Head of information division of the Ambon Naval Base IX Major Wahyu Broto said in a press release here on Tuesday that the Australian Commander of Northern Command Air, Commodore Kenneth Noel Watson will also attend the closing ceremony.

In addition, Commodore Rahardjo Dwi Prihanggono, commandor of the Naval Base IX will also attend the ceremony, he said, adding that opening of the joint patrol exercise was held in Darwin, Australia.

According to Major Wahyu Broto, preparations to close the international training activities had been carried out.

As part of the preparations, an Australian warship HMAS Ararat has already birthed at the pier of the naval base, and P3C Orion aircraft will also land at Pattimura International Airport.

Meanwhile, two Indonesian warships that took part in the exercises namely "KRI Sultan Nuku-873" and "KRI Sura-802", had birthed at Halong pier, and a Cassa aircraft U-622 will also arrive at the Pattimura airport, he said.

Human rights & democracy

House criticised over moves to get US travel ban on Syamsoeddin lifted

Detik.com - April 28, 2011

Ari Saputra, Jakarta – Reports of moves by member of the House of Representative's (DPR) Commission I on defense, foreign affairs and communication to overturn the United States ban on Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin entering the US has been criticised by human rights victims. They believe that such efforts are unnecessary because it is fitting that Sjamsoeddin be held to account for the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor and the May 1998 riots in Jakarta.

"We reject the request by DPR members to the US to revoke the US travel ban on Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. The DPR commission's visit to the US to lobby for the lifting of the travel ban is not the right thing to do because of allegations of responsibility for human rights violations", said Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Coordinator Haris Azhar.

Azhar conveyed the group's objections during a break in a "Thursday" action in front of the State Palace on Jl Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta on Thursday April 28.

"The [US] refusal to give Sjafrie a visa is a form of the application of the principle of universal jurisdiction on case of gross human rights violations. These are serious crimes that are categories as enemies of humanity so it has authority anywhere and indefinitely. [He] must be punished over this case", asserted Azhar.

Azhar is urging the DPR to concentrate on solving the TNI's internal systems of correction rather than dealing with Sjamsoeddin's travel ban. "The government should be thinking about correcting the TNI through a vetting mechanism or by identifying human rights violators, removing them from their posts and not including them in the command structure", said Azhar. (Ari/nwk)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

AGO has no plans to pursue Muchdi for Munir murder

Jakarta Globe - April 27, 2011

Heru Andriyanto – Deputy Attorney General Darmono says his office had no immediate plans to file a case review against former National Intelligence Agency chief Maj. Gen. (ret.) Muchdi Purwoprandjono, whose conviction for the murder of rights activists Munir Said Thalib was controversially overturned.

"What reasons do we have for a case review?" Darmono told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday. "There is no such a plan at present."

He declined, however, to say whether the prospects of continuing legal action against the retired Army general had been abandoned altogether. "I'm saying that in the meantime, we still don't have reasons to ask for a case review," he said.

A case review requires the petitioners to present new evidence that could overturn the Supreme Court ruling or strong indications that the judges had made a fatal mistake in delivering the verdict.

Several rights groups have demanded the AGO seek a case review against Muchdi, on the grounds that another suspect in the case was only jailed because of a successful case review request by prosecutors.

Former Garuda Indonesia pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto, who had earlier been acquitted, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for administering a fatal dose of arsenic into Munir's drink in the September 2004.

Choirul Anam, director of Human Rights Working Group Indonesia, has accused the AGO of discriminatory policies in the case because a case review has not been lodged against Muchdi.

Transparency & freedom of information

Government institutions still neglecting document requests

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2011

Jakarta – A year after the implementation of the Freedom of Information Law, many government institutions have yet to grant full information access to citizens.

The Central Information Commission (KIP) recorded 224 requests from citizens and corporations in the settlement of information disputes between July 2010 and March 2011.

It successfully provided information in 22 disputes through mediation. Seven cases went through adjudication, but in only three of them were documents eventually delivered to citizens.

KIP commissioner Abdul Rahman Ma'mun said that the figures showed that the commission had limited authority to take further action to ensure that the information was given to the ones who had requested the documents.

"The commission's authority is only to formulate the procedure in a dispute settlement. We cannot convict the defendant but only order them to open or keep their information. Further action will be under the authority of the Supreme Court," Abdul said.

The Freedom of Information Law, expected to encourage good governance and transparency, was passed in 2008 and became effective two years later. Many rights activists have said that the law hardly improves access to public information, as governments are still reluctant to provide any information.

Abdul cited the example of the case of police officers' bank accounts as among the failed adjudication cases. "The process is ongoing. But, I think the Jakarta Administration Court is also confused whether to treat the case as an appeal or not," he said.

The head of the Information and Public Relations Center at the Communications and Information Ministry, Gatot S. Dewa Broto, said his institution had held many forums to urge public institutions to have information and documentation officers and the provincial administration have information commissions.

From the forum, Gatot said there were five constraints in the implementation of the law. The constraints were institutional nervousness that the law will expose them and that officials tend to refuse to be appointed as information and documentation management officers.

Also, several high ranking officers think information management should be handled by public relations officers, officials see the law as a burden and people are concerned about criminal sanctions. "And, yes, there is a tendency that the public officials close off information to the public," Gatot said. (rcf)

Politics & political parties

Yenni forms new party for 2014 election

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2011

Jakarta – An offshoot of the National Awakening Party (PKB) led by former president by Abdurrahman Wahid's daughter, Yenni Wahid, has formed a new party to participate in the 2014 elections.

"We have registered for the 2014 elections under the name of Partai Kedaulatan Bangsa Indonesia (PKBI) [the Indonesian National Sovereignty Party]," Syafrin Romas, PKBI deputy chairman, said as quoted by detik.com on Friday.

He said his party was building regional networks to pass the verification process by the Law and Human Rights Ministry that will start in August.

The new law on political parties requires parties 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.

"We already have offices in 33 provinces," Syafrin claimed, adding that most of the officials of the PKBI are former PKB members who sided with Yenni.

National Republic Party 'selling' Tommy because the people miss Suharto

Detik.com - April 28, 2011

Indra Subagja, Jakarta – The National Republic Party (Partai Nasrep) has registered itself with the Department of Justice and Human Rights (Kemenkum HAM).

The party, which will be selling Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the son of former President Suharto, as an icon, is positive that it will be able to contest the 2014 general elections. This is because there are still many little people in the regions that miss the prosperity of the New Order era.

"Nasrep will carry out an acceleration that is pro-people for the people's welfare with Mas [Brother] Tommy as an icon. The ordinary people, such as farmers and fisherpeople miss the era of Pak Harto [Suharto]", said Nasrep initiator Yus Usman Sumanegara when sought for confirmation on Thursday April 28.

Nasrep is a merger of several small parties, including among others the Labour Party and the Indonesian People's Sovereignty Party. These parties are positive that by backing Tommy Soeharto they will easily garner 10 percent of the vote in the coming elections.

"What is clear at the moment is that many people are still finding things difficult, the House of Representatives (DPR) meanwhile is showing that it [prioritises] its personal and group interests over those of the ordinary people", said Sumanegara.

Sumanegara, who was once the secretary general of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) led by former defense minister and Indonesian military chief General Wiranto, explained that Nasrep already has representatives in all 33 provinces and has enough resources to contest the 2014 elections.

"We are an alternative vehicle to struggle for the interests of the common people", he added. Nasrep was only declared late last week.

Sumanegara is also optimistic about Nasrep backing Tommy. He is not concerned that Nasrep will suffer the same fate as the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), which was backed by the Suharto family and his daughter Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana, but suffered a poor result in the last election.

"The momentum is different, so it's a question of momentum. Mas Tommy is not just supported by the Cendana family [Suharto's Central Jakarta neighborhood, the family and relatives of the Suharto clan] but thousands and thousand of ordinary people", he added. (ndr/fay)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Jilted PKS founder wants day in court

Jakarta Globe - April 26, 2011

Anita Rachman & Elisabeth Oktofani – Prosperous Justice Party co-founder Yusuf Supendi said on Monday that he was ready to take the party's leaders to court over his controversial dismissal.

In a case that has become another distraction for a party that has recently reeled from one controversy to another, Yusuf has refused to accept his dismissal, saying he had never received official notification. Yusuf helped establish the Justice Party in 1998, which later became the PKS.

"On November 28, 2010, four people from the PKS, including [deputy chairman] Triwisaksana, visited me at 8:20 p.m. to show me the dismissal letter, dated October 29, 2009, and addressed to me," Yusuf said.

But he said he had never received a copy of the letter. He also said he did not read the letter in 2010 because it was not given to him according to party guidelines.

"I do not know why they wanted to kick me out, because I did not read the letter," he said. "But I think it is because I am too critical of the consultative body."

Dani Saliswijaya, Yusuf's lawyer, said they would take the case to court after an attempt to meet party leaders was rebuffed.

He said Yusuf would sue 11 PKS leaders, including Hilmi Aminuddin, the head of the PKS's consultative body; Surahman Hidayat, the head of the PKS's Shariah Council; party president Luthfi Hasan Ishaq; Anis Matta, PKS secretary general; Communication Minister Tifatul Sembiring; and Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf.

Dani said the suit would be filed with the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday and that Yusuf would seek Rp 37 billion ($4.3 million) in compensation.

The lawyer added that four nongovernmental organizations were also planning to report the PKS to the Constitutional Court demanding its dissolution, but he did not say on what grounds.

"I do not want to name who they are yet. But they have evidence to report," he said. He added that Yusuf would bring a separate complaint to the Constitutional Court.

Yusuf said the PKS had strayed from its original mission. "Instead of preaching to spread values, the PKS now preaches to look for positions in the House," he said.

Mustafa Kamal, the head of the PKS in the House of Representatives, said the party would follow all legal procedures related to the case but that Yusuf's charges were baseless.

A PKS legislator, Arifinto, was recently caught in the House looking at a pornographic video on his tablet computer. Anis Matta was last month implicated in a sex-video scandal that the police later cleared him of.

SBY's image politics have 'failed'

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Arientha Primanita – According to analysts commenting on a new poll, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's strategy of prioritizing his political image at the expense of decisive action has not paid off.

The survey, by the recently established Institute for Strategic and Public Policy Research (Inspire), showed that while the president was viewed to have fared well on the issues of religious and press freedom, a majority of the 1,500 respondents were critical of his commitment to fighting graft and promoting clean governance.

Marbawi A. Katon, the lead researcher at Inspire, said only 46.1 percent of respondents believed the president had conducted "clean and ethical politics."

"In the survey, 64.8 percent of respondents did not believe Yudhoyono had really protected Indonesian workers, and 56.9 percent said he didn't fight corruption seriously," Marbawi said at the launch of the poll's findings on Sunday.

The survey also showed that 66.8 percent did not believe Yudhoyono had done his best to crack down on corruption in the tax office, while 56.4 percent believed he had failed to probe the suspiciously large bank accounts held by top police officers.

It also showed that while 39.4 percent of respondents did not believe he had interfered in legal issues in the country, 39.3 percent believed that he had.

Nico Harjanto, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the findings showed that the public did not believe Yudhoyono had taken decisive action on strategic national issues. "His image-centered politics have failed, in part because of his own personality," he said at a discussion on the findings.

Compared to former presidents such as founding father Sukarno and Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, a champion of pluralism, Yudhoyono's overly careful approach had backfired, Nico said. "He could be dubbed the president who likes discourse and meetings," he said.

The survey, carried out between March 26 and April 3, polled residents of 15 cities outside Jakarta above the age of 17.

Abdul Malik Gismar, a political and psychology expert from Paramadina University, said one interesting finding that emerged was the preference of 40.9 percent of respondents for the next president to come from the Armed Forces (TNI) and for the vice president to be an intellectual.

"That's an interesting result because maybe the people want legal order, considering the pressing issues of religious intolerance, violence and threats," he said.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha denied that the administration was more focused on its image rather than on its performance. "If they say the government tends to emphasize its image, that's not correct," he said. "The government is only focused on work, work and work."

Julian stressed the government had never made any misleading claims of having achieved its targets on certain issues. "We know there are things that we haven't achieved yet, but it's all in the works," he said.

New political parties still elitist, offer little hope for change

Kompas - April 24, 2011

Hendra A Setyawan, Jakarta – The discourse on the simplification of political parties such as by increasing the parliamentary threshold (the minimum number of votes required to obtain a seat in the national parliament) is the principle challenge facing new political parties seeking to get into the parliament through the 2014 general elections. The other challenge is how to respond to people's needs with regard to new political actors and agents that are capable of reforming the current political atmosphere.

Two incentives

When contacted from Jakarta on Saturday April 23, Airlangga University political science lecturer Airlangga Pribadi said that he suspects there are two factors stimulating the emergence of new political parties. First a feeling of embitterment by the parties' initiators with regard to the political rivalry in Indonesia and second, as a means to amass large numbers of people that can then be used for certain political transactions.

A number of new political parties have emerged recently with one of their goals being to take part in the 2014 general elections. They include the National Republican Party (Partai Nasrep), initiated by among others by the son of former President Suharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. The party held its first national coordinating meeting in Jakarta on Friday April 22.

The other political party that has emerged is the National Union Party (PPN), which is a merger of 10 political parties that failed to pass the parliamentary threshold in 2009. The 10 parties are the Democratic Party of Reform (Partai Demokrasi Pembaruan, PDP), the Regional United Party (Partai Persatuan Daerah, PPD), the National Sun Party (Partai Matahari Bangsa, PMB), the Patriot Party (Partai Patriot, PP), the Pioneer Party (Partai Pelopor, PP), the Freedom Bull National Party (Partai Nasional Banteng Kemerdekaan, PNBK), the Islamic Prosperity Party (Partai Islam Sejahtera, PIS), the Indonesian Democratic Vanguard Party (Partai Penegak Demokrasi Indonesia, PPDI), the Indonesian Democratic Party of Devotion (Partai Kasih Demokrasi Indonesia, PKDI) and the Indonesian Youth Party (Partai Pemuda Indonesia, PPI).

Spreading hope

In order to be able to compete with the established political parties that exist, according to Pribadi, these new political parties must spread a sense of hope through, among other things, programs and political figures that are capable of attracting the interest of ordinary people.

Pribadi however believes that these new political parties still tend to be elitist. "I have not yet seen a new political party emerge that is capable of responding to people's needs, particularly in the endeavour to reinvigorate the national political climate", said Pribadi.

Tommy Legowo from the Forum of Concerned Citizens for Indonesia's Parliament (Formappi) said that if they are viewed in terms of their founders, the new political parties that are currently emerging will not provide much of an alternative choice for ordinary Indonesians. This is despite the fact that new political parties are urgently needed to challenge the old parties.

Parliamentary threshold

Tommy Legowo also noted that with a parliamentary threshold of 2.5 percent, as was the case in the 2009 general elections, only nine political parties made it into the House of Representatives. If the parliamentary threshold is increased to around 3 percent in the 2014 elections, it is predicted that only seven parties will get into parliament. This situation is of course a challenge in itself for new political parties. (NWO)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Is Gerindra's Muchdi eyeing PPP leadership?

Jakarta Globe - April 24, 2011

Nivell Rayda – Ever since Muchdi Purwoprandjono announced in February that he was abandoning the nationalist Great Indonesia Movement Party he helped create for the Islam-based United Development Party, many have been curious about his intentions.

With so much scandal surrounding the retired two-star general – ranging from being blamed for the widespread riots that followed the fall of former President Suharto in 1998 to allegedly masterminding the murder of prominent human rights advocate Munir Said Thalib in 2004 – it was all but natural for members of the Islamic party known as the PPP to question his true motive for switching sides.

There has been speculation that Muchdi has designs to lead the party. Among the rumors circulating inside the party is that Muchdi wants to chair PPP in a bid to get it out of the Democratic Party-led ruling coalition and form an alliance with the party he founded, also known as Gerindra.

When asked about the rumor by the Jakarta Globe recently, Muchdi denied it. "What?" the retired general said. "That's not true. None of it is true."

Muchdi explained that his departure from Gerindra was fueled by an internal conflict that erupted after the party was approached by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for possible inclusion in the coalition.

Gerindra's founder, retired Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, had signaled the party was open to joining the coalition in exchange for seats in the cabinet. The move would mean an end to Gerindra's opposition party status.

"When we first established Gerindra, we agreed that we must counter attacks from the neo-liberals. After the 2009 elections, Prabowo and I agreed to stay out of the coalition and dedicate ourselves to criticizing the government and correcting their policies," Muchdi said.

"But then the commitment changed. There is a political maneuver and compromise. At the same time, certain elements within the PPP asked me to join. Being a long-time Muslim activist myself, I was attracted to develop the last remaining pure Islamic party."

But PPP's membership in the coalition calls into question Muchdi's stated mission of criticizing the government. And his military background and support of nationalist politics seem an imperfect fit for the Islamic party.

Publicly, PPP leaders have welcomed Muchdi, but insiders close to current chair Suryadharma Ali are more cautious about his possible ambitions to lead the party. "Muchdi is more fitting to handle the defense and security affairs of the party," PPP secretary general Irgan Chairul Mahfidz said in February.

"His background is different. He is a soldier and from a nationalist party. When he enters an Islam-based party, of course there would be a clash of ideologies."

Muchdi, however, has insisted he has experience with Islam-based politics. "My mother comes from an NU [Nahdlatul Ulama] family and my father was a Masyumi [early Muslim party]."

Despite his ties with Muslim organizations, Muchdi is a newcomer. Should he seek a leadership post, gaining support in time for the upcoming PPP internal election could prove daunting.

But according to several sources inside the party, Muchdi could benefit from an internal rift caused by dissatisfaction with Suryadharma's leadership.

"Muchdi garnered a lot of support from the youth wing factions of the party, especially given the fact that there have been very few young people in the PPP's current executive board," one source said.

Although he has not formally announced his bid for the chairmanship ahead of the June 11 election, Muchdi has said that he aims to make some changes inside the PPP. "This party lacks leadership. That is why there is little support and confidence towards the party in the last election," he said.

Elections

Prospects dim for independent presidential candidate proposal

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Representatives of the House's major political parties have voiced their rejection of a proposal to open presidential elections to independent candidates, making it likely that contenders will continue to rely on the support of parties.

According to one party representative, the proposal of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) was at best "good, but inapplicable" and was at worst too vague.

Democratic Party national executive board member Sutan Bhatoegana questioned the motives of the DPD in wanting to amend the Constitution so that presidential hopefuls unaffiliated with political parties could run for office.

"Don't change our Constitution using a 'trial-and-error' approach. This nation will never become great if amending the Constitution becomes a habit," he said.

The DPD, which has limited legislative powers, has been pushing for a fifth amendment to the 1945 Constiutution to give the Council powers on par with those of the House of Representatives. In recent months the council has changed its stance on the proposal, saying that an amendment was needed to give non-partisan candidates a chance at the in polls.

National Mandate Party (PAN)secretary-general Taufik Kurniawan said the proposal was interesting – but he had no clue as to how to implement it.

"The DPD must think more deeply about it," he said. "Learning from local leaders about independent candidates, I'm afraid that a non-partisan candidate, with no support from political parties, will find it difficult to deal with political pressure from the House if elected."

Councillors from the DPD acknowledged that it would not be easy to pave the way for independent candidates as Constitutional amendments had to be approved by one-third of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which is comprised of DPD councilors and House lawmakers.

The 132 members of the DPD backing the draft amendment comprise a minority of the MPR when compared to the House's 560 lawmakers from nine political parties. The DPD would thus have to lobby politicians to gain support, DPD chairman Irman Gusman said.

"We have begun lobbying and holding intensive communication with political parties. We realize that their support will be very important for this matter," Irman said.

The support given the amendment by one House party, the United Development Party (PPP), was dwarfed by rejections from larger parties such as the Democratic Party, the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

PPP deputy secretary-general M. Romahurmuziy said there was no reason to reject the proposal. "The more aggressive political parties are in rejecting [the proposal], the more apathetic the public will become," he warned.

One analyst said politicians were anxious about competing with independent candidates amid their declining popularity in recent years.

"Politicians should have used the proposal as momentum to reform themselves. Those who have lost their trust in political parties might accuse them of simply trying to maintain an oligarchy," Arie Sudjito, a political analyst from the Gadjah Mada University, said.

The proposal to allow independent candidates would not have emerged if political parties had been effective channels for the people, he said.

The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) reported in 2010 that an increasing number of people were declining to back parties. The institute said that the House's approval rating was 56 percent at the end of 2010, against a 48-percent rating for parties.

Party standpoints

Democratic Party: Strong rejection Golkar Party: Rejects the idea PAN: Rejects the idea PKS: Substantially agrees, but considers it difficult to implement PPP: Supports the idea but requires clear criteria for independent candidates PKB: Suggests that the idea is good but not applicable PDI-P: Strongly rejects the idea Gerindra: Rejects the idea Hanura: No clear stance

New political parties face big hurdle

Jakarta Globe - April 27, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A day after three new political parties registered for the 2014 elections, a senior politician said that proposed amendments to the Election Law would likely make it harder for them to succeed.

Pramono Anung, a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, said on Tuesday that revisions to the Election Law could raise the bar for parties to get their members into the legislature. Negotiations are under way in the House to raise the electoral threshold, the percentage of votes required to qualify for the House.

But the idea of raising the threshold has been divisive. There is a preliminary agreement to raise it from 2.5 percent to 3 percent, but smaller parties are not happy with any increase and larger parties want to see it put higher.

The three largest factions in the House – the Democratic Party, the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) – contend the proposed increase will improve governance by trimming the number of parties in the legislature.

The Democrats have called for the threshold to be increased to 4 percent, while the other two parties want it at 5 percent. Smaller political parties say they will be squeezed out of the political arena if the threshold is set too high.

Pramono, from the PDI-P, said it would be difficult for new parties to establish themselves if the House agreed to apply the new threshold at both the national and regional levels.

"It means any new party must really be ready to meet some tough requirements," he said. "Without preparation, it will be useless. And it's not an easy task."

However, Yunarto Widjaja, a political analyst, said the amendments to the Election Law could end up benefitting new and smaller parties in the next elections if a proposed clause on the merger of parties was included in the final draft. The clause would allow parties that failed to meet the electoral threshold requirement to merge with other parties, he said.

The new National Republic Party (Nasrep), which has been linked to the youngest son of former President Suharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, is likely to capitalize on this new clause, Yunarto said.

"A clause that would allow them to merge with a bigger party is a blessing for them. And it is likely to be agreed on by all the factions at the House," he said.

Pramono said any new political parties would also have to be ready to pass the verification process by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

On Monday, Nasrep, the National Democrat Party and the National Unity Party announced that they had registered to take part in the 2014 legislative and presidential polls.

Three new parties registered for 2014 elections

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Three new political parties officially registered themselves on Monday to participate in the 2014 legislative and presidential polls, an official said.

Asyari Sihabudin, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry's director of state administrative affairs, identified the latest additions to the political landscape as the National Unity Party, the National Democrat Party and the National Republic Party.

