Martahan Sohuturon, Jakarta – Four Indonesian police (Polri) officers have been found guilty in relation to a clash that took place in Bomou village, South Tigi district, Deiyai regency, Papua, in early August. Their only punishment however is that they must issue a verbal apology and will be transferred.

Those found guilty are former sectoral Police Chief Inspector Maing Raini and Mobile Brigade (Brimob) platoon commander (Danton) Iptu Aslam Djafar along with two of his subordinates Second Deputy Inspector Esra Sattun and Sergeant Victor Manggaprouw.

Papua regional police public relations chief Senior Commissioner Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said Wednesday that the four offices were sentenced to making a verbal apology by a hearing of the Indonesian Police Code of Ethics Commission (KKEP) and will be demoted and transferred to different posts for one year.

"The result of the ethics hearing was that the four were declared guilty of deplorable [tercela] actions", said Kamal when sought for confirmation on Thursday August 31.

He said that the Code of Ethics hearing declared Maing guilty of failing to report to his superiors and going to the location of the incident without wearing a uniform.

In addition to this the hearing found that Maing failed to follow the directions of his superior and should have gone to the location of the incident with his officers without bringing Brimob personnel.

Maing was found to have failed to control his officers, abandoned officers conducting negotiations with the community and leaving the location of the incident without paying attention to officers who were still confronting protesters.

According to Kamal, Maing's actions violated Article 7 Paragraph 1 Subsections b and c and Article 13 Paragraph 1 Subsection e of Police Regulation Number 14/2011 on the Indonesian Police Professional Code of Ethics.

"Indonesian police officers are obliged to maintain an image of solidarity, the credibility, reputation and respect of Polri and are obliged to carry out their duties in a professional manner. Polri officers are prohibited from misusing their powers in carrying out their duties as police", he said.

Meanwhile the ethics commission found that Iptu Aslam Djafar had deployed Brimob officers as security at the company without permission from his superiors. Djafar was also found to have failed to comprehend the situation and should have allowed the sectoral police to first resolve the problem and should have followed the instructions of the sectoral police chief as the head of operational control (kodal) at the time.

At the time, said Kamal, the sectoral police chief ordered police to withdraw because conditions were unfavorable. Djafar however only withdrew slowly and as a result the protesters pushed forward approaching and attacking the officers.

He said that Djafar as the platoon commander should not have allowed the protesters to get too close to the police officers.

Meanwhile Kamal said that the ethics commission declared Esra Sattun and Victor Manggaprouw guilty of deciding to use live ammunition without orders from their superiors and directing fire above and below the protesters without due consideration.

"This is what possibly resulted in victims falling, specifically the one that was hit by live rounds", he said.

Kamal added that the ethics commission found five other Brimob officers not guilty because they carried out their duties as police in accordance with standard operational procedures as stated under Article 15 Paragraph 3 of National Police Regulation 1/2009 on The Use of Force in Police Actions.

The clash in Deiyai, which occurred on August 1, 2017, was triggered by dissatisfaction on the part of local people because a company building a bridge in the Oneibo river area refused to help them.

The residents had asked the company to transport a person in a critical condition to hospital after they had drowned in the river but the company refused to provide a vehicle.

Local people eventually obtained a vehicle from elsewhere and took the person to hospital but they were unable to be saved. The angry residents then returned to the encampment at the bridge construction and vandalized a work post.

Brimob and Tigi Sectoral Police officer immodestly went to location. The crowd went on a rampage and police fired shots. One person was shot dead and eight others wounded (wis)

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was "Penembakan di Deiyai, Empat Polisi Divonis Minta Maaf".]

Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20170831162855-12-238698/penembakan-di-deiyai-empat-polisi-divonis-minta-maaf/

West Papua: AWPA urges Pacific Forum leaders to continue support

Pacific Media Centre - August 30, 2017

Auckland – The Australia West Papua Association has urged leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum to continue their support of West Papua.

In an open letter, AWPA called on the Forum's 18 members to keep raising the issue of human rights abuses with Indonesia's government and continue applying pressure on Jakarta to allow a fact-finding mission to the Indonesian-ruled territory.

AWPA also urged that the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression be allowed to visit West Papua, with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) driving this call.

West Papua should also be given an official voice within the PIF itself, under the umbrella organisation of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), it said.

"The West Papuan people have been calling for dialogue with Jakarta for years and AWPA believes the PIF can play an important role in helping facilitate such a dialogue between representatives of the West Papuan leadership and the Indonesian Government."

AWPA Sydney secretary Joe Collins said the group was ultimately grateful for the support of the PIF.

"I would first like to thank the PIF leaders for discussing and raising concerns about the human rights situation in West Papua in the official communiques' at the Forum meetings in Port Moresby in 2015 and Pohnpei in 2016. We are very encouraged that the Forum Leaders agreed that the issue of West Papua should remain on their agenda."

Pacific support strong

In March, seven Pacific island nations raised grave concerns at the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding human rights violations in West Papua.

Over the past year, eight Pacific Island states have also joined the Pacific Coalition for West Papua in calling for human rights and self-determination to be upheld in the territory.

AWPA's call comes after a month of crackdowns on peaceful displays of freedom of expression by Indonesian security forces and a fatal shooting.

Yulianus Pigai died at the hands of security forces earlier this month in a shooting which also left 16 others wounded in the Deiyai district, leaving some to question whether West Papua will ever see an end to violence.

AWPA's call also comes in the same month a petition spearheaded by West Papua Action Auckland asking for similar support from New Zealand's government was rejected.

A British team are currently swimming across Lake Geneva to deliver a petition calling for self-determination in West Papua. (Australia West Papua Association/Pacific Media Watch)

Source: http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/west-papua-awpa-urges-pacific-forum-leaders-continue-support-9987

Papua Police to monitor use of village funds

Jakarta Post - August 30, 2017

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua Police will monitor the use of village funds amounting to Rp 4.3 trillion (US$322 million) allocated for 5,420 villages in 28 regencies and one municipality across the province.

"The police will monitor the channeling of the village funds in Papua this year. Babinkamtibmas [police officers assigned to villages as advisors on security and public order] in villages will be trained to watch and guard the utilization of the funds," Papua Police head Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Wednesday.

He said two regencies and one municipality in Papua would pilot the involvement of National Police (Polri) personnel in the supervision and monitoring of village funds in the province.

"The Babinkamtibmas personnel who will receive training are from two regencies, namely Jayapura and Keerom, and Jayapura city," he said.

Commenting on the alleged misuse of village funds in two regencies, Pegunungan Bintang and Tolikara, Boy said the police were investigating the cases.

Pegunungan Bintang Regent Costan Oktemka said the investigation into the alleged village fund misuse began from a report that a village head in the regency had used some of the funds for his personal purposes.

"He cut the funds by up to Rp 15 million, claiming he would use it to pay taxes. It's wrong. The village head has been dismissed," said Costan.

Central Mamberamo Regent Ham Pagawak has dismissed two village heads for allegedly misusing village funds. "They used the funds to buy private houses. We dismissed them because village funds are allocated to develop villages, not for personal purposes," Ham said. (afr/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/30/papua-police-to-monitor-use-of-village-funds.html

British swimmers cross Lake Geneva with West Papua petition

Asia Pacific Report = August 30, 2017

A British team was today swimming a crushing 30 hours and covering 69 km straight across Lake Geneva to deliver a petition calling for self-determination in West Papua to the United Nations.

A message received after more than seven hours into the swim on the live Facebook page said:

"We, the Swim for West Papua team, want you to know why we swimming. We support the fundamental human rights, including (and especially) the right to self determination for the West Papua.

"Things on the boat are going well. We are 7.48 hours into the swim. The mood on the boat is good. We have been blessed with good weather – 26 degree water and 33 air temperature. Things are good here!

"We are gunning for West Papuan freedom! West Papua never give up your fight for freedom! We stand shoulder to shoulder with you and will support you in the fight for freedom!"

At 21 hours, one of the swimmers said on a live video feed: "It's not as scary as I thought it would be."

A large campaign in support of the petition has been repressed by Indonesian security forces inside West Papua, with at least one Papuan leader, Yanto Awerkion, remaining imprisoned.

The British group, Swim for West Papua, in collaboration with the Free West Papua Campaign, has been gathering tens of thousands of signatures for months across the globe.

140,000 signatures

The petition has garnered over 140,000 signatories online and an as-yet-unknown number of paper signatories. Avaaz, one of the websites hosting the petition, has been completely banned in Indonesia for its involvement in the campaign.

West Papua, occupied by Indonesia since 1963, has been growing in international stature in recent years.

Over the past year, eight Pacific Island states have joined the Pacific Coalition for West Papua in calling for human rights and self-determination to be upheld in the territory.

In March, seven Pacific island governments called on the UN Human Rights Council to urgently consider the situation in West Papua.

Referencing the swim, the English-language daily The Jakarta Post said in an editorial the "campaign for an independent Papua has been relentless and has made significant gains in past years".

Source: https://asiapacificreport.nz/2017/08/30/british-swimmers-cross-lake-geneva-with-west-papua-petition/

Papua petition swimming to UN

Radio New Zealand International - August 30, 2017

Campaigners for improved human rights in West Papua are swimming to the United Nations in Geneva today carrying a petition calling for action in the Indonesian territory.

The document urges the UN to facilitate a legitimate self-determination process for West Papua.

The petition is being delivered by six Britons swimming the length of Lake Geneva. They are expected to spend over 30 hours in the water, covering 69 kilometres.

The 'Swim for West Papua' team is due to arrive at Geneva's waterfront on Wednesday evening.

The petition carries the signatures of thousands of people from the Papua region and tens of thousands from around the world who backed it online. It will be presented to the United Nations tomorrow.

Signing the petition is illegal for people in Indonesia's Papua region. The Free West Papua Campaign said the document had to be smuggled out of West Papua to get it to Switzerland.

They said as a direct consequence of the petition, two people had been arrested and 42 people had been tortured. Campaigners said people faced up to 15 years in prison for supporting the petition.

In 1969, the United Nations sanctioned the incorporation of the former Dutch New Guinea into Indonesia, a process regarded by Papuans as illegitimate.

Since then, widespread abuses have been reported with human rights groups and academics estimating that over 100,000 Papuans have died.

In the Pacific, support for West Papuan self-determination has been growing. In March this year, seven Pacific countries called on the UN Human Rights Council to urgently consider the situation in West Papua.

Vanuatu's Justice Minister delivered the call on behalf of his country and Tonga, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, and Solomon Islands.

The petition calls on the UN to go further. Along with the focus on self-determination, it seeks action by the international community to hold ongoing human rights abuses in Papua to account.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/338361/papua-petition-swimming-to-un

Papua aims to cut transmission chain of HIV

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – The Papua administration is stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of HIV by providing antibody tests to pregnant women seeking healthcare services at hospitals or community health centers.

By finding pregnant women who test positive for HIV, health authorities can take measures to prevent the transmission of the chronic disease to their babies.

"This is one of the ways to cut the HIV transmission chain in Papua," Papua Health Agency secretary Silwanus Sumule said in a public dialogue in Jayapura on Tuesday.

The Health Ministry's HIV sub-directorate official Triya Novita Dinihari said the government was aiming to achieve the "three zeroes" by 2030, during which Indonesia would see no more new HIV/AIDS infections, AIDS-related deaths or stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (ODHA).

Triya said all stakeholders must work together because preventing HIV/AIDS was not the sole responsibility of the Health Ministry.

"All societal elements, including religious and traditional leaders and community figures, must be involved. This is because introducing HIV control and prevention in grassroots communities will be effective only if it involves leaders in society," said Triya.

Data shows that 97 percent of HIV infections in Papua have been transmitted via sexual intercourse. Around 16,620, 57.57 percent, of total HIV cases in the province affect people at the productive age of between 25 and 49 years.

The Papua Health Agency records that as of June, it found 27,771 HIV/AIDS cases, which had spread in the province since 1992. Of the total, 10,134 cases are HIV while the remaining cases are AIDS, of which 1,883 patients have died. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/papua-aims-to-cut-transmission-chain-of-hiv.html

Korindo strikes back against NGO campaign

Awas MIFEE - August 28, 2017

The outlook for the plantation industry in Papua has started to show signs of change recently, both because of a sustainability drive in the palm oil supply chain, which has forced many companies to suspend deforestation plans, and better-informed indigenous communities increasingly opposing companies' attempts to acquire their land. Not all companies are taking these challenges lying down, however.

Korindo is a Korean company which has dominated the Digoel valley in Merauke and Boven Digoel for decades through its logging concessions which supply its plywood factory in Asiki and several oil palm plantations, which have expanded rapidly since 2012. Alarmed by the rate of deforestation it was noticing on satellite images, Mighty Earth, a US-based NGO, produced a report intended to spark a campaign against Korindo. The first target was palm oil traders with sustainability commitments, who were asked to refrain from buying Korindo's palm oil, citing issues such as deforestation, evidence of illegal burning and abuse of indigenous people's rights in Papua and on the island of Halmahera, Maluku.

Korindo responded to the pressure by publicly declaring a moratorium on new land-clearing to ensure it didn't lose customers for its palm oil, but promptly violated this by continuing to clear primary rainforest in its PT Papua Agro Lestari concession. No longer trusting the company to keep its word, Mighty stepped up the pressure, focussing on Korindo's other business interests, including its wind turbine business in the US. They also successfully persuaded the FSC to investigate Korindo's certification for its plywood products, by pointing out that by clearing primary forest, the company was violating the conditions of the certification. Most recently they have focussed on pressuring Samsung to abandon a recently-announced joint venture with Korindo.

It seems like the combination of challenges to its various business interests has hurt Korindo significantly. Apparently determined to continue clearing forest, the company has gone on a major propaganda drive, and its strategy has been to portray the NGO as an obstacle to community development. The company's main argument has focussed on one of the plantations, PT Dongin Prabhawa, on the border of Merauke and Mappi Regencies. Korindo is claiming that it has to continue to deforest to meet its commitment to provide 20% of the plantation area to the local people in the form of small-holdings, known as a plasma scheme, which is an obligation for all plantation companies under Indonesian law. On 24th July, the company organised a 'stakeholder meeting' in Jakarta. However the only stakeholders present were those who supported the company. The company brought several indigenous members of the co-operatives it had formed to manage these plasma schemes to speak at the meeting. Other local people had signed statements opposing what they described as the 'moratorium from the LSM'. The company also brought the Bupatis of both Merauke and Boven Digoel to the meeting, who spoke in favour of the scheme.

In a sign that this meeting may have been part of a wider backlash against the moves by several major palm oil traders to eliminate deforestation from their supply chain, other speakers included Firman Soebagyo, a member of parliament who is head of the working committee preparing a new law on oil palm plantations, a law which NGOs judge as superfluous and pandering to oil palm industry interests. Nyoto Santoso also spoke, a professor from Bogor Agricultural University who has also recently had to deal with severe criticism from NGOs – they have revealed that he has a history of writing partial, incomplete, biassed or even downright false environmental and social impact assessments, including in Papua for the Noble and Goodhope groups.

While it is totally reasonable for local people to demand the 20% smallholding area they have been promised, the company is not being entirely honest by portraying this as the main issue at stake here. There is no reason, other than possibly the cost, why these schemes could not be developed in areas already cleared. The reason why Korindo felt forced to declare a moratorium is because major palm oil traders have issued policies declaring they will not buy from companies which deforest.

But is this really a clash between the global agenda to halt tropical deforestation and a local desire for economic development? It's not as simple as that. Another serious problem with Korindo's operations was highlighted in a press conference held in Merauke on 9th August, the Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Villagers from Nakias, whose customary lands are part of PT Dongin Prabhawa's concession, alleged that they had never given the company permission to use the land, and that the people who had received compensation money from the company were not the real customary landowners. Korindo did not carry out a participative process to ensure there was consensus on customary land boundaries, or that there was agreement between all members of landowning clans, and this has caused a long running conflict between the indigenous people living in the area.

The upshot is that the land Korindo wants to use for its plasma programme is actually still subject to a land dispute. Opponents of the plantation feel that Korindo is creating divisions by persuading certain individuals to support its side. For example, Melkior Wayoken, the elected village head of Nakias village, alleged that a villager masquerading as the village head had stolen the village seal to sign a document supporting Korindo, and then joined the company's trip to Jakarta to speak on its behalf.

Linus Omba also spoke on behalf of the Wambon Tekamerob indigenous association, which represents Mandobo people living the Merauke-Boven Digoel border, near to another Korindo concession, PT Berkat Cipta Abadi, as well as Posco Daewoo's PT Bio Inti Agrindo companies. He stated that there has also been a long running conflict between the Mandobo and Marind ethnic groups who dispute which group holds the customary rights to the land.

Outside the press conference, someone from Salamepe village explained that how company had sought to divide the clans, by choosing individuals who they thought could support them, without waiting for all the clan members to reach a consensus. These individuals were then taken to Merauke city, a day's journey from the plantation site, to sign the land surrender documents, away from the village where other villagers might object.

These conflicts can be very serious. People in Merauke do not tend to engage in physical violence, but have a strong belief in black magic known locally as suanggi, and some aspects of customary law require the use of such curses. In PT Dongin Prabhawa's area several local sources have claimed that dozens of people have died as a result of this, but it has not been documented independently, maybe because black magic is not regarded as credible outside indigenous societies. After people started dying, other clan elders felt they had no choice but to sign, to calm the threat of black magic. Most of the elders who signed the land release certificate are now dead, as are some opponents of the company. No independent investigation into these deaths has taken place, and the cultural and spiritual impact of plantation development in Merauke has never been seriously studied by any outside party, even though unexplained deaths have occurred around many new plantations.

Faced with such conflicts, a responsible company would aim to resolve the conflict first, before bringing a group of supporters to lobby on its behalf in Jakarta, a move which is likely to aggravate existing community tensions. However, Korindo has shown no sign of even acknowledging that these conflicts exist. It has also not made public the indigenous land ownership maps which it based its compensation on.

A second 'stakeholder dialogue' was organised in the Swissbel Hotel in Merauke on 15th August. Although is meeting also appeared to have been initiated by Korindo, the more accessible location meant that many different stakeholders were able to attend and a broader range of views were represented. Those local residents who felt cheated out of their land had a chance to speak, as did those who wanted their plasma to go ahead. Speakers from the national human rights commission, the Catholic Justice and Peace Secretariat (SKP) and the Regency-level Indigenous Association (LMA) confirmed that there were serious indigenous rights issues that needed to be addressed.

No national politicians were present at this second meeting, but high-ranking officials at the provincial level spoke about their visions of development for Southern Papua, with large plantations as a major component. Most spoke fairly generally, without demonstrating much knowledge of the specific conflicts around Korindo's plantations. A Korindo spokesperson continued the company's attempt to portray NGOs as anti-smallholder, and did not acknowledge the complaints about the conflict, even stating as the meeting closed "Korindo feels that we don't have a problem – maybe there is a difference with the community".

