Jakarta – Indonesia's chief welfare minister has come under fire for spending Rp 140 billion ($9.86 million) setting up a website that apparently copies the code from a Barack Obama supporters' site and does essentially nothing.

The site, revolusimental.go.id, was set up by the office of Puan Maharani – who also happens to be the daughter of Megawati Soekarnoputri, President Joko Widodo's political patron – last Friday, then promptly cleared by Wednesday in the wake of a barrage of criticism.

The original site featured a picture of Puan and entry fields in which visitors could fill in their name and e-mail address to get updates. The tiled layout of the site bore a striking resemblance to that used on the site barackobama.com, run by the grassroots advocacy group Organizing for Action.

A look at the Indonesian site's WordPress theme template shows coding for a button to "donate to Obama" – indicating a sloppy copy-and-paste job by the coders of Puan's site.

Puan also appears to take full credit for the concept of "revolusi mental," or "mental revolution," which Joko touted heavily during last year's election campaign to refer to the need for a drastic change to the business-as-usual mind-set prevalent among officials and the public.

Critics have lashed out at the cost of the site, which seems to serve no purpose whatsoever other than glorify Puan.

"The cost of a professionally done website, with a rented server or hosting for a year, shouldn't come out to more than Rp 210 million," Nathan Gusti Ryan, a technology expert from XP Solutions, said on Wednesday as quoted by Viva.co.id.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, who is ostensibly in charge of public relations for the president, said he was unaware of the site or how much it cost. Pramono is a stalwart of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and close confidant to Puan.

Puan's site has, as of Wednesday, been completely cleared, and now only shows a picture of a laptop computer and the message "Thank you for your suggestions and feedback on the website." It then goes on to promise that "we will work hard to fix it so that it's better."

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/puan-panned-10m-website-likely-copied-signifying-nothing/

West Papua

TNI, Komnas HAM run separate probes into Mimika shooting

Jakarta Post - August 31, 2015

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Conducting its own investigation into a recent shooting in Koperapoka, Mimika regency, Papua, that claimed the lives of two civilians, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has promised to serve justice to any soldiers proven to have been involved in the incident.

While still questioning three soldiers who were arrested in connection with the incident, Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Wuryanto said on Sunday that the Timika Military Police were also gathering statements by witnesses, including from locals, who might know how the shooting occurred.

"We cannot make any conclusions yet because it is an ongoing process. Our team is digging for information that will lead us to the complete story of how the incident happened," Wuryanto told The Jakarta Post. "But we will ensure that Military Court law will be strictly imposed on any soldier proven guilty," he added.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Aug. 27 and claimed the lives of 23-year-old Imanuel Mailmaur and 23-year-old Yulianus Okoare. Two other locals were injured in the incident – 24-year old Marthinus Apokapo, who suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and 25-year old Martinus Imapula, who was shot in the leg.

The District Military Command (Kodim) 1710/Timika arrested two soldiers following the shooting – First Sgt. Arshar and Chief Sgt. Makher, who were reportedly drunk when they allegedly shot the men.

Besides the two soldiers, Wuryanto said that one more soldier, identified only as Chief Pvt. G, was at the location when the shooting took place and had been detained.

"We are still examining his involvement in the matter," Wuryanto said. "However, regardless of the ongoing process, the Cendrawasih Military Command chief [Maj. Gen. Fransen G. Siahaan] has personally apologized to the families of the victims for the incident and ensured that the TNI will be responsible for the investigation." Two different versions how the shooting occurred have emerged so far.

According to the Military Command (Kodam) XVII/Cendrawasih, the soldiers shot in self-defense when mob attempted to seize their weapons after an attack on Makher.

The other story circulating among residents claims that two men, later identified as Makher and Arshar, forced their way into a venue where a party was being held and threatened people at the party.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will also send an investigative team to clarify the stories.

Komnas HAM chief Nur Kholis said the investigative team aimed to gather evidence to get reliable information from the field as the rights body frequently came up with different findings than the government, which it publicly announces.

"Several shootings have taken place in Papua and none of them have been publicly clarified by the government," he said. "Relevant government institutions conducting investigations into similar shootings in the past kept silent about the results without clear and transparent follow ups".

He cited the shooting in Papua's Paniai in December last year that claimed the lives of five locals as an example. "The lack of transparency in investigations into several shootings in Papua has in a way encouraged more incidents to emerge. This must stop," Nur Kholis emphasized.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/31/tni-komnas-ham-run-separate-probes-mimika-shooting.html

Komnas HAM to investigate Timika shooting incident

Jakarta Post - August 30, 2015

Jakarta – A National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) team is scheduled to visit Timika, Papua, in the beginning of September to investigate into a shooting incident allegedly perpetrated by military personnel on Friday that killed two Kamoro ethnic group members.

Komnas HAM commissioner Natalius Pigai said the commission deplored the case, one of a great number in which innocent civilians were killed in attacks by security personnel in the province.

"We are scheduled to arrive in Timika in the beginning of September to investigate the case," he said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Sunday.

Natalius said the shooting incident, which killed Emanuel Mairimau, 23, and Yulianus Okoare, 18, and injured a number of Kamoro ethnic group people in the Koperapoka Catholic Church complex, showed that security officers in Papua continued to use military approaches.

"We condemn the incident. Military approaches to solve the problems facing Papuans and the use of state institutions to kill people could not be justified," said Natalius.

The commissioner further questioned President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's commitments to immediately resolve human rights violations that continued to occur in Papua. He said President Jokowi's recent visits to Papua were mostly aimed at inaugurating projects in the area.

"We never heard that President Jokowi expressed his strong commitments, which were followed by concrete policies, to resolve root problems in Papua. In fact, Papuan people have long waited for such commitments so that security attacks that have killed civilians in Papua will not occur again in the future," said Natalius.

He went on to say that the Timika shooting incident on Friday was a tough challenge for the two newly appointed Indonesian Military and National Police leaders in Papua, namely Papua Police chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw and the commander of Regional Military Command (Kodam) XVII/Cendrawasih, Maj. Gen. Hinsa Siburian, to resolve the case fairly and honestly.

"Initially, we really hoped that the two new TNI and Polri leaders could apply better approaches to the Papuan people. Moreover, Paulus is a Papuan while Hinsa has long been assigned in Papua. Unfortunately, such a horrible case had occurred in the beginning of their new duties," said Natalius. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/30/komnas-ham-investigate-timika-shooting-incident.html

Soldiers held after fatal shooting in Papua

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2015

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Two members of the Military District Command (Kodim) 1710/Timika have been arrested following a shooting in Koperapoka, Mimika regency, Papua, that left two civilians dead and two others wounded.

The two soldiers, First Sgt. Arshar and Chief Sgt. Makher, were detained by the military police sub-detachment XVII-I/Cenderawasih.

"[If] both are guilty they have to be held accountable for what they did. They will undergo the legal process," the commander of 174/Waning Ap Merauke, Brig. Gen. Supartodi, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The incident occurred on Thursday at 1:33 a.m. local time. The dead victims were identified as Imanuel Mailmaur, 23, and Yulianus Okoare, 23. The injured were named as Marthinus Apokapo, 24, who suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and Martinus Imapula, 25, who was shot in the leg.

Supartodi alleged that the soldiers were drunk when the shooting took place.

So far two versions of the shooting have emerged. The first version was in the form of a press release by spokesperson for the Military Regional Command (Kodam) XVII/Cenderawasih, Lt. Col. Teguh Pudji Raharjo.

According to the release, the soldiers shot in self defense as a mob attempted to seize their weapons after an attack on Makher. However, the press release gave no reason as to why the mob attacked Makher.

The release said that upon receiving a report from locals about the attack on Makher, Ashar went to the scene to look for his colleague but was attacked on the way, beaten to the ground and attempts were made to take his weapon, whereupon he opened fire and the four civilians were shot, two fatally.

Santon Tekege, a pastoral staff member at Timika Diocese, denied that any attempts were made to grab the soldiers' guns.

According to Santon, the shooting occurred when two drunk individuals – who were later identified as soldiers – arrived at a tifa (traditional drum beating event) in the yard of Koperapoka Catholic church, the tifa was being held as a thanksgiving party for the first person of Kamoro origin, Leonardus Tumuka, to earn a doctoral degree.

"They [soldiers] were refused admission and they left. Shortly after they returned, carrying rifles with bayonets and frightening the people who were celebrating," Santon said.

Both men forced their way into the venue and threatened people at the party. Later as they were leaving they opened fire, killing two and injuring two others, he said.

Papua Police Chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw is currently in Timika to maintain order in the area.

Coordinator of the Papua office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Olga Helena Hamadi, said she had received frequent reports about civilians being shot by members of the security forces in Papua.

"It's a classic [response] to say that the security forces personnel fired in self-defense," said Olga, adding that the excuse was often made in such incidents.

Separately Pastor Amandus Rahaded said the bodies of the victims were being held in Koperapoka Catholic Church. No date has so far had been scheduled for their funerals. "Their families are still having talks and waiting for the arrival of the Kodam Cenderawasih commander," Amandus said.

The two bodies had previously been paraded to the Kodam base and placed in the middle of the street. They were moved to the church only after negotiations were held with the Papua police chief mediated by Amandus.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/29/soldiers-held-after-fatal-shooting-papua.html

TNI apologizes for Papua shooting, says 'two or three' shots fired

Jakarta Globe - August 28, 2015

Robert Vanwi Subiyat, Jayapura – The Indonesian Military (TNI) said on Friday that a shooting that left dead two civilians and injured four in Papua early on Friday indeed involved one of its soldiers, but added that only "two to three" shots were fired, in self-defense.

Brig. Gen. Supartodi, a local military commander, claimed the shooting occurred as a beleaguered sergeant tried to defend himself against a mob of locals. "The service member shot two to three times, and hit local people," Supartodi told journalists.

Two local men were killed, with a further four sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. The incident took place in Koperaoka village, some 50 meters from the Gorong Gorong checkpoint in Timika.

"[The sergeant] saw there was an argument near the [Gorong Gorong] post... Local people ganged up on the other service members and this [sergeant] wanted to help but was also swarmed with locals even trying to grab his gun."

Supartodi said he would visit Timika to meet with local leaders in an effort to defuse the situation.

Meanwhile, Cenderawasih military command spokesman Lt. Col. Teguh Pudhi Rahardjo named First Sgt. Ashar as the one responsible for firing the shots. Teguh explained Ashar had been looking for Chief Sgt. Makher, who had been surrounded by local people. Ashar was then also crowded by the mob, he said.

"Ashar was swarmed by local people. He fell and was covered in blood. As Ashar was pushed, he loaded his gun and shot upward twice. Then some of the people backed out and some came close to get his gun. Ashar told us that he shot toward at the people but aimed for their legs," he said.

Teguh said Ashar was being held by military police. "The Cenderawasih military command has apologized to the families of the victims and we will help them. We will proceed with a legal process against the [sergeant] and also help the surviving victims," the military spokesman said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/tni-apologizes-papua-shooting-says-two-three-shots-fired/

Two killed and two critical as soldiers open fire in Papua

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2015

Mimika, Papua – Two people were killed and two others seriously injured when two soldiers opened fire in Timika Baru district, Mimika regency, in Papua early on Friday kompas.com reported.

The incident started when two military personnel rode a motorcycle along Jl. Bhayangkara in Timika at 2:35 a.m. on Friday while a crowd of about 100 people were having a party on the road.

Lambertus, a resident of Timika, spoke on the phone to kompas.com, saying that the incident started when the people partying, who had been drinking alcohol, scolded the soldiers for driving fast, and told them to drive more slowly along that road.

But the solders, Lambertus said, challenged the crowd and a heated argument began. "The people cried 'slow down', then the motorcycle stopped. One of the soldiers said, 'What do you want?' and then the people started to circle around the soldiers," he recounted.

Lambertus said that minutes later, three more soldiers on motorcycles arrived. When the situation escalated, they opened fire. "When the soldiers opened fire, everyone ran away to save themselves," he added.

The names of the deceased are Yulianus Okoare (18) and Imanuel Marimau (23). Yulianus died at the scene, while Imanuel died later at Mimika hospital. The critically injured people are currently receiving treatment at Mimika hospital.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Patrige Renwarin confirmed that the incident took place, but said that he had not received an official report about it. "My information [so far] is from a resident of Timika. We are waiting for the official report," Patriage added. (bnn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/two-killed-and-two-critical-soldiers-open-fire-papua.html

Oil palm companies in Nabire using Brimob to terrorise local villagers

West Papua Media - August 25, 2015

Santon Tekege – Nabire based human rights activist Gunawan Inggeruhi has stated that an oil palm company managed by PT New Nabire and PT SAD, has caused uneasiness amongst citizens of Wami and Sima, Yaur district, in Nabire region.

Citizens in this area have been falsely and maliciously stigmatised by the companies as being suspected OPM (Free Papua Movement) members or activists, with the result that they are constantly made frightened and anxious by security forces.

On 4 January 2015, paramilitary BRIMOB police forces arrested a villager who is the traditional landowner of the location, by the name of Otis Waropen (aged 34 years). He was arrested at the PT New Nabire oil palm company plantation in the village of Wami in Yaur District, Nabire.

In a direct telephone interview on 22 August 2015, Waropen revealed that he was arrested by BRIMOB police on "suspicion resulting from stigmatisation of being an OPM member," and "on suspicion of making a movement of troublemakers in the vicinity of the PT New Nabire Oil Palm plantation."

"It is not only (Waropen) who has experienced such stigmatisation from BRIMOB who are acting as the protectors of that oil palm company," Gunawan Inggeruhi told me.

"Many citizens who claim their traditional customary land rights, asking for the company to be closed and its license to operate be revoked, have been accused of being OPM members and 'part of a movement of troublemakers'. When in fact the reality is that those who make trouble and terrify the village community in Wami and Sima are the Papuan BRIMOB forces."

Inggeruhi explained, "Citizens previously lived in this area in a peaceful and calm atmosphere. These people are not OPM and they are not making some sort of opposition or troublemaker movement against the oil palm companies (PT New Nabire or PT SAD Perkasa)."

He described how most observers perceive that the actions of the Police and the Companies "are themselves making anarchy and intentionally killing the freedom of the people," and creating fear amongst the people, even arresting and imprisoning them.

