The Constitutional Court has rejected a request to transfer the full burden of compensation covering all the land affected by the Lapindo mudflow, to the oil and gas company owned by the family of Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Several people including former Airlangga University lecturer Tjuk Kasturi Sukiadi and author Ali Azhar Akbar had filed a judicial review questioning why money from the state budget was being used to compensate a mistake made by the company, Lapindo Brantas.

The Sidoarjo mudflow in East Java – which began erupting in May 2006 after the blowout of one of Lapindo's natural gas wells – destroyed hundreds of homes, swamped 720 hectares of land and displaced thousands of people. The company only agreed to compensate victims within the boundaries of the affected area.

The applicants had asked for a review of article 18 and 19 of the 2012 Law on State Budget – which said the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS) could use the funds from the state budget to compensate the victims whose land in three villages located outside of the map of the affected area were damaged, costs which Lapindo refused to pay.

They said the state budget should not be used to compensate the mistake made by the company. But the court considered that allocating the state budget to handle the problem created by the mudflow outside the map of the affected area did not eliminate the responsibility and obligations of Lapindo Brantas.

"[The court] declares rejecting the whole request of the applicants," chairman of the Constitutional Court Mahfud MD said on Thursday as quoted by Antarasumbar.com.

The court judge Anwar Usman said the government had shared the compensation responsibility with Lapindo Brantas, adding that Lapindo were still responsible for compensating those who lived within the affected area map, while the government covered the compensation for those who lived outside the map of the affected area.

"If the government did not share the responsibility to solve the problems of Sidoarjo people, they would have been suffering without legal certainty," Anwar said.

"Buying the land and building outside the map of the affected area as part of the mitigation effort on mudflow eruption is not against the constitution. The court consider the applicant's request to review [the law] was legally not proven and baseless."

Bakso sellers adding pork could get five years in prison

Jakarta Globe - December 14, 2012

The Trade Ministry on Friday said it was conducting random sampling of meatball soup sold by vendors in Greater Jakarta, threatening five-year prison terms to those proven to be mixing pork into ostensibly pure-beef meatballs.

The ministry made the move after police raided a factory producing meatballs – better known here as bakso – in Cipete, South Jakarta, on Wednesday, alleging that workers there were adding pork to bakso that its makers claimed was purely beef.

On Thursday, West Jakarta administration officials found three beef bakso mixtures containing pork out of 34 samples taken from a number of markets in West Jakarta.

Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said producers of such bakso were in violation of Indonesia's consumer protection law, unless they informed customers that the bakso contained pork.

"We'll do lab tests. If it's true they have deceived the customers, then this is a crime. The punishment will be five years in jail or Rp 2 billion ($207,000) in fines," Bayu told journalists in Jakarta on Friday.

Bayu said his office took random samples from bakso vendors and producers in Senen, Central Jakarta; Rawamangun and Cempaka Putih in East Jakarta; Darmaga in Bogor; and other locations.

He added that the illegal practice was prompted by soaring beef prices, which have reached about Rp 100,000 per kilogram. Pork prices, meanwhile, range between Rp 30,000 and Rp 40,000 per kilogram.

"The traders indeed do this on profit considerations," Bayu said, as reported by Indonesian news portal detik.com.

MPR ignores calls by Sukarno supporters for withdrawal of 1967 resolution

Jakarta Globe - December 12, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The People's Consultative Assembly says a resolution it issued in 1967 stripping Sukarno of his presidency for an inability to carry out his duties is no longer considered valid, but refuses to pass a new resolution confirming this.

Hajriyanto Thohari, a deputy speaker of the assembly known as the MPR, said on Tuesday that there was a general understanding that the earlier resolution no longer applied. "That's why we don't feel it's necessary to issue a new resolution to rescind the old one," he said.

"[The resolution] is categorized as one of those resolutions that no longer require a legal response because they are considered to have run their course. If, on the other hand, we were to formally rescind it, that would spark new controversy."

He was responding to growing calls for the resolution to be officially withdrawn following the conferring of national hero status on the late Sukarno last month.

Supporters of the country's founding president say that the 1967 resolution left a deeply ingrained stigma on Sukarno's legacy, and argue that he will not be universally accepted as a national hero until the resolution is formally rescinded.

In the resolution, issued more than a year after the September 1965 coup attempt, the MPR stated that Sukarno was "no longer able to fulfill his constitutional responsibilities."

It also prohibited him from standing for public office or practicing politics, and appointed Gen. Suharto as acting president. Suharto would go on to rule the country for the next 31 years.

The resolution was widely seen as the reason the government repeatedly overlooked Sukarno in its annual national hero honors. The recognition of Sukarno at this year's ceremony came nearly 46 years after the resolution was passed in February 1967.

Among the most vocal proponents of the 1967 resolution being withdrawn is the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), an offshoot of Sukarno's own Indonesian National Party (PNI), which is chaired by the former president's daughter, Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Yasonna Laoly, the PDI-P chairman at the MPR, called for a national awareness campaign to clear any lingering doubts about Sukarno's legacy. "It's hard to understand how Bung Karno can be accused of betraying the very country that he helped found," he said, referring to Sukarno by his popular nickname.

Jakarta factory accused of adding pork to bakso mix

Jakarta Globe - December 12, 2012

Jakarta Police arrested four people on Wednesday for running a meat processing factory that allegedly mixed pork into what is supposed to be pure beef meatballs, which are used in the popular soup better known here as bakso.

The arrest was made during a joint raid of the factory near Cipete market in South Jakarta by police and the farming and fisheries unit of the South Jakarta administration. The factory has supplied meatballs to bakso vendors in Jakarta.

"[The operators] had been mixing beef and pork to produce meatballs in this meat processing factory," an official with the Jakarta administration, Nurhasan, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"Prior to this [raid], we gathered samples of the processed meat, and they tested positive for pork," he added, according to the official news website of the Jakarta administration, beritajakarta.com.

In majority-Muslim Indonesia, consumption of pork is considered haram (forbidden under Islam) by many.

Nurhasan said police detained the owner of the factory, Eka Prayitno, and three of his employees. Police also questioned two bakso sellers that were seen at the location.

Police also seized 50 kilograms of pork and 15 kilograms of processed meat containing beef and pork from the factory.

Nurhasan said the factory had operated for two years, although it was not clear when its operators began adding pork to the meatball mixture. He added that the suspects did the mixing to bolster profit margins, citing relatively higher beef prices.

The suspects are charged with violating a Jakarta meat trade and slaughter monitoring bylaw, and face up to three months in jail and Rp 5 million ($520) in fines.

Wealth gap widens as Indonesia's rich get richer

Koran Jakarta - December 11, 2012

Jakarta – The growth in the number of wealthy individuals over the last 10 years has been spectacular, increasing by five fold or by 500 percent.

This can be seen from the total wealth and bank deposits that continue to increase. Data shows that the growth in the number of rich in Indonesia has been the fastest and most spectacular in the world over the last decade, surpassing even China where the number of wealthy people has only risen three fold or 300 percent.

"We project that the growth in [the number] of wealthy people in Indonesia over the next five years will continue to skyrocket by [a figure] of two fold", said Center for Welfare Studies (Perkumpulan Prakarsa) director Setyo Budiantoro in Jakarta on Tuesday December 10. According to Budiantoro, in 2012 the number of people with assets of US$1 million or around 9.5 billion rupiah totaled 104,000.

And by 2017 it is estimated that this will increase to 207,000 people. This growth is among the fastest in the world, along with Brazil, Malaysia, Poland and Russia. Although optimistic about the growth in the number of wealthy, Budiantoro said that this is still not 'quality' growth and is unbalanced.

The number of relatively poor people that own assets of less than US$10,000 or around 95 million rupiah still dominates and stands at 82 percent of the population. This far above the global average of 69 percent.

Bank deposits

This wealth inequality can also be seen from the structure of bank deposits that have not changed over the last few years. Total customer deposits in banks, which have reached more than 3,000 trillion rupiah, are held in 111 million accounts. Almost 1,300 trillion rupiah or 43 percent of these deposits are held in less than 60,000 accounts.

So, less than 1.4 percent of accounts hold almost 2,400 trillion rupiah or 78 percent of deposits. Alongside the growth in the number of rich, Budiantoro said that the wealth of the 40 richest people in Indonesia has also increased several fold. Over the last three years, between 2009 and 2011, the wealth of the 40 richest people has increase by four fold.

In 2008 the total wealth of the 40 richest people stood at around US$20 billion or around 190 trillion rupiah. By 2011 this had skyrocketed to US$85 billion or around 800 trillion rupiah. "Meaning the value of the 190 trillion rupiah owned by the 40 richest people in 2008 is equivalent to what is owned by 30 million poor people", said Budiantoro. lex/E-9

Notes

According to the Deposit Security Agency (LPS), in 2012 51 percent of bank deposits totalling 1,700 trillion rupiah were held by 0.13 percent customers. Data from the National Land Agency (BPN) found that the majority of state assets in the form of land were controlled by 0.2 percent of the population.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Actions, demos, protests...

Rp400 million in losses reported as demonstrators block Jakarta toll road

Jakarta Globe - December 14, 2012

State toll road operator Jasa Marga reported at least Rp 400 million ($41,000) in potential losses on Friday as thousands of demonstrators blockaded the Jakarta inner city toll road, urging passage of a bill.

Thousands of heads of villages and urban wards across the country gathered in front of the House of Representatives in Central Jakarta on Friday, demanding immediate passage of a bill that would see them granted civil servant status and an increase in pay.

Agus, a village head from the Central Java district of Kendal, said 240 village officers in Kendal were not yet civil servants and only received Rp 300,000 ($31) per month. Ali Masudin, a village head from Banjarnegara, another Central Java district, said he was only paid Rp 400,000 per month.

"Ideally, our salary should be Rp 900,000," Agus told Indonesian news portal tempo.co.

In addition to blockading the road in front of the House complex, the demonstrators also spilled over into two lanes of the adjacent inner city toll road for more than two hours, resulting in traffic gridlock along Jalan Gatot Subroto and Jalan S. Parman, and surrounding areas.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons as the rally turned violent, with demonstrators rolling large rocks onto the road in an attempt to further blockade it and pushing on toll road barriers until they collapsed. Those actions followed an announcement from House Speaker Marzuki Alie, who said lawmakers could not pass the bill on Friday as the protesters were demanding.

A group of demonstrators reportedly hired infamous Jakarta gang leader Hercules to help coordinate the crowd. Police arrested 14 protesters for hurling stones at officers.

"Potential losses are estimated to reach Rp 400 million. That has yet to include barriers around toll gates damaged by the crowd. It [damage to the barriers] costs about Rp 20 million," Jasa Marga operational director Hasanuddin said on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com.

West Papua

Australian media only tells half the story about West Papua

The Conversation - December 14, 2012

Kayt Davies, Edith Cowan University – Last Friday a picture story appeared on page three of The Age that was ostensibly about events in West Papua. The story was pitched as a quirky yarn, replete with a wacky Disney character, a kilt (always a bit funny) and some large weapons. All these elements tick boxes on the newsworthiness checklist – but, as US journalist Charles Feldman told a gathering of the Journalism Education Association of Australia in Melbourne earlier last week, "there is a difference between news and journalism".

The story was about Gerard Michael Little, who presents as a well meaning man dismayed at the death toll in Papua and who allegedly wanted to put his military and paramilitary training to good use in the form of an armed peace keeping force. He was arrested in Brisbane last week under a rarely used law that prohibits hostile activities by armed non-state actors, including planning and training.

To make the charges stick, the prosecutor will have to prove that he was armed and intending to take offensive action.

The story's first appearance was on Wednesday December 5 when The Australian, ABC Local, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Herald Sun and APN's Toowoomba Chronicle reported that Little had been arrested. The Jakarta Globe followed up the next day as news emerged from his court appearance.

The articles were all accounts of the bare facts of the court case, in turn highlighting Little's Victorian and Toowoomba connections, paramilitary training in the Ukraine, disability pension and grandfather status. Reporting a day later, The Age's Justice Editor Dan Oakes did commendable research on the man and wrote up what he found.

But what was omitted was the context. What is happening in West Papua, in general and in particular this week, goes some way towards explaining Little's actions.

Having arrived in Melbourne a day ahead of a gathering of journalism educators, I was in town for the December 1 West Papuan flag day celebrations in front of the State Library. West Papuan foreign minister in exile Jacob Rumbiak told the crowd he'd spent a decade in prison for raising a flag in Papua, and that he had many colleagues behind bars for exercising their right to peacefully express their opinion. A young Papuan activist read an open letter to Julia Gillard calling for Australia to take responsibility for the actions of the troops it is training and the atrocities they are committing on Papuan soil.

While Melbourne was sunny and bright, the cloud that passed over the gathering in its final moment at Federation Square was news that Victor Yeimo, the chairman of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) had been arrested. His crime was to lead a peaceful protest march.

The Melbourne West Papuan community waited for news, as international human rights monitors made enquiries about Yeimo's status and whereabouts. The next day police announced he had been released, leading to concern that he may have "disappeared".

But Yeimo surfaced, and filed a report that quoted Jayapura police captain Kiki Kurnia saying, "We are ready to wreak havoc and clash with all of you". Yeimo called on the international community to take action.

Other positive news that didn't attract the interest of News Ltd, Fairfax or the ABC: an announcement that the Indonesian Law and Human Rights Ministry had agreed to give sentence remissions to around 20 Papuan political prisoners. This announcement must be backed by vigilant international watchdog journalism to ensure that it delivers the due judicial process it appears to promise.

Tempering the optimism of this announcement was the sad news that political prisoner Timotius Napirem Ap was shot dead – in the feet, neck and back – by police.

This is just one week in the rolling saga of the civil resistance movement in West Papua. It's a story that involves villagers who live in grass huts in jungles, students who live in dorms in the urban heart of Jayapura, Australian mining executives, and the protesters who gathered in Melbourne.

For them, the flurry of news attention given to Little's arrest must seem odd. That events like these would prompt a military-trained man to step in and try to do something about the void of international neglect and media disinterest is not surprising. But he's a symptom, not the cause, and his story is just a quirky tangent to a real story that is mostly ignored by Australia's mainstream media.

[Kayt Davies does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.]

Muslim youth in Jayapura to provide security on Christmas

Antara News - December 12, 2012

Jayapura, Papua – The Police chief of Jayapura in Papua province, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Alfred Papare, has stated that Muslim youths will assist police personnel in ensuring security at the city's churches during the Lilin Operation in the region.

"Besides the personnel from Jayapura Police office, who are in charge of protecting churches, Muslim youths in the city will also be involved in maintaining security," he said here on Wednesday.

Alfred noted that the police had sought the cooperation of the city's Muslim youth leaders in ensuring security during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

"I have also communicated with several Muslim youth leaders and asked them to assist in providing security at churches, particularly during Christmas," he continued.

Alfred said 500 police officers will be deployed in an effort to step up security in Jayapura during the festivities. "Our personnel will be stationed in several points, such as Luat Jayapura, Port Area, Entrop, Abepura and Waena," he pointed out.

Alfred stated that police officers will also be stationed in Nafri village to maintain security in the violence-prone area. "We will examine the security in the area. If necessary, we will hold patrols in some vulnerable zones," he said.

Alfred urged the people of Jayapura to celebrate Christmas and New Year peacefully.

"The Christmas and New Year are just like other religious holidays. We should celebrate them all in the same way. However, it is not just the police's responsibility to maintain peace; all citizens must contribute to the effort," he said. (B019/KR-BSR/O001)

Indonesia denies restricting media access to Papua

ABC News - December 10, 2012

George Roberts, Indonesia – Indonesia's Foreign Minister has vowed to review any cases of journalists being refused entry to the country's disputed Papua regions.

