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Indonesia News Digest No 17 - April 23-30, 2005

News & issues

Aceh West Papua

Human rights/law

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 News & issues

Human trafficking on the rise in East Java

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2005

Indra Harsaputra, Madura -- Eyes glistening with tears, Lina (not her real name) slowly, painfully recalled for her visitor the horrors she had suffered in Batam, where the 13-year-old Madura native had been offered a job as a shopkeeper but instead was forced to work as a prostitute.

"I have no future. My friends and family won't have anything to do with me," said Lina, an elementary school dropout, in Pamekasan, Madura, East Java.

She said she arrived in Batam ready to earn money working as a shopkeeper, but was instead trapped in a nightmare world of forced sex. Lina said Nasiah, a manpower broker, threatened to kill her if she refused to work as a prostitute.

"I was told to provide good services for the guests of Mr. Mujiat, a pimp," she said.

Her mother left home when Lina was two, going to Malaysia to find work. Her mother eventually remarried in Malaysia and stopped sending money home to her family in Madura, forcing Lina to drop out of school and look for ways to help support her family. That is what led the girl to travel to Batam.

"I was always afraid when I worked in the club in Batam. Nasiah would yell at me for the smallest mistakes," she said.

Lina was not alone in Batam. She was with three other girls. Lina and one of the girls worked in one nightclub, while the other two worked in a separate club. After several weeks, Lina and another girl were able to escape and return home. The fate of the other two girls is unknown.

A senior officer with the East Java Police, Comr. Krisno Siregar, said his unit was investigating the case.

"There has been a report that the manpower broker who brought Lina to Batam is part of an organized crime," Krisno said recently.

There has been an increase in the number of reported cases of human trafficking in East Java. In 2003 and 2004 only two human trafficking cases were reported, while so far this year there have been six reported cases. Most of the cases follow a similar pattern. The traffickers entice the victims with offers of jobs in another city, but when they arrive they are forced to work as prostitutes.

Cicik Sri Rejeki, a member of the Child Protection Institute, said poverty was the driving force behind the rising number of human trafficking cases in the province.

According to data from the International Labor Organization released last year, of an estimated 28,558 sex workers in East Java, 8,162 are children, most between the ages of 13 and 18. The majority of these children, some 52.8 percent, say they are forced to work as prostitutes because of poverty.

Panic as intense earthquake hit Aceh, Nias island

Agence France Presse - April 29, 2005

A strong quake measuring at least 6.0 on the Richter scale has hit Indonesia, causing panic on Nias island, which was hit by a giant earthquake last month, seismologists said.

The quake struck at 21:07 pm (1407 GMT) Thursday, prompting people to seek higher ground on Nias as they feared a repeat of last year's tsunami or the carnage caused the March 28 earthquake that killed more than 900.

But there were no reports of casualties or damage from the undersea tremor, centred northwest of the island, about 212 kilometres (131 miles) from the coastal Sumatra town of Meulaboh, said Suhardi of Jakarta's meteorology agency.

The Hong Kong observatory registered the quake at 6.3 on the Richter scale.

According to an AFP correspondent in Nias' capital, Gunung Sitoli, which bore the brunt last month's magnitude 8.7 quake, there was brief pandemonium as residents feared the worst.

"Scores of people fled out of their homes and huddled together. Some of them also escaped to the hills on motorcycles," he said.

Aceh's coastline was devastated in December when a massive quake triggered tsunamis that spread across the Indian Ocean, killing 128,000 people in Indonesia alone.

The region sits on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire noted for its volcanic and seismic activity and has been rattled by daily aftershocks since the December disaster.

West Java fishermen sink beneath high operating costs

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2005

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu -- Fishermen on West Java's north coast have complained that their operating costs since the increase in fuel prices have become unbearable, and said they hoped the government would soon disburse fuel compensation funds so as to help them out.

Kartisa, 48, a fisherman in Indramayu regency, revealed that his operating costs had risen by 30 percent since the fuel price hikes took effect on March 1.

"I used to spend between Rp 18 million and Rp 20 million (US$2,200) a month on operating expenses, but after the fuel price hike, I'm now spending Rp 26 million a month," he said.

The money is used to provide meals for between 10 and 20 crew members, and to purchase fuel, fishing equipment and other necessities.

"But some 60 percent of the money goes on fuel," said Kartisa.

"It has caused us a lot of problems. In order to help us to cope with the problem, the government should proceed pay the fuel compensation money to us," said Kartisa.

The problem has not only affected Kartisa, but also some 30,000 families in Indramayu regency alone.

Similar concerns were also expressed on Wednesday by Carsa, a fisherman living in Cirebon regency.

Before the fuel price hike, he and his three or four colleagues spent between Rp 90,000 and Rp 110,000 a day on expenses. But now, his group has to spend between Rp 130,000 and Rp 170,000 a day.

"I haven't heard anything about a compensation fund. But, if it exists, the money would be a great help to us," said Carsa.

The fuel price hikes were announced by the government and took effect on March 1, despite some protests. As a result of the increases, fuel prices rose by an average of 29 percent.

The government has said that the increases were essential given rising international fuel prices, and would eventually lead to more funding for welfare programs, encourage more efficient fuel use and prevent fuel smuggling.

Summit lacked poverty eradication action plan

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2005

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta -- While welcoming last week's declaration of the New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership, a coalition of NGOs criticized the absence of an action plan to address issues such as the expansion of multinational firms, debt reduction and trade liberalization.

"The governments should have come up with an action plan to push global efforts for debt reduction and poverty alleviation," the NGOs said in a joint press release.