Inggeruhi went on to say that "All entrances into the plantation are guarded strictly and protected by Papuan BRIMOB Police. There's around 50 BRIMOB armed forces there and they are assisted by intelligence personnel, all the way along the road from Wanggar until the village of Sima."

"If we go to that location BRIMOB chase us and spy on us all the way along that road." Inggeruhi said that even himself had been chased and spied on in that area.

The community feels most oppressed by the presence of PT Nabire Baru and PT SAD Perkasa in the area with BRIMOB forces supporting them. He added that "the local government is indifferent over the closure of the space experienced by local residents and their inability to move freely around in their own local area."

He is urging the Papuan Police to immediately withdraw their BRIMOB forces from the area of the oil palm companies, and called that the oil palm plantations of PT Nabire Baru in Wami, and PT SAD Perkasa in Sima in the Yaur District of Nabire should cease immediately.

[The Writer is a pastoral worker in the diocese of Timika, Papua.]

Source: http://westpapuamedia.info/2015/08/26/oil-palm-companies-in-nabire-using-brimob-to-terrorise-local-villagers/

Human rights & justice

International community awaits breakthrough from Indonesia

Jakarta Post - August 31, 2015

Margareth S. Aritonang – Indonesia was once reminded of its commitment to criminalizing practices of enforced disappearance by adopting the United Nations convention against involuntary disappearance. On Aug. 30, the world observed the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

Despite its active participation in the drafting of the convention at the UN headquarters in Geneva from 2003 to 2005, the country has yet to deliver a clear commitment to preventing the practice of involuntary disappearance from happening in the future.

Only by subsuming the convention into national law could such a commitment be validated, but as yet, a long-awaited deliberation of a bill ratifying the convention has been held up for political reasons.

The House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs and information, which is in charge of the deliberation, did not include the ratification of the convention on its list of priority bills to be endorsed during the ongoing sitting session that would run until the end of October.

"The current sitting session is dedicated to focusing on two other conventions regulating Indonesia's international cooperation," Commission I chairman Mahfudz Siddiq said told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

In the upcoming session, Mahfudz noted that Commission I would only need to proceed with a final step if it desired to endorse the bill because an earlier deliberation process had already been completed. All that remained to be done was to make a decision, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician said.

The House began the deliberation process in late 2013, more than three years after Indonesia signed a treaty pledging to adopt the anti- involuntary disappearance convention. However, the bill has been left hanging by a thread since early last year over demands emanating from the Gerindra Party and the Hanura Party.

The chairmen of these parties – Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto of the Gerinda Party and Gen. (ret.) Wiranto of the Hanura Party – were allegedly involved in the abduction of pro democracy activists during the May 1998 riots.

An investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in 2003 declared Prabowo, a former commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), and Wiranto, ex-commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI), responsible for human rights violations in reaction to the riots that preceded the fall of former president Soeharto's regime. Commission I did not schedule any hearings to discuss the bill until today.

Meanwhile, national as well as international human rights watchdogs also questioned the commitment of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in pursuing the matter regardless Jokowi's heartwarming promises to do so during his presidential campaign.

"During his presidential election campaign, President Joko Widodo promised to address the issue of enforced disappearance. However, after his election, several members of Widodo's administration backtracked and made statements suggesting that past human rights violations, including cases of enforced disappearance, would not be investigated and those responsible would not be prosecuted," said the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in a statement.

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearance (AFAD) followed suit, calling for Indonesia, which is near the top of a list of Asian countries with a troubled history of enforced disappearances, to enact domestic laws criminalizing the practice.

Among ASEAN countries, Indonesia ranks second place in regards to the most number of unresolved cases of enforced disappearance reported to the UN with 163 cases, trailing behind the Philippines with 625 cases.

"The reluctance to criminalize such practices will inspire anyone with power to reproduce similar violence in the future," Komnas HAM chief Nur Kholis said.

"Besides confirming our commitment to cut down on impunity over these crimes, ratifying the UN convention is also a way to give guarantees of safety to the people over the misuse of power by the state in the future. They will feel safe from being forcibly abducted anyone, particularly for political reasons," he added.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/31/international-community-awaits-breakthrough-ri.html

Labour & migrant workers

Workers to rally in Jakarta on Tuesday

Jakarta Post - August 30, 2015

Jakarta – A labor rally involving around 50,000 workers in Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) is set to be held on Tuesday.

According to the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) chairman Said Iqbal, the workers will gather at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, march to the Presidential Palace, and visit the Manpower Ministry and Health Ministry offices.

The workers, who come from various organizations, such as KSPI and the Indonesian Workers Movement (GBI), will call on the government to lower the price of essential goods and fuel. They will also protest layoffs due to the weakening rupiah and the economic slowdown.

"We also reject foreign workers coming to Indonesia and call on the government to raise the minimum wage to 22 percent in 2016," said Said in a press release as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Other demands mentioned in the press release include the revision of government regulation (PP) on pensions so that workers' pension plans are similar to civil servants' and do not carry an increased health insurance contribution.

"We also want the Industrial Relations Court (PHI) to be dismissed by revising Law No. 2/2004 this year," said Said. (kes)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/29/workers-rally-jakarta-tuesday.html

500,000 more Indonesians to become jobless, says economist

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2015

National – Sustainable Development Indonesia director Drajad Wibowo has predicted that Indonesia will have more than 500,000 newly unemployed people this year if the ongoing economic slowdown continues, forcing many factories to lay off their workers.

Drajad said every 1 percent of economic growth in 2014 created 538,000 new jobs on average. "If the slowdown continues, about 500,000 more people will be jobless this year," he said at a discussion in Jakarta on Saturday.

Bank Indonesia has revised down the country's economic growth to between 4.7 and 5.1 percent this year from 5.6 percent stated in the state budget.

Drajad said the sectors that would be affected most by the crisis included the mining, plantation and manufacturing industries. "It means that the problem is serious. The government has to find a solution," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Meanwhile, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that people had begun to worry about the looming economic crisis.

"When we listen to the voices from various regions, the people have started to worry," said Yudhoyono at a Democratic Party meeting in Cipanas, Bogor, West Java. The meeting of the leaders of the Democratic Party was in preparation for the Dec. 9 regional elections.

Yudhoyono said he had visited a number of regions in Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java to talk to local people about the slowdown.

Yudhoyono, who is chairman of the Democratic Party, warned that low-income people would suffer more if the economic trend continued. Therefore, he called on the government to seek a solution for the slowdown.

He called on his party to support the government's efforts to address the economic problem. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/29/500000-more-indonesians-become-jobless-says-economist.html

Freedom of speech & expression

Government to water down defamation articles

Jakarta Post - August 27, 2015

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Although insisting that laws against presidential insults should be restored to the Criminal Code (KUHP), the government said it is ready to compromise on the content of the provisions.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said that the government has accommodated public criticism of the plan, but he said insults on a president's or vice president's dignity should not be acceptable.

"The compromise is that [presidential insults] will only be processed when the case is reported," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The government recently revealed a plan to insert new articles in the KUHP that would bring back presidential insults as a crime. In the new KUHP draft, the government reintroduces articles 262, 263, 264, 284 and 285.

The proposed articles say that Indonesian citizens could be imprisoned for nine years for insulting or publishing writings and pictures that insult a sitting president or vice president.

The plan sparked controversy as the Constitutional Court revoked similar articles in 2006, on the grounds that the provisions undermined the right to freedom of speech mandated by the Constitution and caused uncertainty, as the articles were subject to multiple interpretations.

A member of the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing law and legal affairs, Ikhsan Sulistyo, said that his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was conducting a thorough examination to distinguish between insults against the president and legitimate criticisms.

"But once we have a clearly distinguished formulation between the two, we of course want to impose a criminal charge on defamation against the president," Ikhsan said.

Aside from the presidential insult provisions, there are more issues concerning the amendments of the KUHP and the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP).

The commission's working committee in charge of the bills' deliberations has listed around 800 problematic articles that should be carefully examined.

"Both bills are very important because they provide the base for all other laws in the country. Therefore, we need to be extra careful in deliberating the amendments. Thus, there is no need to rush the discussion," said Commission III deputy chief Mulfachri Harahap of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Among the crucial issues to be included in the amendments are a requirement to obtain a permit to question certain officials about alleged criminal involvement, a wiretapping mechanism and a single authority for all existing law enforcement institutions to arrest suspects over graft-related crimes.

The deliberations of both the KUHP and the KUHAP amendments have been delayed for two consecutive House terms, although both bills have been included in the National Legislative Program (Prolegnas).

The 2014-2019 term House included both bills in its list of 160 priority bills to be passed within five years after the previous term failed to achieve progress with the discussion, despite several meetings held involving the government as well as civic organizations to gain input.

The House as well as the Law and Human Rights Ministry had ambitiously aimed to complete the deliberations by the end of next year, but later argued that the given time was insufficient because of the complexity of the issues contained in both bills.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/27/govt-water-down-defamation-articles.html

Freedom of information & press

AJI praises Jokowi for stand on press freedom

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2015

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independence Journalists (AJI) has praised President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's move to revoke a new regulation that would have reintroduced surveillance of foreign journalists working in the country.

"It is clear that Jokowi wants this to be an open country," AJI chair Suwarjono said in a press statement. Jokowi's order to revoke the regulation, Suwarno said, had to be obeyed by authorities at the local level.

Following protests from foreign media outlets, the Home Ministry on Thursday decided to revoke circulars obliging all visiting foreign journalists to report to all levels of government to detail their assignments in the country.

In addition to reporting to local authorities, the new rule also required visiting foreign journalists to give details about their assignments to the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo was instructed to revoke the regulation by the President, who sympathized with the complaints of local and international news organizations.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/29/national-scene-aji-praises-jokowi-stand-press-freedom.html

Mega warns journos against twisting words

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2015

Jakarta – Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri has warned journalists against twisting her statements on the upcoming simultaneous local elections.

Megawati said during a speech in front of the PDI-P's election team that although the General Elections Commission (KPU) had not done its best to prepare the local elections, balloting must take place on Dec. 9 as scheduled.

"Please don't misquote me by saying that I disagree with the plan to hold simultaneous elections," Megawati said as quoted by kompas.com.

Earlier, Megawati was angered by media reports which quoted her as saying that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) could be shut down due to its temporary nature.

Megawati said the formation of the KPK was based on a strong reason, namely to eradicate corruption. Thus, she added, the institution would no longer be needed if corruption was dealt with. Many media outlets ran headlines saying simply that Megawati wanted the KPK to be disbanded.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/national-scene-mega-warns-journos-against-twisting-words.html

Minister says sorry, nixes new rule for foreign media

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Following protests from foreign media outlets, the Home Ministry on Thursday decided to revoke circulars that obliged all visiting foreign journalists to report themselves to all levels of government to detail their assignments in the country.

In addition to reporting to local authorities, the new rule also ordered visiting foreign journalists to give details about their assignments to the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

"Today, I explained to the foreign minister [about the revocation] and I also talked on the phone with Mr. President [Joko "Jokowi" Widodo], offering my apology to him if the circulars caused confusion [in the public]," Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Tjahjo clarified that the circulars were aimed only at helping visiting journalists in regions across the country in case they had to deal with problems in the field and was not meant to put them under constant surveillance.

Tjahjo previously accused foreign journalists of working as spies for their respective countries during their coverage of Indonesia.

"Today we officially withdrew the circulars. For details on the reporting procedure [for visiting foreign journalists after the revocation] please consult with the foreign minister," said Tjahjo, a senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician.

The new regulation quickly caused an uproar shortly after the director general of the political and general administration at the Home Ministry, Soedarmo, announced it on Wednesday.

Soedarmo said that the new regulation was a follow-up policy drawn up after ministries and state institutions in charge of supervising foreigners in Indonesia, with the Foreign Ministry as the leading institution, agreed that it was important for authorities to get briefings on the activities of foreign journalists in the country.

Soedarmo further said that the new policy only applied to visiting foreign journalists, not foreign journalists who already had their credentials and were already based in Jakarta or other cities in the country.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi did not return calls from the Post asking for a comments on the new reporting procedures for visiting foreign journalists in Indonesia after the revocation of the Home Ministry's controversial rule.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry's information and media director, Sofia Sudharma, said that after getting visas, visiting journalists were only required to get permission from the National Police's intelligence and security division, instead of BIN, before working on their assignments in Indonesia.

Sofia said the Foreign Affairs Ministry was currently drafting a new regulation for foreign journalists working in Indonesia as part of an effort to synchronize existing regulations with the recent presidential regulation issued by Jokowi on visa exemptions for 45 countries.

On Wednesday, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia condemned the Home Ministry's new regulation, calling it an overreaction and an infringement on press freedom. On Thursday, the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents (JFCC) also deplored the Home Ministry's move.

"The continuation and expansion of restrictive state policies on visiting journalists is a sad reminder of the authoritarian Soeharto regime and a stain on Indonesia's transition to democracy and claims by its government that it supports a free press and human rights," the JFCC said in a statement.

The JFCC described the policy as shocking, given that Jokowi would soon make a state visit to the United States at the invitation of President Barrack Obama. "We call on the US government to make press freedom in Indonesia a primary topic of conversation during this visit," the statement said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/minister-says-sorry-nixes-new-rule-foreign-media.html

Humble pie for home minister after controversial bid to gag foreign press

Jakarta Globe - August 27, 2015

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has apologized for and withdrawn a regulation aimed at increasing government control over foreign journalists operating in Indonesia, following a public outcry over the move.

"I've apologized to the president by telephone and immediately rescinded the internal regulation that was sent to regional governments which could have led to misunderstandings," Tjahjo, from President Joko Widodo's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said late on Thursday.

"I as the minister am at fault... I was wrong," he added. "I've also explained this openly to the foreign minister and to the press."

The regulation in question, a circular sent out to regional administrations nationwide, demanded that foreign journalists and their local crew have permits issued by the Foreign Affairs and the Home Affairs Ministries. It also obliged foreign journalists to report their activities and acquire permits from all relevant levels of government, from the municipal or district level to the provincial level.

"The letter clearly implies disobedience of a president who is open to foreign coverage, as well as suspicion of the press and civilians," Poengky Indarti, executive director of the rights group Imparsial, said on Thursday. "It will also lead to less investment and tourism income.

