Fiki Ariyanti, Jakarta – Forbes magazine has again released a list of the richest people in the world, including from Indonesia. There are 50 Indonesian conglomerates included in the list, old faces as well as new.

With the emergence of this bourgeois in Indonesia, can the government push for more tax revenue from these people?

Coordinating Economics Minister Sofyan Djalil says that the government will absolutely not increase the tax rate on the very rich even though the government's tax revenue target has topped more than 1,000 trillion rupiah (US$83.7 billion).

"No we have never thought about increasing [their] tax rate, it will stay exactly the same", he told journalists at his office in Jakarta on Thursday December 4.

According to Djalil, the most important thing is the government's efforts to extend the tax base. Broadening the taxpayer base has yet to touch on a number of different groups and sectors.

"If people are not yet paying tax they are the ones that need to be pursued. But if it's rich people and they have already paid the correct tax, then yeah it's a person's right to get rich. What's important is have they paid the correct tax yet", explained Djalil. (Fik/Ahm)

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Pemerintah Enggan Naikkan Pajak Konglomerat Indonesia yang Masuk Forbes".]

Source: http://m.liputan6.com/bisnis/read/2142896/pemerintah-enggan-naikkan-pajak-konglomerat-ri-yang-masuk-forbes

West Papua

Indonesia asked to open press access to Papua

Tempo.co - December 5, 2014

Rofiqi Hasan, Denpasar – The International Partnership Mission to Indonesia, an international and regional organization working in the freedom of expression, urged the government of Indonesia to open more access for foreign journalists to cover news in Papua.

In a meeting organized by the Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) and Tifa Foundation, several organizations signed the statement, namely: Article 19, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Freedom House, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International Media Support, Open Society Foundations Programme on Independent Journalism, and Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA).

Jane Worthington from IFJ Asia-Pasific said there had not been official policy that banned foreign journalists from entering Papua. "However, the government tends to complicate foreign journalists with visa and other requirements," said Jane.

Michael Karanicolas from Canada-based Center for Law and Democracy (CLD) confirmed that such policy would end up disadvantaging Indonesia.

Earlier in August, two French journalists, Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, were detained for using tourist visas for journalism purposes. The two were found guilty by the court and sentenced to two and a half months in prison. The trial triggered global outrage from the world press organization.

Source: http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2014/12/05/055626579/indonesia-asked-to-open-press-access-to-papua

Brimob killers in Papua given three days to surrender

Jakarta Post - December 5, 2014

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Yotje Mende said he would provide three days for whomever was behind the recent shooting death of two police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel in IIaga, Papua. If they failed to show up, he added, a team would be sent to hunt find them.

"I have given them time to surrender. If they don't want to use it then my team will hunt them down, dead or alive," he said Friday.

He said the team comprised 100 personnel who would be fully equipped. He added that he had told his subordinates that it was not a mission of vengeance. "I warned them that we would not tolerate any violations," he said.

Puncak Regent William Wandik said he supported the mission and condemned the recent murder of two Brimob personnel. "It was very violent, to kill law enforcement personnel while they were assisting local residents prepare for Christmas," he said.

He acknowledged there had been a rising trend in the province for certain individuals taking police or military rifles by force to be rewarded with certain privileges. "The motive behind the killing is never about freedom but crime," he said.

Two Brimob personnel, Adj. Second Insp. Thomson Siahaan and Second Brig. Everson were shot by a group of unidentified persons while helping locals prepare for a Christmas celebration in Ilaga, Puncak regency's capital. The remains of the two police personnel have been buried in their respective hometowns. (dic)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/05/brimob-killers-papua-given-three-days-surrender.html

Jokowi to attend historic Christmas celebration in Papua

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2014

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo plans to attend a Christmas celebration in Papua on Dec. 27.

The celebration, which will be held in Lanud square in Jayapura, will also be attended by Papuan officials, religious group representatives and thousands of residents.

"This will be a historic moment since [usually this type of] Christmas celebration [with the President] is held in Jakarta. This will be the first time it is held in Papua," National Christmas Celebration Committee head Yohana Yambise said as quoted by kompas.com.

The President is slated to arrive in Papua on Dec. 26 and will visit Wamena, officially opening several traditional markets. A team is preparing the event, which is estimated to cost around Rp 20 billion. (dic)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/jokowi-attend-christmas-celebration-papua.html

Komnas HAM: Jokowi needs a palace in Papua

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2014

Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is urging President Joko Widodo to build a palace in Papua, so that he can be closer to the people and soothe separatist sentiments in the remote region.

"We encourage [the president] to immediately establish a presidential palace for the Papuan people," Komnas HAM commissioner Nurcholish told a discussion held at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to Nurcholish, the plan for a presidential pied-a-terre in Papua would greatly improve the prospects for peace.

Since Papua became part of Indonesia in the 1960s, a low-intensity guerrilla war has been waged against the central government, most notably by members of the Free Papua Organization (OPM).

Papua and West Papua remain among the nation's least developed provinces, even as they are among the richest in terms of natural resources.

The Indonesian president already has a number of official palaces at his disposal. Apart from the State Palace in Jakarta, for instance, there are palaces in Bogor and Cipanas (both in West Java), in Yogyakarta (Central Java) and in Tampaksiring (Bali).

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/komnas-ham-jokowi-needs-palace-papua/

Ilaga town 'tense' after killing of 2 cops

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2014

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The situation in Ilaga, the capital of Puncak regency in Papua, remained tense following the deaths of two Papua Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) members who were shot as they assisted a church congregation with Christmas preparations at a church on Wednesday.

"I've just received reports that the situation in Ilaga after the incident remains tense, as security personnel are on guard. Residents are in a state of fear and they prefer to remain at home. Some of them gathered at government offices while waiting for the situation to improve," said Puncak regency council member Penilus Balinal in Jayapura on Wednesday.

Pelinus expressed hope the Papua Police would immediately deploy personnel to the area to secure the situation so residents could go about their daily activities and the administration could resume its duties, failing which the situation would worsen and the lives of more people would be at stake.

Tensions increased after security personnel set fire to traditional Honai homes in the city as they searched for the perpetrators.

The shooting took place when Brimob officers Second Adj. Insp. Thomson Siahaan and Second Brig. Everson were arranging chairs for Christmas preparations together with the Paniai GKI church congregation in Ilaga at around 9:30 a.m.

"When they were helping to arrange the chairs and set up the tent in front of the church, they were shot and killed on the spot by an armed group," said Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Pudjo Sulistyo in Jayapura.

According to Pudjo, Thomson was shot in the chest and leg, while Everson was shot in the head. Their bodies have been taken to the Ilaga community health clinic and will be moved to the Papua Police Brimob headquarters in Jayapura on Thursday.

Papua Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw and police officials will leave for Ilaga, to observe the situation in the city.

Waterpauw expressed regret over the incident as his men were helping youths at the church to prepare for a Christmas event slated for Wednesday at 5 p.m. local time. "We will pursue the attackers and catch them, dead or alive. Their behavior is inhumane," he said.

Waterpauw added that his personnel were all ordered to promote and uphold basic human rights, but instead two of them had now become victims of violence at the hands of armed civilians. "This matter should be discussed to prevent personnel from acting hesitantly and becoming victims instead," emphasized Waterpauw.

Besides killing the two Brimob personnel, the armed civilian group also seized two AK assault rifles that the victims were carrying and fled into the woods.

The situation in Ilaga, said Waterpauw, was improving and security personnel were conducting investigations by speaking to witnesses who saw the incident.

Earlier in August, two police officers were shot dead by an unidentified group in Lanny Jaya regency, Papua. The police and military suspected the shooting was conducted by the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).

In response to the shooting, the military launched a hunt for the group and shot dead four members.

In May this year, another police officer was shot dead in Lanny Jaya. The shooting was also believed to be committed by the OPM.

Some Papua councilors expressed regret at the continuing violence in the province and said they could not inspect the locations due to the remoteness of the areas.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/ilaga-town-tense-after-killing-2-cops.html

Two policemen shot dead in Papua

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2014

Jakarta – Papua's Puncak Jaya regency was again the scene of a shooting on Wednesday, with two police officers shot dead by an unidentified armed group.

The two were attacked as they were moving chairs and tarpaulin at a GKII church event, Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Pudjo Hartono said in Jayapura on Wednesday.

"The two victims have been identified as Adj. Insp. Thomson Siahaan and Brig. Everson. Everson was shot in the temple, Thomson in the legs and chest," Sulistyo said as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that the two bodies had been taken to a nearby community health center (Puskesmas) in Ilaga and would be flown to Jayapura on Thursday.

The police are investigating the case. "The AK rifles used in the attack were taken away by the perpetrators," Sulistyo revealed. (hhr)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/03/two-policemen-shot-dead-papua.html

West Papua: Independent citizen media trainer tells of 'safe witnessing'

Pacific Media Centre - December 3, 2014

Auckland (Pacific Media Watch) – The editor of the independent West Papua Media news service monitoring the two Indonesian-ruled provinces has called for more vigilance and better training for "safe witness" journalism.

Speaking at an AUT University seminar on Free West Papua Day following the three-day Pacific Journalism Review 2014 conference, Nick Chesterfield gave a rundown on safe witness training methods and communications to help bring the "real story" from the repressed region.

Chesterfield was also one of the presenters at the PJR2014 conference and clashed with an Indonesian journalist representing the Antara News Agency from Jakarta over the "truth" about West Papua.

The seminar was organised by the Pacific Media Centre, West Papua Media and the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Coalition (APHRC).

Chesterfield's workshop coincided with West Papuan delegates converging on Vanuatu's capital of Port Vila to try to form a unified bid to get West Papua membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The three-day Vila conference followed a march through the heart of the port city, and other events around the world marking what most West Papuans call West Papua Independence day.

On 1 December 1961, West Papuans were granted freedom by the Dutch colonial government when they raised the Morning Star, the new national flag, for the first time and sang the national anthem.

However, a year later Indonesian paratroopers invaded West Papua and by 1969 had annexed the country as a "province" after a widely condemned United Nations plebiscite.

In Fiji, as part of many global events marking Free West Papua Day, The Fiji Times reported that the Pacific Network on Globalisation organised a vigil remembering the people of West Papua while creating awareness of the organisation's "We Bleed Black and Red" campaign.

The campaign, launched in July, remembers people suffering from suppression and other injustices in West Papua.

Source: http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/west-papua-independent-citizen-media-trainer-tells-safe-witnessing-9076

Ni-Vanuatu convinced about West Papua path

Radio New Zealand International - December 3, 2014

Vanuatu's former prime minister, Barak Sope, says the people of his country are convinced that West Papua will one day gain its independence from Indonesia.

In 2000, Mr Sope asked the United Nations for West Papua to be officially added to its decolonisation list.

Mr Sope says this week's West Papua Unification meeting will provide an important step in forming a unified West Papuan bid for membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group. He says that once in the MSG, West Papuans will push for independence.

"That's the next step. The MSG countries, like they did for New Caledonia and Tahiti, they will do so for West Papua, for them to become listed on the committee for decolonisation of the UN.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/260882/ni-vanuatu-convinced-about-west-papua-path

Papuan community defies Indonesia pressure to sink Melbourne celebrations

New Matilda - December 3, 2014

Amy McQuire – Planned celebrations to mark the brief independence of West Papua will go ahead in Melbourne today, despite pressure from Indonesia. Amy McQuire reports.

The West Papuan community and its supporters around Australia will raise the Morning Star flag today – a criminal offense within the Indonesian province – despite allegations of Indonesian pressure to prevent the ceremony from going ahead in Melbourne.

To mark the 53rd anniversary of the raising of the flag, the West Papuan community organised an event called "19 days of freedom", held in the heart of Melbourne at Federation Square.

The documentary Isolated will be screened, and there will be screenings of short videos every day until the 19th, when the Strange Birds in Paradise film will be shown to end the commemoration.

But New Matilda has learned after the event was advertised on Facebook last week, the Indonesian consulate in Melbourne immediately sought a meeting with Federation Square.

They raised concerns about the Facebook event, wanting it to be taken down despite it being separate from the organisation, and then wanted assurances the Morning Star flag would not be raised or shown at the event.

It is understood Federation Square refused because it is apolitical, supportive of all cultural groups, and cannot prevent members of the public wearing whatever they want and raising their own flags.

West Papuan activist Ronny Kareni told New Matilda members of the West Papuan community often had their events threatened, or were under surveillance by Indonesia.

"They use scare tactics behind closed doors to go after organisations or groups of people that want to support West Papua," Mr Kareni said.

"They approached Federation Square a couple of days after they saw the event page on Facebook. They rang a particular day five times and pressured them to pull down the event on the website."

Mr Kareni says there was a similar situation in 2004 when the consulate pressured organisers of a screening of the documentary Journey to Freedom, which charts the activism of West Papuan leader Herman Wainggai.

He says members of the community will be looking out for Indonesian surveillance at the event today.

Earlier this year, Lateline aired allegations of Indonesian students spying on activities by the West Papuan community in Melbourne. < https://newmatilda.com/2014/10/08/indonesian-students-accused-spying-west- papua-activists> The pressure from the consulate has made it hard for the West Papuan community to promote its culture and stories.

"This has caused a lot of challenges for West Papua as a community here trying to build and tell our stories, just to do our cultural things. It's very difficult to put the name 'West Papua' on community events. They'll apply this fear tactic and stop organisations from supporting us."

But despite this, Mr Kareni says the West Papuan community remains strong.

"The flag brings hope and strengthens the movement itself. It's a national symbol and a lot of people have died just for that Morning Star. A lot of people have been imprisoned for that Morning Star.

"[The flag] gives us that strength to fight and pursue self-determination and struggle until West Papua is free, and we can fly it freely."

The Indonesian consulate in Melbourne did not respond to a request for comment.

December 1, 1961 marked the first time the Morning Star was raised and the national anthem sung alongside the Dutch flag and anthem. It came after the Dutch, who had control over West Papua, accepted a manifesto put forward by the New Guinea Council.

The council was a representative body set up to inform on the wishes of West Papuans for self-determination. But 19 days later, Indonesian President Sukarno launched a military operation to annex West Papua, which began the invasion of the province (although Indonesian military had been secretly entering the area before that).

In 1962, the Dutch and the Indonesians signed the New York Agreement, which transferred administration to the UN, who handed it over to Indonesia the following year. Indonesia officially took control of West Papua after the controversial Act of Free Choice in 1969.

There have been consistent allegations of human rights violations by the Indonesian military and police inside West Papua ever since, and peaceful protests often suffer brutal crackdowns.

There is a notorious foreign media ban within West Papua which means the situation has largely stayed off the international radar.

But those short 19 days of freedom before Indonesian occupation are being celebrated today across the world, and also inside West Papua, despite it being a criminal offense to raise the Morning Star, with political prisoners like Filep Karma serving sentences of up to 15 years for doing so. Mr Kareni says the day is very significant for West Papuans.

"When the flag was raised, we knew that freedom was coming. But then on the 19th day, the Indonesian invasion through Trikora was announced and West Papua has fallen under Indonesian brutality ever since. On December 1 we celebrate and also stage our defiance against Indonesian colonialism."

This year's celebrations come as a meeting of West Papuan leaders and activists converge on the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu this week to talk about the way forward for West Papuan self-determination.

Indonesia's Acting Ambassador to Vanuatu, Imron Cotan has already warned it could cut diplomatic ties with Vanuatu over the issue. Mr Cotan told Radio New Zealand "Indonesia is ready to go to war in order to maintain Papua within our territory, so we are indeed serious about Papua".

He was responding to plans by Papuan activists to open an embassy in Vanuatu. "Nobody, I believe, should take it lightly. Indonesia will be more than prepared to freeze anything if our sovereignty over Papua is questioned. That is definitely a no go in Indonesia."

Vanuatu has been the only consistent supporter of West Papuan independence and has declared December 1 a public holiday in solidarity. "This forum in Vanuatu is a very significant meeting, and a positive step forward towards achieving a greater voice and leadership," Mr Kareni says.

"... It's about bringing not only political organisations but also church groups, tribal groups and women's groups and NGOs together to have a discussion about a united and inclusive voice in pushing West Papua's cause of self-determination into regional organisations like the Pacific Island Forum and the Melanesian Spearhead Group."

Source: https://newmatilda.com/2014/12/01/west-papuan-community-defies-indonesia-pressure-sink-melbourne-celebrations

West Papuan delegates meet in Vanuatu over MSG bid

Radio New Zealand International - December 2, 2014

West Papuan delegates are converging on Vanuatu's capital to try and form a unified bid to get West Papua membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The three-day conference follows a march through Port Vila, and other centres around the world, on Monday to mark what separatists call West Papua Independence day.

Jamie Tahana reports.

Earlier this year, the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation put forward a campaign to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group. But the bid was knocked back by the MSG, whose leaders called for a more representative bid.

The chair of Vanuatu's West Papua Unification Committee, Pastor Alain Nafuki, says around 200 West Papuans from across the region and beyond are expected to help create that bid on Wednesday.

Alain Nafuki: By this summit we expect all of them will sign requesting membership for MSG. Yes, I'm confident that this is one of our main highlights in our summit.

The Australia-based President of the International Forum on West Papua, Amatus Douw, says the conference will unite different groupings in West Papua in the hope of gaining access to the MSG.

Amatus Douw: We expect that all different resistance groups in West Papua and outside of West Papua must unite in one umbrella organisation and from there we will make our application for membership to [the] MSG. However, delegates trying to travel from New Guinea to Port Vila have encountered various logistical difficulties, especially those coming from the Indonesian side. The Indonesian government, which is currently an observer with the MSG, has sent a letter of protest to Vanuatu's government concerning its move to host the conference.

But that didn't stop Vanuatu's Prime Minister, Joe Natuman, government ministers and chiefs from walking through the streets of Port Vila on Monday to mark West Papua Independence Day ahead of the conference. At another Independence Day gathering outside New Zealand's Parliament in Wellington, Victoria University Pacific Studies lecturer, Teresia Teaiwa, said Vanuatu's stance was inspirational.

Teresia Teaiwa: It's been the only country in the Pacific that's consistently supported West Papua's right to self-determination. It's also really disturbing that Indonesia's threatening to punish Vanuatu for this. But I think it tells us something really important, and that this is a struggle worth standing up for.

Back in Port Vila, Vanuatu's former Prime Minister, Edward Natapei, said that if a single body for West Papua is formed, then there's no reason why it wouldn't be able to become a member at the next MSG leaders' summit.

Edward Natapei: We hope that after this meeting, there will come out a united force that will prove beyond doubt the West Papuans are united, and therefore they should be admitted to be members of the MSG.

Whether or not that united force is created should be known when the conference ends later this week.

[Originally aired on Dateline Pacific, Tuesday 2 December 2014.]

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/20159376/west-papuan-delegates-meet-in-vanuatu-over-msg-bid

Vigil for West Papua

Fiji Times - December 2, 2014

Mere Naleba – The Pacific Network on Globalisation yesterday organised a vigil remembering the people of West Papua while creating awareness of the organisation's "We Bleed Black and Red" campaign.

The campaign, launched in July, remembers people suffering from suppression and other injustices in West Papua.

With December 1 marked as the global day of action to raise the West Papua flag, the organisation with the help of the Pacific Council of Churches and other interested members of the public organised a vigil at the PANG office to remember those suffering in their own country because of suppression.

PANG campaign co-ordinator Joey Tau said the vigil featured students from the University of the South Pacific, members of the two PCC, PANG and Pacific Islanders.

"Today (yesterday) marks the global day of action in raising the West Papua flag – the Morning Star – and so we organised a vigil to remember our West Papuan sisters and brothers," he said.

"The vigil is part of our campaign, and the campaign uses any form of art which is our way of protesting, this is our way of acknowledging today's global day of action."

Source: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=287890

Vanuatu's deputy PM hopes for united West Papua voice

Radio New Zealand International - December 1, 2014

Vanuatu's former Prime Minister, Edward Natapei, says he hopes a united political force for West Papua will be formed as a result of a conference being held in Port Vila this week.

