed to it.

On Friday, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder and chief executive of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and leader of the Al-Farah Mosque in New York, said at the State Palace in Central Jakarta that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's meeting with Obama presented an opportunity to promote cooperation and change negative perceptions of Islam.

"You will have the opportunity to discuss with my president in the next few days... how we can work together and cooperate together to create this kind of momentum – global momentum," he said.

However, Hizbut Tahrir's Ismail said the group was determined to greet Obama with protests.

"We'll certainly be back on Monday, but Tuesday's protests will depend on whether Obama's arrival is confirmed," Ismail said. "Given the current circumstances, I think he might cancel."

Tuesday's demonstrations will take place in Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo, Padang in West Sumatra and Pekanbaru in Riau province.

Ismail said Sunday's protest in Jakarta also raised Rp 58 million ($6,500) in donations for victims of the tsunami in the Mentawai Islands off West Sumatra and Mount Merapi eruptions in Central Java. Meanwhile, in Mataram on Saturday, around 1,000 Hizbut Tahrir demonstrators protested against "US imperialism in Indonesia."

Protesters were seen holding banners that said "Obama is a Jew" – a far cry from accusations he faces at home of being a Muslim – and said Obama's visit will be an attempt to soften up the Indonesian authorities and boost US economic and political interests in the country and the region.

"We must remember that Obama leads a country that is an enemy to Muslims," Ismail said in Mataram.

Bandung students protest planned Obama visit

Jakarta Post - November 5, 2010

Bandung – Students from the West Java Campus Advocacy Institute (LDK) coordinating body staged a rally at the Gedung Sate building in Bandung on Thursday to protest a planned state visit by US President Barack Obama.

West Java LDK coordinator Rizqi Awal said the group's protest was tied to the WikiLeaks documents, which revealed previously classified facts about the US invasion of Iraq. "It shows Obama is not much different from his predecessor, George W. Bush," Rizqi told the crowd.

As a country that opposes any form of colonialism, Indonesia should stick to this principle, he added. "Indonesia should also oppose colonial intentions by the US in Iraq."

The brief rally ran peacefully and the students left after reading out several demands.

Students want Medan's mayor held for graft claims

Jakarta Post - November 3, 2010

Medan – Hundreds of students rallied at the North Sumatra Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday, demanding that Medan's Mayor be detained after he was named a suspect in a graft case.

Rahudman Harahap, who was only recently elected mayor, was alleged to have embezzled Rp 1.5 billion (US$168,000) from the state budget when he was South Tapanuli administration secretary in 2005.

Rally coordinator Amri Pulungan said prosecutors should immediately detain Rahudman to preventing him from destroying evidence.

"The prosecutor's office should not make any compromises with corrupt individuals. Rahudman must be detained soon because he has been named suspect," Amri said.

Prosecutor's spokesperson Edi Irsan Kurniawan said the office was continuing its investigation.

West Papua

Papuan torture trial 'red herring'

Melbourne Age - November 8, 2010

Tom Allard, Jakarta – A military trial into abuses by soldiers in Papua, trumpeted by Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as evidence of the country's commitment to human rights ahead of Julia Gillard's visit, has proven to be a grand deception.

The trial of four soldiers began on Friday in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, amid assurances from the Indonesian government and military that those appearing were involved in the torture of two Papuan men depicted in a graphic video.

But when the trial started, it became apparent that the four defendants had nothing to do with the incident depicted in the video, which took place in Papua on May 30. Instead, they were four soldiers involved in another incident, in March, which was also captured on video. While disturbing – it involves soldiers kicking and hitting detained Papuans – the abuses in the March incident are milder than the genital burning torture in the May video.

Dubbed the "red herring trial" by The Jakarta Post, human rights advocates said the deception proved the matter must be investigated by Indonesia's human rights body and the perpetrators tried in Indonesia's Human Rights Court.

Papuan activists said the "farcical" military tribunal hearing was a deliberate strategy to deflect international condemnation ahead of the visits of Ms Gillard, who travelled to Jakarta last week, and US President Barack Obama, who arrives tomorrow.

A day before Ms Gillard's visit, Dr Yudhoyono announced the trial was to take place and urged Ms Gillard not to raise the topic when they spoke. "There's no need to pressure Indonesia. We have conducted an investigation and are ready for a trial or anything that is required to uphold justice and discipline," he said.

But at the weekend, Lieutenant Colonel Susilo, spokesman for TNI's military command in Papua, admitted the soldiers before the tribunal had nothing to do with the torture.

"It is difficult for us to investigate the perpetrators in the second video because they did not show any attribute or uniform," he said. "So what we could do was working on the first video. We could recognise their units and faces easily. "

Ms Gillard's office and the Department of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.

Indonesia under fire over military trial 'farce'

Agence France Presse - November 8, 2010

Jakarta – United States President Barack Obama must challenge Indonesia over its abuse and torture of Papuan civilians during his talks in Jakarta this week, human rights activists said on Monday.

The call came after an Indonesian military tribunal hearing a case of torture was described as a "farce" and a "grand deception" designed to deflect criticism ahead of Obama's arrival on Tuesday.

Top military officers had said the trial Friday in the Papuan city of Jayapura – which is off-limits to foreign journalists – would deal with five soldiers allegedly involved in the gruesome torture of two Papuan men in May.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had also promised "no immunity" for military torturers after a video of the incident – in which one victim's genitals are burned with a fiery stick – was posted online ahead of a visit to Jakarta last week by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

But despite such assurances and repeated statements from military officers, it emerged late Friday from Jayapura that the trial was about a different, less serious case of abuse which occurred in March.

The Sydney Morning Herald, which first reported the existence of the online video of the May incident, said in a report Monday that the Jayapura tribunal had "proven to be a grand deception" and US-based Human Rights Watch said it was just another example of Indonesia's refusal to bring soldiers to justice for gross human rights abuses in the far eastern province. "This should be at the top of the agenda when President Obama visits Jakarta," said Phil Robertson, HRW deputy director for Asia.

Obama's 24-hour visit to the mainly Muslim Southeast Asian country comes hot on the heels of the Pentagon's announcement in July that it would resume ties with Indonesia's special forces, accused of widespread abuses and killings.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates announced in Jakarta in July that the United States would lift a 12-year suspension of contacts with the special forces as a result of "recent actions... to address human rights issues."

Few Indonesian military officers have faced justice for rights abuses dating back decades, including alleged crimes against humanity in East Timor and the killing of thousands of political activists during the Suharto dictatorship.

Papua and the Malukus have underground separatist movements which Indonesia regards as threats to its territorial unity. Activists are regularly given lengthy jail terms for crimes such as possessing outlawed rebel flags.

Accused soldiers were not part of Papua torture video

Southeast Asian Times - November 8, 2010

Jayapura – The trial of five Indonesian soldiers from an infantry battalion stationed in the Nabire Regency, West Papua, for allegedly "committing acts of violence" against civilians will continue this morning.

But the five are not on trial for the torture of Papuans in the Puncak Jaya region of the western-central highlands of West Papua in May that was exposed in a graphic 10-minute video posted on You Tube last month as earlier reported.

The interrogation revealed in the cell-phone video shown at the tribunal hearing that began Friday was shot when soldiers kicked Papuans during an interrogation on March 17, in an effort to locate supposedly hidden weapons.

The prosecution indictment says: "The defendants have defied their superior's order as the Indonesian military has never ordered soldiers to commit acts of violence against civilians."

Witness First Private Isak reportedly told the tribunal that three soldiers beat and kicked local people after 30 men and women had been gathered in Gurage village, the Tingginambut district.

The Tingginambut District is still a Military Operational Region because it is reportedly the base of the armed separatist group the Free Papua Movement.

Spokesman for the Cendrawasih Military Command, Jayapura, Lieutenant Colonel Susilo erroneously announced Thursday that five of the servicemen allegedly featured in the You Tube video would be tried the next day.

Papua Customary Councillor Markus Haluk described the tribunal a "farce". It was intended to distract the public as well as Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who visited Indonesia earlier this week, and United States President Barack Obama, who scheduled to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tomorrow, from more serious atrocities, he said.

Papuans had witnesses many perpetrators of murder and violence and murder escape lightly. "There has never been justice for Papuans," he said.

The Indonesian government labeled all Papuans "separatists," giving the military and police carte blanche to torture Papuans. The label "separatists" justified violence against all Papuans.

It is not known when the trial of the men in the You Tube video will begin.

Military on the defensive over Papua torture case court-martial switch

Jakarta Globe - November 8, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – The military has failed to say why it switched Friday's announced court-martial of five soldiers accused of torturing two detainees in Papua but has said they will face justice.

The military had said Friday's court-martial would be that of the five soldiers implicated in an incident in May that came to light after being posted on YouTube in mid-October. In the 10-minute video, as many as six soldiers could be seen torturing two men, applying a burning stick to one of the men's genitals and threatening them with a knife and a gun.

However, four soldiers who faced Friday's court-martial in Jayapura have been implicated in the March beating of a man suspected of hiding weapons. The torture incident was recorded on one of the soldier's cellphones.

Human Rights Watch slammed the switch, which it blamed on "Indonesia's opaque military court system."

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Soewarno Widjonarko said on Sunday there was no reason for the military to prevent the court-martial.

"It's better to wait because I don't know exactly the crux of the investigation or the charge," he said. "The trial will start according to official procedures."

Soewarno said it "will show the public our commitment to settling this case fairly. Human Rights Watch can say what it wants, but the world will know the truth."

However, Andreas Harsono, from HRW's Indonesian office, said the military was never really willing to try the case fairly, despite orders to do so from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He blamed factions within the military for "trying to fool everyone concerned with this case."

"I don't know whether they're just pretending to be stupid or if they're willfully trying to fool the president and other officials," Andreas said. "Someone in the military is very probably trying to fool the mass media."

Ramadhan Pohan, from the House of Representatives' Commission I, overseeing defense and foreign affairs, called on the military to hold a fair court- martial, but also slammed HRW for putting "too much political pressure on the case." He said such pressure could be seen as outside interference and could lead to an unfair verdict.

Ramadhan, from the Democratic Party, said the main point of the legal process was to serve as a deterrent for other soldiers serving in Papua. "Just because HRW is an international NGO doesn't mean it can pass judgement on what's fair," he said. "We need to see it in the proper light, in that the investigation has been carried out and the perpetrators will face the maximum sanctions."

Andreas Hugo Pareira, defense and foreign affairs spokesman with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), urged the military to investigate the culture of abuse against Papuans by the armed forces.

To prove such incidents were isolated and not ordered by top brass, the perpetrators must be tried in a human rights tribunal. "It's important for the military to clarify that these are isolated cases and not an institutional problem, and that's why they should let a human rights tribunal try the suspects," he said.

The video prompted an outcry from both at home and abroad.

Red herring trial draws criticisms

Jakarta Post - November 6, 2010

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Activists condemned the military's decision to hold a tribunal in Jayapura on Friday over an alleged torture video, calling it "misleading" and "a farce" to distract the public from the heart of the matter.

On Friday, the Jayapura military tribunal held a hearing for four defendants, local military post chief Second Brig. Cosmos K. and his subordinates Syaminan Lubis, Joko Sulistyo and Dwi Purwanto.

The head of the Jayapura military tribunal, Adil K., said Thursday they would bring four soldiers to trial in relation with a torture video on YouTube, leading the public to believe that the defendants were the suspected perpetrators torturers of two Papuans in a video circulated on the Internet that created global outcry for its cruelty.

The testimony of the defendants on Friday, however, revealed that the case was related to another video where the four defendants beat and kicked several residents of Gurage village in Puncak Jaya. The abuse in the video, dated March 17 this year, was milder than the one inflicted on Anggen Pugu Kiwo and Telengga Gire in May.

The four defendants said they were searching for Davis Tabuni, a suspected separatist, in Gurage. They rounded up 30 villagers to get them to squeal about Tabuni's weapons cache. The four kicked and beat the residents while another soldier, First Private Ishak, recorded the torture using Cosmos' cellphone for 15 minutes.

Phil Robertson, the deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch (HRW), said the trial was "misleading" because it was mistakenly believed to be that of Indonesian soldiers burning a Papuan's genitals in May, the video of which began circulating on YouTube on Oct. 17.

"What you hear is apparently not what you get in Indonesia's opaque military court system, which so often operates behind closed doors and so rarely dispenses justice to victims of abuse by soldiers," he said.

"How many more videos of torture need to come out of Papua before the Obama administration and the international community realize there is a systemic human rights problem of security force abuses in Papua that needs to be addressed? This should be at the top of the agenda when President Obama visits Jakarta next week," he said.

Markus Haluk, a member of the Papua Customary Council, said he was not surprised at Friday's military tribunal "farce".

The trial, he said, was intended to distract the public as well as Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who visited Indonesia earlier this week, and US President Barack Obama, scheduled to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday, from more serious atrocities.

He said Papuans had witnesses many perpetrators of violence and murders getting away lightly.

Markus said what the public saw in several recent videos was a small part of the widespread practice of torture, rape and murder of Papuans. "There has never been justice for Papuans," Markus said.

He said the government labeled all Papuans "separatists", giving the military and police carte blanche to torture Papuans. The label "separatists" justifies violence against all Papuans, he went on.

On Friday, human rights activists handed recorded testimony from torture victim Anggen Pugu Kiwo to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

In the video, Kiwo, 50, a farmer in Tinggi Nambut district, spoke about his torture at the hands of soldiers, including when the torturers clamped his penis with pliers and burned his body, between May 30 and June 1. Kiwo managed to escape on the second day after biting the rope tying his hands.

Activists also urged the commission to establish a special team to investigate the torture of Papuan civilians by members of the Indonesian Military. "Komnas HAM should set up a special fact-finding team to investigate the violence. The military has committed violence against civilians and killed people in the name of fighting separatism," Markus said.

Sri Suparyati from the Commission for Victims of Violence and Missing Persons (Kontras) said the commission had to pay special attention to torture in Papua, which could be categorized as gross human rights violations. Kontras recorded that torture, which often led to murder, frequently occurred in various places throughout the province since 2008. (lnd)

Indonesian rights group slams Papua torture trial switch

Jakarta Globe - November 5, 2010

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Human Rights Watch has lashed out at the Indonesian military, which it said had promised the trial of soldiers allegedly involved in the brutal torture of Papuan civilians would begin on Friday, but instead began the court-martial of personnel in a different case of abuse.

A military tribunal in Jayapura on Friday kicked off the trial of four soldiers implicated in the March beating of a man suspected of hiding weapons. The incident was recorded on one of the soldier's cellphones.

However, the military had said the court-martial would involve five soldiers allegedly shown in a different incident in May, one that was briefly posted on YouTube.

In that graphic 10-minute video, as many as six soldiers could be seen torturing two Papuan men, applying a burning stick to one of the men's genitals and threatening them with a knife and a gun. The video prompted an outcry from both at home and abroad.

Phil Robertson, a deputy director for Asia at the New York-based HRW, condemned the court-martial, calling it a farce.

"So, only at the end of the day of the trial of soldiers in Jayapura – beyond the purview of international journalists and humanitarians who are prohibited from traveling to Papua – is it revealed that their trial is about Indonesian soldiers beating Papuans in March rather than other Indonesian soldiers burning a Papuan's genitals in May."

On Thursday, Lt. Col. Susilo, a spokesman for the Cendrawasih Military Command in Jayapura, had said five of the servicemen allegedly featured in the YouTube video would be tried on Friday.

Robertson added that the frequency with which such allegations emerged highlighted "a systemic human rights problem of security force abuses in Papua that needs to be addressed." "This should be at the top of the agenda when President Obama visits Jakarta next week," he said.

The alleged beating at the center of Friday's trial was recorded on a soldier's cellphone in Tingginambut subdistrict, Puncak Jaya district, in March. It shows soldiers punching, kicking and hitting an unarmed Papuan man identified as Davis Tabuni.

The video was recorded by Pvt. Isak on the orders of Second Lt. Cosmos, the only officer among the four soldiers on trial. Isak, serving as a witness at the trial, said a platoon of 12 soldiers had visited Gurage village to look for Davis, who was believed to be in possession of several firearms, including an AK-47.

"When we found him, we separated him from the rest of the villagers, gave him a cigarette, and began asking where the guns were," Isak said. "He wouldn't talk, so Pvt. Dwi Purwanto got angry and kicked him in the head, but he still wouldn't talk."

He added Pvt. Joko Sulistiyono then joined in, kicking Davis and hitting him over the head with a helmet. "It was at that point that the lieutenant ordered me to start filming the interrogation on his cellphone," Isak said.

The fourth soldier on trial is Pvt. Syaminan Lubis. The court-martial was adjourned until Monday. There was no word of when the trial of the men in the YouTube video would begin.

Army soldiers charged with ignoring commander's order

Jakarta Post - November 5, 2010

Nethy Darma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Four Army soldiers from an infantry battalion in the Papua regency of Nabire began their trial at the Jayapura military court on Friday in connection with alleged torture against native Papuans in the strife-torn regency of Puncak Jaya.

Military prosecutors charged Second Lt. Cosmos K, Second Priv. Syaminan Lubis, Second Priv. Joko Sulistyo and Second Priv. Dwi Purwanto with defying superior's order "The defendants have defied their superior's order as the Indonesian Military has never ordered soldiers to commit acts of violence against civilians," reads the indictment.

A witness First Priv. Isak told the court three of the defendants, Syaminan, Joko and Dwi, beat and kicked the local people during an interrogation on March 17, 2010 aimed at locating the whereabouts of weapons belonging to separatist rebel Davis Tabuni, a member of a rebel group under Goliath Tabuni.

