Tungadewa Mattangkilang, Penajam Paser Utara – Two married couples have been forced from their village in East Kalimantan after information circulated that they had been infected with HIV.

HIV/AIDS activists said the incident highlighted the lack of awareness about the disease – which has caused discrimination and even violence in many places across the country – especially among those people living in rural areas.

Jodi, head of the HIV/AIDS community at Penajam Paser Utara, said on Sunday that the two families had left their village in the Babulu subdistrict last week, after a group of villagers visited their homes and asked them to leave.

"They are two husband-and-wife couples who have tested positive by the local health office with the HIV virus. The local residents, who couldn't accept their condition, told them to move to villages that could accept them," Jodi said, adding that he currently had no indication of the two families' whereabouts.

Jodi said the information about the couples' condition spread through the village after a health official leaked it to his friend. "Based on the law, such information was supposed to be kept a secret," he said. "We regret that it was made available to the public."

Adi Supriadi, the HIV/AIDS program head at the East Kalimantan-based Laras Foundation, said the lack of awareness on the transmission of the virus was behind the villagers' actions to force the two couples out of their village.

Adi said it was time for the government to boost its efforts to better educate the public about HIV/AIDS. "We are concerned that more discrimination about the syndrome is still taking place," Adi said.

Jurnanto, secretary of East Kalimantan's Aids Commission, said his office would meet with the local authorities to prevent any similar incidents taking place in the future.

People living with HIV/AIDS or with HIV-positive parents still face rejection and discrimination in their neighborhoods, schools and offices, activists have said.

On World AIDS Day in 2011, the country was rattled by an incident where the Don Bosco elementary school in North Jakarta rejected a child because her father, Fajar Jasmin, was HIV-positive.

The school argued that it was the other parents who rejected the child, and they demanded that the parents submit a letter certifying that the child was not infected with HIV.

Iswandi Mourbas, a commissioner of the Indonesian Commission on Child Protection (KPAI), said the country's laws guaranteed the right of every child to have education and health services that were free from discrimination.

The commissioner added that KPAI had already recorded several school rejections of HIV-positive children, as well as those with infected parents.

She said many parents often could not tolerate the discrimination against their children and instead opted to take the child out of school.

KPAI chairwoman Maria Ulfa Ansor said the minister of education and culture should issue a policy that could be used as an instrument for the commission to monitor discrimination against children.

Indonesia has one of the fastest-growing HIV transmission rates in Asia, and in most instances the actual number of people living with HIV is believed to be far higher than the official data shows. The World Health Organization estimates there are 300,000 people in Indonesia living with HIV/AIDS, with the worst-affected places being Jakarta and the province of Papua, where 2.3 percent of the population is infected.

151 Indonesians shot dead by Malaysian police since 2007

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2012

Kuala Lumpur – Reacting to news that 151 Indonesians have been shot dead by Malaysian police in the past five years, the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia has announced that it will soon question Malaysia's police force about how it handles criminals.

"We will ask for clarification about their standard operational procedures," Suryana Sastradiredja, a spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia, said on Thursday, as quoted by the Antara news agency.

The Star Online, a Malaysian media outlet, quoted a police report on Wednesday that said 298 people – 296 men and two women with ages ranging from 16 to 60 – have been fatally shot by police since 2007. Thirteen of them were below 20 years old.

The latest incident involving Indonesians took place in September when Malaysian police shot four Indonesians from Batam, Riau and Madura, East Java after a supposed robbery attempt in which police said the culprits fired back at them.

Suryana added that the embassy would request the information about the Indonesians who have been slain by Malaysian police, such as their names, the time and location of the shootings and the cemetery where they were buried.

Besides the 151 Indonesians shot and killed, 134 Malaysians, five Vietnamese, three Burmese, two Thais, one Nigerian, one Liberian and one person with an unknown nationality were gunned down by Malaysian police during the last five years.

West Papua

Papua Police replace 23 regency chiefs

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2012

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua Police have launched an overhaul of their institution in the provinces of Papua and West Papua by replacing 23 out of 29 police regency heads.

The major restructuring was conducted by Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, who was installed as the new Papua Police chief, replacing Brig. Gen. Lumban Tobing at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Sept. 21.

Tito said at the joint installation ceremony in Jayapura on Monday that aside from being used to refresh the institution, the major restructuring was also intended to help support the fight against rampant corruption in Papua.

"This is only to refresh because there are many regency police chiefs who have held their current positions for a long time, while at the same time there are many young and clever officers who have to be given a chance," Tito said.

"Our focus is on the rotation of office, but in every briefing they will be continuously reminded to help the fight against corruption," he said.

In a coordination meeting with heads of detective and crime units of all the 29 police units throughout Papua and West Papua in Jayapura on Oct. 16, Tito reminded them that each police units had to be serious about uncovering corrupt practices in both Papua and West Papua provinces because rampant corruption had caused Papuans to suffer.

Post-New Order Indonesia resolved half of the Herculean job of keeping Papua as part of Indonesia through issuing the province special autonomy in 2001, which was intended to allow Papua to enjoy and manage the lion's share of its revenue from natural resources.

But the redistribution of wealth has failed to materialize as most of the huge funds have been wasted – or embezzled by the local elites – as is evident by the fact that Papua and West Papua remain the most disadvantaged regions, mostly because of Jakarta's poor supervision and, more importantly, ignorance.

The government is set to do more for Papua in the future, including renegotiating mining contracts with large-scale companies operating in the province.

The central government is also due to raise special autonomy funding for Papua to Rp 4.3 trillion (US$450.5 million) next year from this year's Rp 3.10 trillion, and to Rp 1.8 trillion for West Papua from this year's Rp 1.33 trillion.

"There is a lot of money being allocated for Papua and West Papua, but the fact is that most Papuan people, especially those inland and in remote areas, still live in poverty. There must be something wrong, so the police branches have to focus on uncovering allegations of fund misuse," he said.

Tito's remarks were warmly welcomed by the head of the Papua Church Leaders Forum (PGGP) Lipius Binilux. "In my capacity as head of PGGP, I fully support the commitment of the Papua Police chief to fight against corruption," he said.

He said Papuan people had lost trust in Jakarta because it allowed rampant corruption practices to continue in Papua.

"I have thought that Jakarta was maybe allowing Papua to go to the brink of destruction. Uncontrollable corrupt practices are taking place in front of our eyes and are real, but there isn't any action [to curb them]. I hope the Papua Police chief's commitment to fight against corruption will be able to revive the Papuan people's trust in Jakarta," Lipius said.

Lipius asked the police to proceed with questioning officials in Papua even if the individual suspected of being involved in corruption made threats that his or her followers would become angry with the individual being questioned.

"It is only an excuse from the official to clear up his or her wrongdoings. Pak [Mr.] Kapolda [police chief], don't be afraid. I'm ready to support you. Wipe corruption out of Papua to enable the Papuan people to distance themselves from suffering," he said.

Out of the 23 newly installed regency police chiefs, there was Adj. Sr. Comr Esterlina Sroyer, who has been promoted as the new Bian Numfor regency police chief and at the same time is the first woman police chief in Papua. "This shows appreciation toward policewomen," Lipius said.

KontraS reports on continuing deaths and injuries in Papua

Tabloid JUBI - October 29, 2012

KontraS, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence has drawn the conclusion that from January to October this year, 107 people have been injured as a result of acts of violence.

The commission also stated that as many as 81 acts of violence occurred in Papua. Thirty-one of these people died as a result of their injuries. A spokesperson for KontraS, Sri, said that KontraS believes that since January this year, scores of acts of violence have engulfed Papua.

In a press release issued on 26 October, she said that at least thirty-one people had died and 107 people had been injured.

This press release was issued in Jakarta together with several other NGOs, including NAPAS, BUK and YAPHAM. The NGOs were keen to draw attention to the current situation in Papua which is becoming increasingly tense.

KontraS believes that there are serious restrictions to democracy in Papua. "It is a serious challenge for civil society to criticise the policy being pursued by the government," said KontraS

A Papuan activist in Jakarta, Martin Goo said that the continuing suppression of democracy in Papua has triggered a number of conflicts in Papua. There has also been an intensification of acts of terrorism which, he said, were being perpetrated by certain groups who are against the people's struggle for justice,

[Translated by TAPOL]

Outsiders told to stay off Papua campus

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2012

Non-student protesters should stop using the Cenderawasih University (Uncen) campus in Jayapura, Papua, as a place to hide if they are being pursued by local police during rallies, according to the head of a student board.

Chairman of Uncen's Students Executive Board (BEM) Paul Numberi said the campus was not a place to shelter criminals, but was a place of learning for the younger generations of the nation.

"The campus is a place of learning, not a haven for criminals. We call upon non-students not to carry out provocation on campus, especially that which can harm the students and put them at a disadvantage," Numberi told reporters in Jayapura.

He was speaking of the frequency of which the Uncen campus was blocked whenever there was a rally in Jayapura.

Numberi said thousands of Uncen students expressed regret whenever there was a rally – carried out by a handful of students on behalf of all students – because such actions disrupted learning and teaching on campus.

Separately, Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said police continued to pursue the alleged criminals, despite the latter seeking refuge on campus.

"Whenever police enter the campus, it doesn't mean they are intervening but they are processing criminals," Tito said.

Tito added that the police did not have the authority to enter only two places in Indonesia – the House of Representatives and regional legislative offices during session and houses of worship during religious services – but when a session or worship was completed, they could enter for the sake of upholding the law.

"Entrance to these two places is exempt during a session or service. We are only looking for the suspects, not intervening but carrying out law enforcement," he said.

UNCEN students call for an end to stigmatisation

Tabloid JUBI - October 24, 2012

A number of students from Cenderawasih University (UNCEN) took part in a rally outside the office of the DPRP, the Legislative Assembly of Papua, calling for an end to the stigma of makar (treason), separatism and terrorism against indigenous Papuans.

One speaker, Yason Ngelia said he was very concerned about the crackdown on the demonstration held on the previous day in Manokwari.

"Is this how you treat a demonstration in this country, using firearms as a result of which some people have been injured? We demand justice for our friends who became victims of terror and intimidation during the rally in Manokwari," he said

The chairman of BEM at the Faculty of Law at UNCEN said that the military command post at Waena should be closed down because there is already a security group in the university.

"Troops frequently maltreat people who are found drunk. This is in violation of the law although the soldiers say that they are here to protect the community, said Musa Sama. We call for the release of the eleven student activists. some of whom were shot."

The army post is not inside the university campus but in a public place, near shops along Jalan Kampwolker.

Another speaker said that there is no democratic space for students to give expression to their aspirations. 'The military should not be searching our dormitories on the pretext that the they are searching for people who are on the wanted list.' He said that all their belongings such as the eleven laptops that were seized should be handed back

Another UNCEN activist said that the demo was intended as an action against corruption and to commemorate the Third Papuan Congress in 2011, yet these actions were banned by the security forces. According to Law 9/1998 about freedom of expression, the police do not have the right to issue permits but only to regulate the traffic.

"The stigmas of separatism, treason and terrorism were used by the police to refuse to grant a permit for the rally, but this is against the law. We are being denied any space for democracy by the security forces. This can only lead to an accumulation of disappoinments which could explode into the open during the forthcoming elections. The lack of democratic space will become a boomerang for the government," said Benyamin Gurik.

In response to the calls being made by the students, a member of the DPRP, John Rustam said that he would raise these issues at the next meeting of Commission A which handles these matters.

He said that the demands of the students were for an end to the abuse of human rights and for their right to express their aspirations publicly which until now has been silenced. The army is continually intervening as a result of which there is no security on campus while many students are being hunted down

Another official said that the students had now been released but they were being interrogated.

[Translated by TAPOL.]

Aceh

Closed Aceh churches lack permits: Gamawan

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta, Indonesia – Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said on Thursday that the lack of legal permits from the local administration had been behind the closure of nine churches in Banda Aceh, which had reportedly caused hundreds of Christians in the Aceh provincial capital to live in fear.

"It was a permit matter, so it's actually not closures. I have talked to Aceh Governor [Zaini Abdullah] and he said that the permits were not issued because [the churches] failed to meet the requirements set by the joint ministerial decree," Gamawan told the press at the Presidential Office.

The minister was referring to the 2006 Joint Ministerial Decree on the Construction of Houses of Worship, which has been controversial as it was considered to not be in line with the spirit of religious tolerance.

"If [the churches] managed to provide all the documents and met other requirements of the decree, the permits might have been issued. Just stick to the decree," said Gamawan, who is also a former governor of West Sumatra.

"Besides, many of [the churches] were actually not buildings designated to be houses of worship. Some were houses utilized for religious services," he added.

The Banda Aceh municipal administration has closed nine churches and five Buddhist temples across the city, with priests being reportedly forced to sign agreements stating they would close their churches following mounting pressure from local Islamists.

The congregations of the nine churches were advised to attend churches that had building permits, such as the Catholic Church, Western Indonesia Protestant Churches (GPIB) or Filadelfia Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP).

The closure of churches in Aceh has been going on for some time, which has raised concerns over growing intolerance that could lead to community conflicts.

In April this year, acting Aceh Singkil Regent Razali AR ordered the closure of 20 churches in a letter signed on April 30, which ordered members of the congregations to tear down the churches themselves by June 8, at the latest. (swd)

Human rights & justice

NU to report Tempo for 'imbalanced coverage' on communist killings

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2012

Surabaya – The East Java branch of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization has reported Tempo Magazine to the Indonesia Press Council after the publication accused some of its clerics of being behind the Indonesian communist purges of the late 1960s.

"We demand the right to reply to Tempo Magazine," deputy secretary of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) of East Java, Achmad Sujono, told Antara news agency in Surabaya on Sunday.

"We will also report [Tempo] to the Press Council for violating Article 6 of the Press Law and Article 4 of the Indonesian Journalist Code of Conduct."

Achmad claimed Tempo Magazine wrote in a slanderous way that KH Machrus Aly, Gus Ali Maksum, Idris Marzuki and other preachers associated with the NU reportedly murdered members of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1965.

"Tempo overly simplified the issue and seems careless [about the situation]," he said. "The coverage humiliates Islamic boarding schools and fails to cover both sides. Even the opinions column purposely cornered the NU by claiming it actively 'cleansed' Central and East Java of PKI members."

In a few recent stories published by Tempo Magazine, sources supposedly informed Tempo that the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) often used civilians, including some members of the Nahdlatul Ulama's youth wing, Pemuda Ansor, to kill members of the communist party.

Abdul Malik, the leader of Pemuda Ansor, told Tempo that "TNI were the ones that arrested them, while we were the executors. TNI used others' hands to [kill]." He added that the PKI also took part in killings before 1965, most notably in Kanigoro village, Kediri, East Java and Madiun.

"Many witnesses of the 'Madiun Fair of 1958' that are still alive [state] that the PKI revolt was more cruel and sadistic," he said, adding that the NU was more of a victim than the PKI was.

A researcher from the Indonesian Center for Community Studies, Arukat Jaswadi, said that the 1965 killings should not be categorized as a human rights violation and that people should also take into account the PKI's actions in Madiun and Kanigoro in order to put the situation into perspective.

"If all the incidents are being linked, the PKI is not the victim but the failed perpetrator of a coup d'etat," Arukat said. "Moreover, they spread communist ideas that are prohibited in this Pancasila-based nation. Imagine if they won? Indonesia would have been a communist nation and Pancasila would have been eliminated."

Arukat added that people should be cautious about current communist movements that have the infiltrated mass media.

1998 disappearances on agenda

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2012

Ezra Sihite & Arientha Primanita – Human rights groups went to the House of Representatives on Wednesday to demand political pressure on the government to act upon the recommendations of the legislature on the cases of activist disappearances in the heady days before the downfall of Suharto in 1998.

On Sept. 30, 2009 the House sent an official letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urging him to establish a team to locate 13 anti-Suharto activists whose whereabouts remain unknown.

The House also asked the government to establish an ad hoc human rights tribunal to prosecute the cases, compensate victims' families and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), pointed out that the government had not even commented on the House recommendations yet.

"The government should respond," he said at the House on Wednesday. "If they don't want [to follow the House recommendations], just say so."

Mugiyanto, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared, said the president must act on the recommendations, saying "it will provide legal closure for the victims' families."

Also on Wednesday, several rights groups went to the Presidential Advisory Council's office demanding that the president resolve cases of intolerance and discrimination against religious minority groups across the country.

Febi Yonesta, chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), said resolving cases of religious intolerance was the responsibility of the central government.

"The president should give bold, clear statements supporting [religious] diversity and condemning all acts of intolerance," Febi said.

Political parties & elections

Aburizal's finished with mudslide: Golkar

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2012

Ezra Sihite – A senior Golkar Party figure has claimed that the political bloc's chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, has settled all outstanding claims relating to the 2006 East Java mudflow for which his company had been blamed and agreed to pay compensation.

If the claim that Aburizal's company, Lapindo Brantas, has fulfilled its commitments following the disaster in the town of Sidoarjo is confirmed, it will remove a major hurdle in the businessman's quest for the presidency in 2014.

"Regarding the Lapindo issue, it's clear that Aburizal Bakrie has settled it amicably," Golkar treasurer Setya Novanto said on the sidelines of the party's national congress in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The 2013 State Budget passed by the House of Representatives last week indicated that the government would continue to give money to victims of the mudflow, despite claims not yet proven in court that it was the responsibility of Lapindo Brantas, a private company.

The government earlier proposed that Rp 2.26 trillion ($235 million) from state coffers be earmarked to the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS), an ad hoc body created to contain the mudflow and relocate victims. It is unclear what the final total is.

The budget showed that some of the funds would be used to purchase land and buildings outside the areas immediately affected by the mudflow, including in the villages of Besuki, Kedungcangkring and Pejarakan, and nine communities spread around the wards of Siring, Jatirejo and Mindi.

The funds will also be used to relocate residents in 65 community units spread across nine wards and villages, which the government says are all outside the zones affected by the disaster.

Money is also earmarked to "rescue the economic and social life" of the community around the impacted area while some funds are directed at efforts to further contain the flow of mud. The government has already spent Rp 3.26 trillion on the BPLS and this year earmarked another Rp 1.6 trillion.

"I think it will all be settled soon. The situation in the field is also already conducive [to a conclusion] and there's no problem," Setya said.

Looking forward to the 2014 election, Setya said he hoped that all Golkar regional leaders would rally around the push to win the legislative and presidential elections.

"The aim of this national congress is to encourage regional leaders to run programs in their regions and to carry out everything that had been decided in the congress," the party official said.

While refusing to acknowledge that the mudflow was a direct result of its gas drilling activities, Lapindo Brantas had agreed to compensate victims and acquire the land immediately impacted by the disaster.

But Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said in June that Lapindo Brantas had only paid Rp 2.9 trillion in compensation out of the Rp 3.8 trillion it was ordered to pay.

House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Anis Matta, who led the plenary session at which the House approved next year's state budget, refused to comment last week when asked why the state was earmarking more money for the disaster.

Lapindo Brantas has long denied it was the cause of the mudflow, instead blaming an earthquake in Yogyakarta, hundreds of kilometers to the east.

Representatives of victims of the mudflow have not yet commented on the claim that Aburizal's duty has been fulfilled.

Golkar's national meeting points to party divisions

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said his party remained solid despite heated debate from party cadres during a national meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday evening.

During the meeting, Golkar politicians shouted at each other, debating the urgency of involving the party's board of patrons in selecting nominees for 2014's legislative election. Aburizal, however, said such dynamics were normal within Golkar.