After almost four hours, many voices had been heard, but time didn't allow for debate on any of the range of points raised. The discussion's moderator, Agus Sumule, made his own summary of the meeting, which he condensed into five points:

1. The local governments in Merauke, Boven Digoel and Mappi should take immediate action to resolve issues around administrative and customary land borders.

2. Companies should take immediate action to resolve the problems involving indigenous people in Merauke and Boven Digoel

3. The local government should issue local regulations concerning indigenous land and develop plasma cooperatives within 20% of the HGU area (i.e. the core estate)

4. Government, NGOs and stakeholders (companies and customary rights holders) to engage in intensive dialogue.

5. Investment must respect indigenous land use structures and the environment and be in accordance with the law.

The recommendation for further dialogue appeared to attract murmurs of agreement from different parties, however the process has illustrated a very fundamental reappraisal is necessary to explore if it could ever be possible that large-scale plantation development represents a positive change for indigenous peoples.

This is indeed a challenge which local stakeholders need to explore, but would be a long process involving thorough investigation of the hidden impacts of large-scale development, a strong indigenous movement that can define its own agenda, and a government willing to consider a broader range of development options. It is doubtful that company-sponsored 'stakeholder dialogues' are the way to go about it.

Source: https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=1527

'Punks for West Papua' film to screen at Nimbin

Echo Net - August 28, 2017

Produce and directed by Ash Brennan and narrated by Basia Bonkowski, Punks for West Papua is a documentary about how the United Nations betrayed the people of West Papua and how one man's selfless gesture inspired a history making movement to help strangers in a foreign land.

Punks for West Papua is an Australia wide movement, and the brain child of Jody Bartolo. Jody and his band Diggers with Attitude spearhead Punks for West Papua with the aim to raise money and awareness for the Free West Papua cause.

A midnight text message to film maker and friend, Ash Brennan, started the wheels in motion for a small video think piece at the original Punks for West Papua benefit show at Sydney's Town & Country Hotel.

But Jody and the Australian punk rock community would turn this event into a no holes barred Australia wide benefit, involving over 50 bands in seven cities around the country. Making Punks for West Papua the biggest, and no doubt, loudest punk rock showcase in the nations history.

The film grew with it. The P4WP film crew travelled around the country, interviewing all the main players of the movement, plus interviews with two time Nobel peace prize nominee, Benny Wenda, journalist Hugh Lunn who was in West Papua for the 1969 vote, rock journalist Stuart Coupe and United Liberation Movement for West Papua leader, Rex Rumikiek.

This film will be screened on Saturday September 2 at the Nimbin Bush Theatre. A $10 entry donation is suggested.

After the Battle of the Bands heat the event will start at 8pm with some songs from notorious quick talker D'Rad MC.

The event will be hosted by director, Ash Brennan and Matthew Jamieson who will do the Q&A after the film.

Shirts, hoodies and information will be available on the night. All proceeds go to the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) to help their executive members attend the UN General Assembly and Decolonisation Committee in September this year.

This film is recommended viewing for not just fans of punk rock but for anybody who believes in justice.

Source: https://www.echo.net.au/2017/08/punks-west-papua-letting-music-talking/

West Papuans swimming for freedom

Newint Blog - August 25, 2017

Danny Chivers – Could you swim for 30 hours? Right now, a six-person swimming team is preparing to do exactly that, relay-style, across the 69 kilometres of Lake Geneva. On Monday 28 August, they will set off across the water, carrying a message from more than 160,000 people to the UN's headquarters on the far shore.

The swim is supported by the Free West Papua campaign, and aims to raise the profile of the Indigenous West Papuan people's ongoing struggle against Indonesian occupation. The international petition that the swimmers are delivering – which can still be signed online – calls on the UN to take action to end human rights abuses in West Papua and give the people of that region the vote for self-determination that they were denied in 1969.

This petition shows the growing level of international support for the cause of West Papuan freedom, leading the Jakarta Post to conclude that the 'campaign for an independent Papua has been relentless and has made significant gains in past years'. To understand the significance of this, just look at how the Indonesian government has responded: by banning the petition across the whole of the country. Anyone signing the petition in Indonesia – and especially in West Papua – risks state violence or arrest.

Yanto Awerkion, of the West Papua independence group the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), was arrested on 23 June by Indonesian security services during a rally and prayer session promoting the petition. He remains behind bars, but this hasn't stopped him from releasing a video online about his experiences. Despite the risks, thousands of West Papuans have been signing the petition.

Joel Evans, founder of Swim for West Papua, said, 'West Papua has been hidden from the public eye for nearly half a century. Hundreds of thousands have died, been tortured, arrested, beaten and imprisoned. Indonesia is trying to cover up a genocide, with the help of its Western allies.

'We hope this swim can penetrate the shadows and assist the Papuans in their struggle for basic self-determination and liberation. Doing this swim requires us to recognise our shared identity as human beings.'

Benny Wenda, a Papuan tribal leader, spokesperson for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua and refugee with asylum in Oxford, England, said, 'This swim is a historic moment in our long path to freedom. The swim team are helping to shine a light on one of the world's longest and most brutal military occupations, and tens of thousands of West Papuans in my homeland are willing them on and signing the petition despite risk of arrest and torture. The actions of every one person can make a difference, and West Papuans need international solidarity work to help the world hear our cry for freedom.'

The online petition can be signed here: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/518/769/616/help-end-the-genocide-in-west-papua/

Source: https://newint.org/blog/2017/08/25/swim-freedom-west-papua

Don't let Papuans become victims of democracy: Police

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2017

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Bitter rivalry during this year's simultaneous elections, including in Papua, have forced the Papua Police to partner with the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Inter-Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) to campaign for peaceful elections ahead of the Papua gubernatorial election in 2018.

With some election-related violence leading to fatalities, the Papua Police want all stakeholders to help maintain peace and calm before, during and after the elections.

"There should be no more Papuan victims of democracy. There should be togetherness to build a conducive situation in coping with people activities, especially regional head elections in 2018, during which there will be a Papua gubernatorial election as well," said Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar during a discussion on public order and security with religious leaders in Jayapura on Friday.

The police chief further explained that 11 regencies and municipalities in Papua held simultaneous elections this year. Five mayors and regents elected in the elections have been sworn in, but elected leaders have yet to be inaugurated in six other regencies. A re-vote was held in Jayapura regency on Wednesday.

Jayapura regency is one of five regencies instructed by the Constitutional Court to hold re-votes. The four others are Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, Tolikara and Yapen.

In Puncak Jaya, a brawl between candidate supporters erupted shortly after voting took place on Feb.15. In Intan Jaya, brawls broke out between candidate supporters, during which five died and dozens were injured. "Democracy should not cost lives," said Boy. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/25/dont-let-papuans-become-victims-of-democracy-police.html

PT Dewa and Brimob asked to leave Deiyai

Tabloid JUBI - August 24, 2017

Deiyai, Jubi – In a parliamentary plenary session, Wednesday (August 23) the Regent and Deiyai Parliament had agreed to expel PT Dewa Putra Paniai and Brimob (mobile brigade) troops from the region.

The decision was taken at the open plenary session of Deiyai Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) in the local parliament office hall, related to the shooting case in Oneibo village, Tigi district, Deiyai, August 1, which killed Yulianus Pigai (30) and injuring 16 others.

The meeting was chaired by Deiyai DPRD Chairman, Yunias Edoway, attended by Deiyai Regent, Dance Takimai; Paniai Police Chief, AKBP Supriyagung; the 13 members of Parliament; Deiyai Regional Secretary, Marten Ukago;, Assistant Regional Secretary of Deiyai; Sector Police Chief pof Tigi, Ferry M. Mahue; religious leaders, women leaders, traditional leaders, the Regional Indigenous Council of Deiyai, as well as other local community.

Chairman of Deiyai Parliament Special Committee, Alfred Pakage, said the special plenary session relate to the demand of Deiyai people through People's Solidarity for Humanitarian Concern of Deiyai (SPKRD) by holding a peaceful protest on Monday (August 21).

"In the peaceful action of the people it conveys two things for us to tackle, they asked us to stop all activities of PT. Putra Dewa Deiyai Paniai by revoking the business license of the compan in the districts and urged Papua Police Chief to immediately withdraw thBrimob unit from Deiyai," said Alfred Pakage to Jubi, after the plenary session.

He supported the aspiration and asked Regent of Deiyai and Police Chief of Paniai to process the demand as soon as possible. "Today we agreed to expel PT. Putra Dewa Deiyai Paniai and Brimob units from Deiyai district by signing the letter of statement," he explained.

He also said that DPRD and government will guard the legal process of the alleged shooters that are being investigated by police internal mechanism.

Regent of Deiyai, Dance Takimai, prior to the signature on the statement, acknowledged that Deiyai bloody tragedy is a fact and Brimob personnel were the perpetrators on after being called by the bridge construction foreman at Oneibo bridge site. There is no cover-up, he said.

"It is a fact, we both reject (expel) the company and Brimob from Deiyai. I ask all of us to maintain the security among us," explained Dance Takimai.

He said the letter of statement is a joint letter by Regent of Deiyai and the parliament, then signed by Alfred Pakage as chairman of Parliament Special Committee; Markus Mote, secretary of the committee; and to be informed Junia Edoway as Chairman of Deiyai Parliament; Dance Takimay, as the Regent Deiyai, and Superintendent. Supriyagung, as Police Chief Paniai.

Source: http://tabloidjubi.com/eng/pt-dewa-brimob-asked-leave-deiyai/

Papua's development not only about infrastructure: JDP leader

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2017

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Prioritizing only infrastructure will not be enough in developing Papua and must be balanced with the empowerment of its human resources, a Papuan community leader has said.

Papua Peace Network (JDP) coordinator and Catholic priest Neles Tebay said that without skilled human resources, the Papuan people would only become "spectators" of various economic achievements happening in their own home.

"We appreciate the infrastructure development initiated by the President [Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo]. We also feel he has given a lot of attention to Papua. It is only President Jokowi who has visited Papua twice a year, something that was never done by our previous presidents," Neles said in Jayapura meeting with Jokowi along with 12 other Papuan leaders.

Neles said infrastructure development had connected several areas that had long been isolated, making it much easier for residents to carry out their daily activities and visit each other.

The improved connectivity has also attracted visitors to Papua, filling job opportunities available in the region as they have more skills and expertise.

"In some areas, locals can only watch economic activities happening in [other] villages, because they don't have access to ongoing development or cannot get involved because they don't have skills. They are alienated from activities in their kampung," Neles said.

"If this continues, the government's efforts to develop Papua will be fruitless [...] This is what President Jokowi must pay attention to," he added. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/24/papuas-development-not-only-about-infrastructure-jdp-leader.html

Human rights & justice

Jokowi must bring justice to Indonesia's 'the disappeareds': Rights groups

Jakarta Globe - August 31, 2017

Jakarta – A number of human rights groups on Wednesday (30/08) called on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to tell families of "Orang Hilang" – Indonesia's The Disappeareds – the truth about what happened to their loved ones and bring them justice through long-overdue reparations.

The groups urged Jokowi to meet the government's obligations under international law and fulfill his own promise – announced on Indonesia's Independence Day in 2015 – to solve past cases of human rights violations, including forced disappearances.

"Several years ago, Jokowi said he wanted to form a search team to be managed by the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, but this still hasn't happened," Wanna Yeti, an activist and member of the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (Ikohi), said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Wanna's father went missing after the Tanjung Priok massacre, in which at least 24 were killed due to official government estimates, in North Jakarta in 1984.

Wanna said the families of 13 political activists who were "disappeared" in 1997-1998 – Sonny, Yani Afri, Ismail, Abdun Nasser, Dedi Hamdun, Noval Alkatiri, Wiji Thukul, Suyat, Herman Hendrawan, Bimo Petrus Anugrah, Ucok Munandar Siahaan, Yadin Muhidin and Hendra Hambali – continue to demand that the government uncover the truth about what happened to them over 19 years ago.

Meanwhile, victims' groups and Acehnese NGOs also urged Indonesian authorities to reveal what happened to the 1,935 disappeared and missing persons in Aceh during the 29-year bloody conflict in Indonesia's most westernly province between the military and armed opposition group Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement).

In East Timor, according to a report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for East Timor, at least 18,600 people were disappeared or went missing during the period of Indonesian occupation – from 1975 to 1999 – and during the chaotic period immediately following the 1999 independence referendum.

A National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) report also shows there were at least 32,700 victims of the 1965-1966 anti-Communist pogrom, whose cases have never been brought to trial.

Putri Kanesia, the deputy coordinator of advocacy at KontraS (Commission for the Disappeareds and Victims of Violence), said in 2014 at least five soldiers were arrested in connection with the disappearance of Dedek Khairudin. Dedek's whereabouts remain unknown to this day, while the government has failed to launch an independent investigation into the case.

"If our government is not serious about solving cases of enforced disappearance, cases like Dedek Khairuddin's will continue to happen," Putri said.

These rights groups stressed that families of the victims are still demanding that Jokowi fulfill his pledge to solve past cases of enforced disappearances.

The families themselves said they have been disappointed by the government's official statements and recommendations on the issue, which sounded promising at first but were never followed through.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/jokowi-must-bring-justice-indonesias-disappeareds-rights-groups/

Freedom of speech & expression

Bouncing rice ball video uploader reported to police for defamation

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2017

Jakarta – The owner of a Padang restaurant in Central Jakarta reported the uploader of a video, showing a bouncing rice ball, to the police for defamation.

The complainant claims people in the video discourage others from consuming the popular spicy West Sumatran food on suspicion of the use of plastic rice.

The one-and-a-half-minute video, uploaded on YouTube by Kepoindo HD on Aug. 22, starts with a woman trying to make a ball out of left-over rice from a Padang restaurant.

Her hands are clean without any rice sticking to them. "If this was regular, normal rice, it would stick to your hand," a woman behind the camera says while examining the other woman's hands.

After making a rice ball, the first woman then throws the rice ball onto the table in front of her. The rice ball bounces around 10 centimeters off the table surface.

"This is like those squishy toys," the woman behind the camera says, "normal rice would stick to the table if you did that."

The woman shows the address and phone number of the supplier on the rice box. "Be careful guys," she warns.

Other people also started to post their own experience of bouncing rice from other Padang restaurants across Jakarta.

Central Jakarta Police criminal unit head Comr. Tahan Marpaung confirmed they had received the report from the restaurant owner. "We are still investigating it," Tahan said on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com. (hol)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/bouncing-rice-ball-video-uploader-reported-to-police-for-defamation.html

Political parties & elections

Golkar youth wing calls for Habibie to step in

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Jakarta – The leadership of Golkar Party's youth wing held a meeting with former president BJ Habibie on Monday, calling for the veteran politician to intervene in the party's leadership stand-off.

Speaking after the meeting, chairman of the Young Generation of Golkar Party (AMPG) Ahmad Doli Kurnia said Habibie, the country's third president, should support efforts to replace current party chairman Setya Novanto, who has been named a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"Pak Habibie expressed support for change and renewal within the party, especially now that we have a leadership that is not conducive to change in the country," Doli said as quoted by tempo.co.

Twelve senior members of the AMPG met with Habibie, following discussion with other senior figures in the party, including former party chairman Akbar Tandjung and former president Soeharto's daughter Siti Hedijati "Titiek" Soeharto.

Doli also claimed that during the meeting, Habibie wanted the AMPG to prepare itself for the eventuality of a leadership role within Golkar.

The KPK named Setya a suspect in the e-ID graft case last Tuesday, accusing him of playing a key role in the mega-case that allegedly caused Rp 2.3 trillion (US$172.81 million) in state losses.

Several factions at the House have urged Setya to resign so that he can focus on dealing with the case without disrupting the House's agenda. He has refused to resign so far as he maintains he is innocent.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/golkar-youth-wing-calls-for-habibie-to-step-in.html

Sri Mulyani warns politicians against abusing party funds

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2017

Jakarta – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati warned on Sunday politicians against abusing the annual funding for political parties, which had been significantly increased by the government.

"The state budget is not for private gain, not to enrich oneself. The ideal purpose is to meet the national goals," Sri Mulyani said in her speech as quoted by tempo.co.

She said the party funding was designed to improve the capacity of political parties in carrying out their role as the people's political representation.

The government has increased funding for political parties from Rp 108 to Rp 1,000 per valid vote per year.

The Political Party Law stipulates that besides state funds, the financial sources of party funding also include members' dues and legal donations from private agencies.

The Home Ministry said more money for political parties could help politicians carry out programs in a more accountable way. Antigraft activists and officials said the increase should be followed with efforts to improve political parties' accountability.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/27/sri-mulyani-warns-politicians-against-abusing-party-funds.html

Golkar pledges to bring victory to Jokowi in 2019

Jakarta Post - August 27, 2017

Jakarta – The Golkar Party has pledged to support the reelection bid of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in the 2019 presidential election and that it would deliver the bulk of votes for the incumbent.

Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham said on Saturday that the party could bring in roughly 65 percent of the vote for Jokowi.

"I can say that Golkar can deliver 65 percent of the vote for Jokowi regardless of who challenges him in the election," Idrus said as quoted by tempo.co on Saturday.

He said Golkar was currently focusing on garnering more votes for Jokowi and that support for the incumbent was a foregone conclusion.

He said the fact that Golkar chairman Setya Novanto was being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for his alleged role in the e-ID card graft case would not change the party's stance on Jokowi.

He said Setya's case had nothing to do with Jokowi's reelection bid. "There's no correlation. On one hand we abide by the law, but on the political side, we maintain our support for Jokowi," he said.

The KPK in July named Setya a suspect in the e-ID graft case, which reportedly caused Rp 2.3 trillion in state losses.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/27/golkar-pledges-to-bring-victory-to-jokowi-in-2019.html

Surveys & opinion polls

Indonesians less confident about well-being, health: Report

Jakarta Globe - August 30, 2017

Jakarta – Indonesians are losing confidence in the future of their health and well-being amid financial challenges, says a report by an Indonesian unit of US-based global health insurer Cigna.

In Asuransi Cigna's report, "2017 Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey Indonesia," published on Tuesday (29/08), Indonesia ranked sixth, with a score of 62.8 in 2016, lower than 66.5 a year earlier, reflecting decline mainly in the financial and physical indicator. The survey also takes into account the job, family and social life factors.

Indonesia still scored higher than Britain (60.8), Singapore (59.4) and Hong Kong (58.6), but below United Arab Emirates (63.1).

Cigna conducted an online survey in December last year, polling 1,007 Indonesian respondents aged 25 years and above. The report was a small component of a larger survey focused on 13 markets, including Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand and Turkey, polling more than 14,219 respondents.

Since 2015, the financial condition remains a major challenge for Indonesians.

Last year, about 24 percent of Indonesians said they were able to meet their families' medical needs, while only 21 percent were able to ease their parents' financial situation and 26 percent were able to pay for their own or their family's education.

Cigna noted that Indonesians, in their productive age, are trapped in the "sandwich generation" dilemma, ending up supporting both their children – even already married ones – and their parents, which is a significant burden their own financial condition.