Isak said the soldiers had gathered 30 people, women and men, at their base in Gurage village in Tingginambut district during an operation to crack down on the rebels, who had several times ambushed patrolling soldiers and police officers. "The defendants beat a local resident in his leg, back and head using a helmet and their bare fists," Isak said.

Isak was ordered by Cosmos to record the interrogation process using a mobile phone for about 15 minutes. The video recording was posted on YouTube on Oct. 17, which then led the soldiers to the military tribunal.

When asked by presiding judge Adil, Isak said the act of violence was spontaneous as his commander Frist Lt. Sudirman had warned against the use of violence. In his testimony Syaminan said Cosmos condoned the use of violence as long as it did not hurt the local people. The presiding judge adjourned the trial until Monday.

Papuan tells of torture by Indonesian soldiers

Sydney Morning Herald - November 5, 2010

Tom Allard – A Papuan man depicted in a video being burnt, suffocated and hit by Indonesian troops says he was tortured for two days, according to his testimony recorded and translated by Papuan activists.

Tunaliwor Kiwo was shown in agony as the soldiers burnt his penis in the video, which was filmed in May and revealed exclusively in the Herald last month. It prompted a horrified response in Indonesia and around the world, and led to the rapid arrest of five Indonesian soldiers, who face a military tribunal today.

But in the new testimony Mr Kiwo, filmed two weeks ago, said the abuse was far worse than depicted in the first video.

He spoke of being repeatedly beaten and suffocated, of his head being crashed into a wall and of being burnt with cigarettes during the first day of torture, which followed his arrest as he travelled by motorcycle with his friend Telangga Gire on the road from Tingginambut to Mulia, the capital of Puncak Jaya regency, a hotbed of separatist activity.

"The next tortures were heating up a piece of iron or wire and it was put at my thighs and I screamed on and on," he said in the video, conducted in the Lani dialect of Puncak Jaya and translated by Papuan activists. "It got heated up again and put again on my left and right belly. I kept screaming. But they didn't care of the pain I suffered. [The interrogators] tortured me incredibly since 9am to night to morning."

That night, he was doused in freezing water. The next day was even worse, according to Mr Kiwo, a 50-year-old farmer. Early that day, the soldiers threatened to burn him alive.

"The TNI [Indonesian military] put gasoline and light a fire and I was in the middle with the branches," Mr Kiwo said. "I couldn't move, the flames were approaching me, trying to burn my body and my legs and hands were still tied up. I was continuously hysterical, in pain." At this point, Mr Kiwo said he was "surrendering, ready to die".

Then he says he was cut all over his body and face with a razor. The soldiers prepared a liquid concoction of chilli, shallots, onions, detergent and salt "all smashed and mixed with water".

The mixture was spread over his open wounds. "I screamed loudly due to the pain but, in fact, it encouraged them to be more brutal and [they] kept showering me. They turned my body back and forth. The parts that were not showered [at first] were showered with chillies until the chillies was finished."

Mr Kiwo was certain he would be executed. The soldiers repeatedly accused him of being a Papuan separatist fighter and demanded he reveal the location of a weapons cache. On the third day, he said, he escaped.

Mr Kiwo is living in hiding, as is Mr Gire. The filmed testimony was obtained amid great secrecy by Markus Haluk, from the Papuan Customary Council, which oversaw the translation from Lani to Indonesian. The translation could not be independently verified by the Herald.

Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has condemned the action depicted in the first video, and promised a transparent investigation. But the head of Indonesia's military, Admiral Agus Suhartono, has played down the seriousness of the offences.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, during a brief visit to Papua New Guinea, would not comment on the incident but said any continuing human rights violations should be investigated and perpetrators held accountable. (with agencies)

Soldiers to stand trial over torture

Jakarta Post - November 5, 2010

Nethy Dharma Somba and Erwida Maulia, Jayapura/Jakarta – Four soldiers allegedly involved in recorded torture of Papuans, where two videos released on YouTube sparked a global outcry, will stand trial at Jayapura Military Court on Friday.

The soldiers consist of an officer, a chief of the local military post and three enlisted soldiers.

Head of Jayapura Military Court, Lt. Col. CHK Adil K., said in the capital city of Papua on Thursday the four TNI soldiers were from the Pam Rahwan Yonif 753 Arga Vira Tama Taskforce unit, and that the incident took place in Tingginambut district, Puncak Jaya regency.

"They are charged with Article 103 of the Military Criminal Code on rejecting and exceeding orders, as well as persuading [others] to reject orders," Adil told reporters.

Lt. Col. Ind Soesilo, spokesman of the Cenderawasih Military Command (CMC), which oversees Papua and West Papua, said the soldiers had abused their superintendent's order by doing more than instructed. "TNI has never ordered its soldiers to commit [such] acts of violence. The perpetrators must thus be processed."

Soesilo added that the CMC investigated the case after the release of the first video, uploaded by Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission on YouTube mid October.

In Jakarta Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the soldiers were to be brought to martial court as the new law on the military court was not yet in effect. "Besides, [the soldiers] were on a military operation" when the torture took place, he told reporters. "And remember, the soldiers had a gunfight."

Purnomo added the soldiers had been excessive in their questioning of the Papuans, who were alleged supporters of the Free Papua Movement (OPM). "We can no longer use a security approach in dealing with Papua.

We have to use a welfare approach," he said. "That is why we have special autonomy status for Papua. We also provide them with a budget of Rp 12 trillion [US$1.3 billion] per year. With a population of about 3 million people, Papuans have quite a high income per capita."

Purnomo said such excessive action was not part of the TNI's systemic approach, adding that American soldiers engaged in this practice although it was not part of the US system.

The Association of Indonesian Middle Mountains Students (AMPTI) expressed skepticism over the military tribunal, saying it was impossible for the legal process to move that fast and the victims would not likely be presented at court.

"The trial will be a mere play in the lead up to President Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia, to say that the government deals seriously with cases of violence in Papua," AMPTI secretary-general Markus Haluk said.

However military observer Jaleswari Pramodhawardani, said the TNI's "fast response" and confession should be commended.

[Novan Iman Santosa contributed to the story from Jakarta.]

Fears for fate of Papuan torture 2

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Banjir Ambarita, Jakarta – Rights activists fear for the welfare of two Papuans tortured by soldiers earlier this year, saying one is deeply traumatized and the other's fate is unknown.

"One is now in hiding because if the military finds him, he's bound to be kidnapped or even killed, especially now that the video detailing the torture has gone public," Markus Haluk, from the Papuan Customary Council (DAP), said on Thursday.

The comments came as the military said the court-martial of five soldiers believed to be those shown in the video torturing the men would open today.

Haluk identified the victims as Tunaliwor Kiwo and Telangga Gire, both civilians from Tingginambut subdistrict. He said that last Saturday his group had managed to contact Kiwo, the older of the two men who escaped after three days in military detention. It is not known what happened to Gire.

A 10-minute video showing two men being interrogated and tortured by Indonesian soldiers was posted on YouTube. The interrogators were seen burning the genitals of one of the men with a smoldering stick, while the other man was threatened with a knife to his neck.

It is believed that the video was shot on May 30 at 1:40 p.m., while the Papuans' dialect suggests they are from the Lani tribe, indigenous to Tingginambut subdistrict in Puncak Jaya.

Haluk said the military was still looking for Kiwo. "They told us it was part of an ongoing investigation, but we didn't believe them," he said.

In a written statement sent by the DAP to the Jakarta Globe, a person identifying himself as Kiwo said that he was one of the two men in the video.

He said that he had been pulled over by a soldier in Yogorini village while riding his motorcycle taxi from Tingginambut to the nearby town of Mulia. Kiwo said the military kept torturing him long after the video was recorded, while repeatedly asking him about guns in the area.

He said that over the course of three days, he was smothered with a plastic bag, had his toes crushed with pliers and his thighs burned with a red-hot poker.

"One night, I heard they were going to shoot me," he wrote. "And I heard that they might have already shot Telangga Gire. So I bit through the ropes binding my wrists together and planned my escape. At dawn, only one guard was awake so I made a run for it. They fired shots at me but I just kept on running," he wrote.

"I could hear them chasing me, so I hid behind some bushes and crawled to the Yamo River." Kiwo wrote that he reached his village after a two-hour swim down the river on June 1.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Suwarno Widjonarko declined to comment on the revelations, saying he was unfamiliar with this latest development. "Whatever happened will be brought to the court-martial," he said. "We've never covered this story up."

Lt. Col. Susilo, a spokesman for the Cendrawasih Military Command in Jayapura, the capital of Papua, said the five servicemen had been accused of using excessive force. He said the court-martial would start today at the Jayapura Military Tribunal.

Andreas Harsono, from Human Rights Watch, said he doubted it would be a fair trial. "Ever since the fall of President Suharto, the military has been reluctant to commit to reform and continues to prevent members involved in human rights violation from being tried in a civilian court," he said. "The court-martial process is closed and often results in perpetrators being acquitted."

Harsono said Kiwo's reluctance to participate in the investigation highlighted Papuans' general distrust of the military's legal process. "The government should form an independent fact-finding team to investigate the case," he said.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the five soldiers should be tried at a civilian human rights tribunal, given that torture was not a violation under the Military Penal Code.

"I believe the investigation and court-martial were called to show visiting US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard that something's being done," he said. Syamsul Alam, also from Kontras, said it had obtained footage of an interview with Kiwo that it would submit to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) today.

Policemen withdrawn from Puncak Jaya

Jakarta Post - November 4, 2010

Jayapura, Papua – Some 140 policemen from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police paramilitary unit in Jakarta assigned to Puncak Jaya regency in Papua since September this year have been sent home.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said the move to send the policemen back home earlier than the previous four-month assignment plan had nothing to do with the widespread controversy over the police abuse video. "It's just because the situation is safe, no other reason," he said on Wednesday.

He said no more Brimob policemen were currently on duty or would be assigned to Puncak Jaya. "Security will completely handled by local police. If there's a situation which needs more policemen, they will come from the Papua Police," he said.

Trial will reveal true nature of Jakarta's human rights agenda

Melbourne Age - November 3, 2010

Tom Allard – At the Cendrawasih military command in Jayapura, Papua, five Indonesian soldiers tomorrow will face justice for the abuse of two Papuan men, one burnt repeatedly on his genitals, the other threatened with decapitation.

In the annals of Indonesia's chequered history of military justice, the court hearing is unprecedented in its speed, reflecting the fact that the torture was filmed by one of the soldiers on his mobile phone, a video that was subsequently obtained by The Age and then broadcast via the internet and television around the world.

For Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the quick administration of justice is proof that the new democratic Indonesia takes human rights seriously, and there is no need for the international community to press him on the issue.

And, indeed, there are plenty of observers, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who take great heart from the quick apprehension and detention of the soldiers, and the Yudhoyono's strong condemnation of the practice and pledge that there will be "no immunity" for the perpetrators.

"President Yudhoyono has already indicated that those matters will be the subject of an investigation. I welcome that," Gillard said, accepting the Indonesian leader's demand for the matter not be raised in their talks yesterday.

"President Yudhoyono has already made it clear that he will have an investigation of those matters and prosecutions will flow from that investigation."

The veteran Indonesia watcher, John McBeth, summed up the feeling of many when he observed in Singapore's Straits Times that the early action on the videoed abuse "says more about how far the TNI [Indonesian military] has progressed on the human rights front than anything else it has done in the democratic era".

But just how severe any punishment will be remains uncertain. In announcing the imminent start of the trial before a military tribunal of the five soldiers, the chief of Indonesia's armed forces, Admiral Agus Suhartono, seemed to be paving the way for a lenient sentence.

"It wasn't torture," he said. "They are regarded as responsible for conducting [the] interrogation in an excessive way when looking for weapons hidden by those people."

Moreover, Yudhoyono and senior officials insist the abuses are not widespread. But International Crisis Group analyst Sidney Jones sees things differently.

"We all know it's not an isolated case," she said. "It's not only Papuans. We know similar techniques are being used in all kinds of situations – on drug dealers, terrorists. There's an endemic problem that needs to be addressed."

And part of addressing the problem, said Jones, was giving strong punishments for those who had transgressed.

Sope calls on Vanuatu government to revive Papua lobbying

Radio New Zealand International - November 2, 2010

A former Vanuatu prime minister and leader of the Melanesian Progressive Party, Barak Sope, has called on the government to continue to apply political, diplomatic and legal pressure on the United Nations and Jakarta to allow West Papua to hold a referendum on independence from Indonesia.

Mr Sope made the call through the Daily Post newspaper as Edward Natapei's government is easing off the lobbying efforts of preceding administrations.

He says Vanuatu's first prime minister, Father Walter Lini, had always maintained that as long as other islands and regions in the Pacific remained colonies, Vanuatu was not independent either.

According to Mr Sope, Father Lini said West Papua should have become the first country in the Pacific to become independent and urged the Natapei regime to sponsor a case in an American court to declare the West Papua act of free choice unconstitutional.

Indonesian president vows 'no immunity' for torturers

Agence France Presse - November 1, 2010

Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Monday there was "no immunity" for members of the country's armed forces, after a video showed them torturing unarmed civilians in Papua.

He told a weekly cabinet meeting that the soldiers involved would be punished and rejected international pressure over the issue ahead of talks in Jakarta with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

"It became a news topic in various international media and we must take steps. Not because of pressure from anyone," he said. "That (torture) is not this country's policy. If there's a violation, we will pass sanctions. There's no immunity."

As Gillard arrived in Jakarta for Tuesday's talks, military chief Agus Suhartono said five suspects had been identified and their files had been passed to military prosecutors. He did not name the suspects.

The video, which appeared online, showed two Papuan men being kicked and abused as soldiers interrogated them over the whereabouts of a weapons cache. One screams in pain when a burning stick is applied to his genitals.

The video, first reported in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, follows similar allegations against Australian-funded Indonesian anti-terror police said to have abused peaceful political activists in the Maluku islands.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Gillard to press Indonesia for a full investigation into torture by its military during her talks with Yudhoyono. Yudhoyono said however that Indonesia needed no outside pressure to "do what needs to be done".

"I read in the news... Australia has been asked to pressure Indonesia to carry out an investigation. I say there's no need to pressure Indonesia," he said. "There should be no pressure from any country or any non- government organisation."

Australia has worked closely with the Indonesian security forces since 88 Australian tourists were killed in the 2002 Bali bombings by Islamist extremists.

Few Indonesian military officers have ever faced justice for gross human rights abuses dating back decades, including alleged crimes against humanity in East Timor.

Military ties

Kopassus won't be on the agenda for Obama's visit

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – The restoration of cooperation between the Indonesian Army's Special Forces and the US military is already in the implementation phase and will not be brought up during President Barack Obama's visit next week, Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Thursday.

In July, visiting US Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a resumption of ties with Kopassus, ending a 12-year ban imposed over allegations of human rights violations.

Purnomo said that neither President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono nor Obama would address the matter, which he said was being handled through meetings of military officials from both countries.

"The restoration of relations has begun," he said. "The matter is no longer in the hands of the heads of state, but already in the implementation phase." Purnomo added that as an indication of the thawing ties, Kopassus commander Maj. Gen. Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus had been invited to visit the US Pacific Command headquarters "in the near future."

He also said the US government fully supported Indonesia's efforts to conduct reforms in the Armed Forces (TNI). "For instance, in the case of the upcoming court-martial of soldiers alleged to have tortured Papuan civilians, I received a phone call from the US Embassy, and they [said they] really support our moves," he said.

In a graphic 10-minute video posted on YouTube last month, six soldiers were shown torturing two Papuan detainees, burning their genitals and threatening them with a knife and a gun in order to obtain information.

Some activists in Papua, where Kopassus and other units of the TNI are widely accused of gross rights abuses, have called on foreign governments to cease all cooperation with the Indonesian military in light of such disturbing evidence. However, other rights activists argue that greater cooperation is needed to expedite military reforms.

Meanwhile, Taufik Kiemas, speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), said on Thursday that he expected Obama's visit next week to have a positive effect on relations between the two countries.

"Indonesia and the US are both members of the G-20," he said. "I'm sure the US government has a lot of interest in fostering better relations with Indonesia."

Taufik also called for the issue of the renewal of US mining giant Freeport's concession in Papua to be discussed during the state visit. Freeport's permit to operate the Grasberg Mine, the world's biggest copper and gold mine, expires in a few years' time.

The mine has long symbolized grievances of native Papuans, who accuse the Jakarta administration of stripping the province's wealth and leaving little behind. The separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) has centered much of its attacks on the mine and related interests.

Taufik said the Grasberg concession should be awarded to the company that will provide "the biggest benefits for the people."

Human rights & law

Lombok police fire on crowd as protest turns ugly

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Fitri – Three people in East Lombok were shot when police opened fire on a violent protest over a village water source on Thursday.

Hundreds of villagers from Montong Gading and Terara, some armed with knives and bamboo spears, demanded police and military personnel who were guarding a pipe operated by the state-owned regional water utility (PDAM) leave their village.

The villagers have accused PDAM of stealing water from the village's Tereng Wilis spring and channeling it to other areas.

As the protesters approached the police, officers drew their weapons and opened fire to try and disperse the crowd. Terara Police chief Adj. Comr. Sutarman was stabbed by one of the protesters while another officer was struck by a projectile. As the situation grew more tense, the police and the military, which had been called in as backup, retreated.

"The police were firing directly at us. There were no warning shots," said Marsan, one of the villagers. "We didn't intend to attack the police, but they started shooting at us."

Three protesters who were shot in the incident were taken to the nearest hospital, while the others burned PDAM's equipment, including motorcycles and an electrical generator owned by the company. One protester was shot in the hip, one in the leg and the other suffered a head wound. No one was killed in the clash.

