Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – Antasari Azhar presented new evidence supporting his case review request to the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday, hoping to overturn his conviction for murder.

The former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment in February 2010 for masterminding the slaying of PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran director Nasruddin Zulkarnain, who was shot dead by hit men in his car.

According to Maqdir Ismail, Antasari's attorney, the hearing focused on the presentation of three new pieces of evidence that might prove his client's innocence, including 28 photos of the victim and his car after the shooting.

"Upon observing the photos of the victim's car, it is noticeable that the victim's bullet wounds do not match the gunshot holes in the car," he told The Jakarta Post.

He added that the holes in the car were consistent with a vertical bullet trajectory while the victim's wounds were horizontal.

Maqdir said that judges in the original case ignored evidence that might have exculpated Antasari, including Nasruddin's shirt. "The shirt is important to determine if the deceased was shot at point-blank range or from afar," he said.

The Judicial Commission issued its findings on the handling of Antasari's original trial on Aug. 19, stating that the panel of judges had acted unprofessionally and violated judicial ethics by ignoring forensic evidence. The commission recommended that the Supreme Court sanction to the judges with a six-month suspension from duty.

Maqdir, calling the trial "a moment of truth", said that he was positive the case review request would be approved. "The court, in this case the Supreme Court's case review council, must make a just and fair decision. If they do not, the public will no longer believe in them," he said.

Critics claim Antasari was framed to weaken the KPK, which had launched several investigations of top officials including graft convict and former Bank Indonesia deputy governor Aulia Pohan, the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's son.

Similarly, Nasruddin's brother Andi Syamsudin, who was present during the hearing, said that he supported the case review, agreeing with the oddities and new evidence raised in court.

On expert pathologist Abdul Munim Idries's evaluation of the autopsy, Syamsudin said: "The facts on the ground indicate that [Nasruddin's] corpse was manipulated."

The family supported the case review to seek truth and justice for all involved in the case, including Antasarim, Syamsudin said. "I do this to get justice for my brother," he added.

The South Jakarta District Court will forward the results of its case review to the Supreme Court.

Close to 100,000 super rich Indonesians by 2015: Report

Jakarta Globe - September 2, 2011

Lydia Tomkiw – Come 2015, Indonesia will be home to 99,000 wealthy individuals with a combined fortune worth $487 billion, according to a report.

The Asia Wealth Report, published by the Julius Baer Group and CLSA Asia- Pacific Markets, predicted that Indonesia will see a 25 percent increase over a five-year period in terms of the number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI), individuals with $1 million or more in investable assets excluding their primary residence. This is the highest growth rate predicted among the 10 Asian economies in the report.

The report covered Indonesia, China, India, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia.

The number of HNWI will continue to grow across Asia, the report suggested. The estimated 1.16 million HNWI in 2010 will more than double to 2.82 million by 2015 with their wealth almost tripling to $15.81 trillion.

Economic giant China will have an estimated 1.4 million HNWI with a stock wealth of $8.76 trillion by 2015. China had 502,000 millionaires last year alone.

The report found that currency appreciation is key and varying rates of currencies could create 600,000 new HNWI across Asia by 2015.

China and India will play key economic roles contributing 40 percent of the global growth rate in 2011 and 2012. "The current deterioration in global economic conditions will see further supportive, pro-growth policies from China in the months ahead," the news release said.

West Papua

Komnas HAM is gathering data about the 15 arrests in Skyline

Bintang Papua - September 8, 2011

Although thirteen of the fifteen Papuans who were arrested on 31 August have since been released, the National Human Rights Commission's (Komnas HAM) Papua branch is continuing to pay serious attention to what happened, said Mathius Murib, deputy chairman of the commission.

"We have been paying close attention to what has happened from the start up to the present moment," he said. "The proper procedures were not followed and the people who were detained were subjected to mal-treatment, and what is even more disturbing is that a child of 7 or 8 years old was kidnapped at the same time," he said.

After receiving complaints from the families of the victims, Komnas HAM decided to investigate the case. "Since receiving these complaints we have been conducting investigations which are still on-going."

Commenting on allegations by the KNPB – National Committee for West Papua – that the events in Papua that preceded the arrests had been deliberately set up, especially the incidents in Jayapura, he said that we would need to have evidence that this was true.

"People can express their opinion about this but everything needs to be based on careful investigations which can be properly accounted for. We need to know who was responsible, what the motivation was and whether the incidents were deliberately set up or not."

When asked whether the incidents were being comprehensively investigated, he said he said that a number of incidents had occurred one after the other, almost daily, cases that need to be handled by the police. Moreover, some people were involved in several of the incidents.

"Is this a matter for the police or for the NGOs or for the Komnas HAM? Whatever the case, they must be dealt with, and it is mainly the responsibility of the police to do so."

Asked whether the Komnas HAM was conducting its own investigations, he said that this would depend on whether it falls within its authority to do so. The procedure requires that there should be an official request. Komnas HAM could make recommendations but that is all. But basically it is the responsibility of the police.'

As yet, the government and the legislature have said nothing. "Up until now, those who have been expressing their concern about the cases are the NGOs, the churches and Komnas HAM. But issuing statements is not enough; bodies need to do whatever is within their authority in order to change things for the better. This is a matter for the legislature which should exercise its powers to do so."

Papuan protestors push self-determination cause at Forum

Radio New Zealand International - September 7, 2011

A group of Papuan independence activists in Auckland are hoping Pacific leaders have heard their calls for self-determination and the inclusion of West Papua in the Forum.

Pacific leaders once spoke out about the violence and human rights abuses perpetrated by the Indonesia military in Papua, but have ignored the issue for the past four years.

The vice president of West Papua's National Coalition for Liberation, Dr Otto Ondawame, says human rights abuses, police brutality, murders, rapes and executions are getting worse.

He says Forum leaders shouldn't ignore the plight of West Papuans who are still under Indonesian rule.

"I (am) here to call on governments of Pacific Island Forum leaders to stand clearly and for the Forum, who must declare their position on the issue of West Papua. And so far Pacific leaders keep silent on the issue of West Papua, which is very disappoint(ing)."

Protestors are also calling for a Forum fact-finding mission to go to West Papua.

Police detain two murder suspects in Jayapura

Jakarta Post - September 6, 2011

Jayapura – Police have detained two people identified as EK,17, and PK,19, for their alleged involvement in several murders in Jayapura, Papua, on June 7, 2011 and in Nafri on Aug. 1, 2011.

The two were arrested together with 13 others in Kotaraja, Jayapura, on Aug. 31 after the police investigated a series of violent incidents in August.

"Out of the 15 arrested, only two were named suspects. One of them has admitted to having killed a soldier and three other civilians in the incidents," Jayapura police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Setiawan told The Jakarta Post.

Aside from detaining the two suspects, the police also confiscated various weapons, including bows and arrows and a homemade rifle as well as Free Papua Movement documents.

The two suspects will be charged with premeditated murder, a charge bearing a maximum jail sentence of 20 years under Article 338 of the Criminal Code.

Police deny torture claims following arrests and raid in Abepura

Kompas - September 5, 2011

Jakarta – Jayapura district police have been accused of torturing 15 witnesses who were initially suspected of being members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in a violence related case in Abepura.

On Sunday September 4 the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Haris Azhar, said that the individuals were taken away by police then mistreated before being released.

"Thirteen of them have already been released by police. They have undergone medical examination for their injuries. The victims are residents of the Vuria Kotaraja housing complex. They are members of the Wahno Baptist Church congregation in Kotaraja", said Haris.

The 15 were arrested on charges of carrying out a shooting at Nafri village in Abepura, Jayapura, on Monday August 1, which resulted in the death of three civilians and a member of the Indonesian military (TNI).

Haris said that during Wednesday's arrest (31/8) police failed to present arrest or search warrants. Those arrested were asleep or preparing to go out into the fields. The names of the individuals tortured are Yawanus Kogoya, Tinus Wenda, Siki Kogoya, Arinus Wenda, Yusman Kogoya, Mis Kogoya, Bodi Kogoya, Wen Wenda, Denias Kogoya, Ekimar Kogoya, Panius Kogoya, Yeskiel Kogoya and one other who's name is unknown.

According to Haris, they were struck with rifle barrels, kicked, cuffed, beaten and stepped on with military boots while handcuffed or tied. As a result the victims suffered bruising to their faces, bodies and feet. During the raid, continued Haris, the police fired gunshots. Police also sized bows and arrows, machetes, knives and other items from the location along with documents related to the OPM.

Kontras has condemned the torture as part of the negative stigma attached to Papuans that is developing among law enforcement officials. Haris warned that the practice of torture is an inhuman act and conflicts with Indonesian laws. Law Number 5/1998 on the Convention Against Torture states that Indonesia is bound by the International Convention Against Torture.

Ordered to lie face down

When contacted in Jayapora, police Senior Commissioner Wahyono from the Papuan regional police public relations department denied the charges of physical torture against the individuals who were brought in for questioning as witnesses. "I have contacted the investigators that questioned [them]. While they were at the place that the incident occurred they were only ordered to lie face down [on the floor]", said Wahyono.

Jayapura district police chief Deputy Senior Commissioner Imam Setiawan also said via an SMS message that it was untrue that they were tortured. "This is one of the OPM's strategies so that security personnel are not focused on finding the perpetrators of the shooting in Nafri", said Imam. (JOS/ONG)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

West Papua faces security crackdown

New Matilda - September 5, 2011

As security in West Papua deteriorates, local groups have stepped up their calls for dialogue with Jakarta. Joe Collins from the Australia West Papua Association reviews the latest developments

Forty-eight years after Indonesia took over administration of West Papua from the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority, West Papuans continue to struggle for self-determination. Although West Papua is not often on our front pages, recent events there show that the fight for justice is not about to go away any time soon – even as Indonesian security forces employ increasingly heavy-handed tactics to quell unrest.

Thousands of West Papuans took to the streets in peaceful rallies across the province at the beginning of August calling for a referendum. Also last month, International Lawyers for West Papua held their 'West Papua – The Road to Freedom' conference in Oxford, UK. The conference brought together legal experts, parliamentarians and others to present "the strongest case to date that the people of West Papua have the right to self-determination under international law".

On 1 August unidentified assailants sprayed a small bus with bullets as it passed through Nafri village, Jayapura – Four people, including a member of the Indonesian Military, were killed. In response, up to 300 members of the security forces (military and police) were involved in the operation in the hills around Nafri village, searching for the perpetrators of the attack.

Because a Morning Star flag was found near the site of the incident the Jayapura Police were quick to blame the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for the attack. However, Forkorus Yoboisembut, chairman of the Papua Traditional Council (DAP), 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. The local rebel commander, Lambert Pekikir, denied involvement in an ambush, saying the OPM would not randomly kill their own people. Members of the counter-terrorism squad were also brought in to hunt for the unidentified attackers.

Another shootout took place in the Tanah Hitam mountain on Tuesday 16 August after the banned Morning Star flag was raised a day before Indonesian Independence Day. According to witnesses, shots were fired after a joint team of police and military officers arrived to take the flag down. Papua police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said the joint forces were sweeping the mountain to find the perpetrators and prevent more incidents from taking place. During the military sweeps of the area police claim they found documents that allegedly belonged to the OPM – including flags, ammunition of various types, bows and arrows, mobile phones and a list of up to 19 OPM members.

On 1 September, 13 people were arrested in Kotaraja by a combined police and military force. Kotaraja is not far from Abepura and Nafri, where the military operation had recently taken place. A shot was reported to have been heard in the area during the round up. The 13 are alleged to have been involved in shootings in Nafri and to have caused unrest during an Idul Fitri ceremony that was being held on the premises of Brimob. The 13 are in police custody in Jayapura – Sofyan Yoman Socratez from the Baptist church said they would investigate the incident and would release a formal report to the public next week.

Also last month, a series of articles by Tom Allard in the Sydney Morning Herald exposed leaked Kopassus documents that showed lists of West Papuans who are supposed to be supporting "separatism". In reality they are members of civil society organisations concerned about the human rights situation in West Papua.

The leaked documents highlight that the level of spying by the Indonesian military on West Papuans is oppressive, with agents infiltrating every level of West Papuan society. There is an obvious systematic campaign to intimidate both human rights defenders and the West Papuan people as a whole.

The Australia West Papua Association has written to the Australian Government numerous times about our concern over Australia's ties with the Indonesian military. AWPA's latest press release concerning this can be read here.

Amnesty International released a number of urgent actions concerning West Papua this month – one about Papuan political prisoner Kimanus Wenda who is in urgent need of medical treatment. He has a tumour in his stomach, and needs to be transferred to a hospital to undergo an operation. Prison authorities have refused to pay for his transport and medical costs. Another was concerning Papuan activist Melkianus Bleskadit who has been imprisoned for his involvement in a peaceful protest and for raising an independence flag, and another regarding fears for the safety of human rights defender Yones Douw. An earlier urgent action about Douw was issued on 17 June.

The Asian Human Right Commission also released an urgent action concerning medical workers who were criminally charged for protests over wages.

The 42nd Meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) starts in Auckland on 6 September. AWPA wrote to the PIF leaders in June asking that they grant observer status to genuine representatives of the West Papuan people who are struggling for their right to self-determination. An article about the forum by Maire Leadbeater from the Indonesia Human Rights Committee can be read here.

The West Papua Project at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney released a report called "Anatomy of an Occupation: The Indonesian Military in West Papua" by Jim Elmslie and Camellia Webb- Gannon with Peter King.

As pressure mounts between local human rights activists and securty forces, the International Crisis Group has also released a new briefing paper called "Indonesia: Hope and Hard Reality in Papua", which can be found here.

The West Papuan people are now calling for peaceful dialogue with Jakarta, and although not unanimous, the will is there. The international community should place pressure on Jakarta to solve West Papuans' issues of concern. If we don't, we will see increasing conflict in West Papua in turn affecting the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

I am here to give solidarity, not as a provocateur

Direct Action - September 2011

Paulus Suryanta Ginting, in Jakarta – On August 2, Kholis Annasir, from the student group Centre for Student Struggle for National Liberation (Pembebasan - Liberation) and I attended an action called by the West Papua National Committee (KNPB). We were invited to attend by Okto, the coordinator of the planned action. I was representing the People's Liberation Party (PPR). I later learned from the coordinator that we were the only ones there providing political and organisational solidarity. Tommy, from the human rights group Kontras, was there to monitor the action.

The theme of the action was "Support for the High Level International Lawyers Conference for West Papua in Oxford, UK, for the independence of the West Papuan nation". The KNPB is an alliance of Papuan liberation groups formed in 2009. Its earlier name was West Papuan Peoples National Action Committee.

The action started at 12 noon. People marched from the Hotel Indonesia roundabout to the State Palace. Kholis and I were late; we arrived shortly after the march reached the State Palace. Fifteen minutes after we arrived, the police came on the scene and asked whether the action had a permit. In fact, there are no longer any regulations requiring a permit, only that the police should be informed. The KNPB had twice faxed the police with the information about the action.

I joined Viktor Kogoya, who was conducting the negotiations with the police from the Central Jakarta station. I backed up the view that it was required only that the police be informed. While negotiations were taking place, a police officer, called Abdul Karim, threatened the crowd: "While I am negotiating, there can be no speeches. You can sing songs!" But people kept making speeches, although using a megaphone, not the sound system.

Solidarity speech

The negotiations finished, and the police decided that the action had to finish in 15 minutes, at 2.45pm, but the KNPB held firm that they would go until 3pm. So the action continued. The Papuan comrades had the chance to sing some more songs and dance. After two songs, I was given the chance to make a solidarity speech. I had calculated that the police would arrest me if I spoke, but I started the speech in any case.

This was my speech: "Long live the Papuan people! Long live the movement of the Papuan people! Long live the women of Papua! Long live the Papuan liberation struggle! Just now, when there were negotiations, one of the police intelligence officers asked me: 'Were you the one who brought these Papuans here?' I said, 'No, I am here in solidarity'. Then he said to me: 'What solidarity? You are a traitor to the nation.' This is very strange, very narrow nationalism: in fact, it is those who sold Papuan land to Freeport who are the traitors to the nation!"

After that last sentence, about 10 police moved in and arrested me, hitting and kicking me and dragging me to the police van. Some of the KNPB members tried to stop them, but we weren't prepared enough and so the police got me. The police shouted and threw insults: "Traitor to the nation!", "Provocateur". I shouted back: "Hey, no violence. And what law are you arresting me under? I will sue you for using violence!" But it didn't stop.

I was put into the police van by myself. I could hear them shouting outside: "Provocateur! Traitor to the nation!" I could only shake my head at their entrenched, short-sighted and narrow nationalism.

I was left inside the van. The KNPB comrades tried to get me released. The police lied to the organisers, telling them that I had been taken to the police station. (I knew this through the hand phone message I received from Kholis Annasir.)

Just before 3pm, I could see a force of about 100 police getting ready. Armed with their shields and sticks, they surrounded the KNPB action. Behind them were other forces ready, including Dalmas Motor Trail forces. The demonstration dispersed of its own accord.

In the police station

After the demonstration dispersed I was taken to the Central Jakarta police station. I was told this by Siregar, the intelligence officer who took me. I knew him already from 2006, when he had arrested me in front of the palace after we held an action following the congress of our student organisation at the time. I asked why I was arrested: under what law? "Forget it", he said. "You will go in, fill out some forms and then go home. That's the police these days: just playing at arresting."

I could only shake my head again: what to think? Drag people away, arrest them, beat them, kick them, but they don't know under what law. I was left to wait about two hours in one of the police station rooms. I wasn't alone. Two comrades from KNPB and Pembebasan were there also, and two people from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, but they left after a while, maybe bored with waiting.

Around 5.05pm I was questioned by a detective named Ghandi. He questioned me for about an hour and 10 minutes. I was questioned as a witness because they couldn't find a cause to arrest me. They asked me my life story, and about who organised the action. What were the demands of the action? What equipment was there? What had I said in my speech?

After I signed the report of my questioning, the chief detective, Sutopo, asked me to be photographed and to let them take my fingerprints. I refused. I was a witness, not an accused. They said they would report my attitude to the head of the intelligence section. I said that if I was not being charged, I wanted to leave. They would not allow it. I was forced to wait for the intelligence chief and the deputy head of the local police, who were at prayers.

Procedure

While waiting, we contacted some lawyers and asked what they thought might happen. Some said it was still possible that I would be charged; others said that this was all part of the procedure. Finally, Tommy (staff monitor, Kontras) decided to contact the Kontras lawyer, Daud SH. A short while later Daud and also Kris arrived and had some discussions with the police. Kris advised that the photo and fingerprints were just procedure.

Then the intelligence chief arrived along with Abdul Karim, the officer who had ordered the arrest at the demonstration (perhaps he was the Central Jakarta deputy police head). Abdul Karim looked at me and said, "Oh, you are the person from the action earlier, yes?", and I answered, "Yes, my lawyer is outside".

Budi Wardoyo, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Party, asked the intelligence chief, "Can he leave now?" The reply was, "Oh, in a moment, not yet". He asked to speak with Kris and then with Daud, Tommy and Budi Wardoyo. I am not sure what was discussed. Budi Wardoyo said there were words that I had spoken which had made the police emotional. I heard that after I was released. As far as I can remember, I never deliberately said anything to make them emotional.

After a few minutes Kris emerged and said to me: "Do you want to go home tonight?" "Of course", I answered. "Then you must let them take your photo and fingerprints and make a statement letter." "Why?", I asked. "I am a witness, not an accused. What kind of letter?"

