Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The Medan District Court on Thursday sentenced a former North Sumatra legislator and a journalist to a four-year jail term each and a youth leader to 10 years imprisonment for planning a riot.

Hundreds of protesters dispersed a plenary meeting at the provincial legislative building on Feb. 3 this year and mobbed legislative speaker Abdul Aziz Angkat, who had a fatal heart attack.

Prosecutors had earlier sought a 12-year sentence for the three defendants, the rally's organizers, but in the verdict read separately by the respective panel of judges, they were sentenced to lighter sentences.

Former North Sumatra legislative councilor Burhanuddin Radjagukguk and managing editor of the Sinar Indonesia Baru daily Viktor Siahaan were sentenced to four years each, while youth leader Jhon Haidel Samosir was sentenced to 10 years.

Presiding judge Yuferi F. Rangka said defendant Samosir had been proven guilty of striking Abdul Aziz Angkat.

Yuferi said based on testimonies from a number of witnesses, the defendant had hit Aziz when he was about to leave the VIP room at the legislature. Samosir together with the other defendants were in the VIP room pressing Aziz to sign a recommendation for the establishment of a Tapanuli province.

However, Aziz refused to do so and immediately went out the room. "Many witnesses saw Samosir hit Aziz when he was about to leave the room," said Yuferi, adding the defendant also chased after the victim when he was outside the legislative building.

In response to the verdict, Samosir said he would file an appeal on the grounds that the judges' decision was baseless. Samosir denied hitting Aziz. Unlike Samosir, Burhanuddin and Viktor said they would consider filing appeals.

Presiding judge I Ketut Sudira said Burhanuddin's role in the rally was as the secretary of the Tapanuli province founding committee who had agreed to hold the protest.

Sudira said based on facts and testimonies, the defendant was in the VIP room with the other main suspects to press Aziz to sign the recommendation to form the Tapanuli province after the crowd was able to besiege the council's plenary hall.

Sudira said the defendant at one point restricted the protesters from resorting to violence when they were inside the council plenary hall.

"The panel of judges has to consider Burhanuddin's efforts to prohibit protesters from acting violently, and should lighten his sentence."

Presiding judge Indrawaldi said the mitigating factors that lessened defendant Viktor's sentence were based on a number of witnesses saying the defendant had entered the room with petition supporters to cover news on the incident.

The testimonies were strengthened by an explanation from head of the local chapter Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), saying the defendant was at the council building to carry out his journalistic duties.

Viktor, who served as managing director at the SIB daily – owned by the family of Chandra Panggabean, also an instigator of the protest – was earlier charged by prosecutors with a 12-year sentence.

On Tuesday, the court sentenced former legislator Datumitra Simanjuntak to seven years in jail for masterminding the rally.

Prosecutors earlier demanded that the court sentence Datumitra to 12 years in jail.

Forbes publishes list of Indonesia's top 40 richest people

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2009

Forbes Magazine published on Thursday the 2009 list of Indonesia's 40 richest people. The owners of the Djarum group, Budi and Michael Hartono, still topped the list with estimated wealth of $7 billion.

The magazine wrote that investors were in love with Indonesia after the country's benchmark stock index rose 115 percent in local currency in the past 12 months – Asia's second best performer behind China's Shenzhen SE Composite.

It was no surprise that the wealth of Indonesia's richest people continued to increase. The collective worth of the nation's top 40 has doubled to $42 billion from $21 billion last year and is up $2 billion from its prior peak in 2007, the magazine said. Resources kings were prominent on the list. Low Tuck Kwong, owner of Bayan Resources, was a newcomer on the list after his stocks rose 474 percent in the last year.

Another coal billionaire, Aburizal Bakrie, chairman of the Golkar Party, improved his ranking after his holding in Bumi Resources increased in value.

The list: Indonesia's 40 richest people

1. R. Budi & Michael Hartono - US$7 billion
2. Martua Sitorus - US$3 billion
3. Susilo Wonowidjojo - US$2.6 billion
4. Aburizal Bakrie - US$2.5 billion
5. Eka Tjipta Widjaja - US$2.4 billion
6. Peter Sondakh - US$2.1 billion
7. Putera Sampoerna - US$2 billion
8. Sukanto Tanoto - US$1.9 billion
9. Anthoni Salim - US$1.4 billion
10. Soegiharto Sosrodjojo - US$1.2 billion
11. Low Tuck Kwong - US$1.18 billion
12. Eddy William Katuari - US$1.1 billion
13. Chairul Tanjung - US$990 million
14. Garibaldi Thohir - US$930 million
15. Theodore Rachmat - US$900 million
16. Edwin Soeryadjaya - US$800 million
17. Trihatma Haliman - US$750 million
18. Ciliandra Fangiono - US$710 million
19. Arifin Panigoro - US$650 million
20. Murdaya Poo - US$600 million
21. Hashim Djojohadikusumo - US$500 million
22. Kusnan & Rusdi Kirana - US$480 million
23. Prajogo Pangestu - US$475 million
24. Harjo Sutanto - US$470 million
25. Mochtar Riady - US$440 million
26. Eka Tjandranegara - US$430 million
27. Ciputra - US$420 million
28. Hary Tanoesoedibjo - US$410 million
29. Sandiaga Uno - US$400 million
30. Boenjamin Setiawan - US$395 million
31. Alim Markus - US$350 million
32. Aksa Mahmud - US$330 million
33. Sutanto Djuhar - US$325 million
34. Kartini Muljadi - US$320 million
35. Soegiarto Adikoesoemo - US$300 million
36. George Santosa Tahija & Sjakon George Tahija - US$290 million
37. Paulus Tumewu - US$280 million
38. Husain Djojonegoro - US$260 million
39. Bachtiar Karim - US$250 million
40. Kris Wiluan - US$240 million

Actions, demos, protests...

Students burn pictures of Yudhoyono, Boediono and Sri Mulyani

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2009

Students from Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi, took to the streets on Thursday, burning images of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani to demand a thorough investigation into the Bank Century bailout.

The rally was monitored by police but the students were not stopped from burning pictures of Yudhoyono, Boediono and Sri Mulyani. The students demanded Yudhoyono and Boediono step down and Sri Mulyani to be arrested.

"Rp 6.7 billion would mean a lot if it were allocated for free education. Thousands of poor children in the country will be able to go to school," said a demonstrator.

Besides Hasanuddin University students, scores of students from Paulus Indonesia Christian University also held a rally in Makassar to demand the government to show more commitment to investigating the Bank Century scandal.

Watch out for traffic jams! Nine demos to colour Jakarta today

Detik.com - December 2, 2009

Mega Putra Ratya, Jakarta – A number of protest actions will colour Jakarta today with at least nine demonstrations expected to inundate various parts of the capital. Watch out for traffic jams!

According to the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre (TMC) website for Wednesday December 2, workers from the Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) and PT Uni Enlarge Industry Semarang employees will hold an action in front of the Chinatrush Bank offices at the Tamara Centre building on Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in South Jakarta and the Department of Labour and Transmigration on Jl. Gatot Subroto, also in South Jakarta.

Another action will be held by the Red-and-White Militia Joint Forum (FB-LMP) at the Constitutional Court building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta.

Following this, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), the Indonesia Farmers Union (SPI), the Anti-Debt Coalition (KAU), the Action Study Circle for Indonesian Democracy (LSADI), Oxfam and the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) will be protesting at the United States Embassy on Jl. Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta.

The next demonstration will be held by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) at the Jakarta Regional House of Representatives DPRD building on Jl. Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta.

Then the Indonesian General Insurance Association (AAUI) will hold an action in front of the Government Goods and Services Procurement Policy Agency (LKPP), the SMESCO building on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta and the Finance Ministry's Capital Markets Supervisory Agency on Jl. Lapangan Banteng in Central Jakarta.

Meanwhile the Migrant Workers Defense Team (TPBMI) Alliance for Families of Indonesian Worker Victims and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) will be demonstrating at the Department of Labour and Transmigration on Jl. Gatot Subroto and the United Arab Emirates Embassy on Jl. Singaraja Block C4 in the East Kuningan are of South Jakarta.

A group calling themselves the Voice of Indonesia (SI, Solidarity Supporters of the Indonesian People's Mandate) will hold an action at the National Education Department offices on Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in Central Jakarta.

Then the Social Movement to Safeguard the People's Money (Gempur) will be demonstrating in front of the Vice Presidential Palace on Jl. Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta.

Meanwhile the SPI will be protesting in front of the Department of Trade offices on Jl. Ridwan Rais in Central Jakarta.

Looking at the large number of protest actions today, the TMC Is appealing to road users to avoid or find alternative roads to the routes that will be used by demonstrators. (mpr/lrn)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Man arrested with molotov bombs outside Indonesian parliament

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2009

A man was arrested carrying three molotov bombs during a rally in front of the Parliament Building at Jalan Gatot Subroto on Tuesday. The man was taken by Jakarta Police for questioning.

Police confiscated some items from the man, including three energy drink bottles that were filled with kerosene and a box of matches.

It was unclear if the man was a part of an activist group rallying in front of the Parliament Building to demand the House of Representatives (DPR) to use its inquiry rights in the Bank Century bailout investigation.

Meanwhile, the demonstrations are still continuing outside Parliament, with the number of participants increasing. One of the initiators of the call for the House to use its inquiry right, Maruarar Sirait from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, came to greet those at the rally and to inform them about the developments in the plenary session.

The mass rally caused traffic delays on Jalan Gatot Subroto.

Aceh

Hope for lasting peace marks GAM anniversary in Aceh

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2009

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement celebrated the 33rd anniversary of the founding of their now-disbanded organization by holding mass prayers and providing meals for orphans of the 30-year civil conflict.

For the provincial capital and surrounding Aceh Besar district, the commemoration of the founding of the group, also known as GAM, took place at the grave of national hero Tengku Cik di Tiro at Meureue village, Indrapuri subdistrict. The event was attended by hundreds of former rebels, local villagers and orphans of the war.

During the proceedings, several members of the Aceh Legislative Council (DPRA) and lawmakers from the Aceh Party, the political party formed from GAM, underwent the peusijuek, a traditional purification ceremony.

Sofyan Dawood, a former GAM spokesman, told reporters that there were high hopes that the legislators elected in April's polls, from Aceh Party or otherwise, would work to improve the province.

"We can hope that Aceh in the future can be fought for in accordance with the Helsinki MoU," he said, referring to the 2005 truce between GAM and the central government. The deal put an end to three decades of armed conflict that killed about 25,000 people, most of them civilians.

According to Sofyan, several clauses of the agreement had yet to be implemented, including the issuance of a presidential decree on the separation of authority between the central government and Aceh, which provided Aceh's government with much of the impetus to fully embrace the peace process. He also said the Acehnese people hoped their lawmakers would enact laws and policies to benefit society.

"Hopefully GAM's anniversary can provide historical momentum to create a better future for Aceh," Sofyan said. "We hope for a more advanced and dignified Aceh in the future."

Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, who had recently returned from the hajj in Saudi Arabia, attended the ceremony at the offices of the Aceh Transitional Committee (KPA) in Lamreung village, on the outskirts of Banda Aceh.

Also present were DPRA spokesman Hasbi Abdullah, from the Aceh Party, and hundreds of former rebels. The KPA helps former GAM guerrillas assimilate into society.

Irwandi, who was also the last spokesperson for GAM before it disbanded, said the group's anniversary was commemorated in part to pray for the welfare of the Acehnese people and for eternal peace in the province. "In the future, Dec. 4 will become a historical date in Aceh and be celebrated annually," he said, without elaborating.

KPA spokesman Tengku Machsalmina said the anniversary was celebrated to honor GAM members who died during the conflict and the Acehnese who died fighting Dutch colonization. "The ceremony is a mass prayer, dinner and charitable event for the orphans of the conflict," he added.

KPA members across Aceh were told to hold a mass prayer in their respective areas, and not to raise the GAM flag or banners because Aceh had now achieved peace. During the conflict, flags were raised on GAM's anniversary.

"If anyone violates this, then he or she must be arrested and face court," Machsalmina said. So far, no incidents of flag- raising have been reported.

GAM was founded on Dec. 4, 1976, by Tengku Hasan di Tiro, the grandson of Tengku Cik di Tiro. Although Hasan, 84, was in the province, he did not attend any of the events.

West Papua

Rallies, arrests mark Papua's anniversary of 'independence'

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

Christian Motte & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – As rights activists rallied on Tuesday in Washington demanding the immediate release of two Papuan men on the fifth anniversary of their arrest for raising a separatist flag, 13 other activists were charged in Jayapura, Papua, for demonstrating.

Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were detained in late 2004 in Jayapura for displaying the Morning Star flag as part of a ceremony commemorating the 1961 declaration of Papuan independence. They were sentenced in 2005 to 15 and 10 years in prison, respectively.

Tuesday was the 48th anniversary of both the pro-independence Free Papua Movement (OPM) and the day the Netherlands recognized Papua's right to self-rule. Before its independence was recognized by the world, Indonesia incorporated the vast, resource-rich territory in 1969 after a UN-backed referendum held among a few hundred tribal leaders.

"The aim is to keep putting pressure on the Indonesian government to remind them we have not forgotten these two prisoners," Amnesty International regional director Folabi Olagbaju told Agence France-Presse as he led some 40 protesters outside the Indonesian Embassy in Washington.

"It is outrageous that the [Indonesian] government can arrest and imprison people at a nonviolent, peaceful protest for raising a flag," he said. "There needs to be freedom of expression, and they [the government] shouldn't be afraid of that. These two should not have spent a day in prison, much less five years."

Indonesian courts have handed down stiff penalties, including life sentences, to people caught with separatist symbols such as the Papuan flag.

Meanwhile, Papua Police Chief Brig. Gen. Bekto Suprapto said the 13 activists detained in Jayapura on Tuesday had disrupted public order. "They were charged, not because of the demonstration, but for refusing to disperse," he said on Wednesday.

The 13 were arrested as police dispersed about 40 activists who had gathered in Jayapura carrying posters with separatist symbols banned by the state.

Separately, the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) said on Wednesday it would allow the police to take the lead in securing Papua, including in the legal process against the 13 activists arrested on Tuesday. "In a situation of civil order, which is in the hands of the police. The TNI will only assist them when needed," TNI Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso said.

More than 170 people are currently imprisoned in Indonesia for peacefully promoting separatism in the country, most of them from Papua or the eastern Maluku islands, according to Human Rights Watch.

Women in Papua continue to suffer

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

Nurfika Osman – Women and their families in Papua are continuing to be forced out of their homes when their land is cleared for mining purposes and the government does nothing to stop this, the leader of the Papuan People's Assembly said on Wednesday.

"Women are forced to leave their homes. It hurts them so much because they depend on the land to live and eat, find materials for housing and to cook for their families," Hana Hikoyabi said, adding that military officers conducting the land clearing activities had been known to sexually assault Papuan women who refused to move out of their homes.

"They are raped by the military personnel and suffer deep trauma, which is not easily healed," Hana said. "The women's husbands leave them over this and for those who are unmarried, no man wants them."

She said that the government had failed to provide either trauma support or legal aid for these victims of violence and had not done enough to investigate the cases and punish the perpetrators.

"The local communities and the churches are our only helpers. The government does not listen. Nobody from the Women's Empowerment Ministry has helped to empower us in Papua," Hana said, adding that local communities collaborated with nongovernmental organizations to conduct regular visitations and discussions with the victims.

Sometimes the victims were reluctant to share their stories, she said, adding that the struggle for Papuan women was much more complex than women in other provinces because in addition to enduring incidents such as illegal detention, kidnapping or even displacement, their conditions were worsened by Papua's remoteness and the difficulties getting access to good education and development. "Women's rights remain abandoned in Papua," Hana said.

A resource-rich region that trails most other provinces in terms of development and welfare, Papua has been the scene of a low- level separatist insurgency since the 1960s.

Tensions between indigenous Papuans, settlers and security forces have been a fact of life in Papua since it was incorporated into Indonesia. Much of the conflict stems from a perception of injustice and discrimination by authorities.

Heidi Maeka, who works for a Women's Support Group in Poso, Central Sulawesi, another conflict region, said that women in these regions found it difficult to become economically independent.

"Many of them don't finish school and they lack the skills to support themselves and their families. They are unable, for instance, to write up a good proposal to start up a small business," Heidi said, adding that their business proposals were often rejected because, even though they might have good ideas, they could not express them in writing.

Her organization, she said, plans to set up an informal school in Papua to provide women with basic education and technical skills to sustain livelihoods, with help from the regional government and a number of nongovernmental organizations.

Police release 13 Papuans, activists appeal for dialog

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

Christian Motte – The police have released 13 Papuans who were arrested on Tuesday as they held a peaceful rally to celebrate the 48th anniversary of the pro-independence Free Papua Movement, the Papua Police chief said on Thursday.

"We have released them and have urged them instead to engage in dialog, on the condition that they will not hold illegal rallies. We have evidence against them for holding a rally without a permit," Brig. Gen. Bekto Suprapto said.

According to authorities, members of the riot police made Tuesday's arrests as they dispersed up to 40 activists who had gathered in the provincial capital Jayapura carrying posters of the banned Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence.

Supporters of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) celebrate the Dec. 1 anniversary of the Netherlands' 1961 recognition of Papua's right to self-rule. Indonesia incorporated the vast, resource-rich territory in 1969 after a UN-backed referendum held among a few hundred tribal leaders.

Agustinus Isir, a Papuan public figure, said on Thursday that rallies were held across the province on Dec. 1 in spite of the governor's ban on "mass mobilizations." The issue of Papuan self- rule, he said, will not fade with time and activists will continue to seek a dialog with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Another public figure, Simon Morin, echoed Isir's comments. "We want to safeguard unity through dialog focusing on nationalism," he said. "This will strengthen our mutual understanding."

Usama Yagobi, a human rights activist in Papua, said the province continued to be a tinder box of tension. Antipathy between indigenous Papuans, settlers and security forces has been a fact of life in Papua since it was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969. Much of the conflict, he said, stems from a perception of prejudices and injustices committed by authorities.

"An international dialog is a peaceful way for Indonesia and Papua to learn about the problems felt by Papuans, such as human rights violations, restrictions to freedom of speech and policies that are not beneficial to Papuans," Usama said.

Under Indonesian law, anyone who wants to hold a protest has to inform the police about the issue in question, the time of the protest, its location and the number of people who will take part.

There were no major incidents reported in Papua or West Papua on Tuesday. In Jakarta on Tuesday, dozens of Papuans demanded independence at a peaceful rally outside the Presidential Palace as police stood guard. The protesters carried a red banner reading, "Give back the sovereignty of the West Papua nation."

Papuan protesters held

Melbourne Age - December 2, 2009

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Protesters staged rallies across the restive Indonesian region of West Papua yesterday, marking the long and fruitless campaign of its Melanesian people to gain independence from Jakarta.

Organisers of the rallies said more than a dozen people had been arrested in the West Papuan capital of Jayapura after police dispersed the crowd by firing rounds of live ammunition into the air.

Martin Manggaprow, the co-ordinator of the Jayapura rally, accused police of beating protesters before arresting them. He said as many as 20 had been detained, including two women.

The protesters had planned to raise the banned Morning Star flag – the symbol of West Papuan separatism – at the home of their former leader Theys Eluay, who was murdered by Indonesian special forces in 2001.

"Two trucks of [mobile police] arrived at the site and around 60 of them got off the trucks and started opening fire into the air," said Mr Manggaprow.

Yesterday's protests occurred in Jayapura, Sorong, Manokwari, Abepura and Wamena and marked the 48th anniversary of a declaration of independence by indigenous West Papuans, then under the rule of the Netherlands.

Despite early support from Australia and many other countries for its independence, resource-rich West Papua was handed to Indonesia at the height of the Cold War in a deal to encourage the country to be pro-Western.

West Papuan police confirmed there had been arrests, saying the demonstrations were not authorised. No one had been charged.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have recently alleged systemic police abuses of West Papuans and the brutal suppression of peaceful political expression.

Protests in Washington to demand release of Papuan activists

Agence France Presse - December 2, 2009

Rights activists rallied Tuesday outside the Indonesian embassy in Washington D.C. demanding the immediate release of two Papuan activists on the fifth anniversary of their arrest for raising a separatist flag.

Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were detained in late 2004 in the Papuan capital of Jayapura for displaying the Morning Star flag as part of a ceremony commemorating the 1962 declaration of Papuan independence. They were sentenced in 2005 to 15 and 10 years, respectively.

"The aim is to keep putting the pressure on the Indonesian government to remind them we have not forgotten these two prisoners," Amnesty International regional director Folabi Olagbaju told AFP as he led the demonstration of some 40 protesters.

"It is outrageous that the (Indonesian) government can arrest and imprison people at a non-violent, peaceful protest for raising a flag... there needs to be freedom of expression, and they (the government) shouldn't be afraid of that," he said.

"These two should not have spent a day in prison, much less five years."

Indonesian courts have handed down stiff penalties including life in prison to people caught with separatist symbols such as the Papuan flag.

More than 170 people are currently imprisoned in Indonesia for peacefully promoting separatism in Indonesia, most of them from Papua or the eastern Maluku islands, according to Human Rights Watch.