The governments of the two continents also need to join forces to re-form and democratize the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, to make them live up to "true multilateral principles", the release said.

An action plan is needed to prevent people in Asia and Africa from becoming "modern slaves" in the global capitalistic-driven economy, the release said.

The NGOs said the new strategic partnership should have included plans to ensure the transfer of technology from developed to developing countries.

After the government refused to allow the NGOs to participate in last week's Asian-African Summit in Jakarta, they organized a series of conferences that were held in conjunction with the summit.

The meetings were held in Jakarta, Bandung, Garut and Yogyakarta, involving at least 15 foreign and local NGOs.

Bonnie Setiawan said earlier the meetings discussed "important, substantive issues neglected by the government" at the summit.

"Local and foreign participants discussed, among other things, poverty and interfaith issues," said Bonnie, director of the Institute for Global Justice (IGJ).

The IGJ was joined in the coalition by among others the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development and the Christian Conference for Asia.

Earlier, Ali Alatas, the United Nations' special envoy for UN reform and a former foreign minister for Indonesia, said many nations in Asia and Africa still did not have economic freedom 50 years after the original Asia-Africa Conference was held in Bandung.

He said many Asian and African countries were burdened by debt and their inability to compete directly in the global market.

Alatas said true independence, justice and equality could be achieved only if Asian and African nations worked together, built up the necessary political will, pooled their resources and acted in unison to address their challenges.

700 arrested in month-long anti-drug drive

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2005

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- At least 756 people, including five foreigners and several members of the Indonesian military (TNI) and police, have been arrested during month-long anti-drug raids in residential and entertainment centers across the capital.

City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani also said on Monday that authorities confiscated at least 368 kilograms of marijuana, 275 grams of heroin, 857 grams of crystal methampetamine (shabu shabu), and over 1,700 ecstasy pills.

"We will continue to conduct raids to clean Jakarta from drugs. We will cooperate with related agencies such as the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) to maximize the results," Firman said when presenting confiscated drugs to reporters at city police headquarters on Monday.

According to Firman, at least 351 of those arrested were drug dealers, including four foreigners, while the 404 others were drug users. Three of the four foreigners held Chinese passports.

Firman said the arrest of so many people across the capital was witness to the fact that drug dealing had become a widespread problem and that tough measures had to be taken immediately.

At least 540 drug arrests were made in residential areas across the city, according to Firman.

Firman said that he had ordered his officers in every precinct in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok to arrest at least 32 big drug dealers every month.

The number of drug trafficking cases continues to increase in the Greater Jakarta area, with two high profile cases being the arrest of a commissioner of state-owned Asset Management Company (PPA) last Friday, and the raid on an ecstasy factory in Bogor, West Java early this month.

The PPA commissioner, identified as Taufik Mappaenre Ma'ruf, was arrested with three grams of marijuana at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. He had apparently intended to go to Bali for a vacation.

Although police were still investigating Taufik's role in a drug dealing syndicate, police said that according to a big-time trafficker, Taufik, who is now under police detention, was a drug dealer.

On April 4, police shot dead an alleged big-time drug trafficker Filip Widjajanto, 46, in a raid on a factory in Jasinga, Bogor. Police confiscated machines capable of producing thousands of pills per day.

City police anti-drug chief Sr. Comr. Carlo Tewu said that police would concentrate on conducting raids in bars and discotheques, as drugs circulated in such areas.

He said that police would use the money laundering law to net trafficker's assets in addition to demanding heavy punishments from the courts.

Police bar reporters from filming protests

Jakarta Post - April 25, 2005

Police on Sunday attempted to stop reporters from covering protests held in conjunction with the arrival of Asian-African leaders in Bandung. The protests, however, went unnoticed by the leaders as the police had cordoned off the streets leading to the main venues the night before.

Nevertheless, some overzealous officers still tried to prevent television crews from filming the protests. One officer, Adj. Comr. Bodhi, was seen trying to stop a Metro TV cameraman from filming a KAMMI demonstration on Jl. Ciateul in support of Palestinian independence.

"They argued that Ciateul was part of the Cordon Three security sector and thus no journalists were allowed. That's strange because accredited journalists with passes to cover [the higher security] Cordon One sector were allowed to shoot what they pleased," said Metro TV reporter, Iwan Gumilar.

It is estimated that a total of 1,000 people were involved in various protests on Sunday. Also holding a rally was a group calling itself the People's Opposition Front which criticized the Asian-African leaders for neglecting the welfare of their own people and still being dependent on the United States and institutions like the IMF and WTO.

 Aceh

Government to prohibit foreign NGO from working for GAM

Tempo Interactive - April 27, 2005

Jakarta -- Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Alwi Shihab says that one of the clauses which is currently being prepared for foreign non-government organisations (NGOs) working in Aceh is that they not interfere in Indonesia's domestic affairs. They are also prohibited from working in the interests of separatists and particular ideologies.

"But [they must be] really working for reconstruction and rehabilitation and must provide a signed commitment [to this effect beforehand]", said Shihab following the opening of the National Conference on Poverty Alleviation and the Achievement of the Millenium Goals in Jakarta on Wednesday April 27.

According to Shihab, they are currently drafting an agreement that must be signed by foreign organisations. The government is to form a team that will evaluate some 150 foreign organisations that have already returned their application forms to participate in the post tsunami reconstruction phase in Aceh.

A number of government agencies are preparing such clauses including the Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare, the Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Security, Legal Affairs and Human Rights (sic) as well as the Aceh provincial government. "The results will be publicised within 14 days", said Shihab. He also said that over the next 14 days the government would allow other organisations to register. (Ami)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Activists say Aceh blueprint prone to embezzlement

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2005

Hera Diani, Jakarta -- Activists have warned that the government blueprint for the reconstruction of tsunami-stricken Aceh and North Sumatra, may be inaccurate and prone to embezzlement.

