Mark Bowling – Allegations of recent military and police intimidation, beatings and torture, kidnapping and murder in West Papua, have been documented in a new Church report.

The report documents Muslims being radicalised in the once predominantly Christian Papuan provinces, and "very active" Muslim militias that burn down Papuan houses.

The report was compiled by the Brisbane Catholic Justice and Peace Commission's Shadow Human Rights Fact Finding Mission to West Papua, following a visit to West Papua last month. It has not yet been publicly released, nor comment sought from Indonesian authorities.

The report documents religious, social and economic discrimination including how the carve up of land for major development has benefited multinationals and excluded Papuans from ownership and jobs.

It refers to a slow motion genocide happening 250km north of Australia and states that "the Indonesians want to replace the Christian religion with Islam".

The report author Josephite Sister Susan Connelly was accompanied to West Papua by Brisbane archdiocese's Catholic Justice and Peace Commission executive officer Peter Arndt. During their fact-finding mission they interviewed more than 250 community leaders in Japapura, Merauke, Timika and Sorong.

Sr Connelly, a respected human rights advocate, likened her visit to West Papua to "stepping back twenty years when I first went to East Timor"."The same oppressive security presence everywhere, the same suspicion, bewilderment, frustration and sadness," she said.

"The same fear. The same seemingly groundless hope. A man took my hands in his and said, 'We are in danger'. That simple statement sums up for me the experience of the whole visit.

"The Papuan people have lost so much, and are facing erasure as a people, merely preserved as oddities of the past or artifacts to be photographed for tourist brochures. They realise that their land is considered more valuable than they are."

The fact-finding team heard many accounts of alleged military and police brutality and murder. "There is clear evidence of ongoing violence, intimidation and harassment by the Indonesian security forces," Mr Arndt said on his return to Brisbane.

"That is especially the case for Papuans expressing their support for particular political points of view. Authorities want to close down any Papuan efforts to promote discussion about self-determination, and they have applied a military response to deal with the irrepressible desire of a large number of Papuans to promote their cause for freedom."

Based on his interviews across West Papua, Mr Arndt (pictured) identified the instigators of alleged human rights violations as members of the Indonesian army including Kopassus, police including a special counter insurgency unit, Detachment 88, and Indonesia's intelligence agency, BIN.

"Even demonstrations about social issues such as access to education get broken up by authorities," he said.

The fact-finding team heard many examples of how the Indonesian Government pushed economic development, but ignored human rights. "The Government has carved up the land and given it for exploitation to some 50 multinational companies," the report said.

"The procedure is that the local government invites companies to come and gives permits. People are usually shocked when the companies come to sign a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with them, showing them the permit and the map. If the villagers don't agree to the proposal, the company goes back to the local government and returns with the police."

In the 1970s, ethnic Papuans accounted for 96 per cent of the population. Today they are a minority 48 per cent, because of the rapid migration of Indonesians from other more populated islands such as Java.

The report found that Papuans were now marginalised economically at the expense of immigrants, the majority of whom are Muslims. The report said there was "a movement for Muslims from Indonesia to replace Papuans in every sector".

"The Indonesians want to replace the Christian religion with Islam. Many mosques are being built everywhere. They want Papua to be a Javanese Malay nation," the report said.

"Radicalisation is happening in Papua, with some militias very active near the border with PNG. They burn down the Papuan houses. They are recruited as illegal loggers. Their camps and logging are well protected by the military.

"The military are certainly killing the people, and closed access to opportunity to Papuans in all areas of life constitutes a slow motion genocide. The general opinion encountered was that Indonesia is a total failure regarding Papua and is just another coloniser.

"The Indonesian Government does not give opportunities to Papuan people or protect them. It was said that most Church leaders try to deal with the problems one by one, but the whole picture should be looked at as a series of policies designed to overcome the Papuan people.

"In every sector of government the system is composed of Indonesian tactics to destroy the Papuans. Beatings and torture are used, but also the economic aspects of lack of opportunity, the sidelining of the indigenous peoples, the taking over of land by companies... are part of the plan."

Accusations in the report

A young, wealthy businessman poisoned in 2015. He had financially supported building an office for the National Committee for West Papua, an independence-oriented group. He also funded Papuans being sent to international conferences.

A Papuan woman activist arrested in 2015 by police for holding a prayer service in support of an international conference in London. She and her group were interrogated for five hours.

In January this year, 27 Papuan palm oil workers were allegedly tortured by the Indonesian army's special force Kopassus. The men had previously complained to their company bosses after they had not been paid for two months.

A man aged 35 who used to work for Papua's Freeport gold mine was kidnapped in 2015, killed, and his body thrown on the street. There was no sign of torture and the police told his family that it was an accident.

Police and military broke up community activities such as prayer meetings.

In September 2015, 18-year-old Daniel Bowgow was killed. His father was a local prayer meeting leader.

People reported they couldn't move freely at night to search for food for fear of being kidnapped. The military and police use Papuan informers to let them know of people's movements.

Source: http://catholicleader.com.au/news/new-catholic-report-tells-stories-of-murder-kidnapping-and-torture-in-west-papua

Ailing Labora surrenders, but mystery still shrouds escape

Jakarta Post - March 8, 2016

Stefani Ribka and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta/Jayapura – In the latest twist to serial fugitive Labora Sitorus' recent escape, the former low-ranking police officer has surrendered and been locked up – this time under closer guard.

Early on Monday, Labora turned himself in to police at his house in Boswessel, Sorong, West Papua. A team of 120 personnel from the West Papua Police had surrounded the area around his house for days, cutting off all routes in.

"[Labora] said he didn't want to go to prison, that he'd rather die than be sent back to the penitentiary," National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti told The Jakarta Post.

A convicted illegal logger, fuel hoarder and money launderer, Labora was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2014. He has a long track record of evading incarceration. In January last year, he was declared a fugitive for refusing to serve a court-ordered prison sentence and pay a fine of Rp 5 billion (US$383,58).

He was later found to be living with dozens of employees at his residence, a 7-hectare compound that resembles a fortress. Labora had not returned to his cell in Sorong Penitentiary since October last year, having been allowed out for medical treatment, and had lived in the heavily guarded residential compound in Tampa Garam, Sorong, from where he ran his business.

Authorities at the Sorong correctional facility had conducted an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) test on him and confirmed that he had symptoms of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

It was not until late February that 720 police and military personnel, acting on direct orders from Jakarta, finally moved to capture Labora and transfer him to Cipinang Penitentiary in Jakarta.

Once again, though, he fooled the officials, fleeing from his house in Tampa Garam on Thursday night with the help of an employee, identified only as Tatang, who drove him away on a motorcycle. As of Monday, Tantang remained a large, but Labora had been captured and sent back to Cipinang.

The Law and Human Rights Ministry's director general of penitentiaries, I Wayan Kusmiantha Dusak said Labora had been placed in Cipinang because of his health issues.

"Labora is an ill man. If he doesn't feel well, we won't have to take him outside the prison, as Cipinang has its own hospital," Wayan said. He added that Labora was currently in an isolation room.

Yan Christian Warinussy, former lawyer for an accomplice of Labora named Iwanggin, noted that the ex-policeman had, since the time of his initial trial, proven liable to run away at any point.

"Labora's something of a mystery. He's capable of fleeing at any time. Hopefully, with better public scrutiny in Jakarta, he won't be able to escape, as he did in Sorong," he said.

Legal activist and lawyer Julius Ibrani of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) said that the case should not end with Labora's recapture, and that investigators should look more closely at the crimes he committed and his relationship with other law enforcers to try and ascertain the truth behind his repeated flight.

"The Law and Human Rights Ministry should ensure that this case will not end once Labora is in the penitentiary. He could be a rich vein of information regarding systemic crime – he could reveal the names of other figures involved in his crimes," Julius said.

During his detention in Sorong penitentiary, Labora repeatedly lodged requests for temporary release for medical treatment outside the penitentiary, requests that were unfailingly granted by prison authorities.

Asking about the case, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly claimed that certain law enforcement officers were in cahoots with Labora. "We suspect the involvement of [law enforcement] officials in his escape," he said. (wnd)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/ailing-labora-surrenders-mystery-still-shrouds-escape.html

Labor Sitars turns himself in to police on Monday morning

Jakarta Globe - March 7, 2016

Fana Suparman & Erwin C Sihombing, Jakarta – A former police officer turned convict who escaped from West Papua's Sorong Prison last week turned himself in to authorities in the early hours of Monday (07/03).

Labora Sitorus, a former officer of the Raja Ampat Police, made national headlines in 2014 after anti-money laundering agency the PPATK found the low-ranking officer had Rp 1.5 trillion ($114 million) in his bank accounts.

Labora was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of illegal logging and fuel smuggling charges in September 2014, but fled last week after convincing prison officials he was in need of medical treatment.

Labora attended the Sorong District Police station on his own via motorcycle taxi at 3:00 a.m. local time on Monday. "He turned himself in to the Sorong Police this morning. I already sent a team to confirm and yes, Labora was there," Justice Ministry official I Wayan Kusmiantha Dusak said on Monday.

The Sorong Prison had granted Labora permission to undergo medical treatment at local hospital, however while in transit he requested treatment at his Sorong home instead.

When police arrived at his home on Friday morning to check on the prisoner before transferring him from the Sorong Prison to the Cipinang Prison, East Jakarta, he had already fled.

Dusak said that the transfer process would resume once the police were finished questioning the convict.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/labora-sitorus-turns-police-monday-morning/

Papuan Catholic groups protest harassment of priest

UCA News - March 4, 2016

Benny Mawel, Jayapura, Indonesia – Dozens of young Catholics in West Papua protested in the provincial capital Manokwari March 2, demanding that police stop harassing an activist priest recently questioned for treason.

Protesters from the Catholic Youth and the Union of Catholic University Students of the Republic of Indonesia organizations marched several kilometers from the State University of Papua to the offices of the West Papua Police where they held the protest.

"Through the West Papua Police, we urge the Papua Police to stop criminalizing Father John Djonga," Thomas Jefferson Baru, head of the Catholic Youth's West Papua chapter, told ucanews.com.

Father Djonga was summoned by police in Wamena in Papua province on Feb. 19, four days after leading a prayer service in which members of a separatist group were alleged to have participated. The priest has maintained that his presence at the ceremony to open a community service building was purely pastoral.

Father Djonga appeared at the police station in the district's capital on Feb. 26 after consulting with Franciscan Bishop Leo Laba Ladjar of Jayapura. Accompanied by a lawyer, he answered 55 questions from two police officers during the four-hour meeting. Police have said they may call on Father Djonga for further questioning.

Baru said protesters are calling on police to leave Father Djonga alone. "Summoning and questioning the priest is a form of criminalization as he was just leading a prayer service," he said.

Reimondus Asem, secretary of the student union's Fakfak district chapter, said the police harassment of their priest has caused an emotional upheaval among local Catholics.

He believes police questioned Father Djonga because they have little understanding of the priest's role in the community. They should have a better understanding of a priest's service "so there will be no misunderstanding," he said.

Papuan police spokesman Patridge Renwarin told ucanews.com that Father Djonga is currently considered a "witness" to a violation of Indonesia's criminal code pertaining to treason. The spokesman said the priest would become a "suspect" should further evidence be uncovered that implicates him.

Earlier, Father Djonga, who has long fought for the rights of the Papuan people, said he was told police may call him in for further questioning. He said he remained unfazed by the police scrutiny.

"It has been my work in the region with conflicts like this. I have no fear," he said. "There's no way I can just stand still while the Papuan people face injustices and violence."

Source: http://www.ucanews.com/news/papuan-catholic-groups-protest-harassment-of-priest/75393

Tolerance called for after request to ban mosque in Papua

Jakarta Post - March 2, 2016

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Governor Lukas Enembe called on residents on Tuesday to maintain tolerance and respect following a demand from a group of churches to ban the construction of a mosque in Jayawijaya regency.

"In Papua, we have 250 [local] languages. There are different religions, but we can maintain peace and avoid conflict. Religious conflict in Tolikara was settled properly," Lukas said during a meeting of the Regional Leadership Communication Forum at the Papua Police headquarters.

The meeting was attended by Papua Police chief Isp. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw, Cendrawasih Military Commander Maj. Gen. Hinsa Siburian, chairman of the Papua Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) Bishop Leo Laba Ladjar, Jayawijaya Regent John Wempi Wetipo, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama Jayapura Kahar Yelipele, chairman of the Jayawijaya Churches Communion (PGGJ) Abraham Ungirwalu and other Christian and Muslim leaders.

The meeting discussed a statement from PGGJ asking the regency to, among other things, stop the construction of the Baiturrahman grand mosque, ban the use of loudspeakers in mosques and ban the wearing of Muslim head scarfs in public spaces.

PGGJ issued the statement on Feb. 25 after a circulating text message stated that Muslims were building a four-story mosque with a 70-meter tall minaret that would be taller than the Jesus Christ statue in front of the regency office.

The statement was responded to by a statement from the Papua Central Mountains Muslim Forum that called PGGJ an illegal organization and urged the police to arrest Christian priests who had signed the statement calling for a ban on the mosque.

Jayawijaya Regent Wempi Wetipo said he gave a permit because it was a renovation instead of a new mosque building. A new mosque needs an approval from FKUB.

Kahar Yelipele added the mosque was renovated into two stories, not four stories, with a 20-meter minaret. "So, it's not right to say that the minaret will be 70-meters tall and the mosque will be four stories," he said.

The meeting agreed that both PGGJ and the Muslim groups would retract their statements and would not extend the matter into a legal process.

After the meeting, Bishop Leo said the construction of houses of worship should be conducted according to the existing regulation that was based on a joint decree from the Home Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry.

However, Leo called on religious leaders to consider local customs before constructing houses of worship in order to avoid conflict. He argued religious conflict had also contributed to economic disparities between local people and outsiders.

"Many outsiders who are Muslims control the economy. Kiosks belong to Muslims and there is the loud call to prayer. There is a feeling that this valley [in Papua] is dominated by Muslims. So, it's important to consider [local] sensibilities to maintain religious tolerance," Leo said.

Papua made headlines due to a religious-based riot in Tolikara last year. On July 17, hundreds of people confronted and pelted stones at a group of Muslims performing Idul Fitri prayers using loudspeakers in Karubaga, Tolikara. This forced the worshippers, who are a minority group in the area, to flee to a nearby local military office for protection.

The mob set a fire that burned down more than 50 kiosks and houses and a prayer room. Police released shots into the crowd, killing one of the protesters and injuring 11 others during the unrest.

On Feb. 18, the Jayapura District Court sentenced Jundi Wanimbo and Arianto Kogoya to two months and 26 days in jail for inciting the riot.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/02/tolerance-called-after-request-ban-mosque-papua.html

Human rights & justice

Government lambasted for slow progress

Jakarta Post - March 4, 2016

Stefani Ribka, Jakarta – The government has been urged to accelerate the resolution of past human rights abuses that have lain dormant for decades.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator, Haris Azhar, said the commission had just been updated by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) that no significant progress had been made.

