"We appreciate the establishment of the West Papua Police, as required by the provincial administration and local residents for the sake of law enforcement in West Papua. We hope the West Papua Police will recruit locals as police," said West Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) deputy head Anike Sabami in Manokwari on Friday.

The establishment of the West Papua Police was based on an Empowerment and State Apparatus ministerial decree dated Aug. 27, 2014, later followed up with the appointment of the first West Papua Police chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw, who was born in Fakfak, West Papua.

The West Papua Police, with headquarters in the Manokwari gubernatorial office building in Manokwari, West Papua, oversee nine regency police forces.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/14/papuans-urged-be-prioritized-policemen.html

Human rights watchdog deploys to interview Paniai massacre survivors

Jakarta Globe - February 13, 2015

Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights, or Komnas HAM, is intensifying its investigation of alleged human rights violations in security forces' deadly shooting of unarmed residents, including women and children, in Paniai, Papua.

"We are going to interview locals, victims, Papuan public figures and security officers from February 18 to 20," Maneger Nasution, who is leading the human rights watchdog's investigative team for the Paniai incident, said on Friday.

"Our focus is on the witnesses and victims. In addition, there will be also be an event re-enactment to clarify the information we gathered earlier regarding the shooting," Maneger said.

Commissioner Natalius Pigai said the team would also attempt to collect additional evidence of alleged human rights violations in Papua. The team will leave for Papua on Monday.

"For now, we have indications of four human rights being violated in Paniai: the right to life, children's rights, women's rights and the right not to be tortured," he said.

"But we're not going to stop there. We're also going to collect evidence of whether there were more severe human rights violations. Should there be any indications of such, the possibility of forming an ad hoc team is there."

The team plans to probe for evidence that the shooting was premeditated.

On Dec. 8, security forces opened fire on 800 reportedly non-violent protestors demonstrating against alleged abuse by authorities in an altercation between police officers and local teenagers the previous day.

Five protesters were killed and at least 17, including elementary school students, were injured, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

"The Papua inquiry has been stymied because civilian investigators can't interview the soldiers who were at the scene," Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at the organization, said last December.

"A joint probe with police, military, and human rights investigators is crucial to ensure that all information is collected and that the findings will be taken seriously."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/human-rights-watchdog-deploys-interview-paniai-massacre-survivors/

Vanuatu buoyed by PNG's West Papua call

Radio New Zealand International - February 12, 2015

Vanuatu's government has welcomed a call by the Papua New Guinea prime minister that the time has come to speak out against human rights abuses in West Papua.

In his strongest statement yet about West Papua, Peter O'Neill said PNG had a moral obligation to no longer ignore the indigenous people of its neighbouring territory.

The Public Relations officer for Vanuatu's Prime Minister Kiery Manassah says for many years PNG found it difficult to speak out about West Papua.

"Even though in terms of the level of support (for West Papuan rights) at the grassroots level is quite big, but at the top level it's unheard of for Papua New Guinea to speak out. So for them to come out through Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to condemn the abuses is a welcome stance, and we just hope that they will continue to push that forward."

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/265910/vanuatu-buoyed-by-png's-west-papua-call

Vanuatu open to West Papua talks

Radio New Zealand International - February 12, 2015

The Vanuatu government says it is open to dialogue with Indonesia over the West Papua bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua last week submitted its membership application to the MSG Secretariat in Port Vila.

The Public Relations officer for Vanuatu's prime minister says the government will support the application when a decision is expected at the MSG leaders summit in Honiara mid-year.

Kiery Manassah says Vanuatu respects its diplomatic position with Indonesia, but will never accept rights abuse against fellow Melanesians.

"If there is a need for dialogue with Indonesia, of course we believe that now the Indonesians are part of the MSG, they could play a role in there we believe that as long as the rights of the indigenous West Papuans continues to be infringed, we will continue to support them in relation to their fight to attain self-determination."

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/265940/vanuatu-open-to-west-papua-talks

Fiji backs West Papua to join Melanesian Spearhead Group

Papua New Guinea Today - February 11, 2015

Fiji's Government and Opposition have indicated their commitment to help West Papua join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

In meetings with activist Octavianus Mote yesterday, Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola and Opposition Leader Ro Teimumu Kepa showed willingness to support West Papua's bid.

"I am very pleased with the reception to the visit and look forward to further talks with our Fijian friends in March," Mote said.

"The CSO community and the Methodist Church in Fiji have been very gracious in offering to write to the MSG Secretariat in support of our request for membership."

The MSG will meet in March to discuss an application from the new joint West Papua Liberation movement formed in December 2014.

Mote's meetings with stakeholders in Fiji were facilitated by the Pacific Conference of Churches Secretariat. Mote indicated that support for the application was clear from Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

"We are quite certain that PNG will support us as they were behind the move for the West Papua opposition parties to unify before applying for MSG membership," Mote said.

"And Fiji in 2013 had told us that we should apply for full membership of the MSG so we hope they will support our application."

Mote returned to the United States today. The former journalist fled Indonesia in 1999 and lives in exile in the US.

Source: http://news.pngfacts.com/2015/02/fiji-backs-west-papua-to-join.html

West Papuans lobby Fiji support for MSG bid

Radio New Zealand International - February 11, 2015

The secretary-general of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua has been in Fiji meeting government and parliament figures as well as church leaders.

Octo Mote is seeking Fiji's support for the Movement's bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The ULM last week submitted its membership application to the MSG Secretariat in Port Vila where the Vanuatu government has been assisting the West Papuan representative group in its submission.

Mr Mote has signalled that support for their application has been forthcoming from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia's FLNKS movement.

But support for West Papuan membership is not guaranteed from the other MSG members, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and the ULM is keenly lobbying both governments on its submission.

Mr Mote says the West Papuans respect the diplomatic relations between Fiji and Indonesia, and believes Fijian support for their cause will not jeopardise these relations.

He reassured Fiji that supporting West Papua's entry to the MSG does not mean West Papua will be independent, and is not a threat to the Indonesian Government.

Mr Mote's meetings in Fiji were arranged with assistance from the Pacific Conference of Churches Secretariat, and involved dialogue with the Methodist Church, who the secretary-general says have offered to write to the MSG secretariat in support of the bid.

He also met with Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola and Opposition Leader Ro Teimumu Kepa.

Mr Mote says both showed willingness to support West Papua's bid and that he looks forward to further talks with Fiji's leadership in March.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/265891/west-papuans-lobby-fiji-support-for-msg-bid

PNG govt signals backtrack on West Papua call

Radio New Zealand International - February 9, 2015

There are signs that Papua New Guinea's government may be backtracking from comments made by the prime minister last week that it is time to speak out about West Papua. This comes as a fresh bid has been lodged for West Papuan membership at the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Transcript

There are signs that Papua New Guinea's government may be backtracking from comments made by the prime minister last week about the sensitive issue of West Papua.

In his strongest statement yet about human rights abuses by security forces in Indonesia's eastern region, Peter O'Neill said the time has come to speak out about oppression of West Papuans. The statement comes as a fresh bid has been lodged for West Papuan membership at the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Johnny Blades reports:

The statement came at a PNG leaders summit in Port Moresby where Peter O'Neill laid out core government policies for 2015. He made a clear departure from the previous stance of successive PNG governments, that West Papua issues were a domestic matter for Indonesia.

Peter O'Neill: Sometimes we forget our own families, our own brothers, especially those in West Papua. I think as a country, the time has come for us to speak about the oppression of our people there.

Peter O'Neill said PNG must take the lead in mature discussions at the regional level about West Papua.

Peter O'Neill: Pictures of brutality of our people appear daily on the social media, and yet we take no notice. We have the moral obligation to speak for those who are not allowed to talk. We must be the eyes for those who are blindfolded.

The statement went viral on the internet, and has met with widespread praise among advocates for West Papuan self-determination rights. The deputy opposition leader Sam Basil says the Prime Minister has recognised the growing importance of social media in PNG's public discourse.

Sam Basil: The Prime Minister's call was being forced upon by many Papua New Guineans taking up the issue on social media and even on the media. And I give a word of thanks to the Prime Minister for taking the issue on but it's a little bit late. But it's good that now the Papua New Guinean government has a position on the issue of West Papuan atrocities and the issue of independence in West Papua.

However Sam Basil is wary that the West Papua issue is being used as a domestic political football. He urges the PNG government to deal with the situation in West Papua as an international issue.

Last week a fresh application for membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group was submitted by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua. As PNG looks to engage more with Jakarta over West Papua, MSG membership is sure to figure.

Following Peter O'Neill's statement, PNG's Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato has been in touch with his Indonesian counterpart to clear up what he calls media misconstructions about his Prime Minister's statement.

Rimbink Pato: Papua New Guinea's policy is and has always been that Papua and West Papua provinces are an integral part of the republic of Indonesia. Any efforts towards membership of MSG are a matter which can be acquired in consultation or with the support of the government of the republic of Indonesia.

A spokesman for the United Liberation Movement says it hasn't consulted Jakarta on the MSG submission, and that Melanesian leaders do not need Indonesian endorsement to reach a decision on the application. As ever, PNG's stand will be the pivotal factor on whether West Papua joins the MSG.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/20166510/png-govt-signals-backtrack-on-west-papua-call

PNG clarifies position on West Papua

Radio New Zealand International - February 9, 2015

Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato has reaffirmed his government's support for Indonesian territorial sovereignty in West Papua and Papua provinces.

This comes after the PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill made his strongest statement yet about human rights abuses in Indonesia's eastern region. Mr O'Neill said the time has come to speak out about oppression of West Papuans.

Though Mr Pato suggests parts of the statement have been misconstrued by some local media commentators who have ignored the context of PNG's relationship with Indonesia. He says he has since been in touch with his Indonesian counterpart...

"Whom I had the opportunity to speak to on the phone yesterday in Jakarta on some of these issues over the Prime Minister's statement. So we've moving ahead and putting all those things, particularly the interpretations of that statement, behind us."

Meanwhile, Rimbink Pato says the new West Papuan bid for membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group must be made in consultation with Indonesia's government. This follows the submission last week of a membership application to the MSG by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.

However, a spokesman for the ULM says it hasn't consulted Jakarta on the submission, and that MSG leaders do not need Indonesian endorsement to reach a decision on the application.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/pacific/265638/png-clarifies-position-on-west-papua

Aceh

GAM's old guard losing grip on new generation

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Internal rifts within the elites of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) that mark the ongoing transfer of power from the group's old guard to the next generation, may weaken the Aceh Party (PA), GAM's political wing and formal presence in the province, a recent report by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) has said.

In a report, titled "Political Power Struggles in Aceh", IPAC revealed that the younger members distancing themselves from the old guard could weaken the political party, which was founded by former GAM combatants, and might affect relations with Jakarta.

The report also highlighted ongoing rivalry between Deputy Governor Muzakir Manaf, a former GAM guerrilla commander, and Governor Zaini Abdullah, another GAM veteran. It also said that Muzakir's camp had tried "to rejuvenate the party and bring in younger people".

"As the rift between Muzakir and the old elite deepens, younger members of Aceh Party are trying to find a new basis for unity," IPAC director Sidney Jones said in a press release on Monday. "They also need to make the party less thuggish and more democratic."

She also said that "authority [in Aceh] is now derived more from control over local resources and political institutions than from closeness to GAM's founders and service to the organization".

"If Aceh Party could be cleansed of corruption; infused with a new commitment to democracy – or at least less authoritarian; and staffed by individuals with an ethos of public service rather than entitlement, then perhaps it could help move Aceh toward realizing its potential," the report concluded. According to the report, Aceh needed direct engagement from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Unlike former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who was personally involved in Aceh because the peace process in the region happened under his watch, Jokowi is likely to pay less attention to Aceh because he is too busy with Palace politics.

Teuku Kemal Fasha, an expert on society and politics in Aceh, concurred with IPAC's report, saying the results in the legislative elections in 2009 and 2014 showed the PA's declining influence.

In the 2009 election, the PA won around 47 percent of the vote, securing 33 out of 69 seats in the Aceh Provincial Legislative Council (DPRA). While in 2014, the PA got only 35 percent of the vote, garnering 29 out of 81 seats at the DPRA.

Fifteen parties participated in the 2014 election in Aceh, comprising 12 national and three local parties.

The power struggle, Teuku added, had also split Aceh into two camps; conservatives and young progressives. The struggle for influence between the two groups is reflected in the rivalry between the governor and deputy governor.

"The central government [eventually] will notice as the administration [in Aceh] stops working effectively [due to the power struggle]," he said.

"Such a power struggle must be anticipated by the Jokowi administration because in an area like Aceh, such matters have the potential to ignite [security] tensions, although it is still on a small scale like criminal acts. People will also feel that having a big [local] budget should also mean improved people's welfare," he added.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/gam-s-old-guard-losing-grip-new-generation.html

Human rights & justice

Komnas HAM digs into 'shaman' killings

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2015

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Surabaya – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will continue a inquiry into alleged gross human rights violations that occurred in relation to mass murders linked to santet (black magic) in East Java in 1998 and 1999.

Komnas HAM commissioner and research team leader for the case, Muhammad Nurkhoiron, said his team would further update information gathered by a special study team investigating cases of murder, disguised as witch hunts, in East Java in 1998 and 1999, at the investigation level of alleged gross human rights violations.

The research team, formed in October last year, was able to collect facts and data, which indicated that gross human rights violations had taken place in the cases, based on Article 9 of Law No. 26/2000 on human rights trials.

"This is a pre-investigation. We found elements of crimes against humanity that were massive and systematic in nature. And now we are studying whether or not the elements can be proven in the field," Nurkhoiron said in Surabaya on Thursday.

The Komnas HAM team in October and December gathered data and information in the field in Banyuwangi last year and in Surabaya and Jember in February this year.

The team recorded the number of civilian victims of the murders – accused of practicing black magic – at 119, comprising people hailing from Banyuwangi, Jember, Situbondo, Bondowoso, Pasuruan, Pamekasan and Sampang regencies in East Java.

Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Surabaya chapter coordinator Andy Irfan said there was a difference in the number of victims cited by Komnas HAM and Kontras.

Kontras has two versions of data. The version by a Nahdlatul Ulama fact- finding team showed that 147 people were killed in 20 districts in Banyuwangi regency, while a fact-finding team from the Banyuwangi regency administration showed 115 people had been killed.

"We'll coordinate with Komnas HAM. We will study which area we could work on together in the probe," said Andy. The Komnas HAM team also found evidence of systematic elements in the case, as proven by the presence of a radiogram issued by then Banyuwangi regent HT Purnomo Sidik on Feb. 6, 1998.

The radiogram, addressed to government officials from district to village chiefs, contained a request for them to make an inventory of people with supernatural powers in their respective regions, so they would be protected.

"However, after the radiogram was issued, murders against civilians instead intensified in villages which submitted the data," said Nurkhoiron.

In its efforts to obtain data, the team also met with officers of the Brawijaya Military Command and the East Java Police, who were reluctant to provide documents relating to the case.

"The Brawijaya Military Command argued the documents had most likely been destroyed, while the East Java Police regarded that incidents before the Reform Era were difficult to open and could spark resistance," said Nurkhoiron.

Komnas HAM expected the public would be supportive of the development in the case and said it would oversee the investigation further.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/14/komnas-ham-digs-shaman-killings.html

US journalist grilled in BIN case

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2015

Indra Budiari, Jakarta – The Jakarta Police questioned on Tuesday US journalist Allan Nairn as a witness in a libel case implicating former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) head AM Hendropriyono.

Survivors of the Talangsari tragedy filed a libel suit against Hendropriyono after he claimed that victims of the incident died of suicide instead of being shot by military personnel.

The Talangsari tragedy, also known as the Warsidi case, occurred on Feb. 7, 1989, in Cihideung village, Talangsari subdistrict, Rajabasa Lama district, Central Lampung (now part of East Lampung).

A battalion of soldiers from the Lampung military command post (Korem) reportedly attacked the village after dawn, killing hundreds of Warsidi congregation members. Hendropriyono has repeatedly denied having any role in the attack.

In a recent interview with Nairn, he said the victims had committed suicide by hiding in burning houses when soldiers surrounded them.

"Suddenly they burned their own huts, which made so many people die. Yes, they committed suicide," said Hendropriyono as quoted by Nairn on his website www.allannairn.org.

Azwar Khailli, one of the victims in the case, denied that dozens of victims committed suicide, and filed a police report against Hendropriyono in November 2014.

Hendropriyono was accused of violating Article 320 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on insulting the deceased, which carries a maximum four-month jail sentence.

In a press conference in November 2014, 76-year-old Azwar said that Hendropriyono's claim was a lie and suggested that he "needs to see a doctor".

Azwar also said that his son, Warsito, who was only 11 years old at the time, was killed in the incident. Azwar said he had been informed by a resident that Warsito, who was climbing a tree, was shot by soldiers, who then dragged him into a house and set it on fire.

Following the incident, he said, surviving residents were detained at Korem headquarters in Bandar Lampung for months.

After six hours of questioning at the Jakarta Police's general crime unit, Nairn said police investigators asked about his interview with Hendropriyono, in which Hendropriyono told him that hundreds of Talangsari victims committed suicide.

"Police want to know about my interview with Hendropriyono, especially on his claim that Talangsari victims committed suicide, not murdered," Nairn told reporters.

Following his questioning, Nairn said that he had also submitted an audio recording of the interview to the police. "I also uploaded it on my website so the public can listen to the moment when Hendropriyono claimed that the Talangsari victims committed suicide," Nairn said.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said that besides Nairn, the Jakarta Police had questioned Azwar and would summon more witnesses in the near future. "I cannot reveal the next witnesses' identities. All I can say is the police are still investigating the case," Martinus said.

Early last year, in the lead-up to the July 9 presidential election, Nairn caused a stir by saying that presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, who ran against then Jakarta governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, could be a dangerous president if elected.

Nairn also published an interview with Prabowo that contained controversial statements including the former Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) commander making derogatory comments about former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and saying that Indonesia was not ready for democracy.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/11/us-journalist-grilled-bin-case.html

Women's rights

Use of virginity tests must end, activists tell Joko

Jakarta Globe - February 10, 2015

Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – Human rights activists have called on President Joko Widodo to formally ban all so-called virginity tests by public institutions in Indonesia, including those used by the Indonesian police and military against female recruits.

Andreas Harsono, a Jakarta-based researcher with Human Rights Watch, said that Joko should issue a presidential instruction to specifically address the problem.

He made the call following a report last week that the local legislature in the East Java town of Jember was mulling a bylaw that would require female high school students there to pass a virginity test as a requirement for graduation.

The plan sparked an outcry from activists the country over, who have also long protested the use of virginity tests by the National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) as part of their selection process for new cadets. Even fiancees of TNI soldiers are subject to a virginity test; they must pass it in order to be able to marry a soldier.

"The recent debate on virginity tests is just an extension of the existing issues," Andreas told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday. "There will always be controversies about the virginity test until the president himself instructs [state institutions] to prohibit the practice."

Andreas said the virginity test violated human rights. He said many women fainted or were traumatized after undergoing the crudely named and offensively invasive "two-finger test." Officials' typical defense of the procedure is that it is carried out by a female examiner.

"The virginity test is an unscientific, cruel, degrading and discriminatory treatment that a woman should never experience," Andreas said, echoing a statement from the World Health Organization.

The WHO in December condemned virginity testing in Indonesia, following news reports that the police continued to administer the test for women applying to join the force.

