Medan, North Sumatra – Students grouped under the North Sumatra Students Strategic Assessment Institute collected coins amounting to Rp 221,650 from three spots in Medan on Friday to be given to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who recently said that he had not received a salary increase in seven years.

"We hope the President will feel relieved with the coins we give to him," said student representative James Ambarita after counting coins collected from the public and members of the North Sumatra legislative council.

Responding to the coin collection, Prosperous Justice Party legislator Hidayatullah, who also contributed, urged the public to see that the moral action was not only for the President.

He said the action actually was a moral message to all government officials to pay more attention to duty rather than their salaries.

"This is a slap in the face to all officials in the country," Hidayatullah said, adding that he saw the spontaneous movement as genuine and without engineering by special interest groups.

Indonesia president's no pay rise speech sparks cheers, jeers

Jakarta Globe - January 26, 2011

Anita Rachman & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Although it appears not to have been made as a complaint, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's recent statement about his lack of a pay rise over the last seven years has sparked a mixed reaction – including the mischievous appearance of a "Coins for the President" collection box at the House of Representatives.

A senior Democratic Party member, Achsanul Qosasih, on Tuesday said the president's salary should be the highest among all state officials.

Achsanul said the president earned around Rp 62 million ($6,900) per month, lower than the Rp 100 million monthly salary made by the Central Bank governor, and should be increased.

"The most ideal situation is the president has the highest salary. Not like now, where his salary is lower than many executives working in state-owned enterprises," he said. "We want the president's salary to be raised along with a rationalization program of state officials' salaries, which will soon be proposed by us."

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said the president's salary would be raised this year, without elaborating. "Actually we have been planning this since three years ago" but the issue had not been finalized because it was a complex matter, Agus said.

The finance minister said increasing the president's salary was important as other state officials' salaries could not be raised otherwise. Agus also stressed that the pay increase would not be a burden on the state treasury.

Some lawmakers have seized on the president's statement, made during an address he delivered on Friday to members of the National Police and military, saying that Yudhoyono's public comments were unseemly and petty.

Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri said Yudhoyono should be "ashamed" for talking about his salary in public. She added the current pay rate was more than ample.

"The president's salary is enough, and for me it is far more than enough," Megawati told hundreds of village heads at a seminar in South Jakarta on Tuesday. "When I was president, I never complained about such a thing. No one ever asked him to become a president; why is he now making such a complaint?"

In a display of cheekiness or displeasure at Yudhoyono's comments, some lawmakers from House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, on Monday night set up a "coin donation box" for the president.

Bambang Soesatyo, a Golkar lawmaker and staunch government critic, initiated the tongue-in-cheek poor box, saying the action was not a personal attack on Yudhoyono but rather "another form of criticism from us."

Bambang said the collection box, posted near the commission's secretariat office, went missing on Tuesday afternoon. He said he suspected that commission members afraid of reprisals had taken the box away.

Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum on Tuesday urged a halt to attacking the president's statement for political interests, saying it was obvious that Yudhoyono had not been complaining about his pay.

Actions, demos, protests...

Thousands take to streets in Jakarta, causing traffic congestion

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2011

Jakarta – Thousands of honoree staff of state schools staged a demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday, causing traffic jams in the area.

The group were protesting against the issuance of an allegedly "discriminative" circular letter by the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms Minister on the collection of data on honoree staff at state schools.

The protesters include teachers, librarians, administrative staff members, health workers, laboratory staff members and school guards – hired as honoree staff kompas.com reported.

The group planned to march to the office of the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms Minister on Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed to safeguard the demonstration.

Students call for Yudhoyono's resignation, anti-capitalist government

Liputan 6 - January 29, 2011

Sleman – The first year and 100 days of the second term of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono was marked by a student protest in the Sleman regency of Yogyakarta Special Province on Friday January 28.

The protesters demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono resign for their failure to address numerous issues.

The action by scores of students from the Student Struggle Centre for National Liberation (Pembebasan) began at the Gadjah Mada University traffic circle with the burning of tyres and photographs of President Yudhoyono. The students also held a "walking backwards" action as a symbol of the country's retreat under the SBY-Boediono administration.

The students said that the Yudhoyono administration, which has not changed, is like a loyal servant of capitalism that continues to undermine its own people's quality of life.

Over the last year and 100 days, the Yudhoyono administration has failed to expel capitalism from Indonesia. This has been substantiated by the increasing cost of education, healthcare costs that are out of reach and the lack of prosperity for the ordinary people.

The students demanded that the Yudhoyono regime be replaced by an anti-capitalist government. (BJK/SHA)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Student protesters say government only serves the interests of capital

KRjogja.com - January 28, 2011

Yogyakarta – Scores of demonstrators from the Student Struggle Center for National Liberation (Pembebasan) held an action in front of the Gajah Mada University traffic circle on Friday January 28 demanding that the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono resign because they have become loyal servants of capitalism in Indonesia.

Action coordinator Arif Hasibuan charged that right from the start the government has created problems and experienced economic and political disorientation. Moreover it has increasingly asserted its support for imperialism.

"Many developments have the potential to become the grounds for evictions and the expropriation of people's land. The government even raised basic electricity rates without considering the interests of the ordinary people and workers. The root of the problem with the government's policies is that they are never pro-people and are only orientated towards the capitalist economy", he said.

According to Arif, the government's dependency on the capitalist economic and political system along with its loyalty to capitalist institutions confirms that it is quite reasonable that the Yudhoyono government be overthrown. The government fails to improve the people's standard of living but sacrifices them as fuel for the survival of capitalism.

"We hold to the position that the struggle to change the capitalist system not only requires the overthrow of the SBY- Boediono regime but also eliminating the indecisive political elite", he added. (Ran)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Protesters rally to halt graft investigation

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2011

Jakarta – A group of demonstrators from the Crescent Star Party (PBB) gathered in front of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) on Monday, urging prosecutors to stop investigating a graft case implicating PBB chair Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

The demonstrators, numbering less than 100, urged Attorney General Basrief Arief to stop its graft investigation connected to an online registration system (sisminbakum.com) that allegedly caused the state losses of Rp 420 billion (US$46.2 million).

Former law and human rights minister and party chair Yusril Ihza Mahendra was implicated in the case. As minister at the time he oversaw the establishment of the system in 2001. Previously, Yusril asked the AGO to halt its investigation after one of the suspects in the case, Romli Atmasasmita, was declared innocent by the Supreme Court.

Angry residents close off roads to coal trucks

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2011

Palembang, South Sumatra – Angry because their roads have been damaged by large coal-hauling trucks, residents of Prabumulih set up a blockade preventing trucks from passing between Muara Enim and Lahat to Palembang and Lampung.

"The trucks not only pass through in the day, but also at night in convoys. We have been complaining about this for a long time as each truck has a capacity of 10,000 tons, far higher that the normal limit of only 8 tons," Ucu, one of the protest coordinators, said. "Our complaints were never addressed," he said Monday.

He said the coal trucks had damaged 230 kilometers of state roads linking Palembang, Ogan Ilir, Prabumulih, Muara Enim and Lahat, he said.

The Muara Enim police station said that at least 1,000 trucks passed on the state roads every day.

West Papua

Special autonomy failed, new talks needed: Student activists

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – A group of Papuan students accused the central government of failing in its drive to grant special autonomy to Papua and called for dialogue mediated by a third party to find a solution to the many problems plaguing the province.

Marten Goo from the National Forum for Papuan Students said Thursday in Jakarta that the government should review the 2001 Special Autonomy Law for Papua.

Article 78 of the law states that the implementation of the law was to be evaluated every year, with the first evaluation conducted three years after the inception of the law.

The central government granted Papua special autonomy in 2001 in an effort to win the hearts and minds of Papuans while toning down demands for independence. "Special autonomy was granted because Papuans demanded independence," Marten said.

He added that he believed the government maintained the existing conflicts and even created new conflicts to retain control over Papua's natural resources.

"With so many problems, including poverty, human rights violations and corruption, I'd say the central government was halfhearted in implementing special autonomy."

Marten said the government had deliberately not issued regulations to implement the law in order to keep Papua on a leash. "There is no implementing regulation to support the 2001 law. Therefore everything must be consulted with the central government, which has the power to intervene," he said.

Marten also called for the Papua People's Council to be disbanded and to call off its plans to elect members for the 2011 tenure.

"The central government never listens to the Council, which represents Papuans. The government also tried to infiltrate the Council through a Home Ministry decree on Jan. 13, which violates the autonomy law," he said.

The ministerial decree defines Papuans as Melanesians from Papuan indigenous tribes and/or those who are accepted and recognized as indigenous Papuans.

Last week, church leaders in Papua demanded Council elections be delayed until President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was willing to hold talks with Papuans on special autonomy.

Agus Kosay from the Central Mountain Papua Indonesia Students Association (AMPTPI) said special autonomy was "a new form of colonialism".

"Special autonomy was touted as a win-win solution to protect Papuans in terms of empowerment and welfare. But what has happened is that we barely feel safe now," he said.

Agus highlighted the fact that many Papuans still faced discrimination. "There are also numerous cases of human rights violations by security forces, including torture and shooting."

He said Papuan students and activists faced threats for expressing their opinions. Marten agreed, saying that the central government was in violation of its own law.

"Articles 43 to 45 of the autonomy law refer to the protection of indigenous Papuans and their rights. But the military keeps torturing and intimidating Papuans," he said.

Indonesian government criticised over alleged torture

ABC Radio Australia - January 28, 2011

The Indonesian government has come under renewed criticism over alleged torture in West Papua after a military tribunal sentencing three soldiers to between eight and ten months prison for abuse and insubordination.

The ABC'S Senior Correspondent for the Australia Network, Jeff Water was the first journalist to broadcast the torture video from West Papua.

Presenter: Geraldine Coutts

Speaker: Jeff Waters, ABC Senior Correspondent for the Australia Network

Waters: Well last year there was a video became available, apparently taken on a mobile phone, which showed two ethnic Melanesian men in one of the Papuan provinces being apparently tortured. It was the second video to come out last year. The first one was of a man called Yawan Wayeni, who had been disembowled and was being taunted by his apparently military captors as he died. But this video pertains to two ethnic Melanesian men who are threatened with knives, have plastic bags put over their heads, have their genitals burnt with burning sticks, it's quite disturbing stuff. And as a result of the public outcry over this, one there wasn't so much outcry over the Yawan Wayeni video, but this one was so apparently shocking that Indonesian security forces or the government decided to take action, and they took three soldiers to a military tribunal, not a civilian court, and charged them with insubordination because they'd been told not to torture people. So they were charged on disobeying orders as opposed to torturing people.

Coutts: Bizarre?

Waters: So they were just given a very, very, or people are calling a very lean sentence of eight to ten months, so many people have come out criticising that.

Coutts: Well who are they that have been criticising the sentencing?

Waters: Well they vary, of course you've got all the usual Free Papuan activists who are continually lobbying for independence of Papua. But the most interesting one is that the State Department spokesman in the United States. Now the United States is traditionally quite quiet on West Papua and the issues there, but Phillip Crowley, who is the spokesman for Hillary Rodham Clinton, has tweeted on the internet saying and I quote, "the sentences issued in an Indonesian military trial do not reflect the seriousness of the abuses of two Papuan men depicted in the 2010 video. Indonesia must hold its armed forces accountable for violations of human rights. We are concerned and will follow this case." Well that's the strongest thing I've heard come out of Washington on West Papua or anything West Papuan for many, many years. However of course when Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Papua New Guinea recently and also visited Indonesia there wasn't anything near as strong words said. Also Australia's third political party, the Greens have issued a very critical statement of Indonesia and its actions. Human Rights Watch, the big international human rights organisation based in New York has written in its report criticising, a report on Indonesia criticising Indonesia over both of the videos. And the Asian Human Rights Commission also came out this week.

Coutts: And is that the extent of the likely backlash against Indonesia?

Waters: Well not necessarily, of course nobody knows what's going on behind the scenes until Wikileaks tells us in a year or two what the State Department is actually saying to Indonesia. But the Greens in particular in Australia as of the middle of the year will hold the balance of power in the Senate and they're calling for the end of all military cooperation between Australia and Indonesia. And while they're in this negotiating position they might be able to hold sway over the government. I don't think that they'll be able to convince them to withdraw all military cooperation because of the obvious policing of terrorism and people smuggling and all of that that goes on between the two countries, but they may have some influence over the level of military involvement. Of course there's the chance of further instability in the Melanesian provinces, and that includes Maluku, but also I've been told by human rights barristers that there are moves afoot to see the President SBY, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono actually possibly charged with human rights abuses in a foreign country if he travels, if he doesn't follow through with the country's international obligations and charge people properly who indulge in torture.

Coutts: Jeff just very briefly, there's a bit of talk about military activity along the border with PNG as well?

Waters: That's right, Papua New Guinea has rounded up about 80 women and children and men and are holding them in a facility in a secret province. They're alleged to be linked to the Free Papua military wing, OPM, and there's news today that nine of those people have been charged with apparently setting up an illegal military rebel camp on the Papua New Guinea side of the border. But at this stage there's very little criticism of that move coming out of Papua New Guinea itself.

Papuan protesters say special autonomy has failed

CyberNews - January 28, 2011

Yogyakarta – The special autonomy that has been in effect in Papua since 2001 is not working in accordance the hopes of the indigenous people there. There are still many infringements and even human rights violations. As a consequence, there has been no development and indigenous people have never enjoyed the produce of the land of their birth.

This view was expressed when Papuan demonstrators took to the streets of the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Thursday January 27. The protesters from the Anti-Colonial Movement (Ganja) marched through Jl. Malioboro in the city center then ended the action at the central post office intersection.

During the protest action, several people gave speeches criticising the government. "Special autonomy has not worked in accordance with the Papuan people's hopes. Communities remain trapped in poverty yet our region is rich in natural resources. It's all for foreigners", asserted action coordinator Leczhy Degey to the agreement of his friends.

Leczhy said that the government, in this case the Home Affairs Minister, has been unable to fulfill the promises that were embodied in the recommendations made by the Papua People's Council (MRP). These recommendations, which included among other things improving the people's welfare and free education, have never been realised.

The Papuan people feel that the central government has manipulated them because it never realises its promises and, moreover, the people's demands are never met. Because of this therefore, Leczhy through Ganja is urging the government to immediately realise its promises and give democratic freedom to the people of Papua. (Agung Priyo Wicaksono/CN14/JBSM)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Indonesia, international public push for civilian court for torture

Jakarta Post - January 27, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The perpetrators of torture against two Papuans should be brought to a civilian court, activists said on Wednesday, in response to an eight to 10-month sentence from the Jayapura military tribunal.

Usman Hamid of the International Center for Transitional Justice said Indonesian law allowed such cases to be tried before civilian courts.

"The [National Commission for Human Rights] is supposed to push the government, including the President, the Defense Ministry and the Attorney General's Office, to bring the case to a civilian court," he said.

Usman said that without such pressure, the Indonesian Military (TNI) would seek a military tribunal to show that they were accountable. He said it was a common practice by the TNI to punish its members for procedural violations while avoiding the heart of the matter.

On Monday, the Jayapura Military Court sentenced Second Sgt. Irwan Riskiyanto, the deputy commander of the Infantry Battalion's Gurate military post in Puncak Jaya, to 10 months in prison – not for torture but for insubordination – when they tortured Telengga Gire and Anggen Pugu Kiwo on May 27, 2010.

His subordinates, First Pvt. Yakson Agu and First Pvt. Thamrin Mahangiri received nine and eight-month sentences respectively, also for insubordination.

The United States' Embassy in Jakarta published a press release on Wednesday saying that "We are very concerned that the Indonesian Military charged the soldiers only with disobeying orders and that the sentences handed down do not reflect the seriousness of the abuses depicted in the video."

Reactions also came from the US-based West Papua Advocacy Team, US-based East and Indonesia Action Network and UK-based TAPOL, which condemned the Indonesian government's failure to try those responsible before a civilian court.

They urged the US and other governments to suspend military aid and assistance programs to the TNI.

National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) held a press conference on Wednesday to air their disappointment with the latest Jayapura military tribunal decision. "We said torture, while the military built the case on insubordination," commissioner Ridha Saleh said.

The commission reported in January that certain military personnel had perpetrated "serious human rights violations" in three cases: the torture of Gire and Kiwo, the murder of Rev. Kindeman Gire from Tingginambut in the village of Gorage and the beating and kicking 30 Puncak Jaya residents in March last year, which was tried in November.

Komnas HAM did not recommend a human rights tribunal. Citing a 1999 Law on Human Rights, it did not recognize serious violations. The law said the tribunal was only for gross violations.

Komnas HAM deputy chairman Joseph "Stanley" Adi Prasetyo said gross violations, according to an international convention and an Indonesian law, were genocide and crimes against humanity, including forced disappearance. He said Komnas HAM did not find elements of gross violation in the three cases they investigated.

Australian Senator Scott Ludlam, of the Australian Greens party said in a press release on Tuesday "the conduct of the Indonesian government and the farcical trial of the three soldiers involved showed a total lack of respect for human rights." His party called for the Australian government to cut all military ties with Indonesia.

Papua/PNG border not recognised by indigenous people

Radio New Zealand International - January 27, 2011

A spokesperson for the Institute of Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights says the border between the Indonesian province and Papua New Guinea isn't recognised by the indigenous people living there.

A group of 77 Papuans was arrested during a large-scale joint forces border security crackdown in the Vanimo area of PNG and the detainees are being assessed for links with the Papua liberation movement or OPM.

PNG's acting deputy police commissioner says respect for the sovereignty of Indonesia is more important than the shared ethnicity of people living on either side of the border.

But Paula Makabory says the border separates people from both land and relatives.

"The land itself is only one land. The peoples there is one people, the culture is also one. So it's like just people trespass and divided your house into two. So for them, 'It's my right, I just go on my land, without having any document'."

Papuan protesters call on government to implement MRP recommendations

KRjogja.com - January 27, 2011

Yogyakarta – A group of Papuans in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta from the Anti-Colonial Movement (Ganja) held a protest action in the Jl. Malioboro area on Thursday January 27. During the action, they called to the Home Affairs Minister to fulfill the 11 recommendations made by the Papuan People's Council (MRP).

"Papua has been given special autonomy since 2001, yet the central government has never implemented it and violates it itself. The MRP, which represents an independent council of indigenous Papuans has made 11 recommendations, including among others free education and welfare improvements, however this has not been fulfilled by the Home Affairs Minister", explained action coordinator Leczhy Degey during a break in the action.

Leczhy said that the special autonomy provided by the central government has failed to be implemented because it has been manipulated by the central government itself. Ganja is calling on the central government to respond to and implement the MRP's recommendations and is asking the central government to provide the broadest possible democracy to the Papuan people.

"We ask that the Papuan governor, the West Papua governor, the Papua and West Papua DPRD (Regional House of Representatives), and all regents and mayors throughout Papua put an end to policies that don't side with the interests of indigenous Papuan people", he asserted.

The action, which continued for around one hour, proceeded peacefully under security by the Yogyakarta municipal tactical police unit. After giving speeches, the demonstrators disbanded in an orderly manner. (Den)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Papuans rally for independence from Indonesia

Agence France Presse - January 26, 2011

Hundreds of Papuans protested on Wednesday rejecting the region's special autonomy within Indonesia and demanding a referendum on self-determination.

Carrying a wooden coffin covered with a black cloth which said "Special Autonomy is Dead in Papua", more than 1,000 activists, students and church leaders protested in front of the provincial parliament in Jayapura, witnesses said.

"Independence for Papua, reject special autonomy," they shouted. "Indonesia the coloniser, Indonesia the oppressor, Indonesia the robber."

They also called for the upper house of tribal leaders called the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) to be disbanded.

"The MRP had done nothing to improve the welfare of Papuans. Our people are poor in their own land," protest coordinator Selpius Bobi said.

"We reject special autonomy as that is the Indonesian government's policy which has never supported the natives. We want a referendum that will allow us to determine our own fate," he added.

Papua's special autonomy status, introduced in 2001 after the fall of former president Suharto's military dictatorship, has seen powers including control of most tax revenue from natural resources devolved to the provincial government.

However many Papuans say it has failed to improve their rights and activists accuse the Indonesian military of acting with brutal impunity against the indigenous Melanesian majority in the far-eastern region.

A court martial Monday jailed three Indonesian soldiers for up to 10 months for abuse and insubordination after graphic video footage showed them torturing civilians in Papua. The sentences were criticized by the United States and rights campaigners as too lenient.

Foreign media and aid workers are not allowed into Papua and West Papua provinces to investigate allegations of human rights abuses against the indigenous people.

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

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

Papuan border crossers in PNG treated as separatist activists

Radio New Zealand International - January 26, 2011

Papua New Guinea's acting deputy police commissioner says the 77 Papuans arrested in a border crackdown near Vanimo are being assessed for links with the Papuan liberation movement, the OPM.

Fred Yakasa says anyone found not be a citizen of PNG will be considered an OPM activist and sent to the refugee camp at East Darwin.

Mr Yakasa says although respect for Indonesian sovereignty is paramount, it would be wrong to send those people back to Papua to an unknown fate. "We respect Indonesia and West Irian as an integral part of Indonesia and that respect is there and we just want to make sure no rebel activity or anything of that nature advances on our side of the border."

Fred Yakasa says despite the border's length, controls on the likes of drug and weapon smuggling can be strengthened.

The border security operation, called Sunset Merona, is the biggest joint force operation and involves police, the defence force, immigration and customs.

UN has assurance Papua border-crossers won't be returned to Indonesia

Radio New Zealand International - January 27, 2011

The United Nations refugee agency in Papua New Guinea says it's received an official assurance that border-crossers from Papua arrested in a border security crackdown won't be returned to the Indonesian province.

PNG's acting deputy police commissioner says the 77 Papuans arrested are being assessed for links with the Papuan liberation movement, OPM.

Fred Yakasa says anyone found not be a citizen of PNG will be considered an OPM activist and sent to the refugee camp at East Darwin. The UNHCR's Walpurga Englbrecht says its been assured that the detainees' human rights will be respected.

"We have been informed by the authorities about their intention of closing down some of these camps that are being used for training activities. We were informed that after carrying out checks of their identity, seeing whether they have been registered with the PNG authorities that none of these persons would be returned to West Papua."

However Walpurga Englebrecht says it's not possible to be classed as both an OPM activist and a refugee and the UN only has a mandate over refugees.

Thousands of Papuans occupy MRP, reject special autonomy

Tempo Interactive - January 26, 2011

Jerry Omona, Jayapura – Thousands of Papuan occupied the Papua People's Council (MRP) offices in the provincial capital of Jayapura on Wednesday January 26 demanding that the government cancel the election of council members scheduled to take place on January 31.

The head of the Papua Referendum Front (Front Pepera), Selvius Bobi said that the election of MRP members will never take place and the Papuan people will blockade the elections and close down the MRP.

"Close down the MRP, reject special autonomy, end the election of council members now", said Selvius in a speech in front of the MRP in the Kotaraja suburb of Jayapura today.

Thousands of Papuans have swarmed over the MRP offices since early morning. Later in the afternoon they plan to continue the protest action at the Papuan Regional House of Representatives (DPRD).

The action was joined by hundreds of students from Cenderawasih University, the Indonesian Christian Students Movement (GMKI) and thousands of church congregation members in Papua.

Officers from the Jayapura municipal district police were deployed to secure the protest action. As of filing this report, thousands of protesters were beginning to leave the MRP office and set out of foot towards the Papua DPRD to convey their opposition to election of MRP members.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

US criticizes light sentences for Indonesia troops

Associated Press - January 26, 2011

Washington – The US says Indonesia must hold its armed forces accountable for rights violations after three soldiers accused of torture received only 8 to 10 month jail terms.

Footage of the torture of two Papuan men was posted on YouTube last year. It showed the soldiers burning the genitals of one unarmed, naked man and running a knife across the neck of another.

The judge at the military tribunal which passed sentence Monday said the soldiers deserved some leniency because they had confessed to their crimes and shown remorse.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tuesday the sentences did not reflect the seriousness of the abuses depicted in the video.

Crowley said in a post on Twitter the US was "concerned and will continue to follow this case."

Government to spend Rp1 trillion to start Papua food estate project

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2011

Esther Samboh, Jakarta – The government will set aside about Rp 1 trillion (US$110.34 million) from the 2011 State Budget to build the foundations for the Merauke food estate project in the country's easternmost province of Papua, a senior minister says.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said Monday the funds would be used to build the food estate's basic infrastructure, including farm clusters, roads and irrigation and power supply systems.

"About Rp 800 billion will be for the food estate's initial development of clustering, road and water, plus more than Rp 100 billion for energy," he told reporters at his office.

Meanwhile, the other needs will be funded by the private sector, Hatta said, without providing the names of the investors. Agriculture Minister Suswono has said that 30 investors in the forestry sector have committed to invest in the project.

"This year we will first build basic infrastructure worth almost Rp 1 trillion to arrange the irrigation and road systems, as well as other infrastructure. Afterwards, we will invite investors," Hatta said.

The food estate project is part of the government's master plan to build Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate to help achieve national food self-sufficiency, eliminating the need to rely on imported food.

"The Merauke food estate project is expected to be completed in 2014, yielding a number of agricultural products such as rice, sugar cane and soybean as well as their supporting industries," Hatta said.

Other than Merauke, he added, Papua had two other economic corridors; Timika and Mamberamo.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi has said that the first harvest of the estimated Rp 50 trillion to Rp 60 trillion food estate is expected in 2012.

Environmentalists have expressed concern that the projects would cause massive deforestation and harm efforts to cut emissions in dealing with climate change.

However, Hatta eased the concerns, saying the food estate would not be built on forested areas. "[The Merauke food estate] will cover 570,000 hectares of land excluding forest land," Hatta said.

An assessment by Greenomics Indonesia said only 300,000 hectares of production forest in Merauke could be converted for other purposes, including food estate projects.

Of the total 4.7 million hectares of land in Merauke, 95 percent was still forested with some 3.42 million untouched, the assessment said.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the government would seek the House of Representatives' approval to deliberate the Papua Spatial Planning bill.

The food estate area could be expanded to up to 1 million hectares if the initial project runs well, he said.

Light sentences for torturers slammed

Sydney Morning Herald - January 25, 2011

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Three soldiers who tortured two Papuan men were yesterday handed prison sentences of less than a year and will be allowed to continue their careers, despite assurances that perpetrators of such abuses would be dealt with severely and dishonourably discharged.

The verdict in the trial – closely watched by embassies and widely seen as a test of Indonesia's commitment to human rights – was slammed by activists and met with a terse response from the Australian government.

"The Australian government notes the guilty verdict," a department of foreign affairs spokeswoman said in an emailed statement yesterday.

"The Australian government will continue to follow reports of human rights abuses in Indonesia and to raise issues with relevant Indonesian authorities as appropriate."

Adding to the disquiet were comments made by the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on Friday, when he described the incident as "minor" and complained about having to explain the conduct of the soldiers to foreign leaders.

The soldiers were caught on video repeatedly poking the genitals of a screaming Papuan man with a burning stick. The video – revealed in the Herald – also showed the man having a plastic bag tied around his head while another man has a large knife placed against his neck.

In later videotaped testimony, one of the men – Tunaliwor Kiwo – told of being tortured for two days, including being repeatedly beaten, held over a burning fire and have a concoction of chillies and detergent rubbed over his open sores and cuts.

But, after first resisting international pressure for a trial and pretending another group of soldiers was responsible, the military only charged the men with disobeying orders when it finally brought the matter before a military court.

Yesterday a panel of military judges sentenced the most senior of the soldiers, Second Sergeant Irwan Riskianto, to 10 months imprisonment.

Riskianto was the deputy commander at the military post in the Papuan district of Puncak Jaya where the two men were abducted after their motorcycle broke down. Papua is an impoverished region of Indonesia where many of the indigenous population resist rule from Jakarta.

First Private Yakson Agu, who applied the burning stick to Mr Kiwo's penis, was sentenced to nine months in prison. First Private Thamrin Mahangiri, who pressed the knife against the throat of Telangga Gire, will be jailed for eight months.

In each case, the sentences were less than what prosecutors demanded. They were also well below the maximum punishment of 2-and-a-half years in prison for disobeying orders.

Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Priyatna, the military spokesman in Papua, told the Herald that none of the soldiers would be discharged.

