Jayapura – The Papua Police have nabbed 13 members of an armed separatist group led by Ayub Waker following the deaths of two Mobile Brigade personnel and a Freeport employee in Utikini village, Mimika regency on January 1.

"It is suspected that they are part of the group responsible for the attack," Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Yotje Mende told reporters in Jayapura, Papua on January 7, 2014.

Yotje said the police arrested a suspect named Mekson Waker in an operation launched only hours upon the discovery of the bodies of the Brimob members and Freeport employee.

"Then on Tuesday, January 6, we apprehended another one with initials GM, who, when we found him, had already suffered a shot wound from his back through his bottom. GM was left behind by his group after a gunfight with the police," he said.

"The next day, on January 7, 2015, we arrested 11 more, who surrendered after another firefight with us. We didn't kill them and they are now investigated at the Tembagapura Police Station," Yotje explained.

Source: http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2015/01/08/055633542/Thirteen-Nabbed-following-Deaths-of-Brimob-Freeport-Personnel

Call for NZ action on West Papua

Radio New Zealand International - January 7, 2015

West Papua Action Auckland is urging the government to do more to protect people from ongoing security force violence in Indonesia's Papua region.

Spokesperson Maire Leadbeater said Indonesia was reponsible for decades of human rights abuses and the West Papuan people wanted self-determination. She said New Zealand was a regional leader and was failing to take a stand against what was happening to its Pacific neighbours.

"We're on the Security Council, we've got high international profile and to some extent we are seen as a country with an independent foreign policy," she said. "We have these opportunities that we seem to just let slip in favour of quiet diplomacy and good relations with Indonesia."

Ms Leadbeater said New Zealand should sever all military ties with Indonesia.

"Our military ties with Indonesia are not great. They are very small so it wouldn't be a huge issue really, just to cut them off altogether as a strong statement of our disapproval for the ongoing abuses committed by the Indonesian military and their failure to call to account those responsible for decades of documented human rights abuses against the West Papuan people."

The West Papua situation made international headlines in mid-December when Indonesian authorities opened fire on a peaceful protest in Papua's Paniai, killing five school students and injuring 20 others.

Ms Leadbeater said there must be an independent investigation into those events. "The government should be openly, in a megaphone kind of way, calling for a truly independent investigation of the events that took place in Paniai. That's the kind of thing I would like to see them do much more strongly."

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/263247/call-for-nz-action-on-west-papua

VP Kalla aims to bring an end to conflict in Papua

Wall Street Journal (blog) - January 7, 2015

Richard C. Paddock, Banda Aceh, Indonesia – Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who played a key role in negotiating peace in Aceh after the 2004 tsunami, said he will initiate efforts to bring an end to Papua's long-running conflict with the central government.

The vice president said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he will attempt to start "another dialogue" in Papua, which has been plagued by low-level fighting ever since it was annexed by Indonesia in 1969. Many Papuans contend that the takeover of the western half of the island of Papua New Guinea was an illegal land grab by Jakarta.

The region, which is in far eastern Indonesia and includes the provinces of Papua and West Papua, is home to the huge Grasberg gold and copper mine operated by the local unit of Phoenix-based Freeport McMoRan Inc. It is Indonesia's largest taxpayer – Mr. Kalla put the figure at about $1.5 billion last year.

Despite the huge amount of taxes Jakarta collects from Freeport, Mr. Kalla said, the central government gives Papua significantly more tax money than it takes in. "The Papua people usually say Jakarta robs Papua," he said. "We subsidize Papua."

Still, the territory remains largely undeveloped and its people are divided by tribal loyalties.

Aceh and Papua, two provinces at opposite ends of the country, both endured decades of war as rebels sought independence from Indonesia.

Like Aceh, Papua was granted limited autonomy by the central government in 2001 in an attempt to undermine the independence movement. One result, Mr. Kalla said, is that only people born in Papua can hold political office there. "The principal is, only Papua can run Papua," he said.

The tsunami that struck Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra 10 years ago was so devastating that the two sides halted the fighting and reached a peace deal eight months later.

In Papua, the conflict continues with occasional violent clashes. Independence activists have been jailed and freedom of expression is limited.

Filep Karma, for example, has served 10 years of a 15-year prison sentence for raising the outlawed independence flag; Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience. The government limits access to the province by foreign journalists, human rights workers and academics.

In negotiating for peace, Mr. Kalla said he sees considerable differences between Aceh and Papua.

Unlike the former Aceh rebels, he said, separatists in Papua do not have a single organized military force or a clear command structure. Figuring out whom to negotiate with in Papua, he said, is one of the first issues.

"Papua is different," he said. "In Papua there is no command. It is very localized. No one knows who is in command."

Another difference, said Mr. Kalla, is the continuing conflict among many of Papua's tribes. He said a police presence is required to keep tribes from fighting each other.

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch agreed that a police presence is needed, but said that police have not been effective in preventing clashes among members of different tribes.

He urged President Joko Widodo to end Papua's isolation and allow access to foreign journalists, non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies. He also called on the government to release political prisoners and restore free speech to Papuans.

When it comes to finding Papuan leaders with whom to negotiate, Mr. Harsono said the government should not have any difficulty.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/indonesiarealtime/2015/01/07/interview-vp-kalla-aims-to-bring-an-end-to-conflict-in-papua/

Ex-intelligence officer appointed Freeport boss

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2015

Jakarta – Gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia has appointed former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief Maroef Sjamsuddin as its new president director to replace Rozik B. Soetjipto, who has reached retirement age.

Freeport spokesperson Daisy Primayanti said on Wednesday that Maroef, also a retired rear marshal, joined Freeport after retiring from the Air Force.

Maroef was the deputy chief of BIN from 2011 through 2014 and earned a Master's in business administration at the Jakarta Institute of Management Studies.

Asked about his new appointment, Maroef said that all stakeholders were expected to support the mining company and its long-term investment in Papua.

"This is the most interesting moment for Freeport to develop a new mine in Papua by giving more benefits to its employees, local people, the Indonesian government and all stakeholders over the coming decades," Antara news agency quoted him as saying.

Maroef's appointed comes at a time when Freeport is seeking an extension on its working contract in the country's easternmost province.

Freeport, a subsidiary of US-based Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, Inc., began operations in Papua in 1967 and is seeking a 20-year extension on its working contract from 2021 to 2041. (rms)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/07/ex-intelligence-officer-appointed-freeport-boss.html

Man arrested over police killings in Papua

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2015

Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – Police have arrested a man suspected to be behind the killings of two policemen and a security guard in Utikini, near Freeport's Grasberg mine in Papua, last week.

"We have identified the perpetrators of the killings... one of the suspects has been arrested," said Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie on Monday.

Ronny, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Police, declined to name the suspect and did not elaborate on the whereabouts of the other alleged perpetrators. However, he said the group stole the victims' guns.

Second Brig. Riyan Hariansah and Second Brig. Adpriadi, both aged 22, and 33-year-old security guard Suko Miartono were found dead shortly after carrying out a patrol in Utikini, Tembagapura, about 9 p.m. local time.

The three men reportedly suffered bullet and stab wounds and the area where they were found was littered with bullet casings, police said.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/man-arrested-police-killings-papua/

Police hunt for Ayub Waker's group

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2015

Jayapura – The Papua Police were hunting an armed group led by Ayub Waker who is believed to be responsible for the recent fatal shootings of two Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers.

"A platoon of mobile brigade officers from the Timika detachment has been deployed to find Waker's group," Papua Police chief Isp. Gen. Yotje Mende told Antara on Saturday.

Yotje said the search also aimed to get back two guns that had been taken by the group during the shooting on Thursday that killed Sec. Brig. Riyan Hariansyah, 22, and Sec. Brig. M. Adpriadi, 22, in the Utikini area in Tembagapura on Thursday.

"During our search, we had a brief exchange of fire but due to bad weather we did not continue and ordered the officers to return to the Timika headquarters," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/05/police-hunt-ayub-waker-s-group.html

Policemen, security guard shot dead in Papua

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2015

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura, Papua – The bloodied bodies of two policemen and a security officer were found in Utikini, near the Grasberg mine in Papua, on Thursday night.

The three men suffered bullet and stab wounds, police said, and the area where they were found was littered with bullet casings.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Patric Renwarin said the men were last seen heading to Utikini to conduct a patrol at 8:30 p.m. When the men failed to make contact with their command post, colleagues grew suspicious and launched a search operation.

A patrol team spotted the three men's bodies from a bridge near Utikini about 9 p.m. and immediately took them to a hospital in Tembagapura.

Police found 13 bullet shells and four bullets at the scene. Two men, who police described as being under the influence of alcohol, were arrested nearby, while another man fled.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/policemen-security-guard-shot-dead-papua/

Aceh

Hundreds of tourists cancel trips to Aceh

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2015

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of tourists have reportedly canceled trips to Weh Island in Sabang, Aceh, as the result of recent violence allegedly committed by locals against tourists celebrating the New Year.

A local regulation that banned the people of Aceh from celebrating the New Year in any way has been blamed for triggering the incident.

"The eviction and disturbance of tourists from our inn has tarnished and disturbed the tourism climate in Sabang," the owner of Casa Nemo Inn, Gianluca Guidotti, said on Wednesday.

Guidotti said that trip cancellations to Sabang were not just by foreign tourists but also domestic tourists. "This January alone some 100 tourists from Spain have canceled their trip to Aceh because of this case," Guidotti said.

The eviction occurred on Jan. 1 at Casa Nemo Beach in Ie Meule subdistrict, Sabang city, Aceh, as tourists and visitors were celebrating the New Year with a small music concert.

The incident started when a group of youths asked the tourists to disperse. The youths said the tourists had violated sharia by celebrating the New Year in Aceh, the country's only province implementing Islamic law.

The youths reportedly also provoked visitors and damaged property belonging to the inn management and the concert's event organizer. Rumors also claim that the incident was triggered by a minor problem related to the uneven distribution of parking management.

"We really regret the violence. The administration must handle this problem as soon as possible. Otherwise, this will disturb the tourism climate in Aceh overall," tour operator Hasbi Azhar of Keliling Aceh said.

Hasbi said that the incident could have a domino effect on other regions in the province because Sabang was considered the representation of tourism in Aceh.

The incident, he added, could be a serious threat to tourism in Aceh, which in turn could also influence the people's economy. "The administration must act quickly to save tourism in Aceh because the sector is the province's economic mainstay," Hasbi said.

Separately, the local police have been investigating the incident. They said it might have had nothing to do with the New Year celebration but have been more because of conflict related to parking management between local youths and the owner of the inn.

"It was not violence, locals were just scaring tourists," Sabang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Nurmeiningsih said.

Nurmeiningsih said the police would handle the case thoroughly so it would not worsen the situation. "The locals indeed have made tourists feel uncomfortable because of this. This is a violation," she said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/08/hundreds-tourists-cancel-trips-aceh.html

Government urged to protect pluralist lecturer in Banda Aceh

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2015

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – An alliance of 34 NGOs and a group of individuals called on the government and security authorities to provide protection for a lecturer of Ar Raniry State Islamic University in Banda Aceh who has been intimidated and under threat for inviting her students to a church as part of her efforts to build peace in the country.

According to them, what Rosnida Sari is fighting for is quite relevant within the pluralist Indonesian society and therefore the state must be present in giving protection to its citizens wanting to build solidarity in pluralism.

The NGOs include the Indonesian Coalition for Women, Empowerment and Development of Society Foundation in South Sulawesi, Migrant Care, Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), Woman Education Watch and Institute of Global Justice.

Dian Kartika, spokesperson for the NGO alliance, said President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had to guarantee the protection of the lecturer to uphold academic freedom and allow her to promote tolerance among her students.

"The National Police chief and the Religious Affairs minister should take immediate and strong coordinating efforts to calm down the tension in Banda Aceh, provide real protection for Rosnida and her family and ensure all sides in the province that what she is doing does not violate the law but is aimed at promoting tolerance among students," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone on Thursday.

Rosnida, a Muslim lecturer, received strong intimidation from Acehnese clerics and her fellow lecturers in the university and has been bullied through social media after she invited a number of her students to visit and hold a dialogue in a Catholic church in Banda Aceh, last week.

Following mounting protests from numerous sides, Rosnida has been suspended and asked to stop teaching for the time being.

Rosnida said she and her family have been intimidated because she has been accused of "christianizing" her students and she received the university's decision to suspend her for time being.

She admitted that she invited her students to voluntarily make a visit to the Catholic church so that her students could understand the religion and hold a dialogue with the church minister.

"The church visit conducted voluntarily is part of my creative teaching method to have Muslim students understand other faiths and build mutual understanding and religious tolerance.

"Besides giving the students a better understanding of the gender relations in other religions, I want my students to have no more unsafe feelings and prejudice toward students from other faiths. The creative teaching method is aimed at building mutual understanding among students, phasing out the prejudice, which has been formed by print and electronic media," she said, adding that she was ready to help the media with building solidarity among religious communities in the country.

Dian said further that the case was the tip of an iceberg; tolerance is dying in many religious communities. She added that the case had led to a serious threat to academic freedom and had also shown that the state did not seem to be eager to offer protection to those supporting tolerance and solidarity.

"The government should act and lead in the front row to fight against the growing intolerance among religious communities by solving the GKI Yasmin case in Bogor, West Java, and end the prolonged discrimination against Ahmadiyah sect followers in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara," she said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/08/govt-urged-protect-pluralist-lecturer-banda-aceh.html

Sexual & domestic violence

Teens seek to end violence against women

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2015

Indra Budiari, Jakarta – Watching movies, hanging out in a shopping mall or chatting in a coffee shop – these are the perceptions most people have about the ways teenagers spend their weekend, but for some young girls a change will not come from those places.

Binar Mentari Malahayati, a third-year junior high school student, said that she would take part in the One Billion Rising (OBR) worldwide dance performance to raise public awareness to end violence against women.

