Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The bashing of an unarmed student protestor by presidential guards has been decried by civil society organizations that say the incident casts doubt on the guards' professionalism.

Ikbal Sabarudin, 21, was punched and kicked by Paspampres guards after he was restrained from rushing toward Vice President Boediono carrying a poster criticizing the president and vice president for being weak on corruption. The incident happened during a ceremony on Friday to mark the 83rd anniversary of the Youth Pledge.

Haris Azhar of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that the Islamic Union Student Association (Hima Persis) activist had been seriously injured in the bashing, with wounds on his head and bruises on his body.

"We believe that the acts of violence against Ikbal were completely unnecessary if the presidential guards were more professional in enforcing protocol. If Ikbal was considered to have committed a crime, he should have been handed over to police. No need to break the law to enforce the law," Haris said on Sunday.

According to Kontras, there have been two cases of presidential staff overstepping the mark in September and October.

The previous incident, Haris said, took place on Sept. 7 when the same unit was guarding the State Palace during a demonstration marking the seventh anniversary of the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. He said that on that occasion presidential guards attacked and wounded several protesters.

Haris said the solution was for the guards to gain a better understanding of their role through training. He said an evaluation should be conducted by the president's office and the national military command.

"Furthermore, if there are violations of protocol in the form of acts of violence, we insist that internal sanctions be levied."

Officials deny security breach as student protester charges Boediono

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2011

Yuli Krisna – Presidential guards were once again found wanting after the second security breach this week allowed a student protester to rush toward Vice President Boediono.

The incident occurred on Friday at Bandung's Siliwangi Stadium, where Boediono was attending a ceremony to mark the 83rd anniversary of the Youth Pledge.

In the middle of the event, a student, later identified as Ikbal Sabarudin, 21, broke into the middle of the stadium brandishing a poster criticizing the president and vice president for being weak on corruption.

He managed to approach to within 30 meters of Boediono before the presidential guards, known as Paspampres, tackled him to the ground. They proceeded to punch and kick him, even after they had restrained him.

The incident came after Monday's fiasco in which an unsuspecting gardener in Bali managed to breach three security perimeters and get to within five meters of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as his guards were watching an aerial acrobatics show.

He was pushing a bicycle with a sack containing his sickle, grass and some coconuts when he was tackled. In the aftermath of the scare, police dragged the hapless gardener, identified as I Nyoman Minta, through a show of force, interrogating him more than once.

But Col. Benny Effendi, a spokesman for the Siliwangi Military Command, which oversees operations in West Java, said Friday's incident did not constitute a security lapse on the part of officials because Ikbal was not an interloper.

"It was difficult to foresee the incident because the perpetrator was an officially invited guest like all the others," he said. Ikbal heads the West Java chapter of an Islamic student group under the auspices of the Indonesian National Youth Council (KNPI), Benny said.

He added that the student had been searched prior to entering the stadium. "He apparently had the poster rolled up and concealed in his clothing," he said.

Comr. Endang Sri Wahyu Utami, a spokeswoman for the Bandung Police, said Ikbal was badly bruised by the time he was taken into police custody from Paspampres and had received medical attention.

"Repressive action like that taken against Ikbal can be justified if the perpetrator poses a threat to others or themselves," Endang said.

Presidential guards appear to beat anticorruption protester

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Indonesia's Presidential Guard tackled and appeared to punch and kick a student on Friday as he attempted to protest against the government's increasingly dismal record fighting against corruption.

Television footage showed the university student, identified as Iqbal Jabarudin, chairman of the Islamic Students Union Association (HIMA Persis), as running across a field toward a podium containing Vice President Boediono, who was watching a traditional dance during a Youth Pledge Ceremony at the Siliwangi Stadium in Bandung.

The footage, on MetroTV, shows a total of at least 13 Paspampres guards appearing to tackle, kick and punch Iqbal him as they drag him from the field.

The station reported that the student was carrying a poster demanding that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono either eradicate corruption and uphold the law, or step down.

Movement against Freeport is set up by students

Bintang Papua - October 28, 2011

A number of UNCEN student organisations along with the KNPB, the National Committee for West Papua, have announced the establishment of a movement to oppose Freeport.

They regard this company as having been the cause of many problems in Papua. The students unfurled two banners, one of which depicts the US flag intertwined with the logo of Freeport.

The new organisation is called People's Movement Against Freeport Crimes – Gerklaf. The coordinator of the new organisation is Fanny Kogoya and Bovid Defa is the secretary. At the end of the ceremony, the US flag was set on fire. This opposition movement regards the presence of Freeport as having come about as the result of a political contract between the USA and its allies in order to ensure the continuance of Papua within the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.

The integration of Papua within Indonesia, according to wording on the banners, goes back to 1963 and the New York Agreement of 1963, the contract concluded with Freeport in 1967, the Act of Free Choice in 1969 and the Bunker Proposal [Bunker was the US diplomat who was involved in the conclusion of the New York Agreement.].

Before the declaration was announced, the leaders of eight student organisation delivered speeches. Fanny Kogoya said that the new movement would press for the consolidation of the movement throughout the whole of Papua, to strengthen opposition to Freeport.

They also said that any plans to renegotiate the contract with Freeport should involve indigenous Papua people.

The declaration that was read out by Bovid called on the one hand for the expulsion of Freeport, while on the other hand saying that Freeport should become the property of the Papuan people. The words on the banner were: "The Papuan people must assert their sovereignty over their natural resources."

Makassar students protest on Youth Pledge day

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Hundreds of students from universities and NGOs in Makassar, South Sulawesi, commemorated Youth Pledge Day on Friday by conducting demonstrations.

The students came from various universities, including Alaudin Islamic State University, Makassar State University and Muhammadiyah University of Makassar – They started the rally on their respective campuses before meeting with others in public spaces.

Students protested President Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono's leadership, saying that they allowed corruption to thrive.

The government had not only failed to terminate corruption, but had also failed to improve the welfare of the Indonesian population, students said.

Apart from delivering speeches and criticism, the students also burned used tires, occupied parts of the roads and temporarily seized government-owned vehicles.

Students on hunger strike against graft

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Maumere – A group of students staged a hunger strike in front of the Maumere Legislative Council's building in East Nusa Tenggara on Thursday, protesting alleged embezzlement of social assistance funds totalling Rp 20 billion (US$2.26 million).

During the strike, which was also attended by former Maumere Legislative Council speaker OLM Gudipung, the students demanded that the investigation of the case be handed by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) instead of the provincial prosecutor's office as they had no trust in local legal institutions.

"We do not trust the prosecutor's office or the Maumere District Court. We want the KPK to take over the case," said Siflan Angi, a Maumere councillor. They also demanded the dissolution of the regency administration under Regent Sosismus Mitang.

Four of the strikers fainted later in the evening and were rushed to the hospital.

The strike was closely monitored by the Maumere diocese. Father Eman Embu SVD, said, "I urge Catholics to support a good and clean government. That's why I've come here to see our younger brothers express their grievances. I'm concerned about this," he said.

Mob plans to occupy Freeport office

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2011

Agus Triyono – A group called on Indonesians to occupy the Freeport office in Jakarta and demand the deportation of foreign workers from the country.

The group, Freeport Nationalization Movement, stated that Freeport has grabbed at Indonesian sovereignty and greedily stolen Indonesian resources. It also accused Freeport of hampering local people in Papua from living prosperously.

"The main fortress of foreign power that steals the wealth and sovereignty of Indonesia that should be broken is Freeport's exploitation of land in Papua," said Ida Bagus Arif, coordinator of the movement, in front of the Freeport office on Wednesday afternoon.

"The goal is to nationalize the assets owned by foreigners and this should be started by ousting Freeport from Indonesia right now."

Bagus said that the occupation plan would start on Wednesday night. "We're going to stay here overnight," he said. "There will be some other university students who will come."

There have been a string of attacks against Freeport employees at the same time as an ongoing labor strike demanding higher wages.

The latest meeting at Hotel Rimba in Timika between workers and Freeport management, who were represented only by Freeport's local staff, ended in a deadlock. Freeport will not accommodate the government's wish to review their long term contract, which does not end until 2041.

West Papua

Papuans demonstrate in support of Congress outcome

Radio New Zealand International - October 31, 2011

Renewed demonstrations are being held in Jayapura today demanding Indonesia take formal and legal responsibility for ongoing human rights abuses in Papua region.

These are the first large gatherings since the Third Papuan People's Congress two weeks ago in the capital of Papua province.

That major gathering of Papuans to discuss self-determination ended in chaos when Indonesian security forces opened fire on the estimated five thousand delegates, resulting in at least seven deaths and many injuries. Hundreds of delegates at the congress remain missing.

West Papua Media Alerts reports that a demonstration by hundreds of people began this morning at Waena, near Jayapura, closely shadowed by hundreds of police, including anti-riots and paramilitary units.

Rolling civil resistance activities have also been planned in other parts of Jayapura and other Papuan centres in coming days, partly to support the outcome of the congress, where a newly independent state of West Papua was declared.

First demos since Papua crackdown to demand Indon take abuse responsibility

West Papua Media Info - October 31, 2011

Jayapura – Renewed demonstrations are being held in Jayapura today demanding Indonesia take formal and legal responsibility for ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua, most recently the brutal attack on the Third Papuan People's Congress (KP3) on October 19.

In the first act of political expression since the violent crackdown by Indonesian security forces on the declaration of the Democratic Republic of West Papua (RDPB) by KP3 participants, local organisers of today's rally have expressed concern that security forces will again resort to extreme violence to suppress peaceful dissent.

The demonstration, which started at 0900 local time in Waena, near Jayapura, is also demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in West Papua, including those arrested and charged with treason for organising the historic KP3 Congress from October 16-19.

According to witness reports received at the beginning of the march, over 500 police are present with 300 armed riot police and water cannon shadowing the peaceful march. 2 Corps of Brimob (2628-XVII and 2627-XVII0) and 2 SSK (Special Security Company – 150 men each) of normal police from Polresta Jayapura are attendance, with almost a company of plain clothes police are in attendance, with armoured equipment. Over four companies of Indonesian army in full battle gear are also present.

Speaking by phone to West Papua Media from Jayapura on Sunday night, a Prime Ministerial spokesman for the recently declared RDPB transitional government said that "the increased militarisation of Papua is not the solution that we wish for". The spokesman further mentioned that Indonesia must allow a platform for us to peacefully express out views in accordance with internationally accepted human rights".

Rolling civil resistance activities have also been planned across West Papuan towns in coming days, partly to socialise the outcome of the KP3 meetings, and also to up the ante on the Indonesian state to accept the need for political change in Papua, including allowing West Papuan people to exercise their universal human right of self-determination, according to organisers. Despite brutal tactics, intimidation and nightly terror sweep operations by police and military across Jayapura creating significant tension and fear amongst the local population, people are prepared to stand for their rights and prepared to be arrested.

Over 800 people were arrested by Indonesian security forces after simultaneous premeditated raids on various venues in Jayapura on October 19 after the declaration of an independent West Papua. Most of the 800 were released, with scores sustaining serious injuries from beatings and torture by security forces. Seven of the leaders of KP3 remain in detention having been charged with makar (Rebellion) and Treason, accused by Jakarta of holding a coup d'etat. Evidence is beginning to emerge that the crackdown was known about in Jakarta before the declaration was made, though it is unclear at this stage who ultimately authorised the use of extreme force against unarmed Papuan delegates.

Seven victims have been formally named, but local human rights activists claim that 17 people were killed by Indonesian police and soldiers, including members of the elite Australian-trained and funded Detachment 88 counterterrorism unit. Over a thousand people are still in hiding, including many with significant untreated injuries meted out by security forces during the simultaneous attacks on Congress.

Organisers of today's rallies are expecting several thousand people to attend the event in Jayapuras, starting in Sentani (about 25 km outside Jayapura) and then via a long march to Waena, to finish outside the DPRP, the Papuan Provincial Parliament. According to organisers, Jayapura area Police have granted permission for the march and demonstration to go ahead but it is unclear at this stage if a crackdown will occur.

The Indonesian Police Commander for Papua province, Iman Setiawan, held a press conference after the crackdown at KP3 saying that he will "do his duty to defend the integrity of Indonesia" and "destroy" anyone who would speak of a Free West Papua. He told the Jakarta Globe on October 21 "Whoever supports separatism or subversion activity, I will do the same as yesterday [forcefully dissolve the 3rd Papua People's Congress]. I'll finish [them]," "So, if there is anyone supporting such movements, I'm ready to die and finish them," he said. "This is my duty."

It is unclear whether Jakarta is going to call for restraint of its security forces again, or if they once again will kill people for engaging in peaceful free expression.

Jakarta wants Freeport mine open

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2011

Ririn Radiawati Kusuma – The government is sending the deputy minister for mineral resources to Papua with orders to get the Freeport mine operating again before dealing with the demands of striking workers or calls to renegotiate the company's terms of operations.

Widjajono Partowidagdo said his first priority would be to improve the security situation at the US-owned gold and copper mine and get it working again.

"Essentially [the company wants] security to return to normal. I will go to Papua this week," Widjajono said. Only after the mine is up and running, he added, will the issues behind the dispute be dealt with.

Asked about the possibility of renegotiating the company's contract of work, which is considered by many observers to be unfavorable to Indonesia in terms of the revenue split, Widjajono said that the government would not try and dictate new terms.

"We aren't going to demand anything unreasonable, because that way we won't reach an agreement," he said.

The two main financial interests in the Grasberg copper and gold mine near Timika are US company Freeport-McMoRan and Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto, through its 1995 joint venture entitling it to 40 percent of additional production from expansion of the mine.

In Jayapura, the capital of Papua, student organizations gathered to oppose the continued presence of Freeport in the province. They gave speeches and unfurled a banner that said "the Papuan people must assert sovereignty over their natural resources."

Students said the company's presence was behind many of the problems in Papua. They demanded that Freeport leave Papua, and for the Grasberg mine to pass into the ownership of the Papuan people.

Student leaders Fanny Kogoya and Bovid Defa said any plans to renegotiate Freeport's contract should involve indigenous Papuan people, who were not involved in the two previous negotiations. The students called their new group the "People's Movement Against Freeport Crimes."

Police prepping to break Freeport strike: Union

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2011

The union representing striking Freeport Indonesia mine workers in Timika, Papua, is claiming that a number of police armored vehicles and heavy loaders were on their way to break up the labor action.

In a statement released by the All-Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI), secretary Albar Sabang said "four panzers, one backhoe and one bulldozer are on the way to mile 27 of the Freeport area in Mimika" with the intention of breaking the strike by Tuesday, when a delegation from the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions is scheduled to meet with the Freeport unionists in Jakarta.

In a letter sent to SPSI by Mimika Police commander Deny Edward Siregar, police accuse the striking workers of breaching criminal laws and regulations governing workers' conduct, the statement says.

The statement quotes Deny as saying: "The strike has shifted its orientation, and become demonstrations without asking permissions from the police and has blocked access to roads that are vitally important for the national interests." The police commander is further quoted as saying that the striking miners have disturbed public order.

SPSI denied in the statement breaking any laws or regulations, and criticized the alleged $14 million that Freeport paid annually to the National Police.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said on Friday that the police accepted "pocket money" from Freeport for helping to provide security for the company and its operations.

Police under pressure over Freeport payments

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2011

Rizky Amelia & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The recent admission by the National Police chief that the police were receiving money from Freeport Indonesia has prompted everyone from lawmakers to activists to demand investigations into where the money went and what exactly the miner was buying.

Velix Wanggai, a special staff member to the president for regional autonomy, said the palace had no immediate reaction to the matter. "At this time there is no opinion from the palace," he said.

He added, however, that in ventures of such strategic importance as the gold and copper mine in Papua, "there is space for cooperation, including in some cost sharing."

But he declined to comment on whether the payments might affect the professionalism or objectivity of the police. "This is an opportunity for the government to rearrange ties between Freeport and the central government," he said.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said on Friday that the police accepted "pocket money" from Freeport for helping to provide security for the company and its operations.

Timur declined to give details of the amounts involved. Rights group Imparsial puts the amount that Freeport annually pays the police at $14 million.

Bondan Gunawan, a rights activist and former state secretary, said the money from Freeport "is completely unaccounted for; it's just out there."

Abdul Hamim Jauzie, chairman of LBH Keadilan, said the state should be finance the police and all their operations. "It is inappropriate for the police to receive money from the company," Hamim said, calling for an audit of the money the police had received from Freeport.

Golkar Party lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said at the very least the money should go to the National Police, rather than local officers as is currently the case, especially those working on the ground at the mine.

"The responsibility for this strange security fund from Freeport should fall on the shoulders of the National Police's leaders at the headquarters, not those officers in the field in Papua," Bambang said.

Placing the responsibility for receiving the money on the officers at the site, he said, "can only demoralize them." He did not offer any further explanation.

Timur has said it is acceptable for the police to accept money from a company that has received help from the police. Bambang, who is a member of House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs, said he would ask the House to question Timur about the matter.

Neta S. Pane, the head of Indonesia Police Watch, said that Freeport's payments could possibly be classified as unjustifiable gratuities and that both Freeport and the police could face sanctions. He said the IPW was calling on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the fund and its uses.

"Police personnel tend to be more hostile toward the people. If in the KPK investigation it is found that the money can be seen as a bribe, then the Freeport officials should also be sanctioned," he said.

Stop security approach in Papua: Kontras

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2011

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has demanded that the government change its security approach in dealing with Papua, and initiate dialogues.

Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said in Jakarta on Sunday that the security approach had only resulted in violence and the criminalizing of Papuans.

"The President must prioritize dialogue and peace approaches in dealing with conflict in Papua," Haris said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that Kontras suspected that there had been rights abuses in the recent deadly violence that broke out between police and participants of the third Papuan People's Congress in Abepura, Papua, and between police and local Freeport workers during a protest against the gold mining firm, among other cases.

Haris demanded that National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo investigate the possible involvement of police officers in the cases.

KPK asked to probe alleged Freeport bribery

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2011

Jakarta – Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) has urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate reported millions of US dollars of grants from gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia to the National Police.

Freeport has reportedly admitted to donating US$14 million to police every four months. National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the funds were used to feed police officers in Papua, where Freeport's mine is situated.

IPW said the funds could be a form of bribery, meaning both the recipients and the donors could be subject to legal proceedings.

"Not only the [police] officers, but also Freeport officials [found guilty of the bribery] should be brought to a corruption court," IPW chairman Neta S. Pane said Sunday in a press statement sent to tribunnews.com.

Neta said the move was necessary, given the escalating security situation in Papua, where about a dozen had been killed in violent conflicts that had broke out over the past month, including between police officers and Freeport workers during the latter's protest for pay rise.

SBY's Papua team ready to roll

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2011

Jakarta – As violence escalates in Papua, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is ready to deploy his special team on Papua, established on Sept. 20, according to an aide on Saturday.

Velix Vernando Wanggai, the President's aide on regional autonomy and development, told The Jakarta Post that the Unit for the Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua (UP4B) was ready for duty.

"The team is ready to accelerate development, chop down bottlenecks between the central and local governments and initiate breakthroughs to solve socioeconomic and political problems in Papua," Velix said.

The Jayapura-born presidential aide explained that the team would initiate the "new deal for Papua", saying the deal could spark a transformation in the way the government dealt with Papua. According to Velix, the new deal would embrace the local Papuans by inciting dialogue with strategic groups in the region.

Lt. Gen. Bambang Darmono, commanding officer in Aceh from 2002 to 2005 who was appointed UP4B chief, would soon start his work, Velix said. "Bambang Darmono is a capable and well-experienced figure in handling conflicts, especially with his previous experience in Aceh. Even though the conflicts in Aceh and Papua have different contexts, there are a lot of similarities."

Indonesia is under international scrutiny for the rising violence in the restive region. On Saturday morning, a skirmish broke out between the military and unidentified armed people near PT Freeport, a US gold mining subsidiary.

The incident was preceded by the killing of Mulia Police chief Comr. Dominggus Oktavianus Awes by unknown assailants and the arrest of six Papuans for treason following the controversial Third Papuan People's Congress in Abepura.

Velix said the UP4B would have a specific department assigned to supervise the use of Papua's special autonomy funds to strengthen the budget's control and evaluation system, "This would ensure that the money was being spent according to [Papua's special autonomy] blueprint."

The autonomy funds for Papua jumped into the spotlight following the government's decision to increase the 2012 budget allocation for Papua by 23 percent. In the 2012 budget, the provinces of West Papua and Papua would receive Rp 1.64 trillion (US$186.96 million) and Rp 3.8 trillion, respectively; which are significant increases from this year's budget, which allotted the two provinces Rp 1.33 trillion and Rp 3.1 trillion, respectively.

Despite the increase in next year's budget, a House Commission I lawmaker from Papua, Paskalis Kossay, told the Post that the spike in autonomy funds was unnecessary, calling the 2011 allocation "big enough".

In line with the UP4B's objective to strengthen supervision of Papua's special autonomy funds, Paskalis agreed that the government should impose stricter controls and thoroughly evaluate how this year's funds were used, citing the fact that the Supreme Audit Agency found indications that Rp 4.12 trillion of the Rp 19.12 trillion in special autonomy funds for Papua and West Papua between 2000 and 2010 may have been misused or embezzled.

"So far, I have never seen an evaluation of [Papua's] special autonomy funds. In fact, there should be a thorough evaluation [of Papua's special autonomy funds]," Paskalis said.

In August, the International Crisis Group (ICG) urged the UP4B to start its work quickly in Papua, citing the special team's massive authority that allowed it to address not only issues relating to Papua's development, but also more sensitive problems such as land, conflict and human rights.

"Without [the UP4B], the chance for any positive change in policy is much lower, making the developments in Puncak Jaya a symbol of everything that is wrong in Papua for activists inside and outside Indonesia," the ICG said as quoted from a statement on the organization's official website. (sat)

Kontras accuses police of conflict of interest in Papua

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2011

Agus Triyono & Banjir Ambarita – Rights activists announced on Friday that an investigation has led them to believe that police have involved themselves too deeply in labor disputes at the Freeport mine in Papua and tended to take the company's side.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said it found that senior police had threatened a labor organizer from the All- Indonesian Workers Trade Union (SPSI).

It said Sudiro, SPSI's chief workplace organizer for Freeport's Grasberg mine, had reported that Timika Police Chief Denny Siregar called him and made a death threat. Sudiro also said Papua Police chief Bikman L. Tobing had harassed him with insulting language.

According to Kontras, such aggressive language and threats constituted violence against the unionist.

"From the testimonies collected by Kontras [in Timika] on the sidelines of negotiations between workers and Freeport, the police chief pressured the SPSI leader to comply with the company's wishes so that he did not become 'tiresome' to police," Kontras investigator Haris Azhar said on Friday.

Police, according to Haris, had also leveled accusations of treason at striking workers and their union organizers. "All they did was make demands for their improved welfare. How can the police accuse them of being separatists? It makes no sense," Haris said.

Kontras' report said the presumed reason for the police taking the gold and copper mining company's side was Freeport's documented direct payments to police officers based in the area.

He said the flood of money to police had created a conflict of interest when its people, nominally public servants, handled cases related to the company. "When there's a problem between Freeport and their workers, of course they choose to support Freeport," he said.

National Police chief Timur Pradopo admitted on Friday that officers had received close to $10 million annually from Freeport, but he explained it away as "lunch money."

Haris dismissed that, saying the receipt of money from the US-based company had severely damaged the police's credibility. "If the police chief thinks of it as extras, then what are his wages for?" he asked.

Haris said Kontras would report its findings to the Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). "As far as I know, whether within the police law, the army law or the budget law, public servants should be paid only out of the state budget," he said.

Separately, Human Rights Watch on Friday called for an independent investigation into the deaths of protesters in Jayapura on Oct. 19.

"Papuans peacefully calling for independence does not justify a deadly crackdown," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "President Yudhoyono has an opportunity to show Papuans that he's concerned about their rights."

"Police and military personnel have also been the victims of violence in Papua," Pearson said, referring to Monday's shooting of Mulia Police chief Dominggus Oktavianus Awes in Puncak Jaya.

"But police investigations have been woefully inadequate, and there is a need for independent investigations into this escalating violence."

Former state secretary says Freeport buys the police

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2011

Jakarta – Former state secretary under former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, Bondan Gunawan, says he believes the daily allowances that PT Freeport Indonesia gives to the police have an indirect effect on the conflict in Papua.

"It will make the law enforcers side with the foreign company," Bondan said on Saturday during a discussion called "A Never-Ending Conflict in Papua".

Bondan said the money was supposed to be distributed through the regional or central administrations with clear accountability. "If it isn't, we must question its accountability," he said.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo previously admitted that some police officers stationed in Papua received daily allowances and lunches from US-based PT Freeport Indonesia. However, he did not elaborate on the amount.

"The most important thing is [police] accountability," said Timur after joint antiterror training at the military headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Friday.

He added that the operational costs for police officers stationed in Papua did not fully come from the company, because the government had also allocated funds for the security operation in the easternmost province of Indonesia.

He said the money from Freeport was considered an additional allowance, since the cost of living in the conflict-riddled area was high. "Security in Papua, including for PT Freeport, is included in the police's operations that are supported and funded by the state," Timur said.

He added that if the secured party gave allowances or lunches to the officers while doing their jobs, "I guess we can take responsibility for their accountability."

Shots fired at Brimob trucks near Freeport mine

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2011

Unknown assailants fired shots at two police trucks that were traveling near Freeport McMoRan's gold and copper mine in Timika, Papua, on Saturday. No injuries were reported in the incident, according to Metro TV.

The Mobile Brigade (Brimob) trucks were en route to a gas station at Mile 39 near the Grasberg mine when the shots were fired, Metro TV reported. The officers returned fire, but the attacker or attackers were believed to have fled the scene immediately.

A following sweep of the area conducted by a larger force of Brimob officers turned up no suspects or evidence.

Saturday's attack took place three days after three Brimob officers narrowly escaped death after the car they were in was fired upon at Mile 35.

The National Police have declared that they are on the highest alert in Papua after a spate of increased violence in the restive region.