Replying to the query by Kontras, the AGO said there had been five meetings conducted among the AGO, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the military, the police, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) and various ministries between April 20, 2015, and Jan. 8 this year.

"The point [of the meetings] is that the AGO will solve this problem with reconciliation but there is no standard on what the process will be like," he told a press conference on Wednesday.

"In the first meeting there was a judicial process mentioned. But in the last meeting, there was no word of it. They suggested a reconciliation process as it is hard for them to gather evidence [for a judicial process]," he added.

Kontras suggested that a presidential regulation (Perpres) should be used to form a special team that directly reports to the presidential office, which could accelerate the process. It argued that a Perpres would be better than a law as its issuance would not involve the House of Representatives.

"The team could comprise only five people who are competent, willing to solve the cases and have previous experience with such circumstances. The military and AGO need not be involved so as to make sure the process is independent and efficient," Haris said.

The cases, all decades old, include the 1989 Talangsari incident in Central Lampung, various kidnappings and unresolved shootings in the 1980s, the 1965 communist purge and the May 1998 riots, have seen snail-paced resolution as dossiers compiled by Komnas HAM in 2002 have always been rejected by the AGO for various reasons.

AGO spokesman Amir Yanto said that the process was ongoing and refused to call it "not a significant update".

Komnas HAM chairman Nur Kholis acknowledged that the process had been slow due to the AGO's repeated objections. Nevertheless, there had recently been some important progress.

"On Feb. 15 to 19, for the first time, investigators from Komnas HAM and the AGO, 18 of us, sat together to check the dossiers and discuss which mechanism should be taken to address the issue," he said over the phone on Thursday.

Komnas HAM appreciated Kontras' suggestion for a special presidential team. Last year, it also suggested the same idea but with different personnel, including itself, the AGO and victims.

When asked whether the commission had investigated former generals and high-ranking officials alleged by many to be involved in the cases, Nur refused to disclose anything but said, "We're working on it."

Maria Katalina Sumarsih, mother of BR Norma "Wawan" Irmawan, who was shot dead in the Semanggi II tragedy in 1998, emphasized that the cases should be brought to criminal court to reveal the truth and suspects behind it. "Compensation is not our objective but the revelation of truth and state confession is."

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/government-lambasted-slow-progress.html

Kontras urges Joko to form 'presidential team' to investigate human right abuses

Jakarta Globe - March 2, 2016

Jakarta – The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence, known as KontraS, on Wednesday (02/03) urged President Joko Widodo to form a presidential team to resolve past human rights abuses following poor performance from Attorney General's Office in handling violations.

After promising to pursue reconciliation for victims last year, Joko's administration is yet to make concrete progress towards resolving painful human rights violations as the AGO is yet to launch an investigation.

"We have seen President Joko Widodo speaking three times about past human rights abuses, but until today there is no follow up on the matters," Haris Azhar said during a press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday (02/03).

Kontras has called on the president to issue a decree to establish a committee for past human rights abuses in order to boost the settlement process as the relevant ministers have so far failed to take proper steps on the matter.

A presidential decree is appropriate as many of the masterminds behind abuses currently control political parties in the House of Representatives and some occupy positions of power in Joko's administration, Haris said.

"The team should be placed at the Palace and directly deliver recommendations to the president. It's easier because the president can directly instruct the Attorney General and Komnas HAM [National Commission on Human Rights]," Haris explained, adding that some ministers so far have showed contra-productive comments to Joko's directive.

Several names are seen as potentially filling the positions, including Setara Institute coordinator Hendardi; former commissioner of Komnas HAM Marzuki Darusman; former foreign affairs minister Hassan Wirajuda; and former chairwoman of Commission for Women's Protection (Komnas Perempuan) Kamala Chandrakirana.

The statement was made following a letter from the AGO to Kontras on Feb. 23, which said past human rights abuses will be resolved in a non-judicial approach with reconciliation as it is now considered nearly impossible to collect evidence in many cases.

The rights group had received a similar vague answer from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his 2004 to 2014 term as president.

Haris said the AGO's claim that collecting evidence would be "nearly impossible" is based on a series of meeting with the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police, rather than a pre-investigation into the cases.

"What they called 'reconciliation' has no standards. First of all, you should know who is responsible for the violations. And ask the victim whether they are willing to forgive them or not," said Haris.

The letter, signed by AGO spokesman Amir Yanto, said the judicial approach for human rights violations will be handled by civil law mechanism – not criminal charges.

"The substance of the letter has showed that the AGO, in particular Attorney General HM Prasetyo as the commander of the institution, is not willing to resolve past human rights abuses," Haris said, adding Joko should remove Prasetyo from the post as soon as possible.

Komnas HAM has indicated seven cases of "gross human rights violations" in Indonesia's modern history. These include the 1965 anti-communist massacre, which saw more then half a million people killed, as well as a number of more recent extrajudicial killings of students and activists. In spite of ample documentation, there has been virtually nothing in the way of legal remedy for the victims.

Survivors and families of victims of the military's myriad massacres and other rights abuses over the decades have long demanded that the masterminds, many of whom still occupy positions of power in Joko's administration, be brought to justice for their crimes.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/kontras-urges-joko-form-presidential-team-investigate-human-right-abuses/

Women's rights

IWD protest in Jakarta highlights anti-women policies, discriminative bylaws

Tribune News - March 8, 2016

Lendy Ramadhan, Jakarta – Scores of women calling themselves Women's Solidarity (Solidaritas Perempuan) held a protest action in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday March 8 to commemorate International Women's Day (IWD) 2016.

A representative of the demonstrators named Zakia explained that current government polices do not side with women and instead tend to discriminate against women. She gave the example of the Qanun Jinayah, a criminal code based on Sharia law in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh that consistently paints women as bad.

"(We) demand that the government look at the state of Indonesian society, particularly women in Indonesia, it's [happening] in all regions, Makassar, Jakarta, Mataram, Sumbawa, Palu, Palembang, Lampung and so on, it's about their source of livelihood, with policies that should side with the interests of women", she said.

Zakia explained that current policies on resources, fishing communities, [women's] bodies and discriminative bylaws in Aceh do not side with women. For example, the Qanun Jinayah in Aceh which severely discriminates against women.

"How is it that women aren't allowed to sit astride [a motorcycle], how is it that if a women is raped the perpetrator just utters an oath four times and is free, how is it that women must wear a jilbab [Islamic headscarf], in all of this women are deemed to be criminals", she said.

Brandishing a pamphlet containing their demands, the protesters held a long-march from the Horse Statue in Central Jakarta to the nearby State Palace. The group hopes that the government will hear and then agree to their demands.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Solidaritas Perempuan: Qanun Jinayah Diskriminatif".]

Source: http://www.tribunnews.com/nasional/2016/03/08/solidaritas-perempuan-qanun-jinayah-diskriminatif

Women workers in Bandung demand equal wages, prosperity and end to outsourcing

Tribune News - March 8, 2016

Bandung – Workers in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung from the Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) protested at the city hall on Tuesday March 8 demanding equal wages for women workers, the abolition of outsourcing and prosperity for workers.

"Coinciding with this March 8, as International Women's Day, we women also have the right to equal wages and prosperity", said one of the women protesters in a speech.

Based on Tribune's observations, a number of police personnel were mobilised to secure the protest action. Several worker representatives also entered the city hall in order to meet with officials and discuss their demands. (ff)

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Buruh Perempuan Demo Menuntut Kesetaraan Upah di Balai Kota Bandung".]

Source: http://jabar.tribunnews.com/2016/03/08/buruh-perempuan-demo-menuntut-kesetaraan-upah-di-balai-kota-bandung

Women's Parade of Struggle conveys Indonesian women's pain and sorrow on IWD

Kabar Buruh - March 8, 2016

Jakarta – The Indonesian Women's Parade of Struggle held an action in Central Jakarta on March 8 to commemorate International Women's Day (IWD).

The Indonesian Women's Parade of Struggle is a front made up of women from the Indonesian Labour Union Confederation (KPBI), the Independent Workers Solidarity Movement (GSBM), the Indonesian Unionists Solidarity Forum (FSUI), the North Jakarta 1992 All Indonesia Trade Union (SPSI 92 Jakarta Utara), the North Jakarta National Trade Union (SPN Jakarta Utara), Free Women (Perempuan Mahardhika), the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta), the Women's Legal Aid Foundation (LBH APIK), the Foundation for Psychological Recovery and Psychosocial Empowerment (Yayasan Pulih), the Service Provider Forum (FPL), the Indonesian Disabled Women's Association (HWDI), the Populist Student Front (FMK), the Indonesian Student Union (SMI), United Indonesian Struggle (PPI), the People's Politics (Politik Rakyat), the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (JALA PRT), the Jakarta Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Jakarta) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KONTRAS).

In 1910 an international conference in Copenhagen organised by socialist groups agreed to use the momentum of International Women's Day on March 8 as a form of respect for the struggle for women's human rights.

The Indonesian Women's Parade of Struggle took to the streets this year in an action joined by around 500 people, the majority of which were women. At 10am they gathered a the the Horse Statue in front of the Indosat building (the National Monument entrance) in Central Jakarta then moved off to the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry (KPPA) and finally to the nearby State Palace. There they rang 100 gongs in front of the State Palace as a symbol of anger over the problems faced by women in Indonesia, which are becoming more urgent year by year.

Nawaduka [literally meaning Nine Sorrows] represents the political position of Indonesian women who have yet to see any reforms under the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla as outlined in their nine point priority program Nawacita.

Up until now, coinciding with 106 years of the international women's movement, the Widodo administration has failed to keep its pledge in accordance with Nawacita and on the contrary has deepened the Nawaduka of Indonesian women. Because up until now the state has yet to treat women with respect: there is no menstrual leave, maternity leave or places to breast feed at work in accordance with the law. There are still low wages and employment insecurity for domestic and migrant workers.

Women are also venerable to sexual harassment and violence, particularly in virginity test for female applicants to the Indonesian military and national police. Women also often face discrimination and difficulties in accessing public services.

"The sorrow of poverty and free market policies mean that women are the first casualties when there are mass dismissals. Women also do not have access to healthcare services and this contributes to increasing levels of maternal mortality rates because of problems accessing the BPJS [Social Security Management Agency]", said Mutiara Ika from Free Women. (jum)

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Parade Juang Perempuan Indonesia Sampaikan Nawaduka Perempuan Indonesia".]

Source: http://kabarburuh.com/parade-juang-perempuan-indonesia-sampaikan-nawaduka-perempuan-indonesia/

IWD action in Yogya calls for end to discriminative laws, equal rights

Suara Merdeka - March 8, 2016

Yogyakarta – On Tuesday March 8 scores of students from the Women's Struggle Committee (KPP) held a protest action at the zero kilometre point in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta. The group demanded that all laws and regulations that discriminate against women be revoked.

In addition to this, according to action coordinator Pipin, all of the democratic rights belonging to men must also be given to women. They also called for assistance for single parents and for women's right to equal pay for equal work.

The KPP action was joined by students from various higher education institutions in the area and was held to commemorate International Women's Day (IWD) which falls on March 8.

In commemorating this historic day, the KPP action called for legal, political and social equality for women. During the action, they brought banners and posters with demands calling for equality for women. The action proceeded smoothly although it was watched over from a distance by security personnel.

The action also called for women to be able to control their own bodies because women have a basic right to decided whether or not they wish to prevent or terminate a pregnancy.

After giving speeches the protesters disbanded with students returning to their respective campuses under the watchful eye of police. (Sugiarto/CN41/SMNetwork)

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "Sambut Hari Perempuan Internasional Dengan Aksi".]

Source: http://berita.suaramerdeka.com/sambut-hari-perempuan-internasional-dengan-aksi/

Women's Struggle Committee re-launched for IWD, ongoing fight for equality

Koran Migran - March 8, 2016

The Indonesian People's Center of Struggle (PPRI) has re-launched the Women's Struggle Committee of the People (KPPR, Komite Perjuangan Perempuan Rakyat), which had begun to die down over the last few years, to coincide with the momemntum of commemorating International Women's Day (IWD) which for the last 100 years has been commemorated on March 8.

As if reborn with a new spirit, it is hoped that the KPPR will become a front for the struggle of women's groups that will be strong, solid and capable of fighting for equal rights for women.

Meanwhile in the context of the protest action pioneered by the KPPR to commemorate IWD this year, they will be taking up the theme, "Women and People Fight Capitalism, Militarism and the Culture of Patriarchy" in two locations.

The first target will be the offices of the Ministry of Education and Culture followed by the State Palace. With around 500 protesters, which are dominated by women, both young and old will join in the same strength of spirit.

A number of demands will be taken up by the different organisations that make up the PPRI alliance which includes the National Labour Movement Centre (SGBN), the Indonesian Migrant Workers Trade Union (SBMI), the Indonesian People's Union of Struggle (SPRI), the Populist Democratic Trade Union Federation (F-SEDAR), the Solidarity Alliance for Labour Struggle (GSPB), the Student Struggle Center for National Liberation (PEMBEBASAN), the People's Youth Movement Centre (SGMK), the Indonesian Cultural Society Union (SeBUMI), Solidarity Net (Solidaritas.net), the People's Liberation Party (PPR), the Working People's Association-Organisational Saviours Committee (KPO-PRP), the Contract Workers Challenge Alliance (ABKM), the Hong Kong Progressive Migrant Worker Alliance (AMP-HK) and the PT Nanbu Plastic Earth of Mankind Trade Union (Nanbu SEBUMI).

PPRI's demands:

1. Wages for housewives
2. Basic commodities for the poor
3. Equal rights and treatment in the work place
4. An 8 hour working day for Indonesian migrant workers (BMI)
5. A 50 percent wage rise
6. The abolition of all payments for BMI placement overseas
7. The provision of free social security for BMIs and their families
8. A 5 day working week for BMIs
9. Allow BMIs to process independent contracts
10. Save Rita and all BMIs overseas [facing the death penalty]
11. The provision of high-tech, easy to use and affordable household equipment for women in the home
12. Equal opportunities for public positions
13. Affordable, scientific and democratic education
14. The provision of public kitchens, public washing facilities, child care and care for the elderly
15. Maternal and menstrual leave
16. Equal wages for equal work
17. Access to affordable healthcare services, particularly in relation to reproductive health
18. Stabilise the price of basic commodities for the people
19. Try and seize the assets of corruptors
20. Develop a strong national industry
21. Revoke bylaws that discriminate against women and reject all anti-democratic legislation and regulations
22. Reject all forms of sexual violence against women
23. Reject the positioning of women as objects of entertainment in the arts
24. Ratify the Law on Domestic Workers and the Law on the Protection of BMIs
25. Implement genuine agrarian reform
26. Abolish all contract labour systems and outsourcing

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "KPPR Bangkit Kembali di Momentum IWD - Memperingati IWD 8 Maret 2016".]

Source: http://www.koranmigran.com/2016/03/kppr-bangkit-kembali-di-momentum-iwd.html

'Women and the people fight capitalism, militarism and the culture of patriarchy'

Solidarity Net - March 8, 2016

Jakarta – Two hundred demonstrators from the Women's Struggle Committee of the People (KPPR) held a march to commemorate International Women's Day (IWD) from the Horse Monument in front of the Indosat building to the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday March 8.