"Imparsial urges the Home Affairs Ministry to revoke the circular as it goes against President Joko Widodo's position of welcoming foreign journalists covering Papua and other regions in the country," she added.

Joko announced last May a lifting of restrictions on foreign journalists reporting from Papua, saying he wanted to end the misinformation about the restive province by granting full access to outside media.

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club also took issue with Tjajho's circular, saying in a statement that the "continuation and expansion of restrictive state policies on visiting journalists is a sad reminder of the authoritarian Suharto regime, and a stain on Indonesia's transition to democracy and claims by its government that it supports a free press and human rights."

The JFCC statement added that it found the new requirements "particularly troubling given that the Indonesian government already takes weeks if not months to issue approvals for foreign journalists and film crews to visit Indonesia to work – if at all."

Raising the issue of "whether the Ministry of Home Affairs understands or heeds orders from the Presidential Palace," the JFCC also called on the US government to make freedom of the press "a primary topic of conversation" during the planned state visit of Joko to the US, at the invitation of President Barack Obama.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/humble-pie-home-minister-controversial-bid-gag-foreign-press/

New procedure for foreign journalists and movie crew members introduced

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2015

Jakarta – The director general for Political Affairs and General Administration at the Home Affairs Ministry, Soedarmo, said on Tuesday that the government issued official documents on procedures for foreign journalists and movie crew members who want to work in Indonesia.

First of all, he said, the journalists and movie crew members had to hold permits issued by the Coordinating Team for Visiting Foreigners at the Foreign Affairs Ministry and also permits from the Directorate General for Political Affairs and General Administration at the Home Affairs Ministry.

The Coordinating Team for Visiting Foreigners is a task force coordinated by the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Its members come from the State Intelligence Body (BIN), the National Police, immigration and other relevant institutions, he added.

"This procedure is applied to make the monitoring work easy," Soedarmo was quoted by tempo.co as saying.

According to Soedarmo, if foreign journalists and movie crew members work in remote areas of the country, they also have to obtain permits from the National Unity and Politic Affairs Body, which is under local administration. In addition, while working they are required to show IDs officially issued by Indonesian representatives abroad. The procedures are also applied to their local partners like activists of the foreign NGOs that have local representatives in Indonesia, he added.

Soedarmo said the reason for the introduction of the new procedure was that there were still many foreign journalists and foreign movie crew members who work in Indonesia only with general visas like a tourist visas. "It is a form of protection for the state. We should be firm," he added.

Previously, Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo had issued a circular No. 482.3/4439/SJ on the Adjustment Procedure for Visiting Journalists to Indonesia. The circular has been distributed to all local governments across the country. (bbn)

Source: http://thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/25/new-procedure-foreign-journalists-and-movie-crew-members-introduced.html

Political parties & elections

'Regional leaders will start spending just before elections'

Jakarta Globe - August 29, 2015

Medan, North Sumatra – Local administrations aren't spending as much as the central government has hoped, but that is not because leaders are afraid to be scrutinized, they're just waiting for the right time to launch projects as part of their strategies to win elections in December, a politician has said.

Sutrisno Pangaribuan, a member of the North Sumatra Legislative Council for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said local administrators seem to be making a calculated decision to start spending at a politically convenient time, despite central government requests to do so quickly in order to stimulate economic growth.

"District heads aren't focusing anymore on budget expenditure, because they're already concentrating on election strategies," Sutrisno said. He added that projects would likely be launched close to the election date, Dec. 9, to win the favor of people benefiting from the initiatives in question.

Sutrisno also said that the lack of government spending on the sub-national level could also be a means for local administrators to force Jakarta into renegotiating the state budget on their terms. The lawmaker therefore urged the Home Affairs Ministry to keep its eyes peeled for any attempts at manipulation.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/regional-leaders-will-start-spending-just-elections/

New party fights for nativist ideology, TNI's return to politics

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2015

Jakarta – On the 70th anniversary of the country's independence on Aug. 17, a group of politicians and former Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel declared the formation a new political party, the Partai Priboemi (Indigenous Party).

Its declaration has raised eyebrows, especially for its promotion of the rights of people whom the party considers the native inhabitants of this country.

Many have said that the party has tried to revive the distinctions made by the Dutch colonial government, which divided the country's population into three categories: Westerners from Europe, people from the near east who originated in China, the Middle East and India and then native Indonesians or 'pribumi', located on the lowest rung of the social ladder.

However, the party's chairman Muhardi denied that the use of Priboemi in the party's name was a means of differentiating between native and non- native people, especially those who have descended from Chinese, Arab and Indian shores.

"We never said that it's about pribumi (native) and non-pribumi (non- native)," Muhardi told The Jakarta Post earlier this week.

Muhardi said that the founders of the party simply wanted native Indonesians to thrive in the economy and in the nation's politics, which was currently being controlled by what he called "certain people and groups."

"The term native Indonesian here means anyone from any faith and tribal group who was born in Indonesia," he said.

Muhardi also said that one of the main objectives of the party would be to promote and struggle for the rights of native Indonesians to be the masters of their own country. "We should accept anyone who visits or seeks welfare in our country, however they can't come here and make us their lackeys," Muhardi said.

Muhardi further said that to date, native Indonesians were not yet the masters on their own country. He said that Indonesia should follow in the footsteps of China in promoting the rights of native citizens by barring foreigners from becoming politicians, setting up political parties or running for president.

"In China, we can't build a political party, however why can [Chinese- Indonesians] do that here?" he asked.

Furthermore, Muhardi said that the party would also struggle to bring back the TNI to the House of Representatives, as it was the only element in the country which could protect the country's ideology.

"Today, our ideology is being destroyed in the House," he said. Muhardi maintained that the role the TNI was not simply to secure the country's borders.

Muhardi, however, declined to confirm if the new party had ties to the military and said that the presence of former TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso during the party's launch was only as that of a guest.

He denied reports that said that Djoko served as chairman of the party's advisory board. "We only invited him as a guest to our declaration," Muhardi said.

In spite of the party's retrograde platforms and promotion of nativist ideas, senior historian Anhar Gonggong said that the public should not overreact.

"We just have to wait and see if in the future the party sticks to its words in not differentiating between indigenous and non-indigenous people," Anhar told the Post.

Currently, the party has already set up provincial branches (DPW) in the country's 34 provinces and is now focusing on strengthening its base in the regional branches (DPD).

"We have also received support from 80 mass organizations, but we will not disclose what these organizations are until the Youth Pledge Day commemoration in Oct. 28," Muhardi said. (ind)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/29/new-party-fights-nativist-ideology-tni-s-return-politics.html

Graft suspects, ex-convicts named official candidates for local elections

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2015

Djemi Amnifu and Suherdjoko, Kupang/Semarang – After being named official candidates for the country's first ever simultaneous elections for regional heads (Pilkada), to be held on Dec. 9, candidates with backgrounds as graft suspects or former graft convicts have said they believed that their controversial track records would not hamper their chances of winning elections.

On Monday, the General Elections Commission (KPUD) in 262 regions announced the names of regional head candidates deemed eligible to run in their respective local elections after verifying supporting documents submitted by all aspiring candidates.

The Sabu Raijua KPUD in East Nusa Tenggara, for example, has named Regent Marthen Dira Tome an eligible candidate for the upcoming local election in the regency despite his status as a graft suspect.

On Friday, Marthen was questioned by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators in Jakarta for 12 hours for his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of education funds at the East Nusa Tenggara Education and Culture Agency in 2007 to a tune of Rp 77 billion (US$5.5 million).

Marthen, however, said his status as graft suspect would not affect his reelection campaign. He also said that he was eager to win the upcoming election.

"I'm not bothered by the matter. People were happy enough to give their ID card copies to support my reelection bid. They want me to lead Sabu Raijua again for the next five years," said Marthen, who is running with Nikodemus Rihi Heke as an independent candidate.

In Semarang, Central Java, former mayor Soemarmo Hadi Saputro, who was dismissed from office in 2012, also confidently welcomed his return to the campaign race. In 2012, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Soemarmo Hadi Saputro to 18 months in prison for giving gratuities to local councilors.

"I'm sorry we were unable to continue developing the city some time ago. That's why we need to rise again to develop the city," he said on Sunday in front of his supporters.

In South Sulawesi, Barru Regent Andi Idris Syukur, who has been named a suspect in a graft case by the National Police's Criminal Investigation Corps (Bareskrim), has also received clearance for his reelection bid.

"Pak Idris' status as a graft suspect does not influence his candidacy as regional head because the status of suspect is not included in KPU regulation No. 9 and 12/2015. He has met the requirements for regional head," Barru KPUD head Syarifuddin Ukkas said.

Elsewhere, the hopes of a number of potential candidates to contest the Pilkada were dashed as they were deemed to have failed to meet the requirements stipulated by Pilkada organizers.

In South Solok regency, West Sumatra, independent candidates Boy Iswarmen and his running mate Fachri Murad, were disqualified by the local KPUD for not being able to provide proof of support from at least 19,550 people, as stipulated by the KPUD.

The Denpasar KPUD in Bali, meanwhile, declared that the commission would reopen the registration period for mayoral candidate as only one candidate who had registered with the commission was eligible for the election.

"As only one candidate is left for the election, we will reopen the registration period for other candidate. If there are no candidates who come forward during the registration period, the election will be postponed until 2017 as stipulated on the regulation," the head of Denpasar KPUD, I Gede John Dharmawan, told journalists after a commission meeting on Monday.

As many as 466,115 Denpasar residents are expected to vote for their new mayor in December.

[Andi Hajramurni in Makassar, Syofiardi Bachyul Jb in Padang and Ni Komang Erviani in Denpasar contributed to the article.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/25/graft-suspects-ex-convicts-named-official-candidates-local-elections.html

Environment & natural disasters

Greenpeace criticizes Joko for groundbreaking of Batang power plant

Jakarta Globe - August 30, 2015

Jakarta – An environmentalist group in Indonesia expressed its disappoint in President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo for officiating the groundbreaking of a 2,000 megawatt coal-generated power plant in Batang, Central Java.

Arif Fiyanto, climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Indonesia, argued that the Batang power plant remained under dispute as local residents had yet to let go of some 20 hectares of the plant's total concession to Bhimasena Power Indonesia (BPI) as the operating contractor.

The project itself had been delayed for four years over land disputes, and BPI had failed three times to meet its deadline for financial closing in the unfinished land procurement process.

"President Jokowi should have listened to the aspirations of Batang residents who are against this dirty energy project," Arif said in a published statement on Saturday.

"President Jokowi should have prioritized the rights of Batang residents over corporates' interests. The safety and interests of Batang residents should not be sacrificed for investment and development," he added.

Arif also pointed out that several ongoing legal cases should hinder the groundbreaking process, such as Batang residents' lawsuit against Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) as the project's main source of funding – providing about 70 percent of the Rp 56 trillion ($3.9 billion) investment – and also against the Central Java government, which issued the land procurement permit.

"It seems like President Jokowi had been receiving the wrong information [about the Batang power plant project] from his subordinates. The groundbreaking of Batang coal power plant is still illegal because several requirements have not been met," Arif said. "President Jokowi's action could hurt his reputation on the global stage."

Joko is aiming to implement a 35,000-megawatt electricity program during his term, about 60 percent of which will be powered by coal. Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Harvard University recently released a study over the dangers of coal-generated power plants, particularly for residents of nearby villages.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/greenpeace-criticizes-joko-groundbreaking-batang-power-plant/

Government opposes zero-deforestation pledge by palm oil firms

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2015

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – In stark contrast to Indonesia's commitment to reduce rampant deforestation, the government has surprisingly become a vocal opponent of a "zero deforestation" pledge signed by the four biggest palm oil companies in Indonesia.

The Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister said on Friday that the pledge would jeopardize the country's palm oil industry, currently the biggest in the world, as it puts restrictions on small farmers.

"Palm oil plantations are the livelihoods of many of our people. The most effective driver of economic growth is through palm oil plantations," the offices deputy for food and agriculture coordination Musdhalifah Machmud said on Friday. As the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, Indonesia relies on the in demand commodity – that generates almost US$20 billion a year for the country and employs millions – to drive growth and development.

The landmark Indonesia Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP) is an agreement among leading palm oil producers that commits them to industry-leading sustainability practices, such as applying a principle of not planting on high carbon stock or peat lands.

The pledge was signed in September 2014 by the CEOs of Asian Agri, Cargill, Golden Agri Resources and Wilmar. In early 2015, Musim Mas signed the pledge, turning the big four into the big five.

The pledge is significant as the leading producers account for 80 percent of the country's palm oil production, a major driver of deforestation in the country.

According to the 2015 Living Forests Report by WWF, between 2010 and 2030 around 35 million hectares of forests in Kalimantan, Sumatra and Papua will gradually disappear mainly because of rapid agricultural development.

Kalimantan is predicted to see the biggest forest losses, amounting to 22 million hectares, because of the past decade's significant expansion of large-scale palm oil plantations, which currently cover 11.7 million hectares of the island according to the report.

The report further shows that 5 million hectares of forests in Sumatra will be destroyed because of the expected expansion of palm oil plantations by small-scale producers.

Despite the contribution from small-scale producers contributing to the deforestation, Musdhalifah argued that the government would continue to protect them, saying that the pledge had already driven small farmers out of business as the principles also applied to third-party suppliers.

"The impact of the pledge is already apparent in the field. In Aceh, for example, there's already a palm oil plantation that is working together with Wilmar, but due to the pledge their palm oil could not be sold to Wilmar," she said.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry's director-general of planning, San Afri Awang, said companies had suffered as a consequence of following the pledge. He said that companies had already been banned from selling their products due to unsustainable practices, some of which are in West Papua.

"It's problematic for them because they made the pledge themselves, but it backfired on them. The four companies as well as their suppliers are concerned because those suppliers usually sell their products to the big five," he said on Friday.

Officials also claimed that the pledge was made in order to pressure the Indonesian government to amend its regulation on palm oil as the pledge includes proactive government engagement on policy reform.

Awang added that the big five's decision to ban the clearing of four types of land: primary forest, peatland, secondary forest and bush, regarded as land with high carbon content, had overstepped the authority of the government.

He said that the government has different criteria on the matter and thus only bans land clearing in primary forest and peatland.

