Yogyakarta – Four university students continued their hunger strike in front of the Yogyakarta Legislative Council's (DPRD) headquarters, which began earlier this week in protest of the provincial administration's plan to build an airport in Kulon Progo regency, despite it being rejected by local farmers.

The strike began on Monday after hundreds of farmers from Kulon Progo staged a rally at the same venue in response to the Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold a Yogyakarta gubernatorial decree allowing the establishment of an airport in Temon district, Kulon Progo.

"As of today [Friday], no government official or councilor has paid us a visit," said activist Moti Ibrahim, who helped organize the strikes.

Local activists and farmers have claimed that at least 2,800 farmers would lose their jobs should the government build the airport. They also said that the decree violated the National Spatial Planning (RTRW).

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/31/islands-focus-hunger-strike-over-kulon-progo-airport-continues.html

Farmers reject airport development

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2015

Yogyakarta – Hundreds of coastal farmers in Kulonprogo regency, Yogyakarta, staged a rally and hunger strike on Monday, protesting at a plan to develop an airport on their farmland.

Organizing themselves as Wahana Tri Tunggal, 30 of the farmers began their hunger strike on Monday and planned to continue for 15 days.

"We say no to the development of the airport on productive farmland as it will make farmers poor. Forcing the development [of the airport] is a violation of human rights," Wahana Tri Tunggal coordinator Sumartono said.

The farmers, mostly women, also urged Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono to revoke Decree No. 68/Kep. 2015 on the location determination license (IPL) of the airport in Temon district, on Kulonprogo's southern coast, arguing that it was not in accordance with the national spatial planning.

The local government plans to develop the new airport to replace the current Adisucipto International Airport, which is considered no longer capable of accommodating passenger numbers.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/27/islands-focus-farmers-reject-airport-development.html

Artists reject Benoa Bay reclamation project

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2015

Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – Hundreds of people have staged a rally in Denpasar to reject a planned reclamation project in Benoa Bay featuring both traditional and modern performances.

Held in front of the Bali Governor's office on Saturday, poet Wayan Sunarta, more commonly known as Jengki from the Balinese Forum Against Reclamation (ForBali) read out a poem Sajak Seorang Tua di Bawah Pohon (An old people's poem under the tree) by well-known Indonesian poet WS Rendra.

The rally also featured a variety of dance performances, including traditional Jempiring, Cendrawasih, Barong and Topeng (Mask) performed by a variety of groups. Music was provided by the Deep Sea Explorer band.

"After three years, we continue to reject the reclamation plan as the project will only damage Bali's environment," ForBali spokesperson, Suriadi Darmoko, said.

The reclamation project began on December 2012 when Bali Governor granted private investor PT Tirta Wahana Bali Internasional (TWBI) permission to develop and reclaim Benoa Bay as part of an integrated tourist development area. TWBI was granted the right to manage 838 hectares of land in Benoa Bay over a 30-year period with a possible 20-year extension.

The company planned to build luxury tourist facilities, including a Disneyland-like theme park, apartments, hotels, villas, entertainment centers, a hospital and a university campus. The letter that was signed by Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika, however, was revoked by the governor on August 2013 after strong opposition from locals.

The plan, however, was not stopped. In 2014, despite numerous protests, then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued Presidential Regulation No. 51/2014, which once more permitted the reclamation. The regulation addressed spatial planning issues by redesignating Benoa Bay as a business zone, whereas it was previously a designated environmental buffer zone and green-belt area.

Several groups have conveyed their support for the project. "We, the Balinese people, are hoping and waiting for President Jokowi to speed up the approval for the Benoa Bay revitalization based on reclamation," said chairperson of Kita Satu Bali (Our One Bali) joint forum Kadek Agus Ekanata in a press release on Thursday

On Saturday, the protesters demanded President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to revoke Presidential Regulation No. 51/2014.

Suriadi Darmoko, who is also executive director of The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Bali, said that the government should designate Benoa Bay as a conservation area again.

"Rejection of the Benoa Bay plan is still strong. It is not true that Balinese people support the reclamation plan," Suriadi said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/artists-reject-benoa-bay-reclamation-project.html

West Papua

Coordination, dialogue needed in Papua, says LIPI

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2015

Jakarta – The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) expects continued conflict in Papua unless the government takes immediate steps to better coordinate its security forces in the region and hold intensive dialogue with native communities.

The recommendation was made based on an ongoing study conducted by LIPI starting August this year. In the study, LIPI involved representatives from local administrations and civil society groups from 26 districts in Papua.

"President [Joko] Jokowi [Widodo] is more committed than previous leaders to reducing conflicts in Papua and embracing local communities. Unfortunately, he is unable to order bureaucrats in the area to implement his policies," LIPI analyst Adriana Elisabeth said during a discussion in Jakarta.

The study advises Jokowi to instruct security authorities, both the military and the police, to pay closer attention to developments in Papua. LIPI also advises the government to hold dialogues with local administrations and civil society groups to achieve long-term peace.

"That is the best way to win back public trust in the central government; meet people and listen to what they need, what they want," Adriana said. "Papuans don't like the government's way of just coming and giving orders. Papuans wants the government to involve them in policymaking," Adriana said.

Among the most concerning of LIPI's findings is the potential for heightened conflict following the establishment of a new military command in Manokwari, the provincial capital of West Papua.

The government plans to complete the establishment of the new command, which will be called Kodam XVIII/Kasuari and oversee two military regional commands, by the end of this year.

According to LIPI researcher Cahyo Pamungkas, the move may lead to a more repressive security approach by the military, which would further restrict the freedom of the people and fan separatist sentiment, particularly in isolated and border areas.

Cahyo added that the Dec. 9 local elections would likely bring more tension, particularly in Yahukimo, Pegunungan Bintang and Asmat regencies.

Yahukimo, he said, was a remote area accessible only by plane. "It will be hard for the regency to send the voting results quickly, and that could lead to manipulation of the votes," he said.

Cahyo said that the concern in both Pegunungan Bintang and Asmat, which share borders with Papua New Guinea, was the likelihood of candidates bringing people from the other side of the border to cast votes.

"This may lead to conflict among political parties and tribes in the regencies," Cahyo said.

Adriana meanwhile said that there was renewed concern among members of the Pacific region community about the situation in Papua.

The government, she said, had long considered the conflict in Papua as an internal affair and rejected any talk of possible foreign intervention.

However, new developments in the region include the formation of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) in December 2014 by three organizations under the Free Papua Movement (OPM).

The ULMWP coordinates activities and represents the resistance movement in collaboration with external parties. The movement in February officially joined the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), a sub-regional grouping in the Pacific comprising Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.

"If the government wants to prevent Papua from becoming an international issue, it will have to find solutions," Adriana said. (foy)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/31/coordination-dialogue-needed-papua-says-lipi.html

Food estate project may turn Papua into forest fire hotbed

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2015

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – While the annual land and forest fires usually occurr in Sumatra and Kalimantan, a large agricultural project in Merauke, Papua, could turn the eastern part of Indonesia into a new hotbed of fires in the archipelago.

The prediction was based on a latest finding by Greenpeace Southeast Asia, which monitored 112,000 hot spots from Aug. 1 to Oct. 26.

"One of the most worrying things is the fact that 10 percent of the hot spots were found in Papua, the newest agriculture industry development. Fires of such a scale had not happened before in Papua," Greenpeace Indonesia forest political campaigner Teguh Surya said during the launching of the finding on Thursday.

The largest number of hotspots during that period, 25 percent, was detected in Central Kalimantan with 28,368, followed by South Sumatra with 24,406 or 22 percent. Papua came in third with 11,590 or 10 percent.

Papua usually does not suffer from forest fires as the operation of palm oil concessions is still limited in the province.

However, this year marks a turning point of the annual forest fires in Indonesia, with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency's (BMKG) starting to detect hot spots in southern areas of Papua, with 92 spotted in Merauke regency and the remaining 12 in Mappi regency in mid-October.

Flights in several parts of West Papua and Papua provinces, including in Jayapura, Manokwari and Timika, were canceled after visibility dropped to as little as 150 meters in places. Almost 80 percent of the smog in Manokwari is coming from fires in Merauke. The light haze even reached as far as Micronesia.

With the hot spots in Papua concentrated in Merauke, it is easy to see the correlation between the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) program in Papua and the sudden appearance of hot spots in the province, according to another Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner, Yuyun Indradi.

"The connection is clear. If you look at the map, the concentration of the hot spots in Merauke is in the MIFEE area," he said on Thursday.

The number of hot spots in Papua was even bigger than the 2,423 hot spots detected in Riau, which usually held the dishonorable distinction of being the province with the highest number of hot spots in previous years.

While Greenpeace believed that the forest fires in Papua were caused by the project, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said that the fires might be caused by nomadic people.

"If the forests are burned and rain falls after that, grass will grow back and become green and animals will come. It will become hunting ground for nomadic groups. These aspects are being investigated by us," she recently said.

The MIFEE project is expected to cover a 1.2 million hectare area, or a quarter of Merauke. The idea of the MIFEE program was started when Merauke Regent John Gluba Gebze initiated the establishment of the Merauke Integrated Rice Estate (MIRE) in 2007 after former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited and made an appeal to make Merauke a national rice barn.

The program allows up to 49 percent foreign investment in local plantations, but has no requirement for securing a certain amount of the crop for local needs.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/30/food-estate-project-may-turn-papua-forest-fire-hotbed.html

Filmmaker pulls Papua documentary from politically driven festival

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2015

Jakarta – An Indonesian documentary maker has withdrawn her film from the government-funded Melanesian Cultural Festival this week, calling it a "political program" that diverts focus from the real issues facing repressed communities in the country's impoverished east.

Asrida Elisabeth, whose hour-long documentary "Tanah Mama" ("Mama's Soil") was released at the start of the year, said she had raised her objections with the Kalyana Shira Foundation, which funded her project, and they agreed to pull the documentary from screening at the festival in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

Indonesia is hosting the festival this week supposedly as a celebration of the Melanesian people and culture, following its inclusion in June as an "associate member" of the Melanesian Spearhead group, comprising the western Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

Also a full member, but not a recognized state, is an opposition coalition from the French territory of New Caledonia. Jakarta's inclusion as an associate came at the expense of West Papuan separatists whose own bid for membership was sidelined thanks in part to lobbying by Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi.

Asrida said that in light of these developments, she felt the festival was more of a "political and diplomatic program" by the Indonesian government than a cultural celebration, warning that it could "trigger danger identity politics in Papua and elsewhere in eastern Indonesia."

Papua has for decades been wracked by a low-level insurgency against Jakarta's rule. A similar struggle on a smaller scale also continues to simmer in the Malukus, which Jakarta claims is part of the wider Melanesian sphere.

"The people of Papua can see that this [festival] is an attempt at diversion amid efforts to build solidarity in the Pacific region, where the Melanesian identity is the basis for the struggle for respect, protection and empowerment of the Papuan people," Asrida said. "For the people of East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and North Maluku, the Melanesian 'identity' has simply been thrust upon them by the state.

"I don't want my film to be used to complicate this issue, and I don't want it to be screened as though it represents Papua," she added, saying that community groups in Papua had also objected to the planned showing of the film at the festival.

Asrida said her documentary, which chronicles the suffering of a Papuan woman as she struggles to take care of her four children amid grinding rural poverty, was a message to the Indonesian government to focus on the political, economic, social and cultural problems in Papua.

"In this context, to use the film 'Tanah Mama' for the purposes of Melanesian diplomacy would be inappropriate," she said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/filmmaker-pulls-papua-documentary-politically-driven-festival/

Despite military crackdown in Papua, Obama hosts Indonesian president in DC

Democracy Now! - October 27, 2015

On Monday, President Obama met Indonesia's new president, Joko Widodo, at the White House to discuss climate change, trade and strengthening US- Indonesian ties. President Obama described Indonesia as one of the world's largest democracies, but human rights groups paint a different story, citing the military's ongoing repression in West Papua as well as discriminatory laws restricting the rights of religious minorities and women. Indonesia has also been criticized for attempting to silence any discussion about the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Indonesian genocide that left more than 1 million people dead. We speak to John Sifton of Human Rights Watch and journalist Allan Nairn, who has covered Indonesia for decades.

Transcript

Amy Goodman: We begin today's show looking at Indonesia, the world's fourth largest country. On Monday, President Obama met at the White House with Indonesia's new president, Joko Widodo, who is also known as Jokowi, to discuss climate change, trade and strengthening US-Indonesian ties.

President Barack Obama: Our partnership is very much in the interests of the United States, given Indonesia's large population, its leadership in the region, its democratic traditions, the fact that it is a large Muslim country with a tradition of tolerance and moderation, and its role in trade and commerce and economic development.

Amy Goodman: During his visit to the White House, Indonesian President Jokowi announced Indonesia intends to join the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the United States has forged with 11 other nations.

President Joko Widodo [translated]: Indonesia is an open economy. And with the 250 million population, we are the largest economy in Southeast Asia. And Indonesia intends to join the TPP.

Amy Goodman: Indonesian President Jokowi was planning to head next to the West Coast but has decided to cut his US trip short due to raging fires that have resulted in haze and toxic fumes covering much of Indonesia, as well as parts of Malaysia and Singapore-many of the fires illegally set in order to clear land for palm oil and paper plantations. The fires have been described as one of the biggest environmental crimes of the 21st century. According to the World Resource Institute, since September the fires have generated more carbon emissions than the entire US economy.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's human rights record is also coming under criticism. On Monday, President Obama described Indonesia as one of the world's largest democracies, but human rights groups paint a different story, citing the military's ongoing repression in West Papua as well as discriminatory laws restricting the rights of religious minorities and women. Indonesia has also been criticized for attempting to silence any discussion about the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Indonesian genocide that left more than a million people dead. Last week, Indonesia's largest writers festival, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, was forced to cancel a series of events tied to the anniversary of the massacre, including a screening of Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary, The Look of Silence.

To talk more about Indonesia, we're joined by two guests. In Washington, John Sifton is with us, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch. His new book is titled "Violence All Around". Allan Nairn is also with us, journalist and activist who's been reporting on Indonesia for decades. He's joining us from Guatemala City.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! John Sifton, in this meeting that Jokowi is having, the Indonesian president is having, with President Obama, can you talk about the issues you feel President Obama needs to raise with the Indonesian president?

John Sifton: Well, it's too late now, and President Obama already used the cliched term of Indonesia as a tolerant Muslim democracy. We had hoped he would have talked about how Indonesia is going astray. It's losing some of its tolerant qualities and principles, and starting to give too much power to Sunni extremist groups, which want to basically make Indonesia a place that's unfriendly to Shia, to Christians, to Baha'i, to secularists and to women.

Amy Goodman: You consulted with the State Department, is that right, on this visit? What did you tell them?

John Sifton: Of course. Whenever there's a world visit, you know, we talk to the State Department and to the White House. And in this instance, we said, "Please avoid this cliche." Unfortunately, President Obama didn't. But did he raise issues of human rights behind the scenes in his bilateral meetings with President Jokowi? I'd like to hope so. He has expressed interest in the Papua issue in the east, a very problematic situation in the east which has been going on for years. In the past he's raised that issue, and I would have hoped he would do so again.

But really, the more existential threat to Indonesia right now is this growing religious intolerance toward Sunnis – I mean, excuse me, toward Shia, towards Christians, towards others who are not Sunni extremists. It's not really, you know, part of the Indonesian society, but there are fringe groups which are pushing this agenda and have exercised the heckler's veto.

The worst problem, though, is the onerous new restrictions that are being placed on women at the local level, all kinds of little laws restricting their movements at night, making sure they have to wear a hijab, wear skirts of a certain length, prohibiting them from riding motorcycles, or, rather, straddling motorcycles – they can sit sideways, but not forwards. These little laws have a cumulative impact that are incredibly derogatory and discriminatory towards women and girls.

Amy Goodman: Allan Nairn, can you talk about the significance of President Widodo's visit to the United States? John Sifton just mentioned West Papua. And if you can place it, especially for viewers and listeners in the United States who may know very little about the Indonesian archipelago?

Allan Nairn: West Papua is on the eastern end of the archipelago, and it's legally, in the eyes of the UN, considered part of Indonesia. But the Indonesian government – the army, the police, the intelligence – treat it as if it's an occupied foreign land. They shoot demonstrators. They arrest anyone who speaks for independence or against the army, who raises a Papuan flag. A few years ago, I released a series of internal documents from Kopassus, the US-trained special forces, which showed that they had a massive network of intelligence informants, modeled on that that Israel uses in the West Bank, and there's this ongoing terror in Papua.

President Jokowi has indicated that he would like to pull back on a lot of this army and police and intel repression in Papua, but the security forces have resisted them – resisted him, and he has not been brave enough to overrule them. Obama could have, with one word, facilitated the pullout of the repression from Papua by saying that the US would cut off all military aid unless they stop the terror in Papua. By doing that, he could have strengthened the hand of Jokowi and others in the government, because the government is divided on this, who want to rein in the army and the police. But apparently, Obama didn't do that. The US has always maintained a separate channel to the army, from the days of the Suharto dictatorship, and even before, when the US was trying to overthrow the founding president, Sukarno. And that strengthens the hand of the army – and the CIA works with the police – against an elected civilian president like Jokowi. It previously happened with Gus Dur, who was a Muslim cleric, a reformist president, who was undermined and, in effect, ousted by the army. And one of the key sources of army power is the fact that they had their separate channel to Washington. In fact, as Jokowi was meeting with Obama, Ash Carter, the secretary of defense, was welcoming General Ryamizard, the defense minister of Indonesia, who is the chief ideologist in favor of killing civilians. He said, previously, that anyone who dislikes the army is a legitimate target for killing. Reacting to a massacre of civilians, of children, in Aceh a number of years ago, he joked about it and said, "Well, children can be dangerous, too."

In terms of the religious intolerance, there is indeed a trend toward religious intolerance in Indonesia, as there is in Europe and the United States in this moment since the 9/11 attack, and then the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq had set in spiral a series of events. And the main backer, the main outside backer, of this religious intolerance in Indonesia is Saudi Arabia. They're going into the local mosques, spreading around a great deal of money, pushing this intolerant ideology. And also, I've seen, just talking to people over the past couple years, that one of the main things that gives credibility to a lot of these Saudi-funded extremists who go around urging people to abandon the Indonesian tradition of tolerance is when they see in the news the news of the Obama drone attacks against various Muslim countries and things like the Israeli invasion of Gaza. If Jokowi had stood up and said privately and publicly to Obama, "The US should stop this, the US should stop arming Israel," that would have been consistent with a lot of the pro-Palestinian rhetoric, hypocritical rhetoric, that one sees from politicians inside Indonesia. And it also would have had real impact, because the US always likes to claim that the moderate Muslim nations are with Washington. Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation in the world. Usually, when the US says "moderate Muslim nations," they mean radical dictatorships like Saudi Arabia. Indonesia isn't like that, though. Indonesia is a quasi-democracy like the United States, and if Jokowi had spoken out in that way, it would have had a huge impact.

Also, there are other major issues on the table between Jokowi and Obama, Indonesia and the US. One is Freeport-McMoRan, the massive mining corporation, based largely in West Papua, which extracts huge amounts of gold and copper. They pay bribes to the Indonesian army and officials to be able to do that. They spoil the rivers. Many of the rivers there turn colors never seen in nature. They cut off the mountains. And the local Papuan population surrounding the mines often live with hunger and lack of clean water. The Freeport contract is up for renewal. There's a big battle going on within the Indonesian government as to whether it will be renewed or whether Indonesia will take over the mine itself, as it has the technical capacity to do. But the US and Obama have been pushing Indonesia to, yes, extend this contract. The US has for years backed the repression in Papua in large part because of Freeport. The previous leader of Freeport, Jim Bob Moffett, used to be a golfing partner of the dictator, Suharto. Accounting records leaked would show that Freeport was paying massive bribes to the Kopassus special forces to repress the local population. Last year, I interviewed a former senior Indonesian official who told me that he had received two personal checks from Freeport worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars as bribes, although he said to me he didn't cash the checks. This is a violation of local Indonesian law and also the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, but neither the Indonesian or US governments have dared to move against Freeport to try to stop this type of corruption. But this contract is on the table, and Indonesia could change things drastically by not renewing it, but Obama and the US is twisting their arm to continue to give Freeport free rein in West Papua.

Source: http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/27/despite_military_crackdown_in_papua_other

Papuans upset over lack of input on Indonesian mining deal

UCA News - October 26, 2015

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Government leaders and activists in Indonesia's Papua province said talks on extending the contract of the US-based PT Freeport McMoRan mining company ignored input from the local community.

Executives of the company, which has operated in Papua since the 1960s, met Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Oct. 26, with the president expected to sign the extension while visiting the United States later in the week.

The company's gold and copper mining operations are Indonesia's largest revenue generator.

Papuan leaders said local people were kept out of mine negotiations, while the government also ignored the negative environmental impact mining has had on the region.

Lamadi de Lamato, spokesman for Papuan Gov. Lukas Enembe, told ucanews.com on Oct. 23 that the provincial government was also kept out of mine discussions.

"We're so confused. Freeport actually is in Papua, but we were not invited to speak on this renewal plan. Our voice barely received attention," he said.

Father Neles Tebay, coordinator of the Papuan Peace Network, called for the contract to be suspended, due to the fact that local residents were not involved in the negotiations.

"People in Papua, which has rights to the land, are not involved. Papuans, especially the Amugme tribe... feel that they are treated unfairly," he said.

Father Tebay said Papuans might support the mine if Freeport would reinvest in the local community. "Papuans are still poor and PT Freeport seeks economic gain. They need a plan that provides economic benefits to Papua," he said.

Meanwhile, Victor Yeimo of the West Papua National Committee says there should be no contract extension.

"The people of Papua have long swallowed the bitter pill of this company's presence," he said. "Trillions in money has been taken out, however the people of the area are destitute. Residents who scavenge for gold waste are shot," he said.

Father John Djonga, an activist priest, called on Widodo to stand up to the mining company and protect the rights of the indigenous communities. "Do not let Freeport govern the country," he said.

Widodo's chief of staff Teten Masduki indicated in a recent statement that the extension would be approved; the Indonesian national budget depended on revenues from the Freeport deal, he said in a report aired by CNN Indonesia.

Freeport also was seeking to expand its copper operations by building a second US$2 billion copper smelting facility.

Abednego Tarigan, executive director of the Indonesia Forum for the Environment, in a July 29 Jakarta Post op-ed said the environmental damage caused by the mining company "should be addressed before any decision to extend Freeport's contract is considered."

"The Indonesian government always bows to pressure in matters of environmental responsibility," Tarigan said.

Source: http://www.ucanews.com/news/papuans-upset-over-lack-of-input-on-indonesian-mining-deal/74497

Melanesian brotherhood proposed by Jakarta to serve political interests

Tabloid JUBI - October 26, 2015

Jayapura, Jubi – Papua Governor Lukas Enembe said the Indonesian Government's proposal to establish the Indonesian Melanesian Brotherhood, which is marked with the signing of declaration in Ambon in the early October, was only a political ploy.

"Melanesian Brotherhood signed in Ambon is part of political interests. I wasn't there as well as some of other governors," Enembe told Jubi at his resident last week. Neither governors of North Maluku or West Papua attended the signing of the declaration.

Although he asked the former Papua Vice Governor who also has acted as Acting Papua Governor to represent him in the signing of declaration, but he explained he's actually not interested with the government's gimmick to counter the Melanesian Spearhead Group issue.

