Tom Allard in Kuala Lumpur and Yuko Narushima – Indonesian authorities are bracing for a huge influx of boat people, anticipating as many as 10,000 asylum-seekers are waiting in Malaysia to transit through the archipelago and on to Australia.

This estimate was backed by a Malaysian group that deals with unauthorised immigrants. An Australian Government source warned of the potential for a similar influx to the thousands who began arriving in Australia from the late 1990s.

About 1500 asylum-seekers have arrived in Indonesia this year and registered for refugee status, almost all travelling by boat from Malaysia. Another 1500 are believed to have arrived and have not registered.

Indonesian police intelligence suggests between 7000 and 10,000 more people are waiting in Malaysia to make the journey once their passage is organised by people-smugglers.

"It could be 10,000," said senior commissioner Eko Danianto, head of the people smuggling unit at the Indonesian National Police. "They comprise a mix of nationalities, not only Afghans. There are also Sri Lankan, Myanamerese (Burmese), Iraqis."

However an Australian academic, Dr Roslyn Richardson, of Charles Sturt University, has said asylum seekers know little about Australia before their arrival here.

Networks of people-smugglers service the 1 million Indonesian illegal workers who regularly travel to Malaysia by boat. The same networks also help arrange passage to Australia via Indonesia.

On Saturday, Malaysian authorities arrested 36 Afghans and six Pakistanis being smuggled to Australia via Indonesia. On Sunday, a boat carrying 194 asylum-seekers, mostly Sri Lankans, was intercepted near Christmas Island. Immigration sources said it was believed to have come from Malaysia. It was the biggest boatload of asylum-seekers to arrive in eight years.

"When they start getting big numbers through on a boat, they [people smugglers] get credibility and they get money. It becomes a virtuous cycle for them," said one Australian immigration enforcement official.

Australia and Indonesia have improved co-operation on people- smugglers and have disrupted more boats than the 16 that have reached Australia this year. With Australian financial and technical support, Indonesia will announce tomorrow up to 12 police "strike teams" dedicated to combat human trafficking.

But a new wave of asylum-seekers from Malaysia will test that capability, which will take months to get running.

Aegile Fernandez, the co-ordinator of the Malaysian immigration support group Tenaganita, agreed with the assessment that up to 10,000 asylum-seekers were waiting in Malaysia. "There would be 10,000," she said. "I would put the blame on these agencies that have been promising Australia as the destination."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has 49,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia and estimated there are 45,000 unregistered illegal immigrants.

The Australian Government declined to comment, except to note the number of asylum-seekers was rising worldwide. However, one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "It could be 10,000. It could be 5000 or 20,000. We just don't know."

Dr Richardson said strong deterrent messages from Australia did not cut through. "People smugglers do not pass on detailed policy information," she said yesterday. The asylum seekers knew little of Australia, let alone its immigration policies.

In her study, the reasons 27 refugees gave for coming to Australia centred on its comparative cheapness and accessibility. The research contradicts Federal Opposition claims that policy changes last year led to a surge in boats.

A report out today by the Migration Institute of Australia found migration agents were perceived to be poorly trained and shonky by parliamentarians, refugee advocates, official and the courts.

Activist radio becomes a voice for a tolerant society

Agence France Presse - June 30, 2009

Jerome Rivet – A young radio news agency in Indonesia is attracting fans and international recognition for programming that eschews "infotainment" and focuses on hard issues like human rights and corruption.

Founded 10 years ago after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship, KBR-68H is making the most of the liberalization of Indonesia's media to spread values of free speech and religious tolerance across the huge archipelago.

The country's only independent national news agency now has a network of more than 600 local radio affiliates and an audience of more than 18 million people in almost all corners of the mainly Muslim country.

Co-founder and managing director Santoso said that in the era of Facebook and Twitter, old-fashioned radio was still the "cheapest and most flexible" way to reach a wide audience.

"Our goal is to expand our network to Indonesia's remote areas such as central Papua, Sumba Island or Maluku. It will encourage citizen participation and strengthen democracy," he said.

As Indonesia is broken up into thousands of islands, the best way in KBR's view to reach listeners is to offer ready-made programming to community radio stations in each region.

"We send eight hours of programs per day – news bulletins, reports and a lot of interactive talk shows," production director Heri Hendratmoko said.

The subscription fee can be as low as $10 a month. The subject matter is serious: human rights, corruption, economic development, deforestation, religious tolerance, women's health.

"These are the key themes for a country like Indonesia, which is in the process of democratization," Santoso said. And in a country where the airwaves are swamped every day with giddy celebrity stories, KBR stands apart.

"We refuse to do 'infotainment' – light news – like most of the commercial radio and television stations," Hendratmoko said. "It is very important in today's Indonesia to make in-depth reports and discuss issues such as deforestation or local corruption."

Wanting to be faithful to the activist spirit in which KBR was founded, the station's journalists are not afraid to get their hands dirty in the pursuit of balanced news.

Eric Mahaley, owner of KBR-affiliate DMS Radio in Ambon, said the network won respect for its reporting of bloody fighting between Muslims and Christians in the area between 2002 and 2004.

"During the Muslim-Christian sectarian conflict, the radio owned by Christians and Muslims was a voice of tolerance and dialogue," he said.

"From 2002 to 2004, we broadcasted appeals launched by kids to stop the conflict. I think this played a significant role in raising awareness of the local people."

Sometimes its broadcasts upset vested interests such as illegal loggers or religious extremists, but KBR is able to fall back on its right to free speech. It also works with government ministries on community service programming.

"In remote areas of Papua or Nusa Tenggara, radio is the only media available. There is no electricity, so almost no TV, and newspapers are not delivered," Hendratmoko said.

In regions where electricity is scarce, the radio network has worked with various aid agencies to build solar-energy or microhydro generators to run community radios, he said.

ICW calls on government to stop direct cash aid

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Jakarta – The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) has called on the central government to stop the direct cash aid program for the poor because of rampant illegal fees.

"Too many illegal fees are imposed by local administration officials. And there are leakages in the central government fund for direct cash aid," Febry Hendri, an ICW researcher told a media briefing on Monday.

He said direct cash aid had affected the attitude of the poor as they relied on it and became too lazy to work, kompas.com reported. Solidarity among the poor had also declined because of the competition to get direct cash aid and some had even died as they battled for the cash.

Febri suggested the government instead should allocate the direct cash aid to improve health and education services. "If health and education receive more funds, they will become the country's investment for the future," he said.

The best programs on TV? Don't watch them

Jakarta Post - June 24, 2009

Jakarta – Research into the nation's television viewing habits has revealed most people regard news and talk show programs to be the best in terms of education, but the majority still prefer to watch soap operas and reality shows.

"Our research shows that viewers regard news and talk shows to be the best television programs to watch," the Science, Aesthetics and Technology Foundation Deputy Director, Agus Sudibyo, told a seminar at Tarumanegara University in Grogol, West Jakarta, on Tuesday.

"However, our research also shows that the same people still prefer to watch soap operas and reality shows, which they themselves say are low quality," he added.

The results were drawn from a survey of 220 respondents across 11 major cities, including Medan, Palembang, Bandung and Jakarta. Around 90 percent of those who took part in the research, conducted between April 7 and April 13, were university graduates.

The respondents claimed the top five television programs were Metro TV's Kick Andy talk show, TV One's Apa Kabar Indonesia Malam talk show, SCTV's Liputan 6 Petang daily news program, RCTI's Seputar Indonesia news program and Trans TV's Bocah Petualang children's education program.

However, the same respondents said the five programs they watched the most were SCTV's Cinta Fitri teen soap opera, RCTI's Dewi soap opera and three reality shows from Trans TV – Termehek-mehek, Me VS Mom and Jika Aku Menjadi.

"The respondents said soap operas completely lacked when it came to encouraging social empathy, exemplifying good behavior or being suitable for children," Agus said.

Around one-fifth of respondents believed the popular soap operas, such as Cinta Fitri, were quality programs.

"It was also ironic to discover that the state education institution, the National Education Ministry, prefers to run its advertisements about education during soap operas programs. I think the ministry needs to really consider when to run its commercials and not base its decision just on popularity but on substance as well," Agus said.

RCTI's editor-in-chief, Arief Suditomo, told the seminar the national television industry needed to fully commit to strengthening its role as a public education service by moving away from airing poor-quality shows.

"I admit that ratings are important for the industry. But we must also commit to advocating better education programming for the public." (hdt)

Interest in political TV rises as watchdog sniffs out bias

Jakarta Globe - June 23, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – The number of people watching television news programs and political talk shows has jumped in the past three months, monitoring company AGB Nielsen Media Research said on Tuesday. The firm attributed the rise to high levels of interest in both April's legislative elections and the upcoming presidential poll.

Andini Wijendaru, an AGB Nielsen communications executive, said that a survey of audience numbers for the January-March and April-June periods showed a 28 percent increase. Viewers are also watching these programs for longer periods of time, he said.

The viewing trends were measured in 10 major cities across the country. Andini said the company also noted that the increases were roughly the same for all stations surveyed.

The country's TV stations are now showing a combined average of nine hours of political talk shows a day, he said, up by two hours from earlier in the year.

Those shows receiving the highest audience share included "Presidential Options" and "In the Name of Citizens," both on tvOne, "Presidential Candidates Talk on the Law," on Global TV, and SCTV's "Barometer."

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) said on Tuesday that it had increased its monitoring of TV stations as it watched for any coverage of presidential candidates' campaigning that it considered unfair.

"We'll keep monitoring the TV programs to ensure that they have balanced coverage," KPI member Muhammad Izzul said.

He said the commission had already summoned representatives from several TV stations for giving priority to certain candidates. "On Monday, we summoned RCTI, Metro TV and TPI for airing coverage of some candidates' rallies for too long," he said.

Specifically, RCTI and TPI were called in for their coverage of a rally for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Malang, East Java. Metro TV was cited for its coverage of an event for Vice President Jusuf Kalla in Cilincing, North Jakarta.

Izzul said that all three stations had offered explanations to the KPI and vowed to provide equal amounts of broadcast time to each candidate in the future. "We will keep observing their programs," he said. "If they don't fulfill their commitments, then we will sanction them."

Such sanctions can range from warnings to the loss of broadcasting licences, a decision made by the Communication and Information Technology Ministry on the recommendation of the KPI.

"But the toughest sanction will only be given to serious violators. If it is just a small violation, we will only warn them," Izzul said, adding that the KPI was also monitoring talk shows.

"We are evaluating the opportunities for the candidates to appear in prime time on TV stations," he said.

"We urge all TV stations to balance out the opportunities for all candidates to appear on their programs." Izzul said the commission had found that some talk shows mighty be giving preferential treatment to certain candidates.

"Some have presented certain candidates but have missed others," he said. "But we'll wait until after the election to finish the evaluation and decide later whether it is necessary to sanction them or not."

Voyeurism or philanthropy? Jakarta poverty tours spark debate

Jakarta Globe - June 23, 2009

Katrin Figge – Wati is 23 years old and already a mother of five. She carries her youngest child in her arms, a 5-month-old girl who has a slight fever. Wati's husband works at the port, where he earns about Rp 20,000 ($2) a day, or sometimes, when he's lucky, up to Rp 30,000.

The family of seven lives in a single windowless room so tiny it barely fits one bunk bed, a plastic chair, a gas cooker and several boxes in which they store their clothes. "There are days when I can't even afford to buy rice," Wati says. "I don't know how to feed my children."

Most residents of Luar Batang, an old fishing village in the north of Jakarta, are as poor as Wati's family and also struggle to make ends meet. They live in shacks and run-down houses in narrow lanes that are often flooded at high tide.

"This is the real Jakarta," said Ronny Poluan, the founder of Interkultur, a nongovernmental organization that runs what it calls Hidden Jakarta Tours of the city's poorest areas.

On Friday, Melinda Standish, an Australian writer and filmmaker, and her 12-year-old daughter, Holly, joined Ronny to see the "real" Jakarta. Having spent five days in Bali, the pair had come to the capital to visit a friend, and decided to take the tour instead of sightseeing on their own.

"I had heard about this tour from a colleague in Australia," Melinda said, "and I think it's a good way to show my daughter that there are also poor people in this world who didn't grow up as privileged as she did. I think it's fantastic what Ronny does."

The Luar Batang tour, one of several that Interkulur offers, started at noon from the Hotel Borobudur, a luxuriously elegant hotel in the heart of Jakarta, where Melinda and Holly were staying. It felt a little awkward to sit in the five-star lobby on cushioned sofas while listening to Ronny's introduction, in which he explained how and why Hidden Jakarta Tours started.

"In the beginning, I used to take my friends to those areas," he said. "Then I thought, why not make it formal, offer it to tourists who want to experience something different."

The Interkultur Foundation has operated since February 2008. In addition to Ronny and his wife, Anneke Rompas, Rob Finlayson, an adviser with Volunteering for International Development from Australia, also takes part in the tours.

"It has been difficult to promote this program," Finlayson said. "Things have only been starting to get busy in the last couple of weeks, after a local TV station followed us and showed what we do."

The foundation currently offers the tours to order. For the Luar Batang tour, Melinda paid a fee of Rp 700,000 – Rp 350,000 each. The price covers administrative costs, a fee for the guides, donations for the poor, transportation and food and drinks. Melinda also voluntarily gave extra to be given as donations to the people she would encounter.

Our small group began the journey by taking the busway to Kota, where we boarded an angkot (minibus), then eventually a bajaj (three-wheeled motorized becak). We passed Fatahillah Square with its museums and the famous Cafe Batavia, the usual stops on most sightseeing tours, and stopped at Sunda Kelapa harbor's Old Watchtower, built in the 17th century and a reminder of Batavia's past importance as a port.

From there, we continued on foot to Luar Batang. Before we entered the labyrinth of small streets and lanes, Holly announced that she was hungry.

"Sure, we can have something to eat first," Ronny said, before leading the way to a roadside warung serving mie ayam. The young man serving us seemed astonished to have foreign customers. "Many tourists pass by here," he said, "but hardly any of them sit down to eat."

Holly seemed perfectly at ease eating mie ayam and sipping Teh botol while dangdut music played in the background, but Melinda admitted she was somewhat apprehensive.

"I am fascinated, for sure," she said, "but at the same time, I don't really know how to behave. Can I just look at the people? Shall I smile at them? I don't really know how to behave."

Having sated our hunger with the local fare, we continued our tour. Ronny, Anneke and Finlayson were obviously well known within the community. After wandering through the busy and crowded alleys for a while, followed by children, teenagers and women who tirelessly called "Hello, mister" and greeted us with friendly smiles, we arrived at Wati's room. Though she was welcoming and invited us inside, it felt awkward, like we were invading her privacy.

The tours have been criticized as exploitation of Jakarta's poor and a Kompas article in late May linked them to reality television shows that give a melodramatic depiction of life in the slums. Finlayson disagreed, saying the tours operate from the basic assumption that all people are the same.

"The way I see it," he said, "we are not taking people there to look at poverty, but to introduce them to ordinary people. Most of the tourists who come here are also ordinary people in their home countries who are just privileged enough to come from a wealthy country."

Anneke talked with Wati a while, then handed her an envelope containing money, before taking us to visit another struggling mother, Enny.

"I had to take my 12-year-old son out of school," Enny said. "I couldn't afford to pay for it. My husband ran away, and I don't get any support from the government."

Her son didn't speak any English but took an instant liking to Holly – they were, after all, close in age – and, taking her by the hand, pulled her into the small room where he lives with his family. Even though they could only communicate with gestures, they clearly got along, as proved by their smiles and laughter.

"It is hard to decide who should get the money," Anneke said. "There are so many people who need it. But normally, we let them decide among themselves who needs it the most at the moment." Enny was also given an envelope containing cash. "Now he can go back to school, thank you," she said, putting her arm around her son.

It was already late afternoon, and Ronny decided to head back after making a final stop. Our hostess this time was a 90-year- old woman living in a similar tiny, windowless room. Her home was dark and damp and had no furniture except one table, where she sits, eats and even sleeps.

To support herself, the woman collects and sells empty bottles for Rp 2,000 each. "I don't have any family, there is nobody to support me," she said. Anneke gave her a last envelope.

As we waited for a bus at Kota station to take us back to our own reality, we were all a little subdued.

"It was definitely a great experience," Melinda said. "But I felt very uncomfortable to just enter people's homes like that, it feels so voyeuristic. But then again, I think the voyeurism goes both ways."

Looking at her daughter, she said, "When I was about Holly's age, my parents took me to Turkey. I remember that somehow we got lost and suddenly were in the back alleys of a traditional bazaar. It was such a great adventure, and for me, that was one of the most memorable moments of the trip. "I hope Holly feels the same."

Actions, demos, protests...

North Sumatra farmers demand just conflict resolution

Jakarta Post - June 30, 2009

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Hundreds of farmers from across North Sumatra province, grouped under the Federation of Indonesian Farmers (SPI), rallied in front of the governor's office on Monday, demanding just and thorough handling of hundreds of agrarian conflict cases.

SPI North Sumatra chapter secretary Heri Purwanto said his organization had received reports of at least 485 agrarian conflicts in 2008. Most of these were cases in which farmer's land had been claimed by either state-owned or private plantation companies. "None have been properly resolved," Heri said.

Many of the farmers had also become victims of violence in their efforts to reclaim property, he said. More than 300 farmers had been arrested and named suspects while struggling for ownership rights, Heri said.

"Almost all were physically abused. So far, six have been killed (as a result)," Heri told reporters on the sidelines of the rally on Jl. Diponegoro.

SPI urged local authorities to stop security apparatus from criminalizing and arresting farmers seeking justice, or reacting violently toward them. Such treatment was often seen from police, military and hired thugs commonly known as preman, Heri said.

Heri expressed concern that criminalization of farmers seeking justice was still common in the province. Providing examples, Heri said five SPI members had recently been arrested and detained while struggling for their rights to land.

The members were Jaimar Sigalingging, Abel Barus, Sehat Sinulingga and Kawan Sinulingga, who were detained by Lubuk Pakam Prosecutor's Office in Deli Serdang regency. The other was Arman Dani Sirait, who was detained by Kisaran Prosecutor's Office in Asahan regency.

The first four, Heri said, were detained after an anarchic protest in which farmers, accusing state-run plantation company PTPN II of claiming their community land, destroyed some of the company's heavy machinery. A similar story also applied to Arman Dani Sirait.

Monday's protesters, mainly women, urged that the five detained farmers be released immediately. The protesters argued that detention was a violation of farmers' rights.

"We want Law No 18/2004 on Plantations to be revoked because it imprisons farmers who fight for their rights to property claimed by others," Wagimin, a protester, said at the rally.

Wagimin said more than 31,000 farmers in the province had been displaced because their land had been claimed by other plantation companies. "Their conditions are very concerning at this time," he said.

Responding to the protest, Governor Syamsul Arifin said his administration would call for a meeting with the related institutions to seek solutions.

"These have been very complicated cases. Hopefully we will be able to find ways to handle them," Syamsul said after receiving delegations representing the protesters.

Watch out for traffic jams, six demos to mark the start of week

Detik.com - June 29, 2009

Amanda Ferdina, Jakarta – Six protest actions are scheduled to mark the start of the week in Jakarta and surrounding areas. The mass actions will take place both in the morning and afternoon, so watch out for traffic jams.