Around 44 percent of Indonesians said they were able to take care of their children's well-being, around 42 percent were able to take care of their spouse's well-being, while 32 percent were able to take care of their parent's well-being.

Also about 79 percent of Indonesians said they did not have sufficient funds for retirement, which made 95 percent of them say they intended to work after retirement.

Financial challenges, inability to ensure the well-being of their families, made Indonesians rarely think about their long-term future plans.

"The reason why Indonesians want to continue working after retirement is not because they want to stay active, but because they need money," said Asuransi Cigna chief marketing officer Ben Furneaux.

The need to work after retirement was due to the rising medical costs, not wanting to be a burden for one's family, and wanting to continue the lifestyle they were used to.

Around 89 percent of Indonesians said they did not have normal working hours and, 14 percent said they were on good terms with their supervisors at the office, and only 12 percent said they had secure and stable jobs.

Around 53 percent of respondents also said that they did not have enough time to spend with their families.

Meanwhile, only around 37 percent of Indonesians had enough sleep every night, while only 24 percent of them exercised regularly to remain healthy.

"With a load of responsibility, Indonesians no longer have time to think about themselves, which, unfortunately, makes them prone to various diseases," said Furneaux

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesians-less-confident-well-health-report/

Internet & social media

Police investigate Saracen's motives

Jakarta Post - August 31, 2017

Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – Police have continued to investigate possible motives behind the operation of Saracen, a news syndicate accused of spreading hoaxes and fake news.

Speaking to journalists at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said authorities needed to determine whether Saracen was purely a professional organization or whether there were political motives behind its activities.

"The National Police [Polri] are carrying out an investigation to reveal both the structure and motives of Saracen. Are the group's activities purely for money, or just as a hobby, or are there any political motives?" he said.

Wiranto further said Saracen's campaign activities were destructive and could potentially destroy the country's unity. "As the President [Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo] is campaigning to bind this nation together, a syndicate that wants to break it apart has suddenly emerged," the minister said.

Saracen is believed to have spread hoaxes and hate speech against President Jokowi and former Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, among others. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/31/police-investigate-saracens-motives.html

Ongoing investigation delays blocking of Saracen site

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Jakarta – Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara has indicated that online news syndicate Saracen would not be shut down until a police investigation had been completed.

"It has not yet been blocked. This decision was based on our coordination with the National Police because they are also investigating the Saracen site, not just its Facebook presence," Rudiantara said as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Monday.

When asked about content of the Saracennews.com news site, which has been accused of containing hatred or hostility based on ethnicity, religion, race or societal group (SARA), Rudiantara said that was what the police were investigating.

However, he confirmed, there was a connection between the Saracen site and those arrested for the alleged distribution of information containing hate speech via Facebook. Rudiantara said the perpetrators had uploaded content that violated the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, particularly articles 27, 28, and 29 on the spreading of information containing SARA elements.

"We've seen that Saracennews.com and a Facebook account are connected. One cannot be separated from the other; hence, we will take measures," said Rudiantara.

Last Wednesday, the police arrested three people accused of acting as Saracen's administrators since July. The three, identified as Jasriadi, MFT and SRN, have been declared suspects for allegedly spreading hate speech and hoaxes on social media.

The group is believed to have spread hoaxes and hate speech against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo" and former Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, among others. (yon/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/ongoing-investigation-delays-blocking-of-saracen-site.html

Police probing 100GB data in Saracen investigation

Jakarta Post - August 27, 2017

Jakarta – The National Police are delving into some 100 gigabytes of data investigators seized from the Saracen group, an online "syndicate" accused of creating and spreading hoaxes and hate speech for money.

"As of today, we've analyzed about 25 gigabytes," National Police lead analyst Sr. Comr.

Police arrested on Wednesday three people who allegedly acted as the group's administrators since July.

The three, identified as Jasriadi, MFT, 43 and SRN, 32, have been declared suspects for allegedly spreading hate speech and hoaxes on social media under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.

Pudjo said the data had been retrieved from the suspects' laptops, in which investigators also found proposals for the creation of blogs and websites containing hoaxes and hate speech content. He said the group also had a large network. "They also have loyal supporters."

The group is believed to be involved in spreading hoaxes and hate speech against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo" and former Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, among others. (ecn/bbs)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/26/police-probing-100gb-data-in-saracen-investigation.html

Indonesian police probe alleged fake news factory's protest links

Straits Times - August 26, 2017

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Jakarta – Indonesian police are investigating alleged links between what they called a "fake news factory" and a handful of people believed to have played roles in protests against former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known by his nickname Ahok.

This follows a recent crackdown on an Internet syndicate called "Saracen" which created numerous social media accounts to spread false news and information, and hate speech for "clients". The police did not reveal who the suspects or their clients were.

The syndicate allegedly charged 70 million rupiah (S$7,132) for each project that involved publishing and spreading a series of hoaxes and hate speech.

According to a report in the Jakarta Post, the police said on Thursday that the syndicate is led by a 32-year-old man from Pekanbaru named Jasriadi, who is also behind online news portal saracennews.com.

The news portal's Facebook page had 800,000 followers, but the number fell to 732,000 yesterday, a few days after Mr Jasriadi's arrest.

The website reportedly listed lawyer Eggi Sudjana and retired army general Ampi Tanudjiwa as advisers in its management structure. Mr Eggi is widely known as the lawyer of cleric Rizieq Shihab, the leader of Islamic Defenders Front.

In December last year, the hardline Muslim group staged one of the country's largest rallies to protest against Basuki for allegedly insulting the Quran, by mobilising over 200,000 supporters in Jakarta.

Observers say the group played a key role in the election of former education minister Anies Baswedan over Basuki, a Chinese Christian, in the Jakarta gubernatorial elections in April.

Yesterday, police spokesman Awi Setiono said investigations against key suspects linked to Saracen are ongoing, and the police had collected evidence of how the group was structured.

"We will summon the people listed on saracennews.com to the station and let them clarify, tell us what happened," Colonel Awi told reporters.

Indonesia has seen online news portals emerge by the thousands every year. The number of such sites was recently recorded at 43,000. Only 234 of these sites are registered with the Press Council.

Professor Henri Subiakto, an adviser to the minister of communications and information, told Radio Elshinta yesterday that the government will do its utmost to identify the persons involved and prosecute them as well as the masterminds behind the syndicate.

Presidential spokesman Johan Budi said yesterday: "Anyone's freedom to upload and post comments must not hurt others, therefore they should be wise in using social media."

He added that Indonesian President Joko Widodo told police to not only prosecute those who published fake news and hate speech but also the clients who ordered them to do so.

Blogger Saefudin Achmad said: "They actively sent out postings with an intention to anger the Muslims who then felt offended by Ahok, and this prompted them to come to Jakarta to protest."

Blogger Tiza Hade added: "Police must find out who Saracen's clients are. Saracen would not have operated if it did not have clients. These clients should get heavier sanctions. That would be fair."

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesian-police-probe-alleged-fake-news-factorys-protest-links

Police arrest three on online hate crime allegations

Jakarta Globe - August 24, 2017

Jakarta – Three people have been arrested over allegations that they jointly administered Facebook groups that incited hatred based on race and religion, police said on Wednesday (23/08).

The Facebook groups, three of which were identified as "Saracen News," "Saracen Cyber Team" and "Saracennews.com," attracted more than 800,000 followers since they were set up in November last year.

Police arrested the three administrators in Koja, North Jakarta, Cianjur, West Java, and Pekanbaru, Riau, respectively, between late July and early August.

"Their posts tended to lead readers to have negative views toward certain communities," National Police cybercrime director Brig. Gen. Fadil Imran said in a statement. He added that the groups "were structured just like an organization in general."

He said the group's leader had attempted to deceive the authorities by repeatedly changing mobile phone numbers to register at least 11 email accounts and six Facebook accounts.

Police have charged the three suspects under the Electronic Information and Transactions Law. The group's leader could face up to seven years in prison if found guilty, while the other two could face 10 years.

Police confiscated seven mobile phones, four memory cards, 58 SIM cards, six flash disks, six hard disk drives and two computers.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/police-arrest-three-on-online-hate-crime-allegations/

Environment & natural disasters

Montara oil spill: 15,500 Indonesian seaweed farmers take fight to Federal Court

ABC Radio Australia - August 30, 2017

Stephanie Zillman – More than 15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers who say Australia's worst-ever oil spill destroyed their livelihoods are about to learn if the Federal Court will hear their case.

The farmers, from the East Nusa Tengara province, say their crops were destroyed as a result of the 2009 Montara oil spill.

Eight years on, the company responsible PTTEP Australasia, has maintained the spill was contained and never reached the Indonesian coastline.

The class action's lead claimant, Daniel Sanda, said his life changed overnight. "Before the oil came, my seaweed crops were rich and healthy, and the income from seaweed harvesting was good," Mr Sanda said.

"In 2009, after the oil came, my seaweed became white and weak, then fell down and was washed away by the current."

Legal proceedings only got underway through the Australian courts thanks to the dogged efforts of Darwin lawyer Greg Phelps. Mr Phelps has spent much of the past three years visiting 81 villages, gathering evidence and sign-ups for the class action.

"The evidence is very clear and the timing [of the pollution] coincides with the Montara oil spill," Mr Phelps said.

"The scale of it is obvious, and the fact that all of this polluting material arrived in the environment at the same time that the Montara was releasing oil into the Timor Sea."

Oil not to blame, company says

Mr Phelps said he believed the level of scientific inquiry would have been remarkably different if it were Australians claiming their farms had been destroyed.

"If this oil had flowed into the Kimberley – if it had destroyed something of Australia's natural beauty – there would have been an outcry," Mr Phelps said.

"People all around Australia would have been up in arms. The fortunate thing for the oil company is that it went north, it crossed the Indonesian border. No investigation was conducted in Indonesian waters at all. And people breathed a sigh of relief and hoped they'd never have to hear about it again."

PTTEP Australasia categorically rejected the suggestion its oil was to blame for the dead seaweed. In a statement, the company said:

"While PTTEP AA does not deny the possibility that the communities of Nusa Tenggara Timor have experienced seaweed production decline, PTTEP AA rejects any connection between the Montara oil spill and these claims.

"There is strong evidence that suggests the decline in seaweed production was caused by environmental factors unrelated to the potential impacts of hydrocarbon pollution."

The company did not elaborate as to what other environmental factors it believed may have caused the seaweed to die. But Mr Phelps contended there were glaring holes in the scientific evidence that was gathered by the oil company.

He said maps provided to him under Freedom of Information laws by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority showed sheens of oil were detected as close as 20 nautical miles off the coast of Rote.

"Most of the scientific work was conducted between the oil rig and the Australian coast, where no oil went. Simply, the oil company did not do enough to follow the oil and actually see what impact it had," Mr Phelps said.

Industry support for oil company's claims

Malcolm Roberts, the CEO of Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, stood by the company's science.

"We had a four-year program that was incredibly comprehensive – very, very detailed work done by leading experts in their field – [and] the results are there for everyone to see," Mr Roberts said.

He said he supported PTTEP's official stance: that the closest recorded instance of oil being detected in Indonesian waters was 94 kilometres from the Indonesian coastline.

"And by that stage the oil would have been weathered, been broken up into a relatively thin sheen or flakes, at the surface level, so that was quite a distance away from the coastline," Mr Roberts said.

An Australian Federal Court judge is now considering whether to allow the class action to go ahead, despite the claimants being out of time.

Northern Territory law applies in this case, and ordinarily class actions must be lodged within three years of an incident.

However, the same law allows for discretion, and the class action will go ahead if the Judge agrees Mr Sanda did not know his legal rights or the details of what had happened in the Timor Sea until he was formally interviewed by Mr Phelps in 2015.

For the seaweed farmers, it will be a nervous wait for a decision. This is their last chance to be heard. Mr Phelps said he and the seaweed farmers were not contemplating the prospect of losing.

"I'm reassured by the fact that when we visit our seaweed farmer clients now... the main thing [they say] is you remembered us, and you've come and you're fighting for us," Mr Phelps said.

Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2017-08-30/montara-oil-spill-15500-indonesian-seaweed-farmers-take-fight-to-federal-court/1697736

Worsening drought, clean water scarcity affect millions in Indonesia

Straits Times - August 30, 2017

Jakarta =- Millions of people across Indonesia are facing failed harvests and a shortage of clean water as a result of worsening drought conditions.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has predicted that this year's dry season may last until September.

In Central Java, it is estimated that 1,235 villages in 266 districts will endure clean-water shortages during the dry season, according to the Central Java Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).

At least three reservoirs in the province have dried up and six others have very low water levels, cutting supplies of water for irrigation and clean water for domestic use.

Water volumes in the reservoirs have steadily declined since the dry season arrived in the province in July. The dried-up reservoirs are in Gebyar and Botok in Sragen regency, as well as Uling in Wonogiri regency.

"The six reservoirs that have very low water levels are in Kembangan and Brambang in Sragen, Krisak in Wonogiri, Cacaban in Tegal, Gunungrowo in Pati as well as Lodan in Rembang," Central Java Water Resources Management (PSDA) Agency head Prasetyo Budhie Yuwono said on Monday (Aug 28).

However, the provincial administration has downplayed the situation, claiming that the overall water volume of all the reservoirs in the province was still sufficient.

The administration previously expected a minimum water volume of 1.0 billion cubic meters in all 41 reservoirs in the province during the dry season. As of Monday, the volume was 1.2 billion cubic meters, said Prasetyo.

Nuswantoro SP, the secretary of the Central Java Plantation, Agriculture and Dissemination Coordination Agency, said the impact of the dry season in August was still manageable.

"We've received reports of drought from Temanggung, Demak and Tegal regencies. A total area of 13 hectares suffered light drought conditions while a moderate drought is reported to have hit 39 ha of and severe drought in 14 ha," he said, adding that farmers had reported failed harvests. In Tegal, for example, 10 ha of rice failed.

BPBD Central Java has earmarked Rp 600 million (S$60,876) for the distribution of clean water to 46 villages in 22 districts.

In East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), acting Sabu Raijua regent Nikodemi Rihi Heke has issued a decree to cope with the "drought emergency" in six districts.

"The six districts are Hawu Mehara, Raijua, West Sabu, Sabu Liae, Central Sabu and East Sabu," BPBD Sabu Raijua chief Pither Mara Rohi told reporters in Kupang.

Pither said that based on agency monitoring, almost all districts in the regencies had suffered from water scarcity and drought since July.

The agency has started to distribute clean water to residents in 63 villages in six districts, using 335 water tankers. However, Pither said supplies were still inadequate to compensate for the drought.

On average, one village would only get supplies from five to six water tankers per day, each only sufficient to cover the needs of 10 to 12 families.

Therefore, for a long-term solution, the Sabu Raijua administration plans to build embung (artificial lakes) in every village in the regency. "There are currently two big embung in Sabu Raijua, which can only supply a few villages around them," Pither said.

Drought and water scarcity are also reported in other areas, such as Karawang, Cianjur and Sukabumi in West Java; Bantul in Yogyakarta; and Bima in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network)

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/worsening-drought-clean-water-scarcity-hit-regions-in-indonesia

Palm oil kills orangutans in Indonesia peat swamp

Phys.org - August 27, 2017

It's been called the orangutan capital of the world, but the great apes in Indonesia's Tripa peat forest on the island of Sumatra are under threat by palm oil plantations that have gobbled up thousands of acres of land to make room for trees that produce the most consumed vegetable oil on the planet.

Palm oil is found in everything from cookies and lipstick to paint, shampoo and instant noodles, and Indonesia is the world's top producer. As demand soars, plantations are expanding. In Tripa, companies drain the swamp, releasing planet-warming carbon into the atmosphere and clear the forest of its native trees, often setting illegal fires.

This robs orangutans and other endangered species of their habitats, leaving the animals marooned on small swaths of forest, boxed-in on all sides by plantations. They slowly starve because there is no longer enough food to sustain them or they are frequently killed by plantation workers when they emerge from the jungle in search of food. Mothers often die protecting their babies, which are taken and sold as illegal pets.

On Aug. 10, a rescue team from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, accompanied by the Indonesia's Nature Conservation Agency, hiked into the Tripa peatlands to look for a mother and baby orangutan that had been reported in an area being overtaken by oil palms. The plan was to sedate and relocate them, but when the team arrived, there was no sign of the duo. Instead, they encountered a 50-kilogram (110-pound) male orangutan that was about 20 years old. He too was suffering, and the team managed to tranquilize him and carry him out of the jungle in a stretcher net.

He was named "Black," and driven about eight hours to an orangutan reintroduction center in Jantho, Aceh Besar. He joined about 100 other primates that have been released in the jungle to establish a new wild population. Only an estimated 6,600 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans remain. Less than 200 are believed to be living in the Tripa swamp, but it is still one of the densest concentrations of orangutans. The great apes are only found on two islands, Sumatra and Borneo, which Indonesia shares with Malaysia. Both support separate species.

"Capturing wild orangutans is not something we like to do. It is difficult, highly stressful and risky for all concerned," said the rescue group's director, Ian Singleton, who has been studying Sumatran orangutans since the 1990s. "It really is a last resort, and a reflection of the dire situation many of these animals are in as a result of the ongoing destruction of their habitat."

The Tripa peat swamp is part of the 2.6 million hectare (6.4 million acre) Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra, which is the last place on earth where orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos live together in the wild. The entire area is also under threat from logging, pulp and paper plantations and mining. In 2012, huge fires that were intentionally set to clear the land for palm oil ripped through the swamp, killing wildlife and blanketing surrounding areas in a thick haze.

The Indonesian government filed a lawsuit against palm oil firm P.T. Kallista Alam in 2012 for illegally burning 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of the Tripa swamp. Three years later, it was ordered to pay $26 million in fines and reparation. A manager was sentenced to three years in prison. However, the company filed a lawsuit against the government in July and so far no fines have been paid and no prison time has been served.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2017-08-palm-oil-orangutans-indonesia-peat.html

Health & education

Bogor regency has highest number of damaged schools

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Theresia Sufa, Bogor, West Java – Bogor regency is home to the highest number of damaged schools in Indonesia, due largely to an insufficient budget for infrastructure development, inaccurate data collection and poor construction monitoring, according to a joint initiative between the Civil Society Alliance for Democracy (YAPPIKA) and ActionAid.

"A roadmap to accelerate repairs of damaged school has been launched to help improve the education infrastructure of Bogor regency," YAPPIKA-ActionAid executive director Fransiska Fitri said during a public dialogue on Monday.

The event also launched a book that recorded key issues in the advocacy of safe and comfortable schools.

Jointly composed by YAPPIKA-ActionAid, the Indonesia Legislative Observer Committee (KOPEL), the Bogor regency administration and the Bogor Regency Legislative Council (DPRD), the road map contains strategies to complete the repairs of damaged classrooms by maximizing the use of regional resources, local budgets and the involvement of private entities and the public.

