From 30 April to 01 June, police have arrested protesters expressing support for ULMWP and West Papua campaign of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), KNPB said in a statement to Jubi, Monday (8/6/2015).

Police arrested 12 people in Manokwari on 30 April and 205 people on 1 May. Around the same time 15 people were arrested in Merauke, 30 in Jayapura and 2 pin Kaimana. On 20 May, the police arrested 75 people in Manokwari, 3 people in Biak and 6 people in Sentani. On the following day, they arrest 27 people in Biak and 1 people in Manado. Thus, during the time, they have arrested 129 activists.

On 28 May, the Police continued to arrest 52 people in Jayapura, 6 people in Nabire, 25 people in Wamena and 2 people in Yahukimo. Total activists arrested in that day were 85 people. And the last, on 1 June 2015, the Police arrested 1 activist.

Of 479 people arrested, 4 activists in Manokwari and 3 activists in Biak have been detained and charged with incitement.

The KNPB report was issued on 3 June 2015 in Jayapura.

Meanwhile, the Papuaitukita Movement in Jakarta issued the release on the arrests of 444 Papuans in May 2015 during the protest. They reported during 1-10 May 2015, 269 people were arrested in Manokwari in peace demonstration while 30 were arrested in Jayapura, 15 were arrested during the preparation of protest and 2 were arrested in the demonstration in Merauke, while 3 Papuan students were arrested during the protest in Surabaya.

During the period of 11-20 May 2015, 12 people were arrested in peace demonstration to reject PT PPM on 16 May 2015, and 75 people were arrested before the demonstration and 2 were arrested in Biak when intended to send a letter of announcement to the Police Office while 6 were arrested in Sentani while distributing leaflets.

Between 21-31 May 2015, 17 people were arrested in Biak when being assembled to prepare peace demonstration. 27 people were arrested in Jayapura before peace demonstration and 1 was arrested in Manado.

Earlier, the Papua Police said the police would not compromise with any kind of KNPB activities. "The Police would not comprise any kind of KNPB activities, especially in Jayawijaya Regency and its surrounding areas. The readiness indicates our concern in personnel assignment to follow up their plan of demonstration on 28 May 2015. Jayawijaya Police would not compromise any kind of their activities including the advanced demonstration," Jayawijaya Police Chief Semmy Ronny TH Abaa said at that time.

Meanwhile the Papua Police Chief Inspector General Jotje Mende earlier proposed KNPB dissolution, and relayed to the Commission III of Indonesian Representative House some time ago. (Arnold Belau/Dominggus Mampioper/rom)

Source: http://tabloidjubi.com/en/2015/06/08/police-have-arrested-479-papuan-activists-since-late-april/

Random arrests of KNPB activists disconcerting, says human right observer

Tabloid JUBI - June 8, 2015

Jayapura, Jubi – The arrest of about 200 West Papua National Committee activists in May is disconcerting and shows that authorities are increasingly resorting to heavy-handed tactics to discourage dissent, a human rights observer said.

"On 1 May that about two hundred people were arrested in a day. It was very worrying and disconcerting. People were arrested while they have not yet expressed their voice, even the arrest at KNPB secretariat was occurred when they were in preparation," Theo Van den Broek told Jubi at Sentani, Jayapura Regency last week.

Van den Broek said the crackdown indicated that the government is intolerant of any dissent and no longer concerned about freedom of expression guaranteed by Law.

"Disagreement is very normal. The Constitution guarantee people to express their opinion. We have right to express our opinion as far as it was done properly, and do not violate other human right," said former Director of SKP Keuskupan Jayapura.

Meanwhile, Papua political observer Budi Hermawan added the arrest against Papuans in last May became specific record in Papuan history. That it was just happened the police arrested Papuans in huge number from previous.

"The arrest on 1 May 2015 is the huge arrests in the history of arrest against Papuans," said the former human right activists at Secretariat of Peace and Justice of Keuskupan Jayapura on Monday (31/5).

Earlier, Jubi released the Police has arrested 264 KNPB activists within two days (31 April – 1 May 2015) in several regions in Papua. The arrests against KNPB activists were occurred in Fakfak, Manokwari, Nabire, Jayapura and Biak. (Mawel Benny/rom)

Source: http://tabloidjubi.com/en/2015/06/08/random-arrests-against-knpb-activists-disconcerting-says-human-right-observer/

Leaflets urging Papuans to support Indonesia circulate in Merauke, Jayapura

Tabloid JUBI - June 8, 2015

Jayapura, Jubi – Leaflets calling on Papuans to support Indonesia were circulated in Merauke and Jayapura on 4 June 2015.

There were rumours that the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) was responsible for those leaflets in Merauke while GempaR was responsible for the calling in Jayapura. KNPB spokesperson Bazoko Logo denied the rumours, saying that they were spread by "irresponsible people".

"It indicated the fear of Indonesia towards the struggle of Papuan people. It was obviously propaganda. But today Papuan people are educated; therefore they just wasted their energy in doing any attempts against Papuans," he told Jubi last week in Waena, Jayapura.

Logo said Papuan in regards to this propaganda, Papuan people must be aware and considered those who distribute the black leaflets were crazy people.

"KNPB firmly said to the invader Indonesia for not using this out of date method. We are not living in the Stone Age anymore. However, KNPB also feel grateful due to those leaflets, it convince the Papuan people that what was fought by KNPB is truly true," he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Merauke Regional People Parliament (PRD), Pankrasia Yem when contacted by Juby confirmed that around 6 o'clock in the morning, Merauke residents stunned to find the leaflets distributed by unknown people.

"This morning, a guy told me so. He said he got it in front of Catholic Church at Kelapa Lima while jogging. For that reason, Merauke KNPB and Merauke PRD announced that it was not true because they never issued it," he explained.

Based on the latest information received by Jubi, those black leaflets were distributed by unknown people in Jayapura using the name of GempaR Papua.

It said "Support Jokowi's Program Development in Papua. We are not Melanesians but we are Indonesians. Wear your alma mater jacket. Refuse the politicized KNPB, no more demonstration. Get ready with your pens. Let's carve our better future for us, Papua Indonesia."

Meanwhile leaflet in Merauke said "Prayer invitation on 4-5 June 2015 to support Papua development. MSG countries admit the progress on Papua development. Praise Lord for the blessings. Let's keep our heart to create a prosperous Papua apart from the chains of poverty, ignorance and politicking. Let's pray on 4-5 June 2015 for all the best for Papua in the future for us and our children. We are not Melanesians, we are Papua Indonesia," (Arnold Belau/rom)

Source: http://tabloidjubi.com/en/2015/06/08/leaflets-urging-papuans-to-support-indonesia-circulated-in-merauke-and-jayapura/

Transmigration program must end, says Papua governor

UCA News - June 8, 2015

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – The governor of Indonesia's Papua province has slammed a central government minister's comments suggesting that Indonesia's controversial transmigration program should be expanded in the tense region.

Papua Governor Lukas Enembe believes that the transmigration program has marginalized indigenous Papuans in their ancestral homes, according to a spokesman.

"Papua now has more migrants rather than indigenous Papuans and indigenous Papuans are still left behind," Lamadi de Lamato, the governor's spokesman, told ucanews.com Monday.

He was responding to comments by Minister of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Marwan Jafar, who told reporters Sunday that Merauke, a city in Papua, was "heaven for transmigrants" and that the transmigration program there may actually be ramped up.

Jafar himself had been responding to comments from President Joko Widodo, who had earlier declared that transmigration to Papua province would be terminated.

Government statistics found that indigenous Papuans made up only half of the province's population of 2.8 million in 2010.

Lamadi de Lamato said many Indonesian migrants – often from Java, the country's most populous island – have often thrived after migrating to Papua.

"But this situation will create a social gap," he said. "We don't want this to happen. The transmigration program gives nothing to indigenous Papuans."

Instead, the spokesman said, Papua's governor wants to develop a local version of the program, which would benefit indigenous Papuans.

"It means that indigenous Papuans will be empowered with a method that is similar to the transmigration program. They are given lands and offered an education."

Indonesia's transmigration program began under the former Dutch colonial authorities, sending often low-income families from densely populated areas to less populated ones across the archipelago.

In an interview Monday, Natalius Pigai from the National Commission on Human Rights, said the program has been bad for indigenous Papuans.

"I want to highlight that migrants in Papua, together with police personnel and soldiers, have created an exclusive and discriminative character which tends to hate Melanesians," he told ucanews.com.

Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the transmigration program has effectively been a large-scale land-grab.

The national government, he said, must work to ensure that Papuans are no longer economically marginalized. "Protect their rights and stop impunity. Respect their history and culture," he said.

Source: http://www.ucanews.com/news/transmigration-program-must-end-says-papua-governor/73743

Geopolitical storm looms over MSG decision

Radio New Zealand International - June 8, 2015

The Pacific islands sub-regional organisation is considering a membership bid by West Papuans of Indonesia.

MSG member governments are struggling to balance their growing ties to Jakarta with regional grassroots support for the indigenous people of West Papua where a separatist conflict has simmered for decades.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua was formed last year when Vanuatu hosted a reunification summit for West Papuan representative groups. This includes groups is aiming for independence from Indonesia. The groups came together to launch a new bid to join the MSG after an earlier application by a West Papuan group was deemed by MSG leaders, including Papua New Guinea's Peter O'Neill, not to be representative enough of West Papuans.

"We feel that it must be representative of all Melanesians living in Indonesia," said O'Neill, "and that the application be made in consultation with the Indonesian government."

Now, MSG leaders are grappling with whether to admit the West Papuans or to defer to an arrangement for membership of all five Indonesian provinces with traces of Melanesian ethnicity. Indonesia, which says it has eleven million Melanesians, already has observer status at the MSG and is opposed to the Papuans' bid.

Last month, Fiji's prime minister Frank Bainimarama said the best thing to do was to make Indonesia an associate MSG member, adding it made no sense to bring in Papua separately. This has drawn criticism from Fiji civil society leaders like Shamima Ali of the Fiji's Women's Crisis Centre.

"It's a big shame on Melanesian leaders, particularly Fiji and the others who are pussy-footing around the issue, and they are not very clear – apart from Vanuatu of course," she said.

"So I think they have really gone back on their word from supporting the West Papuan Liberation Movement to what it is now saying about Indonesia being in a position to decide what is happening and to address the human rights abuses and so on." Jakarta places fresh emphasis on solving Papua matters

With four trips to Papua region in the past year, Indonesia's new president Joko Widodo has placed new emphasis on resolving social and development problems in Papua. Jokowi, as he is called, made headlines in his most recent trip there last month when he freed five Papuan political prisoners and declared that the effective ban on foreign journalists in Papua was lifted. Subsequent comments by Indonesian government figures indicate that the restrictions were not being relaxed at all. Just this week, he has also been contradicted by a government minister on his signal that there would be an end to the transmigration programme, which has seen hundreds of thousands of Javanese relocated to Papua over the past few dacades.

The president's aims to solve Papua issues face significant obstacles because he is relatively weak and beholden to other interests both within his own party and the national legislature. However Jokowi's administration is placing increasing value on the MSG membership. His last Papua jaunt was followed by a visit to Port Moresby where PNG's Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato insisted that any West Papuan bid to join the MSG should be endorsed by Indonesia.

"It's not for us to force Indonesia on how to run their affairs," said Pato. Pato said that if there was an application, the MSG wanted to ensure that it was representative of the Melanesian that they claimed to represent.

"So we don't want a group that is factionalised fully supported by one group of Melanesians living in the US or somewhere in Europe or Australia and then cause more problems than fix."

Indonesia has been taking steps to integrate more with Melanesian countries in areas of culture, trade and investment. Jakarta's new outreach included a recent tour to PNG, Solomon Islands and Fiji by Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. On offer for the Melanesian countries was twenty million US dollars for capacity development projects within the MSG.

Ms Marsudi also had talks with Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Sato Kilman. Mr Kilman's indication that his country could open an embassy in Jakarta appeared at odds with Vanuatu's long-held support for West Papua independence. Little surprise then that this week, Vanuatu's prime minister Joe Natuman sacked Mr Kilman. A spokesman for the prime minister, Kiery Manassah, said the foreign minister's representations on West Papua did not reflect the government's position.

"Indonesia has lobbied very hard to get Fiji and Papua New Guinea on side," explained Manassah. "Recently when we went to Japan for the PALM meeting, Prime Minister O'Neill also proposed to the prime minister (Natuman) that they're thinking of supporting Indonesia to become an associate member."

Kiery Manassah signalled that Vanuatu is weary of a shifting of the goalposts on the MSG issue.

"In line with the agreements from Noumea and Papua New Guinea, the MSG must discuss the West Papua application," he said. "If the Indonesians want to become an associate member, they have to follow the same process, by applying."

Solomon Islands position in the balance

Of the five full MSG members, Vanuatu and New Caledonia's indigenous Kanak movement, the FLNKS, have voiced support for the West Papuan bid. PNG and Fiji appear to be leaning against it. Solomon Islands is somewhere in the middle. Its foreign minister, Milner Tozaka, said the government hasn't made a decision yet.

"This is a process we have to follow. We can't just make decisions on an ad hoc basis," said the minister. "And Solomon Islands has made a position in the last government, we have not made a statement yet, we are following up that decision that they made. And if there is going to be any variation, we need to talk about it in the coming meeting."

A Solomons MP Derrick Manuari expressed disappointment in his country's lack of conviction on the issue despite what he described as overwhelming support from Melanesia's public for West Papua.

"I think it is very sad to see Melanesian leaders singing a distorted tune. The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea initially supported the cause for West Papua to be a member of MSG however he is singing now a different tune and Bainimarama is also saying the same thing. But we don't see that as an appropriate approach of addressing the issues of MSG. "

The West Makira MP said the precedent had been set in the case of the Kanaks who were given MSG membership rights over France.

