Bagus BT Saragih, Bogor, West Java – Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi has revealed that thousands of Indonesian men with multiple wives have compromised the country's single identification system by trying to make more than one electronic identification card (e-ID), one for each wife.

The ministry discovered the practice after officials recorded fingerprints and retina scans for the new ID system, Gamawan said. Under the previous system where applicants were only required submit information on forms, polygamous men could easily get away with having more than one ID.

"When the recorded data from all over Indonesia was tabulated, we found that as of December 2012, 776,000 people attempted to apply for more than one e-ID," the minister said on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting at the Bogor Palace on Monday.

Polygamous men make up 0.5 percent of the total 174 million people who had recorded their fingerprints and retinas for the e-ID program.

Gamawan, however, said that the motivation for trying to make multiple e- IDs varied. "But we later found out that a great proportion of the men were individuals who had multiple wives and wanted to have different IDs for each of the wives," Gamawan said.

Each of the wives might have demanded that their husband have a single ID that contained unique spousal data, the minister added. "Some of these men move from one sub-district to another within a city or regency, but many of them jumped across provinces to make different IDs," Gamawan said, suggesting that many of the polygamous men had wives in different cities.

Their attempts to make more than one e-ID, could have been foiled although some of them tried to trick officials by producing different names, signatures, and birthplaces. "Some tried to change their appearance, by donning fake beards for instance," Gamawan said.

Some of the applicants, however, simply wanted to test the new system. Gamawan said that those people were curious about whether the e-ID system was capable of preventing fraudulent practices.

"But they were unable to do so because the online e-ID registration system prevented them from using the same fingerprints more than once," Gamawan said. Golkar Party lawmaker Nurul Arifin applauded the success of the e-ID system for tracking down polygamous men. "I am an advocate of monogamy and these polygamous men should now know that they cannot burden the government by creating more than one ID just to please their wives," she said.

Nurul said that the government should punish polygamous men who tried to trick the system. "It is ironic that many of the men were actually asked by their wives to make different e-IDs. The women wanted to be seen as if they were the only wife their husband had, even though they actually knew that it was not true. It's like living a lie," Nurul said.

Data from the Home Ministry shows that by the end of last year, the government printed 110 million of the total 174 million e-IDs. Of the number, 90 million had been distributed.

The ministry claimed that the Rp 5.8 trillion (US$601.04 million) project had exceeded its 2012 targets. "By the middle of this year, all the e-IDs must be distributed to all eligible residents so that the electronic data can be used for the upcoming 2014 elections," Gamawan said.

Sharia tourism initiated to tap growing Muslim travel market

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2013

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry is set to leverage the country's potential of sharia tourism this year in a bid to capture the expanding number of global Muslim travelers, especially tourists from the Middle East.

Sharia tourism is leisure and travel that complies with Islamic law, such as the provision of cuisine and beverages that contain no pork or alcohol, and the separation of men and women at tourist events and sites.

The ministry's director for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE), Rizky Handayani, said recently that the government, together with travel agencies, hotels and restaurants, was planning to promote and create tour packages aimed at Muslim travelers.

"Sharia tourism is very promising because spending by Muslim tourists is growing faster than the global rate, and is forecast to reach US$192 billion globally per year by 2020," said Rizky.

"As a rich and beautiful Muslim-majority nation, we have to be able to tap into this market," Rizky said, quoting a new study conducted in 47 countries by Singapore-based halal travel specialist Crescentrating along with DinarStandard, a US-based firm that tracks the Muslim lifestyle market.

According to the study, Muslim tourists globally represented a major niche market worth $126.1 billion throughout 2011. The demand is expected to grow by 4.8 percent annually through 2020, compared to the global average of 3.8 percent.

Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Argentina are countries that already offer sharia tourism.

"Sharia tourism is not complicated. Basically, we just need to include what Muslim tourists need when traveling, such as hotels that have a kiblat sign [direction to Mecca], a prayer mat, halal food, a toilet with washing facilities and a tour that includes daily prayers," said Rizky, adding that sharia tourism was not a religious or pilgrimage journey.

Halal means permitted or lawful according to Islamic law, which forbids consuming the flesh of swine or alcoholic drinks.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of Muslim travelers from four major countries – Egypt, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Saudi Arabia – to Indonesia rose 13.11 percent between January and November 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.

The BPS also revealed a 30.5 percent increase in travelers from Egypt, the highest among the Muslim countries, even though the number was relatively small, from 3,259 in the first 11 months of 2011 to 4,235 in the same period last year.

Even though the number was small, Rizky said Muslim travelers were long stayers, spending 10 to 14 days in Indonesia, a week longer than their Asian and Australian peers.

In addition, she said, the ministry had selected nine provinces that would serve as major sharia-tourist destinations – West Sumatra, Riau, Lampung, Banten, Jakarta, West Java, East Java, South Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara.

"But, it does not mean that Muslim tourists cannot go to Bali and enjoy a trip there. Sure they can, because we encourage the industry in Indonesia to provide services for people who are concerned about sharia," she said.

Contacted separately, Indonesia Tour and Travel Agencies Association (ASITA) chairman Asnawi Bahar said that introducing sharia tourism was a breakthrough in Indonesia's tourism, given the fact that economic turmoil in Europe and the United States was unlikely to abate anytime soon.

However, Asnawi said the government would need to intensively cooperate with hotels, tour agencies and restaurants in order for the program to be successful.

"We urge the government to provide certain facilities to the industry so that we can provide the best services to sharia-concerned travelers. We also need to conduct large-scale promotion campaigns to better tap the market," he said.

Ba'asyir condemns government from prison

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2013

Jakarta – Convicted terrorist Abu Bakar Ba'asyir launched a book on Sunday in which he condemned government officials and lawmakers for maintaining what he called the rule of infidels.

In the 176-page book, Ba'asyir implored government officials and politicians to return to the true path of Islam before they died.

"The rulers have to replace the law of the land, the positive law of the Unitary State of Indonesia, with sharia," Ba'asyir said in his book.

Ba'asyir wrote portions from the book while he was being held by the National Police. He is currently serving his jail term at the maximum security prison on Nusakambangan Island off the coast of Cilacap, Central Java.

In February 2012, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal, upholding a lower court's 15-year sentence for running a terrorist training camp in Aceh.

The Supreme Court annulled the nine-year prison sentence for Ba'asyir handed down by the Jakarta High Court in October and reinstated the South Jakarta District Court's original 15-year sentence.

Local alcoholic concoctions targeted by lawmakers

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2013

Rizky Amelia – Lawmakers have called on the government to crack down on homemade alcoholic drinks distributed by local producers throughout Indonesia, following the death on Sunday of an Australian teenager after drinking one such cocktail in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

"We can't tolerate this kind of incident happening again. Many people – both foreigners and Indonesians – have died from such drinks," said Mahfudz Siddiq, a lawmaker from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

He said all members of his party supported a total crackdown on producers of the drinks, adding that a bill placing restrictions on the distribution of alcoholic drinks, including locally made brews, had been proposed by his party.

Australian news website The Age reported on Sunday that a Perth teenager who was poisoned after drinking a methanol-laced cocktail in Lombok had died.

Liam Davies, 19, was being treated at a Perth hospital after being flown back from Lombok, where he was spending the New Year's holiday. He reportedly fell ill after drinking a cocktail made by a local producer and was transported back to Perth on Thursday.

According to The Age, "a growing number of cases of methanol poisoning had previously led to Australian health authorities warning of the dangers of potential poisoning from drinking the local 'arak' brew."

In September 2011, New Zealander Michael Denton, a 29-year-old rugby player, died after consuming arak while on tour in Bali with his Perth- based club. Arak typically takes the form of a colorless, sugarless beverage that is distilled from rice or palm sap.

While most is produced legally and safely, unlicensed distillers do exist and distribute the brew as well. If distilled incorrectly, the process can produce toxic methanol as a by-product.

A home-brewed cocktail also left an 18-year-old Australian blind in Bali last month. Bali and Lombok, meanwhile, are not unique in producing lethal brews.

In June 2011, four crew members of a Russian ship anchored off Kalimantan died and three others became seriously ill after drinking locally made alcohol, while in 2010, three Russian engineers in Makassar, South Sulawesi, died from the same.

Dozens of Indonesians have also died from drinking similarly tainted concoctions in recent years.

Hercules – Protest organizer for hire in Jakarta

Straits Times - January 2, 2013

Zubaidah Nazeer, Jakarta – If you need an organized demonstration in the streets of Jakarta, call Hercules.

At the protest that turned violent just last month in front of Indonesia's Parliament, he was seen in the thick of action – shepherding the crowds, yelling instructions and eventually dispersing them once police fired tear gas and water cannon.

Hercules Rozario Marshal, a former "preman" or gang leader, now organizes demonstrations for a fee. He also leads a movement that some fear has the makings of a paramilitary outfit.

Though he appeared like a true commander at the rally, up close, the man – who was named after the Greek mythological warrior by his Timorese parents and by which he is popularly known in Indonesia – seems a misnomer.

A fake eyeball rests in the right eye socket of this lanky man, while his right hand and lower arm are covered in a glove stretching past his elbow and tucked underneath his short shirtsleeve, crippled in an incident.

These physical shortcomings have not stopped him. Hercules pulled off a massive, crippling demonstration by regional officials clamoring for better benefits last month. He leads a movement aimed at mobilizing support for presidential aspirant Prabowo Subianto.

The name linked with the underworld resurfaced after Hercules, who had repented his crimes several years before, threw his support in last September's Jakarta governor election behind the now-elected team of Joko Widodo and his deputy Basuki Tjahaja Purnama that Prabowo and his Gerindra party backed.

Indeed, men like Hercules are proving useful for some demonstrators who hire him or others to whip up support and rally crowds for mass demonstrations. Interestingly, police also use him to help manage crowds or gather information from notorious areas.

In the recent demonstration, he was hired by protesters pushing for a bill to upgrade the status of village officials to civil servants and obtain better pay. His civil society organization, Gerakan Rakyat Indonesia Baru (GRIB), or New Indonesia People's Movement, rallied 40,000 protesters, of whom 5,000 managed to force their way into Parliament. But he was also instrumental in dispersing the crowds.

He arrived in Jakarta from Timor Leste in the 1980s and quickly found his niche running a lucrative debt-collection trade and commanding a gang that raided illegal gambling dens to claim "security fees," clashing with rival gangs in turf wars in the process.

"Clashes are frequent and bloody. The next morning, it's common to see dead bodies lying on the road or in the canals," the 50-year-old tells The Straits Times.

"Police don't interfere with us because they know we are not targeting them," says the Timorese who was recruited into the Indonesian army's special forces (Kopassus) to fight with the Indonesians in the civil war in his native Timor Leste while it was ongoing there.

Though Jakartans know him as a gang leader of Tanah Abang in the heart of the city, Hercules says he is now focused on training GRIB members to help provide welfare to the needy. GRIB was officially launched in May last year.

"I formed GRIB to fight for the poor who are not treated justly. The rich can get away because of political connections or by paying themselves out. No one is helping the underdogs," he claims.

Members wear army fatigues and red berets. They claim to number six million nationwide with 17,000 in Jakarta. Some observers are concerned about his links to Prabowo, a former general accused of human rights violations during the Timor Leste civil war.

"The connection between Prabowo and Hercules that began when Prabowo was on duty in Timor Leste as Kopassus special commander looks like it will be revived and will conquer Jakarta if Jokowi is chosen," wrote news portal kompas.com columnist Arafat Rahman before the capital's governor election last September which was won by Joko, also known as Jokowi.

Hercules' civil society organization is among many in the city whose activities blur the line between activism and thuggery. They control certain areas and collect "security fees" from vendors or businesses there in return for protection.

Gangs are still rife in Jakarta. Police statistics recorded 210 cases involving thugs between January and September last year, including extortions, trespassing, land annexation and murder.

But Hercules, a father of four, insists he has abandoned his dark past. He built a Catholic primary school and is distributing rice to 11 orphanages monthly. He also runs a fishery and vessel-leasing business which hires 200 people.

"Figures like Hercules and his GRIB can be beneficial for police as they have wide connections, including with the elite. Police do work with them, but they have to make sure they are in control," says Neta S. Pane of Indonesia Police Watch.

However, he does not think that groups with well-known political links will be emboldened to provoke aggression now. "Everyone knows they are supporting Prabowo, a presidential aspirant, so it is in their interest to be on good behavior. Police should use the time now to rein them in."

Actions, demos, protests...

Students rally for Depok station vendors

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2013

Jakarta – Students from several universities in Depok demonstrated at Pondok Cina station on Friday about plans to evict vendors from the station.

The students formed a human barricade in front of the kiosks, some of which have been in business for decades.

They squared off against dozens of police officers, soldiers and security guards from train operator PT Kereta Api who were on hand to evict the vendors.

"PT Kereta Api informally told the vendors to dismantle their kiosks on Dec. 28 and did not offer them a win-win solution. The same thing happened at the Depok Baru and Citayam stations," University of Indonesia student Azhar Nurun Ala said. "The evictions will only lead to an increase in the poverty rate."

PT Kereta Api Sugeng Priyono said that the vendors were to have been evicted to expand the train platform and the station's parking lots.

"We have no business with the vendors and the students. We leased part of the lot to a vendor, who rented it to other vendors. In the contract, the lease holder is required to dismantle the kiosks at any time," Sugeng said

PT Kereta Api would not stop the evictions and require its lease holder to fulfill the terms of the contract, he added.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has told the company to stop the evictions until the vendors find a new place to do business.

West Papua

Paniai villages razed as Densus 88 resumes sweep operations

West Papua Media - January 8, 2013

Unconfirmed reports from local activists and credible human rights observers in Paniai have claimed that 13 houses have been burnt down as sweep operations by Indonesian security forces have resumed, causing panic amongst local Papuan civilians.

The operation by a joint Indonesian army (TNI) and police unit, allegedly led by a large number of Detachment 88 troops (the elite Australian-funded counter-terror unit) is searching for Free Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM) guerrilla leader Jhon Yogi, has begun with up to 13 houses burned to the ground, allegedly claimed by Detachment 88 officers to be TPN posts.

Activists from National Papua solidarity (Napas.com) have reported that Detachment 88 (d88) troops began to raid houses across the area around Pugo village on January 7, from 11am local time. According to field reports, the searches lasted well into the night, causing many people in surrounding villages to flee the area in fear of their lives.

Five Companies (approx 500 armed men) of the joint strike force (including one company of D88 troops) reportedly laid siege to the alleged headquarters area near Waididi Pogo of Yogi's TPN-OPM Paniai region command on Monday. According to Napas.com, Yogi's men returned heavy fire on the strike force.

According to the local community members, the civilian houses in Pogo were burned quickly on Monday by rogue Indonesian military, together with plain clothes militia or Intel (military intelligence officers), according to SMS messages sent to the media.

Since 13 December 2011, the Indonesian military forces have been regularly attacking, and systematically dismantling and burning villages and traditional buildings alleged to be posts or headquarters of the TPN-OPM Division II in Paniai.

Community members have reported to Napas.com, the movements of Yogi have been well know n by the Indonesian military, who are allegedly using the situation to have a "show force with full war equipment", using this opportunity to surround the new TPN headquarters.

Separate reports received by West Papua Media,which have been unable to be confirmed to our verification standards, have claimed that "unknown persons" units have also fired on both civilians and military units. including gunfire that erupted from a suspected military source on a hill behind the Paniai General Hospital area at Uwibutu Madi.

According to human rights sources, Paniai people are greatly fearing for their safety amid another escalation in military offensives. Previous offensives in the Paniai since December 2011 have displaced tens of thousands of civilians, and burnt down hundreds of villages.

Information instead of arrows

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2013

Ivar Andersen and Klas Lundstrvm, Contributor, Kiunga, Papua New Guinea – For decades, the struggle for West Papuan independence has been fought from the vast rainforests along the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

But there has been little progress, and now second generation refugees from the Indonesia portion of the island of New Guinea – which they term West Papua – are discarding the guerilla tactics of their parents in favor of international networking and information efforts.

From Kiunga in PNG's Western Province, Indonesia is just around the corner. The border itself is formed by the Fly River, named after the first European vessel to reach this gridlocked part of the world in 1842.

Today, the river transports gold and copper from the Ok Tedi mine, north of Kiunga. Along the road to Ok Tedi, paid for and constructed by the mining company, a pipeline transports minerals from the jungle to the wharf in Kiunga, from where it is shipped to satisfy the global market's ever- increasing demand for gold and copper.

Kiunga's 30,000 inhabitants are from all over PNG. Here everything is surprisingly expensive; most of the food, drinking water and electronics are imported by plane, forcing prices sky-high. This is evident at the local market; locals pay US$3 for a tin can of fish, a tiny fish from the Fly River is yours for $8. You can have a banana for $2. Sustainable? Not really, if you ask the people living here.

Since the mid-1980s, around 15,000 refugees from Indonesian Papua have found themselves stranded in and around Kiunga – either in border camps or "settlements".

They fled the low but intense war that followed after what was called West Papua was integrated with Indonesia in 1969. That population was not allowed to participate in a UN-backed referendum regarding independence or integration; instead, a little more than a thousand male elders hand-picked by the Soeharto government got to decide the future for West Papua's then half a million inhabitants. Two years prior to those controversial elections, Jakarta had signed a contract with US mining giant Freeport, granting the company a 30-year-long concession in Papua.

Life in the border camps is one of hardship. In Dome, home to about 95 families and located 25 kilometers from the Indonesian border, the main source of protein has been lost since the pollution of the Fly River left the fish unfit to eat. Citizens of PNG have received financial compensation for the environmental havoc caused by Ok Tedi, but due to their legal status the refugees are ineligible. "Many years ago, before the pollution destroyed the river, the water was clear," explains a Papuan couple arranging motorboat transport across the Ok Tedi River.

The vast majority of land in Papua New Guinea is privately owned, and the refugees are left with little choice but to occupy. The situation does cause tension, and local landowners will sporadically voice their discontent through violence. "Last year they burned our school to the ground," says Johnny Mathias, a 30-year-old Dome resident and father of two. "We contacted the police but they don't really do anything."

To an extent, the difficulties that Dome faces are the result of an active choice. The refugees here have made the decision not to apply for permissive residency. "If we do so, there's a risk that we will forget why we are here, which is to fight for the freedom of West Papua," says Panus Keileum, one of the village elders.

Likewise, the location of Dome, in the remote rainforest of the Western Province and plagued by malaria and waterborne diseases, is also a choice. "If we move away from the border no one will talk about our cause, we will become a part of PNG. Instead, we chose to stay here and encourage the young generation to carry on fighting."

"I think we all received the will to fight from our parents," says Anna Yawa, a 21-year-old teacher and youth leader at the Waterfront refugee camp in Kiunga. "It is in our blood, we came to this country to achieve freedom." However, while the incentive to continue the struggle for independence is strong with Anna and her peers, they might not adhere to all the advice offered by their elders – for good reason.

Decades of skirmishes along the border, during which rebels of Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) have attempted to confront the Indonesian military using bows and arrows, have not advanced the cause. Instead, the movement has been severely crippled by internal power struggles.

"Sometimes it seems like we are fighting two battles; one for independence and one for the leadership of the movement. We, the young generation, want collectivity and one uniting idea," says Andreas Hanueby, 23, from the Waterfront camp. A university student of linguistics and anthropology, he is part of a student organization that attempts to promote the concept of independence on campus.

It is but one example of how the young generation is discarding guerilla tactics in favor of networking and information efforts. "In the 1960s and 1970s the resistance struggle was carried out in the jungle, but no one knew about it. That's why we need to get international attention. Our aim is to get the United Nations to debate the issue," says Steven Dude, 29, also from Waterfront. Steven works for the Catholic Mission, established by The Vatican in the 1950s, and which provides or pays for most of the health and education services that refugees have access to.

Refugees face several obstacles in PNG. Their freedom of movement is restricted and they say they are discriminated against in the labor market. While the older generation has not addressed these issues due to the belief that it will defer attention from the cause of independence, younger refugees are committed not only to that cause but also to improving their present situation. "This is our home away from home. We cannot only live in the future," says Andreas.

