The petition, presented by the independence leader Benny Wenda on Tuesday, asked the UN to appoint a special representative to investigate abuses and to put West Papua back on the decolonisation agenda.

But the UN decolonisation committee says the West Papua cause is outside its mandate, which extends only to the 17 states identified by the UN as "non-self governing territories."

The committee's chair and Venezuela's representative to the UN, Rafael Ramirez, says he had received no formal petition document, and his office had been "manipulated" for political purposes.

Mr Ramirez also says the committee accepts Indonesia's sovereignty over West Papua, which took control of the western half of New Guinea in 1969.

In a statement, Indonesia's UN representative, Triansyah Djani, who sits on the committee, called Mr Wenda's petition a hoax and separatist propaganda.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/340570/un-committee-rejects-west-papua-independence-petition

No independence petition from West Papua: United Nations

Jakarta Globe - September 29, 2017

Jakarta – Chairman of the United Nations' special committee on decolonization, Rafael Ramirez, said on Thursday (28/09) that he has not received a petition from exiled Free West Papua leader Benny Wenda demanding independence from Indonesia, despite a report this week in the British newspaper The Guardian saying it had been submitted to the UN.

"The Special Committee on Decolonization has not received nor can receive any request or document related to the situation of West Papua, a territory which is an integral part of the Republic of Indonesia," Ramirez said in a statement.

He went on to explain that the special committee on decolonization has a limited mandate over 17 non-self governing territories. They do not include West Papua.

On Wednesday, The Guardian reported a petition bearing the signatures of 1.8 million West Papuans had been presented by Benny to the United Nations.

The petition allegedly had to be smuggled from village to village in the westernmost province of Indonesia, because it "is very significant for us [West Papuans] in our struggle for freedom," the Guardian quoted Benny as saying.

On Twitter, Benny repeated his claim that he had delivered the petition to the United Nations.

Today, I delivered the West Papuan People's Petition, signed by over 70 percent of my people, to the #UnitedNations. https://t.co/TlfEGqWMCj pic.twitter.com/ZYhtyR1HYk – Benny Wenda (@BennyWenda) September 27, 2017

The Free West Papua Twitter account also showed a photo of Benny posing with the leader of the UK opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, that was allegedly taken before the petition was submitted to the UN.

Before the #WestPapua #petition was presented to the #UnitedNations, it was endorsed by UK Opposition Leader #JeremyCorbyn #LetWestPapuaVote pic.twitter.com/6nnEZdzTQC – Free West Papua (@FreeWestPapua) September 28, 2017

In his statement, Ramirez also expressed his indignation at any attempt to "manipulate or misuse" the special committee on decolonization, and said such activities were "contrary to the mandate of the Committee" and is "strongly rejected."

In a statement, Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry referred to Benny's claim as "propaganda," and said that "separatists [including] Benny Wenda's group continue to spread hoaxes and lies to the public."

"Last year, Benny also claimed he had submitted documents on [West] Papua to the UN Secretary General, but it was proven to be a lie," Indonesian ambassador to the United Nations, Dian Triansyah Djani, said in the statement.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/no-independence-petition-west-papua-united-nations/

West Papua independence petition does not exist, United Nations

ABC Radio Australia - September 29, 2017

Samantha Hawley, Indonesia – The head of the United Nation's decolonisation committee has rejected reports of a secret petition demanding a free vote for independence in West Papua.

Exiled West Papuan independence campaigner Benny Wenda had told the press 1.8 million West Papuans had signed the secret petition that was passed between homes and villages across provinces.

In the reports, Mr Wenda said he presented the petition to the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation.

But from New York, the chairman of the committee said no petition had been received and the report, which first appeared in The Guardian newspaper, was a manipulation.

"Some people are trying to use me and trying to manipulate or whatever," Rafael Ramirez said. "I'm concerned because some people are trying to use me as propaganda."

Mr Ramirez said West Papua was not on the agenda for the committee and it had a very good and strong relationship with Indonesia. "Indonesia is a very good friend of ours," he said.

The Indonesian Government condemned the reports of a petition and said it was a political stunt with no credibility. A spokesman for the Indonesian embassy in Canberra said the chairman's statement had "busted the false claim of the ULMWP".

"This group unfortunately likes to spread hoaxes and lies including by manipulating the media," the spokesman said. He alleged the group falsely claimed in 2016 that it had delivered a document to the UN secretary-general but it was proven to be untrue.

Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2017-09-29/west-papua-independence-petition-does-not-exist-united-nations-says/1705442

UN refutes 'Guardian' report on Papuan petition

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2017

Tama Salim, Marguerite Afra Sapiie and Nethy Dharma Somba, United Nations/Jakarta/Jayapura – The United Nations shot down on Thursday rumors that a petition calling for a Papuan referendum had been submitted to its Special Committee on Decolonization, with the committee's chairman saying he had had no contact whatsoever with the Papuan separatist issue.

In his capacity as C-24 chairman, Venezuela's permanent representative to the UN, Rafael Ramirez, expressed indignation with those individuals and parties who had manipulated his name for their own purposes.

Responding to The Jakarta Post's question on whether he had any form of communication with Papuan separatist Benny Wenda, Ramirez stressed that it was not possible to communicate with parties outside the C-24 agenda.

As explained by the Venezuelan diplomat, the committee's mandate is limited to 17 non-self-governing territories, or former colonies. He said that Papua was not included among them.

"I have never received anything or anybody regarding the issue of West Papua," he said in a doorstep interview on Thursday morning at the UN headquarters in New York.

The C-24 chair was responding to questions on an exclusive published on Sept. 27 in the London-based Guardian newspaper, which claimed that Wenda had submitted a petition to the UN decolonization committee that called for a Papuan referendum.

The petition, which was supposedly "smuggled from one end of Papua to the other", quoting Wenda, claims to have gathered signatures from 70 percent of the local population without alerting the authorities.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/29/un-refutes-guardian-report-on-papuan-petition.html

Worse West Papua human rights, 'shrinking space', says new report

Asia Pacific Report = September 29, 2017

Pacific Media Centre – West Papua has experienced a "significant aggravation" of the human rights situation in the past two years compared to previous years, says a new report from more than 40 faith-based and civil rights organisations.

"Reports by local human rights defenders describe an alarming shrinking of democratic space," says the report.

"Although Indonesian President Joko Widodo pushed economic development and granted clemency to five long-term political prisoners, the police strictly limited even the most peaceful dissident political activities."

The report says that Indigenous Papuans – particularly women – "continued to have a high risk of becoming victims of human rights violations."

It adds that "racist attitudes toward West Papuans among the police and military, insufficient legal protection, the lack of proper law enforcement, inconsistent policy implementation and corruptive practices among government officials contributed to the impunity of security forces."

Local journalists in West Papua also continued to face "intimidation and obstruction" from the security forces.

This is the fifth report of the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) covering events from January 2015 until December 2016.

Human rights analysis

More than 40 organisations in West Papua, Jakarta, and worldwide have brought their analysis on the human rights and conflict situation in West Papua together.

The executive summary of the 218-pages report explains how several human rights standards have deteriorated over the last two years.

The report is compiled by the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) and the German Westpapua-Netzwerk (WPN). The executive summary says:

"The years 2015 and 2016 were characterised by a significant aggravation of the human rights situation in West Papua compared to previous years. The term West Papua refers to the Indonesian easternmost provinces of 'Papua' and 'Papua Barat'. Reports by local human rights defenders describe an alarming shrinking of democratic space.

"Indigenous Papuans, particularly women, continued to have a high risk of becoming victims of human rights violations. Racist attitudes toward West Papuans among the police and military, insufficient legal protection, the lack of proper law enforcement, inconsistent policy implementation and corruptive practices amongst government officials contributed to the impunity of security forces.

"Government critics and activists faced legal prosecution with varying charges. Using a charge of treason ('makar') remained common against non-violent offenders.

Increasing 'incitement' charges

"West Papuan political activists also faced an increasing number of charges incitement or violence despite the non-violence of protest and almost all activism.

"The deterioration of the political and civil rights situation in West Papua during the past two years was most obvious in the sheer number of political arrests.

"Those arrests drastically increased to 1083 in 2015, and then quadrupled in 2016 to 5361 arrests, in tandem with growing political protest for self-determination.

"Almost all of the arrests came during peaceful protest in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). In addition, the Indonesian government and the regional police in West Papua increasingly restricted the right to freedom of opinion and expression using official statements (Makhlumat) issued by the Papuan Regional Police in 2016.

"Local journalists in West Papua faced continued intimidation and obstruction from the security forces. In comparison to previous years, the number of reported cases against local journalists has slightly decreased throughout the reporting period 2015 and 2016.

"President Joko Widodo's promise in May 2015, to make West Papua freely accessible to foreign journalists and international observers was not implemented. Foreign journalists were in an increasing number of cases prevented from entering West Papua or when permitted to enter, they faced obstruction, surveillance, intimidation and physical violence.

"International human rights organisations and humanitarian organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) remained banned from freely accessing West Papua.

Threatened, obstructed

"Human rights defenders in West Papua had to work under fear of being monitored, threatened and obstructed by the security forces. The killing of well-known human rights defender Joberth Jitmau, marked the sad highlight of attacks against human rights defenders during these two years.

"The police termed Jitmau's killing a traffic accident and did not conduct a criminal investigation. Jitmau's case was a representative example of the widespread impunity in West Papua.

"Only in rare instances were security forces prosecuted in public or military trials. Two of the three cases of prosecution resulted in considerably low sentences for the perpetrators in view of the severity of the criminal offences.

"Security force members also continued to use torture and ill-treatment as a common response to political protest or incidents of alleged disturbance of public order. Extra-judicial killings occurred particularly often as an act of revenge or retaliation for violent acts or other non-violent interactions with members of the security forces.

"The situation with regard to economic, social and cultural rights in West Papua was stagnant. The quality of education in West Papua remained considerably low, due to poor management of the education system, inadequate competencies, high absence rates amongst teachers, and inadequate funding. (Less than 1 percent of Papua Province's annual budget goes to education.)

"There is still no culturally appropriate curriculum in place, which is capable of improving the educational situation of indigenous Papuan children and of preserving local cultures.

"Health care and education remained in a devastating condition, far below the national average, despite the large amount of special autonomy funds that flow to the two administrative provinces Papua and Papua Barat.

Strong imbalance

"There is a strong imbalance in the fulfillment of minimum standards in terms of health, education, food and labor rights between the urban areas and the remote inland areas of West Papua.

"Indigenous Papuans, who mostly reside outside the urban centres, suffer the most of this imbalance. Both Papuan provinces are amongst the regions with the highest prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS infections and child mortality of any 'Indonesian province', while the quality of health services is alarmingly low.

"Insufficient equipment in rural health care institutions and a lack of adequate health monitoring and response mechanisms remained strikingly evident. These shortcomings were highlighted when a pertussis epidemic broke out in the remote highland regency of Nduga, killing least 51 children and three adults within a span of three months in late 2015. Malnutrition enabled the rapid spread of the epidemic.

"The case also mirrors the government's growing challenge to guarantee indigenous Papuans right to food. Palm oil plantations and other agricultural mega-projects have led to the destruction of local food sources, livestock and access to clean drinking water.

"Cases of domestic violence are often settled in non-legal ways, which fail to bring justice for the victims and lack a deterrent effect for perpetrators. Women living with HIV/AIDS are particularly often facing discrimination and stigmatization.

"The very existence of West Papuans is threatened by the uncontrolled migration from other parts of Indonesia. This particularly applies to the urban centers where they have largely become a marginalised minority facing strong economic competition.

"In most rural areas, where indigenous Papuans are still the majority, government-promoted large-scale natural resource exploitation projects attract migrants and continue to cause severe environmental degradation as well as the destruction of live stock of indigenous communities.

"Government institutions continued to facilitate the interests of private Indonesian and foreign companies. This practice negatively impacts indigenous people's right to their ancestral lands and resources as well as their right to determine their development.

"Resource extraction often means clearing large forest areas and polluting of water resources, thereby forcing indigenous communities to change their very way of life. Destruction of forests and hunting grounds as a life source puts an additional burden on women, in particular."

Read the full report here: http://www.humanrightspapua.org/hrreport/2017

Source: https://asiapacificreport.nz/2017/09/29/worse-west-papua-human-rights-shrinking-space-says-new-report/

Annual stoush in New York over West Papua

Radio New Zealand International - September 27, 2017

Johnny Blades – It's become an annual stoush in New York. Pacific leaders call for an investigation into killings and various alleged human rights abuses against West Papuans by Indonesian security forces.

The long-running complaint that Papuans were denied a legitimate self-determination process in the 1960s is also raised.

Indonesia then exercises its right of reply to lash out at the leaders of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu in particular.

In recent days, leaders of several Pacific Islands countries showed during general debate of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly that the stand they took last year on West Papua had not abated.

Vanuatu's prime minister Charlot Salwai accused world leaders of turning a deaf ear to more than half a century of atrocities committed against the indigenous Melanesians of Indonesia's Papua region.

"We call on our counterparts throughout the world to support the legal right of West Papua to self-determination and to jointly with Indonesia put an end to all kinds of violence and find common ground to facilitate a process to make their own choice," he said. Vanuatu prime minister Charlot Salwai speaks at the UN General Assembly.

The prime minister of Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare picked up the thread, saying West Papuans were desperate for the international comunity to act.

He zeroed in on what he described as the empty notion of "leaving no one behind" in the UN sustainable development goals.

"Only international action by the international system, especially the United Nations, can pave the way for the recognition of a people whose right to self-determination had been denied for nearly fifty years," said Mr Sogavare.

"Failing this, we as a family of nations will become complicit in perpetuating the suffering and being blind to the injustice, missing yet another golden opportunity to remain true to the saying of leaving no one behind."

These calls by the Melanesian prime ministers for international action were echoed in speeches by leaders from Tuvalu and the Caribbean nation of St Vincent and Grenadines.

In reply, an Indonesian government spokeswoman categorically denied the allegations regarding Papua.

Ainan Nuran, a Third Secretary at Indonesia's Permanent Mission in New York, accused the Melanesian leaders of being misled into supporting separatism in a sovereign nation.

"These countries were foolishly deceived by individuals with separatist agendas to exploit the issue of human rights," she said.

"If human rights are at the heart of the issue, why were these concerns not raised in the appropriate forum, namely the 3rd Cycle of the Periodic Review of Indonesia at the United Nations Human Rights Council."

According to Ms Nuran, Papua and West Papua provinces had the fastest growing economies in all of Indonesia and that the indigenous West Papuans benefited greatly from this.

After telling the Assembly that West Papua would always remain an integral part of her country, Ms Nuran translated an old Indonesian proverb which she said could apply to the Pacific leaders.

"If you slap the water in a bucket, then be careful that the water will splash all over your own face."

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/340342/annual-stoush-in-new-york-over-west-papua

1.8 million West Papuans petition UN for independence vote

Radio New Zealand International - September 27, 2017

A petition with the signatures of 1.8 million West Papuans in Indonesia has been presented to the United Nations in New York demanding an internationally supervised vote on independence.

The exiled West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda presented the document to the C24, the special committee on decolonisation on Tuesday.

Dr Jason MacLeod from the University of Sydney is a West Papua expert who has just returned from the Indonesian territory to verify the petition.

He said it was fair and accurate representation of the West Papuan people's will and the UN needed to pay due attention.

"They've got two choices before them. They can either re-list West Papua on the UN Committee for Decolonisation or they can put pressure on the Indonesian government to hold a referendum. One of those two things really need to happen."

The Free West Papua movement said the 1.8 million people who signed the petition account for more than 70 percent of the region's population.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/340374/1-point-8-million-west-papuans-petition-un-for-independence-vote

Outlawed West Papua independence petition presented to the United

ABC Radio Australia - September 27, 2017

Timothy Fernandez – A secret petition demanding a new independence referendum for West Papua is presented to the United Nations after being signed by 1.8 million West Papuans.