"It is not a sovereignty issue – it is a solidarity issue, of solidarity of Melanesian states, Melanesian territories in Melanesia. So the precedent is already set. That West Papua as a Melanesian state should be admitted as a member of MSG and not Indonesia. It's not Melanesia."

Mr Manuari urged MSG leaders when they meet for their annual summit in Honiara later this month to remember the reason the group was originally founded – to help the decolonisation of Melanesian peoples. Indonesia position respected

Vanuatu's new foreign minister, Kalfau Moli said Vanuatu's support for West Papua remained firm, even though the government respects Indonesia's intentions with the MSG.

"Vanuatu's position as a sovereign state is that we want to address the human rights issue and then consider the supposed political independence. However having said that, it is very important that a clear forum be put in place before we can look at the issues. But I am very much for a human rights drive."

With Indonesia asserting its own Melanesian traces and growing links with governments of other Melanesian countries, the MSG leaders may look for some sort of compromise arrangement on the matter of the West Papuan membership bid. Alternately, a decision on the bid could also be deferred, as it was at the last leaders summit in Noumea. The Honiara summit may not neccessarily be the end of the matter, and the storm may pass by for the time being. But sooner or later, the MSG may have to make an emphatic move on this most divisive of issues.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/275721/geopolitical-storm-looms-over-msg-decision

Minister contradicts president, says Papua transmigration will continue

Jakarta Globe - June 7, 2015

Jakarta – An Indonesian minister has countered President Joko Widodo's declaration that the controversial transmigration program to Papua province will be stopped, saying instead that, if anything, it will be expanded.

Marwan Jafar, the minister for transmigration, said on Sunday that the program – in which often impoverished families are given land and money to relocate from densely populated areas, primarily Java but also Bali, to other islands – had proved "a success" in Merauke, a city near Indonesia's border with Papua New Guinea.

"Merauke can be considered a border region that has been successful in implementing the transmigration program and developing agricultural land in eastern Indonesia," Marwan told reporters in Jakarta, as quoted by Republika.

He declared Merauke "heaven for transmigrants," with an estimated 275,000 people having moved there since Indonesia's annexation of West Papua in 1969 – often to the detriment of the indigenous population, who accuse the newcomers of a callous disregard for their customs and traditions, destroying the environment, and keeping the locals economically and socially subjugated.

Joko, at a gathering with prominent community leaders in Jakarta on Thursday, announced that his administration would end the transmigration program to Papua, in recognition of the local population's long-held grievances.

"The government will stop transmigration to Papua because it has caused too much social envy," he said in a statement issued by a spokesman, Teten Masduki. Joko "has already asked the governor of Papua to halt the program," Teten added.

Marwan, apparently, did not get the message, saying that the program would be ramped up in support of the government's plan to develop 1.2 million hectares of rice fields in the region, under the Merauke Integrated Rice Estate project.

"If this program succeeds, there will be a lot of development that will change the face of this region of eastern Indonesia," he said.

It was not clear if he was speaking literally; indigenous Papuans, who are vastly outnumbered by transmigrants, have long alleged that the transmigration program is an attempt to wipe out their numbers, in what human rights activists call a slow-motion genocide.

To support the anticipated surge in newcomers, Marwan said his ministry planned to build more transmigrant settlements. These townships are often carved out of indigenous land, giving rise to conflicts, sometimes deadly, between the indigenous and transmigrant communities.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/minister-contradicts-president-says-papua-transmigration-will-continue/

Protests, arrests escalate in West Papua as regional summit draws closer

Red Flag - June 7, 2015

Ben Hillier – More than 500 activists have been arrested over the past month across West Papua as protests, demonstrations and meetings build in the lead up to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Summit in Honiara, the Solomon Islands.

Ronny Kareni, a Melbourne-based spokesperson for the Free West Papua Movement, told Red Flag that the crackdown by Indonesian police has been widespread – from the highlands to the cities.

"There is a growing fear that more Papuans will be detained and arrested just for coming out in support of the application... A lot of the prominent, key organisers and leaders in the movement are still being detained unlawfully.

"They are being mistreated – no access to any medical treatment. As far as I know, two weeks ago there was a mass arrest in Manokwari [capital of the province of West Papua], where up to 70 people were detained and the key KNPB [National Committee for West Papua, an advocacy and media organisation] leader, for up to 48 hours was not able to talk – he couldn't even eat... A large number are still detained."

The MSG summit will consider an application by the United Liberation Movement of West Papua for membership of group, which consists of Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, along with the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia.

West Papua has been occupied by Indonesia since the 1960s, but there is an ongoing campaign for self-determination and for international recognition of West Papuan claims for independence.

"The message from us to the Melanesian Spearhead Group leadership is that this is an important moment", Kareni said. In recent months there have been protests and solidarity actions in a number of countries in the Pacific. "There is growing support from the grassroots... We know that there is an upward pressure on the various governments. A lot of the NGOs have come on board, the church groups have come on board and opposition political leaders have come on board [in support of the membership application]."

The MSG leaders have to this point been divided over the issue. PNG prime minister Peter O'Neill in particular has supported Indonesia and opposed West Papuan claims for self-determination. Fijian leader Frank Bainimarama has not declared a position on the issue.

"There are bigger interests at play", Kareni said. "A couple of months ago the foreign minister of Indonesia went around with a briefcase of US$20 million, promising [MSG members] that if they support Indonesia's bid to become an associate member, then the $20 million will be used for capacity development projects for the MSG... Fiji has been funded and supported by the Indonesian military... and Indonesia is bidding for PNG to become an ASEAN member."

Regardless of the outcome in Honiara, activists have pledged to continue to campaign until freedom is won.

[Tune in to Voice of West Papua at 3cr.org.au/streaming every Monday 6:30pm to 7:00pm. Listen online from anywhere in Australia. The radio show is presented by West Papuan activists and community members Melkias Okoka, Ronny Kareni, Sixta Mambor and Joe Wally.]

Source: https://redflag.org.au/article/protests-arrests-escalate-west-papua-regional-summit-draws-closer

West Papuans rally behind MSG bid

Radio New Zealand International - June 5, 2015

A number of rallies have been held in recent days in Indonesia's Papua region in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua's application to become a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Step Magazine reports that thousands of people rallied in the Papua town of Timika in support of the ULMWP bid which MSG leaders are expected to consider at their upcoming summit in Honiara.

A number of arrests have been made of activists involved in such rallies around the region. Selnagkah magazine reports that during the month of May, 474 Papuan activists were arrested by Indonesian security forces.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/275509/west-papuans-rally-behind-msg-bid

Indonesian president to end transmigration to Papua

Radio New Zealand International - June 5, 2015

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has signalled an end to the country's transmigration programme to Papua region.

Transmigration programmes have been operating in Indonesia for decades, involving the relocation of landless people from densely populated areas to less populous parts of the country.

In Papua's case, transmigration has seen the region's indigenous Melanesian population gradually outnumbered. Tempo reports that President Jokowi has linked the programme to social and economy dispute among the people of Papua.

A member of the Presidential Communication Team says the president has asked the governor of Papua to stop the transmigration because it will cause problems.

Jokowi has made several trips to Papua in the past year and has placed special emphasis on resolving social and development problems in Indonesia's eastern region.

A professor of Universitas Pertahanan, Salim Said says that Jokowi has a clear concept on how to solve things in Papua, which is by involving Papuans.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/275490/indonesian-president-to-end-transmigration-to-papua

West Papua on new Vanuatu foreign minister's agenda

Radio New Zealand International - June 5, 2015

Vanuatu's new foreign minister, Kalvau Moli, says one of his main focuses in government will be the issue of West Papua.

He replaced Sato Kilman, who was sacked yesterday amid opposition plans to lodge a motion of no confidence against the prime minister Joe Natuman.

Mr Moli says he expected a more senior member of parliament would get the position, but he is confident he can do the job. He says he has been following very closely what has been happening in West Papua.

"I have seen the issue with West Papua and other foreign policies, and the integration of the regional communities, which requires probably new thinking. And I think I have some capabilities to assist the prime minister in that regard."

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/275524/west-papua-on-new-vanuatu-foreign-minister%27s-agenda

Concern over Fiji PM support of Indonesia

Radio New Zealand International - June 4, 2015

Civil Society Groups in Fiji say Frank Bainimarama's support for Indonesia's bid to become an associate member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group is a concern.

In a public statement, Fiji Civil Society Groups, say the statement by the Fiji prime minister that alleged human rights violations would be best dealt with by Indonesia, if it was allowed into the MSG bloc, indicates how much Fiji has allowed its foreign policy to be dictated by the Indonesian government.

The Director of the Fiji's Women's Crisis Center Shamima Ali says the announcement places serious leadership questions over Fiji's credential as a regional leader.

She also says it comes at odds with previous decisions by the Bainimarama led government which fully supports the inalienable rights of people of West Papua towards self-determination as provided for under the preamble of the MSG constitution.

Ms Ali, who was also Fiji's former Human Rights Commissioner, says what's more concerning is the wording of the statement by the Prime Minister which seeks to down play the last 50 years of a violent occupation by the Indonesian state that has seen thousands of people in West Papua killed for a simple dream to be free.

She says the government of Indonesia remains unable to address serious human rights violations in terms of civil, political, cultural, economic and environmental rights.

She also adds adding that these violations have been well documented by both domestic and international human rights monitoring bodies including UN High Commission for Human Rights.

Fiji CSO groups call on the Fiji government to exercise real leadership on this issue by respecting the decisions and wishes of the people of West Papua about who represents them, and that it's clear Indonesia should not represent them at the MSG.

Shamima Ali says the recognition of the gross human rights violations in West Papua has been one of the key reasons why the MSG bloc considered the issue of West Papuan membership, and at the 2014 MSG Special Leaders meeting, Melanesian leaders including Fiji government, supported the West Papuan's right to determine who represents them at the MSG block.

She says it was clearly stated that the conditions were that the West Papuan groups must be a united umbrella group before submitting a fresh application to the MSG.

The West Papuan people through process of consultation have decided who to represent them, and it is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) who has submitted an application to the MSG to be a full member.

Reports last week indicate that over 70 people have been arrested in West Papua for supporting ULMWP.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/pacific/275363/concern-over-fiji-pm-support-of-indonesia

Solomons MP calls on MSG to accept West Papua

Radio New Zealand International - June 3, 2015

A Solomon Islands MP is calling on the Melanesian Spearhead Group to ignore Indonesia and accept the application to join the group by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.

The MP for West Makira says he is disappointed in his own country's lack of conviction on the issue despite what he describes as overwhelming support from the Solomon Islands public for West Papua.

Indonesia's officials have been encouraging MSG member states not to approve of the West Papuan bid.

Indonesia currently has observer status at the MSG and Jakarta argues that there are more Melanesians in other parts of Indonesia who should theoretically be included in the MSG membership bid.

However Solomons MP Derrick Manuari says the precedent for dealing with the situation has been set in the case of the Kanaks in New Caledonia whose representative group, the FLNKS, is a full member at the MSG.

The MP says the Kanaks were given membership rights over France because they represented the Melanesian people of the French territory.

Mr Manuari says he is urging MSG leaders when they meet on the 24th of this month to listen to the outcry from citizens in their own countries and to remember the reason the group was originally founded.

Last month, Fiji's prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, said the best thing to do was to make Indonesia an associate MSG member, adding it made no sense to bring in Papua separately.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/275334/solomons-mp-calls-on-msg-to-accept-west-papua

Solomons says it is still deciding over West Papua and MSG

Radio New Zealand International - June 2, 2015

The Solomon Islands says it hasn't made a decision yet on the West Papua bid for membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

While the Fiji Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, recently said that any dealings with West Papua needed to go through Indonesia, whose sovereignty over the provinces should be respected, other leaders have been less forthright.

At last year's meeting the MSG knocked back an application from West Papua. The Solomon Islands Foreign Minister, Milner Tozaka, who will be taking over as chair of the MSG at the July meeting, says the MSG will make a united decision.

"This is a process we have to follow. We can't just make decisions on an ad hoc basis. And Solomon Islands has made a position on the last government, we have not made a statement yet, we are following up that decision that they made. And if there is going to be any variation, we need to talk about it in the coming meeting."

Ahead of the meeting, the Governor of Oro Province in PNG, Gary Juffa, said the MSG's leadership does not act in a way that represents Melanesian voices, but panders too often to external forces.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/275197/solomons-says-it-is-still-deciding-over-west-papua-and-msg

Labour & migrant workers

Domestic worker association bans child labor

Jakarta Post - June 1, 2015

Jakarta – The Indonesian Domestic Workers Training and Placement Association (APPSI) has compiled a code of ethics for its members in an endeavor to phase out child labor in the domestic work industry.

"The code of ethics will be applied to all agencies supplying domestic workers. They now can no longer employ and place children under 18 years old in the domestic work sector," APPSI chairman Mashudi told the Jakarta Post on Monday.

APPSI signed the code of ethics with Manpower Minister Muhammad Hanif Dakhiri during the launch of anti-child labor month here on Monday.

The code of ethics stipulates nine important matters, including the banning of recruiting children as domestic workers, a training program for prospective domestic workers and the prevention of violence against domestic helpers.

Mashudi said the association had started drafting the code of ethics last year and had adjusted the content to comply with Ministerial Decree no. 2/2015 on domestic workers' protection. He said that the code would take effect after Idul Fitri in July.

The acting director general of labor supervision and health and work safety at the Manpower Ministry, Muji Handoyo, hailed the association's role as vital in phasing out child labor.

"The APPSI is an association of potential employers of child workers. So it is very good to have it on our side," Muji said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/01/domestic-worker-association-bans-child-labor.html

Workers need more than diplomacy

Jakarta Post - June 1, 2015

Tama Salim, Jakarta – Human rights activists are calling on the government to implement a number of internal reforms to balance out its efforts to provide better protection for Indonesian migrant workers abroad.