The three-day conference is an attempt to try and form a unified bid to get West Papua membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Edward Natapei says West Papua's last bid to join the MSG was knocked back because the delegation wasn't able to form a more representative bid. But he says that if a single body is formed there is no reason why it would not be able to become a member at the next MSG leaders' summit.

"We hope that after this meeting, there will come out a united force that will prove beyond doubt the West Papuans are united, and therefore they should be admitted to be members of the MSG."

Whether or not that united force is created should be known when the conference ends later this week.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/260711/vanuatu%27s-deputy-pm-hopes-for-united-west-papua-voice

Human rights & justice

Justice minister in face-saving exercise over Munir killer's parole

Jakarta Globe - December 5, 2014

SP/Novianti Setuningsih, Jakarta – Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly attempted to defuse criticism of his decision to release the murderer of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib on Friday, saying he had reprimanded the officials who recommended former Garuda Indonesia pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto for parole.

"I will send him back [to prison] if he breaks the law," Yasonna said on Friday.

Pollycarpus was convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison, later reduced to 14 years on appeal. He offered Munir a coffee at Singapore's Changi International Airport while the 38-year-old activist was on a layover before continuing to Amsterdam. A court later found that this drink had been spiked with arsenic. Munir died before the plane landed.

The decision to release a convicted murder of a human rights activist after serving just eight years was roundly condemned by Munir's supporters and human rights organizations.

"When [Pollycarpus] was about to be released I was honestly surprised," Yasonna said, adding that he had reprimanded the warden of Bandung's Sukamiskin penitentiary and the head of the West Java office of the ministry for granting Pollycarpus parole without consulting him.

Yasonna could have declined to sign the document authorizing parole for Pollycarpus. It is understood he felt his hands had been tied by the earlier move by the warden and provincial ministry chief.

"This is a high-profile case so the head of the regional office and the chief warden should have reported it to me first," Yasonna said. "They were being insensitive, so I scolded them."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/justice-minister-face-saving-exercise-munir-killers-parole/

Minister admonished for rights remarks

Jakarta Post - December 5, 2014

Indra Budiari and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno is in the hot seat after human rights activists and family members of victims of past human rights violations castigated his statements on resolving outstanding rights-abuse cases.

Ferry Kusuma from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said Thursday that Tedjo's statement was inappropriate, calling it a "dagger that stabbed the hearts of human rights victims and families".

"It was a painful statement from a coordinating minister. We demand that Tedjo retract his statement and make a public apology," Ferry said during a hearing at the National Commission on Human Rights's (Komnas HAM) office in Jakarta.

On Monday, Tedjo, who is also a former navy chief, said that the public should not bring up unresolved human rights cases from the past, stressing that this was the right time to move on from that subject.

"It happened in the past. Now, we should continue with a reconciliation process and not go backwards. This country needs to be prosperous instead of looking for others' mistakes," Tedjo said at the time.

Maria Catarina Sumarsih, mother of Bernardus Realino Norma "Wawan" Irmawan, a student who was killed in the 1998 Semanggi shooting incident, said that Tedjo's statement contradicted President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's campaign promise to bring justice to past cases of human rights abuse.

During his presidential campaign, Jokowi repeatedly voiced his commitment to resolving past human rights abuses and for the establishment of an ad hoc human rights court to try alleged perpetrators.

"The statement has shown us that the coordinating minister does not share the same vision and mission as Jokowi," Sumarsih said at the hearing.

Sumarsih also said that Jokowi must establish an ad hoc human rights court to bring anyone who was involved in rights-abuse cases before the court. "The victims and families feel that we have been toyed by the state because there was no intent to resolve the cases," she said.

Tedjo's statement was another awkward response from the government after it recently decided to grant parole to Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, the convicted murderer of human rights defender Munir Said Thalib.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly defended the release of Pollycarpus, saying that the convict had fulfilled all the requirements needed for parole. Yasonna also said that Pollycarpus maintained his rights as a human being despite his crime.

Last Friday, Pollycarpus, convicted of the fatal poisoning of Munir during a flight to Amsterdam in 2004, was released on parole from the Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, where he had been imprisoned for the past six years. He was supposed to serve 14 years. His release was postponed several times during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration.

Despite Pollycarpus' verdict as the murderer, rights activists and Munir's family are also still seeking justice for the case as they allege that the mastermind of the case has yet to face trial.

Tedjo reiterated his comment on Thursday, urging people to move on, adding that human rights victims and activists had the right to speak their minds.

"There are people who have undergone trials and been declared not guilty and there are people who were found guilty [of human rights abuse] in the past. We do not want to go back all over again and dwell on the past," he said at the State Palace compound.

Tedjo added that the most important thing was to initiate a reconciliation process to help victims and families move on. However, he did elaborate about what the reconciliation should look like, nor if there would be a special unit tasked with overseeing such a process.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/05/minister-admonished-rights-remarks.html

Police will not reopen investigation into Munir assassination: Sutarman

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2014

Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – National Police Chief Gen. Sutarman said on Wednesday that the police would not reopen the investigation of the 2004 assassination of Munir Said Thalib – disappointing supporters of the slain human rights activist, who will view the announcement as a setback in their campaign for a judicial review.

The announcement means that the police will not assist prosecutors in searching for new evidence needed to file a review of the case against Muchdi Purwoprandjono, the former deputy head of Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Muchdi was acquitted by a Jakarta court in 2008 – which found he had no involvement in a death that activists say remains unsolved.

The only person convicted of Munir's murder was Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto – a former pilot for flag carrier Garuda Indonesia. Pollycarpus was sentenced to 20 years, later reduced to 14 on appeal, for having poisoned Munir with arsenic on Sept. 7, 2004, during a layover in Singapore before the 38-year-old activist boarded a flight for Amsterdam. Munir died before the plane landed in the Netherlands. He was on his way to study humanitarian law at Utrecht University.

Munir founded the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) to advocate justice for the victims of abuses committed by the state. His work involved included strong criticism of excesses committed by members of the Indonesian Military (TNI).

His supporters continue to maintain that the killing was state sponsored – something to which the police have been able only to shrug their shoulders after the original investigation did not find evidence to convict anyone sponsored by the state.

"The National Police have done their best in the investigation and the suspect [Muchdi] was declared not guilty on all charges," Sutarman said. "We can only reopen the case if there is new evidence."

Prosecutors did file an appeal in 2009 against the acquittal of Muchdi. But that appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court. The then-deputy attorney general, Darmono, said the AGO was considering applying for a judicial review – the only option left to prosecutors – but that has yet to materialize.

Attention on the case was renewed when Pollycarpus was released on parole last week after serving eight years of his 14-year jail sentence.

Munir's supporters said over the weekend that the release of Pollycarpus reflected negatively on President Joko Widodo's commitment to human rights. "This is a bad sign for the government of Joko Widodo," said Hendardi, the head of the Committee of Solidarity Action for Munir (Kasum).

Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) executive director Poengki Indarti added that the decision to release Pollycarpus would damage Joko's image.

The subsequent clamor for a review of the case puts Joko in a difficult position. This is because the president appointed A.M. Hendropriyono to a senior advisory role in his government.

Hendropriyono was the intelligence chief at the time and was known to have been present at at least one meeting at the offices of the BIN with Muchdi and Pollycarpus. The substance of that meeting has never been declared, to the disappointment of Munir's supporters. They maintain that Pollycarpus had no personal motive to murder Munir.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/police-will-reopen-investigation-munir-assassination-sutarman/

Government upholds plan to set up human rights court

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Following criticism on the recent parole of Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, convicted murderer of human rights defender Munir Said Thalib, the government has renewed its commitment to set up an ad hoc human rights court to hear cases of past gross human rights violations.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly said President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is set to gather officials from related institutions to prepare for the establishment of the ad hoc human rights court.

"[The President] will meet [me], Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister [Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno], Attorney General [HM Prasetyo] and commissioners from [the National Commission on Human Rights or Komnas HAM] to discuss it," Yasonna, a former Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker, said on the sidelines of a plenary meeting at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Yasonna explained that the meeting was expected to broadly discuss the times and places where the atrocities took place.

He also guaranteed that the government would resume the deliberation of a bill on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR), which was scrapped by the Constitutional Court in 2006.

Yasonna was aware of mounting doubts, particularly from the country's human rights campaigners, on Jokowi's will to try past human rights abuses during his five-year leadership following the release of Pollycarpus.

Pollycarpus, a former Garuda Indonesia pilot who was convicted of the fatal poisoning of Munir during a flight to Amsterdam in 2004, was recently released from the Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, on parole signed by Yasonna.

Pollycarpus, who was supposed to serve for 14 years beginning in June 2008, was released after accumulating a large number of sentence-remissions during his imprisonment at the penitentiary. He received remissions on 11 occasions for a total of 42 months.

Although Yasonna defended the government's decision in granting Pollycarpus' parole, he called on critics not to question Jokowi's commitment to human rights merely because Pollycarpus was released. "Trust me, we are truly committed. [The strategies have been] planned," he said.

PDI-P lawmaker Trimedya Panjaitan guaranteed that the party faction in the House would monitor the government's commitment to the issue, which had been repeatedly declared during Jokowi's presidential campaign.

"[Jokowi] cannot escape the promise. He has no option but to solve the cases of human rights abuse that took place in the past, otherwise he, as well as us, who officially nominated him, will lose the election in 2019," Trimedya said.

Komnas HAM has declared seven cases of past human rights abuses as gross violations and has called for the government to follow up its investigations on such cases. The process, however, has been stalled for years due to bickering between Komnas HAM and the Attorney Generals Office over technicalities.

The unresolved cases consist of the 1989 Talangsari massacre, the forced disappearances of anti-Soeharto activists in 1997 and 1998, the Trisakti University shootings, the Semanggi I and Semanggi II student shootings in 1998 and 1999, the mysterious killings of alleged criminals in the 1980s, the anti-communist massacres of 1965 and the various abuses that took place in Wasior and Wamena in Papua in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

In 2013, the House revived the establishment of an ad hoc human rights court to hear cases of violations that took place during the May 1998 riots in order to put a stumbling block on the candidacy of Gerindra chief patron Prabowo Subianto, who was allegedly responsible.

However, lawmakers ditched the plan as the July presidential election approached since the majority of political parties eventually teamed up to endorse Prabowo's nomination.

In a move to win over eligible voters, particularly among activists, Jokowi apparently used the case to beat Prabowo in the presidential race.

In a move to put pressure on Jokowi to fulfill his promise, activist Choirul Anam from the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (Kasum), a coalition of human rights groups, said that Kasum would release an official warning for the President to revoke Pollycarpus' release.

"We hope that the President will respond to our note in less than seven days otherwise we will file a lawsuit against him," Anam said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/03/government-upholds-plan-set-human-rights-court.html

Groups doubt Jokowi will to try past rights abuses

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (Kasum), a coalition of human rights groups advocating for justice in the murder of prominent human rights defender Munir Said Thalib, is preparing a lawsuit against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo over the release of Munir's convicted murderer, Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto.

Kasum spokesperson Choirul Anam said that the coalition was preparing to sue Jokowi for a miscarriage of justice after his administration, through the Law and Human Rights Ministry and its newly inaugurated minister, Yasonna H. Laoly, granted parole to Pollycarpus.

"During his [presidential] campaign, Jokowi repeatedly promised to solve the Munir case, as well as other human rights violations. In fact, Munir's murderer walked free as soon as Jokowi became president," Anam said Monday.

"Instead of letting his minister sign the parole-release, Jokowi could have taken the initiative to closely review the case as soon as he officially took over the government, just like what he did by issuing various cards to promote health and education services. But he did not," he added.

Pollycarpus was released after accumulating a large number of sentence- remissions during his imprisonment at Sukamiskin Penitentiary, which began in June 2008. He received remissions on 11 occasions for a total of 42 months.

The Supreme Court increased Pollycarpus' sentence to 20 years in 2008 after he failed to win a case review. In 2013, it was cut to 14 years.

Anam cited the alleged involvement of former chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), AM Hendropriyono – who was formerly involved in Jokowi's campaign team – as a factor driving Jokowi's reluctance to review the case as promised.

Hendropriyono, Jokowi's top advisor, was accused of masterminding Munir's murder, although no evidence has surfaced to prove the allegation. Kasum thus called for the National Police to open an investigation and follow up on "clues" that might break open the case.

Separately, Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto defended Yasonna's decision to release Pollycarpus. Andi offered assurances that Jokowi would still respect his earlier commitment to resolving past human rights abuses, including finding the mastermind behind Munir's murder.

"His commitment still holds. There will soon be a meeting between the law and human rights minister, the attorney general and the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister to investigate what can be done in terms of human rights violation cases," he added.

Andi said that recommendations from activists and Komnas HAM (National Commission on Human Rights) had been forwarded to the three ministers.

Though pledging to participate in the dialogue, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno urged everyone to look to the future. "Let's not [take a] step back. This country [should] build a prosperous future, not only to point out mistakes here and there."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/02/groups-doubt-jokowi-s-will-try-past-rights-abuses.html

Government under fire for parole of killer of rights activist Munir

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2014

Ezra Sihite, Fana F.S. Putra & Hizbul Ridho, Jakarta – Legislators are planning to question the government over a parole handed down last week to former Garuda Indonesia pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, the convicted murderer of prominent activist Munir Said Thalib.

The government, though, insists that it is only doing its duty of fulfilling inmates' rights, while rights groups continue to slam the decision.

"Absolutely, we will ask the government to explain why, when it is clear that [the parole] given to Munir's murderer betrays the sense of justice," Benny K. Harman, the deputy head of the House of Representatives' Commission III, which oversees law, human rights and security, said in Jakarta on Monday.

"We want the government to explain the reason to the public, so that they won't suspect some political interests [behind the parole]," he added.

Pollycarpus was released from Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung last Friday, and is now required to report to parole officers once a month. He is forbidden from leaving the country.

Pollycarpus had served eight of 14 years of his prison sentence, after he was convicted of murdering the rights activist with arsenic poisoning during a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam on Sept. 7, 2004.

Court proceedings revealed his connections with Muchdi Purwoprandjono, then deputy chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). Witness testimonies further said that in one of Pollycarpus's closed-door meetings with Muchdi, then-BIN chief A.M. Hendropriyono was also present.

With Pollycarpus having no clear motive for the murder, activists have long suggested the he was acting on the orders of the BIN's top officials. However, while Muchdi has been acquitted, Hendropriyono has never been charged in the case.

Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly, who signed Muchdi's release form on Nov. 13, argued that he did it in line with prevailing regulations.

Under Indonesian law, he said, any inmates, except for those implicated in "extraordinary crimes" like terrorism, drug trafficking and corruption, have a right to be considered for parole after serving two-thirds of their term in prison.

Sentence cuts are commonly given away generously to Indonesian prisoners. Pollycarpus, without parole, would have walked free from prison in 2017.

Yasonna said Pollycarpus had actually completed two-thirds of his term in 2012. He could have earned a parole by then. The minister insisted that he was only fulfilling the rights of inmates.

"I think we must respect inmates' rights," Yasonna said in Jakarta on Monday. "We [the ministry] have often been criticized on matters concerning parole, but we at penitentiaries are not only tasked with handing down punishment. We also educate [inmates] and watch over them, to see whether their behavior improves or not."

He added he could review Pollycarpus's parole if the procedures were not in line with regulations, but again emphasized he was only protecting human rights by signing the parole order.

"If [the parole] is wrong, surely we will review it," Yasonna said. "I'm open to criticism, but please help me by not pushing me to neglect people's rights. I can't do something that is against human rights."

The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation, or LBH Jakarta, though, accused Yasonna of breaching the government regulation on sentence remissions and paroles.

LBH Jakarta director Febi Yonesta said, citing the regulation, that parole must only be granted upon taking into account "substantive conditions," namely that the parole would not harm the public's interest or hurt their sense of justice.

"Parole is a right of inmates, but it is not an absolute right," Febi said in a press statement on Monday.

LBH Jakarta official Muhamad Isnur added, "It is shameful that rather than focusing on revealing the masterminds behind Munir's murder, the government granted instead a parole to Pollycarpus, who gave no contributions to revealing who the people behind Munir's murder are."

The foundation called on the government to repeal Pollycarpus's parole.

Joko's commitment questioned

Munir's widow, Suciwati, meanwhile, addressed her criticism to President Joko Widodo, who made settlements of gross rights violations in the past one of his campaign pledges.

Joko at the beginning brought new hope to rights activists, who have lamented zero settlement of rights cases during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's decade in power.

The former Jakarta governor and Solo mayor made rights one of his selling points during the presidential campaign, while his opponent, former Army general Prabowo Subianto, was continually criticized over his checkered record on human rights protection.

"The leader [president] may have changed, but if the rule of law remains the same, like now, then upholding the law and human rights – as [Joko] once promised – appears to be no more than a paradise breeze," Suciwati told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.

"Neither the minister nor the president is committed to upholding human rights. Human rights issues were used only as [political] commodities," added the former labor activist.

The executive secretary of the Committee of Solidarity Action for Munir (Kasum), Choirul Anam, similarly questioned the Joko administration's commitment to upholding human rights. "The decision to grant parole is a strong signal of the government's weak political commitment to protecting human rights."

The executive director of rights group Imparsial, Poengki Indarti, meanwhile, called the whole handling of Munir's murder "ironic."

"It is very ironic that among people who plotted Munir's murder, only the field executor was punished, and with excessive sentence cuts at that," Poengki said. "The intellectual actors, meanwhile, remain free, and have become influential people."

Poengki stopped short of mentioning any names, but it is understood that she was referring to Hendropriyono, who is close to Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of Joko's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Hendropriyono was a senior member of Joko's campaign team and was also an adviser to a transition team that Joko formed after his election, to help in the transfer of power from the Yudhoyono administration.

The former BIN chief was tipped as one of the strongest candidates to become Joko's chief security minister, although this did not happen, likely due to strong resistance from human rights groups.

Lastly, Joko appointed Hendropriyono's son-in-law, Brig. Gen. Andika Perkasa, as the commander of the presidential guard.

Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto claimed that Pollycarpus's parole was "inevitable" and should not disprove Joko's commitment to human rights.

"We're aware that based on the procedures, Pollycarpus should have been free since 2012; there are some legal issues that don't allow him to be jailed for longer," Andi said on Monday. "So in order to respect those principles [of law], the government is not interfering with this."

He added that the government, under Joko, remained committed to resolving past human rights abuse cases, saying there would be a coordinating meeting soon between the attorney general, the justice minister and some other security ministers to discuss the issue.

"[The meeting] will examine what can be done to deal with cases of human rights violations," Andi said. "We've already accepted input from activists, including from the national rights commission."

Joko also has been criticized for his appointment of Yasonna, a PDI-P lawmaker, as the justice minister, and National Democrat Party (NasDem) politician H. M. Prasetyo as the attorney general.

oActivists have expressed worries that the officials' political affiliations will hamper law enforcement in Indonesia, especially concerning corruption and rights cases.

[Additional reporting from Farouk Arnaz & Robertus Wardh.]

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/government-under-fire-for-parole-of-killer-of-rights-activist-munir/

Law minister defends Pollycarpus' parole

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2014

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Despite criticism from human rights activists, the government has defended its recent decision to release Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, the convicted murderer of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib, on parole.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly said Pollycarpus had been released on parole since he had fulfilled all requirements established by the ministry. "We have no reason to delay his release," he told reporters on Sunday at the State Palace.

Pollycarpus, convicted of the fatal poisoning of Munir during a flight to Amsterdam in 2004, has been released on parole from the Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, where he had been imprisoned for the past six years. He was supposed to serve 14 years.

His release has become a blow for human rights campaigners who have been seeking justice for Munir and other unresolved human rights abuses in the country.

Despite earlier pledges from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to resolve the cases, including finding the mastermind behind Munir's murder, the government has been accused of being "careless" in practice.