The villagers on Wednesday had asked for the project to be halted temporarily until a final decision could be reached in the negotiations between the villages and the East Lombok district administration.

East Lombok Police chief Adj. Comr. Erwin Zadma said the police fired warning shots after one of the protesters pointed a knife at a police officer's throat. "Then the people started to hurl rocks, which injured four policemen, and because of that we fired rubber bullets into the crowd," he said.

Local governments aloof on human rights: Komnas HAM

Jakarta Post - November 4, 2010

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has criticized provincial and regional administration officials for poor human rights enforcement.

Komnas HAM head Ifdhal Kasim said a lack of attention on human rights from provincial leaders could be attributed to a perception that enforcement was primarily Jakarta's prerogative.

Speaking on the North Sumatra situation in North Sumatra specifically, he said the Governor, regents and mayors should be held to account for widespread allegations of human rights violations in the province.

According to Komnas HAM, 15 percent of 3,000 cases of alleged human rights violation reported by the public from January to October this year involved regional leaders who issued unpopular bylaws or implemented unpopular policies.

Provincial regional leaders, Ifdhal said, thought that human rights was not a provincial issue so there was almost no sensitivity for local rights enforcement. "That results in limited budget allocations for human rights in the provinces," he said.

He said regional leaders had also failed to provide a complaint mechanism for human rights victims. "Now we see that people whose rights have been violated in various provinces can only resort to noisy protests, which sometimes turn violent. This is due to the lack of a complaint mechanism provided by the leader," Ifdhal told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a human rights workshop in Medan on Wednesday.

At least a third of the province's 97 regents and mayors attended the workshop, which also included leaders from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, North Sumatra, Riau Islands, Riau and West Sumatra provinces.

Ifdhal said most of human rights violations in Sumatra took place on plantations where local authorities lacked experience in handling violations. "Many of the human rights violation cases involving the plantation sector were recorded in Sumatra, particularly in North Sumatra, Riau and South Sumatra," Ifdhal said.

In general, most human rights violation cases involved land acquisition for the sake of investment in the province, such as for infrastructure development and for industrial areas, he added. Ifdhal cited the case of 70 residents in Deli Serdang regency who were still holding on to their land at the Kuala Namu airport construction site due to unresolved land disputes.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi appealed to workshop participants in a written message to uphold good governance. His letter cited four points for execution by regional leaders – developing policy instruments to encourage public participation, strengthening government and civil society partnerships, increasing state budgets to fulfill people's rights and increasing public awareness.

Central Aceh Regent Nasaruddin agreed on the need for regional leaders to advance human rights enforcement. He criticized the notion that regional leaders should always be blamed for poor governance and appealed for a balanced assessment of the human rights issue.

Gillard 'must address' human rights

Jakarta Post - November 1, 2010

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Foreign and local human rights watchdogs called on Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and US President Barack Obama to address human rights violations in Indonesia during their state visits to Indonesia this month.

Gillard is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Monday and Obama, who has twice postponed his planned visits, is scheduled to arrive in the capital on Nov. 9.

Activists drew special attention to human rights violations in Maluku and Papua, from where fresh videos and testimonies of abuses committed by security forces have been trickling out. At least two videos depicting the torture of Papuans allegedly by security forces have hit the Internet.

The Sydney Morning Herald released an article revealing the torture of about 12 Maluku political activists reportedly by members of Detachment 88, Indonesia's elite counterterrorism squad, which was "funded and trained by Australia and the US".

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Gillard "to press for accountability of abusive Indonesian security forces" through a letter it sent to Australia's Parliament House on Oct. 27.

"Prime Minister Gillard should demand that recent cases of torture by Indonesian security forces are credibly investigated, not swept under the carpet," Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said.

HRW stated that Australia had reportedly pledged US$35 million over five years for capacity building purposes for Detachment 88 since its establishment in 2002.

The Herald reported that Australia had sent an official to Maluku to investigate claims of violence by Detachment 88. The Herald also reported that the US had "quietly installed a ban on training Detachment 88 members linked to abuses in Maluku in 2008".

Australian Embassy's spokeswoman Jenny Dee said in a press statement that Gillard and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono "will discuss ways to further strengthen the bilateral relationship and increase cooperation across a number of economic, security, development and environmental challenges."

Human rights watchdogs have repeatedly pointed out the apparent impunity of the security forces.

Syamsul Alam Agus from the Commission for Victims of Violence and Missing Persons (Kontras) said that both Gillard and Obama should address violence since "human rights issues fall under international jurisdiction".

Indonesia ratified the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1998, agreeing to prevent torture within its borders.

"Their statements about human rights abuses will not be a form of intervention since human rights issues falls within international jurisdictions," Syamsul said. "Everyone has a right to comment." He added that Indonesia should accept such comments, if they were made, as positive criticism to correct the current system.

The chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission I on diplomacy stated that "Indonesia must take a strong stance against the US on Papua since the problem has been resolved".

Adriana Elisabeth, the head of the international politics department at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, cautioned that human rights issues could be used as a political tool to mask deeper interests.

Foreign powers could use the issues to influence Indonesia, whereas Indonesia could temporarily pay lip service to the issue to polish its image, she said, adding that addressing human rights abuses should be done through the goodwill of the Indonesian government.

"The Australian government may mention human rights issues, but if they do, they will broach the topic in a formal manner," she said. (gzl)

Freedom of expression & press

Censoring the net seen as risk to Indonesian free speech, responsibility

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Ismira Lutfia, Jakarta – The government should allow people to use their own judgment in avoiding Web sites deemed offensive, rather than impose curbs that threaten free speech, media experts say.

The Communications and Information Technology Ministry claimed earlier this year that it had blocked access to 90 percent of pornographic sites for Indonesian Web users. It also said it was beefing up efforts to block other "undesirable content," including gambling, blasphemy and violence.

But Donny BU, a senior researcher at ICT Watch, which campaigns for the safe use of the Internet, said shielding users would leave them in the dark about online threats.

As a result, he added, it would put teachers, parents and other adults responsible for supervising children's online usage "off their guard". "And it obstructs one's freedom of expression and access to information," Donny told the Jakarta Globe.

Nunung Prajarto, a professor of mass communications at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, agreed that excessive control of new media could threaten people's right to communication and freedom of expression. "The kind of controls that used to be imposed on traditional media during [former President Suharto's] New Order era might reappear," he said.

Nunung blamed the mishandling of new media controls on overlapping jurisdictions, including by media outlets themselves, which he said could result in "trial by the press" is certain cases.

"Therefore, the right measures to take on new media must refer to existing laws and regulations," he said. "Legal action should be applied accordingly if any of the regulations are abused, but not because of prejudice or pressure from certain groups."

Regarding Internet pornography, he said any ban should refer strictly to the definition of pornography in existing regulations instead of an interpretation by civil society or government groups.

Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring said at the launch of a campaign for "healthy and safe Internet use" that his ministry's anti-porn stance had strong legal basis in the 1999 Telecommunications Law, the 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law and the 2008 Anti- Pornography Law.

The national campaign was initiated by the Communications Ministry with the backing of several other ministries and religious groups. However, Nunung said getting Internet users to exercise their own judgement was more important than strengthening the government's controls.

"For children, the responsibility lies with the family or parents," he said. "It's up to them to show what kind of Internet content is good or bad for kids."

Donny said the government should do more to empower users of the Internet and new media and help consumers develop their own positive content. "Instead of wasting resources on Internet filtering, it would be more useful to develop positive local content to crowd out the negative content," he said.

The drive for wholesome Internet use, he added, could help parents and teachers guide the younger generation toward accessing positive content. "Once children get accustomed to accessing useful information on the Internet, they won't waste time on accessing useless sites," he said.

As of September last year there were an estimated 30 million Internet users in Indonesia, according to Internet World Stats, out of a population of 240 million. This means the country's Internet penetration rate is about 12 percent.

Nunung said the digital divide muted the benefits of new media, since it could be accessed by only a small portion of the country's population.

"The government has to fairly and specifically provide access to new media while elaborating on its use to improve the people's lives by improving respect and protection of human rights," he said. "We don't want its presence tainted by restrictions on freedom of expression."

Politics & political parties

PAN courts smaller parties for possible merger

Jakarta Post - November 8, 2010

Jakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) has organized a meeting with seven smaller political parties as it moves to form a confederation of parties to consolidate power for the next election in 2014.

The seven parties are the Democratic Reform Party (PDP), Regional Unity Party (PPD), Freedom Bull Nationalist Party (PNBK), Vanguard Party (Pelopor), National Sun Party (PMB), New Indonesia Party (PIB) and Indonesian Upholding Democracy Party (PPDI). The parties met in Jakarta late Saturday.

PAN secretary-general Taufik Kurniawan was present at the meeting, as were Eros Djarot from the PNBK and Imam Adaruqutni from the PMB.

PAN party executive Bima Arya said Sunday that all parties agreed to strengthen relationships. The parties also agreed to push for a revision of the political parties law and legislative elections law to be able to form a confederation.

Bima said the legislative elections law should include party confederations as election contenders.

Court ruling backs Wiranto as legal Hanura chairman

Jakarta Post - November 4, 2010

Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the People's Conscience Party's (Hanura) founder Gen. (ret.) Wiranto, confirming his legitimacy as the party's chairman.

The court turned down a legal suit filed by the MPPH, a splinter of the party, which challenged Wiranto's position. The group said Wiranto had not gone through the mechanism regulated by the party's statutes when he was elected chairman during a national congress held in Surabaya, East Java, in February.

The judges, however, said Wiranto had been elected by acclamation and that there had been no opponents for the position. "There was no law violation during the meeting," presiding judge Herdy Agusten said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Wiranto said he was satisfied with the ruling. "The legal suit was filed by those who are dissatisfied because they did not get into the party's leadership structure. We have sacked them for their disloyalty to the party," he added.

Gerindra's bloc not a 'threat' to big parties

Jakarta Globe - November 1, 2010

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – The Great Indonesia Movement Party's decision to form a confederation with six other parties would not pose a threat to bigger political organizations in the polls, analysts said on Sunday.

Prabowo Subianto, leader of the party also known as Gerindra, announced on Saturday its decision to ally with the Labor Party, Freedom Party, Indonesian United Ummah Party (PPNUI), Indonesian National Party of Marhaenisme (PNI Marhaenisme), Sovereignty Party and the Indonesian Unity Party. The move was seen as a bid to consolidate power for the next elections in 2014.

Yudi Latif, a political analyst from the Reform Institute, said Gerindra could not count on fresh support unless it forged close ties with its constituent base.

"Gerindra should look at the grassroots level. They should ask if the six parties have good links to the grassroots," he said. "Unless they do, I don't see any guarantee for them to survive in the next elections."

None of the six political parties in the confederation had garnered significant votes in last year's general elections.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political analyst at the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), said Gerindra was worried about talks between larger parties at the House of Representatives to support a proposal that would double the legislative threshold to 5 percent in the next elections. The threshold is the percentage of total votes a party must win in the elections in order to win seats in the House.

"[Gerindra is] worried because last year, it got less than 5 percent," Burhanuddin said. "Now, bigger parties aim to increase the threshold."

Burhanuddin said he was pessimistic about the confederation's chances of mustering enough votes to win more seats, adding that existing laws only regulated political parties, and not confederations.

Saan Mustopha, deputy secretary general of the Democratic Party, said the ruling coalition saw Gerindra's move as a way to "help revitalize the nation's democratic process."

"We don't underestimate it, but we also don't see it as a threat. We appreciate it," he said, saying the Democrats would push for an increase in the legislative threshold.

But Ahmad Muzani, Gerindra's secretary general, said on Sunday that the alliance was formed to build public trust – not necessarily to ensure the party's survival if rival groups agree to raise the bar to winning representative in the House.

"This is a confederation, not a merger, so each party will still have their own leadership in the future," Ahmad said, adding that the six member parties had considerable clout since they currently held around 450 seats in provincial and regional legislative councils nationwide.

Elections

Indonesian house urged to hurry on election law

Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2010

Armando Siahaan & Anita Rachman, Jakarta – A watchdog and lawmakers on Wednesday called for the rapid completion of the long overdue bill on election organizers, by vote if necessary.

The House of Representatives Commission II, dealing with home affairs and regional autonomy, has yet to break a deadlock in drafting the revision to the 2007 Law on Election Organizers over whether political parties' members will be allowed to sit on various election management bodies.

Out of the House's nine factions, the Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN) are adamant about keeping the election bodies free of political influence, and refused to compromise in the draft.

But as long as the stalemate lasts, the country lacks a legal framework for preparation to begin for the 2014 elections.

The existing law stipulates that the present commissioners of the General Elections Commission (KPU) serve until 2013, leaving the new set of commissioners just one year to prepare for the national polls. The revision seeks to allow the new batch of commissioners to begin preparations earlier.

Erik Kurniawan, from watchdog the Indonesian Parliamentary Center, told the Jakarta Globe that he believed the commission should just vote on the matter.

"Besides being faster, it allows for the different factions to be held accountable for their stance," he said, adding that the ongoing lobbying among faction leaders was taking too much time.

Chairuman Harahap, the chairman of House Commission II from the Golkar Party, said voting is an option, as "this needs to be finished soon." But he said the issue could only be raised when the House reconvenes, after Nov. 22.

Arief Wibowo, a commission member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that since the revision was initiated in the House, it was important for lawmakers to agree on the draft, especially when discussing it with the government.

"But if development at the lobbying level doesn't [work], then voting is possible," he said.

Arief agreed on the importance of finalizing the bill quickly because lawmakers still had to deal with related legislation, the 2008 Law on Political Parties and the 2008 Legislative and Presidential Elections.

Meanwhile, Veri Junaidi, from the Consortium for National Law Reformation (KRHN), said that the commission should just come up with two draft alternatives, so that the deliberation could be taken to the next level, without being held up by the stalemate.

"The final decision does not rest with House Commission II, so they should just draft two options, and let the next stage decide," Veri said, referring to the stage centered on discussion with the government.

Environment & natural disasters

Indonesia volcano death toll soars past 100, 'many children dead'

Agence France Presse - November 5, 2010

Gandang Sajarwo, Agromulyo and Jakarta – Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano killed 58 people and injured dozens when it erupted again on Friday, with scores more suffering severe burns and breathing problems, officials said.

The latest deaths bring the total toll to more than 100 since the country's most active volcano started erupting on Oct. 26. "The death toll rose to 58, including seven toddlers," said doctor Suseno Wibowo at Sarjito hospital in Yogyakarta, south of the volcano in central Java.

Hospital spokesman Banu Hermawan said earlier: "The evacuation process is still ongoing now. We're afraid there'll be more deaths as some locations are still inaccessible due to hot ash and volcanic material."

Many of the dead were children from Argomulyo village, 18 kilometers from the crater, according to emergency response officials and witnesses.

"Sixty-six people are being treated for burn injuries," said Banu Hermawan, a spokesman for Sarjito general hospital in Yogyakarta, south of the volcano.

"Argomulyo village has been burned down to the ground by the heat clouds. Many children have died there. When I was in the village the ground was still hot," Yogyakarta police force medic Teguh Dwi Santosa said.

A river running through the village overflowed with a thick mixture of mud and ash, and several bodies lay unclaimed in the debris, witnesses said.

Ash, deadly heat clouds and molten debris gushed from the mouth of the 2,914-meter mountain and shot high into the sky for most of the night and into the morning.

There was panic and chaos on the roads as people tried to flee in the darkness, rescue workers said. The ranks of evacuees swelled past 100,000 people, with 30,000 moved into a sports stadium about 25 kilometers away from the peak.

"The emergency shelters are now overcrowded," emergency response field coordinator Widi Sutikno said.

The international airport at Yogyakarta was closed as ash clouds billowed to the altitude of cruising jetliners and the runway was covered in gray soot, officials said.

Government volcanologist Surono said Friday's blasts were the largest yet. "This is the biggest eruption so far. The heat clouds went down the slopes as far as 13 kilometres and the explosion was heard as far as 20 kilometers away," he said.

The exclusion zone was widened from 15 to 20 kilometers around the mountain and everyone living in the area was ordered to evacuate their homes and shelters immediately, he said.

Indonesia's transport ministry has told pilots to stay at least 12 kilometers away from the rumbling volcano and several flights linking central Java to Singapore and Malaysia have been cancelled this week.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited people displaced by the volcano on Wednesday as the disaster-prone country struggles to cope with dual natural disasters following a tsunami off Sumatra on October 25.

The three-metre wave smashed into villages on the remote Mentawai island chain following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake off the coast, killing 428 people and leaving 15,000 homeless. Another 74 people remain missing, feared dead.

Bad weather and poor communications on the undeveloped islands – a legendary destination for foreign surfers – have hampered efforts to bring food, shelter and medicine to the affected areas.

"We have to use rubber boats to reach isolated villages. We even have to swim to bring the boat over coral reefs," Indonesian Red Cross spokeswoman Fitriana Sidika said on Wednesday.

Three New Zealand yachtsmen who had not been heard from since the tsunami turned up safe and sound, their families said on Friday.

The Indonesian archipelago has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines from the Indian to the Pacific oceans. The 2004 Asian tsunami killed almost 170,000 people in Indonesia alone.

Political ads removed from refugee shelters

Jakarta Post - November 3, 2010

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – A team comprising personnel from the police, military, Public Order Office and Transportation Ministry removed political advertisements from Merapi refugee shelters on Tuesday.

The recent Merapi eruption has not only forced more than 12,000 residents to take refuge at shelters lining the roads, but has also inspired political parties to post myriad banners, posters and flags informing the public of their assistance to Merapi victims.

"The advertisements and party symbols are illegal because they did not obtain permits," Sleman Public Order Office chief Setiharno said Tuesday.

