Camelia Pasandaran – The Depok municipal administration in West Java said it will close all karaoke businesses in the city, saying local bylaws don't permit them.

Administration spokesman Fachmi Muhamad said authorities would begin closing establishments which violated local regulations. The Public Order Agency was reported to have set a deadline of Sunday for all karaoke operators to voluntarily close or face forced closure.

"Some of the businesses opened karaoke houses but requested permits for restaurants or music studios," Fachmi said. "However, under Depok bylaws, karaoke houses are not categorized as recreational businesses so they should never have been opened."

Under the 2003 bylaws covering permits for tourism businesses, recreational businesses are said to include swimming pools, bowling allies, billiard halls, event venues, movie theaters, fitness clubs, and art and cultural studios. There is no mention of karaoke houses, which are hugely popular.

Several ulama earlier this year asked the government to ban karaoke houses, alleging they were places used for immoral acts. Some are used as fronts for brothels.

Depok has been criticized previously for enacting Shariah-style laws. Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail is from the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). There are at least three karaoke houses which are well known in Depok: Nav, Inul Vista and Venus.

Rini, a 34-year-old housewife and a Depok resident, said the government was overreacting. "My two children like to go to karaoke houses," she said. "But the places have been shut down."

She said the government's reason to ban karaoke houses in Depok was unreasonable. "It is better for those who like to sing to go to karaoke houses than sing loudly with a home sound system that may disturb their neighbors," she said.

Rini said she often took her children to Nav karaoke house but did not find it a dangerous place. "It is a safe place, where children can spend time with their families," she said. "It's not like other karaoke houses, which have seedy elements to them."

"However, if the government did not agree with this business, it should have shut the karaoke houses much earlier, not now when they've been operating for this long a time and people have grown to like them," she said.

Indonesian religious teacher caught in sex bust

Jakarta Globe - October 7, 2011

A religious teacher from a state high school in Madura, East Java, is likely to face sanctions after he was caught having sex with a married woman during Ramadan.

Fadilah, a local official, was quoted by state news agency Antara as saying on Friday that the married man had shamed the profession's image. An investigation had revealed that both the man and the women, a teacher also, were having an affair, he said.

The pair were caught during "social disease" raids over the holy month. Fadilah said the head of the district was yet to determine what sanctions the pair would face.

67% of children in Kupang access porn sites: KPI

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2011

Jakarta – Up to 67 percent of children below the age of 13 in the East Nusa Tenggara capital of Kupang have accessed porn sites, mostly via mobile phones, a survey has found.

The survey, conducted recently by the East Nusa Tenggara chapter of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), also found that the trend was increasing.

"The more worrisome finding is that the children access porn sites through their cell phones while they're studying at school," KPI's regional head Mutiara Mauboy said Thursday in Kupang. She said the children also access porn sites in Internet cafes.

The survey involved 300 respondents under 13-years-old in all of Kupang's six districts and 51 subdistricts, Mutiara added, as quoted by Antara.

50 million minors lack birth certificates

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani & Dessy Sagita – More than 60 percent of Indonesian minors do not have a birth certificate, depriving them of a range of civic services, including enrolling at school.

Mayong, a lawyer with the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta), said 50 million of the 78 million Indonesians under the age of 18 did not have a birth certificate, based on data from the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry.

"A child without a birth certificate is commonly perceived as being born outside wedlock, which in Indonesian society carries with it negative stigma," he said at a discussion on the issue on Thursday.

"Besides that, the child will also encounter difficulty getting access to education, as well as to other socioeconomic and cultural rights once they get older."

A birth certificate is required for a child to be enrolled in school, get a passport and, upon turning 17, apply for an ID card, or KTP. As an adult, they will also need a birth certificate to get a marriage license and apply for jobs as civil servants or with state-owned companies.

Maria Ulfa Anshor, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI), said receiving a birth certificate should be a universal right because of its fundamental importance.

"From a human rights perspective, a birth certificate should be a basic right for all children because it represents the sole legal confirmation of their existence," she said.

Under the 2006 Residency Administration Law, parents have 60 days from the birth of their child in which to apply for a birth certificate. Once the period has expired, the parents must apply through a district court and pay a fine of up to Rp 1 million ($112).

Maria said most parents were unaware of the time limit, while others were discouraged from applying because of the illegal fees levied by population services officials.

Purba Hutapea, the head of the Jakarta population office, said another factor for the low number of applications was the fact that few of those submitted had the required supporting documentation.

"This includes the proof of birth from the hospital where the child was born and the parents' marriage certificate," he said. "They're really very simple requirements, but many people still fail to comply with them."

The Jakarta population office kicked off a campaign on Monday, set to run until the end of the year, to allow parents of children born as far back as 2007 to apply for a birth certificate without having to go through the courts or pay the fine.

Separately, administrative law expert Irman Putra Sidin, from Hassanuddin University in Makassar, said the government needed to do more to encourage parents to apply for birth certificates for their children. "The government can't just stay silent and expect people to take the initiative on issues like this," he said.

He argued that because most Indonesians had a low level of education, they were unlikely to know about the terms for applying for the document or the disadvantages of not having it.

Miss Universe cancels Bandung police visit on pressure from MUI

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2011

Antara & Camelia Pasandaran, Bandung – Bandung's factory outlets are open to Miss Universe, but its charity functions are not, according to the West Java branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema.

Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes, who is visiting to crown the new Miss Indonesia on Friday evening, was expected to be a VIP guest at a charity night held by the West Java branch of Bhayangkari, the Association of the Wives of Policemen, next Tuesday.

But after drawing the ire of the West Java branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), Lopes, from Angola, told TVOne on Thursday that she was canceling the trip.

A spokesman for the MUI said on Thursday that beauty pageants' process of judging women by their physical attributes was deeply offensive and damaging to women's dignity, making Lopes an improper guest for a police- related charity function.

"But if she only wants to shop at the factory outlets, please," he said. "Even it will be better if she brings lots of money to shop here." He added that the council would have gladly seen the city welcome a Nobel Prize winner or world-class athlete, rather than a Miss Universe.

"There are [selection] sessions in which the [contestants] were only wearing bikinis. Even their height and breast size are measured. It is banned in Islam, while it is highly adored in the process as if they have a high degree of value," said Rafani Akhyar, general secretary of the council. "This is the difference between Islamic and secular states," Rafani said.

Masruchah, deputy chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, said the MUI had more substantial issues it could address.

"This is just man's way to politicize the issue using the name of religion," she said. "Even with women wearing fully covered outfits and veils, if the man has a nasty mind, it won't make a difference. Fix the mind, not the women."

Lopes planned visit had earlier stirred controversy when it was reported that the Bhayangkari had offered Lopes Rp 750 million ($84,000) to appear at the charity function.

Patrialis reports Metro TV to KPI for slander

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – Outraged at being referred to as "Patrialis Mini" on a Metro TV program, the justice and human rights minister has filed a complaint with the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission alleging slander.

"It is the same as an 'in absentia' trial," said Goncang Raharjo, a spokesman for the Justice and Human Rights Ministry. Goncang said that the panel discussion essentially amounted to a public trial of the minister. "During the program, the people in the discussion said 'let's change his name from Patrialis Akbar into Patrialis Mini.'"

The word Akbar comes from the Arabic word meaning "great." The live program, titled "Provokatif Proaktif," was broadcast by Metro TV on Sept. 22 and hosted by Pandji Pragiwaksono. The show features guests chatting about political issues in a coffee shop atmosphere.

Metro TV broadcast a half-hour interview with Patrialis on Sept. 25 to give him the right to reply and offer clarification, but the next day, the broadcasting commission, known as KPI, received a letter of complaint from the ministry.

Aside from the "mini" remark, Goncang also said Patrialis was angered by the suggestion that he be replaced during the upcoming cabinet reshuffle for his perceived ineptitude during the Gayus Tambunan debacle and in the case of graft convict Artalyta Suryani, who was found to be enjoying a relatively lavish lifestyle behind bars. "The show discredited [Patrialis], and it is not educational at all," Goncang said.

Broadcasting commission member Ezki Suyanto, who oversees content, has said that she spotted many questionable statements while reviewing the program. "I have watched it. There were sentences such as 'Patrialis is suspect,' but it is not clear suspect for what," she said.

On Wednesday, Metro TV's editor in chief and a ministry official met in mediation, where Metro TV apologized. It is unclear whether the ministry will accept, and there is already another meeting between the two parties set for Monday.

Bogor to ban karaoke clubs in hotels

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

The Bogor district government says it will begin to monitor hotels hosting illegal karaoke and nightclub venues.

Luthfi Syam, spokesman for the district administration on the outskirts of Jakarta, said District Head Rachmat Yasin had vowed to punish "naughty" hotels that operated karaoke venues.

"We have never given permission to activities that could disturb public order such as karaoke or even karaoke for the family," Luthfi said of all karaoke venues inside hotels in Bogor.

He said the district's tourism agency had been instructed to begin monitoring the offending entertainment outlets. "We will [shut them down] according to the regulations after we find enough evidence."

He said the closures would be carried out by the Public Order Agency (Satpol-PP). Karaoke venues are often used as fronts for prostitution.

Police pay dearly for Miss Universe visit

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani & Yuli Saputra – Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes has walked straight into a controversy while visiting Indonesia after she was reportedly offered an exorbitant sum from a West Java Police group for her attendance at an event.

Lopes, who is visiting to crown the new Miss Indonesia on Friday evening, is expected to be a VIP guest at a charity night held by the West Java branch of Bhayangkari, the Association of the Wives of Policemen, next Tuesday.

Local media reported that the West Java Bhayangkari had raised Rp 750 million ($84,000), including from contributions levied from police officers, to enable the Angolan beauty to attend the event.

Police expert Bambang Widodo Umar urged National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to summon West Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Putut Bayusenot over the scandal.

"The National Police Chief or the chairwoman of Bhayangkari should correct the West Java Police chief or his wife and show them how best to celebrate an anniversary," said Bambang, a lecturer at the National Police University and a former official at the National Police Commission, a law enforcement watchdog.

"It would be better to donate the money to orphans, to use it to help low- ranking police officers or help children go to school. Sometimes they don't even have enough money to pay the rent on their house," Bambang said.

Bambang said that it was inappropriate to invite a Miss Universe because she was not a figure related to law enforcement. "If they want to invite a public figure, they should invite a security figure than beauty figure." Bambang said.

Neta S. Pane, chairman of Indonesian Police Watch, said the source of Rp 750 million funding needed to be clarified. It is also not clear how much money, if any, was paid to Ms Lopes.

"It is fine to invite Miss Universe to a Bhayangkari anniversary celebration as long as the funding is coming from a sponsor," Neta said. "It can create a positive image for the National Police and she can learn about our Indonesian police, especially in West Java."

"But if the funding is related to corruption or bribe allegations, then it needs to be investigated by KPK," he added, referring to the Corruption Eradication Commission. It was ironic, Neta said, that police officers would spend millions of rupiah on a celebration while low-ranking police officers were so poorly paid.

West Java police spokesman Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto said that Lopes has been planning to visit Bandung and that the West Java Bhayangkari group was making use of that opportunity. "The West Java Police did not have a role in inviting Miss Universe," Agus told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

The appearance was reportedly made possible with the cooperation of Yayasan Puteri Indonesia – the organizer of Miss Indonesia and the franchise holder of all Miss Universe's activities in the country – and an event organizer, Viseta Global Utama.

Viseta provides public relations and speaker training and is run by Coreta El Kapoyos, its Web site said. Coreta is Putut's wife. Viseta spokeswoman Megi Theresia was quoted on the Indonesian Police Commission's Web site as rejecting allegations the money came from police coffers.

"The money came from the [event organizer], from the sponsors. We didn't ask for money from police officials," Megi said. "We invited Miss Universe because she is in Indonesia so it couldn't hurt if she comes to Bandung to attend the charity night."

Actions, demos, protests...

Kediri students clash with police in protest over malls

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2011

Jakarta – Members of the Islamic Student Assocation (HMI) clashed with riot police during a rally in front of the Kediri Regional Representatives Council (DPD) office on Thursday.

"Open the gates or we'll break them down," protesters yelled as reported tempointeraktif.com.

The students were rallying against the mushrooming of modern shopping and karaoke centers in Kediri. The malls, they said, had caused the demise of other smaller shops.

The students also demanded the closure of karaoke centers, which they said were centers for prostitution. The group urged members of the council to sign a statement saying they would close the businesses.

Sex workers rally in Yogya, call on govt to stem spread of HIV/AIDS

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

Bambang Muryanto and Yemris Fointuna, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of sex workers took to the streets of Yogyakarta on Monday, demanding that the government take serious action to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Joining the rally were women living with HIV/AIDS, transvestites, gays, lesbians, a migrant workers forum and activists.

They staged a rally outside of the venue of the national meeting on AIDS, and demanded that the government take more serious preventative measures to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

They said they wanted the government to increase the budget allocation for HIV/AIDS prevention measures and a ban on what they claimed was bylaws that discriminated against commercial sex workers. They also rejected the idea of closing down red light districts.

"We reject the state's control over women's bodies and demand respect and rights protection in HIV/AIDS programs," a protester said. "We demand that the state be serious in providing support and treatment and free antiretroviral [ARV] drugs."

The rally coincided with the start of the fourth AIDS National Meeting, attended by some 1,500 participants. The meeting criticized the government for not fully protecting migrant workers and other vulnerable community groups from being infected by HIV/AIDS.

"The government must be more serious in familiarizing and providing education on HIV/AIDS to migrant workers," executive director of the Institute for Migrant Workers (IWORK), Y. Budi Wibawa told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the meeting.

Quoting data from the Care for Migrant Workers Association, Wibawa said that last year 50 migrant workers working in Malaysia were infected by the deadly disease. This year, 12 were infected. "Of the 50, only one is still alive," he said.

Other data showed that in July 2009, the East Nusa Tenggara AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) recorded that 199 people had died from HIV/AIDS, of which 15 percent, or 29 people, were former migrant workers.

Quoting her own research, activist Swasti Sempulur of Yayasan Kembang said that migrant workers were indeed highly prone to contracting HIV/AIDS.

She blamed the condition on the lack of understanding about the disease among migrant workers due to the government's failure to educate them. "A specific state policy on the issue is needed," Swasti said.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the meeting, Coordinating People's Welfare Minister Agung Laksono said that he called on governors and regents/mayors to give support on HIV/AIDS prevention by allocating more money and issuing regulations that would guarantee protection and healthcare for people with HIV/AIDS.

"So far, only 150 regencies/municipalities have allocated funds for HIV and AIDS," he told the forum. There are 491 regencies/municipalities across the archipelago.

Secretary of the National AIDS Prevention Commission (KPAN), Nafsiah Mboi, said that a future advocacy program would include, among other things, an obligation for commercial sex workers' customers to use condoms. Reports say that 12 million men in the country pay for sex.

Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X pointed out the need for dialog over aspirations to recognize commercial sex workers as a profession.

Susi, an executive with the Indonesian Social Change Organization (OPSI), said that the International Labor Organization (ILO) had recognized commercial prostitution as a profession.

Job seekers protest at new Lombok airport

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Fitri R., Mataram – Lombok International Airport has only been up and running for three days and has already seen its first protest. But that's not particularly surprising for a project that has been hit by repeated problems.

The airport has been touted as a big step toward promoting the island as the country's "second Bali," but officials will first have to settle some lingering disputes.

Hundreds of residents, claiming to be former owners of the land the airport is built on, protested on Monday to demand the jobs they say they were promised when they agreed to sell out. The airport operator, state-owned Angkasa Pura I, says it already has most of the workers it needs.

Since construction started in January 2008, the airport has suffered numerous setbacks, including security issues, theft of construction materials and equipment, land disputes, tensions with villagers and problems with the control tower. The original opening date of March 2010 was pushed back repeatedly, and it only opened on Saturday, 18 months behind schedule.

The protesters, from the villages of Tanak Awu, Penujak and Ketare, arrived at the airport on Monday carrying banners and posters reminding Angkasa Pura of what it said was a promise that 50 percent to 70 percent of jobs at the airport would be filled by local residents.

Many of the protesters wore business clothes, saying they were ready to start work. "We, the children of the former landowners of this airport, are asking for the fulfillment of the promise of work on what used to be our land. Whatever the work, we are ready," said Kartini, from Tanak Awu.

Other demonstrators were more blunt, chanting "No jobs, then the airport's history" and other slogans.

After the protesters were stopped by the police from entering the airport grounds, they drove five kilometers to the district administration offices. "We will fight for our future. We don't want to be mere observers at the airport when we're entitled to work there," said a protest organizer, Tajir Syahroni.

Ten protesters were allowed into the administration offices to meet with district councilors, transportation officials and I Ketut Erdi Nuke, the general manager of the airport operator.

Tajir said young people from the three villages near the airport had undergone preliminary training, provided by volunteer teachers, in skills useful for the airport's operations, including hotel work, baggage and cargo handling, cleaning and restaurant service.

Ketut explained that the airport operator already had most of the employees it needed because the majority had made the move from Lombok's old airport in Selaparang.

"Angkasa Pura I only has 170 staff members, and there are at least 1,300 people looking for work at the airport," he said. "But rest assured that if there is a recruitment drive, we will publicize it."

Hundreds of mudflow victims halt Lapindo activities

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

Jakarta – A protest involving hundreds of mudflow disaster victims from Besuki, Kedungcangkring and Pejarakan villages in Sidoarjo, East Java, has brought work to a halt at the Lapindo mudflow disaster site.

One of the protesters, Mudiharto, said the group had staged the protest in an effort to seek clarity from the Sidoarjo Mud Disaster Mitigation Agency on compensation payments that were supposed to have been given to disaster victims.

"They have only paid 70 percent of our compensation and we don't know when they will pay the remaining 30 percent," Mudiharto said Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

The disaster, which started in 2006, has caused massive loss of property after the mudflow buried multiple villages in the Porong area. The victims have been struggling to obtain compensation ever since.

Meanwhile, blame for the incident has been shifted away from a company conducting deep drilling in the area, Lapindo Brantas, which was widely believed to have caused the mudflow. Lapindo has insisted that the mudflow began as a result of an earthquake that struck in Central Java.

Police prepare blockade for Porong protesters

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

Jakarta – Officers from the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) are standing by on the Porong highway in anticipation of a rally by Lapindo mudflow disaster victims from 45 neighborhood units in Sidoarjo, East Java.

The officers have blockaded the main road connecting Surabaya, Malang, Pasruruan, Probolinggo, Jember, Situbondo and Banyuwangi. According to kompas.com, the protesters informed East Java Police earlier of their plans to hold the rally on Monday.

The protest is being held in relation to a presidential regulation that stipulates that the government will only accommodate mudflow victims from nine neighborhood units, even though people in another 45 neighborhood units have been affected by the disaster.

The Sidoarjo Mud Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPLS) says it will not take responsibility for the villagers either.

Sexy 'support' for House budget committee in corruption fight

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2011

Dozens of pretty young women dressed in shorts and T-shirts arrived at Corruption Eradication Commission headquarters on Monday to support an unlikely cause – the House of Representatives' (DPR) budget committee.

The women, many of whom work thick make-up and sunglasses, handed out flowers to passing motorists that passing the antigraft agency's headquarters on Jalan Rasuna Said in South Jakarta.

Others held a banner saying, "Combat corruption Yes, slander No" and "I Love Banggar," the Indonesian acronym for the budget committee, which is dogged by allegations of corruption.

Members of the committee have been boycotting meetings and discussions on the 2012 state budget since shortly after the KPK questioned four of its leaders.

These were the committee chairman, Melchias Marcus Mekeng, from the Golkar Party, and his deputies, Mirwan Amir, from the Democratic Party, Olly Dondokambey, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and Tamsil Linrung, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Embattled Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Muhaimin Iskandar has also been questioned.

Asked about the rally, one of the women refused to comment. "We only want to express our aspirations," she said. Most of the young women reportedly work as sales promotion girls and models.

West Papua

Freeport workers in Indonesia vow to halt production

Agence France Presse - October 7, 2011

Workers at one of the world's largest gold and copper mine in the remote Indonesian province of Papua vowed on Friday to paralyze production, as their strike over pay enters its second month.

Workers at the Grasberg mining complex run by US giant Freeport-McMoran began a month long strike on September 15, demanding at least an eight-fold increase in the current minimum wage of $1.50 an hour.

"If we don't get the pay increase we want, our goal is to stop production by November 15," said Virgo Solossa, spokesman for the workers' union, which extended the strike by a month on Thursday.

"Freeport has tried to intimidate us to go back to work, but we won't until they are open to a fair negotiation," he said, adding that at least 8,000 of the company's 23,000 workers would remain on strike.

The Arizona-based company said it was "disappointed" by the union's decision, "which has no basis under Indonesian law." It added that some workers were gradually returning to work, "allowing the company to scale up mine production, milling production and concentrate sales."

Production at Grasberg, one of the world's largest sources of gold and copper, has suffered considerably since the strike. Production in the first week of the strike last month was slashed by 230,000 tons a day, representing daily losses of $6.7 million in government revenue.

Slowing production at Grasberg, coupled with a spate of strikes at Freeport's South American mines, has raised concerns of a global copper shortage, analysts said.

Freeport's Papuan workers, who are mostly indigenous Melanesians, receive the lowest wages of any Freeport mining facility in the world, according to union workers.

The current lowest wage is $1.50 an hour, which workers want raised to $12.50, the union said. The workers want the maximum hourly rate of $3.50 to rise to $37. The union had originally demanded a minimum of $17.50 and a maximum of $43.

"We have followed all the right procedures to strike, which is our right. So we hope the company will make a fairer offer soon," Solossa, the union spokesman, said.

The company has offered a 25 percent increase on wages, which the union rejected. Freeport Indonesia is the largest single taxpayer to the Indonesian government, contributing billions of dollars a year to the state.

Papua's Freeport mine workers threaten ongoing strike action

ABC Radio Australia - October 7, 2011

Workers at the world's largest gold and copper mine in Indonesia have promised to strike indefinitely until their demands are met.

Most of the workforce at the giant Freeport McMoRan Mine have been on strike for a month which they have extended for another 30 days.

They claim the company has tried intimidation to get them back to work, and has forced contractors back to the mine. These claims are impossible to verify as the company does not comment to the media.

Reporter: Karon Snowdon

Speaker: Juli Parorrongan, spokesman for the mine workers' union, the SPSI

Snowdon: The strike over better pay and a pension plan began on September the 15th. Eight thousand workers at the Grasberg Freeport mine walked off the job and have vowed to stay on strike indefinitely.

Parorongan: So tragically, the management is not building the solution or the resolve of this problem, but they build the conflict. And they prolong the conflict. Management of... have strongly indicated they are not wanting to answer or fulfil our demands.

Snowdon: The union says wages are among the lowest in the world at just $2.10 an hour for some. It wants that raised to $17.50 an hour plus a better pension plan.

Parorongan: The lowest paid is 2.10 dollar per hour. And so, we need this to be increased to 17.50 dollars per hour.

Snowdon: That's a big increase all in one go, isn't it?

Parorongan: Ya, that's a big increase but this company also has the biggest revenues, and so we're... our Indonesian salary is very very low, especially for the Freeport McMoran group. You can compare wtihin your country.

Snowdon: Juli Parorongan says its the first time the entire union workforce at Freeport has gone on strike. He accuses the company of using intimidation to force contractors back to work. Freeport management says it started negotiations last month for a new labour agreement in good faith and there's no legal basis for the strike. In a written statement Chairman James Moffett says he's committed to getting a fair agreement.

Moffett: In 2010, the contribution from Grasberg to the Government of Indonesia and the local community totalled more than $3.8 billion. We are committed to maintaining an attractive work environment for our employees and look forward to concluding the negotiations on a mutually agreed basis as soon as possible."

Snowdon: The company says the strike is costing 3 million pounds of copper and 5 thousand ounces of gold a day in lost production. It won't meet its forecast third quarter sales of over 900 million pounds of copper and over 400 thousand ounces of gold. Union spokesman Juli Parorongan says the Indonesian government needs to get involved and pressure the company, PT Freeport Indonesia or PTFI.

Parorongan: Because the PTFI management have already have out of laws.

Snowdon: Are you saying the management has broken the law?

Parorongan: Ya, that's right. They're already broken the law, especially for their employment law in Indonesia. But it will be very good if you can come to Indonesia and so you can see for yourself.

Snowdon: The Indonesian government doesn't allow journalists to visit Papua. The strike action appears to have a long time to run.

Parorongan: We will strike for longer and longer, until we have the good deal.

Freeport strikes could just work

New Matilda - October 7, 2011

Alex Rayfield and Claudia King – Workers at the Freeport McMoRan mine in West Papua resumed strikes on 15 September after more than six weeks of unresolved negotiation talks with company management.

Increasing numbers of international media are covering the workers' return to strikes, the first of which ended in July after eight days of work stoppage that halted production at the Grasberg mine.

However, national and international media have focused solely on worker demands for an increase in their hourly pay rate – ignoring the history of Freeport's unfair and even illegal treatment of the mine's so-called "non- staff" workers.

West Papuan workers receive the lowest wages ($1.50-$3.00) of any Freeport mining facility in the world, despite the fact that their work accounts for 95 per cent of the company's consolidated gold production, and a substantial percentage of Freeport's copper production. According to NASDAQ, Freeport has reaped astonishingly high profits from the low labour costs at the West Papuan site, enabling the company "margins in excess of 60 per cent in past years".

Indonesian energy minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh estimates the Indonesian government alone could lose as much as $6.7 million in tax revenues, royalties and other payments from Freeport every day the strike carried on. Leaders of the All Indonesian Workers Union (Freeport division) have said they will agree to a 25 per cent wage increase (down from demands for increases of up to $200 per hour) but Freeport management is so far refusing to lift their offer higher than 22 per cent.

However, media coverage of the strikes is missing Freeport's long history of suppressing workers' rights and union organising in Papua, not to mention the historical context and legacy of poor industrial relations out of which these strikes have emerged.

For one, Freeport McMoRan's contract of work with the Indonesian government was signed prior to a scheduled referendum on West Papua's political status. The UN had granted Indonesian temporary control over the region in 1963 but by the time the "Act of Free Choice" of 1969 was ready to proceed, only 1,022 West Papuans – less than 0.01 per cent of the population at the time – participated. In reality there was no referendum and no vote. Papuans were told by Indonesian military generals to vote for Indonesian rule or have "their tongues cut out". Unsurprisingly, in this atmosphere of intimidation, 100 per cent choose to support West Papua's incorporation.

But Freeport McMoRan, subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia, did not even wait for this farce. The US Company made a deal with the Indonesian dictator Suharto, who was waging military operations in West Papua at the time. Freeport signed their first contract of work in 1967, two years before the 1969 Act of Free Choice. Under Suharto an authoritarian management style became entrenched. Dissent by workers and the local Papuan landowners were repressed harshly by the military.

Secondly, Indigenous West Papuans' cultural, and economic livelihoods, which are dependent on a healthy natural environment, have been disrupted by Freeport's arrival. It is no wonder that local communities resisted both violently and nonviolently to the company's takeover of large swaths of their territory. In fact, Papuan resistance to Freeport has always been connected to Papuan resistance to Indonesia's repressive "neocolonial" rule, which has now lasted over 50 years and according to Amnesty International resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 people.

Alongside West Papua's pro-independence movement are workers, both native Papuans and Indonesian migrants, organising for fair pay, basic rights to organise without threats and intimidation from Freeport management, and the provision of equal facilities for local workers as their foreign worker counterparts, including: housing, health care, education, and pension funds.

They are demanding the freedom to organise as workers, to strike and demonstrate without threats, intimidation, or interference from Freeport management or local police, and without penalty of receiving no pay or the risk of losing their jobs. Freeport has now engaged global security contractors Securicor (now G4S), to break the strike.