"We live in an era where violations against women still happen and a lot of women consider domestic violence a common occurrence," Binar told The Jakarta Post at the dance rehearsal in a house in Kemang, South Jakarta.

OBR Indonesia will join the annual global campaign, which was started by American women activist Eve Ensler in 2013, to perform a dance every Valentine's Day with the mission to urge women to talk, dance and rise up against violence.

Binar added that she deplored the fact that a lot of housewives in this country were still stuck in the narrow patriarchy mind-set that allowed them to be a victim of domestic violence committed by their husbands.

"We must break the chains of violence and encourage women to speak up when their rights are violated," the 14-year-old girl said.

As the firstborn child of Mugiyanto, former chairman of the Indonesian Association of Families of Missing Persons (IKOHI), the dance campaign was not the first social movement that she engaged in.

Binar had joined her parents to stage public rallies on the recent Labor Day on May 1 as well as participated in protests in front of the State Palace every Thursday called Kamisan to demand that the government resolve past abuse cases.

"My friends at school said that I take this life too seriously, but my defense is that I do these things for a good cause and I cannot stay silent when there is still injustice out there," she said.

Another teenager, Elsi Yulianti, a 15-year-old senior high school student, said she wanted to take part in the OBR campaign because she was upset with the high number of crimes against women and the ongoing stigma that women were considered a more vulnerable class in society.

"A lot of people still think woman are weaker and therefore they treat us differently. Gender equality should be encouraged," she said.

Andi Gunawan from OBR Indonesia said that he appreciated the teenagers' participation and hoped that there would be more to come on the performance day that would likely be held at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Cikini, Central Jakarta on Feb. 14. More than 300 people joined the cause last year, he said.

"Unlike last year, this year's Valentine's Day will fall on the weekend so we expect more people to show up," Andi said. He said although the rehearsal was open for any interested people, would-be participants can also rehearse their moves by watching the rehearsal video that would be uploaded on the website and their YouTube channel.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/05/teens-seek-end-violence-against-women.html

Labour & migrant workers

Basuki rejects request to delay new minimum wage

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2015

Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has rejected a request from 27 South Korean companies that they be exempt from immediately implementing Jakarta's 2015 minimum wage.

Basuki on Monday said there would be no delay in implementing the new provincial wage of Rp 2.7 million ($219) a month. "We rejected the motion because I refuse to be ordered around," the governor said.

He added that if foreign companies did not want to comply with regulations they could move elsewhere. "They could move to Majalengka [in West Java] the provincial minimum wage is still cheap there."

Basuki said the companies – who are all garment manufacturers based in Cilincing, North Jakarta – had made similar requests in the past, despite the fact wages were based on the capital's Decent Living Index, or KHL.

The KHL is used to define the minimum amount needed to sustain a "decent" quality of life in the capital. The head of Jakarta's Manpower and Transmigration Agency, Priyono, said all companies that wanted a delay had to go through the correct procedure.

An exemption could only be granted with a recommendation from the wage council, after a review of a company's finances, he said.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jakarta/basuki-rejects-request-delay-new-minimum-wage/

Freedom of speech & expression

Police hand over 'Post' case to Press Council

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2015

Indra Budiari and Sita W. Dewi, Jakarta – The Jakarta Police have handed over a blasphemy case implicating The Jakarta Post editor-in-chief Meidyatama Suryodiningrat to the Press Council.

Jakarta Police chief detective Sr. Comr. Heru Pranoto said on Wednesday that the investigators had canceled a session to question Meidyatama previously scheduled for that day.

Furthermore, he said the police would wait for the council's recommendation before proceeding with the case. "The questioning related to the [blasphemy] case has been canceled. It is now in the hands of the Press Council," Heru told the Post.

The case started when the Jakarta Preachers Corps (KMJ) filed a report with the National Police in July, accusing the Post and its editor-in-chief of blasphemy for publishing an internationally syndicated cartoon in its July 3 edition, criticizing violence conducted by the Islamic State (IS) organization, otherwise known as ISIL or ISIS.

The newspaper retracted the cartoon, which contained symbolism that might have been viewed as offensive, and issued a public apology.

"The Post regrets the error in judgement, which was in no way meant to malign or be disrespectful of any religion. Our intent was to criticize the use of symbols, specifically the ISIL flag, in acts of violence in general and in this case, against fellow Muslims," the newspaper stated in its apology and retraction in its July 8 edition.

Heru said that the Jakarta Police would wait for the council to decide if the cartoon was categorized as an ethics violation or a criminal action.

However, he refused to comment when asked whether or not the Jakarta Police would drop the case if the council declared the cartoon was not a criminal matter. "Let's just wait for the council's decision," he said.

Press Council member Yosep Stanley Adi Prasetyo acknowledged that he had met with the three Jakarta police investigators who handled the case at the Press Council building in Central Jakarta.

"The three investigators came to the Press Council office to hand over the case to the Press Council, as per the National Police chief's letter, which said that this case was an ethics [violation] case, thus, it should be handled using the relevant mechanism," he told the Post.

Yosep also hinted that the legal case would likely be terminated. "During the meeting we also discussed the process [to issue] an SP3 [instruction to stop an investigation]," he said.

Yosep lauded the police's move to return the case to the remit of the Press Council, saying it was in line with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Press Council and the National Police.

"I appreciate it and this is a positive move. We have agreed that disputes implicating the press corps should be returned to the Press Council," he said.

Previously, the Press Council analyzed the situation surrounding the publication of the cartoon in July and deemed it insensitive but not a criminal matter. "We issued a recommendation and the Post fulfilled it. Case closed," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/08/police-hand-over-post-case-press-council.html

Housewife tried over defamatory statements walks free

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2015

Slamet Susanto and Bambang Muryanto, Bantul, Yogyakarta – The sounds of people crying and sobbing as well as applause filled Bantul district courtroom after presiding judge Sulistyo M. Dwi Putro cleared Ervani Emi Handayani, 29, of charges relating to defamatory statements made via her Facebook account.

Sulistyo said it was not proven that Ervani's statements posted on Facebook had defiled a person.

"Charges against Ervani have not been proven. Her posted statements were just criticism against Ayas and it is hoped that this case can become a lesson learned for both parties," the judge said before he read out his verdict at the court on Monday.

Ervani was sued for defamation after she posted comments on Facebook about Ayas, a supervisor at Jolie Jogja Jewellery, where her husband, Alfa Janto, was working.

Ervani vented her anger over her husband's dismissal for refusing a job amendment. She described Ayas and other Jolie Jogja Jewellery supervisors as "childish" and said they were unsuitable to be leaders of the company.

Sulistyo said Ervani's case did not meet elements of the definition of defamatory as charged by prosecutors. Therefore, he said, the judging panel decided to clear Ervani of all charges based on articles 45 and 29 of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).

In the trial, the judging panel also decided to restore Ervani's good name and ordered the return of her mobile phone, which was confiscated as evidence.

In a trial on Dec. 18, 2014, prosecutors demanded the court's panel of judges sentence Ervani to five months in jail with a probation period of 10 months. The prosecutors, led by Slamet Supriyadi, purported that Ervani had electronically spread information with defamatory substance.

Ervani's case drew the sympathy of the public, which has long criticized and urged the revocation of the draconian ITE Law. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/05/housewife-tried-over-defamatory-statements-walks-free.html

Censorship board ban of Senyap reflects outdated New Order thinking

Hukum Online - January 5, 2015

The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) regrets and condemns recent incidents around the country in which film screenings of the film Senyap (The Look of Silence) have been closed down by certain mass organisations. The Komnas HAM believes that these closures have not just been approved by local police and military, but also by the Film Censorship Institute (LSF).

Komnas HAM member for education and information, M. Nur Khoiron says that the aim of the Senyap film screenings are in the context of resolving past human rights violation. It is hoped that the film screenings around the country can trigger discussions within society about cases of past human rights violations and the 1965 tragedy in particular.

"The Senyap film screenings are an attempt to promote and facilitate Komnas HAM's mandate to resolve past cases of gross human rights violations. As well as a reminder of the importance of reconciliation efforts", said Khoiron during a press conference at the Komnas HAM offices in Jakarta on Monday January 5.

The Senyap screenings around the country, said Khoiron, have the full support of Komnas HAM and the Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ). The [first public] film screening on November 10, 2014 [in Jakarta] was attended by hundreds of social, political and film industry figures. Khoiron condemned the closure of Senyap screenings around the country such those in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta and the East Java city of Malang.

Khoiron said that all parties should support the Senyap film screenings. The police and the military need to provide protection so that the screenings can proceed smoothly, not instead back the mass organisations that are closing them down. The irony is that the LSF has also given its blessing to the closure of these film screenings.

On December 29 for example, the LSF sent an official letter to the chief of police in the East Java city of Malang supporting the banning of Senyap film screenings. The letter was also set to Komnas HAM. "The LSF states that it is not appropriate to show the film Senyap in public", said Khoiron accusingly.

Khoiron believes that the LSF's actions fail to support the commitment by the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to resolve past cases of gross human rights violations as detailed in their Nawa Cita nine priorities agenda. Moreover the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Education and Culture officially support the screenings.

"What has been done by the LSF is the same as the censoring of films during the New Order [dictatorship of former President Suharto] era, not supporting the upholding of human rights. We urge the LSF to revise the move and support the Senyap film screenings", asserted Khoiron.

Komnas HAM member and the coordinator for the handling of past gross human rights violations, Roichatul Aswidah, says that the Senyap film screenings around the country are aimed at promoting a discussion in society about Indonesian history in order that people understand the nation's history and can discuss it in a mature manner.

On these grounds, the women who's acquaintances call Roi admits that she was surprised as to why the LSF has banned the screenings. Yet the screenings are not for commercial interests but social, namely as a forum for discussion. "We will be asking the LSF why they banned the Senyap film screenings", she said.

DKJ chairperson Irawan Karseno asserts that they support the screenings saying that the film is an intelligent and cultural work that conforms with legislation.

Karseno said he regrets the actions by mass organisations, the police and military who have closed down Senyap film screenings around the country. "Their actions reflect the fact that they have inherited outdated ideas of the past. The 1965 tragedy should not be seen just from a political aspect but more importantly from a sociological and psychological [perspective", he exclaimed.

For Karseno it is appropriate that Senyap obtain room to be appreciated, especially domestically, explaining that internationally Senayp has been well received.

DJK general secretary Alex Sihar said that the LSF's authority to censor films is only valid for commercial works. Senyap meanwhile is not being shown for commercial purposes. Even if there are parts that are considered not to be in accordance with legislation, usually the LSF holds a dialogue with the owner of the film first. He is surprised as to why the LSF did not hold a dialogue before banning the screenings. "There was no dialogue, but the LSF went ahead and issued a document banning it", he said.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Larang Film Senyap, Komnas HAM Sebut LSF Seperti Orba"]

Source: http://www.hukumonline.com/berita/baca/lt54aaaf16ed1ef/larang-film-senyap -- komnas-ham-sebut-lsf-seperti-orba

Political parties & elections

Romy's PPP rejects MUI chief as mediator

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2015

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Reconciliation efforts carried out by the two opposing camps in the United Development Party (PPP) have ended in another deadlock after the faction supporting the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition rejected the rival camp's proposal to involve a third party as conflict mediator.

Although he appreciated a recent offer from Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin to arbitrate the party's prolonged leadership dispute, PPP senior politician Emron Pangkapi said the conflict within the country's oldest Islamic-based party must be settled by those who "were familiar with the root of problem".

"We welcome any support from Muslim leaders, like Pak Din, [Nahdlatul Ulama] chairman Said Aqil Siradj and [former NU chairman] Hasyim Muzadi, who consider the PPP as an influential political vehicle for Indonesian Muslims. However, the PPP is more than able to handle its internal problems," Emron, a PPP deputy chairman under the leadership of lawmaker Muhammad "Romy" Romahurmuziy, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Emron also said that negotiations between his camp and the other faction led by former public housing minister Djan Faridz were still ongoing.

"The PPP executive board under Romy's leadership currently has more than 30 vacant positions, including two deputy chair and several deputy secretary- general positions. If those in the other camp really want to reconcile, we are ready to offer these positions to them," he said.

Djan, a businessman-turned-politician, was elected PPP chairman during the party's national congress held in early November as a challenge to another congress organized earlier in Surabaya, which declared Romy as the party's new leader.

Established in 1973 following the merger of four Islamic-based political parties – Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesian Muslim Party (Parmusi), the Indonesian Islamic Union Party (PSII) and the Islamic Education Union (Perti) – the PPP was the only Islamic-based party in the country until 1998.

With 39 legislators, the PPP is currently the eighth-biggest faction in the House of Representatives in front of the NasDem Party and the Hanura Party.

The internal rift within the PPP began after Romy and many PPP executives openly challenged Suryadharma's decision to seal the PPP into a permanent alliance with the opposition Red-and-White Coalition, whose members are political parties that supported the unsuccessful presidential bid of Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto.

In response to the lawsuit filed by Djan's camp, the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has suspended a ministerial decree issued by Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonnna Laoly that had recognized Romy as party chairman, ordering the ministry to obey the court order and not issue any other decrees related to the PPP before the court delivers its verdict.

Semarang-based Wahid Hasyim University's Islamic politics observer, Agus Riyanto, however, said that the involvement of outsiders in settling the PPP dispute would bring no significant impact.

"The PPP dispute is rooted in the battle of political [interests], not ideology. So, reconciliation can only be sealed if both parties agree to make certain political commitments," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/05/romy-s-ppprejects-mui-chief-mediator.html

Golkar young blood object to new congress

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2015

Jakarta – The youth wing of the Golkar Party has proposed a new congress to reconcile two conflicting factions in the party and has asked candidates from both sides to run for chairperson.

The wing is urging young members such as Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, Airlangga Hartarto and Mahyudin to run in a chairmanship race to replace the current leaders of the two factions, Aburizal Bakrie and Agung Laksono.