Even though access to education is still a problem in remote camps, second generation refugees have had greater opportunities to inform themselves than many of their parents, which has brought about a more refined political analysis. "Some of our parents say that we are victims of the Cold War. That the US sold us to Indonesia in exchange for calm in the Pacific Ocean," says Steven.

"But the main reasons were economic," adds Andreas. "At the core of the issue are the natural resources and the money that Freeport's mining operations generate."

Putting the West Papuan issue in a broader context encompassing global capitalism, rather then viewing it as an isolated conflict, also entails a new view of Indonesia. While crimes against civilians perpetrated by the Indonesian military will not soon be forgotten, the younger generation recognizes the politics of power can't be blamed on the general population. Steven says: "Before World War II you had colonialism, now the economy is used to control developing countries. Papua New Guinea is one of them, and so is Indonesia."

But, adds Andreas, "Our goal remains the same: an independent West Papua."

Again, families question TNI legal processes after shooting of Pastor

SuaraPapua.com - January 7, 2013

Oktovianus Pogau, Merauke, Papua – Anis Jambormase, a family member of female pastor Frederika Metalmeti (38 years old), is questioning the legal process against the shooting of their child in Boven Digoel, Papua, on 21 November 2012.

"We still have hope Danrem (KomanDan Korem or Battalion level Commander) 174/ATW from Merauke and the Commander XVII from Cenderwasih will close the legal proceedings."

When contacted by Suara Papua (suarapapua.com) on 7 January 2013, a statement was delivered by Jambormase in Tanah Merah, Digoel, Papua.

According to Jambormase, through Danrem 174/ATW Merauke, the TNI has confirmed one of the shooters was from the military. Accordingly, the TNI has pledged to fire any corrupt officers.

"Our family will continue to wait for the trial to take place in the Supreme Military Court in Jayapura", said Jambormase.

Sadis, Pendeta di Papua Ditembak

Meanwhile, when contacted by the media this afternoon, Lieutenant Inf Jansen Simanjuntak from Cenderwasih, claimed all suspects had already been handed over to the military in Mahmil (Mahkamah Militer or Courts- Martial/Military Court).

Speaking on the telephone, "The military in Mahmil are currently going through the files. If they're satisfied, the trial will be held in the near future".

According to Kependam, since the beginning of the trial, the Commander vowed to proceed with the case. Any individual members who commit such acts will be severely punished.

"We ask for the family to believe in the Commander's promise, he is not messing around with this case, the legal proceeding will take place", said Lieutenan Inf Jansen Simanjuntak.

As reported in the media (Ironis, Dua Oknum Anggota TNI Tembak Mati Pendeta) on 21 November 2012, two people shot dead female priest Frederika Metalmeti close to the police headquarters in Tanah Merah, Digoel.

A hospital official who had conducted an autopsy on one of the victims said gunshot wounds and bruises were found on the body. There were three shots to the body: the head, the left chest and right arm. Sharp tools had caused bruises and cuts on the face.

When the national Commission on Human Rights met Commander XVII Major General Zebua Christian from the Cenderawasih military on 30 November 2012, he promised to severely punch rogue member of the military, and that a dismissal process will be considered.

[Translated by West Papua Media volunteer translators.]

KNPB: Regional police chief must wipe clean 'wanted persons' list

Tabloid JUBI - January 6, 2013

Benny Mawel – A spokesperson for the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) has claimed that the detention of a number of KNPB activists and the addition of more KNPB members' names to the Wanted Persons List (DPO) has been done purely in the interests of the Papuan political elite.

KNPB stated that the political elite, along with the Regional Police Chief, are trying to place the blame activists and the broader Papuan community [for the lack of democracy].

"Papuan police are suppressing democracy in order to favour the Papuan political elite. It is in the elite's interest that the people of Papua are being victimised. Many members of society and of KNPB have had their names added to the Wanted Persons List," KNPB's spokesperson Wid Medlama said during a press conference on Saturday (5/1), at the Cafe Prima Garden, Abepura, Jayapura, Papua.

KNPB are urging the Regional Police Chief to free a number of KNPB activists and remove their names from the Wanted Persons List. "Clear the names of all KNPB members and activists from the wanted list, and free those detained without clear evidence," Wim said.

According to the KNPB, the people of Papua wish to have the freedom to fulfil their aspirations and to go about their lives without anyone having to suffer. Space for the people to express themselves collectively must be made available by the government. Without this space, the government cannot talk about a 'democratic country' or a 'democratic society'.

"A democratic space is needed for the people of Papua. Without it, there is no point in [calling ourselves] a democratic nation. What is the meaning of becoming a democratic nation if there is no democracy for the people?" added Hakim Pahabol, a member of the West Papua National Parliament.

[Translated by West Papua Media translators.]

A brave few fight for justice in Papua despite deadly dangers

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2013

Brooke Nolan – Arriving at Maranatha Convent in Waena, a town near Jayapura, Papua, a nun greets me and shows me a room where I am hoping to stay. Her first question to me still looms in my mind. "Are you from an NGO?" she asks.

Her suspicion is strange, given that the work of NGOs often parallels that of nuns. But her reason reveals a fear of authorities many Papuans justifiably hold. She explains that a group of six Australians from an NGO had been staying at the convent until a few days ago.

"Then the military turned up, demanding to see their documents and searched their bags. The Australians were intimidated and they left," she said.

A bit later, my friend Alice and her boyfriend Henry arrive (not their real names). Alice is a journalist at a Papuan news portal and the author of a book telling the story of political challenges faced by Papuan families. Henry is on staff at the Commission for Disappeared People and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Jayapura.

A run-down shack tucked off the main street is home to the Kontras office, which has no identifying features, and yet it's well known to those in uniform. Soldiers walk back and forth outside the office, monitoring who enters and exits. This type of surveillance of activists, journalists and NGO workers is normal in Jayapura, Alice and Henry tell me.

Deadly infiltration

"At [the publication I work for], we've been infiltrated by Kopassus," Alice says, referring to the Indonesian army's special forces. "Most recently, a man called Ayub started working with our editing team. He never finished the work he was supposed to do and he spread false rumors, causing problems for me and my colleagues. Then one day we noticed that the official number of his regiment was stitched on the inside of his military bag. So we knew it wasn't an ordinary military-style bag bought at a market. We confronted him and he admitted he was working for Kopassus. He was fired immediately."

Alice talks fervently about the ongoing military repression of civil society in Papua. She first became involved in activism when she returned to Papua after completing her undergraduate degree in economics and management at Duta Wacana Christian University in Yogyakarta.

"When I returned to Papua, my father told me not to get involved in politics. He was afraid that the military would do to me what they did to him," she says. "During military raids in the 1970s, he was humiliated by soldiers, stripped naked in front of the whole village and searched against his will. Despite what my father said, I don't mind if I die fighting against military repression in Papua."

One of Alice's former colleagues has already done so. On July 30, 2010, after months of receiving death threats via SMS, the body of 29-year-old journalist Ardiansyah Qomar Wibisono Matrais was found tied to a block of wood at the bottom of the river in Merauke. His ribs were smashed, most likely as a result of repeated physical assaults, and the markings on his neck indicated that he had been strangled with something such as a belt or a rope.

Instead of an investigation, the body was flown to Makassar for further examination. Merauke police, who refused to release the forensic report or the result of the autopsy, stated that Matrais had committed suicide.

Before his death, Matrais had been reporting on human rights abuses and rampant illegal logging in the Keerom and Sarmi districts of Papua. Following the arrests of powerful figures involved in illegal logging at the beginning of 2010, the anonymous death threats to Matrais and other journalists increased.

Independent evaluations verify that threats to journalists are a true danger in Indonesia, where year after year the country's performance on freedom of speech reports has become increasingly abysmal.

In 2009, Indonesia ranked 100 out of around 180 countries listed in the International Press Freedom Index, slipping to 117 in 2010 and dropping to 146 in the 2011-2012 period.

Actions and consequences

Like Matrais, Henry receives death threats via SMS from anonymous numbers every week. Henry has been working at Kontras for the past two years. "My family is from Maluku but I was born in Jayapura and have lived here all my life," he says.

This month, Henry has been busy finishing the Kontras 2012 Report on Torture. According to this report, the number of torture victims in Papua from June 2011 to July 2012 far outweighed those in any other part of Indonesia. Kontras reports 98 torture victims in Papua, followed by 26 victims in Jakarta.

Opposite Henry sits Barry (not his real name), a young man born in the Jayawijaya highlands, who now works at the Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (Elsham) and for an NGO called Unite For Truth (BUK).

Twelve years ago, Barry was in his final year of high school when his brothers, father and friends were tortured and imprisoned by police in Abepura.

At 1 a.m. on Dec. 7, 2000, police broke down the doors of student dormitories in Abepura, forcing 105 students into trucks which took them to police headquarters at Kota Raja. Students were then stripped and tortured for five hours, according to testimony provided by students and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which was later presented at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Three students, Ori Ndoronggi, 17; Elkius Suhuniap, 20; and Johny Karunggu, 20; died while in custody as a result of police brutality.

Many others, including eight of Barry's friends, died from the wounds inflicted upon them at the Kotaraja police headquarters in the weeks and months that followed the incident. "The police bashed my brother and father on the back of their heads with the butts of rifles until blood poured out of their mouths and they became unconscious," Barry says.

Despite the deaths of three young men while in police custody, there were no convictions in the trial that followed. Instead, the police responsible for the torture and killings have received promotions, while the memories of violence are still fresh in the minds of local people.

Taking action

"This year [2012] on Dec. 7, we held a remembrance ceremony for the victims of police and military violence. This is something we do every year to honor them. We have to continue to fight for justice for our brothers and sisters killed and tortured by the police and military," Barry says.

As a university student, Barry founded the Community of Abepura Victims (KKA), and in 2007, he started BUK to fight for the rights of victims of police and military torture from Abepura, Wamena, Waisor, Kimaam, Assue and Maryedi.

Every week, Barry and BUK members visit prisons in Jayapura to bring coffee and food to political prisoners.

People with convictions mirroring those of Alice, Henry and Barry can be found all over Papua. Considering their experiences, it is no surprise that local people describe the law as hiburan (entertainment) and Papua's special autonomy status as hiasan (decoration).

Justice, not separatism, is the first thing on these peoples' minds. The longer justice in Papua is trampled on, the stronger the urge toward separatism becomes.

The military, the police and the Indonesian government must acknowledge the unhinged brutality used to crush civil society in Papua if there is ever to be peace. An acknowledgement is the first step. Reparations must be made and the perpetrators of crimes punished for their acts.

[Brooke Nolan is a PhD student from the University of Western Australia with a focus on Indonesian studies. The opinions expressed are her own.]

Mining company Freeport agrees to cut concession area

Jakarta Globe - January 3, 2013

ID/Retno Ayuningtyas – Mining company Freeport Indonesia has agreed to trim its concession area in Timika, Papua, indicating that the government's efforts to renegotiate mining contracts have started to bear fruit.

"There has been some progress with renegotiation, the concession area [of Freeport] will be cut," Thamrin Sihite, the director for mineral resources and coal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said last week.

Thamrin did not mention how much of Freeport's concession area would be cut, however, according to the 2009 mining law, the maximum size of a concession area must be limited to just 25,000 hectares.

Currently the company controls 170,000 hectares in Timika where the world's largest recoverable reserves of copper and the biggest gold mine in Indonesia, the Grasberg mine, is located.

Limiting the size of concession areas for miners is part of the renegotiation goals initiated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration. The 2009 mining law also compels to government to seek more revenue, bigger royalty fees, order miners to establish ore processing facilities as well as divest stakes to local entities.

Miners under the "contract of work" or the previous mining contract are not affected by the law. Only miners under the new permit called the "mining business licenses" are affected.

Yudhoyono said in June last year that he has a "moral obligation" to seek changes in contracts, some of which were signed decades ago that he believed are "unfair."

Led by Chief Economics Minister Hatta Rajasa the government has set up a team to renegotiate contracts with miners that hold contract of works, such as Freeport and Newmont Nusa Tenggara.

Thamrin said the government views royalties, concession areas and the length of contracts as related to each other and are all for a greater benefit of the state. "For the government, the bigger the royalty, the better it is," he said.

Freeport currently pays 1 percent in royalty on their gross gold sales, apart from a 35 percent corporate income tax, which is bigger than the common 25 percent tax charged for non-resource companies. The government is seeking to increase the royalty for gold to 3.75 percent.

Freeport Indonesia's president director, Rozik B. Soetjipto, said his company is willing to renegotiate with the government.

The company has also sent responses toward the six clauses of contracts that will be reviewed. "Internally, we already have our position, but we cannot reveal it yet," he said.

Rozik believes the cut in concession areas will not impact on the company's production. He said Freeport Indonesia, which in the past relied on open- pit mining, for extracting copper ore, has begun underground mining construction as surface reserves have depleted.

The project will involve between $16 billion to $18.5 billion in investments. The underground mining is expected to start in 2017.

Victor Yeimo: 22 members of KNPB killed in 2012

SuaraPapua.com - January 3, 2013

Oktovianus Pogau, Papua, Jayapura – In 2012 Indonesian security forces murdered twenty-two activists from the West Papuan National Committee (KNPB) and a further fifty-five are behind bars, some of whom are also on a search list from the regional Papuan police.

The following information was conveyed by the chairmen of the KNPB, Victor F Yeimo, when he was telephoned by suarapapua.com on the afternoon of Thursday (03/01/2012).

Yeimo predicted that in 2013 the murder and arrest of KNPB activists will continue to be conducted by Papuan police under terrorism laws.

"We will continue to struggle and demand independence for West Papua. We will continue to oppose the modern pattern used by the Indonesian government to colonise us," Yeimo said.

Yeimo also said he, along with the members of the KNPB, would continue to fight with their hearts, thoughts and actions to free West Papua from the colonial Indonesian government.

Dorus Wakum, a human rights activist in Jakarta, said the brutal actions of the Indonesian military and police that caused the death of dozens of KNPB activists in 2012 needed serious attention from the international community.

"The KNBP fights to uphold the dignity of indigenous Papuans. Why are the security forces accusing them of insurgency and killing them? They have to be responsible for this disgraceful act," said Dorus to the media.

Dorus also called for KNPB activists and the wider West Papuan community to not withdraw from the fight but to continue to work for the humanity and dignity of Indigenous Papuans.

As was mentioned in the previous media post, Hubert Mabel, a member of NPB, was shot dead by the military/police at the end of 2012 (see: Aparat TNI/Polri Menembak Mati Aktivis KNPB di Wamena).

Although Papuan police accuse KNPB of being a terrorist organisation and a security threat, these allegations are not true; rather, it is working to free Papua from its Indonesian colonisers.

[Translated by West Papua Media translators.]

New year's day shooting injures one in Papua

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2013

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – An unidentified gunman shot and wounded a man not far from the Papua Police headquarters on the first day of the new year, residents here said.

Malage Tabuni, 43, was waiting for a public minivan with four friends at the Porasko stop just 30 meters from the Papua Police headquarters at about 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday in the provincial capital when he was shot in his right shoulder.

A friend rushed him to Jayapura's Dok II General Hospital, where he is still being treated.

Ibani Tabuni, one of the four friends present, said the group was on their way home after attending a party at Angkasapura in North Jayapura and were waiting for southbound public transportation.

"We had just alighted from a public transport van and were waiting for another to go to Entrop [in South Jayapura] when suddenly, the shoulder of Malage Tabuni began to bleed and after we had a look at it, it turned out to appear like a gunshot wound," Ibani said.

Ibani said he, the victim and the three other members of the group did not see the shooter. "We do not know where the shot came from and at that same time there was also the sound of a firecracker," Ibani said.

Quoting doctors at the hospital, Ibani said the bullet was still inside Malage's shoulder and surgery would be undertaken to remove it. Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya declined immediate comment.

Aceh

MUI supports Aceh bylaw banning females from straddling motorcycles

Jakarta Globe - January 8, 2013

The head of Indonesia's most influential Islamic organization has come out in support of a bylaw banning female passengers from straddling motorcycles in the Aceh city of Lhokseumawe.

"I think it is a good regulation, because women straddling motorcycles is not good," Ma'ruf Amin, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) said on Tuesday, as quoted by antaranews.com.

Ma'ruf cited a hadith, or a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, that stated "what is seen as good by Islamic people is also seen as good by God." "Straddling is impolite for women," Ma'ruf said, adding that female passengers should choose other means of transportation because riding a motorcycle is not safe for women.

Suaidi Yahya, the mayor of Lhokseumawe, recently told the Jakarta Globe that he wanted to introduce the bylaw because he had seen people's behavior and morals straying too far from Aceh's Islamic cultural values.

"We want to save women from things that will cause them to violate Shariah law," he said. "We wish to honor women with this ban, because they are delicate creatures."

Despite facing widespread criticism over the bylaw, the government in Lhokseumawe on Monday started enforcing the regulation, though only for civil servants.

The local government circulated a letter explaining the need for women to side-saddle motorcycles while in the passenger's seat in order to prevent immoral acts. The letter also proposed banning men and women from hugging or holding hands while on vehicles. Sanctions will be imposed on violators beginning in May.

"We will impose sanctions on [those who break the law]. We will shame them, warn them or fire them," Dasni Yuzar, the secretary of the Lhokseumawe administration, said, as quoted by KBR68h.com.

Local women's rights activists have rejected the proposed ban "because it completely ignores the safety principles for driving," said Roslina Rasyid from Indonesian Women's Association for Justice legal aid in Lhokseumawe.

"Sitting astride guarantees better safety, and I'm sure most people can only side-saddle for 15 minutes. What if the person is overweight and causes an imbalance? It could cause an accident," she added.

National Commission on Violence Against Women activist Andy Yentriyani said the policy was "part of discriminative policies on women in this country in the name of religion and morality."

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi announced recently that he would review the regulation. "[We will review] whether the bylaw is too much or [whether] it maintains tradition," said Gamawan on Monday.

However, the ministry's director-general for regional autonomy, Djohermansyah Djohan, who would oversee any revision, said: "We'll leave it to people of Aceh to decide whether or not to accept it."

[Additional reporting by AFP.]

Indonesian province moves ahead on straddling ban

Associated Press - January 8, 2013

Ayi Yufridar, Lhokseumawe, Indonesia – Authorities in Indonesia's Aceh province are pressing ahead with a proposed Islamic law that would ban female passengers from straddling motorbikes despite reported opposition from the central government.

Aceh introduced a version of Shariah, or Islamic law, in 2009, after it gained autonomy from the government in a 2005 peace deal to end a long- running separatist war there. The Aceh laws regulate women's dress and public morality, require shops and other places to close at prayer time, and are enforced by a special unit. Punishments can include public caning.

On Monday, authorities in northern Aceh distributed a notice to government offices and villages informing residents of the proposed law, which would apply to adolescent girls and women. It states that women are not allowed to straddle motorbikes unless it's an "emergency," and are not allowed to hold onto the driver.

Suaidi Yahya, mayor of the Aceh city of Lhokseumawe, said a ban was needed because the "curves of a woman's body" are more visible when straddling a motorbike than when sitting sideways with legs dangling.

"Muslim women are not allowed to show their curves, it's against Islamic teachings," he said, declining to give details of what the punishment would be for violators.

Last week, Home Ministry officials told local media they would try to block the law because it was discriminatory.

While rare in the West, riding sidesaddle on a motorbike is common in much of Southeast Asia, particularly for women wearing skirts. There appear to have been no studies on which is safer, straddling or riding sidesaddle, though many women say they feel more secure and comfortable straddling.

Nurjanah Ismail, a lecturer on gender issues at the Ar Raniry Islamic Institute in Aceh's capital, Banda Aceh, criticized the proposed law.

"There is no need to question this practice, let alone regulate it, because people do it for safety," she said. "Women sitting in that way cannot be considered bad or in violation of Shariah. Islam is beautiful, so do not make it difficult."

It is unclear how popular the Shariah provisions are with locals in Aceh, which while devout by Indonesian standards is a far cry from parts of Pakistan or the Middle East. Enforcement of laws is patchy and mostly targets young men and women. Caning, when applied, typically is aimed at causing humiliation rather than pain.