Union leaders are maintaining vigilant documentation of violations by the various security apparatus. Since resuming the strike, workers have received messages from officials via SMS, and visits to their family homes by Freeport staff and security who threaten to withhold pay and fire striking workers. Barracks near the mine's entrance in Tembagapura were raided by officials, some whom were allegedly foreign nationals, who according to workers ordered miners to sign an agreement to end the strike.

The most disturbing incident was the attempted shooting of Union Chairman Sudiro while in his home on September 11, 2011 by "persons unknown", a phrase in Indonesia that is often shorthand for the Indonesian military.

In a significant escalation of resistance, leaders of the Amungme and Kamoro tribes – the two customary landowner groups who own the land Freeport is mining – are supporting the striking workers. Senior tribal leaders Anis Natkime, Canisius Amareyau, Viktor Beanal and youth leaders Jecky Amisim and Donny Emayauta have written to Freeport CEO James Moffett and Freeport President Richard Adkerson to ask the company to agree to worker's demands.

Failing this the tribal leaders threaten to close Freeport's entire operations from the Amungme highlands of the 4,200 metre high Grasberg mine down to the Kamoro lowland port of Amapare. In doing so, these leaders are throwing off decades of fear and trauma brought about by repressive Indonesian military operations in support of Freeport. Abuses include the forced removal of villages and massacres by Indonesian military and police personnel who have never been held to account.

Although Indigenous communities living in and around the site of the Grasberg mine are supposed to receive a percentage of the profits from mining extraction as a part of an agreement known as the "1 per cent fund" community leaders claim the funds, which are routed through Jakarta, never reach the local community. The fund has also created conflict and competition between tribes.

While there is no guarantee that workers and community leaders will achieve their goals or address long-standing grievances, the worker strikes have caught Freeport and the government off guard, and awoken them to the reality that they are no longer uncontested power-holders in the region. Instead they will be forced to shift their practices one way or another, or else face serious economic and reputational losses.

The strike also threatens to have much wider repercussions than mere pay rises. West Papuan independence leaders in other parts of the country are preparing to organise the third national gathering of Papuan resistance groups. These leaders are watching the events at Freeport closely. When the three-day Third Papua Congress opens in Jayapura/Port Numbay on 16 October you can be sure that grievances around Freeport will be high on the agenda.

Papuan activists detained for attending consolidation meeting

West Papua Media Alerts - October 7, 2011

Indonesian police have detained ten West Papuan activists in Jayapura on Thursday ahead of a critical meeting for the pro-independence West Papua National Authority (WPNA), according to local sources.

As many as 1825 West Papuan independence activists had arrived in Jayapura aboard the KM Sinabung on October 6 to begin a consolidation conference of the WPNA. The Conference, to be held on October 8-9, was to determine the political position of WPNA ahead of the historic Third Papuan Peoples' Congress, a gathering of all the elements of West Papua's disparate resistance movement to agree on a common strategy towards fulfilling the demand for Papuan self-determination. The Congress, expected to go ahead from October 16-19 at Cenderawasih University was called by the West Papua National Committee, and has gained support from most sectors of the Papuan civil society.

Despite the mass circulation of SMS messages, believed to be from intelligence sources, across Papua that Jakarta was not going to oppose the Congress and the ability for Papuan people to organise dialogue under their own terms, Jayapura police have detained key WPNA organisers for possessing "separatist materials".

Marthen Manggaprouw, from the WPNA Secretariat in Jayapura, reports that Silas Ayemi, Seftinus Kaiway, Yoas Yawandare, Lewi Arampi, Noak Kandipi, Yehuda Kandipi, Daniel Sakwatorey, Obeth Aninam, Filep Yawandare, and Henok Dori were still detained at Police Station in Jayapura on Thursday night. Silas Ayemi reported that he was arrested because he kept an invitation letter for attending the West Papuan Congress, and also for being in possession of pictures of the banned West Papuan Morning Star flag.

Jakarta has reportedly confirmed to Congress organisers that a member of the Indonesian government will be in attendance at the Congress. Local observers have questioned why the Indonesian police are still arresting people for legitimately and peacefully organising internal dialogue when Jakarta is apparently allowing the Third Papuan Peoples' Congress to take place.

International observers and foreign journalists are still banned by Jakarta from West Papua, so independent monitoring is proving difficult.

Herman Wainggai, an activist for WPNA currently based in Washington DC, said "Indonesian Authorities arrested them without considering their basic human rights". Wainggai also called on the the Indonesia government to immediately release the 10 detainees. Indonesia should, according to Wainggai, "allow us to have more democratic space during the West Papuan national meeting in October, rather than continuing to arrest people and damage their life while they work for democracy in West Papua".

No comment was received from the Indonesian police at time of writing in Jayapura on the status of the detainees.

Freeport union extends strike for another month

Reuters - October 6, 2011

Karima Anjani – Union workers at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc's extended their strike at a massive Indonesian gold and copper mine on Thursday for a second month, the longest strike in the country's mining industry.

About 12,000 of Freeport's 23,000 Indonesian workers have joined the strike that began on Sept. 15, reducing mining, processing and shipping of concentrates from Grasberg, the world's third-largest copper mine.

Miners throughout the developing world have walked off the job this year to demand better pay as corporate profits surged. Freeport, the world's largest publicly traded copper miner, is also facing a strike at its sprawling Peruvian Cerro Verde mine. Union leaders formally asked Peru's government on Monday to define a wage deal that would settle the strike.

In Indonesia, union official Juli Parorrongan told Reuters a letter on the extended strike had been sent to the company. Freeport officials were not immediately available to comment.

The stoppage has stoked concern of a broader push by workers for a greater share of profits in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Pilots and supermarket staff have also recently gone on strike.

The mining strike coincided with Freeport's annual term talks with buyers at the London Metal Exchange. Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said on Wednesday the company was unable to make up a production shortfall from strikes in Peru and Indonesia as it already operates at full capacity.

Indonesian union officials and members of the local government and parliament met in Jayapura, capital of remote Papua province where the mine is located, to set up a review team to visit the site soon.

Union officials had planned to continue talks with the company after mediation ended in a deadlock two weeks ago. Parorrongan said the union "regretted" that representatives from Freeport were unable to attend in the meeting in Jayapura.

"Their absence at today's meeting showed they do not have good intentions to settle this issue," he said. "If they can show us data that could back up their argument then we're willing to lower our demand because they can afford it,"

The union has lowered its pay rise demand to $12.50 to $37 an hour from $17.5 to $43 an hour. The mine workers' current rate is $1.5 to $3 per hour. Earlier this week, Freeport said they had "accepted" a mediator's suggestion of a 25 percent increase. But the offer was rejected by the workers.

In the metal market, Europe's steps to help its financial sector and improved outlook on US economic data copper supported copper gains for a second day, after hitting its lowest in 14 months earlier this week.

A security force of 4,000 for Third Papuan People's Congress

Bintang Papua - October 5, 2011

Jayapura – The Third Papuan People's Congress [KRP] which is due to take place from 16-19 October will be provided with a security force of four thousand Papuans, according to the chairman of the KRP committee, Selpius Bobii, when he handed over the congress programme to Bintang Papua.

The objective of the congress will be to make a frank evaluation of the realities in a number of sectors of life of the Papuan people in the Land of Papua overall, with particular attention to protection and to the principle of siding with and empowering the basic rights of the indigenous Papuan people in accordance with the Special Autonomy Law [UU21/2001] and to determine the seriousness with which the state, that is to say Indonesia, is building Papua in conformity with human dignity.

In addition, to seek the mechanisms and correct measures for resolving the Papuan question with greater attention to the principles of justice, peace and well-being, in a dignified way. Preparations along the lines of the material conditions and security are already in place.

According to Bobii, the KRP will be a large-scale festival of democracy for the Papuan people. What this festival of democracy hopes to achieve is a common understanding of the realities in many fields of life for the people in the Land of Papua and to reach a proper understanding of the intentions of the Indonesian state in upholding the basic rights of the indigenous Papuan people, including their political rights, and to seek out the mechanisms and correct steps that need to be taken for a more peaceful, dignified and welfare solution of the Papuan problem, within the global community.

"In order to achieve these objectives, we have called on the community as a whole and the various organs to ensure a conducive atmosphere. And moreover, while the congress is in progress, there will be the need for internal consolidation between the various organs and consolidation at the base. And in order to safeguard the proceedings of the congress, the committee has made arrangements for a Papuan security force of 4,000 people."

[Translated by TAPOL.]

Freeport Indonesia wages the lowest in the world, according to SPSI

Bintang Papua - October 3, 2011

Thousands of workers from Freeport Indonesia have been on strike since 15 September demanding higher wages and better personal welfare, bearing in mind the great risks that their work involves. The wages they currently receive are far from adequate and are way below the wages paid in mines elsewhere the world.

"Of all the mining companies anywhere in the world, the wages paid to workers at Freeport are the lowest. even though the risks they take are extremely high, working at a depth of 4,200 meters. It's very dusty, high rainfall and extremely cold, as we mine copper, gold, silver and other minerals," said Frans Wonmaly, member of the executive committee of the trade union SBSI.

In 2006 the workers' pay in North America was $10.70 an hour, in South America, it was $10.10 an hour but in Indonesia it was only $0.98 an hour. In 2010, the pay had reached on average $66.43 an hour, whereas in Indonesia it was only $4.42-$7.356 an hour

"As compared with mining companies elsewhere in the world, the difference is like heaven and earth, and this is why we are making demands from the management," he said. All they were asking for was a rise to $30-$50 an hour.

Wonmaly strongly denied a recent statement by Armando Mahler, president- director of Freeport Indonesia to the effect that the workers would be losing Rp 570,000 a day.

"I personally have reached Grade 3 and I only get Rp7 million a month. If I were getting Rp570,000 a day I would be receiving Rp17.2 million a month," he said, while holding up the joint contract book.

As yet, negotiations between the workers on strike and the management have not made any progress. Despite the mediation of the labour affairs ministry in Jakarta, there is a deadlock."The management has not shown any intention to recognise the aspirations of their workforce."

Furthermore, the management is spreading propoaganda, sending sms messages to the families of the workers and spreading reports in the local media that the workers should go back to work. Wonmaly said that the strike will continue until their demands have been fully met by the company.

"It will continue till 16 October and if by then, negotiations have still led nowhere, the workers have agreed call in lawyers and take the dispute to court."

According to a spokesman of the company, 1,217 contract workers have returned to work in the higher reaches of the mine which they travel to daily by 23 buses. The production and dispatch of concentrates is now very limited, while the management have expressed their appreciation to those workers who have remained at work.

Freeport, workers haggle over wages

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

Rangga D. Fadillah, Jakarta – PT Freeport Indonesia says it cannot fulfill its workers' demands for hourly wages because their offered 22 percent salary increase was the best among the mining companies operating in the country.

Company spokesman Ramdani Sirait said over the weekend that in addition to the basic salary increase, Freeport also provides its employees with many benefits including medical expenses, bonuses from gold and copper sales, education support from kindergarten to university and housing loans.

"We're sure that the package we offer in the new work contracts between the management and workers is the best among other multinational mining companies operating in Indonesia," he said.

With the old rate, the lowest level non-staff workers or field operators received Rp 170 million (US$18,640) in take-home pay including benefits each year, while the highest level received Rp 235 million, he said.

"If the workers accept the 22 percent basic salary increase, their yearly income will soar to between Rp 210 million and Rp 230 million for the lowest level and between Rp 285 million and Rp 310 million for the highest level," Ramdani said.

However, he said that in the final mediation meeting on Sept. 23, the workers rejected the offer and insisted that the company pay them hourly wages from between $17.50 and $45 per hour.

The mediation team had suggested that Freeport raise the offer from a 22 percent increase to 25 percent, but no agreement or response has come from workers.

Freeport chief administrative officer Sinta Sirait said the company had agreed to follow the team's suggestion to end the ongoing dispute with workers, adding that the company did not want the dispute to be solved at the Industrial Relations Court.

Freeport, which operates the Grasberg gold and copper mine in Timika, Papua, currently employs 22,000 workers, of which 9,000 are non-staff workers and 3,000 are staff workers. The remaining 10,000 are employed by contractors.

When told of workers' yearly salary figures, strike coordinator Hasan Samigu said only some Rp 90 million per year was paid to the lowest level field operators, while the highest level received Rp 142 million.

Ramdani did not deny the workers' claims that Indonesian workers received the lowest salaries compared to the company's other mines, including in North America, but he did say that the mines in North America had almost the same level of productivity as the Grasberg mine but with only 2,000 workers.

"It's all about productivity. In Indonesia, our operation is very labor- intensive. We also want to follow the regulations on workers here," he said.

On Friday, the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) deputy chairman Tony Wenas said the workers' demands for hourly wages was "unrealistic and is not in line with standards applied in Indonesia".

"The demand may cause a domino effect with other mining companies, the appearance of social jealousy between workers and locals due to income disparities and declining income for the government due to soaring operational costs," he said in a press statement.

Freeport rejects employee wage request

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2011

Jakarta – PT Freeport McMoran, Indonesia's largest gold producer, has rejected employee demands for a 25 percent salary increase, arguing that the request had exceeded the company's capacity.

"We have agreed to a 22 percent increase in salaries and we need to be strict in that agreement because we are talking about 9,000 employees here," company spokesman Rhamdani Sirait said Sunday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He said that according to the company's calculation, with the current 22 percent salary raise, every employee could bring home Rp 285 to Rp 310 million (around US$35,000) per annum before allowances and bonuses.

Some 9,000 local employees have staged mass rallies and have refused to work before company management grants their request of 25 percent salary raise, which would collectively amount to wage of U$17.50 an hour.

Human rights & justice

Wiji Thukul and the search for justice

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

Abdul Qowi Bastian – On Sept. 30, 2009, the House of Representatives sent several recommendations regarding cases of abduction and disappearance of activists during the 1998 riots. But two years on, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has yet to respond to the recommendations.

There are four important points addressed in the recommendations:

The establishment an ad hoc court;
Discovering the whereabouts of 13 people declared missing by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM);
Compensation for the victims' families; and
Ratifying the UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Family members of the missing persons attended a press conference held by the lawmakers and questioned the government on the recommendations. But one person stood out of the crowd – Siti Dyah Surijah, wife of the missing activist and a prominent poet, Wiji Thukul Wijaya.

Unsatisfied by government's slow response, Siti Duriah, who also goes by the name Sipon, took off her red shirt during press conference. Both lawmakers and press were taken by surprise. Since her husband went missing fourteen years ago, Sipon never stopped searching for answers. She sought help from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and Komnas HAM, but neither group knew whether her husband was alive or dead.

Wiji, son of a pedicab driver, was born on Aug. 24, 1963, in Solo. He spent a good deal of his life fighting against poverty and oppression. During the New Order, he was known as an outspoken, pro-democratic poet and activist. Perhaps he's best known for the phrase, "Hanya satu kata: Lawan!" ("Just one word: Fight!") from his poem "Peringatan" ("Warning")

Wiji's poems did not look like regular poems. They had no metaphors, no recognizable structure and the message was straight forward. The style was created from Wiji's life. He grew up in a poor area in Central Java with a limited education. He worked as a day laborer, and his companions were factory workers and street hawkers.

Yet his struggle on behalf of the working class allowed him to produce honest poems. His work reflected to the lives of many and became critical observations of life during the New Order regime.

Through his poems, he defended the oppressed and he shared their struggle. In December 1995, he almost lost an eye after security forces bashed him in a large protest with textile workers in Solo. That incident alone proved how passionate he was about the plight of the people.

To further enhance his involvement against Suharto's leadership, he joined Jaringan Kerja Kesenian Rakyat (Working People's Art Network), which was affiliated with the radical left-wing political party, Partai Rakyat Demokratik (People's Democratic Party).

Then on July 27, 1996, tragedy struck. The truth behind the incident is still unclear until today, but it started with Wiji being accused of being involved in the riot. Wiji went into hiding after the accusation was made. He was still in contact with Sipon and several of his friends until 1998. Since he vanished, he has been classified as a missing person.

As Indonesian citizens, we expect our fundamental rights to be protected by the state. However, in our current political climate, this has not been the case. Human rights violations in Indonesia are still rampant. By not following up the recommendations regarding the disappearance of activists during the 1998, the government is basically ignoring our fundamental human rights.

Isn't it ironic that Wiji fought for democracy, but now that we have adopted it, the system continues to ignore him?

Fight back by raising awareness of these issues to the people around you. We need to gather our fellow citizens and tell his story. Being voiceless is intolerable. Wiji was dreadfully silenced by the oppressor, but we should not forget his message.

Rights group criticizes government failure to resolve 1997-98 abductions

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – The failure of the Indonesian government to put to trial those responsible for the abduction and enforced disappearance of 13 political activists in 1997-1998 will perpetuate human rights violations and legal impunity in Indonesia, an international rights groups said Wednesday.

"The Indonesian government must immediately implement recommendations by the [House of Representatives] to investigate and try those responsible for the abduction and enforced disappearances of 13 political activists in 1997-1998," Amnesty International said in a press statement sent to The Jakarta Post.

"The failure to follow the recommendations, issued on September 30, 2009, to establish the truth about what happened to the disappeared and to hold the perpetrators to account perpetuates an ongoing human rights violation and the climate of impunity in Indonesia," Amnesty added.

At least 13 political activists disappeared in 1997-1998 during the last volatile months of former president Soeharto's rule. The whereabouts of these activists, five of whom disappeared in 1997, remain unknown. Nine other activists were arrested and tortured at a military facility in 1998 and have claimed that at least six of the missing activists were held at the same facility.

A military inquiry set up in 1998 found that the nine men released had indeed been abducted by the military but found no evidence of military involvement in the enforced disappearance of the other 13. In 2009, the House recommended that the President form an ad hoc human rights court to try those responsible for these enforced disappearances. However, the recommendation has yet to be implemented.

"Those responsible have not been brought to justice and the victims' families continue to be denied the opportunity to establish the truth," Amnesty said, adding that the government must "initiate promptly an independent, impartial and effective investigation into the fate and whereabouts of the 13 disappeared political activists" and provide "reparations to all victims of enforced disappearance and/or their families".

"Enforced disappearance is a serious and cruel human rights violation; a violation of the rights of both the persons who were disappeared and of those who love them," Amnesty added.

Political parties & elections

When it comes to Indonesia's politicians, few kind words

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2011

Ronna Nirmala & Anita Rachman – For many Indonesians, the news on Sunday that just one-fourth of the population still trusted politicians was not really news at all.

Nurenzia Yannuar, for instance, a lecturer from Malang, East Java, thinks the House of Representatives is a joke. The so-called representatives of the people, she said, think only of themselves. "It's clear they only care about their own issues and not ours," she said. "I simply cannot trust them."

Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI), which did the survey, pointed to rampant corruption as the reason only one in five of their 1,200 respondents said they still trusted the people who run the nation.

The study follows recent controversy involving the legislative committee in charge of approving how taxpayer money is spent. The survey, undertaken from Sept. 5-10, showed that only a minority of people believe the current politicians were superior to previous ones.

Nurenzia acknowledged that there might be some good politicians in the country. "But I believe there are few of them; the rest are all bad," she said.

But other people choose to look at the brighter side. "They're better than the politicians during the New Order," said Yully P., a designer, referring to the 32-year presidency of Suharto.

His attitude reflected that of 13 percent of respondents. "But I wouldn't say they're the best politicians ever," he added.

Rina Suryani, a public relations officer for an international nongovernmental organization, disagreed that the current crop was better than the those during the New Order, but believes there's a positive side to the study.

"I just hope [the survey] will teach everyone a lesson and lead to better politicians in the future," she said.

Muhammad Arwani Thomafi, the communications chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), agreed. "Whatever the motive was, the LSI survey must serve as an encouragement to improve the performance of politicians," he said. "For me, the important next question is: Is there a willingness to fix this?"

Golkar Party secretary general Nurul Arifin pointed to the party recruitment process as the start of the problem. "Nowadays, elections are won by popularity and organization, not quality," he said.

But Arwani said political parties were just one part of the problem, arguing that the public ought to share some of the blame.

While he agreed that political parties must encourage younger members to step up and take on more responsibility, and be more selective in recruiting members, the public must also be ready to vote for qualified leaders who demonstrate integrity.

Graft cripples public faith in politicians

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2011

Ronna Nirmala – Faced with a seemingly endless series of corruption cases in the country, only 23 percent of respondents in a new survey said they still believed Indonesian politicians were doing a good or very good job.

The Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI) survey of 1,200 people in all 33 provinces also showed that those believing the current politicians were better than their predecessors were a minority.

The survey showed that 51 percent thought politicians were doing a bad or very bad job, with 25 percent refusing to answer the question.

LSI researcher Ardian Sopa said trust in politicians was greater in rural areas (24 percent) than in urban areas (18 percent) where there was better access to information, including on politicians.

Politicians' popularity has dropped by 21 percent in the past six years. A survey in 2005 pointed out that 44 percent of the population still trusted them.

"Only 13 percent of respondents said current politicians are doing a better job than those of the New Order, and 32 percent attested to the opposite," Ardian said. The New Order refers to the 32 years of late President Suharto authoritarian rule.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie said he was not surprised by the finding. He said the House was taking steps to regain trust, including through establishing a complaint system. He added that planned "aspiration houses" would give people better access to lawmakers.

Ardian attributed the drop in trust over the past six years to the many graft cases in which elected officials were named.

"There are so many politicians involved in corruption cases – either already jailed or still on trial," he said. He added that as many as 125 officials at the regional level were suspects, defendants or convicts in graft cases.

"And don't forget those members or former members of our legislature who are now detained over the Miranda Goeltom traveler's checks scandal", he said. He was referring to bribery related to the selection of Miranda for a senior position at Bank Indonesia, over which 28 are now detained.

The operations of the so-called budget mafia at the House of Representatives was also to blame for the weakening public trust, the survey institute said.

"The public gets mad not only because [politicians] take their money, but because these politicians don't seem to care about the effects of corruption," said Rully Akbar, another LSI researcher.

"If corruptors embezzle 30 to 40 percent of the budget allocations, can you imagine what the effect will be on the quality of those projects?"

Ardian said the rising popularity of social media allowed people to swiftly express opinions on their representatives.

Rully said that politicians should make sure those convicted of graft be subject to harsh and consistent sanctions.

He said the recruitment of politicians also needed scrutiny, especially with regard to job competency and integrity. "There is no strong country without strong parties but there's no strong party without trusted politicians."

Voter turnout in Yogyakarta poll disappoints commission

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2011

Slamet Susanto and Oyos Saroso, Yogyakarta/Lampung – The Yogyakarta mayoral election won by incumbent vice mayor Haryadi Suyuti and running mate Imam Priyono drew only 70 percent of the number of voters targeted by the election commission.

"Participation in the election was only 64.5 percent," Nasrullah, chairman of the Yogyakarta Election Commission (KPU), said on Friday as reported by Antara news agency. The commission said that 208,743 of the city's 322,872 eligible voters had cast ballots during the Sept. 25 election.

However, total participation was up compared to the 2006 poll, in which only 53 percent of registered voters cast votes.

The commission officially announced Haryadi and Imam Priyono, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party, as the new mayor and vice mayor for the 2011-2016 term of office.

Haryadi, who is also the current vice mayor, won 97,047 votes, or 48.3 percent of the total votes.

Finishing second were Hanafi Rais and running mate Tri Harjun Ismaji, who won 84,122 votes, or 41.9 percent of the total votes. They were nominated by the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party (PD).

Third place went to Zuhrif Hudaya and running mate Aulia Reza, nominated by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). The pair won 19,557 votes or 9.7 percent of the total votes.

"Alhamdulillah [Thank God], the whole election process ran peacefully, securely and in a civilized manner," Nasrullah said.

He said that the results of the poll had been accepted by witnesses representing the three pairs of candidates, and that there would be no second round. "We are thankful for the victory and hopefully I will be able to continue serving the people of Yogyakarta," Haryadi said.

The other pairs of candidates also accepted the results of the election, but their campaign teams asked that all forms of violations committed during the election be thoroughly handled according to the prevailing laws. They also asked that suspected vote rigging be investigated.

In Pringsewu, Lampung province, two candidates had already claimed victory following the results of quick counts. Supporters even sent a message of congratulations to one candidate pair in Lampung.

"Congratulations to Sujadi and Handitya Narapati on Collecting the Most Votes in Pringsewu Poll 2011," read a full-page advertisement in a local newspaper.

Sujadi and Handitya's nomination was backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Democratic Party (PD) and Ulema National Awakening Party (PKNU).

In the same publication, an advertisement on a different page read, "[Congratulations] Ririn Kuswantari and Subhan Effendi on their victory". The advertisement was ordered by the local chapter of Golkar, which nominated the pair.

The Sept. 28 poll featured five pairs, fighting for 281,246 votes. The election commission announced that only 75 percent of registered voters came to the ballot boxes. A quick count carried out by Rakata Institut disclosed that Sujadi-Handitya had collected 36.61 percent of the votes, Ririn Kuswantati 36.33 percent, Abdullah Fadri Auly-Tri Prawoto 14.22 percent, Sinung Gatot-Mat Alfi 10.67 percent and Untung Subroto-Purwantoro 2.05 percent.

Premature claims of victory by some candidates prompted police to increase security in some regions over fears of possible conflicts between supporter groups.

Members of the campaign team for the Ririn-Subhan ticket refused to sign the results of a vote count in Pringsewu district, arguing that the public had been poorly informed about the election.

Internet & social media

Cyber activism boosts public movement

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2011

Ati Nurbaiti, Canberra – The habit of tweeting or clicking away at every invitation to your Facebook page might be leading somewhere – the success of local, small scale movements.

"Click activism" has become a way to amplify efforts to overcome local problems such as mobilizing aid to certain villages in post-disaster situations, said researcher Merlyna Lim on the last day of the Indonesian Update talks at the Australian National University on Saturday.

Support for heritage buildings in Surakarta, Central Java, gaining 5,000 members on Facebook, was another example, she said.

The celebrated "success" of the one million-strong Facebook movement for Prita Mulyasari, a woman sued by a hospital for defamation, and the support movement for anti-corruption efforts have not really changed policies, she said. Prita was brought to court again and found guilty although she did not have to serve her sentence.

Hundreds of thousands of supporters for any movement on social media, Merlyna said, does not indicate substantial activism. People were often simply clicking on forwarded messages from friends, or friends of friends.

Many Indonesians have 1,000 Facebook friends while Americans have on average 200, said Merlyna, based at the Arizona State University in the US.

Current use of social media "is mostly social, not political", Merlyna said, though political interests are trying to use social media habits of communicating.

A main feature taken up by political leaders such as President Susilio Bambang Yudhoyono includes curhat or pouring out of the heart in a personal, popular way to gain sympathy, which is "overdone", Merlyna said.

Mobilization of support for movements on social media has so far been more successful in causes which are relatively simple to understand, she added.

Efforts to mobilize a "coin movement" for Lapindo and support for the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect, whose members were mobbed and killed in February, have not yielded large numbers, she said. A recent lonesome-looking effort is the Facebook campaign for "Vanishing persons" in the witch-hunt period against suspected communists.

"Reality of transformation" does not lie in cyberspace alone but also together with face-to-face meetings, Merlyna said.

Two Indonesians in the audience said they had first linked up through cyberspace and now are seeking to work closer on the issue of multicultural children.

Labour & migrant workers

Madiun ignores minimum wage regulation

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

Jakarta – More than 105 companies, roughly 15 percent of the listed companies in Madiun, East Java, are paying employees below the District Minimum Wage (UMK) this year, an official says.