The favored candidates, however, have rejected the idea of a new congress as the two factions are still in negotiations. "I'm committed to helping Agung manage Golkar. This is my priority," Agus said on Sunday as quoted by tempo.co. Agus is deputy chairman of the Golkar faction led by Agung.

Airlangga and Mahyudin echoed Agus' sentiments. "Let the negotiators finish their job," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/05/golkar-young-blood-object-new-congress.html

Environment & natural disasters

Research and tech minister says nuclear is way of the future for Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2015

Jakarta – Muhammad Nasir, the research and technology minister, says construction is ongoing for an experimental nuclear power reactor on the outskirts of Jakarta, to pave the way for Indonesia's first nuclear power plant.

Nasir said the experimental reactor in Serpong, Tangerang, was aimed partly to show the public that nuclear power was safe. He said fear and resistance against nuclear power in Indonesia had lingered because the public had only little knowledge of the technology, and that it was limited to the nuclear disasters in Chernobyl, Ukraine, and Fukushima, Japan.

"Why have we always made a big deal out of nuclear power? It's because we haven't seen for ourselves [how it works], so we're not convinced," Nasir said during a visit to the Jakarta Globe newsroom on Tuesday. "That is why we're currently trying to build a nuclear energy laboratory in Serpong. We need to educate and explain to the children of the nation that nuclear is safe."

The minister said Indonesia needed nuclear power to generate electricity, saying it was a cheaper and cleaner energy alternative to coal, from which Indonesia currently gets most of its electricity.

Fears of safety issues should not hamper the country's nuclear program, as other countries have long developed their nuclear energy sectors without incident.

"China is our biggest coal importer. Their [energy] consumption is very high, and now they're considering shifting more to nuclear energy. China currently has 14 [nuclear] power plants and are building 25 others," Nasir said. "Vietnam is building two, America has 100. Indonesia? Zero."

He added fears concerning earthquakes that often hit the archipelago should not stop the country from developing nuclear power.

Nasir said the southeastern coasts of Sumatra, parts of Kalimantan and northern Java were among areas in the country relatively safe from seismic activity, and thus ideal locations for future nuclear power plants.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/research-tech-minister-says-nuclear-way-future-indonesia/

Health & education

After shaky start, JKN progress is praised

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2015

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – It has been a year since the government launched the national health insurance (JKN) program.

Initially mired in problems such as a lack of health infrastructure, leading to overcapacity in some hospitals and the rejections of patients, the JKN has come a long way since its birth on Jan. 1, 2014.

"I've seen a lot of progress. The program was only plagued with problems in its first six months due to a lack of information [from the Healthcare and Social Security Agency to hospitals]," Indonesian Diaspora Global Network Health Group chairwoman Hanny Moniaga told The Jakarta Post.

"But now information dissemination is improving and doctors and hospitals have been informed that the program is not detrimental to them."

Hanny, who is also chief operation officer of Siloam Semanggi Hospital said the lack of information made hospitals reluctant to join the program and as for those who had already joined, some were not prepared to implement the program.

"Some private hospitals might refuse to join the program because the tariff payment plan is too low, but they seem to forget that it's better to have patients than to let medical equipment, doctors and nurses sit idly because these are fixed costs that hospitals must pay either way," she said.

Moreover, according to her, due to a lack of preparation, some of these hospitals were unable to properly manage their doctors and finance during the implementation of the program, which caused problems.

"When a hospital joined the program with such a low tariff, there was a standard of procedure [that could be implemented to lower operating costs]. For example, a hospital could renegotiate the prices of laboratories and it could buy generic medicine in bulk," Hanny said.

She cited an example of Pelni Hospital a private hospital that had successfully joined the JKN and had managed it well.

"After Pelni Hospital joined the program, it had a regular flow [of patients], it could predict the volume [of patients] and it could lower costs so its doctors and nurses were happy with more income," said Hanny.

She also applauded improvements in health infrastructure, especially in community health centers (puskesmas) at subdistrict level.

"These health centers are already good because they can accommodate patients who need to stay, such as Tambora puskesmas and Kelapa Gading puskesmas. They can even assist with birth. In some regions, puskesmas have also improved," Hanny said.

Echoing Hanny, Health Ministry health development director general Akmal Taher said primary health facilities such as puskesmas were already enough to handle the number of patients in the JKN program.

"[Most patients] can still be handled and there are many puskesmas in major cities that work together with medical faculties [in universities] and hospitals so they have sufficient medical staff," he told the Post.

While the number of puskesmas is deemed sufficient, Akmal admitted there were still some cases of patients being rejected for lack of beds in hospitals.

"But the [seriousness] of the problem is relative because we are only lacking beds in major cities like Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung," he said. "The more serious problem is actually the lack of ICUs [intensive care units], while the lack of beds is not too severe."

While the government claimed the lack of beds was not serious, there are cases like Nurhayati, a 31-year-old resident of Cipayung, East Jakarta, who lost her 2-year-old son Abiyasa Rizal Ahnaf because of an infection in his intestines.

Abiyasa passed away after his parents frantically searched for a hospital that had available equipment and a bed in Jakarta to treat him last month.

The boy was already registered in the JKN program but it did not prevent his parents being rejected at 21 hospitals throughout Jakarta, with some saying no doctors and rooms were available, including Fatmawati Hospital, Pelni Hospital and Permata Hospital.

Conversely, there have been cases where patients have directly reaped the benefits of the JKN program after registering online.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/05/after-shaky-start-jkn-progress-praised.html

Schools, teachers to decide passing grade: Ministry

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2015

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – Although details remain scarce on the new mechanism for the national exams, the Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry has confirmed that individual schools will be fully responsible for determining students' graduation.

"Teachers and their schools will have full control over the standard for students' graduation under our new system," the ministry's research and development head, Furqon, told The Jakarta Post.

Under the current system, secondary students have to score at least a 4 in every subject and attain an average score of at least 5.5 from the national exams, school exams and report cards.

Also under the current system, high school students who fail to pass the national exams can repeat the test the following year, or take an equivalent test and receive a different type of diploma. Furqon said that the ministry was currently evaluating the national exams and devising improvements.

He added that the ministry would publish the result of the review in late January. "We can't give you the details or we risk compromising the process," he said.

The Federation for Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI) applauded the ministry's decision to overhaul the current national exams. FSGI secretary-general Retno Listyarti said that the decision was a sign of trust from the government to allow schools and teachers to determine their students' performance.

"The current system contradicts the 2003 National Education System Law, which stipulates that the individual school is the only institution liable to evaluate students' performance," she said.

Retno further said that only teachers and school administrators could judge if a student is fit for graduation, as only they possessed the full records of students' progress throughout the years.

Education expert Arief Rachman, however, said that the ministry should not jettison the national exams. "I believe that the national exams should be used to evaluate whether or not a student should graduate. However, I don't believe that the standard should be the same everywhere, as some regions lags behind major cities like Jakarta," he said.

Arief also suggested that universities should adjust their system to accept students from places deemed to fail to meet the national standard.

Earlier, Culture and Primary and Secondary Education Minister Anies Baswedan said that under his plan, the national exam would be used to draw a map of where subjects have been taught effectively by schools.

In 2012, Indonesia ranked 64th, 64th and 60th in mathematics, science and reading respectively out of 74 countries who took the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) exams held by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/02/schools-teachers-decide-passing-grade-ministry.html

Graft & corruption

End parole for graft convicts: ICW

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2015

Dominic Diongson, Jakarta – Indonesia's most prominent antigraft advocacy group called on Monday for law enforcers to insist on the revocation of corruption suspects' political rights and their right to parole.

Laola Ester, a researcher at Indonesia Corruption Watch, said the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Attorney General's Office could include these measures in their sentencing demands in court.

"Aside from recommending a prison sentence, a fine or asset seizure, prosecutors and the KPK can also recommend that certain of the convicted person's rights, such as a sentence cut or parole, be revoked or suspended," she said.

Sentence cuts and parole for corruption convicts have been sources of controversy, particularly since Indonesia's penal system does not distinguish between white-collar criminals and the rest of the prison population. This makes white-collar convicts more eligible for parole or sentence cuts, since correctional officers often apply the same standard for "good behavior" meant for hardened criminals.

This includes criteria such as "never instigating riots," "not fighting with other inmates," or other behaviors associated with the common prison population.

Laola argued that law enforcers had the right to make such recommendations to the court, pointing to Article 18 of the Anti-Corruption Law.

The article states that prosecutors can recommend "additional injunctions" from the court, which includes the revocation or suspension of certain rights.

"The article allows corruption convicts to be barred from getting sentence cuts or parole. Even convicts' rights to a pension, if they are public officials, can be revoked," she said.

Another source of contention is the large number of former corruption convicts running for public office and seats in legislative councils, which will be eliminated if law enforcers recommend the revocation of the convicts' political rights.

Laola said only corruption suspects who agreed to work with law enforcers to unravel bigger cases or net higher-ranking officials deserve to be paroled or have their sentences reduced.

In 2012, the Justice Ministry issued a regulation limiting a corruption convict's right to parole and sentence cuts amid a public outcry.

However, the ministry broke its own regulation and the practice was allowed to continue.

The ineffectiveness of the regulation, Laola said, was due to an implementing guideline, issued by the same ministry a year later, that stated that the regulation would only apply to those convicted after the regulation was enacted.

Laola said this created confusion among prison officials across Indonesia.

"The guideline opens another opportunity for corruption convicts to receive sentence cuts and parole," she said.

Among the controversial cases of parole the government had granted corruption convicts is that of businesswoman Hartarti Murdaya, who was jailed for bribing a district head in exchange for a plantation permit in March 2013, three months after the regulation was enacted.

Hartarti was paroled in September last year, having served just 18 months of a 32-month sentence.

The justice minister at the time, Amir Syamsuddin, admitted the parole was inconsistent with both the 2012 regulation and the 2013 guideline, but argued that Hartarti had been considered by the KPK to be a "justice collaborator" – which the KPK denied.

The minister was then forced to find another excuse for granting Hartarti's parole, saying later that she was released due to her "advanced age." Hartati was 68 when she was released.

Amir and Hartati both served on the Democratic Party's board of advisers before the latter resigned after being charged in the bribery case. Hartati was also a key financier of Democrat chairman and then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's 2009 re-election campaign.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/end-parole-graft-convicts-icw/

Terrorism & religious extremism

Police: 97 suspects, 34 officers killed in anti-terror raids since 2000

Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2015

Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – Indonesia's fight against terrorism has left dead a total of 97 suspects and 34 police officers since 2000, the National Police chief said on Sunday.

At least 1,000 terrorists were arrested from the year 2000 until last October, Gen. Sutarman said, with the peak of anti-terror activities coming after the 2002 Bali Bombings, which killed more than 200 people.

The police chief said that besides the officers who were killed in the line of duty, another 65 were left injured.

"However, law enforcement alone will not solve the problem, because ideology cannot be defeated by law enforcement – there has to be an ideological component [in combating terrorism]," Sutarman said.

The four-star general argued that the police therefore needed to continue to collaborate with other stakeholders to as part of deradicalization efforts.

Police targeted

Sutarman also said there was a clear shift in the targets picked by terrorists. Tourist hangouts in Bali, hotels frequented by Westerners in Jakarta, and the Australian embassy in the capital have previously been bombed, but now terrorists seem to be mainly targeting the police, Sutarman said.

"That's because the National Police have arrested would-be terrorists before they were able to hit their targets, so now the police as an institution as well as individual officers have become targets, because they are seen as hampering the efforts [of terrorists]."

The number of 97 killed terror suspects refers to people being killed in operations to apprehend them. Another 12 were killed in suicide bombings while three perpetrators of the 2002 Bali Bombings were sentenced to death and executed.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/police-97-suspects-34-officers-killed-anti-terror-raids-since-2000/

Freedom of religion & worship

Bogor's NU leader gives fresh hope for GKI Yasmin Solution

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2015

Jakarta – Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama, says it is ready to mediate talks between the Bogor administration and the GKI Yamin congregation over the sealing of a church in Bogor.

The head of the Bogor chapter of NU, Irfan Haryanto, said on Tuesday that his organization had decided to become involved in the conflict over the church, which has been sealed off by the authorities since 2010, grabbing national media attention and giving Bogor a reputation as an "intolerant city."

"Executives of the local NU chapter have communicated with both sides. Each of them has to take a step back so that we can talk because it is very possible for this issue to be solved," Irfan said. "We want both parties to stop being so obstinate so that we can solve the problem."

Irfan called on Bogor residents to be committed to resolving the conflict and preventing similar disputes in the future if they did not want Bogor to continue with its reputation of intolerance and heated division. "Everyone must be committed to building a peaceful and tolerant Bogor," he said.

Members of the GKI Yasmin congregation were again forced to hold their Christmas service outside the State Palace in Central Jakarta two weeks ago. The group had been denied permission to hold the service outside the locked-up church in Bogor by a local mob and public order officers.

The congregation has been locked out of its church since April 2010, after the Bogor administration revoked a building permit for the church issued in 2006, following protests from hard-line Muslims who objected to having the church in their neighborhood.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/bogors-nu-leader-gives-fresh-hope-gki-yasmin-solution/

Yogya second for intolerance, religious-based violence

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2015

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Yogyakarta, previously dubbed the city of tolerance, has been ranked second for intolerance and violations of religious freedom by the Wahid Institute in its 2014 annual report.

The province at the top of the list, out of the 18 provinces monitored by the institute, is West Java with 55 cases of intolerance and violations of religious freedom, the report says.

The institute reported that during 2014, there were 21 cases of intolerance and violations of religious freedom committed in the Yogyakarta province, a drastic increase from just one in 2013.