"For me the pledge already breaches the State Constitution. We lose our sovereignty because we are controlled [by the pledge]. Our authority is being taken over by the private sector," Awang said.

Contacted separately, IPOP management team director executive Nurdiana Darus said that major palm oil producers supported the government's policy on sustainability.

"IPOP aspires to support Indonesian palm oil and increase its competitiveness both globally and domestically. It is important that our palm oil is seen as a strategic commodity, and also a sustainable one," she told the Jakarta Post on Friday.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/29/govt-opposes-zero-deforestation-pledge-palm-oil-firms.html

After the spill: Montara's murky shadow lingers six years on

Independent Australia - August 25, 2015

Emily Mitchell – It was six years last Friday (21/8/15) since the Montara oil spill began spewing into the Timor Sea. Lasting 74 days, it was the worst oil spill in the history of the Australian offshore petroleum industry. While the full impact remains unknown to this day, the people who know most about its impacts are our closest Indonesian neighbours. They continue to call for justice. It is well overdue that the Australian Government heeded their calls.

In 2009, in the closest Indonesian province to Australia, Nusa Tenggara Timur (East Nusa Tenggara), people scattered across hundreds of kilometres experienced a host of strange experiences. Within a week of the oil spill beginning, fishermen reported a "lake of milky oil" in their fishing grounds. Within a month, communities say oil was washing into their seaweed farms, which were completely destroyed within days. By November, communities hundreds of kilometres north of the spill reported that their seaweed farms were dying.

Fishing nets were fouled with oil and fish catches dwindled completely. Seaweed farms, the income for thousands of people, perished almost instantaneously and fell to the ocean floor. People watched oil and dead fish wash up on their beaches. People developed itchy rashes on their skin. Some people developed food poisoning, requiring hospitalisation. Young people were taken out of education due to the spiralling poverty.

"At first, I thought an oil tanker had sunk," said a man who witnessed about a hectare of oil floating 50 metres away from surfers at an international surfing competition at Rote Island in September 2009. "But then I heard from fishermen that there had been an oil spill in Australia."

Said a fisherman: "I tried to get out of it. but it was like it was chasing me."

Said another fisherman: "I brought the catch up; it was all contaminated, covered in oil. It's like if you buy a box of prawns and just tip diesel all over it – you can't eat it once you've done that."

"The seaweed turned yellow, then white, then fell to the ocean floor," said one seaweed farmer – a story that would be replicated hundreds of kilometres apart. "How was I going to get enough money to feed my family?"

Said another seaweed farmer: "I don't know where the oil came from. I still don't know where it came from."

In 2010, the then Labor Government set up an inquiry that essentially had the same powers as a royal commission – the Montara Commission of Inquiry. It heavily critiqued both the polluting company, PTTEP Australasia, and the regulator, the Northern Territory Department of Resources, for failures in the lead up to the spill.

The Montara Commission of Inquiry found that '... evidence before the Inquiry indicated that hydrocarbons entered the waters of Indonesia and Timor Leste to a significant degree.'

But, despite such findings, there has never been further investigation or negotiation secured by the Australian Government to assess what a 'significant degree' looked like, or how far it had spread into Indonesian waters.

The polluter, PTTEP Australasia, has previously asserted that scientific research suggests the oil never reached the Indonesian coast – a claim that is unsupportable based on eyewitness Indonesian accounts. In one village, eyewitnesses saw oil sweep across their beach, destroying mangroves which had been a vital wall protecting the village from the ocean.

The village, which was set back more than a kilometre from the ocean, was subsequently flooded.

Today, a 1.1 kilometre wall stands in the village that was funded by the villagers' own savings and assistance from the government. It stands as concrete evidence that the "oil came through here".

The difference in the response of the US Government in relation to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill and that of the Australian government to claims of damage in Indonesia provides a stark contrast.

Just last month, the US government formed an agreement with BP for the oil company to pay US$18.7 billion to settle matters concerning the Deepwater Horizon spill, including fines under the Clean Water Act.

In August 2010, BP was forced by President Barack Obama to make its first downpayment of $3 billion into an escrow account that eventually reached $20 billion in compensation. In stark contrast, the survivors in Indonesia of Australia's 2009 Montara oil disaster have received nothing and PTTEP Australasia paid just $510,000 in fines for Montara. The Montara oil spill has to be the cheapest major oil spill in recent history.

For more than two years, the Australian Lawyers Alliance has tried to raise awareness of what is a tragedy of significant concern and international significance. Since we began to investigate, we have faced the same messages from the same people. We have come up against a wall.

Last month, the Australian Lawyers Alliance released a 259 page report that compiles our extensive research: 'After the Spill: Investigating Australia's Montara oil disaster in Indonesia'.

We have spoken with the media and politicians. We have sought out freedom of information applications. We have spoken with people who cried as they remembered the devastation wrought to their income. We have seen the beach where the mangroves died. We have seen the still-present disease on the seaweed farms.

We have seen the strange rashes on people's hands. We have met the children that were taken out of school as their families could no longer afford it. It is time for action.

Before the spill, Nusa Tenggara Timur was already one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia. Now, in the words of Rote Island Mayor Leonard Haning: "The people are crying for their lives."

After the spill, he provided rice to some villages for a year to ensure that they would not starve. His government has waived tax in some seaweed farming villages as they are still not earning enough money.

It is entirely unjust that thousands of people in Indonesia have had to personally carry the burden of trying to earn an income in an environment that has been destroyed.

It has been six years since the spill began and people are still seeking answers. They deserve them. Last year, the Indonesian Government appealed for assistance from Australia to resolve the issue. Nothing has been done.

Before the 2013 election, Tony Abbott asserted that Australia's relationship with Indonesia is "perhaps our most important relationship". But the closest Indonesian province to Australia continues to labour under billions of dollars in economic loss and Australia has done nothing.

People's homes, livelihoods and paradise were lost – and on Australia's watch. It is time for Australia to step up and negotiate towards an appropriate investigation and a solution.

[Emily Mitchell is the Legal and Policy Officer at the Australian Lawyers Alliance and the author of 'After the Spill: Investigating Australia's Montara oil disaster in Indonesia' .]

Source: https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/after-the-spill-montaras-murky-shadow-lingers-six-years-on,8094

Health & education

Children plead for protection from tobacco

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2015

Jakarta – A group of children staged a demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta on Friday, calling on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to protect them and their fellow Indonesian children from tobacco.

The young protesters also urged the government to respect the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which the country has yet to sign.

"Although Indonesia has not signed the framework convention, the government has to protect the people by drafting regulations to guarantee the good health of Indonesian children," Yuki Wirabagja, a spokesman for the group, which calls itself the Smoke-Free Agents, told tempo.co on Friday.

Elysabeth Ongkojoyo, a mother, recently started a petition after she and her year-old baby were forced to leave a food shop in a shopping mall in North Jakarta because a man was smoking inside. The petition garnered an enthusiastic public response, forcing the mall management to enact a smoking ban in many parts of the mall.

According to Yuki, the antitobacco movement counts among its numbers many children's groups, including Smoke-Free Agents, the Jabodetabek Children's Forum, the FCTC Youth Movement, Goodlife Society and the community Komunitas Remaja Pena Anak Kreatif (Young Writers' Community).

Existing regulations, she said, were unable to protect children from tobacco smoke, despite health laws indicating the adverse affects on human health of tobacco.

"The facts show that it is very easy for children to get their hands on tobacco. They can buy cigarettes in any shop, at any time," she said, adding that widespread unchecked tobacco advertising also encouraged young people to take up smoking. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/children-plead-protection-tobacco.html

Graft & corruption

Team denies police influence in Top 8 list

Jakarta Post - August 31, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The team tasked to select the new leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) emphasized on Sunday that the recent move by the National Police to name a KPK commissioner candidate a graft suspect had not influenced its final recommendation of eight names to be submitted to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Sept. 2.

In what came as an 11th hour surprise, the police body made the announcement on Friday, the day when team members met to select eight out of the 19 candidates who had undergone interviews and medical tests. The team, however, said that it had already made the shortlist hours before the police notification and that the suspect, whose name has yet to be disclosed to the public, did not make it onto the final list.

"After the announcement, we phoned the National Police's Criminal Investigation Corps [Bareskrim] to find out who the person was and it turned out the person was not one of the eight candidates we had already picked," the selection committee's spokesperson, Betty Alisjabana, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Betty denied suggestions that the shortlist was made after the announcement to satisfy demands from the National Police. Friday's turn of events echoed the experience of then candidate for chief of police Gen. Budi Gunawan when the KPK named him a bribery suspect one day before he was due to undergo a confirmation hearing for the position of National Police chief.

Budi, who now serves as deputy chief of the National Police, failed to get the top job due to the KPK's bold move. After Budi voided his candidacy, the police body later appointed Budi's confidant Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso to lead Bareskrim.

Both the National Police and the selection team have kept the suspect's name secret as of Sunday night, but the police vowed to reveal the identity of the candidate and detail the graft case implicating the candidate on Monday.

Betty said that the team would not announce the names of the eight candidates before meeting with Jokowi on Sept. 2. "After the President receives the shortlist on Sept. 2, then he has two weeks to make a decision whether to approve the list before sending the eight candidates to the House of Representatives for screening," Betty added.

The eight will join two candidates already picked by a selection team set up under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono: former KPK commissioner Busyro Muqoddas and Cabinet Secretariat international relations division head Robby Arya Brata.

The House will select five of the 10 candidates for the President to approve before inaugurating them in December, the month when the current KPK commissioners wrap up their official tenure.

The National Police's special and economic crimes director Brig. Gen. Victor Edison Simanjuntak on Sunday said that the police's surprising move was pure law enforcement without any politicking behind it.

"There is no such [political] interest [behind the decision]. This is purely an investigation that is based on fact. We have evidence [to support our move]." Victor added that the candidate being named a graft suspect was a former high-profile state official.

Another member of the committee, Yenti Garnasih, confirmed that the candidate to be named a graft suspect by the police was a high-profile figure, but she refused to give any names. "Let's wait the official announcement on Monday because we are worried that there will be another suspect [later on]."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/31/team-denies-police-influence-top-8-list.html

KPK slams court for supporting Kaligis

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has fiercely condemned the Jakarta Corruption Court's decision on Thursday to issue a second postponement of a trial hearing of bribery suspect and senior advocate OC Kaligis, a pro-government NasDem Party politician.

On Thursday, the panel of judges at the court, which delayed the hearing a first time last Thursday after the 73-year-old failed to turn up to the court, approved Kaligis' request to see a doctor for what the defendant has said is a "serious illness", adjourning the hearing until Thursday next week.

"The panel of judges allows the defendant to see Doctor Terawan [Kaligis' personal doctor] at Gatot Subroto Army Hospital," presiding judge Sumoeno said.

The panel of judges at the court also agreed with Kaligis' claims that he had the right to postpone Thursday's trial because he had yet to receive an indictment document from KPK prosecutors, a document that should be issued to a defendant at least one week before a trial starts. He also claimed not yet to have appointed official legal representation.

However, since the case began, a number of lawyers have made statements on Kaligis' behalf at KPK headquarters, and he had a team of lawyers defending him during his failed pretrial hearing last week.

The KPK arrested Kaligis in July for allegedly masterminding the bribing of three Medan State Administrative Court (PTUN) judges, just days after catching red-handed his aide Yagari "Gerry" Bhastara paying bribes to judges Tripeni Irianto Putro, the head of the Medan PTUN, Amir Fauzi and Dermawan Ginting in return for a favorable ruling the court issued in June for Kaligis' client.

KPK prosecutor Yudi Kristiana said that Thursday's hearing should have gone ahead because based on a second opinion the KPK received from the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), Kaligis was fit enough to face Thursday's hearing.

"The team concluded that [Kaligis] was able to face the hearing. However, today he asked the panel of judges to see [his personal] doctor, and the request was approved by the panel of judges. What can we do? We respect the judges' decision," Yudi told reporters after Thursday's hearing.

Asked whether Kaligis was deliberately stymying the legal process, Yudi said: "I'll let you be the judge of that."

Yudi also lambasted Kaligis, who is known for giving legal assistance to celebrities, for claiming that KPK prosecutors had failed to issue an indictment notice.

"As I said during today's hearing, I have told the panel of judges that the defendant refused to accept the indictment document. We have issued a letter confirming that he rejected the document. We have given the rejection letter to his lawyers, but he still did not want to accept it," Yudi added. "Kaligis is fully aware of legal procedures, and he should comply with them properly."

The Jakarta Corruption Court has rescheduled Kaligis' hearing on August 31 to hear KPK prosecutors' indictment on his bribery case.

Yudi further said that the IDI team assessment only found that Kaligis had hypertension and diabetic problems but such illness medically did not prevent him to face his trial hearing.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/KPK-slams-court-supporting-kaligis.html

Groups doubts integrity of KPK candidates

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2015

Fedina S. Sundaryani and Tama Salim, Jakarta – A coalition of civil society groups warned that some of the candidates for the next cohort of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioners were not up to the job.

Erwin Natosmal Oemar of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR) said that antigraft watchdogs who monitored the selection process found that some of the 19 candidates being interviewed by the government-sanctioned selection team failed to give credible answers to questions posed during sessions that took place from Monday to Wednesday.

"We gauged how much these candidates understand the issue of corruption and methods of corruption eradication. What is interesting is that many of them did not understand the Corruption Law or the role of the KPK," Erwin said in a press briefing held to publish the results of the coalition's monitoring of the selection process.

Although the coalition declined to disclose the names of the candidates they found unsuitable for the job, Erwin said recommendations from the coalition would be sent to the selection committee on Friday.

Some of the candidates also failed to promote transparency, the coalition found. "There was a candidate who hadn't submitted his wealth report since 2007 and another who forgot how many houses he owned," he said.

Local media reports said that Erwin could be referring to former Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Yotje Mende and retired Army general Hendardji Soepandji.

Meanwhile, M. Isnur of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) expressed concern over a threat allegedly made by the National Police's detective division chief, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso.

On Tuesday, Budi said that the police could not be held responsible for problematic candidates and that they could launch a probe against future KPK commissioners.