Anis Hidayah from Migrant Care said she appreciated the Foreign Ministry's recent work on improving bilateral ties with a number of Middle Eastern countries that are traditionally destinations for Indonesian migrant workers.

Anis said, however, that she hoped other relevant government agencies would follow suit and show the same amount of effort to bring reforms to the country's largely outdated and inefficient framework for the management of outgoing migrant workers.

"I fully appreciate the Foreign Minister's efforts in improving bilateral relations [in the Middle East] in order to enhance the protection of Indonesian migrant workers there [...] I also hope that these efforts are followed up with bureaucratic reforms within the country," Anis told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

She said that improving the management of migrant worker placement was an urgent matter and that it was up to the Manpower Ministry, the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), as well as the legislative bodies, to ensure the implementation of bureaucratic reforms.

"[President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's] administration is cleaning up a number of mafia like the oil and gas mafia. [He] should also do so for the migrant worker placement mafia," she concluded.

Puri Kencana Putri of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that the Foreign Ministry's efforts, though expected of the government, were progressive and consistent with the goals put forward at the beginning of this year.

Puri also argued that the Foreign Ministry was not solely responsible for taking care of the ongoing issues that plague Indonesian migrant workers abroad. She said it was also up to the Manpower Ministry to guarantee the legal certainty of the thousands of Indonesian citizens overseas.

"The government cannot merely collect revenues or remittances from these migrant workers, but it must also provide preventive measures against any possible incidents [during placement]," Puri told the Post on Saturday.

Puri, who is research bureau head at Kontras, said the government could only benefit from being consistent with its own policies and so everything should be done to uphold Indonesia's reputation on the international stage.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has just concluded a 10-day trip to the Middle East, during which she engaged in bilateral discussions with officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. She also attended the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit to voice concerns on a number of humanitarian issues.

According to the ministry's director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, Retno also reached out to the Indonesian migrant workers living in the Middle East to identify their problems with the work placement process.

Iqbal said the minister had also spoken with a number of senior government officials in the region on improving the framework for migrant protection though bilateral mechanisms, such as in the case with Saudi Arabia, in which Retno pushed for a deal that the government would receive early notification from Saudi officials about any Indonesian citizens involved in legal cases or facing the death penalty.

"In essence, the Saudi foreign minister has agreed with Ibu Retno's views, but due to the lack of a precedent on the matter, he needed to discuss it with the Saudi Crown Prince in his capacity as the home affairs minister," Iqbal said recently.

"If things pan out well, we'll be the first nation to implement such a mechanism bilaterally with them [the Saudis]."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/01/workers-need-more-diplomacy.html

Political parties & elections

Gerindra ready to 'join hands' with all parties in local elections: Prabowo

Jakarta Globe - June 5, 2015

Fana FS Putra, Jakarta – Opposition bloc leader Prabowo Subianto on Thursday said the party he founded, the Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra, was willing to unite with anyone – including members of the ruling coalition – in order to win regional elections scheduled for later this year.

Prabowo, a former Army general who lost last year's presidential race to Joko Widodo, made the statement after United Development Party (PPP) leader Djan Faridz said he was thinking about assigning some PPP politicians to contest the elections under the banner of other parties, including Gerindra.

PPP has been afflicted by a leadership dispute since last year, with one faction under Djan choosing to stick with Gerindra and other parties in the opposition Red-White Coalition (KMP), while a rival camp has jumped ship to the ruling Awesome Indonesia Coalition (KIH), led by Joko's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

"We're willing to join hands with anyone, from PPP or others. We're even willing to join hands with the Awesome Indonesia Coalition," Prabowo said after he and several KMP leaders visited Suryadharma Ali, a former PPP chairman now detained in Guntur detention center, South Jakarta.

Suryadharma was named a corruption suspect in May last year over a hajj fund graft scandal, which allegedly took place during his stint as religious affairs minister under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Prabowo claimed Gerindra was willing to cooperate with any other parties for the sake of the Indonesian people.

"We'll see how the situation develops. We'll put people's interests above everything else," he said. "We'll look for the best candidates [for regional leaders] from across the country."

Djan, meanwhile, was quoted as saying on Tuesday: "I've communicated with the Gerindra Party concerning the simultaneous regional head elections and I will present PPP's best members to Gerindra for a possible coalition."

Djan made the statement amid uncertainty about whether the two rival factions in Indonesia's oldest Islamic-based party will be able to reconcile ahead of the elections.

The PPP isn't the only party facing a leadership dispute that could potentially disrupt its ability to field strong candidates in the elections.

The Golkar Party, Indonesia's oldest political party and another KMP member, has come to an uneasy truce in order to partake in the elections, but a legal battle for control of the party is still being waged.

Golkar, the second-largest party in the current House of Representatives, split in December after both government-backed Agung Laksono and incumbent Aburizal Bakrie claimed to have won the chairmanship.

Both sides have agreed to form a joint team to screen Golkar candidates who will run in the regional elections.

Politicians from the KIH coalition have yet to comment on Prabowo's invitation.

Husni Kamil Manik, the chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU), said on Wednesday a total of Rp 6.98 trillion (US$527 million) would be allocated from regional budgets to fund the elections, which are due to start to in July.

Indonesia has a total of 537 administrative regions, including 34 provinces. According to the KPU, local elections will be held at three different times: July, February 2016 and June 2018.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/gerindra-ready-join-hands-parties-local-elections-prabowo/

Tension remains within Golkar despite truce

Jakarta Post - June 4, 2015

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – In spite of a reconciliation deal signed by Aburizal Bakrie and Agung Laksono late last week, tension remained within the Golkar Party as supporters of the two leaders continue to battle over who should take control of the party at the regional level.

Supporters of the two leaders have decided to hold their own consolidation meetings to prepare themselves for the simultaneous local elections slated for Dec. 9, this year.

Supporters of Agung in Bali held a local consolidation meeting on Tuesday to discuss the preparation of Golkar's branches in the area for the simultaneous elections, a meeting that was later forcibly dispersed by the local police because there was no security clearance.

The Secretary-general of the rival Aburizal camp, Idrus Marham slammed Agung and his supporters for violating one of the terms of the peace deal by unilaterally staging the Bali consolidation meeting.

"The Ancol camp staged an event that harmed our agreement," Idrus said on the sidelines of a meeting with House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto, who is also a supporter of Aburizal, referring to the leadership of Agung, who was elected in a "shadow" congress in Ancol, North Jakarta, in December last year. "It is clear that they are not committed to the good will that we have shown them," he added.

After criticizing the Agung-led camp over its decision to stage the Bali meeting, Idrus revealed that his camp was planning to hold its own national leadership meeting later this month to discuss preparations for the local elections.

Members of the Agung-led camp said they were not briefed about the plan. One of the executives in Agung's camp, Yorrys Raweyai, also said that since the rival camp did not ask them to join the meeting, they would stage their own.

"We have our own programs and they do too," said Yorrys. "We set up the gathering to discuss necessary efforts to prepare for the local elections. Nothing is wrong with that".

In a peace deal brokered by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the two camps agreed to establish a joint elections team that would allow the party to join the upcoming local elections.

The deal required the two camps to pool their efforts to ensure that Golkar could join the December elections. It also required the two camps to jointly endorse candidates who represent both camps to ensure that candidates running in the local elections would win approval from a legitimate party leadership recognized by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Both camps have so far formed their own team of five representatives to assume positions in a joint committee that would formulate strategies for the regional elections.

The team from the Aburizal side is led by MS Hidayat, a former industry minister, while the Agung-led camp has yet to decide who will lead its representatives in the joint committee.

A political analyst from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Arya Fernandes, said that as long as the two camps failed to resolve their disagreement regarding the party leadership, efforts at collaboration would come to nought.

"Differences between the two factions on the issue are already too serious and seem to be irreconcilable," Arya told The Jakarta Post. Arya suggested that Golkar hold an extraordinary congress to end the standoff.

"Organizing an extraordinary congress to elect a new central board appears to be the best way to end the battle because Golkar's participation in the elections is still at stake," Arya said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/04/tension-remains-within-golkar-despite-truce.html

Local elections 'may not improve democracy'

Jakarta Post - June 1, 2015

Jakarta – Simultaneous local elections set to take place on Dec. 9 are unlikely to lead to reform of regional democracy and could trigger political conflict, according to an expert.

"It may run well in terms of procedure, but conflicts could still occur," political expert Arie Sudjito of Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University said on Sunday as quoted by tempo.co.

Arie predicted that a number of perennial problems would re-occur, such as disputes over election results, legal battles among contestants and the election of incompetent regional heads.

These problems, he said, would continue despite the new electoral system, primarily because of political parties' failure to enact internal reform. "The system is new, but political parties have made no changes," he said.

The simultaneous 269 elections were an opportunity to reform local democracy, Arie said, but the lack of changes within parties looked likely to stymie that opportunity.

"Political parties are not changing. The bodies supplying the candidates are the same as last time. As such, there is nothing new about the candidates."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/01/national-scene-local-elections-may-not-improve-democracy.html

Golkar truce ignores root cause of dispute

Jakarta Post - June 1, 2015

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – A recent agreement between two conflicting camps within the Golkar Party has yet to decide the temporary leadership that will take the party into local elections scheduled for December.

Agung Laksono and Aburizal Bakrie, rival chiefs who have been fighting for months for control of the country's second-largest political party, signed a temporary truce on Saturday, yet both continue to insist on their right to the leadership.

The agreement, hailed by both sides as an initial step to save the party from downfall, sets out key deals that aim to engage both groups in collaborative efforts to pave the way for Golkar to contest the elections: participating in the elections; setting up a joint candidate-selection committee; jointly endorsing candidates that represent both groups; and ensuring that documents on candidates are signed by a party leadership recognized by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Top figures readily agreed on the importance of establishing a joint team to recruit candidates as well as prepare them to contest the 269 elections scheduled to take simultaneously on Dec. 9, but refused to discuss who would officially register Golkar's election nominees to the KPU, ensuring that the "core deal" would require further discussion.

"The deadline to register [at the KPU] is not until July 28. It's better to set that matter aside for now, as it might bring efforts back to square one," said Yorrys Raweyai, a deputy chairman of the Agung camp.

Reiterating Yorrys' remarks, Agung told the press on Sunday that the deal was only an "initial peace sign" that did not decide the party's future permanent leadership.

Agung, meanwhile, said talks were ongoing, but made a thinly veiled claim to be legitimate party chairman, turning down a suggestion to hold a joint congress to select a single party leader and referring to himself as the "legitimate leader elected through a congress".

While upholding cooperation between the two factions ahead of the local elections, figures from both camps suggested that they would depend on the ongoing legal process to settle the leadership dispute.

"The KPU is obliged to ask the government who is the legitimate party chairman ahead of the elections," said Agung, suggesting a course of action for the commission should he and his rival, Aburizal, fail to achieve an agreement on the matter by the deadline.

A KPU regulation on local elections requires an official peace pact recognized by the law and human rights minister or a final and binding court ruling on a party undergoing leadership dispute in order to participate in local elections.

Parties suffering internal rifts, including Golkar and the United Development Party (PPP), may fail to submit a final court verdict by the registration period between July 26 and 28, as rival groups within such parties refuse to accept defeat and continue to challenge existing court rulings.

The KPU has repeatedly said that it will not interfere with reconciliation processes within divided parties, but warned that the institution would only acknowledge party leaders who had obtained official recognition from the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Bambang Soesatyo, a senior member of the Aburizal camp, called the unresolved matter of the party leadership a "time bomb" that could explode any time.

"A time bomb is ticking because we haven't settled the party divide approaching the elections, in addition to other fundamental issues such as policy on party coalitions in the elections," said Bambang.

He added that a review of the current peace pact might be necessary should both of the competing factions maintain their "arrogant attitudes".

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/01/golkar-truce-ignores-root-cause-dispute.html

Environment & natural disasters

Mentawai's endemic species said to be on brink of extinction

Jakarta Post - June 5, 2015

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – Five primate endemic species in Mentawai Islands regency, West Sumatra, are threatened with extinction, a researcher says.

A primate researcher from Padang's Andalas University Biological School, Rizaldi, said the five primate species were under serious threat due to further pressure on their habitat.

"They have lost their homes and habitat. Previously, they faced a serious threat from illegal logging, but now it's from traditional farms and modern plantations, as well as poaching with poisoned arrows, air rifles and poisoned darts. They are also traded outside the area as well as facing threats from logging through forest concessions," Rizaldi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

In 2008, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the simakobu and Pagai bokoi primates as critically endangered, the bilou and joja as endangered and the Siberut bokoi as vulnerable.

Rizaldi expressed concern that stakeholders in the Mentawai Islands were not committed to resolving the situation.

He cited that the Mentawai regency administration and Mentawai Islands Regency Council (DPRD) had further urged Siberut National Park to relinquish land to make way for roads, public facilities and public activities within the park by changing the zonation, which could benefit the traditional community.

According to Rizaldi, the road that bisects the forested area will sacrifice trees and isolate the primates.

Bilou, or dwarf gibbons, for example, are not used to walking on the ground. Instead they move from one location to another by leaping through the trees.

"Should the trans-Mentawai highway be built, it would cause them to be segmented and their population would drop," said Rizaldi.

He added that there had yet to be a comprehensive study on the population of the five primate species. The species' classification was only carried out in 2014.

"The government should now think of a way to strengthen Siberut National Park as the last bastion for the primates and other endemic flora and fauna, besides establishing other conservation areas on the Pagai and Sipora islands," said Rizaldi.

Siberut National Park Region I section head Junaidi said the five primate species were at risk of being illegally traded by outsiders and poaching by the local community.