A commissioner with the National Commission on Violence Against Women, Kunthi Tridewiyanti, said Indonesia should not violate its citizens' privacy.

"The state, the lawmakers – they don't have any business with someone's virginity. That's a private matter that must stay protected. Moreover, what does virginity have to do with educational achievements? It's nonsense," Kunthi said in response to the Jember controversy.

"There are many more ways to educate our younger generations or to preserve their morals. Virginity testing, however, is an overreaction. There's no reason to perform it."

Kunthi added that the test proved that the patriarchal tradition was still very much in force in the country.

"This issue indicates that discrimination against women continues to take place here," she said. "Our country, in a way, still has that patriarchal system or mind-set that limits women and girls from expressing themselves, whether in finding a job or even in marriage."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/use-of-virginity-tests-must-end-activists-tell-joko/

Jember DPRD apologizes for school girl virginity test statement

Jakarta Globe - February 10, 2015

Jakarta – The city council of Jember in East Java has distanced itself from statements made by one of its lawmakers after he said last week all school girls would be required to take a virginity test in order to graduate.

Habib Isa Mahdi, a lawmaker from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), drew disbelief when he said that Jember Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) was drafting a regulation on "good conduct," which includes an article installing a virginity test as a requirement for female students' graduation.

Isa said the city council thought the regulation was necessary because many secondary and high school students were engaging in pre-marital sexual activities.

On Tuesday, however, the council's deputy speaker, Ayub Junaidi, apologized for the comments and said no such bylaw was being considered.

"On behalf of the Jember Consultative Council we'd like to apologize to the public, especially to all women and girls across Indonesia," the National Awakening Party (PKB) lawmaker was quoted as saying by Kompas.com.

Ayub apologized to all students and told news website Tribunnews.com there were definitely no plans to draft a bylaw. However, the deputy speaker said sex and access to pornography among students was an issue and that the DPRD was "concerned."

"What's happening is that free sex exists among students and the number of HIV/AIDS infected school and college students are pretty high – this is what makes us concerned," Ayub said, as quoted by Kompas.com.

The council and the local education agency were looking at ways to improve sexual education in Jember, he said.

The Jember chapter of Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), the second-largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, opposed the proposal after it was announced.

On Monday the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) met with the Jember city council and voiced their disapproval too, saying it was discriminatory and opposed to proper Islamic teachings.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jember-dprd-apologizes-school-girl-virginity-test-statement/

Indonesia's virginity tests untenable, says HRW

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Jakarta – The Indonesian government's ongoing tolerance of female virginity tests must end, as the tests violate the right to non- discriminatory treatment, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) activist has said.

"President Joko ["Jokowi"] Widodo should send a loud and unambiguous message forbidding virginity tests by local governments, as well as the Indonesian military, police and civil service," HRW deputy Asia director Phelim Kine said in a press release made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

"The authorities should back that up by firing and appropriately prosecuting officials who promote or perpetrate virginity tests to ensure that women are protected from such abuse," he added.

Kine made the comments in response to the virginity test proposed by the Jember administration as a requirement for graduation among female high school students in Jember, East Java.

The proposal, which was unveiled last week, aims to bar female high school students who have engaged in premarital sex from receiving the high school diploma they have earned. Such a requirement is not proposed for boys.

Kine said without President Jokowi's intervention to stop such cruel and degrading practices, high school girls and their education in Jember would remain in peril.

HRW noted the Jember administration's initiative was appalling, but not surprising, as the National Police had imposed these abusive and degrading tests on thousands of female applicants since as early as 1965, despite their contravention of the police's principles of "non-discriminatory" and "humane" recruitment.

On Nov. 19, 2014, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhi Purdijatno told reporters that such tests had long been obligatory for female military recruits as well.

Earlier, in August 2013, the Prabumulih administration's education agency chief, HM Rasyid, reportedly sought to impose mandatory virginity tests on female high school students to address the perceived problem of "premarital sex and prostitution" in the South Sumatran city.

"There is no place for virginity testing. It has no scientific validity," the WHO said in a statement in November 2014.

"The Indonesian government can't feign ignorance about the abusive nature of such 'tests'. They have been recognized internationally as violations of the right to non-discrimination and the prohibition against 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment' under international human rights treaties Indonesia has ratified," said Kine. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/ri-s-virginity-tests-untenable-says-hrw.html

Jokowi urged to realize promises on women's protection

Jakarta Post - February 8, 2015

Jakarta – Rights group Indonesian Women's Network (JPI) has called on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to realize promises to provide non- discriminatory legal protection for Indonesian women that he made during his presidential campaign.

"We demand the fulfilment of the government's promises to give protection to Indonesian women through non-discriminatory laws and legal changes," said rights activist Valentina Sagala as quoted by Antara news agency in Jakarta on Sunday.

She was speaking during a joint statement event at the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) headquarters.

Valentina said currently many discriminatory regulations that had not been dealt with by the government had led to the presence of bylaws that were discriminatory in nature against women, such as the Jember Regional Council (DPRD)'s proposal for the adoption of a virginity test for female high- school would-be graduates.

"The DPRD in Jember has proposed a virginity test for female students before they can graduate," said Valentina, the chairperson of the Pro-Women Prolegnas Network (JKP3).

Lilis Lisnawati, who represents the group Indonesia Diverse, said the state involvement in women's protection that President Jokowi had promised during his presidential campaign must be realized. During Jokowi's first 100 days in power, she said, many critical issues concerning women's protection had been put on the back burner.

Citing examples, Lilis said the Jokowi administration had not yet sufficiently addressed Indonesia's maternal mortality rate, which stands at 359 per 100,000 live births, or the forced marriage of children aged less than 14 years that posed high risks to women's reproduction health.

"These issues have not been given adequate attention by the Jokowi administration and up till now, there is no clear government agenda to prevent and tackle these problems," said Lilis.

Meanwhile, the National Network for Domestic Worker Advocacy (Jala PRT) highlighted the issue of Indonesian domestic helpers' work conditions, which the group say are far from proper.

"We rate very low Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri, as we consider the minister has failed to provide adequate protection for female workers in both the domestic and industrial sectors," Jala PRT executive director Lita Anggraini said. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/08/jokowi-urged-realize-promises-women-s-protection.html

Labour & migrant workers

Malaysia no longer allowed to recruit Indonesia workers directly

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Manpower Minister Hanif Dakhiri, who accompanied President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's on his recent state visit to Malaysia, has announced that Malaysian employers will no longer be allowed to recruit Indonesian workers directly.

"All recruitment of Indonesian workers for employment in Malaysia must be conducted by authorized labor-supplying companies in accordance with the official procedure that was established in the bilateral agreement between the two countries in 2006 and 2011," Hanif said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He said the government would take harsh measures against regional administrations found guilty of illegally sending workers abroad, and that the Malaysian government had vowed to sanction and fine employers with hiring practices that violated the agreement.

"Many Indonesian workers employed as house maids and gardeners and in construction projects and on oil palm plantations have been left unprotected because they were recruited directly from regional administrations and from unlicensed supplying agencies that denied them detailed labor contracts," Hanif said.

Hanif said he and his Malaysian counterpart had signed a "one-gate recruitment policy" to ensure that all workers received a contract ensuring at least the minimum wage, a weekly day-off, annual vacation and working hours.

"The one-gate recruitment policy will be followed up with other ministries. With this recruitment model, there will be no illegal workers because all workers will be recruited under the official procedure," he said.

The minister also said Jokowi and his Malaysian counterpart had agreed to scale-up efforts to increase protection for Indonesian workers.

He added that the Malaysian government had agreed to allow the Indonesian government to set up community learning centers (CLCs) in Sabah and Serawak, to provide education for thousands of workers' children in the two federal states.

"The two heads of government are of the same opinion; that the two countries have an obligation to provide education to the children of migrant workers working in the neighboring country.

Hanif promised to continue monitoring the performance of manpower-supplying agencies to ensure that only qualified workers were being sent abroad.

"Agencies failing to provide minimum training programs before departure will be punished, or their licenses will be revoked. We will only send qualified or skilled workers overseas," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/malaysia-no-longer-allowed-recruit-ri-workers-directly.html

Political parties & elections

For a riven Golkar, no resolution in sight

Jakarta Globe - February 13, 2015

Jakarta – The Golkar Party appears no closer to ending the most serious rift in its 50-year history, with two rival factions continuing to wage a battle for the leadership of Indonesia's grand old party.

The factions, one led by Aburizal Bakrie, the chairman since 2009, and the other by Agung Laksono, a longtime stalwart of Indonesia's oldest political party, were meant to meet before a party-convened tribunal this week to hash out their differences – only no one from Aburizal's camp showed up.

Agung's camp demanded that the tribunal declare the December 2014 congress in Bali that re-elected Aburizal to the chair "unconstitutional and undemocratic," and its outcome invalid.

"We attended the hearing this afternoon and we're upbeat we will win," Leo Nababan, who was elected deputy chairman at a rival congress held in Ancol, North Jakarta, just days after the Bali meeting, said after the tribunal hearing on Wednesday. "We trust the party tribunal judges will be independent and professional," he added.

'No deal'

The tribunal was called after the Central Jakarta District Court threw out a lawsuit filed by Agung's faction that sought to have the Bali congress deemed invalid.

The court ruled on Feb. 2 that the two opposing sides had not satisfactorily tried to resolve their dispute through an internal party tribunal, until which time the court had no authority to hear the lawsuit.

Aburizal's camp, which has filed its own lawsuit challenging the Ancol congress at the West Jakarta District Court, said it would not attend any hearings in the tribunal pending the outcome of its own court case.

It cited recommendations from a previous tribunal, in December, that suggested the two camps either reconcile, hold a joint national congress, or settle their dispute in court.

Aburizal's camp earlier stated that the option for reconciliation through a joint congress was out of the question now that the Central Jakarta District Court had rejected the rival bloc's lawsuit.

"There is no discussion whatsoever about a plan for a reconciliatory national congress," Aziz Syamsuddin, a deputy chairman of Aburizal's Golkar, said last week.

"And when no deal is made, surely we must refer to the court's verdict. We're not doing this [opposing reconciliation] because we feel we're on the winning side."

Another official with Aburizal's faction, Ridwan Bae, made it clear that to them, the current party tribunal was no longer relevant.

"Because this case has already entered court, it is no longer in the jurisdiction of the party tribunal. Any final decision on this matter should be contingent on the [West Jakarta court's] verdict."

Theo L. Sambuaga, a deputy chairman to Aburizal, said they were optimistic they would win their lawsuit at the West Jakarta District Court.

Bambang Soesatyo, the faction's treasurer, said it was wrong of Agung's camp to interpret the Central Jakarta court's verdict as meaning the dispute should be settled via the party tribunal.

"We call on the [Agung] camp to stop building an opinion as though the judges ordered the two sides to bring the party's conflict to the Golkar Party tribunal," he said.

"The legal route through court is already correct. Don't mess this up. Let's just be consistent: the loser must humbly accept the result and respect the winner. The winner must accommodate the loser's aspirations."

Leo, though, said he regretted the Aburizal camp's decision to ignore the ongoing tribunal process.

"We're obeying the law. What the Central Jakarta court has decided, we will do accordingly," he said. "We also want the rival camp to obey the verdict. If they want to play fair, then please appear [before the tribunal]."

During Wednesday's hearing, former justice minister Andi Matalata, one of the five members of the judging panel, questioned the validity of the Agung camp's so-called Presidium of Golkar Party Saviors, which formed the breakaway faction and organized the Ancol congress.

"I can't find any article in [Golkar's] statutes that mention anything about [the presidium]. What is your legal standing?" Andi asked.

Agung, who has long accused Aburizal of ruling the party with a heavy hand, struck up the same argument in response.

"[The presidium] was established because suspended chairman Aburizal Bakrie was leading the party autocratically, undemocratically and in breach of the party's statutes," he said.

Wednesday's hearing was presided over by veteran Golkar politician Muladi, also a former justice minister. The three other members of the panel of judges are H.A.S. Natabaya, Djasri Marin and Aulia A. Rachman.

'Impossible' situation

The conflict was triggered by last year's elections, where Golkar finished second in the overall vote count to the Indonesian Democratic party of Struggle, or PDI-P, the longtime opposition, in the April legislative poll, and failed to get a single name on a ticket in the July presidential ballot.

Agung's camp blamed Aburizal's leadership for both failures, especially his insistence that no one but he be allowed to stand as the party's presidential candidate, and his endorsement of Prabowo Subianto – when Golkar failed to get even a vice presidential nod – who eventually lost to the PDI-P's Joko Widodo.

Political expert Siti Zuhro of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said it was unlikely that any decision handed down by the tribunal would end the internal dispute that observers are calling the worst in the history of the party, founded half a century ago.

"It is impossible now for the two camps to settle the feud internally. When this doesn't even work at the party tribunal process, there are only legal means left," Siti told CNN Indonesia.

She added Aburizal's camp was obviously confident, after their Central Jakarta win, that they would also win the case at the West Jakarta District Court.

Siti furthermore added she was skeptical that the internal rift would be mended even after the West Jakarta court's verdict. All members of Golkar seem to have been divided into the two unbridgeable factions, she said.

Echoing that view was Lucius Karus, a senior researcher with the Public Forum for Parliamentary Watch, or Formappi.

"With the current situation, it seems that there will never be an end to the conflict between the executives in Golkar," Lucius said.

He suggested that the Golkar elite meet and annul each of the leadership boards they had earlier established if they were serious about wanting to restore the party's unity.

"Only with that can the Golkar Party consolidate, especially with regional elections approaching," he said.

"This kind of dispute, if not addressed, will keep haunting Golkar in the future. And it's not a good thing for Golkar if it wants to remain a big party."

[Additional reporting by Markus Junianto Sihaloho.]

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/riven-golkar-resolution-sight/

Hary founds own political party

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2015

Jakarta – Media magnate Hary Tanoesoedibjo on Saturday launched to great fanfare a new political party called the United Indonesia Party (Perindo).

Hary said in his speech that he had decided to launch the party as part of his contribution to the nation's development. "There are so many challenges facing the nation and Perindo is ready to fix Indonesia so that it can be better," Hary said.

Many political bigwigs attended the launch, including Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, People's Conscience (Hanura) Party chairman Wiranto and National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa.

Before the launch, Perindo was a mass organization founded by Hary following his departure from the NasDem party. Hary resigned from NasDem following a disagreement with party founder Surya Paloh, who went on to take over the party leadership in 2013.

The media mogul, who controls the Media Nusantara Citra group, also briefly joined Hanura and was Wiranto's running mate in the 2014 presidential election.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/09/hary-founds-own-political-party.html

Police vs KPK

Jokowi said to have already decided to drop Budi as police chief

Jakarta Globe - February 13, 2015

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo has dropped his controversial pick for National Police chief, sources at the State Palace and the House of Representatives said on Friday.

Joko's decision to nominate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, who has since been named a bribery suspect by the national antigraft agency, has been met with public outrage.

The president's month-long dithering over the appointment has severely eroded his popularity and left many Indonesians questioning his readiness to take on powerful vested interests in a country riven with corruption.

Two palace sources, who were present at private meetings where Joko announced his decision to drop Budi Gunawan as his nominee, told Reuters that interim police chief Badrodin Haiti and police generals Dwi Priyatno and Budi Waseso were being considered as replacements.

"Budi Gunawan will not be police chief, the president has already decided," said one senior palace official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Desmond J. Mahesa, deputy chairman of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said he had also heard of such a plan. According to Desmond, Joko told House Speaker Setya Novanto over the phone on Thursday evening that he had decided not to inaugurate Budi Gunawan.

Setya could not be reached for comment but his deputy Fahri Hamzah said Joko only wanted the House speaker to weigh in on his options. The president on Friday refused to comment on the reports, saying that he was still considering all his options.

Joko, who has delayed Budi Gunawan's inauguration since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named him a suspect, has earlier said he would announce his decision this week.

"Soon," he said at the Bogor Palace on Friday. "I will make an official statement as soon as possible, but not now. There needs to be calculations related to politics, law. Everything has to be taken into consideration."

Analysts said Joko could spark massive public outrage if he proceeds with Budi Gunawan's inauguration, but scrapping the decision would also cause a political backlash, including from Joko's own Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The PDI-P has been a strong supporter of Budi Gunawan, who once served as a security aide for PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri during her presidency.

Although party leaders have said they would support whatever decision the president makes, lawmakers at the House continue to press Joko to inaugurate Budi Gunawan.

Golkar politician Bambang Soesatyo said the president risks severing ties with the legislature, which has unanimously supported Budi's nomination despite his status as a graft suspect.

"If the president is really considering a new [police chief candidate] he will be in contempt of parliament," Bambang said. He went on the threaten to reject any new candidates the president might propose.

Budi Gunawan's lawyer Razman Arif Nasution meanwhile indicated that he would also oppose a presidential decision not to proceed with his client's inauguration. "We will challenge it in the PTUN," the lawyer said, referring to the State Administrative Affairs Court, which has authority to hear cases against a government policy or decision.

Joko's perceived reluctance to anger the chief of his backing party, Megawati, to whom Budi Gunawan is close, has chipped away at his poll ratings. A survey published by a local pollster this month showed just 45 percent of Indonesians were satisfied with Joko's performance, down from 72 percent in August just after he was elected.

Analysts said backtracking on Budi Gunawan's nomination would restore some of that support.

"What this shows is that Jokowi is the result of a demand-driven movement for change rather than put in place by certain people," Jakarta-based political analyst Paul Rowland said, using the president's nickname.

"People are willing to call him out on things they don't agree with and ultimately he needs that backing to go ahead with reforms."

One PDI-P official said the decision to drop Budi Gunawan would just be a "bump in the road" for his relationship with Megawati.

"Thanks to Jokowi, Megawati now has a party in power after years in opposition but they still don't control the majority in parliament, so they can't go about imposing their will on everyone," the party insider said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Megawati and Jokowi need each other, she understands that."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jokowi-said-already-decided-drop-budi-police-chief/

Judicial commission questions facial expression evidence in Budi hearing

Jakarta Globe - February 13, 2015

Jakarta – The chairman of Indonesia's Judicial Commission has questioned whether the judges presiding over a pre-trial motion brought by Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan against the country's anti-graft commission are qualified to assess facial expressions.

The legal team representing Budi, who filed a motion against the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, after it named him a graft suspect last month, has included video evidence as part of its case.

Budi's lawyers allege the KPK commissioners' facial expressions in the video, in which they announce Budi a corruption suspect, suggest they are mocking the three-star general.

Budi's legal team have argued that the KPK's decision to name their client a graft suspect was an abuse of authority and charges should be dropped.

On Friday, Judicial Commission Chairman Suparman Marzuki questioned whether facial expressions can accurately be assessed by a judge in court.

"A facial expression is open to multiple interpretations," Suparman said, as quoted by news portal Tempo.co. "A judge should at least be qualified to evaluate facial expressions. "I don't know if Judge Sarpin has that competency," he said, referring to the lead magistrate.

The hearing started in South Jakarta District Court on Monday after it was delayed a week when representatives for the KPK failed to show.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/judicial-commission-is-facial-expression-evidence/

Threats against KPK probed

Jakarta Post - February 13, 2015

Ina Parlina and Haeril Halim, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has ordered a crackdown on individuals and institutions allegedly responsible for launching threats against the embattled Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Jokowi said he had been briefed by the leadership of both the KPK and the National Police about the threats and intimidation leveled at KPK investigators.