According to the 2016 Bogor Basic Education Data (Dapodik), 8,620 state elementary school classrooms and 1,407 state junior high school classrooms in the regency show various levels of damage.

Based on 2016 Bogor Education Agency data, 188,349 students are forced to attend lessons under unsafe and uncomfortable conditions.

"Meanwhile, 140,820 other children have to carry out learning activities in partitioned-classrooms and on the terrace of local residents' houses," Fransiska said.

Bogor Regency Education and Culture Agency head Lutfi Syam conceded that because of budget constraints, his agency could only build schools that must be renovated after 10 years of use. (yon/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/bogor-regency-has-highest-number-of-damaged-schools.html

Academics debunk hoaxes in the local tobacco industry

Jakarta Globe - August 26, 2017

Jakarta – Steep increases in cigarette excise taxes, instead of incremental ones, will do a better job in reducing poverty and improving health, the director at the University of Indonesia's Center for Health Economics and Policy Studies, or Cheps, said on Friday (25/08).

Cigarettes constitute the second largest expenditure after food among the country's poor, consuming nearly one-fourth of their monthly income. A threefold increase in current cigarette prices, however, would dissuade many from continuing to smoke and would allow greater flexibility in the face of fluctuating food prices, said Budi Hidayat, the head of Cheps.

"There is a direct impact from increasing cigarette prices to the rise of poverty, but after a certain point, [the poverty rate] starts to drop," he added.

A study conducted by the research center found that an increase of more than 112 percent would be sufficient in reducing the poverty level in the country. However, if the government imposes a 150 percent tax on tobacco – which would increase the average price of a pack of cigarettes to Rp 25,000 ($1.90) – two million people would be brought out of poverty.

A 150 percent excise tax would also add Rp 200 trillion to the state coffer over five years. Conversely, a 10.54 percent increase in tobacco excise, which the government plans to impose this year, would actually increase the number of people living in poverty by 0.16 percent to 29 million people, Budi said.

Rp 50,000 per pack

Based on a survey conducted between December 2015 and January 2016, about 72 percent of 1,000 respondents agreed that rising the price of a pack of cigarettes to Rp 50,000 would effectively curb the rate of smoking in the country, while 46 percent agreed to the price increase.

Hasbullah Thabrany, an expert on health economics, said the survey's findings sparked a discussion among the public but failed to push the government to increase the so-called "sin tax" on cigarettes.

Popular hoax

Officials seemed reluctant to increase the excise on cigarettes to prevent illegal distribution in the market which, according to Hasbullah, can easily be solved by better surveillance and law enforcement.

Loss from illegal cigarettes is relatively low compared to excise collected by the government. For example, the amount of legal cigarettes in 2010 numbered 182 billion, while only 16 billion were illegal. The loss to the state was estimated at Rp 5.8 trillion, compared to an excise collection of Rp 63.29 trillion.

The market for hand-rolled cigarettes also shrunk by 10 percent from 2010 to 2015, during which time the government gradually increased excise taxes on cigarettes, though the number of laborers in the industry increased by 30,000, Cheps said in a statement.

The research center said workers in the sector are threatened by increasing mechanization of the cigarette-producing process as opposed to increased taxes. Workers jobs are relatively safe, Hasbullah added, because large tobacco companies often increase the price of their products in the face of rising production costs.

The expert also said imported cigarettes pose a greater threat to the jobs of tobacco industry workers than increased taxes, as Indonesia currently imports about 40 percent of its total tobacco stockpiles, which can be sold at less than half the price of local cigarettes. "That's why I said there are many hoaxes in this industry," Hasbullah said.

A good business to keep

Indonesia – home to more than 260 million people – is indeed a big market for cigarette makers. The latest deal in Indonesia's tobacco industry came from Japan Tobacco, which agreed to buy a local kretek, or clove, cigarette producer for $677 million as part of the company's strategy to establish a strong footing in emerging Asian markets.

Hasbullah said many industry players want taxes kept low to keep the rate of smoking high, as companies look to implement long-term strategies to target women and children to start smoking. "These companies are thinking long-term while our government only thinks short-term," he said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/business/debunking-hoax-in-tobacco-industry-academics/

NU followers protest full-day school policy

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2017

Ganug Nugroho Adi, Surakarta, Central Java – Thousands of members of mass organizations affiliated with Indonesia's largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama and students of madrasah diniyah (Islamic elementary schools) and Quran reading classes staged a rally to protest the implementation of the Education and Culture Ministry's full-day school policy in Surakarta, Central Java, on Thursday.

Seven NU branch offices (PCNU) from Boyolali, Karanganyar, Klaten, Sragen, Sukoharjo and Wonogiri participated in the rally, during which they called for the revocation of Education and Culture Minister Regulation (Permendikbud) No.23/2017 on the implementation of the controversial policy.

Rally participants gathered at Sriwedari at around 1 p.m. before they held a four kilometer march along Jl. Slamet Riyadi to the Bundaran Gladag traffic circle in Surakarta.

Protesters displayed hundreds of banners and posters emblazoned with messages showing their rejection of the full-day school policy. They sang a song entitled Syubbanul Wathon (Love of the Homeland), which was composed by notable ulema KH Abdul Wahab Chasbullah, as they waved Red-and-White and NU flags.

"We reject the forceful implementation of the full-day school system. After this rally, we will hold an istighosah [mass prayer] for the good of all," said rally coordinator Muhammad Mahbub.

PCNU Karanganyar head Khusaini Hasan said the full-day school policy would negatively affect madrasah diniyah and other religious schools, whose activities were mostly held in the afternoon.

"Madrasah will die. Children will lose their chance to get an education on noble characters, good morals and religious values. Their time will be totally taken up learning academics," said Khusaini. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/24/nu-followers-protest-full-day-school-policy.html

Marriage & the family

Can child marriage be stopped? One girl did and wants others in Indonesia to

Thomson Reuters Foundation - August 30, 2017

Kuala Lumpur – In Sanita Rini's village on the Indonesian island of Java, child brides were so common that girls who were not married by the time they turned 16 were labelled "old virgins."

Like other parents in the village, Rini's tried to marry her off – to a motorbike driver seven years her senior – as soon as she celebrated her 13th birthday.

"I was shocked. I cried, I was angry," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "I knew from my friends who married young, they can't continue school, their life is over," said Rini, now 22.

Rini's story is not uncommon in Indonesia, which is among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest number of child brides, according to campaign group Girls Not Brides.

But she stopped her child marriage and now, along with a group of teenage girls, Rini is seeking to empower others to fight back through a new network, the Youth Coalition for Girls.

One in four girls marry before they turn 18 in Indonesia, according to the United Nations' children agency Unicef. On average over 3,500 Indonesian girls are married off every day.

Globally, 15 million girls become child brides each year, exposing them to greater risks of exploitation, sexual violence, domestic abuse and death in childbirth.

Campaigners say poverty and tradition continue to drive underage marriage in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago in Southeast Asia with a population of 250 million people.

Striking a deal

The UN defines child marriage as a formal marriage or informal union before age 18. However in Indonesia, the minimum age a girl can wed is 16, and 19 for boys.

Rini said her father, a construction laborer, and mother, who runs a grocery store from home, tried for two years to marry her to the man from her village to help the family's finances.

The youngest of five siblings, Rini resisted and her parents eventually dropped the idea after she struck a "deal" with them.

"I asked my parents how much they have spent on me, for my education. I said I would repay them this money if they let me continue my studies. If they forced me to get married, they would not get a single cent," she said.

The coalition hopes stories like Rini's can inspire other girls to stand up for their rights on issues ranging from child marriage to sexual violence.

Launched in March, the group now has 180 members aged between 15 and 24 in 11 provinces across the archipelago who want to tackle gender equality through talks and book projects.

The coalition has a few survivors of child marriage and Rini, the group's deputy head, said sharing their experiences help girls who are trapped to envision a different future. "I want to tell the girls, they are not alone. They have the power to say no," she said.

The coalition also reaches out to parents to tell them the importance of education and encourage them to let their children continue their studies until at they are at least 18.

A university graduate, Rini has spoken about her experience in Japan and the Netherlands and her parents are proud of her.

The new coalition comes as women's rights campaigners in Indonesia broaden their movement by engaging men and religious leaders.

In April, female Muslim clerics issued an unprecedented fatwa – a religious edict which is not legally binding but influential among Muslims – to declare underage marriage harmful and said its prevention was mandatory.

Rini admits the network is only in its infancy, but she hopes by taking this step, politicians will start engaging youths themselves when drafting policies and enacting laws. "My dream is to see boys and girls in Indonesia enjoy their rights equally," she said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/can-child-marriage-be-stopped-one-girl-did-and-wants-others-in-indonesia-to-follow/

Corruption & abuse of power

Activists jubilant over mayor arrest

Jakarta Post - August 30, 2017

Jakarta – Non-governmental activists in Tegal, Central Java staged a protest on Wednesday to express their happiness over the arrest of Tegal mayor Siti Mashita Soeparno on allegation of corruption.

Some of the protesters chanted slogans to express their dislike towards what the considered as Siti's arrogance, while others were setting off fireworks.

"We're relieved now because her policies as mayor have been oppressive," said Yusqon, a spokesman for a group who called themselves the Committee to Save Tegal Municipality.

Yusqon said as quoted by tempo.co that some of Siti's policies that he considered arrogant was when the mayor decided to punish city officials who opposed some of her decisions.

The latest decision from Siti that the group could not tolerate was her move to strip deputy mayor Nur Sholeh of his authority. Siti had a rocky relationship with her deputy throughout her tenure.

Siti Masitha was arrested at her official residence in the City Hall complex on Jl. Gede Sedayu, Tegal, on Tuesday evening. Before the arrest, KPK investigators sealed offices at Kardinah Regional General Hospital (RSUD). It is suspected that the mayor's arrest is related to the construction of an intensive care unit (ICU) facility at the hospital.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/30/activists-jubilant-over-mayor-arrest.html

Businessman gets seven years for bribing justice Patrialis

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2017

Jakarta – The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced meat importer Basuki Hariman to seven years in prison on Monday for bribing former Constitutional Court justice Patrialis Akbar via a middleman and the justice's aide Kamaludin.

"The defendant has been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of serial corruption," presiding judge Nawawi Pomolongo said when reading out the verdict at the court in Jakarta as quoted from kompas.com.

Basuki was also ordered to pay Rp 400 million (US$30,000) in fines on pain of an additional three months in prison.

"The accused [Basuki] met Patrialis on several occasions in September, October and December 2016 in order to sway a judicial review in his favor," the judge said.

Also on Monday, Basuki's employee Ng Fenny was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay Rp 200 million in fines or spend an extra two months in prison.

The two were convicted of handing over $50,000 in bribes to Patrialis in order to influence the court justices to issue a favorable ruling in the judicial review of Law No. 41/2014 on animal health and husbandry.

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors had previously demanded Basuki be sentenced to 11 years in prison and Ng Fenny to 10.5 years.

Patrialis will hear his verdict soon. Prosecutors have demanded he be sentenced to 12.5 years in prison. (ecn/bbs)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/businessman-gets-seven-years-for-bribing-justice-patrialis.html

KPK steps up probe into BLBI case

Jakarta Post - August 26, 2017

Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has stepped up its investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding the disbursement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) by summoning more people linked to the case.

On Friday, the antigraft body planned to question Bank Dagang National Indonesia owner Sjamsul Nursalim and his wife Itjih Nursalim as witnesses for Syafruddin Arsyad Temenggung, the former Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman who has been named a suspect in the case.

"We sent a summons letter to both witnesses to their places of residence in Singapore. Unfortunately, they can't come for the questioning," KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said.

Besides the couple, investigators have also summoned former high-ranking IBRA official Thomas Maria to dig deeper into the process leading to the "release and discharge" letters at the agency.

The move was taken after the South Jakarta District Court rejected a pre-trial motion from Syafruddin in early August.

Syafruddin issued a letter for Sjamsul freeing the latter from the obligation to pay Rp 3.7 trillion (around US$277 million) in debt owed to the government, which disbursed the funds under the BLBI scheme. The case reportedly caused Rp 3.7 trillion in state losses. (kuk)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/25/KPK-steps-up-probe-into-blbi-case.html

KPK arrests Transportation Ministry top official

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2017

Farida Susanty, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested on Wednesday evening the Transportation Ministry's sea transportation director-general, Antonius Tonny Budiono.

"That's the information we received. We won't deny that. But we will wait for KPK's statement," the ministry's acting spokesman Hengki Angkasawan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Hengki declined to provide details of the arrest, emphasizing that the ministry was still waiting for further information from the anticorruption body. Meanwhile, circulated images show that KPK officials have sealed the directorate-general's office.

Last year, Antonius's predecessor Bobby R. Mamahit was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a Rp 40 billion (US$2.99 million) graft case involving the construction of a training facility in Sorong regency, West Papua, in 2011. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/24/KPK-arrests-transportation-ministry-top-official.html

Terrorism & religious extremism

Minister defends remissions for terror convicts

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2017

Jakarta – Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly has defended the move to grant sentence reductions to a number of convicted terrorists, saying the decision was made after a thorough review that found the convicts had repented for their wrongdoings while serving time.

"We are working with the National Counterterrorism Agency [BNPT] to evaluate proportionally whether to grant these convicts sentence cuts," Yasonna said on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.

Aman Abdurrahman, a radical cleric and well-known supporter of the Islamic State (IS) movement, was among dozens of convicted terrorists to receive remissions during Independence Day last week.

With the remission, Aman secured an early release. However, he was immediately re-arrested by the National Police for his suspected role in the deadly Thamrin terror attack in Jakarta last year. The police believe Aman may have orchestrated the attack from behind bars, though he has yet to be named a suspect in the case.

The ministry's decision to grant Aman a sentence cut sparked fresh concerns over its leniency in granting sentence cuts to terror convicts in the country that has long fought terrorism but continues to face terror attacks. (kuk/ipa)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/minister-defends-remissions-for-terror-convicts.html

Court jails first female would-be suicide bomber from Bekasi

Agence France Presse - August 28, 2017

Jakarta – A woman from Bekasi, West Java has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years jail for her involvement in an Islamic State-inspired plot to carry out a suicide bomb attack on the presidential palace in Jakarta, her lawyer said Monday.

Dian Yulia Novi was arrested at her boarding house with a three-kilogram bomb encased in a pressure cooker the night before the planned attack on the palace in December.

Novi, a 28-year-old former migrant worker who is nine months pregnant, was found guilty of committing an act of terrorism by the East Jakarta District Court on Friday, her lawyer confirmed to AFP.

"The judges said what she had committed was counterproductive with the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism and that it has caused public unrest," her lawyer Kamsi said.

It is the first time a woman has been convicted over a suicide bomb plot in Indonesia and highlights the more active role women are taking in violent extremism.

Novi and her husband were among five militants detained over the planned attack last year. Another woman alleged to have recruited Novi, named Tutin Sugiarti, was sentenced to three-and-half years in prison on Friday, Kamsi said.

Police believe the group was strongly linked to Bahrun Naim, a leading Indonesian militant currently fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria.

Many from Indonesia – which has long struggled with Islamic militancy – have flocked to join IS in the Middle East, while radicals in the country have pledged allegiance to the group and attacks and plots have been linked to the jihadists.

Indonesian women – often radicalised on social media – are taking on a more active role in violent extremism, according to recent report from the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.

Kamsi said judges delivered the verdict earlier than expected because Novi was pregnant. She would not file an appeal.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/court-jails-first-female-would-be-suicide-bomber-from-bekasi.html

Indonesian militants planned 'dirty bomb' attack, say sources

Reuters - August 26, 2017

Jakarta – Indonesian militants planned to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb", security sources said, highlighting the rising ambitions of extremists to wreak destruction in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation. But experts cast doubt on the militants' expertise, equipment and chances of success.

The plot was foiled when the police raided homes and arrested five suspects in Bandung, West Java, last week, the sources with direct knowledge of the plot said. After the raids, the police spoke of a plan to explode a "chemical" bomb but provided no other details.

The plot comes as Indonesia grapples with an influx of militants deported from other countries and the fallout from terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-led siege in the southern Philippines city of Marawi that regional leaders and analysts worry has energised militants across South-east Asia. The three counter-terrorism sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants had hoped to transform low-grade radioactive thorium 232 into deadly uranium 233.

The highly radioactive uranium would be combined with the powerful homemade explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP) to create a "nuclear bomb", according to an instruction manual used by the militants. In fact, the device would be, at best, a radiological dispersal device or "dirty bomb" that could spray radioactive material when the conventional bomb exploded.

A spokesman for Indonesia's national police, Inspector-General Setyo Wasisto, declined to confirm or deny the plot to construct the device, but said it would have been more potent than the two bombs made from TATP that killed three police officers in Indonesia's capital Jakarta in May.

"If this bomb had been finished, it would have had a more destructive impact than the bomb made from 'Mother of Satan'," he said, using the nickname for TATP. "It could burn anything and make it hard for people to breathe."

More detrimental

If this bomb had been finished, it would have had a more destructive impact than the bomb made from 'Mother of Satan'. It could burn anything and make it hard for people to breathe.

Indonesia has suffered a series of mostly small attacks by extremists over the past 18 months, although the police have disrupted many more.

Indonesian terrorism analyst Rakyan Adibrata fears that militants have been inspired by the events in Marawi, where ISIS fighters continue to occupy part of the city despite a three-month offensive by Philippine forces to retake it.

"They don't have the ability to occupy a city like what has happened in Marawi, but they want to do something big that pleases their bosses in ISIS," said Mr Adibrata.

A radiological bombing could fit the bill, although Mr Adibrata said that it was highly unlikely that the Bandung cell had either "the equipment or the knowledge" to succeed.

Most of Indonesia's recent attacks have involved members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), a pro-ISIS alliance of Indonesian militants. Many have been directed from Syria by an Indonesian national and JAD leader Bahrun Naim, according to the police.

The police also said the suspected Bandung plotters were members of JAD and were considering targets like the presidential palace in Jakarta, and police headquarters in Bandung and the capital.

Two of the five suspects are Indonesian migrant workers deported from Singapore and Hong Kong this year for posting radical Islamist material on social media.

They spent a month or less in a deradicalisation shelter before joining up with the other militants, sources said. About 177 Indonesian militants have been deported from other countries this year, according to Mr Adibrata, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesian-militants-planned-dirty-bomb-attack-say-sources

Freedom of religion & worship

Yogyakarta students speak up against intolerance

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of students in Yogyakarta have conveyed their pledge to uphold tolerance and maintain unity amid growing religious tension and sectarianism.

In Bantul, a headmaster of a state high school was reported to have refused to support issues related to tolerance and Pancasila. It was also reported that he initially refused to send his school's students to attend the Declaration of Tolerant Yogyakarta Students on Monday.

"After we advised him, we finally agreed on sending representatives from his school," said Halili, head of the Citizenship Education Laboratory at Yogyakarta State University (UNY).