"We suspect this is because the police did not have the guts to act firmly and the regional administrations were always doubtful of religious-based issues," the institute's head of advocacy and monitoring program, M. Subhi Azhari, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Subhi said that of the 21 cases committed in Yogyakarta, 11 were cases of Muslim – Christian relations, which included the sealing of churches, the banning of a joint Easter celebration in Gunungkidul and an attack on a joint Rosario worship.

"The Yogyakarta provincial administration and Yogyakarta Police have violated human rights because they could not protect the people's right to freedom of religion and faith," he said.

He expressed concern that Yogyakarta, which had long been renowned as a miniature Indonesia in terms of tolerance, now showed such a high rate of intolerance.

He urged the provincial administration and police to make sure that people had the freedom to practice their respective religions and faiths if they wanted the city to maintain its title as the city of tolerance.

The institute reported 158 incidents of violations of religious freedom in Indonesia in 2014, a decrease from the 245 cases reported in 2013.

The Institute recommended the central government and House of Representatives monitor intervention by regional administrations in religious-based issues, which were the authority of the central government.

The institute also urged the police to have the guts to protect minority groups and to avoid siding with perpetrators of violence by arguing that it was for the sake of security and order.

Meanwhile, Yogyakarta provincial councilor Chang Wendriyanto expressed the same, saying that both the police and the provincial administration had never acted firmly to protect minority groups practicing their respective religions and faiths.

He also criticized the Yogyakarta Police for not being serious in handling cases of violence against religious freedom. He said the provincial legislative council had repeatedly summoned the police chief for a hearing but the latter never showed up.

He also said he and his team had tried to meet the police chief at his office but were only met by the deputy chief.

Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said that acts of intolerance were still committed in the province because there were intolerant people. "This is a problem of individual awareness," he said.

He added that his administration would take legal action against intolerant groups, but said this would not mean much if there were still people with no awareness of tolerance.

Separately the Yogyakarta Police in its annual report said that no violations of human rights had been committed in the province in 2014, claiming the attack on a house hosting a joint Rosario prayer in Sleman was an ordinary crime.

"No violations of human rights were committed based on reports filed with the police," Yogyakarta Police's spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Any Pudjiastuti said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/02/yogya-second-intolerance-religious-based-violence.html

Poverty & social inequity

Data show Indonesia's poverty reduction is stagnating

Jakarta Globe - January 7, 2015

Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – The Central Statistics Agency, or BPS, last week released Indonesia's latest poverty data, which found that 27.73 million people, or about 11 percent of the country's population, lived below the poverty line as of September last year.

The agency defines being poor as living on less than Rp 312,328 ($25) a month.

The BPS's definition, which averages out to just 80 cents a day, sets a threshold for poverty that excludes many more people – as many as 9 million according to a 2012 study – than internationally accepted standards, such as that of the World Bank, which sets the "absolute" poverty line at $1.25 per day, or the even higher standard of $2 per person per day, which is the average of the national poverty lines for all developing countries.

According to the latest figures in the National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas), which BPS conducts three times a year, the number of people living below BPS's "basic needs" poverty line fell from 28.8 million (11.25 percent) in March 2014 and 28.6 million (11.46 percent) in September 2013.

Experts, however, say the declines have been too slow, especially in light of the expected relapse of many Indonesians into conditions of poverty, when the survey is conducted again in March this year, due to economic shocks as a result of the increase in subsidized fuel prices last November and the elimination of the subsidy scheme entirely on Jan 1.

The fuel price hike has triggered increases in prices of other goods and services, as evident in the 8.36 percent inflation rate BPS found in December year-on-year – higher even than the projected 7.93 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices were up 2.46 percent in December, compared with an estimate of 2.06 percent and the 1.5 percent rate in December.

The BPS survey data is consistent with findings by the World Bank, which, drawing on BPS data, concluded in a September 2014 report that progress on reducing poverty in Indonesia continues to slow, with only a reduction of 0.7 percentage points over the last two years, the smallest decline in the last decade.

The World Bank said wealth inequality, measured by an indicator called the Gini ratio, also increased in recent years. It warned that this inequality had the potential to disrupt social cohesion and jeopardize gains from solid economic growth that helped to reduce the poverty rate by roughly half from 24 percent in 1999.

The greatest risk, the World Bank said, is to the 68 million people in Indonesia who live just above the poverty line and are thus vulnerable of falling back into "official" poverty.

Economists Mayling Oey-Gardiner and Enny Sri Hartati said the new administration of President Joko Widodo needed to focus on creating more jobs and supporting business activities if he wanted to significantly reduce the poverty rate.

"Compare ourselves to China: They have done a good job at reducing poverty levels in their country because they have made great progress in the manufacturing sector," Mayling said.

She added Joko's administration would similarly fail to eradicate poverty if it continued on the path of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whom she said relied solely on poverty alleviation programs to address the issue. "It is now the task of Joko's administration to address poverty by spurring the growth of industries, especially locally owned ones," she said.

Mayling said this entailed revisiting regulations that posed obstacles to permits for opening and running businesses. "More people in Indonesia will be unemployed if the [business] permit application system remains complicated," Mayling said.

Enny, an economist with the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), similarly said the government needed to overhaul its poverty alleviation policy by integrating it with programs to drive business activities, especially small-scale ones.

"Cash transfers only will not be effective for alleviating poverty," Enny said, referring to the controversial but common practice of direct cash aid to Indonesia's poor households following increases in subsidized fuel prices.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/data-show-indonesias-poverty-reduction-stagnating/

Governance & administration

Jokowi ups his game with chief of staff post

Jakarta Globe - January 2, 2015

Carlos Paath & Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo's recent appointment of former Army general Luhut Binsar Panjaitan as his chief of staff, an unprecedented position in Indonesian cabinets, has fueled speculation among political observers about the latest power play surrounding the president.

Luhut, a former industry and trade ministry and a senior adviser to the Golkar Party, was chosen to lead a new institution, and his position comes with perks equal to those of ministers.

"The presidential chief of staff will lead the Presidential Working Unit [UKP]. The presidential decree was signed today as well," Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto said on the sidelines of Luhut's inauguration ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"The tasks [of the presidential chief of staff] include providing the president with strategic information, maintaining communication between [political] institutions and helping the president identify strategic issues."

Andi added that the new presidential institution was in no way related to the Presidential Delivery Unity for Development, Monitoring and Oversight, or UKP4, established by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his second term in office.

The UKP4 was established to monitor the government's development programs. It was involved in a wide range of issues, from simplifying investment bureaucracy to supervising carbon trading programs. It was also tasked with monitoring and evaluating ministries' performances.

"The UKP4, as an institution, doesn't exist anymore. Some of its functions are being taken over by the cabinet secretary, the presidential chief of staff and state secretary," Andi said, stopping short of explaining which function was handed over to which institution.

"This job is really interesting and has many great challenges. As the president's helper, I will do my best," Luhut said after being sworn in.

He added that there would be no overlap between the tasks of the presidential chief of staff, the cabinet secretary and the state secretary, the role of which is currently held by Pratikno. "I think the division of work is clear," Luhut said.

The president on Wednesday also appointed a new chief of staff for the Navy. Adm. Ade Supandi, a former chief of general staff at the Indonesian Military (TNI), replaces Adm. Marsetio, who is retiring this month.

"The new Navy chief of staff must continue the [Navy's] effort to become a world-class defense force, which is what Marsetio had been trying to achieve," military observer Susaningtyas Handayani Kertopati said on Wednesday.

The inauguration ceremony at the State Palace was attended by ministers; the chief justice of the Constitutional Court, Hamdan Zoelva; two deputy speakers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Hidayat Nur Wahid and Oesman Sapta Odang; a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Agus Hermanto; and the chief of the National Police, Gen. Sutarman.

The appointment of Luhut is seen by some observers as another one of Joko's attempts to balance the political power play being waged within his government.

Joko, a junior member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P), is seen by many as struggling under the thumb of elite politicians who have closed ranks around him – mainly PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) chairman and media mogul Surya Paloh, and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

However, recent actions suggest the president is gradually trying to break free from these Old Guard influences.

Hamdi Muluk, a professor in political psychology at the University of Indonesia, sees the presidential chief of staff as a very strategic position that would grant Luhut significant power in the government.

"[Luhuk's appointment] may be one of Jokowi's tactics to balance the power play around him," Hamdi said, referring to Joko by his nickname.

"And I think it will surely work. Luhut is quite a powerful [politician], and Jokowi himself said he had known Luhut, had been friends with him for quite some time. They can trust each other, they can work well together."

Hamdi pointed out that Luhut was not only a veteran politician, but he also had strong military links, particularly within the Army. Luhut served as a commander in the Army's Special Forces, or Kopassus, and a commander of its infantry division.

He was appointed as the Indonesian ambassador to Singapore by former president B.J. Habibie in 1999, and named industry and trade minister during the late Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's presidency from 2000 to 2001.

Luhut was a senior adviser with the Golkar Party until earlier this year, when he strayed from the party by voicing his support for Joko's presidential bid ahead of the July 9 presidential election. Golkar, meanwhile, sided with the Red-White Coalition to support the presidential bid of former Army general Prabowo Subianto – also a former Kopassus commander.

Luhut has long defended Joko from accusations that labeled the former Jakarta governor as nothing more than a political puppet to Megawati. The 67-year-old said he had known the president since long before they began collaborating in a furniture business together, and before Joko was elected mayor of Solo, Central Java.

"When people say Jokowi is a puppet; it's not true," Luhut insisted, adding that only those who did not know the president would make such allegations.

Arbi Sanit, a political expert at the University of Indonesia, sees Joko's appointment of Luhut as the president's attempt to strengthen his military backing.

Two other retired military generals are part of Joko's inner circle, namely Ryamizard Ryacudu, the defense minister, and A.M. Hendropriyono, one of the president's senior advisers.

Arbi pointed out that Joko would need all of them to strengthen his military links, for two reasons: To support his "weak" presidency – given his status as a newcomer on Indonesia's political stage – and to support the government's flagship programs that require military backing.

"Jokowi is popular among the common people. But at the elite level, he has no one. His leadership is weak, so he needs the military as an anchor," Arbi said, adding that the president also needed to fortify his control over the Indonesian Military, citing its reluctance to support his administration's flagship policies, such as the sinking of foreign-flagged vessels poaching in Indonesian waters.

"The maritime minister has complained about the Navy's slow response to her request to sink [illegal] vessels," Arbi said. "Joko needs more control over the military – enough to make them respond immediately to his orders."

Arbi added that Joko had so far been seen as relying heavily on his closest aides, such as Cabinet Secretary Andi and State Secretary Pratikno, to run his administration. Luhut's addition to the power circle – with his vast experience in the military, political and business sectors – is expected to reinforce the government.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/joko-ups-his-game-with-chief-of-staff-post/

Jakarta & urban life

2014: Thousands lose homes to make way for river dredging

Jakarta Post - January 6, 2015

Indra Budiari, Jakarta – The city administration evicted almost 14,000 people from their homes last year and put an end to the businesses of more than 2,000 street vendors, paving the way for river widening and dredging, toll road expansion and more green areas.

Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama said the move was necessary to reduce the city's problems, pointing the finger at squatters as the cause of annual flooding in the capital.

Recent data released by the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) indicate that the administration evicted 13,852 squatters from their homes last year as well as ended the business of 2,194 street vendors.

The number of evicted squatters was lower than the year before when Fakta recorded 18,496 people evicted, while fewer street vendors, 1,641, were evicted in 2013.

Ahok, the former deputy who replaced Joko "Jokowi" Widodo when he became the president, has repeatedly said he would continue conducting evictions for the sake of the city.

He said squatters were the main cause of annual flooding in the capital because the rivers were surrounded by illegal homes and could not function properly and that squatters therefore had to be evicted.

Fakta's research found that most of the evicted families – almost 500 – came from the Sunter River area in North Jakarta, followed by Pejagalan in North Jakarta and East Tebet in South Jakarta with more than 200 families.

Most of the street vendors were evicted from Mangga Besar Station in Central Jakarta, with 683 vendors, Kali Baru Jatinegara in East Jakarta with 300 vendors and Kebayoran Lama in South Jakarta with 200 vendors.

Ahok said the city would evict illegal residents and pay compensation of an amount determined by the city administration, but underlined that it would depend on how long they had lived in the neighborhood.

Furthermore, Ahok said the policy on evictions would not get any softer in 2015 and emphasized that he was ready to face resistance.

A number of human rights activists have expressed disappointment over the controversial policy, underlining the city administration's failure to provide sufficient compensation to the evictees.

Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) lawyer Handika Febrian told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview that most evictions were done without sufficient preparation and also impoverished the already underprivileged residents.

In 2014, 825 eviction victims asked LBH Jakarta for legal assistance or to help them obtain the promised compensation or low-rent housing.

"Not every eviction victim who lived there for more than 30 years got relocated because all of the low-cost apartments had already been rented out. Some of them have no other place to go," Handika said on Monday.

He said squatters and illegal vendors occupied their premises without deeds, but the city government should "provide a more comprehensive plan" to make the city a better place instead of conducting evictions.

Handika added that the city administration's spatial planning had shown the city's disregard for its citizens' rights because most plans, such as river normalization, green area widening and the beautification of the city, would necessitate more evictions. "This year will be tougher," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/06/2014-thousands-lose-homes-make-way-river-dredging.html

Transport & communication

Indonesia's new airfare regulation comes under fire

Jakarta Globe - January 8, 2015

Kennial Caroline Laia, Farouk Arnaz & Yerema Sukoyo, Jakarta – Indonesian Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan's move to set a price floor for airfares, citing ostensible safety concerns, has drawn a wave of condemnation, with experts and lawmakers calling the decision irrelevant and unnecessary.

The minister's adviser, Hadi Djuraid, announced on Tuesday that Jonan will issue a regulation that bar low-cost carriers such as AirAsia from offering tickets more than 40 percent below the price offered by mainline carriers.