The KPPR, which was formed by groups that make up the Indonesian People's Centre of Struggle (PPRI), rallied under the theme, "Women and the People Fight Capitalism, Militarism and the Culture of Patriarchy".

Indonesia's economic development which follows the dictates of the market has had a terrible impact on the ordinary people, particularly women. Only 28 percent of women have access to job opportunities in developing countries. Meanwhile according to the World Bank, some 117 million out of a total population of 231 million people live in poverty.

"Today we fight poverty which is also the enemy of women", said Indonesian People's Union of Struggle (SPRI) chairperson Marlo Sitompul. The culture of patriarchy sidelines and provides a basis for the exclusion of women from productive social labour and the discrimination that follows this.

In addition to the KPPR, a group of protesters calling themselves the Women's Movement Against Inequality also joined the action. The group highlighted the discriminative policies implemented by the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) which bans the appearance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people on television. They protested this policy by going to the offices of the KPI and the Ministry of Communication and Information. (Kominfo).

"I represent women without vaginas, who are often referred to as waria [transsexuals], whose voices are often not heard, except in relation to HIV... stop controlling us", said one of the speakers from atop the command vehicle.

When they had almost reached Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in front of the State Palace, the KPPR protesters were blocked by police and a water cannon. The police prohibited the demonstrators from protesting near the Palace and only allowed them to give speeches in front of the National Monument gate some 100 metres from the Palace.

The police used Article 9 of Law Number 9/1998 on Expressing an Opinion in Public which only allows for protests to take place 100 metres from the State Palace gates.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "KPPR Peringati Hari Perempuan Sedunia 2016".]

Source: http://www.solidaritas.net/2016/03/kppr-peringati-hari-perempuan-sedunia-2016.html

Seven laws 'discriminate against women': KPI

Jakarta Post - March 7, 2016

Jakarta – The Indonesian Women's Coalition (KPI) said on Sunday that the country had at least seven laws that should be amended for failing to accommodate gender equality.

KPI secretary-general Dian Kartikasari said the problematic legislation included the laws on marriage, migrant worker protection, fishermen, gender equality, sexual violence, domestic workers and social welfare.

She cited as an example that in the Marriage Law, the minimum legal age of marriage for females is 16, while it is 19 for males. Many young women who marry during their teens are unable to finish high school as a result.

Moreover, the law stipulates that girls under 16 can marry with permission from their parents. "Sometimes parents marry off their child at 13 or 14," Dian said as quoted by kompas.com.

There were 293,220 cases of violence against women reported to the commission in 2014, up from 279,688 in 2013 and 216,156 in 2012. Of those figures, around 25 percent were cases of sexual violence.

Dian said the law on fishermen lacked recognition for female fishers who took care of their families while also working at sea.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/07/national-scene-seven-laws-discriminate-against-women-kpi.html

Political parties & elections

House agrees to allow ex-convicts to run in elections

Jakarta Post - March 2, 2016

Jakarta – The House Of Representatives is set to allow former convicts to run in local elections through an amendment to the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law.

House Commission II chairman Rambe Kamarulzaman said former convicts should be permitted to contest regional elections as long as they complied with a regulation that obligated them to publicly announce their criminal records.

"Their right has to be restored on the condition that they show remorse and promise to not repeat the crimes they've committed in their public announcement," the Golkar Party politician told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The government has submitted an amendment to the Pilkada Law. Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo conveyed on Monday to Commission II overseeing home affairs several key points in the revision proposal, including a provision that would allow former convicts to run in elections without serving a five-year probation period.

The Constitutional Court approved the provision in a judicial review of the law in July. The court ruling, which ordered ex-convicts and suspects to publicly announce their criminal history is adapted in Article 7 of the draft bill, a copy of which was recently obtained by the Post.

Commission II deputy chairman Ahmad Riza Patria said that apart from ex-convicts, he also hoped suspects would be given the right to run in regional elections. "As he or she has not been convicted, why should we restrict them from taking part in an election, as stipulated in our Constitution?" said the Gerindra Party politician on Tuesday.

Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) executive director Titi Anggraini criticized the ruling for not mentioning the full definition of the term "convict". "The new law should stipulate the complete definition of 'convict', is it a person who is on parole or have they been fully freed by a correctional institution?" she said.

Several ex-convicts and suspects, most of them implicated in graft cases, ran and won elections in their respective areas during the simultaneous regional elections in December.

In a bid to contest the Semarang mayoral election, former mayor Soemarmo announced in a local newspaper his corruption conviction, which had forced him to relinquish his mayoral post in 2012 to serve 18 months in prison, as a prerequisite stipulated in the Constitutional Court ruling.

However, Soemarmo, who ran on a ticket with Zuber Safawi, lost to candidate pair Hendrar Prihadi and Hevearita Gunaryanti, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party Of Struggle (PDI-P), Democratic Party and NasDem Party.

Marten Luther Dira Tome won the election in Sabu Raijua regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), despite the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) having named him a suspect in a case surrounding the misappropriation of Rp 59 billion in education funds at the NTT Education and Culture Agency in 2007.

In Natuna, Riau Islands, candidate pair Hamid Rizal and Ngesti Yuni Suprapti, nominated by Golkar, Gerindra and the National Mandate Party (PAN), won the local election. In 2010, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Hamid to three years in prison in a graft case concerning oil and gas profits in 2004, which caused around Rp 77 billion (US$5.5 million) in state losses. (mos)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/02/house-agrees-allow-ex-convicts-run-elections.html

Don't call it money politics: Kalla

Jakarta Post - March 1, 2016

Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who is also a former chairman of the Golkar Party, said the democratic process was costly, but not all political expenses could be directly categorized as "money politics".

Responding to growing allegations of money politics in the upcoming Golkar chairmanship race in April, he conceded that many processes for the race however should be paid for by the candidates.

The party chief from 2004 to 2009 cited as an example that a candidate should pay for trips to regions when seeking to garner support from local executives.

"Today [a candidate] gives money [to party members], there's no guarantee that [he] will be elected," he said on Monday as quoted by tribunnews.com. "Transportation costs, hotel costs, are regular. Every large party is doing it."

As the party congress in April that is scheduled to elect a new party chairman approaches, candidates have gotten into mudslinging.

House of Representatives Speaker Ade Komarudin, a strong contender in the race, has been accused of accepting gratuities as he traveled to regions to meet local executives. Ade denied the allegations, arguing that he hadn't even said that he would run.

Other party members have come forward to declare their candidacies, such as the party's House faction leader Setya Novanto and party secretary-general Idrus Marham.

A money politics scandal in a chairmanship race brought down former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/01/national-scene-don-t-call-it-money-politics-kalla.html

Environment & natural disasters

Land swaps hoped to speed up peatland restoration

Jakarta Post - March 8, 2016

Anton Hermansyah – The Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) plans to offer asset swaps to local communities using peatland for plantation purposes in an effort to restore two million hectares of peatland in five years.

BRG secretary Hartono Prawiratmadja said peatland owners would be presented with three options to free their land from plantation activities. The three options were compensation, relocation and commodity adjustment.

"If they agree with compensation, the BRG will simply talk to the land concession owner and pay. Relocation is provided to deal with community-owned plantations from which people make a living, which will be swapped for sites where plantation is permitted," he said on Tuesday in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, commodity adjustment pertains to switching from the existing plants to more suitable crops for peatland cultivation, such as sago. "Sago is productive and can recover the quality of the peatland's water, but not all sites are suitable for sago," Hartono said.

The relocation through asset swap, he continued, was based on spatial administration regulations. Regarding customary land, which is owned by indigenous communities, the agency would use customary land rules.

"The rule [for customary land] was already prepared by the Forestry and Environmental Ministry last year," Myrna A. Safitri, deputy for education, participation and partnership at the BRG, told thejakartapost.com.

The agency aims to restore 2 million hectares of exploited peatlands nationwide, with some 600,000 ha to be restored this year. Another 1,200,000 ha will be restored from 2017 to 2019, leaving the last 200,000 ha to be restored in 2020. (ags)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/land-swaps-hoped-speed-peatland-restoration.html

Indonesia's early tsunami warning buoys down when big quake hit

Reuters - March 4, 2016

Kanupriya Kapoor & Gayatri Suroyo, Padang/Jakarta – All 22 of the early-warning buoys Indonesia deployed after the 2004 tsunami disaster were inoperable when a massive undersea earthquake struck off the coast on Wednesday, a National Disaster Mitigation Agency official said.

The 7.8-magnitude quake did not trigger a tsunami, and there were no deaths and no major damage, but it did expose gaps in the systems put in place to prevent a disaster similar to the Indian Ocean quake that killed more than 200,000 people 11 years ago.

In addition to the malfunctioning of buoys designed to warn of massive waves, authorities said there were not enough evacuation routes or shelters in Padang, a Sumatra island port city of around 1 million people that felt the quake.

"There was definitely panic last night, that cannot be denied," said Zulfiatno, the head of the disaster management agency in Padang who uses only one name, adding that shelters had the capacity to only hold about 200,000 people. "But the situation has improved from previous years. People have started to understand how to evacuate safely."

The 9.15-magnitude quake of December 2004 opened a fault line deep beneath the ocean, triggering a wave as high as 17.4-meters (57 feet) that crashed ashore in more than a dozen countries to wipe some communities off the map in seconds.

Indonesia straddles the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the Earth's crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes. The province of Aceh on the northwest tip of Sumatra bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami, with at least 168,000 killed.

'We can easily forget'

Soon after that disaster, Indonesia introduced a sophisticated early warning system using buoys, sea-level gauges and seismometers that can send alerts to countries' tsunami warning centers within 10 minutes of a quake.

Officials said the procedure is to issue a tsunami warning if a quake of more than 6.5-magnitude and with its epicenter less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) deep happens at sea, and that went smoothly on Wednesday.

But the buoys, which measure the force and speed of water movement, were a missing link in the chain. Authorities delayed the lifting of their tsunami warning because of the inoperable buoys, which cost around $2.3 million a year to maintain.

"We can easily forget. After the quake in Aceh we wanted to do everything, but by 2015 we don't have money allocated [to fix the buoys]," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told reporters. "Most of [the buoys] were broken by vandalism," he said.

Although there were some strong aftershocks on Thursday, normal life largely resumed at daybreak in Padang. There were 11 aftershocks during the night following the main quake, but authorities called for calm as they had diminished in strength. "We do not believe that there will be an earthquake of greater strength," the National Meteorological Agency said on its Twitter account. "And so residents are urged to keep calm and not be taken in by rumors."

Fears ran high on Wednesday evening when it was reported that the tremor had measured 8.2 and authorities issued evacuation alerts on loudspeakers, radio and TV. Patients at hospitals in Padang were evacuated and there were traffic jams as panicking residents tried to leave.

However, the US Geological Survey (USGS) revised the magnitude down to 7.8 and within two hours of the quake striking the tsunami warnings were cancelled. USGS said the epicenter was 808 kilometers (502 miles) southwest of Padang.

"If we had tried to evacuate outside the city it would have been difficult. Everybody grabbed their bikes and tried to [flee] but it was too much," said Febridal, a street food vendor in Padang who briefly went to an evacuation shelter after seeing the tsunami warning on TV.

Others ignored all warnings and remained by the shoreline, watching the waves for signs of a tsunami. "We never heard any alarm, but we saw on TV that there was potential for a tsunami," said Mulyaman, whose family runs a small seaside restaurant. "We didn't see any signs of big waves so we decided to stay."

Source: http://www.irrawaddy.com/asia/indonesias-early-tsunami-warning-buoys-down-when-big-quake-hit.html

Health & education

Stunting rate in RI declines

Jakarta Post - March 2, 2016

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Efforts to combat chronic and widespread malnutrition have started to bear fruit as the percentage of children under five who suffer from stunted growth experienced the first decline in five years.

Recent data from the Health Ministry show that the national stunting prevalence for children under five fell to 29.5 percent in 2015, after reaching 35.6 percent in 2010 and rising to 37.2 percent in 2013.

"It's a decline of more than 7 percentage points," the ministry's public nutrition director, Doddy Izwardy, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. He said the government was on the right track with aggressive multi-sectoral intervention in the field.

First, the government targeted mothers, as stunting may occur during pregnancy and only show once the child is 2 years old. Optimized infant growth depends on proper nutrition during the first 1,000 days of infants' development, including during gestation. During those 1,000 days, infants' brains grow 95 percent and the trunk of their bodies grows faster than anytime afterwards.

Therefore, the best way to prevent stunted growth is to ensure proper nutrition of the mother during pregnancy and of the child after birth. "There has been progress in the field, and we measure the progress we make by monitoring mothers who breast-feed their babies in the first six months," Doddy said.

The government has also been running an iron supplement (TTD) program, under which pregnant women are given tablets containing 60 mg of iron and 400 micro grams of folic acid aimed to prevent and alleviate anemia.

Doddy said the high prevalence of stunting in Indonesia also correlated with a high prevalence of anemia among pregnant women, with one in four pregnant women suffering from the condition.

Anemia during pregnancy can affect the growth of the fetus, which will lead to a low birth weight and bleeding during childbirth and is a risk factor for maternal and infant mortality. "If a mother already chronically lacks energy [KEK] and is anemic, we can't let her child be stunted as well," said Doddy.

After addressing the problems in the early stages of infancy, the government targeted malnutrition occurring after the babies are born, he explained. In 2013, the government launched the national Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, which brings together a whole variety of key stakeholders – from the government, civil society, donors, private companies, researchers and the UN – in a collective effort to improve nutrition.

Nutritionist Marzuki Iskandar said the movement had significantly increased awareness among mothers on the importance of feeding their children nutritious food. "So it's understandable that the stunting rate in Indonesia declined as public awareness increased," he told the Post.

Doddy said the growing number of community health care posts, or Pos Pelayanan Terpadu (Posyandu), also contributed to the decline. Doddy also pointed to initiatives that had helped improve the quality of Posyandu in Indonesia, citing a recently launched smartphone app called mPosyandu as an example. The app allows Posyandu cadre to efficiently record health data of their communities.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/02/stunting-rate-ri-declines.html

Gender & sexual orientation

LGBT people 'not a security threat'

Jakarta Post - March 7, 2016

Jakarta – LGBT rights organization Arus Pelangi questioned on Sunday the government's plan to ban websites containing education and information about the minority group.

Calling the community a threat to the country's security, identity and culture, the House of Representatives has recommended a ban on websites containing LGBT-related issues be included in the upcoming national cyber security bill.

Arus Pelangi said that there was no ongoing propaganda from LGBT people that the government and the public should be concerned about.

The websites that are often deemed to be campaigning for the minority group actually contain educational and empowerment materials for LGBT people who are often repressed by this society, according to an official of the organization.

"Some LGBT people share their story in a blog and several websites become a place for them to discuss various issues. Those are informative for the public and are certainly not propaganda," said Arus Pelangi chairperson Yuli Rustinawati.

She added that the websites emphasize that LGBT people have equal rights as citizens and they inform the public about the existence of the sexual orientations, but never try to campaign or persuade people to become homosexuals or transgenders.