Some observers, already disappointed that the soldiers had not been tried for more serious offences such as assault or kidnapping, or brought before the rarely used human rights court, were further angered and surprised by the decision not to discharge the men.

Speaking to military and police officers on Friday, Dr Yudhoyono said that there had not been any gross rights violations since he took office in 2004.

"Just because of a minor incident perpetrated by three soldiers, I have to explain the incident to the world, the UN, the EU [European Union] and the US," he said.

Papua ruling blasted as 'miscarriage of justice'

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2011

Nethy Dharma Somba and Bagus BT Saragih, Jayapura/Jakarta – In what one rights activist called a "miscarriage of justice", a military tribunal sentenced three soldiers to eight to 10 months in prison on Monday for torturing two native Papuans.

The Jayapura Military Court sentenced Indonesian Army Second Sgt. Irwan Riskiyanto, the deputy commander of the Infantry Battalion's Gurate military post in Puncak Jaya, to 10 months in prison.

His subordinates, First Pvt. Yakson Agu and First Pvt. Thamrin Mahangiri received nine and eight month sentences respectively.

A three-member panel of judges led by Adil Karo-karo said the defendants were guilty of insubordination when they tortured Telengga Gire and Anggen Pugu Kiwo on May 27, 2010.

The incident, which occurred behind a military checkpoint in the Tingginambut district of Puncak Jaya regency, was recorded by a fourth soldier under orders from Iwan. The 10-minute video later circulated online via YouTube and drew criticism from the international community.

The judges said defendants' action had tainted the Indonesian Military (TNI). "I am warning you, never do this kind of action again. I do not want to see you again in this court," presiding judge Adil told the defendants.

The trio's prison terms were lighter than requested by prosecutors, who had asked the court to sentence the defendants to 12, 10 and nine months in prison respectively. Prosecutors had demanded a longer sentence for Agu, who burned Kiwo's genitals during the incident.

National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) member Ridha Saleh said he was disappointed with the verdicts and with the insubordination charge levied against the defendants. Komnas HAM's probe of the case did not result in a recommendation to form a human rights tribunal to try the soldiers.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Jakarta-based Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, said that the lenient sentences were proof that the TNI was reluctant to reform. "The court only punished low-ranking [non-commissioned] officers, while their superiors were untouched," Haris said.

Usman Hamid from the International Center for Transitional Justice called the rulings as a "miscarriage of justice".

"The widely distributed video clearly reveals that one of the defendants poked the victim's genitals with a smoldering wooden pole. How could that be merely seen as disobeying orders or insubordination?" he said in a statement. "The government's decision to try the defendants in a military court is a recurrent mistake," he said.

London-based Amnesty International said it was "concerned that these sentences do not match the severity of the crimes".

"The fact that the victims were too frightened to testify due to the lack of adequate safety guarantees raises serious questions about the trial process," Laura Haigh, the group's Southeast Asia Research and Campaign Assistant, said.

"As a state party to UNCAT [the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment], Indonesia is legally bound to prohibit torture and other ill-treatment in all circumstances," Amnesty said.

TNI spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said that the Jayapura Military Court had been impartial and free from intervention. "The trial was open to the public. It is proof of our commitment to conduct the trial transparently," he said.

In a speech to leaders of the TNI and the National Police last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono referred to the torture of Telengga and Kiwo in Papua as only "a minor incident".

Anger at light sentences for Papua torture

Jakarta Globe - January 25, 2011

Banjir Ambarita, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Nivell Rayda, Indonesia – A military tribunal in Papua that handed light sentences to three soldiers involved in torturing two civilians faced a chorus of anger from activists who called it a gross injustice that they had not been tried for human rights violations.

The court-martial on Monday found the three soldiers guilty on charges of insubordination for failing to inform their superiors that they had detained and tortured the two Papuan civilians, Tunaliwor Kiwo and Telangga Gire, on May 27 last year.

A 10-minute video of the torture taken on a cellphone prompted international outrage when it was posted on YouTube in October. Among the abuses, it showed Tunaliwor being burned on the genitals with a smoldering stick.

"The three were involved in torturing civilians, and also in violating their superiors' orders," said the presiding judge, Lt. Col. Adil Karo-Karo.

"The defendants did not report to their commanding officers in connection with the arrests and violence they had committed, therefore violating orders from their direct superiors."

As commander of a military checkpoint near Gurage village in Puncak Jaya district, where the torture took place, Sgt. Irwan Rizkiyanto should receive the harshest sentence, 10 months in jail, the court said.

First Pvt. Jackson Agu was sentenced to nine months in prison while First Pvt. Thamrin Mahamiri received eight months. Military prosecutors had sought 12 months in jail for Irwan, 10 months for Jackson and 9 for Thamrin.

Poengky Indarti, executive director of the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial), said the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) should take over the investigation and re-prosecute the men for torture.

"Although this court-martial has concluded, there is still the torture charge and the need to try these soldiers at an independent human rights tribunal," Poengky told the Jakarta Globe.

"The government and the House of Representatives must amend the law on military tribunals, which has been a major obstacle in prosecuting military officials under civilian law."

The government ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture in 1999, but activists say this has remained a paper measure.

The Military Criminal Code and its Code of Conduct so far also do not recognize torture as one of the punishable crimes in court-martials.

Komnas HAM commissioner Ridha Saleh told the Globe the case was one of gross violations of human rights. The commission had offered the military to use its own findings "but to no avail."

"There are a lot of human rights violations in Puncak Jaya," he said. "We are conducting our own investigations. But whether those investigations will lead to re-prosecution, a recommendation or the formation of a fact- finding team, we don't know yet."

Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that with such a verdict, no one in the military would be impressed. "The verdict only stresses the need for a real reform of the military," he said.

Elaine Pearson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, highlighted irregularities in the court-martial.

"There were six men depicted in the video but only three were brought to trial," she told the Globe.

"This is a disappointing outcome. The military dragged their feet in this investigation and showed minimum effort, and it shows that they were just trying to get the international pressure off their back."

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta said the tribunal "is part of measures to fix our institution, to return to a condition where we respect the rules." He declined to comment on criticism of the verdicts.

Indonesian soldiers jailed over torture video

The Australian - January 24, 2011

Peter Alford, Jakarta – Three Indonesian soldiers have been sentenced to short prison terms over the torture of two Papuans, bringing an unsatisfactory close to another discreditable episode for the troubled territory's army.

A sergeant, Irwan Rizkiyanto, was today sentenced to a years detention for the assault – which drew international condemnation when a video was broadcast on YouTube – and privates Jackson Agu and Thamrin Mahamiri were given nine months and eight months respectively.

After several months of inaction and what appeared to be a deliberate attempt by the Indonesian army's command in Papua to confuse the case with another, less serious offence, the three soldiers were charged with the disciplinary offence of insubordination, rather than torture.

At least two other soldiers who were shown on the video, in which one Papuans genitals were burnt with a flaming stick and a knife was drawn across the others throat, were not identified or tried.

The investigation which was closely watched by Australian and US diplomats who had both told the Indonesians their governments were unhappy with the army's handling of the episode.

The Australians were embarrassed when Julia Gillard, during a visit to Jakarta in November, accepted assurances from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that the incident was being investigated actively and transparently. It emerged soon afterwards that no active investigation was under way.

Army investigators claimed they were unable to locate any evidence, though Komnas Ham, the Indonesian human rights commission provided them with testimony from the victims. The three soldiers were charged earlier this month after renewed pressure from Jakarta.

Activists blast 'weak' penalties for soldiers in Papua torture trial

Jakarta Globe - January 23, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Activists have lambasted "lenient" sentences sought for three soldiers accused of torturing two Papuan men, but the military has urged the public to reserve judgment until the ongoing court- martial is finished.

Prosecutors on Thursday sought a year in jail for Second Sgt. Irwan Rizkiyanto, in charge of an Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) checkpoint in Puncak Jaya, Papua, where he and two colleagues allegedly beat up and tortured the men, one of whom suffered burns on his genitals.

A video of the assault was posted on YouTube in October last year, prompting strong criticisms from international human rights groups and the launch of an investigation by the TNI.

Two others, First Pvt. Jackson Agu and First Pvt. Thamrin Mahamiri, face 10 months and 9 months in jail, respectively, for their roles in the torture.

In a press conference in Jakarta on Saturday, Markus Haluk, secretary general of the Papua Central Highland Students Association, said they were disappointed by the sentencing demands.

Such a lax court-martial, he said, will never stop the abuses of civilians that have persisted for years in Papua. "It robs the victims and their families of any sense that justice is being [served]," he said.

Haris Azhar, coordinator for the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the soldiers were being tried for insubordination rather than the more serious charge of torture.

He said this hindered attempts by the military to carry out sweeping reforms, part of which entailed amending the court-martial law.

"Because the law hasn't been amended yet, this court-martial is based on a poor law," Haris said. "That's why we deem the court martial one-sided.

"[The trial is] an attempt to save the commanders who ordered the abuse. Only the poor low-ranking soldiers will take the fall for this crime," Haris said.

However, Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul, a TNI spokesman, said the legal process had been "conducted properly and fairly."

He said the court-martial in Jayapura, Papua, was transparent, especially since the public and the press were allowed to observe or cover the proceedings. He also denied any meddling by TNI headquarters into the case.

"Let's respect the legal process and let the judge make the final verdict," Iskandar said. "Anyone not satisfied by the verdict can then file an appeal."

He said a team of high-ranking officers tasked to ensure the speedy conclusion of the investigation and prosecution had been deployed to the Papuan capital.

Iskandar also said the case would serve as a deterrent to prevent other soldiers from committing similar offenses. If a guilty verdict is handed down by the tribunal, he said, the convicted soldiers would be dishonorably discharged.

"A dishonorable discharge is the most horrible punishment a soldier can get because he gets stripped of his rights, experience, environment and daily life as a soldier at the same time," the spokesman said.

Asked if the TNI would compensate the victims' families, Iskandar said there was no such plan because the payment of damages was "not recognized by military statutes."

Earlier, Machfudz Siddik, chairman of House of Representatives Commission I which oversees defense and foreign affairs, said the US ambassador to Indonesia had backed the TNI's claim that the torture case was an isolated incident.

The military has repeatedly denied that the assault was ordered by an official higher up in the chain of command.

Speaking last week after a meeting with Ambassador Scot Marciel, Machfudz said the United States regarded the case as an incident that did not reflect wider problems within the military hierarchy.

"They appreciate what the military is doing because, for the first time, it's legally processing the alleged perpetrators," Machfudz said. "Indeed, the United States should appreciate our military's desire to show the world that it's committed to reform."

Housewives account for most HIV/AIDS cases in Papua: Government

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2011

Jakarta – Most of the people reporting HIV/AIDS infections in Papua last year were housewives, accounting for 164 individuals, the government says.

Most of these women had contracted HIV from their husbands, Jayapura AIDS Commission secretary Purnomo said Monday in Sentani as reported by kompas.com reported. "Their husbands were unfaithful," he said

Official records show there were 609 people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua last year, comprising 242 men and 367 women.

Up to 164 of the women were housewives, and 102 were sex workers. Of the total, 37 were civil servants, 67 were employees of private companies, 41 were high school and college students and 61 were farmers or blue collar or informal workers.

Twelve of the women were under four years old and 44 were between 15 and 19 years of age, while most (285 of them) were in their 20s; 198 were in their 30s and 55 were in their 40s.

Most HIV/AIDS cases were found in the Sentani district, 126 in East Sentani, 26 in Kauran, 20 in Nimboran and 25 in West Sentani. Four children had contracted HIV from their mothers, seven from blood transfusions and the rest from sexual intercourse.

Freedom of expression & press

Light sentence in reporter beating angers AJI

Jakarta Globe - January 28, 2011

Candra Malik, Yogyakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists lambasted a military court over its decision to sentence a former district military chief to just four months in prison for kidnapping and beating a journalist.

Lt. Col. Lilik Sutikna, the former Karanganyar district military chief, was sentenced on Thursday for his attack on Solo Pos daily reporter Trioyono.

The case dates back to September when Triyono wrote about the trial of Toni Haryono, the husband of Karanganyar District head Rina Iriani. Toni stands accused of embezzling Rp 15 billion ($1.67 million) in government housing funds and channeling the money to political parties, police and military officials in the district.

According to Triyono's testimony, on Sept. 1, the day the story was published, "I was picked up by a military detective and taken to their headquarters.

"Lilik Sutikna beat me five times, grabbed my hair and threatened me in his office. He said that he would kill me and my family if I dared to write about the corruption case."

Seven days later, Lilik was removed from his post and detained for nearly three months.

The presiding judge said the defendant had been convincingly proven to have violated the Criminal Code in regards to persecution, and that it was appropriate that he had been removed from his post and held in jail before his trial.

"The military prosecutor's demand of three months in prison was not commensurate with the crime," Col. Reza Talib said. "Nor did it serve the interests of justice, so we decided to increase the punishment."

Lilik, who has already apologized personally to Triyono, said on Thursday that he was still contemplating an appeal.

Taking into account the time he has already spent in detention, Lilik, who is now serving in Central Java's Regional Military Command IV/Diponegoro, will have to spend another month and 10 days in prison.

Ichwan Prasetyo, head of advocacy at the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in Surakarta, said the military tribunal should not look at the case solely as a criminal act, but also as a violation of press freedom.

"The judges only charged him under the article in the Criminal Code, not the articles relating to freedom of the press," he said.

"They have clearly indicated they are not in favor of free speech. We consider the verdict far too light, the defendant should be punished more harshly," he said.

Triyono, for his part, said he had already left the matter to the court's discretion. "I have personally forgiven Lilik," he said.

The verdict comes in the wake of international condemnation of the lenient prison sentences handed down to three soldiers involved in the torture of indigenous Papuans, documented in grisly video footage posted on YouTube last year.

On Monday, the three soldiers were each given less than a year in jail for insubordination by a military tribunal in Jayapura.

Politics & political parties

No money, no party for former student activists

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Hasyim Widhiarto – After serving as chairman of the politically wired Association of Islamic Students (HMI) last year, Arip Mustopha had to think twice before jumping into a career of full-time politician. His sole reason was straightforward: "financially unfit".

"I'm just being realistic," Arip, who held the prestigious job for two years, said recently.

"Today, many political parties prefer to open their doors to family members of rich businessmen or high-ranking officials than give a slot to former student activists who have spent years learning the tricks but unfortunately have no financial back up."

Arip is now occupied with developing a new company and a research institute that he set up with former HMI colleagues, in the hope of raising sufficient funds to finance his political aspirations. "If the business is promising, I hope I to return to politics five years from now," he said, smiling.

Arip is just one among many examples of how political parties have become more pragmatic in recent years in coping with the high cost of democracy, where financial considerations regularly outstrip quality in the recruitment system.

Traditionally, many top politicians are alumni of major student and youth organizations, including the HMI, university student boards, the Association of Muhammadiyah Students (IMM), the National Student Movement (GMNI), the Association of Indonesian Muslim Students (PMII), the Alliance of Indonesian Muslim Students (KAMMI) and the National Committee of Youth (KNPI).

Political parties have a long cultural or historical relationship with these organizations, whose alumni are mostly endowed not only with networks but also with all the political tricks that may prepare them well should they take the career path of a politician.

Party members taking the activist route have often been guaranteed a top post in a party, and nomination as legislators.

But as the rules of the game change and more emphasis is put on financial capability, many talented activists have been forced to temporarily step out of the game, and hope to return after raising enough capital for the party and for their upcoming election campaign.

IMM chairman Ton Abdillah Has said there was a growing trend among activists to quit politics after leaving the campus to strengthen financial resources before eventually joining a political party.

Besides the high political expenses, he also underlined the low level of transparency and opaque recruitment systems employed by parties. Most activists would then prefer to remain independent, or join a party that leaves them with no financial burden.

"For example, I recently found out that, interestingly, many former IMM members in eastern Indonesia have joined the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), maybe because the party has introduced a recruitment system that is better and more intense than those of other parties," said Ton.

Former HMI and KNPI activists usually choose to join Golkar, while those of GMNI and PMII join the camp of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the United Development Party (PPP) respectively.

Among top politicians taking the activist route are Golkar Party chief patron Akbar Tandjung and Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum. Akbar, former minister during Soeharto's era and former House Speaker in 1999-2004, was HMI chairman between 1970 and 1974 while Anas held the position between 1997 and 1999.

PPP chairman Suryadharma Ali, who is also the religious affairs minister, served as PPMI chairman between 1985 and 1988. Senior PAN (National Mandate Party) politician and Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar was also IMM and KNPI chairman during the 1980s.

But the decades of romance between activists and political parties seem to have faded in line with the increasing financial costs of becoming a politician.

Both Roy Suryo, the secretary of the Democratic Party's membership division, and Yorrys Raweyay, a senior Golkar politician overseeing youth affairs confirmed the trend.

"Financial ability is only one thing. If cadres could give a certain added value to Golkar, the party would of course give them more opportunities to move forward," Yorrys said.

While costs vary between parties, an individual can spent between Rp 100 million (US$11,100) and Rp 500 million to join a political party without having to spend any prior time as a party member, according to several legislators. The costs exclude campaign spending, which can reach between Rp 100 million and Rp 17 billion.

Political analyst Cecep Hidayat of the University of Indonesia says the absence of a reward and punishment system in political parties has turned away many talented young activists from politics.

"How can we expect more and more people with integrity to join political parties if their internal system does not allow such a thing to happen?" he quipped. But in some rare cases, money may not be the prime factor, particularly when a party needs an expert.

Fayakhun "Kun" Andriadi, 39, was always on hand when his father discussed politics with fellow party members at home. Thirty years later, Kun has continued the family's tradition in politics by becoming a Golkar legislator.

Despite his family's political influence and the fact that his late father Haditirto Djoyodirdjo was a top Golkar executive in the 1980s, Kun's path to the job was not easy. It took several years for Kun to be accepted on the party's executive board as a member of its Information and Communication Body in 2002.

"While some other [young] colleagues entered Golkar, mainly through a family connection, I chose to rely on my expertise in information technology to make my way in," said the father of three, now a member of the House of Representatives' Commission I overseeing security, communication and foreign affairs.

Unlike Kun who inherited his father's talent in politics, Dwi Rio Sambodo, 36, a Jakarta first-time councillor from the PDI-P, successfully established his political career from zero, mainly through his long-time involvement in student organizations prior to the reform movement in 1998.

As a GMNI activist, Rio eventually decided to join the party after completing his postgraduate studies at Jayabaya University, East Jakarta, in the early 2000s.

With his position as secretary of the party's East Jakarta branch, Rio managed to secure the party's nomination for Jakarta councillorship in the 2009 general election. Rio clinched the seat after securing more than 3,000 votes.

"I didn't have much money to finance my election bid, which is why I relied heavily on the social networking that I had established throughout my time in politics and student organizations," he said, adding that he only spent Rp 100 million to finance his campaign.

Parties get early start to net young voters

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Although the general election may be three years away, political parties have already deployed their gear to gain support, particularly from the young bracket of voters. The Jakarta Post's Hasyim Widhiarto explores the parties' strategies to lure the young. Here are the stories:

Arya Sandiyuda, 27, is among the youngest functionaries of the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) sitting on the party's highest executive board.

Arya was lured into the party in high school after joining liqa, a regular, small-group meeting organized by the party to nurture its party members and sympathizers.

"My passion [for joining the PKS] grew in university, but I always tried not to openly show it until I finished my studies," said Arya recently, who is now a member of the PKS Foreign Affairs Department.

Spending most of his college years as an activist for University of Indonesia's Islamic student organization, Arya's political talent was groomed through the PKS's intern program with legislators Suswono, now Agriculture Minister, and Adang Daradjatun, former National Police deputy chief.

"The party has recently appointed me to represent them in a two-year international leadership program for young politicians in Europe," he said proudly.

Unlike Arya, Dirgayuza "Yuza" Setiawan, 21, is taking a shorter path to the top as an executive with Tunas Indonesia Raya (Tidar), a youth wing organization of Prabowo Subianto's Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

Yuza's engagement with the party is mostly helped by his family and close friends. "My father is one of Gerindra executives, while most of my friends have family in the party too," said Yuza, currently studying at Melbourne University, Australia.

Because of his above-average computer skills, the party assigned Yuza to help develop and maintain its campaign through the Internet and social media.

Although the upcoming general election is still three years away, several political parties have aggressively drummed up bids for young and talented new members.

It is not surprising that many parties have already forged a tie with young members through youth organizations, family ties, networks of friends and communities.

In the 2014 general election, young voters will remain the largest market targeted by political parties.

There will be at least 180 million eligible voters in the election, of which between 55 and 60 percent of the expected voters would be between 17 and 39 years old, similar to the 2009 composition, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) projection.

Adityo Anugrah, 25, head of Tidar's Bogor branch, said it was not difficult for him to introduce the newly-established party to young people. However, administrative constraints have slowed recruitment expansion.

"So far, we have received hundreds of membership applications from high- school students across the city," said Adityo. "However, most of them could not be approved because parents refused to allow them join the organization," said Adityo.

Established to garner support from young voters, Tidar is aiming their campaign at people aged between 13 and 40 years old. But in Bogor and Jakarta, their main target is high school students.

"We just want to be realistic. It's almost impossible for us to compete with more established [youth] organizations in universities, especially those 'affiliated' with political parties, particularly the PKS," he said.

Unlike other established parties, including the Golkar Party, the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle [PDI-P], the PKS has a unique recruitment system of college students by infiltrating university bodies, including student senates and executive boards and student religious organizations.

At the University of Indonesia, for example, members of student organizations have personal, discrete affiliations with the PKS.

The PKS's young politicians, including Arya, former legislator Rama Pratama and legislator Zulkifliemansyah, are products of the party's systematic, well-planned regeneration efforts in grooming potential members from campus.

Zulkifliemansyah and Rama are former chairmen of the University of Indonesia's prestigious Student Executive Body (BEM).

Around 30 percent of PKS's eight million voters in the 2009 general election were below 30 years old, according to PKS senior politician Mahfudz Siddiq.

While the PKS's aggressive recruitment is prominent in big cities, other established parties have tried to lure more from rural areas, where most of the nation's voters reside.

Yorrys Raweyay, chairman of the Golkar's Youth Alliance (AMPG), said he had never considered the PKS's intensive member recruitment as a serious threat to his party, as there was also huge potential in rural areas.

"As one of the oldest political parties, Golkar has successfully established an organizational structure reaching the lowest levels of communities, something that many new parties, including the PKS, would need a long time to establish," said Yorrys, who also chairs the party's Youth and Sport Department.

Established in 2000, the AMPG claimed to have around five million members as of last year, according to Yorrys. He said the organization is currently hoping to recruit 400,000 new members, aged between 20 and 30 years old, by 2014.

Golkar will launch a series of leadership training programs intended to lure young voters in rural areas, starting next month in Jakarta. "We hope to see our members playing the role of party [campaign] front-men for the upcoming elections," he said.

While some political parties have relied on social media and community and cultural approaches to win young voters, others are trying different strategies, such as providing benefits. The Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is taking the easy route rather than establishing a concerted recruitment system.

"We are now planning to introduce our party's identity card, which will provide its holder with discount benefits in certain stores," Roy Suryo, secretary for the Democratic Party's membership division said recently.

The target is to see between 11 and 12 percent of the country's population registered officially as party members by 2014.

Despite the hype of the recruitment system, critics have long believed any efforts to lure young members were mostly artificial, according to political analyst Cecep Hidayat of the University of Indonesia.

Artificial, he said, in that most top party executives have been thus far reluctant to allow their younger colleagues to hold important and influential positions within the party management. But the Democratic Party and the PKS are the exceptions. Their top executives are mostly younger than 50.

"The campaign to attract young, potential members would mean nothing until political parties revise and uphold their internal reward and punishment system so that their young members can have a clear picture about their future career in the party," said Cecep.

Yorris has somehow noted Cecep's belief, saying it was almost impossible to ask the "older generation" within the party to voluntarily step aside and give more room for their younger, fresher colleagues. These conditions are eminent in parties that have existed since the 1970s.

"The bigger the party, the longer the [political] queue for top posts," he said.

National Democrats retracts plan to become a political party

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The fast-growing mass-organization, the National Democrats (Nasdem), withdrew its plan to become a political party, as it was nearly out of time to fulfill the requirements set by the newly- amended Political Parties Law.

"It's impossible. This organization will never be a party... at least not by the 2014 elections," Nasdem Secretary General and former Communication and Information minister Syamsul Muarif said at a press conference at Nasdem headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday.

Six months ahead the close of political parties registration and verification at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, he said Nasdem would not meet the criteria.

The 2010 Political Parties Law stipulates that a political party can run in elections if it has branch offices in all 33 provinces, 75 percent of the cities and regencies in each province and 50 percent of the districts in each city and regency. It also has to have 30 members in each province.

The organization claimed 31 provincial branch offices, about 300 regency and municipality offices from a total 524 regencies and cities nationwide and initiative groups at 1,000 out of about 5,900 districts.

Syamsul, currently a Golkar Party patron, said Nasdem would be inclined to join existing parties to take part in the 2014 general election. "We believe political parties will come to us," he said.

Syamsul said he had involved in talks with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to discuss on possible merge.

Nasdem was founded by Surya Paloh, a former Golkar Party patron and noted media mogul.

He recently hinted that Nasdem might soon become a political party. "If we have the potential to win the election, why not?" he said.

Syamsul said Surya's statement was not about the coming election. "In the future, perhaps the 2019 election, we might be a political party." Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said Syamsul's statement was part of the organization's strategy to garner reactions in order to assure its readiness to compete in the 2014 election.

"They are still testing their political potential," Burhanuddin said.

He added that Nasdem would directly join another party instead of declaring its availability to coalesce if it was sure of its lack of political support. "There is still plenty of time before August."

Burhanuddin said the organization would likely merge with a medium-sized party, such as the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party, if it in fact finds itself too weak to compete alone. "I heard Surya has intensively talked with [Hanura chairman] Wiranto," he said.

Burhanuddin said the organization was unlikely to join a big party like the PDI-P, as the big parties would not give Nasdem significant control.

Surya established Nasdem shortly after he lost his bid for Golkar Party chairman to another tycoon, Aburizal Bakrie, in 2009.

Observers have seen Nasdem as Surya's new political vehicle should he leave Golkar, the country's second largest party after President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono's Democratic Party.

Since its establishment in February last year, Nasdem claims to have obtained more than 900,000 members nationwide. Many public figures and elites of different political parties have also joined the organization.

Surya has helped it become widely known by utilizing his media company, Metro TV news station. The TV station has broadcast live every Nasdem declaration ceremony.

Will minnow parties merge to challenge the big fish?

Jakarta Post - January 26, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The single floor medium-sized building looked like an ordinary house. One would find it difficult to know it is the headquarters of a national political party.

The building, located at Jl. Bukit Duri Tanjakan, Tebet, South Jakarta, belongs to the National Sun Party (PMB), one of the 2009 legislative election contestants that failed to gain even a single seat in the House of Representatives.

The building was almost empty, with its front door closed, when The Jakarta Post visited last week.

A noodle seller in the front yard said the building had been almost completely empty. "I haven't seen any PMB officials here for more than a month," he said, adding that the presence of party chairman Imam Addaruqutni at the office had been a very rare scene.

Similar circumstances were also the case for almost all parties that failed to pass the electoral threshold after the 2009 election. Some did not post signs at their offices, while others moved out without leaving clues about their new offices with their former neighbors.

The PMB was established in late 2006 by National Mandate Party (PAN) youngsters who considered that PAN had failed to fight for the hopes of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization.

The PMB failed to send any representatives to the House, having only gained 414,750, or 0.4 percent, of the total 104.1 million votes in the 2009 legislative election. PMB's votes were below the 2.5 percent legislative election threshold, preventing it from any seats in the House of Representatives.

Three years ahead of the next election, today the PMB is struggling to compete again. They know that given their limited resources, it will be difficult to mobilize supporters. However, together with 16 other smaller parties, they have kept their hopes alive.

The 17 parties, grouped under the National Union Forum (FPN) and with various ideological leanings, have joined hands to seek justice. They filed a judicial review with the Constitutional Court, asking the court to annul the newly-endorsed Law on Political Parties.

"This is not about how bad our offices are. This is about our constitutional right to form a party," FPN Secretary-General Didi Supriyanto told the Post.