Declaring the Indonesian Melanesian Brotherhood, according to him, is not what's people expected to answer the Papua issue. "This group (Indonesian Melanesian Brotherhood) is full of political interest," said Enembe.

He believes, as the Indonesian Government's representative in Papua, he had no authority to speak about the foreign affairs. "I am the representative of Indonesian Government in Papua. So I don't have any interest to speak about politic or the international affairs as well because I have no right to talk about it. MSG is the Jakarta's concern, not mine. I don't see this problem should involve the five provinces. Jakarta should tackle this issue on behalf of us. So it shouldn't involve us," said the Governor Enembe.

Constan Karma who represented the Papua Governor in the declaration of Melanesian Brotherhood said the declaration had connection with the political interest to accommodate the domestic interest in the Eastern Indonesia since people in the five provinces are part of Melanesian race.

"The political agreement like this is excellent and important because it's built to maintain the togetherness and brotherhood from Melanesia and Indonesia," he said.

He added this agreement is important because it becomes a mediator or unifier in connecting the political connection of five provinces, which have different custom and culture.

Since the United Liberation Movement of West Papua was accepted as the observer in MSG and Indonesia was accepted as association member in last June, the Indonesian Government in Jakarta increasing its political gimmick to legitimate a claim of eleven million Melanesian live in Indonesia.

In addition to declaring the Melanesian Brotherhood, the Indonesian Government also planned the Melanesian Arts and Culture Festival and Melanesian Culture Study Center. (Victor Mambor/rom)

Source: http://tabloidjubi.com/eng/?p=6481

Aceh

In Indonesia, minorities under threat from Muslim hard-liners

Reuters - October 29, 2015

Aceh Singkil – When a mob of Muslims swooped on a little church deep in rural Aceh in Indonesia this month, the local police were nowhere to be seen, although they had received warnings of a possible attack.

When they did arrive, the police were mostly unarmed and outnumbered by hundreds of activists from the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) group and others who burned the rickety church down.

The FPI made no apology for the incident, saying authorities had ignored repeated complaints about churches and makeshift altars that have popped up without permits in Aceh Singkil, a district in the most conservative province of this Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation.

In the wake of the attack, authorities gave in to the FPI's demands, and used sledgehammers and axes to demolish 10 other churches in the area that lacked proper permits. The National Police chief later said intelligence reports that such an attack was being planned had been received.

The raid, and the aftermath, reflect an increasingly militant attitude toward other faiths in Aceh, where shariah law now requires non-Muslims to abide by rules forbidding extramarital sex, homosexual relationships and public displays of affection.

Analysts say the FPI and similar hard-line groups, emboldened by government inaction, are using legal pretexts to undermine Christians, Hindus and smaller Islamic sects.

"These churches have been mushrooming here for years and the Christians are violating laws because they don't have permits," said Muslim Al Thahiry, the chief of the FPI's Aceh chapter.

"If the police or the government don't do anything about it, then don't blame the Muslims for getting emotional and responding. Islam shouldn't have to be a guest in its own home."

Residents of Aceh Singkil say the number of non-Muslims there has swelled in recent years because of migrants from neighboring North Sumatra, where Christians make up a third of the population, looking for work in oil palm plantations.

Census data show the Christian community in Aceh Singkil has nearly doubled from about 6,500 at the turn of the century, when they made up 6 percent of the population. Today, over 11 percent is Christian, although the overall population of the district has remained static at about 100,000.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin acknowledged in an interview with Reuters that the future of Indonesia's minorities could be "fragile" and said the Aceh attack underlined a need for better law enforcement.

"These conflicts should be resolved with dialogue... and without causing losses to any side, by which we mean everybody's rights should be upheld," he said.

Petrol bombs and bamboo sticks

But all dialogue was "forgotten," said one Christian woman who watched as dozens of people were driven from the ill-fated church with petrol bombs and sharpened bamboo sticks.

At least one of the attackers was found dead with a gunshot wound, but it was not clear who killed him. Thousands of Christians in the area fled, and about 1,000 military and police troops later went in to secure the area.

Local residents say that, for generations, Muslims and Christians have lived peacefully in Aceh Singkil and that interfaith marriages and conversions are not unusual.

"I'm not disturbed by the churches. Their religion is their business and we respect that," said 34-year-old Muslim Nurmalashe as she bought lemons from a Christian neighbor to whom she offered refuge during the attack.

But radical Muslims complain that 27 churches and altars have been erected "illegally" in the area over the years. Local government documents seen by Reuters list 11 Christian structures that were built since 2012, all but perhaps one of which have now been torn down.

The FPI has protested, at times violently, around the country since its creation in 1999: against mosques belonging to the Ahmadiyah sect of Islam, religious events marked by the minority Shiite Muslim community, and even against the capital Jakarta's Christian governor.

With a membership of seven million, the FPI is small compared with Indonesia's biggest Islamic group, the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama, which has about six times as many members.

But Ian Wilson of Murdoch University, who tracks the FPI, says the government's failure to rein in radical Islam leaves religious minorities vulnerable and undermines Indonesia's transition to democracy after decades of authoritarian rule.

"But nobody is willing to stand up to it because of the political risk of being branded anti-Islam," he said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesia-minorities-threat-muslim-hard-liners/

Government is absent in preventing conflict in Aceh Singkil, experts say

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2015

Erika Anindita, Jakarta – The government was absent in the Aceh Singkil incident after it failed to accommodate the wave of protests that lead to an incident that claimed one life and caused thousands of people flee their homes after a church was burned down, experts said on Monday.

Fajri Alihar, senior researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that the incident was not related to ethnic and religious intolerance. Fajri said that the interrelations among societies in the regency was harmonious.

"The situation was ruined because the regency administration was absent in handling the waves of protests against the churches they claimed were illegal. Religion is not a source of conflict," Fajri said in a discussion entitled "Understanding Singkil: Politics Demography and the Relations of Ethnicity and Religion" on Monday.

One person died and four were injured after hundreds of people protested and tried to tear down a church on Oct. 13. At least 7,000 have left Singkil to find shelter in several areas in North Sumatra.

Several mass organizations protested to the Singkil regency demanding 21 churches be torn down in early October claiming that they lack proper permits. However, the regency planned to tear down 10 churches on Oct. 19. The masses then decided to do the tearing down themselves and attacked the areas where congregations were standing on guard.

Penrad Siagian, executive secretary at the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) criticizes the 1979 agreements on religious houses that was often cited as a defense by regency officials. The officials also issued another policy in 2006, which limited minorities in practicing their beliefs.

"The State is the source of conflict. I don't see the importance of their presence, even after they were involved, there was no change in the decision," Penrad said referring to churches being demolished by Public Order Agency (Satpol PP).

Nine churches were torn down by the Singkil regency on Oct. 24, newsportal tempo.co reported on Saturday based on the agreement to tear down 10 illegal churches signed by Aceh's local consultative forum, or Muspida.

National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti had dismissed Aceh Singkil police chief Adj. Sr. Cmr. Budi Samekto last week over negligence as he was deemed to have failed in securing the Singkil area from the conflict. The police named 10 suspects for the case including the instigator of the action.

Separately, Legal and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly claimed that the government had managed the issue properly in such a short time. "Please don't trigger new insecurities," he told reporters in the parliament complex.(rin)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/government-absent-preventing-conflict-aceh-singkil-experts-say.html

Indonesia urged to repeal Aceh's new Islamic criminal code

Jakarta Globe - October 24, 2015

Jakarta – Rights group Amnesty International has called on Indonesian authorities to immediately repeal Aceh's Islamic Criminal Code, which came into effect on Friday, arguing that punishing people for having consensual sex is "despicable."

The new criminal code in the country's westernmost province, also known as Qanun Jinayat, allows for people who engage in consensual sexual relationships outside marriage, or in same-sex relationships, to receive up to 30 or 100 lashes, respectively.

"To punish anyone who has had consensual sex with up to 100 lashes is despicable," Josef Benedict, Amnesty International's campaigns director for Southeast Asia, said in a press statement.

"The use of caning as a punishment constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and may amount to torture," he added. "Injuries sustained from such monstrous physical abuse may well lead to permanent physical injuries, to say nothing of the psychological consequences of being systematically beaten. This is a flagrant violation of human rights and must be repealed immediately."

Aceh recently made headlines when a mob of hard-line Muslims burned down a Protestant church in the province's Aceh Singkil district. A local police chief was dismissed for failing to prevent the attack.

Amnesty in the statement also expressed its concern over new requirements for women reporting rape under Aceh's new criminal code, which also applies to non-Muslims.

"Rape victims must produce evidence of having been raped when filing a complaint. If the authorities deem the evidence is insufficient, the alleged perpetrator can evade punishment merely by taking an oath to assert their innocence," the rights group said. "Women will also be less likely to report rapes, as the new bylaw introduces punishments, including flogging, a fine and the possibility of up to 30 months in prison for making 'false' accusations."

"This creates unacceptable hurdles for investigating and prosecuting rape and other sexual violence, hindering victims from accessing justice and potentially deterring them from reporting rapes in the first place," Benedict explained. "This will only further endanger those at threat of sexual violence."

Aceh, the scene of a decades-long separatist struggle until a peace agreement was reached in 2005, has been granted far-reaching autonomy by the central government in Jakarta. This has allowed provincial authorities to implement Shariah provisions in an otherwise officially secular state. Aceh has already been caning people in recent years for various violations of Shariah rules.

M. Jamil Ibrahim, a deputy chairman of the Aceh Shariah Court, was quoted as saying by Tempo.co on Friday that anybody is free file a request for judicial review, but that such an attempt would likely not be successful.

"It is clear that this qanun is not in contradiction with positive law currently in effect in Aceh and it also doesn't violate human rights," he said.

Meanwhile, Banda Aceh Deputy Mayor Zainal Arifin told Tempo.co that the new criminal code was mainly aimed at raising people's consciousness about Shariah "in all aspects of life."

It was approved by the Aceh provincial legislature in late September last year and signed by Aceh Governor Zaini Abdullah on Oct. 23, 2014, to become effective a year later.

Besides sexual relations deemed a violation of Islamic values, the criminal code also prescribes punishments for drinking alcohol and gambling, including lashes, fines and prison terms.

Papang Hidayat, Indonesia researcher for Amnesty, said in a separate press release that the Qanun Jinayat clearly violates the Indonesian Constitution as well as human rights, especially because of its consequences for women.

He added that caning also forms a violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Indonesia ratified in 1998.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesia-urged-repeal-acehs-new-islamic-criminal-code/

1965 mass killings

Communist victims exhumed in Bali to stop spirits disturbing villagers

Sydney Morning Herald - October 31, 2015

Jewel Topsfield and Amilia Rosa, Ubud, Bali – As creeping censorship of politically sensitive issues by Indonesian authorities attracted international opprobrium last week, the bodies of nine victims of the 1965 communist purge were peacefully exhumed in Bali to stop their spirits disturbing the villagers.

The Balinese village of Batuagung has been troubled by a high suicide rate for no apparent reason in recent years and villagers reported paranormal sightings.

"A villager said he was just chatting with another man, but then he noticed the other man's head had fallen off," village head Ida Bagus Komang Widiarta said. "A few times also, students at an elementary school were possessed."

The villagers consulted a Hindu priest and a dukun (shaman), who told them the spirits of nine communists massacred in 1966 and buried in a mass grave under a road in Batuagung were requesting a proper cremation.

"The bodies were not in their proper place according to Hindu belief," Mr Widiarta said. "Therefore the villagers came up with the idea to cleanse the area... from things that happened in the past. There is no political aspect to it, none. We have no prejudices against the victims. We believe our people and we want to cleanse."

Up to 1 million people with suspected leftist leanings were killed throughout Indonesia in 1965 and 1966 in what the CIA described as "one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century".

The tragedy remains highly politically contentious as many of the country's military and religious organisations were implicated in the purge. Indonesian President Joko Widodo rejected the idea of an apology to victims' families on the 50th anniversary this year.

A survivor of the 1965 killings, now a Swedish citizen, was deported in October after reportedly attempting to visit the grave of his father in West Sumatra and a student newspaper from a university in central Java that featured stories on 1965 was recalled.

The national tragedy and Indonesia's failure to reconcile with its past made international headlines this week after the Ubud Writers Festival was forced to cancel sessions related to 1965 and other politically sensitive issues.

It was the first time the festival, billed as south-east Asia's biggest cultural and literary event, had been censored in the 12-year history of the event.

Amnesty International issued a statement raising concerns about continued attempts by Indonesian authorities to silence public discussions and disband events related to serious human rights violations in 1965.

"These actions are a clear restriction of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly and must stop immediately."

While the festival was preoccupied with handwringing over the censorship of the 1965 purge, the remains of nine of its victims were peacefully exhumed and cremated on Thursday in front of more than 200 family members.

The exhumation was attended by Ida Bagus Krenda, 96, who witnessed the men being killed with swords and a wooden log in 1966, and still remembered the site of the graves.

Ida Bagus Ketut Siwa, the head of a sub-village in Batuagung, said the exhumation had been discussed for years.

"There were too many odd occurrences... Like the high rate of suicides, just in our banjar [community] we have 50 suicides by hanging. We can only start openly discussing the burial site after Gus Dur [Abdurrahman Wahid] was president and he cancelled the law that prevented people from discussing it. It was taboo for a long time for anyone to discus it."

Mr Siwa said the spirits of the bodies could return to their resting place now there had been a proper cremation and the ashes thrown to the sea. "Our intention is only to... save the Batuagung village."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/communist-victims-exhumed-in-bali-to-stop-their-spirits-disturbing-villagers-20151031-gknm72.html

Indonesia urged to stop silencing discussion on '1965'

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2015

Jakarta – Amnesty International is calling on the Indonesian government to stop restricting the rights to freedom of expression and assembly with its attempts to silence public discussion about the bloody anti-communist purges of the mid-1960s.

In a press statement, Amnesty expressed its concern about "continued attempts by the Indonesian authorities to silence public discussions, and disband events, related to serious human rights violations that occurred 50 years ago, the most recent at a writers festival in Bali."

"These actions are a clear restriction of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly and must end immediately," the organization said.

The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, which runs until tomorrow, was forced to cancel a number of planned events after "scrutiny" from authorities.

"Three panel sessions dedicated to discussing the 1965 Communist repression and an art exhibition and book launch The Act of Living will no longer be taking place across the Festival period. In addition the film screening of Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence has also been cancelled," organizers said in a statement.

"The Festival has been involved in extensive negotiations with local authorities, but ultimately was advised that should certain sessions proceed, it would run the risk of the entire Festival being cancelled."

Amnesty noted in its statement: "Although Indonesia has seen a marked increase in the space for freedom of speech and expression following the fall of Suharto in 1998, a culture of silence has prevailed in discussing the 1965 mass human rights violations."

It explained: "Victims and survivors of serious human rights abuses have a right to exercise their freedom of expression and discuss the past. In the absence of genuine measures by the government to date to establish the truth, Amnesty International believes that public events and discussions on the 1965 violations such the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Indonesia play an important role in providing such spaces. These events can help victims and their families understand what happened to them, counter misinformation and highlight factors – such as discrimination – that led to the abuses. Such spaces, allow societies to understand why abuses were committed so that they are not repeated."

The human rights organization also called on President Joko Widodo's administration to "face the past and take long overdue measures required to provide the 1965 victims with truth, justice and full reparation," and urged Joko to "make a public call to end to all forms of restrictions against public discussions on 1965 and ensure that the government starts listening to victims and others, instead of suppressing their voices."

Earlier this month, a campus magazine writing about the 1965 massacres had to destroy all printed copies, while authorities in West Sumatra deported a survivor of the 1965 anti-communist purge after he tried to locate his father's mass grave.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/human-rights-news/indonesia-urged-stop-silencing-discussion-1965/

Censorship at Ubud writers' festival proves a creeping menace

Sydney Morning Herald - October 29, 2015

Jewel Topsfield, Ubud, Bali – The censorship of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival has spread from sessions discussing the 1965 anti- communist massacres to other politically sensitive topics on the resort island.

A panel has now been scratched on the controversial reclamation of land in Benoa Bay in southern Bali for a massive luxury development that critics say will devastate the environment.

Also cancelled is the launch of the novel "From now on everything will be different" – a love story set during the post-Suharto reformasi period, decades after 1965.

The highly anticipated ForBALI session, scheduled for Saturday, was a panel on the Benoa Bay reclamation featuring Jerinx, a vocal opponent of the development and a drummer in popular Balinese punk band Superman is Dead.

Critics say the creation of artificial islands in the bay – which could include a theme park, yacht marina, condominiums, a race track and a golf course – will damage the mangrove ecosystem and put local fishermen out of work. "When it's environment versus big business, passion tends to run high," the program says.

Wayan Suardana, a well-known environmentalist, said he was unsure if the police had prohibited the ForBALI session or the organiser voluntarily cancelled it.

"Either way, it shows the authorities or people in power are abusing their power by preventing any event that is critical in nature," he said. "First it was about 1965, now it's about reclamation."

Mr Suardana said ForBALI was a movement based on culture and art and representatives had spoken at many other culture and art festivals: "No problem so far. Then suddenly, now, it's a problem. The people in power do not wish for what ForBALI is doing to be heard by the international world."

Mr Suardana was also critical of the festival's organisers, who he said "lacked the courage" to provide an alternative forum. "They bow to government pressure. So I see it as the government abusing their power and the organiser... has shown no effort to show power."

The Author of "From now on everything will be different", Eliza Vitri Handayani, said she was bewildered that her book launch had been banned and emailed the festival organisers, assuming a mistake had been made.

A review in The Sydney Morning Herald described the book as a "compelling" account of the "constrictions, compromises and disappointments" encountered by a free-spirited photographer and a medical student under the thumb of his conservative mother.

"It's a coming-of-age story about people finding their identity as a nation is trying to find a new identity," Handayani said. "It's a book about freedom, so it's ironic its freedom is being restricted like this." Every day of the festival Handayani will wear a different T-shirt featuring text from pages of her novel.

"I wanted to think of a creative way of circumventing the censorship," she said. "It's expressing your voice but also through your body and what you wear, which is a freedom that is also often restricted in Indonesia."

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival national program manager I Wayan Juniarta said local authorities had advised the festival to drop any events related to 1965 or that contained sensitive issues.

"They advised us ForBALI was an issue of sensitivity because it was a difficult issue for the community in Bali and they asked us to return to the mission of the festival as an art and cultural event," Mr Juniarta said.

He said the festival had sent a PDF of From now on everything will be different to an internal reviewer and asked for a recommendation.

He said a decision was made to hold off on the launch because although it was a work of fiction it contained references to real places in Indonesia and sensitive issues.

Gianyar police chief Farman said the festival organisers had only been asked to adjust the program to feature events connected to culture, art and "Bali tourism progress" in line with their permit application. "We 100 per cent fully support the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival event," he said.

Other cancelled events include three panels on the 1965 anti-communist purge, a screening of the film The Look of Silence by Joshua Oppenheimer, and the launches of several books related to the massacres.

At least 15 of those whose events were cancelled are no longer participating in the festival, including Australian academics Jemma Purdey and Katharine McGregor and writer Putu Oka Sukanto, who was jailed for 10 years for suspected leftist leanings.

Some of the cancelled panel sessions have deliberately not been replaced and the venues left empty as a reminder of the censorship. "It's kind of a tribute for all of us and for freedom of speech," Mr Juniarta said.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/censorship-at-ubud-writers-festival-proves-a-creeping-menace-20151029-gkm67d.html

Komnas HAM investigates ban on student magazine

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2015

Suherdjoko, Semarang – National Commission on Human Rights' (Komnas HAM) deputy chairperson Roichatul Aswidah visited Salatiga, Central Java, on Friday to collect information regarding a ban on a student magazine for publishing reports on the massacre of alleged members of the defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1965.

During her visit, Roichatul met with the rector of Satya Wacana Christian University (UKSW) and the Salatiga mayor, as well as with the local police and military commands.

The chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists' (AJI) Semarang branch, Rofiuddin, who met with Roichatul, said that the rights body worked independently in collecting information about the ban of the Lentera magazine published by UKSW's School of Social and Communication Sciences' student publishing institution (LPM).

"We hope Komnas HAM will convey the information they collect to the public along with its recommendations. We consider the ban was a violation against human rights," Rofiuddin said on Sunday. As of Sunday Roichatul was not available for comment.

Rofiuddin said the AJI defended Lentera's editorial staff, contending they had not violated any administrative matters. Distribution outside the campus, he said, was also unavoidable because all publications today could be read by anyone anywhere.

He also said that the editorial staff members were very persistent in digging up information from their sources by interviewing them four or five times each. The magazine revealed some plots of land that were believed to have been killing fields for PKI supporters in Salatiga.

Separately, some 80 students from Central Java and Yogyakarta grouped under the Indonesian Student Press Association (PPMI) staged a free forum at Raden Saleh Cultural Park in Semarang, Central Java, on Friday afternoon until evening, protesting the ban of Lentera magazine.

PPMI chairman Abdus Somad led the forum by introducing LPM Lentera general manager Arista Ayu Nanda and Lentera chief editor Bima Satria Putra, who were earlier interrogated by police regarding the content of the magazine.

Bima said 500 copies of the magazine were printed, 300 of which were sold. The rest were withdrawn from the market because the UKSW ordered it. "There was no burning of the magazine, but all the withdrawn copies are now kept by the campus," Arista said.

She said the magazine's crew on Friday last week was summoned by the UKSW rector who told them that the content of the magazine had caused tension in the community and therefore had to be withdrawn from the market.

Arista and Bima, who were presented as guest stars in a seminar of freedom of expression in Central Java universities in Semarang on Saturday, also told the seminar that there had been efforts by some parties to make use of civilians to pressure Lentera staff members.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/komnas-ham-investigates-ban-student-magazine.html

Government must provide security for 1965 public discussions: NGOs

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2015

Arientha Primanita, Jakarta – Non-governmental organizations have called on the government to provide security for citizens to hold open discussions on the 1965 massacres, saying it would help the State settle that nation's past human rights violations.

Wahyudi Djafar, a researcher at the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) said that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration had not been firm in taking the initiative to settle issues relating to the communist purge that took place in 1965 to 1966.

He said that this contradicted Jokowi's promise of fair and dignified closure to the incident, as stated in his administration's Nawa Cita (nine programs).

"The President must use all state instruments to provide security to citizens who are taking the initiative in their own way to start giving closure of the 1965-1966 tragedy through actions including film screenings, discussions, reviews, grassroots reconciliation and meetings between victims and the younger generations that could be the core foundation of formal settlement from the State," Wahyudi told thejakartapost.com on Monday.

The initiatives, he said, showed the public spirit to understand and acknowledge the truth of Indonesia's dark past.

ELSAM is one of the 50 civilians and victims organizations under the Coalition for Justice and Disclosure of the Truth (KKPK) that has urged Jokowi to settle human rights violations that occurred during the communist purge in the mid sixties.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the massacre that is believed to have killed up to 1 million civilians. Elsam has recorded at least 27 events related to the 1965 communist repression that have faced restrictions and bans in the last year.

The events include 17 film screenings and discussions, four cases of forced dismissal of meetings of victims, three cases of intimidation; three cases of deportation and forceful arrest and one magazine recall.

Student magazine Lentera of the Satya Wacana Christian University's (UKSW) School of Social and Communication Sciences was last week withdrawn from circulation for publishing an issue that focused on the 1965 massacre.