"In the future, [budget carriers] can no longer offer cheap tickets, like say Rp 50,000 [$3.93]. The limit will be set at 40 percent [of prices set by non-budget airlines]," Hadi said as quoted by Detik.com. "We are still awaiting approval from the ministry of justice.

"This [regulation] was created to give [low-cost] airlines the financial means to increase safety standards." Transportation Ministry spokesman J.A. Barata added that the rule would only apply to domestic flights.

Aviation experts and lawmakers slammed the decision, saying the minister overstepped his authority. Former Air Chief Marshal Chappy Hakim argued out that the minister could – and should – set a more stringent safety standards for all airlines rather than micromanaging their ticket and fee structures.

"When we talk about flight operations, it's all about discipline and supervision. It's as simple as that," Chappy told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday. "It's important for the government to enforce existing safety regulations instead [of new fee structures]."

Aviation expert Gerry Soejatman called the minister's move "a blunder" and "irrelevant to flight safety."

"Ticket prices don't have anything to do with the flight safety at all," he said. "If the government wants to improve [safety standards], they should conduct inspections to see if safety regulations are met.

"Issuing such a policy on ticket prices is just unreasonable. It doesn't make any sense. Airlines are now far more aware of safety [measures]. They realize that a bad safety [record] is damaging to ticket sales."

The government's proposed fare floor would not address the real problem: lax procedures by operations managers, air traffic controllers and safety inspectors, Gerry added.

Tulus Abadi, who chairs the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), said ticket prices have more to do with service than safety, noting that accidents occur just as often on more expensive flights.

"Tourism can be affected by this policy. We hope that the government will consider [its impact on] other related sectors," Tulus said as quoted by Tribunnews.com.

Meanwhile, the National Police said on Wednesday that its Criminal Investigation Division has formed a team to look into the Dec. 28 crash of Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501, despite the fact that the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has not yet issued any statements or findings as to why the aircraft plunged into the Java Sea about an hour into flight from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore.

"According to our Criminal Investigation chief, the division is currently forming a team [that will work] alongside KNKT," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie said.

The squad "will investigate whether or not [the crash] was the result of a criminal violation," he said. "Police are still collecting evidence and have not made any conclusions on the matter."

The Transportation Ministry suspended AirAsia routes between Medan and Palembang on Tuesday for not having the required flight permits. The infringement came to light during an investigation into the Malaysia-based budget carrier's operations in Indonesia, triggered by revelations that Flight QZ8501 was operating beyond the scope of the carrier's license. The Surabaya-Singapore flight was permitted to fly four days a week, but not on Sunday, the day of the crash.

Jonan added that the ministry has also requested the involvement of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

In a statement released on Wednesday, AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes denied the violation, insisting the Surabaya-Singapore flights were given proper permission from Indonesian authorities "to fly seven times a week."

"What happened is just an administrative problem," he said suggesting that Indonesian authorities might have forgotten they had issued the license to AirAsia.

Fernandes contended that the AirAsia flight would not have been approved to land in Singapore by that country's Civil Aviation Authority had the carrier failed to obtain proper permits from its Indonesian counterparts.

Criminal law expert Kris Laga Kleden from Surabaya's August 17 University said police should launch an investigation into the ministry of transportation if it appears that QZ8501 did not have proper permission to take off. "If [the aircraft] didn't have a permit [to travel to Singapore] then why was it allowed to fly? Who authorized it?" he said.

House of Representatives lawmaker Bambang Haryo Soekartono of the Gerindra Party, however, was ready with answers: "The minister must take responsibility.

Determining whether a flight is allowed to operate is in the hands of the minister," he said. "It is the [Transportation Ministry that should be investigated."

Jonan conceded he had not ruled out the possibility of his officials' involvement in the apparent licensing discrepancy. "I will not protect my men. Facts are facts. Whoever is responsible will face sanctions," he added.

Yudi Widiana, deputy chairman of the House commission overseeing transportation, urged Jonan to wait for KNKT's findings before creating new regulations.

"The ministry should show more empathy toward the victims and their family members. It should focus on the aircraft's recovery efforts and finding the black box," Yudi said.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesias-new-airfare-regulation-comes-fire/

Heads roll on signs of foul play

Jakarta Post - January 6, 2015

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – Citing signs of foul play in allowing AirAsia flight QZ8501 to operate without proper permits, the Transportation Ministry ordered on Monday the suspensions of several airport and control tower officials.

The Transportation Ministry's acting director general for air transportation, Djoko Murjatmodjo, said that Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan had ordered PT Angkasa Pura I (AP I), the operator of Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, and state navigation operator Airnav Indonesia to suspend officials deemed responsible for allowing AirAsia to take off without the correct permits.

"According to the direction given by the minister, all officials responsible for allowing AirAsia to operate outside its approved flight slots will be given sanctions, including those who work for Airnav and AP I," Djoko said in a press conference.

In response to the instruction, AP I immediately suspended its operation manager and apron movement control (AMC) supervisor.

"The suspension is solely based on the instruction given by the minister to ease the investigation process," the firm's corporate secretary Farid Indra Nugraha said.

Flight QZ8501, carrying 162 people to Singapore from Indonesia's second- biggest city, Surabaya, was officially announced missing two and a half hours after it took off at 5:36 a.m. on Dec. 28.

Victims as well as debris from the plane were first spotted two days later in Karimata Strait, which separates the islands of Belitung and Kalimantan.

A few days after the crash, the ministry decided to suspend all AirAsia flights between Surabaya and Singapore, describing the flight as illegal.

"Investigations are underway to ascertain how the airline could fly without the ministry's knowledge," Djoko said, adding that similar sanctions would be imposed on any ministry officials implicated.

AirAsia Indonesia is licensed to fly from Surabaya to Singapore every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. But in October, the airline revised its schedule to fly on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, without the required permission from the ministry.

The change in the schedule is believed to have exacerbated the already overcrowded Surabaya-Singapore route, lessening the space for pilots to maneuver to avoid threatening storms.

Authorities have said that part of the route, among the busiest in the region, was covered by cumulonimbus clouds, a type of cumulus cloud associated with thunder storms and heavy precipitation, on the day the plane went down.

AirNav has said that air traffic control (ATC) was about to approve flight QZ8501's request to climb to a higher altitude when the plane vanished.

The request could not be immediately granted as there were already six aircraft flying above flight QZ8501. Around three minutes after the request was sent, AirNav agreed to approve it, but the plane could no longer be contacted.

Despite the irregularities, AirNav has yet to suspend any officials as requested by the ministry.

Airnav president director Bambang Tjahjono said that the firm had not received an official letter recommending the suspension and that the firm would continue to follow the investigation process conducted by the government.

Aviation analyst Arista Atmadjati said that during the peak season, such as in December, a lot of airlines requested additional flight slots to cater to increasing demand for travel, resulting in crowded air space.

Arista called on the ministry to expedite the investigation into speculation that a backroom deal had taken place regarding additions to or changes in flight slots.

"During peak season, stricter measures are needed to ensure that all airlines, including low-cost carriers, are operating according to the regulations," he said.

Arista said that Indonesia met less than 60 percent of the requirements needed before its aviation safety level could be raised by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA downgraded Indonesia's aviation safety level to category 2 seven years ago because of a poor safety record.

With air travel becoming more and more affordable over the past decade, Indonesia posted an average of 13.8 percent and 19.3 percent growth in domestic and international passenger numbers between 2009 and 2013, respectively, according to the Transportation Ministry. The rapid increase comes amid a lack of well-equipped domestic airports, trained professionals and navigation infrastructure.

Several irregularities

1. AirAsia Indonesia is licensed to fly from Surabaya to Singapore every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. But in October, the airline revised its schedule to fly on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, without the required permission from the Transportation Ministry.

2. On occasion, AirAsia Indonesia pilots have not been directly briefed by the flight operation officer (FOO) prior to departure.

3. The pilots of flight QZ8501 had not received the required weather report from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). AirAsia received the BMKG report at 7 a.m. on Dec. 28, the day of the crash, after the plane's departure at 5:35 a.m.

4. The departure time of flight QZ8501 had been brought forward from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m.

5. Just before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control that he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/06/heads-roll-signs-foul-play.html

Asean Open Skies set to go ahead despite year of disasters in 2014

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2015

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The recent crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea will not deter Indonesia's aviation industry from embracing the opportunities offered by the Asean Open Skies policy, a scheme to liberalize the regional aviation market that came into effect on Jan. 1.

Under the new policy, Southeast Asia's skies will be transformed into a single aviation market, part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (Asean) Economic Community commitments that have been agreed upon by heads of the 10 members states of bloc.

Asean Open Skies, set to be fully effective by the end of the year, is expected to boost connectivity and people's movements in the region, and in turn spur regional economic growth.

Three major tragedies afflicting Southeast Asia's aviation sector last year – the loss of two Malaysia Airlines flights and the AirAsia tragedy – have raised questions as about whether Asean will remain on track for its Open Skies plan.

On Sunday, Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesman J.A. Bharata said the policy was still on course.

"We're currently revamping our airlines, evaluating their compliance with existing regulations to further improve passengers' safety," Bharata said, adding that the moves were conducted to support Indonesia's implementation of the policy.

The renewed scrutiny comes in the wake of the crash of Flight QZ8501, which went missing shortly after departing from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya on Dec. 28, en route to Singapore with 162 people on board.

The Transportation Ministry has since declared that the carrier did not have permission to fly that route on a Sunday, although Singapore officials say it was cleared at that end for the flight.

Indonesian officials did not say why Flight QZ8501, a regularly scheduled flight, was allowed to operate without permission. Indonesia's acting director general for air transportation, Djoko Murjatmodjo, said last week that all airlines operating in the country would be evaluated for any route violations.

Arif Wibowo, the chairman of the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA), said on Monday that the AirAsia crash and subsequent scrutiny of airlines' compliance with safety regulations would not deter the local aviation industry from taking up the opportunities offered by the Open Skies policy.

"Asean Open Skies is a political will of the government. We'll face it head-on; we're used to free competition after all," said Arif, also the newly appointed chief executive officer of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

He added some local airlines, including Garuda's low-cost unit, Citilink, had been applying or preparing to apply for permits to operate more flights bound for other Southeast Asian countries.

"They're conducting procedures for that; some of them have applied for flight permits," Arif told the Jakarta Globe. He added the local industry's major concern surrounding the implementation of Asean Open Skies remained competitiveness issues.

"Are local airlines competing on a level playing field [with other airlines in the region]?" Arif said, echoing the concern expressed by executives of several Indonesian airlines just last month.

They said they were not ready to face Asean Open Skies, citing tax policies, airport inefficiencies and high aviation fuel costs in Indonesia that make local airlines less competitive than their Southeast Asian counterparts – especially those from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Aviation expert Arista Atmadjati of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University said on Monday that local airlines would have to brace for the new policy because it was part of the government's commitment to supporting Asean integration under the Asean Economic Community scheme.

The liberalized market will boost flight frequency in the region, but this should not be a source of concern, Arista said. He cited as an example the busy route near Indonesia's Belitung Island, where Flight QZ8501 had its last contact with air traffic control.

When the incident occurred, six other planes were flying in the area, and two others were approaching; but even so, the high-traffic air space was not yet overcapacity, according to Indonesia's state navigation operator, AirNav.

"According to the head of AirNav [...] that air space can accommodate up to 14 flights," said Arista, also a marketing analyst with Garuda.

The Transportation Ministry said in September that five cities – Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Denpasar and Makassar – were ready to fully open their skies in 2015 to embrace the new Asean policy.

Hemi Pramuraharjo, a spokesman with the ministry's Directorate General of Aviation, said last month that the government planned to open more takeoff and landing slots to foreign airlines at airports in those five cities.

He noted that currently 72 percent of flight slots in the country's main gateway, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport outside Jakarta, were filled by domestic flights.

"The ideal figure should be 35 percent domestic, 65 percent," Hemi said. "We will be pushing for that, not just for Soekarno-Hatta, but for all five airports that will be opened up during the Open Skies policy," he added.

"We want to have a balanced proportion. If foreign airlines can't enter Indonesia, then the impact will be that our airlines can't go to their countries. It's an issue of reciprocity."

Arista said giving more slots to foreign airlines from around the region should not be a problem as long as the requests were properly examined before being approved by the Transportation Ministry.

"Although they all compete to enter Indonesia, given the size of Indonesia's aviation market, which is the largest in the region, the granting of slots should be limited," he said.

"It should be managed and approved by the air transport directorate general, taking into account the capacity of the airports in question and so on."

The capacity of the five airports will determine whether the implementation of the Open Skies policy can run smoothly, especially because extra slots – according to the ministry's plans – will mainly be given outside airports' regular operating hours.

"Do those airports have enough human resources for extended operating hours? Do they have enough supporting facilities?" Arista said.

He added, though, that he was confident that by July or August, the five airports would be ready to fully accommodate Asean Open Skies, citing ongoing expansions of some of the airports that are expected to complete by that time.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/asean-open-skies-set-to-go-ahead-despite-year-of-disasters-in-2014/

AirAsia banned from key routes amid government crackdown

Sydney Morning Herald - January 6, 2015

Michael Bachelard – AirAsia has been banned from flying five of its key Indonesian domestic services out of Surabaya airport as part of a government crackdown on previously unenforced regulations in the wake of the crash of flight QZ8501.

The bans on the flights – three from Surabaya to the capital, Jakarta, one to Bali and one to regional centre Bandung – will deal another blow to the Malaysia-based low-cost carrier, which had already been suspended from the Surabaya-Singapore route entirely.

It's part of a broader government crackdown on lax administration of flight permits from Surabaya Airport. The fast-growing Indonesian-owned low cost carrier Lion Air has been stopped from flying nine of its weekly services, and smaller aircraft Trigana and KalStar have also been affected.

And late on Tuesday, another airport, Medan, made a similar decision, banning AirAsia from flying its Tuesday Medan to Palembang service.