"A letter that you won't participate in any actions without permission", said Kris. "As far as I know the KNPB sent letters informing the police of the action at least two times." And: "Won't this cause problems later?", I asked. Kris said that it was just an administrative requirement and that he had provided such a letter the last time he had been arrested.

After consulting with Budi Wardoyo, I agreed to the three requests. It went against the grain to accede to these requests, especially as my status was that of a witness and that I was not being charged with anything. I was photographed and fingerprinted. After negotiated editorial work, the letter read: "I, the undersigned... will not repeat what I did in front of the State Palace, namely provoke the masses". It was frustrating: the police had found no way to charge me but they had been able to force me to sign this letter, if I was not to stay longer in the police station. So that is a bit of my story as somebody who provided solidarity to a protest action where I had then been accused of being a provocateur as well as a traitor.

Solidarity

Why did I attend that KNPB action? The formal position of the People's Liberation party is still the same as that we developed when we individual members of the PPR were still in the People's Democratic Party (PRD), namely supporting "the broadest possible democratic dialogue for the Papuan people free of intervention by the government". This remains our position until we have new information about Papuan society and its struggles.

Cooperation between us and various elements in the KNPB is not new. Some of us who were in the PRD before it split had been active in Aceh Papua Solidarity (2005) and Solidarity for Papua, formed in 2010.

There is, of course, a difference between "the broadest possible democratic dialogue for the Papuan people free of intervention by the government" and "referendum and independence for the West Papuan people". But does that mean we cannot give solidarity? I think we must provide such solidarity. And not just for humanitarian reasons because of the killings that have recently occurred in Papua.

This is a political question, a question of liberation. Perhaps the identification of a Papuan nation is still difficult, whether because the Papuan original residents are a minority there now, or because there is no unity among the Papuans, including the division into 350 or more ethnicities, whose movement is fragmented, without a common language, territory and movement or economic relations.

However, there has emerged the embryo of a Papuan nation as a result of the vicious repression there by imperialism, as well as by non-Papuan local capitalists. That is how we see it. Their expression of resistance must be valued, supported, provided with democratic space, given solidarity. Regardless of whether the political decision of seeking independence is correct or not, a people of the same struggle who proclaim themselves a nation have the right to state their thinking and their political position. That is a matter of respecting the freedom to think and to express opinions, political liberty. And this position they are taking, the demand for independence and their assertion of nationhood, has not just been sucked from their thumbs. Since the 1969 referendum, the Papuan people have been deceived, oppressed, killed, raped and tortured.

After independence?

The issue we always raise with our Papuan comrades demanding independence via a referendum is what will happen to Papua after independence. Don't let it happen that, once independent, they fall under foreign domination through any kind of imperialist puppet government. What kind of economic system and culture do they want? What kind of government? What of the fate of the majority of the residents there who are not original Papuans? These questions must be answered by the Papuan comrades if their democratic and independence struggle is not to end up directionless.

And the democratic movement cannot separate itself from the Papuan people's movement, even where it demands independence, if any of these questions are to be discussed. The democratic and progressive movement in Indonesia is more theoretically and practically advanced in some respects and should be helping push forward discussion of these problems, finding solutions, identifying strategies and tactics while the Papuan people's movement always defines its own position. And we have some common economic-political realities – Papuans and those of us outside Papua: we both are dominated by imperialism, through a regime dependent on imperialism and through military-backed repression, although the oppression the Papuan people suffer is far more vicious, much deeper and more exploitative.

It will be difficult for the Papuan people to find the democratic space they need or to concretise their struggle for independence, if there is no support from the democratic movement outside Papua. An embryonic nation developing more fully requires some specific conditions: the broadest possible democratic dialogue free of intervention by the government, the withdrawal of non-organic military forces, the dissolution of the military operations district in Puncak Jaya Tinggi Nambur, the formation of a democratic autonomous government in the hands of the Papuan people and movement, the arrest and trial of abusers of human rights, a greater proportion of the natural wealth for the Papuan people, a massive increase in the people's welfare through free education and health, improved infrastructure (roads, electricity, communications), employment opportunities, food, water, cheap fertiliser and so on.

Through cooperation between the democratic movement outside Papua and the Papuan people's movement, democratic space can be opened up more widely, and the conditions advanced towards those necessary for the fullest democracy and prosperity.

Indoleaks

Ex-police chief denies FPI funding allegations

Jakarta Post - September 7, 2011

Jakarta – National Intelligence Agency chief Sutanto scoffed at a WikiLeaks cable allegation that he funded hard-line group The Islam Defenders Front (FPI) while serving as National Police chief.

"There is no such thing. There has never been any funding for the FPI," Sutanto said on Tuesday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The cable stated that the police funded the FPI and used them as an "attack dog".

Sutanto denied all the allegations made against him and the police. "Ask [WikiLeaks]. None of it is true," he said.

Spokesmen for the National Police and FPI have also denied the allegations from the leaked US diplomatic cable dated May 9, 2006.

SBY gives Wikileaks silent treatment

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – The government announced on Monday that it would not respond to any information found in US diplomatic cables presented by whistle-blowing Web site WikiLeaks, saying that the information is far from credible.

"We won't give any response," presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha told the Jakarta Globe. "It is difficult to complain about things like this because the information WikiLeaks reveals is from secondary sources."

Julian also questioned the reliability of the latest release about President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. It talked of efforts to repay the financiers that facilitated his 2004 bid for the presidency by offering them jobs in his administration.

"Too much information is presented without clear sources," he said. "It's just the issue of the day, without clear information on sources. Therefore we're not enthusiastic about responding to WikiLeaks news. The primary sources don't understand how such rumors could spread."

WikiLeaks cited remarks from Democratic Party official Silo Marbun saying that Yudhoyono reportedly offered Vence Rumangkang – the party's deputy general chairman – a position in the administration as well as a check for Rp 5 billion ($585,000) to repay Vence's substantial contribution to the party.

Vence reportedly declined to accept both the check and the offer of a political position. He did allegedly say that he hoped to have Yudhoyono's support as he continued his business endeavors.

Marbun also claimed that Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie's contributions to Yudhoyono's presidential campaign totaled Rp 200 billion. Aburizal would subsequently become Yudhoyono's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and later his Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs during the president's first term.

Julian said the president was at first shocked after WikiLeaks revealed diplomatic cables from the US Embassy in Jakarta that generated considerable attention from international media.

But he said that Yudhoyono had stopped caring about the leaked cables "after learning about the methodology used." "We believe the public will later know and realize just how credible [the information leaked by WikiLeaks is]," he said.

Police deny using FPI as 'attack dog'

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – The police and the Islamic Defenders Front have denied again allegations of collusion that resurfaced with the latest release of leaked US embassy cables from WikiLeaks.

"From the beginning, there have always been [allegations] like this, that we were funded by the military, by Bin Laden, by Saudis," said Ahmad Shabri Lubis, secretary general of the front known as the FPI. "They can say anything they like, but we get our funds from our members."

The unredacted US diplomatic cables were released by the anti-secrecy Web site last week and go into more detail than earlier allegations, including naming sources who provided the US Embassy in Jakarta with information.

One cable, classified "secret" and dated May 9, 2006, states that a contact within the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Yahya Asagaf, had "sufficiently close contacts within" the FPI to warn the embassy that it would be attacked by the group on Feb. 19, 2006, during protests against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The contact accused then-National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto, now head of the BIN, of providing the FPI with funds prior to the attack and cutting off funding after the incident.

"When we questioned [the contact's] allegation that Sutanto funded the FPI, Yahya said the police chief found it useful to have the FPI available to him as an 'attack dog,'" the cable states.

Yahya also characterized the FPI as a tool that could spare the security forces from "criticism for human rights violations," adding that funding the FPI was a "tradition" of the police and BIN.

Another cable alleges the FPI had close contacts with former Jakarta Police Chief Nugroho Djayusman, who admitted the connections to embassy officials.

"He then explained defensively that it was natural for him, as the Jakarta police chief, to have contacts with all sorts of organizations," the cable continued. "This was necessary because the sudden release of energy from the Islamists, who had been repressed under [former president] Suharto, could have posed a security risk.

"'But it doesn't mean I was involved,' he said, distancing himself from responsibility for any violent activities."

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Cmdr. Baharuddin Djafar also denied the accusations. "We have no links [with the FPI]," he said. "If they are funded by the BIN, then you'll have to ask them. But [alleging links to the police] is slander."

Ismail Hasani, from the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, said the cables had little that was new about the FPI's funding sources. "This is what they call counter-intelligence," he said. "In the end, what they do is to gather clues on the elements that may threaten the state."

Leaked US cables slam Megawati, PDI-P

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Leaked US diplomatic cables paint a negative picture of Megawati Sukarnoputri's presidency and predict the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) would do poorly in the 2009 elections due to its "dysfunctional leadership."

The cables also claim that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono went to "great lengths" but ultimately failed to restore his relationship with Megawati, who remains bitter that Yudhoyono ran against her in 2004.

The cables quote former PDI-P legislator Amris Hassan as saying there was a "growing sense of disillusionment within the PDI-P ranks over Megawati's stewardship of the party."

"Hassan bemoaned Megawati's inability to chart a coherent opposition strategy for PDI-P and said that he expected a growing number of high profile defections from the party unless changes were forthcoming," the cable from late 2006 said.

"Hassan told us that Megawati's obsequious inner circle contributed to her leadership struggles as she was rarely challenged or prompted to consider alternative viewpoints from her own."

The former legislator said party members were becoming more and more aware that the party was viewed as little more than a "Megawati cult of personality, and that most party members understood this would not translate into electoral success in 2009."

The source told the embassy that his decision to accept an ambassadorial posting to New Zealand would help "distance himself from the party's dysfunctional leadership."

The party gained just 14 percent of the vote in the 2009 legislative elections to finish in third place, well behind Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, which secured 20 percent of the vote. PDI-P secured almost 20 percent of the vote in the 2004 elections.

Another cable labels Megawati as the only serious threat to Yudhoyono in the 2009 presidential elections but said she had "stumbled in the opposition and failed to articulate a competing vision for the country."

"Having already beaten back one challenge to her authority in PDI-P, several of our contacts in the party report growing disenchantment with her policy of 'opposition for the sake of opposition,' and openly admit they believe she could never be re-elected as president," the cable reads.

"Though it is hard to imagine a PDI-P ticket without her at the top, Megawati would have to overcome lingering questions about her first presidency, and very low favorability numbers (28% in the most recent credible polling), to beat SBY in 2009."

WikiLeaks cable shows US embassy believed Jakarta election was 'rigged'

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – A leaked confidential US diplomatic cable reveals that the US Embassy in Jakarta believed the 2007 gubernatorial election won by Fauzi Bowo had been "rigged" by the capital's elites.

The cable, dated April 25, 2007, ahead of the election, was among the unredacted cables released by WikiLeaks over the past week. It is believed to have been written by the then-deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy, John Heffern.

"Voters hungry for a serious campaign about the myriad problems afflicting a city still reeling from devastating flooding will have to content themselves with 'a campaign' between two candidates who bought their way into contention and squeezed out all competition," the cable reads.

"Despite the intense press coverage of the election and its national importance, the Jakarta elites have rigged the game."

The cable said a number of sources, including a member of the Golkar Party central board named Dadan Irawan, told the embassy that former Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso was supporting Fauzi financially because Fauzi would "reward this loyalty by blocking any efforts to investigate Sutiyoso's murky business dealings after he departs office."

Fauzi, it said, was also expected to allow Sutiyoso to continue the money- making opportunities he had enjoyed as governor.

"Our contacts tell us that Vice Governor Fauzi purchased the support of three of the four largest political parties in Jakarta for at least Rp 5 billion apiece [$555,000]," the cable says, referring to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar, and the Democratic Party.

The largest, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), already had its own financial backing as its candidate, Adang Daradjatun, a former deputy chief of the National Police, reportedly paid the party between Rp 15 billion and Rp 25 billion for its support.

"Jakarta governor's race will, in some fashion, serve as a litmus test for the 2009 presidential election," the cable said.

In response, Fauzi told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that all of his campaign funds had been audited by public accountants and reported to the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Regional Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu).

Political researcher Burhanuddin Muhtadi said he had heard the same claims about the 2007 election. "I was told about the alleged payments by one of the party chairmen and Fauzi's campaign manager," he said. "However, even if the cables are true, it's not court evidence."

Political analyst Arbi Sanit said it was not a secret that vote-buying and money-politics were the only way to win regional elections.

"Each party has its own price, according to how many seats they have in the regional legislature," he said. "Candidates have to pay for their support, and pay more if they want the party to campaign for them."

But both analysts were unconvinced independent candidates were the solution. Burhanuddin said the obstacles were too big. "They don't have sufficient financial resources and the people are also not interested in funding their campaign."

Indonesian police used FPI as 'attack dog,' leaked US cable alleges

Jakarta Globe - September 3, 2011

Unredacted US diplomatic cables published by anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks on Friday allege collusion between Indonesian security forces and the radical Islamic Defenders Front.

Though the claims are not new, the leaked cables go into far greater detail than before and name the sources providing the US Embassy in Jakarta with information on a number of recent controversies, each of which has the potential to embarrass the Indonesian government.

One of the cables states that a contact within the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Yahya Asagaf, had "sufficiently close contacts within" the Front, known as the FPI, to warn the embassy that it would be attacked by the vigilante group on Feb. 19, 2006, during protests against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

The cable says the contact alleged that then National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto, the current head of BIN, had provided the FPI with funds prior to the attack, but cut off the funding after the incident.

"When we questioned [the contact's] allegation that Sutanto funded FPI, Yahya said the police chief found it useful to have FPI available to him as an 'attack dog,'" the cable says.

"When pressed further on the usefulness of FPI playing this role, noting that the police should be sufficiently capable of intimidation, Yahya characterized FPI as a tool that could spare the security forces from criticism for human rights violations, and he said funding FPI was a 'tradition' of the Police and BIN."

The contact said the FPI had obtained the "majority of its funds from the security forces" but faced a "budget crunch" after the attack.

Another cable also alleges the FPI had close contacts with former Jakarta Police Chief Nugroho Djayusman, who admitted the connections to embassy officials.

"He then explained defensively that it was natural for him, as the Jakarta Police Chief, to have contacts with all sorts of organizations," the cable continues. "This was necessary because the sudden release of energy from the Islamists, who had been repressed under [former dictator] Suharto, could have posed a security risk.

"'But it doesn't mean I was involved,' he said, distancing himself from responsibility for any violent activities."

The cable said that Nugroho illustrated his point by claiming that Sutanto lacked useful connections, "and when the violent FPI demonstration took place, Sutanto had to call Nugroho to request assistance."

"Nugroho told us that he then called FPI Chairman Habib Rizieq and arranged the surrender of three men who had arranged the violence outside of the US Embassy."

Nugroho, a controversial figure also blamed for failing to prevent the deadly anti-Chinese riots after the downfall of Suharto in 1998, also took a swipe at the FPI's Islamic credentials.

Though he acknowledged the FPI had a "clear track record of violence" he labeled the group a "small, relatively insignificant group" that was "not ideological, except insofar as it opposed gambling, prostitution and pornography."

"By contrast, he noted that 'Ngruki' (shorthand for [Abu Bakar] Bashir's pesantren and, one can assume, the Jemaah Islamiyah organization) was a much more serious ideological group."

In a later cable in the second quarter of 2006, Yenny Wahid, the daughter of former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, said the retired group of security officers who had helped form and finance the FPI – including Nugroho – had lost control of the group, saying they had "'created a monster' that now functioned independently of its former sponsors and did not feel beholden to them."

"Although anyone with money could hire FPI for political purposes, no one outside of the group could control FPI head Habib Rizieq, who functions as his own boss," the cable said.

Human rights & justice

Torment goes on for Munir's widow

Jakarta Globe - September 8, 2011

Arientha Primanita & Camelia Pasandaran – Seven years after the death of human rights defender Munir Said Thalib, his widow's pain has not eased.

"As his wife, the person closest to him, my sadness and longing are as limitless as time and space," Suciwati told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday from Malang, where she joined a long march to her husband's grave.

"Especially when justice has not been served," the 43-year-old mother of two added.

Suciwati never lost hope, she said, that one day her husband's case would be solved. Though former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto was convicted of poisoning Munir, many believe the murder's real mastermind has escaped justice.

Prosecutors have accused Muchdi Purwoprandjono, a former deputy director of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), of ordering the killing out of anger over Munir's criticisms of his leadership of the Army's Kopassus Special Forces unit. But Muchdi was acquitted by a Jakarta court in December 2008.

Suciwati and the activists who protested near the State Palace on Wednesday said Justice would only be served when the country has a "serious leader."

"We are looking for a brave president who can protect human rights defenders," said Choirul Anam, a member of the Committee of Action and Solidarity for Munir (Kasum).

Choirul was one of about 50 protestors – all wearing white T-shirts adorned with Munir's face and the words "the truth will never die" – who gathered in front of the National Monument's entrance on Jalan Medan Merdeka Utara.

On their protest materials was the phrase "Menolak Lupa" ("Refuse to Forget"), which also circulated among Indonesian Twitter users on Wednesday in a show of solidarity.

The activists called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to also not forget the promise he made in 2004 to solve the murder. In December 2004, Yudhoyono told Suciwati in person that he would see to it that the case would be investigated thoroughly.

"The commitment to solve the murder is gone," said Haris Azhar, coordinator for the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), one of the 30 non-governmental organizations grouped under Kasum. The activists accused Yudhoyono of being no different than former strongman Suharto.

"Suharto actively engaged in human rights violations, while Yudhoyono passively lets human rights violations take place," said Chrisbiantoro, another member of Kontras. "These [violations] are just the same."

Chrisbiantoro pointed to alleged human rights violations occurring under Yudhoyono's administration, including the persecution of the Ahmadiyah sect, violence in Papua and instances of forcible eviction of people from their land.

He added that non-governmental organizations wanted Sept. 7 to be commemorated as Human Rights Defender Day to encourage the government to uphold justice. Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha rejected the accusations and defended Yudhoyono's human rights achievements.

"The government ensures that there are no systematic and heavy human rights violations, and this has been consistent to this day," he said at the Presidential Palace.

With regard to Munir's murder, the spokesman said the case had been thoroughly dealt with by the country's law enforcement institutions. "So it is no longer relevant for the case to be questioned again," he said.

Julian claimed similar achievement with regard to other examples of human rights violations pointed out by activists.

"They are not systematic human rights violations, rather purely criminal or personal cases," he said. "All have been [legally processed]."

Though the protest was relatively peaceful, protestors did clash with guards as they moved closer to the palace. Haris said four people were injured in the incident including human rights activist Usman Hamid.

Munir case is finished, says AGO

Jakarta Post - September 8, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Attorney General Basrief Arief said on Wednesday that all legal measures to bring the murderers of Munir Said Thalib to justice have been exhausted.

Meanwhile, activists rallied at the State Palace to mark the seventh anniversary of the demise of the nation's celebrated human rights advocate.

"It's done. We have done everything we can under all the authority the law gives us," Basrief told reporters at his office.

Basrief said that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) would not contest a Supreme Court ruling that acquitted former spymaster Muchdi Purwoprandjono of wrongdoing in the killing of Munir in September 2004.

Muchdi, who was deputy chairman of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) when Munir was slain on a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam, was arrested in 2008 for allegedly masterminding what activists described as "state terrorism".