The latest censorship took aim at the organizers of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, which canceled a session dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the 1965 tragedy after receiving pressure from local authorities.

Authorities have also banned Joshua Oppenheimer's two films, The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence from being screened publicly.

The restrictions mainly came from state agencies, especially the police and military, according to ELSAM's data.

"This shows that there are systematic and centralized orders [to censor 1965-related events]. There are certain parties reluctant to settle the 1965 case and worried about the rise of public initiatives," Wahyudi said.

He said that 17 years after the reform era began, there has not been any formal effort from the government to give closure to the human rights violations.

"The victims remain prone to discrimination and stigma, causing them not to have the same freedom as other citizens. With no formal and comprehensive closure to the case, it is difficult for social reintegration," he said.

US senator Tom Udall introduced a resolution to the US Senate urging Jokowi to create a truth and reconciliation commission to address the tragedy, which he called "the worst mass atrocities in Indonesia history". Udall's resolution also called on the US government to establish an interagency working group and to release relevant classified documents. (rin)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/government-must-provide-security-1965-public-discussions-NGOs.html

Indonesia voices on 1965 silenced again: Herb Feith Foundation

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2015

Harry Bhaskara, Brisbane – The Herb Feith Foundation, which sponsored events at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) that were eventually cancelled by authorities, has expressed its disappointment.

The foundation is "shocked and disappointed" at the cancellation four days before its program was due to commence.

"Indonesian voices on 1965-1966 have again been silenced," it says in a media release. "We have lost an opportunity to hear contributions from key Indonesians and writers and researchers toward a better understanding and reflection on this traumatic history."

The foundation, named after the famous Australian Indonesianist, sponsored three discussion panels, a photo exhibition and a launch of four books.

Three of the books are translations from Indonesian including, "Forbidden Memories: Women's Experiences of 1965 in Eastern Indonesia", edited by Mery Kolimon, Liliya Wetangterah and Karen Campbell-Nelson; "Breaking the Silence: Survivors Speak about 1965-66 Violence in Indonesia", edited by Putu Oka Sukanta; "Truth Will Out: Indonesian Accounts of the 1965 Mass Violence", edited by Dr. Baskara T. Wardaya SJ.

One Indonesian book "G30S dan Kejahatan Negara" (G30S and State Violence), written by Siauw Giok Tjhan, would have also been showcased. The authorities have also banned the screening of US director Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence.

The banning received a great deal of media attention in Australia on Friday and Saturday.

Janet DeNeefe, the founder and director of the festival, wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that "we have all been proud of Indonesia's democratic reputation to date but there now seems to be a new code of behaviour among the powers that be".

The Guardian says the announcement "signalled heightened sensitivities in Indonesia around the 50th anniversary of the mass killings".

The Australian said Bali's authorities warned that the festival's permit, issued by national police, could be revoked if the book launch, film and five panel sessions went ahead when it opened on Wednesday.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/25/ri-voices-1965-silenced-again-herb-feith-foundation.html

Bali Nine lawyer joins Indonesians warning of return to Suharto censorship

Sydney Morning Herald - October 25, 2015

Jewel Topsfield, Jakarta – Panel sessions and a film on the 1965 anti- communist massacres in Indonesia were prohibited at an international literary festival in Bali due to a 1966 government regulation banning communism and Marxism-Leninism, according to a Balinese police chief.

Gianyar police chief Farman told Fairfax Media there was also a 1999 criminal code which made the spreading of communism, Marxism and Leninism in public a punishable offence with a maximum sentence of 12 years' jail.

The censorship is unprecedented in the 12-year history of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, billed as South-east Asia's biggest cultural and literary event.

Three panels on the mass killings, Joshua Oppenheimer's film "The Look of Silence" and the launch of his book "The Act of Living" were all cancelled on Friday, just days before the festival was to start.

The Herb Feith Foundation also announced the cancellation of the launch of English translations of three books on the mass violence intended to expose international audiences to one of the darkest chapters of Indonesia's history.

Mr Farman said police had reminded organisers of the festival of the government prohibition before the festival began so the entire event would not have to be shut down.

"It's better that we do it now, better than they show it (The Look of Silence) and we have to cancel it, it would be chaotic. We don't want that, we fully support (the festival)," Mr Farman said.

He said the Indonesian government sanctioned "competent" people to talk about the events of 1965. However if the panellists were people who had no knowledge of 1965 and were not competent, it may cause audiences to perceive the events of 1965 differently.

"It might be seen as spreading the communist belief, it might corner the government, in the end it will cause problems. We don't want problems," Mr Farman said.

Scheduled speakers at the events included writer Putu Oka Sukanta, who was imprisoned for 10 years without trial in 1966 for suspected leftist leanings, Indonesian historians Katharine McGregor, Baskara Wardaya, who teaches history at a university in Yogyakarta, and activists Ngurah Termana and Galuh Wandita.

Dismay over the controversial ban is to be conveyed to one of Indonesian President Joko Widodo's most trusted ministers.

Leading human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, who represented Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, will discuss the censorship during a meeting with the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Luhut Panjaitan, on Monday.

"This is not only over-reacting from the government, it is an act of killing towards freedom of expression," Professor Mulya told Fairfax Media.

Professor Mulya said the censorship was diametrically opposed to the spirit of the post-Suharto era of reformasi, when Indonesians were granted human rights and freedom of expression. "I would like to remind Pak Jokowi and Pak Luhut that this is the wrong policy. We should not go back to the past," he said.

Human rights activist Galuh Wandita wrote in an email that she was thinking about lodging a complaint with the National Commission of Human Rights in Indonesia, Komnas HAM.

An open statement has been issued by 172 writers, journalists, activists and artists condemning the growing repression of freedom of expression.

They cited the deportation last week of Tom Iljas, who was in Sumatra visiting the grave of his father, a victim of the 1965 massacres, the recall of a student magazine that featured stories on the 1965 killings and the censorship of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.

"(Former president) Suharto may be gone but the guards of the old regime are still watching the people's moves and in many cases launching oppressive action to shut down people's freedom," it said. (With Amilia Rosa.)

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bali-nine-lawyer-joins-indonesians-warning-against-return-to-suharto-censorship-20151025-gkhxi1.html

Labour & migrant workers

Workers stage protest against new wage formula

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2015

Corry Elyda, Jakarta – Thousands of workers from dozens of alliances in Greater Jakarta staged a protest against Government Regulation (PP) No. 78/2015 on minimum wages on Friday, a day after the Jakarta administration set a new minimum wage of Rp 3.1 million (US$226).

The workers were delivered by buses and mini-trucks and gathered on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, near the Arjuna Wijaua Monument, before marching to Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara to congregate in front of the State Palace where they voiced their concerns over the new wage formula.

They demanded the government revoke the regulation and that next year's wages should be increased by 22 to 25 percent. If those demands were ignored they said they would stage a nationwide protest from Nov. 1 through Dec. 30.

The new regulation, issued last week, stipulates a measured annual wage increase that takes into account the current fiscal year's inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates.

It replaced the old formula that was based on a cost of living (KHL) survey of 84 basic commodities and other daily needs of workers.

At City Hall, Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama said that the city administration tried to accommodate the new wage regulation and the demands of both parties – businessmen and workers.

Ahok said that if the city used the new PP, the provincial minimum wage (UMP) would be Rp 3.03 million, while if the city administration used the previous calculation, which used the cost of living index, the UMP would be Rp 3.13 million.

"I have to follow the new regulation, but I asked the company representatives to add Rp 70,000, so the UMP becomes Rp 3.1 million. It means the workers should lower their proposed amount," he said. Workers wanted to raise the wage to Rp 3.32 million.

Ahok said that although he had not signed the gubernatorial decree on the wages, there would not be any changes. He added that the city administration would not grant any postponements proposed by any companies.

Separately, Suprayitno, the head of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said that the association was disappointed with the new UMP.

"The amount is not in accordance with the new PP. If using the PP, the UMP will be Rp 3.01 million," he said. He said that the governor should have followed the regulation. "We have tolerated the setting of a KHL of Rp 2.98 million," he said.

Suprayitno said the level of the new KHL was even higher than this year's UMP, which was Rp 2.7 million. "Hence, making it into Rp 3.1 million is not fair and does not follow the regulation," he said.

Suprayitno said he would let President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla reprimand the regional leaders who did not follow the new regulation. "The city administration is also not supposed to reject companies that ask for postponements," he said. (saf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/31/workers-stage-protest-against-new-wage-formula.html

LBH Jakarta: Activists assaulted by police at labor rally

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2015

Jakarta – The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) has criticized the police for allegedly beating up two of its activists during a labor rally at the State Palace on Friday.

The two, Tigor Gempita Hutapea and Obed Sakti Luitnan, were reportedly accompanying the protesters when police started to violently disperse the crowd after the time allotted for the rally had run out.

Organizers had been given permission to protest at the State Palace in Central Jakarta until 6 p.m., but apparently laborers were still present by 8 p.m., prompting the police action.

According to LBH Jakarta, Tigor and Obed then grabbed their cellphones to snap pictures and when some police officers noticed that, they immediately hit both activists and dragged them the ground and into a police vehicle, where the alleged assault continued.

The two activists suffered injuries to the head, face and stomach. Police also arrested 23 laborers at the rally, according to LBH Jakarta, who reportedly were beaten as well.

"Police [officers] have to respect human rights and are not allowed to use violence [in circumstances like Friday's rally]," Alghiffari Aqsa, LBH Jakarta's director, said on Friday. "What they [the police] have done is completely against the law and legal steps must follow," he added.

Tigor and Obed on Saturday were still being detained by the Jakarta Police for questioning, along with the 23 protesters.

LBH Jakarta has urged the Jakarta Police chief, Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, to release all 25 and investigate the officers involved in disbanding the rally at the State Palace. But the police chief said the laborers were to blame for the violence.

"It is such a shame that the protest had to end up that way," Tito said. "Had the protesters respected the law, this would not have happened. They should have obeyed [the law]."

Nearly 1,500 police officers were deployed for Friday's rally, which attracted some 10,000 protesters calling for a higher minimum wage.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/lbh-jakarta-activists-assaulted-police-labor-rally/

24 workers arrested during demonstration in front of State Palace

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2015

Jakarta – As many as 24 workers were arrested during a demonstration in front of State Palace on Friday demanding the government revise its new regulation regarding the annual minimum wage determination mechanism.

Tribunnews.com reported that two activists from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) – Tigor Gempita Hutapea and Obed Sakti Luitnan – also suffered from serious injuries when the police violently dispersed the protesters.

"Tigor and Obet were hit by police officers as they tried to document the event with their smart phones. They were forcibly dragged and beaten even though they said that they were only accompanying the protesters," said LBH Jakarta director Alghiffari Aqsa on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the police accused the arrested workers of provoking other demonstrators to conduct violence when addressing the crowd through loudspeakers mounted on the mini trucks used to bring workers to the demonstration.

Based on the existing regulations, the demonstration had to end at 6 p.m. and police officers first warned the protesters to immediately leave Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, in front of State Palace at 6:30 p.m.

"After the warning around 2,000 protesters left the location, but some 3,000 workers were still there," he said.

A third warning was made at 7:15 p.m. and finally, the police used bodily force to disperse the protesters after a water canon failed to expel them from the street. The vast majority of protesters left after tear gas was used, but 24 workers still did not leave the street.

"There were 24 protesters who did not leave the location after we had warned them three times. They even continued provoking us from their vehicle," said Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Muhammad Iqbal on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.

Some 12,000 workers from Jakarta and its surrounding cities demonstrated in front of the state place on Friday. Many of them wanted to spend the night on the street and await a government response to their demands.

According to Alghifari, the workers' demonstration was peaceful and it was it was the police's violent actions that had sparked the turmoil. He demanded that Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen Tito Karnavian punish the police officers involved and free the 24 workers. (BBN)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/31/24-workers-arrested-during-demonstration-front-state-palace.html

Thousands of workers protest new payment formula

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2015

Jakarta – Thousands of workers from Jakarta and its satellite cities have gathered near National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta to reject the new payment formula as stipulated in newly issued Government Regulation No. 78 on Payments.

The street rally organizers claimed that some 20,000 workers were expected to join the protest that was planned recently, following the issuance of the government regulation.

The government regulation, issued as a follow-up of the fourth economic package to improve the investment climate, rules that the minimum wage is based on the current fiscal year's inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate.

It replaced the old formula that was based on the basic cost of living (KHL) survey of 84 basic commodities and other daily needs of workers.

Kompas.com reported that more workers were coming from buses and mini- trucks from various directions, equipped with flags, banners and posters. Most of them were gathering on Jl Medan Merdeka Barat, near Arjuna Wijaya Monument as they were waiting for other workers before they marched to Jl Medan Merdeka Utara, in front of the State Palace.

The gathering made the traffic move at a snail's pace. The police started to guide motorists to avoid places where workers were gathering together. A number of roads were closed like in the areas near Kebon Sirih and Harmoni in Central Jakarta.

Dozens of police officers were standing by near the Hotel Indonesia (HI) roundabout on Jl MH Thamrin. City Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Muhammad Iqbal said that the police have anticipated the possible massive demonstration by closing a number of roads. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/30/thousands-workers-protest-new-payment-formula.html

Workers protest new minimum-wage increase formula

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2015

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers took part in a street rally in Jakarta on Wednesday, expressing their dissatisfaction at the newly announced government regulation on the calculation of minimum-wage increases.

Last Friday, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed government regulation No. 78/2015 concerning wages. The regulation stipulates that minimum wage shall increase by the total percentage achieved by adding percentage inflation and percentage growth of gross domestic product (GDP) each fiscal year.

Under the new regulation, the minimum-wage increase this year would be about 10 percent, adding together the roughly 5 percent inflation and 5 percent GDP growth of this fiscal year.

The protesting workers, members of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBSI), gathered on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, in front of the Antara news agency building before moving to Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, in front of State Palace.

"How can we live a decent life if our wage increase is limited to 10 percent annually?" asked one of the demonstrators.

Thought the regulation has been signed, the Jakarta wage committee, for example, is yet to fully adopt the formula for calculating city minimum- wage increases. Instead, it continues to take into account the basic cost of living based on the prices of 84 basic commodities and daily needs of workers in the capital city.

The KSBSI demanded that the government revoke the new regulation, which is otherwise set to remain in place for 25 years.

Across town, a separate group of roughly 300 workers demonstrated in front of the Manpower Ministry on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, also to challenge the new government regulation. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/28/workers-protest-new-minimum-wage-increase-formula.html

Muhammadiyah youths reject foreign workers in Banten

Jakarta Globe - October 25, 2015

Serang, Banten – To prevent local people from becoming strangers in their own home, there should be no more foreign workers flocking to Banten province, the student wing of one of the country's key Islamic organizations has said.

The Banten branch of the Muhammadiyah Student Union (IMM) said it firmly rejects the presence of foreign workers in the province, which borders Jakarta and is home to large industrial complexes and prime tourism spots under development.

Overall, however, Banten is one of Indonesia's poorest and least-developed provinces and it was long ruled by the notoriously corrupt governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah – currently in jail for bribing the chief justice of the Constitutional Court – and her cronies.

"Unemployment numbers in Banten remain high," Yogi Iskandar, the chairman of IMM Banten, said on Saturday. "But ironically, investors in Banten are recruiting a large number of foreign workers."

"We'll ask the local governments in Banten to join our movement. The government at the district, city and provincial level has the duty to enhance local human resource development, so that it is no longer necessary to have Banten flooded with foreign workers."

The province's Cilegon and Serang districts host a number of large industrial parks that include steel, food, footwear and petrochemical manufacturers. Yogi likened the presence of foreign workers to a form of occupation.

"Banten's natural resources in the end will only be enjoyed by foreign nationals, and the local original population will be left with the role of spectator," he said. "It will be dangerous if we let this happen."

"There are currently more than 10,000 foreign nationals who work in Banten. It's not natural anymore when we're flooded with another 35,000 foreign workers."

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/muhammadiyah-youths-reject-foreign-workers-banten/

Freedom of speech & expression

National Police anticipate hate speech to prevent social conflict

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2015

Arientha Primanita, Jakarta – The National Police ordered all of their personnel to anticipate any potential conflicts in society caused by hate speech.

The order is stipulated in the circular signed by National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti on Oct. 8, 2015.

"Hate speech issues must be handled carefully because it could undermine our nation's principle of living in accordance with Bhinneka Tunggal Ika [Unity in Diversity]," the circular stated as published by the Center for the Study of Religion and Democracy (PUSAD) at the Paramadina Foundation on Tuesday.

As state officers that keep public security and order, it is of high importance that all police personnel comprehend hate speech forms to conduct early prevention before the speeches instigate legal violations. Therefore police officers will be more responsive to any symptoms that could lead to violations.

National Police also urged officers of all levels to put intelligence at the forefront to know the real condition in the conflict-prone areas. "Police must approach all parties using hate speech and [...] find a peaceful solution," the police said.

As stipulated in the Criminal Code (KUHP), hate speech includes libel, defamation, unpleasant conduct, provocation, inciting violence and spreading lies.

The Criminal Code also states that hate speech is aimed at instigating hatred based on ethnicities, religions, beliefs, races, sexual orientations, skin colors and disabilities; it can be spread through campaign orations, posters, social media, religious sermons, mass media, demonstrations and fliers.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Agus Rianto told Kompas that the circular was not only aimed at police but also the public.

There have been several conflicts in Indonesia caused by hate speech. The latest incidents include the religious-related conflicts in Tolikara, Papua, in July and Aceh Singkil, Aceh, this month.

Hendardi, the chairman of human rights advocacy group Setara Institute, applauded the National Police for issuing the circular.

"The circular could be a guideline for local police officers to understand that National Police will not tolerate any provocations that cause hatred. I hope [this] will help lower hate speech, which often iniates violence," he told thejakartapost.com on Thursday.

However, Roichatul Aswidah, commissioner of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said police must be careful in implementing the orders so that it would not restrict freedom of speech.

She said that defamation should not be included as hate speech even though it is regulated in the Criminal Code.

"I agree that hate speech must be banned. But police must carefully examine [each case] because otherwise it would only harm the freedom of speech," she told Kompas. (rin)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/29/national-police-anticipate-hate-speech-prevent-social-conflict.html

Surveys & opinion polls

Polls reveal public discontent with Jokowi

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2015

Jakarta – Jakarta-based polling company Populi Center released on Monday the results of a survey of 1,200 respondents across the country's 34 provinces showing public approval of only 49.2 percent for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's performance during his first year in office.

The survey was conducted from Oct. 15 to 22. The survey revealed lower approval than a previous poll by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which recorded approval at 50.6 percent.

Both sets of respondents, however, agreed that the economy was the most problematic element of Jokowi's administration. "This should be a warning for the President – he will know how the people truly feel," Populi Center chairman Nico Harjanto said on Monday.

The CSIS survey was conducted among 1,183 respondents nationwide from Oct. 14 to 21. According to the CSIS, the public appears to be waiting to see whether Jokowi, who has four more years of his term to go, can deal with problems such as inflation.

Populi's respondents gave the administration its worst score for stabilizing the price of staple foods, with 33.8 percent dissatisfied. The second-worst performance was the handling of the haze crisis, dissatisfying 27.1 percent, followed by the failure to stabilize the rupiah exchange rate.

"Most of the respondents said that the increasing prices of basic goods had hurt them," said Populi researcher Nona Evita.

The survey also showed that 58.2 percent of the respondents considered Jokowi's move to increase fuel prices in November last year the worst decision of his first year. "The public is still very disappointed about the increase in fuel prices," Nona said.

The CSIS survey indicated that 71 percent of respondents were not happy with the economic situation under the Jokowi administration.

According to the Populi survey, the Jokowi administration has several tasks requiring immediate resolution. Around 33.5 percent of the total respondents want the President to battle unemployment by creating job opportunities, while 39.9 percent want him to be consistent in eradicating corruption in the country.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Aria Bima said that the President had made a good start, but with minimal results as a result of a lack of ministerial cooperation. "We see ministries, but not a Cabinet," Aria said. "Most of the ministers are acting as individuals."

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, for example, was very enthusiastic about eradicating illegal fishing, he said, but was failing to cooperate with the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry to ensure the prosperity of local fishermen.

University of Indonesia (UI) political expert Thamrin Tomagola said that the low approval rating was due to ministries' lack of unified action, adding that regional administrations' policies were also often not line with the President's vision.

"Jokowi is on the right track, but he has to be more firm in commanding the ministries and regional leaders. Currently, each ministry seems to work on its own. They don't have good coordination," Thamrin said.

Jokowi, he went on, had made outstanding improvements in the infrastructure and maritime sectors, but was doing poorly in ensuring food security and eradicating corruption, and had failed to ensure inter-faith harmony. (foy)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/27/polls-reveal-public-discontent-with-jokowi.html

Poll finds TNI more popular than KPK

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI), one of the country's most reformed institutions that now focuses only on defense affairs, has gained the most public trust and respect, defeating media darling the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), a public opinion poll released on Sunday showed.

The study conducted by the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) between Oct. 14 to 21 found that the TNI received support from 90 percent of the 1,183 respondents surveyed. The poll placed the antigraft body, one of the most trusted state agencies, according to media reports, in second place with 80.8 percent.

The President and Vice Presidential were in third and fourth positions with 79.9 percent and 75.2 percent, respectively.

CSIS political and international relations department head Philips J. Vermonte said that the level of support for the TNI was due to a general public perception that it had performed internal reform well after the downfall of former president Soeharto in 1998.

After the reformation, the TNI disengaged itself from politics and dedicated itself to protecting the country's security.

"The result shows that internal reform at the military body is working and the public applaud what it has done so far by staying away from politics," Philips said at the launch of the study, which was part of a general assessment of Jokowi's first year in office.

The growing popular support, however, could become a double-edged sword if interpreted differently by members of the TNI. Thus, Philips said that the TNI should not interpret the huge public support as a sign that the public wanted it to re-involve itself in politics due to public's low acceptance of the administration's performance in its first year.

"The message should not be read as a support to return to politics because the public merely expressed their appreciation over the democratic reform that has been conducted within the military body," Philips added.

Meanwhile, CSIS senior researcher J. Kristiadi said that the TNI had won the public's approval because it could dispatch its personnel quicker than that of government officials to help civilians with natural disasters like flooding, landslides and the current worsening haze in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"We can see how fast the TNI could get into the field to help curb fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The TNI is faster because unlike government officials it does not need to do through any bureaucratic procedures to help people in the field," Kristiadi said.

One major item in the TNI's unfinished reform agenda is the failure of both the government and the House of Representatives to revise the 1997 Law on Military Tribunals. Human rights activists have accused the TNI of using military tribunals to avoid the Human Rights Court and condemned the tribunals for their lack of independence, which they say prevents victims of human rights violations from obtaining justice.

Meanwhile, the CSIS survey placed the National Police, the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and the House of Representatives (DPR) at the bottom of the list. The DPR received the lowest score with 53 percent, while the DPD and the National Police received 60.1 and 63.5 percent, respectively.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/poll-finds-tni-more-popular-KPK.html

Environment & natural disasters

Two million hectares of Indonesian forests lost to fires since June

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2015

Jakarta – More than two million hectares of forest area have been reduced to ashes in the past five months in Indonesia, according to the data published by the National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan).

The agency said on Friday that based on satellite data collected from June 21 until Oct. 20, an estimated 2,089,911 hectares were gone.