"Everyone is on alert, especially in Puncak Jaya district," National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said on Tuesday, a day after two men shot dead the head of the Mulia subdistrict police at the local airport.

International pressure grows for solution to unrest in Papua

Radio New Zealand International - October 28, 2011

International pressure is mounting for Indonesia to address growing unrest and violence in its Papua region.

The call comes after a week in which a Police Commander in West Papua province was killed, and three more people were shot near the Freeport mine in Timika, bringing the death toll during an ongoing strike there to five.

It comes a week after at least five Papuans were killed and many more injured when Indonesian security forces broke up the Third Papuan People's Congress which had declared independence.

Johnny Blades reports.

Among the congress delegates remaining in police custody, facing charges of treason is Forkorus Yaboisembut for proclaiming an independent West Papua state. The declaration triggered a swift response by the hundreds of Indonesian security forces deployed at the congress.

The United States Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin says the forces committed serious violations.

"I'm very very concerned that the meeting that was held amongst the West papuan people in terms of trying to... I guess out of frustration, you now the leaders got so tired where they weren't even allowed to dialogue with the Indonesian government to talk about the Special Autonomy Law that was passed over ten years ago and has never really been implemented by the Indonesian government. So out of all this, the Indonesian government sent in soldiers and security forces."

It's not just American lawmakers applying pressure for change in Papua. Australian Greens senator Richard Di Natale has urged his government to send a fact-finding mission to Papua and to immediately suspend all support for the Indonesian military.

The convener of a New Zealand parliamentary support group for West Papua, MP Catherine Delahunty, says Wellington should review its role in training Indonesian police in Papua.

"Show some leadership as we have done in places like Bougainville, and help broker a conversation about ending the injustices, the human rights abuses and the deaths because yes there needs to be a democratic police force in West Papua but we're a long way from that, until we have a peace process and a recognition of the rights of the people of West Papua."

Meanwhile, violence continues to plague Freeport's mine where an ongoing strike by thousands of employees has forced the company to declare force majeure on shipments from the mine. Freeport is Indonesia's largest corporate tax payer and it has never faced such major industrial trouble in its long history in Papua.

A commodities analyst says the market impact of industrial action will be limited if the dispute is resolved quickly. Bart Melek from TD Securities says the longer production stays offline the tighter the market will get.

"But in an environment where demand is seen to be somewhat better or at least expectations are somewhat better than they were before and at the same time you get supply disruptions, one could say with a fairly high level of comfort that price pressures are to the upside because of that."

A cultural anthropologist focussing on West Papua Eben Kirksey from Columbia University New York says that many Papuans oppose the mine because its history is linked to their region's incorporation into Indonesia.

He says the labour dispute has galvanised employees from other parts of the archipelago.

"There's both an amazing alliance that has emerged there but also there are broader issues: under the Special Autonomy programme, the lion's share of revenue generated by Freeport is supposed to hit the ground back in West Papua. But even though West Papua is the biggest province of Indonesia, the most resource rich – in addition to gold and copper, they have timber, natural gas – the fact of the matter is that despite all these resources West Papua remains poor; West Papuans are the poorest people in Indonesia."

Eben Kirksey says the legality of the entire Freeport operation in Papua is uncertain given the agreement under which the company came to develop the Grasberg was signed with Indonesia before it had legally taken over the territory of Papua.

However the strike which began in mid-September has made the Indonesian public more sensitive towards the Papuans situation.

"I think there's great potential to negotiate a much more fair just and fair contract of work that protects labour rights, and protects the environment, and that also isn't perpetuating post-colonial inequalities. I think a lot of Indonesians and West Papuans alike feel very unhappy that their resources are being sucked away, and that they are channeling a lot of profits into corporate boardrooms and portfolios of distant stockholders but are not directly reaping many of the benefits themselves."

Meanwhile, rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for investigations into violence in Papua.

Although the Indonesia Human Rights Commission is said to be looking at the violence at the Congress, international disquiet over the trouble in Papua is demanding more.

Papua conflict challenge for Indonesia

Antara News - October 28, 2011

Depok, West Java – Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty is of the opinion that the conflict in Papua is a bid challenge for the Government of Indonesia in overcoming it.

"It is a challenge for Indonesian government to improve the welfare of the people of Papua," the Australian envoy said in his lecture on "Australia in the Asian Century" at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java, on Friday.

Since Indonesia has so far been maintaining the country's territorial integrity, Gred said the conflict in Papua was not because of foreign intervention.

"The government of Australia deplores endless horizontal conflict in Papua," Greg said, adding that it was a big challenge for Indonesian government.

But he also asked the people of Papua to support the process of government policy to speed up the development full autonomy in the province. "Indonesia has to be able to find the way out of the conflict in Papua," said the Australian envoy.

Greg further said that the issue of seceding Papua from the unitary state of Indonesia was not the best way out, because what the government of Indonesia has been doing so far was good. "I really appreciate what the government of Indonesia has done for Papua," Greg said.

According to him, the decision of the people of Papua to secede from Indonesia was a contra-productive issue because what President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has done so far in term of administration of autonomy policy was much better.

Therefore the Australian envoy asked the Indonesian government to open an active and intensive dialog with the people of Papua to solve the problem.

Freeport Indonesia mine pay talks deadlocked - Union

Reuters - October 28, 2011

Jakarta – Pay talks between Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold and a union representing striking workers at its Indonesia mine are deadlocked after a week of negotiations, the union said on Friday.

The US miner, which was compelled on Wednesday to declare force majeure on shipments from the world's second-biggest copper mine, has offered workers a 30 percent pay rise, up from 25 percent when talks restarted on Oct. 21, the union said.

The union is still holding out for a hike to $7.5 an hour, as much as a fivefold increase from the $1.5-$3.0 per hour that workers at the remote mountain mine currently earn, but much lower than its initial demand for $30-$200 per hour.

"There was a silver lining in the previous meeting but now the talk is making a U-turn," said Juli Parorrongan, the union's spokesman. "What we are demanding is the final price, $7.50 and no less. And this is small money for a firm that we know earned so much revenue from the mine," he said.

Freeport Indonesia spokesman Ramdani Sirait declined to comment on the details of the negotiations. "I hope we can find a solution soon," Sirait said.

The firm is trying to keep limited output at Grasberg going, but production and its operations have been disrupted by the strike, worker blockades, attacks by gunmen on employees and sabotage to a main pipeline running from the mine to its port.

Freeport's force majeure decision freed it from some of its contractual obligations to supply buyers of metal produced at Grasberg, which holds more gold and copper reserves than any other mine and also produces silver.

Freeport's CEO Richard Adkerson has said that an eight-day strike in July and the second continuing strike at Grasberg led to a loss of about 70 million pounds of copper and 100,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter.

The firm is also facing strike action in Peru, where the union at the Cerro Verde copper mine on Wednesday rejected a request from Freeport to go into labour arbitration to end a month-old strike.

Police admit to receiving Freeport lunch money

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Farouk Arnaz – The police admitted on Friday what much of the country has long known that they accepted millions of dollars from Freeport Indonesia to provide security for the miners operations in Papua.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo called the payments lunch money paid in addition to state-allocated security funding. It was operational funding given directly to police personnel to help them make ends meet, he said.

He also claimed it was normal practice for the police to receive money in the course of duty. If, for instance, the party being secured offers to pay lunch money to the officers, and if the conditions of the job are particularly difficult, then I believe we can account for that money, Timur said.

Timur was responding to reports from the human rights group Imparsial that the police received $64 million from Freeport between 1995 and 2004. That money is audited, OK? Just ask the polices operational assistant, Timur said.

Security forces have long been understood to be receiving direct payments from the miner to help guard its massive Grasberg copper and gold mine. The mine and its workers have been the target of frequent attacks, mostly blamed by police on the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM).

But rights activists have also accused it of using security forces to quell local opposition to its mining operations and crack down on worker protests.

The mine is in the grip of a massive workers strike that began on Sept. 15. On Oct. 10, two people died in a clash between police and striking workers.

Timur denied that the money from Freeport had made the force subservient to the miner, insisting that the payments went no higher than to personnel on the ground.

In its 2009 report on Working Toward Sustainable Development, Freeport revealed that it contributed millions of dollars toward government-provided security operations near its Papua mine: $10 million for 2009 alone.

This supplemental support consists of various infrastructure and other costs, such as food, housing, fuel, travel, vehicle repairs, allowances to cover incidental and administrative costs, and community assistance programs conducted by the military and police to promote harmony with local communities, Freeport said in the report.

In the wake of Timurs admission, legislators said they would summon the police chief to clarify the issue. Benny K. Harman, chairman of House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said if the money was given directly to personnel as Timur claimed then thats reasonable.

However, fellow Democrat Saan Mustofa advised against such a relationship and the image it created. Freeport shouldnt have paid the money, even if it was to individual officers, he said. It could be accused of bribery.

[Additional reporting by Markus Junianto Sihaloho.]

Independent investigation needed into Papua: Rights group

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Human Rights Watch has called for the president to establish an independent investigation into the deaths of protesters and the ongoing violence in Papua.

Six people were reported killed and dozens were injured in Jayapura on Oct. 19 after Indonesian security forces fired warning shots to break up a large gathering of Papuans in support of independence. The government has denied firing on the demonstrators, but several witnesses have issued statements to the contrary.

In addition, witnesses say that security forces pistol-whipped or beat those they arrested with rattan canes and batons, resulting in several injuries.

"Police and military personnel have also been the victims of violence in Papua," Pearson said, referring to the Oct. 24 shooting of Mulia police chief, Dominggus Oktavianus Awes, in Puncak Jaya. "But police investigations have been woefully inadequate, and there's a need for independent investigations into this escalating violence."

Papua violence worries business

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Nethy Dharma Somba and Nani Afrida, Jakarta/Jayapura – Economic development that is supposed to help lift Papua from protracted poverty is at risk of a falloff as businesses become jittery over heightened security worries.

The country's most under-developed province, but with a wealth of natural resources, is likely to see many ambitious projects, already planned, shelved unless the government can ensure safety.

"Investors are concerned by the security situation in Papua and have cancelled plans to visit," said chairman of the Papua chapter of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) John Kabey on Thursday.

"None have dropped their investment plans as yet, but businessmen are still awaiting a more conducive situation. Still it's very damaging for Papua's economy in the long run."

John said that although security problems were limited to certain areas of the province, the public in general perceived the entire province as being in chaos. "The violence only occurred in Puncak Jaya and in Timika, while other places such as Merauke, Biak, Yapen and Waropen are safe and peaceful," he said.

Papua has several ambitious investment projects in the pipeline, including the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate that will see numerous investments by local heavyweights. There is also a big coal-fired power plant project planned for Urumka and the port in Merauke.

Apart from US mining giant Freeport McMoRan that operates the world's largest gold and copper reserve in Timika, British energy giant BP Plc. also has a gas operation in Papua that is slated to become the country's biggest.

Papua is also part of the country's economic corridors program. Under the scheme, the government plans to build economic clusters and business centers to support unique local economies. If the program goes ahead, the value of Papua's economy is expected to increase 6.3 times to US$83 billion by 2030.

"Should there be no security improvement, development in Papua will remain lagging far behind in comparison with other provinces," said John.

Decline in business activity has also been seen in hotel occupancy rates in the province's capital of Jayapura for the last two months.

"It's terrible. Occupancy has dropped by as much as 30 percent. Many businessmen have cancelled their visits due to security reasons," said Jayapura's Aston Hotel sales manager Loisey Tombokan.

More than 10 people have been killed by unidentified gunmen this month alone, including a police chief at Puncak Jaya, with security personnel so far being unable to catch the perpetrators.

Calls for independence have long been heard in Papua, as many among the indigenous population of the easternmost province, which has always been heavily controlled by the military, feel that they have been oppressed and kept in poverty for decades.

"The conflict will affect much-needed investment in Papua. The biggest investor there is Freeport. They will inform their head office about the situation and the whole world will take notice," said Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat.

Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan is also aware of business concerns over security in the province and is hoping the security forces will rapidly bring the situation under control.

"We're really concerned about the situation and we hope investors will remain confident in doing business there and help the province prosper. Not all areas in Papua have security problems," said Gita.

Call for NZ police to leave Papua

ABC Radio Australia - October 28, 2011

A New Zealand opposition MP wants Kiwi police to leave the Indonesian province of Papua. They are there to train their local counterparts in the principles of community policing.

The call comes in the wake of the recent shooting deaths of pro- independence activists at the Papuan Congress in Jayapura, and unrest around an ongoing strike at the Freeport copper mine in Timika.

Presenter: Bruce Hill

Speaker: Catherine Delahunty, New Zealand Greens MP

Delahunty: I am going to talk to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and ask him to review the whole scheme, because the idea was that we use a perfectly sound principle of policing is community policing and it was going to help with human rights. You certainly cannot say that with Papuan people have had more human rights in the way that the police and military have been treating them and in fact the police are implicated in some of the violence that took place against West Papuans who had gathered to discuss their self-determination.

We are validating an invalid situation, we are giving credence and credibility to a police force that are actively attacking their own citizens. We know that torture and that abuses by both the police and military are now commonplace and have been for sometime and we cannot say that New Zealand's involvement is reducing the impact of those injustices.There is no evidence to suggest we're making anything better, so we should be brave enough to say so.

Hill: When this community policing initiative was announced, the argument was made that sure there are some problems with police work in Papua, but that if countries like Australia and New Zealand don't actually get in there and work with the security forces, then things won't ever get better?

Delahunty: I think that's a very flawed argument and avoids the real issue, which is Australia and New Zealand can make things better when their governments challenge Indonesia to work towards peace, through a peace dialogue. Small community and policing initiatives on the ground help to whitewash the fact that the Indonesians are operating a regime in West Papua which is unjust, illegal and unsustainable and that we are allowing them to continue in our name.

Australia and New Zealand governments must step up now. We've seen what's happened to the Congress in Jayapura last week that the police were involved in killing and we just cannot sit by and do nothing about that and pretend that we're helping by sending a training program over for a police force that's implicated in suppressing the rights of the communities of West Papua.

Hill: Well, how likely is it that the minister of foreign affairs is going to pay attention to you? I mean after all, you're an member of parliament from the Greens Party, which is a very small party in New Zealand. Are they going to pay attention to what you're saying?

Delahunty: Green Party is a small party, we're about to hopefully get bigger this election, we are also the conscience of the government on these issues. We will continue to be that conscience and we need to point out to a national government that there are precedents. In the past, even national governments have done things for Bougainville, they have assisted in the peace process. The New Zealand government could play a very positive role and a real leadership role, so much as we're not romantic about what the New Zealand government's view of challenging Indonesia is. We know that they have prioritised trade over human rights and justice. We are going to call on them to take leadership so that we can hold our heads up in this region and be a country that has in the past shown real leadership to create peace dialogue. That's what the people of West Papua want, they want a peace dialogue, they want international support from Australia and New Zealand and it's not much to ask to call on human rights, an end to torture and for discussions between Indonesia and West Papuan leaders.

Hill: But, if countries like New Zealand did what you're asking them and pulled out of these joint operations and community policing initiatives, might that cause Jakarta to just dig its heels in even further and refuse to listen to any appeals?

Delahunty: They're not listening now, how much further can they dig when they've already killed people in cold blood for simply discussing their human rights and self-determination when you can get 20 years in jail for raising the West Papuan Morning Star flag. There is absolute history that says that as countries stand up to regimes that are oppressive, such as apartheid in South Africa, being one glaring example. There has to be consequences for the unjust behaviour and right now, community policing is not challenging the Indonesian government to look at their own behaviour. So we've got nothing to lose in taking a much stronger and more ethical stance.

Golkar asserts Indonesia claim to Papua

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Golkar Party chief Aburizal Bakrie warned the international community against intervening in Papua, saying the issue was part of Indonesia's domestic affairs.

"Golkar is standing in the front row against any foreign interference in Papua. The eastern-most province is an integral part of Indonesia and we do love Papua," Aburizal said at the closing ceremony of the party's leadership meeting here on Friday.

He then suggested that all parties involved should discuss the problem instead of provoking further violence.

Aburizal also rejected earlier criticism from certain countries over the government's handling of conditions in Papua, and had facilitated Papuans in exile to launch an anti-Indonesia movement. However, he also admitted that many problems in Papua still needed to be resolved by the government.

Freeport gave police tens of millions for 'meal money'

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Farouk Arnaz – The National Police Chief said on Friday that tens of million of dollars funneled to his institution by mining giant Freeport Indonesia were disbursed as "meal money" and hardship duty funds for officers stationed at the Grasberg mine in Timika, Papua.

Gen. Timur Pradopo denied that the payments – totalling at least $74 million between 1995 and 2010 – were used to pay for security around the strike-hit mine, where eight people have been killed this month in car ambushes and police clashes

"All operations, security operations projects, are funded by the state. If the people whom we give protection to give meal money directly to the our officers, I think it is accountable," Timur said.

His denial was in response to a statement by Freeport, published on its Web site, that the mining company gave $64 million in support costs for "government provided security" between 1995 and 2004. The company says it has continued to supply funds to the government since then, paying out $10 million in 2009 alone.

Timur said that the money was given by the National Police to officers directly in the field, and that the payments had never been discussed with any other government body. He insisted, however, that the funds had been carefully tracked internally.

"The money was audited, just ask the [National Police's] Operational Assistant [about the amount of the money]," Timur said, adding that there would be no sanctions for officers who had received the hardship duty funds from Freeport.

"Once again, it is an additional fund because the situation is difficult there. It is just an operational fund, just like any other operations," he said.

Asked whether he was concerned if the "meal money" would affect the ability of his officers to remain objective during the frequent disputes between locals and the mine, Timur only replied: "Once again, it happens in the field and the fund is given directly to the officers to fulfill the needs of a hard life."

Police chief defiant over PT Freeport aid

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Jakarta – National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo on Friday admitted that his institution had accepted money from PT Freeport to each officer who helped secure the firm's assets in Papua.

Timur, however, said the money was officers' extra allowance for serving in Papua. "[The money] can be accounted for, because it is in Papua," he said Friday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Timur added that living costs in Papua were higher than in other parts of Indonesia. The officers' standard allowance, he said, would not have been enough to cover their basic needs.

He added that the money given by Freeport, which according to Kontras human rights watchdog was Rp 1.4 million per officer per day, was handed directly to officers in Papua.

Timur argued that the acceptance of such money did not violate any laws or regulations. "If there are funds from agencies or companies wanting to give security incentives, it should be accountable," he said.

Previously unknown OPM wing claims responsibility for officer's killing

Jakarta Globe - October 27, 2011

Banjir Ambarita, Dessy Sagita & Ezra Sihite, Jayapura – A pro-independence Papuan group has claimed responsibility for the killing of the Mulia subdistrict police chief earlier this week, a police official said on Thursday.

Adj. Comr. Dominggus Awes was attacked by two men on Monday at the Mulia airport and killed with his own handgun.

"We received a letter, claiming to come from the OPM, that claimed responsibility for the shooting of the subdistrict police chief. But I do not trust it," said the Puncak Jaya Police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Alex Korwa.

Alex was referring to the Free Papua Organization, which is a mostly uncoordinated amalgam of small and poorly armed groups that has fueled a low-intensity pro-independence resistance movement in Papua for decades.

Alex said the letter, signed by Purom Wonda, also claimed responsibility for other recent shootings in Puncak Jaya district. "But I still doubt this," he said, adding that OPM's armed wings were split into a number of uncoordinated groups, and that anyone could claim responsibility.

Wonda's OPM group, the officer said, had previously been unknown. He said it did not appear to be linked to the Tingginambut-based OPM group led by Goliath Tabuni or to the Yambi-based group led by Murib. In the letter, according to Alex, Wonda said his group operated out of the Pilia area.

Lukas Enembe, chief of Puncak Jaya district, said he believed the Wonda group was previously linked to Marunggen Wonda, who has since left the resistance movement.

Police in Puncak Jaya have been on high alert since the killing of Dominggus on Monday, with one platoon – or about 100 officers – deployed in the area, Alex said. He said that planned reinforcements from Jakarta, said to number about 170 men, had not yet arrived in Mulia.

"The situation is conducive again and we have asked everyone to remain calm because we are continuing to hunt them down," Alex said, referring to the attackers.

Meanwhile, the head of the Papuan People's Representative Council, John Ibo, claimed that 80 percent of Papuans wanted to secede from Indonesia.

Though he did not say how he arrived at that figure, Ibo said that every new injustice and conflict in the region only served to strengthen pro- independence sentiment.

If the government wants to curb separatism, he said, it should promote sustainable development in Papua and it should avoid repressive measures, prioritizing dialogue instead.

"Treat Papua as a complete entity, as part of the Indonesian nation that also needs attention," he said.

Mahfudz Siddiq, head of House of Representatives Commission I, which oversees defense affairs, said the government needed a clear plan to address the conflict in Papua.

If it has not yet created a strategy, he said, the defense commission would ask it to do so. "Without a clear roadmap, the kinds of security disturbances that we have seen can clearly occur every month, if not each day," he said.

Mahfudz also suggested that a nationally respected figure should initiate a dialogue in Papua. He floated the name of former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who already has experience solving conflicts in Aceh, Maluku and Central Sulawesi.

Rights group Imparsial agreed that the government should focus on dialogue, calling on the state to drop the security approach it has unsuccessfully relied on in Papua. "A security approach is not applicable to the entire region of Papua," said Imparsial's executive director, Poengky Indarti.

SBY pledges to punish lawbreaking security officers in Papua

Jakarta Globe - October 27, 2011

Arientha Primanita – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has largely avoided responding to claims of a heavy-handed security crackdown in Papua following the deadly dispersal of a pro-independence rally last week, saying only that security personnel violating any laws will be duly punished.

"They are there doing their duty for the state. If during the course of that duty they commit any infractions, they will not be exempted from punishment," he said at a cabinet meeting in Jakarta on Thursday.

He added that while the security forces would be kept strictly in check in the wake of the recent upsurge in violence in Papua, there would be no concessions for other groups inciting violence.

"Anyone found engaging in the kind of violence that we have seen there lately will be processed to the fullest extent of the law in order to keep the peace," the president said.

Yudhoyono called on military and police chiefs to ensure their personnel in Papua did not use excessive force or go beyond their orders in the restive province, which has been gripped by a spate of violent attacks that have resulted in at least 12 deaths in recent weeks.

The president stressed it was important that the response to the situation be calm and not influenced by the violence on the ground.

"The government must keep a clear head. So, too, must our brothers over there and the international nongovernmental organizations concerned with this issue," he said. "Our policies to date [on Papua] have been the right ones."

He denied Papua and West Papua were still a theater of massive military operations, saying the military and police presence there was meant to keep the peace and ensure justice in the case of security disruptions by separatists.

He also ordered military and police chiefs, as well as the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Djoko Suyanto, to initiate a dialogue with NGOs that were critical of the administration in Jakarta and the way it was dealing with the problems in the easternmost provinces.

"Host a dialogue with Amnesty International," Yudhoyono said. "Make it clear to them what our fundamental position on Papua is, so that there is no longer any misunderstanding. The government of Indonesia has always been very open in dealing with their allegations of human rights abuses in the two provinces. We stand fully accountable for our policies there."

Amnesty has called for the release of at least 14 participants of the independence rally still being held by police. More than 300 were arrested and at least six killed, although police deny their personnel were responsible for the deaths.

West Papuans attacked by Indonesian army

ABC Lateline - October 27, 2011

Six people have died in shootings after the West Papuan Independent Movement declared independence, which Indonesia describes as an act of treason.

Tony Jones, presenter: Last week six people were killed in the Indonesian province of West Papua after separatists declared independence from Indonesia at a people's congress.

Lateline has obtained exclusive pictures of the aftermath of the shootings, which were alleged to have been carried out by Indonesian security forces, including anti-terrorist troops trained by Australia.

Indonesia says the declaration in the restive province is an act of treason and people have been charged according to the law. West Papuan independence activists say the shootings were planned.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs says the Indonesian police response was disproportionate.

Hamish Fitzsimmons has this report.

Hamish Fitzsimmons, reporter: Thousands attended the third West Papuan People's Congress on 19th October in Jayapura

It was organised by the West Papuan independence movement, which says it was forcibly included in the Indonesian republic almost 50 years ago.

And last week, the congress took the dramatic step of declaring independence from Jakarta and electing its own government.

Edison Waromi, Papuan People's Congress Prime Minister: We will appoint a main leader who will unite the movement and ideologies. This is the time to make clear to God, to the international community, also to Indonesia and the people of Papua.

Hamish Fitzsimmons: After the declaration was made, security forces moved in to break up the meeting. The Indonesian government says police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd and made many arrests, six people have been charged with treason.

But six people are also reported to have been killed and many more injured. Those who witnessed the violence want the international community to intervene in West Papua.

John Baransano, West Papuan Youth Church: I call on the churches around the world to care about this. I'm calling for an intervention for us because today's events show that we need a transitional government and this needs to happen to help the people of Papua. We are now in a dangerous situation and we're calling for a UN intervention to help us.

Hamish Fitzsimmons: John Baransano is a Protestant minister in Jayapura who was at the peoples' congress. He says he saw people being shot and beaten and others herded into trucks.

John Baransano: I saw with my own eyes people who were bleeding. They had been hit. We saw how they were terribly harassed. They were forced into a truck and ordered to sit down so they wouldn't be seen by others. But if we were up higher, we could see what had been done to them.

Hamish Fitzsimmons: Anglican minister Peter Woods lived in Indonesia for many years and is dedicated to helping West Papuans achieve independence.

He was in Jayapura during the congress and filmed interviews with many of the independence movement's leaders. He says the security forces waited until independence was declared at the meeting.

Peter Woods, West Papuan independence supporter: The Army, the special police, the Brimob, the Densus 88, which had been along the road for the last three days in various barracks and positioning areas, they all moved in and started firing.

Hamish Fitzsimmons: The Indonesian government says there were deaths, but not at the site of the congress and the victims' wounds were not gunshot wounds, but from a sharp weapon.

This vision has been supplied by West Papuan independence activists and can't be independently verified. It appears to show many bullet holes.

Reverend Woods believes the violence on 19th was premeditated.