The companies paying below the minimum wage of Rp 720,000 (US$81.60) were mostly small enterprises, Madiun district assistant Agus Pramono said Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

However, the district says it has no plans to sanction these companies even though they have violated its wage regulation.

"We will not take action against [the employers] because if this law were enforced we are concerned it could lead to the termination of many workers' employment contracts," Madiun assistant district Agus Pramono said Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

Be tougher in defense of workers, government told

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2011

Dessy Sagita – Migrant worker advocates said on Friday that the government must be a stronger presence on the international stage if it wants to adequately protect Indonesia's overseas workers.

Lita Anggraini, chairwoman of the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT), said the government's current negotiation skills with other countries put workers in danger when they are overseas. "As long as our government is spineless, nothing will change," Lita said.

Jamaluddin, advocacy coordinator of the Indonesian Migrant Workers' Union (SBMI), added that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must become more forceful in diplomatic situations to earn Indonesia respect on the international level.

"Having a [memorandum of understanding] is far from enough to protect our workers," he said. "Considering that Indonesia's diplomatic skills are still very weak, there should be stronger bilateral agreements."

He pointed to recent abuse cases of Indonesians in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia as examples of weak relations endangering workers.

But Bery Komarulzaman, head of foreign cooperation at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, countered that the example was unfair and had nothing to do with Indonesia's international relations.

"If you compare the number of abuse cases with the number of success stories of those who work in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, you'll see that the successful situations outnumber the abuse cases," he said.

He added that the government was in the process of selecting countries that would be priority destinations for Indonesian migrant workers.

"We have to consider whether or not they have good worker protection laws and decent salaries. If they don't have such laws, we must arrange a memorandum of understanding first," Bery said.

He said Hong Kong and Taiwan were considered the safest destination for migrant workers.

Environment & natural disasters

Government idle on deteriorating fate of Sumatran tiger: NGO

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2011

Jakarta – Noted international environmental organization Greenpeace has announced its concerns regarding the Indonesian government's stance toward massive forest clearing, destroying the habitat of the endangered Sumatran tiger.

"The government should do something to protect and preserve the natural forests, the home of these animals, which are located within production forests in Riau and Jambi," Greenpeace campaigner Rusmadia Maharudin said Friday as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that Greenpeace and other environmental NGOs had followed the trails of these Sumatran tigers and found evidences that they had suffered most from large-scale forest clearing in these areas.

According to estimates, there are now less than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. Greenpeace records show that at least 30 percent of the 80 million hectares of forested land in this area is beyond help because of forest-clearing activities.

Sinar Mas spokesman Kurniawan said the activists' assessment of the forests was exaggerated. He added that the pulp and paper industry had used less wood from natural forests and instead relied on its industrial forests to fulfill this need.

"At present, only 8 percent of our demand for wood materials comes from natural forests. The rest is sourced from production forests," he said.

Structural gaps result in toothless law

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Jakarta – Poor infrastructure and human resources have hampered the enactment of the 2009 Environment Protection and Management, law a minister says.

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said it is easier to punish environmental criminials with the new law since it has more rigid procedures and mechanisms. The necessary systems to support it, however, are still absent.

"The last two years have been a transitional period for us. We have no environmental legal enforcement officials and only a limited number of judges in the country who possess environment-related knowledge," Gusti said at a meeting to evaluate the law's effectiveness.

Before the law was enacted, the ministry recorded 33 violations against the environment, 21 of which were dropped. Violators in four of the cases were sentenced to prison terms, while another eight were put on probation.

After the law's enactment, the ministry received 171 reports of environmental crimes, 42 of which have been, or are being, legally pursued, while the remainder have been returned to their regions of origin for follow up.

Most of the cases relate to mining and industrial activities. While one case involving a mining company is scheduled for trial soon, no one has as yet been convicted under the new law.

Gusti said that building working partnerships with the National Police and the Attorney General's Office is one of the ways in which his ministry is attempting to effectively apply the 2009 law.

Gusti, along with National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo and Attorney General Basrief Arief signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) earlier this year on environmental law enforcement.

In September 2009, the ministry signed an MoU with the Supreme Court, which stipulated that the Court would certify several judges in order to improve their understanding and knowledge of environment law, leading to all violation cases being handled solely by these certified judges.

Attempting to ensure the successful implementation of the law, the ministry also plans to involve the public by opening report centers in each of Indonesia's 33 provinces.

"Alternately, people can report alleged environmental crimes by telephoning 0811932932, which will then be reported directly to the central government," said the minister.

Muladi, the former governor of the Resilience Institute, said that political goodwill is highly important in order to ensure the law's successful implementation.

He therefore suggested the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) should be involved in the law enforcement agencies' partnership, which is charged with implementing the law.

"Kadin should be engaged as a directive body, free from any influences, in the partnership between the ministry, the National Police and the Attorney General's Office, because environmental crimes also involve industrialists," he told The Jakarta Post.

In addition to political goodwill, Muladi noted other important factors to effectively implement the law, such as strong regulations, supporting infrastructure and raising public awareness.

"The judges, too, must dare to take the side of the truth. Most judges are passive and reluctant to lay precedents. Environmental law will never be effectively implemented unless judges bravely pursue breakthroughs and do not take the side of violators for any reason," he said. (msa)

Ministry vows better enforcement as 2009 environmental law takes hold

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – After a two-year transition period, the 2009 Environmental Management and Protection Law became fully effective on Monday, giving the Environment Ministry more authority to deal with violations.

At a national coordination meeting on environmental law enforcement in Jakarta on Monday, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta vowed more effective surveillance and prosecution in environmental cases as the law went into effect.

"We will prepare ourselves internally for the enforcement of the environmental law," he said.

Himsar Sirait, the ministry's assistant for law enforcement, said violators could be brought to administrative, civil or criminal courts. "The Environment Ministry will also work in cooperation with the police and prosecutors to comprehensively enforce the law," Himsar said.

Brig. Gen. Bung Djono, from the National Police's civil servant coordination and supervision bureau, said civil servants would take the lead in cracking down on violators but police would provide the necessary backup.

"For environmental cases, the civil servants are more knowledgeable but the police have the facilities and the experience, and therefore they need to work together," he said.

The Environment Ministry says it will also work with the Supreme Court. "The Supreme Court has already issued a letter that environmental cases should be heard by judges holding environmental certification," Himsar said.

Sudriyono, the deputy head of environmental legal enforcement at the ministry, said that while the Supreme Court had not yet started issuing any such certification, some 200 judges who had undergone training were expected to be certified this year.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General's Office said there was no need for special certification for prosecutors handling environmental cases. It said its staff members should already be well-versed in any law.

What is needed, it said, is better teamwork between investigators and prosecutors, as environmental case files are often returned to the police for clarific ation. "Investigators and prosecutors should meet and seek expert opinions," said Agus Riswanto, from the Attorney General's Office.

Himsar said that since the law was first passed in 2009, a total of 171 complaints from the public had been handled. While the ministry went on to verify 42 of the complaints, the remaining 129 were handed over to the relevant regions for action.

Fires hit forests hard in Central Java

Antara News - October 3, 2011

Semarang, Central Java – Fires have so far razed 200 hectares of forest area during the current dry season in Central Java, a provincial forestry official said.

"The fires have gutted forests inside the national park and those managed by state forestry company Perhutani," said Sri Puryono, the head of the Central Java provincial forestry office. The affected forests include those in Mount Lawu, Sumbing and Guci.

Material losses inflicted by the fires are estimated to reach about Rp 800 million ($90,000). "The value is relatively small, but the real loss concerns the ecology due to the forest damage," he said.

Many of the fires have been found to have been caused by humans, he said. The prolonged drought hitting the area has also triggered fires. Most of the fires occurred in locations which were difficult to reach, he said.

The forestry office and Perhutani will soon deploy a team supported by military and police personnel to extinguish the fires.

Forest fire hot spots have been detected in 10 provinces during the present dry season, which has also triggered a water crisis, especially on Java. The Forestry Ministry's satellite data showed that there were 22,120 hot spots throughout Indonesia from January to September 12, 2011. Last year, there were a total of 9,880 hot spots in Indonesia.

Walhi to ask West Sumbawa to sue Newmont over dumping permit

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2011

Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) has said it will ask the West Sumbawa regency administration to fight in court mining giant PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara's plan to extend its waste dumping permit. Walhi, which has already sued the mining company over the same matter.

"We'll be together with the West Sumbawa administration in the next hearing session," Walhi campaign manager Pius Ginting said Friday as quoted by Kompas.com.

He said that the West Sumbawa regency administration shared its concerns about dumping, as evinced by its regent's disapproval of the plan to extend the waste dumping permit.

He further said that the regent had sent a letter of protest to the Environment Ministry due to the latter's agreement to issue the extension permit.

Health & education

Fixing Indonesian education's poor scores

Straits Times - October 7, 2011

Bruce Gale – Indonesia ranks 61st out of 65 countries when it comes to 15-year-olds' proficiency in mathematics. Their reading skills are a little better, with teenagers in only seven countries performing worse. This is the conclusion of a study carried out in 2009 by the Program for International Student Assessment (Pisa) and coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Why are Indonesian youngsters so far behind? Some observers believe the problem arises from a lack of sufficient funding for education. Others blame it on a corrupt and poorly designed national examination system.

These are certainly contributing factors. An equally serious problem may be the education system's continued emphasis on rote learning and the failure of the nation's bureaucrats to use available funds wisely.

One of the great achievements of the Suharto era was the establishment of universal education and the subsequent spread of literacy. But the system has since fallen into disrepute.

Educationalists also point to a greater divergence in the quality of education available as the children of middle- and upper-class citizens gravitate to better-funded private schools and religious organizations struggle to provide a good education to the less privileged.

After decades of neglect, however, education spending has increased enormously in recent years and is now equivalent to about 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product, around the same level as Singapore's. Even so, much remains to be done. In July, Anwar Alsaid, head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's education unit in Jakarta, urged Indonesia to continue to focus on the sector.

The government seems to be taking notice. Later the same month, the local press reported that the National Education Ministry had allocated 762.2 billion rupiah (S$111 million) to fund scholarships for more than two million students from low-income families. The scholarships are to go to elementary school pupils in the first to fifth grades.

Since 2006, the government has also been working to address concerns about the need for quality education. So-called "international-standard schools" or RSBIs with more diverse curriculums and fewer students in each class have been created. These schools, of which there are currently about 1,300 across the country, are allowed to impose fees – a point which has prompted critics to complain that students from low-income families have been effectively excluded.

But the more fundamental complaint against RSBIs is that they have so far failed to deliver on their promise of academic excellence. And scholarships serve little purpose if the quality of education remains poor. Earlier this year, the Education Ministry stopped issuing additional RSBI permits pending an evaluation.

Educationalist Toenggoel Siagian sees a fundamental problem with the way Indonesian students in government schools are taught. "They don't teach students English. Rather, they teach them about English," he told me when I met him recently in Jakarta. Siagian's lament concerned the emphasis on English grammar at the expense of practical skills such as the ability to carry on simple conversations.

He has a point. Despite the fact that English is a compulsory subject at the senior high school level, few graduates of government schools can hold a simple conversation in the language. Mathematics, says Siagian, is generally taught better. But even here there is little attempt in schools to link the subject to the real world in a way that would help students solve practical problems.

Siagian heads the Jakarta Christian School Association (PSKD), which runs 22 primary, junior high and senior high schools in the Jakarta area. Many PSKD schools are well regarded for the quality of the education they provide despite the relatively modest fees charged.

Speaking to me in his office in Jakarta's Kwini district, Siagian also placed emphasis on the need to give students something to be proud of. As an example, he pointed to the girls' basketball team at PSKD's senior high school in Kwini. Membership of the team, which regularly wins national championships, is highly prized by the students. But no student can be admitted into the team with a high grade point average.

A committed staff also helps. PSKD's head of academic affairs holds a PhD from Cornell University in the United States. Yet she earns just 3.5 million rupiah a month and is not entitled to any additional allowances. Similarly committed educationalists can be found in some of the better Muslim schools run by organizations such as the Nahdlatul Ulama.

Such individuals, however, will probably always be in the minority. More realistically, Siagian speaks about the need to improve teacher training and raise salaries so that more of the country's better university graduates will consider teaching as a career.

Money is important. But it needs to be spent in the right places. There also needs to be a fundamental rethink about educational methods and goals if Indonesia's teenagers are to perform better in future Pisa assessments.

Teachers protest publication, scientific work requirements

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2011

Jakarta – Indonesian teachers are protesting a ministerial decree that requires them to publish academic papers or scientific work to qualify for promotion and demand instead that promotions be based on teachers' skills and competence.

The Indonesian Teachers Associations Federation (FSGI) called the policy "unrealistic" and discriminatory against teachers.

"We understand that the policy aims to improve teachers' quality, But how can we be required to publish papers or scientific work while we must also handle up to 14 classes?" FSGI general secretary Retno Listyarti said, adding that the government had yet to provide teachers with writing training.

Retno further said that her organization considered policy makers inconsiderate for issuing the regulation, as it might force teachers to bribe others to write academic papers on their behalf or open opportunities for local media companies to publish teachers' papers without paying them.

The National Education Ministry has tried to bolster the quality of teaching by improving teachers' wages and benefits.

Of the more than Rp 262 trillion (US$29.34 billion) budgeted for education this year, about Rp 4.8 trillion was allocated for various teacher allowances.

In addition to the incentives, the government encouraged teachers to improve their educations and their skills through a certification system. Those who attain certifications receive more benefits.

Guntur Ismail, one of 600,000 teachers struggling for a promotion, says the regulations are depressing.

He said he could never meet the requirements with full teaching hours, six working days per week.

Guntur demanded that promotions be based on teachers' skills and competency levels, as was regulated in the 2005 Law on Education. "Promotions for teachers should be based on their teaching, personality, social behavior and professional competency," he said.

In addition to the policy requiring academic publications or scientific work, teachers also objected to the Administrative Reform Ministry's proposal to increase in-class teaching hours to 27.5 hours per week.

Fakhrul Alam, a teacher and education activist, said that teaching in class was not the only task teachers should take on. "There is more to do as a teacher than just teaching in front of classes, such as grading and counseling students," he said.

He added that the requirement also forced teachers to teach classes at different schools, which also impacted their teaching quality. "Teachers are so focused on fulfilling the in-class teaching hours requirement they are forced to teach classes at different schools, which surely decreases the quality of their lessons," Fakhrul said.

The FSGI proposes that between 18 and 20 teaching hours be required of teachers per week.

Requiring teachers to publish academic papers or scientific work is an attempt by the government to increase the overall quality of teachers nationwide. The government has also increased monthly salaries for new teachers to Rp 2 million per month and granted certification allowances.

Separately, the FSGI said it would report the ministry to the National Ombudsman Commission on Oct. 7 due to alleged irregularities in managing teachers' certification allowances. (msa)

Death-trap classrooms caused by graft, ICW says

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran & Vento Saudale – Corruption and favoritism in the use of education funds is to blame for a spate of injuries due to school building collapses, Indonesia Corruption Watch says.

A fatality at a school on Monday has put the spotlight back on the poor state of the nation's classrooms, 150,000 of which are damaged to some extent. Febri Hendri, a researcher with ICW, said the problem was more than just a reflection of the nation's modest education budget.

"We found several cases in which the budget to repair classrooms was reduced through embezzlement, both at the school level and the local government level," Febri told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday. "Moreover, not all schools have the luxury to access the repairs budget as it depends on their ability to successfully lobby the government."

The latest incident happened at the Al-Ikhlas religious school in Banten's Cidikit village. The collapse claimed the life of fourth grader Sukniah. The 10-year-old died after part of the school, built two years earlier, fell on her and 46 other students while they were studying on Monday. Ten other children were seriously injured in the collapse, which affected four classrooms.

A week earlier, the roof of a junior high school in Banten collapsed, injuring 12 students. That followed reports a few days earlier of teachers in an East Java school narrowly escaping injury in a similar incident.

The situation in Bogor illustrates the nature of the school building crisis. West Java district head Rachmat Yasin said 1,825 classrooms in the district were badly damaged.

There is a special budget allocation for repairs and reconstruction from the Education Ministry, Rachmat said, but targets just 351 classrooms this year and 380 next year. Febri said ICW had found that in many cases, budget distribution was related in part to election campaigning.

"Certain parties are in charge of the budget distribution. Schools located in areas where those parties' candidates failed to win do not receive their fair share of the budget," Febri said. "Because the infrastructure budget is the responsibility of the central and regional governments, distribution depends on lobbying them."

Febri said many repair and reconstruction projects were not implemented in line with construction plans. ICW cited examples of corruption in East Java's Ponorogo district, where the prices of some building components were marked up, or where building materials of a lower standard than specified were used and the difference pocketed.

Danang Girindrawardana, the chairman of the nation's ombudsman commission, said it had filed a report about the large number of damaged schools with the government.

"In Bogor's case, the district head did not concentrate on repairing schools because he felt a lack of support from local legislators," Danang said. "But after the president visited damaged schools in Bogor, and after he issued a presidential instruction to allocate nearly Rp 21 trillion [$2.4 billion] to repair damaged schools in 2012, the district head said he would pay serious attention to the problem."

[Additional reporting by Antara.]

Teachers complain of stalled allowances

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Jakarta – The Indonesian Federation of Teachers' Associations (FSGI) has accused the National Education Ministry of stalling on the disbursement of teachers' certification allowances as many teachers are still awaiting their payments.

"We have evaluated the distribution of teachers' certification allowances," FSGI general-secretary Retno Listyarti told reporters at Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) headquarters on Tuesday.

She said that the federation suspected related government agencies had benefited from the interest on the funds sitting in the bank, which were meant to be disbursed to teachers, and also from money where some teachers' allowances were cut.

"We have received reports from teachers all across the country saying that their allowances were not fully paid, or other teachers have received their allowances in error. The ministry must take responsibility for the matter and report it to the ICW in order to help further our investigations," she said.

According to a ministerial decree, local governments are authorized to manage and disburse allowances for certified teachers every semester. Before the issuance of the decree, teachers' certification allowances were transferred directly to teachers' bank accounts every three months.

Breast-feeding regulations target formula companies

IRIN News - October 4, 2011

Sukabumi, West Java – For Naslima, a mother of two in the fishing village of Genteng Parakan, there was never any doubt about how she would feed her babies.

"It's better to breast-feed than to give formula. Babies that breast-feed are healthy," Naslima told IRIN news service outside a health center in the West Java district of Sukabumi. Indeed, Naslima's two daughters, now 7 and 12, were rarely sick with diarrhea and both had a healthy weight.

But Naslima is also an exception in Indonesia. Exclusive breast-feeding is rare in the world's fourth most populated nation – a source of concern for a country that suffers from high rates of malnutrition and stunting among children.

Only 14 percent of Indonesian babies are exclusively breast-fed, according to the Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey from 2002 and 2003. A more recent survey conducted by the Health Ministry showed rates of breast- feeding dropping by 10 percent between 2007 and 2008.

In fact, in larger urban areas where Indonesian women have higher levels of disposable income or are working, an increasing number favor formula over breast-feeding.

"When they see the ads on TV that say formula A has DHA and vitamins, mothers think it is better," Elin Liani, a midwife said, referring to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid that occurs naturally in breast-milk and is considered important for brain and eye development.

In a bid to reduce the influence of formula companies on women, and more importantly, to reduce the high levels of mortality and malnutrition among infants and children, Indonesia will soon pass regulations that prevent milk formula companies from targeting babies younger than one.

Although a law promoting exclusive breast-feeding has been in place since 2009, it lacks any penalties for violations. The new regulations will lay out those penalties and require employers to allow mothers regular breast- feeding breaks.

Anyone who "intentionally hampers exclusive breast-feeding" will also be penalized with jail terms of up to one year or maximum fines of $32,000, says Iip Syaiful, a nutrition expert from the Health Ministry. The fines and punishments, which had been expected to go into effect as early as the end of September, are currently under review by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry

The government estimates some 30,000 young children could be saved if their mothers exclusively breast-fed them for six months, then continued breast- feeding with supplemental foods until the age of two.

Studies suggest wider promotion of exclusive breast-feeding could prevent 1.4 million child deaths under the age of five, as well as improve child nutrition, a 2008 Lancet report said.

According to Unicef, 37 percent of Indonesian children suffer from moderate stunting, which delays a mental and physical development and makes them more susceptible to other diseases.

According to infant formula company SGM – part of the French food conglomerate Danone and one of Indonesia's largest sellers of infant and toddler milk and foods – the new regulations will not affect its marketing strategy, as it has already modified its TV advertisements to only feature babies older than one.

"We've been doing this for quite some time, only advertising our growing-up milk, which is for babies one year and above," said Arif Mujahidin, communications manager for SGM.

In 2010, Indonesia's infant formula market was valued at $136 million, with zero growth from 2009 to 2010, while the country's growing-up milk market was worth $1.15 billion in 2010, a growth of 9 percent on 2009, according to AC Nielsen data.

Still, despite the 2009 law banning health professionals from promoting formula and giving it to new mothers, the practice remains rife, breast- feeding activists say.

"In the hospitals they give the women formula straight away if they have any problems at all breast-feeding. I never hear them tell women in the first three days, 'Don't worry if your milk hasn't come in, it will,'?"

Eka Yuliana, a community breast-feeding promoter with Bumi Sehat, a Bali- based NGO, said, referring to the small amounts of breast milk women typically produce just after birth.

"If doctors would support breast-feeding 100 percent, that would be better," Yuliana added. She believes doctors have been unduly influenced by the formula companies' marketing as well.

The Health Ministry said many health workers had "not received knowledge about the importance of exclusive breast-feeding."

Political interests stymie efforts to repair damaged schools

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2011

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Perpetual corrupt practices in the educational system have stopped many children from getting a quality education even though the government raises the budget allocation for the sector annually, an anticorruption activist says.

The recent case of dilapidated schools across the country is said to have highlighted the government's unwillingness to upgrade the quality of education services.

Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) worker Febri Hendri said that despite recent increases in the education budget, damaged schools would likely remain unrepaired as politics played a key role in the process of disbursing funds to the schools.

"In many cases, the political process is glaringly obvious in each budget disbursement for school repairs," Febri told The Jakarta Post.

The ICW found that school officials in many areas had to lobby various people to persuade them to prioritize their school in the reconstruction projects funded by the Special Allocation Fund (DAK). Decisions reached in budget deliberations are often the result of repeated lobbying, he said.

So far this year, the government has handed over Rp 10 trillion (US$1.13 billion) in DAK funds to local governments, a significant increase from Rp 9 trillion in 2009 and only Rp 600 billion in 2005.

The government hoped that giving DAK funds to the local authorities would result in school repairs running smoothly. "But success in school repairs will also depend on how serious the local administrations are about taking part in school improvements by offering help from their own local resources," said Deputy Education Minister Fasli Jalal.

Regions with the highest number of heavily damaged schools may get Rp 60 billion each but will have to decide whether to repair only one or two classrooms at each school.

"They can fully reconstruct six classrooms (in elementary schools) at a same time, or repair just a half of the total classrooms this year and the remainder next year. We leave it completely up to them. But we hope they complete the school repairs before talking about other education facilities such as books, equipment and laboratories," Fasli told the Post.

In fact, school repairs are often far from equitable. Many classrooms that are in a reasonable condition are prioritized in reconstruction projects, while heavily damaged ones are ignored and then collapse.

"It often depends on what electorate the schools are in and which schools lobby local legislators. It's not fair but it happens quite often," said Fasli.

With the roofs of seven classrooms, including one electronics laboratory, having collapsed in 2010-2011, SMP Negeri 273 state junior high school in Kampung Bali, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, is struggling to get repairs done.

In 2008, it received a block grant of Rp 40 million that was used to replace its worn ceramic tile flooring.

When visiting the school in February, Jakarta Deputy Governor Prijanto promised that the school, which was founded in 1952, would be repaired this fiscal year. For the umpteenth time, the promise has remained unfulfilled while the students are studying amid threats of further roof collapses.

Jatmoko Suyatno, SMPN 273's school committee chairman, said that despite strong support from the Central Jakarta Education Office head, local legislators had not approved the school's renovation proposal.

"I don't know why our renovation proposal always fails in the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD)," said Jatmoko.

The legislators, he said, should give the school clear clarification on the reason for the rejection so it would not have to face such uncertainty. "Anything can go wrong without proper transparency and accountability," he added.

Despite existing problems, Fasli said, the government was committed to continuing the reconstruction projects of dilapidated schools. "In 2012, we will provide Rp 10 trillion for rehabilitation projects, plus additional funds from the revised 2012 state budget for the renovation of about 8,000 classrooms," he said.

School repairs as well as post-earthquake school reconstruction in the regions would hopefully be completed by 2013.

Women & gender

Shattering the silence of rape

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2011

Lisa Siregar – More women in Jakarta are standing up to support one another and condemn sexual assault in the capital.

When Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo recently commented that women invite rape by wearing revealing clothing, he experienced a massive public backlash. A group of miniskirt-wearing women held a protest at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, waving banners with slogans like "Don't tell us how to dress, tell them not to rape."

Rape, by definition, is an uninvited sexual assault. The governor's comments that women somehow invite rape are not only contradictory; they also reveal a deep societal misunderstanding about what constitutes sexual assault, who is to blame and how such cases should be handled.

There is a tendency in our society, as indicated by the governor's comments, to blame the victims of rape for the assaults committed against them. Because of this patriarchal approach, which points to female sexuality rather than male violence as the cause of rape, many incidences of rape go unreported, as women are made to feel ashamed because of the crimes committed against them.

In May, sports medicine doctor Sophie Hage, psychologist Wulan Danoekoesoemo and popular blogger Driana Rini Handayani, known to her readers as Simbok Venus, started a support group for rape survivors, called Lentera Indonesia. The group refers to women who have experienced sexual assault as survivors, rather than victims, to provide hope that their psychological scars can be healed.

For rape survivors, Lentera Indonesia is a place to find support. Every couple of weeks, Lentera holds a meeting called Survivors Anonymous, based on the format of Alcoholics Anonymous, allowing rape survivors to share their stories.

"Our short-term mission is to have fewer and fewer women out there crying alone," Wulan said.

Survivors are welcome to join the group without providing any personal details. "They can give fake names, or they can just sit and listen," Sophie said. "The purpose of the meeting is self-healing."

Lentera has held six meetings so far this year. Wulan and Sophie take turns facilitating each gathering, and they also train regular participants to become facilitators.

Equality is the guiding principle, Wulan said. Facilitators don't set a discussion agenda, but instead open the space for women to talk about their trauma. "Even after years, some survivors may still experience a breakdown," Wulan said.

Each session ends with a serenity prayer, an interfaith prayer whereby members ask to find strength in themselves. "For rape survivors, self- healing is a lifelong process," Wulan said. "Most continue to live with the trauma but find stability in not letting it interrupt their social roles."

Anna, not her real name, was 5 years old when she was first raped by her 18-year-old neighbor. She told her mother what had happened, but her mother simply tried to drive the thought from her mind. Anna has kept quiet ever since. "My own mother didn't believe me, why should I tell anyone else?" the 38-year-old said.

From the age of 7 to 11, Anna was sexually assaulted by her own grandmother, who used to routinely penetrate the girl with her fingers, saying it was a virginity test. When Anna finally found the courage to say no, her grandmother stripped off her clothes and locked her outside the house for several minutes. Again, she didn't say a word.

As a teenager and an adult, Anna involved herself in feminist movements and kept busy with writing to channel her feelings, but she still couldn't tell anyone about the assaults she had experienced. When she heard about Lentera through Twitter, it still her took some time to join the group.

"On the street, I may be loud in talking about women's issues, but it took me a couple of weeks before I finally came to the meeting," she said.