The general manager of Indonesia's airport authority, Trikor Hardjo, said he had made the decision because the airlines had changed aspects of their scheduling and so lacked permits to fly some services. He told news portal Detik.com he had, "tightened the rules of the game".

But the sudden move will cast Indonesia's teeming aviation industry into disarray, and is likely to mean long delays for passengers as they are transferred to other flights.

The Indonesian government's regulation of its burgeoning airline industry has been judged one of the worst in the world. The International Civil Aviation Organisation ranks its ability to administer aviation as worse than that in Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

Aviation commentator Gerry Soejatman said the latest move by regulators was a ridiculous reaction to the death of 162 passengers on the December 28 AirAsia flight to Singapore. If the crackdown extended to other airports, other than just Surabaya, hundreds of flights could be suspended or banned.

"You can say we've now found all these violations of the route permits, but you can also say this is overkill... We are now the laughing stock of the world; back to where we were in 2007 [after the fatal crash of Garuda flight GA200]," Mr Soejatman said.

"Do you want to crack down and stop everything? Or shouldn't you just say, 'Fix the problem or I'll revoke your licence'."

Indonesia has already suspended the employment of a number of civil aviation employees who were involved in the approval for AirAsia to fly its fatal route to Singapore. Regulators are also now enforcing a requirement for face-to-face briefings with pilots on weather conditions. AirAsia has not so far issued any comment.

The news came as the focus of the search for AirAsia QZ8501 turned definitively underwater, with rescue crews believing there is now less chance of finding bodies floating free of the plane's wreckage.

Bambang Soelistyo, the chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency Basarnas, said on Tuesday the weather on the 10th morning of the search was "quite friendly to us", which marks a break from a series of bad weather days.

It opens the possibility that dive teams and underwater robotic vehicles may be able to descend to the area where the wreckage of the aircraft is believed to be located.

Mr Soelistyo said five ships, some with divers on board, had been dispatched to a smaller search area, known as the "second additional area", where sonar earlier in the week spotted objects up to 18 metres long which are believed to be part of the wreckage.

They will look again for plane body parts and the black box flight recorder. No new bodies were found overnight in the open ocean, so the tally stands at 37.

"We believe some of the victims are still trapped inside the plane's body," Mr Soelistyo said. "We evacuated the bodies that popped up and were floating on the waters earlier because we were afraid that they might be carried out further by the current and we would miss them. But now, if we are just searching for victims trapped inside the plane, the job will be easier."

Reports emerged from Surabaya that AirAsia was offering a 300 million rupiah ($29,000) initial compensation package to the families of crash victims, but people contacted by Fairfax Media said money had not been discussed with them.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/airasia-banned-from-key-routes-amid-government-crackdown-20150106-12j1oh.html

Indonesian pilots take off with anger at minister's comments

Jakarta Globe - January 5, 2015

Jakarta – Pilots have protested against government officials' recent actions, which suggest that Indonesia AirAsia was at fault for alleged procedural violations, prior to the ill-fated flight that crashed in the Java Sea amid bad weather on Dec. 28.

Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan reportedly chastised Indonesia AirAsia executives during his visit to the airline's office in Tangerang, Banten, last week.

He reportedly spoke in a high-pitch, angry tone after a director with Indonesia AirAsia, the local unit of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia, suggested that it is not necessary for a pilot to have a weather briefing by a flight operation officer before taking off.

"When we have regulations, you must comply with them; don't attempt to violate them. I can revoke your license," Ignasius was quoted as saying by Indonesian news portal Kompas.com.

Ignasius's reported outburst has drawn protest from Indonesian pilots, with some of them writing so-called "open letters" to the minister in response to his outburst and published the letters online.

Sardjono Jhony Tjitrokusumo, who is a senior pilot, called Ignasius's reprimand baseless, saying that it came from someone who does not have any knowledge of the aviation industry.

"Don't make things up and say pilots are at fault if they don't undergo briefing. It is not part of the required procedures [before taking off]," Sardjono said in a written statement sent to the press.

He said pilots commonly briefed themselves on weather conditions, which, in the case of Indonesia, are based on information provided by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

"There is no such things as pilots being briefed before flight. Pilots of airlines around the world do self-briefings. They get printed weather information from systems used by their [respective] airlines; that information is provided before they fly," Sardjono went on.

"Can you imagine if all pilots from all flights must be briefed on weather conditions by the BMKG? How many of them will have to stand in line for that? Where should they queue? "Don't be ridiculous, especially for those who have no knowledge of aviation."

Ignasius was the executive director of state-owned train operator Kereta Api Indonesia before President Joko Widodo appointed him in October as Indonesia's new transportation minister.

Sardjono called on all parties to await results of the investigation into the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 accident by the National Committee on Transportation Safety (KNKT), and in the meantime refrain from commenting unnecessarily.

"The cause of the accident is not yet known. Wait patiently for the KNKT results," Sadjono said. "Don't suddenly become an aviation expert, as if you know everything about the industry. Please be wise."

Another open letter addressed to Ignasius was written by pilot Fadjar Nugroho, who said the BMKG had for some time now been allowing pilots to access weather information – which is constantly updated – on its website, and that the information is the same as that provided in a briefing.

"The Internet technology has allowed BMKG to provide [weather] information online on its website... It is as good as [those provided by] similar agencies in other countries, which provide their products for free on the Internet. We can even see satellite images [on the BMKG's] website," Fajar said.

"Since weather information for flights became available on the BMKG's website, many of my colleagues – fellow pilots and FOOs [flight operations officers] – no longer need to come to the briefing office. Don't admonish us because we get weather information from the Internet; it is after all provided by the BMKG. As aviators, we appreciate human's lives... our own lives, as well as those of the passengers and our families," he added.

Transportation Ministry spokesman J.A. Bharata on Sunday told the Jakarta Globe that the ministry would make briefings by an FOO a requirement, not just a preference, before take-off. He added that the new rule was not baseless because some pilots, including a senior one with Indonesia AirAsia who spoke to Ignasius during the minister's visit to the airline's office, said they preferred to be briefed by an FOO rather than do a self-briefing.

Ignasius told airlines to hire more FOOs if necessary, saying that passengers' safety must not be compromised for cost efficiency.

Suspended

Sardjono questioned the Transportation Ministry's decision to suspend Indonesia AirAsia's Surabaya-Singapore route, following the directorate general for air transportation's finding that the ill-fated QZ8501 flew on Sunday, outside flying days for the route that have been previously approved for the airline for the October 2014 to March 2015 period.

Acting director general for air transport Djoko Murjatmodjo said the airline had been authorized to fly only four days in a week – Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

"It violated the route permit given, the schedule given, that's the problem," Djoko told AFP over the weekend. "AirAsia's permit for the route has been frozen because it violated the route permit given."

Sardjono, however, argued that the plane could have never flown out of Surabaya's Juanda Airport that day, and to Singapore's Changi Airport without approval from the authorities in both Juanda and Changi.

"Even if it is outside the authorized schedule, the AirAsia flight on Sunday must have obtained a permit. [It flew] during a holiday season... there must have been a flight approval for extra flights. That is part of [airlines'] Christmas and New Year holiday services," the senior pilot said.

Indonesian transportation observer Adrianus Dharmawan agreed, suggesting that even if the Indonesian officials might be more prone to conducting procedural violations, that could not be the case with Singapore.

"I believe the Singaporean authorities were not at fault. A flight to that country will never happen with a flawed permit. They are renowned for their strict adherence to regulations," said Adrianus, a former editor-in-chief of aviation magazine Angkasa, according to Indonesian news portal Metrotvnews.com.

Djoko said the permit for the route would be frozen until investigations were completed, and that the investigations included how Indonesia AirAsia managed to secure the permit to fly on that Sunday from Surabaya to Singapore. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said it had granted permission for the airline's Sunday flight.

Indonesia AirAsia, meanwhile, has declined to comment until the probe is complete, but said it would "fully cooperate" with the government.

Before take-off, the pilot of Flight 8501 had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid the storm, but the request was not approved due to other planes above him on the popular route, according to AirNav, Indonesia's air traffic control.

'Triggering factor'

In his last communication, Capt. Iriyanto, an experienced former Air Force pilot, said he wanted to change course to avoid the menacing storm system. Then all contact was lost, about 40 minutes after the plane had taken off.

The BMKG on Sunday said weather was the "triggering factor" in the crash of the flight with icing likely causing engine damage.

"The most probable weather phenomenon was icing, which can cause engine damage due to a cooling process. This is just one of the possibilities that occurred based on the analysis of existing meteorological data," the BMKG said.

The relief operation has prioritized finding the bodies of those on board the ill-fated flight with 162 people on board. As of Sunday, at least 37 bodies had been recovered.

The three major aviation tragedies that hit Southeast Asia's aviation sector in 2014, including the recent AirAsia plane crash, have raised questioned as to whether the agreement to liberalize the regional aviation industry this year – known as Asean Open Skies – would still proceed. The other two tragedies last year involved Malaysia Airlines planes: the MH370 flight that disappeared from radar after leaving Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing in March, and the MH17 flight that was shot down over Ukraine in July.

Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesman J.A. Bharata on Sunday said the Asean Open Skies agreement had come into effect as planned, on Jan. 1. "We're currently revamping our airlines, evaluating their compliance with regulations to further improve passengers' safety," Bharata said.

He added, though, that the ongoing investigations did not mean a delay in the implementation of the Asean Open Skies agreement, and that they were meant instead to help the local aviation industry meet challenges brought about by the agreement.

Compliance with regulations will guarantee passengers' safety, and in turn improve competitiveness of Indonesian airlines in the regional aviation industry, currently dominated by airlines based in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Indonesian officials earlier said that five of its cities – Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Denpasar and Makassar – were ready to fully open their skies for regional airlines as part of their participation in the open skies deal.

However, some local airlines earlier voiced their reluctance to join the single-market policy unless the government helps reduce airlines' costs by simplifying tax codes, curbing airport inefficiencies and reducing the cost of jet fuel.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/pilots-take-off-with-anger-at-ministers-comments/

Indonesia cracks down on aviation sector after AirAsia crash

Associated Press - January 5, 2015

Tatan Syuflana, Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia – Highlighting the depth of Indonesia's air safety problems, the transportation ministry revealed harsh measures Monday against everyone who allowed AirAsia Flight 8501 to take off without proper permits – including the suspension of the airport's operator and officials in the control tower.

The licenses and schedules of all airlines flying in the country also will be examined to see if they are violating the rules, said Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation.

The crackdown comes as searchers continue to fight bad weather while combing the Java Sea for bodies and wreckage of the Airbus A320 that crashed Dec. 28, killing all 162 passengers and crew on board.

The plane was traveling between Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and Singapore on a Sunday. Officials have since said its permit for the popular route was only for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and that AirAsia quietly switched three of those days. Officials in Singapore, however, have said the plane was authorized to fly on Sundays from its end.

While the airline is being investigated, Indonesia announced on Saturday that it banned all AirAsia flights between Surabaya and Singapore.

Murjatmodjo said the ministry also issued a directive Dec. 31 ordering all airlines to provide pilots with up-to-date weather reports before they take off. Currently, it's up to the captain and co-pilot to research and evaluate flying conditions before departing. In other countries, the carrier's flight operations department performs that task for them.

Dozens of airlines emerged after Indonesia deregulated its aviation industry in the 1990s, making air travel affordable for the first time for many in the world's fourth most populous nation. But a string of accidents in recent years has raised urgent questions about the safety of Indonesia's booming airline sector, with experts saying poor maintenance, rule-bending, and a shortage of trained professionals are partly to blame.

AirAsia, which began operations in 2001 and quickly became one of the region's leaders in low-cost air travel, has not experienced any other crashes and is widely considered a benchmark for safety and professionalism.

It is not known what caused Flight 8501 to crash into the Java Sea 42 minutes after taking off on what was supposed to be a two-hour flight. Just before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control that he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.

While it remains unclear what caused the disaster, bad weather appears to have been a factor, according to a report by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.

Since the plane's disappearance, a massive international hunt has been underway. So far, 37 bodies have been recovered, including three more Monday, and sonar has identified five large pieces of what's believed to be the plane on the ocean floor. Divers have tried to get a visual on the objects, but strong currents, silt and mud have kept them from reaching it.

As bodies have been flown back to Surabaya, one by one, many victims' family members have struggled to deal with the slow process and fears that their loved ones may never be found.

On Monday, the relatives were offered a chance to visit the site where the plane crashed into the sea, to scatter flowers and say good-bye.

"I will facilitate the families of the victims who want to see the scene directly and how rescuers are battling high waves and bad weather to search for their loved ones and the plane," said Gen. Moeldoko, Indonesia's top military commander. "We'll prepare two aircraft and a warship for them to go there and throw flowers."

[Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini, Ali Kotarumalos, Margie Mason and Robin McDowell in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/05/indonesia-cracks-down-aviation-sector-after-airasia-crash.html

Crowded skies in Southeast Asia put pressure on pilots, air traffic control

Reuters - January 1, 2015

Jane Wardell & Anshuman Daga, Sydney/Singapore – The sheer volume of flights in the skies over Southeast Asia is putting pressure on outdated air traffic control and on pilots to take risky unilateral action in crises such as that possibly faced by AirAsia Flight QZ8501.

Pilots who have flown the Indonesia to Singapore route say it's not unusual for delays to requests to increase altitude to avoid bad weather – and for requests to eventually be rejected due to the number of other planes in the area.

That leaves pilots flying in a region of volatile weather conditions facing a high-risk challenge: when to take matters into their own hands and declare an emergency, allowing them to take action without getting permission from air traffic control.

Most consider that step – which requires them to broadcast a wideband call to other aircraft in the area and which will later be closely scrutinized by regulators – a last resort.