Marty Natalegawa has told a foreign journalists' group that 35 reporters have been granted access to Papuan provinces in the past year.

But it is understood most, if not all, were travel journalists. Seven were rejected, and three without permission.

Mr Natalegawa says there should be open access to report in the area but there are security concerns. He has demanded his department tell him if a journalist is denied access.

"If there are cases of rejection, you must tell me so I can look into the cases personally," he said. He says he does not mind what people report on and also offered to accompany one journalist there to report on whatever they wish.

Human rights & justice

Violation victims demand vindication

Jakarta Post - December 14, 2012

Kusumasari Ayuningtyas, Surakarta – Victims of serious human rights violations are demanding the government restore their good name and straighten out history with regard to the outrages they experienced in the past.

They made their demands during a forum on serious human rights violations at the official residence of the Surakarta mayor on Thursday. The forum heard testimony from six former victims who live in Surakarta, Central Java.

A witness of the 1989 Talangsari massacre in Lampung, four witnesses from the 1965 Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) purge and a witness from the 1997/1998 reform activist killings and kidnappings were on hand to tell their stories.

"I just want to have my good name restored because the facts have been twisted. The truth is that the state apparatus arrested and killed innocent people," Sugeng Yulianto, witness to the Talangsari massacre, told the forum.

Sugeng arrived in Talangsari in 1989 from Surakarta with his migrating family only one day after the incident took place.

The Talangsari massacre was a repression of Muslim communities in Central Lampung accused of being extreme rightists. Hundreds of people were massacred, while some others were reportedly arrested by military personnel.

Sugeng said his wife and his three kids were detained for four months for questioning. Sugeng was accused of being a rebel and an intruder. "In fact, I knew nothing about the incident until I was arrested and tortured," he said.

Good name restorations were also demanded by Kastinah Sunardi, 64, Jasmono Wongso Prawiro, 74, Sanusi, 71, and Sudiharjo, 75, all the victims of the 1965 purge.

In her testimony, Kastinah said she was forced to admit she was a member of PKI womens wing Gerwani and was sexually abused during her 14-year imprisonment. "I just want history to tell the truth, that we are innocent," Kastinah said.

Meanwhile, Budiharti Fatah, mother of Leonardus Iskandar Nugroho alias Gilang, demanded for a thorough investigation of her son's case.

Gilang was reportedly kidnapped on May 21, 1998 following the riots in Surakarta as part of the reform movement. He was missing for three days before his body was found shot and stabbed in Sarangan forest, Magetan, East Java.

"My son is just one of the victims. Don't let the same thing to happen in the future," she said. "I will never know why my son was kidnapped. If he was accused of being involved in the riots it was not true because Gilang was sick at that time and did not go out for few days," said Budiharti.

Budiharti said she had frequently gone to the State Palace with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), seeking for justice but nothing happened.

Kontras data shows that 23 activists were kidnapped during 1997/1998. One was dead, nine were released and the other 13 are still declared missing today.

Winarso, coordinator of the 1965 Joint Secretariat that organized the forum, said that his organization would continue assisting the victims until their demands were met while at the same time helping them restore their self confidence and get through their trauma.

"The facts have been twisted. The truth must be revealed," said Winarso, expressing hope that the government would admit the witnesses were victims of serious human rights violations.

Film praised by victims, shocks students

Jakarta Post - December 13, 2012

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Victims of the 1965 coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) have praised a documentary on the alleged killings that took place in the coup's aftermath, but added that the film did not disclose all the historical facts.

The Act of Killing, directed by American filmmaker Joshua Lincoln Oppenheimer, centers on Anwar Congo, a respected member of the Pemuda Pancasila youth organization, which allegedly killed hundreds of PKI members in Medan, North Sumatra.

Anwar and his friends used to be small-time gangsters until they were recruited as death squad leaders in the wake of the coup.

A number of victims of the 1965 purge, both students and activists, had their chance to watch the film, screened for the first time in Medan at the North Sumatra Advocacy and Legal Aid (Bakumsu) office on Tuesday.

Astaman Hasibuan, a victim, said he appreciated the film. "I enjoyed the movie," said Astaman, who is the secretary of the North Sumatra chapter of the Families of Missing Persons Association (IKOHI).

However, he added that there were still many historical facts that had not been revealed in the film. Astaman said one such fact was the massive number of victims killed in the tragedy after they were taken from military confinement.

"This is a weakness of the film, but we can understand this because none of the victims of the 1965 coup were involved in the making of the film," Astaman told The Jakarta Post after the movie screening.

He criticized the 165-minute film for not depicting the conflict between Pemuda Pancasila and victims of the 1965 coup, and added that many soldiers were also involved.

Another victim, Chairuman, said that what was depicted in the film was generally true but it still had many flaws.

Film screening organizer Juniarti Aritonang said the screening had received approval from the director, but added that she had to lobby Oppenheimer for months in order to secure it.

She said the film screening was carried out in conjunction with International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. The film will also be screened on some campuses in Medan.

In Jakarta, students of Bina Nusantara International University (Binus) were shocked after learning of the country's grisly history, which they had never learnt about in school textbooks, after they watched the documentary in Senayan on Wednesday.

"I have learned about the PKI, but I never knew how sadistic the killers were," said student Gabby Naya, a student, said.

Another Binus student, Budianwar Wahyu Pratama, 21, deemed the movie "a revelation" that changed his perception of some of the country's respected figures. "Our history has been distorted. Those who I perceived as heroes were, in fact, crueler than those who were considered enemies," he said.

It is very unlikely that public cinemas will dare to screen the film, given the sensitivity of the subject in Indonesia. (yps)

Mining, plantation firms reported for rights abuses

Jakarta Post - December 12, 2012

Jakarta – Mining and plantation companies are among the actors that should be held responsible for numerous human rights abuses in the country, according to a National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) report.

On Tuesday, the rights commission revealed that companies ranked second – trailing behind the National Police – in its list of institutions reported for human rights violations.

Komnas HAM chairman Otto Nur Abdullah said that the commission had received 5,442 reports of human rights abuses between January and November, with 1,009 of them allegedly committed by companies.

The National Police topped the list with 1,635 reported cases of human rights violations. Last year, Komnas HAM received 1,068 reports implicating companies throughout 2011. As many as 354 cases dealt with land disputes, while 338 others related to employment issues.

"The figures show that companies are among nongovernmental actors, besides mass organizations, that have the potential to be human rights offenders," Otto said during a press conference at Komnas HAM headquarters in Central Jakarta.

Human rights cases related to the private sector primarily involved land disputes with 399 cases reported, followed by employment disputes with 276 cases.

Komnas HAM commissioner Natalius Pigai added that a majority of land disputes implicated plantation companies, particularly palm oil firms in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

"The reports are dominated by land seizure for oil palm plantations operated by private companies. But, we also found land dispute reports implicating state-owned firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara [PTPN]," he told The Jakarta Post, adding that the remaining cases involved mining companies.

Zainal Abidin, an activist with the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), said that land disputes remained a major human rights issue in Indonesia due to a lack of commitment from the central government as well as local administrations.

"The problem is rooted in the land permit issuance process from the New Order era. The government, through the National Land Agency [BPN], has not provided breakthroughs to address this," Zainal said in a telephone interview.

He added that the BPN, under the leadership of Hendarman Supandji, did not give sufficient assistance to settle the cases. "Most local leaders fail to solve the matter because they consider the importance of the companies' investments for their regions. For some, it is a matter of enriching themselves," he said.

Zainal suggested that the government form a commission for agricultural land disputes to provide careful and fair decisions on such matters.

Aside from plantation and mining firms, Komnas HAM received 276 reports on employment disputes that mostly implicated manufacturing companies in Greater Jakarta and East Java. Natalius said that reports indicated some companies had banned or tried to dissolve labor unions.

"Some companies try to weaken labor unions by forming a new labor union. They persuade workers to move out from the labor unions that demand better working environments or wages," he said.

He said that Komnas HAM participated in the resolution of human rights abuses by sending warning letters to the companies. "Most of them responded to our letters and tried to solve the matters," he said, adding that the commission was developing a better system to address such problems.

In its report, Komnas HAM concluded that the protection of human rights in Indonesia had stagnated. The 5,422 reports filed this year were a significant rise from the 4,502 reports received in 2011. (yps)

Widespread protests mark international Human Rights Day

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Ainur Rohmah and Bambang Muryanto, Semarang/Yogyakarta – International Human Rights Day, which fell on Monday, was marked with rallies staged by marginalized communities throughout the archipelago, protesting against human rights violations that continue to mar the country's development.

Dozens of farmers, for example, staged a rally on Jl. Pahlawan in Semarang, Central Java, protesting against their forced eviction by the government to make way for the construction of the Logung Dam in Kudus regency.

They demanded the government pay attention to the welfare of the farmers affected by the dam's construction, which began in 2010, said one of the protesters, Kasnadi, a 35-year-old farmer in Kandang Mas. "Our livelihoods depend on those lands," he said.

The dam, located in the villages of Tanjungrejo in Jekulo and Kandang Mas in Dawe, occupies 196 hectares of land owned by 400 heads of households.

Besides losing their livelihoods, the farmers were also cheated by the government as they were not compensated well enough, Kasnadi said.

"We weren't involved [in the discussion]. They suddenly just slapped a Rp 28,000 [US$2.90] - Rp 30,000 price tag per meter, which was too low for our land," he said.

The Semarang chapter of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) disclosed that in 2012, human rights violations in Central Java consisted predominantly of cases of land and labor disputes. "This is ironic because Central Java is known as a province where the majority of its people depend on the agriculture and industrial sectors for their living," said LBH Semarang head Zainal Arifin.

According to Zainal, there are at least 21 cases of criminalization of workers/people, consisting of 15 cases involving mining, five cases involving the environment and one case involving a land dispute.

"We also listed a huge number of conflicts regarding land acquisition for the sake of development that threatened hundreds of farmers with losing their land," Zainal said in Semarang on Monday.

LBH found overlapping rules and regulations on land negotiations were a primary factor in many cases and threatened the economic rights of traditionally marginalized communities.

"Among the human rights violations in the labor sector are the many cases [related to] dismissals, the contractual working system and low wages," he said.

In Yogyakarta, around 100 activists affiliated with the People's Alliance for Justice (AMUK), held a rally at the Yogyakarta provincial administrative office to commemorate International Human Rights Day and Anticorruption Day. They said the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono had failed to uphold human rights and eradicate corruption in Indonesia.

"The government must resolve the cases of human rights violation to protect the victims. However, the state has instead protected human rights violators. Many of the unresolved cases of human rights violations have not been resolved, such as the Trisakti and Mesuji tragedies," AMUK coordinator Angga said on Monday.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, International Human Rights Day and Anticorruption Day were marked with clashes in three places - the governor's office, the prosecutor's office and on Jl. Sultan Alauddin.

The crowd vandalized the entrance and signboard of the governor's office. They intended to meet the governor, but no officials were willing to meet them. Police had to push the crowd back with tear gas.

In Medan, North Sumatra, thousands of workers from various regions took to the streets on Monday, blocking the Belawan-Medan-Tanjung Morawa (Belmera) turnpike, thus totally cutting off access to the Trans-Sumatra highway.

The roadblock, which was in place for several hours, was implemented by workers for the third time in the past month. Besides blocking the Belmera turnpike, they also blocked the road between Medan and Binjai city.

In Palu, Central Sulawesi, students from Tadulako University's Law School on Monday held a rally to urge law enforcers to be earnest in handling corruption cases in the province.

Protesters raised doubts over a number of alleged graft cases currently being handled by the prosecutor's office, such as the alleged misappropriation of Rp 53 billion ($5.8 million) from the Morowali regency budget and a case involving the issuance of overlapping mining licenses.

[Andi Hajramurni, Apriadi Gunawan and Ruslan Sangaji contributed to this article.]

Police, companies are top human rights violators: Komnas HAM

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has named the police and companies as the top human rights violators in the country this year.

Komnas HAM chairman Otto Nur Abdullah said on Tuesday that the commission had received 5,442 reports on human rights violations between January and November, with 1,635 of them said to have been committed by police officers.

A staggering 893 reports filed dealt with discrimination and abuse during police investigations, while the remaining 134 reports complained about the procedure of arrest.

"Komnas HAM urges the National Police to restrain themselves from violence, to use a persuasive approach and to improve their ability to detect social conflicts," Otto said during a press conference at Komnas HAM headquarters in Jakarta.

This year, the commission also received 1,009 reports on human rights abuses allegedly conducted by companies. The reports said that the companies were involved in land disputes (399 cases), employment disputes (276 cases) and environmental pollution and damage (72 cases).

"The figures reflect that companies are among the non-governmental actors, besides mass organizations, that have the potential to be human rights offenders," he added.

Komnas HAM commissioner Natalius Pigai said he was concerned that many companies banned or strategically weakened labor unions to undermine salary rise demands.

Komnas HAM said that the figure of this year's report was 20.4 percent higher than last year's 4,502 cases. (yps/lfr)

Activists mark Munir's birth as a reminder not to forget his death

Jakarta Globe - December 9, 2012

Ronna Nirmala & Faisal Maliki Baskoro – Hundreds of human rights activists gathered in Jakarta on Saturday to commemorate the 47th birthday of slain activist Munir Said Thalib and urge President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to bring Munir's killers to justice.

Eight years since Munir died, the circumstances of his death remain unexplained and the identities of the killers are a mystery yet to be solved. On Saturday, activists issued a declaration titled "Opposing Forgetting," a criticism of the authorities' apparent reluctance to solve the case.

Arief Aziz, director of Change.org, said human rights activists were celebrating Munir's birthday in Jakarta and in Malang, East Java, as a message to the government that pretending to forget the issue was itself a breach of human rights.

Eddy Rumpoko, the mayor of Malang, was scheduled to name a street after Munir and inaugurate a monument in Batu, where Munir was born, to honor the activist's unrelenting efforts to promote human rights until the last day of his life.

Munir's widow, Suciwati, was busy gathering signatures to petition Yudhoyono to solve the mystery surrounding Munir's death. More than 250 people had signed the petition by Saturday and she expected the number to grow.

On Sept. 7, 2004, Munir passed away onboard a Garuda Indonesia flight. Investigators concluded he died of arsenic poisoning. Off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto was convicted of Munir's murder in 2005. The conviction was invalidated in 2006 for insufficient evidence, but was reinstated in 2008.

To date, however, none of the so-called masterminds behind the murder have been jailed, with Muchdi Purwopranjono, the former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief, acquitted of murder charges.

Munir established the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), a human rights advocacy group, barely eight years before he died.

His death was associated with his vocal advocacy of the disappearances of 24 student activists in 1997-98, when Prabowo Subianto was commander of the Army's elite force, Kopassus. Prabowo was later fired for his involvement. However, Prabowo has since become general chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), and the party's presidential candidate for 2014.

Meanwhile, English musician Sting has been petitioned to dedicate a song to Munir during his Saturday show in Jakarta. Sting's 1980 hit "They Dance Alone" has been suggested as a tribute song, according to Usman Hamid from Kontras and Change.org.

Human rights advocacy is gaining momentum in Indonesia in recent years, yet many blatant violations that claimed the lives of thousands or even millions of people have remained unresolved to date.

The largest case is the reported killings of between 500,000 and two million people said to be associated with Communism in the aftermath of an alleged abortive Communist coup in September 1965.

Fans expect Sting to dedicate song to Munir

Jakarta Post - December 8, 2012

Jakarta – It appears that fans of English singer and songwriter Sting expect more than just a few songs during his upcoming Jakarta concert next Saturday.