Although the National Democrat Party used a similar logo as an organization founded by Golkar Party senior executive and media magnate Surya Paloh – the National Democrats (Nasdem) – the party registered Patrice Rio Capella as its chairman and Ahmad Rofik as its secretary general.

"They will submit more documents to us before we further verify their status," Asyari said.

The National Republic Party first moved into the spotlight on Friday when one of its senior executives, retired Maj. Gen. Edi Waluyo, said the party's founders had discussed the need for a new political party in Indonesia with the youngest son of longtime ruler Suharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

The National Republic Party's inaugural meeting in Jakarta that day was dominated by pictures of a sunglasses-wearing Tommy. Tommy's efforts to re-enter politics through the chairmanship of Golkar – which was long the political vehicle of his father – failed to materialize because of a lack of support in 2009.

Nothing was immediately known of the other new party, the National Unity Party.

A senior member of Paloh's National Democrats, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, confirmed that Patrice and Rofik were members of the organization. Patrice ran as a legislative candidate for the National Mandate Party (PAN) during the last election, while Rofik is a former secretary general of the National Sun Party (PMB).

However, the secretary general of Nasdem, Syamsul Muarif, said Paloh and his organization had nothing to do with the National Democrat Party's official registration on Monday.

"I have never signed any documents that are required to establish a new political party because the result of our national congress was clear – that Nasdem will not take part in the coming elections as a political party," Syamsul said.

However, he added that Paloh and other Nasdem leaders never prohibited members of the organization from privately forming a new political party to contest the 2014 elections.

Almost half of the Nasdem membership wanted the organization to turn into a political party, he said. "They don't need our permission to use a similar name and symbol to register a new political party. Even though the name is similar to ours, [the party] is not our Nasdem," he said.

Syamsul also stressed that it was impossible for Paloh, himself and the organization's other key officials to become members of the new political party. "We are still members of the Golkar Party. The law forbids anyone from being a member of two political parties at the same time," he said.

Golkar secretary general Idrus Marham said he was not afraid the three new parties would threaten Golkar's stability. "Rather than thinking about them, it's better for us to focus on working for the people, implementing the policies the people expect from the government," Idrus said.

However, Idrus warned any Golkar members planning to join new political parties to first resign from Golkar, as that was required by law.

Social organisations & NGOs

Government finishes revisions to convoluted regulation

Jakarta Globe - April 24, 2011

Arientha Primanita – The government has completed its revisions to a law that Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi says will detail new arrangements for mass organizations.

The 1985 Law on Mass Organizations has been criticized by human rights watchdogs for containing articles that are incompatible with the Constitution.

Regulators generally dismiss the law for being frustratingly convoluted, which provides any organization under investigation plenty of legal leeway to avoid being disbanded.

"We have completed revisions to this law and the government regulation. We will soon request the House of Representatives to conduct deliberations over these revisions," Gamawan told the Jakarta Globe. He did not provide any specifics regarding the revisions in the law.

He said revisions to the law were included in the year's National Legislation Program.

"The current law details a long and complicated process [to ban an organization]. With the revisions, we hope to make the procedures shorter. We will also deal with illegal mass organizations which conduct violations. No warning will be required in their cases."

He refused to elaborate on the revisions but acknowledged that the people's perception was that the government was not doing enough to clamp down on mass organizations that were openly conducting violence. "We monitor all these groups. Not all of them are bad," Gamawan said.

Under the current law, the state is required to issue warnings to the leaders of an organization and summon them for clarification before any steps can to be taken to freeze the organization.

It is only possible to freeze an organization following a recommendation to do so by the Supreme Court. Once a freeze is in place, the organization must either conform to recommendations made by the government or risk being disbanded and officially outlawed.

Lawmaker Arif Wibowo, from the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P), said that House Commission II, which oversees home affairs, would take extra care during deliberations of revisions to the law.

"We will be referring to the Constitution, which states that all people have the freedom to associate, gather and form unions," Arif said.

Labour & migrant workers

Labor Day: Workers can't afford to quit despite complaints

Jakarta Globe - April 30, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani – Mulyadi is 25, but he's lost count of how many times in the past three years he has switched factories.

He works in one for a few months before moving to another, all within Jakarta's massive Kawasan Berikat Nusantara industrial estate in the Cakung-Cilincing area.

Thousands of contract factory workers are employed at the KBN in any given year. Some of those workers have worked within the KBN for more than a decade, despite regulations aimed to prevent it.

"I work mostly for garment factories. The money's the same everywhere at KBN. I earn Rp 1.38 million [$160] per month," Mulyadi told the Jakarta Globe.

"Why do I move around? Not by choice, I can tell you. They'll just give me a three-month contract or a six-month contract. That's a lot pressure for us [to turn down the offer], because we know how hard it is to get jobs nowadays," he said on Friday, two days before May Day demonstrations are expected to hit the capital's streets.

"What all of us here at the KBN are most concerned about, though, is unpaid overtime hours. We have to meet the production target, which is quite high. The target depends on company regulations and the type of clothes produced. Sometimes some of us don't get paid overtime, but we cannot afford to leave."

Mulyadi said he would not be among the thousands expected to protest on Sunday. Instead, he said he would join demonstrations on Monday – the details of which were unclear – since Sunday was his day off.

A Jakarta legal aid group said in February that it received almost 200 labor complaints last year that pointed to the uphill battle workers continued to face in claiming their legal rights.

Muhammad Isnur of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) said labor disputes over the lack of insurance, wrongful termination, problematic contracts and outsourcing led to 191 complaints being filed by more than 3,000 workers in 2010.

"We received complaints about unlawful dismissals, [wage] payments being put on hold and the status of contract workers," Isnur said.

According to the 2003 Labor Law, a person can only be employed as a contract worker for two years, with a one-year extension option. Contract workers, he said, are not entitled to receive benefits such as raises, with many being paid less than the standard minimum wage (UMP).

"A [permanent] worker's rights include a health insurance scheme, a pension fund, leave, overtime and being paid in accordance with the UMP," he said.

The 2011 UMP for Jakarta is Rp 1.29 million per month, a 15.8 percent increase from last year. Labor unions, however, have said the figure is too low. They cite the Reasonable Living Cost Index (KHL), which has been set at Rp 1.4 million per month.

Laborers at the KBN said their daily problems were usually quite simple, but they still remained unresolved.

Yana, a 32-year-old mother of two, said her major problem at the garment factory was that the model for the clothes was too complicated at times, and that workers could not go home until all the day's work was finished.

"Our main problem is the high production target. Every garment model is different. We could produce, for instance, 200 pieces in an hour or 400 pieces in an hour. It depends on the make of the clothes. We hate that pressure. We have to finish in eight hours of work, or work overtime until we finish, before we can go home," Yana told the Globe.

Etty, 27, said she had worked at the KBN since 1999, and she knew that many of the factories there did not pay for menstrual leave. "Every month, the law requires that all female workers are given two days of paid menstrual leave. The company should pay us as much as Rp 92,000 for this leave, but it doesn't. We lose money like this, but not everybody realizes that," Etty said.

"Aside from the short-term contracts and unpaid overtime hours, we have many other concerns. However, we are actually quite afraid to join the [May Day] rally. We do not want to lose our jobs."

A male worker who refused to give his name said he would likely not join in the demonstrations on either Sunday or Monday because he was not a member of a labor union.

"Unless we join a labor union, we do not know what it is we are going to rally for. Most of the time these rallies are organized by labor unions, but our company does not have a labor union," the worker said.

Budi Wardoyo, secretary general for the Indonesian Labor Movement Association (PPBI), said 100,000 workers were expected to join Sunday's May Day demonstrations. He said the rally would start at 9 a.m. at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. From there, demonstrators would march toward the Presidential Palace.

Thousands of workers ready to rally on May Day

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2011

Jakarta – Thousands of workers from the Greater Jakarta area are ready to hold a rally starting from the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle and leading to the Presidential Palace to observe International Labor Day (May Day) on Sunday, May 1.

Rally coordinator Ilham Syah said Saturday that the Hotel Indonesia roundabout (bundaran) would be the meeting point for workers from Bekasi, Tangerang, Bogor, Depok and Jakarta. Around 4,000 labors from Bekasi, West Java, would reach Jakarta by motorbikes and trucks. From the Tanjung Priok Harbor, 1,500 workers would also join the action.

"The workers will gather at Bundaran HI to celebrate May Day before heading to the Presidential Palace. We predict 12,000 workers from the Greater Jakarta area will join the rally," he said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The workers reportedly come from several labor associations, such as the Federation of Jabodetabek Labor Struggle (FPBJ), Gasburi, the Center for Indonesian Labor Struggle (PPBI) and the Association of Indonesian Automotive Workers (SPOI).

The Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) will also join the rally. They will perform a theatrical show by bringing a 4x3 meter prop resembling a jail cell as a symbol of their perceptions of capitalism trapping the journalistic world. "The jail is a symbol that Indonesian journalists are still imprisoned by capitalist agendas," AJI Jakarta chairman Wahyu Dhyatmika said.

Union alleges ministry paid bribes to limit May Day protests

Jakarta Globe - April 28, 2011

Ronna Nirmala & Ulma Haryanto – Indonesian government officials have been accused of attempting to bribe workers planning to march in antigovernment protests on Labor Day.

Arief Poyuono, general chairman of the United Federation of Workers of State-Owned Enterprises, said he had laid a complaint with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) after Manpower and Transmigration Ministry officials allegedly gave each of 300 unionists Rp 110,000 ($13) and a hamper of food and cooking oil. Arief did not say who made the payments.

Present at the meeting were National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo and Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, who gave a speech during the meeting at the ministry on Tuesday, urging the workers to show restraint.

Arief said he believed the money and hampers were an attempt to prevent the trade unionists from marching in Sunday's rally. If the packages were legitimate bonuses, they would have been paid to all Indonesian workers, not just the 300 unionists who attended the meeting, he said.

"President SBY [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] has always been afraid that he will be overthrown by labor unions and is especially [afraid] of large- scale demonstrations." Arif said that approximately 7,000 laborers were expected to march on Sunday.

Police were forced to use water cannons to disperse thousands of protesters who march on the Presidential Palace to mark Labor Day last year.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi confirmed a complaint had been laid and said the antigraft agency needed to determine if the packages could be classified as a gratification.

Indonesia to resume sending migrant workers to Malaysia

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – Indonesia says it will resume sending migrant workers to Malaysia after it implemented a ban in June 2009 because of a spate of shocking abuse cases and the general lack of laws protecting the human rights of the workers.

Speaking at the Presidential Office on Monday, Muhaimin Iskandar, minister of manpower and transmigration, said the Indonesian and Malaysian governments would sign a memorandum of understanding next month. "After it is signed, we'll allow workers to work [in Malaysia] again."

Muhaimin said one of the main points was that workers, known as TKI, were now entitled to a day off, otherwise employers would have to double the workers' salaries.

"Secondly, the passport should be kept by the workers themselves," he said. "Thirdly, problems should be handled by a joint task force, with both countries cooperating, to solve the matters quickly."

He said that since the Indonesia imposed the moratorium, the country had "drastically reduced" the number of illegal Indonesian migrant workers entering Malaysia.

Workers demand equal treatment on law

Jakarta Post - April 25, 2011

Mataram – At least 50 workers rallied at Mataram Prosecutor's Office to demand justice following the alleged beating of a colleague by a village official.

"It has been a year since Amaq Gemet was wrongly treated. We promptly reported the case but there has been no clarification to this day and the perpetrator is still at large," rally coordinator Iman Subaiwa said over the weekend.

"We demand to be treated equally before the law even though the victim is a lowly worker," he said.

Amaq Gemet, 54, a resident of West Lombok, was allegedly beaten up in June last year by someone identified as SLM. The beating resulted in Amaq requiring medical attention after sustaining a cut on the face and eye.

"We suspect the prosecutor's office is deliberately stalling with the case because the perpetrator is a public figure in the village who people look up to," Iman said.

Environment & natural disasters

Illegal logging, mining ravages Kalimantan, costs Indonesia $36.4 billion

Jakarta Globe - April 28, 2011

The Ministry of Forestry says illegal logging, land clearance, forest fires and mining has devastated Indonesian Borneo and cost the country an estimated Rp 311.4 trillion ($36.4 billion).

Raffles Panjaitan, director for forest investigation and protection at the ministry, said an estimated 1,236 mining firms and 537 oil palm plantation companies were operating illegally in Central, East and West Kalimantan on the Indonesian half of Borneo.

The companies had caused losses put at Rp158.5 trillion in Central Kalimantan, Rp 31.5 trillion in East Kalimantan and Rp121.4 trillion in West Kalimantan, he said. The figures for the number of companies were supplied by district heads and governors.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hassan said the names of the companies, including a number of large operations with thousands of hectares of concessions, were not being released because they were still under investigation by the ministry in conjunction with the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force.

Also involved in the investigation were the AGO and the Environment Ministry, as well as the Corruption Eradication Commission who were investigating alleged abuses by authorities regarding the issuance of licenses. He said the investigation would take three months. (Antara & JG)

Road-building plans threaten Indonesian tigers

Associated Press - April 28, 2011

Indonesia is preparing to greenlight the construction of several highways through a park that has one of the world's few viable populations of wild tigers, conservationists warned on Thursday.

The move would be especially alarming, they said, because it would come just months after the government signed a deal in Russia promising to do everything possible to save the iconic big cats from extinction.

There are about 3,500 tigers are left in the wild worldwide. The Kerinci Seblat National Park, which spans four provinces on Sumatra island, is home to an estimated 190 of them – more than in China, Vietnam, Nepal, Laos and Cambodia combined.

"We need to do everything possible to stop this," said Mahendra Shrestha of Save the Tigers in Washington D.C. "It would be disastrous to one of the core tiger habitats in Asia."

The plans for four roads through the park would open up previously inaccessible land to villagers and illegal loggers, divide breeding grounds and movement corridors, and destroy vulnerable ecosystems.

Shrestha said it makes a "mockery" of the agreement signed by 13 countries that still have wild tigers to preserve and enhance critical habitats as part of efforts to double populations by 2002.

The 1.4-million hectare Kerinci Seblat park, which is divided by the Barisan mountain range and fringed by oil palm plantations as far as the eye can see, also is home to critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, elephants, clouded leopards, sun bears and more than 370 bird species. It also has more than 4,000 plant species.

The Forestry Ministry, which would have to sign off on any deal and request parliamentary changes to Indonesian law on protected land, has remained tightlipped about the plans except to say building roads for development in protected areas is illegal. "It's still just a proposal," ministry spokesman Masyhud, who goes by one name, told The Associated Press.

Still, conservationists are worried because regional leaders – who increasingly hold sway in the nation of 237 million – are pushing the plans. With no visible push back from the central government, the regional leaders may have little problem bulldozing through their proposal.

Provincial officials in Jambi, Bengkulu and West Sumatra argue that four roads up to 12 meters wide are needed in the park to serve as "evacuation routes" for people in the event of volcanoes, earthquakes, flooding and other natural disasters.

"We fully understand the importance of this national park and will do everything to make sure that the environment is not destroyed," said Nashsyah, head of Bengkulu's development planning board, adding that a comprehensive study still needs to be done to educate all parties about the project.

Two-thirds of the tigers in the Kerinci Seblat park are adult females. It is one of the few places where populations have actually grown over the last five years, thanks largely to untouched habitat and anti-poaching patrols that have helped protect one of the few genetically viable populations left in the world.

There already are four roads through the park. The construction of new, larger highways would bring in tons of heavy equipment, chain saws and hundreds of workers for months on end.

"These roads would further fragment tiger communities and disrupt their movement corridors," said Zen Suhadi of Indonesia's most prominent environmental group, Walhi. "That's our main concern."

He is among 350 conservationists from dozens of different national and international nongovernment groups that have banded together to argue that the plans would turn Kerinci Seblat into a mishmash of forest blocks putting both tigers and their habitat at risk. If approved, they say, it would open the way for road building in every protected area in Indonesia.

"We've called on the government to reconsider the plan," said Hariyo Tabat Wibisono, chairman of the local tiger conservation group, Forum HarimauKita. "But we hear it's already gotten the green light."

Fisherman reduced to scavenging plastic

Jakarta Globe - April 28, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani – Some of the country's best restaurants serve up green mussels steamed, baked or in curries. But the menu price on a single plate of the delicacy hardly reflects the amount of labor put into the shucking of the mollusks by the wives of North Jakarta fishermen on any given day.

North Jakarta's fishing sub-district of Cilincing is renowned nationwide for its green mussels, but fishermen and their wives are complaining that with growing pollution in Jakarta Bay tainting the seafood paired with falling demand in the capital, more and more shuckers are losing their jobs. Many are now scavenging for food instead.

During Wednesday's visit by the Jakarta Globe, 54-year-old Astia said that she has been shucking mussels for 10 years, but she was earning less today for double the work she was doing in previous years.

"The green mussels are smaller now than before. We earn Rp 2,000 [23 cents] for a single kilogram of green mussels, but we have to peel more of them nowadays. We work so much harder, but we still make less," Astia told the Globe, as she sat with other women around a pile of mussels, removing them from their shells one at a time.

"But nobody cares. Nobody gives us basic food supplies. So, we have to do whatever we can to eat rice."

Ruswati, 34, said she earned a maximum of Rp 18,000 on a good day of shucking. But her eldest son, 15, had to be taken out of school to make ends meet three years ago, joining his father fishing. However, Ruswati said she counted herself among the lucky ones.

Suwardi, 32, said he used to set out for fish and mussels at the same time, but due to changes in the weather and environment, "there is no job available for people like me anymore."

"I now look for plastic bottles in piles of rubbish by the beach, to sell them. At least my family can stay alive," Suwardi said. "I sell one sack of clean bottles for Rp 5,000. A bag of dirty bottles gets me just Rp 3,000," he added.

"Although we end up eating just tofu with some salt, we have to keep trying to make enough so we can eat rice. We've grown tired of complaining to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He does not seem to care, even though we have protested in front of his palace."

Riza Damanik, secretary general for the Fisheries Justice Coalition (Kiara), said fishing families in Cilincing were being pushed into poverty and had resorted to scavenging because of the pollution affecting Jakarta's northern coast.

"Mussels are among the fastest to respond to changes in the environment. And there are so many industries polluting the Jakarta Bay with toxic waste, for instance," he said.

"Pollution is destroying the bay, and, we believe, so will the city's land reclamation project there, if goes ahead. All this pollution will affect the quality of marine life, which in turn will directly affect the lives of fishing families," Riza said.

"Fishing families across Indonesia are losing their livelihoods because pollution is destroying our bays. Pollution and land reclamation projects will push even more fishing families into poverty. They become scavengers, or laborers."

The same sentiments were shared by green mussel entrepreneur Minen, who told the Globe on Wednesday that his three farms were affected too.

"I would get, for instance, just 100 sacks of small green mussels from all three farms in a single day. And we cannot use all of them because some are polluted by toxic waste!" Minen said.

"I invested Rp 6 million to build the farms, for the bamboo, the nets and the people," he said. "Instead of profit, I have been making losses. Still, I have to try making money. I can help people in my neighborhood to have an income, even though it's not a lot."

Government to temporarily compensate Sidoarjo mudflow victims

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2011

Jakarta – The government says it will cover compensation payments for victims of the Sidoarjo mudflows in East Java until the responsible company, PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, is able to pay the funds.

Minarak had promised to pay Rp 1.1 trillion (approximately US$127.6 million) of the remaining compensation by the end of 2012, but seems unable to fulfill that promise.

East Java Governor Soekarwo said the government decided to temporarily cover the payments with bank loans after strong pressure from the mudflow victims for immediate payments.

"We will keep asking [Minarak] to fulfill its commitment," Soekarwo said on Monday after a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential office in Jakarta to discuss the issue.

Sidoarjo regent Saifulah Ilah added that the amount would cover unpaid compensation money for 13,146 families affected by the mudflow, which emerged for the first time amid Lapindo Brantas Inc. drilling activities in 2006.

He said it had yet to include those for residents of Pejarakan, Kedungcangkring and Besuki villages, who had also demanded compensation.

Autonomy Watch: Policies blamed for deforestation in Nusakambangan

Jakarta Post - April 25, 2011

Agus Maryono, Cilacap – Local policies related to the authority over forestry management on the island of Nusakambangan have been blamed for damage to thousands of hectares of forest area. Nusakambangan is more notoriously known for its prisons.

Law and Human Rights Ministry Director General for Correctional Facilities Untung Sugiyono said the damage to forests on Nusakambangan had impacted some 30 percent of the island's total forest area of some 16,000 hectares.

"To deal with the serious damage, involvement of various related formal institutions on the management of the forest needs to be done," Untung said on the sidelines of his recent visit to the island.

He said the damage could endanger both the biodiversity on the island and even the utility of Nusakambangan as a correctional facility area. The island is home to some 1,500 inmates.

Among other areas in the forest considered to have suffered most is the section on the western part of the island, which has been turned into a residential area.

The area is under the administration of Kampung Laut district, comprising four subdistricts. Some 3,000 families, or 12,000 people, reside in the district. They continually look for fresh water to assist their agricultural activities.

These people, who were previously considered illegal but now have been formally acknowledged as residents by the Cilacap regency administration, have been accused of contributing to the damage in the Nusakambangan forest.

Another factor considered thought to be responsible for the worrisome condition of Nusakambangan forestland includes the cement industry in the region.

"We need to involve all institutions having authority over the island if we really want to save Nusakambangan," Untung said.

Rehabilitation efforts had been made to help address the condition, he said, but further evaluation was needed to analyze the effectiveness of the initiatives.

He said that he acknowledged there were certain outsiders who had significantly contributed to the damage to Nusakambangan's forests.

He added, however, that there were also possibilities that local stakeholders – either aware or unaware – might have also contributed to the environmental damage.

"So, apart from correcting the outside parties, we have to correct ourselves first," Untung said.

The Cilacap Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) reported that 90 percent of the damage in Nusakambanga forestland was due to illegal logging, which has been rampant since 1999 following the fall of Soeharto regime in 1998.

BKSDA Cilacap forest ranger coordinator Dedy Supriyanto said illegal logging accounted for damage in some 5,000 hectares on the island, while some 50 hectares had been impacted by limestone mining activities.

He said that as a result of the damage a number of rare plants and trees on Nusakambangan are disappearing from the forest.

"Unless something is done about it, Nusakambangan could become barren in just 10 years," Dedy said.

Health & education

'Conspiracy of silence' in malpractice cases

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2011

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Siti Chomsatun is one of the loudest critics of medical malpractice Indonesia – despite an allegedly botched operation that left her almost mute.

The 55-year-old woman, whose case was popularized in Ucu Agustin's new documentary Conspiracy of Silence, filed a lawsuit against the private hospital where she was treated.

Siti said she could not find a doctor when she went to an emergency room in Kramat, Central Jakarta, in the middle of the night after feeling short- winded after goiter surgery.

The doctor – who arrived only after he was called several times – only gave her sleeping pills despite her deteriorating condition, Siti alleged. "She almost died from such improper treatment," Siti's lawyer, Tommy AM Tobing, said.

Tommy, who works for the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) and Siti filed a malpractice complaint in August with the Indonesian Medical Disciplinary Council (MKDKI) and the Jakarta Police. No action has been taken by the MKDKI, according to Tommy.