Indonesia took control of Papua, a former Dutch colony on the western half of New Guinea island, in 1969 after a vote among a select group of Papuans widely seen as a sham.

Papuans have long accused Indonesia's military of violating human rights in the province and complain that the bulk of earnings from its rich natural resources flow to Jakarta.

Focus on Indonesian Papua's alleged rights violations

Radio Australia - December 2, 2009

Indonesia's poorest province, Papua, is once again in the spotlight over its human rights record. Amnesty International has called for an investigation into what it's described as unchecked human rights violations by Indonesian police. In an open letter this week to the Chief of Police in Papua, the group says it has witness testimony of the deaths of two demonstrators and the beatings of others at the hands of police.

Accusations of police violence are not new in Papua, where Indonesian rule is resented by much of the native Melanesian population.

Presenter: Karon Snowdon

Speaker: Budi Hernawan, former Director of the Office for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia

Snowdon: The London based Amnesty International addressed its letter to the newly appointed Police Chief for Papua Bekto Suprapto. It's calling for an investigation into human rights abuses by his police force over the last year. Amnesty has joined forces with the Indonesian human rights group Kontras in accusing Indonesian police of unnecessary and excessive use of force against demonstrators, beatings and unlawful killings. They say there are credible witnesses of police killing two men – Melkias Agape who was shot in June and Abet Nego Keiya, whose badly beaten body was found dumped in April. The claims are the latest from Amnesty whose global report card on human rights in May this year contained similar accusations against security forces in Papua where long prison sentences are handed out to activists.

Budi Hernawan, the former Director for Justice and Peace with the Catholic Church in Papua says the situation calls for direct action by the government in jakarta.

Hernawan: Comprehensive thorough dialogue between Papuans and the national government not only to look at the issue of special autonomy but the whole issues of ongoing pattern of human rights abuses, political aspirations, natural resource management, poverty. So the wide range of issues in Papua.

Snowdon: Is there any sort of dialogue going on now between the people of Papua and the government in Jakarta, anything at all?

Hernawan: No. Papuans have been trying to engage in any discussion with the national government but so far there is no sign that the national government is willing to engage in any kind of discussion.

Snowdon: Papuans suffer not just at the hands of the security forces. According to Amnesty International Indonesia has the highest recorded maternal deaths in South East Asia. Most of the estimated 19,000 deaths every year occur in remote areas and among Indigenous People. Budi Hern awan says not since the time of President Abdurahman Wahid has any Indonesian leader shown a real interest in resolving Papuan concerns. He says Indonesia's signing of the United Nations declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People is meaningless.

Hernawan: I think its been an ongoing pattern of abuses and the last special report on torture reported to the US council earlier this year that the ongoing use of torture particularly and other issues are still there and not really addressed. And also in terms of people raising their voice, with raising the flag for example that's still a big issue. So the ongong pattern of impunity is still there.

Snowdon: There are no signs that the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is listening to the complaints of Papuans. But he has lots of mail to read. Last month members in the United States Congress wrote to him suggesting he establish a special international commission on Papua similar to the one which led to autonomy in Aceh. Significantly it added a commission was needed not just to discuss autonomy but basic rights like the provision of fresh water and better health care.

Kontras call for investigation into Abepura jail beating and riot

Detik.com - December 1, 2009

Nala Edwin, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is urging the government to investigate the beating of Buchtar Tabuni, a prisoner at the Abepura jail near the Papuan provincial capital of Jayapura. The beating triggered a riot at the jail on November 26.

"We are also asking the DPR's [House of Representative's] Commission III [on law and security affairs] to immediately visit the Abepura jail to uncover the real facts," said Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid in a press release on Thursday October 1.

The beating was allegedly carried out by five people, namely Robi Korua, Samsul Bakri, Yancen Korwa, David Ongge and Theo Awii. "Together they overwhelmed the victim and beat Buchtar Tabuni inhumanely," said Hamid.

Central Highlands Students Association (AMPTI) General Secretary Markus Haluk meanwhile stated that this is not the first time that violence has occurred at the Abepura jail. A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Papuan non-government organisations found that there had been more than 20 cases of violence at the Abepura jail. "The treatment of prisoners is absolutely inhuman," he said.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar stated earlier that the riot at the jail started when Buchtar Tabuni, who is also a member of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM), was being detained by two members of the Indonesian military (TNI) and left in the care of the military prosecutor and police. A misunderstanding occurred that resulted in a riot, damaging the jail and leaving its windows shattered. (nal/iy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Indonesia arrests Papuans on 'independence day'

Agence France Presse - December 1, 2009

Jayapura – Indonesian police arrested 13 Papuans on Tuesday as activists demanded sovereignty at rallies to mark the 48th anniversary of Papuan "independence", a police spokesman said.

Riot police made the arrests as they dispersed up to 40 activists who had gathered in the main Papuan town of Jayapura carrying posters with banned separatist symbols, he said.

"We are questioning 13 people as they have broken the country's laws by holding a protest without a permit," provincial police spokesman Agus Riyanto told AFP.

In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, dozens of Papuans demanded independence at a peaceful rally outside the presidential palace as police stood guard.

They carried a red banner reading "Give back the sovereignty of the West Papua nation" and posters bearing the outlawed "Morning Star" Papuan national flag.

Scores of Papuans have been jailed and abused in Indonesian prisons for displaying the Papuan flag and other separatist symbols, a crime punishable by life in jail under Indonesian law, according to rights groups.

Pro-independence Papuans celebrate December 1 as a national day commemorating former colonial power The Netherlands' 1961 recognition of Papua's right to self-rule.

Indonesia has never recognised Papuan sovereignty and incorporated the vast, resource-rich territory in 1969 after a disputed UN-backed referendum held among a few hundred tribal leaders.

"We are not Indonesian people, we are a different race. We want independence. We will fight till the end to get our independence," one of protesters at the presidential palace shouted through a loud speaker.

"Under Indonesian rule we're becoming poorer and poorer and many of us have suffered torture and violence. The Indonesian government only exploits our rich natural resources but ignores our prosperity."

In Sentani town near Jayapura, more than 100 people took part in joint prayers at the home of slain pro-independence leader Theis Hiyo Eluay, who was kidnapped and murdered in 2001.

US-based Human Rights Watch said in June that torture and abuse of Papuan prisoners in Indonesia was "rampant" and should be investigated.

Three Papuan protesters – Roni Ruben Iba, Isak Iba and Piter Iba – were sentenced to between two and three years in jail for subversion earlier this month for raising a banner similar to the "Morning Star" flag.

Indonesian police detain Papuan protesters

Associated Press - December 1, 2009

Jakarta – Police detained several protesters flying outlawed independence flags on Tuesday during peaceful demonstrations against Indonesian rule in the restive Papua province, an official said.

At least two demonstrations in the provincial capital Jayapura marked the 48th anniversary of the Free Papua Movement declaring independence from Dutch colonial rule. Their claims were denied by the Dutch and later by Indonesia.

Papua Police chief Brig. Gen. Bekto Suprapto told reporters that several men were detained for holding an unauthorized demonstration.

Police also confiscated several illegal Morning Star flags, symbols of an independent Papua, and leaflets advocating independence, Suprapto said. No charges have been laid.

Local media reports said about 30 people were detained in two separate locations in Jayapura. A report also said police fired shots, but that could not be verified immediately.

Human rights group Amnesty International urged authorities on Monday to investigate allegations of police killings and abuses in Papua.

The London-based organization released an open letter to Suprapto, alleging that police officers killed two men and beat dozens of demonstrators in custody since late last year.

Indonesian authorities – wary of secessionists – have cracked down on separatist protesters in the poor eastern province, where there is a small but resilient independence movement. Foreign journalists are barred from traveling to Papua.

Activists say more than 170 people are jailed in Indonesia for peaceful political expression, mostly in Papua and the province of Maluku, where there is also a separatist movement.

Earlier this month, three men were imprisoned for up to three years for raising the Morning Star. Another two men face up to 12 years in prison on similar charges.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has called for their release, saying imprisoning peaceful protesters undermines the country's democratic values.

Papuans raise outlawed flag despite ban

Australian Associated Press - December 1, 2009

Ilya Gridneff – Papuan activists have raised the outlawed Morning Star flag in defiance of Indonesia's hardline rule over the disputed territory.

Jonah Wenda, spokesman of the Military Council of the West Papuan Liberation Army, told AAP the activists risked arrest for flying the banned flag near Jayapura, Papua's capital, on Tuesday afternoon.

"The military has set up checkpoints across the province to stop people protesting or raising the flag. But the flag was raised in Abepura, about 15 minutes' drive from Jayapura.

"Police then pulled the flag down and broke up the protest, confiscated bush knives, and told everyone to leave. No one was arrested," he said.

Morning Star flags were also raised in Papua New Guinea, where thousands of Papuan refugees live after fleeing decades of Indonesian persecution and human rights abuse.

Small Flag Day ceremonies were held in Madang on PNG's northeast coast and Vanimo, the closest centre to the Indonesian border on PNG's northeast coast, Wenda said.

Flag Day goes back to 1961 when, under Dutch colonial rule, Papuans created a flag that was flown beside the Dutch tricolour for the first time on December 1.

Indonesia took control of Papua in a heavily criticised UN- sponsored vote in 1969. The Morning Star flag was later outlawed amid a long-running insurgency by poorly armed pro-independence guerrillas.

In November, three Papuans were jailed for up to three years for raising the banned separatist flag in Papua province. Another two men face up to 12 years in prison on similar charges.

In a statement, Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to release the men. "These prosecutions fly in the face of Indonesia's commitments to free expression," she said.

On Monday, Amnesty International's London office called for a probe into "a pattern of unchecked human rights violations by police" in Papua's Nabire district.

Parliamentary caucus rejects military command in West Papua

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2009

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – There is no need for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to set a territorial command in West Papua, says the Papua Parliamentary Caucus.

"Establishing a new military command in West Papua is not urgent. What is urgent is how to improve the wellbeing of Papuans," said caucus activist and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member, Paulus Sumino on Monday, in Jayapura, Papua.

He said that should the military command be intended to provide security for people, the government should not necessarily develop the military base, but should instead ensure that Papauns were empowered.

The government should also strengthen the role of the police and its intelligence capacity, he added.

Most importantly, Paulus said, is that the government should improve the quality of the existing Cendrawasih military command and the welfare of its personnel so they could carry out their jobs more professionally.

"I have seen that many soldiers assigned to remote areas are living in bad shape. So it's better to reallocate the funds for the establishment of a new military command to improve the welfare of the troops," he added

Earlier this month, newly inaugurated Army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. George Toisutta, said the TNI would set up two new military commands in West Kalimantan and West Papua in an apparent bid to revitalize its much-criticized territorial function.

The move was part of the military's tireless efforts to maintain state sovereignty over its large territory and "prevent any infiltration by foreign enemies", he argued.

"Should the government press ahead with its plan for a new military command in Papua, it will face resistance from the public, because it will just reopen old wounds resulting from military operations in Papua," said Julees Rimet Assa Ongge, a local human rights activist.

He called on the legislative councils in Papua and West Papua to oppose the new military command.

Human rights/law

11 residents treated after shooting in village riot

Jakarta Post - December 5, 2009

Khairul Saleh, Palembang – Eleven residents in Renggas village, Payaraman district, Ogan Ilir regency, South Sumatra, were wounded when members of the local police Mobile Brigade Unit and provincial police fired on them in an apparent attempt to quell a riot on Friday.

Three employees from the PTPN Cinta Manis Unit VII state plantation company sustained knife wounds and are currently being treated at a hospital in Palembang.

The clash, involving company security guards, assisted by police personnel, and residents of Renggas village took place at the District 6 plantation site of PTPN VII Cinta Manis.

Local resident and Ogan Ilir regency councilor Sonedi Ariansyah, 32, said the incident took place at around 9 a.m. on Friday when company security guards, assisted by around 60 police personnel, arrived at the District 6 plantation site, which surrounds Renggas village, to dismantle wooden border markings and wooden huts erected by villagers.

"Villagers who watched the incident then immediately told others. (A crowd gathered at) the location and a quarrel ensued. The police then fired shots (to break them up)," Sonedi said. "It is still unclear whether the police used rubber or live bullets," he added.

According to a victim in hospital, Wawan, 27, the clash had started because PTPN VII security guards refused to release a villager who they had detained earlier. "(The guards) removed the border markings that we had installed recently. We only demand the fulfillment of our rights," said Wawan.

The situation in the village was still tense on Friday evening after the violence. According to Sonedi, many Mobile Brigade personnel were still securing the site as enraged villagers tore down dozens of worker's barracks and set fire to a company tractor. PTPN VII spokesman Sony Purwanto declined to comment as company management was still assessing the incident.

He said he promised to publicize the details soon. "Sorry, I cannot comment right now, just wait until tomorrow," he said.

The violence is reminiscent of an incident two months ago when around 1,500 Renggas villagers felled and burned sugar cane crops at the PTPN VII Cinta Manis' District 6 site in an effort to seize a 1,529-hectare plot, which they believed was theirs.

They planned to use the land as a rubber plantation for their main source of living.

Public rally to pay off Prita's court fine

Jakarta Globe - December 5, 2009

Nivell Rayda & Kinanti Pinta Karana – Just two days after she lost an appeal in the Banten High Court over a civil defamation suit brought against her by Omni hospital, Prita Mulyasari has been promised three-quarters of the Rp 204 million ($21,600) in damages she has been ordered to pay.

Former Industry Minister Fahmi Idris has offered to pay half of the damages, saying on Friday Prita could pick up the money from his office at any time as he saw her case as an "injustice."

Prita lost her appeal over a civil defamation suit brought against her by Omni International Hospital, which is now notorious for pursuing the mother of two through the courts over an e-mail she wrote to friends complaining about her care there.

Fahmi added that he and some friends were planning to raise money over the next three weeks to help pay off the balance.

Several Regional Representatives Council members also pledged funds at a meeting on Thursday and raised Rp 50 million, due to be delivered early next week to Prita's home in Tangerang, Banten, according to her lawyer, Slamet Yuwono. He added that the money would most likely be received next Tuesday.

"Prita is overwhelmed by the kindness of so many. She is so grateful. Pak Fahmi has offered and councilors have offered. Even private TV stations are raising funds for her," Slamet told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

"All this money will be put in a separate account and will only be touched should we lose the Supreme Court appeal. We intend to go all the way. When we win the appeal, all the money will be returned to the rightful owners."

Antyo Rentjoko, one of several bloggers nationwide supporting Prita, said a group of bloggers were accepting "coin donations to bring shame" to the hospital. "We plan to collect sacks and sacks of coins," Antyo said. "We don't care if we fall short. This is not an attempt to break a record."

Donated coins will be collected at two regular blogger meeting points: at Jalan Taman Margasatwa 60 in Jatipadang, South Jakarta, and Wetiga Restaurant in Mayestik, South Jakarta.

A lawyer for the hospital, Risma Situmorang, told Detik.com on Friday that if Prita apologized it was ready to drop all charges. "We don't want compensation, no matter how much it is. What we want is our doctors' good names to be restored."

A Health Ministry statement on Friday said it was forming a team to mediate between the two parties to help settle the case.

Witness protection agreement signed by rights groups, police

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Human rights groups this week were assured by the government that it would strengthen the security of persons who would come forward as witnesses to a crime.

A memorandum of understanding to provide protection to witnesses as well as victims of crimes was signed on Thursday by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) and the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak) with the National Police and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK).

AH Semendaway, the LPSK chairman, said the agency guaranteed that witnesses, as well as victims, would be provided with the resources necessary to ensure their safety.

"This MoU is a cooperation among several institutions which aim to create a system that would ease the process of securing witnesses," Semendaway said. "This step is part of our commitment to protect the rights of not only witnesses but victims of crimes as well," he added.

Komnas HAM chairman Ifdal Kasim said that such a cooperation with the LPSK was an important step in the country's overall view on human rights. "The MoU will be very helpful for everyone, especially to the victims of violence and the various institutions who are helping these victims to cope with their situation," Ifdal said.

Zainal Abidin, who represents the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), said the MoU showed the LPSK's willingness to share its responsibilities with other groups.

"It's just not possible for the LPSK to achieve the results it wants if the agency works alone," Zainal said. "For example, they need the police to provide physical protection for witnesses and victims."

Under the agreement, Zainal added, the agency must also explain what kind of system it would carry out in protecting witnesses and strictly abide by a principle of confidentiality in crimes that involved the police.

International group rallies around Papanggo evictees cause

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2009

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – A human rights organization has filed an amicus brief with a district court to support plaintiffs in a class action on forced evictions at Papanggo Ujung, North Jakarta.

The Centre on Housing Rights and Eviction (COHRE), a Geneva-based international group, and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) also demanded Thursday a moratorium on evictions in Jakarta until the city administration could provide alternative housing solutions for evictees.

COHRE attorneys Bret Thiele and Hannah Neumeyer said the organization filed the amicus curiae (a brief filed by someone who is not a party to a case) on Oct. 7. Thiele said the brief would show the panel of judges their view on the legal and human rights aspects of the case.

The Papanggo residents, who were evicted without notification by the North Jakarta public order officers on Aug. 24 and Oct. 8 last year to make way for the BMW Park, filed a class action against the North Jakarta municipality in May this year.

According to the class action document, the residents began to occupy Papanggo in 1998, during the term of then Jakarta governor Sutiyoso. Sutiyoso had called for people to make use of idle land in Jakarta after the economy was hit by the Asian financial crisis.

During the eviction, the officers burned down houses of residents who had been living in the area for more than 10 years. Some 347 households were affected. In their class action against the municipality, the residents said they suffered total material losses of almost Rp 7 billion.

Neumeyer said the Indonesian government had ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2006, and that the international law was legally binding as national law had incorporated the international law into the domestic legal order. "Government agencies at all levels have the duty to respect, pro-tect and fulfill these obligations," she said.

"The obligation to protect means the government should ensure that third parties cannot interfere or limit the housing rights of the people. and the obligation to fulfill means the government needs to progressively work to make housing better," she said. She said there should be a moratorium on evictions. "Never ever should people be made homeless," she said.

The Jakarta administration carried out eight evictions in 2009, forcing 7,814 people out of their homes. The North Jakarta municipality has been the most active, carrying out four evictions this year. In 2008, the Jakarta administration carried out evictions in 16 areas in Jakarta, forcing out more than 7,000 people.

LBH Jakarta director Nurkholis Hidayat said the administration had yet to provide adequate housing for the poor in Jakarta. Public and private housing projects in East and West Jakarta have yet to be completed, he said.

LBH Jakarta lawyer Edy Gurning said these apartments were not affordable for the poor, with selling prices starting at Rp 144 million.

Edy also pointed out that the administration had allocated Rp 600 billion for public housing and Rp 300 billion for the public order agency that carried out evictions. "So the government allocates half the amount for building houses to tearing them down," he said.

Refugees/asylum seekers

Indonesia wants Tamil resettlement to begin next week

Australian Associated Press - December 4, 2009

Indonesia says it expects the 78 Tamil asylum seekers who spent almost a month on Australia's Oceanic Viking to start being resettled as early as next week.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Australia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had almost finished assessing the Tamils' refugee claims. "The process, I believe, is almost complete," he said.

"Then they will move to the stage to find third countries who can absorb those who are classified as refugees. We are still waiting on the announcement to what countries these people will be resettled."

Australia picked up the Sri Lankans in international waters inside Indonesia's search and rescue zone in October and took them to the Indonesian island of Bintan. But the Tamils refused to leave the Australian vessel and enter Bintan's detention centre, sparking a four week standoff.

The Rudd government finally enticed them ashore with the promise of rapid processing and resettlement in a third country – most likely Australia. Under the special deal, the government promised that those assessed as refugees would be resettled within four to 12 weeks.

Next Friday marks four weeks since the first of the Tamils stepped ashore. Asked if Indonesia expected the resettlements to begin as early as next week, Faizasyah said: "We are very much hopeful that we can meet the commitment made earlier."

The head of the detention centre, Sugiyo, said the Tamils were still being kept separate from other detention centre inmates and were all "doing fine".

Labour/migrant workers

Female workers taking the brunt of job losses

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2009

The number of female employees and job seekers declined in the year to August 2009, the Central Statistics Agency's (BPS) Jakarta bureau announced Tuesday, at a rate not mirrored by male workers.

"The decrease in the number of working residents was dominated by women," said bureau head Agus Suherman.

The number of female workers decreased from more than 1,659,000 in August 2008 to around 1,605,000 in August this year, or a decrease of 54,000. The number of working men also decreased, albeit less sharply, by around 19,670, from 2,532,000 to 2,512,000 during the same period.

"The female labor force (and job seekers) decreased by 61,800, from around 1,916,000 in 2008 to around 1,854,000 in 2009," Agus said. The number of male workers and male job seekers also decreased, by more than 22,000, from 2,856,000 to 2,833,000 during the same period, he added.

The labor force is defined as residents above the age of 15 who are either working or looking for jobs. Those quitting their jobs and not applying for new ones are not included in the count.

Agus said the global economic crisis might be to blame for the drop. However, he added, more women might have chosen to remain jobless compared to the men.