"We intentionally let the public witness the debate to show that we are mature and democratic. We openly discuss our differences," Aburizal said as he closed a meeting that rejected a proposal to involve Golkar's board of patrons in a team to select candidates for the 2014 legislative election. Reportedly, Golkar was shaken by internal rifts following Aburizal's presidential nomination in July.

Although Aburizal managed to calm opposition against his bid for the presidency, rifts within his party were obvious as reflected during the party's meeting on Tuesday.

In the meeting, board of patrons chairman Akbar Tandjung proposed the urgency of involving him and fellow patron board members in selecting candidates applying for seats with Golkar at the House of Representatives.

"The patron board must be involved in a selection team to pick candidates to be parliament members [to ensure quality]," Akbar said.

"The organizational rule mandates the involvement of the patron board in making a 'strategic decision'. Selecting cadres to run in the legislative election is strategic. Therefore, involving us in the selection is legal," said Akbar, a former Golkar chairman.

Akbar's proposal apparently divided the audience, raising warm applause from those cadres who shared the idea while simultaneously stirring shouts from those rejecting the proposal.

Fellow patron board member Abdul Gafur quickly applauded Akbar, saying that the patron board's previous suggestions on different matters had fallen on deaf ears. "I therefore fully support this proposal," he said.

Meanwhile, Andi Sinullingga, who chairs the Golkar Party Young Generation (AMPG), said that the involvement of the board patron in the selection team would help clean the party of corrupt politicians, as well as preventing cadres with criminal records, such drug users, from sitting in parliament.

"We must reject candidates with tainted images because it will further erode public trust in Golkar," Andi said.

However, Akbar and his supporters ultimately had to accept that the majority rejected the proposal. The meeting also agreed to ban cadres with criminal records from running in the upcoming legislative election.

Golkar politician Nurdin Khalid, for example, said that all cadres should have an equal opportunity to apply for any of Golkar's seats at the House, despite their image.

"Do any of the current parliament members have decent moral conduct? I doubt it because the law belongs to those in power. Therefore, we must not limit cadres from running in the legislative election," said Nurdin, a former graft convict.

Minor parties ponder life after being disqualified by KPU

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2012

In spite of the General Election Commission's (KPU) decision to disqualify them from the next stage of verification, minor political parties continue efforts to gain eligibility for the 2014 election.

Some of the political parties, including the Labor Party and the Union of Independent People (SRI), said they would file complaints with the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) in the hope that the body would annul the KPU's decision.

"I don't know why my party failed the administrative verification. I believe the Labor Party submitted all of the required documents," Labor Party chairman Sonny Pudjisasono said.

The KPU announced on Sunday that 16 political parties had passed the administrative stage. These 16 parties will now progress to the final screening stage, before being declared eligible to run in the 2014 general elections.

A statement by the KPU in October declared that none of the 34 political parties had met its requirements, which stated they had to submit 17 documents.

The commission gave the parties one week to resubmit the requested documents. It also provided a list of mistakes that needed to be corrected by the political parties.

"We have followed the KPU's instructions [as stated in the list]. Yet, we failed to pass the administrative verification. We demand the KPU to be transparent about the process," Sonny said.

Sonny said that the KPU had promised clarification on its decision and that Bawaslu requires relevant documents to be attached to the complaint. He said he had not yet received the letter, which is crucial for the party's next step.

The Labor Party took part in the 2004 and 2009 legislative elections but failed to get enough votes to pass the 2.5 percent legislative threshold. "But now, we even failed to pass the administrative verification stage. We simply can't accept the fact," said Sonny.

Meanwhile, the SRI party accused the KPU of partisanship in its decision. "We came to the conclusion after learning that the KPU delayed to announce its decision twice," said SRI chairman Damanus Taufan.

The KPU had been scheduled to make the announcement on Monday last week but postponed it until Thursday and actually went public with the result on Sunday evening. "The KPU probably delayed the announcement to give more time to some political parties," Damanus said.

Speculation was rife that established political parties had used the influence of their leaders, who had seats in the government, to interfere with the work of the KPU – as indicated by the fact that all parties with seats in the House of Representatives are in the next stage of verification.

The SRI party executives said that other than filing complaints to the Bawaslu, they would also file a lawsuit to the State Administrative Court (PTUN).

Contacted separately, KPU commissioner Ida Budhiati said that the election commission had strong grounds to disqualify the 16 political parties and had evidence to support its decision.

"They may come to pick up the documents from Thursday because now we are busy with the factual verification process," Ida said. Political analyst Yunarto Wijaya of the Charta Politika said that in spite of the KPU's decision to disqualify them, the minor parties could always make a comeback in future elections.

"Surveys have shown that support for the major political parties is declining and the number of undecided voters is swelling. Small parties could target their votes," he said. (riz)

Top brass rally round Ical amid electability concerns

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Hundreds of Golkar Party members from across the country gathered at the party's national leadership meeting in Jakarta on Monday amid concerns that the party chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie may not be the best candidate to run in the 2014 presidential election.

Responding to a number of opinion polls that indicated Aburizal remained an unpopular politician, a number of party supporters have proposed that the national meeting would provide a slot to review Aburizal's nomination.

Golkar senior member Zainal Bintang said many party members were concerned about Aburizal's low electability. "The results of recent surveys must be taken seriously by the Golkar elite. The Golkar central executive board must evaluate the party's decision to nominate [Aburizal]," he said.

But Golkar's top politicians downplayed the demand, saying that Aburizal had ample time to improve his standing among other contenders for the 2014 presidential election.

"The national leadership meeting has no agenda to discuss an evaluation of [Aburizal's] presidential nomination. [The nomination] is final," Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham said on Sunday.

The latest opinion poll released last week by the Political Weather Station (PWS), showed that only 16.35 percent of the respondents would vote for him if an election were to take place today.

Aburizal is less preferable than the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri, who received 20.2 percent, and the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto, who collected 19.3 percent. Aburizal got a lower approval rating than fellow Golkar politician and former vice president Jusuf Kalla (22.14 percent of the vote).

Despite his low popularity, Aburizal said he remained the best candidate to represent the party. "If some surveys have given me the low rating, I guess what I have to do now is work extra hard. In fact, it gives me a reason not to be arrogant," he said in his speech to party executives during the meeting on Monday.

Aburizal's low electability has led some to speculate that other politicians in the party have started working to undo his candidacy.

Some of the party's top officials have reportedly backed Kalla as the party's presidential candidate for 2014. On Monday, Aburizal made no efforts to hide his displeasure with the move.

"Pak JK can run as a presidential candidate for other political parties. And I can still assure you that Golkar's votes will still be undivided [behind me]," Aburizal said, referring to Kalla by his initials.

Aburizal's candidacy has also been dogged by the Lapindo mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, which displaced thousands of local residents and businesses in the region.

Recently, Aburizal also dealt with financial problems that affected some of his companies. Aburizal, however, remained confident about his chances of success.

"Unlike Bu Mega and Pak Prabowo, I've never joined any presidential race. So, as a new entrant my chances will be good and as some of the surveys show, I have trailed some of the candidates," he said.

Golkar's leadership expects that in the 2014 election it will receive at least 35 percent of the vote. The party garnered 14.45 percent of the vote in the 2009 election.

Aburizal was confident that Golkar could achieve the goal because people at the grassroots level still had high hopes on the New Order hold-over party. "I often hear people in Central Java's villages say 'it is better to join Golkar'," he said.

An analyst from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) Burhanuddin Muhtadi said that Golkar would have an ample time until 2013 to work on Aburizal's electability.

"If there are no significant improvements by mid-2013, Golkar will have no choice but to evaluate Aburizal's presidential nomination. The party could then nominate figures outside of the party who are much more popular," he said. (riz)

SRI, Christian-based PDS can't run in 2014: KPU

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2012

Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Sunday that 18 political parties had failed the administrative verification process that must be completed to run in the 2014 general elections.

KPU chairman Husni Kamil Malik said the parties would not be allowed to field candidates in the legislative and presidential elections.

Among the failed parties are the Labor Party, the Christian-based Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) and the Union of Independent People (SRI), which had planned to nominate former finance minister Sri Mulyani – now World Bank managing director – as presidential candidate in the 2014 election.

The KPU also announced that 16 political parties had passed an administrative stage and were now allowed to join the final screening stage before being declared eligible to contest the 2014 general elections.

The parties are the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Democratic Party and the United Development Party (PPP).

Three rising political parties, the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) and the National Democrat Party (Nasdem) have all been given the go-ahead to join the next stage of the process.

The six minor political parties, both old and new, which have been declared eligible to join the next stage of verification, are the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), the National Unity Party (PPN), the National Care for People Party (PPRN), the Democratic Renewal Party (PDP) and the New Indonesian Nation Sovereignty Party (PKBIB).

In 2009, the Muslim-based PBB failed to meet the 2.5 percent parliamentary threshold by getting only 1.7 percent of the popular vote. The party must register itself with the KPU to join the 2014 election.

Husni said that the KPU decision was made through a consensus. "All of the decisions made in today's meeting were based on the discussions of the commissioners. There was no voting," Husni said.

KPU commissioner Hadar N. Gumay said that the 16 political parties that passed the administrative test would join the second phase of assessment, the factual verification, starting on Monday.

"Some of the KPU commissioners will be dispatched to several regions tomorrow, in order to check the membership of each political party at the district and city levels. We have sent letters regarding this to all 16 political parties," Hadar said.

Following the announcement, the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) said it would start hearing complaints from the 18 political parties that failed the administrative verification process.

"If they find any irregularities in the verification stage, they should file a complaint and we will launch our investigations. If the allegations can be proven, any KPU decisions, including this one, can be annulled," Bawaslu member Nasrullah told reporters.

The KPU expects the verification process to be completed by early next year. "We are scheduled to make the final assessment in the first week of January 2013," he added.

The administrative verification process has been marred with technical problems leading to some delays.

In early October, the KPU announced that none of the 34 registered political parties had met all administrative requirements and gave the parties one week to resubmit the required documents to join the next step of the verification process. (yps)

Claim KPU delayed election announcement due to PKS, PPP pressure

Jakarta Globe - October 27, 2012

Camelia Pasandaran & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Speculation is mounting that the national polling body is deliberately delaying the announcement of parties eligible to contest the 2014 election because two parties from the ruling coalition may have failed the requirements.

A source inside the General Elections Commission (KPU) revealed to the Jakarta Globe on Friday that the two parties – the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the United Development Party (PPP) – did not meet the KPU's criteria for running.

The source, who declined to be named, said that two KPU commissioners, Ida Budiati and Arief Budiman, insisted that the PKS and PPP must be allowed to run, on the basis that they were part of the ruling coalition, had several ministers in the cabinet and already held seats in the House of Representatives.

The source said that the KPU, which was supposed to issue an announcement of the final list of parties for 2014 on Thursday, was deadlocked over the issue, with another commissioner, Hadar Gumay, arguing that if the PKS and the PPP were allowed through, so should the Ulema National Awakening Party (PKNU), which also reportedly failed the verification process.

Unlike the other two parties, the PKNU does not have any seats in the House. All three parties are conservative Islamic-based blocs. None of the commissioners were available for comment.

Ray Rangkuti, director of the Indonesian Civic Network (LIMA), an election watchdog, said the KPU's repeated delays of the announcement date are suspicious.

The commission initially set Oct. 19 as the day for revealing which parties would be allowed to run in the legislative election. It pushed the deadline back to this Thursday. It now expects to make the announcement today.

"They said that the delay was because of a paperwork problem," Ray said on Friday. "What paperwork are they talking about? Surely if they've completed the verification process then all the paperwork should already be in place."

He also criticized the KPU's closed meeting on Thursday, after which the commissioners said there would be another delay in the announcement. "They should ideally hold an open meeting when it comes to the question of which parties have passed the verification phase," Ray said.

The KPU source said it was at this meeting that the commissioners fell out on the issue of whether to pass the PKS and PPP.

Masykurudin Hafidz, manager of the People's Voter Education Network, agreed the delays are undermining the credibility of the KPU and the electoral process. "These delays will hurt the KPU's credibility, especially with the reports of the deadlock among the commissioners," he said. "There are fears of a growing rift in the KPU."

Surveys & opinion polls

People want strong leader, says survey

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2012

A Jakarta-based pollster has found in a survey that the majority of voters want strong leadership for the country.

The National Survey Institute (LSN) found that 56.8 percent of respondents would vote for a presidential candidate who could be firm in decision making.

The survey also shows that 58.6 percent of respondents also want a presidential candidate who has integrity and who is not involved in graft.

The LSN interviewed 1,230 respondents between Sept. 10 and Sept. 24 in the country's 33 provinces.

LSN's main researcher Dipa Pradipta said that respondents preferred presidential candidates with military backgrounds, like Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, chief patron of the Great National Movement (Gerindra) Party and Gen. (ret) Wiranto, chairman of the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party.

The LSN survey found that if the presidential election were to take place today, Prabowo would receive 20.1 percent of the vote and Wiranto 12 percent.

Earlier, the LSN found that many Democratic Party traditional voters would vote for other nationalists whom they perceived of having more integrity, including the likes of the National Democratic (NasDem) Party and Gerindra, if the election was to take place today.

Social organisations & NGOs

Mass organization bill 'risks return to New Order'

Jakarta Globe - October 27, 2012

Rizky Amelia – The House of Representatives is being urged to scrap proposed legislation on mass organizations by civil society groups that fear the law would cripple freedom of expression in Indonesia.

The draft law states that any group wishing to create an organization must report to the Ministry of Home Affairs and have its statute legalized by a notary public. The organization would also be required to submit a position paper stating that it was not affiliated with any political party.

Mass organizations that advocate the spread of Marxism, atheism, socialism, capitalism and other ideologies could also be banned under the draft law.

While supporters praise the draft law's promise to discipline organizations that disrupt social order, others fear that such legislation would undermine the right to assemble and freedom of expression.

Ronald Rofriandri from the Indonesian Center for Law and Policy Studies told news portal beritasatu.com that regulations on mass organizations represented a return to repressive New Order era policies in place under President Suharto, and should not be written into law.

Ronald called laws restricting mass organizations "political creatures of the New Order." "There should not be efforts to curtail the freedom of the civil society," he warned.

He said he was not opposed to regulations on establishing organizations, but that any new rules required a clear legal context. The requirements outlined in the draft law, Ronald said, may curtail freedom of expression and assembly.

Meanwhile, the Coalition for Freedom of Expression and Assembly has urged the House to stop the legislation, which it feared would "revive the New Order's dictatorial control" over mass and nongovernmental organizations.

Coalition spokesman Amir Effendi Siregar said he rejected the draft law because of the limits it would place on organizations advocating ideologies such as atheism and communism. "That is dangerous toward our freedom of expression," Siregar said.

The coalition also called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to scrap the Home Affairs Ministry decree that regulates the establishment of social organizations.

Siregar said the decree curtailed people's freedom to assemble and express opinions freely and was therefore contrary to the principle of democracy and human rights.

Political analysts said that the government was in a quandary in reconciling the actions of some mass organizations with the founding state ideology of Pancasila. Among the principles enshrined in Pancasila is that belief in a supreme God is part of the nation's foundation.

Indonesia has a large number of mass organizations. At least 19,000 are registered under the Ministry of Social Affairs alone, while the Ministry of Religious Affairs handles more than 9,000 others.

Under the surveillance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs there are at least 140 such organizations. But independent sources said there are more such organizations operating in the country than are known to have registered with the government.

Nongovernmental organizations have blossomed since the fall of Suharto, with many playing a key role in keeping government and the private sector accountable, and advancing debate over public policy.

Those receiving funding from abroad, however, have come under criticism from nationalists questioning their motivation.

The labor movement in Indonesia has traditionally been subdued, with public support limited by previously associations with hard-left political figures. But in recent years unions have found their voice as part of the broader blooming of debate.

Labour & migrant workers

Foreign investors may 'relocate'

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – At least 10 companies are considering closing their businesses in Indonesia and relocating to other countries unless the government settles several labor issues that they claim hamper the investment climate, according to an influential business association.

Chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) Sofjan Wanandi said the foreign investors' plan was apparently driven by legal uncertainties from labor issues.

He said Apindo had asked those businessmen to delay their moves pending the outcome of Apindo's lobbying of relevant authorities to solve the problems within two months.

"Many other foreign investors will certainly follow suit if the 10 companies relocate to other countries. This will certainly have serious negative impacts on the foreign investment climate in the country and on unemployment," Sofjan said at a seminar on job security in the outsourcing system on Tuesday.

In total, those 10 companies employ no less than 10,000 workers. Sofjan declined to identify the 10 foreign investors and the amount of their investment in order to avoid any serious problems in their connections with banking partners in the country.

"We have asked them to suspend the relocation and give Apindo two months to lobby the relevant authorities to cope with the problem. If the condition remains unsettled and uncertain, we will give up and the relocation will be unavoidable," he said.

Sofjan said several investors had locked up their factories and several others had laid off their workers following the national strike on Oct. 3 in numerous industrial estates nationwide.

According to him, many employers, including the 10 foreign investors, could not accept intimidation carried out by labor unionists at factories that banned their workers from joining the strike.

Hundreds of factories in 40 regencies and municipalities, including Jakarta, Bekasi, Sidoarjo and Batam, had to suspend their operation as their workers were forced to join the strike in their opposition to outsourcing practices, cheap labor policies and national social security programs, causing investors to lose millions of working hours and to suspend export and import activities.

In addition, Sofjan said Apindo and employers would legally challenge the Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar if he went ahead with his plan to issue a new ministerial decree to limit outsourcing only to catering, cleaning services, driving and supporting services at mining sites.

"If the minister issues the decree, he would breach the 2003 Labor Law. It shows that he does not understand outsourcing," said Sofjan. He added that the 2003 Labor Law neither mentioned outsourcing nor limited the number of jobs that could be outsourced.

Endang Susilowati, head of Apindo's advocacy and public policy division, concurred and said it would be impossible to end outsourcing, which had provided advantages to both investors and workers.

National Workers Union deputy chairman Djoko Heryono said that the manpower and transmigration minister should revoke the 2004 outsourcing ministerial decree and enforce the Labor Law, which had clearly served to regulate outsourcing.

Workers in Jababeka area attacked

Jakarta Globe - October 30, 2012

Ronna Nirmala, Rangga Prakoso & Vento Saudale – The Bekasi Workers' Association has slammed recent attacks launched by a group of people on several workers' posts in the Jababeka Industrial Area, Cikarang, Bekasi.

Budi Wardoyo, Bekasi Workers Joint Secretary Labor spokesman, believed the attacks were launched based on an order from a certain party and not based on the attackers' own initiative.

"Previously there were leaflets circulating that warned workers to stop staging demonstrations because they disrupted the security in the area," Budi told BeritaSatu.com on Monday.

Budi believed the attacks were in response to the workers' demonstrations. Authorities and government already knew about the plan but chose not to take any preventive measures to protect the workers, he said, adding that since Sunday night, a group of people had attacked several workers' posts in Jababeka.

"The thugs began by searching Samsung workers, some of them were stopped and hit," Budi said. "They stopped not only at that but the attackers also took off the workers' clothes, those who wore the labor forum uniform."

According to Budi, the attackers, who called themselves the United Bekasi Community Forum, had asked workers to sign an agreement to stop staging demonstrations and to accept the outsourcing system.

Franky Sibarani, the deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said the attacks did not work in the interest of the businessmen.

"Businessmen look at the global situation, what the market situation is like. If the industry stops they have to make a recovery. So their focus is production," Franky told BeritaSatu.com.

He said that six factories had closed down following workers' demonstrations since the beginning of the year, and he called on the government to take swift measures in law enforcement and security to keep investors in the country.