The illegal advertisements were confiscated to avoid any negative impact, Sleman Transportation Agency operational manager Imam Bajuri said. "This is a disaster area and people are in a state of trauma and mourning. Don't turn the area into a promotional or campaign arena!" Imam said.

The illegal ads violated a law that regulates the posting of advertisements and banners in Sleman regency, he said.

Officers were observed indiscriminately pulling down political banners at the Kepuharjo shelter and the disaster command post in Cangkringan, Sleman, including a large banner reading "Welcome to the Golkar Party, chairman Aburizal Bakrie". A number of signboards were also removed.

The team will continue to pull down the thousands of advertisements remaining on Wednesday. "We are commoners, but have been commercially exploited," said 70-year-old Wiyono of Jambu village in Kepuharjo. Wiyono is currently taking refuge at the Kepuharjo shelter.

The grandfather of five said he was pleased to see authorities removing the hundreds of party banners and advertisements. "Don't disturb those in distress like us," he said.

Many charity posts have also been set up following the eruption, often taking advantage of the situation to promote themselves by displaying such banners. Dozens of charity posts near the Umbulharjo shelter and command post are now noticeably empty. Previously there were banners reading "Merapi Charity Post" with the name of a particular group, but no charitable activities were being conducted

"Various groups have set up their own posts without coordination. After checking the posts, nothing is going on there," Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said a day before the ad removal operation.

Hamengkubuwono said political parties should not be promoting themselves or benefiting from the disaster, and that only the Indonesian flag should fly at shelters.

West Sumatra governor heads to Germany as tsunami disaster continues

Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2010

Jakarta – As the Mentawai Islands continue to struggle to deal with the loss of life and emergency response in the wake of the tsunami disaster, West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno has departed for Europe for unclear reasons.

Irman Gusman, head of Regional Representatives Council (DPD), confirmed on Wednesday that Irwan, a politician from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), had left Indonesia and was en route to Germany.

"The recent psychological condition of the people requires the governor to be present," Irman was quoted by news portal Kompas.com as saying. Irman, also from West Sumatra, added that he had last communicated with Irwan during his stopover in Dubai, UAE.

Irman said he could not stop the governor from leaving the disaster-struck province because he only discovered his intentions this morning. "Maybe if I had found out about the plan three days ago, I could have asked him to not leave West Sumatra."

The Jakarta Globe's calls to Irwan's offices and official residence went unanswered on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Irwan apologized on his Facebook page for his inability to respond to messages.

"I'm sorry for all the unanswered messages, responses, suggestions and criticisms. My activities in carrying out the God-given duty has made me lose weight and I have had no chance to log on Facebook," he said.

Meanwhile, on his Web site, he called on the volunteers helping the tsunami victims not to "push themselves". "The volunteers must prioritize their safety first. Don't push yourselves to go out into the field if the weather is not conducive," he said.

Anger grows over aid effort a week after Indonesia's tsunami

Agence France Presse - November 2, 2010

HS Syahril, North Pagai, Indonesia – Indonesian tsunami survivors complained Monday they are being forced to scavenge for wild roots because aid had not arrived a week after the wave crushed their remote villages.

Indonesian officials have admitted they are struggling to care for 65,000 people displaced by an erupting volcano on Java island and the tsunami which smashed into the Mentawai island chain off Sumatra last Monday.

But President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dismissed the criticism, telling relief officials to do their best and ignore complaints.

"I was informed... that there had been criticism and comments. I say don't worry about all that," he said at a weekly cabinet meeting. "It always happens. There are people who give direct help, and there are also many who criticise and forget to help."

The latest official death toll from the tsunami stood at 431 with another 88 missing, feared dead, and almost 15,000 made homeless. Another 50,000 are in temporary shelters in central Java some 1,300 kilometers to the east, where the Mount Merapi volcano erupted again on Monday. An eruption last week killed 34 people.

Emergency response officials denied reports that tsunami aid is rotting and being looted. They blame delays in aid distribution on bad weather and the difficulty of reaching isolated communities by sea or air. "The relief operations are going very smoothly," disaster management official Joskamatir said.

Flung onshore by a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake, the tsunami flattened around 10 villages along undeveloped beaches popular with foreign surfers.

Tons of aid are piling up at the Sumatran port of Padang, half a day's voyage away by sea from the worst-hit islands, and at unaffected towns on the Mentawais such as Sikakap and Tua Pejat.

One bedraggled survivor arrived in Sikakap on Monday and loaded his own speed boat with as much food, water and blankets as it could carry, saying about 250 people in his village had not received any outside assistance at all. He said they had eaten all the wild bananas and roots they could find, and were becoming sick from drinking water from a river which contained corpses.

"We have survived on yams and bananas but we've finished those. There's nothing to eat now and we're all very, very hungry," Perholongan Senaga said. "We drank from rivers, which were dirty and stank of dead bodies. Many of us have fallen ill with diarrhoea from drinking that water."

He said the villagers on North Pagai island had no shelter, so three to five families were squeezing into "makeshift huts" every night. "It's very uncomfortable. It's been a week, why hasn't there been any help?" he asked.

Demas Sakerebau, a village chief on North Pagai island, said aid only reached one hamlet in his area for the first time on Sunday.

He described relief packages being dropped by helicopters into the sea, flooded rice paddies and trees. "Only part of the aid has reached the residents. It wasn't enough," he added.

Khalid Saifullah, a coordinator for independent local aid agencies, said local authorities had been caught unprepared for the disaster even though scientists have long warned the region is prone to tsunamis.

The 2004 Asian tsunami which killed almost 170,000 people in Indonesia was also triggered by an earthquake off the Sumatran coast, and scientists say last week's quake was directly related to that catastrophe.

"We understand that there's been bad weather, that's a serious challenge. But this should have been predicted earlier," Saifullah said. "Delays have been due to inadequate preparation."

Australia, the European Commission and the United States have pledged aid worth a total of five million dollars for victims of the tsunami and the volcano.

NGOs blame government for sluggish relief operation

Jakarta Post - November 2, 2010

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – A coalition of NGOs has criticized what they perceive as a sluggish relief operation following last week's deadly tsunami in Mentawai, West Sumatra.

The coalition includes the West Sumatra Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the Padang Legal Aid Institute, which is affiliated with the Koalisi Lumbung Derma (KLD) charity coalition.

"We don't see the weather as an excuse for slow aid distribution. The main reasons are weak coordination and the lack of alternatives for operations in the field during extreme weather," KLD coordinator Khalid Saifullah told reporters on Monday.

Earlier, the local disaster mitigation agency blamed bad weather for the slow distribution of relief aid, citing 6-meter waves that hampered the operation.

"It is risky to travel to affected areas by boat or helicopter to reach victims," West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Emergency and Logistics Affairs head Ade Edward told The Jakarta Post in recent interview.

Ade complained about the pressure from the media and NGOs to distribute aid more quickly without considering the risks encountered by relief workers despite the warning of storms and high tides for Mentawai Islands and West Sumatra's coastal areas issued by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

"We are very concerned that it might be fatal if we're forced to distribute aid during extreme weather conditions, especially since some of the boats have capsized while distributing aid. Fortunately the relief workers are safe," said Ade.

Khalid said that the sluggish distribution of aid would have a serious effect on victims. He added that currently, relief aid from various groups was piling up at the Padang and Sikakap disaster command posts.

"According to law, the BPBD is the lead institution for disaster response. Seven days have already passed and the institution should have been able to take command and not depend on other parties," said Khalid, who is Walhi's West Sumatra chief. He added that weak coordination and management had caused many boats and ships to back up in Sikakap.

"Relief coordination by the government is very poor and this is the dominant factor for sluggish distribution of aid to villages," said the former Mentawai Islands regency council speaker.

He suggested that one of the solutions was assigning large ships operated by the Indonesian Military, the National Police, state-run shipping firm PT Pelni and the Transportation Ministry to immediately deliver aid to the waters nearest the affected villages, and then commandeer boats owned by local residents who were more adept in handling the surf in Mentawai.

On Monday, the island's children returned to school, Antara reported, after classes were cancelled for a week after the tsunami killed 449 people. Several students loitered under the terraces of their school, near helicopters ready to deliver supplies to affected areas.

Political parties blasted for Merapi volcano aid

Antara News - November 2, 2010

Sleman, Yogyakarta – Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X has criticized Indonesian political parties for potentially increasing the trauma suffered by victims displaced by the Merapi volcano disaster.

"At the moment, the problem is that ambulances and other vehicles are flying the flags of certain organizations and political parties, and sound their sirens too loudly," Hamengkubuwono said at the main disaster mitigation post in Sleman on Monday.

He said the ambulances and vehicles passing by the post impacted on the concentration on members of the Disaster Mitigation Agency and had the potential to traumatize the evacuees.

"Moreover, the ambulances are not carrying patients who need emergency aid. So please, do not exaggerate in helping the victims, it may cause panic," the governor said.

Hamengkubuwono said the Yogyakarta provincial administration, as well as the Sleman district administration, would not hinder volunteers and donors from helping the Merapi victims.

"They are very welcome to help the victims. It's up to them to deliver the aid to the main post, directly to the shelters or to the evacuees themselves," he said. "We hope the bureaucracy will not pose an obstacle to them. The most important thing is that the help must be rendered whole- heartedly."

Political parties have previously been criticized for politicizing the Situ Gintung disaster on the outskirts of Jakarta just prior to the last year's legislative and presidential elections.

Chaos and delays plague Indonesia tsunami relief operation

Jakarta Globe - November 1, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Tuapejat and Sikakap – Despite being the capital of Mentawai district, tsunami relief efforts in Tuapejat are apparently in chaos, with food and medical supplies not only arriving late but also spoiling due to mishandling and negligence.

The first batch of government aid arrived in Tuapejat, on the island of Sipora, only on Friday afternoon, a full four days after the earthquake- triggered tsunami swept the group of islands off the western coast of Sumatra. The supplies were routed from Sikakap, on a small island to the south where relief efforts are being coordinated.

But about 20 percent of the ton of rice earmarked for the victims was drenched by seawater and heavy rains, while many cardboard boxes containing instant noodles and milk were also destroyed by water.

Some of the supplies have been going missing in less accidental ways. "Don't tell anyone," said one worker as he stuffed two tins of sardines in the pocket of his trousers. Other workers were spotted drinking bottled water meant for the victims.

Seeing the drenched rice, a senior police officer overseeing the shipment called over residents waiting for passenger boats in the harbor. "These sacks of rice are soaked, it will rot before it even gets to the victims. Give it to these people here," the officer told the workers.

At least 20 sacks, each containing at least 10 kilograms of rice, were handed out to the people of Tuapejat. "Can we also keep the blankets that were drenched in water?" a local asked a worker.

At least 96 people are still missing in the wake of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that drove a tsunami onto the Mentawai Islands on Oct. 25, and the death toll now stands at 449. Mentawai's four main islands were devastated by the waves, displacing almost 13,000 people.

Sikakap on North Pagai Island, which along with South Pagai were the worst-hit, has become the hub for aid shipments.

But as supplies and volunteers began to flood in late last week with very little coordination from the central government, relief efforts quickly became chaotic. No one appeared to be recording which villages received aid, nor was there anyone in charge of directing new volunteers.

With no official in sight to coordinate the aid shipment, workers piled boxes of instant food on a wet ship floor, soaking the packets and leaving the contents to be scattered and stepped on by laborers unloading other cargo.

"We don't know how much is being sent. We weren't told the exact amount. All we know is that there is one ton of rice," said Adek Simangunsong, a local volunteer.

"The aid was supposed to be here on Thursday, but strong currents and high waves delayed the shipment." Bad weather had forced the relief ship to delay leaving Sikakap until Friday morning, four days after the quake.

The roughness and remoteness of the area, as well as the limited number of people affected, means that Sipora Island is virtually untouched by government aid.

"Everything is being sent to Sikakap. You can say that the aid sent to Sipora is not surplus," Adek said. "There are many villages that still haven't received anything. We are having trouble accessing them. Many of our ships and boats were forced to turn back to Tuapejat because of the rough seas."

On Saturday, two boats carrying volunteers and aid capsized off the coast of Sikakap as locals reported waves up to four meters high. The 15 volunteers aboard survived, but no one seemed to be in charge of their safety either.

Surung Matua Sinaga, chairman of the West Sumatra Disaster Relief Agency (BPBD), said his job was only to distribute aid to the victims and to coordinate volunteers, but said that when he heard the news of the capsized boats from two field officers in Mentawai, he told them: "It is not my responsibility."

Surung said the agency responsible for coordinating volunteers was the Relief Operations Control Center (Pusdalop), in the West Sumatran capital of Padang.

But Depi, a Pusdalop official, thought otherwise. "We haven't had any information about this [capsizing] incident. Our job is to register volunteers and journalists traveling to Mentawai. Once they get to the islands, it is the field coordinator's job to direct them and monitor where they are going," she said.

She didn't know who was in charge on any of the islands.

Health & education

How much influence does big tobacco have on our smoking laws?

Jakarta Globe - November 1, 2010

Jakarta – When the Health Ministry recently pledged to restrict tobacco advertising, it was met by widespread skepticism. That's hardly surprising, given the degree to which cigarettes are ingrained in our society and economy.

We are one of the most "free-smoking" places in the world in an age when many other countries have sharply curtailed public use. Cigarettes are plentiful and cheap, with smokers able to light up with impunity almost anywhere.

Belief in the power of big tobacco to keep the country smoking was also reinforced by last year's "missing clause" scandal, in which a statement declaring tobacco an addictive substance disappeared from the 2009 Health Law.

But do tobacco companies themselves wield undue influence to keep Indonesians puffing away? One source from inside the tobacco lobby says it has had a sophisticated and mostly secret lobbying operation at work for years.

"More than a decade ago, each tobacco company appointed two or three employees to be part of a joint task force to study the threats the industry will face in the future," the source claimed. "Each company also pledged to provide unlimited funds for lobbying."

As a result, say health activists, health costs and illness are rising, and Indonesia is the butt of criticism for failing to ratify the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

"Indonesia is a Disney World for the tobacco industry," the WHO's Douglas Bettcher says.

Women & gender

Amnesty demands repeal of Indonesia's anti-abortion laws

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Dessy Sagita, Jakarta – Amnesty International on Thursday demanded that the government abolish laws infringing on women's reproductive health rights, including the law that forbids abortion.

"The Indonesian government has pledged to enhance gender equality, but many Indonesian women still struggle for fair and equal treatment," said Salil Shetty, Amnesty's secretary general.

Isabelle Arradon, Amnesty's Indonesia researcher, said the human rights watchdog has sent an open letter to the government, asking it to repeal all women-unfriendly laws and regulations – at the national as well as the local level.

Amnesty also highlighted the nation's criminalization of abortion. Arragon said that under the 2009 Health Law, abortion was allowed if the mother's or the fetus' life is in danger, or in cases of rape.

However, she said, a woman with a life-threatening pregnancy can only get an abortion if she is married because a husband has to give permission for the procedure.

The law also stipulates that rape victims are only allowed to abort a pregnancy within the first six weeks. "So when women find out too late, they could go to jail for illegal abortion," Arradon said.

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, director of the Institute for the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice, said women here still face many cultural constraints in ending pregnancies. But, she said, some progress has been made on the issue over the years.

"Even MUI [the Indonesian Ulema Council], known for its strict stance, has issued an edict allowing abortion for women with life-threatening conditions or for rape victims," she said.

Sugiri Syarief, head of the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN), said it was always possible to revise laws or regulations, as long as all stakeholders were consulted.

Amnesty: Indonesian women continue to face unfair laws, prejudice

Jakarta Post - November 5, 2010

Jakarta – Discriminatory laws and bylaws in Indonesia have forever altered the personal lives of poor and marginalized women by denying them full control of their reproductive systems, the latest report by Amnesty International says.

The group's secretary-general, Salil Shetty, said many Indonesian women and girls faced an amalgam of "unchallenged social attitudes, unfair laws and stereotyped gender roles" in their "struggle for fair and equal treatment".

"Some of the barriers women face are a direct result of laws and policies that discriminate against them," he said during the release of the report, Life Without a Choice, in Jakarta on Thursday. "Other barriers are a result of discriminatory attitudes and practices among health workers and members of the community."

The report includes case studies of Miriana, 21, and Susun, 34, highlighting how discriminatory laws and attitudes, especially in the reproductive health sector, have influenced decisions women make.

Both women were married and delivered their first child before they reached their 18th birthday, which exposed them to five times more risks of dying in pregnancy or childbirth compared to women in their twenties.

According to the report, both women's lives were influenced by stereotypical social views of women as wives and child-bearers codified in the 1974 Marriage Law, which positions women as household caretakers and stigmatizes those who cannot have children or want to delay pregnancy.

Isabelle Arrandon, an Amnesty researcher focussing on Indonesia and Timor Leste, said laws also discriminated between married and unmarried women, by providing uneven access to certain reproduction services, such as contraceptives.

"Women and girls bear the most consequences since they are the ones who can become pregnant, resulting in unwanted pregnancies for those who are unmarried," she said.

The 2009 Population Law and Family Development and the 2009 Health Law stipulate that sexual and reproductive health services, such as family planning and contraception, may only be given to legally married couples.

The population and family development law also requires a formal agreement between a husband and wife before access can be provided to certain types of contraception that carry health risks. "Such laws are difficult for young women," Isabelle said.

Due to the absence of legal access to contraceptives, many unmarried girls are forced to stop schooling or undergo unsafe abortions.

Isabelle added the government needed to decriminalize abortion to guarantee that all women, not only those who suffer from medical conditions, have access to safe abortions.