"I have met with all the leaders of the KPK. I have also met with the National Police. The police said something similar [about alleged threats against the KPK]," Jokowi said. "If anybody is indeed involved in such terrorism, they should be arrested." Jokowi repeated his statement three times.

The KPK leadership confirmed on Wednesday that some of the antigraft body's investigators – who are handling National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan's graft case – and its legal team members, as well as members of their families, had been intimidated and received death threats via short text messages.

KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto said they had also set up a special team to investigate the threats after finding enough evidence that they were "very serious".

Separately, National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti said the police force could provide extra security for the KPK against alleged threats if the anti-graft body called for help.

"I guarantee that the minute KPK asks for security, we will provide it for them," he said. Badrodin, however, shrugged off the severity of threats against the KPK.

He claimed that KPK commissioner Adnan Pandu Praja had recently told him about threats against a police officer seconded to the KPK as an investigator, which turned out to be a false alarm.

"We discovered that the police officer in question had not been threatened at all, so I don't understand where the allegations of threats are coming from," he said.

Badrodin maintained that the police force would continue to monitor any indications of threats against KPK staff and investigators.

Meanwhile, as the week wore on, there was no sign that Jokowi would make an announcement regarding the fate of Budi Gunawan and whether he would name a new candidate for the top police post. Jokowi promised late last week that he would make a decision that could effectively end the KPK-police standoff.

Earlier this month, Jokowi said that he would only make a decision on the fate of Budi once the South Jakarta District Court handed down a ruling on a pretrial petition filed by the three-star police general against the KPK.

Jokowi acknowledged on Wednesday that he was still unable to make a decision because of the confluence of politics and legal matters in the appointment of Budi.

Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto said on Thursday that "there had been no new instruction from the President," but maintained that Jokowi would announce his decision within the week.

Earlier on Wednesday, State Secretary Pratikno called on the public to wait patiently for Jokowi to make his decision.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, however, hinted that Jokowi could announce his decision only after the South Jakarta District Court made its final ruling on Budi's pretrial petition. The court is expected to make its final ruling on Monday next week.

"[Jokowi] said to wait for the result of the pretrial, so let's just wait for it," Tedjo said. "Well, the pretrial was started behind schedule, so the problem is with the pretrial hearing; why is it behind schedule?"

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/13/threats-against-KPK-probed.html

Good cops investigated for assisting KPK

Jakarta Post - February 13, 2015

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The National Police's Internal Affairs Division has been investigating several senior officers allegedly involved in "secret cooperations" with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that lead to the antigraft body naming National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a graft suspect.

This development is the latest twist in the escalating conflict between the police and the KPK amid President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's failure to provide a decisive solution.

Newly inaugurated National Police detective division chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, a confidant of Budi Gunawan, admitted that he ordered internal affairs to launch an investigation after making a controversial remark last month that there were "traitors" within the National Police.

"I am accountable for what I said. Now let's just wait for [the results of] the investigation," Budi Waseso said recently.

The police, however, have been tight-lipped on the details of the internal investigation.

Several sources said the National Police's economic and special crimes director Brig. Gen. Kamil Razak, along with two middle-ranking officers known by initials Sr. Comr. M and Adj. Sr. Comr. T, were among the top suspects investigated.

Internal affairs also targeted former chief detective Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius, who previously led a series of reforms in the division.

Coincidentally, the division is headed by Budi Gunawan's close associate, Insp. Gen. Syafruddin, who is also close to Budi's supporter, Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Budi's supporters believe the KPK's move against him is related to an ongoing rivalry involving high-ranking generals, centered on the competition for the force's top job. Suhardi was also a strong contender.

Suhardi, Razak and Syafruddin did not respond to The Jakarta Post's phone calls and text messages.

National Police chief spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny Sompie confirmed that internal affairs had launched the investigation, but refused to elaborate. "I haven't received detailed information from [internal affairs] regarding the investigated officers and the charges," he said recently.

Edi Hasibuan, a member of the National Police Commission, said he regretted the move. "What we need now is wisdom from police leaders who will prevent the situation from worsening," he said, adding that the move could instead divide the force even more.

A number of retired police generals acknowledged that frictions within the force had been visible since Jokowi planned to replace then National Police chief Gen. Sutarman before his scheduled retirement.

"It is very strange for the KPK to name Budi a suspect considering he had never been questioned before. Not to mention the timing, which inevitably prompted suspicions that the investigation had something to do with Budi's nomination," Insp. Gen. (ret.) Sisno Adiwinoto said.

Under the leadership of Sutarman and Suhardi, the National Police, particularly its detective division, cooperated with the KPK on numerous occasions. In August last year, for example, the National Police and the KPK signed an agreement allowing the two institutions to clamp down on gratuities received by police officers.

"This cooperation will give a much-needed boost to the police's efforts in improving their professionalism and transparency," Sutarman said at the time, adding that it was the first step toward eradicating corruption within the force.

Although he was not set to retire until October, Sutarman was dismissed by Jokowi days after the KPK announced that Budi was a graft suspect on Jan. 13. Suhardi was stripped of his position earlier and was transferred to the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) in a less prestigious position.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/13/good-cops-investigated-assisting-KPK.html

Threats reported against KPK investigators

Jakarta Post - February 12, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – As the pretrial hearing on top cop candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan proceeded on Wednesday, the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) confirmed that some of the antigraft body's investigators and its legal team members had received threats, including ones against their lives.

KPK commissioner Bambang Widjojanto, who was named a perjury suspect by the National Police just days after the KPK declared Budi a bribery suspect, said investigators handling Budi's case and members of the commission's legal division, as well as members of their families, had received threats ranging from intimidation to death threats via short text messages.

Bambang said the antigraft body had set up a special team to investigate the threats after finding enough evidence to show they were "very serious".

"As of today, I am letting the team investigate them. I don't want to point a finger at anyone yet. Hopefully, we can soon inform the public of the result of the team's investigation," he said.

Meanwhile, a member of the independent team assigned by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to solve the current standoff between the KPK and the National Police, Jimly Asshidiqie, also confirmed the threats and said that the team would consult Jokowi about them.

"The threats were made through text messages, phone calls and other means. We call on all parties not to escalate the tension, as already ordered by the President," he said after meeting with the KPK.

Jimly said that Jokowi had instructed the KPK and the National Police to temporarily freeze their investigations on both Budi and Bambang until the South Jakarta District Court announced on Monday its decision on Budi's pretrial petition.

At the pretrial hearing, after failing to prove that the KPK's decision to name Budi a bribery suspect was marred by a conflict of interest, lawyers of the National Police chief candidate were unable to build an argument that the decision was flawed because it had been made without the agreement of all KPK leaders.

The KPK currently has four commissioners, Abraham Samad, Zulkarnain, Adnan Pandu Praja and Bambang Widjojanto, following the conclusion of commissioner Busyro Muqoddas' term in December 2014 – one month before the four made a decision on Budi on Jan. 13.

During the pretrial hearing, Budi's legal team presented four expert witnesses, including Padjadjaran University law professor Romli Atmasasmita who insisted that all decisions made by the KPK had to be made by all five commissioners. He was a graft convict who was sentenced to two years in prison by the South Jakarta district court in 2009.

"Five is the absolute number [for the KPK leadership]. If there are fewer than five, then according to Article 32 of the Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK there must be a replacement," said Romli, who was also a member of a government-sanctioned team tasked to draw up the KPK Law in the late 1990s.

KPK lawyer Chatarina M. Girsang then challenged Romli about his statement. "It is clear that there is no single sub-article in the Article 21 that says that the decision to name someone a suspect must be made by all five leaders," she said.

The source of dispute is the phrase "consists of" in sub-article 1 point A in Article 21, which stipulates that the "KPK leadership consists of five commissioners."

Based on the stipulation, Budi's lawyers insisted that the KPK leaders must consist of five people, from which they further interpreted that any decision made must be made by all five commissioners.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/12/threats-reported-against-KPK-investigators.html

Johan budi reported to police

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2015

Jakarta – An NGO reported Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prevention unit head Johan Budi and former KPK deputy chief Chandra M. Hamzah to the National Police's Criminal Investigations Directorate (Bareskrim) on Tuesday evening for misusing their power.

"I come here as a citizen and as director of an NGO to report former KPK leader Chandra M. Hamzah and Johan Budi," Government Against Corruption and Discrimination director Andar Situmorang announced at National Police headquarters in South Jakarta, as quoted by tempo.co.

Andar accused Chandra and Johan of abusing their power by managing relationships with people who were involved in graft cases handled by the commission.

Andar said that both commissioners violated the Criminal Code's (KUHP) Article 36 and Article 37 as well as articles 65, 66 and 67 of the 2002 Corruption Law.

According to his testimony, Chandra and Johan met with former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin; twice in Nazaruddin's house, twice in restaurants and once at the KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta. The rifts between the KPK and the National Police intensified after the antigraft body declared police chief nominee Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a suspect on Jan. 13.

The police then declared Bambang Widjojanto, KPK deputy chairman, a suspect on Jan. 23 for allegedly encouraging perjury in a local election dispute in 2010.

Soon after arresting Bambang, they opened a new investigation into another deputy chairman, Adnan Pandu Praja, who was reported to the police for illegally taking over the shares of a logging company, PT Desy Timber, in Berau, East Kalimantan.

Currently, the police are also looking into a possible abuse of authority involving KPK chairman Abraham Samad for his alleged efforts to recommend a lenient prison sentence for Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Emir Moeis.

An NGO from East Java also filed a report against Zulkarnain on allegations that he mishandled a graft case when he served as East Java chief prosecutor in 2009. (nfo)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/11/johan-budi-reported-police.html

Witnesses fail to back up Budi's claims

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Four witnesses presented by the legal team of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan on the second day of his pretrial hearing on Tuesday failed to convince the judge that the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) decision to name Budi a graft suspect was marred with irregularities.

The legal team of Budi – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's pick for the next police chief – brought former KPK investigator Hendy F. Kurniawan, an active police officer; National Police officers Adj. Sr. Comr. Irsang and Budi Wibowo; and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Hasto Kristiyanto as witnesses to the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday to incriminate the KPK, but none claimed to have knowledge on the decision-making process the KPK leaders followed in naming Budi a suspect.

KPK lawyer Chatarina M. Girsang said instead of proving the KPK's move to name Budi a suspect was based on KPK chairman Abraham Samad's alleged grudge against Budi, the witnesses had tried to bring "other unrelated issues" to the fore to corner the KPK.

"This is irrelevant," Chatarina said in her protest to judge Sarpin Rizaldi, in response to Hendy's testimony that during his time as a KPK investigator, in two cases KPK leaders had declared people suspects without collecting two strong pieces of evidence.

The KPK claimed Hendy was an illegitimate witness in the hearing, as he left the KPK in 2012, three years before it launched an investigation into Budi.

Chatarina said Hendy's testimony may have been aimed at smearing the KPK in an effort to lead the public into thinking that all cases handled by the KPK were marred with irregularities.

Budi's lawyer Magdir Ismail said Hendy had once gone against KPK leaders who had urged him to declare a number of individuals suspects without collecting the required evidence.

"The witness was involved in this tension with KPK leaders. Based on that, we think an injustice has taken place [at the KPK]," Magdir said, implying his client may have fallen foul of a similar process involving the KPK's leaders.

Judge Sarpin later agreed with the KPK's lawyers and ordered the court to focus on proving alleged irregularities surrounding the KPK's move against Budi.

In stark contrast to Hendy, witness Irsang, who served as a KPK investigator between 2005 and 2009, said KPK leaders never interfered with the work of investigators in investigations of possible suspects in graft cases.

"During my four years at the KPK, there was never any such interventions. If you asked if the KPK leaders ever asked us to expedite investigations, yes, they did. There were a number of cases [like that], but if you asked whether the KPK leaders intervened based on their personal interests, the answer would be never," Irsan said in response to Magdir's questions.

Meanwhile, Hasto testified that Abraham had offered to help PDI-P members implicated in graft cases to receive more lenient sentences in return for the party considering him as the running mate of then presidential candidate and current President Jokowi prior to July 9, 2014, presidential election.

Hasto said Abraham was angry upon learning the party had selected Vice President Jusuf Kalla as Jokowi's running mate, after receiving a recommendation from Budi. Hasto said the KPK's decision to name Budi a suspect was driven by Abraham's personal vendetta against the three-star general.

Hasto added that Abraham had helped PDI-P politician Emir Moeis secure a more lenient sentence in a bribery case last year, a move Hasto claimed was a "down-payment" to inform the party of the seriousness of Abraham's intention to become Jokowi's running mate.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/11/witnesses-fail-back-budi-s-claims.html

Lawmakers, analysts, public agree Jokowi must fix police mess

Jakarta Globe - February 10, 2015

Ezra Sihite, Farouk Arnaz & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo returned to Jakarta early on Tuesday from his first state visits abroad, only to be met with criticism over his lack of action in a standoff pitting Indonesia's highly regarded antigraft commission against the corruption-riddled police force.

"The president should have made a decision on this matter immediately," said Ahmad Muzani, the head of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) at the House of Representatives, referring to the conflict sparked by the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) naming of Joko's police chief nominee, Budi Gunawan, as a graft suspect last month. "He should have prioritized resolving domestic problems," Muzani said.

Joko has been criticized for doing virtually nothing to defuse the tensions between the KPK and the police, which have seen the latter lash out in apparent retaliation by digging up a raft of cold cases to pin against the KPK's commissioners.

Some of the cases being acted on by the police were reported by members of Joko's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Joko's nomination of Budi and his refusal to cancel it despite Budi's status as a graft suspect and wide public protest is widely seen to reflect the president's inability to defy the wishes of his political patron, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri. Budi is a known close associate of Megawati's, having served as her security aide during her presidency from 2001 to 2004.

The public has also criticized Joko's lack of action to protect the KPK's commissioners from the police's increasingly transparent attempts at criminalization.

Muzani warned that the problem could grow even worse if the president let it drag on without some kind of decision.

House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, also of Gerindra, urged the president to fulfill his promise to resolve the matter this week. "Look at all of the public rallies and social media comments being generated by this topic," he said. "This has been going on for nearly a month. It has become very time- and energy-consuming."

He added that whatever decision the president made, what mattered was to making the public understand by explaining the reasons clearly. "Every decision will have a consequence. You cannot please everyone. The president can muse about this; find enlightenment," Fadli advised.

Political and constitutional law expert Refly Harun also condemned the president's decision to head abroad while stalling on a decision that could bring the KPK-police standoff to an end. "He couldn't cancel the visits because they were scheduled long before, but he should have settled this conflict before he departed," Refly said.

Joko on Tuesday called a meeting with the National Police Commission, the body tasked with vetting candidates for police chief, further signaling a potential backing away from his controversial first pick.

Members of the National Police Commission said they had come up with six candidates for Joko to choose from – but only if he decided not to proceed with Budi's inauguration. "If [Joko] asks [for the candidates] we will give them to him," said commissioner Syafriadi Cut Ali before the meeting at the State Palace.

The commission has so far interviewed four three-star generals: the current police deputy chief, Badrodin Haiti; internal affairs chief Dwi Prayitno; security chief Putut Eko Bayuseno; and chief detective Budi Waseso.

"Nobody asked the commission to [interview the generals]," said M. Nasser, another commissioner. "We're just preparing in case" Joko wants to nominate a replacement for Budi Gunawan, Nasser said.

Hamidah, another commissioner, said that National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Anang Iskandar and former chief detective Suhardi Alius were also eligible.

"Currently the two are stationed outside of the police force, so it's difficult [to arrange an interview] with them," Hamidah said, but added that Anang and Suhardi would be on the list of likely candidates forwarded by the National Police Commission should Joko request it. "We haven't excluded anybody just yet," she added.

Hamidah said that if the president asked, the commission would also conduct interviews with Anang and Suhardi.

Budi Waseso is analysts' strong bet for nomination should Budi Gunawan's bid be scrapped by Joko. Budi Waseso, a self-professed supporter of Budi Gunawan, is responsible for launching the suspiciously timed investigations against all four KPK commissioners, in what is widely seen as retaliation against the antigraft agency.

PDI-P officials have already signaled their approval of Budi Waseso, who himself has made no secret of his support for Budi Gunawan.

Meanwhile, there is much internal resistance to Suhardi, the man who Budi Waseso abruptly replaced last month, despite strong support from activists who see Suhardi as "relatively cleaner" than the other potential candidates for police chief.

Suhardi was removed from the post of chief of detectives, second in importance only to that of police chief, for reportedly leaking information about Budi Gunawan to the KPK and leading to his being named a suspect for bribery and money laundering.

Badrodin's nomination could trigger similar a controversy to that of Budi Gunawan. Both men were among the police generals flagged in 2010 by the government's anti-money-laundering agency, the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), for suspiciously large transactions – in the millions of dollars – flowing through their accounts.

Joko on Tuesday met with PPATK chief Muhammad Yusuf. Yusuf declined to tell reporters what they had discussed, but denied he was summoned to the palace to discuss possible police chief candidates.

Indonesia Legal Roundtable researcher Erwin Natosmal Oemar said he was pessimistic that the National Police Commission could recommend any worthy candidate to replace Budi Gunawan in the search for a police chief.

"I get the sense that each of the commissioners has their own preference," he said. The commission has indeed sent mixed signals, with statements by individual members seeming to dismiss those by their peers.

Erwin also criticized the commission's supervisory ability, given that it gave the green light for Budi's nomination.

"The commission has not been responsive [to public demand]," he said. "They've refused to admit that they made a mistake with Budi. They still formally support him. They've proved ineffective as supervisors, so we may as well disband them."

Even if Joko names a new nominee this week, he will have to wait a month to be vetted by the House, which breaks for recess on Saturday.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/lawmakers-analysts-public-agree-jokowi-must-fix-police-mess/

KPK stands ground on Budi's suspect status

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) rejected on Monday all arguments against the prosecution of National Police chief nominee Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, whom the antigraft body recently named a suspect in a graft case.

In the first session of a pretrial hearing to challenge Budi's suspect status, his lawyers claimed the antigraft body had abused its power by naming the three-star police general a suspect without questioning him and presenting witnesses.

The lawyers also alleged that the KPK had breached its collective decision-making mechanism in which all five KPK commissioners are required to approve a decision to name a person a suspect.

They also said that the KPK had acted unethically for announcing an investigation into Budi just days after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo nominated him for the chief post.

One of Budi's lawyers, Maqdir Ismail, said the KPK was wrongly prosecuting Budi in the case as his status at that time was not a "law enforcer" because his position as the head of the Career Development Bureau at the National Police from 2004 to 2006, when his alleged crime took place, did not grant him any investigative authority.

Magdir cited Article 11 of the 2002 KPK Law, which said the KPK was granted authority to prosecute "law-enforcement officers" and "state officials" in graft investigations, adding that the two statuses could be applied to his client.

"Someone in that post also cannot be considered as a public official as Article 2 of the 1999 Clean Governance Law says that only the heads of state institutions, ministers, governors and judges can be considered public officials," Magdir said in court.

KPK lawyer Chatarina M. Girsang said Magdir had constructed his arguments by ignoring the fact that Budi's status as a police officer automatically made him a law-enforcement officer and a public official who received his salary from tax payers' money.

"[Budi] is qualified as a state official and a law enforcer. The Jakarta Corruption Court will later confirm whether he is the subject of the KPK's investigation or not. Such a discussion is not the subject of this hearing," Chatarina added.

