Jakarta – The Tangerang Police have declared RD, 16, a suspect for allegedly sexually abusing a minor, and charged him with violating the child protection law.

"We have named him a suspect," Tangerang Chief Detective Comr. Shinto Silitonga said on Friday as quoted by tempo.co.

RD allegedly spread a six-minute video of him kissing his girlfriend, NA, 16, a student of Rajeg Senior high school in Tangerang via cell phone. The kissing scene showed the young couple, wearing their school uniforms, kissing in an apparently empty class room.

Shinto said he had questioned RD's and NA's friends and family. "All of the testimonies pointed to one person, RD," Shinto said.

Shinto added that the investigation had been launched after the parents of NA filed a report against RD to the police after the video began spreading. "The victim's family felt ashamed and felt that their child had fallen victim to sexual abuse," Shinto said.

New Jakarta newspaper Bacaan Rakyat informs the poor

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2012

Anita Rachman – Siti Jamilah, a scavenger who lives in Jakarta, doesn't think the mainstream media pays enough attention to poverty issues and poor people like her. "Not even television," the 53-year-old told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

That's why, Siti said, she reads Bacaan Rakyat. "I get more information about government policies on education and health for the poor from Bacaan Rakyat," Siti said.

Bacaan Rakyat, which roughly translates to People's Digest, is a bulletin published by the Indonesian Poor Union (SRMI) for its members – the poor in the capital and other cities in the country. Siti has been an active member of SRMI for seven years.

The black-and-white publication usually has 28 pages that include six stories and one or two opinion pieces.

Its pages have included articles about the public health insurance scheme Jamkesmas, the government cash hand-out program BLT, the Social Security Law (BPJS), debates on how the government defines poverty and reportage on the SRMI congress.

"From Bacaan Rakyat I found out that I can get a letter certifying my low- income status to receive free medical care," said Syahroni Usman, a 43-year-old ojek driver from Kampung Basmol, West Jakarta.

Syahroni said Bacaan Rakyat provided him with more detailed information on policies affecting the poor than from mainstream media outlets.

Bacaan Rakyat, first published in 2004, was originally intended to be a monthly publication. But SRMI has only been able to release the paper a few times a year. Last year, it only came out twice.

"It is because we don't have enough of a budget," said Dika Mohammad, Bacaan Rakyat's editor-in-chief. "We are not supported by any donors or the government. But starting this year, we are going to publish the bulletin every month."

Dika said SRMI planned to print 1,500 to 2,500 copies per edition to be distributed to members who work in various professions, such as ojek drivers, laundry workers, scavengers, bajaj drivers, factory laborers and food vendors in traditional markets.

"It will cost us Rp 3 million to Rp 4 million [$330 to $440] [to publish each issue]," he said. "We usually ask our readers a contribution of only Rp 1,500. It's not that we want to go commercial, but we also want to teach them that they also can contribute."

Active SRMI members like Siti, Dika said, help to spread the issues of the paper around Jakarta. Usually, Siti distributes approximately 70 copies in her area in Kebun Jeruk, where many scavengers live.

In addition to publishing more regularly, Dika said, SRMI also wants Bacaan Rakyat to improve in the journalism it produces.

For two days in December, about 15 SRMI officers and contributors from Jakarta, Medan, and Lampung gathered in the capital for a journalism training workshop held by the Jakarta branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Jakarta).

Dika said that although Bacaan Rakyat's reporters might not always write like professional journalists, he hoped writers and contributors could still create articles with good word choices and better flow so that readers could understand the information that could benefit them.

Wahyu Dhyatmika, AJI Jakarta chairman and one of the trainers, said the bulletin needed to be improved, especially in terms of how the team gathered facts and data. Also, he said, the writers tended to let their own opinions sneak into their articles.

"We think they should separate news and opinion," Wahyu said. "They should also make sure to have correct supporting data. And in the future, they should also meet more sources to balance the stories. "I'm not saying their pieces are provoking in a bad way. It's just that they write stories based on their perspectives, and that could trigger readers' anger."

Despite these shortcomings, Wahyu said such media served an important role, filling the void left by mainstream media on coverage of issues important to the impoverished. Wahyu said AJI Jakarta was committed to helping SRMI publish the bulletin.

Yosi Kristanto, one of Bacaan Rakyat's editors, said that besides informing the poor about policies affecting them, the bulletin was meant to foster reading habits. Not all members, especially homeless people living in huts near railroads or under bridges, had access to newspapers or television, he said. Thus, Bacaan Rakyat was intended to serve those who have no other medium for reading.

"Children can read to their parents or neighbors, because many of our members are illiterate," Yosi said. In the future, Dika said, his team hoped to distribute the bulletin to officials so that policymakers could better understand issues facing the poor.

Black and white magic in Banyuwangi

Jakarta Globe - January 3, 2012

Ivan Thomas Brecelic – The full moon is overhead as we arrive in Banyuwangi, East Java, at 3 a.m. The trees cast shadows across the road in the moonlight, and within the hour, the mosques' speakers will broadcast the call to prayer.

Banyuwangi, the most easterly town in Java, is replete with stories about both black and white magic practices. In 1998, more than 200 black magicians were killed by locals fed up with an exceptional spate of deaths. Just three years ago, the house of a black magic practitioner burnt down to the ground.

These practitioners of the black arts, known as dutak, offer supernatural services. Politicians, models, and perhaps even your own mother have used them.

"Better you go to Jakarta faster. Come to me and please don't go to any black magic place again," read the SMS I received from my friend Ben, who was very concerned for me. Another 3 a.m. text, this one from a white magician who is fighting evil 24 hours a day. "I have many enemies," he said.

The magician learned his trade in the forest, like many people I have met in Asia, where he prayed and fasted in the jungle until the powers of healing came to him. He doesn't sleep until after 3 a.m. "Before then, I'm vulnerable to magic." We are going to see this man, this white magician, later today.

An hour's drive north of Banyuwangi, we arrive at a cheap hotel. The next morning, Mohammed comes to get me. It's Red Bull "pick me up" time, but I'm still feeling tired. Lethargy has come over me. I won't shake it off until 24 hours later, when I'm safely back in Denpasar.

Through Mohammed's uncle (who shares the same name), we arrange to meet the local faith healer, the white magician, on behalf of a good friend of Mohammed's. Dragon fruit grows over his property, and a family mosque is situated on the front. We are to meet him in his house, which is painted pink, but he isn't there. His wife says he has to help a customer who lost a card in an ATM.

So we come back a few hours later, and now he has a steady flow of people going through his door, hailing from Medan to West Papua. Like any good doctor, he's on call 24 hours a day, which sometimes takes him to Borneo or Bali, where his skills are used as a last resort when modern medicine can't find a cure. Later, he shows me a belt. It's on a wall and made from deer skin with verses from the Koran inscribed on the other side. These penangkal bala are lucky charms to ward off evil spirits.

When we eventually meet him, Mohammed explains to the moustached practitioner of white magic: "We have big problem with [the good friend's] wife. For weeks at a time, he disappears with his mistress."

Mohammed is convinced his good friend doesn't have a simple case of mid- life crisis. In fact, Mohammed believes his friend is under the influence of a potent spell, and we are about to find out if his diagnosis is true.

Mohammed writes his friend's name on a piece of paper. The magician puts Rp 100,000 ($11) next to it, then dangles a thin leaf made from metal on a string. It's now resting on the note. When the magician asks if the man named in the note is under a spell, the leaf moves, of its own volition. When the white magician commands it to stop, it stops.

We have the verdict. Next, a strong perfume is smeared on the leaf before it's dangled in water. That water is now holy, and a mental barrier to boot. It will block the magic from entering the good friend's body. The mistress will tempt him no more.

After showing off his swords and the other tools of his trade, I give the faith healer a big hug and tell him I know he's not a black magician. He doesn't understand a word of English, but that doesn't stop him from giving me a sloppy kiss on both my cheeks.

Mohammed asked me if I had any cash. I said no, I had left my wallet at his house. As we were heading out, though, I found my wallet and handed the doctor Rp 100,000. He was extremely grateful and never even hinted at money.

Children were playing around the mosque as we journeyed, late into the night, back to Bali. The full moon guided us through windy roads. I get another text at 3 a.m., the safe time, when spells can't enter the body easily.

"I dreamt ghosts were all around you, trying to kill you," the white magician writes, saying I should be careful. As a precaution, Mohammed and I face toward Mecca and pray.

"We are safe from the evil now," says Mohammed, who seems in a better state than when we left. We cross to Bali on the ferry, the moon reflecting off water littered with plastic bags.

Back in Denpasar – "Hello vampire," says the lady on the other end of the phone. She's the good friend's mistress, a marketing manager at a restaurant. She really has got the short end of the stick in all this, but Mohammed is convinced she is concocting her own magic. "She is using her menstruation blood and mixing it into his coffee," he insists.

I told her I went to Banyuwangi. She asks if it worked. "Yes it did," I say. "Impossible!" she replies.

We left the holy water in the car, and the driver took it to Ubud, in the heart of Bali. Today in Denpasar, Mohammed's good friend is smiling. "I've never felt better!" That is, until he received a text message...

West Papua

Researchers rubbish government's Papua poverty claim

Jakarta Globe - January 8, 2012

Ulma Haryanto – Standards of living in Papua have continuously risen during the past 13 years, according to the Papua Office of the Central Statistics Agency, a claim vehemently disputed by researchers and activists.

Between 1999 and 2011, the agency known as the BPS said the number of people in poverty in Papua, Indonesia's most impoverished yet resource-rich territory, decreased by 23.51 percent, from 54.75 percent in March 1999 to 31.24 percent in September 2011.

The BPS claimed the government's policy of "special autonomy," widely criticized for having led to the further spread of endemic corruption and social injustices, was behind the improving figures. But activists and researchers said the figures should not be considered out of context.

Wahyu Prasetyawan, political economist from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), told the Jakarta Globe that the BPS statistics should not be taken at face value. "There is a problem with [the government's] poverty line because it is considered too low," Wahyu said.

The government recently lowered the threshold at which people are considered to be in severe poverty, effectively cooking the books.

While the World Bank counts anyone earning less than $2 a day to be poor and those earning less than $1 a day to be extremely poor, Indonesian poverty levels begin at less than $1 a day. So those considered officially poor by the government are considered to be living in extreme poverty by the World Bank and other agencies.

As of September 2011, the number of poor people in Papua officially stood at 917,050, or 31.24 percent of the population, BPS data show. Almost all of them live in rural areas.

Muridan Satrio Widjojo from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) agreed with Wahyu that the standard the BPS employed was a useless measure. "It is impossible to live in the cities of Papua with less than Rp 263,000 [$29] a month because everything is so expensive there," Muridan said.

For example, he continued, the cheapest meal in Jayapura, the capital of West Papua, is Rp 15,000, drinks not included. "In contrast, people living in the rural areas can easily make do with less than Rp 200,000 a month because they usually cultivate the land and hunt for food," Muridan added.

Even so, Wahyu said, there still might be some truth to the BPS's claims. "The provinces received a lot of money from the state for setting up their regional autonomy programs, and they are being used for infrastructure projects, which means more work for people," he said.

Between 2002 and 2010, the central government disbursed Rp 28.1 trillion to Papua.

But the head of Papua's Baptist church, Rev. Socratez Sofyan Yoman, seemed offended by the agency's claims.

"The government is spreading lies to the public," he said. "Situations here clearly have not improved because I see every day there are more Papuans loitering around on the streets in the city than before."

"If the numbers are true, then why I haven't seen a native Papuan owning a business yet? The truth is, we are being pushed further aside," he added.

TPN/OPM letter: 'We will never surrender'

Tabloid JUBI - January 7, 2012

General John Magai Yogi, the leader of the TPN/OPM Makodam Pemka IV Division in Paniai, declared in a letter that they will not withdraw a single step in their operations against the Indonesian army and police which have been under way since August, 2011. He said that their struggle was a continuation of the struggle of their predecessors to achieve the aspirations of the people of West Papua.

"We, the TPN/OPM throughout the Land of Papua, will never surrender and will continue to resist the forces of Indonesia to the very last drop of blood," he wrote in the letter dated 5 January.

"The only weapons we hold in our hands are Ukaa Mapega, bows and arrows, but we have pledged to God Almighty that we are ready to confront the Brimob troops of the Indonesian police and Densus 88, the elite forces of Indonesia, who are equipped with modern weapons and are at present in control of the district of Paniai".

He made two other points in his letter. The first is: The United Nations, the USA and the Netherlands will soon be called to account for the mistakes they made in the past which sacrificed the Papuan people.

And the second is: The UN and the USA must speedily resolve the Papuan problem because this problem will never be resolved by means of bargains and Indonesian development activities in Papua.

"We will never surrender. People living in the kampungs and near the forests are always deemed to be part of the TNP/OPM, even though they are just ordinary people. They [the military] are now chasing the TPN/OPM and we are not free from military pressure in the forests of Paniai because the chief of police has ordered a large number of Brimob troops from Kalimantan and Densus 88 to come here and encircle our headquarters. They are threatening our lives. The troops that have been sent here are disrupting our tranquillity and are trying to destroy us, the TPN/OPM," he said in the letter.

He went on to write that since the encirclement and attack against their Eduda headquarters on 13 December 2011, members of the TPN/OPM division have held on to their position in the forests of Paniai. "This does not mean that we have surrendered."

The letter concludes with the following words: "All people and groups have basic rights which must be respected by everyone, including the right to self-determination. This is the right which we Papuan people demand from the UN who never listened when our rights were trampled upon by the forces of Indonesia and the USA."

Indonesian Freeport workers threaten more strikes

Agence France Presse - January 6, 2012

Workers at a giant Indonesian gold and copper mine owned by US company Freeport-McMoRan said Friday they would not return to work, three weeks after officially ending the country's longest-ever strike.

The workers' union said that several of Freeport's subcontractors had not paid more than 900 employees at the mine, in the restive eastern province of Papua, during a three-month strike that ended in December.

"Under Indonesian law, workers should be paid during a legal strike. If any of the contractors are not paid for that three-month period, then we will stop sending our workers back to the mine," union spokesman Virgo Solossa told AFP.

More than 8,000 workers and 1,600 contractors of the mine's 23,000 workers went on strike in September, slashing production by 50 percent.

The company claimed force majeur – a legal declaration of extraordinary circumstances enabling it to avoid liability on existing orders – as it was unable to deliver shipments to some customers.

The workers agreed to return to the mine on December 17 after negotiating a 37 percent pay increase on wages that started at $1.50 an hour for unionised members and better conditions for contractors.

Freeport Indonesia spokesman Ramdani Sirait denied the delay in resuming work was due to a dispute, citing safety reasons for sending workers back slowly to the mine.

At least eight people were killed around the mine in ambush attacks and a clash with police during the strike. The company said it aims to have all workers back by January 16 and reach full capacity in the following weeks when all damaged pipelines are repaired.

The strike was one of a wave of industrial actions across Southeast Asia's largest economy, where the cost of living is rising and a burgeoning middle class is demanding a greater share of the nation's economic success.

The workers claimed to be Freeport's lowest-paid employees in the world, including those at mines in Africa and South America.

Soldiers kill suspected OPM member in gunfight

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2012

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura, Papua – Soldiers in Papua's Puncak Jaya district shot dead on Thursday a suspected member of a separatist group and seized a weapon, sources said.

The soldiers, from the Yonif 753 base in Nabire, were on a routine patrol in Puncak Jaya when they were confronted by members of the outlawed Free Papua Movement (OPM).

A shootout ensued and one of the suspected rebels was killed. He was later identified as Lindiron Tabuni and security officials recovered a rifle and 75 rounds of ammunition from the scene.

Ballistics tests showed that the weapon had been registered to the Puncak Jaya Police but was stolen during a 2009 attack on the Tingginambut police office.

Further investigations into the victim showed that he was the son of Goliat Tabuni, the leader of the Puncak Jaya cell of the OPM. Lindiron was immediately interred.

Papua Police spokesman Wachyono did not comment on the incident but said the military was better placed to do so as police were not involved in the shootout. Officials from the military's Cenderawasih Command, which covers Papua province, could not be reached for comment.

The shootout is the latest incident of violence in what is proving to be a bloody start to the year in the restive province.

On New Year's Eve, the home of the deputy head of Paniai district was destroyed in a fire thought to be the work of arsonists. No one was injured. "At the scene of the crime, we found the Morning Star flag," Paniai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Jannus Siregar said at the time. The flag, a symbol of independence, is outlawed.

On Dec. 12, police attacked a site in Eduda, Paniai, believed to be the headquarters of the local cell of the OPM. The police seized firearms, ammunition, knives, combat gear, documents and separatist flags. According to a man claiming to be from the OPM, 14 guerillas were killed. The OPM's local leader, John Magay Yogi, escaped unharmed.

On Dec. 16, the Indonesia Human Rights Committee said it received reports that people in Paniai were undergoing a "military siege involving horrendous destruction and violence," including the torching of villages, deaths and forced evacuations.

Some Freeport workers have returned to work, many still waiting

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2012

Jakarta – Hundreds of PT Freeport Indonesia workers have returned to work after a three-month strike, but a workers' union official predicts that it will take three or four weeks before all the company's thousands of employees will get back to work.

Head of the Mimika chapter of the All Indonesian Workers' Union (SPSI), Virgo Solossa, said Wednesday that some of the contractors and subcontractors insisted on imposing sanctions upon employees who went on strike, which was a violation against the agreement between PT Freeport and the SPSI.

Virgo, who used to be an executive of SPSI's unit at Freeport, urged the company's contractors and subcontractors to cooperate in the mobilization process of the workers, antaranews.com reported.

On Tuesday, PT Freeport's management sent six buses to collect its workers from Gorong-gorong terminal in Timika to Tembagapura. The company also provided six buses to transport the workers on Wednesday.

The workers were scheduled to return to work on Dec. 26 following the company's commitment to raise their salaries by 39 percent. However, the restart was delayed because one contractor, PT Kuala Pelabuhan Indonesia, wanted to impose sanctions against around 500 employees who had joined the strike.

PT KPI had formerly agreed not to take any action against them but subsequently, several other contractors and subcontractors refused to rehire workers who had been on strike.

2011 a busy year for human rights investigations in Papua

Antara News - January 4, 2012

Jayapura – The Papua office of the National Commission on Human Rights looked into 58 alleged violations of human rights in 2011, and was anticipating investigating at least that many cases in 2012.

Julles Ongge, the head of the Papua office of the commission known as Komnas HAM, said on Wednesday that the majority of those cases involved officers in the military and National Police.

"In almost 65 percent of human rights violation cases in Papua, the perpetrators are TNI [Indonesian Armed Forces] and National Police members," Julles said.

Papua officially became part of Indonesia in 1969 and since has seen a low-level insurgency. Rights groups have repeatedly condemned security forces that are charged with killing civilians and imprisoning peaceful activists.

Of the 58 cases reviewed last year, two of the most serious – regarding the persecution of civilians in Puncak Jaya and the deadly crackdown on the Papuan People's Congress in Abepura in October – have been forwarded to Komnas HAM Jakarta for further investigation.

"The Papua branch of Komnas HAM doesn't have 'pro justicia' authority, so important cases are submitted to [Jakarta] to be handled," he said.

Julles said the vastness of the Papua and West Papua provinces often made it difficult to look into every allegation of rights violations, but that Komnas HAM was seeking the help of local people in reporting new cases.

He also predicted that the number of cases investigated by the commission would rise in 2012.

No new Freeport strike planned in Papua: Union

Antara News - January 2, 2012

The head of Freeport Indonesia's workers' union has said there will be no further strikes despite growing concern over the issue in Timika, Papua.

A three-month strike at the Freeport-McMoRan-operated Grasberg mine, the world's largest gold and copper mine, crippled production at the site last year, and only ended in December. Some sticking points remain, however, fueling speculation of future industrial action.