"Traditional hunting for the sake of customary rituals by the Mentawai tribe is still very limited and can still be tolerated. We are very concerned about the illegal trade due to the many gateways that require extra supervision in Siberut," Junaidi told the Post on Thursday.

The bilou is the primate most often traded as gifts and reared as pets due to its tiny form.

While there is yet to be data on the population of the five primate species on the Mentawai and Siberut islands, a joint survey conducted by the Siberut National Park and the West Sumatra Muhammadiyah University's Forestry School in 2014 in six locations in Siberut showed the bilou population at 1,934, simakobu at 4,045, joja at 1,832 and bokoi at 1,831.

"We will resume the survey in the same location after Idul Fitri to study the population growth," said Junaidi.

A senior researcher at the Forest Research Center of the Environment and Forestry Ministry, M. Bismark, who conducted a survey on the primates in 2009, said the serious threat faced by the primates was the presence of large-scale oil palm plantations on Siberut.

"The best move is to issue a moratorium on logging and restore the ecosystem until balanced biodiversity is achieved," said Bismark.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/05/mentawai-s-endemic-species-said-be-brink-extinction.html

One of world's largest paper companies ends forest destruction in Indonesia

Sydney Morning Herald - June 3, 2015

Jewel Topsfield, Jakarta – One of the world's largest manufacturers of pulp and paper in Indonesia has announced it will immediately stop logging in all natural forests.

Loss of forest habitat through pulp and paper logging and palm oil plantations has pushed endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger, rhinoceros, elephants and the orangutan closer to extinction.

Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) announced in Jakarta on Wednesday it had completely eliminated deforestation under its new sustainable forest management policy.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific said the "good news" came after more than 40,000 Australians emailed Australian paper supplier Office Brands asking it to stop buying from APRIL because its paper was sourced from Indonesia's old-growth rainforests.

"Office Brands listened to these concerns and raised them with APRIL, which has no doubt contributed to today's announcement," said Greenpeace's forest campaigner, Jessica Panegyres.

APRIL, which is Indonesia's second largest paper and pulp company, will now rely solely on plantations to provide the fibre for its pulp. The announcement comes after rival Indonesian company Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) announced in 2013 it would cease logging in natural forests.

This followed a decade-long Greenpeace campaign that cost APP more than 130 corporate customers including Disney, Mattel and Hasbro. Japanese paper mills had also begun to raise concerns.

APP and APRIL account for 80 per cent of Indonesian pulp production and were the only large-scale producers who used rainforest fibre. "This is a major step in our 15-year sustainability journey," said APRIL group president Praveen Singhavi. The chairman of APRIL Group's stakeholder advisory group, Joe Lawson, said the next challenge would be to ensure the policy commitments were implemented on the ground.

Greenpeace has suspended its campaign to stop Australian businesses buying from APRIL. However Greenpeace and conservation group WWF warned they would be watching closely to make sure the announcement led to real change on the ground.

Conservation group Rainforest Alliance, which was asked by APP to conduct the first independent assessment of its 2013 policy commitments, said in February that moderate progress had been made but there was more work to do.

It said APP had stopped cutting natural forest to establish new plantation areas and pulp mills in Indonesia were receiving only plantation fibres.

"The building blocks are in place but considerable additional work is required to fully meet the commitments in the natural forest, peatlands and plantations," it said.

APRIL has also agreed to strengthen the management of peatlands, which store an estimated 60 billion tonnes of carbon in Indonesia, in order to reduce greenhouse emissions.

When peatlands are drained for plantations this carbon is released and the land is susceptible to the fires that have covered Singapore and Malaysia in toxic haze in recent years.

APRIL has committed to no new clearing or development on forested peatlands. However WWF said the policy allowed development on degraded peatlands to continue based on recommendations from independent experts.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/one-of-worlds-largest-paper-companies-ends-forest-destruction-in-indonesia-20150603-ghg225.html

Health & education

Students can read but may not comprehend: Study

Jakarta Post - June 1, 2015

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – A study conducted by the Education Sector Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACDP) has concluded that many of the nation's elementary school students are able to read but have little understanding of their reading materials.

"Children can and should, learn to read comprehendingly by the end of grade two [...] Failing to read with understanding by grade two should be considered a 'warning light' for action to be taken to correct this by grade three," the ACDP said in a study released on Friday.

The study, conducted between March and April last year with the help of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), found that only 47.2 percent of 4,812 second-grade students tested nationwide could read fluently with comprehension.

The ability to read comprehendingly, the study explained, was "defined as being able to answer four out of five questions on the reading material correctly". Meanwhile, 20.7 percent of the students could read with limited comprehension, while 5.8 percent could not read at all.

A similar study was carried out in 2012, also assisted by USAID, on third- grade students in the same 184 schools across seven provinces. On average, the study found that students could read 70.42 familiar words per minute in isolation and 68.09 words per minute in connected text.

However, the study also noted that only half of the students tested could read fluently and understand the majority of what they read, highlighting the lack of improvement in the way reading and language is taught in schools.

The ACDP – which was established jointly by a number of government institutions, the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), the Australian government, the EU and the Asian Development Bank – found that students in Java and Bali had the highest reading comprehension scores.

A consultant to the ACDP, Totok Amin Soefijanto, argued that one of the reasons that many elementary school students could not read comprehendingly was that students were not taught Indonesian in their mother tongue, usually a local language, and so could not understand what they were being taught.

"According to our research, the reason students in remote regions cannot speak or read Indonesian is that teachers do not teach in the local language. If teachers taught in the students' mother tongue, which is most likely what they speak at home, then they would undoubtedly learn to read and understand much faster", he said.

Aside from the lack of use of students' mother tongues in class, the ACDP noted in a separate study that only 29 percent of teachers surveyed used active and effective methods to teach reading.

The head of the elementary school teacher education program at Atma Jaya University, Ivan Stevanus, agreed with the findings, adding that the issues could be traced to insufficient training at the 374 teacher training institutions nationwide.

"With elementary students, you cannot just instruct them and expect them to understand immediately. Elementary school teachers must understand that they need to get to grips with child psychology and encourage more participation from students," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/01/students-can-read-may-not-comprehend-study.html

Marriage & polygamy

Activists, researchers consider law on marriage discriminatory

Jakarta Post - June 6, 2015

Arya Dipa, Bandung – The different minimum marriage age for men and women in Law No. 1/1974 on marriage has been described as discriminatory.

A researcher at the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, Anggara, said there should be no difference in the minimum age for marriage if the government intends to protect the rights of children.

Currently, under Indonesian law, women are legally allowed to marry at 16, while men are allowed to marry at 19.

"There is no clear basic reason for this difference in ages if we agree to protect children," said Anggara, speaking in front of a journalistic workshop on the reality and social impacts of early marriage in Indonesia in Bandung, West Java, on Friday.

He added that a proposal to change the minimum age for marriage had been submitted to the Constitutional Court. The proposal suggests Indonesia raise the minimum marriage age for women from 16 to 18.

"We are trying to make changes slowly. We want it to be the same because a difference is discriminatory," said Anggara, adding that the Constitutional Court had yet to issue a decision regarding the proposal.

During the trial at the Constitutional Court, one of the reasons offered for why women could be married at 16 was because their biological maturation was already complete and they therefore needed to be protected.

"Whereas, we must be fair if we wish to protect children. The issue of the minimum marriage age has drawn less public attention than marriage of different faiths," said Anggara.

Speakers from the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), members of Commission IX of the House of Representatives and the United Nations Children's Funds (UNICEF) attended the workshop jointly organized by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and UNICEF.

KPAI secretary Erlinda agreed that there should be no difference in marriage age. However, advocacy efforts regarding the protection of children's rights can only propose changes to limit the age of marriage for girls from 16 years to 18 years.

"At 18 years, a girl is more psychologically prepared, so she can minimize undesired things," said Erlinda.

The 2012 National Socio-economic Survey showed one in four girls in Indonesia, or 25 percent, get married at 18. In addition, a UNICEF report in 2012 showed that the risk of dying during pregnancy and delivery was greater for girls aged 10 to 14 than those between 20 and 24.

Indonesia UNICEF HIV and Adolescent Development Officer Annisa Elok Budiyani said girls who married at young ages were at high risk of not pursuing their studies.

They also became mothers at an age when their level of readiness, be it physical or mental, remained low, and they risked maternal and infant mortality and were more at risk of being susceptible to domestic violence and sexually transmitted and reproductive diseases.

"So we have put child marriage age on top of our priority list in our strategic planning," said Annisa.

Regarding the journalistic workshop, Bandung AJI secretary Agustinus Tri Joko Herriadi said news coverage on the early marriage issue should be further promoted to the public.

He expressed hope that by understanding various perspectives and ethical issues, journalists could raise the issue in a professional manner. "We must remain focused on ethics in writing and reporting," said Joko.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/06/activists-researchers-consider-law-marriage-discriminatory.html

Graft & corruption

National police nominate own officers for KPK leadership

Jakarta Globe - June 8, 2015

Jakarta – The Indonesian police force, widely perceived as the most corrupt institution in the country, is nominating its officials to fill the leading posts of the country's top anti-graft watchdog.

"The National Police have their candidates. I don't remember the names, but they are both active and retired officers," Destry Damayanti, head of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) selection committee, said on Monday in Jakarta, as quoted by news portal CNNIndonesia.com.

Destry said that all Indonesian citizens have equal rights to occupy high- level positions at the KPK as long as they fulfill the requirements set by the selection committee.

The selection committee began taking applications from the public on Friday morning, with a deadline set for June 24.

The KPK has previously had former police officers among its leaders, namely incumbent interim chairman Taufiequrachman Ruki and 2007-11 deputy chairman Bibit Samad Rianto.

The current police chief, Gen. Badrodin Haiti, has previously said that he hoped there would be active or former cops appointed to the KPK leadership.

Last Friday, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, chief of detectives at the National Police, announced that officers for the first time in the KPK's 12-year history would be involved in the selection of new commissioners at the agency.

Destry denied accusations that if police officers were elected as KPK commissioners, they would try to destroy the institution from within, especially at a time when the police force is seen as escalating its conflict with the agency.

The detectives' unit, Budi's office, has charged two KPK commissioners – Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto, both suspended – on criminal charges in cases dating back up to a decade. Police have also named a leading KPK investigator and former police official, Novel Baswedan, a suspect in a separate case.

All the charges are widely seen as being trumped up, brought in retaliation against KPK's decision in January to name Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan – now the deputy chief of the National Police – a corruption suspect.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/national-police-nominate-officers-KPK-leadership/

KPK needs court order to release taped proof of cop plot

Jakarta Post - June 8, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The legal team of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan has demanded that the Constitutional Court (MK) order the KPK to release recordings of conversations on an alleged scheme to weaken the KPK at the next MK hearing on the KPK Law judicial review.

Novel's lawyer Bahrain said that the MK had to follow up on Novel's revelation during a hearing at the court on May 25.

At that time, Novel testified that wiretapped conversations could prove that all charges against Novel and KPK commissioners Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto were a scheme to weaken the KPK after it launched a graft probe into then National Police Education Institute (Lemdikpol) head Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan in January.

"We have submitted the request to the MK, but we have not heard anything back. It is legal for the KPK to reveal its wiretapping activities as long as there is a court order. The recordings could also tell the public that that all threats faced by KPK officials, including investigators, [working on Budi's case] were part of the scheme to criminalize the KPK," Bahrain told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Separately, a civil society group expressed similar concerns on Sunday, saying the pattern of the current criminalization of the KPK was similar to that of a previous standoff between the KPK and the National Police in 2009 in which the KPK bugged a series of conversations on devising a scheme to charge then KPK commissioners Chandra M. Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto.

"In 2009, there was a scheme to prosecute Bibit and Chandra and it could be that the current standoff has employed the same method," Alghiffari Aksa of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) said at a media conference.

When contacted by the Post on Sunday, Novel declined to comment further. "I will not comment on it further. Please confirm with KPK leaders [whether the KPK wants to present the recordings at a future MK hearing]," Novel said.

Meanwhile, none of the five KPK leaders confirmed the existence of the recordings.

KPK commissioner Johan Budi said he knew nothing about it as it could have taken place prior to his appointment in March after Abraham and Bambang were removed from office following the National Police's move to prosecute them in two criminal cases.

"Please confirm it with [KPK commissioners] Pak Adnan Pandu Praja, Zulkarnain or Pak Bambang," said Johan, who served as KPK deputy head of prevention before his promotion.

In the wake of the KPK and National Police standoff in 2009, during a court hearing in an MK judicial review of the KPK Law, then MK chief justice Mahfud MD ordered the KPK to present conversations it had tapped on a scheme to charge Bibit and Chandra.

In its ruling, which favored the KPK, the MK said: "After hearing the recordings, we [...] found facts indicating the engineering or fabrication of evidence or at least conversations between law enforcers and Anggodo Widjojo [an alleged middleman in a bribery case] leading to the potential fabrication of evidence so the two plaintiffs [Bibit and Chandra] could be named suspects or defendants."

After the MK ruling, Bibit and Chandra were reinstalled as KPK leaders after months of being suspended from their posts to focus on their legal cases.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/08/KPK-needs-court-order-release-taped-proof-cop-plot.html

Political payback or Dahlan a victim of own 'creativity'?

Jakarta Globe - June 7, 2015

Jakarta – Allegations of political motives overshadow prosecutors' recent naming of former State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan as a corruption suspect, many of whose supporters believe him to be innocent while Dahlan himself said he had been aware he might be facing graft charges.

Dahlan was declared a suspect on Friday over accusations of irregular construction of 21 power transformers worth Rp 1 trillion ($74 million) by state utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Nagara (PLN) – a project planned since 2009, when he served as president director of the company, to ensure that Indonesia had a plentiful supply of electricity as the nation's economy continued to grow.