Chatarina also said that Budi's lawyers had twisted the meaning of the collective decision-making system by stating that the decision to name Budi a suspect was "illegitimate" because it was taken by only four out of five KPK commissioners.

The KPK is led by four commissioners after commissioner Busyro Muqoddas wrapped up his tenure in December.

"Article 21 of the KPK Law says the collective system is about how a decision is made, via a collective process by KPK leaders, without specifying the minimum number of KPK leaders required when making a decision. The petitioner also fails to understand that the Constitutional Court ruling in November 2013 does not specify that a collective decision must be made by all five KPK leaders," Chatarina said.

The KPK team also said that Article 6 of Law No. 30/2002 did not regulate a particular period of when someone should be declared a suspect, as long as KPK investigators could find two pieces of strong evidence for their investigation.

In addition, the team said the antigraft body had not interfered with the President's prerogative by announcing Budi a graft suspect prior to his expected inauguration on Jan. 13, as accused by Budi's lawyers.

"Also, it is not mandatory for the KPK to summon someone before declaring him or her a suspect, because the KUHAP [Criminal Law Procedures Code] grants him or her the right to deny any allegations," said another KPK team member, Rasamala Aritonang.

The trial, which was presided over and observed by one judge, Sarpin Rizaldi, will run until Friday, when he will make his final ruling on whether to approve Budi's pretrial petition or not.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Budi's team of lawyers will present witnesses to prove their arguments, while the KPK will do the same on Thursday and Friday.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/KPK-stands-ground-budi-s-suspect-status.html

Money laundering agency report on suspect top cop's bank account vanishes

Kompas.com - February 10, 2015

Jakarta – The head of the national police's Criminal Investigation Bureau (Bareskrim) Money Laundering Crimes Sub-Directorate III, Senior Commissioner Budi Wibowo took the witness stand at the pre-trial hearing into a motion filed by national police chief candidate Commissioner General Budi Gunawan against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday February 10. Wibowo testified on the matter of the suspicious bank account that earlier resulted in the KPK naming Gunawan a suspect.

Wibowo said that he was aware that there were information analysis reports (LHA) from the Financial Transactions Reporting and Analysis Center (PPATK, anti-money laundering agency) on suspicious bank accounts belonging to several national police (Polri) senior officers. Wibowo also said that one of the LHAs was on Budi Gunawan and was a PPATK report for the years 2005 to 2008.

At the time, continued Wibowo, the national police Criminal Investigation Bureau (Bareskrim Polri) formed an investigation team to look into Gunawan's LHA. After being investigated and clarified by the team however, Gunawan's bank account was declared proper and no suspicious money transfers were found. Gunawan's clarification report was returned to the PPATK by Bareskrim.

"The original LHA document was stored in a special document storage room", said Wibowo during the hearing.

In mid-January 2015, when reports emerged that Gunawan had been declared a suspect by the KPK for allegedly holding a suspicious bank account, Wibowo, on his own initiative, reopened the LHA in the storage room but he was unable to find the original document, only a copy of Gunawan's LHA. "I don't know where the original went", said Wibowo.

Wibowo said there were 117 LHA documents stored in the room. Fifty-three of these had already been clarified by Bareskrim, including Gunawan's. What surprised Wibowo was that of these 53, it was not just Gunawan's LHA clarification report that only held a copy, but he found that there were five other clarification reports on national police senior officers that did not have the original documents.

At the time he was checking Gunawan's clarification report, Wibowo's superior officer was also in the same room. Without mentioning their name, his superior also repeatedly asked why there was only a copy of Gunawan's LHA clarification report and not the original document.

"To this day, we are still conducting an internal investigation that is continuing to pursue the matter", continued Wibowo.

Wibowo said that the LHA that was clarified was the same as the one that has been circulating in the mass media. Wibowo also said that of the many witnesses summoned by the KPK into Gunawan's case, one of them was a person summoned by the Bareskrim investigation team at the time of the investigation into Gunawan's LHA. He was not however prepared to reveal the identity of the individual.

Budi Wibowo was one of four witnesses presented by Gunawan's attorney in a pre-trail hearing between Gunawan and the KPK on Tuesday. Aside from Wibowo, the other witnesses presented were former KPK investigator and active police officer Hendy F. Kurniawan, national police officer Adjunct Senior Commissioner Irsang and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto.

KPK legal attorney Chatarina Mulia Girsang said that out of the four witnesses presented on Gunawan's behalf, there was no testimony whatsoever about the process by which the KPK declared Gunawan a suspect.

As has been reported, the pre-trial motion is against the KPK's naming of Gunawan as a suspect. Girsang said that only the third witness' testimony, Wibowo's, was relevant because he testified about Gunawan's LHA. Girsang said however that the testimony did not touch on Gunawan's arguments in the pre-trail hearing. Girsang also said she was sure that at the hearing into evidence by Gunawan's party that will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, the witnesses presented would be the same.

[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Dokumen LHA PPATK untuk Budi Gunawan di Mabes Polri Raib".]

Source: http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2015/02/10/20330071/Dokumen.LHA.PPATK.untuk.Budi.Gunawan.di.Mabes.Polri.Raib

Budi Gunawan's inauguration in line with mandate of Constitution: IPW

Jakarta Post - February 8, 2015

Jakarta – The head of the Indonesia Police Watch (IPW), Neta S.Pane, urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to immediately inaugurate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as National Police chief because installing Budi was in line with the mandate of the Constitution following the House of Representatives' approval of his appointment.

"Budi's inauguration has nothing to do with his pretrial motion," he said as quoted by Antara news agency in Jakarta on Sunday.

Neta said there were two ways to solve the ongoing conflict between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police. First, he said, the pretrial judge must pronounce either Budi or KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto the winner.

"If both of them are pronounced winners, there's nothing left to question. The KPK will not investigate Budi anymore and the National Police cannot investigate Bambang anymore," said Neta, adding that such a solution would solve the ongoing crisis between the two institutions.

Last week, Budi filed a pretrial petition saying that he being named a graft suspect by the KPK was illegitimate.

In a move widely seen as retaliation for Budi having been named a suspect, the National Police named Bambang a suspect in a perjury case related to an election-dispute case in 2010.

The second way to resolve the matter, Neta said, was for President Jokowi to be consistent with the constitutional route by immediately inaugurating Budi as the National Police chief because he had won approval from the House, which represented the voice of the people.

Although deemed effective, Neta said the two ways still required the firmness of the pretrial judges and President Jokowi. He said conflict between KPK and the National Police had continued to escalate because the President lacked firmness. "Jokowi has been bobbed up and down by public opinion," said Neta. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/08/budi-gunawan-s-inauguration-line-with-mandate-constitution-ipw.html

KPK boss Abraham Samad cleared of illegal gun possession

Jakarta Globe - February 8, 2015

Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – The National Police have cleared the chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from an allegation of illegal gun possession, saying Abraham Samad was found to have the proper paperwork for the deadly weapon.

"[The gun] is legal and proper, the police have no problem with that," Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, the deputy chief of National Police, said on Sunday. "The gun comes with a proper permit and it was not state property – it was Suhardi's private gun," Badrodin added.

Abraham was reported to the police on Friday for having received a 32- caliber Sig Sauer gun from Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius, a former National Police head of public relations, in 2013.

Markoni Koto, head of an organization calling itself Defenders of the Nation's Unity (PIB), who first raised the concern, said the gun was a form of expensive gratification. Markoni also alleged that the gun possession was likely illegal because the permit had probably expired.

Badrodin however said Abraham was allowed to own a gun because of the nature of his work, leading an agency that continues to ruffle feathers within the establishment.

Abraham has also been reported to the police for allegedly forging state documents in a string of allegations embroiling KPK leaders.

All four KPK commissioners – chairman Abraham and deputy chairmen Bambang Widjojanto, Adnan Pandu Praja and Zulkarnain – stand to be named criminal suspects by the police in a range of cold cases – some dredged up from a decade ago – that critics say constitute a blatant retaliation by the police against the KPK's naming of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, President Joko Widodo's nominee for police chief, a suspect for bribery and money laundering.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/KPK-boss-abraham-samad-cleared-illegal-gun-possession/

Media & journalism

Press Council warns of current 'media illness'

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Fadli, Batam – Press Council chairman Bagir Manan warned that the Indonesian press was currently facing problems rooted in partisanship, media owners' involvement in politics and phony media. These problems, he said, had derailed the press from its primary service to the public.

Bagir conveyed his concern in a speech at a commemoration event for National Press Day (HPN) in Batam, Riau Islands, on Monday, which was attended by Vice President Jusuf Kalla and 32 regional administration heads.

"Honestly, [the press] is having many problems. The misinterpretation of pluralistic thought has resulted in one-sidedness and partisanship. In a democracy, the press should side with the public, not with political powers. The press has become partisan," Bagir, who served as Supreme Court justice between 2001 and 2008, said.

The second problem, according to Bagir, was the influence of media owners, who have aligned themselves with certain political powers.

"Capital owners no longer use press institutions for economic reasons, but to create political power," Bagir said, adding that he regretted that such an issue arose.

The third problem he listed was fake media, which the press should not tolerate. "Fake media comes from threats and blackmail; it's a lowly disease. Fake media exists because there is a space for bad behavior," Bagir said. The chairman said that through the HPN, media was rejecting fake media and forms of fake media practices.

"The press of today should be better than it was in the past," he underlined.

Vice President Kalla called on the media to be the objective eyes and ears of the nation. The press, he said, could either unite or divide a nation.

"Healthy media [leads to] a great nation; or [the opposite], great nations leads to healthy media. The press should not fuel the fire to divide the nation," Kalla said.

Kalla also criticized the mind set of media organizations that believed bad news was good news.

"We have so many interests in this open [democratic] realm. We understand that the function of the press is to spread [news], to remind and to inform," he said.

Also present at the HPN commemoration were People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Zulkifli Hasan, Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo and a number of foreign envoys.

Margiono, chairman of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), said HPN was the largest meeting for national press groups.

"This commemoration is attended by national press figures and supported by almost all press organizations," Margiono said in his speech as chairman of the HPN organizing committee.

Among the activities hosted during the week-long event was a press exhibition, a launch of journalists' books and a visit to Singapore.

Also during the event the PWI signed a memorandum of understanding on journalism training and media literacy with state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, Artha Graha Peduli foundation and Trans Media Multimedia.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/press-council-warns-current-media-illness.html

Jokowi a media darling no more

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Fadli, Batam – The perception of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as a media darling took a battering on Monday, as senior press figures slammed the President during the official commemoration of National Press Day.

The usually cordial annual ceremony had an edge this year, with critical remarks launched in Jokowi's direction. The absence of the President made it one of the rare occasions that the head of state has failed to attend the annual event.

"Only two things were consistently talked about during [the week-long] series of events of National Press Day. The first was tensions between the police and the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission], and the second was the absence of President Jokowi," said Margiono, chairman of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), during his opening address.

"But we should not be concerned, as now we have the Vice President here and Pak JK [Jusuf Kalla] is more experienced and a hot shot [compared to the President]," he said, adding that almost all the media community was represented in Batam.

The President was on the last leg of his trip to Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines on Monday.

Apart from the Vice President, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo and Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara were also present.

The absence of Jokowi was emphasized given that Malaysia sent a contingent to the commemoration, led by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Minister Dato Sri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

Many political observers believe the rapid rise of Jokowi – from mayor of Surakarta, to governor of Jakarta, to President, is largely due to his popularity in the media.

And while the criticism on Monday was sparked by his absence at the national-level gathering, his perceived ponderous style of governance has produced growing frustration, particularly in the background of tensions between the KPK and the police.

In his address, Indonesian Press Council chairman Bagir Manan expressed his concerns over the continued political tensions faced by the government, and stressed that one of the duties of leadership was to make decisions.

"It's better for the press to question a decision, than question why a decision has not been taken," said Bagir, who served as a Supreme Court justice between 2001 to 2008.

In a light-hearted remark, the Vice President said he would have been willing to go to the Philippines on behalf of Jokowi so the President could be present in Batam, "but since it is a state visit I cannot replace him".

Kalla acknowledged the role of the press as the eyes, ears and mouth of the nation, but urged everyone to keep the standoff between the police and the KPK in proportion. "We must maintain a presumption of innocence. If a decision is taken before legal judgment, we are criticized. When we wait, we are also criticized. If there aren't any problems, there wouldn't be any headlines," he said with a wry smile.

Responding to Bagir's analogy of the press as "bees busily working together for the benefit of the surrounding community", Kalla hit back at the media. "What Pak Bagir didn't mention in his anecdote was that when the bee hive is disturbed, the bees all attack together."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/jokowi-a-media-darling-no-more.html

Environment & natural disasters

Proposed plan to boost biofuel subsidy angers local environmentalists

Jakarta Globe - February 9, 2015

Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – Indonesian environmentalists have protested the government's plan to use a portion of funds from fuel subsidy cuts to drive the growth of the biofuel industry, saying it will only exacerbate Indonesia's already alarming deforestation rate.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said told a hearing with legislators in Jakarta last week that the government planned to shift some of the funds saved from fossil fuel subsidies to finance biofuel subsidies instead, in order to support the growth of the industry.

"In the future, [fossil] fuel subsidies will be gradually reduced and the budget will be allocated for more productive sectors, such as biofuel and bioethanol industries," Sudirman said.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has proposed a more than sixfold increase in biofuel subsidies in this year's state budget revision, from an initial figure of Rp 3.09 trillion to Rp 19.4 trillion ($244 million to $1.53 billion).

Sudirman said this meant a subsidy of Rp 5,000 per liter from Rp 1,500 per liter for biodiesel and Rp 3,000 per liter from Rp 2,000 per liter for bioethanol.

With the subsidies, the minister said, the portion of biofuel used in the fuel mix was expected to eventually increase to 20 percent from less than 10 percent now.

Zenzi Suhadi, a forest campaigner at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said President Joko Widodo's administration was making "a big blunder" with the plan, arguing that boosting biofuel production would require clearing more forested land for oil palm plantations to produce the palm oil needed in biofuel.

"This is a wrong strategy taken by the government. Imposing the policy is like opening the gate to palm oil companies to besiege our forests, which have already been destroyed," Zenzi told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

"The policy will stimulate palm oil companies' expansion into Indonesian forests. This is something we don't want to happen. Our remaining forests are at stake because of this plan."

He added that the policy, if enacted, was also expected to increase the number of cases of land grabs by big corporations from local residents in forested areas.

This would contradict Joko's promise to favor local farmers as opposed to big corporations that he made during a visit to Sungaitohor village in Meranti Islands district, Riau, last year, according to Zenzi.

Joko said then, while addressing the issue of forest fires and haze crises that continue to plague Riau and surrounding provinces, that people's farming had a minimal impact on the environment when compared to corporate monoculture plantations, which he identified as the main cause of environmental damage in the district.

"With this [biofuel subsidy] policy, the government is violating its commitment to saving our environment and supporting local people to independently cultivate their lands," Zenzi said. "The only group that will benefit from this policy are private palm oil companies."

He added it would be better for the government to use the subsidy funds to support the growth of other alternative, renewable energies that would not harm the environment, such as wind and solar power.

Forest Watch chairman Togu Manurung, meanwhile, urged the government to prioritize on the sustainability of Indonesian forests while thinking through its policies on the development of renewable energy sources.

"The government has the responsibility to stop forest crimes. It must stop conversion of forests [into plantations]," Togu said.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/proposed-plan-to-boost-biofuel-subsidy-angers-local-environmentalists/

Health & education

Jokowi urged to sign tobacco treaty to protect children

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2015

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – A petition has been launched calling on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to ratify the UN's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which was passed to prevent the tobacco industry from targeting children.

The petition, which went online on Saturday at www.change.org/DukungFCTC or http://www.kompak.co/fctc/, was sponsored by a group calling themselves the Smoke Free Agents (SFA).

The group said that the government had failed to protect children and teenagers from the dangers of tobacco, considering the high prevalence of juvenile smokers in the country.

"We are asking members of the public to demand that the President adopt the FCTC as soon as possible in order to protect our younger generation," SFA member Muhammad Ricki Cahyana said on Saturday.

He added that it would be ironic if Indonesia failed to ratify the FCTC since it was one of the countries that formulated the framework in 2002- 2003. Indonesia remains the only ASEAN country not to have ratified the treaty.

Data from the Health Ministry show there are 60 million smokers in Indonesia, and that more than 3.9 million children aged between 10 and 14 become smokers every year.

There are also more than 40.3 million children aged from 0 to 14 who become passive smokers because of the high prevalence of adult smokers, 2010 data from the Health Ministry show.

By adopting the framework, the government is expected to formulate regulations that would make it difficult for children and teens to access cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The FCTC forbids the sale of cigarettes to anyone under 18 and imposes a total ban on tobacco advertising.

According to a survey from the National Commission on Child Protection, 70 percent of teenagers start smoking after being influenced by cigarette commercials.

The government has issued Regulation (PP) No.109/2012, which stipulates that cigarette packages circulating in the market must bear pictorial warnings. The rule has been in force since June 2014.

The Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI), however, said that the pictorial warnings had failed to produce deterrent effects as there was no significant decrease in the number of smokers in Indonesia.

YLKI therefore has proposed that a higher tobacco tax, up to 57 percent of retail prices compared with the current 30 percent, could be more effective in reducing smoking rates.

Article 6 of the FCTC stipulates as high an increase as possible in tobacco tax.

In 2013, then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was close to adopting the treaty, but dropped the plan following an objection from the Trade Ministry, the Industry Ministry and the Transmigration Ministry.

The three ministries argued that the treaty would hurt tobacco farmers and reduce the state's income in tobacco excise, which made a large contribution to the state budget.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/09/jokowi-urged-sign-tobacco-treaty-protect-children.html

YLKI calls for withdrawal of Tobacco Affairs draft bill from Prolegnas

Jakarta Post - February 8, 2015

Jakarta – The Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) has called for the removal of the draft tobacco affairs bill from the 2015-2019 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), which is set to be approved by the House of Representatives on Monday.

"Including the draft tobacco affairs bill on the Prolegnas list is dangerous, especially for children, adolescents and the younger generations," Tulus Abadi of the YLKI said on Sunday. The draft tobacco affairs bill is one of several draft bills that will be included on the Prolegnas list.

"The draft tobacco affairs bill is a draft bill promoted by Indonesia's cigarette industry, especially by the major cigarette manufacturers, with a prime purpose to boost production, which currently reaches 365 billion sticks per year," said Tulus.

He said the draft tobacco affairs bill was created by the cigarette industry to annul tobacco control articles stipulated by Law No.36/2009 on health, Government Regulation (PP) No. 102/2012, bylaws and other regulations.

"If the House passes the draft tobacco affairs bill into law, there will be no more control on cigarette consumption except regulations that are created by the cigarette industry and included in the draft tobacco affairs bill as if this draft bill is in favor of the 2009 Health Law."

Tulus said the YLKI considered the draft tobacco affairs bill to be confusing as it aimed to regulate agricultural, tobacco industry and health matters all at once.

"If the draft tobacco affairs bill wants to protect Indonesia's tobacco farmers, the most urgent thing to do is to stop the importation of tobacco leaves," he said.

The activist said currently most cigarette production was supported by tobacco imported from China and this was the real cause of the decline in production of tobacco leaves by local farmers.