"As a professional pilot, you are obligated to think quickly," a Qantas Airways pilot with 25 years' experience in the region told Reuters. "If you've signed for the plane, as we put it, you've signed for potentially 300 passengers and millions of dollars' worth of aircraft; that's a multibillion dollar liability. Part of the job is to balance the risk and make a snap decision."

Weighing those risks has become increasingly difficult in Southeast Asia, an area that has seen explosive growth in budget air travel in recent years.

The number of passengers carried annually across Asia-Pacific has jumped by two-thirds in the past five years to more than 1 billion, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Budget airlines, which only took to the skies around a dozen years ago, today make up about 60 percent of Southeast Asia's seat capacity. AirAsia and Indonesia's Lion Air have placed record orders with the main plane makers.

Boeing predicts the region's airlines will need about 13,000 new planes over the next two decades, and Airbus expects Asia-Pacific to drive demand over that period.

"There are certain flight corridors that are over-stressed due to traffic," said a former Singapore Airlines (SIA) pilot with a decade's flying experience at the carrier. "One certainly would be the Indonesia/Singapore flights, which are flown by many different companies and aircraft types at a variety of altitudes and speeds."

Pilots say that causes a logistical nightmare for the region's air traffic control (ATC), particularly outside high-tech hubs such as Singapore.

"As the airways become more crowded, it takes ATC longer to coordinate and give clearances such as higher altitudes and weather deviations," the former SIA pilot said.

This can be critical in a region where weather conditions can change very quickly, with strong winds and tropical thunderstorms posing time-critical challenges for pilots.

The circumstances around the AirAsia crash are not yet known, but investigators and the airline's chief Tony Fernandes have pointed to changeable weather being a significant factor.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines said last month that while airlines were investing heavily in fuel-efficient planes to meet rising demand, there was growing concern about the need to also invest in related infrastructure, such as airport terminals, runways and air navigation services.

To keep aircraft travelling in a flight corridor at a safe distance from each other, air traffic controllers in Indonesia employ procedural separation – where they use pilots' radio reports to calculate their position relative to other traffic.

That takes longer than the more sophisticated radar separation used in Singapore and elsewhere in the world, which allows a controller to more quickly take stock of radar returns from all aircraft in the area.

A lack of up-to-date equipment and volatile weather conditions were cited by pilots and aviation experts in the 2013 crash of a Lion Air Boeing 737, when the pilot reported the plane being "dragged down" by wind into the sea just short of the runway.

That was considered a classic example of wind shear – the sudden change in wind speed and direction. Airports in the region's popular island resorts, including Bali, Koh Samui, Langkawi and Cebu, don't have on-ground wind shear detection equipment to help pilots land and take off.

Pilots said critical decisions often come down to experience. "In my opinion, if I don't get permission [to change course] and there's weather ahead, I'll just deviate and deal with the authorities later," said another former SIA pilot who is now with a Gulf carrier.

Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/asia/crowded-skies-southeast-asia-put-pressure-pilots-air-traffic-control.html

Armed forces & defense

US to get involved in Indonesia military

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2015

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Indonesia and the United States have stepped up their defense cooperation with the signing of an agreement under which the former will get more support and assistance from the US in planning and managing defense strategy.

On Wednesday, the Defense Ministry and the US-based Defense Institution Reform Initiative (DIRI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing the latter to help formulate strategies with the aim of enhancing the performance of the Indonesian Military (TNI) from 2015 to 2019.

"In 2014, DIRI helped draw up Indonesia's strategic defense planning for 2015 to 2019. DIRI provided valuable input to the Defense Ministry, to TNI headquarters and to each of the three forces," Defense Ministry secretary Lt. Gen. Ediwan Prabowo said during the signing ceremony at the ministry in Jakarta.

In 2014, DIRI worked with the ministry's directorate general of defense planning for a program related to strategic planning and budgeting.

Ediwan claimed that DIRI had offered some of the best solutions to problems faced by the TNI, from the strategic level to the practical. "The DIRI programs are useful for optimizing the ministry's resources," he said.

On its website, DIRI claims to "develop effective, accountable, professional and transparent partner defense establishments in partner countries that can manage, sustain and employ national forces".

DIRI also provides "experts to work with partner nations to assess organizational weakness and establish a roadmap for addressing the shortfalls".

In the action plan for 2015, the Defense Ministry and DIRI aim to implement substantial institutional reform, including projects within the ministry's directorate general of defense strategy, directorate general of defense planning and directorate general of potential defense. Ediwan said he also encouraged other branches of the military to join the program.

"More personnel from the Army, Navy and Air Force will be encouraged to participate in DIRI programs," he said.

US deputy chief of mission Kristen Bauer said that Indonesia and the US had strengthened their ties and established a comprehensive partnership based on mutual respect, common interest and shared values. "Our defense relationship is part of it and it has been stronger," Bauer said after the signing ceremony.

Last year, Indonesia and the US shared 500 joint-exchange exercises and other activities in defense, and this year the number of joint activities is expected to rise under the DIRI programs.

Under the administration of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, defense cooperation between Indonesia and US vastly improved, with the US agreeing to sell military equipment – both new and used – to Indonesia, including three of the 24 units of F-16 Fighting Falcon Block 521Ds once used by the US National Air Force Reserves.

In 1991, the US Congress banned Indonesia from buying US weapons to upgrade its military weapons system following allegations of gross human rights violations in Santa Cruz, East Timor.

Military expert Mufti Makarim, meanwhile, lauded the defense cooperation between Indonesia and the US under the DIRI initiative.

"I hope that the cooperation between the US and the Defense Ministry will lead to further improvements in strategic planning and management, as the US is an expert in those fields," Makarim said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/08/us-get-involved-ri-military.html

Judicial & legal system

117 judges receive punishments

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2015

Jakarta – The Supreme Court said 117 judges received administrative punishment for misconduct in 2014.

"There were fewer complaints [throughout the year], but more judges received punishments," said court chief justice Hatta Ali, during a press conference on Wednesday.

Hatta said 92 court employees were handed down punishments for misconduct. "Punishments ranged from demotion to permanent dismissal," said Hatta.

Hatta said the court was committed to improving the performance of other courts next year.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/08/117-judges-receive-punishments.html

Jokowi appoints PDI-P cadre as new justice

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2015

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo decided on Tuesday to pick I Dewa Gede Palguna, a constitutional law professor at Udayana University in Bali, as the new Constitutional Court (MK) justice replacing Hamdan Zoelva – whose tenure ended on the same day.

Palguna, a former justice during the court's first generation between 2003 and 2008, who was among two final names recommended by the selection committee, will be sworn in before Jokowi at the State Palace on Wednesday. The candidate not chosen by Jokowi was Yuliandri, a law professor at Andalas University in West Sumatra.

Jokowi chose Palguna after studying the selection team's assessment of the two candidates' skills, independence and integrity, as well as verification from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) that neither of the two had a suspicious background in relation to wealth or finances.

"The document of results shows that both are very good, but of course there is a gradation there, not a quantitative assessment, but a qualitative one," State Secretary Pratikno said on Tuesday. "Moreover, Palguna was once an MK justice and the selection committee's assessment showed his good performance, independency and integrity."

The committee recently decided unanimously on the two final candidates it deemed as having the qualities necessary to ensure the continuity of the court and its quality as an institution, as well as meeting the three requirements of integrity, skills and independence, and later submitted the names to Jokowi.

During a final interview before two independent experts last week, the 53- year-old Palguna, who is a Hindu, said religious freedom was guaranteed by the Constitution and the state had an obligation to protect any religion or belief regardless of whether they were formally recognized or not.

Pratikno also gave his assurances that Palguna's appointment was not due to politicking, saying that his background as a former senior member of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had been scrutinized by the team during an open interview aimed at ensuring the independence of the candidates.

"The interviews were also used to clarify public reports or even rumors [about the candidates]," Palguna added.

The committee previously also grilled Palguna on his political history, about which Palguna said that none of his previous rulings sided with the PDI-P, later giving his assurances that he would remain objective although Jokowi came from the PDI-P.

The committee has continuously ensured a transparent selection process after activists last year criticized then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for selecting former law and justice minister Patrialis Akbar as a court justice in a vetting process held behind closed doors.

Born in Bangli, Bali, Palguna was recommended by Udayana University's center for constitutional and democratic studies. Palguna is also familiar with international law as he obtained a master's degree from Padjajaran University.

During his last day in office, Hamdan spent his time participating in a justices' meeting to finalize a number of rulings. "I [also] finished several pieces of paperwork," he added, saying that he would become actively involved in teaching at university, begin work as a consultant and write books.

Meanwhile, Yuliandri said he "appreciated Jokowi's decision" and later wished Palguna and the court the best of luck.

Denpasar High Court judge Suhartoyo, the Supreme Court's pick for a new Constitutional Court justice replacing Ahmad Fadlil Sumadi, will be sworn in on Wednesday along with Palguna.

The Constitution stipulates that the Constitutional Court must have nine justices, with the House of Representatives, the President and the Supreme Court each entitled to appoint three justices to serve five-year terms.

The Judicial Commission reiterated on Tuesday its criticism of Suhartoyo's appointment given its investigation into his involvement in the controversial release of businessman Sudjiono Timan, who was charged in a corruption case concerning Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI). Suhartoyo was on the panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court that delivered the verdict.

"I appreciated the selection committee for its efforts in providing a transparent and accountable selection process that also made room for public participation, unlike the selection process at the Supreme Court," said Taufiqurrohman Syahuri, one of the commissioners at the Judicial Commission.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/07/jokowi-appoints-pdi-p-cadre-new-justice.html

Criminal justice & prison system

Activists condemn upcoming executions in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - January 6, 2015

Hizbul Ridho & Erwin Cristianson, Jakarta – Human rights groups in Indonesia have condemned on Monday the issuance of a Supreme Court letter instructing all judiciaries to reject case reviews filed by inmates on death row, calling the letter "unconstitutional."

The letter, issued by the court last Wednesday, came at the time when the Attorney General's Office plans to execute five inmates, identities of whom remained unknown.

The five were originally scheduled to be executed by firing squad before the end of 2014 but it was postponed, after some reportedly petitioned to have their cases reviewed.

According to media reports, the letter was also issued after Supreme Court Chief Justice Hatta Ali, met with Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo and Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal and Security Affairs Tedjo Edhy Purdijanto last week.

The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) said the letter had violated a 2013 Constitutional Court ruling.

The ruling allows all inmates to file an infinite number of case reviews, provided that they have new evidence, which can overturn their conviction or make their sentences more lenient.

"We call on the Supreme Court to repeal the instruction letter. If followed, then all judges will make unconstitutional rulings," Imparsial executive director Poengky Indarti said.

Hendardi, chairman of rights group the Setara Institute, called the letter "a tragedy in our legal system," saying that it comes at a time when other countries have moved away from using capital punishment.

"Show me evidence that the death penalty has been effective in reducing crimes. Most countries have stopped using [capital punishment] because it has been ineffective in reducing crimes," he said.

The death penalty is the maximum sentence for several crimes like terrorism, drug trafficking, murder and treason.

"A second case review can save a person's life. [The government] is taking this away," he said.

Meanwhile Anggara, chairman of the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, called the letter "an intervention to the judges' independence, which is barred by the 1945 Constitution."

"If the Supreme Court does not revoke this letter, the ICJR will take legal steps to have it revoked," he said.

However, Supreme Court Judge Gayus Lumbuun said the letter contained mere "recommendations" and that it was not a binding regulation or instruction.

President Joko Widodo has stated that he will not issue clemency to prisoners on death row, particularly those convicted for drug-related offenses.

Indonesia resumed the execution of death row inmates in 2013, under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Joko's decision to follow the legacy has been met with massive outcry from human rights groups.

Meanwhile, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) agreed that there should be a limit to how many case reviews an inmate can lodge.

"A case review should be made just once, so there is a certainty of law and [convicts] will not file for one unless they're absolutely sure they can overturn their convictions," KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto said.

Bambang said providing convicts with unlimited opportunities for case reviews violates the rights of victims who want to see those found guilty punished accordingly.

Constitutional law expert Margarito Kamis said the Attorney's General Office could go forward with executing those on death row after they failed on their second case review.

Such moves, he said, will not violate the 2013 Constitutional Court ruling, which only states that "case reviews can be lodged more than once."

"Two case reviews are enough. If the [court] rejects the review, the prosecutors' office can execute them," he said. "There is no excuse for the government to delay a ruling from being implemented."

But several criminal law experts have said case reviews allow those falsely convicted by the court to utilize advancements in forensic science previously not available by the time of their conviction.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/activists-condemn-upcoming-executions-indonesia/

Government under fire for limiting case reviews

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Legal experts have lambasted President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration for backing a Supreme Court's letter that places limits on criminal convicts filing case reviews, a move deemed a violation of citizens' rights to seek justice in a legal case.

The Supreme Court letter, which grants only one chance for convicts to file a case review, opposes an earlier ruling by the Constitutional Court that allowed citizens to file multiple reviews should they produce enough evidence to challenge their verdict.

The Constitutional Court scrapped Article 268, Point 3 of the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) following a request from former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief Antasari Azhar, who was convicted in a high-profile murder case. The article limited the number of case review petitions for convicts to one.

Muzakkir, a legal expert from the Indonesian Islamic University in Yogyakarta, lambasted Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno – who had earlier voiced support for the Supreme Court's decision – for saying that multiple chances for case reviews could bring "legal uncertainty" to law enforcement institutions in executing verdicts ruled by judges in court.

Muzakkir said on Sunday that criminal verdicts were subject to potential errors, thus case reviews were the best tool for clarification should judges make mistakes in their verdicts. "An amendment to the KUHAP grants rights for law enforcement institutions to execute court orders in criminal cases," he said.

He further said that Tedjo apparently spoke without a legal basis when claiming that convicts on death row made use of their case review rights to postpone the execution of their death sentences. "Unlike other verdicts, the execution of death penalties cannot be clarified. What else is there to clarify after the execution is conducted? Thus, the execution of convicts on death row should wait until case reviews have confirmed their guilt or innocence," Muzakkir said.