"Pollycarpus' parole is the manifestation of government's lack of commitment in upholding democracy and human rights. He does not deserve the parole as it was proven that he took part in the murder," said the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation director, Febi Yonesta.

Pollycarpus, a former pilot with state-flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, was sentenced in December 2005 to 14 years in prison by judges at the Central Jakarta District Court for putting arsenic in Munir's tea at Singapore's Changi airport, where Munir was in transit en route to Amsterdam in September 2004.

The Supreme Court increased Pollycarpus' sentence to 20 years in 2008 after he failed to win a case review. In 2013, it was cut to 14 years.

Minister Yasonna called on activists to treat Pollycarpus "fairly". "I call on my colleagues not to [be biased]. We need to support human rights but at the same time we have to respect [inmates] rights as a citizen and human being," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/01/law-minister-defends-pollycarpus-parole.html

Sexual & domestic violence

Student names Solo king as rapist in police report

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2014

Ari Susanto, Solo – The family of the girl who says she was drugged and raped by Pakubuwono XIII, the king of Solo in Central Java, named him in a report to police for the first time on Tuesday, less than a week after giving birth to a boy she claims the king fathered.

The report is expected to add pressure on Pakubuwono to submit to a DNA test the family says will prove he fathered the alleged victim's son. The family's lawyer, Iwan Pangka, said the move was expected to prompt police to summon Pakubuwono for questioning.

Prior to the family's complaint against the king on Tuesday, they had only filed a police report in July against W.T., a woman allegedly acting on behalf of Pakubuwono, for human trafficking.

The alleged victim, a 16-year-old student at a vocational high school in Sukoharjo, near Solo, claims she was raped by the king in a hotel room while unconscious after eating candy he gave her in a car.

She says an acquaintance, W.T., told her that she would be introduced to the king for a job, but she was instead "sold" to the king for Rp 2 million ($165).

Police have summoned the king as a witness in the case several times, but he has so far eluded questioning after claiming to have suffered a stroke. A doctor claiming to treat the king recommended police suspend the probe for around three months, pending the king's recovery.

The king currently undergoes medical treatment in a hospital in Jakarta, according to reports.

"As we've reported him as a suspect now, there should be no excuse for him anymore to evade police summonses for inquiries, including for his DNA sample to be taken," Iwan said. "Unlike a witness, a suspect against whom a report has been filed cannot evade investigation."

Iwan's assertion that Pakubuwono, or any person, automatically becomes an official suspect by the act of naming him in a police report, has some basis in Indonesia's Criminal Code.

But as a matter of actual practice, police typically only name targets of investigations as official "suspects" immediately prior to arrest and transfer of the suspect's investigative dossier to prosecutors.

Similar to corruption probes, rape investigations tend to be particularly dilatory in "naming" suspects, as both the act of naming and the status of "suspect" bear heightened meaning, if not actual consequence, in Indonesia's legal culture.

Police earlier suggested the king takes a DNA test to clear the allegations against him, if he is unable to attend questioning. The alleged victim gave birth to a baby boy at Solo Central Hospital last week.

Support for the investigation has continued to mount, with a petition on change.org collecting 24,000 signatures as of Tuesday.

Sukoharjo Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Andy Rifai said he instructed a subordinate to request a blood sample from the king's doctor in Jakarta, suggesting a DNA test would be performed.

Surakarta's Woman and Child Care Network (JPPAS) has criticized media reports on the case that have identified the victim and her family by name and shown images of them, which the group says violate Indonesia's child protection law, and international conventions on children's and women's rights.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/student-names-solo-king-rapist-police-report/

Two JIS School teachers charged with raping three former students

Sydney Morning Herald - December 3, 2014

Michael Bachelard – After almost five months in custody, two teachers at the prestigious international school in Jakarta have been charged with multiple counts of rape against three former students.

Also yesterday the school – formerly known as Jakarta International School – was forced by a new Indonesian government regulation banning the word "International" in school names, to change its name to "Jakarta Intercultural School".

The indictment, which was read to the South Jakarta court on Tuesday, contains five allegations of sodomy against Canadian administrator Neil Bantleman, and a similar number against Indonesian teachers' aide Ferdinant Tjiong, involving three different pre-school aged boys.

But the teachers and the school insist the men are innocent. Their lawyers, Hotman Paris and Patra Zen, indicated outside the court that they will put the motive of one of the mothers at the centre of the defence case.

Mr Hotman said he would present proof in the form of a Blackberry Messenger message and a witness, that the mother offered to drop the case and move overseas "peacefully" in return for a payment of $US13.5 million ($15.96 million).

"There is no doubt about that: they asked for money," Mr Hotman said. When that claim was refused, the mother increased it to $US125 million ($147.17 million). She also increased the scope of her original complaint – which originally only included six janitors – to encompass the two teachers. She disputes the timing was related to the failed financial claim.

Mr Patra said the alleged victims never mentioned teachers during the original investigation into the school's cleaners. Mr Hotman also said there was no medical evidence, on either the alleged victims or the perpetrators, of any sexual abuse.

But the indictment said two of the boys, who were tested at the police hospital in June, three months after the complaint was first laid, both had anuses that were "funnel-shaped" and scars. The indictment was read by prosecutors in closed court which is standard under Indonesian law.

It's alleged that Mr Bantleman raped the boys in a secret room on the second floor of the administration building, and a nearby kitchen. Searches of the school have failed to locate the alleged secret room.

The indictment says Mr Ferdinant's attacks on the same three alleged victims were entirely separate, and happened in toilets on the school campus.

An earlier story about rapes in Bantleman's office – which is glass-walled and transparent – have been dropped since the original allegations were raised.

But other key allegations remain. These include a "magic stone" which Bantleman (variously described as "Boss" or "Skeleton Guy") is said to have inserted into the anus of one of the boys to anaesthetise him, and a light-blue drink allegedly administered by the (female) school principal. She is described in the indictment as a "witness", and an early allegation that she videotaped the rapes has also quietly disappeared from the indictment.

The time period over which many of the rapes are alleged to have occurred now spans "a particular time between January 2013 to March 2014".

The men have been in custody – most recently at the notorious Cipinang prison in Jakarta – since July 14.

Mr Bantleman said outside the court on Tuesday: "I just want the truth to be told". After the hearing, he said of the indictment: "There isn't any evidence; it's all stories".

"The details are so vague that I had to object. They asked me if I understand. How can you understand something so vague?... How can I understand if it doesn't make any sense?... It's just a lot of paper right now with nothing on it."

He said he was being looked after well in prison, and was trying to "be low key". He remained hopeful that "the judicial system will act in accordance with the law and make a decision that's right".

The closed trial involving the five cleaners has become highly controversial in Indonesia as doctors who have examined the young boys deny there is any evidence of sexual molestation, let alone the multiple counts of anal rape that are alleged by the prosecution.

The cleaners originally confessed but later recanted, saying they had been tortured by police. One of them died in police custody during questioning – the police say from suicide.

The cleaners' case is now finished and awaiting judgment in January. Mr Patra, who also represented the cleaners, says the case against the teachers is "more absurd".

[Disclosure: The author has two children at the Jakarta International School.]

http://www.smh.com.au/world/two-jakarta-international-school-teachers- charged-with-raping-three-former-students-20141202-11ysvv.html

'Time for justice': Abuse trial of Jakarta school pair begins

Sydney Morning Herald - December 2, 2014

Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – The trial of two Jakarta International School teachers on child sex allegations has begun with the reading of indictments, but the South Jakarta courtroom was closed to reporters and the public.

Canadian administrator Neil Bantleman and Indonesian teachers' aide Ferdinant Tjiong have professed their innocence of charges laid by the parents of three former pre-school students at one of Jakarta's most prestigious schools.

Before the trial began, Mr Bantleman said: "I just want the truth to be told. "It's time for justice. We need all the international help and assistance so we can go back to doing what we love to do, which is teach, and we can go back to our families, who we love."

Their supporters including the school and the wives of the accused said outside the South Jakarta court that there is no evidence against the teachers and the case should be dropped.

After the first session, Mr Bantleman said the indictment had been read out and the dossier of evidence presented to his lawyers. Of the indictment he said: "There isn't any evidence; it's all stories. Very vague details."

Mr Bantleman said he was asked if he had understood the indictment. "I objected to the fact that there are no details in the case; there was nothing about timelines, nothing about locations. It even says that the prosecutor doesn't remember a time, doesn't know a location, 'possibly somewhere in South Jakarta'.

"The details are so vague that I had to object. They asked me if I understand. How can you understand something so vague?... how can I understand if it doesn't make any sense?... It's just a lot of paper right now with nothing on it."

Mr Bantleman said it had alleged assaults against three different victims at various times in various places in South Jakarta in 2013 and 2014.

He was being looked after well in prison, and was trying to "be low key". He also said he remained hopeful that "the judicial system will act in accordance with the law and make a decision that's right".

His lawyers had asked for more time to translate the dossier of evidence into English, but were told by the judges they must do it within a week.

Representatives of the British embassy (Mr Bantleman was born there) and Canadian embassy were ejected from the court. Under Indonesian law, cases involving children are often heard in closed court.

A separate closed trial involving the same alleged victims but a group of five cleaners from the school has become highly controversial in Indonesia as doctors who have examined the young boys deny there is any evidence of sexual molestation, let alone multiple counts of anal rape, as alleged by the prosecution.

Unlike the cleaners, who are being tried as a group, Mr Bantleman and Mr Ferdinant will be tried separately. The pair have boosted their legal team with the addition of the lawyer for the cleaners, Patra Zen.

However, the defence team's chosen English language interpreter, Harro Salim, was rejected from Mr Bantleman's hearing in favour of a translator chosen by the prosecution.

Mr Bantleman's wife, Tracy, said that despite this she was "fairly confident that, now the trial has started, the legal process will find them innocent". She also hoped that, even though it was in closed court, the trial would be transparent.

The teachers' lawyers were intending to apply for an "exception" – a pre- emptive ruling from the court that the case should be thrown out.

The men have been in custody – most recently at the notorious Cipinang prison in Jakarta – since July 14. The mother of one of the three boys alleging sexual abuse has sued the school for $US125 million.

[Disclosure: The author has two children at the Jakarta International School.]

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/time-for-justice-abuse-trial-of-jakarta-school-pair-begins-20141202-11yjwr.html

Komnas Perempuan pushes for bill on sexual violence eradication

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2014

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – In a bid to curb rampant sexual violence in the country, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) is pushing for lawmakers to include bill on the eradication of sexual violence in the national legislation program (Prolegnas) 2015-2019.

The bill, which is currently being drafted, will mark a progressive step in the country's battle against sexual violence, said the commission's policy and law reform division coordinator assistant, Asma'ul "Henny" Khusnaeny.

She said the country needed such a progressive law because the frequency of sexual violence cases had reached a worrying level. "In one hour, there are two to three sexual violence cases happening," Henny told The Jakarta Post, referring to the commission's records.

Therefore, the bill was designed to give the harshest punishment to the perpetrators of sexual violence and to protect people from sexual violence, she said.

"We want to make a mechanism to prevent people from repeating their crimes as well as to prevent repeat offenders from receiving impunity," said Henny.

If the sex offenders were public officials, such as teachers, then the prison sentence would be added on with one-third of the initial verdict.

Despite the existence of the law on child protection and on human trafficking, the bill seeks to provide better protection against children, according to Henny.

Data from the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) shows that there has been a continuous rise in cases of sexual violence against children, with 459 incidents recorded during the period between January and June of this year, compared to 590 reports made throughout 2013.

From 2011 to 2014, there were 2,124 cases of sexual violence against children. The law also seeks to provide better protection against rape victims, according to Henny.

"The Criminal Code [KUHP] is really narrow in defining rape, which is only when a penis penetrates a vagina," she said. Besides the definition of rape, the bill also included a broader definition of sexual violence.

The commission has conducted research on sexual violence from 1998 to 2013, which comes up with 15 forms of sexual violence.

They are rape, sexual intimidation, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, sexual trading, forced prostitution, sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced contraception and sterilization, sexual torture, sexually-charged punishment (caning), sexually-charged traditional practices (female circumcision) and sexual control.

One example of sexual violence that recently came to the public's attention is virginity tests. The commission's chairwoman, Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, said the tests were a form of sexual violence that degraded women and discriminated against women.

Gugah Nurani Indonesia (GNI), an NGO fighting for children's rights, said that it would be good if the bill was passed in the House of Representatives.

"But what's important is how the law is implemented. I'm worried that if we have too many laws, then the implementation will be lacking," said GNI chairman Bagus Yaugo Wicaksono.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/01/komnas-perempuan-pushes-bill-sexual-violence-eradication.html

Labour & migrant workers

Jokowi to scrap ID card for Indonesian migrant workers

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2014

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo has announced Indonesia's migrant workers identification card program will be scrapped due to numerous cases of alleged extortion.

Joko, popularly known as Jokowi, made the decision after speaking with Indonesian migrant workers in eight countries during a teleconference on Sunday.

An Indonesian migrant worker in Brunei Darussalam told Joko that the identification card, known as KTKLN, was a "burden" mentally and materially.

"We want the KTKLN program to be erased, not just revised or replaced with other similar cards," the worker told the president, as quoted by news portal Tribunnews.com. "We want it to be scrapped."

Upon hearing the request, Joko reportedly told Nusron Wahid, the newly appointed chief of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), to cancel the program.

"I have decided to scrap the KTKLN program. We'll revoke it." Joko was quoted as saying by Tribunnews.com.

Launched in 2007, the card aims to identify that the worker to whom it belonged had completed the proper procedure to work abroad. The full implementation of the card, however, began in 2011.

The card, which was introduced free-of-charge, also works as a security instrument before and after the holder is given an assignment.

However, there have been numerous reports by Indonesian migrant workers who claim they have had to pay huge amounts of cash in order to obtain the card – pointing to exploitation by officials.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jokowi-scrap-id-card-indonesian-migrant-workers/

Political parties & elections

Aburizal's rivals stage own congress with Kalla's support

Jakarta Post - December 7, 2014

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Only two days after securing his reelection as Golkar Party chairman, Aburizal Bakrie now faces fresh challenges to his leadership after a breakaway faction in the party kicked off on Saturday a rival congress to establish its own version of the party leadership.

Taking place at a convention center in Ancol in North Jakarta, the three- day congress has been organized by senior Golkar politicians, including former Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono, former executive Yorrys Raweyai, former House of Representatives deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso and former lawmaker Ibnu Munzir, who have all recently criticized many of Aburizal's missteps including his failure to secure victory in this year's legislative election.

Yorrys, the congress' lead organizer, claimed that representatives from 384 out of 560 Golkar chapters and branches joined the congress, allowing the meeting to meet the quorum as stipulated by the party's internal rules.

He also said the congress would schedule, among other items, the evaluation of Golkar's performance in the past five years and the election of a new party chairman.

"However, unlike the other congress, this congress will allow [Golkar] chairmanship candidates to transparently share their vision and mission in front of congress participants," Yorrys said, referring to Golkar's recent congress in Bali, which unanimously supported Aburizal's reelection despite wide criticism of his dismal performance.

Golkar, now the country's second-largest political party, currently remains outside the government coalition – the first time in its 50-year history it has not been in government, after Aburizal directed the party to support the unsuccessful presidential bid of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto.

Following the defeat, Golkar joined the opposition Red-and-White Coalition, with Aburizal being appointed as coalition leader.

Expectations were high that a leadership change in Golkar would allow the party to join the ruling coalition led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

A few days before the Bali congress, Agung, Priyo and several senior Golkar politicians established the "Presidium of the Golkar Party's Saviors". Both camps have since maintained the legality of their respective leaderships.

As of Saturday evening, Priyo, Agung and lawmaker Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita had announced their intention to contest the Golkar leadership vote in the current congress.

Priyo also claimed the congress had received an endorsement from Vice President, and former Golkar chairman, Jusuf Kalla. "Three days ago I, Pak Agung and Pak Agus met with Vice President Jusuf Kalla to discuss many issues [related to the party]. He gave us his support to hold this congress," he said.

The opposition camp initially planned to hold its own version of a national congress in January but decided to bring it forward after deciding that Golkar's position had been undermined by Aburizal's reelection, Yorrys added.

The sudden changes also affected the congress preparations. Some congress participants, for example, said they had to wait several hours until the registration desk opened. The opening of the congress was also delayed from 2 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. due to the late arrival of delegates.

Participants explained why they endorsed the congress. West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan, who was dismissed earlier this year by Aburizal for supporting Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's presidential bid, for example, said his attendance at the congress was his way of taking responsibility for his political decision.

Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham, however, said the current congress would not affect Aburizal's leadership. "We don't consider that such a congress even exists," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/07/aburizal-s-rivals-stage-own-congress-with-kalla-s-support.html

SBY tells Democrats to join rival coalition in regional election battle

Jakarta Globe - December 5, 2014

Robertus Wardhy & Novy Lumanauw, Jakarta – The Democratic Party will attempt to join with Joko Widodo's coalition to fight to retain direct elections for regional representatives, party chairman and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday.

Yudhoyono announced on Twitter late in the evening that he had ordered senior party figures to contact President Joko Widodo's five-party minority coalition, as well as Joko's party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

"I've ordered leaders of Democratic Party to start communicating with PDI-P and [Joko's coalition] to make this fight successful," he said.

Yudhoyono, in a series of tweets from his personal account, said Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) had "violated" a memorandum of understanding signed by members of Prabowo Subianto's Red-White Coalition, or KMP, on Oct. 1.

The agreement spelled out that the Democratic Party would join the KMP only if the five other parties supported Yudhoyono's presidential decree, which overruled the regional elections law, in the House. He said Golkar and the PKS had openly rejected the regulation in lieu of law (Perppu).

"For me it's a principle thing," Yudhoyono said. "The Democratic Party could not work together with those who are inconsistent, break their promises, and are willing to leave their commitments."

Yudhoyono was heavily criticized following the passage of the regional elections law on Sept. 26 after his party walked out of a marathon session in the House of Representatives (DPR). The walkout, which Democratic Party members said was because their amendments to the law did not garner support, effectively ensured the bill's passing.

Yudhoyono, who was overseas at the time, immediately issued a decree scuttling the law on his return – in part because he was worried about his legacy.

E.E. Mangindaan, head of the Democratic Party's advisory board, said he "regretted" the two parties' rejection of the regulation. "They violated what they have signed," he said.

The two parties have said they supported Yudhoyono in issuing the regulation, but not its passage through the DPR, Mangindaan said. The Perppu must be approved by lawmakers for it to take effect.

"We didn't need to ask for their signature to issue the regulation," Mangindaan said. "The statements were about the discussion in the House."

On Thursday, Golkar Deputy Chairman Nurdin Halid argued the party was not rejecting the Yudhoyono's regulation. But said the party would "fight" for indirect elections of regional heads.

"The people should choose their leaders through that representative process, in the local parliament," he said.

Mangindaan said he was still confident the regulation would pass, as there were still more factions supporting than against. The Democratic Party would also try to approach other parties in the KMP to get backing for the regulation, Mangindaan said.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/sby-tells-democrats-join-rival-coalition-regional-election-battle/

Prabowo congratulates Bakrie at Bali congress

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2014

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Prabowo Subianto, the chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, made an appearance at the Golkar Party congress in Bali on Thursday, to congratulate chairman Aburizal Bakrie on his re-election.

Aburizal, who on Wednesday evening was declared to have obtained 100 percent of votes after all of his challengers dropped out of the running, used the national congress to underscore his intention of binding Indonesia's oldest party to the opposition Red-White coalition, or KMP, which was established by Prabowo.

"Looking ahead, our nation faces critical challenges," Prabowo said at the closing ceremony of the congress, stressing that a successful Golkar meant a successful KMP. "We're facing a crossroads – can we rise, compete, or merely become a market for other people's goods?"

Prabowo, a former general and Special Forces commander, lost this year's presidential election to Joko Widodo but his coalition is well-positioned to exert power.