The blueprint was finalized early this month, with the total cost arrived at for reconstruction projects over the next five years around Rp 46 trillion (about US$4.6 billion).

Four sectors are being prioritized: The community, economy, infrastructure and administrative institutions.

Teten Masduki of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said that even the databases used to determine the costs of reconstruction projects, such as the number of displaced people and the total population, are inaccurate and inconsistent.

Data from the National Disaster Management Coordination Board (Bakornas BP), for instance, shows a whooping increase within a week in March, from around 400,000 displaced people to 514,000.

"What's with the increase? Which one is correct? The data available is only projections and estimations, which differ from one government body to the next. Whereas the number of displaced people has an impact on deciding the funds allocated for facilities, housing, schools, and so on," Teten said on Thursday.

"The government should have verified the data through a rapid census to get a realistic number. There was actually enough time to do that," he said.

The data used to determine the allocation for education was based on the number of damaged schools, instead of the ratio of living students to school buildings.

Strangely, the number of schools before the tsunami and of those called for after the tsunami is different, the latter being much higher. Data from the Ministry of National Education, for instance, shows that the number of kindergartens before the tsunami hit was around 500, but the minister projected some 800 kindergartens needed to be built after the tsunami.

The estimation meant that the allocation for education soared to Rp 8.296 billion, or seven times higher than the cost of the damage.

"Based on our calculation, 5,229 schools need to be rebuilt rather than the 7,518 buildings stipulated in the blueprint," Teten said.

Agus Pambagyo from Visi Anak Bangsa, a non-governmental organization focusing on children, added that several big multinational companies had already established schools.

"Each of them has built around 200 schools, with excellent materials, unlike the ones usually built by the government. We're afraid these schools are accounted for in the blueprint, as part of the budget," Agus said.

"Several hospitals have already been funded through a foreign grant. As there is no clear data, we're afraid the government will see it as government funds." As for housing, the ICW calculated that 120,129 houses need to be constructed, whereas the blueprint calls for 196,975.

"The number in the blueprint does not consider some 40,000 houses already built by the private sector," Teten said.

Meanwhile, Marius Widjajarta of the Indonesian Consumer Health Protection Foundation (YPKKI) questioned the different data for damaged hospitals and health centers provided in different blueprint chapters.

For instance, the supporting health centers needed in the blueprint's master plan total 59, while in the sixth chapter, the number given is 174.

"Even so, we have to think of the human resources. Do we have that many resources? The ratio of people to hospitals, for instance, is not taken into account in establishing the hospitals. It's only based on the damaged buildings," Marius said.

He added that health projects should not only focus on infrastructure development, but on preventive, promotion, curative and rehabilitation efforts.

Teten said the blueprint should be based on a needs assessment rather than a damages and losses assessment.

"There is a huge amount of funds from numerous donors and organizations, and there are no clear divisions as to which one's which. We're afraid that will lead to overlapping and embezzlement," he said.

"We're also worried that the extra budget and buildings will be given to the military."

Conflict 'Intensifying' in Tsunami-hit Aceh: Military

Agence France Presse - April 28, 2005

Banda Aceh -- Attacks by separatist rebels in the tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh have intensified in recent weeks despite a renewed peace dialogue, military officials said Thursday.

Aceh military spokesman Ari Mulya Asnawi said troops had killed 20 rebels in the month of April as the separatists stepped up their attacks in the region on the westernmost tip of Indonesia. "They are committing more extortions, kidnappings and senseless killing. They are more brutal," Asnawi said.

In the latest incident on Wednesday, Indonesian troops killed two separatist rebels in a gunfight in the district of South Aceh and confiscated several firearms, two homemade bombs and more than 100 bullets, he said.

Aceh, the region hardest-hit by the December 26 tsunami disaster, has since 1976 been the scene of a violent struggle between separatist rebels and Jakarta.

More than 12,000 people have been killed in resource-rich Aceh since rebels of the Free Aceh Movement launched their campaign for independence.

The conflict intensified in May 2003 when a truce collapsed and Aceh was put under temporary martial law, but the December tsunami prompted Jakarta and the rebels to reopen a dialogue.

Representatives of the two camps met for a third round of informal talks in Finland this month and agreed to meet again in May.

Earlier this week, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the tsunami, which killed more than 128,000 people and left another 37,000 missing in Aceh, had led to a reduction in violence in the province.

"The good news, of course, is that on the conflict side, things are under control," he said.

The rebels could not be reached for comment.

NGOs skeptical of Aceh fund transparency

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2005

Jakarta -- "Do you believe that the Rp 41 trillion in funds apportioned to finance the rehabilitation and reconstruction of disaster-devastated Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra, will not be embezzled?," an activist with Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) asked when addressing a seminar here on Wednesday.

Ridaya La Ode Ngkowe, manager of ICW's Aceh Monitoring Program, said his organization had found many indications that the government would not be able to maintain transparency and financial accountability in managing the reconstruction funds.

"The reconstruction work is not as easy as it sounds... From the administrative point of view, the human resources' capacity and from past experience, a large amount of the funds will likely leak into pockets of corrupt officials, either in the provinces or in Jakarta.

"The phrases 'good governance', 'civil society' and 'Islamic- style housing areas', as mentioned in the blueprint for Aceh's rebuilding, are too easy for anyone to utter. But it's very difficult to implement them due to rampant corruption in the bureaucracy and government agencies," Ridaya said.

