An official from a religious court in Indonesia has blamed social networking site Facebook for a rise in the number of cases of teenage pregnancies and early marriages in a town in central Java.

Gunung Kidul in Yogyakarta has seen a sharp rise in the number of couples seeking marriage licences in the past two years, Antara reported.

"We've often asked underage couples whether they got acquainted via Facebook and they admitted they did and continued their relationships until the girls became pregnant," said Siti Haryanti, a secretary at the religious court in Gunung Kidul.

"Facebook is easy to access, even in villages, leading to teenage girls getting pregnant out-of-wedlock," she said.

Indonesia has about 35 million Facebook users, making it the second largest Facebook market after the United States, according the US news Web site ww.GlobalPost.com.

Haryanti said this year, 130 underage couples aged between 16 and 19 years had sought marriage licences at the religious court – a 100 percent increase from last year. The legal age for marriage in Indonesia is 16 years for women and 19 years for men.

FPI add voice to threats against Greenpeace

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2011

Indonesia's notorious Islamic Defenders Front have a new target – international nongovernmental organization Greenpeace, which has been waging a high-profile battle against the country's palm oil industry.

The group, known as the FPI, on Wednesday added their voices to the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR), another group that often resorts to thug-like tactics to further their cause, and politician Effendy Choirie of the Muslim-based National Awakening Party (PKB).

Salim Alatas, head of the Jakarta chapter of the FPI, said they would evict Greenpeace from Indonesia if the government failed to act. "As a foreign NGO, Greenpeace has violated the law," Salim alleged. "The government must be firm."

He said the FPI had received numerous reports from the public and mass organizations about Greenpeace's "wrongdoings" in Indonesia. He said Greenpeace was an illegal entity because it had not registered with the Jakarta municipal government's list of accredited organizations.

Greenpeace has previously denied the accusations.

The FPI also accused the NGO of using false data to discredit Indonesia. "It is obvious that Greenpeace is a foreign country's representative to put pressure on our country," Salim claimed.

He added that Greenpeace received "blood money" from European lotteries. "The money is 'haram,' it's money from gambling. Greenpeace is wrong. The FPI will kick them out of Indonesia," he said.

The FBR, which staged a show of force involving about 100 members in an attempt to intimidate Greenpeace workers on July 14, has vowed to continue its campaign.

Greenpeace has aggressively campaigned against powerful palm oil and paper companies – most notably Asian Pulp and Paper – that are widely blamed for rampant destruction of Indonesian forests and threatening critically endangered species like orangutans and tigers. (Antara, JG)

Actions, demos, protests...

Newmont Indonesia says no serious impact from protests

Reuters - August 7, 2011

Newmont Nusa Tenggara, a unit of US miner Newmont Mining Corp, said on Sunday there had been no significant impact on production from several days of protests at its Indonesian copper and gold mine.

Local authorities have dispersed the protesters who since Aug. 2 had been blocking access and disrupting operations at the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in the island of West Sumbawa.

"It had no significant impact... Now we have our operations running normally," Rubi Purnomo said in a text-message. The company had been using stockpiles to continue processing.

Newmont also plans to review its job application process, which had been the focus of the protests. Batu Hijau aims to produce around 275 million pounds of copper and 275,000 ounces of gold in 2011.

Thousands of teachers demand allowances

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2011

Banyumas – Nearly 9,000 teachers in Banyumas, Central Java, demanded the local education office Thursday pay their overdue allowances, which they claim had not been disbursed in the last eight months.

The additional income the teachers were entitled to were in the form of certification allowances, especially for those who passed certification tests. There were additional allowances for all teachers, civil servants and contracts workers.

The total allowance amount was calculated to reach nearly Rp 45 billion. "What's the matter with the regent? Is he our enemy and why is he violating our rights?" asked Yanto, a teacher.

"We have been patient thus far, but patience has its limits," said Yanto who has received two months of eight months' allowance.

He said the education office should not have delayed the payment of the certification allowances, which were taken from the state budget.

The duty of the office was to pay the teachers in cash, Yanto said.

Residents protest mosque

Jakarta Post - August 3, 2011

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Hundreds of residents in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), demanded on Tuesday the local administration revoke a permit to build a new mosque.

They flocked to the city legislative council, accusing the mosque development committee of having engineered a letter of public consent as a requirement for construction. They said that they had never signed documents supporting the establishment of the mosque.

"We never gave support for the development of the mosque. We demand the administration stop at once. It is not in accordance with regulation," protestor spokesperson Yohanes Lenggu told a meeting at the legislative council.

He said that only three families in the subdistrict supported development of the mosque. "The letter of consent signed by 60 families had been forged," Yohanes said, adding that it was actually a form signed for distribution of meat during for the Idul Adha Sacrifice Day in 2007.

He said that the joint ministerial decree between the religious affairs minister and the home affairs minister required the support of at least 90 families to establish a house of worship around the development site.

Kupang municipal legislative council speaker Viktor Lerik said that the council had once discussed the matter and recommended a temporary stop to the development of the mosque for further verification on the letter of consent. The municipal administration approved continuation of the development.

Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) NTT branch chairman Abdul Kadir Makarim said that development of the mosque was legal. "It is developed on a plot of land granted by the Kupang municipal administration. In fact, Mayor Daniel Adoe himself laid the first stone during a ceremony that was also attended by the Kupang Interfaith Communication Forum," Abdul said.

The refusal, according to Abdul, was politically motivated, especially because it was done at a time when the mayor was about to be replaced. "Muslims in NTT in general and in Kupang in particular have been tolerant and have never been troublemakers. Why are we being bothered now as we are developing a house of worship?" Abdul said.

West Papua

SBY to discuss formation of new Central Papua province

Jakarta Post - August 7, 2011

Jakarta – At least 50 people from Papua are scheduled to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday to discuss intentions to form a new Central Papua province.

"The point of the meeting of the Team 502 [the Papuan team] with high- ranking officials and President SBY is to ask for an immediate establishment of the Central Papua province, with Biak as the capital and the TNI [the Indonesian Military] Rear Adm. (ret.) Dicik Henks Wabiser as the acting governor," team leader Luther Rumpadus said Sunday in Jakarta.

He said the team also scheduled interviews with local TV stations TVOne and MetroTV regarding the plan to establish the new province.

"Through the establishment of the Central Papua province, people are expected to sooner enjoy improved welfare and development in the fields of education, health, infrastructure and the economy.

"It is also expected to open wider access to job opportunities for people living in 14 regencies [planned to be part of] Central Papua," Luther said, as quoted by Antara.

OPM defiant as Indonesian house rejects referendum calls

Jakarta Globe - August 5, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Banjir Ambarita – As the separatist Free Papua Organization claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on soldiers in the Puncak Jaya district, lawmakers on Friday warned foreign countries to stay away from Papuan issues.

"We are responsible for the series of shootings against TNI [Indonesian Armed Forces] soldiers and their outposts and their helicopters on Tuesday. Those actions reflect our stance of not recognizing Papua as part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," said Anton Tabuni, the self- proclaimed OPM secretary general for the Central Mountainous Range in Papua.

He said his group would continue to reject approaches from the government and efforts to persuade them to join the Indonesian republic. He said the organization had already decided to continue the fight for Papuan independence.

"We will continue to struggle and fight Indonesian troops in Papua for the sake of the Papuan people's dreams of independence," Anton added. "Our struggle will never end before the goal of an independent Papua is attained," he said.

Two soldiers have been killed in the recent series of armed attacks and seven others have been seriously injured. Maj. Gen. Erfi Triassunu, who heads the military command overseeing Papua, said the guerrillas had a knowledge of the local terrain that made them difficult to catch.

Commission I of the House of Representatives, which oversees defense and foreign affairs, came out with a warning on Friday for foreign countries to stay away from the Papua issue and allow Indonesia to settle the problem by itself.

Commission deputy chairman Tubagus Hasanuddin said it had received reports that two organizations, the International Lawyers for West Papua and the International Parliament for West Papua, had been playing an active role in trying to influence Indonesian policies on Papua.

"We recognize freedom of speech, but it does not extend to intervening in another country's affairs. We never try to intervene, for example, in the Northern Ireland issue because it's their internal affair," Tubagus said.

Teguh Juwarno, a lawmaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the government and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) should react to the moves by those organizations, including through diplomatic channels.

"There is still little support for a referendum, but it shouldn't be underestimated. There should be counterintelligence efforts made," Teguh said. He also called on the government to focus more on the implementation of special autonomy in Papua to improve the welfare of local citizens.

"A social welfare and fairness approach could really quell any aspiration to free Papua from Indonesia," Teguh said. Commission chairman Mahfudz Siddiq said referendums and security crackdowns were not the solution for Papua. The key, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker said, was in efforts to raise prosperity in the region.

Tjahjo Kumolo, secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), agreed, saying that while separatism must be eradicated, a comprehensive social approach was needed. "Acceleration of development in the province should be an immediate priority for the government," he said.

The National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) called for an outright rejection of any referendum in Papua but added that so far there had been no foreign involvement pushing for a ballot in Papua.

Indonesia food security project threatens Papuan way of life-activists

Alertnet - August 5, 2011

Thin Lei Win, Bangkok – Indigenous Papuans are at risk of further marginalisation and the forests and ecosystems on which they rely face destruction due to an ambitious food security project by the Indonesian government, activists say.

Under MIFEE (Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate) plans, 1.63 million hectares of forest which forms the basis of life for some 200,000 indigenous people in the Merauke area would be used to grow rice, palm oil, soya bean and corn among other crops.

Indonesia is seen as a key player in the fight against climate change and is under intense international pressure to curb its rapid deforestation rate and destruction of carbon-rich peatlands.

Activists accuse the authorities of not sufficiently consulting the Malind Anim people about the project, which they say pose a double threat to local Papuans. Not only would they lose their customary lands, but they would also face an influx of migrants from the rest of Indonesia – further marginalising communities that feel disenfranchised by what they say is the government's exploitation of natural resources at their expense.

"If this project goes ahead, it means we will lose everything – we will lose our land, our culture, our livelihood, our food," Rosa Moiwend, a Papuan activist whose family still lives in Merauke, told AlertNet.

The transition from forest to farm and plantation land would have a "tremendous" impact on natural ecosystems, Carlo Nainggolan from Indonesian rights group Sawit Watch, said.

"Indigenous people who have made use of natural forests to meet necessities of life will experience a dramatically decreased quality of life and well- being," he said.

Department of Agriculture officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Strained ties

Papua, two provinces on the west half of New Guinea island, has long suffered strained ties with Indonesia which took over the area from Dutch colonial rule in 1963. And this week, thousands of indigenous Papuans them marched on the parliament in the capital of Papua, demanding a referendum on independence from the archipelago.

Despite being home to a mine with the world's largest gold and recoverable copper reserves, Papua is one of the least developed regions in Indonesia. According to the United Nations, 40 percent of Papuans live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day, compared to the national average of 18 percent.

Both the central and regional governments have hailed MIFEE as the answer not only to Indonesia's growing concerns about food shortages but as a source of exports.

The project is expected to produce close to 2 million tonnes of rice, almost 1 million tonnes of corn, 2.5 million tonnes of sugar and close to 1 million tonnes of crude palm oil, according to local media reports.

However, activists point out that the staple food for Papuans is sago, a starch derived from sago palm, not rice. And they say there has been discontent in some areas where compensation from companies clearing and managing the land was deemed insufficient.

Despite a recent government pledge to resolve land tenure conflicts and protect the rights of people in forest-based communities, activists say most locals remain in the dark about the project.

"People from the village, when asked about MIFEE project replied, 'MIFEE is a car that frequently crosses the road that reads MIFEE (on the body of the car)'," Sawit Watch's Nainggolan said.

Losing a way of living

The massive scale of the project and nature of the indigenous people's skills – many make a living hunting and gathering rather than farming – means a huge workforce is likely to be imported from outside Papua, activists say.

Sawit Watch estimate that some 5 million workers were needed to work the land, or four labourers per hectare. Yet, based on the 2009 census, the number of people native to Merauke was 195,577, Nainggolan said.

The low levels of education, knowledge and Indonesian language skills also mean indigenous Papuans are likely to be only involved in MIFEE as low- skilled labourers despite the loss of their land and livelihoods, he said.

Moiwend summed up the anger felt by activists. "If the Indonesian government says that we are a part of them, that we are their brothers and sisters like they say, why do they do this project?," she said. "They don't want us to live in our own land. They want to kill us with this project."

OPM claims responsibility for deadly attacks in Papua

Jakarta Globe - August 5, 2011

Banjir Ambarita, Papua – The separatist Free Papua Organization on Friday admitted that it was responsible for a series of recent attacks against the military in Puncak Jaya district.

"We're responsible for the series of shootings against TNI [Indonesian military] soldiers and posts, as well as their helicopter," said Anton Tabuni, the secretary general of the group, known as OPM, in the Pegunungan Tengah region. "The act is our way of not recognizing Papua as part of [Indonesia]."

The OPM has recently launched a wave of deadly attacks against the military, killing at least two soldiers and wounding seven more.

Anton said that the OPM rejected government efforts to convince the separatists to accept Indonesian rule. "We've decided an independent Papua is a final price, so we will continue to fight for the independence of Papua."

He added that the group would continue carrying out guerilla-style attacks against the military and local police.

Anton also said that the OPM was burning Indonesian flags raised in Puncak Jaya. He said the acts were undertaken in the hopes of publicizing the separatist movement in the hopes of winning the support of the United States or United Nations.

Maj. Gen. Erfi Triassunu, the head of the Cendrawasih Military Command that oversees operations in Papua, conceded that countering the OPM attacks was an uphill battle. "We're overwhelmed. They really master the field of Puncak Jaya," Erfi said.

Reject calls for Papua referendum: Lawmaker

Jakarta Post - August 4, 2011

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – The chairman of the Papua and Aceh special autonomy supervisory team, Priyo Budi Santoso, urged the government to send the military to Papua if the referendum movement escalated to a mass rebellion.

Thousands of Papuans across the province have demonstrated to call for a referendum on independence. The demonstrations coincided with a series of attacks on police and military posts in Puncak Jaya that have been blamed on the Free Papua Movement (OPM).

"I urge law enforcers not to hesitate in taking firm action," he said. He added that if the situation escalated to rebellion, the "military should be sent in if necessary".

"We should remain persuasive but if the situation leads to [demands for] a referendum; [we] should not hesitate in sending in the military," he said, adding that special autonomy was the "best formula in addressing the problems of Papua".

"Therefore, I urge the government to firmly reject [the calls for a referendum] because Papua is part of Indonesia and that is final," he added.

No military operations in Papua: Army chief

Antara News - August 4, 2011

Jakarta – The Indonesian army said here on Thursday that it had launched no military action in reaction to recent attacks and ambushes by alleged separatist OPM members.

"What happens is border security and routine civic mission operations," Army Chief of Staff General Pramono Wibowo said after accompanying Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro in a visit to the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital.

At that visit, they made a conversations with three wounded personnel evacuated from Papua.

He said the TNI (military) Manunggal Masuk Desa (the military go to and unite in village - TMMD) civic mission was deliberately carried out in Puncak Jaya in view of the infrastructure and social conditions in the region, which are quite concerning, such as bike-taxi service centers, churches and "honai" traditional houses.

"The TMDD activity in Papua is the same as that done in any other region in the country such as infrastructure development, construction of public and social facilities especially in remote regions, backward villages and regions hit by natural disasters," he said.

So, he said, the activities done by the army are not military operations and there is no military operation in Papua.

The new army chief of staff said in response to recent security development in Papua marked by several incidents of attacks on military posts and ambushes on military members he would increase patrols and alertness.

"Efforts to 'clean up' armed OPM members would be done intensively by local units as the territorial units as well," he said.

Asked about the strength of the group he said he could not predict because they spread in various places and mingle with local population. "They sometimes emerge and then vanish. So, until now we cannot predict about their exact number," he said.

What is clear is, he said, the TNI would continue hunting them down as their activities are linked to national security and sovereignty. "Automatically we will keep chasing them, as what they have done has to do with sovereignty," he said.

Defense minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro came to the hospital to visit three TNI members that have been wounded in an attack by OPM members in Puncak Jaya District recently during patrolling. One of them was hit in the head, others have their palm or hand broken. (R018)

Papuans demand more attention

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2011

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Heads of state institutions have called on the President to pay close attention to Papua and Aceh to ensure their special autonomy status benefitted local people, and to prevent growing tensions there from igniting as regional elections draw near.

They warned that the special autonomy status given to Papua and Aceh should adhere to the Unitary State of Indonesia, to ward off calls for a referendum, as have been heard in West Papua.

The concerns were raised during a three-hour consultation meeting between heads of state institutions and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the State Palace on Thursday.

Attending the meeting, among others, were People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Taufik Kiemas, House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie, Regional Representatives Council speaker Irman Gusman and Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud M.D.

"We discussed the latest situations in Papua and Aceh, including their preparation for regional elections. We ask the government to pay special attention to the two," Irman told reporters after the meeting.

Irman said that the meeting, however, did not discuss Tuesday's International Lawyers for West Papua conference in Oxford, England, which campaigned for a legal review of the 1969 Act of Free Choice that led to the incorporation of West Papua into Indonesia.

"For us, the Unitary State of Indonesia is already final. What we want is how to better manage [both Papua and Aceh] mainly ahead of the regional elections, which are prone to causing conflict," Irman said.

Nineteen people were killed in clashes between supporters of rival political candidates in seemingly unrelated incidents on Sunday. Because of the violence, the vote to elect a district chief scheduled for Nov. 9 was postponed.

Four civilians were later found dead after an attack on Monday. The attack occurred at about 3:30 a.m. local time as a group of fresh produce vendors was traveling from Koya to Youtefa market in Abepura.

Police claim to have found a Morning Star flag – used by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and Papua independence supporters – at the side of the road near the site of the attack, along with damaged cars, ammunition shells and spears and arrows.

On Wednesday, gunmen shot at a military helicopter in the hilly district of Puncak Jaya, a rebel stronghold and longtime hotbed of separatist violence. The chopper was flying in the remote region to evacuate Fana Hadi, an army private who was wounded during an attack on his post Tuesday morning.

Indonesian Army chief Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo vowed on Thursday to hunt down separatist rebels after a swell in violence in the restive province of Papua killed two soldiers.

They will be "chased down" and "cleaned up" by local military units, he said as quoted by the Associated Press. Pramono is the younger brother of first lady Ani Yudhoyono.

Yudhoyono, in a press conference after the meeting with the heads of state institutions, said he would consider inserting their input into his state address, which he would deliver on Aug. 16 ahead of Independence Day.

Yudhoyono did not touch on the issue of Papua or Aceh. "What we discussed [with the heads of state institutions] is important. My speech will in fact relate to actual and strategic issues in our country now," he said.

Yudhoyono said the government and heads of state institutions had agreed to prioritize enforcing the law, combating corruption, expanding the economy and advancing democracy. (rpt)

Papua referendum idea not popular among local people

Antara News - August 4, 2011

Jakarta – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the demand for a referendum as voiced by a group of Papuan people recently was supported by few members of the region's community.

The minister made the statement here on Thursday in response to a rally and conference held in England last Tuesday (August 2) in support of the discourse on a referendum in Papua and West Papua to separate from Indonesia.

According to available information, the conference and rally were held in Oxford, England, by a group calling itself International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP). The conference was themed "West Papua: The Road to Freedom".

"Their demand is not popular among people living in Papua island," said the minister adding that the government would coordinate with related authorities to find the best possible solution to the referendum demand.

"What's clear now is that the government won't tolerate any separatist movement because it is related to the sovereignty and unity of Indonesia as a country," Purnomo said.

Meanwhile, vice chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I Tubagus Hasanuddin said a referendum on Papua was no longer an issue for Indonesia because it had been settled years ago.

He said the most important thing the government should do in the future was to implement strategies to improve the welfare of Papuans and close the developmental gaps between Papua and other provinces in Indonesia.

Based on information obtained from the ILWP's website the "West Papua – The Road to Freedom" conference was held in the East School of the Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street, Oxford, on Tuesday August 2, 2011.

"We the undersigned recognize and confirm that the indigenous peoples of West Papua have a fundamental right to self determination under international law," a conference spokesman was quoted as saying in the organization's website. (T.R018/A051/HAJM/B003)

West Papua: the road to freedom

New Internationalist - August 4, 2011

This week marks the 48th anniversary of the West Papuan struggle for independence from Indonesia. Thousands have taken to the streets and international lawyers are making a strong case for West Papuan self-rule.

It is a grief-stricken path that has been followed for generations. It stretches from when the Dutch colonized the region in the 19th century and cruelly continued when control was handed to Indonesia by a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority in 1963. And this week the journey towards independence has led thousands of West Papuans onto the streets to demand the international community acknowledge their right to be free.

"West Papuans will never recognize their homeland as being part of Indonesia and we have a fundamental right to self-determination under international law," says Benny Wenda, a West Papua independence leader living in exile in Britain. "West Papuans have marched peacefully this week and have shown again that they can meet violence with peace to achieve this [aim], no matter how much [Indonesia] tries to intimidate us."

Protesters and human rights campaigners are regularly harassed and arrested in West Papua and, according to Amnesty International, reports of torture whilst in detention and other human rights violations are commonplace. But with momentum building for the cause, the police have been reluctant to intervene in the recent protests.

"The demonstrations were so big this time they know if they act violently towards the protesters it would be noticed internationally," says Wenda. "We have been trying for 48 years now and, just like the Middle East, we need people power to change the world – but we also need people from around the world to notice."