Golkar is by far the biggest member of the five-party KMP, and on Tuesday evening Aburizal spoke out in support of one of the coalition's central policies: rejecting an emergency presidential decree (perppu) to restore direct elections for regional leaders, after the KMP-dominated House of Representatives earlier this year passed legislation abolishing direct elections and instead giving regional legislatures the authority to choose governors, district heads and mayors.

"As all of you have suggested, we can reject the perppu," Aburizal said in his speech before congress participants.

The perppu, issued in early October by then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is only effective for three months, after which it must go before the House for approval.

The KMP controls at least 56 percent of seats at the House – and up to 63 percent if the fractious United Development Party, or PPP, possibly the only party in greater disarray than Golkar at the moment, is taken into account – making it likely that the perppu will be thrown out, and with it, direct local elections.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/prabowo-congratulates-bakrie-bali-congress/

Law on local polls faces uncertain future

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Staying true to its pledge to maintain direct elections, the Democratic Party maintains that it will stop measures taken by the opposition Red-and-White Coalition to drop the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on the election of regional heads.

Members of the party reiterated their stance following the Golkar Party's recent move to campaign against the Perppu.

During the party's national congress in Bali, Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who is seeking reelection, announced that the party would reject the Perppu; a move that could harm the prospect of the regulation being approved by the House of Representatives, as Golkar controls the most legislative seats in the coalition.

"I can support your [party members'] proposal to reject the Perppu," Aburizal said before party members at Golkar's National Congress in Bali.

Members of the Red-and-White Coalition, including Golkar, had signed a pact to back the Dems' proposal to support the Perppu in exchange for the latter's support for joining the opposition coalition at the House and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

In October, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the Dems could finally join the Red-and-White Coalition after National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa personally assured him of the coalition's support for the Perppu.

"On the evening of Sept. 30, I met with Pak Hatta Rajasa, who conveyed the wishes and hopes of leaders of political parties within the KMP [Red-and- White Coalition]," Yudhoyono said through his Twitter account @SBYudhoyono.

"Even though the Democratic Party is not a member of the KMP, it wants to collaborate with us at the House and the MPR. I welcomed such a positive invitation on the condition that the KMP support the Perppu I issued," he added.

Yudhoyono issued the Perppu to maintain the direct election of regional heads at the tail end of his second term following a public outcry after his party's lawmakers walked out during a House plenary meeting convened to vote on the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law.

Now that members of the Red-and-White Coalition are reconsidering their options following Aburizal's statement, the Dems are stepping up their efforts to keep the Perppu. Lawmaker Benny Kabur Harman of the Dems told reporters that: "Our party will go all out to defend the Perppu."

Dems' executive chairman Syarifuddin Hassan warned members of the Red-and- White Coalition about their moral obligation to honor the pledge that they had made to support the Perppu.

Separately, lawmaker Tjatur Sapto Edy, who leads the PAN faction at the House, said that the Red-and-White Coalition would hold talks with the Dems soon. Tjatur, however, was noncommittal when asked if his party would support the Perppu.

"Nothing lasts forever in politics. The final decision on the matter will be made in January. In politics, final decisions will be made according to the mood prevailing in the period leading up to the deadline," Tjatur said.

Other lawmakers from the Red-and-White Coalition have echoed Tjatur's sentiments. Desmond Junaidi Mahesa of the Gerindra Party has hinted that his faction would follow in Golkar's footsteps. "When making decisions, political parties depend on where the wind blows," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/law-local-polls-faces-uncertain-future.html

Golkar to remain in opposition under Aburizal

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2014

Desy Nurhayati, Nusa Dua, Bali – With little resistance from his party opponents Aburizal Bakrie easily won by acclamation the leadership of the Golkar Party for a second term on Wednesday, making him the first party member to have had the opportunity to lead the party for two terms.

His promise to restore the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law, annulled by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with a government regulation in lieu of a law (Perppu), was among the reasons regional party leaders agreed to Aburizal maintaining his grip on the party. The law is seen as a means for local party bosses to easily win indirect local elections.

The party reiterated its commitment to remain part of the Red-and-White Coalition, in opposition to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and to ensure indirect local elections.

Aburizal has also been declared the head of the coalition's presidium and will soon carry out the party's plan to establish chapters of the coalition at the provincial and local levels.

"The congress officially declared Aburizal Bakrie as the chairman and Akbar Tandjung as the head of the advisory council for the 2014-2019 period," head of the steering committee Nurdin Halid declared.

The Nusa Dua, Bali, congress also announced the dismissal of 15 promiment party members, including Agung Laksono, Priyo Budi Santoso, Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa and Yorrys Raweyai.

Meanwhile, Agung, continues to claim support for his version of the party national congress slated to be held in Jakarta in January 2015.

"We reiterated our position that we will never recognize the Bali congress and any of the decisions it made," he said at Golkar headquarters in West Jakarta on Wednesday.

Agung, a Golkar deputy chairman, is the leader of the party faction that strongly opposed the Bali congress, which it deemed illegal and engineered by Aburizal and his cronies.

Amid doubts over whether regional and local party executives who attended the Bali congress would be able to attend the January congress, the former minister in Yudhoyono's Cabinet was optimistic about future success.

"It [Agung's congress] has the legal authority and will include a very democratic chairmanship election," Agung, who is vying for the party chairmanship, added.

Meanwhile, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly acknowledged that he had received letters from Agung's camp, protesting against Aburizal's reelection. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, however, was tightlipped when asked how he would respond to Agung's requests.

Admitting that Aburizal's leadership of Golkar might strengthen the opposition Red-and-White Coalition's hold over the House of Representatives, the minister said that the government would counter the coalition's power by winning the people's support.

"Political opposition is normal, we will face it. We are open to political communication with any factions at the House. I know this is not going to be easy, but the people will support us as long as we make programs that provide real benefits for them," Yasonna said at the State Palace on Wednesday.

[Bagus BT Saragih and Ina Parlina also contributed to this report.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/golkar-remain-opposition-under-aburizal.html

Row continues within PPP

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2014

Jakarta – Supporters of Romahurmuziy, the newly elected chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), stormed the party's headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday in an effort to take control of the party.

A scuffle broke out when some of the supporters forced their way into the building but were blocked by security guards. Police personnel from a local precinct stood at a distance monitoring the situation.

"We're supporters of Romahurmuziy and we demand entry into the building," some of the protesters said.

Some protesters also made a statement that the party leadership of Djan Faridz was illegitimate as the government did not recognize his status as party chairman.

In October, a faction within the PPP that opposed the leadership of then- chairman Suryadharma Ali elected Romahurmuziy as party chairman during a congress in Surabaya, East Java.

The election of Romahurmuziy was however rejected by the party's sharia board. In November, supporters of Suryadharma staged their own congress, which ended with the election of Djan.

The law and human rights minister has decided to recognize the leadership of Romahurmuziy.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/03/row-continues-within-ppp.html

Artifice and machinations in Bali as Bakrie purges Golkar rebels

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2014

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Novi Setuningsih, Bali/Jakarta – Jusuf Kalla has warned the Golkar Party that the public will take a dim view of its leadership election being conducted in an undemocratic manner.

The vice president was speaking after the political party he once led fired several of its elected legislators and another member, which could enable chairman Aburizal Bakrie to appoint four unelected people to the House of Representatives (DPR).

"We're a political party, a pillar of democracy – so everything that happens within the party should also be democratic," Kalla said on Tuesday evening in Jakarta.

Kalla was speaking after Bakrie loyalists engineered a purge of the party's reformers – including some its most-senior politicians – at the party's congress at Nusa Dua, Bali. Seven members from the rebel group, the "Presidium of Golkar Party Saviors," were all summarily dismissed for opposing the tycoon's bid to hold on to the chairmanship.

The seven were Agung Laksono, Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, Laurens Siburian, Leo Nababan, Priyo Budi Santoso, Yorrys Raweyai, and Zainuddin Amali. Three of these men are elected representatives, as is Nusron Wahid, who was also booted out for failing to toe the line set out by Bakrie.

Indonesian law requires that elected members of the House be members of a political party. If representatives leave their political party, that party may appoint someone to replace the representative in question. Bakrie will therefore be able to appoint four people to Indonesia's powerful legislature, effectively at his own discretion.

The decision to expel the seven is, however, likely to be held up in the courts. Agun laughed off the ruling, branding it "illegal." "The dismissal is not valid," he said on Wednesday. "It doesn't meet the requirements stated in the party's regulations."

Yellow fever

Bakrie's fixer Nurdin Halid – a disgraced former head of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) who spent two years in jail for corruption – made the announcement on Tuesday night after being recorded briefing members of the party that he had a "cunning" plan.

It had been a busy day for Nurdin. Earlier on Tuesday he had pushed Bakrie to within a hair's breadth of a second term at the helm of Golkar after employing carefully planned artifice to take Airlangga Hartato out of the running.

The expulsion of the rebels was not, however, the end of the day's work for Bakrie. The party congress also fired Agus Gumiwang and Nusron, both of whom supported Joko Widodo and Kalla in the presidential election. Nurdin said that the two were dismissed for insubordination.

Poempida Hidayatulloh, another Joko supporter, was not fired on Tuesday – but many think his number may soon be up. "For Poempida the case will first be brought to the party court after this congress," Nurdin said.

The soap opera playing out at the Golkar congress is likely to have national implications.

Several senior members of the party remain furious that Bakrie gave up so easily in the inter-party negotiations after the April 9 parliamentary elections. He was too quick to fall in behind Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party chief Prabowo Subianto's presidential campaign, they say, which they viewed as an embarrassingly submissive display for the party of former president Suharto.

Bakrie has ensured Golkar remains a part of Prabowo's Red-White coalition. The nearest thing the coalition has to a spokesperson, Prabowo's billionaire brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo, has said the Red-White coalition will unite around opposing some of President Joko Widodo's reformist agenda.

The chances of Golkar splitting from Prabowo – something most analysts predicted would happen before Joko was inaugurated in October – will be slim if Bakrie retains the chairmanship of the party for another five year term.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/artifice-machinations-bali-bakrie-purges-golkar-rebels/

Golkar's marked past isn't getting cleaner

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2014

Jakarta – Aburizal Bakrie stands on the verge of winning a second term at the helm of Indonesia's most storied political party – an achievement made possible through the subversion of the party's democratic process by a corruption convict.

Golkar Party's national congress, currently taking place in Nusa Dua, Bali, agreed late on Monday to choose its chairperson by acclamation rather than by direct vote. That prompted the only challenger to Aburizal's re-election bid, Airlangga Hartarto, to drop out of the race, essentially handing the role to the incumbent for a second five-year term.

But the process has been dogged by controversy, including claims by senior Golkar members that Aburizal's camp brought forward the congress by a month, in violation of the previously agreed schedule and allegations that the party's regional representatives with voting rights were threatened with dismissal if they refused to vote for Aburizal.

The latest scandal is the revelation, through a leaked audio recording, that key organizers of the whole process conspired to ensure that Aburizal would run unchallenged.

The recordings, leaked to the media by sources inside the party, appear to be from a steering committee meeting on Saturday, before the national congress began, in which committee chairman Nurdin Halid is heard telling chairpersons of Golkar's 33 provincial chapters – all with voting rights in the congress – to cause a commotion at the congress that would allow him to pass a rule change that would essentially clinch victory for Aburizal.

"The first thing we have to do is control the rules for the congress. This is cunning, really cunning," Nurdin is heard saying in the recording. "But we need to have some aces at the congress, our floor leaders, and that's you, gentlemen," he said, adding that each provincial chapter should pick two to four people for this role. "Then you'll argue and debate fiercely; you can even fight," Nurdin said.

With the congress in commotion, he said, the steering committee would present the rule change – "prepared beforehand" – as a solution to ending the bickering, and if that passed, "then the congress is 99 percent done."

The rule change in question, known as Article 22(4), stipulates that congress participants with voting rights may only nominate a single candidate for chairperson and must justify its choice both in writing and at the public caucus at the congress.

Critics of the rule contend that it discourages the provincial chapters from nominating any candidate other than Aburizal, for fear of reprisals once they make their views public at the congress.

"That's a problem. That's part of the plan to secure a vote by acclamation," Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, a Golkar stalwart and prominent critic of both Aburizal and the election process, said on Monday before the congress agreed on the rule.

Nico Harjanto, an analyst with the Public Opinion and Policy Research Center (Populi), said the decision confirmed manipulation by Aburizal and his supporters. "It is a big step back because Golkar has a lot of members able to be a chairman candidate," Nico said.

Nico said there was nothing that made Aburizal's leadership stand out. "If acclamation will be the way of the election, Golkar will break," Nico said.

In the recording, Nurdin said he was experienced at coming up with such plans, based on previous elections for the chair of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), which he held from 2003 to 2011.

He then turned the floor over to another steering committee member, Freddy Latumahina, who made clear the purpose of securing the passage of Article 22(4).

"This congress will only be a success if A.R. is chosen," Freddy said, in an apparent reference to Aburizal. "The success of this congress depends on you [believing that] there is no other choice.

Nurdin, apparently seeking approval for his "cunning" plan, closed with: "Before [we go ahead], we're all in on this, right?"

That Nurdin would hatch such a plan does not appear inconceivable, given his history of mismanaging the PSSI – and his criminal convictions for graft.

He was tried in 2005 for corruption in a government cooking oil distribution program, but was acquitted in June that year. In August that same year he was sentenced to six months in prison for customs fraud over rice imports. In a third case, in December 2005, he stood trial for graft in sugar imports, but the charges were thrown out on a technicality.

Prosecutors mounted an appeal of the cooking oil verdict, and in 2007 the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal and sentenced Nurdin to two years in prison. The PSSI allowed him to stay on as chairman, despite a FIFA statute stating clearly that the head of any football association of its member nations "must not have been previously found guilty of a criminal offense."

Nurdin's continued tenure as the PSSI chief led the world football governing body to threaten to suspend Indonesia's membership, but it was only in 2011 that he was finally ejected.

When asked on Tuesday about the pre-congress recording, Nurdin acknowledged that it was him speaking, but denied that he had said anything inappropriate.

"There's nothing strange about that recording. It's perfectly normal," he said. He added that Agun, who has threatened to file a complaint to the Justice Ministry about the alleged conspiracy, was simply bitter with Aburizal's camp.

Agun said separately that he had always suspected there was a "systemic conspiracy" to exclude all other candidates from running in the congress.

Aburizal, the prime beneficiary of the whole bizarre process, has not commented on the recording. He also denied allegations of "authoritarian" tactics of cowing the voting members into not nominating other candidates. "All of them came out in support of me. All 500-plus of them," he said on Tuesday. "How could I have ordered them?"

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/golkars-marked-past-isnt-getting-cleaner/

In Aburizal's Golkar win, Jokowi is the loser

Jakarta Globe Editorial - December 3, 2014

When the dust settles from the Golkar Party's national congress in Bali to pick a new leader, it will be the opposition Red-White coalition, or KMP, that emerges the real winner of the bruising saga that has riven Indonesia's oldest party.

And while Golkar stalwarts Agung Laksono and Priyo Budi Santoso failed in their bid to prevent the re-election of Aburizal Bakrie as chairman, the real loser will be the Awesome Indonesia coalition, or KIH, of President Joko Widodo – and by extension, perhaps the Indonesian public as a whole.

The KIH lost its proxy battle to wrest control from Aburizal of Golkar, Indonesia's best-managed party with a political machinery and network that covers virtually the entire country down to the village level.

Golkar is the soul of the opposition bloc because its members, among the most experienced and skillful of Indonesia's politicians, are the backbone and engine of any move the opposition initiates. Removing it from the KMP would, for Joko's camp, be akin to defanging a cobra; the opposition would have been rendered irrelevant and insignificant.

That would have allowed Joko greater freedom to realize his pro-people agenda for a better Indonesia. But the opportunity is now gone because the KIH failed to put up a serious fight, limiting itself to jabs over the airwaves, through Metro TV. With the opposition intact – and even stronger after the dismissal of the pro-Joko Golkar members – we can expect a rockier road ahead for Joko.

Democracy needs a system of checks and balances, which is where a credible opposition comes in. But Indonesia's democracy is far from mature, and we fear the KMP will aim only to sabotage Joko's programs. We can only hope they prioritize the people's interests over their lust for power.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-aburizals-golkar-win-jokowi-loser/

Iron fist rules Golkar congress

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2014

Bagus BT Saragih and Ni Komang Erviani, Bali/Jakarta – As an engineered plan to ensure that incumbent Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie secured a second term became apparent on the second day of the party's national congress, opposing faction leader Agung Laksono left Nusa Dua, Bali, on Monday with plans to challenge the result of the authoritarian chairmanship race.

Agung, who returned to Jakarta on Monday evening, said his camp would continue with its plan to hold its own congress in Jakarta, in January next year. He also indicated that his camp had been gearing up to take legal measures to annul Aburizal's victory should the latter be reelected.

"Our upcoming congress in January is the one that is constitutional. [The ongoing one in Bali] is fake and illegal," the party's deputy chairman said.

Contradicting his previous call for unity with Agung's group during an opening speech on Sunday night, Aburizal ordered the congress committee on Monday to clear the area of banners and posters featuring Agung, who had announced himself as a contender in the party's chairmanship race.

Another hopeful, Priyo Budi Santoso, said that he had been denied entry to the congress venue.

Living up to earlier concerns that Aburizal would use his power to influence the chairmanship race at the congress in his favor, the head of the congress' steering committee, Nurdin Halid, also known as Aburizal's right-hand man, led a draconian forum to set rules in the chairmanship race that included open voting, requiring participants to declare their preferred candidates in an open forum.

Protests fell on deaf ears regarding the rule, which made it difficult for participants to declare support for candidates other than Aburizal. Lawmaker Airlangga Hartarto, who once planned to challenge Aburizal in the election, withdrew from the race on Tuesday night.

"[Aburizal] has been abusing his power to make this congress unanimously name him [the new chairman]," he said. "Peculiarities have continued to emerge during this congress but complaints were totally ignored."

Airlangga said it was obvious that Aburizal's camp had engineered the congress. Citing an example, he said the meeting had enacted the congress' code of conduct without discussing the details of each article. He also said that the organizers had embargoed congress materials, as many people had not received meeting papers.

The congress leader also officiated other rules favoring Aburizal such as a stipulation that any chairman candidate would be unanimously declared the new Golkar chairman if more than 50 percent of voters expressed their support for that particular candidate.

There are 563 voters in the Golkar chairmanship election. Each of the 552 party branches at provincial, municipal and regional levels, as well as 10 wing organizations, has one vote. The central executive board also has one vote.

Agung's faction, calling itself Presidium, consists of chairman hopefuls like Priyo and Zainal Bintang, who grew discontented with Aburizal's unilateral way of setting the rules for the chairmanship race just days before the congress.

They said that the rules would discourage regional and local branches from voting for candidates other than Aburizal given the "rampant" threats of dismissal to those not loyal to the incumbent.

Agung said the problem at the congress was far greater than Aburizal's iron fist. He added that the last congress in 2009 clearly mandated the following congress to be held in 2015. "An expedited congress is allowed, under special circumstances, and is named an extraordinary congress," Agung said.

The congress in Bali was held just like an ordinary congress and was not conducted as an extraordinary congress, said Agung. The organizational proceedings required to lead an extraordinary congress were also not met and, hence, it was unconstitutional, he added.

Agung's camp may file legal disputes to reject any decisions made at the Bali congress. According to the 2011 Political Party Law, Agung's complaints can be filed with Golkar's ethics council. The council's decision can be challenged via an appeal filed with the State Administrative Court.

Golkar has the second-largest amount of seats at the House of Representatives after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the party of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

A new Golkar leader would likely bring the party into a coalition with the PDI-P, which would mean Jokowi administration's would secure a House majority.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/02/iron-fist-rules-golkar-congress.html

Opponents sidelined, Aburizal's Golkar chairmanship within sight

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2014

Yeremia Sukoyo & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Nusa Dua, Bali – Using his control of the party's 33 provincial branches, Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie managed to shut down his opponents, sideline them and push his way to organize the party's national congress in Bali, that will likely re-elect him.