"(The women) might have lost their jobs or experienced failure in their businesses, and so decided to become housewives or go to school instead," he said.

BPS Jakarta social statistics unit head Sri Santo Budi Muliatinah said most of the women exiting the job market were likely from the lower economic bracket. "Most of them probably worked in the informal sector," she said.

The statistics also revealed that the highest number of job seekers were vocational school graduates, amounting to 156,039 people. The number of job seeking high school graduates amounted to 146,198 people, while the number of job seekers with a university degree was 73,417.

Agus said that during the period from August 2008 to August 2009, several major companies had ceased operations or cut back on production due to the global downturn.

He added this was particularly true of companies dependent on imported goods for their production materials, which forced them into laying off workers. The weakened economy also had an impact on the informal sector, he said. (JP/dis)

Hundreds of workers reject new cigarette excise

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2009

Kudus – A group of at least 1,500 workers from cigarette companies in Kudus, Central Java, staged a protest Wednesday rejecting the new cigarette excise imposed by the government.

The demonstrators urged Finance Minister Sri Mulyani to resign for having issued the policy. "The finance minister does not support small cigarette firms," protester Eny Mariyanti said.

Ahmad Guntur, the chairman of the Indonesian Cigarette Industry Forum (Formasi), said small cigarette companies would see a 60 percent increase in their excise under the new policy. "It's too much for them," he said.

RI to ratify UN'S convention on migrant rights within 2 years

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

Anita Rachman – Indonesia will ratify the UN convention protecting migrant workers within two years, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar announced on Tuesday.

He said the government, which has delayed ratification of the 1990 convention despite having signed it in September 2004, was preparing the necessary regulations.

"Ratifying the convention means that Indonesia needs to ensure freedom of establishing labor organizations, insurance and legal aid for Indonesian migrant workers overseas," Muhaimin said.

"We are working on this. I can see that we will finish preparations on the regulations and budget within one or two years."

He added that his office needed to coordinate effectively with a number of other ministries over the matter, including the finance, foreign affairs and justice ministries.

Indonesia's continued delay in approving the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, has been slammed by rights organizations nationwide.

They have pointed out that ratification was crucial since the country had been sending workers overseas since the 1980s.

Wahyu Susilo, a public policy analyst for the advocacy group Migrant Care, stated that "one or two years" was too long, considering that many of the six million Indonesian migrant workers were experiencing physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of their employers.

Ratification would provide a legal basis for migrant workers in settling disputes with employers and ensuring that their rights, including on matters of leave, working hours and pay, be met.

"The government needs to ratify it soon. It will really help our migrant workers overseas," Wahyu said.

A group of nongovernmental organizations had previously called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet to ratify the convention within the first 100 days of his new administration.

The People's Alliance for the 1990 Migrant Convention Ratification has argued that the measure would emphasize migrant workers' rights, including deportation for workers facing problems overseas and the right to retain their own documents, including passports. The group criticized the Manpower Ministry over the sluggish pace ofz ratification.

"All [14] destination countries [of our migrant workers] have not ratified the convention. But this was not the main reason for not ratifying the convention until today," Muhaimin said. "We need to prepare the regulations."

According to the People's Alliance, 42 countries had already ratified the convention, including Congo, Uruguay, Mexico, and the Philippines.

The alliance added that destination countries expected the countries sending workers abroad, including Indonesia, to show their commitment in protecting their workers, since talks over salary standards and protection of rights should normally be initiated by the country sending the workers abroad. Wahyu said that the government should have fought for both the domestic law and the UN Convention at the same time.

He was referring to the House of Representatives's decision last month to draft a bill to provide better placement and protection for Indonesian workers overseas.

Batam workers rally for fair wage and threaten to strike

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2009

Adli and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Batam/Malang – Around 3,000 workers from 200 companies operating in Batam staged a protest Monday, urging the city's mayor to set their minimum wage equivalent to the decent cost of living.

The protesters said they would go on strike to further push for their demand to be met by the mayor, Ahmad Dahlan.

The workers demanded that the 2010 minimum wage be set at Rp 1.275,000, which is the fair amount for the cost of living in the Batam industrial zone, Riau Islands province.

They rejected the wage of Rp 1.076,350 proposed by the city's Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) and the Rp 1.085,000 requested by the local manpower office. The current wage for Batam is Rp 1.045,000 per month.

The protest was organized by three labor unions – the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Union (FSPMI), the Association of All-Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI) and the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI).

"We demand the 2010 wage equal the fair living cost, otherwise we will exercise our right to go on strike, which will paralyze the production process," Batam's FSPMI leader Nurhamli said during the rally outside the city's municipal office.

He argued the living cost was currently quite high for workers in Batam, with at least 30 percent of their wages spent on housing rental fees. Their spending on transportation and consumption was also costly, Nurhamli added.

In response, Mayor Ahmad Dahlan said he could not meet the workers' demand as he had to also accommodate the aspirations of employers. "We should take into account how the global economic crisis has affected Batam's business climate."

In Malang, East Java, thousands of workers from small-sized cigarette companies rallied Monday outside the city's excise and customs office, opposing the planned increase of excise on tobacco next year.

They said the excise hike would threaten tens of thousands of jobs as it could cause their small-sized cigarette firms to collapse.

The Finance Ministry issued a 2009 decree to increase the tobacco excise early next year. Under the decree, the excise is increased by only between 3.5 percent and 5 percent for major cigarette companies, and between 15 percent and 42 percent for small-scale ones.

The Forum for Indonesian Cigarette Industry Community (Formasi), which organized the rally, said the planned excise increase was unfair.

Formasi secretary Johanes Paulus Suhardjo said the government should postpone implementing the decree until after it managed to ensure protection for small-sized cigarette companies.

The noisy demonstration disrupted classes at the SMK Negeri 3 Malang state vocational school located adjacent to the municipal office, forcing the school to send its students home early.

Environment/natural disasters

'Time is running out' for Sumatra's rainforest

Jakarta Globe - December 6, 2009

Arwa Damon – Driving through Indonesia's central Sumatra, it appears that all life on earth has been obliterated, like a scene from some apocalyptic movie.

The land is tinted a sick gray. Some parts still smolder. Twisted hulks of tree trunks take on abnormal shapes. It is nearly impossible to imagine that this was once lush tropical rainforest.

Nearby the rolling hills are covered in a sea of emerald green. But it is not a natural forest – it is a palm plantation.

In supermarkets worldwide products containing palm oil – soaps, chocolates, margarine and cosmetics – fly off the shelves. Most consumers have no idea these products contain palm oil, often labeled as vegetable oil, and even less of a clue that conservationists are singling it out as being one of the main driving forces behind deforestation.

Clearing forests for agriculture isn't exactly new, but palm is quickly becoming the crop of choice. It is fast growing with high yields, global demand now tops 40 million tons a year, and it's central to the economies of Malaysia and Indonesia.

But the rate at which Indonesia's natural forests are being torn down has made this tropical nation one of the world's largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Already, 85 percent of Sumatra's forests are gone and what is left is disappearing at an alarming rate.

"We are running out of time here. We are at the end of the tunnel," Peter Pratje, of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, said at an orangutan sanctuary in the heart of Sumatra. Sumatran orangutans are expected to be the first great ape to go extinct – due to the loss of their natural habitat.

"The problem is there is no second chance," Pratje adds. "If you shut down an ecosystem that is hundreds of years old you can't regrow it."

It is a reality that even the largest buyers and producers of palm oil acknowledge. Consumer products giant Unilever spearheaded a movement towards sustainable palm oil cultivation – the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil – which gathered palm producers, manufacturers and green groups to seek out a sustainable way to cultivate palm.

"If agriculture cannot be made sustainable then we as a food and home and personal care company are in trouble," Unilever Jan Kees Vis explained.

But critics like Greenpeace fault the RSPO's standards for being too weak and say that they cannot control their members. "If a company is doing deforestation and peat land destruction, we cannot say the company is sustainable," said Greenpeace activist Bustar Maitar.

At the moment, only 3 percent to 4 percent of globally produced palm oil is certified by the RSPO. It is a drop in the bucket now, but the RSPO expects the volume to double in the next year.

But that probably will not be enough to save Sumatra's forests. Conservationists say that it is time for companies to control their desire for more money, governments to start seriously enforcing forest protection laws and individuals consumers to take on responsibility and make lifestyle changes. For Sumatra, it might already be too late.

[Arwa Damon is an international correspondent for CNN.]

Indigenous communities are the key to climate deal

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2009

Fidelis E Satriastanti – Indonesia has a lot to gain from a deal at Copenhagen on the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation scheme. But its hopes of being the poster child for REDD will not work without the inclusion and participation of the country's indigenous communities, activists said.

Indonesia and other countries that stand to earn billions of dollars annually from REDD, such as Brazil and Congo, want the scheme to be part of any new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. While a new protocol is more likely to be agreed to next year rather than during Copenhagen, carbon credit sales through REDD could begin as early as 2013.

"But it is impossible to implement REDD if the country still does not include indigenous people's rights at the negotiating table," said Abdon Nababan, secretary general of Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, a Jakarta-based organization.

Mina Susana Setra, the group's director of international advocacy and foreign affairs, said they were demanding that any new agreement through the Long-Term Cooperative Action Working Group, which deals with mitigation efforts such as REDD, must adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People as its framework. The group is also demanding "prior informed consent" about any carbon trading projects in forest lands where indigenous communities live, as well as involving them in any decision-making on policies related to their use.

Alliance officials said they were facing stiff resistance from some developed nations, in particular the United States, Canada and New Zealand, which have objected to including the UN declaration as part of any new agreements.

"Indonesia is the opposite of that, because we still acknowledge community rights here," Adbon said. "We also have at least 50 to 70 million indigenous people out of 222 million people in this country. So, those voices should be taken into consideration."

He said the central government, as well as local administrations, had little choice but to include indigenous communities in any plans to implement REDD if they wanted to avoid alienating them.

"Most intact forests in this country are managed by indigenous people, compared to the state forests, which have been mostly damaged through exploitation," he said. "So, the government should realize that they need all the help they can get from indigenous people."

Tri Tharyat, a senior official from the National Council on Climate Change, said indigenous people's rights have always been part of their negotiation position. "But the biggest challenge is coming from the US, which strongly objects to including human rights in climate issues," he said.

Furthermore, he said the UN declaration on indigenous people's rights was not a legally binding document. He said the Indonesian government should incorporate articles to protect indigenous people's rights in its national policies regarding REDD if there wasn't an international agreement.

In addition, Riza Damanik, secretary general of the Fisheries Justice Coalition, warned against Indonesia's oceans being included in any carbon trading scheme.

Last May, former Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi told the World Ocean Conference in Manado, North Sulawesi, that Indonesia's oceans could absorb 66.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year and coastal areas an additional 245.6 million tons.

The statement drew sharp criticism from civil society groups, which accused the government of laying the groundwork to commercialize oceans and coastal areas for financial gain, while neglecting the welfare of traditional fishermen.

Adding to the debate, Alan Koropitan, an ocean expert from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, said last week that Indonesia's waters had much more potential to release carbon dioxide than absorb it, given that the country is tropical.

Riau villagers want forestry companies out

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2009

Fidelis E Satriastanti – Residents of Teluk Meranti in Riau are seeking the expulsion of forestry industry companies operating in the district, claiming the companies have brought nothing by misery.

"We want our forests back," Yusuf, a chief of the Paliang tribe, an indigenous ethic group in Teluk Miranti district, said in Jakarta on Friday.

"My only mandate from local villagers is to convey their strong objections to the presence of these companies to the central government," he said, after being told at the last minute that his scheduled meeting with Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan had been canceled.

Located on the Kampar peninsula, Teluk Meranti has been in the media spotlight since October, when the environmental group Greenpeace established a site called the Climate Defenders Camp to protest against deforestation in the district by major forestry companies, including Asia Pulp and Paper and Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL).

Greenpeace activists staged two demonstrations in the area, which led to the deportation of 11 foreign activists and the arrest of 21 Indonesians.

The activists' actions included chaining themselves to excavators owned by APRIL, which has been granted a huge concession covering most of Kampar peninsula's 400,000 hectares, and to cranes owned by PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper, a subsidiary of the Sinar Mas Group, at Perawang Port in Siak district.

Yusuf said villagers had struggled to earn a living since the companies arrived in the area.

"It's very hard for us farmers to make a living because there have been lots of disturbances since PT Arara Abadi started its operations in 1997," he said. "Tigers have been roaming around our village because there are no more intact forests," Yusuf said.

He added that more companies operating in the district would only mean more suffering for local residents.

Bustar Maitar, the Greenpeace Indonesia campaign manager for Southeast Asia, said the organization's campaigns in Kampar were a warning to the government to make sure that the same kind of destruction that has occurred in Riau would not be repeated in Papua, which has the only intact forest left in the country.

"Almost 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the country are coming from deforestation, with about 1.8 billion tons of carbon emitted by the opening up of peatlands," Bustar said.

"So, if the government really is committed to its international pledge on emissions cuts, it will need to stop all expansion into peatlands because they are releasing the most carbon dioxide [into the atmosphere]."

Logging moratorium 'impossible for Indonesia'

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Indonesia would find it impossible to impose a moratorium prohibiting companies from logging production and industrial forests, a study by Greenomics Indonesia says.

The study showed Indonesia needed at least Rp 75.2 trillion (US$7.5 billion) to compensate the potential losses from halting the logging of 110 production forest concessions (HPH) and 77 industrial forest concessions (HTI) across the archipelago.

"The potential losses from a moratorium on logging are too high. It is impossible to implement it," Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi said on Wednesday.

Greenomics calculated the potential losses based on the price of wood to be logged from the HPH and HTI areas belonging to companies, which had secured government licenses to fell the trees until 2018.

Elfian said any forest moratorium would also have a follow-on effect because the HPHs and HTIs employ thousands of workers.

The 187 HPH and HTI companies, which operate across 7.58 million hectares of forest, plan to log 1.48 million hectares of forests up until 2018, providing an expected output of 79.69 million cubic meters of wood.

Indonesia has 120 million of hectares of forests, making it the world's third-most forested nation, and has long been under pressure from activists and the international community because of the country's poor forest management, which has led to high levels of deforestation and land degradation.

With the severe impact of climate change looming, calls for forest nations to impose moratoriums to preserve their forests have become louder.

Data from the Forestry Ministry showed around 1.8 million hectares of rainforest was cut down in 1997, with the figures jumping to 2.8 million hectares per year between 1998 and 2000.

Since then, clearance rates have remained high, at 1.08 million hectares.

Former state environment minister Rachmat Witoelar repeatedly lobbied for temporary logging moratoriums to deal with climate change.

The Greenpeace Indonesia and the Indonesia Environmental Forum (Walhi) have also campaigned for forestry moratoriums and have asked the government to stop issuing licenses for forest conversion.

The government has allocated 64 million hectares of natural forests as the forestry concession areas that can be legally logged.

Aceh administration is the only province that has imposed a logging moratorium prohibiting the felling of forest trees. However, Aceh's poorly-enforced moratorium policy has led to an increase in illegal logging to meet high demand for timber for reconstruction following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

The NGO Riau Forest Rescue Working Network (Jikalahari) has also asked Riau administration to impose moratorium over a number of forested areas, including on the 682,511-hectare Semenanjung Kampar area.

Indonesia to expand oil palm estates amid environmental concerns

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2009

Riyadi Suparno and Nani Afrida, Nusa Dua, Bali – Despite environmental concerns, Indonesia plans to continue the expansion of its much-contested oil palm plantations to cover a total area of 18 million hectares, from the current 9.7 million, to generate more employment and improve people's welfare.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Radjasa said on Wednesday that Indonesia would adopt "sustainable palm oil development" to ensure the expansion would not create more environmental problems.

"Sustainability is not an option, it's a must. Sustainability in the palm oil sector must cover all three aspects, social, economic and environmental," Hatta said after opening the 5th Indonesian Palm Oil Conference.

Hatta noted the government was committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2020, and that such a target could only be achieved by establishing new oil palm plantations.

Therefore, he said, the government would implement stricter regulations on clearing land for oil palm estates, and would work to reduce forest fires and illegal logging.

Indonesia, currently the world's largest palm oil producer, is considered one of the biggest emitters of CO2 from land use. Environmental activists have singled out the development of massive oil palm plantations as one of the biggest contributors to the emissions.

Indonesia has a total 9.7 million hectares of land that have been licensed for oil palm plantations, 9.7 million hectares of which are already planted, while 1.8 million remain empty. Indonesia produ-ces 19.2 million tons of palm oil per annum.

In comparison, Malaysia has 4 million hectares of oil palm plantations, and produces 16 million tons. Unlike Malaysia, Indonesia has more land to use for plantations.

"Based on the land characteristics and the climate, we have a total 18 million hectares of land, including the existing 9.7 million hectares, which could potentially be used for palm oil plantations, without disturbing our forest preservation efforts," said Agriculture Minister Suswono.

Suswono also said that environmental concerns should not discourage the government, businesses and farmers from continuing to invest in the palm oil sector, noting that environmental concerns were exaggerated, while economic benefits were largely ignored.

"The emissions from opening new oil palm plantations are more in the form of CO2, and the oil palms to some extent absorb CO2. Compare that to methane emissions in the West, which are 23 times more dangerous than CO2," Suswono said.

In addition, the sector contributed US$12.4 billion in export revenue, the biggest outside the oil and gas sector, and employed 3.4 million households.

"But it doesn't mean that we ignore the environment. Ignoring the environment means we are committing suicide," he said.

Deputy agriculture minister, Bayu Khisnamurthi, said that Indonesia's palm oil sector was one of the booming sectors, and with the government's support and support from the banking sector, he predicted the country's output would double in the next decade to 40 million tons per year.

Agency keeping eye on fissure at Sidoarjo mudflow as land shifts

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2009

Amir Tejo, Surabaya – The Sidoarjo Mudflow Management Agency said on Wednesday that it was closely monitoring a 500-meter fault line that has appeared in the middle of the Lapindo mud pool in Sidoarjo, East Java.

"The fault line is an indication that the shifting of the land around the source of the mud flow is very dynamic," Achmad Zulkarnain, spokesman for the agency, also known as the BPLS, said on Wednesday.

The fissure, which appeared about six days ago, made it look like the wide expanse of mud contained by tall earthen embankments was now split in the middle with mud flowing towards the lower sector.

Zulkarnain dismissed concerns that the fault could undermine the strength of the embankment and endanger residents in the surrounding areas. "It formed gradually and did not just suddenly appear."

Although not dangerous, he said that the crack was hampering efforts to drain the mud into the Porong River.

"Due to the difference of levels, the mud flows to the northern side, which is lower, while the pumps are all on the southern side," Zulkarnain said.

To measure land subsidence around the Lapindo mudflow site, BPLS has focused on 15 spots to monitor along the fault. Observations seems to show a dynamic shifting of the underlying land.

The agency also said that the most consistent and extreme subsidence occurred in the area where a now demolished toll road overpass had stood.

Although the area had already been raised by 80 centimeters last year, Zulkarnain said that recent observation showed that "there is a 45 cm subsidence in the area."

The mudflow first began from a crack near an exploratory gas well owned by PT Lapindo Brantas, a Bakrie group company on May 29, 2006. It soon expanded into a mud lake, swallowing houses, factories and schools, leaving more than 15,000 people homeless.

Indonesian carbon trading 'too corrupt'

Australian Associated Press - December 1, 2009

Adam Gartrell – Australia and other countries should avoid carbon trading with Indonesia unless it cracks down on widespread corruption in its forest industry, a new report warns.

Human Rights Watch says Indonesian plans for a carbon trading market that could see polluters pay it to preserve its forests could be a good thing – but only after widespread forest industry corruption is addressed.

"There is a critical need for adequate safeguards to be in place to accurately monitor the actual logging rates and their legal compliance, and stop the flow of cash if forests are not protected," the report says.

"In the absence of safeguards, the carbon finance market will simply inject more money into an already corrupt system, shortcutting needed reforms and exacerbating the situation."

Slowing deforestation in countries like Indonesia, which still has vast swathes of carbon-absorbing forests, is seen as a potentially powerful weapon in the fight against climate change.

Indonesia could therefore benefit from a United Nations-sponsored proposal known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), under which polluters could pay it to preserve its forest in exchange for carbon credits.

Australia has been a vocal supporter of REDD, committing A$40 million to help Indonesia implement it and develop a pilot project in Central Kalimantan. But Indonesia will be an unreliable carbon trading partner unless corruption is tackled, the report says.

"We urge countries, as well as private carbon traders, not to engage in carbon deals with Indonesia until there are further reforms in place that would provide these safeguards."

Forest industry corruption and illegal logging is costing the Indonesian government US$2 billion a year, the report says. More than half of all Indonesian timber is logged illegally, it says. Deforestation accounts for about 18 per cent of global greenhouse emissions.

Indonesian environment groups say REDD project misses point

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2009

Fidelis E Satriastanti – Environmental nongovernmental organizations released a report on Monday accusing Australia of using a bilateral forestry project in Kalimantan to avoid reducing emissions at home while ignoring the welfare of indigenous peoples here.

