Moses Ompusunggu and Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – Amid what has been perceived as government inaction over injustice in Papua, civil society organizations have rallied to support residents in the country's easternmost region to exercise their right to self-determination through a referendum.

The groups, which have formed an alliance called the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua), said on Tuesday that a referendum would serve to end the "practice of colonization and militarism" in the restive region.

Announcing a plan to rally on Dec. 1, which is seen by West Papua liberation proponents as the province's national day, FRI-West Papua spokesperson Surya Anta said the need for a referendum was a consequence of abuses carried out by the government that have resulted in a persistent lack of welfare in the region. "It's not possible for West Papuans to live normally if manipulation and deceit of history still persist, racial discrimination is deeply entrenched in every aspect of their lives, the slow-motion genocide continues systematically and extortion of natural wealth destroys their livelihoods and culture," Surya told a press conference at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) in Central Jakarta.

The group claimed that West Papua "never became a legitimate part of Indonesia", taking into account what happened in Papuans' act of free choice (Pepera), a referendum in 1969 that it claimed was "flawed".

The group said only 1,022 individuals, less than 0.2 percent of the Papuan population at that time, were involved in Pepera, emphasizing that the participants had been put "under pressure" to express their consent to integrate with Indonesia.

Some 200 protesters from various organizations across the country, including those advocating for West Papua's liberation, were due to join the Dec. 1 rally in Jakarta and several regions, Surya said. Alliance of Papuan Students (AMP) chairman Jefry Wenda confirmed to The Jakarta Post that his organization would partake in the demonstration.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said he had yet to be informed about the planned rally, adding that if it was meant to support a referendum for Papua, it could arose suspicion about a separatist movement.

"It may violate Article 6, point (e) of the 1998 Freedom of Speech Law," Boy said, referring to a provision stipulating that any protester is obliged and is responsible to maintain the unity and solidity of the nation when participating in a rally.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto has played down the issue of a referendum, saying the government would answer the call with sustainable development efforts in Papua and West Papua.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/30/support-grows-papua-referendum.html

Indonesian group backs West Papuan self-determination

Radio New Zealand International - November 30, 2016

An Indonesian group in Jakarta has declared its support for West Papuans to be granted self-determination.

The Indonesian People's Front for West Papua, or FRI West Papua, held an event at the office of the Legal Aid Institute in Indonesia's capital yesterday and expressed solidarity with Papuan independence aspirations.

It is understood to be one of the first non-Papuan groups in Indonesia to have organised campaigning for West Papuan liberation from Indonesian rule.

In making the declaration, FRI's spokesman Surya Anta said that the right to self-determination for all people had been denied in the case of West Papua.

He said that Papua was illegally occupied by Indonesia and that 1969's Act of Free Choice referendum, through which Papua was incorporated into the republic, was illegitimate because only 0.2 percent of the population participated and did so under duress.

Among a list of recommendations in FRI's declaration, it called for a free and fair self-determination referendum for Papuans, and for Indonesia's military to withdraw from the territory.

It also urged Indonesians who live in West Papua to support the struggle of indigenous people for determining their own destiny.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/319294/indonesian-group-backs-west-papuan-self-determination

Indonesian activist alliance declares support for West Papua self-determination

Satu Harapan - November 29, 2016

Melki Pangaribuan, Jakarta – Through an unpretentious press conference at the offices of the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) in Jakarta on Thursday November 29, the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua) declared its support for self-determination for the people of Papua, which they refer to as the West Papuan nation.

The declaration was read out by FRI-West Papua spokesperson Surya Anta in front of journalists and scores of activists. The declaration was unique because it was articulated by the FRI-West Papua which is an alliance of activists who do not originate from Papua. The group is acting in solidarity with the Papuan people who they say have suffered racial discrimination for decades both in the land of Papua as well as outside Papua.

The declaration itself was quite long and included an explanation about what has been taking place in Papua, including, among other things, deception and deceit about Papua's history, social discrimination, slow-motion genocide, arrests, torture, the jailing of the Papuan people and the theft of its natural wealth.

Also presented was an explanation on the need for the right to self-determination for the Papuan people. It was emphasised that West Papua is a nation that was formed based on a common language, territory, economic life and psychological change which is manifested in a common culture.

The declaration ended with a call to the people of Indonesia, the Indonesian government and the international community to give the Papuan people the right to self-determination.

"It is hypocritical if we or the Indonesian government supports Palestinian liberation but is silent on and ignores the colonialism that is taking place within the territory of Indonesia. Because of this therefore, there are no longer any grounds to deem that West Papua is part of Indonesia either under international law or politically", said Surya in reading out the declaration.

The nine demands in the declaration in full are as follows:

First, to support the nation and people of West Papua in exercising their right to self-determination through the mechanism of a referendum. And the participation in this referendum will be determined by the people of West Papua through its political representatives in the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

Second, support the [full] membership of the ULMWP in the Melanesia Spearhead Group (MSG), the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) and to struggle for the membership of the ULMWP at the United Nations.

Three, as an inseparable condition, that [all] organic and non-organic military in West Papua be withdrawn in order that a referendum in West Papua can proceed peacefully, fairly and without intimidation.

Fourth, freedom of information, expression and association for the West Papuan nation must be guaranteed and be as broad as possible.

Fifth, opposing imperialist intervention in the process of the West Papuan democratic struggle.

Sixth, calling on the international community to build and consolidate solidarity with the struggle for the right to self-determination for the nation of West Papua.

Seventh, encouraging the people of Indonesia that reside in the land of West Papua to support the Papuan nation's struggle for self-determination.

Eighth, rejecting the massive and systematic racial and political discrimination practiced by the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) the Indonesian military (TNI) and Indonesian police (Polri) against the nation of West Papua.

Ninth, free education, the expansion of schools and universities, free health-care and affordable mass public transport.

According to Surya, there are six civil society groups involved in the FRI-West Papua. They are the People's Liberation Party (PPR), the Indonesian People's Center of Struggle (PPRI), the Student Struggle Center for National Liberation (Pembebasan), the Indonesian Cultural Society Union (SeBUMI), the Socialist Study Circle (LSS) and the Solidarity Net Association. The majority of members are youth activists.

The group also plans to hold a rally on December 1 in Jakarta and several other cities in Java.

At the same time as the press conference was taking place, a protest action was held in front of the Jakarta LBH by scores of activists from the Indonesian Saviours Front (FPI) who made threats against and opposed the declaration.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Deklarasi Dukung Papua Tentukan Nasib Sendiri Berisi 9 Poin". The full text of the declaration can be read at: http://www.asia-pacific-solidarity.net/southeastasia/westpapua/statements/2016/fri_supporttherighttoselfdete_291116.htm.]

Source: http://www.satuharapan.com/read-detail/read/deklarasi-dukung-papua-tentukan-nasib-sendiri-berisi-9-poin

Group supports referendum for West Papua

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Jakarta – Persistent oppression and discrimination as well as cultural and historical differences are sufficient reasons for Papuan people to decide their own fate through a referendum, an alliance has said.

The Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua), consisting of non-Papuan Indonesian activists and intellectuals, was established as a form of solidarity from non-Papuans regarding the constant oppression suffered by Papuan activists who have fought for independence.

"There is no happiness for Papuans as long as they are part of Indonesia," the alliance's spokesperson, Surya Anta, said in a press conference held at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) on Tuesday.

Surya said ongoing efforts from the government, such as giving special autonomy to the country's easternmost region, had not eliminated military oppression or the destruction of natural resources.

He said the group believed the only solution for Papua was to be able to exercise the right to determine whether to part ways with or remain part of Indonesia.

He claimed that an exercise of the right to self-determination for Papuans through an act of free choice (Pepera) in 1969 was invalid because only 1,022 individuals were involved in the plebiscite, less than 0.2 percent of the population.

"Moreover, they [Papuan people] were put under pressure to express their concerns about integrating with Indonesia," Surya added. (fac/jun)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/group-supports-referendum-for-west-papua.html

West Papuan solidarity events planned to mark Morning Star Flag Day

Pacific Media Centre - November 29, 2016

Anne Noonan – It is now 55 years since the Morning Star flag was flown officially in West Papua for the first time on the 1 December 1961.

The West Papuan people continue to raise their flag as an act of celebration but also in protest against the injustices they suffer under Indonesian rule. They can face up to 15 years jail for doing so.

Jakarta is becoming increasingly concerned at the internationalisation of the issue of West Papua which is why the security forces have been cracking down on peacefully rallies organised by civil society organisations in West Papua.

The most recent crackdown was on the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) as they celebrated their eighth anniversary last week – 106 people were arrested in Sorong.

However, thousands of West Papuans have been arrested at rallies throughout the past year in West Papua. Although the majority of activists were eventually released, during the arrests activists were regularly beaten and in some cases faced torture.

In Sorong, police ordered a Papuan praying congregation to disperse, accusing them of separatism.

There has been a huge groundswell of support around the world and in the Asia-Pacific region on the issue of West Papua. This support includes civil society organisations, churches and governments.

UN session support

Seven Pacific leaders raised the issue of West Papua at the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.

The Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu all raised concerns about the human rights situation in West Papua.

From the Solomon Islands, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in a statement:

"The Solomon Islands is gravely concerned about the human rights violations against Melanesians in West Papua.

"Human rights violations in West Papua and the pursuit for self-determination of West Papua are two sides of the same coin.

"Many reports on human rights violations in West Papua emphasize the inherent corroboration between the right to self-determination that results in direct violations of human rights by Indonesia in its attempts to smother any form of opposition."

Recently a new "Pacific Coalition on West Papua" was formed. The initial membership comprises the Solomon Islands government, Vanuatu government, Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) and the United Liberation Movement of West Papua and the Pacific Islands Alliance of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO). Two new members are Tuvalu and Nauru.

Flag-raising ceremonies planned in Auckland on Thursday include:

12noon with the Asia Pacific Human Rights Coalition (APHRC) and Pax Christi at the Pacific Media Centre, Auckland University of Technology, WG1028.

5.30pm with Oceania Interrupted at the reserve off Waterfront Road and Coronation Road, Mangere Bridge, Auckland.

Source: http://asiapacificreport.nz/2016/11/29/west-papuan-solidarity-events-planned-to-mark-morning-star-flag-day/

Former Air Force chief to head Papua's Grasberg mine

Radio New Zealand International - November 28, 2016

The mining giant Freeport has selected a former chief of staff of Indonesia's air force to be chief executive of its Papua-based operations.

Freeport's colossal Grasberg gold and copper mine complex in Papua province is Indonesia's single largest source of revenue. The New Orleans-based parent company is in protracted negotiations with Jakarta over an extension of its contract to operate in Papua.

The appointment of Chappy Hakim follows previous Freeport CEO appointments of retired military leaders. However, his selection comes as a disappointment in Papua for those who had hoped that after over four decades of operations the time had come for an indigenous Papuan to get the role.

A Papuan legislator, Laurenzus Kadepa, told Tabloi Jubi that Mr Hakim's appointment reflects the security considerations of Freeport's shareholders. He said Papua is considered a security issue-prone region and thus shareholders prefer to see a military figure in charge.

Mr Kadepa adds that the Indonesian government also wants someone close to Jakarta in charge as the negotiations over contract renewal intensify in the coming years.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/319076/former-air-force-chief-to-head-papua's-grasberg-mine

Jokowi is 'killing' Papua with rice

Jakarta Globe - November 25, 2016

Andre Barahamin – After two years as president, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has yet to meet his promises to engage meaningfully with the people of Papua.

Early on in his presidency, he made a trip to the region and released political prisoners, but since then he has prioritized infrastructure development. He has failed so far to understand the needs and demands of indigenous Papuans. This is no more evident than in his foundering plans for a rice estate in Merauke.

The project first targeted an area of 274,403 hectares spread over Jagebob, Tanah Miring, Kurik, Sota, Malind and Semangga districts. This was to be followed by 285,249.10 ha in Animha, Muting and Jagebob districts; 171,701.84 ha in Okaba and Animha; 278,390 ha in Tubang and Nggsti districts; and finally, 200,042 ha in Okaba district.

Jokowi instructed the Indonesian Military (TNI) to play an active role in accelerating the program, as he targeted 3,200 hectares of indigenous rainforest to be converted and ready for planting by the end of 2015. The program has been a spectacular failure. As of June 2016, these soldiers had only managed to plant 1,800 hectares.

According to its spatial pattern, Merauke's land area is 4,670,163 hectares. About 2,455,694 ha have been allocated for protected areas and 1,598,822 ha for investment purposes as part of the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (Mifee) program. The fundamental question is whether a policy of 1.2 million ha for the national food program will directly replace Mifee and use the land that had previously been allocated. It is not yet clear.

The Merauke Agricultural Production Center (KSPP) is essentially a replica of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's failed Mifee plan, which was launched in 2010 to convert 2.5 million hectares of Marind indigenous forest. It was considered as a solution for Indonesia's food and energy crises. Mifee was designed to spare 1.2 million ha to be converted into paddy fields and 500,000 ha for palm oil plantations, while the rest would be planted with sugarcane.

By 2014, the government had managed to secure nearly 2 million hectares. But rather than prioritize rice or food production, the pattern of land allocation appeared to follow the general preference for large-scale industrial plantations seen across Indonesia. About 973.057 hectares (50,48 percent) were earmarked for timber plantations, 2.800 hectares (12.14 percent) for wood processing, 433.187 hectares (22,47 percent) for palm oil plantations, 415.094 hectares (21,53 percent) for sugarcane plantations, and just 103.219 hectares (5,38 percent) for rice.

The Mifee project violated the rights of the Marind indigenous community. The United Kingdom-based nongovernmental organization Forest Peoples Program documented severe food insecurity, malnutrition and the deaths of at least five children following deforestation and pollution near Zanegi village as a result of the Mifee project. The project also affected Marind culture. The Marind people have a strong connection to the forest. Deforestation does not only entail loss of livelihood, but can also result in disconnection from their ancestors, history and culture.

Taking indigenous land for mega-projects has always led to agrarian conflict. News publication Tempo has reported how the Mifee program led to conflict in Merauke – one of the few areas in Papua that has historically been considered conflict-free.

Olivier De Schutter, United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, warned that Mifee had the potential to affect food security of 50,000 people. In their submission to the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, Franciscans International, the Faith-Based Network on West Papua, and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) also cautioned the Indonesian government over the potential ramifications of Mifee.

However, Jokowi ignored these facts. Plans for the food estate have continued to move forward. On Sept. 18, Jokowi announced that the rice project will be supported by a new body called Papua International Rice Research Center (PIRRC). Indonesian experts and academics living in the United States were to be invited to participate.

Jokowi has stood by the project and said he believes Merauke will be able to meet 30 percent of the national demand for rice. He said the Merauke estate will be managed in a manner similar to modern rice plantations in Europe or the United States, and has confidently predicted that each hectare will be able to deliver about six tons of rice annually.

But most Indonesian rice is produced by smallholders operating on plots of less than a hectare. The average rice yield across the country has increased in recent years, but is still only 5 tons per hectare. Indonesia has very little experience with large-scale agricultural production outside of palm oil and timber plantations and the experience it has had has not been positive.

The Dutch spent 50 years on the so-called Kombe Project in Kurik subdistrict, Merauke, which was designed to meet the rice needs of the South Pacific. After 50 years, only 46,000 hectares had been developed. One of major obstacles was that there was no farming culture in Merauke – the Marind preferred to gather food from the forest – and locals ate sago rather than rice. With no other options, the Dutch brought in Javanese migrants to farm the land.

The most notorious of all Indonesian government failures, however, was the mega-rice project in Central Kalimantan, launched by former President Suharto in 1996. One million hectares of forest in Kapuas district was cleared, and Dayak Ngaju indigenous communities were evicted. The project failed and Indonesians are continuing to pay the price through annual forest fires and haze. It has started in Merauke now. The Pusaka Foundation and Mighty International found that over the past 10 years, Merauke has begun to contribute to forest burning due to a rise in the number of oil palm plantations.

Jokowi has also ignored the fact that there are only 500,000 ha left in Merauke that can be used. This is the remaining forest, where several Marind-Anim indigenous communities are still hanging on. Within it are sago forests, which are the community's main source of food.

Indonesia has options. Its culinary tradition shows that sago, cassava, sweet potato, banana and taro are healthy alternatives to rice. In Merauke, and Papua in general, sago is the main food source and it plays an important role in indigenous cosmology. Destroying sago forests – as is happening – will lead to malnutrition and cultural degradation.

Jokowi still has choices. He can promote food diversification and forest protection, or follow his predecessor, who destroyed forests and violated indigenous rights.

[Andre Barahamin is a researcher for Pusaka Foundation (Center for Study, Advocacy and Documentation of Indigenous Rights). He also serves as an editor for IndoProgress, an online publication connecting progressive scholars and activists in Indonesia.]

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/opinion/commentary-jokowi-killing-papua-rice/

MSG committee mulls over membership guidelines

Radio New Zealand International - November 25, 2016

A Melanesian Spearhead Group committee is meeting in Port Vila to consider guidelines around membership in the regional organisation.

The Sub-Committee on Legal and Institutional Issues was tasked by MSG leaders at their Honiara summit in July to clarify guidelines for observer, associate and full membership in the group.

This comes as the MSG's five full members – Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia's FLNKS Kanaks Movement – grapple with whether to grant full membership to West Papuans.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua was granted observer status in the MSG last year but its bid for full membership has been deferred pending clarity on the guidelines.

Indonesia, which has associate membership status in the MSG, has opposed the Liberation Movement's bid, saying its own involvement in the group covers West Papuans.

Opening the two day meeting at the MSG secretariat, a Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs official, William Soaki, suggested the guidelines needed to contribute to the overall objective of the group.

It echoed recent comments by Vanuatu's Prime Minister Charlot Salwai that since last year MSG membership criteria had been developed which did not reflect the group's founding principles, which were about decolonising Melanesia.

Mr Soaki said guidelines were required to provide a more streamlined and clear scope for leaders to use in assessing expressions of interest for some form of membership in the MSG.

The Director General of the MSG Secretariat, Amena Yauvoli, encouraged the committee to provide "a workable resolution going forward".

He said the deliberation of the committee was "pivotally important for the future of the organisation" as the issue of West Papuan membership could make or break the organisation.

Pending development of the guidelines, a leader summit was expected in the next couple of months to make a decision on the Liberation Movement's application.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/318877/msg-committee-mulls-over-membership-guidelines

Human rights & justice

Skin-deep law reform overly focused on economy

Jakarta Post - November 28, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who was elected on the promise of reforming the legal system and ensuring a sense of security among citizens two years ago, eventually launched the long-awaited legal reform package last month.

The "national legal system revitalization" package focuses on the eradication of illegal levies and bribery, combating smuggling, the acceleration of vehicle document processing, efficiency in stay permit issuance for foreigners and the relocation of prisoners.

Jokowi has delegated the job to a task force headed by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, a former Army general who has been implicated in past human rights abuses.

Much emphasis has been placed on the eradication of illegal levies and bribery, corrupt practices rife in the government's bureaucracy. The first salvo was fired on Oct. 11 when the police arrested Transportation Ministry employees who had allegedly accepted grease money from a businessman.

Then, last week, a middle-ranking police officer was caught red-handed extorting an entrepreneur who was seeking lenient treatment over his company's alleged involvement in a multi-billion rupiah land acquisition project going awry.

Smuggling is being targeted as part of the government's efforts to stop the stream of contraband such as narcotics and weapons for home-grown terror groups. The war on smuggling has been deemed ineffective due to overlapping regulations, unrealistic policies and lenient punishments for perpetrators.

A novelty is the government's plan to build penitentiaries on outer islands and relocate drug and terror convicts there. This is expected to solve the problem of overcrowded prisons across the country and help develop far-flung regions.

Critics sneer at the reform as overly focused on the economy while hardly addressing human rights issues and fixing the outdated legal system. The policy does not provide a stronger legal basis for the resolution of past gross rights abuses, as people have persistently demanded.

Despite all the discrepancies, the reform is pushing government offices to combat corruption.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/28/skin-deep-law-reform-overly-focused-economy.html

Human rights absence from reform package is a mystery

Jakarta Post - November 28, 2016

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Haris Azhar could not hide his disappointment when speaking about the legal reform package President Joko Widodo introduced to the public last month.

As a human rights campaigner, he is dismayed because the package was supposedly intended to vitalize the economy by stemming acute corruption, such as illegal levies and bribery, but in his opinion it grossly sidelines the promotion increased respect for human rights.

Haris is coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), a civil society group that made its name defending victims of right abuses, especially in the final years of the Soeharto dictatorship. Then, it was led by Munir Said Thalib, whose death by poisoning on a flight to the Netherlands in 2004 shook the world due to the alleged involvement of Indonesian intelligence big shots. The mastermind behind his death remains a mystery until today.

Rights activists like Haris expected that the package would address human rights – a touchy issue that they say lacks the attention of the economic-minded Jokowi administration. As a result, the rule of law has been heading in a bad direction.

"After two years in power, President Jokowi came out with this funny agenda," he said. "He was preoccupied by infrastructure development more than anything else."

"The KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission] is being destroyed; criminalization cases are abundant; law enforcement is mere lip service and there is no justice for victims of past human rights abuses."

On Oct. 20, in conjunction with the second anniversary of the Jokowi administration, KontraS released an assessment report on the state of human rights in Indonesia. A crucial issue the document revealed is that cases of torture have risen over the past two years from 98 in 2015 to 108 as of mid-October this year.

Kontras sees the seemingly progressive reform package as Jokowi's simplification of complex law and human rights issues.

After two years at the helm, Jokowi is yet to make good on promises he made on the campaign trail two years ago to resolve serious past human rights violations as people have persistently demanded.

The cases of rights abuses for which Kontras has been demanding solutions are those related to the aftermath of the 1965 communist purge which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, the bloody 1989 clash between troops and members of an Islamic sect in Lampung, the deadly 2001 and 2003 Wamena and Wasior incidents in Papua, the 1997 kidnapping of political activists, and the 1998 anti-Chinese rioting.

"I think the people's trust in the rule of law will be restored once the government solves those cases, as the President has promised in the Nawacita [Nine-point Agenda]," Haris said.

The calls to resolve the abuses also comes from senior lawyer and rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis, who is worried the cases will eventually be forgotten.

"Indonesia's human rights index is declining [...] for instance, the right to live, the right to not be tortured [...] and justice for human rights victims. This is a serious matter and a just solution is important," he said.

But Todung has not lost hope that Jokowi would eventually honor his promise by the end of his term.

"Law reform shouldn't have been confined to bribery, illegal levies, driver's licenses and relocation of detainees from overcrowded penitentiaries. People's rights also need to be protected," he said.

On the contrary, KontraS is pessimistic that Jokowi has the courage to meet the popular demand given that some elites in his inner circle may not be supportive of the cause.

"Several of his Cabinet ministers were involved in human right violations. One of them was a member of his presidential campaign team," Haris said.

Among the ministers he was referring to are Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu and TNI's Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) chief Maj. Gen Hartomo.

Wiranto is implicated in gross human rights violations that occurred during the referendum in Timor Leste in 1999. At that time he was serving as the commander of the Indonesian Military. The Timor Leste government has formally requested Interpol arrest Wiranto.

Ryamizard has been accused of committing rights abuses during military operations in Aceh and Papua during his terms as the Army chief of staff between 2002 and 2005 and chief of the Army's strategic command (Kostrad).

Meanwhile, Hartomo was sentenced to over three years in prison by a military court in Surabaya, East Java, in 2003 for killing Papuan separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.

There was public consultation prior to the launch of the legal reform package but Jokowi only attended the opening and the closing sessions, according to Haris. "So, what can we expect?" he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/28/human-rights-absence-reform-package-a-mystery.html

Sexual & domestic violence

Campaign against sexual violence launched

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) will begin a 16-day campaign against gender-based violence on Friday with a call on lawmakers to speed up deliberations on a sexual violence bill.

The United Nations initiated the campaign, which will commence on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and run until Dec. 10, Human Rights Day, to end gender-based violence. For its part, Komnas Perempuan, represented by 150 activists, will visit several cities across the country.

Komnas Perempuan received 321,752 reports of violence against women last year, a 40 percent increase from the previous year when it received 232,220 reports.

Data for 2016 is not yet available, but recent cases from various parts of the country indicate the figure will be the same as last year, Komnas Perempuan deputy chairman Yuniyanti Chuzaifah said.

One of the cases that garnered national attention emerged in August, when three civil servants allegedly committed sexual battery against a 17-year-old female intern at the Central Jakarta mayor's office. She was then allegedly raped by one of the civil servants.

In another case in early April, Yuyun, a junior high school student from the remote area of Rejang Lebong in Bengkulu, Sumatra, was tied up and brutally raped by 14 men until she died.

Yuniyanti acknowledged that a lack of strong legislation had contributed to gender-based violence, pointing out the House of Representatives' decision to stall deliberation on the sexual violence bill.

"The House needs to immediately deliberate the sexual violence bill and establish a special committee for the task. Therefore, the bill can be deliberated early next year," she said at the commission in Menteng, Jakarta, on Thursday.

Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation of Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH APIK Jakarta) member Ahmad Luthfi Firdaus added that special legislation on sexual violence had to be enacted soon, as the Criminal Code (KUHP) defined sexual violence merely as rape.

"The Criminal Code stipulates that sexual violence only happens when there is intercourse. In fact, there are many other types of it," he said.