Arus Pelangi provides legal aid to victims of violence and discrimination sparked by intolerance of different sexual orientations, gender identities or gender expressions.

The group also calls for the public to strengthen camaraderie with their fellow citizens and protect minority groups of any kind, including those of religions and races.

"Using the majority's opinion to beat us, the minority, is not right and we never ask people to agree with us. Differences should not lead to hatred, provocation and violence," Yuli said.

The spiralling intolerance of LGBT people and issues was started with a controversy surrounding SGRC-UI, a study group established by University of Indonesia students that focuses on counseling and discussions on gender and sexuality.

Research and Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir initially called on LGBT-related activities to not be allowed on campuses.

Although he retracted his statement later, saying that he only did not want to permit the public display of affection between homosexual persons, other high-ranking government officials continued to spread hostility toward the minority group.

The government later reprimanded the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and demanded the UN body stop funding LGBT-related programs, while the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued an edict banning the community in the country.

Recently, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) issued circulars to broadcasters saying they must not air any programs containing LGBT content to protect children and teenagers from the indecent behavior.

Yuli said such a negative light on LGBT people would worsen prejudice toward the minority group.

The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders removed homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973, but Rustinawati said that many LGBT people were brought to psychologists and declared to be ill.

"It is actually much better if we can learn together about the varieties of sexual orientations and gender identities," she added.

The ministry has invited Arus Pelangi to discuss matters related to the bill and said that four websites are suspected of promoting LGBT issues.

While reminding people to keep their sexuality orientations private, several government officials said they still respect and are committed to protecting the rights of LGBT as citizens.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the government respected citizens' rights to diverse sexual expressions. "Whoever they are, wherever they work, he or she continues to be an Indonesian citizen. They have the right to be protected as well," said Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan.

Din Syamsuddin from Muhammadiyah also said that people should not express hatred toward the LGBT group. (wnd)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/07/lgbt-people-not-a-security-threat.html

Government drafts ban on LGBT websites

Jakarta Post - March 5, 2016

Jakarta – Apparently under pressure to take preventive measures against the spread of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) propaganda through the internet, the Communications and Information Ministry is drafting a bill to ban websites that promote such activities.

Ministry spokesperson Ismail Cawidu said the ministry had set up a panel that would meet to discuss the matter as soon as possible.

"The House commission has urged us, so we have to follow up on their proposal. However, the panel will still refer to the mechanism [to ban such websites] as stipulated in the prevailing provision," he said on Friday.

He added that the ministry plans to familiarize the public and the media with the proposal to get their input and opinions.

Earlier, the House of Representatives Commission I on political and communications affairs urged the ministry in a meeting on Thursday to create a law to stop LGBT propaganda.

Commission I chairman Mahfudz Siddiq of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said the bill would focus on legislation for national cyber security, ensuring that the development of information technology could be controlled by the state. He then said that the bill would include a ban on cyber content that could threaten national interests.

"LGBT issues can damage national security, identity, culture and the faith of Indonesians," Siddiq told The Jakarta Post on Friday. He also claimed that the existing public concern over homosexual behavior has the potential to trigger conflicts in society.

Separately, Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin said in a seminar on Friday that people should not express hate toward LGBT people as has been apparent in trends on social media. "We need to give the LGBT people direction, especially for the LGBT people who realize that homosexuality is indecent behavior," Din said.

The MUI issued an edict about lesbian and gay behavior, sodomy and sexual abuse in 2014, forbidding homosexuality because of claims of a huge outcry from the public.

Romo Antonius Benny Susetyo, a Catholic priest and a religious freedom advocate, stated that Indonesians should not judge LGBT people and that the government must not create a law that could harm them.

While citing an example from abroad, Benny said Singapore's banning of LGBT people has not been effective because the number of openly LGBT people in the neighboring country keeps increasing regardless. "We must address the LGBT problem wisely and a law is not needed to solve this kind of problem," Benny said.

Most recently, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has cited the P3 (broadcasting code of conduct) and the SPS (broadcasting programs standards) to discourage broadcasters from the airing of programs that contain LGBT content. The KPI pointed out that many television stations broadcast programs about LGBT issues and people, both in the form of journalistic reports and entertainment. (wnd)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/05/government-drafts-ban-lgbt-websites.html

Hanura calls for law against LGBT people

Jakarta Post - March 5, 2016

Viriya Paramita Singgih, Jakarta – The People's Conscience Party (Hanura) has called for a specific law against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to curb their presence in the country, amid heightened discrimination against the community.

The law should provide for sanctions, rehabilitation and restrictions on LGBT activities said Hanura secretary-general Berliana Kartakusumah, who believes that people are turned homosexual or transgender because of environment influences.

"Being LGBT is an infectious and dangerous disease," he said in a discussion at the House of Represantatives on Friday. "LGBT must be banned, like we banned communism and drug trafficking."

Social and state pressure on the LGBT community has recently risen as Indonesian psychiatrists declared LGBT people mentally disordered while clerics declared them haram, or forbidden according to Islam.

Ministers of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo also said that LGBT identity is a social disease that must be cured, but called for the public not to be violent toward LGBT people because they were still Indonesia citizens.

Still, the recent reports have caused rising discrimination againt LGBT people. Threats have also been reported like those directed at an Islamic boarding school for transgender students in Yogyakarta that faced shutdown last month amid pressure from locals and hard-line groups.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has rejected the call for a new law and questioned the government's willingness to the ensure the fulfilment of rights for all citizens.

"The state has an obligation to prevent LGBT people from phobias that lead to violence. Do not let them be discriminated against in terms of work, health services or freedom of expression. The state has to be there for them," Komnas HAM commissioner Indadun Rahmat said, adding that the state must use a humanistic approach in handling LGBT issues.

In contrast, advisor at the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) Din Syamsuddin said that same-sex relationships violated the human right to reproduce and were haram as stated in an edict issued by the MUI. However, Din called for Muslims not to show hatred for the LGBT community. "We do not need to hate, abuse or neglect them. Rather, we should sympathize and help them," he said. (rin)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/05/hanura-calls-law-against-lgbt-people.html

Don't expel LGBT people from society: Minister

Jakarta Post - March 4, 2016

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Jakarta – Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said homosexuality was an illness and therefore Islamic leaders should not provoke Muslims to expel lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people from society.

"The essence of Islam is humanity. Therefore, it is our obligation, especially as religious leaders, to prevent them from being expelled," Lukman said on Thursday.

Same-sex orientation is an illness which is why [LGBT] people need to receive treatment and counseling, either religious or psychological, because with treatment and counseling, homosexual people can, hopefully, alter their orientation, Lukman added.

"We need to embrace them so they will be conscious that they live in a religious society which can't accept homosexuality," Lukman said.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has demanded that Islamic organizations and all religious affairs offices in provinces, regencies and cities, conduct intensive religious counseling for LGBT people.

Former religious affairs minister and prominent Muslim scholar M. Quraish Shihab made a similar statement. "We have to take responsibility and show concern to people with same-sex orientation. Don't hate them. They are sick and need to be treated," Quraish said.

He underlined the opposition of Islamic teachings to the act of homosexuality. He cited a story in the Koran about God's punishment against the people of Sodom during the era of Prophet Lut in which the city was completely destroyed as a consequence of rampant homosexuality.

"Even animals don't want to have same-sex relationships. The homosexual act is against human nature," Quraish said. He argued that same-sex orientation is unjustifiable under the principles of human rights. "Will you let people engage in the act that will destroy humanity?" he said. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/don-t-expel-lgbt-people-society-minister.html

More political leaders speak out against LGBT

Jakarta Post - March 4, 2016

Jakarta – More politicians have spoken out against the spread of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement, but have warned people not to commit any violence and discrimination.

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Chairman Zulkifli Hasan urged the public to narrow the space for the LGBT movement to spread, adding that he considered LGBT to have no place in Indonesia as the act of homosexuality had been warned against in every religion.

"As a movement, the existence of LGBT must be opposed. We must limit its room to move. However, as individual people, they must be protected like any other citizen," said Zulkifli, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), as quoted by Antara news agency.

The concept of LGBT has no place in Indonesia because there is not one race, ethnicity or religion in our homeland that permits same-sex relations, he added.

Rocky Gerung, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Indonesia, explained that certain ethnic groups in Indonesia recognize more than two genders. Gender recognition in South Sulawesi, he noted, acknowledged five genders: men, women, feminine men, masculine women and the neutral gender, considered a godly quality.

Based on his belief that same-sex orientation is an illness, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin has argued that LGBT people required treatment and counseling, be this either religious or psychological, because with treatment and counseling, he said, homosexual people may, hopefully, alter their orientation.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has now demanded that Islamic organizations and all religious affairs offices in provinces, regencies and cities, conduct intensive religious counseling for LGBT people.

"We cannot be hostile nor hate as they are also citizens of the state. This doesn't mean that we condone or allow for the LGBT movement to shift the religious values and the identity of the nation," said Lukman, who is a senior United Development Party (PPP) politician.

Meanwhile, People's Consultative Assembly Deputy Speaker H. Hidayat Nur Wahid warned against underestimating the LGBT movement as it risks widening the spread of what he called a "social disease".

"The LGBT movement cannot be trivialized. The crime is very closely entwined within society, not only in big cities but also small villages," said Hidayat, who is senior politician of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

For this reason, the government must take a firm stance on the issue despite the lack of a law that clearly prohibits or punishes homosexuals, he said. (liz/bbn)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/more-political-leaders-speak-out-against-lgbt.html

Broadcasting body criticized for banning 'feminine men' from TV

Jakarta Post - March 2, 2016

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Jakarta – The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has been criticized for issuing a circular to broadcasting institutions prohibiting the appearance of "feminine men", particularly on television shows.

"The basis of the letter is just patriarchy. The psychological subtext is an accusation that women's bodies are a nest of sin and women are the root of all evil," Rocky Gerung, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The letter demonstrated the KPI's tendency to only follow the majority opinion rather than defend the Constitution, he said, adding that it violated the Constitution, which protects freedom of expression.

The KPI is now acting like it has the right to limit the public's rights by prohibiting feminine-acting by men, when at the core of the Constitution is the equality of rights of all citizens.

"The KPI should understand the arts of feminism and democracy and equality between genders. The KPI doesn't seem to understand those," Rocky said.

Viewed from any angle, be it morality, academia or culture, the warning letter was unjustifiable, said Rocky. Gender recognition in South Sulawesi, he noted, acknowledged five genders – men, women, feminine men, masculine women and the neutral gender, considered a godly quality. "That is Indonesian culture. The KPI, however, doesn't comprehend," Rocky said.

Meanwhile, the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has responded saying also that the circular violated freedom of expression.

"The letter interferes with freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right, as [what they are banning] doesn't involve child pornography or hate speech with a risk of triggering terrorism, illegal activity or racism," Komnas Perempuan chairwoman Yunianti Chuzaifah said.

She also said that the circular would be hard to implement because its objectives were unclear. "Male puppeteers in puppet shows often imitate women's voices. On the haj pilgrimage men often wear identity bracelets. Will those things be prohibited too?" Yunianti asked. (bbn)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/02/broadcasting-body-criticized-banning-feminine-men-tv.html

Lawmaker supports broadcasting commission's prohibition of 'feminine men'

Jakarta Post - March 1, 2016

Jakarta – A lawmaker from the House of Representatives' Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, Tubagus Hasanuddin, said the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission's (KPI) policy to ban TV stations from airing programs that showed male performers who dressed and acted like women should be supported.

"Any TV program showing a man who dresses like a woman should not be broadcast," said Tubagus after a work meeting at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

On Feb.23, the KPI issued a circular banning Indonesian TV stations from airing programs showing male performers dressing or behaving like women. It was not the first time the commission has made such bans.

Comedian Kabul "Tessy" Basuki, 68, who became famous for his transgender persona Tessy, has claimed that an earlier ban had led to him losing his job in the country's TV industry, kompas.com reported.

The commission's policy to prohibit "feminine men" in TV shows has drawn criticism amid growing concern about the widespread influence of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the country. The ban and general atmosphere recently has triggered much paranoid sentiment toward the nation's so-called LGBT community.

"You don't know how I feel as the father of a child who is now in puberty. I'm really worried about it," said Tubagus. "For me, what the KPI has done is right."

Hartoyo, director of Suara Kita, an NGO focusing on the promotion and protection of LGBT rights, said recently that the government officials should be more careful in making comments. They should refrain from speaking on issues about which they knew little.

"They [LGBT people] are accused of tarnishing Indonesia's image. However, we can't eliminate them as they are also part of our society. It is the responsibility of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's administration [to resolve tensions triggered by the issue]," Hartoyo said on Feb. 22. (vps/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/01/lawmaker-supports-broadcasting-commission-s-prohibition-feminine-men.html

Graft & corruption

Groups challenge ex-KPK leaders' acquittal

Jakarta Post - March 8, 2016

Jakarta – Amid generally positive public sentiment in response to the government's move to cease criminal proceedings against former antigraft commission leaders Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto, some organizations have attempted to put them back under investigation.

A group called the Young Democratic Patriots (PMD) and M. Junaidi, a former political prisoner, registered a pretrial motion on Monday at the South Jakarta District Court to challenge the Attorney General's Office's (AGO) deponering decision.

Legal experts have said that the Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo's move to terminate the cases cannot be challenged at all in any court as it falls within the attorney general's prerogative rights.

However, PMD leader Andar M. Situmorang claims that there are loopholes in the AGO's legal procedure. "As a registered organization, we have to defend the public," he said.

Another group called the Forum for Law Enforcement Awareness (FMPP) reported Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo to the police, alleging that he had broken the law by terminating the case.

"We reported the case so [the police] can start an investigation. The lawsuit is enough [to prove] the Attorney General's abuse of power," said forum member Sisno Adiwinoto, a retired police general.

Then KPK commissioners Abraham and Bambang were named suspects by police in two separate cases after the antigraft body took the bold step of naming Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a suspect in a bribery case. Budi at that time had just been recommended to become the National Police chief.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/national-scene-groups-challenge-ex-KPK-leaders-acquittal.html

House criticizes AGO for dropping charges against former KPK leaders

Jakarta Post - March 6, 2016

Erika Anindita Dewi, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has slammed the decision by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to drop the charges against two former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders, saying that the AGO could only take such a decision if there was a real "public interest" in it.

"If the AGO decided not to drop the charges, would it lead to the weakening of anticorruption efforts?" House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon asked on Friday, referring to two former KPK leaders, Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto.

The Gerindra Party legislator made the statement following Prasetyo's move on Thursday to drop the charges against Abraham and Bambang.

Fadli said Indonesia's corruption eradication efforts depended on a system instead of individuals. Moreover, he noted that Abraham and Bambang were no longer leaders of the antigraft commission.

As reported earlier, the AGO said it decided to drop the Abraham and Bambang cases in the interest of the public following its concern that continuing the two cases could be counterproductive to the government's fight against corruption.

Explaining the actions of the AGO, Prasetyo said Abraham and Bambang had been widely perceived as anticorruption icons. "Both AS [Abraham] and BW [Bambang] are known widely as figures committed to eradicating corruption," he said. This was why, he went to say, the prosecution of the two graft-busters had drawn strong criticism from the public.