Lentera's gatherings are a small step in helping survivors to overcome their trauma.

Amanda, not her real name, is a rape survivor who has been trying to overcome her feelings of revulsion toward sex. "I'm 29 years old and still not sexually active because every time I hear about sex, I remember [the rape]," she said.

Amanda's stepfather regularly raped her from the time she was in the fifth grade until she reached the ninth grade. She was emotionally unstable as a teenager and her friends used to call her a "gypsy" because of her erratic mood swings.

When she was in her final year at school, Amanda finally found the strength to tell her best friends what had happened to her. At that time, she also told her mother about the assaults.

Instead of giving her daughter the support she needed, Amanda's mother sided with her husband. "She sent me a text message saying that nobody is perfect," Amanda said. "I told her I couldn't forgive her husband and I moved out of the house."

Amanda found out about Lentera from Venus, one of the group's founders, who was a close friend. "I joined Lentera because I thought it was about time to lift the burden of what had happened," she said.

Anna and Amanda both said they struggled to speak about their trauma for the first time, even though many years had passed since the assaults took place. In Lentera, surrounded by people with similar experiences, they felt they could finally be understood.

In addition to helping survivors move on and accept their experiences, Lentera also fights to bring legal justice to rape survivors. As a doctor, Sophie provides medical advice and arranges examinations to provide proof of sexual assault in court.

She said that a rape survivor who wishes to prosecute should create her own "rape kit" of evidence immediately after the assault. "A 'rape kit' is a file report for the police as well as a medical examination, which should be conducted as soon as possible," Sophie said.

If it is even three days too late, the examination may not be helpful or accurate because some physical wounds and marks may have already healed.

Sophie worries about the courts' dependency on medical examinations in rape cases because the tests are so time-sensitive. In such a short time frame, recent rape survivors might not yet possess the emotional strength to present their case in court, she said.

For Amanda, legal closure is no longer a priority. "I think it's enough to leave my family and start my own life," she said.

Wulan said that Lentera's long-term goals were to raise awareness about sexual assault among the general community and to run a well-organized crisis center for those courageous enough to face their trauma. "We are just starting out, but we are giving all that we can," Wulan said.

In a couple of weeks, Lentera Indonesia plans to hold its first public seminar and workshop – an initial step to change the way society views and deals with cases of rape.

By challenging social stereotypes, the group is breaking the silence and helping rape survivors speak out about the crimes committed against them, without being blamed for inviting the abuse upon themselves.

Victims seek recognition of sexual assault claims

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2011

Jakarta – In the wake of Jakarta Police plans to seek more evidence to prove allegations of sexual assault implicating an agency's high-ranking official, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) stated that the acknowledgement of victims' statements should be considered as appropriate evidence.

"It takes extraordinary courage to report such an experience to police," said Saur Tumiur Situmorang, a commissioner at Komnas Perempuan, adding that a pro-victim approach is needed, the more so as sexual assault cases are still treated as general criminal acts.

Jakarta Police spokesman Comr. Baharudin Djafar said on Thursday that investigators would conduct a "case expose" to collect more evidence to verify allegations that a National Land Agency (BPN) official, identified as G, sexually harassed three of his female employees.

Baharudin added that if police could not prove that a crime has taken place, they would halt the investigation.

Saur said "Evidence in a sexual assault case is the recognition of victims. There are three victim-witnesses in this case – that is strong evidence. They can be witnesses for each other."

The women, identified as A.I.F., A.N. and N.P.S., reported G to police last week for alleged sexual harassment. They also provided investigators with a video, containing an alleged confession from G.

The police will hold an evidence collection and verification session next week to probe the allegations.

The director of Jurnal Perempuan Foundation, Mariana Amiruddin, said that the process of investigations and trials in sexual assault cases should not be open to the public and that victims should not be confronted by the perpetrators.

"Victims are the powerless party, while perpetrators hold the power. If they are in the same place at the same time, the victims will not likely say anything," she said.

Under the existing law, sexual assault is not a specific crime and is only treated as an "unpleasant act"; therefore, perpetrators usually avoid heavy penalties.

The victims' lawyer, Ahmad Jazuli, said separately that investigations into sexual assault cases are still not pro-victim and that his clients, and he as their lawyer, are the ones who should be pro-active in demanding their rights.

"When my clients first reported the case, they were questioned by male police officers. We later asked for policewomen to handle the questioning process. Fortunately, they granted our request," he said.

Ahmad refused to elaborate on the way in which the investigators questioned his clients. "But so far, [the investigators] have been professional," he added.

Ahmad lamented, however, the statement by police, saying that it was too soon to release a statement on the issue of evidence, considering the case is still under investigation. Ahmad previously said that his clients would submit more proof to the police to support their allegations.

However, he pointed out, "it is the investigators' job to collect more evidence; they are authorized to come to the agency's office as the crime scene to search for evidence, or question other employees." "We hope that the investigators can be more progressive," he added.

Commissioner Saur said that the police need more training on gender-based human rights education. "We have been working together with the police to provide the training, but then the trained police are being transferred to other units," she said. (swd)

Indonesian Council of Ulema branch moves to ban sexy dangdut singers

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2011

Antara & Camelia Pasandaran – A branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) is moving to ban erotic dangdut singers, including Inul Daratista, Dewi Persik and Julia Perez in what it says is a move to preserve the nation's morals.

The action follows a ban by the South Sumatra branch of MUI, Indonesia's top Muslim clerical body established by former dictator Suharto. It has very little real power and its edicts or fatwas are generally ignored.

Besides Inul, Dewi and Jupe, MUI West Java branch secretary general Rafani Achyar said he wanted to ban Anisa Bahar, Uut Permatasari, Ira Swara, Nita Thalia and the group Trio Macan.

Rafani said it was the actions of the singers, not the individuals themselves or the music, that was offensive.

He said art could not be used as an excuse to protect the singers, saying art was something that was beautiful, not something that created chaos and crime. "They [the women] can work for a living but they should not sacrifice morality."

Graft & corruption

KPK accused of whitewash in misconduct investigation

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Rizky Amelia – Politicians and analysts warned on Thursday that the outcome of an internal inquiry by the Corruption Eradication Commission could set a bad precedent for the much-respected body.

An ad-hoc ethics committee has been investigating eight high-ranking officials from the commission, known as the KPK. The probe followed allegations by graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin of bribe-taking and improper conduct at the KPK.

The committee ruled on Wednesday that only Ade Rahardja, the KPK's former deputy for prosecution, and secretary general Bambang Sapto had committed "minor violations" of the body's code of conduct. It cleared all others of wrongdoing, despite officials admitting they had met with political party officials for matters not related to graft investigations.

Hendardi, chairman of the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, said he was disappointed by the committee's soft stance toward the antigraft officials.

"From the beginning, the ethics committee had a major responsibility to restore public trust in the KPK, but it has only fueled public suspicion further that the ethics committee was set up for show and to save KPK leaders," he said.

Nazaruddin, a former treasurer of the ruling Democratic Party, is accused of bid-rigging in a contract to build an athletes' village for next month's Southeast Asian Games.

Nono Anwar Makarim, a member of the ethics committee, said to prevent similar allegations from rocking the KPK in the future, the committee had advised the body to set up a team tasked with responding quickly to all claims made against it, even minor ones.

Pramono Anung, a deputy speaker at the House of Representatives from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the inquiry had tarnished the KPK's credibility.

"Hopefully this case will serve as a valuable lesson for whoever leads the KPK in the future," he said. "The new KPK leaders must not follow in the footsteps of the current leaders."

The House and the KPK have not always been on good terms, with a number of former and current lawmakers being prosecuted by the antigraft agency. There has also been controversy over the KPK's questioning of leaders of the House Budget Committee.

Another House deputy speaker, Anis Matta, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said the KPK needed major reform. "It is time we evaluate the KPK as a whole. This is not to say we don't want them to stop fighting corruption, but improve the way they work," he said.

The PKS was criticized after party member Fahri Hamzah called for the KPK's disbandment. Activists and analysts called Fahri's statement a step back in the fight against graft.

"Don't take an anti-criticism stance. We should get rid of such attitudes," Anis said, adding that the PKS supported Fahri's controversial remark.

Calls mount for review of antigraft commission

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Eight years after its establishment in 2003 as an adhoc agency on the frontline of the nation's fight against systemic corruption, the national anticorruption body is now the main target of public scrutiny, with lawmakers and activists calling for a review of its "disappointing" performance.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is struggling to keep its credibility amid a series of scandals and increasing pressure from politicians, many of whom have been sent to jail by the commission for graft.

House of Representatives deputy speaker Anis Matta on Thursday blasted the KPK for being "loud" and having "low productivity". "I think this is the reason why its popularity has declined according to recent surveys," the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician said.

He was referring to an August survey by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) that put the commission's approval rating at 41.6 percent, down from 58.3 percent in the previous survey.

The Muslim-based party PKS has been the commission's harshest critic. Another party member, Fahcri Hamzah, even called for its abolition, saying that the antigraft body had become a "super body" that was incompatible with democratic principles.

Though not as derisive as the PKS, other parties are also critical of the commission and have supported a planned evaluation of its performance and authority.

Golkar lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said that the KPK should shift its priority from enforcement to prevention efforts. "Since the KPK's establishment, we have yet to see significant improvement in terms of graft eradication. Indonesia is still one of the most corrupt nations in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

The KPK has been too busy busting corruption and has failed to address the root of the problem, he argued. "It is akin to a policeman who hides behind a tree waiting for motorists to run a traffic light. The police should instead conduct measures to raise motorists' awareness of traffic rules."

Ahmad Yani, a United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker, said the House's law commission would conduct an evaluation of the KPK during the upcoming selection of the KPK leadership candidates and during the deliberations of the planned revision to the 2002 KPK law.

The recent vindication of four KPK leaders of ethics breach allegations has drawn more criticism against the agency.

Setara Institute executive director Hendardi criticized the commission's ethics committee for clearing the troubled antigraft leaders, Busyro Muqoddas, Chandra M. Hamzah, Haryono Umar and M. Jasin, saying that they had overstepped their authority. "The ethics committee should not be protective."

Indonesia Corruption Watch member Emerson Yuntho said the fact that there were dissenting opinions about the committee's decision showed that "there were problems" within the commission. He suggested that the commission improve its monitoring to prevent abuses.

The activists said they were criticizing the KPK to improve its performance in the future, but added that they doubted that the lawmakers had the same intention.

Dollars stuffed in fruit box put Indonesia president on the spot

Reuters - October 6, 2011

Karima Anjani – The multimillion-dollar project in Indonesia's remote West Papua province had noble ambitions: resettle migrant workers so they can forge a better life in one of the world's most populous countries.

But after thousands of dollars in bribes were found stuffed in a fruit box at the Manpower Ministry, the project has become a symbol of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's struggle to deliver the "shock therapy" he promised in 2004 to rid Southeast Asia's biggest economy of endemic graft.

It now threatens to bring down members of his cabinet and could damage his own Democrat Party. With a population of 238 million and swelling investment, Indonesia is set to become one of the world's biggest economies.

Marble-walled shopping malls are sprouting from traffic-choked streets, selling Louis Vuitton and Prada handbags. Growth, projected at about 6.6 percent this year, is among the best in the G20 club of leading economies.

Yet corruption remains pervasive, sowing doubt over whether Yudhoyono can make good on other reforms aimed at sustaining Indonesia as one of the world's hottest developing markets.

"When foreign investors see unethical behavior and corruption, they appreciate it when there's an immediate and clear response," said Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank's senior economist in Jakarta.

In the capital's gritty streets, graft is a popular subject – and a growing source of resentment. "If this country wants to move forward, we need an iron-fist leader who is brave enough to stand up against corruption," said Zulkifli, a 34-year-old office worker who like many Indonesians uses one name.

In the West Papua case, the manpower and finance ministries and a powerful parliamentary budget committee are being investigated over alleged kickbacks from PT Alam Jaya Papua, which won a tender for the project.

Investigators are examining whether a total 500 billion rupiah ($56 million) in projects is tainted. The company has acknowledged giving money to Manpower Ministry officials.

Taking a toll

The scandals are taking their toll. Concerns over his handling of corruption is blamed in part for the 40 point tumble to 51 percent in Yudhoyono's approval rating since his re-election to a second and final five-year term in 2009, an Indo Barometer poll showed last month.

Executives surveyed in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2011-12 said corruption remained "the most problematic factor for doing business" in Indonesia despite a half-decade campaign to stamp it out.

Graft allegations against Indonesian politicians, including those in Yudhoyono's Democrat Party, have sidelined many of his legislative priorities.

As scandals grab headlines and lead nightly news broadcasts, speculation is growing of an imminent cabinet reshuffle in Yudhoyono's coalition before he finishes the second year of his current term on Oct. 20.

'Ambiguous' parliament

The West Papua scandal bears striking similarities to other cases tackled by a six-year-old Corruption Eradication Commission. Known as KPK, it spares few, targeting judges, millionaires and members of parliament, even a Yudhoyono inlaw.

An account manager at an Indonesian company, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject, told Reuters he came to a parliamentary office a few weeks ago to deliver a bribe hidden in a box of KFC, a practice that he described as relatively common.

"I came to parliament to meet a member of a budget team and bring 35 million rupiah ($3,900) in two boxes of KFC in order to get him to approve one of my clients," he said.

In 2010 alone, the corruption commission investigated more than 170 cases involving legislators and officials who siphoned an estimated 2.5 trillion rupiah ($280 million) from state revenue. About 190 billion rupiah ($21 million) was returned, according to KPK data.

Strong opposition

But its successes have drawn unrelenting opposition, and it is unclear how far it can go. For the past two weeks, leaders in parliament have sharply criticized the commission for what they see as an attempt to meddle in the assembly's work.

Last week, lawmakers refused to meet commission investigators, holding up deliberations over the 2012 budget unless they backed off. The lawmakers finally relented after a week-long impasse.

The House of Representatives law commission this week accused the KPK of politicizing graft cases, neglecting those related to Yudhoyono's party, including dragging its heels in investigating Democrat Party Treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin who is suspected of accepting bribes.

"Parliament is being ambiguous," said Abdullah Rahman, head of the political corruption division at Indonesia Corruption Watch, the country's leading anti-graft organization.

"On the one hand they say they want to be part of the battle, but when the KPK requests information, they immediately show strong resistance," he said.

In the West Papua case, commission officials seized 1.5 billion rupiah ($168,600) in cash found crammed inside a fruit box at the Manpower Ministry.

It had been delivered to two ministry officials by a businesswoman whose company won the tender. Investigators describe the money as a "bonus" provided by the company in return for securing the project.

In recent days, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo has been called in as a witness in the case and speculation is growing Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, leader of the National Awakening Party, will lose his job in a cabinet reshuffle, although he has denied involvement. "I never gave an order (to accept bribes)," said Muhaimin.

The finance minister is adamant he is clean. "If some say the finance minister got fees from this, I'd like to say... I am not even dreaming about it," he told reporters on Wednesday.

'Media sensation'

The case is another test of the commission's graft-busting credentials. Two of its leaders have been accused of abuse of power. They were later vindicated when wiretaps played in court proved they were framed by police and corrupt businessmen.

But many Indonesians felt Yudhoyono was slow to defend the top graft- busters.

A survey by Indonesia Survey Circle this month showed four out of five of 1,200 people surveyed did not trust politicians due to corruption. In the past six years, trust in Indonesia's elected leaders has dropped to 23.4 percent from 44.2 percent.

Graft watchdog Transparency International's corruption perception index showed no improvement for Indonesia last year, ranking it 110th overall, the same as Gabon, Bolivia, Kosovo and Solomon Islands. That compares to Southeast Asian peers Thailand in 78th place, Malaysia at 56th and Singapore at joint first.

Despite slower-than-expected reforms, Indonesia is "moving in the right direction as the business sector continues to be active and the country has shown good growth", said Andri Manuwoto, a senior analyst at CastleAsia, a consulting firm guiding outside investors with advice about political risk.

"It's not going to happen overnight," Manuwoto said. "It may take generations, but KPK has done impressive work so far."

Backlash hits House over criticism of KPK

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Once perceived as the nation's most corrupt institution, the House of Representatives has garnered a slew of condemnation from the public for lashing out at the anticorruption body, which it calls a "superbody" whose powers should be curtailed.

Noted lawyer and human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis said the House should have reviewed its own authority, which he said was too much and prone to abuse of power, instead of blasting the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as "undemocratic".

"I deplore recent statements made by certain legislators proposing the disbandment of the KPK because of its 'limitless' authority. Is the KPK really a superbody? I don't think so. It is the House which could more appropriately be called a superbody. With its overwhelming authority, the House can summon anybody," Todung said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Todung was referring to Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Fahri Hamzah who – during a consultative meeting with leaders of the country's top law enforcement bodies on Monday – said the KPK was a superbody that was not compatible with democracy In an apparent attempt to defend his colleagues at the House's budgetary committee who had been implicated in a high-profile corruption case currently investigated by the KPK, Fahri called for the antigraft body's dissolution.

"The KPK was born of the nation's Reform movement. Killing the KPK would mean killing the spirit of reform," Todung said.

Prominent Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra echoed Todung's view. "Since the reformation era, the DPR has become a superbody that even a minister is not brave enough to face it, particularly when it comes to budget issues," he said.

Azyumardi said Fahri's statement was a sign that lawmakers were currently afraid of their misconduct and corruption practices being probed by the KPK. "The idea of disbanding the KPK is only being voiced because the KPK is probing lawmakers," he said.

A 2009 survey conducted by Transparency International Indonesia (TII) ranked the House as the most corrupt institution in the country, followed by the judiciary and political parties.

Azyumardi added that Fahri's controversial move would reflect negatively on his party's image. Other PKS politicians, however, repeatedly claimed that Fahri's statement had been a personal view and not the party's official stance.

Also on Wednesday, KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas played down lawmakers' controversial moves to undermine his commission.

"The consultative meeting on Monday was apparently not significant. That's okay, the most important thing is that we accepted the House's invitation to attend the meeting. That showed our good faith and respect towards the House. Leave it to the public to judge the result of the meeting," Busyro said.

Monday's meeting also appeared as a forum for Fahri's colleagues at the House's Commission III, overseeing law and human rights, to criticize the KPK and undermine its move to question the budgetary committee leaders, who are implicated in a bribery case pertaining to a ministry project.

Commission III chairman Benny Kabur Harman of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, Tjatur Sapto Edy of the National Mandate Party, and Aziz Syamsuddin of the Golkar Party, alternately pitched questions on KPK's legal grounds for summoning the budgetary committee leaders which they said had been part of KPK's efforts to politicize the case.

On Tuesday, Benny accused the KPK of being reluctant to cooperate and work hand-in-hand with other law-enforcement institutions. He called for an evaluation of the KPK's authority and investigative mechanisms.

Garuda workers union reports graft indications to KPK

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

The executive board of PT Garuda Indonesia's workers union went to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to file a report on indications of graft within the company.

"We have brought proof of suspicious transactions since 2006," union spokesman Tomy Tampatty said on Wednesday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Tomy added that the union had previously sent four documents and other data related to the graft indications to the KPK from 2006 to 2010, but he said that no follow up examination had been made up to this date.

All four letters, he said, each contained reports of distinct corruption allegations. According to the union's estimates, the graft allegations could amount to around Rp 140 billion (US$15.68 million) of losses to the state.

'Watch your mouths,' Marzuki Alie tells journalists

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Ezra Sihite – An angry House of Representatives speaker Marzuki Alie on Tuesday hit out at journalists covering the growing gulf between politicians and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Marzuki scoffed at suggestions that the House – which is notoriously corrupt – no longer supported efforts to rid Indonesia of graft. "Don't look at this as though the House speaker is pro-corruption," Marzuki told journalists at the DPR on Tuesday. "Watch your mouths."

Marzuki, who has previously been accused of failing to think before he talks, then appeared to undermine his own argument, questioning the need for the KPK. "As I said previously, if there are no more credible people to lead the powerful KPK, why do we need [it]," he said.

He said any criticism of the KPK should be seen as efforts to strengthen efforts to eradicate corruption. "The criticism should be responded to with a better performance, so don't talk too much."

Indonesian politicians accuse KPK of favoritism

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Ezra Sihite – A meeting on Monday between the House of Representatives and corruption officials to resolve a standoff over scrutiny of budget-rigging degenerated into a free-for-all for legislators to take potshots at the investigators.

Benny K. Harman, chairman of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, kicked off the proceedings by accusing the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of cherry-picking cases for investigation with the specific aim of pursuing legislators.

"We at Commission III support the KPK's genuine efforts to crack down on graft, but we ask that the process be free of politicization," he said.

Benny, from the ruling Democratic Party, alleged that the way the KPK named those it planned to call in for questioning made it seem as though they were presumed guilty.

He added that investigators had opted for sensation rather than delving into the substance of cases, thereby reinforcing the idea that the antigraft body was politically biased.

"We ask that the KPK carry out its legal procedures without raising so much of a ruckus, which it can avoid by complying with the Criminal Code Procedures and the Law on the KPK," he said.

Monday's meeting was called by the House leadership to quell the animosity between the two bodies after the House Budget Committee suspended discussions of the 2012 state budget last week in protest at the questioning of its leaders by the KPK over graft allegations in a project administered by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

Azis Syamsuddin, the Commission III deputy chairman from the Golkar Party, accused the KPK of focusing on the Budget Committee, headed by a Golkar member, in a bid to distract public attention from similar allegations of bid-rigging within the Sports Ministry – headed by a Democrat and for which the ruling party's former treasurer has been named a suspect.

"Why is it that when the Manpower Ministry case emerged, the [KPK's] response was immediate, whereas in the other case none of the top people implicated have been called for questioning?" he said. "What's behind this discrepancy? Heaven forbid it's an attempt at misdirection."

KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas denied that his office played favorites when it came to investigating cases. "What would be the benefit of distracting [from the Sports Ministry case]?" he asked legislators. "There would be no point and that is certainly not how we work. If anything, that would constitute a blunder."

He pointed out that the two cases were fundamentally different: the Sports Ministry case centered on the contract to build an athletes' village for next month's Southeast Asian Games, while the Manpower Ministry case concerned a contract for development projects in the country's eastern regions.

"I don't think I need to tell you that the athletes' village case is truly complex. Everyone knows this," Busyro said, adding this was why the probe was progressing slower than in the Manpower Ministry case.

He also denied that his office was attempting to paint the House Budget Committee in a bad light by calling its leaders in for questioning.

"We always made it clear that we had summoned them as individual legislators, not as representative of a state institution," he said. "As for why [the chairman and three deputies] were called in at the same time, that's just standard investigative procedure."

Busyro added that just because they had been questioned did not mean they would be named suspects in the case. "Many witnesses are called in for questioning by our investigators but are never named suspects," he said. "We don't have a political agenda and we are not subject to intervention from political parties."

House Speaker Marzuki Alie, who presided over Monday's meeting, said any outstanding issues between the House and the KPK could be discussed at future hearings with Commission III.

PKS lawmaker continues attack on KPK

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Ezra Sihite – A lawmaker who has called to disband the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday continued his criticism of the agency, saying it had failed to halt graft in Indonesia.

Fahri Hamzah from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) also accused the KPK of attempting to "demolish" the House of Representatives (DPR). "It is the KPK's way of spoiling the system," he said at the House.

He also accused the KPK of "seeking fame" and said antigraft officials were overpaid. "The data [of KPK officials' salaries] are with Commission III, you can check yourself. I have said before that a general's salary is close to that of a KPK security guard."

On Monday, Fahri urged the government to disband the KPK, accusing it of being a "superbody." "There can't be a superbody institution in democracy," he told the KPK, National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo and the Attorney General Basrief Arief during a meeting in the House.

The KPK, which is currently investigating members of the House's budget committee, has been accused of cherry-picking cases for investigation with the specific aim of pursuing legislators.

The House is perceived to be one of Indonesia's most corrupt institutions according to recent surveys and Indonesia is one of the world's most corruption countries. Allegations of corruption have also been recently leveled against senior members of the KPK.

The PKS has been involved in a number of recent corruption scandals itself, including former lawmaker Muhammad Misbakhun. Misbakhun, who was able to amass a small fortune when he worked at the Tax Directorate-General before launching a political career with the Islam-based PKS, was only sentenced to one-year in jail for forging documents to obtain huge loans from Bank Century.

PKS legislator Adang Daradjatun, a former deputy chief of the National Police, meanwhile, is continuing to refuse to cooperate with investigators hunting for his fugitive wife, Nunun Nurbaeti. And PKS lawmaker Tamsil Linrung has been questioned by the KPK as part of the ongoing budget committee investigation.

PKS distances itself from anti-KPK legislator

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Ezra Sihite – The Prosperous Justice Party has distanced itself from one of its legislators, Fahri Hamzah, saying his comments against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) do not reflect the position of either the party or its faction in the House of Representatives.

Mustafa Kamal, head of the party's faction in the House, also known as the DPR, said Fahri's controversial calls to disband the KPK were made in his capacity as a member of House Commission III, which overseas legal affairs.

"A critical evaluation can come from anyone, including from Commission III," Mustafa said at the House on Tuesday.

He said the PKS would stay true to its commitment to support the fight against corruption. "However, we appreciate the freedom of speech and we allow differences of opinion," he said.

Tamsil Linrung, a PKS lawmaker who has been questioned by the KPK as part of the ongoing budget committee investigation, said Fahri's idea to disband the KPK was not new. "He wants the KPK to be disbanded because he thought it would only get in the way of his fight to uphold democracy," Tamsil said.

Lawmakers feel being terrorized by KPK

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

House of Representative Commission III chairman Benny K. Harman admitted that lawmakers have felt "terrorized" by the recent moves by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to summon legislators.

"This seems like new 'terror' for lawmakers. Lawmakers live in a deeply fearful state of mind. But if you are right, why should you be afraid?" he said Monday in a meeting with KPK leaders, the police chief and the Attorney General, as quoted by kompas.com.

The meeting was held to discuss the trouble in the House budget committee after four of their leaders had been summoned and questioned by the KPK for their alleged involvement in a graft case linked to the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

Following questioning, the budget committee threatened to boycott a 2012 state budget deliberation with the government.

Benny blamed the KPK for the impasse, saying that the KPK should have waited for the completion of budget deliberations before questioning the committee leaders.

KPK, House make truce as budget talks resume

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has agreed to attend a meeting with the House of Representatives' leadership as lawmakers continue deliberation of the 2012 state budget over the weekend.

The decision ended a week of tension between the two institutions that had resulted in the suspension of the deliberation of the 2012 state budget by the House's budget committee.

The lawmakers decided to suspend the budget talks over their concerns that the antigraft body would target them in alleged corruption cases linked to the state budget.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi confirmed on Sunday that the KPK maintained its stance of resuming investigations that might be linked to lawmakers despite having agreed to meet House leaders on Monday.

He said that the antigraft body is also scheduled to question two budget committee leaders, Tamsil Linrung of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Olly Dondokambey of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), as well as Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar on Monday.

"KPK has decided to attend the meeting because House leaders have promised not to involve any lawmakers implicated in corruption cases under KPK investigation in the meeting," he said.

Two ministry officials, Dadong Irbarelawan and I Nyoman Suisnaya, have been arrested for allegedly accepting Rp 1.5 billion in bribes from businesswoman Dharnawati to accelerate budget disbursement for an infrastructure project in Manokwari, West Papua.

The three, now in KPK custody, were allegedly caught red-handed shortly after Dharnawati delivered the money. The case developed a twist when Dharnawati accused lawmakers and Muhaimin's aides of accepting some of the project funds.

The projects the KPK is currently probing are part of the ministry's projects in 19 regencies across the country under the Regional Infrastructure Development Acceleration (PPID) scheme, worth a total of Rp. 499.9 billion.