Golkar Party lawmaker Firman Subagyo said it would take time to deliberate the sexual violence bill, as it had to be synchronized with the 2016 Child Protection Law, which imposes harsh punishments on sexual predators. (adt)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/campaign-against-sexual-violence-launched.html

House urged to deliberate sexual violence bill

Jakarta Post - November 24, 2016

Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) is calling on the House of Representatives to immediately deliberate a sexual violence bill and pass it into a law.

Komnas Perempuan deputy chairman Yuniyanti Chuzaifah said she believed the deliberation would receive widespread support from the public.

"We want Indonesia to do more to protect its people from sexual violence by continuing the bill's deliberation in 2017," said Yuniyanti on Thursday, in her statement to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which falls on Nov.25.

The UN is set to hold a 16-day campaign to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women that will start on Nov. 25 and run until Dec. 10, coinciding with Human Rights Day. The campaign involves fund-raising to end gender-based violence.

Yuniyanti said Komnas Perempuan would run the 16-day campaign, which involved 150 activists across the country. She further urged the government to prioritize the eradication of violence against women amid an increase in reports of violence against women.

The commission received 321,752 reports of violence against women in 2015, a nearly 40 percent increase from 2014, in which it received 232,220 reports, she added. (adt/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/24/house-urged-to-deliberate-sexual-violence-bill.html

Labour & migrant workers

Labor unions told to stand down during anti-Ahok rally

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Jakarta – The National Police are calling on labor union leaders to postpone their planned rally on Dec. 2 in Jakarta to help maintain peace during a large-scale rally planned on the same day that will call for the arrest of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama in a blasphemy case.

"We don't prohibit the labor protest, but we suggest they reschedule it so that other people can pray solemnly [during their protest]," National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Tuesday.

On Dec. 2, a large-scale rally initiated by the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council's Fatwa (GNPF-MUI) will take place at National Monument Park in Central Jakarta, during which participants will gather to join in dzikir (chanting), tausiyah (preaching) and Friday prayers.

The rally will be a follow up to the Nov. 4 rally, during which more than 100,000 people flocked downtown to demand the prosecution of Ahok on allegations of blasphemy. The rally started in a peaceful manner but ended in violence in the evening.

Previously, the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) announced that its members would join the Dec. 2 rally to demand that the government scrap Government Regulation No. 78 of 2015 concerning wages and Ahok's arrest.

KSPI chairman Said Iqbal argued that the Muslim groups and labor unions shared a common interest to promote the implementation of principles of justice and fairness, including in Ahok's case. (hwa)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/labor-unions-told-to-stand-down-during-anti-ahok-rally.html

Four provinces defy government over minimum wage

Jakarta Post - November 28, 2016

Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – The Manpower Ministry said on Monday that four of the 34 provincial administrations had disregarded a government instruction to increase their respective 2017 provincial minimum wages (UMP) by 8.25 percent, citing high inflation and low productivity levels.

The ministry previously announced that the minimum wage increase for 2017 had been pegged after taking into consideration the basic macroeconomic assumptions for next year, like the level of inflation and economic growth. All provincial administrations notified the government of the final minimum wage level for their respective regions earlier this month.

Speaking in a press conference, the ministry's director general for industrial relations and social security, Haiyani Rumondang, said three provinces – Aceh, South Kalimantan and Papua – had increased their minimum wages by 18.01 percent, 8.29 percent and 9.39 percent, respectively, due to high inflation levels. The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) provincial administration, meanwhile, decided to raise its UMP by only 7.02 percent, citing low levels of productivity.

"We will report this to the Home Ministry, which will decide on the sanctions to give the provinces," Haiyani said.

"Of the 34 provinces, 30 provinces or 88.23 percent followed the rule, compared to only 41.17 percent last year, so this year's percentage is huge progress," she said on Monday.

Last month, workers across the country staged protests demanding local administrations increase their wages by up to 25 percent next year.

For 2017, Jakarta's UMP still tops the list at Rp 3.36 million (US$248.60) per month, followed by Papua and North Sulawesi, with Rp 2.66 million and Rp 2.6 million, respectively. Yogyakarta, meanwhile, has the lowest minimum wage of Rp 1.34 million per month. (hwa)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/28/four-provinces-defy-government-over-minimum-wage.html

Hundreds of migrants on death row abroad

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Purwokerto – At least 271 Indonesian migrant workers are currently on death row in various countries, most of whom are now in Malaysia, migrant activist Anis Hidayah said on Thursday.

She also said the mortality rate of the migrants abroad was relatively high and that roughly 1 thousand migrants had died in Malaysia alone.

"Our migrants also often become victims of crimes because of the lack of access to legal aid. In the Middle East, for example, it is hard to prove rape cases because it requires four witnesses," she said during a discussion at Jendral Soedirman University.

Instead of executing more death row inmates in the country, she demanded that the Indonesian government improve protection of its citizens abroad.

Indonesia, one of only 25 countries in the world that still imposes capital punishment, has seen 35 people sentenced to death by the courts since the start of the year, according to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

Since President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo took office in October 2014, the government has executed 18 people, most of whom were drug traffickers.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/island-focus-hundreds-migrants-death-row-abroad.html

Freedom of speech & expression

Newly revised ITE Law still draconian

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Fierce debate is arising on social media after the revised Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law took effect on Monday, a month after the House of Representatives passed amendments to the law, regarded by many as posing a threat to the country's democracy and freedom of speech.

The law was among Twitter's top trending topics in the country as of Monday noon, with more than 17,000 tweets mentioning the issue, ranging from serious comment and criticism to jokes such as whether uploading culinary videos and mentioning ex-lovers would now be subject to prosecution under the law. Some netizens reminded fellow users not to spread hatred on online platforms.

Dennis Adhiswara wrote on his account @OmDennis, which has more than 80,000 followers, including Vice President Jusuf Kalla, that "if there are still netizens who do not understand self-censorship and common sense, the government will keep controlling you".

In the past few weeks, ahead of the Jakarta gubernatorial election and a planned rally against incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama on Dec. 2, online platforms have turned into spaces where people exchange mockery, make provocative remarks and spread hatred in the country.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has intensified his call to make social networking and microblogging services peaceful platforms for debate that respect pluralism, reminding people that mockery was not in line with Indonesian values. The President, however, assured those concerned that freedom of speech would always be maintained.

"The Jokowi administration wants fair and democratic law enforcement. Therefore the ITE Law should be changed," said Henri Subiakto, who represented the government during the bill's deliberation at the House.

However, questions remain whether the amendments will be used as tools to criminalize people and hinder freedom of expression.

Some of the new controversial provisions give the government the authority to block negative content or to order internet service providers to do so.

Furthermore, the provisions allow for the "right to be forgotten", which orders internet providers to remove online stories that complainants claim to be personally damaging to them, after receiving approval from a court.

The revised law also keeps controversial provisions that permit prosecution for defamation. These provisions have seen citizens sent to prison for what they post on the internet, although the provisions reduce the maximum penalty from six to four years, or Rp 750 million in fines.

In addition to maintaining provisions on hate speech, the law also introduces prosecution for cyberbullying, which carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

Mixed responses to the law have been voiced by numerous rights groups such as the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM). ELSAM insists that the revised law will serve as a setback to democracy.

Wahyudi Djafar, a member of ELSAM, questioned the capability of the National Police in handling hate speech and defamation in the past.

He also criticized the Communications and Information Ministry for seemingly trying to "spread chilling effects" toward freedom of expression instead of raising awareness about peaceful freedom of speech.

The National Police started on Monday its campaign to raise public awareness of the law by calling on people to first learn the source of information before reacting to such information.

"Don't write something that could put the nation's stability at risk, including subjects related to race, religion and ethnicity," said Police spokesman Sr. Com. Martinus Sitompul.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/newly-revised-ite-law-still-draconian.html

Government to intensify social media monitoring

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – The government plans to intensify online monitoring to prevent offline conflicts, many of which have been triggered by incendiary comments on social media.

The Home Ministry has said it is devising an integrated IT-based system to identify conflict-prone regions by looking at social media interactions.

The system would require stronger synergy and coordination among the intelligence community, the Early Awareness Society Forum (FKDM) and the Inter-Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) in the regions, the ministry said.

It will provide real-time information on the escalation of hateful statements on certain issues online from various regions and those pooled at the ministry's data and information center.

"The data will serve as a reference for law enforcers and the government when drafting measures to prevent conflicts, including to identify issues, where they take place and the root causes," the ministry's national vigilance director, Heru Matador, told The Jakarta Post.

In the future, the system will be integrated with relevant law enforcement agencies and government institutions, so that all stakeholders can serve their respective roles in identifying the actors inciting hatred and to counter issues before they escalate into real conflict, Heru said.

The National Counterterrorism Agency's (BNPT) terrorism prevention director, Hamidin, said the force would also be involved, specifically for the creation of an effective early detection and prevention system on the spread of radicalization.

"The BNPT will participate since there should be people who are experts [on terrorism issues] and the BNPT will still be the coordinator of counterterrorism measures," Hamidin said.

According to data from the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII), 132.7 million people in the country have been exposed to the internet, representing half the population of the archipelago.

Of the figure, 129.2 million internet users use social media services, a significant increase from 76.5 million in 2014, while 92.8 million users access the internet through smartphones and 31.3 million of the figure post information on social media daily.

The internet has been blamed for the rise of social conflicts. The torching of 10 Buddhist temples in Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra, in late July, was triggered by statements on social media that provoked people in the area to attack members of the local ethnic Chinese community, following an incident involving a member of the Chinese-Indonesian community who complained about the volume of loudspeakers when broadcasting the adzan (call to prayer) at a local mosque.

Cyber Law expert Megi Margiyono said the monitoring of social media interactions would be effective for early detection, especially since in most cases, discussion on social media over certain issues tended to escalate before conflicts were taken to the streets.

He used the example of the 2011 Arab Spring, where social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, played a big part in organizing the uprising and other protests against state institutions in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Jordan.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/govt-intensify-social-media-monitoring.html

Censorship: A dim light persists

Jakarta Post - November 26, 2016

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak – This is what we see on television today: A stream of blurred images, whether it is the bare flesh of a woman, a lit cigarette between fingers, the weapon of a police officer.

The situation is no better at movie theaters. In the case of foreign films in particular, there would often be an abrupt jump between scenes that would leave viewers at a loss to what happened in the story.

These censorship-happy displays have become an endless source of jokes on social media, with many memes about them going viral. They also serve to inspire artists to provide their views on freedom of expression in the arts and on primordial society in the changing world.

A more direct protest occurred in 2008, when a small group of filmmakers representing the Indonesian Film Society (MFI) filed an appeal for the dismissal of the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) to the Constitutional Court because they accused it of literally butchering their work, and urged that it be replaced with the rating classification system.

With members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) surrounding the court building, the justices turned down the request made by film directors/producers Riri Riza, Nia Dinata and Tino Saroenggallo, artist Annisa Nurul Shanty and Jakarta International Film Festival director Lalu Rois Amriradhiani for the annulment of five articles in Law No. 8/1998 on Film that endorsed LSF.

However, with one dissenting opinion in favor of the dismissal, the court suggested a revision to the law to make the institute's actions less aggressive and more favorable to the film community's interests.

Over a year later the government passed the revised version, Law No. 33/2009 on Film, which changed the censorship body approach from "cutting" and "omitting" to "returning" the film to the makers to perform those actions, otherwise the censorship body had the right to suggest to the government to hand out administrative sanctions against the makers.

It also stipulates imprisonment for those who distribute and screen films which have not passed the censorship process.

To pass censorship, a film should not bear any of these six elements in its contents: encourage violence, gambling and drug abuse; pornography; instigate horizontal conflicts in society; blasphemy; encourage people to break the law and debasing humanity.

The ambiguity of the new censorship rules still confused filmmakers who had to adjust the age rating to pass screening.

Ifa Ifansyah, the director of Catatan Dodol Calon Dokter (Cado-Cado: Doctors 101), was surprised when LSF suggested the film's age rate should be changed from teen appropriate, or 13+, to older viewers, or 17+.

"It's a comedy but because there are scenes of surgery – a mock up to emphasize the real situation facing the doctors – the film is considered not suitable for viewing by young people," he said.

The musical Ini Kisah Tiga Dara (Three Sassy Sisters) by Nia Dinata was at first classified as an adult film, or 21+, due to the "aggressiveness" of the titular characters, but after further dialogue with LSF it was changed to 17+ a day before its premiere in August.

"From the discussion with LSF, twice, I eventually trimmed particular scenes and added a voiceover at the ending," said Nia as reported by bisnis.com.

Many members of the film community also expressed concern at the high cost of censorship, because they have to pay fees for each copy of the film submitted to the LSF, as well as the film promotional material such as posters and trailers. They also must undergo the whole process when the film is to be distributed on CD or DVD or screened on TV.

Actor and director Lukman Sardi, who chaired the recent Indonesia Film Festival (FFI), said that a total change in censorship would be among the main issues in FFI's campaign to restore the nation's film industry to its former status.

"Censorship is an inheritance of the past regime that is no longer relevant today. It creates an uncomfortable situation for both the viewers and the filmmakers. There should be a change in censor regulations," he said.

Centennial history

Amid the dissatisfaction over the issue of censorship, LSF turned 100 this year, with its celebration held on Nov. 18 with the launch of a book on the history of the institution.

According to Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy, a censorship body is imperative to ensure the presence of the government in the film industry. "Although censorship should not restrict creativity, a film is not value free," he said at the event held in Gedung Film, South Jakarta.

The Dutch colonial administration established the institution, known as Ordonansi Film, with the issuance of a regulation on March 18, 1916. The regulation was changed under the Japan occupation from 1942 to 1945 and underwent a transitional period after independence in 1945 to 1950 as the Film Examination Commission.

The institution focused on film distribution supervision during the period 1950-1966, and changed to censorship since 1966. The Film Censor Body (BSF) changed to its current name, LSF, in 1992.

"This year is the high momentum for us to reflect and to reconsolidate our work internally," said Ahmad Yani Basuki, LSF chairman for the 2015-2019 period.

Government Regulation No. 18/2014 on the institution stipulates a new structure of members. If previously there were 45 members representing the military, police, religion organizations, societal groups and government institutions without selection, the new structure allows only 17 members – five government representatives, with 12 others representing the public who must undergo a selection process on their competence.

In the new structure, LSF is allowed to have 45 censorship workers, but according to Ahmad the institution currently only has 33 full-time employees.

"We have a change in our work culture here as everyone should work professionally," said the retired military officer who got his post at the institution as a public representative.

"Although we are still guarding the nation from the negative influence of films or TV shows, we adopt the new paradigm of contributing to the development of film industry. That is the reason we promote dialogues with filmmakers about their work."

Each member, he said, had the competence of film content evaluation and is authorized to pass a film or sinetron (TV soap). Should there be questions about actions to be taken, they could raise it to an evaluation committee before passing it to a plenary meeting.

"We invite experts on the subject matter to get better insights if necessary, but that's rarely happened," he said.

Under his administration, the institution has developed a curation function where filmmakers could submit their raw work on CD for preliminary review to avoid wasting time and money should they have to redo the finishing later.

Starting last year, LSF formed regional branches whose members are tasked to promote local wisdom and cultures unique to the region. "If it was a film on Papuans, for example, then there should be no question on nudity in the film," said Ahmad.

However, learning that public awareness on viewing discretion was still low, he said the institution would focus on educating the public about self-censorship.

"It will be our most time-consuming program to educate the public to only watch age-appropriate films and to choose films that have passed the LSF censors. It will be difficult with the presence of online streaming services which are not included in our field of work," he said.

"Our goal for the future is that everyone could enjoy watching a film and become a stakeholder of that film. If people have become aware of what they could and should not watch and the filmmakers know who their target audience was, then it's easier for us to make classification based on age. But it's still a long way to go to be there."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/26/screen-shot-censorship-a-dim-light-persists.html

Another Facebook user reported by local councilors

Jakarta Post - November 26, 2016

Syamsul Huda M. Suhari, Gorontalo – At least 10 local councilors of the Gorontalo regency legislative council in Gorontalo province filed a lawsuit against a civil servant who works at the Emergency Response Unit (Tagana) for a post he wrote on his Facebook account, adding to the growing list of people charged with the draconian 2008 Law on Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE).

The councilors reported the civil servant, identified only as ML, for alleged defamation over the latter's Facebook status posted on Nov. 5. In the status, he quoted a councilor for questioning the slow distribution of aid for flood victims.

"As a [member] of the disaster response unit and KSB [disaster preparedness program for villages], we are also humans, sir. We lose time with our families for work and for daily routines just to help people affected by floods. Is it proper for a councilor [to question that]," wrote ML, who works at Tagana in Gorontalo regency.

He used the term "rogue individual" in referring to the councilor and even though no names were mentioned in the post, council speaker Syahmid Henu felt insulted by it.

"I learned of it after being informed by fellow councilors. They said I was being bullied on Facebook," Syahmid told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He said the case arose on Nov. 5 when he saw Tagana members distributing rice and instant noodles at the Datahu subdistrict administration office in Tibawa district, not far from his house.

The subdistrict where Syahmid resides happened to be one of the affected areas inundated by floods for a day on Oct. 26.

He approached the Tagana members and directly asked one of them why the aid was only distributed that day long after the flood hit in October.

"My question was not answered, then suddenly it appeared on Facebook," said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician.

ML's Facebook post was then discussed at the legislative council that later decided that as an institution it would file a police report against ML. The report was filed on Monday. "ML has committed defamation against all of the councilors," he said.

Each of the 10 councilors filing the police report represented a number of parties including the PDI-P, Hanura Party, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Democratic Party, National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP).

Although ML was not available for comment, he had previously admitted to a local media outlet that encouragement from a friend prompted him to post the status.

"I wrote what I saw in the status because what we distributed was indeed post-flood aid. We have a standard operational procedure on which aid comes before and which ones after. We have worked voluntarily to help the flood victims but were met with such a reception," said ML as quoted by local online media on Nov. 22.

The case continues the alarming trend of local politicians using the ITE law and the Criminal Code (KUHP) on defamation, which carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison, to silence their critics. In another case, the draconian law saw a housewife, Yusniar, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, stand trial after being reported by a local councilor.

The Makassar District Court suspended her detention on Wednesday but refused to drop her case amid growing protests from the public. Yusniar was charged with the ITE Law and the KUHP after a local councilor of the Jeneponto legislative council in South Sulawesi filed a report against her over remarks she made on her Facebook account.

She submitted a post on her Facebook account a day after her parents' house on Jl. Sultan Alauddin was attacked by 100 people, allegedly including Sudirman. However, Yusniar did not mention any names in her post.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/26/another-facebook-user-reported-local-councilors.html

Democracy & civil rights

Freedom does not surpass supremacy of law in Indonesia: Minister

Jakarta Globe - November 30, 2016

Jakarta – Chief Security Minister Wiranto said supremacy of the law outranks civil rights and freedom in Indonesia, despite the county being a democracy.

"It is impossible for freedom to surpass supremacy of the law. If it is violated, the state will descend into chaos," Wiranto said in a speech at the Indonesian Democracy Index awards in Jakarta on Wednesday (30/11).

The former Army general said Indonesia's founding fathers realized the difficulties of building a democratic country and for this reason, even Sukarno implemented a system of guided democracy in the early days.

"At that time, it was not the time for direct freedom, as [Indonesia's democracy] had not matured yet," Wiranto said. He added that former President Suharto also implemented similar measures. "Now, we are entering a democratic era that is more free and open," he said.

However, he said the public was still not ready for total freedom, even after the 1998 political reforms. "When freedom strengthens, the danger of anarchy will emerge to destroy the country," Wiranto said.

He said the government has been trying to find a balance between democratic freedom and compliance of the law, as Indonesian citizens are not prepared for total democracy, such as in the United States and France.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/freedom-not-surpass-supremacy-law-indonesia-minister/

Political parties & elections

PDI-P still struggling for dominance 2 years after polls

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2016

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is not giving up its fight for leadership posts at the House of Representatives more than two years after it emerged victorious in the 2014 legislative election.

The party has again pushed for a revision to the Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law, which it said should be included in the priority list for next year's national legislation program (Prolegnas).

The prevailing law does not include a proportional mechanism that would allow winners of legislative elections to secure House speakership posts.

The House deliberated on the MD3 Law when the pro-government Great Indonesian Coalition (KIH) and the opposition Red-and-White Coalition (KMP) clashed after the 2014 legislative election. At the time, the Golkar Party, the second largest party in the House after the PDI-P, was aligned with the KMP.

Now that Golkar has become part of the ruling coalition, which is led by the PDI-P, the latter said it was hoping that its renewed call for a revision to the MD3 Law would gain support.

"Every elected president needs support from the majority of the legislative body. If it doesn't secure support from the majority, the consequence will be transactional politics where the president will offer anything to the opposition camp just to get more support," PDI-P legislator Arif Wibowo said.

"This is happening right now and it will result in ineffective governance. The President needs backing from most of the factions in the legislative body to ensure political stability," he said.

Moreover, Arif said the country should once again adopt the "principle of proportionality" whereby the winner of a particular legislative election receives the highest degree of power in the House.

Currently, the post of House speaker is in the hands of the Golkar Party, with deputy speakers from the Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

If the revision goes through, the House will revive the old system in which only the five biggest parties can get speakership posts. Under this mechanism, the posts would go to the PDI-P, Golkar, Gerindra, the Democratic Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB). The PDI-P, then, would have control of the House speakership.

PAN and PKS, an opposition party, may have to give up their slots under this system. "Yes, I could [be dismissed from the post of deputy speaker]," House Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah from the PKS said.

But Golkar does not seem eager to scratch the PDI-P's back. The House's legislative deputy chairman Firman Soebagyo of Golkar said that the Baleg had dropped the bill from the Prolegnas list as it was now waiting for the Constitutional Court's ruling on another judicial petition against the law.

The legislator, however, said the House could still deliberate on the MD3 bill anytime after the Constitutional Court handed down its ruling, even though it was not in the 2017 priority list.

Nonetheless, the party, which has nominated President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as a presidential candidate for the 2019 presidential election, sees no urgency to change the composition of the House leadership.

"We should not do [the revision] now, because we have to focus on fixing the House's public image. Why don't we leave the composition just as it is until the next legislative election?" Firman said.

Other parties are also ready to block any attempt by the PDI-P to get leadership posts at the House.

House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon of Gerindra said there was no urgency to revise the law or change the composition of the House leadership. "For now, we should focus on improving our legislative performance," Fadli said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/30/pdi-p-still-struggling-dominance-2-years-after-polls.html

Agus-Sylviana ticket secured amid PPP leadership dispute

Jakarta Post - November 24, 2016

Moses Ompusunggu and Agnes Anya, Jakarta – Jakarta gubernatorial election candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and his running mate Sylviana Murni will remain eligible in spite of infighting within their political backer, the United Development Party (PPP), which took another turn following the recent court ruling on the party's leadership dispute.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) ruled in favor of senior PPP politician Djan Faridz who challenged the decree issued by the Law and Human Rights Ministry recognizing Muhammad Romahurmuzy's leadership of the oldest religion-based party in the country.

The court ruling on Tuesday annulled the ministerial decree on the party that has been rocked by internal conflict for more than a year.

Under Romahurmuzy's leadership, PPP gave its support to the coalition of parties behind Agus and Sylviana, which are led by the Democratic Party. Djan's camp, instead, had insisted it supported incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and his running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat even after the blunt governor was named a suspect in a blasphemy case.

Concerns rose whether the court's ruling might be a game changer for Agus. Each Jakarta gubernatorial election candidate must secure at least 22 seats of the 106 seats in the Jakarta City Council. The pair had secured 38 seats from the four parties endorsing them, namely the Democratic Party, PPP, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

A loss of support from the PPP, could cost Agus and Sylviana 10 seats, bringing the amount of councillors supporting them down to 18, less than the amount stipulated by the regulation.

However, the Agus-Sylviana ticket being disqualified seems unlikely as PPP's support of the pair was filed with the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) on Sep. 23 when the candidates registered for the contest.

"KPU Jakarta basically acknowledges only one PPP; the one that was declared valid by the Law and Human Rights Ministry when the [gubernatorial election] registration was open," said Dahlia Umar, KPU Jakarta campaign task group chairwoman on Wednesday.

PPP, similarly to other parties, is not allowed to take back its support regardless of the dispute in accordance with the 2016 Regulation on the General Elections Commission (KPU) on election candidacy, she said.

In an effort to urge the government to follow up the ruling, Djan met with Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly at the latter's office in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday morning. He expressed hope that the ministry would not appeal the ruling at a higher court.

"God willing, the ministry will accept the ruling, because it acknowledges the legal umbrella, which is the Supreme Court's decree [No. 601/2015 stipulating Djan's leadership]," Djan said.

The ministry's director general of legal administration, Freddy Harris, said the ministry would wait until the court had handed the ruling over to his institution before taking any steps to follow up on it.

Separately, Agus said he did not have any worry over the latest court ruling on the PPP's leadership.

"I will keep my focus on strategies to win the regional election. I appreciate the integrity as well as sovereignty of all political parties," he said during a campaign visit in South Jakarta on Tuesday as reported by kompas.com.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/24/agus-sylviana-ticket-secured-amid-ppp-leadership-dispute.html

Court annuls decree on PPP leadership

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Jakarta – The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has ruled in favor of senior United Development Party (PPP) politician Djan Faridz, who challenged a ministerial decree that recognized Muhammad Romahurmuziy's leadership of the PPP.

The ruling stipulates that the decree, which was issued by the Law and Human Rights Ministry, is invalid and thus must be annulled.