The law requires all established parties, both those having legislative seats or not, as well as new parties, to register for verification at the Law and Human Rights Ministry. It also obliges a party to have offices in all 33 provinces, 75 percent of the cities and regencies in each province and 50 percent of the districts in each city and regency.

For the minor parties, the reason why they will do anything to survive is clear – the majority of Indonesians are abstainers who opt not to vote for the major parties.

A recent survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) showed that all nine House parties had shown decreasing popularity trends, with the biggest drop posted by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. "It was unusual. It could mean a higher number of abstainers," LSI political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said.

For non-House parties, the potential abstainers are a boon. "If they don't believe in any party at the House, they might pick us in the next election. But the dominating parties are aware of that threat and trying hard to eliminate us," Didi said.

Peace Prosperous Party (PDS) chairman Denny Tewu denied that he was not afraid to face the election, claiming that his party had almost fulfilled all the requirements. The PDS has been among parties filing the judicial review.

Didi acknowledged the worst possibility would be if they fail to have the law repealed. "We have backup plans in case the Constitutional Court rejects our request. Parties under the FPN may merge to form a new, larger party," he said.

All 17 parties under the FPN gained a total votes of 12 million in 2009 election, accounting 11.6 percent of total votes nationwide. The Democratic Party gained 20.85 percent in 2009, while the Golkar Party had 14.45 percent and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had 14.03 percent.

However, is it feasible for the Christian PDS to merge with Islamic parties? Denny refused to comment. "The merger is indeed an option, but it is not the only one. If possible, we still want to go on our own by maximizing all the resources we can get."

Elections

Law change could hit dirty Indonesian politicians

Jakarta Globe - January 24, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran, Pangkal Pinang, Bangka-Belitung – An amendment to the Regional Governance Law is expected to include provisions barring criminals and the "morally flawed" from running for public office, the government says.

The draft amendment is currently being drawn up by the Home Affairs Ministry and is expected to be submitted for deliberation to the House of Representatives next month, Minister Gamawan Fauzi announced here on Saturday.

He said requirements for candidates contesting public office needed to be more stringent, in the wake of recent cases that have seen a mayor and governor suspended after they were charged in separate corruption cases, and a district head stripped of his election victory after it emerged that he was a convicted murderer and thus ineligible to run for office.

"Given the recent phenomena, we need to evaluate the requirements one by one," the home minister said. "As proposed by the DPD [Regional Representatives Council], immoral people shouldn't be allowed to stand in elections."

He defined the immoral as those people facing criminal charges as well as those implicated in sex tapes.

"In the future, the idea is that anyone who has been charged in a criminal case will be forbidden from running for public office," he said. "However, we can't extend such a ban to candidates who have only been named suspects because they may still be cleared of any charges later on."

Under the current law, only those who have previously served time in prison are barred from running for office.

The need for an amendment was highlighted on Thursday when Agusrin Nadjamudin was suspended as Bengkulu governor. Agusrin is charged with embezzling Rp 20 billion ($2.2 million) of provincial revenues. His trial commenced last week.

In addition to Agusrin, several other regional heads, including 17 governors, have either been named suspects or charged in a variety of cases.

Gamawan is also pushing for an amendment that would make it mandatory for the deputy to the regional head to originate from the bureaucracy rather than a political party.

"If both the regional head and the deputy have party affiliations, they'll tend to fight," he said, declining to provide details about the proposed amendment.

Social movements & civil society

A new civil judicial watchdog is born

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – Irked by the foot-dragging investigations of myriad corruption cases, a group of high-profile legal experts, social activists and academics launched the Anti-Judicial Mafia Movement (GeRAM Hukum) on Wednesday.

Indonesia is awash in unresolved judicial corruption cases, including the never-ending saga of former low-level tax official Gayus H. Tambunan, who was recently convicted of corruption.

Gayus' testimony in court has raised more questions than answers after he implicated police officers, prosecutors, attorneys and a judge in bribery scandals.

"We feel infuriated that the law, in the hands of corrupt officials, has become an object of commodification and criminalization to enrich oneself, or to blackmail or eliminate political foes," Zainal Arifin Mochtar, director of the Center for Anticorruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University, said.

Gayus' case heated up politically after he claimed that the Rp 28 billion (US$3.1 million) in his bank account came in part from companies under the Bakrie Group that were partly owned by Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently issued 12 instructions for various government bodies to resolve the Gayus case.

Zainal added that GeRAM Hukum would support government institutions that fight corruption.

"This includes the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK], the Judicial Mafia Taskforce, the Witness and Victim Protection Agency, the Financial Transaction Analysis and Report Centre and the Corruption Court," he said.

Transparency International Indonesia secretary-general Teten Masduki said GeRAM Hukum would place pressure on the National Police and the Attorney General's Office to eradicate the judicial mafia.

The police and prosecutors have been criticized for not pursuing the so- called big fish behind Gayus until now. No action has been taken against prosecutors Cirus Sinaga, Poltak Manulang and Fadil Regan for allegedly accepting bribes to doctor Gayus' indictment.

Teten added that GeRAM Hukum would call on the public to pressure the government to eradicate judicial corruption, given its lack of political will. "We have experience in pressuring the government," he said. "The legal technicalities are not so difficult."

GeRAM Hukum members agreed to show strong support of the KPK as it begins its investigation of Gayus' case. The KPK recently announced it would investigate the legion of bribery allegations surrounding Gayus' case.

Lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis also said that the KPK must handle the investigation because "there have been so many cover-ups in the case".

"Action has been taken against certain immigration officials but those from the police and the AGO remain untouched," he said.

GeRAM Hukum members also expressed doubt in the ability of the House of Representatives' recently formed special committee on tax crime.

Ikrar Nusa Bakti, an analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said that backroom dealing has taken place within the special committee. "The internal [members] of the House have been politicking so we can't place much hope in them," he added.

Internet & social networking

Defense minister's Twitter comments 'outrageous': House

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Jakarta – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro's fears that social networking sites threaten national security are ridiculous, a defense official at the House of Representatives says.

"I am not concerned [about social networks]. In fact, to me, this statement was simply outrageous," TB Hasanudin, the deputy chairman of House Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs and communication, said Friday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

On Thursday evening, Purnomo had said the Twitter microblogging site was among the non-military threats to national security.

"Currently, non-military threats are looming, including via Twitter and cybercrime," Purnomo said, without providing details of any actions the government planned to take.

Hasanudin said the government should not impose any filters on social networking sites, asserting that the spread of social networks in society was inevitable.

"Should the government impose filters, the ruling could backfire with the growing spirit of democracy [in Indonesia]," Hasanudin said.

Indonesian twitter user claims to have political dirt

Jakarta Globe - January 25, 2011

Jakarta – One Indonesian Twitter user claiming to be in possession of "intelligence" information on a number of politicians and the murky world of politics has become something of a sensation on the social networking Web site.

@benny_israel began tweeting under the topic #intel on Thursday, telling followers that he wanted "to tell a bit about the world of intelligence in Indonesia," with the sweeping disclaimer that: "If I'm mistaken please correct me."

The unidentified user, who includes on his bio-line "who dare [sic] wins," has already attracted nearly 13,000 followers though many of the highly defamatory tweets cannot be reprinted – including a number of unproven posts about the alleged sexual appetite of one prominent Indonesian politician.

@benny, who claims that a number of his followers are "spies" established to monitor his posts, also claimed to have information on the ongoing saga involving Gayus Tambunan, aping the rogue tax official's claims that his French Guyana passport was supplied by the CIA.

He alleges the CIA intended to "dump Gayus overseas" so he would not be able to provide further information about a number of United States companies allegedly involved in avoiding their tax responsibilities in Indonesia.

"If it is found out that they had committed bribery, the companies would be charged under the US's anti-corruption law," he wrote.

The Twitter account has attracted the attention of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration.

Writing on Tuesday, Andi Arief, the presidential adviser for social and disaster management, claimed he had discovered the real identity of the anonymous poster, writing "@benny_israel worked for 11 years as a tax auditor and for more than eight years as a tax consultant. He's a senior alumni of STAN [the State College of Accountancy]."

"I don't have to explain how I know who @benny_israel is, he is in the mafia inner circle, Bachun and Gayus are his students," he said, referring to disgraced Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Mukhamad Misbakhun, who was recently sentenced to one year in jail for forging documents. Misbakhun also amassed a fortune during his employment at the Directorate General of Taxation.

@benny, however, rejected the comments, describing Andi as "bewildered."

Despite @benny's is yet to provide any proof to back up his claims, with some labelling the posts as merely "political entertainment." A user identified as @adewia_77 wrote: "@benny_israel wow you are popular on Twitter. It makes housewives like myself happy, I get more reading material and more knowledge."

Labour & migrant workers

Group says firms dodging laws on protection

Jakarta Post - January 27, 2011

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Several migrant worker placement companies (PJTKI) have been dodging bylaws to protect migrant workers in certain regencies, transferring workers to neighboring regencies with laxer regulations, an observer says.

Institute for Ecosoc (Economic and Social) Rights director Sri Palupi said Banyumas in Central Java, Jember in East Java and Tulangbawang in Lampung had issued bylaws to enhance migrant worker protections. The bylaws included the stipulation that PJTKIs have an office in the regency in order to close the distance between workers and their families.

"With PJTKI offices in the regency, people will be able to go there should anything happen to their family members who are working abroad," Sri said. Many PJTKI recruiters go door-to-door with only a suitcase, making it difficult for workers' families to find the recruiters once workers go abroad and recruiters return to Jakarta, she said.

But, Sri's organization found that some PJTKI transferred the documents of migrant workers in Banyumas to neighboring Cilacap, which does not have strict regulations on migrant workers. The PJTKIs sent the Banyumas workers abroad as workers from Cilacap.

Banyumas supplies a large number of migrant workers, those workers sending back remittances totaling Rp 68.6 billion (US$7.6 million) in 2006. Each year, almost 1,000 migrant workers are dispatched abroad from the regency.

"We hope in the future each province will have an umbrella law for migrant worker protections," she said.

Sri said her organization completed its second study of migrant worker conditions in Singapore and Malaysia in 2009 to see whether there were any improvements since their first study in 2005. There were no significant improvements because embassies could only contact migrant workers one year after their arrival or when they were renewing their contracts, which required them to report to embassies, she said.

"I think one of the solutions is to encourage the local administrations to be more involved in the recruitment," Sri added.

Roma Hidayat from West Nusa Tenggara-based migrant worker advocates ADBMI said the government should use the community networks that migrant workers form abroad to help protect them.

"These communities know their members better than the embassies. The government should approach these communities if they really want to protect migrant workers," Roma said.

The House of Representatives is revising the law on migrant worker protections this year. Prosperous Justice Party legislator and House Commission IX overseeing labor and health member Arif Minardi said working committee members had been meeting to speed up revisions.

Arif said they recently met with Aloysius Uwiyono, a legal expert from the University of Indonesia. Aloysius suggested the government appoint a special attache on migrant workers, establish one institution for worker placements and another for worker protections and write articles into law that aim to prevent any harm to migrant workers.

"We just found out that the 2004 law on migrant workers has not been looked at by academics, which is required for making a law. So, we have been meeting three or four times a week with experts, executives and civil society organizations," he said.

Social security needs revising, expanding, observers say

Jakarta Post - January 26, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The government, employers, labor unions and insurers have called for a revision of the 2004 national social security system law to include five mandatory social security programs and to accelerate stalled deliberations on the social insurers bill.

Deputy Minister for State Enterprises Parikesit Suprapto said the current social security law was unenforceable and needed an immediate revision mainly because it did not regulate who should pay to cover the more than 70 million workers in the informal sector.

"Not to mention the fact that the government and providers have no adequate infrastructure to implement the programs, especially the healthcare benefit scheme."

The law mandates five social security programs – healthcare benefits, occupational accident benefits, death benefits, old age-risk benefits and pension benefits – and that the state will pay for coverage for the poor and the jobless.

Observers say they are doubtful the government is able and willing to implement the program given that the state has done little to implement the law in the seven years since it was passed.

Indonesian Employers' Association chairman Sofyan Wanandi said the government was dragging its feet because it had not issued 10 government regulations and 11 presidential instruction mandated by the law.

"The state budget does not allocate funds to provide basic protection for 240 million people, though ironically it is a fact that a bigger portion of the state budget is available for corruption," he said.

Labor unions and several House factions have called for the impeachment of the President over his government's reluctance to comply with and enforce the law, among other perceived failings.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo and seven other ministers representing the government failed to show up to a meeting to deliberate the social insurers bill on Thursday after they failed to convince the House's special committee about the importance of the government's control of the programs and its huge assets.

Surya Chandra Surapaty, a member of the House's special committee from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the House was actually ready to revise the law to help the government speed up all preparations to implement the national programs stipulated in the law.

"The special committee is open to any ideas and input to repair the law and implement the constitutional imperative that the social security programs are aimed at improving the social welfare and dignity of all Indonesian people," he said.

He warned the government not to politicize the proposed law revision in its attempt to buy time because the proposal was aired seven years after the law was enacted and while it was facing problems regarding the insurers.

Separately, Bambang Purwoko, a social security expert at the University of Indonesia, said he was pessimistic that the healthcare program for all could be implemented in 2014 mainly because of a lack of infrastructure to support the program.

"More than 480 regencies and mayoralties have yet to possess state-run general hospitals with national standards in their medical service and their limited capacity and most hospitals are running short of specialists and necessary equipment," he said, adding that standard hospitals were found only in big cities and in Java and that the government had yet to launch the single identity card program that would allow the government to register all poor and jobless.

Sofyan and All-Indonesia Workers Organization secretary-general Timbul Siregar said the government would face financial difficulties if it had to pay Rp 67 trillion (US$7.4 billion) to provide healthcare for the 32 million poor and unemployed people in the country.

They agreed the government would be only be able to afford the healthcare coverage if it managed the state budget professionally and eliminated corruption.

"If the government has a good will and fights the rampant political corruption, it will be able to implement the pro-poor national programs because our GDP was more than Rp 6,000 trillion last year while our state budget was Rp 1,200 trillion," Sofyan said.

Environment & natural disasters

Severe weather drives fishermen to poverty

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2011

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Prolonged bad weather in Jakarta and its surrounding areas has increased the threat of poverty for fishermen in Banten.

Local fishermen unable to head to sea are reportedly falling deeper into debt to meet their daily needs. Village fish auctions (TPI) have turned into quiet places as there are very few catches to be sold.

The situation is dire as many fishermen have begun selling their household goods to meet their daily needs, while other have been trapped by loan shark obligations.

"The unfriendly weather has been here for almost four months, and it is too risky to go to sea," 48-year-old fisherman Ajijan recently told The Jakarta Post.

The father of six usually leaves the fishing village of Sukahati on the northern coast of Tangerang regency in the afternoon and returns in the morning with his haul.

"Now I really have no idea how I am going to feed my family because I have nothing to sell," he said, adding that his docking fees continued to cost him Rp 500,000 (US$55.4) each month.

Some of his fellow fishermen were seen tending to their boat engines while others were busy repairing nets.

At Cituis fishing village in Pakuhaji district, Asmarmin, a father of five, was spotted carrying his 14-inch television set to the local pawn shop.

"We have to pay the boat rental fee of Rp 250,000 everyday. We share the remaining Rp 150,000 of income between five of us," he said. Asmarmin rents a boat together with fellow fishermen.

Ujang from Tanjung Anom fishing village in Mauk district said he and other fishermen had been suffering through the bad weather. "We don't know how to earn money while waiting for the weather to return to normal," said the 40-year-old man, adding that the local administration had yet to provide any assistance.

Fishermen living along the 51-kilometer coastline in Tangerang regency earn between Rp 10,000 and Rp 30,000 a day. A night's catch is usually sold for between Rp 20,000 and Rp 50,000 per kilogram at the local fish market.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned that intense rainfall and strong winds would continue throughout Indonesia.

Banten Maritime and Fishery Agency chief Suyitno said that almost 70 percent of 28,000 fishermen living in the province were struggling financially due to the effects of prolonged bad weather. He admitted that the local administration and the central government had not distributed any assistance to help fishermen because the agency is still collecting data on fishermen who need help.

Suyitno said the agency had asked the Public Welfare Ministry to distribute rice to fishermen in the affected areas. "TPI management in every villages will also help fishermen by using funds accumulated from previous sales," he said.

Suyitno said the administration had not previously allocated budget funds because fishermen usually had side jobs. "It's been a tradition for fishermen to take on other jobs whenever weather conditions prevent them from going to sea," he said.

Greenomics criticizes ministry for new decree

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Jakarta – Greenomics Indonesia, a leading NGO on forestry issues, lambasted Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan for issuing a new decree on Dec. 31, which would pave the way for 44 companies to get new forestry licenses.

The decree was issued just a day before the government planned to impose a moratorium on new permits both in natural forests and peatlands as stipulated under the climate deal between Indonesia and Norway.

"It is reasonable to assume the decree was intended to save 44 companies from having to comply with the moratorium regulations," Greenomics' executive director Elfian Effendi said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

He said that with the new decree, the licenses for the 44 plantation firms could be processed although the moratorium would be applied this year.

The 44 companies applied for permits for a total area of 2.9 million hectares, most of them were in secondary forests.

Data from Greenomics said that six out of the 44 firms applied for 1.2 million hectares in natural forests in Papua while 21 companies would operate on 1.03 million hectares in Kalimantan.

The remaining had plans for forests in Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and South Sumatra.

Fishers' empty nets a Indonesia disaster: Activists

Jakarta Globe - January 26, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani – Environmental activists on Tuesday called on the Indonesian government to declare the inability of fishing families nationwide to earn a living because of months of bad weather a national disaster.

"The national disaster status is crucial because it would smoothen the coordination process between the central government and the regional government for the distribution of relief aid," said Riza Damanik, the secretary general of the Fisheries Justice Coalition (Kiara).

Raising the current social disaster status to national disaster would allow the state to provide more relief assistance to the affected fishermen. "The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency [BMKG] has said the bad weather will last at least until April," Riza said.

Earlier, the Social Affairs Ministry had said that to help nearly 474,000 fishermen – and their families – whose livelihoods have been affected, the maritime affairs and fisheries minister, Fadel Muhammad, had asked district heads and governors to dip into rice reserves and funds from the Social Affairs Ministry.

Salim Segaf Al Jufri, the social affairs minister, said his ministry had already distributed about Rp 540 billion ($60 million) in development funds to regional governments to help the fishermen and their families.

However, environmental watchdogs say this isn't enough, arguing that the government first has to get its numbers right.

Selamet Daryoni, the director of urban environment at the Indonesian Green Institute, questioned the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries' data on the number of fishermen.

"The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, for instance, has only listed 3,084 fishermen in the Thousand Islands and Muara Angke [in Jakarta]," Slamet said. But he added there were other fishing villages in Jakarta, with more than 6,000 fishermen in places such as Marunda, Muara Baru, Kali Baru, Cilincing, Muara Tawar and Kamal Muara.

"If more than 6,000 fishermen living only 20 kilometers from the Presidential Palace are ignored by the government, what about the other fishermen in other parts of Indonesia?" he said.

The government's mistakes in this regard, Slamet suggested, should not be tolerated. Oversights could have disastrous effects on the lives of thousands of citizens, he said.

Riza concurred, adding that many more fishing families were suffering than the government suggested. He said the actual number of fishermen across the country who had been unable to catch fish in the past months was far larger than what the state had estimated.

He said that at least 550,000 fishermen in 53 districts and municipalities across the archipelago had been affected by freakish weather conditions.

"At the moment the government only provides 13,721 tons of rice every two weeks," he said, adding that more was needed.

Riza also said inaccurate data would influence the kind and amount of aid the government would provide.

"The government needs to do a lot more to help out more than 550,000 fishermen and women during bad weather conditions," said Tejo Wahyu Jatmiko, the coordinator of the Alliance for Prosperous Villages.

Dedy Ramanta, the national secretary of the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen's Association (KNTI), criticized the government for only reacting to deteriorating conditions and not preparing a long-term strategy to deal with the effects of climate change, especially for fishermen whose livelihood options are limited.

"The government needs to implement an insurance program and also give capital assistance so they can build small businesses," he added.

Tiharom, 35, a traditional fisherman from Marunda in North Jakarta, said that in order to feed his family, he was now making sandals and doormats from garment industry waste. He said that as a fisherman he could earn up to Rp 80,000 in one outing, enough to feed his family of six.

"However, now that the bad weather has really stopped me from going out to sea, I am trying to build a small business by turning garment waste into strong ropes and then producing sandals and doormats," he said.

However, supply of materials and marketing posed serious problems, he added. "I am not sure if this job will go anywhere or whether it will just keep me busy during the bad weather," he said.

60% of firms in Tangerang pollute rivers

Jakarta Post - January 26, 2011

Tangerang – The Tangerang municipal administration warned all industrial firms not to directly dispose untreated waste into rivers.

Head of the municipal environmental management control body (BPLH) Roestiwie said that almost 60 percent of the 2,000 industrial firms in the municipality directly funneled untreated liquid waste into rivers.

"We can shut down the firms because polluting the environment violates the 2009 Law on Environmental Management," she said on Tuesday, adding that the administration would require the firms to build proper waste treatment facilities.

Indonesia minister denies corruption in clean award for dirty Bekasi

Jakarta Globe - January 26, 2011

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta on Tuesday denied his ministry had done anything wrong in presenting the Jakarta satellite city of Bekasi with an award for environmental cleanliness.

The Bekasi administration won the Adipura award last year, despite being home to the mammoth Bantar Gebang landfill, several heavy-polluting industrial estates and the Citarum River – the world's dirtiest, according to the Asian Development Bank.

Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Muhammad has since been arrested, charged with ordering city officials to bribe selection committee members deciding the winners of the award. While there is no cash prize that comes with the award, it does carry name recognition.

Last week, two ministry special staff members were questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which has also seized several documents and computers from the ministry's offices.

However, Gusti said there was nothing untoward in the decision to present Bekasi with the award, adding that if indications of bribery were discovered, he would revoke the award.

"We haven't revoked it yet because it hasn't been proven that there was any corruption of the process, even though the mayor has been named a suspect," he said during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VII, which oversees environmental affairs.

"Our assessment [of Bekasi's environmental credentials] was appropriate because we went by the 2009 ministerial regulation on the issue, which says any city scoring a grade of 71 to 80 is categorized as good. We previously set the minimum for 'good' at 73, but we figured it was hard enough to get a 70, so we set it at 71." Bekasi scored a 71 to win the award.

Gusti also said there was nothing unusual about a city as polluted as Bekasi being given the green award. "The Adipura is also intended as an incentive to encourage cities to become cleaner," he said.

Satya Widya Yudha, a Commission VII member from the Golkar Party, said the ministry should include outside parties in assessing cities for the Adipura award, in order to prevent bribery.

Bekasi's embattled mayor told his supporters late last year that he would fight the charges that had been laid against him.

"Do not dare to take the Adipura away," he said to thunderous applause. "Whoever dares to take the Adipura from the city of Bekasi, we shall fight them!"

Merapi eruptions cost Indonesia Rp 7.1 trillion

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2011

Jakarta – According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Indonesia suffered Rp 7.1 trillion (approximately US$781 million) in financial losses caused by the Mount Merapi eruptions last year affecting Central Java and Yogyakarta.

The losses were not only in the form of destroyed property, but also in the form of potential income losses, such as a decline in hotel occupancy rates and flights arriving at Yogyakarta's Adisucipto Airport.

"The calculation of the losses was based on various aspects, not only how many hectares need to be compensated. That would be misleading," Syamsul said, after a visit to victims of lahar floods in Jumoyo village in the Central Java town of Magelang.

"We've totaled them up and the financial losses reached Rp 7.1 trillion, but we haven't calculated losses caused by the impacts of lahar floods because disaster relief efforts there are still ongoing."

He added that the government would cover all financial losses.

Health & education

Education ministry says controversial SBY schoolbooks won't be withdrawn

Jakarta Globe - January 28, 2011

Nurfika Osman – Despite mounting criticism, the Ministry of National Education said on Friday that it would not recall a series of books on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono circulated in schools in Central Java's Tegal district.

"The books have been reviewed by an independent team consisting of education experts and they have met all the necessary criteria," Fasli Djalal, the deputy education minister, told a press conference. "We don't have any right to recall something that has met the agreed standards."

The ministry has come under criticism after it was discovered that a series of 10 books on the president, produced using money from the state budget's Special Allotment Fund (DAK), had been distributed to 87 junior high schools in Tegal in December.

The books have titles such as "Getting Closer to SBY: Arranging Words, Composing Notes," "SBY: Long Journey to the Palace," "SBY: Window to the Heart" and "SBY: The Beauty of a Violence-Free Country."

Activists have said the books are inappropriate and "insensitive" as Yudhoyono is still in power, but Fasli brushed aside suggestions that there was a political motive behind them.

"The proper procedures were followed, the books are not illegal. I think we need to emphasize this," he said. Edy Purnomo, the head of Tegal's Education and Sports Agency, also denied any political motivations.

"We're not publishing the books because he is the president, but we want to introduce the students to Indonesian figures who are good and can be role models," he said.

Edy pointed out that they also circulated books on other important figures such as the country's first president, Sukarno, emancipation activist Raden Ajeng Kartini, Mohammad Hatta and Islamic figure KH Ahmad Dahlan.

Edy said that each school would only get a few copies, and Fasli added that they would be kept in the library. "This means we're not forcing the children to read books about SBY," Fasli said.

He said House of Representatives Commission X, overseeing education, had agreed on the use of DAK funds and showed reporters a copy of the agreement letter signed by the commission's head.

But Heri Akhmadi, deputy chairman of the commission from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), told the Jakarta Globe that his party wanted the ministry to withdraw the books and to examine the publishing process.

Given the controversy, the Education Ministry's head of curriculum and books, Diah Haryanti, said they would evaluate the independent team that approved the books to prevent such things from happening again.

Clerics 'key to success in family planning'

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

The success of the family planning program in Situbondo, East Java, is proof that the role of religious leaders in debunking myths surrounding male contraception is important.

Situbondo, known for its Islamic boarding schools, has the highest number of vasectomy participants in Indonesia. As of 2010, 1,552 Situbondo men have undergone the procedure, making up 7 percent of the total number across the country.

"We have the active participation of the clerics in motivating people that contraception doesn't violate religious teaching," Safaruddin Gumay, the director of the male participation division of the Family Planning National Coordinating Body (BKKBN).

One of the existing problems is the relatively high cost of vasectomy compared to other contraceptive methods. In Indonesia, a vasectomy costs between Rp 4 million (US$440) and Rp 6 million.

Safaruddin recommended that the government allocate more resources to providing long-term contraceptives, especially for low income families, including free vasectomies.

He also highlighted the issue of wrong perceptions, saying many people thought a vasectomy was similar to a castration and would emasculate men. In a vasectomy, the vas deferens through which sperm pass into the semen are severed.

Many family planning advocates have campaigned for a greater participation by men.

Sonny Harry B. Harmadi, the director of the University of Indonesia's Demographic Institute, said Thursday that women should not bear sole responsibility for family planning, as they shouldered the heavy tasks of giving birth, breastfeeding and nurturing children.

"We need more balanced participation between men and women in reducing the country's fertility rate," he told The Jakarta Post.

Only 67 percent of couples participated in the national family planning program, he said, adding that increasing contraceptive rates may not be an easy task because it depended too much on women.

The BKKBN said 75,328 men joined the program in 2010, bringing the total to 713,160 male acceptors by the end of last year, surpassing the target of 690,000.

"We've seen increased awareness among men on the importance of their involvement in family planning programs," Safaruddin said.

Indonesia has 32 million couples participating in the national family planning program. In 2010, 7.1 million people joined the program, 3.7 million of them from low-income families and 254,500 of them male.

Despite the achievements, experts call for better efforts to be made due to the fact that only 1.1 percent of all family planning participants in Indonesia were male.

However, increasing male participation was more difficult as only two methods are available: condoms and vasectomy. A male contraceptive pill will be launched by the BKKBN.

Vasectomies have long been considered the most effective birth control method. "It's not only free from side effects but also is also 99.85 percent effective," Safaruddin said, adding that the number of men opting for the procedure was increasing steadily.

