Dessy Sagita – A prominent teachers' union has demanded that Education Minister Mohammad Nuh resign for suggesting that a 14-year-old girl who faced expulsion from her school after being raped may have engaged in consensual sex.

Retno Listyarti, secretary general of the Federation of Indonesian Teachers Unions (FSGI), said on Sunday that the minister's remarks violated articles in the 2002 Child Protection Law on protecting the dignity of all children and preventing discrimination against them.

"As the person in charge of education in this country, he should familiarize himself with the law," she said.

She added it was hugely regrettable that Nuh had sought to deny that the girl had been raped when he was not even familiar with the case of the Depok teenager.

In a press conference at his office on Thursday, Nuh said there was no reason to believe that the girl had really been raped. "Sometimes it's intentional, sometimes it's consensual, yet later they claim they were raped," he said.

His statement immediately drew the ire of child-rights activists like Muhammad Ihsan, chairman of the Task Force on Child Protection, who demanded a retraction and an apology from the minister.

"The minister's statement hurts the feelings of the victim, the parents and all Indonesians," Muhammad said. "He must apologize to the thousands of rape victims across Indonesia who have not been given closure by the government."

He added that if Nuh refused to apologize, child rights activists should push President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to immediately evaluate the minister's place in the cabinet.

Nuh's statement is the latest in a series of outrages against the young rape victim, who last week was briefly expelled for "embarrassing" the school by getting raped.

The girl, who was kidnapped and raped repeatedly over a seven-day period in September, finally returned to the Budi Utomo Junior High School last Monday, only to be kicked out by principal Renata Parhusip in front of the whole school.

The school on Monday announced that she was expelled because "she had embarrassed the school and sullied the good name of the school."

"The principal said she must resign because the school does not accept trafficking victims," her mother said at the time. "I fought hard to persuade my daughter to go back to school and when she finally did, she was humiliated like this."

Following a massive public outcry and severe criticism from groups including the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak), the school made an about-face and said it would take the girl back.

However, Komnas Anak chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait, who took part in the talks between the school and the family, said the damage had been done when the school vilified the girl for getting raped.

"Even though the expulsion has been annulled, the school must restore the child's good name and announce to the other students that she is the victim and not the criminal, as had been announced during the flag-raising ceremony there," he said on Tuesday.

Police have still not arrested the suspect, a public minivan driver who the victim met through Facebook.

[Additional reporting from Antara.]

Sex assaults soar as minister blames victims

Jakarta Post - October 15, 2012

Jakarta – The National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas PA) says that at least 129 teenagers have been sexually assaulted this year to date, already surpassing the 121 cases recorded in the whole of 2011.

The chairman of Komnas PA, Arist Merdeka Sirait, described the situation as dire, calling on parents to be more vigilant and for the National Police crack down on online sex predators.

"In the month of October alone we recorded six cases. We also learned that the victims in 27 cases were exposed to crimes through online social networks," Arist said. He said that sexual predators have been scouring social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to find victims.

Arist said that parents needed to carefully monitor their children's activities online, given the dangers posed by the Internet to children, and urged parents to become aware of the latest developments in social media.

"How can the parents say no to the Internet if they have no idea about it. Parents, for instance, need to have a Facebook account," Arist said.

Earlier this month, a 14-year-old girl in Depok, West Java, identified as SAS narrowly avoided becoming the latest victim of a Batam-based ring of human traffickers that found its victims using social media.

The girl had been reported missing for a week after she met with a man who first encountered through Facebook.

The man, identified as Den Gilang alias Yugi, befriended several minors on Facebook and asked SAS to meet him outside a department store on Sept. 23, where a public minivan with several of his friends were waiting.

According to SAS' statement to the police, the men took her to a house in Parung, Bogor, where several other teenage girls were held against their will.

For one week, Yugi allegedly raped SAS, threatened to kill her and forced her to have sex with other men under the influence of alcohol. SAS was released a week later, reportedly due to the attention her disappearance had attracted.

However, an uproar followed when school officials expelled SAS when she attempted to return for class.

The brave 14-year-old returned to school for the first time on Oct. 8 after a one-month absence following her traumatic ordeal, only to be told to return home as the school "could no longer accept a student that has tarnished the school's image".

The controversy continued when Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh weighed in, saying that SAS could have been looking for mischief, before alleging that the 14-year-old girl may have consented to have sex and then claimed to have been raped.

"Sometimes it can be intentional. They do it for fun and then the girl alleges that it's a rape," Nuh said as quoted by Antara news agency late last week.

Condemnation continued to pile on Nuh on Sunday when the Indonesian Teachers Union Federation (FSGI) issued a statement saying that ill-advised comments from senior government officials that blame rape victims are ruining education in the country.

"The negative comment, which discredited the victim, was made even when he [Nuh] has not met with her," Retno said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Retno said that sexual assault constituted a human rights violation that could have wide implications for the families of victims and for society in general.

Nuh's statement evoked a remark made by outgoing Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo after a college student was gang raped and then strangled to death when taking a minibus to class at Bina Nusantara University.

Fauzi advised women against wearing provocative clothing while riding public transportation – appalling activists, who arranged for a demonstration of miniskirted women at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in protest. (yps)

Dems suggest anti-corruption songwriting competition

Jakarta Post - October 14, 2012

Bali – In its desperate attempt to show its commitment to fight corruption, the Democratic Party has come up with the idea of an anti- corruption songwriting competition, expected to promote honesty among the younger generation.

Democratic Party Bali branch chairman I Made Mudarta said on Saturday that the idea of a songwriting competition came from the party and Balinese society. He said that the Education and Culture Ministry should organize the competition.

"I delivered the idea to House Speaker. He promised to tell the ministry [about the suggestion]," he said, referring to Marzuki Alie, who is also a Democratic Party politician.

Mudarta was quoted by Antara news agency saying that the participants in the competition could be students from all levels of education, including senior high school and university.

"The competition will promote national awareness against corruption," he said. "The winning song should be sung by students regularly".

Mudarta said that the anti-corruption campaign should start with educational institutions. "It will be good if the song about honesty was performed like the national anthem of Indonesia Raya," he added.

The incumbent Democratic Party came with its "say no to corruption" campaign during the general election in 2009. No less than President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself appeared in a television campaign a fight corruption.

Years later, several of its prominent figures, including Muhammad Nazaruddin, Angelina Sondakh and Hartati Murdaya, were charged with involvement in several corruption cases in the country. (cor/lfr)

Teenage girl expelled from Depok school after alleged rape, mom says

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2012

Camelia Pasandaran – A Depok junior high school expelled a 14-year-old girl on Monday who was recently kidnapped and raped by an angkot driver, saying the child had tainted the school's reputation, according to the National Commission for Child Protection.

"The announcement was made during the flag raising ceremony in front of other students," Arist Merdeka Sirait, chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection said on Monday. "Even though her name was not mentioned during the ceremony, when she entered her classroom, her teacher asked her to leave."

The teenage girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a 24-year-old angkot driver she met on Facebook. The man reportedly raped her three times after driving her to Bogor, according to reports in Tempo.co.

He allegedly planned to sell the girl to a brothel in Batam, but dropped her off in Depok after learning that police were looking for her, Tempo.co reported.

The girl was allegedly too traumatized to return to school, Arist said. But after some time, her parents, neighbors and friends were able to convince the teenager to return to SMP Budi Utomo, in Depok.

But when the girl returned to school on Monday, she was told to leave. "The [school] foundation did not allow my daughter to go back to school," mother Rauden Gultom told Tempo.co. "I could not accept this."

Arist said SMP Budi Utomo had failed to protect the victim of a terrible crime. "Schools should be protecting victims," Arist said. "Children have the right to have education, whether [they are the] victim or perpetrator."

Arist sent a letter to the school, asking the administrator to allow the student back in class. "If they [still] dismiss her, we will recommend the Ministry of Education and Culture review the school's license for violating the children's protection law," Arist said.

The school called the entire ordeal a "misunderstanding." "She was not ousted at all," said Ratna, an administrator at the school. "The media has wrongly written about us. It is a misunderstanding."

West Papua

First anniversary of Third Papuan Congress to be celebrated

Bintang Papua - October 15, 2012

Jayapura – A group called the Federated State of West Papua, known by its Indonesian initials as the NFRPB plans to mark the first anniversary of the Third Papua Conference on 19 October held last year. It was at the third conference that the Papuan people declared the restoration of their independence.

Chairman of the organising committee, the Rev. Ketty Yabansabra, said the celebration will take the form of joint worship and dialogue. and will proceed peacefully. The President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been invited to attend. The event will proceed peacefully because the theme of the event is all about the preservation of peace in Papua.

The organising team which has been acknowledged by the president of the NFRPB, Forkorus Yaboisembut, has conveyed messages to the President of Indonesia and a number of Indonesian state dignitaries including the military commander, the governor of West Papua province and the Indonesian police. These letters have been acknowledged.

In view of the above, said the organisers of the event, "we are confident that we will be able to hold communal worship, having sent the necessary notification to the Indonesian police."

All sections of society in West Papua, including the many Indonesians now living in Papua, who have throughout behaved with decorum, have also been invited to attend the event.

Furthermore, with regard to the plan to hold dialogue with the Indonesian president, invitations to the aforesaid were sent earlier this month. It is doubtful whether any dialogue will happen on this occasion, because a similar request was made ten years ago, to which there was no response.

However, the NFRPB formally declared its independence on the occasion of the conference, for which a struggle has been waged since 1961. "We are continuing with our efforts to obtain recognition from the Republic of Indonesia," a spokesman for the organising committee declared.

The chief of security of the NFRPB, Elias Ayakading said that they sincerely hoped that the tragic events which occurred last year (when several people were killed and many injured) will not be repeated this year. He therefore called on the security forces in the land of Papua to ensure that the event is allowed to proceed peacefully.

The organisers urged all sides to avoid raising unnecessary issues so as to ensure that the event proceeds peacefully, because this will take in the form of worship, praying for a peaceful atmosphere and assurances that security will be safeguarded.

[Abridged in translation by TAPOL.]

Densus 88 Counter-terror sweeps across Wamena region force hundreds to flee

West Papua Media - October 15, 2012

Nick Chesterfield, with Westpapuamedia stringers – Amid an intensification of armed security sweeps against West Papuan clanspeople around Wamena, Church leaders in West Papua have condemned Indonesian security forces for falsely engineering conditions to justify eliminating Papuan civil resistance to Jakarta's colonial rule.

Credible reports continue to be received of an ongoing security sweep against highland villages that has reportedly resulted in hundreds of civilians fleeing to take refuge with pro-independence guerrillas in the mountains several days walk from Wamena.

Activists from the pro-independence West Papua National Committee (KNPB) are reportedly being targeted in a worrying crackdown against free expression. Carloads of heavily armed police and soldiers are cruising around the districts surrounding Wamena, pouncing on any civilians suspected of having affiliation to the KNPB, according to church sources in communication with West Papua Media stringers.

KNPB sources have expressed great fear that the latest offensive by Indonesian security forces against their members is an attempt to wipe out the Papuan people by eliminating their ability to organise acts of peaceful free expression and to campaign for a referendum to determine Papua's future.

A joint taskforce led by officers from the Australian funded counter-terror unit Detachment 88, together with soldiers from the notorious Wamena based Army (TNI) Battalion 756, and Police paramilitary Brimob Gegana alleged bomb "disposal" officers have joined the sweep, which initially targeted the villages of Wesagaput, Tulem, Jibama and Jbele, outside Wamena.

"Residents have sought refuge and are temporarily displaced from their homes as a result of a meeting by district office of Jayawijaya and the TNI/POLRI police who carried out raids, and accused local activists for planting a bomb in a house at Jalan Irian. The situation is described as tense and locals are in grave fear," a pastor who has fled to the hills with the residents told West Papua Media by SMS on October 10.

Repeated attempts over the weekend by West Papua Media to contact the Jayawijaya police commander, and the new Papua Police Commander, former Densus 88 chief Tito Karnavian, have gone unreplied.

It is not known the strength of the taskforce, but unconfirmed reports have claimed up to two Satgas companies are involved, totalling at least 200 armed troops. Historically police and military raids against villages in the Baliem Valley have resulted in signficant human rights abuses, village burnings and repeated incidents of brutality and torture (some infamously captured on mobile phones and leaked via YouTube).

Messages sent late on Thursday night from the pastor explained "We are now in the jungle, two other crew are still the main target by the security forces and they are still in Wamena town." The source described how his own, and KNPB members, photos have been displayed on Wanted posters (Daftar Pencarian Orang, DPO) across a small airstrip and the main market of Wamena town. The pastor has joined with the residents in order to provide a measure of protection and communication, and to be on hand for any negotiations.

He continued, in Wamena "the security presence (is) blocking the airstrip, market and the surrounding area and makes it difficult for us to send fast reports." The pastor reported that on October 10, he and KNPB members who were attempting to file human rights reports were chased by a military vehicle. It was an "Avanza with fully armed military personnel, I believed to be Densus 88, which forced us to flee into the into the jungle with some documents. At the moment, kaka with other committee members in the jungle and soon kaka will be without reception. Please pray for us."

It is believed that the villagers have fled to the protection of National Liberation Army guerrillas further in the hills, a long utilised last resort in an area that has been subject to generations of significant human rights abuses by the Indonesian military.

The villages being targeted are the home villages of KNPB members arrested in brutal raids by Detachment 88 and TNI troops on September 29. The activists led by Simon Dabi, the Baliem KNPB chairman, are still under arrest by Detachment 88 counter-terror officers, controversially accused of involvement in a bombing campaign that has been widely blamed by church sources to be the work of Indonesian special forces new force – the shadowy "unknown persons" that are never investigated properly by Police. It is feared by most observers that the activists will not receive any chance of a fair trial, as no international observers are allowed.

According to human rights sources in Wamena, the raids have occured after Indonesian intelligence agents interrogating the arrested KNPB activists accused them of hiding bomb making materials in their clan members' houses. Church sources in Wamena who have had contact with the detainees have reported to West Papua Media that Densus 88 interrogations appear to have focussed on the connection between KNPB and UK-exiled Papuan highland leader Benny Wenda, and have targeted members of the extended Wenda clan for specific repression.

"Targeting indigenous people based on their blood and clan relations is a clear violation of human rights, and has nothing to do with proper police work," said a senior church leader in Wamena to West Papua Media's stringer. "The situation in Wamena is now incredibly dangerous for anyone thought to support KNPB," he said.

Further reports emerged overnight claiming that more KNPB activists were arrested over the weekend in Wamena, however these reports have not been able to be verified.

Church sources have departed from their usually restrained language, and have vehemently condemned the current operation as a conspiracy by security forces to justify slaughter of West Papuan people opposed to Indonesian violence.

A statement by the Moderator of the Papuan Baptist Church, Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, demanded security forces immediately cease their engineering of bombings in Papua.

"The case of the bombings that occurred in two place (at the Honorary Council Workspace Jayawijaya on 1 September, and Wamena traffic police at Jalan Pos Irian on 18 September) are a Really Big Lie by Indonesian police. False allegations that security disturbances were carried out by the people of Papua, more specifically KNPB in Wamena, in our opinion is untrue. Major public fraud like this is unacceptable to the conscience and sense of logic," said Rev. Yoman.

Rev Yoman explained that "Crimes Against Humanity in the form of police lying is part of a huge security operation and mission of the Government of Indonesia in Papua," and included the murder of Moses Mako Tabuni on June 14, 2012 by Detachment 88. "The whole process by security forces is very embarrassing to us and disturbs our conscience, but at the same time really damages the reputation of the security forces in the eyes of the people of Papua, the Indonesian people and the international community."

Sofyan Yoman outlined an 8 point scenario of the motivations for Detachment 88 to conduct these raids, when they know that Papuan people have nothing to do with thee terror tactics.

The operation aims are as follows, Yoman said:

"1. Destroy the peaceful struggle of God's people in Papua who demand justice and respect for the dignity and fundamental rights of Indigenous Papuans;

2. Knocking out all the pillars of the struggle of the people and the nation of Papua, demanding a peaceful dialogue between the Indonesian government and the Papuan People be unconditionally mediated by a neutral third-party... that continues to gain sympathy and support of the international community, academics, humanitarian workers and the people of Indonesia;

3. Creating a sense of fear, silence, dilemma and trauma of the Papuan people to not take the fight against Crimes Against Humanity committed by the TNI and the police defending sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia from 1961 to 2012;

4. Destroy the peaceful struggle of West Papua National Committee (KNPB), which has been the voice of the suffering of the people of God in the Land of Papua.

5. Justifying (menjastifikasi) the construction of more military and police bases in the Land of Papua;

6. Confirming the presence of Detachment 88 in Papua, to pursue and kill civilians by utilising separatist stigma and treason (makar) charges against Papuan people.

7. Build the image to the international community that the violence and crimes against humanity in Papua are (caused by) Indigenous Papuans and KNPB (instead of the Indonesian colonial system).

8. And of course, the security forces to obtain additional funding from the budget or Papua province and district/city on the grounds of security control area and the State."

The sweep is also occurring in other parts of Papua currently. Detachment 88 officers on October 14 arrested a former senior National Liberation Army figure Gidi Wenda outside Sentani, near Jayapura – Several police Avanza cars full of armed Densus 88 officers made the raid at a house behind the headman's office at 3am, according to human rights sources. Wenda has not been heard from since, nor seen at the Police HQ, and relatives are concerned for his safety.

Despite the crackdown, KNPB activists have vowed to continue to engage in free expression, and call for the international community to prevent Indonesia from killing more Papuan people. "We will demand the United Nations to immediately send a team of observers to our territory, because from day-to-day, we are getting (sic) extinct under Indonesian military operations, just as we demand the right of self-determination which has been guaranteed by international law," KNPB Chairman Victor Yeimo said in a statement released on October 15.

Mass rallies have been planned across Papua on October 24, which are likely to meet with significant repressive measures by Indonesian security forces.

"We will continue to demand our rights even the world seems concerning with the political economy of the occupiers and oppressors," said Yeimo. "Many of our activists have been killed, imprisoned and intimidated under Indonesian rule, and we will not give up until our demands are heard by the world," he noted.

Gubernatorial election in Papua resumes

Jakarta Post - October 13, 2012

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua gubernatorial election process has resumed with the issuance of the Papua General Elections Commission (KPUD) Decree No. 33/2012, dated Oct. 5, 2012, on the time schedule of the election.

Decree No. 33/2012 was issued following a decision from Constitutional Court (MK) Decision Letter No. 3/SKLN-X2012, which was announced on Sept. 19, 2012, during the trial verdict of the KPUD's lawsuit to the MK regarding the authorization of the implementation of the election, which was carried out by the Papua legislature.

Before the KPUD filed the lawsuit, the Papua legislature had already opened the registration process for Papua gubernatorial candidates based on Special Provincial Bylaw No. 6/2011 on the election of the Papua governor and deputy governor.

Based on the MK ruling, the Papua gubernatorial election process has been reinstated, while candidates who have registered at the Papua legislative council will be transferred to the Papua KPUD to take part in the following election process.

Seven Papua gubernatorial candidate pairs have so far registered at the Papua legislative council; Habel Melkia Suwae-Yop Kogoya, M.R. Kambu- Blasius Pakage, Alex Hesegem-Marthen Kayoi, and Lukas Enembe-Klemen Tinal, nominated by political parties, and independent candidate pairs; Welington Wenda-Weynand Watori, Noak Nawipa-John Wob, and John Karubaba-Willy B. Magai.

In the schedule set by the Papua KPUD, the election process commences from the opening of registration for those candidates who have not yet registered at the Papua legislative council.

"The other candidates who have not yet registered have been given another chance to register at the Papua KPUD. We've formulated a schedule for independent candidates to register from Oct. 8 to 12 and those nominated by political parties from Nov. 8 to 14, 2012," explained Papua KPUD head Benny Suweni.

The election has been rescheduled for Jan. 29, 2013. "The people of Papua have been waiting a long time to pick their leaders. We hope the scheduled election will be carried out on time," he said.

The Papua gubernatorial election has been postponed for more than a year. "Had it taken place according to the normal schedule, the election would have been held on Sept. 26 last year," said Benny.

Independent candidate pair Yan Piter Yembisa and Heemsberche Bonay have registered themselves at the Papua KPUD on Oct. 12, after it opened registration for gubernatorial candidate pairs. Former Papua governor Barnabas Suebu and his running mate, former Tolikara regent John Tabo, ensured they would register as candidates on Nov. 10, 2012.

"We picked the date because it is in line with the Papua KPUD schedule," said Daniel Gerden, Barnabas Suebu and John Tabo's campaign team leader.

Indonesian lawmakers inconsistent on Papua issue - Academic

Radio New Zealand International - October 8, 2012

A specialist in Papua affairs says Indonesian lawmakers are displaying inconsistent approaches to the ongoing security problem in Papua region.

This comes as leading members of Indonesia's House of Representatives urged Jakarta to support any military offensive against Papuan separatists in order to keep the region part of Indonesia.

However, Richard Chauvel from the School of Social Sciences at Melbourne's Victoria University says this differs from calls by some of the same lawmakers after they visited Papua amid a recent spike in violence.

Dr Chauvel says the lawmakers had then called on government to be more conciliatory and start a dialogue with Papuans. "They're consistent in the sense that they recognise there's a security problem in Papua from Jakarta's point of view but they are flip-flopping from a conciliatory to a repressive approach in what they want the government to do."