LBH Jakarta received seven patient complaints in 2010, up from three complaints in 2009.

Of the seven complaints, public hospitals were involved in three claims related to allegations of poor access to medical care, socio-economic discrimination and medical malpractice.

Private hospitals were involved in two complaints that alleged malpractice and poor access to medical care.

In 2008, the institute received six medical malpractice complaints covering 135 victims, up from three cases in 2007.

Legal rights activists have warned that more people seeking medical help would become victims of malpractice unless the government ensured that bad hospitals and doctors were subject to penalties.

LBH Jakarta director Nurkholis Hidayat said on Monday that few doctors would speak out against their colleagues who faced malpractice allegations.

"They don't want to be involved in any legal case because they don't believe that they can get adequate legal protection in testifying against their own peers," Nurkholis told The Jakarta Post.

Doctors evinced a strong solidarity to protect each other stemming from their huge pride in the medical profession, Nurkholis said – the "conspiracy of silence" referred to by the documentary.

"It may be easier for them to give a sum of money than to acknowledge and make an apology for any mistake – even if there is strong evidence of their wrongdoings."

Complainants face a long struggle: the three people who lodged malpractice allegations in 2009 are still waiting to settle out of court. "Out-of-court settlements, including compensation payments, have emerged as the fairest solution for victims of medical malpractice due to difficulties in obtaining evidence," Tommy said.

It was difficult for laymen to assess malpractice, he added. "Most of patients do not have the knowledge or skills of medical practitioners. Therefore, it seems difficult for patients to consider whether doctors have properly diagnosed or treated their illnesses."

The government has given the MKDKI the sole authority to resolve malpractice complaints levied against doctors, hospitals or other medical providers.

Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) chairman, Sudaryatmo said that medical malpractice would continue unless the government intervened to stop medical practitioners from acting with "impunity". "There should be more efforts to make the MKDKI an independent body," he told the Post.

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih played down claims that the government refused to take action against medical malpractice. "We will levy sanctions, ranging from what is considered as 'light' punishment, such as warning letters and administrative sanctions, to the freezing of licenses as the 'heaviest' punishment," she said, referring to the law and Health Ministry regulations.

Jakarta backs requirement for Koran proficiency

Jakarta Post - April 27, 2011

Andreas D. Arditya, Jakarta – Following in the footsteps of other Muslim- majority regions in the country, the Jakarta administration will issue a regulation requiring Muslim school students to learn to read and write passages from the Koran.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said his administration would work with the provincial office of the Religious Affairs Ministry to draft a gubernatorial decree on the Koran proficiency.

"I will sign the decree as soon as it is ready," Fauzi said during the launch of a Koran recitation campaign at At-Tin Mosque at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta on Tuesday.

The campaign was organized by the Religious Affairs Ministry. Ministry provincial office head Sutami said that achieving proficiency in reading and writing passages from the Koran would be a prerequisite of applying for public and private Islamic schools.

"Our objective is to motivate Muslim children to spend time reading the Koran rather than wasting their time messing around and watching TV," he said later on Tuesday.

Sutami said the program would only target young children at first. "Later we will make it mandatory for people of all ages," he added.

A draft of the gubernatorial decree is being prepared by a special team formed by the ministry's Jakarta office and the Jakarta Mental and Spiritual Agency. "We expect to have it ready for the governor to sign later this year," Sutami said.

A number of local administrations have issued regulations requiring students to master reading and writing passages from the Koran. They have said that achieving such skills could help them win places at schools.

Koran recitation tests are mandatory in regencies and municipalities in West Sumatra, West Java, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara.

In addition, 19 municipalities and regencies have issued their own sharia- based ordinances, following in the path of Solok regency in West Sumatra, which imposed a sharia-based bylaw in 2001.

Rumadi, a pluralism advocate at the Jakarta-based think tank Wahid Institute, said the proposed ordinance infringed on children's basic rights.

"It's certainly a good thing to motivate children to master Koran literacy, but it's a totally different thing to make it part of the conditions that would enable them to pursue a higher education," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The Wahid Institute is a research institute founded by late former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid to promote religious pluralism in Indonesia.

In a survey it conducted last year on the sharia-inspired bylaws, the institute found that many local ordinances violated the law on regional administrations by issuing legislation that contradicted higher laws and the Constitution.

Rumadi lambasted the plan for having a bearing on public elementary school entrance opportunities. "It would be acceptable if a private Islamic school did such a thing. But it would amount to discrimination if they imposed this on public schools. You know there are children who subscribe to different faiths," he said.

Rumadi called on the public and religious leaders in particular to reject the plan.

He said the proposed decree could be one of Fauzi's ploys to win over Muslim voters in the 2012 gubernatorial election. "But I'll give him a fair warning; this plan could backfire," he said.

Easy access, misinformation leads to misuse of antibiotics

Jakarta Globe - April 27, 2011

Dessy Sagita – Hadalya, a 32-year-old housewife, puts a lot of faith in antibiotics, believing they can help her recover faster from any disease.

"I get upset if I go and see a doctor and they don't prescribe me an antibiotic," she says. "In that case, I usually just buy 10 amoxicillin capsules from the nearest drugstore."

The growing trend of Indonesians routinely taking antibiotics prescribed by doctors even for conditions not including infections – or just as frequently bought without a prescription – has raised concerns among health officials about the misuse of the drugs and subsequent rise of drug-resistant bacteria.

This month, the Health Ministry said it was preparing a draft bill aimed at curbing overuse of antibiotics.

A ministry data sheet citing the World Health Organization said there were 440,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis around the world each year, causing at least 150,000 deaths. Indonesia ranks eighth out of 27 countries suffering from the highest rates of this kind of tuberculosis, according to the WHO.

Nani Sukasediati, an official with the WHO's Indonesian office, says antibiotic resistance can also be attributed to underuse of the drugs. "Some patients take excessive amount of antibiotics, while others don't finish the course of the medication as prescribed by the doctor because they believe they've recovered," she says.

In both cases, Nani continues, the patients will likely require increasingly larger doses or more potent antibiotics the next time they come down with a bacterial infection.

Nani says it is common in Indonesia for patients suffering from diarrhea to be prescribed antibiotics. The WHO estimates that about 65 percent of Indonesian hospitals prescribe antibiotics for such patients.

"When you have diarrhea, your body will try to dispose all toxins, so the best cure is salt and sugar to replace the lost minerals," she says. "Antibiotics will only make the recovery process even slower. Self-limiting diseases that go away by themselves don't require antibiotics."

She adds those that do were the more serious ones such as tuberculosis and typhoid fever.

Iwan Dwiprahasto, head of the Association of Indonesian Pharmacologists (Ikafi), says patients should ask their doctors about whether their particular medical condition warrants the use of antibiotics before accepting a prescription.

"A common cold that lasts for a few days doesn't require antibiotics," he says. "If you're only suffering from a runny nose, cough or sore throat, most likely you don't need it."

Iwan says taking antibiotics unnecessarily can kill the microorganisms in the colon that serve to break down food waste. "If those microorganisms are damaged by antibiotics, they can turn into pathogen bacteria that could endanger the body," he says.

He also cautions against prescribing antibiotics for children below the age of 5, which he says can result in them falling sick more often.

However, Marius Widjajarta, chairman of the Indonesian Consumer Foundation for Health (YPPKI), says the growing problem of antibiotic misuse should not be blamed solely on doctors for prescribing them.

"The government has obviously failed to perform in terms of regulating sales of the drug," he says. "People who have no competence can sell antibiotics anywhere they want."

He adds the government should also monitor nurses, midwives and other health workers who are not allowed to prescribe antibiotics but do anyways.

"The regulations are clear: those who have no business selling antibiotics should be jailed if they do so, and the same goes for doctors who force their patients to take antibiotics when they don't need it," he says.

But for patients like Hadalya, these kinds of restrictions are meaningless. She says she sometimes doesn't bother going to a doctor if she believes she is suffering from a common cold, and instead goes and buys the antibiotics directly.

"They're available everywhere, not just in drugstores," she says. "Sometimes I also go to my neighbor, who work as a nurse and midwife, and she can also provide me with the drug."

Logging takes the bite out of efforts to squash malaria

Antara News - April 27, 2011

The Health Ministry has high hopes of eradicating malaria in the country, but says massive deforestation – which pushes parasite-carrying animals toward urban areas – has threatened its efforts to combat the disease.

Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the ministry's director general for disease control, said Indonesia was expected to be malaria-free by 2030, with the number of infections decreasing every year.

"In 2009 and last year, malaria elimination efforts posted good results," he said on Sunday in marking World Malaria Day, which falls on April 25 each year. "The number of infections continues to decrease in each province, although not at the same rate," he added.

There were 544,470 reported cases of the mosquito-borne disease last year, 900 of which were fatal, according to the ministry. The annual incidence of infection per 1,000 people also fell from 4.6 in 1990 to 1.96 last year.

The ministry said Jakarta became malaria-free last year, with Bali and Batam expected to follow suit this year. The government expects to wipe out malaria in Java, Aceh and the Riau Islands by 2015, and in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara by 2020.

However, Tjandra said the ministry was still concerned about the rise in infections from Plasmodium knowlesi, a potentially fatal malaria parasite commonly carried by long-tailed macaques and transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. Other malaria cases are caused by either Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium vivax, according to the ministry.

P. knowlesi is responsible for nearly half the malaria cases in the country and is particularly prevalent in Kalimantan, whose forests are inhabited by macaque populations.

The ministry said illegal logging and forest-clearing in the area had encroached on monkeys' habitats, forcing the animals out of the forest and toward human settlements.

Tjandra said this problem would likely cause the number of malaria cases to increase, hampering the government's eradication campaign. Unless promptly treated, P. knowlesi malaria can cause death within seven days, as well as serious organ complications in humans.

The ministry said another cause for concern was the possibility of a P. knowlesi outbreak due to climate change. Frequent flooding due to erratic weather patterns and environmental degradation increases the likelihood of the formation of stagnant pools where mosquitoes can breed, it said.

Despite these problems, Tjandra said the government was employing "all measures" to eradicate malaria by 2015 under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

The country's malaria-eradication program is aimed mainly at high-risk populations in areas such as Kalimantan. Tjandra said the program involved the distribution of rapid diagnostic test kits to local health centers, as well as the provision of drugs for malaria victims.

The Health Ministry has also launched the Gebrak Malaria campaign to improve health services in malaria-prone areas and educate residents about the importance of destroying mosquito larvae, he said.

Another effort involves requiring local health agencies to conduct routine insecticide spraying to kill mosquitoes and their larvae, and distribute mosquito nets to households, Tjandra said.

In December last year, the World Health Organization said countries around the world could prevent malaria deaths within five years through these preventive measures.

There were an estimated 81 million malaria cases worldwide last year, according to the WHO's 2010 World Malaria Report, with 117,704 recorded fatalities.

Systemic problems undermining exams: IPM

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2011

Jakarta – The national exams currently underway nationwide have been plagued by problems of systemic misconduct among schools and education agency officials, the Muhammadiyah Youth Association (IPM) says.

Each year the association opens a post during the national exams period, to receive complaints from students and parents.

IPM chairman Slamet Nur Acmad Effendy announced Tuesday that his organization had received numerous complaints from several regions including Aceh, Yogyakarta and West Java. "On the first day of the exams we received more than 50 complaints from all regions," he said.

The association had received many accounts of misconduct in relation to the high school exams, which concluded last week, he said.

"The five separate question sheets did not improve the quality of the exams because some schools allowed students to cooperate with each other," he said. "Government supervision to prevent misconduct has tightened this year, but these efforts are fruitless if we are seeing systematic [breaches] being made by schools and education agencies," he said.

His organization had received one complaint from a teacher in Aceh who reported that the local education agency had allowed students to cheat. "The report says teachers and exams supervisors ignored students caught cheating," he said.

He added that the education ministers' statement that the high school exams had been a success needed to be questioned. "In fact, we have received many complaints. We still have the junior high school exams this week and elementary school exams next week." (lfr)

Graft & corruption

House amendments to strike at KPK's heart: ICW

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Dessy Sagita & Anita Rachman – Indonesia Corruption Watch has urged the House of Representatives to drop plans to amend the Corruption Eradication Commission Law, insisting the revisions would only hamper the agency's antigraft efforts.

Febri Diansyah, the watchdog's legal coordinator, said on Sunday that changes to the 2002 law would weaken the commission, also known as the KPK, by stripping it of certain powers, including the authority to prosecute suspects and conduct wiretaps without a court order.

"The proposed changes will attack the heart of the KPK and weaken it from within," he said. "We will prepare a series of plans to make sure the changes do not happen."

Febri said lawmakers planned to review 10 provisions, including those on wiretapping procedures, the KPK's authority to halt investigations as well as powers that overlapped with other law-enforcement agencies.

"If the House amends the law, then the KPK would be focused on preventing rather than eradicating corruption," Febri said. "It would still exist, but it would be powerless."

ICW researcher Donal Fariz said the House had failed to justify the planned amendments. He also questioned the timing of the move, saying it was "suspicious" that the House was trying to water down the KPK's powers after it arrested dozens of former and active legislators this year on allegations of taking bribes.

Though the commission was "far from perfect," the ICW said the KPK had made inroads last year in its war against graft, arresting 69 suspects in 23 cases that accounted for state losses of Rp 619 billion ($72 million).

This is up from the 42 suspects arrested in 2009 in cases estimated to have cost Rp 420 billion in state losses. The KPK has achieved a near 100 percent conviction rate. "We believe the [KPK's] mistakes have been at the implementation level, not because the legislation is flawed," Febri said.

But he said the KPK Law had been the subject of debate, with 13 petitions for judicial review on the law filed with the Constitutional Court since the antigraft body was formed in 2002.

Priyo Budi Santoso, a House deputy speaker, denied that lawmakers were trying to weaken the KPK or were singling out the 2002 law for revision.

He said Commission III overseeing legal affairs would deliberate amendments fairly. Priyo added that they planned to introduce revisions to laws governing the Supreme Court and other national institutions.

War on terror

Tifatul says web sites promoting terrorism would be blocked

Jakarta Globe - April 29, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring on Friday said Web sites promoting terrorism would be blocked, but not those that teach bomb-making.

"If they are inciting in nature, just report them," the minister from Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said. "So far we have blocked some sites. They usually come from outside, teaching terrorism."

However, he said his ministry could not do much about sites that teach people how to make bombs. "For example, those teaching how to make bombs, nuclear bombs, those are just normal science and they can be easily learned," he continued.

Pepi Fernando, the suspect arrested for the series of book bombs sent out last month who confessed to the Good Friday church bombing plot, told police investigators that he learned how to make bombs from the Internet.

Tifatul said there was no legal basis to block sites that simply teach how bombs are made. "But if they are, by nature, spreading hate, agitating [people], those we will close down. There is a [legal] basis for that," he said.

"But if it is something scientific, we do not have the basis to close it down. What is forbidden is bombing people but the making of those weapons are general knowledge."

Extremist gets 10 years for involvement in Aceh terror group

Agence France Presse - April 27, 2011

An Islamic extremist was jailed for 10 years by an Indonesian court on Wednesday for being part of an "evil conspiracy" involving militants who were plotting attacks in the country.

Abdullah Sunata, 32, was convicted of involvement and helping to organize an Al-Qaeda-inspired group's military training in Aceh province, Sumatra, as well as supplying firearms and money.

Known as Al-Qaeda in Aceh and led by one of the region's most-wanted terror suspects, Dulmatin, the cell was planning to launch Mumbai-style terror attacks.

"The defendant provided assistance for terrorist acts. His acts caused an atmosphere of terror and widespread fear," chief judge Suhartoyo told East Jakarta district court.

Sunata could have faced the death penalty but prosecutors only sought 15 years' jail. By comparison, an Australian was sentenced to 18 years earlier this week for smuggling less than two kilograms (four pounds) of methamphetamines into the Southeast Asian country. Prosecutors had sought 16 years in that case.

Sunata was a well-known convicted terrorist before his latest arrest. He was released from jail in 2009 for good behavior after serving only a fraction of a seven-year sentence for his role in the 2004 Australian embassy bombing which killed 10 people.

After his release he met several times with Dulmatin, a senior figure in regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah and a ringleader of the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, mainly Western tourists. Dulmatin was killed by police in March last year after the Aceh group's training camp was discovered.

Wearing a blue navy shirt and white cap, Sunata did not say a word as the judge announced the verdict.

Bashir grilled in court over Aceh camp

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Heru Andriyanto – High-profile terror defendant Abu Bakar Bashir was interrogated by the court on Monday over his role in the training of militants in Aceh.

The hearing marked the final day of witness testimony and evidence examinations before the court hears the prosecution's sentencing demands.

Bashir, who could face the death sentence if convicted, did not back down from his statements that he supported the training camp and his insistence that Islamic law be upheld in the country.

"You cannot recklessly call [the training] terrorism, because you will deal with Allah. I'dad [preparations for armed conflicts] is an obligation for Muslims and if you call it terrorism, you are harassing Allah and the prophets and it's murtad [rejecting Islam]," he told the South Jakarta District Court.

"When we breach the law, like with the use of firearms, remind us. But don't call us terrorists."

When a prosecutor asked him why the training was held without the consent of authorities, the defendant reacted with outrage.

"We don't need to report to anyone for implementing Sharia [Islamic law]. We don't need to report before performing sholat [prayer], nor do we need to report for I'dad," he said.

Bashir said all Muslim should stand up to fight against thogut and be willing to die for it if necessary.

"Thogut is anyone who stands above the law of Allah, who replaces Allah's law with human law. For instance, in Allah's law, adultery is a crime punishable by bludgeoning, but that has been replaced by imprisonment. That's thogut," he said.

Another prosecutor asked if the defendant was still pursuing his quest for an Islamic state. Bashir immediately replied, "Yes, it is an obligation for us all. All countries must be based on Islamic law. A Muslim leader who is not willing to uphold Islamic law is an infidel."

Bashir's trial is ongoing.

Ba'asyir may have been behind recent attacks, says Ansyaad

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2011

Jakarta – Prominent terrorist defendant and firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir may have orchestrated a series of terrorist attacks in several areas in Indonesia recently, National Antiterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Ansyaad Mbai said Thursday at the Presidential Palace.

"There could be a possibility. We found similarities between the recent and previous attacks organized by the group of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

A number of militant groups are suspected to have taken part in the most recent attacks, he said. Some of these groups, Ansyaad said, are the Islamic Indonesian State (NII), Jemaah Islamiyah and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid.

Good Friday bomber linked to Indonesian Islamic State

Jakarta Globe - April 24, 2011

Farouk Arnaz – Pepi Fernando, the alleged mastermind, financier and bomb- maker behind the Good Friday bomb plot and book-bomb campaign, was a former member of the extremist Indonesian Islamic State (NII), a police source said on Sunday.

He was once a member of NII, but he quit," the source told the Jakarta Globe. "However, NII's idea of creating an Islamic state and implementing Shariah law in all aspects of daily life remained with him."

The source, who wished to remain anonymous, would not say why Pepi, 30, had left the group.

The police and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) are currently investigating the radical group, which is reported to have a training camp in the restive southern Philippines and also has received support from a group headed by Malaysian-born militant Noordin Mohammad Top.

The source said they were investigating Pepi's links to Saefudin Zuhri and Mohammad Syahrir, who were both killed by police during raids in the aftermath of the twin hotel bombings in Jakarta in 2009. Zuhri and Syahrir both had NII links, he said.

Islam & religion

The rise of religion in public space not a problem: Experts

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2011

Jakarta – The rise of religion in the public space across the country should not be seen as a threat as long as the government manages to prevent friction, experts say.

"All citizens must realize that the rise of religion in public spaces should not be seen as an effort to spread its normative teachings and doctrines," Zainal Abidin Bagir, Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies director at the Gadjah Mada University, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Speaking at a seminar on pluralism and the politics of diversity in Jakarta, Zainal said the rise of religion was a natural outcome resulting from the great diversity of the nation and may contribute toward the establishment of civic pluralism.

University of Indonesia sociologist Thamrin Amal Tomagola said the rising religiosity among the people was inevitable in the Reform era after decades of what he said "forced harmony" during Soeharto's repressive 32-year rule.

"The public was not allowed to debate the issues of ethnicity, religion, race and inter-group relations during the Soeharto years," Thamrin said.

Apart from its label as one the most corrupt nations in Asia, Indonesia is ranked the most religious country in the world. A recent Reuters poll ranked Indonesia, before Brazil and Turkey, as the country with the highest number of people believing in God.

The country has also seen rising intolerance and even violence committed in the name of religion. This has sparked concern whether a religious revival is hampering the country's unity and diversity.

Both Zainal and Thamrin said that friction might occur when the diverse identities of different religions meet in public spaces. Zainal cited demand for special treatment for certain groups based on their beliefs and demand for limitations to the so-called "deviant" minority groups as well as rivalries between religious symbols to secure positions in public offices as examples.

"As a democracy, we have to respect those demands. But we must also define clear boundaries in which those demands may still be accommodated so that it does not contradict the equal-opportunity principle," he added.

Zainal said the public had plenty of room to accommodate religion. "However, we must establish an effective pluralism management to maintain civility."

Good pluralism management, Zainal said, comprised three elements: Recognition, representation and redistribution. Recognition deals with the extent the society, the state and the constitution recognize and respect diversity.

Representation deals with the accommodation of differing ideas – in the form of political parties, NGOs, state religious institutions and House of Representatives participation – in both formal and informal debates. "The issue here is how to find the right format of representation," Zainal said. "Many Indonesian Muslims, for example, are of the opinion that the Indonesia Ulema Council does not accommodate their views and ideas."

While redistribution deals with the capability of the government to spread the nation's wealth of resources equally to all citizens regardless of religion and ethnicity, he said.

He called on the government to guarantee the availability of the room for religion in public spaces and recognize the diversity in its citizens. (mim)

Easter Sunday passes mostly peacefully

Antara News - April 25, 2011

Millions of Christians across the country marked Easter Sunday in peace, blending celebrations for the resurrection of Jesus with unique local traditions.

Churches were packed despite the uncovering of a plan to bomb a church in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, on Good Friday.

Police foiled the plan on Thursday morning and the government consequently ordered all security-related institutions to be on the highest state of alert during the Easter weekend celebrations.

Cornelis Fransiskus, a member of the congregation at the Jesus, Mary and Joseph Chapel in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, said that despite fears, "everything proceeded without any disruptions whatsoever."

In Kupang's Protestant churches, worshippers ate together in the spirit of the Last Supper.

In Ambon, Maluku, thousands of the city's Christian residents started the day with processions at dawn in neighborhoods across town. Those participating, mostly youths, carried lit torches and sang hymns as they made their way to the various churches for Easter Mass.

Most of the churches were decked with strings of lights and crosses made from discarded plastic bottles.

Priests leading Mass called on their followers to emulate Jesus's qualities of self-sacrifice and servitude in a bid to improve interfaith relations in Maluku, which were strained by sectarian strife a decade earlier.

Ambon Police Chief Djoko Susilo said that there were no threats throughout Holy Week.