One of the biggest obstacles that the Free West Papua campaign faces is a lack of interest, let alone support, from the outside world.

Forgotten conflict

"West Papua is a forgotten conflict," says Charles Foster, spokesperson for International Lawyers for West Papua. "A blind eye has been most cynically turned by the international community towards the situation of the people there."

As part of efforts to raise the profile of the region, a conference was held in Oxford this week by the Free West Papua campaign. International lawyers and activists spoke at the event to highlight the case for an independent West Papua under international law.

"In legal terms, the region has a clear right to self-determination," says Foster. "If you look at the New York Agreement [a treaty signed in 1962 by the Netherlands and Indonesia regarding the political status of West Papua, then known as West New Guinea] the United Nations was given trustee status over the region which was supposed to lead to self-determination in 1969. Indonesia has never disputed the fact it put its name to this agreement; therefore it implicitly acknowledges that it was bound by it."

But the New York Agreement was followed in 1969 by the ironically titled Act of Free Choice, a vote by a tiny section of the population of West Papua, hand-picked by the Indonesian military, on whether the region should become independent or remain part of Indonesia. Although it has since been widely recognized that the process was a sham, calls for a revote have consistently been ignored.

"There is no serious legal scholar anywhere in the world who thinks the Act of Free Choice was a genuine expression of the free will of the West Papuan people," says Foster. "When Indonesians talk about this they try to steer clear of what actually happened on the ground in 1969. They're not stupid, they realize how embarrassing it is."

Yet even if the New York Agreement is somehow forgotten and the circumstances surrounding the Act of Free Choice somehow ignored, international law still falls heavily on the side of the West Papuans. In 1960 the UN General assembly passed a crucial agreement, the Declaration of Granting Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, which states: "All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."

This firm legal ground has yet to translate into any meaningful concessions to the West Papuan people. And as long as the international inertia continues, the situation for West Papuans continues to worsen.

Clemens Runawery is an exiled independence activist who has been unable to return to his country for more than 40 years.

"The longer we stay part of Indonesia the more our status will suffer, both physically and demographically," he says. "Back in 1961 the vast majority of the people in West Papua were West Papuan, with only a minority from other places. Today this situation has been completely reversed. How much time do we really have left?"

Military vows retaliatory action in Papua

Antara News - August 4, 2011

The Indonesian Army has threatened to take firm military action against separatists allegedly involved in the recent spate of violence in Papua.

"We will take military approaches against anyone who disturbs us," Army Chief Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo said on Wednesday.

The statement came after suspected members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) attacked an Army helicopter as it evacuated the body of a soldier killed by the rebels.

The helicopter was evacuating the body of Private Fana Suhandi, a member of 753 Battalion, to Wamena on Wednesday. Fana had been guarding a military post in Tingginambut when he was shot in the chest on Tuesday. He died instantly.

Edhie said the separatists attacked the military because they disliked its presence in Papuan villages.

He said soldiers had been deployed to the villages to conduct village- development programs (TMMD). "The villages that TNI chooses to conduct the TMMD programs are those that we believe are likely to be influenced by the OPM," he said.

He said the military helped villagers build houses without asking for anything in return, unlike the rebels.

To prevent the violence from escalating in Papua, the military plans to increase security, he said. "Nobody is allowed to obstruct people's activities."

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government would not tolerate any actions that threatened the unity of Indonesia. "The main principle is, we don't want Indonesia to split apart," Purnomo said at the Presidential Palace.

Police Call on Densus 88 to stem violence

Jakarta Globe - August 4, 2011

Farouk Arnaz & Camelia Pasandaran – The National Police said on Wednesday that they had sent members of their elite counterterrorism unit to Papua after a recent spate of violence in the restive region.

"We have dispatched crime scene investigators and Densus 88 officers to Nafri to help Papua police hunt for the perpetrators," spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said, referring to the antiterror unit.

Although Densus 88 is charged with uncovering terror networks across the country, police often classify separatist activities as a form of terrorism.

At least four people, including an Army officer, were killed in an ambush by suspected armed separatists in Nafri village, on the outskirts of the Papuan capital of Jayapura, on Monday morning.

Jayapura Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Setiawan said unidentified assailants sprayed a small bus with bullets as it passed through the village. The attackers then reportedly chased down the panicked passengers with machetes and axes.

Since July, at least five Army members in Puncak Jaya district have been killed in a string of shootouts with suspected members of the Free Papua Movement, or OPM. On Friday, police in Paniai district engaged in a standoff with at least 16 armed men.

"We suspect that the crimes in Papua are increasing recently in relation to a meeting in the UK," Anton said, referring to a meeting coordinated by the Free West Papua Campaign and the International Lawyers for West Papua, which was held on Tuesday in Oxford, England. "The perpetrators want to attract more world attention."

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government would take any measures necessary to ensure stability in the province.

"There is tension in several areas, such as Paniai, Puncak Jaya and Abepura," he said. "There is a political problem there, mainly efforts to raise the Morning Star flag," he said referring to the banned symbol of the rebel group. "But the main thing is to protect the unity of Indonesia."

Densus 88 attracted international attention last year for allegedly torturing 12 suspected separatists who were arrested for possessing an outlawed South Maluku Republic (RMS) flag.

Papua killings simply crime, not linked to OPM: Police

Jakarta Post - August 4, 2011

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua Police said on Wednesday that the killing of four people in Nafri on Monday was simply a criminal act and had nothing to do with the separatist group the Free Papua Organization (OPM).

That assessment contradicted the Jayapura Police's statement that the OPM could be behind the attack.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said that, judging by the attack method, it was not necessarily committed by the OPM. Although the OPM usually targets police or military posts, the attack in Nafri targeted civilians. "If the perpetrators claimed to be OPM members, they must have been only using the OPM name," Wachyono said.

A group of unidentified people armed with sharp weapons attacked a group of vegetable vendors travelling from Koya to Youtefa market in Abepura early on Monday morning, leaving four dead from severe stab wounds.

Separately, councilor Ruben Magai of the Papua legislative council (DPRP) said the attack in Nafri proved that intelligence work in Papua was weak, especially because the exact same incident happened at the same place in November last year, leaving one person dead.

"The intelligence has yet to reveal the perpetrators of the attack that happened seven months ago. Now the incident has been repeated. There should have been some measures taken to prevent such an incident from reoccurring," Ruben told The Jakarta Post in Jayapura.

The killings in Nafri were not the first to target civilians. Previously, a public transportation driver was stabbed to death on Skyland highway, the main road connecting Jayapura and Abepura, and his vehicle was burned.

"The perpetrator has yet to be identified, regardless of the fact that it happened downtown during a busy time of day. This is because law enforcement is so weak that criminals can commit crimes free from fear," Ruben said.

Earlier this month, a person named Sugiantoro was stabbed by an unidentified assailant. He is currently in intensive care at RS TNI AD Marthen Indey hospital for severe stab wounds all over his body.

"These unsolved crimes have created fear among the community and decreased people's trust in law enforcement. They no longer know where they can turn to for security," he said.

Responding to the criticism, Wachyono said crimes were committed whenever there was a chance to do so.

The Nafri killings caused vegetable prices to nearly double at Youtefa market, the biggest market in Jayapura. "Chilies were sold only for Rp 35,000 [US$4.15]/kilogram yesterday. It's now Rp 65,000/kg. The same was the case with other fresh commodities due to short supply," Bejo, a door-to-door vegetable merchant, said.

Most of the vegetables sold at Youtefa were supplied from Koya. Since the killings, merchants from Koya have been reluctant to go to the market for fear they might be killed too.

Indonesia: Activists urge economic development for Papua

IRIN News - August 3, 2011

Jakarta – Indonesia needs to boost economic development in Papua, human rights activists say, a day after thousands in the restive region rallied for independence.

"There's growing discontent among Papuans. The government needs to act fast to address various humanitarian issues," Haris Azhar, coordinator of the human rights group Kontras, told IRIN on 3 August.

Some 10,000 Papuans took to the streets of the provincial capital Jayapura and six other towns on 2 August, defying a heavy police presence, a day after a deadly ambush, which police blamed on separatist rebels, witnesses said.

"There's a serious lack of human development in Papua," Azhar said. "The increase in regional budgets under the autonomy scheme has become a major source of corruption as can be seen in the number of officials investigated for corruption," he said.

The Indonesian half of the New Guinea island, comprising Papua and West Papua provinces, receives about US$472 million annually.

Longstanding tension

Papua, home to ethnic Melanesians, has experienced a low-level separatist conflict for decades, according to experts. Critics said the special autonomy status, granted in 2001 as part of Jakarta's efforts to appease calls for independence, failed to raise Papuans' standard of living.

Ifdhal Kasim, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights, urged the government not to use heavy-handed tactics in dealing with pro- independence sentiments.

It should instead offer dialogue and address the grievances of the Papuans, including complaints that the government was plundering the region's natural resources at the expense of locals. "Young people in Papua have political aspirations and repressing them is counter-productive," Kasim maintained.

The government should improve the monitoring of funds used by the regions, he added. "What's happening in Papua is not so much of lack of money," he said. "There's so much mismanagement and incompetence there."

The creation of new districts in Papua as part of the autonomy had given rise to more corruption, he added. He also said the more than 100 political prisoners languishing in Papuan jails for raising rebel flags and other pro-independence activities did not help appease the separatist sentiments.

Government response

But according to Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for security, legal and political affairs, the government is fully aware of what is needed.

"The focus of the present cabinet in Papua is economic development," he told reporters. "There's no war there. If people killed members of the armed forces or police, action must be taken to enforce the law," he said.

A group of unidentified people attacked buses carrying migrant traders in Jayapura on 1 August, killing four, including a soldier, and wounding nine, police said. The attack came a day after 17 people were killed in clashes involving groups supporting rival politicians in the central highland district of Puncak.

Papuan police spokesman Wachyono, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said the two incidents were unrelated, although the West Papua National Committee, a pro-independence group, has accused the security forces of involvement.

'Repression'

Andreas Harsono, a consultant for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said economic marginalization, human rights abuses and the influx of migrants from other parts of Indonesia continued to fuel discontent in Papua.

"The government has since the beginning responded to the aspirations of Papuans with repression," he said.

According to a 2010 report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), many Papuans were frustrated that autonomy had meant so little, while Indonesian officials complained that Papuans were not satisfied with what they had been given.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono needs personally to take the lead in recognizing that autonomy means more than increased budgetary allocations or accelerated economic development," the report said.

"He needs to explore directly with credible Papuan leaders how political autonomy can be expanded; affirmative action policies strengthened in all sectors; and Papuan fears about in-migration addressed."

After its original short-lived independence, the region was temporarily administered by the UN before being officially annexed by Indonesia in 1969.

According to the UN, despite its vast natural resources, this eastern-most region – an area half the size of Brazil – continues to remain one of Indonesia's least developed. Although Papua's population comprises only 1 percent of the total population, more than 40 percent of its residents live below the national poverty line. (atp/ds/mw)

People's Liberation Party slams arrest at Papuan independence demo

Indowarta - August 3, 2011

Jakarta – The People's Liberation Party (Partai Pembebesan Rakyat, PPR) has slammed the arrest of comrade Suryanta Ginting (a PPR member) by the Metro Jaya Regional Police when he was giving a solidarity speech during an action by the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in front of the State Palace on Tuesday August 2.

The condemnation was conveyed by PPR spokesperson Budi Wardoyo in an SMS message. According to Wardoyo, the action in front of the Palace was held to support the international conference "West Papua – The Road to Freedom" being held today by International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP) in London.

"The conference will be pushing for the Papua problem to be taken to the International Court, so that the Papua problem can be resolved through international standards and legal principles", explained Yoyok, as Wardoyo is usually called.

Wardoyo said that the arrest of comrade Surya clearly indicates the lack of good faith on the part of the regime of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono in resolving the Papua problem democratically.

"We demand that comrade Surya be released immediately and the violence in Papua must be stopped along with the withdrawal of all non-organic military personnel from Papua, for the sake of creating a democratic dialog between Papua and Indonesia", concluded Wardoyo.

On Tuesday August 2, around 100 protesters from the KNPB held a protest action in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta. In a press statement the KNPB gave its full support to the International Lawyers for West Papua conference in London and conveyed their highest appreciation to the international community that has joined in supporting the West Papua national independence struggle.

The KNPB also urged the Yudhoyono government to immediately withdraw all organic and non-organic military and police personnel from the territories of West Papua. (Imam)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Papuans reject 1969 'Act of Free Choice'

Liputan 6 - August 3, 2011

Manokwari – Residents of Manokwari, West Papua, held a protest on Tuesday August 2 by marching through the city's major streets.

The protesters, who were supported by the Papuan Traditional Council (DAP), the West Papua National Authority (ONPB) and the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), condemned cases of alleged human rights abuses in West Papua. They also challenged the 1969 Act of Free Choice or Pepera, which was sponsored by the United Nations and the United States.

The large number of demonstrators caused a number of shop owners to close their businesses beforehand. The protest action that had been taking place since early morning proceeded peacefully until the demonstrators dispersed.

In Timika, a protest action was centered on the Timika Indah soccer field, where demonstrators expressed their support for a conference on West Papua's future organised by lawyers, academics and foreign parliamentary members in Oxford, England. The academics believe that the act of free choice sponsored by the UN in 1969 was legally flawed. The Timika event was also enlivened by a traditional women's dance.

In Jayapura meanwhile, thousands of Papuans packed Jl. Expo Waena in Abepura in a protest action against the referendum 42 years ago. As a result, the flow of traffic towards the Sentani Airport had to be redirected through an alternative route. Demanding that another referendum be held, the demonstrators marched on foot to the Papua Regional House of Representatives (DPRD).

A series of protest actions, which were held simultaneously in various parts of Papua and West Papua, proceeded peacefully until the protesters disbanded. (BOG)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Thousands of West Papuans demand referendum

Java Post - August 3, 2011

Manokwari – Thousands of Papuan civilians in Manokwari, West Papua, took to the streets on Tuesday August 2 to demand a referendum. The participants at the action are convinced that a referendum is the middle road to resolve the political status of West Papua.

Based on observations by Radar Sorong (JPNN Group), the protesters who came from a number of Papuan independence groups began gathering at the Papua Traditional Council (DAP) office on Jl. Pahlawan, Sanggeng. Before moving off, several people had an opportunity to take turns giving speeches.

The hot weather failed to dampen their enthusiasm to hold a long-march. The evidence being that at around 11am local time they marched on foot to the Manokwari seaport via Jl. Yos Sudarso and Jl. Merdeka. They then returned via Jl. Jenderal Sudirman and Jl. Yos Sudarso until they reached Jl. Trikora. The protesters then headed back towards the information grandstand on Jl. Percetakan, Sanggeng.

Under a tight guard by security forces, throughout the march the protesters shouted "Free Papua". Several Papua independence activists took turns in giving speeches in which they demanded that a referendum be held immediately. They also said that the government had committed many human rights violations against civilian Papuans.

After giving speeches at the information grandstand, the demonstrators then presented a political statement issued by the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) Manokwari regional leadership board. There were six points in the statement.

First, an appeal for support from the European parliament, the International Parliament for West Papua (IPWP), the International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP) and Free Papua Organisation (OPM) diplomats to resolve [Papua's] political status through legal and political channels.

Second that the West Papuan people as a whole appeal for support from the Republic of Vanuatu and the governments of other pacific nations to take Papua's political status before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Third, the West Papuan people appeal for support from European and African countries to take Papua's political status to the ICJ.

Forth that the West Papuan people appeal for support from religious community leaders throughout the world and in West Papua to support a referendum for the Papuan nation.

Fifth, the West Papuan people appeal for support from human rights organisations to support a referendum for the Papua and West Papuan nations.

Sixth, that the West Papuan people support the international conference being organised by the ILWP in London as a road towards a referendum for the Papuan nation.

As planned earlier, yesterday the Sorong Raya regional DAP held a peaceful action on the grounds of the Maranatha Remu East Kalimantan Fertilizer Institute Senior High School 2 (SMA YPK).

At least 1,500 Papuan people of Melanesian decent took part in a series of demonstrations that were held simultaneously in Papua and West Papua.

It was initially planned that the peaceful action at SMA YPK would hold a long-march to the Sorong city Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) at Kilometer 10. But because they failed to obtain a permit from the Sorong municipal police, the protesters ended up simply giving speeches at the site. (jpnn)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Government plays down Papua rally

Jakarta Post - August 3, 2011

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura/Jakarta – Thousands of people in Papua staged coordinated rallies Tuesday in a show of support for the conference of International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP) in London to pursue a referendum for independence.

An estimated 2,000 people representing the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) rallied peacefully in Jayapura, marching from the Expo Waena area to the Papua Regional Representatives Council (DPRD) building while shouting "Free Papua" and "Referendum Yes".

Timika Square in Mimika also saw thousands of people gathering to show their support for the ILWP, which demanded a legal review of the so-called Act of Free Choice in 1969 that led to Papua's union with Indonesia.

The ILWP argues that the 1969 referendum, albeit supervised by the UN, was flawed because it relied on the consensus of "elders", who did not represent the nationalist movement in Papua.

Rallies also took place in Biak Island and in Jakarta, where hundreds of people gathered at the state palace. "The demonstrations aim to show the truth and historical facts of Papua to Indonesians and all nations. We want Papuans to have the right of self-determination through a democratic way recognized by international law, a referendum," Mako Tabuni, the rally coordinator from KNPB, said in Jayapura.

In a release available on the ILWP website, the conference will be attended by Papuan independence leaders, international lawyers, parliamentarians and NGOs. The conference, titled "West Papua – The Road to Freedom", took place on Tuesday at 2 p.m. London time (8 p.m. in Jakarta).

The Indonesian government played down the significance of the rallies and the conference. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who was formerly Indonesian ambassador to the UK, said the movement for a free Papua did not have the support of the British people or the government.

"There are people who want to revive the problem. However, the British government always underlines its policy of supporting Indonesia and the special autonomy in Papua," Marty said Tuesday.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto echoed the sentiments. "Papua is part of the republic. We have to keep it," Djoko was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

Ramses Ohee, a community leader during the 1969 vote, said there was no need to question the validity of Papua's union with Indonesia. He called on the "young generation to think of how to develop Papua".

"Do not ruin what the older generation has built. Let's talk about the things we haven't achieved yet: education, health, economy and other things we all need," Ramses said.

A comprehensive study released in June by human rights group Imparsial concluded that the provinces of Papua and West Papua had seen very little improvement in security after the region became integrated as a part of Indonesia under the Act of Free Choice.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said the government had to evaluate its military operations in Papua. (rcf)

Papuans demonstrate against Indonesian rule

ABC Radio Australia - August 3, 2011

Around 10,000 Papuans have been demonstrating in support of independence from Indonesia. Witnesses say protesters defied a heavy police presence a day after an ambush police blamed on separatist rebels.

Demonstrators in the provincial capital Jayapura demanded the withdrawal of Indonesian troops from the eastern region which has been the scene of a separatist insurgency since the 1960s.

Protests were also held in Timika, on the southern coast, and in the Indonesian capital Jakarta where hundreds called for an independence referendum similar to that granted to East Timor in 1999.

Richard Chauvel is from the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Victoria University, and a long standing Papua-watcher. He's been monitoring the situation, and Bill Bainbridge asked him what sparked the recent political violence that has seen at least 21 people killed.

Presenter: Bill Bainbridge

Speaker: Richard Chauvel, from the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Victoria University in Melbourne

Chauvel: The violence in the Central Highlands, in the district of Puncak, which was reported to have occurred on Sunday, I don't think was particularly related to the demonstration that took place in Jayapura and elsewhere in Papua yesterday. The violence in the Central Highlands was related to the conflict or clash between the supporters of two candidates for the election of the regions of the head of the Puncak District Government which is going to take place in a couple of months and there the problem appears to be that one political party, Gerindra has supported two sets of candidates and only one of those sets of candidates was accepted by the Indonesian Election Commission and the supporters of the rejected candidate took umbrage to that and attacked the supporters of the guy who was accepted.

Bainbridge: So the West Papuan National Committee accused elements of the security forces of provoking and staging the violence in order to foil the protest. You don't think there's any evidence to support that claim?

Chauvel: No, I think there were sufficient reports going back about the tensions around the elections in Puncak District to suggest that whatever the motives of the security forces in the Central Highlands of provoking violence, I think that there are issues related specifically to the elections for the region which are to a degree separate from the broader political issues.

Bainbridge: So the protesters in Jakarta were calling for an independence referendum of the sort that was given to East Timor in 1999. Is there any realistic likelihood of this ever getting the support of the government in Jakarta?

Chauvel: I think on present form, it would be extremely unlikely. The... Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has been most reluctant to sit down and engage in a dialogue with Papuan political leaders, let alone agree like President Habibi did with East Timor, to the holding of a referendum. I think clearly a referendum would be a significant step further than agreeing to some form of dialogue, some form of negotiation, so I think at this stage highly unlikely. But it is a fairly well established demand of many groups in Papua and the large public consultation that took place in July of last year made exactly the same demand. It is related to what the subject matter of the conference now being discussed in Oxford, in England, about the act of free choice, which Indonesia conducted in 1969, which the selected Papuan delegates unanimously supported the integration of Papua into Indonesia, so that the demand for a referendum is related to the Papuan rejection of the results of the Act of Free Choice in 1969.