They want their idol to play an active part in the human rights campaign in Indonesia by dedicating his song They Dance Alone for murdered activist Munir.

Fans have started signing an online petition via the campaign website change.org or messaging Sting on his official twitter account @officialSting in the last few days, especially on Saturday (Dec. 8), the date Munir was born in Malang, East Java, in 1965. Hundreds of people have signed the petition.

"Your song They Dance Alone resonates deeply with us. To me, this song depicts the deep wounds of the families of those who were kidnapped under Indonesia's dictatorial rule," wrote former journalist and poet Goenawan Mohamad in his online petition.

"With this petition, we have a simple request. If you can sing that song and dedicate it to Munir and the victims of enforced disappearances, this would mean much for the families left behind," he added.

Another petitioner Santi Dharmawan said "your activism and your faith in your songs will help magnify our fight for justice and human rights protection in Indonesia".

Singer Glenn Fredly, film director Joko Anwar, former journalist Rosiana Silalahi and other figures also encouraged their followers on twitter.com to sign the petition.

Friends and families of Munir, a human rights activist who died from arsenic poisoning on board a Garuda Indonesia plane to the Netherlands in 2004, have launched a campaign to push the government to resolve the murder case.

Munir's widow, Suciwati, began the campaign in Malang, East Java, last week, calling on the public to sign a petition asking President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to bring Munir's killers to justice.

"Pak President, it is nearly the end of your second term and we are still patiently waiting for the realization of your promises," Suciwati said in her petition.

"Do you still remember statements made early on in your term that said solving Munir's murder would be a 'test of our history'? You have made a promise to this country," she said.

Garuda pilot Polycarpus Budihari Prijanto was implicated in Munir's murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, it has never been disclosed by law enforcement agencies who actually ordered the assassination.

Comparisons between Suciwati's plea and women in Chile, whose men disappeared after protesting the Pinochet government, have been drawn.

The Chilean women inspired Sting to write They Dance Alone, which portrays the sadness of the women who dance alone in silence after losing fathers, husbands and sons in 1988.

The 61-year-old musician, born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, is an active member of Amnesty International. His Jakarta concert – the last stop of Sting: Back to Bass Fall Tour 2012 tour – will be his second show in the country after the Ten Summoner's Tales tour in 1994.

Third Eye Management (TEM) Asia released 8,000 tickets, priced between Rp 850,000 (US$88.36) and Rp 5 million. The promoter has said that there are only few seats left. (lfr)

Freedom of speech & expression

Pancasila blasted for repression of atheists

Jakarta Globe - December 11, 2012

Indonesia's state ideology of Pancasila has come under scathing criticism for enabling a culture of repression against atheists, with an international rights organization citing a case in which the credo was invoked to jail a civil servant for renouncing his faith.

In its "Freedom of Thought 2012" report, the International Humanist and Ethical Union highlighted the case of Alexander Aan as providing "perhaps the clearest example of how the new social media freedoms are colliding with the old regimes of religious restrictions."

It noted that Alexander, a civil servant working in West Sumatra, was arrested for posting a comment on Facebook in which he criticized Islam and revealed that he gave up the faith to become an atheist.

He was subsequently charged on three separate counts: insulting religion, the electronic transmission of defamatory comments and false reporting on an official form. He was sentenced in June to two and a half years in prison.

"The charges of blasphemy and defamation [are] related to his criticism of Islam on Facebook. The final charge claimed that his application for his civil service job falsely stated he was Muslim when he was in fact an atheist," the report said.

The IHEU argued that as long as Indonesian law only recognized the religions of Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Hinduism, people who did not identify with any of them, including atheists, would "continue to experience official discrimination."

"This discrimination occurs often in the context of civil registration of marriages and births and other situation involving family law," the report said.

"Applicants for government jobs must also identify as belonging to one of the six official religions. To register [with] an organization in Indonesia, the organizers must declare their allegiance to [Pancasila]; the first principle of Pancasila is 'Belief in the one and only God.' That means no atheist group can legally register itself."

Worldwide, the IHEU noted "the trend of prosecuting 'blasphemies' shared through social media is most marked in Muslim-majority countries," citing cases in Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, among others.

"When 21st century technology collides with medieval blasphemy laws, it seems to be atheists who are getting hurt, as more of them go to prison for sharing their personal beliefs via social media," said Matt Cherry, the report's editor.

Freedom of information & the press

Two journalists reportedly assaulted in Aceh

Jakarta Post - December 13, 2012

A journalist group in Aceh has urged local police to investigate the attack against two journalists in East Aceh.

Ivo Lestari, an RCTI TV station contributor, and Yusri, a journalist from Harian Aceh, were reportedly assaulted by two men at a lumber mill in Teumpeum village, Peureulak district on Tuesday. Ivo said that she and Yusri planned to run a story on illegal logging in the village as they heard from local residents that the lumber mill collected illegal logs.

Both journalists were accompanied by two residents. Ivo tried to take pictures of piles of logs at the back of the mill when two men approached her and forced her to delete the pictures.

The men, Ivo said, later seized their cameras and press IDs before locking them up for around 30 minutes in a room. "They [the men] deleted all our pictures," said Ivo.

Head of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) branch in Aceh, Maimun Saleh, urged the police to investigate the case.

"We cannot let this happen because such violence is in violation of Law No.40/1999 on press. The law stipulates that journalists have the right to cover stories and spread the information to the public," Maimun said, adding that journalists, on the other hand, had to follow the code of ethics in covering stories.

Democracy & civil rights

Indonesia must not be tempted to look back to the past: Djoko

Straits Times - December 13, 2012

[Indonesia's experience shows to the world how democracy is compatible with security and how the two produce a much more authentic and robust stability and harmony, says the nation's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto. This is an excerpt from a lecture he delivered at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore on Monday.]

Since it launched an era of democratic reform some 14 years ago, Indonesia has become one of the most vibrant and robust democracies in Southeast Asia. It is arguably even in the same league with Asia's champions of democracy: India, Japan and South Korea. No wonder Indonesia has also become a regular member of the Group of 20.

After embracing democracy, Indonesia has registered a steady annual economic growth averaging 5.2 per cent throughout 2000 to 2010. This is a remarkable feat, surpassed only by China and India. Our per capita income doubled from US$2,120 in 2000 to $4,190 in 2010.

During the same period, according to the Indonesian central statistics bureau, more than 25 million jobs were created. Our middle class increased from 40 million (19.0 percent) in 2000 to 130 million (54.1 percent) in 2010. The number of people living in poverty went down from 47.97 million (23.4 percent) to 21.02 million (12.5 percent).

These positive developments may be attributed to three policies: sensible and prudent fiscal monetary macro management; higher workers' productivity; and the four-track – pro-growth, pro-job, pro-poor and pro-environment – policy of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

But of course, there are challenges we have to address. Among the most urgent on our agenda is the enhancement of our infrastructure. This will, in turn, lead to the efficient management of natural resources that Indonesia has in abundance.

Just as important, we need to ascertain that our economic growth will get more inclusive so that most of our people will enjoy the fruits of development. Inclusiveness is necessary to deal with poverty and income gaps.

On the issue of economic justice, we must continue to give the highest priority to the eradication of corruption and the attainment of good governance. This is a Herculean job and calls for the exercise of the greatest political will to apply the law impartially to everyone. But we will not give up.

In the case of Indonesia, democracy has changed the notion of security. The state used to be the sole center of national life. Now, in a democracy, the citizens and their rights have become the center of all concerns.

Indonesia's experience shows to the world how democracy is compatible with security and how the two produce a much more authentic and robust stability and harmony.

The success of the Aceh peace process is a case in point. The prevailing view was that Aceh could be controlled only by force of arms. It was only when Yudhoyono was elected President that Indonesia cast aside the old security notion on Aceh: The guns went silent, earnest dialogue was promoted, and priority was given to the wellbeing of the people.

The result is self-evident: Now Aceh is not only a stable autonomous province that is perfectly capable of managing its own affairs, but it is also a province that deals with Jakarta in a dynamic and fair manner.

As to Papua, we defend our national sovereignty by implementing five basic policies, namely, one, recognizing Papua's diversity and uniqueness; two, Special Autonomy status; three, affirmative action; four, development and empowerment; and five, respect for human rights.

While it is true that armed violence still happens, it is not our policy to violate human rights in Papua. Please note the fact that Jakarta allocated 5.4 trillion rupiah (S$559 million) for Papua's Special Autonomy in 2012. Compare this to East Nusa Tenggara, for instance, which gets a budget of 2.2 trillion rupiah to run its local government.

In dealing with social conflict in Indonesia, we are firmly committed to applying the social and legal approach rather than a military solution. This approach entails five steps: First, prevent the conflict from happening. Second, when a conflict happens, give priority to law enforcement. Third, launch negotiations on a give-and-take basis to build trust. Fourth, activate leadership for peace at the grassroots level. And fifth, ensure post-conflict management to maintain peace and prevent conflict from recurring.

It may be worthwhile to share with you our way of dealing with terrorism. From 2000 to May 2012, Indonesia had 234 cases of terrorist crimes. To deal with them, we implemented deradicalization and law enforcement campaigns. This is not as easy as the extra-judicial means, because we subject ourselves to legal restraints. At one time, the national police had to let a known terrorist go scot-free simply because we did not have sufficient evidence.

We persevere in upholding the law and in respecting human rights because that is what democracy is about. The extra-judicial approach will only lead to citizens' grievances and drive them to sympathize with the terrorists.

Since the 2002 Bali bombing, justice has been done in almost all terrorism cases. As of March this year, law enforcers have apprehended 732 suspects; all underwent due process of law. Law enforcement, the deradicalization efforts and international cooperation are the pillars of our national efforts at preventing and eradicating terrorism.

A mature and robust democracy, a democracy that can transform conflicts into consensus and peace, a democracy that contributes to social harmony – those are the hallmarks of Indonesia's democracy. A democratic Indonesia, which is economically robust and secure, contributes to Asean stability and regional harmony.

We are aware that given these political and economic achievements, Indonesia is expected to play a more active role in persuading its regional neighbors to be more firmly committed to universal human rights and democracy.

Of course, Indonesia can be expected to be active in promoting democratic values and human rights, joining other Asean nations in encouraging Myanmar, for instance, to make its own democratic transition.

The recent 21st Asean Summit in Phnom Penh adopted the Asean Human Rights Declaration and agreed to the establishment of the Asean Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, which will be located in Jakarta. I am proud to say that Indonesia initiated the move to establish the institute.

Indonesia's support for Timor Leste's democracy since its inception is a clear manifestation of the desire of a democratic Indonesia to leave behind a dark chapter in the intertwined histories of the two countries and forge a lasting friendship.

We must not forget, however, that promoting democracy and human rights in a country depends on the felt needs and aspirations of the people themselves. Democracy cannot be imposed from outside; it must be home-grown. And although democracy and human rights are universal, their evolution is unique to every particular sovereign state.

We have chosen democracy as our way of life. To ensure that our democratic practices keep on maturing, let us all do our share to make it so fruitful, it will improve the quality of life of the masses of our people.

First, let us continue building effective democratic institutions that deliver good governance.

Second, let our democracy benefit from greater public participation, not only in the implementation of public policies, but also in the process of its making.

Unfortunately, in a democracy, there can be a lot of bickering. The KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) has done a good job of bringing to justice corrupt public officials, including judges and prosecutors, who abuse their authority. Freedom of the press and expression is used to scrutinize government policy and also for the love of argument.

For those who are not accustomed to it, the uproar is senseless. But, this is how democracy works to improve the quality of life and welfare of Indonesians. Hence, it is wrong to think that Indonesia needs a strongman to lead. What Indonesia needs is an effective government, a robust civil society, transparent and accountable public institutions, and non- discriminatory civil rights and law, which take into account local wisdom. Indonesia does not need a strongman to dominate our lives.

The dominance of a strongman will isolate his economic and political policies from the mainstream of public opinion. And worse, his policies and aspirations will become irrelevant to the real needs and aspirations of the people.

I firmly believe that Indonesia must continue to look to the future – and not be tempted to look back to the past.

Indonesia becoming less of a democracy: UNDP

Jakarta Globe - December 13, 2012

Antonia Timmerman – A lack of civil liberties and political rights has caused Indonesia to slide four points on the United Nations Development Program's latest Indonesia Democracy Index, published on Wednesday.

According to the UNDP report, Indonesia's score dropped to 63.2 points in 2012 from 67.3 in 2010, measured on a scale of one to 100. The index measures the level of democracy present in each of the country's 33 provinces. Jakarta recorded the highest score with 77.4, while Southeast Sulawesi scored lowest with 54.8.

Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo, the deputy head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), said on Wednesday that despite the drop, the government still considered democracy in Indonesia as continuing to improve.

"It does not mean that we are a less democratic nation than we have always been," he said. "The index measures the people's attitude and manners in practicing it." He added that violent demonstrations were among the drawbacks that led to the nation slipping in the ratings.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said that Indonesia prided itself on its "homegrown democracy" that upheld universal principles while also managing to retain its traditional values. "The democracy system that we have now is not a foreign product. It is ours and we shape it ourselves," he said.

However, according to the UNDP, non-democratic practices are incited when people begin to realize that the system cannot be the answer to all their problems, thus challenging Indonesia to build an even stronger democracy that caters to all layers of society.

One of the authors of the 2010 IDI, Maswadi Rauf, called for better cooperation between the government and the people to work together in building democracy.

"The government will, of course, give its best performance to serve the citizens, but to continue building democracy is in the hands of us all," Rauf said. He also added that the government could use the UNDP report as a guideline in planning, developing and directing future political policies.

Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to compose the index. Quantitative measurements include gathering news reports and written documents, while qualitative measurements include conducting focus group discussions and in-depth interviews.

Political parties & elections

Anas removes prime critic from party post

Jakarta Post - December 15, 2012

Democratic Party politician Ruhut Sitompul has been removed from his position as the party's communications and information head, reportedly for his frequent criticism of party chairman Anas Urbaningrum.

Ruhut had repeatedly called on Anas to relinquish his post once his name became associated with the graft-ridden construction of the sports complex in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java.

Another leading party figure, Andi Mallarangeng, was recently named a suspect in the case and he immediately quit as youth and sports minister and as secretary to the party's board of patrons.

Ruhut claimed that Anas should follow Andi's example, especially since his alleged involvement in the case had often been mentioned by graft convict Muhammad Nazaruddin, the party's former treasurer.

Democratic Party faction chairwoman Nuhayati Ali Assegaf, however, said that such rotations were normal in any organization. "We don't need to exaggerate this issue," she was quoted by Antara news agency as saying in Jakarta on Friday.

Wiranto to run for president in 2014

Antara News - December 12, 2012

Surabaya, East Java – Indonesia's retired army general, Wiranto, will run for president in 2014. "I am ready to run for president in 2014," said the general chairman of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) on Wednesday.

Although he had failed in his efforts to become the president in 2004 and the vice president in 2009, he said he will not give up. "I am always ready. I am willing to serve my nation until death," he said.

The former defence forces commander believes that his experience as a government official reflects his contribution and service to the state. "As a Muslim, I have been taught not to stay idle when something is not right," he said.

Wiranto, who is also the former coordinating minister for political, security and legal affairs, said he has not decided on his running mate. He said it will be decided after the legislative elections in 2014.

"It is not the right time to discuss who will be my running mate. It will be decided after the legislative elections, based on the political developments in 2014," he said.

The chairman of the party's East Java chapter, Kuswanto, said he agrees with Wiranto's statements. He said the results of the national leadership meeting in Jakarta (early this year) reflect the party's trust in Wiranto.