Since 2005, many other regions in Indonesia have issued Shariah-inspired bylaws that ban such things as alcohol or tight clothing, alarming rights activists and others who value the country's secular heritage. The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which relies on the support of Muslim political parties, has not spoken out against the laws, much less challenge them.

Government to review plan to ban women from straddling motorcycles in Aceh

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2013

Arientha Primanita, Bogor – The Indonesian government will review a plan to introduce a bylaw banning female passengers from straddling motorcycles in the Aceh city of Lhokseumawe.

"[It will be reviewed] whether the bylaw is too much or [whether] it is to maintain the tradition," said Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi on Monday. "If it is to maintain the tradition, it is alright. [But] it should be studied first [to find out] what is the purpose of the regulation."

Gamawan, who was speaking on the side of the cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Bogor, said that he would need to know the reasoning behind the regulation first. "Is there any reason for this that makes women [look] as if [they are] inviting crimes," he said. "It should be studied first."

While the Home Affairs Ministry has not received a copy of the draft regulation, Gamawan said that it could be annulled by the central government, adding that his ministry annulled 173 bylaws in 2012.

"We want to save women from things that will cause them to violate Shariah law," he said. "We wish to honor women with this ban, because they are delicate creatures."

Gamawan said it would take up to one month to evaluate the bylaw.

This is the circular banning women from straddling motorbikes

Detik News - January 7, 2013

Feri Fernandes, Lhokseumawe – The administration of the northern Acehnese town of Lhokseumawe has officially issued a circular banning women passengers from straddling motorbikes. The circular has been posted at busy city centres. Below are the contents of the circular.

In order to uphold Islamic law in its entirety, safeguard the cultural and traditional and customs of Acehnese society in their daily social interactions, as well as a concrete endeavour by the Lhokseumawe municipal government to combat public violations of God's law, the government hereby announces to all members of the public in the territory of Lhokseumawe city that:

1. Adult women carried as passengers on a motorbike by a lawful spouse or male relative, husband or another women, shall not sit astride (duek phang), except in situations where it is unavoidable or in an emergency;

2. [When traveling] on vehicles, whether they be a motorbike, car and/or other vehicle, it is prohibited to act in an impolite manner such as hugging or embracing, holding on to each other and/or in other ways that violate Islamic law, the culture and traditional customs of Acehnese society;

3. Men as well as women shall not pass through public places wearing clothing that does not cover their aurat [private parts of the body that must be covered in Islam, usually exempting the face and hands], tight clothing or other apparel that violates Islamic law and public order on attire;

4. All village heads, district residents, sub-district heads, heads of government or private institutions, shall convey this order to all of their subordinates as well as to all layers of society.

We hereby convey this appeal in order that it is implemented with full awareness in the endeavour to uphold Islamic law.

The circular, numbered 002/2013 and dated January 2, 2013, is signed by Lhokseumawe Mayor Suaidi Yahya, Regional House of Representatives (DPRK) speaker Saifuddin Yunus, Consultative Council (MPU, assembly of religious leaders in Aceh) chairperson Tengku Asnawi Abdullah and Aceh Traditional Council (MAA) Chairperson Tengku Usman Budiman. In three months time, the imposition of the circular will be evaluated, then it is planned to be enacted as a regulation. (try/mad)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Aceh mayor presses ahead with ban on women straggling motorbikes

Detik News - January 7, 2013

Feri Fernandes, Lhokseumawe – A local government circular banning women passengers from straddling motorbikes has been posted at public locations in the northern Acehnese town Lhokseumawe. The circular will be in effect for three months before being signed into law as a mayoral regulation.

The circular, which was signed by Lhokseumawe Mayor Suaidi Yahya, Regional House of Representatives (DPRK) speaker Saifuddin Yunus, Ulema Consultative Council (MPU, assembly of religious leaders in Aceh) chairperson Tengku Asnawi Abdullah and Aceh Traditional Council (MAA) Chairperson Tengku Usman Budiman late on Monday January 7, was then posted at various points around the city.

Accompanied by government officials, Yahya posted the circular at busy city centres such as Harun Square. The circular has also been posted at mosques, coffee shop and other places. "We hope that everyone will obey this joint order for the sake of upholding Islamic law and Aceh's cultural dignity and pride", said Yahya.

Yahya stated that after the bylaw had been in force for three months, the municipal government would conduct an evaluation. It will be based upon the results of this evaluation that the appeal would be officially enacted as a mayoral regulation.

The circular states that, "Adult women that are being carried as passengers [on motorbikes] by a lawful spouse or male relative, husband, or by another woman should not sit astride, except in situations where it is unavoidable or in an emergency".

There is no explanation of what is mean by an unavoidable or emergency situation. (try/nrl)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Shariah-backed violence rising in Aceh: Kontras

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2013

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – The number of incidents of violence as a result of Shariah law in Aceh increased in 2012 from a year earlier, a rights group noted on Thursday.

Destika Gilang Lestari, the provincial coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said at a press conference that the total number of cases of Shariah-linked violence last year was 50, up from 47 in 2011.

"The culture of allowing violence in relation to the enforcement of Shariah law remains high in Aceh, based on our observations throughout the past year," she said. "There were 16 cases in which people accused of unlawful sexual relations were assaulted, and five cases in which they were doused with sewage."

Gilang added that in those cases, the perpetrators were all mobs of local residents who had reportedly caught the couples engaging in sex acts. Under Shariah, premarital and extramarital sex are unlawful.

Kontras also noted that Aceh's notorious Wilayatul Hisbah, the Shariah police, were also responsible for committing violence through their routine raids on suspected Shariah offenders.

"We're categorizing their raids as Shariah-based violence because they consistently act in an discriminatory manner," Gilang said.

"For instance, raids to enforce the dress code for women are only targeted at those on motorcycles, while those in cars are never checked."

Kontras recorded 23 cases of violence related to crackdowns on illegal sex acts, 11 cases of violence during WH raids and six cases of caning of Shariah offenders.

The group warned that the nature of Shariah law gave the public the impression that it was justified in taking the law into its own hands, thereby accounting for the high number of violent incidents involving mobs.

Gilang cited a case in Bireuen district in November in which a mob attacked the home of an Islamic cleric that it accused of deviant teachings. The cleric and one of his followers were killed, as was one of the attackers.

In the aftermath of the violence, police named the followers as suspects, and took no action against the attackers.

"We're certain that in 2013 the number of cases of violence as a result of Shariah law will increase, especially if law enforcement officers stand idly by and do nothing to stop mob violence," Gilang said.

She added that the police's failure to take action against such mobs highlighted a "loss of control" on the part of the police.

"Kontras can only regretfully conclude from all this that the reform of the police force in Aceh has failed," she said.

Government nixes 'straddling' ban in Aceh

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2013

Margareth S. Aritonang and Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – The Home Ministry says it will block a proposed bylaw from officials in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, to ban women from straddling motorcycles.

The bylaw (qanun) would contradict national laws and might infringe on the rights of women, Home Ministry legal chief Zudan Arif Fakrulloh said on Thursday.

Zudan said that every regulation passed by local administrations throughout the nation, including qanun, must adhere to universal principles of human rights.

"We will get clarification from the local government in Lhokseumawe about its intention to issue such a regulation. I personally think that it will be discrimination against women. This planned bylaw will only treat women as the source of evil," Zudan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Zudan said that the Home Ministry could reject locally passed bylaws, even in Aceh, which is the only provincial-level area in the nation authorized to pass sharia-inspired regulations.

"We have the authority to declare that a bylaw is problematic and we can ask the local administration to amend it. If the local administration presses ahead with its move, we will file a report to the President so that he can issue an order for an amendment or revocation of the ordinance," he added.

Lhokseumawe Mayor Suaidi Yahya previously announced that he wanted to enact a bylaw that would require women to sit sideways on motorcycles, with their legs dangling off to one side, instead of straddling the pillion.

Suaidi said that it would not only be "improper" for women in the province to straddle motorcylces, adding that the planned rule would also "save women from undesirable situations".

Supporters of the scheme have said that women could easily expose their womanly curves by straddling the pillion.

In his New Year's Day speech, Suaidi said that his administration would begin publicizing the proposed regulation next week, as it had garnered support from many parties, including local ulema.

Meanwhile, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Otto Nur Abdullah, an Acehnese, called on the Lhokseumawe administration to reconsider its plan as it might promote more violence in the community.

"Most of the bylaws in Aceh govern the lives of women. However, women are always excluded from the process of making legislation. This is authoritarian leadership that sponsors the punishment of the people without trial," Otto said.

Otto encouraged religious leaders and local traditional leaders to tell the public about their motivations in supporting the bylaw. He said that local elders and religious leaders would share the blame if the plan backfired.

"The local administration is heavily patriarchal. It has failed to account for its main responsibility to bring prosperity to the people, when in fact sharia's objective is about bringing prosperity. The ulema and community leaders should speak to the people and say that the bylaw is not part of sharia," he emphasized.

On Thursday, the Aceh branch of Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) issued a report that highlighted the adverse impact of sharia-inspired bylaws in the province.

The rights group recorded a rise in the number of violent acts committed in the name of sharia, from 46 cases in 2011 to 50 last year.

"The people use Islamic law to justify their violent mob rule by beating, publicly humiliating, or sometimes forcefully marrying off those who allegedly infringe the sharia," Kontras Aceh coordinator Destika Gilang Lestari said, referring to alleged adulterers, among other offenders.

Kontras said that the proposed bylaw to ban women from straddling motorbikes would add to the long lines of problematic ordinances. "We will file a complaint with the administration of Lhokseumawe, as the regulation obviously discriminates against women in the name of sharia," Gilang said.

Aceh mayor's ban on straddling motorcycles triggers criticism

Jakarta Globe - January 3, 2013

Nurdin Hassan, Banda Aceh – The plan by the administration of the Aceh town of Lhokseumawe to issue a regulation that will ban female passengers from straddling motor bikes has sparked widespread criticism.

"We, the women of Lhokseumawe, strongly oppose this very discriminative regulation because it ignores the rights of women in conducting their daily activities," Safwani, the executive director of Ranup Women Institute, said in Lhokseumawe.

She stated that as a woman, she felt more comfortable straddling the motorcycle while a passenger and added that there were much more urgent matters demanding the mayor's attention, such as garbage disposal in the city. "When you think of it, the cleanliness of the city is also in line with Islamic Shariah," she said.

Other priorities, such as preventing livestock from walking city streets at will, making the chaotic market place more orderly and overcoming the dust that dirties the city during the dry season, should be dealt with first, according to Safwani.

She said that authorities should improve health and education services before issuing "sensational" regulations that could potentially boomerang on the mayor.

Meanwhile, Destika Gilang Lestari, a coordinator for the Commission for the Disappearance and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that the mayor should accord more attention to the victims of conflicts in the region than to how female motorcycle passengers should sit.

She noted that Lhokseumawe is a region in which problems arising from armed conflict continue to fester and negatively affect citizens living there. "Why bother on such matters? The mayor should focus on the victims of these conflicts who still need the attention of the government," Destika said in a press conference.

The Kontras coordinator added that alleviating poverty and raising the welfare of the people should take priority over trivialities such as straddling motorcycles.

Lhokseumawe Mayor Suaidi Yahya earlier said that he was set to issue the regulation to "save women from things that will cause them to violate Shariah law."

Suaidi said his administration on Wednesday started distributing handouts to government offices and villages throughout the municipality to inform local residents of the new policy before the plan is formally implemented in a few months.

Although he said that sanctions awaited violators, he gave no details. Suaidi claimed that the plan is supported by various groups, including local ulemas.

Aceh city to ban women from straddling motorbikes

Jakarta Post - January 3, 2013

Bagus BT Saragih and Hotli Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The administration of Lhokseumawe, Aceh, is planning to issue a bylaw banning women from straddling motorcycles, arguing that the practice is "improper" in a province governed by Islamic law.

Lhokseumawe Mayor Suaidi Yahya said that women should sit sideways on motorcycles, with their legs dangling off to one side. The planned regulation had been discussed with many parties, including local ulema, Suaidi said in his 2013 New Year's speech.

The mayor said that the ban would restore fading local values caused by poor morality and make it easier to differentiate women from men when riding pillion.

He said that the planned regulation could in fact uphold the dignity of women in the region. Suaidi said that the administration would begin publicizing the proposed regulation next week.

"At the first phase, we will issue a circular on it. After a period of time, we will strengthen the circular [into] a regulation. Anyone who violates the regulation will face punishment," he said.

Suaidi also said that he had been considering banning women from wearing denim. "In Islam, women are not allowed to wear jeans."

M. Yusuf A. Samad, a member of Lhokseumawe Legislative Council, said that he supported the motorcycle-straddling ban. "We need to improve the implementation of sharia. The religious values of the Acehnese people have continued to fade," he said.

According to Yusuf, straddling a motorcycle could make the curves of a woman's body visibly clearer. "Showing the curves of a woman's body is against Sharia," Yusuf said.

Separately, the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) chairwoman Yuniyanti Chuzaifah slammed the plan, saying that it was prejudiced against women.

"I cannot understand the aims of such a policy. Local government should focus more on providing protection and service to women who fall victim to violence and enhancing education for women instead," she told The Jakarta Post.

Lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari shared Yuniyanti's opinion, saying that sitting sideways on a motorcycle could leave riders more prone to accidents.

"In Malaysia, pillion riders are obliged to straddle due to safety reasons. In this case, Malaysians are smarter than the Lhokseumawe administration," she said.

"You cannot issue a policy only based on emotional sentiment that tends to be very subjective. A public policy must promote the protection of the public," she added.

Women activists in Aceh have condemned the plan, calling it a lunatic proposal. "The way women ride a bike, how they speak and how they dress should not be the concern for the government," Norma Manalu of Balai Syura Ureung Inong Aceh NGO.

Aceh, the nation's westernmost province is the only region allowed to apply sharia under the law on Acehnese special autonomy. Lawmakers in the province have continued to spark controversy due to the issuance of a number of sharia-based regulations.

Among the controversial regulations are a bylaw regulating Koran-reading proficiency levels for prospective civil servants and a regulation banning women from wearing "tight" dresses.

Aceh town to ban female passengers from straddling motorcycles

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2013

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – The administration of the Aceh town of Lhokseumawe is set to issue a regulation that will ban female passengers from straddling motor bikes.

"We've seen that people's behaviors and morals are getting far from Aceh's Islamic cultural values. Therefore we will issue a regulation that will ban women from straddling while sitting on the passenger's seat of motorcycles," Lhokseumawe mayor Suaidi Yahya told the Jakarta Globe.

"We want to save women from things that will cause them to violate Shariah law. We wish to honor women with this ban, because they are delicate creatures," he added.

"There will be sanctions for those who violate [the regulation]," he added, although refusing to name the sanctions.

Suaidi further explained that the planned bylaw was expected to discourage women from wearing pants in public. "It will be easier for women to avoid straddling motorcycles if all of them wear skirts." Suaidi claimed that the plan is supported by various groups, including local ulemas.

A student of Lhokseumawe's Malikussaleh University, Nanda, immediately protested the plan, noting that straddling was safer and more comfortable than side-saddling, which would be the only position allowed for female passengers riding on motorcycles.

"That is a ridiculous regulation; there are many other things [the administration] can take care of if Islamic Shariah is their reasoning," she said.

Religious leaders back ban on female passengers straddling motorcycles

Aceh Post - January 1, 2013

Irman I.P, Lhokseumawe – Ulema Consultative Assembly (MPU) chairperson Tgk H Asnawi Abdullah from the Northern Acehnese city of Lhokseumawe supports the plan by Lhokseumawe Mayor Suaidi Yahya to issue a regulation banning women from sitting astride motorbikes when riding as passengers.

"We support it, the aim is so that it's more polite. We have already given input to the mayor encouraging him to issue such a [regulation], but we haven't discussed the technical details of it yet. Primarily it was a request to issue a regulation on women riding motorbikes", Abdullah told the Aceh Post by phone on Tuesday January 1.

Abdullah said that the MPU had suggested the enforcement of such a regulation during the previous mayor's term, including prohibiting adult men who are not their lawful spouse or relative from carrying female passengers on motorbikes.

"What we are deeply concerned about is seeing RBT (motorbike taxi drivers) carrying two women passengers at the same time sitting astride", he said.

"But the previous mayor wasn't prepared to issue a regulation on such a prohibition, perhaps they were afraid that it would create frictions with RBT. We hope that the current major will enforce the regulation seriously, hopefully the major will have the courage not to annul the plan because of the influence of other parties", said Abdullah.

Abdullah added that even if women are riding as passenger on a motorbike with their husbands they should still sit sideways with their legs dangling off to one side so that it is more polite, because a husband-and-wife couples who are riding a motor vehicle do so in public.

"[According to] Islamic values this is very beautiful, everything is regulated properly. If [women] want to get close to their husbands, please go ahead and do it at home or inside a room, not in public. [Even] in front of their own children they aren't allowed to do things like that", he said.

As reported earlier, the Lhokseumawe municipal government plans to issue a regulation prohibiting women from sitting astride when being carried as a passenger by a man when travelling on a motorbike. Prior to enforcing the regulation, the mayor will issue a circular on the matter.

"To all the people of Lhokseumawe, we wish to advise you that we will be putting a regulation into effect, urueng inong watee ek honda hanjeut pheng (that women riding as passengers on motorbikes are not allowed to side astride)", said Lhokseumawe Mayor Yahya, when speaking at a religious event at the Hiraq Lhokseumawe Square to commemorate the new year on Monday evening, December 31.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Human rights & justice

International scrutiny will improve Indonesia's human rights: Activist

Jakarta Globe - January 8, 2013

Ronna Nirmala – Indonesia will pay more attention to human rights violations this year because the United Nations will assess the country's commitment in protecting civil and political rights, the Human Rights Working Group has predicted.

Indonesia will show its commitment to protect human rights because the UN human rights committee will send three special rapporteurs to asses the freedom of expression, housing and health, the nongovernmental group said on Monday.

HRWG added that Indonesia this year will also play an important role in global politics, especially in the trade and economic sectors.

"Indonesia has the opportunity to become the chair of 2013 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation during the trade policy review session in April 2013 in Geneva. And Indonesia has also stated its willingness to host the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference in December 2013," said Rafendi Djamin, executive director of HRWG.

Rafendi said that Indonesia could use the international forum to declare that it was a country that protects human rights and was a supporter of democracy. But the declaration should be supported by improving human rights at home.

"Indonesia plays a crucial role. Indonesia could lose the role if it fails to do its homework in strengthening democracy and protecting human rights. If it succeeds, it will strengthen Indonesia's position in the international scene," Rafendi said.

Rafendi hoped that Indonesia would implement human rights protection for its own sake and not just to create a positive international image.

"Various issues will be [scrutinized] in the human rights committee's trial, such as political civil rights, religious freedom, judicial independence, the freedom to join an organization and the freedom of expression, and therefore the measures to improve them should be concrete," he said.

Rafendi said that Indonesia's APEC chairmanship and it hosting the WTO meeting showed that Indonesia plays an important role in the global economy.

He added that amid international recognition of its achievement in sustaining high economic growth, Indonesia should make efforts to reduce poverty and improve economic management, especially in the plantation and mining sectors, which significantly contributed to economic growth but were also a source of a significant amount of human rights violations.

AGO to study human rights violation cases

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2013

Rangga Prakoso – The Attorney General's Office plans to examine alleged gross human rights violations in 1965 and the killings of civilians by snipers from 1982 to 1985.

Andhi Nirwanto, the assistant attorney general for special crimes, said the case examination will follow official guidelines relating to human rights violations investigations. Documents relating to the cases have been sent between the AGO and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which has previously investigated the matters, to collect missing data.

"We will examine the case first to determine the conclusion [on whether the documents will be returned to Komnas HAM]," Andhi said in Jakarta on Wednesday. He claimed Komnas HAM had not followed the official guidelines regarding the documents. He said that the handling of gross human rights violations cases had to be conducted based on a specific legal method.

"Law No 26/2000 on the trial of human rights cases is special. There are special regulations for it," he said.

The AGO said the documents were originally incomplete because Komnas HAM investigators had not been sworn in when conducting the investigation. It said that the initial report also failed to identify the people responsible for the human rights violations.