The Indonesian Government banned the petition in the provinces of West Papua and Papua, threatening that those who signed it will be arrested and face jail.

But the document was smuggled between villages where it has been signed by 1.8 million West Papuans, more than 70 per cent of the province's population.

Advocates argue that West Papuans have been denied a legitimate self-determination process, since it was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969.

The petition demands a free vote on West Papua's independence as well as the appointment of a UN representative, to investigate reports of human rights violations by Indonesian security forces.

The Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, said the petition was incredibly important and the people of West Papua had effectively already voted to demand their self-determination.

"They have come in numbers to express their hope for a better future," Mr Sogavare said in his UN General Assembly speech.

United Liberation Movement for West Papua spokesman Benny Wenda said signing the petition was a "dangerous act" for West Papuans, with 57 people arrested for supporting the petition, and 54 tortured by Indonesian security forces during the campaign.

"The Global Petition for West Papua, run in tandem with the West Papuan People's Petition, was also targeted and the platform that initially hosted it, Avaaz, was blocked throughout all of Indonesia," he said.

Jason Macleod, of University of Sydney's Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, said the petition needed to be understood as a "fundamental rejection" of the Indonesian Government's claim of sovereignty over West Papua.

"In a very clear and direct manner, the petition represents Papuans' demand for decolonisation and self-determination, their desire to freely and fairly determine their own future," Dr Macleod said.

Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2017-09-27/outlawed-west-papua-independence-petition-presented-to-the-united-nations/1704912

Report reveals 38 deaths linked to lack of healthcare services in

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2017

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Thirty eight residents in Semenage district, Yahukimo, Papua, were reported to have died during the May-August period due to sickness and poor access to healthcare services.

"They died after falling ill. They suffered from various symptoms including coughing, diarrhoea, headaches and abdominal pain. I think they only had mild illnesses, which they could have recovered from if they had received medicine. But instead their illnesses led to death because of the absence of health workers and a lack of medicine," said John Jonga, a Catholic reverend who serves in Yahukimo.

The religious leader, who won the Yap Thiam Hien Award in 2011, said he was informed by the local people that there had been deaths caused by poor access to healthcare services, after which he deployed a team to investigate the reports.

"I have reported it to the Yahukimo regent [Abock Busup] and the head of the Yahukimo Health Agency. They are ready to deliver 100 kilograms of medicine to Semenage. The medicine will be brought to the district by health volunteer Habel Lokon," said John.

He explained that in 2013, 61 Semenage residents of various ages died of illnesses that were getting worse after they were unable to get proper healthcare services.

"Semenage has only one sub-community health center [Pustu] and a medical aide who serves nine villages. It's a very difficult task [...]," John said. He hoped that local authorities could dispatch a team to Semenage to directly see the living and health condition of the residents in the district. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/26/report-reveals-38-deaths-linked-to-lack-of-healthcare-services-in-yahukimo.html

Indonesia hits back at Melanesian leaders on West Papua

Radio New Zealand International - September 26, 2017

Indonesia has denied allegations regarding West Papua made by Pacific leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York.

It has lashed out at the leaders of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu who called for an investigation into alleged killings, torture, abduction and human rights abuses against indigenous West Papuans by Indonesian security forces.

Earlier in the Assembly's annual session, Vanuatu's prime minister Charlot Salwai accused world leaders of turning a deaf ear to more than half a century of atrocities committed by Indonesia on West Papuans.

"We also call on our counterparts throughout the world to support the legal right of West Papua to self-determination and to jointly with Indonesia put an end to all kinds of violence and find common ground to facilitate a process to make their own choice," said Mr Salwai.

His statements were echoed in a speech by Manasseh Sogavare of Solomon Islands.

In response, an Indonesian government spokeswoman told the assembly Indonesia categorically denied all allegations levelled against it regarding Papua region, known widely as West Papua.

She said the Papuan provinces (Papua and West Papua) would always remain an integral part of Indonesia, accusing the Melanesian leaders of supporting separatism in a sovereign nation.

"These countries were foolishly deceived by individuals with separatist agendas to exploit the issue of human rights. If human rights are at the heart of the issue, why were these concerns not raised in the appropriate forum, namely the 3rd Cycle of the Periodic Review of Indonesia at the United Nations Human Rights Council."

According to the spokeswoman, Papua and West Papua had the fastest growing economies in all of Indonesia and that the indigenous West Papuans benefited greatly from the development occurring in their provinces.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/340298/indonesia-hits-back-at-melanesian-leaders-on-west-papua

Second shooting in two days reported in Freeport mining area, Papua

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2017

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Ronald Sajensolar, a driver of a patrol car, sustained injuries to his cheek and shoulders from shards of a broken window, after the car he was traveling in was shot at by unknown assailants at Mile 60 in the mining area of PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua on Monday.

It was the second shooting incident in the area in two days. On Sunday, a water tanker truck and patrol vehicle reportedly belonging to Freeport were shot at by unknown assailants while traveling to Mile 61 in the mining area.

"Ronald is receiving medical treatment at Tembagapura Hospital at Mile 68," Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. AM Kamal said in Jayapura on Monday.

Security officers from the Security officers from the "Amole Task Force" are on standby at Mile 61 in Tembagapura in Mimika, Papua, on Sunday. Two vehicles belonging to miner PT Freeport Indonesia were shot at by unknown assailants while traveling to Mile 61 in the mining area on Sunday. (Courtesy of Papua Police/file)

The shooting occurred when Ronald's car was traveling with 30 other vehicles carrying mining workers from Timika to Tembagapura. The gun shots were heard from the left side of the road. Following the incident, 20 of the vehicles could not immediately continue their journey to Tembagapura.

Kamal said the police had been investigating the case and looking for the perpetrators. Freeport Indonesia spokesman, when asked about the incident via test message, only replied, "we are still looking for confirmation [over the incident]."

He added all scheduled journeys for employees between Timika and Tembagapura had been postponed until further notice.

Mimika Legislative Council Speaker Eltinus Mom said he was concerned over the two shootings in the area, while none of the perpetrators had been arrested. "The shootings are acts of terror that worry people," Eltinus said in Timika. (bbs)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/25/second-shooting-in-two-days-reported-in-freeport-mining-area-papua.html

Vanuatu PM accuses world leaders of ignoring West Papua

Radio New Zealand International - September 23, 2017

The prime minister of Vanuatu has accused world leaders at the UN of turning a deaf ear to more than half a century of atrocities committed by Indonesia on the people of West Papua.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday Charlot Salwai called on the UN Human Rights Council to investigate documented cases of arbitrary killings, torture and abuse of indigenous West Papuans in Indonesia's Papuan provinces.

Mr Salwai also appealed to world leaders to support the aspirations of the people of West Papua for a referendum on independence from Indonesia. His words are translated into English:

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/340050/vanuatu-pm-accuses-world-leaders-of-ignoring-west-papua

West Papua ignored by most NZ major political parties' election

Asia Pacific Report = September 22, 2017

Pacific Media Watch – On the eve of New Zealand's 2017 general election, Pacific Media Watch reports on whether West Papua features in the human rights and foreign affairs policies and stances of the country's five major parties.

Since the late 1960s, West Papua has controversially been ruled by Indonesia following what many critics dub an "Act of no choice". Accusations of human rights abuses are rife and the media are all but banned, despite an apparent lifting of restrictions by President Joko Widodo in 2015.

Pacific Media Watch starts with the party that has the strongest policy on West Papua:

Green Party

The Greens have kept the issue of West Papua's right to self-determination in the public eye and political arena, particularly Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty, who said she would continue to speak up for the people of West Papua, despite not running for re-election.

West Papua features heavily throughout the Greens website, both in the blog and press release sections. These sections reveal the party's advocacy appears to stretch back to 2005.

Several Green MPs also signed the Westminster Declaration – a document which calls for West Papua's right to self-determination to be legally recognised through a vote – during the visit of Free West Papua advocate Benny Wenda in May this year.

However, West Papua does not feature in the party's human rights policy, but it does feature strongly within its "Global Affairs" policy. The document states it will promote human rights in Asia and support the self-determination movements of non-self governing territories, such as West Papua.

West Papua is mentioned both in relation to the Pacific Islands Forum and the UN Committee on Decolonisation in terms of its status. The policy has not been updated since 2011.

Labour Party

West Papua does not feature on the Labour Party's website nor does it feature in the party's foreign affairs or human rights policies. However, within the party's "Foreign Affairs Manifesto", Labour states it will: "Enhance New Zealand's specialist capability as a peace builder in the Asia-Pacific region" and makes special mention of the country's past peacekeeping successes in Bougainville, Timor-Leste, Fiji and Solomon Islands.

Labour MPs Louisa Wall, Carmel Sepuloni, Adrian Rurawhe and Aupito S'ua William Sio have also signed the Westminster Declaration.

Maori Party

Like Labour, the Maori Party's website does not feature any information on West Papua.

West Papua also does not feature within the party's 2017 policy manifesto, and is absent in relation to international trade and relations and also Pasifika.

However, Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox has signed the Westminster Declaration.

National Party

Similar to both the Labour Party and the Maori Party, West Papua does not feature on National's website. The issue of West Papua is not included in either its foreign affairs or Pacific Peoples policy.

The National government has also been criticised for its apparent refusal to acknowledge West Papua's right to independence and instead uphold the sovereign integrity of Indonesia and its territorial jurisdiction of West Papua. This criticism has been directed at former Foreign Affairs minister Murray McCully and current minister Gerry Brownlee, largely by Free West Papua groups and the Greens.

In August this year, New Zealand's Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee rejected a petition spearheaded by West Papua Action Auckland which called for the government to make a "public and unequivocal" stand regarding West Papua's right to self-determination.

A motion tabled in July 2014 by the Green Party calling on Indonesian president Joko Widodo to commit to genuine press freedom was supported by the government, however.

National Party MP Chester Burrows has also signed the Westminster Declaration.

New Zealand First

New Zealand First's foreign affairs policy does not feature West Papua and no information on the Indonesian ruled region can be found on the party's website.

When New Zealand First leader Winston Peters was Foreign Affairs minister in 2006, Maire Leadbeater of the Indonesia Human Rights Committee urged Peters to take urgent action over West Papua in a letter.

However, New Zealand First has said, within its 15 principles, that it wishes to be a "reliable neighbour in our region".

Free West Papua advocacy group West Papua Action Auckland announced in August this year it was approaching all political parties to seek a clear policy statement on West Papuan self-determination prior to the election.

The group said: "New Zealand's shameful acquiescence in this horror story in our neighbourhood must end."

Source: https://asiapacificreport.nz/2017/09/22/west-papua-ignored-by-most-nz-major-political-parties-election-policies/

Human rights & justice

Wiranto: We cannot justify TNI's actions in the past

Tempo - September 22, 2017

Aditya Budiman, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto said that the Indonesian Military (TNI) still needs to resolve allegations of human right violations. According to Wiranto, the Indonesian Military's performance today cannot be compared to that in the past.

"We can't justify our predecessor's actions. The political and legal situations [at that time] were different," Wiranto said in Jakarta today, Sept. 22.

The former TNI Commander referred to mysterious shootings that took place in 1980s. According to Wiranto, such actions were appreciated at that time. The policy is reportedly adopted by the Philippine government that is currently waging a war against drug dealers.

In response to human rights activists' demands in relation to the case, Wiranto said it would be difficult to investigate it, as people who were involved had no longer existed.

Wiranto expressed his appreciation to TNI Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo for making the Indonesian Military the most trusted institution in the country, according to a survey conducted by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting last year.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2017/09/22/055911612/Wiranto-We-Cannot-Justify-TNIs-Actions-in-the-Past

Pki & anti-communism

Gerindra, Democrats declare support for 299 anti-communist rally

Tribune - September 30, 2017

Glery Lazuardi, Jakarta – Four political parties – the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS), the Democrat Party (PD) and the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) – have declared their opposition to the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law Number 2/2017 on Social Organisations (Perppu Ormas).

This opposition was declared before some 10 thousand protesters from various different Islamic based groups who had been demonstrating in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta since early morning on Friday September 29.

It was conveyed after representatives of the 299 Action, who were led by 212 Action Presidium chairperson Slamet Ma'arif, conveyed their demands before DPR leaders, including among others, DPR deputy speaker Agus Hermanto from the PD and Fadli Zon from Gerindra, along with several other legislators.

Two demands were conveyed, the first being rejecting the Perppu Ormas and second, the government must take a strong stand against signs of a revival of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) given that the Tap MPRS XXV/1966 remains in force.

"We have heard from the delegation, from ulama [Islamic scholars], habaib [ethnic Arabs claiming ancestry to the prophet] and kyai [Islamic clerics]. We have heard their demands. Essentially there are two, the issue of the Perppu and second about communism", Fadli Zon said at the rally when speaking to journalists on Friday September 29.

Zon explained that the Perppu Ormas is problematic because it reduces democracy, conflicts with other laws and muzzles voices in society that are critical of the government. Yet Indonesia's laws guarantee the right of freedom of expression and association for all citizens.

"The Perppu will be deliberated at the DPR in mid-October. You ladies and gentlemen must also be consistent in demonstrating your opposition. If the Perppu is enacted there will be subjectivity", he said.

On communism, said Zon, there are regulations that prohibit communist ideas. If there is anyone that revives the PKI then they are in conflict with the Constitution. Because of this they must be opposed together.

"Don't allow the PKI, who betrayed the Republic of Indonesia, to re-infest [our nation], because of this we support socialisation [to promote] public screenings of the G30S/PKI [Betrayal of the September 30/Indonesian Communist Party] film. Don't let the betrayers of the nation live or be revived in the Republic of Indonesia", he said.

Agus Hermanto meanwhile said that the Perppu is a digression on the part of the government that in order to become law, must obtain the agreement of the DPR.

"Of course we have quite a long of time because it will not be until October 28 that the Perppu will get agreement", said Hermanto, which was greeted by shots of "reject it" from the crowd.

After meeting with representatives from the four factions at the DPR, the leaders of the 212 Action Presidium will meet with two other parties, the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), in order to smooth the way for opposition to the Perppu's approval. The reasons for choosing to meet with these two parties is because they are Islamic based.

"PAN, the Democrats, PKS and Gerindra have already agreed to oppose the Perppu Ormas. We still have to wage a campaign with other factions and parties aside from these four. Later we will hold a good will meeting with the PKB and the PPP, which has the kabah as its symbol.

Notes

Tap MPRS XXV/1966 – Provisional People's Consultative Assembly Decree Number XXV/1966 on the Dissolution of the Indonesian Communist Party and Prohibitions on Marxist, Leninist and Communist Teachings

[Abridged translation by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The second part of the article covered statements made by the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) on the Perppu Ormas. The original title of the article was "Di Depan Peserta Aksi 299, Empat Parpol Nyatakan Sikap Seperti Ini".]

Source: http://www.tribunnews.com/nasional/2017/09/30/di-depan-peserta-aksi-299-empat-parpol-nyatakan-sikap-seperti-ini-tentang-perppu-ormas

President, 1,000 people watch G30S/PKI communist insurgence film in

Antara News - September 30, 2017

Bogor, W Java – President Joko Widodo, along with around 1,000 people in the West Java Provincial city of Bogor, Friday night, watched a film on the September 30 Movement, the coup attempt of the Indonesia Communist Party (G30S/PKI).

The film show of the now-defunct Indonesian communist party was also attended by chief of the provincial military command (Danrem 061) Suryakancana Col. (Inf) Mirza Agus, chief of Bogor District Military command (Dandim 0606) Lt. Col. (Arm) Doddy Suhadiman, and chief of Bogor District Police, Senior Commissioner Ulung Sampurna Jaya.

The residents, military and the police personnel, mingled together while sitting on the floor with the president to watch the four-hour movie.

One of the residents, Erna, said she got information about the film from an announcement at the mosque, and added that she was interested to watch the 1965 G30S/PKI communist insurgence film.