As reported by the Metro Jaya Regional Police Traffic Management Centre, at 6am employees from the PT. Citra Marga Nusphala Persada Trade Union will begin a protest action in the vicinity of company's offices. The action will be in the form of a silent protest with demonstrators wearing black armbands.

At 8am, in addition to employees from the Uni Enlarge Industries Indonesia who will hold a protest action at the Cakung Nusantara Bonded Zone (KBN), the group CV. Mega Karunia Madani will hold a similar action the area of PT. Space Technologi.

Employees from the company PT. Putra Dharma meanwhile will hold an action a 9am in the vicinity of their workplace. Also at the same time, the Ceramic Traders Association (PPK) will be demonstrating at the office of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) and the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

The next action will be held at 10am by People's Solidarity for Regional Autonomy at various locations including the North Jakarta mayor's office, the Jakarta City Hall and the offices of the Business Competition Supervisory Commission.

The final protest today will be organised by the Dompu Social Awakening Committee who will be demonstrating at 1pm at the offices of the Corruption Eradication Commission on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta. (amd/amd)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Journalists march against violent attack in Jayapura

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Jakarta – A group of journalists on Saturday held a rally at the Democratic Party (PD) central executive board office in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, to protest a violent attack on a journalist during a vice presidential candidate campaign tour Friday.

The group marched from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) office, Central Jakarta, to the office. "We want an apology and explanation from (Susilo Bambang) Yudhoyono on the attack," one of the protesters said.

The protesters also questioned whether Yudhoyono really supported press freedom as he had promised during his campaign.

Journalist Odeadata (not Odeodata as previously reported) Julia from the Sinar Harapan daily was attacked at the Swissbell Hotel in Jayapura, Papua, on Friday during the campaign tour of Boediono, SBY's running mate.

Odeadata sustained a back injury and was left unconscious after the attack. Witnesses identified Odeadata's assailant as a PD cadre named Rudolph.

Journos to march against violence following attack in Jayapura

Jakarta Post - June 27, 2009

Jakarta – A group of journalist will hold a rally at the Democratic Party (PD) central executive board office in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, to protest a violent attack on a journalist during a vice presidential candidate campaign tour on Saturday.

The group is planning to hold a long march from Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) office in Central Jakarta to the party's office.

Odeadata sustained a back injury and was left unconscious after the attack. Witnesses identified Odeadata's assailant as a Democratic Party cadre named Rudolph.

Yudhoyono-Boediono campaign team spokesman Rizal Malarangeng has apologized to journalists. (dre)

'Delman' drivers protest in vain

Jakarta Post - June 24, 2009

Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – Dozens of delman (traditional buggies) staged a protest in front of the City Hall on Wednesday, demanding officials remove the ban that forbids them to operate inside the National Monument (Monas) Park.

"I stopped operating my buggy and have just stayed at home for two years since the ban was enacted. We want to be allowed to work inside the park again," Matsani, 25, a delman driver, told The Jakarta Post. The delman drivers staged similar protests last year.

He said the officials' promise to relocate them to Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta or Ancol in North Jakarta was merely a lie as it had never been realized. However, Central Jakarta mayor Sylviana Murni said she never promised to relocate them.

"I only gave them a suggestion. It is not within my authority to move them there. They have to approach the managements themselves," she told reporters by phone. She said her office could not lift the ban to operate inside Monas Park.

The municipality issued the ban on delman drivers in June 2007, saying that the horses' urine produced a strong smell of ammonia and polluted the air, while their manure spilled onto the park's grounds.

Iswandi, secretary-general of the Betawi Delman Struggle Association, said there were around 250 buggies around the city, 90 of which were operating around the perimeter of Monas Park.

Aceh

Palm oil development threatens Aceh's orangutans

Jakarta Post - June 30, 2009

Jonathan Wootliff – Conservation campaigners in Britain are calling on supermarkets to stop selling products that contain palm oil harvested from environmentally sensitive areas in Indonesia.

Palm oil is widely used in everything from chocolate cookies and potato crisps to detergent and lipstick, and Indonesia is the world's largest producer of this much prized commodity.

The target of this current campaign is the major London Stock Exchange-quoted conglomerate, Jardine Matheson, which is the majority shareholder in an Indonesian palm oil company that plans to convert sections of the Tripa swamp forest in Aceh, Sumatra into palm oil plantations.

Environmentalists claim that the venture will destroy a biologically rich ecosystem that is home to more than 6,000 orangutans.

Although more commonly known as one of Borneo's most endangered species, orangutan populations in Sumatra are dwindling at an even more alarming rate. Experts say that the species found on the island – which is more intelligent and sociable than its Borneo cousin – is well on the way to becoming the first of the great apes to go extinct.

Greenpeace is one of a number of international organizations condemning the Jardine Matheson controlled Astra Agro Lestar palm oil venture, which is headquartered in Jakarta.

It is emotively accusing the company of bankrolling the obliteration of a vital part of Indonesia's rainforests, right in the heart of the region that bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami which claimed the lives of nearly a quarter of a million people.

Ironically, Jardine's, which is one of the world's oldest companys, was established in Canton in 1832 partly for the purpose of importing opium in to China. Today, it is one of the most respected international businesses in the world, owning a myriad of interests including the prestigious Mandarin Oriental hotel chain.

Its Website states that the company "has always been committed to making a positive contribution to the communities and regions in which it operates."

Astra Agro Lestari (AAL) robustly denies any wrongdoing, claiming its activities are in full compliance with Indonesian law, which requires comprehensive environmental studies that take into consideration any stakeholder concerns prior to the development of any plantations.

AAL says that these studies must cover the potential impact on endangered species, thereby discrediting allegations that its activities have any adverse impact on the orangutan.

The company claims to have set aside thousands of hectares of forest deemed to be of so-called High Conservation Value (HCV), and that the decision to go ahead with the Tripa project was based on the findings of an independent environmental study. In this instance it plans to convert only half of its 13,000-hectare concession as a consequence of conservation concerns.

Less than a quarter of Indonesia's palm oil producers have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the global organization which promotes sustainable practices in the industry. And yet AAL claims to fully endorse the principles of the Roundtable, although curiously, it is not yet a member.

Nothing is simple when it comes to environmental protection in Indonesia, as this Green-Watch column regularly attests. In Sumatra, locals call oil palm the "golden plant", thanks to the income that the fast growing industry delivers.

But conservation groups say the economic benefits come at a high price. In spite of their call for more responsible practices and stronger government action, even the governor of Aceh, known for his green credentials, seems unwilling to intervene.

It may be hard to judge the rights and wrongs of this particular confrontation, but it is clear that conservation groups must fight to protect Sumatra's rapidly depleting natural forests. I have been flying over the island for nearly a decade and have witnessed the clearing of massive areas of forests to make way for palm oil plantations.

The palm oil industry has its rightful place in Indonesia, and responsible development of well managed plantations that do not impact on biodiversity are a necessary if Indonesia's economy is to flourish.

But there is widespread disregard for the needs of the environment with weak enforcement of regulations and laws being all-too-commonplace. It would be far better, therefore, to entrust the palm oil industry to large businesses like AAL, which can be held account for their actions, than to allow an inevitable chaotic free-for-all to take place.

There is a disturbingly large gap between the accusations coming from environmentalists and AAL's counter claims.

It is in the best interests of the orangutan, local people and the company, that this serious dispute be resolved.

There has been a breakdown of trust that must be urgently addressed. It is surely beholden on AAL, and its highly competent parent company, to urgently execute a comprehensive engagement strategy with all of the concerned stakeholders.

[Jonathan Wootliff is an independent sustainable development consultant specializing in the building of productive relationships between companies and NGOs. He can be contacted at jonathan@wootliff.com.]

West Papua

Aussie spy data points to Papua murder cover-up

Melbourne Age - June 28, 2009

Tom Hyland – New details of secret Australian surveillance of Indonesia's Papua province have emerged, revealing that Australian officials believed Indonesian military weapons were used in the murder of two US citizens.

Documents show the officials told US diplomats within hours of the 2002 shooting that automatic Steyr rifles were used.

The US State Department documents show the Australians passed on the information on August 31, 2002 – the day the two US school teachers and an Indonesian colleague were shot dead. They were ambushed on an isolated road near the giant US-owned Freeport- McMoRan gold and copper mine, where the three worked.

The heavily censored documents were obtained under freedom of information by US researchers, who say they show Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stalled US efforts to allow the FBI to investigate the killings.

Pro-independence guerillas were blamed, but human rights groups have long accused the Indonesian military of involvement – a suspicion initially shared by Indonesian police.

The US documents provide the latest insight into Australia's close knowledge of events surrounding the shootings. Two months after the ambush, Australian spy agencies were reported to have given the US intelligence relating to a planned military attack on the Freeport mine, designed to discredit the pro-independence Free Papua Movement (OPM).

And last year, The Sunday Age revealed Australian government officials imposed extraordinary secrecy when eight wounded survivors of the ambush were flown to Townsville Hospital.

The newly obtained documents are further evidence of a cover-up surrounding the ambush, says Eben Kirskey of the University of California who has researched the killings.

The documents include a cable written on the day of the ambush by the US embassy in Jakarta and sent to the State Department in Washington and US embassy in Canberra.

It reveals officials at the mine were reluctant to blame OPM guerillas for attacking the teachers, who were "specifically and deliberately targeted".

The cable continues: "There are reports from Australian sources close to provincial police that the automatic weapons used in the attack were manufactured by Steyr, a weapon not typically used by the OPM in the past, though (it) is a common make in Indonesian security force inventories in the province."

Indonesian police ballistics experts later identified three types of military weapons used in the shooting, including M16s, which fire the same cartridge as the Steyr.

The embassy cable posed three possible explanations for the attack: the OPM had abandoned its practice of not targeting foreigners; the attack was carried out by "some rogue security force"; or it was a terrorist attack – an option the cable ruled out.

Documents obtained by Dr Kirskey and Indonesian journalist Andreas Harsono last year revealed the extent of Australian secrecy when the survivors of the attack arrived in Townsville the next day.

The survivors were barred from calling relatives for almost two days and from talking about the identity of their attackers. Australian police imposed extraordinary security on the hospital, while US diplomats took the unusual step of asking an Australian military officer to check on the condition of the patients.

Separate inquiries published by The Sunday Age last September disclosed unidentified government officials effectively took charge of non-medical operations at the hospital, under a directive issued at "high government level".

Two months after the shooting, The Washington Post reported that US officials had obtained information showing Indonesian military officers had discussed an operation against Freeport before the ambush, aimed at discrediting the OPM so the US would declare it a terrorist organisation.

The information included details of a conversation secretly intercepted by an Australian agency – likely to be the top- secret Defence Signals Directorate, which monitors mobile phone, radio and internet messages.

The new documents show President Yudhoyono stalled in the face of US pressure to allow the FBI to investigate the killings, which Indonesian police initially blamed on the military.

In 2006, seven men were sentenced over the killings, including alleged ringleader Antonius Wamang, who received a life term.

Papuans 'tortured by Indonesian army'

The Australian - June 26, 2009

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Indonesia's controversial special forces, which are trained by Australia, have been accused of new human rights abuses in the troubled province of Papua.

In a report by US-based Human Rights Watch, off-duty members of the elite Kopassus branch of the Indonesian army are said to have tortured and abused Papuans.

The claims coincide with a rise in reported violence in the province and a visit this week by presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla to the resources-rich but services-poor region.

The report documents the claims of several residents in the town of Merauke, southeastern Papua, who say they were beaten by plainclothes soldiers in Kopassus headquarters.

Under a memorandum signed in January by Australia's Defence Force Chief Angus Houston and his Indonesian counterpart, Djoko Santoso, Kopassus troops are among those trained by Australia's military.

The report calls on Australia, the US and other countries to reconsider their military co-operation with Indonesia.

Military spokesman Vice-Marshal Sagoem Tamboen rejected the abuse claims, suggesting HRW's informants "could be just fighting amongst themselves, and then blaming our soldiers".

He said concerns over Kopassus abuse should be reported to military police, although the HRW report documented one complainant being told by regular police it was "too dangerous for them to do anything".

The elite special branch, whose implication in human rights atrocities goes back to the communist purges of 1965-66, is led by Major General Edhie Wibowo, brother-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

General Wibowo is also the son of one of the special forces' great heroes, the late Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, who was heavily involved in the 1965-66 anti-communist purge that accompanied the overthrow of founding president Sukarno.

As Kopassus chief at the time, Wibowo Sr was responsible for enforcing the so-called "act of free choice" by which Papua was incorporated into the Indonesian state. Papuan activists claim they were coerced into that 1969 decision.

The new report documents claims by Merauke residents of being kicked, punched, whipped with hoses and forced to eat raw chillies in the Kopassus barracks.

One alleged victim, a man named Petrus, 41, said a soldier shouted at him during a beating: "You Papuans, one single Kopassus soldier can kill you like chickens."

The report is the second this month from HRW to claim human rights abuses in the closed province, where visits by foreign journalists are rarely allowed and strictly monitored.

On June 5, the organisation released a report detailing claims of beatings in Abepura prison, in the main northern city of Jayapura. They included claims of political prisoners being beaten and tortured, then moved out of sight during a visit to the jail by Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta.

Kopassus in Papuan reign of terror: report

Melbourne Age - June 26, 2009

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Human Rights Watch has urged Australia to cut ties with Indonesia's feared special forces group Kopassus after new evidence that it is terrorising civilians in West Papua.

It also urged the Indonesian Government to thoroughly investigate the behaviour of Kopassus officers.

The Australian Government suspended links with Kopassus in 1999 over its role in East Timor, and resumed co-operation in 2003. Kopassus soldiers based in the West Papuan town of Merauke regularly abduct Papuans from the streets and their homes and hand out beatings, the Human Rights Watch report found.

According to the testimony to researchers from the New York-based organisation, indigenous West Papuans were beaten with fists, boots, pipes and water hoses, and forced to eat mouthfuls of raw, hot chillies in a series of brutal acts between August 2007 and May this year.

"The soldiers typically do not wear uniforms and have no formal role in policing, but act on their own or in response to complaints of public disturbances," the report, released yesterday, said.

A spokesman for the Indonesian military, Rear Marshall Sagoem Tambun, said: "This kind of report confuses us. Who are those people who were interviewed in the report? We don't know that. Who violated the law?"

West Papua has been the subject of a long-running separatist campaign by indigenous Papuans. It has a heavy military and police presence and journalists have to get approval to travel there.

"Antonius", a 21 year old quoted in the report, told of being picked up by five Kopassus officers in September last year. He said he was taken to the Kopassus barracks, handcuffed to a chair and beaten by a procession of 12 officers.

"My face was bleeding. My eyes were swollen. Once one soldier held my chest and another one kicked my stomach. I asked them: 'What did I do wrong?'," Antonius said.

He was already vomiting blood when the soldiers stuffed 10 raw chillies in his mouth, Antonius said.

The bizarre punishment with chillies was meted out to others cited in the report. Indigenous Papuans often chew betel nut, leading to small cuts in their mouths that would make eating raw chillies acutely painful.

According to one anonymous person quoted, such beatings occur weekly and have installed a deep sense of fear among indigenous Papuans.

West Papua, formerly Dutch New Guinea, was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969.

Military tells watchdog to 'eat' report on Papua

Jakarta Globe - June 26, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Reuters – The military struck back bitterly on Thursday against accusations that members of elite special forces had acted with impunity in Papua to detain, torture and beat up ordinary citizens.

Human Rights Watch had urged the government in a report published earlier in the day that it should investigate the alleged abuses and prosecute the offenders and commanding officers in Kopassus.

It also called on countries such as the United States, Australia and Britain to cut training ties with Kopassus until the matter had been fully investigated.

Military spokesman Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen swiftly responded with comments suggesting the report would likely be ignored. "Let them eat the report," he said of New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"We do not need to comment on it because Indonesia is a sovereign country that has police to enforce laws. Any citizens who feel [their rights have been] violated must file complaints with the police, not outsiders. We would never believe such a report unless it provides real evidence that violations have taken place.

"If they do have evidence of violations, why don't they file a crime report with police? And why doesn't the group encourage the victims to do so? Why should they say this outside of the country?"

Tamboen said publication of the report was likely aimed at discrediting the government and its Armed Forces. "They want us, citizens of Indonesia, to not trust at each other and keep fighting," he said.

He said the government and the military had an ongoing commitment to democracy, law enforcement and human rights.

"That is why our neighboring countries still believe in us and keep establishing good relationships with the government and the military," Tamboen said.

"As an example, this month's Garuda Shield joint military exercises [in Indonesia] was conducted with at least 19 countries."

In its report, Human Rights Watch said "the long history of political tensions and abuses by Indonesian security forces in Papua have created a climate of fear in the province."

"Violence thrives when a culture of impunity persists in the heart of what is supposed to be one of Indonesia's best trained fighting units."

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he could not respond to the allegations until he had read the report. The spokesman for the military in Papua, Lt. Col. Soesilo, said he was not aware of the allegations.

Kopassus has faced allegations of rights abuses in separatist hot spots such as Aceh, Papua and the former territory of East Timor before the country won independence in 1999. The elite force is currently headed by Major-General Pramono Edhie Wibowo, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's brother-in-law.

One of its earlier leaders was Prabowo Subianto, a former general who is now former President Megawati Sukarnoputri's running mate in the July 8 presidential election.

The rights group alleged that Kopassus troops took residents off the street or from their homes in the Papuan city of Merauke though they had no known ties to the separatist movement.

The report cited testimony from Papuans who said they had been beaten and forced to eat chilli peppers while their mouths were bleeding, causing severe pain.

Elite Indonesia troops tortured Papuans - group

Reuters - June 25, 2009

Sunanda Creagh, Jakarta – Members of Indonesia's elite military special forces, Kopassus, have acted with legal impunity in Papua to detain, torture and beat up ordinary citizens, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Thursday.

The New York-based rights watchdog urged the Indonesian government to investigate alleged abuses, and to discipline or prosecute offenders and their commanding officers.

It also called on countries such as the United States, Australia and Britain to cut training ties with Kopassus until the matter had been investigated.

"The long history of political tensions and abuses by the Indonesian security forces in Papua have created a climate of fear in the province," it said, adding "violence thrives when a culture of impunity persists in the heart of what is supposed to be one of Indonesia's best trained fighting units."

Resource-rich Papua on the western half of New Guinea island is one of Indonesia's most politically sensitive regions.

Indonesia has maintained a heavy military presence in Papua in an attempt to crush a decades-long secessionist movement, and there have been frequent reports of abuses by security forces over the years.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he could not respond to the allegations until he had read the report. Papua military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Soesilo also said that he was not aware of the allegations.

Plain-clothed troops

Kopassus, which has been accused of rights abuses in secessionist hot spots such as Aceh, Papua and East Timor in the past, is currently headed by Major-General Pramono Edhie Wibowo, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's brother-in-law.

It was previously headed by Prabowo Subianto, a former general who is now former President Megawati Sukarnoputri's running mate in the July 8 presidential election.

The rights group alleged that plain-clothed Kopassus troops picked Papuans up off the street or from their homes in Merauke, a city in the easternmost part of Papua, even though they were not involved in the secessionist movement.

The report quoted testimony from several Papuans who said they had been beaten and forced to eat very hot raw chillies when their mouths were bleeding, causing severe pain.