The project was worked on from 2011 to 2013, when he was appointed as state enterprise minister during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second term in office. The Jakarta Prosecutors Office, which has been investigating the case and has named 15 other people as suspects, said two of the transformers were later found to be malfunctioning and 13 others were found to be broken. The Jakarta office of the State Finance and Development Comptroller (BPKP) has said that the case is estimated to cost the state Rp 33.2 billion.

Suspicion has arisen, however, that Dahlan being named as a suspect was politically motivated. The media mogul, after all, has been widely viewed as a populist and clean authoritative figure, which was believed to have been among the reasons why Yudhoyono appointed him to lead PLN.

Dahlan is the owner of the Jawa Post media group, one of the country's leading publication firms that is based in Surabaya.

Dozens of his supporters staged a rally at Bungkul Park in the East Java capital on Sunday, gathering signatures on a white banner that organizers said were aimed at providing "moral support" for the media mogul.

Ita Nasyi'ah, an initiator on Twitter of the #SaveDahlanIskan movement, said the group was aiming to collect as many as 10 million signatures from across Indonesia.

"We're targeting to break the Muri records with these signatures," Ita said, referring to the Indonesian version of the Guinness World Records. Hundreds of visitors at the park were seen signing the banner, Indonesian news portal tempo.co reported.

Ita said similar activities would be held in other big cities in Indonesia, including in the national capital Jakarta. "Nobody told us to do this. This is a spontaneous action," she said.

Not everyone thinks Dahlan is innocent, though. A man who refused to sign the banner said, "I don't want to give my signature. Dahlan is a corruptor. Why should we support him?"

The executive director of the Civic Circle for Indonesia (LIMA), Ray Rangkuti, is among those who believe that a political motive is behind the prosecutors' move to charge Dahlan.

He said the Attorney General's Office was probably targeting officials under Yudhoyono's regime so that the former president would tone down his criticism against the current government's policies. The AGO is led by Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo, whose appointment by President Joko Widodo sparked criticism because Prasetyo was affiliated with the National Democrats (Nasdem), a member of the ruling party coalition.

Antigraft activists have expressed concerns that Prasetyo's appointment would politicize the AGO.

"I've seen [signs of Yudhoyono's regime being targeted] since the arrest of former Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik, the citing of Ibas's name in Sutan Bhatoegana's case, and now Dahlan Iskan's naming as a suspect," Ray said.

All the names that Ray mentioned – except for Dahlan – are politicians within Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. Ibas is a nickname of the former president's youngest son, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono.

"These are strong signals for SBY [Yudhoyono] ... so that he wouldn't give the current regime too many problems," he added.

Aleksius Jemadu, a political observer with Pelita Harapan University (UPH), offered another theory as to why Joko's administration seems to be targeting Yudhoyono administration officials.

"They may try to corner the old regime to cover the flaws of the current government ... to divert people's attention from criticizing [Joko's administration's policies], to cases involving the old regime," Aleksius said.

He added that he didn't believe Dahlan to have stolen the public's money, although there was a possibility that Dahlan had been guilty of negligence, which cost the state billions of rupiah.

"Why is the AGO coming after his [Dahlan's] case before other cases? There may be indeed [intentional attempts] to corner SBY's people, although we need more evidence to prove that suspicion," Aleksius said.

Lawmaker Nasir Djamil, though, dismisses the political motive allegation, saying there was indeed potential for corruption in the construction of power transformers for Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara.

"Prosecutors don't play political games. Otherwise they shouldn't be called a law-enforcement institution. The case indeed needs to be scrutinized," said Nasir, a politician with the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which is both a member of the current opposition bloc and a member of the ruling coalition during Yudhoyono's era.

House of Representatives deputy speaker Fahri Hamzah, meanwhile, said Dahlan's status as a suspect was proof of flaws in Indonesia's antigraft laws, which he said failed to recognize "creativity" of people trying to bypass complicated and often corrupt bureaucracy to make sure that development projects proceeded as planned.

"I suspect that Dahlan was named suspect because he's a creative person, and the anti-corruption law isn't friendly with creative people. That is why I've been criticizing the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission], part of my criticism against the law, which is now also used by the AGO," added Fahri, also from PKS.

In a written statement issued on Friday, Dahlan admitted that he had broken many laws to ensure the execution of power transformer project, adding it was necessary.

He said the power transformers were needed to be built right away to supply electricity to Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara islands.

"I told investigators that I couldn't stand people's complaints about the electricity [supply] situation at that time. I even declared several times that I was ready to go to jail if I had to," Dahlan said.

He added, though, that he was ready to undergo the legal process.

"I'm taking the responsibility because all of those projects were indeed under my responsibility," Dahlan said, adding he would scrutinize all relevant documents concerning the case.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/political-payback-victim-dahlans-creativity/

Police to get unprecedented say in selection of new KPK commissioners

Jakarta Globe - June 5, 2015

Jakarta – The Indonesian police force, widely perceived as the most corrupt institution in the republic, says it will be involved in the selection of new commissioners for the country's antigraft agency.

The police will be responsible for digging up any criminal records for candidates for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), according to Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, the National Police's chief of detectives, who is himself overseeing a series of dubious investigations against current KPK officials based on trumped-up charges.

Budi told reporters in Jakarta on Friday that this was the first time in the 12-year history of the KPK that the police had been invited by the selection committee to play a part in the vetting process.

The selection committee began taking applications from the public on Friday morning.

The police and the Attorney General's Office were left out during previous selection processes to allow for transparency and avoid any conflicts of interest. It is unclear why the selection committee this time around has asked the police to be involved, especially at a time when the police force is escalating its hostilities against the KPK.

The detectives' unit, Budi's office, has charged two KPK commissioners – Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto, both now suspended – on criminal charges in cases dating back up to a decade. Police have also named a leading KPK investigator and former police official, Novel Baswedan, a suspect in a separate case.

All the charges are widely seen as being trumped up, brought in retaliation against the KPK's decision in January to name police general Budi Gunawan a corruption suspect. Budi Waseso, a self-proclaimed sycophant of Budi Gunawan, now the deputy police chief, has also made clear his disdain for the KPK, declaring last week that he had no intention of filing a mandatory wealth report with the antigraft body and instead taunting its investigators to compile the report themselves.

He later claimed that his statement, quoted by several credible news outlets, was taken out of context. As of Friday, though, he has still not filed the report.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/police-get-unprecedented-say-selection-new-KPK-commissioners/

Police chief defends top detective: wealth report not finished

Jakarta Globe - June 4, 2015

Novianti Setuningsih, Jakarta – The refusal of the National Police's chief detective, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, to submit his wealth report to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was merely because he hadn't finished compiling it, police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said on Thursday.

"I summoned [Budi] yesterday and I asked him, and in fact [the report] is still incomplete. How can the incomplete [report] be submitted?" Badrodin said at the office of Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Budi last week said he would not report his wealth himself and instead challenged the anti-graft body investigators to "fill in the details." The former Gorontalo Police chief said the anti-graft agency should itself complete such reports to ensure objectivity.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/police-chief-defends-top-detective-on-incomplete-wealth-report/

SBY may be charged for enjoying graft funds

Jakarta Post - June 4, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Recent courtroom revelations that a graft suspect, the former energy and minerals minister Jero Wacik, allegedly spent money embezzled from the ministry to regularly pay for golfing with then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono could lead to the former president being charged for money laundering.

Money laundering expert Yenti Garnasih of Trisakti University said on Wednesday that any transfer of graft money in any form to other parties was legally considered as money laundering and the parties who benefitted from it should be charged with money laundering offenses.

She added as the revelation of the golf money was revealed by a witness under oath during the trial of former energy ministry secretary-general Waryono Karno, who has been accused of stealing around Rp 11 billion (US$83,000) for Jero, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has strong grounds to move against Yudhoyono.

"If someone accepts money from the proceeds of crime, it means he or she commits money laundering, not just corruption. [The KPK] could further investigate the flow of money from [Jero] to other parties," she said.

Yenti also said that as neither of the two suspects, Waryono or Jero, had been slapped with money laundering charges, then the KPK should open a new probe to net all the recipients of dirty alleged money from the energy ministry.

Monday's session of Waryono's trial looked further into the so-called "regular entertainment" funds – ranging from Rp 30 million to Rp 200 million that was set aside from the Rp 11 billion collected from the ministry in 2010 and 2011 – by grilling Sri Utami, an energy ministry official allegedly tasked by Waryono to distribute the money to a number of parties.

Sri gave incriminating testimony against Yudhoyono after presiding judge Artha Theresia confronted her with a KPK document containing her statements.

"The entertainment money was used to pay for golfing games together with [Jero and] SBY every Thursday morning at 5 a.m. at the Halim Golf course and the money was delivered by Dwi Hartono [another official from the ministry] to the adjutant of the minister [Jero] at the golf course, is that correct?" Artha asked Sri. "Yes, it is correct," Sri responded.

Yenti said he suspected the KPK gave special treatment to the energy ministry graft case because in other cases the KPK charged suspects with money laundering if they found that they had funneled their ill-gotten gains.

"This creates a sense of inconsistency because we also see that [a member of the] House of Representatives' budget committee, Wa Ode Nurhayati, was also charged with money laundering afterwards. There is something wrong with the KPK in Jero's case," Yenti added.

Acting KPK deputy chairman Indriyanto Seno Adji said that the antigraft body has yet to look into the possibility of summoning Yudhoyono following the court revelation, adding that such a decision cannot be made before the court convicts Waryono in the case, if it does.

"The court will decide whether the act of paying for golf [with Yudhoyono] is categorized as a crime. Let's see what the panel of judges will say on the verdict," he said.

Yudhoyono's lawyer, Palmer Sitomorang said that "the two friends" played golf together, but they each paid their own golf bills. "It is a cheap rumor as the testimony was made between the witnesses with other people, not with Pak SBY. We strongly reject the allegations."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/04/sby-may-be-charged-enjoying-graft-funds.html

Dirty money funds SBY's golfing: Official

Jakarta Post - June 3, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – A new twist has emerged in the trial of the former secretary-general of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Waryono Karno with an accusation that graft money was partly used to finance the leisure activities of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

In early May, the trial of Waryono, who collected funds for Yudhoyono's right-hand-man Jero Wacik, revealed that the money, which was collected from rigging a series of procurement projects at the ministry, also ended up in the hands of individuals affiliated with Yudhoyono, who served as the country's president for a decade between 2004 and 2014.

During a session on Monday at the Jakarta Corruption Court, evidence revealed that Yudhoyono, the current chairman of the Democratic Party where Jero is also a senior member, was one of benefactors of the ill-gotten money.

Monday's session looked further into the so-called "regular entertainment" funds – ranging from Rp 30 million (US$2,272) to Rp 200 million, which was set aside from the Rp 11 billion in dirty money collected from the ministry between 2010 and 2011 – by grilling Sri Utami, an energy ministry official tasked by Waryono to distribute the dirty money to a number of parties.

Sri made an incriminating testimony against Yudhoyono after presiding judge Artha Theresia confronted her with a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) document recording her testimony during the investigation stage in which she told KPK investigators that Jero used some of the money to pay for a regular golfing game for Jero and Yudhoyono in Jakarta when the two were active state officials.

Jero was forced to give up his ministerial post after the KPK declared him a graft suspect in a separate graft case in September 2014, while Yudhoyono wrapped up his decade-long presidential leadership in October 2014.

"The entertainment money was used to pay for a golfing game together with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono [and Jero] every Thursday morning at 5 a.m. at the Halim Golf course and the money was delivered by Dwi Hartono [another official from the ministry] to the adjutant of the minister [Jero] at the golf course, is that correct?" Theresia asked Sri. "Yes, it is correct," Sri responded.

Monday's session did not reveal the amount of money that Jero had used to pay for the golfing excursion with the former president.

Although the testimony was recorded in the KPK's investigation documents, the antigraft body has so far failed to summon Yudhoyono for clarification during the investigation into Waryono's graft case. The KPK only grilled Jero in the case last year.

Separately, acting KPK deputy chairman Johan Budi said he had yet to receive official information from KPK prosecutors regarding Sri's Monday court testimony. "I have to check the information first," Johan said.

Meanwhile, Yudhoyono's lawyer Palmer Situmorang described the court evidence as "rumors" despite the fact that it was revealed by a witness who was under oath and had been written in the KPK's investigation documents.

"It is not true that Pak Yudhoyono plays golf every Thursday and that he used other people's money to pay for the sport. It is a slanderous claim because ministers are not tasked to pay for presidential accommodation," Palmer told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

This is not the first time allegations have been directed at Yudhoyono and members of his inner circle for possible wrongdoing.

During Waryono's indictment hearing on May 7, KPK prosecutors revealed that the ministry had paid Rp 185 million on two separate occasions to Yudhoyono's presidential adviser on political communications, Daniel Sparringa.

Following up on the lead, the KPK grilled Daniel for clarification in relation to the allegations on June 25, 2014, at which time he maintained his innocence. Daniel has denied any wrongdoing in the case and said that he was ready to testify in court to defend his innocence.

The indictment document also exposed that the ministry spent Rp 25 million to fund Yudhoyono's Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) activities and as much as Rp 5 million was given to Ms. Silva, an official at the State Secretariat for a holiday bonus also known as THR.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/03/dirty-money-funds-sby-s-golfing-official.html

Budi defiant over wealth report order

Jakarta Post - June 3, 2015

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – The National Police's detective division chief, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, said the news about his reluctance to submit his wealth report to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has been used to attack him.

"They have made a big deal out of it. They are trying to find my weaknesses, hoping that they can take me down," Budi told reporters on Tuesday.

Since being sworn in as detective division chief in January, Budi has yet to submit his wealth report. It is compulsory for all high-ranking state officials to submit such reports before, during and after their tenures, as stipulated by Law No. 29/1999 on the organization of clean government and Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK.