Derek Motte, a spokesman for the Freeport chapter of the All-Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI), said the head of the Mimika district chapter of the union had no plan to organize further labor action. He dismissed speculation of an impending strike as just an "issue."

He said the SPSI's Freeport chapter considered all the workers' grievances with Freeport to have been resolved.

Large numbers of Freeport workers and contractors are expected to return to Tembagapura, the town that houses the company's workers, in the next two days following the resolution of issues with Kuala Pelabuhan Indonesia, a contracting firm, on Friday.

KPI, which operates the Freeport port, roads and transportation facilities, as well as mobile equipment, had refused to rehire 18 workers who were striking union members.

"What's important is that the grievances of KPI and Freeport workers have been cleared up," Derek said. "These two companies have shown us the way. Now it is time for other contracting firms to follow suit and not take unilateral action against workers who joined the strike."

The SPSI and the CEO of Freeport Indonesia, Armando Mahler, sent a letter to the contractors instructing them not to take disciplinary action against workers who took part in the strike, such as terminating their employment or sanctions. The letter was signed by Mahler and referred to points of an agreement struck between Freeport and the union in Jakarta on Dec. 12.

Derek said that since Dec. 26, between 400 and 500 workers had returned to Tembagapura. The returning workers are required to take part in training sessions in order to reactivate their employee records, which have been blocked since they walked off the job.

Workers who have returned will also undergo hazard identification and risk assessment training at the Kuala Kencana community hall.

Aceh

GAM not behind shootings, says ex-member

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2012

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – As the body of a victim of the most recent Aceh shooting was flown home on Saturday to Semarang, Central Java, former members of the Free Aceh Movement denied speculation that they were behind the violence.

The body of 30-year-old Gunoko, one of three construction workers shot in Simpang Aneuk Galong, Aceh Besar, arrived in Gunoko's hometown of Semarang on Saturday.

Gunoko's death on Thursday last week brought the total death toll from recent shootings in Aceh since late last year to 17. Two other victims – 35-year-old Agus Swetnyo and 25-year-old Sotiku Anas – were still on life-support machines at Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Banda Aceh.

Some have speculated the assailants are linked to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as some of them used AK-series assault rifles, the weapons of choice of the separatist movement members when they fought a decades-long insurgency against the government that ended with a treaty in 2005.

Some have speculated the violence might be linked to those backing the re- election of Governor Irwandi Yusuf, a former member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Suadi Sulaiman, a former member of GAM who is currently on the Pidie local council, denied the speculation, saying that GAM had played no role in the recent shootings.

"I can guarantee that none of us were involved in the shootings because we handed over all of our weapons when we agreed to sign the peace treaty in Helsinki on Aug. 15, 2005. We also vowed to maintain peace in Aceh," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Suadi said the assailants had targeted former members of GAM, most of whom were members of the ruling Aceh Party.

"The assailants, or anyone behind them, were trying to prove that the Aceh Party has failed to maintain peace, and that its members should not be re- elected in the upcoming regional election," he said.

Suadi said it was obvious that the shootings were politically motivated. "There's only one reason for it; the Aceh gubernatorial election."

He called on the central government to delay the Feb. 16 election until a new local ordinance was drafted to give legal grounds for the poll. Aceh's gubernatorial election was initially scheduled for last November but has been postponed twice.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said that in spite of the recent shootings, it would not deploy more troops to Aceh. Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Hartind Asrin said the shootings did not constitute a threat to national security and were considered ordinary crimes.

Al Araf, the program director of human rights watchdog Imparsial, said that causing unrest in the run-up and during the scheduled gubernatorial election was the first move of a plan to break apart Aceh.

"They are free riders who obviously don't like peace in Aceh. These people, who are yet to be identified, are trying to create destruction in the province for reasons that we don't know yet," he said. (msa)

Questions greatly outnumber answers after latest Aceh shootings

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2012

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – One person was killed and two others injured in the latest act in a spate of violence in Aceh, while dozens of workers in the area have been sent back to their hometowns in East Java.

An unidentified armed man opened fire on construction workers who were taking a break close to their work site in Suka Makmur in Aceh Besar district on Thursday night, Aceh Police spokesman Gustav Leo said.

The shots hit three workers: Gunoko, in the head, and Agus Swetnyo and Sotiku Anas, in the torso. Gunoko died of his injuries on Friday afternoon, but doctors at Zainoel Abidin General Hospital in Banda Aceh said Agus and Sotiku were recovering.

Imam Taufik, a construction worker at the site of the shooting, said he heard five shots fired. "After that I saw one of my coworkers lying on the floor in a pool of blood," he said, adding that he did not see the shooter.

Imam said he and other coworkers carried the wounded men to a nearby clinic. The men were then taken to the hospital, 12 kilometers away. Imam said he and the other workers fear the possibility of another attack.

Gustav said police were still investigating this incident and other shootings that have plagued the province in the past week.

He said the shooter rode a motorcycle to the site, wearing a full-face helmet and a black jacket. He added the shooter fled immediately after firing the shots.

"The bullets taken from the victims show that the shooter used a rifle," he said, adding that the weapon may have been an AK-47 automatic.

This incident is the fourth shooting within a week in Aceh.

On New Year's Eve, a man in Banda Aceh was killed by gunfire, while three workers laying cables for cellular operator Telkomsel were killed and seven others were injured by a gunman who fired on them at their boarding house in Bireuen district.

On Sunday night, several armed men fired on people at a street-side food stall in Langkahan subdistrict in North Aceh, killing one person and severely injuring another.

Gustav said the attacks on both the residents and workers were similar, as the gunmen targeted workers who were from outside Aceh.

"We are investigating the possibility that the attacks are linked," he said, adding that the police had not yet established a motive for the shootings.

On Thursday, Telkomsel sent home 57 of its workers. They were being housed at Bireuen Police headquarters as a safety precaution. Supriadi, one of the returning workers, said he was too scared to remain in Aceh.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has weighed in on the recent spate of violence, but he dismissed speculation that the shooters were linked to separatist groups. "This is strictly a criminal case," Purnomo said on Friday at the Presidential Palace. "We'll let the police handle the case."

Before a peace agreement with the government in 2005, the armed separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) used AK-47 rifles in their struggle. Purnomo, however, said any connection was tenuous. "Anyone could have fired that weapon," he said.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was monitoring the situation in Aceh and receiving updates on new developments.

Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum said the peace deal in Aceh was not an easy achievement and warned that security officials needed to do more to ensure that peace could be maintained within the province. He added that Aceh would hold gubernatorial elections this year and that its success would depend on peace and stability.

[Additional reporting by Arientha Primanita & Ezra Sihite.]

GAM, election politics said to lurk behind Aceh shootings

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Observers and human rights watchdogs are saying that recent shootings in Aceh that have killed four people in the last week alone are politically motivated.

"This is no ordinary crime. Our records show that violence in the area is always related to local political events," Al Araf, the program director of human rights watchdog Imparsial, said on Friday.

Al Araf said that the politically-charged nature of the shootings could be seen from the failure of the police to identify the perpetrators or find any significant clues.

Seven shootings, some of them fatal, have taken place in Aceh in the last month.

Four people were killed in two separate attacks on New Year's Eve. One person was killed in a shooting in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, while three were killed in a second shooting in Bireun regency, about 250 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.

Imparsial and the Aceh Judicial Monitoring Institute (AJMI) have recorded 17 cases of armed violence in Aceh in recent weeks, leaving 15 dead and 17 injured.

Aceh is slated to hold its gubernatorial election on Feb. 16, along with local elections in 17 regencies and municipalities in the province.

Some have speculated that the violence might be linked to those backing the reelection of Governor Irwandi Yusuf, a former member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which fought a decades-long insurgency against the government that was ended by treaty in 2005.

The Constitutional Court overturned an article in a local ordinance that banned incumbents from seeking reelection, clearing the way for Irwandi to run and angering his detractors. Aceh's gubernatorial election was initially scheduled for November and has been postponed twice.

Otto Syamsudin Ishak, an Aceh-based political observer, said that the central government must take swift action to prevent more bloodshed. "If the central government neglects the conditions in Aceh, then horizontal conflicts might eventually happen," he said.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha, meanwhile, said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been monitoring the escalating political tensions. "The President has also instructed National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to conduct an immediate investigation to find and arrest the perpetrators," Julian told reporters on Friday.

Separately, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the elections would not be postponed despite the shootings.

"It has nothing to do with politics. The most important thing is to keep the upcoming gubernatorial election on schedule," Purnomo said. Purnomo also dismissed the speculation that the perpetrators were linked to GAM, although some of the assailants used AK-47 assault rifles favored by the separatist movement. (rpt)

Three shot in latest shooting spree in Aceh

Jakarta Post - January 6, 2012

Three construction workers were shot by an unidentified man in the latest shooting spree in Simpang Aneuk Galong, Aceh Besar regency, Aceh, on Thursday evening.

The three victims, Gunoko, 30, Agus Swetnyo, 35, and Sotiku Anas, 25, were being treated in the Zainoel Abidin public hospital's intensive care unit in Banda Aceh.

Gunoko, who was shot in the eye, is reportedly struggling for his life, while the two others were said to be in critical but stable condition. "Currently, the victims are on life support machines," hospital deputy director dr. Andalas, SpOG, said as quoted by serambinews.com

Previously, four people were killed in shootings at two different places in Aceh on New Year's Eve.

On Dec. 29, two people were arrested for allegedly being involved in a shooting in North Aceh district, on Dec.4, 2011. Three people were killed in the incident. (swd)

Kontras Aceh urges revision of sharia bylaws

Jakarta Post - January 6, 2012

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) Aceh said on Thursday that it was very important for the government to review some sections of four sharia bylaws (Qanun) as they led to abuses of authority.

"We are seeking a review of the Qanun because they lead to double standards and abuses of human rights," KontraS Aceh Coordinator Destika Gilang Lestari told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The bylaws in question are Qanun No. 11/2003 on Islamic dress and Islamic code of conduct; No. 12/2003 on liquor, No. 13/2003 on gambling and No. 14/2003 on intimacy or indecency between unmarried couples. Breaches of these bylaws are punishable by caning.

KontraS Aceh noted that during 2011 there were 46 human rights violations related to sharia implementation.

The violations were inflicted on suspects by angry mobs taking the law into their own hands. At least nine cases happened in North Aceh, six in Lhokseumawe and Bireun, and five in Great Aceh.

"The number of such violent incidents in 2011 was slightly lower compared to the 55 cases in 2010. However, it is still serious because people's human rights are being violated," Gilang said.

According to the commission, violations carried out by ordinary citizens against suspected infringers of sharia law, included forced hair cutting, bathing in ponds and beatings.

"They usually beat and harass the suspects before handing them over to the sharia police for further investigation," she said, adding that KontraS found evidence of 26 cases of forcible bathing and 15 beatings.

Gilang said the involvement of ordinary citizens in committing abuses and harassments had a spurious legality in Aceh particularly because of the punishments stipulated in the bylaws. For example, Bylaw No. 14 on intimacy mentions that local people should be involved in sharia law enforcement. "The government must review and limit these bylaws," she said.

KontraS Aceh also reported that during 2011 there were five canings held in Aceh. Two occurred in Great Aceh and Langsa respectively, with one in Aceh Tamiang. By comparison there were only two canings carried out in 2010.

Gilang said that KontraS Aceh had detected discrimination in the implementation of canings in Aceh. She cited as an example a couple who were found to be having an affair, the man was freed as he was a soldier, but his girlfriend was caned in front of the public.

Four killed in armed attacks in Indonesia's Aceh province

Deutsche Presse Agentur - January 1, 2012

Ahmad Pathoni, Banda Aceh – Four people were killed in two separate armed attacks on New Year's Eve in Indonesia's Aceh province, police and a resident said on Sunday.

Attackers armed with AK-47 rifles opened fire at workers installing fibre optic cable for the state telecommunications company Telkom in Bireuen district late on Saturday, killing three people, local police chief Yuri Karsono said. Seven other workers were wounded, he said.

In a separate attack on Saturday, two unidentified persons on a motorcycle shot dead a shopkeeper in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, said Ibnu Hajar, a witness.

Aceh was the scene of a bloody separatist conflict for decades before the government signed a peace pact with the rebels in 2005. The semi-autonomous province has been generally peaceful since the signing the pact and a former rebel leader was elected governor in 2006, but sporadic violence has occurred in recent years.

Human rights & justice

Supporters of slain Indonesian rights activist Munir fail to get BIN files

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2012

Agus Triyono – The Public Information Commission on Wednesday rejected a request from supporters of slain human rights activist Munir Said Thalib to access records from the State Intelligence Agency.

Munir's widow, Suciwati, and the Committee of Action and Solidarity for Munir (Kasum) filed a request with the commission, known as the KIP, in May.

They had earlier failed to retrieve a copy of a letter they claimed was issued by the intelligence agency, known as BIN, assigning Garuda Indonesia pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto to be on the same flight as Munir in September 2004. Munir died on board a flight to Amsterdam after Pollycarpus laced his drink with poison.

They also requested an alleged assignment letter for BIN deputy chairman Muchdi Purwoprandjono to fly to Malaysia around the time of Munir's death.

Kasum alleges that both men had a role in the assassination. Pollycarpus has been convicted of poisoning Munir, but Muchdi was acquitted of charges of orchestrating the murder by the South Jakarta District Court in December 2008.

Public Information Commission chairman Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih said there were no such letters. "Indications that such letters existed come from court testimony but we cannot verify that they actually exist and BIN can't show them either," he said.

Kasum coordinator Choirul Anam said the group would lodge an appeal with the Jakarta State Administrative Court.

The KIP, he said, had based its decision solely on remarks from BIN officials without conducting an investigation. "[KIP officials] never actually saw the evidence themselves. This is far from the spirit of a fair trial," he said.

But Choirul said the KIP ruling also showed there was no record that Muchdi had traveled to Malaysia between Sept. 6 and Sept. 12, 2004, as he had used as an alibi during his trial.

"Muchdi was acquitted by the court because he denied keeping in close contact with Pollycarpus by telephone just before Munir was killed. Muchdi said he was in Malaysia at the time so the KIP ruling would serve as crucial evidence," he said. Choirul said Kasum would challenge Muchdi's acquittal but did not provide further details.

"We have found a loophole that we can use and all this time [Muchdi] has not noticed it," he said. "Exactly what loophole we plan on using we cannot tell you. We don't want [Muchdi] to know and anticipate our move."

Munir, 38, was a prominent critic of the Indonesian security forces, which are blamed for the deaths and disappearances of scores of activists during the Suharto regime.

Muchdi was demoted as chief of the Army's Kopassus special forces after Munir had divulged his alleged role in a number of kidnappings.

Denied letter, activists to push to reopen Munir case

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2012

Efforts to reopen the murder investigation of Munir Said Thalib will not be stymied by the refusal of the Central Information Commission (KIP) to release a crucial document, say the slain human rights activists' supporters.

Activists from the Solidarity Committee for Munir (Kasum) previously asked for a document that they claimed contained an order from the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto and Muchdi Purwopranjono.

Munir died of arsenic poisoning on his way from Jakarta to the Netherlands aboard Garuda Indonesia flight number GA 974 in 2004.

Garuda Indonesia employees Pollycarpus and Indra Setiawan were convicted and imprisoned for Munir's murder, although both have appealed their convictions. The authorities have failed to identify the mastermind behind Munir's assassination, more than seven years later.

Representatives of Kasum previously said they suspected the BIN document would provide a starting point for reopening the investigation and hopefully identifying who ordered Munir murdered. Activists' hope dimmed during a hearing at KIP, however, when the commission rejected their request.

"This is a special case for KIP, because the problem is not about whether the documents could be disclosed. It's about their existence," presiding judge Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih told reporters on Wednesday.

Ahmad said that BIN officials testified that the assignment letters in question did not exist. The commission had to accept the officials' testimony given KIP's limited investigative authority, he added.

Pollycarpus, who was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in 2008 for Munir's premeditated murder, has regularly received sentence reductions every Independence Day and Christmas Day, including a 45-day remission on Dec. 25.

Meanwhile, Muchdi was acquitted by the South Jakarta District Court of charges that he ordered Pollycarpus to kill Munir. Muchdi said that he never gave such an order and was in Malaysia when Munir was murdered.

Choirul Anam from Kasum described KIP's decision as a minor loss, saying several new facts were brought to light. "We realize that KIP's decision was not very good for us, but during the adjudication process BIN claimed that [it] never sent an assignment order to Malaysia for Muchdi Purwoprandjono when the murder happened," Anam said.

BIN's statement was strong enough to urge the Supreme Court to review the case, Anam added.

Attorney General Basrief Arief said in September that appealing the acquittal of Muchdi would be against the law, citing the Criminal Code, which allows only defendants to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Despite Basrief's claims, the AGO has frequently filed appeals to the Supreme Court. For example, the AGO appealed Pollycarpus' acquittal, which led to his incarceration. (rpt)

Freedom of expression & press

Indonesian government critic faces jail term for joke about royal family

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2012

Sleman, Yogyakarta – Outspoken Indonesian government critic George Junus Aditjondro is facing up to four years in jail for allegedly insulting the Yogyakarta royal family.

Snr. Comr. Kris Erlangga, head of criminal investigations at Yogyakarta Police, said on Thursday that George – an outspoken critic of former dictator Suharto and incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono – had "found strong evidence that he had committed libel."

The charges relate to an attempt by George to make a pun about the Yogyakarta Palace, comparing it to a "watched monkey."

"The Yogyakarta Keraton [Palace] should not be equated with the UK kingdom," he said. "The Yogyakarta Keraton is only a keraton, or kera ditonton [Watched Monkey]," George said during a political discussion at Gadjah Mada University on Nov. 30.

Following the comments, dozens of people, accusing George of humiliating the royal Yogyakarta family and the people of the special province, raided his home in an attempt to expel him from the city.

Kris said George had been charged under Article 156 of the Dutch colonial- era Criminal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment.

The article states that "a person who publicly gives expression to feelings of hostility, hatred or contempt against one or more groups of the population of Indonesia, shall be punished by a maximum of four years imprisonment or a maximum fine of Rp 300 ($0.033)."

The article defines the group as "part of the population of Indonesia that distinguishes itself from one or more other parts of the population by race, country of origin, religion, origin, descent, nationality or constitutional condition."

It is not immediately clear how this relates to the ruling royal family headed by Sri Sultan Hamengkubowono X, a Golkar politician who is automatically appointed governor of the special province.

George has not been taken into custody but is banned from leaving the country.

Political parties & elections

Prabowo willing to run in 2014 presidential race

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2012

Jakarta – The Great Indonesia Movement Party's (Gerindra) chief patron, Prabowo Subianto, has stated his willingness to run for president in the 2014 presidential election.

"If the people support me, then I am ready to step forward as a presidential candidate," he said Sunday, as quoted by tempo.co.

He said if he was nominated as president, he would seek the support of all the political parties and not just Gerindra's close ally, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). "My relationship with the PDI-P is good, but I would ask for support from all the parties," he said.

According to Prabowo, his desire to become president had the interest of Indonesia's people and their future at its core and that, therefore, he refused to try to win people's support with cheap promises. "I will not try to gain popularity through making promises," he said. (awd)

Politicians barred from becoming election organizer

Jakarta Post - January 6, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – To ensure fairness and impartiality among members of the election-organizing bodies, the Constitutional Court (MK) on Wednesday ruled that politicians can only apply for membership five years after their resignation from a political party.

The court's ruling came in answer to demands by a coalition of NGOs, which noticed some articles in the Election Organization Law were flawed.

One article in the law, which was enacted in November, says former politicians need to resign from a political party before applying for membership in the General Elections Commission (KPU) or General Elections Monitoring Body (Bawaslu).