She said women and health workers were largely unaware of the provision in the law which does not consider an abortion a crime in the case of pregnancy resulting from rape.

The Criminal Code criminalizes people who provide information or treatment that terminates pregnancy.

Amnesty's report urged the government to repeal and review discriminatory laws and regulations at national and regional levels to ensure that women and girls received their rights.

The National Commission for Violence Against Women says there were 154 discriminatory bylaws against women in 2009, with an additional 35 issued by September 2010. Salil said government was responsible for correcting discriminatory views. (gzl)

Refugees & asylum seekers

Indonesia 'open' to refugee center plan

Jakarta Post - November 3, 2010

Erwida Maulia and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Gillard vowed to strengthen economic, political and security ties, and agreed to work together in handling regional and global issues, including climate change, on the international stage.

Speaking after a one-and-a-half-hour meeting with Gillard at the State Palace, Yudhoyono said both countries could discuss further the establishment of an asylum seeker center with other countries in the region, including Timor Leste, in a meeting he suggested be held early next year to evaluate the progress of the region's partnership in dealing with issues like people smuggling and trafficking.

"We have the Bali Process as a framework to deal with those issues in this region. I hope we can discuss there the idea about the regional processing center," Yudhoyono told a joint press conference after the meeting.

"Indonesia is open to that [idea] but we have to discuss it in-depth to ensure once again that this is the solution for our regional problem," he added.

Malaysia has also said it would need to review the center proposal when Gillard visited the country over the weekend.

Gillard announced in her first policy speech as prime minister in July a plan to create a regional refugee processing center in Timor Leste to deter thousands of asylum seekers.

The subject became an important issue during Australia's recent elections. Gillard said Australia agreed to further discuss the idea through the Bali Process, adding that the regional protection framework and the processing center would "undercut the business model of people smugglers and take out of the hands of the people smugglers the product that they sell".

The first Australian female prime minister, however, did not raise the issue of the alleged torture by Indonesian authorities of indigenous Papuans, a subject that received international concern following a video posted online last month by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission showing Indonesian Military members torturing Papuans.

"President Yudhoyono has made it clear the perpetrators will all be brought to justice. I respect that," she said.

During the meeting, Gillard also raised the issue of the clemency plea filed by convicted Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby with Yudhoyono, saying her government supported the plea. Corby was sentenced to 20 years in prison for smuggling 4 kilograms of cannabis into Bali in 2004.

Gillard said Australia would also support members of the Bali Nine heroine smuggling ring, three of whom are on death row, if any of them filed for clemency. In response, Yudhoyono said that although Indonesia's regulations gave him the right to grant clemency to local and foreign citizens, it required, "proper consideration, especially when concerning serious crimes".

He placed more emphasis on ongoing negotiations for a prisoner transfer agreement, which could see Corby brought back to Australia. "This is what we need to develop – the balancing of the principle of 'justice must be upheld' and the consideration of the humanitarian aspects," he said.

Graft & corruption

House urged to hasten selection of KPK chief

Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – The House of Representatives' leaders came under strong pressure on Wednesday to expedite the fit-and-proper test to fill the vacancy in the Corruption Eradication Commission.

Gayus Lumbuun, a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the leadership vacuum in the Corruption Eradication Commission, also known as KPK, and the Attorney General's Office was hampering law enforcement.

The president has yet to appoint a new attorney general and the House has yet to name the new KPK chairman from among the two nominees given by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono more than a month ago.

Gayus said this places the country under "legal alert" because the two institutions could not make important decisions without their respective leaders.

"The House must immediately respond to this situation. At least we must appoint the new KPK chairman," Gayus said. "The House leaders must order the Commission III to hold the fit-and-proper test for the nominees."

Yudhoyono in August nominated rights activist Bambang Widjojanto and Judicial Commission member Busyro Muqoddas for the KPK chairmanship. The House Commission III overseeing legal affairs is tasked with conducting the fit-and-proper test.

Commission III chairman Benny K. Harman said the fit-and proper-test had actually started two weeks ago with the research of information about the nominees, but admitted the process had never been announced to the public.

"And remember, the law gives us 90 working days, since the names of the nominees were submitted by the president, to approve them or not," Benny said.

However, Gayus said the commission's leadership appeared bent on slowing down the appointment process. "Although we are in recess time, we must move forward by holding the fit-and-proper test now," Gayus said.

Tjatur Sapto Edy, Commission III lawmaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN), agreed with Gayus that appointing the new KPK chairman is important, but said the fit-and-proper test cannot be held immediately as most members of the commission are visiting their constituencies.

"I think it's very difficult to gather all the lawmakers now, so holding a fit-and-proper test now is impossible," Tjatur said.

Meanwhile, Bambang Soesatyo, a Golkar lawmaker and Commission III member, said the appointment of a new KPK chairman cannot guarantee improved law enforcement.

Bambang questioned the nominees' integrity and doubted their willingness to sacrifice their lives for anticorruption efforts. "I don't think they are brave enough to do anticorruption programs, so I don't think the fit-and- proper test is an important agenda," Bambang said.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie said House leaders are yet to plan a meeting that would tackle the fit-and-proper test. "I must discuss the suggestion first with other House leaders," Marzuki said.

Former Tangerang judge says he asked for bribe in Gayus trial

Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2010

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Providing a glimpse into the illicit world of high-level bribery, a former district court chief justice arrested for taking bribes said he had used the word "coffee" to ask for payoffs from disgraced tax official Gayus Tambunan.

The judge, Muhtadi Asnun, acquitted Gayus of all charges in March this year in a controversial embezzlement trial.

A major scandal erupted after a police whistle-blower claimed Gayus had bribed police officers, prosecutors and judges. The former tax official is being tried again, this time for corruption.

"Especially for me, please add to the coffee by 100 percent," read a mobile phone text message that Muhtadi allegedly sent to Gayus. The message was read during Gayus's trial at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday. "Coffee means money," Muhtadi said after the presiding judge, Albertina Ho, read the text message to the court.

Muhtadi said he had forgotten the reply he received from Gayus, prompting Albertina to read the following message: "When should I deliver the coffee, sir? What about 10 a.m. tomorrow?"

Muhtadi presided over Gayus's trial at the Tangerang District Court in March. The former tax official originally faced charges of money laundering and corruption after Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) was discovered in his bank accounts. But prosecutors later announced that those charges could not be proven and instead demanded only probation for Gayus for a minor embezzlement charge.

At Wednesday's hearing, Muhtadi said Gayus had offered him Rp 50 million in cash before the verdict was read in the March trial but he had negotiated for a bigger amount.

He reportedly sent another message to Gayus reading "my daughter wants a Honda Jazz, so please add the coffee by another 10,000 kg. Your demand will be met."

He said that was a request for Gayus to double the payment. However, the suspended judge denied that the payment ever materialized, although he did host Gayus in a meeting at his official residence in Tangerang.

Muhtadi claimed that during the meeting he only asked Gayus about a job vacancy at the tax directorate for his daughter. "I asked him about a vacancy in the tax office. But the defendant [Gayus] offered me Rp 50 million in cash.

The payment itself never materialized; it was just an offer," said Muhtadi, who is a defendant in a separate corruption trial taking place at the East Jakarta District Court.

Muhtadi said he got Gayus's phone number from a court clerk in Tangerang he identified only as Ikat. Gayus said during the hearing that he gave $40,000 to three judges – $30,000 for Muhtadi and $5,000 each for two members of the judges' panel.

"I read his request for an additional 10,000 kg as another $10,000, not Rp 50 million," Gayus said in response to Muhtadi's testimony. But he didn't clearly state whether or not the payment was ever made.

The controversial Tangerang trial sparked public outrage after former National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji made high- profile allegations that some of his colleagues at the police accepted multi-billion-rupiah bribes from Gayus.

Last month, an internal inquiry at the Attorney General's Office found that the head prosecutor in the case, Cirus Sinaga, had leaked the sentencing recommendation to Gayus's lawyer, Haposan Hutagalung.

Haposan allegedly doctored the recommendation to read a year in jail in order to extort $50,000 from Gayus before the genuine document seeking only probation was shown to him.

Public confidence in state institutions dwindles: Survey

Jakarta Post - November 2, 2010

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The public thinks the integrity of state institutions is on the decline, a recent survey by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) shows.

The 2010 Public Sector Integrity Survey, which was conducted between April and August this year, involving 12,616 respondents in 22 cities, showed the national integrity index was down to 5.42 this year from 6.5 last year.

"This index is less than the standard we set at 6, which indicates that corruption eradication and prevention efforts in Indonesia have yet to reach optimal levels," KPK deputy chairman M. Jasin said.

He added that the index was a reflection of respondents' experience with corruption, whether in the form of gratuities, middlemen, red tape or other forms. The results are in line with a recent Transparency International survey this year that showed Indonesia hovering among the bottom countries in the Corruption Perception Index.

One of the reasons for the decline was the decreasing quality of public services at central and local levels, Jasin said.

The KPK survey evaluated 353 service units in 23 institutions at a national level (ministries and state-run enterprises), six institutions with local offices (such as the police and state-owned electricity companies), and regional-level institutions including the administrations of 22 cities. The average score for national-level institutions was 6.16, while institutions with local offices scored 5.26 and city administrations got 5.07.

At a national level, the respondents ranked the Transportation Ministry lowest with a score of 4.21, while the Justice and Human Rights Ministry and its penitentiary service and services for migrant workers gained 5.34 and 5.94.

The Agriculture Ministry with its seed permits got the highest score with 7.7, followed by the business permit desk of the Investment Coordinating Board with 7.67. Among state institutions, the National Police scored the lowest with 4.66, Jasin said.

The annual survey was aimed at advising public institutions how to make corruption prevention efforts more effective in services that were prone to corruption, he said. "The institutions with low integrity scores are vulnerable to corruption and law enforcement will not be enough," Jasin said.

Jasin's commission would help low-scoring institutions create action plans to improve their services. In such cases, standard operating procedures and mechanisms for user complaints should be revised, he said.

However, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto dismissed the significance of the survey, saying it did not provide any solutions. "We would like to work with the KPK to seek immediate solutions," he said.

Scores of cities

1. West Jakarta (5.82)
2. Samarinda (5.8)
3. North Jakarta (5.78)
4. Tanjung Pinang (5.72)
5. Serang (5.66)
6. Pontianak (5.59)
7. Yogyakarta (5.59)
8. Bandung (5.57) 9. Surabaya (5.52)
10 Ambon (5.4)
11. Central Jakarta (5.39)
12. East Jakarta (5.14)
13. Manado (5)
14. South Jakarta (4.97)
15. Jayapura (4.91)
16. Mataram (4.89)
17. Pekanbaru (4.89)
18. Palembang (4.83)
19. Semarang (4.73)
20. Makassar (4.72)
21. Bandar Lampung (4.54)
22. Medan (4.44)

Politicians sue KPK over BI vote-buying probe

Jakarta Post - November 2, 2010

Jakarta – Six politicians from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have filed a Rp 25 billion (US$2.8 million) lawsuit against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for conducting what they say was an illegal investigation of the Bank Indonesia vote-buying case in which they were implicated.

Poltak Sitorus, Max Moein, Jeffrey Tongas Lumban, Soekanto Pranoto, M. Iqbal and Ni Luh Maryani Tirtasari are all former members of the House of Representatives finance commission. They were accused of receiving traveler's checks to support Miranda Swaray Goeltom's election as BI senior deputy governor in 2004.

"The KPK has never been able to reveal who the owners of the traveler's checks were, to whom they were given or what they were for," the politicians' attorney, Petrus Selestinus, said as reported by vivanews.com.

After filing the suit at Central Jakarta District Court on Monday, Petrus said the other accused were the PDI-P, the PDI-P's faction at the House and Miranda for failing to clarify to the KPK that the distribution of the traveler's checks was not bribery.

Disgraced Indonesian lawmaker Misbakhun jailed for just one year

Jakarta Globe - November 2, 2010

Anwar Permana, Jakarta – A sitting legislator from the Prosperous Justice Party was jailed for just one year on Tuesday for forging documents to secure a massive loan from the now-defunct Bank Century. The prosecution had been seeking a jail term of eight years.

Mukhamad Misbakhun is a first-term legislator from the party, also known as the PKS. The Islam-based party, which ran on an anticorruption platform, has continued to support their politician, who was able to amass a considerable wealth when he worked at the Directorate General of Taxation prior to becoming a lawmaker.

The Central Jakarta District Court found him guilty of falsifying documents to help his company, Selalang Prima Internasional, obtain a line of credit from Bank Century worth $22.5 million. He subsequently defaulted on the loan.

"Misbakhun is pronounced guilty of document forgery and accordingly, the defendant is sentenced to one year in jail," Presiding Judge Pramoedhana Kusumaatmadja said. It is unclear how much money, if any, was ordered to be repaid to the state.

The same sentence was handed to fellow defendant Franky Ongkowardjojo, the former director of Selalang. The panel of judges, however, cleared both men of the more serious bank fraud charges.

Prosecutors last month recommended that Misbakhun be jailed for eight years for allegedly collaborating with Robert Tantular, the now-jailed former co-owner of Bank Century, to fabricate documents to show that SPI had put up collateral when it had not.

Speaking after the hearing, Misbakhun said he was disappointed with the verdict, which he indicated was retribution from the government headed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He said the "regime" was committed to punishing him, though he did not elaborate. "We will appeal against today's verdict."

Misbakhun was among the more vocal legislators pushing for the House of Representatives to investigate the government bailout of the ailing bank. Though PKS is a member of the government coalition, it was at the spearhead of attempts to force and inquiry into the bailout.

Prosecutor Teguh Suhendro said he would take a week to decide on the government's stance, but stated he would lodge an appeal if the defendant did so.

Lawmakers say prosecute KPK deputies

Jakarta Post - November 1, 2010

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office decision to halt the prosecution against of two KPK deputies for the sake of public interest is flawed and violates the law, legislators say.

Gayus Lumbuun, a lawmaker of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), told a discussion on Sunday that acting Attorney General Darmono was not authorized to make such a move since he was only an interim official.

"The Attorney General's Office [AGO] law clearly states that the authority to issue a 'deponering' lies with the attorney general. It does not mention anything about giving the authority to an interim official."

Deponering is an Indonesian legal term (derived from the Dutch) whereby the Attorney General's Office (AGO) can halt a case in the interests of national stability.

The AGO decided to adopt this measure to drop the extortion and abuse of power charges against Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairmen Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah.

"The AGO will break the law if it insists on playing this card," Gayus said, adding that this was a political move that required endorsement from the House of Representatives, the President and the Supreme Court.

Achmad Yani, a lawmaker from the United Development Party (PPP), said a deponering implied that prosecutors had strong grounds to prosecute Bibit and Chandra, but had balked at bringing them to court to avoid a public outcry.

"The move only confirms that the AGO believed the two KPK deputies were graft suspects. If the pair are considered innocent, the AGO could have issued an SP3," he said, referring to a warrant to terminate an investigation due to lack of evidence.

Antigraft activists beg to differ. Febri Diansyah of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said he had no problem with the AGO decision, provided it would help strengthen the battered KPK.

"For us, the only thing that is important is for the KPK to regain its power to fight corruption. It could be used to provide great momentum to the KPK to continue its struggle," he said.

Febri added that the commission should now begin to investigate the alleged conspiracy between the police and the AGO to weaken the KPK by fabricating evidence to charge Bibit and Chandra with blackmailing Anggoro Widjojo, who has been convicted of attempted bribery.

Achmad Rivai, one of Bibit and Chandra's lawyers, said former National Police chief Gen. (ret) Bambang Hendarso Danuri and former attorney general Hendarman Supandji should be questioned regarding the allegations.

The investigation of Bibit and Chandra's case was conducted by the police last year after Anggodo testified that he had been blackmailed by Bibit and Chandra through Ary Muladi. Then national police chief Gen. (ret) Bambang Hendarso Danuri had guaranteed that the police investigation was solid.

Bambang's statement was then backed up by Hendarman. However, both the police and prosecutors failed to produced this evidence.

War on terror

Indonesian cleric gets 10 years for funding terror

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Adhe Bhakti, Jakarta – The West Jakarta District Court on Thursday sentenced hard-line cleric Eko Budi Wardoyo to 10 years in prison for his involvement in gunning down a priest in 2004 and the 2005 bombing of a market that killed 22 people, both in Central Sulawesi.

Eko was ruled to have provided funding to the perpetrators of both acts of terrorism, and to have given other assistance. In the first case, the shooter, Basri, who has since been convicted, fired into a packed Efata Church in Palu, Central Sulawesi, during Sunday service on July 18, 2004, instantly killing the Rev. Susianti Tinulele and wounding four others.

The judges in Jakarta found that Eko had given Basri an envelope filled with money as well as a motorcycle to flee the scene after the shooting.

The incident was among a string of attacks on churches across Indonesia that took place between 2000 and 2004.

In the second case, Eko was ruled to have given Mujadid and Ardin Janatu, both now behind bars, money to assemble and detonate two bombs at Tentena Central Market in Tentena, Central Sulawesi, on May 28, 2005.

The attack killed 22 people and wounded at least 90. A similar market bombing in December of that year killed eight and injured 45 in Palu.

Eko's sentence was five years shorter than prosecutors had sought. "I accept the sentence. I have no plan to appeal," he said.

Meanwhile, in a separate case being heard at the same courthouse on Thursday, a witness testifying at the trial of two suspected Aceh militants said the pair had been "preparing for all-out war."

Yudi Zulfahri and Agam Fitriadi were among those captured during raids in February on a militant training camp in the Aceh foothills.

Yudi is also believed to have frequently contacted Dulmatin, previously Indonesia's most wanted terrorist and alleged mastermind of the camp, who was later killed in a shootout with police.