However, there are only a lenient sanctions applied against government officials who fail to submit their wealth reports as it is not considered a criminal offense.

In an interview in March with The Jakarta Post, Budi said he had a monthly salary of Rp 12 million (US$908) plus Rp 11 million in allowances.

However, at the time, he claimed he had difficulties finding an auditor to calculate his wealth as the majority of it consisted of his firearm, knife and old car collections, some of which he had inherited from his late father.

Budi said that he was also aware that many people did not like him and were attacking him because he was responsible for investigations into all criminal cases in the country, including major graft cases that allegedly involve current and former state officials.

"Many people have become worried since I have taken on such big cases; they run hot and cold over the issue, but I'm not afraid. I am protected by my family and my siblings," he said.

Budi said that there were also some who wanted to create friction between the police force and the KPK as, "There are many who want the National Police to be a lesser force [in comparison to the KPK] and this is not good as it might diminish our authority."

Budi replaced Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius, who along with then National Police chief Gen. Sutarman, was suspected of having provided evidence that led to the KPK naming then National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a graft suspect.

Budi Gunawan is now the deputy National Police chief. Earlier, Budi Gunawan served as Budi Waseso's superior in the police force's education and training division.

Budi considered the spotlight cast on his wealth report as not just an attack on his alleged close relationship with Gunawan, but also on the whole police force.

"People say I am close to BG [Gunawan], but that's beside the point. Everyone is involved. I will defend the police force and I will never betray it. The blood of those who betray the force can be spilled," he said, adding that he would submit the wealth report soon, but did not give a date.

Meanwhile, KPK acting commissioner Johan Budi acknowledged that submitting a wealth report was effectively non-mandatory, since the penalties were so weak. "[In the end, submitting a wealth report] depends on whether or not that state official wants to do it," he said.

Johan added that the laws did not give details on what type of administrative sanction should be given to officials who failed to submit a wealth report.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/03/budi-defiant-over-wealth-report-order.html

Chief detective flip-flops on wealth report, now says will comply

Jakarta Globe - June 2, 2015

Jakarta – The Indonesian police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, claims his previously quoted refusal to submit a wealth report to the country's antigraft commission was taken out of context by the media.

Budi told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday that he had every intention of filing the report with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), but wanted a third party to compile it for reasons of transparency.

"I want to be honest and open. So if possible, I prefer not to be the one to compile the report," he said as quoted by Tempo. "Once the report is completed, I will definitely submit it. I never said I didn't want to," he added.

Budi was quoted by Kompas last Friday as saying that he would not report his wealth and instead challenged investigators from the KPK to "fill in the details."

"Let the KPK team do the counting because self-reporting is a subjective mechanism that may differ from what the KPK will find at a later date," he said at the time.

Activists from prominent anti-corruption organizations lambasted the three-star general for the statement, given that filing a wealth report is mandatory for all senior public officials, including in the police force. Budi, though, claimed on Tuesday that he had been misquoted as part of a "smear campaign" by the media.

"My statement was flipped over in the media. I know which media it is and who the reporter is. There's a specific message behind it. But it's alright, I shouldn't get upset by it," he told Tempo.

Despite his claim, Budi has long made clear his hostility toward the KPK. It was his office that instigated – in retaliation against the KPK's naming of another police general, Budi Gunawan, a corruption suspect – a series of criminal investigations against KPK officials based on trumped-up charges, some of them dating back a decade.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/chief-detective-flip-flops-wealth-report-now-says-will-comply/

Freedom of religion & worship

Government does not protect religious minorities: Setara

Jakarta Post - June 8, 2015

Jakarta – The drafted bill on the protection of religious communities does not protect minorities that are under increasing persecution; the government is not showing progress in upholding religious freedom, rights group Setara Institure said Monday.

"The bill upholds that the state can intervene in freedom of religion to maintain stability and security at the expense of minority groups," Setara Institute's deputy chairperson Bonar Tigor Naipospos said, adding that minorities were potentially suppressed for the sake of stability and security.

"Some 116 cases of violations against religious freedom with 136 [legal] measures [taken] under the new government that has run for seven months," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The government announced in November last year that it was drafting a bill to serve as the legal grounds to provide protection to adherents of all religions.

The bill was also expected to regulate religious life that might concern public spaces, such as the construction of houses of worship, proselytizing or funerals.

Naipospos said the drafted bill clearly favored majority groups, adding that his organization would push the Religious Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry to design a more comprehensive policy that would eradicate religious discrimination.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/08/govt-does-not-protect-religious-minorities-setara.html

Land & agrarian conflicts

BPK urges government to clean up land certification system

Jakarta Globe - June 5, 2015

Novy Lumanauw, Jakarta/Bogor – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has called on the government to clean up its land certification system, the source of numerous disruptive land disputes and tenure issues in Indonesia.

BPK head Harry Azhar Azis said uncertified land, at both central and local government level, needed to be addressed.

He said a certification program should be developed and followed with concrete actions, such as appointing a director to oversee the program and improve Indonesia's existing land-use database, as well as a body to help solve land disputes.

"Program financing and deadlines are also necessary," Harry said at the Bogor Presidential Palace on Friday.

Confusion over land titles is a major source of conflict in Indonesia, often stalling much-needed development programs and leading to messy land disputes and unfair evictions.

Harry said on top of taking stock of uncertified state-owned land, the government needed to clean up its inventory of "idle land" and buildings to help determine state asses.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/bpk-indonesia-land-disputes/

Governance & administration

Desperate for tax money, Indonesia ready to grant criminals amnesty

Globe Asia - June 5, 2015

Tabita Diela & Yosi Winosa, Jakarta – Indonesia plans to let corruptors, tax evaders, and forest and mining illegal poachers to put their money in government bonds, in a move that would reprieve criminals of their past crimes and provide government with additional revenue.

"We have reasons to study and throw this idea to the public. We have very limited data of Indonesians' possessions and wealth abroad," said Mekar Satria Utama, director of counseling, service and public relations with the director general of tax at the Finance Ministry on Friday.

"We heard there are 3,000 to 4,000 trillion rupiah [of Indonesians' assets] in Singapore. That's the potential," Mekar said.

The tax directorate general said last week that the government is preparing a bill that will grant amnesty to criminals – except drugs offenders and terrorists – as long as they agree to bring in their ill-gotten money to Indonesia under the government's terms and conditions. The government is targeting to complete the bill by October.

Mekar said the state plans to offer a remission for crimes such as corruption, money laundry, illegal logging and illegal mining. Still, those offenders must pay bail of 10 percent to 15 percent of the value of their crime to the government. The offenders must shift some of their "investment portfolios and cash" into government bonds with maturities of five to 10 years, said Mekar.

The government had launched similiar tax remission programs in 1984 and 2004 but failed to attract any interests from offenders because they were not backed with a law that offered amnesty.

Tax experts see the government's policy as a "paradox" and a "bad idea" as it would reduce taxpayers' compliance in the future.

"It is such a controversy. It's not fair for those who have been compliant [with the law]. When the policy is implemented, they will most likely become less obedient," said Setyo Budiantoro, the director of Prakarsa, an economic policy research center.

Setyo encourages the government to engage more in country-to-country tax reporting and automatic information exchange. "We need to improve taxpayer compliance first, then we deal with amnesty," he said.

The government has waived penalties for five years on back taxes that tax payers must comply with by the end of this year, as part of efforts to boost revenue from taxes this year in order to fund ambitious development projects.

President Joko Widodo's administration is targeting a tax-to-GDP ratio of 16 percent, up from 12 percent in 2013. Still, only 4 million Indonesians from the 250 million current population pay tax. Tax revenues – excluding revenue from customs – in the first quarter of 2015 reached Rp 198 trillion ($15 billion), compared to Rp 1,294 trillion for a full-year target.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/desperate-tax-money-indonesia-ready-grant-criminals-amnesty/

Parliament & legislation

PPP infighting spreads to the House of representatives

Jakarta Post - June 5, 2015

Hasyim Widhiarto and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – A faction within the conflict-torn United Development Party (PPP) has rejected a decision made by the House of Representatives to authorize a party leadership reshuffle at the legislature without securing an approval from faction members.

PPP lawmaker Arsul Sani said the House leadership must revoke its decision to install Epyardi Asda and Mustofa Assegaf as the faction's new chairman and secretary, respectively, given that the decision was made at the urging of Djan Faridz, whose leadership in the party had been a subject of prolonged legal dispute.

Arsul, a supporter of the PPP camp led by Muhammad "Romy" Romahurmuziy, also considered the endorsement from the House leadership, which is dominated by members of the opposition Red-and-White Coalition, a form of political intervention.

"According to Article 20 point 7 of the House's Code of Conduct, the leader of a faction is inaugurated by [members of] the respective faction. We never held a meeting to appoint a new faction leader," Arsul said in a House plenary meeting on Thursday.

He called on the House to stop meddling in the party's internal affairs. "We call on the House leadership to help maintain a conducive situation within the PPP faction as the two opposing camps wait for the issuance of a final court verdict or a possible reconciliation."

The PPP, the country's oldest Islamic-based party, controls 39 out of 560 House seats, making it the House's eighth largest faction.

The internal rift within the PPP dates back to the days leading up to the presidential election last year over the different stances of members on political support for the two contesting candidates: Joko "Jokowi" Widodo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Prabowo Subianto of the Gerindra Party.

Then PPP chairman Suryadharma Ali announced PPP's support for Prabowo, a decision that was eventually challenged by Romy and his followers, who claimed the chairmanship after the presidential election and pledged to support President Jokowi's administration.

Soon after the inauguration of the new batch of lawmakers in October, the PPP appointed Hasrul Azwar and Muhammad Arwani Thomafi as the chairman and secretary of the faction, respectively.

A letter signed by House Speaker Setya Novanto, a Golkar Party lawmaker, on April 16, however, reassigned Hasrul as an advisor to the PPP faction and Arwani as a deputy secretary. Although the letter was issued almost two months ago, Arsul said it circulated among PPP lawmakers only recently.

House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, meanwhile, defended the House decision. "According to the party's committee handling the dispute and the Jakarta State Administrative Court [PTUN], it is clear that Pak Djan's leadership [is legal]," he said.

In February, the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) annulled a Law and Human Rights Ministry decree that officially recognized Romy's leadership and thus returned control over the PPP to Djan, who was elected chairman to replace Suryadharma after the latter was named a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly, however, has filed a lawsuit with the State Administrative High Court (PTTUN) to challenge the ruling. The PTTUN is expected to announce its ruling this month.

The prolonged legal battle between the two camps within the PPP has also put the party at risk of not being able to nominate its candidates to contest he 269 regional elections set to take place simultaneously throughout the country on Dec. 9.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/05/ppp-infighting-spreads-house-representatives.html

Armed forces & defense

No need to check TNI candidates' records on rights or finances: Minister

Jakarta Globe - June 6, 2015

Jakarta – Indonesia's security chief says there is no need for the country's next military commander to be vetted by the national human rights commission or the government's money-laundering watchdog, in the government's latest apparent dismantling of oversight measures for key appointments.

Such background checks as proposed by antigraft and rights activists are unnecessary because the candidates have already filed wealth reports, says Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, the coordinating minister for political, security and legal affairs.

He also said the checks of the candidates' track records by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and of their wealth by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) were not needed because they would be vetted by the House of Representatives.

The House in January approved a corruption suspect for nomination as police chief. The candidate, Budi Gunawan, was later withdrawn by the president.

Tedjo told reporters in Bogor on Friday that the next TNI commander "won't have to have their track record verified by any agency" because the president was sure to pick the best candidate.

"It's the president [who picks the TNI chief], so if anything happens the president will be responsible," he said as quoted by Tempo.

Any background checks, he said, should be limited to the latest wealth reports already filed by the candidates with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Tedjo was responding to calls by the rights group Imparsial for tighter oversight of the nomination of individuals for key posts, following the Budi Gunawan fiasco.

While Budi, no longer a graft suspect thanks to a highly questionable court ruling, was thwarted in his bid to become the police chief, he remains in line for the job after being promoted as deputy to the new chief, Badrodin Haiti, who retires early next year.

Tedjo's insistence that no background checks are needed for the next TNI chief reflects a growing tendency by the administration of President Joko Widodo to dismantling established systems of checks and balances in the vetting of officials for key posts, starting with the nomination of Budi, seen as a political concession to the president's patron, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

On Friday, the selection committee formed by Joko to vet candidates for the KPK leadership granted the police an unprecedented say in the selection of the new anti-corruption commissioners.

This is the first time in the 12-year history of the antigraft commission that the police, widely perceived as the most corrupt institution in the republic, have been invited by the selection committee to play a part in the vetting process.

The selection of the next TNI chief is seen as particularly critical this time around because of the Joko administrations focus on building Indonesia's maritime capabilities, including naval defense.

The current TNI commander, Gen. Moeldoko, retires at the start of August, and the three officers eligible to replace him are the chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Under the rotation system currently in use, it is the Air Force chief, Air Marshal Agus Supriatna, who is due to become the next TNI chief, but observers say the president is likely to favor the Navy's Admiral Ade Supandi, to reflect his wider policy of developing Indonesia as a global maritime fulcrum.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/no-need-check-tni-candidates-records-rights-finances-minister-says/

Seven soldiers charged over fatal brawl at Yogya cafe

Jakarta Globe - June 5, 2015

Ari Susanto, Solo – The Military Police announced on Friday that they have charged seven members of Army's Special Forces Command for their involvement in a brawl that killed one Air Force officer.

"We have named seven officers, but the probe is not yet finished," said Col. Arief Wibowo, chief of the Military Police detachment at the Diponegoro Military Command, which oversees operations in Central Java and Yogyakarta.

Arief said all suspects are from the Army's special forces command, Kopassus. The military police initially charged five Kopassus officers, but as the investigation widened, two more suspects were named.