Komnas HAM accused the AGO of making excuses, claiming that AGO investigators were not sworn in when they conducted their investigation into the 1984 Tanjung Priok killings. That report was accepted and the case was brought to court.

"Our job is to investigate, and the result showed a preliminary indication of the reconstruction of the events [amounting to human rights violations]," Komnas HAM commissioner Nurkholis said.

He also said that Komnas HAM's report had identified which institution were responsible for the 1965 violations and the 1980s shootings known as petrus, a portmanteau meaning "mysterious shootings."

Nurkholis pointed the finger at the Operational Command for Restoration of Security and Order (Kopkamtib), the pervasive security network set up by Suharto when he assumed the presidency.

"It's the investigators' job to find who they think is responsible. It's easy. Just take a look at the data, at the organizational structure of the Kopkamtib," he said.

Komnas HAM offered two solutions in its report. Nurkholis said that solving the cases legally would mean dragging the violators to court to account for their actions. Responsibility for finding a resolution beyond the legal system, he added, lies with government institutions beyond the AGO.

"The non-legal [solution] recommendation is reconciliation, for instance. But this requires a national commitment," Nurkholis said.

Andhi said that the law does not currently allow for reconciliation outside of the law. "A legal ground is needed for the reconciliation, and in this case it's a law," said Andhi.

To carry out the reconciliation, the government and lawmakers have to issue a new law governing it, he said.

Indonesia's dark past retold

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2013

Grace Susetyo – Joshua Oppenheimer's controversial documentary "The Act of Killing" has attracted an overwhelming response since debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival last September.

The film – which has been screened in several countries, including in Indonesia where secret viewings are announced via social media – follows Medan-based paramilitary thugs Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry over seven years, portraying re-enactments of their involvement in the 1965-1966 anti-communist purge.

The massacre slaughtered one million alleged communists, ethnic Chinese and intellectuals. Yet for decades, Indonesia has applauded the event as the heroic "Victory of Pancasila."

The reign of premanism ("gangsterism") in Indonesia is a prominent theme of the film. A preman is a gangster who performs extortions for a living and creates the illusion of maintaining the community's social order. The 1965-1966 genocide mobilized thousands of preman.

The film brilliantly portrays mass murderers as relatable humans. While it takes a strong stomach to watch the film, the scariest part is not the re- enactment of the murders, but the fact that viewers could find themselves pitying the killers by the end.

One of the co-directors, a 30-something self-taught filmmaker who assumed anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the film and potential threats to his safety, generously opened up to the Jakarta Globe for an exclusive behind-the-scenes story.

The 'Act of Killing' contrasts the Indonesian government's view of what happened in 1965-1966. When did you start noticing a problem with the government's version of history?

I was in elementary school. Our history quizzes had questions like 'The PKI [Indonesian Communist Party] was proven to be involved in the G30S [30th September Movement] rebellion and is therefore dissolved and banned,' which I had to answer by multiple choice: agree, disagree or unsure. Since my schoolbooks didn't have enough information, I asked my father. He gave me many books and asked, 'Is there proof that every single member of PKI were involved in G30S? And does the involvement of some people justify the dissolution of the entire party?' So I answered unsure and prepared an argument to justify it.

But the teacher dictated the answers and I got poor grades. There was nothing to discuss. I didn't know the word 'indoctrination' then, but noticed something wrong. So I hated school, though I loved math, physics and the arts because answers weren't determined by the teacher. I kept reading books on the 1965-1966 purge and felt the repercussions as a university student in the 1990s. Many of those books were foreign academic papers and considered rare or 'forbidden.' But they were comparative sources that made more sense.

How did you react when Joshua presented his vision for 'The Act of Killing?'

In 2004, he [Joshua] sent me an e-mail exploring the concept. Joshua convinced me that it was more important to see murderers as humans instead of monsters.

What do you think about the accusations that this film could be considered a heresy against the history of the Republic of Indonesia?

The history portrayed in the government-endorsed film 'Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI' is full of lies. Even Adi Zulkadry doubted it. When history does not make sense, that history needs to be juxtaposed with another history that makes more sense and enlightens the people with true knowledge. 'The Act of Killing' shows Indonesia's true face: beastly, scarred and wounded. It is not pleasant to behold, but that is who we are. And now we have the choice to own those wounds and heal them, or don a false identity concealed with a beautiful mask.

How did this film change you?

I used to present an answer: that all the killers, their commanders and those who took advantage of the genocide must be prosecuted. Justice must be upheld in order for reconciliation to happen. The truth must be exposed. Official words of apology would not suffice and even that is yet to be uttered by this country's leaders. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be done. But without reducing the importance of justice, making this film opened my eyes to a problem just as big as prosecuting perpetrators, reconciliation and exposing truth by re-questioning the meaning of our humanity. How do we redefine what a 'good person' is and strive to be it?

Co-directing 'The Act of Killing' could pose potential threats to your safety. Why did you come on board?

Firstly, because that risk can be minimized by anonymity. Secondly, because I believe someone ought to do it. Indonesia remains devoid of democracy and humanity until the truth is exposed, genuine reconciliation happens and the Republic owns up to its wrongdoings. Yet democracy and humanity are two important values in Pancasila, which Indonesia claims as its foundation.

This film's focal question is 'What does it mean to be human?' What do you have to say about the humanity of the mass murderers profiled?

All murderers are human, not monsters. They are humans who made the wrong calls and therefore committed the wrong acts. Someone provoked them to think a certain way and justify the murder. This lie felt so real and intertwined with their greedy personal interests. So their imagination makes it easier to commit violence and murder. However, Anwar Congo is a murderer with a heart. Anwar has trouble sleeping and is haunted by nightmares. Indonesian history books justify him but his conscience says otherwise.

It's remarkable how the film starts with a jovial Anwar giving a tour of the massacre site while dancing the cha-cha. But in another visit to the place he is in tears and vomiting.

Anwar dances in the massacre site about a week after we first met him. He happily took a friend and re-enacted for us. Seven years later, when we revisited the place, he could no longer look at it, his deeds and himself the same way as he always had.

What was the most surprising development during filming?

When Anwar's conscience finally made its way to expressing itself. It was a long and gradual process which took a lot of patience. Sometimes Anwar started feeling repentant but that feeling did not develop into anything more.

Anwar was in shock when he portrayed the victim in the interrogation scene. But we had no idea that watching the re-enactment and reflecting on his role as the victim would shake Anwar's confidence so much. We knew that internalizing a character does wonders to a person's self-awareness, but we had no idea it got this far. The scene opened a path for Anwar's guilt to surface. We were surprised that he could no longer dance on his final visit to the massacre site.

What are the chances of the thugs being prosecuted by the International Court of Justice?

Little to none. The ICJ only prosecutes national or regional leaders – people like Suharto or Sarwo Edhie Wibowo. Furthermore, ICJ only prosecutes leaders of defeated regimes who have been declared guilty by the people they used to rule.

Neither Indonesia's parliament nor the Court of Human Rights have acknowledged the wrongdoings of past regimes. There has never been any international condemnation or serious endeavors to see the 1965-1966 purge as a crime against humanity. The genocide paved the way for foreign investments and foreign control over Indonesia's natural resources, so Western countries have actually welcomed it.

We are not interested in getting Anwar, Adi, or the other killers prose cuted, unless all the commanders responsible for the massacre have been punished. Punishing minor killers without looking at the entirety of the system and context of 1965-1966 would only conserve the regime built upon that massacre. Adi and Anwar would be scapegoats, while the most responsible people remain protected.

What are some common Indonesian misconceptions on communism? The media frames the communists for 'inhumane torture' in Lubang Buaya, whereas forensic evidence indicated otherwise. Schools teach that G30S was the PKI's endeavor to dethrone the government and replace Pancasila with communism. What nonsense. G30S documents indicate that the operation was meant to protect President Sukarno and none indicated that PKI intended to change Indonesia's ideology.

Indonesians have been made to believe that communism is dangerous. Yet under Suharto's 32-year reign, other isms – fascism and authoritarianism – stripped Indonesians of their rights. Why aren't those banned? What about capitalism? Is it completely supportive of human rights? We need to see adherents of any ideology as human beings. Ideology-based conflicts must be viewed as the struggle of one human being against another, not as the struggle of saints and angels against demons.

Hypothetically, what do you think communist Indonesia would be like?

It's difficult for me to speculate. But I've read that there are three possibilities.

Firstly: Indonesia could suffer a setback, just like Pol Pot's Cambodia. Or stagnate like East Germany and Cuba. Secondly: Indonesia would neither set-back nor skyrocket, but people would have better livelihoods because communism and democracy balance each other. Thirdly: Indonesia, like Communist China, could be a world-class industrial country, especially if it had the independence of managing its own wealth of natural resources.

But it doesn't matter which ideology would advance or set back Indonesia. For me, every form of mind control is a setback. What ruins this country is not ideology or ideas, but crimes against humanity left unprosecuted. Political and economic advancements depend on people who honor human dignity.

'The Act of Killing' has been viewed by more than 1,500 people in Indonesia over the past three months, according to the filmmakers. For more information online, visit facebook.com/the.act.of.killing or follow @theactofkilling on Twitter.

Labour & migrant workers

Workers to go back to the streets

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2013

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – An alliance of labor unions in North Sumatra said that they would return to the streets in the immediate future and file a lawsuit against acting governor Gatot Puji Nugroho at the State Administrative Court over his cheap-labor policy.

Economic activities in Medan and its surrounding areas were paralyzed last month when thousands of workers from industrial estates went on strike and blockaded the Tanjungmorawa-Belawan toll road and the Belawan seaport.

Labor union alliance spokesman Minggu Saragih said in a press conference here on Sunday that all labor unions were still preparing to stage the second wave of industrial strikes.

"We will be back on the streets with massive rallies and a special team that has been assigned to accompany workers while they file their lawsuit against the acting governor," he said.

Minggu said that the provincial government should be held responsible if the massive strikes turned chaotic because the acting government had not listened to the workers demands for decent wages. He lambasted the provincial government over the cheap-labor policy that would negatively affect the majority of workers' economic livelihood.

The acting governor approved the provincial wage committee's recommendation to increase the provincial minimum wage to Rp 1,375,000 (US$142.49) in 2013 from Rp 1,200,000 in 2012, sparking outrage among workers who said that the hike was far below the basic cost of living (KHL) in the province.

"If the provincial government is committed to repairing labor conditions in the province, North Sumatra should follow Batam, Jakarta, Banten and West Java, which set their respective minimum wages far above the basic cost of living," he said referring to the Rp 2.2 million minimum wage in Jakarta, Batam and West Java.

Referring to the 2012 ministerial decree on wage components, he said the basic cost of living in North Sumatra was similar to that of in Riau Islands, Jakarta and surrounding provinces.

"The high wage gap between North Sumatra and other provinces is not caused by the basic cost of living factor, but by the absence of the provincial government's commitment to ending the cheap labor policy," he said.

According to him, the provincial government should continue fighting against corruption and the high-cost economy, including illegal levies imposed on companies, in an effort to enable employers to pay their workers far above the provincial minimum wage.

He also believes that authorities should not bow down to pressure from investors to institutionalize the cheap labor policy, which has negatively impacted relations between workers and their employers.

Head of the provincial manpower and transmigration office, Bukit Tambunan, challenged labor unions to bring the gubernatorial decree on minimum wage hikes to the court. He said that the lawsuit would likely be turned down because minimum wage had already been increased in accordance with the formal procedure.

"The acting governor will not review the decree, which was issued on the basis of a recommendation from the provincial wage committee representing the government, employers and workers," he said.

He warned that if North Sumatra follows Jakarta, Riau Islands and West Java, many labor-intensive companies would shut down and many others would layoff their workers.

He revealed that hundreds of garment and manufacturing companies in the province had lodged official requests to be exempt from the wage hike decree due to their own financial difficulties.

Unions threaten pension firm

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2013

SP/Edi Hardum – Responding to a threat made by labor unions to conduct a massive fund withdrawal from state social security firm Jamsostek, the president director said that any withdrawals must adhere to certain regulations.

Several labor unions and confederations that claim to represent millions of workers said they are against a government plan that would allow the social security organizing agency (BPJS) to impose an additional levy on workers, and threatened to have their members withdraw their funds from Jamsostek this month.

"There is a mechanism in place with prevailing regulations on who can withdraw pension funds," said Elvyn G. Masassya, president director of Jamsostek, on Friday. "That [person] must have reached 55 years of age or have been dismissed from their job."

Elvyn said that as long as the criteria for withdrawals are met, there would be no problems in allowing the withdrawals to take place. "It should not be done by violating the procedures," added Junaidy, Jamsostek's director for participation.

Under the Jamsostek scheme, a sum accounting for 2 percent of the worker's salary is deducted every month and put into a fund. That worker's employer then has the obligation to allocate from its own funds a sum equal to 3.7 percent of the worker's salary.

The money belongs to the employee and can be withdrawn once the worker turns 55, is incapacitated and unable to work, or loses his job. If the worker dies, the fund is paid to his or her family.

Junaidy declined to speak further, saying that Jamsostek was merely an operator. "The one with the authority to speak much about this matter is the government," he said.

He said that if the government allows the widespread withdrawal of funds, Jamsostek would simply abide. "As an operator we are, of course, ready," Junaidy said, adding that such large withdrawals would not cause a problem.

Elvyn said that as of last month, funds managed by Jamsostek totaled Rp 131 trillion ($13.6 billion). She said that Jamsostek also manages a health insurance program, but added that it was different in nature than the pension fund, which is more of a saving scheme.

Indonesian government to build low-cost apartments for laborers

Investor Daily - January 4, 2013

Imam Muzakir – Minister for Public Housing Djan Faridz revealed on Friday that his ministry will build low-cost rental apartments to accommodate 10,000 laborers.

"In line with instructions from the president, [the Ministry of Public Housing] will be more spirited in building [affordable] housing, especially for laborers who really need [it]," Djan said.

He added that workers spent most of their salaries on renting rooms or houses and commuting to and from work, and thus have no funds left to save or invest.

"Therefore, we will assist laborers [by] building [rental] housing for them," the minister said.

He stated that his ministry was working with regional authorities who could provide land for the project, though the apartments themselves will be built by the ministry.

"Regional governments are enthusiastic and they are willing to provide the land, especially in places where jobs are," he said.

Djan revealed that so far the ministry was already cooperating with state enterprises Angkasa Pura I and Angkasa Pura II on the project, and also securing land in West and East Jakarta. "We will build on the land this year," Djan said.

Electricity rate hike to weaken laborers' purchasing power

Antara News - January 3, 2013

Jakarta – An increase in the price of electricity beginning this month will reduce the purchasing power of laborers, Said Iqbal, the president of the Indonesian Workers Unions Confederation (KSPI) said.

"The hike will affect them. Although the price hike will not be imposed on 450-900 VA electricity customers, many laborers hire houses with over 1,300 VA," Iqbal said here on Thursday.

He said that with the electricity price hike, a laborer would bear a burden of about Rp15-25 thousand per month. This means that the increase in workers' wages by about 5 percent in 2013 would not be meaningful. "Workers' increased wages will drop by 5 percent from the average hike of Rp500-Rp700 thousand per month," he added.

He said that the power rate hikes would also trigger an increase in the prices of processed goods whose production used electricity. "House owners are now planning to increase their house rent by between Rp50 and Rp100 thousand per month," he added.

In the meantime, economic observer A Prasetyantoko of Atma Jaya University said that the increase in the price of electricity by 15 percent will not affect inflation significantly.

"An increase in the price of electricity will only affect the industrial sector. Its impact on inflation will be low, between 0.2 and 0.3 percent," Prasetyantoko said. Therefore, he added that the electricity rate hike will not affect people's purchasing power because the cost of some items will increase.

However, small and medium industries (UKMs) will see an increase in the cost of production. Therefore, they will increase the cost of their products and services.

"The government can reduce the production cost of small and medium industries by creating a favourable business environment. The government can provide levies, appropriate infrastructure and licenses to reduce the cost of production," Prasetyantoko said. He added that the government should help small and medium industries, following the electricity tariff hike.

PT PLN, the state's electricity company, has begun to increase the basic electricity tariff in accordance with Regulation No. 30/2012, drafted by the ministry of energy and mineral resources.

Haryadi Sukamdani, spokesperson for the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), said an increase in the price of electricity will raise the production cost of steel and cement industries, and the operating cost of hotels and shopping centres, from 3 to 10 percent.

"In principle, an increase in the price of electricity by 15 percent will have a negative impact on the industrial sector. It will also increase the production cost of steel and cement industries, and the operating cost of hotels and shopping centres by up to 10 percent," said Haryadi on Wednesday.

According to him, an increase in the production cost will force companies to enhance their efficiency and revise the price of their products.

Indonesian labor unions to set up complaint posts to monitor new wage law

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2013

Rangga Prakoso – The Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions will set up complaint posts in order to monitor the implementation of Jakarta's new minimum wage law, which is set to take effect this year.

Muhammad Rusdi, the secretary-general of the confederation, also known as the KSPI, noted that the body will give leeway to small and medium enterprises who must postpone implementing the new wage.

The KSPI, however, will not tolerate medium-to-large businesses who fail to follow the law. "We will take legal action if they [medium-to-large entrepreneurs] refuse to carry out the new minimum wage because it's a breach of the law," Rusdi said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Last year, the Jakarta administration raised the minimum wage by 44 percent to Rp 2.2 million ($227) per month for 2013.

Despite the newly increased minimum wage, Rusdi said that the body will keep fighting for the welfare of laborers. "Our first demand is to reform the wage system," he commented.

According to Rusdi, there are 24 basic-need items that must be added to the system, such as mobile phone credit, phone and television service, dining tables and mortgage assistance.

Other than laborers, the chairman added that the government must also look after temporary teachers, many of whom are being paid only Rp 150 thousand per month. The KSPI counts roughly one million temporary teachers as members.

"They [temporary teachers] are national heroes. We want the government to properly subsidize the teachers' salaries," he said.

The confederation is also calling for health insurance for all laborers starting in January of 2014. "We wish to have health insurance for all Indonesian citizens before the President's term ends," Rusdi said.

Additionally, the KSPI wants a pension allowance for laborers to be created, and Rusdi called on the Manpower and Transmigration to regulate it.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar earlier said that despite a few large-scale demonstrations, industrial relationships between employers and laborers are improving amid the number of layoffs declining by 60 percent last year.

The Ministry recorded 3,875 layoff cases involving 17,106 workers in 2011, whereas in 2012 there were only 1,916 cases involving 7,465 labors. Rusdi noted that the decline in layoffs was the result of Indonesia's strong economic growth.

"Businesses in the country are doing well. There is no reason for entrepreneurs to cut their employees," Rusdi said, explaining that mass firings mostly happen when a nation's economic condition worsens or when mass outsourcing or entrepreneurial arrogance occurs.

"Outsourcing forces are now limited, so it becomes difficult for entrepreneurs to fire their workers one-sidedly," he added.

Freedom of information & the press

Soldiers assault journalist in Ambon

Jakarta Post - January 1, 2013

Ambon – A journalist was assaulted and threatened by Pattimura 16 Cavalier Military Command officers while covering the New Year's Eve celebration early on Tuesday.

Ambon Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI) leader Insany Syahbarwaty said in a press release on Tuesday that the incident occurred when kompas.com contributor Rahman Rahmat Patty and other journalists were covering the New Year's Eve celebrations on Jl. Pattimura in Ambon at 12:30 a.m.

Insany said the journalists saw dozens of military personnel, later identified as being from Pattimura Cavalier Military Command, chase someone who allegedly assaulted a child of a soldier stationed with the unit at Pattimura Park.

The soldier's pursuit of the perpetrator, allegedly member of the Maluku Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob), caused chaos and panic among bystanders near the park, Insany added.

Insany said the soldiers got mad when Rahman and other journalists followed them and photographed the incident. They asked Rahman to delete the pictures he had taken.

One of the officers, identified as Chief Sergeant Abdullah, threatened to hurt Rahman unless he deleted the photos. "Hey, delete those photos or I'll kill you!" Insany said, quoting Abdullah's demand.