Ubaid, also arrested in relation to the camp, testified at Yudi's and Agam's trial that the armed group, which he said was funded in part by firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, had been training to attack key targets across the country, but did not elaborate.

He also said Yudi had often traveled to Jakarta to "coordinate strategy" with Dulmatin.

Ubaid himself is believed to have raised up to Rp 1 billion ($112,000) in donations for the group and is scheduled to stand trial for his role in the camp within the coming weeks.

Freedom of religion & worship

Students demand closure of mosque

Jakarta Post - November 6, 2010

Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – While Indonesia grieves over a series of recent natural disasters, some college students preferred instead to hold a wanton protest against the existence of an Ahmadiyah mosque in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. City authorities reportedly voiced their support.

City spokesman Cucu Ahmad Kurnia underlined Friday that any violent actions would not be tolerated, but said "the [Ahmadiyah] sect should be disbanded if it triggers public restlessness."

Around 20 students staged a protest in front of the Ahmadiyah mosque, located in Kebon Bawang subdistrict, after Friday prayers. They demanded the Jakarta Police close the Nuruddin Mosque down.

The Nuruddin Mosque congregation violates Islamic customs, said protesters from the Islamic college Dakwah Islam, which is also located in Tanjung Priok. The demonstrators held a plywood placard with the message, "This place is sealed; Ahmadiyah activity is forbidden here".

The protesters, who wore traditional white caps and Islamic male shirts known as baju koko, accused the congregation of imposing deviations of Islamic custom, mosque employee Hendro Suyono said.

"We asked one of the protesters to check whether our teachings were divergent from Islam. The man later checked our syahadat [creed] which is painted on our pulpit," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

However, the protesters continued to demand the mosque must be sealed before eventually leaving the area 30 minutes later – but not before warning that the mosque congregation had one week to comply with their demands. They also said the Jakarta Police had promised them that they would seal the mosque. However, Tanjung Priok Police chief Comr. Budhi Hendro Susianto did not acknowledge the demonstrator's claim.

Around 50 police officers from the police subprecinct safeguarded the site on Friday.

Mosque worker Hendro told the Post that the mosque had been the object of intimidation for the past week. "Three men claiming to be from the same crowd came to the mosque last Tuesday. They wanted us to cease our religious activities, and they also accused us of having a different holy book and kiblat [the direction in which Muslims should face when praying]," he said.

Hendro added that last Sunday the mosque had also received complaints from the same crowd. "That time they came with support from the neighborhood and community unit management, asking us to pull down our mosque signpost," he said, adding that the mosque administration later complied with the demand.

The mosque, which is located inside a residential area, was established 24 years ago. The mosque reportedly now has around 200 followers, including children.

According to resident Siti, 35, there was no conflict in relation to the mosque's existence before the Friday protest. "I am puzzled as to why the students held a protest against the congregation. All this time, residents and the congregation have lived peacefully," she said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The administration would try to use dialogue as a soft approach to the Ahmadiyah followers, city spokesman Cucu said.

Recently, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo reiterated his administration's commitment to protecting freedom of religion, so that houses of worship of any religion can be built and maintained, adding that his administration would ensure Jakarta residents could pray without discrimination or disturbance.

"The best asset in our country is interfaith harmony," the governor said. (ipa)

President urged to renounce comments from religious affairs minister

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Jakarta – Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should uphold freedom of religion in Indonesia and repudiate statements by his religious affairs minister calling for the banning of the Ahmadiyah religion, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday in a letter to the Indonesian president.

Since August 2010, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has repeatedly called for the Ahmadiyah faith to be banned in Indonesia. Yudhoyono has failed to repudiate those statements, leading many to believe that he supports such an action, the international nongovernmental organization said in a statement.

In recent years Islamist militants have repeatedly attacked and burned Ahmadiyah homes and mosques. Anti-Ahmadiyah violence has increased since Yudhoyono announced a prohibition on teachings or public displays of the Ahmadiyah religion in June 2008, the statement read.

"President Yudhoyono gave a nationwide speech about religious tolerance in the United States, but what will he tell visiting US President Barack Obama about the burned Ahmadiyah mosques in Indonesia?" said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"Yudhoyono should take clear steps to protect religious freedom, starting with loudly rejecting any ban on the Ahmadis, and ensuring that those responsible for attacks on Ahmadiyah homes and mosques are prosecuted."

The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, a human rights group in Jakarta, recorded 33 cases of attacks in 2009 against the Ahmadiyah community. In late July, municipal police and hundreds of people organized by militant Islamist groups forcibly tried to close an Ahmadiyah mosque in Manis Lor village. On Oct. 1, mobs attacked the Ahmadiyah community in Cisalada, south of Jakarta, burning their mosque and several houses; a Quran inside the mosque was accidently burned.

The statement said that Indonesian law facilitated discrimination against the Ahmadiyah, who identify themselves as Muslims but differ with other Muslims as to whether Muhammad was the "final" monotheist prophet.

The June 2008 decree requires the Ahmadiyah to "stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam," including "spreading the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Muhammad." Violations of the decree can result in prison sentences of up to five years.

Human Rights Watch has called for the government to rescind this decree, saying it violates the right to freedom of religion.

A ban against the Ahmadiyah would violate guarantees of freedom of religion in articles 28 and 29 of the Indonesian Constitution, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Indonesia in February 2006, which protects the right to freedom of religion and to engage in religious practice.

"President Yudhoyono should order Minister Suryadharma to stop playing with fire with his demands to ban the Ahmadiyah," Robertson said. "Formalizing religious discrimination increases the vulnerability of Ahmadiyah and opens the door for further attacks and wider communal violence. This is hardly the recipe for promoting Indonesia as a modern, rights-respecting state."

Suryadharma has previously stated that the Indonesian government would not tolerate violence in religious disputes, the police would enforce the 2008 decree and warned that the Ahmadiyah "had better stop their activities."

On Aug. 31 he said: "To ban [the Ahmadiyah] is far better than to let them be... To outlaw them would mean that we are working hard to stop deviant acts from continuing."

Sex & pornography

FPI protests against Pamela Anderson's charity for Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - November 1, 2010

Jakarta – Former Baywatch actress and movie star Pamela Anderson has donated $25,000 from a Playboy cover shoot to a charity that helps Indonesian disaster victims, only to find her pledge of help harshly snubbed by members of the hard-line group Islamic Defenders Front.

"I've just shot another Playboy cover that will debut in January for Hugh Hefner, at his request – I adore him. Playboy and I decided to do this, so I could donate earnings from the shoot to Waves for Water," Anderson said in her Web site.

However, Anderson's intention to donate money to victims in Indonesia was challenged by the hard-line group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) who declared the donation 'haram' or forbidden because the money was obtained through what they deemed to be immoral acts.

"If she wants to do nude shoots, it means she is challenging a bigger disaster to happen in Indonesia. It's haram," Habib Umar Salim, the head of FPI's advisory council was quoted as saying by Metro TV.

"FPI operated an aid center for Merapi victims, why don't you [the media] write about it? Don't just write that FPI can only kill people," Salim said.

Waves for Water has helped people in Sumatra and Bali and mitigated the effects of disasters in Haiti and Chile.

"It's an amazing group that supplies water filters to countries that are in need of clean drinking water. It has already made a huge difference in Indonesia, Pakistan and Haiti. I'm so honored to work with Playboy again to support this life altering cause!," Anderson said.

Civil service & bureaucracy

The party's set to end for civil servants

Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Public servants who play online games or go shopping during working hours, be warned.

The government is setting up teams to monitor its workers and ensure its "grand design" for bureaucracy reform is adhered to. The program of incentives and supervision, which is nearly complete, is a bid to boost the efficiency of the much-maligned public service.

Vice President Boediono said on Wednesday that the "grand design" covered reform over the next 15 years and there was also a road map for change over the next five years.

He said he hoped the reforms would help counter the negative image presented by the Public Service Integrity Index devised by the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK. The index this year was at 5.4 out of 10, down from 6.6 last year. The government had hoped to boost the score to 8 this year.

Last week, Transparency International published its annual Corruption Perception Index, which gave Indonesia a dismal score of 2.8 out of 10. Similarly, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) says the financial statements from all central government bodies and 60 percent of regional ones received a disclaimer, indicating accounting weaknesses or omissions.

Boediono said the supervisory team would be supported by lower-level teams made up of government and nongovernmental members who would analyze "every single aspect of bureaucracy reform in every institution participating in the program."

Besides monitoring how civil servants perform, the teams will be authorized to recommend higher pay grades for well-performing institutions.

Officials at the Finance Ministry, one of the first to join the bureaucracy reform program, boasted the highest wages among all civil servants during the term of then-minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who implemented sweeping reforms in the tax and customs offices.

However, the arrest of rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan for corruption and the ensuing fallout have marred the ministry's image as the model for bureaucracy reform. E.E. Mangindaan, the state minister for administrative reform and head of the national bureaucracy reform team, said all ministries were expected to complete their reforms by 2014.

He also said that in order to participate, they should address in their proposals the eight targets of organization restructuring, good governance, human resources management, regulation, self-supervision, work accountability, public service and change of officials' mind-set.

"There should be change," Mangindaan said. "We won't only look for performance, such as the absence of a disclaimer from the BPK, but we will demand outcomes. It's the result of the work, of activities, of projects that must have an impact on the people, both directly and indirectly."

Yopie Hidayat, a spokesman for the vice president, said that another target would be to boost Indonesia's ranking in the global index for ease of doing business.

The International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of the World Bank, last year ranked Indonesia 122nd out of 178 countries in the index. The government plans to rise that ranking to at least 75th place following the end of the reform grand design in 2025.

Boediono said that it would take a long time before the planned reforms came to fruition.

Legislation & parliament

Legislators deemed as lacking empathy

Jakarta Post - November 5, 2010

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Indonesian Parliamentary Watchdog (Formappi) executive director Sebastian Salang lashed out at House of Representatives legislators for putting normative norms behind empathy to justify their overseas trips.

"The issue is not whether the House internal regulations allow legislators to take study trips or not, but whether they have the conscience and empathy to the people by avoiding spending on such trips," Sebastian told a discussion at the House on Friday.

Sebastian said that he could not understand what was in the legislators' minds when they insisted on going abroad amidst three natural disasters that struck the country in three different regions – Wasior in West Papua, Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta and Mentawai in West Sumatra. "Despite the disasters, the show went on. This clearly shows the lawmakers' lack of empathy," he said.

University of Indonesia sociologist Thamrin Amal Tomagola said the politicians not only lacked empathy but also shameful feeling. "They [legislators] have grown their skin as thick as that of a rhino. Because they have rhino skin, they also have hearts that are as cold as a stone. That's why I believe it will be no use if we try to wake them up," he said.

The House's honors board members recently went to Greece to learn about "political ethics", while members of the House's commission V on infrastructure went to Italy and Russia.

Democrats deny buying entire run of tabloid alleging rape, reprint planned

Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2010

Jakarta Globe & Antara, Jakarta – The Democratic Party has denied buying up the first print run of the latest issue of gossip tabloid C&R, which carries a cover story on rape allegations involving a member of the ruling party.

Ilham Bintang, editor in chief of the tabloid, formerly known as Cek & Ricek, claimed that mystery buyers had on Tuesday purchased all 100,000 copies of the tabloid, which sells for Rp 6,000 a copy. Despite the claim, however, copies of C&R were seen at some newsstands in Jakarta.

Ilham said he had ordered another 100,000 copies reprinted on Wednesday "because the public's right to information must not be beaten by any form of monetary strength."

The allegations printed in the tabloid are not new. The House of Representatives' Ethics Council previously indicated it would look into allegations that M Nazaruddin, a member of the Democratic Party, raped a sales promotion girl in a Bandung hotel during the party's national caucus in May.

The tabloid, however, quoted a source as saying that Bandung Police had obtained evidence that included a medical examination of the alleged victim and closed-circuit television footage from the hotel in question.

Despite the alleged incident, neither the police, the House nor the Democratic Party have taken formal action in relation to the claims.

Saan Mustopha, deputy secretary general of the Democratic Party, told the Jakarta Globe that the party respected the freedom of the press. "It's not true that we bought up the copies," he said.

Ahmad Mubarok, a senior member of the party's consultative body, also denied that the Democrats had bought up the copies. He added that the party never considered suing the tabloid over the allegations.

Marzuki Alie, a senior Democrat and House speaker, accused the media of "working even faster than law enforcement officials.

"If the media has evidence, then they should take it to the police," he said. "The party won't protect anyone. But the media should have the evidence."

He added that the publisher of C&R should have considered the impact such a story would have not only on the legislator in question, but also on his family. "We could cry all day when we're being victimized," Marzuki said.

Party spokesman Ruhut Sitompul was quoted by the tabloid as saying the Democrats would not defend Nazaruddin if the evidence suggested he was guilty of the offense.

Press Council member Wina Armada alleged that the mysterious disappearance of the tabloid was related to the cover story, and added that the article did not breach journalism standards.

House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, from the Golkar Party, said he hoped the case would not receive undue media attention. "But I think my hopes are useless," he said.

Priyo said the House Ethics Council should be allowed to conduct an investigation, adding that he hoped people considered the case a private matter and not a legal one. "People should not stereotype legislators," he added.

Indonesian lawmakers fly coop despite trip warnings

Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2010

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Despite the resolution of several political parties to bar lawmakers from taking much-criticized trips overseas in the wake of recent disasters, two House delegations have departed for East Asia and Russia.

Nining Indra Saleh, the House of Representatives secretary general, said the teams left the country on Sunday and Monday, each composed of 10 legislators and two staffers.

"One is from Commission XI, working on the Financial Services Supervisory Authority law, and it flew to Japan and South Korea. The other, from Commission V, is working on the low-cost apartment law," she said.

Commission XI had initially planned to take comparative study trips to Japan, South Korea, Germany and the United Kingdom, but the European destinations were dropped due to visa issues.

Nining said each commission was allotted Rp 1.7 billion [$112,000] for holding a comparative study trip for each bill. Each legislator receives $509 for daily expenses, "including their meals and hotels. That's the standard from the Finance Ministry."

The National Mandate Party (PAN), Golkar Party, the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) had told their members at the House to shun overseas trips.

Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie said the funds would be better used to help the victims of last week's tsunami in the Mentawai Islands and the Mount Merapi eruption.

However, the warnings fell on deaf ears. House Commission XI is led by Golkar's Nusron Wahid, who was said to be with the team visiting South Korea and Japan. Nusron could not be reached on Tuesday, but a staffer at the commission named Robert confirmed that the lawmaker was indeed on the trip.

A senior Golkar legislator, Priyo Budi Santoso, said Nusron would face verbal and written reprimands when he returned, but added "of course we will not fire someone over this."

Priyo said there was always a possibility that legislators had not received the official directive issued by the chairman.

Aburizal's statement that party legislators taking part in overseas trips would be punished was not an idle threat, Priyo said. "We really mean to stop overseas trips until people in disaster zones get well," he said.

Meanwhile, Nining refused to release further details on the trips, including the names of those who were participating. "That's not my authority to tell, but the commission's."

She also declined to say how much lawmakers had spent on overseas trips this year, which critics see as a waste of taxpayers' money.

Mystery surrounds mass purchase of tabloid featuring rape allegations

Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2010

Jakarta – An "unknown group" has purchased the entire print run of Indonesian Infotainment tabloid C&R featuring a cover story about rape allegations centering on a Indonesian legislator.

Ilham Bintang, chief editor of the tabloid, formerly known as Check & Recheck, told state news agency Antara that mystery buyers on Tuesday purchased all 100,000 copies of the newspaper, which sells for Rp 6,000 ($70 cents) per copy.

Ilham said they had reprinted another 100,000 copies on Wednesday "because the public's right to information must not be beaten by any form of monetary strength."

The allegations printed in the tabloid are not new. The House of Representatives Ethics Council has previously indicated that it would look into allegations that M. Nazaruddin, a member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, raped a sales promotion girl in a Bandung hotel during the party's national congress in May.

The newspaper, however, quoted a source as saying that Bandung Police had obtained evidence that included a medical examination of the alleged victim and closed-circuit television footage from the hotel in question. Despite the alleged incident, neither the police, House or Democratic Party are yet to take formal action in relation to the claims.

Ahmad Mubarok, a senior member of the Democratic Party's consultative body, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that the party was not behind the mass purchase of the newspaper. "We have already checked," he said. "It is untrue." Ahmad said the party had not considered suing the tabloid.

Fellow Democratic lawmaker Ruhut Sitompul, however, was quoted by the tabloid as saying that the party would not defend Nazarudin if evidence was found to suggest he was guilty of the offense.

Press Council member Wina Armada alleged the mysterious mass purchase related to the tabloid's cover story, adding that the article did not breach journalism standards.

Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, from the Golkar Party, said he had hoped the case did not receive media exposure. "But I think my hopes are useless... However, I don't think that the facts are that spectacular," he said.

Priyo said he would let the Ethics Council conduct the investigation, saying he hoped people considered the case a private matter and not a legal one. "People should not stereotype legislators," he added. (Antara, JG)

Two House commissions traveling abroad amidst disasters

Jakarta Post - November 2, 2010

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Amidst public condemnation, two commissions from the House of Representatives remain unmoved to conduct study trips abroad despite of the fact that two simultaneous natural disasters are taking place in the country.

House secretary general Nining Indra Saleh told reporters on Tuesday that the commissions were commission XI on Finance and commission V on infrastructure.

"The special committee on the Financial Services Authorization Bill [from commission XI] left for South Korea and Japan on Oct. 31, and the committee on the Flat Housing Bill [from commission V] left on Nov. 1," Nining said. The commission V left for Russia.