Arsul Sani, a member of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs and laws, human rights and security, said the AGO's decision would be questioned during a working meeting between the commission and the AGO in the next sitting session.

"In general, the commission agrees with the AGO's right to drop a case for the sake of the public interest. However, the AGO must explain why the Abraham and Bambang cases fit this explanation," Arsul said at the House complex in Jakarta on Friday.

The legislator was referring to an article from the law on the AGO that stipulates that the AGO has the authority to drop a case if it is in the public interest to do so.

Abraham, a former KPK chairman, was named a suspect by the National Police in an alleged document fraud case while Bambang was charged with perjury relating to a local election dispute at the Constitution Court when he was working as a lawyer.

Public suspicion over the criminalization of Abraham and Bambang amplified following the actions of the National Police after the KPK named then National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a corruption suspect. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/06/house-criticizes-ago-dropping-charges-against-former-KPK-leaders.html

AGO drops cases of former graft busters

Jakarta Post - March 4, 2016

Jakarta – Attorney General M. Prasetyo has dropped the cases of former leaders of antigraft commission, Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjajanto as a way of keeping the country's anticorruption spirit alive.

Prasetyo said the 2004 Law on the Attorney General's Office (AGO) allowed him to drop cases. AGO issued a deponering, a legal mechanism to cease a prosecution, on the case of the former chairman and deputy chairman of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Thursday. "So the cases are closed, ended," he said in a press conference on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

The decision was made following the AGO's concerns that the two cases would be counterproductive to the government's fight against corruption. Another consideration, Prasetyo added, was that Abraham and Bambang were known as anticorruption icons.

"Both AS [Abraham} and BW [Bambang] are known widely as figures who have commited to eradicating corruption," he said adding that it was one of the reasons the prosecutions of the two graft busters were criticized by public.

Former KPK chairman Abraham was named a suspect by the National Police in an alleged document fraud case, while Bambang was charged with perjury relating to a local election dispute at the Constitution Court when he was working as a lawyer.

Public suspicions over the criminalizations of Abraham and Bambang rose following the suspect statuses given to them by the National Police after the KPK named then National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen Budi Gunawan a corruption suspect. (rin)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/ago-drops-cases-former-graft-busters.html

Terrorism & religious extremism

Australian embassy bomber's role in Jakarta attacks exposes jail weaknesses

Sydney Morning Herald - March 4, 2016

Jewel Topsfield and Karuni Rompies, Jakarta – Jakarta's police chief has revealed the key role the Australian embassy bomber played behind bars in masterminding this year's Jakarta terror attacks and admitted incarcerating terrorists together is one of the weaknesses of Indonesia's penal system.

Inspector General Tito Karnavian also told a forum on terrorism that one of the suspects arrested after the terror attack in Jakarta on January 14 was plotting to target Bali, the Jakarta airport and an international school. However, he stressed the plot was "still at the stage of an idea" and there was nothing to be worried about.

Australian embassy bomber Iwan Darmawan, also called Rois, is on death row on Nusakambangan prison island for planning the 2004 suicide bomb attack outside the Australian embassy that killed 11 people.

Inspector General Tito said Rois had provided two of the suicide bombers – Dian Juni Kurniadi and Ahmad Muhazan – for the January 14 attacks in central Jakarta that left eight people dead. Rois was also sent 200 million rupiah (about $20,000) for the Jakarta attack from Abu Jandal, an Indonesian who joined Islamic State in Syria.

Inspector General Tito said Rois and Indonesian cleric and convicted terrorist Aman Abdurrahman, who is also imprisoned on Nusakambangan, were the leaders and masterminds of the Jakarta attacks at the local level.

"Which also may be one of the weaknesses of our prison system," he said. "They are put together in the same prison then they can communicate, they could make a plot of attacks. They can regroup."

Inspector General Tito said Rois had already been sentenced to death over the Australian embassy bombing. "But he will still be legally processed [over the Jakarta attacks]," he said. "If he is really involved there is a strong reason to accelerate the execution."

Hendro Fernando, who Inspector General Tito said was considering attacks in Bali, at an international school and Jakarta airport, was one of 40 people arrested after the January attack. Six or seven of those arrested are believed to be directly connected to the Jakarta attacks.

Police seized nine weapons from Hendro in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, which had been stolen from Tangerang prison and sold to the extremists. However, Inspector General Tito said the guns were intended to be transported to Santoso – Indonesia's most wanted fugitive terrorist – in Poso, Central Sulawesi, and had nothing to do with the terror plot.

"But apart from that they are thinking also about attacking Bali, about attacking airport, about attacking schools," he said. "I repeat, it was still at the stage of an idea. So they haven't gone there... they were perhaps inspired by the Bali bombings."

Indonesia needed to neutralise terrorism at a state level via law enforcement and countering extremist ideologies, Inspector General Tito said. But terrorism was a global threat that would remain as long as IS existed in Syria and Iraq.

"That is correct that Indonesia can contribute to solve this global threat," Inspector General Tito said. "But in my personal observation, a global response via the international community to solve the problem which is in Syria and Iraq is more important."

Singapore-based terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna told the forum there were now 24 groups in Indonesia that had pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. IS's strategy was to create two caliphates, or states, in south-east Asia, he said.

One would be led by Santoso in eastern Indonesia and the other would be in the Sulu archipelago in the Philippines. "So in the next 12 months we are likely to see two provinces established, one in Indonesia and one in the Philippines," Dr Gunaratna said.

Earlier this year four Islamic terrorist groups in the southern Philippines merged to form a satellite extension of IS, according to a video posted on a jihad website. Australian Attorney-General George Brandis also warned last year that IS had identified Indonesia as a location for a caliphate.

Dr Gunaratna said the recent Jakarta attack had clearly demonstrated that Indonesia had to fix its prison system. "The threat was organised from within the prison. It was directed from Syria," he said.

Dr Gunaratna said rehabilitation should be mandatory for all prisoners convicted of terrorism offences. "No inmate or detainee should be released until that person has been deradicalised," he said. "The Indonesian police has done a remarkable job in fighting terrorism but unless the prison system gets fixed together terrorism will proceed in this country."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/australian-embassy-bombers-role-in-jakarta-attacks-exposes-jail-weaknesses-20160304-gnad11.html

Danger of misconduct in terrorism bill: Rights groups

Jakarta Post - March 4, 2016

Tama Salim and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Opposition to a revision of the Terrorism Law is mounting, with rights activists lambasting the changes proposed by the government, taking issue with what they see as the draft bill's disregard for the protection of human rights.

Hendardi, chairman of human rights watchdog Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, said the terrorism bill lacked important provisions. "The draft bill on terrorism does not take into consideration the handling of victims of terrorist crimes, nor does it address wrongful arrest of suspected terrorists," Hendardi said in a statement on Thursday.

Without a clear mechanism to regulate their rights in the bill, the wrongly accused would be hard-pressed to demand compensation for misconduct by the authorities, despite provisions that guarantee the protection of individual rights, such as Law No. 31/2014 on witness and victim protection and a 2015 government regulation on compensation for victims of wrongful arrest.

Setara also criticized the definition of terrorism used in the draft, which has come to include the "threat of violence" as a catch-all phrase to justify preemptive action. It concludes that the inclusion of several articles in the bill would allow authorities to consider written propaganda or hate speech as preliminary forms of terrorism.

"Although Setara believes hate speech belongs to the category of intolerant expression – the first step towards terrorism – extending the notion of terror acts to include other forms makes it prone to over-criminalization, potentially impinging on people's freedom of expression," Hendardi said.

Puri Kencana Putri of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) also touched on the possibility of misconduct, saying the draft did not include any form of remedial recourse or compensation for victims of wrongful arrest. She said the endorsement of the bill in its current form was the same as passing a draconian law that disregarded civil rights.

"From the very beginning, the articles in the bill have an extreme intonation that tends to limit [people's rights]," Puri told The Jakarta Post.

The proposed revision of the terrorism law, according to a copy of the draft bill made available to the Post, includes 17 provisions that are prone to misuse.

Article 28 of the bill grants the police the authority to extend the detention period for terrorism suspects by up to 30 days. Under Article 31, the police are allowed to wiretap people suspected to be connected to acts of terrorism, but only on the condition that the police report this measure to the Communications and Information Ministry.

Furthermore, Article 43A of the bill allows investigators and prosecutors to place terrorism suspects, defendants and former terrorists, along with their families, in rehabilitation and de-radicalization programs for six months as a preventive measure.

Puri said she was extremely concerned about Article 43A, as it gave credence to the possibility that Indonesia would erect its own version of the Guantanamo Bay prison facility run by the US to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects in Cuba.

Al Araf from human rights group Imparsial said the detention of terrorism suspects in accordance with Article 43A could result in human rights violations and the extended detention period provided leeway for torture in captivity.

The House of Representatives will soon establish an inquiry committee comprising members from Commission I overseeing defense and Commission III overseeing human rights and security, and plans to kick off deliberation after the recess period from March 21 to 31.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/danger-misconduct-terrorism-bill-rights-groups.html

Human rights body wants supervision for antiterror squad

Jakarta Post - March 1, 2016

Indonesia's human rights body has demanded lawmakers include the supervision of antiterror squad Densus 88 in the ongoing revision of the Terrorism Law.

National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Muhammad Nurkhoiron said most of Densus 88's operations in eradicating terrorism were not conducted with transparency and were clouded by inaccuracies.

The commission had never been provided with accurate data on the number of alleged terrorist suspects that had been wrongly accused, or data on the suspects' whereabouts after Densus 88 made arrests, Nurkhoiron said.

Although Komnas HAM had asked Densus 88 for transparent information, the antiterror squad had never offered details of its operations, leaving families facing uncertainty.

"Many of the victims' families have asked for certainty about whether their husbands have been declared terrorist convicts or not," Nurkhoiron said as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.

He said law enforcers also had yet to take necessary measures to address the recovery of suspects who had been wrongly arrested, as well as their families, showing that police institutions had not yet maximized their capacity regarding counterterrorism.

However, in relation to the revision of the law on terrorism, Nurkhoiron said the underlying problems were not only the insufficient law or the narrow scope of authorities, but the police's institutional understanding of the law.

"All law enforcement agencies can be utilized effectively, as long as they know their tasks, authority and scope of responsibility," Nurkhoiron said. (afr/dan)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/01/human-rights-body-wants-supervision-antiterror-squad.html

Freedom of religion & worship

Hardline group demands Bekasi administration blocks church construction

Jakarta Globe - March 7, 2016

Bekasi – Around a thousand protesters calling themselves the Bekasi Islamic Forum converged on the Bekasi city government offices west of Jakarta on Monday (07/03), to protest against the construction of a church, which they say is situated too close to an Islamic boarding school.

The same group earlier attended the boarding school in the Ujung Harapan area in Bekasi before moving in a convoy to the Santa Clara church in North Bekasi. At the church construction site, the group prevented workers from entering while dozens of police officers stood by to watch.

The group later drove to the Bekasi city government offices in South Bekasi, arriving at 10:25 a.m. They demanded that Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi revoke the church's permit. "We have lobbied dozens of time but the mayor ignored us and let construction go ahead," the group's coordinator Ismail Ibrahim said.

Momon Sulaeman, a senior Bekasi official, addressed the protestors, saying the mayor had no reason to reject the construction of the church. "The mayor signed the construction permit of the church because all the requirements are met. [The permit] is issued according to procedures," he said.

The statement was met with jeers from the group. As of 1 p.m. the demonstrators still crowded the offices, causing traffic congestion on nearby Jalan Juanda.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/hardline-group-demands-bekasi-stops-church-construction/

Agriculture & food security

Large firms must not control entire industry: KPPU

Jakarta Post - March 8, 2016

Khoirul Amin, Jakarta – Poultry companies should focus on one major business activity, or risk dominating the entire poultry industry – from upstream to downstream – and slipping into cartel-like activities, a member of an antimonopoly body has said.

Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) commissioner Munrokhim said his office was investigating alleged cartel practices in the poultry industry.

One possible way to avoid such practices is to allow poultry companies only to focus on one major business activity, he said. "I think [the firms] need to sell their stocks to other investors so they don't hold controlling stakes," Munrokhim said on Monday.

Publicly listed poultry giants Charoen Pokphand and Japfa Comfeed, which dominates the country's day-old-chicks (DOC) and poultry feed markets, operate various poultry businesses engaged in both upstream and downstream operations.

Munrokhim made the statement in response to alleged cartel practices reportedly behind a free fall in the price of live birds. The government and chicken breeders disagree, with the government believing that oversupply is behind the price slump.

Agriculture Ministry director general of livestock Muladno said on Monday that the slump in the price of live birds was mainly due to excessive supply and that his ministry had taken appropriate measures to stabilize the price.

"The quickest way to prop up prices is through mass chicken culling by both small and big farmers," he said. It is estimated that parent stocks hit 30 million chickens, outstripping national demand by 50 percent.

The price of live birds from farms is now around Rp 9,000 (68 US cents) per kilogram, not enough even to cover the standard production cost of Rp 18,000 per kg. Earlier in February, the selling price was around Rp 30,000 per kg.

According to Muladno, the ministry and various poultry associations previously agreed to cull 6 million parent birds to boost the price of live birds in the market. In an initial stage, chicken breeders culled 2 million chickens in October last year and around 1 million in December.

However, the measure has been halted since, the KPPU alleging that only 12 poultry giants took part in the culling to gain individual benefit amid the price slump.

The 12 accused companies are PT Japfa Comfeed Indonesia, PT Malindo Feedmil Indonesia, PT Charoen Pokphand Jaya Farm Indonesia, PT Satwa Borneo, PT Wonokoyo Jaya Corp, PT CJ-PIA, PT Taat Indah Bersinar, PT Cibadak Indah Sari Farm, CV Missouri, PT Ekspravet Nasuba, PT Reza Perkasa and PT Hybro Indonesia. The KPPU announced its finding last week and it is set to hear responses from the accused this week.

Independent Poultry Breeders Association chairman Kadma Wijaya said, meanwhile, that there was an indication that semi-integrated poultry companies had dumped birds on the market, leading to the plunge in prices. "They sell their parent stocks at a lower price, as they have greater parent stocks do small breeders," he said.

Japfa marketing director Budiarto Soebijanto insisted that no cartel existed, denying that the 12 companies had cooperated to create an oversupply or manipulate prices. His company, he added, had complied with the Agriculture Ministry's instruction to carry out a mass cull to reduce stocks and help small farmers obtain higher prices.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/large-firms-must-not-control-entire-industry-kppu.html

Land & agrarian conflicts

Indigenous communities demand bylaw on customary forests

Jakarta Post - March 3, 2016

Nethy Dharma Somba, Sorong – Indigenous communities in Klamono district, Sorong regency, West Papua, have called for the formulation of a regency bylaw on customary forests to provide greater legal certainty on land rights.

The chief of the Malamoi tribe, Silas O Kalami, said that to determine a tribe's areas within a customary forest, the authorities needed to conduct thorough mapping, which would be regulated in the bylaw. Apart from determining areas, the bylaw was also needed, Silas said, to protect the rights of indigenous communities.