Rahman was beaten and kicked by other officers although he had deleted the photos, Insany said. According to Insany, the military officers also threatened Molluka TV reporter Yani Loupatty and nearly confiscated her video camera.

Insany said Abdullah had apologized to Rahman for the assault but the journalist insisted on filing a report for the incident.

Rahman underwent a medical examination he, escorted by AJI Ambon, filed a report with Military Police. Members of the press were assaulted by military personnel several times last year. (cor/iwa)

Political parties & elections

Semi-official confirmation gives 10 parties nod in 2014

Jakarta Globe - January 8, 2013

SP/Anastasia Winanti Riesardhy – The national polling body has confirmed that the nine parties at the House of Representatives and one new party will be the only ones contesting the 2014 elections, in line with analysts' predictions ahead of Monday's announcement.

At a meeting marred by frequent and lengthy interruptions by representatives from several parties, the General Elections Commission (KPU) presented reports from its provincial offices, or KPUDs, showing that only 10 of 34 parties had passed the final phase of the verification process in all 33 provinces nationwide.

Although the meeting that began at noon was still underway as of 11:30 p.m. and an official announcement of the parties making the grade had not yet been made, the reading out of the KPUD reports was sufficient to confirm that only 10 parties would be moving through.

They include a new party, the National Democratic Party (NasDem), as well as the three biggest parties in the country: the ruling Democratic Party, the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

There are also four Islamic-based parties in the mix: the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB). The final two parties are the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura).

To be allowed to stand candidates in the legislative election next year, a party must have at least 1,000 registered members in each district and municipality of every province nationwide.

Not meeting this condition in even a single province will nullify the party's bid to contest the election. Another requirement, but one on which parties are given considerable leeway depending on circumstances, is for 30 percent female representation.

Representatives of the 24 parties that fell short quickly vowed to mount a legal challenge with the State Administrative Court against the KPU's decision, while hundreds of their supporters rallied outside the KPU office in Central Jakarta.

KPU commissioner Hadar Gumay said his office was ready to face any legal challenge. "We're prepared because we have all the data to back our decision," he said.

Should the KPU's decision survive the challenge, the number of parties contesting the 2014 legislative election will be the smallest since the end of the Suharto regime in 1998. The legislative elections in 1999, 2004 and 2009 were contested by 48, 24 and 34 parties respectively.

Hanta Yudha, executive director of the Pol-Tracking Institute, said that with only 10 parties competing next year, the cost of holding the election would be significantly reduced from previous years.

The KPU has requested Rp 16.2 trillion ($1.68 billion) to finance the total cost of the election. The government has allocated Rp 8.1 trillion from the 2013 budget and will hand out the rest in the 2014 budget.

For the 2009 polls, the KPU requested Rp 47.9 trillion, up sharply from the Rp 4.4 trillion that it sought in 2004.

Golkar tells Akbar to stop Bakrie attacks

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2013

Margareth S. Aritonang – Golkar Party advisory board chief Akbar Tandjung will be told to stop publicly attacking Golkar chief Aburizal Bakrie to avoid damaging the party's chances in the 2014 election.

Ridwan Bae, chairman of Golkar's North Sulawesi office, said that there had been a concerted move from provincial party leaders to discourage Akbar from attacking Aburizal, who the party has proclaimed as its presidential candidate.

Ridwan said that at least 10 provincial Golkar leaders were scheduled to meet with Akbar later this week to warn him that his constant attacks of Aburizal might damage the party.

"We regret his [Akbar] actions in questioning Pak Aburizal's electability in the 2014 presidential election," Ridwan said in a meeting at the headquarters of Golkar Party lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Monday.

"He should have come to us to voice his criticism, instead of talking to the media. He has violated our party's code of ethics." Ridwan said that the provincial leaders expected to have an amiable meeting with Akbar to warn him of his misconduct. "We want to talk to him, not fire him," Ridwan said.

As a chairman of Golkar's advisory board, Akbar previously issued Aburizal a six-month deadline to boost his electability and gain the public's trust, else face the annulment of his nomination by July.

Opinion polls have regularly placed Aburizal at the bottom of the list of most electable candidates, far others, such as the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), former president Megawati Soekarnoputri; Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, the patron of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party; Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD and former vice president Jusuf Kalla.

Meanwhile, senior Golkar politician Ade Komarudin called on all Golkar politicians to honor the party's decision to nominate Aburizal as its presidential candidate.

"I call on all who are involved in this rift to settle down because it will harm the party. People know that Golkar will be strong if respected figures like Pak Aburizal and Pak Akbar can unite," Ade said.

Ade, who is also the secretary of the Golkar Party's lawmakers in the House, warned against possible efforts to divide and weaken the party, stating that Golkar would not review its nomination of Aburizal, which he said had been validated by the party's nomination mechanism.

Separately, Akbar rejected statements that he had tried to undermine Aburizal's candidacy, saying that the advisory board's decisions were made in the party's best interests.

"Many surveys have tracked Golkar's rising electability. However, we don't see a similar improvement for [Aburizal]. This is why we have warned that the party needs to watch his nomination closely. We never asked the party to evaluate or reconsider his nomination, just to be careful about it," Akbar said.

Fate of minor parties in balance

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2013

Jakarta – The General Election Commission (KPU) has failed to meet its Monday deadline for announcing the list of political parties eligible to contest the 2014 legislative elections, following a tense plenary session during which minor parties lambasted the commission for its lackluster performance.

The day-long meeting turned into a shouting match when officials representing the smaller parties began making their protests.

Some of the politicians accused the commission of being unprofessional and failing to uphold transparency in carrying out the final round of assessment; the factual verification process.

Secretary-general of the National Republic Party (Nasrep), Neneng A Tuti, alleged that KPU officials in some regions had not even verified his party's membership lists.

"For instance, we have 57 members in Kulonprogo, Yogyakarta – It is impossible for the officials to have met them and confirmed their membership in just one day. So how can they blatantly declare that we don't have enough members?" she asked during the meeting.

Officials from the Christian-based Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), the National Nahdlatul Ulama Party (PKNU) and the New Indonesian National Sovereignty Party (PKBIB) made similar claims.

PKBIB chairperson Yenny Zannuba Wahid accused the KPU of being unfair by favoring only major political parties. She then complained about the KPU order requiring party members to come to KPU offices in each provincial capital.

"For our members residing in far-flung or mountainous areas, they had to spend a lot on transportation expenses. This verification process only benefits financially strong political parties and not parties with large memberships," said Yenny, daughter of late president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

Officials from major political parties appeared calm during the meeting aware that they would probably pass the screening. The Golkar Party officials thanked the commission for completing the process and filed no complaint.

Ahmad Rofiq, National Democrat Party (Nasdem) secretary-general, was optimistic that his party would be declared eligible to contest the 2014 election. "Our party's membership at provincial, district and city level has met the standard set by the KPU. We will pass this process smoothly," Ahmad said.

As of 10 p.m., the commission had not announced the final result and the heated debate looked likely to continue through the night.

On Sunday an election watch-dog predicted that the KPU would only permit 10 political parties to contest the 2014 legislative elections. The Indonesian Voters Committee (KPI) said that of the 10 political parties nine would be established parties that already had seats in the House of Representatives and one would be new.

The sole new political party is expected to be Nasdem. The KPI predicted that the parties which would fail verification and be barred from the 2014 elections would include the Star Crescent Party (PBB), the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), the National Unity Party (PPN) and the National Care for People Party (PPRN).

The verification process has been marred by several controversies.

In late October, the commission announced 18 political parties had failed the administrative verification process. In the following month, the Election Supervisory Committee (Bawaslu) recommended that the KPU allow 12 of the disqualified parties to advance to the factual verification stage, stating that the commission had not been transparent in its work.

After the KPU rejected the recommendation, Bawaslu filed a complaint with the Election Organizers Ethics Council (DKPP), alleging that the KPU had violated ethics rules. The DKPP ruled that the commission must run the factual verification of the 18 parties previously disqualified. (yps)

SBY village tours seen as political move

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2013

Arientha Primanita & Ezra Sihite – In the next two years, regular people will see President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in their neighborhoods more often as he said he wants to increase the frequency of his field trips to visit the public.

Last Friday, Yudhoyono and first lady Ani Yudhoyono visited Tanjung Pasir village in Teluk Naga, Tengarang, Banten province. But political analysts saw the visit as an apparent attempt to divert public attention from the turmoil gripping his ruling Democratic Party.

A number of the ruling party's politicians have been involved in corruption cases and the party's popularity is struggling to survive the onslaught of severe pubic judgement.

Analysts said the party, which earned above 21 percent of public opinion in terms of popularity and electability in 2010, is now at 11 percent at best following the many indictments of its politicians.

State Secretary Sudi Silalahi said on Saturday that the president will conduct "many more down-to-earth village trips during the rest of his office term," which ends in October 2014.

The president's special staff for political communication, Daniel Sparringa, said that the palace is looking at problems that must be solved during the rest of Yudhoyono's term, therefore such field trips were necessary.

But he also confirmed that Yudhoyono was ending his term of office on a relaxed note because he was not burdened with the need to run for office again.

"The president is more relaxed now, and in the next two years there will be more trips of the kind. Perhaps he will even conduct two or three such trips every month," Sparringa said.

Firmansyah, a presidential adviser on economics, told journalists that the results of the president's field trips would be discussed during cabinet meetings because they represent actual needs of the people.

Firmansyah added that the president intended to create a rule in which all cabinet ministers, regardless of political party, would focus on their main duties instead of using their remaining time in office to work on behalf of their parties.

Political parties represented in the cabinet are part of the so-called Setgab, or Joint Secretariat, that is theoretically meant to support the government's policies, but in practice often attacks them.

Analysts predict that tough competition among the parties will occur on every front.

As of this year, the Setgab cannot be expected to produce anything substantial because the parties will need to rearrange their strategies to contest the parliamentary election in April 2014, analysts said.

"As of Jan. 1, 2013, the Setgab has actually fallen apart because every party pursues its own ambitions," said Sukardi Sinakit, a political analyst from Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate.

On Saturday, news reports started that the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) was planning to run advertisements in various newspapers as of next week to attract potential candidates for the House of Representatives.

Fadli Zon, the vice chairman of Gerindra, said the party will recruit candidates to fill its legislative positions on the national and provincial levels and that the recruitment campaign would last a month.

The party aims to retain its current members of the House while recruiting more potential candidates from across the archipelago.

Democratic Party deputy secretary general Saan Mustofa said that political parties have lost their credibility and the public's trust because "they go to the people only to seek support for election," but after that, they abandon them.

That is the wrong approach that must no longer be applied, he argued, adding that the right thing to do was to function the same regardless of election. One way to do that is to nurture and recruit party members long before an election and not just for the sake of winning office, Saan said.

But that might be easier said than done, as analysts said that most political parties are incapable of providing a political education to their own members, let alone the public at large.

Ten political parties set to contest Indonesia's 2014 legislative election

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2013

The National Election Committee will on Monday reveal the names of political parties that passed the factual verification process to participate in the April 2014 legislative election.

The factual verification process has been carried out on the provincial level to validate the claims of 34 political parties that had previously passed the administrative verification process.

Analysts said that a maximum of 10 parties will pass the factual verification process – nine are the parties currently represented in the House of Representatives and the other is the National Democrat Party (NasDem).

The nine parties in the House are the ruling Democratic Party, Golkar Party, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), National Mandate Party (PAN), United Development Party (PPP), National Awakening Party (PKB), Great Indonesia Party (Gerindra), and People's Conscience Party (Hanura).

According to the election law, only a party that can pass the factual verification process in all 33 provinces will be allowed to participate in the election.

Ten parties participating in the 2014 election is indicative of progress in simplifying the election system. During the 2009 national elections, 38 parties took part along with six local parties. During the 2004 elections, 24 parties took part, and during the 1999 elections, 48 parties were in the race.

But analysts said that the relationship between the legislative and executive powers will still be marked with tension after next year's elections because the number of political parties is still too high. Even with nine parties in the House, the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has had lots of headaches in passing legislation.

In other words, a joint secretariat, or Setgab, will need to be set up like the one currently functioning and the next president will still have to accommodate a "rainbow cabinet" that would slow his decision-making.

Therefore the next president must be a courageous leader who can remain consistent with the presidential cabinet system rather than bowing to pressure to set up a compromise cabinet, political analysts said.

They added that one of the reasons why the current president has in many cases had difficulty pushing his agenda forward is the "uncooperative" attitude of House members, even though their parties are represented in the cabinet.

The president has several times challenged ministers from political parties to resign if they focused more on their parties' interests rather than that of the nation.

Now that parties are preparing for the next election, their ministers may be busy searching for ways to secure a good exit strategy rather than being too serious about fulfilling their duties. This is part of the reason why pressure is now building for a cabinet reshuffle ahead of the election, though few people believe the president has the courage to do so.

PKS gives award to honest office boy

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2013

Jakarta – The Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) gave an award on Tuesday to Agus Chaerudin, an office boy at a bank in Bekasi, West Java, who returned the Rp 100 million (US$10,376) in cash he found in a trash can in August, last year.

"This nation is in need of a positive attitude that people can learn from," chairman of the party's public policy division Hidayat Nur Wahid said in his speech at the awards ceremony.

With the award, the PKS also gave Agus and his family a free trip to go on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca.

Agus, an office boy who earned a salary of Rp 2.2 million per month, made local newspapers headlines in Bekasi when he decided to return the Rp 100 million that he found in a trash can to the security personnel at his office.

"God sees everything," Agus said when asked about his decision to return the money.

Golkar dodges the big decisions, avoiding internal strife till 2014

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2013

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Golkar Party has decided to play it safe in the 2014 presidential election by putting everything on hold until the results of the 2014 legislative election are made public.

Golkar executive Hajriyanto Y. Tohari said that all important decisions, including who would serve as running mate for Aburizal Bakrie in the presidential election, would be made shortly before that election.

"Since the beginning, there was no deadline for naming a running mate," Hajriyanto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. "But, it will probably be done in 2014. The most practical way is to wait for the result of the 2014 legislative poll," he said.

Hajriyanto firmly denied reports that Golkar has decided to delay the decision to name the figure who will be paired with party chairman Aburizal.

He also denied speculation that a number of politicians have rejected the opportunity to join the Aburizal ticket as his ratings are sinking with every new opinion poll. "I believe many figures are ready to be his running mate," he said.

One politician rumored as Aburizal's possible running mate is popular Constitutional Court Justice Mahfud MD.

Mahfud was rated as the second most capable presidential candidate in a November poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), garnering a favorable impression of his leadership ability from 74 percent of respondents.

Ironically, the highest rated politician in the same survey was Aburizal's predecessor as leader of Golkar, Jusuf Kalla.

Golkar intends to have "flexibility and confidence" in naming candidates only after the 2014 legislative election's result are known.

Hajriyanto said that Golkar is cautiously optimistic about its performance in the 2014 legislative election. "There is no guarantee that we can meet the 20 percent presidential threshold," he said. "Although most surveys show that Golkar could lead the competition."

Opinion polls have regularly put Aburizal at the bottom of the list of most electable candidates, far below figures like chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri, patron of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, Mahfud and Kalla.

The study by the LSI last month did not include Aburizal on the list of 18 most-preferred candidates for the 2014 presidential election, in spite of Aburizal's frantic media campaign to boost his popularity.

Golkar board of advisors has issued a six-month deadline for Aburizal to boost his electability. The board's chairman, Akbar Tanjung, said that if Aburizal failed to gain the public's trust, he would have to annul the nomination in July 2013.

On Tuesday, Akbar denied the suggestion that he intended to cause rift within the party. "There is not a single word from that could be used against Aburizal," he said, as quoted by vivanews.com.

Akbar said that he was only acting on behalf of the party board of advisors and that the warning to Aburizal was a collective decision.

Political analyst Maswadi Rauf of the University of Indonesia (UI) said that Aburizal should stop alienating Akbar and should engage him in talks. "If he wants to build Golkar, Pak Ical (Aburizal) should embrace Akbar and not treat him as his enemy," Maswadi said as quoted by Antara.

He said that Aburizal could have asked Akbar to shore up support for his candidacy, given the popularity of Akbar among the grassroots activists of the party.

Money politics blamed for voter apathy

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2013

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Karawang – Analysts are attributing voter apathy to rampant money politics in legislative races, saying that cash payments are likely to be a deciding factor in the 2014 elections.

Since most legislative candidates and political parties lacked the networks needed to reach voters, electoral apathy would persist, according to one analyst.

"Most voters will remain apathetic, because they are in dark over most political parties and their platforms," political observer Yunarto Wijaya said over the weekend.

"Candidates are not likely to have emotional ties with voters who they approach on the eve of election day and are abandoned soon after the polls. Only parties with traditional supporters and those with financial sources can win seats in the House and in local legislative councils," Yunarto said over the weekend.

The Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the United Development Party (PPP) are some parties that currently have loyal followings and are likely get significant votes in 2014.

Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) will face their greatest test in the upcoming election, after series of graft allegations were leveled at senior executives from both parties.

"Based on Charta Politika's recent survey on the psychology of voters, they will remain loyal to certain parties after they vote for a party for three consecutive elections," Yunarto said.

He said that the survey also found that swing voters would support parties and candidates who gave them cash payments.

Another observer, Suhardi Suryadi from the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3S) said that only 10 political parties that would run candidates in 2014 election, predicting that none would gain a majority of the vote.

Suhardi said that he expected that the Democratic Party would suffer a pronounced slump in 2014, especially given that some of its most prominent politicians have been convicted and imprisoned for corruption. Suhardi, however, predicted that the Democratic Party would still fare well in 2014.

"The Democratic Party will still be in the top three, with Golkar at the top and the PDI-P in third. The Democratic Party still has two years to make major changes and repair the party's tarnished image to win the hearts of voters," he said.

Ways for Yudhoyono to improve the party's standing would be to cleanse his government of corrupt officials or to use the 2013 state budget to pay for populist programs, according to Suhardi.

"The Democratic Party needs to reboot its political engine, support government programs and start reaching out to people in subdistricts, villages and remote areas," he said.

Last week, graft watchdog Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) warned about a possible resurgence of political corruption in 2013.

The ICW said that due weak implementation of ill-conceived political party financing regulations, almost all parties would seek campaign funds from illicit sources, including tapping governmental budget allocations.

The ICW also said that Golkar had the largest number of members implicated in corruption cases, followed by the Democratic Party.

With more politicians potentially earning money from illicit sources, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has pledged to step up preventive measures.

Contacted separately, Democratic Party Deputy-Secretary-General Saan Mustopa said that the party would not resort to money politics and would instead intensify its voter outreach programs.

"All Democratic Party lawmakers and councillors in regency and municipal legislatures were instructed during the recent national meeting in Bogor to get in touch with their constituents and meet all new voters," Saan said.

"This national agenda is set to repair the party's badly tarnished image and to boost the economic development in the next two years before the elections."

Environment & natural disasters

Floods claim lives, submerge homes across the archipelago

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2013

Andi Hajramurni and Kusumasari Ayuningtyas, Makassar/Surakarta – Flooding in a number of regions across the country has intensified as heavy downpours continue to exacerbate the problem.

In South Sulawesi, floods are reported to have claimed at least five lives, three in Gowa regency and one each in Pangkajene Islands regency and Jeneponto regency according to the local chapter of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).

As of Sunday, floods in the province were reported to have inundated nine regencies and municipalities in the province, submerging tens of thousands of houses and public facilities in waters up to two meters deep. As floodwaters rose, they also washed away fish farmers' stocks.

"We are still evaluating the exact number of affected houses and damaged properties," South Sulawesi Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Mappagio said on Sunday.

The nine affected regions are Barru, Gowa, Jeneponto, Makassar, Maros, Pangkep, Pare-pare, Soppeng and Takalar.

BPBD, with the support of other institutions including the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and a joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team, has evacuated affected people, erected temporary shelters and healthcare posts and distributed relief supplies.

South Sulawesi Deputy Governor Agus Arifin Nu'mang said that if heavy rains continued, the provincial administration planned to coordinate with the Navy to evacuate affected people in remote areas that were beyond the reach of the SAR team.