The report "What a Scam – Australia's REDD Offsets for Copenhagen," from the Friends of the Earth Australia, the Indonesian Peasants Union (API) and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the project was only focused on gaining carbon credits from Indonesian forests that Australia would use to offset its greenhouse gas emissions.

The Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnerships project, a cooperation between AusAID and the Ministry of Forestry, is a pilot project that aims to demonstrate how the UN's Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries program (REDD) can contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change.

The project, for which Australia will provide 40 million Australian dollars ($36.6 million), started in 2008 and aims to reforest at least 100,000 hectares of degraded peatland in Central Kalimantan over five years.

"It is actually a way for the Australian government to justify relying on REDD to reduce their own emissions," said Teguh Surya, the head of advocacy for Walhi. "At the same time, Indonesia's government has consciously agreed to become Australia's carbon trash bin."

He added that the project violated the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples because it failed to acknowledge indigenous people living in the project area.

Elisha Kartini, an API researcher, said farmers and indigenous people do not oppose efforts to preserve nature and protect forests because their livelihoods depended on the health and sustainability of forests.

"It is the obligation of all countries, including Indonesia, to reduce their emissions and turn to low-carbon growth development," Elisha said.

She added that Australia needed to do the work of emissions reduction domestically instead of simply buying carbon credits from Indonesia.

"If Indonesia continues to take part in these kinds of mechanisms, then it would indicate that the government has no commitment to deal with climate change issue," she said. Elisha added that in practice, the REDD program had only marginalized people and hampered their control over their own lands.

Outsiders, rogue officials blamed for Riau forest loss

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2009

Budi Otmansyah – Illegal loggers have in the past two years cleared as much as 3,000 hectares of forest around the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park in Indragiri Hulu district, Riau, local residents said on Monday.

Darlis, 36, a resident of Pesajian village, Batang Peranap subdistrict, said most of the loggers came from neighboring provinces, and claimed they were backed by local government officials and police and military officers in the provincial capital Pekanbaru.

"Illegal logging activities have been going on for two years with local authorities just turning a blind eye to the activities," Darlis said. "This is despite the fact that the area is protected."

Observations by the Jakarta Globe on Monday found that the forest in the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park-Rimbang Baling area that connects Riau and Jambi had been severely damaged. Piles of logs ready to be transported were seen and the sound of chain-saws were heard along the corridor. At some locations, illegal loggers were burning stretches of forest.

"This corridor is used for transporting logs to pulp factories in Riau and Jambi and the cleared land is later planted with oil palms," Darlis said.

Samar, 47, who lives near a logging site, said the process for "buying land" in the area was simple. He said interested parties just called up local village chiefs, who readily issued land certificates.

"The transactions must involve someone from the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park Agency, because without a recommendation from the agency, village heads can't issue a land certificate," he said.

According to Samar, most of the people claiming land ownership in the area are police officers in the province. "Loggers earn little money after the land is cleared," said Samar, who claimed to have a 20-hectare palm oil plantation in the area.

Afdhal Mahyuddin, an activists from the Eyes on the Forest Foundation, said areas around Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park were home to protected animal species, including Sumatran tigers and elephants.

"Every year, about 70 elephants pass through these areas," he said. "If the forest is devastated, then conflicts between men and elephants will increase, which may result in casualties on both sides."

Health & education

How poor sanitation is putting a major strain on Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2009

Nurfika Osman – Poor sanitation habits have led to the large- scale contamination of the country's water supplies, which in turn has led to massive financial losses for the nation.

"Many people are not aware of the importance of sanitation," said Nugroho Tri Utomo, who heads the department overseeing drinking water and waste at the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas). "They still defecate outside in the open and continue to throw garbage into rivers."

Utomo said sanitation remained a massive challenge for the nation, with most people lacking awareness of the importance of proper sanitation.

About 70 million people out of a population of 230 million defecate in the open, he said, adding that many houses do not have septic tanks, or if they have a tank, it is not cleaned regularly.

This kind of behavior, Utomo said, has played a major role in the contamination of some 75 percent of the country's drinking water, which is proving costly.

"The worsening contamination means more [chemical] substances are needed to purify the water, which in turn forces water tariffs up," he said.

But the biggest cost, he added, is in terms of health. "Indonesia lost Rp 57 trillion [$6 billion] in 2008 due to health problems brought about by poor sanitation," he said.

Diseases such as diarrhea, dengue fever, typhus and cholera are strongly correlated with low sanitation standards. "Medical costs and losses due to time off work related to poor sanitation are costing our country," he said.

Utomo said data from Bappenas showed that some 100 cities in the country had urban drainage management problems. He also said Indonesia trailed only China and India in terms of sanitation problems.

"Sanitation should be the concern of all parties because this is a problem that affects everyone," he said. "We need to commit to better sanitation."

Utomo said the country had only recently started to pay attention to sanitation, and that some regions were now allocating more funds to the issue.

"Some regions have increased their budgets for sanitation to 4 percent [of the total budget]," he said, adding that many regions continue to lag with sanitation barely getting 1 percent of the budget.

Only 11 cities have proper access to sanitation, he said. These cities are Medan, Jakarta, Bandung, Cirebon, Banjarmasin, Yogyakarta, Solo, Denpasar, Makassar, Balikpapan and Blitar.

In 2006, the country established an interdepartment ad-hoc committee named the Sanitation Development Technical Team (TTPS), consisting of Bappenas, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Public Housing, the State Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Public Works.

Jakarta will host a three-day national conference on sanitation beginning on Tuesday aimed at accelerating sanitation development to fulfill basic services for all the nation's citizens.

Thousands of people gather in Denpasar for commemoration

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2009

Wasti Atmodjo, Denpasar – Thousands of people gathered at Puputan Margana Square Tuesday to commemorate World AIDS Day, which falls every Dec. 1.

NGO activists, school students and even traditional market traders in Denpasar took part in the mass campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

Hundreds of people marched through the city's streets, bus terminals, schools and traditional markets to hand out pamphlets and fresh roses to passersby.

Several government officials, including Denpasar Deputy Mayor I.G.N. Jayanegara and Denpasar Health Agency Head Luh Putu Sri Armini, held speeches to warn people of the risks of contracting HIV/AIDS. "Today we commemorate World AIDS Day to remind us of the epidemic and to prevent more people getting HIV/AIDS," Sri Armini said.

Bali ranks second behind Papua for the province with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS cases. The Indonesian HIV/AIDS Prevention Commission's (KPA) Bali office says the total number of people with HIV/AIDS in the province was 3047 in October 2009. Four months ago, the figure was only 2,647 people.

KPA Bali's Dr. Mangku Karnaya said last year that the number of people with HIV/AIDS on the resort island would likely reach 4,000 by the 2010. Official estimates put at 298,000 the number of people with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia, but the real figures may be much higher.

Even with a rise in the number of new cases, the government remains optimistic it can bring down the rate of infections through serious efforts and close cooperation with various NGOs and the community.

The five provinces with the highest number people with HIV/AIDS are Papua, which accounts for 17.9 percent of the national figure, Bali (5.3 percent), Jakarta (3.8 percent), Riau Islands (3.4 percent) and West Kalimantan (2.2 percent).

NGOs have long warned of the ticking time bomb that the disease poses to the younger generation, and have called for a joint effort with the government, universities and communities to launch a national awareness movement to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Sri Armini said the Denpasar Health Agency handed out 6,000 pamphlets and red ribbons during Tuesday's campaign, which also involved the NGOs Gaya Dewata (a gay community), the Kerti Praja Foundation, the Rama Sesana Foundation and thousands of school students from across the city.

At Badung Market, Rama Sesana members provided market traders with free medical services and health counseling. "All members of the community, including traders, must be made aware of the HIV/AIDS danger," said foundation director Luh Putu Upadisari. "Prevention is always much better than cure."

Bali Students Against AIDS and Drugs chairman Ketut Sujana said other campaigns Tuesday were aimed at school students. "Most teenagers are physically and emotionally vulnerable to health threats, including drug use and HIV/AIDS," he said, adding that continued advocacy and education were required to alert students to the danger of contracting HIV/AIDS.

Bank Century inquiry

Bailout inquiry leader choices prompt alarm in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - December 5, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea – Howls of protest immediately followed the appointment on Friday of Golkar Party lawmaker Idrus Marham as chairman of the House of Representatives special committee investigating the bailout of PT Bank Century.

Critics said the appointment of Idrus, an ally of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and his three deputies raised serious concerns about whether the investigation would be conducted in good faith. The appointments were seen by many as a victory for the coalition of parties backing Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party.

Gayus Lumbuun from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Yahya Sacawiria from the Democratic Party, and Mahfudz Siddiq from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) were appointed Idrus' deputies.

Idrus vowed to dispel doubts over his leadership. "I'm ready for the chairmanship," he said. "All doubts are a challenge for me." "The public spotlight is really strong. If we play with the case, it would mean suicide," he added.

Idrus is Golkar's secretary general, and also close to Yudhoyono ally and Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie. Critics argued on Friday that his appointment would limit the effectiveness of the probe into the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout and the subsequent flow of funds, which some alleged ended up financing Yudhoyono's re-election campaign. He and the Democrats have denied the allegation.

Some analysts have said the House probe has now turned political, with the goal of undermining the government by unseating Vice President Boediono, who was governor of the central bank at the time of the bailout, and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Recordings of meetings indicate Boediono pushed for the bailout.

Gayus, one of the lawmakers who originally sought the creation of a House investigative committee, on Friday warned the public not to get its hopes too high. He said the 30-member committee would no longer be "objective" with Idrus at the helm.

PDI-P lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari questioned Idrus's alleged involvement in graft case involving rice imports from Vietnam in 2003. Idrus told the House he was never questioned in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, a dozen activists from a group calling itself the Petisi 28 held a protest inside the House building, demanding that lawmakers not place "a dark passenger" at the head of the committee, referring to Idrus having been against the committee from the start. They said he lacked the integrity needed to properly investigate the case. "We oppose Idrus Marham," group spokesman Masinton Pasaribu said.

Boni Hargens, one of the protesters, said hopes for an effective investigation had been dashed as Idrus had never pushed for the team's formation to begin with.

Sebastian Salang, chairman of Concerned Citizens for the Indonesian Parliament (Formappi), was quoted by Antara news agency as having said that the House's "image and honor" was at stake in the Century probe.

Lawmakers cannot avoid politics in Bank Century investigation

Jakarta Globe - December 5, 2009

Emmy Fitri – As Golkar's Idrus Marham, a friend of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was being voted in on Friday to chair the House of Representatives special committee to investigate the state bailout of PT Bank Century, political experts and anticorruption activists were raising concerns that little would be achieved given the legislature's less-than-flattering history.

Siti Zuhro, a political researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the committee had become an opportunity for the political factions in the House to attempt to improve their images in the fight against corruption, as well as their perceived commitment to the rule of law.

"But at the same time it has turned into a conduit for political bargaining," she said, adding that from the very beginning of the process to establish the committee, "the aroma of political power plays has been thick with who will get what if the probe continues."

The push to establish the committee was launched by members of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and individual members of political parties allied to Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, which was initially opposed to the move.

However, in the face of growing public outrage over the murky bailout and a damning – if limited – report from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) that as much as 40 percent of the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) in bailout funds was effectively illegal, the Democrats quickly climbed aboard, with the House overwhelmingly adopting the motion to establish the committee on Tuesday.

The Democrats were no doubt helped to arrive at their decision to support the probe amid the prominent roles of Vice President Boediono, the former central bank governor, and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati in approving the bailout in 2008, as well as persistent rumors that part of the money managed to work its way into Yudhoyono's campaign coffers. Yudhoyono has rigorously denied any such claims.

Ardent cynics might very well say that a seat on the 30-strong committee could very well be a lucrative occupation given the money involved in the bailout and the wealthy client list of the former Bank Century, since renamed Bank Mutiara.

Investigating the case on behalf of the BPK, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) found irregularities in at least 59 transactions involving transfers from 44 personal and seven institutional accounts at Bank Century to 10 other banks. The value of those transactions totaled more than Rp 146.7 billion.

It is no secret that the House is plagued by corruption, including legislators demanding money or other gratuities from individuals who appear before various House commissions, with promises to go soft on them during questioning.

The various committees are also a good place to garner political power for use against political rivals.

The PDI-P, which is attempting to use the scandal to re-brand itself as a force for good in the war on graft, could use the investigation to help deflect attention from the role of party members in the corruption scandal involving the election of Miranda Goeltom as Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor in 2003.

On Thursday, former party member Agus Condro, who blew the whistle in the Miranda Goeltom case, gave the PDI-P a sharp reminder of the precarious line it is attempting to walk given numerous cases of corruption involving party members.

"Those who are connected with the flows of funds in the case of former Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor Miranda Goeltom should not speak about corruption, much less about the Bank Century case," Agus was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

"It is illogical for those involved in corruption cases, and who are still being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK], to speak up and even act as if they had never done anything wrong," he said.

Political analyst Sulastio, director of the Indonesian Parliament Center, said he still maintained hope that the committee would produce results, despite a string of failures during the 2004-09 period.

"The public is watching and their image is at stake now," Sulastio said. "I think if they attempt to divert or cause the probe to fail, we can outdo them by gathering public support." He said the House must also guarantee that all hearings were open to the public.

There has also been much speculation that Aburizal Bakrie, a former senior cabinet minister under Yudhoyono and the current chairman of the Golkar Party, could attempt to benefit from the case by helping to engineer the ouster of Boediono, or Sri Mulyani or both – and offering himself as a replacement.

Aburizal and Sri Mulyani are known not to get along and have previously clashed over the business dealings of the controversial Bakrie conglomerate.

Sulastio said he could foresee a situation in which Boediono and Sri Mulyani would be forced to fall on their swords, as has been speculated.

As for the potential impeachment of Yudhoyono should any wrongdoing be established, Sulastio said the scenario was unlikely, particularly given an amendment to the 1945 Constitution allowing for the direct election of the president. "The People's Consultative Assembly is no longer the supreme body that appoints the president so they cannot unseat him," he said.

Fadjroel Rachman, an activist from the Anticorruption Civil Society Coalition, said he only had a 50 percent conviction that the committee would reap results.

"The remaining 50 percent is for the Corruption Eradication Commission. If the two can synergize there are more chances for disclosing the truth and bringing those responsible to justice," he said.

He said the coalition, founded by activists and scholars, had "zero tolerance for anyone trying to cover up the truth using their political power within or outside the House."

He said it was natural that political parties were preparing to propose candidates to replace the finance minister or vice president, given that "there will be vacant positions in the government if the truth is disclosed.

Indonesian lawmakers clash over chair of bailout investigation

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea & Heru Andriyanto – Legislators have slammed an alleged behind-the-scenes attempt to position an ally of the president at the head of special committee to investigate the government's controversial Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout of PT Bank Century.

Viva Yoga Mauladi, the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction secretary in the House of Representatives, confirmed that factional chairmen of political parties aligned with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party had met on Thursday night to discuss who would be appointed chairman of the investigative committee, with each party proposing one name.

"This is within PAN political ethics," Viva said. "Coalition parties should coordinate and communicate equally, including on the matter of committee chairman."

The Golkar Party had said that it would allow a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to chair the committee, given that the PDI-P initiated the move to form the special committee in the face of initial opposition from both the Democrats and Golkar.

That position changed on Thursday, however, with House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, from Golkar, saying the party would propose that its secretary general, Idrus Marham, chair the committee.

Priyo justified the reversal by saying the investigation could be seen as an extension of the rivalry between the PDI-P and Democrats, with a Golkar chairman providing a safe middle ground. He denied that a secret deal had been reached with the Democrats to propose Idrus, who is known to be very close to the president.

The prospect of Idrus chairing the committee brought immediate howls of protest from opponents who feared he would hamper the probe into the bailout and the subsequent flow of funds, some of which, it is alleged, was diverted into Yudhoyono's re-election campaign coffers. The allegations are strongly denied by Yudhoyono and his supporters.

Romahur Muzi, the United Development Party (PPP) faction secretary, said the appointment of Idrus would create new problems and public distrust. "A candidate from Golkar is a middle way, but appointing Idrus will only create an uproar," he said.

Priyo dismissed the objections, saying Golkar was "an independent party" that could not be influenced. He said the selection of Idrus was a party consideration and had nothing to do with the Democrats,.

Pramono Anung, a House deputy speaker from the PDI-P, said his party would flatly oppose the appointment of Idrus. "We want the chairmanship to be given to a credible and clean figure who is independent," he said.

Pramono said the PDI-P had proposed Gayus Lumbuun, who was one of the main instigators of the committee. "We will fight to place Gayus as chairman."

Despite some initial opposition to the creation of the committee, a seat on the body is now one of the hottest tickets in town, given the scandal is likely to involve a bevy of senior politicians and tycoons.

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) released a damning report last week that said as much as 40 percent of the Rp 6.7 trillion bailout funds was effectively illegal, and also cited other wrongdoings that it recommended be investigated. The BPK said it could not trace the funds itself.

The proposal to probe the Bank Century scandal received a record 503 votes from the House's 560 lawmakers on Tuesday. The 30-member special committee is scheduled to be established today during the last session of the House before it goes into recess.

Indonesian lawmakers jostling for seats on bailout inquiry

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea & Dion Bisara – A House of Representatives inquiry into the controversial government bailout of PT Bank Century overcame its first hurdle on Tuesday when an overwhelming majority of lawmakers backed it, as fierce jostling to join the team that will conduct the probe was already taking place.

The proposal received the votes of a record 503 of the House's 560 lawmakers at a plenary session. The 30-member House Special Committee is scheduled to be established on Friday, during the House's last session before it enters recess.

Political parties were already busy picking their representatives for the team on Tuesday. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ruling Democratic Party will have eight seats. The Golkar Party will have six seats and the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) five. The rest will be divided among smaller parties.

"We have to be on high alert, because there will be members who will join the committee to uncover the facts, but there will also be others who will join to hamper the investigation," said Maruarar Sirait, of the PDI-P, without elaborating.

The motion to form the team was initiated by lawmakers from Golkar and PDI-P. The Democratic Party's 148 House members signed on last, after the proposal had already garnered the signatures of more than 200 legislators.

Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the Democratic Party's faction in the House, said the party was still considering names for the committee, but added that "anyone who will be joining the committee from the Democrats must be a capable and credible member."

Maruarar said the focus of investigation would be to reveal the truth behind the government's controversial decision to bail out Bank Century and to find out where the rescue funds ended up. PDI-P officials have confirmed that Maruarar would sit on the committee.

The special committee will also investigate the role of the National Police's former chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who is alleged to have aided tycoon Boedi Sampoerna retrieve Rp 2 trillion ($212 million) from the bank's frozen funds.

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) released a damning report last week that said as much as 40 percent of the Rp 6.7 trillion used to bail out Bank Century, beginning in November 2008, was effectively illegal, and cited other wrongdoings that it recommended be investigated by law enforcement agencies. But the BPK said it was hindered from tracing the funds.

Maruarar said he hoped the committee would be united despite party differences. "This special committee should be different from' previous committees. It should be beneficial to the public," he said, before handing over the proposal to House Speaker Marzuki Alie, who is also the Democrat's secretary general.

Debate in the House became heated when Marzuki prevented those who initiated the motion from reading supporting materials, warning of coming to a premature verdict "because we don't know [yet] who is wrong."

Yunus Husein, chairman of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), which tracked the transfer of funds to and from Bank Century, met with House leaders late on Tuesday to discuss the difficulties experienced by the agency in tracing the bailout money.

"It's really difficult to trace the money because the transactions occurred within many layers and were conducted last year," he said after the meeting. He added that the House should not merely rely on his institution but should also seek data from the central bank and the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS).

Yunus said the PPATK, at the behest of the BPK, had so far only detected 51 suspicious Century depositors – 44 individuals and seven institutions – accounting for Rp 146.7 billion.

House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, from the PDI-P, accused the PPATK of not being aggressive in tracing the funds.

Military it will not interfere in Bank Century investigations

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Military Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso said on Wednesday that the nation's armed forces would not interfere with any political processes dealing with the Bank Century scandal, saying that the military has no authority to keep a stable social and political situation in the country.

When asked about the military's position on the Bank Century scandal by journalists in an interview in Jakarta, Djoko said the scandal was about political and legal affairs.

"The armed forces are not authorized to maintain stability on social and political affairs. We are only authorized to manage defense affairs," Djoko said.

Djoko also denied that any military soldiers had received part of the ailing bank's bailout funds.

President's team files charges against anti-Malaysian vigilantes

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

After weeks of denials about alleged links between the PT Bank Century bailout and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's campaign, members of his re-election team came out swinging on Tuesday.

Three cabinet ministers and Democratic lawmaker Edi Baskoro, Yudhoyono's son, filed a defamation complaint against the People's Democratic Defense, better known as Bendera.

The fringe nationalist group first gained notoriety this year for setting up roadblocks in Central Jakarta to harass Malaysians and "planning" an invasion of the neighboring nation over claims it had stolen Indonesian culture.

Bendera claimed on Monday that it had solid evidence that nearly Rp 2 trillion ($212 million) from the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion Century rescue was allegedly channeled to Yudhoyono's campaign, members of his inner circle and state agencies.

Accompanying Edi to file the charges were Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Joko Suyanto, Sports and Youth Minister Andi Mallarangeng and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Radjasa.