Sgt. Major Zulkifli, 39, died at a hospital in Sukoharjo, Central Java, in the early hours of Monday after he and three other Air Force personnel were attacked by a mob of more than a dozen men from a local Kopassus unit.

The incident took place at a karaoke parlor on Sunday evening. One of Zulkifli's peers is still unconscious in hospital, while the two other Air Force members have been released from hospital. There were no reports of injuries from the Army side.

The charges dismiss an earlier claim by Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Wuryanto who said the Air Force members were involved in a fight with civilians, and the Kopassus soldiers were trying to break up the fight.

"We expect to solve this case immediately and bring [the case] to military court," Arief said, adding that the Military Police has quizzed a total of 23 witnesses.

Meanwhile, Second Lieutenant Teguh is still in intensive care at the Hardjolukito Air Force Hospital in Yogyakarta. The hospital's director Benny Tumbelaka said Teguh is suffering from severe cerebral concussion from the injuries he sustained.

Chief security minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijanto has dismissed concerns of brewing tensions between branches of the Indonesian Armed Forces, or TNI, playing down the recent murder of an Air Force officer by Army personnel as "juvenile delinquency."

While TNI members have often been involved in fights with police officers since the separation of the police force from the military in the late 1990s, rivalries between members of different branches of the TNI are uncommon.

Three members of the same Kopassus unit were found guilty three years ago of the murder of four drug detainees at the Cebongan prison in Sleman, Yogyakarta.

They stormed the prison and gunned down the detainees in cold blood because the latter had allegedly killed one of their colleagues who was also involved in a brawl.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/seven-soldiers-charged-fatal-brawl-yogya-cafe/

Jokowi told to rein in military

Jakarta Post - June 5, 2015

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – A group of respected figures has called on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to stay on course with military reform by reining in the Indonesian Military (TNI), which in recent months has taken over jobs conducted by civilian institutions.

The group, which called itself Punakawan after the band of jesters in Javanese shadow puppetry, and was comprised of Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) founder Jaya Suprana, political and military analyst Salim Said, humanitarian activists and Catholic priests Sandyawan Sumardi and Wardah Hafidz, former coordinating economic minister Rizal Ramli and several others, had a meeting with Jokowi over lunch at the State Palace on Thursday.

"I hope the President can remind his men not to drag the military into doing civilian work, for example, in maintaining and taking care of the railway stations, prisons and airports. There are already people assigned to do such jobs," Salim said.

Salim, who has long been known as an expert on the TNI, said during the meeting: "Although he [Jokowi] is a civilian, the Constitution says he has the highest authority over the Navy, the Army and the Air Force. Therefore, the military will respect him regardless of his civilian clothes."

In recent months, Jokowi had been seen at least twice wearing military fatigues – last month when he inaugurated the construction of a military hospital in East Jakarta and in April when he was bestowed with honorary military berets in a ceremony at TNI headquarters.

During the latter ceremony, TNI commander Gen. Moeldoko pledged loyalty to Jokowi, the country and the Constitution, and promised his troops would carrying out their duties professionally.

A report released last month by a think-tank called the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) showed that the TNI had tried to expand its influence into civilian areas and to take back some powers from the police since Jokowi took office in October last year.

The report also warned the government about the importance of strengthening civilian control over the TNI and preventing the military from taking over roles that had nothing to do with defense.

"The TNI has managed to position itself as the President's reliable ally at a time when he is under political pressure from all sides," IPAC director Sidney Jones said in a recent statement.

Jokowi held a meeting with top TNI officials in February when he was under pressure to decide the fate of former National Police chief nominee Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, a move many believed was done to improve his standing in the face of mounting pressure from the public and his political rivals.

Separately, on Thursday, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said the force had officially proposed a remuneration hike for police personnel, a move many believed was inspired by Jokowi's plan to increase the military remuneration by 56 to 60 percent starting in May.

Jokowi made the announcement during the April ceremony when he was awarded the military berets. "Well, just like the TNI, which had its remuneration increased by 56 to 60 percent, we are also making the same proposal," Badrodin told reporters at the Vice Presidential Office on Thursday.

Recently, antigraft campaigners and several high-profile figures have rejected the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) plan to recruit TNI personnel for several key positions, criticizing the KPK for looking for an ally to defend it from the police following the recent standoff between the two institutions.

IPAC's report also highlighted that counterterrorism has become "one of the most important battlegrounds between the police and the military", pointing out examples of the recent joint combat exercises in restive Poso, Central Sulawesi, which is the hiding place of Santoso, the country's most wanted terrorist.

The two institutions, however, have said the joint training program was a part of an effort to reduce tensions between the two following police separation from the TNI.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/05/jokowi-told-rein-military.html

Defense to focus on humanitarian aspect

Jakarta Post - June 4, 2015

Jakarta – Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said Wednesday that Indonesia's defense priority should shift to protecting citizens in non- traditional threats, such as terrorism, natural disasters and disease.

As hard power through war is seen as less of an option in the changing world of politics today, Ryamizard said that attacks by other countries were unlikely to happen these days.

He said the absence of war could at least be observed among members of ASEAN, which had agreed to avoid war to address inter-state conflict in the region since the organization was created 48 years ago.

Therefore, he urged for a change in Indonesia's defense paradigm from defense against any outside aggressor to executor of humanitarian assistance.

"The most evident threats are terrorism, disease and natural disasters," Ryamizard said on Wednesday during a media briefing at the ministry's office in Central Jakarta.

"I want defense to be not just about protecting the nation from foreign attacks. I want our defense to be number one in humanitarian work. I want the Army to be more involved in humanitarian missions in the future," he added.

The minister gave as an example the 2004 tsunami in Aceh and the role the military played in humanitarian work. He said that after the Aceh tsunami, military personnel were deployed to assist victims and to help the region recover. "We should be number one in disaster management, too," he said.

He also said the ministry was currently working on ebola prevention as part of the ministry's efforts to be more involved in humanitarian work.

Last month, in an effort to increase the ministry's role in humanitarian work internationally, the ministry hosted the 41st World Congress on Military Medicine. The congress, which took place in Bali on May 17 to 22, was attended by hundreds of military doctors from across the world.

"During the congress, I told participants about the importance of the military in humanitarian initiatives," Ryamizard said, recalling his keynote speech at the congress.

Separately, Ganewati Wuryandari, researcher of international politics at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the ministry's policy was nothing new as it had essentially been adopted worldwide.

"It is an ideal one. In fact it is nothing new. As far as I know, all countries adopt that kind of defense strategy," Ganewati told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, adding that the strategy was known as "comprehensive defense."

She said that comprehensive defense covered many fields, including the economy. "In comprehensive defense, economic development is also a crucial issue. When a country's economy is weak it becomes susceptible to outside influences," Ganewati said.

She, however, rejected the idea that the region was free from the threat of war. She said growing tension over disputed territory in the South China Sea could have the potential to trigger war.

"With China becoming assertive in the South China Sea, we cannot put aside military defense," Ganewati said, adding that the government's focus on non-military defense should not lose sight of the military one. (saf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/04/defense-focus-humanitarian-aspect.html

Five Kopassus members detained after fatal fight in karaoke club

Jakarta Post - June 4, 2015

Ganug Nugroho Adi and Slamet Susanto, Surakarta, Central Java/Yogyakarta – The Surakarta Military Police (Denpom) have detained five members of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) for getting involved in a fight with Air Force members, killing one, Sgt. Maj. Zulkifli.

Surakarta Denpom commander Let. Col. Witono said that his office was currently holding five Kopassus members at the military headquarters for their involvement in the fatal brawl at the Bima Karaoke parlor in Solo Baru, Sukoharjo, Central Java.

"We have detained five suspects. The number could increase in accordance with the investigation," said Witono at the headquarters on Wednesday.

He said the military police were also questioning 17 witnesses in the assault involving 25 Kopassus members.

Air Force members, perpetrators and several employees from the karaoke parlor were being questioned as witnesses, he added. "As many as 17 witnesses have been questioned so far, including the perpetrators. We started the investigation on Tuesday," he said.

Apart from the witnesses, added Witono, Denpom had studied the CCTV recording at the crime scene. Denpom will later conduct an investigation to better understand the case.

"Denpom officers have conducted investigations at the crime scene and filed the dossiers and carried out a reenactment of the case," said Witono.

Witono said the brawl, involving Air Force and Kopassus members from the Kandang Menjangan Kopassus Group 2 in Kartasura, Sukoharjo, was a spontaneous clash and resulted from a personal issue.

"The fight had nothing to do with [conflicts between] the units, it's a personal issue. So, the case is a usual fight. But the victim and suspects were by chance [Indonesian Military] TNI members," said Witono.

The clash broke out in the karaoke parlor early on May 31. Four Air Force members suffered injuries and two others were rushed to the Harjolukito Hospital in Yogyakarta for serious wounds.

Zulkifli died on June 1 after getting intensive treatment at the hospital. Another victim, warrant officer Teguh Prasetya, is still in critical condition and is in a coma getting intensive treatment.

The body of Zulkifli has been airlifted to Jakarta and brought to the funeral home on Jl. Nusa Dua, Ciracas, East Jakarta.

Harjolukito Central Hospital head Air Marshal Benny H. Tumbeleka said his hospital worked together with the Sardjito Hospital to conduct an autopsy on Zulifli's body to find out the cause of death. "The autopsy result will be known in a couple of weeks," said Benny.

Brawls among military officers or between military and police officers are nothing new, especially since the downfall of authoritarian president Soeharto in May 1998.

Several fights occurred in the past three years, including on Nov. 19 last year when a major shoot out between army officers from Infantry Battalion 134 Tuah Sakti and Riau police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police broke out at Brimob Batam headquarters.

The incident, which lasted for almost seven hours, left one soldier dead, identified as First Pvt. Jack Marpaung, and a local street vendor, Kambani, injured.

On Oct. 13, 2014, a fire fight between members of the 756 Infantry Battalion and Kelapa Dua Brimob members assigned to Pirime, Lanny Jaya, left battalion commander Lt. Ali Okta with wounds to his left thigh. The clash prompted the Papua Police to withdraw members of the Kelapa Dua Brimob Detachment III from Lanny Jaya regency to Jayapura.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/04/five-kopassus-members-detained-after-fatal-fight-karaoke-club.html

Kopassus won't cover up killing of Air Force personnel

Jakarta Post - June 3, 2015

Jakarta – Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) commander Maj. Gen. Doni Monardo said on Tuesday that the Military Police Corps was handling an investigation into a brawl in which a member of the Air Force died and three others were seriously injured.

"We won't cover up the case or protect our personnel against punishment. The Military Police Corps is carrying out a thorough investigation into the incident," said Doni, who took command of Kopassus in September.

A dozen Air Force personnel were reportedly attacked by more than 20 Kopassus members at Bimo cafe and karaoke parlor in Sukoharjo, Central Java, on Sunday night.

Mayor Sergeant Zulkifli died at Harjolukito Hospital in Yogyakarta on Monday and his body has been transported to Jakarta and handed over to his family for burial in Ciracas, East Jakarta.

Aside from conveying its deep remorse and apologizing for the killing, Kopassus will pay Rp 100 million (US$7,700) to the families of the victims.

Kopassus personnel involved in the killing are from the Group 2 based in Sukoharjo. The group specializes in jungle warfare, unconventional warfare, counter-insurgency and special reconnaissance.

The incident occurred amid Doni's ongoing reform in the force. Under his leadership, Kopassus has strived to project a humane image in its interactions with civilians and other institutions to overcome the unit's gruesome history of extrajudicial killings of civilians.

Doni has also enforced stringent discipline and ordered all personnel to smile, greet and shake hands (3S) and avoid raging, glaring and punching (3M) to help the unit avoid conflict with the public and with other state institutions.

Meanwhile, in response to the incident, the Air Force's top brass has instructed all personnel to avoid discotheques, clubs and karaoke halls to prevent similar incidents from happening.

"There is also an instruction to all personnel not to consume alcohol," said Air Force spokesman Rear Marshal Dwi Badarmanto.

Dwi has denied that it was the Air Force personnel that started the brawl. "We should just wait for the outcome of the investigation," he said. (ren)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/03/kopassus-wont-cover-killing-air-force-personnel.html

Judicial & legal system

Courts rule out appeals against pretrial decisions

Jakarta Post - June 8, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The spotlight has turned on the judicial system's lack of an appeal mechanism for pretrial rulings on criminal allegations, with judges exercising a binding say on cases before they ever go to trial.

In the controversial pretrial petition of former Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) head Hadi Poernomo, the South Jakarta District Court has rejected the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) proposal to appeal the court's ruling, which annulled the antigraft body's investigation into Hadi and declared the commission's investigators illegitimate.

With the court rejecting the possibility of an appeal, the KPK is obliged not only to start from scratch its investigation into Hadi's tax waiver case, but also to employ only active members of the National Police or Attorney General's Office (AGO) as investigators in the case. Most of the commission's investigators are former or non-active members of those two institutions.

South Jakarta District Court head Haswandi, who delivered the ruling on Hadi's case, said he had rejected the KPK's appeal proposal because the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) made no provisions for appeals against pretrial decisions.

"The South Jakarta court has rejected the proposal to register [an appeal] and to transfer it to the Jakarta High Court. We will not give up. We are currently preparing legal alternatives," KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Priharsa added that the KPK was currently drafting arguments on cassation and case review motions to ask the Supreme Court (MA) to annul the controversial ruling, which is likely to spur other suspects to make legal challenges to KPK investigations.

Acting KPK deputy chairman Indriyanto Seno Adji questioned the court's refusal to register the KPK's plea given that the antigraft body had been encouraged in its proposal by the MA, which oversees all courts in the country.

"Appeal mechanisms as a legal tool were approved by Supreme Court justice Suhadi [recently]," Indriyanto said, adding that the KPK would submit its cassation and case review proposals to the MA in the near future.