He said that most people lacked confidence that the government could manage such huge amounts of reconstruction funds because the Aceh bureaucracy was proven to be corrupt, as evidenced by Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh who was recently convicted of graft.

Ridaya pointed out that the reconstruction blueprint was very good, but most Acehnese people and non-governmental organizations did not know where it came from, how it was formulated and who was involved in the drafting.

According to Ridaya, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chief Anwar Nasution laughed at the government's accountability report on the use of Rp 1.2 trillion for emergency relief operations in Aceh immediately after it was ravaged by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami.

Of the Rp 1.2 trillion in funds, Riyada said, the government spent Rp 400 billion, however chief welfare minister Alwi Shihab failed to submit a detailed report on how the funds were actually used. "Based on our assessment, 60 percent of the funds leaked into the pockets of corrupt officials in Aceh and Jakarta," Ridaya added.

Mizwar Fuady, coordinator of the Solidarity for Anticorruption Movement in Aceh (Sorak Aceh), similarly blamed a lack of transparency and financial leakage of Aceh funds on poor coordination in aid distribution, and bad public services.

Many donor countries, he said, have expressed skepticism that their donations for Aceh would not be embezzled.

"Donor countries have smelt irregularities in the ongoing construction of temporary shelters that cost between Rp 187 million and Rp 250 million per unit. They are also concerned over the less-than-human conditions in the barracks with most refugees facing shortages of clean water, and they are only given Rp 3,000 per person a day," Mizwar said.

La Ode Ida, deputy chairman of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), said the bureaucracy and the military, which played a major role in relief aid distribution, were not transparent in the way they worked. They did not comply with accountability and audit principles when carrying out their tasks, he added.

He said accountability is not just an administrative matter, but also a matter of whether the donation actually reached the intended recipients.

"Donations have come from foreign governments, individuals, groups, and organizations, so they must be accountable to these donors," La Ode added.

Indonesia says no to foreign peacekeepers in Aceh

Reuters - April 26, 2005

Jakarta -- Foreign peacekeepers won't be part of any international monitoring of Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province after a possible peace deal between the government and rebels, Jakarta said on Wednesday.

The European Union said on Tuesday the mediator for ongoing peace talks, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, had raised the possibility of deploying peacekeeping troops in Aceh to manage any deal to end three decades of fighting.

After three rounds of talks in Finland that began in January following the devastation of the Asian tsunami, Indonesia and the separatist Free Aceh Movement said in a statement earlier this month they would welcome involvement from regional organisations such as the European Union (EU) in monitoring a peace agreement.

However, Indonesian Information Minister Sofyan Djalil, a key member of Indonesia's negotiating team, said on Wednesday a foreign peacekeeping troop deployment in Aceh was not an option.

"The general understanding is that if a peace deal is reached, an external monitoring team will become possible but not a foreign peacekeeping force," he told Reuters.

"If there is a deal, it needs to be monitored. The monitors can be civilians or from the military. But remember, the deal has not been reached yet," said Djalil, who is Acehnese.

Any proposal for foreign peacekeepers would be a hard sell to Indonesia's military and some nationalist politicians after such a deployment ended in independence for East Timor in 1999.

Indonesia and Aceh rebels said earlier this month they had made progress on political and economic disputes in the Helsinki talks, with both sides optimistic tough security issues could be overcome at the next round of negotiations in May.

The conflict sparked by separatist demands for independence in the resource and gas-rich Indonesian province on the northern tip of Sumatra island has simmered since 1976, killing at least 12,000 people, many of them civilians.

Relief aid containers pile up at Medan's Belawan Port

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2005

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan -- Some 1,441 containers filled with relief aid for tsunami victims in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam are still being detained by the customs authorities at Belawan port in Medan due to incomplete documentation, an official said on Monday.

Apart from detaining the containers, the customs authorities also detained 73 vehicles sent as part of the tsunami relief effort.

Head of the investigation and prevention section of the Belawan Customs and Excise Office, Cerah Bangun, said the containers had started to pile up in the port four months ago, adding that there was a danger that food aid in some of the containers would ultimately become inedible. He said the number of containers held up, mostly containing food aid such as rice and sugar, was on the rise. Last week, there were only a few hundred containers detained but now the figure had reached over a thousand.

"We have to detain the aid if it does not have permits from the Ministry of Trade," Cerah said. "We don't want to hold it up for long, of course, as many people depend on it." Meanwhile, vehicles sent as part of the tsunami relief effort keep arriving at the port. According to data from the customs office, 169 vehicles had arrived in the port as part of the tsunami relief effort over the last four months. Of these, 96 had been released, while the remaining 73 were still being detained.

"The vehicles are being kept in six locations outside the port as there's no more space here for all of them," he said.

Around 18 cars of various makes have been parked up at the North Sumatra Transportation Office. The whereabouts of the other cars are currently unknown.

Amid fears that the cars might be illegally sold, the head of the Transportation Office's Marine Subdivision, Abdul Rahman, said the cars had been parked at his office at the request of the Office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, the Ministry of Trade, and Customs and Excise.

He said that his office had been visited by people claiming to own the cars, which have been parked at the office for a week now, but they were sent away as they could not show the necessary documentation from the customs authority.

Cerah Bangun said his office had parked 18 cars at the Transportation Office, but the cars were still under his office supervision. He denied that there was any plot to release the vehicles even though they did not have the necessary documents.

"All the cars are still in our custody and can't be released just like that as we still have charge of their keys," he said.

 West Papua

Philippines does not support Papua meeting

Sinar Harapan - April 30, 2005

The government of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines say they do not support a meeting discussing the issue of independence for West Papua.