Meanwhile, around 100,000 workers from 200 companies in Bogor who are grouped under 14 workers' unions, held a strike and surrounded Bogor district head's office. Protesters demanded district chief Rachmat Yasin to step down because he refused to meet the demonstrators and also failed to meet their demand to ban the outsourcing system and raise the district's monthly minimum wage to Rp 3.2 million ($333). "Our current wage is Rp 1.2 million, and we will not stop fighting for higher wages and the elimination of the outsourcing system," said Djuher Effendi, coordinator of the demonstration.

Migrant workers ad causes uproar

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2012

Jakarta – "Indonesian maids now on sale" advertisement leaflets found by migrant care executive director Anis Hidayat in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sunday, have generated public outcry.

The advertisement, displayed on Anis' Twitter account, @anishidayah, reads, "Fast and Easy application. Now your housework and cooking come easy. You can rest and relax. Deposit only RM 3,500 price RM 7,500 nett."

"The advertisement is an insult to our workers," Anis said as quoted by tempo.co on Monday. The advertisement dehumanized Indonesian workers and could not be tolerated, she added.

Anis has urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar to lodge a complaint with the Malaysian government.

The Indonesian government revoked a two-year moratorium on sending migrant workers to Malaysia last year, after signing a new agreement with the Malaysian government guaranteeing the rights of Indonesian migrants workers. The head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), Jumhur Hidayat, also condemned the advertisement, calling it uncivilized.

Jumhur warned the Malaysian government that if it did not make efforts to have the advertisement withdrawn, the moratorium on sending workers to Malaysia could become permanent. "Indonesian workers are not goods that fulfill market demand," he said, adding that the governments of destination countries should protect migrant workers.

Jumhur said he would immediately send a formal letter of complaint to the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia against the advertisement so that the embassy could deliver a letter of concern to the Malaysian government.

New labor policies lose-lose

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry is preparing a new decree that will make it difficult for companies to conduct outsourcing practices – a move that will affect 14 million workers and faces challenges from the private sector.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said that the government would only allow outsourcing for a small number of jobs, a move that employers said would be a violation of the labor law.

"Companies are not allowed to outsource their core business and outsourcing will be limited to five types of jobs; cleaning services, security, driving and supportive services on mining sites," he said on Monday, after a meeting with representatives from labor unions that organized a national strike against outsourcing earlier this month.

Muhaimin took the initiative to hold the dialogue with the labor unions following an unsuccessful tripartite meeting over the issues of outsourcing, cheap labor and national social security programs.

He said the ministerial decree, which would be issued on Friday, requires all companies that provide outsourced services to comply with the 2003 Labor Law in their industrial relations.

"The decree will allow a transition period, of between six and 12 months, for all companies to make adjustments in line with the decree. There should no longer be companies that outsource their core business nor workers who are employed under a contract basis for a long time."

Chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union (KSPI) Said Iqbal and chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (KSBSI) Mudhofir confirmed that a joint agreement had been made over the three crucial issues, including the planned issuance of the ministerial decree on outsourcing.

Neither considered the decree a victory for workers. "With the planned ministerial decree, more than 1,300 outsourcing companies must make adjustments and more than 14 million workers now employed under the outsourcing practice will now face uncertainty over their status and will no longer be paid according to the local minimum wages," Said said.

Indonesia faces continuing high levels of unemployment, with more than 15 percent of the workforce counted among the underemployed. On the issue of wages, Muhaimin said that the government would stick to the newly issued ministerial decree on 60 wage components.

"With the adoption of 60 wage components, the provincial minimum wages [for 2013] will be based on the so-called minimum physical needs [KHL] of a single, unmarried worker. We will see a significant increase in the minimum wages," he said.

Representatives from labor unions said they could accept the minister's decision because during bipartite negotiations, employers and workers agreed to abide by the 60 wage components, which would likely translate into an increase of the minimum wage by early next year.

The new ministerial decree, issued in August, added 14 new components. Labor unions had previously demanded 80 components to be included. Representatives from the unions said that they would continue to advocate the 80-component standard.

"We will fight for the use of the 80 wage components next year for the 2014 minimum wages," said Mudhofir, adding that Muhaimin and labor unions agreed to increase the minimum wages to meet, at least, the minimum physical needs in industrial areas.

In the meeting, Muhaimin said he would hold a meeting with all governors, regents and mayors who oversee industrial estates to decide on the 2013 wage increase percentage.

He said that the minimum wage in Jakarta, in some of the industrial estates, could increase to at least Rp 2.4 million (US$252) in 2013 from the current Rp 1.5 million.

Contacted separately, employers rejected the government's plan to tighten outsourcing regulations and raise the minimum wage. Chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) Sofjan Wanandi said that by issuing the decree, the minister would violate the 2003 Labor Law that does not cap outsourcing.

"Several companies have threatened to file lawsuits against the minister at the Jakarta Administrative Court once the new decree is issued," Sofjan told The Jakarta Post.

Sofjan said that Muhaimin's plan was politically motivated and that the decision was made to improve his standing among workers. He said that Muhaimin should have remained neutral in the dispute between employers and workers and that his partisanship would hurt the country's investment climate.

"The government should facilitate dialogues that seek a solution to the wage issue through the tripartite wage commission," he said.

Workers' protests shoo away investors

Antara News - October 29, 2012

A number of investors in the shoe-making sector backed out of their plans involving Indonesia, following the recent wave of labor demonstrations at a major industrial park, an executive at the Indonesian Footwear Association said.

Haryanto, the chairman of the advisory board at Aprisindo said on Sunday that a number of companies plan to invest a total of $100 million in Indonesia, which is expected to create around 10,000 more jobs in the sector.

"There are five to six companies that already secured lands; some of them are in Tangerang. [They] decided to delay their plan to build new factories this year," he said, referring to the $100 million investment plan.

Haryanto said the business climate had turned ugly since workers staged demonstrations over the last few weeks, demanding an end to Indonesia's outsourcing system and demanding higher pay.

Representing the business community, Haryanto said, "We don't ask for too many things. We just need three certainties: a predictable wage increase, legal certainty and safety from the possible 'sweeping' of laborers from outside factories."

In an Oct. 3 demonstration, thousands of laborers in Cikarang, a city that harbors many industrial parks and factories making products ranging from shoes to automobiles, initiated a sweep of factories that were still running, calling their fellow laborers to join their rally in the street.

Sr. Comr. Rikwanto, a spokesman for the Jakarta Police, said there had been about 50,000 workers participating in the rallies in Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok.

A joint police-military force of 15,000 managed to ensure that the rallies did not spread beyond the industrial estates on the capital's outskirts.

However, many businessmen complained that this rally damaged them financially after some of the protesters broke into factories that were still in running, hampering normal business operations.

Haryanto said the demonstrations, which he regarded as "anarchy" had forced shoe factories to shutter. Potential losses could be Rp 5 billion ($520,000) per day.

Haryanto said the demonstrations were likely to affect the nation's shoe exports. He predicted the industry was unlikely to book targeted revenue of $5 billion from exports. "If we could even match last year's $3.5 billion, that would already be good."

He said Indonesia is competing with China and Vietnam in the shoe business. He worried that if shipments stopped, buyers would go elsewhere.

Anton Supit and Henrdrik Sasmito, members of the advisory board of the country's footwear association, said the practice of pulling workers off of their jobs so that they could participate in protests had disturbed business operations in the area, hurting factory owners' bottom line.

"The government and law enforcers must act firmly against those who caused destructive action to companies' assets," Anton said.

Apart from demanding the government abolish the outsourcing system, protestors rejected the requirement for workers to pay part of their health insurance premiums, sharing the burden with employers, as recommended by the Health Ministry.

Labour coordination posts attacked by thugs, workers assaulted

Berita Satu - October 29, 2012

Ronna Nirmala/Ratna Nuraini – Unidentified individuals have attacked at least 10 labour coordination posts. Workers wearing organisational identification have been assaulted and their uniforms stripped off.

The incident occurred the previous evening at at least 10 labour coordination posts at factories located in the industrial zones in Jababeka, Cikarang and Bekasi. The attackers are calling themselves the Bekasi United Social Forum (FMBB).

A gathering of Bekasi workers today strongly condemned the attacks that were carried out by groups of people suspected of being thugs. Bekasi Joint Labour Secretariat (Sekber Buruh) spokesperson Budi Wardoyo said that the attacks carried out since yesterday evening are suspected to have been don on the orders of particular parties. Not, he continued, on the group's own initiative.

"Earlier there was in fact a leaflet that was distributed containing threats against workers [warning them] not to hold anymore street protests, on the grounds that it disrupted local stability and security", said Wardoyo when contacted today.

In concert with these attacks, said Wardoyo, several Bekasi investor forums visited the Ministry of Trade and Industry to request input on the recent protest actions by workers.

Not only did they pay a visit on the Ministry of Trade and Industry, but also the Indonesian military (TNI), in order to ask the TNI to secure these protest actions. "So we conceded that the attacks are a response to their requests to the parties concerned", continued Wardoyo.

Prior knowledge

Wardoyo has also accused security forces and the government of having prior knowledge of the attacks and choosing to allow them to occur without taking any preventative measures to protect the workers.

Wardoyo also explained that the attacks have actually been taking place since the previous evening. A group of people dressed up as thugs visited several labour coordination posts in Jababeka, Cikarang and Bekasi.

"The thugs began by conducting sweeps for workers at PT Samsung, several workers were sacked and one was also assaulted", added Wardoyo. "Not just content with that, the attackers also stripped the cloths from workers wearing labour forum uniforms".

Meanwhile the attackers, who call themselves the FMBB, according to Wardoyo, demanded that workers sign an agreement not to hold any more protest actions and agree to outsourcing employment systems.

So far Wardoyo has been reluctant to report the attacks to the authorities and has elected to collect data on workers who have fallen victim to the assaults. "We don't yet know exactly how many, later after all [the information] has been gathered we will make a report", he explained.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Don't get carried away, KSPI tells Joko

Jakarta Globe - October 27, 2012

Dessy Sagita – A labor union official has welcomed Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama's promise to negotiate a higher minimum wage, but not if it is a product of the media euphoria and rock-star treatment being lavished on the city's new leaders.

Said Iqbal, president of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI), said on Thursday that Basuki's initiative to meet with protesting workers and publicly chide manpower officials was much appreciated.

However, he said the move should not merely be part of the media frenzy that has surrounded Basuki and his boss, Joko Widodo, since they took office earlier this month. "Their programs for their first 100 days in office don't address the minimum wage issue, which is something that they should have been considering long before," he said.

"Our demonstration [outside City Hall] on Wednesday was a reminder to Joko and Basuki not to get distracted by all the media attention focusing on their every step."

Basuki met with the protesting KSPI workers on Wednesday to address their demand that the city's minimum wage be increased from Rp 1.5 million ($156) per month to nearly Rp 2.8 million a month.

He expressed shock at the discrepancy between the way that the city administration determined the minimum wage, based on 48 factors, and the way that the national Manpower and Transmigration Ministry had recommended that it be calculated, based on 64 factors.

"Why did we not use the calculation based on the minister's decree?" Basuki asked Deded Sukandar, the head of the Jakarta Manpower Office, during the meeting with the workers.

Stuttering, Deded said he would need to study whether it was feasible to use the central government's calculation. "Why do you still need to study this? I am your superior. If you mess around I can fire you," Basuki said.

The deputy governor also went on to admonish other manpower officials at the meeting for taking notes by hand when they had their notebook computers open in front of them.

But he added the Rp 2.8 million per month minimum wage proposed by the KSPI was too high, and proposed more discussions between the unions and employers to reach a compromise.

Iqbal indicated that the KSPI was prepared to lower its demand, but only to Rp 2.5 million. He argued that the unions had already ceded a lot of ground on the minimum wage calculation, pointing out that they had agreed to the Manpower Ministry's list of 64 factors, despite initially pushing for 86.

He said the ministry would only re-evaluate the number of factors next year, but the workers hoped to see an increase in the minimum wage this year.

Iqbal said the unions under the KSPI, which represent some 10 million workers nationwide, would meet on Nov. 15 to discuss the progress on meeting their demand, as well as the possibility of staging a nationwide strike if the progress was deemed unsatisfactory.

Government says all workers must pay their own premiums

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Defying a ruling by the Constitutional Court, the government has insisted that all employees joining the national social security programs must pay the premiums themselves, as it is an insurance scheme not a social aid.

The Constitutional Court ruling on Oct. 16 stated that employers had to register their workers on national healthcare and occupational social security programs, and had to pay their premiums.

The court issued the ruling in response to a judicial review filed by a labor union federation against Article 15 of Law No. 24/2011 on social security providers (BPJS), which says that employers must register their workers. The article did not outline details about who should pay the premium.

The government, however, has its own interpretation of the ruling. Deputy Health Minister Ali Ghufron Mukti and Manpower and Transmigration Ministry's labor supervision director general Muji Handoyo said the ruling had nothing to do with the issue of who should pay the premium.

"The government and state insurance firm PT Askes will be ready by Jan. 1, 2014 to gradually implement the national healthcare program for all. All participants will be required to pay their [own] contribution to the program. Workers and their employers will share their contribution, while the premiums of the poor and the jobless will be covered by the government," he said in a seminar on progress in the ongoing implementation of social security programs on Wednesday.

Muji questioned those who wrongly interpreted the ruling, saying the healthcare and occupational social security programs are mandatory.

Workers and labor unions recently went on strike to reject the government's plan to deduct 5 percent of their monthly salaries to pay for the five mandatory social security programs.

Some informal workers have registered with the social security programs run by state-owned PT Jamsostek. The program requires workers to pay 3.7 percent of their monthly wage toward the old-age risk benefit program while premiums for the healthcare, occupational accident and death benefit schemes would be covered by their employers.

Chairman of the National Social Security Committee (DJSN), Chazali Situmorang, called on the government to immediately issue all necessary regulations relating to the five mandatory programs – to address the confusion among the public and allow Askes and Jamsostek to make the necessary preparations for the implementation of the programs.

The deputy health minister added that Astek had already made preparations to undertake the national healthcare program because it had to develop the necessary infrastructure, such as class III beds in all hospitals, identity cards for all, standard medical equipment and specialists.

Government to ban outsourcing

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2012

Denpasar – Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar says that the government will issue a new regulation abolishing labor outsourcing by the end of October.

"The regulation will be issued as soon as possible... No later than the end of October," Muhaimin said here on Tuesday.

The announcement came after huge labor strikes halted production at several industrial parks in cities throughout the country. According to Muhaimin, the regulation will proscribe business from outsourcing employees in their core business unit, Antara news agency reported.

Outsourcing would only be permitted for supporting jobs, such as security guards, janitors and food service employees, among other jobs, he said.

"Companies will be given time to adjust to the regulation. I hope in the transition period ther e will be no layoffs," Muhaimin said on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Asian Productivity Organization (APO) in Denpasar, Bali.

Workers meet with Ahok on higher wages

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2012

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers staged a demonstration in front of the Jakarta City Hall on Wednesday, demanding that Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to raise the minimum regional wage and eliminate outsourcing.

Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama spoke with protesters and invited several into his office.

The city administration has promised to examine increasing workers' living standards and the minimum wage, Ahok said as quoted by tribunnews.com Currently, the capital's minimum wage has been set at Rp 1,529,000, which workers want increased to Rp 2,799,000.

"With the city's development and economic capacity, the regional minimum wage could reach Rp 6 million (US$624)," Ahok said.

The demonstrators demanded that the city administration eliminate outsourcing, which they said only benefitted employers.

"If the administration ignores our demands, we will stage a massive strike in several places, including at Kawasan Berikat Nusantara [in Cilincing, North Jakarta] and Pulogadung [in East Jakarta]," Said Iqbal, chairman of the Indonesian Workers Union (KSPI), said. (lfr)

North Sumatra labor unions reject minimum wage hike

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2012

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Labor unions in North Sumatra have opposed the provincial administration's decision to raise the 2013 provincial minimum wage by only Rp 105,000 (US$10.92), or from Rp 1.2 million to Rp 1,305,000 per month.

The workers, affiliated with various labor unions, threatened to hold a mass rally to protest the amount, saying it was far from their expectations of at least Rp 2 million.

North Sumatra Labor Council president Pahala Napitupulu said that raising the minimum wage to only Rp 1,305,000 for 2013 was inhumane because it would not cover workers' daily living needs.

According to Pahala, the wage hike is regarded more as an adjustment and would not improve workers' welfare because the government only adjusted the wage hike in accordance with the current prices of basic necessities.

Pahala predicted that prices of basic needs would further rise next year, while the 2013 wage adjustment was based on the current prices of basic necessities.

"This isn't fair because in terms of value, the minimum wage will be increased but workers' buying power will further decrease. The moment they receive the increased wage next year, the prices of basic necessities will immediately rise," Pahala told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Last week, North Sumatra interim governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho announced the 2013 minimum monthly wage, which will be effective as of January.

Pahala said his council was currently coordinating with a number of labor unions to rally together against the set minimum wage.

"We are planning to hold a mass rally in a number of areas in North Sumatra to oppose the 2013 minimum wage. We will paralyze industries until the government meets the demand of workers to raise the 2013 minimum wage to between Rp 2 million and Rp 2.5 million per month," said Pahala, adding that the protest would be held soon.

Pahala said workers would pressure Gatot to revise the 2013 minimum wage. He also said the wage hike did not reflect current conditions and indicated a conspiracy within the North Sumatra Remuneration Council.

Meanwhile, North Sumatra Manpower and Transmigration Office head Bukit Tambunan said the new minimum wage was the maximum based on the decent living standards (KHL), gross regional product and inflation estimates.

"The amount of 2013 minimum wage has been determined from calculations by taking into account employers' capacity and workers' interests," he said.

The North Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Employers Association's (Apindo) secretary, Laksamana Adiyaksa, said employers were also burdened by the increase in the minimum wage because it exceeded the amount recommended by the North Sumatra Remuneration Council.

"The council recommended the 2013 minimum wage increase be around 7.9 percent, but the provincial administration raised it 8.5 percent. This is a burden for employers, but the decision must be implemented," Laksamana told the Post on Tuesday.

In response to the demand for at least Rp 2 million as the minimum wage, Laksamana said it was relative as the 2013 minimum wage had been calculated based on the KHL.

Health & education

Teachers are more important than curriculum, experts say

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2012

Jakarta – Changes to the national primary school curriculum currently under consideration will not improve education unless the government improves the quality and welfare of its teachers, experts have agreed.

The proposed changes "won't solve our problems," Anies Baswedan, the initiator of a national education program Indonesia Mengajar, said at a panel discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"Teachers are the key to improving the nation's education. If we have more teachers, deploy them evenly to every region and raise their teaching ability and salaries. I believe this will cure all those problems."

Anies said that he doubted that teachers had the capacity to adapt to the dramatically revised curriculum currently under consideration at the Education and Culture Ministry.

"The upcoming curriculum will require teachers to insert science and social studies subject into religion, civics and Indonesian-language classes. This will not be an easy job. They are not ready [to deliver] the existing curriculum, let alone the new one," Anies, who is also the rector of Paramadina University, said.

Anies suggested that the ministry implement a "bottom-up" approach in revising the curriculum by assessing the learning process in schools and asking teachers for their opinions.

Although doubting that the ministry's current plans were feasible, Anies said that Indonesia needed to revise the current curriculum, which he described as "urban-oriented".

"Just take a look at the primary school textbooks that display cars and skyscrapers. Subconsciously, children are directed to be a city citizen. In reality, students across the country face different challenges and needs."

The ministry should develop regional curricula to cater to the diverse educational environments of the archipelago, he said.

Imam Prasodjo, a sociologist from the University of Indonesia, agreed, saying that a local curriculum would help students to better know their local environments.