"Leaders of various parties across Indonesia have shown their support for Wiranto. We hope that Wiranto will become the next Indonesian president," he said.

Aburizal Bakrie, general chairman of the Golkar Party, will be one of Wiranto's rivals in the presidential election, along with the former vice president, Jusuf Kalla, the former president, Megawati Soekarnoputri, and the former special forces soldier, Prabowo Subianto.

'Dems won't make the big three'

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Jakarta – The graft scandals that have implicated several Democratic Party politicians will not cause the party to collapse, but will seriously shrink the party's performance in the 2014 general elections, says a pro-democracy activist.

"The Democratic Party won't collapse. But, it won't make the big three," Lingkar Madani director Ray Rangkuti said during a discussion in Jakarta, on Monday.

Rangkuti said that the party, the political machine of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, would not make the big three because of its flagging image, especially with several of its figures having been implicated in graft, Antara news agency reported..

Muhammad Nazaruddin, the party's former treasurer, has been convicted of corruption, while its legislator Angelina Sondakh is currently standing trial for alleged bribery in projects related to the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Education and Culture Ministry.

Most recently, Andi Mallarangeng, the party's former board of patrons secretary, was named a suspect in the Hambalang sports center construction project.

Indonesia needs no 'strongman'

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Jakarta – A senior minister has stated that the country did not need a strongman president because such a person would tend to prioritize his own interests ahead of people's needs.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto added that a dominating leader would see his economic and political policies become isolated from the mainstream of public opinion.

"And what is worse, his policies and aspirations will be irrelevant to the real needs and aspirations of the people," Djoko said during a public lecture at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore on Monday.

He told the Singaporean officials, politicians, academics and businesspeople attending the lecture that Indonesia needed an effective government, not a strongman leader.

In his lecture, Djoko, who is himself a retired Air Force general, dismissed a number of surveys that predicted that people with military backgrounds would be strong contenders in the 2014 presidential election.

Various surveys throughout the year have stated that former commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto, and former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret.) Wiranto would attract a significant number of votes. Djoko has himself been cited by pollsters throughout the year.

However, Djoko said, "Indonesia must continue to look to the future and not be tempted to look back to the past."

Prabowo and Wiranto are examples of figures from the past, who happen to be popularly known as "strongmen" and who have contested previous presidential elections.

Prabowo, who has confirmed his candidacy via his Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), is expected to be the most popular candidate. However, his presidential ambitions have been met with resistance by rival political parties that consider him too "dangerous".

Prabowo's critics remark that his poor human rights record may be an insurmountable obstacle for his presidential ambitions. Prabowo, who is the ex-husband of one of former president Soeharto's daughters, is alleged to have been involved in a number of forced abductions of students, which took place during the New Order era.

Meanwhile, Wiranto is also considered to have a poor human rights record for his role during Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, now Timor Leste. "Hence, it is wrong to think that Indonesia needs this kind of person to lead," Djoko said.

Prabowo struggles to find a path to the ballot box

Jakarta Globe - December 10, 2012

Lenny Tristia Tambun & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – With the Jakarta branch of the Great Indonesian Movement Party on Saturday announcing its nomination of party founder Prabowo Subianto as its presidential candidate for the 2014 election, questions have arisen about his ability to garner wider support.

While lawmakers are still negotiating the threshold required to make a bid for the presidency, many say the current 20 percent will be maintained, meaning any person intending to run needs support from a party or coalition of parties that gains at least 20 percent of the popular vote in the legislative election.

The party, known as Gerindra, said on Saturday that it aimed to secure 20 percent of the vote. But given that in the 2009 legislative election, the party won only 4.6 percent of the vote, achieving such a target was highly unlikely, analysts said.

"The vote distribution among major parties will mirror that of 2009. There will be no significant change," said Fachry Ali, a political expert with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

While most polls have placed Prabowo as a front-runner for 2014, ahead of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, many noted that he could end up failing to qualify to run by not accumulating enough support.

Several months ago, Prabowo was nixed as Megawati's possible choice to represent the PDI-P in the presidential election. The PDI-P and Gerindra successfully joined forces in supporting Joko Widodo and Basuki Tjahaja Purnama as Jakarta's top officials in September.

But many said that Prabowo erred in glorifying his role in the Jakarta governor race and damaged his chances of being selected by Megawati. Though not mentioning Prabowo by name, the former president blasted "free riders" that took credit for Joko's election. Subsequently, the PDI-P refused Gerindra's plea to team up in the West Java gubernatorial election, leaving Prabowo's party uncertain who to support.

"It's all but finished," Megawati's close aide told Jakarta Globe on Sunday, referring to the two parties' partnership.

With the Golkar Party nominating its chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, Prabowo's last hope for a major party to back him is President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party.

But Yudhoyono seemed reluctant to support the former general. Several analysts noted that he still could not put behind him a past military rivalry with Prabowo. "Pak SBY can't just forget the past," a source close to the president's inner circle said, referring to Yudhoyono.

Yudhoyono, the source said, would likely pick figures in his inner circle, such as Chief Economics Minister Hatta Rajasa or the current Army chief of staff Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, the brother of his wife Ani.

The problem for Yudhoyono, analysts said, was that the two figures polled poorly in many surveys, far behind Prabowo. "SBY is facing a tough choice. Will he pick a sure loser or join the strongest?" Fachry said.

Yudhoyono is unable to run in 2014 due to term limits, and corruption scandals have damaged several potential internal Democratic candidates.

SBY, Dems in panic mode

Jakarta Post - December 10, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has told Democratic Party executives to brace for the worst in anticipation of the graft probe of the party's board of patrons member and former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng.

Yudhoyono, the party's chief patron, summoned all Democratic Party lawmakers to his private residence in Cikeas, West Java, Sunday evening.

A number of top party executives attended the meeting including party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, secretary-general Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono and head of the party's faction in the House of Representatives, Nurhayati Ali Assegaf.

Board of patrons member, Achmad Mubarok, said that Yudhoyono told party members that they must remain united in the face of intensified efforts by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to uncover graft cases involving party members.

On Thursday, the KPK named Andi a suspect in the alleged massive budget misappropriation of the construction of the Rp 1.17 trillion (US$121.62 million) Hambalang sports complex in Sentul, West Java.

Mubarok denied the meeting was held to particularly discuss the case. "This is a regular event. Pak Yudhoyono wants members of his party, particularly those sitting in the House, to play 'clever' politics," he said before attending the meeting that began at 8:30 p.m.

Nurhayati confirmed Andi was not involved in the meeting because he had already resigned his position. She confirmed that SBY said that the Democratic Party must stay united ahead of 2014. "He motivated us to improve."

"To be honest, Andi's case was not mentioned at all," she said, adding that Anas' alleged involvement in the Hambalang case was not discussed either. According to Nurhayati, they did not discuss Andi's replacement in the meeting. "I can only hope that he [Andi] will be declared innocent."

Andi, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen at the meeting after he resigned his positions as board of patrons secretary and minister on Friday.

The Sunday evening meeting was held behind closed doors. No journalists were allowed to approach the Puri Cikeas housing complex where Yudhoyono's residence is located.

Late on Sunday, Andi Nurpati, the party spokesperson, did not respond to questions from The Jakarta Post when asked about details from the meeting.

As youth and sports minister, Andi was accused of abusing his power to help contractors win the project's tender, disregarding proper procedures.

Before Sunday's meeting, some party members speculated that Yudhoyono would likely discuss the KPK's prosecution of Andi and the possible political fall-out from it. Yudhoyono was also expected to discuss candidates who would fill the vacant youth and sports minister position.

The Hambalang graft case, among other scandals implicating Democratic Party members, will likely hit the party hard ahead the 2014 presidential and legislative elections.

Andi himself is the second party patron to be named a KPK suspect after businesswoman Hartati Murdaya was detained by the KPK for allegedly bribing Buol regent Arman Batalipu in connection with a plantation concession.

In the Hambalang case alone, at least three high-profile Democratic Party politicians have been implicated: Andi, Anas, former party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin and member of the House Angelina Sondakh. Angelina is now standing trial for the case.

Agus Sunaryanto, the head of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) investigation division, said that Yudhoyono's concerns would not be limited to the involvement of party members in the case, but also with regards to the flow of funds allegedly coming from the misappropriation to the party's coffers.

Nazaruddin has said that every party member who won state projects must allocate about 3 to 5 percent of the project's value as a contribution to the party.

Anas has repeatedly denied he had been involved in any misuse of projects financed by state budgets. Agus urged the KPK to push Andi into disclosing the involvement of other figures, be they members of the Democratic Party or not.

As Yudhoyono is not eligible to serve a third term, analysts believe he wants to ensure that his successor will be able to "protect" him and his family in 2014 onwards.

Analyst from IndoBarometer M. Qodari said that Yudhoyono had failed to uphold his commitment to anticorruption within his own party. "It is a shame that Yudhoyono's administration has been trying hard to eradicate corruption, but the recent high-profile cases have instead involved members of his own party."

Soeharto clan struggling to stay relevant

Jakarta Post - December 10, 2012

Jakarta – Holding on to the belief that the majority of Indonesian people long for the calm and order of the Soeharto era, members of the former strongman's family appear to have found the confidence to make a political comeback.

Fully aware that the political landscape has changed, some of them have joined the democratic process by setting up political parties.

There are now at least three political parties that could be deemed as representatives of the Cendana family, the name given to the Soeharto clan after a street that runs through a neighborhood in Menteng where Soeharto kept his extended family.

One of the political parties now back from obscurity, the National Republic (Nasrep) is now on the verge of being given the go-ahead by the General Election Commission (KPU) to join the 2014 legislative election.

Last week, a factual verification process by the KPU found that the party's national organization has been deemed eligible to participate in the 2014 elections. The final result, however, is still pending the factual verification result at the provincial and local levels.

Nasrep is the political party of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, Soeharto's youngest son. Party chairman Jus Usman Sumanegara believes that the Nasrep Party has what it takes to bring back the glory days of Soeharto.

Jus said that 14 years after the Reform era begun, the country was still unable to make significant progress. He said that the country's general condition was better under Soeharto's leadership.

Jus is cautiously optimistic about his party's chance of success. "We plan to accelerate the country's progress if we get enough votes in the 2014 elections," Jus said.

Jus said that the party would offer Soeharto's recipe for success by incorporating his teachings and thoughts. He believes that the general population is longing for the political and economic stability the country had when it was led by the former president.

Nasrep has not made it official, but it is almost certain that it would nominate Tommy as the party's presidential candidate in 2014.

"People at the grassroots level want Tommy to run in 2014. They believe that he is reminiscent of his late father. Many of our party's members also want him to be a presidential candidate," Usman said.

Many voters, however, will not easily forget Tommy's notoriety. He is the mastermind behind the murder of Supreme Court justice Syafiudin Kartasasmita.

In July 2002, Tommy was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty to hiring two hit men to kill Syafiudin, who had convicted him in a graft case. He was released from prison in 2006 after receiving a five-year sentence reduction.

In a web survey fielded by the political party's website, nasrep.or.id, Tommy sits at the top of the list with 70 percent of vote, above other politicians such as his former in-law Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

If he runs for president,Tommy will follow the footsteps of his sister, Siti Hardiyanti Rukamana, or popularly known as Mbak Tutut. In 2004, she was nominated by the political party she founded, the Nation Functionary Concern Party (PKPB) as a presidential candidate. She later dropped out of the race with no apparent reason.

Currently, Mbak Tutut only serves as one of the party's members, according to PKPB secretary-general Maj. Gen. (ret) Hartarto Sastrosoenarto.

PKPB is a party that was formed and inspired by Soeharto's order. "Pak Harto ordered us to continue the good in him and discard the bad," Hartarto said, adding that the party, however, is not linked to the Cendana family.

Like Nasrep, the PKPB relies on Soeharto loyalists. The party does not have a presidential election survey of its own. Its website, www.pkpb.net, is no longer running.

Analyst said that parties linked to the Soeharto family would unlikely have a future. "Some may long for the New Order era. But, it does not reflect the general feeling of Indonesians," said Yunarto Wijaya, a political analyst with Charta Politica.

Labour & migrant workers

Labor strike paralyzes activities in Medan

Jakarta Post - December 12, 2012

Apriadi Gunawan and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Medan – A widespread industrial strike took place in Medan, North Sumatra, on Tuesday with thousands of workers blockading the Tanjungmorawa-Belawan (Belmera) toll road and disrupting economic activities at Belawan Port and the Medan Industrial Estate.

Entering a second day, demonstrators gathered at the industrial estate after unionists swept factories to force workers into joining the demonstration. Both employers and security guards appeared powerless and gave up when demonstrators damaged factory gates and doors.

Followed by riot police, demonstrators rode buses and motorcycles past the governor's office to the toll road and Tanjungmorawa, Pulau Brayan and Belawan, causing heavy traffic jams on the main streets of the city.

The toll-road blockade hampered loading and unloading at the port, while production activities at factories in the industrial areas and in Amplas and Tanjungmorawa were halted.

North Sumatra Workers Council chairman Pahala Napitupulu warned of major strikes in the next few days with the possibility of anarchy until provincial and municipal authorities bowed to their demands to revise the newly set provincial minimum wage.

"Acting Governor Gatot Pudjo Nugroho should not wait until workers run amok and the next strikes turn anarchic. The provincial government should be responsive to prevent the industrial strike from getting out of control," he said when leading the mass rally on Tuesday.

Pahala said that like Greater Jakarta, the minimum wage should be raised to Rp 2.2 million (US$227) from the current Rp 1.2 million to end the cheap labor policy and to improve workers' purchasing power.

Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced on Nov. 20 that the 2013 provincial minimum wage had been set at Rp 2.2 million, a 44 percent increase from this year's Rp 1.5 million.

"What the workers have demanded is in accordance with the survey on the basic cost of living (KHL), which was recently conducted in the city by the Bogor Agricultural University [IPB]," he said, adding that the survey was conducted in line with the revised ministerial decree on 60 wage components.

He expressed concern that the new minimum wage in North Sumatra was set not on the basis of a market survey but more on political and business considerations.

The government recently approved the provincial wage committee's recommendation that the minimum wage be increased slightly to Rp 1,375,000.

North Sumatra's Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) deputy chairman Jhon Brien claimed that the wage hike was above the KHL of Rp 1,209,000 and his side would take the governor to court over the gubernatorial decree on the wage increase.

"Apindo will file an official objection to the gubernatorial decree and the workers' demand," he said, adding that the government and authorities should take action against unionists sweeping factories and blockading the toll road, which hampered export and import activities at the port.

He claimed that many companies had lost billions of rupiah over the last few days because of the labor rallies.

Medan Industrial Estate president Star Satria Ginting said several Japanese investors had canceled their plans to invest in the province because of the anarchic industrial strike.

Suzuki, a Japanese diplomat in the city, said he had heard nothing about Japanese investors canceling their plans to invest in the province. "Several Japanese investors planned to build factories in the Medan industrial area in Tanjungmorawa but we have not received any information that the investment will be canceled," he said

North Sumatra Manpower and Transmigration Office head Bukit Tambunan vowed to give the provincial government's response to the workers' demand in the next few days.

He said, however, that it would be impossible for the governor to annul the decree on the wage hike because it was set on the basis of the KHL in the province.

Mudhofir, chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperity Trade Unions (KSBSI), which co-organized the planned week-long labor demonstration, said the governor had been dishonest when he said that the new minimum wage was based on a KHL survey, which would jeopardize his reelection bid.

Mudhofir claimed that the minimum wage could be raised to about Rp 2 million if the government made the decree in reference to the IPB's independent survey on the KHL in the city.