Nining said that the budget allocated for a committee to conduct a foreign trip amounted up to Rp 1.7 billion per year. Nining also said that the total budget for foreign trip in 2010 amounted up to Rp 107.3 billion while each legislator going abroad received a consumption budget of US$509 per day.

Jakarta & urban life

Another day, another jam for stressed-out Mikrolet drivers

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Arientha Primanita & Zaky Pawas, Jakarta – Jasuta stopped his empty Mikrolet minivan in front of the Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta on Thursday, blocking traffic while he waited for paying customers.

When a policeman approached he drove away, only to return a short time later. For Jasuta, a strategic place like the market is ideal. "This is how I get passengers. If I just keep driving I would not get enough passengers," he said sitting in his rickety van.

As he sees it, this is just a way to eke out the Rp 150,000 ($17) a day he makes driving the van he bought a year ago for Rp 40 million.

Multiply the disruption his van causes by the tens of thousands of other minivans and vehicles that go about their business oblivious to traffic rules, and you can see why Jakarta's traffic jams are out of control.

"If there are police, we can be fined," Jasuta said. But he added that a Rp 20,000 bribe could usually make the problem go away.

For Jakarta residents, the minivans are a plague. Arie, 28, a resident of Jalan Palmerah, Central Jakarta, said that every day she had to put up with minivans that refused to budge when they were waiting for passengers. "It is crazy. In the Slipi intersection, the vans even park in the middle of the road," she said.

According to Sidiq, who plies a Mikrolet around East Jakarta, the drivers in some areas have to pay Rp 10,000 a day to local police, who then turn a blind eye to traffic violations committed when picking up passengers.

"I know that stopping on the side of the road causes traffic to run slow. But what can I do? It's the only way I can get passengers," Sidiq said. "I need to earn enough to pay the uang setoran [minimum payment due the owner of the vehicle] of Rp 305,000 per day."

Other drivers talk of similar problems. Karnaedi, who had stopped his minivan in the Slipi intersection, said: "I try not to stop for too long." He gets pushed along by other minivans eager to take his place in the traffic-clogged lane.

City officials know about the problem but seem powerless to stop it. Arifin Hamonangan, the head of the control and operations division at the city's transportation office, said: "Our officials monitor these areas and coordinate with the police. We ask the buses to drive away. But when there is no official, they come right back."

Controlling these public vans is one way the Jakarta administration is trying to ease the massive traffic jams in the capital. Arifin said about 350 vehicles were fined per week, but any commuter knows that's just a drop in the bucket.

Sr. Comr. Royke Lumua, director of the Jakarta Police Traffic Directorate, said police would conduct a special operation on Monday to curb cowboy drivers of public and private vehicles. The police plan to issue fines and create awareness of the need to follow the rules.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said rogue officers caught soliciting or receiving bribes from drivers could also be charged. It is unlikely to change what has become a way of life for the drivers, however.

Tri Tjahjono, of the Indonesian Transportation Society in Jakarta, said the entire system was a mess, from the lack of regular salaries for drivers who are paid according to the number of passengers they haul, to the poor condition of vehicles and the city's inability to enforce regulations.

Tri said the city needed to provide bus terminals, bus stops and better law enforcement if it wanted to make a dent in the problem. "The people and the drivers must also be educated to use bus stops," he said.

On any typical traffic-jam day in Jakarta, however, that thought seems like a faraway dream.

Armed forces & defense

Defense Minister: Indonesia to have 500 rockets by 2014

Antara News - November 6, 2010

Waykanan, Lampung – Indonesia will have at least 500 rockets in the next four years for the country's defense, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.

"God willing, by 2014, at least 500 R-Han 122 rockets will be part of our defense arsenal as a result of the work of the country's sons over the past six years," he said here on Saturday.

He said R-Han 122 rockets have a function of a land-to-land weapon with an optimum explosive power with a shooting range of between 11 and 14 kilometers and so they could be used as part of the country's defense arsenal which has so far been dependant on foreign supply.

"So far we buy weapons from the US but because we have now had our own rockets, which have so far only been used for scientific or civilian purposes such as remote sensing, atmosphere researches and weather satellite launching, we hope we could use them maximally moreover they have now been part of the domestic industry," he said.

He said R-Han 122 rockets are the results of the work of the country's sons for the past six years. "These are the results of work for the past six years covering three years of researches done by LAPAN, Pindad, PT Dirgantara Indonesia, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Research and Technology and three other years of collaboration," he said.

The policy of defense means development, he said, is an integrated part of the defense power development which has been formulated based upon consideration of the country's geographical and demographic conditions, man-made natural resources and state budget. "Indonesia as a vast archipelagic country needs a better defense system to safeguard its territory," he said.

He said the needs for defense equipment to face challenges in the current globalization era are increasing and more complicated and therefore supporting weapons system equipment need to be improved. "The supporting weapons system equipment include prototype warheads, impact fuzes on 122mm calibre rockets which need to be integrated with the weapons system," he said.

Regarding possible sale of R-Han 122 Purnomo said that the possibility for it was strong after being tested well like the Anoa that has been purchased by Malaysia. "We can sell Anoa to Malaysia because we have used it in Lebanon and have been tested well and approved by the UN," he said. (H- YH/HAJM/S026)

Police & law enforcement

Bad news for law enforcers as trust ratings plummet to 6-year low

Jakarta Globe - November 7, 2010

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Public confidence in the police force, prosecutors' offices and courts has fallen to a six-year low, according to a new study.

The survey, conducted in October by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and involving 1,824 people, showed only 36 percent trusted law enforcement institutions in the country – the lowest level since 2004.

It found that the number of people who distrusted the three institutions almost doubled from 15 percent in 2009 to 29 percent this year. It also showed that on a scale of -100 to 100, with the latter representing utmost trust in an institution's integrity, the average score for the police was -18.3. The average score for prosecutors' offices was -17.6 and the courts -15.

"The honeymoon period lasted only three months between July and September 2009, right after the presidential election," LSI analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said. "After that, public trust has been on a decline."

By contrast, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) scored at the other end of the scale, with +15.

The survey also found that 47.2 percent of respondents considered the nation's corruption rate high, while 21.9 percent said it was very high. Meanwhile, 20.9 percent said corruption should be a capital offense, while 39.2 percent wanted it to be punishable by life in prison.

The respondents came from a variety of educational backgrounds across the country. Burhanuddin said officials should be worried that such a broad range of respondents believed law enforcement institutions could not be trusted.

"It's a very serious problem, because the people would normally be happy to give credit if the institutions are truly good, such as by praising the police's counterterrorism campaign," he said.

Most respondents, he added, believed that police, prosecutors and court officials were incapable of eradicating graft within their institutions or remaining independent from political parties and businesses.

Kastorius Sinaga, an adviser to the National Police, said the LSI's findings were not surprising, pointing out that previous surveys had indicated growing distrust of the three institutions. He added that it was important for all three to carry out serious improvements immediately.

With a new National Police chief and new heads also expected soon for the Attorney General's Office and the KPK, he said he was hopeful that there would be significant changes in these institutions. He added that the government and the president needed to show the political will to address the issue of systemic corruption and regain the public's trust.

Meanwhile, Bambang Widjojanto, an antigraft activist and a candidate to lead the KPK, said making corruption punishable by life in prison would not serve as an effective deterrent. Instead, he said, the public should be called upon to help officials devise more effective alternative punishments for corruption convicts.

"Hand out punishments that will expose them to public shame, such as getting them to clean up gutters along the main streets in the city," he said. "We could get the police to drop them off then pick them up again after they're done. That would be more effective."

Sjahril claims a general backed him

Jakarta Post - November 5, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Former police advisor, diplomat, and now a graft convict, Sjahril Djohan, confirmed Thursday his role as a case broker in the National Police headquarters, taking advantage of his close personal relation with a police general.

Testifying at the South Jakarta District Court during the trial of former National Police Detective chief Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, Sjahril said his closeness to former National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. (ret.) Makbul Padmanegara gave him special treatment and access.

"I could enter the National Police Directorate of Detectives' building through the back door. I accessed the door directly from where I parked my car, which was also allowed special access to the area," Sjahril told the hearing.

He added that Makbul appointed him as a police advisor when Makbul was still the National Police detective chief. "After Makbul became National Police deputy chief, I worked out of a room near his office, which then became my office," he said.

Sjahril was sentenced to 18 months in prison last month for bribery in connection with an investigation into the ownership dispute of a Riau-based fish breeding firm. Sjahril was accused of facilitating the bribery by delivering Rp 500 million (US$56,000) in cash to Susno in exchange for speeding up the proceedings of the case. He said he accepted the sentence.

"This court has ruled you guilty and you have decided not to appeal, so you are really a case broker," One of Susno's lawyers, Mohammad Assegaf, told Sjahril before the hearing. "I'm not a case broker. I did not bribe Susno. I was just helping friends settle protracted cases," Sjahril responded.

He admitted he had voluntarily helped settle other cases apart from the fish farming case, but refused to disclose them.

Susno's defense team raised questions about Sjahril's motives. "Why would you do that? What is your motive for just helping friends without expecting anything in return?" Assegaf said.

Also testifying at Thursday's hearing was the former lawyer of former tax official Gayus Tambunan, Haposan Hutagalung. However, some of Sjahril's testimony, especially his account of the time or dates of certain events, was not backed up by Haposan.

Susno's lawyers, however, expressed irritation at the situation. "You are an old man. Please be honest. Lying is not good," Assegaf said.

Judge Haswindi also reminded Sjahril that he was testifying under oath. During recess, Sjahril said he was not good at remembering the time and date. "I never intended to lie. But Susno is a bigger liar," he said. After Sjahril's testimony, Susno reiterated that he had never taken bribes either from Sjahril or Haposan.

Susno is on trial for the same graft case. He has also been indicted of alleged embezzlement from the police security budget during the 2008 West Java gubernatorial election. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Indonesian police general blames public for corrupt force

Jakarta Globe - November 2, 2010

Ulma Haryanto & Antara, Jakarta – The public was to blame for corruption within the police force, Comr. Gen. Nanan Sukarna, head of the National Police General Supervision Inspectorate, said on Tuesday.

"The people should not provide the opportunity for policemen to become corrupt and crooked. We should prevent this together," Nanan said after meeting the leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). He added that people who offered bribes were also breaking the law.

Nanan said the police would use the results of the integrity survey released by the KPK on Monday in the drive for reform.

The survey found that bribery was rampant when it came to securing drivers' licenses and police reports showing that a citizen had a clean record, with officers demanding bribes and people offering to pay them.

The conclusion was reached after the KPK questioned people who had sought services at 22 district police headquarters. "People should not provide the opportunity for police to become corrupt," Nanan said.

He said the police were continuing with bureaucratic reforms, adding that police service units providing licenses and criminal record reports were "extraordinary" exceptions that did not reflect corruption in the wider force.

KPK Deputy Chairman Muhammad Yasin said the two services scored far below the national threshold of 6 for graft. The National Police drivers' license service scored the lowest, at 4.4, while the police document service was rated 4.81.

Neta S. Pane, from Indonesian Police Watch, said that the survey reflected the reality that people experienced dealing with police. "This needs serious attention from the government because the police are at the frontline of legal services," he said on Tuesday. "They should use the results for introspection."

Neta also criticized Nanan for putting the blame on the public. "It was not a mature statement coming from an elite officer," he said. "We all know that we have to pay if we want to be served. He should only have said that they were going to evaluate themselves."

However, Neta said some services provided by the police had improved, citing the mobile driving license service, some of which are open at night to accommodate those working during the day. "Even so, these improvements have only been seen in Jakarta or Surabaya," he said. "We should expect the police to improve services in all regions."

The National Police have been suffering from a string of controversies that have lowered public trust in the institution. The problems include allegations that officers fabricate cases and that the judicial mafia are operating freely within the National Police headquarters.

AGO should be led by an external figure: legislator

Jakarta Post - November 1, 2010

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – A legislator at the House of Representatives commission III on Law and human rights says that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono needs to appointe an external figure to lead the Attorney General's Office (AGO) for the sake of the institution's reform.

"In the eyes of the public, the AGO's credibility has severely crumbled due to the unethical conducts by numerous attorneys," Golkar Party's Bambang Soesatyo told The Jakarta Post via a text message. Bambang added that the public had deemed the AGO was no longer a law enforcement institution.

"Instead, the public see the AGO as part of the problem, because attorneys are the ones who become the main factor in tarnishing the process of law supremacy," he said.

"Therefore, the public will doubt the commitment and the consistency of the President if he appoints a figure who has no credibility. On the contrary, the public will believe in the President willingness for upholding law supremacy if he has the courage to name a credible figure from outside the AGO," he added.

"The AGO needs assistance from the outside to cleanse itself, to conduct internal reform," he said further. As of now, the AGO is led by an interim attorney general, Dharmono, after Hendarman Supandji was taken off his post following the Constitutional Court's decision ruling him out of his legitimacy as the attorney general.

Foreign affairs & trade

Indonesia, Australia to work on new economic deal

Reuters - November 2, 2010

Jakarta – Indonesia and Australia will start negotiating a new economic partnership agreement aimed at liberalizing bilateral trade and boosting investment, the leaders of the two countries said on Tuesday.

Indonesia is attracting growing interest from foreign investors eyeing the vast domestic market and stable macroeconomic conditions enjoyed by the economy.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who visited President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as part of a regional tour, said the new economic partnership would boost trade.

"Today, as our relationship strengthens, we have been able to agree to our two countries entering a comprehensive economic partnership," she said.

"One that not only comprehends further trade liberalization but deals with the full range of economic issued that bring our countries together, including investment, business to business links and capacity building." She did not give further details.

Yudhoyono said that total bilateral trade volume was $6.7 billion last year and in the first half of 2010 had reached $4.4 billion.

Gillard also discussed with Yudhoyono her proposal to build a regional refugee processing center in East Timor, in an effort to prevent asylum seekers from reaching Australian shores.

But the Indonesian president said the idea would need further discussion at a meeting scheduled between Canberra, Jakarta and Dili for early next year. "Indonesia is open to that but we have to discuss in depth to ensure this is a solution to our regional problem," he said.

Gillard also said Australia will invest $500 million in Indonesian schools and Islamic boarding schools over the next five years. She said Australia will donate a total of $2.1 million in aid toward disaster recovery in Indonesia, which has been struck by a series of volcanic eruptions and tsunami.

Economy & investment

Economy risks losing momentum: Experts

Jakarta Post - November 5, 2010

Doddy Ariefianto, Jakarta – The Indonesian economy has never looked better, with significant improvements in key areas, but economists and business players have warned of flaws that could deter investors.

Indonesia's gross domestic product is expected to grow by more than 6 percent this year, up from 4.5 percent in 2009, fueled by higher exports, increased investment and strong consumer spending. Inflation is contained, stock prices are at record levels, and the rupiah has also strengthened.

Capital is also flowing in in large quantities, both for portfolio and physical investment, as Indonesia maintains economic and political stability.

Most rating agencies have ranked Indonesia a notch or two below investment grade, which means it is at a low risk of defaulting. Several Japanese rating agencies have already given Indonesia the top rating.

However, as with most good news there is also the "but". In a discussion on the prospect of the Indonesian economy, organized by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club on Thursday, economists and a businessman warned about the poor implementation of many of the government's economic plans, in particular the desperate shortage of infrastructure including roads, ports and power plants.

"Infrastructure is our biggest bottleneck," said Sofjan Wanandi, the chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association and the owner/founder of the Gemala business group.

The government is lagging in its plan to improve Indonesia's power supply capacity, casting uncertainty over the viability of some of the investment projects in the country.

The government, Sofjan said, needs to do its homework to translate the rising interest among foreign investors into actual physical investment, and not simply limit it to portfolio investment in Indonesian stocks and bonds. "We have to start implementing or else we will lose the momentum," Sofjan said.

Recognizing that some investment had been taking place in Indonesia in recent years, he noted that most investors concentrated on extraction industries, services, property and automotive, and very little in labor- intensive manufacturing sectors.

Bank Danamon chief economist Anton Gunawan noted policy inconsistencies, such in the setting of Bank Indonesia's key interest rate that did not support the national inflation target.

He also said the government's pledge to improve inter-connectivity in Indonesia did not correspond to its decision to prioritize road transportation rather than inter-island transportation.

While both the official unemployment rate and poverty figures have declined, Anton said, they both remained high in absolute figures. He added that unemployment had declined largely because more people had been employed in the informal sector.

Anton cautioned that the capital inflows into Indonesia's stocks and bond markets could carry risks of sudden reversals.

Frederica Widyasari Dewi, the director of development at the Indonesian Stock Exchange, said two-thirds of the market capitalization was in the form of foreign funds. The agency is currently conducting a promotional campaign in the region, since only around 1 percent of the Indonesian population have stock investments at present. Other speakers at the discussion were Finance Ministry advisor Edward Gustely and Bank Mandiri economist Moch.

Indonesia unfriendly to business: World Bank

Jakarta Globe - November 4, 2010

Jakarta Globe & Bloomberg, Jakarta – Indonesia has been hammered in a World Bank report ranking countries with the most business-friendly regulations.

In terms of overall ease of doing business, the International Finance Corporation ranked Indonesia 121 out of 183 countries, sandwiched between the small Pacific Island of Palau in 120th place and Uganda. Malaysia, in comparison, was ranked well about its neighbor in 21st position, though ahead of the Philippines in 148th.

In terms of starting a business, Indonesia was ranked 155 out of the 183 countries, dealing with construction permits (60), registering property (98), getting credit (116), protecting investors (44), paying taxes (130), trading across borders (47), enforcing contracts (154) and closing a business (142).