"This is a gift from God for us," the secretary-general of Djan's PPP faction, Dimyati Natakusumah, said on Tuesday. He added that he hoped the government could soon follow up the verdict by recognizing Djan's faction as the legitimate executives of the Islamic-based party.

The PPP has been rocked by internal conflict for more than a year. Serving as secretary-general under the chairmanship of Suryadharma Ali, Romahurmuziy leads a faction within the party that declared its support for the government after the 2014 presidential election.

A congress held by a rival faction within the party, regarded as a splinter group by Romahurmuziy, elected businessman Djan as chairman.

Influenced by the government, the PPP then held a so-called reconciliation congress that was expected to end the prolonged infighting. The congress named Romahurmuziy chairman. Djan's faction defied the congress and insisted that Romahurmuziy's leadership was illegal.

PPP secretary-general under Romahurmuziy, Arsul Sani, said his faction would file an appeal with the State Administrative High Court (PTTUN).

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/national-scene-court-annuls-decree-ppp-leadership.html

Blasphemy & the Jakarta Elections

Clerical body issues edict legitimizing Friday prayers outside mosques

Jakarta Globe - November 30, 2016

Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council, or MUI, has issued an edict to legitimize Friday prayers outside mosques, which will facilitate this week's planned protest action against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.

The protest will be in the form of a mass prayer at the National Monument (Monas) complex in Central Jakarta on Friday (02/12).

However, the edict contradicts one issued by Indonesia's largest Muslim group, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which has discouraged Muslims from participating in the protest.

Thousands of Muslims are expected to gather at Monas for Friday prayers, in a show of protest against Ahok, who is accused of blasphemy.

In the edict issued by the MUI on Tuesday, the country's highest Islamic clerical body says "under certain circumstances, it is legitimate to stage Friday prayers outside a mosque, as long as it is within a residential area."

The council of around 70 Muslim leaders also says in the edict that any Friday prayers held outside the mosque "should not disturb the public order," as it will be then be considered haram, or proscribed by Islamic law.

The edict, which was signed by MUI Fatwa Commission chairman Hasanuddin on Monday, comes after police asked the council last week to "provide explanations about staging Friday prayers on the street."

Muslim protesters have earlier planned to hold Friday prayers on the main streets leading to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, but the police have strongly warned against this over public order concerns.

Said Aqil Siradj, chairman of the 40-million-strong NU, said last week that his organization recently issued an edict that forbids Friday prayers on the street.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/clerical-body-issues-edict-legitimizing-friday-prayers-outside-mosques/

Military chief, ministers, activists attend rally for peace at Jakarta's

Jakarta Globe - November 30, 2016

Jakarta – Indonesian Military chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo stressed the importance of recognizing and tolerating diversity in Indonesia during a rally for peace at the National Monument in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (30/11).

The "Nusantara Bersatu" (United Archipelago) rally, planned only two days ago, was also held simultaneously in other regions around the country. "This proves that with only a two-day notice, everyone can stand united. It's wonderful," Gatot said.

He added that all Indonesians are patriots and thanked the organizers – activists, religious leaders, students and community representatives – for holding the rally. "We all wear red and white headbands to pray for peace in Indonesia," Gatot said.

The general attended the rally with Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, acting Jakarta Governor Soni Sumarsono and Wahid Institute founder Yeni Wahid – the daughter of late former president and Nahdlatul Ulama leader Abdurrahman Wahid.

The rally preceded a protest rally expected to take place on Friday, Dec. 2, also at the National Monument, or Monas, to demand the arrest of Jakarta governor and blasphemy suspect Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/military-chief-ministers-activists-attend-rally-peace-jakartas-national-monument/

Ahok saga to reach apex as he faces trial

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Indra Budiari and Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The blasphemy case implicating incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama may soon take another dramatic turn as the National Police have suggested that Ahok's case dossier will be handed over to the court soon.

National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said on Monday that he had received information that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) had considered the investigation complete and thus prosecutors would be ready to indict the beleaguered governor at the court as soon as next week.

"Thank God, the dossier is complete and God willing the case will be [ready to submit to the court] on Tuesday," he told reporters.

If found guilty, Ahok faces up to five years' imprisonment for his controversial statement in September, despite having repeatedly apologized for the remarks.

"I hope the trial starts as soon as possible so we all can supervise the trial through the media," Tito said.

Tito made the announcement four days before another large-scale rally is set to be organized by a number of conservative Muslim groups that demand Ahok be taken into custody immediately. Police investigators have banned Ahok from leaving the country but decided to not detain him.

Tito made the statement during a joint press conference with leading Islamic figures, including Rizieq Shihab, leader of the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesia Ulema Council's Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), which initiated the large-scale rally on Nov. 4 and planned another one on Dec. 2.

"We will have a peaceful rally next Friday, but we still expect the case to be declared complete as soon as possible. No blasphemy can be committed in this country, especially against Islam as the religion of the majority," Rizieq said.

He added that the demonstrators of the upcoming rally would maintain their demands. "This case has caused a national uproar so it is better for prosecutors to detain Ahok," he said.

Police treatment of Ahok's case has been deemed "unusual". Investigators, for example, completed the dossier only 10 days after they named Ahok a blasphemy suspect. Police also held their first ever semi-open case screening for Ahok's case.

Meanwhile, AGO spokesman Muhammad Rum said on Monday that prosecutors were finalizing Ahok's indictment.

"I just talked to prosecutors [handling Ahok's case] and they said they had almost reached a conclusion. We will see what will happen tomorrow [Tuesday]," Rum told The Jakarta Post.

He added that Ahok would likely be tried at the North Jakarta District Court because Ahok made the controversial statement in Thousand Islands regency, which is under the court's jurisdiction.

The National Police submitted the case dossier to the AGO last Friday. According to the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), prosecutors have a maximum 14 days to examine the dossier and determine if it is ready to be taken to court, or, otherwise, the dossier would be returned to the police for further investigation.

Experts have suggested that the blasphemy allegation against Ahok is a test for the country's democracy. More than 100,000 people hit the capital's streets on Nov. 4 during one of the largest rallies to ever take place in the country, demanding Ahok be prosecuted for blasphemy.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/ahok-saga-reach-apex-he-faces-trial.html

FPI limits rally to Monas

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Indra Budiari, Haeril Halim and Suherdjoko, Jakarta/Semarang – A combination of tough security and legal threats and negotiation by the police is believed to have been instrumental in persuading Muslim groups to drop their previous plan to hold mass Friday prayers at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Dec. 2.

After a series of meetings with Rizieq Shihab, the firebrand leader of the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesia Ulema Council's Fatwa (GNPF-MUI) and Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma'ruf Amin as well as intensive consultations with major Islamic organizations, the National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said on Monday that Friday's protest would be conducted within the confines of National Monument (Monas) Square.

"Eventually we agreed that the Dec. 2 action will be held at Monas from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.," Tito said after meeting with Ma'ruf and Rizieq on Monday.

The police chief explained there would be no rally on Friday and instead the mass activity would consist only of dzikir (mass chants in praise of God), sermons and Friday prayers.

"We hope the solemnity of the religious activity will not be disrupted or damaged by chants of protest," Tito said, adding that he would have a meeting with the Jakarta administration to discuss the technical details of Friday's protest.

Tito added that he had coordinated with Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gatot Nurmantyo in ensuring the safety and security of the event.

"We will prepare the site, which can accommodate between 600,000 and 700,000 people. If that is still not enough space we can also prepare Jl. Merdeka Selatan," said Tito.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo launched an intensive political tour, including meetings with prominent Muslim leaders and major political parties, to ease tensions ahead of the massive protest. The police also told labor union leaders to cancel their planned participation in the rally, saying the government had been very accommodating toward workers' demands for higher wages.

Earlier Rizieq, who is also leader of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI), boasted that no one could stop him or the protesters from conducting their Friday prayers at the iconic Jakarta location despite police orders to drop the plan because it would disrupt traffic and public order.

"The stark differences between us [protesters and police] had become a national-, even international-, scale polemic. Now we've finally been able to listen to each other's reasoning and arguments with clear minds," Rizieq said during Monday's press conference, which was also attended by Tito and Ma'ruf.

In exchange for the the compromise made by the protesters, the police and Rizieq agreed that regional police chiefs across the country would lift prohibitions on residents from their respective areas joining the rally in the capital as well as no longer ask transportation companies not to take the protesters to Jakarta.

Initiated by the GNPF-MUI, Muslim groups staged a mass rally on Nov. 4, demanding the prosecution of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, an event which many believe heavily influenced the police's decision to name the outspoken governor a blasphemy suspect.

Terrorist groups are also suspected to have made an attempt to hijack the protest. Tito said police had arrested 12 alleged terrorists, some of whom were caught with explosive materials in their possession, and who had planned to join the Nov. 4 rally.

"There are a number of groups who tried to take advantage of this large-scale mass rally, we hope that Friday's rally will be safe," Tito said.

A number of regional law enforcement officers have urged local residents not to go to Jakarta to take part in Friday's rally. Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo said he and the Central Java Police chief were ready to listen to residents' concerns about the issue.

Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Monday that the government had no intention of prohibiting anyone from taking part in the rally. However, he called on the participants to refrain from disrupting the city's daily activities.

"Friday prayers should be held in a mosque or open field. So, given that there are many mosques in Jakarta, please don't disrupt traffic and economic activity in the city," the Vice President said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/fpi-limits-rally-monas.html

Fadli Zon says cannot join anti-Ahok rally on Friday

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Jakarta – House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon has said he will not join a rally against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama on Friday.

"I will visit Panama on Friday. If I was here, I would attend the rally," the Gerindra Party politician said on Monday, as reported by kompas.com.

Fadli said he had been invited by the organizer, the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council's Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), to join the rally.

The demonstration is set to call on police to detain Ahok over a blasphemy case in which Ahok has been named a suspect. The governor is currently on leave from his gubernatorial duties as he is campaigning for reelection.

Fadli and another deputy House speaker, Fahri Hamzah from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), were among tens of thousands of people joining a rally on Nov. 4, which had also been led by the GNPF-MUI and ended in violence.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has accused "political actors" of being behind the rally. A few days after the rally, Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto met Jokowi at the Presidential Palace, expressing his support for the government.

On Monday, police gave the GNPF-MUI permission to conduct the rally on Friday at the National Monument (Monas) park, rather than along Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman, as initially planned by the organizers. Up to 600,000 people are predicted to join the rally on Friday. (jun)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/fadli-zon-says-cannot-join-anti-ahok-rally-on-friday.html

Organizers agree to limit Dec. 2 rally to Monas area: Police

Jakarta Globe - November 28, 2016

Jakarta – The National Police announced that the organizers of this week's planned mass protest rally have agreed to restrict all actions to the National Monument complex, or Monas, in Central Jakarta to ensure that it proceeds in a peaceful and orderly manner.

The rally with theme "Bela Islam" ("Defend Islam") is organized by a group calling itself the National Movement to Guard the Fatwas of the Indonesian Ulema Council (GNPF-MUI).

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting with leaders of the GNPF-MUI and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Jakarta on Monday (28/11), National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said the protest will take place between 8.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Friday.

Protesters will not be allowed to occupy the streets in the area as it will disrupt residents' daily activities. GNPF-MUI advisory board chairman Rizieq Shihab said the police and the protesters have agreed on several points for the Dec. 2 rally.

These are as follows:

The GNPF-MUI will hold a peaceful rally with protestors unfolding prayer mats and praying for the arrest of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, who was named a suspect in a blasphemy case.
Protesters will perform Islamic devotional chants, known as dzikir, with the theme "Prayer for the Nation's Salvation." Security personnel are encouraged to join protesters in prayer.
The GNPF-MUI will order all its members to disperse peacefully and return home after the prayer.
A team will be established to manage technical matters, such as indicating the kiblat direction, providing security at the gates, setting up medical posts and temporary toilets, and safeguarding arriving protesters on Jalan M.H. Thamrin, Jalan Jend. Sudirman and at the Arjuna Wijaya horse statue.
The GNPF-MUI will not take responsibility for any actions that are not in accordance with the agreed arrangements.
The police in the various provinces or districts will not prevent people from traveling to Jakarta to attend the rally.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/organizers-agree-limit-dec-2-rally-monas-area-police/

Close race predicted in Jakarta

Jakarta Post - November 28, 2016

Indra Budiari, Jakarta – With less than three months until 7 million Jakartans go to the polls, a recent study finds that almost one-third of voters are still undecided on who to vote for in the much anticipated gubernatorial election that is predicted to be a close race.

According to a survey by Jakarta-based Poltracking Indonesia, which was released on Sunday, undecided voters still constituted 29.66 percent of the electorate.

As many as 27.92 percent of the 1,200 respondents, meanwhile, said they would vote for the Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni pair, ahead of incumbent duo Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Syaiful Hidayat who received 22 percent of respondents' support. The third pairing, Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno, was favored by 20.42 percent of respondents.

The outcome of Feb. 15 – voting day – should continue to be a surprise to many as more than 25 percent of respondents said their decision could still change up until voting, while 8.9 percent believed they would reach a final decision a week before the election.

While the study found that 89 percent of respondents said they would vote, there were past precedents that suggested the number of non-voters could be higher than the votes garnered by the winner.

In 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election, for instance, non-voters reached 2.5 million, making up 54 percent of the registered voters while the winning candidate pair at the time, the Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Ahok ticket, received just 2.47 million votes.

Poltracking executive director Hanta Yudha said the large number of undecided voters currently made it impossible to predict the election winner. "If we look at this survey, of course Agus is currently the frontrunner. However, the truth is that anything can still happen," he told reporters.

According to the study, the largest voter age group was made up of 29 to 40-year-olds, while Agus' electability was apparent among first-time voters (those 17 to 22 years old) as 36.51 percent of respondents in this category said they would vote for him.

The survey has added to the list of polls suggesting a major drop in the Ahok-Djarot pair's electability following the ongoing furor among Islamic groups centering on Ahok's blasphemy allegation.

According to Poltracking's studies, Ahok-Djarot's electability dropped to 25.75 percent in November from 37.9 percent in September.

Ahok-Djarot campaign team member Ansy Lema said the survey's finding was not surprising as it was conducted only days after the mass demonstration on Nov. 4, which demanded the police charge Ahok with blasphemy.

"The undecided voters are still waiting for the end of this case. If the court declares Ahok not guilty, they will vote for him," he told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, Agus' camp said they would keep working on raising his electability despite the survey. "This a good result but Agus, Sylviana and the campaign team will work harder to ensure our victory," Agus-Sylviana campaign team member Didi Irawadi said.

Based on the survey, Agus was also gaining significant backing from middle to low-income respondents, as well as respondents with only an elementary or junior high school education.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/28/close-race-predicted-jakarta.html

Putting women's issues on the Jakarta gubernatorial agenda

Jakarta Globe - November 28, 2016

Jakarta – Women's activists and leading figures urged candidates in Jakarta's forthcoming gubernatorial race to address women's issues and gender equality in the city.

Valina Singka, a political expert at the University of Indonesia, Nita Yudi, chairwoman of the Indonesian Businesswoman Association (Iwapi), and Mariana Amiruddin, a commissioner at the National Commission for Women, led the Women Vote for Jakarta discussion event hosted by BeritaSatu News Channel at Lippo Mall Kemang in South Jakarta on Saturday (26/11).

Valina said the city must do more to respect and appreciate women. "Maternity leave should be added from three to six months. And we need compulsory breastfeeding rooms as well," she said.

Nita said the Iwapi had urged candidates to commit to the small- and medium-sized businesses which are expected to form a foundation of the country's economy in the future.

She called on the candidates to use their profile to politically educate women rather than just gather support.

"For us, a handsome or not handsome candidate is never a problem. We need someone to handle the city and its complicated problems. We need a great leader," Nita said.

Okky Asokawati, a spokeswoman for the Agus Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni pair, said the team is preparing a big change for women in the city.

Virgie Barker, representing incumbent pair Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat, said the pair has made huge changes in the city which most residents recognize.

"For those Jakarta residents who have felt the positive impacts from Basuki and Djarot's works, please come to polling station on Feb. 15 to vote for them amid these stormy obstacles," Virgie said.

Rahayu Saraswati, who was campaigning on behalf of Anies Baswedan and Sanidaga Uno, said both candidates are committed to respecting women, citing both having been raised by women.

"Anies and Sandi are not merely men who understand women, they honor women. They are able to afford pro-women programs like breastfeeding rooms and longer maternity leave," Rahayu said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/putting-womens-issues-jakarta-gubernatorial-agenda/

Blasphemy controversy hurting Ahok's electability

Jakarta Post - November 26, 2016

Safrin La Batu, Jakarta – A blasphemy allegation leveled at Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has taken a toll on his popularity rating before the gubernatorial election, slated for Feb. 15, according to the latest survey.

A survey released by the Jakarta-based Indonesian Politic Indicator on Thursday showed that Ahok was no longer the frontrunner.

Former middle-ranking military officer Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, whose candidacy was announced at the 11th hour prior to the closing of candidate registration, is ahead with 30.4 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him, according to the survey.

Ahok is the second in popularity with 26.2 percent, followed by former culture and education minister Anies Baswedan, who garnered 24.5 percent. The survey was held from Nov. 15 to 22 and involved 798 respondents. Ahok was named a blasphemy suspect in Nov. 16.

"Ahok's statement regarding Al Maidah 51 verse seems to be connected to the decreasing support for him," it was noted in the survey results, referring to the Quranic verse at the center of a blasphemy case involving the governor.

The survey showed 94.6 percent of the respondents knew about the alleged blasphemy and 5.4 percent did not.

Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, was accused of committing blasphemy when he mentioned Al Maidah 51 verse of the Quran in a video that went viral last month. His remark about the verse triggered nationwide uproar, which culminated in a large-scale protest on Nov. 4 to demand his immediate arrest.

"If the gubernatorial election took place today, the winner of the election would be Agus," Indonesian Politic Indicator director Burhanudin Muhtadi said during the release of the survey.

Ahok's current rating was 20 percent lower than it was five months ago when the Indonesian Politic Indicator recorded his popularity rating on June.

Burhanudin noted that Ahok's polling numbers had dropped despite high public satisfaction over his performance during his gubernatorial tenure since 2014.

The survey showed that 69 percent of Jakartans were satisfied with his performance, mainly because he sped up several key infrastructure projects.

The new survey result came on the back of another survey released by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) last Friday.

The LSI survey showed that following the naming of Ahok as a blasphemy suspect, his popularity rating stood at 10.6 percent, which was a significant decrease from 53.9 percent in March.

The LSI survey, however, showed Anies was the frontrunner with 31.90 percent and Agus was second with 30.90 percent. The LSI survey also found that the controversy surrounding the alleged blasphemy had hurt Ahok's popularity.

Meanwhile, Ahok's campaign team has claimed that although the blasphemy case has affected Ahok's popularity, it had not overturned his position as the frontrunner. Team spokesman Raja Juli Anto told The Jakarta Post recently that a survey by Ahok's team showed that the incumbent remained on top.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/26/blasphemy-controversy-hurting-ahok-s-electability.html

Police drop charges of spreading hatred in Ahok case

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Jakarta – The police have announced that they will only charge Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama with blasphemy, not spreading hatred.

Ahok was earlier charged under the blasphemy article in the Criminal Code and spreading hatred article in the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law related to his statement about a verse in the Quran that was videotaped and uploaded onto social media.

"Ahok didn't spread the video on the internet. Investigators from the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) didn't find any violation of the ITE law during the investigation," National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said on Friday.

In light of that, the police removed the ITE law violation charge from Ahok's case dossier, which was submitted to the Attorney General's Office on Friday morning, Rikwanto said.

Ahok was earlier charged under Article 156 of the Criminal Code regarding blasphemy and Article 28 (2) of the ITE law concerning the spreading of information sparking sectarian hatred.

A video of Ahok making the statement went viral after private university lecturer Buni Yani uploaded it onto his Facebook account along with an incorrect transcription and commentary.

The video triggered outcry among Muslim conservatives. On Nov. 4, tens of thousands of people, led by conservative Muslim groups, staged a rally in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta demanding that the government prosecute Ahok.

Police named Buni a suspect on Wednesday for allegedly spreading hatred according to Article 28 (2) of the ITE law. (jun)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/police-drop-charges-of-spreading-hatred-in-ahok-case.html

Ahok's fiercest critics face hate speech charges

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Agnes Anya and Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Jakarta – As the National Police intensify their probe into blasphemy allegations made against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, a number of people who were at the forefront in demanding that he be prosecuted are now also facing legal charges.

On Wednesday night, the police charged Buni Yani with incitement for posting an incomplete transcription of Ahok's controversial citation of a Quranic verse in Thousand Islands regency in September, the video of which went viral and led to the demand for Ahok's prosecution.

In the video, which was uploaded on Buni's Facebook page, Ahok said: "Don't believe those people. It is possible that deep in [your] heart you cannot vote for me. [You are] deceived [by other people] using AlMaidah 51,"

In his caption for the video, Buni quoted Ahok as saying "[you are] deceived by Al-Maidah 51." He has admitted that he inadvertently omitted the missing words.

His Facebook post, in which he misquoted Ahok, received a lot of responses and was largely responsible for triggering public outrage against the governor.

The police have charged Buni Yani under Article 28 of the notorious 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law on hate speech, which carries a maximum sentence of six years' imprisonment.

On Thursday, the police said it would not detain Buni, who they said had been cooperative during the investigation, but added that he was barred from traveling abroad. The police made the same decision with Ahok.

The police have confiscated Buni's cellphone and taken over the access to his two email accounts and his Facebook account.

Based on the suspect's statements to police, he posted the video and the caption because he wanted to discuss Ahok's remarks with his Facebook friends, Awi said.

"The quotation [in the caption] was taken from the video but he edited it with some words [put] in brackets," Awi said.

"The problem lies in the caption, not the video. Those [bracketed] words are not found in the video [...] and spread information likely to cause hostility and hatred."

Awi said the police would complete the investigation into Buni's case within 60 days. Buni's lawyer Aldwin Rahadian said his client did not edit Ahok's remarks and he was not the first to upload a video of Ahok's speech in Thousand Islands.

Also on Thursday, the police began their investigation into a defamation case involving musician Ahmad Dhani, who is accused of insulting President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo when he took part in the massive anti-Ahok rally on Nov. 4.

Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab and artist Ratna Sarumpaet have been summoned by the police as witnesses in the case. Dhani, Ratna and Rizieq are among the fiercest critics of Ahok.

Ratna said the police had also summoned National Mandate Party (PAN) supervisory board head Amien Rais, Muslim cleric Bachtiar Nasir, lawyer Eggi Sudjana, Dhani's wife Mulan Jameela and the musician himself on Thursday.

"We've decided not to answer the summons because the summons letter is unclear," Ratna said by telephone on Thursday, claiming that the letter did not properly identify the addressee.

Meanwhile, Eggi, who arrived at the police office at 10:30 a.m., said he believed Jokowi should have personally reported Dhani for defamation if he felt insulted, as stipulated in Article 207 of the Criminal Code on insulting leaders or institutions. In this case, he said, the police had followed up on a report from a resident identified as Riano Osha.

"In a defamation case, the person who feels insulted is the person who should report it to the police. Just like president SBY, who himself reported Zaenal Maarif to the Jakarta Police," Eggi said, referring to a police report made by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2007.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/ahoks-fiercest-critics-face-hate-speech-charges.html

Lawmakers slam police over 'treason' remarks ahead of rally

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Safrin La Batu, Jakarta – Several lawmakers from opposition parties at the House of Representatives have criticized National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian for claiming that the planned rally on Friday has the potential to be directed toward overthrowing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

House deputy speaker Fadli Zon, who is also a politician from the Gerindra Party, said Thursday that the police should have studied the statement on planned treason carefully before sharing it with the public.

"Because this is a serious statement [...] people will react to the statement differently; some might be scared, some might run off with their money," said Fadli.

Similarly, Benny K. Harman, a member of commission III, which oversees legal and security affairs, said Tito's statement would have a negative impact on the country both politically and economically.

"Because a statement made public without its accuracy being double-checked beforehand tends to make our economic market panic," the Democratic Party politician said, adding that the statement could also make members of society suspicious of one another.

On Monday, Tito claimed that according to intelligence, there was a plan for "treason" against the President in the Friday rally.

Several Muslim conservative groups have planned to hold two large-scale rallies, on Friday and on Dec. 2, to demand the immediate arrest of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama over his remarks of alleged blasphemy. (jun)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/lawmakers-slam-police-over-treason-remarks-ahead-of-rally.html

Citizens told to ignore incendiary rumors ahead of Dec. 2 rally

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Moses Ompusunggu, Ina Parlina and Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – Rumors seemingly designed to incite anxiety have heightened political tension ahead of a rally planned for Dec. 2.

The rally's demands, originally the prosecution of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama for alleged blasphemy, have spiralled into a plea to overthrow President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo after the dissemination of fake news about an assault on Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab, one of the organizers of the demonstration.

A fake report spread on the internet claimed Rizieq had been hospitalized after being beaten by a member of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).

The Home Ministry gathered regional administration leaders on Thursday to clarify the rumors and give updates on the situation.

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, who was among the top officials in attendance at the meeting, claimed there were "opportunistic" parties that had tried to increase support for the rally.

"It is very apparent that it [the Dec. 2 rally] is intended to overthrow RI-1 [President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo]," Gatot vehemently told the governors, "and I have evidence that suggests there are parties outside Indonesia meddling in this situation."

The military commander referred to the false rumor about Rizieq, who was one of the organizers of the Nov. 4 anti-Ahok rally that attracted tens of thousands of conservative Muslims.