Around 300 senior and junior high school students from 27 schools attended the declaration, themed "Tolerance is Pancasila", at Pancasila Park, UNY.

The event was jointly held by UNY's School of Social Sciences, UNY's Pancasila and Constitution Study Center, Setara Institute and the Asian Muslim Action Network (Aman).

At the event, the students read out the declaration, which states their commitment to respecting and upholding diversity, fighting against violence, promoting tolerance in their social intercourse and taking care of Yogyakarta as a province of plurality.

"This is to respond to intolerance teachings that have entered our education world in the last 10 years and, all this time, we have allowed this situation to continue to happen," said Halili.

Research conducted by Setara Institute shows that, currently, Indonesia has produced increasingly intolerant students because of the spread of extremist teachings. The research, conducted in 2016, involved 171 schools in Bandung, West Java, and Jakarta. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/yogyakarta-students-speak-up-against-intolerance.html

Sex, pornography & morality

Police will not drop Rizieq pornography case

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Jakarta – The Jakarta Police maintain that they will not drop the investigation into the pornography case involving leader of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) Rizieq Shihab.

Head of the Jakarta Police's special crimes unit Sr. Comr. Ade Deriyan said the ongoing investigation had uncovered evidence of criminal activity.

"Police investigators have come to the conclusion that there has been a criminal offense," Ade said as quoted by tempo.co.

Ade added that investigators handling the case had already collected enough evidence to incriminate Rizieq.

"Investigators have completed all stages of the investigation and they believe that all evidence has been collected," Ade said.

Lawyers for Rizieq have called on the police to drop their probe into the firebrand cleric, saying that allegations against their client are based on doctored evidence.

Rizieq was named a suspect in the pornography case following the dissemination of sexually explicit WhatsApp chats allegedly between him and Firza Hussein, who has also been named a suspect in the case.

Earlier this month, police investigators questioned Rizieq in Saudi Arabia, where he has resided since May, shortly after being named a suspect in the case. (mtr)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/police-will-not-drop-rizieq-pornography-case.html

Land & agrarian conflicts

Airport construction continues despite lack of environmental permit

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2017

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura (AP) I has cleared a beach area, which will be the location of a new Yogyakarta airport in Kulon Progo, despite possessing neither an environmental impact analysis (Amdal) document or environmental permit for the project. "With the absence of the Amdal document and environmental permit, construction stages, including land clearance, should not be conducted," said Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) director Halik Sandera.

He said it was not the first time that AP I had violated the rules. The airport operator previously relocated residents whose land was to be used for the airport construction. The relocation was conducted before an assessment team in Jakarta had issued the Amdal document.

Five villages have been affected by the airport project, namely Glagah, Jangkaran, Kebonrejo, Palihan and Sindutan.

"Some residents complained about dust-related problems during land clearance. With an Amdal document, such problems could have been prevented," said Halik.

Rights group Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute's (LBH) advocacy department head, Yogi Zul Fadhli, said an Amdal document was important because environmental permits were issued on the basis of the Amdal.

"We want to remind all related parties that as of today, there has been no Amdal document or environmental permit issued for the airport's construction. Hence, the dispatch of heavy equipment to carry out land clearing activities cannot be justified," said Yogi.

He further said that if it continued the activities, AP I could be in violation of Article 109 of Law No.32/2009 on environment conservation and management. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/airport-construction-continues-despite-lack-of-environmental-permit.html

PGI criticizes confiscation of Sunda Wiwitan's land

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2017

Jakarta – The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) have criticized a plan by the Kuningan District Court to confiscate customary land belonging to the traditional Adat Karuhan Urang (AKUR) Sunda Wiwitan faith in Cigugur district, West Java, which was slated for Thursday.

PGI noted that the seizure was too rash and would destroy cultural values of customary land.

"It is against the principles of justice. It will only hurt and disadvantage the indigenous people who have stayed, protected and preserved the site," PGI spokesman Jeirry Sumampow said in a statement on Thursday.

"Preserving cultural heritage is a concrete way to protect our identity as a civilized state. It's our effort to protect cultural values and original customs of our society." He further claimed that irregularities and signs of discrimination had been found in the court's decision.

The site was home to the Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal building, which has been listed as a National Cultural Heritage site at the Cultural and Education Ministry since 1976. It has become a center of activities for the people of Sunda Wiwitan since the late 18th century.

Dispossession of the indigenous group's customary land started when a resident named R. Djaka Rumantaka sued Kunadi and Mimin, members of the Sunda Wiwitan faith. Djaka claimed that the land on which Kusnadi and Mimin were staying belonged to his parent. A court later ruled in favor of Djaka. (yon)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/24/pgi-criticizes-sunda-wiwitans-site-execution.html

Village & rural life

Alleged corruption hampers use of village funds

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Aman Rochman, Malang, East Java – Alleged corruption related to the use of village funds has hampered the absorption of the funds in Malang, East Java, according to reports.

"We are afraid that the use of village funds will lead to legal problems," said Bambang Hariarso, head of Telekung village in Batu, Malang, on Monday.

"We are still confused about technical matters related to the use of village funds that should be in line with existing regulations [...]."

Village Funds task force head Bibit Samad Riyanto said his institution had received 30 complaints on village fund irregularities and misuses.

He said three main problems had been identified in the monitoring of village funds, namely delayed disbursement, the misuse of funds and irregularities.

These problems were reportedly caused by non-synchronized regulations, technical problems and intentional irregularities by village fund administrators, among others.

"We had seen some weaknesses in every stage of the implementation of village funds, starting from planning to reporting activities. There are worries among village apparatuses that incautious implementation of village funds may have legal impacts. Hence, there should be training programs on technical matters that village leaders should pay attention to in using the funds," said Bibit on Monday.

He further said the government would impose tough sanctions on any of the alleged irregularities. "This can be traced from programs and fund disbursement plans in each village," said Bibit. (yon/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/alleged-corruption-hampers-use-of-village-funds.html

Indigenous culture & rights

Indonesian activist fights of indigenous peoples' rights

Philippine Daily Inquirer - August 31, 2017

Jerome Aning – As a young man, Abdon Nabadan loved nature-tripping – climbing mountains and trekking forests.

Little did he know that his love of nature would lead him to reconnect to his ethnic roots and become one of Indonesia's leading advocates of the rights of indigenous peoples (IPs), locally known as the masyarakat adat.

Nabadan, 53, one of this year's Ramon Magsaysay awardees, will be honored today for "his brave, self-sacrificing advocacy to give voice and face to his country's IP communities, his principled, relentless, yet pragmatic leadership of the world's largest IP rights movement, and the far-reaching impact of his work on the lives of millions of Indonesians."

A member of the Toba Batak IP community of Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Nabadan began his social advocacy as a student and continued as a nongovernment organization (NGO) officer after graduation.

Tribal land

Being a nature lover, he became an environmental activist. Nabadan said he was not really conscious of what it meant to be an indigenous person until, while working in an antilogging campaign in his community, he realized that the land taken over by a big industrial lumber company was actually ancestral land that belonged to his grandparents and other Toba Batak families.

His exposure to the injustices and marginalization suffered by his people, Nabadan said, made him realize he was a victim. He decided to focus on IP rights and has since raised this discovery of his IP identity and responsibility to involve millions of others.

"It's about self-identification. You have to make people understand: 'This is about me. This is about my forest, this is about my land, this is about my water,'" he said.

According to Nabadan, Indonesia has 1,128 ethnic groups and about 70 million are categorized as IPs. Recognition of IP rights, he said, was neglected in the past, particularly under the Suharto dictatorship when IP advocates were persecuted and labeled as separatists, "antidevelopment," or communists.

In 1999, after Suharto's fall, Nabadan organized a congress that launched Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (Aman), or the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, a mass-based organization that today has more than 115 local chapters and 21 regional chapters throughout the country's 34 provinces.

Collectively, Aman represents more than 17 million members from 2,342 IP communities. As Aman's executive secretary and later secretary general, Nabadan leads what is now Indonesia's largest, most influential nonpolitical organization.

Ancestral domains

Nabadan said the defense and recognition of indigenous people's ancestral domains was one of Aman's priorities.

Under previous regimes, he said, the government converted 72 percent of IP territories into state forests and the remaining 28 percent into national parks. State forests were soon turned over to private companies for logging and plantation concessions.

Under Nabadan's leadership, Aman's legal challenge to existing forestry laws finally won in 2012 a landmark constitutional court ruling that decreed that forests in IP territories are not "state forests," thus returning some 57 million hectares of government-controlled forest land to indigenous communities.

One of Aman's main projects is the mapping of the vast territories occupied by the country's indigenous peoples, which aims to recognize their right to have a say in development and natural resource management of their ancestral domains.

Mapping project

"Our Constitution clearly says that the State recognize and respect indigenous rights, but in reality, there is no effective protection for us because we do not exist on the government's maps, in the government's administration system. So now the movement is to make sure that IPs become part of the whole system," he said.

"That is why we need to map our territory and we hand over that map to the government and we integrate those maps into the One-Map Indonesia," he added, referring to the name of the mapping project.

The mapping was done through physically surveying ancestral lands, consulting historical records, taking into account traditional boundaries, and consulting IP leaders and elders.

From compasses, Aman and IP community representatives turned to using modern cartographic technology such as GPS and drones.

In 2010, Aman and other NGOs launched the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency to create a single data base for verifying land or forest claims on ownership, use and tenure in view of incomplete, inaccurate and conflicting government data.

Last year, Aman submitted to the government "indigenous maps" covering 8.23 million hectares. The Aman maps and constitutional rulings on state forests await implementation by the administration of President Joko Widodo, whom Aman endorsed in the 2014 elections.

Development plans

Nabadan clarified, however, that IP communities were not opposed to development, saying that IP communities welcome mining and tourism projects in their own lands as long as their consent is obtained, their rights protected and their economic benefits ensured.

"We want this map to become the basis for the development plans. The government needs to ask the IPs what kind of development is suitable for their culture. That is the idea," he said, pointing to the Philippines, which has an IP rights law that recognizes ancestral domains, as a model.

He recounted that the years of exploitation suffered by indigenous peoples turned them into "minorities" and made them resentful of development.

"The IP became aware that their living spaces are shrinking and shrinking. Worse, they are becoming marginalized, politically, economically and socially, in their own lands," he said.

"Thus, the maps are our way of saying we are visible, that we should be counted in, that we should be treated as part of the nation-state," he said, adding that Indonesia's indigenous peoples would always be part of the country's nation-building.

While Nabadan talks of indigenous peoples as "owners of the land" whose "consent" developers need to secure, he does not refer to proprietorship rights.

Rather, he speaks in the stewardship sense of land ownership, pointing out that IP communities were already present hundreds of years before Indonesia came into being.

"The IP are the guardians of the forests, the rivers, the lakes. They have to be the main actors in development, in natural resource management, and in protecting nature," he said.

Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/160121/indonesian-activist-fights-indigenous-peoples-rights

Parliament & legislation

ICW accuses House inquiry committee of fabricating news

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Jakarta – It is suspected that politicians on a House of Representatives inquiry committee intentionally spread misinformation about the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has said.

"Within 56 working days since its establishment in May, some of the inquiry committee's members worked to spread hoaxes," ICW activist Donal Fariz said as quoted by tempo.co in a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday.

ICW claims the committee spread at least 10 hoaxes, one of which was that the KPK had a lock up facility. "Actually, it is a safe house," said Donal.

The organization also claimed that the committee said KPK investigators had used a private jet during an investigation into possible bribery at the Constitutional Court, and that senior KPK investigator Novel Baswedan had witnessed a suspected swallow's nest thief being given electric shocks but did not intervene.

The House also accused the KPK of intimidating graft suspect Miryam S. Haryani during questioning, Donal said.

He said the House had claimed that suspected graft in the e-ID card procurement case was a story fabricated by the KPK and that the anti-graft body often misused the media to form public opinion.

Donal also said the committee had accused NGOs of accepting funds from the KPK and that the commission accepted instructions to engineer cases.

The House was also accused of claiming that instead of taking medication to treat wounds sustained in an acid attack, Novel merely went to Singapore for leisure. "They produced hoaxes, false news," said Donal. (yon/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/icw-accuses-house-inquiry-committee-of-fabricating-news.html

Jakarta & urban life

Orderly sidewalk program extended amid lack of success

Jakarta Post - August 30, 2017

Jakarta – Jakarta's so-called Bulan Patuh Trotoar (Orderly Sidewalk Month) program will be extended to the end of September, given that many people still violate regulations on pedestrian walks.

"This program will be extended until the people are fully aware of the function of sidewalks," Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said on Wednesday.

The Jakarta administration currently is enforcing the Orderly Sidewalk Month to discipline vendors and motorists who encroach on sidewalks, to ensure comfort for pedestrians.

Despite the program, which was initially supposed to end on Aug. 31, there were still many motorists and street vendors occupying sidewalks for parking and business purposes, said Djarot.

Moreover, prior to Idul Adha, the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, many vendors used sidewalks to sell livestock, he added. Hence, the program is to be continued.

"We will review it again. If by the end of September the people are aware [of the sidewalk functions], we will revoke the policy," Djarot said, as quoted by kompas.com. (agn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/30/orderly-sidewalk-program-extended-amid-lack-of-success.html

Jakarta administration seeks lifting of reclamation moratorium

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2017

Jakarta – The Jakarta administration is looking to restart the controversial reclamation project in Jakarta Bay after the central government issued land certificates for islets C and D.

Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said on Saturday his administration had sent a letter to Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya asking the ministry to lift its moratorium on the reclamation project.

However, Siti said on Sunday that she had not received the letter from the city administration. "The letter has not arrived with us," said Siti as reported by tempo.co.

Djarot questioned the fate of the reclamation project, which had been stopped by a joint team from several ministries, after the team considered various issues, including the questionable environmental impact analysis (Amdal) document for the project.

The governor referred to the islets, developed by PT Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of a property giant, Agung Sedayu Group. "What is the status now? Will we utilize the islands? Djarot added.

In addition to the certificates issued by the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry for the islands, tempo.co reported that North Jakarta Agrarian Agency head Kasten Situmorang had also issued land certificates for PT Kapuk Naga Indah to allow the company to construct buildings on the islets.

However, there has been no confirmation about the certificates for the developers.

The project became subject to hot debate during the gubernatorial election campaign this year when Jakarta governor-elect Anies Baswedan expressed his opposition to the project. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/jakarta-administration-seeks-lifting-of-reclamation-moratorium.html

Djarot refuses to pay 'Pak Ogah' traffic attendants

Jakarta Post - August 27, 2017

Jakarta – After initiating training for Pak Ogah, the voluntary traffic attendants who regularly manage traffic congestion, especially on small streets where police personnel are usually absent, the Jakarta Police have been forced to halt a plan to inaugurate them as official traffic attendants, as the Jakarta administration says it will not hire them.

Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat rejected the initiative of the city police to hire the trained traffic attendants, who are called Supeltas, saying that they are not supposed to be paid since "they volunteer".

"Maybe we can help [manage the traffic] by providing public facility maintenance agency workers, when they're available. But to pay the volunteers? No way," he said on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.

Managing traffic is the responsibility of the police. However, since many streets are congested, police officers, with the help of transportation agency officials, only manage main streets.

The police's traffic division chief, Sr. Comr. Halim Pagarra, said he had planned to inaugurate the Supeltas on Saturday, but the plan was canceled owing to the negative response from the administration.

The attendants got the name Pak Ogah in reference to a character in a popular puppet show in the 1990s, Si Unyil. Pak Ogah is an unemployed person who asks for small change from people he meets, "Cepek dulu, dong" (One hundred rupiah, please). (wit)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/26/djarot-refuses-to-pay-pak-ogah-traffic-attendants.html

Armed forces & defense

Soldier arrested third time on suspicion of drug trafficking

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2017

Jakarta – The Jakarta Police have arrested an Indonesian Military (TNI) member, identified only as Second Sgt. S, for allegedly distributing shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine).

According to police records, the active TNI member has been caught selling drugs twice before. "S is currently waiting for his appeal to be heard," TNI spokesperson Maj. Gen. Wuryanto said as quoted by tempo.co on Friday.

Wuryanto said S. had appealed against his sentence of dishonorable discharge in his two last cases. He was caught by the Depok Police in West Java and by the East Jakarta Police for selling crystal methamphetamine.

In the latest case, S. was hunted down by police officers after they arrested another suspected drug dealer, Ahyat, in Bekasi Timur, West Java, on Aug. 23. The officers seized 52.41 grams of crystal methamphetamine from Ahyat, who claimed he bought the crystal meth from S.

The police arrested S. in Cileungsi, Bogor, West Java, and confiscated 17.51 grams of crystal meth. Bekasi Police chief Sr. Comr. Asep Adi Saputra said his officers were looking for more suspects involved in the case. (vny)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/25/soldier-arrested-third-time-on-suspicion-of-drug-trafficking.html

Criminal justice & legal system

AGO urged to stop execution preparations

Jakarta Post - August 28, 2017

Jakarta – Jakarta-based rights group Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat) has urged the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to stop all preparations for a fourth round of executions under the President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo administration.

The group also said the office must desist in its efforts to get the Supreme Court to overrule a Constitutional Court ruling that removed time limits for the submission of a presidential pardon request.

"Amid muddled law enforcement in Indonesia, it seems the attorney general (M.Prasetyo) wants to appear heroic by executing death row inmates. In fact, the AGO has long shown a lack of achievements," said LBH Masyarakat director Ricky Gunawan in a statement on Saturday.

He was responding to media reports that the AGO was making preparations to execute 12 death row convicts.

"In the last two and a half years, the AGO has not produced any achievements of which it can be proud. The planned executions are no more than cosmetic to cover up its poor performance in enforcing the law and human rights," Ricky said.

Last month, the Indonesian Ombudsman stated the AGO had committed several law violations in the third round of executions in April 2016. The four inmates executed comprised drug kingpin Freddy Budiman, Senegal national Seck Osmane and Nigerian nationals Humphrey Ejike and Michael Titus Igweh.

Ricky said the AGO should first fix the procedure for executions. "Instead, the AGO has continued its execution plan," he said. (yon/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/ago-urged-to-stop-execution-preparations.html

Police & law enforcement

Jakarta Police thwart drug smuggling attempts at own headquarters

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2017

Jakarta – The Jakarta Police have foiled attempts to distribute drugs inside its own headquarters, according to Jakarta Police Narcotics Unit head Sr. Comr. Nico Afinta.

Officers discovered on Thursday that detainees have asked their relatives and friends to smuggle drugs, mostly a type of sabu-sabu (crystal methamphetamine), into the detention center.

The amount ranged between 1 and 5 grams, Nico said. "We found the drugs slipped into in food or clothes," Nico said as quoted by kompas.com. The visitors were arrested and named as suspects.

On Thursday, the Jakarta Police awarded 14 officers who succeeded in thwarting drug smuggling attempts inside the detention center.