Bainbridge: Well, I'd like to go back to that conference in a moment, but you talked about a dialogue between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Papuans not really being there. He has assented to what he's called he's a constructive communication to discuss these political issues that fuel discontent in Papua. Is there any sign of that taking place, and if not, what is Jakarta's strategy to resolve this issue?

Chauvel: I think there... to go back to your first point, there are very few indications of what the president means by constructive communication, whether it is simply another term for what various... the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, with [Mooden Majojo? phonetic] and [Father Nilas Tobine? phonetic] in [Papor? phonetic] have been arguing for a year and a half to two years and been building up support for a dialogue between Papua and Jakarta, whether the president's term is simply another Jakarta's version of the same type of activity. It's too early to tell. There's been no clarification of what he means by that and I think both in terms of realising whatever he means by that, let alone accepting what Papuans and others have been arguing for the need to hold a dialogue. Jakarta seems to have been pretty reluctant to engage in either of them. To go to your second point... What is Jakarta's current policy framework for resolving difficulties in Papua? The best sign we have of that is Jakarta's intention to establish a special unit within the vice-president's office for the acceleration of economic development in the two Papuan provinces, Papua proper and West Papua. That unit seems to be based on the reconstruction bureau established for Aceh after the tsunami, which in Jakarta's interpretation has worked much more effectively to support economic development in Aceh, than has been the case under the implementation of special autonomy in Papua. It does in many respects, represent a recentralisation of control directly under Jakarta for economic planning, economic development programs in Papua.

Papuan rebel chief denies deadly ambush

Agence France Presse - August 2, 2011

Jerry Omona, Jayapura, Indonesia – A rebel commander in the Indonesian province of Papua on Tuesday denied involvement in an ambush that killed four people, as tensions rose ahead of a pro-independence rally.

Lambert Pekikir, the Free Papua Movement (OPM) commander in Keerom district outside the provincial capital where the incident took place Monday, said the separatists fighting for independence would not randomly kill their own people.

Indonesian police were quick to blame the rebels for the attack, saying a Morning Star independence flag had been found planted in the ground nearby.

"I strongly condemn those allegations, they're false," Pekikir told AFP by phone from an unknown location. "The OPM wasn't responsible for the shooting as there's been an order from our headquarters to lay down our arms."

The unidentified attackers blocked a road near the provincial capital Jayapura, opened fire on passing vehicles and then attacked the shocked passengers with machetes, police said. An army officer and three others were killed, while seven were injured.

The attack came a day ahead of a planned protest in Jayapura to call for an independence referendum. Security was tight but hundreds of people were on the streets despite the soaring tensions, human rights activists said.

The allegations and denials are typical of the murky security environment in Papua, a remote but resource-rich territory on the western half of New Guinea island that has been ruled by Indonesia since the 1960s.

Indigenous Melanesian rebels often armed with little more than bows and arrows are fighting a low-intensity insurgency against Indonesian rule to end what they say is the oppression and exploitation of their people.

The Indonesian military has long been accused of serious human rights abuses against Papuan civilians, as well as massive corruption in the form of protection rackets for mining operations and illegal logging.

"When there's a shooting, that's certainly committed by the military, if not the police. They're using OPM as a scapegoat by pushing the blame on us," Pekikir said.

"All this is business for the military. When civilians are killed, there will be a lot of money flowing from the central government to Jayapura to maintain peace and security. There will be more military efforts to ensure security at the border, for instance. Certain groups may accuse us of the shooting, but Papuans will never believe it. Papuans trust the OPM."

The allegations are difficult to confirm because foreign journalists and rights workers are banned from entering the province to report on such issues, despite Indonesia's assurances that the rebels' claims are baseless.

In further political violence, clashes between supporters of rival candidates for district elections killed 17 people in a remote village hundreds of kilometres (miles) to the southwest of Jayapura on Sunday. Police said the unrest in Puncak district was not related to the shootings near Jayapura.

Police were reportedly out in force on the streets of Jayapura ahead of Tuesday's protests, which coincide with a meeting of international lawyers, politicians and tribal leaders in Oxford, England, to examine the Papua issue.

The Road To Freedom conference, chaired by British MP Andrew Smith, will review the 1969 Act of Free Choice by which Indonesia took control of Papua. Many Papuans argue to this day that the vote was a sham.

"All the legal experts from around the world could come together to look at the legal argument," exiled Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda said according to Radio New Zealand International.

Deadly Papua ambush heightens tensions again

Jakarta Globe - August 2, 2011

Nivell Rayda & Banjir Ambarita – Papua was wracked with tension on Monday after an early-morning ambush by suspected separatists in Abepura district left four people dead, including an army officer.

The attack followed weekend clashes between supporters of two local politicians in Puncak Papua district that left 17 dead.

Jayapura Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Setiawan was quick to blame the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for the 3 a.m. attack in which unidentified assailants sprayed a small bus with bullets as it passed through Nafri village.

The attackers then reportedly chased down the panicked passengers with machetes and axes. At least four people, including an army officer identified as First Pvt. Dominikus Kerap, were killed in the attack and dozens more were injured.

In Jakarta, meanwhile, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said that 16 OPM members were also believed to have been engaged in a firefight with police in Panai district on Friday.

Forkorus Yoboisembut, chairman of the Papua Traditional Council (DAP), however, claimed that there was more to the incident than met the eye. "This could be the work of people who do not want to see stability in Papua," he told the Jakarta Globe. "Mysterious shootings always occur ahead of peaceful demonstrations."

He was referring to rallies that were planned for today in Jayapura, Jakarta and other cities in Papua and West Papua to support a pro- independence discussion being held in Oxford, England. The meeting is organized by the Free West Papua Campaign and International Lawyers for West Papua.

The DAP says that nearly every pro-independence event in Papua, like the anniversary of the killing of Papuan independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay and the Dec. 1 anniversary of the OPM, has been preceded by acts of violence.

Mysterious shootings also occurred during last month's strike by workers from the local unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan. Military officers and civilians were reported killed in Puncak Jaya district, 600 kilometers from Freeport's lucrative Grasberg open pit mine, during the incidents.

"The security forces have never fully investigated these incidents," DAP spokesman Markus Haluk said. "Just as people begin to ask questions about one incident, another one occurs."

Benny Giay, a member of the Papua Presidium Council, said that for the past few weeks text messages had been sent to pro-independence leaders and human rights advocates threatening them not to go ahead with today's rally.

"We shall go ahead with this demonstration. This rally is the only way the voices of the people of Papua will be heard," he said. "I urge everyone who participates in the protest to be peaceful and not provoke any reaction from security personnel."

London rally demands Papuan independence

Jakarta Post - August 2, 2011

Jakarta – The Indonesian government said it was not worried about demonstrations held in London on Tuesday demanding Papuan independence.

The gathering, known as the International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP) conference, was held at Oxford University in London and demanded the independence of West Papua.

"There are people who want to revive the Papuan problem. However, their efforts have not received wide support from the British government or the people. The British government always underlines its policy to support Indonesia and special autonomy in Papua," Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said as quoted by kompas.com.

Marty, who was once ambassador to the United Kingdom, said the Indonesian government always informed other countries of its policies, including with regards to Papua.

Separately, a group of students and demonstrators in Abepura, Nabier, Timika, Biak and other cities in Papua staged demonstrations to support the ILWP conference.

Endorsement offers to two rivals sparked Papua clash

Jakarta Globe - August 2, 2011

Banjir Ambarita & Camelia Pasandaran, Jayapura – Government officials confirmed on Monday that the recent deadly brawls plaguing the newly established district of Puncak Papua were closely linked to local politics.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said supporters of Elvis Tabuni, the speaker of the Puncak Papua legislative council, and rival supporters of Simon Alom, who led the transitional process during the establishment of the district were both involved in the brawls, which occurred in the district capital Illaga over the weekend. Seventeen people – some from either side – were killed in the clashes.

Puncak Papua Regional Elections Commission (KPUD) chairman Herianus Pakage said both men were eyeing the district head post in an upcoming election.

"There are two letters of recommendation issued by Gerindra [Great Indonesian Movement Party], one for Elvis Tabuni an one for Simon Alom. This is what triggered the clash because both sides claimed to have backing from Gerindra," Herianus said.

Elvis and his running mate, Yosia Tembak, officially announced their bid and registered with the KPUD on July 26 with a letter of recommendation from the local branch of Gerindra. Four days later, Simon and his partner Heri Kosnai registered using a recommendation from Gerindra's central board.

Simon's bid under the party name enraged Elvis' supporters. Four people from Simon's side were killed in the first brawl, which occurred on Saturday. On Sunday, Simon's supporters retaliated, resulting in the death of 13 people from Elvis' camp.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was seeking an explanation from Djoko Suyanto, coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, as well as asking him to formulate a solution to the dispute. "We're still waiting for more information about the incident," Julian said.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said Papua provincial police had deployed one platoon from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) to help maintain security in Illaga.

"Right now the situation is under control," Anton said, adding that police were monitoring conditions at the scene of the clash, the KPUD office as well as other government buildings.

Puncak Papua is scheduled to hold its first election this year, but Herianus said the clash was likely to delay the election process.

Four dead in separatist unrest in Indonesia: Police

Agence France Presse - August 1, 2011

Jewel Samad – Suspected separatist rebels killed four people including an army officer in Indonesia's restive Papua province on Monday, the first such attack in almost four months, police said.

The unidentified attackers blocked a road near the provincial capital Jayapura, opened fire on passing vehicles and then attacked the shocked passengers with machetes, police said.

An army officer and three others were killed, while seven were injured, Papua provincial police spokesman Wachyono told reporters.

"According to intelligence information, the Morning Star flag was found thrust into the ground by the roadside," he added, referring to the outlawed flag of Papuan independence.

Jayapura police chief Imam Setiawan said authorities suspected the pre-dawn attack was the work of the rebel Free Papua Movement (OPM), which has been fighting for independence for decades.

But Papuan Customary Council chairman Forkorus Yaboisembut, a community leader, said he believed the police or military were responsible. "This is the work of some other group that seeks to discredit the OPM. I suspect the police or military could be behind this," he told AFP.

The attack came a day after election-related mayhem left 17 people dead in Puncak district, hundreds of kilometres (miles) southwest of Jayapura – Police said the two incidents were not related.

Armed with machetes, rocks and arrows, mobs of people affiliated to rival candidates for the job of district chief clashed in the remote town of Illaga, local police chief Alex Korwa said.

"We've deployed dozens of police and military to secure the area. The situation is tense but under control," he said, adding that investigations were ongoing.

The recently created district, which is only accessible by plane, is scheduled to hold its first local elections on November 9.

The ambush near Jayapura was the first of its kind since April, when two people were killed and two were injured in separate incidents involving vehicles belonging to US mining giant Freeport McMoRan.

An Australian employee of Freeport and a local security guard were shot dead in July 2009 on a road near the company's operations in Mimika district.

The Freeport mine sits on some of the world's richest gold reserves and is the largest single taxpayer to the Indonesian government. It has also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to military and police officers in Papua.

US diplomatic cables released by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks last year said the Indonesian military allegedly ran a "virtually autonomous governmental entity within the province", with links to illegal logging.

Pro-independence militants have waged a long-running insurgency against Indonesian rule in Papua. The rebels claim the process by which Indonesia annexed Papua in 1969 was illegitimate, and accuse Jakarta of exploitation and oppression.

Indonesia rejects the allegations and has tried to address Papuan concerns by granting the region special autonomy.

Unidentified gunmen kill four in Jayapura

Antara News - August 1, 2011

Jayapura, Papua – Unidentified gunmen early on Monday morning stabbed and shot dead three civilians and a Defense Forces (TNI) official near Nafri village in Jayapura, Papua.

Reliable sources said that besides the four fatalities, seven others were wounded in the shooting and stabbing incident which occurred at 3.15 am East Indonesia Standard Time (WIT).

Of the seven injured victims, five were being treated intensi vely at Abepura Hospital and Bhayangkara Hospital. Hospital sources said the fatalities were identified as First Private Don Keraf (TNI official), Sardi, Wisman and Titin.

Meanwhile, Siti Aminah, one of the victims, said the shooting and stabbing were very unexpected and sudden when they were traveling on a car.

After combing the crime scene Mobile Brigade and TNI officials, Jayapura resort police spokesman Adjunct Senior Commissioner Imam Setiawan said the shooting and stabbing were allegedly perpetrated by the outlawed TPN/OPM liberation army.

"I think the massacre committed by members of outlawed Free Papua Operation (OPM) movement because not far from the crime scene we found a Bintang Kejora flag," Setiawan said.

Shooting incidents had often occurred any time and anyplace in Papua. In April this year security guards of mining company PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika were killed as their car dumped to a ravine following a rampage.

The incident followed the same one the previous day when gunmdn fired on a car, but the driver and a passenger survived. The victims, Dani Masawan and Hari Siregar, were killed after their car had an accident and were burned on street.

Spokesman of PT Freeport Indonesia Ramdani Sirait confirmed the incident. "In fact, based on initial reports by the police, there is an indication that the car token by the security guards was shot. There are bullet holes on the car," said Sirait.

Deputy Chief of Sub Precinct of Mimika Comm. Mada Indra Laksanta told reporters that police faced difficulties in identifying the victims as they were totally burned with their car. (Uu.O001/H-NG)

17 dead in Papua campaign clash

Jakarta Post - August 1, 2011

Jakarta – Seventeen people were killed and dozens injured when the supporters of rival candidates in a local regent election clashed throughout Saturday and Sunday in Ilaga district in Puncak Jaya regency, Papua.

The groups attacked each other outside the local legislative council building starting on Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m., using a variety of weapons, including rocks and bows and arrows, according to police. Several nearby houses and cars were set on fire during the continuing mayhem.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono confirmed the number of people slain in the violence, saying on Sunday that police officers had been deployed to site to stop the fighting and evacuate the dead.

"The incident took place in front of the local legislative council building. The 17 victims died after being struck by arrows and stones," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Wachyono said that after much hard work the police had finally restored order in Ilaga district as of Sunday, although as of Sunday evening 14 officers from the local Mobile Brigade unit were seen securing the local General Elections Commission's (KPUD) office and the Papua Police headquarters.

"The situation is under control. If the weather is good, a platoon of Mobile Brigade officers will be deployed on Monday," Wahjono said as quoted by kompas.com news portal on Sunday.

The violence erupted after the local KPUD rejected a clarification request from one of the candidates, Simon Alom. Simon asked the local KPUD to clarify why his candidacy for the Puncak Jaya regent's election was rejected after one of the parties backing his bid withdrew its support.

The situation grew heated as Simon's supporters immediately attacked the supporters of his rival in the regency race, Elvis Tabuli, after exchanging insults. Thirteen of the dead were Simon supporters, while the other four victims backed Elvis Tabuli, according to Antara news agency.

Freedom of expression & press

Ministry locks journalists out of jail

Jakarta Globe - August 6, 2011

The latest regulation by the Justice and Human Right's Ministry which bans journalists from entering prisons has come under scrutiny from the Press Council.

The Ministry's Directorate General of Corrections released an official statement which said all prison inmates were not allowed to be interviewed by the media. In addition the media were banned from entering prisons because the ministry claimed it would disturb the inmates and jeopardize security.

The head of the Press Council's ethics commission, Agus Sudibyo, raised the question on Saturday, "Why is the ban only applicable to journalists?"

The reason given by Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar on Friday, was the constant press presence could be "disturbing to the officials' activities within the penitentiary." In addition Patrialis said news related to a case which involved an inmate had the potential to hamper the case investigation.

"If a journalist plans to visit a penitentiary, he or she will have to seek permission from the directorate general of correction," Patrialis said, rejecting an allegation that the latest regulation is to avoid negative publication about the condition behind bars.

"It is for everybody's comfort, including the comfort of the officers who work in penitentiaries," he said.

Last October, media watchdogs condemned the Justice and Human Rights Ministry for reportedly ordering private TV station SCTV to drop a sensitive broadcast.

The documentary program titled "The Sex Business Behind Prison Bars," was pulled off air at the last minute by SCTV management. Patrialis Akbar denied his involvement and told the Press Council he had no problem with SCTV putting the program on air.

But chief editor of SCTV newsroom Don Bosco Selamun, said Patrialis's denial was in stark contrast to the experience of the SCTV crew. He said the crew involved with the documentary had been subjected to "continuous intimidation" and demands that the program be scrapped.

Press council asks police to find people who attacked journalist

Jakarta Post - August 2, 2011

Press council chief Bagir Manan asked the police to pay serious attention to investigating the assault of a Tempo TV journalist last week.

"The police should not hesitate in investigating the case. We will fully back them up on this," Bagir said on Tuesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Tempo TV program manager Nur Hidayat, however, asked the council to press the police on the matter, as he claimed that he had not seen serious indications that the police were serious in pursuing the investigation.

"The police had earlier stated that nothing happened to our reporter. They said she fell while trying to shoot a few final pictures," Hidayat said. Bagir said this explanation was unacceptable because evidence showed that she had been beaten about the back.

Tempo TV journalist Syarifah Nur Aida was found unconscious last week while she was shooting footage at the location of a dispute between local residents and the Air Force near the Atang Senjaya Air Base in Bogor, West Java. Syarifah was rushed to the hospital by her colleagues.

Political parties & elections

Sri Mulyani supporters mobilize

Jakarta Globe - August 4, 2011

Arientha Primanita – A new political party bent on putting former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati forward for the presidency in 2014 officially registered itself with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry on Wednesday.

"Our purpose is for us to be able to join the 2014 general elections," said Damianus Taufan, chairman of the new party, known as the Independent People's Union (SRI). "If we pass the verification process, then we can propose our own [presidential] candidate, that being Sri Mulyani."

More than 100 party members arrived at the ministry to register on Wednesday, waving orange flags bearing Sri Mulyani's face and a stylized hand holding a sapu lidi, a broom made of the stiff midribs of coconut leaves, which is said to symbolize the party's aim of cleaning up the country's politics.

Damianus said the party was established on May 2 with Sri Mulyani as its "central aspiration" and based on the Indonesian People's Solidarity for Justice (SMI-Keadilan) movement.

"We didn't make a special approach toward Ibu Sri about this party, but she knows about our activities and the establishment of the party," he said. "Hopefully, when she finishes her contract with the World Bank, she will join us."

Taking part in the registration were several public figures, including Arbi Sanit, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia; Fikri Jufri, a veteran journalist; Todung Mulya Lubis, a human rights lawyer; and Rocky Gerung, a University of Indonesia philosophy lecturer.

Arbi said he felt obliged to violate a personal pledge never to join a political party because he firmly believed Sri Mulyani would be the best person to lead the country.

"All this time, I have always said that my principle was not to join any party," he told the Jakarta Globe. "But it is because of this party that I have sacrificed that principle."

Sri Mulyani holds a degree in economics from the University of Indonesia and has a master's degree and doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois.

The 59-year-old has served as a consultant with the US Agency for International Development and an executive director at the International Monetary Fund before she joined President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first cabinet as finance minister in 2005. She became coordinating minister for the economy in 2008 but resigned in 2010 to join the World Bank as managing director.

Sri Mulyani has built herself a reputation for being an ardent reformist and administrator of the highest integrity.

She left for the World Bank shortly after she came under attack from lawmakers, particularly from the Golkar Party, who accused her of breaking the law when she approved the bailout of Bank Century in 2008.

Damianus said he was optimistic the party would be successfully registered, saying it already had 2,000 members and the required representation in all 33 provinces across the country.

Sucipto, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry, said that the verification process would be carried out by teams from the Directorate General for General Legal Administration. "All the verification procedures will be based the Electoral Law," he said.

Sucipto said SRI was the ninth party to be registered with the ministry since the 2011 Electoral Law was passed earlier this year. Other new parties include the NasDem Party, National Republican Party and National United Party.

With new SRI Party, hope remains for Sri Mulyani to be president

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2011

Jakarta – The Union of Independent People (SRI) Party, which plans to nominate former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati in the 2014 presidential election, will register itself on Wednesday at the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Arbi Sanit, one of the founders of the party, said SRI executives would arrive at the Law and Human Rights Ministry in Jakarta at around 2 p.m. "We will officially register the party today," Arbi said Wednesday morning, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that the party already had representative offices in each of Indonesia's 33 provinces. "We also have taken an informal approach to Sri Mulyani. I think Sri has no objection to us using her name for the party," Arbi said.

He said the party had received no foreign funds and had relied on its members' contributions. "I don't know whether Sri Mulyani will contribute or not," Arbi said.

Arbi said the party would nominate and support Sri Mulyani, presently a World Bank managing director, to become the next Indonesian president.

The party says it believes in Sri Mulyani's managerial ability to run the country, despite calls from her critics for her to be punished for her role in the Bank Century bailout in 2009. "[The Bank] Century [bailout] is a political case," Arbi said.

Mulyani served as finance minister when the government was found to have spent Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million), around 10 times the estimated amount, to save the then ailing Bank Century, which has now been renamed Bank Mutiara.

Activist Pong Harjatmo wants people-power over political parties

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2011

Ronna Nirmala – A veteran actor-cum-activist famous for painting protest slogans on the roof of the legislature appeared at the Constitutional Court on Wednesday seeking to wrest the power to dissolve political parties from the government's hands.

Pong Hardjatmo, a constant presence in Indonesian films since the 1970s, asked for a judicial review of a Constitutional Court article that says that the government alone has the power to disband political parties.

"It is the people who vote for a political party but after the party wins, why do the people seem to lose the right to control them?" Pong told the court. "What if the government in power currently comes from a troubled political party? Then it will be less likely for the government to disband his own party."