Indonesian Red Cross (PMI)chairman Jusuf Kalla, who was forced to inspect the affected region from a helicopter as landslides and flooding blocked road access, said that the PMI would continue to provide aid to affected people but would not do so with cash.

During the visit, Kalla handed over four rubber craft to help evacuate affected people and instructed the local PMI chapter to utilize all the equipment and logistics stored in its warehouse to help the affected people.

Heavy rains have pounded South Sulawesi since Jan. 1. The local office of the Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) noted that the rainfall level in the region was still over 100 millimeters per second.

The heavy downpours have caused a number of rivers in the region to overflow. As of Sunday, heavy rains still battered Makassar and the surrounding area.

In Surakarta, Central Java, some 700 families along the banks of the Bengawan Solo River were forced to flee their homes early on Sunday morning. Floodwaters up to a meter high had inundated their houses as the river overflowed its banks due to continuous heavy rain over the region.

Affected areas included Sangkrah and Semanggi in Pasar Kliwon district and Kampung Sewu and Pucang Sawit in Jebres district.

The Bengawan Solo River's water level as of Sunday morning was recorded at 9.7 meters and was categorized as being on red-alert status, having risen 3.2 meters above its normal level. It decreased to 9.04 meters later in the day but the alert status was maintained.

Floods also hit the Ngringo subdistrict of Central Java's Karanganyar regency around midnight on Saturday, submerging dozens of houses and displacing over 200 people. Local BPBD chairman Aji Pratama Heru Kristanto said no fatalities were reported.

Surakarta's neighboring regency of Sukoharjo was also hit by floods in which some 500 houses were submerged, displacing over 2,000 people.

On Friday, flooding also hit Medan Maimun district in Medan, North Sumatra, and submerged hundreds of houses in the region as the Deli River spilled its banks.

The head of the data and information division at the BMKG's Medan office, Hendra Suwarta, said the Deli River overflowed because of rainwater from the mountainous areas in Deli Serdang and Karo regencies.

"Medan has to be cautious because the levels of rainfall over these mountainous regions are very high," he said.

The same warning was also addressed to areas along the province's western coast, including Central Tapanuli, Humbang Hasundutan, Mandailing Natal, Nias, Sibolga and South Tapanuli.

[Apriadi Gunawan contributed to this story from Medan.]

Forest conversions must end, say groups

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2013

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Environmental activists have called on the Indonesian government to extend the 2011 moratorium that bans the issuance of any new permits for land conversion on primary forests and peatlands.

They said that the moratorium, which is valid for two years, had not been effective in curbing rapid forest degradation that resulted from excessive land conversion and had affected the livelihoods of the local people.

Jefri Gideon Saragih of the Sawit Watch said on Friday that land-clearing for oil palm plantations had devastated forested areas in the country.

"Despite a government-imposed moratorium, forest clearing continues, severely affecting people who depend on the areas for their livelihoods," he told The Jakarta Post.

Land clearing had moved deeper into the forests due to the absence of both a unified map that clearly defines the forest-covered areas in the country, and spatial planning guidelines in the regency and municipality levels, he added.

High demand for palm oil has driven rapid forest loss in several areas such as in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Trees are felled for the cultivation of oil palm plantations, which results in biodiversity loss and erodes the livelihoods of the local people.

Out of the total 189.66 million hectares of land in the country, 8.38 million hectares or 4.4 percent of the total are oil palm plantations. Ongoing land use changes suggests that the current figures may actually be higher.

Every year, an estimated 400,000 hectares of forested areas are converted into oil palm plantations, Sawit Watch data shows.

"It remains in question whether we need to expand oil palm cultivation because many companies have in fact used palm oil schemes merely to obtain access to bank loans instead of carrying-out better management practices at their oil palm plantations," Jefri said, adding that audits should be carried out by the government on all licenses it had issued to the oil palm companies.

In a year-end statement, Agriculture Minister Suswono said his ministry agreed on the revocation of the moratorium. If the moratorium is terminated, more land for oil palm plantations would be available, potentially creating more income sources and job opportunities.

"I don't think the moratorium should be extended. We have to be more selective in granting permits to oil palm companies," he said.

According to the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI), the country will still have a palm oil surplus in the long-term. Around 70 percent of palm oil products are exported as crude palm oil (CPO) and derivative products. In 2011, palm oil export earnings reached approximately US$19.7 billion.

"In 2020, the country's production of palm oil has been predicted to reach 40 million tons, with exports amounting to 20 million tons," said GAPKI secretary general, Joko Supriyono, during a recent discussion.

The 2011 presidential instruction (Inpres) issued in May 2011 prohibits the issuance of any new license for conversion of primary forests and peatlands. This is one of the most important parts of the bilateral agreement outlined in a letter of intent (LoI) between the governments of Indonesia and Norway to strengthen cooperation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Zenzi Suhadi of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) said that the government should have primary forests and peatlands permanently banned from conversion to any other land use instead of just extending the moratorium.

"It seems to me that the government sees land as 'productive' only if it can generate royalties, while for local communities, the value of a forest is not just measured in rupiahs as the forests are also part of their livelihoods," he told the Post.

As of 2012, 5 million hectares of forested areas had been converted to oil palm plantations, WALHI data shows. About 20 million hectares of forested areas are currently being allocated by the government to be converted to other land use, the Forestry Ministry statistics shows.

Last year, WALHI Aceh filed a case against Governor Irwandi Yusuf at the Aceh administrative court for his decision to give PT Kallista Alam a permit to convert hectares of the protected peat swamp forest into oil palm plantations. It argued that the palm oil concession had violated the country's moratorium on new forest concessions that was signed in May 2011.

More regions affected by landslides, floods

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2013

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Torrential rain has been pounding several locations in Indonesia, leading to an increasing number of areas hit by floods and landslides throughout the country over the past few days.

A major landslide in Majenang, a border area of West and Central Java, occurred on Thursday. A 200-meter-long landslide cut off the road, causing gridlock and traffic detours. Road clearing is still ongoing involving local residents and heavy equipment.

Another landslide occurred in Cicalengka, Tanjungwangi, West Java, on Thursday. Soil from the landslide cut off road access to five villages: Dampit, Tanjungwangi, Gampit, Tanjalaya and Sindulang. According to head civilian security guard (Trantib) Endang Suganda, the landslide had paralyzed commerce in the area. A similar disaster also occurred in Kotamobagu, North Sulawesi. The main road connecting Manado and Kotamobagu was blocked for approximately six hours on Friday.

Hundreds of residents in Pemenang and West Pemenang districts in North Lombok have also fallen victim to flooding. According to the head of the Disaster Management Agency in North Lombok, Iwan Maret Asmara, his agency has set up tents in a nearby hamlet as shelters for residents whose houses are swamped by floodwater or hit by landslide.

Three villages in North and South Timor Tengah regencies in East Nusa Tenggara- Fafoe, Umatoos and Lasaen - have been submerged since Wednesday night. Cornfields and wells in the area are covered with mud after the Benenai River burst its banks.

Almost 300 houses in Makassar are also inundated due to heavy rain pounding the area since Tuesday, damaging the banks of the Je'ne Mandinging River. Some residents of Antang have been evacuated to mosques. The flood is also likely to lead to crop failure in several areas in South Sulawesi.

Meanwhile, floodwater one meter deep has submerged Medan Maimun district, North Sumatra. Torrential rain has caused the Deli River to overflow and inundate the area early Friday. Kampung Baru subdistrict head Ucok said that the flood happened so suddenly that most of the residents had no time to save their belongings. (tgh)

Health & education

Lobbyists urge government to revise tobacco regulation

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2013

Jakarta – Tobacco industry lobbyists have urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to revise the draft government regulation (RPP) on tobacco control, saying that the president should take into account the opinions of all stakeholders before signing the draft.

Amid government efforts to control tobacco use, Indonesian Tobacco Growers Association (APTI) chairman Nurtanio Wisnu Brata said on Wednesday the draft had not accommodated the needs of those who opposed the planned regulation.

He cited the example of India, whose government involved all stakeholders in the process of drafting regulations on tobacco use in the country. "The Indonesian government should learn from India in creating tobacco regulations to avoid an ongoing polemic on the issue," Nurtanio said.

If the regulation turned out to be damaging to the welfare of tobacco farmers, Nurtanio continued, the APTI would boycott the government by refusing to participate in elections and refusing to pay taxes.

The issuance of the government regulation on tobacco is mandated by Law No. 36/2009 on health. However, three years after the passing of the law, the government has yet to issue the tobacco regulation.

Two key issues in the tobacco regulation are the inclusion of graphic health warnings on cigarette packets and the designation of smoke-free zones to protect non-smokers.

The recently published study shows that Indonesia has one of the world's largest populations of tobacco smokers. According to the "Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS): Indonesia Report 2011", 61.4 million Indonesians aged 15 years and over are active smokers.

Between 2001 and 2010, the prevalence of smokers with no schooling or only an elementary school education increased from 31 percent to 36 percent, the study found. Furthermore, the number young smokers aged between 10 and 14 years old doubled during the period.

Meanwhile, the prevalence of smokers with a university education remained at 25 percent. (han)

Graft & corruption

Indonesia's tax law shields corruptors from scrutiny, Fitra claims

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2013

Rizky Amelia – Corruptors and corrupt companies are being protected by Indonesia's tax law, which protects confidentiality of taxpayer information, the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency said.

"The tax law actually protects corruptors," Uchok Sky Khadafi, the investigation and advocacy coordinator for the forum, known as Fitra, said on Monday.

He argued the law does not provide transparency or follow the open information principle. Uchok said the law blocks the public from accessing information.

He said a matter like corporate taxes is actually a public matter. If companies reveal their tax obligations, based on their revenue, then the possibility for collusion between companies and tax officers can be reduced. "This law carries no openness at all in this regard," Uchok said.

The tax law also blocks the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) from auditing data of taxpayers.

In the 2012 revised state budget, the government expected to generate Rp 1,358 trillion ($141 billion) in revenue, of which taxes account for 75 percent.

However Fuad Rahmany, the director general of taxation at the Finance Ministry, recently signaled that revenue from income taxes was expected to fall short of its target in the 2012 revised state budget. He explained in December that his office will collect at most 95 percent of the targeted Rp 885 trillion in tax revenue this year.

A number of tax scandals occurred last year, including a high-profile collusion case involving an East Java tax official, Tommy Hendratno, and tax consultant James Gunarjo, who allegedly made deals for tax receipts for Bhakti Investama.

A recent Supreme Court ruling also reflected how companies are often in trouble for their taxes. In mid December, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that ordered plantation conglomerate Asian Agri Group, part of billionaire Sukanto Tanoto's Royal Golden Eagle group, to pay Rp 2.52 trillion in back taxes and fines for tax embezzlement.

"Much of the tax data is hidden," Uchok said, adding that he called upon the government to revise the law.

In related news, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Marzuki Alie, responded on Friday to the recent news reports about findings from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) on suspicious "fat" bank accounts belonging to 18 House members.

He called on the PPATK to target not only lawmakers, but also officials at the tax directorate general as well as the police department. "Many government officials, including in the police, also have these fat bank accounts. Come on, please also dismantled it [the bank accounts]. Don't only target the House's Budget Committee," he said.

The House of Representatives Ethics Council welcomed the findings, but it appears in no rush to follow up on the report. Ethics Council deputy chairman Siswono Yudohusodo said on Thursday that the findings were "just initial information" and the council does not see a precise indication of any wrongdoing.

The PPATK identified 18 suspiciously large bank accounts belonging to House Budget Committee members.

Terrorism & religious extremism

Indonesian anti-terror squad criticized for deaths

Associated Press - January 7, 2013

Chris Brummitt and Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Indonesia's US-funded police anti-terror squad has killed seven suspected militants recently, reviving allegations that the force is not trying to take suspects alive – a trend that appears to be fueling the very extremism the predominantly Muslim country is trying to counter.

Police spokesman Brig Gen Boy Rafli Amar said on Sunday that no shots were fired against officers during three related raids on Friday and Saturday in eastern Indonesia, but that the suspects in at least one of the locations had explosives that were "ready" to be detonated. He said that officers from the anti-terror squad, known as Densus 88, had followed procedures because the suspects were endangering their lives, but gave few details.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, an independent human rights group, said it appeared that the suspected militants were victims of "extrajudicial killings" and called for an independent investigation. He said Densus 88's tactics were driving militancy because they added to feelings among some Muslims that they were under siege.

"I'm worried about the deteriorating public sympathy for police who continue to use violence," he said, alleging that some suspects in the past have been shot in front of their children. "There has never been any evaluation of Densus' actions. It seems the police brutality has contributed to the growing of terrorism."

Indonesia has struggled against militants seeking a Muslim state since its independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, some of the militants came under the influence of al-Qaida while waging jihad in Afghanistan. On their return to Indonesia, they carried out four major bombings against foreign targets between 2002 and 2009.

Densus 88 was established after the first of those attacks – the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists – with American and Australian financial and technical assistance, which it still receives.

It has been instrumental in the arrests of hundreds of militants over the last ten years and is credited with reducing the threat of further attacks on Western interests in the country. Small groups of militants, however, have continued to attack police officers and Christians.

Since the squad's establishment, Densus officers have killed more than 70 suspects. Like in other countries, some Indonesian militants have blown themselves up when police officers have approached them and show a willingness to go down fighting, making apprehending them especially dangerous. Police figures show that militants killed 10 officers in 2012 around the country.

"They are different to conventional criminals," Amar said. "We can't take any risks because they will show no hesitation to kill law enforcers."

Taufik Andrie, research director for the Institute for International Peace Building, said it appeared that police officers hunting down militants suspected of being involved in the murder of their colleagues were not interested in taking prisoners.

"It is a cycle of violence, with each side looking for revenge," Andrie said. "There is a suspicion that some policemen are of the mind that the best kind of de-radicalization is through killing people."

Indonesia has won praise for arresting and convicting terrorists through its legal system. It executed three militants convicted in the Bali bombings and sentenced many others to long prison sentences. But there has been a high level of recidivism, and the country's counter-extremism and de-radicalization programs have been patchily carried out with limited success.

The way in which the killings by Densus 88 are used to rally support for extremism was on display Sunday at a public meeting of radicals in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. While those present didn't need fresh reasons to despise or distrust the state, speakers held up the killings of the seven suspects as just the latest example of police brutality.

"Oh, Allah, they have killed your servants, so destroy them," said Son Hadi, from Jama'ah Ansharut Tauhid, a radical group whose members have been accused of supporting terrorism but remain free to organize. "Beware of this war on Islam."

Freedom of religion & worship

Indonesia becomes model of tolerance in diversity: Minister

Antara News - January 3, 2013

Jakarta – The Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs, Suryadharma Ali, has stated that Indonesia has become a model of tolerance in religious and national diversity for the world.

"Indonesian people are upholding democratic and egalitarian values, and they also have great respect for human rights," he said here on Thursday.

"However, we still need to promote ethnic harmony. All religious communities must develop an attitude of tolerance, which involves respecting the sanctity of all places of worship and all scriptures. Also, there should be no acts of desecration of religious symbols," Suryadharma explained.

He pointed out that it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Religious Affairs to ensure that all Indonesian people were "religious, peaceful, intelligent, independent and prosperous, physically as well as spiritually".

"The Ministry is focusing on five programs: improving the quality of religious life, improving the quality of religious harmony, increasing the quality of religious education, pilgrimage service improvement and good governance," Suryadharma noted.

He stated that success of the Ministry's programmes could not be measured simply through charts and figures.

"Improving the quality of religious life, religious harmony, and education involves the overall development of human beings and the society we live in. We need to give it some time before we can enjoy the results of our efforts," Suryadharma said.

He noted that the government had succeeded in providing improved pilgrimage services to the Indonesian people last year by making the necessary policy changes. "However, the government needs to further improve in this area," Suryadharma said.

He also pointed out that the ministry received recognition for its efficient financial management, from the Indonesian Supreme Audit Agency, BPK. "But we need to improve our performance in the coming years," Suryadharma added.

Filadelfia church New Year service shut down

Jakarta Post - January 1, 2013

Jakarta, Indonesia – The congregation of beleaguered Filadelfia Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) failed to conduct a New Year's Eve service as hundreds of local residents, police and public order officers (Satpol PP) intercepted worshipers before they reached the church in Tambun, Bekasi, West Java, on Monday evening.

Rev. Palti Panjaitan of Filadelfia said on Tuesday that when the congregants approached the church, public order officers formed a barricade, stopping them from entering the church at around 6 p.m.

Palti said that 100 meters from the Satpol PP personnel, police officers ordered them to disperse and formed a barricade to prevent local residents from approaching them. "We eventually dispersed when the crowd started to besiege us from every direction and threw eggs and dirt at us," he told The Jakarta Post.

Palti said the congregants also failed to hold services in the front yard of Tambun Police headquarters because the police had set up a stage, tents and chairs for their New Year's Eve celebration.

Despite discouragement from the government, law enforcement agencies and local residents, Palti said his congregants would keep going to their church to worship.

A dispute about the church's building permit has been raging for years between the HKBP church and residents of Jejalen Jaya village, Bekasi. Locals do not want a church in their community despite the church obtaining a permit from the court. (cor/iwa)

Land & agrarian conflicts

Farmers' long march terrorized

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2013

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – After taking 18 days to walk the 500- kilometer distance from Jambi to Lampung, dozens of farmers who were on their way to convey their aspirations to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta, were terrorized when a support truck carrying their supplies was attacked with Molotov cocktails in Menggala, Tulang Bawang regency, early on Saturday.

The back of the truck was gutted by a fire which burned the protesters' food and medicines.

The incident occurred while the farmers were sleeping in an indoor tennis stadium. Several farmers said that they saw two unidentified people motorcyclists throw the gasoline bombs into their truck.

Chairman of the National Farmers' Association Yorris Sindu Sunarjan who accompanied the protesters from Jambi said that despite the attack, they would continue their long march to Jakarta.

"This act of terror will not break us and we will continue our protest until the President accepts our demands," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said the farmers would join with their fellow farmers who have spent 49 days camped outside the Forestry Ministry compound demanding the President uphold Chapter 33 of the Constitution on the government's obligation to manage all natural resources for the benefit of the majority of the people, and implement the 1960 Agrarian Law to distribute land equally to all the farmers in the country.

"We will never retreat a centimeter before we meet the President and we are now halfway there. We will continue marching to the Presidential Palace to fight for what have been our rights," he said.

Rachmat Husein Duta Cabe, chairman of the People's Democratic Party in Lampung, condemned the attack and intimidation which were aimed at dispersing the farmers, saying all groups across the archipelago had their right to express their opinions, aspirations and protests to the government.

The protesters have received warm welcomes from farmers in South Sumatra and the Megou Pak tribe in Tulang Bawang who have expressed their full support for their demand for the government to make a fair distribution of land to farmers.

Rachmat had revealed several days before that local politicians from the National Mandate Party tried to persuade the farmers to stop their protest and go back to their hometown until the government came up with a win-win solution to their land dispute.

Minister of Forestry Zulkifli Hasan is a senior politician of PAN which is chaired by Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Radjasa.

Asked about the protesters' specific demands, Yorris said the farmers were demanding the government return thousands of hectares of land belonging to the Anak Dalam tribe in Jambi, and thousands of hectares in Kunangan Jaya and Mekar Jaya subdistricts which had been sold to private companies.

"The President should also sack the Forestry Minister who must be held responsible for the land disputes," he said.

Yorris revealed that many regents in Jambi had sold communal lands, and those that had been earmarked for resettlement programs in the province were sold to plantation companies with the approval of the minister.

Regional autonomy & government

Government issues decree to repeal flawed, biased local bylaws

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2013

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The government is promoting a decree that requires local governments to formulate local regulations, including sharia rules, that accord with universal standards of human rights.

Joint ministerial decrees No. 20/2012 and No. 77/2012, issued by the Home Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry, respectively, will allow the government to strike down local ordinances, such as the recently proposed bylaw in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, to ban women from straddling motorbikes.

"The decree aims to give guidelines to all local administrations in drawing up regulations so that they do not violate the basic rights of people," Home Ministry legal chief Zudan Arif Fakrulloh told The Jakarta Post.

"With this joint decree, local administrations, for example, cannot impose bans on straddling for women or require students to have a mandatory basic skill in reading the Koran to pass elementary school," he added.