Last year, 2,009 men underwent the procedure, bringing the total number to 22,995 by the end of 2010. By the end of 2009, only 15,905 men had undergone a vasectomy. (ebf)

Schools close to collapse, but cash to go elsewhere

Jakarta Globe - January 28, 2011

Arientha Primanita – Slowly but surely, Malaka Jaya 06 Elementary School in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, is falling apart.

Situated in a narrow alley and surrounded by open gutters, the school hasn't been renovated since it was built in 1979.

The ceiling of one classroom has collapsed while another is sagging and being held up by wooden props. Both classrooms are too dangerous to use Elsewhere, the tiled floors are cracked and the paint is peeling from the walls.

Siti Aminah, a sixth-grade teacher who has been giving lessons in the prayer room since the ceiling of her classroom collapsed, said it was an accident waiting to happen.

"I was afraid to teach in that classroom," she told the Jakarta Globe. "I feared for the safety of the students and myself."

All she wants now, she said, is for the city to allocate the funding that is needed to renovate the termite-infested building. Unfortunately for Siti and her students, however, that is unlikely to happen.

The City Council has proposed slashing billions of rupiah from the education budget allocated for school repairs. Instead, it plans to spend Rp 90.3 billion ($10 million) on educational equipment, a decision that Governor Fauzi Bowo said was "seriously questionable."

The equipment shopping list includes a digital public announcement system costing Rp 2 billion and paper-marking software priced at Rp 11 billion.

Malaka Jaya is one of the four schools most critically in need of renovation, though in total some 346 schools have been identified as in need of repairs.

On Thursday, Deputy Governor Prijanto said it was time to quit squabbling over the proposed budget and focus on coming up with a solution.

"We shouldn't look back, we should see the facts on the ground – that there are schools badly in need of repairs," he said. "So the solution is to see what programs can be put on hold so that we can afford to make the repairs that are needed."

Firmansyah, chairman of the City Council's Commission E, which oversees welfare issues, said the commission had slashed the school renovation budget "due to efficiencies."

He added that the overall education budget, which makes up 28 percent of the city's entire 2011 budget, had not been affected.

"Based on the information we have, there are schools that receive a renovation budget every year but the repairs are never completed," he said. However, Dedi Priatna, principal of State Elementary School 14 in Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta, said otherwise.

He said his school applied for renovation funds every year, but only ever received minor amounts. "We just got enough to change the tiles on the floor," he says.

Dedi said the school had to dip into its Education Operational Aid (BOP) fund, which is meant to cover overheads, in order to repair its ceiling.

In one classroom the ceiling is propped up with a long pole, while parts of the floor have crumbled in. The school's exterior is awash in a coat of bright green paint, but Dedi said that only served to mask its real condition.

"The paint is flaking off the wooden frame and walls, so we painted it because we're ashamed of what the parents would say," he told the Globe.

It's not all bad news, however Back in Duren Sawit, one school has successfully been renovated and looks nothing like its previous self.

SDN 07 now has a small garden and fountain out front. Inside, the walls have been freshly painted green and yellow, and potted plants line the quad.

Syarifah, a teacher, says the school received major funding for repairs back in 2008.

But a lot more is needed. Gifari and Sandi, students at the nearby Malaka Jaya Elementary School, said they were sad about the condition of their school. "We want our school and our classrooms to look nice so that we can study properly," they tell the Globe.

State funds used to publish President's book?

Jakarta Post - January 26, 2011

Jakarta – The National Education Ministry says it will investigate allegations of publication of books on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono using funds intended for education.

Ministry expert staff Sukemi said Tuesday that she knew nothing about the books, which reportedly had been widely circulated in high schools in Slawi, Tegal regency. Sukemi promised to check the matter with relevant parties, tempointeraktif.com reported.

The publication of the books using the Special Allocation Fund was a central government policy, Tegal Basic Education, Youth and Sports Agency chief Waudin said Monday.

The books were published by PT Media Tama in Surakarta using funding allocated for 87 junior high schools in Tegal. The fund for each school amounted to Rp 45.5 million (US$5,055).

"[All of the books] had been distributed since December," he said. If the books were invalid, they could be withdrawn from the schools, he added.

Poverty, ignorance blamed for kids' bad diets in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - January 23, 2011

Nurfika Osman – Children in half of all Indonesian households don't get enough vitamins or minerals, either because their families can't afford a healthy diet or are ignorant about proper nutrition, experts say.

Yulia Rimawati, a nutritionist at the Center for Justice and Care for Society (PKPU), said on Sunday that children who did not eat a proper diet were more likely to become ill, hampering their physical and mental development.

"The children also run the risk of not doing well at school because they can't learn as well as children who get sufficient amounts of macro- and micronutrients," she said.

Last year, only 69.8 percent of Indonesian children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years consumed vitamin A for six months in a row, while 27.7 percent of children between the ages of 1 and 4 suffered from anemia, according to the 2010 National Basic Health Study (Riskesdas).

"Only 62.3 percent of Indonesian households consume sufficient amounts of iodized salt," Yulia said.

She said a lack of iodized salt made children more susceptible to mumps, among other illnesses. She said the two main causes for incomplete nutrition were poverty and lack of education.

"Poverty is an impediment to anyone wanting to buy nutritious food, while lack of education means they don't understand the importance of consuming vitamins and minerals, or micronutrients," she said.

Yulia also said that a deficiency of carbohydrates and protein remained a common problem across the country.

"It remains a national challenge because these children are the future generation, the ones who will lead this country," she said, speaking at an event in Jakarta to mark National Nutrition Day later this week.

As part of its commitment to the cause, the PKPU has joined forces with Sari Husada, a major dairy company, and Dompet Dhuafa, an Islamic charity organization, to start a new program, Warung Anak Sehat, or Stalls for Healthy Children, which will allow parents to buy nutritious food at affordable prices.

The program will also involve nutritionists educating parents and children about the importance of proper nutrition.

Naomi Jamarro, brand manager for Gizikita, one of Sari Husada's newest powdered dairy products, said the Warung Anak Sehat campaign would support parents struggling with rising food prices.

"We realize that the price of food items in Jakarta is far different from in Papua, for instance, so we're collaborating [with the PKPU and Dompet Dhuafa] in order to make nutritious food available and affordable for all children," she said.

At Sunday's event to kick off the Warung Anak Sehat program, Sari Husada donated 20,000 packages of Gizikita to Dompet Dhuafa and the PKPU.

The event also saw 100 children aged 2 to 5 years decorating nasi tumpeng – the yellow rice pictured above – with items such as pieces of fried chicken, scrambled eggs, carrots, shredded meat and fried tofu.

The competition was meant to raise the children's awareness of the various kinds of nutritious food they should be consuming on a daily basis.

"I love decorating nasi tumpeng with eggs and carrot because they're nutritious and delicious," said Bila, a 5-year-old girl attending the event.

Women & gender

Muslim women learning about empowerment

Jakarta Globe - January 30, 2011

Alex Walls – Many Muslim women have suffered in silence through years of repression and discrimination in school, at work and at home.

The Center for Education and Information on Islam and Women's Rights Issues (Rahima) is trying to change this by empowering them and offering people a better understanding of the religion.

The group was formed in 2000 by former members of the Indonesian Society for Pesantren and Community Development (P3M), a nongovernmental organization promoting reproductive health in boarding schools.

Aditiana Dewi Eridani, Rahima's co-founder and director, said they broke away because they objected to the P3M director's polygamous practices. "It was really a contradiction to the struggle for women's rights," she said.

Aditiana and 18 others – including women's rights advocates and an official from the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) – formed Rahima hoping to promote women's rights from an Islamic viewpoint.

A large part of this initiative is the center's reproductive health program, where participants learn about sex, health and taking control of their bodies.

Rahima hosts reproductive health conferences for students between the ages of 15 and 20, as well as workshops for similar advocacy groups. The center's curriculum features three topics: gender perspectives, sexual and reproductive health and how Islam looks at both issues. Teaching aids include aprons with scientifically labeled genitals and wooden molds that many Westerners would be familiar with from their high school sex education classes. The center's course takes several days to complete and participants meet again a few months later to talk about their views.

Rahima also publishes educational booklets complete with cartoons exploring sexual desire, wet dreams and sexually transmitted diseases. "Young women trainees are very surprised when they see a picture or model of a penis for the first time," Aditiana said.

But looking at the photos of smiling students at the center, amid the anatomically correct aprons and cartoon characters blushing in sex booklets, it's easy to see learning about sex is no onerous task. Overall, the workshops look fun.

However, this comes with some problems. Rahima has ruffled more than a few feathers with to its reproductive health classes. A few years ago, members of the center received an e-mail asking why they "bothered trying to save whores who should be left to rot in hell."

The center has also been criticized by conservative groups for its interpretation of Islam. Muslim leaders have denounced the women's rights group, but Aditiana says they simply take these attacks in stride to avoid fueling tensions.

However, the antagonism prevents Rahima from holding lessons at pensantrens, or Islamic boarding schools. Aditiana said it was crucial to reach the youth – both boys and girls – but not every pesantren was willing to open its doors to sex comics and aprons with uteruses printed on them.

Still, several schools have allowed its students to attend Rahima conferences.

Prior to the workshops, the center's members conduct surveys about the participants' level of knowledge about sex. "How does pregnancy occur?" and "What is an STD?" are some of the questions asked of students.

Rahima has found that many students are sexually active but have very little knowledge about sex or even basic hygiene, with some respondents not knowing to change their underwear regularly. "Some female students only changed their underwear once every two days," Aditiana said.

But the more important idea the center wants to teach students is that women and men are equal, according to Islamic teachings. "We believe the Koran is Allah's word, but we realize that until now, it's mostly interpreted by men," Aditiana said.

"No wonder then that the male perspective in Koranic interpretation is very strong," she added.

The director said hadith, or Muslim tradition, should foster gender equality. This means women should not be confined to domestic duties, but should be able to pursue their passions.

"We are trying to deliver this message to Rahima's community, that it's OK for women to work not only in domestic affairs," Aditiana said.

These ideas have appealed to many Rahima workshop participants over the years. Nihayatul Wafiroh said she was so inspired by the classes she attended in 2002 that she joined the center as a teacher.

"Rahima not only taught me but its members also supported me and kept in touch with me," she said. She said she admired Rahima for confronting issues about sexuality – still a taboo subject in Indonesia.

"Both men and women do not have a lot of information about reproductive health," she said. "Female orgasms are unheard of and subjects like contraception, rights or even how to stay healthy are new for many students."

Now, she helps the center disseminate information about health and rights among pesantren students, many of whom came from rural areas.

Even though each class is designed for dozens of participants and not all pesantrens are open to these workshops, Rahima is counting on word-of-mouth to spread teachings. In fact, as their homework, Rahima asks participants to tell their friends what they learned.

"If we discuss gender perspectives, we discuss human rights, and the students have to know about their rights," Nihayatula said. "Then they can stick up for themselves, for what they want. They can have more opportunities to establish what they want."

Population & migration

Indonesia population could reach 450 million by 2045

Jakarta Post - January 27, 2011

Jakarta – Indonesia may face a "baby boom" if a government-led population control plan is not implemented soon, a senior official says.

Citing the Central Statistics Agency's latest data, National Family Planning Agency chairman Sugiri Syarief said Wednesday that Indonesia's population had increased by 32.5 million since 2000, and at an average population growth rate of 1.49 percent per year. The data put Indonesia's population at 237.6 million people.

"Indonesia's population will reach about 450 million people by 2045 if the population growth rate remains 1.49 percent. That means that one in every 20 people in the world would be Indonesian," he said on the sidelines of a national meeting on population development and family planning.

Such a large population would create massive burdens on government spending on health, education, food and public housing.

"A huge number of people can have the potential to drive the economy as long as they are qualified. Without quality, they can be a burden on our development, however," Sugiri said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

To prevent a baby boom, he said, Indonesia needed a population control plan. This would cover family planning and help spread the population evenly throughout the country and improve transportation.

He said the government would also revitalize the national family planning program as part of its efforts to prevent higher population growth.

Graft & corruption

Political corruption reaches alarming level: Watchdogs

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Political corruption is reaching alarming new levels, depriving people of better social welfare and jeopardizing the country's democracy, graft watchdogs say.

Senior Transparency International Indonesia (TII) researcher Franky Simanjuntak told The Jakarta Post that based on TII surveys conducted in many regions over the past three years, most politicians and political parties had been acting as rent seekers in the executive and legislative bodies. This has led to costly political campaigns and increasing party expenditures for legislative elections and local polls.

"Legislators and councilors at provincial and regency legislatures have no other choice but to abuse their power to seek funds to pay for their campaigns to win their legislative seats and to help finance their parties' activities. Party elites in the Cabinet have apparently sold top echelon positions and gain from policy issuance within their own portfolio," he said.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Febri Diansyah said this form of political corruption had been rife not only among regional leaders, but had infected other sectors in the regions, including education and taxes.

"The general allocation funds for the education and public works sectors have become sources of corruption for public officials in the executive and legislative bodies. A bigger part of general allocation funds disbursed through councilors has been manipulated to enrich legislators through distribution to their own electoral districts," he said.

So far 17 governors and hundreds of regents, mayors and councilors have been held as suspects for manipulating general allocations funds from the state budget and non-budgetary funds and for issuing public policies to benefit their party cartels.

Gadjah Mada University political analyst Ari Dwipayana said political party cartels, bureaucracy and businesspeople are responsible for corruption of public funds.

The cartel phenomenon appears when political party elites function as rent seekers hunting for non-budgetary funds in ministerial portfolios, legislative budgets and state-owned enterprises to meet their financial requirements, he said.

"Political parties have forged mutual transaction ties and developed transactional politics with the business sector. Both sides need each other for mutual benefit and collaborate in local elections, legislative and presidential polls," he said, adding that businesspeople and foreign companies have no objection to donating to parties as political investments favoring their own operational security.

Such transactional politics have become standard in the regions even though the amount of funds in play are generally believed to be far smaller than central government allocations.

"Almost all development projects have been taken by companies linked to local elites and regional heads. This has been possible because many regional heads have appointed members of their success team to strategic positions in their administration," Ari said.

Senior Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) political analyst J. Kristiadi concurred, saying that the trend of political dynasties had also made the country more vulnerable to political corruption.

He cited Banten as an example. Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah who "appointed" relatives as regional heads in Serang, Cilegon mayoralty, Lebak and South Tangerang, and had helped win seats for other relatives in the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council.

The Banten governor has a wide political network supported by the Banten Jawara grouping, the bureaucracy and local businesspeople. This ring of power is expected to be deployed in her efforts to seek re-election next year.

The political dynasty trend has appeared not only in former president Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) but also in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. The President's son Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono was appointed party secretary- general and First Lady Kristiani Herawati has been rumored to be a presidential hopeful in 2014.

Kristiadi said complex politics had made it increasingly difficult to fight against political corruption, prompting law enforcers to be more selective in handling graft cases.

"This condition has made it difficult for President [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] to bring to court Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie for tax scandals involving the tycoon's holding units. The difficult situation has something to do with Golkar's threat of bringing the Bank Century scandal to [presidential] impeachment," he said.

Kristiadi added that the establishment of a pro-government coalition joint secretariat could be seen as a chance for political corruption, suggesting that coalition members use the secretariat to negotiate positions and projects.

Political analysts and corruption watchdogs were of the same view on the importance of party income reform through a revision of the political party law.

They said the revised 2008 Political Party Law should be amended to have party members pay monthly or annual dues, or to allow them only to receive public funds following budgetary audits and under the precondition that results must be announced to the public.

"The revised law, which would increase company or organizational donations to Rp 7.5 billion from the previous Rp 4 billion, would give wider opportunities for party elites to commit political corruption and this trend will lead to a capitalistic democracy," Franky said.

Ari said party expenditures, especially during political campaigns, had to be controlled through an annual audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the results had to be publicly announced for transparency purposes. He also said party funds should no longer be controlled by party leaders and treasurers, but must be managed professionally. "Political campaigns during local and general elections have to be designed and limited through the media with equal opportunity for efficiency and security reasons. This method can minimize the misuse of money, restrict rent seekers and lead the nation to develop a healthy and prosperous democracy" he said.

80% of DPR renovation funds 'embezzled'

Jakarta Globe - January 31, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Two state-owned contractors responsible for renovating legislators' homes may have pocketed 80 percent of the project fund, thus leading to substandard construction, according to claims from a former subcontractor.

The project to refurbish and build new homes in South Jakarta for members of the House of Representatives has long been dogged by allegations of cost markups. Legislators refused to move in because of what they called was poor workmanship and use of substandard materials in the homes.

On Sunday, a subcontractor who asked to be identified only as SL and claimed to be from construction company MIM, said his firm had been appointed to carry out the renovation by state-owned contractor Pembangunan Perumahan.

He said that in September 2009, he had been ordered to start the job without having signed any contracts. A contract was finally signed on Oct. 16, 2009, but PP did not make any down payment, as required by the contract, SL said.

As a result, his company and the eight other appointed subcontractors were forced to get loans from a bank "that was cooperating with PP staff." "They were more like brokers," he told the Jakarta Globe.

He also said it was only halfway through the project that he became aware that PP was not the main contractor for the project, but had itself been subcontracted by Adhi Karya, another state-owned builder.

He said the House, in awarding the contract to Adhi Karya, had budgeted around Rp 700 million to Rp 900 million ($77,700 to $100,000) per home – far more than the Rp 152.5 million per home stipulated in PP's contract with MIM. SL added that almost all the materials for the construction were provided by PP, while the subcontractors were only allowed to provide sand and bricks.

"They even chose the cement, the Tiga Roda brand," he said. "So now, if the legislators are complaining about the poor quality of the building material, we're not to blame. It was PP that provided it all."

SL also said that whenever members of the House's Household Affairs Committee (BURT) made site inspections, the PP staff would order the subcontractors to tell the inspectors that they were from Adhi Karya.

He said that while he was aware that this cover-up might have been illegal, he said the subcontractors had no choice but to proceed with the renovations because they had already signed the contract with PP. "I was just hoping to earn back the money I'd already spent."

After frequent complaints to PP, SL said that MIM and the other subcontractors finally decided to break their contract in February last year. Of the Rp 152.5 million per house that he should have received from the project, SL said his company only got around Rp 120 million for each.

"PP then subcontracted the project again, and we heard they used the same work pattern," he said. "So it's no wonder there are so many complaints now about the finished product."

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) has also said PP had subcontracted the project to nine firms for around Rp 152 million per house. However, it said PP had itself received a Rp 135 billion subcontract from Adhi Karya, or about Rp 619 million per House.

Adhi Karya's contract with the House was even bigger – an initial Rp 445 billion plus an additional Rp 34 billion.

Fitra has since requested a probe by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) into the budget differences at each subcontracting stage.

Last week, House Deputy Speaker Anis Matta said the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) was looking into whether the building specifications in the contract with Adhi Karya had been met. "If they haven't, we should refuse the homes," he said.

Kalla calls for honesty from arrested legislators

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2011

Dina Indrasafitri/Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Former vice president and Golkar Party elder Jusuf Kalla called on the 19 politicians arrested in a bribery case surrounding a 2004 central bank election to be honest as it would help the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) resolve the case.

"The former minister and other legislators must be open about where the bribes came from. It will help unravel the case," he was quoted as saying Sunday by news portal kompas.com.

He said the KPK's move to arrest the 19 on Thursday was in line with the legal process and asked other legislators to refrain from criticizing the arrests. "We would like to believe that if other people were suspects, we would want them arrested. So we cannot make exceptions of ourselves," Kalla said.

However, Kalla at the same time paid a visit to the detained politicians at Cipinang Penitentiary on Sunday afternoon.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri reiterated her party's stance that the KPK's move was discriminatory. "The KPK should also have arrested the bribe payers, not only those suspected of receiving money," she said.

Megawati added that the KPK should also investigate other legal cases that contained strong indications of graft, including tax fraud and the Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) Bank Century bailout.

"[The Bank Century case] is a major issue that the government and House of Representatives agreed to probe. But there have been no serious efforts made to get to the bottom of it," the former president said.

The KPK stole the headlines last week when it arrested 19 of 25 politicians suspected of receiving traveler's checks worth Rp 24 billion in exchange for their support of Miranda S. Goeltom in her bid to become Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor.

Those arrested were from the PDI-P, the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP) including former Golkar Party legislator and minister Pazkah Suzetta and Panda Nababan from the PDI-P.

The arrests come at a time of escalating political tension and dissatisfaction with the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

PPP legislator Muhammad Romahurmuzy said it was "difficult not to see a political slant to the arrests".

"[The arrests] were conducted at a time when the President's approval ratings are taking a hit and there is discord within the ruling coalition," Romahurmuzy said.

He was referring to infighting between Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and Golkar over plans to establish an inquiry committee to probe corruption in the tax office, a recent Constitutional Court ruling that made it easier for legislators to impeach a president, as well as recent accusations by religious leaders that Yudhoyono's administration lied to the people. However, Romahurmuzy was quick to add that the PPP "respects the legality of the KPK's move. As citizens, we respect it in principle".

Achsanul Qosasih from the Democratic Party also said his party "respected the move", but added that the arrests could generate more antagonism toward the Democratic Party.

KPK vows to defy political pressure

Jakarta Post - January 30, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The top antigraft body will not bow to pressure from angry politicians whose colleagues were detained for allegedly receiving bribes in the 2004 election of a central bank official, its spokesman says.

The Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) Johan Budi told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that the commission worked "under the strict rule of law" and that neither political interests nor intervention would play a role in any of its actions.

The KPK had been a target of criticism from fuming politicians after it named 25 (not 24 as reported earlier) senior politicians as graft suspects last year and detained 19 of them on Friday.

The former and current legislators are alleged to have received traveler's checks worth a total of Rp 24 billion (US$2.6 million) as bribes in return for supporting Miranda S. Goeltom's bid to be Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor.

In a show of solidarity, several politicians – including current and former ministers – from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP) visited their colleagues in four different detention centers on Saturday.

They criticized the KPK for failing to identify any of the alleged bribe payers in the case. "It's a disaster, very tragic. On the one hand, 19 people were detained for accepting bribes but on the other, the bribe payers remain untouched. Why do they have impunity?" senior Golkar politician and former minister Fahmi Idris said.

The PDI-P's Trimedya Panjaitan lambasted the KPK's move as politically motivated, saying that while the antigraft body seemed to be working hard on the Bank Indonesia case, it deliberately stalled its probe into the possible corruption surrounding the Bank Century bailout.

Trimedya and several colleagues from the PDI-P were visiting detained veteran party member Panda Nababan.

Fahmi and Trimedya blasted the KPK's move as "out of line". "Golkar and the PDI-P may seek redress. This issue will be raised at the House [of Representatives]," Trimedya said.

Friday's arrest occurred amid rising political tension in the House over a renewed attempt by Golkar to put pressure on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration by earlier initiating a move to impeach Boediono and, more recently, looking to create a special committee to probe corruption at the tax office.

PPP legislator Ahmad Yani said his party would use its political leverage to question the KPK's move.

"The House's law commission will hold a hearing with the KPK on Monday. We will question KPK leaders over this case, specifically why they have not named any bribe payers yet," he said after visiting detained PPP colleagues at the Cipinang detention center in East Jakarta.

Politicians have accused Miranda and her close friend Nunun Nurbaeti, a businesswoman who is also the wife of former National Police deputy chief turned legislator Comr. Gen. (ret.) Adang Daradjatun, for being behind the case.

The KPK have failed on several occasions to get Nunun to appear for questioning. Nunun's lawyers claim she was unwell.

According to KPK documents obtained by The Jakarta Post, Nunun ordered middleman Arie Malangjudo to distribute Rp 24 billion in traveler's checks to the legislators.

Most of the suspects allegedly met with Arie to receive the checks shortly after Miranda won a House vote to appoint her Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor.

Johan said the identity of the bribe payers in the case would soon come to light. "We are investigating them. Hopefully next week we will hear some good news," he told the Post.

KPK detains 19 Indonesian politicians in bribe case

Jakarta Globe - January 29, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – In a sign that one of the country's most anticipated corruption trials will begin soon, 19 suspects in the Rp 24 billion ($2.7 million) bribery scandal surrounding the appointment of Miranda Goeltom as Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor were detained on Friday.

Panda Nababan, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the only sitting lawmaker among those detained, was picked up at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by members of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as he was about to depart for a party leadership meeting in Batam on Friday morning.

The other 18, all former lawmakers from the PDI-P, the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP), were detained after being questioned at KPK headquarters in Jakarta.

They included former minister and Golkar politician Paskah Suzetta, senior PDI-P politician Max Moein and former PDI-P lawmaker Agus Condro Prayitno, the whistle-blower who reported the alleged bribery in 2008.

The 19 detained on Friday were among the 26 suspects named last September in the 2004 bribery scandal that has already seen four former lawmakers jailed.

Of the other seven, one has passed away, another has been detained in a separate case, four claim to be ill and one is out of town. "We're going to check on the condition of the four with the hospital and if they are really ill, the case will be delayed," KPK spokesman Johan Budi said.

The 19 current and former lawmakers picked up on Friday are being detained at Salemba, Pondok Bambu and Cipinang penitentiaries, as well as Jakarta Police headquarters. They will initially be detained for 20 days, Johan said, as the investigation continues.

The suspects are accused of receiving traveler's checks worth Rp 150 million to Rp 1.45 billion ($16,000 to $160,000) each to ensure that Miranda was appointed as senior deputy governor. All except for Panda were members of House of Representatives Commission IX, which oversees banking affairs, at the time of the vote.

Panda, the secretary of the PDI-P in the House at the time, is accused of coordinating the votes, distributing the checks and receiving the largest amount – Rp 1.45 billion – in return.

Agus, the whistle-blower, said he didn't mind being detained. "It's not a problem," he said. "We just need to get on with the legal process, the faster the better, so we can also charge the person who provided the checks."

Others questioned the motive behind the detentions. "This is a political case, so we will solve it politically as well," Paskah said. "I was a minister, and I know how these things go."

Golkar and PDI-P politicians said they would cooperate but questioned why the KPK had not gone after the people who initiated the alleged bribery.

"In our opinion, for a systematic investigation, the KPK should start with the person who offered the bribes," said Gayus Lumbuun, who went to the KPK office as the PDI-P's legal division head. But he said his party would cooperate with the investigation as long as it was not politicized.

Nurul Arifin, Golkar's deputy secretary general, said that although none of the former lawmakers detained by the KPK were active party members, Golkar would still help them. "They are registered as our allies, so yes, we will provide them with legal aid," she said.

But she said the "big question" was why Miranda, who has been questioned several times as a witness but hasn't been named a suspect, was not being targeted.

Nudirman Munir, another Golkar lawmaker, insinuated that the arrests were a form of retaliation. "I don't understand why we are witnessing this cherry-picking, after lawmakers pushed for a right to express an opinion and an inquiry?" he said. "Meanwhile, the person who gave the bribes is being left untouched."

The KPK's Johan denied the detentions were related to anything other than the legal process. "The subjective reasons [for the detentions] are to prevent them from fleeing, destroying evidence, repeating the same mistake or influencing the witnesses," he said. "The objective reason is simply that someone who committed corruption can be detained."

House tax mafia inquiry stalled as parties flip-flop

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2011

Anita Rachman & Markus Junianto Sihalho – The Democratic Party has defended its decision to withdraw support from a proposed tax mafia inquiry, saying it could be used as a "political tool" to unseat the president.

Thirty legislators signed a letter on Monday proposing that the House of Representatives (DPR) use its right of inquiry to investigate tax mafia cases. The proposal needs the affirmative vote of at least 25 lawmakers. By Thursday, though, seven Democrats had backtracked.

"I will follow my party's stance and I have withdrawn my support for the inquiry right," said Sutjipto, the last of the seven Democrats who had their names struck from the letter.

A senior official from the ruling coalition said party leaders threatened to dismiss members who continued to support the inquiry. He refused to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Sutjipto said his party was worried the inquiry would only be used by rival factions to get President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono impeached.

"Like a ball, this ball could be directed by any politicians for a purpose," he said. "It's why I can accept my party's order, although I supported this inquiry to reveal the tax mafia at the beginning."

The tax mafia – brokers, crooks and thieves operating within or in collusion with the tax office – has recently made headlines during the high-profile case of former tax official Gayus Tambunan, who has been convicted of bribery.