Government 'must end cheap wages policy' to compete globally

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat – While executives have complained that recently approved wage hikes smell of populism and capitulation to unions, several economists say that the increases reflect a needed update of the cheap labor policy of previous decades.

Cheap wages are no longer suitable with global standards, according to economist Payaman Simanjuntak, a professor at Krisnadwipayana University in Jakarta.

Indonesia, one of a few countries recording growth of 6 percent or more, must meet industrial and labor standards set by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and other world financial institutions to maintain its economic performance and to compete with other developing countries, Simanjuntak said.

"Decent work and decent pay are prerequisites, because its economic performance will be considered unreal if ISO standards in management and human resources development are not fulfilled," Simanjuntak said.

Indonesia's neighbors are also being pressured to pay workers higher, including Vietnam, which employers often refer to as a more competitive place to invest compared to Indonesia. In early December, its government agreed to an increase by 16 to 18 percent, or between US$79 to $113 a month.

The ILO and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will continue to watch the details of the nation's economic development, he told The Jakarta Post recently. Among other things, the ADB has warned Asian nations of the need to reduce growing income gaps to avoid social and political troubles.

Simanjuntak, who also served as director general of industrial relations and labor standards at the Manpower Ministry from 1993 to 1995, hailed the local decisions to raise the minimum wage as significant.

He said the increases were a starting point for ending the nation's cheap labor policy and to implement ILO Convention No. 131/1970 on the minimum wage and other basic conventions, such as those covering overtime compensation, equal treatment, decent work and pay.

Simanjuntak said the cheap labor policy was inherited from the New Order, when Soeharto and his authoritarian regime attempted to court foreign investment to speed development and ease unemployment.

"In a fierce competition with China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, the New Order government offered investors various facilities such as tax incentives, tax holidays and cheap labor," Simanjuntak said. To implement the pro-investment policy, the manpower minister was given full authority to set the minimum wage across regions and investors were allowed to call on the military and police to "settle" industrial disputes and strikes, leading to many protests from national and international labor and human rights bodies.

"During the 32-year New Order era, foreign investment generated millions of job opportunities and domestic investors also enjoyed a pro-investment development policy," Simanjuntak said. However, the global community is currently more sensitive to human rights and democratization, he added.

Simanjuntak acknowledged that regents, mayors and governors have used the minimum wage issue for their personal political gains, with some resorting to setting much higher levels for the minimum wage for 2013 than was recommended by local commissions comprised of workers and business representatives that were tasked with advising the leaders.

Under the New Order, Soeharto also set sectoral minimum wages to support workers employed in growing sectors, such as mining, manufacturing and services.

Irianto Simbolon, the director general of industrial relations and social security affairs at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, said that the minimum wage, first implemented in 1963 under Sukarno, was aimed at providing a social safety net. It was necessary to avoid abuse, with too many unemployed people ready to fill the jobs of complaining workers.

"In the reform era, the government can no longer continue to spoil investors by maintaining its cheap labor policy and giving away various facilities and incentives."

Irianto and Simanjuntak separately said that the government should reform its wage policy for civil servants in accordance with the minimum wage policy.

They said that the government was also violating the 2003 Labor Law and the minimum wage policy, as most civil servants holding senior high school and university diplomas had been paid far below the minimum wages.

"Civil servants with an S-1 [university diploma] and zero job experience are paid only Rp 1.8 million [US$186.92] per month, while high school graduates working in private companies in Jakarta will be paid Rp 2.2 million in minimum per month," Simanjuntak said.

Annual schedule of setting minimum wages

Agustus-September: Pre-surveys of basic commodity prices

Early October: Survey of 60 wage components in local markets (revised Ministerial Decree No. 17/2005)

Mid October: Provincial tripartite wage committees start discussing wage hikes based on survey results, inflation, economic growth and employers' financial capability; committees then submit recommendations to provincial governments.

November:

1. Governors issue decrees on provincial minimum wages and sectoral minimum wages

2. Governors with provinces hosting industrial estates usually agree to recommendations from regencies and municipalities

3. Employers can submit official objection to the provincial minimum wages (Ministerial Decree No 231/2003)

December:

1. Tripartite wage committee in regencies and municipalities discuss market survey results, and factor in inflation, economic growth and companies' average financial capability. They then submit recommendations on wage hikes in the regions.

2. Governors officiate wage hikes in regencies and municipalities

3. Employers can submit official objection to regional minimum wages

January in following year:

1. Provincial or regental/municipal minimum wages takes into effect

2. Government accepts or rejects employers' objection to wage hikes

Source: Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration

Thousands of firms seek exemptions from minimum wage

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – As workers held mass protests and strikes last week, thousands of labor-intensive companies are seeking government approval to postpone raising workers' monthly wages to the new rate in the new year.

Companies can petition to delay the raise in wages as long as they can show that they have faced financial difficulties in the past two years, and proof is available for auditing by a public accountant.

Secretary-general of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), Suryadi Sasmita, revealed that a number of the firms had submitted requests to local administrations.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Jakarta and its environs have expressed strong objections of the increase by 44 percent to Rp 2.2 million in Jakarta, and by 60 percent to Rp 2,002,000 million in Bogor.

Apindo Chairman Sofjan Wanandi said 60 Korean companies producing textiles, garments and shoes in and around Jakarta have proposed delaying the increase.

Sofjan has warned the manpower and transmigration minister and regional heads against politicking on the minimum wage, saying the significant raise would certainly raise financial problems for employers, and damage the investment climate.

Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Syariefuddin Hasan said the significant wage raise would not affect SMEs because their remuneration system was based on bargaining between workers and employers.

He added that all stakeholders should sit together to identify the real problems behind the minimum wage issue and manage those issues wisely.

Nation's 'elitist' labor movement is consumed by factionalism

Jakarta Post - December 10, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Despite an outward appearance of solidarity in support of demands for improving the welfare of the nation's workers, local labor unions are divided and out of touch with a majority of their members.

The only thing contributing to the labor movement's success over the last decade has been an increased number of unions, due to the political liberalization that followed the fall of the New Order and the start of the Reform era.

The secretary-general of the All-Indonesian Workers Organization (OPSI), Timbul Siregar, said that the national labor actions of the last two years have only been effective since labor unions have been united by a common enemy, rather than skillful mobilization.

"The rampant violations by employers on the issue of outsourcing, the cheap labor policy, union busting, social security issues and many other industrial disputes at the corporate level have given rise to a national solidarity among workers and union members. They joined together to launch a strong resistance movement against employers and the government," he told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Timbul said that unions originally started their movement by setting up the Indonesian Labor Movement Council (MPBI), demanding that the government and the House of Representatives endorse the bill that became Law No. 24/2011 on social security providers in November 2011.

This year, unions have staged successful rallies to end outsourcing and to raise the minimum wage. The strikes, which at times were violent, were held only after unions officials temporarily set aside their political aspirations and affiliation.

MPBI was established by three labor confederations and many small labor unions. The confederations comprising the MPBI are the All-Indonesian Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI), the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) and the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBSI).

The KSPSI is chaired by Andi Gani Nuawea, the son of former manpower and transmigration minister Jacob Nuawea and is affiliated to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The KSPI, chaired by Said Iqbal, is affiliated with the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), while the KSBSI, led by Mudhofir, is linked to the Indonesian Labor Party (PSBI), which is chaired by renown labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan.

The KSPSI has split into camps under the leadership of Andi and under Yorris Raweyai, a Papua-born lawmaker from the Golkar Party.

Local labor unions have rejected proposal for mergers, bucking a global trend, citing differences in ideology and political affiliations.

KSPSI chairman Said Iqbal said that politics and top-down decision making have somewhat weakened the nation's labor movement. "Labor unions have several times convened to consider a possible merger, but we failed because of our different ideologies," he said.

While there are more than 90 unions registered with the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, only a few have more than 400,000 members. Others are only organizations in name only.

The chief of the industrial relations and social security affairs directorate general at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, Irianto Simbolon, said the government has verified all labor unions, and only three confederations have 400,000 or more members at the company level.

"If the labor unions merge and form a big confederation, they will be powerful, especially in their collective bargaining on industrial issues with employers and the government," Simbolon said.

Environment & natural disasters

Environmental hangover from Indonesia's palm oil thirst

Agence France Presse - December 9, 2012

Loic Vennin and Olivia Rondonuwu, Pararawen, Central Kalimantan – The roar of chainsaws has replaced birdsong, the once-lush, green jungle scorched to a barren grey. The equivalent of six football pitches of forest is lost every minute in Indonesia.

The disappearance of the trees has pushed thousands of animals – from the birds they harbor and sustain to orangutans, gibbons and black panthers – out of their natural homes and habitats.

They have been replaced by plantations that are too nutrient-poor to support such wildlife, instead dedicated solely to producing fruit that is pulped to make oil used globally in products ranging from food to fuel.

A palm oil tree can yield useable fruit in three years and continue doing so for the next 25 years. But such wealth creation has meant environmental destruction.

"We don't see too many orangutans any more", said a worker with a weather- beaten face, taking a break in the shade of a hut built on a path gouged out of the forest floor.

Experts believe there are about 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, 80 percent of them in Indonesia's Borneo and the rest in Malaysia. Exact data on their decline is hard to come by, say primatologists.

"What we see now is a contest between orangutans and palm oil for a home," said Sri Suci Utami Atmoko from National University in Jakarta. "You can judge that the population is depleting from the loss of orangutan habitats."

Gibbons, often recognizable by the rings of white fur that frame their faces, are among the hardest-hit species. "There are 100,000 gibbons in Borneo. But in 15-20 years, there will be more viable populations," said Aurelien Brule, a French national based in Borneo for 15 years who runs an animal sanctuary.

Gibbons rescued from the destruction of their forest homes cannot be returned alone into new wild habitats. "Other pairs protecting their own territory would kill them," said Brule, adding that rampant deforestation has wiped out sites suitable for single animals.

There is also a human cost, with the permits for plantations resulting in the eviction of indigenous people.

Abdon Nababan, the secretary general of AMAN, an Indonesian indigenous peoples alliance, said there is no exact data but recorded cases of land conflict are in the hundreds, with thousands of people possibly affected.

"Palm oil has brought fortune to Indonesia, but it has been gained with blood," said Jakarta-based forest campaigner for Greenpeace, Wirendro Sumargo.

The cost of growth

Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, has exponentially increased the land dedicated to the commodity from 274,000 hectares (680,000 acres) in the 1980s to 7.32 million hectares in 2009, government documents show.

The industry has helped push Indonesia's GDP growth rate above 6.0 percent every year since 2005, but at the cost of huge tracts of rainforest.

An area roughly the size of Denmark was lost between 2000 and 2010 across Indonesia and its neighbor Malaysia, according to a study published last year in the Global Change Biology journal.

Despite some backlash around the world, including an unsuccessful attempt in France to push an amendment to quadruple tax on palm oil to discourage consumption – the destruction is unlikely to stop any time soon.

Indonesia, which together with Malaysia holds 85 percent of the market, aims to increase production more than 60 percent by 2020.

To appease environmental concerns, it last year imposed a moratorium on new permits in primary forests and peatlands. But critics say it is a cosmetic move, with plantations overlapping sensitive environments.

One example can be found in the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest, in the northwest of Aceh province, home to endangered species such as Sumatran rhinos and tigers.

In this area, "we have evidence that five palm oil firms are doing illegal practices", said Deddy Ratih, forest campaigner for WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia.

Derom Bangun, the chairman of umbrella organization the Indonesian Palm Oil Board, doesn't deny the issue but says improvements are being made.

"The government has seen [the violations] and has taken steps to fix it. Ultimately we want the palm oil industry to work according to the rules," he added.

In an effort to improve their image, some palm oil firms have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a forum consisted namely of green groups and growers. The WWF, one of the founders of RSPO, admitted that there is still a conservation shortfall.

"Generally land allocation for plantations still overlaps with primary forests and peatlands, including in areas that are the habitat of key species," said Irwan Gunawan, WWF deputy director of market transformation in Indonesia. "We are encouraging the government to pay attention to this," he added.

Activists skeptical of Indonesia's carbon credit mechanism

Jakarta Globe - December 8, 2012

Tito Summa Siahaan – While the Indonesia government is being applauded for introducing the world's first carbon credit mechanism, the country's civil society organizations believe the initiative is missing several key details that will derail the mechanism's real purpose to protect the environment.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the government has set aside some 80,000 hectares of protected rainforest that will reward investors with tradable carbon credits. The announcement was made during the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar.

The area, called Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve, has won the backing of several giant multinationals, like Russia's state-owned gas firm Gazprom and insurer Allianz. Some civil society groups, though, were critical of the government's decision.

Anggalia Putri Permatasari, a program officer for the Association for Community and Ecology-Based Law Reform (HuMa), said the government has yet to establish a clear distinction between local people and indigenous people, who should possess the rights to their traditional lands and the forest areas on those lands.

"Notwithstanding that, Rimba Raya is located in Central Kalimantan, one of the provinces with the high number of agrarian conflicts," she added. The government, Anggalia went on, has also undermined the whole process of multilateral talks at the Doha conference by announcing an initiative not related to the main issue.

Speaking via a conference call from Doha, Teguh Surya, the head of the international department at the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), said that although the government has made its goal to secure some $10 billion in climate funds – $1 billion of which comes from the Norwegian government – it is evident from the country's delegation to the conference that Indonesia still lacks specific goals and strategies.

Teguh said the Indonesian government has shown a reluctance to support alternative proposals, which he dubbed as more progressive, from southern hemisphere countries in the climate talks.

Health & education

Women with HIV need greater protection from abuse

Jakarta Post - December 14, 2012

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – HIV/AIDS advocacy groups have called for an integrated effort to protect HIV-positive women from becoming the targets of violence.

So far, only few programs on HIV/AIDS are specifically designed for women despite the fact that the disease affects the lives of women more than men in the country.

"Violence against HIV-positive women in the form of physical, sexual and economic suffering continues to happen. Few HIV programs in the country are women-friendly, however," said Baby Rivona Nasution, the national coordinator of IPPI, an association of HIV-positive women.

Stigma and discrimination are the most common forms of abuse experienced by HIV-positive people regardless of their gender. A report compiled by IPPI shows that HIV-infected women have fallen victim not only to stigma and discrimination but also to sexual, physical and economic abuse by their partners and families.

"This makes HIV-positive women feel utterly helpless. Their status as a person with HIV has deterred them from reporting abuses to law enforcers. They worry that reporting the violence will disclose their HIV-positive status. Consequently, they have to live in a continuing cycle of violence," she added.

Baby is one representative from a number of NGOs that focus on HIV/AIDS who shared her experience in dealing with the challenges of the epidemic at a recent discussion "Raising HIV/AIDS Awareness" held by the US Embassy to commemorate 2012 World AIDS Day, which fell on Dec. 1. Around 25 percent of IPPI's 450 members in 22 provinces are female teenagers.

"We have a teenage member who was infected with HIV when she was only 16 years old. Even more, we have members who were infected with the virus during rape. This is why we must integrate HIV control into gender-based violence prevention and response programs," Baby said.

A new report published by the United Nations (UN) states that the rate of new HIV infections in Indonesia increased by more than 25 percent between 2001 and 2011.

National AIDS Commission (KPA) chairman Kemal Siregar said that after first being discovered in 1987, HIV infections in Indonesia continued to soar. At the end of the 1990s, intravenous drug use spread HIV rapidly throughout the country.

"We need to think about several steps we can take to create an HIV-free generation," said Esthi Susanti Hudiono, director of the Hotline Foundation.

US Ambassador Scot Marciel said raising awareness was a major part of HIV prevention campaigns.