Zudan said that all local governments had to comply with the decree. "All local administrations now have clear guidelines that they must follow," he added.

The decree, issued after the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) asked the Indonesian government to set standards of compliance on a host of issues, from education, healthcare, women's rights, spatial planning and natural resources management.

On education, for example, the joint decree obliges local administrations to allow parents to send their children to any school that meets standards defined by the national educational curriculum.

The decree also requires local administrations to provide equal access to education, regardless of gender or physical disabilities, while instructing local administrations to uphold women's rights in drafting bylaws.

The Home Ministry said that it was now promulgating the decree to the more-than-500 local administrations throughout the archipelago.

"We are now disseminating information on the decree to all government officials in the regions so that they can immediately adopt the ruling. We expect all administrations to register all issued bylaws [with the ministry] by June this year. Then we can document and review all bylaws for bias," Zudan said.

He earlier told the Post that his ministry had repealed almost 2,000 bylaws introduced by municipalities, regencies and provinces across Indonesia since the introduction of regional autonomy in 2002 for provisions that could discriminate against the rights of citizens. However, most of the repealed legislation pertained to financial management and not to the rights of women.

The National Commission on Human Rights said that the issuance of the joint ministerial decree was a laudable effort by the government to prove its commitment to protect the rights of the people.

"The issue of problematic bylaws is among the concerns that we need to deal with this year," Komnas HAM chairman Otto Nur Abdullah said on Monday. "This has caused problems at the national level, although the problem principally occurs in the regions," he said.

Otto cited the commission's report last year, which said that problematic bylaws were among the sources of violence in the regions.

Almost 1,900 problematic bylaws annulled by Home Ministry

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2013

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The Home Ministry has revoked almost 1,900 bylaws introduced in regencies and provinces across the nation over the past 10 years because they had loopholes that could lead to serious problems. Activists, however, criticized the ministry for failing to revoke bylaws that are discriminatory against women.

Home Ministry legal chief Zudan Arif Fakrulloh confirmed on Friday the government had annulled 1,878 bylaws since 2002 and was reviewing hundreds of others including those on alcoholic beverages, local taxes and levies, and spatial planning.

However, the government has yet to amend or revoke any bylaws that discriminate against women, which, according to rights activists and experts, reflects the government's lack of interest in promoting and protecting the rights of Indonesian women.

Rights activist Siti Musdah Mulia of the Indonesian Conference of Religions and Peace, for example, said that none of the bylaws revoked by the ministry included any of the existing bylaws that infringed women's rights, citing a bylaw banning women from wearing tight pants in Aceh.

"Local administrators as well as those in the central government think that all regulations that govern women's bodies and lives are essential, thus they are reluctant to do anything about them. To me this shows the government's lack of commitment to promoting women's rights at local and national levels," she said.

She further condemned local administrations in particular for abusing sharia to legitimize their "ill-motivated" interest in governing the lives of Muslim women.

Musdah Mulia also cited the plan by the Lhokseumawe administration in Aceh to enact a bylaw banning women from straddling motorbikes, saying it showed how patriarchal administrators often manipulated women to secure their positions.

"This is a false perspective. Local administrations must focus on empowering the people by widening access to public facilities if they really want to uphold sharia. Because sharia is all about bringing prosperity to the people," she said.

Contacted separately, Indonesian Institute of Sciences' (LIPI) analyst Siti Zuhro urged the central government to not only ensure that all local administrations fulfilled standards when issuing regulations, by providing comprehensive academic papers for example, but also to closely monitor such administrations in deliberating as well as enacting any such regulations.

"The poor quality of local administrators is among the problems behind biased regulations issued in regions. Our research, for example, has found that many existing bylaws lack academic papers. This is why we often find that some regions deliberately copy bylaws from other parts of the country without adjusting the content to their local situations," Zuhro said.

In addition, the Home Ministry's Zudan said the government and lawmakers were deliberating a draft revision to Law No. 32/2004 on local administrations that would, among other things, require all local administrations to forward all existing bylaws to the ministry, otherwise they would be considered illegal.

"We are aiming to finish the deliberation of the law by March this year at the latest so we can immediately implement it. Therefore, it will be easier for us to document all existing bylaws in this country and review them for content that might violate human rights," Zudan said.

He added that all local administrations should then abide by the new revised law otherwise they would suffer punishment from the central government that might range from official warnings to replacement.

Parliament & legislation

Lawmakers told to address poor quality legislation

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2013

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Lawmakers have to follow the constitution and prioritize the common good when it comes to law-making. Otherwise legislation will only accommodate their own political interests, critics have said.

Veri Junaidi, a researcher with the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) and Ronald Rofiandri from the Center for Legal and Policy Studies (PSHK) lamented the number of poor quality laws.

"[Lawmakers'] duties are to accommodate public aspirations, not their own interests or those of certain groups [...] without such an understanding, they will only make bad laws," Veri told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Ronald meanwhile said political interests had eroded the lawmaking process but it could held entirely responsible. "Political interests exist in the legislative process. The lawmakers must not misuse it and they must increase their lawmaking capability," he said.

They commented on the recent statement from Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD who said that the lack of professionalism among lawmakers and horse trading had resulted in poor quality legislation.

In 2012, the Constitutional Court granted 30 judicial review cases, or 31 percent of the 97 cases in total. The court overruled 31 cases, or 32 percent, and rejected 30 cases, or 31 percent, while the remaining six complaints were withdrawn by the plaintiffs.

Although the amount of revoked legislation was only 31 percent, Mahfud said the number of poor quality laws is increasing. As a comparison, the court cited that on average it had granted 20.44 percent of the total requests for judicial reviews between 2008 and 2012.

Aside from lawmakers' incompetency, poor legislation was caused by political trade-offs among politicians. Political transactions among politicians in the House of Representatives often takes place especially during the deliberation of political bills such as the Legislative Election Law.

"It is undeniable that laws come from various interests. The final outcome should be in line with the constitution," the court said.

The figure indeed showed that the lawmakers failed to accommodate the public, said Veri. Ronald added that the government was also responsible for bad laws.

"We all need to understand that once a law is enacted, it belongs to everyone," he said. "The lawmakers indeed are the ones who deliberate the bills. Both the government and the lawmakers are responsible as they collectively make the laws."

Veri is of the same opinion, saying that the government should ensure that a law accommodates all citizens. "The government mostly focuses on drafting bills that have a direct connection to its interests. For instance the Intelligence Law," he said.

He called on the government and the House to work together to increase the quality of laws. "They can begin by listening to each other during judicial reviews. Don't sit there as two opposing sides. Rather try to mutually puzzle it out," he said.

Ronald agreed, saying that both parties must undertake detailed research before drafting any laws.

Incompetent lawmakers blamed for bad laws

Jakarta Post - January 3, 2013

Incompetent lawmakers and transactional politics are fouling the legislative process, leading to shoddy laws and a host of constitutional challenges, according to one of the nation's top jurists.

Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD said that the transactional politics took the form of deal making between members of the government and different parties in the House of Representatives (DPR).

"Another reason is the lack of professionalism of lawmakers," Mahfud said at a press conference about the court's performance in 2012 in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Other laws were brought before the court for judicial review to seek additional clarification or interpretation, such as the review of the Oil and Gas Law that led to the dissolution of upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, Antara news agency reported.

Another year, another poor showing

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2013

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has once again become a target for criticism not only for their poor legislation record but also for its members penchant for traveling abroad, which many have deemed as a waste of taxpayers' money.

The Indonesian Parliament Watch (Formappi) said that the House of Representatives failed to pass a number of crucial laws it promised to finish by early 2012.

"The House gave priority to deliberating 10 bills this year, but only one bill passed by the end of 2012," Formappi chairman Sebastian Salang said.

Due to similar criticism in 2011, the House lowered its 2012 legislation target. The House expected to pass 64 laws in 2011, including 16 from the year before. In reality, it endorsed 30 laws or 47 percent.

This year's performance, however, is better than last year's, when it managed to only pass 25 laws of the targeted 91 or 27 percent.

Sebastian said that in spite of this improved performance, the House actually endorsed bills that were deemed "insubstantial" such as laws on ratifications of international conventions and laws on new autonomous regions.

"Of the 30 new laws, 12 are laws on new regions, which are easily made using formats from previously endorsed bills," he said.

Among the new regions created this year was new province North Kalimantan, which was formerly part of East Kalimantan province. Other new regions were mostly new regencies in the eastern part of the country.

Some of the new laws are rife with flaws, Sebastian added. "Four of the newly passed laws have been challenged by groups that filed judicial reviews at the Constitutional Court. That's an indication of subpar quality laws," he said.

Among the most anticipated bills that failed to get through the House in 2012 include the amendment to the Criminal Code, the bill to ban illegal logging, the handling of the social conflicts bill and the religious harmony bill.

Formappi also criticized lawmakers' annual program of traveling abroad, saying that the program did not benefit the public.

It also lambasted the House's poor budgetary oversight role, which had led to the proliferation of graft,especially in the House Budgetary Committee.

Separately, House Speaker Marzuki Alie said that the House had tried its best to improve performance in 2012. "The House could have focused on its budget and oversight roles because those were largely under public's scrutiny," he said.

Ethnic & communal conflicts

Security situation to remain volatile in 2013: Minister

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2013

Bagus BT Saragih, Bogor, West Java – The government has warned against escalating tensions this year with violent, communal conflicts remaining the primary source of security disturbances.

"The prediction from authorities in political, legal and security matters is that there will be an escalation in the years ahead. This will be a serious challenge," Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said after a Cabinet meeting at the Bogor Palace on Monday.

Djoko said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had ordered officials in the central government to engage in close cooperation with local governments to step up measures to prevent the outbreak of communal conflicts.

Yudhoyono convened a Cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss security for 2013. Among the ministers and high-raking officials who joined the meeting were National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Adm. Agus Suhartono, National Intelligence Agency chief Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman and Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi.

Djoko said that Yudhoyono had ordered local governments to prepare plans of action to deal with possible security problems.

"The National Police and the TNI, they usually have maps of conflicts and they have an integrated plan to deal with them. The map should be broken down to the provincial or municipal level," Joko said.

In the Cabinet meeting, Yudhoyono said that he was concerned with the outbreak of communal conflicts in 2012, adding that he was aware that the public was dissatisfied with the government's performance in maintaining security. "The public has not been satisfied with [the way we handled] legal and security problems," Yudhoyono said.

The President also said that he was disappointed with the performance of security and legal authorities in dealing with the conflicts. "We have seen an escalation in communal conflicts or horizontal clashes. And as I said before, we still see cases where no action has been taken," Yudhoyono said.

The President pledged that the government would improve its performance in maintaining security for 2013. He also said that his office was preparing a new decree that would allow for more drastic measures to deal with security problems throughout the country.

A number of violent conflicts rocked the country in 2012, including October's three-day clash between two communities in Lampung that left 14 people dead and forced the evacuation of dozens of others.

The clash involved Balinese villagers who migrated to the province during the New Order period and members of the local ethnic community.

On New Year's Eve last week, a bloody, inter-village clash took place in West Seram, Maluku, killing five and injuring eight.

Jakarta & urban life

Jokowi named world's 3rd best mayor 2012

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2013

Jakarta – Joko "Jokowi" Widodo placed third in the 2012 World Mayor Prize after Iqaki Azkuna Mayor of Bilbao in Spain and Lisa Scaffidi of Perth in Western Australia.

Jokowi was awarded for his efforts as the Surakarta mayor for helping to turn the crime-ridden city into regional center of art and culture that has started to attract international tourists, World Mayor announced on its official website on Tuesday.

Jokowi was also praised for his campaign against corruption. While Azkuna, who topped the prize, was awarded for his effort in rebuilding Bilbao and making it debt-free in 2011.

Runner up Scaffidi, who also won the World Mayor Commendation for services to her city, is considered successful in raising Perth's international profile, while at the same time making local bread-and-butter issues her priority.

World Mayor is a project conceived and organized by the City Mayor Foundation that was started in 2004. It aims to raise the profile of mayors worldwide and to honor those who have made long-lasting contributions to their communities. (iwa)

2013: Decisive year for Jakarta

Jakarta Post - January 1, 2013

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – It is estimated that Jakarta will face total gridlock in 2014. It is time for the city to make crucial decisions and take the necessary action to address its traffic woes.

Urban planners and transportation experts have agreed that 2013 will be a critical year for the new city administration to implement what they have carefully planned if they indeed aim to end massive traffic jams crippling Southeast Asia's largest metropolitan area.

Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has said that he would take extreme measures to fix Jakarta's traffic problems, which analysts claim is easier said than done.

Speaking to city councilors about his priorities recently, the governor made it clear that the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and new Transjakarta Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will begin in 2013. The monorail project, which will be fully financed by the private sector, will also likely resume next year, according to the governor.

Trisakti University urban planner Yayat Supriatna said that increased traffic would be inevitable next year if construction of the transportation infrastructure took place.

"When construction begins, traffic will definitely become worse, but it's the risk we have to take. As the construction will be going on for quite a long time, the administration must significantly improve the existing public transportation system."

The administration is aware of the risks and has taken a few measures to anticipate them, but Yayat said they might not be enough.

"The administration should be able to prepare strategies to handle the worsening traffic when the construction takes place, such as traffic detours and supporting transportation infrastructures in residential areas," he said. "Otherwise, people have no choice but to use private vehicles."

The MRT construction works will include land procurement and road widening in 2013. The works are estimated to cost about Rp 3.8 trillion (US$393 million), which will be covered by a grant from the central government. The massive project is believed to be crucial in addressing the city's traffic problems, with the MRT poised to serve as a backbone of urban development after it begins operations in 2016.

Other than the MRT, Jokowi said that he wanted to speed up the monorail construction. It has been said that the governor wanted PT Jakarta Monorail to continue the construction of the old monorail route, which had been scrapped by former governor Fauzi Bowo. The route will connect Semanggi and Kuningan in South Jakarta while the second route will link Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta and Taman Anggrek shopping center in West Jakarta.

Another consortium of companies proposing a new monorail project, led by PT Adhi Karya, has been told to construct new monorail lines serving Bekasi- Jakarta or Bogor-Jakarta.

Apart from the big projects, the administration will also start building Corridor 13 of the city's bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which will connect Ciledug in South Tangerang and Blok M in South Jakarta.

Jokowi's short-term measures to address traffic will take effect in 2013 and are expected to be able to ease the gridlock caused by massive infrastructure projects.

One of his controversial plans is the odd-even license plate system. Some parties doubt that the system will work, but the governor has said he would press ahead with the plan.

Next year, all-new Kopaja and Metromini buses are expected to lure more passengers. As early as January, some of those buses will be allowed to use the certain BRT lanes, and drop-off and pick-up passengers at its shelters.

Tri Tjahjojo, chairman of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), said that the plan to revamp the minibuses should also be followed by managerial improvement.

"Most of the minibuses are individually owned so there's no standardized control. As a result, passengers get bad service. This should also be taken into account by the administration next year if they want to improve the city's traffic."

Moreover, Tri said that adding more Transjakarta buses was essential to reducing traffic, especially when the odd-even license plate policy takes effect in March. "When there is more restriction, there have got to be more alternatives to accommodate the mobility of the people." he said.

Hundreds of new Transjakarta articulated buses will be on the road next year, strengthening the existing 11 corridors. The new corridor 12 connecting Tanjung Priok and Cilincing will start operations in January.

Tri said that an integrated transportation system with Jakarta's satellite cities was also crucial to address traffic problems in the capital as those cities have grown fast.

"Even when the MRT is ready to operate, if there is no integrated transportation system with satellite cities, traffic problems will not be solved because people living in those areas have no other choice but to use private cars," he said.

"So, 2013 will be a pivotal year for the administration to determine their policy and management regarding traffic. If they can execute it, they can also take-off well and address traffic problems for the long-run," Tri said.

Economy & investment

Nationalism undermining Indonesia's oil and gas sector

Straits Times - January 8, 2013

John McBeth – After blowing like a wrecking ball through Indonesia's mining industry, the winds of nationalism are now buffeting the oil and gas sector, with a legislative revision raising fears of a perfect storm breaking ahead of the 2014 parliamentary and presidential elections.

Thrown into a tizzy by an adverse constitutional court ruling, the government is hurrying to get an amended oil and gas law through Parliament. But as one analyst warns, "If they try to rush it through in such a highly charged nationalist environment, it could be disastrous."

And that's not just a private-sector view. When Evita Legowo, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's director-general for oil and gas, retired in November, she said the rise in nationalist sentiment had now become the industry's No. 1 headache.

Just a fortnight beforehand, the constitutional judges had stunningly ordered the dissolution of BPMigas, the upstream regulator, following a legal challenge to provisions of the 2001 Oil and Gas Law which led to its creation in the first place.

In essence, the court found that placing commercial and regulatory responsibilities in the hands of BPMigas contravened Article 33 of the Constitution in which the state – and not an executive agency – is the guardian of the nation's natural resources.

By signing production-sharing contracts (PSCs), BPMigas was seen to be on the same level as the private entities it is a counter-party to. The court wants a regulator whose authority is not contravened by contract provisions – even if contracts are supposedly inviolate.

The most likely outcome will be the creation of a new state-owned enterprise as the industry regulator, leaving the management of PSCs and other commercial activity in the hands of the ministry's oil and gas directorate-general.

What companies want is a regulator which acts as a facilitator and enabler, not one like BPMigas which they complain focused on command and control, adding another layer of bureaucracy, slowing down the approval process and only adding to costs.

Before it went into recess in mid-December, Parliament had already been working on three conflicting amendments to the 2001 law, one of which addressed the constitutional issue. The court decision appears to have resolved what draft has to be followed, but time and how far the revisions actually go are now crucial factors.

The 42 petitioners who brought the case included Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, the country's two biggest Muslim organizations, a host of other mainly Islamic groups and economic nationalists such as former ministers Kwik Kian Gie and Rizal Ramli.

Interestingly, when the oil and gas law was being thrashed out in the early 2000s under the Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri administrations, Ramli, Kwik and constitutional court chief judge Mahfud MD all held Cabinet posts.

Perhaps the greater irony is that while the petitioners accused BPMigas of favoring foreign interests, the opposite was the case. In fact, it did more than any other entity to push a nationalist agenda and turn the industry into a greater economic multiplier.

Misperceptions like this have been massively damaging, none more so than the public belief that the money repaid to oil companies under the cost recovery system comes out of the national budget. In fact, it comes out of production revenue.

Indonesia's nationalists prey on ignorance, sometimes for personal or political benefit. But they are also bolstered by an expressed state objective to have half of all producing fields in domestic hands by 2025, along with 90 percent of goods and services.

That's why the same group of petitioners are renewing their efforts to nudge the government into handing over East Kalimantan's gas-rich Mahakam block to the state-owned Pertamina oil company when French firm Total's contract expires in 2017.

The offshore concession is one of about 20 foreign-operated oil and gas blocks, still containing tens of billions of dollars of reserves, which come up for contract renewal between now and 2020.

Signed in the 1970s and extended for 20 years in the 1990s, it was always understood they could be rolled over again. Not only is that now in doubt, but the latest debacle has only created more uncertainty for a sector which contributes to 25 percent of government revenues and 7 percent of gross domestic product.

Legowo, who sees the importance of finding a balance between creating an attractive investment climate and meeting the demands of society, does not think Pertamina is capable of managing so many blocks after falling short of its 2011 production target.

Granted it may have pumped up the sagging output from BP's former north- west Java block, from 24,000 to 41,000 barrels a day in the past two years, but that was because it inherited the Anglo-American company's expert Indonesian production team.

Far less successful was its acquisition of the West Madura concession from South Korea's Kodeco Energy, which stopped producing when Jakarta reneged on a proper handover as it fought off efforts by two district governments to take control of the block.

Of far greater concern is the decline in exploration over the past decade. Delayed for years by land problems, ExxonMobil's Cepu field could lift Indonesia back over a million barrels a day when it finally comes on stream in 2014. But for how long?

Foreign oil companies have so far spent more than US$2 billion drilling in deep-water frontier areas such as the eastern Makassar Strait and the waters off northern Papua without anything but dry holes to show for it.