"We have already submitted our report, which showed whether the candidates were problematic [according to the Criminal Code]. We will not hesitate to investigate past cases of any future KPK leader," he said.

Isnur said that Budi's statement was a veiled threat against the KPK. "Why doesn't the police force just press charges against them now?" he asked.

Separately, Destry Damayanti, chairperson of the selection committee, said on Thursday that no one candidate would receive a perfect score in the five aspects they were tested for: integrity, competence, leadership skills, independency and relevant work experience.

Destry said, however, that candidates were not expected to have mastered the technical issues of the anti-corruption laws, as the committee hoped to select a team of KPK leaders who had different backgrounds, but complemented each other.

"Not all of them will be legal experts, but we do expect those who deeply understand relevant laws," Destry said at the sidelines of a meeting with the House of Representatives.

She said that the KPK would need a mix of leaders who were adept at internal and external relations and added that it would be ideal to have leaders selected from different backgrounds.

"We want the KPK to be able to work optimally, but corruption eradication without a sound strategy is unhealthy and could result in friction among relevant institutions," she said. As for the dubious wealth reports, Destry said it was a matter of time before candidates finally submitted those.

The committee aims to have the last eight names submitted to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo by Aug. 31, pending his schedule.

Afterwards, the President has two weeks to approve and forward the names to the House for fit-and-proper tests. "We need to have new KPK leaders by December," she said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/groups-doubts-integrity-KPK-candidates.html

Government responds to regional leaders' fear of the KPK

Jakarta Post - August 26, 2015

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has instructed Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung to immediately draft a circular, containing guidance for regional leaders on how to avoid activity that could lead to their becoming corruption suspects.

"The point [of the circular] is to reassure that implementing policy will not be criminalized and advise that administrative problems can be solved with administrative solutions," said Pramono as quoted by tempo.co, adding that it would be distributed to all regional administrations across the country.

The circular is in response to many regional leaders' fear of spending their regional budgets, a fear apparently evidenced by the decrease in the proportion of budgets being spent in recent years.

According to Pramono, a total of Rp 273 trillion (US$19.28 billion) of state funds, allocated to regional administrations, has not been spent due to leaders' fears of corruption charges. The Jakarta city administration, for example, has currently only spent 19 percent of its Rp 69 trillion budget for 2015.

Meanwhile smooth spending of state and regional budgets is currently badly needed to curb the economic slowdown.

Pramono denied that the circular would encourage regional leaders to misuse state land because of perceived loose law enforcement. "If there is any indication of the theft or embezzlement [of the state funds], the President will encourage prosecutors, police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to do their jobs," said Pramono.

On Aug. 24, President Jokowi invited all governors, heads of prosecutors' offices, regional police heads and other law enforces to discuss the issue. During the meeting, there was an agreement that the administrative problems in budgetary spending would not be criminalized.

"During the meeting, there was a guarantee given for safeguarding regional leaders using their regional budgets. As long as they do not steal, they have a legal guarantee," Pramono added.

Former Constitutional Court chairman Jimly Asshidiqie, however, said that corruption could start at the planning level. Therefore, he said, the public needs to be critical of the government decision to give protection to regional officials. "I am concerned that many crimes are devised at the planning level, not just when the money is actually spent," Jumly added. (bbn)

Source: http://thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/26/government-responds-regional-leaders-fear-KPK.html

Police will follow up on Kaligis' report against KPK

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2015

Chief of the National Police's detective corps Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso has stressed that the police will follow up on the report from lawyer Otto Cornelis Kaligis that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was involved in an abduction and abuse of power when they forced Kaligis to attend an interrogation on July 14.

Kaligis was named a graft suspect after the interrogation. Kaligis, who has been detained by the KPK since then, was named a suspect in connection with a bribery case that allegedly involved a lawyer in his firm bribing Medan Administrative Court judges and a court clerk.

During a pretrial hearing on Monday, the South Jakarta District Court rejected Kaligis' demands to have his status as a corruption suspect annulled.

Budi said that the court's decision had nothing to do with Kaligis' report. "The report is about the alleged abduction and abuse of power by the KPK investigators," Budi was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

The KPK also named suspended North Sumatra Governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho and his wife Evi Susanto as suspects for their alleged role in the bribery case. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/25/police-will-follow-kaligis-report-against-KPK.html

Jokowi urged to tackle weakening of Judicial Commission

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2015

Jakarta – Anti-graft watchdog Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) and the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) are calling on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to tackle ongoing attempts to weaken the Judicial Commission (KY) by stopping legal attacks on two KY commissioners.

"The President should lend a hand so that the systematic weakening of the KY can be stopped. The Constitutional Court should also reject a judicial review request concerning the KY's authority," said the ICW and the YLBHI in a joint press statement in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by Antara.

The two NGOs said that currently, there had been a systematic attempt to weaken the KY. One example they gave of this was the disregard given to the KY's recommendation that the government impose sanctions on Judge Sarpin Rizaldi, who granted a pre-trial hearing request filed by Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan against the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) decision to name him as a graft suspect.

"There have been delays of the judge recruitment processes, which should have involved the KY. There have also been attempts by several parties to undermine the commission's authority by filing judicial review requests [against KY authorities] with the Constitutional Court and letting the commission's leaders be painted as criminals," said the groups.

In fact, they added, KY authorities being involved in the recruitment process of judges was made mandatory during Indonesia's reformation and could not be negotiated as it was the main thing guaranteeing a selection process that was accountable, clean and professional, and able to produce qualified judges that had integrity.

Citing Supreme Court data, the ICW and the YLBHI said 117 judges had been imposed with disciplinary sanctions. Those 117 judges account for 56 percent of all Indonesian court employees that have been dealt disciplinary sanctions.

The ICW recorded that at least five judges and a former Constitutional Court chief justice were involved in corruption cases. This figure did not include the three judges of the Medan State Administrative Court (PTUN) recently arrested by the KPK over an alleged graft case.

Therefore, the ICW and the YLBHI said, the public must stay vigilant against any systematic effort to weaken, or even abolish, the KY. Indonesian judicial institutions – which were not yet clean, transparent, and accountable and still lacked integrity – were still dependent on the existence of the KY, they said.

"Measures needed now are not the weakening or abolition of the KY but instead, the strengthening of the KY by giving it the authority to more closely supervise judges all across Indonesia," the groups said. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/24/jokowi-urged-tackle-weakening-judicial-commission.html

Freedom of religion & worship

Indonesia 'failing' to protect religious freedom

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2015

Bogor – A prolonged spat over the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin in Bogor, West Java, has once more drawn attention from abroad, with a US rights body witnessing in situ the situation faced by the beleaguered congregation.

Preparing its 2016 annual report, representatives of the Washington-based US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) joined the congregation for a Sunday morning service held at the home of one of its members in Cimanggu, Bogor.

"We've been following the development of this case very closely and it's been a concern for a long time. We've come here so that we can work better on our reports and recommendations when we go home," USCIRF vice chairman M. Zuhdi Jasser said on Sunday.

In its 2014 report released in April, the commission, tasked with providing policy recommendations to the US government, cited the GKI Yasmin case, stating that "local government officials continue to harass religious minorities over religious sites".

"We are advocating for the rights of GKI Yasmin congregation members, their religious freedom and for the opening of their church," USCIRF commissioner Daniel I Mark said.

The report, which assessed 30 countries, included Indonesia on its list of countries where governments "engage in or tolerate systematic, ongoing and egregious abuses of religious freedom", although it did not categorize Indonesia as a "country of particular concern".

USCIRF recommended that the US government urge the Indonesian government to take measures to ease religious tensions in the county, including the revocation of a 2006 joint ministerial decree on the construction of houses of worship.

The contentious ruling stipulates that congregation members must secure approval from at least 60 local residents of different faiths and the government-sponsored Regional Interfaith Communication Forum (FKUB) prior to establishing houses of worship.

Although the church had met these requirements, the Bogor City Planning and Parks Agency revoked the church's building permit (IMB) in February 2008 in the face of pressure from local residents, including Islamic hardliners. The Bogor administration then sealed the building in April 2010.

In December of that year, the Supreme Court delivered a verdict restoring the church's IMB. Bogor mayor Diani Budiarto, however, defied the ruling, revoking the IMB once more in March 2011.

Four months later, the Indonesian Ombudsman announced that Diani had broken the law and ordered him to immediately revoke his decision to seal GKI Yasmin. However, nothing significant has yet been done to resolve the situation, even after Bima Arya replaced Diani in April 2014.

"The mayor keeps on avoiding his legal obligation to guarantee religious freedom for his residents. If the Supreme Court ruling is not implemented, this will lead to legal uncertainty," said Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) secretary-general Gomar Gultom.

In a meeting held in August with the ombudsman, Bima insisted on persisting with several options he had previously proposed, one of which involved relocating the church.

"We will only agree with proposals that comply with the 2010 ruling and the Indonesian Ombudsman's recommendations. There have been others that the administration should seriously consider," GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging said. (alm)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/29/ri-failing-protect-religious-freedom.html

New MUI chairman to embrace beleaguered minority groups

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The National Meeting of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Surabaya, East Java on Thursday elected senior cleric Ma'ruf Amin as chairman of the organization for the 2015-2020 term, replacing outgoing leader Din Syamsuddin.

In the past, the MUI has often been criticized for discriminating against minority groups like the Ahmadiyah and Shiite Muslims.

Ma'ruf said that he was determined to change the image of the MUI from a bulwark of conservatism to a moderate institution.

He said that minority sects, especially Ahmadiyah and Shia Islam, which many in Indonesian Muslims deem "deviant" from mainstream Islam, would be embraced by the MUI under his watch.

"We will not tolerate any persecution [of minority religious groups in Indonesia]. The new MUI will try its best to prohibit and even to prevent [any form of persecution] from happening. The new MUI will campaign for religious harmony without any form of violence," Ma'ruf told The Jakarta Post on Thursday night, just hours after his election.

Earlier, the MUI had issued an edict confirming that Ahmadis were "deviant" because they believed that there was another prophet after Muhammad.

As for Shia Islam, some local branches of the MUI issued an edict condemning it as "heretic" for believing that the leadership of Islam should be held only by those from the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad.

Ma'ruf said that although the MUI could not change its basic tenets regarding Ahmadiyah and Shia Islam, it could start to apply a softer stance in dealing with them in the future.

"The first thing we will do is inform them of the true teaching of Islam through good manners without any form of violence. We then will embrace them and live with them peacefully, because they claim to be a part of Islam. If we can live peacefully with non-Muslims, why can't we do that with people who claim to be part of Islam?" Ma'ruf said.

Din, who is also former chairman of the country's second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, said the MUI under Ma'ruf should serve as an umbrella for all Islamic organizations in the country in order to solve the problems faced by the roughly 210 million Muslims living in Indonesia.

"We will also establish dialogue with other minority groups from other religions, not only from Islam, in order to build a harmonious religious life in Indonesia," said Din, who was elected as head of the MUI advisory council.

However, Islamic political analyst Ahmad Fuad Fanani from the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) said that Ma'ruf could be seen as a traditional conservative.

Fuad said that Ma'ruf was known for his conservative views on Islamic theology especially on the issue of Ahmadiyah and Shia Islam, given his former position as the head of the MUI edict division.

"We don't know whether he will continue to hold on to the same stance after his election. Probably he will tend to be more moderate after the election because we can see that the new board of leadership at the MUI is filled with people from various backgrounds," Fuad said.

"We hope that the presence of Din Syamsuddin and Azyumardi Azra on the advisory board of the MUI could balance against the conservative elements in MUI," Fuad said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/new-mui-chairman-embrace-beleaguered-minority-groups.html

Banyuasin elementary school bans veils

Jakarta Post - August 27, 2015

Jakarta – A state elementary school in Banyuasin, South Sumatra, has banned its students from wearing veils while at school. The new rule, which was announced during a flag-raising ceremony on Independence Day recently, has drawn protests from the students' parents.

"We as parents cannot believe this new rule banning students from wearing veils because we think that it doesn't make sense and it is unreasonable," one of the parents, who wanted to be identified only as T, told tribunnews.com.

T said he had questioned the school's authorities because the rule had impacted his daughter, who had launched a strike, refusing to attend school. He argued that the rule was unnecessary because wearing veils did not disrupt the learning process at school.

The school's principal, Dahlia, said that the ban was designed to aid the enforcement of rules regarding the wearing of the school uniform. She argued that veils made students' appearances messy, tempo.co reported.

Meanwhile, South Sumatra National Education Agency head Widodo regretted the school's ban on veils, saying that the rule contradicted a basic principle of education: tolerance. (rad/ika)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/27/banyuasin-elementary-school-bans-veils.html

Land & agrarian conflicts

21 families file lawsuit against Jokowi

Jakarta Post - August 27, 2015

Jakarta – Twenty-one families from Semarang in Central Java have filed a lawsuit against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo over the demolition of their houses by the Indonesian Army. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday at Semarang District Court.

"The lawsuit is directed at the President because he is the Army's highest leader," the families' lawyer Josep Parera said, as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday.

Josep explained the lawsuit was also directed at the Indonesian Army's chief, the Army chief of staff and the commander of the Regional Military Command IV in Diponegoro in Central Java.

The families filed the lawsuit, Josep said, because the Army did not have the legal right to demolish their 21 houses, which sat on 6,400 square meters of land that has belonged to the families since the 1950s.

Josep said that the Army had claimed they had to hand over the land to the National Land Agency (BPN). "Yet, data on the land's takeover doesn't exist," he said.

In the lawsuit, the families have asked for compensation of Rp 21.1 billion (US$1.5 million) in total, including Rp 10.6 billion in material losses.(ika)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/27/21-families-file-lawsuit-against-jokowi.html

Central Java farmers, Army urged to settle land dispute in court

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2015

Agus Maryono and Suherdjoko, Kebumen/Semarang – Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo has called on the Army and local farmers in Kebumen to immediately take their long-standing dispute over the management of a 1,000-hectare plot of land in the regency into court to prevent their conflict from escalating.

The call was made in response to a recent brawl involving hundreds of local residents and Army personnel at the Urut Sewu beach area, where the disputed land is located.

"The [land] dispute has been there for a very long time, as both parties claim that they are the legitimate parties that have the right to own the disputed land. So, it is necessary to settle this matter immediately with a legally binding [ruling] to prevent further conflict," Ganjar told reporters in Purwokerto on Monday.