Human rights & justice

Komnas HAM selection in gear at last

Jakarta Post - October 12, 2012

Rabby Pramudatama and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – After procrastinating for more than four months, Commission III on law and human rights began selecting commissioners for the 2012-2017 term of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Thursday.

Thirty candidates took a written test in Commission III's meeting room, where they were assigned to write a five-page essay on selected human rights topics.

One candidate, Mochamad Soedioto, representing the Indonesian Association of Visually Impaired People (Pertuni) was given the task of writing on the urgency for the Indonesian government to ratify and implement the 2002 Rome Statute.

Soedioto, a law school graduate from Diponegoro University, took the test without any preferential treatment, refusing to be treated differently from other candidates.

"We have technology that can help me with my work. Therefore, I believe that my physical disability will not reduce the quality of my work," he said.

Other than Soedioto, there are two other candidates with disabilities involved in the selection process: Suharto, an activist for rights of disabled persons and Setia Adi Purwanta from Yogyakarta's center for inclusive education.

Among the candidates were incumbent commissioners Yosef Adi Prasetyo and Nur Kholis. Other familiar figures include gay rights activist Dede Oetomo and humanitarian activist Sandyawan Sumardi.

Starting on Oct. 15, each candidates is expected to sit for a thirty-minute interview with Commission III members.

"The interviews will last for five days and we will announce the result on Oct. 23. We expect the new commissioners to start work in November," Commission chairman I Gede Pasek Suardika said.

Pasek insists that selection will be fair and will give equal treatment to all candidates regardless of physical disability, sexual orientation, or religious views. "Everyone is equal before the law; so are all of the candidates before us, lawmakers," Pasek said.

Pasek said that the House will select 10 new commissioners to improve the performance of the commission. "Less is better. They can work effectively," he said, adding that a smaller number of commissioners would suit Komnas HAM's reduced budget. Rp 64.7 billion (US$6.7 million) has been earmarked for Komnas HAM in 2013.

Interview: 'Historical amnesia'

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2012

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Leiden, the Netherlands – Three Dutch institutions – the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV), the Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (NIOD) and the Dutch Institute for Military History (NIMH) – are proposing to launch new research into the events of 1945-49 in Indonesia; what the Dutch term "police actions" but what Indonesia calls "military aggression". The Jakarta Post interviews KITLV research director Henk Schulte Nordholt.

Question: What is the motive behind this proposal?

Answer: It is triggered by the fact that the Dutch suffer from collective historical amnesia with regard to the events in 1945-49 in our former colony Indonesia. We only recalled what the Nazis did to us, but not what we did to the Indonesians, particularly in the period 1945-49. If we want to look into the future and move forward we have to have a firm basis of what and who we are, including our ability to confront our both dark and bright sides of the past, otherwise it remains a shaky foundation.

What is the objective?

We have three objectives. First, to investigate the nature of the violence the Dutch soldiers committed to the Indonesians. Second, to make an analysis of what kind of war invited Dutch soldiers to commit violence. Third, to find an answer why the violence committed by the Dutch soldiers remained unquestioned within Dutch society here in the Netherlands, such as the fact that Raymond Westerling – who is really a butcher – could start a career as an opera singer here after killing around 3,000 people in the Celebes.

But the Dutch soldiers were also killed and many other Dutch civilians suffered from discrimination and humiliation in the hand of Indonesians. Will the research look into that too?

That is the setting and context that we need to look into to have an understanding of the violence committed by the Dutch towards Indonesians. We will look into that, but that is secondary to the violence committed by the Dutch. Our main interest is on our own soldiers and the violence they committed toward Indonesians.

Will the research look into the Dutch property and companies that were taken over by Indonesia?

We know that Dutch special troops were active in the plantation sector. After all, the first "military aggression" or "police action" was named "operation product", that was to liberate agricultural estate taken over by the Indonesians. So we will look into that because we are curious about what these Dutch special troops were doing in the plantation sector.

Will the research look into the history of Indonesian revolution?

No, we have no intention to re-write the history of Indonesian revolution. In this post-Soeharto era, Indonesian historiography is being interpreted with various approaches. But we specifically only want to focus on the violent role of the Dutch soldiers during the period. Dutch historian Cees Fasseur wrote a government report in 1969 about violence committed by Dutch soldiers and sociologist J.A.A van Doorn also wrote about it in 1983. But that's it, since then there has not been any research about it.

Are you going to involve foreign (non Dutch and Indonesian) researchers to get involved in the study to help guard the objectivity?

This will be primarily a Dutch research but we certainly will ask foreign experts for advice and look for an ongoing dialogue with Indonesian colleagues.

Are some people not voicing concern over further claims similar to Rawagede? How would you deal with that?

Another lawsuit over what happened in the Celebes with regard to the brutal killing committed by Westerling is already underway. The Rawagade lawsuit has been successful and it is good that the Dutch government gave in and gave the compensation to the survivors, who were only a few because most of them have passed away due to their age. The people in Rawagede appreciated that the Dutch government admitted the mistake and offered an apology. That is more important than money.

What was the reaction from the Dutch public and veterans? Did you find support from both the Dutch government and the parliament?

Generally positive. We have also been lobbying people in the government and the parliament. However, we only have a caretaker government now, but we have received official support from some Dutch political parties: PvdA (Labor Party), SP (Socialist Party) and GL (Green Left). There is resistance from SGP (Reformed Political Party) – a fundamentalist Christian political party – which argues that we already have had enough research about this history. PVV (Party for Freedom, which is led by Geert Wilders who has Dutch-Indonesian decent) expressed no interests.

Can you explain the approaches of the study?

First, we will go to the existing literature. Second, we will delve into the archives that haven not been developed. We have experts here like Harry A. Poeze who was able to trace the life of neglected Indonesian national hero Tan Malaka. We will need his expertise, for example, to investigate where and when this execution taking place (showing the shocking picture and news of the execution of Indonesians committed by Dutch soldiers in de Volksraant July 10). Third, we will go into private collections to find more pictures like this. My hunch is that this kind of violence is an everyday feature during the war. This is also important to trace the mechanism behind this collective silence. Fourth, although very late, we will also try to find and talk to the survivors.

In 2010, a conference held by Indonesian Student Association and other organizations in Leiden resulted in a recommendation to produce a history school book regarding the events of 1945-49. It is said that the book should contain human interest stories of both Indonesian and Dutch war veterans to reduce the sensitivity and highlight human aspects of both sides, but still enable us to look into and learn from each other version of history. What do you think?

Good idea. At Dutch schools, although World War II was discussed, the history of Dutch colonialism was only a tiny part and its atrocity was non-existent. I believe there must have been a deliberate effort on the part of the Dutch government to suppress this. But the use of this kind of book will also depend on the teachers if it is only a supplementary teaching material. It would be great if the book can be integrated into the main curriculum.

What is the biggest obstacle you anticipate in doing the research? Have you applied for the funding?

The biggest obstacle is if nobody has the courage to support the proposal. No, we have not applied for the funding. We have initiated this public debate through print media and it should be up to the government and the parliament to make a political decision on this matter. We have been lobbying and we have enough support from political parties in the Dutch parliament, but we have to wait until the upcoming election in September.

What is the worst case, best case?

Worst case, nobody will agree to this proposal. Best case, we will have much better overall insight about the nature of the Dutch military operation in Indonesia during the period of Indonesia's revolution.

SBY goes nowhere on solving past human rights violations

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2012

Jakarta – Human rights activists have criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration for its poor achievement in resolving human rights violations, saying the nation is going nowhere with its human rights issues.

"Many regulations issued by various state institutions fail to guarantee that the government will strive to solve past human rights violation cases," Ifdhal Kashim, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said on the sidelines of a discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday. Indonesia, he said, already had a set of regulations that obligated the government to investigate and reveal what actually happened in the past.

One example, Ifdhal said, was the Peoples Consultative Assembly's (MPR) decree No. V/MPR/2000 on National Unity Advancement, which required the government to reveal the truth about the nation's history. If it is found that the government committed wrongdoings, then it was expected to make an apology.

Today, 12 years since its issuance, there has been no significant achievement in the settlement of human rights violation cases.

"The government and the House of Representatives should determine new methods to uncover past human rights violations," he said, adding that institutions could no longer rely on existing regulations.

The current regulations seemingly fail to guarantee that the government will apologize for political misconduct.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto stated last week that the killings in 1965-1966 were "justified". Djoko also refused to apologize to the victims although Komnas HAM, following its four years of study, recently stated that the purge amounted to a gross human rights violation.

The government even rejected several recommendations made at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) summit in May, at which Indonesia was urged to repeal laws and regulations that curtailed religious freedom.

The country, in trying to save its image, readdressed the UNHRC in September, stating that it would soon draw up a bill on the founding of a truth and reconciliation commission to deal with past human rights violations.

Aside from trials, the government had many options to deliver justice to the victims of human rights violations, he said. For example, the government could compensate or rehabilitate them. "But, the government could also apologize for past regimes' misconduct," he said.

Meanwhile, a researcher with the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), Zainal Abidin, said that if the government allowed the perpetrators of human rights abuses to remain free, others would be inspired to carry out similar actions.

"Members of the majority continue to torture and persecute minorities, like Shia and Ahmadiyah followers, because they think they will receive no punishments," Zainal said. (riz)

NGOs attack minister's softness on 1965 killings

Jakarta Globe - October 9, 2012

Firdha Novialita – Activists have urged a government minister who previously appeared to express sympathy with those involved in the 1965 purge of alleged communists to explain himself.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, last week urged the public to take a "wider perspective" in assessing the acts of violence.

Nongovernmental organizations – including the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy and the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) – lambasted Djoko for "speaking on behalf of the state perpetrators of violence in the past."

"The minister should have taken a neutral stance in addressing calls for a resolution to the incidents of 1965," the groups said in a joint statement on Monday.

"A neutral stance would have shown the appropriate respect for the findings of an investigation by Komnas HAM," they added, referring to the National Commission on Human Rights, which researched the issue.

Responding to calls for a government probe into the year-long purge in which some 500,000 people were estimated to be killed, Djoko said the crackdown was warranted in the wake of an alleged coup attempt officially blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"Look at it in a wider perspective. We can't just apologize without looking at what really happened in the 1965 incident," he said on Oct. 1. "If we want to look at history, for example the 1965 [incident], we have to look at it based on the perspective in 1965."

Komnas HAM earlier this year found there were gross human rights abuses by the authorities during that period. It recommended that the government settle the cases of rights violations and called on the president to issue an official apology.

Justice still eludes communist coup massacre victims

Straits Times - October 8, 2012

Michael Vatikiotis – Modern Indonesian history is a long tableau of violent struggle, first for freedom, then for power and, over much of the past 40 years, over faith and identity. Most of the victims of this struggle have been ordinary people. Neither a true account of all their suffering, nor justice of any kind, has been granted to any of them.

Yet the victims of the atrocities, relatives or survivors never forget the trauma. All too often, politics is blind to their suffering or the law imposes limits on liability. So when, for instance, survivors of a massacre perpetrated by Dutch colonial soldiers in a Javanese village in 1947 recently brought their case to The Hague, which by coincidence is home to the International Criminal Court, Dutch public prosecutors ruled that the statute of limitations on the atrocity had run out in 1971.

Local villagers allege that 450 people were killed by Dutch colonial troops in the village of Rawagede during the war of independence – the Dutch authorities challenge this and say at most 150 died. All the same, even though a lower court in The Hague ruled in favor of the victims, there will be no justice.

If memories of Indonesia's trauma under Dutch colonial rule can still stir the quest for justice, what about those who went on to suffer after Indonesia gained independence? At long last, there is some hope on the horizon.

A report issued at the end of July by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) of Jakarta analyses the aftermath of the attempted coup in September 1965 that unleashed a ferocious backlash against the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). The report recommends that the government launch a national reconciliation process and that the attorney-general prosecute those found to be responsible.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono swiftly lent support to the call for justice and urged the attorney-general to follow up. Yudhoyono is reportedly considering framing a formal national apology for all human rights abuses since 1965 to be announced before he leaves office in 2014.

As many as half a million and possibly up to one million people were killed as the army, supported by local militias, rampaged across the country, torturing and slaughtering anyone identified as even faintly associated with the PKI. Almost half a century later, it is still hard to uncover the truth and despite the country's democratic transition, a culture of silence prevails.

Of course, it is scarcely credible that so many souls are extinguished and no one wants justice for their murder. For more than three decades, the victims suffered in silence under an authoritarian government that was still executing alleged members of the communist party two decades after the coup. Sadly, the quest for justice has not been much easier under democratic rule.

Six years after the downfall of president Suharto, a law was passed on truth and reconciliation. The law fell well short of ensuring either truth or reconciliation because, according to the Bill's provisions, only when the government grants the perpetrators an amnesty can the victims be given compensation. And amnesty is given only after the victims grant forgiveness.

It's hard to forgive when you don't know what happened. Democracy has made little difference to what children are taught in school about the events of 1965, which still focuses on the six generals murdered on the night of Sept 30; nothing is said about the bloody aftermath. Communism may no longer be an ideological force to reckon with, but it remains banned in Indonesia. Attempts to honour some of the dead exhumed from mass graves have been disrupted and human rights activists intimidated.

One would think that with the military stripped of its political power, there would be little impediment to the truth about how special army units distributed weapons and encouraged militia groups and ordinary villagers to bludgeon their neighbors to death.

Not so. The military may be technically relegated to the barracks, but the current president is a former general whose father-in-law, General Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, led the special forces units ordered to eliminate the PKI across Java and Bali in 1966. Moves towards addressing the 1965 killings have already galvanized some groups of retired officers to lobby against any move towards prosecution.

Perhaps with more at stake in hiding the truth than the army are some of the country's largest Muslim organizations, which lent a well-documented hand in the slaughter. Such is the nature of power and politics in Indonesia today that it would be a foolish politician who demands they be held accountable – especially as elections approach in 2014.

So even with this latest call for reconciliation and justice, the victims will likely have a long wait. They will most likely die before either truth or justice can be delivered. Move on, let bygones be bygones, they will be told. Nothing has been said or done for so long, why open up old wounds?

So if justice won't be forthcoming at the national level, what are the victims to do? Perhaps they could learn from their neighbors in Timor Leste, where the newly independent government has been similarly reluctant to delve too far into the truth behind more than a quarter century of violence before and during Indonesian rule. There are more than 60 million Javanese, but Timor Leste lost more than 200,000 people, as much as half of its natural population over those years.

Frustrated that a government-backed truth commission led only to whitewash and a meek and muted apology from Indonesia, Timorese communities have developed their own mechanisms for coping with their loss, drawing on local memories and building local memorials. It doesn't compensate them very much or amount to accountability, but it does remind surviving generations of their loss, and hopefully acts as a deterrent.

If only the victims of Java could be permitted even this small gesture of memory. Given prevailing political trends and realities, and recalling recent aborted attempts to recognize those who died, it doesn't seem likely.

[The writer is the Asia regional director of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue. His new novel, "The Painter Of Lost Souls," dwells on the victims of the PKI killings in 1965.]

Political parties & elections

Megawati tells of struggle to get PDI-P behind Jokowi

Jakarta Globe - October 13, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Surabaya – Former president and opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri revealed on Friday that she had to fight against a "great current" to back the ticket that eventually won the Jakarta gubernatorial election last month.

Megawati said she got her party to nominate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his running mate, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, despite surveys and recommendations early on that suggested they stood little chance of winning.

"I decided that we should back them on the basis of a more ideological form of politics that I want to develop," she said during a national meeting of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in Surabaya.

She added that looking back at the process now, the party should feel vindicated that it stuck by one of its own despite the temptation to endorse a higher-profile candidate with better polling numbers, such as Fauzi Bowo, the losing incumbent.

Megawati also held up the new leaders as breathing fresh air into the Jakarta bureaucracy that has been stagnate for years.

"The win for Joko and Basuki is a victory for the aspirations of the people who are tired of seeing diversity get trampled on, tolerance become a luxury and violence in the name of religion, race or ethnicity become acceptable," the PDI-P chairwoman said.

She also said that their victory, which saw them garner 54 percent of votes in last month's runoff against Fauzi, was proof that political grandstanding by parties did not always work to sway an election.

Fauzi was backed by most of the major political parties, including those whose candidates were among the incumbent's most vocal critics ahead of the first round of voting in July.

Joko and Basuki were only endorsed by the PDI-P and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

Less than a week after the election, however, the two parties began bickering over who played the bigger role in influencing the victory.

Ahmad Basarah, a PDI-P deputy secretary general, expressed discontent with Gerindra's role in securing the pair's victory, saying the partnership "was not effective." "What was influential was the PDI-P machinery," he said.

He argued that while the PDI-P deployed senior officials to campaign on behalf of the ticket, Gerindra made minimal efforts at the grassroots level and appeared to exploit the pair's growing popularity to promote their co- founder, Prabowo Subianto, as a potential presidential candidate for the 2014 election.

Martin Hutabarat, a member of Gerindra's board of patrons, denied that Prabowo was using the election results to boost his own popularity.

Prabowo last ran during the 2009 presidential election as Megawati's running mate. He now regularly polls as the favorite to win the 2014 election, which Megawati is also widely expected to contest.

No political parties eligible yet: KPU

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2012

Jakarta – The General Election Commission (KPU) announced on Monday that none of political parties that had registered with the commission had met administrative requirements.

KPU said in a statement that all 34 political parties that had submitted documents for the verification process, needed to submit more documents before being declared eligible to take part in the next election process.

The commission gave the political parties one week to complete all documents before it announced the final result on Oct. 23. After the administrative requirements are verified as complete, the commission is expected to conduct a factual verification process, slated to wrap up by Jan. 6.

Political parties will be officially recognized as 2014 national election participants only after passing the factual verification process.

Jokowi, Anies lead list of 'young' candidates for 2014

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2012

Jakarta – Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Jakarta's governor-elect has topped a list of young potential candidates for the 2014 presidential election, according to a new survey.

The survey, compiled by the Poll Tracking Institute in Jakarta, said that Jokowi was viewed favorably by the largest share of respondents, 78.6 percent.

Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan had the second-best performance in the survey at 73.2 percent, followed by former finance minister and current World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati at 70.2 percent.

Poll Tracking interviewed 100 opinion makers comprising experts, analysts, academics, journalists, university students, NGO activists, pollsters and senior politicians between August and October for the survey.

Jokowi, Anies and Sri Mulyani topped a list that also included business tycoon Chairul Tandjung; embattled Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum; political activist Fadjroel Rachman, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians Puan Maharani and Pramono Anung Wibowo; Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan and Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar.

Respondents were asked to choose from a list of potential candidates between 35 and 53 years of age.

Hanta Yuda, the executive director of the Poll Tracking Institute said that the survey was conducted to develop a list of younger politicians who might serve as alternatives to the current graying crop of candidates who have announced their intentions to run in 2014.

"Opinion polls tend to present names of older politicians to respondents, when in fact, there are also many potential young leaders who could compete in the 2014 election," Hanta said on Sunday.

Hanta said that Jokowi, 51, could present himself as a credible politicians with the bravery, integrity, emotional maturity and communication skills needed to run for president. "Jokowi wins the hearts of our respondents because he is simply the man of the year," he said.

Jakarta's governor-elect was respected for his clean image and humility and had developed a reputation as a low-key civil servant his two terms as the mayor of Surakarta, Central Java, Hanta said. However, Jokowi could easily turn off voters in 2014 if he fails to fulfill his campaign promises, Hanta added.

University of Indonesia (UI) political analyst Hamdi Muluk said that the only handicap that Anies, 43, faced in a potential presidential bid was his lack of government experience. "Anies captivates so many people with his youthful spirit. But, unlike Jokowi, Anies is still untested when it comes to governing," Hamdi said.

Sri Mulyani, 50, also has a reputation as a professional and capable public servant, traits that could help her running the country despite her involvement in the controversial Bank Century bailout.

Hamdi said that younger candidates might attract voters even without endorsements from major political parties, as in the case of Jokowi's election in Jakarta. Political parties should consider recruiting popular and credible candidates instead of nominating their own leaders, Hamdi said.

"The Democratic Party, for instance, should open its doors to new names, because currently it lacks any influential figures. The NasDem [National Democratic] Party, as a new player, should also nominate popular figures if they want to get public support," he said. The Golkar Party has declared chairman Aburizal Bakrie, 65, as its presidential candidate, while it looks certain that the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) will nominate its patron, Prabowo Subianto, 60.

Former president Megawati Soe-karno Putri, 65, the chairperson of the PDI- P, is also reportedly mulling another run for the presidency. (riz)

Surveys & opinion polls

Indonesia's Islamic parties losing luster with voters, poll finds

Jakarta Globe - October 15, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Antara – A survey released on Monday shows that Indonesian voters are losing faith in the nation's Islamic political parties.

The executive director of National Survey Institute (LSN), Umar S. Bakry, said the declining popularity of Islamic parties was caused by the parties' overconfidence in their constituents' loyalty.

"From four Islamic parties that are in the House of Representatives, it seems [after the next election] only the Prosperous Justice Party [PKS] will still be in Senayan [the location of the House]," Umar said, as quoted by Antara news agency on Monday.

"Without quick re-evaluation, consolidation and total correction, PAN [National Mandate Party], PKB [National Awakening Party] and PPP [United Development Party] might be ousted from Senayan."