Jafar Hafsah, the new chairman of the Democratic Party faction in the House, said there was no need to launch a grand inquest since a working committee "was enough to settle tax cases."

Setya Novanto, chairman of the Golkar Party's House faction, urged all parties to drop the proposal to hold an inquiry. "Our stance is to push a joint working committee of House Commission III and Commission XI to discuss the case," he said.

Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, and Commission XI, which oversees financial affairs, both formed committees to look into the tax cases.

The National Awakening Party (PKB) is so far the only pro-government party to announce that it had ordered three of its members to withdraw support for the proposal. "We have made an evaluation and have decided that we don't need the inquiry rights," said Bahruddin Nasory, the PKB faction's secretary.

Mustafa Kamal, chairman of the pro-government Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said his party would evaluate the benefits of holding an inquiry. He said PKS members would not be barred from supporting the proposal.

Meanwhile, Trimedya Panjaitan, a member of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said his party was ready to file a new inquiry petition, which all of its members would sign.

However, Airlangga Pribadi, a political analyst from Surabaya's Airlangga University, cast doubt on lawmakers' ability to launch an inquiry. "I don't think this is a serious proposal from our lawmakers," he said, adding that the House needed the support of civic groups and the public.

Next chapter Of Gayus saga sees KPK and DPR step in

Jakarta Globe - January 26, 2011

Nivell Rayda & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The state antigraft agency on Tuesday confirmed that it had launched a probe into the alleged tax office bribery involving graft convict Gayus Tambunan.

Separately, a working committee at the House of Representatives said it had found a dozen areas at the Directorate General of Taxation vulnerable to abuse.

The developments come a day after the National Police pledged to investigate Gayus's claims that he received money from at least 44 of 151 companies he is said to have worked with – claims Gayus himself has long asked law enforcers to look into, pointing to growing disillusionment with the way one of the country's most sensational graft cases has been handled.

The probe into the source of billions of rupiah stashed in Gayus's bank accounts was stalled last year when the former taxman went to trial for bribing state officials to secure an acquittal in his original trial for embezzlement.

He was last week sentenced to seven years in prison for giving out those bribes, and now the focus is again on finding out which taxpayers contributed to his estimated Rp 100 billion ($11.1 million) in suspect wealth.

On Tuesday, about 100 antigraft activists and academics asked the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to take over the case from the police because they could no longer be trusted.

Bibit Samad Rianto, KPK deputy chairman for graft enforcement, said it would only focus on those who channeled illicit funds to Gayus. "We have started to examine the money flow, and where it went after Gayus," he said. "We will focus on what the police haven't looked into yet."

Indonesia Corruption Watch researcher Febri Diansyah said the KPK must work quickly on the case because "there might be attempts to tamper with evidence, as had happened with the BLBI."

Febri was referring to the bailout funds from Bank Indonesia injected into ailing banks during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Most of the records tracking the BLBI were destroyed in a suspicious fire at the central bank's headquarters in 2000. Some analysts believe the fire was set to cover up mass misappropriation of the bailout funds.

But KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas pledged to finish the investigation by the end of the year. "Although Gayus is a new case for us, we will expedite the handling of it," he said.

But beyond the bribery cases specifically related to Gayus, lawmakers want a broader probe of the tax office, where they say four out of 10 officials are prone to being "manipulated" by taxpayers.

Markus Melkias Mekeng, the chairman of the House committee and a longtime critic of the tax office, said it concluded violations happened at all levels, from the regional to national level.

"The state Treasury could be losing trillions of rupiah each year because of these violations," he said.

The lawmakers cited weak points at the tax office ranging from the auditing process – where the amount of tax due can be manipulated – to the objections, investigation, appeals, prosecution and trial phases.

Despite 'deponeering' KPK still suspicious of set-up

Jakarta Post - January 26, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says it welcomed the Attorney General Office's decision on Monday to drop prosecution of two KPK deputies, despite lingering doubts on the case's origins.

"What's important is for us is that we have explained to the public that the case was engineered by corrupt people who want to destroy KPK," KPK deputy chief Mochamad Jasin told The Jakarta Post.

Tape recorded conversations played at the Constitutional Court as it heard the case of graft convict Anggodo Widjojo showed that the bribery and abuse of power charges leveled against KPK deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah were orchestrated by Anggodo, senior police officers and prosecutors.

Jasin said he was relieved that the mastermind of behind Bibit and Chandra's case had been sentenced to prison, though he was disappointed that no police officers or prosecutors implicated in the case were named suspects.

He added that his office would not interfere with AGO's decision. "It's the authority of the AGO to invoke deponeering. The KPK won't thrust its nose into it," he said.

Attorney General Basrief Arief said on Monday that he had signed all the documents needed to invoke the legal principle of deponeering, which allowed the government to officially drop the case against Bibit and Chandra in the public interest.

Critics said the move would forever leave the KPK deputies as suspects as the AGO had never claimed that it lacked sufficient evidence to bring to pair to court, nor did it admit that the case had been fabricated.

Bibit and Chandra's attorney, Taufik Basari, said deponeering might be misused to criminalize the deputies in the future since it why the pair were implicated in wrongdoing, or who was behind the jury-rigged case.

He said that it would be better for the AGO to have halted the case citing new evidence from Anggodo's trial which showed that the businessman was guilty of attempting to bribe the pair.

"Using the fact that Anggodo has been proven guilty will clear Bibit and Chandra from any accusations and possible criminalization in the future – while deponeering will merely cause a public outcry," he said.

In September the Corruption Court sentenced Anggodo to four years' imprisonment. The Jakarta High Court later added one year to his sentence.

"Don't just stop there. They have to follow up the deponeering decision and investigate the actors behind the fabrication case," Taufik said.

Taufik said it was better to remain optimistic that the Basrief's decision would improve the performance of the nation's top antigraft body.

KPK spokesperson Johan Budi agreed, saying that the Attorney General's decision to invoke deponeering at last gave Bibit and Chandra a certain degree of certainty.

Gayus appeals as AGO preps new trials, dozens suspended in fallout

Jakarta Globe - January 24, 2011

Heru Andriyanto – Former tax official Gayus Tambunan on Monday filed an appeal against his bribery conviction and seven-year sentence, despite previously lauding the court's decision to not give him 20 years as sought by prosecutors.

Gayus was convicted last Monday of bribing a judge and police officers to ensure his acquittal in his first trial in Tangerang last year, which centered on the Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) in his personal bank accounts.

Junder Tambunan, the convict's newly appointed lawyer, said a request for an appeal had been filed with the South Jakarta District Court, although the appeal documents would only be submitted once he had studied a copy of last week's verdict.

Prosecutors have already lodged their appeal as they seek to have Gayus slapped with a heavier sentence.

Despite having been tried twice, Gayus faces more time in the dock as police prepare a charge sheet related to trips to Bali, Macau, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur that he made last year while he was supposed to be in remand.

He is also expected to stand trial for taking bribes from corporate taxpayers who allegedly used his service to ease tax regulations.

"Multiple trials are possible because the police are preparing separate cases against Gayus," Faried Haryanto, director of prosecution at the Attorney General's Office, said.

"We'll make the indictment based on the charge sheets from the police" he added. "If they hand us separate charges, we'll make new indictments."

However, criminal law expert Chairul Huda suggested that the remaining cases against Gayus be combined into a single indictment.

"We should opt for an efficient and low-cost trial," he said. "It's not necessary for a single defendant like Gayus to face four or five trials. The prosecutors should wait until the police complete all the charge sheets and then prepare just one indictment for those altogether."

He said such a move would be supported by Article 25 of the Criminal Code, which states that multiple cases can be combined into one, in which case the final sentence handed down is one and a third times the heaviest sentence of the individual charges.

Even as authorities prepare to pursue the other charges against the former taxman, the fallout from his case continues to resound.

On Monday, the government revealed that nearly 60 officials from various bureaus had been suspended for their alleged role in the long-running saga. Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said his ministry had suspended 35 officials from the immigration office.

The suspended officials include those from the East Jakarta Immigration Office, where Gayus was issued the fake passport that allowed him to go on his overseas jaunts.

Others include immigration officials from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, whose collaboration or negligence allowed Gayus through passport control unflagged, Patrialis said.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said 17 officers from the force had been suspended ever since the detective unit began its investigation of the case.

"None of these officers are active in their positions and all have been relieved of their duties," he said. He added police investigators were determining whether they should be cited for criminal or ethical violations.

Attorney General Basrief Arief said his office had suspended C.S. and P.M., believed to be Cirus Sinaga and Poltak Manulang, the prosecutors alleged to have watered down Gayus's charges in the first trial, thus helping him get acquitted.

"Since there's a criminal indication with regards to C.S., we've handed the case to the police," Basrief said.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said five more tax officials had been suspended, in addition to those disciplined after the scandal broke last March.

Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the institutions implicated in the case to clean house within a week. He specifically called for a restructuring of the tax and immigration offices.

On Friday, the Finance Ministry responded by replacing tax chief Mochamad Tjiptardjo with Fuad Rahmani, while the justice ministry replaced Muhammad Indra with Bambang Irawan as the immigration chief.

SBY wants to keep taskforce, despite flak

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has decided to let the Judicial Mafia Taskforce finish its work, despite claims that the presidential special unit has politicized the case of graft convict Gayus Tambunan, Yudhoyono's spokesman says.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said on Monday that Yudhoyono had decided to let the taskforce work until the end of its previously established term on Dec. 30, 2011.

Yudhoyono still believed the taskforce was helping the nation's law enforcement institutions to eradicate racketeering and corruption, Julian said.

Julian added the taskforce was an ad hoc body that could be dissolved whenever it was considered superfluous. "Whenever law enforcement officers meet public expectations, the taskforce can be dismissed," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Yudhoyono established the taskforce on Dec. 30, 2009 by a presidential decree that stipulated a two-year term for the body.

Julian previously said that Yudhoyono was shocked and upset by comments made by Gayus on Wednesday shortly after the former low-level tax official was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for corruption.

Gayus alleged that taskforce members had politicized his case and that taskforce secretary Denny Indrayana had intimidated his wife, Milana Anggraeni.

"Denny kept pushing my wife to admit that I had met Ical in Bali even though she had refused to comment," Gayus said, referring to Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Although the taskforce denied Gayus' allegations, it has subsequently come under fire from Golkar Party politicians. Golkar legislator Bambang Soesatyo urged Yudhoyono to disband the taskforce despite the President's claim that the body was still necessary.

"The taskforce has clearly betrayed the President's mandate. Instead of eradicating the [judicial] mafia and corruption, it has politicized Gayus' case and cornered our chairman and defamed the Golkar Party," he said.

Setara Institute of Democracy and Peace chairman Hendardi said the public had begun to lose trust in the taskforce. "The taskforce has no clear legal standing," he said in a statement.

Attorney Hotma Sitompul, who is representing Gayus and Milana, said the public should support the taskforce. "I agree with the President. People should support the taskforce as an institution but not its culprits," he told detik.com news portal.

Bibit and Chandra epic over at last

Jakarta Globe - January 25, 2011

Heru Andriyanto, Indonesia – It's official now. The criminal charges against two deputy chairmen of the antigraft commission have been permanently terminated by Attorney General Basrief Arief.

On Monday, Basrief used his exclusive right to drop a case in the public interest, using a legal principle from the Dutch system known as deponering. "We have issued a decision to set aside the case in the public interest," Basrief told reporters.

The decision was prepared in two documents for each of the deputies, Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, he said, adding that the official notification letters should reach the two men as early as today.

When asked if his office still believed a case against the two men existed and was dropped only in the public interest, Basrief replied "yes."

Previously, Bibit and Chandra themselves were split over the decision to have their cases dropped using deponering.

Bibit said dropping the case through deponering would forever leave open the possibility that he took a bribe, while Chandra welcomed deponering as a chance to end months of bad blood between the AGO and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Monday's decision ended a saga that began in September 2009 when the two were named suspects for extortion and abuse of power in their handling of a graft case involving businessman Anggoro Widjojo.

The case triggered public outrage after the Constitutional Court in a November 2009 open hearing aired live throughout the nation played wiretapped phone conversations between Anggoro's brother, Anggodo, and members of the National Police and the AGO indicating a plot to bring down the deputies.

The AGO decided to resort to deponering in October last year but before it could be signed, the office needed advice from key state agencies including the House of Representatives, the president's office, the National Police, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

Earlier, the AGO had instructed the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office to issue a letter dropping the case, which was later successfully challenged at all levels of the court by the antigraft pair's accuser, Anggodo Widjojo.

Anggodo claimed Bibit and Chandra extorted Rp 5.1 billion ($570,000) from him in exchange for halting the criminal investigation into his brother and lifting a travel ban on him. But Anggodo is now serving time for trying to bribe the antigraft officials.

Gayus's new claim: Antasari murder trial was a big fix

Jakarta Globe - January 24, 2011

Heru Andriyanto – Gayus Tambunan says prosecutor Cirus Sinaga holds crucial information in the murder conviction of a former antigraft chief, which helps him evade punishment for leaking trial documents ahead of Gayus's embezzlement trial.

"Gayus implied that the [Antasari Azhar murder case] was fabricated," Neta Pane, chairman of Indonesia Police Watch, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday. "Implicating [Cirus] could risk seeing him leak this [information] and therefore, Cirus was left without charges," he said.

Antasari, former head of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), was sentenced to 18 years in jail for ordering the murder of a state enterprise executive in March 2009. The prosecution team led by Cirus said Antasari had an affair with a young golf caddy, who turned out to be the executive's wife.

The former KPK chief's trial was marked by controversy from its opening day, when the court and the media heard an indictment filled with graphic sexual descriptions.

"If Gayus's remarks are for real, then we demand that the National Commission on Human Rights [Komnas HAM] establish a fact-finding team [to probe the] murder case," Neta said. Imprisoning someone over trumped-up charges is a serious human rights violation, he said.

Cirus led the prosecution panel against Antasari from October 2009 to February last year. At the same time, he built an embezzlement case against Gayus, for which the former taxman was acquitted by the Tangerang District Court in March last year. Cirus is accused of leaking sentencing documents to Gayus's camp during that trial.

Two police officers and a judge have been convicted of taking bribes from Gayus. But Cirus, who allegedly lobbied to get money laundering charges against the taxman dropped, remains free.

"There are reasons why what Gayus said could have truth in it," Neta said. "In fact, the prosecution against Gayus coincided with the Antasari trial involving the same key prosecutor.

"Furthermore, Cirus is still a witness although the [Attorney General's Office] has already reported him to the police for leaking documents in the [Tangerang] trial," he added.

Gayus, recently sentenced to seven years in jail for bribery, "told us that the police had no guts to implicate Cirus for fear that he would uncover the fabrication of the Antasari case," Neta said.

On Friday the AGO confirmed that Cirus remained an active prosecutor since police had yet to name him as a suspect for leaking prosecution documents.

Muhammad Assegaf, a lawyer for Antasari, said on Sunday that his team planned to visit Gayus in his cell to "dig more information about his remarks."

"That increased our longtime belief that the murder case had been fabricated," Assegaf said by telephone. "How come Gayus said something that had nothing to do with his own case? He must know something. Cirus must know something."

"We need to get further explanations from Gayus because they could prove crucial in our case review proposal," the lawyer said.

War on terror

Eight terror suspects arrested in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - January 25, 2011

Farouk Arnaz – The National Police's elite antiterrorism unit on Tuesday arrested eight suspects wanted in connection with a recent series of bombings in Central Java. The arrests were made in Sukoharjo and Klaten, both in Central Java, the head of Detachment 88, Brig. Gen. M. Syafii, told the Jakarta Globe.

Police identified the suspects as Antok, aka Roki Apresdianto, Agung Jati, Arga, Nugroho, Joko Lelono, Yudha, Tri Budi and Sigit Pramono.

Antok, 28, was arrested in Purwosari, Sukoharjo, while the other seven suspects were taken into custody in Klaten.

One suspect, Arga, was found to be in possession of potassium, a potential bomb-making ingredient. The antiterror unit also discovered a small explosive device in Agung's home.

"Our concern is that all members of this terror group are young boys under the age of 20 except for Antok," Syafii said, adding that some of the men were recent graduates of vocational schools.

Syafii singled out the older Antok as the group's ringleader.

"They were recruited by Antok, who gives radical sermons," he said. Syafii added that Antok worked as a parking lot attendant in Purwosari.

Syafii said that although the alleged terror group was in its embryonic stage, it had progressed to the point where members were able to manufacture potentially deadly homemade explosives.

"Can you imagine if we had failed to crack down and stop their activities? It could have been just the beginning."

Syafii said the suspects were believed to have been behind bombs found at two police posts and three churches in Solo on Dec. 1.

The group is also suspected of detonating small explosives at Solo's busy Kliwon Market and a church on Dec. 7, and is also thought to be responsible for an unexploded bomb discovered at a mosque in Yogyakarta on Dec. 23 and a mysterious package left in a mosque in Klaten on Dec. 30.

The package turned out to be filled with cow dung and an alarm clock.

Syafii said that so far, police had found no indications of links to regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah. A senior antiterror police source told the Globe on Tuesday that Antok was connected to Sogir, a known bomb maker who had trained under explosives master Azahari Husin, responsible for assembling the bombs that killed 202 people in the 2002 Bali attacks.

Azahari was shot and killed during a police raid on his hideout in Batu, East Java, in November 2005. Sogir was arrested in Klaten in July 2010.

"Antok also has connections with Yuli Karsono, an Army deserter we gunned down during Sogir's arrest," the source said.

The source added that police had seized a document wherein the suspects proclaimed themselves to be members of the "Indonesian Al Qaeda." The source declined to say where the document was seized.

Police are still examining the evidence collected during the arrests, the source said.

Items seized included black powder, potassium chlorate, homemade detonators, tools that could be used to assemble explosives and four water bottles that had been fashioned into nail bombs.

The source quoted Antok as having told police officers that the attacks on mosques were meant to cleanse the houses of worship of local traditions he deemed blasphemous to Islam.

He cited the "apeman" tradition in Jatinom, Klaten, where hundreds of rice cakes are thrown to a crowd to honor a cleric who spread Islam in the area hundreds of years ago. The cakes are believed to bring good luck.

"According to the [suspect], apeman is not Islamic teaching and should be eliminated from mosques," he said.

Extremist & hard-line groups

Hard-line group protests government's 'failures'

Jakarta Globe - January 23, 2011

Thousands of people took part in coordinated rallies across the country on Sunday to protest what they said was the government's poor performance and failure to provide basic services.

The nationwide protests were organized by Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a conservative Islamic organization that managed to draw an estimated 8,000 people to the Jakarta protest alone, held outside the State Palace.

"We're very concerned about the government's failure to provide basic services for the people and improve their welfare, uphold the supremacy of the law and protect state assets," HTI spokesman Muhammad Ismail Yusanto said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

"There are still many Indonesians living below the poverty line, even though the numbers show an improvement."

Ismail also cited the government's flagging anticorruption drive as a cause for concern.

"How can there be 148 regional heads implicated in graft, not to mention all the other lower public officials?" he asked. "Corruption seems to breed yet more corruption, as in the case of the tax mafia, which spans the police force, prosecutors, courts and lawyers."

He also railed against higher rates of sexual promiscuity among teenagers and what he called the takeover of Indonesia's natural resources by foreign players.

A similar protest in Makassar, South Sulawesi, attracted 1,500 people calling for a Shariah form of government, according to Metrotvnews.com.

Thousands of HTI supporters also turned up in Bandung and Padang to take the government to task over issues ranging from high food prices to the gradual deregulation of the oil and gas sector. (Agencies)

Freedom of religion & worship

Raging FPI mob disrupts annual Ahmadiyah prayers in Makassar

Jakarta Globe - January 29, 2011

Rahmat, Makassar – Dozens of protesters from the Islamic Defenders Front surrounded an Ahmadiyah center in Makassar on Friday, demanding that the sect disband.

Clad in white, members of hard-line group, also known as the FPI, arrived on motorcycles and tried to storm the center where around 50 Ahmadis were holding an annual prayer gathering called Jalzah Salanah.

More than 50 armed officers from the Mamajang Police and Makassar Police prevented the demonstrators from entering the center.

The FPI, however, continued to chant and yell threats at the panicked Ahmadiyah members, who hid inside a mosque in the center on Jalan Antang and locked the gates.

"We give you 24 hours to disband and bring down that sign that reads Jamaah Ahmadiyah," Habib Reza, leader of the FPI in South Sulawesi, shouted during Friday's rally. "If you don't do this, we will come back on Saturday and forcibly tear it down," he added.

Habib cited a 2005 edict issued by the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) and a 2008 state decree that deemed the Ahmadiyah a deviant Islamic sect and restricted its religious activities.

Mainstream Muslims reject the Ahmadis' belief that sect founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the last prophet, which runs counter to Islamic tenets reserving that distinction for the Prophet Muhammad.

"All of you are atheists! Come back to Islam," Habib said, as the crowd chanted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great."

"If you refuse to disband yourselves, you are welcome to enter any other religion. Do not use the name of Islam," Habib said.

Police officers later attempted to ease tensions by offering to mediate between FPI and Ahmadiyah leaders. However, Habib said he would only speak to the head of the South Sulawesi Ahmadiyah community if he agreed to "immediately disband" the sect that day.

After the protest, the hard-liners dispersed at around 6:30 p.m. and promised to return to the Ahmadiyah center the next day. But after evening prayers, the protesters flocked to the site again and held speeches for another 20 minutes.

According to Ismail Hasani, from the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, there were about 50 recorded cases of violence or intimidation against the Ahmadiyah last year.

Hundreds protest in West Java over clerics' 'Ahmadiyah' objections

Jakarta Globe - January 28, 2011

Yuli Krisna, Bandung – There is more to running a local government than just one's religious beliefs.

This was the point being rammed home by hundreds of protesters who demonstrated outside the West Java governor's office on Thursday, demanding he immediately appoint a city secretary for Garut.

Calling themselves the Garut Islamic People's Forum, the protesters were making a stand against a formal objection lodged on Monday by a small group of clerics against three candidates nominated for the position – Iman Ali Rahman, Hermanto and Indriana Soemarto – because they were "suspected of following Ahmadiyah teachings."

The group said that whether or not the candidates belonged to the minority Muslim sect was beside the point and Governor Ahmad Heryawan was doing the city's residents a disservice by failing to fill the position.

"It seems that the provincial administration is deliberately dragging its feet and politicizing this matter, including bringing up the issue of the Ahmadiyah," said Dadang Munawar, a spokesman for the group.

"We want the governor to quickly respond to the wishes of the people and appoint a city secretary. The issue seems to be heavily politicized and the process is being deliberately slowed down."

Asep Ramdani, who heads the local branch of the Indonesian Association of Villages (Apdesi) in Garut, said crucial issues such as the city budget, combating flooding and addressing road and transport problems were left unresolved while the debate over the appointment of the city secretary was dragged out.

"At this point, no matter who is appointed, all 400 villages [in Garut] will accept," Asep said.

Separately, the governor said there should be no reason why the public services could not be carried out without a city secretary. He said that an extension to the retirement age had been specially ordered so that the current secretary, Hilman Faridz, could continue on the job.

Meanwhile, Ricky Kurniawan, a regional councilor for West Java, said the appointment of the city secretary had been marred by slander, discrimination and even rumors that the governor himself had his own candidate for the post.

During a hearing at the Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) on Monday, a dozen clerics and community leaders said the three men nominated by the district head for the post belonged to the area's much-maligned Ahmadiyah community.

Ahmad Hidayat, one of the clerics at the hearing, claimed the candidates' association with Ahmadiyah, whose followers have effectively been banned by the government from practicing their faith because it is considered a deviant sect, was grounds for all the nominations to be repealed.

However, Garut's district head, Aceng Fikri, has said the claims are questionable.

"They've been accused of being Ahmadiyah, but there's nothing to indicate this, so we could be dealing with a baseless accusation here," he told the Jakarta Globe on Monday. "I'm not going to comment on it because I'm bound to be accused of discrimination," he added.

Although he declined to be drawn on whether or not he would nominate an Ahmadi to his administration, Aceng said that none of the candidates belonged to the sect. One of the candidates, he said, had even gone so far as to sign a sworn statement before a group of Muslim clerics to deny that he was an Ahmadi.

Aceng maintained that all three candidates had met the requirements to become city secretary and for that reason he would not withdraw their nominations.

Indonesia nurse told to lose jilbab or her job

Jakarta Globe - January 26, 2011

Amir Tejo, Sidoarjo, East Java – A nurse in East Java is at risk of being fired for wearing a Muslim headscarf while on duty, in what her husband calls a clear case of religious discrimination.

Nurul Hanifah, who has been a nurse at the Delta Surya Hospital in Sidoarjo district for the past seven years, already received two warning letters about the scarf, or jilbab, according to her husband, Mohammad Fahmi.

Labor laws stipulate that an employee may be dismissed after receiving three warning letters.

Fahmi said on Tuesday that Nurul only started wearing the jilbab full time after they returned from the hajj to Mecca. Previously, Nurul had only worn the headscarf outside of work to comply with the hospital's dress code.

"She reasoned that it was part of her faith, even more so now that she'd been on the hajj," Fahmi said. "So it's embarrassing that they've taken issue with it."

Speaking to officials at the Surabaya Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), Fahmi said he would file a complaint before the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

He also said he would lobby to get the hospital to revise its dress code, which prohibits health workers from wearing the jilbab due to hygiene concerns.

The Muslim headscarf normally covers the hair, ears and neck, as well as the shoulders, but not the face. "The fact is, lots of female employees at that hospital wear a jilbab but they're afraid to speak out for their cause," Fahmi said.

LBH director M. Syaiful Aris said the case was a "serious one" because a ban on the jilbab was considered a human rights violation.

Aris said wearing the jilbab was a way of expressing faith and it should be every Muslim woman's inviolable right to wear one. He said this right was protected under the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"We demand that Komnas HAM launch a probe into rights violations by Delta Surya Hospital," he said.

He also criticized the Sidoarjo labor department for failing to treat Nurul's case as a religious rights issue.

"The manpower office has tried to oversimplify the case as a run-of-the- mill employment issue and thus has failed to see it as a deeper problem of normative violations [to religious rights]," he said.

However, Dawam Wahab, president director of the Delta Surya Hospital, defended the dress code, saying it had been implemented for several years and had even been approved by district authorities.

No employee has complained about the dress code since its launch, according to Dawam. He also said workers were made aware of the rules prior to starting there.

"When we hire them, there's an agreement that they must only wear the uniforms provided while at work and that jilbabs are not allowed," he said.

Dawam said the hospital was open to allowing female employees to wear the Muslim headscarf, although its board of directors had already rejected the proposal before. "We just need some time to decide this," Dawam said. "We'll try taking the issue up again with the board."

Islam & religion

Indonesian Ulema Council wants investigation of 'deviant' sect

Jakarta Globe - January 26, 2011

Rahmat, Makassar – A district chapter of the Indonesian Council of Ulema in South Sulawesi has issued an edict declaring a religious group a deviant Islamic sect, and called for a police investigation.

Sahabuddin Hamid, head of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) in Maros district, said on Tuesday that he has asked the police and district authorities to take action against the group, Ahad Soht, and its 50 members.

He said Ahad Soht was based in Laiya village, which can only be reached by a grueling climb through mountainous terrain.

"The Ahad Soht sect has deviated too far from the rules and teachings of Islam," Sahabuddin said. According to reports received by the council, he said, the group was led by a man named Daeng Kulle and had been in existence for at least three months.

The group, he said, mixed the local dialect into fixed Islamic prayers and worshiped through a form of meditation accompanied by strange animal-like sounds. Sahabuddin said members believed this would allow them to be possessed by angels.

He said members also observed only two obligatory daily prayers instead of the standard five. "What is most unacceptable is that this sect teaches that there is still another god above Allah and forbids its members from reading the Koran," he said.

As the local head of the MUI, Sahabuddin said, he was issuing a personal plea to Daeng Kulle to stop his group's teachings. "This is clearly an effort to mislead the people," he said. "We also call on people to be alert against the group's teachings."

A spokesman for the provincial police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Siswa, said a letter had been sent to district authorities asking for their help in investigating the group.

"When we have received a reply, we will take the necessary actions, including questioning the leader of the sect," Siswa said.

He added that police had called for a meeting of the Coordinating Board for the Supervision of Faiths and Beliefs to discuss the matter.