Tulus said if the draft tobacco affairs bill wanted to protect workers at cigarette factories, it should stop the mechanization of cigarette production that is currently occurring in major cigarette factories. It was such mechanization that had led to a massive layoff of cigarette factory workers in this country.

"Hence, the inclusion of the draft tobacco affairs bill in the Prolegnas must be rejected and cancelled. This is a dangerous draft bill for Indonesian people as it is full with tricks by major cigarette manufacturers," said Tulus. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/08/ylki-calls-withdrawal-tobacco-affairs-draft-bill-prolegnas.html

House faces heightened threat of cigarette-industry interference: Experts

Jakarta Post - February 8, 2015

Jakarta – Experts are warning of the possibility of growing interference by cigarette-industry players at the House of Representatives as a draft of the tobacco affairs bill has been included in the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) 2015-2019.

"What Indonesia needs is a law that protects people's interests instead of the capitalism of the country's cigarette industry," said the National Commission on Tobacco Control's (NTCT) head for medical support development, Hakim Sarimuda Pohan, in a statement on Sunday.

He said most articles in the draft bill discussed tobacco production instead of measures to control the risks of tobacco use. "Tobacco use in Indonesia has continued to increase at an alarming rate," said Hakim.

Indonesia ranked fourth among countries with the highest number of cigarettes consumed after China, Russia and the US, said Tobacco Control Support Center (TCST) data in 2012. Data from Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) in 2007 and 2010 said that the percentage of beginner smokers aged between 10 and14 increased to 17.5 percent of the population of that age group in 2010 from 16 percent in 2007.

"This shows that Indonesians are beginning to smoke at an increasingly younger age on the absence of comprehensive regulations to control tobacco circulation," said Hakim.

Therefore, he added, developing public policies that could effectively control tobacco consumption and protect the future of younger generations was crucial.

In addition to the aforementioned bill, a draft of the tobacco control bill is also being deliberated at the House. "The tobacco affairs draft bill does not promote protection efforts, "said Hakim.

Meanwhile, he said, the tobacco control draft bill promoted by the NTCT was striving to regulate the safety of Indonesians, especially children and adolescents, from the health risks of tobacco products.

In a hearing with House Commission IX overseeing health on Jan.2, the NTCT proposed the Tobacco Control draft bill, as the equivalent of the tobacco affairs draft bill, concerning the growing influence of the tobacco industry despite the existence of Government Regulation (PP) No.109/2010 on tobacco control. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/08/house-faces-heightened-threat-cigarette-industry-interference-experts.html

Marriage & polygamy

Government to raise age of marriage

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The government will soon take drastic measures to tackle chronic and acute malnutrition in the country, deemed to have reached a catastrophic level.

Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani said on Monday that the government was preparing a regulation that would raise the legal age of marriage for females from 16 to 18.

"We want Indonesian teenagers to at least finish their education first, until high school," she said on the sidelines of a roundtable discussion at the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) in Central Jakarta.

Puan reasoned that girls would be more prepared in terms of health if they waited until they were older to tie the knot and have kids.

"We have coordinated with some ministries and of course it's still in process in order to not violate any regulations or customs," she said. "[But we will implement it] as soon as possible."

While the legal age of marriage for females is 16, marriage at a younger age is legal with parental consent and judicial approval. According to data from the Health Ministry in 2010, 41.9 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 were married.

Meanwhile, a National Social and Economic Survey in 2010 showed the average marrying age in Indonesia to be 19.7 years, with those in rural areas getting married once they turned 18.94 years old, on average.

Late last year, several women and children's rights groups campaigners filed a judicial review on the legal marriage age for females at the Constitutional Court. The review centered on a provision in Law No. 1/1974 on marriage that sees 16 years as the minimum age for marriage for females.

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

The plaintiffs are demanding that the court raise the legal minimum age for marriage for females, as stipulated by the Marriage Law, from 16 to 18 years. Muslim groups have stood against the proposal, insisting that the minimum age should stay at 16.

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) senior research fellow Lawrence Haddad, who co-chaired the Global Nutrition Report, welcomed the plan.

"If you can change the law on the legal age of marriage, that would have a massive impact on malnutrition levels," he said during the discussion on Monday. Haddad reasoned that young mothers were less ready to provide sufficient nutrition to their children.

"If you look at the data and reports from all different countries, age of first marriage and age of first pregnancy are highly correlated with stunting," he said.

Officials and academicians have described malnutrition in Indonesia as a catastrophe, with the potential of putting an enormous burden on the country.

Indonesia is among 47 countries out of 122 in the Global Nutrition Report which have both a high stunting rate of 37.2 percent among children and high anemia prevalence, with nearly 40 percent of working women being anemic and another 20 percent vulnerable to iron deficiency.

Indonesia is also among 17 countries out of 117 that simultaneously face three key nutrition problems in children aged under five, namely stunting, wasting and overweight.

"Its [stunting rate] is the same as some African countries and more importantly, the number has been fairly flat for the last five or six years," Haddad said.

Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Indonesia health and public-based nutrition project director Minarto said that if the rate of stunting in Indonesia remained at its current rate in the future, then the country would not be able to enjoy a demographic bonus in 2020-2030.

A demographic bonus is a dividend enjoyed by a country when its productive population is larger than its non-productive population. However, Indonesia's productivity level is currently below most other countries in the region.

"So it's actually not a demographic bonus, but more of a demographic threat. We can say it's a bonus if they're productive and have economic value. But if it's the other way around, then they'll be a burden [for the country]," Minarto told The Jakarta Post.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/govt-raise-age-marriage.html

Graft & corruption

Officials exacerbate rogue Papua cop arrest farce

Jakarta Globe - February 12, 2015

Jakarta – It was supposed to be a simple matter: The court sends a convicted criminal to jail, and there he stays, until his sentence ends.

But for Labora Sitorus, a police officer in West Papua sentenced to 15 years in 2014 for money laundering, there seem to be many ways to avoid imprisonment, all the while flaunting his freedom in the faces of law enforcement agencies.

Labora, a low-ranking officer in a police station in the remote Raja Ampat islands of West Papua, grabbed national media headlines in 2013 after he was found to have laundered Rp 1.5 trillion ($118 million) through his personal bank accounts, apparently from his illegal logging and fuel hoarding businesses.

West Papua's Sorong District Court sentenced him to two years in prison and fined him Rp 50 million in that same year, before the Papua High Court extended the sentence to eight years upon appeal. A further appeal, to the Supreme Court in September last year, saw the sentence stretched even further, to 15 years, with a Rp 5 billion fine.

However, in October, when a team of prosecutors came to pick him up from his temporary detention, they found that Labora had not been there for some time. In fact, since getting approval for a request to seek treatment by the penitentiary's chief warden in March, Labora had never returned to jail.

This situation could be understood if Labora had been able to flout imprisonment by fleeing abroad, as is often the case with many Indonesian graft fugitives. But what is mind-boggling is that Labora has, in fact, never left Sorong. He has been ensconced in his home in the coastal city located near Raja Ampat, on the beak of the Bird's Head peninsula of West Papua province, the whole time.

'Public lies'

When several reporters interviewed him last week, Labora was in his house, located within a residential complex owned by his timber company, Rotua, which was at the center of the illegal logging case. Dozens of his employees-turned-guards stood around the complex, making sure that no one could come in.

This marked the first time Labora had been willing to speak to the press after the whole debacle had made media headlines.

Labora, 53, said he was aware he had been put in prosecutors' list of fugitives, but added he was confused as to why they had done that. In the mean time, the National Police, the Attorney General's Office and Justice Ministry's Directorate General of Corrections have been passing around the blame for the fiasco.

"Let me stress that the three institutions – the police, the prosecutors and prison department – have made public lies," Labora said, according to Kompas daily. "I've been at home all this time. I'm confused to as to why the prosecutors put me on their list of fugitives, when senior officials from those three institutions have been visiting me at home for silaturahmi [friendly relations]."

Labora maintained that his release was lawful due to a letter from the Sorong penitentiary authorizing it, and dismissed Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly's statement that the letter was invalid.

"Prosecutors are yet to send me a letter that extends my imprisonment. [The penitentiary] officials themselves delivered their letter [that authorized the release] to my house. If anything is wrong with the letter, they're the ones who should be charged for forging a document," he said.

Labora further argued his release was lawful because the Supreme Court's verdict was flawed. He said he was just a "pawn" in a game involving senior officials with the Papua Police and the National Police headquarters in Jakarta, although he stopped short of naming anyone.

"If I'm guilty, why do the police and prosecutors stick to persuasive means [to make me return to prison]? Logically, a fugitive must be immediately arrested or shot [if he resists arrest]," Labora said.

Still on police payroll

Adding to the strangeness of the whole issue, Labora added the police had rejected his resignation and continued to send him his monthly pay.

"I will reveal all the games behind this case," he said, but added a condition: "I'm asking for help from the Witness and Victim Protection Agency [LPSK] and the National Commission on Human Rights [Komnas HAM] – please come here."

Labora denied hiring his employees and local residents to shield him from the authorities, claiming he had never resisted any arrest because there had never been any attempt to do take him into custody.

Roughly 1,000 people claim to be his supporters, including Rotua employees and hundreds of local residents who on Monday staged a rally in front of the Sorong Prosecutors Office and the City Council, demanding President Joko Widodo form an independent fact-finding team to investigate allegations of the conspiracy.

In Jakarta, Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo said prosecutors would keep trying to persuade Labora to surrender.

"We still hope that [he will surrender] peacefully. If he has no good intention... then we will go with Plan B, which is asking for the police to help," Prasetyo said. He added there was no deadline for the "persuasive approach," although he raised allegations that Labora had "protectors."

"At least he must be hiding behind people around him, reportedly his employees. Labora has a lot of money... he is employing people to defend him," Prasetyo told news portal Tribunnews.com.

An official with the Sorong Prosecutors Office, Danang, similarly said there was no deadline for the "persuasive approach," arguing that if a deadline was set, Labora would attempt to flee. Danang said local prosecutors had actually handed over the matter to police.

"We wish we could just use repressive means, because this has been going on for too long already. But we've handed over the matter to police and we will see the outcome of their persuasive approach," Danang said. "The public may think this should have been easy. But it really is difficult; the situation in the field is not like you imagine."

Wait and see

An official with the West Papua Police indicated police would only use force to arrest Labora if requested by prosecutors, and that has not been done, he said.

The official, who asked not to be named, spoke after a closed-door meeting in Sorong on Wednesday where the issue was discussed, with West Papua Police Chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw, Papua chief prosecutor Herman Dasilva and the Justice Ministry's provincial representative, Agus Soekono, all in attendance.

"The meeting discussed how to put L.S. in jail," the official told Liputan6.com. "Our office [West Papua Police] is ready, but we're not the executors. Only if there's an order from prosecutors can we make an arrest."

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie last week announced that police, prosecutors and the corrections department were forming a joint coordination team to deal with the matter. "Currently we're still trying to arrest Labora," Ronny said.

Paulus, meanwhile, said he had assigned several police officers in Sorong to "communicate" with Labora, stopping short of mentioning the outcome from their efforts so far. He denied accusations that police were purposefully stalling on arresting Labora.

"Let's just wait and see. There are steps to take. We hope there will good developments and that Labora will surrender himself peacefully," Paulus said. He noted, "We could hasten the process, but victims may fall. So let's just follow procedure."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/officials-exacerbate-rogue-papua-cop-arrest-farce/

Suryadharma defies KPK summons, again

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali has apparently taken advantage of the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) conflict with the National Police by refusing for the second time to meet the commission's summons to be questioned as a suspect in a haj fund scandal.

Last week he used a minor typographical error in the KPK letter as his pretext to skip questioning. On Tuesday, his lawyer, Andreas Nahot Silitonga, insisted the former chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) was too ill to meet with KPK investigators to complete his dossier.

Suryadaharma, said Andreas, had been hospitalized in a private hospital near the KPK office in Kuningan, South Jakarta, since Monday evening.

Andreas, who came to the KPK office to report his client's absence, failed to show any medical documents or letters from doctors that could confirm Suryadharma's illness. He also claimed that he did not yet know what kind of illness his client was suffering from.

"I want to let you know about some unfortunate news. Pak SDA [Suryadharma Ali] cannot come for questioning. I received information that he is currently receiving medical treatment in a hospital. Regarding the kind of illness he is suffering, as of today, I have not yet received information about it," Andreas told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

The KPK is facing a total paralysis, since its four commissioners were charged with criminal offences after it named Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a bribery suspect on Jan. 13 at the eleventh hour of his expected inauguration as the National Police chief.

The KPK has failed to summons dozens of police generals and mid-ranking police officers, including Budi himself, to testify in the investigation of the police chief nominee.

Former energy and mineral resources minister Jero Wacik also refused to come to the KPK last week to be questioned as a suspect in a graft case.

The antigraft body usually issues a forced summons for graft suspects who reject KPK letters for the third time or for those who try to eliminate evidence and influence witnesses.

Meanwhile, Andreas claimed that he had requested that the KPK reschedule the questioning for his client, but failed to say whom he had met with at the KPK headquarters on Tuesday.

He further said that Suryadharma's doctors would soon send a letter to the KPK, asking that KPK investigators reschedule his questioning. He added, "the rescheduled questioning should take place after Suryadharma has fully recovered."

Suryadharma has been accused of rigging the 2012-2013 haj program, when he served as a minister from 2009 to 2014. His alleged offences of rigging a number of goods and services procurement projects resulted in more than Rp 1 trillion (US$79 million) in state losses, according to KPK's preliminary estimation.

Separately, KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha lashed out at the lawyer for saying that he had talked to KPK officials regarding his client's absence, emphasizing that Suryadharma's decision not to show up on Tuesday was unacceptable.

He added that KPK investigators would issue another summons letter for Suryadharma. "We will summons him again," Priharsa said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/11/suryadharma-defies-KPK-summons-again.html

Thousands of Papuans oppose Labora's sentence

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2015

Nethy Dharma Somba, Sorong – Around 1,500 people congregated on Monday on the streets of Rufei district, Sorong, West Papua, demanding that the state prosecutor's office abandon its efforts to send former police officer Labora Sitorus to prison and calling for the establishment of an independent team to carry out a thorough investigation into the case.

The Supreme Court recently increased Labora's sentence to 15 years in prison and a Rp 5 billion fine, far heavier than the two years and Rp 500 million fine initially handed down by the Sorong District Court, when Labora was found guilty of money laundering, illegal logging and fuel hoarding.

"The Labora case is full of engineering and he has been never questioned by the police. He should not be jailed because has been a victim of a political engineering," demonstration coordinator Freddy Fakdawer said in Jakarta on Monday.

Demonstrators, comprising employees of Sitorus' plywood company PT Rotua and local residents who had frequently received financial assistance from Labora, called on the Sorong legislative council to play the role of mediator in the case by bringing the matter to the President so that an independent team could be set up to investigate the case.

Labora has been included on a list of the most-wanted fugitives in West Papua since he was found not to be in the Sorong Prison when the Sorong state prosecutor wanted to execute the Supreme Court's sentence.

He has also repeatedly denied escaping and said he was principally ready to be put behind bars but he did not believe he was guilty and wanted his case to be investigated again because he had been victimized.

Labora was allowed to leave prison for medical treatment in March, 2014 and the Supreme Court made its decision on the case on Sept. 17, 2014.

Sorong chief prosecutor Damrah Muin said that his side had several times given a clear explanation to Labora and he himself declined to accept the court verdict because he did not believe he was guilty. Damrah said he would deploy a persuasive approach to ensure the convict served his jail sentence.

Witness and Victim Protection Agency head Abdul Haris Semendawai said in Jakarta on Monday that his agency would provide protection to Labora, provided the latter named all those involved in his case.

"Labora should be cooperative in revealing his case and complying with the law if he wants to be protected in revealing all those involved in the money laundering, fuel hoarding and illegal logging," he said, adding that Labora had the right to ask the Supreme Court to reopen his case if he had new evidence. (novum)(rms)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/09/thousands-papuans-oppose-labora-s-sentence.html

Islamic law & morality

MUI thanks mayors for banning Valentine's Day

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2015

Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) chairman of education affairs, Anwar Abbas, on Saturday thanked a number of mayors across the archipelago for banning Valentine's Day celebrations.

"I thank the mayors of Surabaya, Padang, Makassar and Mataram, who have not recognized the celebrations for Valentine's Day today," Anwar said as quoted by Antara news agency. He added that celebrations would only damage the character and morality of the younger generation.

"Young people have to be critical [about Valentine's Day] and every celebration and culture which comes from the West; they are not always in line with our values," he explained.

He said that every Indonesian, especially those of the younger generation, should be implementing the values of the nation's ideology Pancasila in their lives. "We hope that all elements of society support the decisions of these mayors," he continued. (nfo)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/14/mui-thanks-mayors-banning-valentine-s-day.html

Regional governments, MUI ban Valentine's Day celebrations

Jakarta Post - February 13, 2015

Jakarta – Regional governments and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) have banned the celebration of Valentine's Day on Feb. 14, 2015, citing its potentially harmful effects on the morals of young persons.

Makassar Mayor Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto (South Sulawesi) has banned the Valentine's Day celebrations and the sale of the Valentine's Day souvenirs.

"I forbid Valentine's Day celebrations, including the sale of Valentine souvenirs that have "love and heart" pictures [on them]," he said on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

His announcement was followed by Padang Mayor Mahyeldi Asyarullah (West Sumatra), who said in Padang on Thursday that Valentine's Day celebrations were bad. "Padang never recognizes the Valentine Day," he stressed.

On Thursday, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi disclosed that Valentine's Day was incompatible with the personality of Indonesian people.

Not all cultures from the outside are good to be imitated by the people of Indonesia. Moreover, the majority of Indonesia's population are Muslims, he said.

Valentine's Day offered no benefits for the Indonesian people, he stressed. The governor added that affection should not be shown on Valentine's Day.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) chairman of education affairs, Anwar Abbas, pointed out that Valentine's Day celebrations only damaged the character and morality of the younger generations, according to Antara. (hhr)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/13/regional-governments-mui-ban-valentines-day-celebrations.html

Can't get no love: Ulema council gives Valentine's Day cold shoulder again

Jakarta Globe - February 12, 2015

Jakarta – Indonesia's highest Islamic authority has launched its annual protest movement against Valentine's Day, telling young people that celebrating the event can lead to promiscuity and other things not in line with their interpretation of religious teachings.

The Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, rolled out its head of women's empowerment, Tuty Alawiyah, to issue a stern warning against chocolates that it claimed were packaged with condoms and other subtly marketed products that could encourage pre-marital sex.

"There are many Valentine's chocolates sold at supermarkets or convenience stores that include condoms," Tuty said on Thursday as quoted by Tempo.co.

Tuty, who was briefly the minister for women's empowerment in the B.J. Habibie government, indicated that Indonesians were better off getting over Valentine's Day because it was a tedious jamboree of crass consumerism imported from the United States leading to contrived displays of affection that were stressful to plan. "Why do we need to wait for it once a year?" she asked.

Every year schools in Indonesia prohibit students from celebrating Valentine's Day, while Islamic organizations back up their prohibitions against the day with alarmist data on the number of young people falling pregnant out of wedlock.

"The purpose of presents might be negative, it could lead to kisses and other things," Tuty said. Local anti-Valentine's Day protests are common across Indonesia.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/cant-get-love-ulema-council-gives-valentines-day-cold-shoulder/

Students asked not to celebrate Valentine's

Jakarta Post - February 12, 2015

Jambi – The Jambi City Education Office has urged students not to celebrate Valentine's Day, by issuing circulars to schools reminding students not to breach ethical and moral expectations on Feb. 14.