In Biak Numfor, Papua, thousands also turned out for torch processions across the district.

Dominggus Rumbiak, a caretaker at the Silo Ambroben Church, said all the churches in the district had held events throughout Holy Week in the lead- up to Easter, including sing-alongs, prayer camps and crucifixion re- enactments.

"Our hope is that the suffering of Christ serves as a lesson to our flock to follow in his example," he said.

In Magelang, Central Java, hundreds of villagers held a simple Mass on Saturday night on the western slope of the still-smoldering Mount Merapi.

Romo Vincentius Kirjito, who led the service at the Santa Maria Lourdes Church in Sumber village, said the volcano's massive eruptions in October and November and the subsequent volcanic mudslides were a symbol of Jesus' sacrifice.

While Merapi caused devastation, it also brought blessings, he said. "It forced people to work together, to be more disciplined, hardworking and responsible. The lesson here is to embrace Easter more enthusiastically so that the people can be better followers of Christ."

In East Nusa Tenggara's Belu district, however, the spirit of Easter was marked by tragedy.

Yohanes Seran, a resident of Lasaen village near the East Timor border, said flooding had left almost 2,000 people homeless over the past four weeks.

He said: "We can't go to church because it's just not possible. Everyone's just focused on evacuating, so it's impossible to think about church services now."

Freedom of religion & worship

Secret report reveals how BIN misread threat to Ahmadiyah

Jakarta Globe - April 30, 2011

Nivell Rayda – When the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front attacked demonstrators rallying in support of the embattled Ahmadiyah sect on June 1, 2008, many believed that fundamentalists would go to any length until they succeeded in ridding Indonesia of the minority Islamic group.

Many more had predicted that the issuance of a joint ministerial decree (SKB) – which bans Ahmadis from practicing their faith in public and proselytizing – a week after the rally would not be enough to halt intimidation and discrimination against members of the sect.

A secret document obtained by the Jakarta Globe, however, suggests there was one institution that believed otherwise: the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

'Unfounded concerns'

A month after the June 2008 attack on the rally at the National Monument (Monas), BIN prepared a 180-page assessment on the expected implications of the decree. In the document, BIN claimed it had found no indications that persecution, torture or intimidation of the sect's members would continue.

"Concerns that there would be an escalation of violence following the enactment of the SKB, prove to be unfounded," according to the preface of this document, written by Bambang Karsono, a BIN expert on social and cultural affairs. "In fact, members of Ahmadiyah, who have become... targets of attacks, have so far been passive in response to the enactment.

"The reaction [to the SKB] from the opponents of Ahmadiyah appears to be modest. Although they still demand the complete disbandment of Ahmadiyah, apparently they feel that the banning of its [Ahmadiyah's] activities is enough," the document continues.

The same document, however, acknowledges the presence of hard-line groups that, according to BIN's assessment, "have the potential to use violence to deal with Ahmadiyah."

It then went on to identify the groups that might cause trouble: the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the Islamic People's Forum (FUI), the Indonesian Committee for Solidarity with the Islamic World (Kisdi), Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, Ittihadul Muballighin, the Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (DDII) and the Islamic Union (Persis).

But BIN had focused its attention mainly on the expected reactions within Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, the country's largest Islamic organizations, which have always chosen peaceful methods in voicing objections against the Ahmadiyah.

Mufti Makaarim, executive director of the Institute for Defense, Security and Peace Studies, said he had no doubts whatsoever the documents obtained by the Globe were authentic.

"This is not a top-secret operations document. This is more of an academic analysis that BIN obtained. Still, it is not meant for public scrutiny," Mufti told the Globe, adding that the structure and format is consistent with other documents produced by the intelligence agency.

"BIN's suggestions on the implications of the SKB on Ahmadiyah are deeply flawed, because none of its predictions came true. The data is quite comprehensive so I assume the problem lies with the analysis," Mufti added.

Hard-liners underestimated

As events since the Monas rally have proven, attacks and persecution against Ahmadiyah communities nationwide grew at the hands of hard-line groups like the FPI, the FUI and the HTI.

Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said that Ahmadiyah communities in Indonesia have paid the price for BIN's flawed analysis.

"The document suggests that BIN naively underestimated the Islamist militant groups [in its analytical report]. Attacks on Ahmadiyah have steadily increased following the 2008 decree," she told the Globe.

Last year, an entire Ahmadiyah village in Bogor was ransacked. On Feb. 26, three Ahmadis were brutally murdered in the subdistrict of Cikeusik in Banten, by a lynch mob of some 1,500 people.

Ahmadis have not even found refuge in death. Last month, the grave of a recently deceased Ahmadi was dug up by a mob, and his body removed from a Bandung cemetery.

Instead of protecting the beleaguered community, the government has put the blame on Ahmadiyah, with Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali saying the sect should be disbanded.

A crucial tenet in Islam is that Muhammad was the final prophet. But mainstream Muslim organizations accuse Ahmadiyah of considering its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), to be a prophet as well.

Sect members have faced intense discrimination as a consequence. Ahmadis in West Nusa Tenggara live in abject poverty, shunned by mainstream Muslim communities. Ahmadiyah members say that in some areas the government refused to issue marriage certificates or renew their identification cards.

Limits to the rule of law

In its 2008 report, "Indonesia: Implications of the Ahmadiyah Decree," the Brussels-based International Crisis Group predicted the SKB would increase the likelihood of religious vigilantism.

"The decree satisfied no one except a few members of the parliament," ICG said. "Hard-liners felt it did not go far enough and, scenting victory, pressed for more."

BIN in its analysis assumed that mainstream Muslim groups would take any Ahmadiyah violations of the decree to the courts of law. But the intelligence agency underestimated the violent nature of hard-line groups.

FPI figures responsible for the June 2008 attack were later sent to prison for a year, a punishment many saw as too lenient in relation to the damage they had done to the nation's image of religious tolerance and freedom.

Persecution against Ahmadiyah members occurred time and again because of police inaction, the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy has said.

The Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) recorded more than 150 cases of attacks and intimidation after the SKB was enacted. Perpetrators were brought to trial in just two cases. Those found guilty would be sentenced to less than a year in prison, while the actual masterminds behind the attack would often not even be prosecuted.

"Perceptions and promises", a 2010 study by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) showed that 30.2 percent of 1,000 respondents supported acts of violence against the sect.

While making no connection to the issuance of the decree, LSI researcher Adrian Sopa said that this was a sharp increase to a similar survey in 2005 that showed only 13.9 percent of respondents backed such moves. The 2005 survey was conducted after the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) reaffirmed Ahmadiyah's blasphemous status.

The MUI had declared Ahmadiyah deviant in 1980, but acts of violence against the sect were suppressed under former President Suharto's iron- fisted rule. However, as soon as the regime was toppled, some Muslim groups brought up the issue again.

After former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid – who many deemed a champion of religious tolerance – stepped down in 2001, the call intensified and a string of violence against Ahmadiyah was set in motion.

The government also made empty pledges about the protection of Ahmadiyah's right to practice its beliefs. On Feb. 27, 2006, then Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni said that if Ahmadiyah would call its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad a mere reformer and not a prophet of Islam "then all problems would be solved."

On Jan. 14, 2008, then JAI chairman Abdul Basit issued a document titled "Twelve Commitments of Ahmadiyah" which stated that the Ahmadiyah community believes Muhammad to be the final prophet of Islam.

But despite JAI's wish to be welcomed into the mainstream Muslim community, the ministry continued to push for the dissolution of Ahmadiyah or have it declared a separate religion, thus banning Ahmadiyah from using Islamic attributes like the Koran.

So far, the government has stopped short of disbanding Ahmadiyah altogether. The BIN document argues that Ahmadiyah met all of the formal requirements to legally exist.

'International embarrassment'

The BIN dossier also suggests the agency was concerned about Ahmadis members seeking asylum abroad, on the grounds of persecution. "This would be an international embarrassment. There is a need for diplomatic talks with countries presumed to be the destination of asylum seekers," the document says.

"It's disturbing that BIN seems more worried about the potential for embarrassment if Ahmadis seek refuge abroad than about their being beaten to death by other Indonesians," HRW's Pearson said.

Firdaus Mubarik, JAI spokesman, said BIN's underestimating the anti- Ahmadiyah movement was to have dire consequences. "They forgot about the potential for violence, which led to terror and murder."

Ahmadiyah attack trial begins under heavy security

Jakarta Globe - April 26, 2011

The opening trial for 12 men facing charges in relation to the deadly attack on an Ahmadiyah community in Cikeusik, Banten, started under tight security on Tuesday at the Serang District Court.

More than a thousand police officers were deployed to stand guard within a 200-meter radius from the court. Two water cannons and three Barracuda armored vehicles were also on stand by.

"We deployed 1,095 officers," Banten Police's head of operations, Sr. Comr. Budiarto, was quoted as saying by the National Police Web site.

All those attending the hearing were required to go through three baggage checks and no private vehicles were allowed in the court parking lot.

Prosecutors were scheduled on Tuesday to read the indictments of the 12 defendants in bloody Feb. 6 incident that left three Ahmadis dead and five severely injured.

The attack, which was filmed and posted on YouTube, saw a mob of about a thousand attacking a house that sheltered 25 members of the minority Islamic sect. Human Rights Watch has issued a statement urging authorities to provide full protection for everyone attending the trial.

"For the Cikeusik trial to be a step toward ending religious violence in Indonesia, the police need to ensure the security of everyone in the courtroom," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"Witnesses brave enough to testify, as well as judges and prosecutors, should not have to face intimidation."

Extremist & hard-line groups

Government plays down extremist threat despite SBY warning

Jakarta Globe - April 30, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran, Anita Rachman & Elisabeth Oktofani – A day after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned of the "serious threat" from Islamic extremism, his chief security minister played down the issue as nothing to worry about.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said on Friday that the resurgence of the Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement was not large enough to pose a significant threat.

"It's not true that we're weak," he said. "I'm saying that in the national context, we shouldn't worry about the movement. We only need to raise our awareness." He added, "We need to see if the movement is massive enough to get power on the national scale, which it doesn't have yet."

Recent revelations that the spate of book bombs sent to prominent figures last month were masterminded by NII proponents, who champion the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in the country, have shined a light on the movement, which has reportedly been recruiting members undetected by the authorities for 19 years.

The group is also believed to have been behind the foiled Good Friday plot to bomb a church, gas pipeline and military arsenal in Serpong, Tangerang.

On Thursday, Yudhoyono acknowledged the creeping radicalization in the country, calling it "a continuous and serious threat in terrorism and in horizontal violence."

He called on all Indonesians to help stamp out extremism in their communities, and not just rely on the police to do the job.

However, Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second- largest Islamic organization, accused the government of ignoring and even exploiting the growing NII movement.

"The NII is actually an old issue that's been around for more than 20 years, or more than 60 if you want to link it to DI [Darul Islam, an extremist movement]," he said. "But even though it has claimed so many lives, the government has taken no serious action to address it."

He claimed the government was using the NII for political gain. "The government actually supports this kind of movement and uses it as a political commodity, which serves to discredit Muslims," he said.

Tubagus Hasanuddin, a legislator from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) who sits on House of Representatives Commission I, overseeing security affairs, said that lax government oversight had allowed the NII's numbers to swell to 160,000 nationwide.

"It's growth has been quite fast because although the government has known about the NII for several years, it has continued to give it room [to grow]," he said.

Sidney Jones, a terrorism expert from the International Crisis Group, said there were several variants of the NII across the country, each with different objectives.

"The NII KW9, for instance, which is led by Panji Gumilang, also known as Abu Toto, doesn't carry out terrorism," she said. "It carries out fraud to get funding. So it always targets university students as a source of funding."

Pepi Fernando, the suspected mastermind behind the Good Friday and book bomb plots, was himself believed to have been recruited on campus. He also claimed he learned to build the explosives on the Internet.

On Friday, Tifatul Sembiring, the communications and information technology minister, announced his office would block all Web sites promoting terrorism, but not those teaching bomb-making.

"If they are, by nature, spreading hate, agitating [people], those we will close down. There is a [legal] basis for that," he said. "But if it is something scientific, we do not have any basis to close it down. What is forbidden is bombing people, but the making of those weapons is general knowledge."

SBY: Save our nation from radicalization

Jakarta Globe - April 29, 2011

Arientha Primanita & Anita Rachman – In a rare acknowledgment that religious-based violence posed a serious threat to the nation, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on Indonesians not to rely on the police but to help to stamp out extremism's spread from inside their communities.

"Our nation faces a continuous and serious threat in terrorism and in horizontal violence," he said on Thursday while addressing a National Development Planning Meeting in Jakarta.

Horizontal violence, a term often used in reference to student bullying, refers to abuse or aggression by individuals on their peers around them.

Yudhoyono said a rising tide of threats and intolerance were a serious matter that generated a negative impact on everyone and threatened the public's sense of safety.

"Let us not allow this to happen," he said. "Everyone has a duty to prevent and overcome this. Let us conduct prevention efforts as early as possible. Terrorism and horizontal violence under various motives should not be just handed to the National Police."

He urged all regional leaders, down to the smallest units, to actively participate in monitoring the situation and provide early warning of any suspicious activities in their communities.

During the meeting at the Bidakara Hotel, Yudhoyono said another problem facing the nation was the rise in radicalism based on religion and ideology.

"It is the radicalization that is wrong, not the religion," he said, adding that what was worrying was the effort to radicalize elements of society and promote the use of violence.

His call for vigilance came after a number of incidents during the past six months, when small cells, many with no known links to Jemaah Islamiyah or other large jihadi organizations, have raided police stations and assassinated officers.

Mail bombs have been sent to liberal Muslim activists and an antiterrorism chief, and a suicide bomber targeted a mosque on April 15, a first in the country.

Yudhoyono called on religious leaders to live up to their positions and lead by returning religious teachings to a peaceful path.

Without change, he said, society faced a growing threat, and the nation's character of tolerance, harmony and peace was at risk. "This cannot be allowed to go on. We should not be apathetic or passive," he said.

Commenting on the threat of radicalism posed by the Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said public involvement must include preventing the NII's ideas from spreading.

The group – former members of which were reportedly linked to the foiled Good Friday bombing of a Tangerang church – aims to establish an Islamic caliphate by enlisting the support of educated young Indonesians and sympathizers.

Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said his ministry would review several lessons taught in schools. "We will put an emphasis on nationalism in lessons, such as on citizenship and the Indonesian language," he said.

He also said any religion lessons would be "revitalized" in coordination with the Religious Affairs Ministry. "Lessons should not only be interpreted as ideas but must also impact on attitudes," he said.

The Moderate Muslim Society's chairman, Zuhairi Misrawi, said that in West Java alone, cases of violence linked to radicalism had increased about 30 percent in 2010 to 80 cases and the trend appeared to continue this year. He pointed out that the rising trend took place under Yudhoyono's watch, accusing his government of being too permissive toward radical groups.

He said the government's weak treatment of radical groups had encouraged their growth.

Academics to take lead in deradicalizing campuses

Jakarta Globe - April 29, 2011

Dessy Sagita – A group of prominent Muslim academics vowed on Thursday to fight the creeping radicalization of university students taking place on campuses across the country.

Ismail Hasani, a researcher at the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy and a lecturer at Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN), said the academics had formed an association to deal with the threat.

"Radicalization in universities is nothing new," he said. "It's been going on for years, but it was largely ignored and no serious action was taken to curb it."

He said the newly formed group, Academics Guiding the Nation's Pillars (APPi Bangsa), sought to be a national movement, covering not just Islamic universities, but also other private and state universities across Indonesia.

UIN has recently come under the spotlight after one of its graduates, Pepi Fernando, was arrested as the mastermind behind the book bombs sent to prominent figures last month and the foiled Good Friday plot to bomb a church.

Ali Mansur, another lecturer at UIN, said part of the problem was the boarding houses in the vicinity of the university were often used by extremists as bases from which to spread their ideology.

"Stemming radicalism should be a pubic responsibility, because it's impossible for any university to monitor its students 24 hours a day," he said.

Muhammad Hafidz, a UIN graduate and activist with the Human Rights Working Group, suggested that universities offer more activities and host more debates to raise students' awareness about the threat of indoctrination.

"Students involved in on-campus activities tend not to get radicalized, perhaps because they're used to meeting with lots of people and so they're familiar with differences, which makes it more difficult to poison them with doctrines of intolerance," he said.

Ismail said APPi Bangsa would host a series of on-campus programs to spread the message of tolerance, and would also monitor students' off-campus activities.

"We should respect an individual's freedom to be in an organization, but if there's a strong indication that the organization in question has violent tendencies, then the university should intervene," he said.

"Democracy and tolerance are the keys. The stronger the students' understanding of these values, the less chance they will be victimized by the radicals."

Nur Ahmad, a lecturer at STIE Ahmad Dahlan Jakarta, an economics college, said one of the on-campus programs would teach students to be critical of texts, manuscripts or books promoting war in the name of religion.

"We need to prepare our students, teach them to be critical of inflammatory material that spreads hatred and extreme views, but we should not infringe on their freedom to read," Nur said.

Universities were not the only place where radicalization was occurring, he added. Indoctrination sometimes began in high school through the extracurricular class Rohis, which teaches Islamic spirituality.

"These are very exclusive groups where radicalization starts," he said. "Students who take the class graduate from high school already indoctrinated, which makes it much easier for recruiters at universities to turn them into radicals."

Nur Ahmad said that the government should not disband Rohis activities at high school but it has to be guided and monitored to ensure there were no infiltrators spreading intolerance.

UIN's Ali urged the government to review religious classes to ensure they were appropriate. "The government and the public need to realize that radicals recruit new members not just from Islamic universities, but also from regular universities, so anyone can be a victim, even non-religious students," he said.

Nationwide crackdown on NII underway

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2011

Mariel Grazella and Oyos Saroso, Jakarta – As precautionary measures against the re-emergence of the outlawed radical group, the Indonesian Islamic State (NII), intensified across the country, the police have identified pockets of its followers.

The NII, which has existed since the early 1950s, has been blamed for the disappearance of a number of university students in several regions in the country, alleged to have been brainwashed into joining the movement.

The group, which aspires to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state, has recently been linked to terrorism after a former member, Pepi Fernando, allegedly masterminded a terror attack plan that included planting a bomb weighing 150 kilograms next to a gas pipeline near a Catholic church in Serpong, Tangerang, last week.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Pepi had testified he was a member of the NII in 1998. "But [Pepi] wanted to leave to continue his fight independently," he said.

The police are conducting investigations to reveal other possible suspects in Pepi's network, he said. The police are yet to identify the NII a terror group. However, precautionary measures have been taken and detectives have been deployed to map out its members, particularly in big cities.

"There are pockets on the outskirts of Bekasi and Pondok Gede and surrounding areas, as well as Tangerang," Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said, adding that police had been monitoring these areas.

"So far their activities have involved brainwashing people, recruiting [followers] and trickery," he said. A number of universities have also stepped up their level of caution, establishing crisis centers where students can report indoctrination efforts and recruitment activities conducted by the group.

Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta is preparing a team tasked with assisting students who may have been persuaded to join the movement and are now acting as recruiters. At least four UGM students have reportedly been exposed to NII indoctrination.

The Yogyakarta Police previously arrested two female university students who are alleged to have recruited new members for the NII movement. The arrest was made after the two tried to lure another university student to join the group.

In regions across the archipelago, police forces are also clamping down on the movement. The Lampung Police said it had hit the ground running for an investigation on NII recruitment activities across the region.

"Beside students, NII recruitment in Lampung allegedly targets [residents in] rural areas. We are involving every district and sectoral police [in the investigation]," Lampung Police spokeswoman Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistyaningsih said.

The North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Wisjnu Amat Sastro said he had instructed his team to increase the frequency of routine operations and surveillance of local residents to identify if the NII had developed its network in the region.

He encouraged locals to report to the police if they believed there had been "suspicious activities" that could be related to the NII group.

NII's seemingly widespread indoctrination and recruitment activities came under the public spotlight recently when a number of people, mostly university students, were reported missing. Some victims claimed they had joined a discussion on religion, which argued that the Indonesian laws were against the Koran. They also said they were then baptized as members of the NII movement.

The government's failure in detecting the crusade movement of NII was lambasted by Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD. "I am aghast over how the massive movement went undetected. This makes no sense, [they] have recruited tens of thousands of followers without being detected. This is very dangerous," he said.

Activists say school in West Java is pushing extremism

Jakarta Globe - April 28, 2011

Dessy Sagita, Anita Rachman & Amir Tejo – An Islamic boarding school in Indramayu, West Java, has come under scrutiny after a group of activists claimed it was recruiting for the outlawed Indonesian Islamic State movement.

Asrorun Ni'am Saleh, vice chairman of the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) said the commission would set up a fact-finding team following the report from a nongovernment organization that the Al Zaytun Islamic boarding school was instilling the extremist views of the movement, also known as the NII. "We have received a report from the NII Crisis Center," Asrorun said of the allegations against the Al Zaytun pesantren.

The NII Crisis Center Rehabilitation Team, an NGO formed to gather and share information about NII victims, says Al Zaytun has been teaching its students to become Muslim extremists.

"These children should be stopped from enrolling in Al Zaytun. They have to be saved," said Ken Setiawan, one of the pioneers of NII Crisis Center and a former follower of the NII.

Composed primarily of former NII members, the crisis center has access and information about NII recruitment and the methods it uses to lure students into extremism. "It's no secret that funds collected by NII members were used to develop Al Zaytun," Ken said.

He said the crisis center had reported its suspicions about NII recruitment at Al Zaytun to the police, the House of Representatives and other relevant institutions.

Al Zaytun alumni were spread all over Indonesia, Ken said, and it was possible they were spreading their beliefs wherever they went.

Asrorun said the KPAI has standard operating procedures for its fact- finding team but added, "We will do whatever it takes to protect Indonesian children, including from deviant beliefs."

Al Zaytun secretary Abdul Halim denied any link between the institution and NII, saying it was a legal education institution set up under a permit from the Ministry of National Education.

"Our curriculum follows the national education system. This institution teaches about tolerance and cultural development, nothing else. We don't have any affiliation to the NII," he said.

Abdul Halim said Al Zaytun always encouraged its students to keep in contact with their parents to ensure they were not exposed to deviant beliefs. "We have received no complaints from parents about any behavioral change during their children's time in Al Zaytun," he said.

However, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), citing research conducted into activities at Al Zaitun in 2002, found that although the school's curriculum was standard, the leader of the school was suspected to be involved with the NII.

"We were afraid that the leader's affiliation with NII could affect his students," said MUI chairman Ma'ruf Amin, adding that although it had recommended the government replace the school's committee, the recommendation was ignored.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said NII posed a threat to the nation's sovereignty. He said it was dangerous to have groups influencing people's minds with the aim of creating an Islamic state.

"That is what we need to fight together," he said. "We are living in a democratic country that gives freedom to people, but this freedom must still be within the confines of the law," he said.

AM Fatwa, a Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member, said teenagers were vulnerable to recruitment by hard-liners. However, he warned that a government de-radicalization program would not be sufficient to thwart radicalism. He said schools and teachers should be involved and promote programs against the brainwashing.