Umar said PKB might be overconfident that members of Indonesia's biggest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, were a guaranteed voting base, and that PAN might feel similarly about members of Muhammadiyah. Both parties were founded by leaders of the two respective Islamic civil society groups.

"So, don't be over confident; it cannot be done in modern politics," Umar said, adding that most people don't believe the current slate of Islamic parties are capable of bettering the country's fortunes.

While Golkar Party tops the survey with the favor of 14.4 percent of respondents, the nation's four largest Islamic parties garnered less than 12 percent of votes combined. PKS led the foursome with 4.4 percent of all those polled, and the United Development Party (PPP) fared the worst, winning just 2.2 percent.

Umar said that in addition to taking certain constituent blocs for granted, another problem vexing the parties was their lack of a national figure who sells well. "It might be a classic [reason], but that's the reality," he said.

The survey was conducted from Sept. 10 to 24, with 1,230 respondents from all 33 Indonesian provinces. The polling had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent.

Islamic parties lose relevance

Jakarta Post - October 15, 2012

Jakarta – Two opinion polls have painted a gloomy picture for Islam-based political parties, with none of the existing ones being predicted to remain among the top five parties in the 2014 general election.

The Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) found in its survey that, if the general election were to take place today, major Islam-based political parties, including the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP), would all get less than 5 percent of the vote each and collectively would only garner 21.1 percent of the popular vote.

In its latest survey, the LSI interviewed 1,200 respondents between Oct. 1 and 8.

In the survey, the LSI found that Golkar would likely win the election with 21 percent of the vote. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) would come in second with 17.2 percent and the Democratic Party in third place with 14 percent.

Two newer secular political parties – the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party and the National Democratic Party (NasDem) – would take the place of Islam-based parties in the top five, with 5.2 percent and 5 percent of the vote respectively.

"This would be the first time since the 2004 general election that not even a single Muslim-based political party made it into the big five," said LSI researcher Adjie Alfaraby during a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday.

In the 2009 election, the PKB and the PPP, two parties with close ties to the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), were in third and fourth position with 10.6 percent and 8.1 percent of the vote, respectively.

In the last election, the PKS and PAN each got 7.9 percent and 6 percent of the vote, respectively.

The survey found that the implosion of Muslim-based political parties had multiple causes, including voters who were put off by vigilante activism by Muslim outfits like the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the growing fear of efforts to introduce Islamic law in some parts of the country.

"The demand for the imposition of sharia has become a point of reference among voters. More than 46.1 percent of the respondents believe that sharia will be implemented if a Muslim-based party wins the election and rules the country," Adjie said.

He also said that secular, nationalist political parties had been successful in wooing Muslim voters and turning them away from Muslim-based parties.

The results of another survey released on Sunday also revealed that Muslim-based parties were in dire straits.

The Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting (SMRC) found in its survey, conducted between Sept. 5 and 16, that three Islam-based political parties, the PKS, the PKB and the PPP, would only get 3 percent of the vote. PAN would come in fourth with a meagre 2 percent of the vote.

SMRC researcher Deni Irvani said Nasdem and Gerindra would get many of the votes that traditionally went to Muslim-based parties. The survey predicts that Golkar will win the 2014 election with 14 percent of the vote.

Responding to the dire prospects, PKB politician Marwan Ja'far said that the pollsters could have favored secular parties and he was optimistic that his party would get at least 10 percent of the vote. "We are aware that most swing voters are in big cities. But the PKB will only concentrate in rural areas where our traditional voters reside," Marwan said.

PPP politician Ahmad Yani warned that poor electoral prospects for his party could bring grave danger to the country.

"We will explain [to voters] that Indonesia will be in danger if we don't have a Muslim-based party, because it is an important means to defend the values of Islam on the national political stage," he told The Jakarta Post. (yps)

Indonesians say democracy can hurt minorities, spark conflict: Survey

Jakarta Post - October 11, 2012

Jakarta – Indonesians support the democratic system but believe that it can harm minority groups and economic development, as well as spark conflict, a survey reveals.

The survey, which was conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) between June and July, revealed that 53.3 percent of 1,700 respondents believed that democracy tended to put pressure on minorities.

The survey also disclosed that 50.4 percent of respondents said that democracy could hinder the country's economic development, while 49.9 percent of them believed that democracy could trigger conflicts.

LIPI researcher Wawan Ichwanuddin said Thursday that 35.2 percent of respondents considered that democracy was not in line with the nation's traditional and community values.

"The survey shows that 70 percent of respondents believe that democracy is the preferred political system. However, several people view democracy very negatively," he told reporters during a press conference in Jakarta.

According to Wawan, the survey also revealed respondents' disapproval of existing political parties.

Only 23.4 percent of them trusted political parties, he said. The figure was lower than the respondents' trust in the President (55.5 percent), the courts (32 percent) and the House of Representatives (29.7 percent).

Respondents believed that Indonesia should have fewer political parties. A staggering 58.3 percent of them said they would prefer five political parties, while the remaining 28.1 percent wanted three parties. Only 3.5 percent of respondents said Indonesia should have more than 10 political parties.

The survey's participants also said the government's performance was poor in economic welfare (22 percent) and corruption eradication (46 percent). (yps/lfr)

Labour & migrant workers

Government to clamp down on outsourcing

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2012

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – The government has decided on the heels of last week's labor protests to impose tighter restrictions on the employment of workers through outsourcing.

Speaking at a hearing with lawmakers on Monday, Irianto Simbolon, the director general for industrial relations and social security affairs, said a planned revision to existing regulations would ban outsourcing companies from hiring workers on a contract basis.

"Outsourced workers must be employed permanently by the company that provides the outsourcing service," Irianto said. He added that the revision would also require outsourcing companies to give their employees holiday bonuses, 12 days annual leave and health insurance.

Better monitoring of outsourcing companies should also emerge from the revision as the government plans to reduce the business-permit renewal period for this type of service from five years to three years.

"We'll reduce the period to three years so that it will be harder for outsourcing companies to renew their permits. Plus, every six months we will audit them and revoke their licenses should they break any rules," he said.

A meeting was scheduled on Thursday to allow for final input into the proposed revisions, Irianto said.

The revision to outsourcing rules is a response to a nationwide labor strike last Wednesday, involving some 2.8 million workers in 16 provinces who demanded the elimination of outsourcing systems because of years of unfair practice and exploitation.

In Pulogadung industrial estate in East Jakarta, the strike halted production activities at around 400 factories with estimated losses of Rp 400 billion (US$41.6 million) according to industry associations. Another strike in Batam, Riau Islands, also paralyzed 24 industrial estates in the region, causing Rp 90 billion in losses.

Manpower agencies in several provinces stepped up their monitoring of outsourcing companies following the industrial action, leading to two outsourcing firms, Graha Duta Sarana in Aceh, and Orsindo Sejahtera, having their licenses revoked.

Several local administrations have also halted approvals of new applications for outsourcing business permits.

Indra Musnawar, the leader of the Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation, said that the government's proposed revisions would not address the real problem of the outsourcing system in Indonesia.

"The law says that outsourcing is the transfer of non-core job positions inside a company to other parties for the sake of efficiency. At present, there are many outsourcing firms that serve as brokers for firms that need workers [for their core positions]," Indra said.

He said that the government should solve the issue by enforcing the 2003 Labor Law and ensuring that outsourcing could only apply to positions that did not directly relate to core production activities.

Hariyadi Sukamdani, the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) wages and social security division head said that Apindo members would comply with the upcoming revisions.

"We will review our current contracts with outsourcing service providers, and if we really need workers in the areas of our core businesses, we will seek to hire workers directly instead of using outsourcing firms," he said.

Hariyadi said that the government's major task would be to supervise the implementation of the planned rule. "There are rampant violations because of the lack of supervision," he said.

Police urged to drop the terror accusations against shoe worker

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2012

Jakarta – The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) has urged the Tangerang Police to drop the investigation against Omih, 28, a shoe worker who is accused of spreading terror through text message by her company PT Panarub Dwikarya.

Omih was released on Saturday when Police suspended her case. However, LBH Jakarta, who represented Omih, said Sunday that she still faced threats as the Police could reopen the case anytime.

LBH lawyer Maruli T Rajagukguk said that the detention did not have strong legal bases. He said that the Police should first determine whether or not Omih had intentionally arranged the terror.

"She sent the terror massage as an expression of resentment against her company, which she believed had abused the workers' rights," he said. What Omih had done, Maruli said, could not be categorized as a terror act.

Omih had long been disappointed in regards to the company's policies. She blamed the company for her daughter's death and not approving her request for leave to take care of the ill 2-year-old girl.

When Omih joined the labor union and protested against its poor management, the company responded the protest by laying Omih and 1,300 other workers off.

On Sept. 14, she sent a text message to the company's human resources manager Edy Suryono and production manager Guan An, saying that a bomb was being assembled to be exploded at the factory the next day.

The company reported the threat to the Police. The Tangerang Police did not find any evidence during a search at Omih's home, but still detained her anyway. During her detention, family members and colleagues were not allowed to visit her.

Omih was released with guarantees from many parties, including the LBH Jakarta, Ribka Tjiptaning, a lawmaker of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Human Rights Commission (komnas HAM) and labor unions.

Maruli said that detaining Omih was an attempt to divert the struggle of the labors to fight for their rights. "They make us busy with Omih's case so we put aside the problems at the company," he said. LBH Jakarta and the labor unions are currently fighting for rights of around 1,300 workers who have outstanding salaries since July.

Maruli said that they would try to gain international support so Adidas, PT Panarub Dwikarya's shoe-making partner, would end its cooperation with the company. (cor/lfr)

Minister to get tough on mining firms over labor

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2012

Amahl S. Azwar, Jakarta – Mining companies that have sacked their workers to reduce costs without prior discussion with the government would face "tough measures", Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Sunday.

Based on his experience running the ministry for a year, Jero said that mining companies had a tendency to publicly exploit layoffs as a way to threaten the government as well as to gain public support whenever they faced problems.

"At the end of the day, the central government will be the one to blame whenever they [the firms] shed their workers."

Jero said in response to recent announcements from two mining firms, PT Agincourt Resources and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), who declared separately that they would be downsizing their respective workforces as part of ongoing cost-cutting measures.

Agincourt, a local subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed gold producer G-Resources Group Ltd, announced on Thursday last week that it had dismissed 300 of its workers amid the suspension of its Martabe gold mine in South Tapanuli, North Sumatra, following a waste management dispute with local residents.

Simultaneously, NNT, a subsidiary of US-based Newmont Corporation and the second-largest copper and gold producer in Indonesia, announced its plan to lay off as many as 100 of its 4,000 workers at its Batu Hijau mining site in West Nusa Tenggara to cut costs amid low production and the stagnation of mineral prices.

Jero maintained that the mining firms, especially the large ones, must first consult with the government prior to implementing their plans.

While acknowledging that the government did not have legal authority to sanction mining firms for laying off workers, Jero said that the government had "its own ways" to pressure mining firms, but declined to give further details.

"We have our own ways to take tough measures if mining firms suddenly fire their workers without consulting us first, but I cannot tell you what ways," he said. "The thing is, the significance of the mining firms was to boost job opportunities, not the other way around."

NNT president director Martiono Hadianto declined respond to the minister's remarks directly, but said that NNT had presented its plan to the government both informally and formally.

"We just want to enhance our efficiency. As for why we are conveying our plans [to the public], it is a part of our attempt to practice transparency and we are doing it carefully so it does not trigger any social turmoil," he told the Post in a text message.

Meanwhile, G-Resources president director Peter Geoffrey Albert told the Post that the firm had consulted with the administrations of North Sumatra province and South Tapanuli regency over their plans, adding that the company expected the regional administrations would discuss the matter with all related bodies.

"We advised South Tapanuli Regent [Syahrul Pasaribu] on Sept. 17 [through an official letter] that we would cease production on Sept. 19 and if after 10 days [the dispute] was not resolved, we would start sending people home.

This letter was copied to the provincial administration and the central government," he said in a text-message.

Currently, G-Resources employs 2,400 people at its Martabe gold mine site. Further layoffs are expected unless the dispute with area residents over the planned installation of a 2.7-kilometer-long liquid waste pipe to Batang Toru River in South Tapanuli, can be resolved.

Health & education

Official defends curriculum streamlining

Jakarta Post - October 13, 2012

Jakarta – A top education official has defended the government's plan to streamline the curriculum for primary education, saying it is customized to boost character building.

Deputy Education and Culture Minister Musliar Kaslim said on Friday the existing curriculum for primary school students focused on science while at the same time neglecting the teaching of morals.

"In the new curriculum, primary school students will be involved in moral and character building instead of focusing on the content of subjects," Musliar said over a phone interview and added that the new curriculum would be implemented for first graders next year.

In the new curriculum, he said, students will be introduced to the country's diversity and pluralism. Students, he said, as an example, would be invited to visit different houses of worship.

According to him, primary school students will only study six required subjects, namely religion, civics, Indonesian language, sports, arts and culture and math.

Previously, they have been required to learn the basics of science and social studies. Some even have started to learn foreign languages, like English.

"We've simplified the subjects after receiving input from many parties saying that our current curriculum for primary schools was too heavy," Musliar said. He added that science and social studies would be taught but integrated into Indonesian language teaching.

"Students will be required to observe their surroundings and make oral and written reports afterward" he said as an example. Teaching of the Indonesian language has so far has been dominated by structure and grammar.

Yet, Musliar confirmed that English would not be included as a required subject for primary school students as the new curriculum would focus on boosting Indonesian language proficiency. "The teaching of English is still allowed but only as an extracurricular activity," he said.

Meanwhile, child psychologist Seto Mulyadi lauded the government's plan to trim the number of subjects taught at primary school education, as he deemed the current curriculum as overloaded.

But, he lamented that the curriculum excluded English. "It's still not a problem if [we] introduce English to primary school students," Seto said, adding that proficiency in English was essential in the era of globalization.

However, Seto said, if the government is to include English in the new curriculum, its teaching should also not be focused on grammar and structure, as teachers currently do.

"Teach them with games and songs so that they can also enjoy the teaching process," he said, adding that children at primary school were at the playing stage, not studying. Seto said the government had much to do as teachers not ready to apply the new curriculum. (riz)

Only six lessons for elementary students as English also gets the ax

Jakarta Globe - October 12, 2012

Following news that science and social studies would be largely scrubbed from the nation's elementary school curriculum, the government has decided to make young Indonesians' lessons even simpler by scrapping English language courses – all subjects said to be unduly burdening children.

"A national figure told me that his grandchild, who is an elementary school student, has to carry books in a suitcase because there are so many subjects they have to study," said Musliar Kasim, deputy minister of Education and Cultural, as quoted by Antara news agency recently.

"Many students, when their teacher is absent from school, feel glad because they're free from studying," he said. "In the future, the system should be overturned. They should be glad to study."

Musliar said that his ministry is drafting a new curriculum that contains only six subjects: religion, nationalism, Indonesian language, math, art and sport.

Besides scrapping science and social studies from the curriculum, as announced on Sept. 27, the government also intends to eliminate English language lessons. Musliar said that it is better for elementary school students to focus on studying the Indonesian language.

"They can understand English in six months," Musliar said, as quoted by Tribunnews.com on Wednesday. "Even kindergarten students are forced to take English courses. To put it bluntly, it is haram [forbidden under Islam]. Feel pity on the children."

Musliar said that in addition to Indonesian language skills, it was important to maintain art as part of the curriculum so children could learn cultural values and fortify children's characters.

Science and social studies, the deputy minister said, will be integrated into Indonesian language classes. "So, when learning the Indonesian language, students could study about thunder or rain while learning to read," Musliar said.

Indonesia's mentally ill shackled and forgotten

Agence France Presse - October 10, 2012

Karangasem, Bali – Between rice fields and coconut trees on Indonesia's "paradise" island of Bali, a man lies chained by the ankles to a rotting wooden bed in a garden, staring at roosters tottering by.

I Ketut Lingga, 54, has schizophrenia and is one of more than 15,000 Indonesians with a mental illness who are either chained, caged or placed in primitive stocks, according to health ministry data. They are known as "pasung" – which loosely translates to "shackled" – and are considered lost causes.

Lingga's family shackled him 30 years ago, and he has never been unchained since. When he is relaxed, he rarely moves or speaks, but during an episode, his family fears him.

"He attacked me one day, so we had no choice but to chain him up," Lingga's sister-in-law, Wayan Reti, 50, told AFP at her home in eastern Bali's Karangasem district. "He ripped off my clothes and tried to strangle me, and he's been shackled ever since. What else could we do?"

In his early 20s, Lingga began threatening to kill or beat people. He was taken for just three visits to the mental hospital, where he was given medication but no counseling. After that his family could no longer pay the $15 fee for each visit.

Some 50 pasung exist in Karangasem alone, according to psychiatrist Dr. Luh Ketut Suryani, who discovered the extent of the problem early last decade while researching a spike in suicide rates in the district.

Suryani identified 895 people in Karangasem with mental disorders. But with her thin resources already stretched, she is unable to treat them all.

Helped by her son, who is also a psychiatrist, and three paid volunteers, she treats and monitors almost 700 patients with anti-psychotic drug injections, counseling and meditation. She has also used singing sessions, which she said helps patients to relax and focus.

The Balinese government in 2009 granted Suryani more than $500,000 to keep up her work, which she had for years funded herself, but that money was cut after complaints of her meditation and singing sessions.

"We include meditation because it's the Balinese Hindu belief, and using a method patients believe in means they accept us into the community. It helps them heal emotionally," Suryani said.

Home prisons

In Bali, most people with mental illnesses first see a traditional healer for purification, believing mental disorders are caused by the supernatural.

Suryani claims a success rate of 31 percent, where patients no longer need medication. Only three percent have shown no improvement, while the rest are making progress with regular treatment. "Many disagree with my methods, but these people are the forgotten. If not us, who will help them?" she said.

A health ministry survey in 2007 showed that 11.6 percent, or more than 27 million Indonesians, have some kind of mental or emotional disorder, while around a million have psychotic or serious mental illnesses. Less than five percent are treated.

Around two percent of the national budget is slated for health next year, and only one percent of that is typically allocated to mental health, ministry data show. There are 48 mental hospitals in the country of 240 million people, and only 700 registered psychiatrists.

This gross underfunding is evident in Karangasem, where schizophrenic Nengah Surung, 65, lives in a government-built three-by-four-meter concrete cell with a barred door and window. His home prison reeks of feces and urine. He was chained for nine years before Suryani convinced his family to unchain him.

"I don't remember being chained up that well, but I remember I hated it. I'm happier here," he said, struggling to sit up on the three slats of wood that form his bed.

Surung is cared for by his 29-year-old son, I Nengah Sarita, who makes 40,000 rupiah ($4) a day as a laborer when work is available.

He lives with a dog and four cats in a hut with thatch-grass walls and a tin roof meters from his father. The men and animals alike eat only rice. "The government built the room for my father, but I really need more help," Sarita said.

The system is in need of an overhaul, health ministry mental health management director Dr. Diah Setia Utami said.

"We have a problem where practitioners don't follow up on their patients, and the referral system isn't working," Utami said.

"We aimed to free all pasung by 2014, but we've revised our target to 2020. There's a lot of awareness work needed to really change this culture and free the mentally ill."

Marriage & polygamy

Number of child brides down in Indonesia: UN

Jakarta Globe - October 13, 2012

Indonesia has seen a major decline in the number of child brides, but a significant 22 percent of Indonesian women aged 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18, according to a landmark report from a United Nations agency.

The report "Marrying Too Young," released on Thursday by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to mark the inaugural International Day of the Girl Child, warned that 142 million girls worldwide could be married before 18 within the next decade if global trends continued.

The report noted that during the period from 2000 to 2011, an estimated 34 percent of women aged 20 to 24 years in developing regions were married or in union before their 18th birthday.

"In 2010 this was equivalent to almost 67 million women. About 12 percent were married or in union before age 15," it said.

It also identified Indonesia as one of 48 countries worldwide where the prevalence of child marriages had declined by more than 10 percent in recent years, but noted that the prevalence still remained high, particularly in rural areas.

A large part of the problem in Indonesia was attributed to the fallout of the December 2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 170,000 people in the province of Aceh.

"Girls' vulnerability to child marriage can increase during humanitarian crises when family and social structures are disrupted. In times of conflict and natural disaster, parents may marry off their young daughters as a last resort, either to bring the family some income in time of economic hardship, or to offer the girl some sort of protection," it said.

"Young girls were married to 'tsunami widowers' in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India as a way to obtain state subsidies for marrying and starting a family."

Data compiled from 2000-2011 showed that 22 percent of women in Indonesia aged 20-24 years were married before 18. The prevalence was higher in rural areas.

Lack of education was also identified as a major factor behind child marriages, with 75.3 percent of girls who got married before 18 having only a primary school education or no education at all. "Girls' education, especially at the secondary level, is strongly associated with later marriage," the UNFPA said.

"Research has suggested that girls with secondary schooling are up to six times less likely to marry while children, compared to girls with little to no education."

Poverty was another factor, with 56.9 percent of Indonesian child brides coming from the two poorest quintiles for household wealth.

Graft & corruption

Hambalang scandal suspect explains bosses' roles

Jakarta Post - October 15, 2012

Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – Deddy Kusdinar, the first suspect in the Youth and Sports Ministry's graft-ridden Hambalang sports complex project, spoke of his bosses' alleged roles in the project on Monday.

"I am only a middle-level executive with limited authority, so it was impossible for me to change the site plan [of the project] arbitrarily. It was my bosses," he told reporters upon his arrival at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for a questioning session on Monday.