Peter Woods: It was very well-planned and they waited until the declaration had been made. The justification for that was that – well we've heard variously a coup d'etat was being planned, or a state within the state of Indonesia was being declared.

Hamish Fitzsimmons: Amongst the troops were soldiers from the Densus 88 unit, Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad, which is funded and trained by Australia and the United States. The Australian Government says it funds training for the Indonesian armed forces that emphasises human rights awareness, accountability and respect for the rule of law, including in Papua, and that it doesn't train Indonesia's military to counter separatist groups.

The Greens want military training halted.

Richard Di Natale, Greens Senator: The Australian Government should immediately suspend all support for the Indonesian military. It should, as a matter of urgency, send a fact-finding mission to the region.

Hamish Fitzsimmons: Elite police from Jakarta and Indonesia's National Commission for Human Rights are investigating the shootings, but there are claims that some of the injured in the crackdown are too afraid to seek treatment, fearing they'll be arrested.

One of those is Abraham Kereni, who was one a representatives at the congress.

Abraham Kereni, West Papuan Independence Rep.: Then those – the security forces, they immediately held pistols and opened the door of the car of the prime minister. It was there that shots were fired. They opened the door and pulled me out. As they were pulling me out, there were three crew that came and hit me.

Hamish Fitzsimmons: A spokesman for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs says it appears from reports that the police's response, following calls for independence at the conclusion of the congress, was disproportionate.

Hamish Fitzsimmons, Lateline.

Killed police chief responsible for years of rights abuses, OPM says

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The international spokesperson of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), John Otto Ondawame, did not directly confirm, when asked, that members of his organization were behind the killing of Adj. Comr. Dominggus Oktavianus Awes, the Mulia Police chief.

Ondawame said that Dominggus had been one of "those who must take responsibility for the series of crimes against humanity in Puncak Jaya."

In his e-mail sent to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Vanuatu-based Ondawame accused the Indonesian police and military of having been behind "increased human rights abuses, barbaric killings, tortures, intimidation and rapes against innocent civilians in the area."

Ondawame also said that the deployment of further police officers to Papua would "create devastating effects on civilian lives."

"Such a deployment will never destroy the true aspiration of the people of West Papua. Rather it will encourage their sentiment against Jakarta," he said, adding that the leaders of the people of West Papua had always called on the Indonesian government to withdraw security forces from the region and engage in international peace talks organized by a third party.

Dominggus was shot dead by unknown assailants at Mulia Airport in Puncak Jaya regency on Monday.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam was quick to respond to the incident by alleging that the perpetrators were members of the OPM separatist group.

Following the killing, the National Police dispatched about 200 mobile brigade officers as part of escalated security measures in Papua.

House slams SBY over Papua violence, demands dialogue

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Legislators threw staunch criticism at the government on Thursday, accusing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of turning a blind eye to escalating violence involving the populations of Papua and West Papua.

Effendy Choirie and Lily Chadidjah Wahid, both members of House of Representatives Commission I on information, defense and foreign affairs, warned the government that the mounting tension could lead to the two provinces' separation from Indonesia.

The legislators also urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to go to Papua directly to hold a dialogue with Papuans to resolve the issue peacefully, rather than deploying security forces in efforts to crush separatist sentiment.

"The escalating tension is not only a security disturbance but and mainly a serious human rights violation with the killing of Mulia Police chief Dominggus Awes, a Papuan police officer fighting for a humane approach for the Papuan people," Lily said.

She added that the government should not blame the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for the shooting but rather the security personnel in Papua, who have have received US$14 million from miner PT Freeport McMoran Indonesia to safeguard its assets in Timika.

Effendy suggested the President assign former vice president Jusuf Kalla, known for his track record in mediating conflicts in Poso and Aceh, to help mediate the issue in an effort to win back the Papuan people's confidence in the government of the Republic of Indonesia.

Irene Mupui and Paskalis Kosai, two Golkar Party legislators from Papua, said Jakarta and the government in Papua should be held responsible for the mounting problems and for its failure to improve the Papuan people's social welfare under its "special autonomy" or fix the widening social gap in the two provinces.

All legislators present at the session agreed that the government should end its military-operation approach, and that the President should hold a long-awaited dialogue to resolve Papua issues.

Parliamentarians group says NZ should review community policing in Papua

Radio New Zealand International - October 27, 2011

The convener of the New Zealand parliamentary support group for West Papua says the government should review its role training Indonesian police in community policing in Papua region.

The call comes after at least five Papuans died and many more were injured when Indonesian security forces broke up the Papuan Congress after it declared independence.

There have also been five shooting deaths around the ongoing strike at the Freeport mine in Timika. A police commander has also been killed.

Catherine Delahunty has urged New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully to encourage Indonesia to curb the state killings, torture and other abuses of Papuans.

"And really if New Zealand wants to play a constructive role, we might like to participate in brokering a peace dialogue. I don't think it's a robust situation for us to be doing community policing. It would be far more useful if Murray McCully would talk to the President of the Indonesian state about their occupation in terms of a peace dialogue with West Papuan leaders."

Officials deny Papua alert status

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Arya Dipa and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The Free Papua Movement (OPM) denied that the organization was behind the killing of Mulia Police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Oktavianus Awes.

OPM international spokesman John Otto Ondawame said Dominggus was one of "those who must take responsibility for the series of crimes against humanity in Puncak Jaya".

In his email sent to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, the Vanuatu-based Ondawame accused the police and military of having been behind "increased human rights abuses, barbaric killings, tortures, intimidation and rapes against innocent civilians in the area".

He also said the deployment of more troops to Papua would "create devastating effects on civilian lives".

"We strongly believe that through peace talks we can find the best solution to the long-standing issue of West Papua. Is Jakarta ready to enter into new round-table peace talks?"

The situation in Papua has been tense for the past two weeks following a series of shootings that have claimed the lives of eight people, including Dominggus.

However, the government has revised a previous statement on the security status of Papua, saying there was no plan to send further Indonesian Military (TNI) and police troops to the troubled province despite rising tensions.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusginatoro denied a previous statement made by National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam that the status of Puncak Jaya had been elevated to "Alert 1".

"The disorder only took place in Puncak Jaya. The third Papuan People's Congress was held in Abepura. It is still within the police's jurisdiction," Purnomo told reporters in Bandung on Wednesday when accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on his visit to PT Dirgantara Indonesia.

"Currently, none of our troops are from outside Papua. The situation is being handled by troops from the local garrison. There has been no reinforcement of combat troops in Papua," said Purnomo.

Anton said on Tuesday that more than 170 officers of the police Mobile Brigade had been deployed to Papua while Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said 280 mobile brigade officers would be sent from Jakarta over the next few days.

Papua interim governor Syamsul Arief Rivai urged the congregation of Gereja Kristen Injili (GKI) to turn Papua into a peaceful paradise. "Let's turn Papua into a little heaven, like the lyrics of the song; a piece of heaven on Earth," he said at the opening of the Papua GKI synod congress in Sentani, Jayapura.

Papua GKI synod leader Rev. Yemima Krey Mirino called on the government to sit down with the Papuan people to discuss the current problems. "The government must be willing to hear what is happening and then work together to seek a solution, so people can live in peace," he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono emphasized the government's stance on defending the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. "We love peace but we must defend the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia at all costs."

[Nethy D. Somba and Bagus BT Saragih contributed to this story.]

Papua rector calls for Jakarta-Papua dialogue to end all violence

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Netty Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Following the eruption of violence in Papua over the past two months that has claimed eight lives, Pater Neles Tebay, rector of the Fajar Timur School of Theology and Philosophy (STFT) in Jayapura, has called for a Jakarta-Papua dialogue to be held immediately.

"This dialogue is very important not only to end the violence but also to prevent it from recurring in Papua," he said in a press release on Thursday.

Neles said he hoped that every party concerned with conditions in Papua, including members of the Catholic Church abroad, would pray and support the idea of such a dialogue.

"Because only through such a dialogue, the root of the conflicts in Papua can be identified and solutions can be found, without violence and blood," he said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) said that the recent fracas in Papua should be used as momentum to reevaluate the region's security management.

"The handling of security in Papua should be reviewed. Give the people space without the presence of the khaki troops (soldiers). For 40 years, the people have been traumatized by the khaki troops. Return the Army to its proper duty of defending the country," PGI deputy president Father Phil Erari said.

Erari was critical of the measures taken by security forces sent to disperse participants of the third Papuan People's Congress on Oct. 19, in which guns and violence were used by the police to enforce their authority. Three men were killed as a result.

"The police faced unarmed people with guns, as though they were squaring up against an opposition that would destroy the country or directly declare independence," he said.

Amid all the security turmoil in Papua, the Papua Police have replaced the deputy chief, installing Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw in place of Brig. Gen. Unggung Cahyono, who has been appointed West Kalimantan police chief.

Freeport declares force majeure at strike-hit Grasberg mine in Papua

Reuters - October 26, 2011

Olivia Rondonuwu – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold declared force majeure on some concentrate sales from its strike-hit Grasberg mine in Papua on Wednesday, a move that kept benchmark copper prices close to a one-month high.

Freeport's decision frees it from some of its contractual obligations to supply buyers of metal produced at the world's second-largest copper mine. The news buoyed copper prices on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday and the benchmark contract rose as much as 3.5 percent to $7,785 a tonne. That was just below a one-month peak of $7,820 hit on Tuesday.

Grasbeg holds the greatest gold and copper reserves in the world and also produces silver. A monthlong strike over pay and conditions, road blockades and damage to a pipeline have hit output at the open-pit mine.

"The lower concentrate production has impacted our ability to fully perform our sales commitments and as a result, we were required to declare force majeure on the affected concentrate sales agreements," Freeport Indonesia spokesman Ramdani Sirait said.

"It is almost a certainty that Freeport's declaration of force majeure has supported copper prices today," said Gavin Wendt, a mining analyst. "News of the strike isn't new but the situation hasn't been improving.

Analysts also said that the declaration came at the same time that many miners and smelters were involved in negotiations on fees for processing copper. The declaration would likely support the miners' position in those negotiations as there would be less raw material to process, forcing smelters to be more competitive on fees for taking on the work.

The company said last week that an eight-day strike in July and the second, continuing strike at Grasberg led to a loss of about 70 million pounds of copper and 100,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter. It also cut its sales forecast for 2012.

Forkorus and colleagues must be treated fairly, says Komnas HAM

Bintang Papua - October 26, 2011

Komnas HAM, the National Commission for Human Rights, has urged the police in Papua to respect the rights of the six persons who were arrested following the Third Papuan People's Congress.

The six include Forkorus Yaboisembut, chairman of the Papuan Customary Council and Edison Waromi, a well-known human rights activist. RA Ongge, speaking on behalf of the Commission, said they had also called for the release of all the civilians who were arrested by the security forces and the immediate return of possessions that had been seized at the time of their arrest. The police subsequently returned the possessions that had been seized.

Following the creation of a special team to deal with the arrests, Ongge said that they had visited the homes of Daniel Kadepa, Max Sasay and Yacob Samonsabra who had also been arrested, in order to gather information about the killings and other acts of violence that followed the end of the Papuan Congress..The victims said they had been badly treated for two hours after the end of the Congress.

Forkorus who was able to meet members of Komnas HAM said: "As I was being arrested I was beaten and forcibly pushed onto a Baracuda. There was no way I could resist as the police struck me in the back with their weapons," he said, while showing marks on his body. Members of Kontras, Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence were also witnesses to what happened to Forkorus.

Haris Azhar of Kontras said that the violence against the men who were arrested was a case of gross human rights violations. These acts of violence by members of the security forces against civilians, acting on behalf of the state and using facilities such a vehicles which were state property could be defined as gross human rights violations.

Members of Komnas HAM also visited other participants at the Congress who had also been taken into custody when many strange things had happened, including the discovery of people who had been killed. These matters have been raised with the chief of police. "None of these people offered any resistance when they were arrested," said Ridah Saleh of Komnas HAM.

Several sernior officials from Komnas HAM in Jakarta arrived in Jayapura to assist their local team and have met with members of the police force, as an indication of the seriousness with which the events following the Papuan Congress are seen in Jakarta.

Haris Azhar said: "We regard this as an example of the appalling treatment of Papuans by the security forces, an example of their discrimination and suppression."

Selpius Bobii, a member of the organising committee of the Congress, also told journalists none of those arrested were responsible for anything as it was he himself who as chairman of the Congress committee who accepts responsibility for everything that happened during the congress.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the police told journalists that the police were now in the process of investigating the case and were currently interrogating a number of people as well as some witnesses who were on duty with the security forces at the time.

Armed group launches attack near Freeport mine

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2011

Jakarta – An armed group launched yet another attack at around midnight on Tuesday near the mining site of PT Freeport Indonesia in Mimika, Papua.

Mimika Police deputy chief Comr. Mada Indra Laksanta said the group attacked a patrol vehicle operated jointly by Freeport's Security Risk Management and the National Vital Object Taskforce, comprising police officers and soldiers.

"[The security officers] used the No. 15 Route Patrol vehicle," Mada said Wednesday in Mimika, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that the attack took place at the 35th mile of the Timika- Tembagapura road, adding that no one was injured, although a bullet penetrated the patrol car driver's helmet.

Meanwhile, as of Wednesday morning, the road connecting Amamapere Port and Tembagapura, the Mimika district where Freeport mines are situated, was still being blocked by protesters, halting food and fuel supplies to the mine site.

Thousands of Freeport workers in the province have launched strikes and protests – one of them fatal – since last month, demanding a pay rise. The government is scheduled on Wednesday to again mediate negotiations between Freeport's management and the workers.

Security heightened in Papua

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The National Police have increased the security status of Puncak Jaya regency in Papua and deployed almost a full battalion of mobile brigade officers following a series of deadly incidents in the country's easternmost region.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam confirmed that the status of Puncak Jaya had been elevated to "Alert 1", which means two- thirds of all available personnel are dispatched for security purposes. "All regencies in Papua have been set at 'cautious'," he said Tuesday.

No fewer than 170 police mobile brigade troops were deployed to Papua late on Tuesday, Anton said.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said 280 mobile brigade officers would be sent from Jakarta over the next few days to help safeguard all regencies. The intensifying security measures constitute the police response to the series of fatal incidents in the past two weeks that have killed eight people.

The latest incident saw Mulia Police chief Comr. Dominggus Oktavianus Awes being shot dead by unknown assailants when monitoring flights at Mulia Airport in Puncak Jaya on Monday.

While investigation of the case is still ongoing, the police have been quick to accuse Papuan separatists of being behind the killing. Papua Legislative Council member Ruben Magai said police should ensure they had sufficient evidence before claiming that separatists were the perpetrators.

Speculation has been rife that there have been internal rifts within the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM). Prior to the attack on Dominggus, several fatal shootings took place amid protests by workers from PT Freeport Indonesia, a giant US gold and copper mining subsidiary.

"A stigmatization of separatism in Papua is often used to justify military operations," Ruben said.

Ridha Saleh from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said more troops may trigger greater hostility from certain groups. "Increasing security measures is an overreaction," he said.

Anton argued the deployment was aimed at helping local police find the perpetrators of Dominggus' shooting, whom police have described as "armed and dangerous".

National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman, however, said the killing was purely a criminal act and had nothing to do with national security.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the police had asked the Indonesian Military (TNI) to help them handle security-related issues in the region. "We'll work together since the region is enormous and the geographical situation is difficult."

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, meanwhile, warned that security measures against criminals and separatists in Papua should not always be linked to human rights issues. "We will find the perpetrators. We have to eradicate separatism. But please do not correlate these criminals with irrelevant issues."

On the sidelines of his state visit to Jakarta, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, suggested that the government should keep on promoting Papua's special autonomy status.

"We recognize ultimately that there are substantial challenges inside Papua. It needs the government's intention in terms of development," he said. (sat)

[Nani Afrida, Mustaqim Adamrah and Nethy D. Somba contributed to the story.]

Police on alert for worse violence in Papua

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2011

Banjir Ambarita, Farouk Arnaz & Ronna Nirmala, Jayapura & Jakarta – The National Police are on the highest alert in Papua after the latest shooting in a spate of increased violence in the restive region.

The National Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Sutarman, said Jakarta was sending three teams of 10 police detectives each and 300 more members of the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) to Papua to help hunt down the attackers and reinforce local police.

Shots continued to ring out in Mulia on Tuesday, with an exchange of gunfire at a local Brimob outpost near the Puncak Jaya Police headquarters.

"The separatists shot at the Brimob police outpost twice, in the morning around 7 a.m. and in the afternoon around 1 p.m.," Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said, adding that there were no casualties.

Because the Brimob personnel on duty had been on heightened alert, they had been able to fire back, he said. "All our personnel in Puncak Jaya have been asked to remain on alert because they could be attacked anytime," he said.

Unidentified assailants also set the offices of the Mulia Food Resilience Office on fire on Tuesday.

Timur said the police had deployed teams to hunt down the assailants who killed Mulia Police Chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Otto Awes on Monday. Dominggus, shot in the face and the chest, died on the Mulia Airport apron while his attackers fled into the nearby forest.

Papua has seen a low-intensity and poorly armed separatist movement for the past five decades. Puncak Jaya, in the central Papuan mountain range, is a center of activity for Free Papua Organization (OPM) guerrillas and has seen a series of armed clashes in the past few years.

OPM guerrillas have also been blamed by officials for recent deadly ambushes on vehicles near the giant Freeport-McMoRan mine in Mimika, to the west.

Sutarman said there was no indication that the killing of Dominggus was related to an ongoing labor strike at the Freeport mine or the incident surrounding the disbanding of the Papua People's Congress in Jayapura last week.

Helmy Fauzi, a member of House of Representatives Commission I, dealing with defense affairs, said that the police and not soldiers had to be at the forefront of efforts to re-establish law and order in Papua.

Regretting the violence that has taken place in Papua in recent weeks, he stressed the need "for early detection and prevention" and called on the government not to ignore the problems.

Meanwhile, Usman Hamid, from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that top alert – for threats of a national scale – was not needed in Papua and sending more police officers there would only worsen the tensions. Dialogue is necessary to address the basic reasons for the protests and violence in Papua, he said.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, called on the public to let the security forces hunt the perpetrators. "This should not be linked to other things, such as human rights. What about the human rights of the subdistrict police chief?" he said.

Papua shooting incidents police's responsibility to handle

Antara News - October 25, 2011

Jakarta – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the recent shooting incidents in Papua were categorized as a public security threat and therefore were being handled by the police (rather than the military).

"The incidents include the shooting to death of the Mulia district police chief," he said on the sidelines of a meeting with House of Representatives Security Commission I here on Tuesday. He said the incidents were not yet threatening national integration.

Commission I member Helmy Fauzi meanwhile said the shooting incidents in Abepura and Timika had caused political escalations in Papua. He said early detection and prevention efforts had to be done to stop them from spreading to other places.

"Indeed it is still nascent but if it is ignored it has the potential to cause conflicts," he said. "Do not undermine incidents in Papua," he said.

The parliamentary member from opposition Indonesia Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP) said the incidents in Papua and others could lead to challenge the existence of the Unitary State of Indonesia.

Asked if the army's special Kopassus unit needs to be deployed there to overcome the problem Helmy said the police should be in the front line while Kopassus should only back them up from behind. "TNI could help if the police in Papua request it. TNI backs up the police," he said.

He said if the TNI forces are directly involved it could cause human rights violations because TNI is not prepared to deal with demonstrations or mass actions but only for defense purposes.

Helmy said TNI should only be deployed upon the request of the police to prevent incidents like in the past when TNI were confronted directly with the people. Home Affairs minister Gamawan Fauzi meanwhile said he had asked the governor and government apparatus in Papua to coordinate with community leaders and officials concerned to reduce political and security tension in the region.

"We have contacted the governors to coordinate with officials concerned and local leaders to boost relations to reduce tension there," he said at the presidential palace on Tuesday.

He said communications had to be increased in all sectors and levels so that the government's attention in the form of huge budget and special autonomy status could create the welfare people are expecting.

"Some are still not aware that Papua has been given a huge budget, a lot of attention and now even development acceleration programs. Therefore dialogs are needed with religious, tradition and other community leaders are needed," he said.

Papua separatist groups stockpiling weapons: Police

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2011

Farouk Arnaz – Separatist groups in Papua behind several hit and run attacks that have left police and military members dead and injured are out to get firearms, police said on Wednesday.

"We have identified at least one group that often disrupts security," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said. "There are also other groups that have around 30 members. Each group has nine or 10 weapons."

Anton said that the groups are increasing weapon stockpiles by killing police and military members and taking their firearms. "For weapon warehouse [guards and police], we instructed them to be alert at all times," he said. "They should not go out alone."

Most of the separatist groups are based in mountainous regions that are hard for police to access.

Papua has seen increasing incidences of violence over the past few weeks, the latest being the shooting of Mulia Police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Otto Awes on Monday.

On Wednesday, a mobile police brigade that was patrolling with security officers from Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold mine was ambushed and shot at at Mile 35 in Timika. The perpetrators fired three times and ran away. Nobody died in the incident.

DPRP say police and army chiefs should be held responsible for casualties

Bintang Papua - October 25, 2011

Jayapura – A member of the Provincial Legislative Assembly of Papua, the DPRP, had called for the Chief of Police in Papua and Commander of the Cenderawasih Military Command to be held responsible for the loss of life when the Papuan People's Congress was broken up last Wednesday.

"The actions of the security forces in dispersing the Congress exceeded all bounds and exceeded their authority and in so doing were in violation of the laws in force" said Yan Mandenas, chairman of the Pikiran Rakyat group in the DPRP.

"They exceeded their powers in attacking and shooting people who happened to be in the location, whether or not those people were involved in the Congress."

"If indeed they were committing an act of subversion, then those responsible should be arrested, not beaten up and shot. This is a serious violation of human rights and should be thoroughly investigated," he said.

"This is not a trivial matter but something which attacks the self-respect of Papuan people. It seems as though whenever anything happens in Papua, the security forces act uncontrollably and start shooting."

"Killing innocent people is inhumane and it is always Papuans who are the casualties. If we want to develop Papua and preserve the unitary Republic of Indonesia, then we should stop hitting out at people and treating Papuan as if they are worthless."

As for the claim of the chief of police in Papua that the casualties were only stabbed and not shot, if this is true, there should be autopsies. "Why have there been no reports of the result of autopsies?"

He said that if Papua is an indivisible part of Indonesia, then why do so many conflicts occur there. "There have been a number of mysterious shootings none of which has been properly investigated."

Mandenas said that an investigation team should be set up immediately to see whether violations were committed. "If there were violations, then those members of the security forces who were responsible should be sacked."

Similar views were expressed by Ruben Magay, chairman of Commission A on Politics and Law of the DPRP.

He went on to say that he had urged the chief of police to withdraw his men because it (the Congress) was already over, but what in fact happened was that even though the event was at an end, they started chasing people, hitting them and shooting at people who happened to be in the vicinity. And no one was fighting back.

"This is clearly a violation, with armed people shooting at random, hitting people who were not showing any resistance or carrying firearms."

"The National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM, as the competent body should carry out an investigation and say whether human rights were violated or not." He went on to say that the DPRP will press for an investigation team to be set up.

Meanwhile, a man named Yosep Nawipa who was happened to be in the vicinity became a casualty and was held in custody at police command headquarters. He said that he has been struck with a rifle butt by a member of the security forces, then pushed into their vehicle and taken to the police station.

"Just as the event was being dispersed," he said, "I happened to pass through the location and I too was beaten up, dragged into their vehicle and struck on the crown of my head," he said, pointing to the injury that he had sustained.

[Abridged in translation by TAPOL.]

'Common thread' to Papua deaths

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2011

Ronna Nirmala & Anita Rachman – Twelve people have been killed in the past two weeks in restive Papua province, but an analyst suggests that there may be a sinister common thread running throughout the deaths.

The body count includes six people who were killed following a police crackdown on a pro-independence rally; three miners working for Freeport who were ambushed by unknown gunmen; two other miners killed in a clash with police; and the police chief of Mulia subdistrict in Puncak Jaya district, who was assaulted and shot dead by unknown assailants.

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said on Tuesday that it was difficult to pinpoint the cause of the recent spike in violence, but that there were only three elements influential enough to trigger the turmoil: the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM), the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and the police.

"But we can't really tell which one of them actually started the whole thing because the information coming out of Papua is limited and sketchy," he said, adding that reports from security forces were also unreliable.

Ikrar said he believed the escalation in violence was sparked by the stabbing to death of a civilian by a soldier on board a passenger ship from Nabire district to Manokwari, which was followed by the killing of a police officer a month later. "But again, with all these incidents, we have to carefully question if people should link one incident to another," he said.

If the OPM is responsible for engineering the violence, he continued, there could be more attacks to come as the group prepares to mark its anniversary on Dec. 1, which it calls Papuan Independence Day.

"If that is the case, the incidents are meant to draw international attention and emphasize the cause of Papuan self-determination," Ikrar said. "But if it's the TNI or National Police manipulating events to try to get more troops and supplies posted to Papua, then that's even more worrying."

He added that the tactic of boosting the security presence there by creating unrest was "not a new practice," having been carried out frequently under the New Order regime.

Earlier this year, the military said there was a need to increase the TNI's presence in Papua, citing the province's huge energy and mineral riches and increasing potential for secession.

On Tuesday, the police announced that the government had sent paramilitary reinforcements in light of the recent uptick in violence. The troops were sent to Puncak Jaya and Paniai districts in the Papuan highlands, joining an existing force of 14,000 police and soldiers.

Ikrar denounced the move, saying that it would have been better to send in intelligence agents to find out what was behind the violence.

Usman Hamid, from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the government's response was emblematic of its typical "paranoid" reaction to Papuan calls for a dialogue.

"The government must form an investigation team to find out whether it was really the OPM who kicked off the recent violence, like they always contend, despite sufficient proof," he said.

According to media reports, at least 37 civilians have been killed in Papua during clashes and shoot-outs this year. At least eight security personnel have also been killed. Almost half the civilian deaths came from a clash in July between supporters of rival politicians in Puncak Jaya.