Radicals speak louder than moderates

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2011

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Liberal and moderate Muslim scholars expressed concern that their voices were being drowned out as the public and mainstream media were more inclined to listen to the angry rhetoric of radical groups.

Muslim scholar Dawam Raharjo said the press needed to give more voice to moderate Islam given the growing atmosphere of intolerance, which he said was triggered by various edicts issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).

"I visited a bookstore recently. What I saw was a plethora of books on religion that were mostly bigoted and unenlightening," he told The Jakarta Post last Friday.

Dawam, who once headed the renowned think tanks the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education and Information (LP3ES) and the Institute for Religious and Philosophy Studies (LSAF), admitted that books and magazines promoting a more liberal approach to Islam failed to draw readers.

He surmised that it was because the writing style was not popular, so did not strike a chord with the readers. "Perhaps we should change the style to something more popular and less scientific," he said.

There have been several Islamic publications circulating in Indonesia, with conservative messages, including Sabili and Suara Hidayatullah, believed to have the most readers.

Publications that propagate a moderate viewpoint of Islam are rare, if not absent. Moderate Islamic magazines such as Panji Masyarakat and Ummat have long been missing from the local newsstands.

Madina, a magazine published by Paramadina University – which was established by respected Muslim scholar Nurcholis "Cak Nur" Madjid – was a recent contender to counter the conservative slant of Islamic media such as Sabili.

The magazine ceased publication two years after issuing its first edition in January 2008. Ihsan Ali Fauzi, one of founders of Madina, said the magazine stopped publishing because the middle-class Muslims it targeted did not buy it.

"There are two reasons why we closed down. First, we did not have many exposes in the magazine and we also had little advertising coming in. Second, we were a small publication. We dreamed that the magazine could reach out to many people, but it did not live up to the expectation," he said.

The magazine was first published in January 2008, with its first edition containing an interview with filmmaker Hanung Bramantyo about the difficulties in making Islam-themed films, sharia banking and Aga Khan Award for Islamic architecture.

Ihsan said that if the magazine had held out a bit longer, it would have drawn more people because it had already started to appear on the shelves of large bookstores such as Gramedia.

He said he still wanted to publish a similarly themed magazine, but added that he would have to be better prepared before doing so.

Sex & pornography

The downfall of a pop star: Ariel becomes a victim of fame

Jakarta Globe - January 31, 2011

Heru Andriyanto & Yuli Krisna – Moments before stepping into the courtroom on Monday, Nazril "Ariel" Irham expressed hope that he would walk out a free man.

"I want to be free. I hope so much that I will be acquitted," the pop star said, his girlfriend, the presenter Luna Maya, by his side.

Minutes later, seated in the middle of the courtroom surrounded by media and other spectators, he grabbed his hair in an act of frustration and anguish as the judges at the Bandung District Court read their verdict: He was guilty of violating the law when he helped "give other people the opportunity to spread, make and provide pornography."

They sentenced him to three and a half years in jail, and fined him Rp 250 million ($28,000).

Given the intense media coverage and controversy surrounding the celebrity scandal, and how police and prosecutors seemed to have left no legal stone unturned in their quest to charge Ariel, the verdict was hardly surprising.

When the singer was arrested on June 22, a few weeks after three sex videos that appeared to show him with Luna and a former girlfriend, Cut Tari, also a presenter, began circulating online, police charged him with indecency.

However, over the next few months, the case moved back and forth between the police and the Attorney General's Office. The problems, most observers believed, was that officials couldn't find an appropriate article in the Criminal Code with which to charge Ariel.

Article 284 of the Criminal Code states that extramarital affairs are "a crime by accusation," meaning they can be prosecuted only if the affected spouse files a complaint with the police.

Cut Tari is married but her husband, Johannes Yusuf Subrata, never officially reported the incident to police.

The Criminal Code also says that premarital sex is not a crime – unless it is incestuous, involves a minor or involves violence or force. None of these conditions were present in the videos.

It was four months before the AGO finally charged Ariel under Article 29 of the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law, the 2008 Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE), Article 56 of the Criminal Code for "participating in a crime" and an obscure emergency law passed more than a half-century ago.

The 1951 law states that if an act is considered a crime but cannot be shown to be a crime according to existing laws and the Criminal Code, then hukum adat, or customary law, is applicable.

Under the ITE Law, those convicted of distributing pornography can be jailed for up to six years, while the Anti-Pornography Law stipulates a maximum sentence of 16 years.

A spokesman for the AGO, Babul Khoir Harahap, insisted that the prosecution had a sound case against the singer. "A witness account confirmed that Ariel played a role in the distribution of the sex videos, and from this perspective we do have a case," he said.

The police and prosecutors' relentless drive to charge Ariel, as well as the resulting sentence, may have partly been driven by the scale of the scandal.

From the time the sex tapes emerged, protests by hard-line groups and antipornography activists against the three celebrities have been regular occurrences. Child rights activists even accused the three of being responsible for a spike in rape cases.

It didn't help Ariel that his band, Peterpan, was among the country's highest paid, making around Rp 90 million ($9,990) per show. Cut Tari is a former model and host of the gossip show "Insert," and Luna is the former face of Lux soap and a one-time presenter on a popular music show.

The presiding judge at Ariel's case, Singgih Budi Prakoso, said that Ariel's celebrity status was one of the factors considered in the sentencing. "He has a lot of fans, mostly teenagers, who we fear might imitate his crime," the judge said.

Ariel's attorney, Otto Cornelis Kaligis, said he would appeal the verdict, which he said was driven by public opinion. "Justice should never be made based on public opinion."

After Ariel, police set sights on Luna Maya and Cut Tari

Jakarta Globe - January 31, 2011

Farouk Arnaz – National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said on Monday that they will speed up the investigation of celebrities Luna Maya and Cut Tari.

The police are planning to complete their dossiers for their alleged involvement in the sex videos with Peterpan frontman Nazril "Ariel" Irham.

"What they did is related with Ariel. The investigators will definitely make a move since [Ariel] was found guilty today," Anton told reporters.

Earlier on Monday, Ariel was found guilty of distributing pornographic materials on the Internet and sentenced to 3.5 years in jail, as well as a Rp 250 million fine ($28,000).

Ariel has been behind bars since he surrendered to police on June 22 amid a media circus over explicit videos that allegedly show him having sex on separate occasions with Luna, his current girlfriend, and Cut, a former girlfriend.

Police initially did not arrest Luna and Cut, as both promised not to repeat his actions and cooperate fully with the investigation.

Indonesian pop star Ariel jailed over homemade sex tapes

Associated Press - January 31, 2011

An Indonesian pop star who rocked the nation when sex tapes he made with celebrity girlfriends appeared online has been sentenced to 3-and-a-half years in jail.

Nazril "Ariel" Irham, lead singer of the band Peterpan, was found guilty today of violating the country's strict anti-pornography law.

Presiding Judge Singgih Budi Prakoso told the court the star made the videos with two girlfriends and did nothing to prevent their wide distribution on the internet.

The judge said Ariel also showed no remorse. In addition to jail time, Ariel was fined $US25,000.

The sentence drew howls of outrage from the singer's fans in the court and across the Malay-speaking world, while the "freeariel" hashtag shot to the top list of global trending topics on microblogging site Twitter.

The trial has made headlines and dominated chatter on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for more than three months. Fans insist he did nothing wrong, making the tapes in the privacy of his own home. But Islamic hard-liners warned that his actions had contributed to the country's moral decline.

The 29-year-old – who said the videos were stolen and posted online without his knowledge – was the first celebrity to be found guilty of violating the country's strict anti-pornography law that went into effect in 2008. His sentence – well short of the maximum 12 – angered hundreds of protesters who gathered outside.

"As a public figure, the defendant should be aware that fans might imitate his behaviour," Prakoso said, adding that Ariel, lead singer of the group, Peterpan, also showed no remorse.

Indonesia, a secular country of 237 million people, has more Muslims than any other country in the world. Though most are moderate, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

They have pushed through controversial laws – like the anti-porn bill – and attacked anything they perceive as blasphemous, from transvestites and bars to 'deviant' religious sects.

Some of the demonstrators who turned out on Monday pelted the police vehicle carrying Ariel to the court with rotten eggs and tomatoes. Others held placards criticising the star.

"I have three daughters," said Kurnia Maryati, a 33-year-old pharmacist, as she straightened out her headscarf.

"To me, pornography is even more dangerous than drugs. Just think of the school boys watching those videos," she said. "Next thing you know, they'll be imagining their female teachers naked!"

The videos were made public in June. The first six-minute clip showed Ariel in bed with his girlfriend Luna Maya, a top model, actress and, until the scandal, the face of Lux beauty soap. The second clip showed him with a former girlfriend, also a well-liked model and television presenter. (with AFP)

Agriculture & food security

Indonesia scraps import duty on rice, soybeans, wheat: Ministry

Associated Press - January 28, 2011

Adriana Nina Kusuma – Indonesia will scrap import duty on rice until the end of March 2011 as part of the government efforts to ease food prices and fight inflation, the finance ministry said on Friday.

Rice is currently subject to import duty of 450 rupiah per kg. The government will also scrap import duties on wheat and soybeans until the end of 2011 to stabilize prices, said Bambang Brodjonegoro, acting head of the fiscal policy office at the ministry.

"Import duty for both soybean and wheat should return to normal levels of 5 percent each by January 2012," Brodjonegoro told reporters.

Jakarta & urban life

Jakarta worst in nation in environmental quality: Study

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2011

Irawaty Wardhany, Jakarta – The city government is defending its environmental record following a report from the central government that named Jakarta the city with worst environmental conditions in the country.

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said over the weekend that the capital scored the lowest in the environmental quality index compared to other major cities in the country.

Gusti said the main indicator of environmental quality was emissions levels, with Jakarta's extremely high.

"The emissions from motorized vehicles, especially when stuck in traffic, are very high. This made Jakarta's environmental quality index lower than other cities," Gusti said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Gusti also cited deteriorating water and air quality, and diminishing green areas as other indicators. Ministry data shows that in 2008, Jakarta's environmental quality index was 35.31.

The city government was quick to reject Gusti's statement. Jakarta's Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) head Peni Susanti said the ministry was not fair in its assessment.

"Jakarta's environmental quality index is low because we failed to meet some requirements during the appraisal process," Peni told The Jakarta Post.

Jakarta may have failed to meet the standard, but it has made efforts to compensate for environmental degradation. "Some of the indicators were things like green areas. Jakarta indeed lacks green areas and open areas, but we do have some mangrove forest that wasn't included in the scoring process," she said.

Peni also said that the city has made progress in improving air quality, including by implementing car-free days twice a month, requiring regular emissions tests and by using environmentally friendly fuel for TransJakarta buses.

Peni said the improvements in air quality had been recognized by the international community, including the Clean Air Initiative (CAI), which gave Jakarta a score of 61.

for its air quality. That score landed Jakarta in the "good" category, as cities were good with scores between 61 and 80. For the survey, the CAI analyzed the air quality of eight cities in seven Asian countries: Bangkok in Thailand, Manila in the Philippines, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Jinan and Hangzhou in China, Kathmandu in Nepal and Hanoi in Vietnam.

Jakarta shared the "good" category with Bangkok, Hanoi, Jinan and Manila. Hangzhou, Kathmandu and Colombo were ranked in the "moderate" category for air quality with scores between 41 and 60.

Peni, however, agreed that Jakarta needed to do more, especially with green areas. The city has set a target of 34.51 percent green areas by 2030 – an increase from the previous target of 13 percent. Currently, only 9.8 percent of the city's total area of 661 square kilometers is green.

Between 2007 and 2010, the administration acquired 16.7 hectares of land and converted it into green space. The administration's most recent attempt to increase green space in the city was to convert 27 gas stations into public parks. The city was able to create 2.8 hectares of green space through the program.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said that the city would focus on building "interactive" parks in five municipalities and a 4.11 hectare city forest in Kebon Pisang in North Jakarta.

Residents giving up on public transport

Jakarta Globe - January 28, 2011

Dofa Fasila & Zaky Pawas – Commuters in Greater Jakarta are abandoning public transportation in droves in favor of private vehicles, an official said on Thursday, while the city's administration said it would take steps to ease traffic on congested Jalan Casablanca.

Jakarta Traffic Police Chief Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa said the shift threatened to exacerbate traffic congestion and render the city's widely panned bus and train services obsolete.

"Commuters are increasingly choosing to use private vehicles rather than take public transport. If this keeps up, public transportation will soon cease to exist."

He cited a study done for the Jabodetabek Urban Transportation Policy Integration Project that showed the number of public transit users dropping by a quarter from 2002 through 2010.

In 2002, 38.3 percent of commuters used public transport, but by 2010, it had dropped to 19.3 percent.

At the start of the study period, 21.2 percent of commuters used a motorcycle, while 11.6 percent used a car. By the end of that period, those percentages had jumped to 48.7 for motorcyclists and 13.5 for drivers.

These statistics, Royke said, could be seen by the sheer volume of vehicles clogging the city's streets today.

"Every year an extra 600,000 to 900,000 new vehicles are registered in the city, 80 percent of them motorcycles," he said. "By the end of 2010, there were eight million motorcycles alone in Jakarta."

The number of those traveling by foot or bicycle dropped from 23.7 percent in 2002 to 22.6 percent in 2010, despite the advent of community initiatives such as the Bike to Work movement and monthly car-free days on certain thoroughfares.

Royke blamed the exodus from public transport, which happened despite the introduction of the busway, on the declining standard of buses and trains.

"The high incidence of crime and discomfort inherent in public transportation, coupled with the worsening congestion, is what's making people turn to private transportation," he said.

To resolve this situation he called on the Jakarta Transportation Office to take measures to improve the quality of their services, including scrapping aging buses. He said, however, that the office had not considered any of the police's recommendations on the matter.

"They're scared of scrapping the older buses because of opposition from the owners," Royke said. He also called for other modes of public transport to be introduced, such as a monorail, and for the three-in-one policy, under which only high-occupancy vehicles can enter certain streets during rush hours, be scrapped because it was ineffective.

"People who are fed up of taking public transport would rather drive and hire a three-in-one 'jockeys' to play the system," he said.

Among the problems afflicting Jakarta's public transport system is the generally poor condition of shelters along the busway lines that crisscross the city.

In particularly bad shape are the shelters along Corridor III, which runs from Harmoni in Central Jakarta to Kalideres in West Jakarta, several of which are missing their roofs. Some of them have been taken over by street-side vendors, tire repairmen and homeless people.

On Thursday, the West Jakarta administration said it would fix these shelters, many of which have been without a roof for the past three years.

Saleh Tahir, the administration's head of transportation, said he was aware of the damage to the shelters but denied his office had failed to act on the problem quickly enough.

"We routinely maintain these shelters," he said. "The roofs were torn off by strong winds and not because the screws holding them were loose."

He also said his office was studying the possible relocation of a series of five shelters along Corridor III, none of which is located near a side street.

"Once the study is done, we hope to move those shelters to more strategic locations. We want them at points where they'll be able to serve the needs of the most people possible. We won't leave them to languish in their current locations," Saleh said.

In a separate development, the Jakarta administration announced measures to ease traffic jams along Casablanca in Kuningan, South Jakarta, where construction is underway on an elevated road linking Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.

The administration previously suggested alternative routes that motorists could use instead of Casablanca, including Jalan Gatot Subroto, Jalan Karet Pedurenan, Jalan Bendungan Hilir, Jalan Dukuh Atas, Jalan Rasuna Said and Jalan Saharjo.

On Thursday, it announced it would also open Jalan Denpasar in the Mega Kuningan business district to the public. Access to the district, which hosts the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels that were targets of terrorism, is normally restricted for security reasons.

Governor Fauzi Bowo denied that the congestion along Casablanca was caused by the construction, instead blaming motorists for wanting to take the road.

"Of course the construction contributes a bit to the traffic, but should that stop us from building it? Then we'll have no recourse when the number of vehicles increases and there's gridlock."

'The end is nigh for Jakarta public transportation'

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – As roads in the city get more congested and the level of service of mass transportation deteriorates, Jakartans are turning to private vehicles in droves, abandoning public transportation and forming a vicious cycle of traffic woes.

Jakarta Police spokesman Royke Lumowa said that in the past five years, more people used motorcycles and private cars to get around. "If the trend continues, we could soon see public transportation vehicles completely abandoned," he said.

Royke cited a study by the Jabodetabek Urban Transportation Policy Integration Project (JUTPI), which said public transport utilization decreased 25.4 percent between 2002 and 2010.

"In 2010, 12.9 percent of commuters in Jakarta used public transportation, whereas in 2002, 38.3 percent of commuters relied on public transportation vehicles," he said.

In the same period, Jakarta has also seen a surge in the number of people using motorcycles to get around in the city.

"In 2002, only 21.7 percent of commuters rode motorcycles, while in 2010, motorcyclists made up 48.7 percent of the commuters in the city. We're assuming they used public transportation before making the switch to motorcycles," he added.

The JUTPI study also showed an increase in the use of private cars. In 2002, 11.6 percent of commuters used private cars. The figures in 2010 rose to 13.5 percent. The small increase may be indicative of a move by more commuters to switch to motorcycles.

"Most residents prefer using motorcycles to avoid heavy congestion in rush hours," he said, adding that not only was it faster, but it was also cheaper than using a car.

Adding to his gloomy outlook for public transportation, Royke said commuters perceived public transportation vehicles as unsafe, due in large part to reckless drivers and thugs onboard. "We really need to upgrade our public transportation system," he said.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency said that in 2010, 320 of the 1,642 buses impounded for traffic violations were not roadworthy. In 2010, police issued 333 tickets to bus drivers for reckless driving.

As of Jan. 11 this year, the agency had banned 35 buses from operating and fined 10 drivers. The agency said it planned to continue its crack-down, as 8,428 of the city's 11,091 buses had not completed the required vehicle standards test.

City budgets more for evictions than healthcare

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2011

Jakarta – A rights watchdog said on Sunday the Jakarta administration has opted to do less to improve the welfare of the city's low-income population and has instead decided to oppress them even more.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) said that the city has allocated a total of Rp 1.2 trillion (US$132 million) of its 2011 budget to acquire land for development, which would involve evicting many marginalized citizens.

"The administration only allocated Rp 517 billion for welfare programs, such as healthcare. That's only half of its eviction budget," Restaria, an LBH activist, said at a press conference on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com news portal.

LBH Jakarta demanded the administration to revise its budget. "The administration should allocate more for healthcare, education and employment. It should also specify its plans for the sake of transparency," Restaria said.

The watchdog said that the administration would violate citizens' rights to property, housing, healthcare and education through the evictions.

The city administration previously announced plans to start revitalizing and dredging several rivers in Jakarta, which would involve relocating people who live on the surrounding riverbanks.

The city and central government have received a US$150 million loan from the World Bank to dredge the rivers under the Jakarta Emergency Dredging Initiative (JEDI).

The city's revitalization of the 119-kilometer long Ciliwung river, Jakarta's main waterway, was expected to directly affect more than 210,000 people who living along its banks.

The Ciliwung river revitalization project was expected to affect a 440- kilometer area of Jakarta occupied by 3.5 million people, according to reports.

The City Council has approved Rp 27.95 trillion ($3.07 billion) budget for 2011, up slightly from Rp 26.71 trillion in 2010.

Social security & welfare

State budget 'inadequate' to meet citizens' needs

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2011

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – An NGO is planning to file a judicial review regarding the 2010 Law on the 2011 State Budget, calling it unconstitutional for not allocating adequate funds for people's welfare.

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) said the judicial review would be submitted in February or early March.

FITRA coordinator Ucok Sky Khadafi said this year's health budget of Rp 13.6 trillion (US$1.5 billion) was merely 0.5 percent of the 2011 state budget, less than the 5 percent mandated by law.

"The health budget violates Article 171 of the 2009 Law on Health, which mandates the government allocate 5 percent of the state budget for health expenditures, excluding salaries [for civil servants in the health sector]," Ucok said Sunday.

Yuna Farhan, another FITRA activist, said this year's health budget had decreased by Rp 6 trillion compared to 2010. The government was focused on providing healthcare to either the poor or the rich, but not the middle class, Ucok said.

"In order to get free health services, one needs to get clearance from local authorities, explaining that he or she is too poor to pay for health services," Ucok said. "On the other hand, there are premium health services that only the rich can afford."

As a consequence, the middle class is left in a difficult situation, not poor enough to get free healthcare but still far from being able to pay for premium health services, he said. "This is just unfair," he said.

Ucok said the 2011 state budget had another flaw, as it allotted Rp 7.7 trillion in "unclear" infrastructure adjustment funds under regional and central government balances.

Besides filing a judicial review, FITRA also intends to bring the controversial House of Representatives building construction plans to the Constitutional Court. Ucok said legislators had ignored the 1945 Constitution, which ordered them to pay serious attention to people's aspirations.

"It is obvious that the people don't like the idea of spending Rp 1.3 trillion just to construct a new building for legislators. If these legislators insist on the building then they are certainly not abiding by the country's Constitution," he said.

FITRA has repeatedly criticized the government and other state institutions.

Last week, for example, Yuna said the government lacked sensitivity because the 2011 state budget's civil servant expenditures were Rp 18.1 trillion while trip expenditures were Rp 4.9 trillion. Another Rp 9.6 trillion was allocated to pay the government's loan interest, Yuna said.

Transport & communication

Sunda Strait ferry inferno claims 19 lives

Jakarta Globe - January 29, 2011

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – At least 19 people were killed after a fire broke out aboard a ferry crossing the Sunda Strait from Java to Sumatra early on Friday, officials said, although the cause of the inferno remains unknown.

The fire in the vehicle deck of the KM Laut Teduh II was first reported back to shore by the ferry's captain at 3:59 a.m., 40 minutes after embarking from Merak Port in Banten.

Panicked passengers jumped off the vessel and into the sea to escape the flames. At that point, the vessel was 3.7 kilometers from Merak and close to Tempurung Island in the strait.

Some of those killed were reported to have drowned, while others were believed to have suffered fatal head wounds in the rush to escape. It remains unclear if any were killed as a direct result of the fire.

A joint rescue team was immediately scrambled to pick up the passengers. Rescuers included personnel from the Banten Port Authority, the Navy, police, fire department and state-run ASDP Indonesia Ferry.

According to the Transportation Ministry, the team managed to rescue 425 people, including 31 crew members. All the injured were taken to Krakatau Medika Hospital and Panggung Rawi Hospital in Cilegon, Banten.

Rescuers also recovered 13 bodies of those killed, the ministry said. "The evacuation process was conducted using 12 ships and three tugboats," it said in a statement issued later in the day. "There are three more ships still surveying the area."

However, police in Bandarlampung, Lampung, where the ferry was headed, said on Friday evening that the death toll had reached 19. Lampung Police Chief Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak said the number of fatalities could climb as bodies were recovered from the sea and the burned-out ferry.

Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transportation Ministry, said authorities were now investigating how the blaze started.

"Lots of parties are involved in this investigation, including the police, port authorities and also the ministry," he said. "The police lead the investigation, however there will also be an independent investigation carried out by the KNKT [National Transportation Safety Committee]."

He declined to confirm reports that the fire might have been sparked by a lit cigarette butt.

Djoko Sulaksono, a spokesman for the ministry's Directorate General of Land Transportation, said the fire likely started in one of the vehicles being ferried across. "We suspect it started in one of the buses on the ferry, but we can't confirm that yet," he said.

Film & television

Regulatory bodies deny work is influenced by state funding

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2011

Ismira Lutfia – A recent survey suggests the country's five media regulatory bodies may not be as independent as they should be, given their dependence on state funding, but the bodies have dismissed any notion they are biased.

The survey, conducted by Yogyakarta-based PR2Media between July and December, focused on the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI), the Film Censorship Board (LSF), the Information Commission and the Press Council.

All five receive their funding from the government and employ staff members vetted by the ministries with which they work.

Bayu Wahyono, a PR2Media researcher, said on Tuesday that it could be argued that this arrangement was problematic because it made the media regulatory bodies accountable to the ministries and government.

While he conceded that the bodies needed steady funding to carry out their work, he said that ideally, they should sever all formal ties to the government. "They must completely detach themselves from any state support in order to be more independent and to abide by democratic principles," he said.

Puji Rianto, another PR2Media researcher, said the survey identified the Press Council as "relatively more independent" than the other bodies because its members came from the press and media community, thereby making it a self-regulatory body.

He said the Film Censorship Board, which was established during the heavy- handed rule of former strongman Suharto, still functioned with an "authoritarian spirit."

"It should be transformed into a new body whose job is not to censor but to classify films based on their target audiences," Puji said.

The film board's working partner is the Culture and Tourism Ministry, while the four other bodies work closely with the Communications and Information Technology Ministry.

Heru Sutadi, from the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body, conceded his office was "somewhat of a proxy" for the Communications Ministry, serving mainly to carry out its duty to regulate, supervise and control the telecommunications sector in accordance with the 1999 Telecommunications Law.

Heru said the BRTI was established to ensure transparency, independence and fairness in telecommunications, based on a World Trade Organization agreement requiring member states to set up independent regulatory bodies for the sector.

Heru said the BRTI required that its members not be affiliated with telecommunications businesses, political parties or the armed forces, giving the body a degree of independence.

"While it may seem that we're not fully independent from the government, the truth is we're given limited resources to oversee a sector that is also a strategic state interest," he said.

"So one way or the other, the government has to take part in securing this interest."

Despite this, Heru said the BRTI's decisions were always made independent of the ministry, since public representation in the body outweighed government representation.

"But there are also plenty of examples of so-called independent bodies that turn out to be ineffective," he added.

With a bill on media and telematics convergence set for deliberation and possible passage this year, Heru said it was possible the regulatory body could become even more independent with a better sense of organizational duties and mandates.

"For the moment, we can only refer to the Telecommunications Law in doing our job," he said.

Dadang Rahmat Hidayat, chairman of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission, dismissed the idea that the KPI's impartiality could be compromised by the financial support it receives from the state.

"Our operational budget is determined by legislators and allocated from the state budget, otherwise where would we generate our income from? Surely we don't want to resort to getting funding from broadcasters," he said.

"We don't want to be so busy trying to raise funds that we don't have time for our main job."

Dadang said the true measure of the commission's effectiveness was not its dependence on state funding, but rather how it carried out its work.

"We work in the best interests of the people," he said. "You can always gauge how independent we are in carrying out our job by looking at the quality of the decisions we make – whether they're consistent with public interests or not."

Armed forces & defense

Major shakedown of top TNI officers

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters announced Friday it had carried out a major reshuffle of its high-ranking officers.

TNI spokesman Col Cpl Minulyo Suprapto said those affected comprised 11 officers working at the TNI headquarters, seven in the Army, 15 in the Navy, two in the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), one at the Defense University and one as the TNI secretary to the President.

"Among these top-notch officers, Rear Admiral Soleman B. Ponto will replace Maj. Gen. Anshory Tadjudin to head the Military Strategic Intelligence," said Minulyo, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Friday. The new tours of duty will commence February 1.

TNI hopes rights education can improve tattered image

Jakarta Globe - January 24, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Nivell Rayda – The military has vowed to clean up its tarnished human rights record by educating soldiers on the issue, but rights activists remain skeptical it can reform.

"We'll prioritize rights education and training so there won't be any more violations in the future," Gen. George Toisutta, the Army chief of staff, said on Monday. "The main point is that we're committed to respecting the prevailing regulations on rights."

He said the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) would incorporate human rights studies into the military curriculum and ramp up rights training for soldiers. George said the initiative would take time since it meant introducing a new culture and ethic into the TNI hierarchy.

"We need more time to fix it all," he said at an annual Army commanders meeting, where they conducted performance evaluations and planned for the year ahead. "It's not something that can happen in just a day, like preparing a drink."

The chief of staff's remarks came as three soldiers face court-martial for torturing two Papuan civilians last year.

George said the torture case, condemned by activists around the globe, would not stop the military from continuing to make the restive eastern province its main theater of operations.

However, he said plans to build a new headquarters in Papua – first proposed two years ago – would have to be postponed due to lack of government funds.

Meanwhile, Poengky Indarti, executive director of the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial), said the military should be pushed to conform to a United Nations convention against torture, which was ratified in 1999.

"Right now, torture isn't even defined as a punishable offense under the military criminal code and code of conduct," she said.