Meanwhile, President Jokowi has proposed that the G30S/PKI communist insurgence film be updated, so that the younger generation can understand the history of the PKI.

"Yes, watching movies, especially about history, is important. However, of course, the children of the millennium, have to watch a film they can understand," Jokowi stated, after reviewing the Mangunsuko Suspension Bridge in Dusun hamlet, Magelang, Central Java, Monday.

The president made the statement following the plan of Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo to screen the G30S/PKI film within the TNI internal institution.

"Let them (young people) understand the dangers of communism, and let them know about the PKI," he added.

The latest version of the film is important for the millennial generation to understand the movie, which was first released in 1984.

"Yes, it would be best to have the most recent and updated version of the film, so that it can be understood by the millennial generation," Jokowi reiterated. (*)

Source: http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/112864/president-1000-people-watch-g30spki-communist-insurgence-film-in-bogor

Do not join rally, MUI tells Bogor residents

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2017

Jakarta – The Bogor chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has urged residents in the regency to refrain from joining the Friday rally in Jakarta, a senior cleric has said.

The chairman of MUI's Bogor chapter, Ahmad Mukri Adji, said that the council, along with the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Muhammadiyah, the two largest Islamic organizations in the country, preferred that residents conduct mass prayers in mosques rather than join the rally.

"It's better to hold istighosah [mass prayers] and dzikir [chants] at our nearest mosques," the cleric said after meeting with the West Java Police chief at the Bogor Police headquarters on Thursday.

"We, Islamic organizations in Bogor, have agreed to not go to Jakarta," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The 299 rally, named after the date of the protest on Sept. 29, was held in front of the House of Representatives complex in Jakarta. Its participants claimed there was a revival of communism and the disbanded Indonesia Communist Party (PKI). Concerns related to the issue resulted in a mob attack on an office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) last week.

Meanwhile, West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto said that clerics in the province had urged residents to pray in their respective areas, instead of joining the rally in the capital. (fac)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/29/do-not-join-rally-mui-tells-bogor-residents.html

No Tangerang residents at Friday's rally: Police

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2017

Jakarta – Residents of Tangerang in Banten refrained from participating in an anti-communist rally in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) complex on Friday, the police claim.

The so-called 299 rally, named after the date, Sept. 29, was held against the perceived revival of communism and the long-disbanded Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), an issue that sparked a mob attack on the Jakarta office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) last week.

"No Tangerang residents are participating in the rally," Tangerang Police spokesperson Comr. Triyani said on Friday as quoted by tempo.co. Based on their monitoring, the police said there had been was no mass movement of people heading to the capital.

Friday's rally was also held to protest a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on mass organizations, which was used by the government to ban Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an Islamist organization that sought to establish a caliphate.

Previously, the Jakarta Police said 20,000 security personnel, comprising police and military personnel, would be deployed to safeguard the rally, which involved conservative Muslim groups that rallied against former Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama to demand his incarceration for blasphemy last year. (fac)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/29/no-tangerang-residents-at-fridays-rally-police.html

Jokowi attends screening of controversial movie in Bogor

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2017

The Jakarta Post, Bogor – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, together with hundreds of Bogor residents and military personnel, attended a public screening of the movie Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (Treachery of G30S/PKI) at the Bogor Suryakencana military command post (Korem) on Friday night.

Jokowi was accompanied by Bogor Suryakencana military commander (Danrem) Col. Mirza Agus and Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Ulung Sampurna Jaya.

"Together with the President, we will watch the full version of the movie; it takes around four hours," Mirza told the media, as quoted by kompas.com.

Tension over the issue began to escalate already weeks before the commemoration of the Sept. 30, 1965 tragedy.

On Sept. 17, hundreds of anticommunist protesters besieged the office of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), demanding that it dismiss a gathering inside the office, which they accused was held by supporters of the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Recently, Jokowi called on moviemakers to create a remake of the movie to teach millennials about the 1965 communist purge. (hol)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/30/jokowi-attends-screening-of-controversial-movie-in-bogor.html

Military personnel raid cafe in South Jakarta suspected of

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2017

Jakarta – Military personnel have confiscated a flag marked with the hammer and sickle logo, the symbol of communism, from a cafe in South Jakarta.

Nearby residents reported the flag to the authorities, South Jakarta 0504 Military District commander Let. Col. Inf. Ade Rony Wijaya said on Friday.

"We took the flag away on Thursday. The logo was small and placed in red fabric," Ade said as quoted by kompas.com.

The military cooperated with Public Order Agency personnel, the head of the neighborhood unit (RT) and some members of local youth organization Karang Taruna in the raid on the Garasi 66 cafe on Jl. Pangeran Antasari.

The banner was found installed at the window in the room of the cafe's owner, Burdani, who is being investigated by military officers.

"We see no specific intent. Burdani travels a lot to many countries. He thought it was the flag of China," Ade said. Burdani was released after his identity was recorded by officers.

The issue of a communist revival in the country is in the spotlight once more.

Hundreds of anti-communists besieged the office of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) on Sept. 17, accusing the organization of putting on a gathering associated with the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party. (yon)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/29/military-personnel-raid-cafe-in-south-jakarta-suspected-of-harboring-communist-sympathies.html

Thousands of Indonesians hold anti-communist protest in capital

Reuters - September 29, 2017

Kanupriya Kapoor, Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – Several thousand protesters led by hardline Islamist groups held a rally on Friday outside Indonesia's parliament to protest against what they called a growing threat from communism in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.

Rows of police stood behind barbed wire with water cannons at the ready, but the rally was peaceful and the number of protesters far smaller than the estimated tens of thousands expected by organisers and police.

Some protesters prayed and unfurled banners rejecting communism and also a government decree targeting large organisations that was used to disband the Islamist group, Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia.

"The country is giving space to communists and their activities," said one protester, Mohamad Khairudin, 42, who had travelled from Surabaya, the country's second largest city.

"Members of parliament have communist sympathies. And at the same time they are limiting space for Islamic organisations and criminalising ulama (scholars)."

Khairudin said he tended to believe reports on social media that President Joko Widodo was the son of communists and was not a Muslim, but did not provide any evidence of this or of a rise in communism. Widodo has denied having any communist ties.

Communism remains an emotive issue in Indonesia and the protest took place on the eve of the 52nd anniversary of the murder of six army generals and a young lieutenant by rebel armed forces personnel, which prompted the retaliatory slaughter of at least 500,000 alleged communists.

The massacres ushered in more than 30 years of authoritarian rule under Suharto, the former general who led the communist purge.

Indonesia's Communist Party (PKI), once one of the world's largest, remains outlawed, however, and there appears to be little evidence of a Marxist ideology taking hold in Indonesia. Just 12 percent of respondents to a September survey of 1,220 Indonesians believed the party was making a comeback now.

Analysts and government advisers said the fomenting of a "red scare" was aimed at Indonesia's reformist president Widodo, who has previously been falsely accused of being the descendant of communists.

"We support parliament in ridding itself of PKI," Slamet Maarif, one of the rally organisers told the crowd, accusing the government of oppressive measures and of creating a gulf between the state and Islam with a decree banning some organisations.

Friday's rally has been organised by hardline Islamist groups, such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

The FPI led huge rallies last year that successfully demanded the jailing for blasphemy of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian who was Jakarta's governor at the time.

[Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Clarence Fernandez.]

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-indonesia-politics/thousands-of-indonesians-hold-anti-communist-protest-in-capital-idUKKCN1C412Z?rpc=401&

Fearful Islamists plan anti-communist protest in Jakarta

Jakarta Globe - September 28, 2017

Jakarta – Members of Islamist groups are planning to show up in the thousands in Jakarta on Friday (29/09) to demonstrate against what they believe to be the rise of communism in Indonesia.

Tensions over the unsettled anti-communist purge of 1965 resurfaced recently as activists pushed efforts to advocate for the rights of victims and their families.

But those doing so have increasingly been accused by nationalists and Islamists of supporting communism, which is banned in the world's largest Muslim-majority country.

Islamist groups, which have been gaining ground since late last year, claim that indications of the rise of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) have been "more and more obvious."

Among them are "pro-PKI" seminars and workshops that have increasingly been held by human rights activists, protest leader Slamet Maarif said.

"And the government appears to be slightly throwing a lifeline to them," he told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

About 50,000 people from the capital and surrounding cities are expected to join the protest, which will coalesce in front of the national legislative complex in South Jakarta.

"If the PKI ban is eventually revoked, for sure they will face the Muslim community," said Slamet, who is also the spokesman for the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

Authorities have said they will deploy nearly 20,000 police and military personnel to safeguard Friday's protest.

About 5,000 officers of the police's Mobile Brigade from several regions have also been sent to the capital to help with security, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Idham Azis told reporters on Tuesday.

Public debate over the anti-communist purge of 1965 and ways to provide reconciliation to victims and their families have been in the spotlight for years.

The government-sponsored and military-backed killings resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of alleged PKI sympathizers and saw millions more jailed without trial.

The administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has repeatedly said it has been seeking ways to settle the case, but activists say that plan is going nowhere.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/fearful-islamists-plan-anti-communist-protest-jakarta/

'G30S/PKI' film not suitable for children: Education minister

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

Jakarta – Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy has prohibited elementary and junior high school students from watching Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (Betrayal of the Communists), saying the film contains violent scenes and is thus not suitable for young children.

"Elementary and junior high school [students] should not watch it," Muhadjir said on Wednesday in Padang, West Sumatra, as quoted by Tempo.co.

The award-winning film, directed by Arifin C. Noer and released in 1984, portrays the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) as a violent organization and communists as godless savages who mutilated military officers in a frenzy.

The docudrama is widely seen by historians as a propaganda film that contains historical inaccuracies.

"There is already a sign saying it can only be viewed by adults. Even in the past, the film was aired after 10 p.m," Muhadjir said, adding that senior high school students were allowed to watch it.

The minister further warned that he would impose sanctions on any education agency head that obliged elementary and junior high school students to watch the movie.

The G30S/PKI has been screened in many locations following Military Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo's Sept. 17 internal memo that instructed its personnel to screen the film as a way of giving the younger generation a history lesson.

Earlier, the Padang Culture and Education Agency issued a circular calling for elementary and junior high schools in the city to screen the movie on Sept. 30, the anniversary of the failed coup.

"Yes, the circular is aimed at elementary and junior high school students, but they should be accompanied by their parents," said Padang education agency head Barlius. (saf/ary)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/g30spki-film-not-suitable-for-children-education-minister.html

5,000 Brimob personnel to guard Friday's anti-communist rally

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

Jakarta – At least 5,000 personnel from the police's Mobile Brigade command (Brimob) will be deployed to guard Friday's anti-communist rally in Jakarta.

"Some Brimob personnel [at the regional level] will be moved to Jakarta to strengthen the personnel here [in Jakarta]," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto said on Thursday as quoted by Tribunnews.com.

Setyo said the personnel would come from West Java, Banten, Central Java and East Java.

Thousands of people are set to participate in the rally, including members of conservative Muslim groups who rallied against former Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama in November last year.

The participants will protest against what they perceive as a revival of communism in the country.

They will also protest the newly-issued regulation in lieu of a law (Perppu) on mass organizations, which is being used as a legal instrument by the government to disband Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an Islamist organization that seeks to establish a global Islamic caliphate.

"We instruct [participants] to be peaceful at the rally," Setyo warned.

Fears of a communist revival have swept the country ahead of Sept. 30, the date when an attempted coup against President Sukarno and the murder of six army generals was blamed on the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party. (saf/ary)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/5000-brimob-personnel-to-guard-fridays-anti-communist-rally.html

Indonesian massacre anniversary fuels propaganda offensive

Human Rights Watch Dispatches - September 28, 2017

Phelim Kine – Those are the marching orders from the commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces, General Gatot Nurmantyo, about how to observe the September 30th anniversary of the start to the mass killings in 1965-66.

Nurmantyo issued a directive last week ordering military personnel to "restrict" any efforts to hold public screenings of Joshua Oppenheimer's 2014 documentary film The Look of Silence, alleging that it "distorted history."

Nurmantyo has good reason to be nervous about The Look of Silence. The groundbreaking film profiles anti-communist Indonesian paramilitary leaders who, along with the country's military units, massacred up to 1 million fellow citizens in a nationwide slaughter of alleged communists – including ethnic Chinese, trade unionists, and civil society activists – in 1965 and 1966. In the film, some of the killers cheerfully boast about, and even re-enact, the murders, at times in the presence of current Indonesian government officials who express support for the bloodbath.

Nurmantyo's solution to the awkward questions raised by The Look of Silence? Instruct military personnel to organize nationwide public screenings on September 30 of a luridly violent 1984 government propaganda film, Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI, which justifies the massacres as a necessary defense against an alleged coup attempt by the Communist Party of Indonesia. That order is a throwback to the annual September 30 state-owned television screenings of Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI from 1984 until the end of the authoritarian Suharto regime in 1998.

Nurmantyo's initiative follows an incident last month in which Indonesian police and military personnel forced the cancellation of a public workshop on financial compensation for victims of the mass killings. And last week during the United Nation's periodic review of Indonesia's rights record, the Indonesian government rejected a recommendation to "thoroughly and transparently investigate past human rights abuses." Taken together, these moves suggest an official backpedal on last year's tentative official steps toward accountability for those deaths.

Unless the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo honors its pledges of accountability, Indonesians can expect censorship and propaganda to continue to define the official narrative of the mass killings of 1965-66.

TNI directive on public screenings of the G30S/PKI film and anticipating and restricting public screenings of Senyap: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/tni_commander_telegram_20170927.pdf

Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/28/indonesian-massacre-anniversary-fuels-propaganda-offensive

It's back to normal for legal aid foundation after attack

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2017

Jakarta – Activities at the headquarters of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) in Menteng, Central Jakarta, returned to normal on Monday after hundreds of protesters had besieged it for days.

They believed that the office was hosting an event related to the disbanded Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"Our clients can now visit the office again," Jakarta Legal Aid Institute director Alghiffari Aqsa said on Sunday, according to tempo.co.

He added that YLBHI clients helped the foundation clean the office after the protest turned violent on Sept. 18 when protesters, who claimed to belong to an anti-communist group, began pelting it with rocks and bottles. At least five police officers were injured during the scuffle.

On Sept. 16, a group of scholars, activists, victims of the 1965 communist purge and their families attempted to hold a discussion titled "Conveying the truth on the history of 1965/1966."

It was stopped after police said the organizers did not have a permit to host the event. (vny)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/25/its-back-to-normal-for-legal-aid-foundation-after-attack.html

Gatot order on PKI film could create division: PDI-P

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2017

Jakarta – Secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Hasto Kristiyanto said that Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo could stir up fresh controversy with his order on the screening of the propaganda film Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (Betrayal of the Communists).

Hasto said that although the TNI commander had the authority to order the screening, the program could in fact create more problems in the society.

"What the PDI-P wants is that we should look to the future by learning from what happened in the past," Hasto said as quoted by tempo.co, adding that a leader should make efforts to unite the country and not create division.

Gatot has ordered TNI personnel to hold screening of Pengkhinatan G30S/PKI in an effort to teach the young generation about the danger of communism. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has not commented on Gatot's plan.

Pengkhianatan G30SPKI, which is directed by acclaimed director Arifin C. Noer, tells the story of Gen. Soeharto in quashing a coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). In the big-budget film, communists are depicted as godless savages who mutilated military officers in a frenzy.

Last week, while visiting the tomb of Soeharto in Surakarta, Gatot praised the former leader, saying that he should be a role model for all TNI personnel.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/24/gatot-order-on-pki-film-could-create-division-pdi-p.html

G30S/PKI film is the correct version of history: Tommy Soeharto

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2017

Jakarta – The son of former president Soeharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, defended the Indonesian Military's (TNI) move to screen the propaganda film Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (Betrayal of the Communists).

Tommy, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, said on Sunday that more people should go and see the film, as it contains the accurate details of what really transpired on Sept. 30, 1965.