Lacking the cash and the technology, Pertamina, private Indonesian companies and local governments have little appetite for high-risk ventures that carry no guarantees of success. That's a crucial shortcoming the nationalists prefer not to address.

Analysts say to even have a hope of maintaining production, Indonesia needs to have three times the current level of new wildcat exploration by 2015 and five times that figure by 2020.

Lost in translation is the fact that companies eat all their costs until they go into production. "We can't force investors to keep pouring in money here if the situation is unfavorable," Legowo told the Jakarta Post. "At the same time, we are competing with other countries that also need investment."

Indonesia's nationalists, however, do not appear to be listening.

2012 trade deficit may reach $2 billion: Trade Minister

Jakarta Post - January 3, 2013

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan estimates that Indonesia's annual trade deficit could be as much as US$2 billion in 2012, as a downward trend in exports continued until the end the year.

"We will not book a surplus [in 2012] although earlier I predicted that it might amount to $2 billion," Gita said during a visit to The Jakarta Post.

The deficit is caused by a rise in imports matched by a downward trend in exports.

With imports continuing their upward trend in December, the total deficit for 2012 should be between $1 billion and $2 billion, he said. This may become the biggest annual deficit in the country's history. Even during the worst ever financial crisis in 2008, Indonesia still booked a surplus of $7.82 billion in its international trade.

Yearly exports could drop by up to 6 percent, driven by plummeting commodity prices, in spite of bigger volumes. Commodities make up around 65 percent of Indonesia's total exports.

The minister said there was a significant increase in exports to non- traditional markets such as Pakistan, Latin American nations and African countries. As the absolute value of exports to such countries remains very low, they will not have much effect on the final figure.

On the same day, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced that monthly exports dropped by 4.6 percent to $16.4 billion in November, while imports rose by almost 10 percent to $16.9 billion, leading to a deficit of $478 million.

The BPS report led to a sharp fall in the value of the rupiah against the US dollar on Wednesday, down 0.5 percent to 9,688 per dollar as of 3:28 p.m. in Jakarta from Dec. 28, the biggest drop since Dec. 17, Bloomberg reported.

Total exports during January-November fell by 6.25 percent to $175 billion while overall imports rose by 9.4 percent to $176 billion, a deficit of $1.33 billion.

Danamon economists hold a similar view to the minister, expecting overall exports in 2012 to decline by around 6 percent.

"This may have a bigger impact on the current account deficit, which we forecast to be higher at 2.4 percent of the gross domestic product, up from our previous estimation of only 2.1 percent," Dian Ayu Yustina, Anton Hendranata and Anton H. Gunawan said in a research note.

The continuing trade deficit will most likely negatively affect the currency market, higher risks putting pressure on a currency that has already depreciated significantly in recent months.

"The rising pressure on the rupiah may compel BI to consider a rise in the overnight deposit facility rate [FASBI] to reduce pressure in the foreign exchange market. BI seem to prefer using the FASBI rate rather than direct intervention in the market," Danamon said.

Gita confirmed the government still maintained a bleak outlook on exports in 2013, as there has been no significant recovery in advanced economies, particularly those of the United States and the European Union. This will continue to weaken demand for manufactured goods as well as crank down commodity prices.

In its latest economic report, issued in October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that the world economy would expand by only 3.6 percent this year.

China, currently Indonesia's top trading partner, will grow by 8.2 percent next year, lower than its earlier estimate of 8.5 percent, which analysts said would curb the pace of its manufacturing activities.

In line with the estimate of the global growth, the World Trade Organization recently cut its export growth forecast for this year to 4.5 percent, from 5.6 percent.

Analysis & opinion

To straddle or not to straddle, that is the question

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2013

Fitri Bintang Timur, Singapore – In his speech to welcome the New Year, Lhokseumawe Mayor Suaidi Yahya announced his plan to enact a regional ordinance (qanun) that will prohibit women from straddling motorcycles on the grounds that: "It will provoke male drivers. It is also to protect women from undesirable conditions."

How protective is the bylaw for women when sitting sideways actually puts women in a vulnerable position due to imbalance of the motorcycle.

The mayor appears to have not heeded the lesson learned from the recent death of a 23-year-old Indian lady, a victim of gang-rape committed by six men. Suaidi does not realize that rape is not triggered by how a woman acts or dresses but rather by the society that allows it to happen: A society that points an accusatory finger toward the victim rather than the perpetrators.

Nonetheless, the outrageous non-straddle policy plan has won support from regional legislative council member Yusuf Samad, who has said that sitting sideways is more appropriate to Aceh culture and sharia. In his opinion when a woman straddles a motorcycle her body curve is on display and this runs counter to the Islamic law under which Aceh, as part of its special autonomy status, follows.

How far should Aceh go in its adherence of sharia? Should people in the province return to the era of camel riding? Citing another remark made by Mayor Suaidi regarding his resistance to women wearing jeans, Lhokseumawe's likelihood to return to pre-machinery age is high in his tenure.

In Indonesia's regional autonomy districts only regional legislature (DPRD) can impeach local leaders. With councillors such as Samad demanding more stringent sharia implementation for the sake of "religious values", leaders like Suaidi can feel comfortable in their positions.

Sharing the mindset of regulating the way women act or dress, rather than taking measures that can stop the mistreatment of women or increase security measures around their housing complexes or workplaces, the two leaders are actually supporting undesirable conditions for rape and other forms of harassment to take place.

The government and politicians' mindset should be altered from controlling women to persuading society to end this culture of victim guilt and to tell men to refrain from rape. There is an urgent need for recognition as we are currently committing a major injustice to women by disempowering them – limiting their movements, their choice of dress and the people they socialise with – while the real criminals are left unchecked.

The perpetrators know that most rape cases do not reach court due to the social stigma attached to the victims and their families if reports are filed. Only 46 percent of rape incidents were reported to the police with around 30 percent reaching the court (US and UK National Violence against Women Survey, 2006-2010).

India has experienced a high a number of rapes cases with a very low number of perpetrators actually punished. In 1990 a total of 10,068 rape cases were reported and 44 percent of alleged perpetrators were convicted. A decade later 22,172 cases were reported but only 26 percent of suspects were found guilty (National Crime Records Bureau, 2011 Statistics). In New Delhi, where the recent gang rape occurred, the conviction rate stands at only 7.6 percent. Of 2,500 cases reported only 190 people were held accountable.

In Indonesia, the statistics are unclear. The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) recorded 400,939 cases of violence against women from 1998 to 2011. It is very difficult to measure the percentage of rape cases because only 20 percent of women who were victims of sexual harassment had declined to tell the truth because of their trauma (Fact sheet of the 16-day campaign to commemorate the International Day of Violence against Women, 2012).

Crime statistics published in 2010 by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) that gathered together nationwide police reports and exposed that the number of rape cases, showed an increase in incidents compared to other crimes.

Rape went up from 1.6 percent in 2002 to 2.9 percent in 2008 with cases numbering 2,906. However, we must remember that the number of rape cases reported is only the tip of the iceberg as Indonesia lacks victim trauma assistance and sensitive gender-balanced police personnel.

The limited number of female police officers to assist in sexual assault cases is in itself a great hurdle. Based on a UN survey in 2000 the number of female police officers in India was the lowest in Asia – numbering only 2.2 percent of the force – Singapore, on the other hand, was the highest with 19.1 percent. However, India is improving; in 2012 New Delhi recorded that female police officers accounted for 7 percent of the force.

Indonesia was not included in the UN survey but at the current time women police officers account for 3.7 percent of the force (Kompas, September 2012). Aceh is more complicated as it has sharia police who are authorized to conduct raids and punish the Muslim population who fail to follow Islamic law.

Aceh's development planning bureau (Bappeda) reported in 2011 that the province employed around 1,300 sharia police personelle without specifying their gender, capacity or ability to comply with legal procedures.

In addition to the low number of female police officers and the culture of blaming and shaming rape victims, Indonesia is still suffering from lengthy trials and a corrupt judicial system. The fact that BPS does not hold on record the number of rape cases gives little hope for justice for victims and their families despite the efforts made to report the crime. It is impunity that encourages perpetrators to rape rather than the way women sit.

Hopefully Mayor Suaidi and council member Samad will realize that no matter how loosely they wrap up their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters in the darkest hijab or prohibit their female relatives from straddling motorcycles, their efforts will bear no fruit as long as rapists go unpunished.

[The writer is an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.]

Indonesian class struggle, the bosses retaliate

International Viewpoint - January 7, 2013

Zely Ariane – The recent strike movement in Indonesia gave new proof of the potential power and strategic role of the working class movement. Several months of struggles, mainly in industrial zones in Bekasi, West Java, culminated in a 24-hour strike in 80 industrial estates, spread over 24 cities. [1] The movement won significant pay rises and restrictions on outsourcing in Indonesia.

The movement also forced the parliament to pass the law on the Social Security Organizing Body (BJPS in the Indonesian acronym) that would implement social security and healthcare for workers and the poor. [2] The trade union movement is divided in its assessment of the governments' plan which is based on the model of private commercial insurance and would mean an increase in workers' taxes. But the huge political impact of the recent movement cannot be denied.

Never since the fall of Suharto in 1998 has Indonesian workers had a stronger sense of their own power. The bosses know this and slowly but surely they are organizing a counter-offensive. Activists are looking to the KSPI (Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions, one of the country's major union federations) and particularly its founding member, the Indonesian Metal Workers Union Federation (FSPMI) who organized a large part of the participants in the strike of three October, to organize a response.

Crucial demands

The recent wave of workers' struggles demanded a living wage, an end to outsourcing and contract based work, an end to union busting and the criminalization of trade union leaders and a fairer social security and healthcare system.

These demands are crucial in changing the national balance of forces in favor of the workers. The Indonesian economy has seen on average six per cent growth in the last two years, a growth made possible by a large domestic market, low production costs, a cheap and flexible labor-force, and large and varied natural resources. Indonesian's strong economic growth while large parts of the world are struggling with economic difficulties is making the country an increasingly important capitalist power.

Meanwhile, attacks on union rights are continuing. Media companies for example prohibit unions in the workplace and numerous trade-union leaders have faced false charges in court. Despite the economic growth, real wages have declined since 1998. Minimum wages are based on an assessment of workers' needs, the so-called 'wage components', like food, housing, clothing et cetera. Because the cost of living varies strongly in different parts of the country, the minimum wages are set per region. But these assessments severely underestimate the cost of daily life. The increase in minimum wages won by the movement is a significant step forward but still doesn't guarantee a decent standard of living, especially considering the impact of inflation.

Steps forward

The significant raise of provincial minimum wages (between 7 and 60 per cent), is good news for all Indonesian workers. The highest raises are in cities with the most active and militant workers organizations and are the result of a series of workers protests that demanded a recalculation of the cost of living.

But soon after a 44 per cent raise was won in Jakarta, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (KADIN), lobbied the government for 'exemptions' particularly for labor intensive industries like foot-wear, garments and textile. [3] The demand was accompanied by threats that companies will close, investors will leave and massive layoffs could take place. In short, all the classical arguments against wage increases. [4] The ministry of Industry has approved the exemption. [5]

This is especially a blow against female workers since they are in the majority in these sectors.

Sixty companies in the KBN (Nusantara Bonded Zone) Cakung, which employ at least 80,000 workers (of which 90 per cent are unorganized, contractual female workers), declared a 'postponement' of the wage increase. [6] The unions are powerless against this; the companies base themselves on an assessment made by a 'public accountant' who supposedly judged their financial capabilities. There are no procedures through which the unions can verify or contest this assessment.

As this article was written, the union Across Factory Labor Forum (FBLP) was organizing a picket in KBN Cakung against two companies that forced their workers to sign agreements exempting them from the wage increase. The FBLP is also organizing weekly rallies and protests against the 'exemptions' of the wage increases.

The fight for an end to outsourcing and contractual labor will need to continue. The KSPI claimed as a success that the Ministry of Labor decided to limit outsourcing to five sectors: catering, security, driving, cleaning and support services in mining sites. But in fact this restriction was already put in law in 2003. [7]

The real achievement was that solidarity pickets (called 'geruduk') won permanent jobs for at least 40,000 workers. [8] The KSPI and the Sekber Buruh (Joint Secretariat of Labor, an alliance of radical left unions) are still pushing the demand to restrict outsourcing. [9]

Counter-offensive

The recent steps forward by the Indonesian workers movement are a source of headaches for the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (popularly known as SBY). The Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) was among the first to react to the prolonged protests of workers and threatened to lock out workers. [10] Prior to that, companies in several industrial zones in Bekasi formally asked the Indonesian Police and Army for 'protection', claiming management was threatened by the ongoing solidarity pickets in Bekasi. Employers are complaining about 'violent union activists' and claim that their properties need protection.

At the same time, companies hired thugs to attack workers. The first large scale attack was on a picket-line of Samsung workers. Samsung is infamous for its anti-union activities and criminal activities. FSPMI is among the first unions that dared to take on the company.

On November 8th, after several serious attacks and threats, some trade unions in Bekasi, including FSPMI, signed an agreement that called for 'industrial harmony'. The agreement was signed by the mayor of Bekasi, the head of the regional parliament, the head of police, the local military command, the employers and businessmen associations and trade-union representatives. The heads of villages near the industrial zones also signed. The agreement mischaracterizes the employer-instigated violence as a mutual confrontation and was severe setback. It legitimized the repression of future movements in Bekasi, and ended the solidarity pickets, the main form of workers' struggle in the zone.

Meanwhile, the criminalization and firing of union activists is continuing and some companies that agreed to give workers permanent contracts are now violating the agreement. Strikes still take place but solidarity pickets have become more difficult to organize. The Sekber Buruh recently organized a big protest in front of the National Police Office against the intimidation taking place in Bekasi. [11]

Given the increased pressure from the bosses, it is harder to maintain the vibrancy of the movement. The KSPI seemed reluctant to organize solidarity pickets after attacks by company thugs. The head of KSPI, Said Iqbal, is somewhat of a media-darling, the acceptable face of labor activism – but despite his high profile, he did not speak out against the constant attacks on unionists in Bekasi.

In 2013 two bills are scheduled to be passed that might severely harm the democratic rights of Indonesian workers; the national security bill (RUU KAMNAS) and the 'bill on mass organizations' (RUU ORMAS). Workers organizations understand this political threat very well, and are preparing a fight against the proposals.

The Indonesian capitalist class seems determined to turn the tide and tame the growing workers movement. To resist, the union movement needs to build on the experiences and confidence won in the last few months of struggle.

Footnotes

[1] In Chinaworker.info Indonesia: Massive strike against outsourcing.

[2] In Inside Indonesia A new tactical toolkit.

[3] The Jakarta Globe Minimum wage rise undermines cooperative dispute resolution business.

[4] The Jakarta Globe With Jakarta's minimum wage to rise 44 bosses warn of job cuts.

[5] The Jakarta Post Industry ministry pushes wage hike exception.

[6] The Jakarta Globe Firms call for delay to minimum wage hike.

[7] The Jakarta Globe Indonesian workers demand an end to outsourcing.

[8] International Viewpoint Hightide for the Indonesian workers' movement and Report: National strike called in Indonesia for October 3.

[9] The Jakarta Globe Workers rally against Indonesia's outsourcing system in Jakarta protest.

[10] The Jakarta Post Businesses vow to lock out workers. [11] Beritahukum.com Mabes Polri Didemo Ribuan Sekber Buruh.

The big nonsense about Indonesia's political democracy

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2013

Pitan Daslani – In present-day Indonesia, market monopolies are strictly forbidden. Monopoly and oligopoly are considered forms of greed that are against democratic principles and must be abolished.

Under the internationally dictated banner of free-market economics, foreign products are flooding Indonesia endlessly – from coconuts to oranges, salt and rice. Go to any super- or mini-market in Jakarta, and you will see an influx of imported fruits, soft drinks, you name it – almost anything that could otherwise be obtained from inside the country.

That is now an accepted practice, to prove the theory that Indonesia upholds free-market principles as a manifestation of economic democracy.

Ironically, while economic democracy is going in that direction, political democracy is going in a totally opposite direction. In the name of economic democracy, a monopoly is not allowed. But in the name of political democracy, monopoly and oligopoly somehow remain accepted, "state-blessed" practices.

Big political parties are raping the country's democracy by using state laws to protect and perpetuate their greed for power that does not allow for any outside tampering. This is why they insist that in the next presidential election only a party or a coalition of parties that commands 25 percent of a legislative election vote, or 20 percent of parliamentary seats, may propose a presidential candidate.

These big players were the ones that produced that presidential election law and they are now the ones insisting that the law should not be changed, so that only three parties can contest for presidency – "other parties have no right to field their candidates," so goes their selfish claim.

In line with the big parties' interests, the Constitutional Court in 2009 rejected a massive move by "non-parliament" political activists to conduct a judicial review of the presidential election law. Now, still under Mahfud M.D. as chairman, the country's highest review court is not interested in reviewing the law because that would open the way for alternative presidential candidates to contest the election and make Indonesia a more mature democracy.

But when Mahfud ends his term in April this year, the entire story will change. His successor may not necessarily follow his direction. Already, a huge tsunami of people power is building impatiently in society, ready to sweep the stage.

Adnan Buyung Nasution, Rizal Ramli, Todung Mulya Lubis and other noted legal and political activists have begun firing the cannonball against the Constitutional Court. University campuses, NGOs and dozens of public figures will join the march to end the "official monopoly" of the law by the big parties.

Now let us analyze which parties actually want the monopoly and oligopoly to remain in force. The three big parties are the ruling Democratic Party, the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The Democrats' highest authority, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has announced that his party does not yet have a candidate for the presidency, and that the playing field must be broadened to allow for the nation's best candidates to come forward and sell their visions and concepts to the public – whether or not they come from political parties.

That means his bigger concern is not having a capable candidate, rather than not seeing the presidential threshold fulfilled. It also means Yudhoyono is not convinced with the statesmanship, leadership qualities and capability of the mass-media-anointed presidential candidates now on stage. This is why his party will conduct a convention this year to recruit alternative presidential candidates.

Yudhoyono wants his successor to be at least like him – or better, if possible – in terms of vision, capability and leadership qualities. His concern over not having such a leader to replace him is certainly much bigger than at what level should the presidential threshold be maintained. The threshold can be altered once Mahfud is no longer in office as of March 31.

The move by Buyung Nasution, Rizal Ramli and Mulya Lubis to press for judicial review of the presidential election law will gain a much bigger momentum after Mahfud has retired. The entire landscape may change drastically ahead of the legislative election in April 2014.

Mahfud's popularity will drastically erode once he is no longer in office, analysts say, because the National Awakening Party (PKB), which he used to rely on, is now divided again with some favoring dangdut star Rhoma Irama as a candidate while others may rally behind either Mahfud or Muhaimin Iskandar, the current manpower and transmigration minister.

Golkar is moving ahead against all odds to make its chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, president, while sustaining the bruises from political punches against him. Tragically, many of these powerful blows came from the chairman of Golkar's own advisory council, Akbar Tandjung.

So, lowering the threshold would substantially erode Bakrie's diminishing chances for winning the race. This is why Golkar must fight on to sustain the monopoly of the presidential election threshold, analysts argue, though that won't be a guarantee for bolstering Bakrie's electability.

The PDI-P has the upper hand here because of its consistency in being an opposition party. It may harvest a great deal from the fallback of support for Golkar and the Democratic Party and may even become the next ruling party, thanks to its fine performance of its legislators so far.

In that regard, the presidential threshold is not anything that PDI-P would overly worry about. So long as its presidential candidate can attract sympathy from other parties, a coalition to secure its candidate's ticket for the palace will occur naturally, simply because the party will become everybody's biggest potential coalition partner.

Against this backdrop, the discourse on the presidential election threshold should be redefined and re-routed to facilitate the emergence of a true leader with long-range global vision and statesmanship qualities, whether or not he or she comes from a political party.

Any opposition against this theory only confirms the retention of monopoly and oligopoly on the stage of Indonesia's pseudo-democracy.

[Pitan Daslani is a senior political correspondent at BeritaSatu Media Holdings of which the Jakarta Globe is a subsidiary. He can be reached at pitandaslani@gmail.com.]