Calling themselves the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council's Fatwa (GNPFMUI), the group held a mass prayer session on that day and later gathered in front of the Presidential Palace.

"[Reports of Rizieq's assault] were not true. My aides found out that the sources [of the rumor] were [internet portals in] Australia and New Jersey in the US, proving that external parties are trying to divide our nation," Gatot said.

Gatot said there was no need for protesters to stage another demonstration to demand the arrest of Ahok, who was named a blasphemy suspect last week by the National Police, as the police's investigation was ongoing.

The allegations against Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, are based on his reference to a Quranic verse during a working visit to Thousand Islands regency in September. National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said the investigation into Ahok was expected to be completed by Monday.

The GNPF-MUI has said protesters at the Dec. 2 rally would perform mass Friday prayers on Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, which the police claim is a violation of the 1998 Freedom of Speech Law because it could violate other people's rights or disrupt public order.

The Jakarta Police have demanded the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issue an edict against the mass Friday prayers to prevent the rallies turning violent.

Deputy secretary-general of the MUI Sholahuddin Al-Aiyub said the organization had received the police's request.

"We have handed over the letter to the MUI Edict Commission to be discussed. Insya Allah [God willing] the commission will soon deliver a statement about [the request in] the letter," Sholahuddin said.

Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, Said Aqil Siradj, also announced on Thursday that the NU had issued an edict prohibiting Friday mass prayers from being performed on the streets.

"Friday mass prayers on the street is illegitimate," Said Aqil said in front of thousands of NU members during an event that was also attended by Jokowi.

Previously, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin said the Dec. 2 rally was unnecessary and certain parties could take advantage of the situation.

"An individual might lose their self-control when gathering with a crowd of people and then what drives them is the psychology of the crowd. It has the potential to be taken over by opportunists," Lukman said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/citizens-told-to-ignore-incendiary-rumors.html

Groups claim today's rally is for Rohingyas, not anti-Ahok

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Agnes Anya, Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, and Moses Ompusunggu, Jakarta – Amid President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's intense political consolidation efforts, several conservative Islamic groups have made an about-face and now say their rally on Friday is a gesture of solidarity with Rohingya refugees in Myanmar.

Various Islamic organizations, including the Islamic Students Association (HMI) and the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), initially planned to hold a demonstration on Friday as a follow-up to the Nov. 4 rally, held to demand Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama be prosecuted for alleged blasphemy.

However, on Thursday, the organizations denied that the planned demonstration was related to the ongoing blasphemy case.

Instead, it is a show of solidarity by Indonesian Muslims with the Rohingya people in Myanmar, who are facing violence from their government, said former HMI member Muhammad Syukur Mandar.

"The demonstration tomorrow is held to protest the violence and killing of Rohingya Muslims. This is the standpoint we want to express," said Syukur, who is also the association's lawyer.

During the demonstration, the protesters will demand the Myanmar government stop attacks on Rohingyas and urge the United Nations and Indonesian government to intervene by providing shelters for Rohingyas.

He said the protesters would gather in front of the Myanmar Embassy on Jl. Haji Agus Salim, Gondangdia, Menteng, at 10 a.m. before marching to the UN office on Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta. He added that 2,000 to 3,000 people from various organizations were expected to participate in the rally.

"There will be around 300 to 400 people from the HMI," he said, adding that it was unlikely the protesters would deliver their demands to the House of Representatives as previously reported.

Syukur said protesters would end the rally by erecting a Rohingya solidarity post, at which people could register to volunteer for humanitarian work assisting Rohingya refugees or to donate aid.

In response to rumors about the Nov. 25 anti-Ahok rally, the Jakarta Police and other provincial police departments have prepared to deploy between 8,700 and 13,050 personnel, in addition to 36 riot squad units.

Nonetheless, by late Thursday afternoon, the police confirmed that they had not yet received a notification letter regarding anti-Ahok or Rohingya solidarity rallies for Friday, said Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono.

"We will send it to the police in the evening," Syukur said, adding that the police should not prohibit them from holding a rally given that Indonesia was a democratic country.

Syukur confirmed the organizations would hold another demonstration against Ahok on Dec. 2, claiming that the protest would be even larger than the Nov. 4 demonstration. More than 100,000 people took part in the Nov. 4 rally to demand the police charge Ahok with blasphemy.

Jokowi made political moves to ease tension before the protest, which started peacefully but ended with riots. He even visited Prabowo Subianto, his former rival in the 2014 presidential election and leader of the opposition camp, to ask him to also call on political groups to respect the ongoing legal process.

Last Monday, the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) announced they had received information that some parties would try to take control of the House of Representatives during the Nov. 25 demonstration.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/groups-claim-todays-rally-is-for-rohingyas-not-anti-ahok.html

Police commission backs Tito amid debate over Jokowi's ouster speculation

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The National Police Commission (Kompolnas) has declared its support for National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, who has been sharply criticized for his recent warning of an attempt to overthrow the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo through two large-scale rallies planned for Nov. 25 and Dec. 2.

Kompolnas commissioner Poengky Indarti said on Wednesday that Tito's warning on an attempt to oust Jokowi was valid due to the widespread circulation of provocative information, which she called politically driven.

Poengky cited as an example a call through social media for run on banks. "A [provocative] message like this does not come from an empty room. It must be driven by a particular motive," the commissioner said.

"We assume that parties with political interests are behind this [bank run] campaign because it emerged in the midst of the police's investigation into a blasphemy case implicating Ahok," she said, referring to non-active Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.

In a recent social media campaign, Muslims have been called on to withdraw their money from banks on Nov. 25.

"Kompolnas lends its full support to the National Police to hunt down sources of this provocative campaign," Poengky said. "Freedom of speech is guaranteed in a democratic country such as Indonesia. However, people must not misuse such freedom to create public confusion."

It was earlier reported that protesters planned to occupy the House of Representatives compound in Senayan, Central Jakarta, during the Nov.25 rally, a move that the police viewed as an attempt to oust Jokowi. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/police-commission-backs-tito-amid-debate-over-jokowis-ouster-speculation.html

Buni Yani, uploader of Ahok's blasphemy video, named suspect

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Jakarta – Jakarta Police named Buni Yani a suspect on Wednesday evening for allegedly uploading edited footage that defamed non-active Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama – as the incumbent gubernatorial candidate's comments in the video were purportedly blasphemous – and caused nationwide uproar, particularly through mass demonstrations.

"We have found sufficient evidence to build a case and name him a suspect," Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono said. Awi said Buni's video post had ignited hatred and animosity among the public.

According to Awi, Buni was charged for allegedly violating Article 28 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law that carried a maximum sentence of six years in prison.

Buni had been accused of editing footage of Ahok's speech made during a working visit to the Thousand Islands regency in late September. The footage was uploaded onto Buni's Facebook page, where it eventually went viral sparking public outrage.

Buni denied the allegation, saying that he only deleted some of the footage before uploading it. However, he admits to making errors in transcribing the speech.

Buni, who was reported to the police by supporters of Ahok, said he only failed to include the word "using" in the subtitles. (dmr)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/buni-yani-uploader-of-ahoks-blashpemy-video-named-suspect.html

Ahok grilled, as clerics call on Muslims not to rally

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Moses Ompusunggu and Marguerite Afra, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama came to the National Police headquarters on Tuesday for his first questioning session as a suspect in a blasphemy case, as Muslim leaders called on the public to respect the ongoing legal process against the incumbent gubernatorial candidate.

Accompanied by a number of lawyers, Ahok, who seeks to extend his term in the February election, entered the police headquarters in South Jakarta at about 9 a.m., declining to comment.

He was questioned for around eight hours, in which police investigators asked him similar questions to what he was previously asked before being named a suspect, his lawyer Sirra Prayuna said. "Pak Ahok was calm and relaxed. He answered the questions clearly," Sirra told reporters.

Sirra said Ahok's legal team was planning to invite 14 experts and seven witnesses to testify in the case, including eye witnesses who were present when Ahok delivered his comments on a Quranic verse during a working visit to Thousand Islands regency in Sep. 27.

Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab was set to be questioned on Wednesday as a witness. Previously, Rizieq was also questioned as an expert during the preliminary investigation of the case.

Ahok was named a suspect on Nov. 16, in a decision the police claimed to be "objective".

Muslim groups, grouped under the National Movement to the Save Indonesia Ulema Council's Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), previously staged a mass demonstration in Jakarta on Nov. 4, demanding the government prosecute the tough-talking governor. They plan to hold another rally on Dec. 2, of which the National Police and the Indonesian Military have said they are against.

With firebrand groups purportedly preparing for Dec. 2, Muhammadiyah and Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), the country's two biggest Muslim organizations, have called on the former to refrain from holding another demonstration, saying the move would disrupt the ongoing legal process.

"If [the GNPF-MUI] hold the rally, it means that they are trying to take the law into their own hands. This is a country that is ruled by law, thus any conflict has to be addressed through legal mechanisms," NU executive Masdar Farid Mas'udi told The Jakarta Post via telephone on Tuesday.

Muhammadiyah chairman for library and information Dadang Kahmad, meanwhile, said "just wait and let the process take its course and hope that there will be a fair and open trial to follow.

The Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) has also called for Muslims not to stage another rally, asking them to channel their aspirations through a more democratic way, namely through meetings with the government or through the media.

The MUI also distanced itself from the GNPF-MUI, saying the latter was not part of and did not have any formal relations with the council as an Islamic organization.

"For those societal groups who are still determined to stage a protest on Dec. 2, they shall not go onto the street wearing logos or symbols that are associated with the MUI," MUI secretary-general Sholahuddin Al-Aiyub said.

Separately, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu played down circulating rumors saying that the massive rally slated for Dec. 2 by Muslim groups was aimed at overthrowing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration.

"Who says there will be [an act of] treason? Neither [the Defense Ministry's] intelligence or I have heard about this," Ryamizard said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/ahok-grilled-as-clerics-call-on-muslims-not-to-rally.html

Mass organisations & NGOs

Government wants power to freeze 'anti-Pancasila' groups

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2016

Haeril Halim and Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – Amid concerns about rising sectarianism that threatens the nation's commitment to pluralism, the government has said it may revise the 2013 Mass Organizations Law to make it easier to freeze or disband organizations it deems to hold values that are inimical to the values of Pancasila, the state ideology.

The government said the process of imposing sanctions on rogue organizations was "too complicated" under the current law.

Under the prevailing legislation, the government must first issue a written warning against a mass organization suspected of inciting sectarian hatred or disrupting public order. It is also required to issue three warning letters before it can freeze any organization that fails to heed its warnings.

Each warning is valid for 30 days and the government must wait one month before issuing another warning. In addition, the first and second reprimands must be issued twice before the government is able to issue its third warning.

The government is also required to seek a court warrant to disband an organization. To do that, it must file a request with the Attorney General's Office (AGO) or a local prosecutor's office in order to bring its plea to court.

Soedarmo, the Home Ministry's director general for political affairs and general administration, said the process must be shortened and simplified. He argued that a revision to the law could help the country adapt to its "current situation".

"Today's mechanism for imposing sanctions on mass organizations that violate the law is too complicated and not simple in practice at all," Soedarmo said after a closed door meeting related to mass organizations at the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister on Tuesday.

The revision would insert new mechanisms for the government to act against unregistered mass organizations that hold beliefs and activities proven to contradict Pancasila, Soedarmo said.

"Unregistered organizations are rather hard to detect because they move underground. Thus, we have to gain a deeper understanding of the problem and prepare for the regulation at the same time," he said.

A working team will soon be formed to follow up on the plan, Soedarmo said, adding that there was not yet a target for when the draft revision would reach the House of Representatives for deliberation.

The Home Ministry said there were about 250,000 mass organizations registered on its lists. In January, the ministry said it had compiled a list of 10 unregistered mass organizations that may pose a threat to national security since their values were opposed to the state's regulations and contradicted Pancasila.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said the government would intensify moves to probe mass organizations, which carry out activities obviously not in-line with the country's general vision. "We will warn them to return to the fold and adhere to the government's programs in developing the country," Wiranto said, without naming any groups.

Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Muslim organization, rejected the plan, saying it could take the country back to authoritarianism. "We should not go back to the past, to a time when we were paranoid about mass assemblies," Muhammadiyah sectetary-general Abdul Mukti said.

Meanwhile, pro-Democracy watchdog Setara Institute said dissolving mass organizations that violated the law would not solve the core problems in the country. "It is not a solution. The thing that the government must do is to punish individuals in organizations [who commit violence in society]," Setara Institute chairman Hendardi said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/30/govt-wants-power-freeze-anti-pancasila-groups.html

Journalism & press freedom

Contempt of court charges a threat to press freedom

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – Despite guarantees from the Constitution, press freedom in Indonesia may be suppressed on the back of articles in the amendment to the Criminal Code (KUHP) designed to prevent contempt of court.

These articles could see people and journalists sent to prison for insulting judges and the courts, or generating false news related to courts and judges.

House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, human rights and security is set to approve the government's proposal to charge those deemed to be in contempt of court in the KUHP revision that is currently under deliberation.

Two proposed articles in the bill stipulate that those who insult or attack the integrity and independence of judges can be charged and face up five years in prison or a maximum fine of Rp 300 million (US$22,144).

Another point in the article also stipulates that those who publish anything that could influence or affect a judge's independence can be imprisoned for five years or fined Rp 300 million.

Under the bill, the press, or people in general, will be barred from commenting on a court's verdict that they deem unfair, because there are not yet clear guidelines about what constitutes "insulting judges" or "attacking judges' integrity".

"For example, if the press publishes something without evidence accusing a judge of taking a bribe after ruling that someone is guilty or not-guilty, the media can be charged with this article," said lawmaker Benny K. Harman of the Democratic Party on Monday.

Moreover, the bill prohibits news and television programs from showing opinions from influential sources regarding cases that are still ongoing as the government thinks this might unsettle the independence of judges.

Despite agreeing that it might restrict freedom of expression, Benny said the commission would agree with the proposal and proceed with the bill "to protect the integrity of judges".

However, the commission has warned the government to develop a clearer explanation of the controversial articles. "We have to make it clear so that it won't frighten the public and restrict freedom of information," he added.

The government insists that the articles are needed to avoid a trial by the press.

"It's wrong if the press insults judges and publishes information that points to whether a person is wrong, because the press can play public opinion," said Muladi, a former law and human rights minister who is serving as the government's representative in the deliberation of the bill.

"I predict that the press will criticize us. But I must emphasize that what we are protecting is a fair trial and the independence of judges, not the judges individually," he added.

Some other articles may also put press freedom in jeopardy. Another article in the bill could imprison people for up to two years for spreading lies or fake news that could in turn generate unrest in the country.

Asep Komarudin from the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) lambasted the articles, arguing that the specific regulations regarding contempt of court were not needed because in Indonesia's judicial system, the judges have full authority in a case tried in court.

The regulation would give more power to the judges and as a consequence, the judges would be free from any institutional or party control.

"And the articles are quite dangerous because they have the potential to violate press freedom and human rights," he said, adding that all matters regarding the press could be managed by the Press Council.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/contempt-court-charges-a-threat-press-freedom.html

Environment & natural disasters

Haven in peril: Aceh activists lose class action over Indonesia's Leuser

Sydney Morning Herald - November 30, 2016

Jewel Topsfield and Karuni Rompies, Jakarta – Activists warn the last place on Earth where elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses and orangutans coexist in the wild could be destroyed by mining and palm oil plantations after a Jakarta court ruled against their bid to protect a Sumatran rain forest.

A group of citizens from the Sumatran province of Aceh launched a class action against the Aceh government's land use plan, which they say legalises roads through the world-renowned Leuser Ecosystem and opens the area up for further development.

The Leuser Ecosystem covers more than 2.6 million hectares in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra and is considered one of the most valuable conservation areas in South-east Asia.

It gained international prominence when Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio visited in March this year and warned on Instagram that palm oil plantations were fragmenting the forest and cutting off key elephant migratory corridors.

His comments incurred the wrath of Indonesian authorities, who claimed he could be deported, although DiCaprio had reportedly already left Indonesia at the time.

On Tuesday the Central Jakarta District Court rejected the lawsuit, which claimed the Aceh government and Ministry of Home Affairs violated the law by not mentioning the nationally-protected Leuser Ecosystem in their land use plan.

The lawsuit argued this made it vulnerable to more logging, mining and oil palm plantations. But the panel of judges said the ecosystem was already recognised as a conservation area and did not need to be explicitly named in the plan.

"The arguments of the plaintiffs are not sufficient to prove that the defendants are in breach of the law," said presiding judge Agustinus Setyo Wahyu.

Lawyers for the Aceh Citizen Lawsuit Movement, known as GeRAM, immediately said they would appeal. "The verdict has the potential to erase Indonesia's home to Sumatran tigers, orangutan, elephants, honey bears etc," said Harli Muin.

One of the nine plaintiffs, Farwiza Farhan, said there was a basic difference between the level of protection afforded in a conservation area and an ecosystem area.

"Development in an ecosystem area has to be made in a very careful way... people cannot just build a road or housing, for instance," said Ms Farwiza, the chairperson of Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh (HAkA).

She said she was shocked by the court ruling. "The Aceh government is using their illegal spatial plan to sell out one of the world's most irreplaceable protected areas and a UNESCO World Heritage Site," she said.

Forest loss in the Leuser Ecosystem between 2003 and 2012 was equivalent to an area the size of Hong Kong, according to the British-based Sumatran Orangutan Society.

"Acehnese community leaders and NGOs have been struggling for years to protect the Leuser Ecosystem against destruction by corporations," Ms Farwiza said.

"When our forests are burnt down to make way for mines and monocultures like oil palm, an elite few get very rich while the local people suffer from floods, landslides, droughts, poisoning and pollution."

Emil Salim, a former environment minister in the Suharto government, had argued that the inception of the Leuser Ecosystem dated back to 1925, when Aceh's traditional leaders stopped Dutch colonialists from opening the forests for plantations and mining.

He told the court the Leuser Ecosystem was regulated by the Indonesian president under national law and therefore must be mentioned in the land use plan. But lawyers for the plaintiffs said the panel of judges had ignored the testimony of their expert witness.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/haven-in-peril-aceh-activists-lose-class-action-over-indonesias-leuser-rainforest-20161130-gt10u9.html

Judge rejects lawsuit against SP3 for alleged fire starter

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru – A Riau court rejected on Tuesday a lawsuit challenging the dropping of charges against a plantation company that had been suspected of causing one of the biggest forest fires the last two decades.

Judge Sorta Ria Neva of Pekanbaru District Court ruled in a pretrial hearing that the Riau Police's issuance in June of an investigation termination warrant (SP3) for PT Sumatra Riang Lestari (SRL) had followed procedures.

In her consideration Sorta said that the defendants, the Riau Police, had the discretion to terminate the investigation as stipulated in Article 19 (1) of Law No. 2/2012 on the police and that the implementation of the authority was based on the Criminal Code.

"From the evidence submitted by the defendants, no principle was violated in the issuance of the SP3," Sorta said while delivering the ruling.

Among the evidence submitted by the defendants to the court was the warrant to start the investigation (SPDP) sent to the prosecutor as stipulated in Article 109 (1) of the Criminal Law Procedure Code (KUHAP) and the National Police Chief Regulation No 14/2012 on crime investigation management.

Riau Police had charged 15 plantation companies for allegedly starting fires in 2015, which were recorded as among the worst forest fires since 1998.

In the same year that also marked the downfall of the country's ruler Soeharto, the government had attempted to open 1 million hectares of peatland in Kalimantan for agricultural use, causing massive fires and a haze that spread to neighboring countries.

The charges against the 15 companies were later dropped with the issuance of the SP3s in June.

The Riau branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi Riau) later filed a pretrial lawsuit to challenge the investigation termination.

During the hearing the defendants' lawyers Denny Siahaan, Abdul Kadir, Rusli, Nerwan and Agus Setiawan also presented evidence showing that the SP3 was issued because the investigators could not prove that the company had deliberately started fires in its concession area.

Denny presented the result of an investigation revealing facts that the fire on SRL's concession spread from an area managed by a group of people outside the concession area. Sorta said the burned areas comprised an acacia tree plantation that was ready for harvesting and for which the logging license had been issued.

Walhi Riau's lawyer Even Sembiring claimed the issuance of the SP3 for SRL was contrary to justice. "The judge did not consider the evidence we presented. The ruling was made based on incorrect considerations," Even said.

He said there was a breach in the procedure by which the defendants filed evidence. He also questioned the absence of expert witnesses whose testimony was used by the police to issue the SP3.

Even expressed disappointment at the Pekanbaru District Court for appointing Sorta for the pretrial hearing. He said with Sorta as judge the pretrial hearing did not consider missing evidence in the case.

"We will examine and study the recordings of the SP3 hearings over which Sorta presided. She several times said, 'why are people not partnering with the companies?'. This is against the judge's code of ethics. We will report her to the Judicial Commission," he said.

Earlier, another plantation company in Palembang also walked free after a court could not prove the environmental damage caused by the fires that the company had started.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/judge-rejects-lawsuit-against-sp3-alleged-fire-starter.html

Health & education

Indonesia gears up for vocational education reform

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – In an effort to improve the vocational education system, the government has invited business players to contribute in an expanded role to shape the curriculum and set the skill standards relevant to the demands of the job market.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by five ministries on Tuesday, the government will involve industry players to develop a curriculum and provide additional instructors for vocational schools. Business players are also expected to provide internship opportunities and on-site training programs for both students and teachers.

Five ministers – Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Research and Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir, Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno and Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri – signed the MoU on Tuesday, witnessed by Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution and Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani.

"After the MoU, there will be a lot of things to do, such as setting up the system and providing infrastructure for the schools," Darmin said.

As a pilot project under the MoU, three companies have been tasked to work with 20 vocational high schools (SMKs). Fertilizer maker Petrokimia Gresik will work together with seven SMKs in East Java, automotive giant Astra Honda Motor with nine SMKs in Banten and South Sulawesi and polypropylene producer Polytama Propindo with four SMKs in West Java.

The MoU is also a follow up on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's recent call to make sure that vocational schools equip students with the practical skills needed to meet industry demands. (hwa)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/indonesia-gears-up-for-vocational-education-reform.html

Students want govt to end national exams

Jakarta Post - November 28, 2016

Moses Ompusunggu and Andi Hajramurni, Jakarta/Makassar – Seventeen-year-old Oliver Sianturi, in his final year at SMAN 8 senior high school in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta, said he believed the national exam was unnecessary if it was only used to measure the quality of schools.

"It is said [the national exam scores] are used as requirements to enter state universities, but the scores are actually not a determining factor. The national exam does not affect admission into universities," Oliver said on Saturday.

Education and Cultural Minister Muhadjir Effendy said previously the ministry had decided to suspend the implementation of the national exam at all educational levels starting next year, pending presidential instruction issued by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Hamdany Salsabil, a 15-year-old student in his final year at SMPN 3 junior high school in Gamping, Sleman, Yogyakarta, said he welcomed the decision by the ministry but said the government had to change the current system in which national exam scores are used to enter senior high school.

During a visit to Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Friday, Jokowi claimed that the ministry's decision would be deliberated in a meeting involving "a number of ministers and stakeholders" to decide on steps to improve the quality of education in the country.

"There should be a meeting to discuss the [national] exam's standards," Jokowi said after disseminating his tax amnesty policy in a hotel in Makassar.

Muhadjir, who took his current position after a cabinet reshuffle in July, said imposing a moratorium on national exams was aimed at implementing one of the aspects of Jokowi's political agenda called Nawacita, stipulating that the exams would not be used as a gauge for evaluating the country's education system.

In the absence of the national exams, which are overseen by the Education and Cultural Ministry, Muhadjir said exams would be carried out by regional administrations based on the division of labor related to education management.

The ministry claimed the suspension was based on a 2009 Supreme Court verdict stipulating that the government had to improve education in the country before implementing the exams again.

The verdict, which upholds a Jakarta High Court ruling on an appeal filed by the Advocacy Team for National Exam Victims and the Education Forum, stated that the government had failed to "fulfill and protect the human rights of its citizens who became victims of the implementation of the national exam".

The Supreme Court also ordered the government to take "concrete steps to heal students suffering psychological and mental disorders because of the implementation of the national exams".

Students have come to fear the national exams because the exam was previously used to determine whether or not they could graduate, regardless of the disparities in education quality among regions.

Then education minister Muhammad Nuh decided to retain the implementation of the national exams, saying that was the only possible way to measure the country's education.

The national exam has been implemented since 2003, replacing the previous National Final Learning Evaluation (Ebtanas). It became a subject of controversy in 2005 when then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration raised the passing grade from 4.01 to 4.25 for each subject.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/28/students-want-govt-end-national-exams.html

Government strips MUI of certification authority

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – After years of a tug-of-war between the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) over the authority to issue certification for halal products, the government finally has the upper hand as it will set up its own halal certification body by early 2017.

The agency, called the Halal Products Certification Agency (BPJPH) under the Religious Affairs Ministry, came into being after Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin signed a ministerial decree in October, as mandated by Law No. 33/2014 on halal certification.

The BPJPH will regulate applications for halal certifications as well as collecting the fees for certificate issuance, which will be accounted as additional non-tax revenue.

While some see the move as an apparent attempt to end the MUI's sole authority to issue halal certificates, which it has held for more than two decades, Lukman said the ministry had not scrapped the MUI's role. "MUI still holds the authority to issue halal edicts," Lukman said on Monday.