"We can't turn our backs from history. What's in the film is the true version of history and nobody could change that," Tommy said as quoted by tribunnews,com.

Tommy, however, said that it should not be made mandatory for people to see the film. "There should be no compulsion," he said.

Pengkhianatan G30SPKI, which is directed by acclaimed director Arifin C. Noer, tells the story of Soeharto in quashing a coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

In the big-budget and award-winning film, communists are depicted as godless savages who mutilated military officers in a frenzy.

Under the New Order regime, the movie was made mandatory viewing and was broadcast on public television annually on the night of Sept. 30. The government stopped the annual broadcast in 1998, soon after Soeharto was ousted from power.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/24/g30spki-film-is-the-correct-version-of-history-tommy-soeharto.html

Anti-communist propaganda film 'made with the aim of making people

Kompas.com - September 23, 2017

Estu Suryowati, Jakarta – The film "Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI" has again become the subject of public discussion after TNI (Indonesian military) chief General Gatot Nurmantyo proposed the idea of holding joint screenings (nobar) of the film which tells the story of the 1965 affair.

The public has been divided in response to this with some supporting it, and others opposing it.

Jajang C. Noer, the wife of the late Arifin C. Noer who directed the film "The Treachery of the 30 September Movement/Indonesian Communist Party", admits that the film was indeed made with the aim of making people hate the PKI.

"Certainly that was the film's aim, I must emphasise once again that we [should] hate the PKI. So that we understand that the PKI was wrong. Yes if you want they can be called evil", said Jajang when speaking on the talk show Perspective Indonesia in Jakarta on Saturday September 23.

Jajang does not deny that there are some that consider her husband's film a form of propaganda by the government that was in power at the time, namely Suharto's New Order government.

"That it is called Suharto propaganda, yes well, what can you do. Suharto was indeed [involved] in the [1965] affair. He was the head of an administration which sponsored it all", added Jajang.

Jajang added that Arifin never thought that the film would be screened in the lead up to September 30 each year, let alone that school children would be obliged to watch it. As far as Arifin knew, the docudrama film was only to be used as a kind of national archive.

"It isn't nice hearing the word propaganda. What Mas [brother] Arifin did not suspect was that the fill would be screened every September 30", said Jajang.

With regard to the making of the film, Jajang related how the production team carried out research based on the data available at the time. The total time for research and production of the film was around two years.

Of course, she said, it was very easy to dig up information or access information from the TNI (then called ABRI) rather than information from the PKI, relatives or its sympathisers.

There were many scenes in the film that Arifin chose not to depict in a vulgar way. Arifin received the initial data and scenario from a team led by Nugroho Notosusanto which was then reworked by Arifin.

"I need to emphasise this because there was data that said the generals [abducted by the G30S] were tortured, they were abused by among other things by having their eyes were gouged out, their penises cut off", said Jajang.

"Mas Arifin, yeah because the data was like that, he made it as if the generals were tortured. Because of this blood was shown. But, even though there was no [torture] scene it wasn't because he didn't believe it [had happened]. How can you not believe that there were sadistic people like that", said Jajang.

Notes

1. Nugroho Notosusanto was the head of the history department at the University of Indonesia and became the de facto official historian of the military. Staunchly pro-military and close to Suharto, he was the quintessential state-sanctioned academic and the leading spokesperson of the so-called Generation of 1945, which lays claim to being the true harbingers of independence through the armed struggle of 1945-49 which gave birth to TNI.

2. The alleged sexual mutilation of the six generals who were kidnapped and later killed was instrumental in whipping up the anti-communist hysteria in the days following September 30, 1965. The autopsy reports, which were kept secret, were accidentally discovered by Professor Benedict Anderson in the early 1980s among the trial records of those convicted of the alleged coup. Signed by Suharto himself, they show conclusively that no mutilations had occurred and that the stories were fabrications.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was "Jajang C Noer: Memang Target Film G30S/PKI agar Orang Membenci PKI".]

Source: http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2017/09/23/13241541/jajang-c-noer-memang-target-film-g30spki-agar-orang-membenci-pki

TNI chief claims ignorance of Senyap and Jagal, contradicting own

Merdeka - September 22, 2017

Muhammad Genantan Saputra – Indonesian military (TNI) chief General Gatot Nurmantyo has ordered all TNI members to watch the film "Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI" (Betrayal of the September 30 Movement/Indonesian Communist Party).

Nurmantyo's move however has prompted calls for this to be accompanied with screenings of alternative films about the PKI.

In addition to Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI, there are two other films titled "Senyap" (The Look of Silence) and "Jagal" (The Act of Killing). These films are considered to be the antithesis of the G30S/PKI film and there have been calls for him to be fair by ordering the screening of these films also.

Nurmantyo has only instructed his soldiers to watch the G30S/PKI film. The other two films however are not included in the list of films that soldiers are obliged to watch. He even claims not to know anything about the two films made by US filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer.

"Senyap and Jagal, I don't know about them. That a matter for the [film] censorship board [LSF] and the national police, right", he said at the TNI's headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Friday September 22.

Nurmantyo meanwhile claimed that his reasons for ordering the screenings of G30S/PKI was because since the reformasi era [the reform process that began in 1988] there have been no efforts to tell the story of the PKI rebellion that is depicted in the film.

The goal of the film screenings, he continued, is so no one else will carry out a rebellion in the future.

"If people have other perceptions, fine, it's up to them. There are different views, I don't have a problem with that. I don't need to respond to it, what's important is that I [keep] working. I say [again] that we have had a bad experience [with the PKI]", he explained.

Nurmantyo also said that he does not wish to respond to parties that accuse him of playing politics by ordering the G30S/PKI film screenings. "What's not politicised these days, marriage can also be politicised can't it. Forget about it", he said.

"Moreover if there's no [film screenings] anymore who will inform people about it? Children grow into adults, social media that's what they consume, in the end they won't be aware, and history tends to repeat itself right, if history repeats itself then pity the nation", he said.

As has been reported, the film Jagal tells the story of the perpetrators of the slaughter of people accused of being involved in the PKI in North Sumatra. Senyap meanwhile is about the life of the younger brother of a victim of the slaughter by people who claimed they were anti-communist.

Notes

Despite Nurmantyo's claim not to know about Senyap, this is an English language translation of his own directive posted by Human Rights Watch the on public screenings of the G30S/PKI film which begins with a warning to anticipate and restrict public screenings of Senyap: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/tni_commander_telegram_20170927.pdf (PDF format).

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was "Jawaban Panglima TNI film Senyap dan Jagal tak ikut diputar seperti G30S/PKI".]

Source: https://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/jawaban-panglima-tni-film-senyap-dan-jagal-tak-ikut-diputar-seperti-g30spki.html

Trade union to follow TNI's lead with own screenings of New Order

Koran Perdjoeangan - September 23, 2017

Jakarta – The Indonesian Metal Trade Workers Federation (FSPMI) and the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) will hold joint screenings (nobar) of the film G30S/PKI on the evening of Friday September 29 at the FSPMI headquarters parking lot on Jl. Pondok Gede No 11 in East Jakarta.

This was conveyed by KSPI president Said Iqbal in Jakarta on Saturday September 23.

In addition to Jakarta, screenings of the film "The Treachery of the September 30 Movement/Indonesian Communist Party" will also be organised in several other industrial cities such as Bekasi, Bogor, Karawang, Purwakarta, Bandung, Medan, Batam, Semarang and Surabaya.

"Workers will hold a nobar of the film so that workers know the great history of this country, that there were revolutionary heroes who were shot [by the G30S] and a change of presidency", said Iqbal.

Furthermore, according to Iqbal, the film screenings will provide a lesson on the 1965 affair. Because of this therefore, the joint screenings will be interwoven with discussions.

"Differences of opinion are normal. Precisely because there are these differences, space is needed for discussion. Not by using violence as was done by rogue groups against the LBH [Legal Aid Foundation] Jakarta", said Iqbal.

Iqbal, who holds a position on the International Labor Organisation's (ILO) Governing Body, slammed last week's attack on the LBH Jakarta offices as a way to respond to differences. He also hopes that violence such as this will not occur again.

Notes

Activists on social media have questioned why the KSPI and the FSPMI are falling in behind the Indonesian military (TNI) by only holding joint screenings of the G30S/PKI film, a dramatisation of the Suharto dictatorship's version of the events surrounding the alleged communist coup in 1965, and not showing alternative films such as Joshua Oppenheimer's award winning documentaries "Jegal" and "Senyap".

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was "KSPI Akan Nobar Film G30S/PKI".]

Source: http://www.koranperdjoeangan.com/kspi-akan-nobar-film-g30spki/

Sexual & domestic violence

Violence cases against women, children in Jambi increased: Official

Jakarta Post - September 23, 2017

Jon Afrizal, Jambi – The number of cases of violence against women and children has increased every year in Jambi, an official has said.

The province's Empowerment Center for Women and Children (P2TP2A) recorded that, as of September this year, there were 61 cases of violence. In 2016, 126 cases were recorded, almost double from the previous year.

"The numbers were alarming because the [number of] cases continued to increase every year," said the center's manager, Asi Noprini.

Asi said most of the cases in 2017 were caused by divorce and child custody battles.

She encouraged women who experienced any form of violence, including domestic violence, to report the cases and seek help by contacting the center.

"It's the tip of the iceberg. Many cases were still unreported," she said. (wit)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/23/violence-cases-against-women-children-in-jambi-increased-official.html

Blasphemy & shariah law

Soldier dismissed for blasphemy

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2017

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – A soldier serving in Papua was dismissed from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and sentenced to 2.5 years in prison after being found guilty of blasphemy.

The Jayapura Military Court found Second Sgt. Bangun Ahmad Kasmawan guilty on Thursday.

"The defendant violated article 156a of the Criminal Code on religious blasphemy," said presiding judge Col. James Vandersloot of the Corps of Military Law and Justice.

Bangun was sentenced for burning several copies of the Bible in May. Bangun, who was assigned to guard the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, was cleaning the house of the 172 Military Resort chief (Kasrem) at a housing complex in Padangbulan, Abepura, Jayapura.

He burned a box of books and other items stored in a shed without checking the contents first. As he burned the books, a resident took a picture and uploaded it to social media, sparking an uproar. Residents then staged a protest that ended in violence. (rin)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/30/soldier-dismissed-for-blasphemy.html

Indonesia sends ominous signal to religious minorities

Human Rights Watch Dispatches - September 25, 2017

Andreas Harsono – The Indonesian government has just made it clear that the country's dangerously ambiguous blasphemy law is here to stay – which is bad news for beleaguered religious minorities.

During the United Nation's periodic review of Indonesia's rights record last week, Jakarta rejected recommendations by UN member states that the government "introduce legislation to repeal the blasphemy law". It also rejected a recommendation to amend or revoke laws that limit the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in the country.

Indonesia's religious minorities have every right to feel alarmed at this position. That's because these laws, and the blasphemy law in particular, have frequently been used to prosecute and imprison members of religious minorities. Recent victims include three former leaders of the Gafatar religious community, prosecuted for blasphemy following the violent forced eviction of more than 7,000 Gafatar members from their farms on Kalimantan Island last year. Another was the former Jakarta Governor, Basuki "Ahok" Purnama, sentenced to two years in prison in May.

And Indonesia is not satisfied with just ignoring UN calls to scrap the problematic blasphemy law either – the country's Religious Affairs Ministry wants to reinforce and expand its scope through the so-called Religious Rights Protection bill, which parliament will likely debate later this year.

The Indonesian government will probably point to its acceptance of other, ambiguously worded recommendations – which only pay lip-service to the rights to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion – as evidence of its commitment to religious freedom. But Indonesia's religious minorities are already painfully aware of the glaring gap between their government's religious freedom rhetoric and the far more abusive reality, which it has passively and actively fostered.

By rejecting pleas from UN member states to abolish the blasphemy law, the Indonesian government is telling the world that it will continue to pander to bigotry and discrimination at the expense of the rights of religious minorities.

Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/25/indonesia-sends-ominous-signal-religious-minorities

Surveys & opinion polls

Prabowo, Islamic party supporters dominate those convinced of 'red

Tribune - September 29, 2017

Warta Kota, Menteng – A survey by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) shows that 86.8 percent of people do not believe that there is a revival of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Only around 12.6 percent agree that there is currently a revival of the PKI and only five percent of all Indonesians feel that the PKI's revival is a threat to the nation.

SMRC Program Director Sirojudin Abbas said that in political terms the PKI revival issue is unimportant because it does not touch directly on the majority of people.

He said that the PKI has a long political and historical definition in Indonesia, long before the 1965 affair, when in legal terms it was dissolved through the Tap MPRS, and since then formal fear of the PKI has disappeared.

"If we refer to the example of other countries, China is a country that really practiced a communist system and has now changed a great deal. So the indications are that communism as an ideology is no longer attractive in Indonesian society", said Sirojudin at the SMRC offices in Cikini, Menteng, Central Jakarta on Friday September 29.

If we look at the background of respondents that agree there is a PKI revival, he explained that based on political parties there are two dominant groups, namely the Islamic based Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) with 37 percent and the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) with 20 percent.

Based on voters in the 2014 presidential elections, it showed that out of those who agree there is a PKI revival 19 percent voted for Gerindra's Prabowo Subianto. According to articles in the mass media, some 25 percent of people who believe in a PKI revival are active on social media.

If viewed from a religious perspective, Islamic people are more likely to believe in a PKI revival, standing at around 86 percent.

The survey was conducted on 3-10 September 2017 and involved 1,220 respondents selected using a multistage random sampling method from the entire Indonesian population aged 17 years or over or already married.

With a response rate of 87 percent, the survey had a plus or minus 3.1 percent margin of error and a confidence level of 95 percent. (Rina Ayu)

Notes

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was "Survei SMRC: 86,8 Persen Masyarakat Tak Yakin PKI Bangkit".]

Source: http://wartakota.tribunnews.com/2017/09/29/survei-smrc-868-percent-warga-tak-yakin-pki-bangkit

Survey finds overwhelming majority of Indonesians don't believe

Kompas.com - September 29, 2017

Estu Suryowati, Jakarta – A national public survey by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) shows that the majority of people do not believe that there is a revival of banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in Indonesia.

SMRC researcher Sirojudin Abbas said that this view is held by 86.8 of respondents in the survey.

"We asked people's opinion on whether there is currently a revival of the PKI in the motherland. Do you agree or not with this view? 86.9 percent said they did not agree", said Sirojudin during an explanation of the survey findings at the SMRC offices in Jakarta on Friday September 29.

Meanwhile only 12.6 percent stated that they agree that there is a PKI revival and 0.6 percent of respondents stated they did not know or did not answer.

"Meaning that the overwhelming majority of Indonesian citizens don't agree with this view. They do not believe that there is a revival of the PKI at the moment", said Sirojudin.

Out of those that stated that they agree that there is a revival of the PKI, some 39.9 percent believe that the revival of the PKI is a threat to the country.

"39.9 [percent] of this 12.6 percent represents 5 percent of the total population. If taken from the adult population only this is around 10 million [people]", he said.

Sirojudin said that if this is compared with the number of respondents that stated they did not agree, the figure of 5 percent of the total population is very small.

"But in terms of political movements (there are 10 million people), perhaps this has to be interpreted more carefully", said Sirojudin.

The survey represents corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the party of the SMRC. The survey involved 1,057 respondents out of a sample of 1,220 people, with a 3.1 percent margin of error and a confidence level of 95 percent.

The demographic profile of the sample reflects Indonesia's national population and is proportional based on demographic characteristics and regional spread.

The proportion of categories based on sex, place of residence, religion, ethnicity and province reflects the national population. Respondents were interviewed directly by trained interviewers on September 3-10, 2017.

Quality control of interview results was done by means of a 20 percent random sample out of the total sample by supervisors who revisited the selected respondents. No meaningful errors were found in the quality control.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was "Survei SMRC: Mayoritas Warga Tidak Percaya Sedang Terjadi Kebangkitan PKI".]