Australia stopped conducting joint training exercises with Kopassus after accusations of abuses in East Timor in 1999, but has since resumed them, citing a desire to cooperate in counter- terrorism. According to Human Rights Watch, Britain plans a training session with Kopassus this year. (Editing by Sara Webb and Bill Tarrant)

Australia 'must cut ties' with Kopassus

Brisbane Times - June 25, 2009

Adam Gartrell – A new report calls on Australia to cut off ties with Indonesia's feared special forces group Kopassus over new evidence it is terrorising civilians in Papua.

The Human Rights Watch report says Kopassus plucks Papuans from streets and homes, without legal authority, and subjects them to brutal beatings and torture.

Based on interviews with locals in the Papuan town of Merauke, the report says Kopassus soldiers act with complete impunity, and local police are too scared to end their reign of terror.

Tne former detainee describes how Kopassus soldiers stripped him down to his underwear before savagely beating him.

"They beat us till we bled and had cuts," he says. "They forced us to face the sun and chew chillies... We were not allowed to spit."

The abuses occur regularly and have nothing to do with Indonesia's war against separatist guerillas in Papua, the report says.

Australia's relationship with Kopassus has always been controversial because of the group's well-documented involvement in human rights abuses in East Timor, Aceh and Papua. But under the Howard government, Australia resumed joint training with Kopassus in 2005, ending a long moratorium.

The report says Australia and other countries should withhold such training until Indonesia properly investigates abuses and holds the perpetrators accountable.

"Indonesia values its military-to-military relationships, in particular training for its personnel," the report says. "Targeted sanctions on the Indonesian military can provide important pressure to help end the climate of impunity long enjoyed by the security forces."

Foreign governments should also publicly press Indonesia to end restrictions on access to Papua for diplomats, journalists and human rights organisations.

"Foreign governments concerned about human rights should insist on a clear political commitment to reform... before offering the seal of approval of formal relations with Kopassus," Human Rights Watch Asia Director Brad Adams said.

Kopassus is currently headed by Pramono Edhie Wibowo, brother-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Ambush in Papua leaves soldier dead, police pleading for help

Jakarta Globe - June 25, 2009

Farouk Arnaz – A hit-and-run ambush on a group of elite Mobile Brigade police officers has left one officer dead in the latest violence to hit troubled Papua.

Wednesday's attack in the rugged Puncak Jaya district is the latest in the Tingginambut area, in which an increasingly infamous group of pro-independence rebels are believed to be active.

The timing of the attack, just two weeks before the presidential election, could signal a new wave of violence in the volatile province, which experienced an upswing of anti-Indonesian sentiment and violence in the lead-up and during the legislative elections on April 9.

Comr. Marcelis, deputy chief of the Puncak Jaya Police, said that in the latest attack, a convoy of 37 officers from Puncak Jaya and the Papua Mobile Brigade, also known as Brimob, were traveling to the Tingginambut Police station to reinforce Brimob officers securing preparations for the presidential election when they were attacked at 1:30 p.m.

Marcelis, who was traveling in the convoy, said that four kilometers from Tingginambut, an unidentified group ambushed the convoy. Second Brig. Ahmad L. was shot and died with four bullets in his body, he said.

Marcelis said it was impossible to identify the assailants because they quickly disappeared into the jungle.

Asked if Goliath Tabuni, a local leader of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), was believed to be behind the attack, Marcelis said they had no evidence to suggest that was the case.

"But please tell the National Police chief, we cannot just wait here and wait for them to begin shooting at us again," he said. "We don't want to die. There must be an operation to search for the suspects."

In March, Pvt. Saiful Jusuf, a soldier from the Eme Neme Kangase Battalion, died during an attack by a group of armed separatists near a security post in Tingginambut. A month later, one policeman was killed and six others injured when a group attacked their convoy in the same area.

Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. Bagus Ekodanto at the time blamed Goliath and his band of rebels from OPM, which has been waging a low-level struggle for independence for the resource-rich province since the 1960s.

The Free West Papua Campaign, based in the United Kingdom, recently posted on its Web site that it was "deeply concerned to hear reports of the deteriorating situation in the Puncak Jaya region of West Papua, where hundreds of Indonesian security forces are committing acts of genocide, rape and torture against the Papuan population" in their hunt for "General Goliat h."

"Women and children have been raped and young men and elders killed, homes destroyed and livestock killed," it said. Footage allegedly taken of the rebel's fight against what they believe to be Indonesian occupation of their country was smuggled out of Papua recently and posted on the BBC's news Web site.

In it Goliath is quoted as saying: "This is my land – our ancestors gave us this land. Indonesia has stolen it from us."

Australians held in Indonesia return home

Agence France Presse - June 25, 2009

Melbourne – Five Australians made an emotional return after a nine-month ordeal in which they were detained by Indonesian authorities for flying their light plane into a sensitive province.

The group, dubbed the "Merauke Five" by Australian media, said they were relieved but exhausted after protracted wrangling in the Indonesian courts, which initially jailed them for three years.

"I feel like a goldfish that has escaped a pool of piranhas," pilot William Scott-Bloxam told national news agency AAP after the five returned in the same plane to Horn Island off Australia's northern coast.

The middle-aged group left for a three-day sight-seeing trip last September but hopelessly misjudged the situation in Papua, where Indonesia is fighting a low-level insurgency and has been accused of human rights abuses. The result was a months-long battle to leave with some of their time spent in prison and a rat-infested detention centre.

"Nobody realised that West Papua was so sensitive, that it was like flying into a military base," said one of the five, Hubert Hofer.

Observers who met Scott-Bloxam, his wife Vera and passengers Hofer, Keith Mortimer and Karen Burke at Horn Island's airport said they appeared "in the pink" physically but emotionally drained.

None of them had visas or permission to fly through Indonesian airspace but they were cleared to land at Merauke airport by air-traffic controllers on September 12.

However, the five were immediately detained and then sentenced to up to three years' jail in January, prompting intense diplomatic efforts to secure their freedom.

They eventually won an appeal in March but were forced through an agonising wait as prosecutors tried to have the conviction reinstated.

Scott-Bloxam said he was on his way home for a long-awaited beer, while Mortimer immediately tucked into a traditional meat pie at the airport canteen.

"It's hard to imagine that you end up in the highest court in the land for a misdemeanour case," Mortimer told AAP. "We went up and down a lot, it was always hard."

Australian media speculated that Indonesian prosecutors pursued the case with such vigour as payback for Canberra's tough stance on illegal fishing in its northern waters.

Fishing vessels, most of them Indonesian, are burned after being captured by Australian patrol boats and their crews face lengthy spells in immigration detention.

The case initially received little attention in Australia but its notoriety grew as the group continued to be detained. On Tuesday, they were frustrated over a last-minute hold-up over their permission to leave.

Mortimer said he was grateful for the Australian government's efforts on their behalf. "I think they should have got themselves involved a lot earlier than they did but bottom line is they got there and we're out," he said.

Teenager shot in Papua in critical condition, not dead

Jakarta Post - June 24, 2009

Jakarta – Thirteen-year-old Isak Pesakot, a Papuan resident who was reportedly shot by an Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier near the Papua New Guinea (PNG) border in Papua on Monday, is in critical condition, not dead as previously reported.

Antara state news agency Wednesday, cited a doctor at Dok 2 hospital in Jayapura, who chose to remain anonymous, as saying Isak was receiving intensive medical treatment at the hospital.

The shooting incident happened near the Indonesian-PNG border at the Bewain patrol post in Keerom regency, which was manned by eight TNI soldiers.

Lt. Col. Susilo, a spokesman from the Papua Military Command, said an investigation was underway to determine the incident's chronology. "The victim's medical condition and cause of his injuries are being checked," he said.

Anton Psakor, the victim's father said his three children, namely Isak, Wens and John Psakor, were walking from Kampung Skowt Jauh to Kampung Air Asin in East Arso, which borders PNG territory, on Monday.

On their way, they encountered a dog belonging to the soldiers; afraid of the dog, they ran away and climbed up into the trees to escape it. They heard a gunshot and Wens and John Psakor saw their brother, Isak, fall to the ground. (dre)

Indonesia probes Papua shooting, denies police abuse

Reuters - June 24, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesia is investigating the shooting of a teenager at a military post on the Papua border, but dismissed allegations of police abuse during recent raids in the province, officials said on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old Papuan male was wounded on Monday at a border crossing between West Papua and Papua New Guinea after soldiers fired warning shots when they encountered five people carrying weapons, a military spokesman said.

"Six military personnel from that post are currently being questioned by military police over the incident," Papua military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Soesilo said.

Separately, a US-based rights group said in a statement that seven young Papuan women had been kidnapped and raped, several killed, livestock attacked and homes burned in a series of police sweeps conducted since April.

"As far as I know, these claims are not true," a spokesman for Indonesia's foreign ministry, Teuku Faizasyah, said.

The rights group, the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT), said police sweeps had been conducted in five villages around the Puncak Jaya district. It did not give a source for the information.

National police spokesman, Abubakar Nataprawira, also denied the allegations and said there had been no police operations in the area since before April. "No one was killed and no one was kidnapped," he said.

There is a heavy military and police presence in resource-rich West Papua – where a secessionist movement has simmered for decades. The number of security personnel has also been increased after tensions rose ahead of Indonesian parliamentary elections on April 9.

[Reporting by Sunanda Creagh; Additional reporting by Oka Barta Daud in Timika; Editing by Ed Davies.]

Indonesian troops shoot Papuan teenager

Tempo Interactive - June 23, 2009

Jakarta – A thirteen year old resident of Keerom Regency in Papua Province was shot to death by Indonesian military personnel patrolling the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on Monday afternoon (22/6).

A local tribal chief in Arso District Servo Tuamis said Isak Pesakot was killed in a chase by Indonesian troops when returning from Skoscahu Village in Papua New Guinea territory after a visit to his relatives.

Servo said that Isak and two of his relatives were walking across the border, following his parents, after visiting relatives to settle a tribal land compensation matter with a business in Papua New Guinea.

Residents in the border area between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have family relations and maintain their relationship despite the political separation. Servo said that traveling across the border without passports or other identification is common among residents near the border.

Servo said indonesian troops chased and shot the three Arso tribe members and ceased fire only after Arso onlookers shouted to the troops that they were Indonesian citizen.

Spokesman for the XVII Cendrawasih Military Command, Lieutenant Colonel Susilo, confirmed the shootings. (Tjahjo EP/Antara)

Australian NGO urges forum to respond to Papua abuse

Radio New Zealand International - June 23, 2009

An Australian-based NGO is calling on Pacific Island leaders to go public over the intimidation of the indigenous people of the Indonesian region of Papua.

The Australia West Papua Association says the situation in West Papua has continued to deteriorate with increasing intimidation of the people by the Indonesian security forces.

Spokesman Joe Collins says at their recent annual summits Pacific leaders have ignored the plight of the Papuan people but this year, with Australia hosting the meeting, this has to change.

"If it's concerned about security issues in the region and also West Papua people are a Melanesian people – a Pacific people – And in the Pacific Plan of the Forum it talks about being inclusive and bringing in Pacific people that are not basically free. And I mean it is the moral duty of the Forum to raise the human rights situation in West Papua."

Congressman justifies dropping Papua provisions from US bill

Radio New Zealand International - June 23, 2009

American Samoa's US Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin says he drove moves to drop provisions on Indonesia's Papua from a Foreign Relations Bill in the US House of Representatives.

The bill initially contained a section calling on the State Department to report on the current political status of Papua, looking at the UN-sanctioned 1969 Act of Free Choice, under which Papua was incorporated into Indonesia.

The Department was also called on to examine Special Autonomy and human rights abuses in Papua. The provisions had been recommended by the House Foreign Affairs Committee of which Faleomavaega is a key member.

But they decided to scrap the provisions to avoid disrupting the upcoming Indonesian Presidential election. The congressman denied that West Papua is an issue that the House is going to forget about:

"No absolutely not and I just felt that this is not the time. We just want to wait until the elections are over and whoever is the new leadership, whoever becomes President of Indonesia, and then we will just continue the consultations and hopefully, this time, I will have a better opportunity to actually visit West Papua as has been promised me... for two years."

'Merauke Five' to fly home on Wednesday

Australian Associated Press - June 23, 2009

Adam Gartrell – Five Australians trapped in Indonesia's Papua province for more than nine months expect to fly home on Wednesday after authorities thwarted their plans to leave on Tuesday.

The middle-aged Queenslanders – pilot William Scott-Bloxam, his wife Vera, and passengers Keith Mortimer, Hubert Hofer and Karen Burke – had planned to fly out of the Papuan town of Merauke on Tuesday afternoon after Indonesia's immigration department issued a document finally lifting an order that had blocked their departure.

But prosecutors in Merauke withheld final permission for them to leave, apparently dissatisfied at receiving an electronic version of the document, not the original.

By the time prosecutors finally agreed to let them go it was starting to get dark, so the group opted to fly out on Wednesday morning.

The group's lawyer, Mohammad Rifan, slammed the prosecutors for their "arrogance". "We are very disappointed with their attitude," he said. "They just don't want to set the Australians free. They didn't deserve to be treated like this."

Ms Scott-Bloxam, said the group was trying not to be angry about Tuesday's showdown. "We have to be like that, otherwise I'd slap someone, and I don't want to do that," she said.

Arrested last September for flying their light aircraft into the troubled province without visas or proper clearance, the five were sentenced to harsh prison terms earlier this year.

But their convictions were dismissed by Indonesia's Supreme Court on June 10, and they were ordered to return to Australia once Indonesia's byzantine bureaucracy had finalised paperwork.

Papua has been troubled by a low-level separatist insurgency since the 1960s. Journalists are barred from entering Papua without special permission, and human rights groups have accused the Indonesian military of human rights abuses there.

Human rights/law

The forgotten history of 1965

Jakarta Globe - June 30, 2009

Armando Siahaan – Countries and their citizens often have to face unpleasant truths about sordid episodes of the past. Germans have had to deal with the slaughter of millions of people of Jewish descent and others deemed undesirable under the leadership of Adolph Hitler. The Japanese still struggle to fully acknowledge their history of aggression and exploitation in Asia during the first half of the 20th century. And Chinese party officials remain reluctant to acknowledge the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989.

Here in Indonesia, there is yet to be full official recognition of the dark years of 1965 to 1966. Under the reign of Suharto, from 1966 to 1998, the only major event recognized from those two bloody years was a failed coup in 1965 in which six generals were killed. Textbooks of the era record the night known as the September 30th Movement, but make no mention of the mass killings of suspected Indonesian Communist Party members that followed.

"There has not been great public knowledge about the 1965 mass killings in Indonesia," said Katherine McGregor, a historian from the University of Melbourne. "Maybe at a community level people know, but not at the national level."

The magnitude of the anticommunist massacre was unprecedented in Indonesia's history. Historians generally agree that the number of people killed during this systematic slaughter ranged from 500,000 to one million. The killings largely took place in Java and Bali, but also elsewhere in the country, and were carried out with extreme brutality.

Throughout the 32 years of Suharto's dictatorship, the story was untold or became distorted, and generations grew up with little or no knowledge of the slaughter. In 1966, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the existence of communism in Indonesia were legally banned. Subsequently, hundreds of thousands of Communist Party members and sympathizers were arrested and forced into exile.

Propaganda tools, such as the film "Pengkhianatan G30SPKI" ("The Betrayal of the September 30th Movement by the Indonesian Communist Party") and the Lubang Buaya Monument that marks the place the generals were buried, were exploited by Suharto to demonize and depict the Communist Party as brutal, barbaric and "evil." These became part of official history, according to Adrian Vickers, a professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Sydney.

And despite the fall of Suharto in 1998, Indonesia still gives prominence to the generals' murders over the massacre. "It's very difficult to move beyond a certain frame of reference that was created by the New Order regime," Vickers said. "We need to change the terms of history."

Suggesting a strong unwillingness to face up to the country's dark past, the government has yet to officially recognize the 1965 mass killings.

Asvi Warman Adam of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said that the national school curriculum has yet to include a section on the event. The New Order version is intact, emphasizing the sole culpability of the Indonesian Communist Party for the September 30th Movement.

In the latest version of "Sejarah Nasional Indonesia" ("Indonesian National History"), from state-owned publishing company Balai Pustaka, which is used as a reference for history textbooks, the mass killings are omitted, Asvi said, as well as any hint of human rights violations by the Indonesian Armed Forces.

"The book only mentions that the Indonesian Armed Forces crushed the Communist Party and that subsequently the government established a fact-finding commission that reported directly to the current president," Asvi said. "But it didn't mention what was reported."

In 2008, the National Commission on Human Rights created a team to conduct a formal inquiry into whether there was sufficient evidence of human rights violations linked to the 1965 mass killings. But the head of the team, Nurkholis, has said that progress is relatively slow due to the logistics of interviewing witnesses and continued opposition from the military and Muslim groups.

"Unless the government plays a more active role in unraveling the truth, history will remain untold," Asvi said.

However, some people have no doubt the truth should be revealed. "It's about historical justice," said the University of Melbourne's McGregor. "It's about acknowledging the suffering of the people in the past and trying to resolve a great moment of crisis and tragedy in Indonesian history."

Young Perspectives

Gladys Samantha, 21, university student

Gladys Samantha knows little of the significance of 1965 in Indonesian history.

"I'm very weak when it comes to Indonesian history," she said, adding that, in general, history has never been considered an important subject for Indonesian students. "I don't think we even have a history major here [at Atma Jaya University]," she said.

She finally recalled that 1965 was the year the Indonesian Communist Party killed members of the Indonesian Armed Forces. "It's G30SPKI, right?" she said.

But she had never heard of the mass killings that took place after the alleged coup.

"It's either not properly publicized or someone is trying to cover the truth behind it," she said. "How could I not know about a historical event that big?"

She didn't advocate taking legal action against the perpetrators. "The idea of an investigation is impossible because it happened too long ago. What we need is for the government to circulate more information about this historical event for educational purposes."

Ivana Kusumadewi, 21, law student

"Nineteen sixty-five was the year when the Indonesian Communist Party killed high-ranking Indonesian military officers," Ivana Kusumadewi says.

Ever since high school, she has referred to the Communists as "evil."Ivana said her grandmother hid her aunt immediately after she was born in 1965 because she feared the baby might be shot by the Communists.

Ivana knew nothing about the mass killings that ensued but, basing her argument on her education and family accounts, she thought a purge of Communists was acceptable.

"It was wrong for the Communists to kill the generals," she said. "It was better to crush and eliminate the Communists than have them commit more murders."

Asked if the country should teach the full story, she simply said: "What for? The Suharto era has ended."

She then seemed to have second thoughts, perhaps triggered by her law studies.

"Wouldn't [the massacre] be a human rights violation?" she asked. "As long as there is reason for a further struggle, then perhaps we need to address the issue. But since not a lot of people know, I think it's impossible to take further action on it."

Charles Sihombing, 20, English student

Although Charles Sihombing knows that 1965 is generally known for the attempted Communist coup, he believes the history of the era has been distorted.

Charles said he learned from books, newspaper articles and personal accounts that 1965 was when an alliance was formed to take over Sukarno's government. "The movement was driven by the people of the [subsequent] New Order regime," he said.

He had heard of the mass killings but did not know how many people were slaughtered and believes that Suharto's government distorted the truth.

"The government was scared that citizens would know about their dark past. So they killed the Communists to clear their name. By erasing history, people wouldn't know about their wrongdoings."

He believes the distorted version of history remains intact. "It is important to discover more about this history because it is one way for us to learn about who we are," he said.