Four leaders of the budget committee were questioned two weeks ago, prompting allegations from the lawmakers that KPK had targeted their legal budgeting functions.

Although KPK has denied targeting the committee, lawmakers have taken the questioning seriously and invited KPK to clarify the position of lawmakers with regard to state budget deliberation.

Tamsil and Olly refused to fulfill the KPK summons last week following the House leaders' public statement expressing wariness over KPK's move to investigate the case which they said "might infringe the budgetary committee's authority in state budgeting".

Johan refused to speculate if Monday's questioning sessions would result in the lawmakers and the minister being named suspects. "One thing is for sure, the KPK will base its investigation on facts and evidence, not political influences. Let the investigators do their job," he added.

The committee is currently deliberating the budget bill in Bogor, West Java. Tamsil confirmed he and Olly would ask permission to skip the budget talks to fulfill the KPK summons but did not disclose if his decision was linked with KPK finally accepting the House leaders' meeting invitation.

House escalates row with KPK over budget talks

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has escalated its row with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over whether the latter could question the legislative body's budget committee leaders as witnesses in a corruption case.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie on Saturday suggested that the KPK postpone the questioning of the budget committee leaders, pending the completion of the 2012 state budget deliberation.

Marzuki said that the budget committee was tasked with deliberating the use of state funds that amounted to Rp 1,300 trillion (US$148.2 billion), while the graft probe involved only a "few billions of rupiah".

"Please suspend [the questioning]. We need to look for a shared understanding [on the issue] so that this row won't disadvantage the people," he said, adding that the suspension was needed to let the budget committee work on the budget deliberations, which should be completed by the end of this month.

The House and the antigraft body have again been embroiled in a dispute over what appears to be the House's long resentment over the KPK's move to take on corruption involving House members.

The KPK insisted on questioning the budget committee leaders, who approved a graft-ridden construction project worth Rp 500 billion proposed by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry. The agency has named three suspects in the case, including businesswoman Dhanawati and ministry official Dadong Irbarelawan, who claimed that they paid the so-called "commitment fees" – about 10 percent of the project value – to the lawmakers to secure their approval for the project.

The four committee leaders are Tamsil Linrung of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Olly Dondokambey of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Melchias Mekeng of the Golkar Party and Mirwan Amir of the Democratic Party. The House slammed the KPK's move to question the four lawmakers, which they said could be seen as an attempt by the anticorruption body to meddle with the House's constitutional tasks.

The budget committee previously threatened to suspend the 2012 state budget deliberation in protest at the move, but the KPK insisted that the probe must go on.

The House leadership has invited the KPK for a meeting to resolve the stand-off on Monday, this has been accepted by the latter after it was agreed that the budget committee leaders would not be present at the meeting.

The committee has softened its stance and is now deliberating the budget bill in Bogor, West Java, but the House leadership seems to be wary that the KPK probe could still disrupt the deliberation process.

House Deputy Speaker Anis Matta concurred with Marzuki, saying that there should no more questioning after Tamsil and Olly answered the KPK summons on Monday. The KPK, he said, must respect the House's work as the budget deliberation is crucial for the state.

None of the KPK leaders was available to comment on Marzuki's statement on Saturday. The Jakarta Post also failed to contact its spokesman, Johan Budi. His phone was inactive when the Post tried to call him.

Fresh graft claims made against budget committee

Jakarta Globe - October 1, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Rizky Amelia – An infrastructure company employee has accused members of the House of Representatives' Budget Committee of arranging deals between Manpower Ministry and Finance Ministry officials, politicians in Papua and firms bidding for contracts.

Meanwhile, the speaker of the House has lashed out at the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) for its perceived rough treatment of committee members.

A key corruption suspect said the budget body was skimming 10 percent off the total value of the Acceleration of Infrastructure Development in Transmigration Areas (PPID) program. The accusation was made by Dharnawati, an employee of infrastructure company Alam Jaya Papua.

She was arrested with Manpower and Transmigration Ministry official Nyoman Suisanaya, a secretary to the local transmigration area community development chief, and Dadong Irbarelawan, head of planning and evaluation, last month after giving Rp 1.5 billion ($171,000) in Idul Fitri payouts to the officials.

Dharnawati said half the payoff was to be delivered up front, but that she did not know how the money was divided.

She gave details of meetings between key figures from the Finance Ministry and the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry. These included Nyoman and Sindu Malik, a retired official at the Finance Ministry.

She said they had offered to introduce him to Budget Committee head Tamsil Linrung, but that Dharnawati's arrest by the KPK had come before the planned meeting could take place. However, she did meet with Tamsil's staffer, Iskandar Pasojo, in April.

According to Dharnawati, the meetings resulted in a deal being struck where Rp 500 billion would be allocated for transmigration projects in Papua. The parties standing to benefit from the budget included the heads of government bodies in Papua and companies that stood to win tenders to provide the planned infrastructure.

The deal, Dharnawati said, was that those parties were to pay an up-front commitment of 5 percent of the allocated fund, followed by a further 5 percent once the Finance Ministry had released the money.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie said on Friday that he resented the KPK's request to meet only on the condition that Budget Committee members were not at the table. KPK investigators are forbidden from holding non- investigative meetings with suspects.

"By acting like this, the KPK seems to be treating Budget Committee members as graft suspects," the speaker said.

Acquiescing to the KPK's conditions, the House has invited the commissioners for a meeting scheduled for Monday. Attendees will include the National Police Chief and Attorney General's Office, but not members of the Budget Committee.

Terrorism & religious extremism

SBY asks TNI to combat terrorism

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked the Indonesian military (TNI) to cooperate with the National Police in efforts to combat terrorism.

"The TNI must develop a synergy with the police to fight terrorism in our country. The TNI has a duty as stipulated in the law to support the police in tackling terrorism," Yudhoyono said in his speech during celebrations of the 66th anniversary of the Indonesian Military, in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Yudhoyono added that he had instructed security officers to take action immediately, including through preventive measures, to curb terrorism. "Prevent another terrorist attack from occurring," he said.

Last month, a suspected suicide bombing occurred at the GBIS church in Surakarta, Central Java. Dozens were injured in the blast. Police suspect the bombing was linked to previous suspected terrorist attacks.

I'm not behind Solo church bombing: Abu Bakar Baasyir

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2011

Convicted terrorist Abu Bakar Baasyir has denied allegations linking him to the terrorist network behind the Cirebon and Solo suicide bombings.

He also condemned the attack, telling Detik.com that indiscriminate bombing was wrong and had nothing to do with Shariah law.

Speaking during a dental checkup at National Police headquarters, the militant spiritual leader rejected suggestions the hard-line organization he established, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, promoted or supported terrorism. Police have identified the Solo church bombing as JAT member Ahmad Yosepa Hayat, 31.

Baasyir said the suicide bombing, and a similar attack at Cirebon Police headquarters, were the work of individual members. He said there were criminal elements within the police but that did not mean the entire organization should be disbanded.

Indonesia tweets fuel acts of violence

Sydney Morning Herald - October 3, 2011

Tom Allard, Jakarta – In the aftermath of last week's suicide bombing by a rogue Islamist of a church in the Central Java city of Solo, messages flew around the social networking site Twitter urging followers to go to an extremist website.

There, on arrahmah.com, was an article condemning Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his strong and quickly delivered words against the violent act in Solo, contrasting it with a supposedly weak response to the alleged attacks on Muslims by Christians in Ambon.

It continued with a litany of falsehoods, including claims that a village had been burnt down and that thousands of Muslims remained in mosques in Ambon, seeking refuge from the crusader hordes.

In two days some 20,000 people had retweeted the message. Disturbingly, it was just the latest in a series of highly inflammatory tweets, SMS and Facebook postings sowing the seeds of disharmony and promoting terrorism in Indonesia.

Last month, there were two striking examples of the power of social media to spread misinformation and promote conflict.

On September 11, a deadly riot broke out in Ambon, an island in Maluku in eastern Indonesia. Seven people died and scores of homes and vehicles were damaged after rumours spread by SMS, Twitter and Facebook that a Muslim had been captured and tortured to death by Christians. In fact, he died in a traffic accident.

Three days later, in Makassar, a city in South Sulawesi, a mentally ill man went on a stabbing rampage killing three people. The man happened to be a Christian and within hours, SMS and Twitter messages were warning of co- ordinated Christian attacks on Muslims.

Two Christian men were stabbed in retaliation and more than 1000 people fled to a police school to seek refuge from Christian attacks that never occurred.

Indonesia arrests a most-wanted militant

Associated Press - October 2, 2011

Padang – Indonesia's anti-terrorism squad has arrested one of the country's most wanted Muslim militants for allegedly plotting suicide attacks.

Local police chief Lt. Col. Lufti Martadian said Sunday that Beni Asri was captured without a fight on Friday near his parents' house in Solok of West Sumatra province.

He says that Asri was flown to Jakarta hours after he was arrested for allegedly helping plot a suicide bombing in a church in the Central Java town of Solo on Sept. 25 that injured 22 worshipers.

The 26-year-old was one of five men wanted for allegedly plotting an April suicide bombing that injured 30 police officers praying in a mosque in the West Java town of Cirebon.

Freedom of religion & worship

Christians under attack in Indonesia, top bishop says

Agence France Presse - October 5, 2011

Vatican City – Islamic fundamentalists in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, are attacking Christians with impunity, the head of Indonesian bishops said on Tuesday during a visit to the Vatican.

"Muslim fanatics are staging violence and denying basic religious freedom and stopping the construction of places of worship and the practice of Christianity," Martinus Dogma Situmorang told the Vatican's l'Osservatore Romano daily.

"Alas, these incidents are being tolerated or authorities are turning a blind eye without taking any legal action because in their eyes it is less serious even though they were accompanied by violence," Situmorang said.

Indonesia's constitution guarantees freedom of religion but rights groups say violence against minorities including Christians and the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect has escalated since 2008.

In February, a 1,500-strong mob of Muslims set two churches alight and ransacked a third in the town of Temanggung, on Java island, as they demanded that a Christian man be sentenced to death for insulting Islam.

Situmorang said even if extremists and radicals behind these attacks were brought to justice, the "punishments accorded are not proportionate to their acts." He said fanaticism was on the rise but security forces appeared to have got weaker.

More than 80 percent of Indonesia's estimated 240 million people are Muslim. Five percent are Protestants and three percent Catholic.

Indonesian officials, hard-liners continue harassment of Bogor church

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2011

Vento Saudale, Bogor – Sunday prayers at the controversy-plagued GKI Yasmin church in Bogor were obstructed again over the weekend.

From 5 a.m. on Sunday, police were on standby at the church, having roped off the sidewalk where worshipers had been forced to pray in recent weeks since the city sealed the building.

Not long after church members began to arrive at 7.30 a.m., scores of protesters from the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum (Forkami) also turned up. The makeshift service, led by priest Novita Susanto, lasted just 30 minutes.

A spokesman for the Yasmin church, Bona Sigalingging, said he thought the action was a direct attempt at provocation by the Bogor mayor.

"This is the second time [Mayor] Diani Budiarto has interfered with our service. He was seen at the location, planning to evict us," Bona said. "Our church has been approved in decisions by the Supreme Court and the ombudsman commission, but still Diani remains arrogant."

When asked about the allegations, Diani dodged the question of whether he had encouraged the demonstration. "Where did that idea come from? I came only to observe the security measures that were put in place by the police," he claimed.

Diani said the officials were sent to rope off the area to prevent conflict between the Yasmin church congregation and their opponents. "I deliberately limited and dispersed [the service] because I was worried that if the two groups faced one another, chaos could ensue," he said.

Diani said he took into account opposition by local residents and the alleged falsification of signatures used in a permit application when he ordered the church to be closed down in March.

As for the ombudsman, Diani said: "It's just a recommendation with no force. [Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs] thinks we are correct, and taking the right path."

On Pancasila Sanctity Day on Saturday, a group including Supreme Court chief Mahfud M.D., former first lady Shinta Wahid and the head of the Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), Ifdal Kasim, met in East Bogor. The group expressed their solidarity with the Yasmin congregation.

Hard-liners harass Bogor church service

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

Theresia Sufa, Jakarta – As the Bogor Municipal government remains steadfast against reopening Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI), members of the congregation suffered more harassment on Sunday during a Holy Communion service.

Members of a group calling themselves the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum (Forkami) attacked members of GKI Yasmin who were holding their service on the sidewalk in front of the sealed church.

Members of Forkami arrived on the site, chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) and attempted to disrupt the service and break up the gathering, which ended in an altercation involving members of the group, the GKI Yasmin congregation and public order officers guarding the service.

GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging said this was the second time force had been used to prevent members of the congregation from conducting their Sunday service.

Bogor Mayor Diani Budianto has refused to reopen the church despite a Supreme Court ruling issued seven months ago upholding the church's legality.

"We hope President [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] will act soon, before action like this becomes widespread all over the country," Bona told The Jakarta Post.

The Bogor administration had earlier planned to evacuate members of the congregation to the nearby Harmoni building on Sunday.

Head of the Bogor's National Unity and Protection for the Public Agency, Taufikurrohman, said that the city had readied two buses to ferry the GKI Yasmin members.

The agency had also cordoned off the sidewalk in front of the church to prevent worshippers from conducting a service. The plan failed, however, as the congregation stood their ground and held their service under heavy guard from the public order officers.

Separately in Tangerang, the Pos Sepatan Jakarta Baptism Christianity Church (GKBJ) in Sepatan has also received a threat of closure. Lidya Bedali Hulu, the wife of Rev.

Bedali Hulu, a preacher at the church, said several officials from the administration arrived on Saturday to seal off the residence, which has been turned into a makeshift church. "However, as the reverend is still out of town, they said they would postpone the move and wait for him to return home," she said. (mim)

Islam & religion

Aceh, West Java, Banten radicalism hotbeds: Survey

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2011

Jakarta – Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, West Java and Banten are the three provinces most vulnerable to Islamic radicalism, a recent survey shows.

The survey, conducted by Lazuardi Birru and Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), canvassed 4,840 Indonesian Muslims from 33 provinces regarding radicalism, ranging from their views on the meaning of jihad to their attitudes toward non-Muslims.

West Java and Banten both scored vulnerability indexes of 46.6, which was the second-highest in the nation. Aceh was the worst, logging a vulnerability index of 56.8.

Lazuardi Birru chairperson Dhyah Madya Ruth said Aceh was prone to religious radicalism because it had been granted the special right to implement Islamic agendas and sharia laws.

"Last year, intolerance was the most significant factor [in sparking radical acts], while this year it was the Islamic agendas that caused them," she said.

The fact that Aceh topped the survey, while eight of Indonesia's 11 suicide bombers – including the two most recent ones: Cirebon mosque bomber Muhammad Syarief and Solo church bomber Ahmad Yosefa Hidayat – originated from West Java may appear confusing at first glance.

Dhyah said the situation in West Java was different than that in Aceh, as recent attacks by West Java-born terrorists were rooted in their socio- economic frustrations.

"52.9 percent of the West Javanese respondents in the survey felt they suffered economic inequality, thus when someone offered Islamic agendas as the way out of the problem, they thought [the Islamic agendas] could be the solution," Dhyah said.

The survey found that the country was slightly less vulnerable to radical acts than before, with the nationwide vulnerability index falling from 45.4 last year to 43.6 this year. While it can be seen as a positive, the pollsters said the figure was still a far cry from the "safe" index level of 33.3.

Lazuardi Birru defines radicalism as supporting groups that promote violence or using religion as grounds for carrying violent acts, such as assaulting people from different religion or attacking worship places. It also defines radicals as people who justify religious violence.

National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Ansyaad Mbai said that the way to counter such radical and terrorist initiatives was not through aggressive and militant approaches, but by carefully tracking the terrorists. "The more violent our approaches are, the more militant [the terrorists] will be."

LSI political observer Burhanuddin Muhtadi praised the government's de- radicalization campaigns, citing the fact that there was a significant downgrade in recent terrorist attacks compared to previous years.

Many critics lambasted the government for its failure to prevent both attacks in Cirebon and Solo, but Burhanuddin explained that both attacks clearly exposed the frustration and desperation of the terrorists and might even indicate the government's success in reducing radical threats.

Burhanuddin told The Jakarta Post after the presentation of the survey that the recent attacks were obviously carried out with limited funding while the government's antiterrorism agents were breathing down the terrorists' necks.

"If we compare them to terrorist attacks in the past such as the bombings in Bali, the terrorists' capacity for conducting large-scale attacks has decreased significantly. That's very clear – crystal clear," he said (sat)

Radicalism losing ground in Indonesia but not in universities: Survey

Straits Times - October 5, 2011

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja – Support for radicals and radicalism is falling among Indonesians, a survey of 4,840 people has found.

The survey by Lazuardi Birru, a Jakarta-based peace group, used a one-to- 100 point scoring scale based on answers to a questionnaire, with one being most moderate and 100 being most radical. It measures respondents' support for radicals as well as their own radical tendencies.

Researchers polled people in villages and cities across Indonesia's 33 provinces between June and July.

The number of respondents considered to be against radicals and radicalism rose to 64.9 per cent from 54.3 per cent last year. Those respondents scored between one and 25 points.

Radical acts were defined as attacking places of worship, staging rallies against groups considered enemies of Islam, and supporting or donating funds to any group that promotes violence.

The percentage of those in the category of actual radicals who have directly committed radical acts was down slightly to 1.1 per cent, from 1.2 per cent last year. They scored above 75 points.

The foundation, however, warned against complacency, saying: "Past terror acts that killed hundreds or thousands of innocent people were committed by groups of just a few radicals."

Zuhairi Misrawi, chairman of the Moderate Muslim Society, said support for radicalism may be declining, but the fact is that the number of incidents has been rising, partly because punishments for those who are caught are so weak.

"These non-deterrent punishments have boosted the confidence of the radicals," Zuhairi told The Straits Times. "It indeed encourages future acts."

News about the survey coincided with a warning from the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) about rising radicalism in the nation's universities.

Radicalism in Indonesia wavering: Survey

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Jakarta – Radicalism in Indonesia is wavering, with the national radicalism index showing a slight decline from 24.7 last year down to 20 this year, a survey shows.

"[Radicalism] has declined, but the potential for it remains wide open," Dhyah Madya Ruth, the executive director of Lazuardi Birru, the NGO that conducted the survey, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Dhyah added that the percentage of those willing or having been involved in what Lazuardi defines as acts of radicalism dropped from 13.1 percent last year to 9.2 percent this year.

"Those who have been really involved in extreme actions account for 4 percent [of the total respondents]. They've been involved in, among others, raids on brothels, attacks on places of worship [of people of other faiths] and or rallies against groups considered enemies of Islam.

"A belief that those acts are worthy of rewards and blessings [from God] is the more important factor than material compensation. But only a few really adopt these beliefs," Dhyah said while presenting the survey results, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

However, more people were indirectly involved in radical activities, with 25 percent of respondents saying they had given financial contributions to such activities and 17.8 percent saying they had persuaded others to tend to radical beliefs.

Nevertheless, the figures are again smaller than the 37.4 percent and 18.8 percent recorded last year.

The survey involved 1,240 respondents in nine provinces, 86.3 percent of whom were Muslim, 11.1 percent Christian and 2.6 percent followers of other religion. Lazuardi says its margin for error is 2.8 percent and it is 95 percent confident in the accuracy of its findings.

Aceh records highest radicalism index: Survey

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Jakarta – A recent survey measuring Indonesia's radicalism index has put Aceh at the top of the list of provinces, with the highest number of radical believers.

National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Arsyad Mbai said, however, that the radical tendency barely materialized as it was channeled through the alleged radicals' participation in the former rebel group, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

"Aceh has a high level of radicalization, but it's been channeled through GAM. We've seen, on the other hand, that West Java has been home to most of the suicide bombers," Arsyad said during a forum discussing the results of the survey conducted by NGO Lazuardi Birru in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The survey says that radicalism in Indonesia is wavering, with the national radicalism index showing a slight decline from 24.7 percent last year down to 20 percent this year.

Lazuardi also found in the survey that the percentage of Indonesian Muslims willing to become, or having been, involved in what the NGO defines as acts of radicalism, such as attacks on brothels and houses of worship of different faiths, dropped from 13.1 percent last year to 9.2 percent this year.

The survey involved 1,240 respondents in nine provinces, 86.3 percent of whom were Muslim, 11.1 percent Christian and 2.6 percent followers of other religions, tribunnews.com reported.

Governor asks hajj pilgrims to prioritize prayer, not shopping

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2011

Jakarta – East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak cautioned hundreds of the province's hajj pilgrims to focus more on prayer rather than shopping while on their sacred pilgrimage.

"I cannot forbid you to shop, but please, keep in mind that your initial intention for going to the Holy Land is for the hajj pilgrimage. Thus, it would be wise to spend more hours praying rather than shopping. Besides, more shopping only bring excess baggage," he said Sunday minutes before hundreds of hajj pilgrims were set to take off.

Indonesia has long been known as a country sending among the largest number of hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia every year. More than 200,000 seats are allotted for Indonesia's hajj pilgrims annually.

Parliament & government

Indonesia to launch hot-line for public complaints about politicians

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

House of Representatives speaker Marzuki Alie says he is well aware of the public's low opinion of politicians, promising to launch a hot-line and Web site for public complaints about errant lawmakers.

"I have often mentioned in many official forums from Manado [North Sulawesi] to West Java that the public trust in the House of Representatives [DPR] has declined drastically," Marzuki said at the State Palace on Tuesday.

On Sunday, the Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI) announced that only 23 percent of respondents in a new survey said they still believed Indonesian politicians were doing a good or very good job. The survey showed that 51 percent thought politicians were doing a bad or very bad job, with 25 percent refusing to answer the question.

"The fact is between 2005 to 2009, there have been a lot of [corruption] cases where many lawmakers were involved and it has degraded the political institution," Marzuki said. "The House is composing strategic plans as the answer to redeem the credibility of the lawmakers and politicians."

He said part of the plan was to intensify public relations and to facilitate public feedback.

"We are going to boost the performance quality and monitoring through a Web site and SMS," Marzuki said, referring to the Web site pengaduan.dpr.go.id and SMS hot-line number 19443344 where people could complain or make suggestions.

DPR pins hopes on 'Aspiration Houses'

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Arientha Primanita & Camelia Pasandaran – House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie is using the results of a recent survey indicating plunging public trust in politicians to revive the shelved proposal for "aspiration houses" – constituency offices for lawmakers.

"The House has strategic plans, including the houses of aspiration, public relations programs, and mechanisms for public complaints," Marzuki said at the State Palace on Monday. "We'll push to finish [construction of the aspiration houses] next year. It'll bring lawmakers and those who elected them closer, to increase public trust."

Results of a poll by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) released on Sunday showed trust in politicians was at just 23 percent, down from 44 percent in 2005.

Marzuki said that the constituency offices – to be built in each electoral district and used by legislators to interact with voters – were necessary as part of the wider strategy to regain trust.

The scheme, which was slated to cost a total of Rp 2.7 trillion ($300 million), was shelved last October following intense public opposition. "We want the House to be a political institution built with democracy as its pillar and to be a credible and trustworthy institution," Marzuki said.

He added the constituency offices would allow regional heads and the public to discuss issues with lawmakers, thereby increasing transparency. "There should be no more budget mafia in the House to taint our image," he said, referring to the practice of embezzling state budget allocations.

Ari Dwipayana, a political analyst at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, told the Jakarta Globe that the offices would not boost public trust in lawmakers.

"The problem is bad parties with poor recruitment methods and a reliance on politicians as their source of funding," Ari said. "This way, politicians have to collect money – legally or illegally."

Instead of building the aspiration houses, Ari said, the House should seek to improve how it allocates the budget in order to prevent it being embezzled.

SBY seeks to shut down reshuffle candidate rumors

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Arientha Primanita – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has denied that the names of prospective new ministers have been leaked to the public ahead of a much-discussed cabinet reshuffle.

"The source is not me and I don't know it," Yudhoyono said in a press conference on Tuesday. "Learning from the 2009 [minister selection process] experience, it happened the same. Many parties were outraged even up until now."

The president is planning for a reshuffle before Oct. 20 in the hopes of boosting the performance of his much-derided cabinet ahead of the 2012 campaign season. Already, several names have been bandied about as replacements for underperforming ministers.

Fadel Muhammad is rumored to have been picked to replace the current coordinating minister for people's welfare, Agung Laksono. Other gossip has picked former Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta to replace Freddy Numberi as Transportation Minister.

Other names that have made the rounds lately as potential replacements for ministers are Jumhur Hidayat, head of the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI), as manpower and transmigration minister, and Gita Wirjawan, current chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) who is rumored to be favored to take over the Ministry of State Owned Enterprises.

"I want to say that I don't know about the names, this [person] will be this minister, or this minister will be replaced and others," Yudhoyono said on Tuesday.

The president said he had only discussed the reshuffle plan with Vice President Boediono, and then only to ask his advice. "None of the information was from me," Yudhoyono reiterated. "So they [those names] are beyond my knowledge, and I'm not the source."

The president said he was making the statement due to the number of text messages he had received asking whether the candidate rumors were true.

Ethnic & communal violence

Religious strife a daily reality in Ambon

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2011

Nivell Rayda – A bouquet of freshly picked flowers stands on an unmarked grave in Mangga Dua, Ambon. Darmin Saiman, a motorcycle taxi driver whose controversial death on Sept. 10 brought the city to chaos, lies buried underneath.

The religiously charged riot, which killed a total of eight civilians and displaced hundreds, began the day after Darmin died, with dodgy details and theories about his death fueling the violence.

Darmin was known among his neighbors in the Waihaong Muslim neighborhood as a kind man and devout Muslim. On Sept. 10, he was found drenched in blood and barely alive in the Christian area of Gunung Nona, where Muslims rarely go. His motorcycle was beside him.

Police were quick to say Darmin was a victim of a motorcycle accident at a notoriously deadly section in a the hilly area. He was riding downhill too fast, police said, and lost control as he negotiated a steep curve and slammed into the wall of Yohanes Sahanaya's house before being thrown several meters into a gutter.

But that story seemed to be inconsistent with Darmin's injuries. Why did he have bruises all over his body, and why was there was a wound on his back deep enough to puncture his heart? Even Yohanes claimed to have heard nothing at the time of the incident.

"My police neighbor was first on the scene and found the body. He alerted me that there had been an accident, so I offered to take the man to the hospital in my car," Yohanes said. "He was already in a coma. It looked like he suffered from internal bleeding. Blood was gushing from his nose and mouth. By the time we got to the hospital, he was already dead."

The official explanation of the wound on Darmin's back was that it was caused by the barbed wire atop of Yohanes' wall, according to police. Yohanes' neighbor who found Darmin was never questioned.

Yohanes said he was baffled when the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) presented him with pictures of Darmin's post-mortem examination a week later. "The picture shows stitches running around the top of his left foot. The only injury I found on his foot was a small cut right around his heel," he said.

Yohanes was also shocked to see bruises on Darmin's head, shoulders, lower ribs and stomach. Police never released the results of Darmin's post-mortem to his family.

The battered and lifeless body of Darmin, with his bloody shirt and a hole in his back, were enough to fuel wild speculation.

Some 500 people attended Darmin's funeral on Sept. 11, and soon the rallying cry of "Allah is great" at the grave site were loud enough to agitate residents of nearby Christian sector of Mangga Dua, which was still traumatized by the 1999-2002 sectarian conflict that had pitted Muslims and Christians.

Reymondus Sahertian, a Christian from Kuda Mati, recalled hearing a story that Muslim mourners had harassed and injured a Christian schoolgirl.