[With additional reporting by Zacky Pawas and Arientha Primanita.]

Creeping NII extremism on campus has Yogyakarta universities on alert

Jakarta Globe - April 26, 2011

Candra Malik – University officials in Yogyakarta said on Monday that there were signs their campuses were quietly being "infiltrated" by Muslim extremists seeking to expand their youth base.

Haryanto, the director of student affairs at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said recruiters from the radical Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement had been targeting their students for the past decade.

"They target smart and rich students from renowned universities," he said. "The NII works to attract the attention of new students experiencing post- high school jitters. They pretend to offer these students a new paradigm on freedom."

Haryanto said he believed dozens of students had already joined the NII, which began as a nationalist organization before its founder, Sekar Maji Kartosuwiryo, turned to radical Islam after a falling out with then- President Sukarno.

The outlawed group aims to establish an Islamic caliphate by enlisting the support of educated young Indonesians and sympathizers, according to a terrorism expert.

"It's quite difficult for us to block the covert movements of such an organization," Haryanto said. "We cannot forbid students to hang out with them or develop their minds."

Edy Suandi, the rector of the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), said the school had a system in place to prevent the "spread of heresy and the activities of banned organizations."

"Periodically, our lecturers provide students with a fresh orientation on the basic values of Islam," he said. "We particularly monitor suspicious parties inside and outside the campus. We are aware that the NII must be targeting the UII."

Haryanto said the issue of Muslim extremists moving onto college campuses also concerned schools in other provinces. "This matter has been discussed among academics," he said. "We feel the same anxiety and each of us has taken a stand to counteract this movement."

Terrorism expert Noor Huda Ismail, executive director of the Institute for International Peace Building, on Sunday noted a shift in the NII's recruitment tactics, saying it was increasingly targeting educated youths.

Haryanto said NII recruiters used to be easy to spot based on their attire, but became more difficult to identify when the organization was forced to go underground.

"The female recruiters, for instance, do not always wear the hijab. And the female targets are not always veiled," he said. "[Generally, for men,] their trousers are worn above the ankle. They sport beards and skull caps. They do not get along with most college students. They do not talk much publicly."

The UGM official added that in the past, recruiters would look for recruits exclusively at mosques and prayer halls.

He said the NII had also tweaked its rhetoric to make the organization more palatable to younger recruits. While they once used religious provisions in the Constitution to justify the formation of an Islamic state, Haryanto said NII followers were now less aggressive about pressing this idea.

"Now, the theme of their preaching is not always about the state," he said. "They elaborate on and show concern toward the implementation of Shariah law in an increasingly pagan society."

Edy said he was alarmed that the NII had "successfully infiltrated the UII" and managed to enlist a number of students, and stressed that weeding out radical groups required a concerted effort by all Indonesians.

"Communities where students live in dormitories, local governments, police and the families of students are expected to be involved in warding off the NII," he said "Their presence is a latent danger to the country."

Radical religion teachers must go: Government

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2011

Jakarta – Deputy National Education Minister Fasli Jalal says he has witnessed strong indications of radicalization of junior and high school students across Indonesia, adding that it was carried out by Islam religion teachers.

"We have seen these radical teachers teaching students the wrong way. We must do something to neutralize [the teaching of religion at schools]," Fasli said Thursday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that the wrong teaching methods had also used for outdoor activities, and urged officials from the Religious Affairs Ministry to address the matter since the training of these teachers was their responsibility. "We should work hand-in-hand to tackle this problem," he said.

The findings emerged as a result of a two-year comprehensive study conducted by Bambang Pranowo, a professor at the Indonesia's Islamic State university, at numerous schools in 10 provinces between 2009 and 2010.

Road to Radicalism: An insider's view of the Islamic State Movement

Jakarta Globe - April 26, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – Eddy Prayitno has a unique perspective on the Indonesian Islamic State movement, the group alleged to be behind the foiled Good Friday bombing in Tangerang.

The blogger and author is a former member of the fundamentalist movement, known as NII, which he says took away 10 years of his life.

According to Eddy, the roots of NII date back to the 1940s, when the Islamist militia known as Darul Islam, led by Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo, fought for the establishment of an Islamic state. Kartosuwiryo was captured and executed in 1962, but his teachings live on, Eddy says, in the hearts of millions of people across Indonesia.

Eddy himself was once a fervent promoter of the doctrine of Kartosuwiryo. He served as an active member of the NII for 10 years, before he left the group in 1998, just weeks before the fall of President Suharto.

"The NII's recruitment system is similar to multilevel marketing," Eddy said. "Members are encouraged to recruit more members. I myself recruited about 200 members."

Eddy estimated the group to have a current membership reaching into the millions nationwide. "It was viral," he said. "We would hold weekly meetings to convert even more people."

As a committed member to the cause, Eddy quickly climbed the ranks and entered the inner circles of the NII elite. That was the time, he said, when he began to realize that the NII leaders were more concerned about gathering donations than establishing an Islamic state.

Disillusioned, Eddy began to openly voice his concerns about the leadership of the group. "I began to write critically in our internal magazine about the leaders, along with several others who shared my view," he said.

"We did it for three years before the leaders shut down our publication," he said, adding that he consequently began to receive death threats from NII leaders, who said to spill his blood would be "halal," or permitted under Islam.

After leaving the group, Eddy struggled to find a new purpose for his life. "There were periods when everything seemed meaningless to me. I started writing when I got depressed," he said. "I got paranoid – working underground has this effect on you. You hate the government and at the same time you don't want to be noticed."

In 2004, Eddy started blogging about his experiences with the NII under the alias Mataharitimoer, and was approached by a publisher a year later.

His first book, "Jihad Terlarang" ("Forbidden Jihad"), was released in 2007. He said that writing a book on his journey in NII, and the reasons why he chose to leave, gave him closure.

Drawing confidence from the experience of having his voice heard, Eddy gathered together a group of former NII members and established the Indonesian Center for Deradicalization and Wisdom in 2008.

The ICDW collaborates with the Darul Ulum Islamic boarding school in Bogor to provide scholarships for children whose parents are active or former members of the NII.

"Since the parents have detached themselves from worldly livelihoods, they have no income or occupation. The children are left uncared for," Eddy said.

According to research by the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, the NII is linked to radical movements in Indonesian politics and even the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah.

Dharmawan Ronodipuro, former special assistant to the head of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT), said the NII ideology lived on in many forms in various organizations. "This is a test for the BNPT's deradicalization program," Dharmawan said.

Terrorism analyst Noor Huda Ismail said he suspected the NII was being used by outside parties to further their own interests and agendas. During the Suharto era, he said, the NII was used by the New Order regime to help quash communism.

"Today, it is curious that book bombs and a sudden hysteria surrounding the NII are occurring, particularly since deliberations over the intelligence bill are ongoing at the House of Representatives," he said.

Sex & pornography

Homemade porn for private use is legal

Jakarta Globe - April 26, 2011

Arientha Primanita – The verdict is in: making your own sex video is not illegal. In a landmark ruling on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court threw out a request for a judicial review of the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law, which sought an amendment to criminalize the filming of sex videos for private use.

Chief Justice Mahfud M.D., in rejecting the request for a review filed by controversial lawyer Farhat Abbas, said: "The plaintiffs' argument does not have a legal basis."

Article 4 of the law bans people from producing pornographic material, while Article 6 prohibits people from storing or broadcasting it. However, Farhat's camp has said supplementary explanations of the law exclude materials "for personal use and interest."

"If pornography is for 'personal use,' the actor might be seen as a victim [when material is distributed without consent], when in fact pornography exists because of the actors in the first place," Muhammad Burhanuddin, one of Farhat's lawyers, had argued.

However, Justice Ahmad Fadlil Sumadi said that while the court agreed with the plaintiffs that pornography violated norms of decency if made public, the point here was that a homemade video for private use was not meant to be made public.

"If something containing pornographic elements is used solely for one's self, it doesn't violate public decency or disturb public order," he said.

He added that the court considered Articles 4 and 6 constitutional. "The court believes there is no unconstitutionality or contradiction here, as long as the material in question is for one's own use," Fadlil stressed.

Farhat and his camp sought the judicial review in the wake of the celebrity sex video scandal involving Nazril "Ariel" Irham, the frontman for the band Peterpan.

The videos appeared on the Internet last year. One allegedly showed Ariel with his girlfriend, Luna Maya, while another was said to show him with TV presenter Cut Tari.

Ariel has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison on a charge of distributing pornography, not for making the films, although he insists he did not upload the videos to the Internet.

Anwar Sadat, a representative for the plaintiffs, said that while the request for the judicial review had been rejected, the two women in the Ariel case should still be held accountable.

"The makers of sex videos must also be punished," he said. "We know that Ariel has been sentenced to prison, but what about Luna Maya and Cut Tari?"

However, criminal law expert Edi Hiariej, from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, has said the supplementary explanations to the law excluding material for personal use were the reason police would not be able to charge Ariel, Luna or Cut Tari under the pornography law.

Anwar said he was not disappointed with the Constitutional Court's ruling but would examine the pornography law again thoroughly.

"We'll just accept the ruling and make revisions for another request for a judicial review that we'll file in the future," he said. He declined to say when the group would file the new request.

Ariel's sex tape appeal gets shot down by High Court

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Yuli Krisna, Bandung – The Bandung High Court has rejected the appeal filed by Peterpan frontman Nazril Irham against his conviction on pornography charges, a judge said on Monday.

Presiding Judge Sjam Amansjah said the high court upheld the lower court verdict sentencing the pop star, also known as Ariel, to three and a half years in prison for violating the country's strict Anti-Pornography Law.

"The decision of the Bandung District Court is considered correct and the high court reaffirms the verdict," Sjam said, reading from the ruling, which was dated April 19. "Ariel will remain in prison," the judge added.

The singer was convicted of distributing pornography in January, months after tapes of him having sex with girlfriend Luna Maya as well as TV presenter Cut Tari circulated on the Internet. He is serving his sentence at Kebonwaru Penitentiary in Bandung.

Sjam said the court had taken "popular opinion" into consideration when it rejected the appeal. "We considered the people's opinion, especially [the reactions] of those who were present during the court proceedings," he said.

Islamic hard-liners, who were present throughout the trial at the district court, pelted Ariel with rotten eggs and tomatoes as he entered and left the courtroom the day the verdict was handed out.

Muslim groups objected to the sentence, insisting it was too lenient for the crime of "ruining the country's morals."

Ariel can still file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

Bandung District Court head Joko Siswanto said the singer should file an appeal within seven days after receiving a copy of the high court's ruling.

"If they don't appeal within that time, then the high court's decision becomes the final and binding decision," he said, adding that the document had not yet reached Ariel's legal team.

The high court also rejected the appeal of Reza Rizaldy, also known as Redjoy, a former Peterpan employee who found the sex tapes on Ariel's laptop and handed the files to a third party. Prosecutors said Reza's cousin, Anggit Gagah Pratama, uploaded the videos, but he was not charged.

Reza, who confessed and showed remorse during his trial, was sentenced to two years in jail for distributing the videos. "We will soon hand over the court documents so [Reza and Ariel] can consult with their lawyers on their next step," Joko said.

Land disputes & evictions

House to look into clash between army, farmers

Jakarta Globe - April 28, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Candra Malik – The House of Representatives said on Wednesday it would get to the bottom of a clash earlier this month between soldiers and farmers that has sparked allegations of rights abuses.

Tjahjo Kumolo, from House Commission I, which oversees security affairs, said legislators would go to the site of the April 16 clash in Kebumen, Central Java, and speak with the farmers, 14 of whom were wounded when soldiers opened fire with rubber bullets in the incident.

He said the decision to go there had been made following a House hearing on Tuesday night with Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro and several military top brass.

Col. Sumedy, the commander of the Kebumen Army base, testified that the farmers had attacked first, armed with knives and sharp implements. He said the soldiers had responded by firing warning shots, which the farmers ignored. However, Teguh Juwarno, a Commission I legislator, said that was no excuse for the military to use violence against the civilians.

"The military must remember that it's the people who buy the guns they use," he said. "Those guns should never be used against citizens. I'm not saying the farmers' attack was right, but it's puzzling that the military failed to detect the possibility of a clash. They should have anticipated it and taken measures to prevent it."

Another Commission I legislator, Sidharto Dhanusubroto, urged the government to relocate the live-fire training ground in Kebumen that is at the heart of the dispute between the farmers and the Army.

"It would be better if all of the military's training grounds were relocated to border areas, for instance," he said. "That way they won't disturb residents."

Human rights groups have accused the Army of excessive use of force in the incident, which they said was triggered primarily by a dispute over land used by the Army for training but claimed by the farmers as their own.

The second factor cited for the violence was the speculation that the Army was conspiring with investors to mine the land for iron. Police have named six farmers as suspects in the clash, but none of the soldiers has been charged.

Central Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Djihartono said the six would be charged with two counts of assault and destruction of property, which carry a maximum prison sentence of five-and-a-half years. Their dossier was on Wednesday submitted to prosecutors.

Djihartono said the Military Police were responsible for investigating the soldiers involved in the incident.

Lt. Col. Zaenal Muttaqien, a spokesman for the Diponegoro Military Command in Semarang, Central Java, which oversees operations in the province, said 22 soldiers had been questioned so far, but no indications had been found that any of them had violated protocol.

Rights group rejects police version of deadly Palembang clash

Jakarta Globe - April 28, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – Police in South Sumatra have named two people as primary suspects over a recent bloody clash in the Ogan Komering Ilir district of Palembang, which left seven people dead.

The clash reportedly involved workers of a private plantation company, Sumber Wangi Alam, and residents of Sungai Sodong village in Mesuji.

After meeting with officers of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Chief Insp. Gen. Hasyim Irianto said on Wednesday that two employees of the company, identified as 23-year-old T.R. and 25-year-old H.R., have been deemed suspects in the Apr. 21 incident. "We believe, for now, these two suspects initiated the clash," Hasyim said, without elaborating.

Komnas, however has suggested that it was not happy with the way police were carrying out the investigation. Nur Kholis, deputy chairman of Komnas, told the Jakarta Globe that preliminary investigations pointed to clear human rights violations.

Komnas has suggested that the altercation stemmed primarily from a land dispute between the plantation and the villagers that was left simmering and unresolved for years.

Nur Kholis said that he and two other Komnas officers arrived in Palembang on Tuesday and held marathon meetings with administrative leaders and had also met with representatives from SWA.

"We have already found conflicting statements made by the South Sumatra Police and witnesses in regard to the use of firearms in the incident," Nur Kholis said on Wednesday.

He said that police had ruled out the possibility of firearms being used in the incident, but Komnas said witnesses testified they had been used. He also said the bodies of the victims were found riddled with bullet and stab wounds.

According to Komnas, two of the seven dead were villagers and the remainder were SWA plantatation workers. Nur Kholis said that the villagers were killed first and that he speculated an initial clash escalated into a riot resulting in additional deaths.

He said that in interviews with villagers, he found that they had been angered that two of their own had been killed and then they stormed onto the plantation.

"Police need to conduct a proper investigation. We requested them to conduct a second round of autopsies on the victims," Nur Kholis said. He added that according to their investigations, SWA had employed four officers of the police's elite mobile brigade unit as well as several members of Pam Swakarsa, a community-based security organization, to guard their plantation.

Pam Swakarsa groups are normally registered with the police and wear police-issued uniforms but are not allowed to use firearms without having a police-issued gun permit. "The police, however, are now stating that they have nothing to do with security officers guarding the plantation," he said.

[Additional reporting by Antara & Zaky Pawas.]

Army tried to hide violence against farmers: Activists

Jakarta Globe - April 27, 2011

Ulma Haryanto & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A rights group has corroborated earlier findings that the military used excessive force in a clash with farmers this month and even attempted to conceal the alleged crime.

Indriaswati Saptaningrum, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), said on Tuesday that a team of researchers probing the April 16 clash in Kebumen, Central Java, had concluded the Army had acted "beyond its authority" in firing rubber bullets at the farmers, injuring 14.

"Our fact-finding team found evidence that there had been an excessive use of force by the military," she said.

Elsam's findings agree with those announced earlier by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which said the clash had been triggered primarily by a dispute over land used by the Army for live- fire exercises but claimed by the farmers as their own.

Elsam researcher Wahyudi Djafar said the group had also obtained video recordings of the incident, in which around 30 soldiers could be seen chasing and firing rubber bullets at farmers planting rice. He said this contradicted statements by the military that there had been no violations of standard procedures in the incident.

Wahyudi also said that while Elsam could not find strong evidence to back Kontras's claim that soldiers had fired live rounds at the farmers, the researchers did manage to find an empty shell casing in the home of one of the residents.

"We received reports that soldiers scoured the area twice in the evening [after the clash] to look for spent casings," he said. "We only found one, but we've noted its details. However, we can't conclude whether it was [a blank] or live."

While the victims' hospital records did not say explicitly what kinds of wounds they sustained, one of the nurses said the injuries had been caused by rubber bullets, Wahyudi added.

However, at a hearing before the House of Representatives, the Army commander of the Kebumen base denied firing at the farmers first. Col. Sumedy said the farmers had attacked first, armed with knives and sharp implements. He said the soldiers had responded by firing warning shots, which the farmers ignored.

"Finally the order was given to change the hollow shells [used for warning shots] with rubber bullets, in line with standard operating procedure, and fire on the attackers," he said.

Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said his office was conducting a probe into the violence. "Let's give the investigators time to finish the probe before we look into possible violations arising from the shooting," he said.

Protesters condemn TNI, call for withdrawal of troops from disputed area

Detik.com - April 26, 2011

Muchus Budi R., Solo – Scores of protesters from the group People's Solidarity Against Violence (Sorak) have condemned the violence that took place during a clash between the Indonesian military (TNI) and Urutsewu farmers in Kebumen regency, Central Java. Sorak is calling on the TNI to return the land owned by the farmers and for the withdrawal of troops from the disputed area.

Sorak held the action at the Gladag traffic circle in the Solo city of Central Java on Tuesday afternoon, April 26. During the action, they brought poster condemning the TNI and demanding that the farmers being held by police in relation to the Kebumen affair be released.

The group said that in legal terms, the disputed land belongs to local people as evidenced by valid land certificates. It is quite natural that local people have become angry because the land is being used by the TNI for training. Several facilities have also been built on the land including a three-story building.

Moreover, they said that the training ground is creating a considerable of nervousness because according to Sorak, five children have been killed by exploding mortar rounds.

It is because of this therefore that Sorak objects to the TNI training in the Urutsewu area. Sorak is calling on the TNI to be immediately withdrawn from the disputed area and that the land is returned to their rightful owners. The group is also calling for an end to all forms of intimidation against local people.

On April 16 a clash took place between rogue army personnel and residents of Setro Jenar village in the Bulus Pesantren sub- district of Kebumen. As a result of the clash, 13 people were injured and are being treated in hospital. Of the 13 victims, four suffered gunshot wounds, five suffered stab wounds, and four others were beaten.

In a press release received by Detik.com, TNI Information Center Director Rear Admiral Iskandar Sitompul said that the disputed land being used by the army's research and development office has been managed by the army since the Dutch left Indonesia. Moreover the land has been used as a firing range since 1949. (mbr/fay)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Regent partly responsible for bloody clash: Komnas HAM

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2011

Khairul Saleh, Palembang – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has declared that rights violations occurred in a fatal clash between residents of Sodong village, Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) regency and employees of plantation firm PT Sumber Wangi Alam on April 24.

"Human rights violations occurred in the fatal incident due to the loss of people's right to live," Komnas HAM vice head Nurkholis said on Sunday. "This is attributable to the sluggish response of OKI Regent Ishak Mekki in addressing the long-standing issue which led to the loss of lives."

The OKI regent, Nurkholis said, should be held responsible and immediately resolve the issue. He added that the police should do everything in their power to prevent the conflict from boiling over again. "They must be careful in taking measures and should not discriminate in upholding the law," he said.

He said Komnas HAM would start investigating the case on Tuesday by interviewing local residents and staff of the OKI regency administration. He said the commission would also request statements from the South Sumatra Police chief and his subordinates.

"We will seek as much information as possible in the field from various parties," Nurkholis said. He said Komnas HAM would likely issue recommendations based on its findings in the field to relevant agencies.

Andre Meilansyah, the head of the economics and socio-cultural division at the NGO Palembang LBH, said his team had visited the scene of the violent clash on Monday. He said his group had requested assistance from local residents in conducting its investigation.

"We will gather materials, such as land certificates for plasma farms that the company promised it would hand over to residents but failed to do so, and any evidence of the involvement of thugs hired by the company," Nurkholis said over the phone.

South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin said his administration would stand behind the OKI regency administration in resolving the issue, but added that it would not attempt to investigate the fatal clash now, because the situation in the area was still delicate.

He said that he had been informed that the clash had been sparked by a long-standing issue. "We, from the provincial administration, will continue to monitor [the situation]," he said.

He said the provincial administration had reviewed various land disputes between companies and local residents in order to settle them to avoid more unrest. "We don't want a similar incident to happen again. The most important thing is to prevent provocation," he said.

The South Sumatra provincial administration's data showed that there were 60 land disputes in nine regencies and mayoralties in the province last year. Of those, 24 had been resolved and 17 were being worked on by the end of last year.

On April 21, Sungai Sodong residents clashed with PT Sumber Wangi Alam employees, leaving seven people dead. Two Sodong villagers who died in the clash, Syafii, 18, and Macan, 22, were both found with stab wounds and bullet wounds in their necks.

Company employees Hambali, Haris Fadillah (both plantation assistants), Ardi and Akbar, along with another employee who had not been identified also died in incident.

Army used live rounds in Kebumen: Kontras

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Candra Malik, Kebumen – A leading human rights body accused the military on Sunday of firing live ammunition at farmers during a clash earlier this month in Kebumen, Central Java.

Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), refuted claims by the Army that its personnel only used rubber bullets in the April 16 incident stemming from a land dispute.

"The team we sent to the scene found preliminary evidence that the Army had used live rounds," he said. "We also found batons used to disperse the farmers. We're now analyzing the findings."

He also said Kontras had received complaints that the Army was carrying out raids to frighten the farmers in Kebumen's Setrojenar village.

"Raids are the duty of the police," Haris said. "The parties in the dispute should exercise mutual restraint. We urge the military commander to withdraw all the troops from the disputed area pending an investigation."

He said the clash, in which 14 farmers were injured, was triggered primarily by a dispute over land used by the Army for live-fire exercises but claimed by the farmers as their own. He said a second factor was the speculation that the Army was conspiring with investors to mine the land for iron.

"All the findings are still preliminary, but there are indications that elements of the Army were seeking to get involved in the mining business in Kebumen's coastal area," Haris said. "We have documents that strengthen these indications, but we still need to analyze them before reaching any conclusions."

Lt. Col. Zaenal Muttaqien, a spokesman for the Diponegoro Military Command in Semarang, Central Java, which oversees operations in the province, denied the Army had used live ammunition on the farmers.

"We only used a magazine of hollow bullets and a magazine of rubber bullets," he told the Jakarta Globe. "The allegations made by Kontras need to be clarified."