Source: http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2017/09/29/13195281/survei-smrc-mayoritas-warga-tidak-percaya-sedang-terjadi-kebangkitan-pki

Environment & natural disasters

Central, local govts not unified in protecting peatlands:

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2017

N. Adri, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan – Environmental activists said a lack of concrete action may hinder the success of agreements made by the governor's Climate and Forest Task Force (GFC).

One thing that is disappointing is the fact that the central government and local administration are not speaking with one voice on the protection of peat lands, they said.

"Even a governor from one of the GFC member provinces has questioned the benefit of Government Regulation [PP] No.57/2016 on the protection and management of peat land ecosystems to President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo," conservation group Greenpeace Indonesia's global forest campaign head Kiki Taufik, said in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on Wednesday.

In a letter sent to Jokowi in April, West Kalimantan governor Cornelis said the implementation of PP No.57 and Environment and Forestry Minister Regulation No.P.17/2017 would affect the sustainability of investments from 43 companies that employ 20,000 people in the province.

"In fact, the forest and peat land fire level in West Kalimantan is quite high," said Kiki.

Last month, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said results of satellite monitoring, recorded at the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), detected 150 hot spots in areas across West Kalimantan.

The widespread hot spots have forced five regencies in West Kalimantan to declare an alert for land and forest fires. The five regencies are Bengkayang, Ketapang, Kubu Raya, Melawi and Sekadau.

Kiki said the central government and local administrations must uphold their commitment to tackle deforestation. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/27/central-local-govts-not-unified-in-protecting-peatlands-greenpeace.html

Health & education

Mitra Keluarga Hospital punished for neglecting patient

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2017

Jakarta – The Jakarta Health Agency has imposed sanctions on the management of Mitra Keluarga Hospital in Kalideres, West Jakarta, after it was found guilty in a negligence case that led to the death of its patient, Tiara Deborah Simanjorang, a four-month-old baby.

As part of the first sanction, the hospital must change the composition of its management, including its top officials.

"[...] has decided to impose a sanction on PT Ragam Sehat Multifita, as the owner of Mitra Keluarga Hospital in Kalideres to restructure its management, including its leadership components, along with its competence standards within one month at the latest after the issuance of this decree," Jakarta Health Agency head Koesmedi Priharto said as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Monday.

Mitra Keluarga Hospital must also pass an accreditation test within six months at the latest after the issuance of the letter.

Koesmedi said every hospital must get an accreditation letter once every two years. Mitra Keluarga Hospital should have carried out an accreditation test in June.

Koesmedi said Mitra Keluarga Hospital was now in the process getting an accreditation letter and partnering with the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS). These two processes must be completed by the hospital within the set time frame.

"If Mitra Keluarga Hospital refuses to implement the first and second points of the sanctions, the Jakarta Health Agency will stop the operation of the hospital," said Koesmedi.

The hospital must also continually improve the competence of its medical workers and health and non-health workers and submit a regular report on its operations to the Jakarta Health Agency. (yon/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/26/mitra-keluarga-hospital-sanctioned-for-proven-guilty-of-neglecting-patient.html

Tertiary education & campus life

Jokowi calls on universities to unite against radicalism

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2017

Jakarta – Speaking before representatives of universities from across the country who had gathered in Bali on Tuesday, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called up all universities to take a firm stance against ideologies that aimed to replace Pancasila, amid concerns of rising intolerance on campuses.

"Social media is very open, that we are unaware of the infiltration [of anti-Pancasila] ideologies. They appear in soft and up-to-date ways, which can easily attract our attention and make us forget that we already have Pancasila," Jokowi said in a press statement released by the Research and Technology and Higher Education Ministry.

Citing radicalism as an example of the dangers posed by such views, Jokowi also applauded the universities' commitment to tackling radicalism.

Around 2,000 rectors and lecturers from public and private universities around the country had gathered on Monday in Nusa Dua for a two-day event to denounce radicalism and declare their support for Pancasila.

"I am so proud that leaders of Indonesian universities have declared their commitment to maintaining the unity of Indonesia," said Jokowi.

At the event, the President also called on university rectors to promote Pancasila in their curricula and extracurricular activities, and to campaign for the state ideology in places of worship on campuses. (msa/ipa)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/26/jokowi-calls-on-universities-to-unite-against-radicalism.html

LGBT & same-sex marriage

Indonesia lawmakers set to ban all LGBTI representation on

Gay Star News - September 29, 2017

James Besanvalle – Indonesia lawmakers will ban all LGBTI characters on TV, according to recent reports.

A draft copy of a bill before the country's parliament will seek to outlaw LGBTI 'behaviors' on screen. The House of Representatives approved the bill, which will prevent reporting on any gay issues.

This will affect television shows and advertisements, but also gag news and documentary programs from talking about anything LGBTI-related.

Supiadin Aries Saputra from the Nasdem Party said: 'We can't allow LGBT behaviour on TV.

'It is against our culture. We have to ban it early before it becomes a lifestyle. It's dangerous and can ruin the morality of the younger generation,' he said.

Speaking to the Jakarta Post, Hanafi Rais of the National Mandate Party added: 'I am sure there are still more creative ways to entertain people. They try to portray the negative image of transgender'

A filtering process will see programs, news and advertisements vetted for homosexual content.

Human rights activist Tunggal Pawestri told Gay Star News: 'There's a show and it's a kind of comedy – they call it Opera Van Java.'

Pawestri said the format of the show allows a 'man who dresses like a woman' to partake in traditional Indonesian dance. She said the show will likely be canceled.

She elaborated: 'When they put transgender people on television, they only use it for mocking. They try to portray the negative image of transgender.'

Homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, but there is a huge anti-gay sentiment in the majority-Muslim country.

Earlier this year, two young men were arrested and caned 83 in Aceh for being gay and committing sodomy.

Police also raided 'gay parties' in Surabaya and Jakarta and then published the photos and names of some of the men before they were arrested.

Source: https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/indonesia-set-to-ban-all-lgbti-representation-on-television/

Indonesia changes course, will follow some of the UN's LGBTI

Gay Star News - September 22, 2017

Shannon Power – Indonesia has backtracked on its decision to reject 75 human rights United Nations' recommendations and will accept two regarding LGBTI issues.

Indonesia had its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) from fellow members of the UN's Human Rights Council in May. The UPR the process in which every UN member state has its human rights record reviewed every four years.

Some of the main recommendations given to Indonesia was to improve conditions for LGBTI people, abolish the death penalty and review its blasphemy laws. In July it was revealed Indonesia planned to reject 75 of those recommendations. But at a HRC meeting in Geneva on Thursday, Indonesia said it would accept two recommendations regarding LGBTI people.

The government announced it would accept two proposals to 'take further steps to ensure a safe and enabling environment for all human rights defenders', including LGBT activists, and a pitch to implement freedom of expression, association, and assembly rights, and give priority to equality and nondiscrimination – including for LGBT people.

LGBTI are controversial

The Deputy Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Robert Matheus Michale Tene addressed the HRC on Thursday.

He said the Constitution guaranteed the protection of all Indonesians from discrimination and violence. "However, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people continued to be a controversial and polarizing issue," Tene told the HRC.

Indonesia's leading LGBTI organization, Arus Pelangi, was represented at the HRC by its chairperson Yuli Rustinawati who delivered a speech.

"We are very happy Government of Indonesia accepted two recommendations related to LGBTI, we are waiting for their implementation within five years," Rustinawati told Gay Star News.

"But we also very disappointed when the GOI said that LGBTI are a controversial and polarizing issue. The GOI was supposed to accept all recommendations related to LGBT because its all about protection to citizen of Indonesia and its responsibility of the state, the absence of protection and recognizing it will make things more harmful for LGBTI people."

Men paid the price

Human Rights Watch argued Indonesia had been negligent during its previous UPR in 2012 when it rejected a recommendation from Spain to repeal the local law in Aceh province that criminalizes adult consensual same-sex conduct and prescribes punishment of up to 100 public lashes for offenders.

At the time the Indonesian government claimed the recommendation "did not reflect the actual situation in the province".

But in May, two men in their early 20s had their home raided by vigilantes who filmed them and took them to police. They were charged with homosexuality and sentenced to 85 lashes. They received 83 lashes in front of a jeering crowd.

HRW said the men paid the price for the government's negligence. "Diluted pledges at the UN don't let them off the hook, though, for abetting a campaign of hate and the officials that support it," HRW said in a statement.

Source: https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/indonesia-changes-course-will-follow-uns-lgbti-recommendations/

Marriage & the family

Owner of Islamic matchmaking site arrested, charged under

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2017

Jakarta – The Jakarta Police arrested on Sunday Aris Wahyudi for allegedly establishing a prostitution site under the guise of a matchmaking website.

Based on its investigation into nikahsirri.com, police have charged Aris under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and the Pornography Law, Jakarta Police special crimes unit director Sr. Comr. Adi Derian said.

"The website offered nikah siri [unregistered marriage] services by offering virgin girls and boys for money," Adi told reporters on Sunday.

The website, which has been blocked by the ministry, uses the tagline "mengubah zina menjadi ibadah" (changing adultery into worship).

To become member of the site, people were required to pay a registration fee of Rp 100,000 (US$7.50). They were later given access to choose a bride or groom, Adi said.

Since going online on Tuesday, 2,700 people had registered, while 300 people had applied to become "partners", which comprises brides, grooms, wedding officiates and witnesses.

"The website uses a coin system, in which every bride or groom is determined with a different number of coins. One coin is worth Rp 100,000," Adi said.

The suspect received Rp 5 million from the business activity, he said, adding that his team was investigating whether the website was connected to human tracking networks, as some of the "partners" were underage. (yon/wit)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/24/owner-of-islamic-matchmaking-site-arrested-charged-under-pornography-law.html

Corruption & abuse of power

Setya cleared as suspect after winning pretrial motion against KPK

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2017

Kharishar Kahfi, Jakarta – Setya Novanto, the embattled House of Representatives speaker and Golkar Party chairman, has succeeded with a pretrial motion filed against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in the high-profile e-ID card case.

South Jakarta District Court judge Cepi Iskandar declared that the court approved Setya's pretrial motion challenging his suspect status.

"We declare invalid the suspect status against Setya Novanto [...] dated July 17, 2017," Cepi told the court on Friday, referring to the date of the letter ordering the start of the investigation or Sprindik.

The KPK had named Setya a suspect in the massive e-ID card project on July 17, accusing him of playing a leading role in a scheme to swindle funds earmarked for the project.

KPK legal bureau head Setiadi said he respected the verdict but added that the judge might not have been meticulous in making the decision.

However, he said the agency would study the verdict and hold a meeting with the commissioners and investigators on the next step for the antigraft body to take.

He said the KPK would refer to a 2016 Supreme Court regulation that allows investigators to issue a new letter ordering the start of an investigation after a suspect status is canceled in a pretrial hearing. "But we need to coordinate first on the next steps we will take," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/29/setya-cleared-as-suspect-after-winning-pretrial-motion-against-KPK.html

After photoshop battle, Golkar defends picture of Setya in hospital

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

Jakarta – Golkar Party has said its chairman, Setya Novanto, is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Jakarta and that a picture of him in a hospital bed is not staged.

Nurdin Halid, the senior member of the party's central board, said the picture was taken at Premier Hospital in Jatinegara, East Jakarta. "I also have the picture and he is indeed sick," Nurdin said, according to tempo.co.

When the picture first circulated earlier this week, social media users, particularly on Twitter, said that they could see a number of oddities in how Setya posed for the shot.

Some pointed that although Setya closed both his eyes and could be seen sleeping, he was half-seated, which led many to believe that he did not actually doze off.

More people, however, focused on the electrocardiogram machine which showed a flat-line. The electrocardiogram measures Setya heartbeat's. A flat-line position indicates that a patient has vital signs or is already dead.

Responding to the allegation, Nurdin said: "That's just your interpretation. You can comment on anything,"

The picture prompted social media users to engage in a photoshop battle. One social media user put a scene from the popular Japanese cartoon show, Dragon Ball Z, on the electrocardiogram screen to hilarious effect.

Another Twitter user altered Setya's respiratory aid with the mask used by Bane, the villain in the movie The Dark Knight before photoshopping Batman onto the image.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/after-photoshop-battle-golkar-defends-picture-of-setya-in-hospital-bed.html

Golkar politician gets four years for Qur'an graft

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

Jakarta – The Anti-Corruption Court on Thursday sentenced Golkar Party politician Fahd El Fouz alias Fahd A Rafiq to four years in prison and ordered him to pay Rp 200 million (US$14,806) in fines for accepting bribes in connection to a 2012 government project to procure copies of the Qur'an.

The verdict was lighter than a five-year imprisonment and Rp 250 million fine prosecutors had sought.

Fahd was found guilty of accepting a Rp 14.3 billion bribe from Abdul Kadir Alaydrus, the director of PT Sinergi Pustaka Indonesia, the company that was appointed to procure Al Quran at the ministry in 2012.

Fahd colluded with former Golkar politician Zulkarnaen Djabar to influence the ministry to pick the company to carry out the project when the two were still lawmakers at House of Representatives' Commission VIII, which oversees religious and social affairs. Zulkarnaen's son, Dendy Prasetya Zulkarnaen, was also involved in the case. Fahd received Rp 3.4 billion from the total bribe money.

"We state Fahd El Fouz alias Fahd A Rafiq guilty of corruption," presiding judge Hariono said on Thursday, reading from the court's verdict as quoted by Kompas.com.

The aggravating factor was that Fahd, then a lawmaker, did not support the government's anti-corruption program. Meanwhile, the mitigating factor was that Fahd had returned the Rp 3.4 billion to the state. (saf/ary)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/golkar-politician-gets-four-years-for-quran-graft.html

Inquiry into antigraft body a 'bad precedent' for law enforcement:

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – The House of Representatives' plan to use its inquiry rights against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) could set a bad precedent for other law enforcement bodies in Indonesia, KPK leaders have told the Constitutional Court (MK).

KPK deputy chairman Laode Muhammad Syarif asserted that the House's ongoing inquiry into the antigraft body might threaten the independence of law enforcers in conducting a criminal investigation.

The statement he read during a Constitutional Court hearing had been signed by five KPK leaders and was part of a judicial review request raised by the body to challenge the House's inquiry rights.

Should the House's inquiry into the KPK continue, it would widen the door for political powers to intervene with Indonesia's law enforcement, including its commitment to eradicate corruption, Laode said.

"In the future, other law enforcement bodies such as the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, the Attorney General's Office [AGO] and the National Police could be confronted with a situation similar to what the KPK is now facing," Laode told a hearing on Thursday.

Laode urged the Constitutional Court to issue a ruling that could ensure criminal investigations conducted by independent law enforcement bodies would not be subject to a political inquiry from the House.

Ideally, he said, an inquiry should be launched to investigate the implementation of government policies considered to have violated the law.

As previously reported, a KPK workers' union and several civil society groups have filed a judicial review request against a 2003 law on legislative bodies, which outlines institutions that are subject to a political inquiry by the House. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/inquiry-into-antigraft-body-a-bad-precedent-for-law-enforcement-KPK.html

Wary of corruption, Surakarta mayor bans bags in offices

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

Ganug Adi Nugroho, Surakarta – Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi "Rudy" Rudyatmo has prohibited his guests from carrying bags into his office and his residence following a string of arrests made by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of regional leaders on corruption charges.

"I have to be cautious," the mayor said, adding that he believed that some people might try to frame him by giving him money even though he never asked for it.

The recent arrest of Batu Mayor Eddy Rumpoko in East Java is a lesson that all regional leaders and their relatives should learn from, he said. Eddy is accused of taking Rp 200 million (US$14,776) in bribes from a businessman.

"The legal department is now drafting a circular on the bag ban that will apply in all administrative offices. This is to reduce the risk of being bribed."