The number is likely to grow, as a large number of forests – as well as peat lands – are still fire, causing the ongoing haze crisis, especially in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

"We have compared the data gathered from before and after the fires started," Parwati Sofan, a senior official at Lapan, told a press conference on Friday at the Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)'s headquarters in Central Jakarta, as quoted by kompas.com.

Lapan estimates that 832,999 hectares of forests were burned in Sumatra, 806,817 hectares in Kalimantan, 353,191 hectares in Papua, 30,912 hectares in Sulawesi, 30,162 hectares in Bali and Nusa Tenggara, 18,768 in Java, and 17,063 in Maluku.

BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that 32 percent of hotspots in the country are currently found in non-concession forest areas, 20 percent in industrial forest areas (HTI), 20 percent in palm oil plantations, and the remainder was found in forest areas used for other purposes.

"Even though the satellite has helped us [collect the data], bear in mind that it cannot scan the forest areas that are covered in thick haze and clouds," Parwati added. "We expect the number to increase as the data collecting is still underway. We will update the data every ten days."

The BNPB and its local branches have set up numerous shelters for residents of the affected regions.

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) on Thursday sent extra ambulances, water trucks, water purifiers, shelters, air purifiers and eye drops to Sumatra and Kalimantan. The PMI has extended its haze emergency response period to January, as the disaster still shows no signs of abating.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/two-million-hectares-indonesian-forests-lost-fires-since-june/

Trade Ministry defends new timber export policy

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2015

Khoirul Amin, Jakarta – The Trade Ministry has defended its stance on a revised regulation annulling the timber legality verification system (SVLK) requirement for exporting 15 downstream products of timber, saying that exporters are still obliged to show proof of environmentally certified material.

Trade Ministry's expert for foreign trade policy, Arlinda, said on Thursday her ministry strongly supported the SVLK system, meaning that every exported wood product had to be sourced from timber with legal certification.

"For certain products, small to medium-sized exporters are required to prove that their raw materials are sourced from legal timber [without SVLK]," she said, adding that the new regulation was aimed at simplify the previous one.

Arlinda, who chairs the ministry's deregulation team, however, did not elaborate on how exporters could prove their compliance with the new requirement.

As part of the government's deregulation and de-bureaucratization measures to boost the investment climate in the country, the Trade Ministry has so far overhauled five and cut 13 out of a total 32 regulations to be revised or annulled, including the regulation on exports of timber products.

Under the revised regulation on forestry product exports, which was signed by Trade Minister Thomas Lembong on Aug. 27, small to medium-sized exporters are exempted from an obligation to provide SVLK certification and are only required to an provide export declaration without an expiry date.

Export declarations can be made by small to medium-sized exporters themselves by filling in an export declaration form as required by the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

The export declarations can be used for any export destination country, with or without any bilateral agreement on timber certification with Indonesia.

Under the previous regulations, small to medium-sized exporters were only allowed to use export declarations until the end of this year.

The previous regulation also stipulated that the exemption of legal certification did not apply to those exporting to countries that have a Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) agreement.

Indonesia and the European Union signed a voluntary partnership agreement on FLEGT last year. Indonesia is currently negotiating with the 28-member bloc to exempt its SVLK certified timber products entering the union's markets without undergoing due diligence processes.

The value of Indonesia's timber product exports to the EU went up by 8.9 percent from US$593 million in 2013 to $645.9 million last year, accounting for around 9 percent of the total export value of the country's timber products, according to data from the FLEGT-VPA annual report.

A number of environmental groups have previously stated that the revised regulation could promote illegal logging, which made the country lose an estimated $2 billion in 2011 from uncollected fees and underestimated royalties.

The relaxation of the regulation has also sparked concerns from the EU, with a representative of the union demanding clarification on the matter, according to the Multistakeholder Forestry Program (MFP), which is a partnership program between the Indonesian government and the British government to support the reformation of forestry governance through SVLK.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry's director general of sustainable forest products management, Ida Bagus Putera Parthama, said previously that the SVLK [should] still be implemented as a soft approach to stop the extraordinary crime of illegal logging.

He added that fees for SVLK certification were affordable and that small to medium-sized companies could obtain the certification in groups.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/30/trade-ministry-defends-new-timber-export-policy.html

How Indonesia's fires made it the biggest climate polluter

Bloomberg - October 29, 2015

Alex Morales – Indonesia's forest fires have catapulted the southeast Asian nation to the top of the rankings of the world's worst global warming offenders, with daily emissions exceeding those of China on at least 14 days in the past two months.

The nation's total daily carbon dioxide emissions, including from power generation, transport and industry, exceeded those of the US on 47 of the 74 days through October 28, according to Bloomberg analysis of national emissions data from the World Resources Institute in Washington and Indonesian fire- emissions data from VU University in Amsterdam.

Smog caused by the fires has generated headlines and a diplomatic flare-up between Indonesia and its neighbours in southeast Asia. It's a threat to human health and has disrupted flights in the region. At the same time, burning trees and peatlands are pumping heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere at a time when more than 190 nations are gearing up to sign a new agreement to stem global warming in Paris in December.

"The problem that we see in Indonesia with essentially unrestrained deforestation going on is a bad message for the world," Bill Hare, chief executive officer of Potsdam, Germany-based policy researcher Climate Analytics, said.

"If we can't really control deforestation in this region, who's going to be next? It would be a signal that countries can get away with this kind of deforestation without any real constraint."

The fires are caused by clearing woodland for paper and palm oil plantations, and have been worsened by El Nino-related dry conditions.

In a satellite record that began in 1997, 2015 is the second worst year on record for emissions from Indonesian forest fires, according to Guido van der Werf, professor of Earth sciences at VU University. It's unlikely to exceed 1997, which itself was probably worse than any year pre-dating the satellite record, he said.

"We have some confidence in the numbers because by using atmospheric models we can predict, based on our emissions, how elevated concentrations of gases and aerosols will be in the atmosphere," van der Werf said in an e- mail. "That corresponds reasonably well with what we actually measure in the atmosphere."

Without including land use changes and deforestation, Indonesia emits about 761 megatons (761 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide a year, according to 2012 data from the World Resources Institute. That works out at 2.1 megatons a day, compared with almost 16 for the US and 29.3 for China.

Indonesian daily emissions from fires alone rose as high as 61 megatons on Oct. 14, according to van der Werf's data, part of the Global Fire Emissions Database. That accounted for almost 97 percent of total national emissions for the day.

Exceeding China

The daily average emissions for Indonesia, including those of the wider economy, was 22.5 megatons in September and 23 megatons for October 1 through October 28, according to Bloomberg calculations. That's more than the US average for those two months, based on a typical year, though still short of China. Even so, daily emissions first exceeded those of China on Sept. 8, and most recently did so on October 23.

"Put simply, this is a climate catastrophe," Nigel Sizer, global director of WRI's forests program said in an e-mailed reply. "The emissions from these fires are likely to add about 3 percent to total global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities for the year."

The WRI posted analysis in an October 16 blog that showed emissions from the fire exceeding those of the entire US economy.

Indonesia has pledged to cut its emissions by 29 percent from a projected "business-as-usual" scenario by 2030 as part of the new UN deal on climate change. The plan, short on details, includes an unquantified commitment to reduce deforestation. The country already has a moratorium in place on clearing primary forests, and a ban on converting peatlands to other uses.

Failed efforts

"An enormous amount of effort has gone in from different countries to support reductions in deforestation and burning of peat land and it's really failed," said Hare.

Van der Werf said it takes 100 years or more to grow trees that will absorb the CO2 released by burning primary forests. For carbon-rich peat soils that have been burnt, the lag is even bigger, he said.

"What is burning in Indonesia is for a large part peat that has accumulated over thousands of years and will not regrow so this is a net source of CO2, just like fossil fuel emissions," he said. "Unless there is a dramatic change in land management these peatlands will not be restored."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/how-indonesias-fires-made-it-the-biggest-climate-polluter-20151029-gklbz3.html

Indonesia's forest fires threaten a third of world's wild orangutans

The Guardian (Australia) - October 26, 2015

John Vidal – Raging Indonesian forest fires have advanced into dense forest on Borneo and now threaten one third of the world's remaining wild orangutans, say conservationists.

Satellite photography shows that around 100,000 fires have burned in Indonesia's carbon-rich peatlands since July. But instead of being mostly confined to farmland and plantations, as they are in most years, several thousand fires have now penetrated deep into primary forests and national parks, the strongholds of the remaining wild apes and other endangered animals.

Alarmingly, 358 fire "hotspots" have been detected inside the Sabangau Forest in Borneo which has the world's largest population of nearly 7,000 wild orangutans. Elsewhere, fires are raging in the Tanjung Puting national park, home to 6,000 wild apes, the Katingan forest with 3,000 and the Mawas reserve where there are an estimated 3,500.

"I dread to think what it will mean for orangutans. For them and other species, like the secretive clouded leopard and the iconic hornbill, the situation is dire and deteriorating by the day," said Mark Harrison, director of the UK-based research and conservation organisation Orangutan tropical peatland project (OuTrop), which has been studying the tropical peat swamp forest of Sabangau since 1999.

"In their undisturbed, flooded state, peatland forests are naturally fire- resistant. But decades of poor peatland management practices, including extensive forest clearance and canal construction, has drained the peat, putting the whole region at high fire risk when the inevitable droughts occur," Harrison said.

Prof Susan Page, a geographer at the University of Leicester and an expert on peatland conservation, said: "Dry peat ignites very easily and can burn for days or weeks, even smouldering underground and re-emerging away from the initial source. This makes them incredibly difficult to extinguish. Smouldering fires produce high levels of harmful gases and particulates."

Little is known about the precise effects of smoke inhalation on animals but the lungs of animals are similar to those of humans, so it is expected to make them sick and unable to feed.

Teams of volunteers have been trying to put the fires out but many are out of control. In Sabangau forest one fire has already burned over 500 hectares and is threatening the renowned research station managed by the Centre for International Cooperation in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland (CIMTROP) at the University of Palangka Raya, according to OuTrop director of conservation, Simon Husson.

The wildfires across Indonesia are now thought to be responsible for up to 500,000 cases of respiratory infections, and six provinces have declared a state of emergency.

"People are choking in the smoke and one of the world's last great rainforests is burning down," Husson said. "The only way to tackle this is with huge manpower on the ground, supported by intensive and sustained aerial water-bombing. Mobilising these resources requires raising international awareness of the catastrophe unfolding in Sabangau."

With two warships positioned off the island of Borneo to evacuate children and some of the most affected families, and no rain expected for at least one month, the pollution threatens to overwhelm the region's already stretched health services.

In Palangkaraya, capital of Central Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, where many of the most serious fires are raging, the office of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) reported that minute PM10 particles had reached the "very dangerous" level of 2,483 milligrams per cubic metre with visibility under 30m in 350 locations.

The city's chief medical officer stated that its health services had diagnosed 5,931 people with acute respiratory infections since July – around 3% of the population. Schools have been closed in the city for five of the last seven weeks.

"We have days we call 'Hari Kuning' ('yellow days'). This is when the dense, sound-deadening smog somehow absorbs the light from the invisible sun turning everything a surreal sepia colour," one Palangkaraya resident told the Guardian.

"Masks available locally are ridiculously inadequate – and some people don't bother to wear anything at all," she said. "Not everybody here seems to be aware of the health risks. There are already reports of miscarriages and premature deaths among babies, the elderly and infirm directly attributable to the smoke."

The smoke drifts across the region at heights of between 3000m-5000m and varies in intensity from day to day and island to island. "It's been two months since people in Kerinci [central Sumatra], have seen blue skies.," said Luke Mackin who works with ecotourism company wildsumatra.com.

"The government has closed schools so that students can be safe at home – except people's homes are not sealed at all, and are no safer than being at school. So, millions of children are missing out on their education. All of the tourism in the region is pretty much dead, which is devastating for the families in this rural area who rely on it," said Mackin.

The pollution will cost the Indonesian economy billions of dollars and has led to demonstrations. In Sumatra, hundreds of teachers rallied at the weekend in Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province. "People are getting angry. They used to accept a certain amount of smog but this year it's much worse," said one protester.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/26/indonesias-forest-fires-threaten-a-third-of-worlds-wild-orangutans

Smear campaign against Indonesian palm oil underway: GAPKI

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2015

Jakarta – A smear campaign against the national palm-oil industry is underway, the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) has claimed, as pictures went viral on social media showing young palm trees planted on the newly burned forest.

GAPKI's head of land and spatial division Eddy Martono said that the smear campaign had been launched against the palm oil industry as it was the most profitable and economical vegetable-oil, with productivity level of six tons per hectare, far beyond the soy bean's productivity at one ton per hectare.

"The smoke is still rising, but the palm trees have already been planted. This is very strange. Based on cultivation techniques, it is not possible to plant the young palm trees [on such land], as they would wither. Something is hidden, and I have no idea what it is," he said as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.

The palm-oil association, he further said, would investigate whether the campaign was aimed to fuel the haze crisis, or to strike Indonesia's efficient palm oil industry.

The cost of clearing one hectare of soybean plantation was enough to open up to 10 hectares of palm oil plantation In Indonesia, Eddy said.

Eddy speculated the smear campaign would be followed by a call to boycott Indonesian palm oil and its derivative products. Besides soybean, the palm oil industry competes with other vegetable oils such as corn oil, sunflower oil, and rapeseed oil.

"Do not consume palm oil products, buy other vegetable oils instead. That is the objective. If we're not cautious, the government may follow the drum they beat," he said.

Based on GAPKI's data, there were 1,000 palm oil refineries in Indonesia producing 30 million tons of CPO per year. Olein is CPO's derivative product, which has the biggest market; five million to six million tons sold to the local market per annum, and 15 million to 20 million tons exported per year.

Olein is popularly known as a raw material of margarine, cosmetics and many pharmaceutical drugs.

According to GAPKI, Indonesian CPO production is expected to reach 40 million metric tons this year, compared with 32 million tons in 2014. Malaysia produced 19.8 million tons of CPO in 2014. Indonesia and Malaysia control 85 percent of the global supply of palm oil. (ags/dan)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/smear-campaign-against-indonesian-palm-oil-underway-gapki.html

Indonesia's fires labelled a 'crime against humanity' as 500,000 suffer

The Guardian (Australia) - October 26, 2015

Kate Lamb, Jakarta – Raging forest fires across Indonesia are thought to be responsible for up to half a million cases of respiratory infections, with the resultant haze covering parts of Malaysia and Singapore now being described as a "crime against humanity".

Tens of thousands of hectares of forest have been alight for more than two months as a result of slash and burn – the fastest and quickest way to clear land for new plantations.

Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil and fires are frequently intentionally lit to clear the land with the resulting haze an annual headache.

But this year a prolonged dry season and the impact of El Niqo have made the situation far worse, with one estimate that daily emissions from the fires have surpassed the average daily emissions of the entire US economy.

The fires have caused the air to turn a toxic sepia colour in the worst hit areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan, where levels of the Pollutant Standard Index (PSI) have pushed toward 2,000. Anything above 300 is considered hazardous.

Endangered wildlife such as orangutans have also been forced to flee the forests because of the fires. Six Indonesian provinces have declared a state of emergency.

Across the region Indonesia's haze crisis has been causing havoc – schools in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia have been shut down, flights have been grounded, events cancelled and Indonesian products boycotted, as millions try to avoid the intense smoke.

In the worst affected parts, on Sumatra and Kalimantan, ten people have died from haze-related illnesses and more than 500,000 cases of acute respiratory tract infections have been reported since July 1.

Sutopo Puro Nugroho, the spokesperson for the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has acknowledged that for months 43 million people on the two islands have been inhaling toxic fumes. Yet, he admitted, the number of unrecorded cases was likely much higher.

"This is a crime against humanity of extraordinary proportions," he said. "But now is not the time to point fingers but to focus on how we can deal with this quickly."

As the Indonesian Council of Ulema has held mass prayers for rain, the administration of President Joko Widodo has deployed 30 aircraft and 22,000 troops to fight the fires on the ground, as well as stationed several warships off Kalimantan, on standby to evacuate victims if required.

Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Japan have also sent assistance. But environmentalists have warned that the measures, a few helicopters, water bombers and face masks, are far from sufficient.

"Large parts of Indonesia have now been in a state of emergency for over a month. Why has there not been a nationally declared total fire ban advertised 24/7 on all television channels?" asked Dr. Eric Meijaard, an Indonesia-based associate professor at the University of Queensland, in a recent editorial in the Jakarta Globe. "Why has there not been a clear message: you burn – you go to jail?"

By its own calculation the fires have cost the Indonesian government more than US$30 billion, a huge blow for the country's floundering economy and the president's economic development agenda.

Pressure to deal with the raging fires, haze and associated emissions is mounting as Indonesia prepares to discuss its climate commitments at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris this December.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/26/indonesias-fires-crime-against-humanity-hundreds-of-thousands-suffer

Disaster has put Indonesia top of carbon emissions charts – above even US

Sydney Morning Herald - October 25, 2015

Lindsay Murdoch, Bangkok – A conservation scientist has described an acrid haze choking parts of South-east Asia as one of the worst ever man-made environmental disasters, saying that it is affecting about 40 million people.

Eric Meijaard, an associate professor at the University of Queensland, warns the pollution levels of toxic carbon monoxide and ground-level ozone are "presently off the scale".

"Not only is there appalling human suffering, with hundreds of thousands of people ill and many dead, the fires are a massive economic cost to the Indonesian economy," said Professor Meijaard, an expert on Indonesia's forests who co-ordinates the environmental program Borneo Futures.

Thousands of fires caused by slash-and-burn farming have blanketed parts of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia for almost two months, forcing many schools to close and flights and international events to be cancelled.

Late last week the haze spread to southern Thailand, with record high pollution levels. "This is a crisis," said Halam Jemarican, head of Thailand's Southern Environment Office.

The haze has also choked Brunei and even reached parts of Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

According to the World Resources Institute the fires, mainly in south Sumatra and south and central Kalimantan, have caused carbon emissions that have surpassed those of the entire United States – the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases – on 26 out of 44 days since September.

On Saturday, Indonesia said it was preparing warships as a last resort to evacuate children and others suffering from smoke inhalation. But Professor Meijaard said he believes Indonesia's government has failed to recognise the seriousness of the problem.

"Are the few helicopters and water bombers, an insufficient supply of the right type of face masks, and some canals dug in the peat to guide waters to fires really the best the government can do?"

Professor Meijaard asked why Indonesia has not sent in a million soldiers to address the disaster. "Why is all government action so apparently lacklustre and unfocused?"

Professor Meijaard said what might help garner action is to call the disaster what it really is: the biggest environmental crime of the 21st century.

"BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 looks relatively benign compared to Indonesia's 2015 fire crisis... and that was one heck of a spill," he said.

"And I consider it a crime, not just a disaster, because even though setting fire to land remains perfectly legal in Indonesia, endangering the lives of millions of people, destroying protected forests and their wildlife, and threatening the global environment are criminal acts."

Professor Meijaard called for efforts including fire bans, improved firefighting efforts, a prohibition on peat development and programs to divest agricultural production on peat.

"If the government of Indonesia cares for its people, its economy, its wildlife and for people elsewhere in the world, it immediately must do more," he said.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/disaster-has-put-indonesia-top-of-carbon-emissions-charts–above-even-us-20151025-gkhu22.html

These are the big companies causing the haze disaster in Indonesia

Koran Opini - October 25, 2015

KoPi – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), a social organisation concerned with the environment, has released a list of big companies causing the forest and land fires in Indonesia.

The list from Walhi represents the results of an analysis of forest and land fires in regions hit by the haze disaster including Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West and Central Kalimantan.

Walhi national campaign coordinator Edo Rakhman says that the majority of hotspots are in concession lands owned by big companies. "In HTIs [industrial timber estates] 5,669 hotspots, palm oil plantations 9,168", explained Edo.

Edo showed a list of large companies involved the burning of forests and land. Included on the list are three subsidiary companies in Central Kalimantan belonging to Sinar Mas and 14 belonging to Wilmar International.

In Riau, there are six subsidiary companies owned by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), six by Sinar Mas, six by APRIL, one by Simederby, one by First Resources and one by Provident.

In South Sumatra meanwhile, there are eight subsidiary companies owned by Sinar Mas, 11 owned by Wilmar, four by Sampoerna, three by PTPN, one by Simederby, one by Cargil and three by Marubeni.

The fires in West Kalimantan involve six subsidiary companies belonging to Sinar Mas and six owned by RGM/APRIL. In Jambi Sinar Mas and Wilmar both have two subsidiary companies.

According to the National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan) website for the period January-September 2015, there were 16,334 hotspots compared with 36,781 in 2014. The forest and land fires are causing people to suffer acute repertory problems with 20,471 cases in Jambi, 15,138 in Central Kalimantan, 28,000 in South Sumatra and 10,010 in West Kalimantan.

According to Airlangga University sociologist Novri Susan, the forest fires and haze disaster is not just some event without a cause, but in fact represents a conflict between people and corporations.

"People must put pressure on the Jokowi [President Joko Widodo] administration to hand down firm sanctions against companies and provide compensation to people who have fallen victim to the haze. If necessary, all [these companies should] be frozen until the haze problem is resolved".

Notes

Palm-oil company Wilmar International is owned by Martua Sitorus listed by Forbes in 2009 as the 2nd richest person in Indonesia. Sinar Mas is owned by former Suharto crony Eka Tjipta Widjaja, who was 2nd on Forbes list in 2012. Indonesian based Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is the world's third-largest paper producer. Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd or APRIL is a Singapore based pulp and paper company. Palm oil First Resources Ltd is publicly listed in Singapore. Sampoerna, Indonesia's second largest cigarette producer owned by the politically connected Sampoerna family was sold to US tobacco giant Philip Morris International in 2005. PTPN is the state-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara. Minneapolis-based Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Marubeni Corp is Japan's fifth-largest trading company.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Inilah daftar perusahaan penyebab musibah asap".]

Source: http://koranopini.com/nasional/nasionalnews/inilah-daftar-perusahaan-penyebab-musibah-asap

Haze kills 10 people, leaves 503,874 with respiratory ailments: Agency

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2015

Jakarta – Ten people have died in Sumatra and Kalimantan due to smog from forest and land fires, which include those killed during fire extinguishing operations and victims of acute respiratory infections (ISPA), according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) on Saturday.

In addition to these victims, seven climbers were also killed and two others were in a critical condition after being trapped in a forest fires on the slopes of Mount Lawu on the border of East Java and Central Java on Oct. 18.

BNPB also stated that the number of ISPA patients had reached 503,874 in six provinces between July 1 and October 23, with the top six contributors including Jambi with 129,229 patients, South Sumatra with 101,333, South Kalimantan with 97,430, Riau with 80,263, Central Kalimantan with 52,142 and West Kalimantan with 43,477.

Based on the agency's analysis, more than 43 million Indonesians have been exposed to smog in Sumatra and Kalimantan alone. Neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have also experienced a decline in air quality following the haze dilemma.

"The smog disaster due to forest and land fires is a man-made disaster, since 99 percent of the fires are intentional. It is an extraordinary crime against humanity," said BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho in a press release on Saturday.

"[But] this isn't the time for us to play the blame game; it's a time to act fast since the scale of the fires is so wide that it will be impossible to extinguish them in the next one or two weeks," added Sutopo. (kes)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/24/haze-kills-10-people-leaves-503874-with-respiratory-ailments-agency.html

Graft & corruption

Suryadharma used state funds for PPP lodgings

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2015

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali provided free accommodation for United Development Party (PPP) politicians who joined him on a haj pilgrimage in 2012, a witness stated on Monday.