Local residents and the Army have been in a long-standing dispute regarding the management of a stretch of land approximately 23 kilometers in length and 500 meters in width, which spans 15 subdistricts in three districts in Kebumen.

The Army has claimed that the land belongs to the institution and it has regularly used the area to test heavy weapons since the 1980s. Thousands of local farmers, meanwhile, have insisted that the land is theirs, arguing that it has been cultivated by their families for many decades.

At least 11 farmers from Wiromartan village in Mirit district, Kebumen, were reportedly injured after a rally held by hundreds of local farmers to protest against the building of fences in the disputed land by a group of military personnel turned chaotic on Saturday afternoon.

South Kebumen Farmers Association (FPPKS) cooodinator Seniman claimed that the soldiers became angry and kicked and punched the protesters after the latter asked them to stop building the fences.

"Some of the injured residents are still being treated in hospital, while some others have returned home," Seniman said on Sunday

A similar incident took place in April 2011, during which four residents were reportedly shot with rubber bullets and six others were injured after being hit by blunt objects.

To prevent any other violent acts, Ganjar also urged both parties not to hold any activities in the disputed area until after they agree to bring the matter to court.

"Both parties already met in many mediation meetings, but so far failed [to reach a settlement]. Both claim the ownership of the land, while at the same time they have no land certificates to prove it," he said, adding that he was ready to arbitrate the dispute should both parties still opt to make an out-of-court settlement.

Kebumen regional administration secretary Adi Pandoyo said the local administration had invited experts from several institutions, including the National Land Agency (BPN) and the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University, to join the administration's land conflict settlement team.

"We invited the experts [to join the team] before the recent brawl broke out. According to the initial plan, the Army and local farmers were scheduled to meet for another [mediation] meeting on Sept. 14," he said.

Kebumen 0709 military commander (Dandim) Lt. Col. Putra Widyawinaya, meanwhile, said the Army would continue building the fences to encircle the disputed land, arguing that area had been designated as "a national defense area." "We will continue [the project] until complete," he said.

Separately, Regional Military Command (Kodam) IV/Diponegoro spokesperson Lt. Col. Zainul Bahar said that the state had granted the management of the disputed area to the Army. "The area was handed over by the Dutch colonial army to the state on July 25, 1950," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/25/central-java-farmers-army-urged-settle-land-dispute-court.html

Parliament & legislation

House betting on constituency funds despite poor performance

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2015

Tama Salim, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has revived hopes that the government will support its controversial constituency fund mechanism, despite its poor performance in the first 10 months of its 2014 to 2019 term.

Reporting on the legislative body's performance in a speech commemorating its 70th anniversary on Friday, House speaker Setya Novanto said that lawmakers had completed their work on the mechanism to spend the constituency fund and maintained that it was a law-given right.

Setya said the House had formed a team to deliberate on the constituency fund mechanism as a means of representing the people, stipulated in the 2014 Legislative Institution Law, otherwise known as the MD3 Law.

"Studies from various countries have shown [how] the constituency fund is mostly used in line with the principles of expediency, justice, transparency and accountability," the Golkar party politician said during his speech during the plenary session on Friday.

"Those are the foundations through which the House proposes to the government development projects that are reflections of the electoral districts' aspirations," he said.

Supporters of the scheme argued that the total of Rp 11.2 trillion (US$802.9 million) to be allocated to the 560 lawmakers annually was a way to help them realize their campaign promises to develop their electoral districts.

The House has been under pressure for having underperformed since the beginning of its term. Of the 37 priority bills that the House had planned to pass this year as part of the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), legislators so far had only passed two bills: one on regional elections and the other on regional administrations.

It is also aiming to pass fewer bills this sitting period, citing other priorities such as consolidating the 2016 state budget proposal and preparing for the regional elections.

Setya shifted the blame onto the government for the House's lackluster performance, arguing that the government was equally responsible for the legislative process.

"The legislative process is not just the responsibility of the House or the government. There needs to be a commitment among the two in finalizing legislation," he said, asking the government to expedite its work on the preparation of academic reviews used in the deliberation of bills.

House deputy speaker Taufik Kurniawan told The Jakarta Post that the decision to enact the mechanism on the constituency fund would rely on the goodwill of the government when discussions recommenced between the government and the House Budgetary Committee (Banggar).

"The constituency fund mechanism will depend on discussions between Banggar and the government – the House won't insist on it, but we will be very grateful [if the government reconsiders its viability]," said Taufik, a National Mandate Party (PAN) politician.

Previously, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo rejected the proposed constituency fund plan endorsed by the House, despite the latter having already officially approved the scheme during a plenary meeting during the last sitting period.

Apart from the constituency fund, lawmakers were also adamant on continuing the House's Rp 2.7 billion mega project, despite increasing pressure to drop the plan.

Setya said the construction of the House's new building was a long-term project and the House would be willing to wait until after economic conditions improved.

Lawmaker Jazuli Juwaini of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction said that there were other alternatives to abandoning the project for good. "If [the cost] is too burdensome, there are other solutions: we can either postpone it or build it incrementally over multiple years," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/29/house-betting-constituency-funds-despite-poor-performance.html

Jakarta & urban life

Evictees protest at Ahok's house

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2015

Jakarta – Dozens of former residents of Kampung Pulo in East Jakarta demonstrated in front of the house of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama on Friday to protest against their recent eviction from their houses in the flood-prone area.

The protesters claimed that the decision to evict them demonstrated Ahok's arrogance. "We are holding this action to prevent Ahok from continuing to use violence to keep Jakarta in order. The excessive deployment of security forces when evicting Kampung Pulo residents was unacceptable," said protest coordinator Tegar Putuhena, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Dozens of police officers stood in front of Ahok's house to prevent protesters, who carried banners and flyers, from approaching the gate of the house. The protesters also visited the House of Representatives to report their being evicted to the lawmakers.

Meanwhile, Governor Ahok said that the people who came to the House of Representatives were not residents of Kampung Pulo. "They are squatters, who lived on the banks of Ciliwung River, near Kampung Pulo," he asserted. He said the people were lucky not to be prosecuted for occupying state land. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/evictees-protest-ahok-s-house.html

LBH lawyers concerned by role of military, police in eviction

Jakarta Post - August 26, 2015

Jakarta – Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) lawyers have expressed their concern over the role of military and police personnel in a number of evictions, including the one in Kampung Pulo, Jatinegara, East Jakarta.

They said that their involvement in the eviction was not in line with their function as outlined in existing laws.

"The police have to protect and to serve the people, while the role of the military is to defend state sovereignty," said Alldo Fellix Jauardy, a lawyer from LBH Jakarta as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Wednesday.

According to Alldo, as ruled in Law No. 13/2012 on the National Police, the role of the police is to protect the people from any violence, which frequently occurred during the evictions.

Alldo and Atika Yuanita Paraswaty, also from LBH Jakarta, carried out research on evictions in Jakarta over the past year. Alldo recorded 19 evictions in the city, which involved both military and police personnel. "Their involvement is seen as a threat by the residents," said Atika.

The latest involvement of the military and police personnel occurred when the Jakarta city administration evicted the residents of Kampung Pulo last week. During the eviction, security personnel clashed with residents. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/26/legal-aid-institute-lawyers-concerned-role-military-police-eviction.html

Suspend evictions until standard procedures drafted: Komnas HAM

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2015

Sita W. Dewi and Dewanti A. Wardhani, Jakarta – While reiterating support for the city administration's development plans, National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) and local activists have demanded that the administration impose a moratorium on forced evictions until standard procedures on relocation are drawn up.

The demand was conveyed following the forced eviction of residents of flood-prone Kampung Pulo in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, which turned violent last week. The city intends to demolish hundreds of homes housing around 1,040 families in the area.

The families have the option of relocating to three apartment complexes in the municipality: nearby Jatinegara Barat, which has 520 units, Komaruddin Apartments in Cakung and Cipinang Besar Selatan Apartment, all in East Jakarta.

"Komnas HAM fully supports development programs and law enforcement. However, the process should respect human rights [a moratorium and standard procedures] are necessary because [Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama] plans more [evictions]. I hope the incident in Kampung Pulo will be the last," Komnas HAM Commissioner Anshori Sinungan told a press conference in Jakarta on Monday, adding that the city administration should adopt a less formal approach when dealing with social issues.

Komnas HAM Commissioner Nurkhoiron added that they also called for transparency on spatial planning and he criticized the misleading portrayal of Kampung Pulo residents.

"The media contributed to the inaccurate portrayal of Kampung Pulo residents as merely poor people who caused floods in the capital, down- playing their social capital of being involved in the city's relocation program," Khoiron said.

Gugun Muhammad of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) said relocating residents, most of whom were employed in the informal economy, would only impoverish them. "Most of them immediately lost their daily income," he said.

LBH Jakarta lawyer Handika Febrian said the city administration's approach to relocating residents failed to respect law and human rights, while Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan added that the current administration maintained an outdated approach.

"The number of forced evictions is similar [to previous administrations] and the current administration still uses an obsolete approach to evicting residents: using an excessive use of force. For example, the city deployed more than 2,000 security personnel in last week's forced eviction in Kampung Pulo," he said.

Khoiron said Komnas HAM planned to establish a team tasked with studying spatial planning dimensions and analyzing the city administration's policies on spatial planning, particularly those regarding flood mitigation efforts, during an internal plenary session in September.

Commenting on the criticism, Ahok defended his policy, saying the city administration took into consideration the residents' rights. He rejected the idea that the city had violated human rights. He also denied that the city administration did not have standard procedures.

"We have a reason for every eviction that we carry out. For example, residents in Kampung Pulo are disrupting the flow of the Ciliwung River," the governor said.

Separately, Jakarta Housing and Government Building Agency head Ika Lestari Aji said that the city had introduced programs to safeguard the residents' financial situation, social welfare and maintain the environment in which they lived.

"Many evicted residents are traders who sell various goods. We must make sure that they can continue to trade after being relocated. This is a task of the KUKMP [Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Trade] Agency," Ika told reporters at City Hall on Monday.

Further, she said, the Manpower and Transmigration Agency also provided training in various sectors for residents of city-run apartment complexes, ranging from driving and manufacturing to operating heavy equipment.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/25/suspend-evictions-until-standard-procedures-drafted-komnas-ham.html

City forces eviction despite housing backlog

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2015

Dewanti A. Wardhani, Jakarta – The city administration plans to evict 12,000 families occupying riverbanks this year, in order to speed up its river normalization program.

Housing and Government Building's Agency head Ika Lestari Aji said that half of the targeted families had been evicted. However, only 1,000 had been relocated to rusunawa (low-cost apartments).

"This year we aim to evict and relocate roughly 12,000 families occupying riverbanks across the city. However, due to a lack of empty rusunawa units, not all will receive a new home right away," Ika told The Jakarta Post at City Hall recently.

Ika said that there were no empty rusunawa units left for residents this year. Evicted residents, she said, would need to survive on their own, while waiting for rusunawa construction to be completed next year.

"For the time being, evicted residents who have not received an apartment unit must find a place to stay on their own," she said, adding that the city administration would not assist the residents to find a temporary place to stay.

Ika assured those concerned that the city administration would prioritize apartment units for those who needed them, once construction had been completed next year.

The city administration's harsh eviction policy has left some Jakartans stranded without a place to stay. On May 27, 114 families in Pinangsia, West Jakarta, were evicted. Only a few of them, however, were relocated to Marunda Rusunawa in North Jakarta, while the others were rejected because there were no more available units.

In a recent eviction in Kampung Pulo, East Jakarta, the administration forced 1,040 families to relocate to Rusunawa Jatinegara, an area that could only accommodate around half of the households, while the others were advised to move to Cipinang Besar and Komaruddin Rusunawa in Cakung, East Jakarta.

"Next year we will have tens of thousands of new rusunawa units. Evicted residents will be prioritized for the rusunawa and will thus be entitled to rent a unit," Ika said.

This year, Ika said that her agency had started the construction of 2,400 rusunawa units. City-owned developer PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) will also begin the construction of 21,000 rusunawa units. Private developers such as Summarecon and Intiland have also started the construction of their own rusunawa as part of their responsibility to the city administration.

Despite the housing backlog, Ika said that there was no turning back. The city administration, she said, would not stop the evictions. "The city administration's programs must continue. Without the relocation, the programs may be hampered," she said.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Gusti Ayu Ketut Surtiari, who is currently conducting research on the effectiveness of adaptation programs related to disaster risk reduction, said that during her doctoral research she encountered several evicted residents who had not received a rusunawa.

Her research was carried out last September in various areas across North Jakarta. Around the Pluit reservoir where hundreds of residents were evicted, Ayu found that some had not been relocated to a rusunawa.

"Some of them rented a home nearby, while others sent their children back to their hometowns and temporarily stayed in Jakarta to work as the family's breadwinner," said Ayu, who is also a doctoral candidate at the UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security.

Separately, Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama promised that the city administration would not evict residents without a rusunawa for relocation.

"We provide a rusunawa for those who need one. Not all evictees need to be relocated to a rusunawa because some are already well-off," Ahok told reporters at City Hall recently.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/24/city-forces-eviction-despite-housing-backlog.html

Criminal justice & prison system

Sale of contraceptives targeted in Indonesia's proposed new penal code

Jakarta Globe - August 29, 2015

Jakarta – In a proposed revision of Indonesia's Criminal Code, a stipulation has been introduced to curb the availability of contraceptive devices.

Article 481 of the draft threatens to impose a maximum fine of Rp 10 million ($700) on anyone promoting the sale of "devices to prevent pregnancy." Another article, 483, adds however that the provision does not apply to Health Ministry activities and those of family planning officials.

"This is overcriminalization," Institute for Criminal Justice Reform executive director Supriyadi Widodo Eddyono said of the proposed revision.

The proposed new penal code has already come under fire for its attempted criminalization of adultery and cohabitation, both of which are frowned upon by large segments of Indonesian society but are not in themselves illegal in most parts of the country.

According to Supriyadi, the draft focuses too much on morality issues. "Citizens can easily be penalized," he said, "even offering contraceptive materials can be penalized."