Rights bodies grill the police over beatings, deaths at Papua congress

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2011

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Human rights groups said on Monday that there were "strong indications" that security forces committed rights abuses during last week's deadly crackdown on a pro-independence rally in Abepura, Papua.

Ridha Saleh, deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said it appeared likely that officers assaulted and fired at participants at the Papuan People's Congress, which took place last week.

A day after the incident, the bodies of six participants were found near the local military headquarters, reportedly with gunshot wounds.

"The participants did not put up any kind of resistance, yet they were taken down, beaten and shot at," Ridha said. "That this resulted in fatalities clearly makes this a serious rights violation."

Police arrested hundreds of congress participants and named five of them treason suspects. Ridha said he and a team from Komnas HAM were in Papua to investigate the crackdown as well as to visit with the detainees, some of whom were reportedly beaten by the police.

"We're going to visit the provincial police headquarters [in Jayapura] to check on the condition of the detainees and verify that their arrest was done according to procedure," he said.

The rights commissioners are scheduled to meet with Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. Bigman Lumban Tobing and the head of the Cendrawasih military command, which oversees security affairs in the province, to discuss the case.

In Jakarta, military chief Adm. Agus Suhartono said the National Police were investigating the incident. He said if there were indications that soldiers had been involved in any deaths, they would face the due legal process.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which is also in the province for its own investigation, said that in addition to the six congress participants found dead, there were several others who had been missing since the crackdown.

Haris Azhar, the Kontras coordinator, said up to three people had been reported missing by their families, although it was not yet clear whether they had gone into hiding or been made to disappear. "The police must be open to input from us and must allow those charged with treason to have legal representation," he said.

Haris said that his organization had questioned the police about their use of violence against civilians. "They said they would study the information that we gave them and crosscheck it with their own reports on the incident," he said.

Olga Hamadi, Kontras's Papua coordinator, said it was important for the police to allow the group access to the detainees to ensure they were not being ill-treated and had access to counsel. "But ever since they were arrested, we've only been able to meet with them once."

[Additional reporting from Ezra Sihite.]

TNI to assist hunt for Papua cop killer

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2011

Jakarta – In contrast to its comparative silence over to the recent fatal shooting of several Papuan workers and demonstrators, the National Police has deployed three teams of detectives with military assistance to hunt down the killer of a police officer who was shot dead in Papua on Monday.

"We need military backup simply because of the tough field there. We need people familiar with the situation so that we can conduct our investigation," National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Sutarman announced on Tuesday as quoted by tribunnews.com. When asked about the situation in Papua, Sutarman said everything was "still under control".

Police are investigating the death of Mulia Police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Oktovianus Awes, who was shot dead while on duty on Monday.

Despite not having named a suspect or any information on the investigation, police immediately announced Monday that Dominggus' killers were members of a group seeking Papuan independence from Indonesia.

No mention was made of any police investigations of the killers of six Papuan demonstrators killed after the Third Papua Congress, or of the violent beating of congress members by police officers. Nor was there any mention of investigations into the killing of two Freeport workers by police during a demonstration outside the Freeport Indonesia mine.

Increased pressure on Freeport strikers

New Matilda - October 25, 2011

Setyo Budi – Workers at West Papua's Grasberg mine have been in intense negotiations for wage increases with Freeport Indonesia management since July this year. To break the strike, Freeport management yesterday issued a statement offering to provide a financial incentive for those who can convince striking workers to go back to work.

New Matilda was forwarded this SMS by a union official, which was sent to him by Freeport management: "The Pulang Kampung (back to the village) program has started. For those who can convince workers who are on strike, a special incentive will be provided of up to IDR 10 million (US$1136) per worker. Let's support this program and use this incentive for our family and friends."

The latest meeting between the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI) Freeport division and Freeport management took place on 21 October in the Gold and Copper room of the prestigious Rimba Hotel in Timika. It was initiated by the head of the Mimika district local government. The negotiation took nine hours but ended in deadlock after Freeport Indonesia Vice Executive, Sinta Sirait, rejected a call by SPSI chief negotiator, Sudiro, for striking workers to be fully paid while on strike.

Although the SPSI has again lowered its demand for a wage increase for its members from US$12 to $7.50 per hour, management said that they cannot further proceed with negotiations unless the union agrees to lift its blockade on roads that are used to supply logistics to the mining areas, and stop the strike.

Since the strike started on 15 September, it has had a huge impact on Freeport Indonesia's operation. Freeport's enthusiasm to see the strike concluded is demonstrated by its offer to pay workers to break the strike.

The company has reportedly lost 1361 metric tons of copper and 5000 ounces of gold a day because of the strike. The Indonesian government estimated a potential loss of 230,000 tons of ore a day.

The negotations have taken place against a disinformation campaign by the Indonesian security forces which has tried to link the strikers to violence in the region.

On the same day as the most recent negotiations took place, a contract worker and two gold panners were shot dead early in morning at a post called Mile 39, about 100 metres from Ajikwa river. The dead bodies of the gold panners – 25-year-old Yunus, a resident of Buton and 30-year-old Eto, of Ambon – were found in their lodges. The third victim was identified as Alosius Margana, a driver who had been hired to replace one of the striking workers. His body was found in the same area.

Indonesian Police spokesperson, Anton Bachrul Alam, told the Jakarta Globe that "around 10 people were involved in the attacks, and that police and soldiers had been deployed to locate them". Alam also said "based on the shell casings collected from the scenes, the assailants were thought to have used M16s, AK-47s or SS1s, the standard assault rifles used by the Indonesian military".

In an email sent to New Matilda in response to an earlier shooting of Freeport workers on 15 October, Albar Sabang, SPSI Freeport Indonesia Secretary said "We don't know who shot the workers, but the police and Indonesian military guard the area".

But the Indonesian security apparatus is keen to scapegoat and discredit the separatist movement in West Papua by linking it to acts of violence.

Recently, the Jakarta Globe reported that the National Liberation Army of Free Papua Organisation (OPM/TPN) had been blamed by police officials for recent deadly ambushes on vehicles near Freeport in Mimika. OPM guerrillas were also blamed for an ambush that killed Dominggus Awes, a Mulia subdistrict police chief Adjutant Commander, at Mulia airport apron yesterday. The OPM denies involvement.

The security apparatus has a clear interest in showing that the OPM/TPN is behind the shootings. If it is successful in doing so, it may to able to shift the media focus away from the strike actions and toward the conflict for independence.

Both the SPSI and the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) have denied a connection between the shootings and the workers' struggle. The negotiations between the union and Freeport management continue this week.

Police officer killed in latest Papua bloodshed

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2011

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura, Papua – Armed violence in restive Papua claimed another victim on Monday when two men gunned down a police officer in broad daylight at an airport in the central highland district of Puncak Jaya.

Mulia subdistrict police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Awes was shot dead on the apron of the airport in Mulia as he was monitoring the landing of a Christian Mission Aviation Fellowship aircraft at about 11:30 a.m., Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said. Sources at the airport said the officer was waiting for a delivery.

"The Mulia subdistrict police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Awes was shot dead by armed separatists," Wachyono said, adding that the officer was shot in the face and chest, and died on the spot.

Wachyono said that after the assailants pushed Dominggus to the ground, one of them held him down while the other took his handgun and shot him twice. The two men then fled into the forest near the airport, taking the gun with them.

Papua has long been home to a low-intensity, poorly armed separatist movement. Although the movement is known as the Free Papua Organization (OPM), it is largely composed of a multitude of small, uncoordinated groups that are scattered across the huge province and its neighbor, West Papua.

The shooting was the second to claim the life of a police officer this year. On June 24, First Brig. M. Yazin was shot dead, also at the airport in Mulia, with his firearm missing. Those killers have not yet been apprehended.

Wachyono said that of the recent assailants, one was about 1.5 meters tall, skinny and barefoot, while the other man stood about 10 centimeters taller and also was skinny and barefoot.

Dominggus's body has been taken to the local general hospital and has yet to be flown to Sentani, near Jayapura, because of bad weather. The airport, Wachyono said, was briefly closed down for the investigation but was reopened later in the day.

"[The killers] are OPM separatists who always mess things up in Puncak Jaya," Wachyono said, adding that police were now attempting to hunt down the individual attackers.

Puncak Jaya, located in a central Papuan mountain range, is a center of activity for OPM guerrillas and has seen a series of armed clashes in past years.

OPM guerrillas have also been blamed by officials for recent deadly ambushes on vehicles near the giant gold and copper mine operated by the local subsidiary of American company Freeport-McMoRan in the Mimika district of Papua, southwest of Puncak Jaya.

The latest ambush at the mine is part of a recent string. The first two in April left two dead and two wounded. Earlier this month, six were killed in separate attacks.

Police say separatist behind Mulia police commander's death

Antara News - October 24, 2011

Jakarta – Police said the man who shot to death the chief of the Mulia district police in Papua earlier on Monday belongs to a separatist group.

"He is believed to be a member of a separatist group because he escaped into the jungle. We are now still chasing him," the Head of the National Police's Public Relations Division, Inspector General Anton Bachrul Alam, said here on Monday.

He said the shooting incident was certainly of special concern to the police and local police had already been ordered to pursue its perpetrator. The manhunt was led by the chief of the National Police Headquarters' security maintenance division, Commissioner General Imam Sudjarwo.

"We have also asked the military (TNI) to help us in the hunt because we know it also has high skills in these matters," he said. "Three other shooting incidents previously occurred in Papua, namely in Timika, at Mile 38 and Mile 39, leaving eight people dead," he said.

Last Monday's incident happened at around 11.30 am at Mulia airport in Puncak Jaya in which the chief of the Mulia police sector, Adjunct Commissioner Dominggus Oktavianus, was killed.

"The victim was in front of an aircraft when two men suddenly came and attacked him," he said. He said one of them snatched the police commander's pistol and with it he shot the victim on his head. "The two fled while still carrying the gun," he said.

Papuan separatist group denies shooting police chief

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2011

The Free Papua Organization (OPM) denies police allegations that the separatist group was responsible for the murder of Mulia Police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Awes on Monday.

We are not responsible for that. I dont know about it; it must be crosschecked. They should not be making accusations like that, OPM coordinator Lambertus Pekikir said on Monday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He said that the police would have to arrest the perpetrators and question them before making such accusations.

Lambertus explained that even if the individuals who had carried out the attack claimed to be OPM members, the organization would not assume responsibility for their actions.

There are lots of fake OPMs. Anyone can just make a morning star flag and write up documents but whether they are real (members) or not must be ascertained, he said. He said that he would trust the Indonesian police in handling the case.

Awes was standing in front of a plane at the Puncak Jaya airport when two men lunged at him and pinned him down before shooting him in the head. His body was taken to the Mulia hospital before being transferred to Jayapura.

No security escalation in Papua: Government

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The government does not intend to intensify security precautions in Papua following the recent fatal incidents allegedly linked to separatist movements in the region.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said the government would stick to its socioeconomic approach, emphasizing the importance of improving the welfare of citizens of the region in efforts to ease conflicts.

He said that the recent charge of treason against six Papuans following a local congress that declared Papuan independence did not indicate an emerging state in the region.

"Law enforcement measures against those charged with treason does not mean that the government is beginning to address Papuan problems in more militaristic ways. We believe that intensifying security approaches will not solve [the problems]," Julian told The Jakarta Post.

The National Police broke up the third Papuan Peoples' Congress in Abepura, Papua, on Wednesday after participants reportedly raised the prohibited Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, and issued a declaration of independence.

About 300 of the 5,000 who attended the congress were arrested. At least three bodies were found near the area where the congress was held. During the same time, three people were shot dead and another three were wounded in Timika.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would not tolerate any form of treason, leading to the treason charges against the six suspects who had allegedly orchestrated the congress.

Police and the Indonesian Army have been hunting the group allegedly responsible for the Timika shooting. The government has denied security forces were involved in the killings.

Julian blamed local administrations for failing to manage the annual special autonomy funds disbursed from Jakarta to the regions.

"The central government has disbursed trillions of special autonomy funds to the Papua and West Papua provinces. However, it is the local administrations that determines how to spend the budget in development programs. How is it that Papuans are still far from public facilities despite the funding?" he asked.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences political expert Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said the provincial administrations of Papua and West Papua had failed to translate the Special Autonomy approach into improved welfare for the Papuan people.

"Incompetence has made local administrations fail to create programs that are more sustainable. Funding has apparently been misused," Ikrar said.

Papua was granted Special Autonomy in 2001 in response to rising demands from Papuans to separate from Indonesia. The Special Autonomy funds are aimed at speeding up development in the restive provinces. The central government has disbursed Rp 28 trillion (US$3.16 billion) in Special Autonomy funds to the two provinces since 2002.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) revealed that one of its findings concluded that Rp 4.12 trillion of Special Autonomy funds had been misused and embezzled.

Ikrar, however, said that the central government must also take responsibility for unresolved issues in Papua.

The delayed establishment of the Unit for the Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua (UP4B), which was intended to bridge Papua and Jakarta, was among the reasons behind the questions over Jakarta's seriousness in making a better Papua, Ikrar said.

Poengky Indarti, director of human rights NGO Imparsial, said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had failed to follow through on his own pledge to address Papua "with heart". "We have seen that militaristic methods continue to be used," she said.

Freedom of expression & press

Journalists come under threat for reporting on demoted attorney

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2011

Banjir Ambarita – Two journalists in Manokwari, West Papua, reported the district attorney to the police on Friday for sending them death threats by text message, a charge the accused denies.

In a bizarre twist, however, district attorney Paryono later urged other reporters not to cover the case.

The issue stems from text messages received on Thursday night by Roy Sibarani, a reporter for the Papua Barat Pos newspaper, and Budi Setiawan, a contributor for Jakarta-based Trans TV.

The message, which purports to come from Paryono, warned the two journalists to stop reporting on the district attorney, who was last week demoted and received a pay cut for undisclosed infractions.

The message, which used offensive language, said they had "gone too far" in reporting on the demotion, adding: "Whether I'm demoted or not is my business. I'm still the Manokwari district attorney. I have no qualms about killing you," the message also said.

Roy said he received a call from the same number on Friday morning but did not answer. Shortly after, he received another profanity-laced message. He and Budi filed a report with the police later in the day.

Paryono, however, said he did not send the message and would file his own report with the police against the person that did. "I've only got one number and all the reporters know what it is," he said.

"This is a case of someone trying to cause friction between myself and the journalists. I know I've had my issues with you on your coverage [of the demotion], but I'm not that stupid to issue death threats."

However, shortly after Roy and Budi filed their report, Paryono contacted two other reporters to ask them not to cover the death threat case.

"The district attorney told me he didn't want the case to get national coverage," said Anis da Santos, a reporter with Jakarta-based TV One. The other reporter was Metro TV's Muin.

Political parties & elections

With no SBY or Mega, Prabowo to face Ical

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2011

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – The 2104 presidential election will likely see a duel between general-turned-businessman Prabowo Subianto and Golkar Party chairman and business tycoon Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie, according to political observers.

During its leadership meeting last week, Golkar, pegged to come out on top in the 2014 legislative elections, has nominated Aburizal as its presidential candidate for the upcoming election, while Prabowo has long since expressed his ambitions to join the race after failing in 2009.

A series of recent surveys and expert analyses have confirmed that without incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the race, the presidency would likely come down to Aburizal and Prabowo.

Under the Constitution, Yudhoyono can't run for a third presidential term, while Megawati is facing mounting pressure within and outside her party to pick a younger candidate to represent the party in 2014.

Of three recent surveys about the presidential candidates by three different poll bodies, one put Aburizal in the strongest position, while two others placed Prabowo as the likely winner if both Yudhoyono and Megawati did not run.

A survey by the Reform Institute pegged Aburizal as the early favorite with 13.58 percent, followed by Prabowo Subianto with 8.46 percent, Jusuf Kalla with 7.06 percent, Hidayat Nurwahid with 5.17 percent and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono with 4.13 percent.

A poll by Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate said that without Yudhoyono and Megawati in the running, Prabowo would be the top vote-getter with 28 percent, followed by Mahfud M.D. with 10.6 percent, Sri Mulyani Indrawati with 7.4 percent and Aburizal Bakrie with 6.8 percent.

An Indonesian Voice Network (JSI) survey conducted from Oct. 10-15 included Megawati, who was most favored by 19.6 percent of respondents. She was followed by Prabowo with 10.8 percent, Aburizal with 8.9 percent and Wiranto with 7.3 percent.

However, experts have agreed that although Aburizal has the Golkar political machine and strong financial resources behind him, he faces a number of stumbling blocks.

A University of Indonesia political analyst said the three polls showed that voters still wanted a president from Java, while many still preferred soldiers over entrepreneurs.

"Aburizal needs to conduct a thorough analysis of whether the people will vote for the party or for him specifically, because in 2004, the Golkar Party won the legislative election but lost the presidential election," he said.

Political observer Andrinof Chaniago said Aburizal had a small chance at winning, saying the more likely candidates to watch were familiar faces such as Megawati, Prabowo and Wiranto.

"People need to believe that the candidate can deliver their hopes. After that, there are other factors such as [ethnic background] and religious background," he said.

Andrinof added that even if the Golkar Party teamed up with the Democratic Party for support, Aburizal would still face difficulties breaking into the top five, because the candidate's character would still play important role in the election.

Some have speculated that the President may order his Democratic Party to team up with Golkar, allowing First Lady Ani to be Aburizal's vice president.

Another political analyst, Yunarto Wijaya, said Aburizal had his flaws to address, including the Lapindo mud case and tax mafia allegations.

"People already know Prabowo from the 2009 election, and his party has a pro-poor policy similar to the PDI-P. If Mega does not join the election, the votes for her might go to Prabowo. Even if Mega's daughter, Puan Maharani, runs, she has yet to attract voters like her mother," he said.

Public disappointed with young politicians: survey

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2011

Jakarta – The Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) revealed on Sunday that the public is disappointed with the performances of young politicians, showing its latest survey result that only 24.8 percent of respondents were happy with them.

According to LSI, respondents were unsatisfied with young politicians because many of them were perceived as reproducing corrupt political practice.

"The term 'young politician' refers to political parties or mass organization practitioners whose ages range from 20 to 50, " LSI researcher Adjie Alfaraby said Sunday during a press conference in Jakarta.

LSI conducted the survey from Sep. 5 to 10, involving 1,200 respondents from across the country's 33 provinces. It used a multistage-random- sampling method in direct interviews. The approximate margin of error was 2.9 percent. (rpt)

Aburizal expects electability to rise to 50% by month-end

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2011

Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie has expressed confidence that his popularity will surge to 50 percent by the end of the month as Golkar has agreed to fully support him in the 2014 presidential election.

Aburizal said during the party's 47th anniversary commemoration on Saturday evening in Jakarta that his electability in the upcoming race previously stood at 25 percent, although he did not elaborate from where the figure came. "[By the end of] October, it is expected to reach 50 percent," Aburizal said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Golkar members from the country's 33 provinces attending the party's national leaders meeting earlier this week unanimously agreed to support Aburizal as the party's sole candidate for the 2014 presidential election.

The veteran politician and business tycoon said, however, that Golkar would only officially declare its presidential candidate in a national leaders' meeting planned for October next year. Aburizal's bid for the presidency might face obstacles from Golkar members at its regency and municipal branches.

Golkar Party targets 25 percent in 2014 polls

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Golkar Party has set a minimum target of winning 25 percent of the total votes in the 2014 legislative elections to pave the way for party chairman Aburizal Bakrie to contend the presidential race.

Speaking after the closing ceremony of the party's leadership meeting here on Friday, Aburizal said the target was quite realistic and in line with the party's increasing electability as had been shown by independent polling in the past ten months.

"With intensified internal consolidation and harder work, Golkar should be able to garner between 30 to 35 percent, as high as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle [PDI-P] achieved in 1999," he said.

Independent surveys have shown a consistent increase in the party's electability from 12 percent in January to 15 percent in June and 17 percent this month.

Golkar chief patron Akbar Tandjung said the party would be prepared to compete against the PDI-P and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party – winners of legislative elections in 1999 and 2009, respectively – to come back as a winner in 2014.

"With the three successes of internal consolidation, 'regeneration' and pro-people programs, Golkar's political engine is moving fast at the grassroots level. It [the political engine] will be moving faster in the next two years to win the legislative elections," Akbar said.

The three-day leadership meeting ended without political statements or a formal response to the joint statement from provincial chapter leaders asking that Aburizal be nominated as a presidential candidate in 2014. The meeting's results, including recommendations and political statements, will be published early next month.

Akbar, who remains an influential figure in the party, said Aburizal still had negative ratings but he would emerge victorious compared to, among others, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri of PDI-P, the Great Indonesia Movement Party's (Gerindra) chairman Prabowo and First Lady Any Yudhoyono.

Akbar acknowledged that there had been internal hesitancy about Aburizal's presidential bid. However, he believed the nomination, which is to be announced in 2012, would win support from the party.

Political analysts warned Golkar against supporting Aburizal's presidential bid as they considered it to be counterproductive.

Sukardi Rinakit of the Sugeng Sarjadi Syndicate and J. Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) said Golkar's popularity would likely decline if Aburizal announced his bid now while his political rivals would easily attack him based on two major issues: the Lapindo mudflow and the tax mafia.

They said Aburizal, whose family owns the Bakrie Group of companies, could buy the political support to minimize internal resistance within the party but he needed to work on his own image.

"The internal resistance will likely come from party cadres from Kosgoro who are still loyal to Agung Laksono and supporters of Surya Paloh who recently quit Golkar," said Sukardi, adding that the factions of Akbar and Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengku Bowono X stood behind Aburizal.

Kristiadi said if Aburizal was serious in his bid, he should first settle his case with the mudflow victims in Sidoardjo, East Java, and clear his name in relation to the tax mafia and jailed tax officer Gayus Tambunan.

Anticipating internal rivalry, local Golkar leaders back Ical for 2014

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Senior local Golkar Party leaders issued a statement on Thursday backing chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie as the party's next presidential candidate – three years before the 2014 election. Observers said the move was made to preempt internal challenges.

During the second day of Golkar's national executive meeting in North Jakarta on Thursday, representatives of all 33 provincial chapters moved to the podium to read a declaration backing Ical as the party's candidate.

Ical responded diplomatically. "I do not reject the proposal. But we need to focus on increasing Golkar's popularity rating to at least 20 percent. When that time comes, it will be the best time to declare our candidate. Next year's national executive meeting will be the best moment for that."

A senior Golkar politician told The Jakarta Post that the declaration was signed by all 33 provincial representatives only minutes before it was read publicly.

Lalu Mara, a Golkar executive and Ical confidant, said only 17 provincial chapters had officially backed Ical as of Thursday afternoon.

Golkar politician Zainal Bintang said many party members from eastern Indonesia were "reluctant" to support Ical. "They are Jusuf Kalla loyalists and those who were disappointed with Ical's decision to approve the dismissal of Fadel Muhammad from his ministerial post," he said.

Kalla – a Golkar member, former presidential candidate and former vice president – has retained many supporters around his hometown of Makassar, South Sulawesi. Although he lost to incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2009, loyalists want the respected and outspoken figure to run again in 2014.

Yudhoyono's latest Cabinet reshuffle included the firing of Fadel as Maritime Affairs and Fishery Minister. Fadel, who has close ties to Golkar chief patron Akbar Tandjung, was rumored to have "abused" his Cabinet post to position himself as a potential presidential or vice presidential candidate, according to a source who declined to be named.

Fadel is famous in northern Sulawesi and Maluku. The Ternate-born businessman won more than 82 percent of the vote in the Gorontalo gubernatorial election in 2006. Amid the reshuffle, Ical retained Golkar politician Agung Laksono as Coordinating People's Welfare Minister, despite concerns about his performance, and recommended that the President fire Fadel.

"Agung is now with us," said a Golkar executive who was also an Ical supporter. After escaping the chopping block, Agung has made repeated statements backing Ical in 2014.

Analysts said that pleasing Agung, who controls many influential Golkar figures and several Golkar-affiliated organizations, was of greater value to Ical than keeping Fadel in the Cabinet.

A Golkar lawmaker, meanwhile, confirmed that many Golkar members, particularly senior members, were uncomfortable backing Ical's bid.

"Ical has serious cases such as the mud flow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, and high-profile tax cases involving big companies that belong to his family," the lawmaker said, adding that those concerns might be exploited by rivals in 2014.

The lawmaker described senior Golkar members as "politically pragmatic". "They are too 'thirsty' for power even if it requires Golkar to support candidates from other political parties," the lawmaker said. A long- established political party, Golkar has worked to minimize internal dissent, which was previously dynamic.

When asked about uniting the party, Ical said, "my strategy is to 'humanize' humans. Transparency, openness, and being direct with the grassroots are part of the efforts."

The announcement of the provincial chapters' supports for Ical, as well as several surveys that have named Ical as a popular potential presidential candidate, might serve as Ical's "early warning" to all Golkar members that supporting any candidate other than him would be very difficult, Zainal said.

A third survey sees Democrats and SBY giving way to Golkar

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – A third major survey in three weeks has given further credence to talk of a decline in the popularity of the president and his Democratic Party, with the Golkar Party and its chairman again emerging as the main beneficiary.

The results of the survey by the Reform Institute, released on Tuesday, showed that Golkar was the party of choice for 18.61 percent of the 2,010 respondents polled, with the Democrats coming in second at 14.13 percent.

The results run counter to the Democrats' position as the biggest party in the House of Representatives. The party's decline sees it just 0.05 percent ahead of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Abdul Hamid, the director of development at the Reform Institute, said only 17 percent of those polled who voted for the Democrats in the 2009 elections were satisfied with the party's performance, while the rest said they were disappointed.

"The voters cited as their reason the lack of meaningful action by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to address problems such as [graft suspect and former party treasurer] Muhammad Nazaruddin and other corruption cases," he said.

The results of the survey, conducted nationwide from Sept. 12-24, were announced two days after a similar poll from the Jaringan Suara Indonesia (Indonesian Voice Network) put the president's approval rating at 53 percent, down from the Indonesian Survey Institute's figures of 70 percent in January 2010 and 62 percent in October last year.