They accused Bendera and its coordinator, Mustar Bona Ventura, of slander and defamation when they lodged the complaint at the Jakarta Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

Andi's brothers Rizal and Choel of the Fox Indonesia consultancy, which worked on Yudhoyono's re-election campaign, joined him to file the complaint, which also included Bendera member Ferdi Simaun.

The complaint was filed as Yudhoyono on Tuesday reiterated that he had not received money from the bailout.

Bendera has claimed that Rp 1.8 trillion from the bailout funds went to Yudhoyono, the General Elections Commission (KPU), the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), FOX Indonesia, the Democratic Party, Edi, Hatta, Joko, businesswoman Hartati Murdaya and the three Mallarangeng brothers.

"Today, we, as citizens who obey the law, reported two citizens who on Nov. 30, held a press conference and issued a statement that we received Century bailout money. It was a lie and defamation," Hatta Radjasa told the press, referring to the two Bendera members.

Bendera's Mustar said he was ready to face any legal consequences and was also prepared to show police evidence, which he said was the result of the group's two-month investigation into the flow of the Century funds.

"However, we cannot give the details on our investigations now," Mustar said. "We want the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center [PPATK] to reveal their data to the public immediately. I'm sure it will not be much different from ours," he said.

PPATK has also strongly denied leaking data in connection to the bailout.

Political intrigue surrounds Bank Century investigation

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran, Febriamy Hutapea & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Party lines, and interests, have been drawn as a House plenary session opens today to investigate the government's controversial bailout of PT Bank Century, a day after the Democratic Party officially signed the House of Representatives' motion to investigate the case.

Strongly denied allegations that some of the bailout money was channeled to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's re-election campaign and calls to fire Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Vice President Boediono did not deter all 144 Democratic lawmakers from signing the motion calling for an exhaustive investigation into the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout, Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the House's Democratic faction, said on Monday.

The Democratic Party's decision comes amid warnings from antigraft watchdogs that investigations must focus on how the failing bank's management and majority controlling shareholders – jailed bank owner Robert Tantular and foreign nationals Rafat Ali Rivsi and Hesham Al Warraq – were reportedly able to make away with more than Rp 5 trillion of the total bailout money.

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) released a damning report last week that said as much as 40 percent of the Rp 6.7 trillion used to bail out Bank Century beginning in November 2008 was effectively illegal, and cited other serious wrongdoings that should be investigated by law enforcement agencies.

A coalition of lawmakers who initiated the motion for the House to investigate the bailout vowed to probe allegations that some of the money had reached the pockets of state officials close to Yudhoyono.

"We've heard about the names and institutions. We will summon the related officials," said Mukhamad Misbakhun, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Back-room deals continued on Monday as lawmakers reportedly began pushing their political agendas linked to the probe. Rumors are circulating that some parties in Yudhoyono's ruling coalition will use the probe to try and push out Boediono so they can get their own person into the vice presidency.

Boediono is the former central bank governor who pushed for the Bank Century bailout despite opposition from the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) and the Ministry of Finance.

The government's coalition of parties includes the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Justice Party. PAN's Amien Rais has also called for the resignation of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

Ikhsan Modjo, from the Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance, said the Democrats were in a defensive position. "They signed on to defend or protect their position. That, I'm afraid, will open the door to political bargaining," Ikhsan said.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), said lawmakers would not directly target Yudhoyono because most of the House factions have members in the cabinet. "However, many elite figures are pressuring the government, including those with their respective political interests," Burhanuddin said.

A number of public figures, including former Finance Minister Kwik Kian Gie, former Economics Minister Rizal Ramli, former Army chief Tyasno Sudarso and the chairman of the 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah Muslim organization, Din Syamsuddin, spoke out about the probe on Monday.

Raden Pardede, secretary of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), and the governor of the National Resilience Institute, Muladi, defended Boediono and Sri Mulyani – both of whom sat on the KSSK to decide Bank Century's fate – for authorizing the bailout.

"We were in the midst of a global financial crisis. As long as there was no manipulation or cheating, it was at their discretion to sanction the bailout," Muladi said. "This should be completely separated from allegations of fraud or embezzlement that could have occurred once the money was disbursed."

He added that he had no doubts about the integrity of both Boediono and Sri Mulyani.

Raden said people must consider how dire the country's economic conditions were at the time the bailout was sanctioned. "If it wasn't Century but some other middle-sized bank, I'm sure the same decision would have been taken," he said.

Antigraft commission begins own inquiry into Bank Century bailout

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2009

Ardian Wibisono & Nivell Rayda – Flexing its muscles ahead of the expected return of its two suspended deputies, the Corruption Eradication Commission has begun examining the central government's bailout of PT Bank Century, its chairman revealed on Monday.

The commission, also known as the KPK, had received a copy of the Supreme Audit Agency's (BPK) report on the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout, which KPK Chairman Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said was "a much-needed weapon for the KPK to begin analyzing the Century scandal."

"We have already assigned a special team to analyze the 500-page report," he said. "We will soon decide if there is enough evidence to proceed to the next level of investigation."

Politicians and anticorruption activists have urged the KPK to take over the bailout investigation, amid widespread but unproven rumors that some of the funds had gone missing. The BPK released a damning report last week saying that as much as 40 percent of the approved bailout funds were effectively illegal, and cited other serious wrongdoing that it said needed to be investigated more thoroughly.

But the BPK's failure to trace the rescue funds prompted some in the House of Representatives to push for their own inquiry. The move came amid accusations that some of the funds were diverted to other uses, allegedly including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's re-election campaign. The president has flatly denied the allegations and welcomed an investigation.

On Monday, members of Indonesia Corruption Watch said the KPK was legally justified in investigating the bailout because the BPK report had indicated corrupt practices. The group said a police probe only dealt with banking crimes committed by Bank Century's major shareholders.

ICW coordinator Danang Widoyoko said during a news conference that the BPK audit report revealed Bank Century's money-transfer system was not fully connected to that of the central bank, creating a loophole for possible embezzlement.

"We urged the KPK to immediately handle the matter since the final report from the BPK has provided some clarity to the Bank Century case," he said.

"Although the report has not revealed all the information, such as who benefited from the bailout money, it is sufficient to show early indications of corruption and banking crimes with the involvement of banking supervisory authorities, the government and the bank owner."

Danang said the central bank might also have abused its authority by lowering its criteria on minimum capital-adequacy ratio so Bank Century could receive short-term liquidity on Nov. 14, 2008. In addition, he said the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS) revised its regulations to allow the bank to use bailout money to pay its customers' maturing time deposits.

After the bank was bailed out, depositors withdrew Rp 4.3 trillion from Nov. 21, 2008, to late December, mostly from maturing time deposits of greater value than the Rp 2 billion LPS guarantee.

The remaining question from the audit is who benefited from the bailout, and that would be the KPK's job to find out," Danang said.

Corruption & graft

Regulation on wiretaps is flawed, say activists

Jakarta Post - December 7, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The government's plan to issue a regulation on lawful wiretaps has been deemed by antigraft activists as repressive and just another way to undermine the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) and other activists revealed Sunday what they said were critical points in the draft regulation to hand over the authority for wiretapping to a new body called the National Interception Center, under the auspices of the Information and Communications Ministry.

The first article ICW highlighted was one stipulating that wiretapping could only be done with the permission of the Central Jakarta District Court, whereas under the 2002 KPK Law, no court order is required.

"Considering the rampant judicial corruption in this country, it will be difficult to trust a district court chief to give such permission, especially if the wiretap is related to district court officials," said lawyer Iskandar Sonhaji.

He added the regulation would only limit the KPK in carrying out its job; most of the cases pursued by the antigraft body have been cracked through the use of wiretaps.

Iskandar cited a Transportation Ministry bribery case involving legislator Bulyan Royan, as well as the bribery case of senior prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, as examples.

He also criticized the draft regulation for requiring law enforcement officials to submit supporting documents to the district court chief to get wiretapping clearance.

The documents must name the interception target and duration, what kind of information is expected, and other vital details that could be leaked, Iskandar said.

He pointed out the Constitutional Court had reviewed the KPK law's article on wiretaps, and had concluded it abided by the Constitution. "If the government wants to issue a new ruling on wiretaps, it should be in the form of a law, not a regulation," he said.

The draft regulation also stipulates the district court has up to three days in which to grant permission for a wiretap, which activist said would give court officials opportunity to stall and let the suspect escape.

Former KPK deputy chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas said the antigraft body, as one of a rarefied clutch of institutions with the authority to wiretap, was aware of the sensitivity entailed.

"Therefore we'd agreed with the communications ministry to audit annually all the wiretaps undertaken by the KPK," he said. He added no other institutions did anything of the sort.

The Information and Communications Ministry previously said the government regulation was based on the 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions Law.

Existing laws dealing with wiretaps include the KPK Law, the 2003 Terrorism Law and the 2009 Narcotics and Psychotropic Drugs Law.

Those laws allow the KPK, police and the Attorney General's Office to tap phone conversations related to corruption, terrorism and drugs suspects, without prior court clearance.

Science, Technology and Ethics Foundation deputy director Agus Sudibyo said the ministry had exceeded its authority by getting involved in the wiretap issue.

"The ministry's main duty is to carry out public and political communications, as well as disseminate information," he said. He added the ministry's ambition to regulate wiretaps would serve to turn it back into the tool of repression that it once was.

'Most laundered money is from corruption'

Jakarta Post - December 7, 2009

Among other bad practices, the anti money-laundering agency listed that corruption has so far this year become the main source of activity leading to the crime of money laundering, as shown in its latest list of suspicious financial transactions.

The Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) said last week it has so far this year collected data on 21,652 suspicious financial transactions from financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, securities companies, investment companies and financing companies.

Of this total, 965 transactions have been analyzed in detail and the results sent onward to law enforcement agencies for further investigation – 443 to the National Police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO), 75 to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), and the rest to other institutions.

Last year, the center received 10,432 reports on suspicious financial transactions, of which only 234 suspicious transactions were analyzed in detail.

"Most transactions records are collected based on requests from the law enforcement institutions. But the financial institutions are also obliged to report to us if they find any suspicious transaction," PPATK chairman Yunus Husein said.

From the total number of records on suspicious transactions received, the PPATK analyzed 296 suspicious transactions related to graft cases during the first 11 months of this year, representing 30.67 percent of the 965 reports analyzed.

After corruption, the second most commonly reported transactions related to cases of fraud, with 215 such transactions, making up 22.28 percent of the total. Drugs-related cases were in third place with 87 financial transactions reported, or 9.02 percent of the total.

"Suspicious transactions have continuously increased, mostly from corruption-related cases," Yunus said.

Suspicious transactions related graft-cases analyzed by PPATK increased by 105.56 percent as of November from a year earlier, he said. "Last year, we only analyzed 144 transaction records that were allegedly linked with graft cases."

But reports linked to fraud cases only led to 47 transaction investigations last year.

Protesters say Indonesian president off base

Jakarta Globe - December 6, 2009

Farouk Arnaz & Nurfika Osman – Despite President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saying they were politically motivated, anticorruption and rights activists confirmed plans to hold demonstrations to mark International Anti-Corruption Day on Wednesday and Human Rights Day on Thursday.

"Its been an annual agenda for us. Every year we always mark those two special days," said Haris Azhar, deputy chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). "We are concerned about the president's statement. We did not even invite any political party leaders."

Indonesian Civic Network chairman Ray Rangkuti said the president was panicking because his government was potentially implicated in the Bank Century bailout scandal. "However we would like to say thanks because we got free publicity by the president about our agenda," he said. "Thank God the president acts like our spokesman."

Yudhoyono, speaking during a cabinet meeting on Friday and addressing a Democratic Party meeting on Sunday, said he had been warned that the true motives of some expected at the protest were not to rid the country of graft.

"It is politically motivated, which is not always related to the effort of eradicating corruption," Yudhoyono said on Friday.

Ray said several prominent figures would take part in the antigraft demonstrations, including Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsudin, Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi, academics Effendi Gazali and Yudi Latief, and former legislators Kwik Kian Gie and Drajat Wibowo.

"Its nonsense that those people have political motivations," Ray said. "It's a pure anticorruption movement. We will be glad if the president comes and gathers with us to see for himself."

Ray said the demonstrators planned to gather at Monas in front of the US Embassy around 12 noon on Thursday and would march to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.

"How could our demonstration movement could force the president to step down?" Ray said. "It sounds impossible. We hold a peaceful rally anyway and the only issue is we want a clean Indonesia."

On Sunday, thousands of members of the Muslim organization Hizbut Tahir Indonesia held rallies in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan, Makassar and Yogyakarta protesting over the Century scandal.

"This is our expression of sadness and disappointment as it happens when many people in the country are suffering economical problems," HTI spokesman Muhammad Ismail Yusanto told the Jakarta Globe.

In the rally, the organization set forth demands regarding the Century case. "We want all parties who are involved in the case to be punished based on the legal system we have. This case should be settled immediately," Muhammad said.

HTI's second demand was for the government to change its financial system as capitalism was proven to be a broken system.

"We think the Century case is proof that we have a broken financial system which is a capitalistic one," Muhammad said. "The government should immediately think of a new system that is fair for anyone in the country."

Yudhoyono says opposition is behind anticorruption protest

Jakarta Globe - December 5, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran & April Aswadi – Under growing pressure over the PT Bank Century fiasco, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono alleged on Friday that opposition political forces were behind moves for an antigraft demonstration scheduled to mark International Anti-Corruption Day on Wednesday.

Political experts and religious figures immediately criticized the remarks as "paranoid" and an attempt to stifle free speech.

Yudhoyono, speaking during a cabinet meeting on Friday, said he had been warned that the true motives of some expected at the protest were not to rid the country of graft. "It is politically motivated, which is not always related to the effort of eradicating corruption," Yudhoyono said.

Public resentment continues to simmer over the state's failure to adequately resolve the Bank Century and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) scandals. A number of leading nongovernmental organizations, grouped under the Civil Society Coalition Against Corruption (Kompak), are planning to hold anticorruption marches in 33 provinces, including Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Yudhoyono said the massive news coverage of the Bank Century scandal – which has implicated senior members of his cabinet and led to allegations that his re-election campaign benefited from the bailout – was also partially politically motivated.

"I said that to you not to surprise you later," he told his ministers. "But whatever happens in Jakarta, don't let it disturb our concentration and spirit to carry out our main duties to succeed in the development [of the country] and to increase the welfare of the people."

Yudhoyono said public reaction over the past five weeks had been excessive. "It's part of freedom of expression, part of democracy, as long as it doesn't disturb the stability of the nation," he said, adding that in such circumstances it would be the people who suffered.

Political expert Andrinof Chaniago acknowledged the issue was prone to hijacking but said the government should not react in a way that would harm true anticorruption protesters.

Fadjroel Rachman, a senior activist from Kompak, said the president should not react to the demonstration with paranoia.

"We just want Indonesia to be free of corruption," he said. "If the president has any suspicions about what we do, he should join the demonstration on Dec. 9 and see himself that it is a pure anticorruption movement. If he's clean, why bother such peaceful movement," he said.

Din Syamsuddin, leader of Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, who will speak at the demonstration, said the government shouldn't overreact to the public criticism. "Government reaction to shut off criticism is a new form of political authoritarianism and is against democracy and reform," he said.

KPK, government at loggerheads over wiretapping

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2009

Irawaty Wardany and Novan Iman Santosa, Jakarta – The government and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are still in dispute on the planned government regulation on lawful interception with the KPK concerned by the complex bureaucracy it would have to face prior to wiretapping.

"We have several objections to the idea. First, the obligation to get approval (from the district court) to wiretap, and secondly, the establishment of the interception body," KPK legal bureau head Khaidir Ramli said Thursday.

He said considering the complex bureaucracy here, it was not a good idea to oblige the KPK to get court approval, as "we have to be quick when we need to wiretap".

"If, for example, legal enforcers wanted to wiretap terrorists, it is possible bombs would have already exploded before the permission to wiretap was secured," he said. "Plus, the more parties that know about a planned wiretap, the higher the risk of information leakage."

He said since the government had expressed its plan to issue the regulation on lawful interception, the KPK had not been involved in any of its drafting discussions.

"Only today were we invited, by a sudden phone call," Khaidir said. However, when KPK representatives arrived at the place where they were told to have a discussion, they were told that it had already finished.

Separately, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) legal researcher Febri Diansyah said the regulation on lawful interception could threaten the KPK's graft eradication efforts.

"This is not the first time the government has tried to limit the KPK's authority," he said, adding similar efforts had been used in the discussion of the Corruption Court Law.

Wahyudi Djafar from the National Consortium for Legal Reform shared Febri's view, saying it was wrong for the government to establish a special body for interception.

Meanwhile, Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said draft regulations had already existed since May 2008.

"I was not the one who initiated the draft regulation but it was already there when I stepped in as minister," Tifatul told The Jakarta Post during a visit to the Post's office.

Tifatul said the Constitutional Court had ordered the deliberation of a law on lawful interception mechanism when reviewing the KPK Law in 2006.

"So far we only have a ministerial regulation on wiretapping mechanism issued in 2006. But this ministerial regulation is still not enough."

He added arbitrary wiretapping might violate the 1999 Law on Human Rights. He said both the KPK Law and the Electronic Information and Transaction Law provided law enforcers with the authority to wiretap.

"Currently, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry is drafting the regulation on wiretapping mechanism," he said. "We will submit the draft regulation for public scrutiny once it is ready."

Tifatul said there were four agencies with the authority to wiretap: the KPK, the National Police, the Attorney General's Office and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

He said his office had conducted several comparative studies with countries like Australia, South Korea and Japan. In Australia, for example, a request to wiretap had to be submitted to the Attorney General before receiving the court's approval.

Corruption agency warns of increased corruption in coming year

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – The Corruption Eradication Commission is warning the government to anticipate increased financial losses to the state through graft next year given its increased procurement budget and the pervasive corruption that continues to cost the nation many millions of dollars every year.

Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean, the chairman of the commission, also known as the KPK, told a national conference on goods and services procurement that since the KPK was established in 2005, it had investigated cases involving state losses of Rp 689 billion ($73 million) involving projects worth a total of Rp 1.9 trillion, or a staggering 35 percent of the total project value.

These figures only represent cases the KPK has investigated, indicating that the corruption is much more widespread.

Tumpak said the vast majority of the known corruption cases, or 94 percent, were due to a failure to hold open tenders and instead appoint contractors and suppliers directly. The remaining 6 percent involved price markups, he said.

"The bigger the goods procurement expenses, the higher the potential for corruption," Tumpak said. "[From 2005] until November 2009, the KPK received 2,100 reports about corruption occurring during procurement processes."

He said with next year's bigger state budget, of which Rp 99.7 trillion has been set aside for procurement, the government should anticipate increased losses. "For this reason, the process of procurement needs to be well supervised," he said.

Tumpak said the KPK was not only responsible for investigating and bringing to prosecution those involved in corruption, but also for preventing graft. During the conference, the KPK will compile a report of the corruption eradication efforts at 200 state institutions.

Vice President Boediono, during his opening speech at the conference, agreed that there should be more preventive measures aimed at deterring corruption. "We can do that by building good systems and regulations," he said.

Boediono said Indonesia now ranked 111 out of 183 countries on Transparency International's corruption index, up from 126 last year. TI said the slight improvement was due to reforms within the Ministry of Finance and the work of the anticorruption commission.

Boediono said, "Though the ranking is not good, it is better than the last year's position of 126. We're trying to achieve a higher ranking."

He said that achieving a clean government would take a long time and there was still much work that needed to be done. "We have to think of better remuneration," he said. "We also need to establish the right conditions for clean government."

Rustam Syarif, chief of the government's services and goods procurement agency, known as the LPKK, an institution established in 2007, said the current 2003 presidential decree on goods and services procurement had numerous flaws.

"The system governed by the decree is still open to violations," he said on the sidelines of the conference. "We also need to develop our human resources, because many violations occur because officials don't understand the regulations."

Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto, speaking during a news conference, said that in the case of procurements, the key point was good planning.

"If it's good at the start, then it will be good during the later stages," Djoko said. He said he had implemented a semi-electronic procurement system at the ministry with increased transparency and better results.

Cheers and jeers as case against corruption fighters dropped

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

The controversial case against Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto was officially halted on Tuesday, paving the way for their triumphant return as deputy chairmen of the Corruption Eradication Commission.

However, the long-awaited decision was tarnished by the perceived ambivalence of the Attorney General's Office, a group's plan to file a lawsuit against the decision and comments from several disapproving members of the House of Representatives.

Prosecutors reiterated on Tuesday their position that they had a strong case in charging Bibit and Chandra with extortion and abuse of power. But they said they had decided to stop pursuing the case because doing so would likely hurt the country. However, the official reason cited was SKPP, which refers to the AGO's right to declare a case unworthy of trial because it lacks evidence.

"Whatever the surrounding conditions, I'm grateful for this and thank you for all the support," Chandra said after he and Bibit received formal notification that their ordeal was over.

Bibit said he appreciated the prosecutors' decision and was grateful for their sensitivity "to the public's demands for justice."