Singapore, which is in the running to be the world's fastest-growing economy this year, is listed as the most business friendly, ahead of the special administrative region of Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Ireland and Australia.

The city-state, where a company can be started in three days and where some women are taxed less on their personal income than men, topped the bank's "Doing Business" report for the fifth year in a row.

The study also showed that East Asia and Pacific nations such as Vietnam were among countries that took the most steps to make it easier for local companies to operate.

Countries deemed the easiest to do business often have electronic procedures, as in the UK where commercial court filing can now be done online, according to the report.

The report, which helps private investors decide where to direct funds by looking at the ease of doing business for domestic companies of small and medium size, showed some emerging economies losing ground, with Brazil slipping to 127 from 124 and Russia sinking to 123 from 116.

China, which was 79 this year versus 78 a year ago, is still among the countries that have improved the most over the past five years, Neil Gregory, one of the report's authors, told Bloomberg.

The world's second-largest economy introduced 14 policy changes, such as the introduction of a credit registry that now has 64 percent of adults covered, according to the report.

Of the 183 countries in the report, Chad was in last place. The Central African Republic was next and Burundi was third to the last. Afghanistan slipped to 167, from 165, and Iraq was just above Afghanistan.

East Asia and Pacific nations were for the first time in the report's eight-year history among the most "active" in taking business-friendly measures, according to the report.

"Emerging-market economies such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam took the lead, easing start-up, permitting and property registration for small and medium-size firms and improving credit information sharing," it said.

The report rates countries on rules that affect starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. It reviews regulations on employing workers and the availability of reliable electricity connections, though they are not criteria for the ranking.

In other highlights, Kazakhstan took top honors for the most-improved business environment in 2009/10 and the report notes that about 85 percent of the world's economies have made it easier for entrepreneurs to operate in the past five years.

Reform drive seen as key to Indonesian growth

Jakarta Globe - November 1, 2010

Dion Bisara & AFP, Jakarta – A policy group has urged Indonesia to renew its efforts to reform the bureaucracy, invest heavily in infrastructure and cut greenhouse gas emissions while the going is good.

"The current environment offers Indonesia a unique opportunity to pursue its reform agenda. But there is no room for complacency," said Angel Gurria, secretary general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The country weathered the global financial crisis well and posted the third-highest real GDP growth in the G-20 group of the world's largest economies, the OECD said in a report released on Monday. But Indonesia needs to reform its labor market, which is more restricted compared to those of India, China, Brazil and other OECD countries.

"To address this, we recommend a two-pronged strategy of introducing some form of unemployment benefits while reforming the labor code, particularly by reducing onerous severance payments," Gurria said.

The report said GDP growth was "projected to accelerate to around 6 percent this year and next," but warned that "inflation pressures could re-emerge," so authorities should raise interest rates before the end of the year. "Greater ambition on inflation is called for to reduce its deleterious effects," it said.

The OECD also said the government must move toward social policy reform to ensure inclusive economic growth. "Changes to the policy and institutional framework will be necessary if Indonesia is to achieve its economic growth objective of 7 to 7.7 percent in 2014," and reach its poverty target of 8 to 10 percent, it said. The poverty rate was 13.3 percent in March this year.

The group also urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government to "rapidly implement bureaucratic reforms to improve both efficiency and governance."

Echoing recent comments by the International Monetary Fund, the OECD said Indonesia would only fulfill its potential if it tackled "a number of weaknesses still holding back progress."

The OECD recommended that the state make more room in the national budget by cutting energy subsidies, which account for more than a tenth of total state spending. The total energy subsidy for 2011 is set at Rp 136.6 trillion ($15.3 billion), compared to Rp 143.9 trillion this year.

It also said Indonesia needed to attract massive investment in infrastructure, and that returns on such investments were "likely to be huge."

Gurria said attracting sufficient private investment would require the state to establish independent sectoral regulators, increase the powers of existing regulators and have better inter-agency coordination to facilitate the smooth conduct of business.

He said the country should also "remove legal obstacles to land acquisition" and further relax barriers to foreign direct investment, such as bureaucratic red tape.

Foreign direct investment jumped by 32 percent during the first nine months of the year, to Rp 111 trillion, including in real estate, mining, telecommunications and agribusiness. The target of Rp 130 trillion for the whole of 2010 should be exceeded, the government said on Sunday.

Indonesia also needs to take strong measures against deforestation and to protect its forests, the third-largest in the world after Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the report said.

Analysis & opinion

No alarm bells over Jakarta's military drive

Asia Times - November 5, 2010

Trefor Moss – Indonesia has long been the individualist of Asian geopolitics – a big country that behaved like a small one when all those around it were trying to do the opposite.

However, there is a sense that the world's largest Muslim state, and its fourth-largest by population, is slowly beginning to grow into its own skin. A Group of 20 member and arguably Southeast Asia's most functional democracy, Indonesia is starting to exude new political confidence. It is also growing in economic clout, with gross domestic product (GDP) expected to increase by over 6% this year and next year, and probably beyond.

A rising central budget includes bigger earmarks for the Indonesian armed forces, which have been starved of investment for decades and need to end their reliance on off-budget funding in order to become truly professional and accountable. The anticipated 2011 defense budget, now up to US$6.3 billion, should rise incrementally over the coming years and – assuming the economy continues to grow – potentially soon overtake Singapore's to become Southeast Asia's largest.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has already mentally spent the extra money. He envisages 10 squadrons of Sukhoi fighter jets, new frigates and submarines, a modernized airlift capability, and a revamped domestic defense industry. In other words, he is preparing to reposition his country strategically as a more muscular power.

The prospect of a militarily more capable Indonesia has potentially disquieting implications for its Asia-Pacific neighbors. Over the years, Jakarta has come to epitomize the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) way of non-aligned, non-interventionist neutrality. Ten-member ASEAN's do-nothing approach may frustrate outsiders on issues such as Myanmar, but in fact Indonesia's culture of political-military passivity, which permeates ASEAN, has been the bedrock of Southeast Asia's balmy security environment.

When Indonesia was militarily more aggressive in the 1950s and early 1960s, the region seemed far from benign, as those in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia still recall; but once Indonesia went quiet, so for the most part did Southeast Asia in terms of intra-regional conflict, apart from regional involvement in the US-Vietnam war. As the region's strategic tone-setter, to what extent might Indonesia's military rise upset the quiet balance in the Malacca Strait and beyond?

A more military-minded Indonesia clearly would reshape the region – and so the lack of complaint from neighboring countries in the wake of Purnomo's pronouncements on military investment demonstrates that none of them, yet, think that Indonesia has much chance of achieving its aims. "Indonesia's military-modernization plans are only realistic in the very long-term," says Tim Huxley, the executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.

He likens Indonesia to South Korea, which took several decades to build a viable defense industry despite a large defense budget and consistent government policy-making. If Indonesia wants to emulate South Korea, Huxley says, then the transition will take between 20 or 30 years. "Indonesia is still at a relatively early stage," he says. "The stuffing has been knocked out of its defense industry."

Bernard Loo, an associate professor at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, says that Indonesia's decision "to acquire more up-to-date military kit will almost surely begin to feed into their war-fighting capabilities". However, this need not have "any significant implication for regional security and stability, apart from generally positive ones", he predicts.

Jakarta's ability to maintain defense-spending increases over the long term remains a "big if", Loo thinks. Its main priority – refocused by the recent tsunami and volcanic eruptions – is to address "the need to be able to project power into disaster-hit areas to bring immediate humanitarian relief". Tackling piracy is a second priority, which neighboring states would again embrace – just as they would welcome the increasingly stable Indonesian state that a properly equipped military would underpin.

Democratic might

Indonesia's newfound status as a respectable democratic partner should help it to restock its aging military inventory. A partnership with South Korea to co-develop a fifth-generation fighter aircraft has already been unveiled. If Jakarta sees a strategic partnership with South Korea as the best route to achieving a capable defense industry, then an open tender for new submarines, for which Seoul is one of several bidders, might be expected to go the Koreans' way. "There's a lot of sense in South Korea and Indonesia going down the defense-industry route together," says Huxley. "They are both medium powers with concerns about the changing strategic balance."

The US may also be willing to help Jakarta accelerate its military modernization efforts. US President Barack Obama is set to visit Indonesia next week not so much for a trip down memory lane (he once lived there) as for the strategic value the US sees in courting Jakarta. American hopes of retaining influence in Southeast Asia arguably rest with the likes of up- and-coming Indonesia, rather than with traditional allies such as Thailand and the Philippines.

Thailand's political turmoil and its improving relationship with China mean than the US can no longer depend on Bangkok as it once did; and though the new Benigno Aquino government in the Philippines has shown itself to be wary of Beijing's perceived bullying tactics in the South China Sea, there is a rising chorus for an end to the US military's basing rights there. By contrast, the region's rising economic stars, Indonesia and Vietnam, have both welcomed US strategic overtures, while also displaying wariness of Chinese advances.

Obama may now prepare the ground by offering mates' rates on the 10 C-130 transport aircraft that Jakarta seeks, with the prospect of more favorable deals to come. The sourcing of equipment is significant, Loo observes, because it will have an impact on Indonesia's ability to engage in cooperative security ventures with Malaysia and Singapore.

Loo regards Russia as a likely top source of Indonesia's future procurements, and it is already clear that Purnomo aims to buy Russian as he retools the air force's combat capability. Russian credit has funded the majority of recent military purchases in Indonesia. However, industry partnerships and technology transfer will become central to future Indonesian defense contracts, and any supplier willing to go along with that cooperation can expect a share of Jakarta's expanding budget.

The only threat to regional stability from Indonesia's military efforts, suggests Huxley, would come with a political shift away from democratization and back towards military-backed authoritarianism. This could feasibly see military spending increase at an even faster rate and the military assuming a more provocative stance towards neighboring states. There is no reason to foresee such a scenario, but Jakarta would do well to resume stalled military reforms in order to mitigate the possibility.

"Relationships within ASEAN have never been better," concludes Loo, who believes that Indonesia's military modernization will be good for Southeast Asia so long as it is "situated within the broader political framework of increasing security cooperation". There is certainly a clear sense both within Indonesia and across ASEAN that Indonesia requires a better equipped and better funded military than it currently possesses.

While there is no real regional suspicion regarding Indonesia's intentions, this could change as its modernization program gains traction. The challenge in Jakarta is to ensure that, as Indonesia assumes its natural role as the region's most powerful strategic actor, it simultaneously remains the anchor of ASEAN's stability.

[Trefor Moss is a freelance journalist who covers Asian politics, in particular defense, security and economic issues. He is a former Asia- Pacific editor for Jane's Defense Weekly.]

The Thinker: Losing the faith

Jakarta Globe - November 2, 2010

Robin Lee Santoso – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's speech against the persecution of minorities last month received much acclaim. Speaking with an eye to the recent string of clashes between Islamic extremists and members of the Ahmadiyah sect, he voiced his strongest statement on religious extremism to date, saying mosques should provide "comfort and peace to everyone, and not encourage provocation."

But how can we reconcile Yudhoyono's condemnation with the many laws that condone the oppression of Ahmadiyahs?

A 2008 joint ministerial decree still prohibits Ahmadiyah mosque leaders from preaching in public. When a West Java Ahmadiyah mosque was attacked in August, government officials shut it down for weeks and even entertained the idea of relocating it.

With only 100,000 members in a country of 240 million, Ahmadiyahs are virtually unable to build new mosques, as a 2006 joint ministerial decree requires the approval of 60 households before such construction can take place. And the list of restrictions goes on and on.

This indicates that Yudhoyono is preaching to the wrong audience. Aside from the fact that Ahmadiyah's violent attackers are Islamic extremists and not members of the mainstream Baiturrahim Mosque, Yudhoyono overlooks the laws that sanction oppression. If Yudhoyono wants to eliminate the persecution of minorities, he must revise our discriminatory religious ideology.

Indonesia's religious ideology singles out and protects five religions – Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism – above others. The perks of being approved includes protection by the 1965 Blasphemy Law, which bans religious groups that "distort" or "misrepresent" the central tenets of the official faiths.

In practice, the Blasphemy Law is distorted to preserve the Islamic status quo. Without an official definition of what constitutes "orthodox Islamic beliefs," lawmakers have filled the void with their own definition, to the exclusion of the Ahmadiyahs. This took place despite the fact that Ahmadiyah members consider themselves part of the Sunni tradition of Islam.

When I spoke to one Ahmadiyah spokesman this summer, he explained in detail how all their claims were based on verses of the Koran.

Although the Ahmadiyahs differ in their interpretation of some Koranic verses, these differences are secondary to the faith's central tenets. Yet they are still being stripped of their basic rights.

There was a time when the Catholic Church persecuted the believers of Protestantism. Need there be a repeat of history?

The intolerance bred by the nation's religious ideology goes against the country's democratic aspirations. Lawmakers should not have the freedom to choose what beliefs are orthodox, or who gets to keep their rights. The Constitution mandates the government to uphold the basic rights of every citizen, regardless of gender, race or religion.

What's more, Indonesia also protects approved religions from proselytizers, and this law often becomes a pretext for persecution. It is used to silence minorities. Ahmadiyah leaders, for example, have been instructed not to preach in public, and their members are prohibited from sharing their faith with others. This is unacceptable, given our country's democratic aspirations.

True, believers need some protection from the government. After all, one cannot have religious freedom if one constantly faces physical or intellectual threat. But the government needs to make sure that it does not give some people rights at the expense of others.

It rather should focus on protecting the basic human rights of all people, in order to create a safe environment for self-expression.

Indonesia's religious ideology flies in the face of other parts of the Constitution, which grants every person the right to choose and practice his or her chosen religion.

The recognition of five religions came at a time when communism threatened the very integrity of the Constitution. With that threat behind it, the country needs to recover its spirit of giving the people equal freedom to believe what they please. To achieve this, Yudhoyono needs to revise the Constitution's biggest barrier – a religious ideology that fuels persecution.

Just hours after the president's comments last month, an Ahmadiyah mosque in Bogor was torched – again, to the surprise of no one. If Indonesia maintains its current religious ideology, these events will continue to be the norm, and eloquent speeches won't change a thing.

[Robin Lee Santoso is an American graduate student focusing on religion and human rights.]

The Thinker: Smoker's paradise

Jakarta Globe - November 1, 2010

Walter Balansa – This month, Indonesia will celebrate National Health Day. For the second year in a row, it will pass with the Health Law's tobacco control regulation still pending. In this feat of legislative inertia, we're witnessing one of most offensive examples of political delaying tactics in the history of Indonesian government.

An exaggeration? Far from it. Look at what's being put at risk by delaying the measure: The health of innocent people (especially women and children), the lives of thousands of young people and the country's reputation.

A year after the Health Law was passed, the delay in implementing the regulation is putting Indonesia to shame. It certainly does nothing to dispel the image of the 2-year-old from South Sumatra who shocked the world with a nicotine addiction that had him smoking 40 cigarettes a day.

His story appeared in television and newspaper reports around the world, and a YouTube video of him smoking attracted more than six million views – two million more than Barack Obama's presidential inauguration.

But that wasn't the only case of a youngster smoking – this March, a video of a 4-year-old Indonesian blowing smoke also appeared briefly on YouTube, prompting outcries before it was removed from the site.

Indonesia is the world's third-largest tobacco producer and sells the cheapest cigarettes in the world. In the words of Simon Chapman, a professor in public health from the University of Sydney, the country "is a basket case in tobacco control and heaven for smokers."

It also means women and children are at high risk of exposure to smoke, making them passive smokers. Even in a country with a far smaller smoking population such as England, Great Ormond Street Hospital reports about 17,000 children are hospitalized every year due to passive smoking.

By delaying the regulation, the government is also risking future generations. The World Health Organization says children who are regularly exposed to cigarette smoke are more likely to get bronchitis and pneumonia in their first year of life. Such children are at increased risk of suffering severe asthma attacks, it says.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has said a quarter of Indonesian children aged 3-15 have tried cigarettes, with 3.2 percent of them being active smokers. The percentage of those aged 5-9 lighting up increased from 0.4 percent in 2001 to 2.8 percent in 2004.

Of course, the tobacco industry is a lucrative business in Indonesia, generating $5.4 billion and making up 6.5 percent of the government budget, according to BBC Indonesia. This is perhaps the main reason for the government's reluctance to bring in regulations on tobacco control.

For Kartono Muhammad, a health analyst from the Indonesian Tobacco Control Network, the disadvantages of smoking vastly outweigh the advantages. Indonesia, for example, receives Rp 60 trillion ($6.72 billion) a year from taxes on cigarettes, but more than twice that amount is spent on treating smoking-related diseases.

Many elements required to control smoking are already well known. First, we need to raise public awareness about the impact of smoking on health. Chapman, the University of Sydney professor, has said, "In a culture where tobacco control is not taken seriously, it's highly likely that people will think that children smoking is an amusing sight rather than a tragic sight."

Tobacco advertising must also be curbed in media and public places because it has a significant impact on smoking. A WHO report says nearly 80 percent of American advertising executives from top agencies believe cigarette advertising does make smoking more appealing or socially acceptable to children.

Increasing the taxes and price of cigarettes can also be used to reduce smoking. But most importantly, the government has to enact the tobacco regulation and enforce it. This is because despite the fact the Health Law recognizes smoking as dangerous, there is no protection for women or children.

In fact, the central government doesn't have any interest in ratifying the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. But luckily, others are taking steps forward. Look at Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, who has initiated a smoking ban in public buildings.

Imagine if the government were to enact the tobacco control regulation on National Health Day. Instead, Nov. 12 will likely be one more day to wonder if the government truly cares about smoking controls.

[Walter Balansa is a doctoral student at Australia's University of Queensland.]