"According to UNESCO, education consists of four keys. The first is 'learning to know'. How is it possible for children in rural areas to learn about the people and culture in their surroundings if they are forced to stay in class?" he said.

Imam suggested that parents participate more in their children's education to fill the lacunae in the nation's educational system. "As mentioned by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, it takes a village to raise a child. Applying communitarianism in education has become urgent, considering that the government is still struggling to fix problems that are piling up," he added.

Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh previously announced plans for a revised primary school curriculum comprising six compulsory subjects: religion, civics, Indonesian language, physical education, mathematics and arts and culture.

The ministry intends to scrap English-language classes and merge social studies and natural sciences with other subjects to ease the burden on students.

Nuh said on Monday that the ministry would conduct three pilot projects with the streamlined curriculum before implementing it in 2013. (yps)

Students & youth

Young people across Indonesia mark Youth Pledge Day

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2012

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Thousands of young people marked the 84th anniversary of Youth Pledge Day in Jakarta and other big cities across the country on Sunday.

"We will try to reaffirm the spirit of the founders of this country, as they declared on October 28, 1928," Thoriq Mahmud, one of the initiators of the commemoration, said in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara news agency.

According to Thoriq, young people today have been restless due to the disappearance of Indonesia's national identity after the emergence of various problems, ranging from student brawls to rampant corruption, has destroyed the foundation of people's lives and the state.

Due to the problems, Thoriq said that he, together with representatives of various youth organizations, took the initiative to renew the spirit declared by the original proclaimers of the Youth Pledge, who believed that the people of what would later become Indonesia shared a single motherland, nation and language.

The attendees of the All-Indonesian Youth Conference in 1928, Thoriq said, longed for national unity and then worked together to build a nation that could compete with other countries.

"The unity of youth is important capital for the future of the nation," Thoriq, who is also head of the Anti-Corruption Youth Movement, said.

Similar commemorates were also joined by thousands in several big cities across the country, including Balige in North Sumatra, Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, Bandung in West Java and Jayapura in Papua on Sunday.

In Yogyakarta, students attended a youth congress held on the campus of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) to search for ways to settle the problems of the nation.

Led by UGM rector Pratikno, the students read aloud the Youth Pledge. "The declaration was designed to express concern over the various problems affecting the country," Khairul Umam, a law student at the university, said.

It was time to return to the national ideology of Pancasila to improve the condition of the nation, according to Khairul. "We strongly oppose any type of violence in the nation's life and invite the people to return to the ideology of Pancasila to settle their problems," Khairul said.

The events held on Sunday also meant discussed fighting corruption. Pratikno said that the spirit of the Youth Pledge should not be forgetten after the events commemorating its anniversary endeds.

"Youths should be able to improve their academic quality, moral integrity and leadership capability to improve the condition of Indonesia in the future," he said.

In order to achieve the goals of the pledge, young people today should avoid illegal drugs, violence and brawling, he said. "The youths who fall victims to these three problems, fall far short of our expectations," Pratikno said.

In Balige, social observer Tengku Pardede said that young people should show their integrity and identity amid globalization. "The national spirit should be used to motivate them to create a deeper meaning with regard to the role of the young generation in struggling the fate and existence of Indonesia," Pardede said on Sunday.

The original pledge was made at the close of the third All-Indonesian Youth Conference on Jl. Kramat Raya in East Jakarta, where the future national anthem, "Indonesia Raya", was first heard.

Indonesian youth pledge to learn from past

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2012

SP/Carlos Paath – Youth of all religions and ethnicities gathered in Manado on Saturday ahead of Youth Pledge Day, which marks its 84th anniversary today.

Youth Pledge Day commemorates the promise made by a gathering of youth organizations in Jakarta on Oct. 28, 1928, to set aside their differences and unite for the common goal of an independent Indonesia with one motherland, one nation and one language – a goal that some say has been forgotten in recent years.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie said on Saturday that Indonesia's youth had important lessons to learn from the original pledge.

"We must return to our core values of 1928 such as honesty and good manners, as well as patriotism, which have all evaporated from our younger generation," Marzuki said.

Marzuki added that the state ideology, Pancasila, must be more intensively socialized among the younger generation to eliminate problems such as corruption, violence and crime.

The gathering in Manado was organized by Garda Pemuda NasDem, the youth wing of the National Democratic Party.

Also present were representatives from the Catholic Youth Organization; Nahdlatul Ulama's youth wing, GP Ansor; the Muhammadiyah Youth Organization; the Hindu Dharma Youth Group, Budha Tri Dharma Youth; and the youth organization from the Union of Indonesian Christian Churches.

Hendrik Kawilarang Luntungan, chairman of Garda Pemuda NasDem, said that ethnic and religious slurs were being used today by political leaders to break society down into exclusive segments, while religious intolerance was reportedly rising in areas where the government was not present.

In a ceremony at Saturday's youth gathering, Hendrik said it was time for a "big-scale national movement for pluralist Indonesia to be launched," involving all elements and forces of the nation to eliminate issues of a majority-minority divide, and ethnic and religious slurs of any kind.

He said that religious intolerance in recent years had reached alarming proportions because certain elements were taking the law into their own hands in front of the government's watchful eye, taken by some as evidence that the authorities condone their unlawful actions.

Hendrik mentioned frequent attacks on places of worship – mostly churches – and difficulties in obtaining licenses for the building of new churches in many parts of the country as examples of the absence of state authority in social life these days.

He said that the problem in cases like these was the politicization of religion for the benefit of certain forces in society. In the process, he said, religious harmony was being ruined.

"North Sulawesi is a Christian-majority province but we initiate this dialogue so that the rest of the country will hear the resonance of what is being discussed here. This is important for a pluralist nation," Hendrik told the daily Suara Pembaruan.

He said the Manado youth dialogue was a follow-up to the 1928 pledge, in that participants would issue an updated version of the pledge to better unify the archipelago, regardless of religion, ethnicity or other dividing factors.

He added that the new pledge would be read in front of national leaders such as businessman and politician Surya Paloh, former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, businessman Hasyim Djojohadikusumo, Constitutional Court Chief Mahfud M.D., Insulinde National Prosperity Party (PKBN) founder Yenny Wahid, prominent Muslim scholar Syafii Maarif and Women's Empowerment Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa.

Hendrik said that the NasDem youths took this initiative out of disappointment with the government's many years of inaction against breaches of religious freedom inflicted mainly against minority groups within Christian or Muslim communities.

"Inter-religious dialogues have taken place many times but the government has been passive in facing religious tensions," Hendrik said. "As a result certain groups in society assume that government inaction is its approval of their action so they will continue to attack any target they wish."

He suggested that the president should have stood firmly on the 1945 Constitution and Pancasila instead of worrying about the political implications that would come out of disciplinary measures against those who commit violence.

He added that the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia was not based on the doctrines of a certain religion nor on the majority-minority comparison, nor for the sake of certain ethnic groups, but for the pluralist nation in its entirety.

Therefore, religious intolerance and ethnic discrimination should be wiped out of the country once and for all because they violate the spirit of the 1928 Youth Pledge that set the tone for independence in 1945, Hendrik argued.

Graft & corruption

Business as usual for Novel after KPK-Police saga

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2012

Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – When officers from Bengkulu and Jakarta Police attempted to arrest the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Comr. Novel Baswedan earlier this month, many assumed that it would be a test of his resolve.

And with the threat of arrest, many suspected he would back down, especially with threats directed against his family as well.

Members of his family went to the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) after men who were thought to be plainclothes police officers continued to hound his home in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. The threats also include a form of intimidation that targeted both Novel and members of his extended family.

Novel, who is related to young Muslim scholar rector Anies Baswedan, shrugged off the threats and was back at work moments after the police stormed the KPK headquarters in early October. "He continues doing his job with great enthusiasm," Novel's older brother, Taufik Baswedan, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Taufik also said that the threats and intimidation had abated but members of his family still felt that their homes were under heavy surveillance.

"We [Novel's family] think that we should ignore the people who keep an eye on Novel's house. If we keep focusing our attention on them it will drain our energy," he said.

In a related development, Novel's defense counsel Haris Azhar, said that his team found indications that the police's move to arrest Novel was a violation of the Criminal Code Procedures.

"Bengkulu Police's attempt to arrest Novel was made on Oct. 5, but they issued the letter starting the investigation into the case on Oct. 8. The letter was received by the Bengkulu Prosecutors Office on Oct. 12," Haris told the Post.

Haris said that the Bengkulu Police in fact had no authority to arrest Novel because when they arrived at the KPK headquarters they had yet to officially start their probe into the case.

The Bengkulu Police tried to arrest Novel on charges that he was responsible, in his capacity as head of Bengkulu criminal unit, for the actions of his subordinates who shot six thieves during a robbery in progress. One suspect died as a result.

"The chronology of the arrest indicates that the Bengkulu Police have violated the Criminal Code Procedures," Hariz said. "The status of the Novel case is now rather suspect because we have not yet received any notification or letter from either the National Police or Bengkulu Police," he said.

Haris, who is also the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the only way to unravel the case was to set up an independent tribunal.

Police fight to get evidence back

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2012

Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – The National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) said that some documents seized by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) belonged to the public and the confiscation by the anti-graft body could compromise the police's work.

A lawyer for Korlantas, Juniver Girsang, said that the KPK had confiscated an excess of documents, some of which were unrelated to KPK's ongoing investigation into the driving simulator graft scandal at Korlantas.

"Korlantas has sent a letter requesting the KPK to return documents that are unrelated to the simulator scandal. They were all public documents that could influence Korlantas' public services," Juniver told reporters on Monday.

Korlantas filed a civil lawsuit against the KPK over the document confiscation in September.

During the raid, the KPK investigators confiscated dozens of boxes containing various documents. According to Korlantas, the seizure of documents has caused material losses for Korlantas.

However, many have speculated that Korlantas' efforts are motivated by the possible incriminating content of the documents – information that could prove, or implicate, police generals in other corruption cases.

When the KPK raided the Korlantas headquarters, analysts said that it also targeted graft practices in the issuance of driving licenses and vehicle registration documents, as well as the illegal fees collected from vehicle owners. Juniver denied the allegations but said that many of the documents could shed some light on some of the graft practices.

Separately, KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said that the KPK would be ready to face the Korlantas civil suit trial. The South Jakarta District Court has set Nov. 1 as the first date for the hearing of the case.

"It is Korlantas' right to file a lawsuit against the KPK if they believe that there are things that are inappropriate, but of course it is the judge who could decide if we stuck to the law when raiding the Korlantas office," he said.

He said that there were still options for Korlantas to drop the lawsuit and resolve the problem amicably. "The judge would certainly ask Korlantas to reconsider its lawsuit during the first hearing. Otherwise we [the Korlantas and the KPK] could also seek an out-of-court settlement," Johan said.

Lawmakers tried to solicit bribes from SOEs during budget talks: Dahlan

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Arientha Primanita – Claims that Indonesian lawmakers attempted back-room shakedowns of state-owned enterprises during deliberations of the 2013 state budget have some politicians demanding the State-Owned Enterprises Minister name names.

Dahlan sent Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam a text message last week warning that some lawmakers had asked state-owned companies for payouts before approving the 2013 state budget on Tuesday.

In the text, Dahlan declined to name specific House of Representatives members. But Democratic Party lawmaker Saan Mustopa demanded that Dahlan release the names of the accused.

"Pak Dahlan Iskan, if you would please mention the names of the lawmakers," Saan said. "We don't want anyone to be defamed here, there should be no delegitimizing of one another between the executive and the legislature."

Dahlan told lawmakers that he would clarify his statement if he is called before the House. "If they summon me, then I will come," he said.

But House Speaker Marzuki Alie called the claim an offense and warned the minister to be careful when issuing statements.

"This offends us," Marzuki said. "He should be careful when talking. I wouldn't get mad if he only talked about a person or two, but he shouldn't immediately attribute [the request] to all lawmakers."

Dahlan said he sent the text to Dipo in response to a statement released by the cabinet secretary on Sept. 28 urging government officials to not engage in back-room deals when deliberating the state budget.

"For the success of the development during the remaining tenure of [this cabinet], we... ask all ministers... to prevent back-room deals with members of the House or regional legislative councils," the statement read.

Dahlan applauded the heads of state-owned businesses for refusing to hand over any money.

"I am proud that the president directors of state-owned enterprises have successfully managed to evade all of those requests [for money]," he said. (BeritaSatu, JG & Antara)

Low-ranking cop takes fall for Djoko Susilo

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih and Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – The National Police have named a middle-ranking officer a suspect in a document forgery case, a move that was allegedly designed to save a police general who has been implicated in a high-profile corruption case.

The National Police Criminal Investigation Directorate (Bareskrim) has named Comr. Legimo Pudji Sumarto, the treasurer of the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas), a suspect for allegedly forging the signatures of his former boss at the corps, Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who has been implicated in a Rp 200 billion (US$21.2 million) procurement corruption case at the National Traffic Police Corps (Korlantas) headquarters.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Tuesday that Legimo allegedly falsified Djoko's signatures in "some documents related to the procurement of vehicle simulators by Korlantas".

Boy gave no details on what kind of documents Legimo had allegedly falsified. He also declined to disclose information on Legimo's motive in forging Djoko's signature.

"I assure you, police detectives have undertaken the investigation based on evidence and through the legitimate processes," he said.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Djoko a suspect in the simulator procurement that took place in 2011. His successor at Korlantas, Brig. Gen. Didik Purnomo, and two businessmen, were also named KPK suspects.

Anticorruption activists say the police are attempting to "engineer" Legimo's signature falsification case in an attempt to save Djoko from the KPK's prosecution. Djoko is known as one of the most influential generals within the police force. He was also rumored to be one of the future candidates for the National Police chief.

"If Legimo is declared guilty of falsifying Djoko's signature, his verdict could be used by Djoko as an alibi to prove that he had no role in the simulator procurement graft," Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activist Emerson Yuntho said.

Emerson said that it was common practice in the police force to identify sacrificial lamb officers to take the fall for their superiors. "We predicted that this kind of thing would happen in the police," Emerson said. Boy declined to comment on the speculation.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the KPK would stand its ground and would prosecute the simulator graft case regardless of what steps the police had taken. "It is not compulsory for us [to use police investigation material for the KPK's own investigation into the simulator graft]," he told The Jakarta Post.

The signature falsification case is the latest attempt by the police to get around President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's order, which mandated them to hand over the case to the KPK.

The police had earlier tried to buy time by wrangling with the KPK over details of the case hand over, turning to the Criminal Code to defend their stance on not allowing the KPK to handle the case.

The police also told the KPK to use the results of the police's preliminary investigation, which identified several suspects. Based on the KPK Law, the antigraft body has full power to proceed with its own investigation. Johan said the KPK and police would have a technical meeting to settle the difference.

Terrorism & religious extremism

Don't ignore 'suspicious' tenants: SBY warns on terrorism

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on the public to remain vigilant with regard to "suspicious" residents within their neighborhoods as they might be members of terrorist groups.

"If you find peculiarities, for example, there is a rented house with suspicious tenants, who have irregular activities at night, you cannot be apathetic. You need to be aware. Do something as a preventative measure," Yudhoyono told a press briefing at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force base in East Jakarta before departing for the UK on a state visit.

He also asked parents to intensify domestic education of their children as early prevention measures. "The victims of terrorist acts are, firstly, the suicide bomber himself, but then, the neighborhood. Hence, officials of the village as well as the RT [neighborhood unit] and the RW [community unit] must be vigilant," Yudhoyono said.

He also called on religious leaders to intensify measures to prevent radicalism. Yudhoyono's comment came following a series of terrorist- related incidents in several locations across Indonesia.

The National Police recently arrested 11 men in separate raids across Java on Friday night and Saturday in connection with the radical group Harakah Sunni for Indonesian Society (Hasmi). The police claimed the terrorist cells had planned to attack several locations including some foreign consulates in Surabaya, East Java. (iwa)

After raids, focus on Hasmi group and terror links

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2012

Nani Afrida and Rabby Pramudatama – The Harakah Sunni for Indonesian Society (Hasmi) group was a relatively unknown quantity until officers from the National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism unit arrested 11 suspected terrorists this weekend.

Although the police claim that the 11 men arrested in separate raids across Java all have connections with the organization, experts have questioned Hasmi's role as a terrorist group, given its lack of a reputation for radicalism.

Terrorism expert Solahuddin said that Hasmi has had deep roots in Indonesia for decades, claiming that Hasmi resembled other Islamic groups such as Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) or the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

"Hasmi is a non-radical movement," Solahuddin said. "The terror suspects are former Hasmi members who then joined violent jihadist movements and established a new group."

The suspects were picked up by Densus 88 units in raids launched on Friday night and Saturday in Jakarta; Bogor, West Java; Madiun, East Java; and Surakarta, Central Java. The police also confiscated several live bombs, bomb-making materials and manuals, and firearms from the suspects' homes.

However, terrorism expert Robi Sugara of the Barometer Institute said that Hasmi group was a legal organization centered in Bogor that was established in 2005. "It runs its own community radio and school," he said.

"I doubt that Hasmi has any involvement with terrorism, because although they are fanatic Muslims, they are not radical people. They don't agree to terrorism as they claim terrorism is part of bid'ah," Robi said, referring to heretical doctrine.

Since the Bali bombings claimed 202 lives in 2002, the authorities have detained more than 700 suspected terrorists and accomplices, killing more than 60 of them, from various splinter groups of Jamaah Islamiyah, the al- Qaeda affiliate behind the Bali bombings. More than 60 terrorists have been shot dead by the police.

One of the men arrested this weekend, Abu Hanafiah, was previously a Hasmi activist and a student of Noordin M. Top, a Malaysian who was one of the masterminds of the Bali bombing and who was shot dead by the National Police in 2009. "Hanafiah also had a role in allegedly hiding Noordin from the police," said terrorism expert Al Chaidar.

Meanwhile, a second Bogor-based group that also goes by the acronym "Hasmi", the Harakah Sunniyyah for Indonesian Society, denied any involvement in terrorism. "The Hasmi that the police refer to is not us. It has different name. That is what I should clarify here," Saepudin, the Bogor group's spokesperson, said on Sunday.

Saepudin said that Hasmi had nothing to do with the arrests, although three of the men were arrested just 2 kilometers away from the organization's headquarters. He also denied any link to Hanafiah, claiming that the group had no such member.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius said the police would double check the name of the organization.

Hasmi denies police' accusation on terrorism link

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2012

Jakarta – The Harakah Sunni for Indonesia (Hasmi) group has denied a statement made by the National Police saying that 11 of the suspected terrorists arrested on Saturday were members of its organization.

Hasmi announced on its website www.hasmi.org on Sunday that its members only took part in educational and religious activities.

"Hasmi is an Islamic organization that has been legally listed with the Home Ministry's mass organization division," said Hasmi chairman Muhammad Sarbini. "Our activities are only in religious and educational matters. We never promote or teach violence to our members."

Sarbini said that the National Police might have mistakenly said that the 11 suspected terrorists were parts of the organization. "Those suspected terrorists came from another organization that has a similar name to ours," said Sarbini, adding that none of the 11 men was known as Hasmi members.

According to a member of the organization's central executive board, Saifuddin, Hasmi will visit the National Police's headquarters in Jakarta on Monday to ask for clarification. "Our visit is not a form of protest. We just want to seek information as to why our name is being involved," he told The Jakarta Post Digital on Sunday.

Saifuddin said that the accusation of links with terrorism had tarnished Hasmi's reputation. "We have a female boarding school bearing Hasmi's name. Can you imagine how the parents [of the students] reacted once they heard that the organization was linked to terrorism?" he said.