"In terms of numbers, the HIV epidemic in Indonesia is not so big. But unfortunately, HIV is high in certain groups and the number is growing rapidly. In this regard, we want to do all we can do to support the Indonesian government and NGO activists who are working not only to educate people about HIV/AIDS, but also to take action to stop its spread," he said.

Most HIV/AIDS budget from abroad

Jakarta Post - December 12, 2012

Jakarta – As much as 70 percent of the government's budget for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs come from foreign donations, making the nation's fight against the disease vulnerable.

"Indonesia should be able to fund its HIV/AIDS treatment services without foreign help if it wants sustainable programs," Coordinating People's Welfare Minister Agung Laksono said during the commemoration of World's AIDS Day in Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Agung said that domestic funding does not necessarily always come from the central government, but can also come from the regional administration as well as private companies.

With "Protect Women and Children from HIV/AIDS" as its theme, the commemoration focused on vulnerable women and children, Antara news agency reported. "When women are not informed about HIV/AIDS, it affects their babies, particularly those still in their wombs," said Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari.

She said that the government and the public must work together to ensure that women have access to the necessary health services. "Prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS is a one of the most important aspects of such services," Linda pointed out.

Government fails to boost contraceptive use, survey shows

Jakarta Post - December 12, 2012

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Despite massive campaigns in the past five years, the government has failed to convince more people to use contraceptives, a survey has shown.

The newly issued 2012 Indonesian Health and Demography Survey (SDKI) report shows that the use of contraceptives (all methods) among couples of reproductive age in the country stands at 61.9 percent. It is a slight increase from 61.4 percent in 2007.

"We still have a low increase in the contraceptive prevalence rate, growing only 0.5 percent over five years," acting National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) chairman Subagyo said here on Monday.

Speaking to journalists, Subagyo said the survey indicated that the agency had failed to achieve its targets. "If you ask me how I feel, I'm really disappointed. I have worked hard day and night," he said, adding that the survey's results showed that the agency needed to rethink its strategies.

Increasing the number of field information officers in the family planning program (PLKB) will become one of strategies the agency will consider in an effort to reach its targets.

Up until 2000, the number of PLKB officers throughout the country reached almost 36,000 but sharply decreased to 21,000 during decentralization. With autonomy leading to the family planning program being less of a priority, many field workers switched to other careers.

Currently, one field officer working on family planning education visits four villages, while a maximum of two villages is the ideal ratio. In Papua, one field officer serves 42 villages, BKKBN data shows.

"We hope to see more people working as PLKB officers because the success of our family planning program depends on them. They are the champions of the country's family planning program because they are the ones who best understand who needs contraceptives," said Subagyo.

The survey, conducted jointly by the BKKBN and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), also reveals that 8.5 percent of contraceptive needs remain unfulfilled. The agency hopes to reduce the percentage to 5 percent by 2015. In 2007, the figure stood at 9.1 percent.

Indonesia has a fertility rate of 2.6 children per woman in 2012. The rate is projected to decrease to 2.1 children per woman by 2015.

Meanwhile, BKKBN acceptors management director Julianto Witjaksono said the results of the 2012 survey showed that the BKKBN remained unable to win support for family planning at the local levels despite increased resources.

The government has allocated Rp 1.6 trillion (US$166.06 million) annually for family planning programs in 2010-2014, up from the Rp 500 billion in the previous period.

He said only a few local administrations paid enough attention to family planning programs. "Many regents show little concern for the well-being that their own people may get through family planning," Julianto said.

"We have to accelerate communication, information and education programs on family planning by, among other things, improving the information [PLKB] system, which completely broke down when autonomy was introduced," he added.

The 2007 survey targeted women who were married or once married aged between 15 to 49 years as the main respondents whereas the 2012 survey targeted fertile women aged 15 to 49 years, including single women.

Marriage & polygamy

Health minister criticizes Garut district head, another ex-wife comes out

Jakarta Globe - December 10, 2012

Camelia Pasandaran – Things continue to go from bad to worse for Aceng Fikri, the embattled head of Garut district in West Java.

The politician has already been dropped by Golkar Party, is being investigated for alleged extortion and legal and ethical violations, and is facing mounting pressure to resign from his position and be held accountable for disparaging comments he made about his former 17-year-old wife, Fani Oktora.

Aceng earned national notoriety when news of his divorce came out and after telling reporters that he divorced the girl via text message four days after their unregistered wedding because he doubted she was actually a virgin. He later complained that the wedding cost him Rp 250 million ($26,000).

On Monday, Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi said he needed to receive "sex education" for his "deviant behavior." "Other officials have received [sex education]," the minister said, according to Merdeka.com. "He's the only one who hasn't."

She also said that his divorce reason was not justified. "First of all it violates human rights," she said. "So what if she's not a virgin? Virginity is not something absolute. He's just trying to make excuses."

It also emerged that he had another short-lived marriage in 2011. "[Aceng Fikri] married her in March 13, 2011," Budiman, the lawyer of Shinta Larasati, told Jakarta Globe. "They divorced two months later."

Shinta, now 24, works as sales promotion girl coordinator for a cigarette company. They were married in a simple wedding ceremony in her father's house in Karawang Baru, West Java. Budiman said that Aceng divorced Shinta through Blackberry Messenger, a text message and a letter.

The letter, sent to Shinta on June 28, 2011, stated that "because we were no longer in harmony to build a family as peaceful place to grow love and compassion, [the marriage] is difficult to maintain."

"Shinta's family has decided to accept Aceng's reason for divorcing her," he said. "So the family considers the case resolved."

Aceng's lawyer, Ujang Sujai, however, denied that Aceng was married to Shinta. He claimed that it was just a trick by his political opponent ahead of the regional election.

"Aceng only laughed [when told about the case]," Ujang said as quoted by Merdeka.com. "It's really not true." But Budiman said they had proof of the marriage, including their wedding photo.

Children & domestic violence

Child molesters beyond reach of long arm of the law

Jakarta Post - December 12, 2012

Jakarta – Despite allegations of child molestation against a number of local clerics in the city, not one suspect has been detained due to a lack of solid evidence in each case, according to the police.

In the most recent case, allegedly committed by the founder of the Islamic educational Darul Ilmi Al-fikri Foundation in Pondok Cabe, South Jakarta, the police said they had no legitimate reason to arrest the suspect.

South Jakarta Police detectives chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hermawan said on Tuesday that according to Criminal Code Procedures, an arrest could only be made with two pieces of evidence: physical proof and a witness statement.

"Physical examinations of the [victims] did not present anything unusual. Also, the witnesses presented did not directly see the alleged assaults taking place, they only received verbal reports from the victims," he said, adding that the police had not stopped seeking evidence for the case.

The police named Mika Maulana a suspect on Nov. 26, following a report filed by a teacher at the foundation, for allegedly molesting three teenage girls, aged 14, 16 and 17, between January and September. The police, however, soon released him, much to the anger of the victims' families.

"It is not right that the man is walking around free, considering what he did to my 14-year-old daughter," said the widowed mother of one of the girls at the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak) office in East Jakarta on Tuesday.

The parents and their legal representatives are seeking support from the commission to have the suspect arrested.

One of the lawyers, Abu Bakar Lamatapo, said the police's argument was debatable, as they already had statements from the three victims and two witnesses. "The fact that the man hasn't been put behind bars has upset the parents, the victims and people living in those areas, which in itself could be another reason to issue an arrest warrant," Abu said.

Komnas Anak chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait said the police should charge the suspect under the 2002 Child Protection Law rather than the Criminal Code on molestation, which the suspect could easily dodge by claiming what took place was consensual. "Even if it was consensual, it was done to minors, who are supposed to be protected from such repugnant deeds," he said.

The Criminal Code carries seven years' imprisonment as a punishment for molestation, while the Child Protection Law carries a sentence of 15 years in jail plus a Rp 300 million (US$31,136) fine.

Another alleged sex offender who is still free is cleric Habib Hasan Assegaf, the leader of the Nurul Musthofa Islamic congregation in Jagakarta, South Jakarta. He was reported to police in February for allegedly sexually abusing 13 underage boys since 2002.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said the police were making slow progress in the Habib Hasan investigation, also due to a lack of evidence.

"The difficulty in investigating such cases is that sometimes the assaults occurred long before being reported, therefore making it hard to gather physical evidence," Rikwanto said. (aml/fzm)

Graft & corruption

Forestry ministry, police fare poorly in KPK integrity survey

Jakarta Globe - December 12, 2012

Rizky Amelia – A survey by the national antigraft commission has identified the Forestry Ministry as the government institution with the lowest perceived level of integrity.

Iswan Helmi, a deputy for graft prevention at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), said on Tuesday that the survey of 15,000 respondents, conducted between June and October this year, graded various state institutions in relation to a baseline score of 6.0, signifying a minimum level of integrity.

"Only one institution had an integrity level of less than six, and that was the Forestry Ministry," he said. He added that the main factor dragging down the ministry's score was the poor perception of its department responsible for issuing mining, plantation and logging permits for forested land.

"This reflects perceptions about the quality of public services, which needs to be improved as part of the effort to eradicate corruption." Iswan said. The survey showed a slight increase in the overall integrity rating of the government as a whole, from 6.31 last year to 6.37 this year.

Other government offices that scored low included the Justice Ministry's passport applications unit and department of corrections, and the police's department of public complaints.

The National Land Agency (BPN) office for issuing title deeds also fared poorly in the survey, as did the Religious Affairs Ministry marriage registration office.

Those considered to have high integrity, with a score of more than 7.0, included the State Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).

The KPK survey covered 498 units and departments at 25 government ministries, institutions and agencies, as well as 60 regional administrations.

SBY signs revision on KPK human resources

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signed a revision to the government regulation dealing with human resources at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

State Secretary Sudi Silalahi confirmed the revision on Monday, but refused to disclose any details.

Meanwhile, Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar said that among the revisions, the regulation would allow the KPK to extend the tenure of police investigators seconded to the commission by up to 10 years from the previous eight years.

"Other changes include an obligation by the police to start coordinating with the KPK at least six months before the tenures of respective investigators expire," Azwar told The Jakarta Post, adding that the six months could be used by the KPK to remove soon-to-depart investigators from assignments.

The revision has been introduced in an attempt to prevent the National Police from withdrawing its personnel from the antigraft body.

State to protect 'unintentional' corruptors

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Less than a week after one of his ministers was named a graft suspect, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday that "the state must protect officials who do not have the intention to commit corruption".

"Sometimes we need to make a quick policy, but the lack of knowledge about corruption can lead to officials making a decision that can be considered a violation of the Corruption Law," he said in his speech during the commemoration of International Anticorruption Day and International Human Rights Day at the State Palace.

Therefore, Yudhoyono called on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and other law enforcers to provide guidelines on the categorization of corrupt acts.

"I have observed in the last few years many matters that used to be dealt with only at the ministerial level being brought to me. It's due to the ministers' hesitation as they're afraid that their actions could be perceived as violations. I believe such a problem is happening in other places throughout Indonesia."

"There are two kinds of perpetrators: those who deliberately engage in acts of corruption, and those who do not realize that what they are doing is wrong," he added.

KPK chairman Abraham Samad, who also attended the ceremony, said that officials could not hide behind such reasoning.

"High-ranking officials must be aware of how to accountably conduct clean governance. They can't be acquitted of graft charges because they say 'I didn't know that it was wrong'. As a leader, you have a responsibility. If you do not know [about conducting clean governance], don't be a leader," he told reporters.

Yudhoyono said he planned to invite all regional leaders to meet with representatives of law enforcement bodies, including the KPK, the National Police, the Attorney General's Office (AGO), the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), for presentations on what was considered corruption.

"We should not live in fear due to our lack of knowledge on anticorruption. But this should not be seen as a permissive act to corrupt individuals. I am always committed to fight against graft," he said.

Former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng, a senior member of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, was named a graft suspect by the KPK last Thursday for allegedly abusing his power to enrich himself with funds appropriated from the construction of the Rp 1.17 trillion (US$121.62 million) Hambalang sports complex in Sentul, West Java.

The next day, Andi – who served as Yudhoyono's spokesman from 2004 to 2009 and is known to be close to Yudhoyono's family and inner circle – resigned from his posts as a minister and as the secretary of the party's board of patrons.

Andi has repeatedly denied he was involved in the case, even though witnesses have said that he played a significant role.

Yudhoyono made a similarly controversial statement in May in a meeting with members of the BPK at the Presidential Office. At that time, Yudhoyono said that government employees' poor grasp on how the bureaucracy worked had resulted in "unintentional" misuse of state funds – a statement critics claimed was a defense for corrupt government officials.

"I appreciate the BPK for its good work, but it would be better if the BPK not only focused on wrongdoings or enforcement. I would like it if the BPK could enact preventive measures to curb the wrongdoings or misappropriations by officials who lack the understanding [about how the system works]," Yudhoyono said in the meeting.

KPK to force civil servants to explain assets

Jakarta Globe - December 10, 2012

Rizky Amelia – In an announcement that could potentially shock millions of civil servants across the country, the Corruption Eradication Commission said it will require all state officials to explain where their wealth came from in cases where their net worth is suspiciously higher than their accumulated salaries.

According to the law, all state officials must report their wealth to the antigraft body, known as the KPK, 30 days after their inauguration or after leaving their post.

"We should build a tradition in corruption eradication that the state officials must not just report their wealth but also explain the sources, so that there will be no suspicion," said KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto while attending the commemoration of International Anti- Corruption Day in Jakarta on Sunday.

He added that the KPK would in turn confiscate all reported assets suspected to have been obtained through corruption.

Until now, state officials only reported their wealth to the KPK and merely signed a document without ever being asked to verify the sources of their earnings.

But now the KPK said it would require employees of the state to explain how they obtained their assets. "We have the right to investigate the assets of state officials that [aren't a product of] their salary as civil servants," he said.

Indonesia has nearly five million civil servants working at both the central and local governmental levels. While most state officials receive salaries that are less than Rp 10 million ($1,040) per month, many of them possess billions and even hundreds of billions in assets.

For instance, a recent report by a government watchdog, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), mentioned that a group of police generals reportedly stockpiled hundreds of billions of rupiah in their personal bank accounts.

Law enforcers and judges, experts say, turned a blind eye to the facts while hiding behind the absence of a reverse burden of proof principle and not requiring officials to reveal the sources of their wealth.

"It will have a massive impact for the country's corruption eradication and prevention efforts. It will really help a lot," said Hifdzil Alim of the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

He added that the KPK did not need to alter any legislation to implement its policy because as the law currently stands, the agency has the right to ask state officials to clarify their assets. "It only needs a decree from the KPK," he said.

Previously, senior lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis also said that the principle of reverse burden of proof was included in the nation's law on money laundering, which the KPK can always utilize. "We have been encouraging the KPK to apply the principle so all state officials involved in graft can be netted," he said.

Several other legal experts stressed the need for the KPK to apply the principle in solving the Rp 2.5 trillion Hambalang scandal by pursuing state officials involved in the scandal since Andi Mallarangeng, the former youth affairs and sports minister, recently resigned after being named a suspect in the scandal.

Some even suggested that the antigraft body should attempt to prove Democratic Party Chairman Anas Urbaningrum's involvement in Hambalang scandal, pointing to his accumulated wealth since becoming chairman of the ruling party.

KPK, Korlantas fail to reach agreement outside of court

Jakarta Globe - December 10, 2012

The National Police Traffic Corps and the Corruption Eradication Commission have failed to settle a lawsuit out of court, regarding the handling of documents in the driving simulator graft case.

A South Jakarta district judge had given the the National Police Traffic Corps, known as Korlantas, and the corruption watchdog, known as the KPK, 40 days to settle the civil suit on Nov. 1.