"We want to change perception that detainees can easily get drugs; that should not happen in the Jakarta Police [detention center]," Nico said. (cal)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/24/jakarta-police-thwart-drug-smuggling-attempts-at-own-headquarters.html

Free trade & neoliberalism

Australia-Indonesia free trade deal will encounter protectionism

Sydney Morning Herald - August 29, 2017

Jewel Topsfield and Karuni Rompies, Jakarta – Malcolm Turnbull's desire for a "high quality" free trade agreement with Indonesia will confront Jakarta's protectionist impulses, with chief negotiator Deddy Saleh saying his country was shooting for a "good quality" agreement instead.

"High quality" free trade was different to "good quality", Mr Deddy explained to Fairfax Media, because, "A 'high quality' agreement suggests opening the markets fully".

A partnership between Indonesian and Australian research institutes hoping to increase cattle productivity, through improved cow nutrition, is beginning to show results in eastern Indonesia.

Mr Deddy told Fairfax Media that Jakarta questioned the purpose of opening its markets to Australian exports if it disrupted Indonesia's domestic industries, saying "the biggest hurdle is the level of ambition".

"I'm saying the agreement must be mutually beneficial. So that is where the negotiation lies right now. We are negotiating the 'good' (versus) the 'high' quality agreement."

The two countries have two more negotiating rounds before a deadline they have set for themselves of signing an agreement by the end of the year.

But on a number of matters – including Australia's education exports and Indonesian nurses coming to work in Australia – negotiations are still underway.

"In order to complete the negotiations we must compromise because our mandate as negotiating teams is to complete it by the end of this year," Mr Deddy said. "So it takes mutual understanding." Business AM Newsletter

Asked if he was optimistic a deal would be reached in the time frame, Mr Deddy said: "I have always been optimistic as long as each country understands the situation".

Indonesia is deeply suspicious of "neo liberal" policies, and the country's political agenda is geared towards encouraging domestic production, with self-sufficiency goals for a number of key commodities including beef, sugar, rice and soybeans.

Mr Deddy said it was the right of every country to open or not to open its market. He said there were sensitivities on both sides. For example, he said Australia wanted 100 per cent access to the education sector in Indonesia, which was not permitted under existing policies.

The Australian Department of Education and Training said that, despite the great demand for education and training in Indonesia, barriers remained to expanding Australian education exports to Indonesia.

Australian education and training providers face a host of barriers in prohibitive laws and regulations.

"Unlike in Singapore and Malaysia, no Australian higher education provider is able to operate a standalone campus in Indonesia," it said in a submission to an Australian parliamentary inquiry into the trade relationship.

"Australian education and training providers face a host of barriers in prohibitive laws and regulations that undermine the value proposition of investing in Indonesia to deliver their services."

Meanwhile, Mr Deddy said Indonesia wanted to send nurses to Australia but it was difficult for them to meet the very high standards of English required. "So we are still talking about issues like these."

The Indonesia-Australia Business Partnership Group said Indonesian stakeholders believed that qualifications required to enter the Australian services market were unfair.

"For instance, Indonesian nurses find it difficult to practise in Australia because of the stringent requirements which must be met," it said in a submission.

The group also said Indonesian graduates from Australian universities had voiced concerns about the difficulties of obtaining post-graduation work experience or job opportunities.

In February Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said both countries' leaders had committed to "intensify our efforts to achieve a high quality Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA)", as the trade deal is called.

However analysts have warned that hopes of a meaningful agreement should be treated with caution given the protectionist political climate in Indonesia.

"Expanded Australian trade and investment with Indonesia is limited by market access, unequal treatment for foreign and domestic service providers and market issues stemming from extensive state intervention in the economy," Lowy Institute research fellow Matthew Busch told Fairfax Media.

"Restrictions are widely dispersed through the Indonesian legal and regulatory framework and will not be banished via a single international agreement – even one that applies an innovative approach.

"Indonesia is not an active trade negotiating country and so there could well be a sluggish or limited local response for behind the border commitments."

However Mr Busch said that because the bilateral relationship is important and Australia and Indonesia are "forever" neighbours, it may still be in Australia's interest to go through with a deal and lend "neighbourly assistance" with economic cooperation activities that do not come at great economic cost.

"But we should perhaps tamp down expectations of what IA-CEPA will immediately deliver for our trade and investment."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/australiaindonesia-free-trade-deal-will-encounter-protectionism-20170829-gy6eu5.html

Mining & energy

'Devil is in the detail' with Freeport agreement: Experts, NGOs

Jakarta Globe - August 31, 2017

Jakarta – Nongovernmental organizations and experts have raised concerns over the undiscussed details in a recent agreement between the Indonesian government and United States mining giant Freeport-McMoRan that could potentially cause a new dispute.

The government and Freeport-McMoRan agreed on Tuesday (29/08) on divestment, smelter construction and taxes and royalty payments, allowing the miner to continue its operations at the Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua.

Publish What You Pay Indonesia coordinator Maryati Abdullah said the government needs to pay more attention to the details in the agreement because divestment and a smelter have been mentioned in the previous contract. She added that by raising its stake in the company, the government could ultimately be responsible for building the smelter.

"There are critical points [in the agreement], such as the mechanism to set the price, divestment process and the timeline," Maryati said in a statement on Wednesday.

She also raised other critical points, such as the mechanism for issuing a special mining business license (IUPK), and the taxes that apply under the scheme.

"[It] needs more detail and clearer clauses on fiscal conditions that are deemed an effort to stabilize and guarantee higher state revenue from the current contract of work scheme," she said. Maryati noted that commodity price volatility and fiscal regulations must also be considered.

Nail-down or prevailing?

Changing Freeport's contract to an IUPK opens an opportunity to apply a different tax scheme to the company, whether it's a nail-down scheme – in which the tax rate will not change for the duration of the contract – or the prevailing tax rate.

"I think the devil is in the detail," said Yustinus Prastowo, executive director of the Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA).

"I say we should not be caught up in concepts. It is not about prevailing versus nail-down. [...] Think about how a business wants certainty and predictability," he said.

Yustinus lauded Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati's idea, which focuses on state revenue collection. He said a company is willing to pay more for certainty, rather than lower but unpredictable costs.

"The most important thing in the clause is that [state revenue collection] should be higher compared to the revenue collected under the contract of work," he said.

Yustinus added that the government may as well put a clause in the new agreement that opens a chance to renegotiate the tax rate to respond to commodity prices at the time.

Compliance and penalty

Fabby Tumiwa, executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), said the government should include a compliance and penalty mechanism in case Freeport fails to build the smelter by 2022, or if it is late in its 51-percent divestment.

"Because the two agreements on divestment and smelter construction have yet to realize until now," Fabby added.

Aryanto Nugroho, advocacy manager at Publish What You Pay Indonesia, meanwhile took a tougher stance.

"The government should not offer unlimited tolerance to Freeport amid a stagnating commitment, such as by granting export permits without checking the progress in smelter construction," he said.

Publish What You Pay Indonesia is affiliated with the global campaign under a similar name, which call for extractive companies to publish their payments to governments. Besides the pending discussion on the details of the agreement, the NGO also warned of bigger losses in terms of environmental damage.

The organization cited a finding by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) that Freeport Indonesia, among others, used protected forests, conducted unauthorized underground mining and disposed of waste into rivers, estuaries and the sea between 2013 and 2015.

The BPK calculated that Freeport Indonesia potentially caused Rp 185.6 trillion ($13.9 billion) in environmental damage.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/business/devil-is-in-the-detail-with-freeport-agreement-experts-NGOs/

Indonesia cheers Freeport 'win' as grasberg valuation fight looms

Reuters - August 30, 2017

Jakarta – Indonesia's government left no doubts as to who it believes got the better deal in its landmark agreement with Freeport McMoRan on the future of the Grasberg copper mine.

After Freeport agreed to divest a 51 percent stake in Grasberg, the world's second-biggest copper mine, Indonesia's Energy and Finance Ministries posted on social media #FreeportTaatIndonesiaBerdaulat, or "Freeport is obedient, Indonesia is a sovereign state".

The bombastic statement illustrates Indonesia's view that the dispute with Freeport over the mine was all about asserting the country's rights to its mineral resources. While Indonesia can point to a victory that appeals to nationalist sentiment, pinning down the details on the divesture indicates a further fight with Freeport.

Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was the driving force behind the agreement, demanding the divestment, a new smelter at the mine and that Freeport pay higher taxes, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan told reporters late on Tuesday (29/08).

The Phoenix, Arizona-based company said it will divest 51 percent of Freeport Indonesia and build a second smelter at Grasberg, in the eastern province of Papua, and will also commit to invest up to $20 billion in the mine.

In return, Freeport can "immediately" apply for a 10-year extension of its operations from 2021, and potentially maintain operational control through 2041, paying fixed, albeit higher, tax and royalty rates during that term.

"While there a lot of issues still to be worked out, politically this is a win for the government," said Keith Loveard, a senior analyst at Jakarta-based Concord Consulting. "It has taken on a big US firm and appears to have won."

The biggest of the raft of issues to resolve is how the divested shares will be valued and who will buy them.

Last year, Freeport offered a 10.64 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia that valued the mine at $16.2 billion while the government counter-offered at $630 million. Freeport believes that any Grasberg valuation should include the mineral resource, while Indonesia maintains that resource is essentially held by the country and not the mine operator.

"There's more reserves there than up to 2041 – these aren't theirs," said Jonan on Tuesday.

Freeport has to sell 40.64 percent of Freeport Indonesia to reach the divestment target after earlier selling a 9.36 percent share.

A state-owned mining holding company involving "several" state companies could take that remaining stake, said State Owned Enterprise Minister Rini Soemarno on Tuesday, while suggesting an independent company would be needed to calculate the divestment valuation.

Under Indonesian law, the central government would have the first claim to the Freeport Indonesia stake, followed by the country's regional governments. State-owned enterprise or regional government enterprises would be next in line followed by private companies or a public offering for the stake.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-cheers-freeport-win-grasberg-valuation-fight-looms/

Indonesia: Papua leaders want say in copper mine negotiations

Benar News - August 29, 2017

Victor Mambor Jayapura – The Indonesian government's decision to allow one of the world's largest copper and gold mines to operate in Papua province through 2041 prompted local leaders to remind officials that their people never gave up land ownership and want a role in negotiations.

On Tuesday the U.S.-based firm Freeport McMoran announced it was giving up a majority of its ownership in Papua's Grasber mining complex in exchange for being allowed to operate there for up to 24 more years.

"We indigenous Papuans, especially from the Amungme and Kamoro tribe communities, have never released our ancestral lands to any party, neither to the government of Indonesia nor Freeport," John Gobay, a chairman of the Customary Council in Paniai, a district in Papua, told BenarNews on Tuesday.

Two weeks ago, he met with Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in Jakarta, where Gobay expressed concerns about issues involving Freeport's operations at the Grasber complex.

He said neither the Amungme nor Komoro were seeking a share of the mine, but they should be valued as the owners of the mountain where Freeport has been operating for decades.

"We own the mountain and the land and the state has recognized it under the state 1945 Constitution and Law No. 21 of 2001 on Papua Special Autonomy," Gobay said.

Freeport-McMoran agreed to divest 41.64 percent of its Indonesian subsidiary, PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), at a fair market price to allow 51 percent ownership by Indonesian interests. Freeport's share of the company is 90.64 percent while the Indonesian government holds the other 9.36 percent.

"Reaching this understanding on the structure of the mutual agreement is significant and positive for all stakeholders. Important work remains on documenting this agreement and we are committed to completing the documentation as soon as possible during 2017," Freeport Chief Executive Richard C. Adkerson said Tuesday in a news release.

As part of the agreement, Freeport agreed to construct a smelter in Indonesia by 2022, thereby lifting a government threat to ban the company from exporting unrefined copper. The smelter is estimated to cost $2 billion and is a major concession for his company, Adkerson told the Wall Street Journal.

The government is not likely to have the financing to buy all of Freeport's share being put on the market, so the divestment could be spread across many potential buyers, analysts told the Journal.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignatius Jonan represented the Indonesian government and Adkerson represented Freeport at a Tuesday news conference in Jakarta where both sides announced the agreement.

Ignatius said Indonesia had agreed to extend Freeport's license, which ends in 2021, by 10 years to 2031, and another 10 years to 2041 if the company met the contract's requirements, including the smelter.

"The negotiation between the government and Freeport began in early 2017. But in the last three to four (days), the talks got intense and the two sides found an agreement," Ignatius said.

Adkerson said Freeport would honor the agreement. "We appreciate the leadership of President Joko Widodo and we have been listening carefully to what the government wants and its objectives," he told the news conference.

Papuans demand role

But because Papuans own the land in and around the mining complex, they should have a role in the upcoming negotiations involving the purchase of company holdings, said Ruben Magay, a member of the Papuan Regional Legislative Council (DPRP).

"This is the time for the government to involve land owners in determining Freeport's investments," he told BenarNews on Tuesday. "There are three parties, the central government/local government, investors and indigenous people."

He said discussions regarding Freeport should be clear on what percentage is for investors, what percentage is for the government and how much is for the indigenous people.

"During Freeport's first work contract in 1967, until the second work contract in 1991, and this most recent one, the position of indigenous people has been unclear. The discussion has been between the central government and the investor, in this case, America," Magay said.

Gobay expressed hope that Jokowi would hold a special negotiation session attended by the government, Freeport and the representatives of Amungme and Komoro tribes.

"If not, we will report it to the United Nations through the indigenous representatives and we will contest Freeport and the central government for not complying with its own regulation," Gobay said.

Source: http://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/copper-deal-08292017161555.html

Indonesia reaches agreement with Freeport on new mining permit for Grasberg

Reuters - August 29, 2017

Jakarta – Indonesia and Freeport-McMoRan on Tuesday (29/08) reached an agreement to allow the US miner to keep operating its giant Grasberg copper and gold mine, though the timing and price of a 51 percent divestment in the mine still needs to be worked out.

Freeport, the world's biggest publicly traded copper company, can apply for an immediate 10-year permit extension to mine at Grasberg beyond 2021, said Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignatius Jonan. Grasberg is the world's second-biggest copper mine.

"The mandate of the president, which has been agreed to by Freeport, is that the divestment should reach 51 percent in total," Jonan told a joint news conference, alongside Freeport's Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson. "All that is left is to discuss the timing. The price will be negotiated later," said Jonan.

Revised rules in Indonesia require miners to divest a 51 percent stake, relinquish arbitration rights and pay new taxes and royalties. Freeport has insisted on getting the same fiscal and legal protection as in its current contract.

The mining minister said Freeport could "immediately apply" for its first 10-year permit extension and a second extension could be proposed before 2031.

Freeport's copper concentrate exports from Indonesia were at risk of being halted again if the two sides had failed to reach an agreement on a new mining permit before the current temporary permit expired in October. Freeport exports around two-thirds of the copper concentrate it produces at Grasberg and the remainder is processed domestically.

Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport has held lengthy talks with the Indonesian government over issues such as the amount and valuation of the divestment and the development of a new smelter to extend its 30-year mining contract, which is due to expire in four years time.

Adkerson said the existing contract of work would remain in place until everything was settled, but stressed that the company had given ground.

"We want to emphasize that to divest the 51 percent [stake] and to build a [second] smelter are a major concession," said Adkerson.

Adkerson, who has been personally involved in the negotiations, in April had called the divestment rule "a form of expropriation".

Freeport had said it wanted an agreement that would run to 2041 and provide the fiscal and legal certainty it needed to proceed with a multi-billion dollar underground expansion for Grasberg. The mine is located in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua, on the island of New Guinea.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-reaches-agreement-freeport-new-mining-permit-grasberg/

Fishing & maritime affairs

Japanese firms to relocate fish processing operations to Indonesia from

Jakarta Globe - August 26, 2017

Jakarta – Several Japanese seafood processing companies plan to move their base of operations from Thailand to Indonesia to take advantage of abundant fish stocks in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Fish production in neighboring Thailand and Vietnam has declined over the past two years, as Indonesia, under the direction of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, has recently begun cracking down on illegal, undocumented and unregulated fishing.

Among prospective companies seeking to relocate to the archipelago include the Itochu Corporation, one of Japan's largest trading companies, which might move its fish export business based in Thailand to its Indonesian subsidiary, Aneka Tuan Indonesia, according to a Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries statement on Saturday (26/08).

"The company is in Thailand and will be assisted to be relocated to Indonesia. This is because raw materials are still from Indonesia," Susi said in the statement.

Still, Thailand, and other Asean member countries have an advantage over Indonesia as their seafood exports to Japan are subjected to zero import tax, a condition Susi said she would like to change in the near future.

The minister gave a courtesy call to her Japanese counterpart, Ken Saito, last week to discuss tax exemptions for Indonesian seafood exports.

"Japan should impose zero percent import tariffs for all fishery products from Indonesia considering that Indonesia's effort to combat illegal fishing has been swift and excellent as expected by the global community," Susi said.

Saito said Japan acknowledges that most seafood exports from Southeast Asia are sourced from Indonesian waters, according to the statement.

The Japanese government will soon negotiate with Indonesia under the framework of the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) in regards to the import tax exemption for Indonesian seafood products, Saito said.

Indonesian seafood exports rose by 7 percent to $3.9 billion in 2016, according to data compiled from the International Trade Center. Over the same period, between 2012 and 2016,, Thai exports dropped by 30 percent to $5.6 billion, while Vietnam's exports stagnated at $6 billion.

Indonesia sunk 236 boats caught fishing illegally in the country's waters last year, data from the ministry showed. Of those, 96 were Vietnamese and 21 were from Thailand.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/business/japanese-firms-relocate-fish-processing-operations-indonesia-thailand-catch/

Economy & investment

Finance minister demands answers as Garuda losses mount

Jakarta Post - August 31, 2017

Jakarta – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said she will look into the rising losses of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia to find out whether anything was wrong with its investment strategy.

Garuda Indonesia is one of 24 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) suffering losses, as announced by SOE Ministry on Wednesday. The airline recorded US$282 million in losses in the first half of 2017, swelling from $61.92 million in the corresponding period of last year.

"If the mistake is fundamental in its management, we will manage it better," said Sri Mulyani during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VI, which oversees trade, industry and investment. Read also: 24 state-owned enterprises record losses in H1

Other reasons for the losses could include losing out in competition or making wrong investments, she said in Jakarta on Wednesday, as reported by kompas.com. The minister said that because of the losses, Garuda Indonesia would not be transfering any dividends to the state in 2018.

The other companies include Merpati Nusantara Airlines, State Logistics Agency (Bulog), PT Indofarma, PT Energy Management Indonesia, PT Hotel Indonesia Natour, postal firm PT Pos Indonesia (Persero), film production company Perum Produksi Film Negara, publication firm PT Balai Pustaka, shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia and shipyard operator PT Dok dan Perkapalan Surabaya. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/31/finance-minister-demands-answers-as-garuda-losses-mount.html

Now is time to attract investments: Jokowi

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has reminded relevant officials in his administration that now is the time for Indonesia to attract more investments as the country is scoring well in global surveys and has a stable economic situation.