The arrest was made amid a public outcry on the prosecution of Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, who was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for poisoning Munir after the AGO contested a Supreme Court ruling exonerating him of murder. Muchdi was acquitted at trial.

Critics have said that Pollycarpus, a former Garuda pilot, was a pawn in a scheme to murder Munir, one of the founders of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). Pollycarpus has filed a petition to overturn his conviction at the Central Jakarta District Court.

Basrief said the AGO would not contest Muchdi's acquittal, claiming that the Criminal Code prohibited prosecutors from filing a case review to challenge a Supreme Court ruling.

Apparently contradicting Basrief's statement, the AGO has previously filed several case reviews challenging Supreme Court rulings, including its case review request of the Supreme Court decision in 2006 that acquitted Pollycarpus of murder.

Activists say that the results of the review, which determined that Pollycarpus was guilty of Munir's premeditated murder, set a precedent for the AGO to contest Muchdi's verdict.

"Whether the AGO is allowed to file a case review will be always disputed. We must also assess how significant the importance of filing the review is and consider every other aspect, especially state security," Basrief said.

Activists from dozens of human rights NGOs rallied in front of the State Palace on Wednesday to mark Munir's death and draw attention to the President's failure to publish the results of the investigation of Munir's killing as previously promised.

The rally ended in a ruckus, as activists sparred with police officers, leaving some of the protesters with minor injuries, Haris Azhar from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said. (sat)

Munir supporters reject 'fake' Indonesian president

Jakarta Globe - September 7, 2011

Arientha Primanita – About 50 protesters have gathered outside the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday to mark the seventh anniversary of the murder of Indonesian human rights defender Munir Said Thalib.

Choirul Anam, a member of the Committee of Action and Solidarity for Munir (Kasum), one of a number of nongovernmental organizations represented at the demonstration, said the case would not go away, despite the government's failure to act.

He said they would never forget the murder, "especially in the past year as the case has been weakened."

Protesters held a series of speeches, urging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to honor his promise to resolve the murder, allegedly involving senior members of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Choirul said the theme of the protest was to reject Yudhoyono's "fake presidency." "We are looking for a brave president that can protect human rights defenders," he said.

Seven years on, government 'fails' to deliver justice to Munir

Jakarta Post - September 7, 2011

Jakarta – Local and international human rights advocates are clamoring for further investigation of the death of activist Munir Said Thalib, who died from arsenic poisoning on a Garuda Indonesia flight to Holland seven years ago.

Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) – a group founded by Munir – said on Tuesday that the commission would rally outside the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

The demonstration would commemorate the anniversary of Munir's death and draw attention to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's failure to publish the results of the investigation of Munir's death, as previously promised, he said.

The "systematic" nature of the murder had to be investigated, including "the fact that airport cameras were offline when Munir boarded his flight", Haris said.

Haris added that then National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri told Kontras about a recorded conversation between Muchdi Purwoprandjono and Munir's alleged murderer, Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, that might be used as evidence to bring the mastermind of Munir's murder to justice.

Pollycarpus, a former Garuda pilot, was tried and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in 2008 for the premeditated murder of Munir.

The court said that Pollycarpus poisoned Munir by putting arsenic in his tea at a cafe at Changi International Airport when Munir was transiting through Singapore on a journey to Amsterdam.

Although the Jakarta High Court upheld Pollycarpus' conviction on appeal, the Supreme Court acquitted Pollycarpus of the murder charges and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment for falsifying documents.

The Attorney General's Office's (AGO) subsequent appeal of the acquittal was upheld, and the Supreme Court reversed itself, overturning its earlier ruling and again sentencing Pollycarpus to 20 years' imprisonment. Pollycarpus has since filed a further case review.

Muchdi, who was then deputy chairman of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), was tried for Munir's murder and found innocent.

In the absence of further investigation of Muchdi, rights activists alleged that the government has concealed the mastermind behind Munir's murder. Haris said that efforts to achieve justice for Munir would be in vain if Yudhoyono did not have the will to resolve the case.

"I am worried that the President has not made further investigation of Muchdi his top priority. [Muchdi] is now a politician in a political party that might help the President's party secure victory in the upcoming 2014 presidential election," Haris said.

Separately, Amnesty International, a London-based human rights group, has urged the AGO launch a new investigation of Munir's death. The rights group sent a letter to Attorney General Basrief Arief on Tuesday asking that he prioritize investigation of Munir's case.

"The lack of accountability in Munir's case contributes to an ongoing sense of fear among human rights defenders in Indonesia," Amnesty said in the letter, a copy of which was sent to the Post.

"At the time, human rights groups said the trial did not meet international standards of fairness after key prosecution witnesses retracted their sworn testimonies," the letter continued.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar declined to comment on reopening the investigation. AGO spokesman Noor Rachmad was not available for comment. (rpt)

Peaceful rally for Munir becomes violent

Jakarta Post - September 7, 2011

Jakarta – A peaceful rally, to commemorate the death of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib in front of the State Palace on Wednesday, turned violent as the police attempted to prevent protestors from approaching the palace.

Demonstrators say the police did not expect them to march toward the State Palace, as they usually conduct their annual commemoration at the National Monument, which is located just across from the palace.

Police started to kick and hit some of the demonstrators, while others tried to push they way out of the police blockade. Some of those attending the rally were injured, including Usman Hamid from the Commission from Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), who was hit and lost his eyeglasses during the chaos, and Tunggal Pawestri, who injured her left elbow.

"We approached the palace spontaneously to deliver our appeal to the President; we just wanted to be heard," said one of the protestors.

Munir was found dead on a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands on September 7, 2004. An autopsy carried out by Dutch authorities showed that he died as a result of arsenic poisoning.

A Garuda pilot, Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in 2008 for the premeditated murder of Munir. Many believe that Pollycarpus did not act alone.

London-based rights group, Amnesty International, has urged the Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO) to initiate a new investigation into Munir's murder.

Yudhoyono will not interfere in Munir case: Aide

Jakarta Post - September 7, 2011

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will not interfere in the legal case centering on the alleged murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, who died on board a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands in 2004, an aide to the President says.

Presidential spokesman on domestic affairs Julian Aldrin Pasha said that it was not relevant to query Yudhoyono's commitment to enforcing the law on human rights violations.

"Yudhoyono's administration will neither intervene nor hinder the processes related to the legal affairs in the country," he said on Wednesday.

Julian said that it was the task of law enforcers to investigate Munir's death. Julian said that investigations into alleged human rights violations had improved under Yudhoyono's administration.

A number of human rights activists staged a rally in front of Merdeka Palace demanding President Yudhoyono pay attention to Munir's murder case.

Amnesty international demands new probe into Munir death

Jakarta Post - September 6, 2011

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – London-based rights group Amnesty International has urged the Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO) to initiate a new investigation into the alleged murder of Indonesian rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004.

Sixteen country directors of Amnesty signed a letter sent Tuesday to Attorney General Basrief Arief, urging that he make the investigation a priority.

"Although two people have now been convicted of the killing, there are credible allegations that those responsible at highest levels have not yet been brought to justice.

"The lack of accountability in Munir's case contributes to an ongoing sense of fear among human rights defenders in Indonesia," Amnesty says in the letter, a copy of which was sent to The Jakarta Post.

The rights group also criticized the acquittal of Muchdi Purwoprandjono, a former deputy at Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency (BIN), in a court hearing in 2008 in relation to the murder case.

"At the time, human rights groups said the trial did not meet international standards of fairness after key prosecution witnesses retracted their sworn testimonies," Amnesty said.

Amnesty made the call ahead of the seventh anniversary of the death of Munir, on Wednesday.

Calls for probe into oil field shootings

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Ismira Lutfia – Human rights activists have called for an independent investigation into the deaths of two men shot dead by police during an attack on oil field facilities in Tiaka Island, Central Sulawesi, last month.

Indria Fernida, deputy chairwoman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said on Sunday that promises by the police to conduct an internal probe into the incident were insufficient, and that a thorough independent investigation was needed to ensure objectivity and accountability.

She said the accounts offered by police and protestors of the attack on the facility jointly operated by Pertamina and Medco E&P Tomori differed greatly.

"This calls for an independent investigation by a third party. The police should not stop at handing down internal sanctions to their officers. They should ensure that there is a fair and open prosecution of those charged with the crime of shooting and killing members of the public," she said.

Sinung Karto, a Kontras officer responsible for advocacy, law and human rights, agreed. "Each side has a very different account of what actually happened, but the police's own investigative team conducted its probe based only on the police's account, disregarding the villagers' version of events," he said.

Attacks on the Tiaka oil field facilities occurred over several days from Aug. 20. A group of about 30 protesters arrived armed with Molotov cocktails and machetes and demanded that the operators fulfil promises to improve the welfare of residents in Kolo Bawah village.

Police defended the joint venture's operations, shooting and killing two protesters, and inflicting gunshot wounds on six others. Twenty-three protestors were arrested and named suspects after the attack. Last week, police said they were investigating 19 officers over the fatal shooting.

Ifdhal Kasim, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said that the organization's representatives in Palu, the Central Sulawesi capital, had conducted a separate probe into the incident and that Komnas HAM had submitted its preliminary report to the National Police in Jakarta.

"We've asked the police to take firm action against any officers found to have breached protocol, and we demand that their investigation not stop at the internal level," he said. "Their members should face a criminal court if they are found to have broken the law."

Political parties & elections

New Indonesian parties racing to address shortfalls

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – The Justice and Human Rights Ministry said on Monday that out of the 14 new political parties registered for the 2014 general elections, only three had met the requirements for regional representation with one month left before the deadline.

"After almost two weeks of verification, we expect that, at the most, only three political parties qualify," said Aidir Amin Daud, the ministry's director general of administrative law.

However, he declined to disclose the names of the three parties, only saying that the other 11 parties still had one month left to get in compliance.

"We will give them one month to complete [the regional representation requirements]. If they fail, they will be automatically disqualified," Aidir said. He added that most parties had failed to demonstrate they had nationwide networks.

In order to be eligible, a party must have regional offices in each of the 33 provinces and be represented in 75 percent of all districts and 50 percent of all sub-districts.

"On average, their regional representation is pretty good, although still insufficient. If the [requirements] are not fulfilled, then they won't be eligible for the 2014 presidential election," Aidir said.

Beritasatu.com quoted an unnamed source as saying the three parties that had been verified were the Independent People's Union Party (SRI), the NasDem Party and the Insulinde National Prosperity Party (PKBN).

SRI earned substantial media coverage after it said it wanted to nominate as its presidential candidate former finance minister and current World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati. She recently hosed down such expectations, however.

The PKBN was founded by Yenny Wahid, a daughter of the late President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, after leading a splinter faction of the National Awakening Party (PKB) since 2004.

When contacted by the Jakarta Globe, most of the parties had not yet been informed of the results of the verification. "Of course we hope that we are among the three," said Sugeng Suparwoto, NasDem chairman.

For Yenny, the 2014 elections are something to look forward to. "We have to focus on the now and the future," she said.

Yunarto Wijaya, a political analyst from Charta Politika, said most parties simply relied on vague idealism or a well-known sympathetic figure but did not have supporting political infrastructure at the regional level.

"Of course it is difficult for new parties, because currently the infrastructure is monopolized by medium to large parties that have participated in at least two elections," he said.

"NasDem, on the other hand, did the reverse by establishing regional support first." He added that the PKBN stood a good chance of verification because it was using the network of the Nadhlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic movement, that was once chaired by Yenny's father.

Among the 14 new parties that had registered to take part in the 2014 elections were the National Republic Party (Nasrep), which was founded by Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra Suharto, the youngest son of the late President Suharto.

Political parties erect travel posts to campaign

Jakarta Post - September 5, 2011

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – It would not be a political party if it were unwilling to snatch any opportunity to attract public support. Indonesia's political parties have always had ways of doing so by utilizing the Idul Fitri exodus and the returning traffic along Java's north coast highway.

Several parties erected posts at strategic locations along the HR Dharsono and Jendral Ahmad Yani bypass in Cirebon, West Java – the busiest stretch of road linking cities in Central Java and Jakarta.

The posts were guarded by uniformed party cadres who provided mineral water and snacks for motorists stopping there. In addition, the posts also provided other free services ranging from medical examinations and massages to the provision of guidance and information for motorists intending to find shortcuts or alternative routes.

Parties erecting posts included the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Democratic Party (PD) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Gerindra Party Cirebon chapter deputy chairman Budi Permadi said that the posts were meant to help travelers with problems during the exodus and return journey.

"Exhausted travellers or others experiencing difficulties finding the right directions can drop by the posts for help. Our cadres are ready for them," Budi said.

He did not deny remarks claiming that the posts were intended to attract public support. "If the party can offer acts of sympathy for the public, they will in turn support the party. That is our aim," he said.

The Gerindra Party has just had one legislator at the Cirebon Legislative Council resulting from 8,000 votes, or 4 percent, of the total eligible voters there during the 2009 general elections. "We aim to gain 5 to 7 percent of voters in the next general elections," he said.

Similar remarks were made by PDI-P's Cirebon chapter secretary Didi Sunardi, who said that his party's posts showed care for Muslims who celebrated Idul Fitri in their home towns.

"The posts are intended to help our brothers and sisters from the Muslim community who are on the way to their home towns to celebrate Idul Fitri festivities. PDI-P feels responsible for helping the smooth flow of traffic during the Idul Fitri exodus and its returning traffic," Didi said.

He further said that the practice had been regularly done by his party over the last five years. "Whenever we erect the posts, the response from the travelers has been great, so we decided to continue the tradition," he said.

PDI-P is the third largest party in Cirebon after the Democratic Party and the Golkar Party. PDI-P has five legislators at the Cirebon council. All posts were ornamented with symbols of their respective parties, including flags and banners.

Sri Mulyani declines to give supporters a birthday wish

Jakarta Globe - September 4, 2011

A. Lin Neumann – It was the kind of crowd any presidential hopeful might envy, but the exclusive belated birthday party for World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati on Saturday night in Jakarta did not turn out the way her supporters might have hoped.

In effect, Sri Mulyani used the occasion to pour cold water on recent efforts to draft her into the race for president in 2014, according to one of the attendees.

About 70 people, including some of Indonesia's most prominent intellectuals and reform-minded political figures, attended the dinner for the former finance minister, who was in town for Idul Fitri. But the gift they might have expected was not offered.

"You are being shallow," she told the crowd after speaker after speaker implored her to pick up the mantle being offered by the new SRI political party. "Now let's enjoy the party."

It was the first time she has spoken publicly about the effort to get her to run in 2014.

She explained to the crowd of friends and believers in her reform credentials, in good humor, that World Bank rules precluded senior bank officials from being involved in political activities.

She noted that the SRI party had raised eyebrows at the bank and that she had explained to her colleagues in Washington that she had nothing to do with the party.

Among those present were journalist and author Goenawan Mohamad, prominent priest and government critic Romo Benny Susetyo, pundit Wimar Witoelar, oilman Arifin Panigoro and lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, all of whom have been identified in various ways with the drive to put Sri Mulyani on the ballot.

The event, held at the Marley Bar in South Jakarta, was also attended by Sri Mulyani's family. Her birthday was on Aug. 26.

"Of course this doesn't mean it's over," said the source, also a prominent political figure, of Sri Mulyani's possible – if improbable – presidential bid. "But I think she doesn't want to be hijacked by this party."

"Everyone was disappointed, of course," the source said. "But it was a great party."

Election bills top legislative agenda, but impasses remain

Jakarta Globe - September 3, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – For Indonesian lawmakers returning from Idul Fitri recess next week, two deadlocked election-related bills occupy spots high on the agenda.

But legislators seemed pessimistic on Friday that deliberation on the bills would finish any time soon.

Activists and analysts have long been pressing the House of Representatives to expedite work on the election bill and the election organizers bill, which they say are urgently needed to properly prepare for the 2014 general elections.

But Golkar Party lawmaker Nurul Arifin said on Friday it would be impossible to finish the election bill's deliberation as expected this month given House factions' refusal to compromise.

"After Idul Fitri, the House leadership will establish a special commission related to the bill deliberation. I hope it can help us to settle the differences," Nurul said.

In the election organizer bill, parties are deadlocked over the inclusion of a clause that would allow party members to be appointed to the election organizing board.

Contentious issues in the election bill include the plan to double to 5 percent the legislative threshold, which is the minimum number of votes a party must receive in an election in order to be represented in the House, and on reducing the number of seats contested in each constituency.

Anas Urbaningrum, general chairman of the Democratic Party, acknowledged the difficulty in establishing common ground among political parties, especially with legislation concerning rules about the parties themselves.

"Even among members of the ruling coalition, the negotiation process is not always easy," Anas said. "I am pushing the Democratic Party faction in the House of Representatives to have more intensive talks with other factions to find a rational agreement on some issues."

Anas stressed the importance of taking a rational approach and reaching a fair decision. "After each faction compromises with each other, the result must be announced publicly," Anas said.

Political analyst Ray Rangkuti, director of the Indonesian Civic Network (LIMA), put the blame squarely on big parties, including Golkar, the Democratic Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which he said seemed unwilling to compromise.

Those parties, he said, have refused to budge on the 5 percent legislative threshold issue, when an increase would be of greater significance to smaller counterparts.

Smaller parties, including the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), have already agreed to a 3 percent threshold.

"The big parties talk and talk about accelerating the legislative process, but they need to think about the deliberation process as well," Rangkuti said. "The key to settling the deadlock is getting the big parties to accommodate the smaller parties' wishes."

Labour & migrant workers

Domestic workers suffer in the shadows

Jakarta Globe - September 1, 2011

Brigitta Kinadi – With news outlets scrambling to cover the latest stories about Indonesian migrant workers abroad, from a beheading in Saudi Arabia to the latest roundup of illegals in Malaysia, the well-being of local household workers is usually ignored.

Experts say that maids and nannies in Jakarta face many of the same issues of abuse as workers abroad – and they lack even basic legal protections.

Lita Anggraini, the chairwoman of the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT), says the situation for migrant and domestic workers is similar. "There are no clear rules, especially about working hours, health care, acceptable wages and even contracts between employers and workers," Lita said.

According to a report by the International Labor Organization, there were four million domestic helpers in the country in 2009, with 1.2 million of them working in Jakarta. The numbers are rapidly increasing.

Albert Bonasahat, national project coordinator for the ILO Jakarta Migrant Workers Project, says that domestic workers here should get more attention from the media and government alike. "Many people think the problem of a lack of rights only exists for migrant workers abroad," he said. "In reality, this is not the case."

Bonasahat said the absence of regulations regarding working hours and a minimum wage for local household staff spoke volumes about the ongoing problem. "In terms of legal protection, it is still very weak. The legislature has not finalized any laws for them," he said.

Lita said that domestic workers were vulnerable because lawmakers "largely represent employers, and not workers."

The definition of abuse also should be evaluated more carefully, Bonahasat said. Although cases of physical abuse may seem rare for domestic workers due to the lack of media attention, "excessive working hours and the absence of a minimum wage are also forms of abuse that occur on a daily basis," he said.

Abuse at home

Lita said it was hypocritical for the government to point fingers at violations of worker rights in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, when those countries can see the lack of protection for Indonesia's own domestic workers.

In the past four years, there have been 572 reported cases of abuse, Lita said, but she believes that there are many more cases that are not publicized. "Many workers are ashamed, especially when it comes to physical or sexual abuse," she said.