He and hundreds of others from Kuda Mati and Batu Gantung, another Christian area, descended on Mangga Dua to confront the mourners about the incident. The meeting quickly degenerated into violence, though hospitals in Ambon said there was no record of a young female patient matching the description of the schoolgirl reportedly attacked by Muslims.

The Maluku branch of the Indonesian Christian University was set on fire, while rocks were hurled at public minivans coming in from Christian areas such as Kuda Mati and Gunung Nona. "We were provoked by the Muslims," Reymondus said.

All but three alleyways, where the Christians reportedly lived, had only skeletons of homes filled with collapsing roofs, charcoal, ashes and burned plastic. The Christian area of Talake, where at least 400 people lived, is now abandoned with its inhabitants taking refuge in the Christian stronghold of Air Putri.

The riot quickly moved downtown to the Silo Church intersection, a buffer zone between the Muslim areas in the southwest and the Christian neighborhoods in the northeast. Amid the chaos, police opened fire on the crowd and injured rioters as well as bystanders. Among the eight fatalities were a 15-year-old and a school teacher.

The following morning, dozens of homes in the Muslim area of Mardika on the other side of town were torched.

Adi Kaimuddin, a resident from the Waringin Muslim neighborhood, said he was defending Muslims from Christian attacks. Hundreds of men descended on his neighborhood, chasing Muslims away while burning and looting their homes.

A curfew has been since been in place as heavily armed soldiers and police guard businesses and homes. "The security presence only makes us more nervous," Adi said. We are eager to restore our lives and come back to our homes, but authorities told us we can't. At the same time, they say everything is under control."

[This report is supported by the Pantau Foundation.]

Suspicions run high in Ambon following recent riots

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2011

Nivell Rayda, Ambon – The road that runs outside the Silo Church in Ambon is normally a one-way street, but for the last several weeks cars and motorbikes have been allowed to travel in both directions as motorists try to avoid the nearby Waringin area.

Tensions remain high in Waringin, the area hit hardest by bloody rioting on Sept. 11 that killed seven people and left 67 injured. The streets are lined with burned-out homes and stores, even down alleyways accessible only by foot or bicycle.

Structures that were spared are now heavily guarded by military and police personnel carrying assault rifles and clad in heavy, bulletproof gear and helmets.

My guide Azis and I were the only two civilians out on the streets after dark. "We should get off the main road," Azis says, making a right turn into a small alleyway away from the barricade of riot-control vehicles.

Azis seems hesitant to pass the Talake area, a Christian neighborhood devastated by the riots. If we continue further down the road, he says, we will be confronted by security officers as police snipers watch us from inside people's homes.

Messages of peace are conveyed through hordes of billboards, banners and graffiti across town that depict the national symbol of unity, the Garuda Pancasila. But to many, particularly those whose properties were torched as well as the relatives of those killed, the words are empty rhetoric.

Memories of the 1999-2002 sectarian conflict in Ambon, which killed 7,000 people, still run deep in the collective psyche of its people. Waringin, a Muslim neighborhood, has already been destroyed and rebuilt twice, making this the third such instance.

"In times like these, people are agitated. We become paranoid of strangers. A misunderstanding can grow into tension, and the next thing you know a riot breaks out," Azis says. "Particularly if you survived the conflicts of the past, the pain of the lives lost starts rushing back."

He describes the past conflict as "a time when everyone "went mad." People, he says, were treated like animals – and butchered like them, too. He confesses to killing a Christian man himself some 10 years earlier. The man, he says, was part of a group that attacked his neighborhood in Mardika.

"I didn't feel a thing when I drove a knife into his chest. It was like I was someone else, possessed by the spirit of a sadistic demon or some sort," Azis says. "I got a taste of what hell must have been like because I have seen his face every day for the rest of my life."

The widening gap Muslims and Christians have always been heavily segregated in the 400-year-old city, dating back to the Dutch colonial era and its policy of "divide and conquer." Not much has changed today. In fact, the bloody conflict widened the rift between both religious groups as people tended to live and mingle among their own.

"Ambon has all the ingredients of a conflict zone," said the Rev. Jacky Maniputty, of the Maranatha Protestant Church. "The city is heavily segregated, there is little public space for people to mingle, the political dynamics are high and it is congested."

The violence in 1999 began as a clash between the native Ambonese and the so-called "BBM" group, short for Bugis, Buton and Makassar, who make up the majority of migrants to the city.

Like the recent riot, rumors exaggerating a trivial event sparked the 1999 conflict. A public minivan driver was killed after refusing to give money to a thief. Both sides claimed to be the victim as the religions and ethnicities of the driver and his killer were widely disputed.

Another factor preceding the deadly rioting of last month was the killing of Ambonese thugs in Jakarta a year earlier. Hundreds of their friends returned to their hometown and wreaked havoc. But the violence failed to escalate into a matter of national security – initially.

"Suddenly, the conflict was perceived as one between religions," human rights advocate Semuel Waileruny said. "Yet Ambonese include both Christians and Muslims, and the bond of common ancestry is so strong that there has never been a problem between the two."

Claims of religious violence in Ambon prompted many Muslims in the country to join the Laskar Jihad, or Warriors of Jihad, in 2000, pledging to retaliate against the Christians for shedding the blood of Muslims.

The militants departed from Surabaya on board a Navy ship with the full support of the government to maintain order and stability.

But their presence only prolonged the conflict and the city deteriorated into a war zone, with smuggled arms – which some believe were supplied by the military – falling into the hands of each side.

The Ambon conflict and another act of religious violence in Poso, Central Sulawesi, led to the fall of then-President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in 2001. Wahid was a well-known pluralist and staunch critic of the military.

Old tactics, old players

The death of a Muslim motorcycle taxi driver in a Christian neighborhood triggered this year's riot. Andreas Harsono, the Indonesian consultant for Human Rights Watch, points to "the roles of disinformation, unverified information, spreading through text messages, photos, videos and gossip" as the root cause behind the clash.

Maniputty says there are similarities between the Sept. 11 riot and past conflicts. "The tactics are the same: distribution of unfounded rumors, unknown provocateurs directing the masses, mysterious shootings and deployment of troops," he says.

He says he is convinced by the way the incident unfolded that there are signs of people who want to see Ambon in disarray.

"First, Ambon is attacked by rumors. If that fails to generate widespread conflict, there are bombs uncovered, first unexploded then exploded. If that doesn't work, there will be corpses dumped by the side of the streets by unidentified men," he says.

So far this year, Ambon has seen at least two of those four signs. Police have found at least four unexploded bombs in recent weeks, including one planted outside Maniputty's church. But finding someone to blame is an exercise in speculation.

One Ambon media outlet reported that the Jakarta administration had devised the riot to make it easier for business interests to infiltrate and exploit the Spice Islands's natural resources. Another theory says Ambon's corrupt leaders engineered the clash so they could benefit heavily from reconstruction projects in the devastated areas.

The Ambon chapter of the Islamic Students Association (HMI) suspects it was meant to scare off investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), who reportedly arrived in Ambon that day to investigate Maluku Governor Karel Ralahalu over allegations of graft. The KPK has denied investigators were in the city that day.

Rights activists accuse the military of profiteering from people and businesses' need for protection. One youth organization claims someone was trying to disrupt its national congress, which was in the city last week. Some conservative Muslims even believe a Zionist agenda is to blame for the chaos.

No matter the theory, no one doubts the recent clash was engineered. Even Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, says there are people who created or at least benefited from the instability of Ambon.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Freedom and Democracy, says the police appear reluctant to move their investigation forward and find the masterminds behind of last month's violence.

"They might think that if they continue the legal process, they could be accused of taking sides, which could lead to more conflict," he says. "They might also think that time will heal the wounds and if the police get actively involved, that might only heat things up."

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam says police have yet to name any suspects. "The investigators are still gathering evidence and giving assurances to the family of the [driver] that [his death] really was an accident," he says.

But Bonar says police need to widen their investigation to identify the root cause of the violence. By limiting their focus to keeping the peace, he adds, they are almost guaranteeing that violence will break out again.

Prior to the latest events, Maniputty had established an interfaith communications forum aimed at countering rumors.

"We gather all of these hate messages and unfounded information and verify them ourselves. Then we disseminate the correct information using the available technology, which we hope can appease a wary public," he says.

Tribal leaders in Maluku have told their people to stay calm and warned that rioters would be expelled from the community. "People are now more selective in receiving information," local rights activist Semuel Waileruny says. "But even then, violence still occurs."

In February 2002, the Malino II Accord between Muslims and Christians was signed, ending years of violence. A "Peace Gong" now sits in the heart of Ambon, a reminder of its violent past.

Without a thorough investigation into how the latest conflict flared up, though, suspicions remain high. "Don't ask why violence broke out again. Ask why the past conflicts are still unresolved," Maniputty says.

[This report is supported by the Pantau Foundation.]

Sports & youth affairs

Flood fears for Palembang SEA games' venue: Walhi

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

Already plagued by delays, mismanagement and a major corruption scandal, November's Southeast Asian Games in Palembang could have a new looming crisis to deal with – flooding.

Hadi Jatmiko from the Palembang branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that the South Sumatra capital had a history flooding during the wet season, which was due to hit ahead of the games.

What is worse, Hadi said, the centerpiece of the controversial games, the Jakabaring Sports City, is built on a former swamp.

"South Sumatra is approaching the end of a long dry season and according to the BMKG [the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency] the rainy season will start at the end of October," Hadi said.

"Flooding is expected, including at the SEA Games venue, because last year alone Palembang was hit by floods 48 times. It was an ecological disaster." Hadi said Walhi had vehemently opposed the construction of the stadium where the event would be held because they believed the construction would cause worsen flooding in the city.

"They built the stadium on a swamp area without regard to the Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) or Bylaw 5/2008 about swamps."

He said the bylaw required developers to leave parts of the area as swampland and to construct buildings with foundations that allowed the swamp to function as a water catchment area.

He advised the local government to prepare for major flooding events. "The government must make sure they have a stand-by SAR [Search and Rescue] team to help with the evacuation when the city is inundated and they must improve the drainage system by building retention ponds immediately," he said.

Officials confident despite SEA games delays

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

With just 38 days until the Southeast Asian Games open, organizers are still struggling to finish the preparations in time.

Several venues in Palembang, such as the athletics stadium, aquatics center, beach volleyball arena and baseball field, are still far from finished.

Co-host Jakarta does not have as many worries as it only needed to renovate existing venues, though the slow progress on Cipule Lake – which will host the rowing events – in Karawang, West Java, has been a cause for concern.

However, Andi Mallarangeng, the minister of sports and youth affairs, and SEA Games organizing committee (Inasoc) chairwoman Rita Subowo shrugged off any worries and expressed confidence in the preparations.

"We are 100 percent ready to host the Games," Andi said on Monday. "All the venues in Jakarta are ready except for some finishing touches in Cipule, and I was told all the Palembang venues will also be ready in time."

The minister, who earlier this year said all Games venues would be finished by August, said he would inspect the progress in Palembang on Wednesday.

Rita voiced optimism after a meeting with Vice President Boediono, saying everything was going according to plan.

"I was told that the sand for the beach volleyball venues from Bangka has arrived at Jakabaring. The aquatics center is still a mess, but hopefully it will be finished in time," she said on Monday.

"We had to move the bowling to another venue because the new arena won't be finished in time, but it will still be in Palembang. We're optimistic all will go well and we'll be a good host."

Inasoc received a block grant of Rp 518.7 billion ($58.1 million) from the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs on Sept. 27, but Rita said organizers had yet to see the money.

Andi said his office was working to release the funds. "Our team is still examining list of goods and services that Inasoc needs, especially those that won't go through an open auction process as required by law," he said. "We have agreed on 11 items and are still verifying others."

Bureaucratic delays had held up funding before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a regulation last week that sped up its distribution. It allowed Inasoc to bypass laws that require open auctions for government projects with budgets larger than Rp 200 million, giving it the power to directly appoint businesses with approval from the ministry. (Antara, JG)

Armed forces & defense

Military getting away with murder, activists claim

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

Ronna Nirmala – Human rights lawyers are using the occasion of the Indonesian Military's 66th anniversary today to highlight what they say is the need to reform the institution's "untouchable" legal status.

The latest case of military inaction over the murder of a civilian by one of its own has again illustrated what is a longstanding problem, they say.

It has been four months since a member of the Indonesian Military (TNI) was accused of killing Pardamean Tampubolon, the manager of a cafe in Cibubur, East Jakarta. Yet there have been few if any steps taken to prosecute the case.

"[Military Police] have only identified one suspect, Chandra Sakti of the 17th Infantry Brigade, even though the victim was attacked by more than one person that night," Saibun M., from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), said on Tuesday.

The investigation by the military has not been transparent, he said, and the family has yet to receive any information on developments in the case. "Meanwhile there are 10 TNI members that could be asked to give evidence about the murder that night," he said.

Pardamean was stabbed in the heart outside the cafe he managed in June by a man he had asked not to smoke on the dance floor. He left behind a wife and 3-year-old child.

After the killing, Pardamean's home was visited by a number of TNI officers who gave the family about Rp 7 million ($785) in "bereavement money."

But when the victim's brother, Yuli Edy, visited the Military Police office in Cijantung, also in East Jakarta, and spoke to the officer in charge, Capt. Nova, about the case, he received little information.

Frustrated by the military's apparent inaction, the family on Monday took the case to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

This is not the first case of civilians running afoul of off-duty military personnel, according to the commission.

"The case of Pardamean Tampubolon is just the latest in a long list involving the TNI," said Jhonny Simanjuntak, a Komnas HAM commissioner. Such cases can only be dealt with legally by the military itself, he added.

"Attempts at law enforcement against TNI members end in an impasse, and it is very difficult to hope for anything from the military justice system," he said.

Even when crimes are committed by soldiers outside the context of their duties, they are not dealt with according to general norms of criminal law.

"Whenever a TNI member is involved in violence against civilians, the legal process takes place in a military court, where punishments are much lighter than in a regular court," said Poengky Indarti, executive director of human rights watchdog Imparsial.

"For a serious crime, it is not uncommon for a soldier to get one to two years in jail, when criminal law recommends up to 10 years. Not to mention that cases take ages and often disappear completely without a clear resolution." The TNI needs to make itself more responsive to the needs of civil security, Jhonny said. "This represents a challenge for military reform," he said.

Some observers believe it is a challenge the military is not up to, and have asked the House of Representatives to step in and force change on the TNI.

Sri Suparyati, head of law and human rights at the nongovernmental Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said reform was needed to break the cycle of impunity that persists in disputes between civilians and the TNI.

The first step is to revise the 1997 Law on Military Justice, Sri said. A draft was debated last year, but talks ended in deadlock, apparently because of tensions between the TNI and the House, according to Sri.

Sri said the TNI had passed a number of internal regulations in recent years, but that real change was still elusive. "For example, in 2010 there were new rules made specifically on the use of torture, however in reality the new policies are still unjust, especially toward civilians," she said.

Civil society has to be more critical, Sri said, noting that there should be no body in the country that is beyond civilian control. "We must not allow this phenomenon where the TNI is considered 'untouchable.' The people must be willing to come together to oppose injustices perpetrated by rogue TNI members," she said.

Al-Araf, a researcher at Imparsial, also questioned the intentions of House Commission I, which oversees defense and foreign affairs, in debating the draft law on military justice.

"How could they finish debating the draft intelligence law so fast when they've had the military justice law under discussion since last year with no end in sight?" he said.

Indonesia's TNI turns 66, but has the military matured?

ABC Radio Australia - October 5, 2011

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono has asked the Indonesian military to cooperate with National Police, in efforts to fight terrorism. President Yudhoyono was speaking during celebrations of the 66th anniversary of the Indonesian military or TNI.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyers in Jakarta have been using the occasion to highlight what they say is the need to reform what they call the TNI's "untouchable status".

So ten years since the military's political role was formally removed by parliament, does the TNI still wield much influence and have successive civilian governments shown themselves capable of running the nation?

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speaker: Dr David Bourchier, lecturer in Asian Studies, University of Western Australia

Bourchier: If you're asking whether the civilian governments have been effective, I'd have to say, not particularly. And when civilian presidents have been in power since the fall of Suharto, the military has looked more edgy and more uncomfortable and perhaps more assertive, or more threatening. Since the election of Susilo Bambang Yudhyono, they haven't been flexing their muscles politically. That's probably because they're not particularly unhappy with the situation, having a general in power. I mean, I shouldn't say that Susilo Bambang Yudhyono is there as a military man, because really, he's not. But certainly, the military feels more comfortable with somebody like him, in power than not.

Lam: Have civilian institutions consolidated their power and influence, now that the TNI has taken a political backseat?

Bourchier: Yes, I think you could say that that certainly happened. There was a discourse, if you like, under the Suharto regime, that civilians were really not up to the job and that it always took a military backbone, which was in the background, to hold the government together and indeed, to hold the whole country together. That kind of discourse has diminished and there's more self-confidence I think, and more capacity in the civilian organisations, and so, there's not a valid argument that the civilians can't run the country properly.

Lam: So how much has Indonesian invested in the military? For example, it's been pointed out that Indonesia's population is almost 246-million, but the overall military strength is something in the region of 400-thousand... is that figure extremely small, in view of Indonesia's wide and huge territorial spread?

Bourchier: Not particularly actually, but I think that the army is actually a reasonable size but the navy and air force are certainly very undersized and under-resourced and for a country, archipelagic nation as big as Indonesia, you would imagine that the navy and the air force ought to be a little stronger than the army. So traditionally, the army has played more of an internal security function, that's probably why the army is so large. But certainly, if you're asking about the navy and the air force, um, the navy's only got I think, 74-thousand people in it, and the air force, 35- thousand or so... and they're quite under-resourced.

Lam: What do you make of human rights lawyers' claims that reform is still very slow within the TNI, the Indonesian military, especially in its higher echelons – that they're still largely untouchable and sections of the military are still acting with impunity. Do you think that is a fair observation?

Bourchier: Yes, there was a report that came out in 2010 by Human Rights Watch which made that point very clearly. I think that's quite justified. I think the military have not bowed to pressure from the Parliament, to punish high-ranking officers for human rights abuses that were conducted in the past.

Lam: Is that a particularly difficult task, to reform the Indonesian TNI?

Bourchier: Yes, it's not easy at all. It's been referred to in the past as "a state within a state" and they're very jealous about the powers that they do have. When there've been civilian Presidents in the past, who have tried to interfere and to make sure that certain people are appointed or not appointed, the military's been very jealous about preserving the right to do that, to conduct its own affairs.

All military people in Indonesia who commit offences are actually tried by the military, and that's one of the problems in bringing military people to justice, because it's a completely internal process. That's something that the United States and certainly, the Indonesian parliament, should've been putting more pressure on the Indonesian military to bring those military people who commit crimes, to a cvilian jurisdiction.

The one area where Indonesian military abuses have been probably the worst in the last ten years, have been in Papua, especially in the last five years, have been in Papua, where they've been fighting a low-level insurgency there for quite a long time. There've been alot of incidents there, which would deserve quite a lot of attention from the courts, but have received very little so far. So that's really the area where the lack of action on the part of the military towards human rights abuses, has been most evident.

Indonesia pledges to raise defense spending

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2011

Arientha Primanita, Ezra Sihite & Faisal Baskoro – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the Indonesian military on its 66th anniversary that the government will continue to raise the defense budget.

"In the coming years, we will continue to increase the defense budget so that our military posture becomes stronger, and so the mission of upholding state sovereignty and safeguarding our territorial integrity can be undertaken in an effective way," Yudhoyono said.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the Armed Forces (TNI) anniversary, Yudhoyono said the new funds will help modernize the country's weaponry equipment and enhance the welfare of TNI soldiers, their families and civilian staff members.

The president said the defense budget will increase by more than 35 percent to Rp 66.4 trillion ($7.5 billion) in the draft budget for 2012. The funds will enable the armed forces to continue rejuvenation and modernization efforts, improving the quality of maintenance and the readiness of weaponry systems.

"Efforts to modernize, develop, replace and maintain weaponry equipment are very important to produce a TNI with a high deterrent capacity – an army capable of effectively conducting its operational duties," he said.

Yudhoyono also called on the military to work with the National Police and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to prevent and handle terrorism cases.

"Activate the TNI territorial command in safeguarding security in the regions," he said, referring to a military network system that extends all the way to the subdistrict level.

He said that although the police are responsible for security and public order, TNI should also help prevent terrorism and separatism, especially in the early detection and early warning stages.

Military intelligence, he said, should be active in this field. "The state should not lose and must win against terrorism," Yudhoyono said.

TNI should also collaborate with other national organizations and committees. "We need to step up our cooperation with the other components of the nation in overcoming potential challenges, including global warming, environmental pollution, pandemics, cyber crimes and the potential of foreign military aggression," Yudhoyono said.

Susaningtyas Kertopati, a member of the House of Representatives Commission I, which oversees defense affairs, said the TNI faced complex problems and must adjust accordingly, including through reforms.

She said that while there were still cases of soldiers perpetuating violence and human rights violations, she believes the incidents are not institutionally driven but rather are the acts of individuals.

"I am certain these human rights violations are mostly human errors and the deeds of some individuals, but they still have to be handled," she said.

Critics have said that while the military has reformed and distanced itself from politics, human rights violations continue to mire its image. Only a few of the perpetrators have been tried in court, critics say, and their sentences – issued by the military tribunal – are often very lenient compared to sentences issued in civilian courts.

Among the guests attending the TNI anniversary ceremony, which was held at army headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, was South Korean TV heartthrob Hyun Bin, who is currently on military duty.

Hyun Bin, famous for his role in the TV series "Secret Garden," wore a Korean Marine uniform at the anniversary ceremony and joined the South Korean military attache. The actor is in Indonesia to promote Korean defense industry exports.

Nation's waters are being left vulnerable: Imparsial

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

Ronna Nirmala – As the world's biggest archipelago, Indonesia is being urged to expand its maritime defense capacity.

The Armed Forces (TNI), which celebrate their 66th anniversary today, should have at least 300 battleships to protect Indonesia's 7.9 million square kilometers of water, the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) said on Tuesday.

"Indonesia only has 148 battleships, and 50 percent of them are 21 to 60 years old, so that means most of the ships that Indonesia has are already outdated," Imparsial researcher Al Araf said.

"At the moment, our Navy can only protect 30 percent of Indonesian waters." Araf said security for the country's maritime border area should be its defense focus, adding that Indonesia was vulnerable to crimes such as smuggling of illegal timber and arms, drugs and human trafficking as well as border disputes.

The Imparsial researcher said the radar at the Navy base in Sebatik island, off the eastern coast of Kalimantan near the Malaysian border, has not been operational for the past nine months. "The damaged radar must be taken seriously considering there are often disputes between Indonesia and Malaysia," he said.

The military, Araf said, should build a road map for reinforcing Indonesia's maritime defenses.

"The TNI was once considered a well-respected military force in Asia, but over time it has been preoccupied with non-defense issues and concentrated on participating in politics, particularly during the New Order era," Imparsial executive director Poengky Indarti said, referring to the 32-year reign of former President Suharto.

The TNI, she said, should return to its original function as the protector of Indonesia's sovereignty. "Right now, our defense system is weak with insufficient weaponry. There is an abundance of cases of trespassing and trafficking," Poengky said. Imparsial said areas off Kalimantan needed to be reinforced.

Lengthy, costly arms deals put TNI firepower at risk

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2011

Nani Afrida and Hasyim Widhiarto – Around 50 top military brass, arms vendors and officials from several ministries gathered at the Defense Ministry in mid-September to hammer out decisions on the long-planned purchase of submarines, battle tanks and howitzer cannons.

The meeting was led by Defense Ministry secretary-general Air Marshal Eris Haryanto, who said in his opening speech that the regular quarterly meeting was aimed at reducing the red tape and other obstacles in building the national defense.

However, because the procurement problems are so entrenched, the six-hour meeting resulted in no substantial conclusions.

"[There is] still a long way to go. We're forming a working group for selecting the overseas vendors who will cooperate with us," Eris said after the meeting.

The meeting highlighted just how lengthy and cumbersome the arms procurement process was – with deals often getting lost in a labyrinth of bureaucracy.

An expensive arms procurement order could require 30 months-worth of paperwork simply to determine which country would be the supplier, Eris said. The process to purchase four submarines has been ongoing for more than five years, while the purchase of a Sukhoi fighter jet squadron (approximately 12 jets) is now in its seventh year.

Aside from financial constraints and bureaucracy, other factors are also at play, including political interests and deep-rooted brokerage practices involving business players and fee-seeking officials.

The latest political showdown revolved around several legislators' opposition to the US's recent offer to sell two squadrons of second-hand F-16 fighter jets at a steep discount.

However, the Air Force was not able to process the purchase, as it had to wait for approval from the legislators, which was not likely to come anytime soon.

"Our opposition to the F-16s deal comes from the past trauma of the US arms embargo," said legislator T.B. Hasanuddin of the House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense, intelligence and foreign affairs.

The US applied an arms embargo from 1992 to 2005 following violence in the former Indonesian province of Timor Leste. The embargo crippled the Air Force, which was largely comprised of US-made aircraft.

While settling the political side of things is a matter of negotiation, the Defense Ministry and the TNI are confronted with a more challenging obstacle: rooting out the fee-seekers who impose staggering inefficiencies on the procurement process.

The defense budget is set at Rp 45 trillion (US$5.04 billion) this year, less than 1 percent of the gross domestic product. On top of that, Rp 99 trillion is earmarked through 2014 to pay for a primary defense system and its maintenance.

Prior to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration, sales commissions for top TNI officials, dealers and high-ranking civil officials could be as high as 40 percent of the total procurement budget, according to former defense minister Juwono Sudarsono, who served between 2004 and 2009.

"We can only reduce procurement markups at the Defense Ministry, the TNI and the chiefs of staff headquarters, but we cannot eliminate them entirely," he said.

"I warned all chiefs of staff that I could tolerate "market price" fees for arms procurements – say between 8 and 10 percent commissions – but I would not tolerate 30 to 40 percent markups as in the past."

The Defense Ministry issued a procurement regulation in 2006 that was aimed in part at squashing the fee-seeking business. However, the regulation only increased the amount of red tape while failing to curb misconduct.

"We're planning to revise the regulation so we can streamline the procurement process in just 18 months" Eris said.

The ministry has also set up a high-level joint committee involving the Finance Ministry and the National Development Planning Agency to supervise the procurement process.

Since 2005, the ministry has explored ways of plugging loopholes vulnerable to graft and fee-seeking, but so far the results have been minimal. Deputy Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin insisted there were no such fee-seeking or brokerage practices in arms procurement.

"I've never met any brokers. What do they look like? We have a tight supervision mechanism in place. We negotiate directly with the arms vendors or with the host governments for the purchases," he said. "The final decision gets approved by the procurement evaluation team."

However, senior arms dealer Soeryo Guritno said no changes had been made to the supervision system. "Everything is still the same. Fee-seeking officials still roam around to take advantage of the arms purchases," Soeryo said.

Aside from the top TNI brass, legislators also allegedly pursued procurement fees through their duty of approving budgets for projects in the field.

Juwono said he challenged all 10 party factions in the House in 2007 to be transparent and to identify who in each party had been assigned to collect "mark-up fees" from suppliers.

"They [party representatives] came to the ministry to protest, asking me to provide proof of their misconduct. In the end, each of the party representatives privately acknowledged that it was their job to garner markup fees from each procurement project processed through the House."

Legislator Effendi Choirie, who has been on Commission I since 1999, strongly denied that his fellow legislators were involved in any fee- seeking or procurement markups.

But legislator Hasanuddin admitted that several legislators had found "business opportunities" from their knowledge of the defense budget. Hasanuddin refused to comment on whether he was also involved in such practices.