Testifying at the Jakarta Corruption Court, the former director general for haj and umrah (minor pilgrimage) at the Religious Affairs Ministry, Anggito Abimanyu, confirmed that Suryadharma, then also PPP chairman, had accommodated fellow party members by registering them as Indonesian haj committee members.

Anggito, who resigned from the ministry after the KPK opened a probe against Suryadharma last year, said that a majority of the members of the former PPP chairman's haj entourage in 2012 came from the Islamic-based political party.

The PPP members were not only awarded slots for the pilgrimage, as Suryadharma previously confessed, but they did not pay for accommodation like other pilgrims.

In addition to PPP politicians, Suryadharma included family members and other colleagues as well as members from House of Representatives Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs.

"Some were from parties, including the PPP. The majority of members [of the entourage] came from the PPP. I have data to back up my statements. It is a fact that members of the haj crew were related to him [Suryadharma]," Anggito told the court's panel of judges on Monday.

Anggito gave up his job at the ministry after the KPK hinted in 2014 that it was just a matter of time before KPK investigators named him a suspect in the case.

"It was true [that the order to include Suryadharma's associates came from Suryadharma himself]. The decision was made based on instructions from [Suryadharma] and later we were informed of what had been decided. The haj group was filled with members according to instructions from the ministry," Anggito added.

Anggito further said Commission VIII urged him to include people it recommended to become haj committee members in 2013. He said that he delivered the House's request to Suryadharma and the former minister gave Anggito a green light to satisfy the House's demands.

Earlier on Friday, Suryadharma's former adjutant from his time as cooperatives and small and medium enterprises minister, Karto Kahmid, said that his former boss had offered him the opportunity to undertake the haj for free in 2013.

"He asked me 'do you want to do the haj'? I said 'if it is possible for me to [join the entourage] then I will go'," Karto said, adding that Suryadharma's staff member Ermalen later told him by phone to take his passport to the Religious Affairs Ministry to arrange the trip.

Karto went to Saudi Arabia with a haj group comprising Suryadharma's family members such as his wife, children and in-laws. He also received a Rp 16 million (US$1,173) stipend from the ministry.

At least 1 percent of the annual 190,000 haj quota was left unused because of the death or illness of pilgrims and Suryadharma argued that it was within his authority as minister to determine how to allocate the vacant places.

On Monday, Suryadharma admitted that the State Palace, at that time under the rule of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Vice Presidential Office, at that time led by National Police chief Boediono, and members of Yudhoyono's Cabinet had asked the Religious Affairs Ministry to give them the unused haj quota.

Suryadharma said there was nothing wrong with those institutions receiving the leftover haj quota because they went to Saudi Arabia using their own money, not money from the ministry or haj funds.

The KPK has indicted Suryadharma on corruption charges, accusing him of abusing his authority as religious affairs minister to enrich himself and other individuals by misusing haj pilgrimage funds, which were obtained from the payments of haj pilgrims and from state funds.

Suryadharma is alleged to have misused Rp 27.28 billion from the haj fund and accepted 17.96 million reals from a Saudi businessman who wanted to win contracts for haj accommodation.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/27/suryadharma-used-state-funds-ppp-lodgings.html

Prasetyo in the spotlight in North Sumatra social aid scam

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2015

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – Anticorruption activists have called on the House of Representatives to summon Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo following the detainment of NasDem Party secretary-general Patrice Rio Capella as part of a current graft case.

Following the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) naming Rio a suspect in a bribery case related to an alleged social aid scam in the North Sumatra administration, several House lawmakers said they would soon summon Prasetyo, a former member of the party, to provide details about allegations that Rio had used his NasDem connections to safeguard a graft case at the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

The KPK has accused Rio of accepting Rp 200 million (US$14,700) from North Sumatra governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho, who has also been charged in the case, to safeguard a corruption case involving the province's social aid funds, which is currently being investigated by the AGO.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Donal Fariz said on Saturday that the House was not too enthusiastic to follow up Prasetyo's possible involvement in the case in contrast to several other cases it has set its sights on.

"First and foremost, we ask that the House's Commission III [overseeing legal affairs] clarify the issue with the Attorney General to see whether he was involved or not. It is important to clarify the issue because such accusations could hurt the institution," he said.

"It's not good for all those hard-working prosecutors to face such controversy over their leader being connected [to the case],"

During a separate case hearing in early October, Gatot's wife, Evi Susanti, who has also been charged in the bribery case for allegedly helping her husband deliver the bribe money to Rio, said that Gatot's lawyer, OC Kaligis, who is also a senior NasDem politician, promised to win a plea at the Medan State Administrative Court to annul the authority of the North Sumatra Prosecutor's Office to investigate the two cases so that the AGO could step in to take over the case.

Rio allegedly served as an intermediary between the local prosecutor's office and the AGO following the Medan State Administrative Court's annulment of the first letter of investigation into the case.

The prosecutor's office dropped the two cases just weeks after the court ruling. Several weeks later the AGO reopened the case.

Discussion about the plan to safeguard the graft cases allegedly took place at a meeting at NasDem headquarters in Central Jakarta attended by NasDem chairman Surya Paloh, Rio, Kaligis, Gatot and Deputy North Sumatra Governor Tengku Erry Nuradi, National Mandate Party (PAN) Commission III lawmaker Muslim Ayub said that the commission would definitely follow up the accusations.

"If there are real suspicions of a meeting then we will definitely summon [Prasetyo] because [if it is true], then he violated the code of ethics. We should not hide such things," he said.

However, Prasetyo has denied that such a meeting occurred and said that he had "never discussed cases with Rio Capella. I guarantee that no such thing took place".

On Friday evening, Surya voluntarily came to the KPK headquarters to be questioned as a witness. Although he declined to share the details of his questioning, he confirmed that it focused on the alleged meeting.

"The material surrounded the cases of Gatot and Rio. I was questioned about the cases and I answered in detail," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/prasetyo-spotlight-n-sumatra-social-aid-scam.html

Terrorism & religious extremism

Counterterrorism 'must focus on the Internet'

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2015

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has called for the establishment of a cyber defense agency as the key to combating terrorism, as militant groups increasingly use technology and the Internet not only to spread propaganda but also to recruit and train new members.

Deputy III of BNPT's International Relations division, Insp. Gen. Petrus Reinhard Golose said that currently government institutions had their own cyber defense divisions but they lacked coordination.

"Currently our IT [Information Technology] protection system only focuses on [blocking] pornography. We must start doing something about it [cyber defense against terrorism] or else in five to 10 years we will have difficulties [countering them]," he said.

Petrus said militant groups in the country had effectively used the Internet and social media for propaganda, training and recruitment as well as for logistics and funding sources.

In 2012, the police arrested a terror-financing cell that had IT experts as members, in Medan, North Sumatra, and which had purchased the account numbers of bank clients in and outside of the country.

Earlier in January, the government announced its intention to set up a cyber defense agency as the country was seen to be vulnerable to such attacks in the form of viruses and malware.

According to data from the Communications and Information Ministry, Indonesia was the world's largest source of cyber crime attacks during the second quarter of 2013, during which 42,000 targets were identified each day. The data also showed that 36.6 million cyber attacks occurred in Indonesia in the past three years.

Petrus said the government needed to amend the Terrorism Law to include penalties against individuals who use the Internet for terrorist means as the current law made it difficult for law enforcement to charge those caught using the Internet for such activities.

Meanwhile, terrorism expert Sidney Jones questioned the urgency of setting up an agency that would block radical sites and social media accounts given that members of militant groups rarely relied on the Internet.

"Although there is a high risk of terrorism activity in cyberspace, we have yet to see the amount of involvement we had previously imagined [would occur]. For example with training through the Internet; although there are many books that can be downloaded, there has yet to be a homemade bomb as successful as ones made through face-to-face instruction. Since 2009, there has yet to be a bomb attack that has been conducted successfully," she said.

Jones added that even though there were hundreds of social media accounts that spread the Islamic State (IS) militant group propaganda in Indonesian, they represented a very small number of people compared to the total numbers that actually traveled to Syria.

According to data from BNPT, the number of Indonesians thought to have traveled to Syria to join IS is estimated at 297, with 129 thought to still be in Syria and 37 thought to have died.

However, Jones said the country needed a cyber defense agency in order to analyze cyberspace traffic on the Internet, on social media and also on messenger services.

She said militant groups nowadays often used messenger services such as Telegram, in which users can exchange instant messages and allows end-to- end encrypted messages, and Zello, an application that acts as a modern-day walkie-talkie.

"If we block a Twitter or a Google account then new accounts will pop up, so what's the point of blocking such [radical sites]? What is important is that we can analyze the social media contents," she said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/24/counterterrorism-must-focus-internet.html

Freedom of religion & worship

Bogor regent under fire after banning Asyura celebration

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2015

Arya Dipa, Jakarta/Bandung – Bima Arya, the mayor of Bogor in West Java, has come under heavy criticism from human rights groups over his decision to ban members of the Shia community in his city from celebrating their religious feast day, Asyura.

On Thursday, Bima issued a circular instructing all Shiites in Bogor to refrain from celebrating Asyura "to keep order and security in the city". Shiites celebrate Asyura on the 10th day of Muharram month, which falls on Saturday this year.

The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) commissioner Muhammad Imdadun Rahmat said the prohibition was against the principles of freedom of religion, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. "The order clearly violates religious freedom," he told The Jakarta Post by phone on Sunday.

He added that Komnas HAM was currently preparing to issue a formal protest letter directed to Bima, telling him to withdraw his circular and to allow members of the Shia community to freely exercise their religious practices.

Separately, human rights group Setara Institute vice chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos said that by issuing the circular Bima had curbed particular citizens' rights to exercise their religious practices and their rights to assemble.

He said that Bima's excuse of maintaining order and security in banning the celebration of Asyura was also not right because the Bogor administration could maintain security and order by providing security measures while members of the Shia community were celebrating Asyura. "His excuse was fake," he said.

He also criticized Bima for issuing the circular under recommendation from some parties that objected to the existence of members of the Shia community.

"Any regional government should defend their citizens' rights. They can accept recommendations from any party, but they should ensure everyone's rights are protected," he said.

"It was very unfortunate that Bima issued the circular. Before he became a mayor, we thought he was a democrat, but he did not do what a democrat should do when he was in power," he said. Bima could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Bima's circular prohibited members of the Shia community from celebrating Asyura in Bogor and banned them from mobilizing in groups.

Prohibitions against celebrating Asyura have previously occured in Bandung, West Java. Some 120 people calling themselves the West Java Ahlus Sunnah Defenders (PAS) staged a rally on Friday night at Sidolig Stadium, Bandung, as thousands of Shia followers were celebrating Asyura to commemorate the Karbala War. The celebration initially ran smoothly without disturbance at around 7 p.m. local time. The police had been on guard at the site.

At about 8:30 p.m., PAS arrived at the site on motorbikes. They gathered in front of the stadium while spreading banners saying "Shia is a threat to NKRI [Unitary Nation of the Republic of Indonesia]".

The police formed a shield between the mob and the celebration venue. The Shia followers eventually dispersed under police guard.

"The celebration ran until it was finished. Alhamdullilah [Praise to Allah], the police's guard was relatively good," said Miftah Fauzi Rakhmat of the Sekolah Cerdas Muthahhari, who joined the celebration.

Miftah, who is also a member of the legislative council of the Indonesian Ahlul Bait Congregation Association (Ijabi), said that there had indeed been parties expressing objections to the Asyura celebration in Bandung.

He said Ijabi annually conducted national celebrations of Asyura in Bandung – "There is nothing wrong with the content of the celebration. You are welcome to check it if there is something that could be considered wrong in it," Miftah said. (saf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/bogor-regent-under-fire-after-banning-asyura-celebration.html

Shiites in Bogor, Bandung face hard-line pressure ahead of Ashura

Jakarta Globe - October 24, 2015

Bogor – Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto of Bogor has banned Shiites in the West Java city from commemorating Ashura this Sunday, citing security concerns, as Shiites in Bandung were forced by hard-liners to cut short a similar event on Friday.

A spokesman for the Bogor city administration on Saturday confirmed that the mayor had issued a decree on the matter on Thursday.

"With an eye to the security and public order in Bogor, the mayor believed it was necessary to issue a decree," spokesman Encep Moh Ali Alhamidi said on Saturday.

On Ashura, the tenth day of the Islamic month Muharram, Shiite Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed in the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq, in the year 680.

Shiites had been planning to hold their main Ashura ceremony in Cibalagung, in West Bogor subdistrict, on Sunday.

In various parts of Indonesia in recent years, Shiite Muslims have been the victim of harassment, violence and persecution by groups of hard-line Sunnis, who make up the majority of Muslims in Indonesia.

Earlier this week, an anti-Shiite mob attacked a shelter for asylum seekers in Yogyakarta over concerns that proselytization was taking place there.

'Defending' Sunni Islam

Meanwhile, in the West Java capital of Bandung on Friday night, a group of some 120 people claiming to be "defending" the dominant Sunni interpretation of the faith interrupted an Ashura celebration at the Sidolig sports stadium, forcing an early end to the event attended by thousands of people.

The event, which started at 7 p.m., was guarded by 1,000 police officers but the group of hard-liners, who arrived on motorcycles at around 8:30 p.m., still managed to disturb the celebration.

The anti-Shiite activists were carrying banners with slogans like "Shiites Are a Threat to NKRI," referring to the unitary Indonesian nation-state.

Police prevented the hard-liners from entering, but Shiites had to be escorted out of the stadium, apparently to prevent a clash.

It was not immediately clear why the massive police force didn't prevent the activists from disturbing the event, but the head of the Bandung city police, Sr. Comr. Angesta Romano Yoyol, said the important thing was that everybody was safe.

"Our duty was to ensure security," he said. "We had prepared a thousand officers." Not far from the Sidolig stadium, young residents of Bandung on Friday held a festival dedicated to religious tolerance, with book discussions and art presentations.

Organizers said the event was necessary to counter increasingly intolerant attitudes they said were taking hold in society.

No support for Sampang Shiites

In June this year, a coalition of rights groups urged President Joko Widodo to stay true to his campaign promises to protect minority groups and ensure the safe return of a Shiite community to their home village on East Java's Madura island, nearly three years after their forced eviction.

The joint statement was issued by Amnesty International, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Paramadina University's Center for the Study of Religion and Democracy and the Indonesian chapter of the Asian Muslim Action Network, and criticized the government's lack of action to allow at least 300 members of the displaced Shiite Muslim community to return safely to their home village in Sampang district, Madura.

They were forced to abandon their homes after an anti-Shiite mob attacked their village in August 2012, with their leader Tajul Muluk convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/shiites-bogor-bandung-face-hard-line-pressure-ahead-ashura/

Agriculture & food security

Tobacco farming no longer profitable, survey finds

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2015

Erika Anindita – A survey conducted by the Muhammadiyah Tobacco Control Center (MTCC) revealed on Wednesday that farming tobacco in Indonesia is no longer a profitable business.

The MTCC surveyed 500 farmers in three main tobacco producing areas of the country – Central Java, East Java and West Nusa Tenggara – in June and July this year. The farmers consisted of 309 tobacco farmers and 191 former farmers.

Fauzi Ahmad Noor, a researcher with the MTCC, reported that the survey found that 36.9 percent of tobacco farmers were only following family tradition and just 16.8 percent considered tobacco farming profitable.

"Tobacco farming is not a profitable business according to Indonesian tobacco farmers," he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"Weather, the monopoly of the tobacco [purchasing] industry and government smoking controls all contribute to the risk potential of [tobacco] farming."

Data from the MTCC revealed that the average monthly income of former tobacco farmers is threefold more than those still farming, at Rp 2.5 million per month compared to Rp 775,000.

The income is not a sufficient livelihood according to more than 35 percent of tobacco farmers surveyed. "The tobacco farmers are looking for alternative source of income like planting other crops," Fauzi said.

Besides tobacco, most tobacco farmers also grow cabbage, chili, tomato, potato, corn, rice, soy beans and coffee.

Indonesia remains the only country in Asia which has not ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. WHO estimates that smoking kills 235,000 Indonesians annually and that secondhand smoke takes another 25,000 lives. (rin)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/30/tobacco-farming-no-longer-profitable-survey-finds.html

El Nino drought poses poverty challenge for Indonesia

Reuters - October 29, 2015

Nicholas Owen, Karang Jati, Indonesia – On a dry and dusty sports field in central Java, Indonesian men dressed as traditional warriors take turns to battle with wooden staves, while village women crowd around, chanting: "All farmers let us pray that rain comes and washes our sorrow away."

As in many parts of Java, Indonesia's main rice-growing island, seasonal rains are late coming to Karang Jati. A drought caused by the El Nino weather pattern, which scientists say could be the worst on record, means fields are fallow weeks after they would normally be sown. So the villagers have turned to a rainmaking ritual to hasten the planting season.

Crop failures caused by an El Nino drought presage more pain for Southeast Asia's largest economy, which is already growing at its slowest pace in six years, by squeezing incomes, fanning inflation and pushing more people into poverty.

All this piles pressure on Joko Widodo, Indonesia's first president from humble origins, who made poverty reduction a priority but has seen it swell across this archipelago of 250 million people since he took office a year ago.

The number of people officially classed as poor actually rose in the first six months of his presidency to 28.6 million in March from 27.7 million in September 2014.

Twenty of Indonesia's 34 provinces are currently stricken by severe drought, according to the meteorology agency.

The World Bank says that if there is a severe El Nino this year, rice production will fall by 2.1 million tons, or 2.9 percent, and rice prices will rise by 10.2 percent.

That price rise will hit the poor hardest because they spend more of their income on food than the well off.

"Reduced agricultural incomes and higher prices could be devastating for poor households," the Bank said in a report, adding that rice imports may be needed if El Nino intensifies.

'No rain, no money'

Widodo has provided more funds for cash transfers and social schemes, but so far has refused to sanction rice imports, keen that Indonesia should be self-sufficient in food.

"We are not talking about imports," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told Reuters in a recent interview. "We are trying to make sure the domestic stocks are available and accessible."

Other countries at risk of an El Nino drought, such as the Philippines, have taken advantage of low global rice prices to boost stocks with foreign imports.

Such measures at least cap inflation if crops fail, though they mostly benefit people in towns who consume rice, rather than the farmers who produce it – all they can do is pray for the weather to change.

"Our paddy fields depend on rainwater, so if there is no rain we suffer," said Darijan, a 60-year-old farmer in central Java who has started selling his soil to brick-makers to make ends meet.

Agriculture accounts for nearly 14 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product, the highest among Southeast Asia's five main economies. One-third of the labor force works in farming, and more than half of poor households live off the land.

"What is very important... to the poverty numbers is rice production and rice prices," Steven Tabor, the Asian Development Bank's head in Indonesia, told a recent conference. "And the beginnings of El Nino seem to suggest that we may be in for rising poverty toward the end of the year."

As the drought drags on, Karang Jati's farmers such as 70-year-old Rohadi Rustam are anxious. "If there's no rain, we have no money," he said, sitting by his sun-cracked fields. "That's how we farmers live."

Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/asia/el-nino-drought-poses-poverty-challenge-for-indonesia.html

Land & agrarian conflicts

Farmers' coalition seeks to challenge 'unfair' plantations law

Jakarta Globe - October 28, 2015

Jakarta – Several Indonesian farmers' associations and activists on Tuesday submitted to the Constitutional Court a motion for a judicial review of the country's 2014 Plantations on Law, claiming it violates the rights of smallholders and indigenous people over those of plantation companies.

The group is challenging 11 articles in the law, which it claims has failed to improve the welfare of smallholders and independent farmers, despite being amended, ostensibly for that very end, by the previous House of Representatives last year, a day before its term ended.

"The revised law doesn't truly bring a mission for improvement compared to the old one," said Gunawan, a lawyer from the Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHCS), representing the plaintiffs.

He cited Article 57 of the law, which regulates the partnership between landowners and plantation companies, and which the plaintiffs argue overlooks farmers' participation in forming schemes within the partnership between the two stakeholders. "The farmers' hands are tied from the start," Gunawan said at a discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The group also argues that Article 42 allows plantation companies to either hold an operation permit (IUP) and/or a right of cultivation permit (HGU) to start working the land, including clearing farmland and growing crops.

Indonesian law states that companies can get an IUP from district authorities and an HGU from the Agriculture Ministry in Jakarta.

"But in reality, most companies only have an IUP. This makes it hard for the government to punish them when they are found to conduct unsustainable practices, such as burning land," said Mario Saputra, an expert from the environmental group Sawit Watch.

The group says its research shows that only 25 percent of the estimated 200 palm oil companies in Central Kalimantan have an HGU, and that those without the permit are typically involved in slash-and-burn forest-clearing practices.

The Indonesian government is also losing revenue from companies that only operate without an HGU, which would oblige them to pay taxes to the government, Mario said.

Gunawan said that the plaintiffs, including the Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI) and the Farmers Initiatives for Ecological Livelihood and Democracy (Field), expected to be granted a preliminary hearing by the Constitutional Court before the end of the year.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/farmers-coalition-seeks-challenge-unfair-plantations-law/

Jakarta & urban life

Plan to close nightclubs at midnight scrapped

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2015

Dewanti A. Wardhani, Jakarta – The plan to impose a 12 a.m. closing time on Jakarta's nightclubs has been shelved after Jakarta city councilors appeared to have a change of heart just a few days before the draft bylaw was to come up for approval.

Councilor Muhammad Taufik of the Gerindra Party said that after discussions with the city administration and stakeholders, the council's legislative board had decided to maintain the current nightclub operational hours, which are until 2 a.m.

"After listening to the aspirations of citizens, including business owners, we think that 2 a.m. is ideal," Taufik told reporters at City Hall on Thursday.

Previously, the council had considered limiting the operational hours of nightclubs until 12 a.m. as a result of concerns over illegal drug activities taking place in nightclubs.

Taufik had said that drug users would have nowhere to go after the restriction in the operational hours of nightclubs came into effect. The regulation would have been included in a bylaw on tourism.

Taufik, who said the issue had also been scrutinized and criticized by foreigners living in Jakarta, said it had been decided it was best to keep the current operational hours unchanged.

Currently, nightclubs may operate from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. as stipulated by Gubernatorial Regulation No. 21/2007 on nightclubs.

"Instead of limiting the operational hours of nightclubs, we will increase security and tighten regulations regarding drug-related activities. For example, if a nightclub is caught allowing drug activities even once, it will be closed. This will be included in the bylaw," Taufik said.

He said that the City Council would hold a plenary session on Friday to officially approve the bylaw.

Previously, the plan to limit the operational hours of nightclubs had been criticized, both by Jakarta administration officials and by business owners.

Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency head Purba Hutapea had said that such a plan was not the answer to drug problems in Jakarta, adding that "people could still do drugs elsewhere".

Purba had said that Jakarta's antidrug policy in nightclubs was clear, and was evident last year from Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's decision to close Jakarta's iconic Stadium nightclub, located in West Jakarta, which was notorious for hosting illegal drug activities.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/30/plan-close-nightclubs-midnight-scrapped.html

Greater Jakarta: Jakarta's minimum wage Rp 3.1 million

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2015

Jakarta – The Jakarta Remuneration Council has decided to set the provincial minimum wage at Rp 3.1 million (US$213) per month next year.