Pong and his associates' legal representative, Wakil Kamal, said that the public should have a role in judging if a political party is detrimental to the country. The court said it would examine the request for review.

Pong, 68, made headlines last year after he climbed onto the roof of the House of Representatives' building in Jakarta and spray painted it in a protest against the government's lack of democratic progress.

The actor said his actions were based on his disappointment with the House and the government. A month later, he held a solo protest in front of the Presidential Palace to throw the spotlight on the government's lack of efficacy in stemming the wave of gas explosions throughout Indonesia.

Aburizal Bakrie the next president? Golkar seems to think so

Jakarta Globe - August 2, 2011

Tycoon and politician Aburizal Bakrie is one of the candidates being prepped by Golkar Party to contest the presidential electionin 2014.

"We have prepared the five best figures to be the presidential candidates," Lili Asdjudireja, a senior Golkar politician, said on Tuesday.

Besides Bakrie, the other four candidates are former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Golkar's advisory board chairman Akbar Tandjung, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad. One final candidate will be chosen through a nationwide survey.

According to Lili, each figure has the potential to be a strong presidential candidate. "Jusuf Kalla, for example, has extensive political experience while Aburizal Bakrie is experienced in business, government institutions and is a visionary," Lili said.

In June, Golkar secretary general Idrus Marham announced his resignation from the House of Representatives to help Aburizal prepare for the election.

Aburizal, he said, was the candidate with the best chance. "Ideally, the party chairman [would be the best] candidate, but we need to check this against internal surveys being carried out by the party," Idrus said at the time.

"During the past year, his [electability] has been on an upward trend, so we hope that within one to two years that trend will rise further."

Golkar had conducted two surveys in 2010 and the results each time showed Aburizal was the clear favorite among voters. (Antara, JG)

Golkar to members: Make up your mind on NasDem

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2011

Anita Rachman – Pick a side and stick with it, the Golkar Party has demanded of its members with one foot in the camp of the newly declared NasDem Party.

Idrus Marham, the Golkar secretary general, said on Sunday that the party was serious about the ultimatum and would not extend the Aug. 11 deadline it had previously imposed for members to make up their minds.

However, he denied that the call signalled growing concerns in the Golkar ranks about the threat that NasDem – which registered as a party earlier this year but was only formally declared last Tuesday – posed to the grand old party of Indonesian politics.

"NasDem is not at all a threat to us," Idrus said. "We just want to give them a political lesson that it takes honesty [to set up a political party]. How can they [claim to] work for some higher ideologies when they can't even put their party together honestly?"

The NasDem Party boasts several Golkar members in its ranks, largely through its loose affiliation with the National Democrats social organization, commonly known as Nasdem.

Nasdem, the group, is chaired by Surya Paloh, a media mogul and senior Golkar member who set up the organization after losing the Golkar chairmanship to tycoon Aburizal Bakrie in 2009.

Although Surya is not registered as a member of NasDem the party, Sugeng Suparwoto, the NasDem deputy chairman, said he was among those bankrolling the party.

Several Golkar members are registered members of the Nasdem organization, including Ferry Mursidan Baldan, Jeffrie Geovanie and Syamsul Muarif.

Ferry, previously a Golkar associate chairman, is now a member of the Nasdem executive board, while Jeffrie, a Golkar legislator, heads the Nasdem's Jakarta chapter. Syamsul is a former secretary general of Golkar and now secretary general of the Nasdem group.

Although NasDem Party officials have insisted their group is a separate entity altogether from the social organization, Idrus said it was important for all Golkar members, including Surya, to dissociate themselves from both if they wanted to retain their Golkar membership.

"For us, both are the same," he said. "It's the time [for NasDem] to show honest and more gentlemanly politics. They shouldn't manipulate their formal standing [as a separate entity]."

At the NasDem declaration ceremony, however, party chairman Patrice Rio Capella said NasDem did not fear losing some of its active members to other political parties, including Golkar. "We don't worry about that," he said. "But I don't know if Golkar is worrying about it."

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that although the NasDem Party still needed to work on a lot of things, it was not impossible for the new party to pose a threat to Golkar.

He said that given its massive campaigns, "it's not impossible that people will turn to them [in the next elections]."

He added that the Golkar members now active with Nasdem, the organization, were those who failed to gain a bigger role for themselves in Golkar after the 2009 caucus. Ikrar said these members were now calculating their chances for advancement with both Golkar and NasDem, and would go with the party that offered them the best future prospects.

For voters in general, Ikrar continued, the advent of NasDem provided an exciting alternative to established parties like Golkar. The critical point for NasDem now, he said, might be its effort to find a national figurehead through which it could garner nationwide attention.

"Because when people look at Golkar and Aburizal, they still link the man to the Lapindo mudflow disaster and alleged tax fraud," Ikrar said, referring to scandals that have tainted the Golkar chairman's reputation in recent years.

Andrinof Chaniago, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia, said that NasDem would have to contend for votes not just with Golkar but also the ruling Democratic Party and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura).

"It's normal for Golkar to issue this warning because they share the same target voters," he said. However, he said it should not be read as a sign of concern: "Golkar's just concerned about the ethics" of NasDem recruiting new members through the social organization, he said.

Politicking aside, Andrinof said he believed that NasDem stood to do well among the nationalist voters it was targeting. The outcome, he said, would depend on how well the party worked and who it pushed as its national figurehead.

Sugeng said the party would continue building up its voter base and finding the best members to fill key positions in the party. He also stressed that the NasDem party would do fine even if Golkar members withdrew from either the party or the social organization.

"Even Surya would let them leave if they had to," he said. But he emphasized that the party and the social organizations were two different entities, with the latter not allowed to take part in political activities.

Labour & migrant workers

Ministry warns companies to pay Lebaran bonuses on time

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2011

Dessy Sagita – The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry said on Sunday that it had warned companies about paying this year's Lebaran bonus on time, and invited the public to report those that failed to comply.

"We have sent out circulars stating that the bonus must be paid before the holiday, and I hope companies will not violate the regulation," said Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, according to state news agency Antara.

Suhartono, a ministry spokesman, said the circular reminded employers that they were required to pay the bonus at least a week before Idul Fitri, which falls on Aug. 30 and 31 this year.

A 1994 ministerial decree on holiday bonuses states that employees who have been with a company for at least a year are entitled to receive a bonus equivalent to one month's salary. Those who have been with a company for more than three months but less than a year are entitled to a pro-rated bonus based on their length of employment.

A 1969 law also states that if a company fails to pay holiday bonuses it can be fined Rp 100,000 ($12) and its owners detained for up to three months.

"We have notified our offices across the country to monitor how the bonuses are given out, to make sure that every company complies with the regulation and that all employees receive what is rightfully theirs," Suhartono said.

According to the ministry, employees who fail to receive their bonus on time can file a complaint against their employers. Muhaimin said companies experiencing financial difficulties could also plead their case to the ministry and be given dispensation to postpone the bonus.

But Suhartono clarified that there must be a clear agreement between the company and its workers on when the bonus would be paid. "And if any companies still refuse to fulfill their obligations even after discussions with their workers, we will bring them to court," he said.

The Ramadan bonus regulation does not apply to civil servants who receive a 13th month salary annually.

Sulistri, from the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Unions (KSBSI), said that despite the ministerial decree, many workers would not receive a Ramadan bonus because they were not permanent employees.

"These people's contracts are only for three to six months, and they were intentionally designed to end before Idul Fitri so the companies wouldn't have to pay the Ramadan bonus," she said.

Sulistri said the 2003 Labor Law stated that a worker's contract should last for at least 12 months. However, she said, a lack of government monitoring meant companies could ignore the regulation with little fear of being caught.

She also said the Ramadan or any other holiday bonus should be paid at least two weeks before the holiday, not a week, as instructed by the ministry.

"A week before Idul Fitri, or any other holiday, prices have already soared. Many people won't be able to afford tickets to their hometown a week before the holiday," she said.

The government needs to hire competent staff to monitor companies and ensure they comply with all employment regulations, including those dealing with holiday bonuses, she said.

Central government should be 'ashamed' as province moves to protect maids

Jakarta Globe - August 4, 2011

Makassar – The South Sulawesi provincial government is drafting a law to ensure that maids receive a minimum wage and have the right to at least one day off a week.

The move comes as Indonesia seeks better working conditions for maids working overseas, despite failing to have national legislation in place to protect the often exploited workers.

Adil Patu, the head of the team that initiated drafting the local law, said the draft legislation was finished and was awaiting approval by a special committee. "The bylaw will give housemaids the right to take one day off every week," Adil said in Makassar.

The law also regulated working hours and sanctions for employers who violated the legislation, he told state news agency Antara on Tuesday.

Adil, from the minor United Democratic Nationhood Party (PPDK), said that according to the law, a housemaid would be paid a minimum salary of Rp 1 million ($118) per month, which is similar to South Sulawesi's minimum provincial wage (UMP).

"There are hardly any laws that protect housemaids even though they are often exploited and intimidated. That is why we feel compelled to protect them by enacting the bylaw," Adil said. "A maid's job has to be clarified. If she has to cook and clean, don't ask her to wash the car as well," he said.

The initiative was applauded by the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT). Jala PRT spokeswoman Umi Farida told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that the central government should be "ashamed" that South Sulawesi had demonstrated more concern for domestic workers than it had.

"This is a blow to the central government because in the provinces, municipal governments and regional councils are really trying hard to help the poor and give them their rights," Umi said. "The central government is busy with political issues that do not have any effects on the poor. They should be ashamed of themselves."

Umi said the House of Representatives (DPR) has been discussing a bill to protect domestic workers since 2004 but it had never been passed into law.

"This is a challenge for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to finish his homework because after more than one period of his leadership, no light has been shed on the government's commitment toward housemaids," Umi said. (Antara, JG)

Environment & natural disasters

Green activists reject Kalimantan railway project

Jakarta Post - August 7, 2011

Jakarta – Following Central Kalimantan Governor Agustin Teras Narang, green activists voiced on Sunday their rejection of the government's plan to build a 135-kilometer railway connecting Central and East Kalimantan.

The railway construction is planned to be funded by Russian interests, which have agreed to invest US$2.5 billion in the project aimed at supporting coal distribution.

The director of the Central Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), Arie Rompas, said Sunday in Palangkaraya the project could harm not only the environment, as the railway would pass through protected forest areas, but also the safety of people living alongside the Barito and Mahakam rivers.

"The areas that the railway will pass through are catchment areas, so we fear that the infrastructure could destroy the environment," Arie said, as quoted by kompas.com.

Arie asked the government to review the plan. Save Our Borneo director Nordin expressed his concerns over the impacts of coal mining activities in general and the affects the railway might have upon the environment.

Hazy solutions in struggle to stop people burning Indonesia's forests

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2011

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – A lack of law enforcement is the main factor in Indonesia's failure to stop slash-and-burn clearing of forests, which causes haze, analysts said on Sunday.

"If you're talking about forest fires in this country, then the main issue is law enforcement," said Sudarsono, a forestry expert from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB).

"People and companies continue to burn forests because it's a cheap [method of clearing]. Meanwhile, we don't hear anything about regulations being enforced," he said. "So as long as they're never enforced, people will keep on burning the forests."

On Saturday night, thick smog blanketed the city of Dumai in Riau province again, according to Antara news agency. "This often happens [in Dumai]," Ruli, a fish seller, was quoted as saying. "In July alone, we've had six days when the city was covered in thick smog."

Sanya Gautami, an analyst at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Riau, said satellite imagery from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had detected at least five hot spots in Sumatra.

Since the 1990s, Indonesia has been criticized internationally for the large amount of smoke it generates in the forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan. The resulting haze sometimes spreads to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand and is estimated to cause $9 billion in losses to tourism, transportation and agriculture across the region each year.

An agreement among Southeast Asian nations was drawn up in 2002 to tackle haze, and Indonesia is the only nation that has not yet ratified it. Sudarsono said more measures such as heavy fines were urgently needed to discourage slash-and-burn clearing, which is responsible for much of the haze.

"Alternatively, we could set up an incentive program for people to change their land management practices," he said. This, he added, could involve providing more subsidized fertilizer to help farmers boost productivity without clearing more land.

"There are regulations banning open burning, but people won't automatically follow the rules without any law enforcement," he said.

He cited forest fires believed to have been set to make room for palm oil plantations in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, where no actions were ever taken against the companies by the authorities.

"You can see from the satellite images where these hot spots are," Sudarsono said. "It's all good to have data for hot spots, but the real question is what happens next?"

He also criticized current measures for handling forest fires as ineffective, noting that the government paid year-round salaries for firefighters who only worked in the dry season.

"If they already know that fires are expected to occur during this period, they should just focus on those months and hire as many people as they can rather than allocate a fixed budget to pay people who work for only two months each year," he said.

Dedi Hariri, forest fire coordinator at WWF Indonesia, blamed the lack of coordination between the different authorities. He said forest fires were handled by three separate entities: the Forestry Ministry, the Environment Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry.

"There are plenty of coordination meetings on this issue, but we don't really how they translate in the field," he said.

Activists take legal action over Newmont waste

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2011

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – A coalition of environmental groups said on Sunday that they had filed a suit against the Environment Ministry for renewing the waste-dumping permit for the operator of a major gold mine in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara.

The permit for Newmont Nusa Tenggara, the local unit of US mining giant Newmont Mining, to dump tailings from its Batu Hijau gold and copper mine into the sea was renewed on May 5. Environmentalists said the decision ignored the concerns of the local community about the damage to the marine ecosystem.

"We filed a lawsuit with the Jakarta State Administrative Court on Friday demanding it scrap the decision to extend Newmont's tailing permit, because we consider all waste-dumping activities in the sea to be dangerous," Jumi Rahayu, policy and legal advocacy manager for the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said on Sunday.

"Not to mention there was little participation from the local people in making this decision."

Walhi, along with the Fisheries Justice Coalition (Kiara), Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) and People's Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Masyarakat), said the ministry had neglected "principles of caution" about the damage resulting from the dumping.

The groups, under the Restore Indonesia Coalition, also said the ministry had ignored the West Sumbawa administration's opposition to the dumping in Buyat Bay.

Newmont's new five-year permit allows the miner to dump up to 51 million tons of waste into the sea annually, the same as in its last permit. The miner could increase that to 54 million tons, on condition that it first reported it to the ministry. The company is also obliged to test local water sources and communities for signs of exposure to toxins.

Jumi said allowing Newmont to dump waste into the sea contradicted the government's wider marine pollution policy, including ongoing efforts to seek damages from an Australian-based company responsible for an oil spill in the Timor Sea.

"We're taking the oil spill very seriously, yet we're still allowing the dumping of waste into the sea in our own country," he said. "If we're working on the principle that the sea should not be a dumping ground, then we shouldn't be throwing anything there."

Sudariyono, deputy for environmental compliance at the ministry, said the decision to renew Newmont's permit complied with prevailing regulations.

"In principle, there are no specific laws about tailing permits," he said. "There are still no derivative regulations on it from the 2009 Environmental Protection and Management Law, so we're going by the 1999 government regulation on ocean pollution damage control, which allows tailing permits to be issued by the environment minister."

Sudariyono also denied that local communities had been left out of the decision-making process. He said the ministry had worked with provincial and district authorities to review Newmont's request to renew its waste- dumping permit.

Health & education

Indonesia youths show poor reading performance

Jakarta Post - August 3, 2011

Jakarta – Indonesian youths scored poorly compared to their peers around the world in a reading test conducted by the Organization for Economic, Cooperation, and Development (OECD), whose results were announced Tuesday.

The OECD held a test, called the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), for more than 500,000 students aged 15-years-old, representing 74 education systems from countries that together make up 86 percent of the world's economy.

The results showed that the average performance of Indonesian teens was far below most OECD countries.

"Indonesia is in the red area," Ian Whitman, head of the OECD Program for Cooperation with Non-member Economies Directorate for Education, told House Commission X legislators on Tuesday, during a presentation of the study conducted in 2009.

He added that seven other countries performed below Indonesia. Countries with high reading performance included the Netherlands and Singapore. "Shanghai in China is number one," he added.

Funding delays force schools to take loans

Jakarta Post - August 2, 2011

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – The delays schools have endured in receiving School Operational Assistance (BOS) funds that were prompted by changes in funding mechanisms have pushed schools to take out loans to stay open, a study by the World Bank revealed on Tuesday.

BOS funds were previously channeled directly to schools from the Finance Ministry through the provincial education office. However, under the new mechanism that was introduced in 2011, the Finance Ministry must channel funds through the district finance office and then the district education office.

According to World Bank Indonesia Operations Officer Nur Hidayat, the impact of the disbursement delays includes a lack of predictable funds to finance school operational expenditures needed for learning activities.

The delays also caused administrative staff and temporary teachers to be let go. "There have been cuts and suspensions of extracurricular activities as well," he said during a meeting with legislators.

He added that schools were forced to take out loans to continue operating, with five schools resorting to loan sharks and 18 schools borrowing from student savings to finance their activities. "We cannot tell what the effect borrowing will have on the schools," he said.

Desperate, sick Indonesians use railroad 'therapy'

Associated Press - August 2, 2011

Michael Holtz, Jakarta, Indonesia – Ignoring the red-and-white danger sign, Sri Mulyati walks slowly to the train tracks outside Indonesia's bustling capital, lies down and stretches her body across the rails.

Like the nearly dozen others lined up along the track, the 50-year-old diabetes patient has all but given up on doctors and can't afford the expensive medicines they prescribe. In her mind, she has only one option left: electric therapy.

"I'll keep doing this until I'm completely cured," said Mulyati, twitching visibly as an oncoming passenger train sends an extra rush of current racing through her body.

She leaps from tracks as it approaches and then, after the last carriage rattles slowly by, climbs back into position.

Pseudo-medical treatments are wildly popular in many parts of Asia – where rumors about those miraculously cured after touching a magic stone or eating dung from sacred cows can attract hundreds, sometimes thousands.

That may be especially true in Indonesia, where chronic funding shortages and chaotic decentralization efforts since the 1998 ouster of longtime dictator Suharto have left many disillusioned with the state-sponsored health system, said Marius Widjajarta, chairman of the Indonesian Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation.

Medical experts say there is no evidence lying on the rails does any good. But Mulyati insists it provides more relief for her symptoms – high-blood pressure, sleeplessness and high cholesterol – than any doctor has since she was first diagnosed with diabetes 13 years ago.

She turned to train track therapy last year after hearing a rumor about an ethnic Chinese man who was partially paralyzed by a stroke going to the tracks to kill himself, but instead finding himself cured. It's a story that's been told and retold in Indonesia.

Until recently, more than 50 people would show up at the Rawa Buaya tracks every day. But the numbers have dropped since police and the state-run railroad company erected a warning sign and threatened penalties of up to three months in prison or fines of $1,800.

No one has been arrested yet, and none of the participants in train track therapy has died. But the dedicated dozen a day who still come say they have no plans to stop.

"They told us not to do it anymore, but what else can I do," said Hadi Winoto, a 50-year-old stroke victim who has trouble walking. "I want to be cured, so I have to come back."

Schools charge extra expenses for students despite government subsidy

Jakarta Post - August 1, 2011

Jakarta – A study by the National Education Ministry shows many schools throughout the nation are still charging students with various obscure expenses.

Education Minister Muhammad Nuh reported Monday that his ministry had monitored 1,289 schools, including elementary, junior high and high schools in 33 provinces and 84 regencies and cities from July 18 to July 22, 2011 and found that most schools still charged students for additional expenses.

"The expenses covered uniforms, books, building development or maintenance, registration administration, compulsory educational contributions (SPP), extra curricula money, laboratory upkeep, the orientation period and payments for tests," Nuh told reporters here on Monday.

He said the first two (uniform and books) were still acceptable, while the remaining charges, especially the SPP, were strictly prohibited. Nuh said he would therefore use the survey results to create new policies so that schools did not arbitrarily determine expenses charged to its students. "I will formulate a new policy within the week," Nuh said.

The government has mandated a compulsory nine-year education for all Indonesians and has also supported the school operational assistance (BOS) program – government aid distributed to subsidize the operational costs of schools so students do not have to pay the SPP for the elementary and junior high school levels.

The government raised the education budget by almost Rp 14.5 trillion (US$1.6 billion) in its proposed revision to the 2011 state budget - excluding Rp 2 trillion allocated for the National Education Development Fund – to more than Rp 262 trillion in total.

Women & gender

Abused women trapped by family bonds

Jakarta Post - August 3, 2011

Jakarta – Most cases of violence against women take place within the victim's home, and are committed by a close relative, making it socially complicated for the victim to make a report.

"We still have a lot of homework to do [in dealing with violence against women]," Deputy Women's Empowerment Minister Syafrudin Setia Budi said Monday. "The real number of violence cases against women could be higher than we know because not all of the victims report the assaults," he said.

He said more Indonesian women were reporting abuse cases now than over the past few years, but law enforcers were slow at investigating the cases.

The National Commission on Violence against Women reported that there were 105,103 violence cases last year. More than 98,000 cases, or 97 percent of the total, involved domestic violence against wives.

The ministry provided legal assistance in 3,326 cases, health assistance in 5,994 cases and social rehabilitation in 1,352 cases, meaning it provided some kind of assistance in less than 10 percent of the total recorded cases.

"Once we have encouraged the women to report the abuse, we should show our commitment in dealing with it," Syafrudin said.