Rumina, the owner of employment agency Yayasan PRT Ibu Gito, deals with domestic workers as part of her job. Her agency, based in South Cipete in Jakarta, has a pool of temporary workers and caters to households in Greater Jakarta.

She agreed that the government should implement laws to protect the rights of domestic workers.

"There needs to be a clear standard regarding their wages. Right now, my agency has a minimum wage of at least Rp 600,000 [$70] per month for workers with no prior experience. But it's hard to hold employers to that standard when there's no law governing workers' rights," she said.

She added that although cases of physical abuse are rare, many of the workers in her agency complain about long working hours, a lack of adequate meals and no days off.

Dimes, a 30-year-old domestic worker, said that if there was a conflict between her and her employers, talking about her concerns would usually resolve the problem. But other times, she doesn't have many options.

"Sometimes I just have to live with it. This is my job simply because I'm not really good at anything else," she said. "It's the only way I can get money to provide for myself."

Rumina's agency offers some protection for workers and gets involved in potential cases of mistreatment. When her workers have a conflict that they cannot solve themselves, Rumina says that they can turn to her agency for assistance.

"Obviously we need to talk to their employers also to ensure that both sides are being heard. We want to make things clear," she said. "But there are some cases where we have talked to the employers to let them know the workers are under our protection." Back home

Supriatin, 26, is a former migrant worker who has worked in Penang, Malaysia. Like many others, she said that she came back for her family. "This is my home. I wanted to be closer to my parents, especially my mom," Supriatin said.

Although there were things she enjoyed about working in Malaysia, she says that she mostly feels sorry for those working overseas. "I feel bad for them because they have to leave their families. I feel bad that they have to leave their loved ones for so long, sometimes for six years at a time," she said.

Other workers do not even consider working abroad. "Even working here scares me," says Riyanti, a 15-year-old who has just started working. "Jakarta is already so different from where I'm from. So even if the wages are higher, I still don't want to go abroad. Hearing about abuse makes me more scared to go."

Dimes has worked in eight different households since she finished primary school 18 years ago. But she will not work abroad. "I've never thought of going abroad and I'm not interested. I just can't be that far away from home. I'm content here," she said.

The appeal of overseas work, of course, is higher wages and the opportunity to provide a better life for their families.

Ani, 29, wants to go overseas. Two years ago, she planned to go to Saudi Arabia, but her plan was derailed by illness. With the current ban on workers going to Saudi Arabia, Ani is now looking at Taiwan or Hong Kong.

"One of my friends came back from Taiwan and was successful," she said. "She really liked it there, and her husband, who was unemployed, was able to start his own business because they have money now. Their life is good now."

For now, domestic workers have yet to receive legal protection from the Indonesian government. One hopeful sign was that Indonesia voted in favor of a landmark ILO convention on the treatment of domestic workers in June.

That vote brought renewed calls for domestic legislation from groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Activists want the bill on the protection of domestic workers to be made an immediate priority. The bill calls for better working conditions for domestic workers, including a minimum of 12 days of annual paid leave and other privileges enjoyed by workers in the formal economy.

"The current paradigm is that lawmakers don't consider household workers as 'workers'," Bonasahat said. "They say they can't regulate the relationship between workers and employers because they are a part of the private household. The question is, would you treat your own family like that?"

The bill is being debated by House of Representatives Commission IX, which oversees welfare issues.

Environment & natural disasters

Activists call for halt in orangutan skull trade

Antara News - September 7, 2011

An animal rights group is urging the government to be more proactive in putting a halt to the illegal trade in orangutan skulls.

"The trade in illegal orangutan skulls still continues in souvenir shops in Pontianak, West Kalimantan; Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan; and Balikpapan, East Kalimantan," said Hardi Baktiantoro, director of the Center for Orangutan Protection.

According to Hardi, orangutan skulls could fetch between Rp 500,000 and Rp 2 million [$60 and $235] each. The skulls, he said, were obtained from villagers living near palm oil plantations and forest preserves.

"Orangutans that are trapped in the fragmented forests or in the forests for conservation areas easily get shot. And after a month, the hunter will be back to the area and take the skulls," Hardi said.

In August, the center discovered four orangutan skulls at a palm oil plantation in Central Kalimantan. The NGO said it also found an orangutan's corpse buried at another plantation in East Kalimantan.

"This trading could be completely stopped if the souvenir traders who could be convicted of selling the orangutan skulls were arrested. Therefore, there would be no more people buying and ordering the orangutan skulls from the communities or the oil palm workers," Hardi said.

Hardi urged the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) of the Ministry of Forestry to act firmly by enforcing the law against shops that sell bones and other parts of endangered species.

He also said that palm oil companies should bear the burden of providing protection for any orangutans or other endangered species living on their concessions, and aid the BKSDA in prosecuting workers believed guilty of killing endangered animals.

Citarum River brings fresh water along with disease, poor harvests

Jakarta Post - September 6, 2011

Tifa Asrianti – Nurhayati, 38, a resident of Sukamaju village in Majalaya, Bandung regency held up her right hand. Compared to her smooth left hand, the right was wrinkled and had swollen wounds, making it look as if it belonged to a much older person.

"This has been going on for eight months. At night it feels hot and itchy. I can't concentrate on my work," Nur said. She is one of hundreds of people in Sukamaju suffering from the same symptoms.

While medication obtained from a local health community center has helped other residents with the same malady, the problem will return if the residents continue to draw water from the river.

Citarum River traverses 269 kilometers through nine regencies and three cities. Of the 25 million people who depend on the river, 10 million live along its banks, split evenly between urban and rural residents.

There are significant agricultural activities along the riverbanks, interspersed with scattered industrial clusters.

Pollution in Citarum River raises health and food security issues, as residents living along its banks use water from the river for their daily needs.

One look at the dark purple hue of the water that Nur and the whole village used to bathe and wash was enough for any layman to guess why the residents of Sukamaju were sick.

The water the village uses is taken from Citarum River, which contains waste discharged by textile factories.

In the past, the villagers built a pipe system to channel river water directly to their wells. Then, the water was clean and suitable for drinking. Growth in the textile industry in nearby Majalaya turned the color of the river – the village's only source of fresh water – a dark purple.

Local residents cannot afford to buy clean water. Poor education and high unemployment leaves them little choice to but to use the river's polluted water almost for everything, from washing dishes to bathing, and from brushing their teeth to washing rice and vegetables.

However, the residents do not use river water to cook. "This village still has a source of clean water, but it is very limited. We only use it for cooking. Clean water is expensive. We really have to save it," Nur said.

A few hundred meters from Nur's village lies a vast expanse of paddy fields. Rows of textile factories are visible in the background. Sometimes chimneys from the factories emit small puffs of dark smoke that distract the little birds flying around the paddy field.

When the Post visited Sukamaju in mid-August, the rice field was almost ready for harvest. To approach the farmers were working at the far end of the field, a visitor had to walk along a dike that ran next to the paddy and bordered the factories.

Walking closer to the factories, various colors could be seen in the water flowing in the irrigation gutter. Dark greens, blues and reds came out of the pipes and went straight to the gutter.

One of the farmers working the field that day was Mien. The 42-year-old said that the farmers used waste water from the factories to irrigate their crops.

The other farmers fell silent when she spoke. "Waste water is good for the crops. It's like fertilizer," she said. Mien's husband works for one of the factories.

The farmers' yields currently ranged from six to eight quintals for a 100 square meter paddy field, Mein said, down from 8 to ten quintals that the land previously produced.

"This is better than the bad crop we had four years ago. At that time, we could only get two quintals," she said. "Maybe since it's like fertilizer, if we use too much [waste water], the results wont be good."

While Mien may be under pressure to say positive words about the factories' polluted water, she can not fight the facts that such water does harms to the crop.

Mudflow aid rises, but other Indonesian agencies see cuts

Jakarta Globe - September 2, 2011

Dion Bisara – The government plans to increase the amount of relief funds next year to repair broken dams in Sidoarjo, East Java, to control a mudflow caused by the rupture of a gas drill, according to a draft of the 2012 state budget.

The mudflow mitigation funds will rise by 3.5 percent to Rp 1.33 trillion ($155.6 million) next year from an estimated Rp 1.29 trillion this year. The fund will be managed by the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS).

The draft budget drawn up is expected to help create 48 million cubic meters of mud drainage to the Porong River and aid construction of dams in three villages near the mudflow.

Around 98 percent, or Rp 1.304 trillion, of the funds will be used for construction. Rp 26.7 billion will go toward management and technical development of the BPLS.

The mudflow has destroyed hundreds of homes, swamped 720 hectares of land and displaced thousands of people since it began erupting in mid 2006.

Lapindo, which drilled the gas well, is partly owned by Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who was the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare five years ago. Lapindo's management and the government blamed the disaster on an earthquake that struck days before the mudflow.

The site gushes around 10,000 to 15,000 cubic meters of mud per day, Sofyan Hadi Djojopranoto, the deputy of operations at BPLS, said in May. The rate is a tenth of the 150,000 cubic meters per day it gushed in the first few weeks after the mudflow started.

Zainul Lutfi, the chairman of a special committee on the Sidoardjo mudflow, said on Aug. 26 that the relief fund was barely enough to cover its responsibilities from the mudflow.

"This shows that the central government is not serious about mitigating the impact of the Sidoardjo mudflow. They are only focusing on the construction at the site, but not the social impact," Zainul said.

He said another Rp 4.1 trillion was needed to provide compensation, especially for 45 neighborhood units that have received no aid since the agency was formed in 2006.

Funding for BPLS has risen sharply, but the agency has struggled to control the mudflow and provide compensation to the residents of the affected area.

The increase in the BPLS budget next year coincides with budget reductions of 10 percent for aid for other natural disasters.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BPNS) budget suffered the biggest cut. Its budget was slashed 29 percent, decreasing from Rp 938.9 billion to Rp 670 billion this year.

The budget for the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basernas) was cut 27 percent from Rp 1.33 trillion to Rp 971.7 billion.

Meanwhile, the government has maintained its disaster standby fund, which is used for emergency disaster response, at Rp 4 trillion.

Health & education

Government approved honorary doctorate for Saudi King: Lawmaker

Jakarta Globe - September 6, 2011

Jakarta – Lawmaker Rieke Dyah Pitalok says the Indonesian government would have had to approve the controversial granting of a University of Indonesia honorary doctorate to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.

Since the doctorate was granted, the decision by the university rector has been met with heated protests from various groups – angry with the Saudi treatment of Indonesian migrant workers, including Ruyati binti Satubi.

Ruyati, an Indonesian migrant who worked as a maid for a Saudi family, was executed by beheading by Saudi authorities earlier this year after she was found guilty of murdering her employer. Her employer had allegedly tortured her repeatedly.

Rieke, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P), said the University of Indonesia (UI) wouldn't have been able to grant the title without the approval of the Indonesian government.

"The awarding of the title couldn't have been solely UI's business. The [Presidential Palace in Jakarta] must have been involved," she said Monday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Rieke cited several articles in a 1980 government regulation on the awarding of honorary titles, which stipulate that titles such as honorary doctorates can be proposed by rectors but must be approved by the national education minister before they are awarded. "I don't think the government was clueless about this," she said.

Professors increase calls for UI president's ouster

Jakarta Globe - September 1, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – At least 40 University of Indonesia professors are calling for the resignation of university president Gumilar Soemantri.

They are condemning Gumilar for, among other things, his decision to award an honorary doctorate degree to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

Gumilar's decision to award the honorary doctorate in humanities and sciences last month provoked severe criticism because of a string of abuse cases involving Indonesian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.

Thamrin Tomagola, a UI sociologist acting as the professors' spokesman, told the Jakarta Globe that Gumilar did not have the authority to confer the degree and it should have been awarded by the university's board of trustees (MWA).

Thamrin said Gumilar illegally dissolved the board, depriving it of the power to confer degrees.

"The MWA is still the highest regulatory body at the university," Thamrin said. He added that the law Gumilar used to dissolve the board, the Education Entity Law, was no longer valid as it was annulled by the Constitutional Court in 2009.

Thamrin and several professors concerned about Gumilar's actions gathered at the home of former Environment Minister and UI professor Emil Salim on Thursday morning to discuss the issue.

"On Monday, Emil Salim will deliver a speech at the School of Economics of the University of Indonesia and will talk about the meeting," Thamrin said.

Thamrin accused Gumilar of neglecting young lecturers by not making them permanent employees; intervening in the recruitment of sociology post- graduate students; increasing student fees four times; and failing to keep the university's finances transparent.

The MWA plans to hold Gumilar accountable. "The MWA is the body that selected and installed him. A meeting will be conducted to decide Gumilar's fate," Thamrin said.

"If Gumilar rejects the MWA's decision, we will increase the pressure to oust him." UI spokeswoman Devi Rahmawati said the rector would step down as long as the process was legitimate. "He has nothing to lose," she said.

Since Gumilar took over in 2007, Devi said he had enacted many changes. The university had a Rp 600 billion ($70 million) budget when he was appointed, according to Devi, which rose to Rp 2.4 trillion on his watch.

In addition, Devi said the university had an integrated financial system that centralized operational and research expenses. In the new system, all funds disbursed to professors for research or comparison study were approved by the rector.

"UI is the one and only state university audited by an external company, and we got a good audit result," she said.

Devi added that a new culture had been fostered by Gumilar that gave younger professors more opportunities to assume leadership positions. "The result is visible. We can now see deans and professors who are just 35 years old," she said.

Devi said the university understood the controversy surrounding the decision to award the honorary doctorate to King Abdullah, whose government is widely accused of condoning the torture, rape and abuse of Indonesian migrant workers.

"The process leading to the award started three years ago," she said. "It doesn't mean we're ignoring public sentiment. There is opposition now only because of the domestic work ers issue."

Women & gender

Fears Indonesian female circumcision guidelines could increase practice

IRIN News - September 2, 2011

West Java – Guidelines on how to perform female genital mutilation/cutting issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Health could cause an increase in the practice, medical experts and rights groups fear.

"This will give doctors a new motivation to circumcise [girls] because now they can say the Ministry of Health approves of this, and the Indonesian Council of Ulema [MUI] approves of it," said Jurnalis Uddin, a doctor and lecturer at Yarsi University in Jakarta.

Though FGM/C was banned in 2006, two of Indonesia's Muslim organizations, including the largest and mostly moderate, Nahdlatul Ulama, ultimately condone the practice advising "not to cut too much," and, as a result, many continue to perform the procedure.

By directing health professionals not to cut a girl's genitals but to "scrape the skin covering the clitoris, without injuring the clitoris", the Ministry of Health stands by the regulations, passed in June, as a medically safe form of FGM/C representing an effort to further regulate the illegal practice and protect women.

But recent uproar has questioned this reasoning. Others are concerned the guidelines could well be misinterpreted as an endorsement of the procedure, combined with an enticement for doctors to encourage the practice, Uddin said.

"I think that doctors will use these guidelines to make money from circumcision," Uddin said, adding that Indonesia's poorly regulated medical practitioners often viewed medicine as a business.

FGM/C is typically done at birth, or before a girl is five years old and in the past was often performed by local healers, called dukun, or by birth attendants. Traditionally, FGM/C was mostly "symbolic" with a small cut on the clitoris, or rubbing the clitoris with tumeric root, making it less invasive than other types of FGM/C.

However, Uddin, who conducted an Indonesia-wide survey of FGM/C practices in 2009, said he had found that when medical practitioners performed the procedure, there was a trend toward more extensive cutting of the clitoris.

Public outcry Dozens of Indonesian groups continue to call for the Ministry to revoke the guidelines.

"This gives a justification for health practitioners to damage women's bodies," said Frenia Nababan, spokeswoman for the Indonesian Family Planning Association. She added, "We fear it will increase control of women's bodies by the state and religious groups."

Amnesty International, is one of more than 100 signatories to a letter stating that the guidelines should be revoked partially on the grounds of Indonesia's child protection laws, as well as the government's commitment to the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), signed by Indonesia in 1984.

Experts say there has been increasing support for the practice from Muslim groups since the downfall of authoritarian leader Suharto in 1998, resulting in greater religious and political freedom, known as "Reformasi".

"Before Reformasi [FGM/C] was mostly done on an individual basis, but since Reformasi, it has been done in mass events," said Siti Musda Mulia, an academic specializing in Islamic studies, who initially conducted research on the process during the Suharto era, and has conducted follow-up research since 1998.

Uddin found Indonesia-wide FGM/C had not increased dramatically since the Suharto era; however in some areas, such as Bandung, West Java, there was an increasing tendency to perform it, even among moderate Muslims.

Across Indonesia approximately 12 percent of female babies born in hospitals, birthing centres or assisted by government midwives have been circumcised, a figure that excludes FGM/C procedures done outside such facilities, Uddin said.

FGM/C remains a controversial practice, with debated origins. Religious experts say it is a foreign cultural practice not sanctioned in any of Islam's religious texts.

Even a scratch or small cut on the clitoris is a dangerous procedure to perform on infants, say medical practitioners. Long-term consequences include bladder and urinary tract infections, as well as cysts and infertility.

The Ministry of Health argues it is not "legitimizing or legalizing" FGM/C with its standards but only trying to make the practice less risky by encouraging trained health professionals rather than traditional healers to perform the procedure.

"It is feared that community members who want to circumcise female babies will therefore go to traditional healers for this procedure, and it will increase the number of [medical] complications. If this procedure is done by health professionals, then it has to be done in accordance with the ministerial instruction 1636, and this will guarantee the protection of the female reproductive system," the Ministry stated in response to national criticism.

Graft & corruption

House speaker defends graft-battered budget body

Jakarta Globe - September 7, 2011

House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie said on Tuesday that the public should not blindly support calls to dissolve the House Budget Committee amid allegations that it was infested with corruption.

Several cases of bribery involving the committee have spurred calls from activists and legal experts to get rid of the committee. In two cases – - – one concerning high-profile graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin, another involving two Ministry of Manpower officials – committee members allegedly received kickbacks for steering state projects to certain companies.

Marzuki, from the ruling Democratic Party, said accusations of rampant corruption within the committee should not be a reason for its disbandment. The committee, he added, is too important.

"Our database on the committee's heavy workload should be made public so people can see what it does," he said. "The Budget Committee is not like activists have been saying."

Activists and politicians have called into question the relevancy of the committee. Committee members are alleged to be among the potential recipients of a Rp 1.5 billion ($175,000) kickback handed to two Manpower Ministry officials by a contractor. The arrest of Nazaruddin, himself a former committee member, further stained its already tainted reputation.

One witness in Nazaruddin's case recently testified that a company owned by the former Democratic Party treasurer had spent around Rp 16 billion in bribes to win contracts related to November's Southeast Asian Games in Palembang and Jakarta.

Tjahjo Kumolo, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the Budget Committee, composed of 85 legislators from all nine parties at the House, should not have too great a role in distributing the state budget to prevent it from manipulating funding for bribes.

Martin Hutabarat, a lawmaker from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), said it would be unfair to blame just the committee members because others had participated in the lawbreaking as well.

"I don't mean to say we shouldn't fix it. But during the budgeting process both the members of the executive branch and the lawmakers are involved," he said. "We can't close our eyes to these facts. Any solution has to be holistic."

Pramono Anung, a House deputy speaker from the PDI-P, said the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) should be given the authority to directly monitor the budgeting talks and process in the House.

Pramono, who opposes doing away with the committee completely, said the body was established in the name of the democratic principle of checks and balances in order to prevent full control of the state budget by the ruling government, as was the case during Suharto's New Order regime.