"The articles were against the 1945 Constitution because they could jeopardize the impartiality of the KPU and Bawaslu," judge Akil Mochtar said.

Critics previously said that, without the requirement to resign five years before applying for KPU or Bawaslu, it was likely that politicians would use their ties with their former political parties to serve the parties' interests in the poll bodies.

The petitioners, which comprised 23 NGOs nationwide, also challenged an article which stipulated that members of the Election Organization Disciplinary Council include a government representative and a politician from each political party that had a seat in the House of Representatives.

The court also approved this petition with the argument that memberships of the government and political party could compromise the professionalism and impartiality of the election organization.

Hadar Nafiz Gumay, executive director of the Center of Electoral Reform (Cetro), one of the 23 NGOs, welcomed the ruling, saying the judges "have been very professional in upholding the Constitution and promoting democracy".

"The ruling has also confirmed our allegation that the lawmakers had insisted on keeping the 'problematic articles' only to satisfy their political desire instead of making a fair election mechanism," Hadar added.

The stipulation that a former political party member could not be a member of the KPU if he or she had resigned from their party less then five years before filing their application, was actually included in the old 2007 Election Organization Law.

Lawmakers, however, agreed to drop the clause under the argument that no one could guarantee that somebody who had retired from a political party five years before would no longer be affiliated with certain political groups.

Lapindo a 'positive' force in Bakrie's presidential bid: Golkar official

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2012

Anita Rachman – Far from hurting Golkar chief Aburizal Bakrie's potential chances in the 2014 presidential election, the Lapindo mudflow disaster would be a boon, a party official said on Wednesday.

"We have a political belief that it would not hamper him [Aburizal]," said Idrus Marham, secretary general of Golkar Party.

The mudflow, which began erupting in May 2006 after the blowout of a natural gas well owned by Lapindo Brantas, a Bakrie Group affiliate, has destroyed hundreds of homes, swamped 720 hectares of land and displaced thousands of people.

Lapindo was widely blamed for the eruption, though the firm's management and the government blamed the disaster on an earthquake that struck days before the mudflow.

Idrus on Wedensday said that as the mudflow had been declared a natural phenomenon, the controversy surrounding it would do little to hurt Aburizal's chances if he decided to run for president.

In fact, Idrus continued, the positive publicity surrounding the disaster would only serve to boost Aburizal's profile. He said that Bakrie Group had been very generous in buying the affected land at a higher than normal price.

"It is extraordinary, as it is not [Aburizal's] responsibility," Idrus said. "The court of law said that it is a natural phenomenon. "Aburizal is a great leader. [The Lapindo mudflow] would only be positive energy."

Labour & migrant workers

Laid-off workers demand government help in spat with Riau Airlines

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2012

Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru – Dozens of employees laid off by PT Riau Airlines rallied at the Riau Manpower and Transmigration Agency in Pekanbaru on Tuesday, demanding severance pay, holiday pay and four months' back salary owed to them under a court decision.

Protest coordinator Dody Fernando said that the airline, which was owned by the Riau provincial administration, owed the 116 laid-off employees Rp 8.1 billion ($US891,000).

"We just want our rights. The debt figure is not a fictitious or a one- sided claim. It is based on a recent agreement reached by the Industrial Relations Court," Dody said.

Dody said his colleagues were happy when the Pekanbaru Industrial Relations Court upheld their lawsuit, although their hopes faded as the airline missed a Nov. 30 deadline to pay the employees.

According to Dody, the money owed to the workers included salaries for the period between November 2010 and January 2011. The airline's management has repeatedly promised to fulfill its obligation to the former employees.

"The fact is, however, that our rights have not been met – even though an agreement has been reached in court. We're fed up with all the promises. It's already been one year since payment of our salaries was delayed. There are many former employees whose houses have been repossessed due to their inability to pay their mortgages," he said.

The laid-off employees have rallied several times outside the company's headquarters to no avail, Dody said, and so chose to rally outside the Riau office of the Manpower and Transmigration Agency to ask for immediate government assistance.

After holding a free-speech forum for half an hour, five protesters were received by agency chief HR Lukman Mat for a closed-door dialogue. Following the end of the one-hour meeting, Dody said the results were not as good as the protesters had hoped.

"The aspirations of the former employees have been disclosed to Riau Airlines management. The results are that the company is unable to meet all the obligations to its former employees, including the payment of severance and overdue salaries," Lukman said.

"Therefore, it is up to the former employees as to what to do next. We will just support their decision," Lukman added.

Dody said the laid-off employees would not be discouraged by the meeting and would continue to strive for their rights.

The workers might file a new lawsuit with the Pekanbaru District Court, demanding that the terms of the resolution reached by the Industrial Relations Court be upheld, he said.

"The poor results of today's rally are not satisfying, but it should not necessarily discourage the spirit of our struggle," Dody said.

Meanwhile, a member of the Riau Legislative Council, Tengku Azuwir, expressed concern over the reluctance of Riau Airlines to respond to a recent recommendation from the council on a new injection of Rp 30 billion from the Riau regional budget to help save companies belonging to the provincial administration.

"Instructions for the disbursement of the funds from the budget were clear, namely to cover the severance pay, buy new aircraft and pay debts to third parties," Azuwir said.

Apparently, Azuwir added, Rp 25 billion of the total injection was used to pay third-party debts, leaving nothing left to meet the company's obligation to its former employees.

"We will summon the company's board of directors to ask for their accountability in the spending of the funds. Our next meeting is scheduled on Jan. 10," Azuwir said.

Government slammed for maid left to die

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A senior lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lambasted the government failing to protect a migrant worker left to die in front of a mosque in Saudi Arabia last month.

"The case of Jamilah binti Emang is strong evidence that the government has never cared about migrant workers, especially their protection during their employment," lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said on Tuesday.

The body of Jamilah was still in the morgue of King Abdulaziz Hospital in Jeddah, awaiting someone to repatriate it, Eva said.

Jamilah was admitted to the hospital after an Indonesian citizen found her near death at the gate of Masjidil Haram Grand Mosque in Mecca, about 400 kilometers from her employer's home, Eva said. Jamilah said she had been dumped at the mosque because she was sick.

"According to the information from the hospital, Jamilah underwent intensive treatment for tuberculosis and malnutrition on Dec. 12, 2011. The medical team could not save her life," Eva said.

Jamilah, formerly of Cianjur, West Java, departed for Saudi Arabia in 2006, sponsored by PT Al Hijaz Indo Jaya, a labor supply company located on Jl. Dewi Satika, East Jakarta.

Eva delivered an official letter to the foreign minister and the Indonesian consulate general in Jeddah, asking that Jamilah's body be returned to Indonesia as soon as possible.

Jamilah's case was a strong rebuke for the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the Overseas Labor Placement and Protection (BNP2TKI), Eva said, given that both bodies have claimed to improve protections given to Indonesian migrant workers.

"The consulate-general is ignoring the case. This is the fruit of the government's incompetence in giving adequate information, training and supervision, since the workers' were recruited from their home villages," Eva said.

Migrant Care, which advocates for migrant workers, condemned the government's handling of Jamilah's case, calling on the President to reform the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and to dissolve the BNP2TKI.

"More and more workers will die or be killed overseas if no measures are taken to mend the ministry's performance" Migrant Care representative Nur Muhammad said. Nur warned that Indonesian migrant workers might face even worse abuse given their lack of adequate training and the inadequate supervision and monitoring of worker recruitment and placement companies.

Contacted separately, Abdullah Dahlan of Indonesia Corruption Watch and University of Indonesia political analyst Cecep Effendy agreed that Jamilah's case evinced poor performance and budget corruption at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

Meanwhile, Rusjdi Basalamah, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Labor Exporters' Association (PJTIKI), defended the Manpower Ministry and the BNP2TKI. "If Jamilah was not found not fit and did not meet all of the requirements, she would not have been sent abroad," he said.

Workers send home $6 billion

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2012

Jakarta – Despite disruptions to labor agreements last year, Indonesians working abroad managed to send home US$6.1 billion in 2011. Some argue that this figure is too small to be ignored, and challenge the government to step up its efforts to protect the safety of its citizens working abroad.

Anis Hidayah, executive director of MigrantCare, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) focused on workers' rights, repeated the call in response to the remittances the migrant workers sent home.

Malaysia's news agency Bernama reported that Indonesian migrant workers had sent home a whopping $6.1 billion between January and November last year, with $2.1 billion remitted from Malaysia during the period.

The figures recorded by Bank Indonesia do not include money sent directly by workers or via non-bank institutions that are not registered by the central bank.

Indonesia's Manpower Employment, Settlement and Protection National Body director Baslian Krisnayoza said the $6.1 billion was remitted by Indonesians working in Australia, America, European, Asian and African countries.

Cash remittances from Asia alone totaled $3.5 billion. They were $2.1 billion from Malaysia; Taiwan ($448 million); Hong Kong ($441 million); Singapore ($238 million); Japan ($146 million), South Korea ($85 million); Brunei ($53 million), Macao ($38 million) and other countries ($2.69 billion), he said.

Krisnayoza said remittances from Africa and Middle East countries amounted to $2.4 billion, with the major portion of the money – $2 billion – sent from Saudi Arabia; America ($129 million); and Australia and Europe ($22.3 million). "However, the total $6.1 billion sent home in 2011 was less than the $6.7 billion remitted in 2010," he said.

Migrant Care's Anis said that the government never cared about Indonesian migrant workers, just the money they sent home.

"The government can provide the exact figure of cash remittances our migrant workers send home or other numbers when it comes to money. However, it won't be able to give similar precision when it comes to the number of Indonesian migrant workers and their condition, or which of the workers are in need of immediate help," she said on Sunday.

Anis added that the huge amount of cash sent home by Indonesian migrant workers every year was contradictory to the poor treatment they had received. "The government is obliged to protect all migrant workers no matter what, with or without their financial contribution," said Anis.

She demanded the government to be fully responsive to all Indonesian workers abroad because it had a responsibility after encouraging more Indonesians to work abroad.

"The government keeps encouraging people to work as maids abroad because they know very well about the huge amounts of money these people will bring home. Protect these people. Don't focus only on the money. Be responsible," she said.

On its year-end review, Migrant Care reported that 32 migrant workers were on death row, while hundreds of others could face the death penalty, a plight that it blamed on government inaction.

The NGO found that of the 32 migrant workers on death row, 17 were in Malaysia, nine in China, and five in Saudi Arabia. A further 417 migrant workers could also face the death penalty: 348 in Malaysia, 45 in Saudi Arabia, 22 in China, and two in Singapore. (msa)

Environment & natural disasters

45 hot spots detected in Sumatra

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2012

Pekanbaru – A satellite has detected at least 45 hot spots in Sumatra, with almost half of them found in Riau, according to a government scientist.

Marzuki, an analyst with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency's office in Pekanbaru, Riau, said on Friday that the hot spots were detected by Singapore's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 18 Satellite on Thursday, antaranews.com reported.

"There are hot spots distributed across Jambi, North Sumatra, South Sumatra and Aceh in almost the same numbers. As for Riau, it has the highest number of hot spots, with 22," he said.

"There might be more hot spots if the temperature remains above 33 degrees Celsius and there is little rain," he added.

Red tape hampered disaster mitigation efforts in 2011

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2012

Jakarta – Bureaucratic dysfunction – and sometimes greed – human errors and a lack of capabilities have hampered disaster risk management operation throughout 2011, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) official said.

"Problems in local bureaucracies are the main problems that have hindered our [BNPB] works," BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

For example, he said, the agency has prepared funds for the victims of flooding in Wasior, Papua, as well as tsunami victims in Mentawai, West Sumatra. However these funds were delayed because provincial and district administrations were jostling with each other over control of the funds.

"We could not give away the funds carelessly, as we were audited by the Supreme Audit Agency [BPK]," he added.

The agency initially received a budget of Rp 668 billion in 2011, which then rose to Rp 1.33 trillion due to special rehabilitation projects in West Sumatra. Now in 2012, it is budgeted to receive Rp 995 billion.

Besides problems of local bureaucracy, Sutopo has also criticized many regional administration officials in charge for disaster risk management for their incompetence in disaster management.

"In Majalengka, West Java, the regional Disaster Mitigation Agency [BPBD] chief was replaced four times throughout the year. Moreover, these replacements were not really adept in disaster risk management," he said.

He said that unique characteristics of each region have also added variety to disaster risk management operations. In Bojonegoro, East Java, the local government was forced to require local residents to learn swimming in order to better anticipate floods.

"In the region there is an area that experiences flood from time to time. The local government now requires students at elementary school, as well as junior and senior high school to learn swimming,"

The government pursued the initiative because relocation for most residents was simply not an option. They insisted on living in the same area because, "their livelihoods were there and they have no other options", Sutopo said. "We called it 'Living in Harmony with Risk of Disaster'," he added.

According to the agency's data, 1,598 disasters happened in the country during 2011, mostly floods, landslide, and drought which all were caused by meteorological factors.

Despite the high occurrence of weather-related disasters, transportation- related disasters claimed the most lives. Data shows that at least 372 people died from only 20 transportation-related disasters, much higher than the 160 casualties due to flooding throughout the year.

"Shipwrecks are the most common transportation disasters, generally due to human error, overcrowding, and inadequate safety equipment," Sutopo said.

Recently in December, a boat carrying more than 200 asylum seekers, reportedly from the Middle East, capsized in the waters off Prigi, Trenggalek. (rpt)

Graft & corruption

Three Indonesian officials heading to prison for corruption

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2012

Adding to the already long list of officials convicted for corruption, courts have sent a former West Sumatra mayor and two senior figures in Cirebon, West Java, to jail for graft.

The Anti-Corruption Court in Padang, West Sumatra, sentenced Djufri, the former mayor of nearby Bukittinggi, to four years in prison and fined him Rp 200 million ($22,000) for marking up costs for the purchase of several land plots for projects in the city in 2007.

If Djufri could not pay the fine, the judges ruled, he would face an additional six months behind bars.

"All elements of the primary charges were met, so the remaining charges do not need to be proved," said Asmuddin, who led the panel of judges. Djufri's misdeeds caused losses to the state of Rp 704 million, according to prosecutors.

The former mayor said he needed time to discuss with his lawyer, Tumbur Simanjuntak, whether to appeal. Tumbur said he thought Djurfi should appeal and would recommend that he did.

Meanwhile, judges in Bandung's Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Sunaryo, the deputy mayor of Cirebon, and Suryana, a former Cirebon speaker, to one year's jail each and fined them each Rp 50 million. Should the convicts not pay the fine, the judge added, they would each be jailed for an additional six months.

"We declare that the first defendant [Sunaryo] and the second defendant [Suryana] have been legally and convincingly found to have engaged in corruption," said Eka Saharta Winata, who headed the panel of judges.

The two were accused of embezzling Rp 4.9 billion from the city budget in 2004 through markups and fictitious costs in the budget allotment for the operations of the Cirebon city legislative council.

The prosecutors, who had sought a three-year jail term for each of the defendants, demanded time to choose whether to appeal. The judges gave them seven days to decide.

Sunaryo declined to comment to journalists after the verdict, instead referring queries to his legal team. "Just ask my lawyers," he said.

Suryana was not present at the reading of the verdict after his lawyer handed the judges a letter from his doctor saying he was ill and unable to attend the trial.

Eko Supijandi, Suryana's lawyer, said his client had sought to have Thursday's trial postponed for health reasons, but the request was refused by the judges. Eko declined to say what Suryana was suffering from.

Powerful Indonesian politician is latest Nazaruddin corruption target

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2012

Rizky Amelia & Anita Rachman – High profile graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin on Wednesday continued to sow controversy, this time saying the "big boss" referenced in an incriminating text message was the chairman of the House of Representatives' Budget Committee.

Nazaruddin made the accusation before attending the graft trial of his former employee, Mindo Rosalina Manulang, in a bribery case involving the construction of an athletes' village for November's Southeast Asian Games in Palembang, South Sumatra.

"Yes, it is true," Nazaruddin said when asked whether "big boss" referred to House Budget Committee chairman Melchias Markus Mekeng. However, he declined to give more details, saying Rosalina and the sender of the BlackBerry message, lawmaker and Budget Committee member Angelina Sondakh, would know more.

The message sent by Angelina said that "the big boss wants apples from Malang," with "apples from Malang" believed to be code for payments.

Melchias was quick to deny the charge, saying there was no flow of money from Nazaruddin to the committee or its members. The Golkar Party lawmaker added that he had only chaired the committee since July 2010 and had nothing to do with the budgeting of funds for the athletes' village. Melchias replaced Harry Azhar Azis, also from Golkar, as Budget Committee chairman.

Golkar's secretary general, Idrus Marham, said his party had no plans to protect or cover up for any of its members involved in corruption cases, but added that any corruption allegations should include ample proof.

"What are the data, the facts? A mere statement is not enough," he said. "It is data and facts that are needed." He quoted party chairman Aburizal Bakrie as having said that "there should be no politicization of the legal process. Everything should be based on legal facts."

Meanwhile, Rosalina shed tears when she saw her former employer at her trial. She had last seen Nazaruddin nine months earlier, she said. "I only saw him again today and he appeared very thin. That made me sad," Rosalina said.

Rosalina was a former manager of Nazaruddin's company, Anak Negeri. She is alleged to have been the liaison between graft convict and former secretary of the Youth and Sports Affairs Ministry, Wafid Muharram, and Mohammad El Idris, the marketing manager of Duta Graha Indah, a building contractor.

Later on Wednesday, Nazaruddin appeared at his own trial at the Anti- Corruption Court, but proceedings were postponed after he suddenly vomited in court.

"Because of the health condition of the defendant, the trial is postponed until [next] Wednesday," said Darmawati Ningsih, who heads the panel of judges hearing the case.

The decision was taken after the trial was suspecnded while advice was sought from the doctor assigned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to treat Nazaruddin. The physician said the defendant was lacking sleep, had a gastric ulcer problem and needed two or three days of rest.

Wednesday's trial had been scheduled to hear testimony from Rosalina, Idris and Duta Graha Indah's executive director, Dudung Purwadi.

Nazaruddin stands accused of rigging a government tender for the construction of the Palembang athletes' village in return for at least Rp 4.3 billion ($473,000) in kickbacks. Among the alleged bribers was Duta Graha Indah, which was awarded the construction project contract.

Idris is said to have given Nazaruddin checks of Rp 1.27 billion and Rp 1.70 billion.

Nazaruddin, a former treasurer of the Democratic Party, has used the corruption investigation and his ongoing trial to level accusations at a number of fellow party members.

Lawmakers still skeptical over Bank Century audit

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Despite the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) finding nothing major in its audit of the government's bailout of Bank Century in 2008, numerous lawmakers say they will continue exercising their legislative right, which ultimately could lead to an impeachment.

Legislators from at least four of the nine political parties at the House of Representatives (DPR), namely the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party, have said they will exercise their legislative right to express an opinion.

The right, which is a required step in instigating the impeachment process, will be used as the lawmakers believe the government's decision to disburse Rp 6.76 trillion (US$743.6 million) to bail out Bank Century, re-branded Bank Mutiara, involved numerous illicit practices such as channeling the funds to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's inner-circle to finance the 2009 elections.

Politicians who support the move believe that Vice President Boediono, who at the time of the bailout was the Bank Indonesia governor, and former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, currently a managing director at the World Bank, shared responsibility for the bailout, which they claim was flawed.

"We suspect that the BPK forensic audit experienced interference from those in power. However, a few new findings can still be used to utilize the right to express an opinion," Golkar lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said on Tuesday, referring to BPK's second audit on the bailout, the results of which were officially handed over to the House two weeks ago.

He cited a finding in the audit alleging that Yudhoyono's in-law, Hartanto Edhie Wibowo, and his wife, Satya Kumala Sari, had made fictitious foreign exchange transactions amounting Rp 1.1 billion.