Contacted separately, Suhadi dismissed Indriyanto's statements, saying that the MA had never confirmed that a pretrial ruling could be challenged at the higher court. "If the KPK wants to challenge the decision through the appeal mechanism then it should do so," Suhadi told the Post on Sunday.

The senior judge defended the South Jakarta court's refusal of the KPK's appeal proposal, arguing that Haswandi's decision was justified by a 2011 Constitutional Court (MK) ruling that a pretrial decision could not be challenged through an appeal mechanism.

The KPK, Suhadi continued, had to accept the result of pretrial hearings, as the 2011 MK ruling also stipulated that a pretrial verdict could not be annulled through cassation or case review mechanisms.

"A pretrial ruling, according to the MK ruling in 2011, is legal and binding after it is issued by lower courts, which means that it cannot be challenged by any legal mechanism. That's the reason why the South Jakarta District Court declined to register the KPK's appeal proposal," Suhadi said.

The MK expanded the functions of the pretrial mechanism on April 28 this year to include examination of legal charges from law enforcement institutions against suspects. Previously, pretrial hearings could only examine the legality of arrests, raids and investigation stoppages.

The lack of clear guidelines on pretrial hearings following the MK ruling has led a number of judges at the South Jakarta District Court, including Haswandi, to use their discretion to make controversial rulings that have crippled the KPK's investigative authority.

Despite the harm caused to KPK investigations, the MA, according to Suhadi, does not have any plans to open up the possibility of appeals against pretrial rulings.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/08/courts-rule-out-appeals-against-pretrial-decisions.html

Criminal justice & prison system

Data used by Indonesia to justify drug laws is 'questionable', say experts

The Guardian (Australia) - June 5, 2015

Melissa Davey – The credibility of government data cited by the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, to support the country's punitive drugs policies has been criticised by a group of leading health experts and academics in one of the world's most eminent medical journals.

In an open letter published in The Lancet on Friday, the group of Indonesian experts write that the Indonesian government's policies of involuntary rehabilitation and the death penalty for drug users must be stopped "urgently".

The Indonesian government frequently cites statistics from its national narcotics board, which estimates illicit drug use prevalence to to be at 2.6% – equivalent to 4.5m people – and suggested as many as 50 drug- related deaths were occurring every day.

The authors wrote they had "serious concerns" about the validity of those estimates because the details and methods of the studies behind the data were not publicly accessible, and from the information that was available, the study methods were questionable.

"The Indonesian government, led by president Joko Widodo, has heralded its commitment to evidence-based policy making," the letter states.

"However, as researchers, scientists and practitioners, we have grave concerns that the government is missing an opportunity to implement an effective response to illicit drugs informed by evidence."

The 10 signatories to the letter, from institutes including the Indonesian Drug Users Network, the University of Indonesia's law faculty, and Jakarta's Atma Jaya HIV-Aids Research Centre, said the government must expand evidence-based interventions, such as opioid substitution therapy, needle-and-syringe programs and rehabilitation programs based on science.

Indonesia's punitive drugs strategy has drawn global attention this year after 15 drug criminals were sentenced to death and executed by firing squad, six in January and nine in April.

Widodo has frequently said there was "no excuse" for drug traffickers and that tough approaches were needed to combat what he described as the country's "drugs emergency". But a signatory to the Lancet letter, an HIV researcher called Professor Irwanto, said a tough, war-on-drugs approach had proven to be a global failure.

"Obtaining valid estimates of drug use is not an easy, straightforward process, yet we need to make sure that national policies are based on evidence that is thoroughly peer-reviewed and transparent," Irwanto said. "Each human life matters. Productive human lives may be compromised by misguided policies."

Dr Ignatius Praptoraharjo, a researcher at the faculty of medicine at Gadjah Mada University, said there was an "ethical obligation" to implement evidence-based drug policies.

"But despite the proven success of these interventions, political commitment and funds are lacking, and current punitive strategies in Indonesia do not provide enough space for meaningful health programs," Praptoraharjo said.

"Our limited funds are instead being used to bolster fear-based approaches, which effectively drive people in need further away from health programs."

The authors called on the government to be more transparent in its drugs policy data, and to turn away from "counterproductive" measures in favour of a drugs policy based on current scientific evidence.

Professor of Asian law and director of the University of Melbourne's centre for Indonesian Law, Tim Lindsey, said he did not doubt the Lancet letter would reach Widodo, or that it would embarrass him.

"Similar criticism to Indonesia's drug policy and questions of the data and statistics used by the president have been in the media there for some months," Lindsey said.

"But now that this letter has come out it gives an expert, authoritative weight to those criticisms that will further embarrass the president. There are rumours that he was annoyed and angry about the fact these drugs statistics may be unreliable after the Indonesia media first began reporting it."

However, Lindsey said it would not mean Widodo would back away from his populist, hard-line approach. His political positions was vulnerable and weak, Lindsey said, because he was yet to gain a reliable majority within the legislature.

Although Widodo's drugs approach had been criticised by the media, public opinion was still largely in favour of the death penalty for serious offences, such as terrorism and drug crimes, Lindsey said.

"If he's executing people without even bothering to read their applications for clemency, and if the data on which he bases those drugs executions for being justified is shonky, it puts him a position of having executed people based on flawed data," Lindsey said.

"But it will be very hard for him to back down given he has used executing people as a way of showing people he is a strong president."

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/experts-criticise-data-used-by-indonesia-to-justify-punitive-drugs-policies

Police & law enforcement

Counterterrorism czar Tito to lead Jakarta Police

Jakarta Post - June 5, 2015

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – The National Police have appointed Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, 50, the National Police chief planning assistant, to lead the Jakarta Police. He will replace Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono, who is poised to serve as National Police chief operation assistant.

Tito, the former Papua Police chief, is widely known as counterterrorism specialist with credentials that include the killing of Azahari Husin and Noordin Muhammad Top, both Malaysian nationals who were behind the 2002 Bali bombings that claimed the lives of 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Earning his master's degree from Massey University in New Zealand and postgraduate degree from the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, Tito's credentials also include cracking down on terror cells that once ignited bloody sectarian conflict in Poso, Central Sulawesi, in the early 2000s.

After serving as chief of the National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism unit between 2010 and 2011, Tito was promoted to serve as operations deputy for the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) between 2011 and 2012.

Aside from terrorism, Tito also gained prominence for his role in the arrest of then fugitive Tommy Soeharto, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, in 2001. Tommy was arrested by the authorities for the killing of Supreme Court justice Safiudin Kartasasmita. (ren)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/05/counterterrorism-czar-tito-lead-jakarta-police.html

Mining & energy

House proposes new smelter requirement in latest regulatory twist

Jakarta Globe - June 2, 2015

Rangga Prakoso, Jakarta – Companies thinking of investing in smelters in Indonesia to comply with local mineral export regulations may have to reconsider their plans in light of a new bill set for deliberation by the House of Representatives.

The bill, an amendment to the existing Mineral Resources and Coal Law, will require smelters to be built in the vicinity of the mines from which the ores are extracted, according to Kurtubi, a legislator from the National Democrat Party (NasDem).

"In the bill that we've proposed, we want to make it mandatory for the smelters to be in the same location as the mine, not like now, where the mine and the smelter are in separate locations," Kurtubi, a member of the House of Representatives' oversight commission for mining and energy, said in Jakarta on Monday.

He said the idea was to boost economic development in mining regions and decentralize smelting operations from Java.

"Mining operations that integrate the upstream and downstream branches will benefit the mining companies themselves," Kurtubi said. "They won't have to spend money transporting their ores to smelting sites on other islands."

He added the bill was expected to be included in the docket of priority legislation for this year.

The bill, if it goes through, would seriously derail ongoing plans by several stakeholders to build costly smelters in the country to comply with a partial ban on the export of unprocessed mineral ores.

Freeport Indonesia, which operates the world's biggest gold and copper mine in Papua province, has already committed to investing $2 billion in a new smelter in East Java, in a joint venture with Newmont Nusa Tenggara, another copper-mining giant.

Both companies say it is unfeasible to build smelters near their mining sites, which are located in remote regions with minimal infrastructure, including the huge amounts of electricity needed to run a smelter.

Any new requirement to build smelters closer to mining sites would only add to the already tangled web of regulations for foreign investors seeking to do business in the country.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/house-proposes-new-smelter-requirement-latest-regulatory-twist/

Economy & investment

Indonesia consumer purchasing frequency on steep decline

Jakarta Post - June 5, 2015

Jakarta – A representative of Kantar Worldpanel Indonesia, a market research company, says there has been a steep decline in consumer purchasing frequency this year amid the global economic slowdown.

The company's research showed that the purchasing frequency of Indonesian consumers saw an 8 percent drop from April last year to this year.

"This is the lowest so far, even though the declining trend has been around since 2013. As it has hit this point, there's a possibility that it will slowly stabilize," the firm's general manager, Lim Soon Lee, said here on Friday.

She added that there had also been a 3 percent drop in the consumer reach point (CRP) overall, which was computed from the number and frequency of households buying a certain brand, from 2013 to 2014, according to the company's Brand Footprint survey.

"They've saved their money and spent less to adjust to the current economic condition," Lee added.

Major retailers such as the fashion and supermarket businesses also reported a decline in earnings during the January to March period, such as Ramayana supermarket, which saw its total revenues decline by 5.1 percent to Rp 1.12 trillion (US$84.33 million) in the first three months of this year, compared to Rp 1.18 trillion last year. (fsu)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/05/ri-consumer-purchasing-frequency-steep-decline.html

May tax data a reality check

Jakarta Post - June 5, 2015

Esther Samboh, Jakarta – The government's expected tax anomaly – in which tax revenues increase despite the weak economy – has yet to be seen almost halfway through the year, with tax takings remaining sluggish in May.

As of the end of the month, tax revenues reached Rp 377 trillion, contracting by 2.44 percent from the same period last year and making up less than a third of the Rp 1.29 quadrillion that needs to be collected by year-end, according to data from the Finance Ministry's tax office released Thursday.

The May tax data is reflective of the country's economy, which saw growth shrink to a level unseen since the peak of the 2009 global financial crisis, with overall value added tax (VAT) slipping 6 percent. "The economic slowdown has triggered a decrease in domestic consumption," the tax office explained in a statement.

Property tax (PBB) plunged 50 percent and income tax from the oil and gas sector nosedived by over 54 percent as of May year-on-year – all in line with weak related industries and domestic demand.

But the continued shortfall in tax revenues almost halfway through the year does not seem to have deterred the government from its ambitious target to boost tax collection by 30 percent this year from actual collection last year.

"We're not daydreaming. There are precedents," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told The Jakarta Post in a recent meeting, referring to the 2008 tax revenues that soared to Rp 622.35 trillion from Rp 470 trillion the previous year.

The government is now trying to replicate the 2008 success, which was attributed to a so-called sunset policy that included a government tax amnesty for taxpayers to settle their previously unreported obligations without any penalties.

"People have that mind-set – businesses are weak, how could [taxes] grow? And of course they won't if it's business as usual," Bambang said.

Aside from the "reinventing policy" – the current name for the sunset policy – the Finance Ministry has upped efforts to net more taxpayers to widen the country's tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 11 percent, low compared with 15 percent and above in other Asian countries.

It has raised taxmen's pay to stimulate their work, planned a full tax amnesty and imposed strict punishments for tax evaders that include banning them from travelling overseas and putting them in debtors' prison.

Indonesia's tax revenues are largely dependent on corporate taxes, but the Finance Ministry wants to gradually change that. Of the 250 million people in Southeast Asia's largest economy, only 900,000 individuals pay their taxes. "That's unbelievable," Bambang said.

But economists are less optimistic. In its March quarterly report, the World Bank predicted a Rp 282 trillion shortfall in state revenues due to unrealistic tax targets that could swell the nation's budget deficit to 2.4 percent, from 1.9 percent in the official revised 2015 budget.

"A slowing economy is a drag to the outlook on tax revenue collection this year. We are of the view that tax revenue growth may only reach 3 to 5 percent higher than last year, at best. There is a good chance that it may be negative, just like what's been reported up to May," Singapore-based DBS economist Gundy Cahyadi said in an emailed response to the Post.

According to the government's most recent review, taking into account lower-than-expected tax collection and government spending, the deficit is not expected to widen to more than 2.3 percent.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/05/may-tax-data-a-reality-check.html

Analysis & opinion

AGO needs to prove being above politics

Jakarta Globe Editorial - June 7, 2015

Nobody should be above the law in a democratic country that upholds equality before law. So, we should welcome any attempt to make everybody accountable for what they do, including the recent declaration of media mogul and former minister Dahlan Iskan as a graft suspect by the Attorney General's Office.

Dahlan was declared a suspect on Friday over accusations in irregular construction of 21 power transformers valued at Rp 1 trillion ($74 million) by state utility firm PLN when he served as president director of the company. We should be relieved also that finally the AGO is pursuing corruption cases involving high-profile figures, such as Dahlan, after for many years just following up on cases by the National Police or the Corruption Eradication Commission.

The AGO, rated in many surveys as one of the nation's most corrupt institutions, is now showing they are functioning by the rule of law. Or are they? If they have a genuine and sincere motive to uphold the law then all of us have reason to cheer. This is what all Indonesians dream: a functional and clean prosecuting body. Together with the police, the AGO is the cornerstone of law enforcement and democracy. Indonesia will not become a true democracy until it has a working and clean police and AGO.

But the AGO's reputation is so bad that we should question any sudden move they make. Considering that the current attorney general is a member of a political party that is part of President Joko Widodo's coalition, this institution automatically is very politicized. We have every reason to doubt that naming Dahlan as a suspect is purely inside the legal domain.

Until the AGO proves otherwise, it is guilty of playing politics.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-ago-needs-prove-politics/