"We will also issue circulars to urge schools to warn students not to break existing norms," Jambi City Education Office middle education division head Mulyadi said on Wednesday.

According to him, in the predominantly Muslim city, Muslims must obey religious teachings and maintain existing norms. "We hope our children will not be influenced or follow invitations that break norms," said Mulyadi.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/12/students-asked-not-celebrate-valentine-s.html

Islam & religious affairs

Ministry ploughs ahead with haj program revamp

Jakarta Post - February 12, 2015

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – To revamp the country's graft-ridden haj program, the Religious Affairs Ministry has closed its doors to new haj tour organizers after permits were abused.

The ministry recently froze the licenses of seven organizers over irregularities, from failing to provide quality services to pilgrims to illegal operations.

"We revoked their permits because they ignored our warnings. We will not welcome more organizers because there's already too many," Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said on the sidelines of a meeting at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

There are 655 organizers operating haj and minor haj (umrah) programs for pilgrims. "We will closely monitor the performance of these organizers and will not hesitate to impose severe punishment whenever irregularities are found," the United Development Party (PPP) politician said.

Besides banning permits for new haj and umrah organizers, the ministry's haj and umrah directorate general has assigned 120 visa providers, which are granted official permits to issue visas to pilgrims, to sign an integrity pact.

According to ministry director general for haj and minor haj Abdul Jamil, such a requirement aims to avoid corrupt practices, which in the past included the illegal issuances of visas, which disadvantaged pilgrims.

"The integrity pact will ban those providers from helping illegal haj and umrah organizers to obtain visas for pilgrims," Abdul said. He added that the 120 providers who obtained licenses to arrange visas for pilgrims were only those who had official partners in Saudi Arabia.

Nurturing the accountability of haj and minor haj organizers has added to the list of actions taken by the ministry to improve the haj business in Indonesia, a business that affects the lives of the country's Muslims, which account for around 90 percent of the estimated 250 million population.

While improving the accountability of businesses, Lukman also announced the government would prioritize first-time pilgrims this year to give equal opportunities to prospective pilgrims. He added that such a policy would also favor the elderly, particularly those 70 years old and above who had been on the waiting list for decades.

"Shame on those who have repeatedly gone on the haj just because they can afford it. They have deprived others of their rights. Muslims are only obliged to perform the haj once in a lifetime and we are working to make people aware of this," said Lukman.

The ministry has been in the spotlight on several occasions concerning the misuse of funds regarding haj management.

Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali has been named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly abusing the 2012-2013 haj funds accounting for more than Rp 1 trillion (US$78 million) in state losses.

Suryadharma, who was stripped of his ministerial post after being named a suspect last year, also stands accused of committing multiple offenses relating to pilgrims' transportation, housing and catering services in Saudi Arabia as well as flying dozens of family members and associates to Saudi Arabia using haj quotas intended for other pilgrims.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/12/ministry-ploughs-ahead-with-haj-program-revamp.html

Jokowi stresses Indonesia's tolerance credentials at Muslim congress

Jakarta Globe - February 11, 2015

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo emphasized Indonesia's strong record on religious tolerance on Wednesday as he gave a closing speech at an Indonesian Muslim Congress in Yogyakarta.

"I've met several other heads of states and every time they complimented our country for our tolerance," Joko said, as quoted on the Cabinet Secretariat's website. "We can always cater to both parties when problems occur. There's no overt extremism, that's how other countries see us."

Joko also pointed to inequality and some of the challenges facing young people as Indonesia's rapid modernization presents a new set of opportunities and problems.

"It's not a challenge that I want to sugar coat," he said. "This is something we solve together. It's not only about the economic growth, but also equal distribution."

Indonesia's record for religious tolerance has been subject to both praise and criticism from foreign officials and NGOs.

Hillary Clinton famously said that Indonesia was the answer to anyone seeking an example of whether Islam and democracy were compatible, but several NGOs, from the Setara Institute to Human Rights Watch, have released reports showing Indonesia's religious minorities face routine discrimination and at times violent attacks.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jokowi-stresses-indonesias-religious-tolerance-credentials-muslim-congress/

Congress discusses Islam's role in Indonesian development

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Around a thousand Muslim intellectuals, clerics and representatives from various Islamic organizations are currently gathering in Yogyakarta to discuss Islam and other national issues during the 6th Congress of Indonesian Muslims.

The congress, which runs through Wednesday, was officially opened by Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Pagelaran hall of the Yogyakarta Palace on Monday with the theme of Strengthening the Political, Economic and Socio- cultural Role of a Fair and Civilized Indonesian Muslim Community.

"The meeting is a means of fostering brotherhood among Muslims and is a call to maintain unity and critical evaluation of both the internal and external conditions of Muslims," said Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin at the opening of the congress.

The congress is to discuss several issues, including how Muslims are responsible for maintaining and building the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). "The meeting will also discuss internal issues in Islam, such as how to enhance the role of Muslims in improving the nation," said Din.

With around 207 million of Indonesia's population of 240 million being Muslim, Islam's position in Indonesia is very strategic and whether Indonesia would advance would be determined by the role of Muslims, he said. Din said the position of Muslims was very important in Indonesia, so defining a clear role is necessary in its development.

"I hope the congress would give birth to a historical document, or a kind of edict, as a guideline for the commitment [of Muslims] to protect the NKRI and engage in a jihad [struggle] to secure our independence and responsibility to develop the nation," Din pointed out.

Besides being attended by various Muslim organizations and groups, representatives of 42 sultanates and kingdoms from across the country and dozens of foreign envoys were also attending the congress.

Vice President Kalla said Islam in Indonesia was moderate with a different cultural background and Islamic history was part of a peaceful history. Even if Muslims were at war, such as Prince Diponegoro and Imam Bonjol, they were fighting against colonial rulers.

"There is no record in the history of Islam in Indonesia of Muslims waging war and killing fellow Muslims because our Islam is different from that in the Middle East. As the biggest Muslim nation, we are relatively better at maintaining unity and being a pioneer of harmony," Kalla emphasized.

However, the size of Indonesian Muslims in terms of numbers was still lopsided when seen from the perspective of the economy. Out of 100 poor Indonesian people, 90 of them are Muslim; out of 100 wealthy people, only between 10 and 12 are Muslim, said the Vice President.

"This is due to the lack of Muslims' national spirit in economic matters and clerics are to blame for the imbalance," said Kalla.

Preaching, or dakwah, was currently still partial in terms of material, as it only focused on religious issues. "The persistence of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions in doing business to make a living has never been mentioned," said Kalla.

As the biggest religious community, he added, Muslims must build a national spirit as well as the spirit to do business, without which a nation would go nowhere, and prayer without labor would also be vain.

Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said the congress was partly meant to make Muslims reflect about themselves. "Clerics should also serve as a bridge between the people and the government," said Sultan. He added clerics should not only engage in religious dakwah, but also build Muslims' independent spirits.

To formulate a number of concrete recommendations, congress participants were divided into three commissions: namely, one on strengthening Muslim politics, one on economics and the other on socio-culture affairs.

The outcome of the commission meetings will be agreed on Wednesday before the close of the congress, which will be attended by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/congress-discusses-islam-s-role-indonesian-development.html

Governance & administration

Jokowi denies any decision made on national car program

Jakarta Globe - February 9, 2015

SP/Novy Lumanauw, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo has denied reports that a joint venture between Malaysia's national car manufacturer and a little- known Indonesian company will produce an Indonesian national car.

The comments, made to journalists in Manila on Monday during a state visit to the Philippines, directly contradict a statement posted on the official website of the cabinet secretary last week.

Joko told reporters his attendance at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Malaysian car manufacturer Proton and the Indonesian company Adiperkasa Citra Lestari (ACL), in Malaysia last Friday, did not mean any decision on the matter had been made.

He said his visit to the Proton factory in Kuala Lumpur was at the invitation of Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, and former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is now chairman of Proton.

Joko said "of course it is too early" to declare the Proton Indonesia's national car and what he had witnessed was a mere business-to-business matter. He declined to elaborate on the relationship between Proton and ACL.

Joko unleashed a torrent of criticism for officiating the signing, which activists and political opponents have pounced on and labeled as yet another concession being made by the president to his party chief.

ACL president director Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, a former intelligence chief and retired Army general dogged by allegations of gross human rights abuses, is known to be close to Megawati Soekarnoputri, Joko's political patron and the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

That the president allegedly picked his company – which is not registered with Indonesia's Industry Ministry and whose history and line of business remain unknown – to represent Indonesia in the joint venture left many Indonesians flabbergasted.

Joko emphasized he had not decided to make the Proton Indonesia's national car. "I have to see the results of the study and what target should be achieved," Joko said. He reiterated that Indonesia was very open to foreign investment, including from Malaysia.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jokowi-denies-decision-made-national-car-program/

Jokowi adds to list of presidential faux pas with national car

Jakarta Globe - February 8, 2015

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo has left Indonesians flabbergasted with his decision to appoint a little-known company led by a political supporter as the local partner for a joint venture to build a national car.

Joko, on a state trip to Malaysia, visited the factory of local car manufacturer Proton on Friday, where he witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the automaker and Indonesia's Adiperkasa Citra Lestari to set up a joint venture looking into the feasibility of developing and producing an Indonesian national car.

Signing on behalf of ACL was its president director, Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, a former intelligence chief and retired Army general dogged by allegations of gross human rights abuses.

Proton chairman Mahathir Mohamad, a former Malaysian prime minister, was also present at the signing.

Hendropriyono is known to be close to Megawati Soekarnoputri, Joko's political patron and the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

That the president picked his company – which is not registered with Indonesia's Industry Ministry and whose history and line of business remain unknown – to represent Indonesia in the joint venture has prompted speculation of yet another concession being made by the president to his party chief.

"Out of [dozens of] potential partners, why Proton? And why Hendro? Why, why..." tweeted Ulil Abshar Abdala, a Democratic Party official. "Suharto was in power more than 25 years before he granted the concession for a national car to his cronies. Just FYI, bro," he added.

That earlier project was helmed by the late strongman's son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, better known as Tommy Suharto, and essentially rebadged Kia cars from South Korea as Indonesian-assembled Timor vehicles.

It ran from 1996 to 1999, before the combination of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 and Suharto's fall from power in 1998 forced its closure.

Hendropriyono appeared to have served as the president commissioner of Kia Mobil Indonesia from 1999 to 2001.

'Publicity stunt'

Joko has long expressed his ambition to launch a new national car project, and in early 2012 championed the Esemka car assembled with parts imported from China by students at a vocational school in Solo, Central Java, where he served as mayor at the time.

Critics later said his endorsement of the venture was simply a publicity stunt to pave the way for his candidacy in the Jakarta gubernatorial election later that year, which he went on to win.

With the national car project on the verge of becoming a reality, the question being asked is why it was ACL and not the makers of the Esemka who were picked for the joint venture with Proton.

"If I was Joko, I would have brought Esemka into the cooperation with Proton Malaysia to produce a national car," Fahri Hamzah, a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, wrote on Twitter. "He could have used this moment not just to launch the national car project but also to repay his friends at Esemka who he used," Fahri added.

It is also unclear why Joko chose Proton to help develop an Indonesian car. The Malaysian manufacturer has a 1 percent share of the Indonesian car market, while Japanese auto giants Toyota, Daihatsu, Honda, Suzuki and Nissan dominate the market with a wide range of mostly locally made or assembled vehicles – including quasi "national cars" produced under the so-called low-cost, green car program, in which 80 percent of the components are locally produced.

There are already indications that the new venture will mirror the Timor fiasco, with Proton simply rebadging some of its existing models for the Indonesian market.

Sofyan Djalil, the chief economics minister, said in Jakarta on Saturday that a prospective Proton assembly plant might be set up in Bekasi, east of Jakarta.

"I asked Hendropriyono... and he said he already had land in that area [for the plant]," Sofyan said as quoted by business news portal Bisnis.com. Hendropriyono, in a separate interview, said the factory would employ up to 6,000 people.

In Malaysia, Mahathir said Proton would first see whether its own cars "can be modified or be suitable for the Indonesian market."

"Initially, we may export the Malaysian-made car," he said as quoted by Malaysian state news agency Bernama. "Subsequently, we will assemble the car in Indonesia and then progress toward producing parts in that country, so that it will become a real Indonesian car." Mahathir added, "When you are a baby you need somebody to hold your hands."

Car sales last year in Indonesia, presumably the "baby" in this context, amounted to 1,208,019 units, while Malaysian car sales in the same period were 666,465 units.

'Misleading' term

Hendropriyono on Sunday asserted that his company's joint venture with Proton was "business-to-business," that the Indonesian media's use of the phrase "national car" to describe future products of the partnership was misleading because the Indonesian government in fact has no stake at all in the project.

"It is incorrect to call what we will build 'national cars'; why don't you first properly learn academic terms [before commenting]," the former chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) responded to his critics in a written statement to Indonesian news portal Tribunnews.com. "This a business-to-business partnership. We're a private company and so is Proton," he added.

Hendropriyono likened Joko's appearance during the signing of the memorandum of understanding between ACL and Proton in Malaysia with that of US President Barack Obama during the signing of an MoU between Indonesia's Lion Air and US aircraft maker Boeing in Bali in November 2011 – that both are mere displays of support from the two heads of state for their respective local industries.

"Obama witnessed the transaction conducted by our fellow private company [Lion Air] and America's Boeing because we purchased [their aircraft]," Hendropriyono said. "Now [Joko witnessed the ACL-Proton MoU signing] because we want to build our own factory."

He added that it was more cost efficient for ACL, who he had built in 2000 after retiring, to join hands with Proton rather develop its products on its own, citing infrastructure, after-sales service and networking needs.

He also admitted to having secured foreign loans to finance the project, although stopped short of mentioning the amount of money involved. Hendropriyono added that he had been dreaming of Indonesian-made cars since the Timor era, blaming the fiasco on the acquisition of Kia by Hyundai, another South Korean carmaker.

"Building a made-in-Indonesia car factory has been my dream since the Kia failure... Sticking with the slogan 'Old Soldiers Never Die,' in these late days of my life I still want to dedicate myself to the nation [by producing locally-made cars]," the retired general added.

He further said it was time for Indonesia to produce its own cars, recalling the past era when the archipelago had been able to produce its own bikes while Malaysia had not.

"Now they [Malaysia] have built their own automobile factories and we have not," Hendropriyono said. "Our nation will continue to become a loser because there are always individuals who are not ashamed of badmouthing their own people while having done nothing for the nation."

Furthermore, Hendropriyono slammed accusations that Joko had appointed his son, Diaz Hendropriyono, as a commissioner at Indonesia's largest mobile operator, state-owned Telkomsel, and son-in-law Andika Perkasa as the commander of the presidential guard Paspampres in exchange for political favor.

Hendropriyono said both Diaz and Andika had built their career and made professional achievements on their own. He said that Diaz was organizing Joko's supporters together with his friends, who several of them becoming ministers.

Odd choice

Ray Rangkuti, director of the Indonesian Civil Society Circle (LIMA), questioned why it seemed that Hendropriyono received so many favors from the president.

"What is it that makes Hendropriyono so special to Jokowi? His son in law become the chief of presidential guards while his son occupies highest position at Telkomsel. Now, he got this contract," he said, referring to the president with his popular nickname.

He demanded Joko to explain to the public why Hendropriyono received so many privileges, saying that while Hendroprioyono may help him get elected, he should not give to many to the retired three-star general. "So? Many people help Joko to the presidency. But it seems that only Hendropriyono is special," Ray said.

House Deputy Speaker Taufik Kurniawan urged Joko to provide Asemka with the opportunity to take on the task of building a national car, and show the company the same support he had given as mayor and governor.

"We have Esemka, which seems to be able to build a good car. Also, rather than cooperating with Proton, why not with Japanese companies, which have better technology and experience?" the House speaker said. Taufik added that Indonesia's relations with Malaysia could be rocky at times and could endanger the contract.

Better public transportation; not new cars

As governor, Joko battled against the mass production of low-cost green cars (LCGC), arguing that Jakarta was already burdened with so many cars and what it needed was more roads and better transportation.

Joko and his then-deputy Basuki Tjahaja Purnama even clashed with several ministers who accused them of taking an anti-industry stance that could threaten the jobs of thousands of workers.

Populi Center director Nico Harjanto questioned Joko's sudden shift before arguing that a national car was not one of Indonesia's main priorities. "What people need now is better public transportation. The government is just not sensitive [to what the country needs]," Nico said.

A recent survey crowned Jakarta with the title of producing the worst traffic in the world, with Surabaya, East Java, ranking fourth on the list.

According to the Castrol-Magnatec Stop-Start Index, drivers in Jakarta make 33,240 stop-starts annually, using global positioning system data to determine how frequently motorists driving in the city have to stop in traffic. In contrast, drivers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, recorded 6,360 stop-starts.

Basuki agreed with the survey, saying that infrastructure and facilities in the city are not suitable for the capital of Southeast Asia's biggest economy. He said Jakarta needed about 30 to 40 years to overcome its chronic gridlock.

Nico urged the government to sign deals with other countries that would fix Indonesia's chronic problems with infrastructure and public transportation, instead of even contemplating producing a national car.

Political communication expert Effendi Gazali boiled the controversy down to wrong "timing," with many Indonesians still angry at neighboring Malaysia for insulting Indonesian migrant workers.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jokowi-adds-list-presidential-faux-pas-national-car/

Jakarta & urban life

Jakarta flooded? You ain't seen nothing yet, officials say

Jakarta Globe - February 10, 2015

Lenny Tristia Tambun, Rangga Prakoso & Bayu Marhaenjati, Jakarta – Scenes of apocalyptic inundation that paralyzed much of Jakarta on Monday could play out again over the next three weeks, with officials predicting more heavy rains and tidal floods.

Monday's flood, triggered by nearly 24 hours straight of rain in Jakarta and upstream area of Bogor, where all major waterways cutting through the capital originate, was only "moderate," said Denny Wahyu, the head of the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BPBD.

More showers are expected to hit the region from Wednesday through to Feb. 20, he said. The rainy season is expected to peak between Feb. 21 and March 2, with heavy showers expected in 80 percent of the capital as well as north and west Bogor, Denny said.

"During this period, the weather agency is predicting high seas," he said. "This is a concern. We must take measures to anticipate more flooding toward the end of February."

The government's Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, or BPPT, has proposed that the Jakarta administration turn to cloud seeding to diffuse the intensity of the rains.

"It's important to redistribute the rains [elsewhere] to minimize the flood potential in Jakarta," said BPPT cloud seeding division chief Tri Handoko Seto. "It's best that we conduct [cloud seeding] within the next few days."

A surge of cold air from the north is to blame for this month's heavy rainfall, Tri said, which in some areas amounted to 100 millimeters. "This is no small-intensity rain," he said.

The BPPT, Tri added, has since January sought authorization from the Jakarta administration to carry out cloud-seeding exercises, in an effort to make rain fall over the Java Sea instead of the capital. "We're ready. But there hasn't been any instruction [from Jakarta]," he said.

Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said cloud seeding was not yet necessary, adding that his administration was confident that any further flooding in the immediate future would be "modest and still manageable" by comparison to Monday's inundation. "Cloud-seeding efforts will be taken if Jakarta is in a state of emergency," he said.