Polling done by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) put the president's approval rating at 57 percent in January of this year, 47 percent in June and 38 percent this month.

Hamid said the survey also highlighted Aburizal Bakrie as the preferred presidential candidate in 30 of 33 provinces.

"He runs massive programs everywhere and his political vehicle, Golkar, is also at the top in terms of popularity because so many people are disappointed with the Democrats," he said.

Of the 25 potential presidential candidates listed in the poll, Aburizal came out on top with 13.58 percent, followed by Prabowo Subianto of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) with 8.46 percent and former vice president and Golkar stalwart Jusuf Kalla with 7.06 percent.

Rounding out the top five were legislator Hidayat Nur Wahid from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) with 5.17 percent and Ani Yudhoyono, the first lady, with 4.13 percent.

Hamid said the survey also indicated Prabowo would make the best vice presidential candidate.

"Given the fact that his party probably won't be among the top three in the 2014 legislative elections, he won't be able to get the presidential nomination anyway," he said. "The presidential candidates will likely be from the three top parties: Golkar, PDI-P and the Democratic Party. The three next biggest will have to fight it out for a vice presidential seat."

Notably absent from the list of potential candidates was former president and PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri. Hamid said that was because she tended to polarize voters, so if the presidential election went to a runoff between her and another candidate, she would lose.

He added that it was likely the presidential election would have to go to a second round.

Taufik Kiemas, Megawati's husband, argued on Monday against his wife running again, instead calling for younger politicians to stand. Their daughter, Puan Maharani, said she was willing to take up the mantle.

However, Hamid said younger politicians were not as popular with respondents as more established ones. Puan got 3.78 percent approval in the survey, while Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, also considered a younger-generation leader, received 3.33 percent.

Debate rages over new generation of Indonesian politicians

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2011

Anita Rachman, Camelia Pasandaran & Ezra Sihite – Taufik Kiemas's controversial comments on Monday that his wife, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, should reconsider any plan to run given that she would be 68 in 2014, continued to spur debate on Tuesday.

House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie said he welcomed young presidential candidates. Marzuki's party, the Democratic Party, doesn't have a forerunner in the presidential race yet as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is no longer eligible to run.

"If we prepare younger members in the next three years, one of them will certainly emerge. The older members must give way," Taufik had said.

Taufik declined to name any potential young Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) candidates, nor did he say whether his daughter, Puan Maharani, 38, would be among those groomed for the role.

But Puan said she was ready to run for president. "I'm ready to be assigned to any position, especially if it is mandated by the party," she said. "My grandfather was president, my mother was also president, and hopefully in 2014 we can win."

PDI-P politician Pramono Anung, however, said Taufik did not speak for the party. "I can understand what Taufik was saying. This is the dynamic of democracy. But don't judge someone by their age," he said.

Political analysts are not convinced either that Puan would be the best option for the PDI-P.

Puan might be supported by her father, Taufik, but Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a researcher from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), believes she does not possess her mother's charisma and experience. "[Former president] Sukarno had several children," he said. "But only Megawati inherited the charm and charisma to lead."

Burhanuddin added that the LSI had often included Puan's name in polls, but she had never made it close to the support gathered by her mother. "Her popularity is far below her mother in several surveys conducted," Burhanuddin said. "There are even people who do not know who she is."

In a survey conducted by the Reform Institute, released on Tuesday, Puan received just 3.78 percent approval in the survey, while Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, also considered a young potential leader, got 3.33 percent.

Moreover, Burhanuddin said Taufik's effort to push Puan to replace her mother to contest the upcoming election would only fracture the party. "There are several groups in the party," Burhanuddin said. "She doesn't have the capability to unite them."

Golkar frontmen pledge support for Aburizal's presidential bid

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2011

Jakarta – In advance of a national meeting, Golkar Party leaders have voiced support for chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie as the party's sole candidate for the 2014 presidential race.

"Based on a recent survey conducted by the Indonesian Circle Institute (LSI), owned by Yudi Latif, there are five feasible presidential candidates, including Pak Ical," party secretary-general Idrus Marham told a press conference on Tuesday.

He said that Aburizal might delay the declaration of his candidacy until 2012 despite other party icons, such as former vice president Jusuf Kalla and former Golkar chairman Akbar Tanjung, being ready to support him.

Golkar politician Indra J. Piliang told The Jakarta Post that the support for Ical had arisen from regional party branches.

"Since the previous regional executive board meetings in Bali and Balikpapan, they have made a decision to support the party's chairman Aburizal Bakrie as presidential candidate with Indonesian Army chief Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo as his partner," Indra said.

He added that Aburizal's supporters were now planning to gather agreement from other plausible candidates, such as Kalla and Akbar Tanjung.

A well-known businessman, once dubbed as one of the richest men in Southeast Asia, Aburizal has been the party's chairman since 2009.

Rumored as the man behind the victory of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over Golkar's Jusuf Kalla in the 2009 presidential race, Aburizal has brought his party close to power by joining the President's ruling coalition.

As the support for Aburizal increased, the party's deputy chairman Syarif Cicip Sutardjo said that the party would talk about the presidential candidacy at the National Leaders Meeting, which will start today in Jakarta.

"We will talk about many things including Golkar's next presidential candidate," said Syarif, who was recently appointed Maritime Affairs and Fisheries minister.

Syarif said that the party not only intended to determine its presidential candidate but also aimed to win the next presidential election.

Idrus said that the leaders meeting had the same authority as the national meeting (Munas), to make decisions. He promised that, at the latest, the party would announce its official candidates for the presidential race in 2012.

Golkar Party legislator Ibnu Munzir told the Post that previously the party's choice of presidential candidates was determined at the National Leaders Meeting. "The survey circulating among the public will be given rational consideration," he said.

Separately, another Golkar Party deputy chairman Agung Laksono confirmed that Ical would step forward as presidential candidate. "I've heard that almost all of the DPDs intend to propose Aburizal as the presidential candidate, and it will be announced at this year's National Leaders Meeting," Agung said.

He said that Aburizal personally wanted the meeting to suspend discussion on presidential candidates, but he would accept the strong desire at regional level to talk about the matter.

"I think we can confirm that Pak Ical will be Golkar's presidential candidate but we can't be sure whether it will be announced this year or next year," Agung said. (rpt)

A Banten political dynasty rolls on, with a little help from a TV star

Jakarta Globe - October 24, 2011

Ronna Nirmala & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Banten's incumbent governor has been returned to office with the help of a former TV star, according to unofficial quick counts from Saturday's election, consolidating her family's grip on power in the province.

Unofficial results from three organizations – Indonesian Voting Network (JSI), Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) and Indonesian Image Consultants – all give the current governor, Ratu Atut Chosiyah, and her running mate, Rano Karno, around 50 percent of the vote.

The next closest candidates are Wahidin Halim and his running mate, Irna Narulita, with around 38 percent of the vote, followed by Jazuli Juwaeni and Makmun Muzzaki, with about 12 percent. The victory for Atut and Rano, who were backed by the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), while not unexpected, was controversial.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political analyst at the independent Indonesia Survey Institute, said he had expected voters in Banten to return Atut to office.

"I've been predicting an Atut win for a week," Burhanuddin said on Saturday. He said there were three main factors that contributed to her victory.

"The first, and I think most important, is that Atut has misused hundreds of billions [of rupiah] from the Banten provincial budget for her campaign," he claimed. Burhanuddin did not say how the money was allegedly misused and he did not offer proof to back up the claim.

The second factor, he said, was Rano Karno's star power stemming from his role in the popular, long-running TV series "Si Doel Anak Sekolahan" ("Doel the School Boy"). "This is not about Rano Karno's political abilities, but about his popularity compared to that of the other candidates," Burhanuddin said.

Finally, he said, voter apathy among Banten's middle- and upper-income households played in the favor of Atut. "I suspect that the voter turnout in Banten on Saturday was only around 55 percent," he said.

He added his suspicion that the majority of those who did come out to vote received some kind of "bonus" or "incentive" from Atut, though again he offered no proof to back the claim.

"If middle-class and upper- class voters, those with more education than the average resident, took part in the election, then I am confident that Atut's share of the vote would have crumbled a little, with the two other candidates eating into her lead," he said.

Burhanuddin said it was disappointing that Banten voters had failed to take a closer look at Atut's record and accomplishments during her term. "It's obvious that Atut has bribed the public," he alleged.

Ibramsyah, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia, is among many commentators who have said that Atut and her family are consolidating a political dynasty in Banten.

Ratu Tatu Chasanah, Atut's younger sister, is the deputy district chief of Serang, which falls under Banten's jurisdiction.

Their step-brother, Nurjaman, is the deputy mayor of Serang, the capital of both the district and the province. Atut's son, Andika Hazrumy, is a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) in Jakarta, while Ade Rosi, Atut's daughter-in-law, is a legislative councilor in Serang.

At least one member of the clan has been implicated in using public funds to ensure electoral victory previously.

The Constitutional Court nullified the result of last November's South Tangerang mayoral election, which was won by Atut's sister-in-law, Airin Rachmi Diany. One of the judges said there was "structured, systematic and massive" law-breaking in the election. A second election was ordered by the court, which Airin again won.

Labour & migrant workers

Jakarta worker unions rally for minimum pay rise

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers from Jakarta Labor Forum, a grouping of several labor associations, staged a protest in front of governor's office in the capital on Friday.

The demonstrators requested a provincial minimum wage (UMP) increase from Rp 1.5 million to Rp 2.2 million

"The Jakarta governor has betrayed us by making separate arrangements with the Jakarta Remuneration Council," rally coordinator Herry Hermawan said Friday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

At the time of writing, the protesters were walking from the governor's office to the House of Representatives and State Palace.

South Sulawesi workers ask for salary raise

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – As many as 100 representatives from worker groups throughout the province of South Sulawesi staged a mass rally in the front of the governor's office. The workers asked for salary rises and emphasized their view that the region's economy has continued to grow.

The representatives demanded that the government raise the regional minimum salary to between Rp 1.5 million and Rp 2 million for those working in Makassar, the province's capital.

"We've seen that the economy is moving to the right direction. This is the perfect time to raise our salary," rally coordinator Salim Samsur said on Thursday. He said that if the government opted to ignore their proposals, then he would ask his fellow workers to abstain at upcoming gubernatorial elections.

Environment & natural disasters

Risks remain despite Indonesian forest moratorium

Reuters - October 30, 2011

David Fogarty, Singapore – A two-year ban on new licenses to clear peatlands and primary forests in Indonesia risks being undermined by the small area protected by the scheme and a host of exemptions, shows a review that calls for the program to be revised.

The ban is the centerpiece of an important climate deal with Norway, signed last year, worth up to $1 billion. A major goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, by far the largest source of emissions in Indonesia.

Improving land tenure and land planning rules are other goals of the scheme that began in May, which has met strong resistance from some miners and planters. They fear it could crimp growth by curbing access to land.

An analysis of the moratorium by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Indonesia shows large areas of forest rich in species and stores of carbon are still at risk of clearance, limiting the chances of a major cut in emissions.

Indonesia has the world's third-largest area of tropical forests, which play a major role in braking the pace of climate change because they soak up large amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide.

Ever greater demand for land and resources such as coal, and food such as palm oil, is threatening remaining forest cover, with about 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) lost annually.

CIFOR, in the study released on Friday, said while the moratorium on licenses was a good start: "Several issues are unresolved concerning the area and status of land covered by the moratorium, and hence the amount of carbon stored in the affected forests and peatlands."

It found that the total new area protected under the moratorium was, at most, 22.5 million hectares, of which a third were primary forests and half were peatlands. That is less than half some previous government estimates because large areas of primary forests and peatlands are already legally protected, although still at risk of encroachment.

The study described the failure to include secondary forests and logged- over forests in the moratorium as a lost opportunity to protect, at least temporarily, a fraction of 46.7 million hectares of forests rich in carbon and biodiversity.

It said millions of hectares of peatland and primary forests were still not covered by the moratorium either because of existing concessions or planned investments deemed vital to national development.

Indonesia has about 20 million hectares of peatlands estimated to contain 30 billion tons of carbon – roughly the equivalent of mankind's total greenhouse gas emissions over three years.

That explains why Indonesia and Norway are keen to preserve what is left of these vast carbon stores to fight climate change.

Also at risk of undermining the ban were a range of exemptions, such as rice, sugarcane and geothermal investments deemed in the national interest, and the exclusion of existing licences to use forest land so long as the license remained valid regardless of the licence-holder's performance.

"The moratorium's exceptions for activities related to food and energy security create loopholes that could undermine the suspension of new concession licenses," the study says, calling for a greater focus on land swaps involving degraded land before any exceptions are granted.

Norway says it is broadly happy with the climate deal and will measure success based on analysis of six-monthly satellite maps of forest cover.

"Our demand was, and still is, that in the reasonably near future we have to see improvements in what actually happens to the forests," said Per Fredrik Ilsaas Pharo, deputy director of Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative.

He also pointed to the threat from corruption and powerful business interests.

"We all know there is also corruption and other illegal activities going on but there is actually a legitimate internal Indonesian discussion about what pathway to take forward. And clearly it's not a given that they will choose the model that we would like them to choose," he said.

Strong local demand inviting electronic waste dumping

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2011

Jakarta – A recent global pledge to ban exports of toxic waste has not stemmed the flow of outdated electronic products to Indonesia, activists say.

On Friday, Indonesia and Switzerland brokered the agreement at the UN environmental conference in Cartagena, Colombia, to accelerate the adoption of a global ban on the export of hazardous wastes, including old electronics, to developing countries.

Dyah Paramita, an environmentalist from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), argued that the agreement would have little effect in Indonesia's case, as the demand for old electronics was still robust in the country. She suggested that the government remind Indonesians about the danger posed by using old electronics, commonly known as e-waste.

"In Indonesia, demand for [old electronics] is still strong... this is where the danger lurks," Dyah told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"The probability of suffering the hazardous effects of [e-waste] is still high, as the materials and spare-parts are frequently replaced by people using their bare hands and the unused spare-parts are usually burned" she added.

The ICEL researcher also urged the government to establish stern regulations on how industries managed their hazardous wastes. Currently, there is no strong regulation on how to deal with old and broken electronics in the country.

"In European countries, industries already have their own facilities to deal with their e-waste as [European] governments oblige them to do so. In Indonesia, e-waste management is still voluntary, there has yet to be any regulation requiring industries to manage their e-waste," Dyah said.

The head of advocacy for the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Mulki Friatna argued that the ban on e-waste exporting must be followed by a zero-waste policy in industrial countries, as the ban would not stop the smuggling of obsolete electronics to developing countries.

"Industrial countries should promote strategies that encourage zero-waste or green products policy, meaning products [that they manufacture] do not contain hazardous materials at all," Mulki said.

The recently agreed consensus involving more than 170 countries at the UN environmental conference in Cartagena, Colombia, on Friday, would enforce the Basel Convention, which obliges all countries to manage their own hazardous waste.

Many developing countries, including Indonesia, have been notorious "dumping grounds" for various outdated electronic products that come from developed countries with brawny industrial sectors.

The deal, which had been thoroughly discussed and debated for more than 10 years, was hailed by environmental group Basel Action Network (BAN) as a major breakthrough.

"I'm ecstatic," BAN executive director Jim Puckett told AP. "I've been working on this since 1989 and it really does look like the shackles are lifted and we'll see this thing happen in my lifetime."

The deal seeks to ensure that developing countries no longer become dumping grounds for toxic waste including industrial chemicals, discarded computers and cell phones as well as obsolete ships ladened with asbestos, Puckett said. (sat)

Health & education

Hospitals refuse to treat poor girl with tumor

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2011

A 10-year-old girl with a tumor was been refused treatment at two hospitals simply because her family is poor.

Yani, daughter of Suhandi and Satria, who lives in Jati Murni subdistrict, Pondok Gede district, Bekasi, West Java, was diagnosed with a tumor seven years ago, said Mustari Soleman, a university student who has taken up the family's cause.

He said in a media statement that two big hospitals in Jakarta had refused to perform surgery on Yani as the family was unable to pay the costs.

Although Yani's parents have a welfare card, they are only entitled to 30 to 50 percent coverage of the total costs charged by one of the hospitals, Mustari added. Instead, the hospital told Yani's parents they would have to pay a Rp 20 million (US$2,200) down payment for the surgery.

Mustari and other students are calling on the government to investigate and evaluate hospitals that refuse to treat poor people and cover Yani's surgery costs.

Government international school funding exacerbates social divide: Watchdog

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) has urged the government to change its international standard school funding policy, which it says widens the gap between rich and poor students.

Only children from affluent families can afford international-standard schools (SBI) and international-standard pilot project schools (RSBI), and ironically these schools receive more funding from the government, instead of poor schools that definitely need more attention, FITRA investigation and advocacy coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi says in a press statement received by The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"This very unjust and indiscriminate policy will prompt regional administrations to compete in opening SBI and RSBI so they can earn block grants from the central government," Uchok says.

"And this will cause those regional administrations to spend more on those international standard schools and at the same time abandon schools in outlying areas that actually need more funds from the regional budgets."

Uchok added that the government had allocated Rp 242 billion (US$27.35 million) to SBI and RSBI schools next year, and only Rp 108 billion for regular schools, even though the latter constitute the majority.

Minister blames miscommunication for death of baby girl

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2011

Antara & Dessy Sagita – Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih has blamed the death of a baby girl who was refused treatment at two hospitals, and given only cursory care at a third, on the parents' inability to say they could not afford to pay.

Eight-month-old Nisza Ismail died on Saturday at Mitra Anugrah Lestari Hospital in Cimahi, West Java, after initially being turned away by Mitra Kasih Hospital and Handayani Hospital because her parents could not provide an advance payment to treat her high fever and seizures.

"I've checked with the mother and gotten her explanation, and I've also asked for a written explanation from the director of [Mitra Anugrah Lestari] Hospital," Endang said. "They told me that they had issued a prescription for the patient, and although the parents had not purchased the drugs, hospital staff did give the patient some medication."

The minister said that the late care given by the final hospital to the girl stemmed from a "miscommunication" between hospital staff and the parents.

"Perhaps the communication wasn't good. If the parents felt they couldn't afford the treatment, they should have communicated it to the hospital from the time they arrived," she said.

Endang added that although all hospitals were duty-bound to provide treatment first, regardless of the patient's ability to pay, this principle was not always heeded by private hospitals that did not accept the government insurance schemes of Askes and Jamkesmas.

Dr. Marius Widjajarta, chairman of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation for Health (YPKKI), said the case was symptomatic of what he called the government's continued disregard for the health and well-being of the people.

"The Constitution clearly says that the state has an obligation to take care of its people, so this is a betrayal by the state," he said.

Marius added that the government's lack of commitment to ensuring universal health coverage could be seen in its reluctance to fully implement the 2004 National Social Security System Law.

Full enforcement of the law requires the passage of the bill on the Social Security Organizing Body, but critics contend that the government has consistently blocked attempts by the House of Representatives to pass the bill.

"What we need is a revolution in the health care system. As long as the current system remains, these kinds of cases will keep happening," Marius said.

Women & gender

Poor access to contraceptives puts girls at risk of unsafe abortions

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2011

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Yogyakarta – Limited access to contraceptives has put millions of young girls at risk of unsafe abortions in Asia-Pacific countries.

Rishita Nandagiri, a member of the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights, said that young women and other marginalized groups were still facing barriers in access not only to effective contraception but also safe abortion services.

"Most sexual and reproductive health and rights programs delivered by Asia-Pacific governments ignore safe abortion practices," she said. As a result, women rarely have other options than to seek unsafe abortions when dealing with unwanted pregnancies.

Amid legal and cultural barriers to premarital sex among teenagers, many young girls are forced to take risks to avoid humiliation and rejection within their communities.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 98 percent of an estimated 21.6 million unsafe abortions worldwide occur in developing countries, half of which are carried out in Asia.

Almost 5 million women suffer from temporary or permanent disability caused by unsafe abortions. A high number of maternal mortalities in developing countries are associated with unsafe abortions.

Women are often forced to apply unsafe, self-induced abortion methods, such as putting roots, sticks or acid inside their wombs, leading to severe bleeding, infection and even death.

The need for access to safe abortions triggered a heated debate among participants at the 6th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights, held at Gadjah Mada University last week.

The UN-sponsored event highlighted it as a central issue for a high number of adolescents, and as a key concern for the world's population, which is estimated to surpass 7 billion by the end of this month.

The UN defines adolescents as young people aged between 10 and 24. The number of adolescents in the Asia-Pacific region is around 850 million, accounting for half of the world's young people.

"Some adolescents may have advantages, such as liberal parents, with whom they can freely discuss their accidental pregnancies. Many others, however, especially those who are impoverished and living in rural areas, are afraid to talk to their parents and don't have the money or opportunity to seek help," said Eszter Kismodi, the human rights adviser for the WHO's reproductive health and research department.

Studies show that the high number of unsafe abortion-associated deaths relates to prevailing restrictive abortion laws in certain countries.

A report on Indonesian field analysis, titled: "Using Human Rights for Maternal and Neonatal Health: (A Tool for Strengthening Laws, Policies, and Standards of Care)", jointly published by the Health Ministry and the WHO in 2007, recognized that laws have posed as barriers to abortion. Due to the restrictive nature of the law, the number of abortions performed each year in Indonesia is grossly under-reported.

The 2007 report, however, put the figure at around 2 million, comprising both induced and spontaneous abortions. Data from the national household health survey in 2001 showed that complications following unsafe abortions contributed to 5 percent of maternal deaths.

A study cited in the report said that 24 percent of abortions in Indonesia were performed by traditional midwives. The incidence rate ranged from 15 percent in cities to 84 percent in rural areas, showing the need for safe abortion services. The report also identified that if female students became pregnant, they were likely to be expelled from school.

The 2009 Health Law stipulates that abortion is prohibited with the only exceptions being cases of medical emergency or rape. An edict released by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in 2005 supported the law.

"Hospitals, doctors or reproductive health clinics can deliver safe abortion services as long as they are conducted [according to the law]," said Sugiri Syarief, the head of the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN), told The Jakarta Post.

He said public and health professionals have yet to increase both their awareness on the importance of safe abortion services as allowed by the law and their understanding on how the law can be properly interpreted.

Conservatism may hamper women's progress in Indonesia: Rights groups

Channel News Asia - October 24, 2011

Sujadi Siswo, Jakarta – Women in Indonesia are staking their claim in the country's developing economy, 13 years after the world's fourth most populous nation underwent political reform.

There are now more women being employed and holding high office in the private and public sector, a result of better education and opportunities. However, rights groups have warned that religious fundamentalism could hamper women's progress in Indonesia.

Noni Purnomo takes the Blue Bird Group cab in Jakarta at least once a month despite having a car and driver. She wants to make sure the cab company maintains its high service standards.

Ms Noni is no ordinary passenger. She is the vice-president of the Blue Bird Group – the biggest cab company in Indonesia with a fleet of 23,000 vehicles. It was founded by her late grandmother in 1972, possibly the only cab company in Asia started by a woman.

Ms Noni said: "It started in our garage. I used to call it a garage company because we used our garage as our office. And so I got involved in the company pretty young because I was three years old when the company was developed. It was sort of like my everyday life... chit-chatting with the drivers to see what was going on. I am lucky in a way that my grandmother was very close to me."

An engineer by training, Ms Noni has been groomed for the last 10 years to lead the family business now headed by her father.

But she does not want the position to be simply given to her. She said: "We all agree that the most suitable and best person should lead. It does not matter who. I think that is the one we all accept. So if I want to (head the company), then I have to really work hard to earn it, not (just) being given the title.

When asked if she wanted to lead the family business, Ms Noni said: "Well, I have been living and breathing in this company for such a long time."

Ms Noni embodies the spirit of the younger generation Indonesian woman – educated, ambitious and ready to compete in male-dominated fields.

A glance at the various sectors in Indonesia attests to greater participation by women. However, they are still grossly under-represented in top positions despite making up half of Indonesia's 230 million population.

For example, in the cabinet, representation by women is 11 per cent; in local government, it is 1.8 per cent; in banking, it is 16 per cent, whereas in public companies, it is 11 per cent.

Women activist Mariana Amiruddin – who is the executive director of Jurnal Perempuan Foundation – believes there is still much work to be done, especially since the majority of Indonesian women only have basic education.

She said: "There would be no problem if the majority of Indonesian women are not from the lower class. Indonesia's democracy allows us to do anything for the country, provided we have power, money and position. We can then influence policies. But majority of Indonesian women are poor and have very little access to education and health."

Poverty and lack of education have forced millions of Indonesian women to become domestic helpers at home and abroad. Domestic helpers' hard-earned salary abroad has proved vital in breaking the cycle of poverty. But it is not without risks. Many domestic helpers have been abused and even killed, thousands of kilometres away from home.

However, even at home, Indonesian women are facing a new kind of threat.

Ms Mariana said: "Indonesia's reform has now evolved into producing discriminative policies. They are called Syariah-inspired by-laws. They favour certain religious groups at the provinces and regulate the way women should dress."

There are concerns that Syariah-inspired by-laws enacted by several provincial governments are putting women at a disadvantage. But despite the challenges, there is one constant Indonesian women can count on.

Ms Noni said: "We have families. Normally, if the women go to work, the grandmother will take care of the children or even the aunt...cousins, everybody will just help you out. In that sense, we have the network."

But the social support network too appears to be gradually under threat as more Indonesian women get better educated and leave home to pursue their careers. (CNA/ms)

Population & migration

Booming population spawns urbanization problems: UN

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – As the world is rapidly urbanized, promoting sustainable urban development is essential to ensure that people living in urban cities can have their basic human needs fulfilled, experts say.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative in Indonesia Jose Ferraris said on Wednesday that as the world's population was approaching 7 billion, more people were presently living in cities.

Wherefore, improving the quality of life of people living in urban areas, some of whom were living in informal settlements and slums, would be an unavoidable need.

"This is really a big challenge," said Ferraris at the launch of The State of World Population (SWOP) 2011, an annual population report released by the UNFPA. The report launch aimed to commemorate a global milestone billed as "The World at 7 Billion", which will fall on Oct. 31.