"Instead of dissolving the committee, I would prefer to bring in a third party to monitor the process," he said.

Anis Matta, a House deputy speaker from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), had a similar opinion. "All of the meetings of the budget committee should be made transparent and open to the public," he said.

A mountain of transactions obstruct Bank Century audit: BPK

Jakarta Globe - September 6, 2011

Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) said that the abundance of transactions conducted by Bank Century (now Bank Mutiara) makes it difficult to swiftly complete the bank's forensic audit.

"Concerning the in-depth audit, the obstacle is the huge amount of transactions," BPK member Hasan Bisri said Tuesday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

"Opening up old archives is also not an easy job," he added. Hasan explained that the type of transactions that the BPK had been looking into varied from withdrawal and deposits to real-time gross settlements.

He assured, however, that the results of the audit would be reported to the House of Representatives in November, as mandated.

Bank Century was suspected of receiving bailout funds from the government despite not being eligible to accept them. The scandal reportedly involved state funds of Rp 6.7 trillion (US$783.9 million).

Politicians nix party-line vote on KPK

Jakarta Post - September 5, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Representatives from the constituent parties of the ruling coalition say they will reject efforts to impose a party line on lawmakers to back specific candidates to lead the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Priyo Budi Santoso, a senior politican from the Golkar Party – the strongest ally of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party – said lawmakers should follow their preferences alone when electing the KPK's new leaders.

"It would be neither wise nor ethical if members the government coalition were obliged to elect certain candidates," he said.

The secretary-general of the United Development Party (PPP), Romahurmuziy, echoed Priyo's opinion. "Every political party must be able to be independent in choosing who they think are the best [candidates] to be the next leaders of the KPK," he said.

Following a lengthy selection process, the government forwarded to the House a list of eight candidates to lead the KPK, culled from hundreds of applicants.

As stipulated in the 2002 KPK Law, the House's Commission III overseeing law and human rights must hold "fit-and-proper" tests before selecting four candidates to serve as the KPK's new leaders.

Critics say that the selection process has been excessively politicized by those who fear the KPK, as the commission has watched over the fall of several politicians since its inception in 2003.

Bucking tradition, the government's selection committee decided on eight prominent candidates to lead the KPK, saying that less-substantial candidates would have less integrity.

The four candidates favored by observers are lawyer and activist Bambang Widjojanto, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre chief Yunus Husein, KPK advisor Abdullah Hehamuhua and incumbent KPK deputy for internal inspection and public complaints Handoyo Sudrajat.

The other candidates are lawyer Abraham Samad, Attorney General's Office (AGO) staff member Zulkarnain, National Police Commission member Adnan Pandupraja and retired police officer Gen (ret.) Aryanto Sutadi.

The coalition is reportedly planning to meet to consolidate a single stance ahead of the House's fit-and-proper tests.

Given the history of contradictory positions within the coalition, speculation is rife that politicians have started lobbying to secure KPK posts for Zulkarnain and Aryanto.

The AGO and the National Police have reportedly insisted that they must be "represented" in the KPK's leadership – despite the assignment of a host of police investigators and prosecutors to the commission.

Activists have warned that neither Zulkarnain nor Aryanto had achievements in fighting corruption in their current positions and that Aryanto has been mired by numerous graft allegations.

Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum said that while the coalition's joint secretariat had yet to discuss the KPK leadership election, he did not expect it to be an ordeal. "Inter-party talks on such an election, however, are commonplace and not just limited to government coalition parties," he said.

House Commission III chairman Benny Kabur Harman denied that he was ordered to ensure that the KPK election would proceed according to the secretariat's desire.

Sentence reduction moratorium required: ICW

Jakarta Post - September 5, 2011

The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said on Sunday that the Law and Justice Ministry should put a moratorium on giving sentence reductions to corruption convicts until the Law on Sentence Reductions is improved.

The government granted sentence reductions to 253 corruption convicts during Idul Fitri. Eight of the convicts were freed.

ICW activist Emerson Yuntho said that reducing the prison sentences of corruption convicts would not make them regret their crimes.

"So far, the punishment for those who commit corruption is still light. The maximum sentence from the Corruption Court is three years," he said on Sunday as reported by kompas.com.

He added that the government must place a moratorium on giving sentence reductions until the law has been improved. Sentence reductions should only be granted to whistleblowers.

He also said that sentence reductions were detrimental to law enforcers such as the Corruption Eradication Commission.

"Law enforcers should play a part as well. Charges and sentences against those who commit corruption should not be light, but the maximum. Thus, the sentence reduction would not have any significance if it were granted," he added.

Letter of dismissal for Nazaruddin yet to reach Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – Maybe it got lost in the mail? Almost two weeks after the House of Representatives said it had sent the president a letter asking him to dismiss graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin from the legislature, the letter has evidently not arrived.

"I checked this morning, asking whether there is a letter [to the president], but it has not been received by the president," spokesman Julian Pasha said at the State Palace on Monday. "But God willing, if it has arrived, it will be processed in no longer than two days and returned to the senders. But up until now, we haven't received it."

The House sent the letter on Aug. 24 to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asking him to finalize the firing of Nazaruddin, the former treasurer of the Democratic Party.

Nazaruddin is allegedly involved in a corruption case related to the construction of an athletes' village in Palembang for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games.

Julian said he was unaware if the letter had possibly been received by the State Secretariat or another member of the cabinet.

"The essence is that the president fully relies on the existing procedure," Julian said. "If the letter has been received, or it is under the domain of the president, the president will follow it up."

A loyal spouse can keep the law away

Jakarta Globe - September 4, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – To most Indonesians in legal trouble, the perfect partner in staying hidden from the reach of the law seems to be their spouse.

High-profile graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin's silence on the whereabouts of his wife and fellow suspect, Neneng Sri Wahyuni, is now reminding the public of the same matrimonial loyalty displayed by lawmaker Adang Daradjatun.

The former National Police deputy chief and legislator for the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has also doggedly refused to reveal the location of his wife, Nunun Nurbaeti. She is a suspect in the massive bribery case surrounding the appointment of Miranda Goeltom as a senior deputy governor of Bank Indonesia.

But while these spouses have been allowed to remain loyal to their partners, the law was not as understanding for a pregnant 21-year-old woman found in the Solo house where Southeast Asia's most-wanted terrorist, Noordin M. Top, was killed in 2009.

Putri Munawaroh was the only survivor of the police raid on her rented house that killed Noordin, two other militants and her husband, Adib Susilo.

She maintained during her trial that she had no idea who the three men were, saying she dutifully accepted them as her husband's guests. "As a wife, I didn't ask more questions, because in my religion the husband's guests are not my business," she said.

But for fulfilling her wifely duties and apparently harboring terrorists, she was sentenced to three years in prison.

By contrast, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has repeatedly played down calls for Adang to be charged with obstruction of justice for refusing to divulge Nunun's location.

In the latest example, Adang told reporters on Friday that he received an Idul Fitri greeting via text message from his wife. However, he refused to give reporters the phone number used to send the message, which could reveal the country in which Nunun was hiding.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi says the refusal to divulge Nunun's whereabouts does not amount to a crime.

"The 2009 Anti-Corruption Law states that a person may be charged with disrupting an investigation, but that doesn't apply in the event that they refuse to tell us a suspect's whereabouts," he said.

The crux of the issue lies in the variety of laws used against the suspects.

Mudzakir, a criminologist from the Indonesian Islamic University, said an article in the Criminal Code protected the rights of spouses and family members, so that they are forced to disclose such information.

"It is a general norm that family members protect each other," Mudzakir said. "Besides, what Adang did was not obstruction of justice since he did not actively prevent law enforcers from getting to Nunun."

On the other hand, Yhodhisman Soratha from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) explained that an article in the 2003 Anti-Terrorism Law allows for multiple interpretations. This makes possible the conviction of family members of a terrorist, he said.

"Articles 13 and 22 prohibit giving aid or access to a terrorist, by giving or lending money or material [support]... hiding them [or] hiding information," Yhodhisman said.

Muhammad Mustofa, a criminologist from the University of Indonesia, said the public fear of terrorism is larger than that of corruption, because of the serious physical damage the former can cause. "Even though corruption has more or less the same devastating effect in the longer term, terrorism is more scary," he said.

Regardless of the legal possibilities, Firdaus Ilyas, an official at Indonesia Corruption Watch, said it should not be a problem if family members refused to reveal the whereabouts of suspects.

"Of course the KPK can find ways to 'force' Nunun's husband to give up information," he said. He added, however, that he found it hard to believe that law enforcers would be at their wits' end only because family members of a graft fugitive were keeping silent.

Adang continues to refuse to help KPK hunt down his fugitive wife, Nunun

Jakarta Globe - September 2, 2011

Indonesian legislator Adang Daradjatun, a former deputy chief of the National Police, is continuing to refuse to cooperate with investigators hunting for his fugitive wife, Nunun Nurbaeti.

Adang, from the religious-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), confirmed that Nunun had sent him a text message on Idul Fitri, the celebration at the end of Ramadan that fell on Wednesday.

"Minal aidin wal faizin" was the content of the SMS, Adang told Detik.com after Idul Fitri prayers at National Police headquarters.

The message is a traditional Muslim apology and request for forgiveness for any sins that he or she may have committed. He refused, however, to give the phone number to reporters, which could reveal in which country Nunun is hiding.

Nunun is wanted for the bribery of legislators in the selection of a senior central bank official.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigation into the scandal – which highlighted the depth of corruption within Indonesia's notorious House of Representatives (DPR) – has all but stalled as the antigraft agency attempts to track Nunun.

Adang has repeatedly refused to say where his wife is, arguing it was "the duty" of KPK to find Nunun. For a long time, she was believed to be in Singapore supposedly seeking treatment for a disease that caused memory loss, but authorities have said she traveled to Thailand and Cambodia as well.

Terrorism & religious extremism

Jihad cornered but intolerance rising

Sydney Morning Herald - September 5, 2011

Tom Allard, Indonesia – Ulil Abshar Abdalla is one of Indonesia's most perceptive intellectuals, a Harvard-educated Islamic reformer and an adviser to the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

When asked what has happened to Islam in Indonesia since the September 11 attacks, he says: "I think there has been a trend towards intolerance... there is also a trend towards tolerance."

It's an odd response, but it captures succinctly the vexing paradox that lies within Australia's near neighbour and the nation with the world's largest Muslim population.

After emerging as the fulcrum of the global jihadist movement in south-east Asia in 2002 when the twin nightclub bombings in Bali killed and maimed hundreds, Indonesia can rightly point to impressive counter-terrorism successes.

Hundreds have been arrested and dozens of plots have been foiled. The radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has been handed a long prison term while almost every other terrorist leader of note has either been killed or arrested.

A tiny minority remains inspired by al-Qaeda and poses an enduring threat but the campaign to spread the ideology of offensive jihad against Western infidels and their lackeys to achieve an Islamic caliphate has been comprehensively rejected.

"Islam has contributed so much to the democratisation of Indonesia. This must be emphasised," says Ulil, the founder of the Liberal Islam Network and himself a target of Indonesian terrorists.

"Most Muslims here understand that religion is a system of morality, an ethical system, and that politics is not part of the essential teaching of religion.

"The popularity of this proposal of the adoption of sharia in our national law is withering away, it's fading."

Indonesia's Islamic parties were rebuffed at the polls in 2009, and its most potent Islamist political force, the Prosperous Justice Party, recently formally adopted pluralism as a core principle in its platform.

But while Indonesian authorities remain vigilant in pursuing terrorists, they seem incapable and, worse, unwilling to address another, arguably more pernicious form of religious radicalism.

Rather than explosives, these mobs of militants will use machetes, stones or tins of petrol to attack perceived deviants and destroy houses of worship.

The increase in violence has been particularly pronounced against members of the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect, whose followers believe the Indian religious figure Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a messiah who followed the Prophet Muhammad.

In the western Javanese province of Banten, a frenzied mob attacked an Ahmadiyah house and killed three men in February. The 12 accused, including a teenager caught on film bludgeoning a man to death with a stone, got sentences ranging between three and six months.

The light sentences, some argue, reflected local factors. The verdict was handed down by judges in a district court in one of Indonesia's traditional hardline Islamic heartlands. About 2000 locals voiced support for the accused and intimidated the judges and prosecutors throughout the trial.

But the argument that the case is an anomaly is hard to square against the increase in communal violence, invariably attacks by Islamic fundamentalists on Ahmadis and Christians.

Recent research by the Pew Research Centre found Indonesia was one of two countries that had recorded significant increases in both religious restrictions and incidents of social hostilities in the past five years.

Harder still to reconcile with the notion that Indonesia remains abidingly tolerant is the tepid response from Indonesia's political elites to the rise in religious violence and, in particular, the attacks and court proceedings in Banten.

President Yudhoyono failed to condemn the verdicts, citing the need to respect the rule of law.

If Islamists are failing to make any political inroads, and Indonesian Muslims are overwhelmingly moderate, why does Indonesia's political class refuse to speak clearly and loudly for the country's secular constitution that recognises freedom of religion? Could it be they have made a political calculation that attacks on minorities are popular?

"It's because conservatives are very clever in framing the debate in black and white terms," argues Yenny Wahid, the daughter of Indonesia's former president and moderate Islamic cleric Abdurrahman Wahid and a rare, uncompromising voice for tolerance.

"For example, if you condemn attacks on Ahmadiyah, then you are not a good follower of the Prophet Muhammad. So politicians are afraid to speak out because they don't want to appear un-Islamic."

Wahid says a steady influx of money from the Middle East to fund mosques and schools has had an impact.

The new breed of conservative clerics are not only cashed up, she says, they are passionate, noisy and activist.

When Yudhoyono speaks about maintaining harmony, he sometimes talks about the need to placate militants, rather than defending diversity.

Asked about perceptions by the American interviewer Charlie Rose that the Indonesian state was weak in protecting religious minorities, Yudhoyono replied: "Of course, I have to maintain the climate of brotherhood here in Indonesia, because the majority of the population are Muslim, so I try to maintain their feelings."

Wahid counters that "this policy of appeasement won't work". "In the short-term, it may create a measure of stability that the government needs," she says. "But it gives [conservatives] too much power. The greater good is sacrificed. We have to worry about where this will lead us in the future."

Fears growing that Bali bomber Umar Patek could escape long prison sentence

Associated Press - September 4, 2011

An Indonesian man blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings could escape with just a few years behind bars.

The tough anti-terrorism law passed after the double nightclub blasts in Bali cannot be used retroactively against Umar Patek, leaving prosecutors scrambling to convict him of lesser crimes, from premeditated murder to immigration violations.

Patek, an al-Qa'ida linked militant captured on January 25 in the same Pakistani town where Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces, allegedly told interrogators he made the explosives used in the 2002 attacks in Bali.

The bombings killed 202 people, including 88 Australians and seven Americans. They were followed by near annual suicide attacks on glitzy Western hotels, restaurants and an embassy in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

More than 680 militants have been rounded up, tried in open courts and convicted or executed under anti-terror laws passed in 2003, including 32 for their roles in the Bali bombings, according to police and prosecutors. In 2004, however, the constitutional court ruled that the law could no longer be used retroactively.

Patek will be the first big fish to test that decision. Authorities will instead use a Dutch colonial-era penal code to charge Patek with premeditated murder and a decades-old emergency decree to charge him with possession of explosives, said Rear Marshal Chairul Akbar, a high official at Indonesia's anti-terrorism agency. Both carry a maximum penalty of death, but getting a conviction will be hard.

"We waited nearly six months to have him deported from Pakistan because we are worried he'd get off after just a few years in jail," Akbar said.

Indonesia had hoped the US, Australia or the Philippines, all of which had reason to put him behind bars, would agree to take the veteran Jemaah Islamiah member. "But when that didn't happen," Akbar said, "we had no choice but to bring him home."

The nation of 240 million people only recently emerged from decades of rule by General Suharto, who led one of the 20th century's most brutal dictatorships. His military regime killed hundreds of thousands of political opponents.

When Indonesia came under pressure to pass anti-terror legislation soon after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, early drafts were shelved over concerns they harkened back to the days of Suharto.

The legislation eventually approved has been widely praised as both tough on terrorists and concerned with human rights. It is seen as a potential model for Egypt, another Muslim-majority nation with an authoritative past.

General Anton Bachrul Alam, a spokesman for the National Police, said Patek still faces possible prosecution for alleged crimes committed after the anti-terror law was passed such as gun smuggling, immigration violations and involvement in a jihadi training camp discovered in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh last year.

"They want to get him on a series of sentences that could amount to him spending decades in jail, but getting there is not as easy as it seems," said Greg Barton of the Global Terrorism Research Center at Melbourne's Monash University.

Most terror convictions in Indonesia yield sentences of fewer than 10 years, he said.

Patek trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 1990s. After the Bali bombings he escaped to the Philippines, where he allegedly helped train militants with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf group. He allegedly told Indonesian authorities he went to Pakistan in January to meet with bin Laden.

Indonesia's 'war on terror' still rages

Agence France Presse - September 2, 2011

Stephen Coates – Indonesia has killed or captured most of the militants responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings, but it now faces new threats from second-generation jihadists inspired by the 9/11 attacks.

Even before the strikes on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, Southeast Asian militants were using the tactics of terror in their own war to create an Islamic caliphate across much of the region.

Groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah, which was founded by Indonesian exiles in Malaysia in the early 1990s, were already blamed for several attacks including bombings against churches and the Indonesian stock market in 2000.

But it was the spectacular "success" of 9/11 and the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan that galvanised them to join the war against what Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called the "far enemy" – or Westerners.

The massive suicide bombings of tourist bars and restaurants on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on October 12, 2002, killed 202 people including 88 Australians.

But while jihadists celebrated, the blasts forced Indonesia, the United States and Australia to wake up to the terror threat in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and the southern Philippines.

US and Australian advisers began pouring into Indonesia to help the democratically elected government, still finding its feet after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998, to confront JI and its affiliates.

But despite a string of successes in the years that followed as top militants were neutralised one by one, Indonesian National Anti-Terror Agency chief Ansyaad Mbai said that if anything, the danger has increased.

"The problem of terrorism is motivated by radical ideology, so the movement doesn't automatically end with the capture and death of key figures," he told AFP. The Al-Qaeda-linked JI has "metamorphosized" into multiple new threats, he said.

"These small, autonomous groups aren't dependent on a top leader, they are only bound by ideology. They can move as small groups or as individuals, determine their own targets and execute plans on their own," Mbai said.

"They have high militancy levels due to their strong belief in the ideology, and they're very fanatical... The fact is that these groups are becoming stronger."

After the shock of Bali, the first breakthrough came with the arrest in 2003 of key Indonesian JI leader Hambali, an Al-Qaeda conduit accused among other things of plotting to blow up US airliners.

After another attack against Western tourists in Bali in 2005, JI bomb- maker Azahari Husin, a Malaysian, was killed by US-trained Indonesian anti-terror police at a hideout on Java island.

By this stage, analysts say, JI was feeling the pressure, and splits began to emerge between those who wanted more indiscriminate killing in the style of Al-Qaeda and others who argued too many Muslims were falling victim.

Another Malaysian, Noordin Mohammed Top, left JI to launch his own operations, including the last major terror attack in Indonesia – the 2009 suicide bombings of luxury hotels in Jakarta which killed seven people.