"For its part, the University of the Philippines has indicated it will not support the issue of Papua being raised at the conference," said foreign affairs spokesman Mary Natalegawa, who was contacted by SH Saturday morning.

He warned against the meeting getting bigger. "It's important that we don't exaggerate the importance of the meeting," said Marty, emphasising that the meeting is only being attended by around 20 people from groups which are primarily anti-Indonesia.

The fifth "International solidarity meeting on West Papua" co- ordinated by Max Doris (sic.) from West Papua Extention (sic.) (Ireland) together with Carmen Memen (Luzon) got under way Friday (29/4) evening.

Matters to be discussed include West Papua freedom, and will be made clearer, today Saturday. A SH source said that from around 30 NGOs and individuals present last evening, four were from Indonesia. One was known to be from Jakarta and three others from Jayapura, Papua.

Each NGO (including nationals from Ireland, the Philippines, America and Australia) had to pay $130 per person. The meeting itself, as well as discussing the results of the preceding fourth meeting, also discussed new agenda items, including the hastening of West Papuan independence.

Earlier, the Indonesian government had asked the Philippines government to ban the meeting. The request was conveyed by the Indonesian embassy to the Philippines ministry of foreign affairs...

The head of the DPR, Agung Laksono, meeting with the head of the Philippines parliament, Franklin Dilon, also appealed through the Philippines parliament to prevent the meeting which in the view of Agung Laksono will affect the stability of Indonesia.

The Philippines must not interfere in Papuan affairs

Suara Pembaruan - April 30, 2005

Jakarta -- Vice-President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla has requested the Phillippines government not to interfere in Indonesia's internal affairs in relation to the problem of Papua. Because according to Indonesia, Papua is part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). This position is not negotiable.

The reason for this is that a number of international NGOs are meeting in the Philippines to discuss the matter of freedom for West Papua.

But V-P Kalla, questioned by a journalist about the meeting in the V-P's palace on Friday, said that the meeting did not specifically discuss the problem of freedom for West Papua. It talked about the issue of separatism in Indonesia.

He gave the example of separatism in Aceh, Papua, and before that separatism in East Timor, which has become the independent country of Timor Leste.

"But what is most important is that our position is clear and must never change. Whatever the problem, Papua is part of NKRI. There is no question of that. We will certainly draw attention to the fact that the Philippines must not interfere in the internal affairs of Indonesia, said V-P Kalla to the reporter.

FP3 action coordinator arrested after demonstration

SPMNews - April 27, 2005

On Saturday April 25, hundreds of people from the Liberation Front against the Oppression of Papua (Front Pembebasan Penindasan Papua, FP3) went to the Papuan Provisional Parliament in the provincial capital of Jayapura where they held an action calling for a resolution to the human rights violations in Wamena and Wasior.

The action proceeded in a safe an orderly manner until the demonstrators arrived at the parliament grounds.

FP3 action coordinator Jefry Pagawak took the opportunity to read their demands which include asking the head of the Papua regional office for legal affairs and human rights to take responsibility for the forced transfer of 11 prisoners from the Wamena Jayawijaya jail to the Gurung Sari jail in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar. FP3 said that the transfer had already caused many of the prisoners to suffer life-long disabilities and even die.

FP3 also asked for the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) and the Attorney General to take responsibility for the delays in the investigation by the Wamena and Wasior Commissions for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations. "We demand that Komnas HAM, the Attorney General, the Minister for Legal Affairs and Human Rights and Indonesia's Director General for Correctional Institutions immediately return the 11 prisoners from the Makassar jail to the Wamena jail or at the very least to a Papuan regional office for legal affairs and human rights. In addition to this [we demand] the immediate trial of the perpetrators of human rights violations in Wamena and Wasior. The government mustn't keep this affair quiet", said Pagawak.

The demonstrators also believe that past acts of violence committed by the TNI (Indonesian armed forces) and Brimob (Mobile Brigade) in Papua must be brought to trial. FP3 also rejects the plans for new army battalions to be headquartered in Merauke, Wamena and Nabire and a Kostrad (Army Strategic Reserves Command) command to be established in Timika.

Not long after the demonstration ended, Intel (Indonesian intelligence) officers and members of the Jayapura municipal police detained Pagawak. Papuan police have given no clear indication as to how long he will be held. Pagawak was detained without an arrest warrant so we were also surprised said a close friend of Pagawak (who asked that their name not be mentioned) after SPMNews contacted them via their mobile phone in Jayapura.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

 Human rights/law

Stewardess quizzed over Munir's death

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2005

Jakarta -- Police investigators questioned on Friday another Garuda stewardess in connection with the poisoning death of human rights activist Munir aboard a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam almost eight months ago.

Tia Dewi Ambari, who was accompanied by Garuda lawyers M. Assegaf and Wirawan Adnan, was quizzed at National Police headquarters for six hours.

The investigators mainly questioned Tia about Munir's activities aboard the flight between Singapore to Amsterdam. Tia was in charge of the economy class cabin during the flight.

"After boarding, Munir came to me and asked for a stomach relieving drug because, but I told him that I did not have any and he said it was okay," Tia said.

She said it was the only occasion he talked to Munir until she learned that Munir's stomach ache worsened. Munir was originally seated in economy class, but was offered a seat in business class by off-duty Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who has been declared a suspect in the case. The police have also declared flight attendants Yeti Susmiyarti and Oedi Irianto suspects.