As to what should happen to any perpetrators if they were caught, he said: "I'm certain they're already carrying a heavy moral burden. "If we can find a criminal case against the killings, then we should punish [those responsible]."

Mother cleared of defamation over hospital care complaint

The Australian - June 25, 2009

An Indonesian mother-of-two has been cleared of defamation charges after emails she wrote about poor treatment at a local hospital appeared on social networking website Facebook.

In a case that provoked outrage across the mainly Muslim nation, Prita Mulyasari, 32, was facing six years' jail for defamation under the criminal code and had already spent three weeks in a police cell.

Her alleged crime was to complain in an email to friends about her treatment for dengue fever at Omni International Hospital outside Jakarta. The hospital filed criminal charges after the emails were widely circulated on Facebook.

The courtroom erupted in applause and cheers when Judge Karel Tuffu threw out the case.

"We accept the objections filed by the defendant's lawyers and rule that the indictment is legally void," he told the court in announcing the ruling. Mulyasari had committed no crime by complaining about public health services, he added.

Wearing a blue Muslim headscarf, Mulyasari thanked the judges and broke down in tears of joy as she left the court with her husband. "All this has been arranged by God... I'm grateful that there is still justice," she said.

Arrested on May 13, Mulyasari has already been fined $US30,000 ($A37,667) under the civil code for defaming the hospital, which has refused to back off its pursuit of the bank worker.

She spent three weeks in custody without charge until public outrage at her detention forced authorities to release her on June 4 and bring her before the courts to face the harsher charges under the criminal code.

More than 100,000 people signed a Facebook support group demanding her immediate release, while President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono – in the midst of an election campaign – called on the courts to be lenient.

Ethnic Chinese said to blame Prabowo for 1998

Jakarta Globe - June 25, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Amir Tejo – An activist claimed on Wednesday that the majority of Chinese-Indonesians believed Prabowo Subianto, who is currently running for vice president, played a significant role in the 1998 violence that took a heavy toll on their community.

Sidharta Adhimulya, the founder of the Committee of Chinese- Indonesians Concerned about the General Election, said that the vast majority of ethnic Chinese in the country believed that the violence was closely linked to Prabowo, who was at the time an active Army general.

"Ninety-nine point nine percent [of Chinese-Indonesians], I can say that much," Sidharta said of the number of those in the community who believed that Prabowo had masterminded the violence, which targeted businesses owned by ethnic Chinese. While there have been numerous claims and rumors regarding Prabowo's involvement in the violence, he has never been charged with a crime in criminal court.

Sidharta said that Chinese-Indonesians were the third largest ethnic community in the country, after the Javanese and Sundanese, and that they wanted a personal explanation from Prabowo of the events of 1998.

However, he said he doubted that any explanation from former President Megawati Sukarnoputri's running mate would be forthcoming.

"It's hard enough to ask for clarification about the administrative fee [for ethnic Chinese] seeking identity cards. It will be even harder to ask for clarification from Prabowo...," Sidharta said.

He said the Chinese-Indonesian community had little involvement in politics, the legacy of three decades of authoritarian rule under former President Suharto, who was forced to step down following the 1998 violence.

Sidharta said that the community also wanted to correct the misconception that the Indonesian economy was dominated by Chinese-Indonesians. He said ethnic Chinese controlled only 3 percent to 5 percent of trade in the country.

The secretary of the Megawati-Prabowo campaign team, Hasto Kristianto, dismissed Sidharta's claims as part of efforts to tarnish the pair's reputation ahead of the July 8 election.

Prabowo, who is a former son-in-law of Suharto, was forced to retire by a military honorary council after a military court found that men belonging to the so-called Tim Mawar (Rose Team), which was under his command, were guilty of kidnapping pro- democracy activists during the 1998 unrest.

Hasto said the actions of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, himself a retired Army general, before and after the 1998 unrest should also be scrutinized.

Yudhoyono, who is running for re-election, was the head of the military's influential Social and Political Affairs Unit at the time of the violence, and later became the head of territorial affairs for the Armed Forces.

"We should find out what SBY did during the unrest, when he occupied very important military positions," Hasto said.

Torture 'widespread' in Indonesia: Amnesty

Agence France Presse - June 24, 2009

Stephen Coates, Jakarta – Indonesian police commonly beat and torture people in custody and offer better treatment in exchange for money and sex, Amnesty International said in a report released yesterday.

The human rights organisation demanded the Indonesian government acknowledge the problem and end the culture of impunity that allows police to act as if they are above the law in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.

The report, "Unfinished Business: Police Accountability in Indonesia", found that the police were particularly brutal to the most vulnerable and marginalised people, such as drug addicts and women.

"Amnesty International's report shows how widespread the culture of abuse is among the Indonesian police force," the organisation's Asia Pacific deputy director, Donna Guest, said.

"The police's primary role is to enforce the law and protect human rights, yet all too often many police officers behave as if they are above the law."

The report cited the case of 21-year-old sex worker Dita, who was arrested in 2006 and described being sexually abused on the way to the police station.

"I was arrested with five or six other prostitutes. On the way to (the station) they were grabbing me and touching me saying, 'You're so young, why aren't you in school?'," she was quoted as saying.

At the station the women were told they could buy their freedom with 100 dollars or with sex.

"Three of the girls agreed to have sex with them. I point blank refused to do either. Our pimps have paid them enough already," she said.

Abuses meted out included shootings, electric shocks and beatings, sometimes for days on end, the report said.

"The suspects often received inadequate medical care for the injuries they received as a result of torture and other ill treatment," Amnesty said.

"In some cases detainees had to pay for treatment after police abused them, and received inadequate medical care from police medical institutions."

The report, based on interviews in Indonesia over two years, said police frequently sought bribes from detainees in return for better treatment or lighter sentences.

"At a time when the Indonesian government and senior police figures have made the commitment to enhance trust between the police and the community, the message is not being translated into practical steps," Guest said.

"Too many victims are left without access to real justice and reparations, thus fuelling a climate of mistrust towards the police."

Most police do not even know of, let alone follow, the force's code of conduct which forbids abuse, she said.

Victims' complaints were not impartially investigated and opened the plaintiff to further abuse, especially if they were still in police custody.

Amnesty recommended the government acknowledge and condemn the problem but no police or government officials attended the launch of the 84-page report.

It is the second report from a major international rights group to condemn torture in Indonesia this month. US-based Human Rights Watch said on June 5 that torture and abuse of prisoners in a jail in Indonesia's sensitive Papua region is "rampant." The United Nations has reported that Indonesian police routinely torture and beat suspects in custody.

Indonesia is a signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture but it has no corresponding law against the practice. The UN special rapporteur for torture visited Indonesia in 2007 and found that police used torture as a "routine practice in Jakarta and other metropolitan areas of Java".

A decade of political and institutional reform after the fall of the military-backed Suharto regime in 1998 has not left its mark on the police and prison system, analysts say.

Indonesian police accused of torture

Agence France Presse - June 24, 2009

Adam Gartrell – Indonesian police routinely bash and torture criminal suspects and demand money and sex in exchange for better treatment, a new report says.

The abuse is rooted in a culture of corruption and impunity, and the perpetrators are rarely brought to justice, according to the Amnesty International report, titled Unfinished Business: Police Accountability in Indonesia.

"Amnesty International's report shows how widespread the culture of abuse is among the Indonesian police force," Amnesty's Asia Pacific deputy director Donna Guest said.

"The police's primary role is to enforce the law and protect human rights, yet all too often many police officers behave as if they are above the law."

Police often use excessive force during the arrest, interrogation and detention of suspects, the report says.

Some of Indonesia's most marginalised people, including the poor, drug addicts and prostitutes, suffer the worst treatment, it says.

Based on interviews with scores of victims, police officials, lawyers and human rights groups over the last two years, the report contains some shocking testimony.

Some tell of brutal beatings leading to serious injury, others of sexual abuse and confessions extracted through torture. In some cases, female sex workers who were unable to pay bribes were forced into sex with their arrested officers.

In other cases, suspects in custody had to pay bribes in order to receive food and bedding while in detention. Other victims were asked to pay bribes in exchange for lighter penalties.

In the rare cases when victims reported the abuse they were subjected to further intimidation and harassment, the report says.

The report calls on the Indonesian government to acknowledge the abuse and move to stamp it out. "Those found responsible should be brought to justice in proceedings which meet international standards of fairness, and the victims should be granted reparations," the report says.

People can sue government for poor public services

Jakarta Post - June 24, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesians are in a better legal position to file a law suit against state and private institutions if they fail to provide adequate public services, as a result of a newly passed public service law.

The House of Representatives passed the bill into law Tuesday during a plenary meeting with all 10 House factions expressing their support.

Article 55 of the law states that: "If public service providers fail to perform their duty, and if because of their negligence members of the public are injured or die as a result, they are liable to criminal punishment."

"This newly passed bill is a major breakthrough for the nation. We have not had sufficient laws specifically aimed at public services until now," the head of the House's public service bill working committee, Sayuti Asyathri, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), told a press conference at the House in Senayan, South Jakarta.

"The new law will also allow for better efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative processes of public service," he added.

It took four years for the House to pass the bill into law. NGOs have criticized the House for taking so long to discuss the bill with the government.

"People need to understand the scope covered by the law is very vast. The law covers public service issues in many sectors, such as health, transportation, infrastructure, and others," Sayuti said.

The law also stipulates that top officers from public service institutions will be issued a written warning should their institution fail to provide proper services. The officers must then resolve the issue in three months if they want to keep their job.

The salaries of public service institution officers could also be reduced should they fail to provide proper services. Private public service institutions must also resolve complaints about their services within six months or they will have their licenses revoked, according to the law.

The law also ensures that state-owned and private institutions must provide public services indiscriminately, regardless of citizens' social status.

"Public services institutions are also obliged by the law to make an official announcement stating their full commitment to provide services in line with the agreed standards. The announcement must be clearly made to the public through an integrated nation-wide information system," Sayuti said.

A coordinator from the People Concerned about Public Service (MP3), Sulastio, said there was still a lot of work to do in terms of implementation. "The scope of the law is still very unclear, especially regarding the mechanisms and standards of services," he said. (hdt)

Labour/migrant workers

Workers demand role in determining wages

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Agnes S. Jayakarna, Surabaya – Workers in East Java have demanded the governor involve them in determining the regional minimum wage (UMK).

They say their role is to ensure the wage meets the needs of workers' minimum daily expenses, which they claim has thus far been neglected by both the government and the companies they work for.

"We ask the local administration to invite us to help conduct the survey for the database, before deciding on the minimum wage, because past surveys have never been pro-worker," Jamaludin, East Java coordinator of the Alliance for the Defense of Laborers (ABM), said Sunday.

"They just conduct the survey with no understanding of the real conditions and real problems that workers face," he said, adding it had left workers disadvantaged in terms of accessing public healthcare and education. Jamaludin said that in conducting such a survey, the city administration only invited certain workers' representatives, most of them pro-management.

For the 2010 wage, he went on, the East Java administration, through its wage committee, had conducted the survey without involving workers.

To date, he said, the committee, which has the right to decide on the UMK, has never paid attention to the real condition of laborers.

Jamaludin said the ABM had drawn up a list of the key items that should be included in determining the UMK, which it had sent to the East Java governor for his perusal.

The union has also called on the governor to base the UMK regulation on regional factors. "Such a regulation will force businesses to face up to their responsibilities. We hope that by fixing the regulation, our lives will be better," Jamaludin said.

He added thousands of workers in Surabaya and surrounding areas would stage a rally Monday to demand their involvement in the UMK's decision-making process.

The protesters will flock to the East Java Manpower Office in Gayungsari, then head to the East Java Police headquarters on Jl. Achmad Yani, and finally end the rally at the governor's office on Jl. Indrapura.

Jamaludin said the rally would also call for greater transparency in conducting the survey from which the UMK decided, and punish companies failing to pay their workers accordingly.

Previously, a Surabaya court dropped a civil suit by the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) against the 2009 wage decree. Apindo had to bide by the decree and pay workers based on it. But many companies in the province fail to comply, citing the global economic crisis, Jamaludin said.

The majority of transport workers underpaid and unprotected: ITF

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

The Asia-Pacific International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) held its regional congress on June 16-19, 2009, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to assess labor conditions in the transport sector, make recommendations and refresh the regional organization. The four-day regional meeting elected Hanafi Rustandi from Indonesia as the new chairman for the 2009-2013 period. The following is an excerpt of an interview between Hanafi and The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat recently.

Question: What do you think of your election as the new chairman of the regional ITF?

Answer: This is the first time the London-based international labor organization has entrusted its leadership in the Asia- Pacific region to a non-commonwealth country. Previously, the position was dominated by Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and other commonwealth countries.

More than 100 delegates from 30 countries took part in the congress. The majority agreed it was very important to open a new era of relations with Indonesia, because as a major democratic country capable of creating change in the region over next four years, it holds a strategic role. The congress also expressed its deep concern about labor conditions in Indonesia and the country's migrant workers overseas.

How does the congress assess transport workers' conditions in Indonesia?

The congress focused on the violation of the ILO Convention No. 87 on the freedom of unions and the absence of labor standards and protection in the transport sector.

Like many other countries in the region, Indonesia has not yet provided protection for workers in the transportation sector. Bus drivers and conductors have no established industrial relations with their employers or bus companies and are not insured either under the social security program or commercially. They have no minimum wage and are easily dismissed without severance payments. Workers in the state train company have not yet signed a collective labor agreement with their management despite a series of industrial strikes in the past.

Despite having a number of airline companies, only state-owned Garuda Indonesia has signed a collective labor agreement with their pilots and cabin attendants. The poor management of safety aviation has deteriorated Indonesia's aviation industry and has led to the European Union extending the flight ban on Indonesian airlines across Europe.

Most seafarers employed in fishing ships and cargo vessels are paid below the minimum wage and are not insured while all port workers in loading and unloading jobs have no industrial ties or standard remuneration system.

What role is Indonesia expected to play?

The congress recommended that the Indonesian government repair labor conditions in the transport sector according to national and international standards. The government has to campaign for the formation of labor unions and collective labor agreements between workers and their employers to ensure minimum wages and social security protection is guaranteed for workers.

As a major democratic and Muslim country in the region, Indonesia could play a role influencing the post-election crisis in Iran and poor labor conditions in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

ITF will convey the congress' recommendations to the three presidential hopefuls contending the upcoming presidential election and encourage workers to vote for whichever candidate commits to fighting for their aspirations and right.

What is your plan for repairing labor conditions in the transport sector?

ITF Indonesia has designed a number of plans of action in cooperation with its counterparts from Australia, South Korea and Japan, to campaign for equal treatment for workers in the transport sector in the region.

All workers in the land, air and sea transportation subsectors should unionize and arrange collective labor agreements with their employers to fight for job security and equal treatment at their workplaces. Australia, Japan and South Korea have pledged to provide financial and expert assistance to train Indonesian unionists in collective bargaining techniques.

In the short-term program, ITF Asia-Paficic will campaign for the formation of labor unions among taxi and bus drivers and encourage the workers to make collective labor agreement with their employers in an effort to pursue equal treatment and minimum wages for drivers and conductors.

Throughout the next four years, we will work toward our common goal of having all workers in the transportation sector, especially ground workers in airline companies and shipping companies and stevedores in all ports, to form unions to improve their bargaining power.

A part of 39 million poor people in Indonesia is in the transportation sector because most workers are still working for their individual employers such as bus owners and vessel owners who still pay them less than US$100 per month. What other issues were discussed during the congress?

Besides migrant workers and regional solidarity among labor unions in the region, the congress also paid serious attention to climate change, which has contributed to increasing air and sea accidents in the past few years, especially in Indonesia.

The congress supported the recent World Ocean Conference in Manado as it sought international and regional cooperation in sustainable marine exploration to reduce global warming and minimize sea and air accidents.

The congress recommended Indonesia suspend its large-scale modern fishing due to the migration of large fish from Indonesia to other countries and the deterioration of coral reefs nationwide.

Agencies defy government ban on sending workers to Malaysia

Jakarta Globe - June 27, 2009

Anita Rachman – Despite a government ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia, some labor placement agencies are continuing to send their workers to the neighboring country, Yunus Yamani, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Labor Exporters, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

"The government has put us in a difficult position. We have thousands of workers ready to be sent to Malaysia, with their passports, visas and even tickets to fly," he said. "I demand the government give us a solution to this issue. We can't just immediately stop the process."

Yunus refused to name the companies that are still sending domestic workers to Malaysia, but Rusdi Basalamah, vice chairman of the Migrant Worker Service Company Association (Apjati), said that up to 100 workers departed for Malaysia on Friday.

"Today [Friday] there are 60 to 100 workers flying to Malaysia, and how can you stop them if they have signed working agreements?" he said, adding that he was yet to receive an official letter from the ministry on the ban and therefore could not issue an order to association members to stop sending workers to Malaysia.

Following several reports of abuse, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said on Thursday that the government had decided to suspend sending domestic, plantation and construction workers to Malaysia until the neighboring country agreed to review a memorandum of understanding signed in 2006.

Indonesia also demanded that the Malaysian government give Indonesian workers there one day off each week and the right to take leave. Erman told the press that he would issue an official letter to placement agencies and related ministries as a follow- up to his statement.

However, Yunus said that by Friday he had not received any official correspondence from the government.

"It was just a statement reported by media," he said. "We did not receive any letter that orders us to stop sending workers."

Rusdi said that labor agencies would continue to send workers until the government provided a clear explanation and an official letter on the ban. He also said that many labor agencies were confused as to whether the ban was on recruiting or sending workers to Malaysia.

"And what about thousands of workers that have spent months in training? Are they not allowed to go now?" he asked. "They should have a clear definition on this, because otherwise it will just hurt the workers."

Government bans workers to Malaysia

Jakarta Globe - June 26, 2009

Anita Rachman – The government has suspended sending more maids and other informal sector workers to Malaysia until the two countries meet to settle problems with their current labor agreement.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Erman Suparno said there was an immediate ban on sending more people to work in Malaysia's informal sector until both countries agreed to sit down and review their 2006 memorandum of understanding.

The ban only applies to maids, construction and plantation workers. An official letter outlining the decision was to be sent on Friday to placement agencies, ministries and agencies involved with migrant workers.

The ban followed reports of abuse of Indonesian workers in Malaysia. One of them was maid Siti Hajar, who claimed she was physically abused by her employer and not paid for three years.

"We are likely to meet in the middle of July, after the presidential election," Erman said, adding he was waiting for the Malaysian ambassador to Indonesia to open the talks on the ban.

"We will also talk with related ministers in Malaysia," he said, including the ministries of human resources, home affairs and public works.

Proposed amendments to the memorandum would include clauses requiring Malaysian employers to give Indonesian workers a day off each week and also provisions on minimum leave, pay, political, educational and social rights.

Erman said Indonesia also would insist that workers have the right to retain their passports. Passports of migrant workers are often held by the employers. The government would also try to fix the recruitment system by gradually ending the employment of illegal workers in Malaysia.

Erman said Indonesia would ask the Malaysian government to impose penalties on citizens who employ illegal migrant workers.

He said thousands of migrant workers who were now ready to be sent to Malaysia, especially those who had paid for their training, could consider some options offered by the government."There are many opportunities here in the country, and also some vacancies in other countries. No need to worry," he said.

Erman said he was confident his ministry would receive an early response from the Malaysians for discussions. "I want to be optimistic," he said.

Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Da'i Bachtiar said the placement of migrant workers would continue only when the demands were met. "Malaysia seems willing to accept our proposal," he said.

Environment/natural disasters

Climate change worsens Indonesia's hunger problems

Australian Associated Press - June 26, 2009

Gabrielle Dunlevy, Brisbane – Climate change is worsening the hunger problem in Indonesia's West Timor province, which is already rivalling Africa.

Years of poor harvests mean many children in the region, where the climate can feel more like parts of arid Australia than lush Indonesia, are underweight and malnourished.

A report last year by the Church World Service and other organisations found 91 per cent of West Timor's children suffered from "food insecurity", meaning they don't have access to regular and affordable nutritious food.

About 50 per cent of infants and young children were either moderately or severely underweight, compared to African countries overall, where 21.9 per cent of children were underweight.

Oxfam's West Timor program manager Aloysius Suratin said there was evidence the problem was growing worse, as farmers were at the mercy of more unpredictable weather patterns.

Mr Suratin said a review of the area's rainfall records for the past 13 years – the limits of available data – showed only 46 per cent fell in the expected rainy season.

"Because this is a dry area, people need water," he said. "They ask for rain, but when the rain comes rain creates a disaster. For the farmer, it's difficult to anticipate. The risk in farming is higher now."

Rice farmer Petronella Baro, whose family was working on this year's harvest, said it was only yielding one or two tonnes per hectare if they were lucky, compared to four tonnes last year.

The mother of six children, aged from 17 down to an infant, agreed the rainy season was getting harder to predict. This year, the rain came to her village of Desain, about 40km from Atambua, but it was so intense it washed away a nearby bridge.

Adding to the problem is that this family, like many others, relies on traditional farming methods. The farmers said they waited for a moon "with a rainbow around it" to judge the right time to plant, then waited about a month for the ground to become muddy before sowing the seed.

"We just follow the rain," Mrs Baro said. "But if it's like this again, it will be a problem for our family."

Hunger is so common in West Timor that November to March is known as the "hungry season".

But Mrs Baro said her children had enough to eat, as she was able to grow corn, cassava and beans when the rice began to dwindle, and the children were given priority at meal time.

Oxfam last month studied the village of Tes, 20km from Kefamenanu, where 90 per cent of the population are subsistence farmers.

Mr Suratin said the study aimed to find out how many families were having to sell their assets – usually land, livestock, woven clothes and coconut and teak trees – to survive a failed harvest.

He found the declining crop yield had reduced the village's meagre assets by 58 per cent, and that the district government would have to boost its funding to the village five times over to return residents to their former levels of well being.

Mr Suratin said the situation was the most severe in families headed by women, as they usually gave a share of their harvest to labourers, and were more likely to resort to selling assets.

"This is a clear portrait of the food insecurity condition and why I say it has become worse – not meaning that more people are in hunger conditions – but in the future, the value of their assets is limited... they have not many options to recover," he said.

Oxfam is helping farmers trial basic rain harvesting, but says farmers need practical meteorological advice and an early warning system to help them prepare for dry spells.

"Public policy must be adjusted to the real needs, to the real context and to the uncertainties that have now increased," Mr Suratin said.

"Farming policy now is not only the problem of how to ask people to produce food... but it is part of the comprehensive livelihood of the people. It must also talk about how people can reduce the risk and increase the certainty in farming activities."

The Australian government, through AusAID, has a $6.5 million program to address nutrition in women and children in the Nusa Tenggara Timur area, and also contributes to food programs run by other organisations.

[Reporter Gabrielle Dunlevy travelled to West Timor with the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre.]

Haze starts to disrupt flights and threatens human health

Jakarta Post - June 24, 2009

Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru – Smoke from forest and land fires has again blanketed most parts of Riau province, disrupting flight schedules and affecting the quality of human health, local officials said Tuesday.

Haze led to the closure of the Pinang Kapai airport in Dumai city on Monday due to poor visibility there, leaving at least five flights canceled.

Airport head Edi Supiatnadi said since the last two days a number of flights from and to the town were disrupted because of the smoke.

He said a Pelita Air plane serving the Jakarta-Pekanbaru-Dumai- Singapura route failed to land at the Pinang Kapai airport Tuesday morning as the visibility was less than 1000 meters.

"From Pekanbaru, the plane directly continued flying to Singapore. The airport would be reopened if the visibility was over 1000 meters."

A day earlier, he added, haze canceled at least five flight schedules from and to Pinang Kampai.

"Yesterday (Monday) the airport was closed for around six hours and all flights were rerouted to Pekanbaru."

The smoke also increased the cases of acute respiratory problems (ISPA) in several regions across the affected province.

Rokan Hilir health office head Muhammad Junaidi Saleh said the ISPA cases increased to 1,208 in April and 1,214 in May in his regency.

"During the normal conditions, an average of only 350 ISPA patients visit health centers for treatment," he added.

Junaidi said most cases of ISPA were recorded at Bangko subdistrict, which has been hit hard by haze.

"Data on the number of ISPA patients for this month is not yet collected. It is expected to continue increasing because smoke in June is thicker than the previous two months." A similar increase of ISPA cases was also reported in Dumai.

Senior Dumai health official Marjoko said such an increase was recorded almost every week.

The regency worst-affected by haze in Riau was Rokan Hilir, where fires destroyed more than 4,000 hectares of forest and land areas.

Rokan Hilir forestry office head Tugiman Marto said forest fires extensively spread to Rantaubais in Tanah Putih subdistrict for the last three days, destroying almost 2,000 hectares of land.

"Currently all fire-fighting forces numbering 40 personnel are concentrated in Rantaubais to control the blazes."

Data from the Satellite National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), released by Pekanbaru's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), showed at least 45 hot spots spreading in nine regencies across Riau on Tuesday, mostly in Palalawan (18), Rokan Hilir (10), Kampar (5), Siak (4) and Benkalis (3).

According to Pekanbaru's BMKG weather analyst Warih, the number of hot spots decreased Tuesday from 111 a day.

However, he warned the current dry season would worsen forest fires in the province next month due to a lack of rainfall.

Haze continues blanketing Pekanbaru

Jakarta Post - June 23, 2009

Jakarta – Haze triggered by forest and plantation fires has continued to blanket Pekanbaru, Riau Province's capital, over the past month. Visibility in the city has dropped and a number of Pekanbaru residents complain that the haze is affecting their health.

MQ Rudi, a local resident, said he had started to suffer from throat irritation and respiratory problems.

"The haze lingers every day, and it gets worse in the evenings and mornings, when it gives off a strong smell," he told Antara state news agency.

The local weather agency said that 45 hotspots, which are an indication of forest or plantation fires, were detected in several districts in Riau.

Last week, Riau had to temporarily close its airport due to low visibility. (dre)

Women & gender

Activists to candidates: 'Address women's issues'

Jakarta Globe - June 25, 2009

Nurfika Osman – Activists for women's rights intend to hit each presidential candidate with a list of demands related to gender discrimination with the expectation that these demands will form part of the future government's agenda over the next five years.

Kamala Chandrakirana, the head of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, or Komnas Perempuan, said these issues would be sent to the candidates today following a forum on Wednesday attended by activists, writers and academics.

The demands included issues such as discrimination, poverty, poor access to education and abuse of woman.

"The results of our discussions reflect women's aspirations and they need to be addressed by whoever is in power for the next five years," Kamala said.

She said the forum had agreed that the furthering of women's rights and assistance for marginalized people and the poor were vital as they were issues covered in the country's constitution.

"We should demand the fulfillment of [the constitutional promise] to protect and ensure social justice for all," she said.

During the discussions, Sulistyowati Irianto, from the University of Indonesia's law faculty, said poor access to justice was the main reason why women remained a subordinate class.

"There is little justice for women, for instance, women suffering in poverty is more widespread than for men," she said. "This should be fixed by implementing gender-sensitive laws."

Yustina Rostiawati, an educational expert, said women did not have the same access to education as their male counterparts.

She said Central Agency Statistic data from 2006 showed that literacy among males was 94.3 percent while the figure for women was only 87.5 percent. This severely disadvantaged women in their quest for employment.

"Education enables women to escape from injustice and poverty," Yustina said.

More women in the House, but the battle still not over

Jakarta Globe - June 25, 2009

Nurfika Osman – The increase in the number of women in the House of Representatives for the 2009-14 term to 17.68 percent of all lawmakers does not guarantee that the rights of women will be advanced, the National Commission on Violence Against Women said on Wednesday.

Kamala Chandrakirana, head of the commission, also known as Komnas Perempuan, said the quality of the representatives was more important than the quantity in crafting laws that supported women and children.

"There are female legislators who support male domination policies and men who support female-oriented policies," Kamala said. "Thus the quantity does not guarantee that women's needs will be fulfilled."

Female lawmakers only made up 11.45 percent of the House for the 2004-9 term.

Kamala added, however, that Komnas Perempuan was pleased to see more women in the legislature, and hoped that the increase would translate into more pro-women legislation.

"We are content with the result even though the 30 percent quota was not reached, and we hope male and female legislators in the House can have a good synergy to create more comprehensive policies that support women," she said.

As an example of the need to create more women-friendly legislation, she cited the controversial Pornography Law, which she said limited women's right to control their bodies, including what clothes they wore.

Kamala added that women's struggle in politics should not stop even if the 30 percent quota for female members of the House was reached. "Our fight against discrimination is still very long and Komnas Perempuan will always spread awareness about women's rights in Indonesia," she said.

Separately, Ribka Tjiptaning, head of House Commission IX, which deals with health issues, said that women lawmakers had less strength in the legislature when it came to passing laws.

"In the decision making, our position is not strong, even if male legislators at first agree with us [women] when we discuss matters," Ribka said.

She said that women in the House were at a leadership disadvantage. "Many parties, such as Golkar, the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party and the National Awakening Party, do not give women the chance to be leaders within the House," she said. "You see male domination. I [was the only woman] to head one of the House's 11 commissions."

Ribka expressed regret that women's voices were not being heard despite there being numerous competent female lawmakers. "Most women in the House are smart and they are also more diligent and careful than the men," she said.

"I hope women will never stop struggling for their rights, and that more women will join the political world," Ribka said. "Women should start thinking that we have to grab the chance to improve conditions."

Health & education

Flu masks to enter Indonesia

Agence France Presse - June 30, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesia is planning to ask all people arriving from Australia and other swine flu-affected countries to wear face masks for at least three days, the health minister says.

The presence of the A(H1N1) virus was confirmed in Indonesia only last week and so far four of the eight known cases have been foreigners.

Jakarta last week introduced new controls on visitors from Australia, including quarantining of people showing flu-like symptoms, after two people who had flown in from Melbourne and Perth became Indonesia's first confirmed cases of the virus.

Now Indonesia looks set to go a step further with a measure that could affect even healthy tourists.

"Visitors from infected countries should wear masks. It's a precautionary measure we're taking to avoid human-to-human transmission of the virus," Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said yesterday.

"We'll give them the masks when they arrive at the airports and tell them to wear them for three days."

But the minister said the government had no intention of enforcing the precaution, which could seriously damage the country's stuttering tourism industry.

"There'll be no penalty if people don't wear them. You can't expect people to wear masks when they're swimming," Dr Supari said, adding that the masks would be handed out to visitors as soon as possible, depending on funding.

Dr Supari said last week she was particularly worried about Australian tourists who flocked to the famous surf beaches of Bali. More than 300,000 Australian holidaymakers visited the island last year.

Australia is the Asia-Pacific country worst hit by swine flu, with more than 4000 cases.

Dr Supari made the announcement after a ministerial meeting to discuss the swine flu outbreak in Indonesia.

Indonesia's concerns are heightened by the fact it had been the country hit hardest by avian influenza, with 115 deaths since 2005.

Under measures announced last week, anyone arriving from Australia who has a temperature en route is required to alert cabin crew before arrival.

Passengers entering Indonesia will receive a health-check card instructing them to seek medical attention if they fall ill.

Health services for poor questioned

Jakarta Globe - June 23, 2009

Arientha Primanita – Dozens of Jakarta residents protested in front of City Hall on Tuesday demanding that the city administration pay more attention to the needs of the poor.

Hendri Anggoro, a member of the Indonesian Poor People's League and the protest's coordinator, said his group was worried that the city administration would privatize the health sector.

Hendri noted that some city-owned hospitals had recently become general service agencies (BLUD), which enabled them to unilaterally decide on the fees they charged.

"Once a hospital becomes a BLUD, it has the right to determine its patient fees because they don't have subsidy from the government," he said.

Hendri also said that the health services for poor people in Jakarta remained underdeveloped and the city administration was inconsistent in providing health services to the lower socioeconomic sectors.

"Jakarta is 482 years old now, but the health services for its people are still far from adequate," he said. "The city administration does not really care that some hospitals reject poor patients."

Dien Ermawati, head of the city's health agency, said the city would not privatize the regional hospitals.

"We will take over and change nonregional hospitals, like Haji Hospital, into a BLUD," she said, rejecting allegations that the hospitals would have the authority to determine patient fees.

Dien said the fees were controlled by the health agency, based on a 2006 health regulatio n.

"For a third-class room, the patients still need to pay Rp 20,000 [$1.90] per night," she said.

During a plenary session on Tuesday, seven political factions in the city council – the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB), Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and the United Development Party (PPP) – agreed to endorse the draft of a bylaw on the regional health system.

With the new bylaw, the city's lawmakers expect the city administration to increase the health services for Jakarta's citizens, especially for the poor.

The regulation guarantees that citizens – including recipients of state-sponsored health insurance for poor families – would not be rejected from hospitals. Any hospital found violating the law would be punished.

The bylaw states that public hospitals, specialized hospitals, state-owned hospitals and private hospitals that have signed an agreement to treat poor people with insurance cards will be punished if they reject a patient referred by a community health center.

Violators could face at least six months detention or a fine of Rp 50 million.

Corruption & graft

Phone tap' on murder victim

The Australian - June 23, 2009

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Indonesia's powerful anti- corruption agency has taken new steps to sideline its disgraced former head, with a senior commissioner giving police testimony against his ex-boss.

Corruption Eradication Commission deputy Chandra Hamzah has revealed that phone taps at the heart of a murder case against his former chief, the Australian-educated prosecutor Antasari Azhar, were demanded by Mr Azhar.

Mr Hamzah told police he had no idea whose mobile phones the taps were to be placed on, only that Mr Azhar insisted it be done.

The numbers turned out to be owned by businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen – whose murder Mr Azhar is charged with subsequently organising – and golf caddy Rhani Juliani, 22, a beauty with whom both men were allegedly having a relationship.

Zulkarnaen was slain by motorcycle-riding gunmen in March as he left a Jakarta golf course. It has been suggested he was blackmailing Mr Azhar after discovering the latter in bed with Ms Juliani, who has since disappeared.

If the phone tap claims are true, it will be next to impossible for Mr Azhar to justify having sanctioned them.

The murder case has captivated Indonesia, especially with the arrest two months ago of Mr Azhar. His detention was the ninth in the investigation.

However, there are serious new allegations that Mr Azhar deliberately avoided investigating corruption cases while in office, as well as real concerns that the powerful anti- corruption court established alongside his agency could cease to exist if its mandate is not extended before the government is dissolved in October.

The second problem can be solved with the issuing of a decree by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who promised to do so last week in an election debate.

But there is a large backlog of legislation yet to be passed in the parliament, and there are fears that corruption trials could still be shifted back into the notoriously opaque general criminal justice system if the special court's existence is not signed into law in time.

The first issue – whether Mr Azhar deliberately stifled corruption investigations – could be one that does far more damage to Dr Yudhoyono's graft-busting credentials.

So the surprise arrest late on Friday night of a businessman allegedly at the centre of a corrupt nationwide fire engine purchase scheme seemed to indicate the commission was stepping up its energies while Mr Azhar languishes in jail.

The former boss, although relieved of his duties pending trial, has yet to be sacked – so the move is being read as a direct statement against his performance after he failed to bring in the businessman, Hengky Samuel Daud.

Daud allegedly participated in a corrupt scheme to sell the fire trucks to provincial governments across Indonesia, along with former home minister Hari Sabarno, during the time of president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Neither Mr Daud or Mr Sabarno has faced prosecution on Mr Azhar's watch. Instead, a senior official in Mr Sabarno's ministry has taken the blame, claiming Mr Daud forced him at gunpoint to sign the fire truck distribution deal.

Islam/religion

MUI brands Islamic group in Jambi 'deviant'

Jakarta Post - June 30, 2009

Jon Afrizal, Jambi – The Merangin regency branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has declared deviant the teachings of the Tarikat Naqsabandiyah Islamic group, widely embraced since 2005 in Air Batu subdistrict, Renah Pembarap district.

MUI Merangin chairman Satar Saleh said Monday the group's activities had to be promptly ended and its leader, Ali Wardana, banned from entering Air Batu. "We will soon issue a decision regarding the Naqsabandiyah's teachings," he said.

He added the group's 20 tenets were also banned from being practiced in Air Batu, any violation of which would see law enforcement officers taking stern action.

Satar said dozens of tarikat (Islamic groups) had developed across the country. The MUI's recent congress identified 42 of them actively embraced by the country's Muslims, including the Naqsabandiyah.

In principle, according to Satar, Naqsabandiyah's teachings were not actually deviant. However, he added, those practiced in Air Batu were. He said it was regrettable that not all Air Batu residents fully understood such deviance.

"It's probably because of the lack of understanding of the followers in Air Batu, which certainly needs to be corrected," he said. "One thing's for sure, and that is the 20 tenets taught by Naqsabandiyah in Air Batu are decidedly deviant and must be promptly quashed."

Merangin Religious Affairs Agency head Umar Yusuf M. said a coordination meeting involving the regency administration, MUI representatives, the police, the prosecutor's office and Naqsabandiyah followers from Air Batu had agreed to halt the group's activities because they went against Islam.

"In principle, they are not allowed to practice their tenets," Umar said. "Otherwise, they will have to deal with the full extent of the law."

Naqsabandiyah followers, however, say they will keep on practicing their beliefs in the subdistrict, on the grounds that what they have been taught is not deviant in nature.

"Our beliefs are nothing at all like what everyone in the community makes them out to be," said Ibnul Khotob, a follower. He added he would report the matter to the group's teacher, Ali Wardana, who is the grandson of preacher Syukur of Kariso Ilir subdistrict, Batang Asai district, Sarolangun regency, the founder of Naqsabandiyah teachings.

According to Ibnul, there are many followers of the group in Air Batu, particularly since a congress of the group concluded their teachings were worthy of being followed. "So why is it now being banned here in Merangin?" Ibnul asked.

However, local cleric Abi Wakas said the activities of the Naqsabandiyah had to be promptly banned because the teachings were deviant and went against Islamic teachings.

Among the "deviant teachings" found in the subdistrict, according to Abi, were tenets that stated God had a son, angels did not exist, and the five daily prayers were no longer being mandatory for those with "perfect faith".

The MUI has come under fire from moderate Muslim scholars and human rights groups for branding certain Islamic sects "heretical". Critics say it has neither the legal nor religious right to pass judgement on.

A rare backlash against radicals at East Java mosque

Jakarta Globe - June 24, 2009

Amir Tejo & Ismira Lutfia, Surabaya – In a rarely seen community backlash against Muslim radicals, residents in a Surabaya neighborhood took a somewhat vigilante tack, physically barring the doors of a mosque they felt had been a hotbed of hard-line Islamist teachings.