But the mediation term ended on Monday and both had failed to reach a significant agreement. "The mediation has failed, the judge ordered the plaintiff KPK to file a reply for the [civil] suit," said Tommy Sihotang, the lawyer for Korlantas, as quoted by Detik.com on Monday.

Insp. Gen. Pudji Hartanto, the head of Korlantas, filed a civil lawsuit against the KPK accusing the corruption watchdog of seizing unrelated police documents involving a graft tainted procurement of driving simulators.

KPK investigators searched the traffic police headquarters in Jakarta in late July and confiscated documents that they claimed were related to the Rp 200 billion ($21 million) project. Police claim they asked the KPK to return all of the unrelated documents but failed to get a formal response from the KPK.

The National Police Traffic Corps asked for the documents, while the KPK claimed they still needed them for the investigation of the case regarding the former director of Korlantas, Corps. Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo.

The National Police are seeking Rp 425 billion in compensation and Rp 6 billion in damages.

Terrorism & religious extremism

Terrorists prefer attacking police instead of churches: Analyst

Jakarta Globe - December 13, 2012

Bayu Marhaenjati – Indonesian terrorists have shifted their targets to attack police stations over churches, an analyst says.

Terrorism expert Al Chaidar said the focus had changed because terrorist groups considered police as the main enemy. "At the present, attacks on Christmas have been decreasing," terrorism expert Al Chaidar told Beritasatu.com. "There's a possibility that it won't happen again because they are now targeting police or police stations."

Roki Aprisdianto, a terrorist who was recently rearrested after escaping from a Jakarta detention center disguised in a burqa, tried to blow up a police station in Pasar Kliwon in November. Police were able to prevent the bomb from exploding after a food seller in the market found the gas- cylinder bomb and reported it.

In October, two police officers and a security guard of a bank were seriously injured after a bomb exploded at a police post in Poso, Central Sulawesi. This attack occurred after two Poso police officers were killed by terrorists.

Chaidar explained the number of attacks on churches had dropped significantly because most of the terrorist networks who targeted churches in the past had been arrested.

He added that the last church attack was a suicide bombing at a Bethel church GBIS Kepunton in Solo, Central Java in 2011. "The network of Abu Hanifah [behind the attack] has also been arrested," Chaidar said.

National Police said that they would beef up security in seven areas believed to be prime targets for terrorist attacks ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations. The areas are East Java, Central Java, Jakarta, North Sumatra, Central Sulawesi, Bali and Maluku. Police justified the selection on past experience, current trends and areas that had been targeted in the past.

But Chaidar said that if police wanted to step up security, it should not only keep an eye to those prime targets. "Combing should be done in all regions," Chaidar said. "It should not be done in some areas that had been targeted. They [terrorists] would find the weak targets, in terms of security and possibility."

Freedom of religion & worship

Activists condemn increasing persecution of minorities

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – As the world commemorated Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, human rights activists and victims of abuse condemned the persecution of minority groups that has been on the rise across the country.

Franz Magnis-Suseno of the Driyarkara School of Philosophy highlighted the fact that the nation was witnessing growing religious intolerance, a concern that has been frequently raised by several human rights watchdogs at home as well as by the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

"The religious situation in Indonesia is marked by a rising number of social conflicts between neighborhoods and villages; conflicts on ethnic and, increasingly, on religious lines," he told a discussion over the weekend. During the discussion, he called on religious leaders, teachers and role models to promote values and attitudes that embraced respect for fellow human beings rather than exclusive religious teachings.

Violence against the country's religious minorities, such as the Ahmadiyah and the Shia sects in Sampang, Madura, as well as Christian churches, remain a challenge for Indonesia.

A recent study by human rights watchdog the Setara Institute also highlighted similar concerns as it recorded around 200 discrimination cases against religious minorities nationwide up to October this year.

Similarly, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), also cited the lack of religious freedom in Indonesia as among the issues that marred the country's human rights record; with others including the lack of action on past human rights violations, as well as public policies that might breach human rights, such as the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI).

In its statement, Kontras highlighted ongoing persecution of the congregation of the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin in Bogor, West Java, the Ahmadiyah followers in West Nusa Tenggara, who have been forced from their homes in Ketapang, West Lombok for seven years, as well as against the Shia community in Sampang.

"Ignorance by the government has obviously encouraged increasing violence against minority groups in other areas too, all across the country, which could potentially be misused by political interests approaching the 2014 legislative and presidential elections," Kontras said.

Speaking to the Sunday Post, Sampang Shiite leader Iklil Al Milal said that he and 176 Shiites would continue to ask the government to let them return to their village. They have been living in shelters for four months after their homes were attacked in August.

The future of those Shiite refugees remains uncertain although the local administration continues to supply them with food and water, after cutting those supplies for two weeks due to a "limited budget".

"We are grateful the government is finally listening to our plea. We don't need to worry about food and water for the time being. But, how long can we live like this?" Iklil asked. "Let us return to our village so that we can work to support ourselves," he said.

In addition to growing religious persecution, the government's commitment to upholding and protecting human rights is also undermined by its apparent reluctance to take action in human rights violations that occurred in earlier years, including the 1965 purge, the 1998 riots and the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004.

Although the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navanethem Pillay has demanded a new probe into the killing of Munir, as well as a review of the trial of former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chairman Muchdi Purwoprandjono, nothing has been done thus far.

Indonesian Shiites persecuted as 'heretics' live in limbo

Agence France Presse - December 10, 2012

Sampang, Indonesia – Condemned as heretics, a community of around 200 Shiite Muslims have for months lived as pariahs in a sports hall, driven from their Indonesian village after a deadly clash with Sunnis.

In August, a mob of hundreds armed with sickles and swords hacked a Shiite man to death and torched more than 30 houses, forcing villagers to seek refuge at the sports hall.

Since then they have slept on thin mattresses surrounded by flies, sharing few communal toilets and eating modest meals at the Sampang district indoor tennis courts in eastern Java.

Now their future appears more bleak than ever. Last month, the government cut their free food and water supplies, citing lack of funds. To add insult to injury, religious and village leaders demanded they convert to Sunni Islam or be expelled from the district.

"We don't want to live like refugees. We want to return home as soon as possible, to the village where we were born. But it seems our fate is not for us to decide," Suleha, a 22-year-old housewife, told AFP.

"Aren't we all Muslims? We believe in the same god, the same prophets, the same Koran. So why can't we get along and live together in peace?"

Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation of 240 million people, is hailed as a bastion of moderate Islam, but rights groups say religious intolerance is on the rise amid concerns that too little is being done to address it.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned last month that Indonesia risked losing its culture of diversity and tolerance "if firm action is not taken to address increasing levels of violence and hatred towards minorities and narrow and extremist interpretations of Islam."

According to a report by the Setara Institute of Peace, a local rights watchdog, 308 incidents in the first half of 2012 were recorded against religious minorities, including Christians, minority Muslim sect Ahmadis and more recently, Buddhists.

Incidents – which include attacks and forced closure of places of worship – have risen steadily since 2009, when 491 cases were reported, rising to 502 in 2010 and to 543 in 2011, Setara said.

The August attack in Sampang was the worst-ever against minority Shiites in Indonesia, according to Setara.

Tohir, 50, saw his brother die and bears physical and emotional scars from the attack.

"My stomach feels sore all the time and I still get nightmares," Tohir said, writhing in pain, showing a long scar on his back and stomach where he was slashed with a sickle.

"They threw rocks and shouted 'Burn the Shiites' houses' and 'Kill the Shiites'. My brother tried to calm them down, but they killed him. I rushed forward to save him and they attacked me as well," he said. "I have not forgiven them. My brother died for nothing. I want justice," he said.

A Sunni religious leader believed to have orchestrated the attack stood trial earlier this month, charged with assault and murder, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years. But such attacks in the past have been met with lenient sentences.

'I will never change my faith'

Sunnis and Shiites agree on the fundamentals of Islam. Sunnis believe that Prophet Mohammed's closest aides were the rightful leaders of Islam while Shiites consider the prophet's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as his divinely – appointed successor.

The real number of Shiites in Indonesia is unknown as many feel forced to practice in secret.

"Their beliefs are heretical. In Sampang, they go to villages to proselytise their deviant ideologies and convert our fellow Sunnis to Shiites," district chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Buchori Maksum told AFP. "They are the real provocateurs."

Munaji, 46, a village chief in Sampang, said that the Shiites were not welcome back in the community. "The Shiites have caused a lot of unrest. We don't welcome them here unless they return to Sunni Islam," he said.

The MUI in East Java, a stronghold of Sunni Islam, issued a fatwa in January ruling Shiites religious "deviants," a move slammed as repressive by rights groups.

As the government mulls a solution, patience is wearing thin for the ostracized Shiites, hanging in limbo.

Iklil Al-Melal, 40, who represents the Shiites taking shelter at the tennis hall, said the group rejected the local government's suggestion of relocation. "On New Year's Day, we plan to go back to the village. We are prepared for the backlash. We have nothing to lose," he said. "How can the government guarantee life is safer elsewhere?"

With no food and water, the Shiites have stopped bathing and have begun skipping meals. They pool whatever money they have to buy supplies.

Rohah, a 21-year-old housewife, sold her gold ring – the only item she salvaged from her burnt home – to chip in a modest $30. Others, she said, sold cows and goats.

"I've not showered for two days. I've no money to buy milk, so my baby has been drinking water instead," she said. "I don't know what the future holds. All I know is that I will never change my faith. I pray that Sunnis will one day accept us."

Ethnic & communal conflicts

New social conflict law deemed ineffective in tackling root problems

Jakarta Post - December 11, 2012

Jakarta – A law that was specifically designed to handle social conflict across the country is considered ineffective as the legislation does not touch any of the potential root issues in communal clashes.

The Social Conflict Management Law, which was passed in April this year, has become a target for criticism by a number of experts.

"The law will not effectively resolve social conflicts because it does not regulate how to prevent conflict from happening [in the first place]. It only regulates how to approach conflicts [that have already begun]," sociologist Thamrin Amal Tomagola from the University of Indonesia (UI) said in Jakarta on Monday.

Thamrin was referring to Law No. 7/2012 on social conflict management, which was criticized by several human rights watchdogs when it was being deliberated in the House of Representatives.

The rights activists feared the law would give the Indonesian Military (TNI) authority to meddle in political affairs just as it did during the New Order regime.

Under the law, regional leaders are given the authority to deploy military personnel to handle social conflicts, but only with the approval of the President and the House leaders.

Thamrin criticized articles in the law that only deal with how to handle conflicts. He said the law did not provide a framework to prevent conflicts from occurring or reoccurring.

He added that the government had to understand the core problems that lay at the heart of various conflicts throughout the country.

According to Thamrin, many conflicts may appear to be social or cultural when, in fact, they were manifestations of economic and/or political conflicts. "The recent conflict in South Lampung regency is one such example," he said.

In October, 14 people were killed during incidents involving people from Kalianda and Way Panji districts in South Lampung.

The violence was triggered by an allegation of sexual harassment committed by men from Way Panji, many of whose residents are of Balinese descent, on two young women from Kalianda district, whose residents are mostly Lampung natives. The conflict appeared to be an ethnic clash. But actually, economic disparity between the two villages was what caused the violence.

"People's anger was actually targeted toward the government. However, they cannot attack that. Therefore, people from the less developed community attacked those from the more developed one because they felt that the government favored the latter," Thamrin said.

Sharing Thamrin's view, Thung Ju Lan, a senior researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the Social Conflict Management Law should have been designed according to a different paradigm. "We should be working on conflict prevention, but the law only deals with conflict resolution," she said.

One way to prevent conflicts, she added, was to better educate people about social plurality among Indonesians because people were often unaware that their neighbors may have a different ethnicity or religion to their own.

Separately, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari said the government needed to immediately issue a government regulation to provide details of the Social Conflict Management Law.

The government regulation needed to include references of how social values in society could be used to mend conflicts, Eva added.

"Local communities have their own ways of dealing with social conflicts. Therefore, it would be wise if the government regulation also included local values as a medium to solving conflicts," said Eva, who is also a member of House Commission III overseeing laws and human rights. (riz)

Parliament & legislation

House faces same old problem

Jakarta Post - December 15, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) on Friday closed its session this year with the same old problems – poor legislation achievement and a low attendance record.

At a plenary meeting on Friday, House Speaker Marzuki Alie had to adjourn the meeting for a few hours to meet a quorum held to endorse seven bills on the establishment of new autonomous regencies – a move purported to accelerate developments in those remote areas.

The House's approval of the new bills adds to the list, albeit short, of legislation that lawmakers have completed this year. Of 69 bills to be finished this year, lawmakers managed to complete 25 bills. Of the completed bills, 12 of them are the bills on the establishment of new autonomous regions.

The seven territories that will soon become autonomous regencies are Penukal Abab Lematang Ilir in South Sumatera, Mahakam Ulu in East Kalimantan, Malaka in East Nusa Tenggara, Central Mamuju in West Sulawesi, Banggai Laut in Central Sulawesi, Pulau Taliabu in North Maluku and Kolaka Timur in Southeast Sulawesi.

Last October, the House also endorsed several bills on the establishment of a North Kalimantan Province and four new regencies, including Pangandaran in West Java, Manokwari and Arfak in West Papua and West Pesisir in Lampung.

Although most of the autonomous regions established earlier have not managed to bring prosperity to the locals, lawmakers insist that splitting large administrative areas is the best way to speed up development and boost prosperity.

"We must let people develop their own regions as the central government has failed to reach out to those who live in remote areas," chairman of House Commission II on regional autonomy, Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, told the plenary meeting to the applause and joyous cheers of a number of residents who came to witness the House's endorsement of their regencies.

Agun emphasized that his commission – together with the Home Affairs Ministry – was still working on proposals for the establishment of seven other autonomous regencies including North Musi Rawas in South Sumatra, North Morowali in Central Sulawesi and four other regencies in Southeast Sulawesi, comprising Central Buton, South Buton, West Muna and Konawe, as well as one of the province's municipalities, Raha.

Lawmakers have been criticized for extravagant proposals for the creation of new autonomous regions without considering the huge budget needed to support the new regencies' or province's administrations administrative affairs.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has told the Home Ministry to review any proposals for the establishment of new regions and to ensure that it will make the people more prosperous.

Aside from poor legislative achievements, lawmakers have become the target of criticism because of their poor attendance. Despite efforts such as the purchase of fingerprint scanners that cost Rp 279 million (US$29,295) to improve attendance, many lawmakers continue to skip meetings.

"The lack of discipline shown by lawmakers have disrupted the bill deliberation," House legislative body (Baleg) chairman Ignatius Mulyono said at a plenary meeting earlier on Thursday.

Ignatius further cited disagreement between legislators and the government on the content of draft bills as another challenge that slowed down the deliberation of bills.

According to Ignatius, the House included 69 bills in its priority list this year, 46 of which were initiated by the House, the another 23 were initiated by the government.

"We have completed deliberating 20 of them, 31 more are still under discussions with the House commissions and three with the Baleg. Meanwhile, we are still drafting 25 bills, which we aim to endorse next year," the Democratic Party politician said.

Among the legislation approved by the House this year are bills on social conflict, higher education, defense, juvenile delinquency, legislative election and micro-economics. Lawmakers will continue to deliberate 31 bills next year, including a bill on nursing and another on medical education.

28 lawmakers disciplined, more to follow

Jakarta Post - December 14, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives' ethics council revealed on Thursday that it had imposed disciplinary measures, from demotions to dismissals, on 28 lawmakers since 2009 for offenses such as corruption, misbehavior and poor performance.

The council's deputy chairman, Siswono Yudho Husodo, said two of the lawmakers had been fired; six resigned, either voluntarily or after pressure; and seven had been temporarily suspended.