"The legislators usually collect fees by mediating deals between companies and the TNI for providing spare parts, maintenance or other supporting military services. But as long as it is done after the budget is finalized, I think it is a normal practice," said Hasanuddin, who was also former president Megawati Soekarnoputri's military secretary.

Buying the right to snap up arms contracts

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2011

Nani Afrida and Hasyim Widhiarto – The seemingly bohemian appearance of Soeryo Guritno, 68, is not the well-dressed and cunning arms dealer as played by actor Nicholas Cage in the film The Lord of War.

Nor is Soeryo comparable with the notorious post-Soviet era arms dealer, Victor Bout, a Russian who is allegedly supplying illegal arms to war-torn countries. Soeryo's business is completely legal and has been around for almost two decades.

His company, PT Novanindro International, is among seven companies in Indonesia that broker overseas arms supplies to the Indonesian Military (TNI). Soeryo's credentials include an arrangement to supply Russian AK-47 assault rifles to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

And now Soeryo is a member of an exclusive club that could serve to link the TNI's top brass with arms dealers in Russia, now Indonesia's largest suppliers of weaponry.

In 2007, Soeryo helped to broker an arms deal between Indonesia and Russia worth US$5 billion. As part of the deal, Indonesia will purchase 16 Sukhoi SU-35 jet fighters, eight Sukhoi SU-30 jet fighters, eight Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighters, two secondhand submarines and several helicopters.

"A broker functions more or less in the same way as a lobbyist," Soeryo said. "Their job is to assure the government that their product is the best on the market." "Only a few players know the tricks of the trade and have access to the kind of business that involves billions of dollars worth of transactions. In this business, if you can secure one deal, you won't need to work for the rest of your life."

But to secure that deal, a broker must go through the painstaking process of approaching decision-makers in the TNI and Defense Ministry and then taking care to ensure that they receive hefty commissions and are entertained.

Arms dealers usually receive firsthand information on military procurement planning, even before the authorities make it public. Soeryo usually offers his products to the planning and budgeting section of the military.

"TNI officers will find it difficult to procure the equipment directly without our help. For example, we can speak fluent foreign languages and have the capability to finance their trips to the vendor factories located overseas," said Soeryo.

"We can also find ways of obtaining export-import credit facilities. This is part of the deal because our state budget is not sufficient to cover the arms procurement," he said.

The facilities then undergo a lengthy red-tape process at the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and the Finance Ministry for approval.

If the facilities are approved, the dealer then pays upfront for the ordered weaponry while waiting for the Finance Ministry to disburse the required money to the Defense Ministry.

According to Soeryo, the Defense Ministry and the TNI rarely open up a bidding process for arms procurement because the specification of the required arms usually aligns with the weapon specification of dealers.

The allocated budget for the procurement is usually inflated to cover travel costs associated with huge numbers of top brass visiting the country of the dealers. This includes costs related to commissions and entertainment, said Soeryo.

A longtime arms dealer, who refused to be named, said that while the government's pledge to overhaul the procurement system was transparent and accountable, in reality nothing was being reformed and the situation was even getting worse.

"The business turns uglier because now we have to feed more officers and officials along the way to secure the contracts," said the dealer.

Former Air Force chief of staff Chief Air Marshal Chappy Hakim said the role of the brokers was so entrenched that it would be extremely difficult to phase out.

According to Chappy in his recent book Indonesian Defense, brokers and recalcitrant officers even played a role in maintenance projects, including in procuring spare parts for Hercules cargo aircraft.

The spare parts, he said, were supposed to be supplied directly by the US authorities with the Indonesian Defense Ministry functioning as the broker. But some private groups had somehow intervened in the process and turned the procurement into a profitable business.

Legislators from the House of Representatives' Commission I, which oversees defense, intelligence, and foreign affairs, believed dealers had been involved from the very beginning of the budgeting process at the House. The dealers are involved with almost all divisions and parties responsible for the deliberation of annual defense budget proposal.

Defense industries: Waking up the slumbering giants

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Nani Afrida and Hasyim Widhiarto – Indonesia may be Southeast Asia's biggest economy. But the nation's status as a regional military power has dissipated.

The Indonesian Military's (TNI) strength was at its peak in the 1960s, when the nation forced the Dutch to give up their claim to the resource-rich region of West Irian, now the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Then president Sukarno developed the TNI with foreign aid and equipment, principally from the former Soviet Union, turning the TNI into Asia's second most powerful military, behind the People's Liberation Army in China.

"The Indonesian Military had an effective deterrent. Without such a powerful force, our history might have gone in a different direction," former Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal (ret.) Chappy Hakim said.

The TNI could boast of the air superiority and long-range strike capability of its many Soviet-made state-of-the-art MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighter jets and TU-16 bombers, Chappy said, as well of its fleet of Soviet-made warships and submarines.

However, a reliance on Soviet-made equipment kept Indonesia's defense industry in its infancy – despite a history of domestic production dating to the 19th century, when the Dutch created companies such as NV de Broom, NV de Vulcaan and NV de Industrie to arm its colonial forces.

Not long after gaining independence on Aug. 17, 1945, Indonesia, under the leadership of prime minister Djuanda Kartawijaya, nationalized local Dutch arms companies. The policy made way for the establishment of state-owned defense companies such as PN Boma, PN Bisma, PN Indra, PN Barata and PN Sabang Merauke.

The companies were an embryo for the eventual development of 10 state defense companies, including aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia, shipyard PT PAL Indonesia, arms maker PT Pindad and explosives maker PT Dahana.

Other non-weapon strategic companies include steel maker PT Krakatau Steel, heavy equipment company PT Barata Indonesia, diesel and machinery company PT Boma Bisma Indra, train maker PT INKA, telecommunication company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia and electronic component maker PT LEN Industri.

However, it was not until the mid-1970s that Indonesia's defense industries were professionally managed. Then president Soeharto handpicked a genius – German-educated aeronautical scientist Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie – to plan and develop the industrialization of the nation with full assistance from the West.

In 1974, at the age of 38, Habibie was named a presidential advisor for technology. Four years later, he was made minister of research and technology, a position he held for 20 years before his appointment as vice president in 1998.

Under Habibie's management, 10 strategic industries were consolidated under a single organization, the Strategic Industry Regulatory Body (BPIS), in 1989 to "build and develop the country's defense industry as well as defense and security sovereignty".

Habibie also had an ambitious goal to bolster the nation's maritime and aviation industries by 2015.

With support from state budget, Habibie's huge investments in Pindad, PAL and IPTN (Dirgantara's previous name) reaped benefits in the early 1990s, as local companies designed and produced the CN-235 cargo plane and the N- 250 passenger aircraft, warships and various rifles and types of ammunition. However, the TNI also went on a shopping spree, buying weapons systems from Western countries, including the US, the UK, Germany and France.

The move was driven by the personal interests of TNI officers, who pocketed fees from arms brokers employed by foreign arms companies. Several weapon systems that might have been supplied by domestic producers were ordered from overseas vendors.

The TNI's unwritten doctrine during the Soeharto era that placed the Army ahead of the Air Force and the Navy was also hampering the development of shipyards and aviation companies that might have been more useful in protecting an archipelago comprised of 17,000 islands and spanning more than 1.9 million square kilometers.

Budget constraints imposed by the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis and the absence of a grand design for defense and industrialization after Soeharto's fall have continued to plague the TNI and the nation's defense industries. Worse, the TNI currently relies heavily on foreign arms suppliers, leaving local companies with underdeveloped core competencies due to limited orders.

"This unhealthy reliance has left our country prone to military embargoes, just as the US and European Union did to us in 1999," legislator T.B. Hasanuddin, deputy chairman of The House of Representatives' Commission I overseeing defense, said.

Hasanuddin referred to the western embargo of arms and spare parts sales to Indonesia following allegations of human rights abuse committed by the TNI in the former province of East Timor, now Timor Leste.

The International Monetary Fund, which provided financial aid to Indonesia during the crisis, also instructed Indonesia in 1998 to end its financial support of what it called inefficient local high-technology companies, leading to the dissolution of the BPIS.

The government's move to save the 10 strategic companies through establishing a holding company, PT Bahana Pakarya Industri Strategis, in 1998, had no significant impact.

Following the company's liquidation in 2002, the companies have operated independently under the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry. Most of the companies are currently in an unhealthy state due to mismanagement, bad loans and limited capital.

PAL and Dirgantara, for instance, are striving to get rid of loans that have haunted their businesses for more than a decade, while Pindad, although having secured a small profit, is far from a prosperous company.

The government's preference for importing arms, coupled with unscrupulous officials, has also contributed to the fall of the nation's defense industries and created disorientation in the defense system.

"Nowadays, our weapons system management is chaotic. We use a lot of different models for our defense systems: local, US, Russian and Chinese systems," Chappy said. "Not only that it is more costly but also it requires more technicians to learn the different systems."

The prioritization of the Army has also remained, meaning the TNI is focused on domestic security and not deterrence or power projection. The Army regularly absorbs almost half the TNI's budget, receiving Rp 21.5 trillion (US$2.38 billion) of the military's Rp 44 trillion budget for 2010 alone.

This has affected funding for new warships and fighter jets, which Chappy said should be prioritized.

"Our defense industry is always tied to our defense policy. Since the Army is always a priority, we don't expect companies like PAL and Dirgantara to get a lot of orders. Our defense policy is basically saying let the enemies come and we'll beat them in our house, instead of preventing them stepping into our yard," Chappy said.

Should the military really prioritize homemade arms?

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

The Indonesian Military (TNI) celebrates its 66th anniversary today amid a glimmer of hope that an expected revivial of the country's long-neglected defense industry will allow it to boost its primary defense systems.

Hopes are high that current restructuring programs will help revitalize state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia, shipyard PT PAL and weapons producer PT Pindad.

The programs have been supplemented with a planned bill that will force local institutions, particularly the TNI and the National Police, to procure weaponry from the state companies.

Under the bill, the two institutions could be exempt from the current obligation to hold tenures to procure weaponry, if it opts to purchase from local companies.

But critics remain cautious over the efforts amid entrenched brokering practices that lure many officers into fee-seeking businesses by approving overseas purchases for weaponry that could actually be made by local companies.

"In some cases, we were better than overseas companies. But we didn't get the orders as we could not provide 'commissions' and overseas leisure trips for the top brass," said an executive with a state defense company.

'Second-hand' boost for Indonesia's air defense

Straits Times - October 4, 2011

John McBeth – Indonesian Air Force officers will soon be shopping in the Arizona desert, picking out two squadrons of mothballed F-16C/D fighter jets from America's aircraft 'boneyard', to beef up their country's paper- thin air defenses.

The 30 aircraft will come free of charge. But six of them will be cannibalized for their parts. The Indonesians are expected to spend US$400 million to US$600 million (S$520 million to S$780 million) equipping the rest with advanced avionics and weaponry and buying 28 Pratt and Whitney engines.

Settling for second-hand fighters, formerly in service with the US Air Force and Air National Guard, is probably Indonesia's best option at this point, given its limited defense budget, which continues to linger at just over 1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

By comparison, Singapore's defense spending for this year to next year amounts to 4.5 per cent of GDP. Malaysia forks out 2.5 per cent.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently signed off on US$11 billion in baseline defense spending between last year and 2014 to modernize and maintain the military's primary defense systems. Two-thirds of the money is earmarked for new equipment.

With the F-16 acquisition approval process still wending its way through the United States Congress, Indonesia's Parliament is putting the brakes on the deal until it satisfies itself that the Defense Ministry is not going back to relying on the US as a single supplier of military hardware.

Indonesia has adopted a diversification policy since the 1992-2005 US arms embargo. This was triggered by violent events in Timor Leste, which left the air force without a genuine deterrent capability and unable to respond effectively to the 2004 Aceh tsunami disaster.

Critics question why greater priority is not being given to maritime reconnaissance aircraft, ocean-going patrol craft and transport planes, but protecting a nation's air space is a source of pride for a military – and a president – concerned about national sovereignty.

Both of Indonesia's closest neighbors have more front-line muscle, with Singapore boasting six squadrons of advanced F-15SGs and F-16C/Ds and Malaysia equipped with a squadron of F/A-18s and a squadron each of Russian-built Su-30s and MiG-29s.

Indonesia's sparse inventory includes 10 aging F-16 A/Bs, only six of which are believed to be operational, and a similar number of Su-27SKMs and Su- 30MKs acquired over the past seven years to fill a glaring hole in its air defense umbrella.

The air force intends to refurbish the existing F-16s and purchase six more of the Russian fighters, but analysts dismiss as fanciful Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro's statement last year that it will eventually buy at least 180 of the planes.

While the twin-engine Russian fighters, with their 3,000km combat range, make tactical sense for an archipelagic state, they are costly to maintain and their engine life is reputedly only about half that of an F-16.

The Indonesians are expected to do most of their shopping at Arizona's Davis-Monthan air force base, where the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group maintains 4,200 aircraft, some dating back to World War II.

The desert's high altitude and arid conditions allow rows of buttoned-up military aircraft at the sprawling 1,050ha facility to be stored outside for long periods without serious risk of corrosion.

Delivery of the newly refurbished F-16s will likely begin in 2014 and take about three years to complete. By that time, Indonesia is also expected to have acquired the 14 extra radars needed to provide an effective early- warning screen across the country.

In the longer term, Indonesia and South Korea have agreed to jointly develop the KF-X, a new supersonic multi-role fighter with stealth capabilities and a range double that of the F-16, which is scheduled to enter service with the two air forces in 2025.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed last year, Indonesia will buy 50 of the single-seat, twin-engine fighters and contribute to 20 per cent of the $4.1 billion development cost.

Aircraft manufacturer Indonesian Aerospace, which began life as IPTN under then President Suharto's New Order regime, anticipates playing a role in the development phase and perhaps in the joint manufacturing.

Just how long it will take to get the military up to speed on modernization can be seen in the slow progress being made in adding to the air force's fleet of 10 serviceable C-130 cargo planes, essential to moving troops to trouble spots and supplies to areas hit by the country's frequent natural disasters.

Indonesia needs as many as 14 extra planes, with indications that the Royal Australian Air Force will offer to turn over some of the 12 C-130Hs remaining in its inventory when they are retired from service in 2013.

Clearly, the US embargo took a damaging toll on the old Indonesian workhorses. The first C-130 sent to an Oklahoma facility for refurbishment a year ago was so riddled with corrosion that repairing the frame alone ate up the entire budget.

TNI still commits violence, says Kontras

Tempo Interactive - October 3, 2011

Kartika Candra, Jakarta – The Indonesian military are still involved in cases of abuse, the Commission for Missing Persons & Victims of Violence (Kontras) announced before the Indonesian military's 66th anniversary on October 5.

Between July and September, Kontras recorded 16 cases of abuse, 15 shootings, five cases of intimidation, 11 cases of maltreatment and two murders.

In Papua, Kontras said that military violence had killed 23 people, including 22 civilians. The violence also injured 8 military personnel and 10 civilians.

The commission said the violence in Tambua, Nusa Tenggara, killed a man named Charles Mali on March 13. According to Kontras, the military has used violence in land disputes in several areas. A shooting took place in Kebumen on April 16, while similar incidents also took place in Alas Tlogo, East Java, and Rumpin, Bogor.

Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said the military still employs terror, threats and force to make retired soldiers leave their official homes. In Jakarta, efforts to clear these homes have been conducted since December last year.

According to Haris, the military is trying to improve its credibility and professionalism. "That should be appreciated," he said, adding that its reform agenda must also be carried out.

In regard to Kontras' assessment, the military has not given an official response.

Military tribunals 'must not' judge civilian torture cases

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2011

Jakarta – An activist says military courts should not revue human rights abuse allegations levied against Indonesian Military (TNI) members in dozens of unresolved torture cases involving civilians.

Haris Azhar, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that military tribunals lack independence and cannot provide fair trials.

"Kontras recorded at least eight military-involved incidents of violence in Papua between July and September, killing 23 people, and severely injuring 18 others," Haris said in a press statement released on Sunday in advance of the TNI's 66th anniversary.

The commission also recorded allegations of violence allegedly perpetrated by TNI members in Kebumen, Central Java.

In most cases, military tribunals were closed to the public, preventing the victims of human rights violations from obtaining justice, he said.

For example, the TNI members convicted in connection to the death of Charles Mali while in detention at the Army's 744th Battalion headquarters in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), were all sentenced to less than one year in prison by the Kupang Military Court.

In a separate incident, the Jayapura Military Court sent three soldiers to jail in January for less than a year each for torturing two Papuans, despite critics who claimed that the torture comprised a serious abuse of human rights.

"If the House of Representatives and the government manages to revise the Military Tribunal Law, then we hope that it will ensure that military courts only judge military violations, while human rights violations would be tried separately at the Human Rights Court," Haris said. The TNI had used military courts to avoid the Human Rights Court, Haris said.

The House of Representatives said it would not revise the Military Tribunal Law this year, after failing to pass revisions during legislative sessions between 2005 and 2008.

On its official website, the Defense Ministry said deliberations on the Military Tribunal Law were not a priority due to the political situation.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on the website that his current priorities were bills on defense industry revitalization, national security, and state security, adding that revising the Military Tribunal Law would be his next priority.

"The delay would benefit the ministry, as it has a longer time to complete the bill's draft, by accommodating experts though, and gathering input," he said. (rpt)

Judicial & legal system

Indonesia to provide lawyers for accused in courts

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

Ezra Syarief & Ulma Haryanto – Every defendant will be accompanied by a lawyer throughout the legal process, the House of Representatives promised with the passage of a legal aid law on Tuesday.

"Of the new law's goals, the first is to assure and fulfill the rights for legal aid recipients to gain access to justice," said deputy chairman of the house legislation body Sunardi Ayub.

The law defines "legal aid recipients" as underprivileged people in a legal dispute in a civil, criminal or administrative court as well as those involved in non-litigation matters outside court.

Sunardi said the legislation aimed to fulfill the constitutional right of every citizen of equality before the law. "Third, it warrants fair distribution to legal aid providers in all regions, and fourth, to have an effective, efficient, and accountable judiciary," Sunardi said.

The law defines "legal aid provider" as an agency or community organization that provides legal aid services that meet certain requirements. Under the legal aid bill, these groups will be eligible for new state funding. Legal aid should be supported by the government, Sunardi said.

"In this regard, [legal aid institutions] should be the concern of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights," Sunardi said. "The funding of such legal assistance shall be funded from state coffers."

However, the law does not require that legal aid institutions limit their funding to that received by the state. "Aside from the state budget, funding for legal aid institutions can also come from grants, donations and other legitimate sources," Sunardi said.

Details of the operations of the new funding plan will be spelled out in an upcoming ministerial decree, Sunardi said. Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said the government was seeking public input on the funding structure in a bid to maximise transparency.

However, Nurkholis Hidayat, director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta), was disappointed the bill did not introduce wider changes. "The law overlooked the larger purpose of legal aid institutions, which is to work for the interests of justice. It does not only mean the poor," he said.

LBH Jakarta, he said, worked not only for the poor but also for those who are marginalized. "This means women, children, people criminalized by the system, minority groups, transsexuals," he said. "They all need legal aid."

Nurkholis feared that the new law would lead to legal aid institutions working on cases involving the poor when there is still "a lot of work to do within our justice system."

New justices must stay out of politics, says watchdog

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Judicial Commission said on Friday that the newly elected Supreme Court justices must break any ties with political parties to avoid conflicts of interest in conducting their duties.

The statement was apparently aimed at Gayus Lumbuun, a senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker, who was among the six new justices elected by the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing law on Thursday evening.

Gayus, who served in the commission and came second in the voting, had previously vowed to resign from his position as a lawmaker if he was elected a justice.

"It is important for the new justices not to carry out political missions for the lawmakers who chose them," Judicial Commission's Imam Anshori Saleh said.

"If the chosen candidates [fail to meet] public expectations, it will be understandable," said Imam, who is also a former lawmaker. The organization that conducted the vote is a political institution. It is certainly reasonable to expect there were political considerations."

Previously, the Judiciary Monitoring Coalition (KPP) slammed Gayus for running because he was affiliated with a political party and was well known as having a bad temper.

Imam added, however, that the commission appreciated the House's votes. "Basically, whoever got chosen from the 18 candidates has met all the criteria required to be a justice; that includes the capacity and integrity," Imam said.

"We appreciate the House's votes."We hope that the six justices will act fairly, honestly and impartially in carrying out their duties as law enforcers," he said. He asserted that their roles were essentially important in providing legal certainty.

Topping the vote on Thursday was Suhadi, an active judge, who gained 51 votes. Gayus, who had become one of the favorites among the 18 candidates, came second with 44 votes, followed by Nurul Elmiyah with 42 votes, Andi Samsan Nganro with 42, Dudu Duswara with 34 and Hari Jatmiko with 28.

Of the six, only Andi and Suhadi were career judges. Andi, now spokesman for the Jakarta High Court, was on the panel of judges at the Central Jakarta District Court that acquitted former House speaker Akbar Tandjung of graft charges.

The election was conducted after members of Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, carried out tests for a total of 18 candidates, which began on Sept. 20.

The six will serve as justices in six different chambers, which respectively oversee civil cases, criminal cases, religious affairs, state administration, taxation and cases involving the military.

Intelligence & state security

Who's afraid of the BIN bad wolf?

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) became a terrifying institution not only for its silent operations but also and mainly for its abusive practices in serving the Soeharto regime. Memories of these traumatic experiences resurfaced during the recent deliberation of the intelligence bill, which was endorsed by the House of Representatives last week.

Many legislators played an active role in the deliberation of the bill, to help heal the public trauma over intelligence operations to silence dissident groups and government critics, both during the New Order and Reform eras.

The abduction of pro-democracy activists in 1997 and the murder of human right champion Munir Said Thalib on Sept. 7, 2004, were only two of many operations that have remained unresolved and have helped cement public perceptions that BIN and the military are horrifying institutions.

The bill, which was prepared by the House with its initiative right, made major changes in its (contentious) substance after meeting strong resistance from the public, especially from civil society groups and human rights activists.

It rewrites BIN's main task to provide early warning information and intelligence analysis on terrorism, secessionism, sabotage and other activities threatening the national security. In their operations, intelligence agents have no authority but are allowed (with exceptions) to intercept the communications of their targets, investigate financial flows in their bank accounts and seek further information on them.

Interception is allowable only after agents have acquired an adequate amount of early evidence and obtained written permission from any district courts, and BIN also has authority to request data and information from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center (PPATK). No torture will happen as intelligence agents are no longer allowed to arrest and detain their targets while seeking further information, which is allowed during interrogations by police.

The bill implies the retraining of unskilled intelligence agents in regions since it requires qualified personnel under the state protection. All intelligence apparatus will work in compliance with the code of ethics under the supervision of an ad hoc ethics council and an intelligence subcommittee from the House of Representatives.

The intelligence subcommittee has the authority to summon and question BIN chiefs and open intelligence information in cases malpractice. It also has the authority to investigate acts of terrorism and social conflict allegedly designed under bad intelligence practices.

At least during the transition, the BIN chief and the House's intelligence subcommittee have their jobs mapped out for them in puttting Indonesia's intelligence office back on track.

The President, as the main user of intelligence information, can no longer appoint BIN chiefs merely based on his own political interests, because their appointment requires endorsement from the House and the single candidate is required to undergo a fit-and-proper test before the House.

The President will also issue a presidential regulation to regulate BIN's coordinating function with other institutions with intelligence functions including the police, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Attorney General's Office.

However, the bill could also be abused because anybody or any institution found leaking state intelligence can be criminalized, with a 10-year prison sentence and up to Rp 500 million in fines for those found guilty.

The media and non-governmental institutions, which are mostly critical of the government, could be subject to criminalization if material they expose to the public is intelligence information that should be kept secret.

Despite the mandated law on bugging, the bill needs a harmony, at least with the 2008 laws on the free-flow of information and on electronic transactions, as well as the proposed laws on state secrets and national security.

Despite the major changes, civil society group such as Kontras and Imparsial have remained critical of the bill since it does not explicitly require intelligence agents to respect human rights and democracy.

The bill also challenges BIN and other institutions serving an intelligence function to shift their focus from the detection of national and local political issues to foreign interests in the economic, defense, environmental, mining and criminal fields. By doing so, BIN could make a great contribution to this country's national interests and would help prevent intelligence agents from abusing their power in detecting dissident groups and government critics and serving the ruling regime's political interests.

We should bear in mind that the terrorism that has rocked this country over the past two decades has its masterminds abroad. Several foreign terrorists have been shot dead at home and many terror cells have received financial sources and training overseas. BIN has also been challenged to detect economic interests behind the foreign financial support for the issuance of 144 new laws, and also foreign interests behind global environmental campaigns.

These challenges have gained political support from the House's information and defense commission, which has agreed to increase BIN's budget by Rp 200 billion to Rp 1.4 trillion in 2012 from Rp 1.2 trillion this year.

[The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.]

Intelligence bill 'still vague in parts'

Jakarta Globe - October 1, 2011

Ezra Sihite & Ulma Haryanto – With the much-criticized bill on state intelligence moving closer to ratification, a rights group is raising concerns over the vague language of the latest draft.

"Even though a number of proposals from civil society organizations have been incorporated into the bill, in general it still fails to create an agency that is in line with the principles of human rights, the law and democracy," Haris Azhar, a coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said on Friday.

The bill also lacked concise definitions of national security, threats to the nation, human rights and civil liberties, he said.

"With no clear definition of national security, the application of the intelligence bill could clash with the KIP [the 2009 Law on Public Information]," Haris told the Jakarta Globe.

Article 24 of the bill states that information classified as intelligence is considered a state secret, while the 2009 law does not have that stipulation.

The bill also states that anyone leaking classified information related to national defense, the country's natural resources, economics or international politics and relations before the 20-year period of confidentiality was over could face criminal charges.

"Rather than forbidding people from leaking confidential information, the bill should regulates how the State Intelligence Agency [BIN] stores its information instead," Haris said.

He added that nothing in the bill specified that intelligence officers had to respect the law and human rights, be apolitical, refrain from engaging in side businesses or work impartially and indiscriminately.

The bill also lacks provisions on addressing complaints filed by civil society organizations, Haris said.

"A monitoring body should be able to investigate nay intelligence activities that potentially violate human rights. However, this passage was removed from the final version of the bill," he said.

House of Representatives deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said the legislature drafted the law with the interest of the people in mind "and the law will not be used to scare or intimidate the public." "We are confident that [the draft] we passed yesterday was the best possible compromise," the legislator said.

The bill is expected to be passed next week after the church bombing in Solo on Sunday galvanized lawmakers to set their differences aside to break the long-standing deadlock.

Foreign affairs & trade

Foreign ministry to pay off NYC parking fines

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2011

Jakarta – The Foreign Ministry has agreed to settle the Rp 6.5 billion (US$750,000) parking fine bill incurred since 2002 by Indonesian diplomats in New York City.

"The [amount] of fines over the years since 2002 is around US$750,000 and it has been decided to settle this," Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene said on Friday. He added that part of the fines had already been paid.

He further said that the decision to pay fines incurred before 2002 was still awaiting agreements made by other foreign envoys with New York City's administration. "We have to respect other UN member states in New York," he added, as reported by tempointeraktif.com.

Indonesia owes the New York City administration the third largest amount of parking fines at US$750,000. The Indonesian government has been allotted one parking space by the New York administration, although there are around 35 diplomatic envoys based in the city.

Ministry sticking to raw commodity export ban despite industry fears

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2011

Ririn Radiawati Kusuma – The details of a controversial new regulation that would ban the export of raw commodities from 2014 are set to be released later this year.

"Our target is to issue a ministerial regulation by the end of this year," said Thamrin Sihite, director general of minerals and coal at the Energy Ministry.