A 2010 UNFPA data shows that about 43 percent of Indonesians live in urban areas. It is projected that by 2020, two out of three Indonesians will live in cities.

"We should not forget that people who are already living in those communities need to play their important role. So, they have to be empowered, ensuring that they can play active roles in improving the living condition of communities where they currently live in," Ferraris said.

Tommy Firman, an urban planning specialist, said that big cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung, might descend into chaos unless their local governments built adequate sustainable urban development programs.

With ongoing rapid urbanization, he said, more people were living in congested areas with a lack of services to meet their basic needs, such as jobs and housing as well as education and health services.

"About 50 percent of people in developing countries live in urban areas," said Tommy, a professor of architecture, planning and policy development at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

The 2010 Population Census conducted by the Central Statistic Agency (BPS) showed that the urbanization level in Indonesia had reached 49 percent.

The 2009 Population Reference Bureau showed that the urbanization level was at 43 percent in 2009, up from 42 percent in 2000. It had increased steadily from 22.3 percent to 30.9 percent during the period of 1980-1990, far higher than 5.8 percent in 1920.

The urban population of Java accounts for 70 percent of the total urban population of the country. Of Indonesia's total urban population, more than 21.2 percent, or one fifth, live in Greater Jakarta, which is the nation's economic and industrial center.

Firman said that rural urban migration in the Jakarta Special Province (DKI) was fed from its surrounding areas, such as Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi. No studies give an exact number of commuters in the nation's big cities, including Jakarta.

However, according to a study by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), about 1.5 million people commute to downtown Jakarta from the suburbs every day.

"That means that although Jakarta is home to 9.5 million inhabitants as revealed by the 2010 population census, the number of people in the city can reach 11 million in the daytime," Firman said.

With such a large number of daily migrants, he said, the Jakarta administration should bear the burden of basic social services well beyond its initial responsibilities.

"It will lead to a question of whether the local government has the capacity to deliver basic human needs for both Jakarta residents and non- residents," he added.

Urbanization is one of the issues explored in the 2011 SWOP report, including problems related to sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, sustainable development and welfare for the elderly.

The world population has doubled since the late 1960s and is still growing, the agency says. A similar trend can also be observed in Indonesia. In 1971, the country's population reached 137 million, and it is projected that by 2025, Indonesia's population will have reached 273 million. Of the world's 7 billion people, the largest population bracket will be people aged between 10 and 24 years.

Government 'fails' to control population growth

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2011

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Weak government policies on population growth through family planning programs have accounted for the uncontrolled population growth in Indonesia since the reform era, which could lead to serious problems in other related areas of life, a scholar said.

Population expert Sri Moertiningsih Adioetomo of the University of Indonesia's demography institution said earlier this week that the country's annual population growth was equal to the total population of Singapore.

"If every year we have 4.5 million new births, who will be able to feed them and provide them with job opportunities a few years ahead?" Sri Moertiningsih told a press conference organized by Advanced Family Planning (AFP) Indonesia in Yogyakarta.

She blamed the high rate of population growth on a combination of overall improvements in health services and weakening government policy on the matter during the reform era.

Before the reform era, she said, the government implemented family planning programs in centralized ways. However, since laws on regional autonomy were implemented, the central government no longer controlled the programs, as they were transferred to the authority of regional administrations.

"There are many housewives currently who do not even know what family planning is," she said, underlining the need for heads of regional administrations to adopt a serious commitment toward implementing family planning programs.

The 2010 census revealed that Indonesia had a population of 237.56 million, higher than the predictions made by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), of 234 million.

This made Indonesia the country with the fourth-largest population in the world. Given population growth of 1.3 percent during the period 1990-2000, it is presently at 1.49 percent.

Noted medical expert Kartono Mohamad, who has been actively participating in the AFP discussion working group (DWG), said that if nothing was done about the rate of growth, Indonesia would be creating poverty. High birth rates, he said, were predominantly found in low-income communities.

"An uncontrolled birth rate also leads to excessive maternal mortality rates," Kartono said.

To help revive policies on family planning AFP, which is jointly funded by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute, is initiating a policy advocacy program.

"We try to tell decision makers to advocate and revitalize family planning programs based on factual data and evidence," chief of AFP Indonesia's secretariat, Mayun Pudja, said.

In Indonesia, the program is carried out by Cipta Cara Padu Foundation. The same program will also be simultaneously carried out in 11 other countries. So far, only three countries have started to implement the program since 2009: Indonesia, Uganda and Tanzania.

"The revitalization has two objectives. First, to persuade the government to revive family planning policies and, second, to increase family planning funds," Mayun said.

Success stories have come so far from Bandung and Pontianak. The coordinator of Bandung's DWG, Aten Sonadi, said the program had managed to encourage the association of Indonesian subdistrict administrations to gain a commitment from subdistrict heads to allocate Rp 2.5 million annually to family planning programs.

Graft & corruption

9 out of 10 say Indonesian government corruption rampant

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Ulma Haryanto & Anita Rachman – A new survey by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center paints a more dire picture of the state of corruption in Indonesia than indicated by previous studies.

Due to be officially released today, the study, "Corruption Continues to Plague Indonesia," shows that Indonesians' perception of how widespread corruption is in the country has worsened under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Gallup survey found that 91 percent of Indonesians believe corruption is widespread throughout the government, as opposed to 84 percent in 2006.

And that negative perception does not stop at the government, with 86 percent of respondents saying corruption is extensive in the business sector, up from 75 percent in 2006.

"Gallup polling that began midway through Yudhoyono's first term as president shows Indonesians are more likely now than in 2006 to say corruption is widespread throughout business and government," the study says.

The results of the Gallup survey run counter to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, which saw Indonesia's score improve from 2.4 in 2006 to 2.8 in 2010.

The Gallup survey also found that Indonesians were more likely than other Southeast Asians to say their government and business sectors were corrupt. "Only in 2009, the year of Yudhoyono's re-election, were Indonesians less likely than now to day that corruption is widespread throughout the country's leadership and businesses," the report said.

The results were obtained from face-to-face interviews in Indonesia with 6,390 adult respondents, between 2006 and 2011. The center is a Gallup research hub based in the capital of the United Arab Emirates and focused on the attitudes and aspirations of Muslims around the world.

Febri Diansyah, from Indonesia Corruption Watch, agreed with the survey results. He added that Transparency International's CPI did not necessarily reflect improvements in the public's perception of the country's most corrupt public sectors. "Justice reform has been slow, and our corruption eradication is not that effective yet," he said.

Gallup's survey also found that only 56 percent of Indonesians say they have confidence in the judicial system, and 53 percent of people still believe in honest elections. Perhaps surprisingly, it also found that 88 percent of Indonesians trust the police, compared to 56 percent for the judiciary.

It was also found that Indonesians who have completed their secondary education or higher are less likely to profess confidence in the local police and the country's judicial system, compared to those with only an elementary education or less.

In the group, with less education, 92 percent declared confidence in their police, compared to 82 percent from those with more education. Fifty-two percent of secondary school graduates or higher still have faith in Indonesian courts, compared with 61 percent for people with less education.

Urban dwellers are also more sceptical of law enforcers, with 91 percent of people living in rural areas thinking the police can still be trusted, compared to 83 percent of city residents. A similar distinction was found for perceptions of the judicial system, with 62 percent of people living in rural areas being optimistic about the courts, compared to only 50 percent of urban residents.

Gallup's main recommendation to the Indonesian government is to reform the judicial system and the police. The polling center also says agencies such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the yet-to-be- established Financial Services Supervisory Authority (OJK) should be kept independent.

"If Yudhoyono and other Indonesian officials want to eradicate corruption in their country, they should consider tougher action," the report says.

In another recommendation, Gallup also says that a free press can help keep leaders in the government and private sectors accountable and honest.

Indonesian government riddled with corruption, official confirms

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Anita Rachman & Ulma Haryanto – That nine in 10 Indonesians believe corruption remains widespread across the government may seem outlandish, but a Finance Ministry official who spoke to the Jakarta Globe on Thursday said it sounded about right.

"People aren't wrong to perceive it that way," said the official, who asked not to be named. "As an insider, I'd say that it's probably really like that."

He added that while the Finance Ministry had undergone sweeping reforms, others had not and the degree of corruption varied across different bureaus.

Dian Andriani, a mother from Surabaya, gave the Globe an emphatic "Definitely yes!" when asked if she believed corruption was widespread throughout the government.

She said she had experienced first-hand the "corrupted deeds" of government officials, including unauthorized levies amounting to Rp 2 million ($225) for a property deed that she still had not received after two years.

"As utopian as it might sound, I'm hoping for a clean and respectable government from the very lowest levels right up to the president," she said.

Taxi driver Muhammad Ichwan has also had to grease a few palms in his time. He said that on one occasion, he was pulled over by a traffic officer because he had swerved onto the shoulder of the toll road while rushing a passenger to the airport.

"He said he would issue me a ticket, but I said it was a waste of time and money," he said. "So I asked him 'How much?' He said Rp 20,000."

Another time, he helped his nephew file a report with police when the nephew's motorcycle was stolen. "The next day an officer came by our place and asked for 'operational money,'?" he said. He paid the officer Rp 50,000 but his nephew never saw his motorcycle again, nor was anyone arrested for the theft.

Ignatius Haryanto, director of the Institute for Press and Development Studies (LSPP), attributed the high perception of corruption on exposure by media of graft cases implicating officials and businesspeople.

But he also believed that graft had become more rampant since decentralization was instituted a decade earlier. Now, he said, corruption was no longer just the domain of those in the central government, but was also widely practiced by local officials.

Now you can blow the whistle on graft online

Antara News - October 29, 2011

Balikpapan, East Kalimantan – The national antigraft body has unveiled a new online service it says will allow citizens to report on corruption allegations without fear of retribution.

Yuli Kristiyono, an official in the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) public complaints unit, said on Thursday that people could make use of the KPK Whistleblower System.

Speaking at a workshop on public participation in tackling graft, he said the KWS Web site – kws.kpk.go.id – was intended for whistleblowers who did not want their identities revealed or who did not have time to file a formal report with the KPK.

Yuli said the system was designed to help boost relations between the public and the KPK, whose previously impeccable reputation has taken a hit in recent months following allegations that it was losing its commitment in the national drive against corruption.

However, he pointed out that not all graft allegations could be accepted by the KPK. "Anyone using the service must have adequate information to back up their allegation of corruption in a [government] office or bureau," Yuli said. "In addition, the total value of the alleged corruption must be no less than Rp 1 billion [$114,000]."

The introduction of the KPK's whistleblower Web site is the latest step by law enforcement officials to roll out better protection for those bringing corruption cases to light, following criticism over the jailing of two high-profile whistleblowers in major graft cases.

Under the 2006 Law on Witness Protection, whistleblowers are not immune from prosecution if they are involved in the crime they report.

Controversial police general-turned-whistleblower Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji last year unsuccessfully challenged the law after police, who had him in custody for two corruption charges, refused to hand him over to the Victim and Witness Protection Agency (LPSK).

In a ruling in September 2010, the Constitutional Court ruled that even a whistleblower deemed indispensable to cases could be prosecuted if they were involved in the crime.

In one of the more high-profile cases highlighting the issue, former legislator Agus Condro Prayitno was convicted and imprisoned for taking a bribe to vote for Miranda Goeltom as a senior Bank Indonesia official – a case that only came to light through his reporting of it.

Lawmakers not helping to end corruption, says ICW

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Jakarta – A corruption watchdog has suggested lawmakers' recent moves to revise the 2002 Law on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) were attempts to remove the commission's special powers.

"Lawmakers have consistently highlighted KPK wiretapping and investigation authorities as areas that need to be revised. This of course deserves our concern," Agus Sunaryanto of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said Thursday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

If the lawmakers were genuinely fighting to end corruption then they should help strengthen the KPK rather than remove its current authorities, Agus said.

However, he also warned that the government could block any planned revisions, even if lawmakers pursued their efforts. "These lawmakers won't be able to do anything if the government refuses to revise the law," he said.

Out of time, House postpones deliberation of KPK Law to 2012

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Jakarta – House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs has postponed the deliberation of a revision of the 2002 Corruption Eradication Law to next year.

"The revision draft of the law on the KPK is currently being prepared at the House secretary-general's law preparation department," Commission III legislator from Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Eva Kusuma Sundari told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

She said that the law preparation department had presented the draft to Commission III on Oct. 12, with several provisions such as wiretapping authority, limitations on commissioners' tenures, the KPK's coordination and supervision authority as well as separating the KPK's investigation and prosecution authorities, among others.

Eva added that the commission was waiting for the final version of the draft, receiving which it would begin consolidating arguments from the commission's factions and then create a working committee to further discuss the matter with the government.

She said that Commission III would be ready to discuss the revision with the government after two plenary session phases in 2012, citing the long process of the draft construction.

In 2008, the commission tried to revise the KPK law, citing concern over the KPK's wiretapping authority.

The commission had intended to revoke the wiretapping authority by referring to the 2003 law on advocates, which restricts investigators from tapping conversations between lawyers and their clients.

At that time, the commission dismissed arguments that the revision would limit the KPK's ability to fight corruption, saying that it in fact intended to strengthen the KPK. However, the discourse was dissolved following heavy criticism, despite that the draft had already been submitted to the President.

The House and the KPK recently were embroiled in a political argument after the KPK questioned four House budget committee leaders in an investigation concerning alleged budget manipulation by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

Earlier this week, the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), an antigraft watchdog, criticized the House's plan, saying that the revision process had been used to hamper corruption eradication. The watchdog recorded that since 2007, the KPK had prosecuted 42 legislators.

Two KPK leaders, Bibit Samad Rianto and Busyro Muqoddas, opposed the plan to revise the KPK law, saying it was "unnecessary", when the two attended Commission III's hearing session on Wednesday. "So far, the KPK thinks that the revision is not necessary, but if the House plans to do so, we respect their decision," KPK Chairman Busyro said.

He suggested that the House conduct proper academic research before revising the law. He added that the KPK as a law enforcement institution carried out its duties in accordance with the law, and had encountered no difficulties in doing so, especially not political constraints.

Deputy chairman Bibit said that the antigraft commission had been good at handling corruption cases, and that points discussed in the discourse, such as granting the KPK the authority to pick its own investigators, were not really necessary.

He explained that the investigators recommended by the police were sufficient, because the police recruited them through independent and professional human resources services. He added that another circulating idea – to separate the KPK's investigation and prosecution functions – was wrong.

"Based on my 30 years' experiences as a police officer, the best prosecution and investigation system is what the KPK has right now. If it were revised then it could cripple the KPK," Bibid said. (rpt)

Gayus prosecutor Cirus gets 5 years for obstruction

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2011

Rizky Amelia – Cirus Sinaga, the former prosecutor accused of bribery and impeding the corruption investigation of disgraced taxman Gayus Tambunan, was handed five years in prison and a Rp 150 million ($17,000) fine on Tuesday.

The charges stem from his handling last year of Gayus's first trial at the Tangerang District Court. Gayus was eventually acquitted of watered-down embezzlement charges.

"Defendant Cirus Sinaga is guilty of indirectly preventing the investigation, indictment and investigation at the court," presiding judge Albertina Ho said on Tuesday.

Cirus had been charged with three different counts – enriching himself by illegal means, obstruction of justice and misuse of authority.

Prosecutors had sought six years for Cirus in the case, but Albertina said lenience was appropriate due to the former prosecutor's previously clean record and poor health.

She also said that Cirus was likely not the only person responsible in getting Gayus off. Cirus's lawyer, Palmer Situmorang, said that he would appeal the sentence.

Terrorism & religious extremism

Indonesia courts 'weak' on terrorists, experts say after Bashir ruling

Agence France Presse - October 28, 2011

Indonesia's legal system is the "weakest link" in the nation's fight against terrorism, analysts said after a court slashed the jail term of the country's slipperiest terror convict.

A district court in June sentenced radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to 15 years in prison for deliberately inciting terrorism and funding a new terror cell allegedly planning deadly attacks on Westerners and politicians.

The Jakarta High Court disclosed on Wednesday that it had overturned the conviction one week earlier and found Bashir, 73, guilty of a similar but less serious offence, cutting his sentence to nine years.

Bashir was once convicted of conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, but was cleared on appeal, and has several times avoided guilty verdicts or won slap-on-the-wrist punishments or sentence reductions. "Our legal system is the weakest link in this fight," prominent terror analyst Noor Huda Ismail said.

"Police have done quite a good job in arresting suspects and finding terrorists in raids. But once it gets to the courts, there are a lot of problems prosecuting a case."

Indonesia's anti-terror police unit, Detachment 88, has successfully weakened large extremist networks, killing some of south-east Asia's most notorious terrorists in bloody raids.

But Bashir has been particularly difficult to pin down because of legal rules, such as a ban on phone-tapped conversations as evidence in terror trials – although a new law will give authorities more power to bug communications.

"The prosecutors had phone conversations in which Bashir admitted he had funded the terror cell, but it couldn't be used as evidence. So I think this new law will make a big difference, as long as it's not abused," Ismail said.

Some key witnesses in Bashir's case refused to testify in court, and giving evidence via video conference made effective examination difficult, Ismail added.

Finding evidence against Bashir was challenging as the cleric allegedly only incited acts of terror and did not get involved in actual operations, political analyst at the University of Indonesia Andi Widjajanto told AFP.

"Under terror laws, you either have to be caught red-handed, or have at least three witnesses give evidence. There must also be either audio, video or documented evidence," he said. "That's why the court for the third time has failed to prove Bashir is directly involved in terrorism."

The high court admitted that it had showed clemency to the elderly cleric. "We also reduced the sentence as an act of humanity for this old man," court spokesman Ahmad Sobari told AFP. "The judges consider the nine-year sentence as long enough."

Nonetheless Greg Fealy, an Indonesian terror specialist at the Australian national University, pointed out that many convicted terrorists have received lengthy sentences in recent years.

"In most cases, the convicted terrorist has got around six to 10 years in prison, and that's been very consistent. In Bashir's case, there was strong evidence against him, so 15 years seemed fair and proportional," Fealy said.

But after criticism of the video evidence, he added, "we knew there would be a problem and that Bashir would appeal".

It is far from the first time Bashir has been the beneficiary of a court decision.

In 2003, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for immigration violations but was acquitted of all charges related to a series of church bombings on Christmas Eve in 2000. He was released for good behaviour after serving just 20 months.

In 2005 he was convicted of conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings and served 26 months of the 30-month sentence before being freed when the Supreme Court overturned his conviction.

Members of the Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid cell in Aceh, which Bashir was convicted of funding, are optimistic the firebrand cleric will once again escape a lengthy prison term.

Its spokesman Son Hadi said: "This has happened three times before, so Bashir will take this case to the highest level until he is set free."

Indonesia says Bashir's advanced age a factor in jail sentence reduction

Associated Press - October 27, 2011

Jakarta – An Indonesian court says it slashed radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir's prison sentence in part because of his advanced age.

The 72-year-old cleric, known as the spiritual leader of al-Qaida-linked militants, was found guilty in March of helping plan a terror attack and fund a jihadi training camp in westernmost Aceh province.

Bashir's lawyers appealed his 15-year sentence and on Oct. 20 judges quietly agreed to cut off six years. Achmad Sobari of Jakarta High Court says that humanitarian considerations were factored in to the decision.

He said Thursday: "He is very old and judges thought it was appropriate to sentence him to nine years instead." They also dropped the lesser charge of helping plan a terrorist act, citing lack of sufficient evidence.

Court slashes radical Islamic cleric's prison sentence to 9 years

Associated Press - October 26, 2011

Jakarta – A radical Islamic cleric accused of setting up a terror training camp in western Indonesia had his prison sentence slashed from 15 years to 9 years, an appeals court said Wednesday. No reason was given for the decision.

Abu Bakar Bashir, known as the spiritual leader of al-Qaida-linked militants blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings, was accused of helping bring together men from almost every known Indonesian extremist group.

The jihadi training camp, which was uncovered in Aceh province last year, was allegedly planning Mumbai-styled gun attacks on foreigners in the capital, Jakarta, and assassinations of the predominantly Muslim country's moderate leaders.

In March, a district court sentenced the 72-year-old cleric to 15 years in prison for inciting terrorism, but his lawyers appealed, saying he was innocent. The Jakarta High Court quietly handed down its ruling on Oct. 15, according to local news portal, detik.com.

"All I can say right now is that his sentence was reduced to nine years," Achmad Sobari, a court spokesman, told The Associated Press. "I do not know exactly what factors were taking into account in the judge's decision."

Bashir's lawyer, Mohammad Mahendradatta, said he was awaiting official notification from the court. He stressed, however, that his client should be freed.

Indonesia was thrust into the front lines of the battle against terrorism in 2002 when Jemaah Islamiyah, co-founded by Bashir, bombed two crowded nightclubs on the resort island of Bali. Many of the 202 people killed were Australian tourists. Seven were Americans.

Bashir was arrested almost immediately after the twin blasts, but prosecutors were unable to prove a string of terrorism-related allegations, sentencing him instead to 18 months for immigration violations.

Soon after his release, he was re-arrested and sentenced to 2 1/2 years, this time for inciting the Bali blasts. That charge was overturned on appeal and he was freed in 2006. He was rearrested last year, this time for his role in the Aceh camp.

[Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos contributed to this report.]

Freedom of religion & worship

GKI Yasmin members in Bogor harassed, again

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2011

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The congregation of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) was again confronted by Muslim hard- liners outside its place of worship in Bogor, West Java, on Sunday.

Members of the Indonesian Muslim Communications Forum (Forkami) besieged the congregation during GKI Yasmin's Sunday Mass, hurling verbal abuse at the Christians.

Forkami members demanded that the congregation disperse and stop the Sunday Mass conducted in front of their church, which has been sealed off by the Bogor administration for the last year.

"There were a bunch of police officers who tried to those people from getting more violent, but it looks like that they were not that serious," GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging said.

Two weeks ago members of Forkami clad in white Muslim garb and wielding rattan sticks attacked the congregation.

Chanting "Allahu Akbar!" (God is great), the hard-liners attempted to disrupt the service and break up the gathering, which ended in an altercation between members of Forkami, the congregation and public order officers guarding the service.

Separately, the Bogor municipality assistant for public order, Ade Syarif Hidayat, said that the government had budgeted Rp 3.5 billion (US$399,000) to relocate GKI Yasmin.

"The budget has been earmarked for 2012. The mayor of Bogor has approved the plan. We have even informed the governor of West Java," Ade said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Ade said that the administration had identified two sites to host GKI Yasmin: the Harmoni building and the former building of the Bogor Regional Elections Commission (KPUD).

The relocation was not an administration move to limit religious freedom, Ade said. "We just want them to worship in an orderly manner. We have rented the site for them. But instead they decided to defy our order and perform their Sunday service on the sidewalk."

GKI Yasmin has been threatened with eviction by the Bogor municipal administration as well as local residents who have questioned the legality of the church.

Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto has consistently refused to reopen the church, defying a Supreme Court ruling in December that struck down a lower court's order to close the church, which had been filed by the city.

Poverty & unemployment

Real poverty is actually decreasing overall - ADB

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2011

The Asian Development Bank has clarified that its data showed poverty in Indonesia was in fact decreasing, and not on the rise, as a local nongovernmental organization recently reported.

The Jakarta-based Center for Welfare Studies (Prakarsa) quoted data on Friday from a newly released ADB report, "Poverty in Asia and the Pacific: An Update," suggesting that the number of poor people in Indonesia increased by about 6.7 percent over last three years to 43.1 million.

Prakarsa quoted from a table in the report that showed the number of Indonesians living in extreme poverty was 40.36 million in 2008, before jumping a year later to 44.83 million, then dropping a little to 43.07 million in 2010.

However, ADB said not all the statistics in the paper were directly comparable, as they were based on different sources.

"It is important to point out that it is inappropriate to compare the poverty numbers for 2008, 2009 and 2010 in the ADB paper because they were estimated using different data and methodologies," ADB's Indonesia office said in a statement sent to the Jakarta Globe.

A footnote in the ADB paper makes it clear that the three figures were derived from different sources.

The data for 2008 is based on the Indonesian government's National Socio- Economic Survey; the 2009 data is taken from the World Bank's PovcalNet database, whereas the 2010 data was based on an economic modelling method that assumes poverty rates change relative to a country's Gross Domestic Product.

If the Indonesian government's data from 2008 is excluded, the World Bank's data from 2005, 2009 and 2010 shows a modest decrease in the number of people living in poverty, although at a rate well behind many comparable developing countries mentioned in the report. The ADB shows 50.57 percent of Indonesians lived on under $2 a day in 2010.

Indonesia 'should be ashamed of failure to reduce poverty'

Jakarta Globe - October 27, 2011

Aguis Triyono – The combined wealth of Indonesia's 40 richest people is equivalent to that of about 60 million of its poorest citizens, a nongovernmental organization said on Wednesday.

"In 2010, we noted that the wealth of these 40 people had reached Rp 680 trillion [$76.8 billion]," said Setyo Budiantoro, the executive director of the Center for Welfare Studies (Prakarsa). "This is about 10.3 percent of Indonesia's entire gross domestic product."

That Rp 680 trillion, Setyo said, also represented the wealth of about 15 million of the country's poorest families, or about 60 million people. "The economy is now dominated by a group of super-rich people who number very few," he said.

The percentage of Indonesia's GDP made up by the net worth of Indonesia's super-rich is far larger than that of countries like the United States, Germany, China and Japan, Setyo added.

Even though the combined value of the country's 100 million bank accounts stood at Rp 2,400 trillion, he said, about 40,000 bank account holders accounted for close to Rp 1,000 trillion of the total amount.

"These various facts show how high the wealth disparity and the poverty level is in Indonesia," Setyo said.

Citing research conducted by the Asian Development Bank, Setyo said that within just three years the number of poor Indonesians had risen by about 6.7 percent to 43.1 million in 2011.

The country's performance in eradicating poverty was even worse than Southeast Asian neighbors Cambodia and Laos, which during the same period each managed to lower the number of their poor.