On Saturday, the National Police announced that their counterterrorism unit Densus 88 had arrested 11 suspects in several raids in four provinces in Java on Friday night and Saturday.

Officers from the National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism unit conducted the raids in Jakarta; Bogor, West Java; Madiun, East Java and Surakarta (Solo), Central Java.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius said that Hasmi leader Abu Hanifah was among the suspects detained. Abu Hanifah and two others identified as Harun and Budianto were arrested in Mojosongo, Surakarta, at around 11 a.m. on Saturday.

According to the police, the suspected terrorists were allegedly targeting the American embassy offices in Jakarta and Surabaya in East Java; Plaza 89, located in front of the Australian embassy and US mining giant Freeport's headquarters in Jakarta; and the Srondol Mobile Brigade headquarters in Semarang, Central Java. (han/lfr)

Indonesia militant arrests show shift to violence

Reuters - October 28, 2012

Matthew Bigg, Jakarta – Indonesia's arrest of 11 suspected Islamic militants it said planned to attack the US embassy and a plaza near Australia's embassy is evidence that legal extremist groups are turning to violence, analysts said on Sunday.

The arrests could also step up pressure on the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, criticised for doing too little to curb religious intolerance in the country which has the world's largest Muslim population.

Anti-terrorist squad Detachment 88 squad seized bomb-making equipment and one bomb ready to be used by militant group Harakah Sunni for the Indonesian Society (HASMI), National Police spokesman Suhardi Alius said.

The arrests by the elite squad on the island of Java were the latest in a crackdown against militants during which dozens have been arrested and at least seven killed. They come 10 years this month after a bomb attack on Bali killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

"The first piece of evidence was found at a housing complex in Madiun (Java), a bomb ready to detonate, as well as raw materials for bomb making and instruction books on how to make bombs," Alius said.

He listed targets as the US consulate in Surabaya, East Java, its embassy in Jakarta, Plaza 89 in Jakarta, which is in front of the Australian embassy, and the offices of prominent mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold.

HASMI also planned to attack the Mobile Police Brigade in the central Java city of Srondol, he said, adding that the spiritual leader of the group had been arrested.

The State Department in Washington declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the US Defense Department said she was unaware of any request by the State Department to increase security at its embassy in Jakarta.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to comment on security at its Jakarta embassy and a spokesperson said it had no information to suggest Australian citizens or interests were the group's intended target.

'Above ground' extremist group

HASMI first surfaced in 2009 as a small "above ground extremist" organisation based in West Java and with links to the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), said Todd Elliott, a terrorism analyst at Concord Consulting in Jakarta.

HASMI participated in protests against churches in West Java in 2010 as well as protests against Israel and their overall goal was the establishment of Sharia law in Indonesia, he said.

Until now, HASMI has not been linked to illegal activity. It existed, like the FPI, as a militant pressure group separate from Indonesia's banned militant organisations, Elliott said.

"They (HASMI) definitely pose a very real threat. We are seeing the next step in a bigger trend of above ground extremist groups crossing over into violence," he told Reuters.

Members of the FPI had also been implicated in previous attacks, including a suicide attack on a mosque used by police in Cirebon, West Java, in 2011, he said.

The suspected militants could be former members of HASMI, a Salafi group, said Jim Della-Giacomo, Southeast Asia project director at the International Crisis Group think tank. Salafi Muslims are generally against violence but there are cases in which they turned to violence, Della- Giacomo said.

"The apparent choice of the US embassy as a target shows that the so-called 'far enemy' is still a desirable target among Indonesian jihadis... and not just Indonesian police or the so-called 'near enemy' who have been preferred in recent times," he said.

The group's name links them to a militant group operating in Kashmir and it is possible that some of its members may have trained with the Kashmiri group, said Damien Kingsbury, a professor at Deakin University in Australia.

HASMI's members would also likely have at least informal links with other militants in Indonesia and the group's existence is further evidence of the continuing threat, said Kingsbury, an expert on Indonesia.

The 2002 Bali bombings, which in turn came just over a year after the September 11 attacks on the United States, were a watershed for Indonesia. They forced the secular state to confront the presence of a small but dedicated group of followers of Osama bin Laden bent on attacking Western targets.

Indonesian forces has since worked with Australia and other countries to crack down on the al Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian militant group Jemiah Islamiah that was behind the bombs.

The hunt led to the arrest of hundreds of militants. Many were killed in shootouts and the three main perpetrators of the bombings were convicted and executed by firing squad in 2008.

Indonesia has been largely successful in containing militant attacks and there have been no large-scale attacks on Western targets since 2009 when suicide bombers blew themselves up in two Jakarta hotels, killing nine people and wounding 53.

[Additional reporting by Jakarta bureau, Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington and Morag MacKinnon in Perth.]

Embassy terror plot fails in Indonesia

Sydney Morning Herald - October 28, 2012

Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – Indonesian police have arrested 11 suspected terrorists who they say planned to detonate a number of bombs, including one at a building across the road from the Australian embassy in Jakarta, and another at the embassy of the United States.

National police spokesman Suhardi Alius said the Australian-trained anti- terror police unit Detachment 88, had arrested the terror suspects in four different locations around the Indonesian island of Java in a coordinated sweep on Friday and Saturday.

One of the group's alleged targets was a building, Plaza 89, which is close the Australian embassy in Jakarta. The embassy was bombed by terrorists in 2004, killing nine and wounding 150 others, and it has been rebuilt into a virtual fortress.

Plaza 89 houses the headquarters in Indonesia of the controversial mining company, Freeport McMoRan, which many Indonesians believe is exploiting a massive copper and gold resource in Papua without paying sufficient royalties back to the country under a deal inked by former dictator Suharto.

The arrested terrorists also planned to attack the US embassy, the US consulate-general in the city of Surabaya in eastern Java, and a police mobile brigade headquarters in Central Java, General Alius said.

The US embassy was recently the target of a large protest after the release of the anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims.

General Alius said police had arrested suspects in Jakarta, Bogor in West Java, Solo in Central Java, and Madiun in East Java. "We discovered explosive materials, a bomb-making manual, ammunition and detonators", General Alius said.

The suspects belonged to a new group calling itself Harakah Sunniyah untuk Masyarakat Islami, or HASMI, the police spokesman said. Australian embassy officials would not comment, saying the arrests were a matter for the Indonesian police.

Indonesian media reported that suspects arrested in raids on Friday and Saturday included HASMI spiritual leader Abu Hanifah, and other suspects identified as Agus Anton, Usman, Harun, Budianto, Emir, Zainudin, Azhar, Herman and Narto.

Indonesia has not had a major terror attack since 2009. But the large and influential groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah whose extreme wings planned and carried out attacks such as the 2002 Bali bombings, have fractured into smaller splinter groups, many of whom have planned or attempted to carry out attacks in the past few years.

HASMI was identified in a 2010 International Crisis Group report as a Salafi group which believed in an Islamic Caliphate to replace the state of Indonesia. It was based in Bekasi, just to the east of Jakarta, the report said. (With agencies)

Human right groups criticize counter-terrorism measures in Poso

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2012

Jakarta – The deployment of the Indonesian Military (TNI) platoons following a string of terror attacks in Poso, Central Sulawesi, is a contra-productive measure that could potentially incite social unrest, human right activists say.

Haris Azhar from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said on Thursday that the military personnel's presence might bring back the residents' memories of sectarian conflicts in the regency over a decade ago.

A joint team from the Central Sulawesi police and the Army has intensified combing operations around hamlets since Wednesday, in search of terrorists responsible for five bomb explosions, three bomb terrors, two shootings and murders in the recent weeks. The attacks killed two police officers and a resident, and also injured two policemen and two citizens.

"Based on what reason has the government involved the Army? We are afraid that it will not only stir up trauma among residents, but will also provide a loophole for the force to use excessive power, as it has happened before," he said during a press conference at Kontras headquarters in Jakarta.

Haris was referring to bloody police raids in Tanah Runtuh, Poso, between Jan. 11 and Jan. 22, 2007. Kontras found that police officers blatantly apprehended and assaulted 25 locals. As many as 15 civilians and two patrolling police officers were killed in the assaults.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos of the Setara Institute said that the deployment proved that the government had continued prioritizing repressive measures, which were once applied to end the bloody clashes between Christian and Muslim communities between 1997 and 2001.

"The government should use consolidative measures, by promoting dialogue between inter-religious figures and local leaders. This will ease the residents' fears," he added. (yps/iwa)

Hard-line & vigilante groups

Two men convicted for assaulting FPI member

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2012

Ainur Rohmah, Semarang – The Semarang District Court in Central Java convicted two men for assaulting a member of the Surakarta Islam Defenders Front (FPI). The incident took place in Gandekan, Jebres, Surakarta, in May.

Koes Setiawan (alias Iwan Walet) was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, while Mardi Sugeng (alias Gembor) received 12 months.

"Both defendants have been found guilty of assaulting the victim," presiding judge Boedi Soesanto said while reading the verdict on Tuesday. He added that Koes and Mardi had violated Article 170 of the Criminal Code on Assault. The verdict for Mardi was heavier because he is a recidivist.

"We both accept the verdict," said Koes during the proceedings. The sentence for both defendants was lighter than the edict demanded by prosecutors, prosecutor Bima Suprayoga had previously demanded an 18-month sentence for Koes and a 15-month sentence for Mardi.

Koes and Mardi were arrested following reports that they had struck Dwi Pamuji, an FPI member, on Jl. RE Martadinata in Gandekan on May 3. The incident sparked violence between the FPI and another mass organization.

Koes and Mardi were originally tried at the Surakarta District Court, however, the court later handed the case to the Semarang District Court based on decree No. 102/KMA/VIII/2012 issued by the Supreme Court. The decision was made for security reason.

The FPI is a hard-line group infamous for its use of threats and violence to stop what it deems as "sinful" activities.

On Tuesday, dozens of FPI members were present during the announcement of the verdict – both inside and outside the courtroom. FPI members were visibly upset with the court's decision and did not accept the judge's verdict.

They yelled, "Let them free! We'll be waiting for them in Solo [Surakarta]," indicating that they aimed to "judge" Koes and Mardi themselves in Surakarta.

The proceedings did end without any incidents, as police officers from the Semarang Police were on hand. Outside the court, the police managed to keep control of the situation when FPI members encountered supporters of the two defendants.

This is not the first court case involving FPI members. In July, the Bogor District Court convicted a 17-year-old boy who killed a member of the local branch of the FPI.

The boy, Bogor resident Ival Reza Yulian Mahendra, was sentenced to three- and-half years' imprisonment for fatal assault under Article 351 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).

Freedom of religion & worship

FPI's latest Ahmadiyah attack riles even MUI

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2012

Ronna Nirmala – The country's highest Islamic authority has slammed a hard-line group for attacking an Ahmadiyah mosque in Bandung on the eve of Idul Adha last week.

"We can't tolerate any attack even if it is in the name of justice," Ma'ruf Amin, chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), said on Sunday in response to the attack last Thursday night by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

He said that if mainstream Muslims had objections to the Ahmadiyah, whom the MUI insists is a heretical sect, they should not take the law into their own hands. "The authorities also must have the nerve to take action so that people don't have to do it themselves," Ma'ruf added.

Dozens of FPI members attacked the An Nasir Mosque in Bandung's Astana Anyar area last Thursday after seeing Ahmadis there preparing for the Islamic holiday of Idul Adha.

After their demands for the Ahmadis to stop what they were doing met with refusal, the hard-liners started destroying lamps and windows on the first floor of the mosque, with around 10 Ahmadis, including women, inside. The police did not take any action.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, who initially condoned the attack by claiming that the FPI had been provoked into violence, made an about-face on Sunday and said his office would send a warning letter to the group to demand that they stop using violence.

The governor said he would still give the group some leeway, but if they carried out their vigilante actions two more times, he would ban them.

"This is the first warning letter, and after the third, that's it. If they don't obey, we will erase them from the province's list [of approved organizations] and ban all their activities," Ahmad said.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi backed the call for taking action against the hard-line organization.

Police arrest Ahmadiyah mosque vandal

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2012

Arya Dipa, Bandung – Bandung Police have arrested M. Asep Abdurahman, aka Utep, an Islam Defenders Front (FPI) member, and named him a suspect of Thursday night's attack on the Ahmadiyah An-Nasir mosque.

"We arrested Utep and named him a suspect on Saturday night," said Bandung Police chief detective Adj. Sr. Comr. Widjonarko on Sunday.

Widjonarko said the police had questioned five witnesses and seized evidence at the scene before naming Utep a suspect. "The number of suspects will likely increase as we are still collecting more evidence. For now, Utep is the sole suspect," he said.

According to police, Utep could be charged under Article 170 of the Criminal Code on assault, as well as Article 406 on the destruction of private property and Article 335 on disorderly conduct.

On Thursday, one night before Idul Adha (Islamic Day of Sacrifice), members of vigilante group FPI raided An-Nasir mosque, damaging the place of worship and prohibiting Ahmadis from celebrating Idul Adha.

The FPI members took three Ahmadis to the Astana Anyar Police precinct and tried to force them to sign an agreement not to hold Idul Adha prayers or slaughter sacrificial animals on Friday. The Ahmadis' rejection of the agreement reportedly enraged Utep.

"I was angry. I went to the mosque and smashed its windows. My rage was triggered by the Ahmadis' reaction," said Utep. He added that breaking the mosque's windows was a spontaneous act.

FPI members insisted that the Ahmadis uphold Gubernatorial Regulation No. 12/mosque, which bans Ahmadis from conducting public activities.

The police released the three Ahmadis on Friday morning and guarded the mosque, which is used by hundreds of Ahmadis. The police also canceled Idul Adha prayers and the slaughter of sacrificial animals at the mosque. (lfr)

Don't just blame Wahabi for intolerance, look at police as well: Researcher

Jakarta Globe - October 27, 2012

Dessy Sagita – The rise of new Islamic sects is playing a role in rising intolerance in the country, but police indifference is the main cause, a leading academic says.

"New sects are not even the main contributor in the growing intolerance; the biggest factor is the weak law enforcement," said Ismail Hasani, a researcher at the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy.

He added Indonesia was already vulnerable due to political instability and widespread poverty – problems that were easily manipulated by some groups to advance their political agenda.

"We're already susceptible to intolerance due to stupidity and rampant injustice. This vulnerable state is used as a way for these fundamentalist groups to establish a position and our people easily accept them," said Ismail, who is also a lecturer at Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN). He added that Indonesians were generally permissive toward intolerance.

"Most people don't view intolerance as a crime. We can't prosecute people just because they believe that their belief is the truest. But when they start burning or closing down others' houses of worship, we should see it as pure crime, and nothing less," he said.

He demanded the government, especially the police, take action against those groups attacking or enforcing their will on other sects.

Ismail said that while the rise of the ultra-conservative Wahabi brand of Islam might not be suitable for Indonesia, the belief should be respected.

Some Islamic scholars say the spread of Wahabi, a fundamentalist teaching from Saudi Arabia, is responsible for rising intolerance and violence in Indonesia, which is generally moderate.

"We liberal Muslims demand respect, so we have to treat [Wahabis] the same, as long as there is no violence or coercion involved," the academic said.

Ismail said extreme sects and groups, like the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the Islamic People's Forum (FUI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, would not have become as powerful as they are if the government enforced the law properly.

"Instead of enforcing the law properly, the government is fueling the growing intolerance," he said.

FPI attacks Ahmadis in Bandung

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2012

Arya Dipa, Bandung – Idul Adha celebrations in Bandung, West Java, were tarnished by an attack launched by members of hard-line group the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on An-Nasir mosque, home to hundreds of Ahmadiyah followers who were later barred from performing Idul Adha prayers and slaughtering animals during the Islamic Day of Sacrifice on Friday.

Members of the FPI raided the mosque on Thursday night, damaging it and prohibiting Ahmadis from celebrating Idul Adha.

Abdul Wahid Yora, an Ahmadi, said he and some other Ahmadis were at the mosque when 10 people arrived claiming to be local FPI members and entered the mosque. Yora and his two fellow Ahmadis were later forced to sign an agreement not to hold Idul Adha prayers and slaughter sacrificial animals on the day.

"I refused to do so because we have the right to perform the religious ritual," Yora said, adding that the three of them were taken to the Astana Anyar Police precinct. At the police station, Yora claimed that they were still forced to sign the agreement.

The three of them were finally released on Friday morning, but when they returned to their mosque, they found the mosque's entrance gate damaged and its glass windows broken.

Ahmadi members decided to abort the Idul Adha prayer, the animal sacrificing ritual and the Friday prayer for security reasons, despite the fact that they received five cows and four goats to be slaughtered and handed out to families.

The representative of FPI Bandung Raya, Muhammad Asep Abdurahman alias Utep, said that breaking the mosque's glass windows was a spontaneous action.

He said that the three Ahmadis, who were taken to the police, did not want to obey the West Java gubernatorial regulation banning Ahmadis from conducting public activities.

"I was angry. I went to the mosque and smashed its windows. My rage was triggered by the Ahmadis' reaction," said Utep.

West Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said that his team had investigated the damage to the mosque. He said the police had gathered evidence and would seek other witnesses. "We will question the FPI about this issue," he said.

Last year, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan issued Gubernatorial Regulation No. 12 banning Ahmadis from conducting any public activity. Ahmad claimed that the regulation had reduced attacks against Ahmadis. Therefore, an evaluation of the regulation was unnecessary, he added.

However, Ahmad said that physical violence against Ahmadis or their property was not allowed under the law.

"The law forbids physical attacks on anyone," he said as quoted by Antara news agency. "If there are physical assaults uncovered in the last incident, I will let the police handle it," he said.

In the last few years, demands to ban Ahmadiyah have increased in a number of regions across the country. The sect is dubbed heretical by some because it does not follow mainstream Islamic teachings.

Ahmadis believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is their prophet, but this is considered heretical by mainstream Islam, which recognizes Muhammad as the final prophet while considering Mirza a preacher.

There is a history of violent incidents involving the FPI and Ahmadiyah, with FPI members reportedly attacking Ahmadis and damaging their places of worship. Many Ahmadis have also been displaced after being evicted from their homes.

Head of internal affairs at Bandung Legal Aid Center Unung Nuralamsyah expressed her regret over the recent incident. "Why did the police put pressure on the Ahmadis? Citizens have their rights to perform their religious practices. The police must investigate the violence," said Unung.

FPI attacks Ahmadiyah mosque on eve of Idul Adha

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2012

Bandung – The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on Thursday night inflicted damage on a mosque run by Ahmadiyah devotees in Astana Anyar, Bandung.

Dozens of FPI members passed by the An Nasir Mosque at around 9 p.m. and witnessed Ahmadis preparing for the Islamic holiday of Idul Adha. The FPI demanded that they stop what what they were doing, but the Ahmadis refused.

"We were waiting for the cattle to be slaughtered when the FPI came," Hendar, an Ahmadiyah adherent, said as quoted by Tempo.co. "In the beginning, they came in peace. But at 10:30 p.m. they became outraged and started destroying lamps and windows located on the first floor [of the mosque]. There were ten Ahmadis, including some women, inside the mosque."

Muhammad Asep Abdurahman, an FPI board member with the group's Bandung chapter, said at the Bandung Police office that the FPI had objected to the Ahmadiyah activities because such actions were prohibited by the West Java government.

Before the destruction occurred, Bandung police officers brought Ahmadiyah and FPI representatives to a police office to negotiate the situation, but nothing materialized.

"Because negotiations reached a dead end, we returned to the location to destroy [the mosque]," Asep told Sindonews.com. "I, myself, destroyed the mosque's windows while other members did nothing." Asep threatened the Ahmadis and warned that they must stop their religious activities or face another attack.