To boost cooperation to protect women from domestic violence, the ministry has actively signed several agreements with other state institutions. Last Friday, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding on gender mainstreaming and improvement of gender-based services with the National Police.

Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari said that she hoped the police would provide more intensive legal assistance for abused women and children.

"I highly appreciate what the police have done. However, we are still facing many challenges because violence against women is still rampant," she said.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said his institution took cases of violence against women and children seriously. "We will follow up on the reports on domestic violence and child abuse," he said.

Timur said that his institution had supported protection for women and children by establishing women and children's assistance centers in district police offices in Indonesia. "Now we have 306 assistance centers throughout the country. We hope there will be many more in the upcoming years," he said.

He said the police institution had also tried to "create a comfortable atmosphere for women and children". "Most officers serving in the women and children units are women. I believe women feel more comfortable talking with women," he said.

The ministry reported last year that more than 60 percent of the victims were jobless women. It said that abused women who did not have financial freedom tended to express their desperation to their children.

A survey conducted by the National Commission for Child Protection showed that 70 percent of those that abused children were mothers who had been abused by their husbands.

"The powerless mother often becomes depressive and abusive to her children," said Arist Merdeka Sirait, the commission chairman. "It's like a circle: poverty, depressed mother and then child abuse. If we want to eradicate child abuse, first of all we should liberate the mothers from all oppression and abuse," he said. (lfr)

Disability discrimination

Disabled passengers fight for discrimination-free travel

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2011

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – Eight months have passed, but the words remain as clear as ever in Rina Prasarani's head.

"If something happens to you, we will not be responsible," a Lion Air flight attendant told Rina on a flight from Jakarta to Denpasar in December, as the crew forced her to sign a statement relieving them of any liability because she is blind.

"For me, those words were a threat. It seemed as though they were willing something bad to happen," said Rina, who lost her sight as a child because of retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative retinal disease. "It is inappropriate for an airline to say something like that. They are in the service business after all."

The event prompted what has now become a battle to end discrimination against people with disabilities in the transportation industry. Rina soon made contact with other disabled people, and found that her experience was hardly an isolated case.

Despite regulations and government pledges, she said, people with disabilities are treated like second-class citizens – and not just by airlines.

"There should be officers standing by to guide disabled people, even to the check-in counter," Rina said. "I once tried to board a plane without any assistance. I ended up stumbling into other people, and when I reached the check-in counter, I could sense that people were staring at me. I felt embarrassed."

Saharudin Daming, from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the entire aviation industry was guilty of ignoring the basic rights of people living with disabilities.

"Even though there are signs of improvement, efforts have been minimal," he said. "At airports, for example, accessibility [for disabled people] is judged only on the number of wheelchairs provided, which is not supposed to be the only measurement. There are already toilets specifically for disabled people, but the main problem at airports is service from the entrance to the exit."

While wheelchairs are at times provided, he said, many people still end up having to be carried because of a lack of ramps in airports.

"Airlines, meanwhile, mainly discriminate in the service provided by their staff," he said. "They don't have any knowledge about how to treat people with special needs. There is a culture of treating them like a nuisance, which has resulted in unethical behavior, such as lying to get them to sign an illness statement."

Last week, Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi, said the 2009 Transportation Law mandated special treatment for people with special needs. He called on all transportation operators, especially airlines, to implement the law.

"Disabled people are not ill. They are just the same as us," he said. "However, they have some limited abilities and need special attention. They don't need to be pitied, but have equal rights and obligations. To fulfill those, we need to provide a service that accommodates their needs."

Freddy suggested airlines allocate special seats for disabled people. "There should be special seating for disabled people so they don't have to sit far from the exits. Whether there are disabled passengers or not, those seats should be available only for them," he said.

Rina said that people with disabilities were also being discriminated against in terms of access to information. She said there was little quality audio instruction at the airport or on planes.

"Instructions should be more descriptive," Rina said. "For instance, if they're talking about life jackets, then they should guide our hands to feel it. Or when pointing out the toilet, don't say 'the toilet is over there,' but rather 'the toilet is three seats behind you.'?"

"[Airport officials] are supposed to provide warnings on the floor like the ones in malls or hospitals," she said. "We can feel different textures with our feet signaling that we are approaching stairs, poles or intersections."

Rina's struggle has paved the way for some reform in the industry. Lion Air said that it no longer forced people with disabilities to sign statements, and Sriwijaya Air recently pioneered the use of Braille in its in flight safety information.

Toto Nursatyo, commercial director of Sriwijaya Air, said facilities for disabled people were not new. "We have established procedures to assist [disabled people]," he said. "We have already allocated seats two rows after the doors. However, if there are no disabled people aboard the plane then we sell the seats to others."

For Rina, however, a change in attitude is more important than just making facilities available. "Whether we mention that we are disabled or not, those chairs need to be available," she said.

"I still feel very optimistic that things will change, as long as decision makers and trainers are willing to change their perspectives, too," she said. "These days, a civilized company with a high profile knows that how it treats its customers will have an effect on profits."

Graft & corruption

Indonesians' trust in KPK drops: Survey

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2011

Ulma Hariyanto – Increasing numbers of Indonesians do not trust the once respected Corruption Eradication Commission, a new poll has revealed.

Adjie Alfaraby, a senior researcher for the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI), said the survey showed that only 41.6 percent of 1,200 people surveyed believed the commission, known as the KPK, was truly independent.

A similar poll conducted in 2005 showed that almost 60 percent of those surveyed believed the KPK was free of undue influence.

Part of the survey, which included in-depth interviews with academics and public figures based in the provinces, was conducted before the scandal involving former Democratic Party lawmaker Muhammad Nazaruddin broke.

Nazaruddin, a corruption fugitive who has fled Indonesia, has implicated the agency's deputy chairman for graft enforcement, Chandra Hamzah; chief of graft investigation and prosecution, Insp. Gen. Ade Raharja; and spokesman, Johan Budi, in a high-profiled corruption scandal.

Nazaruddin has alleged that the three met Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum to secure political backing for their bids for the top KPK posts. In return, the former Democratic Party treasurer said, the KPK would overlook Anas's alleged role in a graft scandal surrounding the construction of an athletes' village for November's Southeast Asian Games. Nazaruddin has been named a suspect for his role in the case.

Activists turn up heat on would-be KPK heads

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – As the screening process for senior leadership posts at the Corruption Eradication Commission draws to a close, the remaining candidates are finding themselves under fierce public scrutiny.

Even human rights lawyer Bambang Widjojanto, widely considered a front- runner for one of the four commissioner posts, could not escape criticism on Tuesday.

Bambang came under attack from a group claiming to represent the Trisakti University forum of employees and alumni, which presented a report to the selection committee.

"It is our view that Bambang is not the right person to sit as one of the leaders at the KPK because he has defended a corrupt person in the past," Dedy Arianto, a member of the group, said on Tuesday, referring to the commission by its abbreviation.

Central to the group's complaint was a dispute between the Trisakti Foundation and Thoby Mutis, the rector of the university, in which Bambang acted as Thoby's lawyer.

The dispute began in 2002 when Thoby changed the university statute, revoking the managing rights of the foundation and allowing him to stay on as rector beyond his appointed term.

The foundation lost its case against Thoby in 2003 at the district court level, but the Supreme Court overturned the first ruling and declared Thoby's leadership illegal. "As a person with integrity, Bambang should not defend a corrupt personality like Thoby," Dedy said.

Bambang is one of 17 remaining candidates for the four KPK commissioner posts. The 17 hopefuls are scheduled to undergo a series of psychological tests and interviews over the next couple of weeks before the selection committee narrows down the list to eight.

Another of the remaining candidates, prosecutor Sutan Bagindo Fachmi, also came under fire on Tuesday.

Donal Fariz, from Indonesia Corruption Watch, said Sutan was the lead prosecutor in an illegal logging case against North Sumatra businessman Adelin Lis. Donal said ICW was concerned that Sutan had allowed Adelin to flee the country while his legal case was still pending.

Donal added that Sutan failed to bring charges against Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the son of former President Suharto, in a controversial land-swap case involving the State Logistics Agency, Bulog.

"We only view a few candidates as being acceptable: Bambang Widjojanto, Yunus Husein, and Abdullah Hehamahua," Donal said. "We haven't found any names from the police and prosecutor's office that are satisfactory."

Yunus is the chairman of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) and Abdullah Hehamahua is an advisor to the KPK.

Separately, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar announced on Tuesday that his office was conducting psychological tests on the candidates.

"Today we are conducting a profile assessment using an internationally licensed consultant, Dunamis. The assessment will be in written and interview form," Patrialis said, adding that results would be announced to the public on Friday.

"We are scheduled to report the eight names to the president on August 18 and have the four inaugurated by December 19," he said.

Amid criticism, KPK reshuffles ethics board

Jakarta Post - August 2, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Amid credibility questions, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) appointed a Muslim scholar and a seasoned lawyer to probe four of its top leaders accused of ethics violations.

"We are here to answer public criticism on the composition of the ethics board. We have decided to add two more members from outside the commission: 'Buya' Ahmad Syafii Ma'arif and Nono Anwar Makarim," KPK adviser and ethics board chief Abdullah Hehamahua told reporters on Monday.

Ma'arif was previously chairman of Muhammadiyah, the Muslim social group known for promoting pluralism in Indonesia, and part of a group of religious leaders who issued a public critique of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration. Nono is a noted lawyer and a former advisor to the KPK's selection team.

The pair replaced KPK chief Busyro Muqoddas and deputy chief Haryono Umar, who resigned from the ethics board after fugitive graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin alleged that they conspired with him to manipulate his case.

"Busyro and Haryono quit the team to give the board to include more outsiders as members," Abdullah said. "The new board still has seven members, but the structure has changed to include four outsiders and three KPK officials." The board was previously comprised of two independent scholars and five KPK officials, including the commission's leaders and advisers.

KPK deputy chief Bibit Samad Riyanto, along with Abdullah and adviser Said Zainal Abidin, remain on the board, along with two external representatives: University of Indonesia professor Mardjono Reksodiputro and former KPK leader, Sjahruddin Rasul.

Said added that the move was made to maintain the KPK's independence amid critics who said that a majority of the ethics board should be externally appointed.

The antigraft body is now under scrutiny following allegations that its leaders engaged in graft. Nazaruddin, a former Democratic Party politician, alleged that he met with several KPK officials including deputy chairman Chandra M. Hamzah, enforcement deputy Insp. Gen. Ade Rahardja, spokesman Johan Budi and investigator Adj. Sr. Comr. Roni Samtana to discuss several cases involving Democratic Party politicians.

The board is set to have its first meeting on Thursday to identify problems, sort out information – including news reports – and later to set a timetable for questioning witnesses.

"We will check all related parties. Nazaruddin allegedly met Chandra, Johan, Ade, as well as another KPK deputy chief, Haryono Umar, and secretary-general Bambang Sapto Pratomosunu," Said told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

The team would also question deputy chief Mochammad Jasin, who was also mentioned by Nazaruddin, he said. "We will also question Roni who is currently undergoing police training, and of course Ade," he said.

Roni and Ade were seconded from the National Police to work as investigators for the KPK in 2005. Roni's assignment to the KPK is slated to finish in 2013; Ade's tenure is expected to end when he retires from the National Police in August.

Chandra, Jasin, Roni and Ade were previously mentioned in bribery allegations fabricated by businessman Anggodo Widjojo in 2009, who claimed he paid KPK officials to stall the investigation of his brother, Anggoro Widjojo, who was implicated in a Forestry Ministry procurement scandal in 2007.

KPK selection process prone to politicking

Jakarta Post - August 1, 2011

Jakarta – As candidates enter the next stage of the process to select the next leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), observers warned that escalated political lobbying could influence the process.

A member of House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing law and legal affairs, Syarifudin Suding said the House's involvement in staging a fit-and-proper test at the final stage of the selection would result in political bargaining and should be reevaluated.

The People's Conscience Party (Hanura) politician said it would be better for an independent body consisting of law experts from reputable universities to run the process.

"An independent selection process would result in independent and credible KPK leaders. We need that strong commitment to eradicate corruption," he said.

Suding highlighted several major corruption cases investigated by the KPK, including the Bank Century bailout and the recent Southeast Asian (SEA) Games construction scandal.

"I am afraid the selection process will not be fairly conducted and will be filled with selection committee members and candidates making deals," he said.

He cited graft allegations levelled by fugitive graft suspect and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin against KPK deputy chairman Chandra M. Hamzah and KPK official Ade Rahardja. Nazaruddin said the two met with Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum.

The allegations prompted legislators to call for the establishment of an ethics board to probe the KPK officials.

In a televised interview, Nazaruddin claimed that Chandra and Anas brokered a deal to take bribes from the construction budget of a SEA Games facility. Nazaruddin's accusations, initially aimed at party colleagues, have also hit KPK officials and affected the selection process. The credibility of KPK officials has come under question.

The most blatant criticism against the KPK came from House Speaker Marzuki Alie who called for the KPK to be disbanded.

Zainal Arifin Mochtar, the director of Gadjah Mada University's Center for Anticorruption Studies, said at a discussion Saturday that the House distance itself from the antigraft body. "House members are the ones under intense KPK scrutiny. There can be many political intrigues in the selection process," he said.

Zainal said the KPK remained the most prominent law enforcers in corruption cases in Indonesia. He said the agency should be led by people who were free from political influence. The next stage of the selection process will see the committee review the profiles of the 17 candidates this week.

A former member of the House working committee on the KPK bill, Firman Jaya Daeli, agreed that the selection committee should be an independent establishment.

"I believe the country still has a lot of independent and credible people who can carry out the selection process, including law experts from universities," he said.

The profile review at the Law and Human Rights Ministry starts this week, after which the filed will be narrowed to eight candidates who will undergo a fit-and-proper test at the House.

The House said that it would work with intelligence agencies to scrutinize candidates' track records. Several KPK officials, including Chandra, Ade, and spokesman Johan Budi, were disqualified in the first phase of the process last week.

Marzuki remarks roundly slammed

Jakarta Post - August 1, 2011

Jakarta – Several people have criticized House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie's latest remarks calling to disband the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and pardon corruption convicts if they returned the loot they pillaged.

Said Aqil Sirodj, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, said Marzuki's statement was indicative of his frustration with the severe turmoil his Democratic Party was embroiled in, including a bribery case surrounding a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games construction project.

"I think we can still put our hopes in the KPK to eradicate corruption, although the integrity of some of its leaders is now being questioned," Said told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. If the problem lay with the KPK officials, they could be replaced with more credible people, but the institution should not just be dissolved, he said.

Said added that he considered Marzuki's stance on pardoning corruption convicts inappropriate. "In Islam, if I do not pray five times a day, then it is up to God whether to forgive me," he said. "But if someone does not pay a debt, then God will never forgive them if the creditor does not forgive them. I think this analogy can be applied to corruption convicts."

Golkar Party legislator Bambang Soesatyo from House Commission III concurred, saying that Marzuki's statement indicated a lack of support in the drive to eradicate graft. "It is obvious that his statement runs counter to the nation's will to combat graft," he was quoted as saying Sunday by news portal tribunnews.com.

Marzuki recently called on the government to evaluate whether the KPK should continue to spearhead the fight against graft, saying the integrity of certain KPK leaders had been compromised.

KPK deputy chairman Chandra M. Hamzah, enforcement deputy Ade Rahardja and spokesman Johan Budi allegedly met and made a deal with fugitive graft suspect and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin.

The three KPK leaders admitted they met Nazaruddin on different occasions, but insisted that they did not make any deals with him. The KPK's ethics commission is probing the allegations.

Bambang said the House should have encouraged the KPK to undergo massive internal cleansing to prove to the public that it still had the right to lead the fight against graft.

Political observer from University of Indonesia, Arbi Sanit, saw Marzuki's remark as disunity within the Democratic Party. "Party chief patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono initiated the antigraft movement and supported establishment of the KPK, but his fellow party member now goes against his commitment," said Arbi.

However, he also saw Yudhoyono's inconsistency in keeping his antigraft commitment as he did not order a probe against party members who are allegedly implicated in any graft cases.

Marzuki says media twist his words

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Embattled Indonesian House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie, who is often criticized for making ill-considered comments, has lashed out at the media for twisting his statements.

Marzuki, in the firing line for his calls to disband the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) at the same time as his ruling Democratic Party has found itself at the center of a major corruption scandal, said the media put him on trial "whenever there's a difference of opinions". "[My statements] should be discussed, not be judged," he said.

Marzuki, who also suggested convicted corruptors be pardoned for first offenses but sentenced to death if convicted a second time, said he was ready to face the consequences, including any effort to force his to resign as speaker of the House, also known as the DPR.

"I am ready to resign at anytime," he told journalist in Jakarta. "We should not be afraid of anything. In life, sometimes we go up, sometimes we go down. That's a common thing."

Yudhoyono defends KPK following House speaker criticism

Jakarta Post - August 1, 2011

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has rejected a plan to disband the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) proposed by fellow Democratic Party politician and House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie.

"President SBY has repeatedly explained on various occaisions the importance of the KPK," presidential expert legal staff Denny Indrayana said Monday in Jakarta.

"We still really need a strong and powerful KPK. I assure you that the President will always give the KPK his full support, to help it accomplish its task of creating a cleaner, more corruption-free Indonesia," he added, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Last week, Marzuki said the KPK should be disbanded, citing graft fugitive Muhammad Nazaruddin's recent statements implicating the involvement of three KPK deputies in a high-profile graft case. The commission has named Nazaruddin, the former Democratic Party treasurer, as a suspect in the same case.

Marzuki also said that graft suspects should be pardoned and obliged only to return to the state any funds they had taken. Yudhoyono is the chief patron of the Democratic Party, while Marzuki his deputy.

KPK needs independent investigators

Jakarta Post - August 1, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Amid increasing public distrust of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the agency says it has been left with no choice but to set up an independent fact finding team to investigate the repeated allegations by a fugitive corruption suspect claiming that its top officials were also involved in bribery scandals.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post on Sunday, prominent lawyer and human rights and corruption activist Todung Mulya Lubis pointed out that Nazaruddin's accusations should be seriously addressed, and therefore the KPK decision to set up its own investigation team is against public demands, said Todung.

According to Todung, who has been nominated more than once for the attorney general's position, Nazaruddin's allegation has not been proven yet, and "the KPK needs to verify the allegation through an independent and transparent probe".

Todung appreciated the KPK's quick response to public criticism for lifting questionable names from the inquiry team, but it was not able to restore the tarnished image of the KPK because most of the team members have confronted challenges regarding their credibility.

"It's good having two more experts from outside KPK, but it's not enough. Remember that Sjahruddin is a former KPK deputy chief, so he is still affiliated with the KPK," Todung noted.

A KPK advisor disclosed the commission would likely oust its chief Busyro Muqoddas and its deputy Haryono Umar from an ethics board – formed to investigate former Democratic Party treasurer Nazaruddin – as the board will also question Busyro and Haryono.

"Both Busyro and Haryono perhaps will not be allowed to join the board because our inquiry is also targeting them," a member or the team, Said Zainal Abidin told the Post on Sunday.

"However, we have yet to reach a decision; we are still discussing it and considering inputs coming from the public that we need a more independent ethics team."

Said insisted the move is considered as a part of efforts to maintain KPK independence. Many people insisted the majority of the ethics board's members – or the investigation team – should have been appointed from outside the commission.

In a recent television interview, Nazaruddin accused several KPK officials of meeting with him to discuss influencing its corruption investigations, including deputy chairman Chandra M. Hamzah, enforcement deputy Insp. Gen. Ade Rahardja, spokesman Johan Budi and investigator Adj. Sr. Comr. Roni Samtana. Nazaruddin also cited another KPK official, Mochammad Jasin.

"I believe there will be two new members from outside the KPK and we will likely drop the KPK insiders," Said noted.

Terrorism & religious extremism

A year on, bureaucracy thwarting counterterrorism

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2011

Since its inception on July 16, 2010, the much-hyped National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) remains wedged within a protracted bureaucracy that slows down its efforts to go full steam, particularly in organizing a comprehensive de-radicalization program. The Jakarta Post's Rendi A. Witular looks into the issue.

Three young staff members were occupied with their computers in a cramped room at the BNPT's secretariat section on one Tuesday afternoon.

Although they may deal with classified data, none of them are officially civil servants. They are temps, recruited on a short-term basis to patch-up manpower shortages at the agency.

While other agencies and ministries are dealing with too many idle staff, the BNPT is facing the opposite problem. Of the needed manpower of more than 122 civil servants and agents, the agency has only been able to recruit 56 people so far.

The impact of the shortage is devastating. In addition to lacking a comprehensive de-radicalization program, the agency has yet to develop strategic planning, standard operating procedures, and good governance principals.

"We're in dire need of manpower. Our staff are overburdened with drafting all of these procedures simultaneously," said BNPT secretary Air Marshal Chairul Akbar, who joined the agency at the end of January. Worse, the agency's entire echelon-four jobs (section heads) have not been filled.

The agency filed requests for the needed manpower with the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister, and the Office of the Administrative Reforms Ministry.

However, no efforts have been forthcoming from these offices to help accelerate the process. "Maybe it's the paperwork that makes the process longer," said Chairul, who has spent most of his career with the Air Force's elite force, Paskhas.

This hurdle may in part explain why most of the agency's programs, including de-radicalization, prevention, capacity building, international cooperation, and even coordination with other agencies are not in place yet. Thus, counterterrorism measures, particularly law enforcement, are still entirely dependent upon the National Police's anti-terror squad Detachment 88.