"The government and House of Representatives must amend the law on military tribunals, which has been a major obstacle in prosecuting military officials under civilian law."

Indria Fernida, deputy chairwoman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said rights training would do little to stop abuses by the military, especially in conflict zones.

"Educating soldiers on human rights is not only long overdue, but [it] would amount to nothing," Indria said. "There is hardly any accountability or fulfillment of the rights of victims of violence perpetrated by law enforcers and the military," she added.

Indria criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for failing to fulfill his pledge to resolve past rights abuse cases. "We see very clearly that these pledges haven't been fulfilled," she said.

However, George said the TNI was serious about cleaning up its image, including cracking down on corruption in military procurement projects. "One of our policies to end this practice is to insist on buying new equipment at the factory price, not the distributor's price," George said.

Lawmaker Tubagus Hasanuddin said the House would keep an eye on procurement deals to ensure they stay transparent and graft-free.

Criminal justice & prison system

Komnas to probe Antasari trial process

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2011

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) announced plans to look into the trial process of former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief and murder convict Antasari Azhar to verify that he received a fair trial.

"We will begin studying Antasari's trial and the entire legal process in the second week of February," Komnas HAM official Johny Nelson Simanjuntak told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He said the probe would be conducted in response to public concerns raised by the testimony of former tax official and graft convict Gayus Tambunan, who, at his trial, made allegations against prosecutor Cirus Sinaga, who was responsible for building the case against both Antasari and Gayus.

Antasari was convicted of murdering businessman Nasruddin Zulkarnaen. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal in September, upholding his 18-year prison sentence.

Artalyta's release a 'huge step back' in war on graft

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2011

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – Anticorruption activists did the only thing they could on Friday in response to the release of Artalyta "Ayin" Suryani from prison: Raising their voices by protesting.

Graft convict Ayin was released on parole from Tangerang Women's Penitentiary on Friday after serving two-thirds of her five-year prison sentence.

She made headlines for bribing prison authorities at Pondok Bambu Penitentiary in East Jakarta where she was initially imprisoned to acquire a lavishly appointed cell.

Despite the consequent uproar, Artalyta was granted parole for good behavior, which included giving fellow inmates English language lessons.

The 21-month reduction in her sentence through parole follows on the heels of a six-month reduction to her sentence granted by the Supreme Court and a remission of three months and 20 days issued by the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

"The release is highly disappointing because it shows the government is not as committed to eradicating corruption as it claims," Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activist Emerson Yuntho said.

Artalyta was imprisoned for bribing prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan US$660,000 in exchange for the summons letter and inside information on the investigation into tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim. Sjamsul was implicated in the embezzlement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support funds (BLBI).

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Eva K. Sundari said the ministry cast a blind eye on Artalyta's misdemeanors, including bribing wardens to get her luxurious cell.

She added that Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar had the authority to intervene and not allow any reductions of Artalyta's sentence.

Patrialis said during a meeting with legislators Thursday that he could not forbid the correctional facilities directorate general from granting Artalyta's parole because the directorate was well versed with the technicalities of granting parole.

He said Artalyta's good behavior was one of the considerations in assessing whether she could be released on parole. Good behavior, he said, meant abiding by regulations during imprisonment.

"[Patrialis] should assess whether the decision is an insult to the people's sense of justice," she told The Jakarta Post.

Eva and Emerson both hinted at the possibility that Artalyta's early release was engineered.

"These types of privileges [such as securing an early release] are for those with money. Those who have the financial means can purchase their freedom," Eva said, adding that the situation highlighted the ministry's vulnerability to practices of graft.

The ministry previously sent mixed signals over whether it would reduce Artalyta's sentence. Patrialis previously said the ministry had never issued any remissions for Artalyta.

However, a document circulated later showed that the ministry had cut her sentence by three months and 20 days.

On Wednesday, correctional facilities director general Untung Sugiono said that "no decision has been made" on Artalyta's parole. The following day, however, Untung said he had signed the parole letter. Eva said the mechanisms to reduce sentences, such as remissions, had to be improvised as the current system lacked definite guidelines.

Emerson added that Artalyta's release was counterproductive to the corruption eradication efforts of certain government institutions, including the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

'She made a joke of justice system. Where is our pride?'

Jakarta Globe - January 29, 2011

Heru Andriyanto – Artalyta Suryani, the wealthy Indonesian businesswoman convicted of bribing a prosecutor and later busted enjoying spa treatments in prison, is now a free woman.

Accompanied by her two stepchildren, relatives and lawyer Otto Cornelis Kaligis, Artalyta, who is also known as Ayin, walked out of the Tangerang Women's Penitentiary on Friday, more than a year before her term was up.

Inmates, some in tears, and prison guards clapped and cheered as she stepped out from the prison's gates. Some even asked to have their picture taken with her before she left. "She reserves the right to be released," Kaligis told reporters.

Artalyta was granted parole, to the chagrin of antigraft activists, because she had served two-thirds of her four-and-a-half-year sentence for paying a $660,000 bribe to a senior prosecutor and because of good behavior, said Etty Nurbaiti, the prison's warden.

This was despite the fact that Artalyta had to be transferred to the Tangerang facility early last year because a surprise inspection of her cell at Jakarta's Pondok Bambu Penitentiary found that she had been enjoying luxury facilities, including air-conditioning, a refrigerator, big-screen television and karaoke machine.

Under the terms of her parole, Artalyta must regularly report to authorities until her term officially ends on May 12, 2012.

"And after that, we will still impose another year of probation, which means that Artalyta will only get to enjoy unconditional freedom after May 2013," Etty said, adding the probation period was normal for paroled convicts. "If she reoffends during her parole or the probation period, she will be jailed again."

The warden had earlier praised Artalyta for her "positive contribution" to the prison – teaching English to fellow inmates, donating an air- conditioner for the prison library, renovating the visiting room and funding the construction of two gazebos in the front yard.

While visiting the Tangerang Prosecutors' Office to complete the paperwork for her release, Artalyta told journalists she wanted to tend to her business interests and spend more time with the two toddlers she adopted while in prison. "I will nurse my babies and return to business," she said.

On Thursday, antigraft campaigners criticised Artalyta's early release, saying it would only set a bad precedent in the country's fight against corruption drive.

"There should be no tolerance for graft convicts," said lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis. "Artalyta's release will make [potential criminals] think the punishment is nothing compared to the ill-gotten money they'll enjoy."

Anies Baswedan, rector of Paramadina University, said Artalyta had turned the country's justice system into a joke. "The convict who turned her cell into a hotel room has been released. Where is our pride?" he said, adding that he thought the government was going soft on graft.

In 2008, Artalyta was found to be a major case broker at the Attorney General's Office. In March of that year, senior prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan was caught by antigraft officials leaving Artalyta's Jakarta home with $660,000 in cash. Urip was sentenced to a record 20 years in jail. During Artalyta's trial, the court heard wiretapped phone conversations in which the businesswoman used pet names to refer to several senior officials at the AGO.

Although the court, in its verdict, clearly linked other officials to the case, no other people besides Artalyta and Urip have faced charges.

It's official: Artalyta Suryani is free

Antara News - January 28, 2011

Controversial graft convict Artalyta Suryani walked out of the Tangerang Women's Penitentiary on Friday after the decree approving her release was issued by Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar.

Escorted by her lawyer, OC Kaligis, relatives and an army of bodyguards, Artalyta left the penitentiary to the applause of her former inmates. "I will return to my family and meet my employees again," Artalyta said

Kaligis said they would stop by the Tangerang Prosecutor's Office first to hand over some documents before heading to Artalyta's hometown of Lampung.

Artalyta, who was supposed to have served a four-and-a-half year term for bribing a prosecutor, has been granted parole, with authorities saying she deserves to be released because she has served two-thirds of her term and behaved well behind bars.

But antigraft activists criticized the decision because Artalyta was found to have been enjoying privileges at Jakarta's Pondok Bambu penitentiary, where she was discovered to have a luxury air-conditioned cell equipped with a stereo, a large television, karaoke facilities and a refrigerator during a surprise inspection by Denny last January.

After the inspection, Artalyta was transferred to Tangerang to serve the rest of her term.

Rights body to probe Antasari case

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2011

Heru Andriyanto – The National Commission for Human Rights said on Thursday it would look into the murder conviction of former anti-graft czar Antasari Azhar following claims that the case against him may have been fabricated.

Hesti Armiwulan, deputy chairwoman of the commission, told the Jakarta Globe that the examination would involve rights activists and legal practitioners and would be held openly.

"The planned examination is not meant to interfere with the legal proceedings," she said. "We expect the process to result in a recommendation that will be forwarded to the government and its law agencies."

The commission's decision follows calls for it to probe claims made by graft convict Gayus Tambunan that the murder case against the former chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was concocted.

Antasari was convicted last February of ordering the March 2009 murder of businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court.

Gayus claimed that prosecutor Cirus Sinaga, who oversaw his first trial and the Antasari trial, was not implicated by police in his case out of fear that he would reveal the fabrication of the case against Antasari.

Hesti said the commission's main objective was to determine if justice was served and if human rights principles were taken into consideration in the controversial murder trial.

She said the commission could not prevent the Antasari camp from using its recommendation as part of its argument in requesting a future case review into the conviction and the 18-year jail term.

Muhammad Assegaf, a lawyer for Antasari, said on Sunday that his team planned to visit Gayus in his cell to "dig for more information concerning his remarks."

"That increased our long-held belief that the murder case had been fabricated," Assegaf said by telephone. "How come Gayus said something that had nothing to do with his own case? He must know something. Cirus must know something."

Economy & investment

New permit system still allows for graft

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Activists find that the one-stop service for issuing a business license, imposed to prevent red tape, still leaves opportunities for corruption.

"The one-stop system for business licensing, which is a solution intended to reform business licensing, still allows room for corruption," Transparency International Indonesia (TII) advocate Putut Aryo Saputro told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

TII found at least 11 graft loopholes within the new system, which started in 2006 after the enactment of a 2006 Home Ministry decree on one-stop service for business permits. At least 14 provinces and 365 regencies and municipalities have already implemented the system.

"We found out that there is no standard time and cost for the one-stop service," Putut said.

Putut also criticized the absence of external monitoring for the system, which in itself exacerbated corruption. "Not to mention the lack of information about and promotion of the new system. The public is not aware of it," he said.

The most common methods of corruption included bribery, illegal levies, collusion and abuse of power by officials, the TII report said. "Moreover, businesspeople still perceive bribery as normal in issuing business licenses," he said.

According to TII's 2010 Indonesian Corruption Perception Index survey, which measured perceptions of corruption levels in cities across Indonesia, business people still considered that bribery for smoothing the issuance of permits was common.

Between May and October 2010, TII evaluated 50 cities, including 33 provincial capitals and 17 cities with good economic conditions, surveying 9,237 business people in these cities.

Robert Endi Jaweng from Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) found that the system created new levies instead of making the issuance of a business license easier.

"We found that from 95 regencies and municipalities across Indonesia that have already implemented the one-stop system, 81 require people to pay for business permits," Robert told the Post.

A 2007 Trade Ministry ordinance on the issuance of business licenses states there is no fee for a trading license (SIUP). Similarly, there is no fee for a company registration (TDP) according to another 2007 Trade Ministry ordinance on company registration.

Robert said 47 regencies and municipalities using the procedure were unable to issue business permits within the government's expected standard of three days.

Putut said that international actors perceived Indonesia as "not easy for doing business".

According to a study on the ease of starting a business in a country Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs, conducted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, Indonesia ranked 121 from a total of 183 countries in 2011, a decline of six places from the previous year.

The report shows that it takes nine procedures within 47 days to start a business in Indonesia, while the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries is only 5.6 procedures within 13.8 days and in East Asia and Pacific countries only 7.8 steps within 39 days.

Inflation threatens to deflate Central bank's reputation

Reuters - January 28, 2011

After a stellar 2010, during which the country's economic planners could seemingly do no wrong, analysts are now questioning whether the central bank's reluctance to hike interest rates in the face of increasing inflation could undermine their hard-won credibility.

Already this year there has been a mini-run on the stock market, bond yields have risen 200 basis points and the rupiah has dipped as concern that Bank Indonesia is behind the curve on policy has spooked the market.

Yet the governors at the vast and gleaming bank headquarters in Central Jakarta seem unmoved, content to keep the core interest rate at 6.5 percent – the same record low level it has held for more than 18 months – even as many other central banks in the region have tightened policy.

"This is a period when fund owners, especially foreigners, really want the BI rate to be raised," the central bank governor, Darmin Nausution, told a briefing of senior editors this week, flanked by his more somber deputies. "Indeed, a BI rate hike will reduce liquidity in the economy, more or less cutting consumption [and] reducing inflationary pressures – but it can also invite more capital inflows."

At the heart of the bank's caution lies the fear that the "hot money" that has poured into Indonesia and many other emerging markets in the past 18 months could just as quickly evaporate, plunging the country into chaos like that in 1998, when longtime President Suharto resigned amid massive social unrest caused by the Asian financial crisis.

But while the governors see the clamor for a rate rise as a hoped-for, self-fulfilling prophecy by outsiders, the economists making those calls are questioning the bank's credibility. "They are missing the global context," said Wellian Wiranto, a Singapore-based economist with HSBC, referring to mounting inflationary pressures around the world.

Inflation, driven mostly by higher food prices, has become a major concern for emerging economies that rode out the global financial crisis with flying colors – with Indonesia leading the charge. The Jakarta stock exchange rose more than 40 percent in 2010, fueled by an influx of foreign money that stood at Rp 18.2 trillion ($2 billion) in September last year – more than 60 percent of the bourse's total capitalization.

The debt market has also been flush with foreign funds in search of yields developed nations can only dream of, forcing the central bank and Finance Ministry to impose a series of creeping measures in the hope of checking volatility. The rupiah climbed to three-year highs in November.

Since Jan. 4, though, when the central bank again kept the base rate unchanged, the market has hit back. The bourse has shed as much as 10 percent this month, although it has made a bit of a recovery, bond yields are climbing and the rupiah is again drifting, although underpinned by central bank intervention, as foreigners seek to take out some of their money.

At the heart of it all lies inflation. Bambang Brodjonegoro, head of fiscal policy at the Finance Ministry, said on Thursday that full-year 2011 core inflation was seen at 4 percent to 5 percent, with headline inflation at 6.1 percent to 6.6 percent – higher than a government budget target of 5.3 percent and the central bank's 4 percent to 6 percent.

Annual inflation hit a 20-month high of 6.96 percent in December. Skeptics note the central bank has had a tough time containing inflation in the past. In its last bout with high food and fuel prices in 2008, inflation topped 12 percent and it was forced to raise rates to as high as 9.5 percent even as the global financial crisis intensified and other central banks were slashing borrowing costs.

In 2005-06, inflation raced up to more than 18 percent and BI hiked rates from 8.5 percent to 12.75 percent in just six months.

"They are focusing too much on backward data, on core inflation, and ignoring the headline inflation trends going forward," said Helmi Arman, an economist from Bank Danamon in Jakarta.

In a side street next to the central bank's headquarters, many of the institution's 6,000 employees take their lunch at one of the ubiquitous stalls selling favorites such as rice or noodles, jazzed up with a sambal sauce of chilies. The price of these staples has risen sharply in recent months, and ordinary Indonesians are asking what will be done to curb inflation.

Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, an economist at the Danareksa Research Institute, is a rare dissenting voice who thinks the central bank is on the right track. "Inflationary pressure is coming mostly from the supply side," he said. "In the short term, the non-harvesting season of December-January has influenced inflation."

And what of his fellow economists calling for a rate hike? "Most of them are from the banking sector, and therefore they have a vested interest," he said. The central bank next meets to decide policy on Friday.

Investments up more than 50%, reach all-time high

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2011

Jakarta – Investment in Indonesia rebounded to an all-time high of Rp 208.5 trillion in 2010 on the back of the improved economic fun-damentals in the Southeast Asia's largest economy, the government says.

Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Gita Wirjawan said on Sunday the total realized investment in the country in 2010 rose by 54 percent to Rp 208.5 trillion (US$22.95 billion), after a 12 percent drop in 2009.

BKPM said total investment last year exceeded the initial target of Rp 160.1 trillion. Foreign investment comprised Rp 148 trillion, or 71 percent of the total and domestic investment accounted for the remaining Rp 60.5 trillion, according to the BKPM.

"Foreign investment increased about 52 percent over 2009's Rp 97.4 trillion, while domestic investment also rose significantly, around 60.1 percent, up from Rp 37.8 trillion in 2009," he said.

BKPM investment supervision and implementation deputy Azhar Lubis said that the jump in foreign direct investment could be partially attributed to improvements in the country's economic fundamentals in 2010.

"Foreign investors also had a more positive perception of our country as a destination for their investments," he said, adding the growing confidence was reflected by an upgraded assessment of the nation by international credit rating agencies.

Gita said that improvement in the investment climate last year was aided by expanded investment services, including one-stop investment service centers at local administrations, which in turn promoted more domestic and foreign investment outside Java.

Most investment went to Java, home to the nation's capital, although investments in other islands were increasing.

According to the BKPM, the largest contribution to domestic investment in 2010 came from the food and beverage industry with Rp 16.41 trillion (27.1 percent), followed by transportation, storage and telecommunications with Rp 13.79 trillion (22.7 percent) and crops, food and plantation projects with Rp 8.73 trillion (14.4 percent).

Foreign investments went primarily to transportation, storage and telecommunications projects worth $5.05 billion (31.1 percent), followed by mining projects valued at $2.23 billion (13.8 percent) and electricity, gas, and water projects valued at $1.43 billion (8.8 percent), the BKPM said.

West Java was ranked first in domestic investments with total investment reaching Rp 15.8 trillion (26.1 percent), followed by East Java with Rp 8.08 trillion (13.3 percent) and East Kalimantan with Rp 7.88 trillion (13 percent).

Foreign investors flocked to Greater Jakarta, which absorbed about $6.43 billion, followed by East Java and West Java which took $1.77 billion and $1.69 billion respectively.

Gita said that the greatest amount of foreign investment came from Singapore with $5.01 billion (30.9 percent), followed by the UK and US with $1.89 billion (11.7 percent) and $930 million (5.7 percent) respectively.

The government expected total investment to increase by 15 percent to Rp 240 trillion in 2011: 65 percent from foreign direct investment and the remainder from domestic investment, according to Gita He said the final investment figures might exceed estimates due to various factors, such as inflation and improved infrastructure.

"The government will provide fiscal as well as non-fiscal incentives to attract large-scale investment projects," he said.

Projects that would receive incentives were a $6 billion steel mill run by South Korea's Posco and the upgrade of an $8 billion refinery by Kuwait Petroleum, he said (lnd)

Analysis & opinion

Papua violence should lead to military court reform

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2011

Al Araf, Jakarta – The Jayapura Military Court sentenced three Army soldiers to between eight and 10 months of imprisonment for their role in the torture of civilians in Puncak Jaya, Papua. In the previous trial last November, the same court handed down between six and seven months' prison term to four soldiers.

The verdicts demonstrate that justice has not been delivered for either the victims or the public, although the act of violence appeared on YouTube and has drawn attention from both domestic and international communities. Imparsial, as an institution that monitors and promotes human rights, is deeply concerned about the torture and the legal process that took place within the military court.

There is no reason to justify the acts of violence against civilians, which we believe constitute human rights violations and therefore should have prompted the court to hand down severe punishment to the perpetrators.

But this sense of injustice is not new within the military court. The aspect of justice within the special court system has given a cause for concern among the public. In many cases the court has become a safe haven for military personnel accused of committing crimes and abuses. One of the many examples is the murder of Papua Presidium Council chairman Theys Hiyo Eluay in April 2003, in which four Army Special Forces (Kopassus) members were convicted and sentenced to between two and three years in prison.

Human rights activists, academics and law practitioners deem the military courts a mechanism to protect rather than punish soldiers who violate human rights.

The military court does not fulfill the victims' and public's hopes for justice, as evident in the torture cases in Papua, which the military judges have reduced to a mere violation of military discipline. The absence of justice is no surprise as the 1997 Military Court Law, which remains effective, was formed under an undemocratic regime that used the military as a political instrument to maintain power, if necessary by use of repression.

Military dominance in Indonesia gave the military court the ability to cover up crimes involving military personnel and provide them with impunity. This could happen because of the jurisdiction of the military court not only to administer justice in the event of military crimes and violations of military disciplines, but also general crimes involving military personnel.

The extensive jurisdiction of the military court is the root cause of the continuing practice of impunity.

The limited access given to victims of crimes that involve military personnel and the low degree of impartiality are among serious problems facing the military court.

During the early years of the reform era, the People's Consultative Assembly addressed the problems plaguing the military court. The Assembly issued the 2000 Decree, which states that Indonesian National Military (TNI) personnel who commit military crimes are to be tried at the military court but those who commit ordinary crimes will face justice at the district court. This was reinforced through the 2004 TNI Law, which stipulates that "soldiers submit to the authority of the military court for violations of military criminal legislations and submit to the general court in violations of general crimes arranged within national laws".

The desire to push for reform within the military court during the early reform era was based on the principle of equality before the law. Within a nation that upholds the rule of law, citizens, including military personnel, are entitled to equal treatment before the law.

To preserve the hard-won democracy, Indonesia needs an independent and fair justice system, which guarantees the due process of law that is a condition for sine qua non to protect human rights (Federico Andreu-Guzman, Introduction to Military Jurisdiction and International Law). This is an important point to consider to complete reform in the military court.

At the international level, there is a tendency to reduce the jurisdiction of the military court to military crimes as recommended by the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Many countries have changed their military court system, which took the shape of the prohibition of the military court to intercede on civilian citizens, the elimination of the military court during times of peace, the prevention of human rights violations and war crimes as the jurisdiction of the military court.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself called for the change during his address on the military court bill to the previous House of Representatives. Unfortunately the amendment has not materialized. Worse, the bill is not among the list of priority draft laws in the term of the current House.

Reform in the military court as part of the military reform has stalled as both the government and the House are too cautious or perhaps afraid of amending the 1997 Military Court Law. This unfortunately is happening within a democracy that recognizes civil supremacy and promotes human rights.

[The writer is the program director of Imparsial human rights group.]

Indonesia's child-porn gap

Jakarta Globe - January 30, 2011

Alex Walls – "Do you sell child pornography?" I ask the bewildered sales girl at the DVD store politely. She looks confused, and I repeat the words a fraction louder, looking around the store with embarrassment and mentally cursing the moment I decided to investigate the loophole in the controversial Pornography Law that allows the possession of child pornography.

Passed in 2008 amid protests from political parties and women's and children's rights nongovernmental organizations, the Pornography Law has been ruffling feathers for some time now. The law, which was in the works for around 10 years, has been criticized for its vague definition of what pornography actually is and the loophole concerning ownership of child pornography.

While Article 6 of the Pornography Law prohibits possession of pornography, an elucidation to this article states that prohibition does not include possession for oneself or for one's own purposes. Article 11 has prohibitions about engaging children, either as subjects or objects, in pornography, but does not mention possession of pornographic material. In effect, this means that the Pornography Law does not criminalize the private possession of child pornography.

Ahmad Sofian, the coordinator of the National Coalition for the Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Indonesia, said the country's laws only pay lip service to the idea of protecting children.

He blames the lack of expertise for the loophole in the Pornography Law. "If experts had been involved in the law-making process, possession of child pornography would have been prevented and criminalized."

Studies in five Indonesian cities conducted by Ahmad found that no person in possession of child pornography has ever been arrested and tried.

Eva Kusuma Sundari from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), one of the parties to walk out on the drafting of the Pornography law, said the PDI-P had wanted the law to focus on the protection of children and to take very specific steps to make this possible.

"It is the children that need the protection, not the adults," she said. "We failed to put notes explaining that even though you have the right to watch pornography [in possession] for one's own purposes, there is an exception – child pornography."

She said the law had become more of a political than a protective undertaking for those behind it, and the gap regarding the private ownership of child pornography reflects this.

"I think there was concern, genuine concern that, OK, we must have this pornography bill, but then it was a lack of skill, a lack of knowledge – and [lawmakers] found they were influenced by people who had political intentions."

Eva added that pressure from outside the parliament contributed to the flaws in the law. "I think somehow there was huge pressure from Islamic groups who had been waiting for the first draft for 10 years."

Arist Merdeka Sirait, the chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak), said the Pornography Law should be revised to include a better definition of what pornography actually is.

Sirait said education is the key to helping eradicate child pornography and Komnas Anak planned to give students, teachers and families more information about how to protect children. "We not only need the support of the people, but also international cooperation, because pornography is a crime."

In 2010, Komnas Anak received 2,335 reports of commercial sexual exploitation of children, 18 percent involving children and pornography. While Sirait said this was just a small amount of the abuse that actually occurred, he added that the Pornography Law has been effective in decreasing DVD sales of child pornography and was a good first step.

Unicef too supports the harmonization of laws to strengthen the legal protection of children, it's Indonesian office said. The UN fund pointed out that Indonesia has not yet ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which covers the prohibition of child pornography, and stated that this could provide a good framework for harmonizing Indonesia's child protection laws.

But others are not so sure that amending the Pornography Law is the best way forward.

Ade Armando, lecturer of mass communication at the University of Indonesia, was one of the people who helped to draft the law and talked to vendors as part of his research. He said that before the Pornography Law was passed, DVDs containing child pornography were freely available at Jakarta's markets, such as the Glodok Market, but not anymore.

There is a huge sign, he said, that hangs above the DVD market announcing that the buying and selling of pornography is not allowed. "I think they are afraid now."

While Ade acknowledged there is indeed a loophole in the law, he said much progress has been made to combat child pornography distribution since the law has been enacted.

"I know it is not 100 percent successful in fighting child pornography but at least the amounts decreased... at least we achieved some significant change and progress in fighting child pornography."

Sundari thinks that rewriting the law is not an option for any political party – now or in the future. They are exhausted, she said, and the topic is a sensitive, divisive one. But she insists amendment is necessary if the government wants to strengthen the protection of children.

Next time around, she said, more time and less outside pressure would help avoid loopholes, as well as human error.

"Please don't bring religion into these public discussions. It is really counter-productive, not only for the maturity of democracy. We should learn from the Pornography Law – there are loopholes because the starting point was moralistic."

While the loophole in a law that was touted as a way to keep children safe may never be closed, the good news is that the Pornography Law appears to have decreased the distribution of child pornography. But if a law that was meant to cover all the bases when it came to children's welfare cannot get it right, Indonesia may need to once again tackle the problem of child pornography in the not so distant future.

The sales girl at the DVD store, however, probably thinks I'm just a crazy bule when I ask her whether people come to her looking for child pornography, and points to a row of glossy covers sporting exotic trees and plants. "National Geographic?" she asks.

West Papuans' struggle for justice continues

The Dominion Post - January 27, 2010

Maire Leadbeater – My introduction to West Papua was flying for many kilometres over the vast grey tailings deposition area created by the infamous Freeport McMoran gold and copper mine.

The flight from Bali to the capital, Jayapura, stopped briefly at Freeport's Mozes Kilangin Airport, in Timika. The mine has brought immense wealth for its multinational owner and the Jakarta government, but for the local tribal people only pollution, displacement, poverty and militarisation. It has been the same story for the exploitation of territory's other rich resources, especially its virgin forests.

In Jayapura the economic and social marginalisation of the indigenous Melanesian Papuans is immediately obvious. Papuans are now close to becoming a minority in their own land as a consequence of decades of high migration from other parts of Indonesia.

Papuan women sell their beautiful crafts and their produce from a mat spread out on the steps in front of the glitzy supermarket or at the night market on land used by day as a car park. At the Yotefa market near the capital, migrants seemed to have cornered the market for every kind of commodity and are even – to the dismay of the Papuans – selling betel nut (pinang), a traditional taonga of Papuan culture.

You also cannot miss the level of security presence; policemen and soldiers seemed to be everywhere; in restaurants and shops, driving or walking through the town. In the rural areas it was the same. I visited a small village of perhaps 30 or 40 houses – with no electricity, no phone, no running water and no transport service – but its very own military post keeping track of everyone.

In Jayapura, the immaculate Brimob base was particularly formidable. Five tank like vehicles, two armoured buses and one shiny new anti-terror vehicle equipped with water-cannon were lined up on the parade ground facing the main street.