In accordance with the 2014 law, after the BPJPH is officially set up, applicants who want to obtain halal certification for their products must submit for registration at the agency, with fees that range from Rp 430,000 (US$32) for small and medium enterprises up to Rp 4.3 million for a halal certificate.

Then, the agency will forward it to a Halal Audit Agency (LPH), which could be set up in universities or civil society organizations, where the process of production of the specified products will be audited.

The BPJPH will then submit the audit reports to the MUI for the latter to issue edicts on whether the products are worthy of being certified halal or not.

The ministry's legislation planning division head Iman Syauqani said the new mechanism through the agency will make the fees for the halal certificates open for audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).

"The oversight mechanism should be conducted in cooperation with other ministries. With [the MUI's] position as a civil society organization, [control] is rather difficult," he said on Tuesday.

Activists and lawmakers have long criticized MUI for its lack of transparency about what it earns from the halal-certification fees derived from the issuance of certificates in at least three sectors of people's lives including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, as well as food and beverages.

Activists and lawmakers have long criticized MUI for its lack of transparency about what it earns from the halal-certification fees.

Suspicions have arisen that the government's move to take over control of halal certification comes after the council's decision to back the large-scale protest on Nov. 4, which brought together more than 100,000 Muslims demanding the prosecution of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama. The MUI issued an edict that Ahok had committed blasphemy in his remarks citing a Quranic verse.

However, the ministry said the timing was merely coincidental. "Don't relate it to that. The plan to establish the agency has been discussed for a long time," Iman said.

Amid such speculation, the MUI Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM) deputy chairman Oesmena Gunawan played down the wrangle between the organization and the government over halal certification.

"It does not matter who will [be responsible for the administration]. As long as the significance of 'halal' in the country does not cease, it's not a problem at all," Oesmena said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/government-strips-mui-certification-authority.html

Gender & lgbt rights

LGBT Jakartans: 'Worse than a nuclear bomb? We just want to be accepted'

The Guardian (Australia) - November 26, 2016

Stanley Widianto, Jakarta – The year 2016 seems to have provided a helping hand for the increasing discrimination against Indonesia's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. The constitutional court is currently mulling over a petition to revise the criminal code to make intercourse between same-sex couples illegal.

The conservative Islamic group driving the petition, Family Love Alliance (Aliansi Cinta Keluarga), argues that the country's current laws lean too heavily towards western values, which they see as at odds with ours in Indonesia. Patrialis Akbar, one of the judges in the constitutional court, has said: "Our freedom is limited by moral values as well as religious values... We're not a secular country – this country acknowledges religion."

Indonesia's communication and information ministry, with recommendations from the national police, religious affairs ministry and the Islamic group Majelis Ulama Indonesia (who issued a fatwa [a ruling on a point of Islamic law] against LGBT practices in 2014), has plans to ban gay dating apps such as Grindr. This comes just months after gay-themed emoji and stickers were removed from a popular messaging app in the country.

This year alone, government officials have said that there is "no room" in Indonesia for the LGBT movement, that it is worse than a nuclear bomb, and that LGBT people should be barred from university campuses. In February, Vice President Jusuf Kalla asked the United Nations Development Programme to not finance LGBT community organisations in the country. In the same month, the Indonesian Psychiatrists Association classified being LGBT as a "mental disorder" that should be "cured". You get the picture.

But the most damning assessment further underscoring the pervading conservatism which restricts, if not outright threatens, the lives of LGBT communities here came in August. Human Rights Watch released a 91-page report on the matter, where you can read a story of a trans person, known here as a waria (a portmanteau of the Indonesian words for woman and man) in the city of Yogyakarta who was violently attacked in February by seven men while walking home.

You'll also read about the hostile closure of an Islamic academy (madrasa) for transgender women in the same city – a place that had become a vital refuge to many.

These discriminatory acts have been abetted by politicians and lawmakers in Indonesia by way of rejoinders, policies or equally-punishing silence.

Last month, however, Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, vowed to protect any threatened minorities in an interview with the BBC. When asked about what he thought about the hearings in the constitutional court, he said he didn't feel the need to change the law, and that the police must protect groups from violence. "There should be no discrimination against anyone," he said.

The president's statement, however, is not backed up by laws ensuring equal rights for LGBT people in Indonesia. In the deliberations over the United Nations' New Urban Agenda signed last month at Habitat III, Indonesia and 16 other countries requested the removal of LGBTQ individuals in the list of "most vulnerable" groups that should not be discriminated against.

As Indonesia's most populous and diverse city, Jakarta is home to many LGBT advocacy and community groups, including Suara Kita (which also acts a shelter) and Arus Pelangi. The city also serves as Indonesia's most visible stage on which demonstrations for or against LGBT rights take place.

Last year rallies were held in central Jakarta calling for greater protection of LGBT rights and in celebration of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. But this year anti-LGBT banners were put up around the city by conservative Islamic groups and demonstrators protested against the Jakarta-based Asean Literary Festival for "promoting communism and LGBT values".

I was curious to find out how LGBT people in Jakarta feel about whether the city is a safe space for them or not, despite the pressure from Islamic hardliner groups, and what their hopes for the future are.

Gita, 24, internal auditor

I ran away from home after my mum told me to get out twice, my father compared me to an animal, and my aunt and uncle said that I'm an outlaw. All because my parents learned of my relationship with my girlfriend.

My parents had given me two choices to either break up with my girlfriend or leave the house. Although I chose the second option, they still tried to stop me. "You'd be better off without your limbs than this," my mum said. Even though my family isn't religious, they began tossing Bible passages in my way – hoping I'd get their message: that I've committed a sin.

So I ran away and went to Suara Kita to seek refuge there. Now I live alone and I hold down a steady job in Jakarta. To face each day, I feel fine. But whenever I get a flashback to those nights or those words that my parents said to me, it stops me in my tracks.

I've never been harassed or harangued when I hang out with my girlfriend in Jakarta – but we have been stared at on the train.

I know it's hard, but I pray for more open-minded people, like the people in the PGI (Persatuan Gereja Indonesia, Indonesia's church union) who issued a recommendation that we, as government or as a society, should accept LGBT communities. I'm hoping for the best.

Kurnia, 30, financial analyst

I feel safe in my community; there's more joy than sorrow. I feel accepted among my friends and they can comfort me since we have the same vision.

In some ways, Jakarta is inclusive – if we're talking about mindsets and the character of a metropolitan society, which I think leans towards indifference. When people interact with me, they don't really care and they talk to me without mentioning sexual orientation.

Some friends tell me that although they're okay with having LGBT acquaintances, they still don't want their children to be LGBT. Don't expect same-sex public displays of affection to be the norm anytime soon.

I'm allowed to express myself, but not to voice an opinion or to explain my thoughts about whether gay rights are human rights. Aren't gay rights the same as the rights to be free? To earn an honest living? To live without being discriminated against?

It has nothing to do with "western" or "eastern" values whatsoever. We have all wanted those rights for so long in Indonesia – it's just that since our struggle is relatively new, it's regarded as something unusual, ie something western. We just want to be accepted and acknowledged by others. We want to express ourselves freely without judgment or discrimination.

I am optimistic about our future. Eventually, the way people think will change, they'll be more open-minded. It takes time for things to change, and it's not easy, but I'm glad I'm part of it. I think that's my hope and my fear for the future: to have the strength to carry on.

Aninda, 18, university student

Being a woman and identifying as bisexual has meant I get asked a lot of insensitive questions ("Why don't you just like guys only?") as well as people telling me that it's "just a phase".

Jakarta felt safe compared to other places in Indonesia until earlier this year when the spotlight was cast on the LGBT community. Suddenly everyone seemed to despise us, when before they didn't care about our existence at all. I constantly feel like I don't belong and afraid, like somebody is going to hunt me down for loving someone that is of the same gender.

But being a metropolitan city with a huge population of all kinds of people, there's a lot of strong LGBT communities, even one that aims to educate university students: SGRC Indonesia (Support Group and Resource Centre on Sexuality Studies).

When the higher education minister said that LGBT people should be barred from university campuses I felt betrayed.

I just hope at the very least that the government doesn't pass the bill to criminalise LGBT relationships. I also hope that Indonesians – or at least the ones in Jakarta – will slowly realise that we have a right to live as they do, and stop hating us and start accepting us as another part of the super-diverse Jakarta.

Fajar, 25, media analyst and translator

In Indonesia's LGBT communities we're talking more about SOGIEB (sexual orientation, gender identity, expression and body) as an expanded way of addressing issues of personal freedom. I was a part of a SOGIEB-themed film festival in Jakarta, which we had to relocate and rename due to the fear of anticipated backlash.

I guess this is what living as a queer person is like in Jakarta: we always have to be careful not to rub people the wrong way. In the long run, what we ultimately wish for is integration – not just tolerance or acceptance.

To get there, however, takes time, struggle and hours of uncertainty because it boils down to the simple fact that Indonesians, as much as we enjoy sex to the point of obsession, are severely lacking in sex education itself.

On a personal level, I would like to simply be able to walk by myself, or hand in hand with my boyfriend in public without it being a magnet for attention, or even a political act. I don't feel threatened when I walk on the streets, but who's to say I won't someday? And that's one of my biggest fears going forward: that LGBT Indonesians are stripped of our basic rights to exist.

There is a lot of intersectionality between the LGBT rights movement, the women's rights movement and the human rights movement. If more people under these movements join forces then we all could make some strides. I think we are making some strides already.

Instead of chalking everything up to "LGBT", why not concentrate on SOGIEB education? I think that's my hope for the future: that sex education about these issues becomes a priority. In my view, we simply need to be kinder to one another.

[Some names have been changed. Additional reporting by Francesca Perry.]

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/nov/26/lgbt-young-jakartans-nuclear-bomb-accepted

Marriage & polygamy

Renewed calls to eradicate rampant child marriage

Jakarta Post - November 26, 2016

Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – Thirty-five-year-old Sukaesih's eyes begin to water when she remembers her experience of being a child bride at the age of 15.

It was poverty that pushed Sukaesih, whose family could only afford to educate her up to fourth-grade level, to marry a man named Rizal to reduce the economic difficulties faced by her father, a pedicab driver with five children to feed.

"But I lived with violence. He repeatedly hit me, cursed me and kicked me out. In the years I lived with him, he never worked, so I needed to work as a laundress to feed my child," Sukaesih said.

After she divorced Rizal in 2008, Sukaesih married Sisnanto, but a similar thing occurred, which then forced her to work as a migrant in Bahrain. However, when she returned she found that her husband, who she had been financially supporting, had married another woman.

"I hope in future years there is no longer child marriage for our children," she said, lightly sobbing.

Sukaesih is one among 700 million women in the world who have experienced child marriage, a global phenomenon that remains a serious problem in Indonesia, in which 50,000 girls marry before the age of 15 every year, according to UNICEF data.

One of six Indonesian girls, about 340,000, are married before their 18th birthday every year, the UN body said. The country is 37th on a list of global child-marriage rates, the second-highest in Southeast Asia, behind Cambodia.

On Friday, activists grouped under the Women's Movement for a Diverse Indonesia (Gerakan Perempuan Mewujudkan Indonesia Beragam) renewed calls for the government to seriously address child marriage, saying it endangered the future of Indonesian women in various ways.

The event was held in commemoration of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which falls on Nov. 25.

"Child marriage threatens our 12-year compulsory education program. When children are forced to marry, they lose the chance to complete higher education. It removes their access to decent work and instead feeds into the cycle of poverty," activist Dwi Ruby Khalifah said.

Domestic abuse is also common when girls marry young, and as many of them lack proper education, they often choose to seek employment as domestic workers or go overseas as migrant workers, Migrant Care legal aid coordinator Musliha Rofik said.

However, since they lack knowledge, their chances of becoming victims of abuse and trafficking are high, she said.

The 1974 Marriage Law sets 16 years as the minimum age at which women can marry, but according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a woman is physically and mentally ready for marriage at 21, for men it is 25.

The number of early marriages in Indonesia experienced a surge in recent years, thanks to intensive campaigning by conservative Muslim groups asking young Muslims to skip dating and get married instead.

Culture and Education Ministry planning and international cooperation bureau head Suharti said that besides the 1974 Marriage Law, the culture of many regions in which a woman's role is in the household hampered the government's efforts to reduce early marriage.

"Gender bias, which requires girls to fill their mother's role [in supporting the family], still hampers them from getting an education, and they end up getting married instead," she said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/26/renewed-calls-to-eradicate-rampant-child-marriage.html

Graft & corruption

ICW delivers damning report on Prasetyo

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has made few achievements in the war on graft under the leadership of Attorney General HM Prasetyo, a watchdog says.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said in its report that the AGO under Prasetyo, who was appointed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Nov. 20, 2014, had sluggishly handled graft cases.

From November 2014 to October 2016, the AGO handled a total of 24 corruption cases involving 79 suspects that had allegedly caused state losses of up to Rp 1.5 trillion (US$111 million), the ICW said. However, only eight of the cases had been brought to court for prosecution.

The investigation into the alleged graft case implicating telecommunications company PT Mobile-8 Telecom (Mobile-8/Fren), for instance, was launched in October last year, yet the AGO had yet to name a single suspect in the case until today.

One of the reasons investigations into the graft cases had been sluggish is that the AGO was not being transparent, leaving most of the public in the dark about the progress of the cases they were handling, according to the ICW.

"There is no database on graft investigations that can be accessed by the public. [Prasetyo] should have been able to instruct his officers to upload details of the cases to the internet for people to see," ICW investigator Wana Alamsyah told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

To boost public trust in the AGO, Prasetyo should be able to explain to the public why some graft cases are being left in limbo, ICW legal researcher Aradilla Caesar said. "It's regrettable that [Prasetyo] has never explained the situation. This is related to public trust in the AGO," Wana lamented.

In its report, the ICW also highlighted the inconsistencies and disparities of sentence demands imposed on graft defendants. In several cases, graft defendants who allegedly caused a huge amount of state losses received the same sentence demands as those who allegedly caused state losses of much fewer amounts, it said.

The brother of former Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, Tubagus Chaeri Wardana, for example, was found guilty of corruption that caused state losses of Rp 9.6 billion. However, the junior prosecutor from the AGO demanded that he be sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Aradilla said all prosecutors should refer to the prosecution guidelines of graft cases set under the AGO, which outlines the types of punishments in accordance with the state losses caused by the defendants. But in reality, he added, most prosecutors tended to ignore it.

"Since the guidelines were published through the Attorney General's regulation, [Prasetyo] should ensure that the guidelines are being obeyed by the prosecutors. If not, it could serve as a bad precedent for the future," Aradilla said.

Prasetyo, a former NasDem Party politician, played down ICW's criticism, saying that his office would not be bothered by the damning assessment by the graft watchdog. "It does not matter what the assessment is. I can assure you that the prosecutor's office will continue to play its role," Prasetyo said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/icw-delivers-damning-report-prasetyo.html

KPK urges political, bureaucratic reform

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Moses Ompusunggu, Jakarta – Given the number of public officials and politicians being implicated in graft cases, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has called for a major overhaul in government institutions and political parties

The KPK proposed reforms in the internal control of government bodies and within regional administrations because the current mechanisms are insufficient to root out rampant corruption.

KPK chief Agus Rahardjo said on Thursday that the current internal control system, in which every ministry has its own inspectorate general and every regional administration has an inspectorate, did not provide ample supervision, as the responsible officials still reported to their superiors in their respective offices.

In the KPK's proposal, which Agus said would be handed over to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in the near future, inspectorates general in ministries should directly report to the President, inspectorates in provinces would report their audits to the Home Ministry and inspectorates in regencies should report to their governors.

The proposed system, Agus claimed, was based on the practice implemented in the US and primarily aimed at ensuring checks-and-balances worked effectively, thus strengthening the inspectorates in their role of detecting malfeasance in public offices.

"Inspectorates are co-opted by the current system in which they are under ministries and regional administrations," Agus told reporters after a meeting with governors across the country at the Home Ministry's building in Central Jakarta.

Agus claimed that the proposed system would also lead to inspectorates general and inspectorates becoming more active in reporting alleged corrupt practices. "Until now, there has been no report of alleged corruption coming from internal supervisors," Agus said.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said he welcomed the proposal, saying that the ineffectiveness of internal control could be seen by the rampant corrupt practices involving public officials."In fact, corruption is still flourishing in regions, especially in relation to budget deliberation," Tjahjo said.

The antigraft body is also intensifying its efforts to uproot corruption in political parties. Together with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the KPK launched on Thursday a code of ethics and guidelines for political parties in their recruitment process in the hope of creating better qualified leaders.

KPK commissioner Laode M. Syarif said the initiative was based on the commission's concerns about rampant corruption implicating political party members. Of around 600 corruption convicts the anti-graft body has prosecuted, nearly 200 of them have been members of political parties.

"The job is actually the responsibility of each political party. However, it's in the interest of the KPK to prevent corruption," he said during the launch of the guidelines in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

LIPI senior political analyst Syamsudin Haris said the set of guidelines was drawn up to improve the quality of parties because they were pivotal in producing future leaders in a democratic country.

Hence, political parties needed a standardized recruitment process, which is transparent and accountable, he added. "The level of trust among the public in political parties is currently at a low ebb. If the political parties and politicians are not good the country might see an unpleasant future," he said.

Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, who attended the event representing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, said the guidelines were an important step in tackling the growing public perception that politics was "dirty."

"Because it appears that this dirty image is a common perception in the eyes of the public, politicians seem to think that doing anything to earn votes during elections is acceptable," he said. (fac)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/KPK-urges-political-bureaucratic-reform.html

KPK brings Hambalang graft case back to table

Jakarta Globe - November 24, 2016

Jakarta – Antigraft agency KPK has brought the notorious Hambalang graft case back to the the table after a year of delay with investigators questioning suspect Andi Zulkarnaen "Choel" Mallarangeng on Thursday (24/11).

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokeswoman Yuyuk Andrianti said Choel – the brother of former sports minister and graft convict Andi Alfian Mallarangeng – was questioned for his alleged involvement in the 2010 bid-rigging and bribery case surrounding the construction of the Hambalang sports complex in Bogor, West Java, south of the capital.

He was named suspect in the case on Dec. 21, 2015 and had been questioned once by antigraft investigators on Jan. 15, 2016.

Choel was accused of helping his brother Andi take $839,000 in bribes from a company called Global Daya Manunggal, one of the subcontractors in the project.

Choel had reportedly held meetings with other suspects in the case on behalf of his brother, who at the time was serving as youth and sports minister. Andi is currently serving a four-year prison term.

The antigraft agency had not put a hand on the Hambalang graft case since January due to an ongoing e-KTP corruption investigation, deputy chairman Laode M. Syarif said last week. He promised the agency will continue interrogating the other suspects in the case soon.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/KPK-brings-hambalang-graft-case-back-table/

Terrorism & religious extremism

Nine arrested during Nov. 4 rally have links to IS: Police

Jakarta Post - November 27, 2016

Jakarta – Police claim nine of the people they arrested during a massive Nov. 4 rally in Jakarta have links to the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar claimed the nine were believed to have involved themselves in the rally to make it descent into chaos.

"They intended to grab police guns during the rally, but failed since the officers were not equipped with guns," Boy said on Saturday as reported by kompas.com.

The rally in front of the State Palace in Jakarta, during which protesters demanded the government to prosecute Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy, ended in violence when two police cars were set on fire.

Boy said the nine people were identified as Saulihun alias Abu Musaibah, Alwandi alias Aseng, Reno Suharsono, Dimas Adi Syahputra, Wahyu Widada, Ibnu Aji Maulana, Fuad alias Abu Ibrohim, Zubair and Agus Setiawan.

Saulihun had reportedly been active in recruiting Indonesians to join IS in Syria, while Reno allegedly picked up those who returned from the conflict area in the Middle East.

The remaining seven members were allegedly involved in training volunteers who wanted to join the group, Boy claimed. (jun)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/27/nine-arrested-during-nov-4-rally-have-links-to-is-police.html

Suspected Indonesia militant was making bombs 'more powerful than Bali devices'

Associated Press - November 26, 2016

Indonesian police have said a suspected Islamic militant arrested earlier this week was making explosives more powerful than those used in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Rio Priatna Wibawa, 23, was linked to Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian militant fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria, national police spokesman Rikwanto said on Saturday. Naim was believed to have inspired attacks at home including a January attack in the capital Jakarta that killed eight people.

Bomb-making explosives were recovered from a laboratory in Wibawa's home in Majalengka town, West Java province, said Rikwanto, who goes by one name. With his ability, Wibawa was making bombs three times as powerful as the Bali bombs, Rikwanto said.

A security crackdown since the 2002 Bali bombings has rounded up hundreds of radicals and reduced their capacity for large attacks. But a new threat has emerged from the hundreds of Indonesians who have travelled abroad to fight with Isis before returning home.

Rikwanto said Wibawa, a dropout from an agricultural university who was said to have been radicalised by the writings of firebrand cleric Aman Abdurrahman, allegedly received funds from radicalised Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Taiwan, and was operating under the direction of Naim.

Several other suspected militants were involved in the bomb-making and police are searching for them, Rikwanto said. Police, from their interrogation of Wibawa, believe he obtained bomb-making materials from contacts in Java, Sumatra and East Nusatenggara in Indonesia as well as the Philippines.

Possible targets for attack were the parliament building, police headquarters, embassies, television stations, places of worship and cafes, according to Rikwanto.

Chemicals seized from Wibawa's laboratory included RDX, which is a component in plastic explosives, TNT, high explosive peroxide HMTD and gunpowder.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/26/suspected-indonesia-militant-was-making-bombs-more-powerful-than-bali-devices

Hard-line & vigilante groups

Men arrested at 'gay party' released

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Jakarta – The police released on Monday 13 men who had been arrested after allegedly holding a sex party at an apartment unit in South Jakarta on Saturday night.

"We sent them home because there was no criminal element found in the party," South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Iwan Setiawan said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

A mob led by Islam Defenders Front (FPI) members invaded the apartment block on Saturday night to break up what they alleged was a "gay sex party" following a tip-off about the alleged event.

The Jakarta Post's source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the mob arrived at about 11:30 p.m. at one of the towers in the apartment complex.

The source said the police arrived shortly after midnight. Escorted by the police and apartment security, the mob entered the apartment unit and found the men inside, who the police took into custody.

During the raid, the police confiscated 17 cell phones, two packs of condoms and antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/greater-jakarta-men-arrested-gay-party-released.html

Screenings canceled over security concerns

Jakarta Post - November 28, 2016

Corry Elyda, Jakarta – The organizers of a documentary-screening event decided to cancel two film screenings following warnings from Jakarta administration-run Taman Ismail Marzuki Cultural Center (TIM) over security concerns.

Two documentary films, Jihad Selfie and Jakarta Unfair, were supposed to be part of the 10th Documentary Days held at TIM in Cikini, Central Jakarta, and screened on Friday and Saturday. However, TIM management had strongly advised the organizers that the screening and discussion of the movies could risk the security of the event, organizing committee head Rahma Indira Marino said on Saturday.

Jihad Selfie, a documentary film by social activist Noor Huda Ismail, tells how the Islamic State (IS) movement uses word-of-mouth propaganda through social media to expand its network of jihadists.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Unfair tells the story of evictions orchestrated by the city administration in various areas as well as the plight of the evictees after being relocated.

The decision to cancel the screening came after the organizers, manned by the student body of the Economics Faculty of the University of Indonesia (UI), asked permission to pin up a banner of Jihad Selfie in front of the entrance gate to TIM on Friday afternoon. However, TIM management told the organizers that it was too risky to screen the films at TIM as the area is under the supervision of city administration.

TIM management was also worried the screening would create "unwanted activity". When Jihad Selfie was previously screened at TIM, police officers came and questioned the organizers, Rahma said.

Furthermore, both TIM and Cineplex 21 management told the organizers that they would not be responsible for the content of the films and that the responsibility was in the hands of the event organizers.

The organizers then decided to comply but proceeded with the rest of the schedule. Separately, Noor regretted the cancellation of the film screening and discussion calling it "strange" as the film has been widely used by many government institutions, as part of their counter-radicalism programs.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Unfair co-director Dhuha Ramadhani was not surprised the documentary could not be played at TIM. "TIM is an arts and cultural center run by city administration," he said.

TIM management withdrew its permit from the Belok Kiri (Turn Left) Festival in February following opposition from various organizations demanding the ban of the festival that showcased leftist histories of Indonesia.

According to the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFENET), most violations against freedom of expression in the country are in the form of banning film screenings followed by discussions or seminars.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/28/screenings-canceled-over-security-concerns.html

FPI barges into an apartment, forcing police to arrest several men

Jakarta Post - November 27, 2016

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Dozens of people led by Islam Defenders Front (FPI) members barged into a Kalibata City apartment in South Jakarta on Saturday night, saying they went there to break up a "sex party" following a tip-off about the alleged event.

The Jakarta Post's source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the mob came at about 11:30 p.m. to one of the towers in the apartment complex. Members of the mob were shouting "Allahu Akbar!"

The source said the police arrived slightly after midnight. Escorted by the police and apartment security, the mob barged into an apartment unit and found the men inside, who the police took into custody.

FPI's public relations division said on their Twitter account @HumasFPI Sunday that they along with the police "successfully broke up" the alleged sex party. The tweet said they followed an invitation to the party.

Local newspaper Warta Kota said the police confiscated 17 cell phones, two packs of condoms and antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS. None of the evidence was outlawed material.