"We're coordinating well with the police. But the BNPT is already the central agency for analyzing terrorist threats and gathering intelligence," said the agency's director of operations, Brig. Gen. Petrus Reinhard Golose – formerly a police officer, who spearheaded the hunt for many terrorist masterminds prior to joining the agency.

Indonesia has not seen a major terrorist attack since the bombing of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta in 2009.

Most of the country's notorious terrorist masterminds have also either been killed in police raids or convicted in the law courts. However, a recent string of terrorist plots, which were foiled by police, underlines the fact that the fight against terrorism is far from over.

Critics are now demanding that law enforcers focus their counterterrorism efforts on prevention and preemptive measures rather than on crackdowns, which often result in many casualties.

Analysts are concerned that fatalities from such raids may eventually lead to a cycle of revenge violence by the followers and families of suspected terrorists.

Among the preventive measures being called for, is the need to prevent radical teachings of Islam, as have been delivered in several boarding schools and praying clubs in universities and mosques.

And measures put in place for that are to be coordinated by the BNPT, which has the immense task of monitoring around 40,000 registered Islamic boarding schools and 800,000 mosques.

The agency is also tasked with rehabilitating and monitoring former convicted terrorists, to preventing them from committing similar crimes. According to police data, however, as of May this year, more than 285 of those imprisoned for terrorist offenses had been released but, in most cases, authorities do not know their current whereabouts.

Apart from the manpower issue, the BNPT is also facing budget restraints. Since its founding, the agency's budget is controlled by the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister.

The agency was due to receive Rp 255 billion (US$27 million) for its daily operations this year but, until now, it has received only Rp 90 billion. "Our budget is not that big. For next year, we only expect to receive Rp 126 billion," said Chairul.

As the BNPT has no control over its budget, rumors are rife about alleged misappropriation of funds in its facility and infrastructure procurement. Chairul denied the allegations.

It was due to budget constraints that the agency could not secure any space for its headquarters until December last year. The BNPT eventually set up headquarters on Jl. Imam Bonjol 53, Central Jakarta, which is not big enough to accommodate more than 122 staff. The building is also seen as vulnerable to would-be car-bomb attacks.

The agency took out a two-year lease on the building, which is located in an affluent neighborhood, until the construction of its own high-rise headquarters in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, is completed.

"Basically, during its first year since inception, the BNPT is still focusing on developing the organization and infrastructure," said terrorism analyst Andi Widjajanto of the University of Indonesia. "Going beyond those efforts, I don't think the agency is up-and-running."

Andi said the agency seems to be slowly equipping itself with the necessary resources and infrastructure, albeit amid an increasing radicalism movement in the regions, as well as the emergence of new terrorist groups.

"The agency cannot keep up with the new kind of terrorist threats. It should accelerate the completion of its infrastructure so that it can operate at full throttle."

But a source at the BNPT said the prime obstacle facing the agency is a weak legal basis when trying to enforce other institutions comply with the agency's recommendations and requests regarding preventive measures.

"The agency sent the Transportation Ministry a list of minimum procedures that an airport should follow to prevent terrorist attacks. But the ministry is treating the matter lightly and considers the BNPT as little more than a security consultant," said the source.

A presidential decree regulating the operation of the BNPT stipulates no requirement for other institutions to comply with the agency, whose function is highlighted merely as "coordinator" of counterterrorism measures.

Amid the loose interpretation of the agency's authority, a dichotomy between the police and the Indonesian military (TNI) at the agency has also worsened the situation, according to another source at the agency.

The BNPT is actually designed to accommodate the TNI's demand to have a share in the fight against terrorism. Through the agency, the TNI is expected to be able to deploy its resources not only in preventive measures and intelligence gathering but also in raids, which are currently handled by the police as the sole authority in security enforcement.

The TNI, whose main function is to deal with national defense issues, has several counterterrorism squads of its own, including the Army's Special Force Gultor, the Air Force's Den Bravo, and the Navy's Den Jaka.

"These squads, along with the Army's territorial command network that reaches into villages, have been an idle asset for a long time," said Andi.

"The TNI has requested a share in the counterterrorism measures but this has never been granted. The police remain the sole authority in the sector. This has somehow affected the way the BNPT is run," he said.

The BNPT's top posts are filled with the best field officers from the police and the military.

Legislator Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs and laws, said she had noticed the problem between the police and the TNI at the agency.

"But I hope it will not lead to infighting because these boys have guns," she said. "Strong leadership is needed to ensure the agency remains in tact."

Since last month, the BNPT has officially come under the supervision of Commission III; the first hearing between legislators and the agency is expected to be held soon. Chairul, however, strongly denied any infighting at the agency.

"I can ensure you that there's no rift at the agency," he said. "It's just a case of cultural differences between officials from the police, the TNI, the Attorney General's Office and other civil servants who are stationed here."

Hard-line & vigilante groups

FPI raids stalls selling alcohol

Jakarta Post - August 3, 2011

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Despite warnings by authorities' condemning vigilantism, members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) took to the streets in Bandung to demonstrate against consumption of alcohol, particularly during Ramadhan.

Their target were stalls selling the traditional alcoholic brew, known as tuak, near the Cibiru traffic circle, some 15 kilometers east of Bandung, where they seized at least 50 jerry cans of the beverage.

The FPI members, mostly wearing white outfits, arrived at the tuak stalls at 10:15 p.m. on Monday. They immediately entered the stalls, usually frequented by public minivan drivers of the Batak community from North Sumatra, to search for tuak.

Panyileukan Police chief Adj. Comr. Komarna said the FPI crowd handed over 30 jerry cans, most of which were already empty, as proof of the sale of alcohol at the stalls.

"We asked them to stop because the FPI should have reported the matter to us, because according to the law the police should be in front to handle the matter," Komarna told reporters in Bandung on Tuesday.

FPI members, together with police, approached a place in the Cibiru area, believed to be a tuak warehouse, at around 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday. The police seized around 20 jerry cans of tuak, most of them also empty.

No injuries occurred during the second act, but detectives from the Panyileukan Police brought a stall owner to the police station for questioning. Police called on mass organizations not to assume the duties of the police, such as raiding entertainment places and shops selling alcohol ahead of Ramadhan.

FPI field coordinator Amin said his group had carried out the "clean-up" action following reports from the community. "We hope that everyone respects the fasting month and do not engage in immoral deeds, especially during the day time," Amin said.

Violence continues: FBR, Pemuda Pancasila riot in South Jakarta

Jakarta Globe - August 2, 2011

Members of two of Indonesia's most notorious organizations marked the beginning of Ramadan with a brawl on the outskirts of Jakarta on Tuesday.

Dozens of members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) clashed with Pemuda Pancasila (PP) on Jalan Margonda Raya, which dissects South Jakarta and Depok, SCTV reported. Police have yet to disperse the groups, which often employ thug-like behavior without fear of prosecution by Indonesian authorities.

Members of the FBR, recently in the news for attempting to intimidate Greenpeace Indonesia as it does battle with the country's palm oil companies, chased members of PP with bats and sharp weapons.

They also set fire to a building owned by a member of PP, headed by Yapto Soerjosumarno, a long term fried of the family of former dictator Suharto.

Police claimed the altercation was based on a misunderstanding. A man claiming to be an FBR member reportedly removed a PP banner during its national meeting. Unhappy, PP complained to the FBR who replied that they would never do such a thing. Violence ensued.

Depok Police are on stand-by to anticipate any possible retaliation from PP. Jakarta has been rocked by gang warfare and lawlessness recently.

Freedom of religion & worship

Police stand watch as Bogor church dispute goes on

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2011

Vento Saudale, Bogor – The Bogor police will continue deploying personnel to safeguard a controversial church and a nearby street where the congregation has held Sunday services since the city government sealed the church building.

While the dispute shows little sign of resolution, a local community leader has urged Muslims to tap into the religion's peaceful nature to end the conflict amicably.

The security presence at GKI Yasmin church was established after the national Ombudsman last month ruled against Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto, ordering him to annul his decision to revoke the church's building permit. The Ombudsman gave the city administration 60 days to reopen the church, based on a Supreme Court ruling.

"We will continue safeguarding the areas around the church and Jalan Abdullah bin Nuh until the city government respond to the Ombudsman's recommendation," said Bogor police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hilman.

The security presence was meant to prevent clashes between the congregation and local residents who opposed the service being held on the sidewalk, he said. "We can't take any risk and I will make sure the order is honored," he said.

Budiarto revoked the building permit for the second time in March, arguing that the congregation falsified signatures to obtain it, despite the court ruling in December 2010 that the church should be allowed to reopen.

Local cleric Muhammad Mustofa, whose father is the street's namesake, said he has no objection to the church.

"It's no problem for the family if the church is built on the street," Mustofa said. He added that Islam was a religion that promoted peace, differences between religions were not new and similar problems have occurred since the time of the Prophet Mohammad.

"Mecca is an example of pluralism during the prophet's time. Every problem has its solution and hopefully the problem [surrounding the church] will be settled immediately," he said.

Sinta Nuriyah Wahid, the widow of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, has said previously that Ramadan should provide a favorable environment for all parties to sit together and reach a peaceful resolution to the protracted legal battle about the church's existence.

"When observing the fast, we should be calm and cool in dealing with differences," Sinta said at the Al Ghazali Islamic boarding school in Bogor. "The central government must take part in settling the case. The law should not be made a joke."

Pluralism, tolerance in Indonesia under growing threat

Straits Times - August 6, 2011

Zubaidah Nazeer – Indonesia's two largest Muslim groups count a third of the country's population as followers, but appear to be losing ground in shaping the national conversation about Islam.

Drowned out by the raucous voices of Islamic political parties and confrontational hardline groups, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah are being squeezed out of the picture, which analysts fear could ultimately damage Indonesia's brand of pluralism and tolerance.

The two groups boast a combined membership of 80 million and share a common goal of upholding Islamic teachings, but increasingly, it is the political parties and radical groups that are pushing the boundaries and setting the pace in trying to define what Islam stands for with their attacks on what they deem immoral behavior and deviant practices.

In 2008, for instance, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lobbied for an anti-pornography law which banned some traditional cultural dances that were considered too sexy. Meanwhile, radical groups like the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizbut Tahrir have made the headlines for attacking religious minorities such as the Ahmadiyah sect.

"The order now has changed," said Broto Wardoyo, an analyst in terrorism studies at the University of Indonesia. "Political parties have taken on greater weight while groups like the Hizbut Tahrir have grown louder. They are easily heard, seem to attract an audience and can be remembered better."

This development worries some Islamic scholars such as Zuhairi Misrawi, chairman of the Moderate Muslim Society, who fear an erosion of religious freedom if groups like NU and Muhammadiyah fail to speak up loudly enough and do more to put their stamp on community issues.

Zuhairi's non-governmental organisation comprises mainly academics and intellectuals.

Agreeing, Syafi'i Anwar of the International Centre for Islam and Pluralism, added that sensational acts by radicals tend to grab attention. NU and Muhammadiyah "need to find a way to remain in people's minds", he said.

That could prove challenging for the two organisations which were founded with relatively simple aims: to preserve Islamic teachings and provide community services.

NU, which turned 85 years old just three weeks ago, was set up by religious leaders, while Muhammadiyah, which is 99 years old, was founded by a Muslim scholar. Together, they run more than 30,000 mostly religious schools across Indonesia.

NU is the bigger of the two, is seen as more traditional and has a large network of village boarding schools. Muhammadiyah, with 30 million members, draws a more middle-class crowd. It runs orphanages, hospitals and charity foundations.

With 80 per cent of the country's 240 million people identifying themselves as Muslims – making Indonesia home to the world's largest Muslim population – the role of these two organizations in shaping Islamic thought is crucial: Their messages are seen as able to influence even Muslims who are not their members.

Once they too had formidable political clout. After the fall of President Suharto in 1998, NU and Muhammadiyah leaders set up rival political parties. Amien Rais, leader of Muhammadiyah, formed the National Mandate Party while Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, set up the National Awakening Party, and later became president between 1999 and 2001.

However, in the past few years, especially after Gus Dur's death in 2009 and as civil society blossomed, the political influence of both groups has waned even as extremist voices become louder.

Ms Robin Bush of the Asia Foundation in an opinion piece noted: "There is a perception expressed within both organisations that they are facing an identity crisis as the country modernizes."

Added Mr Broto: "In the past, we used to identify people by their membership of the NU or Muhammadiyah. Now we say this person is PKS, this person is FPI, that other person is Hizbut Tahrir."

The radical groups have also become emboldened by their seeming ability to get away with little or no punishment for acts like raiding stalls selling alcoholic beverages and killing Ahmadiyah sect members. The authorities' weak response, said Syafi'i, is "allowing such radical groups to hog the limelight".

The numbers of hardliners are small, estimated at less than 1 per cent of the population, but their voices are louder because their extreme acts draw media coverage.

Some observers believe that a number of these groups are funded by political or military elites for their own interests. Law enforcers, meanwhile, hesitate to rein them in for fear of being seen as anti-Islam.

To be sure, both Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsudin and NU chairman Said Aqil Siraj have done their bit to condemn the actions of radicals. "We have been doing a lot of work such as preaching the positive side of Islam in our schools, holding seminars and talks, but they are not reported," said Said.

"It does not mean we are not doing such work. Our plans are still running and we remain relevant."

Analysts agreed that Muhammadiyah and NU still have an important role to play in nurturing the moderate ground, given their huge grassroots networks. But to make sure their message gets through, the NU youth wing last month formed a new unit. Called Densus 99 – after the crack Densus 88 anti-terror squad – its mission is to counter the spread of radical views among the young.

Indonesia minister defends Ahmadiyah verdicts

Agence France Presse - August 5, 2011

Presi Mandari – Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Friday defended the country's judicial system after a court sentenced Muslim radicals to a few months in jail for killing members of a minority sect.

The sentences handed down last month to 12 defendants over a deadly lynch mob attack on members of the Ahmadiyah community in February shocked human rights groups and drew criticism from the United States and the European Union.

But in his first public response to the outrage, Natalegawa defended the independence of Indonesia's courts and said the mainly Muslim archipelago was not the only country to suffer from religious intolerance.

"There is an obvious delineation between the executive, the judiciary and legislative branches," he said in response to a reporter's question.

The Cambridge-educated minister said "heinous acts" were being committed all over the world due to religious intolerance, but he did not address concerns that light sentences for hate crimes only encourage more killings.

"I'm afraid when you speak of the whole issue of religious intolerance and all kinds of phobia... Indonesia doesn't have a monopoly on that unfortunately," he said.

A secretly filmed video of the rampage in Cikeusik, western Java, sparked international concern when it appeared online within days of the attack.

The footage shows police fleeing the scene as the enraged mob – armed with machetes and knives and shouting abuse at the "infidels" – launch an unprovoked attack on a house owned by an Ahmadiyah follower.

A handful of Ahmadiyah men tried to defend the property with stones and slingshots but they were quickly overwhelmed.

The mob then clubbed, hacked and stoned three defenceless men to death in front of police, and stood around joking over their bodies. Several Ahmadiyah tried to flee but were hunted down and badly beaten.

None of the 12 men punished over the incident was charged with murder, and none received more than six months in jail, including the ringleader and a 17-year-old who was filmed smashing a victim's skull with a stone.

Prosecutors managed to convince the court that the video and the victims' refusal to flee the property justified a reduced sentence for the killers. In the end the sentences were even lighter than requested by the state.

Ahmadiyah, unlike mainstream Muslims, do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by conservatives in countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan.

British politicians and members of the Ahmadiyah community in England released statements on Friday warning that such sentences only encouraged more violence.

"By meting out ineffectual sentences, the Indonesian judiciary has essentially condoned mob violence in the name of Islam," community representative Rafiq Hayat said.

British politician Eric Lubbock, of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Human Rights, said the verdicts were a "huge setback for Indonesia and in particular for its justice system".

Mobs burn three 'illegal churches' in Riau

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2011

Rizal Harahap and Yemris Fointuna, Pekanbaru/Kupang – Angry mobs set fire to three houses believed to be used illegally as churches in Logas Tanah Darat district in Riau's Kuantan Sengingi regency.

The incidents took place simultaneously, starting with two houses in Pasarbaru Pangean and Logas Tanah Darat villages around midnight on Aug. 1.

The next day at around 11 p.m. local time, a mob marched to Sungai Langsat hamlet in Pasarbaru Pangean village and set fire to a house also believed to be used as a church. The timber structure quickly collapsed under the flames.

Sungai Langsat villagers said the house was used by the GMI Christian congregation to hold services. They claimed 15 people worshipped at the house every weekend.

Other residents claimed they felt violated after learning that the house was used as a place of worship without relevant permits from the authorities.

The police, who did not respond to the first two incidents of arson, claimed they were in control of the situation and that there were no casualties.

Kuantan Sengingi Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ristiawan Bulkhaini said 21 people who knew of and witnessed the attacks were questioned, but no suspects have been named.

"Based on information we gathered, the houses were used for religious gatherings. However, the congregation grew rapidly so the homes were turned into houses of worship, thus raising complaints from other locals," Ristiawan said Thursday.

He called on the Christian congregations to move their religious activities to locations permitted by the local administration and religious affairs agency.

"The act of people taking the law into their own hands cannot be tolerated because violence will not resolve the issue. The case will be investigated thoroughly before it spreads to other areas," he added.

In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), interfaith youth leaders agreed Thursday to maintain religious tolerance in West Timor by running campaigns for nonviolence.

The signing of the joint agreement was attended by representatives of the GMI Church in Timor (GMIT), the Christian Church Communication Forum, Kupang Grand Diocese Catholic Youth, Madaris Institute, Islamic Students Association (HMI), Hindu Dharma Indonesia and a number of other groups.

"The interfaith gathering in Kupang concluded that the most suitable method was to build an active nonviolent movement, to fight violence without violence," GMIT leader Winston Rondo said Thursday in Kupang.

He added that the movement was carried out amid increased concerns over religious intolerance in the country. "For that reason, we are committed to developing an active nonviolence movement in NTT to inspire a peaceful Indonesia without violence," Rondo said.

He said the nonviolence movement was supported by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Indonesia, a US NGO that campaigns for global peace across the world.

Injured Ahmadi faces jail time

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2011

Ulma Haryanto & Markus Junianto Sihalolo – Adding insult to injury, prosecutors at the Serang District Court on Tuesday recommended nine months in jail for an Ahmadi man critically injured in the deadly attack on members of the community in Cikeusik, Banten.

Prosecutors last month recommended prison sentences of between five months and seven months for 12 men accused of participating in the attack, from provoking violence to assault leading to death or injuries.

Last week, the court handed down sentences of only between three months and six months, prompting stern criticism from international and local human rights groups.

Deden Sujana, who was the head of security for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) at the time, has been detained since May for allegedly inciting the Feb. 6 attack, during which three Ahmadiyah community members died.

"According to the prosecutors, the evidence proves that Deden prepared himself [for the clash]," Kiagus Ahmad, Deden's lawyer, told the Jakarta Globe.

"The prosecutors seem to think that what Deden did was worse than the men who carried out the slaughter," he added. "When someone repeatedly hits someone with a rock and beats their lifeless body, that is slaughter."

Some 1,500 people attacked the home of an Ahmadiyah community leader in Cikeusik in February, brutally killing three members of the Muslim sect, which some consider deviant.

Kiagus said prosecutors had neglected the fact that Deden was a victim in the incident. "They said that the factors that helped reduce his sentence demand was his helpful attitude during the hearings and that he has never been convicted before," he said.

He compared this to the prosecution's argument for some of the attackers, namely Ujang Muhammad Arif, Muhammad bin Syarif, Endang bin Sidik and Muhammad Munir bin Basri.

"At the time, they said that the sentencing recommendation was light because they were religious leaders and there was a request from clerics and religious leaders in Banten to reduce their punishment," he said.

Separately, Serang's chief prosecutor, Jan Maringka, told the Jakarta Globe that his team was convinced that Deden had provoked the attack. "He prepared weapons, spears, sickles and catapults. When the mob came, police warned him but he told them to step aside," he said.

Jan said the mob had gone to Cikeusik for a communal prayer. "They didn't come there to start a fight," he added.

Meanwhile, Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said the disparity in the sentence demands was a clear indication that law enforcers had lost their impartiality.

Police and prosecutors had been taken hostage by the interests of the majority, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker said. "Under the current situation, law enforcers have failed to ensure tolerance, respect for the law and human rights and respect for humanity," she said.

Eva also criticized the lack of protection for the country's minorities. "This will only weaken our democracy," she said. "Just remember, the biggest challenge for democracy is to provide protection for minorities."

Ahmadiyah community fears burst of violence over holy month

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – As Indonesia's Muslim majority prepares for Ramadan and Idul Fitri, the minority Ahmadiyah Islamic sect is bracing itself for more persecution.

"Especially during Ramadan, there are more opportunities for [anti- Ahmadiyah] groups to mobilize masses and spread hatred [against us]," said Firdaus Mubarik, spokesman for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI).

Fresh from a disheartening court ruling against Islamic radicals who attacked and killed Ahmadis in Cikeusik, Banten, Firdaus fears for the worst after previous Ramadan experiences.

"A mosque in Tasikmalaya was burned several years ago [during Ramadan]. And the clash in Manis Lor also happened a week before Ramadan started," he said.

The Islamic holy month, Firdaus said, has been used as an excuse by hard- liners to "purge" unholiness, which for them included the Ahmadiyah. "The [Cikeusik] ruling is no longer our concern. It's the possibility that violence might occur at anytime in the future," he said.