Residents of Jalan Sidotopo IV in the East Java capital shut down the Al Ihsan Sabilillah Mosque for three full days before agreeing to reopen it. The resolution was brokered only after a meeting with the head of the mosque and local authorities at the Sukolilo subdistrict office.

Nur Iskandar, who lives near the mosque, said the residents' action had been the culmination of their resentment toward Umar Ibrahim, the chair of the mosque's governing committee.

She said Umar had long used the mosque to host study meetings for hard-line Muslims, and had invited militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to speak regularly.

Bashir once headed the Indonesian Mujahideen Council, an organization advocating the implementation of Shariah law in Indonesia, until he resigned last year following a schism with rivals in the group. He has also been accused of serving as the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network, though he denies the group exists.

Residents in the Surabaya neighborhood said some of the subjects the clerics propagated at the mosque were offensive. "They even said that government officials were infidels, that people who participated in the election were infidels and to celebrate the birthday" of the Prophet Muhammad was heretical, Nur said.

Abdul Mu'ti, the head of Center for Dialogue and Cooperation Among Civilizations, an organization that promotes interfaith dialogue, said that the residents' actions indicated that tolerance toward radicals had worn thin.

Such hard-line movements have tarnished efforts "to build the image of Indonesian Muslims as moderates who appreciate pluralism," Abdul told the Jakarta Globe.

Local residents also expressed objections to Umar Ibrahim's use of the mosque to promote his group. The resentment came to a head as the group's meetings became more frequent following the return of Umar's son, Saifudin, also known as Abu Fida, who had served out a prison term for a minor role in the 2002 Bali bombings that left 202 people dead.

Muhammadiyah scholar Moeslim Abdurrahman said he was aware of other cases in which communities rejected hard-liners' activities, but said such objections were rarely covered by the media.

He said local residents had the right to reject teachings they considered to be hard-line, but such complaints should be properly channeled and nonviolent.

"I don't believe in fighting violence with violence. It will not solve the problem," Moeslim said. "Personally, I do not agree with such radicalism, but I respect their beliefs as long as they don't use violence to spread their teachings."

The principal of the Abu Syamsuddin Islamic boarding school in Surabaya, Husni Mubarok, said that the residents could not be blamed for the outburst of anger. He said that the Prophet Muhammad in his teachings urged people not to offend others.

"So it's natural for the people to be angry when their preachers said that civil servants were infidels, that participants in elections were infidels, and so forth," because such a message offends people, Husni said.

Last month, residents of a housing complex in the Sawangan area of Depok, after repeated protests against the activities of a small mosque there that they claimed was preaching radicalism, managed to ban the activities of the hard-liners, said one of the residents, who declined to have his name used in this article.

Elections/political parties

Yudhoyono team no holds barred in campaign tactics

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The presidential partnership of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono, along with their campaign team, have so far launched the most attacks against their rivals through the media this campaign season, a study has found.

Strategy PR, a public relations company, studied nearly 320 articles containing hostile or negative campaign messages and found around 40 percent of them involved the incumbent President and his team.

"Still, there were around 165 articles directing attacks against the SBY-Boediono ticket," Strategy PR director Ali Nurdin said Monday.

The company analyzed the news coverage from seven newspapers – Jurnal Nasional, Kompas, Koran Tempo, Media Indonesia, Republika, Rakyat Merdeka, Suara Karya and Suara Pembaruan – and the Antara, detik.com and Inilah.com news portals from June 1 to June 22.

It found 27 percent of smear campaigns were perpetrated by the Jusuf Kalla- Wiranto pair and their support teams, 24 percent by the Megawati Soekarnoputri-Prabowo Subianto ticket and their teams, and the rest by scholars.

Political expert Lili Romli said most attempts to criticize the opposition did nothing to educate voters because they targeted the personality of the candidates, not their programs. "Campaign attacks are good if they target the weaknesses of programs promoted by rival candidates," he said.

Jajat Burhanudin, executive director of the Center for Islam and Society Studies at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, also lamented the tendency for candidates to attack the personality of rival candidates.

"The campaign teams should be more creative in launching campaign strategies against their opponents, otherwise they could backfire on their own candidates," he said.

Campaigning heats up with candidates' war of words

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – With 10 days to go until the presidential election, the rhetoric is turning nasty, with candidates and their campaign teams subjecting rivals to smear campaigns in a last-ditch effort to lure voters.

Leaflets accusing Herawati, the wife of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's running mate Boedi-ono, of being Catholic, and the fallout from the President's claim that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is growing overly powerful, are the latest ammunition in the mudslinging.

Yudhoyono's campaign team has called on rival candidate and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to take responsibility for the distribution of the "slanderous pamphlets" during the latter's campaign stop last week in Medan, North Sumatra.

Kalla, however, has firmly denied any involvement in the incident.

"Such a negative campaign was targeted against us," he told supporters during a campaign stop Sunday at Bandung's Gazebo Field. "There are groups seeking to trap us on the leaflet issue."

Kalla's campaign team has reported Rizal Malarangeng of Yudho- yono's team to the police for suggesting Kalla was behind the attempt to discredit Herawati. "On Friday night, we reported Rizal Malarangeng to the Jakarta Police," Poempida Hidayatullah, from Kalla's campaign team, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He claimed the police had said perpetrator behind the distribution of the leaflets was in fact a member of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. Rizal, for his part, said he was unperturbed at being reported.

The third candidate in the race, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, and Kalla have also been mining Yudhoyono's perceived criticism of the KPK, which played a central role in the prosecution and conviction earlier this month of an In-law of Yudhoyono's.

"We've heard so many statements lately that are critical of the KPK," Megawati told supporters Saturday in her traditional stronghold of Bali.

"I was the one who established the KPK in 2002 and got it up and running it in 2003. Therefore, should I lead this country again, I promise we will have a better KPK."

During campaigning Saturday in Kalimantan, Kalla said he was incensed at Boediono over the latter's refusal to fund the 10,000-megawatt power generation scheme.

"Boediono (as then chief economics minister) refused to provide loans to finance the project. I was very angry with him (at the time)," he said.

Yudhoyono played down Kalla's statement, saying there was no way Boediono had hindered the project. "It's unethical for government officials to publicize suggestions made by ministers," Yudhoyono said Sunday at the Dome Convention Center in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. For his part, Boediono urged calm over the allegations about him.

Megawati, meanwhile, continued attacking her rivals by promising to revise the controversial pornography law and education entity law, issued under the Yudhoyono-Kalla administration to allegedly draw support from the country's youth.

"My party is the only one that said no to the law. Indonesia is a pluralist nation, comprised of various ethnicities, religions and cultures, such as those in Bali," she said. "So the porn law as it is should not have been implemented."

[Niken Prathivi in Denpasar, Nurni Sulaiman in Balikpapan and Yuli Tri Suwarni in Bandung contributed to this story.]

Puan blames electoral roll fraud for party defeat

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Solo – Puan Maharani, Megawati Soekarnoputri's daughter, on Sunday blamed the electoral roll fraud in the April 9 legislative elections for the defeat of the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDIP).

Puan said supporters of presidential candidate Megawati and running mate Prabowo Subianto must not make the same mistake in the July 8 presidential election.

Megawati is the PDI-P chairwoman, while Prabowo is the chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). "The permanent voter list will be the key to winning the presidential election," she was quoted by Antara news agency as saying at a campaign in Solo, Central Java.

"You all have to make sure that you have been registered by the General Elections Commission."

The Democratic Party won the April 9 legislative elections with 20.9 percent of votes, followed by the Golkar Party with 14.5 percent and the PDI-P with 14 percent.

Foreign debt issue gets mixed reaction in election

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Jakarta – While management of foreign debt is considered as one of the most crucial problems for most people, it has been a non- issue during the election.

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono's rivals are challenged to capitalize on the foreign debt issue against the incumbent as experts and activists have been divided on whether the current administration failed or succeeded in managing the debts, according to experts.

Researcher Andi Syafrani from the Charta Politika, a political think-tank, said the institution's observation during the presidential election campaign had shown that the foreign debt did not attract much media attention. "It becomes a non-issue as the media fails to cover it."

Yogyakarta's Gajah Mada University economist Sri Adiningsih, for instance, said despite the fact Yudhoyono has managed to improve the country's foreign debt in terms of its Gross Domestic Products (GDP) ratio, some of his policy on the debt management were improper.

"The amount of foreign debt is definitely increasing, but that does not necessarily mean a bad thing. As we can see, the ratio of foreign debt to the GDP has been decreasing."

Public debt has reportedly increased by an average of Rp 80 trillion (US$7.94 billion) per year during Yudhoyono's presidency. As of January 2009, it stands at Rp 1,667 trillion. Around Rp 747 trillion of that debt was in foreign loans and around Rp 920 trillion was in bonds.

The ratio of foreign debt to GDP declined to 32 percent during SBY's presidency from 54 percent during the presidency of Megawati Soekarnoputri, one of the incumbent's presidential contenders in the July 8 election.

"However, the government had also mismanaged the debt allocation in certain policies. For example, the direct cash subsidy [BLT] is also funded by foreign debt."

Meanwhile, chairman of the Anti Debt Coalition (KAU) Dani Setyawan said SBY's presidency showed a severe mismanagement of foreign debt.

"During SBY's presidency, the debt was paid using another loan from abroad. The country is pretty much trapped in a circle of unresolved and accumulated foreign debt."

A report provided by the KAU revealed that the country received around Rp 48 trillion in foreign loans during 2008, but paid around Rp 90 trillion of foreign debt in the same period.

Sri said all in all foreign debt could be good or evil as it all depended on the government's debt management.

A sociologist from Surabaya's Airlangga University, Daniel Sparingga, said GDP growth did not directly correlate with social welfare in the country.

"I seriously doubt the country will be able to attain overall social welfare for its citizens, if the future government's policies remain the same as the one of the last 10 years." (hdt)

Candidates criticized over religion claims

Jakarta Globe - June 28, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea – The three presidential candidates and their campaign teams should stick to campaigning on the issues, rather than attacking each other or defending themselves against accusations based on religion, a political analyst said.

Lili Romli, an analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that campaign teams should not use religious issues to attack their rivals, and should not overreact in response to such issues.

"They should handle such issues properly – there is no reason for candidates to get trapped on these matters," he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Boediono have been the target of potentially damaging claims related to religion. The first issue was about the candidates' wives, who do not always wear Muslim headscarves.

The jilbab issue was first raised by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which claimed that the Democratic Party coalition would lose votes because some voters had gravitated to Vice President Jusuf Kalla and his running mate Wiranto based on the perception that they appealed to some Muslim voters based on their more traditional clothing.

Yudhoyono's campaign has accused Kalla's team of igniting the debate over the candidates' wives.

Second presidential debate sees candidates come to life

Jakarta Globe - June 26, 2009

Ferry Irwanto & Camelia Pasandaran – After a listless first debate more than a week ago, presidential candidates on Thursday gave a much livelier performance during their second nationally televised public debate, with criticism of their rivals finally making its way into the discussion.

The debate, focusing on the eradication of poverty and unemployment, saw the participants more comfortable with the format as they exchanged political barbs.

"Tonight's debate was much better," said Andrinof Chaniago, political analyst of the University of Indonesia.

Hendri Saparini, an economics analyst with Econit, a privately owned think tank, said, "The major thing here is that now people can see the differences between the candidates."

Analysts and observers, however, agreed that Vice President Jusuf Kalla and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dominated the show, while the third candidate, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, contributed little to the discussion.

Kalla was credited by many for instigating a more robust debate. "He was the star tonight, making the debate much more lively," said Effendi Gazali, a communications expert from the University of Indonesia.

Kalla also initiated an attack on policy, commenting on a recent campaign statement by Yudhoyono, who had warned that local entrepreneurs might endanger the country with their vested intere sts.

"I regret that local investors are considered bad, because without their existence, who would create jobs in this republic?" the vice president asked.

Kalla, who is vying for the presidency with Gen. (ret.) Wiranto as his running mate, also took a shot at Yudhoyono's vice presidential choice, former central bank Governor Boediono, saying that he had allowed bank interest rates to reach high levels and had failed to support the development of a 10,000- megawatt power generation project by initially refusing, as the nation's top economics official, to issue the necessary guarantees.

Coming to the rescue, Yudhoyono said the decision was later reversed and that the guarantees had been agreed upon.

Prompting laughter and applause from the audience, Kalla teased Yudhoyono for using a popular jingle for an instant noodle product as his campaign tune, saying that it would only lead to an increase in wheat imports.

Yudhoyono parried, saying, "Perhaps the noodle you eat is made from pure wheat, because my noodle is a mixture of wheat, sago and cassava."

Although observers agreed that no new content was revealed during the debate, the moderator, economist Aviliani, was praised for delivering probing questions.

"As for the substance of the responses, Yudhoyono and Kalla had better answers compared to the previous debate," Andrinof said. "But there were no innovative answers that we hadn't already heard."

"In the question-and-answer section, Megawati seemed not to have progressed at all. She lives in the past and gave no better insights than in the previous debate," he added.

However, Hendri said that Megawati was consistent in her intentions to reduce state debt and emphasizing the need to revise the Labor Law.

"Megawati and Kalla stressed the importance of revising the Labor Law, but Yudhoyono was against it. It shows that he supports market liberalization. He claimed past government successes but lacks vision on how to reduce poverty and the unemployment problem," Hendri said.

The three presidential candidates will meet for their third and final debate next Thursday.

More jokes, but still a timid second-round debate

Jakarta Post - June 26, 2009

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The second round presidential debate looked for a while more like a two-man show instead of three, with two candidates engaging in lively arguments while the third remained quiet in the corner.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla stole the show on Thursday night, returning to his more spontaneous style this time round, with his usual jokes thrown around more than the during the first debate last week.

His criticism of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, delivered in an easy, half-joking half-serious style, successfully broke the ice and prompted responses from the incumbent President.

Both the incumbents engaged in lively yet warm arguments, leaving former president Megawati Soekarnoputri somewhat outcast. The moderator, economic expert Aviliani, even forgot to give Megawati her turn to respond to a question, as she was so absorbed in the comical banter between SBY and Kalla.

"I'm sorry, Pak SBY," Kalla said, when responding to a question on imports and inflation. Kalla said he didn't agree with SBY's Indomie commercial, referring to an instant noodle commercial that was transformed into SBY's campaign commercial, complete with a rewritten jingle.

"If we eat too much Indomie, then we will have to import more wheat," Kalla said, prompting laughter from the audience.

A seemingly reserved Yudhoyono replied jokingly, "Maybe Pak JK eats [noodles] that consist of 100 percent wheat. But me, I eat Indomie that is mixed with sago and cassava."

Soon after it was break time, and both the incumbents shook hands and laughed while approaching their resting seats.

In the debate Kalla took a swipe at the amended, controversial labor law issued under the then president Megawati. The "unique" law, he said, was resented by businesses because of costly severance pays, and also by workers because it permitted outsourcing.

"That was because you were working with me," Megawati said. "I worked well while I was with you, didn't I, Bu?" Kalla replied, laughing. "Of course you didn't," Megawati said, sparking another episode of laughter among the audience.

Thursday night's debate, broadcast live from the studios of MetroTV, was themed "Eradicating poverty and unemployment".

Megawati, who spoke in her usual normative and political-jargon style, said Indonesians needed to work hand-in-hand to fight poverty and revitalize the development of rural areas. More than once she referred to the traditional custom of mutual help or gotong royong.

Yudhoyono, citing comprehensive data, presented his five-year poverty eradication programs, which included economic development and "pro-people" programs such as direct cash assistance and a health insurance scheme for the poor.

Kalla, who was the only one walking about, said that while improving people's incomes was necessary, ensuring that their spending would not rise by maintaining price stability was also central to eradicating poverty.

Both the incumbents promised economic growth and a reduction of the unemployment rate if they were elected.

By this third round of the presidential and vice presidential debates, public interest had seemingly waned, following unfulfilled promises from organizers and campaign teams that debates would be livelier.

At the Cilandak Town Square in South Jakarta, a few tuned into the live broadcasts while others watched HBO. However, at least one cafe patron, Michael Jeno, said the quality of the debates had improved.

"The debates are now more focused on the thoughts of the presidential candidates. In the first debate the audience had no way of differentiating the performance of one candidate from another."

Another said they were all "just playing safe". Both, however said the candidates "had better remember their promises if they get re-elected".

SBY camp rails against smear campaign targeting Boediono's wife

Jakarta Globe - June 25, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Muninggar Sri Saraswati & Febriamy Hutapea – The campaign team for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono's presidential ticket demanded on Wednesday that rival candidate Jusuf Kalla clarify flyers circulated at his campaign event in North Sumatra that claimed Boediono's wife, Herawati, was a Catholic.

"We demand clarification from JK," said Rizal Mallarangeng, Yudhoyono's national campaign team spokesperson, during a press conference in Jakarta. "As a noble Bugis figure, why doesn't JK offer an apology to Boediono's wife. A clarification is important, even if JK didn't know about the [negative] campaign against Boediono's wife."

The campaign team plans to file a complaint with the Medan Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) against Kalla, his vice presidential running mate Wiranto and their campaign team over the issue.

During the press conference, Rizal played a recording of a television news report showing footage of a man distributing copies of a news clipping entitled, "Doesn't PKS know that Boediono's wife is a Catholic?" supposedly written by someone named Habib Husein Al-Habsy.

"We will accept other candidates launching negative campaigns because it's a process of political maturity," Rizal said. "But, this one is clearly slander because Boediono's wife is a Muslim who puts her religion beyond politics."

Responding to the accusation, Kalla's campaign team spokesman, Yuddy Chrisnandi, said that the campaign team was not involved in the distribution of the flyers.

Speaking from Kalla's campaign event in Medan, Yuddy said that he knew nothing about the issue. "However, if there was such an incident that is considered against the law, Panwaslu should investigate the case," he said.

Herawati visited the Darussalam Mosque in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday and performed a midday prayer with a number of local Islamic study groups in a bid to brush aside the rumors.

"People said I am a Catholic. It is not true, but let it go. I have no intention to deny it. God knows my religious activities," she said.

While visiting the mosque, Herawati wore the full Muslim attire, complete with a headscarf, although she did admit that she did not normally wear that kind of clothing.

"About the headscarf issue, I think it's a personal thing," Herawati told the study groups, adding that her family observed prayers five times a day.

She said she would not mind if her husband's campaign team asked her to wear a headscarf for campaign purposes.

"If I was asked to wear a headscarf for photo shoots for campaign banners, I would entrust it to the campaign team," she said. "It's up to them. I support my husband's campaign team and whatever my husband does."

Yudhoyono's popularity continues to go down: LSI

Jakarta Post - June 25, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) has found in its latest study that even though the popularity of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is on the decline, he remains far more popular than the two other candidates.

The survey, conducted from June 15 to 20, found 67.2 percent of respondents siding with Yudhoyono, 15.8 percent going for Megawati Soekarnoputri, 8.3 percent choosing Vice President Jusuf Kalla, and 8.7 percent undecided.

"We polled 2,000 people in 17 provinces to monitor their responses to presidential and vice presidential candidates," LSI senior researcher Saiful Mujani said Wednesday at a press conference in Jakarta.

The incumbent's popularity was lower than the 71 percent the LSI had given him in its May survey. Megawati got 16 percent and Kalla 6 percent in the earlier survey.