"There is no single bylaw that stipulates the rights of indigenous communities in the regency. We hope a Environment and Forestry Ministry regulation can serve as the foundation for the administration to issue a bylaw," he said. He added that there existed only one map, designed by the Moi Kelim tribe, while 13 other tribes had no map whatsoever.

The regulation on customary forests was issued last year to follow up a 2013 Constitutional Court ruling that annulled state ownership of customary forests. With the regulation, customary forests are no longer considered state forests, and the government is obliged to recognize indigenous communities' ownership of then, allowing locals to exploit the forests' resources to meet their daily needs.

However, the ministry said that exploitation must be in line with the status of the forest – whether it is a production forest or protected forest. "I was once taken to the police station because I sold wood; they thought I was involved in illegal logging. How can I be considered a thief just for taking wood from my own land?" asked Merry Indik, a noted figure in the district.

Another local, Costan Mangablo, said his tribe had understood the regulation, and would not exploit the forest in an unsustainable way. "We won't give permission to investors who want to use the land for palm oil plantations. Instead, we'll use it to set up an eco-tourism business to supplement our income," Costan said.

Sorong Deputy Regent Suka Harjono, said the administration and the local legislature were currently working on the bylaw, which was expected to set clear rules for the exploitation of the forest. "The bylaw will also regulate ways to improve the welfare of local people, allowing them to earn the own income," he said.

Smita Notonegoro of the Multistakeholder Forestry Programme explained that the bylaw would serve as the legal basis for the ministry to later decide if the area could be declared to be customary forest.

Twelve customary forest requests, Smita said, had been submitted by communities, with the help of non-profit organizations, and were currently being assessed by the local administration and the ministry.

However, it may take a while for the indigenous community to earn the status of customary forest for their territories, given the weight of bureaucracy involved. For a regency administration to issue a bylaw, it has to ensure that the indigenous people have been living in the area for a long time and that the customary land truly exists, among other requirements.

According to the Association for Community and Ecology-Based Law Reform (HuMa), the only customary land that has been recognized by a local government in a bylaw is located in Morowali, Central Sulawesi. The government plans to redistribute 12.7 million hectares of community forests by 2019 to stem the rampant land disputes involving indigenous communities.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/03/indigenous-communities-demand-bylaw-customary-forests.html

Governance & administration

Government credibility at risk as Cabinet rift goes online

Jakarta Post - March 2, 2016

Raras Cahyafitri, Jakarta – Observers say that an internal Cabinet rift involving two ministers over the fate of an important gas block has stained the government's credibility and cast doubt on its ability to effectively run the country as heated and impolite exchanges between the two have gone online to a wide public.

Following harsh comments from Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Sudirman Said regarding a "Cabinet colleague" that has frequently tried to stymie reform in the energy sector, an apparent retaliatory strike was delivered by Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli.

Rizal uploaded a "meme" on his Twitter account quoting Sudirman's words: "The one who lies, who claims to know best, who wants to change Masela's [gas block] investors, please stop telling lies to the people. One day your bad intentions will be uncovered."

Rizal commented: "Well, Well, well. Look who's busy analyzing his own behavior. So funny." The comment takes Sudirman and Rizal's rift to the next level over the development of gas-rich Masela block.

Sudirman, along with the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKKMigas), defended the proposal from the block's contractors, Japan's Inpex and Shell, for an offshore development scheme. Rizal, supported by a team from the Institut Teknologi Bandung, said an onshore scheme would be more beneficial for local development.

"This is so indecent and inappropriate. The President has to decide. If he cannot curb the situation, it is either reshuffle one of them or both," said public policy expert Agus Pambagyo.

Tony Prasetiantono, an economist from Gadjah Mada University, said the current situation was repelling investors because the government could not provide certainty to their businesses in such a febrile environment.

"A credible Cabinet is a Cabinet that keeps noise away and when it is in public domain, the Cabinet's voice is united. It's good to have debate so that good decisions are made and qualified decisions on strategic issues can be taken. However, it should all be kept within the internal Cabinet and should not sprawl out into the public sphere," Tony added.

Many think that the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister – established under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration in part to meet his ambition of transforming Indonesia into a global maritime power – has backfired and has only added to the Cabinet's problems.

In the previous government, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry coordinated with the Coordinating Economic Minister on issues related to state revenues or royalties paid to the government.

"From the very beginning, we can only guess what the maritime concept is about and what we are going to do about it. This is the price that we have to pay when we step in into unclear territory," Tony said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/02/govt-credibility-risk-cabinet-rift-goes-online.html

Jakarta & urban life

Jakarta floods force hundreds to abandon houses

Jakarta Post - March 8, 2016

Jakarta – Rainwater causing overflow at the Ciliwung, the longest river in the capital, early on Tuesday has led to flooding in at least five districts of East and South Jakarta, forcing hundreds of residents to abandon their inundated houses and move to more secure ground.

This flooding occurred after officials at the Katulampa sluice gate in Bogor announced the maximum Alert 1 level of 250 centimeters on Monday night, indicating that most of the rainwater came from upstream areas.

The Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency reported that based on monitoring on Tuesday morning, the water level in Jakarta had reached up to 2 meters, affecting 8,815 people in 2,507 households. Agency spokesman Bambang Suryaputra said the worst flooding – at 2 meters – had occurred in the Cawang subdistrict of South Jakarta.

Flooding also affected the South Jakarta districts of Tebet, Pasar Minggu and Pancosan. Meanwhile, in East Jakarta, flooding occurred in Jatinegara and Kramatjati districts, with the subdistricts of Kampung Melayu and Bidara Cina being worst hit.

Jakarta city-owned news portal beritajakarta.com reported that people of 425 households in Rawajati subdistrict had fled their inundated houses. "The water reaches 2 meters in the worst-affected area," said Rawajati subdistrict head Adi Krisna.

He said fire department officers equipped with rubber boats were on standby to evacuate residents seeking to leave their inundated houses, while the City's Social Agency was ready to assist flood victims with clothes and food.

Meanwhile, East Jakarta Mayor Bambang Musyawardana said his office had anticipated the possibility of flooding in the area soon after Katulampa flood control announced Alert 1.

"So far, we have not seen residents flee their houses. But we expect the water level to continue to rise. Therefore, we are preparing personnel to anticipate a worsening [situation]," the mayor said, adding that all working units had taken preparations to help flood victims by establishing public kitchens, health posts and readying rubber boats.

"We have instructed district and subdistrict heads to keep monitoring their respective territories and the water level at the Ciliwung River so that they can evacuate residents if necessary," Bambang Musyawardana said.

The residential area of Kampung Pulo in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, was also inundated on Tuesday. "The water has started to enter the houses. But no residents have left their houses," said Andika, a local resident.

Many Kampung Pulo residents were relocated recently to low-cost apartments as the city administration bulldozed their houses to develop flood mitigation infrastructure.

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama said he was not worried by the water level in Katulampa. "When the rain falls, Katulampa is always on Alert 1. Just relax. The most important thing is that Manggarai sluice gate remains open," he added.

The opening of Manggarai sluice gate would help rainwater spread more evenly to all parts of the city, he added. (bbn)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/jakarta-floods-force-hundreds-abandon-houses.html

Kalijodo's sex workers move to neighboring red-light district

Jakarta Post - March 2, 2016

Jakarta – After being evicted from the Kalijodo red-light district in North Jakarta, sex workers have started to move to the Dadap Cheng In red-light district in Tangerang regency.

During a February raid on the Dadap Cheng In red-light district, security officers arrested dozens of young sex workers who said they had moved there from Kalijodo, said Tangerang Regent Ahmed Zaki Iskandar on Wednesday. "The exodus is similar to the time when the Dolly red-light district in Surabya was closed," Ahmed said as reported by tribunnews.com on Wednesday.

The city administration knocked down all the buildings in the red-light district on Monday. Hundreds of residents were relocated to low-cost apartments while sex workers were forced to leave the area.

The peripatetic sex workers arrested in Dadap Cheng In were sent back to their hometowns after signing a statement promising that they would not return to the area. "The number of sex workers is increasing. They come from various regions," Ahmed said.

Ahmed said he had notified the Home Ministry of his administration's desire to close down the Dadap Cheng In red-light district. Ahmed's administration hopes that the Home Ministry can provide the sex workers will education and training to equip them with new skills. (bbn)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/02/kalijodo-s-sex-workers-move-neighboring-red-light-district.html

High court rules in favor of Jakarta water privatization

Jakarta Post - March 2, 2016

Corry Elyda, Jakarta – The struggle of Jakarta's residents who oppose water privatization is back to square one after the Jakarta High Court overturned the lower court's decision and granted the central government's appeal to continue the privatization.

Arief Maulana, the lawyer of the residents grouped in the Coalition of Jakarta Residents Opposing Water Privatization (KMMSAJ), said in a press conference on Tuesday that the ruling, issued on Feb. 19, annulled the decision of the Central Jakarta District Court, which ordered the administration to end privatization early last year.

Arief said the verdict stated two reasons, but neither touched the lawsuit's substance. "The first one is the judges consider the power of attorney from residents to the lawyers as not in accordance with the legal formal procedure," he said.

He added that the second reason was the lawsuit filed by the KMMSAJ could not be included as a citizen lawsuit because it included two private entities. "Both reasons are mainly technicalities where the judges did not see the substance of the case," he said,

He said the reasons were also baseless because the lawsuit was valid enough to be processed in court in the first place. Arief said that he regretted the verdict, adding that the decision would legitimize the "unconstitutional action" of the government in handing over the water distribution to private entities.

The KMMSAJ filed a citizen lawsuit against the city administration in November 2013, demanding that the court annul a 1997 agreement between city-owned water operator PAM Jaya and two private water operators – PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta (Aetra). It said the cooperation had failed to guarantee an adequate supply of clean, potable water in the capital.

After two years, the panel of judges at the Central Jakarta District Court approved the lawsuit, citing that the defendants had been negligent in fulfilling the human right to water for Jakarta's residents and that they also breached the law by handing over the city's water operation to private firms. The cooperation will end in 2023.

In their 18 years of operation, both companies combined have only fulfilled around 50 percent of the clean water needs of Jakarta's 10 million population. The residents who miss out rely on groundwater or water vendors to fulfill their daily needs. The excessive exploitation of groundwater is one of the biggest contributing factors to 40 percent of the Jakarta area being under sea level and becoming flood prone.

The cooperation also has caused PAM Jaya to suffer losses of Rp 1.17 trillion (US$87.75 million) since it began in 1997 in the form of water charges.

Unlike the city administration and PAM Jaya, other defendants – the central government, including the President, Vice President, the Finance Ministry, the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, as well as two private companies who became codefendants – filed an appeal.

Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono had said the reason for the appeal was not because the central government wanted the water privatization but because it objected to the plaintiffs' accusation of negligence.

KMMSAJ's Arief said that his team would immediately file a cassation to the Supreme Court. "It will not be over. We will keep fighting to end the privatization," he said.

Nur Hidayah, a member of the KMMSAJ, conveyed her disappointment over the verdict, saying that the decision would make the residents, including herself as a resident of North Jakarta, suffer even more as they cannot access clean water easily. "Fulfilling the rights to water is the obligation of the government," she said.

Aetra corporate secretary Pratama S. Adi said that he had not heard about the verdict. "We will coordinate with our internal team before giving comment," he said. Meanwhile, Palyja could not be reached for comment.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/02/high-court-rules-favor-jakarta-water-privatization.html

Film & television

Broadcasting body finds rampant violations by TV stations

Jakarta Post - March 8, 2016

Jakarta – The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has identified rampant violations by broadcasting companies, particularly television stations, of laws that govern the content they air to the public.

"We found journalistic content showing violence, descriptions of criminal acts in too much detail, insufficient protection of victims, inaccurate news and repetitive reporting of tragedy," said KPI chairman Judhariksawan in a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission I overseeing intelligence, defense and foreign affairs on Monday.

The KPI had imposed 49 sanctions, including discontinuing two programs and limiting the duration of two others, across several television networks in the first two months of 2016, he said, adding that there was still a lot of broadcast content that violated the Broadcasting Code of Conduct and Program Standards (P3SPS).

Among those remaining violations are: the use of public channels to serve the interests of their owners, physical and verbal abuse on various television shows and featuring personal and private matters as infotainment, Judhariksawan added.

He also said that the broadcasting commission planned to evaluate the 10 television networks whose permits were set to expire this year.

Lawmaker Elnino M. Husein Mohi of the Gerindra Party said that House Commission I had discussed several changes in the revision of the Broadcasting Law, including the extension of the KPI's power to fine unresponsive television networks and the restriction of cigarette and political advertising.

"We are proposing one point to be included in the hearing's conclusion: stopping all unfair and unequal political ads, so that there will be no more complaints from the public about kids memorizing political party anthems," he said.

Meanwhile, lawmaker Evita Nursanty from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) criticized television networks for continuing to violate the prevailing regulations. "What they have showed to the public is far away from what is permitted in Broadcasting Law No. 32/2002," she said. (vps/bbn)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/broadcasting-body-finds-rampant-violations-tv-stations.html

Armed forces & police

High-ranking officer implicated in defense budget graft

Jakarta Post - March 5, 2016

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Apparently exploiting loopholes in monitoring mechanisms, a former high-ranking Defense Ministry official is alleged to have embezzled budget funds during his four-year tenure at the ministry. The allegations follow the discovery of irregularities in the ministry's cash flows.

The suspect, Brig. Gen. Teddy Hernayadi, headed up the ministry's finance division from 2010 until 2014, before returning to the Army. The ministry has reported the official to the Army's internal affairs division (POMAD) for alleged embezzlement.

The ministry's inspector-general Vice Marshal Ismono Wijayanto confirmed on Friday that POMAD was investigating the case and that Teddy was now in military police detention.

The ministry reported the case to POMAD after allegedly finding evidence that Teddy had abused his authority by disbursing funds without approval from his superiors and had falsified their signatures.

Ismono declined to put a figure on the incurred state losses resulting from Teddy's alleged actions. However, based on information obtained by The Jakarta Post, the corrupted funds amount to Rp 60 billion (US$4,569,000). If found guilty, Teddy might face permanent dismissal from the Army.

The ministry is apparently tracking down other officials who may have been involved in graft. "Today, people often assume that the ministry is riddled with corruption. Therefore, we must clean this place up," Ismono said.

The ministry has proclaimed zero tolerance for corruption since the beginning of the Reform Era in 1998. However, the ministry's finances have been described as hard to assess, and the ministry has been blamed for not being transparent in costly weaponry procurement.

According to Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International, Indonesia remains a country with a "high risk" of corruption particularly in the defense and military sector.

The watchdog rated the country's defense and military sector in the "D" category in 2015, which indicates high risk, slightly better than the 2014 score of "E", which indicates a very high risk. Scores for the index, which assesses 135 countries across the globe, range from "A" for very low risk, to "F" for very critical risk.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and the Philippines scored the same risk level as Indonesia, while Cambodia and Myanmar received an F.