Priyono, head of the Manpower and Transmigration Agency, said on Thursday evening that the council would recommend the amount to Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.

"The unions proposed Rp 3,133,470, and taking this into account, the administration decided on Rp 3.1 million," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

He said the council used the formulation regulated by Government Regulation No. 78/2015, which calculates minimum wage by multiplying current wages by the inflation rate plus the growth rate.

A representative from the council, Muhammad Toha, expressed disappointment with the amount because some workers wanted to raise the wage to Rp 3,324,900. This amount is derived from the same formulation but replaces the minimum wage with current living costs. Currently, the minimum wage is set at Rp 2.7 million.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/30/greater-jakarta-jakarta-s-minimum-wage-rp-31-million.html

City struggling with key traffic projects

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2015

Dewanti A. Wardhani, Jakarta – The city administration has continued to delay key projects planned to minimize traffic congestion in Jakarta, such as the electronic road pricing (ERP) system and an overhaul of public transportation.

Transportation Agency head Andri Yansyah acknowledged that the agency had encountered difficulties in getting the two programs up and running.

"There are a number of issues that we must overcome. But I assure you, it's nothing we can't handle," Andri told reporters after a meeting at his office in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, recently.

Academic studies on the ERP have been carried out since 2006. The system is slated to replace the existing three-in-one system, which requires that each car carry at least three people on some roads in Jakarta during the morning and evening weekday rush hours. Under the system, each vehicle that passes gantries will be detected through an on-board unit (OBU) and must pay a certain amount.

"For the ERP, we need to meticulously draft and prepare bidding documents. It is a very complex technology with many aspects that need cooperation and synergy with all relevant agencies and entities," Andri said.

Before submitting bidding documents, he pointed out that the agency had to establish the system's funding, management and maintenance, as well as the respective tasks of each entity involved.

"For example, Bina Marga [Roads] Agency is responsible for helping maintain the physical gantries, while the Jakarta Traffic Police are responsible for the law enforcement, which is the most complicated element," Andri said.

He added that if all went to plan, bidding would start early 2016, with a winner announced by the middle of the year. He estimated that the system would take effect starting 2017, two years later than the original target.

Meanwhile, the planned overhaul of public transportation needed further surveys and research before it could begin, Andri said.

The city is home to a variety of modes of public transportation, such as minivans and minibuses. Most types of public transportation in Jakarta are owned privately by individuals and small firms who hire drivers, who are required to pay a setoran (set fee) to the operators each day and take home only any money above that amount. As a result, many drivers tend to wait for passengers and drive recklessly.

The city's public transportation revitalization program aims to erase the setoran system by having Transjakarta pay bus owners per kilometer traveled.

"We still need to conduct a number of surveys to determine which routes are most needed by passengers in areas throughout the city. We will also gauge whether existing routes are still needed in order to provide the most effective public transit," Andri said.

Separately, Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama acknowledged that the city administration faced many obstacles and difficulties in its planned projects.

"We need to completely revamp Jakarta's public transportation; it must be done carefully. There are still a number of things being discussed, such as the rate drivers will be paid per kilometer," Ahok told reporters at City Hall recently.

The governor added that the city was also open to newer technology for the ERP system. "We want the ERP system to be accurate. Singapore recently started using a GPS system instead of gantries and OBU. We're discussing whether this system can be implemented in Jakarta," Ahok said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/29/city-struggling-with-key-traffic-projects.html

Jakarta minimum wage will be Rp 3.1 million next year: Ahok

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2015

Edna Tarigan, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has said that the Jakarta provincial minimum wage will increase to Rp 3.1 million (US$227.93) next year from the current minimum wage of Rp 2.73 million.

Jakarta will use the newly issued Government Regulation (PP) No. 78/2015 concerning wages, but it will still consider the basic cost of living (KHL) survey conducted by the Jakarta wage committee, whose members consisted of the employers, workers and Jakarta Manpower agency.

The government regulation, which has issued a follow-up of the fourth economic package to improve the investment climate, rules that the minimum wage is based on the current fiscal year's inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate.

"We have used the KHL survey plus inflation and economic growth since 2012 in deciding the minimum wage. It is good if [Jakarta's minimum wage] is higher than the figure calculated based on the Government Regulation (PP)," Ahok added.

According to head of City Manpower and Transmigration Agency Priyono, based on the recent survey, the cost of living in Jakarta has increased to Rp 2.98 million next year or 14.2 percent above the current figure of Rp 2.53 million.

The basic cost of living is based on prices of 84 commodities and other daily needs of the workers. Ahok said the new minimum wage would be effective next January. (bbn)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/27/jakarta-minimum-wage-will-be-rp-31-million-next-year-ahok.html

Ahok interns affiliated with giant companies

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2015

Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has revealed that he recruited interns and special staffers who have affiliations with giant private companies and developers, including Lippo Group, Sinar Mas Group and Bank Artha Graha International.

Ahok told reporters at City Hall on Friday that there were special staffers currently working for him who included Melvany Kasih, the daughter of Bank Artha Graha International president director Andy Kasih.

"My interns include the children of Sulis [Gandi Sulistiyanto Soeherman], the managing director of Sinar Mas Group and CEO Lippo Group Roy Tirtadji," he said.

Ahok said he guaranteed that although the staffers were affiliated with big business, they would not create any conflict of interest. "They cannot make any decisions," he said.

He added that the recruitment of the children from top businesspeople also aimed to send the message that the city administration had changed.

"We do not receive bribes or take sides with anyone," he said, adding that he disclosed the content of all meetings to guarantee transparency. He said that he also employed many other interns from various academic and social backgrounds.

There have been rumors circulating that say Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok), an organization that is currently gathering support for Ahok to run as an independent candidate in the next gubernatorial election, is funded by Artha Graha.

Ahok denied the rumor, saying that those who spread those rumors should prove their allegations.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/24/greater-jakarta-ahok-interns-affiliated-with-giant-companies.html

Armed forces & defense

TNI chief promises severe punishment

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2015

Tama Salim and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Indonesian military (TNI) chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo has said that he has ordered an investigation into allegations that the commander of Sidoarjo district military command (Kodim), Lt. Col. Risky Indra Wijaya, had an extramarital affair with model-turned-politician Arzeti Bilbina.

"[We] must hold an investigation and the result [of the investigation] must be processed by the military court. The punishment will be commensurate with the severity of the violation. If the violation is serious, there will be an additional punishment that could include a dismissal from duty," Gatot said at military headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Monday afternoon.

Gatot said that the TNI would get tough on married personnel having affairs. "We have a regulation stipulating that if a member of the military has an extramarital affair with a relative of a fellow member of the military or married people, we will dismiss them," he said.

Both the House of Representatives and the TNI have decided to wait for conclusive results from the ongoing investigation by the Military Police into the alleged extramarital affair before meting out any punishment.

Deputy House Speaker Agus Hermanto of the Democratic Party urged the public to be patient and let law enforcement uncover the details surrounding the case implicating Arzeti, a member of House Commission VIII overseeing religion, social affairs and women's empowerment.

He said that only after the investigation had been concluded could the House decide whether the case constituted a breach of ethics or a crime.

"Either this falls into the category of crime, in which case we would hand it over to the authorities, or it might be a moral issue, which means that the MKD [House ethics council] would handle it," Agus said on Tuesday. "Let [the investigation] run its course until we have the evidence," he added.

Fellow Deputy House Speaker Fadli Zon from the Gerindra Party said that there was no need to blow the case out of proportion. "It's a trivial pursuit, don't make it out to be more than it actually is. Even [Arzeti's] husband said it was no big deal," Fadli said on Tuesday.

A joint military report revealed that the military police had raided the Arjuna Hotel in Lawang, Malang, on Sunday afternoon after receiving information that a married officer was in the hotel with a woman.

The Military Police found Risky together with Arzeti in a room at the hotel, and took both of them to Military Police headquarters for questioning. The force also summoned Arzeti's husband, Aditya Setiawan.

Fadli said the meeting between Arzeti and Risky could have been professional in nature and urged the Malang Military Police to be transparent in their investigation. "I think that would be better, including for those involved," he said.

Arzeti, a former top fashion model, was appointed a House member to replace fellow party member Imam Nahrawi, who was given the position of youth and sports minister in President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration last year.

Arzeti, who represents an electoral district in Sidoarjo, East Java, denied her involvement in any extramarital affair, arguing that she was attended a meeting of Fatayat NU, the female wing of the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), at the time. She did however admit that she and her husband knew Risky.

Meanwhile, deputy MKD chairman Junimart Girsang of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the council would also wait for the final results from the Military Police before taking on the case.

"Let's see where it goes. We hope the rumors aren't true because we hear [Arzeti] was there to meet with members of her constituency," he said on Tuesday.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/28/tni-chief-promises-severe-punishment.html

Arrested soldiers 'supplied ecstasy to Jakarta nightclubs'

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2015

Corry Elyda, Jakarta – The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) is investigating two arrested Indonesian soldiers for allegedly distributing drugs at nightclubs around Jakarta.

BNN chief Budi Waseso told reporters on Tuesday that his personnel had a list of nightclubs that were supplied by the suspects, identified only as Lt. Col. WW, 51, and Sgt. Maj. SI, 43.

"The two suspects are our target related to a syndicate supplying drugs to nightclubs in Jakarta," he said as quoted by kompas.com. He refused to name the venues in question given the investigation was still ongoing.

The drug syndicate had infiltrated the military and harmed the institution's image, Budi said. "We should not let the wrongdoings of a few personnel give the institution a bad name," he said. He also stressed that the fight against drugs needed to include all parties and institutions.

The arrest of WW and SI follows the earlier arrest by BNN officers of a suspected drug courier, along with his wife, who had been the target of BNN investigations for a while, and according to his own testimony worked as a courier for WW.

WW was then nabbed in Ceger, Kampung Rambutan, East Jakarta on Sunday night. The police also confiscated 1,000 ecstasy pills from WW, which allegedly were to be passed on to SI.

The police apprehended SI after a shootout, during which the suspect sustained six gunshot wounds. "The suspect opened fire at the investigators. Hence, we needed to take action to immobilize him," Budi said.

SI was brought to nearby Sukanto Hospital in Kramat Jati to be examined before he was transferred to Kesdam Jaya hospital in Cijantung, East Jakarta.

BNN spokesman Sr. Comr. Slamet Pribadi said the agency had officially handed the two suspects over to the Military Police (Denpom) on Monday morning.

Slamet said the investigators so far had not found any clues that other military officers were involved in the case. "We have also not found the suppliers of the pills," he said, adding that the investigation was still going on.

Separately, Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesperson Maj. Gen. Tatang Sulaiman said the two arrested TNI personnel could be discharged from their positions.

"They will undergo the [military] legal process. Possible sanctions range from imprisonment to administrative punishment as well as additional punishment, which is dismissal," he said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Tatang said he appreciated the BNN's efforts in fighting drug crime. "In this case, TNI conveys its gratitude to BNN, as it has helped us fight against drugs," he said.

He added that the TNI was always open with regards to violations by its personnel. "We are committed to disclose cases of wrongdoing by any personnel," he said.

A naval officer, a commander identified by his initials AS, was arrested while taking shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) in a hotel room in Semarang, Central Java, in 2013.

In 2012, BNN arrested an intelligence officer who worked for TNI's Strategic Intelligence Agency, along with civilian accomplices, for their alleged involvement in the smuggling of more than 1.4 million ecstasy pills, which was hailed as one of the biggest raids in the past decade.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/28/arrested-soldiers-supplied-ecstasy-jakarta-nightclubs.html

Rights groups to challenge decree on TNI

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2015

Jakarta – Human rights groups have urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to drop a plan that would give the Indonesian Military (TNI) authority to get involved in security matters and civilian functions.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that passing the decree would take the country back to the authoritarian New Order Era, when the TNI had supremacy over civilians.

"If the President approves the decree, the country will gradually lose its democracy. Civilians will feel insecure because they will no longer have freedom to express their criticism of the government," said Mufti Makarim, a researcher from Kontras who is also a military expert.

He said that several problematic articles in the draft, which would allow the TNI to carry out civilian functions and security affairs, should be subject to scrutiny.

Article 4 in the draft, for example, stipulates that the TNI is the state's instrument for defense and security affairs, that it is equal to a ministry and that it is directly under the President.

If the decree was approved, the TNI would no longer be under the coordination of the Defense Ministry and would be on equal footing with the National Police and ministries.

Mufti said that the stipulation contradicted Article 3 of Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI, which regulates that the TNI is under the command of the Defense Ministry in defense policy and strategy. It would also violate Article 5 of the law, which authorizes the TNI to deal with defense affairs only.

Article 7 in the draft is equally problematic, stipulating that the TNI would have authority to deal with crimes that are supposedly handled by the National Police, such as terrorism and drug-related crimes. The TNI would also have authority to help local administrations in protecting Indonesian citizens overseas.

"It will be dangerous. The TNI will be able to arbitrarily use weapons to shoot criminals dead, which is in contradiction with the police's mechanism where shooting to death is the last option," Mufti said.

Wahyudi Djafar, a senior researcher at the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), said the decree would also violate Article 30 of the Constitution, which allows the TNI to deal only with defense, while security matters are in the hands of the National Police.

The Constitution, he said, could not be amended with a presidential decree. "Jokowi is the first civilian elected to be president through a democratic general election. But he surprisingly wants to bring back military supremacy over civilians," Wahyudi said.

He said that Jokowi should invite the public to participate more in the decision-making process and stop listening to parties in the governance that had certain political interests.

Human rights watchdog Imparsial's executive director Poengky Indarti said that the country's situation might become worse than it was in the authoritarian era if the decree was approved.

Under Soeharto's dictatorship, she said, the TNI, then known as the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), could have control in politics and civilian affairs without any legal basis. "So, we can imagine how it would be if the TNI was backed by a legal basis," Poengky said.

She said that to stop the decree from being implemented, if the President signed it, human rights groups in the country would file a judicial review at the Constitutional Court. "We really want the President to review it first with all parties for the sake of civilians," she said. (foy)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/24/rights-groups-challenge-decree-tni.html

Criminal justice & prison system

Chemical castration 'would violate human rights of sex offenders'

Jakarta Post - October 31, 2015

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – A coalition of human rights groups has voiced opposition to the government's plan to introduce chemical castration for sex offenders.

Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) researcher Anggara demanded that the government and the House of Representatives drop the plan, the implementation of which, she said, would constitute a clear violation of human rights.

"Instead, the government should prioritize children's rights in a comprehensive manner. In cases involving child victims, the state must guarantee that the victim receives protection and access to rehabilitation," Anggara said on Friday.

A number of government officials have recently indicated that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is considering issuing a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to introduction chemical castration for men who rape children, as the required revision of the Criminal Code (KUHP) would take years to pass.

Chemical castration involves the administration of anti-androgenic drugs to reduce libido, compulsive sexual fantasies and the capacity of sexual arousal. It is given in the form of an injection once every three months and, unlike surgical castration, is reversible when treatment is discontinued; there are, however, lasting side effects.

Chemical castration laws are in place in several US states and countries including South Korea, Moldova, Russia and Estonia.

Anggara maintained that the proposed punishment was not based on any study or data and would fail to deter potential offenders. Rather, he said, the biggest challenge remained the difficulty of proving child sexual abuse under the current Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP).

"Right now, the most pressing problem is to prove that a case of child sexual abuse occurred since the victim is a child and may be unwilling, or unable, to communicate in court what happened to him or her. This makes it difficult to prove since the current KUHAP does not allow the victim to be represented by someone else, whether a guardian or a psychologist," he said, adding that, "The government has never thought about this. It is very difficult for children to testify, especially those under the age of 10."

Meanwhile, Ninik Rahayu of the Institute of Women and Children's Welfare (IPPAI) said that sexual abuse of children did not always stem from pedophilic disorders, making chemical castration an imperfect punishment and deterrent.

She proposed that perpetrators be placed on rehabilitation programs while behind bars.

"The state has never considered a rehabilitation system for either victims or perpetrators. That is something that needs to change. For example, [perpetrators] should be given basic sex education," suggested Ninik, a former member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).

However, Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) chairman Asrorun Niam Sholeh insisted that chemical castration was a viable solution to curb the country's rampant sexual abuse of children.

"Indonesia is a state that follows the rule of law and respects human rights. However, we must remember that human rights in Indonesia are based on the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that rights are only constitutional if they do not violate the rights of others," Asrorun told The Jakarta Post.

In 2014, the KPAI received up to 5,066 cases of violence against children nationwide, and received 2,000 reports from January to July this year. According to the commission, 50 percent of the cases reported involved sexual violence.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/31/chemical-castration-would-violate-human-rights-sex-offenders.html

Mining & energy

Only local investors to get a slice of Freeport IPO, bourse chief says

Jakarta Globe - October 27, 2015

Muhamad Edy Sofyan, Jakarta – The Indonesian stock exchange authority says it will restrict the market for a highly anticipated initial public offering of shares in mining giant Freeport Indonesia to local investors only.

US-based Freeport-McMoRan plans to divest an initial 10.6 percent stake in its Indonesian unit as part of a deal to allow it to extend its contract to operate the Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua province beyond 2021.

The company, which controls a 90.64 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia, is expected to submit details about the planned divestment to the Indonesian government this month.

Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) director Tito Sulistio said on Tuesday that his office, along with the Financial Services Authority, was drafting a regulation prohibiting foreign investors from snapping up the Freeport Indonesia shares, in a bid to accommodate domestic investors. "Foreign investors will be able to buy, but only after a couple of years," he added.

Tito said he believed the plan would receive a positive response from the market and major domestic institutional investors like workers' pension fund BPJS Ketenagakerjaan and civil servants' pension fund Taspen, both state-owned.

Samsul Hidayat, Freeport Indonesia's director for corporate evaluation, said he had met officials from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to discuss the planned divestment, prescribed in a 2014 regulation.

The government owns a 9.36 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia; under the regulation, Freeport-McMoRan needs to divest a total of 20.64 to bring its own stake down to 70 percent. No details have been given for the time frame for the divestment or the projected value of the shares.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/business/local-investors-get-slice-freeport-indonesia-ipo-bourse-chief-says/

Fishing & maritime affairs

Indonesia lifts ban on foreign fishing vessels

Jakarta Globe - October 31, 2015

Jakarta – In a move likely to be welcomed by big fishing companies, Indonesia has lifted its ban on foreign vessels being operated by local entities, even as audits found that 80 percent of those ships were involved in illegal activities.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs had banned local fishing companies from using vessels from abroad since October last year – in an attempt to crack down on illegal fishing – as it was found that such vessels often delivered their catch in foreign ports.

But after completing a series of audits, the ministry says foreign fishing vessel with a gross tonnage over 30 can now be used again, but that surveillance and law enforcement will be heightened. The move affects more than 1,130 vessels.

The ban had met strong resistance from major fishing companies, which claimed they had difficulties sourcing similar ships from local builders.

At the same time, however, the policy managed to boost fish supply in local ports by 240 percent to 6 million tons, as the policy created room for smaller-size boats owned by local fishermen. The ban also cut subsidized fuel usage among fishermen by 36 percent, the ministry said.

"We have completed the assessment – after October 31 all will be back to normal," Susi Pudjiastuti, the minister of maritime affairs, said on Friday.

Susi said that the ministry's audit found 80 percent of the foreign vessels in use were involved in illegal activity like falsifying ownership data and the illegal transshipment of fish (loading and unloading catch to other ships on the open sea instead of at ports).

After lifting the moratorium, the ministry said it would therefore revamp supervision of what is going on in Indonesia waters, in cooperation with the Navy and the police.

Under a 2015 presidential regulation, Susi is leading a special task force that is cracking down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the country.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/food-news/indonesia-lifts-ban-foreign-fishing-vessels/

Economy & investment

Regulatory reforms make doing business easier: Survey

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2015

Jakarta – A recent report by the World Bank revealed that doing business in Indonesia has become easier, especially after the government implemented an online system in several licensing sectors.

The report, entitled "Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency", ranked Indonesia at 109, an 11-place jump from last year's 120, out of 189 countries assessed by the Washington-based global financial institution around the globe.

The report said that Indonesia had simplified licensing and registration of taxes and social security.

"Indonesia made paying taxes easier and less costly for companies by introducing an online system for paying social security contributions and by reducing both the rate and the ceiling for the contributions paid by employers," the report read.

Other improvements noted in the report were the reduced time needed to register workers with the Manpower Ministry and the improved access to loans through enabling searches of the collateral registry with the debtor's name, it added.

The report also put Southeast Asia's largest economy among 24 countries that implemented regulatory reforms making it easier to do business according to three or more of the study's 10 indicators, along with China, Hong Kong, Russia and Vietnam, among other countries.

Despite Indonesia's improvement, it still lagged far behind its peers in Southeast Asia, like Singapore (first), Malaysia (18th), Thailand (49th), Vietnam (90th) and the Philippines (103rd), the report said

Of 10 indicators used in the survey, Indonesia has shown improvements in five of them, include in dealing with construction permits (up 46 places) and getting electricity (up 32 places).

The country still faces shortcomings in several others, such as in registering property (down 14 places), starting a business (down 18 places) and trading across borders (down 43 places).

The deputy director for investment planning of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Tamba Hutapea, said on Wednesday that his office would discuss with the Finance Ministry and the customs office the measures needed to improve procedures and lower export and import costs.

"The government now focuses on continuing the deregulation and de- bureaucratization reforms by working intensively and disseminating the policies with the related ministries and local administrations," he told the press.

BKPM's investment deregulation director Yuliot expressed hope that more cities would be included in the survey in the future.

"Some other cities have far better services than Jakarta and Surabaya, which were surveyed by the study," he said, adding that a subnational survey carried out by Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) in 20 cities nationwide in 2013 revealed that Yogyakarta and Balikpapan in East Kalimantan topped the investor-friendly cities list.

A study carried out by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and KPPOD in five business cities in 2014 showed that Jakarta and Surabaya were among the worst at handling business licensing applications, ranking lower than Makassar in South Sulawesi, Balikpapan and Medan in North Sumatra.

KPPOD executive director Robert Endi Jaweng said that Jakarta had shown improvements in business licensing this year.

"Meanwhile, we need to keep an eye on Surabaya," he said, adding that as long as the city did not start reforms by, such as, establishing a one-stop integrated service (PTSP) for handling licenses, it would be difficult to improve Indonesia's rank. (prm/fsu)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/29/regulatory-reforms-make-doing-business-easier-survey.html

Jokowi brings in $20 billion worth of investments from US visit

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2015

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo witnessed investment agreements worth a total of US$20 billion between Indonesian and US companies during his trip to the US on Monday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that economic issues were the priorities of the trip. "There are cooperation agreements worth $20 billion from many companies of varied sectors," she said as quoted by news agency Antara on Tuesday.

Franky Sibarani, the chief of Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) said that Jokowi's visit to the US finalized the agreements that had been in the works for a long time.

Jokowi visited the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, on Monday joined by 250 businesspeople and policy makers from both countries. US Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donohue, US-Asean Business Council president Alexander Feldman and president of US-Indonesia Society (USINDO) David Merril welcomed Jokowi and delegation members.

Antara reported that the business agreements signed on Monday totaling $20.25 billion were:

1. Liquid natural gas (LNG) purchase agreement between state oil and gas firm Pertamina and Corpus Christie Liquefaction worth $13 billion for delivering LNG to Lampung Floating Storage Regasification Unit (RSFU) to meet gas needs in the western part of Indonesia and a LNG terminal for eastern Indonesia.