Deddy, a chief of the financial and internal affairs bureau at the ministry, said he had reported directly to the ministry secretary Wafid Muharam regarding the project. Wafid passed on the report to Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng.

Last year the KPK has opened the investigation of the Rp 1,17 trillion (US$265 million) Hambalang sport complex located in Bogor, West Java, after disgraced former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin made an accusation that there was graft in the project.

The commission then found irregularities, especially when the project was handed over from former minister Adhyaksa Dault to Andi in 2009.

After Andi took over, the project's site plan was changed and the budget swelled from only Rp 125 billion to Rp 1.17 trillion.

Andi has insisted on proceeding with the project, although during Adhyaksa's tenure geologists warned that the 38-hectare plot in Hambalang was "unsuitable" for a large development. (iwa)

Police watchdog smells a rat in Novel investigation

Jakarta Post - October 15, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The National Police Commission (Kompolnas) has found irregularities behind the controversial police move to prosecute Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Comr. Novel Baswedan.

Among the irregularities were the indication of intervention by the Jakarta Police and the National Police headquarters, Kompolnas commissioner Edi Saputra Hasibuan told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"Administratively, the involvement of detectives from the Jakarta Police, even the National Police was peculiar. The assaults and shootings allegedly committed by Novel were local matters, which should have been handled by the Bengkulu Police," he said. Edi added that the commission failed to "logically accept" the reasoning behind the police's sudden decision to investigate an eight-year-old case.

Two weeks ago, police officers stormed the KPK headquarters in South Jakarta in an attempt to arrest Novel, who has been accused in the shooting of robbery suspects in 2004. Novel was serving as chief of detectives with Bengkulu Police when the incident occurred.

The police move was allegedly made to weaken the anti-graft body. Novel has been leading the investigation into alleged graft surrounding the procurement of driving simulators by the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas).

"But we need to dig deeper into our preliminary findings before drawing any conclusions," Edi said, adding that he could not estimate how long the investigation would last.

The Kompolnas would present its final reports on the case to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he added. "We will also give it to the National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo as a recommendation," Edi said.

The Kompolnas was founded in 2011 as an independent organization to serve as an external police monitoring body. Observers, however, have deemed it not powerful enough given its authority of only "making recommendations" to the National Police.

Another independent investigation conducted by rights activists, led by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), has come up with similar conclusion albeit in its preliminary stages.

Kontras' Haris Azhar, the leader of the investigation team, said that Novel could not be held accountable for the alleged assaults and shootings. Kontras based its conclusion after interviewing witnesses in the case in Bengkulu.

"First, Novel had just served as the chief detective for only four days when the arrests were made," he said.

Haris also said that details of the incident were sketchy. "Novel had just arrived on the scene when he heard the sound of gunfire. It was really dark. Nobody was sure who shot whom," he added.

One of the six suspects eventually died while the remainder suffered from bullet wounds and assault injuries.

"The police decided to make up a story as if the suspect had been shot dead. "The fact was that he suffered from severe injuries to his head because he had fallen on rocky ground after his leg had been shot, following an escape attempt," Haris said.

As a form of responsibility, as the leader of the detectives, Novel had been brought to disciplinary tribunal, according to Haris. "He was declared guilty and received reprimand," he said.

Over 10 groups sought projects at House: Rosa

Jakarta Post - October 12, 2012

Rabby Pramudatama and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The trial of Democratic Party lawmaker Angelina Sondakh for bribery may shed light on new cases of graft as witness Mindo Rosalina Manulang testified that more than 10 companies or organizations maneuvered through the halls of power to gain access to lucrative government projects.

"Over 10 parties at the House [of Representatives] worked to get projects," Rosalina, or Rosa as she is commonly known, said at Angelina's trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Thursday.

Rosa, who worked for the Permai Group – a company that Angelina allegedly assisted to win projects – said everyone had "contact persons" at the House to secure the projects.

Rosa, however, declined to reveal who her contacts were. "I can't answer [that question] because it doesn't link to the university projects [which implicate Angelina Sondakh]," she said.

Prosecutors have accused Angelina of taking Rp 33.37 billion (US$3.5 million) in kickbacks, comprising Rp 12.85 billion related to budget allocations for the Youth and Sports Ministry and US$2.35 million related to budget allocations for the Education and Culture Ministry.

The bribes allegedly came from Permai Group, which was owned by Muhammad Nazaruddin, the former Democratic Party treasurer who was later convicted of graft. Rosa worked as a marketing director at the company.

In her testimony, Rosa, who is now serving a two-and-a-half-year prison term, said Angelina had tried to silence her by visiting her detention cell at Pondok Bambu Penitentiary in East Jakarta not long after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested her last year.

"I know nothing about the case. Please help me mbak. After you [Rosa] get out [of jail] we should go for honest jobs together," Rosa said, quoting Angelina during the prison visit.

In today's court session, Angelina, a former beauty queen, disputed Rosa's version of the story. "It is true that I visited the witness at the penitentiary, but it is not true that I asked her not to mention my name in her case," Angelina said.

In addition to revealing Angelina's alleged illicit activities, Rosa has implicated many high-profile individuals in other graft cases related to Nazaruddin's businesses. She has also testified before the court that party chairman Anas Urbaningrum played a major role in the management of the Permai Group.

She has been under the joint protection of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) and the KPK since January, when she received death threats in her cell.

During Thursday's hearing, Rosa, who showed up at the court wearing a bulletproof vest, testified that Angelina had been hiding the roles of other lawmakers and fellow Democratic Party politicians.

"I just came from Anas' [Democratic Party chairman] home. I don't want to be prosecuted alone in this case. I could create a bigger 'tsunami' than what Nazaruddin did," Rosa said, quoting a conversation she had with Angelina.

Nazaruddin has on many occasions accused other House politicians of being involved in graft cases.

KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said the commission questioned Rosa's testimony. "I don't understand why she feels insecure. I think she has forgotten her own promises to cooperate with the LPSK and the KPK," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Separately, Democratic Party patron Hayono Isman responded lightly to the possibility that Angelina might drag more House lawmakers into the case. "I fully support the KPK to follow up the information, if it is true [that Angelina would name more lawmakers]," he said.

He added that Angelina should give solid evidence to the KPK before naming anyone or else it would be slander or defamation.

House approves new building for KPK

Jakarta Post - October 12, 2012

Jakarta – The House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing law and human rights affairs has finally approved the budget allocation to build a new building for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The commission had previously rejected such a proposal on two previous occasions – first in June 2008 and again in September 2008.

"At 9 p.m. yesterday, I led an internal meeting discussing the budget allocation for the KPK, the National Police, the Attorney General Office [AGO] and the Constitutional Court. The [lawmakers] decided a few things, including the matter regarding the KPK new building," Commission III leader Gede Pasek Suardika said on Thursday night as quoted by kompas.com.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi celebrated the move, saying that the new building was urgently needed as the current KPK 8-story building, located in Kuningan, South Jakarta, could not accommodate the anti graft agency's needs.

"The Commission III's move to approve our proposal should be appreciated. The new building is a necessity. The current condition [of the building] is not supporting," Johan said.

The KPK's current headquarters is able to accommodate 350 employees, while KPK's present number of employees – including the investigators – tops more than 700. Dozens of KPK staffers have to work in two other buildings outside the KPK.

In the proposal, KPK aims to build a 16-story building that will be able accommodate up to 1,200 employees. The new building is intended be built on a 27,000-square-meter plot on Jl. HR. Rasuna Said, Setiabudi, Kuningan, South Jakarta – not far from the KPK's current location. (swd)

Angelina threatened to bring 'tsunami' on House: Rosalina

Jakarta Globe - October 11, 2012

Rizky Amelia – With graft investigators' net widening in late 2010, Angelina Sondakh allegedly threatened to unleash a "tsunami" on the House of Representatives building in Senayan, Central Jakarta, if she were to be dragged into one of the nation's most high-profile corruption scandals.

That threat was allegedly leveled in December 2010 while visiting graft convict Mindo Rosalina Manulang at Jakarta's Pondok Bambu detention center.

Angelina was said to have visited Rosalina to ask for assistance in keeping her name out of a case involving the graft-ridden construction of an athletes' village in Palembang. Rosalina, who was convicted for her role in the scandal, said Angelina was anxious because her name had been mentioned in the growing scandal.

"Angelina said, 'I just came from Anas's [Urbaningrum, Democratic Party chairman] house, I don't want to be sacrificed alone,'?" Rosalina told investigators in a report read by a prosecutor at the Jakarta Anti- Corruption Court on Thursday.

Rosalina told the court that Angelina claimed to have received assurances from Anas that she would not be touched by the Nazaruddin fallout, but that if she was outed, she would reveal "the rot at the House."

"She said, 'If I'm implicated, I'll be very angry. I will bring upon Senayan [where the House is located] a tsunami greater even than [graft convict Muhammad] Nazaruddin's,'"

Angelina was indicted last month for receiving bribes from Permai Group amounting to Rp 12.5 billion ($1.3 million) and $2.3 million as a Democratic Party lawmaker in order to smooth the appointment of Nazaruddin's company as the tender winner of projects related to the athletes village at the Ministry of Youth and Sport Affairs, and in a separate case involving the National Education Ministry.

Rosalina told the court that many lawmakers acted as part of a "budget mafia" at the House of Representatives, including Angelina, I Wayan Koster of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and Azis Syamsuddin and Zulkarnaen Djabbar of the Golkar Party.

Confusion follows SBY speech

Jakarta Post - October 11, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Only two days after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivered his remarks to end the standoff between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police, confusion has begun to take hold in relation to what the President really ordered in his speech.

The National Police on Thursday issued numerous statements insisting that they had not defied the President's order by retaining control over elements of the investigation into the vehicle simulator procurement graft case at the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas).

In his Monday speech, the President said that the KPK should be the only institution handling the case.

National Police chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Suhardi Aliyus, however, said that they would only hand over three suspects in the case to the KPK. "The remaining two [suspects] will remain under our investigation," he said on Wednesday.

The three suspects to be handed over to the KPK are Korlantas chief Brig. Gen. Didik Purnomo, as well as businessmen Budi Susanto and Sukotjo S. Bambang. Two other suspects, Korlantas officers Comr. Legimo and Adj. Sr. Comr. Tedy Rusmawan, will not be investigated by the KPK, Suhardi said.

The KPK-police stand-off has been heating up following an investigation by the antigraft body on the vehicle simulators procurement case at the Korlantas, which involves its former chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Sutarman said the police would only temporarily halt legal proceedings against Comr. Novel Baswedan, a police detective currently seconded to the KPK, who had decided to permanently join the body.

Yudhoyono said that the police's move on Novel was "inappropriate both in terms of timing and method".

"Therefore, we will discuss the right timing to continue the prosecution against him," Sutarman said on Wednesday, rejecting the notion that Yudhoyono had ordered the termination of Novel's prosecution.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said the police would support the President's call to save the KPK, the institution of the police, as well as the nation. "But we will continue our investigation of Novel simply to obey the law," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Other government officials also have their own interpretations of Yudhoyono's directives.

Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana said that the term for police investigators seconded to the KPK could only be extended to a maximum of two years, less than the four-year extension Yudhoyono proposed in his speech.

"The President stated that [KPK investigators will have] four-year tenures, then he suggested that they could be extended. In the draft, there are suggestions to [prolong the tenure] to one year or two years. We are still considering which one is the best," Denny told reporters, and added that the government was now drafting a regulation that would allow for an extension of the investigators' terms.

Members of the House of Representatives also have their own interpretations of Yudhoyono's orders. The President, in his remarks, said that he disagreed with the plan to amend the 2002 KPK Law.

Lawmakers, however, insisted on going ahead with the amendment process, saying that the President did not explicitly ask them to stop it.

"We will reformulate the law to give more power to the anti-graft body rather than reduce its authority, as shown in the draft revision submitted by the House's law commission," said lawmaker Dimyati Natakusuma of the United Development Party (PPP).

Lost in translation?

On the simulator case

SBY: "The investigation into alleged corruption implicating Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo and other police officers is more appropriate to be handled by one body, the KPK."

On Comr. Novel Baswedan

SBY: "The police's desire to prosecute Comr. Novel Baswedan in my opinion is inappropriate, both in terms of timing and method."

On tenure of police investigators to the KPK

SBY: "The tenure of police detectives seconded to the KPK is four years, not a maximum of four years. It can be extended for another four years."

On the KPK Law amendment

SBY: "The plan to amend the KPK Law is in my opinion not appropriate to be carried out now."

Police defy Yudhoyono over Novel prosecution

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang and Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – The National Police have defied President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's call not to prosecute Comr. Novel Baswedan, an investigator with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

As the police defied the President, lawmakers announced that they too would continue with their plan to amend the KPK law, something the President has also criticized.

In an address to the nation on Monday evening, Yudhoyono lambasted the police for their attempt to prosecute KPK investigator Novel for a shooting incident in 2004, which many believe is a plot to disrupt the KPK investigation into corruption at the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas).

The President also opposed the plan by the House of Representatives to amend Law No. 30/2002 on the antigraft body, urging lawmakers, as well as all elements of the nation, to focus on efforts to eradicate corruption.

However, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius told reporters on Tuesday that the police would continue legal proceedings against Novel when the time was appropriate.

"The President said in his speech that the timing and approach [to prosecute Novel] were not appropriate. Therefore, we will reschedule the timing and the approach," Suhardi said at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

Continuing the legal proceedings against Novel, Suhardi said, was essential because he was involved in a crime. "Once we present a case, he [Novel] must face trial," he said.

Separately, KPK chairman Abraham Samad said that he noted the police's insistence on prosecuting Novel, but felt assured that it would be settled in a civilized manner.

"We will of course hold a follow-up meeting [with the National Police] where we will talk about technical matters to settle the problem," he said. Abraham said the KPK and the National Police had agreed not to take any action that would provoke unnecessary tension or nationwide protests.

In the meantime, Haris Azhar, representing Novel's team of 22 lawyers, said his team would not accept Novel being prosecuted solely by the police. He suggested that an independent court take over the case if the police insisted on continuing the prosecution.

Lawmakers have also decided to continue with their plan to revise the law on the KPK, arguing that such a revision was necessary to strengthen the anticorruption body.

"The President is welcome to propose his suggestions [on the matter], but we have the authority to make a final decision when it comes to legislation," said lawmaker Dimyati Natakusumah, who chairs a working committee at the House's Legislation Body (Baleg) discussing the revision plan.

He made the statement after a meeting with leaders from House Commission III overseeing law and human rights on Tuesday. The House has become a target of criticism for its plan to revise the KPK Law. Some revised articles limit the authority of the KPK to wiretap graft suspects.

"There are still many corruptors. Therefore we still need to revise the law in order to strengthen the KPK. We will reformulate the existing law to give more power to the antigraft body rather than reducing its authority as shown in the current draft revisions submitted by Commission III," said Dimyati, who is also a member of House Commission III.

Meanwhile, Commission III deputy chairman Aziz Syamsuddin said that his commission refused to withdraw the draft revision currently with Baleg, saying that it would be illegal. The Golkar politician emphasized that a withdrawal was only legally possible if lawmakers agreed to drop it from the national legislation program.

Aziz challenged the government to send an official letter demanding the House drop the revision plan. "It's all in the hands of the government and the House's Legislation body [Baleg]," he said.

More support gained for KPK in North Sumatra, Yogyakarta

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2012

Slamet Susanto and Apriadi Gunawan, Yogyakarta/Medan – Representatives of Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah, the Indonesian Governmental Science Lecturers Association and the Jusuf Kalla School of Government said on Tuesday that they would monitor developments between the National Police and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whom they said was caught up in the polemics, settle the case.

"The President has clearly delegated the driving simulator procurement graft case to the KPK. The police should stop maneuvering to criminalize the KPK. The National Police should yield to the presidential instruction," said Dasron Hamid, who read the declaration of their stance at the Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMY) campus.

Besides support, Dasron also called on the President to always be consistent in fighting corruption. "The President has promised to take the lead in combating corruption," said Dasron.

He added that every element of Muhammadiyah, including other institutions, was ready to play a part in seeing that the presidential instruction was upheld. "We are ready to mobilize every element to uphold the President's statement," he said.

Dasron added that the President's statement was clear and decisive this time, and that as commander of the country, the police must obey his orders. They also urged the House of Representatives to scrap plans to revise Law No. 30/2002 on corruption eradication because it would weaken the KPK's authority.

UMY political observer Bambang Sutjipto said the presidential instruction was only temporary in nature and could not resolve the overall issue, inferring that the animosity between the two law enforcement agencies would continue.

In Medan, North Sumatra, hundreds of people grouped in the Anti-Corruption People's Solidarity (Sorak) rallied at the Mejestik Circle in Medan on Tuesday, demanding that the KPK immediately uncover all graft cases involving the police force following the President's speech in response to the dispute between the KPK and the National Police.

The protesters said Yudhoyono's speech gave the KPK room to work professionally in resolving various corruption cases, including those involving the police.

The coordinator of the North Sumatra office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Muhrizal Syahputera, said the KPK should no longer hesitate to prosecute any police officers suspected of corruption because Yudhoyono had lent moral support to the KPK.

"This is a challenge for the KPK. It must have the courage to unearth corruption within the police force, especially the simulator procurement case, down to the roots," said Muhrizal on the sidelines of the anticorruption rally.

He said the National Police, under the leadership of Gen. Timur Pradopo, were very weak in corruption eradication and lacked the will to support the anticorruption drive in the country.

SBY bows to public outcry

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave his utmost support to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and criticized attempts to undermine its corruption fighting efforts, but also regretted the way it failed to resolve differences with other law enforcement institutions.

In his address to the nation on Monday evening, Yudhoyono offered a wide range of solutions to the KPK-police stand-off, including allowing the KPK to take over the investigation of the vehicle simulators procurement case at the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas), which involves its former chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo.

"The KPK must only investigate the corruption case involving Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, while the police can deal with graft allegations surrounding other procurements within the police institution," Yudhoyono said.

This solution, however, will disqualify the KPK from pursuing other corruption cases that allegedly involve a large number of police officers, such as the collecting of bribes for the issuance of vehicle transfer documents, drivers' licenses and vehicle registration documents.

In his speech, Yudhoyono said that he would issue a regulation that would allow all members of the police to extend their terms for the maximum of eight years to work as investigators for the KPK, an apparent move to end the stand-off.

"The KPK must not arbitrarily fire its investigators when their terms are due, nor must the National Police withdraw them unilaterally. Therefore, I will immediately issue a government regulation to extend their terms for another four years and they can choose whether they still want to work for the KPK or return to the corps," Yudhoyono explained.

The President also lambasted the police for their attempt to prosecute Comr. Novel Baswedan for a shooting incident in 2004. "The timing and approach are not appropriate," he said.

The President also declined to lend his support to the plan by the House of Representatives to amend Law No. 30/2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission. "It's better for us to work together and focus on efforts to eradicate corruption instead of draining our energy to amend the law," he said.

At the end of his remarks, Yudhoyono urged the KPK and the National Police to end their bickering and renew agreements to improve their cooperation in the future. "I think the KPK must consider coordinating more with the police, as well as with the Attorney General, instead of spending more time talking to the media," he said.

KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto lauded Yudhoyono's stance on some of the crucial issues that affected the antigraft body. "We appreciate what the President and the National Police chief have done," Bambang told reporters in the KPK headquarters in Jakarta on Monday evening.

He also said that Yudhoyono's statement concerning the fate of KPK investigator Novel had helped the KPK do its job.

"With the President's statement this means that as of now, Novel can freely do his job as a KPK investigator. He will not be troubled by other things," Bambang said, adding that he also appreciated National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo showing his professionalism in agreeing to the President's proposals.

Febri Diansyah of Indonesian Corruption Watch applauded Yudhoyono's statement. "This stand-off was really unnecessary [and would not have happened] if the National Police chief had followed the rules and regulations that the President outlined in his speech," he said. (riz)

Nationwide protests in support of KPK

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2012

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Monday in major cities across the country to stage protests aimed at giving moral support to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which is currently engaged in an existential battle with the National Police (Polri).

In Yogyakarta, Gadjah Mada University rector Pratikno, the college professors, lecturers and students signed a petition on a white cloth to express their support for the embattled antigraft commission.

"With this, we express our deep concern regarding the conflict between the KPK and the National Police. The battle between the anti-corruption commission and the law enforcement agency will only benefit corruptors. We stand against all kinds of pressure being applied on the KPK commissioners and the efforts to weaken the commission," Pratikno said.

In other parts of the city, protesters who grouped themselves under the People's Alliance for the KPK (AMUK) staged another protest, condemning the police move to arrest Comr. Novel Baswedan, a police officer seconded to the KPK for shooting robbery suspects in 2004.

"We support the KPK in eradicating corruption, particularly major graft cases at the National Police. We support the KPK taking over the investigation into the National Police Traffic Corps," said one of the protesters.

The protesters also laid down a sign that read "Shame on the National Police for their arrogance against the KPK."

A large number of protesters turned up for a demonstration in Makassar – The protest took place at Losari Beach, a popular tourist spot in South Sulawesi's capital city.

"I came here to give moral support to the KPK, our last defense against corruption," said Azis Kahar, a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) from South Sulawesi as quoted by kompas.com.

In Sukoharjo, Central Java, students from Muhammadiyah University staged a protest by walking in reverse while demanding the President take immediate action in the KPK-Police stand-off.