Akbar Faisal of Hanura said the BPK had also found that the publisher of Jurnal Nasional daily, which is widely known for consistently defending the Yudhoyono administration and his Democratic Party, was allegedly a Bank Century customer whose Rp 101 billion deposit had been saved by the government's bailout.

The government, through its Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS), only guarantees bank customers' deposits of up to Rp 2 billion. "If Bank Century had been left to collapse, the publisher would only have gotten Rp 2 billion from its total deposit," Akbar said, adding that many other parties linked to Yudhoyono's political circle may also have benefited from the bailout.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha has played down the finding on Hartanto and Satya, saying that Yudhoyono would leave it to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the case.

Jurnal Nasional has also denied it was a Bank Century customer. The paper's then chief editor was Ramadhan Pohan, who is currently a Democratic Party lawmaker.

Also on Tuesday, Ramadhan objected to any efforts to downplay BPK's last audit on the bailout. "It is now time for the KPK to handle the case based on the audit. This is a legal case and could thus be dangerous if always used as a political tool," he said.

PKS politician Muhammad Misbakhun, meanwhile, suggested that the House appoint a prominent private auditor to conduct another audit as a "second opinion" to the BPK's audit.

Terrorism & religious extremism

Indonesia terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah: fractured but still fighting

Straits Times - January 7, 2012

Zakir Hussain – Jemaah Islamiyah was set up in 1993 with the aim of establishing a region-wide Islamic state. It traces its lineage to the Darul Islam group formed in West Java in the late 1940s to carry out an armed struggle for an Islamic state in Indonesia. Suppressed but never snuffed out, some of its members fled to Malaysia in the 1980s to avoid arrest and regroup.

Beginnings

The JI's first leader, Abdullah Sungkar, had fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan and sent groups of JI members to train with the Al Qaeda there. When Sungkar died in 1999, Abu Bakar Bashir took over. By then, the JI had forged links with other militant groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Bombings

In 2001, Singapore's Internal Security Department uncovered the JI's existence, but some in the region were sceptical that it existed.

The JI's hand in the bombing of Bali nightclubs on Oct. 12, 2002, changed things. A crackdown by the Indonesian and other regional authorities since has seen many of its leaders nabbed or dead.

The JI's ideology, however, persists. Security agencies warn that its members continue to seek to regroup, and many see the aboveground Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) – led by Bashir – as its new front.

Its regularly updated Web site, they note, openly recruits followers to take up arms in conflict zones, and inspires others to attack easy targets.

Key terror strikes

A series of bombings struck 11 churches across Indonesia on Christmas Eve in 2000, killing 19 people and injuring over 100. Umar Patek has confessed to being the mastermind.

On Oct. 12, 2002, simultaneous bombs went off at a Bali nightspot, killing 202, many of them foreign tourists. Three plotters were involved: Imam Samudra, Mukhlas and Amrozi, who were executed by firing squad in 2008.

In August 2003, a car bomb went off at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta, killing 12 people and wounding over 150.

In September 2004, a suicide car bomber struck outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, killing 11 people and wounding over 100.

In October 2005, another suicide bombing at three crowded restaurants in Bali killed 22 people and hurt over 100.

In July 2009, twin suicide bombs went off at the J.West Marriott and Ritz- Carlton hotels in Jakarta, killing seven and injuring over 50.

Key JI leaders include:

Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader: Currently in jail for setting up a terrorist training camp in Aceh, he had his term slashed from 15 to nine years late last year.

He was also convicted after the 2002 Bali bombings, but his four-year sentence was reduced to 18 months. In a subsequent trial, terrorism charges were thrown out and he was convicted on criminal charges leading to a 21/2-year term.

Noordin Top, chief strategist: He was shot dead in a nine-hour siege on a house in Solo, Central Java, in September 2009. He had led a hardline group that split from the JI.

Hambali, operations chief: Currently in detention in Guantanamo Bay, he was captured in Thailand in a 2003 operation and was said to be the main link between the JI and the Al-Qaeda.

Mas Selamat Kastari, Singapore JI chief: Currently in detention, he was behind a foiled plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport. He escaped from Whitley Road Detention Centre in February 2008 and was recaptured in Malaysia a year later, before being transferred back to Singapore in September 2010.

Umar Patek, Bali blast mastermind: Currently detained and awaiting trial in Indonesia, he has confessed to carrying out the 2000 church bombings and assembling the Bali bombs in 2002. He fled to the Philippines after the Bali attacks, but was captured in Pakistan last January and sent back to Indonesia in August last year.

Hard-line & vigilante groups

FPI head faces jail for Ramadan cafe attacks

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2012

Rahmat, Makassar – Prosecutors are seeking a 10-month jail term for the leader of a hard-line Islamic group that smashed up restaurants in the South Sulawesi capital during the fasting month.

Abdul Rahman, the head of the provincial branch of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), is on trial for damaging restaurants on Jalan A.P. Pettaranti last August and assaulting the owner of one of the eateries.

Three restaurants were trashed by the self-styled moral crusaders, who were outraged that they were open and serving food in the middle of the day during Ramadan, when most Muslims were fasting.

Prosecutors on Wednesday also demanded eight-month sentences for two other defendants, Riswandi Abubakar and Ariffudion, both FPI members. The trial at the Makassar District Court is scheduled to resume next week.

The three have been charged under Articles 170 and 351 of the Criminal Code for destruction of private property and assault. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of five years.

"The defendants are accused of abusing and assaulting the owner of Warung Coto and another restaurant on Jalan A.P. Pettarani, Makassar, in August," the indictment reads.

Abdul has also been named a suspect in an attack on the Ahmadiyah sect that same month. Members of the LPI, a unit of the FPI, smashed windows at the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) complex, including at a mosque, and damaged a car and a motorcycle.

The mob, estimated at 30 to 50 people, also attacked Ahmad, the lone guard at the complex, and two paralegals from the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) who attempted to stop the attack.

None of the three suffered serious injuries. LPI members also scuffled with riot police sent to restore order.

Police say Abdul did not take part in the attack on the Ahmadiyah complex but incited it, for which he could face up to six years in prison.

The attack was part of a rampage that started on a Saturday night and lasted until the next morning. It included shutting down restaurants operating during the fasting month.

Freedom of religion & worship

Islamic reform movement again targets Indonesian church

Jakarta Globe - January 8, 2012

Vento Saudale – Radical groups added pressure on the congregation of GKI Yasmin church in Bogor as they shouted and chased its members during a Sunday service near the contested religious building.

Members of the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis) shouted at church-goers who were approaching their facility, prompting police officers to come and control the mob. "We are not afraid of the officers. If the Yasmin congregation is not dismissed, we will deploy a bigger group," said Garis coordinator Majudien.

Al Khaththath, head of the Bogor branch of the Islamic People's Forum (FUI), said the absence of a firm stance from the government to settle the issue could set a time bomb for a bigger clash.

"It is over the line now. When the public anger accumulates to boiling point, the public will take action, disregarding the government," Al Khaththath said.

Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging said the pressure on the congregation was intense every Sunday, when the congregation was forced to hold its service on the sidewalk.

Two weeks ago, the Christmas service was held at a member's home and last week, the Garis coordinator used a bumper sticker on a church member's car that read "We need a friendly Islam, not an angry Islam" as an excuse to threaten the congregation.

"Pressure by intolerant groups is becoming increasingly offensive and direct against us. They even chased us when we approached our cars," Bona said. "I have nothing left to say about what the congregation is feeling now. Our church has been sealed illegally by the Bogor mayor, and recently us just walking close to the church has been banned. Do you call this justice?"

Bona said the members awaited final decision from the president after the Supreme Court ordered the mayor to reopen the church, international organizations condemned the closure and the Ombudsman reported its findings. "We can only wait the next action by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono," Bona said.

Police denied taking sides in the dispute involving the congregation, the mayor and the radical groups. "Our job is to keep the order and anyone who breaks order and security will face actions from us," said Comr. Sahroni, head of the Bogor Police's operation desk.

As government suggests moving, Shiites ask why

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2012

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – As an Indonesian citizen who happens to be a Shiite Muslim, Ahmad Jamali says he does not know why the police are stopping him from returning home after a group of purported Sunni Muslims burned down his community's compound.

"Why should I move to another place when all my belongings and the future of my sons are there, in my village?" Ahmad Jamali said at the temporary shelter hosting 300 Shiites who fled from Sampang in Madura, East Java, after the attack last week.

East Java Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf said the government wanted to relocate the minority group to other places, possibly off the island, under a transmigration program to keep the Shiite community safe.

After five days in a refugee camp, however, Ahmad said everyone wanted to go home, pleading with the government to protect them. "I am afraid that all the cattle and all the chickens are dead because I just left them. I can't support my family because that's the way I earn a living," he said.

A group led by cleric Rois Alhukama reportedly attacked and burned down Shiite schools and homes in Karang Genyam village in Sampang. The group claimed to represent Sunni Muslims, the majority Muslim group in Indonesia. Some 300 hundred Shiite residents, including 150 children, fled the village.

Andy Irfan, the coordinator of human rights group Kontras Surabaya, said the government's plan to relocate the Shiites showed that it was failing to protect its own citizens and failing to guarantee the religious freedom of the minority group. "Why don't they just enforce the law and punish the perpetrators instead?" Andy said.

Separately, human rights activist Hendardi said that weak law enforcement by the government and security forces had emboldened certain groups that claimed to represent the mainstream to flout the law, as evinced by what has happened to Ahmadiyah members all over the country as well the ongoing saga of the Christian congregation of GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor, West Java.

Apparently afraid of a political backlash or cravenly seeking support from the majority, the government has neglected the pleas of many minority groups attacked by "thugs" claiming to represent "mainstream" Indonesia, Hendardi said.

Followers of Ahmadiyah in many parts of Indonesia have fled their homes after they were brutally attacked by Muslims for their different teachings.

Ahmadiyah members in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, for instance, have lived in a refugee camp for years following the destruction of their homes. There has been no action from the government to punish the perpetrators, return their homes or even to issue them official papers.

Meanwhile, the congregation of GKI Yasmin cannot hold services in their church compound, despite a Supreme Court ruling upholding their rights.

The East Java's Institute for Children Protection (LPA) has built a clinic and a playground for the children in the refugee camp. "We try to help the children forget the trauma from the attacks," LPA secretary Priyono Adi Nugroho said.

Tajul Muluk, a leader of the Shiite community in Madura, said that everyone would defend their right to stay on their own property. "We reject the relocation plan as there is no guarantee of our safety. You see, we are not safe in our homeland, let alone in other places."

Protesters chase parishioners over 'friendly Islam' sticker

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2012

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – The atmosphere heated up again around the GKI Taman Yasmin church in Bogor, West Java, when a group of people tried to prevent the church's congregation from conducting the first Sunday service in 2012 near the sealed church.

But the Bogor Police and the West Java Police countered their attempt by immediately constructing a barricade between the congregation and the protesters.

"Please, I advise other people not to follow [what the protesters are doing]. Let the officers [do their job]," Bogor Police deputy chief Comr. Irwansyah said.

As the members still could not conduct the service near their sealed church, the service was then moved into a house of the church's members at Taman Yasmin housing complex.

But when congregation members were ready to leave the church in their cars, one of the protestors was enraged after reading a sticker attached on the back window of a car.

GKI Yasmin spokesperson Bona Sigalingging said the protesters chased the car, threatening to set it on fire. The sticker reads "We need friendly Islam, not extreme Islam."

"We got the sticker during a ceremony held in remembrance of Gus Dur. Every guest received that sticker," he said.

Bona said the protesters failed to catch the car that belonged to one of GKI Yasmin's advocacy team members. "We are not afraid, and will keep coming to the church to see, even from afar, if the seal has been opened or not," he said.

Indah Kurnia, a member of the House of Representatives from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was present during the incident and urged the president to summon Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto to solve the dispute.

"President [Susilo Bambang] Yudhoyono must do something. It's not only for Christians, but for all religions, to ensure that they have right to conduct religious activities in their own country," she said.

Last week, Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam met with representatives of GKI Taman Yasmin in a dialogue to settle the dispute surrounding the controversial ban on the church's activities.

The meeting was a follow-up to Yudhoyono's order to settle the dispute through dialogue. He said he would report the result to the President but could not guarantee a complete solution to the problem.

The GKI Yasmin church members have been barred from conducting their religious services inside their own building, and even on the street near the church, for more than two years.

Yudhoyono has repeatedly asked Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto to abide by the Supreme Court ruling, which favored the congregation in the dispute over the church. However, the Bogor administration has insisted on sealing the church despite the ruling, saying that the church's existence could trigger conflicts with residents living around the site.

During Christmas, the church's members were prevented from holding Christmas mass in their own church by a group of hard-liners who protested the celebration and police officers who blockaded access to the church on Jl. KH Muhammmad Nuh. The congregation then moved the Christmas mass into a member's house.

Bumper sticker sparks new clash at Indonesian church

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2012

Vento Saudale, Bogor – A bumper sticker prompted members of the hard-line Islamic Reform Movement to attack several members of the GKI Yasmin church on Sunday.

The bumper sticker, on the back of a church member's car, said, "We need a friendly Islam, not an angry Islam."

Scores of vociferous Muslims from the group known as the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis) terrorized members of the congregation who came to the church's New Year's Eve service in Bogor, GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging said.

Garis chairman Majudien was infuriated by the sticker and began to run after the car. The incident led the congregation to disband and move the service to the home of one of the members. "What is the aim of that sticker being put there? That is a provocative action against us, the Muslims of Bogor," Majudien said.

Bona said that the sticker was a souvenir that was distributed by the family of the late former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid during a commemoration of his death on Friday.

"All guests who came, including the chairman of the Constitutional Court, the deputy religious affairs minister and other VIPs also got the same souvenir, the same sticker," he said.

On Sunday, the mob from Garis shouted at church members when they began to arrive but were prevented from physical contact by hundreds of police officers who separated the congregation from the crowd.

Lawmaker Indah Kurnia on Sunday said that cases of intolerance like in Bogor should not be allowed to continue and called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to intervene. "There is no need to just say that the green light had been given; the evidence is that the congregation cannot worship at its church," Indah said.

Also present there was the chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Ifdhal Kasim, but he did not comment.

Bona said that the church was waiting for Yudhoyono to take action. "The president has said that he has tasked the concerned ministers to ascertain that the law is firmly upheld in the case of the GKI Yasmin and we are now awaiting the steps," Bona said.

The church has been illegally sealed off by the city administration on the pretext that the congregation doctored a petition needed to obtain a building permit. The congregation has since 2008 been forced to hold Sunday services on the sidewalk outside the church.

Family home and business raided by anti-Shiite mob

Antara News - January 2, 2012

A mob has looted the home and shop of a Shiite family in Sampang, East Java, after an attack on a nearby Shia Muslim boarding school a day earlier.

UIul Albab, 39, said the mob on Friday evening ransacked his home and an adjoining shop he owned in Karangpenang. He added that he suspected the looters were members of the same group of Sunnis who had attacked and set fire to a nearby Shia Muslim boarding school on Thursday.

He said that the looters took motorcycles, clothes and everything of value in the house. "The entire contents of the shop that is adjoining the house was also gone," Ulul said.

Ulul is one of the 351 Shiites in the region who are now seeking shelter elsewhere following Thursday's attack on the boarding school.

He and the others were evacuated by local officials to the Sampang sports stadium. He said that they were willing to leave once they had reassurances from the district police that their property and goods would be kept safe.

"The fact is, the property of our friends is still being looted by the mob. Where is the promise that was made to us? Is it because we are a minority that we are treated like this?" asked a tearful Iklil Almilal, also a Shiite, at the shelter.

Iklil said that they did not know for sure whether the livestock they left in their village was still there. "What is clear is that if there is no certainty provided by the district authority or the Sampang police, it is better for us not to return home," Iklil said.

Meanwhile, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that other Shia properties were also looted in the area.

"We are still receiving reports from the people who have fled that a number of houses belonging to the Shiites in Nangkernang are being looted by unidentified people," said Andy Irfan, coordinator of the local branch of Kontras.

He said that Shia families in the area continued to face threats and that the continued looting has convinced them the police are not serious about restoring order.

"The laissez faire approach of the Sampang district authorities, the East Java government, the Central government and Komnas HAM [the National Commission on Human Rights] are a form of human rights violations and therefore just evacuating the Shiites is not the solution," Andy said. He urged the government to come up with policies protecting the Shiites.

Sunni and Shiite Muslims disagree on the identity of the rightful successor to the prophet Muhammad.

Islam & religion

Faith campaigns prompt early marriages

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2012

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Indonesia is facing significant social changes, as is demonstrated by the trend of marriages among young people as they encounter a growing number of religious-based advocacy groups that say early marriage leads to an ideal life, activists say.

"It isn't just about saying 'it's better to get married than commit adultery or sin' but it is also about the idea of marriage and what it can bring to people so their life is more meaningful," Nur Hidayati Handa-yani, a member of the Youth Advisory Panel of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Indonesia, said on Friday.

She believed that religious-based groups have advocated that young people get married early to protect them against illegal sexual acts as ruled by their religious principles.

"A woman's life is said to be not complete without getting married and having children. This encourages young people to get married early," said Handayani, adding that such faith-based campaigns had taken place in campuses through discussion and peer dialogue sessions.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) population census, the average age of marriage for Indonesian people declined to 19.2 years in 2010 from 19.8 in the 2000 census.

Sugiri Syarief of the National Demography and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), said the longer span of reproductive life would bring bigger impacts on the number of children that women could have during their lifetime, possibly hampering the country's efforts to lower its population growth to 1.1 percent per year by 2015 from 1.49 percent in 2010.

"The average reproductive life span for a woman is about 30 years. They will have more children with a longer span of reproductive life."

The trend of the young to marry is also apparent in the National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas), a series of large-scale multipurpose socioeconomic surveys, carried out in the last decade.

Terence H. Hull, a professor of demography from the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute at the Australian National University, said that there had not been a huge change between the age of marriage in 2000 and 2010. Rather than continuing to increase, however, the age of marriage was now going down, he added.

"It means that those who have changed behavior, or now behave differently from their older sisters, are Muslims," said Hull, who conducted the analysis on the 2010 census results.

Although people with low education levels got married at younger ages, the 2010 census showed that women enrolled in tertiary education levels were increasingly likely to be married early.

However, Hull said, it seemed that the foundation of moral changes and decisions that had been taking place in Indonesia reflected the desire to have a unified Indonesian identity. "What is the strongest unifying force in Indonesia today? It is Islam," he said.

Many young women are looking at their peer groups with growing interest in relation to the so-called romanticized view of marriage as they saw in movies and television shows.

"If the meaning of life is to find a soulmate and celebrate Valentine's Day, then social media or group-based activities can be a strong motivational force that says just marry when you are ready to, because it is your life," Hull said.

Poverty & unemployment

Inequality dogs Indonesia's progress

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2012

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Government agencies say that several provinces in eastern Indonesia cannot provide basic public services – despite rich natural resources and trillions of rupiah in government assistance.

Although Papua, West Papua, Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara are among 16 provinces that have made significant progress in reducing poverty over the last five years, local administrations have registered slow progress in providing healthcare to residents.

The latest Community Health Development Index (IPKM) named Papua and West Papua as the provinces with the worst performance, based on health-related indicators.

According to the annual report, released on Wednesday by the Health Ministry, at least 50 percent of the regencies and municipalities in 10 provinces, including Papua and West Papua, faced serious public health problems, ranging frowm high levels of malnutrition, higher-than-average child and maternal mortality rates, low immunization rates, higher levels of disease and poor access to clean water, sanitation and trained healthcare workers.