Bandung Police deputy chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dadang Hartanto noted that the police did not anticipate the attack. "The destruction was carried out spontaneously," Dadang said. "It was probably triggered by an Ahmadi that insulted the FPI."

Metrotvnews.com reported that none of the FPI members were arrested by police for destroying the mosque.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said that such vandalism was not justified. "Anything that happens in our society should be solved by discourse or by legal means, not by violence," Ahmad said. "If they carried out violence, they should be charged. Leave it to the legal enforcers to solve it."

However, Ahmad believed that the Ahmadiyah should have complied with the gubernatorial decree that banned their religious activities.

"Violence is wrong," he said. "But we should also think about what triggered the incident. When a sacred religion [is] being tainted, it insults [the faithful]. All sides should... understand the regulation."

No Idul Adha celebration for Ahmadis in Bandung

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2012

Bandung – Dozens of Ahmadiyah followers in Bandung, West Java, were barred from performing Idul Adha prayer and slaughtering animals during the Islamic day of sacrifice on Friday.

Members of vigilante group Islam Defenders Front (FPI) raided Ahmadis' An- Nasir mosque on Thursday night, damaging the mosque and prohibiting the Ahmadis from celebrating Idul Adha. There were about 10 Ahmadis preparing for Idul Adha inside the mosque, including several women, when the raid took place, tempo.co reported.

The FPI members took three Ahmadis to the Astana Anyar Police precinct, which was located 500 meters from the mosque and demand that they followed the West Java's gubernatorial regulation that bans Ahmadis from conducting public activities.

Police released the Ahmadis but guarded the mosque on Friday morning. Police also called off the Idul Adha prayer. The Ahmadis handed over four cows and three goats, which they planned to be slaughtered in their own mosque, to other mosques.

Last year, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan issued The Gubernatorial Regulation No. 12 which bans Ahmadis from conducting any public activity.

Ahmad claimed that the regulation had reduced attacks against Ahmadis. Therefore, evaluation toward the regulation was not necessary, he added.

"Before I issued the regulation, intimidation against Ahmadis happened almost every month. After the establishment of regulation, there was not that many, maybe just twice a year" he said as quoted by Antara news wire. "Even if there were some threats, they were minor cases."

Ahmad, however, said that physical violations against Ahmadis or their properties were not allowed under the law. "The law forbids physical attacks against anyone," he said. "If there is physical assault uncovered in the last incident, I will let the police handle it," he said. (lfr)

Islam & religion

Groups challenge government attempt to control collecting of alms

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2012

Jakarta – A group of alms agencies have filed a judicial review to challenge the 2011 Law on management of zakat (Alms), which they feel establishes the dominance of the government-run National Alms Agency (Baznas) in managing the country's alms collection.

The People's Coalition for Alms (Komaz), which represents 30 privately-run charity organizations, have described the regulations as another government monopoly on religious practice, similar to the way the Religious Affairs Ministry manages the haj pilgrimage.

"We know from the history of Islam that it is possible for the public and the government to manage alms collection and distribution together. Besides, the public trusts private charitable foundations more than the government, given the rampant corruption associated with the management of the haj pilgrimage," he added.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced in February that it found irregularities in the use of interest proceeds worth Rp 1.7 trillion (US$177 million) from the management of the haj fund, which was worth Rp 32 trillion.

Earlier this year, the KPK also launched a probe into the Religious Affairs Ministry's Rp 110 billion procurement of Korans in 2012.

Alms agencies claim that zakat (mandatory alms) could help more than 31.9 million people or 13.3 percent of the Indonesian population. Last year, more than Rp 1.7 trillion in zakat and shadaqah (optional alms) were collected from Muslims.

The biggest alms collectors are privately-run organizations, such as Dompet Dhuafa and Rumah Zakat which respectively collected Rp 150 billion and Rp 146 billion. The government-sanctioned Baznas managed to collect only Rp 44.16 billion.

According to the new law, Baznas now has the authority to issue recommendations for alms foundations. Without a recommendation, the foundations might not receive a licence from the religious affairs minister and their operations would be terminated.

Activists have criticized this provision. "How is it possible for Baznas to serve as coordinator, regulator, supervisor and also operator? It runs counter to the spirit of good governance. With this authorization, Baznas could deny issuing recommendations for its competitors," Heru said.

Provisions in the law also put traditional alms collectors in a difficult position as they could be charged with conducting illegal activities if they failed to register.

A person collecting alms without a licence could be charged under Articles 38 and 41 of the law, which carry a maximum punishment of one year in prison and Rp 50 million in fines.

Muhammad Branata, a Komaz member, said the law could contribute to the decline in the amounts of alms collected in the future.

According to the latest study from Baznas and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture's (IPB), there is potentially Rp 217 trillion in alms to be collected per year. Figures from last year represent less than one percent of the total estimate.

Branata said that the long-held tradition of families giving their alms directly to neighbors or mosques in their neighborhoods meant the figure was very low.

"A study shows that 90 percent of Indonesians prefer to give their alms directly to the poor and these are unregistered alms. The government needs to issue regulations that could raise awareness about giving alms to professional agencies," said Branata of Rumah Zakat. (yps)

Idul Adha observed, with few hiccups

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2012

Jakarta – Millions of Muslims across the country observed the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, or Idul Adha, on Friday, performing prayers and sacrifices in their hometowns that proceeded more or less peacefully.

In the most notable incident, a man in a camouflage vest and a homemade gun was arrested at Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in Jakarta, on Thursday.

The arrest took place just before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his family, Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and a crowd of thousands of others performed prayers on the eve of Idul Adha on Thursday night.

Police said that the man with the gun, identified as Sudirman, a resident of Tegal, Central Java, spent the night at the mosque and was woken by officers of the Presidential Security Force (Paspampres) doing a routine sweep of the building before Yudhoyono's arrival.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said that Sudirman, 40, brought the weapon, assembled from a toy catapult, from Tegal to scare away any potential assailants that he might meet in Jakarta.

"The weapons works like a catapult and uses arrowheads as bullets, but it can't shoot anything," Rikwanto said.

Paspampres officers turned Sudirman over to the police, who declared that the man was not a terrorist and had only come to Jakarta to pray at the grand mosque.

The police confiscated the homemade weapon, arrowheads, several bolts and a box of mangoes from the man. Among other dignitaries at the mosque were former vice president Jusuf Kalla, House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie, Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Speaker Irman Gusman, several Cabinet members and the ambassadors of several countries.

In other parts of the nation, Idul Adha was observed peacefully, although some had to observe the holiday in a low-key manner.

In Sampang, East Java, members of the Shia minority Muslim community celebrated Idul Adha in the refugee shelters where they have resided since their majority Sunni Muslim neighbors went on a rampage and burned their homes down.

"Last year we could celebrate Idul Adha perfectly well with our neighbors, even though we had different understandings [of Islam]. Now we are isolated," Iklil a Milal, a Shia leader, said as quoted by kompas.com.

"We can only tell members of the community to be patient even though [we are] staying in the shelters," said Ikil, whose brother Tajul Muluk has been imprisoned for blaspheming Islam.

In Surakarta, Central Java, hundreds celebrated Idul Adha by trying to grab traditional offerings outside the grounds of the Keraton Surakarta Grand Mosque.

The offerings – 3-meter high cones of yellow rice full of delicacies, vegetables and snacks – immediately drew the attention of those waiting outside the mosque.

The crowd rushed to grab food from the offerings, with some climbing onto buildings and cars to extend their reach. According to local tradition, taking food from the offering of Surakarta's sultan can bring good luck.

In Bali, where Muslims are a minority, around 500,000 observed Idul Adha in peace, despite a controversial statement made by a self-proclaimed "King of Majapahit" banning of the slaughter of cows. Hundreds of traditional Balinese security guards (pecalang) were seen securing and organizing traffic near the public parks used as venues of the Idul Adha prayers. (aml/nad)

Religious affairs minister under fire for hajj pilgrimage

Jakarta Globe - October 26, 2012

Dessy Sagita – The Indonesian Hajj Brotherhood Association on Thursday criticized Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali for undertaking his pilgrimage to Mecca with a large entourage despite the fact that the waiting list in Indonesia to go on the journey is extremely long.

"This hurts the feelings of people who have been waiting for years to go on the hajj. Why wasn't the opportunity given to the elderly instead?" Kurdi Mustofa, the chairman of the association, also known as the IKHI, said.

He said that as the world's largest predominantly Muslim nation, Indonesia had only around 200,000 slots available each year for hajj pilgrims to go to Saudi Arabia, and added that some pilgrims had to wait between 10 and 15 years to be able to finally perform the hajj, the fifth essential pillar of Islam.

Kurdi called Suryadharma unwise and insensitive. "How can the government ask would-be pilgrims to be patient and wait for years while the religious affairs minister takes 35 people, including his wife, children, brothers, sisters and others. They even stay in luxurious hotels," Kurdin said.

He contrasted Suryadharma with one of his predecessors, Maftuh Basyuni, who in 2008 went on the hajj while still the religious affairs minister. "[Maftuh] went alone, not with his wife or his in-laws. He also did not stay in hotels," Kurdi said.

Suryadharma, as a public official, was obligated to provide an explanation of the funds needed by him and his retinue to go to Saudi Arabia.

Islam requires those who are able and can afford it to make the hajj pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. The Indonesian government organizes an all-inclusive hajj package every year that covers flights, accommodations, meals and transportation.

Kurdi also said that the IKHI was calling on the government to punish rogue travel agents that fail to deliver on hajj trips that they offer.

"The Religious Affairs Ministry must collect its data again and take firm action against travel agencies who work with [government] officials or embassy staff to promise non-quota hajj slots," Kurdi said.

Every year, thousands of potential Indonesian pilgrims fail to undertake their journey due to travel agents who made false promises that they couldn't act on.

The agencies usually claim that they work in cooperation with government officials and embassy staff members. The vacations are sold at a much higher price than the government hajj packages.

"Though they are expensive, non-quota trips do not necessarily get better facilities. Many of the people on these trips are later left stranded in Arafat despite having paid so much," added Kurdi.

The chairman said that there were about 17,000 non-quota hajj pilgrims leaving for Saudi Arabia on this year's pilgrimage.

Land & agrarian conflicts

Batang Toru district office empty after demonstration

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2012

South Tapanuli – Batang Toru district office in South Tapanuli, North Sumatra, was closed on Wednesday following a violent protest by residents who oppose the construction of waste pipeline by a mining company.

Thousands of Batang Toru residents who are against the installation of waste pipeline by gold mining company PT Agincourt Resources, attacked the district office and the police station.

Hotma Harahap, Batang Toru district head, quoted by tribunnews.com, described the state of his office. "We cannot work today because our office is badly damaged. The mob smashed the windows and burned the office's facilities," he said. Two cars parked outside the office were also destroyed.

"The district officers came to the office this morning to clean it up. But after that, I asked them to go home," he added.

Hotma is awaiting instructions from the South Tapanuli regent whether or not the office should be temporarily relocated.

The Batang Toru Police precinct was also stoned and a police car smashed up by the angry protesters, who wish to prevent the construction of the pipeline from a mine in Martabe to the Batang Toru river. The protesters also blocked the main road connecting Batang Toru to other areas.

No casualties have been officially reported in the clash, but at least three protesters and several police officers were injured. (lfr)

Komnas HAM summons regents in South Sumatra

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2012

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says it will summon the regents of Muara Enim and Ogan Ilir to mediate a land dispute spanning their regencies.

"We will summon both regents because the conflict deals with the fate of transmigrant families there," Komnas HAM deputy head Nur Kholis said in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Wednesday.

The families come from three villages: Sungai Rambutan Transmigration Settlement Unit II, Tanjung Pulai and Tanjung Pulai Independent Transmigration Village.

According to Nur, the families, relocated to the area by government, had deeds to the land in the area but were not allowed to live on it, triggering the conflict.

The disputed land measures 459 hectares near Sungai Rambutan Independent Integrated City in Indralaya district in Ogan Ilir.

A deadline set by South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin and the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to resolve the dispute by April passed without action.

Around 450 residents of the villages gathered at Sungai Rambutan Transmigration Settlement Unit II village hall in April to place boundary markers on the disputed land in Tanjung Baru village on the border of Ogan Ilir and Muara Enim.

"The time for promises has passed. We feel deceived," one village leader, Kimin said, as quoted by kompas.com.

According to Kimin, the disputed was sold to private buyers or converted into a plantation by PT Indralaya Agro Lestari (PT IAL).

Another local leader, Junaedy, was phlegmatic. "The local residents actually have no qualms about dividing the land. The only drawback was from third parties who claimed the land."

Parliament & legislation

House of Representatives approves new province and districts

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Indonesia officially added its newest province and four new districts on Thursday, bringing the national total to 34 provinces and 501 districts/municipalities.

The House of Representatives, in a plenary session, passed five bills establishing the creation of the province of North Kalimantan along with the districts of Pangandaran in West Java, Pesisir Barat in lampung, Manokwari Selatan and Pegunungan Arfak, both in West Papua.

Agun Gunanjar Sudarsa, the head of the House commission on autonomy and regional governments, said that the draft laws were discussed after the legislature received a letter from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the matters on May 11.

The letter appointed Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi to lead the discussions about the proposed new province and the 18 proposed districts. With five of the territories now officially recognized, the minister hopes that this new arrangement will lead to better organization and more efficient public services.

"[The new territorial organization] should encourage better state management and accelerate the achievement of prosperity for the people in the [areas involved]," Agun said.

Agun, who hails from the Golkar Party, hopes that with the creation of North Kalimantan, there will be no more overlapping territorial claims with neighboring Malaysia and its bordering states of Sarawak and Sabah.

"North Kalimantan has the potential [to] safeguard the territorial sovereignty and the dignity of the Republic of Indonesia," he said.

He added that the House was calling on the government to help develop the new province quickly.

House Speaker Marzuki Ali received unanimous approval as well as a round of applause from spectators when he conferred with the nine political factions in the legislature regarding the five draft laws.

"The members of the council approve the draft laws on the establishment of new autonomous regions and officially pass them into law," Marzuki said before banging his gavel. (BeritaSatu/JG)

House speaker shines spotlight on absent lawmakers

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – House Speaker Marzuki Alie bristled at Indonesian lawmakers' chronic absenteeism before Thursday's half-packed House.

Only 293 of the 560 members of the House of Representatives showed up to Thursday's plenary meeting, prompting Marzuki to read off a list of those absent before the partially filled room.

"The total is 293, from 560," he said. "Therefore this plenary has met its quorum."

The ruling Democratic Party had 75 of its 148 members show up. Fifty-seven of the 160 Golkar Party members came to the meeting. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) sent 56 of its 94 members while the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) sent 30 out of 57.

Twenty-five members of The National Mandate Party attended the meeting. Twenty-one were absent.

The United Development Party had 18 lawmakers present. An additional 20 were missing. The National Awakening Party sent eight lawmakers while 10 failed to show. The Great Indonesia Movement Party had 17 of its 26 members in the House. The People's Conscience Party had seven in attendance with 10 absent.

Lawmakers argued that their fellow party members were on hajj and couldn't come to the meeting. Other said that Thursday was the last day of work before the recess period and they shouldn't have to attend the meeting.

Indonesian lawmakers have come under fire in recent months over their abysmal attendance records and inattentiveness during House meetings.

Ethnic & communal conflicts

14 dead in Lampung violence

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2012

Oyos Saroso H.N. and Bagus BT Saragih, Bandar Lampung/Jakarta – The National Police have dispatched reinforcements to South Lampung regency where 14 people have died and dozens of others were evacuated, following a three-day clash between members of two communities.

National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said more than 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to the location. "We are on full alert," Boy said on Tuesday.

Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Adm. Agus Suhartono said that about 500 military personnel had been deployed to help improve security in the area. "We don't plan to deploy more personnel at the current time," he said.

The Lampung Police said that four people were killed during an incident in Balinuraga hamlet, in the Way Panji district, South Lampung, on Sunday. A further 10 people lost their lives when another clash broke out on Monday

"One of the victims, Sholihin, 35, a resident of the Kalianda district, died after undergoing treatment at the Abdul Moeloek Hospital in the provincial capital of Bandar Lampung. Other deceased victims were found inside houses, some were also found dead at their farms," said Lampung Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistyaningsih. Police also said that 16 homes were torched during the clash.

In the aftermath of the violence, police evacuated 192 Balinuraga residents, mostly children, women and elderly people, to a temporary shelter erected in a police compound in Bandar Lampung.

The displaced residents, mostly from Balinuraga and the nearby Agom village in Kalianda district, were still reeling from the violence and were concerned about their safety. The majority of Balinuraga's population are of Balinese descent who migrated to the area during the New Order period.

On Tuesday, members of the Lampung Police and the Marine Corps were seen patrolling the area.

Unconfirmed reports attribute the clash to ethnic tensions between the native Lampung ethnic group, Balinese descendants and Javanese. Messages of hatred are allegedly circulating on social media sites and by text messages.

The Lampung Police have not yet named any suspects in the clashes. The police are still looking for the mastermind behind the clashes, which began after men from Balinuraga allegedly assaulted two young women from the neighboring Agom.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said shortly before leaving for the United Kingdom that security officials could not be blamed for the recurring violence in the country.

"I call on all sides to take responsibility. All parties must care for and work toward creating peace and harmony. Never again leave it to the police and TNI. Only with the people's active participation can we optimally and effectively prevent further clashes," Yudhoyono told a press briefing at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force base in East Jakarta.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said that local leaders could have played a more significant role in preventing the violent incident. "The police and TNI cannot prevent such an incident successfully without the involvement of local leaders and the civil society," Djoko said.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said that the recurring violence, especially in Lampung, had prevented police personnel from working effectively in their handling of communal conflict. "This means that we must work harder, especially to mobilize efforts by local leaders and religious figures," he said.

Timur confirmed that the clashes were triggered by minor incidents that involved youths from the two villages. National Commission on Human Rights commissioner Siti Noor Laila, a native of Lampung, agreed that ethnic tension did contribute to the outbreak of violence in Lampung.

"I also regret the fact that the authorities have failed to detect the shimmering tension and prevent it before it broke out," she said.

Jakarta & urban life

'Wasteful' city budget must be overhauled, activists insist

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2012

Ronna Nirmala – Antigraft activists have urged the Jakarta administration to continue overhauling the city's 2013 budget to prioritize pro-poor programs, in the face of calls by a government minister not to make any drastic changes.

Danang Widoyoko, the chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said on Sunday that the administration of Governor Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, should not be afraid of tackling the inefficiencies in the budget, which was drawn up by his predecessor, Fauzi Bowo.

"Of course what he's trying to achieve will not be easy, and along the way there's always the prospect of political opposition [from the City Council]," he said at a discussion in Jakarta.

He added this was compounded by the fact that the two parties that backed Joko in last month's gubernatorial election held only 17 of the council's 94 seats, while those that supported Fauzi controlled 69 seats.

However, Danang said it was important for Joko to continue allocating funding for programs that he considered important for residents' welfare, arguing that the funding priorities set up by Fauzi tended to neglect the people.

Yayat Supriyatna, an urban planning expert from Trisakti University, agreed that the 2013 budget as it currently stood "is not typical Jokowi."

"It doesn't conform to his character, and if it stays as it is it will compromise the vision and mission of his platform," he said at the discussion. "The budget is so utterly lacking in quality that it verges on being wasteful."

Setyo Budiantoro, an ICW researcher, argued that much of the 2013 budget, valued at Rp 44 trillion ($4.58 billion), was allocated for the bureaucracy.

"There's a lot that's being proposed for renovating government buildings, buying uniforms and cars for civil servants, and so on," he said. "Whatever these programs are meant to achieve, they definitely can't be considered priority programs."