The Surakarta administration office building provides a locker where people can keep their bags before entering Rudy's office.

"Now everyone who wants to meet the mayor must put their bags in the locker," Budiman Hendrato, a staff member at the mayor's office, said. (ary)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/wary-of-corruption-surakarta-mayor-bans-bags-in-offices.html

Kupang students rally in support of KPK

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2017

Djemi Amnifu, Kupang – Dozens of members of the Kupang branch of the Indonesian Catholic Students Association (PMKRI) rallied in front of the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Police headquarters in Kupang, the province's capital, to express support for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The students demanded that the antigraft body detain House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto.

Setya has been named suspect in the high-profile e-ID case. Setya represents NTT in the House. He is also chairman of the Golkar Party.

The rally, which caused traffic jams for few hours, was heavily guarded by the police.

"We support the KPK, which has been targeted by the House's inquiry into the commission. As an independent body, the KPK should not be subjected to a House inquiry," the rally's coordinator, Oswin Goleng, told reporters.

The protesters said they agreed with experts who said the controversial inquiry was legally problematic.

"We suspect that members of the inquiry team have conflicts of interest, especially the team's chairman, who is implicated in the e-ID case," he said, referring to Golkar's Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa.

"The Kupang branch of the PMKRI condemns political parties that support the inquiry. We demand that the KPK immediately detain Setya and send him to court," he said. (bbs)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/27/kupang-students-rally-in-support-of-KPK.html

Court dismisses KPK's objection in Setya's pretrial hearing

Jakarta Post - September 23, 2017

Kharishar Kahfi, Jakarta – Judge Cepi Iskandar at the South Jakarta District Court rejected on Friday an objection raised by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) during the hearing of House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto's pretrial hearing challenge to his being named a suspect.

In its objection, the KPK had argued that Setya's questioning of the status of the antigraft body's investigators who handled the pre-investigation and investigation of his case was invalid.

KPK legal bureau head Setiadi said that if Setya's legal team wanted to question the status of the commission's investigators they should do so in the Jakarta Administrative Court, not by means of a pretrial motion.

Cepi disagreed with Setiadi. The judge said the status of KPK investigators, which had been questioned by Setya and his legal team, was not related to civil service-related administrative disputes.

"Therefore, the judge concludes here that the matter raised by the plaintiff is not a legal dispute so it can be handled through a pretrial hearing," he said.

The KPK also said in its objection that several points raised by Setya and his legal team had touched on the substance of his case. This was because Setya wanted an assessment of the legality of evidence the KPK had used to name him a graft suspect.

The KPK said authentication was part of the core trial process and it was the authority of the Jakarta Corruption Court to handle such matters.

Responding Cepi said the judge would assess the legality of evidence during the pretrial hearing. (hol/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/23/court-dismisses-KPKs-objection-in-setyas-pretrial-hearing.html

KPK defends decision on Setya's suspect status

Jakarta Post - September 22, 2017

Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has defended its decision to name House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto a suspect in the high-profile e-ID card graft case.

The antigraft body presented its arguments at the South Jakarta District Court on Friday during a hearing on Setya's pretrial motion challenging his suspect status.

"We fully believe that we have met all the requirements when naming the petitioner [Setya] a suspect and that it is based on adequate evidence," KPK head of legal affairs Setiadi told the hearing, led by sole judge Cepi Iskandar as quoted by Antara news agency.

In its arguments, the KPK also explained the details of Setya's alleged involvement even far before the e-ID project had commenced in 2010. At the time of the deliberation of the budget for the botched project at the House, Setya was the head of the Golkar Party faction.

The e-ID corruption case allegedly inflicted at least Rp 2.3 trillion (US$172.7 million) in state losses, almost half of the Rp 5.9 trillion planned budget for the project. (mos/ipa)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/22/KPK-defends-decision-on-setyas-suspect-status.html

Indigenous culture & rights

Forum ready to protect rights of indigenous communities

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

N.Adri, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan – Local leaders attending the Governors' Climate and Forest Task Force (GCF) Forum in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, have agreed to protect the rights of indigenous communities.

"Indigenous people are the rightful owners of natural resources," West Papua deputy governor Mohamad Lakotani said in a press conference on Wednesday evening.

East Kalimantan governor Awang Faroek Ishak and Victor Noriega Reategui, the governor of San Martin, Peru, shared similar commitments. "We aim to ease their access to technology and capital," said Awang.

Acknowledging the rights of indigenous people and providing them with easier access to technology and capital are part of the agreements stipulated in the Balikpapan Statement, which will be signed on Thursday.

The GCF is a forum of governors of provinces or states that was initiated by then California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009. The members of the forum are governors from 38 provinces and 10 states. Three new GCF members are Roraima (Brazil), Oaxaca (Mexico) and Pastaza (Equador).

Governors from seven Indonesian provinces are members of the forum. They are Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, North Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Papua and West Papua.

In 2014, the GCF made an agreement in Rio Branco, Brazil, which was later implemented in Indonesia, through a commitment to reduce the deforestation rate from 320,000 hectares per year to only 65,000 ha. The need to protect the rights of indigenous people has been stipulated in the agreement.

GCF Task Force head William Boyd said the challenge the forum was facing was how to translate the commitment and dialogues into action. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/forum-ready-to-protect-rights-of-indigenous-communities.html

Food & beverage industry

Government criticized for tardiness in revitalizing old sugar

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

Stefani Ribka, Jakarta – The government is being criticized by some for its tardiness in revitalizing 53 state-owned sugar factories with low productivity.

The country's lackluster sugar industry has led to a reliance on sugar imports.

"The slow revitalization is the root problem in the sugar industry today," said University of Indonesia economist Faisal Basri in Jakarta recently.

"The government needs to solve the root of the problem. Our sugar factories aren't efficient because they are very old," he said during a discussion on sugar issues organized by the Indonesian Employers Association. Read also: Sugar auction further delayed to January

Most of the sugar factories in Indonesia were established during the Dutch colonial era in 1930s, when Indonesia was the world's second largest sugar exporter.

Now, it is the world's fifth largest sugar importer, Trademap data shows.

The old factories lead to high production costs that push up sugar prices, Faisal said, adding that the household sugar price in Indonesia was set at Rp 12,500 per kg, higher than the Rp 7,000 per kg and Rp 6,500 per kg in Malaysia and Thailand, respectively.

The State-Owned Enterprises Ministry claims the revitalization process is happening, with Rp 4.6 trillion set aside from the budget to renovate factories.

"[The government allocates] trillions of rupiah [to revitalize them every year] but we don't know where all of the money goes," Faisal said. Indonesia has 66 factories that produce household sugar, 53 of which are owned by the state. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/government-criticized-for-tardiness-in-revitalizing-old-sugar-factories.html

Armed forces & defense

Police must clarify weapons, munitions shipment from Ukraine

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2017

Safrin La Batu, Jakarta – The National Police (Polri) should publicly clarify reports that the force has purchased from a Ukraine company hundreds of firearms and ammunition that will be used by the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob), a police watchdog said on Saturday.

"The police should clarify the reports about 280 firearms and 6,000 rounds of ammunition belonging to Brimob that are currently being held by authorities at Soekarno Hatta International Airport," Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) chairman Neta S. Pane said in a statement on Saturday.

He added that information obtained by the IPW revealed that the firearms and ammunition were sourced by PT MDM from abroad. "Polri need to explain whether these weapons and ammunition are part of the police's plan to buy 20,000 firearms," said Neta.

He referred to a previous Polri statement that confirmed they planned to buy MAG 4 weapons, of which 5,000 would be bought from state weapons manufacturer Pindad while 15,000 others would be purchased from abroad.

"To avoid confusion, the police must tell the public whether firearms taken into custody by the airport authorities form part of the 15,000 firearms they planned to buy from a supplier abroad," said Neta.

A series of reports circulating on social media app Whatsapp since Friday have shown documents from different authorities, including a clearance document approved by Indonesian authorities that appeared to state that a Ukraine Air Alliance cargo aircraft had landed at Soekarno Hatta airport at around 11.35 p.m. on Friday. It was said the cargo comprised items ordered by Polri.

According to the documents, items of the cargo included 280 SAGL 40x46mm grenade launchers and 5,932 RLV HEFJ 40x46 mm grenades.

A photo of a cargo manifest appeared to indicate that among the items carried by the aircraft were "cartridges for weapons" packed inside 70 wooden boxes weighing 23 kilograms each.

Meanwhile, the shipping classification was 1.1 E. According to the UN shipping classification, 1.1E means "secondary explosive, not self initiating, with propelling charge."

Among the other documents circulating via Whatsapp are pictures of green wooden boxes stored inside a warehouse. There is also a document apparently from the Ukrainian Embassy in Jakarta that praised the Indonesian authorities for giving clearance for the aircraft to enter the country's territory.

Polri spokesman Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto did not respond to The Jakarta Post's request for confirmation. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/30/police-must-clarify-weapons-munitions-shipment-from-ukraine.html

Gatot downplays controversy over weapons remark

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2017

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo downplayed the uproar caused by his recent controversial statement about weapons procurement by non-military institutions.

He maintained his innocence and brushed off claims that he was moving into the realm of politics by making the statement.

"Soccer spectators may differ over whether it is an offside or not. I can't be angry when those spectators think it is an offside, [while I believe it is not an offside], because they see it from a different perspective. People can have [different] perceptions and I appreciate that," Gatot said at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Amid a mounting controversy, the Coordinating Political, Security and Legal Affairs Minister Wiranto clarified Gatot's statement, saying that the TNI commander was "misinformed" about the plan by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to purchase about 500 weapons from state-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad for training purposes.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu also echoed Wiranto's statement. "If the ministers consider it as miscommunication, I accept it," Gatot said.

He added that it was only President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo who could say whether there was miscommunication or not. "I only give all [intelligence] information to the President, not to the Coordinating Political, Security and Legal Affairs Minister nor the Defense Ministry," Gatot said.

The controversy erupted when Gatot delivered a speech in front of retired military personnel on Friday. He said he had received information that a number of non-military institutions had ordered 5,000 illegal firearms from abroad and that Jokowi had not been briefed about it. (bbs)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/27/gatot-downplays-controversy-over-weapons-remark.html

Jokowi and Gatot discuss controversial remarks

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2017

Marguerite Afra Sapiie and Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Wednesday that he met Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo after the general's controversial remarks over weapons procurement that caused an uproar in the country.

The four-star military general met Jokowi at Halim Perdanakusumah Air Force Base in East Jakarta on Tuesday night, after the President wrapped up a working visit to Bali.

"[Gatot] has explained. I suppose the clarification made by Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister [Wiranto] is already clear. I need not repeat it," Jokowi told reporters.

In a speech at a meeting of retired military members at the TNI headquarters on Friday, Gatot alleged that an institution outside the military tried to import 5,000 illegal weapons "on behalf" of Jokowi.

He also said he would "attack" the National Police if they had weapons capable of damaging tanks, warships or aircraft.

On Sunday, Wiranto clarified Gatot's statement on Sunday, saying that the TNI commander was "misinformed" about the plan by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to purchase about 500 weapons from state-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad for "training purposes."

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Tuesday that the ministry had received the proposal on May to procure 521 firearms and 72,750 bullets.

Gatot's remarks have been blasted by activists and politicians who said his statement could incite tensions between the military and the police. Some even went so far as to accuse him of bringing the military into the political sphere. (bbs)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/27/jokowi-and-gatot-discuss-controversial-remarks.html

Ryamizard clarifies weapons purchase fiasco

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2017

Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu offered clarification over the reported plan of a non-military institution to import 5,000 firearms that had been mentioned by Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Ryamizard echoed a statement by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, who said on Sunday that Gatot had been misinformed about the plan by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to purchase 500 weapons from state-owned weapons manufacturer Pindad for "training purposes".

Ryamizard said the Defense Ministry had received the purchase proposal signed by BIN deputy chief Lt. Gen. Teddy Lhaksmana that specifically detailed that the spy agency planned to procure 521 firearms and 72,750 bullet munitions.

He said the purchase plan was in line with prevailing laws, which regulated that the procurement of strategic weapons by relevant state institutions should proceed with the permission of the defense minister.

"Initially, we could not permit [the purchase] because it [BIN] ordered [TNI] standard firearms, but they subsequently changed the order to ones that are non-[TNI] standard [...] The procurement proposal is clear," Ryamizard said.

"Maybe he [Gatot] has not yet received the report [regarding the purchase] from his assistant [...] Everyone can make mistakes, we just need to ensure that the mistakes will not be repeated," he said.

The minister went on to say that the issue should not be blown up and that relevant institutions, including BIN, the TNI and the National Police, should strengthen communication to prevent similar issues in the future. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/26/ryamizard-clarifies-weapons-purchase-fiasco.html

Jokowi urged to reprimand TNI chief over claim of illegal weapons

Jakarta Globe - September 26, 2017

Jakarta – Rights activists are calling for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and the House of Representatives to reprimand Indonesian Military Chief Gatot Nurmantyo for a claim he made during an event at TNI headquarters in East Jakarta on Friday night (22/09) that "an institution outside the TNI has procured 5,000 weapons illegally."

Al Araf, director of rights watchdog Imparsial, said the TNI chief should have understood that any intelligent information should never be communicated in public, but directly submitted to the president as the "end-user."

"This could be political maneuvering by the TNI chief, though we don't know what his ultimate goal is yet," Araf told reporters on Monday. He urged President Jokowi to dismiss Gatot and appoint a new TNI chief.

Araf said Gatot's claim is not based on proof, as suggested by a swift official denial from the chief security minister, Wiranto, on Sunday.

Gatot himself said he did not make the statement in an official context and has refused to get into a slanging match over the veracity of his claim.

"I never issued a press release [regarding the illegal weapons]. I only told a bunch of retired army generals, but the news came out. I won't respond [to reactions over my claim]," Gatot said at the TNI headquarters in East Jakarta on Sunday, as quoted by state news agency Antara.

Gatot did confirm video and audio recordings of his statement – that quickly went viral on social media – were accurate. "They were indeed my words, a thousand percent. But I never issued a press release, so I don't have to respond [if people disagree]," Gatot added.

Gatot also said reporters should ask the chief security minister himself to confirm if there has been a lack of communication between the TNI, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the National Police.

On Friday, Gatot had said the TNI will take a firm action if the alleged procurement of illegal weapons had turned out to be true, even if the perpetrators were rogue elements in the TNI or the police.

Gatot claimed that according to his sources the institution that is trying to bring the weapons into Indonesia illegally had used Jokowi's name to expedite the process.

Chief Security Minister Wiranto held a press conference on Sunday evening in his office to calm the situation down. He said the information from the TNI chief was not connected to urgent security issues in Indonesia.

"It's only a miscommunication between institutions, information has not gone through the right channel," Wiranto said. Wiranto said he had spoken with the TNI, BIN and the National Police to find out if Gatot's claim had any truth to it.

"BIN had ordered 500 non-TNI grade weapons from state-owned arms manufacturer Pindad to be used in intelligence training. They had never ordered 5000 TNI-grade weapons," the minister said.

Wiranto said an order like that only needs police permission, not one from the TNI or the president.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/jokowi-urged-reprimand-tni-chief-claim-illegal-weapons-entering-indonesia/

House to summon Gatot over weapon shipment statement

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2017

Jakarta – The House of Representatives plans to summon Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo to give clarification regarding his statement on the possible illegal shipment of firearms for the National Police and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Member of House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs Supiandi Aries Putra said lawmakers planned to summon Gatot together with BIN chief Gen. Budi Gunawan.

"This has become a hot-button issue and that's why Commission I made the plan to summon TNI chief and the head of BIN," Supiandi said as quoted by tempo.co on Tuesday.

He said although Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto had given clarification regarding Gatot's allegation, the House needed information directly from the TNI chief.