As the party's congress kicked off on Sunday to choose a chairman on Monday or Tuesday, Aburizal's candidacy received a further boost when M.S. Hidayat, a senior and strong candidate to challenge him, announced his withdrawal from the race, and instead expressed his full support for the incumbent.

Last week, all chairs of the provincial branches met and declared their support for Aburizal. Aburizal said on Sunday that he was supported by all the provincial branches and three quarters of the more than 500 district and city branches.

"They voluntarily support me," he said, dismissing accusations that he paid for their support and intimidated some of the branch officials.

Besides support from provincial chairs, most of the party's senior and influential politicians, including Akbar Tandjung, former chairman and now chief patron, and Theo Sambuaga, deputy chairman, are still behind Aburizal.

"Support for Aburizal is real. There is no intimidation or bribery," Theo said. Akbar, meanwhile, gave his blessing for the Bali congress, and was in attendance at the venue for the opening.

Hidayat, a former industry minister, who was mentioned as Aburizal's likely replacement, said he withdrew from the race because Aburizal promised him to build the party and that he would not seek to run for presidenct in 2019.

"I met with my supporters and they agreed that I withdraw, and together, we will support Aburizal," Hidayat said.

"I am willing to withdraw myself because Pak Aburizal promised me to concentrate on building the party instead of using his position to run for the presidency. We will look for another figure for Golkar's presidential candidate for 2019," he said.

Hidayat said he could not guarantee that Aburizal would keep his promise, but added that he mentioned Aburizal's promise to the media so that the public knew.

Hidayat's withdrawal means Aburizal will face the relatively unknown Airlangga Hartarto as his competitor because the other four candidates, including Agung Laksono, former coordinating minister for people's welfare, and Priyo Budi Santoso, a former House of Representatives deputy speaker, refused to acknowledge the congress in Bali, and instead are preparing a competing congress for January.

The party was split ahead of the Bali congress, which takes place from Sunday to Wednesday.

The party is set to pick a chairman, but an internal leadership dispute – revolving mainly around the incumbent chairman Aburizal's wish to run for a second term – has already led to violent clashes. The dispute reached its peak on Tuesday last week as the party leaders discussed preparations for the Bali convention.

Fistfights broke out between Aburizal supporters and his opponents. The incident came on the same day Aburizal's deputy Agung Laksono pushed for a vote of no confidence against Aburizal's reign, airing suspicions on why the party chairman decided to move the congress two months ahead of schedule.

Golkar politicians critical of Aburizal said last Wednesday that he had unilaterally changed the rules for this week's convention, voiding all support garnered by seven other chairman hopefuls.

Aburizal, his critics suspect, is trying to secure re-election through consensus instead of an open vote, which he might lose, by issuing instructions to provincial and district level chapter leaders to support him as well as airing threats of dismissal to those not loyal to him.

Agung announced his camp will stage their own shadow convention on Jan. 15.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/opponents-sidelined-aburizals-golkar-chairmanship-within-sight/

Environment & natural disasters

Mudflow victims demand compensation

Jakarta Post - December 6, 2014

Sidoarjo – After eight years of uncertainty and not receiving full compensation for their properties engulfed in the Lapindo mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, hundreds of displaced victims again converged on the Sidoarjo regency council on Friday.

"Actually, we are bored of blocking the road and the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS) embankment project. We have also often converged on the House of Representatives in Jakarta, so the government and people would know that the mudflow issue has yet been resolved," mudflow victim Budiarto, from Jatirejo village, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Sidoarjo regency council Mudflow Special Committee head Mahmud, who greeted the victims, said he did not have an answer for the victims but promised he would find out whether the government had allocated funds for the compensation in the 2015 state budget.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/06/mudflow-victims-demand-compensation.html

Alert status for Sidoarjo mudflow

Jakarta Post - December 5, 2014

Ina Parlina and Indra Harsaputra, Jakarta/Sidoarjo – The government is pushing PT Lapindo Brantas to complete payment of a remaining Rp 781 billion (US$63.4 million) in compensation to mudflow victims in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java, within the next year.

Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto said on Thursday that the government was currently seeking ways to force Lapindo, an oil and gas company affiliated with Bakrie Group chairman Aburizal Bakrie, to fulfill its financial obligation to victims of the mudflow allegedly caused by Lapindo during a drilling operation in 2006.

"I have reported the matter to the President. And the President instructed [us] not to wait too much longer. Eight years is enough. [The compensation] is supposed to be settled in the 2015 fiscal year," Andi said.

"We will hold meetings to discuss it and to ensure that Lapindo fulfills its obligation," he said. He said the government was also ready to make its remaining compensation payment of Rp 300 billion to the victims next year.

Andi made the remarks after a meeting with Sunarso, the head of the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS), at the Presidential Palace compound.

The BPLS' work to repair a damaged embankment at the mudflow reservoir has been hindered due to opposition from affected residents who demanded the settlement of all compensation.

Citing a Constitutional Court ruling in April that set a legal foundation for the government to force Lapindo to complete the compensation payment to the victims, Andi said the government would not take over Lapindo's obligation.

Between 2007 and 2014, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono provided financial protection for the Bakrie Group by allocating more than Rp 6 trillion to com-pensate villagers affected by the disaster.

Earlier this week, Sidoarjo Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) set a mudflow alert status for some 40,000 people living around the mudflow reservoir following damage to some embankment areas, which may be exacerbated during the rainy season.

"The damage on Sunday to spot 73B in Kedungbendo and Renokenongo subdistricts in Tanggulangin and Porong districts has created a critical situation on the embankment," Sidoarjo BPBD head Dwijo Prawito said in Surabaya, East Java, on Wednesday.

With the alert status, he said, his agency would mitigate the situation for affected people for evacuation purposes if further damage occurred.

The 40,000 at-risk residents were spread across seven subdistricts in Porong district and Tanggulangin district. Dwijo said the National Search and Rescue Team (Basarnas) had prepared a group of 12 personnel at its post in the Juanda Sedati area, Sidoarjo.

Suherman, a victim of the mudflow, said he was tired of waiting for compensation. "It's been years," he said. Like many other survivors, Suherman decided to remain living at his house while waiting for payment.

BPLS spokesperson Dwinanto said the condition of the embankment at spot 21, which directly bordered the Porong highway, was critical because it had an elevation of only 25 centimeters. "The safe elevation [level] to prevent the mud from overflowing is around 1.5 meters," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/05/alert-status-sidoarjo-mudflow.html

Coal mines polluting half of South Kalimantan's rivers, lakes: Greenpeace

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2014

Jakarta – Nearly half of all the bodies of water in South Kalimantan is at risk of being contaminated by waste from coal mines, claims a report released by Greenpeace on Wednesday.

"Revealed: Coal Mines Polluting South Kalimantan's Water" details the findings of a nine-month Greenpeace investigation that shows hazardous waste from intensive and largely unregulated coal mining activities is contaminating the province's streams and rivers – and in many cases breaching national standards for mining wastewater.

One third of South Kalimantan has been allocated to coal mining, posing a clear threat to the province's water quality. Greenpeace found that hazardous discharges of acid mine waste containing iron, manganese and aluminum, among others, are reaching bodies of water and their surrounding environment.

Around 3,000 kilometers of South Kalimantan's rivers – almost 45 percent – are located downstream from coal mines.

"People in neighboring and downstream communities are using potentially contaminated water to bathe, wash and farm. They face unacceptable risks from coal mining activities. The government must act to safeguard their health and livelihood," said Arif Fiyanto, Greenpeace Indonesia Climate and Energy campaigner.

Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of thermal coal and the second largest coal exporter overall. Over the last decade, more than 90 percent of the archipelago's coal production and exports have come from Kalimantan.

In addition to causing environmental problems, the province's coal export boom could add 460 million metric tons to global annual carbon emissions by 2020, which would make a mockery of Indonesia's 2009 pledge to cut emissions by up to 41 percent by 2020.

In recent years, coal production has grown the fastest in South Kalimantan, which produced 33 percent of Indonesia's coal in 2011. As coal production has increased, so have the negative impacts on the people and environment.

Of the 29 wastewater samples taken by Greenpeace from five coal mining concessions in South Kalimantan, 22 were found to be acidic (low pH), well below the standards set by the government. Discharges, leaks and spills from contaminated ponds in coal concessions pose grave dangers to nearby creeks, swamps and rivers.

According to Greenpeace, mining companies profiting from these dirty – and in some cases illegal operations – have the responsibility to stop polluting water resources communities depend on. Companies found to be breaking the law should pay for clean-up operations even if their mining licenses expire or cancelled, since acid mine drainage (AMD) problems typically persist for many decades, the organization added.

"The new government of Indonesia and the provincial government of South Kalimantan can and must do more to hold polluters accountable to protect the people and the environment," said Arif. "We expect a thorough investigation by government agencies, as well as tougher regulatory control. We look forward to working with the authorities to tackle and solve the problems highlighted in our report."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/coal-mines-polluting-half-south-kalimantans-rivers-lakes-greenpeace/

Activists lambast state's PROPER awards for businesses

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2014

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Activists have lambasted the Environmental Performance Rating Program (PROPER), in which the Environment and Forestry Ministry awards firms for their compliance with environmental regulations and innovation in green technology.

Greenpeace Indonesia said on Wednesday that the program was merely a gimmick aimed at making firms appear more environmentally friendly than they actually were.

"The criteria [for companies to get the award] have long been unclear. It is only used as a greenwashing event for firms," Greenpeace Indonesia's climate and energy division head Arif Fiyanto told The Jakarta Post.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said the awards were dubious given that mining companies dominated the list of gold label winners.

"Ethically and morally, they don't deserve [to be included in the program]. How could we ever say they are sustainable when all they leave are holes? Whatever else the mining industry is, its environmental impact is tremendous," Walhi chairman Abetnego Tarigan told the Post.

He pointed out how green companies were usually those from outside the extractive industry, such as IT companies.

The ministry has five classifications; gold, green, blue, red and black. Gold is the highest raking and is awarded to companies that can maintain good waste-disposal practices for a minimum of three consecutive years.

Red is given to companies that do not follow environmental standards, while black is for companies that damage the environment, either deliberately or unintentionally.

This year, nine firms were awarded gold labels, including state-owned coal miner PT Bukit Asam, PT Medco E&P Indonesia, liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer PT Badak NGL and Chevron Geothermal Indonesia. They were also last year's winners.

"Companies that are clearly destructive [of the environment] can get gold labels, where's the logic in that?" Arif said.

Abetnego said that the ministry had to be transparent in the judging process as well as the budgeting of the program in order for it to be accountable and credible.

"The budgeting issue is a concern because it is related to who has an interest in it. If it is funded by firms, then they have an interest," he said. Walhi campaigner Edo Rakhman said the award was prone to graft and conflicts of interest.

"What companies do not want to get good assessments? Of course they will try by all means necessary to get a good review," he said.

In order to avoid undue influence by firms, the ministry should include the participation of the public in reviewing the firms, he added. "How far is the involvement of the people living near these firms as well as those affected by their operations considered?" Abetnego said.

Likewise, Arif said that since PROPER started 20 years ago, the ministry had not involved the public. "They never involve parties outside the government, which is why the award is only a bilateral affair between the government and industry," he said.

This year, the ministry surveyed 1,908 companies in manufacturing, mining, energy and petroleum, agro industry and services, with 21 issued with black labels, 516 with red labels, 1,224 with blue labels and 121 companies with green labels.

The 21 companies were labeled black for polluting the environment and not being able to meet environmental standards set by the ministry.

The list is dominated by hospitals, with nine hospitals located in Bekasi, Toraja Utara, Mataram, Medan, Sidrap, Poso, Lombok Tengah, Jambi, Mataram and Mamuju, making up the list. Infant formula producer PT Nutricia Indonesia Sejahtera was also slapped with a black label.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya said the PROPER award was funded by the state budget and thus free from any influence. "The team that assesses the firms is independent and uses strict criteria," she told the Post. "I hope our friends don't automatically think the worst."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/activists-lambast-state-s-proper-awards-businesses.html

Riau's people, budgets burned out by persistent peat fires

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2014

Kennial Caroline Laia, Siak, Riau – A parched landscape marred by the remnants of fire that swept through here – burnt branches and half-cut blackened trees amid dried grass – frames the road near the Zamrud National Park's protected forest.

In Indonesian, zamrud means "emerald," but that toponym is belied by charred grays and browns.

On the right side of the our view stretches a long canal that collects water from the landscape that used to be a peat swamp forest near Dayun village in Siak district, in Sumatra's Riau province.

Now drained of the water that once sustained the richly biodiverse peatland that flourished here for centuries, monoculture plantations stretch for thousands of hectares to the horizon in their place, threatening the ecosystem, people's health and their livelihoods.

"We Riau people often welcome our guests by saying 'welcome to the jerebu [haze] country,'" says Riau University peat researcher Haris Gunawan, referring to the severe smoke from area's nearly constant forest and brush fires.

"People in Riau don't want to have to greet visitors like that," Haris says. "But the fact is, that's the ultimate truth of our life here."

For 17 years, nobody in Riau has talked about the problem, besides the roar of cars and trucks passing through plantation areas," he adds.

"Since 1997, when the government granted operating concessions to corporations here, there hasn't been any talk about a comprehensive solution to solve this problem. There's also been a lot of misconceptions about the peatlands themselves, that is not the main cause of Riau's haze," Haris says.

"But in fact, the way companies in Riau operate is far from the healthy way. They have been draining the peatlands by creating canals to more easily burn the peatlands' vegetation.

"This should be solved by experts who really understand peatland matters. There's no way to solve Riau's fires except by people who really do understand the root of the problem," Haris says.

Forest crimes

Virtually all of Riau's forest and brush fires are started by arsonists, according to Haris. For 17 years, he says, Riau has been suffering from forest crimes committed for the sole benefit of a few irresponsible parties.

"Once altered, tropical peatlands are very susceptible to repeat fires. And these fires keep burning," Haris says.

Stamping out the problem of peat fires requires enforcing the existing laws, Haris says.

Under the direction of the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), firefighting team Manggala Agni is supposed to be the most reliable party in terms of extinguishing fires. However, according to Yusman, the head of the Manggala Agni branch in Siak district, the firefighters are hampered by lack of funding.

"The most common way of intentionally lighting fires is by burning mosquito coils in the afternoon with a splash of gasoline in a woodpile. Once the fire catches the woodpile, it starts burning the surrounding area, creating massive haze that disrupts people's health here," Yusman says.

"We are responsible for preventing such things from happening. We hold alternating patrols once a week in our operational area," Yusman says, adding that there are 60 firefighters under his command in Siak district.

Although his team is adequately staffed, Yusman says, it is underfunded to monitor for forest fires, particularly in the conservation areas.

"Honestly, our budget to operate in the surrounding forests of Riau is really low. This year, we only received Rp 500 million [$40,700]. It isn't enough," Yusman says.

"We're short in our logistic capabilities. However, we always do the best we can to prevent fires, and to extinguish them when fires strike." Haris agrees, saying law enforcement is in the forests also need to be improved.

"Manggala Agni needs to be strengthened with added personnel and logistics improvements. Moreover, every person must be equipped with vast knowledge on fire prevention," Haris says.

"Manggala Agni also needs to cooperate more with local communities and institutions to get more information about detecting fires early.

"Canals must be restrained permanently. Rogue companies must be disciplined. And people must be educated on how to cultivate the land without having to change the peatland's characteristics.

"It is enough for companies. Now is the time for the people to use the land," Haris adds.

Between February and April this year, fires burned nearly 2,400 hectares of biosphere conservation areas and 21,900 hectares nationwide, contributing to some 58,000 diagnoses of respiratory ailments and thousands of children displaced from schools.

Blind eye

National forest campaigner Zenzi Suhadi from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) says one of the main causes of fires is lax government monitoring and law enforcement, which corporations with forest concessions have come to take for granted.

"This puts people in danger," Zenzi says. "Why are these fire happening? Because government and law enforcement have intentionally turned a blind eye to those who benefit from them. If the police were serious in handling this, fires wouldn't have been happened in the first place," she adds.

Forest and peat fires can only be prevented if the laws are enforced, Zenzi believes.

"Regulatory reviews review and license evaluations should be included as government priorities," Zenzi says. "The law may be deceived, but the environment doesn't lie."

Hope rises

Although skeptical that peat fires will be stamped out in Riau, Haris says President Joko Widodo's visit to burned-out Sungai Tohor village in Riau's Meranti Islands offers some hope. Joko visit the village last week in response to a letter from lifelong resident Abdul Manan, also known as Cik Manan.

"I asked the president to visit us because I wanted to show him the condition of our village. I wanted to show him how the peatland in our village has been severely drained due to corporations' activities here," Manan says.

"I really hope that after his visit, his promises will be implemented. Our lives depend on this land, because we plant sago. That's our source of income," Manan says.

"Haze is like vicious cycle here. It's an endless matter. But with our new president, our hope has started to grow beyond the haze in our lungs," Haris says.

Akiat, a sago farmer in Kepau Baru village, says the government should immediately revoke the licenses of corporations that operate near their village.

The Jakarta Globe could identify at least two corporations operating in the area surrounding Kepau Baru: Lestari Unggul Makmur, which is associated with Asian Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) and Raja Garuda Mas (RMG); and Nasional Sago Prima, a subsidiary of Sampoerna Agro.

"Besides having to breathe in the haze for several months every year, our sago has also decreased in quality. Most land has burnt down. We hope the government can express their concerns by pushing these corporations to compensate us for our loss," Akiat said.

Joko has pledged action against forest fires. "We cannot underestimate peatlands' importance to our country. Be it two meters or four meters, it has its own function in our ecosystem. We have misunderstood peatland as wasted areas, but the truth is, it is an important ecosystem," Joko said.

"The best thing to do is to give the land to people so they can use it to plant sago. What's made by people is usually environmentally friendly. They won't do any harm to nature," Joko said.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has said the government will reevaluate corporate concessions, adding that the government will take necessary actions to protect people's livelihoods against disruption by irresponsible concession-holders.

Siti has also said her ministry will do everything in its power to prevent fires, including improved spatial planning, water management and law enforcement, as well as educating people and corporations about the environment.

"The people have high hopes for Joko. I am sure he is an outside-the-box leader. He can solve this," Haris says.

"Fires in Riau are a complex problem, but they only need one simple solution: All it takes is water. All we have to wait for is the government's commitment," Haris added.

"While Riau dried out, there's still hope we can hold on to Meranti Island. It hasn't yet been severely burned. If the government supports it, we can save the island. Also, it could be an example for this country and the world that we're not totally drained."

[The reporter traveled to Siak district at the invitation of Walhi, Greenpeace Indonesia, Yayasan Perspektif Baru and Change.org.]

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/riaus-people-budgets-burned-out-by-persistent-peat-fires/

Health & education

Discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS persists

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2014

Suherdjoko and Ainur Rohmah, Kudus/Semarang – World AIDS Day, which fell on Dec. 1, was commemorated in a number of regions across Indonesia on Monday with calls for an end to discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS.

In Kudus, Central Java, some 200 HIV/AIDS activists comprising high school and university students as well as members of the regency Community Health Information Center staged a theatrical rally.

Distributing brochures on HIV/AIDS, they called on people to show respect toward those with HIV/AIDS.

"People with HIV/AIDS have been subject to discrimination," rally coordinator Azwar Anas said on the sidelines of the rally on Monday. Kudus peer group coordinator Eni Mardiyanti said 14 individuals in 72 recorded cases of HIV/AIDS in the regency had died this year, two of whom were children under five years of age.

Calls for an end to discrimination were also voiced by NGO Lentera Asa's activists in Semarang city, as they marked World AIDS Day on Monday in the Tugu Muda area by distributing flowers to passersby.