The revision has however gained the support from the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN), a government institution. "[Condoms] are sold freely in supermarkets, out in the open," BKKBN deputy chief Julianto Witjaksono told KBR radio on Friday. "People can just buy them. What if they are bought by teenagers?"

Julianto stressed that people should only be able to buy prophylactics through strictly government-controlled programs at selected clinics. "It should only be available in [state-owned] clinics so people cannot sell condoms in inappropriate places," he said.

Miko Ginting, a researcher from the Legal and Policy Study Center (PSHK), said the government and the House of Representatives should just start over with the revision of the Criminal Code, focusing first and foremost on general crimes like murder and theft.

"Special crimes like human rights abuses and corruption have their own laws," Miko said. "Don't let this revision override these special laws."

It is not the first attempt in Indonesia at limiting condom sales. In June, lawmakers in Bengkulu were also working on a directive to limit the sale of contraceptives, arguing that the availability of such items leads to higher rates of pre- and extramarital sex.

A member of the provincial legislature said at the time that the move was necessary to curb the spread of HIV, arguing that without access to condoms, more young people would remain sexually abstinent until they get married.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/sale-contraceptives-targeted-indonesias-proposed-new-penal-code/

Police & law enforcement

Indonesian police deny buck's night bribe claim

Sydney Morning Herald - August 31, 2015

Jewel Topsfield and Amilia Rosa – Kuta's police chief has denied police received a $25,000 bribe to secure the release of a group of Australian men apprehended after they hired strippers at a buck's night in Bali.

Twenty police officers were questioned over allegations marketing consultant Mark Ipaviz's buck's party was forced to pay a bribe to police of about $25,000 to avoid trumped-up charges and threats of a 10-year prison sentence.

Kuta Police Chief Deddy Juniartha produced a handwritten statement apparently signed by the group which apologised for what occurred and promised it would never happen again. "Thank you for helping resolving a problem. I did not pay any to for police (sic)," the statement says.

The letter, which is signed by Darren Moore, Crystal M, Mark, Jase, Dale and Bryce, is addressed to "chief of police Polsek Kute" and dated February 24, 2015.

Mr Deddy said he had only been police chief for five days when the incident occurred. At the time the relationship between Indonesia and Australia was tense because Bali nine organisers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were facing execution.

Police had been called to a cafe in Seminyak because of suspicions a party had hired strippers, Mr Deddy said, although they later found out the men had sought permission from the manager.

"When our officer arrived, they took everybody back to Kuta police station," Mr Deddy said. "We questioned everybody and took their statement."

However Mr Deddy said everyone was released because strippers, who were also foreigners, were "not fully naked" and therefore no offence had been committed. "They still had their bras and underwear on, so since it was not an offence, we released them," Mr Deddy said.

Mr Deddy confirmed that 20 police officers, including himself, had been questioned. He stressed the police had not paid or asked for a bribe. "I have never ordered any of my men to ask for money. None of my officers asked for money." He said the buck's party group had written and signed the statement voluntarily.

The investigation was ongoing into allegations various members of the group were pistol whipped and shocked with taser guns by private security guards.

The police were also investigating allegations a female translator told the men they could pay a fine to prevent serious indecency charges that carried a 10-year prison sentence in Indonesia

"Propam (police internal affairs) is investigating the assault claims and the translator," Mr Deddy said. "We did use a translator at the time."

Fairfax Media is seeking comment from members of the buck's party.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesian-police-deny-bucks-night-bribe-claim-20150831-gjc0jy.html

Police use violence when interrogating suspects: Kontras

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2015

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) reported on Monday that from May to August it received several reports of extreme violence perpetrated by officers of the National Police against criminal suspects.

According to the commission advocacy department deputy coordinator Yati Andriyani, the violence occurred during questioning sessions. "Seven persons died and 16 were severely injured after being questioned by the police," Yati told reporters at the group's office in Central Jakarta.

She said that the reported violence took place in police offices in Samarinda regency, East Kalimantan; East Lampung regency, Lampung; Bangka regency, Bangka Belitung; and Widang district, East Java. Two of the victims were 12 and 16 year old children, identified only as VA and RS, respectively.

VA was questioned by Widang Police after being accused of stealing a neighbor's motorcycle. The commission said that during the questioning, VA was tortured by the police. "VA was finally released as he was not guilty," Yati added.

However RS died after being tortured by the Samarinda Police over his alleged involvement in a motorcycle theft case. "RS was tortured and forced to confess," said Kontras activist Arif Nurfikri.

Arif condemned the actions of the police in these cases, as they had apprehended the suspects without investigating the cases thoroughly and without sufficient evidence.

Another Kontras member Putri Kanesia said the police had breached Article 17 of the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) in those cases. "According to [Article 17], police should gather enough initial evidence in a case before arresting someone," Putri said.

Yati also pointed out that all human rights watchdogs such as the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) and the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) should be more active in monitoring police officers.

"We also hope that the National Police do not protect their members who have committed violence," Yati added.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto declined to comment on the Kontras' findings as he needed to check on whether the cases had been reported to the National Police.

He hoped Kontras would report its findings to the police to allow investigation. "They should report to the police if they found any cases of violent abuse involving our members," Agus told The Jakarta Post.

Agus said the National Police always held training for all of its members to increase their skills, especially investigation skills. "We routinely hold training for our members through the human resource department," he added. (ind)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/25/police-use-violence-when-interrogating-suspects-kontras.html

Mining & energy

Freeport says Indonesia copper exports dry up on payment impasse

Reuters - August 25, 2015

Michael Taylor and Wilda Asmarini, Jakarta – Freeport-McMoran said exports of copper from its giant Indonesian mine have slowed to a trickle over the past month as it faces new rules on how buyers pay for metal, with the government showing no sign of handing it a second waiver.

Freeport, which is one of Indonesia's biggest tax payers, won a six-month exemption from new rules introduced this year making it compulsory for exports of coal, palm oil, oil and gas and minerals to be transacted through letters of credit issued by domestic banks.

The US miner said almost all exports of copper concentrate from its Grasberg mine had been halted since the exemption expired on July 25 and it was currently in talks with both its buyers and the Indonesian government.

"We are gradually working with our buyers to change their method of payment," Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama told Reuters on Tuesday. "Hopefully we will get this matter resolved very soon. We are talking with the government so we can continue our exports."

International buyers and traders often pay Freeport directly or in advance, without going through the Indonesian banking system.

The dispute is the longest disruption to shipments since a seven-month stoppage last year when Indonesia imposed an escalating tax on metal concentrates.

Freeport exports about 60 percent of the estimated 2 million tonnes of concentrate produced each year at Grasberg, one of the world's biggest mines, while the rest is smelted locally into metal.

Mines Ministry Coal and Minerals Director General Bambang Gatot said any fresh exemption for Freeport would be decided by the trade ministry.

"Every company is supposed to comply with this regulation," he said, adding that Newmont Mining Corp, Indonesia's second largest copper miner, seemed to be complying with the new rules without problems.

Karyanto Suprih, acting director general for foreign trade at the trade ministry, told Reuters: "So far, there is no instruction to give an exemption on this LC obligation for mineral or coal exports."

Operations at Freeport's mine in remote Papua were running normally, Albar Sabang, a senior official at a Freeport union said late last week. Under normal conditions, Grasberg produces about 220,000 tonnes of copper ore per day, which is converted to copper concentrate.

Freeport's Pratama said the miner would need more space for stockpiling "very soon" but could not give a timeframe.

Rio Tinto has a joint venture with Freeport for a 40 per cent share of Grasberg's production above specific levels until 2021, and 40 per cent of all production after 2021.

(Reporting by Michael Taylor and Wilda Asmarini; Additional reporting by Bernadette Christina; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/25/indonesia-freeport-idUSL3N10V2BI20150825

Economy & investment

Government promises new incentives

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2015

Ina Parlina and Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – After meetings with businesspeople and key economic policy makers, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has promised to offer many new incentives and to further deregulate industry in order to prop up an economy experiencing its slowest growth rate in six years.

Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said on Thursday that the President had addressed various matters during the meeting, including a plan to introduce more packages of policies designed to jump start the economy and to attract foreign exchange.

However, Darmin stopped short of revealing details of the policies that he said would include a mixture of tax incentives and other policies to help manufacturing industries.

"What I can say now is that the President has composed a list of policies and asked that most of them be implemented starting next week." Darmin only hinted that the policies were related to the real estate and finance sectors, involving a new tax holiday plan and deregulation.

The call for the meeting came in the wake of "Black Monday", during which the stock market plunged by more than 4 percent and the rupiah slid past its psychological level of 14,000 against the US dollar.

Aside from the impact of so-called quantitative easing in the US, the slowdown in China, Indonesia's biggest trading partner, also fuelled Monday's carnage.

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that the recent issuance of a tax holiday regulation was a "warm-up" before the government revealed the full package.

"What we aim to do is to boost manufacturing to ensure stability while at the same time maintaining people's purchasing power," he said. He added that the policies were already in the making and that he hoped to introduce them next week.

The Finance Ministry already issued tax holidays of up to 20 years for companies engaged in so-called "pioneering industries".

Industry Minister Saleh Husin said that a local unit of Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever would be the first to receive the facility because its new plant in the Sei Mangke special economic zone in North Sumatra was considered to be part of a pioneering industry.

"The plant has pioneered the processing of agricultural produce, in this case palm oil, into value-added goods," said Saleh.

According to Saleh, aside from Unilever there were another 11 companies currently in the process of getting the tax holiday. "PT Oki Pulp and Paper Mills is the latest one on the list," he said.

Oki, a unit of Sinarmas Group's Asia Pulp and Paper, is currently constructing the country's biggest pulp mill in North Sumatra at a cost of US$2.6 billion, mostly financed by the China Development Bank.

With the planned incentives, Jokowi has assured the business community of the government's presence and commitment during this tumultuous period in a meeting with businesspeople and representatives from business associations and law enforcement agencies.

"The President continues to synchronize efforts to solve economic problems," said State Secretary Pratikno after the meeting that lasted for more than two hours.

"The bottom line is that we, as a nation, are consolidating forces to face the global economic turmoil, which inevitably has become a shared responsibility, not just the government's," he added.

Central Bank Governor Agus Martowardojo, who had a separate meeting with Jokowi, said that BI's full-year economic growth outlook would remain at between 4.7 percent and 5.1 percent.

"We expect that the government will speed up spending in the second half, commence its numerous infrastructure projects and attract new investments. We will probably grow, at the most, 4.9 percent this year."

Former finance minister Chatib Basri, now a senior fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, suggested the government focus on providing fiscal stimulus to middle and low-income people as a short-term solution this year because infrastructure-related work would take time to create jobs.

"The government should extend programs, such as cash transfers or cash for work through labor-intensive projects, that will not disrupt the current- account deficit. Village road construction is an example," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/govt-promises-new-incentives.html

New regulation allows tax holidays of up to 20 years

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2015

The Finance Ministry has issued a new regulation that offers a tax holiday of up to 20 years for companies operating in one of nine specified pioneer sectors, in a bid to attract more investment and spur economic growth.

Issued on Aug. 18, replacing previous regulations on tax holidays, the regulation provides tax breaks for firms operating in Indonesia.

As opposed to the previous one, the new regulation gives a tax holiday for up to 20 years for companies considered to be in strategic sectors for growth stimulation. The old regulations were similar but did not mention the duration of the tax breaks allowed. The new regulation also expands the range of sectors wherein the tax breaks apply from six to nine.

Under the old rules, the tax-holiday facility was available for firms in six pioneer sectors – base metal, oil refinery, basic petrochemicals, machinery, renewable energy and telecommunication equipment – whereas the new rules have added to this list marine transportation, processing industries in special economy zones and joint public/private economic infrastructure.

The new regulation allow tax breaks for up to 100 percent of companies' tax revenue for up to 15 years and extendable for 5 more. This is twice the revenue proportion and five years longer than the old regulations allowed.

Companies entitled to this facility are those with a minimum investment value of Rp 1 trillion (US$71 million), the 2015 regulation states. (ika)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/25/new-regulation-allows-tax-holidays-20-years.html

Analysis & opinion

Alcohol industry terrified as political process for prohibition advances

Jakarta Post - August 31, 2015

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – Publicly listed PT Multi Bintang Indonesia, the country's largest brewery, has put on hold its US$42 million plant expansion projects in East Java after the ban on alcohol sales slapped on minimarts by the Trade Ministry in April slashed its sales by 40 percent and its profits by 47 percent in the first half.

Yet the worst may be yet to befall the alcohol industry as a draft bill initiated by the House of Representatives will completely ban the production, distribution, sale and consumption of alcohol in the Muslim- majority country.

Under the draft bill, anyone found to be distributing or producing alcoholic drinks containing more than 1 percent alcohol could face between two and 10 years in prison, or a fine of up to Rp 1 billion ($77,000). Those caught consuming alcohol could face jail time of between three months and two years or fines of up to Rp 500 million.

The political process for ushering in prohibition in the world's largest archipelagic country started in April after the House's Legislation Body approved the bill as a House initiative and put it among the 37 priority bills for deliberation during its current sitting period.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who received the draft bill in July, instead of turning it down entirely, decided to continue the legislation process by assigning the Trade Ministry as the coordinator in charge of preparing the government's stance on the bill.

Informed sources at the Trade Ministry said the President may submit to the House the government's views on the bill sometime next month to make it a fully fledged draft law for further deliberation at the House.

The alcohol industry is horrified by the extremely radical bill, not only because of its economic and social impacts but, more worrisome, by the acutely inadequate institutional capacity of the government to fully and fairly enforce such a draconian law.

The alcoholic drinks association grouped under APMBI has said it fully supports the initiative of the government and the House to make a comprehensive law to control the production, importation, distribution and consumption of alcohol in the country.

But such a comprehensive law should also be designed to protect the right of consumers, including tourists, to consume alcohol in a responsible manner based on a set minimum age, APMBI secretary-general Kwendy Alexander noted.

"But totally banning the production, distribution and consumption of alcohol drinks, which even now are already controlled by 36 government regulations and 147 regional bylaws, could cause a set of new, even more damaging impacts," Alexander pointed out.

Many analysts share Alexander's view, arguing that prohibition would only force the industry to go underground. If this happens the government would lose excise duty revenues and, yet more alarming, there would be a proliferation of bootleg liquor production without any health and safety standards.