In the LSI's April survey, Yudhoyono obtained 75 percent, Megawati 16 percent and Kalla only 3 percent.

Saiful said Kalla's popularity was on the rise due to his intensive campaigning and variety of content in his campaign ads, which endeared him more to the public.

However, he pointed out that even with waning popularity, Yudhoyono's lead over the others was virtually insurmountable, given that polling day was less than two weeks away.

He also stressed the survey was not a real reflection of the presidential election result, but only meant to give the campaign teams an idea of where they stood at present.

Commenting on the survey, Indra J. Piliang from Kalla's campaign team said he was growing more optimistic about the chances of the Golkar Party chairman getting elected, particularly since there was such a sizeable number of undecided voters.

Rizal Mallarangeng, from Yudhoyono's campaign team, said he expected the outcome of the July 8 election to not differ by much from the survey's result. "This survey can help the candidates' teams run better campaigns," he said.

Maruarar Sirait, from Megawati's campaign team, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the survey, saying the recent slew of similar studies were biased toward certain candidates.

"Most survey agencies are involved in politics, and I see most of them trying to direct public opinion to have the election won in a single round," he said.

Maruarar added there was a "grand scenario" behind such surveys to bring about a single-round victory for the sake of efficiency. The LSI's Saiful was indignant at the "excessive" accusation.

"If you choose to blame the survey, then that's simply finding a scapegoat," he chided Maruarar. "The [survey] result is supposed to be used as input to determine what you should be doing next."

Maruarar shot back that the results of such surveys could be directed, depending on who funded them, adding the surveyors could have conducted the polling without even realizing they were being manipulated as part of the "grand scenario".

Saiful replied he had tried to remain professional, despite the LSI being supported by "one of the campaign teams", referring to the Yudhoyono camp, which he had previously admitted backed the LSI.

"The important thing is we don't conduct surveys to present skewed results, as the donors would have liked," he said.

VP debate: Few points for effort, fewer for substance

Jakarta Globe - June 24, 2009

Nivell Rayda & Camelia Pasandaran – Despite attempts to spur more lively discussions and avoid a repeat of the snoozer that marked last week's first debate, the first vice presidential debate last night failed to differ very much.

After widespread criticism that the matchup between presidential candidates contained no real debate, instead showing candidates largely agreeing with each other, the General Elections Commission (KPU) attempted to spark more discussion by providing less time for each candidate to explain their visions on the topic of "building national identity," in the event aired from the studio of private television station SCTV in Senayan, South Jakarta.

They were also made to face each other across a half circle, and commercial breaks were also cut down to allow more continuity and more time for questions and answers.

"It was a bit better than the previous presidential candidate debate," said Sri Budhi Eko Wardani, a University of Indonesia political analyst, adding that it still smacked of a presentation.

Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) member Nur Hidayat Sardini agreed that the debate was "not so much different from the previous debate."

It saw none of the three candidates – Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto, former Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono and Gen. (ret.) Wiranto – extol any new visions for the country.

The candidates' ideas of what national identity meant gave rise to more questions than answers, said Rocky Gerung, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia's School of Social Sciences.

While Prabowo and Wiranto both attempted to drum up support by playing the nationalist card, Boediono chose a more economy- oriented approach. "Our national identity is being taken away," Prabowo said, urging a more protectionist economy.

Wiranto began his presentation by singing the national anthem, before stressing the need for "a strong and responsive leadership" and "more dignity and national pride."

Boediono argued, "We have to build our economic infrastructure, spread our wealth to the people, develop our human resources and establish legal reform to eradicate corruption in our judicial system."

Commenting on the candidates, Sri Budhi said Wiranto "appears very good as an orator, but his concepts are not deep, only superficial." Prabowo put the economy as his main topic but elaborated little, while Boediono's good ideas lacked the backing of data, she added.

Nur believed the moderator, Komaruddin Hidayat, who heads the State Islamic University in Jakarta, "should have played a more active role in prompting candidates to give deeper and more concise answers."

Echoing the presidential debate, the candidates also had flurries of agreement, including that problems with welfare and unfair wealth distribution were behind religious and ethnic conflicts that have plagued the nation.

Nur said the way the KPU structured the debate – to restrict arguments that it claimed ran contrary to Indonesian culture – resulted in Tuesday's dull display. "It is baseless to say that arguing is not our culture," he said. "Arguing is different from attacking."

The next debate between presidential candidates is scheduled for Thursday.

Millions still unregistered ahead of election

Jakarta Post - June 24, 2009

Jakarta – Fifteen days ahead of the presidential election, millions of voters are still yet to be registered on the electoral roll (DPT), depriving them of their constitutional right to vote.

Deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights, Ridha Saleh, said Tuesday that 20 to 40 percent of eligible voters were still not registered for the upcoming presidential election on July 8. "There are systemic violations that have caused million of voters to lose their constitutional right," he said.

He said the 2009 legislative elections had highlighted the poor quality, credibility, administration, performance and policies of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

"We urge the government to take firm action against the KPU for their negligence that could prevent millions of people from voting," he said.

There are around 176 million voters on the presidential election fixed electoral roll. However, the period to revise the fixed electoral roll ended on June 8, making a special regulation necessary to ensure that unregistered citizens will be eligible to vote.

Ridha said the issuance of a regulation-in-lie-of-law that would enable unregistered voters to vote in the presidential election was necessary.

"A special regulation that will enable citizen's to use their ID cards as a requirement to vote even though they are not registered needs to be issued before the presidential election," he said.

Meanwhile, the youth organization Pemuda Pancasila filed a report to the commission Tuesday about allegations of a fraudulent electoral roll involving 2.2 million fictitious voters in East Java, and called for a revision of the list.

Lanyala, head of the organization's East Java branch, said Tuesday the electoral roll contained names of citizens listed twice with different identification numbers.

"There are 2.2 million fictitious voters out of the overall population of around 29 million voters," he said. (fmb)

Ruling may change poll results again

Jakarta Post - June 24, 2009

Jakarta – The Constitutional Court has handed down a verdict confirming election fraud did take place in South Sulawesi and ruled in favor of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura).

The ruling could lead to another change in the allocation of legislative seats after the court found the Golkar Party committed election fraud in three regencies during April's general election.

"There were more than 3,300 votes which should not have been won by the Golkar Party. The Golkar Party should have won just under 48,000 votes in the province," presiding judge Arsyad Sanusi said. "Meanwhile, the Hanura Party should have garnered just over 47,500 votes."

The lawyer representing the Golkar Party, Viktor Nadapdap, said the decision may lead to the party losing one seat in the House of Representatives.

"We might lose one House seat, that held by Sam Abbas," he said. "The seat might go to Hanura's Dewi Yasin Limpo, who is the sister of the South Sulawesi governor." Another panel of judges at the court ruled to annul the legislative election results in five districts in Minahasa, North Sulawesi.

"The court considers that the plaintiff, the Concern for the National Functioning Party (PKPB), has proven that vote fraud did occur in those five districts in Minahasa, which led to the plaintiff losing votes," said Constitutional Court chief Moh. Mahfud MD.

"The court therefore regards the results from the Minahasa Regency Legislative Council concerning the five districts suspended until re-evaluated. The plaintiff will earn five regional council seats."

On Saturday, the court ordered the General Elections Commission (KPU) to hold a recount of the election results in seven districts in Batam, Riau Islands. The plaintiff was the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

"The plaintiff has proven that there were inconsistencies in the vote-counting process in those districts," Mahfud said. "The KPU should hold a vote recount in those areas within 60 days from the announcement of this verdict."

As of Monday, the court had processed 62 lawsuits connected to more than 500 cases alleging election violations. It has set a deadline to settle around 70 lawsuits, involving 600 cases, by Thursday.

On June 9, the court issued a verdict that changed the legislative poll results and ordered the KPU to conduct vote reruns in South Nias, North Sumatra and Yahukimo, Papua.

The court also issued a controversial decision on June 11, which could lead to around 26 legislators losing their seats in the House.

The court told the KPU to revise the election results after an error occurred in the seat allocation process, leading to seats being lost by the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the Great Indonesia Movement Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB). (fmb)

Regional/communal conflicts

Bumpy road to peace in Kalimantan

Jakarta Globe - June 29, 2009

Kanis Dursin, Mekarsari (West Kalimantan) – More than seven years after settling down in Mekarsari, Kuburaya district in West Kalimantan, sisters Nurjati, 36, and Marlena, 35, say they hold no more grudges against Malays and Dayaks who drove them out their town of Paloh in Sambas district at the height of the 1999-2000 ethnic conflict.

The Madurese women do admit, however, to being too scared to return to their village, even for a short visit, as no one dares to guarantee their safety.

"Every time we want to visit Paloh, our relatives and friends tell us to be careful as if we are going to war and that creates uneasiness and fear within ourselves," said Nurjati, adding that the nearest town to Paloh she had visited since fleeing the district in 1999 was Pemangkat, located some 100 kilometers south of Sambas, while Paloh was located around 120 kilometers north of the district capital Sambas.

Sambas, a resource-rich district along Indonesia's border with Malaysia, witnessed in 1999 and 2000 one of the country's deadliest conflicts between Dayak and Malay communities on one hand and Madurese on the other, killing almost 200 people by an official count, and displacing tens of thousands of Madurese. By the year 2000, Madurese refugees in West Kalimantan exceeded 50,000, staying in mostly government establishments around and in the provincial capital Pontianak, located some 280 kilometers south of Sambas.

West Kalimantan, a province of four million people, has recorded at least 13 ethnic conflicts since 1933, when Madurese workers revolted against their Buginese employers in Ketapang, according to sociologist Muhammad Sobri, who helped found the Center for Research and Inter Religious Dialog (CRID) in 2006, a nongovernmental organization that aims at promoting mutual understanding among religious believers in the province.

While most of the violence pitted indigenous Dayaks against immigrant Madurese, bloody clashes have also occurred between Chinese and Malays, and Dayaks against Chinese and/or Malays. The 1999-2000 conflicts saw Malays, Chinese and Dayak communities ganging up against Madurese. From December 1996 to January 1997, Bengkayang and Sanggau Ledo, also in Sambas district, witnessed extremely violent communal conflicts between Dayaks and Madurese.

Triggers of those conflicts are often trivial, but most experts believe that economic disparity, cultural misunderstanding and politics may be behind major ethnic violence in West Kalimantan. The 1997 Bengkayang and Sanggau Ledo conflicts, for example, were followed by the creation of a new district that includes the two subdistricts, while the violence in 1999-2000 resulted in Senkawang being a new district separated from Sambas.

"West Kalimantan is very pluralistic, but why has the government done nothing to manage the differences," said Muhammad, who, together with fellow CRID activists, has since 2006 organized regular dialogues and discussions aimed at tearing down walls of suspicion and misunderstanding among religious believers. It has also organized conferences on pluralism, multicultural and multireligious education, and dialogue as a means to achieve peace.

"Interactions and cultural dialogs have to be cultivated," said Muhammad, criticizing the government for dealing with the triggers of the conflicts only by relocating the Madurese.

Before moving to Mekarsari in early 2002, Nurjati and Marlena stayed at state-owned Tanjung Pura University in Pontianak, where they lived on government dole-outs and generosity of individual donors. Other refugees of the 1999-2000 conflicts had been relocated to Satuan Pemukiman I, Satuan Pemukiman 2, Satuan Pemukian 3, Sungai Asam, all in Kuburaya district, some 30 kilometers outside Pontianak.

In the absence of government initiatives to reconcile the warring groups, several nongovernmental organizations have helped victims of violence maintain communications with the hope of uniting the warring groups. The Yayasan Swadaya Dian Katulistiwa (YSDK), for example, has since 2005 organized monthly meetings involving Madurese and Dayak communities.

"We have a monthly meeting where nongovernmental activists tell us not to take revenge against Malays and Dayaks, and our religious leaders also say the same thing," said Marlena, who has found a teaching job at a local state senior high school, where children of Malay, Chinese, Dayak and Madurese ethnic groups mingle without problems.

"We want to look forward and think of creating a peaceful condition for our children," the mother of one added.

As part of the peace building process, dozens of Malay and Dayak people, including several village heads and Sambas councilors, visited Mekarsari in early 2007, where they stayed with Madurese families for several nights to tear down the wall of suspicion and hatred.

Months later, Nurjati, Marlena and several others made a reciprocal visit to Pemangkat, some 100 kilometers south of Sambas, where they met with dozens of Malays and Dayaks.

"The meetings were cordial. They told us that they missed us so much, but they never invited us to return," Nurjati said.

"They told us that personally they were ready to accept us back, but were too scared of people in other villages and that they could not guarantee their safety if we force our way into Paloh," Marlena said.

According to Heriwonoto, 27, an activist of the Center for Borneo Studies, in Pontianak, it was not easy to promote reconciliation in the province as warring groups lived in the exclusive groups.

"Dayak people think they own West Kalimantan and Madurse, Malays and Chinese are only immigrants," he said.

The center's young activists have sought to quell violence in the province by working directly with people in conflict with each other, Heriwonoto said, citing the example of Chinese and Malay neighbors who had abused each other and destroyed property. "Our young activists immediately went there and told them not to take the law into their own hands," Heriwonoto said.

While the reconciliation moves at a snail's pace, Nurjati still dreams that one day she and fellow Madurese will be able to visit their village.

"I don't want to stay there anymore, but I don't know if my children would be happy to stay here forever. Besides, I want to pray at my father's grave," she said.

Regional autonomy

Costs but no benefits: Too many regions

Jakarta Post - June 26, 2009

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Continued proliferation of administrative regions in Indonesia may no longer be economically sustainable, as it creates additional costs to the state with relatively small benefits, says government official in UNDP forum.

Speaking at a UNDP forum on Thursday, director general of financial balance Mardiasmo said the government would have to spend Rp 14.27 trillion (US$1.4 billion) in "vertical" funds on branches of government agencies in new regions like police offices, courts, customs and excise offices, tax offices (BPN).

The figure, he said, rose from Rp 14.02 trillion in 2008, and Rp 8.09 trillion in 2007.

The government also has to spend more on general allocated funds (DAU) disbursed to regions. This year's DAU is Rp 186.41 trillion, up from Rp 179.51 trillion in 2008 and Rp 164.79 trillion in 2007.

Indonesia now has 524 autonomous regional administrations, comprising 33 provinces, 398 regencies and 93 cities. But there are 20 new regional administrations being planned, seven of which would be provinces, which would result in a lower DAU to each region, said Mardiasmo.

"If we want to be strict, proliferation is allowed, but should [be done] within mother regions,' he said. "There are now 48 regional administrative units whose spending for civil servants is 70 percent of their budget," he added.

A Finance Ministry study in 2007 showed that new administrative regions cost, on average, Rp 7.8 trillion to the state, while the positive impact to the economy was relatively small. Therefore the ministry suggests a moratorium on new regions.

"There are success stories, but from the fiscal side there are additional costs. The role of governors is important to [on] eligibility" he said.

Government Regulation No. 78/2007 on the procedures for initiating, abolishing and merging regions has tightened criteria for the creation of regions, including demography, economic potential and financial capacity.

Mardiasmo expects the House of Representatives to delay current proposals for 20 new regions. Governors still lack the courage to control and coordinate the proliferation of regions, said Kausar AS, Home Affairs Ministry's director general of general government.

GTZ senior advisor Agus Dwiyanto said Law No. 32/2004 and Government Regulation No. 38/2007 did not clarify the role of governors.

He said government should define the role of governors in the creation of new regions more clearly, or use central government ministries as supervise and limit the proliferation of new administrative regions.

Armed forces/defense

TNI must 'stop torturing civilians'

Jakarta Post - June 27, 2009

Jakarta – Human rights activists have urged the government to better control and monitor its military (TNI) to prevent torture against civilians.

"The government and the TNI must respond quickly to Human Rights Watch's (HRW) recent report by punishing violators and commencing an all-out reformation of the armed forces," Poengky Indarty, from the Indonesian Imparsial Human Rights Watch, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

HRW, a New York-based rights watchdog, recently said members of the country's elite paramilitary forces, Kopassus, had detained and tortured civilians in Papua, one of the most conflict-prone regions in Indonesia.

HRW urged the Indonesian government to investigate alleged abuses, and to discipline or prosecute offenders and their commanding officers.

It also called on countries such as the United States, Australia and the UK to cut training ties with Kopassus until the matter had been resolved.

"The reports from our branch offices confirm HRW's findings. There have been many arrests and torture of innocents accused of being part of the separatist Free Papua Movements (OPM)," Poengky said.

"Most of the arrests are conducted without the authorization of superior officers. Therefore, I feel it is crucial for the TNI, including Kopassus, to reform its chain of command, and for there to be firm regulation stipulating that superior officers are punishable for their subordinates' violations."

She added the House of Representatives should also frequently summon the TNI leadership for inquiries into its budget expenditure in conflict zones. "The House and the government will then be able to monitor the TNI and prevent its members getting out of line during duty," she said.

HRW alleged most of the arrests had been made by plainclothes Kopassus personnel.

Poengky said detained civilians were made to suffer mental and physical abuse during their detention. "The torture and detention occur very systematically and slowly evolve to be massive," she said. "In some cases, the soldiers line up all the residents of a village and systematically detain or beat them in public."

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said as quoted by Reuters that he needed to read the report before he could make any comment on the matter.

Papua military spokesman Lt. Col. Soesilo also said the allegations had not been properly delivered to him, adding he was unaware of the alleged abuses detailed in the HRW report.

For decades, the OPM separatist movement has forced the Indonesian Military to maintain a strong presence in Papua, the country's richest region in terms of natural resources, but the poorest in terms of income.

The OPM was established in 1965 and has since been seeking independence for the western part of the island of New Guinea, currently under Indonesian control.

OPM supporters say Indonesia's administration of West Papua is a military occupation. Due to the OPM's separatist nature, it is considered a crime to display the Papuan independence flag, known as the Morning Star, in public.

Crucially, the organization does not have the support of the significant Javanese population in Papua. (hdt)

Defense budget gets a covert boost

Jakarta Post - June 27, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has revealed that the Indonesian Military and the National Police received funds both from the state and regional budgets.

"We have found that nine regencies and cities in Aceh spared some 'grant' funds apparently allocated for the military and the police," Andi Saiful Haq, a consultant for security reform at the Kontras told a conference Friday.

The finding was detected in a study conducted by Kontras' Aceh branch in cooperation with the Anti Corruption Movement (GeRAK) and the Legal Aid Foundation in Bener Meriah, Aceh Utara, Aceh Barat, Aceh Besar, Sabang, Pidie, Banda Aceh, Pidie Jaya and Lhokseumawe regencies between March and June, to see where the regional budgets were allocated.

The study found that Rp 8.5 billion (US$850,000) of the 2009-2010 approved budgets at the nine provinces were allocated for the military and the police, Andi said.

He said that based on the National Military Law, State Defense Law and National Police Law, budgets for all those sectors were financed by the state budget.

"That (receiving funds from regional budgets) is a mistake," Andi said, adding that such budgets were intended to be allocated for priority activities instead of financing military and police activities that were already financed by the state.

Unfortunately however, Andi said, the Home Ministry's 2008 Decree on Guidance for Regional Budget Allocation had provided an opening for the allocation.

The decree states that the regional administration can allocate funds from its budget through grants to support vertical institutions, such as military personnel helping with the development of villages and the Regional General Elections Commission (KPUD).