He also challenged the commission to back up claims about the ownership of the coastal area under dispute. He said the state had granted the land to the military in 1949 "and we have the complete documents ready to trump any other documents belonging to anyone else."

Akhmad Murtajib, a spokesman for the farmers' group, said residents were living in fear since the clash, with most too afraid to return to their homes.

"They've fled to mosques, the offices of NGOs and other gathering places," he told the Globe. "They've left their farmland neglected. We urge the LPSK [Witness and Victim Protection Agency] to protect them."

Land conflicts between the TNI and the people rooted in 1965

Kompas - April 25, 2011

Jakarta – Conflicts between the Indonesian military (TNI) and the people shows that internal reform within military as an institution is not fully complete. The security approach, like the era of Suharto's New Order regime, is still being used by the TNI, particularly when confronted by problems.

Speaking in Jakarta on Sunday April 24, The Indonesian Institute researcher Hanta Yuda said that the conflicts that have occurred between the TNI and the people are evidence that a number of agenda items still remain in the reform of the TNI. "The indication being that the TNI still uses violent methods to overcome problems, as it did during the previous New Order era", said Yuda.

A similar view was expressed by Wahid Institute Executive Director Ahmad Suaedy. Continued clashes between the people and the TNI demonstrates the mentality of TNI personnel inherited from the New Order, which sees the ordinary people as the enemy, not as citizens that should be safeguarded and protected. This mentality must change immediately to one in which the TNI as an institution has the central task, among other things, of safeguarding the country's territorial boarders and external threats.

Two weeks ago a clash broke out between the TNI and local people from the village of Setrojenar in Kebumen regency, Central Java. Ten local residents were injured in the incident, five of them suffering gunshot wounds. The conflict was triggered by a land dispute, with the TNI claiming that the land in the Urutsewu area is their property and can therefore be used for heavy artillery practice. Conversely, local people claim that that they are the owners of the same land.

Kompas research and development data shows that over the last 10 years there have been a number of conflicts between the TNI and ordinary people. These conflicts are generally linked with issues of land ownership.

Last week in Jakarta, Defense Department Secretary General Errys Heryanto conceded that most conflicts between the TNI and the people are indeed linked with land ownership. He said that the Department honors the law in overcoming all problems, including land ownership disputes.

"Our country is a constitutional state. If there is a land dispute, let it be resolved by the courts until there is an inkracht van matichgedaad (final and conclusive ruling). Don't let there be anarchic actions. Sometimes the Defense Department wins, but sometimes it also looses in court. This is quite normal", said Heryanto.

Historical links

Yuda noted that in order that conflicts between the people and the TNI are not repeated, reform of the TNI must be continued. This process however must emphasise that the TNI needs to immediately change its paradigm to one of being professional soldiers. For professional soldiers, the use of violence against innocent civilians is a serious error.

Yuda also believes that the TNI ability to communicate in the context of a democratic state must be improved. The violence committed by the TNI during conflicts with the people indicates that its communication abilities are very minimal.

The third thing that is no less important, said Yuda is completing the transfer of the TNI's business assets. Other conflicts involving the TNI have been closely related to businesses managed by the TNI.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro also concedes that land problems are not just related to land conflicts between the TNI and local residents, but are also related to the transfer of the TNI's business activities.

Historian Bonnie Triyana added that from a historical perspective, conflicts between the TNI and civilians are rooted in the 30 September 1965 affair. "Since the case occurred, there were a great deal of assets that were taken over by the TNI, on the grounds that the [former] owners were involved in the Indonesian Communist Party", he said.

In Central java, particularly in Semarang regency, the control of property by the TNI gave rise to problems when Indonesia entered the reform era. Conflicts in struggles over land or claims over ownership of land controlled by the TNI have also surfaced.

It is in this perspective, according to Triyana, that the problem of conflicts between the TNI and the people, particularly those related to land, must be fully resolved by the government. Meaning that a resolution has to look back prior to the 30 September Movement affair in 1965.

"In this way, we will truly know who in fact has rights over assets, such as this land", said Triyana. (ato/ong/why/tra)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Regional autonomy & government

After 15 years, autonomy still a flop, experts say

Jakarta Globe - April 26, 2011

Ronna Nirmala, Dwi Lusiana, Nurdin Hasan, Amir Tejo & Banjir Ambarita – The government praised 23 regions on Monday for their performance in serving the public, but experts across the country were quick to point out the failings of regional autonomy.

At an event to mark the 15th anniversary of regional autonomy, government officials named three provincial and 20 district and municipal administrations as having shown the best performance since 2009.

Vice President Boediono suggested that those cited, including the North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and Central Java administrations, be given incentives by the home affairs and finance ministries. He also encouraged other regions to improve their performance and deliver better services to the public.

However, Siti Zuhro, a regional autonomy expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the concept would only work well if it was supported by sweeping bureaucratic reforms.

"We can't ignore the fact that our bureaucracy is inconsistent in enforcing regulations and sometimes forgets the basic tenets of the Constitution, including ensuring social welfare and democracy," she said.

She also said regional autonomy, while devolving power away from Jakarta, required close cooperation between the central and regional governments in order to function effectively.

She added that the central government needed to be consistent in overseeing and assisting local governments to prevent "little kings" ruling over feudal-like regional administrations.

Haryadi, a political expert at Surabaya's Airlangga University, said the problem with Indonesia's regional autonomy was that the central government still retained most of the financial authority.

"It's no wonder that 99 percent of districts and cities in the country are highly dependent on funding from Jakarta for their development," he said.

He said another shortcoming was that power previously held by the executive branch of government was now in the hands of the legislative branch. "When the law on autonomy was drafted, it was assumed that the legislative would be filled with good people, angels almost," he said.

What actually happened, he said, was the advent of massive corruption and abuse of power by regional legislators that has gone largely unchecked. "What regional autonomy has done is shift political corruption from the bureaucracy to the legislature," Haryadi said.

Ibnu Tri Cahyo, a member of the national Ombudsman Commission and the former head of regional autonomy studies at Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, agreed autonomy had given rise to feudal administrations and corrupt legislatures.

"Regional autonomy has resulted in policies that are pro-government, at the expense of the public interest," he said. "Hence, the public is left with little authority to monitor administrations or their use of power. Without public control, regional administrations will tend to be authoritarian and corrupt."

Nazamuddin Basyah Said, an economist at Banda Aceh's Syiah Kuala University, said regional autonomy would never be effective as long as there was no proper fiscal management by regional administrations. "The amount of money each administration gets for development means nothing if it's mismanaged the way leaders in Aceh tend to do," he said.

He cited the recent arrest of North Aceh district head Ilyas A. Hamid and his deputy, Syarifuddin, for embezzling Rp 220 billion ($25.5 million) from the regional budget. "Other than autonomy, what we need is better governance and policy planning," Nazamuddin said.

Deky Rumaropen, head of the Community Development Foundation in Jayapura, said similar problems existed in Papua. He said mining revenue was flooding into the provincial coffers but not filtering down to the people.

"Special autonomy has given rise to a handful of newly rich people, mostly in the bureaucracy, but has done nothing to lift the rest of the people out of poverty," he said.

[Additional reporting by Antara.]

Legislation & parliament

Arifinto still at DPR, refuses to answer to house leaders

Jakarta Globe - April 29, 2011

Anita Rachman – Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Arifinto says he has no responsibility to answer to leaders of the House of Representatives on the issue of his resignation.

The conservative legislator, who was caught watching pornographic videos on his tablet computer during a House plenary session, continues to show up for work at the House, forcing leaders to question the seriousness of his resignation.

"The House leaders are not my bosses, and I don't have any responsibility to report to them," he said on Friday.

Several House leaders have suggested that the lawmaker personally send them a letter of resignation. Usually a letter of resignation is tendered to the party, and is then passed on to the House of Representatives, which then hands it to the General Elections Commission (KPU) verify the resignation. Then, if the president approves the resignation, he will issue a decree.

Although he was unaware of the exact date he had tendered his resignation to PKS, Arifinto assured on Friday that the letter had been sent. He said that he would continue to work at the House while the letter was passed around and until President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono approved his resignation.

"Just use common logic," he said. "I am just doing [this] based on what the law states. "Even if I am no longer a lawmaker, I still have the right to come to the House, right? I am also one of the people."

Asked whether he had fulfilled the requirements of PKS' Shariah Board to ask for God's forgiveness 100 times with 40 days, to read the entire Koran with 30 days and to give alms to 60 poor people, he declined to comment. "That's my duty for life," he said.

House of Representatives is a public toilet, artists say

Jakarta Globe - April 27, 2011

Anita Rachman – Six artists propped up artworks depicting politics and public toilets against the security fence of the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning in protest to the plan to build a new House office tower.

The artists – including Hardi, Odji Lirungan, Kasimanli, Yahya, Ridwan, and Willy – went to the House with Sebastian Salang from Formappi and Ray Rangkuti from LIMA.

The artists finished painting canvases with the theme of public toilets to make a statement that politics in the House of Representatives were as "dirty as public toilets across Jakarta".

"We invite all the people to come here to defecate here," Odji Lirungan said. "I am sorry I have to use rude words, but they never listen. Artists are very disappointed with their plan to construct a new building and their trips overseas."

Odji said that people were working very hard to meet their needs and pay taxes, but the so-called representatives were wasting them for fun. He said that if lawmakers were serious about working on a poverty law, they should have gone to bridges across Jakarta and checked poor people under them, instead of going to Australia.

Sebastian Salang said that artists had their own way of criticizing the expensive plan to build a new tower.

While people in the regional areas still suffered from bad infrastructure such as irrigation and roads, their representatives were spending money for trips and new office, he added.

"In our discussion, they said they want to tell people through their paintings that today's politics is as dirty as public toilets across Jakarta."

Hardi said that the House's new building plan and their trips abroad were just two examples of dirty politics. He said that House members had soiled themselves with many controversial plans that do not represent their constituents' interests.

"Pak SBY [ President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] can paint, so he should understand the meaning behind our paintings," he said. Yudhoyono's party the Democrats also supports the proposed House tower.

Graft suspect linked to house building bidder

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Anita Rachman – Corruption watchdogs have stepped up their attacks on the controversial legislative building project after reports linking a graft suspect to a private company bidding on the project.

Mohammad El Idris, one of three people named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last week for alleged graft connected to the Southeast Asian Games, is reportedly an executive at Duta Graha Indah.

According to budgetary watchdog Fitra, Duta Graha is the only privately owned construction company to pass the initial qualification phase of bidding for the House of Representatives building project. Duta Graha is known for projects such as the Grand Indonesia complex and the Jakarta Stock Exchange building.

Fitra previously raised questions over the qualifications of Duta Graha, which the watchdog said it had reported for not conducting an environmental impact analysis (Amdal) for a construction project in Riau.

Duta Graha is also constructing the SEA Games athletes' village in Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra. While it is suspected that the SEA Games graft case is related to the athletes' village, the KPK has still not confirmed this.

Calls and messages to Duta Graha officials on Sunday were unanswered.

Ade Irawan, from Indonesia Corruption Watch, said that from the very beginning there were indications of budget markups in the Rp 1.13 trillion ($130 million) House building project.

"If it could happen in the Sports Ministry, it could happen anywhere," Ade said, referring to the SEA Games corruption case. "The plan must be stopped. Now we can smell the stink."

He said research by the ICW on various government construction projects showed how companies attempted to bribe their way to winning the projects.

The House speaker and chairman of its Household Affairs Committee (BURT), Marzuki Alie, told the Jakarta Globe that he had heard of the allegations. "But we cannot directly remove the company from the tender process. It is not our domain, it is the House Secretariat's," Marzuki said.

Sumirat, a House Secretariat official overseeing the building project, could not be reached for comment.

BURT deputy chairman Refrizal, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said the House would take this latest development seriously. He said the House Secretariat must be careful because graft was a serious matter.

"As far as I understand, the company is a private one," he said. "Personally, I think the House should go with a state-owned constructor, so the profit would flow back to the state." "They have played [a game] with the [Sports] Ministry, that's serious," he added.

El Idris was named a suspect on Friday along with the Sports Ministry's secretary, Wafid Muharram, as well as a broker identified as Mirdo Rosalina Manulang. Wafid is accused of accepting Rp 3.2 billion in checks from El Idris through Rosalina.

"We suspect the checks were given in connection with the construction of the athletes' village for the upcoming SEA Games in Palembang," said Johan Budi, a KPK spokesman.

Criticism received, but overseas trips won't stop

Jakarta Globe - April 24, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The intense criticism over lawmakers' overseas study trips is not a message that people want the jaunts stopped, but that they want a greater say in their planning, according to a legislator.

"For me, the recent criticism is not aimed at pushing us to cancel the study trips," Taufik Kurniawan, a House deputy speaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said on Thursday. "The message is that the public should be more involved in our activities."

In response to the critics, Taufik said the House leadership had agreed to allow for more public involvement as early as the planning stage. According to the agreement, the public must be informed of study trips from the planning phase, and then kept informed during the entire process. The results of the excursions must also be made public.

Taufik, however, did not elaborate on how exactly this would be done. "The problem is, as the House leadership, we always push lawmakers to implement this agreement, but sometimes we forget about it," he said.

Democratic Party lawmaker Achsanul Qosasih said people needed to remember that the overseas trips served a number of important purposes, from helping in the drafting of legislation to building goodwill with other countries.

Trips taken by lawmakers inside the country, he added, let legislators supervise the implementation of government programs. "So please, look at the context of the visits before criticizing them," Achsanul said.

He did say, however, that lawmakers and state officials should not take family members along on trips, a practice that has been heavily criticized.

But Uchok Sky Khadafi, from the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency, said that what was needed from the House leadership was a demonstration of its commitment to cut out wasteful trips.

The House speaker and his four deputies spent around Rp 2 billion ($230,000) each on overseas trips in 2010, he said. Their allotment for 2011, he added, has been increased to around Rp 2.9 billion each.

"The House leadership should not just talk but take some action," Uchok said. He also warned that lawmakers needed to pay more attention to the issue before it further eroded the public's confidence in the institution.

Taufik said that lawmakers were setting good examples. He said he had decided to cancel all of his overseas trips funded by the state budget until 2014. "I didn't publicly announce it, but that's what I am doing," he said.

Judiciary & legal system

Judge's online protest for pay sparks salary controversy

Jakarta Globe - April 24, 2011

Heru Andriyanto – The Supreme Court has questioned a female judge for allegedly instigating a protest movement on Facebook to demand a pay rise and better facilities for judges, bringing into the spotlight the question of whether justices are paid enough.

Andy Nurvita, a district court judge in Salatiga, Central Java, was grilled last week at the top court over reports that she planned a major rally involving judges across the country, a Supreme Court spokesman said.

She was also said to have championed a Facebook group accommodating input and complaints from hundreds of fellow judges about their salaries and red tape. The proposed rally has sparked controversy among judges, while experts differ on whether they actually deserve higher pay.

Judges are classified as "state governing officials" at the top of the hierarchy of civil servants, together with ministers, governors and mayors, but their main salaries don't differ much from many lower-level civil servants.

The basic monthly salary of judges is set at between Rp 1.8 million and Rp 4.5 million ($210-$520) in a 2007 government regulation. The lowest figure roughly equals the basic salary of those in the bottom rungs of the civil servant hierarchy. The judges' salary has remained unchanged in the past four years.

But in May 2008 the president approved a bonus system that provides additional payment of between Rp 4.2 million and Rp 13 million for judges in the district and high courts, the military courts and the religious courts. But those judges say they have only received 70 percent of the bonus, which is paid quarterly.

"I am also of the opinion that the welfare of the judges is not getting serious attention from the state," senior judge Artha Theresia said in a telephone interview with the Jakarta Globe on Friday. "Judges are expected to be clean officials, work professionally and independently and be immune from graft. But those demands aren't accompanied by concrete policies to improve our welfare."

Artha, now the deputy head of the Pangkal Pinang District Court in Bangka Belitung, however, said the bonus program did make sure judges were paid more than most other civil servants. Artha also said she opposed the planned rally, which she called "absolutely inappropriate."

"We are judges, so in no way can we take to the street to protest the government. We must choose more elegant ways to convey our aspirations, like writing a letter to the Supreme Court as in our successful motion to win the [bonus program]," said Artha. "Our job is to enforce the law, not to disturb public order," the judge added.

On Facebook, one judge drafted a petition that included rejection of "debatable salary cuts" by the Supreme Court, such as mandatory donation of Rp 2.5 million per judge for the construction of a mosque at the top court building, Rp 1 million for the Indonesian Judges' Association (Ikahi) building and Rp 25,000 for an internal tennis competition.

Some say judges deserve a decent salary because of their demanding profession.

In recent years, judges have made decisions in high-risk cases involving terrorism, drug trafficking and gang fights. But also a seemingly harmless divorce hearing can prove dangerous. Judge Ahmad Taufik was stabbed to death by a marine who also killed his ex-wife in the same courtroom in September 2005.

However, judges also make headlines over their unethical conduct, such as taking bribes.

Cases of corruption, said Boyamin Saiman, chairman of the nongovernmental Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (Maki), "show that our judges do not deserve a salary hike right now. Besides, they are among the highest-paid civil servants."

But Soekotjo Soeparto, a former senior member of the government's court watchdog, the Judicial Commission, said judges' salaries did not "reflect the responsibility and the risks they must take."

"Low payment will only make our judges prone to accepting bribes," he said. "Judges handle civil cases worth billions of rupiah and in business disputes it's no secret that money talks. We must protect our judges by, among other ways, raising their salaries."

Soekotjo said the government so far could only pay 70 percent of the bonus program due to financial constraints. "I do hope all judges will receive 100 percent soon, although it's quite burdensome to the state budget because we're talking about 7,000 judges," he said. "But they deserve full payment."

Police & law enforcement

Police chiefs sanctioned after deadly clash with civilians

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2011

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Tulangbawang Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dwi Irianto was dismissed from his post on Monday following last Tuesday's clash between police officers and locals that left one civilian dead in Tuba Udik, Tulangbawang, Lampung province.

Tulangbawang Udik Police provost unit head Adj. Second Insp. Avit Kurniawan, alias David, who allegedly shot a civilian, was detained at the Lampung Police headquarters on Sunday while his superior, Tulangbawang Udik Police Precinct Chief Adj. Comr. Isan Syahri, was dismissed from his post.

Dwi Irianto was replaced by Adj. Sr. Comr. Shobarmen, previously chief of the Tanggamus Police. "This is just a usual tour of duty and tour of area commonly practiced within the Indonesian Police organization," Lampung Police Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak said during the Tulangbawang Police chief post hand-over at the Lampung Police Headquarters on Monday.

He added that such tours were necessary to maintain the dynamic and performance of the Tulangbawang Udik, Tulangbawang and Tanggamus Police. It was especially so because the newly established West Tulangbawang regency was still under the jurisdiction of the Tulangbawang Police. "That is why it requires harder work, because it covers a wide area," Sulistyo said.

Regarding the clash between the police and residents in Tulangbawang, he said the Lampung Police had set up three field teams to investigate the case.

The first team will conduct proactive measures regarding the police's professionalism in a time of clash. The second team will re-investigating the crime scene. The third is the complete fact-finding team.

Lampung Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistyaningsih said the police professionalism and security department was examining Brig. Mamat Mufahri and First Brig. Redho Agusta. It also was examining civilians M. Solihin, Dulah Madi, Hargono and Pariadi of Terusan Nunyai subdistrict, Central Lampung.

Tuesday's clash at the Tulangbawang Udik Police headquarters, West Tulangbawang regency, stemmed from an incident in which Avit allegedly shot Sahab, 45, a resident of Gunungbatin, Terusan Nunyai, Central Lampung, during an organ music concert.

Enraged by the alleged shooting, hundreds of civilians attacked the police headquarters, reportedly setting fire to a police station and a local journalist's car along the way.

They were reportedly greeted at the headquarters by gun shots. One attacker, Anton Saputra, 28, of Gunungbatin, died in the attack while four others suffered gunshot wounds.

Rozali Umar, the lawyer of those who were shot, hoped the Tulangbawang Police chief's dismissal would not be the end of the investigation into the case. "We urge the police to continue the legal processes against the perpetrators," he said.

Separately, commissioner Johny Nelson of the National Commission on Human Rights said the commission had spoken to a number of witnesses and would separate the cases between the shooting of Sahab and the Tulangbawang Udik police precinct attack.

The shooting of Sahab is being dealt with as a crime as was unrelated to police duties, he said. Avit allegedly shot Sahab in jealousy as the latter approached Indri, a female performer at the concert.

In the police precinct attack, he said the police had acted beyond protocols by allegedly firing live rounds at the attackers, none of whom wielded sharp weapons.

"There was some mistake in the information provided in the intelligence to the police chief that the police established defense and attacked the mob fully armed, killing Anton and injuring the four others," he said.

Intelligence & state secrecy

BIN needs expanded powers to fight radicals: Minister

Jakarta Globe - April 30, 2011

Made Arya Kencana & Anita Rachman – Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar on Friday said radicalism and recent bomb threats called for the swift passage into law of a draft intelligence bill.

"Threats are everywhere, from bomb terror to NII. Is this not making it urgently needed?" Patrialis said, referring to the Indonesian Islamic State movement, a banned hard-line group with a goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate in the country.

He said that the revival of terrorism and subversion through NII was attributable to a lack of a strong legal foundation to support the work of intelligence personnel. Without an intelligence law, he said, agents could not work to their full potential.

The bill is being deliberated by the House of Representatives. Among its main points is to give the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) the authority to preemptively arrest suspected terrorists before they carry out attacks.

But such wide-reaching powers have drawn criticism from rights groups and lawmakers, who say the bill's provisions could be abused.

Patrialis, however, said that in the wake of mail bombs being sent to activists and others recently and a suicide bomber attacking a mosque on April 15, the state needed to conduct more intensive surveillance of radical groups such as the NII.

Tubagus Hasanuddin, the deputy chairman of House Commission I, which oversees security affairs, argued that the core problem with was not lack of intelligence-gathering but rather a lack of tolerance training for impressionable youths.

Hasanuddin, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker, told the Jakarta Globe that the ministries of education and religious affairs should move to shield students from falling under the influence of NII to narrow the field for potential radicals.

"The nature of the intelligence bill is repressive. It's not that urgent to deliberate the bill just because of the NII cases," he said. "Don't speed up or slow the discussion down just because of NII," he added. "Let's go with the normal [procedure]."

Hasanuddin also said the BIN already wielded considerable authority, and that the agency should focus its energy on the early detection and surveillance of radical groups and possible terrorists. "What's the use of arresting 100 people, but only two of them are true terrorists? " he said.

Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso from Golkar said Patrialis's argument had some value and added that he agreed that the BIN needed greater powers to fight radicalism.

But fellow deputy Taufik Kurniawan from the National Mandate Party (PAN) said any additional powers granted to the agency through an intelligence bill should only be given with the consent of the citizenry.

NU supports move to empower spy body

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – On the heels of terror acts committed throughout the country, the nation's largest Muslim organization is calling for stronger antiterror legislation that provides intelligence officials with broader authority, a proposal that has been strongly opposed by human rights activists and rejected by lawmakers.