The Post's source in the police said the men did not violate any laws. In Indonesia, homosexual sodomy is not outlawed except when it is done with an underaged individual. Pancoran Police refused to comment on the matter.

[Indra Budiari contributed to this story.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/27/fpi-barges-into-an-apartment-forcing-police-to-arrest-several-men.html

Freedom of religion & worship

British Ambassador admires Indonesia's culture of tolerance

Antara News - November 24, 2016

Jakarta – Moazzam Malik, British Ambassador to Indonesia, ASEAN and East Timor, has expressed his admiration for the culture of tolerance applied by Indonesia, and urged the country's government and people to share their experiences to other countries in the world.

"Among all the countries that I've worked, Indonesia could be considered the most successful country in protecting and promoting tolerance and moderation," the ambassador stated in a general lecture at the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, on Wednesday (Nov 23), according to a statement from UGM received by ANTARA News here on Thursday.

He shared several special experiences during his first visit to Indonesia a few years ago. As a Muslim who grew up in England, he was surprised and proud to see women in Muslim dress riding motorcycles on public streets, and attend a meeting led by a woman Islam cleric at the State Palace.

These experiences are something that cannot be found in many other Muslim countries, he added. "Maybe for you, it is a common matter to see women in headscarves riding motorcycles. But for me, it is so incredible that I instantly took a photo and sent it to my daughter. In some Muslim countries, this could cause big controversy," Malik pointed out.

He sees the condition as unique in the religious life in Indonesia which, on a larger scale, could be a potential solution to the problems of intolerance in the world. In particular, he mentioned two characters which he observed form the culture of tolerance in Indonesia.

First, diversity has become a character of Indonesia, as a country with thousands of islands, since the beginning, unlike most countries that were initially homogeneous and began to be diverse due to migration.

Besides, "Pancasila" (a philosophical foundation of the Indonesian state) as the foundation of the state, and "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" (Unity in Diversity) as the national motto, have deep meanings in life, he added.

"Most countries do not have a similar idea and not even have a national motto like that. That makes Indonesia special. In the UK, weve just talked about national values about three years ago and it was brought up a debate," Malik stated.

According to Malik, those uniqueness were the reasons Indonesia should be more active in talks on plurality in world forums to build a joint solution to the problems of intolerance, which continues to be an important issue from time to time. (T.KR-LWA/INE/KR-BSR/O001)

Source: http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/108018/british-ambassador-admires-indonesias-culture-of-tolerance

Islamic education needs reform: Study

Jakarta Post - November 24, 2016

Moses Ompusunggu, Jakarta – In a Muslim-majority nation like Indonesia, Islamic education in public schools is expected to play a key role in instilling the values of tolerance among students.

But a study launched by the Religious Affairs Ministry on Wednesday suggested that the form of Islamic education being taught in the classrooms focuses too much on theory and ritual and pays little attention to teaching the values of religious tolerance, which the study says could actually be found in the Quran.

The study, conducted by the Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACDP), a European Union-funded organization, has found that numerous values related to peace, tolerance and democracy can be found in the faith's holy scriptures, but teachers of Islamic studies lack the ability to translate these principals to their students.

After interviewing 159 high school students and 146 Islamic religion teachers in four cities across the country, namely Jakarta; Medan, North Sumatra; Surakarta, Central Java; and Manado, North Sulawesi, the ACDP found that most of the former had little comprehension of the values of peace and tolerance, partly because the latter had "avoided interfaith issues in class".

The ACDP asked two Muslim students in Medan whether or not they were comfortable conveying Christmas greetings to their Christian schoolmates.

One of them said: "Our Islamic education teacher prohibits us from saying 'Merry Christmas', as it means that we believe in it", while the other answered: "I say sorry to my Christian friends, because conveying a Christmas greeting is haram [forbidden] according to my belief".

"From this study, we found out that above peers, family and parents, most students put their trust primarily in their Islamic education teachers," ACDP advisor to the Religious Affairs Ministry Muljani Nurhadi told The Jakarta Post.

Islamic education is the least popular subject among students in public schools because it is generally delivered in a dogmatic and conventional way, making the school subject boring, the study says.

In fact, the study argues, Islamic education could foster a culture peace and tolerance as Islam recognizes such concepts as al-taaruf (synergy), al-shura (discussion and consensus), al-taawun (cooperation), al-amanah (trust), husnudzan (free of prejudice), al-takaful (sharing burdens with others), al-salam (peace) and al-afwu (forgiveness). These values may be developed to counter radicalism, the study claims.

Radical interpretations of Islam are believed to be gaining ground in the country, which has been hit by a series of terror attacks linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group in recent years. The government and mainstream Islamic organizations such as Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah have stepped up efforts to fight Islamic radicalism, which is often fueled by political events in the Middle East, such as the Syrian civil war.

The study says that radical teachings can enter high schools through student participation in radical mass organizations in the community or through the extracurricular programs in Islamic education that are usually controlled by radicals.

Radicalism, the study argues, could also potentially enter schools "indirectly through mass media, particularly television".

However, Muljani said teachers were not the only party to blame for the failure of Islamic education to instill values of peace and tolerance among students.

Islamic education has been taught in the country since 1966 – a year after a failed coup attempt blamed on the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) took place. The aim of Islamic education, at least initially, was to make students faithful to God. "This aim has never changed, but at the same time, the reality has changed," Muljani said.

The ACDP recommends that the government, through the Religious Affairs Ministry, reform Islamic education so that it instills in students values related to peace, tolerance and democracy.

"The reform must cover both the curriculum and teachers, who will need to shift away from teaching doctrine and begin leading experiential-based learning to develop students' critical thinking," the study suggested.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin, who was also present at the launch of the study's conclusions, said the study would serve as a basis for the ministry to reform and improve Islamic religious education. f"Around 85 percent of the ministry's budget goes to efforts to improve Islamic education. We are committed to making Islamic education more relevant.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/24/islamic-education-needs-reform-study.html

Poverty & social inequity

Indonesia among world's most unequal countries as richest 1% owns 49.3% of

Coconuts Jakarta - November 29, 2016

The starkness of Indonesia's wealth inequality is quantified in the latest study by multinational financial services company Credit Suisse, titled Global Wealth Report 2016.

The data in the study was then compiled and calculated by UK publication Independent and statistics firm Statista to produce statistics on how much wealth the richest citizens in any given country possess in comparison to the rest.

Indonesia fared terribly in this respect, with 49.3% of the nation's wealth owned by the top 1% in 2016.

Indonesia came just below India and Thailand, whose top 1% account for 58.4% and 58% of their countries' wealth respectively.

The most unequal country in the world according to the study is Russia, with 74.5% of the nation's wealth controlled by the richest 1%.

Credit Suisse noted that wealth inequality is a major issue in almost every part of the world, as the global economy has been becoming more unequal ever since the 2008 financial crisis.

The company estimate that the bottom 50% of the global population collectively owns less than 1% of global wealth, while the richest 10% of adults own 89% of all wealth, with the top 1% accounting for half of all global assets."

Read Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report 2016 in full here: http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=AD6F2B43-B17B-345E-E20A1A254A3E24A5

Source: http://jakarta.coconuts.co/2016/11/29/indonesia-among-worlds-most-unequal-countries-richest-1-owns-493-nations-wealth-study

Agriculture & food security

Small-scale farmers struggle to achieve sustainability

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2016

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – A new study has cast doubt on the sustainability of Indonesia's palm oil industry as it shows that many independent, small-scale oil palm farmers are facing immense challenges in producing sustainably, with little to no government support.

The study, conducted by the Earth Innovation Research Institute (INOBU) from 2014 to 2015, interviewed 1,229 small and independent farmers in Kotawaringin Barat and Seruyan regencies, Central Kalimantan.

The study identified major challenges preventing independent farmers from cultivating oil palm productively and sustainably. The main challenges are the legal recognition of their land rights; a lack of access to credit, fertilizers and training; and the lack of fair terms and prices for the sale of freshly harvested fruit bunches.

"One of the reasons their productivity is very low is because there are still many farmers who do not receive training, especially indigenous farmers," INOBU innovation manager Ofra Shinta Fitri said during the launch of the report on Tuesday.

According to the study, of 1,229 farmers, only 15 – all of whom were transmigrants – said they had received training from government agriculture agencies or trainers.

Furthermore, only 20 farmers said they could distinguish good palm oil kernels from bad ones, while only 13 farmers said they had access to information about palm oil cultivation from agriculture trainers, other farmers or relatives.

The study also found that many farmers did not have legal recognition of their land in the form of freehold (SHM) certificates, which are seen as the strongest evidence of land ownership and are issued by the National Land Agency (BPN).

The lack of legal recognition made it difficult for the farmers to access loans from banks as they did not have SHM, which can be used as collateral for credit. According to the study, only 60 percent and 11 percent of farmers in Kotawaringin Barat and Seruyan, respectively, had SHM.

The remaining farmers had land information papers (SKT), which are used to apply for SHM certificates, or indigenous land information papers (SKTA), which cannot be used to apply for SHM. SKT are issued by village or subdistrict heads, while SKTA are issued by indigenous community leaders.

Some of the farmers interviewed said they did not want to apply for SHM because they wanted to avoid paying taxes or did not have enough money to apply. "If they don't have SHM, how can banks issue loans for these farmers?" said Mansuetus Alsy Hanu, national coordinator for the Oil Palm Smallholders Union.

Besides identifying the problems facing farmers, the study also mapped out data on them, such as their origins and locations, as there is currently no true data on small independent farmers in Indonesia.

"The regional administration never collects data on small independent farmers. If there are no names of small-scale farmers that the government wants to empower, then who will they empower?" Mansuetus said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/30/small-scale-farmers-struggle-achieve-sustainability.html

Land & agrarian conflicts

Government defends absolute land ownership granted by 1960 law

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2016

Jakarta – Petitioners slammed the government on Tuesday for using an outdated law that stipulates ultimate ownership of disputed land, which it continues to use to accelerate current regional development.

During a hearing at the Constitutional Court, the petitioners challenging the 1960 Evictions Law described the law as "irrelevant" and outlined its failure to protect citizens. In the hearing, the second in the judicial review of the law, the court also heard statements from the government.

The applicants' legal representative from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institution (LBH Jakarta), Matthew Michele Lenggo, said the 1960 law was drafted when the country was in a state of emergency but the law was no longer relevant to the current situation.

Responding to the argument, the government said the law was binding at any time, whether the country was in a state of emergency or not.

In addition, the government said the law was based on Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution that stipulates "the earth, water and natural resources contained in [the country] are controlled by the state and used for the optimal welfare of the people."

The government stated that the article authorized the state to "regulate, manage and supervise" the motherland.

"[Through this article], the government is also given the authority to [...] regulate the legal relationship between the people with the earth, water and airspace," said the government's representative, Iing R. Sodikin, from the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry during the court hearing.

The judicial review was filed on Sept. 27 by various parties, including human rights groups, scholars, urban planners and evictees, who have all condemned a series of evictions ordered by Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.

LBH Jakarta earlier said that the law was drafted when the government, amid social and political tumult, had to take extraordinary measures to control the country's assets, even without the consent of rightful owners, to prevent social conflict.

"It might have been effective at that time, but now it is used by the city administration to claim land that is not owned by anyone, without a proper legal process and to kick out all the people who live on the land," said LBH Jakarta lawyer Alldo Felix Januardy.

The city administration has been repeatedly criticized for its eviction policy, which, according to rights groups, has caused great harm to the evictees.

LBH Jakarta recorded that the administration carried out 113 clearances in 2015, with 8,315 families evicted and more than 6,283 businesses affected. It has also found that most evictions were conducted without prior discussion with residents. (vny)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/30/govt-defends-absolute-land-ownership-granted-1960-law.html

Fierce debates over bylaw divide Yogyakartans

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – A public hearing on a draft bylaw on land ownership of the Yogyakarta customary sultanate and Pakualaman principality on Monday turned ugly after those opposing the draft, which could grant the sultanate power to control large areas of land, became involved in fierce arguments with the its supporters.

Controversy surrounding the draft, which has centered on the potential "violation" of people's rights to own land in Yogyakarta, has triggered intense debates among Yogyakartans. Critics said the planned bylaw would allow the sultanate and the principality to own vast plots of land, just like in the colonial era.

"The bylaw draft has to be rejected because it will revive the 1918 colonial regulation on land for the sultanate and the Pakualaman principality," Suparyanto, from anti discrimination organization Granad, told the hearing held at the provincial legislative council, which has been deliberating the draft.

He reiterated that the draft, which was proposed by the provincial administration, could violate a 1983 bylaw on the implementation of the 1960 Agrarian Law in Yogyakarta. The law, he said, should effectively override any agrarian regulations in the province.

Supporters said the draft was a mandate of the law on Yogyakarta's special status. However, Sugiarto from the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute highlighted the increasing agrarian conflicts following the endorsement of the law in 2012.

As the opposers spoke before the hearing, supporters of the draft bylaw, who mostly came from groups that had strongly encouraged the Yogyakarta Special Status Law, yelled, demanding that they stop talking.

"We are ready to guard the draft of the bylaw and make sure that it is endorsed by the legislative council this year," Totok Sudarwoto of the joint secretariat on Yogyakarta special status said.

Yogyakarta Spatial Planning and Land Agency's head Hananto Hadi Purnomo denied that the Yogyakarta Special Status Law contradicted the Agrarian Law.

Meanwhile, Condrokirono, a royal family member who represented the sultanate in the hearing, said the sultanate would never try to make the Yogyakartan people miserable. He said the conflict had been mainly caused by a discrepancy between the land used by the people and the information in the sultanate's record.

Councilor Rendradi Suprihandoko, who chaired the special committee on the draft bylaw, suggested that those who disagreed with Yogyakarta's Special Status Law should file a judicial review to challenge the law at the Constitutional Court.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/fierce-debates-over-bylaw-divide-yogyakartans.html

Housing & property

Jokowi tells developers to build more cheap housing for low-income people

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2016

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – In a gesture to convey the serious commitment of his administration to affordable housing, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called real estate developers to build many more houses for low-income people.

His clear message came up after the government issued its 13th economic stimulus policy package in late August, which aims to simplify procedures for development of inexpensive housing targeted at the lower segment of the society.

With lesser permits and period to tackle administrative stuff, the cost will be pushed down by 70 percent.

Speaking at the opening of the Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI) national meeting on Tuesday, the president expressed his determination to reduce the housing backlog which currently stood at 11.8 million houses.

The official target is to cut down the figure by more than 40 percent to 6.8 million by the end of his term in 2019.

"I want to remind us all that the core of the economic policy package is to accelerate provision of affordable housing for low-income people and I emphasize once more, [it's] housing for low income people, not the other [kinds of housing]," Jokowi said in his remarks.

According to the existing rule, developers must build houses for the poor and middle-income people in the same regency or city where they built upscale homes. However, the obligation has been largely ignored by developers due to complicated permit requirements and lengthy process.

"Please avert constructing [using the incentives] many houses bought as investment instruments by those who already own two or three houses. Instead use the to build more houses for low-income people," the president said, adding that a government regulation (PP) as the legal base to implement the policy package would be issued soon.

Under its current plan, the government aimed to construct 1 million houses for the low-income segment next year, up from only around 700,000 in 2016 and 690,000 in 2015, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono told journalists in the sidelines of the event.

"With increased budgets, which are Rp 9.4 trillion (US$694 million) for FLPP [the government-backed mortgage] and Rp 9.2 trillion for low-cost apartment provision, and easier licensing process, we hope it will be faster and easier [for us] to achieve the 1 million houses target next year," he said.

In the similar occasion, REI chairman Eddy Hussy demanded that the government revoke the tax for luxurious houses as it would affect affluent people's appetite to buy posh properties.

"We expects the government to continue the FLPP and broaden this program to include urban dwellers with income ranging from Rp 4.5 million to Rp 7 million, who currently are not benefiting from the subsidy," Eddy said.

At present, the middle-class is also struggling to own houses amid soaring property prices, untouched by the government's housing programs that are mostly targeted at low-income group defined by its income of less than Rp 4 million per month.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/30/jokowi-tells-developers-to-build-more-cheap-housing-for-low-income-people.html

Parliament & legislation

Aburizal seals deal for Setya

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2016

Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto has cleared his way toward regaining his post as House of Representatives speaker after securing permission from the party's advisory board.

"The advisory board and the central executive board have agreed on the replacement of Ade [Komarudin] as House speaker by Setya," said advisory board chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who is also a former party chairman, on Monday, after a two-hour talk with Setya.

Previously, Aburizal had signaled his objection to Setya's return to his old post, which the latter attained immediately after the 2014 election. Aburizal challenged him to choose one of the posts, either Golkar chief or House Speaker, over concerns that he could not handle two tough jobs.

Aburizal said that Setya had assured him that he was ready to take on the two important positions, and he had changed his stance.

"I will take all of the responsibility, because the advisory board has put its trust in me," Setya said. The party is now mulling various positions to be offered to the current speaker Ade, Setya's rival for the party chairmanship earlier this year.

Senior Golkar politician Yorrys Raweyai said the party had considered new positions for Ade, and the advisory and central executive boards would soon invite Ade to discuss the options.

"The positions offered could be a ministry, an ambassadorship, or other top posts at the BPK [Supreme Audit Agency] or the OJK [Financial Services Authority]," Yorrys said. "It's up to [Ade]. We will fight for him wherever he is willing to serve the country."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/29/national-scene-aburizal-seals-deal-setya.html

Setya's return may pave way for PDI-P's long-awaited chairmanship seat

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The return of Golkar chairman Setya Novanto as speaker of the House of Representatives may open the chance for the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to get a House leadership position.

In exchange for its support of Setya's comeback, the PDI-P has once again requested the amendment of the 2014 Legislative Institution Law, known as the MD3 Law.

"Bu Mega [chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri] has told us since the very beginning that something is not right with the [MD3] law, thus it needs a revision," PDI-P politician Masinton Pasaribu said Friday.

"Lawmakers are representatives of the people, but they are also officers of their respective parties. We must comply with whatever our party decides," said the member of House Commission III overseeing law and human rights.

In 2014, the PDI-P's attempt to secure the House speaker post failed after the Constitutional Court rejected its request for a judicial review of the MD3 Law.

Masinton said his party again requested the amendment of the 2014 law several days after Golkar decided to return Setya to his position as House speaker, replacing Ade Komarudin, also of Golkar.

Earlier, PDI-P lawmaker Hendrawan Pratikno asserted that as an institution representing all of the Indonesian people, the House should comply with their decisions and wishes, which in this case were reflected by the majority of votes the party won in the 2014 legislative election. Thus, the PDI-P should have got the House speaker post because it was the winner of the election, Pratikno argued.

However, the existing MD3 Law does not adopt a proportional mechanism that would allow winners of legislative elections to secure House chairmanship seats.

The House deliberated the MD3 Law when the pro-government Great Indonesian Coalition (KIH) and the opposition Red-and-White Coalition (KMP) clashed after the 2014 legislative election. Golkar was aligned with the KMP before it jumped ship to support President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's coalition led by the PDI-P.

Setya resigned from his position on Dec.16, 2015, following a House ethics council investigation into his alleged corruption attempt related to the extension of US-based gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia's mining contract. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/setyas-return-may-pave-way-for-pdi-ps-long-awaited-chairmanship-seat.html

Golkar's move leave PDI-P in limbo

Jakarta Post - November 25, 2016

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – The planned return of controversial Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto to the House of Representatives' top post has inevitably received a mixed reaction but it is also believed that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo may benefit from the move.

Many believe that having Setya as the House speaker will help Jokowi strengthen his position in the legislative body despite the potential public uproar over Setya's return given the number of scandals that have tainted Setya's image in the past.

Regardless, Setya has long been known for his political lobbying skills, which may be why he is "more trusted" than current speaker Ade Komarudin, Setya's rival during the party chairmanship race.

"Maybe he's more accommodating [than Ade]. It's good that he's a good lobbyist too, right? All interests must be embraced," Golkar executive Andi Sinulingga said on Thursday. Setya could establish good communication even with those in opposing parties, he added.

"[He] must be able to secure the government's policies. We all know that Setya is committed to [them]," Andi said.

One item on the agenda that might find a smoother passage with Setya's reinstatement is the plan to change the country's open-list electoral system to a semi-closed list poll. Setya's Golkar and Jokowi's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have been to the forefront in pushing forward the change.

Setya's lobbying abilities will be used to the full to bring around parties that oppose the idea, particularly the National Mandate Party (PAN), United Development Party (PPP) and NasDem Party, all of which are in a government coalition.

"[Setya] is slippery as an eel," said senior political expert Ikrar Nusa Bakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). "Setya tends to be able to give comfort to the government. For Jokowi, Setya is more politically acceptable," Ikrar said.

Political expert from Al-Azhar University Rachmat Bagja said from a prestige point of view the position would definitely benefit Setya also. "He wants to be back, to have power in the country's most influential institution. Not to mention that the return will give him legitimacy, that he's clean," Rachmat said.

Setya resigned as House speaker last year following allegations about his involvement in a suspected conspiracy with giant mining company Freeport Indonesia.

But some Golkar members seem to be less than thrilled about the decision. The Golkar central executive board's decision regarding Setya's return was taken without consulting its advisory board, led by his predecessor as Golkar leader Aburizal Bakrie.

Meanwhile, Ade said he would consult first with other senior Golkar politicians and his family. "After that, I will perform the istikharah [Islamic prayer aiming to seek guidance in decision-making]," he said.

Ade added that he would wait-and-see and had not decided whether to fight back or not, but he had yet to talk to Setya about the matter.

Since Setya won the party chairmanship race earlier this year, he has brought the party into the government coalition, after more than a year in opposition.

Golkar supported Jokowi's rival, Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, during the 2014 presidential election. Under Setya's leadership, Golkar became the first party to pledge support for Jokowi to run for reelection in 2019.

Although Jokowi seems to favor Golkar over the PDI-P, the largest party in the House, especially when it comes to political horse-trading, PDI-P lawmakers have declined to comment on the matter.

"I guess we must respect Golkar's prerogative rights to reappoint Setya as House Speaker," was all PDI-P lawmaker Charles Honoris had to say when asked.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/25/golkars-move-leave-pdi-p-in-limbo.html

Golkar obliges members to support Setya's return as House speaker

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The Golkar Party has ordered all of its members at the House of Representatives to support the reappointment of the party's chairman, Setya Novanto, as the House speaker.

Golkar executive chairman Nurdin Halid stated on Wednesday that all party members were obliged to fight for Setya's return to the position.

"On behalf of the party's central executive board, I hereby instruct all members of the Golkar Party's faction at the House to solidly secure the party's decision to transfer the House speaker seat from Ade Komarudin to Setya Novanto," Nurdin said at a press conference at the House on Wednesday.

The senior Golkar politician's announcement was made amid criticisms questioning the ongoing attempt to return Setya to the position he previously gave up after his alleged involvement in an ethics violation scandal involving US-based gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia.

Golkar's faction is set to present the decision before a House plenary meeting this week for an approval. Nurdin ensured that all faction members had been aware of their responsibility to support any of the party's decisions, including on Setya's reappointment.

Setya stepped down from his position on Dec. 16, 2015, following the House ethics council's (MKD) investigation into an alleged ethical violation reported by then Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said.

Setya and his colleague, businessman Riza Chalid, were accused of using the names of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to seek a 20 percent share of Freeport. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/golkar-obliges-members-to-support-setyas-return-as-house-speaker.html

Setya Novanto moves to regain control

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Safrin La Batu, Ina Parlina and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – His political career having hit rock bottom following an alleged scandal involving a giant mining firm, Golkar Party chairman and former House of Representatives speaker, Setya Novanto is climbing back up the greasy pole following the revelation that the party will soon reinstall the seasoned politician to the legislature's top post.

Executives of the country's second-biggest political party have confirmed the plan to appoint Setya as House speaker, replacing Ade Komarudin, who was Setya's rival during the party chairmanship race earlier this year.

"This is the party's formal decision and it is what the party currently needs. It has nothing to do with Setya's personal interest nor ambition," Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham said on Tuesday.

Ade, however, could not be reached for comment. "Ade is one of our best members. We are sure that he understands the party's democratic decision," Idrus said.

The revelation was made less than a week after Setya had a meeting with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the State Palace.

Last year, Jokowi expressed his anger over a perceived scandal in which then speaker Setya was accused of "using" the President's name in a backroom deal related to the mining contract of PT. Freeport Indonesia. Then energy and mineral resources minister Sudirman Said leaked a taped conversation between Setya, then Freeport president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin and oil tycoon Riza Chalid.

The scandal caused public outcry and forced Setya to resign from his position as House leader amid ongoing hearings over his alleged ethical misconduct. Investigators at the Attorney General's Office (AGO) also launched an initial probe into the alleged scandal but the investigation has long since stalled.

But Setya's supporters said no wrongdoing had ever been proved, thus, there was no reason to prevent Setya from getting his House speaker position back.

Setya is on the brink of becoming one of the country's most powerful politicians after months of political maneuvers. Soon after he dramatically won the Golkar chairmanship election, he declared the party to be a government supporter, regardless of its position as a supporter of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, Jokowi's rival during the 2014 presidential election.

But being only the latest party to join the government coalition has not prevented Golkar from gaining more influence over the government. Observers say that, under Setya's leadership, Golkar seems to have overshadowed the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDIP) influence over Jokowi.

However, some Golkar factions may be not happy with the decision. The leader of Golkar's youth organization, Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung, said the decision showed that Golkar's current leadership was "thoughtless".