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said that the provinces faced tough challenges in providing healthcare to residents due to the scale of their social and economic provinces.

"Several provinces, such as Aceh, are affected by conflicts that hamper their development; while some provinces in the eastern part of the country are disaster-prone areas," Endang told reporters at a press conference at the Health Ministry to deliver reports on healthcare improvements for 2011.

The 10 provinces identified as lagging in healthcare were East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Gorontalo, Maluku, Aceh, North Maluku, Papua, Southeast Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), West Sulawesi, and West Papua.

In Papua and West Papua, the areas of Mappi, Asmat, Yahukimo, Paniai, Puncak Jaya and Pegunungan Bintang scored dismally on the IPKM's healthcare ranking.

According to a report from the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Papua, West Papua, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Aceh were regions with high numbers of poor people.

Papua was ranked the nation's poorest province by Bappenas, with 32 percent of its residents considered "poor", far above the national poverty rate of 12.49 percent.

West Papua was second with 31.9 percent and Maluku was in third place with 23 percent. Jakarta was the nation's wealthiest province, with only 3.7 percent of its population considered poor.

The resort island of Bali also fared well, with 4.2 percent of its residents living in poverty, according to the report.

Papua, however, remains poor – despite the fact that it is awash in cash. Despite experts who claimed that Papua's special autonomy funds were "unproductive" in improving the welfare of local residents, the government recently approved a 23 percent increase in the funds.

In the 2012 state budget, West Papua is slated to receive Rp 1.64 trillion (US$186.96 million), up significantly from Rp 1.33 trillion in 2011, while Papua will get Rp 3.8 trillion, up from Rp 3.1 trillion.

The reports also showed a disparity between the western and eastern parts of the nation.

In a report released last year, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said that Java was home to 57 percent of the economy, with scant signs of a shift to other regions, despite President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's repeated pledges to shrink the developmental gap between the provinces.

As of the third quarter of 2011, Java and Sumatra together comprised 81.3 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).

The agency also reported a slight GDP shift in favor of Sumatra and Kalimantan, which experienced booms in crude palm oil (CPO) and coal production in recent years. Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of both commodities.

Sumatra's share of GDP grew to 23.6 percent, up from 23.1 percent in 2010, according to the BPS, while Kalimantan's share increased to 9.5 percent, up from 9.2 percent.

With Java responsible for the lion's share of Indonesia's GDP, it is no surprise that talented people from the other regions flock to the island, which is now home to 58 percent of the country's 237 million people.

The island is now one of the world's most densely populated areas. Many poor people from as far as Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara – among the nation's most underdeveloped provinces – are also coming to Java in droves.

Analysts have also said that the nation's developmental discrepancies contributed to conflicts in Papua and other regions in eastern Indonesia, where the poverty rate remains high, despite huge amounts of natural resources.

Land disputes & mining

Residents shoo away Palu police chief after clash

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2012

Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – Palu Police chief Brig. Gen. Dewa Parsanan received a cold reception when he arrived in Nunu subdistrict, Central Sulawesi, to try clam tempers following a violent clash between local residents of two neighboring subdsitricts, on Saturday.

The Nunu residents shouted at the police chief, demanding he leave the area at once after he told Nunu residents to refrain from violence and instead allow the authorities to do their work.

Dewa came to Nunu just before a burial ceremony began for a Nunu resident who was killed in the clash on Saturday morning. "We don't need the police. They are useless. Let the military stand guard here," one of the residents shouted.

The police chief and a number of police officers who were there left immediately. No police officers were seen during the burial of the resident, who was identified as Ridwan, alias Duang, 32.

Palu Deputy Mayor Andi Mulhanan Tombolotutu, who was present during the burial, told Nunu residents to calm down and not attempt to avenge Ridwan's death. The burial took place at around 4 p.m. local time (3 p.m. Jakarta time).

"It will be the loss of all of us if you all retaliate. Please consider our poor children and mothers. They will be worried," Mulhanan said.

However, hundreds of Nunu residents who had flocked to the scene responded to Mulhanan's words by shouting "revenge, revenge, revenge". Mulhanan then took one of the residents' hands and asked the latter to follow him to his car so that he could calm him down.

Residents from Nunu, West Palu, clashed with other residents from the neighboring subdistrict of Tavanjuka, South Palu. They wielded machetes, stones, spears, arrows and air guns in the clash.

A number of houses were set ablaze and one person, Ridwan, was shot dead, allegedly by an airgun projectile, during the clash.

There have been many such clashes between residents from the two subdistricts in the past, with the latest one, which left seven people injured, occurring last Dec. 23.

Komnas HAM, police form joint team to probe killing of protesters

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2012

Farouk Arnaz & Ezra Sihite – Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights has established a joint fact-finding team with police following a meeting with National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo on Friday.

Members of the commission known as Komnas HAM have said they had found "indications of human rights violations" by the police in the shooting of protesters in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, on Dec. 24 and argued that three people were killed and not two as the police had claimed.

But in an apparent wavering step, Komnas HAM chairman Ifdhal Kasim said the commission and the National Police agreed to form a joint fact-finding team to seek the true death toll.

"We had clarification and there was an agreement for a joint investigation, so that there is clarity because there were two shot dead outside of the port and one who died in his home and the perpetrators need to be ascertained," Ifdhal said after a meeting at the National Police headquarters.

Ifdhal, who was accompanied by commission members Nurkholis and Ridha Saleh, could not say who would be part of the team, when it would be formed and when it would begin work.

Timur, speaking on the same occasion, said the joint investigations would be "to clear what has so far been a problem, for example on the matter of the deaths, whether they are because of [security] personnel or what," Timur said.

Ifdhal and Ridha said earlier in the week that a Komnas HAM investigation team had found indications of human rights violations by the police.

Police have remained adamant that only two protesters were shot dead in the incident and the third one, whom they said had not taken part in the protests, had died of stomach problems. They also said they were still looking for the shooters.

Three members of the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and two police intelligence unit officers have been punished over the incident in Bima. They were ordered detained for three days for beating and kicking the protesters when police tried to disband them in an attempt to clear the Sape harbor, which they had occupied for days in protest against a gold mining operation in the area.

Who owns gold miner Sumber Mineral Nusantara, the company that received the gold exploration permit from the Bima district chief, is still unknown. The permit is at the core of the protest.

"PT SMN is just at its exploration phase, but it is already chaotic. The forest has started to be logged," said Adian Lubis, from the Bima chapter of the National Student League for Democracy.

The students were accompanying Bima residents, who also did not know who owned the company, in meeting members of House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs here.

Meanwhile, Ramadhan Pohan, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, said he had information from journalists that he had already verified that suggested SMN might have been working in collusion with Bima district chief Ferry Zulkarnain, who is also the local Golkar Party chapter chief.

"We have discovered that SMN was one of the main financial backers of the district chief during the local elections," Pohan said. Ferry and his officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Law enforcement is vital for 'just' mining

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2012

Jakarta – The Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) warned on Friday that the development of the mining industry and other extractive business, might remain uncertain if the government failed to strictly enforce legal regulations and take environmental concerns into consideration.

"Mining will always damage the environment. However, we can reduce its impact with strict monitoring on how companies run their operations and interact with people around their mining operation. And we can only achieve this if the government is honest, transparent and just," Jatam coordinator Andrie South Wijaya, said.

He said that giving licenses for mining companies to operate without thorough audits will only create additional conflict in the future. "To simply open new site for mining exploration will not boost production or investment in the industry," Andrie told The Jakarta Post.

Earlier this week, the Indonesian Geologists Association (IAGI) said that government should encourage companies to open new areas for oil exploration, especially in the eastern part of the country, due to the significant drop in oil production last year.

"Indonesia will not be able to boost its oil production this year because companies have only been exploring oil from existing sources. We have found very few new sources for oil exploration since the year 2000. Therefore, opening new sources for exploration is a must," chairman of IAGI Rovicky Dwi Putohari said.

IAGI noted that Indonesia's oil production was down to 903,441 barrels per day in 2011 from 944,898 barrels per day in 2010.

IAGI said that the government should encourage exploration in the eastern parts of the country because most of the region's rich oil resources, as well as other mining resources, were yet to be explored.

"The government must promote eastern parts of Indonesia for mining investment. However, the government must also support investors by developing the infrastructure to attract investors to come. The topography of eastern parts of the country is challenging but that won't be a problem as long as decent infrastructure is available," Rovicky said.

IAGI suggested, however, that the government should only allow companies with good mining practices to explore the new frontier.

"Only big companies can live up to standards of good mining practice. They also empower local residents, for example by hiring them, as well as by generating community empowerment programs through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs," Rovicky said.

Singgih Widagdo, IAGI's chief of natural resources division, said that many small mining operators had yet to conduct good mining practices.

He attributed the riot in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara to mining company PT Sumber Mineral Nusantara's failure to follow good mining practices.

"The central government should take responsibility, although the mining permit was issued by the local administration. Article 217 of Law No. 32 on Regional Government obliges the central government to educate and supervise regional governments in performing their function," he said.

Andrie, however, disagreed with IAGI's suggestion to encourage big mining companies to open more operations. He said mining giants like PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara were as problematic as small mining companies.

"The government must first audit all operational permits of existing mining companies. We learned that there are currently 9,662 permits issued, of which only 3,778 are categorized as clean and clear. This means that local governments have issued another 5,884 licences through dubious processes," he said. (msa)

Government lacks will to resolve Mesuji killings case: Victims

Jakarta Globe - January 3, 2012

Anita Rachman – Disappointment greeted the preliminary conclusions of the government's fact-finding mission on the killings in Mesuji, with victims calling them shallow and unsatisfactory.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's fact-finding team is not only wasting time, but also the nation's budget," retired Maj. Gen. Saurip Kadi told a news conference on Tuesday.

"It's clear they do not have the will to resolve the case." Saurip, a member of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) Proclamation 45 Savior Front, helped the residents of Mesuji district in Lampung bring the case to the public's attention last month.

They were responding to the preliminary findings revealed on Monday by the team led by Deputy Justice Minister Denny Indrayana.

Denny said the team found that there were land disputes between local villagers and plantation companies, and that there were nine casualties from conflicts in the three areas in 2010 and 2011, a fact already announced by the National Police last month.

Saurip said those were not the findings the victims had hoped for and demanded more firm solutions, such as revoking of permits of troubled plantation companies, handing back the land to the people, rebuilding homes and public facilities destroyed in the conflict and justice for human rights violations.

During a Monday news conference, Denny skirted around questions on whether human rights were violated in Mesuji. "It hurts Mesuji's people very much, it seems, to say that there has been no human tragedy in Mesuji," Saurip said.

Residents of other areas facing similar land disputes were also present at Tuesday's news conference in Jakarta, including from Mandailing Natal in North Sumatra, Riau, Sampang in Madura and Central Kalimantan. Each representative gave testimony about what had been going on in their areas, mostly regarding land disputes.

"We've been fighting for our land in Rohan Hilir, Riau, for 11 years now," said a woman who identified herself as Fifi.

Jojok South Putra, also from the group, said the clock was ticking and if the government didn't act, the people would because the same tragedy was taking place across the country. "The time bomb is going to explode. We won't settle [for it] anymore. Revoke all the plantation permits," Jojok said.

Indriaswati Dyah Saptaningrum, the fact-finding team's spokeswoman and the executive director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), told the Jakarta Globe that the recommendations were only preliminary.

She also said the team was doing a legal audit on five plantation companies in the area scheduled to be finished in two weeks. From the audit, she said, the team would know whether companies violated regulations. "We may revoke their permits if we find the companies have violated the regulations," Indriaswati said.

Police violated procedures in Bima crackdown: Komnas HAM

Jakarta Globe - January 3, 2012

Ronna Nirmala – The National Commission on Human Rights concluded on Tuesday that police violated their own procedures in the violent, deadly crackdown on an anti-mining rally at Sape port in West Nusa Tenggara's Bima district last month.

"The police directly used firearms," Nurkholis, deputy chairman of the commission known as Komnas HAM, said on Tuesday.

Nurkholis said instead of firing on the protesters, a move which resulted in at least two deaths and 12 injuries, police should have employed non- lethal crowd dispersal techniques such as blunt truncheons, tear gas or pepper spray.

The commission also accused officers of using unnecessary force in subduing many of the protesters. "If we see [the video], there were officers that beat and kicked people who had surrendered," said Ridha Saleh, the head of the investigation team.

Investigators also challenged the police's assertion that only two protesters had died in the crackdown, neither of them from being shot. The commission said that there were three people killed by police gunfire, namely Syaiful (17), Arif Rahman (18) and Syarifudin (46).

Investigators also counted at least 30 injured in the incident, including children. "Ten of them [injured protesters] are children, with ages ranging from 13 to 17 years old," Ridha said.

Police have named five officers as suspects in their own investigation of the crackdown.

Two more officers named suspects in deadly crackdown on Bima protest

Jakarta Globe - January 3, 2012

Farouk Arnaz – Two more officers were named as suspects on Monday for beating protesters in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, last month, but no one has yet been charged in the shooting deaths of two of the protesters.

The police announced on Saturday that three officers had been named suspects for assaulting protesters, but also not for shooting at them. National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution said on Monday that the earlier three officers had been arrested.

"We have arrested three of our members who were involved in the violence," the spokesman said. "There is a disciplinary offense for hitting and kicking [demonstrators]. It is possible that the officers will also face criminal charges."

Saud did not identify the three officers, but Brig. Gen. Budi Waseso, the head of internal monitoring at the National Police, previously said they were low-ranking personnel from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit.

Saud said the two officers named suspects on Monday had also been charged. They have been identified as First Brig. A and First Brig. MS, both from the Bima district police.

"We will have an [internal] tribunal for all five soon," he said. Saud did not explain why the two Bima Police officers had not been detained.

Police found eight bullets from the bodies of protesters, including the two who were killed, Arief Rachman, 18, and Syaiful, 17.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said last week that the two did not die from police fire. He said the bodies had been found at least 700 meters from the scene of the violence. "This is what we are trying to find out, how they were killed while [protesters] at the seaport didn't die," he said.

On Dec. 24, in an effort to disperse protesters who had occupied the Sape ferry port for days, the police reportedly opened fire on the crowd.

The police have argued that the protesters, who had occupied the port in opposition to an exploration permit granted to a gold mining company in Bima, had disrupted vital transportation links between Sumbawa and the island of Flores, inflicting damage to the local economy.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has sent a team to investigate the violence, but has not announced its findings.

Disciplinary sanctions insufficient: Rights commission

Jakarta Post - January 3, 2012

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights says that any police officers found guilty in a recent Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, clash deserve more than disciplinary sanctions for their actions.

"Those found guilty should be punished, not only with administrative or disciplinary sanctions, but also criminal ones," commission deputy chairman Ridha Shaleh said Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution earlier said that five Bima Police officers could face disciplinary action for committing procedural violations in handling the protest in Bima.

One West Nusa Tengara Mobile Brigade officer has been charged with beating a protestor with a weapon, while four Bima Police officers were accused of beating and kicking protestors from behind.

Ridha demanded the National Police conduct an independent investigation into policemen who were present at the scene, including the West Nusa Tenggara and Bima Police chiefs, who he said were partly responsible for the violence that had occurred.

"The commanders and police superiors who did not prevent [such violence from happening] and even let their men commit violence, should also be questioned and legally processed [in a civil court]," he said.

On Dec. 24, officers and protestors clashed when a number of residents, citing environmental concerns, demonstrated against the Bima administration by blocking the road to Sape port, demanding the revocation of a mining permit issued to PT Sumber Mineral Nusantara.

Two residents from Suni village, identified as Arif Rahman, 18, Syaiful, 17, and a West Nusa Tenggara Muhammadiyah University student, Immawan Ashary, were killed during the clash. (awd)

Mesuji mission retraces old steps

Jakarta Globe - January 3, 2012

Ulma Haryanto – More than two weeks after shocking allegations from the district of Mesuji in Lampung came to light, the government's fact-finding team has declined to say whether human rights were violated in the district.

"Further analysis is necessary and we will coordinate with Komnas HAM [National Human Rights Commission] regarding human rights-related issues," Deputy Justice Minister Denny Indrayana, who heads the fact-finding team, said on Monday after submitting a progress report. They team is due to submit a full report on Jan. 16.

The team was established on Dec. 16 after a group of farmers from Mesuji came to the House of Representatives alleging mass murders by police and private militias employed by two plantation companies amid a dispute over land.

The farmers showed a gruesome video depicting a raid they say was ordered by the company and gunmen shooting and then decapitating villagers. Though it was later revealed that parts of the video were shot somewhere else, Denny said on Monday that his team will focus on "the parts that did happen."

In a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo, National Land Agency (BPN) head Joyo Winoto and Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan, the team presented its progress report regarding three separate land conflicts in the adjoining provinces of Lampung and South Sumatra.

However, most of the team's findings restated information already known. "Our preliminary findings are that there were land disputes between local villagers and the company, although the details in each issue differs," Denny said, adding that the land disputes have occurred over a long time.

The team also found that there were nine casualties resulting from the conflicts in the three areas in 2010 and 2011, a fact already announced by the National Police last month.

Denny said there were four different participants in the disputes: villagers, plantation companies, local governments, and security officers. "There were also parties who took advantage of the unrest by committing illegal land transactions," Denny said.

Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said the team's unclear mandate would not solve anything.

"I already said from the start that the fact-finding team is a waste of time," he said. "For instance, it is still not clear what they are investigating, [because] if it is human rights, we already have Komnas HAM."

Haris also added that the team has so far avoided going directly to the root cause of the conflict. "We all know that the source was land conflicts, but the team never properly addressed this," he said.

Komnas HAM official Ridha Saleh said that the organization has since April said that there were human rights abuses carried out by security officers hired by plantation company Sumber Wangi Alam in Sungai Sodong village.

Riau protest against paper company won't end until decision, activists say

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2012

Ezra Sihite – Thirteen days into their protest against paper firm Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper outside the House of Representatives, demonstrators say they will stay put until at least this week.

The protestors from Padang Island in Riau province claim RAPP's forest concessions encroach on their customary forests, a charge the firm strenuously denies. Many of the protestors who have camped out in front of the House since Dec. 19, sewed their mouths shut in a symbolic act of defiance.

Forestry Ministry officials are expected to meet with the head of Riau's Meranti district and authorities from Padang Island to discuss the protests.

Protest coordinator Muhammad Ridwan said that the meeting had to reach a decision regarding RAPP's exploration in the area before they would return home.

The demonstrators claim RAPP's exploration activities in the forests are destroying the environment, as well as encroaching on traditional farmlands. Ridwan said that earlier, around 6,000 residents marched to the Meranti administrative offices, while protestors in Jakarta spread their demonstration to the Forestry Ministry.

Twenty-seven of the 82 protestors camped at the House sewed their mouths shut, but doctors later removed the stitches over concerns for their health.

There are also concerns about the protestors' depleted funds, their treasurer Nurhadi said. The Rp 30 million ($3,300) they had collected to embark on the protest had all been spent more than a week ago.

They are now counting on assistance – in he form of packed meals, rice, eggs and other basic goods – from Jakartans and people from Padang Island working in the capital.

"We're also getting help from people at the Meranti Center," Nurhadi said, referring to an organization set up by a Meranti native in Jakarta. "We don't get stuff every day," Ridwan said. "But people always help out where they can."

RAPP officials stated that if the protestors could prove that the company was clearing forests that the villagers had customary rights to, RAPP would abandon its plans to operate in the area.

The company has also questioned the motives of the protestors and implied that they may not all be Padang Island natives. "For all we know, there are ex-cons among the protestors," RAPP president commissioner Tony Wenas said on Dec. 23.

Indonesian police officers named suspects in Bima anti-mine violence

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2012

Farouk Arnaz – An internal investigation by the National Police has led to three officers being named suspects in the violence in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, but for assaulting protesters, not shooting at them.