Both men have been suspended from their posts at the commission, also known as the KPK, since they were named suspects in mid- September. They are now awaiting a presidential decree reinstating them.

AGO and National Police officials have been the target of vehement public criticism for what the Constitutional Court said was a conspiracy to bring down the KPK.

Luhut Pangaribuan, a lawyer acting for Chandra and Bibit, said he disagreed with the AGO's claim that it had solid evidence against the pair. "We have believed since the very beginning that the case never existed. If they are cleared of the charges, the only reason must be that [prosecutors] have no evidence," he said.

Lawyer Petrus Bala Pattyona spoke on behalf of a group of lawyers and legal experts who said they would file a suit challenging the legality of the case's termination. He said the prosecutors' decision had damaged the country's judicial system.

"[Chandra and Bibit] have been released even before the prosecution stage begins, but in another part of this country, two men are facing years in jail for allegedly stealing several watermelons," Petrus said. "Dropping the case midway in the investigation stage has damaged the principle of equality before the law."

The group plans to file suit at the South Jakarta District Court on Friday to challenge the prosecutors' decision, Petrus said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has been criticized for failing to act decisively to resolve the case, again on Tuesday spoke in vague generalities.

"I want to review the choices we took in the Bibit and Chandra case. Considering the development of public opinion, our choice is to perform comprehensive improvements in various agencies that we still have shortcomings, mistakes and things that do not run correctly," he said. "Without taking the case to court, it is the best vehicle for our purposes to continue to prevent and eradicate corruption and all accountable agencies can be improved."

Several legislators voiced concerns about the issuing of the SKPP, fearing it could create a loophole in future cases.

Golkar's Aziz Syamsudin, deputy chairman of the House's commission III, which oversees legal affairs, noted that issuing the SKPP contradicted the AGO's position that there was sufficient evidence. Commission chairman Benny K Harman, a member of the Democratic Party, said the commission would summon Attorney General Hendarman Supandji for clarification.

Elections/political parties

Rumors begin as Democrats replace Marzuki as secretary general

Jakarta Globe - December 6, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Amid rising political tension over the Bank Century scandal, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party on Saturday replaced secretary general Marzuki Alie with noted lawyer and party functionary Amir Syamsuddin.

Party's chairman Hadi Utomo, however, was quick to dismiss rumors of a rift in the party, saying that the change was in line with party rules.

"We have a party regulation that any member holding a public position must not hold a structural party position because he may not be able to carry out both his jobs," said Hadi, insisting that Marzuki, the current speaker of the House of Representatives, had not been dismissed from the post of party secretary general.

While the change of guard was within the rights of party leaders, circumstances surrounding the replacement raised some eyebrows of political observers.

Marzuki was reportedly absent from the working meeting the party has been holding in Jakarta in recent days, though he did attend the ceremony in which he handed over his post to Amir.

The move also came after the House bowed to public pressure and set up the so-called Special Committee to investigate the controversial Bank Century bailout scandal. Rumors have begun to circulate that Marzuki was replaced because of his failure to stop the committee's formation.

Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the Democratic Party's faction in the House, said party leaders were merely acting on Marzuki's resignation letter, though he did not say when Marzuki submitted the notification.

"Why did we chose Pak Amir? I think it's because he has integrity, is capable and is highly acceptable," Anas said.

Amir Syamsuddin, who was previously the party's chairman for legal affairs, will hold the secretary general's post until next year when the party is due to hold a congress to elect new leaders.

Hadi also acknowledged on Saturday that the party faced testing times ahead related to cases involving Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah and the bailout scandal. "We are facing tough challenges and they are so real," Hadi said.

Administration & government

No good reason for government to claim success: Analysts

Jakarta Globe - December 6, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – Political analysts on Sunday said it was wrong for the new government to claim it had performed satisfactorily during its first 30 days in office because the criteria for judging its performance had not been established.

"The parameters used in the claim that the government's performance for the first 30 days is satisfactory are not clear," Andrinof Chaniago, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe. "It is a baseless claim. Even the public has not been informed on what the target achievements actually are."

Adnrinof said many of the ministries were actually still formulating goals and strategies. "Some of them are not really clear on the 100-day program target. They're still trying to find their way as newcomers," he said.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the head of the Presidential Working Unit for Development Supervision and Control (UKP4), said on Friday that the government's performance during its first 30 days in office had been judged satisfactory. "When you see that only three out of the 131 action plans are doing badly, I think it is a heartening thing," he said.

However, Kuntoro, who is tasked with overseeing progress of the government's development programs, said he had forgotten which three action plans were not performing as expected. He could recall only that two were related to public welfare and the third to an economic plan. He also did not provide any data to support the claim.

Among the government's more popular plans is the eradication of the "judicial mafia," reforming the bureaucracy, eradicating terrorism and boosting electricity generation.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has announced plans to form a special team to target the "judicial mafia" supposedly running the country's law enforcement and legal systems. The government is also planning to target 12 state institutions for bureaucratic reforms next year.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political researcher for the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), said there had been progress in some programs.

"Some ministries have developed some programs well," he said. "There are many programs that may be on track." He added that Kuntoro may have good parameters for judging the quality of these programs.

But both Burhanuddin and Andrinof agreed that many of the programs have been overshadowed by the controversies involving the government bailout of PT Bank Century and the arrests of two deputy chairmen of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"Many of the programs are good, such as what was presented during the National Summit, but they are [overshadowed] by the big issues of Century and the KPK," Burhanuddin said, referring to the meeting of government officials at the start of the new term.

Adrinof said the public may view the government's claims of a strong start with skepticism. "With two important and respected government officials [Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati] busy clarifying the ongoing Century case, they can't concentrate on running the government well," he said.

Media/press freedom

People want Balibo film banned, Indonesian military says

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman – The Indonesian Armed Forces said on Friday that it expected everyone to respect the decision of the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) to ban the Australian film 'Balibo,' claiming that the people had voiced their decision through the censors.

"It has been banned by the LSF. The institute is the people's voice. So let us respect the people's voice," Army Chief Gen. George Toisutta said.

Speaking after inaugurating Brig. Gen. Paulus Lodewijks as the new commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), Toisutta stressed the Army supported fully the LSF decision because they saw it as the wish of the people. "We respect the LSF, we respect the people's voice," he said.

Ezki Suyanto, a member of the Alliance of Independent Journalists' (AJI) committee council, which screened the movie at the Utan Kayu Theater on Thursday, questioned the military's logic.

"If the movie hasn't even been screened yet, how could the public demand that the government ban it?" she asked the Jakarta Globe.

She learned that Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik and some officials were invited by the LSF to watch the movie, "but is that what they call 'the people'?" she said.

The fact that at least 300 people attended the screening on Thursday night, she added, suggested that not everyone wanted the film banned.

She said she had queried some of the audience at Thursday's screening and none of them said anything to discredit the army. "It's just an ordinary movie and some said many parts of the movie were embellished," she quoted some viewers as having said.

Ezki said defying the government was not the intent of the alliance. "We simply want to tell the public that the movie does not in any way discredit the Indonesian Armed Forces. There is a lesson here, especially for journalists."

Jero said the movie did discredit Indonesia and its military and could reopen old wounds between Indonesia, East Timor and Australia. "For the sake of the country, the movie is not fit for playing in theaters. The movie is political," he said.

The film tells the story of five journalists killed when Indonesian troops took over the border town of Balibo in East Timor in October 1975. A sixth journalist died weeks later when Dili was invaded by Indonesian forces.

Indonesia says the journalists were killed in a crossfire but an Australian coroner's inquest in 2007 found that the five were killed deliberately by Indonesian forces, prompting the Australian Police to launch an official investigation into the incident two months ago.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said the probe was a backward step and could harm bilateral ties.

Agus Sudibyo from the Science and Aesthetic Foundation (SET), a media watchdog, urged the LSF to explain the ban. "They must explain to the Indonesian public why they ban certain movies."

Balibo great but dangerous, says Indonesian film censor

Australian Associated Press - December 3, 2009

Indonesia's film censor says Balibo is a great film but he had to ban it because of its potential to spark trouble.

Mukhlis Paeni, head of Indonesia's Film Censorship Agency (LSF) – which banned the acclaimed Australian film just hours before its Jakarta premiere this week – said Balibo was artistically extraordinary but politically dangerous.

"Let's sit together and think about the future, not look back at the past," he told local news portal VIVANews. Dwelling on the past would only create "commotion", he said.

Organisers of the Jakarta International Film Festival, which had planned to show the film, said on Thursday they were still waiting for the LSF to officially explain its reasons for the ban.

Balibo depicts Indonesian soldiers brutally murdering the five Australia-based newsmen in the East Timorese border town in 1975, contradicting the official explanation they were killed in crossfire.

Paeni denied the Indonesian military, known as the TNI, had pressured the LSF into the ban: "The LSF is independent and could not be pressured by anyone."

But the TNI applauded the LSF's decision, saying the film would only reopen old wounds. "For us, the Balibo case is over," TNI spokesman Sagom Tamboen said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Independent Journalist Alliance has vowed to defy the ban and stage a series of screenings, starting on Thursday night.

"Our motivation is basically freedom of expression," the alliance's Ezki Suyanto said. "There's nothing Indonesia should be afraid of in that film."

Asked if the group feared a police response, Ezki said: "There is some fear. But we are more afraid that democracy in this country is dying."

Indonesia's tourism minister on Thursday agreed the film was unsuitable for Indonesian audiences.

"Come on, we don't have to question what happened in the past," Jero Wacik said. "What happened in the past, it's closed."

The film's release in Australia earlier this year came just weeks before federal police announced they would conduct a formal war crimes investigation into the killings.

The AFP probe follows a 2007 coronial inquest that concluded Indonesia deliberately killed the journalists to cover up their East Timor invasion.

Indonesian journalists defy banning of Balibo film

The Australian - December 4, 2009

Stephen Fitzpatrick – Indonesia's national journalists association plans to defy a government ban on the movie Balibo, kicking off a countrywide "roadshow" tour for the film with a free public screening in Jakarta today.

Balibo was banned on Tuesday afternoon, less than two hours ahead of a planned screening by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club and just days ahead of its inclusion in the Jakarta film festival.

Under the country's censorship laws, members of the Alliansi Jurnalis Indonesia will face five years in jail and/or a 50 million rupiah ($5679) fine for each time they screen the film.

The feature, directed by Bob Connolly and featuring Australian Hollywood star Anthony LaPaglia, dramatises the murders of the so-called Balibo Five at the hands of the Indonesian military during the 1975 invasion of East Timor.

Although admitting he was "not surprised" by the banning, Balibo producer John Maynard said yesterday that "in a way this is the best outcome, because the controversy will attract the sort of audience of Indonesian elites we had hoped for to the film".

Prominent Indonesian director Garin Nugroho agreed, saying the national film censorship board's last-minute rejection of the movie was "the best way to point out the weakness of the board and of Indonesia".

The award-winning movie follows the finding of NSW Deputy Coroner Dorelle Pinch two years ago that the five journalists – Brian Peters, Malcolm Rennie, Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham and Tony Stewart – were murdered on the orders of senior Indonesian officers.

Their deaths, in the tiny East Timorese town of Balibo, were intended to prevent news of the invasion reaching international ears, Ms Pinch found.

Indonesia has always insisted the men died in crossfire and greeted Ms Pinch's findings – and this year's release of the film – with fury.

It has refused to co-operate with a recently opened Australian Federal Police investigation into the affair. It is also refusing to extradite the senior politician found to have been directly responsible for the assassinations, Yunus Yosfiah, to Australia for war crimes prosecution.

The movie tells the story of the murders through the eyes of veteran Australian reporter Roger East, played by LaPaglia. East was murdered shortly after the Balibo Five.Although the official screenings by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club and the Jakarta International Film Festival were cancelled as a result of the ban, a spokeswoman for the AJI said her organisation was not overly concerned about possible police reaction.

"We're used to it," AJI board member Ezki Suyanto said. "We already have colleagues who are ready to face the problems (and go to jail)."

Indonesia tourism and culture minister backs 'Balibo' film ban

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2009

The Indonesian government has supported the decision of the country's censorship board to ban the film "Balibo" with the Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik stating that it is not fit to be screened in cinemas.

"For the sake of the country, the movie is not fit for playing in theaters. The movie is political," Jero said at the State Palace on Friday.

Jero said that the movie discredited Indonesia and its military and that after watching the film he agreed with the censorship board's decision to ban it. "Banning a movie is the board's authority. I agree with their decision even though I can not interfere with it," he said.

Jero claimed that despite some people's disappointment about the ban, the country's interests were a priority. "Maybe there are people who feel victimized or unsatisfied (with the ban). But it is for the country's interest, the security and welfare of the people in the future," Jero said.

He said the movie could negatively influence the relationships between Indonesia, East Timor and Australia. "It's over. It (the movie) could create conflicts," Jero said.

House to summon censor board over Balibo film ban

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2009

Jakarta – Prolonging the debate over the Film Censor Institute's (LSF) ban on Balibo – the Australian film about the killings of five Western journalists in then East Timor in 1975 – the House of Representatives Commission X on arts and cultural affairs is planning to summon Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and LSF officials for questioning.

Eko Hendro Purnomo, a member of the commission from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the government had overreacted with its decision to ban the movie.

"It's paranoia. There has never been a movie in the history of the world that led to the disintegration of a nation," Eko, a former comedian, said at his office in Jakarta on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Kemal Stamboel, chairman of House Commission I on defense and foreign affairs, praised the LSF's ban, saying it had "its own standard to review a movie that bothers our people".

The Indonesian government previously said it might prohibit the screening of the movie here on grounds it might be deemed "offensive".

Balibo was released on Aug. 13, 2009, two months before the Australian Federal Police (AFP) announced it had reopened the investigation into the deaths of the five journalists – British reporters Malcolm Rennie and Greg Shackleton, Australian cameramen Brian Peters and Tony Stewart and New Zealand cameraman Gary Cunningham.

Indonesian journalists vow to defy 'Balibo' film ban

Agence France Presse - December 3, 2009

Indonesia's journalists on Thursday vowed to defy a ban on the screening of Australian movie "Balibo", saying the film depicting alleged war crimes by Indonesian forces in East Timor is educational.

The film directed by Robert Connolly and starring Anthony LaPaglia was banned without explanation on Tuesday hours before it was due to premier in Indonesia at a private showing for the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.

It depicts the alleged murder of five Australian-based journalists by invading Indonesian forces in the East Timorese border town of Balibo in 1975.

Indonesia claims the reporters – two Australians, two Britons and a New Zealander – were killed in crossfire and has refused to cooperate with an Australian war crimes investigation launched this year.

Alliance of Independent Journalists head Nezar Patria said its members had been invited to a screening Thursday night at Utan Kayu Theatre in Jakarta, regardless of the ban.

"We're not afraid of screening 'Balibo' tonight because we'll screen it at a theatre with limited seats, not at a huge cinema," he said. "The film is also about journalism so we as journalists can learn something about reporting on a conflict area."

The film, which opened in Australia in July, was also scratched at the last minute from the programme for the Jakarta International Film Festival starting next week.

Censors have yet to comment publicly on their decision to ban the film, but Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told parliament on Wednesday it was meant to protect the country's global image. Indonesia's military has also applauded the decision.

"I haven't seen the film myself but from what I've heard, it depicts foreign journalists being killed by Indonesian military," military spokesman Sagom Tamboen told AFP.

"This is very hurtful to us. We believe the journalists died in crossfire. We thank the censorship board for its decision to ban 'Balibo' in Indonesia."

Patria, however, said the ban was regrettable. "This should be interesting and educational as our relations with Australia can become more mature," he said.

'Balibo' ban wins rave reviews from Indonesian military

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Putri Prameshwari – The banning of Australian film "Balibo" showed that there was no real democracy in Indonesia, film activists said on Wednesday, although government and military officials welcomed the ban.

Film director Riri Riza said that even though it was predictable, the ban showed that censorship was still rife in the nation despite its claims to democracy. "We have never moved away from [Suharto's] New Order era," he said. "At least in the context of film censorship."

Riri said that unless something was done, the National Film Censorship Board (LSF) would continue restricting films considered too controversial or critical.

The film tells the story of five journalists who were killed when the tiny border town of Balibo in East Timor was taken over by Indonesian forces in October 1975. A sixth journalist died weeks later when Dili was invaded by Indonesian forces.

The so-called Balibo Five, according to official Indonesian and Australian government accounts, died in the crossfire as Indonesian troops fought East Timorese Fretilin rebels.

Abduh Azis, chairman of the Indonesian Film Society, said the ban made it even clearer how the country was now facing a crisis in freedom of expression. "This is a serious problem," he said.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the restriction was to protect the country's image abroad.

"What we have to be cautious of, is not to let this film affect the global perception of Indonesia. If it [the ban] is explained well, then I think there will be no problem," Marty told Agence France-Presse.

Balibo's director, Robert Connolly, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he was disappointed by the censorship. "I had high hopes for the film and the impact it may have had if it had been screened in Indonesia."

The Indonesian Armed Forces said was fully behind the ban. Military spokesman Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen said the movie would only reopen old wounds. It would harm the good relationship between Indonesia and East Timor, as well as between Indonesia and Australia, he said.

"It is a correct decision for the LSF to ban the movie," Sagom said. "If the movie had been played, then it means that we justify their accusation that the military did shoot the journalists to death. For us, the Balibo case is over. The journalists were killed accidentally in crossfire between Indonesian troops and Fretilin. They were not shot by Indonesian troops," he said.

The families of the dead newsmen have long insisted official accounts were a lie and they have kept up a steady campaign for decades to bring justice to their loved ones.

An Australian coroner's inquest in 2007 found that the five were killed deliberately by Indonesian forces, a finding that eventually prompted Australian Police to launch an official investigation into the incident two months ago.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said the investigation was a step backward and could harm relations between the two nations.

'Balibo' ban will not hurt Indonesia: Foreign Minister

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2009

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – The Indonesian government anticipates an international backlash over its recent ban on the screening of the movie Balibo, but expects this will not hurt Jakarta's overall image, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says.

"We hope the ban will not have an adverse impact on international perceptions of Indonesia. The international community will understand our position if we explain it to them well," Marty said Wednesday on the sidelines of a hearing with members of House Commission I.

The Film Censorship Board banned the Australian movie, which is based on the story of the death of five Australia-based journalists in the former Indonesian province of East Timor (now Timor Leste) in 1975. While the producers of the movie claim the film is based on historical facts, it has been shunned by the Indonesian government as "fictitious".

One member of the censorship board (who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media) told the Associated Press the movie was banned because it "discredits Indonesia".

Indonesian Military spokesman Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen said the screening of the movie here would only jeopardize relations between Indonesia and Australia. Indonesia claims the Balibo case is closed, saying that the journalists were killed accidentally in a battlefield.

In September, the Australian Federal Police reopened investigations into the deaths in a move defined by Indonesia as "digging into past mistakes", risking relations between the two countries. Roy Suryo, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, defended the ban, saying such censorship could be used to ban any foreign movies that stood against government or public interests.

Another lawmaker, Tantowi Yahya of the Golkar Party, said any movie that potentially hurt Indonesia's sovereignty, created racial tension or wrongly targeted governmental institutions should not be screened here, since it would bring no benefit to either the community or government.

"This movie is only one side of the story of what happened and not a consensus... For whatever purposes, the movie should not be screened here," said the lawmaker.

Balibo was originally scheduled to be screened at the 11th Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest) but the screening was cancelled after the festival committee received notification of the ban on Tuesday.

In 2006, the same censorship body banned four documentary films about the life of people in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Timor Leste during the 8th JIFFest, citing that the films were "disturbing".

On the JIFFest, the festival organizers said Balibo would be replaced by (500) Days of Summer, and that people who had already bought tickets could watch the replacement movie or claim a refund.

Balibo 'negative propaganda': Indonesia

Australian Associated Press - December 2, 2009

Adam Gartrell, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has defended its censors' decision to ban Balibo, labelling the Australian film "negative propaganda".

Indonesia's censorship board, the LSF, announced the ban on Tuesday, just hours before Robert Connolly's acclaimed film was due to premiere in Jakarta.

The LSF is yet to explain its reasons for the ban but it's believed the Indonesian military was influential in the decision.

Balibo depicts Indonesian soldiers brutally murdering the five Australia-based newsmen in the East Timorese border town in 1975, contradicting the official explanation that they were killed in crossfire.

Indonesian defence ministry spokesman Slamet Hariyanto on Wednesday welcomed the ban, saying the film would give Indonesia a bad name and defame its defence force.

"People would ask, what kind of leadership is that, if we ordered journalists to be treated like that? This is negative propaganda against Indonesia."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah also welcomed the decision. "We asked them not to screen the movie because we were worried about opening up a new conflict between Indonesia and Australia," he said.

But Ezki Suyanto, from Indonesia's Independent Journalist Alliance, said Indonesia was too paranoid.

"Banning it is actually even counter-productive. It just makes more people want to watch it," he said. Connolly said he was disappointed by the LSF's decision.

"I had high hopes for the film and the impact it may have had if it had screened in Indonesia," he told the ABC. "I always think it's a pity when even in these democratic times in Indonesia that the people of Indonesia can't see a film that deals with their history."