"The political steps taken are more personal-interest oriented and conspiratorial. The decision will just create more public uproar and internal disputes, lower Golkar's image and hamper the House's performance and country's development," Doli said.

Similarly, PDI-P lawmaker Arif Wibowo called on Golkar to consider public opinion in the decision.

Also on Tuesday, Jokowi hosted breakfast, lunch and afternoon meal meetings at the palace for three different leaders of pro-government parties – Nasdem's Surya Paloh, the PPP's Romahurmuziy and Setya, respectively.

It was Jokowi's second meeting with Setya. "We all know that Golkar has a widespread power base over almost all of Indonesia. Therefore, on this occasion, I urge Golkar across the country to maintain stability. Second, to maintain tolerance in this diverse country. And third, to work together to maintain unity and harmony among all elements of the nation," Jokowi said.

But Jokowi declined to comment on Setya's possible comeback as House speaker. "Regarding the House speakership, it is an internal matter for Golkar," Jokowi told reporters in a firm statement, which was echoed by Setya.

Arya Fernandes, an analyst with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), has said Jokowi, through his meetings with leading political figures, has been sending out the message that his administration still has strong support among the majority of the public.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/setya-novanto-moves-to-regain-control.html

Jakarta & urban life

Sumarsono halts TNI, police grants

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2016

Corry Elyda, Jakarta – Acting Jakarta governor Sumarsono has halted the allocation of grants for the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police in the 2017 city budget.

Sumarsono said at City Hall on Tuesday that the city administration excluded the allocations for several reasons. "They receive grants every year. They have not even used all the grants allocated this year," he said.

Sumarsono said both institutions had also failed to fulfill their obligation to submit accountability reports on fund usage. Any organization that requests grants worth Rp 200 million (US$14,800) or more from the city administration is required to submit such reports every year.

The military and police respectively received Rp 41 billion and Rp 21 billion last year from the city administration.

The city administration, under the leadership of Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, allocated additional funds from the city budget for members of both institutions when they were asked to assist the city's programs, including evictions.

In addition, the city administration has also built a parking lot for the city police. The Rp 80 billion parking lot project was funded by a private developer taking part in the controversial reclamation project on Jakarta's northern coast, which was required by the city administration as an "additional contribution" in return for being awarded the reclamation project.

Sumarsono said if the military and police needed more grants, he could easily allocate the funds in the revised city budget, which will be drafted in June. He made it clear that he did intend to scrap the grants for either institution, as they were the main partners of the city administration.

Ahok, who is required by law to take leave for his election bid, has expressed his disappointment at what he believes is Sumarsono's attempt to undo his budget policies, including his decision to halt the grants for the TNI and the police.

"What is the most expensive thing in Jakarta? Land. Which institutions have many land plots? Both of them [the military and the police," he said as quoted by kompas.com. The governor did not elaborate.

Ahok previously slammed the acting governor for approving the disbursement of grants for Jakarta's Betawi Culture Consultative Body (Bamus Betawi) worth Rp 2.5 billion. Ahok had decided to suspend grants for Bamus, as he believed the organization had been playing politics by asking people not to vote for him on election day.

Jakarta Financial Management and Asset Board (BPKAD) head Heru Budi Hartono played down Ahok's concerns, saying that the city administration under Sumarsono had not made changes to the city budget drafted by Ahok, who had challenged the 2016 Regional Elections Law so that he could work during the campaign period to safeguard the city budget.

Heru said the city would focus on allocating funds for urgent programs such as low-cost apartments. the Jakarta Smart Card (KJP), Jakarta Health Card (KJP) and other projects for the first half of 2017.

"When we get additional funds from the central government, amounting to Rp 6 trillion, we will allocate the funds for the grants [for the military and police]," he said.

Heru said deliberations on the grant for the police and military had begun when the city commenced the drafting of the 2017 budget, adding that no "corrections" or "changes" had been made. He said the total grant for the three institutions – police, Jakarta Military Command and Marines – reached up to Rp 200 billion.

Jakarta Military Command spokesperson Col. Inf. Heri Prakosa said his institution had not taken issue with the delay. "We still have our own budget, so there is no problem," he said. He said the military would use the funds to purchase riot equipment.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/30/sumarsono-halts-tni-police-grants.html

Sky commuters: how the super-rich beat Jakarta's traffic hell in a helicopter

The Guardian (Australia) - November 25, 2016

Oliver Holmes, Jakarta – Millions of Jakartans spend hours a day sitting in gridlock, wondering how to better avoid what has been officially declared the world's worst traffic. They'll surely be snarling at the answer cruising above their heads: helicopters.

Indonesia's super-rich can fly into the airport by chartered jet, jump into a helicopter to the city for a meeting, and even whizz over to a hospital roof for a doctor's visit – all without touching a road.

One of the country's biggest conglomerates, Lippo Group, started using its own helicopters to ferry executives around in 1997, and now flies six aircraft from its headquarters west of the capital.

What is usually a two-hour trip into the centre of the city takes me only 12 minutes in Lippo's eight-seater, flying over multilane highways all filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

After landing on the roof of one of Lippo's hotels, Muliawan Sutanto, senior finance adviser for the group's flight division, Air Pacific, explains that three helicopters are kept on standby for the group's bosses. They also are used for medical evacuations – while for a minimum of $1,500, anyone can pay for a private charter, or "helimousine"

That figure feels less preposterous the longer one spends in Jakarta, where a study last year found drivers sit for nearly a third of their time idle in jams. They also stop and start more than anywhere else.

Even if you avoid private cars, the city's public transport system is particularly inefficient. A long-planned metro line is finally being built after decades of planning. In the meantime, the construction has blocked traffic along the capital's main roads.

Helicopters, perhaps surprisingly, also require infrastructure – and in that respect, Jakarta is also lacking: "There are about 60 helipads in the city, but most are not certified for landing," Sutanto says.

Keeping a helipad operational requires regular maintenance and repainting. To use them at night, it is mandatory to install expensive navigational beacons. At the moment, only eight are legal, most of them owned by Lippo.

Jakarta's main commercial airport does not allow private helicopter use either, so you'll need to charter a flight to the other aerodrome, east of the city.

Still, some believe there is a potential market. Uber, the ride-hailing app company, has been debuting helicopters rides from New York to Sao Paulo. It treated some residents to a free trip in Jakarta last year in a PR push, working with another local provider, PremiAir, but has not set up a service since.

Sutanto admits some of Air Pacific's regulars have been cancelling as the domestic economy splutters, mainly due to low commodity prices. Someone flew in from Google recently and hired a helicopter, and politicians have been known to rent an aircraft to accommodate tight campaigning schedules, but business is not exactly booming.

"People used to buy a block of helicopter time, like 30 hours to use when they want," Sutanto says. "But it's slowed down. A mining company that worked with us cut down so-called 'unnecessary expenses'.

"A few other companies tried to open heli-taxi services a few years ago – but the demand is not there," he adds. Lippo now provides free access to its rooftop helipads in an attempt to jumpstart the industry.

"People in Indonesia are reluctant to pay. They will still sit in the car for hours and hours – but that will change. The traffic is getting much worse."

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/nov/25/sky-commuters-how-super-rich-beat-jakarta-traffic-hell-helicopter-helimousine-lippo-group

Jakarta's eco future? River community goes green to fight eviction threat

The Guardian (Australia) - November 25, 2016

David Munk – A proactive Jakarta community is fighting back against the threat of demolition by turning itself into an example of what the city it sits in is not – a beacon of environmental protection.

Residents of Tongkol kampung in the north of the sprawling capital have already achieved a striking transformation of their lifestyle practices, their homes, and the river that runs through their community.

More than 250 families – some who have been there more than 40 years – have been threatened with eviction from the riverbank because their collection of makeshift brick and wooden houses in Tongkol and its neighbouring kampungs have been built without permission.

The city administrators claim they require a swathe of land each side of the river – stretching back 15 metres, according to the regulation – for an inspection road which would help monitor the causes of the floods that frequently stop Jakarta in its tracks. The land here belongs to the national government.

But instead of waiting for eviction and demolition, as has already occurred in numerous other Jakarta kampungs, Tongkol residents have taken matters into their own hands. They used sledgehammers to knock down the front of their homes and move them back five metres from the waterway, thus creating clear access along the riverbank. In some cases this process halved their floor space.

They also set about a wholescale clean-up of their environment. They built rafts to collect rubbish from the river (in part to counter unfair accusations that they were wholly responsible for its polluted state), planted trees along its banks, set up a community-wide recycling and composting system, and encouraged self-sufficiency with vegetable gardens.

The result is a strikingly tranquil kampung which boasts a riot of colourful, inventive homes alongside papaya and cherry trees – and a thriving community spirit.

Gugun Muhammad, a thirty-something resident and community organiser who also works for the Urban Poor Consortium, is one of the scheme's proponents. Sitting on a plastic chair in front of his redbrick-and-bamboo house, which itself was relocated from the riverbank, he waves a pungent clove-scented cigarette around as he describes the threat hanging over their heads.

"It is like death: it is a mystery when we will find out," he says, of the wait the 700-plus residents are having to endure. "The 'inspection street' regulation is just a reason so they can demolish us – this is more about labelling slum areas. So the people here talked among themselves and said, 'Let's give the government the street they demand.'"

Gugun points to the ground by his feet, where the footprint of his old house can still be seen. It was dismantled, moved back and redesigned to fit a much smaller space.

The assembled group of residents – the remainder are all women full of smiles and laughter – bring out photographs that show the old river, packed on its sides by ramshackle homes, its banks littered with bottles and the debris of Jakarta life. "Now we tell people something different: not to throw it in the water, but to use this," Gugun says, pointing at a rusting, half-cut oil barrel which serves as a community bin.

Gugun says the success of their project – aided by Architects without Borders – can be seen in the recycling rates among the community. Some homes are now reusing more than 80% of their rubbish, and a chart on a big display board shows off that success, along with the names and faces of those responsible.

The community has also built septic tanks in dozens of the small homes, ensuring effluent is not poured untreated into the river.

Gugun says that while this transformation has benefitted the quality of life here no end, the project also has a wider ambition: to serve as a case study that demonstrates to city leaders what can be achieved by Jakarta's poorest communities – and why they should be allowed to remain rather than being forced out to faraway, soulless suburbs.

"If you try to woo a girl, you put some things on to make yourself look attractive," he says, using an analogy he seems to enjoy.

But the community is working against the odds. A subsequent visit to City Hall reveals the 15-metre regulation can only be adjusted by petitioning a change in the national law in 2019, with city officials saying they are powerless to reinterpret the regulation in the meantime because "the law is the law".

However, the city's affable deputy governor for spatial planning and environment, Oswar Mungkasa, has visited Tongkol a number of times, and acknowledges the work that has been done there to clean up the river and its surrounding environment.

During our own visit, the residents take us on a mini-tour of their community. A wooden ferry carries us the 10 metres across the brown, fast-flowing river which dissects the kampungs to a small, half-built mosque.

"Not clean, but cleaner," Gugun says of the river, indicating the work that is still to be done – and the fact that his community is helpless about all the waste and rubbish that is discarded by the city upstream of Tongkol.

Nearby residents proudly show off their vertical vegetable gardens, planted inside hollowed-out banana trees and bamboo trunks. A starfruit tree has shed its produce on to the ground, where groups of kittens play and snooze out of the way of the hot afternoon sun.

At the end of the village, bare walls which had been exposed by the demolition of homes too close to the water are covered in colourful murals; one depicts a scene more like Venice than Jakarta.

At the end of the tour, when asked what would happen if the city decides to move in and evict the residents, one older woman – who says she has been living in Tongkol for 43 years – has only bleak words.

"This is about the security of our future," she tells us. "Do not demolish us, do not evict us. We do not know were we would go."

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/nov/25/jakarta-kampung-tongkol-eco-future-river-community–green-to-fight-eviction-threat

Inside the bubble: the air-conditioned alternate reality of Jakarta's megamalls

The Guardian (Australia) - November 24, 2016

Kate Lamb, Jakarta – Pass the security guards in their navy blue uniforms and white epaulettes, through the metal detectors that invariably beep (although no one seems to care), and you're inside Jakarta's glistening, marbled alternate reality: fluffy white clouds painted on the ceiling, gold lion fountain heads and glitzy designer stores that sell handbags that, for some, would cost an entire year's wage.

For many well-heeled inhabitants of this steaming hot megalopolis, the megamall has all the answers you need – starting with air-conditioning. But there are also restaurants and playgrounds, nightclubs, bars, bookshops, gyms, salons, dentists, and doctors; there are supermarkets, gardens, karaoke parlours, cinemas, art galleries, and even evangelical churches. In Jakarta, the mall is a literal one-stop shop.

The city has an astounding 170 malls – so many that, in 2011, worried authorities issued a moratorium on new ones in central Jakarta. Nevertheless, in a city with next to no open public space, Jakartans still invariably find themselves inside a mall with alarming frequency.

"Oh, I come to the mall every day," laughs 25-year-old Faisyah Dyanti, who both works and hangs out at Grand Indonesia, or GI, one of the higher-end megamalls in central Jakarta. "My office is right next to the mall so I come here to eat lunch. I prefer it because there is air-con and more choices."

Over the years, mall upon mall has been tacked up in Jakarta – a resulting "mall sprawl" that has seen some malls situated just hundreds of metres away from one or even two comparable others, sharing many of the same shops.

But it's not just about shopping. Malls in Jakarta effectively function as pseudo public spaces: a place to meet up with friends and family, take a walk, go out for meal or have a business meeting. Although the city's planning law stipulates that 30% of land in Jakarta should be allocated as green space, in reality it accounts for less than 10%.

"You know why we like to come to the mall? Because we don't have any other places to go," says Deborah, who is spending the afternoon shopping with her teenage daughter. "Even if we do, it takes for ever to get there. The traffic jams – oh my God, I don't like it and I am Indonesian. The mall is headache-free: you just go there and come home, easy."

Indeed, most people cite traffic as their main reason for spending an inordinate amount of time in the mall. But another apparent draw, in a country that is 90% Muslim, is the more liberal dress code.

"There is a different culture here. I saw one woman in hot pants and heels," says Rita Damayanti, 29, a headscarf-wearing university lecturer from central Java who was visiting GI for the first time. "The combination is perfect... but they must be getting tired walking around the mall in those stilettos!"

"If you go to a traditional market you have to blend in, you can't dress up like this," agrees Deborah, gesturing to her above-the-knee denim skirt. "Each mall is different, but in central Jakarta you can wear what you want in the mall, and no one will stare."

Whether malls really offer Indonesia's women more real freedom, however, is more hotly debated.

"At least we can learn diversity, but I'm still not talking about social justice," says Indonesian author Ayu Utami. She says malls offer women a level of protection they don't have on the streets, but it's a false form of freedom.

Yet in the artificial bubble of the mall, she adds, Jakartans can learn new habits – such as a respect for diversity and non-smoking spaces. Before smoking was officially banned in malls, the only smoke-free spaces that were respected in the city were mosques and petrol stations, says Utami, only half jokingly.

"The street has its own norms, and the malls have their own norms, but of course it is a selective process," Utami says. "Poor people cannot go inside the mall."

Jakarta's luxury malls are a world of their own: an incongruous social scene compared to the reality outside.

"Here you see a parade of characters, women dressed to the nines, wearing tens of thousands of dollars prancing around," says Lydia Ruddy, a communications and policy analyst in Jakarta. "The family with the kids trailing around, the mum and her Gucci bag and the nanny in a $10 uniform because the baby can't burp over mum's blouse."

One mall manager, who asked to remain anonymous, revealed that some of the high-end designer stores pay minimal or no rent; the idea being that their presence imbues the mall with glamour and prestige.

And while malls function in lieu of public spaces, they are hardly free. Even going to the mall costs money – you have to pay for parking, and if you want to sit down you have to order in a cafe or restaurant.

"You pay perhaps 10 to 50 times more for your food just because it's in the mall," says Marco Kusumawijaya of the Rujak Centre for Urban Studies, over a coffee at one of the few independent coffee shops in the city. "You pay for the marble floor, you pay for the freezing air-conditioning, the useless atrium and these expensive guards and sweepers."

It all seems rather bizarre in contrast to how millions of Jakartans actually live.

Waiting for his afternoon shift near the Green Bay Mall on the Pluit waterfront in north Jakarta, Ahmed Setiawan is busy feeding flies to his caged birds. He's never been to Green Bay mall, and has no desire to go.

"That place is just for rich people. We can't afford to go there. The salary of fishermen is just Rp20,000 [US$1.50] a day.

"Actually the mall is a disturbance. Before we used to look for bait and mussels in the water in front there, but now there's hardly any fish. It's very annoying, and the government doesn't care. They just care about money."

Around the corner, Rohani is selling rice and snacks from her wooden cart. She's been to Green Bay once since it opened several years ago. "I went there when it was the birthday of the mall and there were fireworks," she says. "I just looked once. Only once."

Rather than malls, traders and fishermen like Rohani and Setiawan go to traditional markets. These are clusters of bustling street-side stalls, wooden tables stacked with cheap clothing, fruit and vegetables, and meat carcasses hanging in the heat.

They also buy goods direct from street vendors, whose traditional wooden carts circle the local kampung neighbourhoods, selling everything from buckets and brooms to mountains of fruit.

It's this colourful street life that is threatened by the ubiquity of malls – and the social inequity they represent, says Kusumawijaya.

Many malls in Jakarta grossly exceed the dimensions stipulated in the city's 2010 spatial planning bylaws. Yet developers are permitted to build wider and higher by paying compensation. Kusumawijaya believes this is a form of "spatial injustice".

"Why can't you build more for your house? Because you cannot pay the compensation, while these people are building more and more," he says. "The problem is that every additional square metre means additional water extraction from the ground, additional electricity. This creates more of a burden on the city."

Still, the realities of the outside world are easily forgotten in the mall, especially the fact that many Jakartans cannot afford to spend time there – including some of the employees.

But for many others, mall culture is the only type of urban experience they've ever known. At the Carnivalle section of GI – a virtual theme park – Herdi Herdiansyah, 32, a marketing consultant, rocks a pram with his six-month-old son amid the din and flashing lights.

"We're just introducing him to the idea, for his eyes only. You know, so he won't be too surprised when he grows up and is ready to play here."

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/nov/24/jakarta-megamalls-air-conditioned-alternate-reality

Foreign affairs & trade

Jokowi sends condolences to Cubans following Castro's death

Jakarta Post - November 27, 2016

Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo sent his condolences over the death of former Cuban president Fidel Castro via his official Twitter account on Sunday.

"My condolences to the government and the people of Cuba for the passing of Y. M. [His Excellency] Fidel Castro, former Cuban president, on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016-Jkw," the president wrote on his Twitter. "Jkw" is the President's initials.

Castro, who retired from the political world in 2008, died at the age of 90 on Friday evening Cuban time, or Saturday Indonesian time. His brother, Raul Castro, took over his position in 2006.

Castro was famous for leading a rebel army to an improbable victory in Cuba, embracing Soviet-style communism and defying the power of 10 US presidents during his half-century rule.

With a shaking voice, his younger brother, Raul Castro, announced on state television that his brother died at 10:29 p.m. on Friday night, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier on Sunday morning, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry expressed its deep condolences over the passing of Castro on Friday night.

"Indonesia prays for the family, the government and the people of Cuba to be given strength on the passing away of the honorable Fidel Castro," the ministry's spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said in a statement on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com. (evi)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/27/jokowi-sends-condolences-to-cubans-following-castros-death.html

Foreign Ministry offers condolences over death of Fidel Castro

Jakarta Post - November 27, 2016

Jakarta – The Foreign Ministry has expressed deep condolences over the passing of former Cuban president Fidel Castro on Friday night.

The Associated Press reported that Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 US presidents during his half-century rule, died at age 90.

With a shaking voice, his younger brother, Raul Castro, announced on state television that his brother had died at 10:29 p.m. local time on Nov. 25.

Castro's reign over the island nation 145 kilometers from Florida was marked by the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

The bearded revolutionary, who survived a crippling US trade embargo, as well as dozens, possibly hundreds, of assassination plots, died eight years after ill health forced him to formally hand power over to Raul.

Earlier, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also expressed condolences over the death of Castro, saying that he had been a good friend to Indonesia's first president and founding father, Sukarno.

"Fidel Castro was Bung Karno's best friend who struggled for the non-aligned movement. Both were fighters," Kalla said. (jun)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/27/foreign-ministry-offers-condolences-over-death-of-fidel-castro.html

China strengthens grip on Indonesia

Jakarta Post - November 24, 2016

Farida Susanty, Jakarta – China has further cemented its role as one of Indonesia's strategic partners going forward with the Asian powerhouse's commitment to continue with the rising trend of investment flowing into the archipelago.

Speaking in a forum attended by Indonesian and Chinese business players, Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xie Feng said China saw great potential for bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

China's realization of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia grew by a staggering 291 percent to US$1.5 billion from January to September compared to the same period last year, according to Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) data.

"China will continue to encourage more enterprises to invest in Indonesia and help speed up Indonesia's economic growth," Xie said on Wednesday.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has held five meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the past two years, a sign of deepening ties between the two countries that look to expand economic cooperation from electricity and mining to new sectors such as e-commerce and tourism.

Both countries have recorded investment cooperation in more than 3,000 projects over the last five years, to the point that approximately one fourth of Indonesia's electricity is generated by power plants built by China, the world's second-largest economy.

Meanwhile, tourism is deemed as promising with Jokowi targeting half of his 20 million foreign tourist target by 2019 to come from China. As of September this year, 1 million Chinese tourists visited Indonesia.

This year, most investment from China has been seen in the steel and mineral processing sectors, which includes smelters in Sulawesi. Chinese investors are also going large in the cement and automotive industries, signaling a commitment to Indonesia's infrastructure push, with ventures in cement plants in Kalimantan and Papua for instance.

The strength of cooperation between the two Asian countries is also evident with the investment commitment from China Development Bank (CDB) of $14.4 billion for 57 projects since it entered Indonesia in 2006, although only $9.7 billion of the commitment has been realized.

Going forward, CDB is looking at projects on power plants, as well as sea transportation-related infrastructure.

"Indonesia and China have [...] synergy on the Chinese Silk Road concept and Indonesia's aim to be [a] global marine fulcrum. CDB wants to actively cooperate in that sector," CDB general manager Xiamen branch Yang Aiwu said.

CDB, however, gave no comment on the reason behind the delayed disbursement for Indonesia's first high-speed railway connecting Jakarta and Bandung, West Java, which requires $5.1 billion investment that may well be mostly funded by a CDB loan.

Chinese investors, now one of Indonesia's top trading partners and a top-five foreign investor in the country, previously saw a low ratio of investment realization-to-commitment from 2005 to 2014 as only 7 percent of Chinese investment commitment was realized during the period, BKPM data showed.

"In terms of doing business, they are pretty fast at making cooperation agreements, but then it becomes very difficult in the execution phase," said Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice chairman for international relations Shinta Kamdani. In tackling the issue, the BKPM earlier this year launched a special information desk – the "Chinese desk" – to facilitate Chinese investors and assist them with their investment plans.

The Chinese Embassy in Indonesia highlighted land acquisition difficulties, a changing policy environment, as well as difficulties in acquiring work permits for foreign workers as the top-three hassles Chinese business players faced in investing in the country, said counselor for economic and commercial affairs Wang Liping.

Meanwhile, Center for Reform in Economics (CORE) Indonesia research director Mohammad Faisal expected that investment from China would significantly increase in various sectors.

"Tourism [investment] has been pretty insignificant. We expect it [China] to invest in Indonesian tourism destinations next year, as well as other sectors such as telecommunications," he said.

Faisal also warned that investment from the Asian giant was usually followed by Chinese workers and products flowing into the country, which could potentially affect domestic human resources.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/24/china-strengthens-grip-on-indonesia.html

Economy & investment

Indonesia performs well, faces new reality

Jakarta Post - November 26, 2016

Grace D. Amianti and Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – The economy has continued to perform positively over the past few years, but is facing a new reality that requires further reform to support growth.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lauded Indonesian financial authorities that it said had navigated through the changing currents in the international economy.

"Growth remains strong, inflation has dropped significantly and the current-account deficit has been contained. These achievements underpin a favorable economic outlook," the IMF wrote in the statement after an IMF team completed its 2016 Article IV Mission to Indonesia.

During an Article IV consultation, an IMF team of economists visits a country to assess economic and financial developments and discuss the country's economic and financial policies with government and central bank officials.

The IMF projects growth in 2016 to stand at 5 percent, supported by strong private consumption. The growth rate will then climb slightly to 5.1 percent in 2017 on the back of private consumption and a gradual pickup in private investment as a response to a recovery of commodity prices and lower interest rates.

Inflation is estimated to rise to just above the middle of the official target band – 3 to 5 percent – at the end of 2017 due to better targeting of electricity subsidies. For this year, the IMF forecasts inflation to hover at around 3.3 percent.

However, risks remain that are mostly external, according to the IMF. Uncertainty over the policies of the next US administration, tighter global financial conditions, slower-than-expected growth in China, a faster pace of monetary tightening in the US and a renewed fall in commodity prices are all factors that can turn the situation around.

Risks are present domestically as well, such as smaller fiscal buffer from tax revenue shortfalls or higher domestic interest rates as a result of tighter global financial conditions.

The government hopes to achieve Rp 1.49 quadrillion (US$109.79 billion) in next year's tax revenue, increasing moderately by 13 to 15 percent from the expected tax revenue realization in 2016.