In Bandung, West Java, students from three universities who identified themselves as members of "Aliansi Peduli Untuk KPK" (Care Alliance for the KPK) called for a truce between the KPK and the National Police. "The KPK and Polri, please make peace, don't attack each other," said one of the protesters who delivered his speech in front of Gedung Sate, the West Java gubernatorial office.

In Bali, students occupied an intersection on Jl. Gajah Mada in Denpasar to protest what they described as police arrogance. The protesters stretched a 10-meter-long white cloth as a symbol against police corruption.

In Jakarta, private citizens, public figures and activists took turns in forming a human chain to guard the KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Monday.

Later in the day, 20 trash pickers descended on the KPK headquarters to lend their support to the KPK. One of the trash pickers carried a sign which read "Pemulung lebih mulia daripada koruptor" (Trash picking is nobler than being a corruptor).

Later, some 50 activists from Aliansi Masyarakat Ganyang Korupsi (People's Alliance for Crushing Corruption) arrived at the KPK headquarters, before being joined by 300 protesters from the All-Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI).

On Monday afternoon, hundreds of students from various universities throughout the city occupied parts of the slow lane of Jl. Rasuna Said in front of the KPK headquarters, slowing rush-hour traffic. (yps)

House to continue to revise law on KPK

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives will continue with the plan to revise the Law No.30/2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) despite the president's recommendation to postpone activity amid a public outcry over allegations that the revision will weaken the anti graft body.

Lawmaker Dimyati Natakusuma, who chairs the working committee on the revision at the House's Legislation Body (Baleg), announced on Tuesday that the body would take over and reformulate the existing draft.

"We still need to revise the law in order to strengthen the KPK. Therefore, we will reformulate the current draft to give more power to the anti graft body, rather than reducing its authority as is aimed by the existing draft submitted by Commission III [on Legal affairs and laws, human rights and security]," the United Development Party (PPP) politician said.

Dimyati added that Baleg was expected to schedule a meeting later this week to discuss the plan to re-draft the revision.

The House's Commission III recently proposed the draft revision of the KPK law to be included in the 2012/2013 national legislation program. This move has been widely criticized because the revision comprises changes that many believe would weaken the KPK's authority. Some changes include restricting the KPK's authority to tap telephone conversations as well as the abolishment of the KPK's prosecution authority. (swd)

As showdown drags on, people ask where is the President?

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2012

Rabby Pramudatama, Bagus BT Saragih and Rendi A. Witular, Reportage – When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not immediately respond to the crisis engulfing the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over the weekend, many assumed that Yudhoyono was busy with even more pressing issues of state.

However, as those monitoring his schedule know, the only official function on the President's agenda was attending a gathering of the Pawitandirogo Community in Jakarta, an acronym for Pacitan, Ngawi, Magetan, Madiun and Ponorogo, East Java.

Yudhoyono, who was born and raised in Pacitan, was noticeably absent after police officers stormed the offices of the KPK on Jl. Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Friday evening.

Bengkulu Police detective chief Sr. Comr. Dedy Rianto told the reporters early Saturday that the officers were at the KPK to "coordinate" with the commission's leaders regarding a crime allegedly committed by Comr. Novel Baswedan, a police officer seconded to the KPK.

Novel is one of the commission's investigators who is handling the investigation of Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who was questioned by Novel's peers only hours earlier.

Critics said that the police were trying to stop the KPK from digging deeper into a graft case surrounding the procurement of traffic simulators at the National Police Traffic Corps that has implicated National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo, among other senior police officers.

Hundreds of activists descended on the KPK's headquarters soon after the police arrived on Friday night, and picketed the building until the officers left around midnight.

The activists' vigil lasted until early Saturday morning, when many began to ask where Yudhoyono had been during the stand off.

On Sunday morning, when hundreds of activists rallied at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to draw public attention to what they said were police efforts to bully the KPK, Yudhoyono was in the Cipanas Presidential Palace, West Java, spending the weekend with his family and several close aides.

The rally was staged to urge Yudhoyono to take action against efforts to weaken the KPK. "Today, we ask the question about SBY's whereabouts. Where was he? He made no decisions and took no stance on the issue," rights activist Usman Hamid said during the rally.

Activists said that Yudhoyono's apparent indecisiveness would pave the way for further "massive and organized attempts" to weaken the KPK, such as when the National Police ordered the withdrawl of officers seconded to the KPK as investigators.

As calls for a statement from the President grew louder, Yudhoyono's inner circle, finally, responded. The President's son Edhie Baskoro, who is also the secretary-general of the Democratic Party said that Yudhoyono did not have to interfere in the stand off.

Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana came to the KPK's headquarters late on Friday to convey his support to the antigraft body's commissioners.

Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto downplayed the calls, saying that not all matters should be directly handled by the President.

Over the weekend Twitter was abuzz with hashtag #dimanaSBY (Where is SBY) and #WantedSBY, which users used to deliver harsh comments about Yudhoyono.

"Maybe he was busy composing new songs," was one of the most repeated lines on Twitter, a swipe on the President's release of several musical albums while in office.

Although the public outcry appeared to prompt the Palace to respond, critics said that it was too little too late. On Sunday afternoon, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi held a press conference at the State Palace saying that Yudhoyono would address the nation on Monday evening.

"The situation that has continued to develop with a negative trend and that many parties have politically manipulated the case. The President has decided to 'take over' and will deliver a clarification to the public," Sudi said.

In 2009, Yudhoyono also kept silent when the KPK and the police were involved in the gecko-versus-crocodile saga, when then KPK commissioners Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra M. Hamzah were investigated by the police.

Weeks after Bibit and Chandra were named suspects by the police, Yudhoyono finally made a public statement, which was not considered supportive of the KPK. Will Yudhoyono make the same mistake this time?

Support keeps flowing in for KPK

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2012

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Support for the efforts to eradicate corruption is continuing to pour in from people in various professions: from public officials to activists, and academics to garbage collectors.

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud MD personally visited Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters on Monday to show his support for the fight against corruption.

Mahfud said he was paying a visit not as a chief justice but as a citizen."I give my support to the fight against corruption, not the institution," he said.

He said he was convinced the KPK, the National Police and the government had the same intention to eradicate corruption. These institutions should be cooperating to eradicate corruption instead of fighting over technical matters, he added.

Tension between the KPK and the National Police increased following the commission's investigation into a driving simulator procurement case at the National Police Traffic Corps, which implicates its former chief, Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo.

Although the KPK began to investigate, the police subsequently insisted on conducting their own investigation.

Mahfud said he would also go to the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister and the National Police to offer the same support.

Meanwhile, alumni associations from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) also delivered their support to the KPK, and urged the President to take stern and prompt action to resolve the rift between the two law enforcement institutions.

UGM rector Pratikno said during a declaration of support in Yogyakarta on Monday that the President should order the National Police to hand over the driving simulator graft case to the KPK.

Pratikno also called on the public to be aware of the efforts to weaken the commission. "Attempts to criminalize and weaken the KPK can happen at anytime," he said.

The police attempted to arrest KPK investigator Comr. Novel Baswedan on Friday night over allegations of his being responsible for the death of robbery suspects in 2004, when he was serving as Bengkulu Police detectives chief. The move by police came just shortly after the commission had questioned Djoko for the first time.

ITB alumni association member Ali Nurdin, who arrived at the KPK building on Monday, said that the association urged the President to order the National Police to hand over the driving simulator case to the KPK.

"The National Police cannot handle the case because there is a conflict of interest," he said, adding that they hoped before the end of October the tensions between the KPK and the police would have ended.

Meanwhile, dozens of garbage collectors also visited KPK headquarters to show their support. They brought along a large cardboard banner, which read, "Garbage collectors are nobler than corrupt officials."

They gave a speech for 10 minutes before donating small change and Rp 20,000 (US$2) notes to the commission as a symbol of their support. "This is our earnings for the KPK," one of the supporters said. (cor/iwa)

Cops target graft-fighter Novel to scare the KPK

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2012

Rabby Pramudatama, Bagus BT Saragih and Rendi A. Witular – Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Comr. Novel Baswedan is likely to have his name remembered as antigraft hero after his decision to fight against corruption in his very own police corps.

KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto has rated him as one of the best investigators at the agency.

Novel has served six years with the KPK and playing a pivotal role in several high-profile investigations, including cases involving defendant Muhammad Nazaruddin – the former Democratic Party treasurer.

He also helped uncover the role of Angelina Sondakh, a Democratic Party member of House of Representatives' budget committee, in a bribery case involving officials at the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Culture and Education Ministry.

Novel, the cousin of Muslim scholar and Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan, was also among the investigators who brought Nunun Nurbaeti, the wife of former National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. (ret) Adang Daradjatun, to justice in a bribery case.

Novel's credentials also include his direct involvement in arresting Amran Batalipu, regent of Buol in Central Sulawesi, for alleged bribery that also involved business tycoon Siti Hartati Murdaya, a Democratic Party top official and key financier of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presidential campaign in 2004 and 2009.

As one of his top assignments, Novel was tasked in July as a lead investigator to look into allegations of graft revolving around the procurement of driving simulators at the National Police Traffic Corps.

Currently in his 40s, Novel was in charge of an all-night raid at the Police Traffic Corps headquarters in South Jakarta, on July 30. The raid ended in a standoff, with KPK investigators prevented from leaving the building by police officers.

The KPK succeeded in confiscating important evidence related to the case as Novel stood his ground against his superior at the National Police, saying he had the necessary authority for the raid under KPK regulations and court orders.

The antigraft commission named Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, the former chief of the National Police Traffic Corps, a key suspect in the case, making him the first two-star police general to be investigated by the KPK.

However, the National Police, apparently furious over the actions of its own, sent dozens of officers from the Bengkulu Police and the Jakarta Police to raid the KPK headquarters to forcibly arrest Novel late on Friday.

Bengkulu Police's detective chief and Novel's former supervisor, Sr. Comr. Dedy Rianto, led the arrest attempt, carrying with him an arrest warrant for Novel on charges related to a case from 2004.

According to Dedy, Novel took responsibility as the head of the Bengkulu criminal unit for the actions of his men as they shot six thieves during a robbery in progress. One suspect died as a result.

Bambang, however, said on Saturday the allegations were dubious. "The police seemed to make up the case. It's a blatant measure to undermine the KPK, and the public knows it," he said.

He said the case was closed in 2004 after the police's ethics board cleared Novel of any wrongdoing.

Novel recently decided to resign from the police force and become a permanent investigator for the KPK, a move that was strongly opposed by his colleagues and superiors at the police.

Taufik Baswedan, Novel's older brother, said on Sunday that Novel and his family had been terrorized since he handled the driving simulator case.

"Novel recently told me that his house has been visited by unknown men, and before this night [the Friday night arrest attempt] he has endure many other forms of intimidation," he said.

Police raid the KPK: Hour-by-hour breakdown

Thursday

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo sends officers to ask KPK deputy chairman Busyro Muqoddas for the immediate return of five police officers seconded to the KPK. The request was delivered in an "unfriendly way", according to the KPK.

Friday

5pm: Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo leaves KPK headquarters after ending his first interrogation session on his role in the vehicle-simulator procurement scandal. Djoko spoke to KPK investigators for eight hours.

8:20pm: Dozens of officers from the Bengkulu and the Jakarta Police, some in plainclothes, arrive at KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta, intent on arresting a Comr. Novel Baswedan, a police officer assigned to the KPK who is working on Djoko's case.

8:50pm: After learning about the officers' intentions, KPK officials send word to activists and journalists.

9 p.m: Eight police officers force their way into KPK headquarters to arrest Novel, who they claim illegally killed and wounded robbers during an incident when he was detective chief for the Bengkulu Police in 2004.

9:30pm: Hundreds of anti-corruption and human rights activists arrive at KPK headquarters to prevent Novel's arrest. Government officials, including Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana, and academics such as Paramadina University Rector Anies Baswedan arrive minutes later.

11:50pm: Bengkulu Police officers withdraw from KPK headquarters. Activists continue their vigil.

Saturday

1:30 a.m.: KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto holds a press conference at the KPK building on the incident. More gather outside the commission, including university students. The National Police simultaneously holds its own press conference.

3 a.m.: Students block the street in front of the KPK to raise public attention.

Assault on KPK may intensify

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2012

Rendi A. Witular and Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – The most recent attempt by the police to storm the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) headquarters may be linked to KPK plans to investigate evidence of other corruption scandals at the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas).

The police's attempt to arrest Comr. Novel Baswedan, a police office seconded to the commission as an investigator, at KPK headquarters in South Jakarta late on Friday has been called a "warning" intended to deter the commission from pursuing other cases involving the police.

In late July, the KPK raided Korlantas headquarters for evidence of graft surrounding the procurement of driving simulators worth around Rp 200 billion (US$21 million), naming former Korlantas chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo as a suspect in its probe.

"The raid was not only for the simulator case. A lot of evidence for other bigger graft cases with huge impact was also collected. The simulator case is just the beginning," said an official at the Presidential Palace who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

"That is where Novel wanted to expand his investigation. It's no surprise that he was targeted. It will send a message to other police officers seconded to the KPK that they will meet a fate similar to Novel's if they pursue these cases," the palace official said.

Among the cases, according to the official, were those related to the provision of public services, such collecting bribes to issue vehicle transfer documents, driver's licenses and motor-vehicle registration documents.

Applicants for these services have, until now, been able to pay bribes to expedite the processing of their applications.

These bribes are allegedly pooled by cooperatives managed by police officers to be distributed to individual officers, to fund the operations of local police forces and to bribe lawmakers to remain supportive of the police.

Commenting on the bribes, criminologist Sr. Comr. (ret.) Bambang Widodo Umar said, "Some high-ranking generals are wary that if the KPK expands its investigation, particularly into Korlantas and the cooperatives, many of them will be dragged into it. That's why they're fighting back by any means necessary to undermine the KPK."

Meanwhile, the palace official said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was aware of the KPK's plan to expand its investigations – and the impact that might have on the police. "However, his stance remains unclear."

National Police spokesmen Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius and Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar turned down The Jakarta Post's request for a statement.

The latest in a long series of showdowns between the police and the KPK began late on Friday, when dozens of police officers tried to enter the KPK headquarters to arrest Novel for shooting robbery suspects in 2004.

The police withdrew from the KPK on Friday only after Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana and prominent anticorruption activists came to stop the arrest.

The incident inspired another "Save the KPK" campaign, including a rally on Sunday morning at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, where activists condemned Yudhoyono for his silence in the dispute.

State Secretary Sudi Silalahi said on Sunday that the President has been "closely monitoring" the case and had instructed National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to meet with the KPK's leaders on Sunday.

"However, the meeting could not be held as many of the KPK's leaders were out of town. The President insisted that Timur have the meeting on Monday," Sudi said. "The President will not comment on the issue until he has received reports on the outcome of the meeting."

Lawmakers on the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs had no immediate plans to summon the National Police's leaders following the incident on Friday, according to Commission III chairman Gede Pasek Suardika.

In a press conference convened late on Sunday at the KPK headquarters, commission spokesman Johan Budi said that the President, through Sudi, had given assurances to the KPK that he would step into to resolve the standoff between the agency and police.

Johan added that Yudhoyono had told the KPK that he expected that the National Police would not make any maneuvers to undermine the relationship between the commission and the police. (riz)

[Bagus BT. Saragih contributed reporting.]

As the KPK tightens the noose, someone is protecting the big fish

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2012

The latest in a long series of showdowns between the police and the KPK began late on Friday, when dozens of police officers tried to enter the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters to arrest KPK investigator Novel Baswedan for allegedly shooting robbery suspects in 2004. The Jakarta Post's Rabby Pramudatama, Bagus BT Saragih and Rendi A. Witular explore the motive behind the incident. Here are the stories:

A recent investigation by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) into the allegations of graft within the traffic police may kick-start a massive investigation into other cases at the National Police.

For the KPK, taking on suspected graft within the traffic police division, which is allegedly the biggest source of illicit funds for the National Police after the detective division, is of crucial importance according to transparency activists.

A raid by the KPK in late July on the traffic corps headquarters in South Jakarta also included the confiscation of a lot of evidence that may lead to the unravelling of a much bigger graft case involving more senior generals.

The raid was first intended to gather evidence for the agency's ongoing investigation into the Rp 200 billion (US$21.2 million) procurement of vehicle simulators. The KPK has named Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo as a suspect in the case.

"The raid was not only for the simulator case. A lot of evidence for other graft cases was also collected. The simulator case is just the beginning," said an official at the Presidential Palace who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Among the cases, according to the official, are those related to public services, such as evidence of illegal fees collected from the process of vehicle transfer ownership, driving license issue and motor-vehicle registration document issue.

Applicants for these services have, until now, been subject to numerous illegal fees in order for their papers to be accepted and processed on time.

These fees are allegedly pooled by cooperatives managed by the police officers to be distributed not only for the welfare of the officers but also for the operation of provincial police.

"Illegal funds from public services are bigger than those from procurement. The police have been increasingly dependent on such a source as money from the detective division is becoming infrequent," said criminologist and police observer Sr. Comr. (ret.) Bambang Widodo Umar, on Sunday.

"Some high-ranking generals are wary that if the KPK expands its investigation, particularly into the traffic police division and cooperatives, many of them will be dragged into it. That's why they fight back with all necessary means to undermine the KPK," he said.

Efforts by the police to undermine the KPK are all too obvious.

After an intensive investigation into Djoko over alleged graft at the traffic police division, National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo ordered 20 of its officers assigned to the KPK to immediately return to the force late last month. Most of the officers are involved in investigating Djoko's case.

Five of the officers turned down the order and decided to become permanent investigators with the KPK, while the remaining 15 returned only to be posted in unimportant jobs. Timur sent several officers on Thursday to the KPK headquarters to make, if necessary by force, all of the five officers return. KPK deputy chairman Busyro Muqaddas turned down the request.

According to the official at the Presidential Palace, Timur may have led a meeting of high-ranking generals on Thursday for the arrest of KPK investigator Comr. Novel Baswedan, a police officer assigned to the KPK. He is not however, among the summoned 20 officers.

Novel is a leading investigator in the Djoko case, but is not the architect of the investigation. A group of KPK investigators from the State Development Comptroller (BPKP) are the initiators for the further development of the case.

The meeting to arrest Novel was also attended by National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Sutarman and Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Budi Gunawan.

Budi and Djoko are among several high-ranking police generals allegedly with "fat bank accounts", in which the money sources are deemed dubious, according to reports by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK).

Several days prior to the meeting, Sutarman had closely coordinated with the Bengkulu Police over the case that would be used to drag Novel, according to an officer.

Sutarman denied the meeting attended by Timur was organized to engineer the Novel case. "The National Police chief is not aware of the Novel case or our plan to arrest him [late on Friday]," said Sutarman on Saturday.

National Police spokesmen Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius and Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar turned down The Jakarta Post's request for a statement.

The official at the Presidential Palace also said that the KPK was planning to expand its investigation beyond the Djoko case, and that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was aware of the plan and the impact it may have on the police.

"The President has already known of the KPK's plan to expand its investigation into the police force. But I still don't know why he remained silent over Friday's incident," said the official.

Generals in the showdown:

Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo

10 Jan. 10, 1956 (to retire in 2014)
Police academy class: 1978
Role: He allegedly knows of the irregularities in the simulator case (currently being investigated by the KPK), as well as the existence of off-budget accounts used to pool funds from illicit sources. Timur also allegedly led a meeting on Thursday to cordon the KPK headquarters late on Friday in an effort to forcibly arrest KPK investigator Comr. Novel Baswedan.

Deputy police chief Comr. Gen. Nanan Sukarna

Birth: July 30, 1955 (to retire in 2013)
Police academy class: 1978
Role: Nanan is the coordinator of all procurements at the National Police. He may have ordered the police to cordon the KPK headquarters late on Friday in an attempt to arrest Novel. Nanan's previous post as chief of the general supervision inspectorate between 2010 and 2011 also provided him the access and supervisory authority over all procurement process.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Sutarman

Birth: Oct. 5, 1957 (to retire in 2015)
Police academy class: 1981
Role: He spearheaded police resistance against KPK raids into the traffic police headquarters in late July. He also speaks blatantly against KPK's graft investigation into the police.

Terrorism & religious extremism

New wave of militants in Solo biding their time

Straits Times - October 11, 2012

Zubaidah Nazeer, Solo, Central Java – Even as Indonesia stepped up security throughout the archipelago in the decade since the Bali blasts, a new wave of militants is regrouping in the teeming city of Solo and biding its time.

Radicals in Solo estimate that as many as 200 of them are prepared to take on suicide missions and up to 3,000 others consider themselves part of an army to fight in the name of religion. Their estimates underscore the continuing threat of terrorist attacks.

"There are about 200 pengantins [a term suicide bombers associate themselves] and about 3,000 ready... to fight... all based in and around Solo, doing small-time business while waiting to act," said Rudy (not his real name), 33, an odd-job worker who has fought in sectarian conflicts in Ambon and Poso, Central Sulawesi. Analysts say there is no way of telling if this estimate is accurate.

Solo gained notoriety after most of the Bali bombers were linked to the city. Since then, young radicals and aspiring terrorists have flocked to the city considered the birthplace of the Islamic resurgence in Indonesia.

It is here, on the outskirts of Solo, that jailed cleric Abu Bakar Bashir founded the Islamic boarding school Pondok Ngruki, described by the chief of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) Ansyaad Mbai as the "center of gravity" for aspiring militants.