He said the spending plans included Rp 18 billion for uniforms, Rp 76 billion for cars and Rp 693 billion for building renovations. ICW also highlighted Rp 16 billion for the electronic ID card (e-KTP) program, which Setyo pointed out was supposed to be 90 percent complete.

"Besides, the Home Affairs Ministry is also funding this program, so why is the city allocating so much? This needs to be looked into," he said.

The activists' calls for a complete overhaul of the budget comes in contrast to a warning by Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, who said on Friday that budget allocations to each department in the city administration needed to be respected as much as possible.

"If there's too much deviation [and reallocation], that's not good. In fact, reallocating funding could violate certain bylaws," he said.

Speaking at City Hall on Sunday, Joko acknowledged that he had ambitious plans for the city budget, but would need the political support to be able to push them through.

"The money is enough, perhaps even more than enough, for the programs that I'm planning," he said. "But in order for them to be approved I would have to get the backing of the City Council."

Doubts raised on Jakarta's new top cop

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2012

Jakarta – Jakarta will have a new police chief on Tuesday, but doubts linger over whether the incoming chief is capable of making the breakthroughs needed to secure the capital city, which is now rife with thuggery, gun violence and chronic traffic woes.

The National Police have appointed West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Putut Eko Bayuseno to replace Insp. Gen. Untung S. Radjab as Jakarta Police chief. The inauguration ceremony will be held on Tuesday.

Bambang Widodo Umar, a former police officer who teaches at the University of Indonesia, said that Putut, like his predecessor, was not known as an officer with notable achievements.

"It is very possible that the new police chief was picked to protect the President and that could go against the spirit of serving the public interest," he said.

Putut served as President Bambang Yudhoyono's adjutant during his first term from 2004 to 2009. After that, he served as the Jakarta Police deputy chief between 2009 and 2011 before being briefly assigned as Banten Police chief following a fatal attack on Ahmadiyah followers in the province.

Then Banten Police chief Brig. Gen. Agus Kusnadi was dismissed for his failure to prevent the Feb. 6, 2011 mob attack that left three Ahmadis dead.

Putut served as police chief in Banten for three months only and later in May was appointed as chief in West Java, where intimidation against Ahmadiyah members continued, with the latest incident occurring a day before the announcement of his Jakarta assignment.

On Thursday night, members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) attacked an Ahmadi mosque in Bandung in West Java and attempted to prevent the congregation from observing Idul Adha, the Islamic Day of Sacrifice.

Bambang said that Jakarta needed a police chief who could make breakthroughs to address the plethora of problems plaguing the city. "He should be like Jokowi," he said, referring to the new Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo.

Jakarta is facing various security challenges. In the past few years, the city has seen a spike in gun violence, robberies targeting minimarkets, rape cases and violent brawls involving mass organizations. The city also has yet to find creative solutions to help ease traffic woes.

Weak law enforcement and alleged corruption within the police force has been blamed for the failure to make Jakarta safer as well as to address the city's traffic problems.

Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) director Nurkholis Hidayat said the new city police chief needed to gain public trust by eradicating corruption within the institution and upholding transparency.

Otho Hernowo Hadi, a University of Indonesia sociologist, said the police should improve their service, especially in curbing crime.

He added that the police should be able to engage the public in securing the city in preventive measures against crime. "Preventing crime is essential," he said.

On Sunday, Putut said he was ready to work with Jokowi, who is an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician. "In line with regulations, I will create synergy with the senior local official to provide the best service to society," he said. (nad/fzm)

Yudhoyono invites Jakarta leaders for 'instruction'

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2012

Lenny Tristia Tambun & Arientha Primanita – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and Vice Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to visit the palace to brief them on ways to manage the capital, the governor said following a prayer gathering.

"Two weeks from now we will go to the palace at the president's invitation in order to receive instructions," Joko said on Friday.

The president usually does not give such special attention to newly appointed governors, so his plan to invite Joko drew speculation from various circles. Some observers have even suggested that Joko could be a potential candidate for presidential election in 2014.

Saleh P. Daulay, chairman of the youth wing of Muhammadiyah, said that the next president should be "a leader like Joko" who not only represents the younger generation but is humble, down to earth in style, and has great passion for public service.

Ever since being sworn in on Oct. 15, Joko has been visiting densely populated subdistricts of Jakarta.

He has given city officials six months to tidy up their respective departments and to uphold the civil service code of conduct following his inspections in several areas where he was disappointed to find empty rooms during office hours.

Another thing Jokowi and Basuki have done is conducting a thorough study of the capital's budget plan. They found that there are too many cost centers – otherwise known as spending slots – in the 18 departments that constitute the municipal government.

The governor has issued instructions to reduce spending in every department only to four major allocations in order to simplify controlling and accountability procedures.

Joko said every municipal department must have a focus and a priority project focused on better public service. That is better than financing too many activities that do not directly benefit public interest, he said. Joko said he believes that by doing so he will be able to promote budget efficiency and reduce the possibility of manipulation.

This is a completely different take on the budget compared to the term of his predecessor, Fauzi Bowo. Under Fauzi, the city's budget was comprised of 57,000 spending allocations, making it impossible to determine the effectiveness of state financing.

Such a set-up is a major mistake, Joko has said, vowing to correct the problem. He recently called in the chiefs of four municipal departments and listened to their presentations. He almost immediately concluded that such planning was a waste of state funds because apart from lacking focus there were no priority projects in every department.

"I want every department to focus on one priority project. It is better to do a few big things than a thousand small things that cannot be controlled," the governor said.

Some observers are asking if Joko has the ability to alter the sluggish and unresponsive bureaucracy and implement good governance practices in corrupt municipal departments.

He is on the right track to achieve his goal, some observers say, but the road ahead is guaranteed to be bumpy.

Already Gamawan Fauzi, the minister of home affairs, has cautioned that as Jakarta's governor, Joko "must remain consistent with the city's budget plan" otherwise he will risk being seen as breaking the budget-plan ordinances that have been approved by the provincial legislative council.

The minister's warning hints that Joko's intention to reorganize the budget could be seen by the provincial legislative council as violating the Perda, or city ordinance, on budget plans, and could cause political trouble for the governor later on.

"I do respect the governor's practice of going down to the densely populated areas and fixing problems right there," Gamawan said.

"But I need to say this as a reminder, though not to criticize Joko, that bureaucracy is an established system that works systematically. In planning one must set clear targets, define budget allocations and set up an evaluation system based on the Perda on annual financing."

The minister emphasized that there were long-term funding plans for the city. "If we want to do something in 2013, we must plan for it in 2012. We cannot all of a sudden make abrupt changes [by reallocating the budget] here or there," Gamawan said. "All components of the municipal government must obey the Perda on budget allocations. Too many deviations would lead to violations of the rules."

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), both of which propelled Joko and Basuki to their current positions, only have 19 legislators combined in the 94-member provincial legislative council, making their political position precarious.

Joko and Basuki now have a new fight on their hands as they try to convince the legislative council of their good intentions in tidying up the municipal administration without violating the Perda on budget.

Joko gives Jakarta officials six months to improve

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2012

Lenny Tristia Tambun – Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo issued a stern warning to the capital's public officials on Thursday: Shape up in six months or you're gone.

Joko spoke before a room of local urban ward, subdistrict and municipal heads on Thursday after finding several city offices empty during an unannounced visit on Tuesday. He said they have six months to improve, and that surprise inspections could begin as early as next week.

"Do not think that my inspections of the subdistricts and urban wards or the municipal office ended with those in the past few days," Joko said. "No, every single day I will visit places of service to the public."

Joko told the assembled crowd that municipal offices should resemble banks and provide residents with quick and efficient service.

"If there are officials who do not share our vision and mission, we will leave them behind," he said. "They will be transferred elsewhere or taken from their posts." The new governor said that he plans to continue pushing for changes in the capital.

"If there are things that are not working fine, then I will note them," he said. "These reports are necessary." (BeritaSatu, JG)

Criminal justice & prison system

Death row, but where there's life, there's hope

Sydney Morning Herald - October 27, 2012

Michael Bachelard – In August a 69-year-old prisoner died of natural causes in an Indonesian hospital. This was not meant to happen.

Bahar bin Matar was convicted in 1970 of rape, murder and kidnapping, and he was supposed, at some point in the ensuing 42 years, to have been led out of his cell, had a target hung around his neck and been riddled with bullets by a judicially sanctioned firing squad.

Instead he waited until, finally, the various illnesses of old age and poverty claimed him.

Despite the arguments of human rights activists and a 2010 appeal to the country's Constitutional Court, capital punishment is still very much enshrined in the law in Indonesia. The offences for which the firing squad may be called upon include murder, drug trafficking and terrorism.

But Indonesia has proved averse to carrying out those sentences. No one has been executed since the death of seven prisoners bookended the judicial killing of three Bali bombers in 2008.

Among those waiting on death row in Indonesian jails are two Australians – the Bali nine drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran – each of whom has recently applied for clemency from the Indonesian President.

But in the past few weeks there have been indications that at the highest political levels, Indonesia is tentatively moving to reject the death penalty.

Last week it was revealed that against the advice of the Supreme Court, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had granted clemency to the drug trafficker Deni Setia Maharwa, sentenced to death for trying to smuggle 3.5 kilograms of heroin and three kilograms of cocaine to London in 2000.

The following day it emerged that, between 2004 and 2011, Yudhoyono had reduced to life imprisonment the death sentences of four people. The Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, said pointedly that most of the world had now abolished it and Indonesia was in the minority.

Just a week or two earlier, it had been revealed that the Supreme Court judge Imron Anwari reduced the death sentence of another drug trafficker to 15 years in prison, citing the "right to life" provisions in the constitution.

A strong public reaction to these events has left no doubt that many citizens, as well as police, politicians and prosecutors, regard any move towards clemency as a sign of fatal weakness.

They are backed by the country's influential Islamic groups, including the 30 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, whose deputy chairman, Masdar Farid Mas'udi, wrote recently that, in the absence of remorse, "capital punishment is the best for [the criminal], for the people and for the state".

"This is the dilemma," the human rights lawyer Dr Todung Mulya Lubis said this week. "I appreciate the clemency granted by the President because I think it is a good step in the right direction."

On the other hand, he said, the government did not want to abolish the death penalty now. Yudhoyono's apparent solution to this dilemma is to have what Lubis calls an "unstated moratorium" on people being put to death.

The Indonesia watcher Professor Tim Lindsey agrees that Yudhoyono may be "doing good by stealth". "Five years ago there was almost no support in government circles for abolition but there's been whole series of minor concessions," Lindsey says.

The biggest single driver, though, is something happening in other countries: the brutal way Indonesian maids working in Malaysia or Saudi Arabia have been treated on death row in those countries.

One case in particular, of the 54-year-old maid Ruyati binti Sapubi, prompted popular outrage after she was publicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia in June, then her body was dangled from a helicopter in punishment for murdering her abusive mistress.

After video of her death hit TV screens, the Indonesian government set up a fund and has since used it to pay "blood money" to Saudi Arabian families in return for the freedom of its citizens.

Lubis says the implications are clear: "Indonesia does not have the right to ask for mercy for Indonesian migrant workers, to have them spared or pardoned, if we still impose that penalty in Indonesia."

Julian McMahon, the Melbourne lawyer presenting Chan's and Sukumaran's clemency pleas, is cautious about drawing too much hope but says recent events are evidence of the government "transitioning themselves to a higher-profile leadership role in this area".

"Those developments do seem positive for prisoners who are both on death row and can demonstrate rehabilitation. And that includes my clients."

Yudhoyono's term ends in 2014 and his replacement may be less keen on reform.

In the end, it will come down to the Indonesian people changing their attitudes. They could begin by listening to the death row veteran Bahar, who, 40 years after the death sentence was passed on him, said he wanted "an immediate explanation about the legal certainty I have to serve". Then, he said: "I will not be haunted by fear any more."

Intelligence & state security

Court's judgment on intel law reflects state's adherence to the rule by law

Asian Human Rights Commission - October 24, 2012

[Wahyudi Djafar, a lawyer and researcher at the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) in Indonesia spoke to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the recent judgment of the Constitutional Court concerning the Law on Intelligence. He also shared his observation as well as experience on human rights and legislation trend in the country.]

AHRC: Does Indonesia need a law on intelligence?

Wahyudi: Indonesia needs a law on intelligence, indeed. This law is needed to push reform within the state intelligence body is taking place. It is important to bear in mind that, since the fall of the New Order, the only security institutions that have never been audited were the State Intelligence Agency (Badan Intelijen Negara, BIN) as well as other state intelligence bodies, despite the fact that they were used as repressive tools by the authoritarian regime. The bad track records of intelligence bodies in the past, as can be seen in the May 1998 tragedy, have led to many discussions on the significance of the intelligence reform. In fact, in one of its recommendations, the Fact Finding Joint Team (Tim Gabungan Pencari Fakta, TGPF) of the May 1998 mentioned the urgency to draft a law on intelligence which clarifies the main responsibilities, function, and limits of the intelligence bodies' scope of operation towards the relevant state authorities, so that both national security and human rights can be respected at the same time. The presence of a law on intelligence is hoped to contribute in ensuring an effective oversight on intelligence bodies by monitoring agencies so that such bodies will not be used as a political instrument by particular groups.

AHRC: To what extent was the civil society involved in the legislation process of the law?

Wahyudi: Civil society was involved in the drafting process of the Intelligence Law in the parliament, although it was really limited and not really well planned. Several NGOs were invited by the parliament towards the end of the drafting process. Yet what unfortunate is the groups of victims who experienced the bad intelligence practices in the past were not involved in the process for their voices and opinion to be heard. A group of NGOs were systematically and consistently trying to contribute in the process – from writing a policy paper concerning intelligence reform to conducting public campaign so that public could be more involved in the drafting process. Civil society groups were also actively providing critics and suggestions regarding crucial substances, especially those which are potentially will threat civil liberties and the protection of human rights. We also actively lobbied the member of parliaments and provide many suggestions concerning the intelligence law. The number of our suggestions adopted by the parliament, however, was very limited.

AHRC: The Indonesian Constitutional Court has recently delivered its judgment on the review of Intelligence Law submitted by a group of NGOs in Indonesia. Can you please describe why did the NGOs challenge the law in the first place? Why is the law problematic?

Wahyudi: The Intelligence Law was enacted in a rush in October 2011 – this has led to many substantial problems as most of the contents were too premature. Instead of being a law that serves the purpose of being the guidance for intelligence reform in Indonesia – as it was supposed to be- it contains provisions which are not in complain with human rights and the spirit of reform.

Several articles in the law are threats to the guarantees of civil liberties, human rights protection and the freedom of the press. This law was meant to ensure the accountability of intelligence bodies. But, instead, some of its provisions have given the space for misconduct by intelligence to take place. As a result, this law has failed to reach the aim to reform the intelligence. Given these, we, the Coalition of Advocacy on the Intelligence Law, submitted a review of the law request to the Constitutional Court. Petitioners involved in the review included several NGOs who are members of the coalition, a number of victims of intelligence bodies' bad practices in the past, individuals who are concerned with the reform of the intelligence, as well as several journalists.

After studying and analysing the law, we came to the conclusion that there are at least 17 problematic provisions which potentially violate the constitutional rights of citizens due to their substances which are not in accordance with human rights and the Constitution. Those problematic provisions include the vague definition on what constitutes 'threats' and 'enemies'; the overly broad categorisation of 'intelligence's secret' which deprive the right to access to information; criminalisation on the basis of leaking intelligence's secret; the authorisation given to intelligence bodies to 'dig information'; and the special authority to conduct surveillance which is not in compliance with the right to privacy.

AHRC: What did the government and the parliament say to justify the enactment of such law?

Wahyudi: The government and parliament put the argument that the law is important to legitimise the institutionalisation and the works of the intelligence bodies. According to them, this law will make coordination and control over those bodies. In addition that, the government claimed that the enacted of the law is in accordance with the rule of law principle – as it has created the rules to clarify the limit and monitoring over state intelligence agencies. We, from the civil society, disagree with such opinion provided by the government. With terrible substances it carries, the enactment of intelligence law is not in line with rule of law but, instead, reflects the state's adherence to the rule by law.

AHRC: What do you think of the reasoning put by the judges in dismissing the claims submitted by the NGOs in the review of the law on intelligence?

Wahyudi: We are of the view that the legal reasoning (ratio decidendi) put by the Constitutional Court in its judgment did not really address the arguments given by the petitioners who claimed that the formulation of some phrases, paragraphs and articles under the Intelligence Law are problematic and not in accordance with the 1945 Constitution. To us, in its judgment, the Constitutional Court only linked one rule with another in the law and had failed to deeply explored the good practices of intelligence's works in democracy era, neither has it comprehensively examined the discourse concerning national security. As an example, on the issue of surveillance, the Constitutional Court has 'forgotten' its previous judgement on Electronic Information and Transaction Law. This means the Court is not being consistent in delivering its judgments. The Court, instead, only referred to its judgments on the Corruption Eradication Commission in 2004 and 2006 which established that surveillance may be conducted as, according to Article 28J (2) of the 1945 Constitution, the right to privacy is a qualified right.

In the judgment concerning the Electronic Information and Transaction Law in 2010, the Court had rightly pointed out the significant of having a detailed and strict regulation concerning the practice of surveillance. It in fact recommended the legislators stakeholders to create a separate law on this so the regulation is centralised. However, in the judgement on intelligence law, the Court is oddly referred to Article 28F of the Constitution on the right to information – which has nothing to do with surveillance whatsoever- when it was actually supposed to analyse under the right to privacy framework which was guaranteed under Article 28 G.

AHRC: Now the Court has decided such law is not against the Constitution, what will be the next steps taken by the civil society?

Wahyudi: After the Court dismissed our claims, we may conduct a legal examination on the court's judgment, to give comments and annotations on it. We will also guard the drafting process of the executing regulations mandated by the law – both those in the form of government regulations and institutions' internal regulations; ensure the establishment of sub- commission on intelligence's monitoring at the parliament; overseeing the implementation of the Intelligence Law to ensure that it is in compliance with legal principles, human rights and democracy. We may also submit another review request to the Constitutional Court on several articles – which is actually possible to do under Article 60 (g) of the Law on Constitutional Court, so long as we provide different constitutional arguments. Re-reviewing the provisions on surveillance under the law, in my opinion, is something really possible to do.

AHRC: How do you see the legislation trend in Indonesia in the last three years? Is it more in favour of human rights?

Wahyudi: On security issues, the enactment of repressive laws such as the Intelligence Law reflects the decline of government commitment to protect human rights. Constitutional legitimisation of Intelligence Law will only reaffirm the existing politic regime at the moment which aims for the expansion of oppressive and repressive power of security institutions, on the name of national security. The tendency to use security approach affirmed by legislations was started with the enactment of the Intelligence Law which was followed by the Law on Social Conflict, the drafting of Social Organisation Bill and, the latest, the discussion on the National Security Bill. The substances being discussed in the National Security Bill are actually similar with those formulated under the Intelligence Law when it was still a bill discussed by the parliament in 2010 to 2011. The government and parliament is somehow a bit reluctant recently to provide adequate human rights protections to its citizens. This can be seen from their reluctance to promptly ratify the Rome Statute and the Convention on Enforced Disappearances.

AHRC: What are things need to be done to ensure that the laws produced by the Parliament are not in violation of human rights?

Wahyudi: In every drafting process of a law, the parliament has not successfully internalised human rights norms, which can be seen from the substances of the bills being discussed or the discussion that raised up during the process. The discussions took place were more on semantics issues and rarely touched the substances of the law – unless the law is considered to have a high strategic value for them. This tendency reflects that there has not been any indicator or parameter used by the parliaments to measure whether a legislative product is in compliance with human rights.