In a statement made during a meeting with retired TNI personnel, Gatot said a plan had been in place to import 5,000 firearms without the approval of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Wiranto said on Sunday that there had been miscommunication regarding a plan to import firearms for educational purposes.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/26/house-to-summon-gatot-over-weapon-shipment-statement.html

Wiranto calms fear over weapon shipment rumor

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2017

Gemma Holliani Cahya, Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Security and Legal Affairs Minister Wiranto issued a statement Sunday to give clarifications to a controversial statement made by the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo who suspected that a plan had been in place to import 5,000 illegal firearms to the country.

Wiranto said that there had been a miscommunication regarding a plan to import firearms for educational purposes. "There has been a communication breakdown between institutions involved," Wiranto said in a press conference on Sunday.

During a speech he delivered on Friday in front of retired military personnel, Gatot said that he received intelligence information that a number of institutions had ordered the shipment of firearms from abroad and that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had not been briefed about the matter.

Wiranto said he had spoken with Gatot, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Gen. Budi Gunawan as well as other relevant officials, to discuss the allegation and came to a different conclusion.

"There is a procurement of 500 non-TNI standard firearms ordered to Pindad, not 5,000. It was BIN that made the order for intelligence education purpose," he said referring to the state-owned weapons producer.

Wiranto said given that the firearms were not TNI-standard, the procurement would not need a permit from the military or the President.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/24/wiranto-calms-fear-over-weapon-shipment-rumor.html

Foreign affairs & trade

Textile exports hit US$7 billion in first half

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2017

Jon Afrizal, Jakarta – The export value of textiles and their related products reached US$7.12 billion in the first half of 2017, a 2.71 percent increase from the corresponding period last year.

Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto projects that by the end of this year, the export value of textiles will reach $12.09 billion.

"The increase in exports and domestic demand is indicated by the increase in production activity," said Airlangga while visiting a garment factory owned by PT Delami Garment Industry in Bandung, West Java, on Tuesday as reported by Antara.

He said his ministry supported the textile industry – one of the country's strategic sectors – by facilitating smooth logistics access and strengthening local brands through establishing cooperation with international organizations, including with the World Intellectual Property Organizational (WIPO).

He said the textile industry had a great chance to develop because of the large domestic market and the potential for exports.

"Therefore, this industry is set as one of the prioritized sectors in the 2015-2035 National Industry Development Master Plan," Airlangga added.

The government delineates the textile industry into three groups: First, the businesses that produce fiber. Second, the businesses that spin, knit, weave, dye, print and finish products. Third, the businesses that produce garments and other textile products. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/27/textile-exports-hit-us7-billion-in-first-half.html

Bali & tourism

Mass solidarity in face of rumbling volcano

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2017

I Wayan Juniarta, Karangasem – In an impressive show of solidarity, communities and individuals have banded together to provide assistance for evacuees who have had to escape the rumbling Mount Agung in Bali.

Immediately after Nyoman Widana entered the front room of his house, he slumped to the floor. Extremely exhausted after spending the whole day assisting evacuees and coordinating the incoming flow of donated goods, he desperately needed a brief nap.

Yet, instead of closing his eyes, he started telling how touched he was with what he had witnessed in the evacuation center.

"It makes me proud to be Balinese to see this constant flow of help and goodwill from institutions and individuals from across the island," he said.

Widana described how people from his hometown in Nusa Penida, an island off Klungkung, sent boats laden with sacks of rice and bottled water as well as wiring a huge sum of money to him to buy supplies for the evacuees.

"This morning vegetable growers stopped by at the center with three truckloads of fresh produce and donated it all," he said. "I am overwhelmed by both the number of arriving evacuees and the generosity shown by the Balinese."

Widana is the adjutant of popular Klungkung Regent Nyoman Suwirta, who responded quickly to the massive inflow of evacuees from villages in the neighboring regency of Karangasem, where the rumbling peak of Mt. Agung is located.

Suwirta assigned Widana the task of supervising assistance efforts at the Swecapura sports complex, which has been transformed into an evacuation center. The complex is currently home to more than 3,811 evacuees while the regency is hosting 19,456 evacuees.

As of Wednesday the total number of evacuees had reached more than 96,000 – higher than expected by the authorities – at nearly 500 shelters across all of the island's eight regencies and one city.

The moving show of human kindness witnessed by Widana has, in fact, occurred in many places across the island and as far as Jakarta.

As government-designated evacuation centers were overwhelmed with evacuees, traditional institutions, such as desa pekraman (customary village) and banjar (traditional neighborhood organizations), in Klungkung, Karangasem, Gianyar and Bangli have opened their temples and community halls and organized public kitchens run by the local women's associations.

"This is the least we can do for our brothers and sisters," Wayan Sulendra, the chief of Besang Kawan Tohjiwa customary village, said.

In Klungkung alone, more than 90 traditional institutions have opened evacuee shelters.

Their initiative is a fine example of menyame-braya, salungung-sabayantaka, the moral code that guides the Balinese traditional institutions. It stipulates that members of the institutions must treat each other as brethren and stick together during good and bad times.

Examples of solidarity have also been seen along the main road that connects Klungkung with Menanga, a village on the slope of the rumbling peak, and Besakih, where the island's mother temple lies.

As trucks from the police and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) navigated the narrow road to transport refugees into Klungkung, a convoy of 15 SUVs from the Sahara Squad off-road club sped into Menanga to carry food and medicines.

"The goods were donated by the Satya Dharma Buddhist Temple in Benoa, Badung, and we're helping to transport them," Sahara Squad team leader, I Ketut Suwena said, adding that they would conduct similar efforts in the following days.

Generous individuals have also joined the assistance efforts, including by offering rooms in their homes for the evacuees while top Balinese artists have held mini concerts at shelters to cheer them up. Moreover, an increasing number of expatriates and tourists have also shown their love for the island.

"I think even if it's not erupting, it will still cause a lot of trouble for the people. It's good that everybody is helping," Arnaud Astruck said on Tuesday after donating goods at the Swecapura complex. The Australian man is holidaying here with his family for one month and due to leave Bali next week.

BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho publicly praised the show of solidarity displayed by the Balinese.

"I rarely encounter this level of public solidarity in other places, but here in Bali, it is everywhere. People quickly offer assistance, from shelters for evacuees and their livestock to food and medicines. It is simply impressive," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/28/mass-solidarity-in-face-of-rumbling-volcano.html

'Climbers did that': Mount Agung is angry, some believe

Sydney Morning Herald - September 27, 2017

Jewel Topsfield and Amilia Rosa, Bali – Mount Agung looks enormous from the Bhale Dana sand mine in Muntig, a Balinese village inside the volcano evacuation zone, but the miners are not fazed.

Eight pieces of enormous machinery have been evacuated but the miners themselves continue to show up to work, loading a convoy of lime green trucks with gravel to transport all over Bali.

"The old people who lived through the 1963 eruption said there would be signs when the mountain is going to erupt, like ash," Jaya told Fairfax Media. "If I evacuate now I will run out of money and die before it erupts."

Jaya's priest said Mount Agung – the largest and most sacred mountain in Bali – is wrathful because the "bule" (white people) had sex and menstruated on the mountain. "The climbers did that," Jaya said.

Mount Agung looked deceptively calm on Wednesday, with a puff of white cloud hovering above the peak.

But he flexed his muscles at 1.12pm local time with a 4.3-magnitude rumble – the largest since Indonesia declared Mount Agung was on the highest possible alert on Friday night – that had even the tremor-hardened miners shrieking "earthquake".

Ketut is waiting for the animals to come. "The old people advised us the heat from the mountain will make them flee. All kinds of animals – deer, snakes, wild cows, anything."

Until then, he said, the miners would continue working calmly. Ketut said many people stayed in evacuation camps at night but returned to the sand mine in the exclusion zone during the day. "I'm not afraid. Agung is mysterious and no-one can predict his ways."

Ketut said a village-wide evacuation notice had been issued but authorities had not visited the sand mine and told it to shut down. "We are still open because we feel for the workers. This is their livelihood."

On Friday night Indonesian authorities imposed an exclusion zone of up to 12 kilometres from the mountain.

Nyoman Swanjaya, the head of early warning, earthquake data and information service at Bali Disaster Mitigation Agency said people in the red zone should leave the area right away.

"But it is difficult to tell them not to be there because mining is their living. It's a dilemma."

Thousands of Balinese have now evacuated with 82,825 people staying in evacuation camps and with families and friends as of Wednesday.

Gede Suantika from the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the earthquakes rattling the region meant the situation was becoming more critical.

Between midnight and 6am on Wednesday there had been 285 deep volcanic quakes, 195 shallow volcanic quakes and 41 tectonic quakes.

Five mobile sirens will be activated if there is an eruption. They will be heard for two kilometres.

He said if there was only volcanic ash from the eruption those in the danger zone may have time to run. "But if the eruption comes with hot clouds, I don't guarantee people will be safe," he said.

Hot clouds, also known as pyroclastic flows, are a fast moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter. They caused many of the more than 1500 deaths when Mount Agung last erupted in 1963.

The Ministry of Transportation announced on Wednesday it had prepared 10 airports outside Bali to cater for travellers should Bali's airport be closed as a result of volcanic ash from an eruption.

Buses would transport passengers to ferry ports so they could leave Bali if the airport was closed. Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi also said tourists visas would be extended if they overstayed as a result of the volcano erupting.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/climbers-did-that-mount-agung-is-angry-some-believe-20170927-gyq0ei

Mining & energy

Freeport at loggerheads with Indonesia over divestment: letter

Reuters - September 29, 2017

Wilda Asmarini, Susan Taylor, Jakarta/Toronto – Freeport-McMoRan Inc, the world's second-largest publicly traded copper company, strongly disagrees with a proposed divestment plan by the government of Indonesia, according to a company letter reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

The Sept. 28 letter to Indonesia's finance ministry reflects persistent and deep divisions between Freeport and the state, which have weighed on the miner's stock and operations, despite a framework agreement announced in late August.

Under the framework deal, Freeport agreed to divest a 51 percent stake in Grasberg, the world's second-largest copper mine, among other terms, and retain operational control until 2041.

The Phoenix, Arizona-based company said in a letter from its Chief Executive Richard Adkerson that it is at loggerheads over issues related to the valuation, timing and structure of the divestment.

"Freeport is prepared to discuss a path forward but cannot negotiate on the basis of the government's September 28 proposal," Adkerson said in the letter. Freeport did not respond to requests for comment.

The company, which has been in talks since late 2009 on the terms of a new permit, said in the letter that it will continue operating under its current contract of work until the issues are resolved.

Under Indonesia's divestment proposal, the government said it has the financial capacity to take over the shares by Dec. 31, 2018, Freeport said in the letter.

Freeport wants an initial divestment, as soon as possible, through an initial public offering, with full divestment done in stages over several years, the letter said.

The two sides remain divided on assessing fair market value. The government wants to base its calculations on operations at the Grasberg mine until 2021, when it says Freeport's contract of work expires.

Freeport maintains that valuation must extend through 2041, because it is entitled to apply for two 10-year extensions under its contract.

Indonesia also proposes that new shares be issued for the divestment, while Freeport wants existing shares to be used, adding that new shares will result in an inefficient and overcapitalized structure.

The miner also rejects a government demand that its joint venture with Rio Tinto be concluded before the divestment. Freeport said it is preparing a so-called data room for the government to conduct due diligence.

[Reporting by Wilda Asmarini and Fergus Jensen in Jakarta, and Susan Taylor in Toronto; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Meredith Mazzilli]

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-freeport-mcmoran-indonesia/freeport-at-loggerheads-with-indonesia-over-divestment-letter-idUSKCN1C42HJ?rpc=401&

'Government needs to revise target of 35,000 MW power projects'

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2017

Jakarta – Finance Sri Mulyani has sent a letter to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan to inform him about the financial risk if the government goes ahead with its plan to construct 35,000 megawatts power plants by 2019.

In her letter dated Sept. 19, Sri Mulyani said the government needed to make an adjustment, considering the financial condition of state-owned electricity company PLN to finance the planned projects.

She said PLN was financially weak because it had to pay its debts causing it to have limited funds to invest in a government program. It forces PLN to rely on loans from third parties, said the minister.

Meanwhile, electricity sales also missed the target. "This was also caused by the government policy not to increase the electricity tariff," said Sri Mulyani in her letter, according to kontan.co.id on Wednesday.

She called on the Jonan and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno to be more efficient – especially when using primary energy like coal – and to anticipate PLN's failure to fulfill its financial obligations in the future.

Meanwhile, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry spokesperson Kusdiana said that PLN had controlled their spending based on the existing parameters: electricity sales growth, sales volume and renewable energy. "The target of primary energy use for electricity is 4.66 percent," the official added.

PLN spokesman I Made Suprateka said LPN projects are always a financial risk. "They have not produced electricity, but we still have to pay them." (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/09/27/government-needs-to-revise-down-target-of-35000-mw-power-projects.html

Fishing & maritime affairs

Explosive plan for Indonesian fisheries

Asia Times - September 26, 2017

John McBeth, Jakarta – Feisty fisheries and maritime minister Susi Pudjiastuti may have earned a reputation for blowing up hundreds of foreign fishing boats caught intruding in Indonesian waters, but with the national catch now again on the rise she is going one step further with plans to ban all exports of frozen fish.

Curled up in a chair in her official residence, the barefoot minister told Asia Times she was anxious to add more value to marine products, in line with broader efforts to boost manufacturing and improve sluggish economic growth.

Fishery exports in fact have risen by 7% to US$3.9 billion in the past two years, but more startling is the way Indonesia's domestic fish consumption has soared by a whopping two million tons.

One Japanese processing company is already moving its base of operations from Thailand to Indonesia as the ban takes a 30% bite out of Thai seafood exports, an indication of where most of that country's actual catch comes from.

Pudjiastuti also wants to turn 12 ports, from Merauke in far southeast Papua to Sabang in northwest Aceh, into processing points for direct export to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Pulau, Japan and Australia.

But all that requires intra-government cooperation, and in Indonesia – where bureaucratic reform is still a work in progress – involving more than one ministry in a project is often a recipe for stagnation or outright failure.

"It's like a book. The first chapter was about destruction and she did that brilliantly," says former fisheries minister Sarwono Kusumaadmadja. "The second chapter is about reconstruction and she is finding that to be whole new ball game."

Kusumaadmadja initially served as Pudjiastuti's policy adviser, but he says she has now forgotten how to listen – just as she has taken to skipping Cabinet meetings in a show of frustration over the obstacles that stand in her way.

President Joko Widodo can hardly fire his most popular minister. But he may have been tempted by fears that her rules on environmentally-friendly nets – now on hold – were alienating the country's four million small-scale coastal fishermen.

Out in deeper waters, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has found that apart from the damage done to marine habitats, anywhere up to 40% of the fish caught in heavy trawl nets has little or no market value.

Pudjiastuti says she is still under pressure from the same politically-wired businessmen who previously benefited from the plundering of the nation's resources, worried that her work could be undone by a new administration.

What a raspy-voiced, chain-smoking former fish trader with barely a high school education has achieved is stunning by any yardstick, but it's almost beyond belief in a country where the elite always seems to prevail.

Up until she imposed a moratorium in 2014, more than 1,300 foreign fishing vessels, grouped under about 10 joint ventures with mostly Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese companies, were registered to operate in Indonesian waters.

But many resorted to subterfuge to double down on that number, as few landed their catch at domestic ports as they were contractually bound. Then, as many as 10,000 other foreign boats were illegally fishing inside Indonesia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on any given day.

Successive governments ignored the economic and social impacts. Not only were 115 fish canneries closed between 2003 and 2013, but poor coastal households sustained by the fishing industry dropped from 1.6 million to 800,000 over the same time period.

Now, 317 destroyed boats later and with another 191 on death row, there are nearly no foreign boats fishing legally in Indonesian waters, and the number of poachers is down to an estimated 500, most of them operating on the fringes of the national EEZ.