New Criminal Law exceeds Dutch repression

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2005

Abdullah Alamudi, Jakarta -- The controversial bill that seeks to revamp the Criminal Law is turning back the clock 90 years to the time when Dutch colonial rulers and government officials were immune to public criticism and accountability. If passed in its present state, it sharply limits public creativity, strictly curbs press freedom and practically bans public rights of political communication. It allows non-police third party individuals or groups to interfere in a person's private life.

The bill is now in the Cabinet Secretariat awaiting for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's signature before it is sent to the House of Representatives for deliberation.

Some legal experts have said the drafters of the bill mixed traditional/customary laws with modern national laws. So, you may find yourself in prison if give your wife a goodbye kiss in public or if your are found in your girlfriend's house, because anyone who feels disturbed by your behavior can arrest you for violating their sense of justice.

The Press and Broadcast Society of Indonesia (MPPI) has described the bill as "more repressive and fascistic than the current one made by the Dutch 90 years ago." Journalists and advocates of press freedom in this country, therefore, may soon be reciting "The Last Rites" for the fourth pillar of democracy.

The bill has 49 articles that can send journalists to prison -- 12 more than the current draconian laws drafted by the Dutch colonial masters in 1917. At least nine of the 49 articles carry clauses that can ban a person for life from carrying out his or her profession. The current Criminal Law has only two such articles and they have never been used, even during the colonial era.

All 49 articles violate the people's right of expression, right of speech, and press freedom enshrined by the Constitution in article 28 F (2nd Amendment). It tramples over the doctrine of political communication upheld by the Constitution and Article XIX of the UN Charter.

Under the bill, criticizing the president or vice president or any government official, down to local public employees may be regarded as criminal besmirchment of the government, for which the perpetrator will be imprisoned. Articles 262, 263 and 264 of the bill stipulates that anyone who insults the president or the vice president in public can be imprisoned for five years. That person may also be banned for life from carrying out his/her profession if he/she repeats similar crime within two years of the sentencing. This is only one example of the many such "rubber" articles.

Articles 284 and 285 stipulate that anyone who insults the government can be jailed up to three years and be banned for life from carrying out his/her profession.

Criticizing a government policy may be regarded as inciting the public against a public official and the protester may end up in jail for up to four years.

A journalist may be jailed for one year and banned for life from carrying out his/her profession if he/she "publishes lies or uncertain reports that cause a disturbance among the public." A member of the press council interpreted articles 307 and 308 of the bill this way: If a sports commentator predicts that Jakarta's soccer team Persija would lose 5-0 to Medan's PSMS, but it turns out that Persija beats Medan 3-0, and disturbances took place after the game between the opposing fans, the commentator may be jailed for up to one year for "publishing or broadcasting lies and uncertain" reports.

The Bill raises more confusion on the definition of "pornography" than providing a clear legal meaning of the word. It stipulates that anyone may be charged with violating pornography laws -- which carry sentences between five and 12 years -- under articles 469 to 473. The articles carry scores of categories considered pornography, for example, "writing an article or producing voice or recorded audio or audio visual material or those that can be regarded similar to film, lyrics, poems, pictures, photographs and/or paintings, which exploit the attractiveness of: A certain sensual part of an adult's body, general nudity, body or parts of body of an erotic dancer or erotic movement,...," etc, etc.

So all of you Dangdut fans, hip-shaking Jaipongan dancers (West Java) and Balinese dancers, you had better beware! The same warning goes to artists and painters of Balinese beauty, watch out! You can be charged with violating one or more articles of the law and end up in jail.

President Susilo is noted for his conservative nature, as shown a few months ago when he criticized local TV for showing female singers and actresses in contemporary clothing with visible belly buttons.

Showing or exhibiting contraceptive materials for health reasons or for the prevention of contagious diseases is no crime, but "openly exhibiting contraceptive material, openly or unsolicited, published an article offering a means to acquire material to carry out abortion," is definitely a crime.

Susilo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla promised to honor press freedom during their election campaign, but since coming to office their government has done the contrary. Within weeks of taking office, Home Affairs Minister, M. Ma'ruf, a retired Army general level, forbade all officials of the ministry to provide information to the press.

This month, Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo warned journalists they could be violating the state secrets act for reporting on the controversial separate systems of education for children of the rich and the poor. The recently published Government Regulations on Public Broadcasting carries provisions that are contradictory to the Broadcasting Law of 2002, especially on licensing. The Broadcast Law stipulates that the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), the independent regulatory body, shall issue radio and television broadcasting licenses. These bills and government regulations are depriving the public of their right to information and keep the government further away from accountability as it tries to turn back the clock to the colonial era.

[Abdullah Alamudi is a lecturer at Dr. Soetomo Press Institute; Chief Editor of PersKita (Our Press), and an active member of the Press and Broadcast Society of Indonesia.]

Ex-BIN official resists fact-finding team's summons

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2005

Ridwan M. Sijabat and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- Despite requests from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the former secretary of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) Nurhadi Djazuli said on Wednesday that he would not comply with a summons from the government-sanctioned fact-finding team that is tasked to investigate the poisoning death of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib. "Regardless of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's political commitment to a thorough investigation into the case, the fact-finding team has no authority to question Pak Nurhadi because according to Presidential Decree No. 111/2004, its main tasks are to help the police examine the case freely, accurately and completely and not to conduct its own investigation," Nurhadi's lawyer Sudjono told a media conference that was also attended by the former high-ranking BIN official.

Nurhadi remained silent through most of the media conference.

He was BIN secretary when Munir died aboard a Garuda flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands on Sept. 7, 2004.

Dutch authorities found excessive amounts of arsenic in his body. Susilo signed a decree for the establishment of the fact-finding team (TPF) in order to assist police probe the case.