200 activists stage rally calling for respect for those with the disease 14 HIV/AIDS related deaths in Kudus this year, including two children under 5 Difficulties accessing ARV treatment in Gorontalo

Lentera Asa director Ari Istiyadi called on the government to provide opportunities for people with HIV/AIDS to work and have decent livelihoods without discrimination. "We also call on people not to stigmatize and discriminate against them," Ari said.

Semarang City AIDS Commission (KPA) secretary Bambang Soekardjo said that to help improve people's awareness, the city administration had established so-called AIDS Caring People groups in 47 subdistricts.

The administration had also disseminated information regarding symptoms to officials in local offices of the Religious Affairs Ministry, to be passed on to future brides and grooms.

As of September this year, Central Java noted 3,767 cases of AIDS and 9,032 cases of HIV, in which 10 percent of AIDS cases were found in teenagers.

Nationally, according to data from the Health Ministry, as of September this year, 67 percent of HIV/AIDS transmissions were via heterosexual relationships.

In Gorontalo, World AIDS Day was marked with activities ranging from campaigns, the distribution of brochures on the disease and blood donor sessions involving civil servants on Monday.

A 33-year-old man with HIV/AIDS who asked for anonymity said he was often stigmatized and discriminated against in his community because of the disease he had.

"Excommunication happens everywhere, even within my own family," said the man, who had become an activist and member of a HIV/AIDS peer group providing counseling to people with HIV/AIDS.

Separately, Gorontalo provincial KPA secretary Irwansyah said people with HIV/AIDS in the province still found it difficult to access antiretroviral (ARV) medication because it was only available at the state-run Aloei Saboe Hospital in Gorontalo city.

"In fact, people with HIV/AIDS are spread in five regencies and a city in Gorontalo province," said Irwansyah, adding that some lived far from Gorontalo city.

He said the commission was continuing to push for ARV services to be available in every hospital, especially as the spread of HIV/AIDS in the province was relatively high, with 174 cases as of November this year.

Irwansyah expressed optimism that the province would be able to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, which required that zero new HIV/AIDS infections occur.

[Syamsul Huda M. Suhari contributed to the article.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/02/discrimination-against-people-with-hivaids-persists.html

Under new school regulation, quality to drop along with the 'international'

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2014

Jakarta – A little-known but far-reaching regulation kicks in today that threatens to water down the quality of education at some of Indonesia's top schools, and could see the schools shut down unless they drop the "international" from their name.

Under an Education Ministry regulation issued in May this year, all international schools in the country have until Dec. 1 to comply with sweeping changes in how they can operate, which the ministry contends is aimed at weeding out low-quality schools that charge a premium by adding "international" to their name.

"The regulation was issued because many schools here claim to be international schools, when in fact their quality and what they teach are no different from what regular schools offer," Ibnu Hamad, a ministry spokesman, said on Sunday.

He added that this applied even if the schools really did offer an international curriculum or were internationally accredited. "They can explain elsewhere that they use an international curriculum or whatever, but they can't use 'international' in their name," Ibnu told the Jakarta Globe.

This would apply to the Jakarta International School, widely considered the best school in the country, and also the likes of the British and Australian international schools, Ibnu said.

However, the ministerial regulation states that existing international schools will be split into two categories: LPA, or foreign education institutions, and SPK, or joint cooperation schools.

A school like the British International School would qualify as an LPA because it is affiliated with a foreign entity, in this case the British Embassy, and hence would be permitted to keep the "international" in its name.

SPK schools, which are locally owned but employ an international curriculum or are internationally accredited, like JIS or Sekolah Pelita Harapan International, would no longer be allowed to call themselves "international." Ibnu said JIS could be renamed "Joint Cooperation School Indonesia-America, Australia and Britain," although this seems highly unlikely.

For schools like JIS that have built a strong international brand, the name-change regulation could have an adverse effect. However, other stipulations in the regulation threaten to exacerbate the problem.

For instance, the regulation obliges SPK schools to provide lessons in Islam, Indonesian language, civic education and Indonesian history to their Indonesian students.

These same students will also have to take the much-despised national exams at the end of the sixth, ninth and 12th grades – something they have been spared so far as students at schools running international curricula.

Indonesian students will also be barred from LPA schools, which will only be open to citizens of the foreign entity/embassy affiliated with the school. Foreign students at SPK schools, meanwhile, will be required to study Indonesian language and culture.

"That will allow them to have an intercultural and multicultural understanding of Indonesia," Ibnu said.

In addition, any SPK wanting to teach subjects involving a religion outside of the six officially recognized by the government must obtain permission from the Religious Affairs Ministry.

While the deadline for schools to comply with all the changes is today, the Education Ministry has said nothing about accommodating those affected by the changes – especially the students.

It is unclear whether Indonesian students at LPA schools like British International or Australian International will now have to drop out, or whether 12th graders at SPK schools like JIS and SPH will have to take the national exams in May, on top of having to complete their International Baccalaureate program.

The new education minister, Anies Baswedan, has indicated he will not stop the new rules from going into place, saying on Saturday that he had not received any objections from schools affected by the regulation.

The regulation, conceived at least two years ago, was part of a wider push by the Education Ministry in the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration to make the national education system reflect "Indonesian values," including by putting more emphasis on civics, morality and Islamic education, as in the new and much-criticized curriculum introduced in 2013.

Critics say the new direction that the Indonesian education system is being dragged toward essentially dumbs down the system, threatening to undermine the competitiveness of Indonesian graduates in an increasingly globalized world.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/new-school-regulation-quality-drop-along-international/

Disability rights

Disabled community wants better public services, equal opportunity

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2014

Ainur Rohmah and Arya Dipa, Semarang/Bandung – Thousands of disabled persons celebrated 2014 International Disability Day at Temanggung regency square in Central Java on Wednesday.

Despite the scenes of celebration, communities of disabled persons still suffer from a lack of basic rights and access to public facilities.

Sight-impaired Haryanto said access was lacking in several areas, but especially in transportation, communication and education. He said improving access in these fields would help combat discrimination and increase employment prospects for disabled persons.

"Public facilities, especially those catering to the needs of the disabled, are still very limited. I hope the government will pay more attention to this matter in the future," Haryanto said in Semarang.

Haryanto, 28, said it was difficult to find a job due to his lack of skills, access and capital. He is currently unemployed despite being trained as a masseuse. He is finding it difficult to start a business.

Separately, Central Java Social Services Agency head Budi Wibowo said the obstacles faced by the disabled community should abate after the Provincial Bylaw No. 11/2014 on the rights of the disabled takes effect next year.

The bylaw stipulates that disabled persons working for government institutions or in the private sector must account for at least 1 percent of the total number of employees.

The provincial bylaw is consistent with article 14 of Law No. 4/1997 on disabilities, which says that employers must hire at least one person with a disability for every 100 employees.

"All government institutions, the private sector, as well as city or region-owned enterprises [BUMDs] must adjust themselves to the bylaw. They must be prepared, especially regarding public services," said Budi.

He said that once the ordinance was implemented, government institutions and BUMDs would be required to provide facilities to support the disabled – both physical and non-physical. Physical facilities will include special facilities on public transportation, offices and sidewalks.

"Access to non-physical facilities includes education, jobs and access to healthcare," he added.

He expressed optimism that persons with disability could become independent if were granted ample access to jobs and public services.

Meanwhile, in Bandung, West Java, around 40 members of the Sight-impaired Litigation Forum staged a rally to commemorate International Disability Day, demanding friendlier public services for the disabled.

They kicked off the rally by walking from the Wyata Guna Special School for the sight-impaired on Jl. Pajajaran. They also protested in front of City Hall and the West Java Council office, where no one greeted them.

Forum spokesman Suhendar criticized the West Java administration and the provincial council for poor implementation of the Provincial Bylaw No. 10/2006 on the disabled.

"Public facilities have not improved from the moment the ordinance was issued until now," said Suhendar.

Diyono, 33, one of the protesters, said sidewalks for the disabled were only available on a few streets. "I once fell on Jl. Pajajaran [in front of Wyata Guna]. There has been no meaningful change," said Diyono, who works as a masseuse.

Based on 2011 data from the Health Ministry, the total number of disabled persons stood at around 6.7 million people, or 3.11 percent of country's total population. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Indonesia is home to more than 10 million disabled people.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/disabled-community-wants-better-public-services-equal-opportunity.html

Marriage & polygamy

Minimum age for marriage debated at Constitutional Court

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2014

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Another judicial review challenging the Marriage Law at the Constitutional Court (MK) has created a debate on the minimum age for women to marry.

The judicial review request, filed by several women and child rights groups campaigners, centers on a provision in Law No. 1/1974 on marriage that sees 16 years as the minimum age for marriage for females.

The request is aimed at reducing the number of underage marriages, which is one of the highest in the world and is the second-highest in ASEAN after Cambodia.

The plaintiffs are demanding the court to raise the legal minimum age for marriage as stipulated by the Marriage Law from 16 to 18 years for females.

During Tuesday's hearing, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and the country's two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, balked at the proposal and told the court to reject the judicial review request.

The Indonesian Hindu Religious Council (PHDI), meanwhile, presented an argument supporting the petitioners.

"The provision on the minimum age of 16 is consistent with Islamic teachings," MUI leader Amidhan Shaberah said during the hearing.

NU's Ahmad Isomuddin said the current provision in the Marriage Law gave protection to children. "Marriage before adulthood is allowed by some [Muslim] scholars, but [they] prohibit sexual intercourse [outside wedlock] for minors," Isomuddin said. "Raising the minimum age is similar to delaying marriage, while marriage is in fact a solution to preventing free sex."

In their argument, Muhammadiyah said that a passage in the Koran that said those who were considered mature enough to get married were those who already had the urge to raise a family.

The PHDI argued that Hinduism considered adults as those who were mentally and physically mature. "Having said that, the most appropriate age for a woman to get married is 18," the PHDI's I Nengah Dana told the hearing.

The High Council of Confucianism in Indonesia (Matakin) clergymen council deputy head Djaengrana Ongawijaya said his institution would leave the decision on the disputed provision to the court.

"We are not in a position to support or reject it since we consider that the most important issue here is that we should obey the law and adapt religious teachings based on the regulation," he said.

The plaintiffs have argued the disputed provision in the Marriage Law has created legal uncertainty and contravenes the Child Protection Law, which defines those below 18-years-old as minors.

They have also said that child marriage denies children their right to grow and develop, as well as their right to education.

A number of expert witnesses presented to the court by the petitioners, including a gynecologist, a pediatric, a psychologist and noted Muslim cleric Quraish Shihab, backed the proposal that 18 was the ideal minimum age for a female to get married.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/03/minimum-age-marriage-debated-constitutional-court.html

Graft & corruption

Arrest rocks Golkar after party congress

Jakarta Post - December 6, 2014

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Just a day after Aburizal Bakrie wound up a personally satisfying Golkar Party national congress, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) arrested a senior member of his party for alleged involvement in a graft case.

The arrest was a clear message to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's opponents that the country's newly inaugurated leader will strike back against any attempts at political bullying.

It is possible that the business tycoon himself could become the target of further counter attacks from the government as his business empire is also vulnerable to government investigations.

The AGO took the head of Golkar's West Java chapter, Irianto MS Syafiuddin, popularly known as Yance, from his residence in the West Java city of Indramayu early on Friday and brought him to the AGO headquarters in Jakarta.

Yance is accused of having committed corruption during the land-procurement process for the Kali Adem steam-fueled power plant project when he was Indramayu regent. Although he had been named a suspect in the case since 2010, Yance remained at liberty until Friday.

Yance, who is alleged to have caused state losses of Rp 4.1 billion (US$333,373) in the case, will be detained at the AGO's detention center for the next 20 days. Newly inaugurated Attorney General HM Prasetyo, however, insisted that there was no political motive behind Yance's arrest.

"Law enforcement must be [carried out] independently," said Prasetyo, whose appointment was widely criticized as many people doubted his capacity and even integrity. "[We] have been handling this case for the past four years, but there have been many obstacles and other issues. Now, we will wrap it up immediately," the former NasDem Party politician.

Golkar's national congress had dealt party chairman Aburizal a stronger hand within the opposition Red-and-White Coalition after he easily secured his reelection by acclamation.

The congress also produced a recommendation that Golkar, currently the country's second-largest political party, retract its support for the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on the election of regional leaders and put an end to direct regional elections.

Despite its success in supporting Jokowi's presidential bid this year, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has so far failed to gather majority support in the House, creating potential hurdles for Jokowi's administration.

Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham, however, chose to dismiss any political motive behind Yance's arrest. "I think we don't need to relate this to politics. This is just an ongoing legal process," he said, adding that Golkar would also provide legal support for Yance.

Political analyst Arya Fernandes of the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said Yance's arrest was a major blow to Golkar. "Golkar desperately needed to create a good public image after concluding their national congress. Yance's arrest, however, has damaged these efforts," he said.

Arya believes that Golkar will immediately fight back. "To divert attention from the [corruption] issue, Golkar will likely highlight issues on the AGO's independence to undermine Jokowi's credibility," he said.

The director of Gadjah Mada University's Center for Anticorruption Studies (Pukat) in Yogyakarta, Zainal Arifin Mochtar, however, said he believed that "actions were more important than motives."

"Law enforcement and corruption eradication efforts must be supported whatever the government's motivation is," said the senior lecturer. "The only thing the AGO must prove in the future is its commitment to arresting graft suspects, no matter what their political affiliation."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/06/arrest-rocks-golkar-after-party-congress.html

Lawmakers grill Busyro for being critical of politicians

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives Commission III overseeing law and human rights lambasted on Wednesday Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Busyro Muqqodas over his past statements toward corruption suspects, who have in many cases come from the House.

In the first session of the screening process to decide on a new KPK commissioner at the House, lawmakers expressed complaints about statements by KPK leaders, including Busyro, over corruption cases that allegedly involved politicians, which, according to lawmakers, had unfairly promoted negative judgments against them prior to court proceedings.

Muslim Ayub from the National Mandate Party (PAN), for example, criticized Busyro over the latter's statements related to graft centering on the Wisma Atlet SEA Games in Jakabaring and the South Sumatra Function Hall, saying that the KPK would name two lawmakers as new suspects.

"You should avoid making political statements related to lawmakers, as well as cases that the KPK is still handling, in public," Muslim said.

Other Commission III members followed suit, asking Busyro whether or not lawmakers would remain his targets should he be reelected deputy chairman of the antigraft body.

Busyro, who will see his term end this month, was appointed as KPK chairman in 2010 to replace Antasari Azhar who was implicated in a murder case.

The academician from Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Islamic University (UII) later served as deputy chairman after the House selected new leaders of the KPK in 2011.

To secure his second term, Busyro is currently in the final stage of selection, which places him against another candidate, Roby Arya Brata, an academic and former Cabinet Secretariat staff member who served during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration.

Besides his public statements, several lawmakers also besieged Busyro on Wednesday with disappointment over the extensive publicity of individuals who were named suspects by the KPK.

Al Muzzammil Yusuf of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) questioned Busyro about whether such a move was intentional as the KPK had secured widespread support from the public.

"Is it not enough for you to enforce the law without publicly embarrassing alleged suspects through extensive publications? Is public pressure needed?" asked Muzzammil.

Since 2007, the KPK recorded that 74 lawmakers had been named suspects in various corruption cases while many more had been summoned as witnesses.

As the vanguard of the corruption fight in the country, KPK investigations have received attention from the public and overwhelming support from citizens. On the other hand, KPK leaders, including Busyro, often find themselves in strained relationships with politicians due to their stern approach to corrupt officials.

Responding to the lawmakers, Busyro gave his assurances that the KPK worked independently and would reveal information as part of its obligation to fulfill the public's right to the truth.

"The media, as an element of civil society, is the agent for spreading information. Thus reporters deserve to have our explanations in relation to any cases that concern the public," said Busyro, hinting that he would uphold such activities if his term was extended.

While still holding another interview with Roby, the other contender, on Thursday, the majority of elites from House factions have expressed objections against Busyro's "revealing it all to the public" style despite praise for his performance.

Commission III deputy chairman Desmond Junaidi Mahesa from the Gerindra Party said, "I like the way he [Busyro] leads but I don't like his political statements [about suspects] in public".

House Commission III is expected to immediately hold a meeting to present the political stance of each of its 10 factions as soon as lawmakers complete the screening process test on Thursday.

Commission III may have to hold a voting session to choose one of the two finalists should the meeting fail to reach a decision.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/lawmakers-grill-busyro-being-critical-politicians.html

Indonesia's corruption ranking improves but 'radical' steps needed

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2014

Jakarta – Countries like Indonesia "need to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favor of their people," Transparency International warned in the latest edition of its Corruption Perceptions Index, which was released on Wednesday.

On a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), Indonesia scores 34, which is slightly better than last year's 32. The country is ranked 107th out of 175. In the 2013 version of the index, Indonesia ranked 114th.

However, the poor scores of countries like Indonesia "indicate a general weak or ineffective leadership to counter corruption, posing threats for both sustainability of their economies and somewhat fragile democracies [in the Asia-Pacific region]," Transparency International said in a statement on its website.

This year's list is topped by Denmark, which scores 92, while North Korea and Somalia share last place, with a score of 8.

Despite moving up several notches, Indonesia still fares poorly compared to its neighbors. In the Asia-Pacific region, the country perceived to be least corrupt is New Zealand, with a score of 91 – good for second place worldwide. Singapore (7 worldwide), Australia (11), Japan (15) and Hong Kong (17) make up the rest of the Asia-Pacific top 5.

"Grand corruption in big economies not only blocks basic human rights for the poorest but also creates governance problems and instability. Fast- growing economies whose governments refuse to be transparent and tolerate corruption, create a culture of impunity in which corruption thrives," Jose Ugaz, the chair of Transparency International, was quoted as saying in a statement on the organization's website.

Apart from Singapore, the only Association of Southeast Asian Nations member state to score more than 50 points is Malaysia, which ranks 50th on the global index with a score of 52. The Philippines shares the 85th global spot with Thailand, with both scoring 38. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar all perform worse than Indonesia.

Transparency International says its yearly index is "based on expert opinions of public sector corruption."

"Countries' scores can be helped by open government where the public can hold leaders to account, while a poor score is a sign of prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don't respond to citizens' needs," the organization says.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesias-corruption-ranking-improves-radical-steps-needed/

Hard-line & vigilante groups

FPI-backed group demonstrates against Ahok as Jakarta governor

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2014

Carlos Roy Fajarta Barus, Jakarta – A group opposed to Basuki Tjahja Purnama as Jakarta governor marched in the capital's streets on Monday, bringing traffic to a standstill on a stretch of road that connects City Hall to the State Palace.

Supporters of the Jakarta Citizens Movement (GMJ), which was initiated by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), walked along Jalan M.H. Thamrin, from City Hall in Medan Merdeka Selatan, to the State Palace in Medan Merdeka Utara.

High Priest and former FPI Leader, Habib Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, said he wanted Basuki to step down and GMJ would not accept him as Jakarta's governor. The FPI and associated hardline Islamic groups are opposed to Basuki, who is Christian and ethnic Chinese, because he is not Muslim.

About 1,000 demonstrators are believed to have taken part in the demonstration. Unlike in previous rallies, GMJ mobilized women, who were seen marching at the front.

Yulina, 46, said on Monday morning that she was excited about the demonstration, despite the harsh sun. "The sun won't let us down because the most important thing is that Ahok step down as Jakarta governor," she said, referring to Basuki by his nickname. Yulina said her husband supported her participating in the demonstration.

In symbolic protest of Basuki's governorship, the FPI also named one of its own as unofficial governor of Indonesia's largest city.

"From now on we have our own governor, Fakhrur Rozi Ishak; Ahok can be discarded and Fakhrur is now our governor," Habib told the crowd outside City Hall. Fakhrur then read an oath and pledged the group would not stop until Ahok had been impeached.

Basuki, who was inside City Hall during the protest, responded nonchalantly to the commotion outside his office. "Maybe they also need to appoint a new god as well," Basuki said.