The President explained that since Indonesia had received better investment grades from the three main global ratings agencies, it should be easier for the country to convince investors to disburse their money.

In May, Standard & Poor's raised Indonesia's long-term sovereign credit rating to BBB-. Fitch Ratings, upgraded Indonesia's sovereign debt rating to investment grade in 2011, followed by Moody's Investor Services in 2012.

"This is the right time now because Indonesia has gained the confidence of the world. We must take advantage. There will not be a second or third chance. The opportunity is in our hands," he said during the opening of a Cabinet meeting in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.

However, he noted that lengthy red-tape was still hindering many who wanted to invest in Indonesia. He also cited ministerial decrees that were issued without sufficient studies and without proper consultation.

Therefore, he warned his ministers to refrain from issuing regulations and policies that were not based on in-depth studies or in consultation with relevant stakeholders, because the results would be contrary to the public interest. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/now-is-time-to-attract-investments-jokowi.html

Indonesia's surprise interest rate cut follows weak growth

Asia Times - August 24, 2017

Gary Kleiman – Indonesia stocks, which have lagged the region and the broader MSCI Emerging Markets Index with a 12% advance through July, revved up briefly after the central bank announced a surprise 25-basis-point interest-rate drop to 4.50%, against the consensus "unchanged" forecast in a regular economists' poll.

The interest-rate cut followed weaker-than-expected second-quarter 5% growth, with private consumption, which accounts for half of Indonesia's gross domestic product, barely ahead despite the May-June Ramadan fasting holiday that is typically a catalyst. The head of the government statistics bureau explained it as "people psychologically holding back spending" amid declining wages in the agricultural and construction sectors.

The monetary easing came with inflation comfortably within the 3-5% target band, and the rupiah in essence flat against the US dollar after a big depreciation last year. Credit growth is also subdued and will stay below 10% annually on increased bank caution, after a June Financial System Stability Assessment stress test by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) flagging risks.

Fiscal policy – which previously cheered foreign investors, who have plowed US$9 billion into local debt and equity so far in 2017 – has also raised doubts as the deficit bumps against the legal ceiling of 3% of GDP, which prompted President Joko Widodo to delay another infrastructure stimulus and streamlining package originally scheduled for the mid-August anniversary of Indonesian independence.

These steps were designed to attract tens of billions in dollars in additional foreign direct investment and help lift the country's No 90 ranking in the World Bank's "Doing Business" publication, as both natural-resource and manufacturing companies exit for friendlier locales in Asia and beyond. The FDI inflows are also needed to cover a current-account hole that in July returned to 2% of GDP on the first trade deficit in two years.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and her colleagues envisage more ambitious economic growth and fiscal targets in 2018, at 5.5% and 2% of GDP respectively, but the predictions are subject to volatile worldwide capital flows, and uncertain tax and public-private project benefits at home. Widodo promised 7% GDP expansion on taking office and more recently to develop "every inch" of the country, and has until 2019 when his term ends to honor the commitments.

Government debt is low at 30% of output, half the statutory limit, but the main opposition Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) characterizes the past year's increase as "dangerous" and demands only "priority" infrastructure allocation.

Sri Mulyani meanwhile has labeled the 11%-of-GDP tax-revenue ratio as "low and unacceptable" and plans a 5% rise with better collection and enforcement.

On the spending side, the 2018 state budget has less for defense and security, despite the threat of Islamist terror, and a new environmental levy on plastic bags, while preserving civil-servant salary levels.

Investment Coordinating Board chief Thomas Lembong, a former private-equity executive, has identified $10 billion in near-term urgent power-plant and toll-road ventures, but he has turned to foreign pension funds for financing after a lukewarm response from strategic industry partners.

Widodo's goal of completing 1,000 kilometers of toll roads over his tenure has encountered trouble as officials underestimated land-acquisition costs, and tried to compensate by forcing developers to cover the difference from original projections. They also frequently resort to post-bid renegotiations, violating principles of standard utility practice, according to experts.

At the same time, poor energy-investor marks serve as a warning to power participants, with a PriceWaterhouse survey of 50 companies citing concerns over "stagnation", as Indonesia is due to become a net hydrocarbons importer by the end of the decade, and contract sanctity.

Upstream oil and gas investment was just $4 billion in the first half, against the full-year $22 billion outreach. At a bilateral economic dialogue with China this month, Indonesian delegates recognized the backlash against changing deal terms if they are to attract both normal and Belt and Road project interest.

The IMF's banking and capital-markets review reinforced unease as severe stress test scenarios showed sizable credit losses from corporate exposures notwithstanding the headline below-5% bad-debt ratio, and criticized "shallow" securities activity versus peers with the small domestic investor base.

It called for further liquidity rules and clarification of the financial-crisis management framework, which assigns outsize responsibility to the president, rather than line regulators, when he may otherwise be preoccupied in larger-stroke symbolic and practical maneuvers beyond the central bank's to tip depositor psychology.

Source: http://www.atimes.com/indonesias-surprise-interest-rate-cut-follows-weak-growth/

Banking & finance

Thousands of ATMs go down in Indonesia after satellite problems

Reuters - August 28, 2017

Jakarta – Thousands of ATMs and electronic card payment machines in Indonesia went offline over the weekend, and it might take two more weeks before full service is restored, after an outage from a satellite belonging to state-controlled telecom giant PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom).

Around 15,000 ground sites across Indonesia were affected by the problem on the 'Telkom-1' satellite, whose service is used by government agencies, banks, broadcasters and other corporations, Telkom's president director Alex Sinaga told reporters on Monday.

A shift in the direction of the satellite's antenna, which was first detected last Friday, had disrupted connectivity.

Bank Central Asia (BCA), Indonesia's largest bank by market value, had around 5,700 of its ATMs affected by the outage, or 30 percent of the total operated by the bank, BCA chief executive Jahja Setiaatmadja told reporters. The Internet connection in some remote BCA branches were also affected, he said.

State-controlled Bank Rakyat Indonesia said around 300 of its ATMs were affected, but some had since been restored.

Some shoppers in Jakarta said stores could not process credit card payments using EDC (electronic data capture) machines over the weekend, while Twitter users complained about a number of ATMs that were not online yet on Monday.

According to central bank data, there are more than 100,000 ATM machines in Indonesia. "Our estimation is by September 10, all (connections to) 15,000 sites would be recovered," Sinaga said.

Up to Monday, around 17 percent of the connections had been restored, he added, by shifting connections to other satellites and adjusting the direction of ground antennae.

Telkom is shifting its connection from Telkom-1 to two other satellites owned by the company and other satellites owned by foreign companies which cover Indonesia.

Telkom-1, which was launched in 1999, has a design lifetime of 15 years, but according to a 2016 review and consultation with its maker Lockheed Martin it could operate normally up to 2019.

"We do not rule out the possibility that we will no longer use Telkom-1. We will decide in the next few days," Sinaga said, adding that the company may use the orbit slot of Telkom-1 for its fourth satellite scheduled to be launched mid 2018.

Telkom-1 contributes 0.6 percent of Telkom's total revenue, the company said.

[Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy and Cindy Silviana; Additional reporting by Bernadette Christina and Jessica Damiana; Editing by Shri Navaratnam.]

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-telkom-indonesia-banking-idUSKCN1B80QP

Indonesia: Government moves for redenomination of currency

Asian Correspondent - August 25, 2017

Aisyah Llewellyn – When tourists in Indonesia change money for the first time, they often get quite a shock.

Even changing a small amount of currency, in the region of US$100, means you will end up with a large wad of banknotes totaling around IDR1,335,774, becoming a millionaire in the process.

As of August 2017, US$1 amounts to around IDR13,357, but a fat wallet stuffed with millions of rupiah may soon become a thing of the past. The Indonesian government is now making moves for redenomination of the currency, which may shave up to four zeros off the rupiah.

The proposal comes from Bank Indonesia, but the government is supporting the redenomination bill with Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution leading the charge. There is widespread support in the government for the Bill although Nasution has explained it is yet to be seen how it will be rolled out.

He said: "We have not decided yet whether we will scrap three or four zeroes from the rupiah... If three zeroes are removed, [the resulting figure] is familiar to many people; if you eat at a restaurant and see 40.00 on the menu, that means the price is IDR 40,000 [US$3]."

At the moment, the Indonesian rupiah is one of the least valuable currencies in the world, with coins ranging from IDR100 to IDR1,000 rupiah and notes from IDR1,000 to IDR100,000 rupiah.

The rupiah is also a relatively new currency in global terms and was only recognized as official currency in 1949 even though the first bank notes were printed in 1946.

The first form of currency in Indonesia appeared in around the ninth century when beads were used to make transactions. It wasn't until the 12th century that gold and silver coins were put into circulation. The first banknotes, called "duit", were printed by the Dutch East Indies Trading Company. When the Dutch became an official colonial power in the 1800s, they in turn introduced the gulden.

With the occupation of the Japanese during the World War II, however, Dutch banks were suppressed and the Japanese printed their own version of gulden before switching to a different version once independence began to seem like a serious prospect.

This was printed in Indonesian and called the Netherlands Indies roepiah which was arguably an early version of the rupiah used in Indonesia today. After independence in 1945, Indonesians refused to use gulden and phased out Netherlands Indies roepiah in favor of printing their own bank notes.

Now, with the idea of redenomination looming, Indonesian rupiah may change form once again. However, it is not the first time the idea of removing a few zeros from the currency has been discussed. In 2010 Indonesia looked at redenomination, but plans were put on hold due to worries that macroeconomic conditions were not stable enough.

For many Indonesians, however, the move is long overdue and the rupiah has become a source of international embarrassment. According to Darmin Nasution: "It's for efficiency and also, a matter of prestige... Ask foreign tourists who exchanged US$300 for piles of rupiah banknotes," he said. "They might have thought 'What kind of country is this?'"

But not everyone is in a rush to give the rupiah a makeover. After all, when former president Sukarno suddenly devalued the rupiah by 75 percent in 1959, it caused a widespread backlash as many Indonesians refused to accept the devalued bank notes.

This fed into much of the political turmoil of 1965, making many Indonesians wary of any changes to the currency, even though denomination and devaluation are different things entirely.

Critics in the current government include Fadli Zon who is a deputy speaker in the House of Representative for the opposition Gerindra Party, "The government should focus on reigning in the budget deficit" [which is approaching the three percent legal limit]," he said.

Despite Fadli's worries, however, this seems as good a time as any to make the change to the rupiah, with Bank Indonesia governor Agus Martowardojo at pains to stress the positives of the current Indonesian economy, "Indonesia is economically and politically stable... This initiative is good for the economy. But of course, it will take years, as Indonesia is a large country and people have different levels of education."

How many years is it likely to take exactly? Well, if Indonesia decided to remove three zeros from its currency tomorrow, the initial period of transition would take between one and two years. This would then probably be extended to around six or seven years to allow businesses to adjust to the move and for the old rupiah notes to be phased out of circulation completely.

Importantly, the move to redenomination will not affect the value of the rupiah. It will just be a way to make it simpler for both locals and visitors alike as well as play a strategic role in restoring national pride in the currency.

While many Indonesians may not have to explain the wayward zeros on their banknotes to tourists, for some employees at the front lines such as Indra Nugroho, who works in a bank in Jakarta, the rupiah has become an increasingly thorny issue: "Our money has been an object of ridicule for a long time and we are rather ashamed."

Source: https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/08/indonesia-government-moves-redenomination-currency/

Taxation & state budget

Auto industry calls for luxury tax cut on sedans

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Jakarta – The Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers Association (Gaikindo) chairman Jongkie Sugiarto said on Tuesday that the association had long lobbied the Finance Ministry to reduce the luxury tax on sedans.

He said the cut in luxury tax for sedans from 30 to 10 percent, a similar rate for multi-purpose vehicles, would encourage producers to manufacture more sedans, not only for the domestic market but also for export.

"Because of cheaper taxes, Indonesia has now become the king of MPVs, but our exports are just 200,000 units per year, from a total production of 1.3 million," Jongkie said during a discussion on the automotive industry organized by the Indonesian Business Data Center (PDBI) in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"Thailand produces 2 million units of vehicles per year, but it exports 1.2 million because they produce everything from sedans and pickups to MPVs. The Thai government also does not discriminate in the taxes on the automotive products."

He said Gaikindo had already hired experts at University of Indonesia's Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM UI) to carry out independent research on the issue and the result was that a luxury-tax cut on sedans would increase sales by 17 percent.

This year, Gaikindo's efforts received support from Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto, but it was still struggling to convince the Finance Ministry.

"We have lobbied for so long [the Finance Ministry], but it has not moved," Jongkie said, adding that the association had proposed the tax cut since 2011. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/auto-industry-calls-for-luxury-tax-cut-on-sedans.html

Balance of payments to record $7b surplus in 2017

Jakarta Post - August 29, 2017

Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – Bank Indonesia (BI) projects the country's balance of payments (BoP) will reach a surplus of US$7 billion this year from $12 billion last year.

"We understand that last year there was the tax amnesty [which caused] hefty fund inflows so that the $7 billion figure [this year] is good enough given our sound capital and financial accounts," BI Governor Agus Martowardojo said on Monday.

Directorate General of Taxation data show that the tax amnesty resulted in Rp 147 trillion ($11 billion) in asset repatriation while the government secured Rp 135 trillion in revenue from penalties.

The BoP records economic transactions between residents and non-residents in a certain period of time. It consists of three key components, namely current account, capital account and financial account.

Indonesia's BoP stood at a surplus of $700 million in the second quarter supported by a higher surplus in capital and financial transactions compared to the current account deficit (CAD).

The CAD stood at $5 billion or 1.96 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) during the same period, BI data show.

The central bank forecasts the CAD to hover at between 1.5 and 2 percent of GDP this year and from 2 to 2.5 percent in 2018, below the safe limit of 3 percent. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/29/balance-of-payments-to-record-7b-surplus-in-2017.html

Luxury car owners too busy to pay taxes: Club

Jakarta Post - August 24, 2017

Agnes Anya, Jakarta – In an attempt to net trillions of rupiah, the Jakarta Tax and Levy Board has called on associations and dealers of luxury cars to help them collect tax arrears from car owners.

The board on Wednesday met with several associations and dealers, like the Indonesian Ferrari Owners Club and BMW Indonesia.

"In the meeting, we asked the associations and dealers to advise their members and buyers to pay their tax arrears," board head Edi Sumantri said on Wednesday.

Those who fail to pay their arrears by Aug. 31 can expect tax officers to go to their houses to collect the arrears and fine them 2 percent of the arrears per month, he added.

Responding to the meeting, Tami Nuhutomo, product planning manager of BMW Indonesia, suggested an online system be introduced to ease payment. Currently, motorists have to pay their taxes at the nearest police vehicle document registration center (Samsat).

Meanwhile, Jos Parengkuan from the Ferrari Owners Club said luxury car owners usually forgot to pay their taxes because they were busy.

"In my opinion, owners [fail to pay tax] because of their busy activities. [...] They often go abroad and hence miss the payment deadline," he said, adding that the Tax and Levy Board's data was not up to date.

"Some cars may have been sold years ago but are still registered under the previous owners' names," he added.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/23/luxury-car-owners-too-busy-to-pay-taxes-club.html

Focus

West Papua's silent genocide

Red Pepper - August 31, 2017

The brutal occupation of West Papua is under-reported – but UK and US corporations are profiting from the violence, write Eliza Egret and Tom Anderson.

The occupation of West Papua receives little attention in the UK. This is, in no small part, due to Indonesia's ban on foreign journalists and its outlawing of West Papuan social movements who try to speak out internationally. However, West Papua has not been forgotten by international corporations, including companies from the UK. For them, Indonesia's brutal occupation of West Papua provides lucrative opportunities for profit.

Mining companies exploit the country's vast wealth of minerals, with security for their operations provided by the Indonesian military. International arms companies profit from selling Indonesia the weapons it needs to maintain the occupation. The UK government, which gives financial support and training to Indonesian police forces, is also complicit in the repression in West Papua.

West Papuans have called on people in the UK to help stop what they describe as the silent genocide in West Papua.

Over half a century of occupation

West Papua has been occupied by Indonesia since the 1960s, when the US government, keen to open up the country's forests and mineral wealth for US corporations, stepped in to back up Indonesia's invasion. Since then, Indonesia has repressed movements for independence, outlawed the raising of the West Papuan flag and many local traditional customs, colluded with international companies to exploit timber and minerals and carried out rapes, massacres and assassinations.

The Free West Papua Campaign states: "Over 500,000 civilians have been killed in a genocide against the indigenous population. Thousands more have been raped, tortured, imprisoned or 'disappeared' after being detained. Basic human rights such as freedom of speech are denied and Papuans live in a constant state of fear and intimidation."

Emil, a woman in her twenties, was one of forty-three people who escaped from West Papua in 2006 on a treacherous journey in a canoe. She was only sixteen at the time. We joined her and some of the other refugees in Australia on a 72km 'Walk for West Papua'. 72km is the distance between Australian territory and West Papua. The activists were speaking to communities along the way about the West Papuan struggle. The group were the first West Papuan refugees to arrive on Australian shores by boat. Emil talked about her family's history of activism.

"In 1988, during the [regime of Indonesian president] Suharto, my uncle raised a West Papuan flag in a public stadium. They jailed him for over twenty years and he died in jail. After my uncle passed away, my brother started raising awareness about West Papua. He was sent to prison three or four times. My parents were scared for us children because we were targets. Every time we went to school we were being watched. I came home from school one day and my parents said 'you have to go with your brother to Australia'."

The group set out in the darkness of night in a home-made wooden canoe with two engines. Terrified, Emil left behind her parents and five other siblings.

A young man called Kugi also made the decision to do the crossing: "If I'd stayed I'd have been in the youth movement and would've been hunted by the military. I wanted a better life for myself and for the young Papuan generations. I took my brother, who was ten at the time. It was a tough decision."

The journey should have taken six hours, but took them six days. They had no extra clothes and barely any food or water. Emil explained about the crossing:

"The night we left there was a thunderstorm. An engine of the boat broke. My brother had a compass but that didn't help much. We followed the stars and moon – how our parents taught us – and we hoped. I thought that we wouldn't make it. On the sixth day we could see a little dot far away. The dot became bigger. It was Cape York in Queensland. Two hundred metres from the shore, some of the group decided to swim to land. At that time we didn't know that it was dangerous because of the sharks and crocodiles. When we arrived in Australia we hadn't eaten for six days."

On shore, they unfurled a banner saying 'Save West Papua From Genocide. One People, One Soul'. The next day they were circled by Customs helicopters, cameras and reporters, then were given food and taken to hospital. The Australian Air Force then took them to Christmas Island and the men of the group were put in a detention centre.

After three months they were granted a protection visa – meaning that they could work and attend school – and the group chose to move to Melbourne. Roughly eight years later Emil was given citizenship. The silent genocide continues today

The international mainstream media has largely forgotten about the occupation of West Papua. This is compounded by the fact that journalists and human rights organisations are refused entry, meaning that the Indonesian state can carry out apartheid with total impunity.