"Transnational organized fisheries crime has been destroying our oceans, mocking our sovereignty and abusing humans for decades," Pudjiastuti said in a recent speech, pointing to the slave labor often used on foreign fishing boats in Indonesian waters.

Indonesia has about 5,600 of its own 30-ton-plus fishing boats, 700 of which were added to the fleet last year alone as domestic investors responded to the revival of fish stocks and less crowded seas.

Pudjiastuti, however, can't claim ultimate victory yet. She acknowledges 40%-50% of the officially estimated 6.5 million tons of "Indonesian citizen fish" caught each year is still being surreptitiously transferred to foreign mother ships lurking outside the EEZ.

The minister has sought to mitigate mid-ocean transshipment by restricting local mother ships to 200 tons; she believes the total catch could be a million tons higher – still well short, however, of the 12.5 million tons that is seen to be sustainable.

Even with improved air surveillance and required on-board transponders, guarding 97,000 kilometers of sea boundary is a challenge beyond the capabilities of Indonesia's tiny fleet of 100 navy, police and fisheries patrol craft.

The minister says since Widodo made a well-publicized visit to the Natuna islands last June, Chinese fishing boats and their heavily-armed Coast Guard escorts appear to have retreated from intrusions into Indonesia's EEZ.

She believes shaming a big power is the only way to stop it. But in Indonesia's case that may also stem from the fact that the dispute involves maritime resources and not the actual ownership of islands and atolls, which Beijing takes much more seriously.

The Indonesian navy was brought in at the time of the presidential visit to act as a greater deterrent than the small fisheries protection vessels that normally patrol what Indonesia now calls the North Natuna Sea.

But with a shortage of ocean-going tankers, and no specialized fuel storage facilities for warships on the Natunas, Pudjiastuti says the corvettes and fast-patrol craft can only stay on station for a limited period before having to return to port in the Riau islands far to the south.

Source: http://www.atimes.com/article/explosive-plan-indonesian-fisheries/

Analysis & opinion

In Indonesia, the 'fake news' that fueled a Cold War massacre is

Washington Post - September 30, 2017

Vincent Bevins, Jakarta, Indonesia – Early on the morning of Oct. 1, 1965, members of Indonesia's armed forces kidnapped and killed six high-ranking generals in Jakarta. To this day, it's not entirely clear who was involved in planning the operation or what the "30th September Movement" hoped to achieve.

But the military's swift reaction and the mass killings that followed have entered history as one of the Cold War's darkest chapters. Gen. Suharto, then the head of the army's strategic reserve command and relying on support from the CIA, accused the powerful Communist Party of orchestrating a coup attempt and took over as the military's de facto leader.

Over the next few months, his forces oversaw the systematic execution of at least 500,000 Indonesians, and historians say they may have killed up to 1 million. The massacre decimated the world's third-largest Communist Party (behind those of the Soviet Union and China), and untold numbers were tortured and killed simply for allegedly associating with communists.

The military dictatorship that formed afterward, led by Suharto, made wildly inaccurate anti-communist propaganda a cornerstone of its legitimacy and ruled Indonesia with U.S. support until 1998.

More than 50 years after the events of 1965 – and as documents continue to emerge pointing to Washington's support for the killings – the topic is still an inflammatory one in the world's largest Muslim-majority country. Recently, conservative and Islamist activists, armed with Suharto's version of events, have sought to suppress investigations into the events of 1965 and have used the communist boogeyman to attack moderate President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

"There are two tools that cynical operators can use for political gain in Indonesia – religion and communism," said Baskara T. Wardaya, a professor at Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta who studies the role of the Cold War in Indonesian history. "And the myth of an ever-present, dangerous communist threat was created by Suharto in October 1965. It was ingrained into the minds of the people."

In 1965, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was a legal party of unarmed civilians operating in the open, not a rebel or clandestine organization. Even if the party's high command did know about or helped form the 30th September Movement, there is no evidence that any rank-and-file members had knowledge of its plans.

But simply for their political beliefs, they were subjected to mass slaughter. Across the country, one by one, Indonesians were shot, stabbed, decapitated or thrown off cliffs into rivers to be washed into the ocean. The carnage was mostly over by the end of 1965, but violence and discrimination continued for decades. Relatives of victims or accused communists were banned from participating in many facets of public life.

A member of the U.S. Embassy staff in Jakarta later admitted that he had handed over a list of communists – compiled by U.S. officials – to Indonesian authorities as the massacre was underway.

"It really was a big help to the army," Robert J. Martens, a former member of the embassy's political section, told The Washington Post in 1990. "They probably killed a lot of people, and I probably have a lot of blood on my hands, but that's not all bad."

The National Declassification Center recently processed thousands of the Jakarta embassy's files from this period and is working with Brad Simpson, a historian at the University of Connecticut, and the National Security Archive to digitize them and make them public.

In an email Friday, Simpson said preliminary work indicated that the documents should "confirm in additional detail that US officials were aware of the Army-led mass-killings of alleged PKI supporters and members and actively encouraged them" and could be released later this year. He added of the officials, "They knew the Army was carrying out a campaign of extermination against overwhelmingly unarmed civilians who were unaware of and had no involvement in the September 30th Movement."

But Indonesia still suffers from "dangerous anti-communist paranoia," in the words of a recent Human Rights Watch publication. The organization was condemning an attack on the offices of the Legal Aid Institute in Jakarta earlier in September.

The institute had planned to host a small conference about the events of 1965, but conservatives circulated social-media messages falsely alleging that the event was actually a meeting to revive the PKI, which is still illegal. Demonstrations on Sept. 16 forced the cancellation of the planned talk. When supporters of the groups involved returned to the building the next day for a cultural event, they were trapped inside by an "anti-communist" mob until early the next morning.

Participants, including students and young human rights activists, told stories of their panic that night as they heard the group outside shout repeatedly "Kill PKI!" and "Allahu akbar!" Witnesses said many of the demonstrators belonged to the same Islamist groups that led a successful campaign for the imprisonment of a former governor of Jakarta, a Christian of Chinese descent, on charges of committing blasphemy against Islam.

"We were the victims of a hoax," said Citra Referandum, a lawyer at the Legal Aid Institute, using a Bahasa Indonesia term sometimes translated as "fake news." She said, "Our event on September 17th was only about supporting democracy in Indonesia."

The anti-communists remain active. On Friday, a few thousand protesters gathered in Jakarta to warn the country about the alleged dangers of a PKI resurgence in the government. Many analysts think this line of attack may be used against Widodo in next year's election.

"Many powerful people are invested in maintaining the false narrative put forward by the propaganda and brainwashing under Suharto, because they don't want to see themselves or their predecessors turned from heroes into villains," said Andreas Harsono, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in Indonesia, after Friday's protest.

"And even though communism is practically nonexistent here, the fears they created can still be used against Jokowi. He's Javanese [Indonesia's largest ethnic group] and Muslim, so they can't attack him for his race or religion. So they try to attack him for being a communist."

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/30/in-indonesia-the-fake-news-that-fueled-a-cold-war-massacre-is-still-potent-five-decades-later/

Islamists find another stick to beat Widodo with – communism

South China Morning Post - September 30, 2017

In an effort to unseat the president, Indonesian religious leaders are tapping into the bitter memories of an aborted coup in the hope it will drive voters to the polls, building on momentum from Jakarta's gubernatorial election

Jeffrey Hutton – Every year at this time Indonesia renews its collective distain for communists, widely blamed for allegedly trying to tear the country apart in an aborted coup more than half a century ago. But this year is different.

As thousands of police stood guard outside government buildings and the parliament, Islamic conservatives seized on the annual rite to get back at the administration of President Joko Widodo, which for months have been squeezing hardliners following a successful overthrow of Widodo's protege in Jakarta's elections earlier this year.

Outraged and emboldened, analysts claim, Islamists and their allies among Jakarta's elite are betting this year the spectre of a resurgent red menace will have extra resonance as they work to defeat Widodo in elections 18 months away.

"It's the Jakarta election play book all over again," said Andrew Mantong, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta. "These are contentious politics played out by Islamists and elites seeking power. They are trying to find what repertoire might produce a robust coalition."

Television footage showed hundreds of police standing inside the gates of parliament backed up by rows of armoured personnel carriers as protesters gathered after Friday prayers. Organisers expected at least 50,000 people and police said roughly 20,000 officers were ready to guard the site.

The rally followed efforts by the administration to squeeze Indonesia's small but vocal Islamic groups.

In July, the government banned the far-right Hizmut Tahrir (HTI), which seeks an Islamic caliphate in place of the government. The rally's organisers, the Islamic Defender's Front (FPI), seeks government in accordance with sharia law. But FPI leader Rizieq Shihab is in hiding in Saudi Arabia and wanted by the police for allegedly violating the country's pornography laws for sending lewd text messages to a woman who is not his wife.

Earlier this year, far-right Islamic groups, including the FPI and the HTI, helped organise mass rallies that contributed to the defeat of Widodo's protege, Basuki Tjahaha Purnama, in April's gubernatorial elections. Anies Baswedan, a former minister in Widodo's cabinet, won by a landslide after appearing at FPI's headquarters to appeal for their support. Purnama was later jailed for violating the country's blasphemy laws on what many consider trumped-up charges.

The rally was held on the eve of the 52nd anniversary of the murder of six army generals by suspected communists. The attack triggered a massacre of an estimated 500,000 alleged sympathisers and the jailing of many more, in some cases for membership of a labour union or for being ethnic Chinese.

There is little evidence of a revival of the communist party, not least because of its enduring unpopularity. Communism is equated to godlessness – anathema in deeply religious Indonesia.

In mid-September, crowds thought to be organised by the FPI laid siege to a human rights NGO offering free legal help in Jakarta because they suspected the group of harbouring communists. It wasn't.

Widodo, a self-made millionaire from his successful furniture exporting business, was very nearly undone by allegations of communist sympathies during the 2014 election.

The head of the country's military, General Gatot Nurmantyo, has reportedly ordered military officers to screen a propaganda film, once used in schools during the Suharto era, that recounts the alleged coup and the murder of the army generals.

A staunch nationalist, Nurmantyo earlier this year severed military ties with Australia when he learnt of the existence of a poster at a commando base mocking Indonesia's founding ideology, known as Pancasila.

Nurmantyo is widely considered to hold ambitions for high office and has made hay while in his position, aiming to win the nomination next September as a vice-presidential running mate popular with conservatives, said Philips Vermonte, also of CSIS. "After he retires his political capital evaporates quickly," Vermonte said.

However, Widodo remains popular and his likely opponent, Prabowo Subianto, who contested the election in 2014 and was a three-star general, may not need his hardline credentials.

A survey conducted by the CSIS said 68 per cent of the 1,000 respondents approved of Widodo's performance since he assumed office in 2014. Since then, he has removed fuel subsidies, kick-started infrastructure projects and presided over a relatively clean government.

But Widodo, also known as Jokowi, risks haemorrhaging support if controversy diverts attention.

"It worries me that this has come up again," Mantong said. "Jokowi remains popular but I'm afraid Indonesia risks following the regional trend where elites connect with crowds by pushing away logic and valid argument."

That trend may already be manifesting in Indonesia, where opinion polls suggested residents were largely satisfied with Purnama, also known Ahok.

Accusations that he slandered the Koran while campaigning overshadowed his success in building infrastructure, rooting out corruption and distributing much-needed services to the poor.

His ethnicity and religion – he was a Christian of Chinese descent – made it easier for Islamic conservatives to dissuade the faithful from supporting him at April's gubernatorial elections, said Tsamara Amany, a likely candidate for parliament in the 2019 elections.

Amany opposed deputy parliamentary speaker Fahri Hamzah's efforts to shut down Indonesia's corruption watchdog, the KPK, in a television debate in July which has since attracted a million views on YouTube.

"Jakartans are not intolerant. The Ibu-Ibus were satisfied. They were just afraid of going to hell if they supported Ahok," said Amany, using the term used for buttoned-down family matriarchs.

"The real threat to us is radicalism, not communists. I feel sorry that Jokowi has to focus on this because he has bigger issue such as poverty and education."

The threat seems likely to grow. The HTI are fighting their ban at the Constitutional Court on the basis that it infringes on their human rights because it limits their right of assembly and free speech, says Kapitra Ampera, a lawyer for the FPI who is arguing the case at the constitutional court.

"This violates the basic rights of people to organise and express themselves," Ampera says.

Ironically, Ampera does not think the same consideration ought to be extended to communists. "The Communist Party is outlawed under Indonesian law. The government cannot allow the Communist Party to rise up again."

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch says the court's conservative bent suggests the HTI may win their case. "The HTI are using the red scare to build better ties with elites," Harsono says.

Vermonte said the red scare will only intensify as parties prepare to nominate their candidates for the presidency next year. "You can expect this to come around next year and it's going to be worse," he said.

Source: http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2113404/islamists-find-another-stick-beat-widodo-communism

Fear of communist revival grips Indonesia

Nikkei Asia Review - September 29, 2017

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – On Friday thousands of members of hardline Muslims groups – including the Islamic Defenders Front, the United Islamic People Forum and the Betawi Rembuk Forum – staged a rally outside Indonesia's House of Representatives. A rally leader accused sympathizers of the PKI, the Indonesian Communist Party, of infiltrating the parliament.

"Disband the PKI. Stop making the House a PKI nest," he said. "President Jokowi should never once [try to] revive the PKI, or we will bring him down."

Jokowi is the popular nickname of President Joko Widodo. The anti-PKI fervor especially resonates with these Muslim groups.

They have accused Widodo of protecting PKI symphathizers while targeting Muslim groups, with the government's recent ban on Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia – which is seeking to establish an Islamic caliphate.

They ignored the calls of moderate Muslim leaders, including the Indonesian Ulema Council chairman Ma'ruf Amin, who said: "There is no need for demonstrations. PKI is already dead. "With no evidence to suggest the existence of communist cells in Indonesia, observers have suspected political motives behind the instigation of the PKI controversy.

The target is likely Widodo. Since the 2014 election, smears against him have called his late father a PKI member and accused the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle of hosting dozens of PKI members and sympathizers. Indonesian Muslims attack communists particularly harshly because of the absence of a deity in the communist world view.

Moreover, after the independence of Indonesia, the PKI was accused of launching a 1965 coup attempt and trying to change the balance of power between Muslims and the Indonesian military. Under the late President Suharto national TV stations were ordered to broadcast a film on the 1965 coup attempt every year on Sept. 30.

It tells the story of the kidnapping and gruesome murder of six generals by the communists, and how Suharto, then a major general, saved the day.

It was not aired after 1998, following the fall of Suharto and his autocratic New Order regime. But recently Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo ordered the film to be screened to military command posts nationwide. Soldiers were told to invite local residents to watch it together.

The screening has escalated a national debate on the supposed threats of communism and the revival of the disbanded PKI.

Victims of the military crackdown on the PKI following the failed coup have been seeking justice for years. The National Human Rights Commission said the crackdown had led to gross human rights violations, including the extrajudicial killing of more than 500,000 people.

But fake news reports have fed the paranoia, and now screening of the film is seen by some as confirming that Indonesia faces a communist threat.

On Sept. 17, rumors of a secret PKI meeting led to an attack on the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation office in Jakarta by several student groups. The hashtag #DaruratPKI, meaning "PKI emergency," trended on social media in the following days.

"There is a strong impression that the issue of a communist revival is being used to subdue the popularity of President Joko Widodo," Tempo magazine wrote in an editorial this week. "The eventual target of these attacks is to defeat Jokowi in the 2019 election.

Widodo, at the beginning of his presidency, promised truth and reconciliation for victims of the 1965 crackdown. But facing increasing pressure to prevent the supposed revival of communism, the president has clearly shied away from the topic.

On the film screening, he merely said: "It will be better to have a latest version, so that it is more fitted for the millennials".

[Nikkei staff writer Bobby Nugroho in Jakarta contributed to the story.]

Source: https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Fear-of-communist-revival-grips-Indonesia