Said Aqil Siradj, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said the existing laws were not powerful enough to curb widespread terrorist groups. "If we always wait until bombs go off, this country could explode," Said was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

He said radicalism in the country had reached "the emergency level. Like a red light, it must stop."

Said said he believed the country's security officials and intelligence officers had adequate information on existing terrorist groups across the country. "But the laws prevent them from conducting early action," he said, adding that to curb terrorism in the country the government must be able to act against people who spawned hatred and triggered terrorism.

For that reason, Said expressed his approval on granting the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) the authority to arrest and interrogate individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism acts.

"This is OK, as long as [the authority] is not abused and violates human rights. Those not proven guilty must be released immediately," he said. BIN's authority to arrest and interrogate is a contentious issue in the deliberation of the intelligence bill.

The government said such an authority was needed as an "early preventive and anticipative measure" to counter "terrorism, separatism, espionage, subversion, sabotage and other kinds of efforts deemed threats to national security".

Articles proposed by the government would also enable intelligence officers to conduct "intensive questioning" for seven days at the longest.

Members of the House of Representatives' Commission I on foreign affairs, defense, and intelligence, however, insisted that the power to arrest and interrogate "would be prone to misuse that would lead to human rights abuse".

Muhammad Najib of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said the recent bombings and terror acts would not necessarily affect the bill's deliberation. "This bill is expected to be a law that lasts for 20 or 30 years. We cannot construct it only based on the recent terror acts," he told The Jakarta Post.

Najib reiterated that giving intelligence the power to arrest and interrogate would be too much. "Arresting is a job for the police. This bill needs to help create a comprehensive mechanism and more harmonious framework between all related institutions," he said.

T.B. Hasanuddin from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) shared Najib's opinion. "The essential duty of the BIN is not to arrest or interrogate. Its role is to competently identify terrorist groups and engage in early detection. It is important this is improved," he told the Post.

Human rights activists have also repeatedly voiced their objection to the proposal citing fears of repetition of massive repressive practices of the New Order era. Said said he understood the activists' concerns. "But that can be 'used' by radical and anti-democracy groups." (mim)

Criminal justice & prison system

Boy on trial for voucher theft as defense rails against 'trivial' case

Jakarta Globe - April 29, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani & Eddy Pratama – A 14-year-old student accused of stealing a Rp 10,000 ($1.15) cellphone voucher went on trial on Thursday, even as defense lawyers insisted such a minor dispute should have been settled out of court.

The case of Deli Suhandi made headlines earlier this month after it was revealed he had been languishing for weeks at the Pondok Bambu Penitentiary along with hardened criminals for a petty offense. He was released from prison a day after reports of his situation came out, but charges against him had not been dropped.

Agam, a prosecutor at the Central Jakarta District Court, said after Thursday's closed-door hearing that Deli could face up to seven years in prison. Under the law, trials for juveniles are required to be closed to the public.

Deli was arrested along with two school friends, Muhamad Luki and Rahmat Wibowo, after witnesses reported them stealing phone cards from a shop after a riot along Jalan Tanah Tinggi on March 10. Luki and Rahmat were released from police custody later in the day.

Defense lawyer Hendra Supriatna said police did not have a warrant to arrest Deli at the time. He also said the boy was not accompanied by a lawyer during his interrogation.

"The indictment is too vague and there are some violations [by police]," he said. "Rahmat and Muhamad were [subjected to] intimidation during questioning. The police failed to show a warrant for Deli's arrest."

Agam insisted there was a lawyer present during the child's interrogation.

Hendra added that prosecutors and the Johar Baru district police "neglected" a 2009 joint ministerial decree on dealing with children in conflict with the law by throwing Deli in jail. "This kind of a case can be solved by discussions among the witnesses, the victim and the suspect," he said.

Hendra said Deli's case was a wake-up call for the government to properly enforce the decree and "prevent other children from being tried for trivial cases." He added: "If this kind of case can happen in Jakarta, where the access to information is easy, what will happen in small and remote provinces?"

The trial was adjourned until May 5. Deli's lawyers are expected to present their preliminary defense, while the prosecution will reportedly call on witnesses to testify.

Doctor raises body of doubt in Antasari case

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – A forensic expert faced the Judicial Commission on Monday to clarify testimony he gave during former antigraft chief Antasari Azhar's murder trial last year.

Mun'im Idris, who performed the autopsy on the victim, was the first trial witness questioned by the commission after it announced that it was re- examining the case amid claims that the judges who convicted Antasari had ignored key evidence.

Muni'm, the forensic chief at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta, faced the judicial body's top officials, including deputy chairman Imam Anshori Saleh, in a closed-door meeting.

The doctor told reporters after the session that he had been asked to clarify his testimony about the autopsy performed on businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen.

During the trial at the South Jakarta District Court, which lasted from October 2009 to February last year, Mun'im testified that the body had been "manipulated" by the time he saw it.

"I corrected my testimony," he said on Monday. "When I said 'manipulated,' what I meant was that the victim's body had been compromised [as evidence]."

He said the gunshot wounds had been stitched closed, the victim's hair had been shaved and his clothes had been removed.

"The fact that the body had been tampered with made efforts to determine the exact details of his death less than desirable. For example, I could not determine the angle of the bullet when it entered the body," Mun'im said.

Imam said commissioners asked the doctor to explain the autopsy process in detail, from the time the body was brought to the morgue to the time Muni'm finished the examination. Imam said Muni'm "thoroughly explained" unclear points in his testimony and autopsy report.

The Judicial Commission is scheduled to meet with a ballistics expert on Thursday and an IT expert next week, and Imam said the entire process could take more than the usual two months for this type of investigation.

"We might summon more experts and witnesses," he said. "This is a big and a complex case. There are a lot of cross-examinations that we have to do."

But Imam stressed that the commission, which monitors the conduct of judges, was not trying to retry the Antasari case. He said the results of the investigation would only be used to determine whether the judges grossly neglected evidence in convicting Antasari, a former chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Imam said the judicial body would also look into the possibility that the judges had been subjected to outside threats, which could have affected their ruling.

"But Antasari may use [our results] as a point of consideration if he wants to request a review [of the case] by the Supreme Court," Imam said.

The Supreme Court upheld Antasari's murder conviction in September. His lawyers filed a petition with the Judicial Commission in February this year.

Antasari was sentenced to 18 years in jail for the March 14, 2009, gangland-style murder of Nasrudin. Prosecutors said he ordered the killing after the victim threatened to reveal Antasari's affair with Nasrudin's third wife, Rani Juliani, a golf caddie.

The scandal saw Antasari suspended from the KPK. During his three years leading the antigraft body, he oversaw cases against a former central bank governor, an in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a senior official at the Attorney General's Office.

Infrastructure & development

Land clearing ignites inevitable conflict

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2011

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – When negotiations over land acquisition for public infrastructure turns ugly, the use of threats as a regular last resort is inevitable. Mass organizations known to run racketeering and underground debt collecting businesses are hired to do the job.

"We are usually hired to help secure land or guard disputed territory so it wouldn't be forcefully overtaken by its previous owner," said Roni, a low- ranking member of the South Jakarta chapter of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR).

The father of one recently said that his organization had often received orders from either local administration or investors to help them "secure" land in areas where toll road construction would take place. According to Roni, for a single job the FBR is able to deploy up to 200 members, depending on the risk level of the job.

"We usually deploy more than 100 members on the first day of a 'land occupation' process. We need at least 10 people to guard the land for the ensuing days," said Roni, who last year joined an FBR team to "protect" a plot of land in South Petukangan subdistrict in South Jakarta.

The land had been acquired for the construction of toll road passage linking Ulujami in South Jakarta and Kebon Jeruk in West Jakarta. The road is part of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road West-2 (JORR W2) project. The JORR project has been left uncompleted for more than a decade.

Although the FBR and several other Betawi-ethnic organizations have regularly dominated the land security business in the city, Roni claimed his organization preferred to use persuasive approaches to convince local residents over matters regarding the sale of their land.

Any physical confrontations, however, usually only occurred when the organization was provoked by another ethnic-based group hired by land owners.

"The FBR will only support the party which has the stronger legal position in a land ownership dispute. That's why we have been quite successful in this business," said Roni, adding that an FBR member could earn around Rp 100,000 (US$11.5) per day for settling a disputed land claim.

According to the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), 106 major land disputes took place across the country in 2010, in which 41 are related to public infrastructure – and with toll roads in particular.

"Instead of intensifying persuasive approaches and two-way dialogue with local residents, the government always argues that the use of excessive force is sometimes necessary for the greater good," said KPA chairman Usep Setiawan.

Usep suspected the involvement of land mafia in many land clearing projects, as indicated by a massive land purchase by certain parties other than the government or investors in areas where toll road construction would take place. According to Usep, such practices had occurred even before the project contract had been signed.

"These mafias have relied on information from insiders in either government institutions or toll road developers. However, it's very hard for us to prove it," he said.

According to the Public Works Ministry, there are currently 24 toll projects that have gone idle due to problems associated with land rights, and as a result the costs for clearing these particular areas of land has suddenly soared.

The central goverment and local administration have a set of regulations that prohibit land aimed for public infrastructure to change hands to other parties unrelated with the projects. The land price is also pegged at a certain price to prevent any speculation. In reality, however, the regulations lack enforcement.

The Jakarta administration has had more than one bad experience in such cases. For example, by exploring a legalistic approach to settling a dispute between investors and land owners, last year Governor Fauzi Bowo issued a gubernatorial decree capping the price of land to within a construction price range suitable for the JORR W2 project.

Under the regulation, residents whose land would be impacted by a project, such as those living in South and North Petukangan subdistricts in South Jakarta, are only allowed to sell their land for between Rp 920,000 and Rp 3.9 million per square meter.

The decree has triggered an uproar, with hundreds of impacted residents represented by the Jakarta Legal Aid Agency (LBH) filing lawsuits last month with the Jakarta Administrative Court. The residents requested the court amend the decree, which they considered unfair.

"The local residents have never refused the construction of the toll road, but they feel disappointed with the local administration, which has never involved them in a discussion for land valuation," LBH Jakarta public lawyer Kiagus Ahmad said.

While the legal process is conspicuously lengthy and tiring, the residents are undeterred by the various pressures they received, pushing them to sell their property.

Tatang, a senior resident who has been living in South Petukangan since 1970s, said his reluctance to sell his house, located on a 200-square-meter plot of land, was triggered more by the emotional bond between himself and his house, and not money. "Even thugs and police have tried to force me to sell my house. But I've never given up," he said.

The history of the country's half-hearted land regulation

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2011

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – The government's effort to regulate land ownership dated back to 1945, soon after Indonesia gained independence from its Dutch rulers.

The aim of the policy at the time was to narrow the gap in land possession within society so as to prevent an individual owning implausible tracts of land.

The first attempt was made by the Home Ministry with a case in Banyumas, Central Java, when it scrapped the status of "tax-free" villages across the area. The villages, known locally as perdikan (free) villages, previously enjoyed exemption from land taxes normally paid to leaders of the local kingdom.

The late Selo Soemardjan, a University of Indonesia sociology expert, said such privileges were granted to villages whose founders had given "considerable service" to a kingdom or a sultanate.

With such a privilege, the offspring of the village founders also inherited the right to be the village head as well as possess most of the land in the area.

The policy to eliminate the privilege was then institutionalized a year later when then vice president Mohammad Hatta signed the 1946 Law on the Abolition of Tax Free Villages.

Under the new regulation, landlords in perdikan villages were required to hand over a half of their land to the government, which then distributed it to poor farmers.

Two years later, the government issued another law that authorized the distribution of land previously owned by more than 40 Dutch sugar companies in Yogyakarta and Surakarta, Central Java, to local farmers and villagers. The measures, however, did not stop there.

In 1958, the government introduced another land reform policy by issuing a law enabling local farmers to take over 1.15 million hectares of land on Java and Sulawesi, and redistribute it to locals. The land had been sold by Dutch colonialists in the 19th century to foreign private investors,

The law was then followed by the issuance of the 1960 Basic Agrarian Law, which finally abolished all agrarian laws made during the Dutch colonial period. Under the law, every farmer in the country, for example, was to have a minimum of 2 hectares of land.

The land reform and redistribution program initiated by the Old Order regime, however, ran sluggishly following the fall of president Sukarno after the attempted 1965 coup.

According to the National Land Agency (BPN), the government, between 1961 and 2005, could only distribute 1.159 million hectares of land to around 1.5 million families through various programs, including transmigration and the distribution of nucleus core estates.

"Perhaps it happened because his [Sukarno] successors considered the program to be leftist," Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) chairman Usep Setiawan said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono finally relaunched the land distribution program in 2007, again with the intention of improving people's welfare. BPN head Joyo Winoto said the government would redistribute 9.25 million hectares of land to citizens during the 2007-2014 period.

"As many as 8.15 million hectares of land will be taken from the country's production forest areas while the remaining 1.1 million hectares will come from other types of land, including idle and deedless land," Joyo said.

Despite the ongoing land reform, the government, however, submitted in December last year a land acquisition bill to the House of Representatives – a move that has been condemned by many agrarian activists.

"Once ratified, the [land acquisition] bill will give more power to the government to evict more people in the name of public infrastructure development. It will, of course, become a major setback to our land policy," said Usep.

According to the KPA, only 45 percent of 85 million land plots in Indonesia had legal deeds, including land belonging to tribal communities, in 2008.

Economy & investment

Deindustrialisation, phase 2

Kompas - April 28, 2011

Jakarta – Indonesia is currently facing a second phase of deindustrialisation. One of the indicators is the dependency on foreign companies. Renegotiation of the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) will not be effective in overcoming the problem of national deindustrialisation.

This view was put forward by Indonesian Association for Political Economy (AEPI) declarator Revrisond Baswir in Jakarta on Wednesday April 27.

Revrisond explained that the current industrial slowdown or deindustrialisation stage two is being marked by the domination of foreign investment, which easily can move its business activities to new locations. In order to safeguard investment growth, the government has been preoccupied allocating infrastructure budgetary funds for the needs of foreign industries, but has neglected infrastructure for domestic industry.

The first phase of deindustrialisation meanwhile has been taking place since the administration of former President Suharto and was marked by a flow of foreign industrial investment into Indonesia.

In the era of the ACFTA, Chinese industrial progress has been led by Chinese state-owned enterprises (BUMN). China, moreover, has bolstered investment by as much as US$200 billion to develop investments in the county's state-owned enterprises. "Conversely, BUMNs in Indonesia have not been involved in the industrialisation process, on the contrary they have been chopped up and torn apart", said Revrisond.

Indonesian industrialisation, which is heavily dependent on the flow of foreign capital, has resulted in a pattern of industrial development that is not based on resources in Indonesia nor directed towards increasing added value.

In the same vein, economic observer Hendri Saparini from the privately funded think tank Econit said Chinese investors are endeavoring to develop added value to production in Indonesia by, among other things, seeking support for roads and ports. But this however will not have any added value benefits for industrial growth in Indonesia.

Following the launch of the Indonesia Business Council for Sustainable Development in Jakarta meanwhile, Minister of Industry MS Hidayat said that after the government pushed through changes to 190 import duty tariffs, the Department of Industry proposed a review of 80 other tariff headings.

It is hoped that changes to these import duty tariffs can spur downstream industries, which up until now have been dependent on imported raw materials, as well as protecting already established industries.

BSA to end this year

Meanwhile the acting head of the Finance Department's Fiscal Policy Agency, Bambang S. Brodjonegoro said that bilateral swap arrangement (BSA) between Indonesia and China along with those between Indonesia and Japan will end in 2011.

The Indonesian government has said that BSA cooperation with Japan will continue but there have yet to be any clear discussions with the Chinese government on continuing BSA. (LKT/ENY/OIN/PIN)

Large and medium-scale national industries

Year	Industrial units	Total workforce
2006	29,468	4,755,703
2007	27,998	4,624,937
2008	24,694	4,457,932
2009	25,077	4,405,643

Source: Kompas Research & Development, prepared by Central Statistics Agency

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Indonesia reworks tariffs to aid local industries

Jakarta Globe - April 26, 2011

Ririn Radiawati Kusuma – The government has scrapped import duties for some raw materials and machinery, but it also hiked tariffs for imported consumer goods in a bid to boost the competitiveness of local industries against imported goods.

In a decree released on Tuesday, the Finance Ministry eliminated import duties on 182 types of raw materials and capital goods needed by the chemical manufacturing, food manufacturing, machinery, electronics and shipping sectors. The previous duties were 5 percent.

However, the government also raised import duties for some processed goods from 5 percent to 10 percent. The affected goods include sardines, tuna, mackerel and candy.

"We will try to help local industries improve their competitiveness against imported products in Indonesia," Bambang Brodjonegoro, the finance ministry's head of fiscal policy, said on Tuesday.

Local industry players have voiced concerns about the flood of cheap goods from China into Indonesia after the Asian-China Free Trade Agreement was implemented in January 2010. Business representatives have complained that Indonesia opened up its market without first instituting the necessary policies to strengthen domestic businesses.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that Indonesia recorded its largest trade deficit with China last year. Although it had a $22 billion overall surplus in international trade in 2010, it had a $4.7 billion trade deficit with China.

An Industry Ministry survey of 11 cities showed Indonesian textiles, furniture, electronics, metals and machinery manufacturers were hurt by the wave of cheap, Chinese imports, prompting fears that businesses would lay off workers.

Heri Kristono, director of tariffs at the Finance Ministry's customs office, said the government scrapped some import duties that were related to the shipping sector to help local firms fulfill cabotage rules, which require vessels operating in the country's waters to register as Indonesian-flagged vessels, except for six specific activities in the oil and gas sector.

Heri said Indonesia registered 898 foreign vessels, but about 460 of them have not paid the import tariffs as the ships were considered to be manufactured outside the country. With the decree, the owners of the vessels do not have to pay the fees.

Industry representatives and economists welcomed the government's move. Franky Sibarani, secretary of Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said scrapping import tariffs for some goods in the affected sectors would help manufacturers cut production costs.

He also said raising import tariffs for some processed goods would help protect local food manufacturers from a surge of imported goods.

Ahmad Erani Yustika, an economist at the Institute for Development Economic Finance, said the move was a step toward easing concerns about the trade deficit with China. "It is good to know the government has started to think about industries, not just trying to earn as much as it can get from customs," Erani said.

Infrastructure, not cheap labor to attract investors: Vice President

Jakarta Post - April 24, 2011

Vice president Boediono said Indonesia should not depend on the low cost of labor to attract investment.

"Relying on low wages to attract investors should not be depended upon, but it must be based on competitive factors," he said on Sunday as quoted by Antara.

Boediono said the government should build more infrastructures to attract investors instead. Such infrastructures include gas supply, electric facilities, more easily obtainable land permits, better legal certainty and capital boosts for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Analysis & opinion

Indonesia's newest jihadists are down, but not for long

Jakarta Globe - April 29, 2011

Rebecca Lunnon & Muh Taufiqurrohman – Indonesia's Detachment 88 has once again struck a blow against terrorism by making arrests linked to March's spate of book bombs and by foiling the more recent bomb plot in Serpong.

However, even if the terrorist groups operating in Indonesia have been considerably weakened, they are a long way from being wiped out. The chief of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency recently said the country remains a haven for terrorists.

The question remains, what are the dynamics that make it possible for groups to reconsolidate and recover despite a robust counter-terrorism operation? Part of the answer is found in the formation of specialized units and a different approach in the way jihadis handle the recruitment of new members.

Today, radicals are showing a preference for forming small specialized units that launch secret assassination-style attacks. The group linked to the book bombs showed this trend clearly by setting out to kill prominent public figures such as Ulil Abshar Abdalla and Gories Merre.

Specialized small units are not easily detected by the police and are easy to deploy. In addition, having small units operating for them, provides the more well-known organizations such as Jama'ah Ansharut Tauhid, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Jamaah As Sunnah and Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia that are generally unwilling to be publicly associated with terrorism, the ability to plausibly deny any involvement in terrorist acts.

The second noteworthy trend concerns recruitment. Although radical groups in Indonesia have often worked together, the Tandzim Al Qaeda Serambi Mekkah (Al Qaeda in Aceh) military camp was a genuine cross-organization project. Jihadis were recruited from a number of organizations, including JI, Kompak, Darul Islam, the Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid and the FPI. When the training was well underway, after they had presumably become a cohesive group, they began calling themselves members of Tandzim Al Qaeda Serambi Mekkah.

Though one might suspect that these developments might have caused ideological rifts within the groups, there was no evidence of such. It would seem that all jihadi groups, whatever name they may go by, acknowledge similarities in ideology and objectives with one another and are thus able to form strong working relations.

Perhaps a reason for the general lack of rifts between members of different radical groups is because of the pattern of recruitment. As has always been the case, and will continue to be so, everyone recruited into the cause was either a friend or relative of one or more known jihadis. Only those deemed ready were told of the camp and offered the opportunity to participate.

An interesting paradox is evident from the indictments of those involved in or somehow connected to the Aceh military training camp. On one hand there was clear freedom of choice. It is a fact that many declined the invitation to join the training camp, citing work, financial or family reasons. There were also others who declined to participate in the training but offered to take logistical positions.

On the other hand, there was significant peer pressure, not only on those who participated but also on those who did not, to prove their convictions. As in the case of army deserter Yuli Harsono, his motive to kill two police officers last March in Kebumen, Central Java, and another two officers the following month in Purworejo, was not purely revenge for what the police had done to the jihadis in Aceh.

His ulterior motive was to show to some people who doubted his loyalty that he was trustworthy and a real jihadi. This is an ongoing trend, whereby radicals sometimes launch attacks because of their desire to be accepted as real jihadis, not because of purely ideological motives.

It remains to be seen whether the jihadis can consolidate their ranks and organize themselves sufficiently to set up another Aceh-style training camp. It would require financial resources. In the meantime, the jihadis are seen to favor assassination-style attacks.

There is still a lot of resentment toward Detachment 88 and other law enforcement authorities, and that could translate into retaliatory attacks against the Indonesian Police. However, it is probably the case that internal dynamics within the groups themselves are motivating individuals to commit more attacks than they might otherwise do.

The jihadis may have suffered a blow, but many of them will learn from their mistakes and endeavor to continue the struggle.

[Muh Taufiqurrohman is senior terrorism analyst at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Rebecca Lunnon is a freelance translator and editor. Reprinted courtesy of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.]

Government's social aid funds - Political fund for survival

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2011

Wawan Sobari, Malang – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) released a seminal report this month on local governments' social assistance fund policies.

The KPK said that the abuse of funds disbursed directly to society was rampant as it announced that auditors discovered 10 potential loopholes in funds disbursement that might lead to graft (The Jakarta Post, April 6, 2011).

The amount of the funds disbursed, according to the KPK, was much greater than the amount disbursed during the pre-decentralization period.

Although the KPK did not state it explicitly, the abuse of social assistance funds is closely related to the survival of local administration leaders. In the era of liberal democracy, direct voting in regional elections has sparked fierce open competition.