Basuki noted that water levels in areas affected by Monday's flood had receded as of Tuesday morning, an indication that flood systems in the capital were working.

And while the intensity of the flooding in some spots, including in the area around City Hall and the State Palace, was worse than usual, the extent of the inundation was not as widespread as in previous years – 307 areas were designated flood-affected zones on Monday, compared to 634 at this point last year, said the BPBD's Denny. "Hopefully that number doesn't go up," he added.

Blackout blamed

One of the worst-affected municipalities this year is North Jakarta, where the problem was compounded by the floodwaters flowing in from the rest of the city, and tidal flooding that kept much of the water from draining into the sea.

Basuki said the flooding would not have been as bad if state-owned electricity company PLN had not cut power during the peak of the rains in several areas of North, West and Central Jakarta.

That outage meant officials at the Pluit polder in North Jakarta were unable to run all 12 of their pumps to channel the water out to sea, Basuki said.

"The polder couldn't hold the water. You know why? PLN cut off the electricity, that's why the pumps didn't work," he said on Monday night. "And because they didn't work and the rain continued to pour, the water level rose."

The utility has acknowledged cutting off the electricity supply to the area, but has rejected the notion that it was to blame for exacerbating the intensity of the flooding.

"It wasn't PLN's fault," Kusdianto, a spokesman for the company, said on Tuesday. "We would only cut the power if we consider the situation has become critical and dangerous for both the public and the electrical installations."

PLN said power was shut off at 11:38 a.m., but the pumps were operating again by 1:15 p.m. "For all we know, the blackout in the morning wasn't PLN's fault. Maybe the water did reach a high level or there might have been circumstances beyond our control," Kusdianto said.

He promised, though, that PLN would try to maintain the electricity supply to all public offices, hospitals and flood control pumps, of which there are 38 throughout the capital.

Basuki, who claimed on Monday that flooding in the city center should never have happened because the waterways in Pluit were working better than ever, said he was puzzled by PLN's decision.

"They said they didn't want anyone to be electrocuted, but it wasn't even flooding" in some of the areas where the power was shut off, he said.

After hearing about the outage, Basuki said he ordered the Jakarta Water Agency to turn on a generator on at the polder, but it could only supply enough power to run two pumps. "The Pluit polder is the key. I'll ask the police and army to guard it if needed," the governor said.

He also shared his frustration with President Joko Widodo on Tuesday morning during a visit to the State Palace. "I asked the president to help me in telling PLN that there must always be electricity available for the pumps in North Jakarta," he said.

Poor system

Basuki Hadimuljono, the minister of public works and housing, blamed the severity of Monday's flooding on Jakarta's poor drainage systems. "The rain intensity is high while the drainage capacity is low," he said.

Agus Priyono Jendro, the head of the city's water management agency, agreed that it was a problem of the flood systems being overwhelmed.

"When we designed it, we thought the drainage system would be able to cope with large volumes of water," he said. "However, we fail to anticipate the subsidence of the ground surface, which causes the drains to overflow quickly. We'll evaluate this matter."

Experts have for years urged the Jakarta administration to fix the capital's failing infrastructure, including its drainage system, while revamping the city's canals.

As the rainy season peaks, flash floods increase in both frequency and severity, causing destruction of property, disrupting schools and forcing more and more people to evacuate their homes, said Nirwono Yoga, an urban planning expert at Trisakti University in West Jakarta. This latest flood severely underscores the city's infrastructure shortcomings, he added.

Due to the poor construction of Jakarta's riverbanks, urban planners say major failures in the system are leading to further damage and disasters, he said.

Nirwono worries about the future of the capital's buildings, with most rainwater going straight into Jakarta's drainage system rather than into the ground.

"The government should move toward an eco-drainage system, allowing water to soak into the ground as soon as possible, instead of lining the city's riverbanks with concrete. The government should think more toward the future," he said.

Drastic and immediate improvements are needed in the capital's drainage system, only 33 percent of which are still functional, he said.

He also called for the "normalization" of rivers, which involves dredging and widening waterways to increase water flow rates, and which is still ongoing along the Pesanggrahan and the Ciliwung rivers, to be speeded up.

But Nirwono underscored in particular the need to develop more open green spaces to act as water catchment areas. Less than 10 percent of the capital's land area consists of parks or open spaces, while spatial planning statutes mandate at least 30 percent for such space.

Flood continued

As of Tuesday afternoon, close to 6,000 people had evacuated from their flood-hit homes to 14 city-sanctioned shelters across North, West and East Jakarta. Some 2,500 of the 6,000 refugees were in North Jakarta, where 14 of 32 wards were inundated.

East Jakarta, the capital's biggest municipality by area, saw 27 of 65 wards flooded and 1,800 people forced to evacuate, most of them from the Cipinang and Kampung Melayu areas.

Twenty-three of 56 wards in West Jakarta were also affected, forcing close to 1,700 people to evacuate.

"Two other municipalities, Central and South Jakarta were also affected, but there are no evacuees," Denny said. Eight and 21 wards were affected in Central and South Jakarta, respectively.

On Tuesday, flooding was also reported in parts of the satellite cities of Tangerang and Bekasi, to Jakarta's west and east, respectively.

In Tangerang, some areas were inundated in up to 1.5 meters of water. Access to the capital was also cut off as the Angke River overflowed, leaving sections of the main artery, Jalan K.H. Hasyim Ashari, under a meter of water. The water finally drained enough to allow traffic through by the afternoon.

The Jakarta Police, whose jurisdiction also covers Tangerang, said the Total Persada Jatiuwung housing complex there was particularly badly hit by the flood, with some homes immersed in up to two meters of water.

Also heavily affected is Kampung Pulo in East Jakarta and Cipulir in West Jakarta, where water levels also reached up to two meters.

The police, military and the National Search and Rescue Agency, or Basarnas, have deployed nearly 2,000 personnel in total to help in the BPBD's relief efforts.

Jakarta Police Deputy Chief Brig. Gen. Nandang Jumantara said police were also deployed to secure homes left by occupants fleeing to higher ground.

"We need to secure the homes and belongings left behind by their owners. The military has also pledged some security assistance to prevent any looting," he said.

In Bekasi, floodwaters have receded in some areas, while others are still under up to a meter of water.

Officials from the local search and rescue agency and military were seen patrolling affected neighborhoods on board inflatable rafts to look for people trapped inside their homes.

However, some residents, particularly those in two-story houses, refused to evacuate, citing security concerns.

The Bekasi Health Office, meanwhile, is on high alert for flood-related ailments such as skin rashes, diarrhoea and high fever. "It's advisable not to be in contact with floodwater for very long," said health office chief Koesmedi. "Always clean up after if you do."

Health officials are also bracing for an expected surge in post-flooding diseases such as dysentery, leptospirosis and other water-borne illnesses.

Outage

The floods caused gridlock throughout much of Jakarta on Monday, with the TransJakarta bus network forced to shut five of its 12 corridors because of heavy flooding along the routes, with service along five other corridors severely disrupted.

The routes that were shut on Monday were Pulogadung-Harmoni; Kalideres- Harmoni; Lebak Bulus-Harmoni; Cililitan-Tanjung Priok; and Pluit-Tanjung Priok. The Kampung Melayu-Ancol and Pinangranti-Pluit corridors were shortened due to flooding.

TransJakarta director Antonius N.S. Kosasih said the company had suffered serious financial losses as a result of limited bus operations. But the flood has proved a boon for state-owned railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia, with many stations in the Greater Jakarta area having to open up additional ticket counters to serve passengers fearful of getting stuck in gridlock or floods on the roads.

"A lot of people switched to taking the train, maybe because of the rain and flooding," said Eva Chairunisa, a spokeswoman for KAI Jakarta.

One such passenger Agus Sutoyo, who said he normally commuted to work by car, opted to leave his car at home after hearing reports of vehicles getting caught in the flooding and stalling.

All train operations in the Greater Jakarta area network were back to normal by Tuesday after disruptions on Monday, except for services to Kampung Bandan station, located near the heavily flooded Mangga Dua area straddling West and Central Jakarta. "Kampung Bandan is still inundated in 20 to 30 centimeters of water," Eva said.

She said KAI Jakarta was forced to shut down much of its operations on Monday due to flooding in Bukit Duri, which connects Bogor and Bekasi to the city center. Sections of track between Jatinegara and Manggarai stations were also damaged because of the floods.

"We managed to fix the broken tracks on Monday night, so [Tuesday's] operation ran smoothly," Eva said. Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jakarta/jakarta-flooded-aint-seen-nothing-yet-officials-say/

It's only just begun, Jakarta's residents warned

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Dewanti A. Wardhani and Sita W. Dewi, Jakarta – Greater Jakarta residents are expected to be cautious for the next few days, as heavy rainfall was forecasted to continue after downpours all through the night triggered floods across the capital on Monday.

Floodwaters with depths of 50 centimeters inundated several areas, including thoroughfares such as Jl. MH Thamrin, Sarinah, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat and Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta, causing major traffic congestion.

The Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that at noon there had been 107 places inundated, mostly in West and Central Jakarta. Many families were forced to leave their flooded houses.

Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesperson Harry Tirto said heavy rainfall was expected to continue in Greater Jakarta for the next one or two days.

"The rain on Monday was only the beginning of this month's high rainfall. Residents in Greater Jakarta should expect similar conditions for the next one to two days. We are entering the peak of the rainy season," Harry told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The floods also affected Commuter Line and Transjakarta bus routes, some of which halted operations or were redirected. The Tanah Abang railway station in Central Jakarta was closed as the railway tracks were inundated.

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama also pointed out that the rising sea level off the capital's north coast was a factor that had triggered severe flooding. "Furthermore, many of our pumps need to be repaired in order to work faster and better."

The capacity of the city's 44 reservoirs, he said, could not cope with the increasing volume of water caused by rising sea levels and incessant rain.

Commenting on floodwaters inundating the State Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Ahok said it should not have happened as all nearby water pumps and reservoirs were working.

"The Pluit [Reservoir] and Manggarai [water channel] are working just fine so it's bizarre that the State Palace is flooded," he said.

The country's flagship museum, the National Museum, has also been flooded for the first time in its history, according to Intan Mardiana, the museum director.

"Floodwater entered parts of the building this morning but we quickly resolved the issue by turning on three water pumps, which managed to drain the floodwater from the museum relatively quickly," Intan said.

Floodwater started to enter parts of the museum as heavy rain hit the capital city on Monday morning. "The floodwater was up to the ankles." It appeared that the drainage system surrounding the museum could no longer accommodate the excess rain water," said Intan.

The floodwaters inundating the museum began to recede at 1 p.m. "Today's flood was the first ever in the history of the National Museum. We have never experienced such an event before," said Intan.

While most areas were affected by the floodwaters, Jatinegara district in East Jakarta, which was known as a flood-prone area, was unusually free of floodwater.

Joice Layla Andres, a resident of Bidara Cina, Jatinegara, said her home and neighborhood were free of floods despite heavy rainfall in Jakarta. "We are only flooded when it rains in Bogor. So heavy rains in Jakarta are not likely to affect my area," she said.

In nearby Tangerang regency, 12 out of 29 districts also suffered from flooding.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/it-s-only-just-begun-jakarta-s-residents-warned.html

Flooding displaces nearly 6,000 residents

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Jakarta – Widespread flooding in the capital city has displaced 5,986 residents in 307 neighborhoods located in 97 subdistricts in the capital city.

Spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said on Tuesday that displaced residents were being cared for at 14 locations, making use of public buildings like subdistrict offices and public schools.

He added that the number of displaced residents was expected to rise as more rain was on the way. So far, no fatalities have been reported during the flooding.

Sutopo said the BNPB had set up 28 tactical posts to provide aid for flood victims and that subdistrict heads had been asked to coordinate with the agency by supplying food and medicine.

He also called on residents, especially those living in affected areas, to remain alert for the possibility of worsening floods, as rain was expected to continue, possibly through Thursday.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama instructed all district and subdistrict heads to provide logistical assistance to displaced residents.

"I order all district and subdistrict heads to provide food and other assistance for flood victims who have been evacuated to safety areas and public buildings," he said.

He said humanitarian relief would not be delivered to residents whose homes were inundated, but made available at the tactical posts. (rms)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/flooding-displaces-nearly-6000-residents.html

Armed forces & police

President issues regulation on TNI's role in social conflict management

Kompas.com - February 12, 2015

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has signed Government Regulation (PP) Number 2/2015 on the handling of social conflicts.

According to the copy uploaded to the Cabinet Secretariat website on Thursday, the PP is referred to as an implementing regulation of Law Number 7/2012 on Social Conflict Management.

Among other things, the regulation regulates the involvement of the TNI (Indonesian military) in the management of social conflicts. The support and mobilisation of TNI forces to put a stop to conflicts is implemented after the central or regional governments declares a state of conflict.

The support and the mobilisation of TNI forces shall be done to end physical violence and implement restrictions on and the closure of conflict zones for an indeterminate period.

In addition to this, it allows for implementing restrictions on person leaving the home (curfew) for an indeterminate period, the prohibition of persons entering or leaving a conflict zone for an indeterminate period, the rescue, evacuation and identification of victims of conflicts, providing protection to vulnerable groups and saving the lives and property of victims of conflicts.

"The support and the mobilisation of TNI forces shall be coordinated by the national police (Polri)", reads Article 41 of the regulation.

The regulation explains that TNI units that are carrying out support duties under a state of conflict are subject to stipulations under legislation and the principles of human rights and shall not be given other duties until the end of their tour of duty.

On the declaration of a state of conflict, the regulation explains that it shall come into effect if and when a conflict cannot be controlled by the national police and the functions of government are disrupted. The indicators of this are if a conflict continues to escalate and spread.

"The support of TNI forces as referred to is to be carried out based on a request by regional governments to the president", reads Article 44 and Article 45 Paragraph (1) of the regulation.

The support and mobilisation of TNI forces will end if and when the state of conflict is revoked or when declared period of the state of conflict expires.

Meanwhile, the government and regional governments are obliged to provide post-conflict rehabilitation that is planned, integrated, sustainable and measurable in accordance with their authority.

This post-conflict rehabilitation covers reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Meanwhile funding sources for conflict management shall come from national and regional government budgets and or society.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Presiden Terbitkan PP Penanganan Konflik Sosial".]

Source: http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2015/02/12/21170901/Presiden.Terbitkan.PP.Penanganan.Konflik.Sosial

Joint training to prevent TNI-police clashes

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2015

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has revealed that it has agreed to start a joint training program with the National Police for officers from the two corps as part of efforts to reduce tensions.

"We have met with the police and we have conducted a number of evaluations that led us to the conclusion to hold joint training," Army spokesperson Brig. Gen Wuryanto told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta.

Wuryanto said that officers from both the police and military academies would attend the same classes for two or three months to help foster mutual respect.

Under former president Soeharto's New Order regime, the military academy was responsible for training and education for military and police cadets. Back then, cadets from the police and military undertook four months of joint training before attending separate classes.

"The joint education will be one of the solutions to prevent clashes between military and police personnel. They will get to know each other and after the training they can avoid unnecessary conflict in the field because they know each other," Wuryanto said.

Wuryanto was aware, however, that the plan could spark speculation that the military was trying to control the police. "This is why we have to be careful about implementing the plan, because we don't have such an aim," he said.

Frequent clashes between TNI personnel and police officers have led many to assume that the two have a tense relationship. Many consider that the police became too powerful following its separation from the TNI, leading the TNI to resent the police's growing clout.

A violent clash took place in Batam in September last year when the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel raided a suspected illegal fuel-storage facility that was allegedly backed by military personnel from the 134 Tuah Sakti infantry battalion.

Four soldiers sustained gunshot wounds during the raid. After the incident, dozens of soldiers from Tuah Sakti rampaged through the Brimob headquarters. The incident, which lasted almost seven hours, left one soldier dead and a local street vendor injured.

Both the military and the police launched separate probes into the event. The TNI imposed disciplinary measures by reassigning 100 soldiers involved in the Batam clash to the eastern part of Indonesia.

Military expert Mufti Makarim said that joint education for the officer candidates might not be effective because most clashes involved lower- ranking soldiers, not officers.

"It won't be a problem for officers to join the training, but it will be not effective as the number of officers is far lower than the lower-ranking soldiers," Mufti said on Thursday.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/11/joint-training-prevent-tni-police-clashes.html

TNI ready for bigger role in Poso

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2015

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) revealed on Tuesday its readiness to start a security operation to deal with the terror threat in Poso, Central Sulawesi.

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya said the military was waiting for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction to start its operation.

"Currently, the police are conducting a security operation in Poso and the TNI is supporting by deploying intelligence personnel. The police operation will end on March 26," Fuad told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta.

He added that the TNI could launch a security operation against terrorists in the area if evaluations showed that the police-led crackdowns had failed to curb terror acts. He hinted that the instruction for the TNI to join the war on terror could be issued in March.

"Conflict in Poso has been going on for years and the perpetrators have created instability. It needs to be settled soon for the sake of the local residents," he said.

Fuad acknowledged that combating terrorism was not part of the TNI's remit and that Poso was not under martial law. "This is why we need the order directly from the President to enter the area," he said.

Last week, TNI Commander Gen. Moeldoko revealed the military was ready to maintain security in Poso and said the TNI would join with the police to achieve peace in the area.

Meanwhile, National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti said the police had carried out a security operation called Operasi Camar 2015, which was supported by the military and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT). Badrodin said the operation would focus on areas including Sausu, North Poso Pesisir, South Poso Pesisir, Lore and several areas in Gunung Biru.

Violence has reportedly escalated in recent months, with five civilians killed by an armed group in December and members of terror groups coming down from their mountain hideouts to steal food in the villages.

The group, believed to be linked to the Islamic State (IS) organization, was also involved in a gunfight with a joint police-military patrol in Tangkura subdistrict, South Poso Pesisir, last month. The group's leader is alleged to be Santoso, the most wanted man in the country.

Counterterrorism operations have been staged in Poso for the past 14 years, with no significant results. The police have yet to arrest members of the Santoso group, which has been operating in the region for the last four years.

Terrorist expert Al Chaidar said the plan for the TNI to join the counterterroism effort in Poso could bring a permanent solution. "People in Poso will welcome the military as they are tired with the situation," Al Chaidar said.

Taufik Andrie from Yayasan Prasasti Perdamaian (YPP) agreed that the deployment of military personnel in Poso could be effective, as TNI soldiers were skilled in guerilla warfare, which could be used against the Santoso group.

Meanwhile, Haris Azhar from the Commission of Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said increased military involvement could bring changes to the way terrorism was fought in the country. "It will change from law enforcement into waging war," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/11/tni-ready-bigger-role-poso.html

Criminal justice & prison system

UN chief appeals to Indonesia to stop death row executions

Reuters - February 14, 2015

Michelle Nichols, United Nations – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Indonesia on Friday not to execute prisoners on death row for drug crimes, including citizens of Australia, Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines.

Indonesia has harsh penalties for drug trafficking and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap. Five foreigners were among six people executed last month, the first executions since President Joko Widodo took office in October.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ban had spoken with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Thursday "to express his concern at the recent application of capital punishment in Indonesia."

"The United Nations opposes the death penalty under all circumstances," Dujarric said in a statement on Friday. "The Secretary-General appeals to the Indonesian authorities that the executions of the remaining prisoners on death row for drug-related offenses not be carried out."