2. Expansion commitment from tobacco giant Phillip Morris for $1.9 billion for factory expansion during 2016 to 2020.

3. Coca Cola to invest $500 million from 2015 to 2018 for plant expansion and production increase

4. Shale gas field Fasken Eagle Ford development plan between Saka Energi and Swift Energy in Webb Country, Texas worth $175 million.

5. State electricity company PLN partnered with General Electric in a $100 million deal for the development of 100 megawatt turbine gas and cydepower units in Gorontalo.

6. State University Udayana in Bali partnered with Skychase energy in a $30 million deal for water conservation and power consumption reduction projects

7. State lender BNI Syariah and Master Card will launch a debit card aimed at haj and umroh (minor haj) pilgrims.

8. PLN and UPC Renewables to work on $850 million deal for 350 megawatt wind-powered power plants from 2015 to 2018

9. Cikarang Listrindo and General Electric partnered in a $600 million deal for power plant developments

10. PT Indonesia Power and General Electric partnered to create a 700 megawatt power plant worth $400 million

11. PLN Batam and General Electric partnered to create a 500 megawatt mobile power plant in Mataram, Bangka, Tanjung Jabung, Pontianak, Lampung and Sei Rotan worth $525 million

12. State railway PT Kereta Api Indonesia and General Electric partnered to create 50 locomotives in eight years worth $60 million.

13. PLN and Caterpillar partnered to create a 2 gigawatt hybrid power plant and PV+ solar project worth $500 million

14. Cargill expansion plan invested $750 million for 2015 to 2019

15. Caterpillar will develop a Remanufacturing Facility for Cylinder Head in Cileungsi, Bogor, West Java, worth $12 million

16. State banknote printing firm Perum Peruri and Crane Currency invested $10 million for a bill security plant in Karawang

17. Pertamina and Bechtel Corporation invested $800 million for refineries construction and development in five years

18. Kilat Wahana Jenggala and Hubell Power Systems invested to expand the existing plant producing polymer transmission for electricity distribution, worth $5 million to $10 million. (rin)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/27/jokowi-brings-20b-worth-investments-us-visit.html

Jokowi to pursue $19.5 billion of business deals with US firms

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2015

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo departed on Saturday to the US on his first visit to the superpower, where he is scheduled to hold a meeting with President Barack Obama and tech leaders of Silicon Valley.

Speaking before taking his flight aboard the presidential aircraft at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in East Jakarta, Jokowi gave details about some of his objectives during the four-day visit.

"The main objective of this visit is to boost bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and the US, particularly in investment and trade. I will also pursue [cooperation in] digital and creative economy industries. And also develop democracy and tolerance," Jokowi said in a press briefing

Jokowi is scheduled to meet Obama as well as the chamber of commerce on Monday. On Tuesday, Jokowi is expected to meet with the US foreign commerce committee and fund managers at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, DC. On the same day, he will also deliver a speech at US think tank Brookings Institution.

On the second leg of the visit in San Francisco, Jokowi will meet with leaders from Microsoft, Apple, Google and Facebook.

"In San Francisco, our main objective is to develop a technological axis and see directly the successes of the US in developing its digital and creative economy," Jokowi said. "And we hope the benefit of this digital and creative economy can be felt by all Indonesians, including those living in rural areas."

During the visit, business deals worth US$19.5 billion, including joint projects between Indonesian state utilities and US firms in the power sector, are set to be announced, according to Indonesian officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Obama, who lived in Indonesia as a child, visited the country twice during his first term, as he sought to put more emphasis on thus ties with Asia.

But like many countries in the region, Indonesia remains careful about balancing its relations with the US and China, the world's economic powerhouse. Indonesia doesn't count itself among the nations contesting for islands in the disputed South China Sea, although it is concerned that China's expansive maritime claims extend into the waters of Indonesia's Natuna Islands, where Indonesian officials say they want more US investment.

The Jokowi administration, driven by its decision to project Indonesia as a military power, especially a naval power, has sought to strengthen defense and security ties with the US.

The presidential visit is the culmination of a series of visits by the top brass of Indonesia's defense establishment over the last 12 months.

Indonesia's then naval chief of staff, Adm. Marsetio, visited the US in October 2014. Gen. Moeldoko, the then chief of the Indonesian Military visited the US in December 2014. Furthermore, Defense Minister Ryacudu Ryamizard, visited the US in May 2015.

In this context, the presidential visit may secure substantive bilateral defense and security cooperation in the areas of defense procurement and the development of domestic defense industries.

"I hope my visit to the US will contribute to peace and welfare for all," Jokowi said, without elaborating on the details of the security discussions that he will have with Obama.

Jonah Blank, an expert on Asia at RAND Corp., said one area where Jokowi had a chance to make his mark with Obama was on climate change. His visit comes ahead of a global climate change summit to take place in Paris in December where the US will be pushing nations to set binding targets for reducing emissions.

Indonesia is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers estimate that since September, emissions from Indonesia's rampant land and forest fires exceeded the average daily emissions from all US economic activities, as many of the fires are on peat lands that are extremely rich in carbon.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/25/jokowi-pursue-195-billion-business-deals-with-us-firms.html

Analysis & opinion

Protecting the environment

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 31, 2015

Environmental degradation, instead of being tackled, appears to be worsening, as evident in the scorching heat in many cities, prolonged droughts during dry seasons and widespread floods and landslides during rainy seasons; a phenomenon sadly familiar to the people of Jakarta.

Policymakers have long been aware of the destruction, which is an inevitable consequence of development and the massive efforts to spur economic growth. Unsurprisingly, when the global green movement to reconcile humans with nature began decades ago, the New Order government decided to take environmental issues seriously, forming a state environment ministry.

History shows, however, that policies dealing with the environment, at both the national and regional levels, have failed to put an end to environmental degradation, which has, instead, accelerated. If we hold policymakers to account, we must recognize that they have compromised, if not betrayed, their commitments.

Nevertheless, no one doubts that leaders and policymakers could do a lot to protect the environment as part of their mandate. Environment safeguarding, in other words, can start with leaders and policymakers.

That, unfortunately, is not the case here in Jakarta. The public has been debating the provincial government's plan to simplify the procedure to secure environmental worthiness letters, which property developers need to start their construction projects.

One-Stop Integrated Service Agency head Edy Junaedi said Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama would issue a gubernatorial instruction that will end the requirement for developers to submit Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) documents, shifting to a requirement to obtain environmental management scheme and environmental monitoring scheme (UKL-UPL) documents from the agency.

Edy said the new policy would cut red tape and speed up investment licensing, something frequently demanded by investors. Amdal documents are currently issued by the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) about 75 days after application, while under the new arrangement environmental clearance may take only 15 days.

It is not the transfer of authority from the BPLHD to the one-stop service agency that matters, because in fact the BPLHD will be represented in the new agency. The biggest concern will be possible breaches of the Environment Protection and Management Law, which stipulates that an Amdal is mandatory for any activity that affects the environment, and its analysis must be conducted thoroughly and carefully.

If enacted, the gubernatorial instruction will certainly encourage construction projects all over Jakarta, including massive reclamation in the waters off the capital city.

The Jakarta administration should learn from the long-standing practice of favoring economic interests at the expense of the environment, which has contributed majorly to annual flooding.

It's true that the Jakarta government cannot expect much from disbursement of the city budget to move the economy, but neglecting environmental protection will have even more disastrous results.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/31/editorial-protecting-environment.html

Indonesia is burning. So why is the world looking away?

The Guardian (Australia) - October 30, 2015

George Monbiot – A great tract of Earth is on fire and threatened species are being driven out of their habitats. This is a crime against humanity and nature.

I've often wondered how the media would respond when eco-apocalypsestruck. I pictured the news programmes producing brief, sensational reports, while failing to explain why it was happening or how it might be stopped. Then they would ask their financial correspondents how the disaster affected share prices, before turning to the sport.

As you can probably tell, I don't have an ocean of faith in the industry for which I work. What I did not expect was that they would ignore it. A great tract of Earth is on fire. It looks as you might imagine hell to be. The air has turned ochre: visibility in some cities has been reduced to 30 metres. Children are being prepared for evacuation in warships; already some have choked to death. Species are going up in smoke at an untold rate. It is almost certainly the greatest environmental disaster of the 21st century – so far.

And the media? It's talking about the dress the Duchess of Cambridge wore to the James Bond premiere, Donald Trump's idiocy du jour and who got eliminated from the Halloween episode of Dancing with the Stars. The great debate of the week, dominating the news across much of the world? Sausages: are they really so bad for your health?

What I'm discussing is a barbecue on a different scale. Fire is raging across the 5,000km length of Indonesia. It is surely, on any objective assessment, more important than anything else taking place today. And it shouldn't require a columnist, writing in the middle of a newspaper, to say so. It should be on everyone's front page. It is hard to convey the scale of this inferno, but here's a comparison that might help: it is currently producing more carbon dioxide than the US economy. And in three weeks the fires have released more CO2 than the annual emissions of Germany.

But that doesn't really capture it. This catastrophe cannot be measured only in parts per million. The fires are destroying treasures as precious and irreplaceable as the archaeological remains being levelled by Isis. Orangutans, clouded leopards, sun bears, gibbons, the Sumatran rhinoceros and Sumatran tiger, these are among the threatened species being driven from much of their range by the flames. But there are thousands, perhaps millions, more.

One of the burning provinces is West Papua, a nation that has been illegally occupied by Indonesia since 1963. I spent six months there when I was 24, investigating some of the factors that have led to this disaster. At the time it was a wonderland, rich with endemic species in every swamp and valley. Who knows how many of those have vanished in the past few weeks? This week I have pored and wept over photos of places I loved that have now been reduced to ash.

Nor do the greenhouse gas emissions capture the impact on the people of these lands. After the last great conflagration, in 1997, there was a missing cohort in Indonesia of 15,000 children under the age of three, attributed to air pollution. This, it seems, is worse. The surgical masks being distributed across the nation will do almost nothing to protect those living in a sunless smog. Members of parliament in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) have had to wear face masksduring debates. The chamber is so foggy that they must have difficulty recognising one another.

It's not just the trees that are burning. It is the land itself. Much of the forest sits on great domes of peat. When the fires penetrate the earth, they smoulder for weeks, sometimes months, releasing clouds of methane, carbon monoxide, ozone and exotic gases such as ammonium cyanide. The plumes extend for hundreds of miles, causing diplomatic conflicts with neighbouring countries.

Why is this happening? Indonesia's forests have been fragmented for decades by timber and farming companies. Canals have been cut through the peat to drain and dry it. Plantation companies move in to destroy what remains of the forest to plant monocultures of pulpwood, timber and palm oil. The easiest way to clear the land is to torch it. Every year, this causes disasters. But in an extreme El Niqo year like this one, we have a perfect formula for environmental catastrophe.

The president, Joko Widodo, is – or wants to be – a democrat. But he presides over a nation in which fascism and corruption flourish. As Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary The Act of Killing shows, leaders of the death squads that helped murder a million people during Suharto's terror in the 1960s, with the approval of the west, have since prospered through other forms of organised crime, including illegal deforestation.

They are supported by a paramilitary organisation with three million members, called Pancasila Youth. With its orange camo-print uniforms, scarlet berets, sentimental gatherings and schmaltzy music, it looks like a fascist militia as imagined by JG Ballard. There has been no truth, no reconciliation; the mass killers are still treated as heroes and feted on television. In some places, especially West Papua, the political murders continue.

Those who commit crimes against humanity don't hesitate to commit crimes against nature. Though Joko Widodo seems to want to stop the burning, his reach is limited. His government's policies are contradictory: among them are new subsidies for palm oil production that make further burning almost inevitable. Some plantation companies, prompted by their customers, have promised to stop destroying the rainforest. Government officials have responded angrily, arguing that such restraint impedes the country's development. That smoke blotting out the nation, which has already cost it some $30bn? That, apparently, is development.

Our leverage is weak, but there are some things we can do. Some companies using palm oil have made visible efforts to reform their supply chains; but others seem to move more slowly and opaquely. Starbucks, PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz are examples. Don't buy their products until you see results.

On Monday, Widodo was in Washington, meeting Barack Obama. Obama, the official communique recorded, "welcomed President Widodo's recent policy actions to combat and prevent forest fires". The eco-apocalypse taking place as they conferred, which makes a mockery of these commitments, wasn't mentioned.

Governments ignore issues when the media ignores them. And the media ignores them because... well, there's a question with a thousand answers, many of which involve power. But one reason is the complete failure of perspective in a de-skilled industry dominated by corporate press releases, photo ops and fashion shoots, where everyone seems to be waiting for everyone else to take a lead. The media makes a collective non-decision to treat this catastrophe as a non-issue, and we all carry on as if it's not happening.

At the climate summit in Paris in December the media, trapped within the intergovernmental bubble of abstract diplomacy and manufactured drama, will cover the negotiations almost without reference to what is happening elsewhere. The talks will be removed to a realm with which we have no moral contact. And, when the circus moves on, the silence will resume. Is there any other industry that serves its customers so badly?

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/30/indonesia-fires-disaster-21st-century-world-media

Taking money out of workers' pockets

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2015

Teri L. Caraway and Michele Ford, Sydney – As part of its recent package of economic reforms announced earlier this month, the Jokowi government has proposed a new regulation that would eviscerate the country's wage councils.

Minimum wages are set annually by tripartite wage councils composed of unions, employers and local governments. These wage councils have recommended – and governors have approved – large increases in recent years.

Under pressure, employers in low-wage sectors have cried foul, and the Jokowi government responded by issuing the proposed regulation.

If it is implemented, the wage councils will no longer be an arena for negotiation. Instead, they will be required to determine wage increases based on a formula set by the central government.

Employers have applauded the government's move, but unions have expressed their dismay, threatening to mount massive protests.

The government would have us believe that the problem with minimum wage negotiations is that they result in unpredictable and overly generous wage increases that harm Indonesia's investment climate.

But if you look at actual minimum wage increases in Indonesia since 2003, a different picture emerges.

For many years, minimum wage increases closely tracked the inflation rate, with the consequence that real wages were effectively stagnant. In 2010, Indonesia's minimum wages were considerably lower than China, Thailand, the Philippines and even Vietnam.

Things only changed when unions in industrial areas began to flex their political muscle to convince local governments to support workers in wage negotiations.

Since 2011, minimum wage increases in industrial areas have been significantly above the inflation rate, resulting in real wage gains and finally bringing wages in some localities in line with the government- defined minimum living standard (KHL).

By 2013, even governments in non-industrial areas began to approve minimum wage increases that outstripped inflation.

The Jokowi government is right to be concerned about the competitiveness of low-wage industries. But minimum wages in core industrial areas in Indonesia are still lower than many competing nations.

It's not because they are paying higher average wages that Indonesian employers can't compete. The government could put other measures in place that would have a much larger impact on the cost of doing business in Indonesia.

According to the World Bank's Doing Business report, Indonesia is one of the worst countries in the world for starting a business, enforcing contracts and paying taxes.

Structural change aimed at improving the business climate would make a serious difference to Indonesia's competitiveness. It would also be a logical thing for a reformist government to do.

But attacking these problems would require much more profound changes to Indonesia's political system than taking away workers' right to a living wage.

According to the International Trade Union confederation, the proposed changes to the system contravene ILO Convention 131 on Minimum Wage Fixing, which requires consultation with unions and employers on the mechanisms used for wage determination. They also undermine Indonesia's democracy.

The wage councils have been an important mechanism for building economic and political citizenship at the local level.

Replacing them with bureaucratic procedures that prevent meaningful participation will destroy that, leaving unions with no choice but to protest policy in the streets.

[Teri L. Caraway is professor of political science at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) in the US. Michele Ford is professor of Southeast Asian studies and director of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/29/taking-money-out-workers-pockets.html

Ubud goes global, again

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 29, 2015

The renowned artist village of Ubud is in the global spotlight again this week. Five years ago we had Julia Roberts to thank for making the hill resort in Bali famous through Eat, Pray, Love, the hit movie that drew tourists to the island in search of love.

This time we have the Indonesian censors to thank, after they put pressure on the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival to cancel several programs related to the tragedy that happened in Indonesia in 1965.

The festival will go ahead from Thursday to Sunday, and still offer more than 200 events, allowing people to savor the best in Indonesian and international literature, and the opportunity for them to rub shoulders with their favorite authors as they move around Ubud from one event to another.

The Indonesian censors are back after a 17-year hiatus as the government appeared to become overly sensitive to any public discussion about the massacre of over half a million people during a backlash against communists in the country 50 years ago.

The festival organizers said they had to cancel all programs related to the tragedy or face the likelihood that the entire festival, already in its 11th year, would be shut down.

The decision caused national and international outrage, just as people had assumed that Indonesia was claiming its place as the third-largest democracy in the world.

The censors have given the festival additional international publicity. Not that Ubud really needs it. The festival is already a major item on the annual global literature agenda.

While we condemn the censors, we should also thank them, not only for reminding the world about the festival but most importantly for reminding us that there are evil forces out there who will never be content with people enjoying their freedom of expression. We should never take our freedom for granted.

If anyone should condemn the censors in the harshest terms, it should be President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, whose campaign promises included protection of freedom of expression. The widespread outrage at the censors broke out on the eve of his first US trip as president.

Jokowi, already under a lot of pressure for his failure to contain the horrendous air pollution from raging forest and peatland fires that is now regarded as the biggest environmental disaster of the 21st century, cut short his visit to the US after receiving reports of the situation deteriorating further.

He did not need another issue that would further embarrass him. News about Ubud dominated the headlines as he left Indonesia for Washington, DC, on the weekend.

The censors may have dented the festival a little, but the 1965 tragedy, and the return of censorship practices in Indonesia, will likely be one of the major issues discussed in Ubud.

They will not feature in the official program, but you cannot stop writers from writing, and you certainly cannot stop people from talking.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/29/editorial-ubud-goes-global-again.html

A war on words, a murder of memory

New Mandala - October 28, 2015

James Giggacher – There must be nothing more frightening than the prospect of a mild-mannered book fair made up of authors, readers, activists and academics politely discussing events from half a century ago.

Such fear has now emboldened Indonesian authorities, supposed caretakers of the world's third largest democracy, to ban any discussion of that country's mass killings of 1965.

Due to police pressure, organisers of the 12-year-old Ubud Writers and Readers Festival have scratched five planned sessions; including a book launch, a photo exhibition and three discussion panels sponsored by the Herb Feith Foundation, which promotes education on Indonesia. Each dealt with the country's wave of mass murder and purge of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) that left at least 500,000 dead.

Co-coordinators of the events, Australian academics Jemma Purdey and Katharine Gordon McGregor, have written in The Age, that they were surprised and shocked by the cancellation. Rightly so in the face of such crude censorship.

"Why were these and other events in the UWRF program at which 1965 was to be mentioned or even hinted at suddenly the target of scrutiny from the authorities and considered to be a threat to security, 50 years after the violence took part?"

They go on to note that the books that were to be launched are English translations of Indonesian works long in circulation – "to expose international audiences to Indonesian voices about this traumatic period in their nation's history."

But perhaps that is exactly the point. It's hardly surprising that a screening of Joshua Oppenheimer's acclaimed, The Look of Silence, which follows one man's quest to confront his brother's killers in the massacre, has also been cancelled. The events now cancelled at the festival cover everything from an aside in a memoir to more full-frontal looks at 1965.

Why would these supposed leaders who have so long refused to come to terms with history, to let their own people cry foul and answer with compassion, now allow more voices to be added to the call for justice?

These are our secrets, they say. These are our stories. Leave us, world, to our ghosts of the past. Only we can peer into the dark heart of that crocodile hole, Lubang Buaya, the abandoned well into which the bodies of our heroic generals were flung on that fateful September night of 1965, and which eventually led to the wave of slaughter and flow of blood.

For almost 50 years, Indonesian authorities have dealt with the subject through a shroud of secrecy and the echo chamber of officialise; only accepted voices and accepted truths could be heard. That isn't to say there haven't been periods of relative openness. Curricula were revised, then scrapped. The Department of Social Welfare has special integration programs for victims, but they are now on hold.

Three decades of Suharto and his New Order regime perpetuated the convenient tale that it was communist insurgents hell-bent on a coup that were responsible; their film reconstruction of that night always staying quiet about the violence that followed.

The identity and motives of those behind the generals' murder still largely remain a mystery. Increasingly, however, the accepted view is that the Communists did launch a coup – as scholar John Roosa has successfully proved – only it went awry.

Yet, all the while, the victims of the violence suffered in silence.

After the fall of Suharto, questions remained, and some could be asked, but only if they kept those in power far from the arm of justice. Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose father-in-law led the initial crackdown on the communists, endorsed a human rights report into the killings and even contemplated a national apology. It met with resistance from the powerful Islamic organisations and the military – major stakeholders in the nation's political destiny today who had major players in the killings of yesterday.

Perhaps, the saddest part in this sorry saga is that this type of censorship is no longer that surprising under Yudhoyono's successor. The supposed reformist who seemed to promise so much a mere 12 months ago, Joko Widodo, even brought up the idea of an official investigation into the killings and a national apology during his presidential campaign last year.

Like so many of his ideas, he's now backed away from it in the cold light of day. It would seem that there is some time before Indonesia truly becomes the world's third largest liberal democracy with the respect for the rule of law, human rights and justice that that would entail.

In other breaking news, scientists have recently discovered that crows, incredibly intelligent birds in the main, fear death; but they also learn from it. According to the research, when crows gather around another dead crow, they are trying to work out if it died from a threat in the area.

Maybe these advanced avian could teach Indonesia's political elites a thing or two. Here's a free hot tip to start; there's nothing like cancelling a few events about a subject you don't want to draw international attention on, to draw international attention. Journalists learn that silence gets people talking. Governments should know that censorship does the same. You don't need to be a crow to work that out.

Meanwhile Indonesia's leaders, that other murder of crows that has perched at the top for so long, continue to caw; these are our secrets, these are our stories, only we can peer into the dark heart of the crocodile hole; and only we will let the voices we want to echo through the ages.

In this, they have always been, and still are, a murder of memory.

[James Giggacher is editor of New Mandala, and associate lecturer in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, the Australian National University.]

Source: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2015/10/28/a-war-on-words-a-murder-of-memory/

Censorship is returning to Indonesia in the name of the 1965 purges

The Guardian (Australia) - October 27, 2015

Laksmi Pamuntjak – A week ago I received a message from Janet DeNeefe, director of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.

"I just wanted to let you know that the UWRF is being censored this year, and we have been told to remove all programs to do with '1965'," she wrote. "Or else next year they will not give us a permit to hold the festival."

I felt a chill when I read these lines, and a faint sense of absurdity that accompanied the sting. For one, I was on my European book tour, having done almost nothing else in the past one and a half month but speak to German and Dutch audiences about my novel, an epic love story set against the backdrop of the Indonesian anti-communist purges of 1965.

In Disseldorf or Erfurt, Amsterdam or the Hague, I encountered nothing but genuine empathy and solidarity for Indonesians' collective struggle to come to terms with our violent past as well as to render tangible justice for an untold many. It was particularly so in Germany, with its experience of national trauma.

This brings us to the irony of current domestic politics. For have Indonesians not, in the past 17 years since the fall of the Suharto regime, enjoyed a measure of hard-earned freedom from fear, censorship, and from restrictions to creativity?