Kompas (July 23, 2010) asserted that a candidate running for regent might at a minimum spend Rp 5 billion (US$579,878.2). Meanwhile, a gubernatorial candidate's expenditures might top Rp 20 billion. Much larger amounts are spent by incumbents.

For incumbents, their political budgets do not merely cover campaign and elite support. The budgets might also cover political costs during their stay in office and be paid for, ironically, by unfair budget allocations.

The logic of political survival is adequate to explain how political funds are allocated by incumbents. According to de Mesquita, the enabling factors for an incumbent to win reelection in a political contest are related closely to an incumbent's ability to manage three elements: the selectorate, a winning coalition and affinity.

The selectorate is the majority of people supporting an incumbent. A winning coalition is a group of people attempting to keep incumbents in power. Affinity is the attraction to or sympathy for an incumbent due to shared characteristics.

These factors may explain the allocation of an incumbent's political funds while in office. Every public expenditure is selected through a political credit calculation process. Incumbents attempt to ensure that every public expenditure sustains their popularity.

Incumbents seek to manage the relationship of these factors through policy choices, namely decisions to allocate public and private goods for their selectorates and winning coalitions as well as to keep sustaining incumbents' affinity.

Incumbents have the ability and access to manipulate local budgets (APBD) to turn public goods into private goods. For instance, populist programs to intensify road and bridge construction seem to be indicators of incumbent success. Indeed, this is an ordinary policy and it does not reflect an individual incumbent's achievements.

All activities involving direct contact with local residents are an arena for incumbents to increase the size of their selectorate.

With public funds, incumbents have sufficient opportunity to launch government projects, make donations and other activities relevant to constructing an image of closeness to the grassroots.

Political funds, including social assistance funds, for a winning government coalition would give a benefit to several parties, including political parties, the bureaucracy, private entities, community and religious leaders, NGOs, the mass media and other entities having close relationships to an incumbent and the potential to mobilize selectorate.

They directly develop connections to sustain incumbents in office before and after elections. As a token of sharing, members of a winning coalition benefit from private goods doled out by an incumbent.

Due to their exclusive character, social assistance funds are effectively a commodity for political transactions. A donation to develop a physical or social project is an incentive for a winning coalition and the selectorate to support an incumbent. These incentives are addressed as a mutual barter for their involvement in sustaining and constructing an incumbent's power.

Moreover, political funds are spent to sustain a 'conducive' relationship between a winning coalition, the incumbent and the local legislative council (DPRD). They cooperate to decide on the regional budget to strengthen an incumbent's selectorate and winning coalition.

The consequences of pro-incumbent policies reduce the democratic commitment of local elections since proportional justice principles do not underpin every policy choice for resource allocations. Thus, there must be efforts to encourage public awareness of development projects (development literacy). Local residents must be critical to ensure that local development is a collective performance to be financed by public money.

As well, we can boost the DPRD's critical stance although it does not mean that they always have to show opposition or disagreement with the local government. The most important thing, indeed, is to encourage more commitment from the local government for the public.

Finally, it is a must for local administration leaders and the DPRD to promote transparency and participation in the decision making process for local development programs.

[The writer is head of the political science department at Brawijaya University in Malang.]

Porn star Sasha Grey not coming to Jakarta, reignites old debate

Jakarta Globe - April 26, 2011

Armando Siahaan – Those dreaming, or drooling, to see American porn starlet Sasha Grey strut her stuff in person here in Jakarta can, well, just keep on dreaming. It has been confirmed. She's not coming to town.

Sasha was scheduled to land in Indonesia, a country that wields a mighty anti-pornography law, on Thursday, to attend the premier of "Pocong Mandi Goyang Pinggul" ("Shrouded Corpse Bathing While Hip-Shaking") – what a title, right?

But K2K Production on Monday confirmed that she wouldn't be having a meet- and-greet session with Indonesian porn, err, I mean, horror fans. I initially suspected that Sasha's camp was afraid she would be haunted by the real pocongs.

But it was apparently for a reason far more trite than urban legends – the actress's side had an issue with the threats posed by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), according to producer KK Dheeraj.

Sasha's scrubbed visit reignites the classic cosmic battle between Indonesia's bipolar identities. On one hand, we have the conservative camp that vehemently rejects anything remotely resembling porn, lighting a fire under the political movement in the legislature in 2008 that pushed for the draconian anti-porn law.

But at the same time, porn-watching Indonesians, I believe, are quite ubiquitous.

We have production houses like Maxima Pictures, which produced films featuring Japanese porn starlets Maria Ozama aka Miyabi, Rin Sakuragi and most recently Sora Aoi, and K2K Productions, which previously featured US porn queen Tera Patrick.

These xxx-rated stars, I assume, don't come cheap. Sasha, for example, starred in "Girlfriend Experience," a movie directed by Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh, and was featured in HBO's TV series "Entourage." I'm sure she's not making an appearance with pocongs for chump change.

It's safe to assume that producers keep on hiring them because they know there are more than enough Indonesians familiar with these women, either through the Internet or pirated DVDs, to rake in a profit.

As of this day, however, the conservative camp seems to be winning the war. We not only have a legal framework that bans pornography, but also hard- line groups who are more than happy to enforce it through intimidation and violence.

But then again, as many say, the banning of anything would only leave the people wanting more, including, apparently, members of the House of Representatives from a conservative Islamic political party.

Just go ask any pirated DVD vendor if sales of porn films have gone down after the nation implemented the law.

Anyways, I've seen the trailer of Sasha's movie, which is scheduled to hit the theaters on Thursday – unless, of course, vigilante groups find a way to block this too.

The two-minute clip suggests the movie simply relied on the classic elements: lots of skin and half-hearted sexual suggestions, some slapstick comedy, poor special effects reminiscent of an elementary school play and a sprinkling of Hollywood B-movie influence (as parts of the movie were shot in America, apparently). It's kind of a bizarre, cinematic manifestation of gado-gado.

But since we don't have Hollywood movies in the cinema, perhaps our dear Sasha may just be the closest thing we have to seeing an actress from Tinseltown up on the big screen.

Land acquisition bill a silver bullet?

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2011

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – This is the second of two reports on land acquisition fiascoes hampering the development of key public infrastructure projects that are badly needed to help the Indonesian economy expand. With no immediate measures in place, no definitive end is insight. The Jakarta Post's Hasyim Widhiarto explores the issues:

The much-awaited bill on land acquisition is widely expected to miraculously be a silver bullet that would end all hurdles impeding key infrastructure projects. Some activists, and businesspeople, however, remain cautious over the success rate of the bill if it were realistically enforced.

The government proposed the bill in December to the House of Representatives, suggesting not only acceleration of infrastructure development, but also reinforcement of investor confidence by removing all uncertainties in the sector.

For example, under the bill the government would handle the acquisition of land needed for construction of, among others, infrastructure related to education, dams, irrigation, landfills, state hospitals, railways, roads and highways, before opening up a project tender.

Under the bill, the government will also assign a team of independent appraisal to value land prices. However, the price deal is subject to be finalized through negotiation between landowners and the government.

The bill also grants district courts with authority to arbitrage land acquisition disputes within 30 days. The court verdict will be considered final and cannot be appealed in a higher court.

Speaking before participants of the Indonesia International Infrastructure Conference and Exhibition 2011 earlier this month, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said the government had contemplated the proposed law as crucial and was upbeat to see it ratified by July this year.

"We have also seen a strong commitment from the House [to ratify the bill on time]," he said.

But skepticism remains. Indonesian Toll Road Association chairman Fatchur Rochman questioned the absence of key articles stipulating the settlement of financial disputes between banks and investors engaged in public infrastructure projects.

"I think the bill needs stipulation regarding whether it's allowed or not for banks to take over an ongoing project from investors in case the later defaulted on their loans," he said. "It would be unfair if the government allowed banks to confiscate the project and leave the investor with nothing," he added.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry deputy chairman for infrastructure, construction and property, Zulkarnain Arief, believed the bill alone would not significantly attract private sector investment to the country's infrastructure potential unless the government provided reliable financial back-up.

"Aside from enforcing the law [after it is ratified], the government can attract more investors by urging state banks to provide public infrastructure investors with long-term loan options and competitive interest rates," he said.

The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) recently estimated private sector funds needed for transportation facilities alone reached Rp 51.7 trillion (US$5.8 billion) a year, with electricity infrastructure costing another Rp 41.2 trillion. The Public Works Ministry last year said they wanted at least 125 kilometers toll road constructed annually by 2014.

The target, however, seems to be very difficult to realize because all 24 priority toll road projects in Java, which make up a total of 949 kilometers, have been idle since 2007 due to soaring land prices and construction costs.

To ease the problem, government has thus far issued last year a presidential regulation on land acquisition that stipulated, among others, the government's role in land acquisition prior to project tender. The regulation is a revision to a previous regulation issued in 2005 and 2006, which failed to include mechanisms on land price negotiation.

Contacted separately, Toll Road Authority Agency (BPJT) chairman Achmad Gani Ghazali Akman guaranteed the bill would help expedite infrastructure development, as it would give more certainty to investors in planning their schedule for their project construction.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Daryatmo Mardianto, who leads the House's special committee deliberating the bill, said the committee was upbeat to pass the bill on schedule by this year since it had successfully run a series of hearings with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), agrarian experts, related ministries and state owned companies during the past three months.

The committee, according to Daryatmo, had also completed working visits to Aceh, Bali, North Sumatra, North Sulawesi and Papua to seek insights from both local government and community leaders.

"From the hearings and working visits, most of our sources have demanded us to elaborate several points in the bill related with basic definition of public interests and land acquisition," he said.

Starting next month, the committee, according to Daryatmo, will run a series of hearing with, among others, 25 governors, the Supreme Court chief and several other state-owned companies. "Since the law is also regulating land acquisition for security purposes, we will also invite the military and the National Police chiefs in our upcoming hearing," he said.

But Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) is not impressed with bill. The KPA is an NGO engaged in advocating land dispute and agrarian reform. KPA chairman Usep Setiawan criticized the bill for scrapping the public rights to appeal the court verdict on the land acquisition dispute, saying the rule had violated citizens' right to follow a fair legal proceeding.

"If the House insists on passing the law, the government will finally have a greater power to evict citizens, particularly the poor, under the name of development," he said, adding that the KPA was ready to file a judicial review, should the bill passed with such stipulation.

Several key articles in the bill

Article 13: Land acquired for public interests are those needed for the construction of:

a. Public roads, toll roads, tunnels, railways, railway stations and train supporting facilities.
b. Dams, irrigation, water sanitation, clean water and waste-water treatment facility and other forms of irrigations.
c. Ports, airports and bus terminals.
d. Other kinds of projects for public purposes will be regulated by Presidential Decree.

Note: There is no clear definition of public interests. The government has the authority to classify the kind of projects considered to be within the public interest. Activists criticize this would legalize government actions to evict poor people.

Article 42 (3) the District Court verdict is the first and final in land acquisition dispute.

Note: The article eliminates citizens' right to appeal a verdict to a higher court.

Article 45 (2) Residents must hand over legal documents of their land before receiving payment during land acquisition procedures.

Note: Most land owners in Indonesia, especially those living in remote areas, have not obtained any land certificates due to various factors, including poverty and lack of knowledge in demanding for certificate. Such requirement would potentially harm citizens' rights to receive a fair amount of payment for their land.

Land clearance facilities

1. Land capping

The government has allocated Rp 4.89 trillion from the state budget to support land acquisition processes for 28 toll road projects since 2008.

The realization of the land clearance had amounted to Rp 264 billion and Rp 235 billion as of December 2009 for three toll road sections; the Bogor Ring Road, Semarang-Surakarta, and Cinere-Jagorawi.

The government allocated Rp 1 trillion in 2009 and Rp 1.2 trillion in 2010 for land capping.

2. Land revolving fund

The government has allocated Rp 1.44 trillion for land revolving fund that will be used to finance 23 Toll Road sections. As of 2010, Rp 800 billion has been allocated, while more than Rp 700 billion has been disbursed.

3. Land freezing

Land allocated for government-initiated projects is not allowed to be traded unless there is a permission from governor or mayor or regent.

Source: Transportation Ministry

KPK under attack

Jakarta Post Editorial - April 26, 2011

With the war on terrorism far from over, Indonesia has seen mounting attacks on corruption fighters, despite the nationwide acceptance that graft is an extraordinary crime, separate from terrorism.

A plan by the House of Representatives to revise Law No. 30/2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is widely seen as the latest foray intended to weaken the anticorruption drive.

Sadly, the penchant behind the amendment comes against the backdrop of the prosecution of 25 active and former House politicians implicated in alleged bribery that marred the election of Bank Indonesia (BI) senior deputy governor Miranda Swaray Goeltom in 2004.

Since its inception in 2003, the KPK has altogether prosecuted 42 House politicians involved in eight corruption cases, not to mention high-profile state officials ranging from BI executives to election commissioners.

People with common sense will easily smell the conflict of interest in the House's move to change the law, which clearly is aimed at downgrading corruption as an ordinary crime and the antigraft body as a regular corruption buster.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has revealed 13 attempts to undermine KPK orchestrated by lawmakers through judicial reviews of the KPK law, which the House itself had approved, and attacks on individual KPK leaders. The latest failed judicial review motion was filed by Golkar politician Hengky Baramuli, one of 25 people named as a suspect in the bribery case related to Miranda's election.

Among the crucial amendments sought by the politicians are curbs on KPK authorities that they say overlap those of other state institutions, including the right to wiretap people and officials thought to be involved in corruption. Major graft cases have been unveiled after KPK investigators tapped the mobile phones of certain people.

The revision is also focused on the KPK's zero tolerance on halting investigations, which has so far been key to the commission's unbeaten run in its battle against corruption. As the existing law does not allow it to give up cases, the KPK will never launch an investigation with neither solid evidence nor confidence the court verdicts go in its favor.

Lawmakers have questioned this policy, as it contradicts the country's non-discriminative principle of law enforcement. Other law enforcement agencies – the Attorney General's Office and the National Police – have no hesitation in dropping investigations based on lack of evidence, but this has given room for negotiations that have helped breed corruption and transactional politics.

The KPK arrived just in time – when public faith in state prosecutors and the police was waning. Public confidence in these institutions has certainly remained low, but the KPK has at times provided glimmers of hope for the country's efforts to cut the cycle of corruption associated with former administrations. The KPK's presence is justified by the fact that corruption is putting Indonesia's democracy at risk, as in the case of vote buying practices in regional or national elections.

Several times the KPK has revealed acts of bribery influencing the decisions made by government officials and lawmakers and it's only about time that the anti-graft commission disclose high-level political processes, such as bribes related to the House endorsement of certain bills – a fact of life in Indonesia that many have sensed but have found difficult to prove.

There is no action other than rhetoric from the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to protect the KPK from potential political harassment. Acts of terrorism have killed hundreds, but corruption will be responsible for the deaths of millions.

Indonesia's infrastructure problems: A legacy from Dutch colonialism

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Idries de Vries – Recently, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged private investors to help Indonesia overcome its endemic infrastructure problems, as the central government itself does not have access to sufficient funds to do so.

These infrastructure problems are well known. Public transportation is either seriously underdeveloped or completely absent, which leaves the relatively few and poorly maintained roads and highways around the nation unable to cope with the daily volume of cars, truck and motorcycles.

Besides frequently causing a big nuisance for the average Indonesian commuter, this problem also comes at a high financial cost. For instance, according to the Presidential Working Unit for Development, Supervision and Oversight (UKP4), Jakarta alone loses around Rp 13 trillion ($1.5 billion) yearly as a result of the ever-present traffic congestion. Other studies, however, such as from the World Bank, put that figure as high as Rp 43 trillion.

Even more important is the fact that the absence of a functioning infrastructure is an important obstacle to future economic growth. It makes efficient production and trade all but impossible, thereby holding people back from investing in Indonesia. And that is why the nation's infrastructure is so high on the government's agenda.

The Indonesian government is regularly scorned for the nation's infrastructure problems. And although many arguments can be presented that show the validity of these criticisms – such as that there is insufficient planning on the government side to prevent new, or deal with existing infrastructure problems, or that execution of whatever plans that do exist is often very ineffective – the truth of the matter is that the root cause of the problem lies outside of the government's control.

Indonesia's infrastructure problem is closely related to the era of Dutch colonialism, because the Dutch colonial administrators managed Indonesia with the explicit aim of bringing as much wealth as possible to the Netherlands. The riches were used there to finance large-scale infrastructure projects.

Scholars estimate that at the height of colonial exploitation, during the period of the so-called Cultivation System (Cultuurstelsel or Tanam Paksa) between 1830 and 1871, the Dutch repatriated around 1 billion Dutch guilders from Indonesia. This was enough to, among other things, dig the North Sea Canal linking Amsterdam to the North Sea and the New Waterway Canal linking Rotterdam to the North Sea. Also, the railroad from Amsterdam across the Netherlands to Germany was built using this money, as well as many other canals, railways, roads and bridges.

Over the years since, the economy of the Netherlands has benefited tremendously from this 'Indonesian-funded' investment. The infrastructure improvement opened the harbors of Amsterdam and Rotterdam up to large seagoing vessels coming from the North Sea and developed the railway system that enabled efficient transport between these harbors and the landlocked parts of Europe. When the industrial heart of Europe began to develop in Germany – the Ruhr region – the Dutch profited as their harbors developed into important European import and export hubs. Today the Port of Rotterdam is by far the largest harbor in Europe and one of the top ports worldwide.

The infrastructure-driven economic problems of Indonesia are closely related to the infrastructure-driven economic successes of the Netherlands. To get a sense of just how important this colonial legacy is for Indonesia's infrastructure today, one has to calculate the purchasing power of 1 billion guilders in the 19th century. This would give an indication of what Indonesia could do in resolving its infrastructure problems today, with the money the Dutch stole during the 19th century.

An easy way to do this is by assuming the gold price of products does not change much, and then to look at the gold value of 1 billion guilders in the 19th century. At that time a guilder contained 0,6056 grams of gold. This means the 1 billion guilders had a value of 605,600 kilograms of gold. As today gold trades at around $48,500 per kilogram, the 1 billion guilders taken from Indonesia to the Netherlands between 1830 and 1871 would today be worth around $30 billion (Rp 260 trillion).

Another way to do translate the value of the amount of Indonesian losses during just this particular colonial period would be to look at the price of essential consumer goods then and now. With bread being a staple food in the Netherlands, not very much different from the role played by rice in Indonesia, it is an obvious pick. Bread in 19th century the Netherlands cost around 0.15 guilders. Today, bread in the Netherlands costs the equivalent of 4,0 guilders (in euro currency), which is around $2.50. This comparison leads to the conclusion that the 1 billion guilders moved from Indonesia to the Netherlands between 1830 and 1871 would today be worth around $36 billion.

Both methods are very conservative estimates, however. This is proven by the fact that between 1830 and 1871, money from the Dutch East Indies – as Indonesia was called – on average made up 25 percent of the total annual budget of the Dutch government. And if one were to calculate today's purchasing power of the 1 billion guilders from the 19th century based on this statistical information, the value would jump to a staggering $3.3 trillion. The reasoning behind this is that the Dutch government budget for 2010 was approximately $325 billion and 25 percent of that for 41 years would make $3.3 trillion.

But whatever the exact value of 1 billion 19th century guilders may be today, it is clear that the Dutch committed a great crime when they built up their own infrastructure using Indonesian money, while at the same time substantially underinvesting in the infrastructure of what would become the Republic of Indonesia.

The extent to which this crime contributed to Indonesia's current infrastructure problems can be assessed by looking at what an extra $30-40 billion would do in solving these problems. The answer is that with this kind of money Indonesia could alleviate many of today's choke points.

As an indication, the Jakarta monorail project, that has been abandoned due to a lack of funds, was expected to cost just $500 million to complete. The Hydrogen Hi-Speed Rail Super Highway (H2RSH) that would link Cirebon to Jakarta and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has been calculated to cost around $3 billion. And with experience indicating that it costs anywhere between $15 million to $25 million per kilometer to build new highways in Indonesia, at least 2,000 kilometers of brand-new highway could be built to link the nation's main cities.

Perhaps Indonesia's government should, in addition to asking the private sector for help in tackling infrastructure problems, ask the International Court of Justice to look into the possibility of making the Dutch government fulfill its moral obligation to correct a great historic wrong by compensating its former colony. This would be the most honorable solution for infrastructure problems here. And perhaps also the easiest, as the court is conveniently located in the Dutch city of The Hague.

[Idries de Vries is a Jakarta-based analyst of economic and geopolitical affairs from the Netherlands.]

The obstinate lawmakers

Jakarta Globe - April 25, 2011

Yanto Soegiarto – Two things members of the House of Representatives just won't stop from doing: building a new Rp 1.13 trillion luxurious office building, and making expensive comparison study trips abroad.

Nudirman Munir, a deputy chairman of the House's Ethics Council, made an outrageous remark! He said the decision to go ahead with the construction of the new building was simply based on an assessment that lawmakers needed more space as the current building was too cramped.

"We need to queue at the toilet to pee each time we have a meeting at 7 a.m.," Nudirman said, relentlessly defending his case.

He also said a new building would be an icon reflecting the state of the nation. "If the legislative building doesn't look good, the nation won't look good either. Just look at Cambodia, a poor country, but it has a beautiful parliament building," he argued.

Nudirman's boss, House Speaker Marzuki Alie, also decried public criticism, saying the objections did not represent the opinion of most people. Both Nudirman Munir and Marzuki Alie will surely go down in history.

Founding President Sukarno ordered the construction of the DPR building in the 1960s. It was built with idealism, as a symbol of the people's sovereignty. In the ensuing years, it witnessed many historical feats of the people in bringing about change and toppling a dictatorship.

Meanwhile, the design of the new building looks like an inverted U, which does not at all represent the Indonesian character. It is a copycat product of 16 similar parliament buildings found in France, China, Chile and elsewhere. The inverted U-shape has no philosophical value nor impression of a house built to accommodate the people's aspirations.

On another front, Nudirman defended the legislators' comparison study trips abroad as being of the utmost importance, otherwise lawmakers would resort to the 5 Ds, which stand for datang, duduk, diam, dengar and dapat duit (come, sit, quiet, listen and get money).

A former deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, was of the view that lawmakers don't have to spend all that money. The funds could be better used to promote education and build schools. He doubted that the overseas trips would bring much benefit.

If the legislators are serious about making comparison studies, they could work with international parliaments to get the information. Imagine, the total cost for nine lawmakers visiting the United States, Turkey, Russia and France reached Rp 4.5 billion. That included airfare, pocket money for the lawmakers, a lump sump for their accompanying secretaries, insurance and what is called representation funds for each member.

Despite all the criticism, the lawmakers remain defiant and ignorant. In Javanese philosophy, such an attitude is often described as kere munggah mbale Petruk dadi ratu. That refers to Petruk, one of the five loyal subordinates of the king in Javanese wayang shadow puppet plays, who rises from the lower ranks to become a rich ruler. But then he changes from a simple, humble, loyal and honest character to become an ignorant individual. He distances himself from the people and neglects ethics. Sounds kind of like our lawmakers, who portray themselves as powerful individuals, an exclusive class in society.