Sudjono was responding to the fact-finding team who have already summoned his client twice to clarify the possible involvement of BIN in the case. The team turned its attention to BIN after questioning Garuda employees.

Police are focusing their investigation into Garuda executives and employees, and have named pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, stewardess Yeti Susmiyarti and flight attendant Oedi Irianto as suspects. Pollycarpus was a Garuda aviation security official who offered Munir a seat in business class, moving him from economy class, during the flight from Jakarta to Singapore.

BIN has demanded that the fact-finding team carry out its questioning at its office in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, and that written questions be submitted in advance.

The President has ordered all sides, including BIN, to cooperate with the fact-finding team, whose tenure will end in June.

Sudjono accused the team of committing character assassination in publishing his client's identity, even though his status in the case remains unclear.

"TPF is breaching presumption of innocence because our client's identity has not been kept anonymous until he is found guilty (by a court)," he said.

Recently appointed the Indonesian ambassador to Nigeria, Nurhadi has denied allegations that he played a role in "assigning" Pollycarpus to the flight on the day of Munir's death.

"No. Absolutely not. Many have misused my name and faked my signature to do wrong things during my tenure (in BIN)," he said.

Responding to Nurhadi's refusal to face a questioning, fact- finding team member Usman Hamid asked BIN not to act defensively, "unless some of its members were involved in the murder".

"The team and BIN are now in the process of defining the protocol of the investigation, therefore, we ask BIN officials to respect the ongoing process. Especially in the case of Nurhadi, the team wants him to respect the processes as well," said Usman, who is also the coordinator of the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which Munir founded.

 Reconciliation & justice

Indonesia 'open' to work with UN team on Timor abuses

Kyodo News - April 29, 2005

Indonesia is open to be a partner of a commission set up by the UN Security Council to review the prosecution of human rights abusers in East Timor in 1999, when East Timorese voted for independence from Jakarta, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.

It was the latest position of the Indonesian government on the issue after Jakarta had repeatedly said that the establishment of the Commission of Experts is unnecessary and "redundant" as East Timor and Indonesia have had their own Commission of Truth and Friendship to investigate human rights abuses, which was set up last month.

Two weeks ago, the Indonesian government rejected visa applications by three members of the Commission of Experts to visit Indonesia.

"We are open to be engaged in partnership with the Commission of Experts because UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the objective of the commission is to assist the work of the Commission of Truth and Friendship," ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told a press conference.

Annan met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week on the sidelines of the Asian-African Conference in Jakarta.

Natalegawa said that Indonesia did not reject the existence of the Commission of Experts, but its presence and work must be "adjusted with the priority we have given to the Commission of Truth and Friendship."

Jakarta advised to lobby China, Russia on UN commission

Antara - April 26, 2005

Jakarta -- Prof Dr Muladi, chairman of the Golkar Party's legal, human rights and regional autonomy department, has urged the government to seriously lobby China and Russia in anticipation of the possibility that a United Nations Commission of Experts will propose the formation of an international tribunal to settle human rights abuses allegedly committed by Indonesia in East timor in 1999.

"We should make an effort to enable Russia and China to use their veto rights in defending Indonesia. Therefore, we have to seriously lobby these two countries," he told the press a few moments before attending a discussion forum on how to explore Golkar's attitude on the existence of the UN Commission of Experts here on Tuesday.

According to him, even in the experts commission there was an analysis directed at supporting the Truth and Friendship Commission already established by Indonesia and Timor Leste. Indonesia should not only believe it (the analysis).

The UN since March 2005 has formed an Expert Commission manned by Judge Prafullachandra Bhagawati of India, Prof Yoga Yokosa of Japan and Shaista Shameen of Fiji.

"Please don't ever miss the chance. Therefore, lobbies need to be made and the most important is the Truth and Friendship Commission should be manned by credible figures," Muladi said vehemently. In his view, Russia and China will be easily lobbied to use their veto rights.

Muladi further said that the emergence of Experts Commission constituted unsatisfactory reaction over the Indonesia's judicial court on case relating violation of human rights.

 Politics/political parties

Megawati's PDI-P opponents open office

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2005

Jakarta -- The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is facing an imminent split, with members opposed to the leadership of Megawati Soekarnoputri ready to set up a new party should they fail to oust the PDI-P leader. The splinter group officially opened an office on Jl. Kertanegara in South Jakarta to consolidate support for their move against Megawati.

Among this group of dissenters is oil businessman Arifin Panigoro, former state minister for state enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, Roy BB Janis and Sophan Sophiaan.

Other senior PDI-P politicians -- Abdul Madjid, Muchtar Buchori, Sukowaluyo Mintohardjo, Noviantika Nasution and Didik Supriyanto -- are also part of the opposition camp, called the PDI-P Reform Movement. All of these figures attended Thursday's opening of their new office.

The movement was launched last year to reform the PDI-P following its disappointing showings in the legislative and presidential elections. Members of the movement want former president Megawati ousted as head of the party to make way for fresh leadership.

Megawati retained control of the PDI-P when she was reelected to the party's top post during a national congress in Bali earlier this month.

Her reelection put the reform movement at stake because its key players -- Arifin Panigoro, Laksamana Sukardi, Roy B.B. Janis, Sukowaluyo Mintohardjo, Noviantika Nasution and Didik Supriyanto -- are now facing dismissal from the party.

PDI-P secretary-general Pramono Anung Wibowo said the central board would give the "deserters the opportunity to come back" and apologize, otherwise they would be dismissed from the party.

In response, the reform group warned the central board that it would breakaway and form a new party if the dismissals were carried out.

"The pro-reform group is open to reconciliation on the two main conditions that the party's statutes are enforced and internal democratization is carried out," Roy said.