While the Jemaah Islamyiah (JI) has been crippled, Bashir's ideology lives on through other groups such as Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid. Last month, at least three former students of Pondok Ngruki were shot or caught for being terrorist suspects.

The school, which is still operating, has said it does not teach radical literature. "Though cells are scattered now, Solo is where most brothers come to gather and exchange views," said Rudy. "They consider it a spiritual center, given its long history of being home to groups that want to establish an Islamic state, and it is where their emirs had spread their teachings."

The emirs he was referring to are Bashir and another founder of Pondok Ngruki, Abdullah Sungkar. Their students included executed Bali bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas. Sungkar died in 1999, while Bashir is serving a 15-year jail term for funding a paramilitary camp in Aceh.

The continued draw of Solo for aspiring militants can be traced back to its violent past. Before Indonesia's independence, Islamic leaders set up militant groups to fight colonizers and establish an Islamic state.

Researcher Irfan Abubakar of the Center for Religious and Cultural Studies said two out of every 10 mosques in Solo had close affiliations with extremist groups. "Given the history of the city, there is a tendency for some in the society there to view the presence of radical ideology as acceptable."

Now, Rudy says, there is a renewal of radical thought centered in Solo. These young aspiring militants are usually children or close relatives of the earlier militants picked to be trained in Afghanistan for holy war.

Members of these radical groups overlap, creating a complicated network hard to track. Rudy and Sani (not his real name), a former member of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front, estimate there are more than 10 militant groups in Solo.

Analysts say Solo has largely been used as a hiding place, not as a battle front. "These radicals will always try to blow up figures, but no one really knows how many groups and warriors are out there as the affiliations are very fluid," said Noor Huda Ismail, a former Pondok Ngruki student and security analyst who founded the Indonesia-based Institute for International Peace Building.

Last year's church bombing and last month's arrest of nine suspects in Solo after a shoot-out that killed two 19-year-olds suggest the young terrorists are impatient for recognition.

"These young terrors are amateurs... too emotional and want to show off," said Sani, who writes for a radical website. "Older players wait for a worthy cause to launch holy war so that the impact is significant."

Decade after Bali bombing, Indonesian terror aims at government

Associated Press - October 8, 2012

Bali – Ten years after terrorist attacks at two Bali nightclubs killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, Indonesia has won international praise for its counterterrorism efforts. Militant organizations have been fractured and many of their charismatic leaders have been killed or jailed.

But an Associated Press analysis shows the number of strikes within the country has actually gone up, especially since 2010, when radical imams called on their followers to focus on domestic targets rather than Westerners. The more recent attacks have been conducted with less expertise, and the vast majority of victims have been Indonesians.

"It turns out that the terrorism problem in Indonesia is not finished yet," said Maj. Gen. Tito Karnavian, a former counterterrorism official recently appointed police chief of Papua province. "The quality of their attacks has decreased, but the quantity has increased."

Since Oct. 12, 2002, when the Bali attacks killed 202 people – including 88 Australians and seven Americans – there have been four major terror strikes targeting Westerners in Indonesia, resulting in 45 deaths. The last was in 2009, when attacks on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta killed seven people.

That compares to 15 attacks against security forces, local authorities, Christians and some moderate Muslims in just the past two years. Those have left at least 10 police officers dead.

Although the targets may have shifted, the methods for recruiting young men remain the same. They are indoctrinated to believe that as jihadist "grooms" they will reap God's rewards for martyrdom – paradise for the bomber and 70 family members and the gift of 72 virgin angels. It's a belief shunned by most Muslims.

Fadlan, a convicted militant, was trained to be a groom in 2001 by Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaida-linked group that sent two other suicide bombers to the Bali nightclubs on a busy Saturday night. He told AP that his mentor, Imam Samudra, one of the plot masterminds, deemed it too risky to use him in the attacks because he was already wanted for an earlier botched bombing.

Today, Fadlan believes he would be in paradise if he had been picked. "I still believe it... because it's not promised by my recruiter, but God," Fadlan said softly in a mosque near his house in central Jakarta.

Fadlan was jailed for four years in 2006 after being found guilty of harboring terrorists, including Noordin M. Top, who was Southeast Asia's most wanted militant before police killed him in 2009. Fadlan was released on good behavior that same year and is now part of the government's deradicalization program, designed to reform convicted extremists.

He told AP he also was involved in two 2001 bombings at churches in eastern Jakarta that injured more than 70 worshippers. He was never convicted in those incidents due to a lack of evidence.

Now 36, Fadlan says he's not actively involved with any militant groups in Indonesia and no longer interested in becoming a groom there because the country is not seen as a battleground for holy war. But he smiles broadly when asked if he would still be willing to serve as a suicide bomber on another front if called.

"Nobody refuses a reward in heaven, right?" he says. "But I live like I'm in a large aquarium now... authorities are watching me everywhere I go, and I could not go abroad."

A turning point for Indonesian terror groups occurred in 2010, when police raided a paramilitary jihadi camp hidden in the mountains of Aceh. An anti-terrorism crackdown followed that left more than 100 suspected militants either dead or arrested.

Another alleged Bali bombings mastermind, Dulmatin, was shot to death in a raid. Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was arrested; last year he was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

That led Indonesian extremist religious leaders to order militants to change their mission. Instead of going after Westerners and American symbols they were directed to target Indonesian 'infidels' such as police, anti-terrorism squads, lawmakers and others deemed as obstacles to transforming the secular country into an Islamic state governed by Sharia law.

Most of Indonesia, a country of 240 million, practices a moderate style of Islam that condemns violence, and its government is keeping up pressure against extremists. Data from the National Police revealed more than 700 militants have been arrested over the past 10 years, including 84 last year. Dozens more have been killed since the Bali bombings.

Though the number of domestic terrorist attacks has risen, suicide bombers are more likely to act alone or in smaller groups than they did in years past.

"I don't think there is any one person who is the current face of terrorism in Indonesia," said Ken Conboy, a Jakarta-based expert on Southeast Asian terrorism. "Rather, the terrorists have splintered into small cells that have only fleeting contact, if that, with one another."

That lack of organization makes it more difficult to pull off devastating attacks.

Last year, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque packed with police, injuring 30 people, and another so-called "groom" died instantly in a church in Central Java's Solo town, wounding 22 worshippers.

Just last month, police arrested 10 Islamic militants and seized a dozen homemade bombs from a group suspected of planning suicide attacks against security forces and plotting to blow up the parliament building. The alleged bomb maker, Muhammad Toriq, turned himself in to police while wearing an empty suicide vest.

The explosives seized were pipe bombs, dangerous but much less powerful than those used in Bali 10 years ago. But other would-be suicide bombers remain at large.

In March, authorities received an intelligence tip that at least one jihadist groom had arrived in Bali. They found a note he wrote to his family, saying he would carry out a suicide mission with God's blessing and that the family would be reunited in paradise, said Ansyaad Mbai, who heads the country's anti-terror agency.

Security forces killed five suspects who were believed to be plotting several armed robberies in Bali to fund their terrorism activities. But the groom got away, and it's unclear what attack he had planned or whether he will still attempt it.

Hard-line & vigilante groups

FPI demands delay in inauguration of Jakarta deputy governor-elect Ahok

Jakarta Globe - October 10, 2012

Lenny Tristia Tambun & Arientha Primanita – Hundreds of hard-line Muslims continued their rhetoric against Jakarta's Christian deputy governor-elect on Tuesday, calling on the City Council to revoke all bylaws granting him authority to oversee Islamic institutions and affairs.

Salim Alatas, chief patron of the Jakarta chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), said that the city's newly elected second-in-command, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, should not be in charge of Islamic matters.

"The problem is that Ahok is Christian. The task and position given to Ahok contradicts Islamic Shariah law," he said.

"It goes against Shariah if a non-Muslim is appointed as amil zakat [an official in charge of collecting and distributing alms] or as an adviser to Islamic institutions. Ahok cannot fill that position. We want the bylaws revised accordingly."

Salim said that there were at least eight positions related to Islamic matters that were currently assigned to the post of deputy governor. "We call on the councilors to issue a bylaw that forbids non-Muslims from holding positions in Islamic institutions," he said.

The FPI also urged the City Council to delay the inauguration of Basuki and the governor-elect, Joko Widodo, which is scheduled for next Monday.

Members of the council's Commission A, overseeing local governance affairs, promised to convey the FPI's demands to the Jakarta administration.

Endah Pardjoko, the commission secretary, said that under the bylaws, the responsibility for handling Islamic institutions and affairs in the administration did not have to be assigned to the deputy governor, and could be taken over by the governor or the city secretary.

She also said she was optimistic that Joko would be flexible about assigning duties within his administration.

"The newly elected deputy governor was probably unaware of these bylaws. But we believe that Joko understands these bylaws," Endah said.

"It's certain that he will not be too rigid about it, he will be flexible. The governor-elect will decide and assign the appropriate tasks to his deputy."

Abdul Aziz, another member of the council's Commission A, said that the bylaws did not specifically state that the deputy governor must be in charge of the positions related to Islamic affairs, and therefore the matter could be resolved with the issuance of a gubernatorial decree.

"Since it isn't explicitly regulated, a gubernatorial decree can revise that. The decree will not violate the law," he said.

He pointed out that in order to be binding, the decree would have to be issued by Joko and not the interim governor, and therefore could not be issued before Basuki was sworn into office.

Munarman, the FPI's chief legal counsel, said the group would wait for the decree and would return to the City Council the day after the inauguration if it had not been issued.

Hard-line supporters of the former governor, Fauzi Bowo, previously attacked Basuki's faith and ethnicity in the hotly contested runoff election last month that Joko and Basuki won with 54 percent of votes.

FPI rejects vice governor-elect to lead Islamic bodies

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2012

Jakarta – The Islam Defenders Front (FPI) staged a protest in front of Jakarta City Council on Tuesday, rejecting the current gubernatorial decree that mandates vice governor to lead several Islamic bodies.

Secretary for FPI Jakarta Novel said that deputy governor-elect Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is a Christian, was not capable of leading several Islamic bodies, including Islamic Center or Alms and Donation Agency (Bazis).

The regulation stipulates that deputy governor would hold important positions in eight Islamic agencies in the capital, namely chief patron of Koran language and knowledge Institution (LBIQ), chief patron of Koran reading competition Institute (LPTQ), advisory council chairman of Alms and Donation Agency (Basiz), chief patron of Indonesian Mosque's Library Board of Trustee (BPPMI), trustee board Chairman of Islamic Propagation Coordination (KODI), chairman of the advisory board of the Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI), chairman of the Board of Trustees Jakarta Islamic Center (JIC) and chairman of the Advisory Council for Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB).

FPI urged the Jakarta City Council to change the regulation immediately, tempo.co reported. (cor/lfr)

Freedom of religion & worship

House criticizes Marty on rights diplomacy

Jakarta Post - October 11, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives lambasted the government for padding up its human rights records only to improve the country's standing in the international community while actually doing little to protect the rights of minority groups domestically.

Several lawmakers accused the government for being hypocrites for actively promoting interfaith harmony at the global level by campaigning on an international protocol banning blasphemy, but failed to equally protect the rights of religious minority groups in the country.

"I appreciate the government's efforts in proposing such an initiative to the international community. That sounds good. But, how will the government deal with the ongoing religious intolerance at home, because, for example, it hasn't resolved discrimination against the Shia community in Sampang [East Java]," Tjahjo Kumolo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction said during a hearing with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Wednesday.

Later in the session, lawmaker Helmi Fauzy also questioned the government's refusal to accept a recommendation from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to amend the 1965 law on blasphemy, which has been long used to justify attacks against minority groups.

"We are selling our democracy to the international community, but we forget that democracy requires the protection of minority groups," Helmi said.

He then urged the government to submit to the UNHRC's recommendation and amend the outdated blasphemy law, which he deemed as being responsible for the outbreak of religious conflict in the country.

Responding to the criticism, Marty said that the government would synchronize the ministry's diplomatic efforts with the promotion of religious freedom at the domestic level.

Later on the sidelines of the meeting, Marty told reporters that universal values of human rights should not contradict local values adopted by local communities in the country.

"Our international commitment to protect and uphold human rights must meet the demands of local rules and values. Other countries have done the same," Marty said.

When asked about the government's attempt to draw up a regulation that would interpret universal human rights values in accordance with local conditions, Marty said that although Indonesia is a member of the UN, it must defend local values against the values promoted by the UN.

Earlier, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi has said that the government is drawing up a regulation that would make it possible for local governments to interpret the universal values of human rights in accordance to local conditions.

The ministry was working with the Law and Human Rights Ministry to draft a joint ministerial decree that would set the standards on how to define human rights, according to local customs, which would be used as the benchmark in drafting bylaws nationwide.

Separately, National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Ifdhal Kasim said Indonesia was obliged to submit to the UN's human rights values as one of its members.

"That's the whole point of agreeing to ratify all international protocols, meaning that we have to adapt our laws to international values. The government must remember that there are inalienable rights that our government must fulfill despite local values," Ifdhal told The Jakarta Post.

Sampang Shiites still live as refugees as government intervention fails

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2012

Efforts by the local government to quell violence against Shiites have hit a standstill in Sampang, leaving nearly 200 Shiite Muslims stranded in a local sports center after a deadly Sunni mob attack sent them fleeing from their homes.

Local Sunnis have refused to allow the Shiites to return to their homes in Karang Gayam village, unless they adopt Sunni Muslim teachings, Sampang Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Imam Sanusi told the Antara News Agency. The beleaguered Shiites declined.

They also protested a government plan to relocate them to a new village, Imam said.

Without a viable solution, 193 Shiites still crowd the Wijaya Kusuma Sports Center, in Sampang, down from the 282 people who originally sought shelter after a mob of 500 Nahdlatul Ulama members killed two community members in a large attack in August.

"The latest data shows that the number of Shia refugees who live in the sport stadium is only 193 people," Imam said. "Most of the refugees that have left are school age children. Some of them continue their educations outside of Sampang."

Police arrested five suspects allegedly involved in the attack that the Religious Affairs Ministers has called a "family conflict."

Regional autonomy & government

President swears in Yogyakarta Governor

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2012

Yogyakarta – Sultan Hamengku Buwono X and Sri (duke) Paku Alam IX were sworn in by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday as the appointed governor and deputy governor of Pakualaman, respectively. The ceremony was held at the Yogyakarta State Palace of Gedung Agung, after the enactment of Law No. 13/2012 on Yogyakarta's special status last month.

The inauguration began at 10 a.m. and lasted for 30 minutes. Of the 400 guests, 150 watched the ceremony in the Garuda room, where the inauguration took place, while the rest of the guests watched proceedings on a big screen.

The President, in his speech, reiterated Yogyakarta's special status is connected to the part Yogyakarta played during the country's struggle for independence.

"Yogyakarta's special status is connected to the country's history. Yogyakarta was once the country's capital," Yudhoyono said as quoted by kompas.com. He also urged the Sultan and duke to increase supervision of the regional budget's implementation.

Law No. 13/2012, which was endorsed by the House of Representatives in August after almost 10 years of deliberation, partly stipulates that the ruling sultan of Yogyakarta palace and duke of the Pakualaman principality also hold the positions of governor and deputy governor of the province, respectively. (swd)

Ethnic & communal conflicts

Bombs explode outside church, home in Poso

Jakarta Globe - October 10, 2012

Farouk Arnaz & John Lory – Twin explosions rocked the restive district of Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Tuesday as the region's ongoing sectarian violence continued.

No one was injured in the blasts, which targeted the home of a Christian public employee and a church, National Police Spokesman Brig. Gen. Suhardi Alius said on Wednesday.

The first bomb exploded outside the home of Okrifil Mamuaya, a Christian man working for the district public works office, in Poso at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday. An hour later, a second bomb was detonated near a church in Pamona Timur, Suhardi said.

"The blast caused the windows of the house to shatter and a silver Avanza car parked in front of the house was also damaged," Suhardi said of the first explosion.

The assailants reportedly fled the scene on a motorcycle. "Just about two minutes before the blast, a motorcycle came out from the alley where the explosion took place," a local resident said.

Another residents said that there were two people on the motorcycle that sped out of the alley. The residents also said that the blast took place 50 meters from an army infantry base.

The second bomb exploded outside the Imanuel Church in nearby Taripa at 9:15 p.m, Suhardi said. A van was seen leaving the scene. "A Kijang van heading toward Pendolo is suspected [of carrying the bomber]," Suhardi said.

Local police urged residents to resist any temptation to retaliate for the bombings. "I call on residents not to fall to provocations, because the police are still conducting an investigation," Brig. Gen. Dewa Parsana, who heads the Central Sulawesi police said.

Sectarian violence has left thousands killed and wounded in Poso since conflicts between Muslims and Christians peaked between 2000 to 2001. Sporadic attacks have continued in recent years as the region became a hotbed for Islamist militants and terrorist training camps.

Literature & the arts

Indonesian author Pramoedya's words hold new meaning

Jakarta Globe - October 9, 2012

This year's Ubud Writers and Readers Festival celebrated the works of Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, with his book "Bumi Manusia" ("This Earth of Mankind") serving as the main theme for the event.

The book was part of the "Buru Quartet," a tetralogy by Pramoedya released between 1980 and 1988. The series was written during Pramoedya's exiled days as a political prisoner and were once banned in Indonesia.

But at the four-day festival in Bali, which wrapped up on Sunday, writers from around the world gathered to talk about the writer's legacies in literature and Indonesian history.

Pramoedya, who died five years ago at the age of 81, has written more than 20 books, including lesser-known short stories.

In his work, Pramoedya always highlighted Indonesia's social and economic situation, which was heavily affected by the occupation by the Dutch and Japanese governments.

He was known for talking about socialist causes, which led to the common belief that he was pro-communist. But regardless of his political point of view, Pramoedya remains a strong influence in Indonesian literature for "recording" Indonesia at its darkest times.

Some of Pramoedya's work was also displayed at the Neka Art Museum in Ubud on Friday.

Jamie James, a former staff critic for The New Yorker, said it was about time that the literary world started assessing Pramoedya's legacies. James first met the man when he visited Indonesia to write a profile on him about 20 years ago.

"Pram was clear and thoughtful about his answers, it was a great interview because he wasn't giving me the big show," James said of the experience. James said the strength of Pramoedya's writing was that he never rubbed the reader's nose in the tragedy of the subject.

John McGlynn, co-founder of the Lontar Foundation and the man who translated several of Pramoedya's works into English, said the writer's popularity increased as Suharto's power weakened in the late 1990s. "Bumi Manusia" was banned in 1991, but by the end of the New Order era in 1998, Pramoedya's books could easily be found in bookstores.

Pramoedya finished "Bumi Manusia," the first of the "Buru Quartet," in 1980. The second book "Anak Semua Bangsa" ("Child of All Nations"), followed in the same year.

Five years later, he published "Jejak Langkah" ("Footsteps"), and completed the quartet with "Rumah Kaca" ("House of Glass") in 1988. These books follow the story of a revolutionary Indonesian named Minke, as well as other characters, such as Nyai Ontosoroh.

The female character Nyai was even adapted into a play and that was produced by Faiza Mardzoeki in 2007, with Nyai being portrayed by actress Happy Salma.

Faiza said she admired Pramoedya's portrayal of strong women. Happy added that when she rehearsed for Nyai, she was surrounded by feminist activists who didn't want her to represent the character the wrong way.

"At that time, I was only 26, I wasn't married and did not have children, so I really worked hard to earn the sensitivity to play Nyai Ontosoroh," Happy recalled.

For Ketut Yuliarsa, the owner of Bali's Ganesha bookstores, Pramoedya uncovers a psychological fear for him as a book reader, because he was forbidden to read his books during his childhood. Ketut suggested that if his uncle was given one of Pramoedya's books today, he would probably throw it out of the window.

"It is so different with [the situation] today, my son can read Pram's books, both in Indonesian and its English translation, without any psychological burden," he said.

Ketut can easily associate Pramoedya's books with his darker days as an Indonesian citizen. He still vividly remembers the moment where he needed to hide under the bed due to a house raid in the 1950s. It was quite a traumatic experience for Ketut, and he said, many writers of his generation.

Melbourne-based Indonesian writer Lily Yulianti Farid shared a similar feeling about Pramoedya's books. Lily, too, was once not allowed to even touch his books. Her aunt would tell her to keep the books on the shelves and not read them because it would be "dangerous."

These days Lily has observed how the younger generation thinks of Pramoedya as "cool" because "he was once imprisoned for his thoughts." "There's a nostalgia, not to mention that his writings are still relevant to Indonesia today," she said.

Australian writer Max Lane said that the future of Pramoedya's legacies depended on the frequency and depth of discussions that Indonesians have about the author. Lane, whose primary focus for the past 40 years has been Indonesia, says that Pramoedya and poet W.S. Rendra have been among the most important figures in political perspectives in literature of the 1960s.

To enrich the author's legacies, Lane advised Indonesia's young writers to do what Pramoedya never did, and write a historical novel about the young generation today.

Lane pointed out that "Bumi Manusia" is currently a movie project and he is looking forward to see how the movie will be received by millions of viewers, especially those who don't know about Pramoedya's influence in the literary world or the country's history.

There is a chance that the life of Pramoedya and his legacy will be seen as only a symbol, Lily said, adding that during the protests in 1998 – which eventually led to former president Suharto's downfall – Indonesian students used Sukarno and Pramoedya as a symbol to represent critical thinking and freedom.