The police were monitoring the rally, and secured the area around the City Hall and the State Palace.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/fpi-backed-group-demonstrate-ahok-jakarta-governor/

FPI declares Ahok's governorship illegal, inaugurates own 'governor'

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2014

Jakarta – Members of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) "inaugurated" their choice for Jakarta governor, Fahrurozzi, during their latest protest outside the Jakarta City Council (DPRD) building against the governorship of Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.

Fahrurozzi was "sworn in" by the head of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) and member of the Jakarta Saviors Presidium, Luthfi Hakim, who stated that Fahrurozzi, coordinator of the Jakarta Community Movement (GMJ), would begin his duties as Jakarta governor effective immediately.

"With this, the entire presidium has decided that the governor of Jakarta is Fahrurrozi Ishak," Lutfi announced during the "ceremony" in front of the council building on Monday as quoted by tempo.co.

Because the protestors had deemed Fahrurozzi the true governor, Luthfi insisted that Ahok no longer had the authority to govern the capital. He called upon all Jakartans to recognize the governorship of Fahrurozzi.

"If anyone [other than Fahrurozzi] claims to be the governor of Jakarta and visits your neighborhood, you must reject him because Jakarta's true governor is now Fahrurozzi Ishak," he said confidently. According to Tempo, approximately 200 demonstrators participated in the protest on Monday.

After the quick "inauguration ceremony", Fahrurozzi and his supporters marched toward nearby City Hall, once again disrupting traffic with their protest. (dyl/nfo)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/01/fpi-declares-ahoks-governorship-illegal-inaugurates-own-governor.html

Freedom of religion & worship

Police pledge hard line against religious intolerance

Jakarta Globe - December 7, 2014

Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – Indonesia's National Police have pledged to crack down on violence against religious minorities.

Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny. F. Sompie told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that police would take a harder line against religious intolerance, an issue human rights groups say was neglected by the administration of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Ronny said National Police chief Gen. Sutarman spoke at the police academy in Semarang, Central Java, where he told officers on Friday that: "There can be no more evictions, violence and coercion towards any religious beliefs as stipulated in the 1945 constitution."

Police would not tolerate any groups who used religion as an excuse to act as vigilantes or attack houses of worship, Ronny said. "The protection for minority groups, be it religious groups, tribes or races must be conducted optimally," he said.

Religious intolerance is common in Sunni Muslim-majority Indonesia and often boils over into threats and violent attacks against religious minority groups, or imprisonment of leaders on blasphemy charges.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report in 2013 which documented an increasing number of attacks by Islamic militant groups on houses of worship and members of minority groups. The attacks were carried out most commonly against Ahmadis, Christians and Shia Muslims, the report said.

Yudhoyono has been heavily criticized for allowing attacks to rise over his two-term presidency between 2004 and 2014.

Writing in the Jakarta Globe in August this year, Phelim Kine, the deputy director at HRW's Asia division, said: "Yudhoyno's failure to protect religious freedom goes far beyond his acceptance of the depredations of Islamist thugs."

"On multiple occasions in recent years," Kine added, "police and government officials have been passively or actively complicit in incidents of harassment, intimidation or violence against religious minorities." More recently, Amnesty International condemned the criminalization of beliefs in Indonesia in the past decade.

Rupert Abbott, Amnesty's research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, told a Jakarta audience on Nov. 21 that the organization supported President Joko Widodo's stated commitment to human rights, but that the new government had its work cut out for it in a climate of "intensifying intolerance."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/police-pledge-hard-line-religious-intolerance/

Civil service & bureaucracy

Lower work hours for female civil servants

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2014

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry is considering a proposal to cut the work hours of women civil servants by two hours per day to give them more time to take care of their children.

The idea was first raised by Vice President Jusuf Kalla last week during a meeting with the Muslim Union (PUI). Currently all civil servants and private employees follow the regular 8 working hours per day.

Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnadi said on Monday that such a move would be humane. "So that every woman can pay more attention to her family, especially to small children and in the case of newlyweds," Yuddy said on a sidelines of an event at the National Monument on Monday.

Several lawmakers have said they might consider supporting the proposal, while Regional Representatives Council (DPD) deputy speaker Hemas, who is also the sultana of Yogyakarta, says the plan is not a wise answer to the struggles of raising children.

The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) is among the supporters of the plan. According to Antara news agency, BKKBN head Fasli Jalal said children would have more time to interact with their mothers, which would be good for their development.

Women activists have rejected the idea. For example, Erna Ratnaningsih of the Legal Aid Foundation of Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH APIK) said such a move would instead close the door to men to participate in raising children by putting the responsibility of children's needs solely on the mothers.

"It is a form of discrimination against women. Both parents share the responsibility of raising the children," she said on Monday. She said the move would hamper efforts at the empowerment of women.

Titi Anggraini, who actively campaigns for women's political rights, said such a plan would only mask the root of the problem.

"The heart of women's issues lies in the matter of whether or not women have access and opportunities, as well as fulfillment of their rights. Therefore, the government must instead address the two problems. For example, by ensuring better wages and maternity leave, as well as providing capacity building opportunities for women."

The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), which has recorded increasing cases of violence against women and children in many areas across the country, also rejected the idea.

Andy Yentriyani of Komnas Perempuan criticized the government for coming up with such an idea, which she said put all the responsibility of ensuring children's development squarely on the shoulders of women.

"Such a move is not the answer. We all need to think about the matter comprehensively; therefore we would be able to give a comprehensive solution," she said.

The government, she added, should be able to see other aspects behind the problem, instead, for example, whether or not the government ensured the fulfillment of the basic needs of mothers.

"We need to remember that both mothers and fathers share the burden," she said. "Instead, such a move seems to make women solely responsible for the family, domestic affairs and children.

"We appreciate the intention to ensure the fulfillment of children's needs. However, it should be done only after considering the all aspects related to the overall issue," Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) chairman Asrorun Ni'am said.

"We don't want to see fewer work hours used for other activities outside their responsibility to fulfill children's needs."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/02/lower-work-hours-female-civil-servants.html

Parliament & legislation

House ends paralysis after AGO arrests Golkar politician

Jakarta Post - December 5, 2014

Jakarta – A plenary session of the House of Representatives unanimously agreed on Friday to pass an amendment to the Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law, ending a two-month legislative standoff between the coalitions of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

The passing was made hours after the Attorney General's Office (AGO) arrested a senior member of Golkar Party, the nation's second biggest party and a member of the opposition camp, for alleged involvement in a graft case.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said passing the amendment would allow the government to permit ministers and other government officials to attend House hearings after the two opposing camps agreed to bury the hatchet by allowing the passing of the law.

"With the passing, the government will attend the hearings held by the House," said Yasonna. "I expect relations between the House and the government will return to normal in January. We're looking forward to a positive partnership."

Political parties under Jokowi's Great Indonesia Coalition had refused to attend hearings unless the opposing camp, the Red-and-White Coalition, agreed to pass the amendment of the MD3 law. The amendment was included in the peace deal sealed by the two rival coalitions earlier in November after a month-long dispute over control of the House.

Under the amendment, the Great Indonesia Coalition will lead several key House commissions, after it was denied in October by the majority Red-and- White Coalition from securing any leadership positions in either the House or the People's Consultative Assembly. Jokowi's coalition will now have 21 out of 64 leadership posts in the House.

The move is seen as a way to prevent the Red-and-White Coalition from taking full control in voting sessions during the meetings of internal bodies and commissions. Previously, Jokowi had said that the instruction for all ministers to skip meetings with lawmakers was meant to avoid confusion, as his coalition had set up its own House leadership, as well as internal bodies, in a move to challenge the Red-and-White Coalition's move to occupy all leading posts at the House.

The passing of the amendment was a surprise after several lawmakers confirmed last week that the Golkar faction in the Legislation Body (Baleg), which was tasked with deliberating the MD3 Law amendment, had declined to support the amendment.

Golkar's refusal came after Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, a NasDem politician, was accused of meddling in the Golkar Party internal conflict by calling on the police not to issue a permit for the party's recent national congress in Bali.

But House speaker Setya Novanto, a Golkar Party senior politician, said after the passing of the law that the amendment approval was a token that Indonesia's democracy was at its best as rivaling camps agreed to unite for the greater good.

"The amendment is a peace accord that has propelled the spirit of togetherness for the nation, as mandated by the Constitution," he said. "It is also a sign for our constituencies that the House and its lawmakers are always listening to their aspirations."

Lawmakers will start their recess tomorrow until mid-January. Setya praised the peace accord after the AGO took the head of Golkar's West Java chapter, Irianto MS Syafiuddin, popularly known as Yance, from his residence in the West Java city of Indramayu early on Friday and brought him to the AGO headquarters in Jakarta.

Irianto is accused of having committed corruption during the land- procurement process for the Kali Adem steam-fueled power plant project when he was Indramayu regent. (ren)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/05/house-ends-paralysis-after-ago-arrests-golkar-politician.html

Direct elections set to split Indonesia's legislature again

Jakarta Globe - December 5, 2014

Jakarta – Democratic Party chairman and former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed his anger over Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie's declaration that Golkar would reject direct elections of regional leaders.

Aburizal said during Golkar's national congress earlier this week that the party would reject the government regulation in lieu of law, or Perppu, which Yudhoyono signed in his last days in office, in order to restore the mechanism that allows voters to directly elect regional leaders.

Yudhoyono did so after widespread public outcry, which blamed him for the passage of the regional election law that scrapped direct votes, returning the right to elect governors, mayors and district heads to local legislative councils – as had been the practice during the authoritarian New Order era.

Yudhoyono caught flak after lawmakers of his party, then the biggest caucus in the House of Representatives, walked out of the plenary session deliberating the bill, which allowed the opposition Red-White Coalition (KMP) to easily win the vote against direct elections – largely deemed a setback to Indonesia's democracy.

The Perppu, seen by observers as a move by the former president to restore his reputation as a champion of democracy, cancels the law, but only temporarily.

Lawmakers must decide in three months – after the signing of the Perppu in early October – whether to retain or reject it. If they reject it, they must draft a whole new law that will settle the matter.

Aburizal's critics have accused him of making the pledge to reject the Perppu in order to garner support for his re-election bid from leaders of Golkar's regional branches. Aburizal was re-elected as the party's chairman by acclamation on Wednesday.

Golkar's 'betrayal'

Yudhoyono reminded Golkar of the pact it had signed along with other members of KMP – including the Democrats – to support the Perppu, correcting the blunder that they had made with the passage of the controversial regional election law. Golkar is the largest party in the opposition bloc.

"[Golkar] has one-sidedly rejected the Perpu, betraying the deal that has been made. To me, this is a very principled matter," Yudhoyono tweeted on Thursday evening from his account, @SBYudhoyono.

He added that the Democrats could "no longer cooperate" with "inconsistent parties that betray deals and abandon commitments," although he did not elaborate as to what this would mean.

Yudhoyono also said he had ordered Democratic Party leaders to side with the pro-government Awesome Indonesia Coalition, or KIH, in order to support the adoption of the Perppu as the permanent ruling for matters concerning regional elections.

"The Democratic Party and I, along with the people of Indonesia, will continue to fight for improved mechanism of direct elections of regional leaders," Yudhoyono tweeted.

Didik Mukrianto, the secretary of the Democratic Party faction in the House, said on Friday that the party's lawmakers would work together with the KIH to defend the Perppu. "We won't abstain. The KIH's votes, added with ours, will be enough to win [the Peppu]," Didik said on Friday.

Another KMP member, the National Mandate Party (PAN), also said it would throw its weight behind the Perppu. PAN is known to be close with the Democratic Party as the daughter of its chairman Hatta Rajasa is married to Yudhoyono's son.

"We've pledged our commitment [to supporting the Perppu] along with the Democratic Party. And surely we also must listen to aspirations of the people," PAN deputy secretary general Teguh Juwarno said on Friday.

A matter of votes

The five-party KIH controls a combined 246 seats in the House, compared with the KMP's 314. If all KIH members faithfully abide by to support direct regional elections, the Perppu can receive up to 356 votes with the support of PAN and the Democratic Party.

In comparison, the remaining parties in the KMP – Golkar, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) – will only be able to garner 204 votes.

KIH lawmakers indicated on Friday that they would most likely stick together to support the Perppu, as they had during September's deliberations of the regional election law, when they were defeated in the vote.

"The regional election Perppu contains people's right to vote and be voted for. We're committed to protecting it," said Fauzi Amro, a lawmaker with People's Conscience Party (Hanura), a member of the KIH.

"The PKB will keep pushing for the House of Representatives' endorsement of the Perppu," Abdul Malik Haramain of the National Awakening Party (PKB), another KIH member, said separately.

"We'll most likely support the Perppu," added Ahmad Basarah of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest faction in the KIH, noting several suggestions for improvements of the direct vote mechanism Yudhoyono has included in the Perppu.

The remaining two members of the KMP, Gerindra and the PKS, meanwhile, have yet to clarify their stance on the issue. House Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah of the PKS said on Friday that several KMP leaders were planning to meet Yudhoyono to discuss the issue.

Fahri indicated that he at least disagreed with the Perppu, saying it should have been issued only in cases of emergency, which he said was non- existent in the case of the regional election law.

"When Perppus are issued, it indicates that the country is in an emergency," Fahri said. "If we issue many Perppus, it's sending signals to other countries that this nation is in a state of emergency."

A latest poll by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI), meanwhile, pointed out that Golkar's intention to grant the right to elect regional leaders to local legislative councils as being deeply unpopular.

"Most members of the public regret the outcome of Golkar's national congress as it wants to return the right to elect regional leaders to DPRDs [city councils]," LSI researcher Adrian Sopa told a press conference on the poll result on Friday.

"As many as 82.7 percent of respondents regret Golkar's stance of supporting regional elections through DPRDs." Adrian said the survey, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday, involved 1,200 respondents in 33 provinces.

Although lawmakers are likely to vote for the Perppu, the Home Affairs Ministry says the government has prepared drafts for at least two alternative regulations, in case the Perppu is rejected.

"We've anticipated a few possibilities. If [lawmakers] agree with direct elections, then we can go on with the existing Perppu," the ministry's director general for regional autonomy, Djohermansyah Djohan, told Indonesian news portal republika.co.id on Friday.

"If they want mixed mechanisms, we have a draft [for the regulation]. If they want all the elections to be done through DPRDs, we also have a draft regulation."

Under mixed mechanisms, governors may be elected through direct votes by the people, while mayors and district heads are elected by DPRDs, Djohermansyah explained.

However, he suggested that the House should simply accept the Perppu, saying legal certainty is quickly needed ahead of regional elections in 188 regions in seven provinces that are supposed to take place simultaneously next year.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/direct-elections-set-split-indonesias-legislature/

House gets nothing done in first session

Jakarta Post - December 5, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives wrapped up its first session for 2014 without accomplishing anything as a result of a month-long standoff between two rival coalitions in the legislative body.

The House is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting to officially end the current sitting on Friday when no proposal on the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) will be brought to the table.

The Prolegnas is a list of priority bills that the House, as well as the government, intend to pass during their five-year term in office.

"We can't properly work because lawmakers from the KIH [Great Indonesia Coalition] refuse to attend hearings and meetings," House Deputy Speaker Agus Hermanto of the Democratic Party said.

Other lawmakers from the opposition Red-and-White Coalition also put the blame for the House's poor performance squarely on politicians from the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition.

Great Indonesia Coalition lawmakers meanwhile defended their absence from meetings as a form of resistance to what they called the Red-and-White Coalition's authoritarian leadership.

"How can we fight for the people's interests if we are shut out of the decision-making process? This is the reason why we demanded the amendment of the [Legislative Institution] MD3 Law," Arief Wibowo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said, referring to Law No. 17/2014 on legislative institutions, which stipulates, among others, the mechanism to select the House speaker and deputy speakers, as well as leaders of the House's 16 internal bodies, all of which are controlled by the Red-and- White Coalition.

In spite of a pact signed last month to end the standoff, the confrontation continued with the two camps refusing to give any concessions.

For the House to be able to work properly, negotiators representing both coalitions achieved an agreement to include lawmakers from political parties within the Great Indonesia Coalition in the chairmanship of the House's internal bodies through an amendment to the MD3 Law by the end of House's current session tomorrow.

The deliberation on the amendment at the House's Legislation Body (Baleg), however, has been put on hold pending the result of the Golkar Party national congress. Golkar controls the largest number of lawmakers in the Red-and-White Coalition.

Of the total 314 seats that the Red-and-White Coalition secured in the House, 91 belong to Golkar, while the rest are distributed among the Gerindra Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party, which controls 61 seats, meanwhile declined to officially announce its stance, although on many occasions the faction has thrown its weight behind the Red-and-White Coalition.

The Golkar Party central board has banned party members from joining any discussions about the planned amendment at the House during the national congress and will only return to the House after Dec. 5. As of Thursday, the House had yet to start deliberations on the amendment of the MD3 Law.

With its failure to formulate the prolegnas and start deliberations, so far, the House has only completed the fit-and-proper test for the two final candidates to fill the deputy chairman position at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to replace retiring KPK commissioner Busyro Muqqodas.

The House's Commission III overseeing law and human rights, which had been tasked with conducting the fit-and-proper test, however, decided to delay the vote for the two final candidates – incumbent Busyro and Roby Arya Brata, an academic and former Cabinet Secretariat staff member in the previous administration, until the House resumes sitting on Jan. 12 next year after a one month recess.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/05/house-gets-nothing-done-first-session.html

Red-White Coalition to strengthen with Aburizal's Golkar

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2014

Jakarta – The Golkar Party's re-election of Aburizal Bakrie for another five-year term as chairman appears to have dashed any hopes the ruling coalition of President Joko Widodo had of working with a weakened opposition.

Aburizal, who on Wednesday evening was declared to have obtained 100 percent of votes after all of his challengers dropped out of the running, used Golkar's national congress in Nusa Dua, Bali, to underscore his intention of binding Indonesia's oldest party – for 50 years a central part of whatever government happened to be in power – to the opposition Red-White coalition, or KMP, established by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

Golkar is by far the biggest member of the five-party KMP, and on Tuesday evening Aburizal spoke out in support of one of the coalition's central policies: rejecting an emergency presidential decree, or perppu, to restore direct elections for regional leaders, after the KMP-dominated House of Representatives earlier this year passed legislation abolishing direct elections and instead giving regional legislatures the authority to choose governors, district heads and mayors.

"As all of you have suggested, we can reject the perppu," Aburizal said in his speech before congress participants.

The perppu, issued in early October by then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is only effective for three months, after which it must go before the House for approval.

Critics of Aburizal accuse him of compelling the voting members at the congress – from the party's various regional chapters – to vote for him in exchange for his support of them in local elections administered by regional legislatures.

"I've heard from [other Golkar members] that those who vote for [Aburizal] will be made a governor, district head or mayor through regional elections by local legislatures," said Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, a member of a splinter Golkar faction opposed to the party's congress and Aburizal's re-election.

Agun was among 17 party members, along with longtime stalwarts such as Agung Laksono and Priyo Budi Santoso, who were on Wednesday declared fired from the party by Nurdin Halid, the chairman of the congress's steering committee – a two-time corruption convict who was instrumental in subverting Golkar's voting mechanism such that Aburizal emerged the only candidate for chairman.

Aburizal dismissed any notion that he had promised the voting members such concessions, saying there had been no "transactions" involved at the congress.

'Dangerous situation'

Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the Golkar chairman before Aburizal and a highly regarded figure who was expected to, but did not, endorse a challenger to Aburizal ahead of the congress, declined on Wednesday to comment on the outcome.

"He's already re-elected, there's nothing I can do about it. I don't have the right to say whether his re-election is legitimate or not. It was acknowledged by Golkar, after all," Kalla said at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta. He also refused to comment on a rival congress planned by the splinter faction for early next year.

Former Golkar member Poempida Hidayatullah, who was fired earlier this year for his support of the presidential ticket of Joko and Kalla, expressed his concern over the party's internal rift.

"This is a dangerous situation for Golkar. There's no more solidity. What's happening is [members are] firing each other," he said. "I only hope that there will be reconciliation. Other parties will laugh at this schism."