Indonesia's Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo said this month that two Australians – Myuran Sukumaran, 33, and Andrew Chan, 31 – are among eight prisoners due to be executed after Widodo rejected their clemency pleas in January.

Nationals of Brazil, Malawi, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Vietnam were executed by firing squad in January.

The case of the two Australian men threatens to strain already fragile relations between Australia and Indonesia.

The two were identified as leaders of the so-called Bali Nine, a group of nine arrested on the resort island in 2005 and convicted of attempting to smuggle some 8 kg of heroin to Australia. Other members of the group have been sentenced to long prison terms.

Indonesia's foreign ministry spokesman said the death penalty was in accordance with Indonesian law and did not conflict with respect for human rights as governed by the constitution.

"The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that the death penalty can be imposed for the most serious crimes," spokesman Armanatha Nasir said by text message.

"Indonesia is of the view that drug crimes constitute most serious crimes that have indiscriminately made millions of victims suffer and caused many deaths."

Australia is pursuing a last-ditch deal with Indonesia to save its citizens, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Thursday. She said last month she would not rule out recalling Australia's envoy if the executions went ahead.

Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors in Indonesia, and Nigeria summoned Indonesia's ambassador in Abuja, after last month's executions.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/un-chief-appeals-indonesia-stop-death-row-executions/

Death for Chan and Sukumaran while home-town kingpin gets reprieve

Sydney Morning Herald - February 13, 2015

Michael Bachelard – It's a tale of two drug rings in Indonesia. The first manufactured kilograms of the drug ice, known locally as sabu sabu, at a factory in Surabaya and pumped it out throughout the country, hooking Indonesia's youth. The second was the Bali Nine plot to transit 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Thailand to the streets of Australia with a brief stopover in Bali.

Both drug rings were busted by Indonesian police and the perpetrators brought to the courts. The key figures in both were handed the death penalty. But that is where the similarity ends.

The ice plot was masterminded by an Indonesian man called Hangky Gunawan. There is no dispute that he owned the drug factory, which was in Surabaya, East Java, as well as a major distribution network. It made him one of the country's most notorious drug traffickers, and he was caught with more than 11kg of the highly addictive and dangerous drug.

When Indonesian president Joko Widodo says, as he has regularly, that drugs are destroying Indonesia's youth, killing 40 to 50 a day, it's this kind of operation that's doing the damage. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime says Indonesia's main drug problem comes from factory-manufactured amphetamines.

But in Hangky's initial trial in 2007, the Surabaya district court handed down an 18-year sentence. Prosecutors appealed, and the Supreme Court changed it to death.

The case ran almost in parallel with that of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. At every step of their journey – from the Bali district court, through numerous appeals – the death penalty was reconfirmed.

In May 2011, Chan's final appeal became case No. 37 in the Supreme Court in Jakarta, and Sukumaran case No. 38. They were seeking a judicial review from a full bench. In both cases, the death penalty was reconfirmed. The Indonesian system, they said, gave no quarter to drug convicts.

Then, with the very next case, No. 39, Hangky Gunawan made his bid for reprieve.

Suddenly, the attitude of the court changed. The death penalty, it found, violated Article 28 of the Indonesian constitution, which guarantees everyone the right to life. It went against the country's 1999 law on human rights.

The chief judge, Imron Anwari, went so far as to say the purpose of criminal sentencing was to educate, correct and prevent additional wrongdoing. It even quoted Article 3 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Hangky, the home-town boy, had his sentence reduced to 15 years which, under Indonesia's relatively generous good-behaviour provisions, means he could be out in about eight. One of the judges, Achmad Yamanie, then crossed that out and reduced it even further to 12 years. He was later sacked dishonourably for that unauthorised adjustment.

But Hangky Gunawan had his reprieve.

The ruling actually, briefly, led to the hope that the Indonesian Supreme Court had found the voice of conscience when it came to the death penalty. Alas, it had probably just found a way to make an exception, though the panel, including the chief judge, were later cleared of allegations of bribery

Sukumaran and Chan, meanwhile are being moved to what is likely to be their final home; the ultramax island prison complex called Nusakambangan. They are foreigners; they have no money and therefore, in the Indonesian justice system, despite the untiring efforts of their lawyers, they have little voice.

And when the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, was asked, upon rejecting their final plea for clemency, why he wanted to execute people who had been taking drugs out of the country, he did not even know the specifics of their case. Such is the system of justice in Indonesia. (With Amilia Rosa)

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/death-for-chan-and-sukumaran-while-hometown-kingpin-gets-reprieve-20150213-13dp7u.html

Economy & investment

Rupiah suffers despite Jokowi's reforms

Jakarta Post - February 13, 2015

Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – Economic reforms undertaken by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo have drawn strong inflows in the equity and bonds markets, but have failed to propel the rupiah as currency investors remain skeptical on the recovery of Indonesia's current-account deficit.

Since taking office on Oct. 20, Jokowi has cut fuel subsidies and introduced a state budget heavily focused on infrastructure, but the rupiah has fallen by more than 6 percent since he was elected, touching 12,794 per US dollar on Thursday, according to the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR).

A currency rate from local banks compiled by Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the rupiah had already hit 12,820, the weakest level since August 1998.

The rupiah's 0.6 percent depreciation was among the steepest in Asia, as both the Philippine peso and the Malaysian ringgit fell by a mere 0.1 percent, while the Indian rupee only slightly changed on Thursday.

Analysts said the fall in the rupiah was against the trend in the stock market, which had been on the rise in the past several days because of an increase in foreign purchases.

The debt market has also seen an increase in foreign purchases. This year, foreign investors have increased their holdings of Indonesian bonds by at least Rp 36.5 trillion. So far in 2015, foreign investors have also posted Rp 4.8 trillion in net buys of Indonesian stocks, official data show.

Jokowi argued that the rupiah's steep depreciation was not driven by a deterioration in the country's economic fundamentals or investors' doubts about his commitment to reform.

"It was mostly driven by external factors," Jokowi told reporters on Thursday when asked about the factors dragging down the rupiah, noting the weakness in global oil prices and the potential interest rate increase in the US as major causes.

"But it is clear that our fiscal situation is now healthier, our inflation is more manageable and our trade balance has improved. Just give me time. I've been [President] for only three months," he said.

Over the last few days, global investors have been jittery as a result of stalling talks over debt restructuring in Greece and its potential exit from the eurozone, with the ongoing crisis in Europe described by UK Finance Minister George Osborne as "the greatest risk to the global economy".

"A certain risk aversion is taking hold among market players, as another episode of Greek drama plays out," OCBC Bank economist Wellian Wiranto commented on Thursday.

"This global backdrop occurs at a time when there has been relatively little positive domestic news flow or data out of Indonesia, as well," he added.

Other economists pointed to different domestic factors, including Jokowi's pro-growth economic mind-set, which may pose a risk to the recovery of Indonesia's external balance.

Jokowi has targeted the economy to grow at 5.7 percent this year, before finally hitting 7 percent within his five-year presidency, with the President planning huge spending on infrastructure projects to achieve the objective.

However, the planned infrastructure spending will invite more imports that could pose risks to the current account deficit, said Saktiandi Supaat, the head of foreign exchange research with Maybank.

Bank Indonesia, the central bank, estimated that the current account deficit could hover between 3.3 and 3.5 percent this year, higher than the estimated 3 percent of last year.

"We need to see a consistent improvement in the current account deficit to ensure the Indonesian rupiah's strength and continued portfolio inflow," Supaat said on Thursday.

"The removal of fuel subsidies and lower oil prices should help with the current account deficit, but risks remain and could potentially worsen."

Supaat explained that broad US dollar strength had hit emerging market currencies, but the rupiah had weakened slightly more than others because of Indonesia's latest political developments.

Jokowi's handling of the appointment of officials in strategic government institutions had caused foreign investors to have doubts about the President's leadership, he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/13/rupiah-suffers-despite-jokowi-s-reforms.html

Key bills in pipeline to jump-start economy

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2015

Linda Yulisman and Raras Cahyafitri, Jakarta – In its plenary session on Monday, the House of Representatives agreed 37 bills set for deliberation this year, with more than half related to reform in the economy and less focus on bolstering the security and defense presence in society, as many had previously feared.

An amendment to a law on dispute settlements in industrial relationships, which regulates disputes between workers, labor unions and employers, as well as amendments to the tax system and oil and gas management, are among the bills much-awaited by businesses.

Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani expected the amendment to the Industrial Relationships Law would favor labor-intensive companies, given the current regulations that overly emphasized protection for laborers rather than for employers.

"The interests of businesspeople have always been sidelined in all labor regulations. Such inequality has created high costs for businesses."

Hariyadi explained that in the past couple of years, companies were reluctant to hire more workers because if they engaged in a dispute with workers, who were usually supported by labor unions, the settlement would be costly and unfair for businesses under the current law.

The complexity of recruiting and nurturing the labor force has discouraged corporations from employing more workers, making them choose to implement high-tech machinery that reduces labor needs.

Manufacturing only employed 15.39 million people, or 13 percent of the 125.3 million national workforce as of February 2014.

The House and the government are also rushing to complete an amendment to the Oil and Gas Law to ensure legal certainty and attract more investment to the sector.

"We expect to submit the draft earlier in February rather than in May," said Naryanto Wagimin, the upstream oil and gas director with the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's directorate general of oil and gas.

Naryanto said that early submission was necessary as many contracts would need approval from a definitive agency after the Constitutional Court scrapped Upstream Oil and Gas Executive Agency (BPMigas) in late 2012.

Major oil and gas producers have also called on the government to introduce a more flexible regulatory framework in the amended law in order to prevent an energy crisis that can occur in the next five years if no serious efforts are made to prop up the declining oil production.

In order to attract more investments, the government will also revise a law on the general taxation system with a planned introduction of a tax amnesty that will bring home billions of dollars hidden by Indonesian companies and individuals overseas.

With more bills focusing on the economy, the government will avoid passing bills that are deemed controversial, including a bill on the protection of religious minorities, over concern of a backlash from Muslim communities.

Also dropped from the list are the national security and state secrecy bills, which have been opposed by rights groups as potential threats to democracy. "We want to avoid any controversies in this first year so we will not focus on such contentious bills. It's the President's instruction. They remain as our long-term targets although they are not our priority this year," Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly said last week.

In regards to the revision to the Mining, Mineral and Coal Law, the government has ensured that there will not be controversy, such as with an easing of the export ban of raw mineral ores put in place last year.

"There will be no compromise to the export ban policy. The revision will only cover the transfer of authority to issue mining permits from local administrations to the central government," said R. Sukhyar, the director general for mineral and coal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

Legislators have deemed the amount of the current deliberation realistic compared to the previous House that was able to pass less than 20 of the around 100 bills proposed annually. The current House has aimed to pass 159 bills before its term expires in October 2019.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/key-bills-pipeline-jump-start-economy.html

Analysis & opinion

Withdraw Budi, ASAP

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 12, 2015

As a Javanese, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is familiar with the old maxim alon-alon waton kelakon (slow but sure), but now it is time for him to move as quickly as possible to settle the protracted controversy of the eligibility of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as the next chief of the National Police.

Before leaving for his Southeast Asia trip and then upon his arrival, the President said the much-awaited decision would be made this week, without setting a date and without specifying whether he would install or drop Budi, who has won the approval of the House of Representatives.

The likelihood is that Jokowi will cancel his nomination of Budi, as he told Muhammadiyah figure Syafii Maarif, who leads the nine-strong independent team to help resolve the standoff between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the police, in a phone conversation last week.

Jokowi's intention to select one or two new police chief candidates is also corroborated by the fact that the National Police Commission has submitted a new list, which does not include Budi, to the President.

Jokowi should not prolong this uncertainty. The nation's time and energy have been sapped by this unnecessary polemic. The issue could have been avoided had Jokowi stopped the nomination process of Budi as soon as the KPK named him a suspect one month ago.

It is the KPK's investigation of Budi's alleged involvement in past corruption cases that undermines his chances of becoming the top cop. The court battle Budi is waging to challenge the KPK's quick decision to declare him suspect cannot impede or stop the investigation, but the criminalization of the KPK's leaders, which is now underway, perhaps can.

The KPK has always declared suspects based on solid evidence, which so far has been verified in court, no matter how hard defendants have struggled to prove otherwise. As an independent anticorruption body, its credibility has been tested, although due to its limited human resources it has often failed to show the complete pictures of graft cases.

Many suspect the KPK's actions against Budi are politically motivated, but we cannot imagine the damage his installation as police chief would do to this nation and its efforts to uphold the law. The KPK had warned Jokowi of Budi's ineligibility beforehand, but the President opted to ignore that warning.

The President has sought advice from many parties, including the opposition, and despite their pledge to respect whatever decision he takes in this controversy, he has left the nation waiting for too long. This game must end as soon as possible, with the President rebooting the selection process. We know the pressure Jokowi is facing, but the more he tries to buy time, the sooner he will lose the public's confidence.

To avoid mistakes and for the sake of his credibility, the President should allow the KPK and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre to check the candidates' track records, just as he did for his ministerial hopefuls when he selected his Cabinet.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/12/withdraw-budi-asap.html

Crocodiles, cronies and cars

New Mandala - February 9, 2015

Hamish McDonald – Just over five years ago, Indonesians were transfixed by a political-legal brawl that came to be known as the "Crocodile versus Citcak" battle.

In this scenario, the little green-grey lizard that is a welcome household presence in a mosquito-ridden country, was the Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi or KPK).

Set up in 2002 in the wave of post-Suharto era reforms, it begun functioning in 2004 with the backing of a new president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Soon it showed an unprecedented fearlessness, tackling the institutions that, according to opinion polls, Indonesians regarded as the most corrupt of all.

These were the parliament, the deal-brokering nest of the "crocodiles", closely followed by the law courts and the agencies that fed them their cases, the police and the state prosecutors.

Over 2009, the crocodiles fought back against the KPK. Police arrested its chief commissioner, accusing him of ordering the execution of a businessman who was blackmailing the commissioner over an affair with his wife. The official got 18 years jail in a case many believe was a frame-up.

Then the police named two other KPK commissioners as suspects in a bribery case over a government purchase. But transcripts of intercepted phone calls then appeared, showing the case had been cooked up between senior officials in the Attorney-General's Department and a police general.

Even so, it was only after large-scale public demonstrations in support of the KPK and an inquiry by respected lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, commissioned by President Yudhoyono, that the police and prosecutors dropped their attempted stitch-up.

The KPK went on to put the serving police general in jail, a first for Indonesia, and has since put numerous senior politicians and officials in the dock. As uncomfortable as this was for Yudhoyono, since many of those politicians were from his own coalition, he nevertheless stood by the KPK and its work.

Now, only four months into his term, the crocodiles are circling the new president, Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi), who also came to power promising a clean new style of governance.

Like Yudhoyono, Jokowi is burdened by the company he is forced to keep. In order to run for president last year, he had attached himself to the Sukarnoist secular nationalist party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former president herself (2001-2004) and daughter of the country's first president and independence leader, Sukarno.

As a result, Jokowi has felt obliged to accommodate several of her hoary old political menagerie in his government. Notably his defence minister is ex-general Ryacudu Riyamizard, infamous for praising the soldiers under his command who murdered the Papuan leader Theys Eluay in 2001.

In January, almost certainly at Megawati's prompting, Jokowi named one of her personal friends and favourites, a police general named Budi Gunawan, as the sole candidate for parliamentary endorsement as the new chief of the National Police. This immediately turned into a crisis when the KPK named Budi as a corruption suspect because of millions of dollars of unaccounted-for wealth.

The police, supported by a noisy claque of PDI-P politicians including ministers in Jokowi's cabinet, then turned on the KPK and its four commissioners. The chairman, Abraham Samad, was accused of breaching his oath of political impartiality by talking last year about running for vice-president alongside Jokowi, at whose instigation is not clear.

The police also arrested a deputy commissioner, Bambang Widjojanto, on perjury charges brought by a PDI-P politician in a case that had already been dismissed by a court. The arrest has forced him to stand aside from the KPK.

A day later, a lawyer filed a police complaint case against another KPK deputy commissioner, Adnan Pandu Praja, over alleged mishandling of company shares in 2006. The fourth commissioner, Zulkarnain, may also face criminal investigation after a convicted embezzler accused him of bribery in 2008.

The barrage of criminal cases threatens to decapitate the anti-corruption commission. Overwhelmingly, the Indonesian media sees no merit in any of the cases, only revenge by police at having one of their insiders fingered for alleged corruption.

The sense of Jokowi as an innocent surrounded by political reptiles increased last week on the president's visit to neighbouring Malaysia took an astonishing turn.

Jokowi toured the factory of the Malaysian car manufacturer, Proton, a loss-making state white elephant set up under the contentious prime ministership of Mahathir Mohamad, who in political retirement became its chairman.

There Jokowi witnessed signing of an agreement for Proton to set up a joint-venture partnership in Indonesia to work towards production of an "Indonesian car". It might start, Mahathir suggested, by importing fully made-up cars from Malaysia. This immediately brought to mind the "national car" project of Tommy Suharto, the late president's son, which turned out to be just a South Korean car, fully imported.

The Indonesian partner in the deal is a company called Adiperkasa Citra Lestari, which is not known to Jakarta's Ministry of Industry and has no known record of business. Its unique selling point, however, seems to be that its chairman is Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, who was there at the signing.

Hendropriyono as a government minister in 1999 helped organise the forced march of tens of thousands of East Timorese into Indonesia in a "protest" against the territory's referendum vote for independence. In 2004 he was Megawati's chief of the National Intelligence Agency when its operatives carried out the assassination of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. Last year he resurfaced as a campaign advisor to Megawati and member of the panel forming Jokowi's cabinet.

How Jokowi handles the KPK crisis, and fends off such rent-seeking as the car project, will be critical to whether his presidency moves forward on its main agenda of clean and effective government, or descends into a sorry farce.

[Hamish McDonald is author of Demokrasi: Indonesia in the 21st Century and Jounralist-in-Residence at the Australian National University's College of Asia & the Pacific.]

Source: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2015/02/09/crocodiles-cronies-and-cars/

Another misguided step from Jokowi

Jakarta Globe Editorial - February 8, 2015

Another day, another controversial move from President Joko Widodo. We are left scratching our heads seeing him witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding between a little-known company led by Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, his political supporter, and Malaysian automaker Proton, to build an Indonesian car.

We are told that this venture is a business-to-business deal, and has nothing to do with the state and will not use state money. As much as we try to believe it, too many questions arise.

First, is it really pure business-to-business? We doubt it. Hendropriyono's Adiperkasa Citra Lestari (ACL) is too little known to be trusted by the Malaysian government to be teamed up on such a huge project. It needs an absolute guarantee from Indonesian authorities to even get this far. Joko's presence is the guarantee. If we have yet to call this an abuse of power then it is cronyism.

Second, do we believe that there will be no tax payer money involved? Again, we doubt it.

Embarking on a national car project will always need government's heavy support just to survive, let alone succeed. Just ask Proton and Mahathir Mohamad, the then-prime minister of Malaysia who pioneered his country's national car. Joko's administration will have to give its full support to the project – whether in terms of tax deduction, subsidies or even direct financing.

Third, do we believe that the ACL has the capacity to handle this project? Again, we doubt it, but in all honesty, we don't know, because it has no track record of making cars.

As hard as we try to believe that it's for good for Indonesian people, we end up concluding it's just another paying off of political debts. And, the question follows – who else gets what project?

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-another-misguided-step-jokowi/