The ruling handed out jail sentences of three to six months to 12 men involved in the brutal Feb. 6 attack in which about 1,500 hard-liners launched an assault on a house with 20 Ahmadis. Three Ahmadis died in the videotaped attack while five others were seriously injured.

"Over the years we've received intimidation and threats and have been expelled. The lenient sentence is an invitation for more violence," Firdaus said.

On Saturday, nearly 1,500 hard-liners marched toward the presidential palace in Jakarta demanding the government disband Ahmadiyah. Islamic Defender's Front (FPI) leader Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, who was previously convicted of instigating an attack against Ahmadis, called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to "not be a coward."

Some marchers held placards that said "Disband Ahmadiyah or Revolution" and "War against Ahmadiyah."

Firdaus said Ahmadiyah communities, especially those in vulnerable areas, were going to increase their guard for Ramadan. The Cikeusik verdict has received widespread international condemnation, the latest coming from Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

"The shockingly lenient sentences imposed on the perpetrators of some of the worst anti-minority violence in recent years raises serious questions about the integrity of Indonesia's justice system, and gives the extremists a green light to continue their campaign of hatred," CSW's Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said in a statement.

"It leaves religious minorities throughout Indonesia, not only in West Java, and not only the Ahmadiyah community, vulnerable and defenseless," he said.

Islam & religion

Political elite using fasting month to polish public image

Kompas - August 5, 2011

Jakarta – The political elite in this country should use the holy fasting month of Ramadan as a moment for introspection and evaluation, to ask whether their policies side with the ordinary people or not. Instead of fulfilling this hope however, the reality is that central and regional government officials are using religious rituals and symbols to polish their image in the public eye.

This was conveyed separately by Jakarta Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) rector Komaruddin Hidyat, Indonesian Civic Circle (LMI) executive director Ray Rangkuti and Yogyakarta Sunan Kalijaga UIN lecturer Abdul Munir Mulkhan in Jakarta on Wednesday August 3. According to all three, religious rituals such as the current fasting month do not have much influence on improvements to the rotten behaviour of the political elite. Although the fasting month is greeted by and celebrated by all kinds of grand rituals, the practice of corruption, political transactions and misuse of power continues.

Hidyat believes that there is no direct relationship between grand religious rituals and improvements in political behaviour. The practice of corruption, for example does not automatically diminish during the fasting month. And this corruption is committed by the very political elite who appear to be diligently fasting and understand that the essence of [religious] teachings is restraining oneself from committing injustice, including steeling the people's money for personal gain.

"Religion clearly prohibits corruption, but is a moral message, while corruption is born out of a damaged system. The solution is through firm law enforcement and promoting clean and responsible governance", he said.

Mulkhan hopes that the political elite will choose to use the fasting month as moment for self-introspection, to reflect upon whether or not the power held by the elite is being used in accordance with the mandate of the constitution, namely to building the people welfare, state sovereignty and for the enlightenment of the nation.

Rangkuti however is not convinced that the lust for the misuse of power by the elite can be appeased. "The elite who like lying will perhaps continue to lie. The corruptors cover up their rottenness. This indicates the low level of morality in this country", he said. (IAM)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Let Ramadan begin, unless you started fasting this weekend

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2011

Nurfika Osman & Antara – Ramadan may have officially begun today, but some Muslim communities in the country started fasting over the weekend, highlighting the age-old debate between Islamic scholars about how to determine the start of the holy month.

In an announcement on Sunday evening, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said the country's highest Islamic authorities, including the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), had ruled that Ramadan would begin on Aug. 1.

Ahmad Jauhari, the ministry's director of Islamic affairs, said the decision had been made based on sightings of the new moon, or hilal, at 38 points across the country. Ramadan, and the rest of the Islamic calendar, is based on the lunar cycle.

Ahmad said the new moon had been seen from at least three of those points on Sunday afternoon, which meant that the start of Ramadan could be declared for the next day. This method, though backed by the MUI, is not the only one used to determine the start of each lunar month.

In Padang, West Sumatra, the Tarekat Naqshabandiyah Mushala Baitul Makmur community began fasting on Saturday after they calculated an earlier start to Ramadan using a different method, hisab munjid.

"We're using the hisab munjid method, which comes from Mecca in Saudi Arabia," Syafri Malin Mudo, the head of the 100-strong community, said on Sunday.

Over in the Banyumas district of Central Java, meanwhile, hundreds of followers of the Aboge community plan to begin fasting on Tuesday, a day later than the majority of Muslims. The community traditionally determines the start of Ramadan according to the Javanese calendar, which also has a lunar basis.

Ichwan Sam, the MUI secretary general, said methods for determining the start of Ramadan other than the hilal were questionable.

"We doubt the groups who started fasting earlier or later than the official date are correct because we don't think they have the comprehensive tools that are needed to observe the moon, or certified observers and astronomers like we do," he said.

"In the modern era, people are obliged to use the best tools and methods to determine the beginning of Ramadan. It would be much better for them to follow the majority of the people on when to start fasting," he added.

Indonesian mayor takes hard-line stance during Ramadan

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2011

Bengkulu – City employees who do not fast during Ramadan would be dismissed from their jobs, Bengkulu Mayor Ahmad Kanedi said on the first day of the holy month on Monday.

He also offered a Rp 1 million ($118) bounty to citizens to help catch administration officials eating in public.

"All civil servants who are found having lunch in public places such as restaurants during the fasting month this year will face the strongest possible sanction of dismissal from their jobs," Ahmad Kanedi was quoted by state news agency Antara as saying.

He said any city administration official found to have broken the fast prematurely would be dismissed on the spot. Antara did not report if the sanctions applied to non-Muslims.

Ahmad also called on the people to play an active role in helping the Bengkulu administration enforce discipline during the fasting month.

"I will present Rp 1 million to anyone who is able to find a civil servant eating in public places such as restaurants, market places and bus terminals," Ahmad said. (Antara/JG)

Jakarta to crack down on 'disturbances' to prayer

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2011

Chrestella Tan – Jakarta's government will attempt to clear the streets in the evenings to provide a more peaceful environment during Ramadan prayers, a spokesman said.

Together with Social Department and Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), the administration plans to step up patrols cracking down on disturbances by buskers, beggars, and street kids after evening prayers throughout the month of fasting.

"We'll be working and taking action, from the tiniest group to the biggest ones," administration spokesman Cucu Ahmad Kurniawan said. "None of them will be overlooked."

The Satpol PP spokesman, Darwis, said the operation was aimed at creating an atmosphere in which Jakartans can pray undisturbed. "We know that each year, many beggars come bothering people during prayers," Darwis said. "Operations in previous years have decreased their numbers. We'd like to decrease them more."

The patrols began in mid-July and will go on until Idul Fitri, with the biggest operation happening from Aug. 15 to 20. He added that the patrols would cover all parts of Jakarta.

In addition to clearing the streets of beggars and children, Jakarta's government will maintain a 24-hour emergency health clinic at the hospital and clinic during the fasting month.

Though a new ruling allows civil servants to work for only six hours a day during Ramadan, the Jakarta government emphasized that all clinics and urban wards will still admit people with emergency health concerns.

"People don't need to worry about access to health services," said Dien Emawati, head of the city's health agency. "We will try to serve people as best as we can."

Normally, civil servants work from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. During Ramadan, which starts today, city officials will work from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a one-hour lunch break. There is a two-hour lunch break for Friday prayers.

Governance & bureaucratic reform

Civil servant salaries swamp district budgets

Antara News - August 2, 2011

More than 100 out of 491 districts in Indonesia are saying that hefty civil servant payrolls are breaking the bank, the Home Affairs Ministry said.

"There are 124 districts who have informed us that they are unable to pay the PNS [civil servants]," Sadu Wasistiono, a staffer for the minister of home affairs, said on Tuesday. He declined to name the districts.

According to Sadu, the districts were now suffering from large budget deficits incurred by the expense of paying civil servant salaries. He said civil servant salaries were the single largest expenditure for many of the districts.

He explained that the problem was exacerbated by the regulation compelling regional governments to hire more civil servants every year, whether they were needed or not. "The regional governments have to recruit PNS every year even though they are not needed," he said.

In Central Java there are 11 districts which are suffering financial troubles stemming from buredensome civil servant payrolls. The districts are Blora, Pekalongan, Batang, Banjarnegara, Magelang, Purworejo, Kebumen, Klaten, Boyolali, Sragen and Karanganyar. An official with the Central Java municipal government, Sriyadhi, said the biggest deficit was suffered by Boyolali. The annual combined salary for civil servants in Boyolali is Rp 728.2 billion ($86 million) but the budget this year was only Rp 641.7 billion, Sriyadhi said.

Sadu, who is also a professor at the Institute of Public Administration (IPDN), said that many mayors or district heads recruit civil servants to fulfill campaign promises.

"During election season, they promised their voters that they would recruit PNS, so it's quid pro quo," he said, adding that the government would suggest a moratorium to stop regional civil servant hiring for the next two years.

Analysis & opinion

Empty promises whitewash Freeport's rights, responsibility record

ETAN's Blog - August 7, 2011

David Webster – What does a mining company need to do to get a top score for "corporate social responsibility"?

To judge by the recent "100 Best Corporate Citizens List", all it takes to finesse a long and controversial record of human rights abuses is to come up with a piece of high-minded rhetoric, then carry on as usual.

Human rights advocates and those who have studied the record of Freeport McMoran in West Papua were startled to learn that Corporate Responsibility Magazine had named Freeport as the 24th-best corporate citizen in America. More startling still, the company scored well based mainly on a sixth-place ranking in the human rights category.

How is this possible? Well, the survey's methodology seems to pay no heed to human rights performance. Only human rights rhetoric matters. And in that, Freeport excels. A strong written policy on human rights declares: "Freeport-McMoRan does not tolerate human rights transgressions." It points to rights risks in West Papua, Peru, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and adds that PT Freeport Indonesia policy is to "notify the direct commanders of the perpetrators" in cases where human rights allegations are made against Indonesian security forces. Since reputable human rights groups suggest that the top ranks of the security forces are implicated in widespread human rights violations in West Papua, this is hardly striking at the root of the problem.

As local people have pointed out, and researchers have confirmed, Freeport's performance is a far cry from the written policies. The main trouble is intimate ties to Indonesian security forces.

Security forces may be implicated in the murder of American citizens near the Freeport mine, as Eben Kirksey and Andreas Harsono have reported.

Violence around the mine is used by security forces to target and scapegoat local people. In 2005, the New York Times revealed that Freeport paid the security forces more than $10 million in 2001 and 2002. Payments are now made "in-kind" rather than in cash. The local Amugme people have long protested Freeport seizure of their lands.

And lest all of this be hailed as "old news," the Amungme filed a lawsuit last year saying Freeport had taken their lands illegally. Meanwhile, the Indonesian army's presence around Freeport, and the company's close ties to Indonesian security forces, were reinforced this year. The continuing alliance between Freeport Indonesia and the Indonesian security forces is likely to exacerbate, rather than improve, the human rights situation.

None of these reports are taken in to account in the "100 Best Corporate Citizens List." All the human rights indicators measure "human rights disclosure" and the sole source, according to the methodology details, comes from "Company public disclosures" – a corporation's own information about itself. The methodology, in other words, measures promises, not performance.

There are parallels to the debate over whether companies accused of operating sweatshops overseas can be trusted to police themselves, or should accept independent monitoring. Thus the list cites the voluntary "Sullivan principles" first created under the Reagan administration and welcomed by companies resisting demands to divest from apartheid South Africa. And Freeport boasts of adherence to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, launched by the British and American governments in 2000.

The key word here is "voluntary." As with the mining industry globally and with businesses jumping on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) bandwagon more generally, companies are happy to promise good performance, as long as no one will be looking over their shoulders.

So perhaps it's no surprise to learn that Corporate Responsibility Magazine is in fact published on behalf of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association, a body made up of many of the companies being judged, and steered by such firms as Domtar and KPMG.Freeport is listed as a "recent member" of the CROA. It's advanced in the listings – it was ranked 83rd in 2010.

The problem here isn't just the "corporate social responsibility" methodology, but the entire concept of "CSR". It can all too often be used by companies to buy their way out of "corporate social irresponsibility."

Freeport is no champion of the best values of corporate citizenship: For human rights activists, it's long been a poster child for corporate irresponsibility. A list of good corporate citizens with Freeport winning laurels demonstrates more than flaws in the study. As George Monbiot has written of climate change credits, the lists offer corporations a new form of medieval European Catholic "indulgences," forgiveness for any form of offence. Jeff Ballinger recently pointed out on this blog that companies like Nike are wrapping themselves in the CSR garment to burnish their corporate images, despite continuing disregard for many labor rights. Freeport, too, is now having itself measured for a fine CSR wardrobe.

[David Webster is an assistant professor of International Studies at the University of Regina inSaskatchewan, Canada. He is a former coordinator with the East Timor Alert Network/Canada.]

Papua lacks modalities to promote good governance

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2011

Vidhyandika D. Perkasa, Jakarta – Another series of alarming events occurred in Papua on July 31, when 19 people were killed in a community clash caused by a disagreement over the registration of election candidates in Puncak Jaya. This was followed by the murder of four people in Abepura by an unknown perpetrator. Finally, mass rallies were organized in Jayapura and Mimika to demand a referendum and Papuan independence.

These rallies also demanded international mediation, through support for the International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP) conference in Oxford. Specifically, they wanted the ILWP conference to pursue a referendum for Papuan independence (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 3).

These events were indeed a heavy blow for the central government. However, similar to its reaction toward previous events in Papua, the central government has not shown any "new prospective formula" to overcoming these recurring issues. It is still behaving reactively, defensively and repeating claims that Papua is part of NKRI and that special autonomy is the panacea to solve its problems.

The complexity of the Papua problem has indeed caused frustration for everybody. After these recurring unfortunate and alarming events, what hope is actually left for the betterment in Papua, when there is deepening distrust between the Papuans and the central governments and dialogue, is no longer seen as a viable solution by most people.

Papua's problems are not only Jakarta's concern as such, but more effort should now be made to promote good governance as a prerequisite to achieving and effectively implementing special autonomy. In other words, there is no point continuously blaming Jakarta for underdevelopment and stagnation in Papua without giving proper attention to the "internal" condition of governance in Papua.

Despite various interventions to promote good governance in Papua, it seems Papua is lacking best practices or even progress indicators of good governance.

The corrupted and embezzled special autonomy fund reported by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) is a clear indication of bad governance. The national media also reports that there were indications of corruption by 44 members of the West Papua legislature. Moreover, Partnership (Kemitraan) through the Partnership Governance Index also showed low scores for fairness, transparency, efficiency and effectivity of government in both Papua and West Papua. The latter two cases are another form of bad governance.

Why is there stagnation in the promotion of good governance? And not only in Papua is good governance problematic. The discourse on promoting good governance worldwide has also received criticism. The concept has been seen as facing "inflation in its meaning" (Grindle, 2010) and being too generic, imitative and ambitious (Jabeen, 2007). The application of good governance in the third world has also been criticized for neglecting its sociocultural and political context. That certainly seems to be the case with Papua.

There needs to be a thorough investigation of societal changes in Papua as an impact of globalization and modernization, so that we can understand what is impeding good governance there. All societies are ideally transformed from feudalism to capitalism, religion to knowledge, peasantry to industrial society and aristocracy to democracy (Jabeen, 2007).

Papuans are experiencing a slow rate of change because of isolation and underdevelopment. Most Papuans are still living from subsistence farming, are economically marginalized and lack a proper education. In isolated areas, traditional beliefs are still strongly in practice.

Finally, traditional leadership in the form of the "big man" is dominant even in the modern government system. The politicization of bureaucracy, authoritarianism, elitism, paternalism and feudalism are incompatible with values of good governance. In general, this kind of level of societal changes tends to be a weak foundation to promote good governance and thus clearly shows the linkages between governance and culture as far as Papua is concerned.

Despite the above factors, there are also other constraints to promoting good governance in Papua. First, there are problems in enforcing the law in Papua. Law is easily bought and there is a dichotomy between positive and traditional law. Second, Papua has one of the highest poverty rates in Indonesia, as indicated by poor health and education services, and death from disease and malnutrition. The implication of poverty on good governance is society's distrust toward its mechanisms. The poor tend to exclude themselves from the social and political process and therefore limit their participation and representation in the governance system.

Third, as mentioned earlier, corruption and nepotism impede good governance. Corruption "can be seen in every fabric of social life in the form of increasing poverty, reduced efficiency, setting wrong priorities, social isolation, disorder and distrust between governing bodies and the general public contributing to the vicious cycle of poor governance" (Khan and Islam in Jabeen, 2007).

Fourth, Papua is a divided society. The society in Papua is known to be prone to conflict, both vertically and horizontally. With such a divided society, cohesion is weak and does not support good governance. Fifth, it is widely known that there is problem of the weak capacity of the government and civil society in efforts to promote good governance. The low education levels and low managerial skills of government staff and fragmented civil society are concrete examples of the constraints.

Sixth, there are no clear and consistent regulations in which to measure the progress and implementation of (good) governance. Seventh, it could be argued in an extreme way that there is no political will from the government to promote good governance. Good governance is seen as a threat to those "in power".

From the above explanation, there needs to be a speedy move to resolve the problems. We could start by adapting to the constraints to promote and contextualize good governance into modalities for the betterment of Papua.

Without good governance, Special Autonomy can not be implemented effectively. The three alarming cases explained earlier serve as "red lights" – both for the central government and the provincial and district administrations in Papua – that there is no other option than to promptly make special autonomy work. This is the only way to avoid further damage and disruption in Papua.

[The writer is a researcher at the Department of Politics and International Relations, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.]

Land of violence

Jakarta Post Editorial - August 4, 2011

Wider autonomy granted to Papua in 2001 and a new deal to accelerate development in the resource-rich region in 2006 raised fresh hopes for its people to realize their long-standing quest for prosperity and long-lasting peace.

But a string of violent incidents plaguing the easternmost province and simultaneous rallies that demanded a referendum here in Jakarta and there as well indicate otherwise. Not only has a geographical distance of thousands of miles separated Jakarta from Papua, but it has also prevented dialogue, let alone a conversation of minds, between the two sides.

Clashes between supporters of regent candidates in the newly established regency of Puncak over the weekend claimed 19 lives. Less than 48 hours later, four people were killed by gunfire and machetes on the outskirts of Jayapura and, most recently, unidentified gunmen opened fire on the military in Mulia, the capital of Puncak Jaya regency.

There were many more acts of violence in Papua, either reported or not, that could discourage efforts to rebuild the territory into the land of peace that has been envisioned by local leaders since the reformation and regime change over a decade ago.

The road to reaching that dream has been winding and bumpy because of the central government's apparent lack of sincerity in developing the massive region.

For Jakarta's elites, Papua is a source of state revenue thanks to its lucrative extractive and forestry industries that they cannot let go of. Papua's special autonomy has forced the central government to pour Rp 28.8 trillion (US$3.4 billion) into Papua from 2002 to 2010 alone, but without adequate oversight.

The money bonanza quickly triggered conflicts between tribes and local elites that were settled simply through the creation of new regencies, while the abuse of regional budgets was left to run rampant.

Boven Digoel regent Yusak Yaluwo, who was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in March, was the latest Papuan public official convicted of graft, with many more waiting for prosecution, including 44 active West Papua legislative council members.

Implementation of the special autonomy has departed from its original objective, which was to improve the welfare of Papuans. Instead, the greater autonomy has been reduced to becoming a bargaining chip to silence popular demand for independence and comprehensive settlements of human rights abuses.

Political division that has been rife since the inception of special autonomy climaxed in the formation of the West Papua province in 2004 and of West Papua People's Assembly earlier this year without the approval of Papua. Jakarta's endorsement – if not initiation – of the political moves appears to confirm speculation that the central government has no commitment to Papua's special autonomy.

It comes as no surprise that many desperate Papuan community and religious leaders propose a withdrawal of the special autonomy. Others do not rule out a possibility of demanding a referendum.

The government's rejection to referendum request is final, regardless of the support for the cause either in Papua or overseas. But now that the Papua issue has gone international, as evident in the International Lawyers for West Papua conference in Oxford on Tuesday, immediate measures must be taken for comprehensive dialogue between the central government and Papuan leadership, including those with a referendum in mind.

A dialogue initiated by the Papua Peace Network last month, attended by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Djoko Suyanto, is a good start. But Papuans want more.

Latest graft allegations provide journey into Indonesia's heart of darkness

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2011

Yohanes Sulaiman – Last week, House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie barged into the headlines, displacing Muhammad Nazaruddin's allegations of corruption within the Democratic Party.

This time he made many people groan with his suggestion that the Corruption Eradication Commission should be disbanded and that, in the spirit of forgiveness, the country should give a free pass to corruptors living abroad, allowing them to return unpunished to Indonesia after they pay some taxes and promise not to commit any more crimes.

Not surprisingly, his suggestions were met with outrage. People were complaining that the Speaker of the House lacked a sense of justice, that he was willing to allow major crimes by well-connected people to go unpunished while at the same time the little people who steal a bit of food due to their desperate conditions are thrown in jail with no mercy.

The call to get rid of the commission, known as the KPK, was the cherry on top of this messy cake: Marzuki was in essence condoning corruption among the elites who would be the primary beneficiary of this policy of forgiveness. There were even outraged calls to report Marzuki to the Honor Council of the House for disciplining.