Others, though, have played down the degree of the split. Aburizal's re- election was "democratic," said Siti Zuhro, a political analyst with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI, who noted that those opposed to the chairman seeking a second term consisted of a small group.

Siti instead turned the spotlight on Golkar's unfamiliar role in the opposition, one that it has cemented following Aburizal's re-election.

"Golkar had always been part of the power. It's interesting that this is the first time Golkar is outside the power. We want to see what new things will be brought about by this," she said.

On the other hand, she added, Aburizal's re-election should be a lesson for younger Golkar members that if they want to compete against senior party figures, they must prepare for it well in advance.

"The young Golkar members shouldn't stay relaxed; they must make serious preparations, rather than gear up only one or two months before the election," Siti said.

No 2019 run?

Aburizal acknowledged at the congress that his days at the helm were limited and that he did not plan to run for president in the 2019 election, effectively holding out an olive branch to younger members.

"I think I'm getting older. Akbar [Tandjung, Golkar's chief patron] and I will just guide the younger members [to run for the presidency]," he said. "We will prepare members who we will nominate as national leaders."

Aburizal added that in response to criticism that he had failed to accommodate the aspirations of younger Golkar members, he would ensure that 70 percent of seats on the party's central executive board would go to younger members over the next five years. He did not give an age limit for what constituted a "young" member.

Aburizal's own presidential bid this year imploded spectacularly, after Golkar failed to get enough votes to be allowed to stand a candidate. He also earned the ire of many of the party's loyalists when he refused to endorse longtime member Kalla's vice presidential bid, and instead hitched the party to Prabowo's ultimately unsuccessful campaign.

Rival congress

The splinter faction led by Agung, until Wednesday a Golkar deputy chairman, has insisted it will go ahead with its own national congress on Jan. 15, after blasting the Bali congress as "undemocratic."

The group, calling itself the Presidium of Golkar Party Saviors, claims that Aburizal and his camp, notably Nurdin, manipulated the rules of the congress and threatened voting participants with dismissal to ensure he would win.

They did, however, also extend an invitation to Aburizal to take part in their congress, on condition that he meet the requirements in "achievements, dedication, loyalty and no involvement in disgraceful activities," Agun said. "But if I was tasked with verifying candidates' [compliance with the requirements], I wouldn't let him pass," he added.

"He has failed [Golkar] in the legislative elections and in the presidential election. He was even rejected in his bid to be vice president [to Prabowo or Joko]. You can imagine what will happen in 2019. With that kind of leader, [Golkar] will sink."

In turn, Aburizal has made it clear that any Golkar members who take part in the presidium's congress next month will be dismissed from the party.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/red-white-coalition-strengthen-aburizals-golkar/

Criminal justice & prison system

NGO asks government to cancel executions of five people

Jakarta Post - December 6, 2014

Jakarta – An NGO has asked the government to call off its plan to execute five people by the end of this year. The government has also been asked to impose a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty.

"The government must immediately halt plans to carry out executions. Given President Joko Widodo's campaign commitments to improve respect for human rights, resorting to the death penalty would be a serious stain on the early human rights record of his administration," said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International's research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, in a press statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said it was proven that the death penalty did not work as deterrent to committing crimes, as has been widely perceived.

Previously, junior attorney general for general crimes Basyuni Masyarif confirmed that the government was planning to execute five people before the end of the year.

According to reports, one of the five individuals facing imminent execution is being detained in Tangerang, Banten, while another two are being held in Batam, Riau Islands, and a further two at Nusakambangan maximum security prison in Cilacap, Central Java.

The two detained at Nusakambangan have reportedly been convicted of murder and the remaining three of drug-related crimes.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/06/ngo-asks-govt-cancel-executions-five-people.html

Indonesian president authorises five executions

The Guardian (Australia) - December 5, 2014

Kate Lamb, Jakarta – Questions over the new Indonesian president Joko Widodo's commitment to human rights have been raised after he signed off on the execution of five inmates on death row.

Rejecting their pleas for clemency, Widodo – popularly known as Jokowi – ordered the prisoners' deaths by firing squad by the end of this month.

After meeting the president on Thursday, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Tedjo Edhi Purdijatno, told reporters the inmates would be "executed as soon as possible". The five are reportedly all Indonesian nationals and are among more than 100 Indonesian and foreign nationals on death row.

Political analyst and director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, Sidney Jones, said the president could have commuted the sentences to life imprisonment, adding that his choice did not reflect well on the Jokowi administration.

"It seems as though some of the law and human rights and justice questions have been turned over to the hardliners of his [Jokowi's] administration while he focuses on some of the economic and social and maritime issues, but he has got to realise that, as president, it is all going to come back to him."

A pragmatic entrepreneur who rose from small-town politics to be elected president this July, Jokowi has been criticised for courting former generals with questionable rights backgrounds and later appointing one as his defence minister.

Haris Azhar, coordinator of the rights group Kontras, said during the first few months in office the Jokowi government has failed to prioritise human rights concerns.

"Jokowi and his government have not shown good intentions to deal with human rights abuses, including his plan to execute prisoners on death row," said Azhar. "His government does not have a framework to address rights abuses, in the past and now."

Over recent weeks the Jokowi government has been forced to defend its decision to release Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, the convicted murderer of human rights campaigner Munir Thalib.

Prijanto was sentenced to 14 years in jail after he was charged with poisoning Thalib with arsenic in 2004, but served only six years after receiving several remissions.

Before the decision to execute the five inmates there had been hope that Jokowi might abolish the death penalty, or decide to extend a moratorium on executions.

However, recent statements from the new attorney general HM Prasetyo suggest that 20 other inmates on death row will face the firing squad in 2015.

"We will carry out the executions after we complete their paper work," Prasetyo told the Jakarta Post last week. "There is no mercy for drug dealers."

The majority of inmates on death row in Indonesia was sentenced for drug- related offenses. According to the National Narcotics Agency, 77 drug traffickers have been on death row since 2004 and nine have been executed. The data shows that 47 are foreign nationals.

Two Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran – part of the Bali Nine smuggling ring – were sentenced to death after they were caught planning to smuggle 8.3kg (18lbs) of heroin into Indonesia. The pair appealed for clemency two years ago.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/05/indonesia-president-joko-widodo-authorises-executions

Rights group renews call for end of capital punishment

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2014

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Human rights watch dog Imparsial reaffirmed its stance against the death penalty, citing a report that five convicts will be executed by the end of this year while 20 others are awaiting their execution next year.

"No one has the right to take another's life, not even the state. President [Joko] 'Jokowi' [Widodo]must abolish the death penalty as he promised to uphold human rights [in his presidential campaign]," Imparsial executive director Poengky Indarty told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

According Imparsial, 158 inmates are on death row in the country, 66 of whom are foreigners from 23 countries such as Nigeria, Australia, Nepal, China and Malaysia.

Eighty-nine of the convicts were sentenced to death in various cases, while 60 and nine convicts were found guilty of murder and terrorism, respectively.

Poengky said that the death penalty could not remain in the country's legal system as it had ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 2005. One of articles in the covenant stipulated that every state must protect the right to life.

Poengky said that the death sentence was in fact a holdover from the country's colonial past. "Indonesia carried on the death sentence and it's not relevant anymore," Poengky said.

Last Week, newly inaugurated attorney general HM Prasetyo announced that five death-row inmates would be executed by the end of this year while 20 others, the majority of whom are drug convicts, would face the firing squad in 2015.

The attorney general plans to execute 10 convicts annually. "We will carry out the executions after we complete their paper work. There is no mercy for drug dealers," Prasetyo said.

The most recent executions in Indonesia took place in 2013 when the Attorney Generals Office took the lives of drug smuggler Adam Wilson in March, three convicted murderers in the Cilacap prison in May and a Pakistani drug smuggler in November.

Poengky said that if Jokowi could not abolish the death penalty immediately, he should at least impose a moratorium on the death penalty while it underwent evaluation.

Indonesia has 11 laws that carry the death sentence, including the Criminal Code, Law No. 12/1951 on firearm ownership, Law No. 11/PNPS 1963 on subversive activities, Law No. 5/1997 on drugs, Law No. 31/1999 on corruption eradication, Law No. 26/2000 on human rights court, Law No. 23/2002 on children's protection, and Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism

Al Araf, Imparsial program director, said that the new government should change its view on capital punishment.

"There is no correlation between crime and punishment. The death sentence will not guarantee that crimes rates will go down. We recommend a life sentence for those who commit serious crimes," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/03/rights-group-renews-call-end-capital-punishment.html

Fishing & maritime affairs

War on illegal fishing begins

Jakarta Post - December 6, 2014

Bagus BT Saragih, Tarempa, Riau Islands – As the Indonesian Navy blew up three Vietnamese boats for illegally fishing in Indonesian waters on Friday, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said such drastic measures would not lead to conflict with other countries in the region.

"This is not a war between countries. This is about people stealing our fish and these thieves are businesspeople," Susi told reporters on the sidelines of an anticorruption day celebration at her office.

Susi said the decision to sink illegal ships operated by foreign fishermen was worthy punishment for their crimes and that the Indonesian government had a legal foundation to take such measures.

Article 69 of Law No. 45/2009 on fisheries stipulates that the coast guard can sink foreign vessels operating illegally in the country's territorial waters based on sufficient preliminary evidence.

Earlier on Friday, in Tanjung Pedas waters near Siantan Island in Anambas Islands regency, Riau Islands province, the Navy destroyed the three Vietnamese fishing boats.

The boats, which were seized by the Navy on Nov. 2, were fired at from a distance by Navy ships until they were sunk. The Navy's Frogmen Command (Kopaska) also attached explosives to the boats.

Dozens of high-ranking officers with the Navy, the Maritime Security Coordinating Board (Bakorkamla) and Anambas Islands regency administration witnessed the sinking of the boats, by the Navy's fast patrol boats, KRI Todak and KRI Barakuda, and a Sigma-class Corvette, the KRI Sultan Hasanuddin.

"We blew up the boats after the Ranai District Court declared that the ships were seized and were subject to being destroyed," said Rear Admiral Widodo, the commander of the Navy's Western Fleet Command.

Widodo said the ships were caught by Navy warship KRI Imam Bonjol while sailing in Tanjung Pedas waters.

"The KRI Imam Bonjol was on a regular patrol when it came across the three boats at around 10 p.m. The crew members on the boats were unable to show the proper documents so our officers arrested them and took them to the naval base in Tarempa," Widodo said.

Thirty-three people, all foreigners, were arrested and were now detained at the base, he said. The 3 tons of fish on the ships had also been confiscated and had been put up for sale in an auction.

"The money we raised from the auction was used to buy food for all the detainees," Widodo said.

Tarempa Prosecutor's Office, however, said it had been formally notified by Navy investigators that only three individuals could be prosecuted.

The three suspects were arrested and charged for failing to comply with proper fishing permissions, a prosecutor said. "They also used trawls, which is not allowed here," he said. The cases were still being investigated by Navy investigators at Tarempa base on the Anambas Islands.

Widodo dismissed suggestions that blowing up the boat may result in diplomatic ramifications.

"We have informed the respective embassy in Jakarta that this is a practice adopted under Indonesian law. Destroying illegal ships is a common practice in enforcement measures against illegal fishing. Indonesian ships were also destroyed in Australia, Thailand and China," he said.

Widodo said the 49-ship Western Fleet had seized 78 foreign illegal fishing ships, including the three destroyed on Friday.

Bakorkamla executive chairman Vice Admiral Desi Albert Mamahit said there could have been more ships operating illegally in the country's territorial waters. "We admit that some of them managed to flee, we have shortcomings," he said.

Widodo said the Navy was committed to supporting President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's Maritime Axis doctrine. However, he added that logistical problems were hampering the Navy's efforts to work optimally. "In 2014 alone, for example, only 27 percent of the Navy's optimal fuel requirement was fulfilled," Widodo said.

The waters around the Natuna and Anambas Islands are rich in fish, as they are located where warm and cold streams meet, providing an ideal environment for both plankton and fish to thrive.

Local fishermen, however, have faced poor living conditions for years, with the majority of them catching fish using traditional methods and small boats.

"Our fishermen are struggling to compete with bigger boats operated by foreigners. Sometimes they are intentionally hit by these big boats to drive them out of the area," Anambas Islands Deputy Regent Abdul Haris said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/06/war-illegal-fishing-begins.html

Indonesia to sink foreign vessels fishing illegally: Minister

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2014

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno said on Thursday that on Saturday they would sink three foreign vessels fishing illegally in Indonesian waters to help deter illegal fishing by foreign ships.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo summoned Tedjo to discuss the action on Thursday. "We have reported to the President [about the action] which will be done on Saturday. We will sink several vessels to show stern action against illegal [fishing]," Tedjo said after the meeting.

The minister said three foreign ships would be sunk in the waters near Matak Island in Anambas Regency in Riau. The drastic measure, he added, would not hamper ties with other countries as it was in line with the law and had undergone legal proceedings in court.

The 2009 Fishery Law permits monitoring officers or investigators, including those under Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, as well as the military and the police to carry out specific actions against foreign fishing vessels caught fishing illegally, including sinking them.

Prevalent illegal fishing carried out by fishermen from neighboring countries such like Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and China have occurred in the country's vast territorial waters, leading to declining catches among local fishermen.

As of November, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has captured five Thai fishing vessels and another from Vietnam, as well as 163 ships weighing 10-15 gross tons in Berau, East Kalimantan.

Jokowi said Indonesia suffered annual losses of some Rp 300 trillion (US$24.27 billion) as a result of illegal fishing. He also said that currently, 5,400 fishing vessels were operating illegally in Indonesian waters due to a lack of firm action by the government.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that taking such drastic measures would not affect diplomatic relations between Indonesia and other countries. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/ri-sink-foreign-vessels-fishing-illegally-minister.html

Analysis & opinion

Merry-go-round of justice?

Jakarta Post Editorial - December 5, 2014

Following the controversial parole of a pilot convicted of murdering a leading human rights activist, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly said on Tuesday that the government was mulling an ad hoc human rights court and would also resume deliberation on the bill on a truth and reconciliation commission.

Few are cheering though. It seems people are resigned to the nation's merry-go-round of elusive justice, afraid to hope too much after so many shameless displays of impunity.

The background to these fears is the lingering questions about the mastermind of Munir Said Thalib's murder in September 2004. The ministry deems the conditional release of Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto legal, given his accumulated remission of 42 months from his sentence of 14 years in 2008 for lacing Munir's drink with arsenic.

Despite the court hearings revealing Pollycarpus' links to the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), a separate trial finally acquitted BIN deputy Muchdi Purwoprandjono. His boss AM Hendropriyono denied any knowledge of any plan to murder Munir.

So despite the protests of Munir's widow Suciwati that Pollycarpus was no murderer acting on his own as the court concluded, there has been no proof of a conspiracy, which might otherwise have categorized him as ineligible for remission.

Another dampener on hopes following Yasonna's announcement are our rare experiences with ad hoc human rights courts, which have seen most defendants acquitted – such as in the East Timor case. East Timor, which became the independent Timor Leste, successfully established its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

But its former ruler, Indonesia, together with Timor Leste, set up the Truth and Friendship Commission, which did not manage to overcome allegations of a whitewash.

The unresolved murder of Munir and the similar impunity of so many murderers and rapists of civilians in Timor Leste send an equally hopeless signal regarding the bill on a truth and reconciliation commission.

Its advocates lost steam after the Constitutional Court scrapped the bill due to legal technicalities, amid protests from many quarters warning against the "return of communists"; those championing the bill were looking to bring some justice to survivors and relatives of unlawful detention, torture, murder and other crimes around the mid 1960s, following the political upheaval and bloodshed.

Nevertheless, the momentum under a new government must be harnessed, to give the legal system another chance to give closure to those who were dissidents of past regimes, or who were merely "collateral damage" – such as families of those suspected of treason.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo knows well that his supporters are fast becoming his loudest critics, particularly questioning his campaign pledges to resolve human rights cases.

Seeing visible government commitment in renewing attempts to give such closure would begin to settle doubts as to whether the President is willing to tread on any political allies implicated in such crimes.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/05/editorial-merry-go-round-justice.html

The voice of the elite

Jakarta Post Editorial - December 4, 2014

For the public, the message that emerged from the peaceful, uninterrupted Golkar Party national congress in Bali over the last few days was crystal clear: The party has confirmed its billing as the beacon of the New Order's revival, departing from the pledges of reform the party made as it struggled to survive the people's yearning for full-fledged democracy following Soeharto's fall in 1998.

It's not the reelection of Aburizal Bakrie as party chairman that matters; that had been widely predicted, despite the challenges made by detractors who formed a presidium they claimed could salvage the party. Nor is it the incumbent's use of any means to justify his ends that counts, as such is commonplace here and everywhere.

Rather, it is the party's agenda under Aburizal's second term that should raise concerns, including from other political parties that fill public posts in the legislative and executive branches of power, thanks to democracy.

Aburizal, whose accountability was unanimously praised, said Tuesday that, soon after the congress, the party would prepare a move to reject government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No. 1/2014, which reinstates the people's right elect their regional leaders.

The Perppu was issued just before then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ended his term on Oct. 20. It was a response to public outcry over his failure to stop the Red-and-White Coalition, which includes Golkar, from passing the controversial Regional Elections Law (Pilkada) that scrapped direct regional elections and gave voting power back to regional legislative council (DPRD) members, as was the case during the New Order.

The House of Representatives will have to decide whether to endorse or reject the Perppu by Jan. 3, 2015, some three months after it was enacted; otherwise, the law will automatically take effect and replace the Pilkada Law.

Aburizal may have thought that supporting indirect regional elections was the best strategy for keeping local Golkar elite united behind him and for maintaining the Red-and-White Coalition's grip vis-a-vis the ruling minority coalition in the House. With the opposition bloc controlling regional legislatures, Golkar and its allies would be all but guaranteed sweeps of the the posts of governor, regent and mayor if the House revoked the Perppu.

No less controversial is Golkar's aim to revive the New Order-era closed- list electoral system, which gave the party-elite the authority to decide which candidates would sit in the legislature. The House unanimously reestablished the system in 2008, but the Constitutional Court repealed it in 2009.

Golkar, according to Aburizal, will also support the House's inquiry into the government's fuel-prices hike decision. In the past, such a move led to the impeachment of the president.

Time will tell whether the agenda is simply a bargaining chip being used by Golkar to deal with the government, or if it is a translation of the party's much-vaunted motto, "Golkar's voice is [the] people's voice". For us, it sounds more like the voice of the Golkar elite.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/04/editorial-the-voice-elite.html

The early release of Munir's killer is unjust

Jakarta Globe Editorial - December 2, 2014

The early release of Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, the murderer of prominent human rights advocate Munir Said Thalib, indicates that Indonesia under President Joko Widodo begins a losing battle in fighting impunity and upholding human rights principles.

Pollycarpus was released on parole from Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, on Friday after serving eight years of a 14-year sentence for the deadly poisoning of Munir in 2004.

His early release shows that there must be a powerful force in Joko's government that enables such a controversial and reputation-damaging decision.

Many people who fully and sincerely support Joko were already angry that the mastermind of the murder was never found. Now they have to watch the only person convicted in the case walk free.

We can feel that the decision was forced rather than natural. It's beyond logic that Joko could give his blessing to such a bad decision and risk his own image in the process.

Why the early release of Pollycarpus if he would ultimately be free in due time? It's because some people in Joko's inner circles want to end the case, and make people forget about the murder.

But we refuse to forget. We demand a comprehensive review of the case, and for those behind the killing to be brought to justice. We have enough impunity, and we reject any more forms of it.

Does this early release confirm that Joko has never prioritized human rights, despite his promise of human rights protection on the campaign trail? Does this release prove that Joko is powerless to dictate his own will? Is it time to scale down our hope for his human rights commitment?

We hope, no, we believe, that the answer to all these second-thought questions is no.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-early-release-munirs-killer-unjust/