The film's release in Australia earlier this year came just weeks before federal police announced they would conduct a formal war crimes investigation into the killings.

The probe follows a 2007 coronial inquest that concluded Indonesia deliberately killed the journalists to cover up their invasion of East Timor.

Australian film 'Balibo' banned by Indonesian censors

Jakarta Globe - December 2, 2009

The local premiere of the acclaimed Australian film, "Balibo," which recounts the murder of five journalists allegedly at the hands of Indonesian soldiers during the 1975 invasion of East Timor, was stopped on Tuesday after the censorship board banned the movie.

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club had planned to show the film for the first time in Indonesia to a private audience at the Blitz Megaplex in the Grand Indonesia Mall.

But a few minutes after the 7 p.m. screening time had passed, JFCC President Jason Tedjasukmana emerged from the screening room to tell a crowd of about 100 journalists and other invited guests, "We have some bad news. The LSF [Film Censorship Agency] officially banned it today."

The film had been submitted to the LSF by the Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest), which had planned to screen the film during the festival, which begins on Friday.

The censors reviewed the film Tuesday afternoon, according to Tedjasukmana, and news of the ban was relayed to the journalists' group by Jiffest officials.

Nauval Yazid, Jiffest's manager, said that while the censors gave no official reason for the ban, the festival would abide by the ruling.

"They told us that we cannot show the movie," he said. "The reason was not really clear. It is likely because of concerns that it will affect relations with East Timor and Australia."

As with all films shown publicly in the country, the festival's organizers are required to submit all entries to the LSF for approval before screening. Nauval said "Balibo" was added to this year's line-up because the festival thought it was an important film that ought to be seen by Indonesian audiences.

Pudji Rahayu, the head of the LSF secretariat, refused to comment on the ban when contacted by the Jakarta Globe.

JFCC board members debated whether to press ahead with the screening despite the ban, but were dissuaded after lawyers told them they could face criminal charges for defying the ban.

"Even though this is a private screening, it is in a public place," Tedjasukmana, a correspondent for Time magazine, said. "There is a very high risk in showing a banned film in a public place."

The film tells the story of five journalists who were killed in the tiny border town of Balibo when it was taken over by Indonesian forces in October 1975. The so-called Balibo Five, according to official government accounts, died in crossfire.

Asked about the ban following Tuesday's announcement, freelance journalist and well-known press freedom activist Ezki Suyanto was seething. "This is ridiculous," she said. "They [the censors] cannot accept reality."

Given the widespread availability of pirated DVDs, however, it is assumed that copies of the movie will be circulated widely.

'Balibo' screening canceled, deemed 'too risky'

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2009

Bruce Emond, Jakarta – The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) decided to "err on the side of caution" in canceling a private screening Tuesday of Balibo, a movie about the death of five Australian journalists in the then East Timor in 1975, said JFCC president Jason Tedjasukman.

With the movie scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., Tedjasukmana told about 150 people assembled at the Blitz Megaplex at the Grand Indonesia shopping mall, Central Jakarta, that the club was informed late in the afternoon by Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest) organizers that the movie was banned.

"I haven't received anything official but after consulting with our legal advisers, we decided it would be too risky because, while this is a private screening, it would be in a public place thus violating the law," he said.

Tedjasukmana said producers John Maynard and Rebecca Williamson and director Robert Conolly decided they would not travel to Indonesia for the screenings.

The JFCC refunded the Rp 150,000 (US$15) ticket price, Rp 100,000 of which was earmarked for the Sander Thoenes Fund in memory of the Dutch journalist slain in East Timor in 1999.

The JIFFest organizers still have Balibo listed on their website, scheduled to be screened on Dec. 6 at 6.30 p.m. and on Dec. 10 at 3.30 p.m. at Grand Indonesia's Blitz Megaplex.

Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen recommended Balibo not be screened in Indonesia.

"It will only hurt many Indonesians. The movie will only do irreparable damage to the (diplomatic) ties between Indonesia, Timor Leste (formerly East Timor) and Australia.

"The Australian Coroner Courts had declared members of the Indonesian Military innocent in the court hearings in 2007," he said. "The five journalists were killed in the battlefield, not because the military physical attacked them," he added.

The Indonesian government had earlier said it might prohibit the screening of the movie here, claiming it may be deemed "offensive".

Balibo is based on a book written by Jill Jolliffe, who witnessed the first incursions of the TNI into the Balibo territory and reported the death of her five colleagues. She moved to Portugal in 1978, but continued to follow the story of the Balibo Five for more than 30 years.

Historian Clinton Fernandes of the University of New South Wales' School of Humanities and Social Sciences, who acted as a consulting historian for the film, said director Connolly was committed to historical accuracy. (nia)

TNI has no plans to make 'Indonesian version' of Balibo film

Detik.com - December 2, 2009

Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) is cited as the party that murdered five Australian journalists in the film "Balibo". The TNI however does not plan to make a rival film to straighten out what actually happened.

"Indeed one pubic move would be to counter information with information. But I think that in this case, there would be no use," explained TNI Information Centre Director Air Vice Marshal Sagom Tamboen at his office in the TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Wednesday December 2.

According to Tamboen, looking at examples overseas, there are indeed still parties that dislike the TNI and Indonesia. So whatever information is released by the TNI or the Indonesian government it will be regarded as untrue.

"So whatever we do, the response will surely be regarded as a fabrication. Yet we would not be fabricating it," he explained.

Tamboen said that if there was a rival film it would only reopen old wounds between Indonesia and East Timor. "If we counter it, think first about [our] duties in East Timor, it would reopen old wounds in Indonesia's relationship with East Timor," he explained.

The TNI also supports the Balibo film not being shown in Indonesia. (rdf/gus)

Notes:

In a related article on the same day, Detik.com quoted Tamboen as saying it was correct for the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) to ban the film. He added that if the film were allowed to be shown in Indonesia, it would "...mean that we would be confirming their [the film maker's] accusations that it's true the TNI shot them."

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Balibo film banning reminiscent of New Order dictatorship

Detik.com - December 2, 2009

Irwan Nugroho, Jakarta – The Indonesian Film Society (MFI) believes that the banning of a film about the deaths of five Australian journalists in East Timor or the Balibo Five makes no sense, saying it was surprised over why the government is so afraid of the film being seen by the Indonesian public.

"How come they're so paranoid? This is exactly the same as [former President Suharto's] New Order period where the state feels the need to protect its people from certain films," said MFI activist Abduh Azis in a discussion with Detik.com on Wednesday December 2.

The banning of the film titled "Balibo" by the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) continued Azis, indicates that the government still has a narrow view of the film rather than seeing the film as a means of promoting dialog and learning.

"The film Balibo is a [chance] to reflect again about what happened in the past. That we once had a bad relationship with East Timor. I think this is healthy and very educational," he added.

According to Azis, as a democratic country Indonesia should abolish the censorship of films, because as long as this censorship remains in force, restraints on the freedom of expression will continue.

"Now, is censorship still relevant? I think not, because we are a democratic country. In democratic countries it is not censorship that is applied, but film classification," he said.

"Balibo" is a work by Robert Connolly about the death of five Australian journalists that took place during the war between the Indonesian military (TNI) and East Timorese guerrillas in 1975. The Indonesian government has stated that the showing of the film would be very sensitive and could reopen the conflict between Indonesia and Australia.

The Foreign Affairs Department said that the five journalists (Gary Cunningham, Malcolm Rennie, Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart and Brian Peters) were not killed by TNI soldiers, but were died unintentionally during an exchange of fire. The Balibo Five case itself has been declared finished. (irw/iy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Film & television

Jakarta International Film Festival packs controversial lineup

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2009

Armando Siahaan – Indonesia is home to an ever-growing number of film festivals. Some of the best of the past year have been the gay-themed Q! Film Festival, the Goelali Children's Film Festival and the Indonesian International Fantastic Film Festival (Inafff), which has a horror focus.

Of all these events, the Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest) is perhaps the most comprehensive representation of the film scene.

The festival gets underway on Friday with filmmaking duo Riri Reza and Mira Lesmana's "Sang Pemimpi" ("The Dreamer") and closes on Dec. 12 with an invitation-only screening of "New York I Love You," an anthology of 11 short love stories.

"Sang Pemimpi" is an adaptation of the second novel in a series of four by Andrea Hirata, based on the author's childhood in Bangka- Belitung, a province off the east coast of Sumatra. The movie version of the first novel in the series, "Laskar Pelangi" ("The Rainbow Troops"), was released last year to critical acclaim.

Festival manager Navaul Yazid said it was the first time in Jiffest's 11-year history that an Indonesian film had been selected for the opening night. "This shows the quality of our films is on a par with international films," he said.

A talking point at Jiffest this year is the scheduled screenings of two controversial films: "The 10 Conditions of Love," an Australian-made documentary about the Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer, who China has been blamed for deadly ethnic riots, and "Balibo," a dramatized account of the murder of five Australian- based journalists during the 1975 invasion of East Timor, which the Indonesian Military has urged censors to ban.

"10 Conditions" premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in July, despite a demand from the Chinese government that the film be dumped. The decision to proceed with screening the film raised a furore against the festival organizers, which ran to hacker attacks on their official Web site, death threats and the withdrawal of seven Chinese-language films, whose directors said the event had become too politicized.

Nauval said Jiffest had yet to receive any complaints from the Chinese government. "The Chinese Embassy in Indonesia hasn't made any contact with us," he said.

As of Tuesday, Nauval said Jiffest was still waiting for approval to show "Balibo" from the Film Censorship Agency (LSF), which has formed a team to determine whether the film is too politically sensitive for domestic audiences. According to a law on film censorship, no film can be publicly screened without LSF approval.

"There's no indication [from the LSF] so far. No objections or other warnings," Nauval said. "We're still confident this film will be screened at Jiffest." He added that Jifffest had received no formal complaint from the military or the government on the issue.

Another Jiffest selection that may rankle some viewers is "Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country," which recounts the efforts of a band of video journalists to capture footage of the Burmese under the military junta and smuggle it out of the country.

However, Nauval emphasized that Jiffest is not trying to go political. "These movies are just as important as films like '500 Days of Summer' and 'Departures,' which are not about politics," he said.

"Departures," a Japanese film by Yojiro Takita, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2009 Academy Awards. It tells the story of a cellist who loses his job after his orchestra is disbanded and takes a job as a nokanshi, someone who prepares corpses for burial.

Jiffest also has a program called the Madani (Civil) Film Festival, focusing on international films with an Islamic theme.

"Despite Indonesia being the country with the largest Muslim population, the general public has little knowledge of the lives of Muslims outside their own country," Nauval said. "Jiffest tries to show the lives of Muslims from other parts of the world."

Other noteworthy selections include "Letters to the President," an observational documentary about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime, told through the millions of letters sent to him by the people, and "Muallaf," a Malaysian film that chronicles the tales of three characters struggling to find religion.

The festival also features documentaries about prominent figures from different walks of life. "Love the Beast" documents Australian actor Eric Bana's 25-year romance with his first car, "Around the World with Joseph Stiglitz" tackles the issue of globalization from the Noble prize winner's perspective, and "The Beaches of Agnes" is a first-person documentary by French film director Agnes Varda.

Jiffest will be showing 23 Indonesian films in total, including the world premier of "Fugu," a movie by experimental filmmaker Faozan Rizal about a love triangle between Japanese newlyweds living in Jakarta and a local woman.

The festival, which is supported by Yayasan Masyarakat Mandiri Film Indonesia (The Independent Film Society Foundation), is also holding the Indonesian Feature Film Competition, which will see a panel of judges selecting the best Indonesian film and film director.

Jiffest organizers have also invited a number of speakers, including documentary maker Petr Lom, who directed "Letters to the President," and graphic designer Christian Scheurer, who has worked on visually compelling movies like "Final Fantasy" and "The Golden Compass."

Nauval said the aim of this was "to provide an alternative education for those who want to pursue a profession in the film world, or to the general public who are interested in those topics."

Jakarta International Film Festival 2009. Dec. 4 to Dec. 12. All movies will be screened exclusively at Blitz Megaplex, Grand Indonesia. For Jiffest schedule go to www.jiffest.org

Jakarta/urban life

Governor says Monas to get its own demonstration corner

Jakarta Globe - December 7, 2009

Ulma Haryanto – The days of demonstrators converging on the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle are numbered.

The Jakarta administration said it would soon designate an area in National Monument (Monas) Park where protesters could convene and hold rallies.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said the convergence of people at the famous traffic circle was causing damage to the structure, particularly the fountain.

"People who come together [at the traffic circle] often cause damage to the ornaments in the fountain," Bowo said, as quoted by state-run news agency Antara on Sunday. "Whether it's the broken concrete edges that are repeatedly stamped on by people or the water spouts that have been clogged by garbage."

Last week, the city administration announced that it was setting aside Rp 2 billion ($212,000) to make over the fountain in time for Christmas.

Activists have long preferred to hold rallies at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, situated on Jalan MH Thamrin, because of the number of people who pass through the area and its proximity to hotels and establishments where foreigners stay and visit.

The planned demonstration area in Monas, located about a kilometer from the traffic circle, will be able to accommodate up to 10,000 people, Fauzi said.

The governor said the specially designated section would be located at the junction of Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan and Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat. However, Fauzi did not say when the area would be ready to accommodate demonstrations.

"The entrance gate [to the monument] will be pushed back 50 to 100 meters from its current position," Fauzi said. "We are also going to set up a stage where demonstrators can speak."

"Of course protesters need to secure a permit from the police first before going there," the governor added.

Fauzi's decision to move protests away from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle comes on the heels of a rally that was canceled by the governor late last month.

Members of the Anticorruption Civil Society Coalition (Kompak) were scheduled to hold a rally on Nov. 29, a car-free Sunday in the city, but were turned away at the last minute on the order of Fauzi.

Authorities demanded the protesters disperse, accusing them of violating a 2007 bylaw on public order.

Fauzi reportedly said that he would no longer issue permits for personal events at the traffic circle, saying they would be limited to car-free Sundays and sports events.

The governor's actions drew criticism from activists, experts and even Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi.

According to the governor, however, Monas is just as strategically located as the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and will be able to attract large crowds, without the attendant property damage.

HI rallies allowed, but tents and stages banned

Jakarta Post - December 5, 2009

Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – In response to questions about Governor Fauzi Bowo's statement about limiting the use of the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle, the city administration explained Friday that only stages and tents had been banned from the fountain area.

"It's not the protests we prohibit, but the erecting of tents at the HI circle. It clearly takes up space on the street and disturbs the traffic," city secretary Muhayat told The Jakarta Post on Friday, adding that protesters could still use loudspeakers.

He said the prohibition applied to all events and was not restricted to demonstrations.

Last Sunday Fauzi said that he would not allow the city landmark to be damaged or dirtied at public events. Fauzi also asked Jakarta residents not to organize any inappropriate events at the HI traffic circle, especially gatherings with limited benefits for the public.

Usman Hamid, an anticorruption activist from Kompak, said the governor should review the ban of using tents or stages during protests because he said such equipment was necessary.

"We still need tents to build a stage because our protests now mostly involve singers and performers. During the rainy season, we need to protect the sound system from water too," he said over the phone.

He said the ban actually represented a fear of freedom. "This policy seems to have been made in a rush, right when the public momentum to push for the Century case to be solved is getting stronger," Usman said.

He said it would be better if the government replaced the ban with detailed rules on permitted tent sizes and sound system volume.

He said a previous protest, dubbed "Indonesia Sehat Tanpa Korupsi" (Indonesia Healthy Without Corruption) on Nov. 2, which used a stage and a tent for musical performances, ran peacefully and successfully.

A number of public order officers did not allow the activists to erect a stage during a similar protest on Nov. 29.

The governor, Usman said, should realize that people needed strategic spots in the city to express their aspirations because Jakarta was the center of many fields, including economics and politics.

Jakarta governor criticised for stopping anticorruption protest

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo is drawing intense criticism from rights activists, experts and even Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi for stopping a scheduled antigraft protest on Sunday.

Fauzi demanded Sunday's protest rally by the Anticorruption Civil Society Coalition (Kompak) at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta disband itself, saying it violated a 2007 bylaw on public order. Fauzi also reportedly said he would no longer issue permits for personal events at the traffic circle, saying they would be limited to car-free Sundays and sports events.

But Gamawan Fauzi said that although regional governments had the right to issue public order bylaws, public order itself should be clearly defined within them.

"Though all parties should respect the bylaw, we need to consider how to define public order correctly," he said on Tuesday. "Something that is better left for the press and public to interpret."

The Jakarta chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) called the governor's decision to ban the peaceful rally "illogical in a democracy."

Wahyu Dhyatmika, chairman of AJI Jakarta, said in a media release that Fauzi should apologize to the public. "The Constitution guarantees people's right to express their opinions," he said.

Siti Zuhro, a regional autonomy expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said it was improper for the governor to have used the bylaw to protect his own interests.

"Justifying his actions is just a defense mechanism," she said. "The bylaw has not been properly used, and instead it should be adapted to meet society's constant evolution."

Siti labeled Fauzi's move a repressive act by those in power and that protests were "normal" in a democracy." She said Jakarta was the nation's social and political barometer and therefore the governor should "protect the rights of Jakartans to express their disagreement with the government."

Protests, Siti added, should be seen as a form of public participation rather than something that disturbed public order. She also warned Fauzi that he should not overstep his mandate. "This is not his city," Siti said. "He was elected by the people of Jakarta and without them, he'd have no power."

Economy & investment

China sewing up Indonesian textile markets

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2009

Irvan Tisnabudi & Camelia Pasandaran – While Indonesian textile producers have been lamenting the industry's lack of preparedness for a region-wide free-trade agreement with China that begins on New Year's Day, Chinese textile producers have been quietly securing space in the largest textile markets in Jakarta and Surabaya for their imports.

Ade Sudrajat, vice chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), said on Thursday that the Chinese producers have also launched a quiet campaign to recruit more traders, distributors and importers as they prepare to flood Indonesia with duty-free garments.

Ade told reporters that Chinese producers plan to convert an entire floor of the Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta, the largest textile market in Southeast Asia, for Chinese products only. The producers, he said, have offered support and funding for local traders willing to sell imported Chinese garments.

Ade said Chinese producers were also targeting Surabaya's Turi Market. "[The traders] will function as importers and sellers, as well as distributors," Ade said. "This has been a common practice of China in marketing textile products. They did the same thing in Dubai to market their products in the Middle East."

China signed a free-trade agreement with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Indonesia, in November 2002, with broader terms of the agreement set to go into affect on Jan. 1.

Under the deal, the signatories agreed to scrap import duties on manufactured goods such as steel, textiles and footwear. Tariffs in other sectors, such as food and beverages and electronic goods, will be gradually reduced to zero by 2018.

Ernovian Ismy, secretary general of the API, was quoted by local media as saying 75 percent of textiles sold at Tanah Abang were imported, and the vast majority came from China.

Indonesia has already suffered heavy trade deficits with China in recent years in textiles and garments but the worst was yet to come, he said. Citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), he said bilateral trade in textiles and garments showed a trade balance of $860 million in favor of China.

With illegal Chinese goods already flooding the country's textile market, some say that the industry is doomed once the pact takes full effect.

Indonesian bailout investigations 'may hurt economy'

Jakarta Globe - December 3, 2009

Dion Bisara & Janeman Latul – As the Corruption Eradication Commission formally announced its own probe into the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) state bailout of PT Bank Century on Wednesday, economists warned the fallout from the investigation could have serious consequences for the economy.

Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean, chairman of the commission, known as the KPK, said its decision to investigate was made after it examined the report by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which it obtained last week.

Tumpak said the commission would consult with the BPK and the anti-money laundering agency, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), "to get better information." Data will also be sought from the Finance Ministry, Bank Indonesia and the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS), he said, adding that he had signed a request for the PPATK to trace where the bailout money was channeled.

The PPATK has found irregularities in more than 59 transactions from 44 personal and seven institutional accounts in Bank Century to 10 other banks, totaling more than Rp 146.7 billion. It has so far failed to track where the money went. "We will soon summon everyone that we feel is necessary," Tumpak said.

Vice President Boediono, central bank governor at the time of the rescue, has been blamed for the bailout along with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, but both immediately welcomed the KPK's move, which comes a day after the House of Representatives approved plans to launch a probe by lawmakers.

"We don't have to wait for the House investigation for the law enforcers to carry out a thorough investigation," Boediono said. "To avoid prejudice and to calm the people, the investigation should be completed soon."

Politicians and activists have called for Boediono to step down. Some say he pushed for the bailout despite opposition from financial regulators and the Finance Ministry.

A pale-looking Sri Mulyani, speaking with a rasp at an investor summit in Jakarta on Wednesday, said she was ready to face the House's questions.

"All we did at that time was to save our economy. I hope we all can see the policy and its result more objectively. Because we all work to establish a more reliable state order," she said.

Technocrats Boediono and Sri Mulyani are two of the most respected members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's new cabinet, which is stacked with political appointees.

Citigroup economist Johanna Chua, meanwhile, said events surrounding the bailout inquiry were "raising political risk in Indonesia," adding that the involvement of Boediono and Sri Mulyani "in the ongoing investigation is the main source of political risk."