On Saturday, Tedjo said death penalty convicts used their multiple case review rights as a "legal excuse" to avoid execution.

"When they hear they are soon to be executed, they suddenly file case review proposals [to the Supreme Court] to delay matters. When will the execution take place if such a condition recurs? There should be legal certainty [for law enforcement institutions] to execute death penalty convicts," Tedjo said.

Muzakkir said there was no reason for law enforcement institutions such as the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to postpone court orders for death penalty.

"If a death penalty convict files another case review, then the AGO should quickly study his or her proposal. If the proposal is supported by enough evidence, process the case review, but if not then his or execution must proceed. This is about how fast the AGO can move in such a scenario," Muzakkir said.

A legal expert from Gadjah Mada University, Zainal Arifin, concurred with Muzakkir, saying that to avoid death penalty convicts using case review chances to delay execution, the government must establish a new regulation to explain under what conditions convicts could challenge their verdicts for a second or third time. "The specific regulation then will become a guide for executions," Zainal said on Sunday.

Last week, Attorney General HM Prasetyo also supported the Supreme Court's decision to limit the number of case reviews for convicts. "It is already a good step, but it is not enough," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/05/govt-under-fire-limiting-case-reviews.html

Mining & energy

Fuel subsidies completely overhauled

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2015

Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – Indonesians will enter a new era of free- floating fuel prices after the government finally decided to overhaul the country's high-cost fuel subsidies just before the close of the year.

Under the new scheme, the government removed the subsidy for the widely used Premium gasoline, which accounts for about 65 percent of the total fuel subsidies, while maintaining the subsidies – albeit small – for diesel fuel and kerosene.

With the removal of the subsidy, the price of Premium gasoline is now Rp 7,600 per liter (60 US cents), lower than Rp 8,500 previously because the old price had exceeded its economic (market) value due to recent drops in world oil prices.

For diesel, a type of fuel widely used among fishermen, and kerosene, the government imposed a fixed subsidy of Rp 1,000 per liter. With this scheme, the new price of diesel has lowered to Rp 7,500 per liter from Rp 8,250 previously, while the price of kerosene is being maintained at Rp 2,500 per liter.

The new subsidy scheme would enable the government to cut spending for fuel subsidies next year by about 75 percent, to only Rp 60 trillion.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said explained that the price of Premium gasoline would be adjusted every month in accordance with fluctuations in global oil prices, marking an end to the price-based fuel- subsidy system that Indonesia had imposed since the oil boom in the 1980s, when it was still an oil-exporting country.

This means that Indonesians must be prepared for higher fuel prices when global oil prices and the US dollar, two major indicators for the nation's fuel imports, are on the rise.

In the past, the plan to free-float the price of subsidized fuel has been met with no lack of controversy.

In response to a judicial review on the 2001 Oil and Gas Law, a Constitutional Court ruling in 2004 stated that the prices of local gasoline and gas were influential to many Indonesians' lives and thus obliged the government to fix prices and not float them to market mechanisms.

Sudirman, nevertheless, was optimistic that the new government's policy had a strong legal basis and thus would not be deemed as unconstitutional.

"Yes, it is indeed correct that there was once a judicial review filed in the Constitutional Court [relating to a fixed-subsidy policy], but in this policy we would remain in control of gasoline and gas prices," the minister stated at a press briefing on Wednesday.

"It has never been our intention to fully float the prices to the market as the government would maintain the authority in setting the prices."

The state could save at least Rp 200 trillion, about 75 percent of the total fuel-subsidy spending of around Rp 276 trillion in the 2015 state budget, after the implementation of the new fuel-subsidy system, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said.

"Fuel-subsidy allocation would shrink from the original Rp 276 trillion in the 2015 state budget to Rp 60 trillion in the budget's revised version," Bambang said in response to questions from The Jakarta Post.

BNP Paribas economist Philip McNicholas, who formerly worked as a Fitch Ratings sovereign analyst, argued that the government's latest fuel-subsidy overhaul might raise the prospect of rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) awarding Indonesia with an investment-grade rating.

"It is showing Jokowi is trying to walk the talk of his reform agenda," he commented on Thursday, referring to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

"It addresses a number of previously chronic weaknesses of Indonesia's public finances: such as reducing fiscal sensitivity to oil prices and the exchange rate, bolstering budget flexibility and increasing the scope for investment spending," explained McNicholas.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/02/fuel-subsidies-completely-overhauled.html

Economy & investment

Exporters likely to endure another tough year

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2015

Linda Yulisman and Tama Salim, Jakarta – Indonesian exporters may well struggle again this year as the global economic slowdown is likely continue to have an impact on their business.

Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) economist Ahmad Erani Yustika said on Tuesday that it would be hard for Indonesia to boost exports as the downward trend in commodity prices would probably continue throughout this year.

Primary commodities currently make up more than 60 percent of overall exports in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

"The chances of boosting exports will be slim as the global economic situation is still bleak. There are not many measures that can help," Erani said.

Among the measures that he recommended was the acceleration of the processing of key commodities, including agricultural and mining products, as well as maximizing the penetration of non-traditional export markets such as Africa, the Middle East and South America.

At a press conference on Tuesday, the Trade Ministry's director general Partogi Pangaribuan, however, said the government was optimistic that recovery would take place particularly in the United States and Europe, opening the path to increase exports as early as the first quarter of this year. Lower oil prices would also encourage overseas industries to revive their manufacturing activities, spurring demand for commodities.

The Trade Ministry had set a US$192.5-billion target for exports in 2014, which would have been a 4.45 percent rise from the $184.3 billion estimated for 2013. However, it is unlikely that the target was achieved as the export performance during the Jan to Nov period was below expectations.

Indonesia's total exports amounted to $161.67 billion during the Jan-Nov period, down 2.36 percent year-on-year. Of the total, non oil and gas exports amounted to $133.69 billion, a 1.95 percent decline from $136.35 billion in the same period in the previous year.

Former deputy trade minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said the country's export sector would be able to grow by around 15 percent to 20 percent this year as demand from Indonesia's major trading partners such as the US was expected to rise.

With the sharp depreciation of the Indonesian currency to around Rp 12,500 per US dollar, Indonesian commodities should be competitive in the global market, he said.

Bayu, who also chairs the Association of Agriculture Experts (Perhepi), urged the government to keep tabs on the US, but also Japan and South Korea, with both countries expected to post stable growth this year.

Southeast Asia, which represents a quarter of the country's export market, was also expecting slightly higher growth this year, especially ahead of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), he added.

China also represents a unique opportunity for the country, with imports continuing to grow in spite of its slowing economy. To this end, Bayu suggested that the government commit more market intelligence to anticipate Chinese demand in the energy sector next year, something Indonesia might be able to fulfill.

Additionally, he urged the state to push investments toward intermediary production to replace raw-material exports and speed up trade-supportive infrastructure such as electricity, seaports and the railway system, so as to support the supply-chain flow.

"The state must also continuously promote the country to raise consumer awareness, [but also] reduce mineral and gas imports and be more serious in resolving trade disputes," the former government official said.

Bayu said he believed the country's exports would improve significantly if all these criteria were met.

"I suspect 2015 will go quite well. If the country's exports growth averaged 11-12 percent in the last 10 years, I think 15 percent growth for the non-mineral and gas sector is realistic – 20 percent if US conditions are exceptionally good for us," he concluded.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/07/exporters-likely-endure-another-tough-year.html

Manufacturing industry struggles hard amid falling rupiah

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2015

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – Unlike previous years, 2014 was not an easy one for the country's manufacturing sector as low demand in the global market and the sharp depreciation of the Indonesian currency severely affected the industry.

With soaring operating costs resulting from the sharp drop in the value of the rupiah against the US dollar, higher spending for electricity and labor wages and growing competition in the local market, the country's automotive industry, for example, failed to achieve its 2014 sales targets of 1.2 million cars.

The sales performance of the automotive industry, one of the manufacturing sector's biggest contributors to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), may prove to be a harbinger of the worsening economic conditions that the nation could face in the upcoming months.

The first quarter ended on a bad note: Indonesia, one of the world's most resilient economies, expanded at only 5.2 percent, below expectations and the slowest pace in nearly five years.

At the same time, car sales – a key indicator of domestic consumption – rose by 10.99 percent to 297,785 units on a yearly basis, compared with growth of 18.7 percent seen in 2013 from 2012.

This trend continued until the final months of last year, with sales from January to November closing at 1.12 million units, slightly less than the 1.13 million booked in the past year.

While automakers struggled hard to gain a strong foothold in the domestic market, they still had a reason to cheer, as exports of cars and auto parts showed an upward trend in the initial months through the final months of this year.

Overseas automotive shipment climbed by 10.84 percent to US$1.27 billion in the first quarter and up to the third quarter it gained well by 13.9 percent to $3.79 billion. This was helped by product diversification with the entry of some new models into the export portfolio, such as sedans and low-cost green cars (LCGC), to Middle Eastern countries and the Philippines, respectively.

Misfortune brought by internal economic woes seems to have reared its head not only in the automotive industry, but also in other industries, sometimes with an even stronger impact because of a heavy reliance on overseas markets.

Domestically, such industries grappled with surging production costs caused by higher labor wages, bigger electricity bills and the steep fall of the currency, with magnitudes varying across sectors.

Rising labor wages, for instance, hit hardest the labor-intensive industrial sectors like textiles and footwear, whereas electricity tariff hikes, which ranged from 38.9 percent to 64.7 percent, severely affected energy-intensive industries like cement and steel.

In addition, the decline of the rupiah to beyond Rp 12,000 per US dollar was a discouraging development for manufacturers relying heavily on imported raw materials and intermediary inputs, notably the downstream industries.

On the external side, manufacturers also had to cope with continuing uncertainties in the global economy, which eroded growth and doused appetites in major trading partners such as China, Japan and the EU, despite signs of recovery in the US, a key buyer.

The textile and footwear industries were among those most seriously hurt by both internal and external drivers. From January to August, textile exports remained the same as they were the year before at $8.53 billion, while footwear overseas shipments increased slightly by 1 percent to $2.63 billion, according to the latest statistics issued by the Industry Ministry.

At the start of the new year, the government maintained its upbeat outlook on the prospects of the non-oil manufacturing industry, which is also the backbone of exports, targeting a 6.4 percent growth, similar to 2012.

The growth of large and medium manufacturing production declined to 4.96 percent year-on-year in the third quarter last year, far lower than the 7.29 percent in the same quarter of 2013.

Meanwhile, yearly growth of micro and small manufacturing production reached 5.18 percent in the third quarter, as compared with 4.86 percent in the same period in 2013.

Despite discouraging results in the overall manufacturing sector during the first nine months of 2014, the government still expected the industry to gain in the fourth quarter, particularly boosted by agro-based industries, helping full-year growth to 5.7 percent, according to Industry Ministry secretary-general Anshari Bukhari.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/02/manufacturing-industry-struggles-hard-amid-falling-rupiah.html

Analysis & opinion

Minister's punitive stance doesn't fly

Jakarta Post Editorial - January 8, 2015

Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan could have started a revolution within his own ministry – in the directorates general of land, sea and air transportation – by, for instance, punishing corrupt and underperforming officials, establishing a clear system of rewards and disincentives, or being more strict about implementing existing regulations.

The crash of an Indonesia AirAsia jet on Dec. 28 should have been an indication of just what a rotten ministry he inherited – in particular the office dealing with air transportation. Jonan should have overhauled the system, technology and manpower, including those responsible for air traffic control, and for granting flight permits.

Instead, he has chosen to shift the blame form the crash of the plane, which was not permitted to fly on a Sunday, to private airlines. He has also punished the public by implementing a new regulation that caps minimum ticket prices. The cheapest ticket now available may not be less than 40 percent of the price of the most expensive one for any given route. His rationale? Ticket prices are so low that poor profitability impairs airlines' ability to comply with aviation safety standards.

This is as nonsensical as anything can get, and against the law of free market competition. There is no link between raising ticket prices and improving safety standards. Who can guarantee that the money gained from the price hike will be used to boost safety measures?

Airlines are businesses, and as such operate to maximize profit. Jonan's policy will ultimately lead to ticket price increases, unnecessarily punishing the public and the airlines by limiting their pricing options, and hurt the nation as a whole by restricting travel and business across the archipelago.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-ministers-punitive-stance-doesnt-fly/

Officials shouldn't weather this storm

Jakarta Globe Editorial - January 5, 2015

Indonesian officials like to try to capitalize on disasters, hoping to get more popular out of the misery of people they are supposed to serve. The favorite tactic is to demonstrate their anger in front of the media to those who are supposedly the culprits. They want to shift blame to other parties while showing to the public that they're acting tough and doing their jobs properly.

This has been blatantly displayed in the aftermath of the crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 on Dec. 28. Rather than focusing on the recovering efforts and waiting for the results of the investigation into the accident by the National Committee on Transportation Safety (KNKT), many officials have made irresponsible comments and attempted to avoid being blamed for the accident.

The fact is that the management of the Indonesian aviation system has for years been a dangerous life-threatening mess and urgently needs a total overhaul – from corrupt officials to obsolete technology and equipment. If the AirAsia flight had not crashed, we would not have known about all the problems.

Like a time bomb, a deadly accident is bound to happen within such a messy system. In this digital era, why can't an aviation system – a technologically advanced sector – employ an integrated information system that includes a real-time weather report?

It's crazy to think that the pilot used outdated weather information 10 hours or even a day late, even as the weather changes constantly, especially with climate change becoming very real.

The strangest of all: how can – as Indonesian authorities claim – AirAsia have flown on a Sunday if it had no permit to do so? It has taken the deaths of 162 people to remind Indonesia to quit this nonsense for the sake of popularity and start overhauling our aviation system.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-officials-shouldnt-weather-storm/