Some analysts saw the attack as Noordin's revenge for the November 9, 2008 execution by firing squad of Bali bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra. Two months after the hotel blasts he was killed in a shootout with police on Java.

Since then there have been more successes than failures for Indonesian counter-terror forces. A new cell dubbed Al-Qaeda in Aceh was discovered on Sumatra island last year, and its leaders were quickly killed or arrested.

Police killed another JI leader and Bali mastermind, Dulmatin, last year, while JI's main ideologue, radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, was jailed for 15 years on terrorism charges in June.

Pakistani police arrested the last alleged Bali mastermind still at large, Indonesian militant Umar Patek, earlier this year in the same town where Bin Laden was killed by US commandos. Patek is now awaiting trial in Indonesia.

Jakarta-based analyst Noor Huda Ismail, of the Institute for International Peacebuilding, said Indonesian militants had temporarily lowered their sights to target local police and officials in small-scale attacks.

"But this is only temporary – they are waiting for the right moment to attack foreigners again," he said, adding that the government had "a lot of homework" to do on issues such as the radicalisation of inmates in prisons.

In the Philippines, where Abu Sayyaf militants killed seven Marines on Jolo island only last month, security analyst Rodolfo Mendoza said the battle against Islamic militancy was as hot as ever.

"We have not realized the victory against the Abu Sayyaf and terrorism... They have active cells and existing alliances with other groups, like the JI," he said.

Hard-line & vigilante groups

Broadcasting commission lambasts SCTV for not airing '?', giving in to FPI

Agence France Presse - September 2, 2011

The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission criticized a major television station Friday for giving into Islamists' demands that a film on religious tolerance be pulled.

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) had threatened to storm SCTV headquarters if it broadcast a movie titled "?", scheduled for the last night of the Ramadan holy fasting month this week.

"We regret SCTV's decision to not air the movie. The movie has passed the censorship requirements and it doesn't violate any regulations," broadcasting commission official Ezki Suyanto told AFP.

"It seems the station is just afraid of the FPI. SCTV should not have given in to them. This is a bad precedent for other groups to do the same to TV stations."

The movie was directed by Muslim filmmaker Hanung Bramantyo, who has made several feature films on Islam, such as the box-office hit "Ayat-Ayat Cinta" (Verses of Love).

FPI secretary-general Sobri Lubis said the movie tried to incite hatred toward Islam and disgraced the religion by suggesting Muslims could live together harmoniously with people of other faiths in one country.

"The movie supports the idea of pluralism and that the unification of many religions is acceptable. We rejected this dirty and damaging movie from the start," he said.

Lubis said the film unfairly depicted the stabbing of a priest and burning of a church, suggesting Indonesia's Muslim majority was suppressing minorities.

Last year, the FPI threatened cinemas with violence if they did not withdraw a horror-comedy, "Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan" (The Menstruating Ghost of Puncak), after watching uncensored clips of the movie on YouTube.

Civil society and human rights groups say intolerance is on the rise in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, under the leadership of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Freedom of religion & worship

Ahmadi victim recalls Cikeusik mob attack, says threats continue in jail

Jakarta Globe - September 2, 2011

Chrestella Tan – For months Deden Sujana had to be treated in a Jakarta hospital. He was put on life support as doctors raced to save his right hand, which was nearly severed during a deadly attack on members of the Muslim minority sect Ahmadiyah in February.

Now in jail for provoking the attack and still facing intimidation, Deden told the Jakarta Globe in an interview on Thursday that when a mob of 1,500 descended upon an Ahmadi's house in Cikeusik, Banten, he was prepared to die.

"Let's die together," Deden said, recalling the words he told an Ahmadi friend as the two were lying on the ground bleeding, while men armed with machetes, bamboo sticks and rocks continued to beat their ailing bodies.

"I was stabbed in the chest," he said, adding that the blade just missed his heart. "Doctors said I should have been dead. It is a miracle of God that I am still alive."

Deden's wrist was slashed by a machete when he was trying to protect his head during the attack. There is now a long scar encircling it. Although doctors managed to reattach Deden's hand, he has lost feeling in most parts of it.

He said his hand would never fully recover. Only his thumb and index finger are still functioning properly, and he regularly feels intense pain.

When asked who attacked him, Deden said: "I remember, it was Idris." He was referring to Idris bin Mahdani, who in August was sentenced to five and a half months in prison for possession of a machete, but not for attacking Deden. Just weeks after his conviction, Idris was released.

Instead, the Serang District Court put the blame for the attack on Deden, claiming he refused to vacate the building and thereby provoked the assault that left three Ahmadis dead. Last month, Deden received a harsher penalty than Idris: six months in jail.

Deden has refused to lodge an appeal, however, saying that with just two months before his release, the legal move would be useless. There was also concern that his appeal would only cause more controversy and lead to more hatred of Ahmadis, who have already suffered more than 160 attacks across the country over the last decade.

Kiagus Ahmad, Deden's lawyer from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta), said he respected his client's decision, but there was a downside.

"Deden's decision is setting a bad precedent. If every victim like him does the same thing, people will think that it is OK for [victims] to be criminalized," he said. He added that Deden's decision in the long run could further endanger minority groups.

Deden said he was concerned about the threats and intimidation he continued to face, even behind bars.

Since his trial began last month, Deden said several people claiming to represent the local administration had approached him before trial sessions. They said he could have his charges dropped or given a lenient sentence if he renounced his faith as an Ahmadi.

Prison officials now keep a close eye on Deden, who faces insults and intimidation from the rest of the prison population. "There are many people – inside and outside this jail – who want me dead," he said.

"The hardest intimidation came from Serang Police," Deden added, referring to the deputy chief of Serang City Police, Adj. Comr. Jajang. He would not specify the intimidation allegedly carried out.

The chief of Serang District Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Krisnandi, challenged Deden to come up with evidence. "What Deden has said about the intimidation was not credible. Nobody has been able to show us there was truth to the claims," Krisnandi said.

Kiagus maintained that the intimidation proved that law enforcers have been biased in their treatment of the minority group, which mainstream Muslim organizations deem deviant.

Andreas Harsono, an Indonesian consultant for New York-based Human Rights Watch, urged the police and the National Police Commission to investigate Deden's statement about the attack by Idris as well as his claims of harassment and intimidation by police officials.

Andreas reiterated that the court had not been fair toward Ahmadiyah. The HRW consultant highlighted the court's refusal to put the survivors of the attack on the witness stand.

"There were many irregularities in the Cikeusik trial, but it's Deden Sujana's choice to appeal or not to appeal. He needed to consider the possibility of a higher sentence on appeal. He has his family to be with," Andreas said.

Ahmadis' holidays plagued with fear in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - September 1, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani & Fitri – Not all Muslims celebrated Idul Fitri with jubilance and excitement. For members of the Ahmadiyah minority sect, this year's celebration is marked by heartache and fear.

Firdaus Mubarik, a spokesman for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that approximately 600 Ahmadis in Sukadana village in West Java's Cianjur district had been banned from using their mosque for prayers.

"Ahmadiyah followers in Sukadana village were told by the village chief that they could not use their own mosque to hold a Idul Fitri prayer in case of a possible attack by the residents," Firdaus said. "For us, this is a threat."

Instead, Firdaus said the group had to hold its prayers inside an Ahmadiyah Islamic school as guards from Cianjur kept watch.

Similar threats were also aired against Ahmadis in Makassar, who were recently attacked by assailants from the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

"Even though our mosque was damaged by the FPI on August 13, thank God we could hold Idul Fitri prayers in our own mosque peacefully this morning wthout any disturbance," Irza Rasid, an Ahmadi from Makassar, told the Globe.

"Unfortunately, we could not stay longer to gather and celebrate Idul Fitri among the Ahmadiyah congregation because we did not want the FPI to come and attack us," he added.

Last month, FPI members attacked the Makassar office of the JAI, where Ahmadis had planned to hand out food and groceries to the surrounding community.

"The FPI often conducts raids on Ahmadiyah activities without any coordination with the police. Not only did they carry out raids, but also threats and intimidation towards us." Irza said. "It needs to be understood that we do not want to fight back... because we have our own motto, which is love for all, hatred for none."

The JAI has recorded more than 160 cases of violence against Ahmadiyah communities in the last 10 years.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, Ahmadis have been living in a rundown shelter for nearly six years after their village was attacked and ransacked by mainstream Muslim groups.

"We have lost our land, we have lost our homes. Some have even lost their lives, but we are thankful for we have you, Allah," Ahmadi children sang after the community performed their Idul Fitri prayer on Wednesday.

Many cried as some 50 children sang the song remembering the violence that drove them away from one village to the next, destroying every possession that they owned.

More than 250 Ahmadis took part in the prayer, occupying a tiny room in the middle of the abandoned Transito building. The ceiling showed signs of collapsing on to the congregation, which had to use makeshift prayer mats made from recycled newspapers and torn sheets of plastic.

Community members prepared a simple chicken stew and rice cake. "I know they are nothing fancy, but they remind me of home," 58 year-old Siti Kalsum said.

Islam & religion

Mudik carnage prompts police rethink

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – The National Police have vowed to re-evaluate transportation preparations for mudik, the home-bound journeys at the end of Ramadan, after the number of accidents and fatalities this year surged compared to 2010.

The police's National Traffic Management Center recorded 3,818 accidents between Aug. 23 and midday on Sept. 4. Idul Fitri, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, fell on Aug. 31 this year. The accidents resulted in 633 fatalities, 1,068 severe injuries and 2,650 minor injuries.

By contrast, there were 2,382 accidents in a 10-day period around Idul Fitri last year, which fell on Sept. 10. The number of fatalities last year was 574, with 730 severe injuries and 1,413 minor injuries.

Gen. Timur Pradopo, the National Police chief, said on Saturday that an evaluation of the safety measures adopted this year would be conducted in an effort to establish the reasons for the increase in accidents.

"We'll conduct an evaluation after the Idul Fitri holidays are over so that next year's travels can be organized better and the number of accidents can be significantly reduced," he said.

He added that although the number of accidents had increased markedly, the flow of traffic in general was fairly smooth this year.

In North Sumatra, police said that 71 people died in road accidents during the mudik period. Adj. Sr. Comr. M.P. Nainggolan, the provincial police spokesman, said the fatalities came from 169 accidents recorded between Aug. 23 and midday on Sept. 4. There were also 118 cases of serious injuries and 199 of minor injuries.

The issue of mudik safety grabbed national attention over the weekend with news of the death of a celebrity in a high-speed highway crash.

Virginia Anggraeni, the wife of dangdut singer Saipul Jamil, was killed on Saturday when the car being driven by her husband slammed into the concrete median at the 97-kilometer mark of the Cipularang toll road, heading from Bandung to Jakarta.

The couple were among the 11 people reportedly in the eight-seat car. Police have confirmed that no other cars were involved in the accident.

Iwan Mulyawan, a spokesman for toll-road operator Jasa Marga, said Virginia died at the scene. The injured, including Saipul, were taken to Efarina Etaham Hospital in Purwakarta, West Java. The authorities have not determined the cause of the crash, although unconfirmed media reports said Saipul may have been drowsy at the time.

This year, it is estimated that up to seven million people from Jakarta and its surrounding cities traveled for Idul Fitri.

[Additional reporting by Antara.]

Want alert Mudik travelers? Give them ecstasy, minister jokes

Jakarta Globe - September 6, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi frustratingly joked on Tuesday that exhausted mudik travelers could be given illegal ecstasy pills to keep them awake during the long slog back and forth from their hometowns during the annual exodus.

His remarks seemed born more of exasperation than earnestness, made to journalists after a cabinet meeting at the State Palace.

Freddy said that he could not do much regarding accidents as many were caused by drivers suffering from exhaustion who refused to stop and rest.

"If sleepy people caused the accident, what should I say," Freddy said. "What can I explain if the travelers were tired. If the [public transportation] vehicles used were broken, we could punish the companies. But if people are tired, should we give them ecstasy pills to prevent them from being tired?"

The National Police recorded 4,006 accidents between Aug. 23 and Sept. 4. Idul Fitri, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, fell on Aug. 31 this year.

The number of accidents was up by a third from last year's figure of 3,010, but the number of fatalities was down – 661 compared to 746 last year, according to the police. Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said on Monday that the number of fatalities was "around 700."

Freddy said that most of the accidents involved motorcycles. "Most of the accidents were motorcycle accidents," Freddy said. "Though we kept on advising motorcyclists to use the existing facilities, such as transporting the motorcycle via train or ship, if they insisted to go home by motorcycle we could not push them."

Freddy said that in the future, the government could impose stricter regulations for motorcycle travelers during mudik. "We will push them to stop at the rest area to be checked whether they are tired or not," Freddy said. "We will enlarge the rest areas."

Freddy also said that safer and more efficient mudik travel in the future would depend on the work that regional governments put into their transportation systems.

"After getting off at the terminal, the travelers need to go to villages, and it needs transportation facilities," Freddy said. "It is a national responsibility as well as a local government responsibility. We cannot expect change from the central government without the help of local government."

150 of 1,200 West Java civil servants turn up for first day of work

Jakarta Post - September 5, 2011

Jakarta – Monday is supposed to be the first day back at work after the Idul Fitri hiatus, but most civil servants in West Java failed to show up, the West Java governor says.

"Of 1,200 civil servants [in West Java], only 150 were at the office [on Monday]. The rest have called in sick or stayed away to for other private reasons," West Java Governor Ahmad Heriyawan said Monday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Despite the low numbers, Heriyawan said the attendance was "pretty good", and called on his subordinates to get straight back to work after the long holiday. "We will impose sanctions on staff found extending their Idul Fitri holidays," he said.

Online humor stirred by Idul Fitri date confusion

Jakarta Post - September 2, 2011

Jakarta – The prolonged uncertainty and eventual change of the Idul Fitri date from Tuesday to Wednesday announced by the government has frustrated many, leading them to revert to humor and cynicism.

"If the president had been JK, then Lebaran would be tomorrow [Tuesday] 'the sooner the better', but since the president is SBY then we must 'continue' fasting," read a BlackBerry Messenger message that circulated on Monday, cynically linking the confusing Idul Fitri circumstances to the famous rival campaign slogans by then vice president Jusuf Kalla and incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the 2009 presidential elections.

The confusion regarding the Idul Fitri date, which marked the end of the Ramadhan fasting month, stems from moon sightings, which are the basis of the Islamic calendar. The start of an Islamic month is marked by the coming of the hilal (the emergence of the first crescent moon at the beginning of hijriah months) on the western horizon at sunset.

At least two criteria are used: hisab, which is based on mathematical calculations, and rukyat or direct observations of the lunar cycle.

"The MUI has decreed that since Lebaran has become uncertain, fasting must be started all over again. Thank you," said another message, in a satirical impersonation of an edict by the Indonesian Ulema Council.

Immediately after the announcement by the government late on Monday, more cynical messages were circulated, many revolving around the fate of food to celebrate Idul Fitri, also known as Lebaran.

"It seems that Lebaran this year is full of warmth. The lontong has to be heated; opor ayam has to be heated, sambal goreng kentang ampela has to be heated, gepuk meat has to be heated...," read another cynical message that spread on Facebook, making fun of the fact that ready-served traditional festive meals had to be re-heated, due to the one-day delay.

Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger were inundated with melancholy messages and self mockery. "For sale, ketupat sayur, opor ayam, rendang. At a super discounted price," one tweet read, still concerning traditional Lebaran food.

Even congratulatory Idul Fitri messages, usually exchanged on the eve of the big day, were turned into jokes following the announcement of the date change.

"With all humility, we as a family, want to say: 'Happy sahur again'. Quick put your opor into the fridge," one message read referring to pre-dawn meal of sahur during the Ramadhan fasting month.

Gian Jauhari, who admitted to having forwarded and created such cynical messages said that he had more on the agenda than just making people smile. "It is also meant to criticize the government. Who knows? The messages might just reach them," he told The Jakarta Post Thursday.

Gian said that he was appalled by the level of uncertainty into which the government had led the nation. "I'm disappointed. Other countries are laughing at us," he said.

One of the things most affected by the delay are Idul Fitri delicacies, a huge part of the festive tradition.

"I was cooking when the government was holding the meeting [to decide the date of the holidays]. When I heard that Idul Fitri was delayed, I immediately stopped [cooking] and shoved everything in the fridge," housewife Sutirah said.

Sutirah said that the food was eventually eaten by her family and neighbors for sahur because she preferred to cook again for the big day, even if it meant an unanticipated increase in her Idul Fitri expenses.

"This is a big occasion, I want everything served fresh," she said, adding that she was cooking for her extended family reunion. (awd)

Agriculture & food security

East Sumba facing severe food crisis: Vice governor

Jakarta Post - September 5, 2011

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – At least 72 villages in East Sumba regency in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) are facing a severe food crisis that has prompted the central government to send bags of rice.

Existing food supplies are sufficient for just another two weeks based on the current rate of consumption.

Deputy NTT Governor Esthon Foenay said in Kupang on Saturday that he had urged East Sumba Regent Gidion Mbilijora to distribute about 100 tons of rice provided by the central government to the people affected by the food crisis in his area.

"The food crisis is so severe that it is not wrong to use the existing food supplies to feed [the people]," Esthon said.

The vice governor explained that a similar situation was recorded in North Timor Tengah regency, but monitoring by an evaluation team on the food scarcity showed that the food supplies there were still adequate to meet demand.

"It is different from East Sumba, where local people depend entirely on rice. After facing harvest failures, people in North Timor Tengah switched to eating tubers, locally called iwi, that they took from the forests," he said.

East Sumba Regent Gidion said that the number of villages affected by the food crisis had reached 72 out of the 262 villages in his regency. He said that the food crisis was sparked by harvest failures caused by extreme climate change.

According to reports from the NTT Food Security Agency, 46,309 people are affected by the food crisis in the 72 villages in six districts.

NTT Disaster Handling Community Group director Yulius Nakmofa said that the food crisis would threaten parts of NTT due to poor policy making, which had failed to prepare for the impact of climate change.

"If the traditional agriculture scheme is maintained, it is feared many people will die in vain," Yulius said.

According to him, among the various steps required to prevent a repeat of the situation include the government effectively disseminating information on projected rainfall, to ensure farmers reschedule planting accordingly.

Legislation & parliament

PKS porn scandal lawmaker still in house

Jakarta Globe - September 8, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The religious-based Prosperous Justice Party has asked the House of Representatives (DPR) to dismiss disgraced legislator Arifinto, who was caught watching pornographic videos on his tablet computer during a House plenary session five months ago.

Arifinto initially denied responsibility after he was photographed enjoying an X-rated movie but then gained some credit for accepting his guilt and announcing that he would resign as a lawmaker.

Despite his pledge to quit, however, Arifinto tenaciously clung to power, with threats by the House Ethics Council act decisively in the matter coming to nothing.

The incident is a major embarrassment for the Islam-based party, known as the PKS, who take a strong antipornography stance.

PKS lawmaker Machfud Siddiq had submitted a letter to House leadership, who he believed had forwarded it to the General Elections Commission (KPU), which was now handling the affair.

After a KPU investigation, the body would send a letter to the House, which would be forwarded to the president who could formally remove Arifinto from his position.

It is unclear how long the process will take. The disgraced lawmaker continues to draw a salary from the state.

Five months on, Nazaruddin finally sacked from house

Jakarta Globe - September 8, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has finally signed a letter dismissing disgraced graft suspect and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin from the House of Representatives.