Yet, maybe this time Marzuki is not that far off. One cannot help but reflect on Joseph Conrad's masterpiece, "Heart of Darkness," in looking at the Indonesian political landscape today, especially after listening to Nazaruddin's long-distance threats and confessions from some undisclosed wilderness.

In the book, Conrad explored the darkness of the human heart and how the lure of power corrupts both the well-placed and the lowly. Using Charles Marlow, the protagonist of the novel, as a first-person narrator, he described how Belgium's cruel and inhuman colonization of the Congo in pursuit of profit corrupted everyone in the system.

Driven by the desire to enrich Belgium, King Leopold gave a free hand to his administrators, allowing them unlimited power to do anything they wanted, both to the territory and the natives, as long as they gave him a lion's share of the earnings from the production of rubber and other plantation crops. The era was so brutal that in today's Mongo language, the literal meaning of "to send someone to harvest rubber" is "to tyrannize."

In "Heart of Darkness," Marlow reacts against the figure of Mr. Kurtz, an ivory trader who has built an empire at a trading post upriver. On one hand, Kurtz is portrayed as something of a genius who sought to bring civilization to the natives. On the other hand, isolated in his lair, unbridled by law and the rules of the outside world, Kurtz was soon transformed from an idealist of sorts into a tyrant who sees himself as god and demands that the locals worship him.

I thought of this book as I listened in recent weeks to both Marzuki and Nazaruddin. I think many of us are reminded of the starry eyed idealists of the early days of the reformation movement and how they have fallen into the heart of darkness of Indonesian politics. The pursuit of power and wealth has corrupted many of them, turning them into modern Indonesian Kurtzes.

The temptations abound. When former President Suharto resigned in 1998, he left a gaping void in the Indonesian political scene that nobody could hope to fill. His rule had eliminated professionalism in every segment of society, replacing it with cronyism and a "yes man" mentality. Honesty was thrown aside in favor of boot-licking.

With the fall of Suharto, the political elites coalesced into two loose groups: the old entrenched political elites who benefited greatly from the old regime, and the incoming political activists, who had ambition and a stated desire for change but no significant resources.

Thanks to Suharto's system, the latter group found they could not get ahead solely on their ability and ideals. Many of the early reformers ended up being absorbed by the first group, benefitting from the connections and financial advantages that came from being allied with an entrenched power base. At the same time, having been integrated into the old group, the aspiring new politicians also ended up protecting the old ones in order to ensure their political survival, thus perpetuating the cycle of corruption.

The connections extended into the entire system. In a personal interview, a seasoned political strategist remarked that Indonesia's political scene today has become profitable due to its very close similarities to old Chicago-style politics in the United States, where it was once the rule to "vote early and vote often" under the direction of ward bosses, and entrenched city leaders used the municipal treasury as a personal campaign war chest. Inside such a closed system there is a complete lack of accountability due to the close connections between powerful politicians and law enforcement officials.

The contents of Nazaruddin's confessions and allegations so far are the logical outcome of such a web. Those in positions of influence and authority, especially senior law enforcement figures, are inevitably tainted by money, creating both a sense of gratitude and of shared blame that makes ending the cycle of corruption virtually impossible. Those who don't play ball either find they cannot move forward within the system, or get thrown out, which happened to former President Abdurrahman Wahid.

It was hardly surprising that a succession of scandals followed from Nazaruddin's confessions, from revelations of alleged electoral manipulation and fraud at the General Elections Commission to charges of money politics tainting the KPK's Chandra Hamzah and his candidacy to become the next head of the body. Corruption is so ingrained within the system that nobody seems able to avoid it. Unrestrained by the rule of law, it is a free-for-all. It is the "Heart of Darkness."

Which brings us to Marzuki's proposal last week: let the corruptors pay a small sin tax and then live off their ill-gotten gains. This only confirms the status quo. Like it or not, corruption is too embedded and it touches everyone, including the KPK. As previous cases have shown, there is no political will to seriously punish the guilty. Most of those convicted are set free after spending a short time in prison – and even while in prison they pay bribes to obtain lengthy passes to travel and do as they like.

Few people want to upset this applecart unless the person has an ax to grind, such as Nazaruddin. Such is the impact of power and the absence of legal constraint. Conrad summed it up in the immortal words uttered by Kurtz with his last breath, "the Horror, the Horror."

[Yohanes Sulaiman is a lecturer at the National Defense University. He can be reached at ysulaiman@gmail.com.]

Indonesians are losing patience with Yudhoyono

Straits Times - August 2, 2011

John McBeth – A recent public opinion survey showing a drop in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's approval rating from 56.7 per cent to 47.2 per cent over the past six months is the clearest evidence yet that public patience with his ineffective leadership may finally be running out.

Much of the criticism so far has come from Jakarta's chattering classes, but the latest Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI) poll taken as far back as early June suggests the insidious disease of public perception may be slowly seeping into the vote-rich but more forgiving rural hinterland.

Undoubtedly, the single biggest reason for the latest ratings slide has been the widely televised corruption scandal rocking Yudhoyono's Democrat Party and the farcical situation surrounding the flight into exile of former party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin.

But the administration's overall failure to rein in graft and a disturbing announcement by the President's monitoring team that 17 of the country's 34 ministries had failed to reach targets set by Yudhoyono earlier this year point to a broader sense of stagnating governance.

For all the good news about a healthy growth rate and new investment, if debt worries abroad push the economy out of autopilot, the final three years of the Yudhoyono administration could turn into a long slog with a profound impact on the outcome of the 2014 elections.

The Nazaruddin case has dominated the front pages since he fled to Singapore on May 23, hours after a private meeting with the President and a day ahead of a belated Justice Ministry travel ban imposed at the request of the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK). The Straits Times has learnt that the supposedly ailing Nazaruddin left Singapore without any urging on June 20, fully 10 days before the KPK got around to declaring him a suspect in three corruption cases.

Singapore police alerted their Indonesian counterparts hours after Nazaruddin boarded a flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Three days later, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry was also informed, but the Singaporeans did not make it public to avoid causing embarrassment.

What happened after that seems to have been little more than a charade. As late as July 1, the presidential spokesman said Yudhoyono had directed national police chief Timur Pradopo to bring Nazaruddin home from Singapore. Then two days later, police reported that Interpol had been asked to issue a 'Red Notice' for Nazaruddin's detention, saying they were working with the Singapore Government to get him back.

On July 5, with the local media blaming the island state for blocking the implementation of a long-pending extradition treaty, the Singapore Government finally lost patience and disclosed that the fugitive was no longer there.

Sources familiar with the unfolding events say at no point did the Indonesian authorities attempt to cancel Nazaruddin's passport or provide an official communication that could have served as a legal basis for putting him on a plane back to Jakarta. Singapore officials have made it clear before that an extradition treaty is not a prerequisite for returning criminal suspects to Indonesia, but they say there has to be some legal justification for doing so.

Why the Indonesians did not do that goes to the heart of the whole controversy. The only conclusion to be drawn is that those in charge of damage control decided it would be easier to manage events if Nazaruddin was out of the country for a prolonged period.

In the days following the Singapore announcement, the Indonesians went into rhetorical contortions, with police claiming they knew where Nazaruddin was, but could not say so because he would then know they knew where he was.

It has all clearly been a serious miscalculation. Since he was declared a suspect, he has refused to stay silent, accusing Democrat Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, other party members and KPK commissioner Chandra Hamzah of being involved in shady financial dealings. Analysts who have studied his claims say they find at least some of them compelling, particularly his detailed chronology of meetings which fits with what they know about the train of events leading up to his shock flight into exile.

Whatever the truth of his claims, the longer the case drags on, the more it is likely to hurt the President and his party. The fact that much of the money appears to have gone into political financing and not into personal enrichment cuts little ice with most people.

KPK deputy chairman Muhammad Jasin told foreign reporters recently that corruption today is worse than it has ever been. Transparency International Indonesia chairman Todung Mulya Lubis says that is particularly applicable to the court system.

Now that Yudhoyono's own party has fallen under the same cloud, the stakes are that much higher. But anyone witnessing the recent two-day Democrat convention would have been left with the impression that nothing was amiss.

The President did not once touch on the Nazaruddin case, either in his public speech or in closed-door meetings, where he complained that party members were not doing enough to own and capitalise on government subsidies and spending programs. When one delegate sought to raise the subject of Nazaruddin, he was told he was contravening party rules.

The media and the court of public opinion will not be so easily silenced.

Indonesia's democratic struggle and the fight for socialism

Direct Action - August 2011

Zely Ariane – It was not just for the sake of democracy that the Indonesian people overthrew Suharto's New Order dictatorship in May 1998, but also for justice and prosperity. It was not for reformasi (the political reform process that began in 1998) that students and the people occupied the House of Representatives, but for an Indonesia free from the threat of the gun and military spies, free from corruption and nepotism, for a prosperity in which basic commodities would be affordable. Democracy was the means to achieve human liberation from oppression. Without democracy, humanity becomes colourless and prosperity becomes a commodity owned by those in power.

Mass action

The reform movement brought down a dictator, broadening the people's direct political participation through a multi-party system, press freedom and the freedom to organise and most importantly, restored the most effective political weapon of the people, mass action. However, the movement was unable to bring down Suharto's capitalist and militaristic regime and replace it with one that was more democratic and popular. The movement also failed to consolidate fully and push through a more progressive democracy. The movement failed in the fight against the military and Suharto's Golkar party, and failed to fight the hegemony of the anti-democratic forces.

Democracy has now been restricted and channelled into institutions unilaterally declared as the representative will of the people, complicated by bureaucracy and the manipulation of money, locked into the interests of capital and the status quo, and controlled by the gun and the threat of jail. Democracy is no longer the will of the people, but the will of a small elite defending their interests and power.

When mass action changed the rules, when democracy was in the hands of the ordinary people, when it was decided directly by the people, not one legal mechanism in capitalist society could say no.

Of all the elements of democracy won by reformasi, such as freedom of expression, assembly, the right to form political parties, freedom of information, direct elections that were honest and fair, the principal and fundamental element was mass action. Spontaneous and organised mass actions were the key to political change in 1998. Indonesian politics observer Max Lane says in his book Unfinished Nation that the Suharto dictatorship was overthrown politically from the moment that mobilisations began, when mass action again began to be used as a weapon against the New Order's "floating mass" politics in the mid-1990s.

People have speculated that Suharto's downfall was the result of intervention by the United States, which no longer saw him as an effective and efficient agent for international capitalism. While this conspiracy theory may be correct, without the mass upheaval that began in the mid- 1990s, the US would not have considered Suharto ineffective. Mass action remains the principal factor of change, regardless of who or what hitched a ride on this change in the days that followed.

Historically, mass action has been critical because it played a key role in winning independence from the Dutch and in Indonesian politics generally until Suharto and the military seized power in 1965. This political characteristic was destroyed, right down to its roots, by the New Order through the arrest and murder of activists and the propaganda against any perspective that supported mass action. Mass action became the ghost haunting the New Order and was transformed into an angel during the initial period of reformasi.

New organisations grew, while old organisations split and were forced to reorganise. Most striking were the growth and splits in the trade unions and political parties. Numerous committees and student groups were established and grew rapidly. All took up the jargon of reformasi, even the old status quo organisations.

But freedom of information, direct elections, the multi-party system, regional autonomy, all of which were the results of reformasi, are now being turned into a scapegoat by the status quo forces, as if they are the source of the country's problems.

It is not the fault of reformasi if democracy is deteriorating. Nor does it mean that Suharto's New Order was better because the "Reformasi Order" appears more vulgar. Reformasi changed the rules, creating space for a more advanced and essential democracy. It also provided a foundation for fundamental changes to the principles of the institutional state. But this foundation has no meaning if there are no democratic or progressive political forces to utilise or cultivate it. Reformasi also has limits in itself. It changed the surface, not what was deep inside. Reformasi has been unable to reform a system deeply rooted in oppression. It was unable to make capitalism and militarism serve humanity.

Retreat

Bit by bit, many of the most important achievements of the democratic struggle are being taken away. The people are still able to demonstrate, but the constraints on this are being progressively tightened. Large protests are now allowed only opposite the State Palace. New restrictions on establishing organisations and political parties and the muzzling of trade unions are some of the most painful examples.

Just recently, activists were shocked by an Indo Barometer survey that found 40.9% of respondents believed that conditions under Suharto's regime were better than now. The political discourse about reformasi is being dominated by right-wing, status quo and conservative elements. They argue that democracy has gone too far, is inefficient and wasteful. Progressive social groups have concluded that reformasi has failed to deliver prosperity for ordinary people and that their lives are becoming steadily worse.

For the progressive groups, or those that claim to be revolutionaries, reformasi has failed in three principal ways. First, although the military has been banished from parliament, its territorial command structure – which mandates military command posts and detachments at all levels of the civil administration – remains intact and has even been extended. Second, reformasi failed to bring Suharto and the generals who committed gross human rights violations to justice. Third, reformasi failed to weaken the power of the political parties that were the principal crutch of the New Order – Golkar and Suharto's cronies. These three elements are a measure of the failures of the democratic struggle.

It is untrue that things were better under Suharto. The New Order was in fact the historical cause of the systematic poverty that Indonesia suffers now, by first and foremost slaughtering or imprisoning millions of innocent people because they were obstacles to the New Order's capitalist economic development. These big Indonesian capitalists then pawned the people and their natural wealth into the hands of international capital through the 1967 law on capital investment.

From that time, Indonesia became increasingly fertile ground for foreign exploitation: cheap labour, natural wealth sold off and the environment destroyed without thought of the future, the people entangled in foreign debt, industries operating only to serve international markets and prevented from pursuing planned development to meet the needs of the people. Indonesia's once dynamic culture became static, with diversity manifested only though traditional arts and regional dress, not through a diversity of thought, expression and political action. The people were no longer permitted to be involved in politics and simply laboured for Suharto and his cronies under the barrel of the military's guns.

There is a view that under the New Order the prices of basic commodities were cheaper. The average wage at that time was still enough to cover the cost of staples. This was not because the New Order sided with the people, but because the global capitalist economy still "tolerated" government subsidies to the people, which it no longer consents to. Wages today are less and less able to cover staples because prices are increasing (due to inflation and subsidy cuts) faster than wages.

'Too much' democracy?

The other view expressed by status quo forces is that Indonesian democracy has gone too far. Former vice president and business tycoon Jusuf Kalla has said that democracy is too expensive because there are too many direct elections and too many political parties. Worse still is the view of intelligence analyst Wawan Purwanto: "The slow pace of dealing with terrorism in Indonesia is mostly caused by the emergence of reformasi... Before we still had the anti-subversion law and it was easy to deal with things..."

Such views – which have many adherents, particularly within the bureaucracy – make no sense. Kalla fails to see the importance of people's participation and the political dynamics of direct elections and the establishment of parties. The 1955 elections under the leftist government of Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, involved many parties.

Political life was very dynamic, and diverse political views existed openly and clearly, providing a positive political education to the people.

Hersri Setiawan, a poet and activist from the People's Cultural Institute (Lekra), a now banned organisation formerly affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party, commented that reformasi was a massive wave that brought down the Suharto-military regime but did not follow through and overthrow militarism. New military territorial commands, military intervention in land conflicts and the shooting of farmers, the involvement of high-ranking military officers in the formation of many political parties, the talk about political leaders with a military background being better than civilians and a narrow discussion of nationalism in the debate about territorial borders, all reflect militaristic behaviour and thinking.

Reformasi will indeed be unable to solve this fully without a progressive social movement that is alive and real, continuing to force through its demands. Unfortunately, the progressive social movement has failed to present an alternative ideology to capitalism, bureaucratism and militarism, against conservatism and fundamentalism. This is the principal failure of reformasi. The movement was also unable to take advantage of the opportunities and potential to change the political rules in the initial phases. Perhaps this was because the movement was immature in theory, strategy and tactics.

Capitalist consolidation

The bourgeois forces were far quicker to consolidate after 1998. The impeachment of President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in 2001 was the first milestone in the alliance between the bourgeois supporters of reformasi and the remnants of the New Order. The fake reformists – the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Mandate Party were the most conspicuous – lacked any principles and were quick to betray reformasi and support the New Order remnants. At this point the bourgeois counterattack against reformasi began in earnest.

A massive economic consolidation was undertaken during the administration of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the chairperson of the PDI-P. International capitalism after Suharto was pushing the dismantling of state protection of domestic markets. All of the people's basic needs had to be commercialised. The Megawati administration played the biggest role in pushing Indonesia further into dependency on imperialism through the privatisation of state companies, signing agreements with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that further ensnared Indonesia in the traps of international finance capital. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has pursued similar policies, but relying more on foreign debt to open the tap of liberalism.

Since the 2004 parliamentary and presidential elections in which Yudhoyono won the presidency, there has been almost no difference between the pro- reformasi forces and the New Order remnants, particularly after student activists from the 1998 movement rushed to become candidates for the fake reformist and New Order parties. The 2009 elections brought a continuation of this consolidation and a funnelling of bourgeois forces into a few major parties.

More recently, the bourgeoisie's political consolidation has been furthered by the emergence of the National Democrats and the National Republican Party, both of which smack of attempts to restore the New Order. The forces behind these new parties are still Golkar (or disaffected former members) and the military. The National Republican Party, led by Suharto's son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, calls openly for a return to the "good old days" under Suharto.

New threats

A huge threat to the democratic struggle is posed by draft laws on intelligence and secrecy, state security and revisions to the criminal code that are expected to be ratified in July. Wawan Purwanto thinks that the aim is to revive some kind of anti-subversion law in order to legitimise the arrest of people who oppose or criticise the government. Increasing terrorism and the Indonesian Islamic State movement are being used to create an atmosphere of fear while simultaneously increasing repression and the monitoring of social and political activities.

The Draft Intelligence Law Advocacy Coalition says that the laws are a threat to freedom of expression and organisation, particularly in the articles related to intelligence information secrecy, arbitrary arrests and the complete lack of any control. One of the articles of the draft revisions to the criminal code prescribes jail sentences for anyone who "spreads or develops Communist/Marxist-Leninist teachings in any... form" and anyone who is "reasonably suspected of practising Communism/Marxism- Leninism".

The other threat is the growth of conservative and fundamentalist organisations and actions. While reformasi opened opportunities for democratic consolidation, it has been conservative ideas that have come to the fore, while progressive and socialist ideas have failed to gain a hearing.

For one step forward

Since no elite force has any real belief in democracy, the solution still lies on the shoulders of the progressive social movements. They have no choice but to unite against these attacks on democracy while continuing the struggle for economic justice. Reformasi itself is no longer enough. Even the smallest gains in the struggle for reformasi require mobilisation of the people and require revolutionary politics aiming at a radical new system of power, economy and society.

Consolidation of the progressive social movements and the left is making few advances. The movements for economic rights are often fragmented and difficult to unite with a political and democratic struggle. Yet economic rights cannot be achieved without democracy. The lack of an alternative political vehicle complicates this unity process.

Politics is characterised by conflict, decisions, power and situations that cannot be predicted mathematically, all of which determine the best tactics in the struggle for socialism. Therefore socialists must play the fullest possible role in the democratic struggle.

The solution must be formulated jointly because the problem has to be overcome jointly. In the words of Italian revolutionary Antonio Gramsci, "We must build the unity, consciousness and maturity of the movement, make it into a force that is strong and cohesive, and then with patience, with thorough attention to the contextual conditions, await an opportune moment to use this force".

Such forces, Gramsci continued, need to "make themselves one in relating to the conditions on the ground, not just converging momentarily... they must demonstrate, both in the imagination of the people as well as in action, that they are capable of winning power and implementing the tasks that they have set themselves."

We have arrived at the question of why we are so concerned with democracy, and why we cannot hope or expect democratic reform from capitalism.

Democracy and capitalism never run in parallel, because capitalism does not want the most basic ingredient of democracy, the direct participation of the majority. In The State and Revolution, Lenin wrote: "Within capitalist society we have a democracy that is emasculated, forlorn, false, a democracy for the rich, who are in the minority".

Democracy under capitalism is democracy for the capitalists, whose economic position is free from popular control. The people are given representative institutions without any direct involvement or understanding. This has one aim: distancing the people from politics. This kind of democracy inevitably makes society apathetic and passive. When the capitalist state is confronted with radical demands for democracy and welfare, it shows no reluctance in responding with violence and repression. At moments like that, the real character of capitalist democracy is exposed.

People must have power

The struggle for socialism is a struggle to overturn the logic of capitalist democracy. Socialism needs the broadest possible political involvement, because it is the people who must hold power. The most fundamental elements in the struggle for democracy are the people's sovereignty, human rights, constitutional authority, citizenship, oversight by the people. While many of these ideals were born in the bourgeois- democratic revolutions, capitalist development came to threaten them, so it is the working people who have the greatest interest in defending and broadening democracy; that is the meaning of completing the democratic revolution.

The struggle for socialism requires an extension of democratic logic to broader arenas such as fighting state bureaucracy. It politicises and democratises all areas of people's lives.

Socialism can be realised only with democracy. It requires the direct contribution of ideas and action by the people as a whole to find solutions to problems in their lives. The more people are involved, the richer and more successful socialism will be. This is why socialists must intervene in the political struggle, because every step forward or backward will influence the possibility of a socialist victory.

[Zely Ariane is a member of the People's Democratic Party-Political Committee of the Poor (KPRM-PRD) and an activist with Free Women (Perempuan Mahardhika). Abridged from the translation by James Balowski.]