"We compiled newspaper reports showing that between last December and May alone, almost 160 people died after drinking bootleg alcohol and hundreds of others were made totally or almost blind," he added.

According to the association's estimate, total prohibition would cause the government to lose Rp 6 trillion in excise duties and result in the laying off of 180,000 workers. Thousands of other workers along the supply chain of the industry would become jobless.

A preliminary study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies concluded that a total ban would cause revenue losses of Rp 22 trillion in the whole sector or 0.11 percent of gross domestic product, in addition to Rp 6 trillion losses in excise duty receipts (based on the government target as set in the 2015 state budget). Yet more damaging is the devastating impact that prohibition would inflict on the tourist industry at a time when the government is stepping up its efforts to woo more tourists by granting visa-free facilities to visitors from 30 more countries in a concerted bid to improve the current account balance.

Put simply, a total ban would boil down to the government shooting itself in the foot.

Given the potentially extensive damage, the association and many political analysts are confident that the final bill that will be deliberated at the House will be centered on a more effective framework of controlling the production, distribution and consumption of alcoholic drinks.

The ASEAN economic ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur last week also decided to maintain alcohol on the General Exception (GE) List. The GE list includes products that are permanently excluded from the free trade area for reasons of protection of national security, public morality, animal and plant life, health and items of artistic, historic and archaeological value.

Some political analysts estimate that the initial sponsors of the draft bill – the Islamic-based United Development Party (PPP) and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – may not be strong enough to push through a total ban as the basic philosophy of the final bill. Moreover, six of the 10 political factions at the House are secular parties.

However the controlling framework is eventually strengthened under a new law, one of the most important points is to ensure that liquor remains subject to punitively high excise. Hence, the trade and finance ministries should design an importation and distribution system that is easy to oversee, yet effective in controlling liquor sales to the targeted market niche – foreign visitors and residents.

Liquor drinking has now increasingly become part of a modern way of life. And as our economy has become intensively globalized and our country more popular as a tourist destination, we will inevitably be host to an increasingly large number of foreigners.

[The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/31/commentary-alcohol-industry-terrified-political-process-prohibition-advances.html

Defending Indonesia's fragile Media Freedom

Jakarta Globe - August 31, 2015

On Aug. 26, President Joko Widodo revoked a new regulation that would have imposed onerous restrictions on foreign media in Indonesia. Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo subsequently apologized to the president for the "confusion" created by the now-canceled regulation.

The proposed regulation was all the more puzzling given Joko's announcement on May 10 that lifted the restrictions on access to Papua for accredited foreign correspondents. The willingness of some senior officials to even consider such measures is an alarming indicator of the disregard for media freedom among some elements of Joko's government.

The regulation would have required foreign journalists to get permission from local authorities as well as the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) before doing any reporting in the country. The Home Ministry's director general of political and general administration, Soedarmo, justified the rule as a means "to monitor all activities of foreign journalists in Indonesia." The officials behind the rule went so far as to envision a new Foreign Ministry-supervised "Coordination Team of Foreigners Visitation taskforce" staffed by BIN and National Police personnel to vet the reporting plans of foreign journalists.

The proposed regulation was more than just a sinister throwback to the authoritarian media restrictions of the Suharto dictatorship, which collapsed in 1998 after three decades in power. The Indonesian nongovernmental media freedom group Independent Alliance of Journalists (AJI) rightly recognized the rule as an effort to extend nationwide a longstanding restriction on foreign media reporting that previously applied only to the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

For more than three decades, accredited foreign media seeking to travel to Papua have had to apply for that access through a Ministry of Foreign Affairs-supervised interagency "Clearing House" that included representatives of the National Police and BIN. The agency served as a strict gatekeeper by either failing to approve applications for Papua access – placing journalists in a bureaucratic limbo – or routinely denying the applications outright. On June 17, the Foreign Ministry announced that it had abolished the "Clearing House" in line with Joko's May 10 directive. But the proposed "Coordination Team of Foreigners Visitation taskforce" suggests that elements within the government want the "Clearing House" revived and expanded.

This shouldn't come as a surprise. Joko's move to lift access restrictions for foreign journalists has evoked deep hostility among some government and security forces officials who reflexively equate foreign journalists with spies. The day after Joko's announcement, the then-coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, insisted that foreign correspondents would continue to need special access permits to Papua and that the government would continue to "screen" foreign journalists seeking that access.

On May 12, the National Police spokesman, Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto, asserted that the government would continue to restrict foreign correspondents' Papua access through an entry permit system. Agus said there was a need to maintain foreign media access restrictions to Papua to prevent foreign media from talking to "people who opposed the government" as well as to block the access of "terrorists" who might pretend to be journalists to travel to Papua.

On May 19, the then-commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), Gen. Moeldoko, stated that foreign media would continue to require Papua access permits from the Foreign Affairs Ministry's interagency Clearing House. Moeldoko warned that the Indonesian government would expel any foreign journalists whose Papua reporting was perceived by the government to "undermine our government and state" or whose reports "contain defamation that triggers unrest."

On May 26, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu warned that foreign media access to Papua was conditional on an obligation to produce "good reports." Ryamizard didn't precisely define "good reports," but he explicitly equated foreign journalists' negative Papua reporting with "sedition" and threatened expulsion for any foreign journalist whose reporting displeases the government.

These attitudes reflect the uphill battle the president faces in trying to restrain the censorship reflexes of elements of the government and security forces who want not only to maintain their foreign media chokehold on access to Papua, but to make it a template for all of Indonesia. Joko deserves credit for defying them by opposing policies that restrict freedom of expression. But it's clear that he will need to remain vigilant in ensuring that all elements of his government and the security forces respect, not restrict, media freedom in Papua and beyond.

[Phelim Kine is the deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.]

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/commentary-defending-indonesias-fragile-media-freedom/

Jokowi and the foreign press

Jakarta Post Editorial - August 28, 2015

Back in May both national and international media greeted President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's decision to lift decades-long restrictions on foreign media access in Papua, calling the move a step in the right direction toward Indonesia's full commitment to press freedom.

But only a few weeks later what was thought to be a promising initiative had already led to disappointment as then chief security minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno said the government would maintain its "clearance house" team that scrutinized the visits of foreign journalists to Papua.

Without giving clarification, let alone denial, concerning his minister's archaic approach, the President left room for speculation that he was not actually in command, or that he simply did not care if his directive had fallen on deaf ears.

Now his subordinates are moving to widen restrictions of foreign journalists. Not only in Papua, but in all parts of the country foreign media, both print and electronic, will have to secure permission from local governments before conducting reportage.

Director General of Political and General Administration at the Ministry of Home Affairs Soedarmo said on Wednesday the new regulation followed an agreement among ministries and state institutions responsible for monitoring foreigners that it was important to keep an eye on all activities of foreign journalists in the country.

In an effort to clarify the issue, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said on Thursday the new regulation was needed to prevent foreign journalists from conducting intelligence activities. His explanation, however, will only raise more eyebrows, unless there is a precedent for the regulation.

It seems suspicion is behind the policy and if that is the case the government could take aim at all foreigners. Another possible motive is the government's discontent with foreign media reports, which naturally describe Indonesia from an outsider's point of view.

Whatever the reasons behind the new regulation, it has already cast doubt over this government's respect for press freedom. The government's plan to tighten its control of foreign media marks a setback for Indonesian democracy, where the press has been recognized as the fourth estate that completes the executive, legislative and judiciary powers to make democracy function well.

The press knows no borders. Local and foreign journalists are doing the same job of ensuring the public's right to know is fulfilled and bound by the same code of conduct. They are only different in terms of nationality.

It is indeed beyond our imagination if Jokowi, dubbed a media darling during the presidential race and after his rise to power, will have the heart to stifle the press, especially foreign journalists. But the drafting of the new regulation to monitor foreign media serves as more proof of the gap in attitudes between him and his subordinates in dealing with the press.

We don't think Jokowi has forgotten his own words while visiting the country's easternmost region Merauke in May that "foreign journalists, as of today, are allowed to enter Papua as freely as they enter other provinces". We only demand that he realize his promise.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/28/editorial-jokowi-and-foreign-press.html

To improve peace process in Aceh, return to sanity

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2015

M. Nur Djuli, Banda Aceh, Aceh – "Bintang Bulan warnai HUT MoU" (The star and crescent moon color the MoU anniversary celebrations) screamed the front-page banner of Serambi Indonesia, the only daily in Aceh, on Aug. 16. The subtitles were "Gunshot prevents flag raising in front of Aceh Legislative Council" and "Success in Lhok Seumawe".

On Aug. 15, Aceh celebrated the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), ending the three-decade long bloody conflict that had killed between 20,000 to 30,000 Acehnese civilians, thousands of combatants on both sides and caused uncountable damage to public infrastructure and private property.

Like the entire nation, Aceh also celebrated the 70th anniversary of national Independence Day. The local elections are 18 months away but campaigning salvos have already been fired.

Governor Zaini Abdullah and his deputy Muzakkir Manaf, both former top political and military GAM leaders, are in open conflict among candidates for governor, while former GAM "defense minister" Zakaria Saman has also declared his intention to run, planting a giant red-and-white national flag on top of the Halimon mountain peak, where the late and most venerated T. Hasan di Tiro had "re-proclaimed" Aceh's independence on the site, thus considered sacred by GAM.

The Serambi headline reports referred to an attempt by students of the local State Islamic University (UIN) Ar-Raniry, to raise the star and crescent moon flag which for the Acehnese is the Aceh flag as mandated by the Helsinki peace accord, but for the military and police remains a symbol of the "separatist" GAM struggle to secede from the unitary republic.

The "success in Lhok Seumawe" subtitle referred to the incident-free hoisting of the flag in front of the local legislative assembly building in the North Aceh capital by members of the Aceh Party (PA), the local party dominated by former GAM leaders that controls Aceh's executive and legislative branches.

Abdullah Saleh, chairman of the council's Commission I on law, politics and governance, also from the PA, forcefully tied the flag around the neck of Hamid Zain, the council secretary, last May when Zain forbade Saleh from raising it on the second flagpole next to the national flag – as security personnel just looked on.

One cannot fail to see the contrast with the warning shot fired to disperse the students. Sneering comments deluded social media, noting how police and the military dared only to abuse the helpless "little people" and wouldn't dare do anything against the powerful PA officionados.

The news from Aceh during the last few years has almost always been negative, especially when it touched on the so-called sharia that suggests Aceh is ripe to explode again into a new conflict, one that serves as a new center of Islamic radicalism. Ridiculously overblown reports are those of provincial or city rules of curfews, or that women cannot go out of the house without being accompanied by a male relative, cannot ride astride a motorcycle or cannot wear jeans.

Last year, the sadistic murders of two soldiers in what Vice President Jusuf Kalla stated was intelligence gathering work on drugs by the military intelligence services, purely a criminal case, prompted none other than Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, once Army chief of staff, to declare immediately without any investigation that it was perpetrated by ex-GAM combatants and that he was ready to re-impose the military operations in Aceh known as the military operations area (DOM) of 1989-1998, marked with massacres and unbridled military brutality against civilians.

The cycles of misleading reports and overreactions by high officials give the picture of Aceh as a "no-go" area for outsiders. Major international news networks are quick to quote without double-checking their facts.

Yet a first time visitor to Aceh would be puzzled: "Post-conflict? What conflict?" The picture of daily life in Banda Aceh, the capital of this supposedly self-governing region but which is for all intents and purposes still referred to by the central government as a province, is of a vibrant society very far removed from conflict.

Its roads are clogged with new cars, thousands of motorcyclists racing dangerously on well-paved streets and endless construction projects, coffee shops open 24/7 and overcrowded new malls. Tabloids are full of reports of lawmakers having hanky-panky relationships with colleagues' wives, corruption, demonstrations – all showing Aceh is clearly following in the national footsteps with gusto.

Indeed, Aceh is bedecked with contradictions, unpredictability and uncertainties. But alas, Jakarta still considers it fit to impose a special cultural visa for those who want to conduct research or attend conferences. Aceh, for Jakarta, is still a conflict area not much different from Papua.

Aceh is passing through a dangerous phase of post-conflict transition that is running for too long without clear planning. Statistics point to the undeniable failure of the local government to move forward with all the money available. Economic growth of 1.65 percent last year was well below the national average of 5.2 percent, the lowest compared to other provinces.

In the last 10 years Aceh's governmental budget has reached more than Rp 100 trillion (US$7.2 billion), including the "special autonomy" budget of Rp 42 trillion – accorded by Jakarta as a compromise in Helsinki to paying "war reparation" that would imply colonization, for the decades of pillaging Aceh's natural resources, with not very much to show.

The economy is in the doldrums because it depends entirely on government spending without any private investment. When the government is often only capable of spending less than 50 percent of its yearly budget, the market is deprived of cash flow, paralyzing business and industrial activities and increasing unemployment, which last year stood at 8.38 percent.

And when those unemployed include ex-combatants well-trained in violence and group loyalty and "ready to die" discipline, things become really dangerous.

Religious radicalization has crept into Aceh in a gradual but certain way, pushing Aceh's traditionally moderate ulema to the sidelines, with politicians jumping onto the bandwagon to show they are more Islamic than the others.

Misguided autonomy policies far removed from what the clauses of the Helsinki MoU stipulate have enabled ambitious local politicians to come up with ridiculous rulings that shame most sane Acehnese in Aceh and beyond.

So we all know the problems, but what is the solution? Peace in Aceh was achieved through the Helsinki MoU. Those who think that now that GAM is in disarray and thus now is a golden opportunity to roll back the situation to the pre-MoU condition should be condemned severely. The Helsinki MoU is the best thing that has happened to the republic. The government should strive to implement it fully and sincerely and thus prevent the feeling among Acehnese that they were cheated every time they suffer a setback even though it is by their own doing.

There was a time when Indonesians would blame the Dutch colonialism for their own shortcomings. Let's not let the Acehnese fall into this same excuse, especially when it is justified.

[The writer is an independent international consultant on conflict resolution and post-conflict peace management, a former GAM negotiator in Helsinki, a leader of the Aceh National Party (PNA), and was 2011-2012 Weatherhead Fellow for International Affairs, Harvard University.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/24/to-improve-peace-process-aceh-return-sanity.html