The move came nearly five months after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the national antigraft body, swooped on the Sports Ministry in an explosive bust that uncovered graft at the highest levels of the Indonesian government.

Yudhoyono's spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha, speaking at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, said the president had signed the dismissal letter on Tuesday, though the letter needed to be returned to the House to be processed.

Julian said the signing by the president, a patron of the Democratic Party of which Nazaruddin was a former treasurer, had taken time because various checks had to be made in the process.

"There is a screening [process] to check administrative completeness and other things," Julian said. "So it takes time, especially after [Yudhoyono] visited Central Java and West Java. There are other things that have to be done [by the president] that take him away from Jakarta."

The corruption scandal has rocked the Democratic Party and Yudhoyono, who campaigned for the presidency on an antigraft platform.

Meanwhile, Misbakhun, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker who was sentenced to a year in prison but has since been released, continues to hold office.

Deputy chairman of the House Ethics Council Nudirman Munir said on Wednesday that this was because the PKS was late in filing a dismissal letter.

"He should have been punished immediately after being sent to prison. But Ethics Council bureaucracy has led to the delay. So the consequence is that he still receives his monthly wage, although this is improper," Nudirman said.

Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung said that the PKS has not requested Misbakhun's dismissal from the House because an appeal has been made to the country's Supreme Court.

Jakarta & urban life

Indonesia poor flock to capital to beg from new rich

Reuters - September 7, 2011

Olivia Rondonuwu, Jakarta – Kusniwati travelled more than 300 kilometers to visit one of the gleaming malls in Indonesia's capital. But she's not shopping, she sits outside and begs.

On a good day she can earn up to $3.50. That's the cost of a Starbucks cappuccino for shoppers but enough for the single mother to buy condensed milk for her two-year-old son and their food for the day.

"Ramadan and Idul Fitri is the best season because people are more generous," Kusniwati said, referring to the Islamic holy month that just ended, when it is a duty for Muslims to give away food or money.

Thousands of people like Kusniwati poured into the capital during Ramadan in August, with beggars lining up on roads outside malls, offices and at traffic lights, hoping a growing middle class would share some wealth.

Southeast Asia's largest economy may be steaming along at more than 6 percent growth, creating millionaires faster than any other Asian country according to Julius Baer, but at least 30 million people are still classed as poor – more than 12 percent of the people in the world's fourth most populous country.

Such poverty levels present a policy problem for a government aiming to make the G20 country a world top 10 economy by 2025. To meet that goal, it will need to divert spending to subsidise rice and energy towards better infrastructure and skills training.

Even though the government says inflation is under control, rising prices, in particular increases in prices of food, from rice to chillies, is a real problem for poor people such as Kusniwati.

Core inflation picked up to a two-year high of 5.2 percent last month, driven by higher food, transport and record global gold prices, data showed this week.

A bigger spike in inflation above central bank targets has been avoided this year by the government's surprise moves to twice import bumper volumes of rice, to give away handouts of the staple. It is likely to do so again next year if it needs to, despite a goal to be self-sufficient in the grain.

The government has tripled spending on poverty alleviation in the past decade, but poverty levels in the archipelago have only dipped by about six percent in that period, according to Latif Adam, an economist at the government-funded think-tank Indonesia's Institute of Sciences.

"The pace of the decline is not parallel with the allocation of the budget to alleviate poverty," Adam said.

Subsidy risk

The government's efforts to narrow or maintain the gap between the poorest and the average may become more difficult as incomes rise for the middle class and the wealthiest, and as it tries to wean the country off subsidies.

The country's Gini Coefficient, a measure of inequality, increased to 0.37 percent in 2009, putting it alongside Vietnam and Armenia, and up from 0.33 in the 1990s. The figure would be zero if wealth were perfectly shared out.

"It has gone up in recent years in Indonesia," said Vivi Alatas, an economist at the World Bank in Jakarta, adding two-thirds of the poor work in farming and actual inequality could be much higher because of new urban wealth not being recorded.

Rural plantation workers have not benefited from higher palm oil prices that have led to rapid expansion and industry profits in the world's largest producer of the versatile oil, said Khoirul Anam, the head of an Indonesian forestry union.

Still, the government will aim to slash spending on subsidies to 15 percent of the budget next year, from 18 percent this year, when higher spending on fuel subsidies because of a rise in global oil prices looks set to widen the budget deficit.

But it is likely to keep subsidies on motor fuel in 2012, despite being urged by economists and rating agencies to wean the country off them because of the risk a sudden spike in fuel import costs could blow its budget and hit the rupiah.

The government will not have forgotten the sharp fuel price rises in 1998 that led to protests that helped topple autocratic leader Suharto.

It is instead planning to cut subsidies on power. As well as energy, the government also subsidizes food, cooking oil, seeds and fertilizer, showing a focus on rural populations left behind by a consumer boom in the cities.

Signs of unhappiness about the lack of distribution of wealth at a time of rising prices have emerged in recent months, with strikes by miners and supermarket staff, and attacks by communities on a remote oil field and gold mine camp. Risks to stability are likely to increase along with poverty.

"Poverty is a problem, inequality is a problem, but if you have the infrastructure in place, if you have strong governance, you can take away subsidies and it won't rock the boat that much," said an Indonesian security analyst, who declined to be identified.

"But with Indonesia, where those things are still weak, you take one element out and it will crash," he said.

In the war on beggars, who's right and who's wrong?

Jakarta Globe - September 4, 2011

Nivell Rayda – While most of the city slept during the wee hours of Monday, just a couple of days before Idul Fitri, for those begging for some Ramadan generosity, the day had already begun.

At around 1 a.m., a pickup truck passing through the upscale Pondok Indah area in South Jakarta made a right turn at the intersection near Carrefour in Lebak Bulus. The truck slowed down as it tried to hide in the shadows, away from the probing street lights, before coming to a complete stop near a bus shelter.

A dark-skinned man well into his 40s alighted, lit up a clove cigarette and opened the truck bed. The loud clank was masked only by the audible sigh of relief from the passengers – seven people who had spent an hour and a half cramped together traveling from a marble quarry in Cibinong, West Java.

"The quarry is closed for the holidays," a man who identified himself as Risman told the Jakarta Globe. "We are laborers, we get daily wages. If the pit is closed what are we going to eat? So we come here every Idul Fitri to beg."

Risman's group arrived early enough to claim a good spot along the busy Jalan Iskandar Muda, which is littered with marble covered houses and expensive imported cars.

By 3 a.m. the street was flooded with beggars of all kinds – from children posing as abandoned youngsters to those pretending to be disabled. Some were pushing carts while others were carrying babies, but they all had one thing on their mind: exploiting the generosity people usually display during the holy month of Ramadan.

"I usually occupy a spot near the intersection of [Jalan] Margaguna and [Jalan] Haji Nawi," 67-year-old Kasman said, as he sat on the sidewalk in front of Pondok Indah Mall, cleaning chopsticks from a box of Japanese food a group of teenagers had given him earlier that day.

The rice had already spoiled, but Kasman, who has been scavenging Jakarta's dumps for more than 35 years, was still grateful. "I just ate everything else. Maybe I can still sell the Styrofoam and give the rice to my chicken," he said.

Kasman stretched his legs, which had taken him from one upscale residential area to the next for the last six hours. Years of experience had taught him how to identify where people with kind hearts live and their Ramadan charity routines.

His Ramadan days begin at home after breaking the fast at dusk. He parks his cart in a nearby Pondok Indah mosque and waits for generous worshipers to leave after their evening prayers. He then walks along Jalan Radio Dalam, where hawkers and semi-permanent restaurants are a plentiful source of trash. Departing customers occasionally take pity on him and give him cash or sometimes food.

So far this year, he's been able to collect anywhere from Rp 50,000 to Rp 200,000 ($6 to $23) a night begging, easily trumping his usual Rp 15,000 to Rp 20,000 per day from scavenging. "What can you buy for 20,000 rupiah these days?" he asked.

Late on Monday, the government announced that Idul Fitri would fall on Wednesday instead of Tuesday as had been expected. But the news only reached the beggars early on Tuesday morning.

Word also spread about how Muhammdiyah, the second-largest Muslim organization in the country, would celebrate Idul Fitri on Tuesday as planned.

So at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, the streets of Pondok Indah were clear and quiet as beggars set off to where Muhammadiyah members were scheduled to hold their Idul Fitri prayers.

One beggar, 45-year-old Carmen, was kept out of the loop and stayed behind. "Maybe that's a good thing. I can beg for money from the Muhammadiyahs this morning and from the rest on Wednesday," she said.

A never-ending problem

A streak of blue light approached rapidly from around the corner and Carmen instinctively inched closer toward the bush and pulled her headscarf tighter around her face. The police patrol car quickly drove past, to her relief.

Just before Ramadan started, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo announced a campaign to "clean" the capital of beggars and buskers. He warned that anyone caught panhandling would be arrested and put through a rehabilitation program.

Kian Kelana, head of the city's social affairs agency, said that more than 2,000 beggars, buskers and street children, known collectively as PMKS, had been taken into custody during Ramadan.

"We provided them with skills training, so they will have the skills to get a proper job rather than returning to the streets and panhandling," he said last week. He cited training in skills such as repairing air-conditioners and cellphones, gardening, cooking and beauty salon experience.

But one beggar, 47-year-old Siswanto, is anything but skill-less. Usually, he works as a construction worker or a laborer, waiting at the side of the road with his shovel for trucks carrying sand or building materials in need of his service to take him to a construction site or mine.

"What else can you do during Ramadan? The shops are closed, construction stops, the factories are closed," he said.

In front of a Pondok Indah mosque, hundreds had gathered waiting patiently for prayers to end. Siswanto pushed his way into the crowd as one worshiper gave Rp 5,000 notes to the beggars.

Ten minutes later he returned with Rp 5,000, a cut eyebrow and a bruised rib. "One guy elbowed me as we scuffled to be the first in line," he said. He then rushed off again as another worshipper distributed alms, this time Rp 10,000 notes.

The war on beggars

Many residents applauded Fauzi's efforts to get beggars off the streets when he announced the plan, saying that they often felt harassed by the gauntlet of panhandlers whenever they stopped at an intersection. Some residents said they had been traumatized by aggressive beggars who had slapped their cars or cursed them for not giving them money.

But those who backed Fauzi's plan were likely disappointed as there seemed to be just as many beggars as usual on the streets.

"It goes beyond poverty. It has become cultural," Henny Warsilah, a sociologist from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said recently. "Begging is a habit now. It's even a profession for some people."

He added that Indonesia's "begging culture" had worsened over the past five years, and that a growing number of beggars were not even poor.

Then there are those, like some city councilors, who say the governor had missed the mark completely by not addressing the root cause of the problem: unemployment and poverty.

Data from the city's social affairs agency shows there are 7,315 street children in Jakarta, while the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) estimated that this year there were 363,000 people in the capital living below the poverty line, surviving on no more than Rp 355,000 per month.

But Kian, the agency's head, said most of the people taken off the streets and put in shelters were not from Jakarta and would be sent back to their hometowns. He dismissed criticism that Jakarta's program to alleviate poverty and create jobs had failed.

"Most of the PMKS come from West Java and Central Java, and we're coordinating with the provincial social affairs offices there to send them back to their families," he said last week.

The administration blamed a lack of development in provinces outside Jakarta as the main cause for the surge in the number of beggars in the capital.

But Kasman, the beggar, claimed that most of the beggars came from inside the capital, staying largely invisible the rest of the year. There are those like him who work as street sweepers, scavengers and vendors the rest of the year, and turn to panhandling when Ramadan comes.

The Jakarta Police suspected that the influx of panhandlers was organized by the so-called beggars mafia. They said the "mafia" rented children for begging and then brought in truckloads of beggars from outside the city during Ramadan.

Even after arresting 2,000 PMKS this year the administration is having a hard time proving that the mafia exists. Beggar Risman, who came to Jakarta from West Java, said the idea that a syndicate was behind the panhandling was laughable.

"We hitched a ride here with our neighbor who agreed to give us a lift. He will return tomorrow to pick us up," he said.

"Does the government truly believe that there are people willing to spend millions to transport people from faraway places in return for the couple of hundred thousand that we get from begging? We don't take pride in begging, and if we could we would rather do something else. I'm sure many poor people feel the same way."

No home, no job? No place for you in Jakarta

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Dofa Fasila – The Jakarta administration will focus on boarding houses, or kost, when it begins a series of raids against unregistered newcomers to the capital later this month, Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Sunday.

The administration has given newcomers, who typically flood the city in the days after Idul Fitri, until Sept. 21 to register with their local population office for residency documents.

"For those who stay within the deadline, the [raids] will not prove to be a problem," Fauzi said. "You are welcome to apply for Jakarta residency. I want to stress that the purpose of the raids is only to ensure order in the city."

He added that once the grace period ended, officials in each of the city's five municipalities would begin a series of raids, known as OYK, to weed out unregistered residents.

The governor said their main focus would be kost, where newcomers to the city without any relatives here tend to stay when they first arrive. Other places high on the OYK list are apartment buildings and upscale housing estates.

Fauzi said all those found without the required paperwork would be sent back to their hometowns, adding that he hoped the OYK program would contribute to a drop in the city's population. He did not say, however, how his administration planned to send undocumented newcomers back.

Purba Hutapea, the head of the provincial population office, said the option of sending people back would only apply to those found without any ID and "living on the street, in parks or other public places."

The rest of the newcomers netted in the OYK raids, he said, will be issued a citation to appear at a petty crimes court. Purba added there would be a total of 500 officers, or 100 in each municipality, taking part in the raids.

He said that those who intended to use the grace period to apply for Jakarta residency would have to submit a transfer of domicile letter from the authorities in their hometown, their ID card and proof of a place to stay and a job in Jakarta. Each application is expected to take two weeks at the most to process.

Fauzi said that new arrivals to Jakarta were in general coming here prepared with the necessary documents.

"We appreciate the fact that nowadays a lot of the people in other regions who wish to live in Jakarta are coming here with all the documents needed to apply for residency," he said. "There's a greater understanding of the rules now, unlike in the past."

In addition to this, greater development in the regions has contributed to a slowdown in the number of people moving to the capital, Fauzi said.

He attributed this to efforts by the central government to distribute development funding more equitably, and said that if the trend continued, the level of urbanization in Jakarta could eventually be rolled back and brought under control.

Empty promises leave Jakarta dry

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2011

Ronna Nirmala & Dofa Fasila – A chaotic morning could be in store for the millions of Jakartans heading back to work today after the long holiday, with the promised weekend solution to the capital's water crisis failing to materialize.

Despite promises that the burst dike in East Jakarta's Kalimalang River would be fixed by the end of the weekend, an official confirmed on Sunday that clean water will not flow through the taps of the hundreds of thousands of affected homes and businesses on Monday morning.

"Even if the [raw] water supply arrives at Pejompongan [treatment facility] at midnight [on Sunday], the earliest customers will receive it would be noon [on Monday]," PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) corporate communications head Meyritha Maryanie told the Jakarta Globe.

Palyja is the worst-affected of Jakarta's two water operators, with about 60 percent of its customers in Central, West and North Jakarta not having access to sanitized water since midnight on Wednesday, a few hours after the dike burst. The water crisis has already forced people to join long queues to buy water from expensive resellers over the past four days. It also affected shopping centers, some of which were forced to close unsanitary toilets.

The situation is expected to worsen as hundreds of thousands of travelers return to the capital after Idul Fitri celebrations. As of Sunday, the Jakarta Transportation Office said more than 900,000 travelers, not including those who took motorcycles, had returned.

Earlier on Sunday, officials were optimistic a solution had been reached after 60 sheet piles were installed to fill the gap in the dike. The plan had been to let the raw water flow again by 5 p.m., after which it was expected to arrive at the Pejompongan plant in Central Jakarta at about 10 p.m.

Processing into clean water was then expected to take four hours, according to Sriwidayanto, the technical director with city water company PAM Jaya. Customers living near Pejompongan were told to expect their water supply to resume early on Monday, while the rest should receive their supply "at Monday night or Tuesday morning," Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said.

Hasanudin, an adviser from the Citarum River Dam in West Java, said on Sunday that the installation of the sheet piles was done by 3 p.m., but later in the day the expected flow of water did not materialize. Officials have not been able to provide an explanation for the new delay.

Fauzi said that given the unstable supply of clean water, he had issued instructions for water tanks to be distributed, prioritizing densely populated and low-income areas.

The repair of the breached dike has been dogged by problems ranging from workers on holiday to broken spare parts. So far, the work being done is temporary. Permanent repair of the breach would take about a year and cost up to Rp 2 billion ($234,000).

Mohammad Amron, an official with the national Public Works Ministry, said the cause of the collapse had not been determined. But Fauzi said he will not question who was responsible for the damage: "The important thing is the repairs, so that people can get clean water."

Armed forces & defense

Indonesian military, intransigence march in lockstep

Straits Times - September 6, 2011

John McBeth – About a week before East Timor's 1999 referendum, an Indonesian general asked me how I thought the United Nations-administered ballot would turn out. He expressed genuine astonishment when I said I thought it would be a vote for independence.

Five weeks earlier, in a little-known assessment, Rear-Admiral Yoost Mengko, the assistant chief of staff for intelligence, had told military chief General Wiranto that Jakarta would not only lose, but lose badly. The warning was not something anyone wanted to hear.

Rear-Adm Mengko, the former defence attache to Australia, no doubt went against the grain because he had nothing to lose in the twilight of his career. He was outside the all-powerful army hierarchy and a Christian with few prospects of further promotion.

In his book, "Military Politics, Islam, And The State In Indonesia", academic Marcus Mietzner discusses how "decades of manipulated intelligence reporting" misled Gen Wiranto into thinking that for all the brutality, the East Timorese appreciated what Indonesia had done for them.

It is wise to remember this in the context of the recent release of purported Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) intelligence reports detailing a picture of a chronically paranoid military hell-bent on preserving Indonesian sovereignty over the troubled Papua province.

None of it – from the network of informants to the long list of perceived enemies – should come as any surprise to those aware of what Dr Mietzner calls "the deep entrenchment of an officer corps in traditional paradigms of military doctrine and dominance".

Conflating peaceful political expression with criminal activity, particularly where it relates to territorial integrity, is par for the course for the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), whose history is steeped in the struggle for independence and the importance of national unity.

So is the belief, shared by other right-wing diehards, that the Indonesian government should not be seen to be in dialogue with separatist rebels – an attitude that had to be overcome in the years leading to the 2005 Aceh peace agreement.

The military's penchant for blaming outside agitators, as it did with the UN in the East Timor referendum, masks an unwillingness to accept that the government's policies may be at fault.

If the state had involved Papuans in the drafting of the 2001 Special Autonomy Law and had delivered on all of its promises, it would be in a much stronger position to dictate events.

Instead it has sunk into an all-too-familiar shell game, buying off the elites and tamping down opposition. The longer Papua festers, the more the risk of the issue reaching the international stage – the one thing officials are trying to avoid.

Experienced military analysts say part of the military's intransigence stems from its 'everyone is out to get us' mythology, borrowed from World War II Japan, that is ground into new recruits. Until a few years ago, there was even an irrational belief among some Indonesian officers that the Dutch were keen to destabilise their former colony so they could stage a comeback.

Those with little experience of the outside world were the worst. "They really believed the Pentagon was burning midnight oil planning the destruction of Indonesia," says one retired United States officer. "I could never convince the sceptics that it was the last thing anyone in the Pentagon wanted."