"Based on the ADB data, in the past three years Cambodia has been able to reduce poverty from 4.1 million people in 2009 to 4.09 million in 2011 while Laos cut poverty from 2.18 million in 2009 to 2.04 million in 2011," he said.

"In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is the only country in which poverty is on the rise. Compare that to Laos and Cambodia, which have few natural resources and bad government. This shows that the government has failed in its battle against poverty."

Setyo also accused the government of manipulating its poverty line for political purposes. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS), he said, put the number of Indonesia's poor at just 30.2 million, which is much lower than the ADB's 43.12 million. While the ADB marks the country's poverty line at an earning level of $1.25 per day, the government has set it at $1.13.

Setyo said that if Indonesia did as many other countries and set its poverty line at $2 per day, the statistic for the number of poor here would further increase to reach at least 117 million, or about half the population.

Land disputes & evictions

Dayaks want to end ancestral land grab

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2011

Jakarta – Members of the Dayak Ngaju tribe in Central Kalimantan say they have lost their ancestors' land to the government, oil palm plantations and mining companies.

Representatives from four villages claimed that they have been barred from their ancestors' lands since the government's One Million Hectare Peatland Project (PLG) started in 1996.

Local residents, who lack ownership documents, said the lands were customary forests passed on from generation to generation.

"All of the programs, as well as corporate oil palm plantations and mining, have violated our rights to the land, which we inherited from previous generations," Ketunjung village resident Abdul Hamid told reporters at a press conference at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment's (Walhi) headquarters in Jakarta.

Abdul also said that the villages had lost their forests to carbon emission reduction programs, such as the government's REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) initiatives.

Community leader Siga E Saman said that the government should return their land and guarantee the rights of local residents. "We won't beg to survive any longer once we have our land back."

April Perlindungan, a representative of the Yayasan Petak Daun (YPD) environmental NGO in Central Kalimantan, said projects in the area would not preserve the environment.

"Preserving the environment is only an excuse to take over the land, which will later be made available to investors," he said.

The 1.4 million hectares of peatland forests previously run under the PLG are currently allotted to REDD+ projects, Forest Production Management Units (KPHP) and Forest Protection Management Units (KPHL), mining companies and oil palm plantations.

"The status of the land may be unclear – but it is clear that all of those activities destroy the life of the people," he said.

According to Walhi, 54,384 hectares of the forest was given to REDD+ initiatives, while eleven unlicensed oil palm companies were also operating on 351.8 hectares, Wahli alleged.

Separately, Forestry Ministry general secretary Hadi Daryanto said that the ministry created the Free Prior Information Concern (FPIC) mechanism for REDD+ projects to prioritize local concerns and avoid ownership conflicts.

"The mechanism provides a way for residents to participate in developing the forest. It also obliges the distribution of 75 percent of benefits of programs or projects to the residents. This is a solution for the customary forest issue."

Any oil palm companies convicted of illegal operation would hand over their land to the government, which would then encourage local residents to comment on the land's development through the forest village system, Hadi said.

Hadi said local residents benefitted from many government programs, including REDD+ initiatives. "The people, for example, are taught to farm," he said.

Nurhadi, the Dayak Ngaju community leader, said that local residents did not need help from the government learn about farming or forest preservation. "We live in the forest. We know how to protect it. Our local wisdom teaches us to respect forests," he said. (msa)

Parliament & government

House pledges to be punctual

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2011

Jakarta – Leaders of the House of Representatives have pledged to start its future plenary sessions on schedule even if the sessions fail to meet quorum, as a response to lawmakers' lack of discipline in attending the House's highest decision-making forum.

Speaking at the opening of a plenary session on Thursday, House deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said the House leaders had received approval from the leaders of the House's 11 Commissions and nine factions to begin plenary sessions as scheduled, regardless of how many lawmakers are in attendance.

"We will start our next plenary session on time, with one or a 100 lawmakers. Do you all agree?" said Priyo, his proposal answered by a chorus of agreement from hundreds of lawmakers in the House's plenary hall.

The Thursday plenary session, which is scheduled to approve bills on Zakat Management and the Financial Services Authority, commenced at 10.45 a.m. or almost two hours behind schedule, since there were too few legislators present in the plenary hall when it was supposed to start at 9 a.m.

Busy pampering his officials, SBY 'forgets' his campaign promises

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2011

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – After seven years in power, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono still has much work to do in law enforcement and economic development.

The overwhelming number of corruption cases faced by his administration' officials have become synonymous with the country's high poverty rate.

Research and political consultancy firm Indonesian Voices Network (JSI) conducted a recent survey that showed that 53.2 percent of the public were satisfied with the President's leadership and 44.8 percent were satisfied with Vice President Boediono.

Collecting 1,200 respondents, the survey cited economic development and law enforcement as the two major failures of Yudhoyono's presidency. The public viewed Yudhoyono's failure to stem corruption and curb terrorism as his major law enforcement failings.

JSI executive director Widdi Aswidi said that the survey noted that the public was most dissatisfied (70.7 percent of respondents) with the unemployment rate, 68.8 percent with the poverty rate, and 61.7 percent with migrant workers protection.

The survey seemed to run contrary to the relatively rosy reports on the declining open unemployment rate and poverty rate recorded by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

"These are three of the 15 campaign promises that the President has yet to fulfill," Widdi said. Yudhoyono secured in 2009 his second term in office after delivering on many of his promises in his first term.

He pledged to support democracy, guarantee human rights protection, enhance Indonesia's standing internationally, improve food security, equally develop regions across the country, and eradicate corruption and nepotism. Political observer Ryaas Rasyid said that the survey showed most of the public still supported the President.

"The most problematic political problem in Indonesia is corruption. The President must really pay attention to this issue. In the era of former president Soeharto, corruption was bureaucratic, but nowadays it is political – done by politicians and officials," he said.

Marking the seventh year of his tenure, the President added six new ministers and one high-ranking official and 13 deputy ministers in his move "to strengthen" bureaucracy, a move critics brushed off as an empty promise aimed at improving his image. Yaury Tetanel, a coordinator of the Indonesian Partnership Committee for Poverty Eradication, said Yudhoyono pampered his administration.

"The 2012 budget plan is the worst of the last five years. We can clearly see the inequalities with Rp 215.7 trillion allocated to pay the salaries of 4.7 million civil servants, compared to the Rp 50 trillion for the 31 million poor people," Yaury said.

Yuna Farhan of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) said that an overemphasis on bureaucratic costs was evident in the growing amount of allocations for civil servants.

The government allocated Rp 89.5 billion for the post in 2011, higher than that of Rp 73.5 billion in 2009. He also pointed out that Rp 278 billion was allocated to buy expensive vehicles for state officials.

"The President should be the workhorse agent in budget saving, especially in cutting down official junkets and spending on state official's facilities," Yuna said.

Zaenal Muttaqin from the Agrarian Renewal Consortium (KPA) said that the government failed to respond to the needs of farmers, citing that the agrarian reform granted certificates only, rather than distribute unused land to farmers.

He said that of the 28 million farmer households in Indonesia, 6.1 million in Java did not own any land and another 5 million farmer households outside of Java did not own land. He added that the farmers that did own land only owned around 0.36 hectares on average.

Yuna said that during the seven years of Yudhoyono's government, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) found that Rp 103.19 trillion had been misused. He said that only Rp 1.8 trillion had been returned to the budget. "The government should follow up on the agency's audits and evaluate its bureaucracy," Yuna said. (msa)

'War' on state spending? Then why so many luxury cars, Fitra asks

Jakarta Globe - October 24, 2011

Rizky Amelia – Earlier this month President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono "declared war" on excessive state spending, but a budget watchdog said on Sunday that the State Palace was one of the country's worst spenders.

"The president's remarks amount to nothing without real action," Yuna Farhan, secretary general of the Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), said during a meeting in Jakarta. "The palace should be the locomotive in driving spending cuts, but in reality it is exactly the opposite."

Yuna said that just about every year, the president tells his cabinet to spend less, and every year the budget increases. "The State Palace has nine Mercedes-Benz S600s for VVIPs. Why nine? Does the president need a different car for each day of the week?" he said.

In the wake of a damning report from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) that said the state was losing trillions of rupiah in unnecessary expenses, the president vowed to get tough on the spending habits of ministries, regional governments and state-owned enterprises.

"The party is over," presidential adviser Daniel Sparingga said on Oct. 9. "SBY is declaring war on the loss of state funds." Yudhoyono recently instructed his staff to come up with a plan for more effective and efficient spending, Daniel said.

This month, the BPK told the House of Representatives that it had discovered potential state losses of Rp 26.68 trillion ($3 billion) in an audit of spending in the first six months of the year.

The agency, in its biannual audit, said it had found 11,430 irregularities, including 3,463 in which the BPK deemed regulations were broken. Those amounted to potential losses of Rp 7.71 trillion.

Yuna said the proposed 2012 state budget showed the president was not serious about getting spending under control, with more money proposed to pay public officials than to alleviate poverty.

"The government is allocating Rp 215.7 trillion to pay 4.7 million public officials," he said. That's compared to the Rp 50 trillion for Indonesia's 31 million poor, he said.

Fitra has also criticized the palace's plans to purchase a private presidential plane, to be called the Indonesian Air Force One, at a reported cost of $58 million. The president now travels on a plane leased from flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

Last year, the group said Yudhoyono spends Rp 893 million a year on his wardrobe, Rp 42 billion on furniture and Rp 60 billion to renovate the State Secretariat building. The palace said Fitra had greatly exaggerated the figures.

Social security & welfare

Workers, employers to challenge BPJS law at Constitutional Court

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Several worker and employer association groups say they will file a judicial review request of the recently enacted Social Security Providers (BJPS) Law to challenge its constitutionality.

The State Enterprise Workers Union (FSBUMN), the National Workers Union (SPN) and the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) criticized the law for requiring workers and employers to pay insurance premiums for about 70 million workers in the nation's informal economy.

FSBUMN chairman Abdul Latief Algaf and SPN chairman Bambang Wirahyoso said separately on Sunday that more than five million workers from 21 federations opposed the new law and would pool funds at state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek if the Constitutional Court rejected their request.

"We are still preparing a draft of the judicial review," Bambang said, adding the law would pose numerous problems in implementation and that social security was the responsibility of the state as mandated by the Constitution.

Apindo chairman Sofjan Wanandi said employers, who had not been consulted during House deliberations, would not pay more than their current contribution to cover informal workers since this would make the business climate less competitive.

"The social security system will become a disincentive if its implementation is burdensome," Sofjan said, adding the President was leaving social security programs as a time bomb for the next government in 2014.

The new law stipulates the creation of two social security providers and the transformation of the four limited insurance firms – PT Askes, PT Jamsostek, PT Taspen and PT Asabri – into public companies under presidential jurisdiction.

Askes has been designated to handle a universal national healthcare program, while Jamsostek has been tasked with occupational accident, old- age risk, pension and death benefit schemes.

The law also set implementation time frames, requiring that the healthcare program start in January 2011 and that the other programs begin by July 2015.

The government and the House also agreed to disburse Rp 4 trillion in initial capital to the two providers and pledged to move 195 trillion in assets held by the four state insurance companies to the national social security system.

The new law will also come under fire if the Constitutional Court accepts a judicial review of a section of the 2004 National Social Security System Law that requires all participants, except the poor and the jobless, to pay into social security programs.

According to former health minister Siti Fadilah Supari, who requested the judicial review, the law violated the Amended 1945 Constitution, which requires the state to give social security protection to all people for the sake of human dignity.

"Social security protection is a fundamental right of all citizens and therefore participants have no obligation to pay into social security programs," Siti Fadilah said.

Abdul Latief said he would tell the Constitutional Court on Monday that registered Jamsostek participants did not pay contributions but were covered by employers for healthcare, occupational accident and death benefits.

"Because of social security protection, workers' contributions are paid by their employers. Workers have paid only two percent of the total 5.7 percent of their monthly salaries into the old-age risk scheme. And if the 70 million workers in the informal sector are registered with the five mandatory programs, who will pay their contribution, as they have no employers?" he said.

Menwhile, Bambang Purwoko, a professor of social security systems at the University of Indonesia, said infrastructure and personnel limitations made it unlikely that a national healthcare program could be implemented by 2014.

Social Security Bill passed at last gasp

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman – At 8:20 p.m. on the last day that the long-awaited social security bill could be passed into law, the House of Representatives announced it had made history.

"For the first time, we have a social security scheme," announced Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung, who led the plenary late on Friday night.

Under the new law, a social security organizing body (BPJS) will be formed on Jan. 1, 2014, to provide health insurance to all Indonesians. Those with a regular income will have to pay monthly premiums, while the government will pay premiums for people who are poor or unemployed.

By July 2015 at the latest, a second BPJS will be running to provide work accident and life insurance as well as pension schemes.

These two bodies will take over and expand the work currently done by four state-owned insurers – Jamsostek, Taspen, Asabri and Askes – which manage Rp 190 trillion ($22.2 billion) in insurance funds between them.

The transformation will also change the status of the state entities' profits. Currently, the profits of the four state-owned enterprises go to the government. After the transformation, the profits will directly go to the new shareholders – the people.

On Friday, thousands of angry protesters, mostly from various workers unions, rallied in front of the House to demand that lawmakers pass the bill.

Missing the Friday deadline would have meant that the bill, already discussed through the maximum four sitting periods allowed under the House code, would have to be shelved until 2014 when a new slate of legislators will take their place.

And for most of the day, it seemed things would go that way, until it emerged that lobbying at the residence of Vice President Boediono on Friday afternoon had led to a consensus.

All the political party factions in the House actually agreed on the main issue – that the nation needed the BPJS law – but the sticking point was when.

Most wanted the transformations of the existing state-owned insurers to the BPJS bodies by January 2014, while the ruling party wanted the second body to be given more time, until 2016.

Said Iqbal, secretary general of the Social Security Action Committee, questioned the different targets. "We should be wary. Maybe workers' money in Jamsostek will be used for the 2014 presidential election," he said.

The July 2015 date for the second BPJS was the compromise agreed upon, BPJS Special Committee chairman Ahmad Nizar Shihab, a Democrat, told the plenary on Friday evening.

Ahmad said the new law might be the legislators' ticket to heaven, a statement echoed by other House leaders.

"This is the result of our compromises, a political decision," said Marwan Jafar, the faction chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB). He added that intervention from Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri instructing her party to agree to July 2015 broke the deadlock.

The passage resulted in an eruption of cheering from the workers inside the plenary hall. They feted Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, a PDI-P lawmaker and a staunch advocate of the bill who is in a wheelchair due to her advanced pregnancy. They yelled happily around the House of Representatives complex.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie said in his closing speech that it was with the spirit of togetherness and putting people's interests above everything else that the House and government managed to agree to pass the bill.

Indonesia's new Social Security Law cheered as 'new hope'

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Anita Rachman & Dessy Sagita – For the thousands of workers who trooped to Jakarta on Friday to demand the House of Representatives pass the social security scheme bill into law, their efforts were not in vain.

The last-minute endorsement of the Social Security Organizing Body (BPJS) Law was a big victory for Indonesia that deserved to be celebrated, according to Said Iqbal, the secretary general of the Social Security Action Committee (KAJS), which comprises 67 labor unions from Greater Jakarta.

"Finally, after all these years, we will have universal health insurance coverage," he said.

The law will create a single state entity in 2014 that will cover health, and another in 2015 that will cover life insurance, work accident insurance, civil service pensions and old-age pensions. Under the law, therefore, workers and the poor will get full protection and coverage for even severe or complicated illnesses.

Labor unions have been at the forefront of efforts to push the House and the government to pass the long-awaited and much-delayed bill into law.

By 10 a.m. on Friday, the last day that the bill could be passed before being shelved until the next term, an estimated 5,000 workers had already converged in front of the House in Senayan in what is believed to be their biggest demonstration in support of it.

The crowd was so large that Jakarta Police had to close the road, worsening traffic. "I did not go to work today. I asked for permission from my boss, and he allowed me to come here to join the demonstration," Mustopo, a 48- year-old factory worker from Cengkareng, said.

They came from cities including Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bandung, Cimahi and Banten, and had just a single goal: to demand the passage of the law. "This is important, so that when workers get sick [BPJS] will cover it," said Charul Hidayat, 28, worker from a metal factory.

Novalia Andayani, who works in an electronics factory, said workers like her do not at present have full health care provision. When they get seriously ill, hospitals do not want to treat them because they cannot pay.

"We pay taxes, so why are we not covered [by state insurance] when we get sick?" she asked. KAJS's Said said that if the law was properly implemented, there would be an end to denial of services by hospitals or clinics.

He said that once the first BPJS entity, the one for health, is formed in 2014, 30 million private company employees would be covered for the first time. "January 1, 2014, will be a historic day because the BPJS fund will help us and not just state-owned companies," he said.

Dr. Marius Widjajarta, chairman of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation for Health (YPKKI) said the BPJS law offered new hope for millions of Indonesians. "It doesn't matter if the law is flawed, we can fix it as we go by, the most important thing is that we now have a safety net for our future," he said.

Marius said the most important thing to do now was to inform people about the new law, what rights they would be entitled to get and what obligations they needed to fulfill. "2014 is not far away, we shouldn't waste a minute to tell our people that they now have the chance to live a better life," he said.

Servicemen issue forces bill recess

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has suspended once again the endorsement of the social security providers (BPJS) bill after discord with the government over a proposal to exclude servicemen from the bill's entitlement.

The government's negotiating team could not confirm on Monday whether or not it would exclude police personnel and soldiers from the bill's social security framework, as requested by Defense Minister Djoko Suyanto.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardodjo, who heads the government representatives in the bill's deliberation, insisted that he needed up to 30 days at the most to discuss this matter with the President and the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) leadership.

"We need up to 30 days because the President is busy with international and ASEAN commitments over the next few weeks," he said.

Meanwhile, the special committee asked the minister to confirm the participation of police and servicemen in the national social security program within three days so that the bill could be passed into law on Oct. 28.

"The government needs 30 days, while the House is demanding that the issue be settled within three days. The House's leadership and the public will know who is to blame for the delay in the bill's endorsement," said Ferdiansyah, the deputy chairman of the House's special committee for the bill's deliberation.

The 2004 Social Security Law mandates five welfare insurances for all citizens, including police, soldiers and civil servants.

Looking to the law's implementation, the social insurers bill adopts the same framework, which makes the plan to exclude servicemen as contrary to the spirit of the bill.

Moreover, the government and the House have not yet resolved their disagreement over the legal status transformation of two state insurance companies – PT Jamsostek and PT Askes – which would shoulder the social security scheme. The law stipulates that social insurance must be run by non-profit entities.

The special committee want Jamsostek and Askes to be transformed simultaneously in 2014, while the government want the two companies' transformations to take place in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

The government estimated that it would need two years at most to review the 1992 Social Security Programs for Workers Law and the 2003 Labor Law to make them compatible with the 2004 National Social Security System Law. "Besides, the government will need time to prepare for the 2014 general election," said Agus.

Despite failing to finalize the bill, the government and the House have managed to settle one long-disputed issue. During the session on Monday, the two sides agreed to set aside initial capital of Rp 2 trillion each for two non-profit bodies that would oversee the social insurance.

The configuration of the different insurance schemes between the two providers is still unclear, however. The government wants Askes to handle only the healthcare program, leaving the remaining four insurance plans, on occupational accident, death, elderly risk and pensions, to be handled by Jamsostek.

The House, meanwhile, wants Askes to provide healthcare, occupational accident and death benefit schemes, while Jamsostek will be in charge of the elderly and pension benefit programs.

Regarding the state's contribution, Agus cautioned the House toward a prudent approach in managing the social security programs, given the risk of their causing a fiscal burden for the state in times of economic crisis, as many welfare states such as Britain, France, Germany and Japan were now experiencing.

"In an economic crisis, interest rates tend to fall sharply which, in turn, can result in state deficit or bankruptcy if the government has to pay higher interest rates than bank rates to the social security funds," he said.

Criminal justice & prison system

Government building 19 new penitentiaries

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Jakarta – The Law and Human Rights Ministry says that there will be 19 new penitentiaries in operation by 2012 to solve overcapacity problems in the country's jails. Seven jails will be renovated as part of the process.

"They are currently under construction. God willing, 19 will be inaugurated in 2012 in a number of regions," ministry detention general director Sihabuddin said on Wednesday.

He said that the new penitentiaries would be built in Bandung, Bekasi and Banjar, West Java, Pamekasan on Madura Island, East Java and in Pekanbaru, Sumatra. The new penitentiaries will cost around Rp 700 billion (US$79.1).

He said the project would improve conditions, including health and safety, for inmates.

Jakarta court acquits iPad sellers of all charges

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2011

Ronna Nirmala – Two men on trial for selling iPads without Indonesian- language manuals were acquitted of all charges by a panel of judges at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.

The presiding judge, Sapawi, decided that Randy Lester Samu and Dian Yudha Negara did not violate Article 8 Law 8/1999 about Consumer Protection and Article 52 Law 36/1999 about Telecommunications as accused by the prosecutors.

Both men were arrested on Nov. 24, 2010. Policemen posing as buyers claimed to be responding to an advertisement on Kaskus, an online forum. Randy and Dian told police that they bought the tablet computers in Singapore but were not able to produce customs papers.

The undercover operation and the 65-day detention of Randy and Dian was highly criticized by legal experts and consumer groups and sparked a media outcry.

The judges decided that the iPad is not included among the 45 electronic devices that require Indonesian-language manuals as regulated in Trade Minister Decree no 19/2009.

"Based on expert testimony and an official letter issued by the Trade Ministry, the iPad is not among the 45 items that must have Indonesian- language manuals," Judge Sapawi said.

Finance & banking

Indonesia's finance industry gets a new watchdog

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Dion Bisara – After a long delay, the House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that will create a new superbody to supervise the country's financial sector, including banking and capital markets, by early 2013.

To consolidate policies amid global financial turbulence, the Financial Services Supervisory Authority (OJK) will assume the central bank's current supervisory role over the nation's lenders, which are valued at Rp 3,300 trillion ($370 billion).

It will also oversee capital markets and non-banking institutions, presently monitored by the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Board (Bapepam LK), which is attached to the Finance Ministry.

"This bill, in its history of discussions at the House, was one that saw many deadlocks, but today... thank God, it has finally been approved by all factions to become law," said Priyo Budi Santoso, a deputy House speaker from the Golkar Party, who chaired the plenary session on Thursday.

The OJK was modeled on Britain's Financial Services Authority. The superbody has as one of its key functions avoiding a banking meltdown like that seen in the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

In addition, lawmakers in 2004 saw flaws in the ability of Bank Indonesia to monitor the country's hundreds of commercial banks.

A 2004 central bank law called for the establishment of the OJK by the end of 2010, but drafting the bill has been a slow process, with Bank Indonesia, keen to retain its oversight powers, arguing that the change could put financial stability at risk.

With the new superbody, Bank Indonesia must give up its power to grant bank licenses, to supervise and assess lenders' health and to release policies for banking sector stability.

The bill will allow a new inter-agency forum to make critical decisions about the financial sector. The key members, the finance minister, the central bank governor and the OJK's head of commissioners, can then respond quickly to any potential financial shock that could hurt the nation's economy or its financial system.

"To achieve these objectives, the OJK must be an independent agency," Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

He said that OJK members also holding roles at the central bank and the Finance Ministry were expected to better synchronize fiscal and monetary policies.

House endorses Financial Authority Law

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2011

Jakarta – The House of Representatives on Thursday finally endorsed the Law on Financial Service Authority (OJK), which rules on the establishment of a new authority tasked with regulating and monitoring all financial services.

The new law thus strips Bank Indonesia (BI) of its bank-oversight mandate, allowing the central bank to focus on its core function of monetary policy.

"We have monitored the day-to-day developments of the [OJK] bill. We admit that the OJK bill is among the bills that have drawn the most attention and caused the most deadlocks, distress and other controversies.

"However, finally, for the sake of public interest, we've managed to approve the bill today," House deputy speaker Budi Santoso said as quoted by kontan.co.id on Thursday in Jakarta during a House plenary session in which the new law was endorsed.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardodjo similarly welcomed the new law, saying the new financial authority would aid consumers.

He added that the new authority would be an independent institution, with nine collegial members of its board of commissioners, including two ex- officio members representing the Finance Ministry and BI.

Analysis & opinion

Is the propensity for violence in Papua inevitable?

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2011

Mangadar Situmorang, Bandung – The number of casualties related to two inseparable incidents in Papua is likely to increase. Media reports continuously describe the situation in the eastern-most province as deteriorating.

Since thousands of PT Freeport Indonesia gold mine workers in Timika went on a strike to demand a pay rise in mid-September, followed by the Third Papuan People's Congress, which was attended by 4,000 people in Jayapura in mid-October, more than 10 people have been killed. There is no exact number of people injured, arrested or being hunted by security forces.

Harsher measures by the security forces, indicated by the recent deployment of reinforcement personnel to the province, are likely to result in more victims than victories.

To the eyes of many in civilized society and democratic countries, fatalities and injuries can be avoided if – and only if – the civilized and democratic means of conflict resolution are in place. But, since such widely praised mechanisms are far from being realized, or even seen as unrealistic, this nation seems to be prepared to witness more casualties in Papua, which many envision as a land of peace.

This raises the question of whether the propensity for violence in Papua is inevitable or not. Skeptical elements of opportunistic onlookers will contend that violence in the region is a certainty. They tend to argue that there are armed separatists and unidentified groups who do not want peace and order to prevail in Papua for their particular interests. For these viewers, peace in Papua is unrealistic.

Such a view is understandable, but not necessarily uncontested or accepted. The argument for the inevitability of violence in Papua appears to rely on the fact that many segments of the Papuan people are living in harsh conditions or their lives are worsening. This means the tendency to perpetrate acts of violence is obviously influenced by social and economic problems.

First of all, the so-called security dilemma is prevailing in many areas of the natural resources-rich province. According to the security dilemma perspective, a high level of fear and uncertainty is prevalent. There is a fear-producing environment that drives groups of people to perceive war or acts of violence as a rational course of action.