For this reason, the parliament needs to prepare the parameters on human rights themselves to be implemented consistently in every drafting process of a law. It is also essential that the parliament synchronise and harmonise the bills with all relevant international human rights instruments, particularly those that have been ratified by Indonesia. Internalisation of human rights values in every drafting process as well as allowing substantial public participation in the legislation process are also essential – those things should not only be formality. It is the task of civil society to encourage and ensure all of them are implemented by the parliament.

AHRC: What are the challenges faced by civil society in ensuring the compliance of laws and regulations in Indonesia with international human rights standards?

Wahyudi: The low commitment of the government and the parliament in the promotion, fulfilment, and enforcement of human rights is the main challenge. The weak roles of the parliament and the government can be concluded, for instance, from their lack of commitment to produce laws that are 'human rights-friendly' and could be used as guidance for the enhancement and protection of human rights. Another challenge is the bad method of synchronisation and harmonisation of legislation drafts with international human rights instruments. Those instruments we have ratified are hardly taken into considerations in the process of legislation that their ratifications are almost useless. The tendency of high political transaction between fractions in the parliament during the legislation process is also a significant challenge. They do not prioritise human rights principles in doing so, but instead, their own interests. Negotiation and transaction of interests like that is what then leads to the enactment of laws that violate human rights.

AHRC: How do you see the role of the Constitutional Court in enhancing human rights protection in Indonesia? Does it help to address the human rights issues 'caused' by the Parliament in the laws it produced?

Wahyudi: The Constitutional Court should actively contribute to the protection of human rights. The aim of its establishment was to ensure the supremacy of the constitution and to introduce a 'new human rights culture' which reflects the commitment to constitutionalism. As rightly pointed by Ruti G. Teitel, the Constitutional Court was created as a response to the possibility of totalitarian ideology's reborn. The Constitutional Court is the ultimate protector of human rights and the citizens, especially when their constitutional rights are breached. To date, it actually has been quite helpful in correcting the laws produced by the parliament which are incompatible with human rights, although in other instances it also had defended the constitutionality of legislations that we consider to be in violation of human rights. As an additional note, if the checks and balances mechanism is well implemented, the parliament should be given particular attention to recommendations given by the Constitutional Court in each review of law it conducted that the parliament will not do the same mistakes.

The AHRC is not responsible for the views shared in this article, which do not necessarily reflect its own.

About Asian Human Rights Commission

The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Government claims new national security bill favors democratic principles

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The government has submitted the latest version of the National Security bill to the House of Representatives and has claimed the new draft will not contravene democratic principles.

At a hearing with lawmakers on Tuesday, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro repeatedly said the new bill accommodated public input. However, he failed to specify which articles in the bill promoted democratic principles. Instead, the new bill still contains articles that critics say are prone to abuse.

"We've deleted five articles from the older bill to make it correspond with the newly-endorsed social conflict and intelligence agency laws," Purnomo told lawmakers on Tuesday.

It was the first explanation since the government submitted the bill in March last year.

The five articles being deleted from the bill are those related to the intelligence agencies, including the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), the Police Intelligence Agency, as well as other state intelligence bodies.

It has also omitted an article that specifies the President's authority in managing national security, even though it still mandates the President to chair efforts in countering "threats against the nation".

Purnomo ensured that the national security bill would pro-democracy. "It will not contradict laws on public information as well as on freedom of the press. So, it is not true that the bill will violate freedom of the press, nor it will increase authoritarian leadership" Purnomo explained.

He added that the bill would continue to promote the roles of the National Police (in safeguarding national security), as is mandated by Law No. 2/2002 on the national police.

"It's untrue that we are attempting to reduce the police's authority in order to raise military supremacy like in the New Order era," Purnomo said.

The government's plan to set a regulation in countering threats against national security has continued to raise objections from civil society organizations, mainly due to the government's unclear definition of a threat.

The old draft defines threats as all attempts, both from within the country and abroad, that potentially cause disturbances and put individuals, societies and the state in danger.

The draft revision identifies threats as attempts, actions or roles that are proven to harm the unity of the nation in terms of security, ideology, politics, economics and culture.

"The definition is still debatable and potentially misinterpreted. How can we, for example, measure someone's ideology as threatening? You cannot arbitrarily punish people for their ideology," activist Al A'raf from rights watchdog Imparsial told The Jakarta Post.

Al A'raf cited the mandate to set up a national security council, headed by the President, as another problem of the bill that had to be settled.

"The bill mandates excessive authority to a national security council to determine a threat and the necessary action taken against it," he said.

"I don't think we need such a council because we already have a coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister whose job is to coordinate with other institutions to keep the country safe."

Headed by the President, a national security council would involve institutions responsible for the country's security including the Attorney General, BIN, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), regional governments, and civil groups.

Ruling coalition withdraws support for disputed national security bill

Jakarta Globe - October 24, 2012

Ezra Sihite – Chances for the controversial national security bill to pass anytime soon look slim after the government's coalition partners appeared to withdraw their support in the legislature.

Syarief Hasan, a senior Democratic Party official and coalition secretary, said previously that coalition parties agreed that the security bill was "important for the protection of the country."

But Golkar Party politician Yoris Raweyai said the House Special Committee (Pansus) deliberating the bill would likely reject the draft proposed by the government because key demands had not been incorporated.

The coalition comprises the Democratic Party, the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).

"Pansus [and] especially Golkar think the draft submitted by the government is very weak," Yoris said on Tuesday.

Students and human rights activists have criticized the bill, which would grant the military more power even though it has been accused of serious human rights violations.

Critics have also called the bill "a step backward" and "a threat to democracy," arguing it return Indonesia to the days of former President Suharto, when the nation was effectively under military rule.

Other critics have objected to the bill's granting of exclusive rights to some government agencies to conduct arrests and wire-tap phone conversations.

Yoris said the government should first fix the draft bill to "accommodate people's demands."

Even the opposition People's Conscience Party (Hanura), founded by retired armed forces commander Gen. Wiranto, has opposed the bill, saying that it "inhibits civil rights."

Hanura politician Syarifuddin Sudding, who is also a member of Pansus, said the House gave the government a chance to change the draft legislation, but it was returned without any revisions. "[The resubmission] makes people wonder why the government was so persistent [with the original draft]," he said.

The bill sought to provide legal grounds for military activity and align it with existing laws on natural disasters, the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), National Police, state intelligence agencies and social conflict handling.

"There is not a single explanation of how the TNI is allowed to take action in a conflict," Syarifuddin said.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government was open to suggestions and accepted criticism. "If we need to make an adjustment [to] perfect [the draft], we have no problem with that. This is only the first draft so if we need to synchronize, we are ready," Purnomo said.

He dismissed criticism that the bill would pave the way for action similar to that that occurred under Suharto's New Order regime. "It is not true that the draft aims to establish TNI supremacy. TNI does not want to [again] be involved in politics or government," he said.

But Purnomo argued that military roles need to be expanded to cope with growing national security threats. "The threats now are more complex and involve non-military powers. The risks are higher and uncertain," the minister said.

Purnomo's deputy, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, has been advocating the bill to the government's coalition partners inside the legislature, prompting concerns from non-coalition factions.

Gede Pasek Suardika, chairman of House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal matters, said there was nothing wrong with Sjafrie visiting factions at the legislature.

Foreign affairs & trade

Protocol and Papua set to cloud SBY's London visit

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2012

Arientha Primanita & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left for Britain on Tuesday for a state visit, packing two issues that could embarrass him at home and abroad.

Minutes after taking off from Halim Perdanakusumah Airport in East Jakarta, lawmakers and politicians demanded the president not kneel in front of Queen Elizabeth II when receiving his honorary knighthood today. The president is set to receive the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath medal.

Dradjat Wibowo, deputy chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), which is part of Yudhoyono's coalition, said that as a president and head of state, Yudhoyono must not kneel in front of another head of state.

"We haven't heard about how the ceremony will be conducted but for the sake of the nation's honor, there should not be any kneeling and dubbing," he said. Dradjat said that Ronald Reagan did not kneel when he received the medal in 1989, even as a former president of the United States.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, a lawmaker from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), supported Dradjat, saying that Yudhoyono must consider the nation's sovereignty and image when he receives the medal. She also highlighted the political backlash Yudhoyono might receive in Indonesia.

The other issue clouding the trip is last month's announcement made by the Britain-based Papua independence group, Free West Papua Campaign. The group offered a reward of 50,000 British pounds ($80,000) to anyone who places Yudhoyono under "citizen's arrest" during his visit to Britain.

The group accuses Yudhoyono of human rights offenses in his handling of the restive Papua provinces. The announcement suggests that Yudhoyono will be met with a demonstration by Papuans living in London, the center for the Papuan independent movement.

Shortly after the group made its announcement, the British government guaranteed the safety of Yudhoyono during his visit. Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said that the announcement created "discomfort."

"We've got the assurance from the police in Great Britain that they won't let anything happen, and that [the president's security] will be fully guaranteed," Julian said.

"The British government and especially the queen have invited the president [to come] because he is known to be a figure who has played a significant role in advancing democracy in Indonesia," Julian said. "To be honest, this is uncomfortable for us. The reward offer to arrest the president is considered an insult to a state symbol, especially because it is made by a group of people who probably have certain political interests."

Julian stated that the Indonesian government has yet to make a decision on whether it will take any action against the group in response to its reward offer.

Yudhoyono has indicated that the visit was too important to be canceled over the issue. Just before taking off, the president told reporters that the relationship between Indonesia and Britain continues to flourish.

"Bilateral trade between the two countries has reached nearly $3 billion," Yudhoyono said. "During the third quarter, Britain was the second-largest investor in Indonesia after Singapore."

Yudhoyono is slated to be in London for three days. Besides attending several state events attended by Queen Elizabeth II while in London, Yudhoyono will also hold bilateral meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron, the Prince of Wales, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and opposition leader Ed Miliband.

He is scheduled to fly to Laos on Saturday to attend the 9th summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). The president will be accompanied by his wife Ani and government officials.

Yudhoyono and Cameron both serve as leaders of a United Nations committee planning international poverty relief.

SBY to receive knighthood in UK despite citizens arrest plan

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – During his three-day visit to the United Kingdom, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is set to be bestowed with a prestigious honor by Queen Elizabeth II, in spite of a plan by activists for Papua to make a "citizens arrest" against him.

The title, given by the Queen, may make the activists think twice about arresting Yudhoyono. The Queen is expected to bestow the Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, an award that has been given to former US president Ronald Reagan, former French president Jacques Chirac and Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

The award is the highest rank of one of the oldest orders of British chivalry. Presidential spokesperson for foreign affairs Teuku Faizasyah said on Monday that receiving the award from the Queen would only be one of Yudhoyono's activities in London.

"There will be no special ceremony for the bestowing of the award. The Queen will only show it to the President in a display room after lunch on Oct. 31," he told reporters.

Yudhoyono was included in the Queen's guest list in the celebration of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee. The invitation by Queen Elizabeth II to Yudhoyono was given personally by Prime Minister David Cameron when he visited Indonesia in April.

Queen Elizabeth II only invited two heads of state, Yudhoyono and The Emir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

During his stay in London, Yudhoyono and his entourage are expected to stay at Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Queen and her family.

In London, Yudhoyono will have another bilateral meeting with Cameron. He is also scheduled to speak with the country's top figures including Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, British Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and opposition leader Ed Miliband.

Yudhoyono will also lead the second meeting of the high-level panel on Post-Millenium Development Goals (MDG). Yudhoyono, Cameron and Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson are co-chairs of the panel.

The panel's meeting in London follows the first, which was held on the sidelines of the UN's 67th General Assembly session in New York, last month.

Yudhoyono is reported to be uneasy with the citizen arrest plans by pro- Papua independence activists. Presidential spokesperson Julian Aldrin Pasha said that Yudhoyono would not file a complaint with the UK government and that it would not affect the trip to London.

The Free West Papua campaign, which is believed to be based in Great Britain, has offered a reward of #50,000 (US$81,325) to "the first person[s] to perform a citizens arrest" on Yudhoyono during his state visit to the UK. The activists have said Yudhoyono must be held accountable for allegedly "ordering ongoing genocide in West Papua".

The website said that anybody could claim the reward if they could "calmly and in a gentle fashion lay a hand on Yudhoyono's shoulder or elbow, in such a way that he cannot have any cause to complain of being hurt or trapped by you, and announce loudly, 'Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, this is a citizen's arrest for genocide and crimes against humanity in West Papua. I am inviting you to accompany me to a police station to answer the charge'."

The attempt has also to be "reported in at least one mainstream media outlet" because the action would only be "largely symbolic but will have great political resonance", the website says.

The last State Visit by the Queen and Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, to Indonesia was in 1974 when the British delegation were welcomed by the late president Soeharto.

Yudhoyono, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and their entourage will depart from the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force base in East Jakarta for London on Tuesday.

Sir Susilo: SBY to be knighted during upcoming British visit

Jakarta Globe - October 29, 2012

Arientha Primanita – Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will grant a medal of knighthood to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his forthcoming visit to Britain, which is set to commence on Tuesday.

"The medal is called the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. It is said to be a recognition [of some sort], but I don't know exactly what [it'll be given to Yudhyono] for and will not make any guesses," Indonesian presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said on Monday.

He added that there would be no special ceremony for the presentation of the medal, but the queen was expected to give it to Yudhoyono after a lunch banquet in London on Wednesday.

Past recipients of the order include former US president Ronald Reagan, former French president Jacques Chirac and current Turkish president Abdullah Gul.

The Order of the Bath is the fourth-most senior of the British Orders of Chivalry, after The Most Noble Order of the Garter, The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle and The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick.

The Knight Grand Cross is the highest of three classes within the Order of the Bath, which is awarded to military members or civilians who have made outstanding achievements.

Yudhoyono is slated to be in London for a three-day working visit. He will leave Jakarta for London on Tuesday and then fly to Laos on Nov. 3, Faizasyah said in a statement.

The president will be accompanied by his spouse, Ani Yudhoyono, and a retinue of officials, the spokesman added.

He said the visit to Britain was to honor an invitation by by Queen Elizabeth II, while the during working portion of the visit to Laos the president will attend the 9th summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) there.

Besides attending a number of state events attended by Queen Elizabeth II while in London, Yudhoyono will also hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, the Prince of Wales, chairman of the Liberal Democrat Party Nick Clegg and opposition leader Ed Miliband.

"The state visit by the Indonesian president, at the request of Queen Elizabeth II, will hopefully enhance cooperation between the two countries, bilaterally or in the context of joint efforts in facing various global issues," Faizasyah said.

He said that during Cameron's visit to Jakarta in April, it was agreed that bilateral cooperation would focus on trade, investment, education, environment, democracy and interfaith cooperation.

The president will also deliver speeches at several forums, including the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Indonesia, the Royal College for Defense Studies and Wilton Park.

He is also scheduled to co-chair the second high-level panel on post- millenium development goals. The first meeting was held on the margin of the 67th UN general assembly in New York in September. Cameron and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, are the other co-chairmen.

Yudhoyono's visit to Laos will commence on Nov. 3 to honor the invitation of Laotian President Choummaly. Yudhoyono will hold a bilateral meeting with the host.

"The state visit of the president to Laos will feasibly enhance bilateral relations between Indonesia and Laos in various fields, and promote the joint interests of the region, especially through Asean," Faizasyah said.

On the margin of the ASEM summit, Yudhoyono is also scheduled to attend the 13th Asia-Europe Business Forum and also to participate in several meetings, including with French President Francois Hollande.

Faizasyah said that the summit will discuss joint efforts in overcoming various global issues, especially the global economic crisis. (BeritaSatu/JG)

Analysis & opinion

Should religion stay and science go from primary schools?

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2012

Debnath Guharoy, Roy Morgan – That is no rhetorical question. In Indonesia, it is a very real prospect.

Everybody knows that the early years of a child's life are called the formative years of a person's life, with good reason. Those are the years where core instincts and beliefs are embedded into the individual's psyche, almost indelibly, forever.

It could well be said that these are the best of times for the human species. For most people on the planet, the quality of life has improved dramatically in the modern age. The planet itself is still in reasonably good shape, but it looks increasingly threatened from here onwards. In the last century alone, remarkable progress has been made across all walks of life. From education to health, travel to telecommunications, agriculture to architecture, the quantum jumps over each decade have been beyond imagination. But ask any futurist and he or she will tell you that the fun has just begun, we are still medieval in comparison to where we will soon be. At the cutting edge of this on-going revolution, is science. Not religion. Science will only take us forward. The evidence shows that religion could well take us backwards. The Holy Wars are far from over. The battle-lines appear to be hardening.

Against that backdrop, last week's revelation by the Education and Culture Ministry that science will soon be deleted from the country's primary school curriculum is a giant leap backwards. Science is apparently adding unbearable stress to Indonesia's children in their critically formative years. Have they been teaching rocket science to the little ones while we haven't been watching? The teaching of religion, on the other hand, will remain untouched. This is a 21st-century proclamation that will add to the redefining of a modern and democratic Indonesia. It will do very little to improve the country's poor record in the field of education. Progressive nations are talking STEM with increasing vigor: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In sharp contrast, Indonesia is seen to be talking blasphemy and religion in recent months. Pronouncements such as these will do little more than encourage the vigilantes of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) to decide who gets to sacrifice cows for Idul Adha and who does not. All of this sounds more medieval than futuristic. Or is that the future of Indonesia being redefined as we sleep? Will that really affect Indonesia's social, economic and political progress? Wake up, dear reader, before it's too late.

Religion is a matter of individual choice in any democracy. The last time I looked at the national emblem, it still had "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" emblazoned on it. The state, via its elected representatives today, has every right to erase it. Parents have every right to decide what their children should or should not believe, till such time the child turns into an adult. Together, the people and their representatives, would do well to decide the kind of Indonesia they would like to see rise tomorrow. All too often nowadays, it looks like the elected leaders are allowing a loud but shrinking minority of religious conservatives change the course of the nation, completely at odds with the will of the moderate majority. If religion should be taught in schools, does each and every Indonesian have the right to ask "which religion"? If religion must be taught in schools, does each and every Indonesian have the right to ask "does it have to be at the expense of science?"

The challenge for Indonesia's economic future is not unemployment any longer. It is under-employment and low wages. Better wages are invariably linked to better skills. Skills are linked to education, not just the quantity but quality as well. Qualitatively and quantitatively, education in Indonesia leaves much to be desired. Removing science from the curriculum in primary schools cannot be a step in the right direction. Removing the teaching of English as well is like adding insult to injury. These are giant leaps backward for an Indonesia that will need to compete more aggressively in a shrinking and borderless world.

Even while Indonesia has progressed rapidly in socioeconomic terms in the last decade, the fundamental numbers illustrating educational prowess have remained almost static. A massive 30 percent of the adult population continues to possess only primary school level education. This number has moved down by four percentage points in the last five years, and looks like a trend that will continue. During that time, middle school dropouts have remained static at 30 percent while high-school graduates climbed up four points to 34 percent. People with diplomas or university degrees also went up by one point to 3 percent. Good news, but not good enough by any stretch of the imagination. Compounding the problem of a largely uneducated workforce, the number of people with a certificate from a polytechnic or vocational institute remains static at 2 percent. If these vitally important numbers do not move steadily upwards, Indonesia's economic muscle will fall far short of its full potential. To reiterate, it is time to STEM the rot. Not time to wind back science.

My opinions are influenced by Roy Morgan Single Source, the country's largest syndicated survey. More than 26,000 respondents are interviewed every year, week after week. The data is projected to reflect 87 percent of the population 14 years of age and over.