Have we not witnessed the unprecedented burgeoning of new expression, in forms and language so alien to the 32-year pit out of which it was born? Have we not experienced, in the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, a literary forum which for 12 years has been able to keep the "1965" discourse alive without any state intervention?

Have we not pledged ourselves to the quest for alternative histories, for new ways of seeing and thinking about the world? Have we not seen the infrastructure of freedom so long devalued – bookstores, publishing houses, the press – finally standing up for themselves and giving people their voices back?

Have we not heard of private screenings – known by the abbreviation nobar (nonton bareng; watching together) – of Joshua Oppenheimer's film The Act of Killing? Screenings that keep popping up despite crackdowns by the authorities, suggesting that Indonesians know what they want and are resourceful enough to get it?

Up until a month ago, we still tended to look on the 17 years of political and cultural renaissance as a triumph of the collective memory. Or, rather, the failure of Fascism's central conceit: that domination does not breed resistance to itself.

If the calamity of authoritarianism gave Indonesian democracy its cause, this past month threatens to show that the rifts Suharto tore in our body politic may never be mended. That censorship should coincide with the 50th anniversary of the genocide might be the key to understanding why that is.

However, if in the past month I was tentative in my public discussion of the festival censorship – stopping short, in other words, of saying that there is a rise of neo-anti-communism in Indonesia – it has become harder to do so now. Similar incidents that occurred within a few days of each other smack of a disheartening return to old tropes of official neurosis: taken together, they suggest an eerie revival of the Suharto era.

Take the case of Tom Iljas, a 77-year-old former political exile in Sweden. He was arbitrarily arrested and deported earlier this month for visiting a mass grave of 1965 victims in West Sumatra, in search of the final resting place of his father.

The irony of having been barred from coming home 50 years ago, only to be banished once more in so-called peaceful times, tests the limits of humiliation. In a statement, Iljas and his supporters said: "[J]ust to look at the mass graves of family members we still get terror and intimidation... We recognise that what is happening is the result of efforts for reconciliation and the fulfilment of the rights of victims."

Even by the standards of post-totalitarian nations, with their lingering paranoia and tendency to be consecrated to the memory of official ideology and legitimacy of power, this incident was quite stunning in its audacity. It was utterly lacking in substance – legal, moral or otherwise.

The other case, no less Suhartoesque, concerns the confiscation and burning of the Satya Wacana University student magazine Lentera. The students produced a special 10 October edition, which explored the 1965 purges in Salatiga. Reportedly, the mayor, police and military complained after the magazine was distributed. The student editors were interrogated on 18 October, and the whole 500-copy print run was torched. Editor Bima Satria Putra told Tempo magazine that the university – incidentally no stranger to reformist activism and progressive thought – was also reprimanded by the police.

"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings," Heinrich Heine famously said, and yet, in present day Indonesia, there is something almost caricatural to this offence.

For one, it brings us right back to the second half of the 80s and the first half of the 90s, when you couldn't count the number of student arrests for producing and distributing "subversive" material. The normalisation of campus life (Normalisasi Kehidupan Kampus) decree of April 1978 and coordinating body for student affairs (Badan Koordinasi Kampus) formed the NKK/BKK policy that forced Indonesia's system of higher education to its knees. That acronym became shorthand for the death of universities and the death of thinking in Suharto's Indonesia.

The other inglorious incident that occurred within the past month happens to concern myself, although I would not lose sleep over it. The morning I arrived in Frankfurt, some 10 hours before the opening of the 67th Frankfurt Book Fair in which Indonesia was the guest of honour, the press officer of our National Committee informed me that some Muslim groups had been demonstrating against me and a fellow author in front of one of the ministries in Jakarta.

When I asked whatever for, he replied: "For being at the forefront of the national committee's alleged active promotion of Communism at the fair." My first instinct at the time was perversely self-congratulatory in nature. Not for being demonstrated against, but, rather, for encountering some kind of confirmation of a deeply-held personal theory: that in the past 17 years, the great dichotomy that used to characterise the Suharto dictatorship – the state, versus civil society – has been replaced by the increasing aggression of hard-line Muslim groups seeking to force their values on the vast diversity that is Indonesia. Yet I came to this conclusion before the news of the repatriation of Tom Ilyas and the barbaric act committed against the student body of the Satya Wacana University had reached my ears.

Indeed, there appeared a darker, older supervising power that has kept this process under surveillance all along, and the realisation that this was the case hit me quite hard. For the truth of the matter is that political Islam in Indonesia rarely ever acts alone in its quest for hegemony. Its alliance with the military has seen its members, particularly from the Nahdlatul Ulama, committing many of the killings between 1965 and 1968.

Stoked by frequent evocations of the Madiun Affair of 1948, in which Communist rebels murdered some Muslim leaders before they were defeated, many Muslims were sold on the idea that they were victims of Communist aggression. For many youths, executing Communists was a religious duty.

This symbiotic relationship was demonstrated again less than a month ago at the 50th anniversary commemoration of the murder of six army generals and one lieutenant – part of an attempted coup that was attributed by Suharto to the Indonesian Communist party. At the start of the event, both the Jakarta chief of police and the head of the menacing hardline Muslim group Islamic Defenders Front grandly denounced Communism in one of the starkest public shows of their partnership to date.

I should have realised it then, as I should have heeded an earlier portent: the moment the chief of South Jakarta police turned up with a militant Islamic group at an art centre three years ago, to crack down on a public lecture by the reformist Muslim intellectual Irshad Manji.

However, to say Communism is an empty threat, given Suharto made sure that nothing was left of Communism in Indonesia, is of course to miss the point. Anti-Communist propaganda has worked before as a legitimising basis of power and control, and a variation on it will work again given how deeply conditioned a large majority of Indonesians still are by the old regime's official history.

What we are witnessing is not the rise of neo-anti-communism per se, even if it seems that way on the surface; instead, anti-communism is merely a pretext for state terrorism and heightened control in the larger, and a more concerning scheme of a re-militarisation of government.

To many seasoned analysts of Indonesian politics, this volte-face might come as no surprise. Yet the hard-earnedness of reformasi – the period of democratic transition that followed Suharto's reign – may have imprinted a certain intractability upon those who had fought for it, if not a downright refusal to accept the possibility of a regression of any kind.

Still. There is no denying the telltale signs. The return to anti-communist rhetoric as a pretext for state intimidation. The return to the culture of fear when there is nothing to fear of except for the healthy probings of historical inquiry that are essential to a nation's healing.

President Joko Widodo has not helped matters much through his refusal to apologise to victims of the anti-Communist slaughter. His last message on the issue – that an apology is impossible when both sides claim to be victims – may give us no relief. However, despite civil society's best efforts, it may be the clearest picture yet of where we are in our struggle against forgetting. This does not mean we should lose hope. We may be on the brink of sliding back into the dark ages, but we have always known how to fight back.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2015/oct/27/censorship-is-returning-to-indonesia-in-the-name-of-the-1965-purges

Censorship and the forbidden past

New Mandala - October 27, 2015

Hamish McDonald – In 1977, only 12 years after they started, the massacre of Indonesian communists haunted Java's exquisite landscape of tiled-roof villages, fast-flowing rivers and irrigation channels, rice paddies, forests and looming volcanoes.

In the picturesque town of Kediri, the head ulama at the Lirboyo pesantren (Koranic boarding school) was circumspect but unapologetic about his role in 1965 organising death squads of devout Muslims on nightly round-ups of communist supporters, for execution with knives and dumping into those rivers. Across Indonesia, perhaps a million people died this way over 1965-66.

The army officers who encouraged them were now the bupati (regent), security chiefs and other officials all out to engineer a majority for the political party that was a stage-prop for the authoritarian regime that sprang out of that massacre.

Almost another million went into prisons and concentration camps. A small number, the A Category, got show-trials, resulting in judicial execution or long jail terms. The majority were the C Category of rank-and-file communist affiliates. In the mid-1970s, we foreign correspondents were onlookers at release ceremonies, where they walked out into lifetimes of surveillance and discrimination.

Then there was the B Category, some 30,000 of the more intellectual leftists, held on remote camps. In December 1977, the military internal security agency Kopkamtib flew correspondents to Buru, an island near Ambon turned into a prison.

Burly military policemen showed us a chart, covering a wall, showing the stages of political re-education from communism to satisfaction with the socio-economic status quo under Pancasila, the state ideology promoted by then-president Suharto as a harmonious alternative to political contest, let alone revolution.

Gaunt prisoners told us about the years of brutality and near-starvation they suffered there. But the spirit was not dead.

In a corner of his prison barrack, Pramoedya Ananta Toer showed me the cubicle where he'd been allowed a desk, a typewriter, and a bare light- bulb. He showed me a thick wad of closely-typed paper, that later became his Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind) trilogy. I gave him a copy of his own short stories, translated into English by Australian scholar Harry Aveling. It was the first time he'd seen the book.

My report on that visit was the final black mark in my file at the Ministry of Information in Jakarta. Six months later I was out, denied a visa extension. When I returned a decade later, Pramoedya welcome me at his small Jakarta house. But the Nobel panels were not as courageous then as they were with Liu Xiaobo in 2010. Pramoedya, and Indonesia, never got the prize he deserved.

In 2013, when I went back to research for my book "Demokrasi: Indonesia in the 21st Century", it seemed the taboo was lifting. Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary, The Act of Killing, was widely viewed.

In the Internet age, it was near impossible to ban controversial content and subject matter. Tempo magazine published reports, later collected into a book "Algojo 65" (The Slaughter of 65), detailing massacres from the accounts of perpetrators and survivors. A mayor in Sulawesi issued an apology for the killings in his town and put up a memorial.

Yet accountability came too close to the top. The then Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was son-in-law of the army general who led the purge of communists across Java and Bali in late 1965. The state and the army still held to the Suharto-era doctrine that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) struck the first blow. That this might be a historical lie is too much to contemplate.

On his way to the presidency in the 2014 elections, Joko Widodo gave hints of an official investigation, and an apology to victims who had no knowledge or involvement in the murky events of September 30-October 1, 1965. This month, he said there would be no apology.

Groups of preman (vigilantes) continue to harass PKI survivors and relatives who gather to press for some kind of belated justice. Security agents track academic and other researchers.

Last Friday, the local police chief told Janet DeNeefe, the Australian who has run the annual Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali for 12 years, that continuing with plans for five sessions related to the 1965 massacres risked a shut-down of the entire five-day festival, due to start on Wednesday. She cancelled all the sessions.

The police chief, Senior-Commander Farman, cited a 1966 law declared by Suharto banning the PKI and teaching of Marxism-Leninism, and a 1999 law that still made the spreading of communist ideology a crime punishable by 12 years jail. "The spirit of the festival is not to discuss things that would just open old wounds," he said.

For decades after the army smashed the PKI, its members either killed or imprisoned, the authorities warned of latent danger from an organisasi tanpa bentuk, a "formless organisation".

Now, communism is just another type of dictatorship, not a revolutionary threat. The ban is to protect reputations. Keeping it, cutting the younger generation from the intellectual stream locked up with Pramoedya on Buru, diminishes Indonesia.

President Joko Widodo is in Washington this week on his first official visit, no doubt expecting to be hailed as friendly potential ally against Chinese strategic power. He needs to be told that a really strong nation can confront its own past.

[Hamish McDonald is author of "Demokrasi: Indonesia in the 21st Century" and has been a foreign correspondent in Jakarta, Tokyo, Hong Kong, New Delhi and Beijing. He is now World Editor at The Saturday Paper.]

Source: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2015/10/27/censorship-and-the-forbidden-past/

Back to dark days

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 26, 2015

To prevent a rapid return to the fearful, censored and militaristic days of the New Order, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, after a year in office, can and must lay down the law.

As recent developments show, the President has sent a clear indication of his views regarding freedom of expression, ending historical stigma, the battle against corruption, freedom from fear and the military's non-defense role.

On all these issues the President needs to loudly and swiftly declare a clear stance to boost the spirit of continuing reformasi that got him elected.

Many understand his need to compromise with the sharks in the political sea. However, his silence over the recent deportation of a foreign national for visiting the grave of his slain ancestor, "restrictions" on a campus magazine and the forced cancellation of certain sessions at an international literary event in Bali – all related to the 1960s upheaval – show too much compromise and silence on the part of the President, coincidentally just before his departure for a US state visit.

On Thursday human rights groups, press organizations and many individuals met with the National Human Rights Commission following the restriction on Lentera, a student magazine of the Satya Wacana Christian University (UKSW) in Salatiga, from being sold outside the campus.

According to the campus leadership, the action was taken because it "failed to follow procedures" and contained content that caused negative reactions. The restricted issue of Lentera had reported on the 1965 murders in the Central Java town, just one example of the increasing efforts to reveal our unresolved past: efforts mostly instigated by our curious and creative younger generation.

Earlier on Oct. 16 a Swedish citizen, Tom Iljas, who was among the scores of children orphaned in the 1965 upheaval, was deported and blacklisted from returning to Indonesia after he attempted to visit the grave of his father, who was killed in his hometown in Pesisir Selatan regency, West Sumatra.

Tom's entourage was prevented from praying at the mass grave by the village head and they were reportedly then intimidated by a group of civilians and police.

This is a complete setback as many former exiles who, like Tom, lost their citizenship while on scholarships to various countries in the 1960s, but have been free to visit Indonesia in the reformasi era.

The 1965 issue is certainly sensitive and everyone claims to be a victim. But we must at least end the stigma and intimidation against anyone associated with the "wrong side" of '65.

Then ahead of next week's annual Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) in Bali, organizers announced the cancelation of sessions related to 1965 – rather than have police cancel the entire festival – leading to widespread outcry and international embarrassment.

Together with the "civilian defense program" launched on Thursday and the proposed presidential draft allowing the military to play an increased role in civilian affairs, we will likely see more examples of an increasingly bold old guard.

The President needs to appease the influential groups around him, but not at the cost of turning reformasi on its head. By taking a stance of unequivocal intolerance of inhumane and undemocratic attitudes, Jokowi will see some resurgence of his dwindling support.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/26/editorial-back-dark-days.html

Dispatches: The courage to combat Indonesia's homophobia

Human Rights Watch - October 26, 2015

Kyle Knight – Draconian new by-laws came into effect in Indonesia's Aceh province last week, mandating harsh punishments for gambling and adultery, and the option of 100 lashes for gay people "caught" having sex.

Aceh's strict Sharia (Islamic) laws violate many basic rights, yet LGBT people are particularly affected. Having long suffered violence and discrimination from society, Aceh's LGBT population needs increased protection – not state-sanctioned persecution. In response to a homophobic diatribe by a government official, an Acehnese LGBT activist (who fled the province in 2007 after his neighbors physically mistreated him) explained: "I'm gay, I'm not a product of the West, and I'm not alone."

The horrors in Aceh haven't abated. Only last month, Sharia police arrested two young "suspected lesbians" in Aceh's capital for hugging in public. And Acehnese Sharia police and Islamist vigilante groups have been harassing and detaining transgender women in recent months with impunity.

Indonesia's government has a long way to go to tackle pervasive homophobic discrimination elsewhere in the country.

Earlier this year, the country's most influential Muslim clerical group issued a fatwa calling for same-sex behavior to be punished by caning up to the death penalty. The websites of Indonesian and international LGBT rights organizations have been blocked. And violent attacks on gatherings of activists and forced evictions of LGBT people remain uninvestigated.

In the face of such blatantly regressive laws in Aceh, Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo – popularly known as Jokowi – should start to stand up for LGBT Indonesians. He'll have the chance to do so this week during his official visit to the United States, when Jokowi will meet a political leader and a business leader who have made similar moves in recent years: President Barack Obama and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Obama has supported same-sex marriage and other rights improvements for LGBT Americans and has shown a commitment to LGBT issues in foreign policy.

Cook called being gay "among the greatest gifts God has given me" and has strongly and publicly supported LGBT rights in the US, vehemently opposing so-called "religious freedom" laws in the US, which can allow people to discriminate against LGBT people. "Opposing discrimination takes courage," says Cook. "With the lives and dignity of so many people at stake, it's time for all of us to be courageous."

Obama and Cook should urge Jokowi to better protect LGBT Indonesians when they meet this week. And Jokowi should have the courage to act.

[Kyle Knight is a researcher for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program.]

Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/26/dispatches-courage-combat-indonesias-homophobia

Why is Obama's meeting with Indonesian president important?

Huffington Post - October 26, 2015

John Sifton – There are lots of reasons why President Barack Obama is meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo today in Washington. Indonesia doesn't often get the attention it deserves, but it is a key country with major links to the United States. It's in the G7, and millions of its citizens or former citizens live in the US.

Most important, Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world, with a Muslim population that outstrips all other countries in the Middle East and North Africa in size. Because it has a democratic system of governance, President Obama and other US officials have often spoken of it as a "model" for a tolerant Muslim majority country – it's a point made so often it's become cliche.

The problem is, the cliche is a fiction. The truth is that Indonesia's legal system is infested with discriminatory laws restricting the rights of religious minorities and women. There are, for instance, laws prohibiting women from straddling motorcycles or wearing pants, and regulations on the length and type of skirts and headscarves they must wear. Churches and other non-Sunni faiths face discriminatory legal provisions.

Fully one-fifth of Indonesia's 514 regencies and cities currently have rules requiring women – especially female students and civil servants – to wear the hijab. The hijab is also imposed on Christian girls in some areas, such as West Sumatra. In some places, other regulations allow female genital mutilation and child marriage. Indonesia's official Commission on Violence against Women has reported that Indonesia had a total of 279 discriminatory local regulations in 2014.

In terms of the oft-cited religious tolerance, Indonesia's religious minorities, including Shia, Sufi, and Ahmadiyya Muslims; Christians; Bahai; secularists; and followers of local faiths, face recurring threats and violence from Islamist militant groups. Earlier in October, Muslim vigilantes forced the closure of five Christian churches in Singkil, in southern Aceh province, claiming they did not have permits from the majority Muslim community.

Hyper-conservative religious groups in Indonesia, like the Islamic Defenders Front, have carried out attacks on religious minorities – and have not been punished. They all too often enjoy the power of the heckler's veto. Their supporters have broken up book readings and film screenings, and forced cancellations of musical concerts.

In 2012, the Islamic Defenders Front threatened to target a Lady Gaga concert and burn down the show's venue, a stadium with seating for more than 50,000. Instead of arresting the organizers for these threats against tens of thousands of their citizens, the government advised Lady Gaga's staff to cancel the show, which they did.

The semi-autonomous region of Aceh, in northern Sumatra, is an especially intolerant area. Islamic law bylaws create discriminatory offenses that do not exist in the regular Indonesian criminal code, criminalizing alcohol drinking, consensual same-sex sexual acts, homosexuality, and all sexual relations outside of marriage. These bylaws permit, as punishment, up to 100 lashes by whip and up to 100 months in prison. In September, Sharia police in Aceh arrested two young "suspected lesbians" in Aceh's capital for hugging in public. Islamic vigilante groups have also harassed and detained transgender women there and in other parts of the country.

Indonesia's LGBT community in general is under threat. Earlier this year, Indonesia's Ulema Council (MUI), an influential Muslim clerical organization, issued a fatwa calling for same-sex behavior to be punished by a range of physical punishment from caning up to the death penalty.

And then there are the virginity tests. Human Rights Watch has recently documented how Indonesia's national police and armed forces require female applicants, as well as spouses-to-be of military officers, to take unscientific and degrading "virginity tests."

The practice has been going on for decades, and over the years, tens of thousands of women have had to undergo this intrusive and often painful ordeal. When confronted about the practice more recently, government officials have told Human Rights Watch that the policy is necessary to keep sex workers from joining the military or police.

Jokowi is a new president. He's only been in office for a year. He isn't responsible for this dark legacy of discrimination and violence. But he is now best-positioned to do something about it.

President Obama, who spent time in the country as a youth, is best placed to urge him to do so. Jokowi is already pledging to take major steps to reform Indonesia's legal system in the context of business and investment – removing or changing hundreds of local laws that restrict foreign companies and foreign workers. Obama and other business leaders should be pressing him to put just as much emphasis on changing laws and policies that harm women, LGBT people, and religious minorities.

Indonesia can be a model for a tolerant, multi-faith society – but only if its government does the hard work of nurturing genuine pluralism and tolerance. Reciting cliches is not enough.

[John Sifton is Asia Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch. Follow him on Twitter @JohnSifton.]

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-sifton/obama-meets-jokowi_b_8389290.html

Like oil and water, censorship and writers festivals don't mix

Sydney Morning Herald - October 24, 2015

Janet DeNeefe – Twelve years ago, the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival was born of a terrorist attack in Bali; one that took many innocent lives in a tragedy that shocked us all.

Led by the mantra that the pen is mightier than the sword, we created an international event that would bring issues to the table in a neutral space, where open discussion about big ideas and important stories could take place. This became part of our mission as a festival; to bring people together, Indonesians and internationals, in open dialogue. And it seemed necessary for this region.

Since that time, the festival has flourished. People, thirsty for knowledge about Indonesia, have flocked to Ubud every October, while Indonesians, seeking a place for discussion about local issues, have joined the crowds. We have had discussions about all we believed necessary in what now seems like an Indian summer of free speech. Visitors have been surprised and thrilled at the openness of sessions and we have been proud to deliver a festival, year after year, of such substance.

But now, in a surprising and extremely saddening turn of events, for the very first time our festival's panel sessions have come under scrutiny from local authorities. After many meetings and attempted negotiations, the festival's permit – our licence to operate – was finally granted on Wednesday with the warning that should we hold sessions dedicated to honouring the victims of the mass killings of 1965, we risk having it revoked. We have all been proud of Indonesia's democratic reputation to date but there now seems to be a new code of behaviour among the powers that be. This has never happened before and it does not bode well.

This comes at a time when I believe Indonesians were hoping for some sort of reconciliation and recognition of this violation of human rights, what has been described by the CIA as "one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century". It is extremely disappointing and some might even say cowardly that the government is refusing to confront this national tragedy. With the new-found freedom of speech in recent years, many works concerning '65 have been published, were launched and even discussed at the festival. The doors were slowly opening but now it seems this has come to an almighty halt.

I first arrived in to Bali 1975, just over 10 years after the killings. There were silent whisperings then, and when I returned in 1984, people were still whispering, at night only, because the perpetrators were still living among them. I have heard snippets of sad stories, here and there, but 1965 still remains a relatively hushed topic; a deep wound that is only superficially healed. After living in this community for so many years, and seeing the attention to death rituals, cremations where the preparation can go on for weeks, I know the greatest issue for the Balinese is simply completing these death rites. Bodies were never returned to the families and none of these rituals were upheld; a tragedy of immense magnitude for the Balinese.

We are also sorry for those whose sessions have been cancelled, for all the work that has been done. But I believe these panels might find better platforms in safer homes right now. The sheer fact that the panels have been stopped will only draw more international attention to them, and rightly so. Indonesian writers will surely react to this disappointing news because, after all, they are the outspoken ones who write to be heard, who will stand in the front line to reveal the truth.

More than anything I feel sad for all those Indonesians who were affected by 1965, all those victims who are unlikely to see justice or any sort of compensation for this huge scar on the face of this new regime.

In the meantime, the festival is steering a course around this minefield and keeping its eyes open to what we hope will not become a permanent treacherous path. Censorship and writers festivals don't mix, just like oil and water.

[Janet DeNeefe, the founder and director of the annual Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.]

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/like-oil-and-water-censorship-and-writers-festivals-dont-mix-20151023-gkgffv.html