"We are holding discussions with businesses and business associations this month. After that, we will hold a large-scale group discussion before posting the ministerial regulation," Thamrin said.

The government is drafting a regulation that would require all miners to process raw commodities, ranging from precious metals such as gold to base metals such as tin, before being shipped overseas.

The regulation is designed to boost the downstream mineral processing industry, preventing the nation from merely being a quarry for other economies by forcing companies to build smelters and processing facilities.

Some of the world's biggest miners operate in Indonesia. Among them are Freeport McMoRan in Papua and BHP Billiton in Kalimantan.

The regulation would set minimum standards for the quality of coal exported, Thamrin said. The regulation would require coal to be of an energy density of at least 5,700 kilocalories per kilogram.

"The quality of coal below that ceiling should be discussed further," Thamrin said. The official said several miners, including Aneka Tambang, agreed with the regulation.

However, Supriatna Suhala, executive director of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI), said several coal miners opposed the plan. Those miners say building a smelter or other facilities would require costly investments in technology.

Arutmin Indonesia, a subsidiary of coal miner Bumi Resources, and Japanese steel manufacturer Kobe Steel are jointly constructing a smelter that will transform brown coal into higher-quality coal.

Dileep Srivastava, a director at Bumi Resources, said in July that the company would build a smelter for $150 million.

The smelter is expected to process one million tons of low-grade coal – which has a high moisture content – into higher-grade coal each year.

Aneka Tambang has teamed up with French mining group Eramet and Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation to construct a $4.6 billion smelter servicing the Weda Bay Nickel project in Maluku.

Economy & investment

Why Google, Blackberry avoided Indonesia

Straits Times - October 7, 2011

Zakir Hussain – Two recent moves by global tech giants to bypass Indonesia and set up shop in neighboring countries have put a damper on Jakarta's efforts to woo big-name investors and boost its technology sector.

Despite the lure of Indonesia's vast middle-class market, infrastructure woes appear to have cost the country the lucrative deals – at least for the time being.

Early last month, BlackBerry smartphone producer Research In Motion (RIM) said it would open a manufacturing plant in Penang. The news made headlines in Indonesia, one of its fastest-growing markets with four million BlackBerry users.

Then last week, Google announced plans to set up three new Asian data centers – in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, skipping Indonesia altogether.

In response, some Indonesian officials called on the government to take punitive action on the two companies.

For their part, both RIM and Google – which are still in talks with the Indonesian authorities – have stressed that they remain committed to Indonesia in the long term.

No less than Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chief Gita Wirjawan, who was closely involved in courting these companies, said of RIM to reporters last month: "Why build a factory in Malaysia? They are obviously developing it there to sell it in Indonesia, right?"

Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat was swift to suggest imposing an extra value-added or luxury tax on BlackBerry smartphones so producers such as RIM will choose to invest in Indonesia instead to get around it.

This week, Wirjawan asked visiting Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast to lobby Ontario-based RIM to build a production base in Indonesia. A sympathetic Fast said the decision was for RIM to make, but added: "I do understand Indonesia's disappointment."

The episode, outcry and all, is emblematic of the ongoing challenge of doing business with and in Indonesia, where the allure of an increasingly affluent consumer base still has to be weighed against a woefully inadequate physical and legal infrastructure.

They include an unreliable power supply, bad roads, excessive red tape and slow Internet speeds – which affect the country's attempt to draw tech players and get more of its 240 million citizens online. Only one in six is an Internet user.

The government is taking some steps: This week, it disbursed 290 billion rupiah (S$42.4 million) to improve roads in the greater Jakarta area.

With each new snub, pressure from officials to get tough on investors who pass on Indonesia has been mounting. Some Indonesians have also called on the government to fix shortcomings.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Suryo B. Sulisto said: "RIM's decision to locate in Malaysia rather than Indonesia is a clear indicator that our business environment is still not competitive. Our government should be taking a long, hard look at our regulatory environment to make it less bureaucratic."

Aulia Masna, who writes for the technology blog Daily Social, called for greater transparency and legal certainty.

He told The Straits Times: "The government desperately needs to be much more transparent and open about technology companies coming in to the country and sort out the technology and e-commerce Bill that is currently being discussed in Parliament."

"Unfortunately, the government does not seem to understand how the technology works or if it does, it is working really hard to ensure that the freedom that technology offers does not end up being used to undermine its authority," he said.

Officials have come under criticism for making what some see as unreasonable demands of big-name companies as a condition for expanding operations. For example, they have asked RIM to set up a data center in Indonesia, to allow law enforcement officials to intercept its encrypted BlackBerry Messenger services and to filter pornographic content.

RIM has fulfilled the last requirement since January, and is in talks on the other areas. But it is maintaining a diplomatic silence on contentious issues.

A RIM spokesman told The Straits Times this week that the company remained fully committed to Indonesia, "where we enjoy strong partnerships and tremendous positive enthusiasm for our BlackBerry products'. She added: "Like other smartphone providers, we plan our manufacturing on a global basis."

Google has also been asked to set up a data center in Indonesia, in spite of concerns about the reliability of electricity supply, and continues to express interest in opening an office in the country. Its chairman, Eric Schmidt, was in Indonesia in July and met Vice-President Boediono.

Some analysts say the Indonesian government needs to get its act together. "We can't expect RIM, Google and other big tech companies to have local operations if we cannot give them mutual benefit," said Muhammad Ilman Akbar, who writes for Asian technology site Penn Olson.

Analysis & opinion

Another ploy against the KPK

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 6, 2011

If criticism is analogous to nutrient food that helps democracy mature and grow stronger, the persistent demands from Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Fahri Hamzah for the dissolution of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) without much challenge from either the Muslim-based party or the House of Representatives, is not the case.

Fahri, and perhaps many other House politicians, insists that the KPK has derailed the anticorruption drive rather than accelerated it, as evinced in its "selective slash and burn", emerging instead as a "superbody" with inadequate oversight.

The fact that leaders of the PKS, in particular, and the House, in general, do not consider such a provoking statement detrimental to the ongoing fight against entrenched corruption in the country, one may be tempted to suspect such a systemic move to remove the KPK is real. Worse, the political elites' resentment toward the KPK, which has become more blatant, casts a shadow over the prospect of success with the anticorruption drive.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie had previously suggested that the KPK be liquidated, provided that the government failed to select competent figures to lead the commission, whose inception in 2003 marked a start to the country's war on corruption.

Earlier this year, the House proposed a revision of the KPK law that intended to reduce the commission to ordinary law enforcement agencies by allowing it to halt an investigation. Under the existing law, a KPK investigation amounts to a point of no return, forcing it to focus on cases with solid preliminary evidence. No wonder if all the corrupt suspects the KPK has brought to court, including politicians, were punished.

The KPK's uncompromising policy prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono two years ago to reveal his concern that the commission might become a superbody.

The latest turmoil pitting the antigraft body and the politicians against each other comes hot on the heels of its move to question leaders of the House's budget committee in connection with alleged mafia practice in the committee's endorsement of Rp 500 billion (US$56 million) from state budget funds for the Regional Infrastructure Development Acceleration (PPID) program. The committee suspended last week its deliberations of the 2012 draft budget in a show of protest against the probe.

Like it or not, Fahri's anger with the KPK has something to do with the questioning of budget committee deputy chief and PKS fellow politician Tamsil Linrung in connection with the PPID scandal, which also implicates Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar. Most recently, the KPK grilled Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo on Tuesday in relation to the scandal.

With the KPK having named no new suspects except for businesswoman Dharnawati and Muhaimin's staffers, I Nyoman Suisnaya and Dadong Irbarelawan, Fahri's attack on the KPK and the House's silent support for him could send the wrong message that the politicians are throwing a death threat to the antigraft commission.

Tamsil's implication, let alone his prosecution, would deal a serious blow to the PKS, as the party has characterized itself as a clean political grouping and a champion of morality. This image has to some extent been eroded after a number of its members were named graft suspects and convicted, not to mention the party's inaction toward one of its politicians, Adang Daradjatun, who has refused to cooperate with the KPK in persuading his wife, and fugitive, Nunun Nurbaeti, to return home.

Fahri is perhaps testing the water, but for sure the call for the KPK's dissolution constitutes an attempt to weaken the commission as the most credible anticorruption force, which will in turn jeopardize democracy in the country.

The KPK indeed needs criticism, but we are afraid that a weak KPK, or its absence, will allow corruption to prevail and kill our hard-won democracy.

The dying canary and Indonesia's religious freedom

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2011

Tobias Basuki, Jakarta – Religious liberty is the proverbial canary in the mine," according to Doug Bandouw, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Canaries are often used by miners as an early-warning signal for poisonous gases. When the small birds stop singing and suffocate, miners know toxic gases have polluted the area and something is wrong.

The right of religious freedom for small groups within a country is a vital indicator of the health of society. Religious freedom is the most basic freedom. Without it, it is doubtful that the lives and dignity of its citizens is truly respected.

Religious minorities in Indonesia have recently been systematically and aggressively silenced. Repression is allegedly perpetrated by religious extremists. The state is not without blame either.

The state partakes in the oppression of its own citizens, first through oversight and omission, and second by undertaking discriminatory actions and policies. The Blasphemy Law and a joint ministerial regulation on the Ahmadiyah minority Islamic sect are proof.

Two cases illustrate the dire condition of religious freedom in Indonesia.

First is the plight of the Ahmadis. The Ahmadis were part of our archipelago's society even before independence and partook in the independence movement. The sect has now been cast aside and discriminated against.

Physical and verbal attacks against them have intensified in the past five years. One attack culminated in the slaughter of three members in Cikeusik, Banten.

Adding greater madness to the brutality was the gross injustice of our judiciary. Those who participated in the vicious attacks were sentenced to jail for terms as little as three to six months. Deden Sudjana, whose house the Ahmadis were protecting, received a harsher sentence than those convicted of instigating the violence, who were hailed as heroes upon their release.

The Ahmadis understandably decided not to pursue and prolong the case considering the amount of prejudice and unfair treatment they have had to endure. It was the first sign that the canary was not doing well.

The Blasphemy Law and the logic used to apply it is schizophrenic. Here is an example: The Blasphemy Law prohibits the existence of religions that resemble a major religion and also prohibits programming based on such religions from being broadcast.

In one city, an Ahmadiyah mosque was attacked and closed because it had a sign identifying it as an Ahmadiyah place of worship. The sign was considered "broadcasting" under the law. In another city, an Ahmadiyah mosque was attacked and closed because it had no signs on it and was accused of luring Muslims inside for conversion.

There are some well-intentioned arguments that state the Ahmadis should declare a new religion to avoid further prosecution. But the same logic would immediately put them in the crosshairs again.

The sect's similarity to Islam puts it at odds with the law and prejudice against them. Labeling is not the issue; it is the bigoted view and actions of the few that are the main problems.

Another poignant example is the case of GKI Taman Yasmin. The congregation obtained a permit to build a church in July 2006. The construction, however, was stopped in 2008 by the head of Bogor's Urban Planning and Landscaping Agency.

The church challenged the decision in court, which annulled the suspension issued by the city. The annulment was disregarded and the church took its plight to the Supreme Court, which also ruled in favor of the church. Obstinately, the Bogor government under Mayor Diani Budiarto has chosen to blatantly disobey the Supreme Court's ruling.

Opposition to the church's construction is based on feeble grounds and outright ridiculous statements involving alleged counterfeit signatures, obstructing businesses and the infamous "no church should be on a street named after a Muslim".

The reasoning proposed by the officials begs a serious question about the real motives behind the church ban. I attended one of the outdoor services conducted by the congregation in front of the sealed church.

None of the "public inconvenience" accusations held true. Even with a large number of visitors and an outdoor service, traffic was barely disturbed. There were no visible or plausible disturbances to businesses or the community.

However, one thing is clear. The mayor has broken the law on several accounts. First, he ignored court rulings, including a ruling from the Supreme Court. Second, the city violated the Regional Autonomy Law, which states that religion is the jurisdiction of the central government, not the local government.

Last but most flagrantly, Diani violated the Constitution and his oath of office. His repeated disregard of a court decision has made him a law breaker. The mayor should be impeached at the very least.

The canary is not dead... yet. Indonesia as a nation faces two towers of evil. The first is epidemic corruption. It is like anemia. It is fatal, widespread and will kill us slowly. The second is radicalism and narrow- minded bigotry. Many say the radicals are few. It is true, but these few let loose will wound the nation and bleed us.

It is like a flesh wounds. It may not necessarily be fatal, but with a cancer draining our blood, a small wound can worsen and break us apart.

[The writer is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and a lecturer at Pelita Harapan University, Tangerang.]

House budget process is ripe for reform

Jakarta Globe - October 5, 2011

Yohanes Sulaiman – Last week, Indonesia was again entertained by the embarrassing spectacle of a standoff between the Corruption Eradication Committee and the House of Representatives Budget Committee.

In response to what lawmakers from the Budget Committee called an "insulting" grilling by the body known as the KPK, the committee froze discussion on the 2012 state budget and refused to comply with the KPK's summons for further questioning.

At the same time, the KPK insisted it acted based on the revelations from its investigation of the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, saying the Budget Committee received kickbacks in exchange for raising the budget for the ministry. It then refused to answer House Speaker Marzuki Alie's subpoena, claiming it had too much work.

Regardless of who is at fault in this standoff, there are many signs that something fishy is going on. The growing evidence suggests the committee has too much power over the budget and there are too few safeguard mechanisms.

As noted by Ahmad Muzani, the head of the House's Financial Accountability Body (BAKN), the Budget Committee has the ability to approve or reject every project in a ministry.

At a glance, this law improves transparency and forces ministries to be accountable to the committee, preventing the creation of "phantom projects" to pad ministries' budgets and line the pockets of officials. Yet, without any independent supervision, the law can abused by a corrupt committee.

At a personal level, members of the committee might demand kickbacks to look past any signs of abuses. For instance, according to Tempo newspaper, the corruption investigation into the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry was over the padding of the budget to construct a solar power generator.

The budget went from Rp 5 billion to Rp 8.9 billion ($560,000 to $997,000), with Rp 1.5 billion reportedly set aside for the Budget Committee and Rp 1.5 billion for Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar.

At the party level, this law might actually foster more corruption due to the close relationship between ministries and political parties. As noted by Indonesia Corruption Watch in June, many parties use their ministerial seats to fill party coffers. Thus, this "fox guarding the chicken coop" arrangement means that each party represented in the Budget Committee has an incentive to look the other way, lest its own deals be threatened. They have a motive to strike agreements with each other to make sure the carnival of plunder will continue and nobody will be the party-wrecker.

Not surprisingly, the KPK is interested in knowing the details of the committee and the mechanism by which the committee distributes and allocates funds to each ministry. Given how potentially threatening this is for the committee, it is only natural its members cry foul over the KPK's actions.

At the same time, there are two narratives concerning the KPK's motives. The first narrative is the usual "KPK as the white knight on the white horse" attempting to break apart the chummy "business as usual" politics between ministries and the House. There is no love lost between the KPK and the House, especially Marzuki, who never hides his desire to dismantle the KPK.

Marzuki has defended the Budget Committee and threatened the KPK's leadership with a subpoena, saying the KPK had behaved inappropriately by "treating Budget Committee members as graft suspects." For the KPK, however, by answering the subpoena, it might be seen as capitulating, undermining its reputation should its investigations uncover nothing of importance.

The second narrative, however, questions the motive of the KPK, especially the extent to which the KPK can be trusted to clean the House. One cannot easily discount the allegations made by Muhammad Nazaruddin that KPK leaders could be bought and that the commission has been abusing its power by extorting suspects to line its pockets.

In this narrative, the standoff is explained as one pitting the House that did not want the KPK to keep abusing its power against the KPK that wants to control the House by using its discoveries to blackmail the legislative body.

Regardless of which narrative one subscribes to, it is clear the law needs to be fixed and there must be an increase in transparency over the budgeting process to prevent another embarrassing spectacle. It is too hasty to simply disband the Budget Committee, as many have recently suggested. The Budget Committee still has its use, notably as the legislative branch's tool to hold the executive body to account.

Instead of having the ability to veto each project, the committee's authority should be limited to giving approval to the ministry's overall budget. The committee, however, has the ability to question the merit of each project later, especially when there are allegations of impropriety.

To satisfy a skeptical public, there must be transparency in both the budgeting and auditing processes. The Budget Committee must be able to show there are no vested interests or political motives in questioning the project. Each project must be evaluated on its own merit, with the entire process open to public scrutiny.

With public trust in the House steadily declining, it has more to lose with playing the game of victim politics. Much better would be to show that the House is taking the high road by reforming itself.

[Yohanes Sulaiman is a lecturer at the Indonesia Defense University. He can be reached at ysulaiman@gmail.com.]

People-friendly legislation

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 3, 2011

After a long deliberation process – costing three successive parliamentary hearing sessions – the House of Representatives' Commission I defense, foreign affairs and information and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) eventually agreed on Thursday to resolve all contentious issues in the intelligence bill and finalize it for endorsement at a House plenary session within the next few days.

The eventual completion of the intelligence bill deliberations was satisfactory in a sense that both parties – the House and BIN, which represents the intelligence community and the government – have agreed to remove or revise controversial articles, which have been in and out of the commission's deliberation agenda.

One of the controversial articles that were eventually scrapped was the one that proposed authority for the intelligence apparatus to arrest and conduct a week-long ongoing investigation into people whose activities are suspected of threatening national security and the country's sovereignty. The article was removed, as it turns out to be against the spirit and lawful procedures stipulated in other laws and the Criminal Code Procedures (KUHAP).

Another controversial article was the one that would regulate the authority for the intelligence apparatus to intercept communications, including telephone calls, text messages, faxes, emails and social network postings, of anyone deemed a threat to state security. In its initial version of the draft law, the intelligence apparatus was given the authority to wiretap anyone suspected of threatening the state's security.

Amid strong resistance from the general public, a revised version of the draft law later on proposed that the intelligence apparatus need only inform a court whenever they intercept communications by suspected persons. However, the revised edition of the intelligence bill concerning this particular article has received even stronger resistance from the public, who expressed fear that such an uncontrolled authority was prone to abuse and would completely deny the people's freedom of expression and opinion.

The draconian authority to wiretap suspected persons was eventually maintained; with the proviso, however, that such an authority to intercept communications of suspects must be supported by adequate evidence and will only be granted upon a court's permission.

Another important aspect in the final version of the intelligence bill is the one that allows the authorities to check on financial transactions by, and seek further information about, persons linked with terrorism, secessionism, sabotage, spying and other security-disrupting activities. In checking on the financial flows of suspects, BIN will receive data from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (PPATK), and Bank Indonesia, while all banking institutions are obliged to provide necessary information to BIN.

Intelligence agents are also allowed to cooperate with the police in seeking further information during suspects' interrogations. They will work in compliance with the code of ethics, and the bill carries harsh sanctions for those who abuse their power.

Now that the bill is awaiting the House plenary session to be passed, extra caution is needed so as to monitor and prevent possible last-minute omissions or revisions of the content of the intelligence law. A case in point was the missing clause on the dangers of tobacco in the 2009 Health Law, which was only made public; the clause was eventually reinstated after a coalition of anti-tobacco activists brought the case to the police and the media.

Any irregularities this time, however, will not proceed unpunished as human rights watchdogs have readied themselves to challenge such violations at the Constitutional Court – a practical channel available in our legal system.

Indonesian feminists: 'Don't blame the victim!'

Direct Action - October 1, 2011

Vivi Widyawati and Zely Ariane – Around 100 women and men took part in a rally, Miniskirt Protest – Women against Rape, at the Bundaran Hotel Indonesia in Thamrin, Jakarta, on Sunday, September 18.

Dozens of women, including several activists from Perempuan Mahardhika (Free Women), wore miniskirts, as a statement that rape has nothing to do with the way women dress.

The demonstration was a protest against the words of Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo (nicknamed Foke) regarding a young female student, Livia, who was raped and killed on public transport. He said: "Imagine if someone sits on board a mikrolet (minivan) wearing a miniskirt; you would get a bit turned on". Women, he said, "must adjust to their environment so that they don't provoke people into committing unwanted acts".

A call for action by dozens of activists under the banner of Women's Alliance against Rape was able to gather women from various backgrounds for the demonstration. The protesters shouted and chanted, brandishing posters with slogans such as "Don't tell us how to dress, but tell them not to rape" and "My miniskirt, my right, Foke you", "My miniskirt is not wrong, but your mind is".

The alliance issued a statement saying, among other things; "Rape is a sexual attack on a citizen, a woman. Rape is never wanted by any woman, no matter the socioeconomic background. Victims of rape need solidarity from the whole of society as well as physical aid and care. The statements of incapable public servants have been providing no support, but rather humiliating and dumping the burden on the victims."

In addition, they demanded that law enforcement protect the victims and that officials take all cases of rape seriously. Local governments should ensure the safety of public transportation and public space and improve the transportation system in the capital.

Three cases of rape on public transport had been reported during a single week before the protest. The National Commission on Violence against Woman (KOMNASPER) has recorded 3753 rapes in 2011, while the Jakarta police have received 41 complaints so far, compared to 40 for all of 2010. KOMNASPER has also received 105,103 complaints of violence against women. In response to the protest, the commission on September 23 outlined recommendations that ranged from improving security for women on public transportation to harsher punishment for sexual assault under the Criminal Code.

The head of the public participation section at the commission, Andy Yentriyani, said the legal system did not provide sufficient protection for women against sexual assault. The law "is insufficient, because sexual assault is categorised as social misconduct", she said. "In one clause, [the penalty] can be 12 years. In another, it can be two years, eight months. For children, it is classified only as abuse, which reduces the seriousness."

Sexual assault is not a specific crime under Indonesian law, and is treated only as an "unpleasant act", with an accordingly mild law enforcement response. KOMNASPER hopes its initiative will help fix this with new legislation.

KOMNASPER's data show that from 1998 to 2010, a quarter of the total of 295,836 cases of violence against women involved sexual assault. These are only the reported cases; many more are probably left unreported. Every day, 28 women are sexually assaulted in Indonesia, the agency said. "The solution is not to allocate special women-only spaces, such as on trains – which has been done already – because there is no guarantee that segregation will prevent assaults", Andy said.

She also voiced concern that if a woman was assaulted while travelling in a mixed space, she could be accused of looking for trouble. "It also feeds into the idea that men can't control themselves", she said. "That assumption is just as bad as the assumption that women's actions or dress are the cause of violence against them."

Class and gender

Fauzi Bowo's statement followed similar remarks by other public officials in different parts of the country, including one by a local administrative head in West Aceh who stated that women who did not dress according to religious norms could only blame themselves if they were raped. These statements sparked outrage among activists because they are nothing but misogynist accusations against the victims and a form of verbal violence against women. They are the product of a way of thinking rooted in patriarchy.

In Atas Nama (On Behalf Of), a documentary movie made by KOMNASPER, one woman from Aceh – wearing a scarf herself – put it well: "In general I don't think any woman likes to be told how to dress". This is the basic idea of the miniskirt protest: women have the right to their own body, to express themselves and feel good, free from prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination and violence. This is a foundation of women's liberation.

Several far left activists (mostly men) in Jakarta felt uneasy with the statement or the form of the protest, which they considered to be advocating the wearing of miniskirts. Objections were made that the protest "too liberal", "had insufficient class content" and might provoke "antipathy from the majority of women who are still conservative – the ones feminist activists should try to reach". Some even went as far as suggesting that the choice was "class struggle or sex struggle". Still, these comments were better than the major parts of the far left that didn't say anything at all. The campaign was supported by only a handful of male left activists.

This lack of attention is not very surprising since there have been very few left movements and organisations that take up issues of sexuality and gender. Most of the left groups in Indonesia subordinate the issue of women's oppression to so-called class issues, which are defined as the purely economic side of class oppression, such as wages and poverty. That is why, so far, they are still unfamiliar with issues such as a woman's right to her body, sexuality, sexual orientation and so forth. Our experience building the socialist-feminist women's group Perempuan Mahardhika confirms this view.

We should fight against class oppression, patriarchy and sexism, since in class-based societies patriarchy and sexism play an important role in the reproduction of the social system. There will be no socialism without women's liberation, and there is no true class consciousness without considering and understanding the very complex nature of patriarchy and sexuality and their relation to class. If the September 18 protest was considered as merely liberal, that would mean we have even more responsibility to intervene in the campaign so that its demands will not be ends in themselves – not merely the freedom of each individual but rather the freedom of each individual as the foundation for the freedom of all.

The fact that many Indonesian women, religious or not, agree with the demands and slogans of the protest, particularly on the fact that rape has nothing to do with dress, is encouraging amidst difficult and worsening political circumstances, including 154 sharia laws and a growing intolerance fuelled by several reactionary religious groups.

We are happy to have taken part in this campaign – and also happy to wear miniskirts, because most of the time we are defensive and forget to challenge the minds of men.

[The writers are members of the national committee of Perempuan Mahardhika (Free Women) and members of People's Liberation Party, Indonesia.]

Jakarta Journo: Great power brings great irresponsibility

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2011

Armando Siahaan – In the world of Marvel comics, "With great power comes great responsibility," as the oft-quoted Spider-Man line goes. But that's in the world of comics, where good always triumphs over evil. In real life, power seems to bring the greatest sense of irresponsibility.

We learned last week that Indonesia's diplomats owe New York City an embarrassing $725,000 in parking fines, making our country the third worst foreign violator in the city, after Egypt and Nigeria.

I can't help but wonder whether this somewhat unsurprising debacle is just another example of the wider mentality that is glaringly evident among the country's so-called untouchables, who seem to live by the words: "I am important, therefore I can do whatever I want." I'd like to offer some possible explanations as to how these diplomats managed to rack up so many parking violations.

The first explanation, a rather rudimentary one, is that the parking tab is proof of how lazy Indonesia's officials are. New York uses parking meters, where motorists have to put coins into the meter to park for a certain period of time. So if the meter has a two-hour limit, that means the owner of the vehicle has to go back to the spot every two hours to feed the meter more coins. If they don't, they will be fined. To amass $725,000 worth of penalties could be an indication of how glued to their chairs some of Indonesia's diplomats are.

Triyono Wibowo, the deputy foreign minister, explained that the parking debt was not a new problem and blamed, in part, New York City's failure to provide adequate parking for diplomats. Is the deputy minister really suggesting that the already cramped and crowded New York City needs to reshape its urban landscape just to cater to the demands of a few Indonesian diplomats?

"It is customary that diplomats from closely related countries are treated in a special way," said a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Priyo Budi Santoso. Should such special treatment really extend to something as trivial as parking? Yes, Indonesia should be allocated parking spaces for some of its diplomats – not all of them. Perhaps the rest could try taking public transportation, like other New Yorkers do?

Another possible explanation is that this could be a case of our diplomats practicing a certain Indonesian socio-legal culture, even while residing in a foreign land. We are all familiar with the custom of getting away with traffic violations through an "amicable handshake" with the men in brown. When some Indonesians go abroad, perhaps they think that they can apply the same mentality.

This case may well just be another example of the widespread epidemic of our public officials, whether elected or appointed, exploiting the power bestowed upon them. Every day we learn about corruption cases that bleed the country of public funds, with the perpetrators ranging from low-ranking civil servants to elected lawmakers and even former ministers.

The root of this phenomenon is simple: They know they have power, and power is a key that can open many doors, including judicial leeway. Applying this theory to the New York parking fine situation, we might have a case where our diplomats know they have immunity, and therefore abuse their power by disregarding the city's regulations on how to park appropriately.

Public officials should be role models for their citizens. If those in power have no respect for the law, how can they expect citizens to pay any heed? In any case, who's going to pick up that tab?

[Armando Siahaan is a reporter at the Jakarta Globe and writes a weekly column about current events.]