Two lawmakers were stripped of their House faction leadership positions, four others had to relinquish their chairmanship of House commissions, five received written reprimands and two were verbally warned over misbehavior, according to Siswono.

"We've punished five percent of the total 560 lawmakers at the House. We will continue to follow up public complaints of unethical behavior by our lawmakers," Siswono said.

The council is also investigating several other lawmakers allegedly involved in collusion with government officials and state companies.

Siswono was upbeat over the increase in resignations by lawmakers guilty of ethical violations. "The council can force them to resign or ask their party factions to do so if and when they're found guilty," he added.

Lawmakers who have chosen to resign include former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Arifinto, who was photographed last year viewing pornographic material on his cell phone during a House plenary session.

Arifinto announced his resignation in April last year, hoping that his move would set an example for others in acknowledging their mistakes. But not all lawmakers found guilty of misconduct or criminal activity have followed Arifinto's lead.

The House had to discharge former Democratic Party lawmaker As'ad Syam in July last year after the Supreme Court handed him a four-year prison sentence for embezzling Rp 4.5 billion (US$467,046) relating to a diesel power procurement while he was the regent of Muaro Jambi in Sumatra.

A similar case involved the former chairman of the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra), Widjono Hardjanto, who was forced to step down last year for missing two consecutive months' worth of House meetings.

Attempting to reassure the public of the council's commitment to upholding ethics, the council's chairman, M. Prakosa, said the council would not take sides over unscrupulous fellow legislators, including a recent complaint filed by State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, who alleged that several lawmakers had demanded kickbacks from state companies.

"Our investigation has concluded that several lawmakers violated House regulations. They will receive light sentences, either verbal or written reprimands. We will soon be disclosing their names publicly," he said.

Prakosa said that Golkar Party lawmaker Idris Laena had admitted attending "informal meetings" with executives from state-owned shipyard company PT PAL outside the House.

According to a separate source on the ethics council, the House would also be slapping sanctions on Sumaryoto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Achsanul Qosasih of the Democratic Party, and the PKS' Zulkieflimansyah for allegedly colluding with state companies for personal gain.

Anti-smoking groups protest House's planned tobacco bill

Jakarta Post - December 14, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Less than two hours after the House of Representatives (DPR) formally included the tobacco bill on its priority list, several advocacy groups voiced their opposition.

At a plenary meeting on Thursday, the House decided to include the tobacco bill on the list of 70 items of draft legislation to be deliberated in 2013. The tobacco bill is among the bills that have caused public controversy. Other controversial bills deal with gender equality, alcoholic beverages and national security to name a few.

The Indonesian Consumers Protection Foundation (YLKI) and the National Commission of Tobacco Control questioned the inclusion of the tobacco bill on the House's list of prioritized bills. Hakim Sorimuda Pohan, a member of the tobacco control commission, questioned the rush to deliberate the bill without prior public consultation.

"Based on the House's internal rules, every bill must be proposed with a draft and academic documents. But, this [tobacco] bill has only a name. We don't know the purpose of the bill," Hakim, a doctor and a former lawmaker, said during a press conference less than two hours after the House's plenary meeting in Jakarta on Thursday.

The groups worry that the bill will protect the nation's tobacco industry as it was initially proposed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, with the support from the Indonesian Tobacco Society Alliance (AMTI).

Tulus Abadi from the YLKI said that the PDI-P faction had withdrawn its support for the bill, however leaders of the House's legislation body (Baleg) had kept pushing for its deliberation. "We will soon file a complaint with the House's Ethics Council, urging them to investigate the Baleg leaders," he said.

Another member of the tobacco control commission, Kartono Muhammad, said that the bill's inclusion raised suspicions that Baleg leaders sided with the tobacco companies.

The House has previously rejected two bills related to the negative impact of tobacco. The House's Commission IX proposed a bill on the impact of tobacco products in 2009. Baleg turned it down, citing the huge socio- economic implications of the bill for citizens, tobacco farmers in particular.

In 2011, the commission revised the bill and proposed it under a new name; the bill on public health protection from the perils of cigarettes and similar products. The bill, which was adapted from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), was rejected.

The World Health Organization estimates that Indonesia has 57.6 million male smokers – the world's third-highest – and 2.3 million female smokers. As much as 70 percent of Indonesian smokers are from low-income groups.

The government reaped Rp 77 trillion (US$7.98 billion) from tobacco taxes last year, however, that barely covers the spending on health problems related to the product. According to the Health Ministry, economic losses and health costs from smoking-associated diseases reached Rp 245.4 trillion a year.

In addition, the House's Commission VIII overseeing religion and social affairs has dropped an article from the draft gender equality bill, which would allow men or women to freely choose their spouses, following protests from Islamic women's groups.

Members of the commission said that the decision was made in order to accommodate the concerns of Muslim women, who had told the commission that granting such freedom to both genders contradicted Islamic law, which stated that bride and groom should be of the same religion.

Some activists had also urged the commission in several hearings to drop the article, Article 12, arguing that it could lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as encouraging women to opt for employment other than being a housewife. (yps)

DPR pushes divisive legislation

Jakarta Post - December 14, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Despite public opposition, the House of Representatives (DPR) has decided to continue deliberating the national security bill and the mass organization bill, which critics say could condone state violence.

The two bills are among the 70 prioritized bills to be deliberated and completed within the next year as agreed by lawmakers during a plenary meeting marked by strident debate on Thursday.

Aside from the national security and mass organization bills, the House's plenary meeting also included several other contentious bills, such as legislation on gender equality, halal product certification and the financial system safety net (JPSK), in its list of priorities.

Speaking before the plenary meeting, chairman of the House's legislative body (Baleg), Ignatius Mulyono, also named 12 newly proposed bills, including bills on tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

"Thirty-one draft bills are currently being deliberated by lawmakers in House commissions. Meanwhile, we – the legislators and the government – are drafting 27 bills. The other 12 bills are new proposals to be drafted soon," Ignatius said.

The bills that are currently under deliberation include the halal product certification, JPSK, mass organization, national security, gender equality and indigenous groups bills and the bill combating terrorist funding.

Meanwhile, the 12 newly proposed bills – the drafts and academic papers of which have not yet been formulated – deal with tobacco, alcoholic beverages, revisions to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Law, marine affairs and the redenomination of the rupiah.

Ignatius' announcement, however, drew the ire of some lawmakers, who questioned the inclusion of the bills to regulate the financial system safety net and tobacco in the legislative agenda for 2013.

Lawmaker Sidarto Danusubroto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction called on fellow legislators to drop the JPSK bill from the list, arguing that there was an existing regulation on the financial system security net, No. 4/2008.

Meanwhile, Sumarjati Arjoso of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, also urged the removal of the tobacco bill from the House's priority list.

She suspected that the sudden inclusion of the contentious bill on the House's priority list might have been due to lobbying by the Alliance of Indonesian Tobacco Farmers (AMTI), which is said to have links to a major cigarette manufacturer.

"We suspect that the cigarette manufacturer has intentionally pushed through deliberation of the bill for its own benefit. It's unclear what the bill aims to regulate," Sumarjati said.

"If we aim to protect tobacco farmers, we can include that in a bill on farming, which we will also deliberate next year. However, if this [tobacco] bill is included for the sake of cigarette producers, it will harm poor people," she said, urging the meeting to drop the bill's deliberation.

Other lawmakers, such as Teguh Juwarno of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Firman Subagyo of Golkar Party, shared these concerns and demanded that the House not discuss the bill.

Deputy House Speaker Taufik Kurniawan suspended the plenary meeting for around 15 minutes to allow party factions to discuss the matter before a final decision. The House finally approved continuing the deliberation of both bills next year, with several adjustments, within the respective commissions.

The House regularly sets a target of bills to be completed in its sitting session. However, on average, the lawmakers achieve less than 40 percent of their target. In 2010, of the targeted 70 bills, the House only completed deliberation of 16 bills.

List of controversial bills:

Halal product certification bill
Financial system safety net bill
Mass organization bill
National security bill
Red Cross bill
Gender equality bill
Tobacco bill

Lawmakers question budget allocations at religious ministry

Jakarta Post - December 13, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Lawmakers are closely scrutinizing budget allocations at the Religious Affairs Ministry after discovering alleged misappropriation of funds at the directorate for Islamic education.

During a hearing early this week, legislators from the House of Representatives' (DPR) Commission VIII on religious affairs questioned a request for a budget increase by Nur Syam, the Islamic education director general.

Speaking before lawmakers on Monday, Nur said the ministry planned to spend Rp 35 trillion (US$3.9 trillion) of the total Rp 42 trillion budget on developing Islamic education.

Around Rp 33.5 trillion will go to state Islamic education institutions across the archipelago (almost 4,000 institutions). The rest will be allocated for the same institutions in the capital. "Of that money, around Rp 5.09 trillion will be to procure equipment," Nur said.

Going into detail, Nur said around Rp 25 million would go toward building Islamic boarding schools, while another Rp 23.2 million would be used to improve boarding schools.

The plan also includes a program to spend Rp 20 million of the money on health facilities at boarding schools and to provide 34 "packages" worth Rp 110 million to improve the quality of Islamic education in ordinary schools.

Nur has roundly failed to convince Commission VIII members to approve this budget. Not only have lawmakers questioned details of the specific places where the ministry plans to build more boarding schools but are demanding an explanation for this year's budget, which according to them, has been poorly managed.

Lawmaker Nurul Imam Mustofa questioned the money spent on the improvement of the country's madrasah (Islamic schools).

"People from my electoral district of Garut [West Java] told me that the ministry only approved one of their 20 requests for financial assistance for schools in their neighborhood. I don't know how you managed the previous budget allocation," the Democratic Party politician said.

Other lawmakers, such as Abdul Aziz Suseno of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Mahrus Munir of the Democratic Party demanded comprehensive data of all Islamic boarding schools in the country so that lawmakers could check whether or not they do in fact exist.

"Tell us where are the boarding schools located and how to access them so that we can monitor them," they asked.

Responding to lawmakers' accusations of budget mismanagement, Nur only said that everything was already according to the ministry's protocol. "We cannot approve all requests for financial assistance. We have priorities," he said.

The commission concluded that the ministry had failed to manage the huge amount of state budget and planned to ask the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to investigate the ministry's performance.

Most of the ministry's annual budget is spent on Islamic education. This year, Rp 31.5 trillion of the ministry's total funds of Rp 39 trillion has been allocated to support the division.

Lawmakers 'suspicious' about tobacco bill

Jakarta Post - December 13, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Some lawmakers are questioning the inclusion of a bill to regulate tobacco on their legislative agenda for 2013.

During a House plenary meeting on Thursday, Ignatius Mulyono, the chairman of the House's legislative body (Baleg), said that a tobacco bill would be one of 12 new pieces of legislation to be deliberated next year.

Ignatius announcement drew the ire of some lawmakers, who said that the rapid inclusion of the bill on the House's backlogged agenda may have been due to the Alliance of Indonesian Tobacco Farmers (AMTI), which is said to have links with the national cigarette producing giant PT Sampoerna.

"We suspect that the cigarette manufacturer has intentionally encouraged deliberations on the bill for its own benefit. It's unclear what the bill aims to regulate," lawmaker Sumarjati Arjoso of the Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra) Party said.

She encouraged the House not to consider the bill. "If we aim to protect our tobacco farmers, we can include it in a bill on farming, which we will discuss later. However, if this [tobacco] bill is included for the sake of cigarette producers, it will make poor people poorer," Sumarjati said.

Ignatius said that the inclusion of the bill was backed members of every political party represented on the legislative body. "We didn't arbitrarily include it on the list. It's been a long process," he said. (lfr)

Indonesian legislators embark on year-end overseas junkets

Jakarta Globe - December 12, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Two teams of lawmakers from the House of Representatives' Commission VII have departed for visits to the United States and Brazil in relation to draft laws on aviation and space.

The team headed to the United States left on Friday, while the Brazil-bound contingent left two days later. House Commission VII deals with energy and mineral resources, research and technology, and the environment.

Nur Yasin, a member of the team in Brazil, said by telephone on Wednesday that the visits were necessary because lawmakers lacked knowledge on the substance of the matters addressed in the two draft bills.

"Many of us are blind [on these matters] and our experts are still probing their way around too, while we have to complete [the bills' deliberations] soon," said Nur, a member of the ruling Democratic Party.

He said the team, comprised of 13 lawmakers, two members of the House Secretariat and four members from the National Aerospace and Aviation Institute (Lapan), will be in Brazil until Tuesday.

"This is not a tourism visit. No. We are tired, from morning we are holding meetings with the aerospace research department and the defense ministry," he said.

However, the Democrats' House chairwoman, Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, said she had not yet given permission to Democratic lawmakers to take part in the visits.

"They did indeed file a request for a permit, but I just received it yesterday and I have not signed it yet. If they have already left, they clearly will incur sanction from the [party] faction," Nurhayati said.

Two Democratic lawmakers, Milton Pakpahan and Siti Romlay, filed permit requests to the party's House faction.

Sutan Bhatoegana, the leader of the team going to Brazil, is also a senior Democratic official. Nurhayati did not mention his name in conjunction with the travel requests.

Legislators have in the past come under fire for their overseas visits, seen by critics as wasteful public spending in this age of information technology. The criticism was also spawned in part due to reports of lawmakers indulging in non-official activities such as sightseeing and shopping during trips, and the involvement of family members in some cases.

Mining & energy

Ministries play blame game over fuel conversion failure

Jakarta Post - December 8, 2012

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Earlier this year, the government framed its plan to implement a fuel-to-gas energy conversion program as the answer to the country's growing dependency on fuel consumption.

The idea behind the program was to significantly reduce the fuel subsidy by converting energy usage to gas, which is cheaper and abundantly available in Indonesia. By cutting the fuel subsidy, the government planned to reallocate some of its resources for infrastructure development.

To implement the program, the government set aside Rp 1.8 trillion in the 2012 state budget to build 33 gas fuel stations (SPBG) and to procure around 14,000 converter kits.

This firm commitment to allocating a budget for the program, however, has not been firmly followed up by the government itself. The year is almost at an end and the tender for the procurement and the development of the SPBGs have not been completed. Instead of evaluating what went wrong, government officials then busied themselves with pointing fingers at each another as to who was responsible for the failure of the conversion program.

Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Rudi Rubiandini said in November that the conversion program could not be implemented this year because the Finance Ministry refused to disburse the budget allocation.

Rudi added that the Finance Ministry also refused to accept the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's proposal to re-classify the program as a multi-year program.

On the other hand, the Finance Ministry refuses to be blamed for the conversion program failure. Finance Ministry budgeting directorate general Herry Purnomo said the main reason for the program failing was a lack of preparation and planning from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

First of all, Herry said that the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry had been late in issuing an assignment letter authorizing state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina to conduct the conversion program.

"The assignment letter was issued in August while it takes at least seven months to build the needed infrastructure for the program. So basically, the implementation of the program will not be completed within the 2012 fiscal year," Herry said on the sidelines of a seminar in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday.

Herry added that the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry then tried to propose the conversion program to be re-classified as a multi-year program because it would not be possible to complete it in 2012.

"We couldn't do that because the fuel-to-gas conversion program is not determined as one of the government's multi-year programs in the 2012 state budget," Herry said.

A University of Indonesia energy expert, Kurtubi, said the government's failure to implement the conversion program was a major setback that would hurt the country's future infrastructure development.

"If only the government was able to convert around 50 percent of the vehicles to use gas instead of fuel, we could save at least Rp 100 trillion [US$10.4 billion] of fuel subsidies per year and use it for infrastructure," he said.