Ketut, however, has no objection to this happening. "Pram could be a hero or simply an important figure in Indonesian literature, but let's take comfort in the fact that young readers today can read his books without a fear," he said.

Criminal justice & prison system

Groups call for abolition of death penalty

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2012

Jakarta – As the world celebrates "World Day against the Death Penalty" on Wednesday, a coalition of human rights groups has urged the government to abolish the death penalty, describing it as a human rights violation that only provides a minor deterrent effect.

One member of the coalition, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that the government must immediately adopt the United Nations' General Assembly Resolution 62/149 issued in 2007, which called for a moratorium on capital punishment.

The Indonesian government has continued to ignore the resolution.

"In the UN General Assembly this December, Indonesia will once again be challenged to declare a moratorium. It will once again test the government's will," Kontras activist Puri Kencana Putri said in a press conference on Tuesday in Jakarta.

Currently, 155 countries have abolished the death sentence in their laws or have conducted no executions in the past 10 years. The last time Indonesia put convicts to death was in 2008, when it sent 10 drug and murder convicts, including three convicted Bali bombers Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas, to the firing squad.

Bhatara Ibnu Reza, an activist with human rights watchdog Imparsial, said that frequent terror attacks indicated capital punishment never succeeded as a means of deterrent.

"Death row means that government gives a 'scholarship' for terrorist who don't fear death. Instead, it motivates a new generation of terrorists," he said.

Bhatara said that the death penalty had also been ineffective in curbing drug trafficking and corruption, which had only gotten worse in the country.

In a joint statement, the coalition said that by abolishing death penalty, the government could spare the lives of 148 individuals who were on death row for murder, drug trafficking and terrorism.

The group also applauded the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the death sentence handed down to a drug convict and reduced it instead to a 15-year prison term.

The Supreme Court arrived at such a controversial decision after one of its judges declared the penalty unconstitutional and a violation of basic human rights.

Yura Pratama of the Institution for the Advocacy and Study of Judicial Independence (Leip), expected that if Supreme Court continued to uphold the right to life, the House of Representatives could be inspired to abolish the death penalty.

"If Supreme Court keeps delivering similar verdicts in the long run, lawmakers could change their mind and abolish the death penalty altogether," he said.

However, for the time being, the death sentence remains an option for crimes like drug trafficking, premeditated murder, terrorism and corruption.

In addition to existing laws, lawmakers are considering moves to include capital punishment as an option in several bills, including amendments to the Criminal Code (KUHP), the anti-narcotics law, the intelligence bill and the state-secrecy bill.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has pledged its support for sentencing corruption convicts to death.

Article 2 Section 2 of the 1999 Corruption Law stipulates that those found guilty of corruption can be subject to capital punishment in cases of war, natural disasters and crises. (yps)

Indonesia still needs death penalty: Deputy Minister

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2012

Jakarta – The death penalty was still necessary within the Indonesian criminal law system, Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana said during a discussion held in commemoration of World Day against the Death Penalty on Wednesday.

Denny, however, said the death penalty should not be a main sentence, as stipulated in the Criminal Code, but an alternative one used for repeat offenders, especially for corruptors or drug dealers.

"The death penalty could be the last resort," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com, adding that not all drug and corruption convicts should be sentenced to death.

He also rejected the idea that the death penalty was a solution to eradicating corruption and drug dealing, citing that it was only a temporary solution. (cor/iwa)

Intelligence & state security

National Security Law: Smoke, but no fire?

Jakarta Globe - October 14, 2012

Pitan Daslani – The Legislation Committee of the House of Representatives is currently studying a draft law on national security that covers a broad range of issues affecting the nation's survival. This week, Commission I, overseeing defense issues at the House, will conduct hearings with the ministers of defense, home affairs and justice and human rights before deliberating on the bill.

The title of the bill – the National Security Law – sounds alarming to some, especially victims of past-era repression and those who have not read the draft thoroughly, as if Indonesia were making a U-turn back to the military-backed dictatorship of Suharto.

But a careful study of the draft law obtained by the Jakarta Globe reveals that this is going to be a comprehensive security law that updates even the State Defense Law issued during the incumbency of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, due to its scope and depth.

Essentially, there have been two types of reactions to the bill, which was first introduced in March 2011. Optimists see it as a good effort to protect Indonesia's national interests. They argue that the entire nation should feel a duty to contribute ideas to improve the bill.

But critics say anything that comes from the military is suspect, with a hidden agenda. There are more pessimists than optimists these days, and many are saying the new law will be a militaristic tool used to dismantle democracy and abolish freedom of expression.

To be fair, however, one needs to study it thoroughly before drawing any conclusions. It would be unwise to dismiss it sight unseen.

The bill contains 60 articles addressing the entire spectrum of national security concerns and offers solutions on dealing with the various kinds of threats that a democratic Indonesia faces in a globalized world.

Importantly, Article 19 of the draft law clearly states that "national security shall be carried out in conformity with national interest, democratic principles, human rights, moral and ethical values, [preservation of the] environment, [and] national and international laws."

So if passed, the law will protect rather than violate democracy, human rights and citizens' freedoms, optimists say. The law will establish a National Security Council to be chaired by the Indonesian president with the vice president serving as vice chairman. The executive chairman in charge of daily affairs will be a ministerial-level official to be appointed by the president.

Members of the National Security Council will comprise relevant ministerial officials, governors, district chiefs, mayors, police and military and intelligence officials.

The law will define threats across four categories: the nation and state, sustainability of national development, society in its entirety and individual citizens. The spectrum of threats listed in these categories ranges from soft threats to hard threats, be they locally, nationally or internationally generated.

Those threats are further categorized as military, armed, or non-armed threats. A threat is defined here as anything that could disturb or endanger "all aspects of national life."

A thorough definition of "all aspects of national life" is provided in the law. The phrase refers to threats against things such as Indonesia's geography, theft of natural resources, demographic disturbance, political, economic, and sociocultural life, as well as defense and security.

Elements that can pose a threat to the nation may originate either at home or abroad; they may come from a foreign state, non-state foreign agency or individuals supported by a foreign state, the bill says.

Point 1a of Article 17 defines a "military threat" as an organized armed threat that has the potential to endanger the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of the entire nation.

Point 1b of the same article defines an "armed threat" as a threat posed by an armed force that has the potential to endanger the life of individual citizens, society, national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and safety of the nation.

"Non-armed threats" are described in Point 1c as including natural disasters and other types of disasters that endanger personal, public and national safety and national defense in all aspects, including riots and contagious disease epidemics.

A more detailed list of the way these threats could manifest is also included in Article 17.

Point 2a defines external military threats as aggression, invasion, violation of Indonesia's borders by a foreign ministry, espionage, sabotage, the use of chemical and biological weapons, and radioactive and nuclear substances including explosives.

It also includes blocking of territorial sovereignty, violation of agreements by foreign military elements, and deployment of foreign mercenaries or armed groups within Indonesian territory.

Point 2b defines armed threats as separatism, rebellion, terrorism, hijacking, criminality, and hostage-taking.

Examples of non-armed threats are violation of territorial integrity, horizontal and communal conflicts, anarchism, human trafficking, illegal immigrants, weapons and ammunition, unfair trading practices (dumping, forgery, design theft), monetary crises, and financial crimes such as counterfeiting, money laundering and cybercrime.

Other threats under this category include natural disasters (floods, tsunami, earthquakes), non-natural disasters (technological failures, arson, and large-scale labor strikes).

This threat category also includes transnational crimes such as drug trafficking. Ideological threats and radicalism are also included in this category, as is destruction to the moral and ethical values of the nation.

This particular issue needs careful elaboration because often it is caused by an incorrect interpretation of religious beliefs for which the right response may be religious enlightenment rather than a security approach.

Famine, shortages of water and energy, the incorrect use of chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear materials in agriculture, livestock and fisheries areas are also mentioned. Alongside those, destruction to the environment and pandemics are also covered, from degradation of land to outbreaks of swine flu.

This category's threats also include poverty, injustice, ignorance, legal disobedience, corruption in all forms, as well as harmful misinterpretation of legislation and regulations.

With such a comprehensive scope, society need not look at the bill with prejudice or suspicion of any kind.

The public needs to realize that it is no longer possible for the military to weaken our democracy. Times have changed – and the military realizes it. In fact, in Indonesia's experience, reform has been far more successful in the military than in the civilian sector.

Here's the proof: no single political party has been able to emerge as a role model. Not one is free from corruption. None have groomed the right candidates for the presidency. And democratic Indonesia has so far only been able to elect a four-star military general – the incumbent – as its president.

So, suspecting the military of blocking reform and democracy through this National Defense Law is probably the easiest way for some reformists to display their own hypocrisy. But make no mistake – allowing the military to compose this law by itself would be a risky blunder best avoided.

Instead of meeting the law with uncompromising suspicion, why don't we all put our heads together to produce a comprehensive security law to protect our common interests?

Indonesia's new national security law proving a tough sell

Jakarta Globe - October 14, 2012

Pitan Daslani – The government is pushing to get a wide-ranging national security bill passed by the House of Representatives, but lawmakers are showing reluctance to deliberate on it over persistent fears that if passed, the law would revive militarism and subvert democracy.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Syamsuddin, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi and Justice and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin will conduct hearings this week with lawmakers who are seeking clear explanations as to why the bill is necessary. The meetings are likely to take place on Thursday and Friday.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) spokesman Tubagus Hasanuddin said passing the bill would amount to annulling the State Defense Law and Indonesian Military (TNI) Law, because the new legislation seeks to supersede provisions on national security that are contained in the existing laws.

The House may return the draft to the government for a second revision, he indicated, adding that resistance in the legislature was so large that unless President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet made fundamental changes to the draft, the legislature was not likely to consider deliberating it.

Hasanuddin said legislators have raised objections to the law's granting of exclusive rights to certain agencies to conduct arrests and wire-tapping of phone conversations.

He also questioned the government's definitions of what constitutes a threat to national security, as well as the president's right to define threats through decrees. That could be detrimental to the preservation of human rights, Hasanuddin said.

So far, the allegations and fears voiced by lawmakers over the bill have been rejected as completely baseless by Defense Minister Purnomo, who said that the government did not have even the slightest intention of reviving the TNI's much greater presence in government during Suharto's 32-year dictatorial rule.

The minister said the national defense legislation seeks to put threats in perspective, with stipulations for dealing with emergencies as varied as famine or invasion by a foreign army, which would oblige the president to seek approvals from the House before acting.

External threats to Indonesia's sovereignty and territorial integrity will be dealt with by the TNI, while internal threats to civic order will be handled by police, Purnomo said.

Military and political observers argue that many legislators have raised objection to the national security law without bothering to read the draft thoroughly.

The draft law defines national security as efforts to protect "all aspects of national life" comprising Indonesia's geography, theft of natural resources, demographic disturbances, and political, economic and sociocultural sectors of nationhood.

Proponents of the law say it would allow Indonesian law enforcers to more effectively battle stubborn threats such as terrorism.

Extreme ideologies and radicalism are listed in the law as threats to the nation's moral and ethical security, and that definition would allow law enforcers to take a more preemptive role in rooting out terrorists and radicals.

The legislation also seeks to oblige the government to provide workable solutions to such problems as food, water and energy shortages; misuse of dangerous chemicals or radioactive materials; and destruction of the environment.

Social issues such as poverty, injustice and corruption are also listed as threats in the draft. It is far-ranging inclusions such as those that have some parties welcoming the new law with open arms.

Marwan Ja'far, chairman of the National Awakening Party's (PAN) faction at the House, said that his party was supportive of the draft because its broad coverage would ensure the protection of Indonesia's national interests.

"Right now we desperately need this National Security Law in order to protect our rising national interest in all aspects of life," Marwan said.

Marwan dismissed speculation that the government intended to return to its militaristic past. He said that even if that were the case, he had faith that Indonesia's flourishing democracy was strong enough to prevent such a thing from occurring.

He added that the country had a growing need to have long-term strategies in place to ensure political, social and economic stability, as well as national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He theorized that the new legislation would also help end overlapping claims of jurisdiction and legal authority that occur between the police, military and other state agencies.

But he cautioned that the legislation must be in line with the State Defense Law, the Police Law, the TNI Law and the State Prosecution Law.

Similar views were aired by Deputy Minister of Defense Sjafrie Syamsuddin. "Let me emphasize one more time that this draft law is well grounded on the principles of legal supremacy, civilian supremacy and human rights," Sjafrie said after meeting with legislators last week.

The National Security Law will become the umbrella for at least 13 laws, including the Intelligence Law and Social Conflict Management Law.

"We have never had something like this before, but now we need it because it will provide security for civil society. No other law has dealt with the safety of civil society," he explained.

"The National Security Law is not going to be an execution type of law but a strategic direction law that provides direction for the national system."

He said that resistance against the draft law was so heated because "many people still use old references and perceptions" about national security in Indonesia's new democratic setting.

But reservations remain. La Ode Ida, the deputy chairman of the House of Regional Representatives (DPD) said the new law would return some of the duties assigned to the National Police back to the TNI.

"The government must make sure that none of the provisions in the new legislation will go against the 1945 Constitution," La Ode cautioned.

Court rejects request for Intelligence Law review

Jakarta Post - October 11, 2012

Jakarta – The Constitutional Court has rejected a request to review Law No. 17/2011 on state intelligence, stating that the law provides a clearer and stricter legal basis on how intelligence units should operate.

"[We] declare that the Constitutional Court rejects applicants' entire review request," Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD said during a hearing in Jakarta on Wednesday. Mahfud said the request lacked legal standing.

The request was submitted in January by human rights activists from various NGOs, including Imparsial, the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) and the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

The activists claimed articles in the law created opportunities for irresponsible parties to abuse the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), and could lead to a revival of New Order-era tactics including the kidnapping or mysterious disappearance of political opponents labeled as "potential threats".

"The applicants' reasons are based on trauma from the past authoritarian regime. Now, we are heading into a more democratic and open government," said judge Anwar Usman. With the ruling, BIN now has the legal basis to wiretap conversations, a privilege that was previously solely held by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"Other intelligence agencies in foreign countries also have such authority. It is needed for them to acquire and verify information that is hard to obtain," Anwar said.

The applicants also considered some articles in the law to be open to multiple interpretations and could be used to curtail basic human rights. Among the 13 articles submitted for review was Article 1, which contains a loose definition of "threats" against national security.

The applicants suggested a more specific definition of "threat" be used to keep the law from being abused by irresponsible parties. However, the court disagreed with the applicants. "If the law only details specific threats, BIN will have no authority to respond to types of potential dangers that are not listed," Anwar said.

Further, he said the law actually gave a clearer framework and boundaries for how BIN should operate. Before the passage of the law, BIN had the authority to arrest people. But, Anwar said, the agency now had no such authority as the law required BIN to cooperate with other law enforcement authorities to apprehend people.

Meanwhile, human rights activists lamented the Constitutional Court ruling. Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) director Nurkholis Hidayat, for instance, said the law could be used as a basis for other repressive regulations currently being deliberated at the House of Representatives, like the national security bill and the mass organization bill.

Nurkholis said that he could only hope that the government would not abuse the law.

Elsam's Wahyudi Djafar was far less optimistic. "Welcome the authoritarian government," he said. (riz)

National security bill could threaten democracy, free speech

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Analysts have warned that the controversial bill on national security in its present form, once endorsed, could be used to justify human rights abuses and impede the growth of the country's fledgling democracy.

Johan O. Silalahi, a military analyst from the University of Indonesia, said that the House of Representatives and the government needed to come up with a new draft of the bill as the existing draft was rife with loopholes that could lead to abuses of power.

"We need a bill on national security, but in the existing draft we can still find controversial provisions on the definition of security threats, arrest and wiretapping that could be misinterpreted by the ruling regime to maintain the status quo," he said in a discussion on Monday.

Civil society groups have rejected the bill, accusing the government of trying to pave a return for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to meddle in civilian affairs.

Among the controversial sections of the bill is an article that would give the National Security Council overwhelming power to determine national security threats posed by activities, meetings or the media.

Article 54 of the bill would also give the authority to investigate such threats to the Indonesian Military and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

The National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and human rights watchdog the Setara Institute are two of the most vocal opponents of the bill. The two organizations have said that the bill would not only undermine democracy, but also bring back militarism.

The House has twice returned the draft bill to the government after finding some of the provisions to be controversial.

Agun Gunanjar, a Golkar Party lawmaker, however, said his faction would defend the bill. He said that the bill was necessary to maintain the country's unity against the onslaught from liberalism, capitalism, hedonism and terrorism.

"The bill is badly needed to maintain the role of the military in the area of defense and security that will in turn contribute to defending the country's territorial integrity," he said.

Agun said that his faction was ready to cooperate with others in making necessary changes to the bill. Other lawmakers have said that they would likely drop deliberation of the controversial national security bill, claiming it could lead to human rights violations.

Leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction at the House Puan Maharani said her faction had stood against the bill since the early stages of its deliberation.

Puan said that the bill could have the potential to suppress political parties, civil society groups and individuals who could be considered as threats to national security.

"We have also reminded other factions about the bill's contentious provision on security threats, arrest and wiretapping that could be abused by the ruling regime to intimidate parties, civil society groups and government critics," she said.

Other political factions including the United Development Party (PPP), National Mandate Party (PAN) have rejected the bill.

The chairman of Golkar's board of patrons Akbar Tanjung said that a national security bill could be passed only if it safeguard democracy and freedom of expression.

"The Constitution is the mother of all laws. If the bill contradicts the Constitution we can bring it to the Constitutional Court for a review. The current political system is not founded on the security approach but on freedom and responsibility," Akbar said.

Economy & investment

Lack of infrastructure will drag down GDP growth: UK Bank

Jakarta Globe - October 15, 2012

Dion Bisara – Indonesia's problems developing infrastructure and reforming the bureaucracy may cost 1 percent to 3 percent of the country's annual GDP growth over the next decades, impeding its aim to be among the largest economies in 2030, Standard Chartered Bank said in a report last week.

The UK-based bank projected last year that Indonesia would become the sixth largest economy in the world in the next two decades, in nominal GDP terms. US-based consulting firm McKinsey & Co. affirmed the view last month, predicting Indonesia would become the world's seventh-largest economy by 2030, due to its huge young population and domestic consumption. Today, the country is the 16th largest economy, above Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and South Africa.

Standard Chartered said the projection was made by assuming real GDP will grow by around 7 percent annually, on average, from 2014 to 2030. That is faster than the 5.2 percent average over the last 10 years. Indonesia grew by 6.3 percent in the first half of this year, slowing from a 6.4 percent pace last year.

However, the report said, that growth target will be difficult to achieve if the problems of infrastructure bottlenecks, such as land clearance, lack of skilled project managers, legal uncertainties, and bureaucratic inefficiencies and corruption are not resolved quickly.

And, to make things worse, the report, highlighted the fact that government is bound to spend more funds paying officials than for making roads, bridges, ports, dams, irrigation system and airports.

"High payroll costs impede higher government capital spending while the bureaucracy is not as effective as it might be," said the report, which was made available to the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

The central government earmarked Rp 241 trillion for payroll of its 913,000 civil servants in next year's budget, up 14 percent from Rp 212 trillion this year. The budget does not include salaries for the other 3.8 million civil servants in local governments. In comparison, capital expenses were set at Rp 194 trillion, up 15 percent from this year.

Standard Chartered estimated that the government needs to increase spending by 20 percent per year for transport infrastructure and by the same rate for the state electricity sector in order to grow by 6.9 percent to 7.6 percent annually, assuming that the private sector provides 50 percent of the total investment needed.

Indonesia risks falling into middle-income trap

Jakarta Post - October 13, 2012

Raras Cahyafitri, Tokyo – Indonesia risks falling into a so-called middle-income trap if it fails to improve infrastructure needed to sustain faster economic growth, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"This [middle-income trap] is going to happen sometime from now. It is essential to focus on how to sustainably release capital and infrastructure spending in Indonesia," IMF Asia and Pacific department director Anoop Singh said on Friday.

Singh said like most emerging economies, Indonesia would have to sustain its economic growth in the medium term or be exposed to a situation in which the economy remained at a middle level of income.

Emerging Asian economies, according to the IMF, are estimated to grow by 6.1 percent this year and 6.8 next year, well above the global outlook of only 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year. Meanwhile, Indonesia is projected to grow by 6 percent this year and 6.3 percent next year.

Indonesia is struggling to implement its master plan on infrastructure development due to a number of issues, particularly those pertinent to land acquisition, which is complicated by overlapping ownership claims and rampant speculation.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a new regulation in August aiming to add certainty to the process of land acquisition. The regulation provides a maximum of 538 days after an intention to acquire land is filed with the provincial government to settle any land disputes. The regulation is set to enter into effect next month.

Business associations, however, are not satisfied with the new regulation, saying the period for dispute settlement is still too long and involves "too much bureaucracy". The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce of Industry (Kadin) also regretted that the regulation would not affect stalled infrastructure projects that were launched prior to the issuance of the regulation.

Among the stalled projects are 24 toll roads, including sections of the Jakarta outer ring road project and the trans-Java toll road. The entire project, which will cover 605 kilometers, is worth around Rp 160 trillion (US$16.96 billion).

Failure to develop adequate infrastructure would in turn hurt competitiveness following higher costs of production and increasing wages, Singh said.

The illustrated situation is already apparent in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, where labor unions have continued to demand significant raises of the minimum wage, especially in industrial centers.