"The silent genocide is still happening," Kugi explained. "Recently, a friend's uncle, who was in the youth movement, was stabbed and then run over by a car. You never know if someone is going to be run over on the street. The police try to make it look like an accident." The activists explained that murders like this never make it into the local news in West Papua, which is controlled by the Indonesian state.

"Life nowadays is quite different, though," Kugi continued. "When we escaped, the news exposed the situation and the world started watching. Today there are smartphones and with one click you can post the news. Now the police often won't hit you in public. They'll take you somewhere where no-one is watching. The police and military often don't expose themselves in public like they used to: they pretend to be locals and don't wear uniforms."

Kugi gave another example of the silent genocide: "In 2004, the most prominent human rights activist in Indonesia, Munil Thalib [Munir], was poisoned on a plane from the Netherlands to Indonesia. Any public figure talking about freedom movements needs to be really careful about what they're eating or drinking. We are also advised by our parents to be careful who we hang out with."

There are still protests on the streets, although we are told that the police put so many conditions in place that it's difficult to get permission for demonstrations. It is still illegal to hold the West Papuan Morning Star flag. "Papuans are scared and nervous," Amos, who also came in the canoe, explained. "People do protest but the police provoke them. Intelligence officers [agents provocateurs] join the protests and provoke the police, and then the police arrest people."

Papuans Behind Bars states that people who attend protests or fly the Morning Star flag are frequently charged with treason. "If convicted, they face prison sentences of up to twenty years or life. Many complaints have been made about the torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners and their lack of access to adequate medical treatment."

According to Human Rights Watch: "Throughout 2016, Indonesian police arrested more than 3,900 peaceful protesters in Papua during protests for causes including support for Papuan independence."

The Indonesian state continues to try to stamp out West Papuan culture. "You can't wear West Papua T-shirts, traditional clothes or jewellery on the streets," said Erwin, who came to Australia independently as a student. "They will say that you're against the 'integration' of Indonesia."

Despite all this, Kugi remained positive: "Nowadays Papuans are more confident to express their feelings. Before they had the sense that they were worthless. It was like a virus in West Papua. We were always told that our lives couldn't get any better and that there'd be no opportunities for us. But now not so many people think that way." Corporations plunder West Papua

Of course, the Indonesian occupation of West Papua is directly related to corporate interests. US company Freeport-McMoRan operates the Grasberg mine in Papua – the largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine in the world. Freeport's third largest shareholder, Carl Icahn, happens to be Special Advisor to Donald Trump.

According to Free West Papua Campaign: "Freeport is Indonesia's biggest taxpayer, making billions of dollars for the Indonesian government every year. Freeport reportedly pays the Indonesian military around US $3 million every year in 'protection money', ensuring that local West Papuans are kept out of the area."

TIME states that "In 2015 alone, Freeport mined some $3.1 billion worth of gold and copper here. In addition, Papua boasts timber resources worth an estimated $78 billion."

Amos explained the history behind Freeport's mining in West Papua: "A contract was signed for Freeport to operate in West Papua before we were even part of Indonesia." With the help of Henry Kissinger, Freeport was awarded the rights to pillage West Papua. Kissinger later became a Freeport board member.

Australian-British corporation Rio Tinto holds an interest in Freeport's Grasberg mine, which entitles it to 40% of production, over specified levels until 2021, and 40% of all production after 2021.

Meanwhile, British company BP continues to profit from the occupation through its massive liquified natural gas fields in Tangguh. Kugi told us: "BP's biggest operation in Southeast Asia is in West Papua, and Papuan communities are also being pushed from their land for palm oil." According to CorpWatch, an indigenous community in West Papua filed a complaint against Sri Lankan company Goodhope Asia for taking over their land to create a palm plantation.

Britain and Australia complicit in the silent genocide

The arrival of the refugees in 2006 – and the subsequent media attention about the occupation of West Papua – angered the Indonesian government, which temporarily withdrew its ambassador from Australia. However, Australia was keen to keep good relations with Indonesia, and ex-prime minister John Howard signed the Lombok Treaty, a joint agreement with the two countries. One of the terms of the Lombok Treaty is "non-interference in the internal affairs of one another", effectively silencing any acknowledgement by Australia of Indonesia's genocide of West Papuans. "Since then, Australia has accepted no refugees from West Papua," Amos told us.

"Australia's Defence Minister apologised to Indonesia for exposing the genocide in West Papua," Kugi explained. "And just recently in Australia, one of my friends [Tyrone Gibb] waved the West Papua flag from the Indonesian consulate balcony." Tyrone was arrested a full month after his action. "The Indonesian government put pressure on Australia to arrest him," Kugi said.

Australia, Britain and the US have extensively colluded with Indonesia by training and funding its anti-terror police force, known as Detachment 88, which tortures and kills Papuan activists. Indonesian police are trained at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, where funding is also provided by the US, Australia, Britain, Denmark, Canada and New Zealand and the UN. Some of these countries are also involved in police training.

Indonesian military personnel are trained on Australian campuses, costing the Australian people millions of dollars. Furthermore, Kopassus, Indonesia's special forces military squad, is also trained in Australia. There are numerous reports of Kopassus's brutality, including the torture, mutilation and beheading of West Papuans.

According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military spending was a massive $1.69 trillion in 2016. Indonesia's military spending has leapt since 2013, totalling US$7.78 billion in 2016. Indonesia has the greatest military strength in Southeast Asia, and ranks fourteenth in the world, higher than most European countries.

Of course, a more militaristic world means big profits for the corporations that supply the weapons or build military infrastructure. International arms companies such as Raytheon, Thales, Boeing and Lockheed Martin have all provided Indonesia with weapons.

In 2012, British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Jakarta. He was accompanied by representatives of several arms companies, including BAE Systems. Cameron applauded Indonesia as one of the world's "most inspiring democracies," and used his visit to try to ensure "greater cooperation between our armed forces and our defence industries to give Indonesia global expertise as it modernises its military assets." After the visit, BAE systems began negotiations for the sale of Eurofighter Typhoons to Indonesia.

Also keen to profit from its neighbour's use of arms, in 2016 the Australian government emphasised "the importance of supporting Indonesia as it modernises its defence forces," and signed a collaboration agreement to develop a mine-resistant armoured vehicle.

In 2014, reports stated that Indonesia was the second largest importer of UK arms, with sales of $306m. In 2017 alone, the UK government has approved a number of arms export licences so that British companies can supply weapons to Indonesia.

"Britain should think twice about helping Indonesia and should not grant licences for weapons," Kugi said. "The military controls Indonesia: the highest people in government come from the military. They use their weapons to scare people not to stand against the government."

Britain regularly invites Indonesian government officials and military personnel to DSEI – the biggest arms fair in the world – in Docklands, London. 1,600 exhibitors will show off their weapons and crowd control equipment in the hope that governments such as Indonesia make deals with them.

Perhaps for fear of future arms embargoes, Indonesia is also expanding its own domestic arms industry. "For years we had an embargo; we don't want to repeat history again," ex-deputy defence minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said in 2014. Indonesia will be promoting Indo Defence – its own weapons exhibition showcasing Indonesian arms companies – at DSEI in London.

Companies like BAE and Thales, keen to sell more weapons to Indonesia, will be at DSEI next week. Emil was adamant that the DSEI arms fair should be stopped:

"If Indonesia buys weapons at DSEI, the equipment they buy isn't to protect their citizens; instead they use it on their own citizens. Stop training them, stop them from buying weapons. They're killing our mothers and daughters. They come to villages in the night and shoot people in their homes. They take people and you never see them again. If you say something like "Free West Papua" they will come and take you. They follow you wherever you go. Stop the arms fair in London."

Source: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/west-papuas-silent-genocide/

The road to solidarity, Indonesia June 2017

The Cloudland Collective - August 28, 2017

In June 2017 labour historian and activist Jeff Rickertt visited Indonesia with Bob Carnegie, Queensland state secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia. Here is an expanded version of an article Jeff wrote about the trip for the Queensland MUA's Branch.

Our driver couldn't find the place. He had exited the highway, driven down major roads, crossed railway lines and taken us through poor residential neighbourhoods. He had eventually found the street. But our destination still eluded him. He stopped three times to ask locals for directions. We crawled along, conscious of the curious glances of local kids and adults. Then we spotted a small building – a modest low-set house like all the others – with a large May Day banner hanging from the front wall. We knew immediately we had arrived.

Independent unionism in Indonesia is like that; not always easy to find. It is there in factories, transport depots, classrooms and medical centres, in mines, cement works and palm oil plantations. In fact, it exists in most industry sectors. It is legally permitted, now the dictator Suharto has gone. But it is often weak and can't always show its face openly. It typically operates out of small offices located in areas where the informal economy is strong and the locals not always welcoming. It requires resilience and courage to be a genuine unionist in Indonesia.

Bob Carnegie and I were in Indonesia to learn more about the local union scene. Our taxi ride had brought us to the office of KASBI, or Congress of Indonesian Unions Alliance. KASBI has been around for 12 years, making it one of the stayers of the independent union movement. Formed by 18 sectoral unions in 2005, it has grown to about 150,000 members, with particular strengths in manufacturing. It has regional branches and sectoral unions in cement production, gas and oil production, and midwifery. Midwives work at village level, where they are often the only healthcare personnel around. As well as delivering babies they provide first response care in medical emergencies.

At KASBI's office we were met by worker activists from across Java. They came from healthcare, transportation and manufacturing, including footwear, textiles, timber products, automotive parts, musical instruments, cement and concrete production. KASBI has members on the docks too but none could attend our meeting that day.

Three issues dominate the working lives of these activists: low minimum wages, outsourcing and other non-permanent forms of employment, and union busting.

Cheap labour is the driver of Indonesian industrial development. Like flies to a picnic, foreign manufacturing capital swarms in, setting up factories on farming land acquired by the state, typically without adequate compensation to the farmers. Such is the rate of exploitation the transnationals are not even deterred by poor transport infrastructure which adds to their turnaround times and lowers their returns. Despite these handicaps the profits are vast.

The minimum wage rate is set at province level, encouraging provincial administrations to compete against one another to attract capital on the basis of the price of labour. In this internal version of the global race to the bottom, companies have been known to shift their operations to greenfield regions to avoid the cost of improvements won by workers in older industrial areas. Officially, the minimum rate is determined using an inflation and economic growth formula supplied by the central government. The formula itself is flawed because it relies on inadequate data and an inflation index which understates the true cost of living. Compounding the problem, the formula is applied without regard to existing differentials between provinces. This simply widens wage inequality across the country. To add insult to injury, state authorities turn a blind eye to employers who flout the minimum standard.

The minimum wage for industrial workers in the Jakarta area is about Rp3.3 million per month, roughly A$330.00. This is high by national standards because industrial workers in Jakarta have been better organised and more militant. It some areas the minimum is as low as A$150.00 per month.

Job insecurity is another major problem. While some workers enjoy permanent status, many are on short-term contracts or even subjected to the humiliation of day hire. Positions are often outsourced to companies who supply labour strictly on a needs basis and invariably under inferior terms of employment. Almost all dockworkers working in Hutchison terminals in Indonesia, for example, are supplied by a labour hire outfit. These Hutchison workers are not unionised and not covered by any collective agreements. It's the model the company tries to impose everywhere.

Primitive union busting remains a common bosses' response to workers' collectivism. Activists have been demoted and sacked. Managers spread misinformation and fear to dissuade workers from siding with the union. Yellow unions are encouraged when a real union threatens to upset the applecart. If all else fails, police and local thugs are on hand to harass and intimidate workers and their families and break up union activity. The dictatorship might have been toppled but the army is still occasionally used against unionists during strikes. With the very survival of unionism at stake, KASBI and other union confederations must devote considerable effort to combatting these kinds of attacks. They told us about recent union-busting activities inside a factory producing Steel Blue Boots, one of the most popular brands of work boots in Australia.

We heard similar stories in meetings with other unions. The same themes again and again: job insecurity, low wages, union busting. Health and safety is also an area of growing concern. I visited the Nanbu Plastics factory in Bekasi, a manufacturing city on the eastern border of Jakarta. It is one of the few factories which allows access to outside unionists. This is due to the strength of the site union, Serikat Buruh Bumi Manusia, or SEBUMI. The name translates as Human Earth Workers' Union, a reference to the famous novel This Earth of Mankind by radical Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer. SEBUMI's members at Nanbu make plastic automotive components which are exported to Japan for car production.

As it was Saturday afternoon and production had ceased for the week, SEBUMI leaders could show me around. I asked about health and safety. They told me the main problem is heat. The sheds are modern but poorly ventilated and lacking cooling equipment. The union has demanded the installation of fans. Management's response? Fans cost too much. The union is also agitating for more comfortable workstations for pregnant workers. They have already won a form of maternity leave.

In other workplaces, health and safety standards are far worse. One day we drove to Karawang to meet with members of SERBUK, a local union covering workers in a factory producing construction materials from asbestos. SERBUK collaborates with LION (Local Initiative for OSH Network), a health and safety NGO running an anti-asbestos campaign supported by Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA. Production at the factory started in 1999. But it was not until 2013 that the workers were made aware (by LION) of the lethal risks they faced every day. Management had provided no health and safety training, no information about asbestos, no PPE except for basic masks. Workers ate lunch with asbestos dust on their clothes and arms, and wore the same clothes home to their families at night.

Once LION revealed the scandal and began educating the workers and conducting health examinations, the company claimed that the white (chrysotile) asbestos they were importing was safe. They then installed basic warning signs around the walls and some vacuum equipment. But the exposure continues. The company does not provide access to doctors or other medical staff with occupational disease expertise. LION has independently arranged medical examinations for 14 of the factory's workers. Seven have been diagnosed with asbestos-related lung disease. One of these victims resigned from the company and is now chairman of SERBUK. SERBUK and LION want asbestos banned, strict regulations for handling asbestos already in use, independent and competent health checks for exposed workers and compensation and proper health care for victims and their families.

Whatever the issue, no improvement is possible in Indonesia unless workers are prepared to stick together and fight hard. There are no shortcuts here, no political fixes. But every campaign, every action, carries major risks. Any defeat is potentially disastrous; it can destroy years of organising and wipe out a generation of gains. So unions plan their actions carefully. They analyse the companies, assess the broader industrial and political environment and prepare their members and the community thoroughly.

The union offices we visited had whiteboards covered with calculations, sophisticated flowcharts for the class battles ahead. At the office of SEDAR (Popular Democratic Workers' Union), the whiteboard had overflowed. After listening to the strategist behind the calculations, I surmised that no union activist in the world could possibly know more about the political economy of her or his own patch than this man did. Based on his research SEDAR had concluded that the rates of profit of the transnational companies operating nearby would allow them to absorb 'excess' labour by reducing the length of the working week without a reduction in total wages. So this was SEDAR's policy on unemployment – share the work and make the bosses pay!

Planning, of course, is nothing without action. During our visit we had a chance to see both. A few days after we arrived, fuel tanker drivers working for Pertamina, the giant state-owned oil and gas company, went on strike for a week. They planned their stoppage to coincide with the lead up to Idul Fitri, the end of Ramadan when many Muslim Indonesians fuel up to return home to their villages.

We met some of the tanker drivers and their leaders on the third day of the dispute. The strike was called after 414 drivers lost their jobs when the labour hire company that employed them was replaced by another contractor. The union is demanding their re-instatement and an end to outsourcing. They also want drivers to be paid overtime for the four hours they regularly work beyond their normal eight-hour shifts. And they want full health insurance for all drivers. The latter demand is in response to frequent serious injuries.

The unionists know they are up against it. With total revenues in excess of A$105 billion, Pertamina is the only Indonesian company on Fortune Global's list of the world's 500 richest companies. It got there through its privileged access to Indonesia's energy resources and by ruthlessly exploiting its workforce and smashing unionism. It is a powerful opponent with access to state resources for strike breaking. There was already talk of the army supplying scabs.

But the day we met the workers morale was high. They had struck eight months ago and though they did not win their demands on that occasion, no strikers had been victimised. This had given them confidence. Whereas the previous strike had managed only one picket line, this time they had set up picket lines at ten depots. Sixty drivers had struck on day one, 65 on day two. When we visited on day three 85 drivers were out. Before the strike, activists had visited communities around the depots to explain the workers' case and persuade the locals not to be recruited as company thugs (as often happens). They had also spoken to the wives of the strikers to blunt the company's scare campaign. Students from the Movement of Independent Students were lending a hand.

Not wanting to jeopardise our stay in Indonesia, the strike leaders would not allow us on the picket line. We drove past slowly, offering silent clench-fisted solidarity. At first the picketers stared in surprise. Then they recognised their own comrades in the car and they smiled back at us. As solidarity goes our gesture was pretty lame. But they got it. There was a connection.

Where workers are not employed primarily to make profits, relations with bosses are usually not as belligerent as this. Teachers, nurses and midwives, for example, have not faced the intimidation and violence experienced by industrial workers. But their wages are held down too, and they have their own problems. Midwives have had to fight long and hard to lift their status to the level of public servants. State teachers struggle not only to improve their terms of employment but also the quality of the education they deliver. At our meeting with FGII (Federasi Guru Independen Indonesia) – the main union covering teachers in the state sector – the unionists explained the push to corporatise public education. Companies are making money from selling curriculum materials to schools, teachers are under constant pressure to turn students into nothing more than useful workers, mere sellers of labour power with skills and attitudes useful to the corporate elite.

To this end, education bosses prefer a utilitarian model of education, with a narrow curriculum, commodified classroom resources and standardised testing. The teachers, however, have other ideas. They told us about their campaigns for better funding for schools in the outlying provinces, and their programs to give girls from poor families equal access to education. They outlined what they were doing to prevent children being forced into employment before the minimum age. They told us about their efforts to improve the lives of young people with disabilities. In their own way, they are as combative as the tanker drivers. They, too, are resisting a system hellbent on transforming all useful work into a source of profit, subordinating people to the relentless drive for commercial gain.

And just as there is a connection between workers in classrooms and those on the picket lines outside Pertamina, so too is there a link between workers across national borders. Consider our problems here in Australia. Are they not casualisation, labour hire, sham contracting, depreciating wages, shortcuts on health and safety, union busting and its close relation, yellow unionism? Are not our public services and education facilities being starved of funds and opened up to 'market forces'? Are we not just as unfree in our workplaces here as Indonesian employees are there? Capitalist Indonesia might be greyer and grimier than capitalist Australia. Average wage earners there are certainly closer to absolute poverty than they are here. Union density in Indonesia is lower. But the corporate agenda is the same, the tactics similar. Talking with workers in Java, it is easy to see their fight in ours, and ours in theirs. Surely it makes sense for us to join forces and lift ourselves up together.

Source: http://cloudlandcollective.org/2017/08/28/the-road-to-solidarity-indonesia-june-2017/