Responding to the finding, a security reform researcher from the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial), Al Araf, urged the President and the House of Representatives to evaluate the Home Ministry's decree and revise the grant provision section.

"This is ironic. Amid the pressure to increase the defense budget, we find out that there are non-budgetary funds being channelled to the defense and security sectors," he said, adding there may have been similar practices in other regions throughout the nation.

In a series of recent military aircraft crashes, which have killed nearly 200 people, many people have blamed the accidents on a limited defense budget.

In response, the House then proposed to increase Indonesia's defense budget to Rp 36.5 trillion (US$3.6 billion) in 2010 from Rp 33.7 trillion allocated for this year.

"The defense budget is not only a matter of how much its allocated from the budget, but if the budget is used appropriately," said Al Araf.

Moreover, he added, the need to increase the defense budget was supposed to be followed by greater transparency and accountability of the defense sector.

"Accountability and transparency in the defense sector is a problem that remains in the sector and in the legislators as well. The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) have yet to effectively monitor the sector," he said.

Imparsial human rights researcher, Bhatara Ibnu Reza, acknowledged that most of the time the BPK faced difficulties when it wanted to audit the Defense Ministry and the National Police.

Police/law enforcement

Police seek break from sullied past with new rules

Jakarta Globe - June 26, 2009

Farouk Arnaz – The National Police, which has long been the target of widespread allegations of human rights abuses, on Thursday issued a new set of law enforcement standards meant to make headway on reforms.

The regulations are a gesture aimed at making the country's police agencies "more transparent, humanist and professional. This is an ongoing process because it's not easy to change our personnel's mind-set and culture," National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said.

Bambang also said that the new rules stipulated that human rights violations by police officers would be fully investigated.

He announced the regulations at the opening of a one-day seminar, "The Implementation of Human Rights Principles and Standard of Human Rights."

Bambang said the rules, which contain 64 separate articles, outlined clear guidelines on the conduct of law enforcement officers, comprehensively covering how police should behave during the process of investigating, summoning, searching, arresting and confiscating material from suspects.

The move came a day after international human rights watchdog Amnesty International released a report, "Unfinished Business: Police Accountability in Indonesia," which alleged that drug users, repeat offenders and sex workers were frequently subjected to torture, degrading treatment and excessive use of force at the hands of police.

The report cited nearly 50 deaths and 60 injuries involving firearms during police attempts to apprehend suspects over a one-year period. The group also concluded there had been little evidence that the suspects resisted arrest.

The new law enforcement statutes are the result of a cooperative effort that brought together the National Police, civil society, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Embassy of the Netherlands. The rules officially recognize the right to live, to be free from torture, to express opinions and to be treated as a person before the law.

The list is an inventory of so-called non-derogable rights, which are qualities that countries, usually under a particular treaty, have no legal basis for denying, even in a state of emergency.

Bambang said it would take time for the regulations to be effectively imposed on officers at all levels and ranks.

"We have more than 380,000 officers and it's not as easy as it would seem," he said. "After the presidential election, we will disseminate this regulation, with the help of the IOM and Indonesian NGOs."

Responding to the Amnesty International report, Bambang said police were not as badly behaved as the document had indicated. "We thank them for the criticism, but we hope that they would be more objective in making such a report," he said.

He added that such a vital assessment should not rely merely on interviews with suspects, who were likely to play down their role in crimes they were accused of and at the same time inflate accusations against police.

"We are better now," Bambang said. "If some of our officers are found guilty of abusing or extorting suspects, those are isolated cases, so please don't make generalizations. I also promise to take clear action if my personnel breach the rules, so please report them to us." IOM staff member Zumrotin echoed Bambang. "We should ask what was the method [used by Amnesty International] in gathering the information. Was it correct?"

Adnan Pandupraja, a National Police Commission member, welcomed the new regulations, saying the body would enforce them and facilitate the culture change.

Economy & investment

Economy to slow in second quarter: Central bank

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Indonesia may see slower economic growth in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter based on a seasonal trend, Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor Hartadi A. Sarwono said Monday.

"[Growth] in the second quarter used to decline seasonally. Let's wait [for the actual figures]," he said.

The country's second-quarter growth would depend on global economic growth, including the economies of the United States, China, South Korea and India, he added.

"If trading improves, external factors, in addition to private consumption, could contribute to our economic growth," Hartadi said.

Indonesia's economy in the first quarter grew by 4.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), contributed by still-strong private consumption.

Foreign shareholders must sell 20% of shares in mining companies

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

Alfian, Jakarta – With the implementation of the new mining law, the government will require foreign shareholders with 100 percent of participating interest in mining companies to sell at least 20 percent of their ownership to the central government, regional government, state enterprises or domestic private companies.

The minimum ownership for local partners in all mining firms is set at 20 percent by the new regulation.

The obligation will be stipulated in one of the four law's implementation regulations (pp) which are being deliberated by the government, director for coal and mineral utilization at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Bambang Gatot Ariyon, said in a mining discussion on Monday.

"The new mining law stipulates that foreign shareholders must divest themselves of their shares in mining companies five years after production. The implementation regulation will stipulate how big the required divestment should be. After discussions with stakeholders, we think 20 percent is the most acceptable figure for the divestment requirement," Bambang said.

He added the 20 percent divestment must be done within four years, meaning that foreign shareholders must sell five percent of their shares each year from the fifth year until the ninth year of production.

Indonesia, New Zealand set to finalize bilateral FTA agreement

Jakarta Post - June 26, 2009

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Preparations for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Indonesia and New Zealand under the ASEAN framework have been progressing well despite the economic downturn, with both countries expecting to conclude the bilateral arrangement within months.

In a press conference after a meeting with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully on Thursday in Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said both countries had negotiated the arrangement for halal certification for New Zealand meat products and a scheme for agricultural technical assistance from Wellington in return for market access for New Zealand products in Indonesia.

"We discussed general trade issues and, more specifically, halal certification of meat we import from that country. On the Indonesian side, the Indonesian Ulema Council [MUI] will deal with the [issuance of] halal meat certification [for imported New Zealand products]," he said.

Hassan said there would be further discussions between both countries on the technical requirements of halal certification.

Halal certification would require meat producers to adhere to Islamic methods of slaughtering animals. Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population but halal certification is not mandatory for producers. Some food and beverage products are sold in the local market without halal certification. McCully said New Zealand respected the requirements of Indonesia's importers and consumers for halal certification, but asked for "flexibility to make a way forward to meet those requirements".

"I am very satisfied with reports we have made progress on those issues. we look forward to concluding the arrangements in coming months," McCully said.

New Zealand and the ASEAN signed the FTA under one deal with Australia during the bloc's 14th summit in Thailand in February. The FTA is expected to boost two-way trade between the region and New Zealand, which reached US$6 billion in 2008. Indonesia and New Zealand bilateral trade stood at $1.2 billion in 2008, an increase from $865 million in 2007.

Under the FTA, by 2020 Jakarta will scrap tariffs on imported dairy and meat products from Australia and New Zealand, which are currently subject to tariffs of 5 percent on average. Australia and New Zealand are the largest exporters of meat and dairy products to Indonesia. In return, New Zealand, which has already near-zero tariffs on most imports, will open its labor market for a quota of Indonesian chefs, teachers and semi-skilled workers.

Indonesia has also been negotiating an agricultural technology transfer from New Zealand and for a wider labor market for Indonesian skilled migrant workers in exchange for opening its local market.

Concerns have arisen that unless local meat and dairy producers are equipped with sufficient technology and knowledge, the FTA would have an adverse impact on similar local industries which the Agricultural Ministry estimates employs around 20,000 workers.

New Zealand had not asked for any review of elements of the bilateral arrangements reached previously amid the current economic downturn or possible efforts to protect the domestic market, McCully said.

"We need to trade our way out of current challenges, and the framework that has been negotiated will give us the opportunity to grow... We look forward to the conclusion of the arrangement so we can emphasize to the leaders and business community that trade does happen."

McCully, who arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday, is also scheduled to meet Trade Minister Mari E. Pangestu, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan and members of Indonesia's business community, during his first visit to Jakarta since assuming the post in November 2008.

Perception toward Indonesia's economy better: Analysts

Jakarta Post - June 23, 2009

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Indonesia could expect a significant jump in investment, in particular coming from overseas, as foreign investors have shown more confidence in the country's economy after it managed to cushion the impacts of the global financial crunch.

"They see Indonesia as an important market," Paulus Sutisna, the head of Citi's global subsidiaries group in Indonesia, said in an interview last week. "They think the Indonesian economy has an even more promising future."

Paulus said most of Citi's corporate clients only had good things to say about Indonesia's economy and many were even exploring the possibilities of expanding here.

"Our clients are happy with the economic situation (in Indonesia)," said Paulus, although he did not mention the names of companies wishing to expand their businesses to Indonesia.

Even during the height of the global economic turmoil earlier this year, the country performed fairly well in terms of foreign investment.

According to the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), foreign direct investment (FDI) amounted to US$1.97 billion between January and February, a 105.9 percent increase from the $957.2 million posted in the same period last year.

Indonesia recorded a 4.4 percent economic growth in the first quarter of 2009 from a year earlier, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). Last year, the economy grew by 6.1 percent.

"They are also lauding the stable political situation amid the elections," added Paulus.

The legislative elections conducted in April ran smoothly, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party garnering 20.85 percent votes, increasing SBY's chances of being re-elected in the July 8 presidential election.

The Jakarta Composite index jumped 44 percent this year and the rupiah strengthened 6 percent against the dollar, the best performance among Asia's 10 most-used currencies.

Morgan Stanley said Indonesia's economy might grow by 7 percent by 2011, which would strengthen Indonesia's case for joining the so-called BRIC comprising the world's fastest-growing emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Indonesia's economy is expected to grow between 4 and 4.5 percent this year, and between 5 and 6 percent in 2010.

"Indonesia's positive growth makes investors look at us more seriously," said Paulus.

Bank Danamon economist Helmi Arman said he expected an even more robust investment performance in the coming months.

"In terms of growth in the region, we are doing relatively better. There should be an improvement (in investment)," he said.

BKPM head M. Lutfi said he expected investment to grow by about 9 percent this year, a revision from earlier estimates of between 10.7 and 11.2 percent.

Helmi also said investors would still be doing business as usual amid the election hype.

"The policies affecting foreign investors (engaging in Indonesia's economy) will not change much regardless of who is elected."

Paulus said foreign investors mostly complained about the lack of infrastructure and legal uncertainties, which undermined business expansion.

Analysis & opinion

The human rights agenda

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2009

The release of two separate human rights reports in the past weeks could not be timelier given the fact that Indonesians will vote for their next president next week.

"Unfinished Business - Police Accountability in Indonesia", a report by the London-based International Amnesty, and "What Did I Do Wrong? Papuans in Merauke Face Abuses by Indonesian Special Forces", released by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, should remind the nation that the reforms begun after the collapse of the authoritarian Soeharto regime in 1998 must continue.

Our claim to be the world's third largest democracy will be seriously compromised unless the presidential candidates address these reports, from two credible international institutions, and heed their recommendations.

Sadly, all three candidates and their running mates have consistently skirted the human rights issue completely. Each time questions have been raised about the abuses committed during the Soeharto years, the candidates insist they have all been resolved and that there is nothing more to be done – end of discussion.

This is sad indeed because, as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reported, the culture of impunity for vagrant abuses by powerful state institutions in this country remains in tact. Anyone looking for examples of Fareed Zakaria's "illiberal democracy" need look no further than Indonesia, its living proof, at least going by these reports. One would be tempted to call Indonesia an illiberal and unjust democracy.

The National Police and Kopassus (Army Special Forces) that the reports single out for their continued human rights abuses have undergone some reforms in the last 11 years, but clearly these have not been far reaching enough.

Granted, the victims of these reported human rights abuses are specific groups and not the public in general, as was the case in the past; but that does not make it right.

Amnesty International said "criminal suspects living in poor and marginalized communities, in particular women and repeat offenders, suffer disproportionately from a range of human rights violations." The Human Rights Watch report was more specific, detailing the abuse of residents of Merauke, a town in the southeast corner of Papua province suspected of harboring separatists and their sympathizers.

Victims interviewed in the reports gave graphic details of the kind of torture methods employed by the police and the Kopassus to coerce them into giving incriminating confessions, or, in the case of the police, to extort bribes. These interrogation techniques are unacceptable in a democratic and civilized nation.

In the Soeharto years, reports of abuses in Indonesia were main staples for human rights organizations; the regime simply chose to ignore and deny the allegations.

The government, and those institutions named in the report, would be making a grave mistake to simply dismiss these reports this time around. A credible and independent inquiry, as both reports proposed, must be conducted using the materials gathered by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Since Indonesia is in election mode, now is the time to ensure all candidates public commit to improving human rights for all people in Indonesia.

We have three generals running for office: the incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and vice presidential candidates Wiranto and Prabowo Subianto (himself a former Kopassus chief).

Given their military backgrounds, they should be more than familiar with the human rights problems in Indonesia. They can either end this culture of impunity once and for all, or maintain it. Let's hope Indonesia makes the right choice.

Religious persecution

Jakarta Post Editorial - June 26, 2009

The three vice presidential candidates debated national identity live on television last Tuesday. Interestingly, the forum was structured in such a way that the candidates were allowed to make a speech, lecture or even sing. Long gone are the vigorous, lively and intelligent debates of Indonesia's parliament in 1950s.

The candidates took a broad sweep on virtually every issue, skipping the fine detail of reality. Only when they talked about the relationship between the state and religion did the debate gain some momentum. But Gen. Wiranto, Gen. Prabowo Subianto and former central bank governor Boediono only recited what every school student is taught about Pancasila, the state ideology, the 1928 Youth Pledge, the Unitary State of Indonesia and the 1945 Constitution.

The candidates speak beautiful words but the actions are not so polite.

For example, at a recent Golkar campaign rally, rumors were spread by an unidentified source that the wife of Boediono is a Catholic – she is not. The fact that such an issue became news at all reflects voter's discomfort with the idea of having a leader associated with Christianity. If there really was no problem of religious tolerance, if the so-called Pancasila state was all it purports to be, such an issue would not have made headlines.

A similar controversy surrounded Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before he became president in 2004, just because his wife's name is Kristiani, which sounds too much like Christianity to some people.

Leaders of Indonesia's Catholic minority recently sent a letter to the Kalla-Wiranto team asking them to revoke 151 regional regulations they deem contradictory to the values of Pancasila.

The letter, signed by bishops throughout the country, came in response to a request from the Kalla-Wiranto ticket, but did not specify the regulations. We only know that during Jusuf Kalla and incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's five years in power, some 50 regencies have adopted Sharia law without either leader lifting a finger.

"These regulations are akin to the tip of an iceberg inconspicuously lurking in the water before the boat on which our nation is aboard," said the letter, read by Secretary General of the Bishop's Conference of Indonesia (KWI) Sutrisno Atmoko in Jakarta on June 9, 2009.

The KWI urged the future leaders of this nation not to repeat the issuing of regulations which contradict the Constitution. It went on to say that Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, the Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) principle and the Unitary State of Indonesia have all been undermined by the very people who are supposed to defend them. Indonesia, it says, is solid on the outside but rotten on the inside.

The KWI also touched on the poor quality but high cost of education, problems in the judiciary, environmental degradation, the gaping hole between the rich and poor and the exploitation of religion for political purposes.

Hundreds of churches have either been destroyed or damaged by acts of violence in Indonesia in recent years and Christians are only one of the country's minorities. Hindus, Buddhists, Confucianists, the Ahmadiyah all have their fair share of problems.

These are the on the ground realities that the debate should have vigorously addressed. Instead, Indonesian voters were patronized with sweet talk and self-important grandstanding. Artificiality is the last thing this nation needs.

Jakarta's traffic gridlock: The malady of 'macet'

Jakarta Post - June 24, 2009

Pandu Anugrah, Analyst – The term macet, meaning traffic gridlock or deadlock, is synonymous with Jakarta.

This, however, should come as no surprise given that domestic automotive sales have grown at an average annual rate of 11 percent per year since 2002, according to the data published by the Indonesian Automotive Body (GAIKINDO).

In 2008 alone, sales of 4-wheel vehicles (4W) reached 607,000, up 40 percent from 2007. With 50 percent of sales in the greater Jakarta area, the total number of vehicles registered in the local authority has reached more than 3 million.

Even worse is the number of motorcycle riders in Jakarta, which reportedly reached 3.5 million in 2007. According to Jakarta's regional police authority, motorcycle registration per year ranged from 250,000 to 350,000 over the past six years.

Putting all the figures together; assuming 40 percent of the total sales (6.2 million vehicles) was channeled into Jakarta, the number of motorcycle users in the capital would have reached 6 million in 2008.

Thus, the total number of vehicles (i.e. cars plus motorcycles) registered in Jakarta will now be approximately 9 million.

Looking toward the future, this number is likely to skyrocket further given the Indonesian domestic automotive market has predicted that by 2015, the number of car sales will reach 1 million vehicles per year.

This means that vehicle sales are expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of close to 9 percent per year in the next six years.

This will undoubtedly only complicate and eventuate Jakarta's notorious gridlocks. The issue of traffic congestion has become a major government focus. While several transformation plans have been designed and implemented, no significant improvements have materialized thus far.

An alternative measurement of traffic flows can also be derived from analyzing the volume of vehicles passing on the Cawang- Tomang-Cengkareng toll road, which today remains at high density of 180 million vehicles per year or around 500,000 vehicles per day. This figure that has remained unchanged since 2004, suggests full capacity.

In fact, the growth of roads in Jakarta is less than 1 percent per annum. Thus, the comparison of the average growth of vehicle sales per year, at 11 percent per year since 2002, to the frequency of development projects and upgrades for the city's roads suggest a serious deficit in the capacity of the city's roads.

In addition to this, expansions of road lanes to solve congestion has not offered a panacea, as there is extremely limited space on which to extend. In short, many roads have already reached maximum capacity.

To complicate matters, there is a possibility that motorcycles will be allowed to go through toll roads, which in our view, would just exacerbate matters.

The only real solution for combatting traffic congestion is the development of a new transportation system. Concrete evidence of this would have been the realization of the Transjakarta Busway as a new form of rapid transport in 2004.

Until the end of 2008, the busway had managed to accommodate an average of 240,000 passengers per day. But unfortunately, the existence of the Busway has not triggered any significant shifts, as individuals continue to use their cars and motorcycles more than ever.

Thus, major overhauls through the establishment of a new transportation network, with a high level of suitability, is a necessity for unlocking Jakarta's gridlock problem.

Initially, the government managed to start a monorail project, but failed to complete it. The classical problem remains as the feasibility of the projects, deemed to be unprofitable, would certainly require government subsidies.

Nevertheless, we believe the adoption of an integrated transport system in the form of a monorail or a subway system would be highly effective in easing traffic congestion.

An alternate solution that has been discussed over the past few years is to limit car ownership and implement a progressive tax (stepped-up tax) for multiple car owners.

The automotive industry, however, has strongly opposed this plan which it says would reduce car demand and could result in greater unemployment within the sector.

In our view, however, the implementation of such a policy would be pointless without the availability of a solid public transportation system. The government must first provide a viable alternative transport system that will prompt car users to voluntarily use public transportation. This will require commitment from the government to keep the system and related facilities clean and safe for commuters. Until this tall order can be accomplished, the malady of macet is here to stay in Jakarta.

[The writer is a research analyst at Bahana Securities.]