Labor unions in industrial areas in Bekasi, West Java and Batam island, which host thousands of factories, have proposed adding new components to the index used to establish annual minimum wages, which could result in demand for a 100 percent increase for the 2013 fiscal year. The proposal is expected to dominate mediated negotiations scheduled to begin next month with employers. Negotiations with employers turned sour in January, leading to tens of thousands of workers to block toll road access to Bekasi, effectively halting the operations of some 3,000 factories.

Infrastructure aside, the IMF advises Indonesia to allow a more inclusive economic policy, such as through encouraging more private sector-led investment, reforming goods and labor markets and addressing challenges of rapid demographic change.

The IMF also warns that Indonesia's economy is at risk of overheating as indicated by a record $6.9 billion current account deficit in the second quarter, or equivalent to the country's gross domestic product, as the value of imports exceed exports.

Perry Warjiyo, the director for monetary policy research at Bank Indonesia (BI), brushed off concerns of economic overheating, saying that Indonesia's GDP was still expanding within its capacity.

"Our economic growth of 6.3 percent is actually lower than our potential capacity. Based on our calculation, our economic growth potential is actually 6.7 percent," Perry told reporters at the central bank's office in Jakarta on Friday.

Perry also highlighted the fact that Indonesia's macroeconomic indicators did not show any signs of overheating, citing the country's inflation and credit growth, which remained at the convenient level.

"If the economy grows beyond its capacity, then consequently there will be pressure on the price level. Our inflation, meanwhile, remains manageable – or even low, I must say – at 4.1 percent," he added. (Sat)

IMF further cuts Indonesia's growth on bleak outlook

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2012

Raras Cahyafitri, Tokyo – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has once again cut its estimate of Indonesia's economic growth as the global economic slowdown in Europe, the US and China will likely continue to affect the country's exports.

In a world economic report titled "Coping with High Debt and Sluggish Growth" released on Tuesday, which coincided with the start of the IMF- World Bank Group annual meetings in Tokyo, the agency lowered its forecast of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 6 percent this year.

In April, the IMF trimmed its estimate of Indonesia's economic growth rate to 6.1 percent from its initial forecast of 6.3 percent.

For next year, the IMF estimates growth of the largest country in Southeast Asia will touch 6.3 percent, lower than the government's targets of 6.5 percent this year and 6.8 percent next year.

The agency's report said the growth target was lowered because Indonesia, like other emerging markets, would still be affected by the euro crisis and US fiscal woes. Although the IMF scaled back its estimate of Indonesia's growth rate, the agency maintained its projection for the ASEAN-5 region, which consists of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam, at 5.4 percent for this year.

"These economies have suffered from the slowdown in the global economy. Some of them are quite connected to China, but on the other hand, they have systems of monetary policy that are relatively easy [...] There also has been a shift toward domestic demand, which is quite robust in the region," IMF economist Thomas Helbling said after the release of the report.

Although the IMF expects the ASEAN-5 region to grow by 5.8 percent next year, the figure is lower than its projection of 6.1 percent in July.

China is estimated to grow by 7.8 percent this year and improve to 8.2 percent next year, lower than previous estimates of 8 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.

In its latest health check on the world economy, the IMF forecast that global output in 2012 would grow by only 3.3 percent, down from a July estimate of 3.5 percent, making this the slowest year of growth since 2009. Global output is predicted to experience a modest pickup next year to 3.6 percent, a downward revision of its July estimate of 3.9 percent.

"The world economic recovery continues, but it has weakened further. In advanced countries, growth is now too low to make a substantial dent in unemployment," IMF economic counselor and director of research Oliver Blanchard said.

The US is expected to grow by 2.2 percent this year and slow to 2.1 percent next year, while the indebted eurozone economy is predicted to remain sluggish with a minus 0.4 percent growth rate this year before moving into positive territory to with 0.2 percent growth next year.

Analysis & opinion

Politicians grasp Indonesia challenge – now business needs to catch up

Sydney Morning Herald - October 13, 2012

Hamish McDonald – Just over a month ago, popular Darwin identity Vikki Riley was riding her bike on one of her regular visits to asylum seekers at the Airport Lodge, a motel turned into a detention centre, when she was swiped by a car and killed.

Two days later, John Madigan rose in the Senate and proposed a condolence motion, noting among other things her "advocacy on behalf of refugees and the people of West Papua and East Timor".

The sole Democratic Labor Party senator was then approached by floor managers of the main parties and told that unless the Papua reference was removed, his motion would fail. In the vote it did fail, its 11 crossbench supporters outvoted by 37 no-votes, most from Labor, with many absenting themselves.

To human rights activists watching with increasing alarm the rising level of protest and punishment in closed-off Papua, with hardline members of the Indonesian parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee last week calling for the military to be unleashed, it seemed a particularly craven example of expedient silence.

To others it would be an example of how our politicians are now wary about being led into the most explosive issue in relations with Indonesia, if a little excessively in this instance.

"We have at last learnt to be sensitive about Papua," says Ken Ward, a former Indonesia specialist with Canberra's Office of National Assessments, although he was not referring to this case. "That's something you can credit Australian politicians with. They do realise they can't idly talk about oppression in Papua or anything like that without really infuriating the Indonesians."

The decade since the first Bali bombings is widely seen as a crisis turned to advantage. It wiped away Australia's role in the independence of East Timor as an active Indonesian grievance.

The co-operation between the Australian Federal Police and Indonesia's Detachment 88 special police unit in the hunt for the terrorists became a paradigm for a bilateral relationship rated by Canberra as "never better", particularly after the conciliatory Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was elected Indonesia's President in 2004.

Yet it remains prone to disruption on several hot-button issues. When 43 Papuans crossed the Torres Strait by small boat and were given temporary asylum in 2006, Yudhoyono recalled his ambassador from Canberra, a step never taken by even his predecessors Sukarno and Suharto during much more serious flare-ups.

Indonesian politicians remain alert for even the slightest hint of Australians of any institutional standing questioning the territorial integrity of their country, as criticism about Papua tends to be seen.

John Howard's hurried Lombok Treaty gave a specific guarantee on Papua, but suspicion lingers. One Jakarta conspiracy theory even saw the stationing of US marines in Darwin not as a "pivot" against China, but as staging point for intervening in Papua.

Yudhoyono and his ministers know that it's not, but it's one of several cases where politicians on one or other side feel compelled to talk more loudly in public than effective diplomacy demands.

With our politicos, it's terrorism and boat people. As Ward notes, Indonesia is willing to co-operate against Jemaah Islamiyah, but the incessant public praise from Australian leaders is embarrassing in domestic politics. "The Indonesians don't like to hear it because they provide the terrorists that we are co-operating about," Ward says. "We are mindlessly scratching an Indonesian sore."

Beneath the police co-operation, the relationship still needs a lot more content. Tourism from Australia understandably took a dive after the bombings, but is now well above pre-attack levels, with 800,000 visitors last year and 586,000 by this July. From the 75,000 to 100,000 surfie visitors to the Eat, Pray, Love crowd at Ubud, and Pilbara miners using it as home, the island of Bali is being loved and overdeveloped by Australians – an escapist cliche epitomised by the AAMI ad, showing "Rhonda" using her saved insurance premiums for a Bali escape and discovery of a handsome young "Ketut".

Yet the government relationship is still asymmetrical, despite a huge aid budget and pledges by both main parties to raise it to a first-grade strategic partnership. Indonesians have little interest in Australia, or much else outside their nervously watched frontiers.

"Certainly in our dealings with the Indonesian intelligence agency, discussions on anything outside Indonesia were always one-way," Ward recalls. "They had no expertise at all. Even now there is no think tank about China."

Indonesia's "passive" international stance is partly a blessing, Ward adds. Indonesia opposed the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and does not recognise Israel.

"Hidden from the surface at the moment is a very big gap in our perceptions of the outside world, particularly related to the Middle East and American behaviour," he says. "If that comes to the surface it's going to be a fairly nasty shock for Australia."

The tail of expertise behind Australia's presence in Jakarta has also atrophied. Australian correspondents there are pressed by news editors for stories about terrorists, people smugglers and drug arrests, not profiles of Indonesian politicians, social movements or companies.

Indonesian language study has been steadily disappearing from our schools and universities, although Sydney University's Adrian Vickers says student numbers have recently picked up, and an easing of Canberra's travel advice earlier this year has allowed language immersion visits to get insurance cover.

Wider interest in Indonesia expertise might return if more Australian companies, beyond the ANZ and Commonwealth banks and several miners, joined the multinational investment rush into Indonesia, where $US30 billion of foreign direct investment is likely to be approved this year.

Patrick Alexander, a former Australian diplomat-turned-venture capitalist in Jakarta, says Australian business has been generally slow to pick up on the structural change in the Indonesian economy since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Domestic demand pulled the economy out of a long slump by 2004, and now Indonesia is seen not as a sweatshop manufacturing zone for cheap exports but as the biggest component of a south-east Asia-wide market for sophisticated products and services and it is best placed to supply it. Companies from Europe, Japan and South Korea, America, China and India are piling in.

"I don't field many questions about terrorism these days," Alexander says. "What people are worried about is about infrastructure: where will they be able to locate their factories; is it going to be too difficult to get the goods to the port?"

"The real problem with Australia is that it looks upon Indonesia more as a trading opportunity and less as an investment opportunity," he says, adding that with 6 per cent average growth, Indonesia will outgrow Australia in economic size within a decade. "That will make Australian businesses sit up. "But they should be sitting up and taking a look at it now."

New film 'The Act of Killing' shows legacy of 1965 carnage is ever-present

Jakarta Globe - October 9, 2012

Farah Wardani – I love movies about villains. For me, they are more interesting than films about heroes or saints, because they offer more intriguing perspectives on the dark sides of mankind. And sometimes, watching such movies can be a way to see morality in action – we want to see the villains being bad, and we want to see them punished. Maybe it justifies our righteousness, or simply fulfils our need for an adrenaline rush.

"The Act of Killing" a new documentary directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, is, quite simply, a movie about villains. Real villains, not "ordinary" ones. It is about a group of killers who murdered thousands of members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) during a string of executions in Medan. They were acting under the orders of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the New Order paramilitary group, Pancasila Youth, as part of the killing of perhaps more than 1 million communists across Indonesia in 1965.

That fact has long been a public secret, a sensitive issue that has been erased from history lessons in Indonesian schools. My generation, who grew up in the 1980s and '90s, were indoctrinated with the opposite "fact": that the PKI was the villain, the barbaric sect who tried to overthrow the Sukarno government by murdering seven generals on Sept. 30 1965, before Gen. Suharto and the army saved the day.

But with the fall of the New Order and the emergence of the Reform Era in 1998, the other side of the story has slowly been brought to the surface. However, a trial has never been held and those responsible for the murders, from highest to the lowest levels, remain unpunished to this day.

"The Act of Killing" portrays those at the lowest level. We meet Anwar Congo, Herman Koto and Adi Zulkadry. Back in the 1960s, they were low-life gangsters making petty mob money around a movie theater in Medan, before being recruited by the military to join the death squad to hunt, torture and kill communists in and around the city.

Oppenheimer somehow managed to persuade all of them to retell what was happening during those horrific times. Well, "retell" is, in fact, an understatement. Anwar and friends wanted to re-enact their deeds in some epic, glorious fashion – like in Hollywood movies. They wrote, directed and acted their own parts, and at times also took on multiple roles as the victims or extras.

The film that they are making becomes a weird piece of propaganda sinetron gone awry, mixing elements of musical, western and gangster movies. Oppenheimer documents all of this, creating a documentary that recreates these scenes in what turns out to be a unique, twisted cinematic experience, intertwined with his own portrayals of the characters "behind the screens" and putting all the pieces together in a rather episodic storyline.

The result is perhaps the most bizarre yet strangely profound and thought- provoking documentary I have ever seen. It is full of outrageous scenes and startling dialogue that borders between being hilariously funny and awfully disturbing.

Yet for me, the best thing about the film is that it makes a remarkable character study. With a great sense of intimacy, Oppenheimer takes a closer look at each subject.

Forty-seven years have passed, and the trio have become ordinary citizens. They live among neighbors whose relatives they murdered. Herman tried to become a member of parliament through bribery and failed. Adi has become a suburban middle-class family man, taking his family to the mall on weekends. Anwar, the retired preman (gangster or "free man," as he likes to emphasize), plays with his grandchildren in his backyard, teaching them not to hurt chickens and small animals.

The contrast between these mundane lives and the dread of their past is striking. As Oppenheimer describes in his director's statement, boasts or self-applause are crucial parts of the film, and became one of his methods of getting the killers to open up to him.

We see the killers bragging and justifying their murders as a heroic act, done out of a necessity to defend the country. They need validation. They want to be remembered in history, for their "achievements." So they eagerly made the film like little boys playing with new toys.

The audience sits through all the bluffs, not only the bluffs of the trio, but also of bureaucrats, local journalists, and high-powered politicians. We see Anwar proudly describing his method of murder on local TV. Adi brags about killing his ex-girlfriend's father, who was Chinese. Safit Pardede, a member of the Pancasila Youth, boasts about raping an underage member of Gerwani, a women's group, greeted by cheers and whistles.

However, Oppenheimer does pay more special attention – with a bit of subtle empathy – to Anwar, who becomes the lead character, with much of the film seen through his perspective.

We see Anwar breaking down, telling us about the nightmares that have been haunting him for years. He cries and tells Oppenheimer that he couldn't bear playing the victim and finishing the strangling re-enactment scene because he could feel how they felt back then. The director challenged him on this, saying that he cannot in any way be in the same position as the victims, since what happened to them was real. It is clear that through this movie, the deranged Anwar is seeking not only approval, but also redemption.

Yet, does it matter? Should we take his "excuses"? Do we still have to punish him? It is easy to say yes (or no), but watching this film I find the real monstrous villain is still lurking, that monstrous villain being the banal, fascistic heritage embedded in society through 32 years of the New Order regime, which in the end enables people like the killer trio, corrupt politicians and Pancasila Youth leaders to boast about their past deeds as necessary evil.

The saddest thing beneath all of this, for me, is seeing how the New Order's legacy gives very limited room for ordinary people to develop their own roles and capacities in a tolerant, civil society. And the horror of the fact that we, the current generation, still have to live with it.

Through this film, we see that in this country, even the act of killing – in particular killing a great number of people – can be a sign of achievement.

[Farah Wardani is an Indonesian art critic, art historian and curator.]

Police in self-destruct mode

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 9, 2012

Whatever criticism, including this editorial, is directed toward the National Police, it cannot harm the credibility of the country's central law enforcement agency. The police are doing that job far better and more effectively than anyone else in destroying its reputation.

The late night visit by a number of officers to the headquarters of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Friday was the latest in a series of clear displays of arrogance and an exercise in raw intimidation. We seem to be getting a lot of that lately.

Police claim they were seeking to apprehend Novel Baswedan, a police officer seconded to the KPK, in connection with a crime he allegedly committed eight years ago as a junior officer in Bengkulu.

The siege was reminiscent of the rough ride given to the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in the first years following its establishment in 1974. Dozens of police officers stormed its headquarters in 1977 to disrupt the antigraft commission's probe into a drug cartel that was being protected by corrupt police officers.

Whether or not there is any truth in the allegation against Novel is irrelevant. Police arrived for Novel only hours after he led a KPK team to investigate Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who is a suspect in a corruption scandal within the National Police. Djoko, who has been accused of taking massive kickbacks from the procurement of driving simulators when he headed the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) in 2010, had twice defied KPK summons before he finally showed up for questioning on Friday.

Reports maintain that when searching the Korlantas offices for documentary evidence, Novel and his fellow KPK investigators also found evidence of larger graft cases which, if valid, will deal the police a much heavier blow.

Novel was also part of the KPK team responsible for the probe into alleged fraud involving former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, his wife Neneng Sri Wahyuni and celebrity-turned-politician Angelina Sondakh, also from the Democratic Party, of which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the chief patron.

As a senior officer in the National Police, Djoko clearly enjoys the support of his fellow officers. Since the case came to light last month, police have consistently tried to undermine the KPK investigation. They have also tried to withdraw 20 of their officers seconded to the KPK. Novel was one of five police officers who decided to stay put, at the risk of ruining their careers.

The late night visit to the KPK to pick up Novel was clearly an act of personal vendetta carried out by police on Djoko's behalf. Just to compound matters and as a sign of their incompetence, the police didn't even have the proper documents to arrest Novel.

It was heartening to see the spontaneous, massive outpouring of public support for the commission when news of the visit broke on Friday night. Activists immediately formed a human barricade to stop the police from forcing their way in to arrest Novel. Social media networks were abuzz with expressions of support and solidarity for the KPK, and condemnation of the police leadership.

Their slogan "Save the KPK, Save Indonesia" became a rallying cry on Twitter and Facebook. No one is suggesting disbanding the police, but President Yudhoyono should seriously consider replacing the leadership before the public loses complete trust in the institution.

One would far prefer our central law enforcers to train their guns on terrorists, criminals and those radicals who openly persecute religious minorities. Instead, however, they are getting better when it comes to shooting themselves in the foot. But then it's point-blank range; they can hardly miss.

The new Jakarta governor against the triad of dark forces

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2012

B. Herry-Priyono, Jakarta – The biggest prize in Jakarta politics has been captured by the charm of sheer ordinariness. The reason for this spell is unmistakable: Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is the antithesis to the present political class both at national and local levels. Being an antithesis is not, of course, what principally makes good leadership. But his golden triumph deserves to be cherished even if it has not changed an iota of Jakarta.

What made his electoral rise unstoppable? It was sheer ordinariness as political cachet. Red-and-blue checked shirts as his distinguishing outfit, cool in bodily gait, charming in his simplicity and humble in manner, Jokowi fits the bill. Graced with a running-mate for deputy governor, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, whose persona defies sectarian prejudices, makes the win acquire a patina of unreality.

Now that they have officially been declared governor and deputy governor of Jakarta, the struggle for the real begins in earnest. Precisely because the victory was so luminous, we must be prepared to bear a certain degree of disenchantment. This precariousness comes less from the personal qualities of the two new leaders than from their being subverted by a triad of dark forces.

First, the forces of capital that have overrun even the noblest ideas of Jakarta's city planning. This can easily be observed from the way Jakarta's green areas have been destroyed by real-estate developers, civic spaces by mega-shopping malls and commercial centers, and the need for public transportation systems thwarted by automotive and oil industries. It is worth emphasizing that the problem is not capital itself; indeed, we need more for urban infrastructure development.

Rather, the problem is the capture of urban policy by the forces of unbridled capital. The chaotic nature of Jakarta's development during the past few decades makes it clear that the future of the city cannot be entrusted to the invisible hands of the market or left in the hands of unscrupulous business groups. Again, we know only too well that the issue is not law but, rather, the capture of the legal apparatus by the power of the purse. Even if the dictate of money can be curbed by legal fiat, it is no longer a secret that big business powers in Jakarta have formed a frightening underworld with their own mercenaries and gangsters. All this will haunt the new Jakarta governor from the start.

Second is the imminent prospect of reprisals by defeated political parties. Jokowi's win has no doubt introduced a new calculus among the losing political parties, including the Democratic Party, the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the United Development Party (PPP), which between them account for the majority of seats in the Jakarta City Council. The fact that the PKS was in the losing coalition, for instance, does not necessarily mean it will oppose Jokowi's programs. But we must be prepared for the possibility of sabotage via legislative maneuverings by these parties in the council.

It is to be hoped that the overwhelming support for Jokowi during the electoral process is cultivated into some sort of people power. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some grave moments when Jokowi's struggle for Jakarta's common good forces him into a showdown with political cabals on the City Council. At such critical moments, some sort of people power should be called upon to safeguard the governor's policies from being thwarted by these legislative cabals; in a similar way to how ordinary civilians instantly flocked to defend the integrity of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from the acts perpetrated by desperados from the National Police on Oct. 5.

Third is the barbarous tribalism of religious bigots. Only another bigot would deny that the growing incivility in Jakarta was not connected, among other things, with the ubiquity of religious bigotry. Of course, religious bigotry is a matter of degree. While the overall climate of religious fanaticism has clearly increased, particular attention needs to be paid to the types of religious bigots that seek to take over Jakarta with their marauding violence and rampages.

These religious bigots not only augur ill for a more intolerant Indonesia but they could also frustrate the new governor in developing Jakarta to become a suave, law-abiding and civilized place. With the country's President still muted over the virulent growth of religious bigotry, which is right under his nose in Jakarta, the new governor will be forced to prevent the country's capital from being ruled by religious zealots. Religious zealots never make good citizens.

No doubt, there are many factors that will shape the successes and failures of the new governor. Some of his good programs won't be achievable if they are too fanciful from the start, while others will be accomplished only with dogged determination. But I bet that this triad of dark forces will be the principal stumbling blocks for Jakarta's new leadership.

Indeed, a few months ago Jakarta was dazzled and besotted with a non- Jakartan called Jokowi. It was through infatuation with sheer ordinariness that he was luminously catapulted into the political inner sanctum of Jakarta. Infatuation is always the triumph of fantasy over reality; now is the moment for him and his deputy, as much as for Jakartans themselves, to descend from nirvana.

It is this struggle for the real that will make them the sort of leaders who come along once or twice in a century. Or, they will simply slip into becoming random passersby, dumbfounded by Jakarta's perpetual ambivalence between elegance and decadence.