"It potentially could have adverse consequences," Chua said. "It is unclear how far the inquiry will go and what type of political consequences may hit President Yudhoyono's administration, particularly as the markets favor Boediono and Sri Mulyani."

Danareksa Research Institute economist Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said it would be costly for the country if the two were removed. "There would be a great shock in the market and the rupiah may be affected, although it depends on who would be replacing the two."

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said it would work separately from the House special committee, as they "work in different areas. One is political while another is legal," he said. The KPK is seen as the country's best-performing law-enforcement agency, but it has been undermined by recent attempts to prosecute its leaders.

Rumors have circulated that some Century money made its way into President Yudhoyono's re-election campaign. Yudhoyono and his allies have vehemently denied the claims and have filed a defamation complaint against a fringe nationalist group over them.

Jobless rate falls below 8 percent, BPS says

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2009

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Indonesia's job market improved in August as the jobless rate fell to 7.87 percent from 8.39 percent a year earlier, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced Tuesday.

The number of registered unemployed reached 8.96 million people, out of a workforce of 113.83 million, BPS data showed. The population figure for August was 231.83 million.

In August there were 300,000 less registered unemployed than in February; and 940,000 less compared to August last year, indicating some economic recover, said BPS.

Compared to BPS data in February, almost all eight sectors identified absorbed more workers in August. Agriculture was the exception as it was not the harvest season.

"Due to an annual cycle, in August workers in the agriculture sector usually shift to the trade and construction sectors," said BPS head Rusman Heriawan.

BPS said in August 38.8 percent workers were employed in agriculture, 28.2 percent in the trade sector and 14.1 percent in industry.

The overall job market was still dominated by workers engaging in the informal sector, accounting for 67.86 million people or 64.7 percent of the total workforce. Only 32.14 million people, or 30 percent of the national workforce, were employed in the formal sector.

Rusman said this reflected that 55.21 million workers, or 52.65 percent of the workforce were only graduates of elementary school, or did not even finish elementary school. Only 4.66 million workers, or 4.44 percent of the total labor force, were university graduates.

Critics said Indonesia's education system had yet to provide decent opportunities for children of low-income families to get good education and therefore to find better jobs.

Economist Faisal Basri said a lack of education contributed to the poor conditions of Indonesian workers. He also said to boost the real sector, the government should create a labor law that could strike a balance between industries and workers.

Rusman said workers in Indonesia were forced to engage in the informal sector for a living. "In developed countries unemployed people get living allowances. Here they will die if they don't work."

BPS, which had been attacked by critics for its definition of workers as including those working for an hour a week or more, said the definition followed International Labour Organization (ILO) definitions.

Rusman also pointed out that people who worked less than seven hours a week in August only amounted to 1.31 million out of 104.87 million in the workforce. About 70 percent of workers worked more than 35 hours per week, BPS data showed.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the growth of manufacturing industry had been slow partly because of labor policies. She said they should be improved to boost the performance of industry.

Coordinating Minister for the Eco-nomy Hatta Radjasa said boosting the manufacturing industry would be one of the administration's main priorities over the next five years.

Indonesian exports surge in October to highest level in 2009

Jakarta Globe - December 1, 2009

Roffie Kurniawan – Indonesia's exports rebounded strongly in October, growing on an annual basis for the first time in 12 months, the Central Statistics Agency said on Tuesday.

The country's exports in October totaled $11.88 billion, a 22.7 percent increase over September, and a 10.1 percent rise over October last year.

The statistics agency, also known as the BPS, said non-oil and gas exports in October contributed the most to the increase in overall exports.

Non-oil and gas exports totaled $10.16 billion in October, an increase of 25.5 percent from September and 14.1 percent over the same month last year.

Electrical equipment, coal and rubber were the leading products. "Exports in October were the highest so far in 2009," said BPS chairman Rusman Heriawan.

It was the second time this year that monthly exports breached the $10 billion level, he said. Exports rose above $10 billion in August before declining in September due to the Idul Fitri holiday.

However, exports for the first 10 months of the year were still down 22.3 percent compared with the same period in 2008, with non-oil and gas exports down 15.1 percent.

Singapore-based Citigroup economist Johanna Chua said a low base number partly explained the sharp year-over-year rise in October, noting that the global financial crisis was setting in last October.

The results were largely boosted by non-oil and gas exports that outperformed "consensus expectations for a moderating 5.1 percent contraction," she said.

"Non-oil and gas exports picked up month-on-month for all destinations, with the largest gains registered for non-oil and gas exports to Japan, South Korea, the United States, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia, as consumer and business confidence gained ground," Johanna said.

The BPS said imports also increased on a monthly basis. In October, imports stood at $9.47 billion, up 11.16 percent from the previous month. Non-oil and gas imports stood at $7.55 billion in October, up 22.9 percent from September.

Meanwhile, imports in the first 10 months of the year totaled $77.75 billion, down 30.8 percent compared with the same period last year. Non-oil and gas imports in the 10-month period reached $62.7 billion, down 25.6 percent.

As exports expanded, the country's trade surplus widened to $2.41 billion in October, from $1.27 billion in September.

"We expect a narrowing in the trade and current account surpluses toward year-end as a pick-up in Indonesia's domestic demand leads to a more sizeable imports improvement," Chua said.

Analysis & opinion

'Balibo Five' film tests free speech in Indonesia

Christian Science Monitor - December 7, 2009

Simon Montlake Bangkok – A movie that depicts Indonesian war crimes in East Timor has become a lightning rod for free-speech activists in Indonesia, who have defied a government ban on its screening.

Last Tuesday, censors ordered the organizers of an annual film festival in Jakarta to yank "Balibo," an Australian movie set in East Timor in 1975 that dramatizes the plight of five slain journalists. Government and military officials have said the film is propaganda and could inflame the public and upset bilateral relations.

But, in a move that underscores Indonesia's still halting democratic transition a decade after it pulled out of East Timor, an independent journalists' association screened the movie last Thursday to a packed audience in Jakarta. And film festival officials say they are trying to overturn the ban and screen it this week. By defying last Tuesday's ban, officials of the Alliance of Indonesia Journalists could, in theory, face a jail term and/or a large fine. The group has vowed to show "Balibo" in other cities in Indonesia.

Officials say this isn't the first time that the Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest) has run into trouble with Indonesia's censor board, a legacy of the country's authoritarian past under US-backed President Suharto. In 2006, five festival films were denied permission to screen. Censors have also ordered cuts to films, mostly for sexual content. Under Suharto, bans on foreign books, films, and periodicals were common.

Three decades later, deaths still disputed

Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor, and the conduct of its military, remain sensitive. Adding to the discomfort, Australian police recently began investigating a coroner's verdict that the so-called Balibo Five – the journalists sent by Australian media to East Timor to cover Indonesia's invasion – were murdered by Indonesian troops. Indonesia insists that they died during crossfire in the remote territory.

This row, and Indonesia's refusal to cooperate with the Australian police inquiry, is the backdrop to the ban on "Balibo." Indonesia has angrily disputed the findings of the Australian coroner that the Balibo Five were killed on the orders of senior government officials who wanted the invasion kept quiet.

Indonesia's Minister of Culture and Tourism said Friday that the film isn't fit to be screened as it could "create conflicts," the Jakarta Globe reported. "Maybe there are people who feel victimized or unsatisfied (with the ban). But it is for the country's interest, the security and welfare of the people in the future," Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik told reporters.

Ban may draw more attention than film

Nauval Yazid, a Jiffest official, disputes this argument and says that the festival audience is mature enough to make up its own mind about a fictional film based on real events. "I don't see how screening it in a theater to 100 or 200 people can cause a huge uproar.... We want to open up a discussion," he says.

Mr. Yazid says he is waiting to hear if censors will relent and allow a screening this week, before the festival ends. "We want to discuss this again with the censorship board," he says.

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club had intended to screen the film separately last Tuesday but opted to pull it after the ban was announced. The screening was a fundraising event in the name of Sander Thoenes, a Monitor correspondent killed in East Timor in 1999 by retreating Indonesian troops. The club runs an educational foundation named after Mr. Thoenes, a Dutch national. Thoenes, whose killers were never brought to justice, was the first foreign reporter killed in East Timor since the Balibo deaths.

Jason Tedjasukmana, the club president, argues that the ban and the controversy it generated had only added to the interest in "Balibo" among Indonesians. "You can't buy publicity like this," he says.

East Timor, which gained independence in 2002, remains a sore point for Indonesian nationalists and there is virtually no public pressure to bring the military or politicians to heel for abuses there. Free-speech activists argue that this is no reason to ban a film that presents an alternative viewpoint.

Three of the five festival films banned in 2006 were documentaries on East Timor. But, in a sign of inconsistency, the censors didn't block "Hero's Journey," a laudatory documentary narrated by Timorese resistance leader turned president Xanana Gusmao, who attended the screening, says Yazid.

[A Monitor series on the Indonesian infantry battalion accused of murdering Sander Thoenes.]

Commentary: What's at stake from losing reform icon Mulyani

Jakarta Post - December 7, 2009

Riyadi Suparno, Jakarta – An alliance of mysterious forces is aligning its power to unseat Vice President Boediono and/or Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. At the very least, they want Mulyani out. Their chances are 50-50.

For them, Boediono is less of a threat. Mulyani, however, is ruthless toward corrupt officials and fraudulent businesspeople. For them, Boediono is hard to topple as he is an elected public official, but Mulyani is a lot easier target to unseat.

Who are these forces who want Mulyani out? They include political parties in the opposition, as well as parties in the ruling coalition trying to increase their bargaining power, businesspeople whose interests are threatened by Mulyani's position at the Finance Ministry, and even crooked bureaucrats and public officials close to crooked businesspeople who are uncomfortable with Mulyani.

They have successfully built up public opinion that Mulyani and Boediono were wrong to bail out the trouble-ridden Bank Century (now Bank Mutiara), which cost the government (or the Deposit Insurance Corporation) Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million).

For those in the banking sector who followed closely the development of the crisis last year, Mulyani and Boediono's decision to bail out Bank Century was the right decision in a time of crisis to save the banking sector from collapse.

It's hard to imagine now how bad the situation was at that time. Just as an illustration, during October and November last year, liquidity was draining out of the domestic market and money was flying out of Indonesia in big numbers, while the rupiah was under heavy attack.

During this period, foreign exchange reserves dropped by $10 billion to $50 billion. On top of that, the central bank had spent $18 billion to intervene in the market to arrest the rupiah's free fall.

Because of the dire situation, the central bank decided not to let any banks fold during the crisis, to prevent any panic. That was the basis of the central bank's insistence that Bank Century had to be bailed out, to which Finance Minister Sri Mulyani reluctantly agreed.

In fact, it wasn't just Bank Century that needed help at that time. Even three state-owned banks also suffered liquidity crunches and needed the government's bridging finance, totaling Rp 15 trillion.

It's true that Bank Century went bust because of various crimes committed by shareholders, bank managers and affiliated parties. There are also possibilities that some people might have illegally gained financial benefits after the bailout.

But those are criminal acts that must be separated from the decision to bail out the bank. Instead of running after Boediono and Mulyani, who gained no financial benefits from their decision, politicians and law enforcers must run after those criminals who made off with a huge sum of money from Bank Century.

Now that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has launched its investigation into the Bank Century scandal, we hope it will uncover the truth of the matter, all the crimes committed to defraud the bank and the crimes following the bailout decision.

We also hope the political process at the House of Representatives will not be used to criminalize a decision-making process to save the economy, or to kick Mulyani out of her seat.

What's at stake if these politicians, with the helps of businesspeople unhappy with Mulyani and corrupt public officials, are successful in removing her from the post of finance minister?

For many of us, Mulyani is a reform icon in the government. She successfully reformed the tax office and the customs office – two institutions previously considered among the country's most corrupt.

Her move to clean the customs and tax offices had apparently affected some influential businesspeople used to colluding with customs and tax officials to get big tax breaks, including import taxes.

She cleaned the Finance Ministry from corrupt officials, although some eventually landed in more powerful positions. Now they are collaborating with the forces to remove Mulyani.

She is the iron lady who does not bend, even when her boss Yudhoyono reportedly sought her favor to help then coordinating economic minister Aburizal Bakrie, whose family business took a battering on the stock market last year. Reports have it that Mulyani even threatened to resign, but Yudhoyono eventually stood behind her.

Thus if these forces are successful in unseating Mulyani from the Finance Ministry, they would be joyous, but the rest of us would be on the losing side.

Many of us who invest in the market, including foreign investors, would also lose out. Mulyani has helped the credibility of the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) in its duty to better protect the interests of public investors.

For many foreign investors, Mulyani is an icon of clean bureaucracy, and therefore removing Mulyani would remove one important element of foreign confidence in the country. And it wouldn't just be us: Yudhoyono, who won the election on his anticorruption pledge, would also lose out, by losing one of his most credible and capable ministers.

Yudhoyono must also realize that some of those joining the fray to force Mulyani out of his Cabinet are using Mulyani just as a bridging target. Their eventual target is the President himself.

Thus, even for Yudhoyono, the iron lady would be his best defense to face down those wanting to unseat him through an impeachment process. So better keep Mulyani, and start the fight clean.

Film party poopers

Jakarta Post Editorial - December 4, 2009

This weekend, the 11th Jakarta Film Festival kicks off again with exciting promises for movie buffs. Despite tight schedules and congestion in the rainy season, they will try their utmost to enjoy the offerings.

Jakartans have come to see the JiFFest as their annual opportunity for special entertainment, provided by people working hard to this year bringing 170 films from dozens of countries. We look forward to another chance to understand other cultures, other experiences from faraway lands like Afghanistan and China, and the neighboring nations that we think we already know. From our own country, several filmmakers will have their works shown.

But where there's a party, there's a party pooper, it seems. This year it's the ban on Balibo, a documentary on the 1975 deaths of five journalists working for Australian media while covering military operations in a village in then East Timor. The film joins three others on the former East Timor that were also banned in 2006, and another on Aceh, another former hub of violent conflict.

On Tuesday, JiFFest organizers announced on their website that they had been informed by the censorship board that Balibo had been banned. The Foreign Ministry immediately said it would "explain" the situation to the outside world, and our lawmakers nodded in "understanding".

Also on Tuesday, the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club canceled a private screening of the film, saying it was worried the move might be considered breaking the law, as the screening was to be held in a public place.

The public is robbed, then, of the opportunity to see their own slice of history from a perspective that they have never been exposed to before. Actually, not many Indonesians would really care, so steeped are we in the official version of why and how East Timor was "integrated" decades ago.

But today's citizens would like to be thought of as intelligent and creative. They are not as ready as the elected legislators to nod in agreement to the censorship of this film, this book, this play. Indonesians are aware of the popularity of our pop musicians and films in neighboring countries, a showcase of what artistic freedom can do. The last suggestion from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to ban the movie 2012 was met with sniggers, as viewers said they found no problem with just another film on doomsday.

Every metropolitan in the region wants to be the next cultural hub, the latest "city of arts". Thanks to promoters and art lovers, Jakarta now has its jazz and dance festivals apart from the JiFFest, though organizers continue to lament the continued struggle for sponsorship.

Increasing support for these events is the least that the central and local governments can do. But a ban on a film, even if it's just one film, reminds the world that much of the old Indonesia is still here.

A military spokesman said screening the film here would "hurt many Indonesians", as if we were all scared to have many more people exposed to a glimpse of military operations in the 1970s. But rather than opening old wounds, sweeping things under the carpet would be the more appropriate description for every attempt to ban interpretations of our history. Then we would have learned little in over 10 years of reformasi.

Condom friction in pious Indonesia

Asia Times - December 2, 2009

Sara Schonhardt, Jakarta – The image of a giant condom draped in Indonesia's national red and white colors towered over the opening ceremonies of National Condom Week in Jakarta. To coincide with World AIDS Day, the National AIDS Commission crafted the message, "Use Condoms, Celebrate Life." But some hardline religious groups don't believe condom use should be promoted, let alone celebrated.

The Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir held banners during a demonstration on Sunday aimed at urging the government to end programs that provide free condoms to male and female sex workers, based on the argument that condoms encourage sex outside of marriage. Like many conservative opponents of the AIDS commission's plan to increase condom distribution, they say the way to stem HIV transmission is for people to stop engaging in risky behavior, such as drug use and commercial sex.

But the AIDS Commission, or KPA, argues that moral posturing should not triumph over the reality that HIV is quickly becoming one of Indonesia's biggest public health problems, with the number of reported cases nearly doubling between December 2006 and March 2009. "Now is not the time to pretend that all Indonesians are holy-holy," said Nafsiah Mboi, the tenacious head of the KPA. "Do we want to be hypocrites or do we want to see what's happening?"

Between eight and 10 million men annually visit female commercial sex workers, but only about 10% say they use condoms consistently, according to the National Coordinating Agency for Family Planning (BKKBN). That figure concerns HIV prevention workers, who say Indonesia is at a danger point in its epidemic, with as many as 19 million people prone to contracting HIV because of their risky sexual behavior or that of their partner.

Although Indonesia's 270,000 reported HIV/AIDS cases account for only a fraction of its 240 million population, the risk of the disease's spread is high as the main route of transmission shifts from intravenous drug use to unprotected sex.

Programs that discourage risky behavior and make condoms more widely available have successfully reduced the HIV rate in nearby Thailand. But a lack of political will coupled with backlash from conservative religious groups in Indonesia poses big barriers to prevention and treatment, with some of the worst forms of discrimination occurring at health centers.

"People here don't really care about HIV," said World Vision's Katarina Hardono. "They think people who contract the disease are being punished for engaging in risky behavior." The Christian humanitarian organization recently hosted an interactive HIV exhibit to reduce discrimination against HIV carriers in Indonesia. But Hardono and others working to curb the virus' spread say that their efforts need more government support.

KPA figures show positive results when the government puts its efforts into sex-related programs. The commission began mapping the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia in 2006 to determine what populations were most at risk. It found that HIV was most highly concentrated among injecting drug users and geared its national action plan toward providing treatment, care support and prevention.

When the commission began drafting its budget for 2010, it found condom use among injecting drug users had soared while the number of new HIV cases had fallen. Condom use among the clients of female sex workers, however, had hardly increased at all.

In July, with an inflow of about $120 million from the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, the KPA began a condom use campaign focused on expanding education and outreach to youth and men most likely to visit sex workers. Social stigmas that associate condoms with prostitution and homosexuality are a major barrier to their use, said the BKKBN's Nelly Nangoy at the launch of National Condom Week.

Although condoms are available in convenience stores and pharmacies around Indonesia, many people don't want to be seen purchasing them, partly from embarrassment, but also out of fear. Legislation that criminalizes people living with or vulnerable to HIV infection fuels stigma and discrimination in many countries.

In Indonesia, that criminalization extends to latex, said Robert Magnani, country director of the non-profit Family Health International. He explains that bylaws in some districts of Indonesia allow for a woman to be prosecuted on prostitution charges if she is caught carrying a condom.

"Indonesia's rapidly rising HIV rate is not a problem of finances, underdevelopment or low education levels among Indonesian citizens," said Michael Buehler, a postdoctoral fellow in Southeast Asian Studies at Columbia University in the United States. "The Indonesian government just does not have the political will to stand against conservative Islamic pressure groups that say condom distribution promotes premarital sex."

The fact that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono chose to address culturally sensitive subjects such as sex work and homosexuality during an August speech at the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific was a positive sign that the government may support the KPA's condom promotion agenda. Yudhoyono created the AIDS commission in 2007 to help coordinate efforts by government and non-governmental entities, including the private sector, to tackle the spread of HIV.

Meanwhile, conservative Islamic parties have become more marginalized, garnering only 16% of the vote at April's national parliamentary election. Advocates have welcomed a changeover at the Ministry of Health from a leader who zeroed out money for condom promotion to a more reformist figure.

It is not only Islamic groups that have lashed out against condom use in Indonesia. The Catholic Church and even the US government under the former George W Bush administration, which steered funding toward prevention programs, have promoted abstinence over protection. The Catholic Church forbids the use of condoms as a family planning device, explained Mboi. "Does it also forbid the use of condoms to save lives?" Her challenge has drawn in Catholic universities, such as Atma Jaya, which is working with DKT, the largest condom distributor in Indonesia, to increase the use of contraceptives. Current figures show sales of 110 million condoms per year in Indonesia, a five-fold increase since 1996, but still far from where it needs to be, said the DKT country director, Todd Callahan.

Meanwhile, the KPA's current campaign actively focuses on Indonesian youth, raising concerns that public health messages are targeting politically safe populations. But Callahan disagrees that Indonesians are squeamish when talking about sex. The biggest challenge to selling condoms in Indonesia, he said, was the perception that sex with a condom was not pleasurable.

As part of this week's activities, DKT plans a concert and a "condom climb". The KPA has named sultry, hip-shaking singer Julia Perez as its condom ambassador, a decision that drew criticism from conservative groups who think her presentation is at symbolic odds the government's short-term goal of increasing condom use by 3%. "We have to change the message to say that with condoms you enjoy sex more... scare tactics just don't work," said Mboi.

[Sara Schonhardt is a freelance writer based in Jakarta, Indonesia. She has lived and worked in Southeast Asia for six years and has a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University.]