The high corruption risk in Indonesia's defense sector is attributed to the long-standing secrecy surrounding procurement in military projects, in which military leaders are not transparent about spending and block any attempted scrutiny from the public.

Apparently trying to improve the institution's image, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said his ministry would from now on be proactive in disclosing corruption cases and would not try to hide them from the public. "What we should open, we will open. All the corruption cases should be processed, we must have zero tolerance for corruption," Ryamizard said on Friday.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/05/high-ranking-officer-implicated-defense-budget-graft.html

Police, Navy members exchange gunfire

Jakarta Post - March 3, 2016

Safrin La Batu and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – A police officer from the East Jakarta Police was shot in the thigh on Tuesday night after he and three of his friends exchanged gunfire with an officer from the Navy's Military Police (Pomal) at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in Cipayung, East Jakarta. The incident occurred due to a misunderstanding.

A police report showed the incident occurred at 8:30 p.m. when the four police officers, who were operating undercover at the time, were about to arrest a drug suspect identified as Edi Aziz. A suspicious car, driven by the Navy officer, suddenly accelerated and was about to leave the scene.

The officers, who thought the man in the car was the suspect's friend, tried to stop the car and the Navy officer came out with a gun. First Brig. Umar Seno Aji took out his gun and introduced himself as a police officer and gave two warning shots. The Navy officer opened fire at Umar, and shot Umar in the thigh.

The other three officers briefly exchanged gunfire before learning that the man in the car was a Navy officer. Umar was rushed to the National Police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said the police were currently coordinating with Pomal to investigate whether or not the incident had occurred due to a specific issue or merely from a failure to communicate.

Tito, however, said he believed it was just a matter of miscommunication. "This just a miscommunication. The Navy officer was wearing plain clothes too," he told reporters on Wednesday.

East Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Muhammad Agung Budijono said the Navy officer was not connected to the suspect, saying that it was just a coincidence that he was about to leave the area when the arrest took place.

"It was a coincidence that he was at the location. He was about to go home after buying cigarettes and drinking coffee. He lives nearby," he said.

The Indonesian Navy's Western Fleet (Armabar) spokesperson Let. Col. Ariris Miftachurrahman confirmed Wednesday that one of his personnel had been involved in the clash and that Pomal had questioned the member.

"The officer involved was Capt. Eko Wuryanto, a member of Armabar's intelligence division. The clash was due to miscommunication because both the police and TNI personnel wore civilian attire," Ariris said.

Based on the information from Armabar, Eko parked his car in the area to have same coffee and smoke a cigarette at a small kiosk when the arrest occurred. After he finished his coffee and returned to his car, a man opened his car door and yelled at him and Eko yelled back.

Eko saw several armed men, and decided to use his pistol. The clash happened as Eko and the men shot at each other. After several minutes, the group of armed men introduced themselves as police officers, and Eko also introduced himself as a member of the military.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/03/police-navy-members-exchange-gunfire.html

Police chief blames gunfight on 'misunderstanding'

Jakarta Globe - March 2, 2016

Jakarta – The chief of Jakarta Police has blamed a Tuesday night gunfight between a navy officer and four police officers in East Jakarta was caused by a misunderstanding.

The shooting incident occurred while East Jakarta Police officers conducted a drug raid on Jalan Raya Taman Mini, Cipayung.

Police were arresting a drug suspect identified as Edi Azis, when a vehicle fled the location. Officers stopped the car and removed naval officer Capt. Eko Wuryanto. Police officer First. Brig. Umar Seno Aji fired two warning shots, but was shot in the thigh by Umar sparking a gunfight between the two.

"The shooter alleged that the police officer was a violent robber because the latter wore plainclothes while also carrying a gun," Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian told reporters on Wednesday.

Police officers, meanwhile, allege the shooter was part of the drug crimes in the area. "He was not the target," Tito added. "We provisionally conclude that it was allegedly caused by a misunderstanding. But we will dig deeper whether it was pure miscommunication or there were other motives."

TNI declares war on drugs

Jakarta Post - March 1, 2016

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said on Saturday that many military personnel still got involved in the drug business after being asked as law enforcers to monitor it.

Gatot said that he would impose severe punishments on personnel involved in drugs and give no mercy. "The TNI has trained and armed soldiers, so if they use drugs, they will no longer be soldiers. We will give severe sanctions and also dismiss them from the institution as an additional punishment," he said.

According to the chief, the TNI has put some effort into cleaning up the institution from drugs, such as by conducting unannounced urine tests and raiding the houses of personnel.

Last week the intelligence unit of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) held a series of raids in the Kostrad housing complex. During the raids, they arrested 33 drug suspects: 19 from the military, five from the police and nine civilians, including a lawmaker for a prominent party in Indonesia.

On Sunday, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) arrested a military officer with the initials JS at the Kalibata City Apartments in South Jakarta because of drug possession. The BNN handed JS, who holds the rank of major, over to the military police.

The number of military personnel caught using drugs has been on the rise. Based on TNI data in 2014, there were 161 drug cases in 2012 and the number increased to 235 in 2013. The drug suspects were not only the low-ranking soldiers, but were also middle- or high-ranking officers.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/01/national-scene-tni-declares-war-drugs.html

Criminal justice & prison system

Indonesia will maintain death penalty for drugs traffickers

Jakarta Post - March 4, 2016

Liza Yosephine, Jakarta – The government will continue to hand out the death sentence to big players in drug trafficking world despite criticism from foreign countries and human rights activists, arguing that consistency in law enforcement is the key to success in curbing the distribution of drugs.

"The best way to reduce the trafficking of drugs is through consistency. We have no tolerance for drug dealers," said the Jakarta head of the National Narcotics Board (BNN), Brig. Gen. Ali Johardi at a press conference in Jakarta to launch the annual International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) report on Thursday.

The country manager of the UN office on drugs and crime (UNODC) in Indonesia, Collie F. Brown, took the opportunity to reinstate the UN's opposition to the death penalty. Brown urged countries to find an alternative punishment for drug traffickers.

Attorney General M Prasetyo has stressed that a third round of drug convict executions would be carried out this year.

To date, 14 drugs drug convicts have been executed. The previous executions received strong criticism from anti-death penalty activists and caused a temporary souring of diplomatic relations with a number of countries including Brazil and Australia.

Johardi said the government was considering the development of a prison island, which will be used for drug-lord convicts, an idea proposed by BNN chief Budi Waseso.

There is a possibility, the idea was further discussed during the agency's recent meeting with the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, Johardi added. (bbn)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/indonesia-will-maintain-death-penalty-drugs-traffickers.html

Intelligence & state security

Ministry seeks to set up own spy division

Jakarta Post - March 7, 2016

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The Defense Ministry is developing an intelligence body, aiming to obtain information to build strategic policy.

The body, which is set to become effective from 2017, will comprise military officers and civilians.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said the ministry must have its own intelligence body as it often created strategic policy based on current events. "So if we make a certain policy, people will not question where we got the information," he said.

Ryamizard said that during the New Order before 1998, the commander of the military was also the defense minister. The two institutions, therefore, had only one intelligence division. In the Reform after 1998, the ministry separated from the military, although it still supervises the latter.

The ministry has promulgated the plan to related institutions, such as the National Police's Security Intelligence Agency (Baintelkam), the military's Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) as well as the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

The new intelligence division would be an expansion of the existing National Strategic Installation Agency (Bainstranas), which is currently tasked with coordinating regional security forces. Based on the Defense Ministry website, it has begun restructuring Bainstranas to become an intelligence body.

The ministry has also firmly stated that the new body will not take over the duties of other intelligence bodies, such as BAIS, BIN and Baintelkam. Moreover, the defense intelligence body would be part of the intelligence community under BIN's supervision but would focus more on state defense strategy.

"The defense intelligence body needs to cooperate with all intelligence agencies from other ministries and government institutions based on Law No. 3/2003 on state defense," Bainstranas head Maj. Gen. Paryanto said recently.

Al Araf, a military expert, said the idea to establish a defense intelligence body was appropriate as long as the government also restructured BAIS, which is currently under the military commander's supervision.

"Without restructuring BAIS, the defense intelligence body and BAIS would have overlapping tasks and coordination, because both of them tackle defense issues," Al Araf said.

According to him, as Indonesia is a democratic country, BAIS should be under the Defense Ministry rather than the military commander, particularly as the agency focuses on strategic intelligence. "The military commander should focus more on combat intelligence in their divisions and units," he said.

Currently, the military has its own combat intelligence service in each of its divisions – the Navy, Army and Air Force. They also have intelligence units within battalions.

Al Araf acknowledged that it might be difficult and would take time to restructure BAIS as any plans would involve many defense players. However, the restructuring should be comprehensive, so that each intelligence body could work effectively, he added.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/07/ministry-seeks-set-own-spy-division.html

Spy chief calls for authority to summon terrorist suspects

Jakarta Post - March 1, 2016

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – Diverging from the government's planned amendments of the 2003 Terrorism Law, the country's spy agency demanded on Monday that intelligence officers be bestowed with the power to summon and question terrorist suspects.

National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Sutiyoso said that the agency wanted to summon suspects to gain more information.

"We don't want to arrest suspected terrorists like the police do. We just want to summon the suspects to explore information," he said after a closed hearing with House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs.

The House has begun deliberating the antiterrorism bill, discussing 12 provisions that the government proposed in the draft revision.

Among the proposed changes is widening the categories of terrorist offenses to include sales of chemical, biological, radiological, microorganism, nuclear and radioactive weapons. The bill also allows the police to detain a suspect for up to 180 days for investigation.

The government has also proposed prohibiting relations with terrorist groups abroad, as there is currently no law that can be used to incriminate Indonesians who go overseas to join such groups. The new provisions would also prohibit Indonesians from undergoing military training in other countries.

Another proposed revision covers a ban on adopting radical Islamic values, recruiting people for terrorism purposes, sending proxies for terrorist attacks, funding terrorist movements, giving assistance to terrorist groups and committing violence in the name of terrorism. The draft revision does not include giving intelligence bodies the power to summon or arrest suspects.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan previously said that the government was considering revising the Intelligence Law to give such authority to the spy agency. "It is very much worth considering. We will see the related regulations. [A suspect] can be arrested for 10 days and then released. Why not?" he said.

The idea of extending the authority of the spy agency, however, has been met with strong public resistance, with human rights activists highlighting the potential for abuse of the power.

Commission I deputy head TB Hasanuddin of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who also attended Monday's hearing, said there was still no agreement on giving additional authority to the agency.

Civil society groups called on the government to be transparent in the deliberation of the Terrorism Law. Maarif Institute researcher Wahyudi Akmaliah said that long periods of detention by law enforcers could lead to the abuse of power as it would allow them to arrest and detain anyone assumed to be a threat to national security.

He said the government should deliberate carefully to avoid reverting to the New Order regime when citizens were subject to a draconian antisubversion law passed in 1963 under the dictatorship of then president Soeharto. The law was often abused to silence political activists and government critics.

"The state's intervention in individuals and public freedom will be too strong, so that if we try to criticize the government, we can be considered terrorists," Wahyudi said.

House Legislation Body (Baleg) member Arsul Sani of the United Development Party (PPP) said the House would criticize the detention period. "It's too long. Two weeks still makes sense. Furthermore, preliminary evidence can be obtained using intelligence reports, so it should to be easy for them to find one more piece of evidence," Arsul said.

The member of House Commission III overseeing human rights, security and legal affairs also revealed that the government planned to implement a deradicalization program, in which it would place terrorist suspects, defendants, former terrorists and their families in rehabilitation for six months.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/01/spy-chief-calls-authority-summon-terrorist-suspects.html

BIN to recruit more spies amid capacity concerns

Jakarta Post - March 1, 2016

Jakarta – The National Intelligence Agency (BIN) plans spend Rp700 billion (US$54 million) to recruit more agents in response to concerns over personnel constraints, a lawmaker has said.

BIN currently has three thousands agents, which is considered insufficient to cover such a huge and problematic country. "We need two thousand more spies," House of Representatives member Tubagus Hasanuddin told reporters after the House's budget hearing with the BIN chairman on Monday.

The additional BIN personnel are to be dispatched to provincial intelligence bureaus (Binda) in accordance to the threat level, population and size of the respective region.

The intelligence body would also try to improve the qualifications of its human resources through more training, Tubagus said. "The agents' capacity must be equal or even greater than the threat," he asserted.

BIN chairman Sutiyoso has asked for extended powers to arrest suspected terrorists following the recent terrorist attack in the heart of Jakarta that left eight people dead. BIN has been criticized for failing to prevent the attack, which has been attributed to the radical Islamic State group.

"The point is, we are asking for more authority to extract information from suspected terrorists and complete the investigation," said Sutiyoso.(vps/dan)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/01/bin-recruit-more-spies-amid-capacity-concerns.html

Mining & energy

RI may have to import coal for future power plants: Study

Jakarta Post - March 8, 2016

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – With coal prices continuing to decline, Indonesia will struggle to provide the coal needed to fire up its power stations in the near future, a study predicts.

The government is struggling to expedite a number of power plant projects under its ambitious 35,000 megawatt (MW) generation program, aimed at supporting the country's economic growth.

The program expects that coal can fulfill 66 percent of the primary energy sources for power plants by 2024, which is equivalent to 361 gigawatt hours (GWh) output by coal-fired power plants.

The study, which was conducted by the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Indonesia, however, suggests that the country's coal-fired power plants will not be able to provide the expected 20,000 MW for the next 25 to 30 years, based on current commodity prices.

"This is due to the current commodity prices as a result of which the coal sector's profitability has reached its lowest point and there has been a decrease in production by coal companies," PwC's president director advisory, Mirza Diran, said Monday in a press conference.

The government has so far been optimistic about the feasibility of the program as according to data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Indonesia had around 32.3 billion tons of coal reserves in 2014.

APBI and PwC's study, however, shows that with declining coal prices throughout last year only between 7.3 and 8.3 billion tons of these reserves are economically viable to mine. This preliminary projection indicates that these reserves will be depleted by 2033-2036.

"Mining requires funds. If the price of coal is US$50, while it costs $60 to mine, then the coal will automatically not be mined. It is as if we have a decrease in reserves," APBI chairman Pandu P. Sjahrir said.

Coal prices have steadily declined in the past few years, amid oversupply and declining demand from major coal importer China.

Australia's Newcastle coal price, an Asian benchmark, dropped to $51.29 per ton, as estimated by Reuters in late February. Meanwhile, Indonesia's coal reference price (HBA) dropped to $50.92 in February from $53.2 in January.

The study, which surveyed 25 coal-mining companies, showed coal-producer earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization had dropped by 60 percent to $2.6 billion in 2014 from $6.5 billion in 2011. It is expected to decrease by 16 percent in 2015.

This has also caused capital expenditure to drop by around 79 percent to $400 million in 2015 from $1.9 billion in 2012, and it is expected to continue to decrease this year by 10-20 percent. Consequently, mining exploration to find new coal reserves has largely stopped.