However, when the discourse veered into the US Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) controversial role in supporting the Permesta rebellion in the 1960s, as it almost always did, the Americans found themselves struggling on shaky ground.

The other problem is the TNI's inability to engage in rational analysis. Even at the Command and Staff College, officers are not taught to think in lateral terms, or to extrapolate from the data before them to see anything but the standard solution.

Those who have seen some of the military's assessments are struck by how simplistic, superficial and sophomoric they are. Despite the quality of some of the raw information, gleaned from a once-pervasive territorial structure, rumour, speculation and conspiracy-mongering all too often take precedence.

With loyalty still the only must-have qualification, only a small handful of bright young officers are selected for civilian universities. Therefore, there is a dearth of staff men who possess the intellectual capacity to make a difference.

Education is not always a guarantee of rational thought. Take the notorious claim by the late Major-General Zen Maulani, then head of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, that the 2002 Bali bomb was a micro- nuclear device planted by the CIA.

Maj-Gen Maulani was deadly serious. Yet the devout South Kalimantan Muslim Dayak was an intelligent US-educated officer who had previously served as an adviser to president B.J. Habibie.

Foreign officers formerly stationed in Indonesia say the TNI was more difficult to deal with than the activists and the politicians. As one put it: "Sometimes I thought they were the only group of people in the world who could reach into a bucket of gold coins and find a lead washer – every time."

Military presence remains strong in politics

Jakarta Post - September 3, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The fall of Soeharto may have been seen as the end of the era of military involvement in politics, but more than a decade after the reform movement, the faces of generals remain entrenched on the political stage.

Three of the nine political parties at the House of Representatives are chaired or patronized by former generals.

Former Indonesia Military (TNI) chief of territorial staff Gen. (ret.) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is President and chief patron of the Democratic Party, the leading party in the coalition government.

Former Army Strategic Reserves Command chief Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto is the chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), while former TNI commander Gen. (ret.) Wiranto led the People's Conscience Party (Hanura).

Other House parties, such as the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), also have retired generals on their executive boards or as representatives at the House.

Several other political parties that failed to gain House seats in the 2009 elections, were also led by former top-level military brass such as the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), led by Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sutiyoso, and the Republican Party, chaired by Lt. Gen. (ret.) Syahrir.

This trend is not likely to end soon, as retired high-ranking military officers hold top posts at some of the new parties planning to campaign in 2014. The parties include the National Republic (Nasrep) Party, co-founded by Maj. Gen. (ret.) Edy Waluyo who is the party's deputy chief patron, and the Satria Piningit Party, which hired Col. (ret.) Ismunandar as one of its executives.

Many have speculated why retired soldiers enter politics and what advantages they afford their respective political parties. Some believe that the retired generals possess valuable skills and expertise in areas such as territorial management, mass mobilization and have contacts in remote areas.

Generals typically command large military units of hundreds of soldiers, a job that requires charisma and leadership, qualities the retired generals make use of in the political arena.

Edy denied that the Nasrep Party had hired him because of his military background. "Since I have retired from the barracks, I have no longer been a soldier. I am an ordinary citizen now, just like you" he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Edy, who lost a nominated bid to be PDI-P's Jakarta gubernatorial candidate for the 2007 election, said he joined politics to "maintain the nation's Pancasila and 1945 Constitution, as well as to defend the Unitary State of Indonesia (NKRI)."

Achieving that goal, he said, required an umbrella organization such as a political party. PDI-P lawmaker Lt. Gen. (ret.) Tubagus Hasanuddin stated a similar opinion: "I want to serve this country through politics," he said.

Hasanuddin, a vocal politician regarding foreign affairs, security and defense, said many had accused him of being a spy who was "installed" at the House. "I'm telling you once again, my political career is purely my decision. Nobody made me or ordered me to do so," he said.

Some soldiers decided against join political parties, but it does not make them any less political.

The Association of Indonesian Army Retirees (PPAD) recently made strong statements criticizing Yudhoyono's administration. It blasted Yudhoyono for what it called a lack of firmness in tackling several significant graft cases.

In March, former Army chief of staff Gen. (ret.) Tyasno Sudarto, along with some other former generals, accused Yudhoyono of being less than nationalistic and failing to uphold the Constitution by allowing the establishment of local political parties in Aceh. The generals also expressed their disagreement with Yudhoyono's liberal policies.

Although the PPAD said it was a non-political organization, the statements have colored the political dynamic, as Yudhoyono is a retired general himself.

Military expert Wawan Purwanto said the presence of the retired generals in political parties' top posts did not necessarily guarantee strong influence and benefit to the parties.

"The retirees are now truly regular citizens. Their skills may be beneficial [for the parties] but, in many cases, I see that they began their political careers because of their lasting desire to 'serve the nation'," he said.

Foreign affairs & trade

No benefits from lower tariff: Ministry

Jakarta Post - September 2, 2011

Jakarta – The common effective preferential tariff (CEPT) adopted by ASEAN countries does not provide any real benefit to Indonesian industries, but amplifies the trade balance deficit, according to an Industry Ministry official.

Agus Tjahajana, the director general for international industry cooperation at the Industry Ministry, said on Friday as quoted by Kompas.com that ASEAN trade trends show that the lower import tariff increased Indonesia's trade balance deficit.

In 2010, the trade deficit reached US$5.6 billion, up from $3.1 billion a year before. "The facts show that Indonesia's industrial products did not benefit from ASEAN CEPT," Agus said.

In 2009, there were 1,810 products subjected to the import tariff. A drastic reduction occurred in 2010, as only 84 products were subject to the tariffs. Under CEPT, import tariffs for ASEAN countries varied between 0 and 5 percent.

Economy & investment

After 2 years of gains, Indonesia slips on competitiveness scale

Jakarta Globe - September 7, 2011

Muhamad Al Azhari & Dion Bisara – Indonesia has dropped two places in this year's Global Competitiveness Report, bringing a sudden halt to an impressive climb that had seen it climb 11 places during the last two years.

"Indonesia remains one of the best-performing countries within the developing Asia region, behind Malaysia and China yet ahead of India, Vietnam and the Philippines," the World Economic Forum wrote in its report.

The Geneva-based non-profit foundation annually compares the operating environments for businesses in 130 economies across the globe. The report, which was released on Wednesday, ranked Indonesia 46th in global competitiveness, just behind Portugal.

However, the WEF mentioned several key factors that were dragging down the nation's investment climate: corruption, poor public services and over- burdened infrastructure, including ports, water and electricity.

It also cited the nation's poor preparedness to adopt sophisticated business information and communication technology.

"Despite efforts to tackle the issue, corruption and bribery remain pervasive and are singled out by business executives as the most problematic factors for doing business in the country," the WEF's report said.

Business leaders said the report showed that progress in Indonesia's business climate in the past two years had been hampered by familiar hurdles, such as delays in purchasing land for the development of highways and seaports.

Chris Kanter, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), said he did not see any major breakthrough in infrastructure development.

"Infrastructure, again, is wiping out our achievements of the past few years," he said. "One of the obstacles is land acquisition. Why does it take so long to revise the law? How can this nation delay on something that is so critical for development?"

Chris is also the chairman and founder of Sigma Sembada Group, one of the country's most prominent transportation and logistics contractors.

Harry Warganegara, the head of international trade at the Indonesia Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi), said the report fit his perception of Indonesia's declining competitiveness.

"By my reckoning, we should have dropped five places or more," Harry said, adding that he agreed with the WEF that the biggest culprit was corruption and sluggish bureaucrats.

"We are a high-cost economy," Harry said. "There are unofficial or quasi- official tariffs everywhere. Oranges from Medan are more expensive than oranges imported from China. That says it all."

Analysis & opinion

Indonesia's policy of engagement with the Pacific region

Jakarta Post - September 8, 2011

Arto Suryodipuro, Jakarta – Members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) are regrouping on Sept. 7 and 8 in Auckland, New Zealand, and will be followed by a meeting with the PIF's dialogue partners on Sept. 9. Indonesia and 13 other entities will participate in the Post Forum Dialogue (PFD).

The PFD is a forum for non-PIF entities to convey their cooperative and developmental assistance. Indonesia will be represented by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who will reiterate the importance of Indonesia's relations with the Pacific and convey technical cooperation projects with the Pacific islands.

The PIF and the Pacific in general do not feature in Indonesia's foreign policy as much as other parts of Indonesia's neighborhood, such as Southeast Asia and Australia.

What are Indonesia's interests in the Pacific? What are the features of Indonesia's foreign policy in the Pacific?

First, Indonesia is strengthening relations with all its neighbors, including the Pacific. It's a strategy to ensure a stable and productive neighborhood, which in turn will support Indonesia's interests. Indonesia is, for example, strengthening relations in Southeast Asia through ASEAN, as it is with Australia through the establishment of the annual heads of government and defense and foreign affairs ministers meetings.

Southeast Asia and the Pacific are also areas of strategic interest to the major powers, which makes the creation of a stable and predictable environment in Asia and the Pacific even more vital for Indonesia.

Second, Indonesia's relations with the Pacific are multilayered. At the bilateral level, Indonesia has bilateral diplomatic relations with 15 Pacific island countries and is in the process of establishing diplomatic relations with three more Pacific Islands countries – Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu.

Participating in the PIF Post Forum Dialogue in 2001 was another component in strengthening relations with the Pacific. Indonesia is one of 14 of the PIF's dialogue partners, the others being Canada, China, the European Union, France, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Pacific Islands Forum was founded in August 1971 and today comprises 16 states – Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Its goals are "to stimulate economic growth and enhance political governance and security for the region through the provision of policy advice; and to strengthen regional cooperation and integration through coordinating, monitoring and evaluating implementation of leaders' decisions".

Indonesia is strengthening relations with the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). The MSG Summit last March in Fiji admitted Indonesia and Timor Leste as observers of the MSG.

The group consists of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) of New Caledonia. It was established in 1983 as a political and solidarity group and in 2007 transformed into a regional organization with broad purposes – to further economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security.

The group is not only an ethnic-based grouping; it is also a natural sub- region that connects naturally with Indonesia's eastern boundaries and holds significant trade, investment, tourism and connectivity capacities in the South Pacific.

Indonesia also initiated with Australia the establishment of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue in 2002. It meets annually at the foreign ministers level. The membership also includes the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and New Zealand. Its focus of work is on people-to-people contact, sociocultural issues and connecting Southeast Asia with the South Pacific.

A recently-added layer of Indonesia's relation with the Pacific was the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI). Established at the sidelines of the World Ocean Conference in 2009, it is a multilateral partnership to safeguard the rich marine resources of the Indo-Pacific region for future generations. It covers the territories of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.

Third, Indonesia's relation with the Pacific is built on a broad range of common issues. It departs from the fact that Indonesia is a natural part of the Pacific. Indonesia's eastern provinces share common geographic location, biogeography and ecosystems as well as cultural and ethnical similarities.

There are also common challenges. Foremost among them are natural disasters, including global warming and rising sea levels, earthquakes and tsunamis, typhoons and volcanic eruptions.

Food security is another area of common concern, especially when it comes to the sustainability of fishery resources.

Connectivity and economy of scale are issues in the Pacific that Indonesia also shares, such as distance between ports and adequacies of ports, availability of various transportation means, small population and density and small trade volumes.

Because of the similarities, Indonesia and Pacific island countries also have a lot of strategies to share in addressing those challenges.

Finally, Indonesia's relation with the Pacific is thus far government- driven, but it needs to be broad-based, involving greater participation from the private sector and business community, academia, media and other elements of society. The idea is to increase their participation as diplomatic relations, and regional institutions are being put in place.

[The writer is director for intra-regional cooperation in Asia Pacific and Africa at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.]

Police should not be in bed with the FPI

Jakarta Globe Editorial - September 5, 2011

Links between the state security apparatus and militia groups, such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), have long been alleged but remain unsubstantiated as no real proof has ever emerged. The most recent allegations emerged on Friday by way of leaked US embassy cables published by WikiLeaks.

Though claims like these are nothing new, the cables do shed light on new details of the cozy relationship between senior police officials and the FPI. The most worrying information to come out is that the FPI receives much of its funding from the police.

That might explain why the FPI is able to break the law with impunity. Although members of the group have been hauled before the courts, they have escaped with relatively light sentences, even for brutal crimes. Their actions have not only tarnished the image of the police force in general, but that of the nation as a whole.

Since the downfall of the New Order regime, the police force has taken great strides toward transforming itself into a professional law enforcement organization. Now independent from the armed forces, the police have embarked on a series of internal reforms that have led to the creation of a modern security unit.

Unfortunately, Indonesia also has a long history of creating and supporting militia organizations that are allowed to ride roughshod over the law. Many of these organizations have the tacit backing of either the military or the police, and their leaders often are on good terms with senior officials.

Whatever the rationale in the past might have been for creating and supporting these militia groups, the practice has no place in modern Indonesia.

The country has made great progress during the past decade on both the economic and social fronts, and the time has arrived for the security forces to cut their ties with any organization that deems itself to be above the law.

Unless every Indonesian respects the law and is held accountable under it, the country will not gain the respect it seeks from the international community. If organizations such as the FPI are allowed to act as judge and jury and brazenly destroy property and harm lives, the law will remain futile and the police ineffective.

Currents undermining Indonesian political stability

Direct Action - September 2011

Max Lane – It is 13 years since the Indonesian dictator Suharto was forced to resign by a student-led mass protest movement. The current president, Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono, will complete his second five-year term in 2014. At the level of the state and government, Indonesia has experienced another extended period of "stability". There have been no destabilising riots, as used to occur; no major cabinet crisis; no serious challenges to the presidency, as occurred in 2001, when the parliament impeached President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Wahid was impeached on corruption charges, but this was primarily a frame- up. He had alienated the spectrum of right-wing religious parties by declaring his support for the lifting of the ban on Marxism-Leninism and for apologising to the victims of the 1965 anti-communist violence. He had also allowed the West Papuan flag to be raised in West Papua alongside the Indonesian flag and had promised a referendum in Aceh, although he later backtracked on that. These issues further alienated the conservative parliament. Not only the right-wing Islamic parties but also the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, headed by his vice-president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, turned against him. After he was impeached, Megawati was elected president by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). The 10 years since have been marked by "stable", conservative rule.

Jihadists

The "stability" has been marred by the emergence of some threatening underlying trends. In 2001, the first suicide bombing – the attacks on Bali night clubs – took place. There have been several suicide bombings and other bomb attacks since then. The Yudhoyono government has escalated the police response, resulting in increased and intensive surveillance of Islamic activists as well as shoot-outs in which Islamic cell members have been killed. This appears to be consolidating as an ongoing trend.

The police response has brought a decline so far in attacks against "Western" targets, but is hardening the jihadist opposition to the government. The most recent bomb attacks have been against Indonesian police, including a suicide bombing in a mosque used by police officers. This program has been carried out with strong United States and Australian police and financial support.

While the Yudhoyono government has implemented a severe police response against the fundamentalist, jihadist groups, it has been accommodating to groups making violent attacks against Christian and dissident Islamic sects. There have been attacks against the mosques and prayer houses of the Ahmadiyah sect as well as against some Christian churches. Prosecutors have, for example, demanded only seven-month sentences for members of the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam – FPI) who attacked and beat to death three members of the Ahmadiyah sect and injured five others. Ahmadiyah members who defended themselves in the attack were also charged. Similar leniency has occurred in the prosecution of FPI or others who have attacked church members. Yudhoyono government figures make very weak criticisms of these groups, while high-level police figures continue to associate publicly with the FPI.

The other area where violence continues is in the repressive atmosphere in West Papua. Demonstrations calling for a referendum on independence have increased in size, often initiated or led by students, and some of these demonstrations have been violently dispersed. Where killings or other violent attacks, including torture of Papuan activists, have led to arrests of army personnel or police, sentences have been extremely light. There have also been strikes at the massive Freeport mine. Papua remains a time bomb that could detonate easily at any time. The increased confidence of the conservative Islamic groups that have been attacking Ahmadiyah and some churches can also lead to explosions of tensions at a later date.

Corruption scandals

Adding to the general tension at street level is a combination of non-stop exposures of corruption cases and their weak handling by the government and the sense of economic stagnation for the mass of the population. The Indonesian economy is growing, as is the Indonesian middle class. Some Indonesian economists claim that the middle class is growing by 1 million people per year. The World Bank claims that 50 million people have joined "middle income" layers in Indonesia since 2003, bringing it up to half of the 238 million population. There is little doubt that the number of those better off is steadily increasing, creating a sizeable market with substantial disposable income. It is unlikely, however, that this is more than 10% of the population – still a hefty 23 million, a market probably nearing the size of Australia. There is no doubt that there are increasing opportunities for businesses to make profits.

However, the wildly optimistic figures of the World Bank flow from its essentially racist outlook in defining poverty. It doesn't mean first world middle income levels, just as the US$2 per day poverty standard that is often used is not the same measure used as the criterion for poverty in Australia or the USA. The most often quoted annual average per capita income for Indonesia is still around US$3000, compared to Australia's $35,000 plus. Moreover, this US$3,000 figure for Indonesia is still only an average. It is very hard to earn more than 1 or 2 million rupiah a month (around AU$100-200) for a non-office worker in Jakarta, and an office worker might earn only a little above that. In the meantime, housing has become more expensive or further away from workplaces; health services are a horror for most people to access; transportation is also problematic, with many people now relying on credit (to buy cheap motorbikes) even to commute to work. Full-time steady work is available only to a minority. Incomes are lower in the regions.

The exhausting socio-economic conditions contrast markedly with the visibility of high-level corruption cases, which dominate the news every week. The latest is the scandal around Muhammad Nazaruddin, a politician from Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, who has been accused of demanding kickbacks for his blessing for the construction of a sports stadium for the coming South-east Asian Games. He later fled to Singapore and then Colombia. The pursuit of Nazaruddin was in the media every day. He was eventually brought back to Jakarta – allegedly at an expense of US$400,000 – where he is now awaiting trial, probably.

The figures involved in his case – in the millions of dollars – are like salt in the wounds of the millions of poor. And the Nazaruddin case is just one in a non-stop flow of such cases throughout the last 10 years. One consequence is that the media report a big drop in Yudhoyono's "popularity" – never really high to start with, which was reflected in the 21% vote his party got in the last parliamentary elections.

Beginnings

Up until now, the level of grievance felt in the streets – which is obvious to anybody who talks to people or who notes the popularity of the more savage political comics on TV – has not transmuted into any kind of political movement.

The political system is still dominated by the parties established immediately after the fall of Suharto, in the 1999-2001 period. These are all parties that have been well financed by various sections of the Indonesian monied elite, mostly factions of the elite with bases in specific regional locations. Splits and rivalries among the elite have added a few new party initiatives, but the early starters have been passing legislation to make it very difficult for new comers to get into the game. There are very difficult conditions to register to participate in elections and also a threshold to meet to get seats in parliament.

Grassroots movements have not yet developed on a national scale; the 33 years of dictatorship under Suharto have meant that building a nationwide network across this huge country has to start from scratch. This process has started, but only in the last few years. There is also a huge ideological vacuum as a result of the long period of suppression of ideological life. This is also starting to be filled. There are now at least four socialist groups attempting to build a national network. Even more extensive are the mushrooming radical intellectual circles, artistic initiatives, publishing houses and websites. All this is at an early stage of development but is occurring in a fertile environment.

[This article is the first in a Direct Action series about the political situation in Indonesia.]