"The three are suspects in the context of indiscipline," said Brig. Gen. Budi Waseso, the head of internal security at the National Police. "We have named them suspects based on the video that has been widely circulated in the media. They beat up and kicked protesters."

Budi did not identify the three officers but said they were low-ranking police personnel attached to the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit. He said the three faced sanctions from the police, and could also be charged under the Criminal Code.

"But proving a crimes might be hard because the victims have to be questioned," he said. "If criminal charges are filed, the case will be taken over by the National Police's detectives unit." The number of suspects, he added, might still increase, both in terms of number and rank.

Budi is part of a police team that traveled to Bima to investigate the incident. The team has so far questioned 151 police officers and 18 residents about the violence at Sape port. He did not say if any officers would be named suspects for opening fire on the protesters, leaving two people dead and another 11 wounded.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has also sent a team to investigate the Sape violence. It has said that three peopled died as a result of the shooting. Its commissioners have said the team has found indications of violations of police procedure in the handling of the protests.

Netta Pane, head of Indonesia Police Watch, a nongovernmental group, has said that the police should only use live ammunition after exhausting all other means to disperse a crowd, including the use of rubber and blank bullets, water cannons, tear gas and the deployment of riot police.

The police, however, have insisted that there were no breaches of procedure by the officers involved in the Sape incident.

In his year-end press conference on Friday, National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the police had not committed any human rights violations in 2011, despite what would seem to be an abundance of evidence to the contrary. Timur said the video of the violence in Bima only showed the end of the clash, and that the police had followed all procedures before that.

He said the police were also investigating how the two dead protesters were found some 700 to 900 meters away from the port where the violence took place. "We are looking into this, how they were found dead there, while at the location there were no deaths," Timur said.

On Dec. 24, in their effort to disperse protesters who had occupied the Sape ferry port for days, the police opened fire on the crowd. Two people were found shot dead.

Conflicts can flare up in resource-rich areas: Walhi

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2012

Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) warned the government that social unrest may arise from natural resource conflicts in 2012 if the government refuses to "listen to the people".

Walhi's executive director, Berry Nahdian Forqan, said that conflicts over natural resources would get worse in 11 provinces, particularly in areas with abundant natural resources, including mining and oil palm plantations, such as in North Sumatra and Jambi.

"People are more aware of their rights. They are getting braver to fight for their rights against repressive authority. This can lead to an uncontrollable social unrest if the government refuses to listen to their voices," said Berry.

He added that the government should also review regulations that could trigger conflicts, such as the law on land acquisition, which "allows the government to rob people's land in the name of economic growth".

Walhi recorded 103 conflicts over natural resources, of which 28.44 percent relating to forestry, 26.47 percent to oil palm plantations, and 24.51 percent to mining.

The latest fatalities came from conflicts related to natural resources which broke out in Mesuji, in the province of Lampung, Sumatra and in Bima in the province of West Nusa Tenggara.

While controversy regarding footages of the incidents in Lampung remains, such conflicts could be prevented if the government is willing to listen to the aspirations of the local population.

Meanwhile, the National Police have named five police officers as suspects in the recent incident at Bima, which claimed the lives of three protesters.

"The number of suspects can increase," National Police internal affairs division head Brig. Gen. Budi Wasesa said as quoted by detik.com on Saturday.

He said police were still investigating the case, and are particularly focused on finding the bullets that were used by the police officers to shoot the victims in the Bima incident.

"We have seized the suspects' weapons but we need to find the projectile," he said. Budi added police also possessed video evidence showing the suspects hitting protesters.

56 residents, 5 police named suspects in Bima clash

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2012

Jakarta – Police have named 56 Bima residents and five West Nusa Tenggara Police officers suspects in a clash that took place between protesters and authorities at Sape port on Dec. 24, 2011. The 56 residents are now in police custody.

"We are handling 56 residents who have been named suspects in the Bima clash," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution said at his office in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

He also said that police had named two officers suspects in the Bima clash, adding to the three police officers previously named in the same case.

"The two officers [most recently named suspects] come from the Bima Police, First Brig. A and First. Brig. MS," Saud said as quoted tribunnews.com. "We will bring all five [police] suspects to the disciplinary court in the near future," he said.

Police had earlier indicted First Brig. F and First. Brig. S, both of whom are members of the Bima Police, and Second Brig. F from the West Nusa Tenggara Mobile Brigade.

Saud also said police were continuing their investigation to determine if bullets that killed and injured residents during the clash matched those used by authorities.

"We recovered eight rubber bullets from the bodies of victims who were injured and are now being treated in a hospital in Bima. We will determine what kind of weapon was used," he said.

The clash began when a number of residents, citing environmental concerns, demonstrated against the Bima administration by blocking the road to Sape port, demanding the revocation of a mining permit issued to PT Sumber Mineral Nusantara.

Two residents from Suni village, identified as Arif Rahman, 18, Syaiful, 17, and a West Nusa Tenggara Muhammadiyah University student, Immawan Ashary, were killed during the clash. (mtq)

Parliament & legislation

Legislators urged to pull plug on Rp 2 billion toilet upgrade

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2012

Ezra Sihite – Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) has been urged to pull the plug on a scheme to renovate toilets in the Nusantara 1 building, which houses the offices of the political factions.

Hajrianto Tohari, deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), rejected the idea to spend Rp 2 billion ($218,000) on renovating 220 toilet cubicles.

"Even the toilet is clogged, it is alright," the Golkar legislator said. "The public don't agree with the House plan to build anything, so we should just follow what they say."

Legislators have complained that the toilets are in a poor condition and stink. The House also recently announced plans to spend Rp 3 billion to upgrade a motorcycle parking area.

Last year, the House canceled plans to build a new office building costing Rp 1.3 trillion after a public outcry and allegations of shady dealings.

Ethnic & communal violence

Police arrest 18 in running gang war in South Jakarta

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2012

Zaky Pawas – Police have arrested 18 men following a fresh clash between two organizations with a long history of hostility, the Betawi Rempug Forum and the Pancasila Youth, police said on Tuesday.

Members of the two groups fought street battles in at least three locations in South Jakarta on Monday night, South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Imam Sugianto said. A platoon of about 15 police were deployed to the sites, with the last clash taking place around midnight.

"The total number of people arrested stood at 18, from both groups," Imam said, adding that dozens of knives, machetes, golf clubs and even Molotov cocktails were confiscated from three locations.

Imam suspected that the violence was prompted by rivalries between members of the two groups, which have fought each other many times in the past.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Yossie Prihambodo, the operational head of the South Jakarta Police, said the Betawi Rempug Forum (FBR) held a rally in Pondok Aren and members then drove by Kebayoran Lama, which is considered Pancasila Youth (PP) turf.

"They then engaged in anarchic actions," Yossie said, leading to the first clash erupting on Jalan Raden Fatah in Ciledug, South Tangerang, around 4 p.m. on Monday. Hundreds of FBR members, carrying bamboo and wood sticks, then conducted a sweep to find PP members and in the process damaged an angkot (public minivan).

Yossie said the crowd then dissolved before later brawling and throwing rocks. Two people were injured in the violence, one from each side.

Ciledug Police chief Comr. Sukirman said the FBR crowd then moved from Ciledug to Cipulir, also in South Jakarta, where the men laid a PP outpost to waste. There was no one injured in that incident.

Police moved in and disbanded the mob, but they apparently moved on to near the Sudimara train station in Kerbayoran Lama, where they once again clashed with PP members. The violence finally came to an end around midnight.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar said police will no longer mediate between the two groups and vowed to act firmly against any future unrest caused by members of the factions. "We will not try to mediate the conflict anymore. We will pursue legal action from now on," he said.

Criminal justice & prison system

Activists vow to collect 1,000 bananas for police

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2012

Agus Maryono, Cilacap – Banyumas Muhammadiyah student activists initiated on Friday a movement to collect 1,000 bananas as a show of support for Kuatno, a man charged with stealing 15 banana bunches in Cilacap, Central Java.

The activists set up a post in front of SMA Muhammadiyah high school in Purwokerto, Central Java. "We are hoping that residents aware of this banana case will be willing to donate bananas to us at this post," movement coordinator Irfan Fatkhurohman said.

Irfan added that the activists would send the bananas to the Cilacap Police and the National Police headquarters.

This latest protest movement comes hot on the heels of a similar movement after a 15-year-old boy, identified as A.A.L., went on trial in which he faced a five year prison sentence for stealing a pair of flip-flops belonging to a police officer.

Kuatno and his friend, Topan, have been in police detention since Nov. 11, 2011, when they were caught red-handed stealing bananas in Kalisabuk. They admitted to stealing nine bunches of bananas but police said they found 15 bunches in their possession.

Meanwhile, the Cilacap Prosecutors' Office did not want to accept the police dossiers on the two alleged banana thieves on Friday because the alleged perpetrators had been declared mentally ill by a team of psychologists at Cilacap General Hospital.

"We've been informed that the two suspects – Kuatno, 22, and Topan, 25 – suffer from mental retardation. Therefore, we do not want to accept the two suspects and their evidence from the police," head of the prosecutors' office Silijati said.

Silijati said that the two suspects and their dossiers had been handed over to her office by the police, who had deemed the data complete. Responding to several media reports that the two suspected thieves were mentally handicapped, the prosecutors' office arranged for the pair to undergo medical tests.

"This was done because the dossiers had not included the results of the health and psychology examinations conducted by the investigators," Sulijati said.

News reports in Banyumas said that the Cilacap Police had detained the two alleged banana thieves. One media outlet even referred to the two men as "idiots".

However, Cilacap Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rudi Darmoko denied that the two were mentally ill. "The media report is not true. Based on our investigation, both Kuatno and Topan are normal," he said.

The two suspects, residents of Martasinga village in Cilacap, were detained after they were reported to the police by Mungalim, a resident of the neighboring village of Kalisabuk. The informer said that the two men had stolen 15 banana bunches from him.

On Friday evening, the police insisted that the prosecutors' office accept the dossiers and the latter finally accepted them, but immediately freed the suspects in a bid to close the case.

Indonesian sandal case fuels juvenile court push

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2012

Ezra Sihite & Ulma Haryanto – The House of Representatives is pushing for the passage of Juvenile Court legislation after controversy created by the case of the sandal-stealing teenager.

Aboe Bakar Al Habsyi, a lawmaker from the House Commission III, which oversees legal issues, said the Juvenile Court bill would prevent children from being "jailed."

"Children with legal problems should not be thrown in jail, but instead they should be put into a correction house, like a boarding school or special dorm," he said.

In pushing for the legislation, Aboe Bakar cited the recent case of A.A.L., a 17-year-old boy from Palu, Central Sulawesi, accused of stealing a pair of sandals worth Rp 30,000 ($3.30) from a police officer. His parents alleged the police forced a confession from the boy by beating him before his case was sent to trial.

Even though the court found him guilty, A.A.L. was returned to his parents, and the police officer who accused him was sentenced to 21 days in detention, given a one-year delay on any prospect of promotion as well as a warning.

The essence of the bill, Aboe Bakar said, is restorative justice. "So that the punishment for children does not simply provide a deterrent effect, but also an educational one," he said.

The bill is still under discussion by Commission III and the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection.

But Maria Ulfa Anshor, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI), said that to achieve a judicial system that prioritizes child's protection, both the lawmakers and the government officials have to change their paradigms.

A restorative justice approach, she said, would prioritize mediation and rehabilitation over imprisonment. "If possible, the KPAI suggests that children's prisons be banished. Even though children may commit crimes, they are actually the victims themselves," she said.

The bill, she said, can avoid cases like the sandal theft, or worse, deaths caused by police abuse or adult inmates.

"With delinquents, there is no trial necessary. Police have to be able to mediate, involving the parents so they take responsibility," Maria said. "You also have to see the reason behind the crime: is it the family, environment, or education? A kid will not spontaneously commit a crime. There has to be a cumulative process that leads him to do it."

KPAI estimates that more than 7,000 children could be behind bars nationwide and at least 200 of them are in adult prisons. Indonesia does not have a justice system specifically designed to deal with young delinquents. Law enforcers often take a punitive approach.

If found guilty, juveniles are to be placed in special correctional facilities for children, the law states. A lack of space at these facilities means that often does not occur, and juveniles under police investigation are detained with adult suspects.

The bill would replace the 1997 Juvenile Offenders Law and usher in a new set of regulations compliant with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2010, the president called for reforms in the treatment of juvenile delinquents.

'1,000 bananas for Kuatno' movement organized in Purwokerto

Jakarta Post - January 6, 2012

Jakarta – Banyumas Muhammadiyah student activists initiated on Friday a movement to collect 1,000 bananas for Kuatno, a man charged with stealing bananas in Cilacap, Central Java.

The activists established a post in front of the SMA Muhammadiyah high school in Purwokerto, Central Java, to attract local residents.

"We are hoping that residents who are aware of this banana case will be willing to donate bananas to us at this post," movement coordinator Irfan Fatkhurohman said as quoted by tribunnews.com. Irfan added that the activists would send the collected bananas to Cilacap Police and National Police stations.

This latest protest movement comes hot on the heels of a similar collection for sandals after a 15-year-old boy, identified as A.A.L., recently faced up to five years' imprisonment for allegedly stealing a pair of flip-flops belonging to a police officer.

Kuatno and his friend, Topan, have been detained since Nov. 11, 2011, after being caught red-handed stealing the bananas in Kalisabuk. They admitted stealing nine bunches of bananas but police said they found 15 bunches at the crime scene.

The two men have undergone a psychological examination at the Cilacap Prosecutor's Office in Central Java after Kuatno was said to be mentally retarded. The results of the examination have not yet been released. (swd)

Indonesian teen found guilty of stealing sandals, but free to go

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2012

Rahmat – A 17-year-old boy at the center of a legal and public relations storm was found guilty on Wednesday of stealing a pair of sandals from a policeman and released into the custody of his parents. He had faced up to five years in prison.

Elvis D.J. Kantuwu, the lawyer for the boy, A.A.L., said the district court in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, found that his client "was proved to have engaged in theft and it was decided to return him to his parents."

The lawyer said the boy's parents would file an appeal. Despite the verdict, Elvis continued to protest the innocence of his client, saying there was a lack of evidence of his involvement in the theft in May.

"There are three requirements that could not be met to find A.A.L. guilty of violating Article 362 of the Criminal Code," he said.

First, he said, the police officer who reported A.A.L,, First. Brig. Ahmad Rusdi, told the court that he was uncertain about his accusation, and that it was more a matter of intuition than proof.

In addition, he said, A.A.L.'s friends told the court that the sandals found with A.A.L. were Eiger brand. The police officer said his sandals were Andos.

Elvis also said the police couldn't prove that A.A.L. had taken the sandals, which had been lying in the street some 30 meters from the policeman's rented room.

He also pointed to discrepancies in the verdict about who exactly the sandals in question belonged to. In its legal consideration, the panel of judges said it remained unknown who owned the evidence, and therefore the sandals would be destroyed.

"Looking at all of this, the verdict was inconsistent and contradictory," Elvis said.

The decision by Rusdi to file a police complaint against A.A.L. over a petty theft triggered a wave of public indignation and protest. On Wednesday, scores of protesters rallied outside the Palu courtroom demanding the young defendant's release.

The protesters carried posters criticizing Rusdi and the police. They also had a straw man dressed as a police officer, which they set fire to in front of the courthouse. Protesters also handed over dozens of sandals to the deputy speaker of the Central Sulawesi legislative council, Hendri Kawulur, who was at the court.

"I will accept these sandals as a form of protest against law enforcement in our region," he said before the trial began.

Across the country, people donated sandals as part of a campaign organized by the National Commission on Child Protection (KPAI) to shame the police over the trial. The commission has said it plans to hand over the sandals to the National Police later this week.

Elvis also denied a statement by the National Police that his client had previously stolen six other pairs sandals. The lawyer also disputed a police denial that his client had been beaten up by the plaintiff and one of his colleagues, John Simson.

He said that in court, the defendant had said that Rusdi and Simson had beaten up A.A.L. and two of his friends. "It is really clear that the defendant was mistreated by the plaintiff," Elvis said. Rusdi still faces a disciplinary tribunal.

Officer gets 21 days for abuse of sandal teen

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2012

Makassar – A police officer charged with beating the 17-year-old boy accused of stealing his sandals was sentenced to 21 days behind bars by a police tribunal on Thursday.

First Brig. Ahmad Rusdi Harahap received a written warning, a one-year delay on possible promotion and 21 days detention for ethics violations in abusing the teen and two of his friends in early 2011, Adj. Comr. Soemarno of the Central Sulawesi Police said.

The verdict comes one day after the teen, identified as A.A.L., was judged guilty of stealing the sandals but released from any further punishment. He had been facing up to five years in prison for the theft.

The case caused a public uproar and led to a nationwide protest that saw hundreds of people donating used sandals in a tongue-in-cheek rebuke of what was seen as an irrational and heavy-handed prosecution.

A.A.L. was accused of stealing the sandals in November 2010. Six months later he and two friends were picked up by police and reportedly beaten.

Despite Ahmad's sentence on Thursday, A.A.L.'s lawyer, Johannes Budiman, said the case was not finished. Johannes said that further charges may be brought against the officer in a district court.

"We're not in a rush as we still have to concentrate on filing an appeal on A.A.L's case," Johannes said. (JG/Antara)

Indonesian police charge mentally challenged youth with 'banana theft'

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2012

A mentally challenged youth has been charged with stealing bananas in a case that is likely to draw further criticism of Indonesia's police force, which received international coverage after a teenager was convicted of stealing a pair of sandals from a police officer.

State news agency Antara reported that the young man, Kuatno, 22, from Cilacap in Central Java, had been arrested for the theft of 15 bunches of bananas. Police forwarded the case dossier to prosecutors on Dec. 9, who in turn forwarded the case to the courts on Dec. 23. He is being held in jail at Cilicap Police headquarters.

Kuatno's brother Teguh Sumarno, said he was sure his sibling could not understand his actions "because he is mentally challenged." "He can't read or write, he did not even graduate from elementary school because he could not follow the lessons."

Teguh said the owner of the bananas had already informed the police that he had forgiven Kuatno. Despite this, police were still forging ahead with the case, he said.

Cilacap Police Deputy Chief Comr. Syarif Rahman said on Thursday that they had received no information from the family that the accused was mentally disturbed.

Flip-flops for cops – protesting injustice

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2012

Jakarta – Djubaidah had to charter a public minivan to help her carry a sack of 80 pairs of rubber sandals that she collected to the National Child Protection Commission's (KPAI) office on Jl. Teuku Umar, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday.

The 60-year-old woman – who was accompanied by her children and several relatives – traveled seven kilometers from her home in South Utan Kayu, East Jakarta, to take part in a nationwide campaign against police injustice initiated by several NGOs, including the KPAI.

Djubaidah said she collected the flip-flops for the KPAI out of concern for what happened to A.A.L., the 15-year-old boy detained and beaten by the Central Sulawesi Police and currently facing five years' imprisonment – all for allegedly stealing a police officer's flip-flops.

"It's clear to me that only a few people who have money can enjoy justice in this country," Djubaidah, who sells snacks out of her home, said.

Even common people like her, Djubaidah said, could understand that the country's legal system has not been working properly, as could be seen by the number of high-profile corruptors who have been given lenient sentences.

Djubaidah said she received backing from her neighbors while collecting the sandals over the last three days. "Some of them are mine, but some are contributions from my neighbors who strongly supported me."

Djubaidah is not the only citizen concerned about justice. Others have joined the KPAI's campaign or taken to social media to show their support.

The KPAI wants to collect 1,000 pairs of sandals, which it promised to forward to National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to protest to police injustice in the case.