It previously acknowledged that the global situation would remain challenging to the economy, translating into a more realistic tax revenue outlook. The IMF said it agreed with the authorities on the need to continue structural reform to support private investment and growth.

It claims the government's fiscal strategy – broadening the revenue base and raising growth-enhancing expenditures, while making them more efficient within the 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) fiscal deficit rule – will anchor stability and support medium-term inclusive growth.

It also lauds Bank Indonesia's current stance on monetary policy, including its recent decision to keep the policy rate unchanged, to allow the exchange rate and government bond yields to adjust and to ensure the orderly operation of markets.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan chief economist for emerging markets Jahangir Aziz said rising global uncertainty due to the unexpected result of the US presidential election had put monetary policy across the emerging markets under pressure, as investors were still in wait-and-see mode in regard to the US' upcoming fiscal policy.

Domestically, Indonesia still has room to maintain growth next year, supported by the government's higher infrastructure spending in the regions.

The government has allocated Rp 387.3 trillion for infrastructure in the 2017 state budget and the State Budget Law itself stipulates that regions must allocate a minimum of 25 percent of their budget for infrastructure development.

"With a shift in composition of spending to infrastructure rather than subsidies, the links to the rest of the economy are larger, so the impact on growth is also bigger. I think that's probably the right thing to do," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/26/indonesia-performs-well-faces-new-reality.html

Analysis & opinion

Indonesian militant Islamists, police raid gay gathering

Human Rights Watch Dispatches - November 29, 2016

Kyle Knight – An Indonesian militant Islamist group with a well-earned reputation for harassment and violence against minorities led police to raid a gathering of men for a so-called "sex party."

The group, the Islamic Defenders Front (or FPI), claimed its investigative unit tipped off police to conduct a "successful raid" Saturday on a home in Jakarta. The FPI's social media accounts posted photographs of police taking in men for questioning, and local media reported that mobile phones and HIV/AIDS medication were confiscated from the premises.

That the FPI prompted such a raid is no surprise; that the authorities followed the Islamist group's tip to round-up an innocuous gathering that violated none of Indonesia's laws is also disappointingly familiar.

Just as an onslaught of anti-LGBT rhetoric from Indonesian officials began in January, the FPI was implicated in a raid on boarding houses looking for alleged lesbians in the city of Bandung. The following week they brought police to a hotel in Jakarta and urged them to shut down a training session about access to justice for LGBT people.

Homosexuality has never been illegal in Indonesia, though petitioners to the Constitutional Court are trying to change that right now. Tolerance for diversity has long been a motto the government promotes – but fails repeatedly to uphold.

But the FPI – along with other militant Islamist groups – also have a long history of attacking minorities with the explicit or implicit blessing of high-ranking officials. Indonesia has seen a steady rise in intolerance toward minorities – especially religious minorities – in recent years, and attacks on LGBT people occur amid political maneuvering between officials and radical religious groups.

Ultra-nationalistic fervor opens space for attacks on minorities as a way of gaining popular attention; weak political leadership in Indonesia has failed repeatedly to put a lid on it.

Close ties between militant Islamist groups and law enforcement continue to create an environment of widespread social sanction and impunity for attacks on minorities. Just this year, Indonesian officials and security forces were complicit in the violent forced eviction of more than 7,000 members of the Gafatar religious community from their homes.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo recently said he opposes criminal sanctions for LGBT people. Now his administration should demonstrate that commitment by ordering an investigation into why the police took cues for a discriminatory raid from a militant Islamist group.

[Kyle Knight is a researcher with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program.]

Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/11/29/indonesian-militant-islamists-police-raid-gay-gathering

Torture as theatre in Papua

Indonesia at Melbourne - November 29, 2016

Budi Hernawan – Despite frequent international and national exposure, torture in Papua has been continuous and systematic for half a century. It is characterised by virtually complete impunity for torturers and consistent denial by the state.

Torture is generally considered a hidden crime but in Papua it is performed for an audience, sometimes spectacularly. It is, in fact, designed to convey a message of terror from state authorities to the Papuan public. This is in stark contrast to torture in places like Abu Ghraib prison, for example, where torture, while also a theatrical performance, was intended to intimidate prisoners, not the public.

The phenomenon of torture is inseparable from the political conflict in Papua, one of the longest-running conflicts in the Pacific. It roots extend back to the 1940s and relate to the power struggles that accompanied the end of Dutch colonisation in Southeast Asia. Although the Dutch recognised Indonesian independence in 1949, they continued to claim Papua as Dutch New Guinea, and it was not until 1962 that the colonial administration withdrew. They did so in accordance with the New York Agreement, which gave the United Nations a mandate to supervise a referendum for Papuans in 1969, an event that led to Indonesia annexing the former colony.

Indonesia asserted control over Dutch New Guinea in 1963 and, almost simultaneously, the embryonic Papuan state also asserted its own sovereignty over the former Dutch territory. The referendum – the so-called Act of Free Choice – is considered by most Papuans to have been deeply flawed and the rival claims to territorial sovereignty have never been resolved.

My research has identified 431 cases of torture in Papua between 1963 and 2010. To confirm them, I conducted 214 interviews and cross-checked them with field visits and secondary sources.

Analysis revealed that 19 per cent of these cases took place in the Special Autonomy era (since 2001), nearly half (42 per cent) occurred during the relatively brief reform (reformasi) era (from 1998-2001), 37 per cent occurred under the New Order (1967-1998), and only 2 per cent occurred under Soekarno (1963-1967). This does not necessarily mean that levels of torture were significantly higher during reformasi. The militarisation of Papua and poor record keeping under the New Order could easily have prevented accurate accounts of torture during the 1960s, while more intense international and national scrutiny during reformasi could have led to the higher numbers of confirmed cases in that period.

The perpetrators of torture were mostly state officials. 65 per cent were members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), 34 per cent were police officers, and only 1 per cent were members of militia groups. The victims, meanwhile, were mainly highlanders living in rural areas. They were predominantly male, and farmers by occupation. Only two survivors or victims were members of the secessionist Free Papua Movement (OPM). The overwhelming majority were ordinary civilians who were not involved in the armed struggle.

The most remarkable finding was, however, that the dominant pattern of torture in Papua involved public presentation of state brutality. Nearly 40 per cent of all cases occurred in public places, such as streets, schoolyards, parks, and open spaces in villages, or in government, military and police facilities. Many military and police stations in rural areas of Papua are basic wooden constructions, and the public can often observe what is occurring inside them. It is therefore possible that up to 82 per cent of torture cases were, in one way or another, performed in public.

The public nature of much of the torture confirms that it was deliberately designed by the Indonesian state to communicate shock and awe. A gruesome YouTube video that emerged in October 2010 demonstrates this. It depicted the torture of four Papuan highlanders by a group of Indonesian soldiers in Mulia, Puncak Jaya district, in Papua. Soldiers burned the genitals of one man, held a knife to the neck of another, and forced them to confess that they were members of the OPM. As well as being recorded, the torture was also witnessed by the local community, who were just 50 meters from the scene.

The case was widely covered in the international media and the Indonesian government was forced to take action. Seven soldiers were found guilty and sentenced to between five and 10 months in prison – but only for disobedience, not torture. The sentences of three of the soldiers were reduced to three months on appeal. The others did not appeal.

This high level of impunity encourages the Indonesian state and security apparatus to exhibit brutality in public. The public has been so controlled, cowed and generally colonised that it sees little chance for any opposition, and deems reports and charges futile. On the rare occasions when torture cases are brought to human rights courts, Indonesian human rights laws have been easily avoided. In the Abepura case of 2000, for example, the Human Rights Court simply failed to address the element of torture, despite the evidence presented.

Interviews with perpetrators revealed that torture in Papua had nothing to do with extracting information, forcing confessions from the victims, or simply punishing them. Rather, it was about executing power in a theatrical way. As one military official told me, he and his group did not want to kill their victims but just to "make them [feel] really, really bad."

Torture in Papua is not executed by a few "bad apples". Rather, it constitutes part of a larger strategy of domination by the Indonesian state in which the practice of torture is sanctioned and part of policy, underpinned by the rationale of sovereignty. The Indonesian state and its agents act together and in a systematic way. This includes the incidents of torture themselves, as well as the absence of legal consequences.

A small flicker of hope remains, however. Even though the law and justice system seems paralysed, caregivers are not. Notwithstanding the state's policy of terror, they manage to maintain their agency and more importantly, to organise and consolidate resistance to oppression in various forms. This collaboration between the caregivers and survivors can change the theatre of torture from a confrontation between survivors and the state to a triangle of survivors, the state and caregivers. It is in this triangle that the limitations of sovereignty and governmentality become visible.

[Dr Budi Hernawan is an anthropologist and research fellow at the Abdurrahman Wahid Centre for Interfaith and Peace, University of Indonesia (UI) and a lecturer at the Graduate School of Paramadina University. This blog post is based on a journal article previously published in the International Journal of Conflict and Violence.]

Source: http://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/torture-as-theatre-in-papua/

Blasphemy charge reveals real fault lines in Indonesian democracy

Indonesia at Melbourne - November 25, 2016

Tim Lindsey – The controversial decision to continue criminal proceedings for blasphemy against Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama reveals deep fault lines in Indonesian society. The crisis, which has engulfed his re-election campaign, is complex but reflects two problems at the heart of Indonesian democracy.

The first is the rise of religious intolerance among Indonesia's 80 per cent-plus Muslim majority. The second is the manipulation of that intolerance by the small group of elite politicians who dominate Indonesian politics.

Indonesian reformers began warning of rising religious intolerance towards unorthodox Muslims and Christians while ex-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was in office.

Regarded internationally as a sincere democrat and – as Australian diplomats usually put it – "basically decent", Yudhoyono played a key role in pushing the army back into the barracks after Soeharto's fall in 1998. His weak spot, however, was conservative Islamists, known as "hardliners". He seemed unable, or unwilling, to do anything to oppose their rise.

In the decade of Yudhoyono's presidency (2004-2014) there were far more convictions for blasphemy than under the 32 years of Soeharto's rule. Most of these were at the behest of MUI, Indonesia's conservative Council of Ulama (Islamic religious leaders), a non-government body acting as an umbrella group for Muslim organisations.

Reinventing itself from the regime puppet it was under Soeharto, this secretive organisation quickly became a champion of conservative Muslim values. Yudhoyono backed it, saying it should have a "central role" in defining religious orthodoxy and help form state policy on religion, with the "tools of state" "doing their duty" to implement its fatwas. Many are now confused about its status and think of it as a state agency.

A pattern has emerged of MUI branches issuing fatwas against minority religious groups. Often this is followed by protests against the group, often violent, usually provoked by hardliner vigilante groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). The police stand back at first, before arresting members of the target group days later. They are then tried for blasphemy on the basis of the fatwa, and are usually jailed.

Jakarta's Governor, a Chinese Christian known as Ahok, is by far the most prominent and powerful figure to face possible prosecution for blasphemy. The huge, violent demonstration against him that gridlocked Jakarta on 4 November and forced President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo to cancel his state visit to Australia nonetheless fits the pattern.

On 11 October, MUI condemned Ahok for comments made on the election trail. Ahok, who has a reputation for blunt and often unguarded remarks, said voters shouldn't be fooled by ulama using a verse of the Qur'an to claim Muslims should not take non-Muslims as leaders.

When transcribed to a website, the reference to "using" was dropped, making it seem Ahok was suggesting Muslims could be fooled by the Qur'an. MUI said either version insulted Islam: enough to constitute blasphemy under the law.

Technically MUI's opinion was not a fatwa but it made no difference. The violent protest involved the usual hardliner vigilante groups, groups opposed to evictions Ahok has ordered in his struggle to clean up Jakarta, and others put off by his "straight-talking style" (often a euphemism for anti-Chinese sentiment).

Last week, police announced they would proceed with the blasphemy case against Ahok, despite debate among Muslim scholars about whether the remark was reasonable.

Now prosecutors must decide on the charges Ahok faces. Given the huge pressure from hardliners, he is likely to be tried for blasphemy. Jokowi has already said as much, declaring he wants the nation to watch. Ahok will probably also face charges of "causing feelings of hatred in the community", a back-up often used to ensure conviction if blasphemy fails.

There is a real possibility he will be convicted, at least at first. Judges in recent controversial cases, such as the Jakarta International School child abuse case and the Jessica Wongso murder case, seem afraid to decide contrary to public sentiment as shown in the media, regardless of evidence.

That would suit Yudhoyono as his son, Agus, is challenging Ahok in the gubernatorial race.

For Yudhoyono, furious with Jokowi for belittling his legacy and worried about his own Democrat Party's fading clout, his son's victory would be a clear signal he is back in the game. This why the Jakarta gossip has it that Jokowi's claims the riots were instigated by "political actors" refer to Yudhoyono.

This reveals the second fault line. In a sense, the religious issues are only part of what this crisis is about. At a deeper level, it is really about competition for power. Ahok was deputy when Jokowi was governor of Jakarta. The two have been very close. Until the blasphemy crisis, Ahok was clear favourite to win, with high approval ratings as governor. Now he might lose.

The third ticket in the race is former education minister Anies Baswedan. He is backed by the party of Jokowi's failed presidential rival, the former general and one-time Soeharto son-in-law, Prabowo Subianto.

In other words, the election for governor of Indonesia's capital has become a high-stakes proxy war between three of the country's most powerful men: the president, a former president and a former presidential candidate, Prabowo.

It appears the embattled and utterly pragmatic Jokowi might cut his close friend Ahok loose to save himself. If he does, the hardliners will have won. Again.

[Tim Lindsey is Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne. This article was originally published in The Australian: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/blasphemy-charge-reveals-real-fault-lines-in-indonesia-democracy/news-story/d748c881028069a19d1459dc592d7213.]

Source: http://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/blasphemy-charge-reveals-real-fault-lines-in-indonesian-democracy/

Raising the flag (without getting arrested or killed)

The Spectator - November 24, 2016

Esther Anderson – On 28 November, East Timorese celebrate the anniversary of the day in 1975 when their country was declared an independent nation and they raised their flag for the first time. On December 1, West Papuans also remember the day in 1961 when they declared independence and their flag, the Morning Star (Bintang Kejora), was first raised, however it is likely that any celebrations there will be broken up with brutality by Indonesian security forces.

The newly independent nations of East Timor and West Papua were both crushed by Indonesia shortly after declaring independence. Australia turned a blind eye on both occasions, and continued to ignore the brutality by which Indonesia sought to keep control of both countries. Max Stahl's film documenting the massacre of over 250 East Timorese who were walking with East Timor flags to the Santa Cruz cemetery was a turning point for East Timor, not because the Santa Cruz massacre was worse than any previous massacre by Indonesian forces (it wasn't) but because the film was seen by the international community, and Australia and other nations could no longer pretend that all was well in Indonesian occupied East Timor.

Not so well known is the Biak massacre, on the Island of Biak, West Papua, where, in July 1998, local people raised the Morning Star flag and peacefully demonstrated for the right to vote on their political future. There was a rumour that a UN team was about to visit Biak, however instead of sympathetic visitors from the UN, Indonesian security forces arrived and opened fire on the unarmed men, women and children assembled near the water tower in Biak town where the flag had been raised. Many were subsequently loaded on to military trucks, then transferred to Indonesian naval ships, taken out to sea, stabbed, mutilated and dumped overboard. Bodies were found later drifting in the water or washed up on beaches. The Indonesian claim that they were victims of a tsunami that had hit Papua New Guinea hundreds of kilometres to the East of Biak is not credible as bodies were that found had their hands tied, and some had been mutilated (genitals cut off). Many of the women were tortured and raped.

The Indonesian Government has never acknowledged the Biak massacre and no one has ever been prosecuted for the atrocious crimes. The international community has ignored it, partly because, unlike the Santa Cruz massacre, there was no Western journalist there to film it, although there are many reports from survivors, relatives and local people. Some of these are recorded at a Citizen's Tribunal held on the 15th anniversary of the massacre, see http://www.biak-tribunal.o rg/A report on the massacre published by the Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy, ELSHAM (Lembaga Studi dan Advokasi Hak Asasi Manusia), Jayapura, West Papua, in July 1999, 'Names without Graves, Graves without Names: A Report on Human Rights Abuses in Biak, Irian Jaya' made a number of recommendations, none of which have been followed by the Indonesian Government.

Apparently Australia expressed 'grave concern' at reports of the massacre, but the Indonesian Government continued to deny that anything other than gentle dispersal of a mass demonstration had occurred.

I've visited the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili and also visited, the Island of Biak. At Santa Cruz cemetery, the relatives of the victims are free to come to mourn. On Biak, there is no memorial to the dead, and it's pretty certain that weeping relatives at the water tower would be dispersed roughly by Indonesian police. I was too much of a scaredy-cat to lay a memorial at the water tower where the shootings had occurred, but I went with my husband to a deserted beach close to Biak town and placed a bag patterned with the Morning Star flag, a shell necklace and flowers on the sand in memory of the Papuans who had been murdered and dumped at sea for raising their flag. This of course is no substitute for an official memorial, prosecution of the perpetrators and justice for the victims.

Since the Biak massacre there have been many arrests and acts of brutality against West Papuans for raising their flag or expressing a wish for a referendum on independence, and many West Papuan leaders have been either imprisoned or killed. And it doesn't seem to be getting better – on 19 November this year, over 100 people were arrested in Sorong. Similar incidents have occurred in Maluku (the Moluccas) the most notorious being the torture and imprisonment of a group of South Moluccan dancers who unfurled the Republic of South Maluku flag while dancing in front of former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Their leader, schoolteacher Johan Teterissa was initially sentenced to life imprisonment, and the others were given sentences of between 10-20 years. Some of these dancers have since reportedly died in jail. The Indonesian Government tries to promote the Moluccas as a tranquil tourist destination. Releasing the Moluccans suffering severe jail sentences for flying their flag would be step on the way to promoting the Moluccas as a place of peace, harmony and tolerance.

In October 2015 a task force was set up by the former coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister Luhut Pandjaitan to investigate cases of human rights abuses (killing and torture) committed by Indonesian military police. However to date the taskforce has failed to bring any perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice. Well what a surprise. Accountability, justice, morality and ethics are obviously unknown concepts to many members of the Indonesian security forces. Australia is apparently involved in counter-terrorism training exercises with various Indonesian military and/or police units. Given the Indonesian tendency to categorise peaceful demonstrators expressing a wish for a referendum or waving a Morning Star flag as terrorists, it is to be hoped that the Australian Government does not become complicit in persecuting people peacefully expressing their political beliefs.

Members of the West Papuan diaspora around the world, (including in Australia and the UK) raise the Morning Star flag every year on 1 December. Wouldn't it be great if this year the Indonesian Government showed some respect for the rights of the Papuans under its control and allowed them to freely raise their Morning Star flag in their own land, without being either arrested or killed?

[Dr Esther Anderson is a member of the Australia West Papua Association. She is also Convenor of Friends of Same, Manufahi (an Australia-Timor Leste friendship group).]

Spectator http://spectator.com.au/2016/11/raising-the-flag/and pasted below)

Wiping out 1965 stigma

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

Asvi Warman Adam, Frankfurt – Erving Goffman (1968) suggested that stigma was any form of physical and social attributes or signs that diminish the social identity of an individual, disqualifying the person from full social acceptance.

Still quoting Goffman, there are three types of stigma: first, one relating to physical disability; second, personal weakness or defamation of an individual's character or background; third, social stigma that is associated with group, race or religion. The stigma of 1965 falls under the second and third categories.

Stigmatization began in early October of 1965, following an aborted coup attempt blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), and continued through the days of the New Order to the era of reform. It first came to life when news about the torture of Army generals at Lubang Buaya was broadcast.

News reports claimed that members of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), the female wing of the PKI, had cut off the genitals and gouged out of the eyes of the high-ranking officers.

The smear campaign aimed to expose the public to images that showed how cold-blooded people who embraced communism were. A visum et repertum released later proved the contrary but the government did not clear its publication.

People's anger toward the PKI and its mass organizations, with pre-existing horizontal conflicts supporting this sentiment and triggered by ensuing military operations, led to mass arrests and killings, mostly in Central Java, East Java and Bali.

A couple of weeks after the coup, Gen. AH Nasution commissioned the Lembaga Sejarah (History Agency) and the Defense and Security Staff, with the assistance of historians from the University of Indonesia, published a book, 40 Hari Kegagalan "G.30.S", 1 Oktober-10 November 1965 (The 40 Days of the Aborted Sept. 30 Coup, Oct. 1 to Nov. 10, 1965).

In October 1965, Maj. Gen. Soeharto was assigned to run operations to restore security and public order. Classification of those involved in the G30S was later decreed: Class A (involved and tried), Class B (lacking evidence for trial), Class C (supporter).

The grouping was, in practice, not set according to the appropriate criteria. People wishing to work as civil servants were required to produce a "G30S-free certificate" from the police.

In 1981 the minister of home affairs issued an instruction that did not allow those involved in G30S and their family members to join the Civil Service and the Armed Forces, or fill in other strategic jobs such as teacher and priest.

On April 17, 1990, president Soeharto, through Presidential Decree No. 16/1990 ordered a special assessment of civil servants. Candidates for civil service jobs (pending appointment) or active civil servants to be assigned specific duties were regularly scrutinized regarding their own or any of their family members' involvement in G30S.

The engineering of history took form in history studies, building monuments and museums, film production and observation of historical events.

The National History of Indonesia (Sejarah Nasional Indonesia), edited by Nugroho Notosusanto (Book 6) and published in 1975, only discussed a sole version of the G30S story, i.e. the one saying that the movement was masterminded by the PKI. It was this version that was taught at schools.

Construction of the Pancasila Sakti Museum took place from 1967 to 1972.

In 1987, Gen. Benny Moerdani opened the Waspada Purba Wisesa Museum (to warn of the danger of extreme right-wing Islam), and in 1993 Soeharto commissioned the construction of the Pengkhianatan PKI Museum (to warn of the danger of leftist extremists).

History of National Struggle Studies (PSPB) had been a subject since 1984. Its eight objectives include ensuring that: 1) students are aware that one-sided acts by the PKI represent unilateral coercion to destroy the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia; 2) students realize that action fronts against the PKI were driven by the courage to defend freedom and justice; 3) students believe that the New Order put first the interests of the State and its People.

Post-reform marked the revision of the history syllabi, such as in the 2004 competence-based curriculum, where "G30S" was written without the added "PKI", and various versions of the 1965 event were taught. In 2006, however, the New Order version of history once again took the stage.

Two accusations are always used to stigmatize people associated with communism.

First, they are ruthless; a claim that has been around since early October 1965 when Gerwani were falsely accused of cutting off the genitals and cutting out the eyeballs of the generals.

Second, they despise religion. Since the 1960s issues about land and estates have been hot topics in the country. On Nov. 3, 1961, farmers in Jengkol, Kediri, arranged a large-scale rally, and on Nov. 15, 1961, shootings by the security force resulted in the death of dozens of them.

In the Bandar Betsy affair of May 14, 1965, in South Sumatra, hundreds of farmers killed Second Sub-Lt. Soejono. In Kanigoro, Kediri, on Jan. 13, 1965, a Pemuda Rakyat (People's Youth) group dispersed a training event attended by members of Pelajar Islam Indonesia (Indonesian Muslim Students), and it was consistently reported that a Quran was treaded on. The truth was the holy book was safely kept inside a gunny sack.

Ayat-Ayat yang Disembelih (Slaughtered Verses, hereafter AAYD) by Anab Afifi and Thowaf Zuharon (2015) and a 2015 book by Taufiq Ismail, Matine Gusti Allah, Riwayat Palu Arit Sedunia Menajiskan Tuhan dan Agama (The Death of God, The Story of How Hammers and Sickles around the World Defile God and Religions, hereafter MGA).

AAYD lists the extreme cruelty and vulgarity that generally accompany blasphemy.

For example, "Kutil: This massacre is my protest to God"; "Kyai Soeleiman kept praising Allah when he was buried alive"; "Head pressed down with a stone, killed after leading the early morning prayers"; "After my tongue was cut by the PKI, I can no longer recite verses from the Quran"; "Quran Teacher Mutilated"; "My father was murdered by the PKI after his tarawih prayers"; "An Islamic seminarian was buried alive with his feet up"; "Gerwani poison killed Islamic boarding school students."

AAYD contains many irrational facts. Kutil, for example, was said to have been detained in Digul following the 1926 PKI rebellious act, but managed to escape and stole a boat, which he used to sail from Papua to Tegal in Central Java.

It is suggested in MGA that mass killings of 100 to 120 million of people were recorded in communist countries worldwide. It claims that if communists had taken power in Indonesia, they would have done the same.

History discusses things that have happened, not future events. Taufiq Ismail wrote about violent acts committed by the communists while in Indonesia the fact was just the opposite.

A book edited by Stephane Curtois, Le Livre noir du communisme (1997), which the writer primarily referred to, was indeed controversial. It received harsh criticism because it was not a book on the history of communism nor the history of violence in communist countries; rather, it was a claim that crimes had been committed in communist countries costing millions of lives.

No clear data comparing those states was available. It did not distinguish mass death caused by famine from genocide. It apparently wanted to show that the number of victims of communist regimes was many times larger than that of the German Nazi party.

Two writers of the book's chapters, Jean-Louis Margolin (on China) and Nicolas Werth (Soviet Union) rejected the conclusion presented by Curtois.

[The writer is a historian with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. This article was presented in the international conference, Reconciling Indonesian History With 1965, at Goethe University, Frankfurt, on Nov. 10-12]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/wiping-out-1965-stigma.html