When the government's break-down or absence is commonly seen as justification or opportunity to launch a strike and perpetrate violence, as happened in Timor Leste, Poso and Ambon, it is the strong presence of military and police forces that seems to spread fear and insecurity in Papua.

Other conditions that exacerbate the insecure conditions include but are not limited to gaps in the redistribution of economic resources and social-political privileges, not to mention the vastness and geographic isolation of the province.

They hold the view that the violence in Papua is inevitable, at least in the short term, is also associated with the way the government handles the problems. At this point, the central and regional governments are likely to be blamed for the continuing violence in Papua – blame which is simply based on the three elements of conflict resolution: prevention, management and settlement.

First, it is hard to believe that the police and other security-related units failed to anticipate potential threats to public order, regional security or even national integration in any public gathering in Papua. As mass rallies in this country tend to turn ugly, the case of the Third Papuan People's Congress was no different.

Instead of articulating social and economic grievances of indigenous Papuans, organizers of the congress voiced their political aspirations and interests. Included here was the declaration of an independent West Papuan state, appointment of its president and prime minister, hoisting the outlawed Morning Star flag, singing an "ethno-nationalistic" song and dance performances.

Failure to anticipate and respond to the "separatist" aspirations might spark suspicions that the security forces deliberately let the situation worsen. Deploying reinforcement troops from Jakarta or other parts of the country therefore would be justified.

Second, failure to prevent the congress from exposing separatist pleas complicated efforts to manage the problems. The government and security forces alike are certainly aware that the complex historical, legal, social, economic, cultural, political and security dimensions of the Papuan problem are all interrelated, overlapping and crosscutting.

Nonetheless, it is hard to find evidence that the government has adopted policies and strategies effectively to limit, direct and manage the protracted conflict in Papua. Rather than consistently channelling conflict into nonviolent behavior and providing incentives for peaceful accommodations, the security forces and other government units are more likely to maintain that their presence in the region is something important and necessary.

Third, conflict settlement in Papua is therefore impossible and undesirable. Conflict settlement implies dialogue and negotiations, which may lead to compromises, agreements and mutual commitments. Jakarta, however, tends to ignore the calls for dialogue. The central government's offer for constructive communication as an alternative has not yet been substantiated.

It is natural that rebellion, often in the form of an armed movement, erupts when the government fails to fulfil its duties to protect people and their very basic rights. Freeport workers have the right to demand higher remuneration and indigenous Papuans have the right to gather, discuss and demand freedom.

The government and its agencies need to respond to the calls appropriately through dialogue and social economic development. Enforcing the law and maintaining order are a must, but civilized society and a democratic state such as Indonesia should not tolerate violence.

We strongly believe that violence in Papua is avoidable and conflict there can be resolved peacefully.

[The writer is a lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung and a member of the Academic Forum for Peace in Papua.]

Jakarta Journo: Looking too far ahead to the 2014 election

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2011

Armando Siahaan – The calendar says it's November 2011. But in a nation where the addiction to political drama rivals a fat kid's craving for candy, it feels like 2014, the jolly presidential election season.

Last week, the nation got a hint of who might win the next presidential contest based on the calculated prophecy otherwise known as a survey. The problem is three surveys predicted three different winners.

The Reform Institute had Golkar's Aburizal Bakrie at No. 1, followed by former Gen. Prabowo Subianto and ex-VP Jusuf Kalla.

The Suegeng Sarjadi Syndicate came up with Prabowo, followed by the Constitutional Court's Mahfud MD and reform heroine Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

Finally, the Indonesia Voting Network predicted former President Megawati Sukarnoputri for the win, followed by Prabowo and Aburizal.

It's easy to see why those names might raise a few eyebrows.

First there's Bakrie, Golkar's big boss. As a businessman, he's been pounced on for the Lapindo mud flow disaster. As a politician, he's been accused of engineering the ousting of former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

Then there's Prabowo, the leader of the Great National Movement (Gerindra) party. Given his history as the ex-chief of the Kopassus special forces during the Suharto years, there are still unresolved human rights issues dogging his bid.

And, of course, we have Megawati, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Once hailed as the savior of the nation who would change the fate of Indonesia, as president she came up very short.

But the main issue is not who won these early polls, but the surveys themselves. It would be unfair to immediately conclude that these institutions were influenced, if not paid, by certain parties. But given the inconsistency, it's difficult not to wonder about their credibility.

The election is still far away and these recent surveys raise inevitable questions about their raison d'etre and the people who commissioned the research.

Surveys are supposed to be a scientific way to handicap politics, but the fickleness of this trio makes the process seem less than trustworthy. And even if the surveys were conducted free from divine – or mortal – intervention, it's still unhealthy to prematurely air the names of presidential candidates to the public.

In a way, the survey bodies are playing kingmaker. The results are published widely by the media, putting them in the public arena and helping shape public opinion for 2014. Even before any polling takes place, the institutions also influence the outcome by deciding what names are included.

One survey excluded Megawati's name from the list of candidates altogether. It's true that her husband Taufik Kiemas said she is "too old" to run again, but is it the survey's place to say that Megawati shouldn't be considered?

On the other hand, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has previously said that his wife, Ani Yudhoyono, would not gun for the top seat. Yet, her name is included in all three surveys. Let's just hope that SBY won't be offended by this.

Like it or not, the results of these surveys will be used by some people to help them decide who they'll eventually vote for. But people shouldn't vote merely based on the results of a political sideshow masquerading as science. In a democracy, choices should be based on beliefs, ideology and platforms. And that should happen when the right time comes.

Of course, there is a bright side to all of this. For those who are already jaded by the current administration, it's nice to have an excuse to muse on who might be the next president.

When government corruption becomes part of the scenery, beware

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2011

Yohanes Sulaiman – On Monday, Nyoman Minta became Indonesia's most famous gardener after he managed to bypass three security perimeters and walk within five meters of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with his vintage bicycle and a bag full of coconuts.

Even though many found it perplexing and a bit amusing that such a major breach of security could occur at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Fair, it is doubtful that the soldiers and police officers present lacked training or diligence. Instead, it was likely due to the ubiquity of gardeners themselves. The more common a sight, the less we tend to pay attention to it.

Our society is replete with examples of people getting used to something that ultimately can present itself in a dangerous form. Corruption, for example, is so common in Indonesia that people did not even feign surprise when Yudhoyono declared that a massive robbery on the state budget had occurred.

People were more surprised that Yudhoyono had the temerity to declare his outrage over the waste, considering that it is an open secret that it often takes a lot "grease money" to get anything done in Indonesia. It was also an open secret that graft remains rife regardless of all the election slogans of "saying no to corruption."

In fact, considering how many scandal-tainted ministers still retain their posts in the reshuffled cabinet, many people are simply resigned to the idea that corruption eradication has never been a top priority of this administration.

It is not that people no longer care about corruption. They despise it, especially when it comes in the form of blatant misconduct tinged with arrogance. The public uproar over the construction of a new legislative building – and the graft seen as part and parcel of its planning – ultimately forced its cancelation. Now people are demanding an accounting on what happened with the Rp 118 billion ($13 million) spent on the project – money that House Speaker Marzuki Alie has declared non-refundable.

The problem is that the major cases that attracted public attention are only just a drop in a bucket compared with the systemic corruption that occurs within the bureaucracy. In fact, systemic corruption is so prevalent in Indonesia that many people have given up fighting it and joined the bacchanal. In good times, the private sector could shrug off the cost of corruption as just another way to grease the wheel. It was just another cost of business in Indonesia.

At the same time, left unchecked, corruption has the potential to bankrupt and plunge the country into chaos. In tough times, when every rupiah matters, corruption will prevent economic recovery and plunge the country further into the abyss of chaos. Witness the turmoil in Greece, Italy and various other states, including Indonesia itself back in 1998, which was caused by economic meltdown thanks to the highly inefficient and corrupt state bureaucracy that strangled economic growth.

Recent violence in Papua was the canary in the coal mine, the five-meter perimeter that Minta passed in his misadventure. Corruption is a major cause of poverty and violence in Papua. In April, Tempo reported that Priyo Budi Santoso, a Golkar Party legislator, estimated that trillions of rupiahs were siphoned from the budgets for education, health, and infrastructure.

With most of this money ending up in the pockets of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, it is no wonder that resentment grows among local Papuans toward what they see as unjust exploitation. With local troublemakers stirring for independence and the overreaction by the police force to the minuscule pro-independence demonstration, the scene was set for recent violence in Papua.

There are many ways to pacify Papua. The government could send more police officers to Papua. It could provide better training to the officers to prevent another public relations disaster, such as police brutality on a peaceful demonstration. It could raise the level of alertness of the province to the military emergency in order to bring in the military personnel to quash the separatist movement. I don't doubt that the Indonesian military is capable of pulling it off to again impose order and secure peace in Papua. I know they can do it if the government orders them to pacify the entire island.

Still, without tackling the root of the problems, which is the pervasiveness of corruption among Papuan politicians and bureaucrats, any peace will only be temporary. The government would not be able to pacify the land in a long run. Papua will remain a troubled province should Yudhoyono's government remain hesitant in completely quashing corruption in Papua.

Today Indonesia celebrates the anniversary of the "Youth Pledge" of 1928 that declared the unity of Indonesia. Maybe we should devote the day to fighting corruption too.

[Yohanes Sulaiman is a lecturer at the Indonesian National Defense University.]

Is Freeport doomed? (Part 1)

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2011

Yanto Soegiarto – Unless it makes concessions both to Indonesian workers and the government, Freeport is done for. And if the government isn't serious about handling the Papua problem comprehensively, the company is finished.

Since July 2009, at least eight people have been shot by unknown gunmen and more than forty have been injured in the area. The last spate of violence was sparked by a strike by workers demanding higher wages.

The latest meeting at Hotel Rimba in Timika between workers and Freeport management, who were represented only by Freeport's local staff, ended in deadlock. And Freeport won't accommodate the government's wish to review the long term contract, which does not end until 2041.

House members from Jakarta met with Freeport workers, but nothing was achieved. At the same time, Freeport insists that workers must cease blockading key roads before any negotiations take place.

The workers union wants a minimum wage of $7.50 an hour, which would be more on par with Freeport workers in other countries. They had initially asked for $17.50 an hour. The workers are also demanding that Freeport pay the striking workers full back wages to Sept. 15, the start of the strike.

Now there is no solution in sight. Meanwhile, a greater danger looms.

Unless top leaders from Freeport and Indoensia sit down together to discuss the future of Freeport and security in Papua, the region will become a hotbed of violence and death and foster the rise of a larger scale separatist movement.

Freeport could shut down causing Indonesia to lose billions of dollars in revenues, or even Papua itself, the most resource-rich region in the country.

Local grievances with the mine have existed for a long, long time. Freeport's operations have shaved hundreds of meters off the Puncak Jaya mountain to extract copper and gold from some of the world's largest reserves. In doing so the company has caused massive environmental damage, which has had a negative affect on the local tribes.

On Dec. 19, 1961, then-president Sukarno launched the Trikora military operation, to be led by then-major general Suharto, to command the Mandala Military Operations to free West Papua from Dutch rule and prepare the region's inception into Indonesia. In 1963, the Dutch handed over West Papua, then Netherlands New Guinea, to the United Nations to become part of Indonesia. But Sukarno had always rejected any mining plans in Western Papua.

In 1966, after Suharto became president, his New Order government invited Freeport to Jakarta to begin negotiations on the first mining contract to extract gold and cooper. In 1967, Indonesia and Freeport signed a 30-year contract to conduct mining operations. A clause in the contract allowed two 10-year extensions.

The decision at the time was justified on the grounds that Indonesia did not have the know-how, investment capacity or technology to operate the mine on its own. The mistake came after more than 24 years of mining exploitation. The Suharto administration signed another 30-year contract, also with two 10-year extensions, defying calls to end the contract by Indonesian, US opposition, the World Bank as well as other institutions.

Then US secretary of state and former Freeport director Henry Kissinger lobbied to get the deal done. Kissinger and his consulting firm received $600,000 from Freeport in 1994, according to the Los Angeles Times. Suharto, meanwhile, benefited from returns to favors he had asked.

In terms of fairness, the contract between Indonesia and Freeport needs to be reviewed. The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has made it clear that Indonesia wants to review contracts with foreign companies based on fairness and honoring the sanctity of the contracts.

Freeport currently holds a 90.6 percent majority stake in Papua's Grasberg mine while Indonesia only owns 9.4 percent. For the past 24 years, Freeport has exported at least $8 million worth of metals every day. Indonesia receives significant royalties and revenues, but that pales in comparison to what Freeport earns. Such injustice is why Indonesia wants for a greater stake in the mine.

Based on Article 33 of the 1945 Indonesian Constitution, the state controls the land, water and all natural resources, which can only be used to promote the welfare of the people. In this regard, both the Suharto administration and Freeport violated the Indonesian Constitution.

The Freeport issue and the violence in Papua have become very dangerous, but Indonesia and Freeport are not serious about solving the problem. Settling the security issue would be simple, but the government must first provide welfare to the Indonesian military first. In the past, Freeport gave them $5 million for security purposes. The military won't have a job if West Papua is secure.

And Freeport must make concessions to both the workers and the government. All parties must seek a win-win solution or it will be the guns, bows and arrows, and stones that will decide.

Tumult over Freeport

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 24, 2011

The tumult and violent labor strike against the Indonesian subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. in Papua over the past few weeks has not simply been an expression of anger over low pay, but what the native Papuans have long perceived as egregious injustice regarding the exploitation of the huge gold and copper deposits in their area.

We don't see the workers' demand for pay increases of more than 12 times their minimum wage (currently between US$2 and $3.50 a day) as representing the genuine aspirations of the employees.

The demand, we think, was mainly a medium for the venting of frustrations and anger over what workers see as the plundering of local natural resources under a mining concession awarded more than 42 years ago by the central government through what is also perceived to have been an extremely corrupt process.

There is also a perception in the public, right or wrong, that most major mining companies that obtained their concessions under Soeharto's authoritarian rule between 1967 and 1998 had bulldozed their way through the licensing system to obtain all the necessary permits for their operations in collusion with corrupt officials.

This disillusionment was kept under control during Soeharto's authoritarian rule. But the fall of Soeharto, which ushered in the democratic era in 1998, has encouraged local people, who for more than 32 years were completely excluded from the decision-making process in regards the exploitation of local natural resources, to forcefully assert their rights.

The people of Papua have often staged street demonstrations and demanded that mining operations in their areas be simply closed down, claiming that the mines have not benefited the local community but have instead damaged the environment.

The issue is often further complicated by the fact that the protesters consist of local leaders, pressure groups, human rights and environmental watchdogs – some with genuine causes and legitimate grievances but others with only self-serving interests.

But the blunt fact that the bulk of the royalties and tax receipts from the giant mine flow directly to the central government has worsened the feelings of injustice, especially among the native people.

The death of four workers caused by shots fired by the local police who were attempting to control the crowd and from "unidentified gunman" during a strike that began on Oct. 15, the latest being on Friday, has further added to the local community's anger toward the company and central government.

We find it mind-boggling that Freeport, which has been operating its Papua mine since 1973, has been unable to develop among the local community a sense of owenership of its giant Grasberg mine.

The Freeport mining complex seems to have remained an American enclave, populated largely by foreigners and migrant workers from provinces outside Papua. Very few local people have been able to join even the mid level management of the company. The local community may have harbored a sense of ownership and stood by to protect the giant mining company if they felt they were gaining real benefits from its operations through the employment it created and a fair share of royalties and tax receipts from it.

And the central government's mishandling of the long-harbored wish among many native Papuans to form a new state, which erupted in further violence in Jayapura on Wednesday, leaving five more Papuans dead and countless others injured, has added to political and social tensions that the American mining company must now deal with.

The manner in which the government and Freeport management resolves the labor issues at Freeport will also affect other big mining concessions.

They ask for wages, not bullets

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2011

Budi Hernawan, Canberra – On Oct. 10, in chaotic circumstances, the police of Timika opened fire and shot dead an employee of PT Freeport Indonesia, Petrus Ayamiseba. His death sparked fury not only in Timika but also outside the city with demands for the resignation of the regional and provincial police chiefs.

Ayamiseba was one of thousands of Freeport workers who had gone on strike for weeks demanding an increase in wages by 25 percent, as well as other employment benefits. Freeport Indonesia workers reportedly receive the lowest salaries among all Freeport McMoRan (FM) workers around the world, with wages ranging from US$1.50-$3.00 per hour.

The labor strike is a relatively new phenomenon in the US gold mining firm. It was an unthinkable option prior to the reform movement in 1998.

It was Tongoi Papua, the union for the indigenous Papuan workers, which made history in 2007 when it organized the first major strike in the history of Freeport Indonesia. The strike disrupted production at the world's largest gold and copper mine for a week. Freeport executives settled the dispute by agreeing to accommodate the demands of workers. The most important demands were an increase of wages for indigenous Papuan workers and that indigenous Papuans should be prioritized for new recruits.

Four years later, on July 4, 2011, both indigenous and non-indigenous Freeport workers walked off the job at Freeport's Grasberg mine. Some 5,000 workers traveled on foot to Timika, about 54 kilometers down to the lowlands, after FM refused to provide them with transportation.

Freeport representatives acknowledged the significance of the strike through reports that the workers had crippled the production line and contributed to the rise of copper prices in the global market. The workers returned to their jobs when Freeport agreed to negotiate with the Freeport Union under the mediation of government officials.

Several months later, however, the union claimed that Freeport would not agree to meet their demands for a 25 percent pay rise. Consequently, another strike was held on Sept. 29, which coincided with other strikes held by Freeport workers in Peru, Chile and Bolivia.

Under Article 137 of the Law on Industrial Relations, organizing a strike is legal and every worker is entitled to participate in collective action. As stipulated by law, the state apparatus has the obligation to ensure that laborers can exercise this right in a lawful, orderly and peaceful manner.

As such, the Papuan Police chief rightly informed the public that the strike was lawful as long as it did not jeopardize public order.

Moreover, under Article 143 of the law, nobody is allowed to intervene in a labor or labor union exercise if it is held in a lawful, orderly and peaceful manner. However, the reality in Timika shows the opposite.

The shooting of Ayamiseba while he was on strike shows that the police intervened and confronted the strike with lethal force. According to the law, industrial relations matters are not subject to police jurisdiction. The investigation team, which consists of the National Police Headquarters, has been led on the ground by Brigadier General Paulus Waterpauw, a former local police chief and a Timika native. The team has the duty to investigate the killing and to follow through on allegations that the leader of the union has been intimidated by the local police.

FM is no stranger to violence and death. The report of Catholic Bishop Moeninghoff on the human right abuses in the FM mining site says violence and death have been rampant in the FM concession area since 1995. Wages are not the only problem. Rather, it is one of a myriad of major issues to deal with, including human rights, environmental destruction, recognition of customary land rights, the heavy presence of the Indonesian security forces and industrial relations as a whole.

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono has made it clear that justice will be served for Ayamiseba and his family. While it is a conditio sine qua non, the instruction seems unheeded.

Issues surrounding Freeport are much more problematic than a murder of one individual. It constitutes a stumbling block to the development of trust between Jakarta and Papua, which the newly established UP4B (Special Unit for the Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua) aims to address.

As US President Barack Obama took stern actions against BP for the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, so should Yudhoyono be called on to take action against Freeport. Yudhoyono must revisit the contract between the government and Freeport to ensure Freeport's compliance to international human rights standards, recognition of customary land rights, environmental protections and fair industrial relations.

[The writer is a Franciscan friar and former director of the Office for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Church in Jayapura, Papua.]

Indonesia's crisis of leadership

Direct Action - October-November 2011

Max Lane – On September 20, the State Electricity Company Trade Union of Indonesia issued a call for support for a campaign against the privatisation of the state-owned company, and against the liberalisation of the electricity market in general.

Under a "letter of intent" sent to the International Monetary Fund in October 1997 – at the time of the Asian financial crisis – the government undertook to privatise through first breaking up the company, either vertically or horizontally, then allowing it to be sold off. Fourteen years later, the government appears to be moving more persistently in this direction, with plans to hive off parts of the state company to regional governments or to make them subsidiary companies. The union is quoting experts predicting possible eventual price increases of 500 to 1500%. In its September 20 statement, it announced it would carry out a national strike of all employees, both office workers ands technicians in the electricity generation plants, immediately the government takes any firm steps.

The union has a record, over the last few years, of mobilising against the moves towards privatisation, as well as participating in demonstrations organised by broader coalitions. It is now reported that management has moved to expel union officials from their offices within a company complex.

Strikes and demonstrations

In December 2010, almost 100,000 women workers from north Jakarta factories – garments, footwear, electronics – mobilised in a series of demonstrations within their industrial estate zones against low wages and violations of union rights. Workers from the first factories that went on strike swept through the zone urging others to come out, swelling the demonstration. They were demanding that the provincial government increase the minimum wage to Rp1,401,829 (Approx A$160) per month, up from Rp1,118,000. Smaller actions have continued since then.

Thousands demonstrated in early October demanding that the parliament pass a bill to set up a state authority to provide social insurance, which is either non-existent in Indonesia or the source of non-stop corruption scandals.

Strikes and mobilisations by factory workers over wages and conditions, and against the legalisation of outsourcing and casual labour, by farmers demanding the return of seized land or compensation, by impoverished salt farmers protesting the cheap entry of foreign salt and demonstrations demanding medical insurance all continue. The list grows daily of the grievances resulting from the "neoliberal" policies of the Yudhoyono government, supported in general by the whole parliament. However, there are no signs yet of the kind of escalation of mobilisation nor of the focusing on specific generalised demands that, for example, emerged in the 1990s in the lead-up to the 1998 confrontations between the mass movement and the dictator Suharto.

There have been attempts to channel things in this direction. In 2008, critics of the Yudhoyono government launched the Cabut Mandate (Withdraw the Mandate) movement. While the first demonstrations had several thousand people and generated significant media discussion, the initiative did not snowball. More recently, this year, a coalition of anti-government figures called the Petisi 28, comprising many activists from the 1990s, will hold another annual demonstration against Yudhoyono on October 20. But the Petisi 28 attempts to generate an anti-Yudhoyono movement have also not generated momentum, despite all the polls indicating falling popularity for Yudhoyono, especially ad hoc polls on the street.

Oppositions weak

Another reflection of the inability of opposition movements to develop a momentum is the fact that no opposition leadership has emerged – neither real nor illusory nor symbolic. This is also different from the 1990s, when, eight years before Suharto's downfall, there were developing both symbolic and activist leaderships with a growing profile. Megawati Sukarnoputri, elected by the Indonesian Democratic Party as its chairperson, against the wishes of Suharto, emerged as a symbol of opposition as she fought off Suharto's moves to depose and sideline her. At the grassroots level, the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and its leaders such as Budiman Sujatmiko, as well as other figures such as union activist Mucktar Pakpahan, emerged as activist leaders who had an increasing profile. Now neither the Indonesian elite nor the activist-based movement has produced any figures or organisations capable of winning such profiles.

In the case of the elite, this is not surprising, especially at the national level. All of the existing political parties trace their origins one way or another back to the parties that existed under Suharto. None have developed policy platforms that challenge any major aspect of the economic and political strategies that were pursued since the fall of Suharto. The economic strategy is the same strategy that Suharto was pursuing from the late 1980s: a liberalisation of the economy through privatisation, liberalisation and austerity. It is, however, possible to identify a potential source of new leadership from within the elite, the Indonesian capitalist class.

Districts and towns

Since 2002, there has been a substantial delegation of budgetary powers to district administrations. During the same period, laws were passed introducing direct elections for district heads, as well as for governors of provinces, one administrative level higher. Within a context of heightened electoral competition, some local elite figures trying to win or hold positions as district heads or mayors of towns have promised, and then indeed implemented, policies of more-or-less free education or health services. Some of these figures have been re-elected with absolute majorities, an unusual event in Indonesia. So far they have paid for these policies by re-allocating money in the budgets they receive from the national government under the new decentralisation laws.

These figures are usually drawn from the local elite, although they are usually people who do not have a substantial connection with the ruling party during the Suharto period. There are reports that they are also able to use these positions to extend their own or their family's or friends' business operations.

The Indonesian electoral system requires candidates to be nominated by registered political parties, but there does not seem to be any pattern behind which coalitions of parties nominate these candidates. While some of these local figures are very popular, there are, as yet, no signs of anybody trying to launch themselves nationally. At the same time, there are signs that associations of these local officials are emerging and operating as a significant lobby group vis-a-vis the national government. It appears very much like an emerging tension or rivalry between aspiring local capitalists and the big conglomerate families that dominate the political parties nationally.

Lack of solutions

There is a vacuum not only in terms of an oppositional leadership, but even in terms of a leadership representing the ruling coalition, or any other combination of the parties that have substantial representation in the parliament. Yudhoyono cannot stand again, and given his falling popularity, would be a strong candidate again only in the light of the absence of anybody else. Some of the major conglomerate figures – millionaire bosses Aburizal Bakrie and Suryo Palo, both in Suharto's old Golkar party – have been positioning themselves, but neither has generated any momentum. Former general Prabowo, also from a millionaire business family, has tried to project himself as a populist nationalist figure but has not generated any momentum either. Megawati Sukarnoputri is still there, but equally uninspiring. The field appears vacant at all levels so far.

In some ways, this is unsurprising in a more fundamental way. To generate momentum as a leader at the moment, any figure would have to come up with solutions to the myriad of grievances produced by their own neoliberal policies. The stench of corruption that envelopes the whole of the elite has also eroded any claim to legitimacy. In any case, none have come up with any concrete (or even fake) proposals that could generate popularity, even temporarily. Unless some new elite figure emerges – for example, a governor or district head somewhere on Sumatra or Java – there will be a serious crisis of leadership for the Indonesian political and business elite over the next few years.

At the grassroots, the radically oriented, even leftish, groups, networks, publications and discussion circles have multiplied. Unions are more active, and while experiencing ups and downs, protests and demonstrations remain common and widespread. But there are no signs yet of an emerging national leadership or even competing national leaderships.

[Part 2 of a series. To be continued.]

Indonesian feminists: 'Don't blame the victim!'

Direct Action - October-November 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.

National Commission response

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.]