Those donating their flip-flops come from a host of different backgrounds, ranging from students to becak (pedicab) drivers. The campaign has expanded from Greater Jakarta to other parts of the archipelago, including Surakarta, Central Java; Palu, Central Sulawesi; and Palembang, South Sumatra.

Hadi Nitiharjo, director of SOS Children's Village in Cibubur, East Jakarta, said he joined the campaign to raise the awareness of judges, prosecutors and law-enforcement officers that they were far from being just in pursuing such a small case.

"There are 1,000 different ways to teach a boy a lesson. It should not be by punishing him with a prison sentence. Moreover, there are much bigger and more substantial cases to be solved in this country," he said.

Muhammad Joni from the National Commission for Child Protection said the case demonstrated that many interests were hindering the law. "In theory, a crime should include the substance of an act against the law. In this case, there is no such substance," Joni, also a lawyer, said.

A.A.L.'s trial is underway at the Palu District Court. A second session is scheduled for Wednesday.

The two officers who alleged that A.A.L was a thief – and then beat him while in custody – First Brig. Simson Jones Sipayung and First Brig. Ahmad Rusdi Harahap, have been sentenced to 21 days' incarceration. The officers also had their promotions delayed for one year. (rpt)

Sandal boy charged 'at parents' behest'

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2012

Farouk Arnaz – Feeling the heat following a public campaign to collect 1,000 pairs of sandals to mock a policeman who took a juvenile to court for petty theft, the National Police is now insisting it was the parents of the youth who insisted that he be taken to court.

"We have reminded the parents of A.A.L. that he was still a minor, but the parents and their lawyers were the one demanding the legal process," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution said.

First Brig. Ahmad Rusdi's decision to bring 15-year-old A.A.L. to court in Central Sulawesi's Palu for allegedly stealing his Rp 30,000 ($3.30) pair of sandals has prompted a wave of public indignation and protest.

The National Commission for Child Protection (KPAI), in a high-profile protest against a trial it has described as ludicrous, has kicked off a campaign to collect 1,000 pairs of sandals to hand over to the police.

The drive, involving collection points in several cities, has almost reached its goal. KPAI chairwoman Maria Ulfa Anshor, speaking on Tuesday as the sandals were being counted, said the goal of the campaign was the release of A.A.L. "from the entrapment of unfair justice, one that has no conscience."

Saud said that on May 27, Amad and his colleague Jhon Simson had questioned three youths over the missing pair of sandals and "the three then admitted it."

The following day, A.A.L.'s parents reported the officers to the provincial police, accusing them of forcing a confession by beating the teen. Saud maintained that the policemen had not beaten anyone, claiming that "there was an emotional action of pushing the boy until he fell."

The parents of the three youths were summoned to retrieve their children, but A.A.L.'s parents and lawyer returned the next day to say that they had reported the two policemen for mistreating their child.

"The parents also demanded that their offspring also be reported legally," Saud said. "Once again, it was at the behest of the parents that their child be reported for legal action."

He said police had reminded the parents that their child was still a minor and should not be taken to court. He added that the boy had never been detained.

Both officers, he continued, had been punished with days of detention. Ahmad is still facing a police tribunal for discipline, while the other officer has been censured with a one-year stay of promotion.

Commenting on the sandal collection campaign, Saud said that "if the public wants to hand over sandals, please do. We will accept them and give them to those who need them." According to Maria, a National Police circular had instructed officers to prioritize the needs of child development.

Despite the circular, the chairwoman added, the commission had found that 6,273 minors were being held in jail on criminal charges last year.

[Additional reporting byRonna Nirmala.]

Alleged Palu sandal thief needs religious education, not punishment: MUI

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2012

Dessy Sagita – The Indonesian Council of Ulema on Monday said that the legal process against a teenager accused of stealing a pair of sandals is excessive and not in line with Islamic values.

A 15-year-old boy identified only as AAL is facing up to five years in jail for theft, after a police officer took him to court, accusing him of having stolen his sandals, worth about Rp 30,000 ($3.30). The trial has since prompted mounting public indignation and criticism.

"In Islam, a minor cannot be given the same sanction as adults. The punishment given should be educational," said Amidhan, chairman of the body known as MUI. Amidhan said that the trial of AAL at the Palu District Court in Central Sulawesi, may traumatize the boy and would not teach him anything valuable.

"For minors, being detained in a cell, even for only 15 days or one month, will traumatize them and this will have serious repercussions. In Islam, we prioritize punishment that educates and is not just any punishment," he said.

He suggested that the judges be wise and instead of punitively punishing the offender under the penal code, they should order him to learn Islamic teachings among other things.

"Judges have the authority to act and release that child immediately. It would be better for the child to be forced to learn the sacred verses or learn something else," Amidhan said.

The court case has prompted a national effort to collect sandals in an act of protest.

Amidhan also said that the MUI rejected a proposal made by two hard-line Muslim organizations, the Surakarta Muslim Force (LUIS) and the Solo branch of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), to impose public caning on those found consuming alcoholic beverages.

"The Solo mayor should not follow that suggestion because public caning, for drinkers of alcohol in Solo, is not arranged by the law," Amidhan said.

On Monday, the muslimdaily.net Web site reported that a number of religious organizations in Solo opposed a draft law on alcoholic drinks currently being debated at the city legislative council, saying that it sided with the producers of the alcoholic drinks.

Organizations including LUIS and the Solo FPI, said that violators should be publicly canned to provide a firm deterrent. Amidhan said that although Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic drinks, caning could not be just implemented without a legal basis.

"In Islam, caning is not to physically hurt anyone, but is a formality. Because it is conducted in public, the one punished will be ashamed and the public will not do what he did, but even that has its own regulations," he said.

Caning is only legally allowed in Aceh, where Shariah law is accepted as part of the autonomy deal agreed in the province to end nearly three decades of separatist conflict there in 2005. "This does not mean other areas in Indonesia can follow [Aceh], especially if there's no legal basis for it," Amidhan said.

Police-related crimes are down - but not far enough

Jakarta Post - January 3, 2012

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – First Brig. Simson Jones Sipayung is paying a high price for beating a 15-year-old boy who allegedly stole a fellow police officer's sandals.

The boy, identified as A.A.L., is currently on trial and faces a possible five-year prison term for the theft of the Rp 35,000 (US$4) pair of sandals. The Central Sulawesi Police suspended Sipayung's promotion for one year and a police disciplinary board sentenced Sipayung to 21 days' incarceration for "undermining police integrity".

Separately, the Central Java Police recently dismissed 16 officers for various violations including drug use, robbery, violence and desertion. It recorded 505 public complaints in 2011, a significant increase over 262 complaints in 2010.

Observers deemed the immediate reaction to the involvement of officers in criminal acts as a good sign that the police were working to improve their already tarnished image.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the number of police officers involved in violent and criminal acts was down in 2011, adding that the penalties levied on officers reflected "a commitment from the police as law enforcers and public servants to provide a good example".

However, Al Araf, the program director of human rights watchdog Imparsial, said the decrease did not reflect progress, but instead confirmed existing systemic problems within the police.

"Giving impunity to violating officers creates a space for new violence," he said. "Timur's leadership has also shown the militaristic face of the police."

Al Araf also slammed the police for the slow pace of reform. "The poor welfare of these officers also triggers problems," he added.

The budget for the National Police will increase by 10 percent in 2012, up from the Rp 31.6 trillion budget last year. Ninety percent of the budget will go for operations and for the salaries of 300,000 officers nationwide, Timur originally said that the National Police would have a 7.9 percent increase in its budget this year.

Al Araf said that the violations were examples of how easy it was for police officers to abuse their authority with civilians.

"Do not forget: You can see police violence most apparent in three cases, namely religious freedom issues, agrarian conflicts and Papuan conflicts," he said on Monday. "They are supposed to be independent, but they have failed." Al Araf attributed the failure to a police bias "toward rulers, private companies or those with money or even the majority".

The National Police has been under the spotlight since late last year for alleged involvement of officers in several human rights violations, including a deadly clash in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara.

Five police officers, along with 56 residents, were named suspects in a clash between protesters and authorities in Bima on Dec. 24, 2011, when two residents were killed as police fired into a crowd of protesters.

Earlier in October 2011, five Papuans were found dead after a violent crackdown by the police at the third Papua People's Congress in Abepura. The five were allegedly beaten and shot by security officers.

Sandals given to police in Palu boy protest

Antara News - January 2, 2012

Dozens of women in the city of Palu, Central Sulawesi, collected hundreds of pairs of sandals, which they presented to the local police headquarters on Saturday.

The women were protesting the arrest of 15-year-old AAL, who is now on trial at the Palu District Court for stealing a police officer's sandals, valued at Rp 30,000 ($3.30). The boy faces up to five years in prison for the theft of the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer's property.

"The legal process against AAL is excessive, uncalled for, inhumane and without conscience," said Fadlun, an initiator of the campaign, at a rally in front of the police headquarters.

The Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) has launched a similar effort and opened up sandal collection centers in four cities. The sandals collected by the KPAI are scheduled to be given to National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo.

Police & law enforcement

Too many generals in police force, new mechanism needed: IPW

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2012

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – A total of 260 high ranking generals in police institutions currently have no duties but still enjoy institutional facilities and privileges, data from the Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) has revealed.

The IPW said Indonesia had one four-star general, eight three-star generals while 257 others were two and one-star generals.

"The number of generals has been increasing dramatically since the reform era [starting in 1998]. During the New Order, we only had a maximum of 67 generals. Today, we have more than 200," IPW coordinator Neta Pane told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

Based on the Personnel Standard List (DSP), the National Police should only have 240 generals. Therefore, police institutions should rearrange their mechanism when promoting police officers into generals.

According to Neta, many of those generals did not have specific duties in their offices. "Our data says a total of 20 police generals are jobless or have no positions at all. They just enjoy the facilities and their salaries," he said.

Citing an example, Neta named Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, the former National Police chief detective. Susno was sentenced by the South Jakarta District Court last March to 3.5 years in prison and was ordered to pay Rp 200 million (US$22,200) in fines or serve an additional four months in prison.

He was found guilty of accepting Rp 500 million in bribes from fisheries firm PT Salma Arowana Lestari, and of embezzling security funds that were earmarked for the 2008 West Java gubernatorial election. He was also ordered to return the Rp 4 billion he had been accused of stealing.

Today, Susno serves as an advisor for the National Police chief Gen. Timor Pradopo's expert staff. "This is weird. Susno is a three-star general and he is an advisor for a two-star general. The advisor position did not exist before. The police just created this new position for Susno," Neta said.

According to Neta, too many generals in police institutions have become a barrier for the police to move forward. The salaries of these generals, their operational costs and other facilities, have also caused police budgets to be higher.

The IPW also noted that the budget for the police increased by 1,000 percent after the reform era. Reports said the police received nearly Rp 30 trillion of budget per year. "A total of 65 percent of the budget is only used to pay salaries for police," Neta said.

He pointed to regional expansion across the country as one cause of the enormous number of generals. There is no confirmation from the police on the IPW statement.

Nasir Djamil, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs and laws, human rights and security, said the police should re-arrange the mechanism to approve generals to star rank.

"It is too much. We will ask the police to be more selective in giving officials new stars. Perhaps a three-star general will be able to become the National Police chief in the future," he said.

According to Nasir, echelon status and experience were more important than rankings in deciding if officers were appropriate for leadership roles or not.

"It is widely known that if you have relatives in the police, promotion is easier. But officers who perform well without any relations in the institutions will not be promoted easily," he said.

Two children who died in police custody returned 'bearing signs of torture'

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2012

Ulma Haryanto – Indonesia's National Police are investigating the shocking deaths of two young brothers inside a police prison in West Sumatra last week.

"Nine officers who were on duty [at the time of the deaths] are being questioned by an internal team," police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said on Friday.

According to Boy, Sijunjung Police have claimed that the two boys, 14-year-old Faisal and 17-year-old Busri, hanged themselves in their prison cell. "A forensic examination has been conducted but I have not received the report yet," he said.

Faisal was arrested on Dec. 21 for stealing from a charity box at a mosque, while Busri was arrested five days later for stealing a motorcycle. On the night of Dec. 28, Faisal and Busri's parents were notified by the village administration office that their sons had died in police custody.

"When they arrived at the police precinct, the officers told them that the boys hanged themselves using their clothing as ropes and asked the parents to sign a statement saying that they would not sue the police for anything that happened," said Roni Saputra from Padang Legal Aid Institute (LBH), who is representing the family.

Roni said that since both parents were illiterate, they obligingly signed the letter. "Police didn't show the bodies right away but instead put [the corpses] in an ambulance and dropped them off at their parents' house," he said.

But instead of finding the usual marks of someone who died from hanging, the parents saw that their sons' bodies were full of injuries.

"First, Busri's arm was swollen, as if his bones were broken, there was a big gash on his left leg, as if someone sliced it open. [The boys'] thighs have marks similar to electrocution, their toes were smashed and their skulls were soft," Roni said, adding that fresh blood was still flowing from Faisal's nose.

"The only mark that is consistent with the police's claim was that the skin around their neck was chafed," Roni continued.

The frustrated parents went back to the police precinct with a number of other villagers and demanded an autopsy. "At first the police refused, but then more and more people from the village came and held a demonstration until the police chief agreed," he added. As of Friday, the family is still waiting for the result.

"We demand transparency from the police, including the Sijunjung police about the real cause of death," Roni said, adding that they also have coordinated with West Sumatra Commission of Human Rights (Komda HAM) to investigate the case.

Maria Ulfa Anshor, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) said the case showed the police cared little for the welfare of youngsters. "This case shows that child protection is not being done by the police," Maria said.

Vandalism of police property spiked in 2011

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2012

Ulma Haryanto – A sharp increase in the attacks on the country's police offices and facilities st year is an indication of the public's growing discontent toward law enforcers, a watchdog said on Tuesday.

Indonesian Police Watch said as many as 65 police offices and facilities were either burned or vandalized by members of the public in 2011, up from 20 such incidents in 2010.

"This significant rise shows how the people have become more and more resistant toward our law enforcement officials," said Neta South Pane, chairman of the watchdog.

Batam island in Riau saw the most vandalism cases, with 18 police facilities burned in just one year, IPW reported. "Eighteen police offices and 11 police vehicles in Batam were set on fire during a labor protest in November," Neta said.

More than 10,000 workers marched in Batam on Nov. 24 to demand a wage increase. The protest turned violent as they walked through industrial zones and reportedly started torching cars and smashing windows.

Across Indonesia, the country saw a total of 48 police offices, 12 vehicles and five official houses vandalized last year. A number of those incidents were direct responses to alleged police abuse or repression, IPW reported.

For instance, several police offices and facilities in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, were damaged last month as residents protested the police's deadly crackdown on an anti-mining rally.

"Two separate clashes broke out in Ambon, Maluku, and in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, in November and December after the death of a civilian, allegedly caused by the police," the watchdog's report said.

Dany Polanunu, 17, died after the traffic police in Ambon allegedly beat him, while Arnaldus Hapong, 40, died when the Lembor district police allegedly tortured him after arresting him.

"The National Police chief needs to remind his men so that in 2012 they don't act arrogant or repressive but are consistent in performing their duties as professional and proportional civilian police officers," Neta said. "If nothing is done, the people could get more desperate and take their fight against the police to the next level."

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar, however, had a different take on the violence against police last year. While he acknowledged that attacks on the police may have stemmed from dissatisfaction with law enforcement, he didn't agree that poor law enforcement caused the dissatisfaction.

"Usually the public's anger toward the police is caused by enforcement of the law, which means most of the time people are unhappy if the law is being upheld," Boy claimed.

The spokesman said the police had not yet created any special strategy to improve their relationship with the public during the next year. "We're always nice to everybody, except those who break the law," he insisted.

"I can imagine that such people [who break the law] would not like to get arrested because then they'd have to go through the whole judicial process." "The people should not destroy police's facilities, because what we are doing is a public service and the facilities belong to the state," he added.

Intelligence & state security

Indonesian rights activists challenge to intelligence law

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2012

Ezra Sihite & Keyko Ranti Ramadhani – Human rights groups and press freedom advocates filed a motion at the Constitutional Court on Thursday to challenge the controversial new Intelligence Law.

"The law not only threatens citizens' rights for information and freedom of the press but also has the potential for abuses of power and other human rights violations," Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) chairman Eko Maryadi said on Thursday.

Eko said that the law is filled with articles open to multiple interpretation, including the loose definition of secretive intelligence in article 1, which he said violates and overrides the Law on Public Freedom of Information, passed three years before the Intelligence Law.

The article defines "intelligence secrets" as "information that could jeopardize national security" but provides no further explanation as to what it is. "This is a dangerous article for journalists, because it criminalizes the spreading of public interest information," he said.

Eko added that the media has the obligation to monitor, supervise and criticize the government, but that role will soon be a criminal offense, since the government has the power to label sensitive information as intelligence secrets.

The AJI is petitioning the Constitutional Court to review the law alongside human rights monitor Imparsial, the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) and the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

The groups argue that the law violates people's constitutional rights to obtain information and seek the annulment of 13 articles in the law, which they say should be clearly defined.

The law also states that anyone found to have leaked classified information related to national defense, the country's natural resources, economics or international politics and relations before the 20-year period of confidentiality expires could face criminal charges.

Human rights groups criticized the law when it was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives in October last year.

The law, rights groups said, would give more power to the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and intelligence units inside the police, military and prosecutors' offices, but would do nothing to ensure that intelligence officers had to respect the law and human rights, be apolitical, refrain from engaging in private businesses or work impartially and indiscriminately.

Under the law, people who access and steal sensitive data can face up to seven years in jail or a Rp 300 million ($33,000) fine.

The intelligence agencies can also monitor phone conversations and the flow of funds of anyone deemed a threat to national security or possibly engaged in terrorism, separatism, espionage or sabotage.

Under the law, the BIN and other agencies also have power over foreigners or foreign institutions planning to take Indonesian citizenship, or visit, work, study or open an office in the country.

Foreign affairs & trade

Indonesia always mattered to Australia: Papers

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2012

Jakarta – From issues such as Timor Leste's struggle for independence to Papua, Australian Cabinet papers have revealed that Australian policies in the region have always taken Indonesia's reactions into consideration.

The 1983 Australian Labor Cabinet's papers revealed for the first time on Sunday that while the Australian public was critical of Indonesia's actions, for instance in the annexation of East Timor (now Timor Leste), the Australian government always attempted to take flexible approach toward Indonesia.

The Cabinet papers of 1983, released by the National Archives of Australia, showed how then foreign minister, Bill Hayden, had argued for a more flexible approach, Australia's 9News reported.

Hayden said East Timor had strained Australian relations with Indonesia since 1975. For Indonesia, the incorporation of East Timor was an irreversible fact supported by all Indonesian political groups and no action by Australia or anyone else would in any way induce Jakarta to relinquish its hold, he said.

"I suspect it is often overlooked that a full-blooded attempt by Australia to change this situation would not only be certain to fail but would also guarantee tough and punitive retaliatory measures by Indonesia," Hayden said in a Cabinet submission in March 1983.

Former prime minister Bob Hawke stood by the position that Labor embraced in the 1980s.

"The analysis my foreign minister Bill Hayden gave to the Cabinet was a very sane, practical analysis," he was quoted as saying by 9News at the launch of the 1982 and 1983 Cabinet papers.

"I reflected his analysis of the importance of establishing good relationships with Indonesia by the fact that in my first overseas visit, I went to PNG [Papua New Guinea] and Indonesia."

Hawke said Labor could not undo history. "I think it was a very sane and rational decision and that's what we did. It was the right one."

Australia-Indonesia relations have see-sawed over the years. They reached rock bottom in the period 1964-1966 as Australian and Indonesian soldiers fought in the jungles of Borneo in response to Indonesian president Sukarno's policy of confronting the new federation of Malaysia.