Pandu explained that the findings showed that there was a possibility Indonesia would have to start importing coal by 2030. "This means that we'll have to start importing starting from around 2030, even though we have always been exporters," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/ri-may-have-import-coal-future-power-plants-study.html

Infrastructure & development

Early bids fail to speed up infrastructure progress

Jakarta Post - March 7, 2016

Farida Susanty, Jakarta – The government has had to hold its tongue as early tenders it held since August last year to resolve slow budget spending have been unable to rev up the country's infrastructure development.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's most strategic ministry, the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, had only booked 5.38 percent of its budget spending as of March 4, equal to Rp 5.5 trillion (US$422.9 million) of its Rp 104 trillion budget.

The ministry had set an ambitious target of recording at least 6 percent by January this year. Physical construction progress was even less, at a mere 3.89 percent.

Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono attributed the lack of spending to poor performance from directorates general. The directorate general for housing provisions only posted 0.13 percent of its budget spending, while the Cipta Karya directorate general had posted 1.4 percent as of March. The ministry's other directorates, including Bina Marga, achieved 8 percent budget disbursement as of March.

Last year, various issues such as changes in Cabinet nomenclature bogged down the disbursement of most state project funds.

With high expectations to resolve the issues, the ministry aimed to enhance budget spending by signing Rp 8.8 trillion worth of infrastructure project contracts in January from its early bidding program held in August last year.

Tender calls for government projects normally begin in the first quarter of the year after the state budget draft bill is discussed with the House of Representatives in the second half of the previous year.

By the end of last year, the ministry had tendered a total of 5,344 project packages worth Rp 42.74 trillion from a total of 10,752 packages worth Rp 73.41 trillion, expecting to spread out the projects evenly this year, compared to last year's spending that only started around June.

"It's all administrative problems. For instance, the Cipta Karya [directorate general] still has to make adjustments to new working units," said ministry secretary-general Taufik Widjoyono.

Despite the lagging target, the ministry was upbeat it would be able to catch up, saying this year's budget spending was still faster than last year. Last year, the ministry's budget spending as of March only stood at 1.1 percent of the total.

"We will work harder and faster, with more strict controls. The problem is that the construction process is now parallel with rainy season," Taufik said.

Minister Basuki promised to get his subsidiaries to work more on construction in the field. "Well, the spending really depends on the progress in the field. But we're still sure that we will wrap up all of our project bids by March," he said.

Jokowi's administration has named infrastructure development as a priority to boost the country's economic growth, which grew by only 4.79 percent last year, lower than the 5.02 percent growth rate in 2014.

This year's strategic projects include the development of eight new dams to provide irrigation for an estimated 38.4 hectares of rice fields. The ministry recorded 94.4 percent budget disbursement last year, higher than its initial target of 93 percent.

Basuki also said that several infrastructure projects were ready to start operating this year. The projects include the Bajul Mati and Gerak Sembayat dams in East Java, as well as the Surabaya-Mojokerto section of the trans-Java toll-road project.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/07/early-bids-fail-speed-infrastructure-progress.html

Economy & investment

UBS projects flat GDP growth this year

Jakarta Post - March 8, 2016

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – The country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth will stay at 4.7 percent this year amid sluggish industrial activity, according to a projection by Switzerland-based investment bank UBS.

Senior UBS economist Edward Teather said consumption and investment in the country would increase but industrial activity would be sluggish, as imports of intermediate goods would be weak. "As such, GDP will grow modestly at 4.7 percent this year," Teather said during a media briefing in Central Jakarta on Monday.

The country's GDP expanded by 4.79 percent last year, the slowest since the 2009 global financial crisis and lower than the 5.02 percent achieved in 2014. The government is aiming for 5.3 percent growth this year, as outlined in the 2016 state budget.

Teather wrote in his research note that exports and imports correlated because of the trade in intermediate goods, adding, however, that policy stimuli could lead imports to diverge from export growth.

"Relaxed monetary conditions can boost demand for import," he said, adding that according to his research, lower interest rates would boost loans and eventually strengthen imports against exports. An interest rate cut would support domestic demand, as well as providing room for import growth and higher GDP, Teather said.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reveal that the country's total imports plunged by 19.9 percent year-on-year (yoy) to US$142.74 billion last year while exports declined by 14.62 percent to $150.25 billion, creating a trade surplus of $7.51 billion.

Bank Indonesia reduced its key rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 7 percent following a similar rate cut in January, indicating that it would continue to ease its monetary policy, with more benchmark interest rate cuts to stoke economic growth.

Meanwhile, for the stock market prospects this year, UBS head of Indonesian equities and research Joshua Tanja said he expected the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), the benchmark of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), to reach earnings growth of 12 percent.

The growth, he said, would be driven by higher revenues and lower expenses among listed companies. "We overweight banks, property, retail, media and infrastructure stocks," said Joshua, who is also UBS country director for Indonesia.

IDX data showed that the index had gained 5.19 percent as of Friday and recorded foreign net buy of Rp 4.29 trillion ($327.86 million). Shares of consumer goods firms are outperforming other sectors, with 14.04 percent growth so far this year.

Joshua said recent deregulation, capital inflow from China and Japan into infrastructure projects and tax amnesty initiatives were key positives for the equity market.

Teather added that given the massive flow of capital into the country, the government should not worry about a sudden reversal, as long as it could maintain economic stability and the budget deficit.

Events in China and Japan will not immediately affect the flow of investment from those countries, he said. "For example, if the Chinese economy continues to slow, perhaps that will increase the willingness of Chinese investors and companies to invest in areas outside China," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/ubs-projects-flat-gdp-growth-year.html

Logistics providers eye double-digit growth in 2016

Jakarta Post - March 4, 2016

Farida Susanty, Jakarta – Players in the country's logistics industry are predicting that the sector will still grow by a healthy margin this year on the back of high domestic consumption and the government's efforts to boost infrastructure development.

The Indonesian Logistics Association (ALI) said the industry could still expand by 10 percent to 12 percent this year after a robust 18.8 percent annual growth in 2015. "The raw material import and export of finished goods has decreased, but domestic consumption is still there," ALI vice chairman Mahendra Rianto said on Wednesday.

Last year, the market size of the domestic logistics industry stood at an estimated Rp 2.15 quadrillion (US$163.4 billion), a double-digit increase from the estimated Rp 1.81 quadrillion in the previous year, based on a study conducted by ALI partner, Frost and Sullivan.

Total exports dropped by 14.62 percent to $150.25 billion last year, but imports plunged at an even faster rate of 19.9 percent to $142.7 billion, helping the country book a 2015 trade surplus of $7.51 billion.

However, Mahendra said that the domestic consumption of 250 million Indonesian citizens would still boost the logistics industry this year.

The association also cited improving infrastructure development as a factor that would aid growth. "When the government focuses on developing infrastructure, there comes opportunity for more utilization of our assets," he said.

The study from Frost and Sullivan also forecasts the total freight volume to grow by 4.9 percent to around 1.18 billion tons this year. Sea freight, which accounts for 97 percent of total freight traffic in Indonesia, is also expected to grow by 4.9 percent this year. The improvement of terminal infrastructure, port capacity and equipment are cited as the drivers for the growth.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration has pledged to improve the country's connectivity through the maritime highway program, which includes, among other things, the development of 24 commercial seaports across the country, as well as 1,481 non-commercial seaports.

Indonesia's biggest port, Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, is also expected to have its capacity increased by 4.5 million total equivalent units (TEUs) with the opening of its New Priok port this year.

Meanwhile, air cargo, which makes up a much smaller proportion compared to sea freight, is also expected to continue its rapid growth over the past five years.

Frost and Sullivan's global vice president of transportation and logistics practice, Gopal R., said air freight volume was expected to increase by 8 percent this year. "The key contributors would include general cargo, perishable goods, couriers, pharma and electronics," he said.

The air cargo market turnover grew by 28 percent to the value of Rp 491 trillion last year. Mahendra added that the country's e-commerce boom would also aid air cargo growth, as many e-commerce players used it to distribute their goods.

With the expected growth for this year, Gopal also mentioned that the logistics players should focus on air cargo services, warehousing, multi-modal movement and e-commerce as the key services trends this year.

He also was not concerned over the increasing competition that would come with the ASEAN economic community. "It will give Indonesia the advantage because we seem to be doing more in logistics, more infrastructure development," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/logistics-providers-eye-double-digit-growth-2016.html

RI warned of risk of massive capital outflow

Jakarta Post - March 3, 2016

Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – Hefty capital streaming into Indonesia may become a double-edged sword that triggers another episode of massive reversal as experienced in mid 2013.

To many, recent capital inflows are seen as the positive result of an improving economy and the government's reform measures. However, as external developments show, Indonesia cannot fully own the good news.

"Where else will foreign investors go? It's negative interest rate in many areas. That's why they come to Indonesia," said Raden Pardede, former executive of the Danareksa Research Institute and now an economist at CReco Consulting.

Japan, for instance, announced a negative interest rate for the first time on Tuesday, following in the footsteps of other countries in Europe.

As the global situation remains uncertain, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) reported on Wednesday its second net buy in four days, bringing the total net buy figure to Rp 2.5 trillion (US$187.5 million) this year.

In the meantime, the Finance Ministry's financing and risk management office (DJPPR) reported the sale of 38.7 percent of its Tuesday bond auction – worth Rp 15.6 trillion – to foreign investors amid heavy demand.

Foreign investors now hold more than Rp 580 trillion of government debt papers, equal to almost 40 percent of the total, in the secondary market. This inflow seem to have helped the rupiah rise for the 10th day straight, its longest winning streak since 2010, according to data from Bloomberg.

Raden said that the current situation was a reminder of the "hot money" era several years back, during which Indonesia enjoyed substantial amounts of foreign funds from the US' quantitative easing (QE) that began in 2009.

Those funds significantly propped up the rupiah beyond the country's economic fundamentals at the time. They sent the currency's real effective exchange rate (REER) to 102.57 at one point in 2010, above the fair value of 100, as shown by data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Meanwhile, former finance minister Chatib Basri warned that the stream of capital inflow might buoy the currency again to strengthen more than it should, driving imports to skyrocket and current account deficit (CAD) to widen.

Indonesia's CAD even reached its highest level ever in the second quarter of 2013 at 4.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The situation turned even worse when the US announced that it would end its QE program. All of a sudden, foreign investors fled Indonesia, leaving the rupiah weak against the greenback and its stock market battered.

"We don't want to repeat the past episode, but we will possibly see capital reversal again in the next two years as interest rates increases in the US," he said.

Bank Central Asia (BCA) chief economist David Sumual insisted that Indonesia take more precautionary measures ahead of the reversal, including by offering incentives to investors with long-term investment plans.

Separately, Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Agus Martowardojo and Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution acknowledged that a reversal was possible, with Darmin saying that Indonesia needed foreign funds from both portfolio and real investments.

They argued, however, that Indonesia was no longer in a very vulnerable state. "We are in the process of attracting higher foreign direct investment that will be more sustainable in supporting the rupiah. At the same time, we are deepening our local market to slowly reduce dependence on foreign money in the portfolio market," Darmin said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/03/ri-warned-risk-massive-capital-outflow.html

Indonesia records second year of February deflation

Jakarta Post - March 1, 2016

Ayomi Amindoni – Indonesia has recorded a 0.09 percent month-on-month deflation in February, with a modest year-on-year inflation at 4.42 percent amid lower food and electricity prices.

The 0.09 percent monthly deflation in February was slightly below Bank Indonesia's (BI) forecast, which previously estimated a 0.13 percent deflation during the month.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a consumer price index (CPI) of 0.42 percent, a fall of 0.09 percent in February, compared to the 0.51 percent CPI seen a month earlier. Monthly core inflation stood at 0.31 percent, while administered price and stood at -0.76 percent.

"Indonesia experienced inflation in February in the years from 2010 to 2014. The decrease in electricity price on Jan. 5 was among the driving factors of the deflation," BPS head Suryamin said at the press conference held in Jakarta on Tuesday.

This was the second time for Indonesia to record deflation in February, he added. Last year, the CPI was -0.36 percent despite a steep increase in the rice price. Inflation stood at 0.3 percent in 2010, 0.13 percent in 2011, 0.05 percent in 2012, 0.75 percent in 2013 and 0.26 percent in 2014.

Suryamin explained that food was the main driver of February's deflation with 0.58 percent of deflation, followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel, which registered a 0.45 percent deflation. Transportation, communications and financial services recorded a deflation of 0.15 percent.

On the contrary, the apparel sector recorded an inflation of 0.64 percent, followed by processed food and tobacco at 0.63 percent, and health at 0.26 percent. Lastly, education, recreation and sports registered a 0.06 percent inflation.

Previously, the central bank predicted that the CPI would fall around 0.13 percent in February, with annual inflation standing at 4.38 percent, within bank central's 2016 inflation target of 3 to 5 percent. (ags)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/01/indonesia-records-second-year-february-deflation.html

Analysis & opinion

Editorial: No right to ban the left

Jakarta Post Editorial - March 2, 2016

The ghost of New Order has haunted this nation ever since pro-democracy movements made a mark back in 1998. Slowly but surely, anti-democratic style of the past regime has shown signs of resurrection. We have seen numerous crackdowns on citizens exercising their freedom of speech over the last few months.

Sadly, the state often perpetrates, or sponsors, these practices, exemplified recently by the raid and attempted banning of the Belok Kiri (Turn left) Cultural Festival at Ismail Marzuki arts center in Central Jakarta over the weekend. Organizers of the event were forced to relocate the festival to the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation building.

The police said they had banned the cultural event in its planned location because the organizers had failed to inform the authorities of the activity. This explanation is disingenuous. Clearly, the main reason the police shut down the event was connected to the purpose of the festival, which was to stimulate thought about leftist history in Indonesia. The security authorities took the action following a protest from various groups.

Not only have the police, representing the state, failed in their basic responsibility and duty to protect their fellow citizens from possible intimidation, but they have also blown the issue out of all sensible proportion. The raid simply demonstrated the tendency of the police to side with the blind will of the majority against the minority.

There is nothing wrong about a meeting of minds to critically review the history related to the 1965 mass killings that followed an aborted coup allegedly orchestrated by the Indonesian Communist Party. Fostering discussion was all that the organizers of the Turn Left festival wanted to do. Such intellectual exercises have been encouraged since the beginning of Reform Era, although the official version of this dark episode in Indonesia's history, inherited from the New Order, remains in place.

There should be no impediment to attempts to straighten out the history, either by finding new evidence or hearing testimony from witnesses and victims of the tragedy. Who can claim that the existing version of truth is the only form of truth, and that alternatives perspectives should be viewed as a threat?

There is no need to fear an event like the Turn Left cultural festival morphing into a movement and bringing communism back into the country. The so-called leftist way of thinking simply reflects opposition to the establishment and its expression may vary in form.

If any effort to promote critical thinking is curtailed for security reasons, as in the case of the Turn Left festival, we can no longer reasonably claim to be the third largest democracy in the world. Frequent restrictions on freedom of speech, which occurred on 20 occasions throughout 2015 alone according to the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), should send a warning that Indonesia is moving toward becoming one of the world's largest anti-democratic nations.

Worse still, oppression will keep us from innovation, which the nation badly needs in order to survive the future of global competition.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/02/editorial-no-right-ban-left.html