I saw the vehicles deployed – waiting in readiness in central Jayapura while a 50-or-60-strong "Reject autonomy" demonstration took place at the provincial parliament building. Fortunately, on this occasion there were no arrests, but it would be hard to overestimate the courage of those who gather knowing that their actions are being monitored.

Few journalists are able to get visas to go to West Papua so it doesn't often hit the news headlines, but when I visited in November international media attention was relatively high. This was largely down to the wide distribution of a video clip graphically depicting the brutal torture of two Papuan farmers by the security forces. One of the victims cries in agony as a smouldering stick is held to his genitals.

The spotlight also turned on New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully in October when he visited Jakarta to launch an Indonesia-New Zealand Friendship Council. Challenged about the video, he merely "welcomed" the undertaking given to him by Indonesian Foreign Affairs counterpart that there would be an internal investigation into this crime.

To widespread international outrage, a military court has just handed down token sentences of 8-10 months for "disobeying orders". The three soldiers won't even be discharged.

New Zealand has had a consistent foreign policy position on West Papua since Indonesia annexed the territory in 1969 under the highly contested "Act of Free Choice" which Papuans refer to as the "Act of No Choice". It is an expedient policy based on maintaining a good bilateral relationship with Indonesia, rather than on human rights.

In the last few years New Zealand has restored its defence training ties with the Indonesian military and commenced training the West Papuan police in community policing strategies. Papuans I met were sceptical and sometimes hostile towards these schemes. Hardly any indigenous officers are involved and police, like the military, are viewed as part of the coercive structure of a repressive government.

But now there is a new opportunity for New Zealand to change course. Papuan leaders have been working to unite the many groups working for political change. For some the idea of sitting down to dialogue with Indonesia after decades of killings and conflict is anathema, but the call for peaceful dialogue with Indonesia is gaining wide support.

Father NelesTebay, an academic and key architect of the work to persuade Indonesia to talk to accredited representatives of the Papuan movement, is a wonderfully persistent and patient man. He told me that New Zealand is often mentioned as a possible mediator based on our past success in helping to broker an end to the brutal conflict between the Bougainville resistance and the Government of Papua New Guinea. Beginning in 1997 New Zealand hosted a series of peace talks - the first of which was a reconciliation meeting involving only the Bougainville factions. There was an infusion of Maori protocol into the process which enabled bitter grievances to be aired safely as trust was slowly developed.

Indonesia remains reluctant to talk about dialogue, but Father Neles is undeterred and notes that Indonesian President has suggested "constructive communication" with the Papuans. For Indonesia as well as for New Zealand dialogue could be more "expedient" than spiraling violence.

There is goodwill towards New Zealanders. I met former political prisoner Yusak Pakage, who says he owes his early release last July to an Amnesty International campaign that involved many New Zealanders. The "crime"? Yusak and Filep Karma raised the banned West Papua Morning Star flag during a peaceful demonstration in late 2004.

Amnesty continues to advocate for Filep and many others in jail for daring to express their political aspirations. I shared stories about New Zealand campaigns including our opposition to the Super Fund's investment in Freeport.

One day I was in an area largely converted to growing palm oil explaining to tribal elders that we had held demonstrations to protest about imports of the endangered tropical hardwood kwila. I began to describe the costume we made to depict a cassowary only to have a real live cassowary bird pointed out to me!

I met some of the traditional, church and student leaders whose names had been published as part of a blacklist drawn up by Kopassus.the Indonesian Special Forces. US journalist Alan Nairn had just leaked a document outlining plans to infiltrate civilian institutions and to target key individuals identified as "enemies of the state".

The Rev. Socratez Yoman leader of the Baptist Church in West Papua, visited New Zealand in 2006. Despite his name being at the head of this scary list, he greeted me warmly and told me he was undeterred from speaking out on " justice, peace, equality, democracy" on behalf of God's people.

[Maire Leadbeater is the Spokeswoman of the Indonesia Human Rights Committee]

What hope is there left for the betterment of Papua?

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2011

Vidhyandika D. Perkasa, Jakarta – From a content-analysis perspective, the amount of coverage a particular issue gets in the media often determines how a country prioritizes that issue, and reflects the degree of urgency with which this issue is addressed.

The tax corruption cases focusing on former tax official Gayus H. Tambunan have dominated Indonesian media headlines lately, as has the torture of Indonesian migrant worker Sumiyati in Saudi Arabia.

But, a different treatment appears to have been given to Papua. While the issue of Papua continues to be regarded as "a pebble in the shoe for Indonesia," no proper attention from its government, civil society or media has been paid to remedy these problems.

This could be interpreted as "a degree of complacency and exhaustion" on the part of the Indonesian public, as poverty, conflict and atrocities in Papua seem to dominate the stories it sees about this region.

The government is also apparently overwhelmed by the complexity of problems in Papua, with no effective solutions identified yet.

Hardly any achievements have been made in Papua worth acknowledging. An American diplomat in Jakarta described this situation as a "web", where one problem or issue is related to the other.

A foreign donor staff also said it was extremely difficult to work with people in Papua. I sense he was also frustrated in handling issues in Papua.

It is somehow ironic that the rallies initiated by the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) and attended by thousands of people in Jayapura in June-July 2010, which resulted in 11 recommendations, were not seen by the government as a "serious warning" that more serious and concrete approaches were needed.

Two alarming messages came out of these recommendations.

First, the people proposed international parties mediate in the settlement of Papua's problems, which signaled deepening distrust in the central government.

Second, they said Papua's "special autonomy" had been a failure, despite the fact this policy was deemed the only hope and means available for the central government to win the hearts and minds of the Papuan people.

"Without any progress, instability and the internationalization of Papua will continue to pose threats."

A well-implemented special autonomy should serve as a trump card for the Indonesian government to win diplomacy, amid the internationalization of Papua, which has intensified lately.

Most foreign countries have stipulated that they will only support Papua's integration with Indonesia if its "special autonomy" is implemented effectively.

After the long march last year, another problem arose when several Papuan elites and members of the Papuan Independence Front met US Congressmen in Washington in September 2010.

The meeting focused on Papua's "special autonomy" and human rights violations issues. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono responded by sending three coordinating ministers to Papua and West Papua for talks with local government officials to collect information on the region.

The meeting resulted in a decision to establish a special board to supervise the acceleration of development in Papua.

However, until today, no concrete measures have been taken by the board. The meeting itself was criticized by local NGOs as being centralistic, lacking participation from the grassroots, and oversimplifying Papua's problems.

The Yudhoyono administration also ordered an audit of trillions of rupiah worth of special autonomy funds that have been poured into Papua and West Papua.

It is ironic, however, that before the audit has been completed, the President has already made a new commitment to increase the budget for the two provinces in 2011.

I share Neles Tebay's concerns (The Jakarta Post, Sept. 16, 2010) of a possible backlash to this policy, because the absence of a thorough audit of past funding will only breed further corruption.

Without any tangible improvement to the government's initiatives to resolve Papua's problems, people in the province will continue to face their own additional domestic affairs that will potentially trigger further conflicts and social instability.

One of the divisive issues centers around the provincial legislative council (DPRP) demanding the Constitutional Court revoke the direct gubernatorial election, which contradicts the original law on special autonomy for Papua.

Members of the DPRP insist that the central government's decision to amend Article 7 of the 2001 law and introduce a direct election was a result of "intervention and political maneuvering".

Another domestic affair is related to public grievances on the result of the recent trial of three Army soldiers who were convicted for torturing civilians in the strife-torn regency of Puncak Jaya. They were only sentenced to between eight and 10 months in prison and escaped human rights violation charges.

Finally, the election of MRP members has come under the spotlight after the head of church synods demanded a postponement to the process, citing the cultural body's failure to help promote special autonomy.

The election process has been criticized for allegedly being dominated by security and political interests rather than those of native Papuans (the Post, Jan. 19, 2011). Before the election takes place, church leaders demanded talks with President Yudhoyono concerning the failure of Papua's "special autonomy".

The central government is racing against the clock to take concrete actions to deal with Papua. Empty promises will only extend the list of "government lies".

Without any progress, instability and the internationalization of Papua will continue to pose threats with a higher degree of complexity.

Finally, it is also crucial for civil society groups to keep pushing the government to put Papua at the top of their agenda and for the media to give extensive coverage to Papua to help restore hope for betterment in the province.

[The writer is a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.]

The Thinker: The tolerant many

Asia Sentinel - January 27, 2011

Testriono – Two studies on religious life in Indonesia released at the end of 2010 showed significant increases in the number of religiously motivated attacks and discrimination against minority religious groups.

In its survey, the Moderate Muslim Society recorded 81 cases of religious intolerance over the last year, up 30 percent from 2009.

The Wahid Institute report was even more damning, with a total of 193 instances of religious discrimination and 133 cases of nonviolent religious intolerance recorded, up approximately 50 percent from the year before.

Among such instances, forced church closures and disruptions of worship services were the most commonly reported complaints, including the firebombing of an Ahmadi mosque and violent attacks on its worshipers.

At first glance, this paints a frightening portrait of religious life in Indonesia, especially as these kinds of stories are the ones most commonly reported in Western media.

Articles that focus solely on violence against religious minorities depict Indonesian Muslims as angry and destructive individuals who restrict the freedoms of others, despite the Constitution's formal guarantee of the right to believe and practice one's religion.

While highlighting real problems in Indonesia, this picture of the country's citizens is misleading: most Indonesians are accepting of other faiths, and most parts of the nation are currently in a state of peace.

In Jakarta, the Istiqlal Mosque and Cathedral Church stand opposite each other in harmony.

In Yogyakarta, Muslims and Christians worked together to help victims of Merapi's recent eruptions, which forced many citizens to flee their homes.

And in many parts of the nation with large minority religious groups, such as North Sumatra, North Sulawesi and Bali, inter-religious harmony is the norm.

We cannot close our eyes to acts of religious intolerance. With the vast majority of Indonesians supporting peaceful coexistence among different religions, acts of discrimination often provided the impetus for citizens to develop programs and initiatives for peace-building.

For example, the Paramadina Foundation – founded by a Muslim reformer, the late Nurcholish Madjid – recently published an Indonesian translation of American University professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer's 2003 book, "Nonviolence and Peace Building in Islam: Theory and Practice."

In his book, Abu-Nimer counters the stereotype in Western media that the Muslim world is intolerant and warlike and that Islam as a religion and culture is contrary to the principles of peace.

According to him, the main problem is that many analysts are obsessed with acts of violence and terrorism committed in the name of Islam, thus Islamic values and practices of peace-building go unnoticed.

By translating this book into Indonesian, the Paramadina Foundation aims to promote Islamic perspectives and principles of peace-building with Indonesian readers, based on a model of nonviolence, like the approaches successfully employed in Poso, Aceh and other places around the country to resolve episodes of religious conflict.

True, Indonesia today is in a state of democratic transition. Nevertheless, it is recognized as the third-largest democracy in the world and the most democratic Muslim-majority country.

In the authoritarian New Order period, the country was rated by Freedom House as a "partly free" state – free from violence only because people were afraid to voice their opinions.

But since 2005, Indonesia has entered the ranks of "free" states, with the liberty for all to express opinions.

Unfortunately, some individuals have interpreted this as a right to violate others' freedoms – for example, by expressing an opinion that goes against the right of others to build a house of worship.

The critical issue now is to help foster a healthy public debate on religion and how Indonesians can best promote pluralism and respect for others' beliefs, without infringing on others' freedoms.

The democratic transition that has been taking place since 1998 still leaves a large amount of work to be done yet, including protecting the right to freely practice one's religion.

This is a responsibility that must be tackled by government, religious leaders, civil society activists and lovers of peace and freedom to paint a better picture of ourselves in 2011.

[Testriono is a researcher at the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) at the State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.]

Harsh reality of Indonesian rule exposed

Sydney Morning Herald - January 27, 2011

Ron May – In his Independence Day address to the Indonesian Parliament in 2005, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he wished to resolve the Papua question in a just, peaceful and dignified manner.

If anyone took that wish seriously, the announcement that the three soldiers shown on video torturing two West Papuan captives had been sentenced by a military court to prison terms of eight to 10 months for "disobeying orders", and that none would be discharged, reveals the reality of Indonesian attitudes and policy in West Papua.

When pictures of the West Papuans being tortured were publicised internationally, President Yudhoyono initially assured the US Secretary of State that the matter was being dealt with. Whether by oversight or deliberate misinformation, this was untrue: what was being dealt with was an earlier case of military abuse of West Papuan citizens.

Yudhoyono subsequently resisted international pressure for a trial of the soldiers involved in the recent affair, and last week dismissed the event as a "minor incident", clearly put out that he had to "explain the incident to the world, the UN, the EU and the US".

West Papua became part of the Indonesian Republic in 1969, following a sham "Act of Free Choice" – referred to by West Papuans as the "Act Free of Choice" – denounced by UN and foreign media observers. West Papua became the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.

Since then there has been continuing resistance, mostly passive resistance, to Indonesian rule by a large part of the Melanesian population of West Papua, and opposition to the steady inflow of migrants from other parts of Indonesia.

Following the fall of President Suharto in 1998, a number of concessions were made to the West Papuans: the province of Irian Jaya was renamed Papua; (limited) permission was given for West Papuans to fly their Morning Star flag; a 31-member Papuan Presidium Council was set up to discuss West Papuan demands and, in 2001, Papua, along with Aceh, was granted Special Autonomy (Otonomi Khusus).

However, these concessions have been progressively wound back: the special autonomy has never been fully implemented; the Presidium lapsed after its president, Theys Eluay, was murdered by Indonesian soldiers; permission to fly the West Papuan flag was effectively withdrawn, and the renamed province was divided in two, contravening the provisions of the Otonomi Khusus. Human rights abuses and political repression continue.

Both administration and commerce are dominated by Indonesians from outside West Papua and a 2008 report by the respected International Crisis Group warned that ongoing migration to predominantly Christian West Papua by mostly Muslim Indonesians was escalating local tensions.

West Papua is a resource-rich area, with one of the world's largest gold and copper mines, extensive oil and gas reserves and tropical hardwood forests.

Despite West Papuans' strong moral claims, the Indonesian government will not countenance West Papuan separatism, and the rest of the world, including the neighbouring Melanesian states – with the exception of Vanuatu – has shown little interest in the West Papuan cause.

The militant Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), which has resisted Indonesian rule sporadically since the 1960s, has attracted little support outside West Papua.

A few years ago, Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare refused to accept OPM spokesman Otto Ondawame, now resident in Vanuatu, as a member of the Vanuatu delegation to the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Papua New Guinea.

Australia's response to the outcome of the military court's investigation into the torture of the two West Papuans has been to "note" the guilty verdict and assure the world that it "will continue to follow reports of human rights abuses in Indonesia and to raise issues with relevant Indonesian authorities as appropriate".

But it is clear that President Yudhoyono is unlikely to be moved by such "noting" or expressions of concern to relevant authorities as appropriate, from Australia or, in Yudhoyono's words, "the world, the UN, the EU or the US".

It also seems clear that the Indonesian government has no intention of fully implementing its own Otonomi Khusus, legislated in the heady days after the demise of Suharto.

Indonesia may have embarked upon the road to democracy, but it is still a country with a strong military culture, and a former military man as president.

"Disobeying orders" may be an offence incurring several months imprisonment, but torturing West Papuan citizens is seen as a "minor incident". So long as such an attitude prevails, the Melanesian people of West Papua will remain downtrodden and abused.

[Ron May is emeritus fellow at the Australian National University. Otto Ondowame's recent book, One People, One Soul is available from Crawford House Publishing, Adelaide.]

The Thinker: Reading Yudhoyono

Jakarta Globe - January 25, 2011

Aleksius Jemadu – When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told senior officials from the military and police last week that he had not received a pay raise in seven years, the statement was revealing in a number of ways.

From a cultural perspective, the president was using his Javanese manner to tell his audience, with an air of indifference, that he actually deserved more money. In Javanese culture, one refrains from being too blunt about such deep desires.

Politically, in the midst of public disappointment and anger over the handling of the Gayus Tambunan tax scandal, the president also was making a disclaimer that with his stagnant salary he should not be associated with those rich businesspeople who evade their taxes.

In this, he was seeking to deflect the idea that people should blame him for a crime that he had nothing to do with. The president's statement was also taken to mean that even with his relatively low salary, he was still committed to his job.

Thus, he was responding to critics who have questioned his drive in carrying out his popular mandate.

A few days before the president's comment, religious leaders went to the State Palace to ask the president to get serious about eradicating corruption and protecting the rights of minorities.

Their intention was to draw Yudhoyono's attention to the irresponsibility of being indecisive or indifferent when our political institutions care only about the interests of their masters.

It is deplorable that instead of responding to this very legitimate demand by the religious leaders, the president instead seemed to beg for some compassion from the public for his personal "ordeals."

It is evident that the public and the president have different priorities. While the public wants the president to be more determined in leading the effort to eradicate corruption – especially with regard to the tax scandal – the president apparently seems to care more about his own skin.

Although it is not fair to put all the blame on the president, he is still expected to do something to put an end to the seemingly endless controversy concerning Gayus. In the eyes of the public, the president, as the top executive, ought to be aware of the reasons why this case has so frustrated and angered people.

First, no one has stepped up from the law-enforcement community who is clean enough or courageous enough to prosecute Gayus properly.

Second, even our two most influential television news stations, TVOne and Metro TV, which have been very enthusiastic in endorsing public discussion about the Gayus scandal, cannot claim to be impartial providers of information.

We cannot expect TVOne to be too critical or cynical about the position of its owner, Aburizal Bakrie, some of whose other companies are allegedly implicated in the case. At the same time, Metro TV has seemed very critical, even overly so, of any weakness of Yudhoyono's.

Third, being aware of the significant influence of the electronic media, major political parties are competing to use the media to protect the good image of their organizations and leaders.

This is also part of the lead-up to the 2014 presidential election. Unfortunately, there is little the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) can do to ensure the integrity and objectivity of the television stations in presenting political news.

Yudhoyono's ambiguous statement about his salary is a manifestation of his complex personality, which may affect the way he governs the country for the rest of his second term.

As chief executive, he should never be heard to utter words of discouragement because that could be interpreted as a sign of weak leadership.

Instead of self-pity, it would have been more appropriate for the president to tell his audience that public officials should work even harder to meet people's rising expectations.

If Yudhoyono wants to sustain the political preponderance of his Democratic Party beyond 2014, he has to bear in mind that coming through on the promises of the reform era remains absolutely essential.

It is the Democratic Party that will pay the price in the 2014 elections if he fails to show statesmanship, especially in leading the government bureaucracy toward a more professional and accountable performance.

[Aleksius Jemadu is a professor of international politics at the Department of International Relations at Pelita Harapan University.]

Dateline Jakarta: SBY, Tifatul, Gayus and other signs

Jakarta Globe - January 25, 2011

Joe Cochrane – I've been spending a lot of time in my front yard lately. Not that I'm an avid gardener, mind you. I've mainly been on the lookout for downpours of frogs and lizards, talking trees, oozing red mud puddles, cohabitating street cats and dogs, or any other urban signs that the Apocalypse is upon us.

How can I not, given the latest head-shaking behavior of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono?

My fears began right after some senior cabinet ministers held a snap press conference to refute allegations from a coalition of prominent religious figures that the government had lied to the public.

Contrary to common sense, they even said that such an allegation was a slap to their integrity, credibility and honor – as if the government of one of the world's most corrupt nations could claim such things.

Perhaps these ministers hadn't heard some of the recent comments being made by their cabinet colleagues.

First there was Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring touting a new adherent (BlackBerry) to his non-existent Internet pornography filtering system, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa asserting that Burma's November election was a sure sign that the country was moving toward democracy (even though the pro-democracy opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi was banned from participating) and Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, who doesn't feel that a Christian pastor being stabbed in the stomach by a Muslim extremist while leading a congregation in Sunday Mass counts as a religious conflict.

Then there was Yudhoyono himself, who asserted last Friday before the leaders of the Armed Forces and the National Police that there had not been a single gross human rights violation committed in Indonesia since 2004.

Well, I'm not going to call the president and his cabinet liars, because those religious leaders have quite publicly done so already.

And they were joined by human rights groups that went wild during the weekend in response to Yudhoyono's comments, as did religious figures following Ali's earlier claims about there being no religious conflicts in Indonesia in 2010.

It's disturbing indeed to think about why Yudhoyono and Ali would make such statements when the facts clearly say otherwise.

Then again, government officials frequently make statements that go against the facts – and reality. Let's not forget former National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and his reams of non-existent evidence against members of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for bribery. Back to the present, it's worth taking a look at what this coalition of religious figures claimed were "lies" told by the government.

"Old lies" include the government's inaction in the case of human rights activist Munir, the failure to uphold justice for the victims of the Lapindo mudflow disaster and dishonest data published in a government report on the reduction of poverty.

"New lies" include the failure to promote inter-religious harmony, a lack of transparency in the resignation of former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and the unresolved investigation into the attack on an Indonesian Corruption Watch activist.

It would be fair to add the Gayus Tambunan corruption scandal to the list, and probably the Bank Century case, as well.

The list encapsulates the core problems facing Indonesia today: official corruption; collusion by government officials, prosecutors, police, judges and big business; impunity; lawlessness; and violence and intimidation against activists and reformers.

It's an ugly list, and one that takes the luster off of Indonesia's economic accomplishments and growing international stature, such as being a member of the Group of 20.

But are such memberships and 7 percent GDP growth worth it when the country's democracy and anti-corruption drives have so clearly stalled?

Indonesia had another economic boom in the 1980s and 90s, but the nation is still trying to sort out the political and social problems that came with it. It's hard to do so when the country's leadership is avoiding the issues.

Given the allegations against the National Police in the past 18 months – framing KPK officials, torturing activists in Maluku, amassing huge bank accounts, helping to get Gayus off the hook, to name a few – it's hard to understand praising statements from Yudhoyono. Same goes for the Armed Forces and its operations in Papua, which thanks to YouTube proved that elements of the military continue to engage in torture.

Of course, it wasn't all praise. The president ordered the military and police to end the practice of illegal markups – thereby confirming to the nation that its main security and law and order institutions systematically engage in corruption.

Shouldn't the president have ordered the KPK to investigate these markups, rather than issuing an order that both the military and police will ignore?

The only redeeming factor in all this is that Indonesia's dirty laundry is being publicly aired in the media, which is one of the success stories of Indonesia's democratic transformation.

There are many other such success stories, and the Yudhoyono administration would be right to complain that it's not getting the credit it deserves for helping make the country a better place.

Still, it's hard to be gracious when we're being told that Indonesia hasn't experienced a single gross human rights abuse since 2004.

Or being told that Internet pornography is being successfully filtered when that is clearly not the case.

If only the information minister would realize that pornography isn't among the country's Top 50 pressing national issues, and focus his energies elsewhere, we'd probably have more villages connected to the Internet and better cell phone connections.

It's hard to know what to make of Tifatul. At first the feeling was to get rid of the minister, as his antics have made Indonesia look foolish internationally. But in these uncertain times, he does provide a bit of levity.

I'm dying to ask him two questions, though: Is there a blue sky and smiley little marshmallow people in the anti-pornography world in which you live? And if so, can I find the secret entrance to it in my front yard?

[Joe Cochrane is a contributing editor for the Jakarta Globe. His writings appear at www.datelinejakarta.com.]

We salute reform efforts by military

Jakarta Globe Editorial - January 24, 2011

The horrific torture of two Papuan men by military officers last year caught the nation by surprise and sullied the image of the Indonesian armed forces. A military tribunal has now found the men guilty of insubordination and sentenced them to between eight and ten months in jail.

Although torture charges were never formally laid, the images widely distributed on YouTube were plain to see. Such actions cannot be condoned by civilized society and must be punished.

Whether the three men should also be charged in a civilian court is a moot point. They were serving officers and they have been dealt with according to military procedures. In all likelihood, they will be discharged from the military once they complete their sentences.

The TNI (the Indonesian Armed Forces) has tried to clean up the tarnished reputation it acquired during the Suharto government when opponents of the government were routinely abducted and beaten.

Those dark days are over but some elements of the armed forces remain rooted in the past. Having said that, it would not be appropriate to tar the entire military with the same brush over this one incident.

In the past 10 years, the TNI has reformed in many ways and now stays out of politics. We no longer have serving generals sitting in the House of Representatives or running ministries.

The military, it can be said, has returned to the barracks and intends to stay there for the foreseeable future.

Since independence, the TNI has provided numerous leaders through all strata of society and remains today one of the best grooming grounds for future leaders.

The actions of a few rogue soldiers should not damage the image of the entire institution. We should recognize the contributions the military has made to nation building and support its reform efforts.

The fact that it did not attempt to cover up the actions of the three soldiers is indicative of the changes under way, even if the punishment meted out was less than satisfactory.

Given Indonesia's vastness, the TNI has an important role to play in national defense and in keeping the peace alongside the police.

This role must not be abused if the military is to win the trust of the public. It must push on with its efforts to convert itself into a professional fighting force.

The military is an integral part of the social fabric. Its members are often called in to help in times of natural disasters and catastrophes.

Often they undergo personal hardship to be of assistance. We must recognize this sacrifice and role of the TNI even as we hold the institution to the highest standards.

We should not forget the torture incident but nor should we allow it to dominate our discourse and shape our view of the institution.

Papua justice

Jakarta Post Editorial - January 24, 2011

There are two conventions in this country that obstinately evade a resolution. The first involves questions of narrow-mindedness when honestly dealing with the right of autonomy and justice for certain regions. The second deals with justice in offenses committed by those in uniform.

Despite vigorously clamoring for justice and democracy, we continually tiptoe around the judiciary's record of handing out justice with kid gloves for felonies committed by members of the military.

When the two conventions combine, we have a situation like that of Papua. Our easternmost province is one of the most beautiful, bountiful and yet so tragic.

The problems that beset Papua are plentiful, long and unresolved. But, arguably, not so complicated that consolation cannot be found. Partly the people of Papua, more specifically Papuan community leaders themselves, must find greater unity and political purpose, forsaking their individual and tribal gain.

To say that part of the problem of Papua is the Papuans themselves is no misnomer. But arguably, no less culpable is the nation's treatment of issues in Papua.

Sometime the biggest obstacle is not the principal problem itself, but the conformist, biased and obsolete mindset used in finding a solution.

There is no better case in point than Friday's remarks by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when he almost belittled, albeit inadvertently, the suffering of victims of military "indiscipline" in Papua.

During a meeting with military chiefs, the President underscored the necessity for soldiers to obey military discipline. "I order military chiefs to impose serious sanctions on soldiers who break the rules and discipline," Yudhoyono said.

He rightfully warned that these violations would have political consequences for the country, noting that they had brought serious implications for Indonesia pointing to the international spotlight brought by alleged incidents of torture in the past several months.

Despite his firm guidelines and expression of concern about the violations committed by soldiers in Papua, the President then needless remarked that the violations were minor in scale.

We commend the President for his attention to the matter, but regret the way he framed the caveats of the argument. Anyone would who has been on the receiving end of a rifle butt or the standard issue military boot does not reference the pain and indignity to the scale of violations as a whole.

Rather than an unyielding statement to employ justice by saying that the offenses were not widespread, the President apparently believes the situation is still tolerable. More over it inspires little confidence, if any is left, that errant military personnel will be dealt swiftly.

Too many unpunished violations have been committed in Papua to believe that culpability will ever be assured. To further say that these violations were not ordered by their superiors gives no sense of ease. It only means that the commanders, and the President as the commander-in-chief, cannot control or discipline their subordinates.

The only thing more fearful than an invading foreign army, is one's own undisciplined military. We are also disturbed that the President would have to highlight the question of international attention as a result of these violations. Does that mean that we would not address these violations if there were no international scrutiny?

We are aghast if that should be the case. Justice should be sought because Papuans are equal citizens with equal values and common rights as any child or elder across this archipelago. In fact, the parameters of justice are not bound by citizenship or race. It is a moral obligation for any civilized society.

Yudhoyono's remarks belie the constant nature of rights abuses which, according to the Papua branch of the National Commission for Human Rights, has increased in the past year, the majority committed by security forces. The traditional mindset of culpability has to be exorcised.

Every member of society – be they civilian, military or civil servant – must fear legal consequences when committing these offenses. If we cannot change this haughty attitude, then we should never expect peace and stability to reign in Papua.