Relations soured again over Indonesia's brutal invasion and subsequent annexation of East Timor, even though successive Australian governments acquiesced in the takeover.

Relations steadily improved through the 1980s, reaching a high point with Paul Keating's 1995 security treaty. They nosedived again when Australia led the 1999 military intervention after East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence.

During President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's tenure, many have said that relations between Australia and Indonesia peaked again, with both governments successfully managing sensitive issues from questions of human rights abuses in Papua, boat people, to the recent Australian live cattle export ban and the US Darwin base.

Analysts from both countries have said that although Indonesians and Australians have been critical toward each other on several issues, both governments have developed a strong understanding and a channel of communication to clear up misperception.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, for instance, was quick to explain to Yudhoyono in relation to Australia's "good intentions" with the US Darwin base, while the latter publicly announced that the base was no threat to Indonesia.

Analysis & opinion

It's sheer bloody murder, right on our doorstep

Brisbane Times - January 8, 2012

Charlie Hill-Smith – The highest mountains between the Himalayas and the Andes are the snow-topped crags of West Papua (4884 metres). A tropical glacier pokes out of the sweltering green of Asia's largest rain forests. This is the second largest island on earth, with 15 per cent of all the world's languages, an encyclopaedic biodiversity and a new El Dorado for our resource-hungry world.

Most of us know little about the shady goings-on inside the giant forested island just to our north. But a constant trickle of murders, disappearances, arrests, torture and a wave of mass civil actions have raised the international volume of this previously silent war.

In 1999, we caught a glimpse of the murderous behaviour of the Indonesian military (TNI) as they butchered, raped and burnt the civilian population of East Timor, and it is these same forces that now run West Papua.

Despite great changes in Jakarta for democracy, human rights and civilian rule, the TNI are still a law unto themselves in Indonesia's far-flung provinces. Only 40 per cent of the TNI's military budget is supplied by Jakarta. The rest is grafted from the locals and their land in these rich, remote locations.

Although President Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Gillard consistently defend the Indonesian security forces, a stream of incriminating leaks shows their real form. Here's a snapshot:

- In August 2009, YouTube screened the torture and murder of potato farmer Yawen Wayeni at Matembu village. TNI soldiers taunted Yawen after disemboweling him and sitting around as he slowly died.

- In 2010, YouTube showed TNI soldiers torturing detainees, burning their genitals with burning sticks.

Last year, a surveillance report from Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus), "Anatomy of Papuan Separatists", was leaked. It laid bare the TNI's repressive and pervasive strategies of spying on and threatening every echelon of West Papuan society at home and abroad.

Jacob Rumbiak, a West Papuan exile now Australian citizen living in Melbourne, is a major character in my documentary, Strange Birds in Paradise – A West Papuan Story, and one of the "targets" detailed in the Kopassus report.

Things really heated up last September when thousands of mine workers at the Freeport McMoran-Rio Tinto-owned Grasberg mine went on a lengthy strike, closing the world's largest gold and copper mine, Indonesia's biggest taxpayer. The stopwork cost the companies $US30 million dollars per day. So when the miners downed tools to demand pay increases from a paltry $US1.50 an hour up to a lavish $US3 an hour, a lot of rich and powerful people took notice.

A month later, on October 19, 200 language groups from all over West Papua met in the capital, Jayapura, for the "Third Papuan People's Congress". The group declared its independence from Indonesia and elected a president and a prime minister and called for United Nations monitors to be deployed.

As the congress wrapped up, the security forces moved in, opened fire and arrested hundreds of peaceful delegates. Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad, Densus 88, trained and supplied by Australia, was pivotal in the violence. Six bodies have since turned up in sewers and ditches around town.

Theys Eluay, elected President by the Congress in 2000, was subsequently strangled to death by Kopassus Special Forces.

Less than a month ago, on December 13, four full-strength TNI combat battalions began a security "sweeping operation" in the Paniai district of West Papua. Reports from local human rights groups say that 27 villages were attacked, 75 houses burnt down, six schools destroyed and at least 18 people murdered.

Unconfirmed reports state that helicopters machinegunned and threw gas grenades into the village of Markas Eduda. It was reported that 10,800 people fled to hide in the jungle, bringing back memories of the 1989-93 operations where the TNI were accused of torturing thousands of innocent people and extrajudicial killings.

What part of "psychotic, neocolonial uber-mafia" doesn't the Australian government understand? This is not a well-groomed fighting force, the quashers of the Dutch, the saviours of the Indonesian people. This is a self-serving, armed corporate mafia. In Jakarta, the TNI have been dragged into the 21st century by dedicated democrats, but West Papua is a long way from there.

To make matters worse, the long-suffering Australian Defence Forces have been forced to train these nasty bastards by successive Australian governments.

It took shocking video of the infamous Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor for the world to finally support the East Timorese against the barbarity of the Indonesian military. The evidence is in for West Papua and it is time for Australia to wake up and realise this human rights disaster is not going away.

[Charlie Hill-Smith is the writer and director of Strange Birds in Paradise: A West Papuan Story.]

Justice for all

Jakarta Post Editorial - January 6, 2012

The trial and conviction of a teenager who stole a pair of flip-flops in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu on Wednesday has sent out the wrong message about law enforcement in the country.

It is true that the police, prosecutors and the judge conducted their jobs in accordance with the judicial mechanism in place to uphold the law in the case of the 15-year-old boy, identified as AAL, who was found guilty of stealing a police officer's flip-flops.

The judge decided to send AAL back to his parents despite the verdict, but this sentence did little to repair the public's growing distrust in the judicial system, which was partly seen in the movement to collect 1,000 rubber sandals as a protest against the trial.

Considering the many high-profile cases which have been moving to nowhere only because they implicate prominent – and powerful – figures, the trial of AAL constitutes a mockery of justice. Instead of substantiating the country's adherence to equality before the law, the legal process the boy endured is a further display of discrimination that allows those with power and money to escape justice.

Not to mention physical abuses the minor suffered during his interrogation. The National Police ordered a 21-day detention of two police officers for beating AAL, but the sentence serves only as a reminder that the culture of violence remains intact within the police force.

That the public demonstrated distaste with the legal process against AAL should not be understood as their defense of a crime, however petty. There were countless precedents in which the sword of justice was sharp when dealing with the powerless like the teenager, but suddenly blunt when confronting the powerful.

A poor old woman was brought to court in the Central Java town of Banyumas in 2009 for allegedly stealing cocoa fruits which cost no less than Rp 10,000 (US$11.00). The panel of judges convicted her and handed down a suspended jail term.

In the same year, a woman was sentenced to 24 days' imprisonment for stealing 2 kilograms of cotton valued at Rp 20,000 in Batang, also in Central Java.

It comes as no surprise that the public used to react angrily to strict enforcement of the law against ordinary people who could not hire top lawyers but followed the whole course of the trial. The public has oftentimes witnessed corrupt state officials receive relatively light sentences compared to the state funds they stole, an serve only a small part of their jail terms due to generous remissions for their "good behavior".

There is even a politician who was convicted of graft three times, but instead of serving long, accumulated jail terms he was quickly back to breathing the air of freedom thanks to multiple remissions.

Doubts over indiscriminate enforcement of the law will persist unless the National Police or other law enforcement agencies dare to launch a formal investigation into suspicious large bank accounts belonging to a number of police generals, public figures named in corruption cases centering on former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin or individuals and institutions that received money from the rescued Bank Century.

There are many high-profile cases that have remained untouched and we are worried they may be settled through political deals due to their potential to disrupt stability.

The flip-flop case reminds us all that we still have a long way to go before achieving equality before the law. We can find those words in our 66-year-old Constitution, but sadly not yet in reality.

Jakarta's security policy off the mark

Straits Times - January 4, 2012

John McBeth – When the United States and Australia recently announced that US Marines would begin regular training in the Northern Territory, all that some Indonesian legislators could think about was not the strategic balancing act with China, but the threat they thought the deployment posed to Jakarta's control over Papua.

Bemused diplomats could only marvel at the befuddled thinking of overly nationalist, conspiracy-minded politicians, some of whom even voiced suspicions that the move was linked to the now-ended strike at Papua's US- owned Grasberg copper and gold mine.

What it did reveal was the depth of unease being felt over the situation in Indonesia's most restive province and, in a broader sense, the fact that at a time of heightened regional tensions, the discourse in the corridors of power is overwhelmingly internal.

Memories remain fresh over Timor Leste's decision to break away from Indonesia in 1999, which many shocked citizens blamed – and still blame – on the international community. After all, they had never seen it coming.

In contrast to the public indifference shown towards the former Portuguese territory during much of Jakarta's brutal 25-year rule, Parliament and the media are showing more than a passing interest in recent events in Papua, where Indonesia seems to be making the same mistakes.

Missing in action in the debate over the country's strategic outlook is the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), whose new paradigm, formulated in 1998, was meant to take it out of politics and shift its focus to external defense – while retaining the role of preserving national unity.

The TNI has a less neurotic view of US motives than the politicians, but safeguarding sovereignty continues to dominate its approach to everything, underpinned by a pervasive territorial structure and buttressed by an enduring distrust of civilian governance.

In its only Defense White Paper, issued in 2003, the military surprisingly had very little to say about big power involvement in the region, dismissing the possibility of external threats and concentrating instead on international terrorism, transnational crime and illegal immigration as the main issues.

That seems extraordinary for a sprawling archipelago with 81,000 km of coastline and four million sq km of exclusive economic zone, lying astride some of the world's most important trading routes and boasting a hardly formidable navy.

That, however, is not surprising for TNI watchers. Over the past decade, the TNI leadership has been content to allow the Foreign Ministry to take the lead in pursuing a 'free and active' policy that enhances Asean's role as a burgeoning regional community and seeks to strike a balance between the US and China.

For all of Indonesia's neutral stance, however, US-educated President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his military leaders have clearly not been unhappy to see the Americans restoring their presence in the region.

When Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa suggested the Darwin deployment had the potential to "provoke a reaction and counter-reaction that would create a vicious circle of tensions and mistrust", it took only a day for him to back off from those remarks.

Indeed, with as many as 2,500 Indonesian servicemen training alongside Australian forces in ground, sea and air exercises this year alone, the Indonesian military sees the Marine deployment as a further opportunity for operational engagement.

While the TNI's wavering relations with the US over the past two decades have been largely defined by the boycott imposed after the 1991 Timor Leste graveyard massacre and the familiar vagaries of congressional politics, its view of China remains foggy.

By the time Jakarta and Beijing restored diplomatic relations in 1990 after a 23-year hiatus, former defense minister Juwono Sudarsono says the military had long since put China's previous support for the long-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) behind it.

But only four years later, Beijing unnecessarily raised suspicions about its future ambitions by appearing to include Indonesia's gas-rich Natuna Islands in its controversial "historic" claim to the South China Sea – and failing to answer an inquiring diplomatic note.

In fact, maritime expert Hasyim Djalal says it was nearly a decade before the Chinese produced a 'classroom' map, devoid of longitudes and latitudes, which showed the nine dotted lines delineating the country's tongue-shaped claim falling well to the north of the Natunas.

The former diplomat notes that even the Indonesian military itself seems unsure of where its maritime defense perimeter lies. "I keep asking whether it is our territorial waters, the economic zone or where," he says. "But no one responds to that sort of question."

Indeed, the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs – the obvious body for such things – seems more preoccupied with day-to-day issues than coming up with strategic guidance on what the region might look like in 20 years and how the military should position itself.

Without that coherent view, the military's shopping list of new hardware, or what it calls its minimum force requirement, seems more tailored to what big-ticket items Singapore and Malaysia have in their inventory than any other consideration, such as disaster relief and maritime security.

Acquiring two squadrons of F-16 jets may make sense for a country with threadbare air defenses. But why buy 100 surplus Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks (MBTs) and three submarines when, by general agreement, there is a more urgent need for transport aircraft, helicopters and fast patrol boats?

For a country that has documented so clearly in its 2003 White Paper that it should concentrate on "lower-level" threats such as transnational crime and illegal immigration, the focus on "high-end" MBTs and submarines is somewhat misplaced.

Corruption, floods and politics ahead for Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2012

Anita Rachman – With 2011 now behind us, pundits looking ahead to 2012 see a year of intense political battles and legal struggles ahead for Indonesia.

Expectations are high for the new members of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Jakarta is scheduled to have a gubernatorial election, record rains and floods are predicted for the city, the House of Representatives should deliberate important bills that will shape the future of politics in the nation and political parties will start putting their 2014 presidential candidates on display.

"There are so many things to look forward to in 2012," Saldi Isra, a legal expert at Andalas University in Padang, told the Jakarta Globe. And with everything that is happening, he said the performance of the KPK would be the most important thing to watch.

Last year ended with several unresolved major graft cases. The arrest of businesswoman Nunun Nurbaetie, accused of distributing Rp 24 billion ($2.6 million) in traveler's checks to 41 lawmakers in exchange for appointing economist Miranda Goeltom to a senior position at the central ban, created just more unanswered questions about where the checks came from.

Another unresolved case is the bid-rigging scandal involving former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin. Nazaruddin has accused a number of senior Democrats of enjoying kickbacks from projects that he had rigged, but the KPK has yet to investigate the allegations.

"Usually what happens in Indonesia is a major scandal gets buried by another, more sensational case," Saldi said. "We cannot afford to do that in 2012. Cases must be resolved. Do not let them get overshadowed."

New KPK has its work cut out

Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said politicians and analysts would not quickly forget the promise made by the newly appointed KPK chairman, Abraham Samad, during the selection process. He vowed to step down if he failed to unravel major corruption cases.

"He promised that he was going to resolve big cases such as Bank Century, the [Southeast Asian] Games athletes' village, [Nunun's] traveler's checks," Eva, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), told the Globe. Those are enough. It will take some guts and [it might possibly involve] risking their lives [to resolve them]."

Zainal Arifin Mochtar, director of Gadjah Mada University's Anticorruption Study Center, said that people would hold the entire KPK, not just Abraham, accountable for the chairman's promise. eople, he said, won't wait for a year to criticize the antigraft body, "they will do it soon, even in the first month of the new year," he said.

Saldi, who was on the KPK selection committee, said the major cases listed by Abraham would certainly not be easy to resolve and would require the KPK to withstand intense political pressure. "But support from civil society has been tremendous," he said. "It is up to the KPK and other law enforcers now, but especially the KPK."

Eva said the KPK members also needed to be careful and avoid being implicated in graft cases. She pointed to the 2009 arrests of former KPK deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah at the height of the Bank Century bailout controversy, which she said weakened the commission.

Jakarta: Floods and elections

January kicks off a busy year for Jakarta, especially for candidates running in the capital's gubernatorial election.

Although the election is still six months away, residents are already being bombarded with campaign promises, posters and fliers, said Ibramsyah, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia.

Potential candidates are already on the campaign trail and taking shots at the incumbent, Fauzi Bowo, questioning just how effective a leader he has been. The election is scheduled for July 11 and will be a massive affair, with some 7.4 million eligible voters.

The chairman of Jakarta's General Elections Commission (KPUD), Juri Ardianto, said that candidates were scheduled to formally register from March 13 to 19.

"By the middle of May we will have an official list of candidates," he said. t least 10 potential candidates are said to be looking at a run, but there could be more.

They are the incumbent, Fauzi, Prijanto, the former deputy governor who resigned last month reportedly to prepare his run, Nachrowi Ramli, a retired general and the head of the Democratic Party in Jakarta, and University of Indonesia economist Faisal Basri.

Then there is celebrity and Golkar Party lawmaker Tantowi Yahya, the chairman of Golkar in Jakarta, Priya Ramadhani, the National Mandate Party's (PAN) Wanda Hamidah and Triwisaksana from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Other possible candidates are outspoken Golkar legislator Basuki Purnama, and Nono Sampono, the former head of the presidential guard under President Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Juri said in the 2007 election, only 60 percent of eligible voters actually turned out. But with so many well-known figures potentially in the race to lead the city, he expects that number to rise significantly.

"We have been doing some preparations, and so far it has gone well," he said. "We have let people know about the election and the regulations, and have closely monitored the infrastructure that will support the election."

He said the political advertisements during the campaign season, 14 days before election day, would be unavoidable. But he said he was confident the people of Jakarta would be able to handle the onslaught and would help make the election a success.

Starting in January, political parties will begin to approach potential candidates, or vice versa, UI's Ibramsyah said. It is also likely that some of the figures thinking about a run for the governorship will have to settle for being a deputy governor candidate on another candidate's ticket.

Ibramsyah also mentioned that political advertisements would be unavoidable, as likely would be bribes.

"But people in Jakarta are smart, they will take the money but not necessarily vote for the candidates that gave it to them," he said. "However, I also see that people are getting more apathetic. They are not really sure that any of the candidates can solve Jakarta's serious problems such as traffic and floods."

Ibramsyah said people were losing faith in Fauzi, but so far no strong contenders had stepped up. If the election is close, the KPUD has set a date for the second round, Sept. 20.

While politics will be heating up in the city, residents have been warned that they are going to get all wet. It has been predicted that the capital will experience an unusually wet rainy season.

The coordinating minister for people's welfare, Agung Laksono, said the government was preparing for possible floods due to high rainfall.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency's (BMKG) forecast, Jakarta will see the most rainfall in January, with the rainy season lasting until March. The forecast for January is rain every day in the capital.

"We have prepared preventive actions [for possible floods] in at-risk areas, including Jakarta," Agung said. The central government, he said, is working with local governments to prepare for possible evacuation, emergency responses and medical support.

National politics in spotlight

Is 2014 coming too soon? Hanta Yuda, a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute, believes that it is.

This year, more political parties are expected to start showing off their candidates, as they test the political waters and gauge voter reaction.

At least two parties have thrown their support behind their chairmen: Golkar Party and Aburizal Bakrie, and the National Mandate Party and Hatta Rajasa.

Aburizal said Golkar would announce its presidential candidate this year. But first, he promised, the party would brush up its image and get better connected with voters.

Although Hatta has not confirmed the nomination, PAN deputy chairman Zulkifli Hasan said the decision had been made and all party members would have to abide by it.

"I think PAN's Hatta is a better vice presidential candidate," Hanta said. "Some political parties are actually only looking for a VP, al though they are presented as presidential candidates," he said.

Hanta added that other parties might follow suit and name candidates this year, "although it's all pretty predictable, actually. There won't be any truly new names. The People's Conscience Party will come out with Wiranto, the Great Indonesia Movement Party with Prabowo Subianto, and PDI-P with Sukarno's family, either chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri or Puan Maharani," he said.

Other parties such as the Prosperous Justice Party appear to be biding their time for deciding on candidates. These parties, Hanta said, might be looking to join coalition talks.

"While the Democrats said they would only announce their candidate in 2013 or 2014, others can't be stopped from [promoting their candidates to the public]," he said. "This will be a good year to see people's responses. It is the testing year, I would say."

Puan Maharani, however, said the PDI-P could not say for sure when it would announce its candidate. The announcement, she said, depends on the party's chairwoman, Megawati, who is also her mother. "It depends on the political situation. We are leaving this to the chairwoman," Puan has said.

But Hanta predicts that Indonesians will be keeping their eye on more than preparations for the 2014 elections. People, he said, will also be carefully watching the work of the House of Representatives.

The House is scheduled to deliberate a number of important bills that will change how political and legal affairs are conducted in the country, including bills on the KPK, elections and the status of Yogyakarta.

The Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies said the two "hottest" bills were on legislative elections and an amendment to the KPK law that could cut into the authority of the commission. Political parties at the House are expected to spend a lot of time deliberating the legislative elections bill.

The bill is expected to be finished by March, so that members can move to other bills on presidential elections and one on regional election. "Next year indeed is going to be intense because that's the cycle, we are approaching an election," said Nurul Arifin, a Golkar lawmaker.