He said his movement had gained increasing support from many of the party's regional chapters across the country.

Arifin Panigoro said the movement was pressing ahead with its agenda to reform the PDI-P, which is now the second-largest political party after the Golkar Party.

"Political support for us is flowing in from provinces in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Papua. Let democratization take a concrete shape," Arifin said.

He said his team was in contact with numerous regional branches of the PDI-P to seek an extraordinary congress, apparently to unseat Megawati.

Arifin said he wanted to establish a new political party but his colleagues were still focused on reforming and democratizing the PDI-P.

"The chance for reconciliation appears to be distant because of the widening gap and differences between the opposing sides. We should go to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to register a new party if the democratization (of the PDI-P) stalls," he said.

In a speech during Thursday's opening of the new office, Laksamana said most PDI-P supporters were disappointed with the pro-reform group for failing to pursue its agenda within the party.

"The PDI-P was set up in 1998 to topple former president Soeharto and his authoritarian regime. But now the party is practicing authoritarianism by nominating a single candidate at the recent congress, threatening to dismiss members struggling to move the party forward and granting its top leader privileges.

"The biggest irony is that the party is not committed to reform, as shown at the recent congress where the party leader, who was defeated in the last presidential election, was reelected with the aid of old faces who have proven themselves incompetent in carrying out their tasks," Laksamana said.

Laksamana said the PDI-P was in dire need of younger members to reunite the party and lead it to victory in the 2009 general election.

 Regional elections

Army gives blessing for officers to take part in elections

Detik.com - April 29, 2005

Budi Hartadi, Singosari -- Although the TNI's (armed forces) interest in participating in regional elections has drawn criticism, army chief of staff Lieutenant General Djoko Santoso has instead given his blessing to the move under the condition that officers not wear their uniforms or use TNI facilities for political activities.

This was conveyed by Santoso during a ceremony transferring command of Kostrad's (Army Strategic Reserve Command) Vira Bhakti Yudha Division II from Major-General Erwin Sudjono to Brigadier- General Liliek AS Sumaryo at Kostrad headquarters in Singosari, Malang, on Friday April 29.

"We will allow [TNI officers to take part in the elections] as long as they not wear uniforms or use [TNI] facilities to conduct their political activities", said Santoso.

TNI officers who are elected in the regional elections will be pensioned off. "But, if [they are] not elected they will still be allowed to return to the TNI. Although, there is a possibility that [they] will not hold the same posts as they did before nominating themselves", he said.

Santoso's orders include that TNI members not injure democracy during the regional elections.

According to Santoso, the TNI has already issued a telegram to TNI commanders saying that that during the regional elections TNI members who are nominated are to obey the regulations that are in forces and instructions from both the TNI and army as well as guaranteeing the neutrality of the TNI as an institution.

"We have already brought together the battalion commanders who were given an explanation on the regional elections and not being involved in the election of regional heads and obeying the regulations which are in force", said Santoso.

Government Regulation Number 6/2005 on the Election of Regional Heads states that TNI officers must resign from their structural posts if they nominate themselves to run in the regional elections and their official military duties will have a non- active status. (aan)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

TNI chief to allow active officers to run in elections

Tempo Interactive - April 27, 2005

Agus Supriyanto, Jakarta -- TNI (armed forces) chief General Endriartono Sutarto has again said that he will allow active TNI members to be nominated to run in regional elections. If they were not given permission to do this he said, he would be violating the law.

"By not given permission, I would be contravening the law which does not prohibit (active TNI officers from being nominated as regional government heads)", Sutarto told journalists following the TNI's Combined Annual Report Meeting with Singapore's armed forces chief at the Hotel Hilton in Jakarta on Wednesday April 27.

Sutarto said that the TNI couldn't nominate a person to become a regional head saying that a political party can only do it. He explained however, that "We adhere to the legislation which gives the right to active TNI [officers] to participate in the nomination process. [But] they must [first] be released from structural duties and be non-active temporarily".

If there is a perception that a TNI officers' right to be nominated as a regional head undermines democracy he said, what must revised first is the legislation. He explained however that if the legislation is not changed political parties do not necessarily have to nominate active TNI officers.

According to Sutarto, this is the best option because in any case the TNI cannot offer candidates to political parties.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Government issues decree allowing delay in elections

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The government issued on Wednesday a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) that will enable the postponement of direct regional elections for regents, mayors and governors.

Due to poor preparation, some regions are not ready to hold the unprecedented direct elections, scheduled to start in June.

The government also issued a regulation to revise Government Regulation No. 6/2004 on the election and inauguration of regional leaders, following the recent annulment of some articles and sections of paragraphs of Law No. 32/2004 on regional administration, the legal basis of the direct regional elections, by the Constitutional Court.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 3/2005 on revision of Law No. 32/2004 and Government Regulation No. 17/2005 on revision of Government Regulation No. 6/2004 earlier in the day. The new regulations were effective on their day of issuance.

State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the regulation in lieu of law was issued in anticipation of the possible postponement of regional elections due to natural disasters, security problems or other disruptions, including a lack of funds, logistical materials and election committee personnel, which are not stipulated in the 2004 law.

"We issued the Perppu due to the tight deadline and the fact that the House of Representatives is in recess," Yusril said.

Generally, a Perppu is issued in an emergency. If the House does not respond to the regulation within a month it is considered to have accepted it.

The House will sit on Monday.

The government has announced that 215 elections for mayors and regents and 11 elections for governors will be held between June and July.

The government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued a Perppu last year that enabled a delay in the April legislative elections in regions due to natural disasters or disruption in the supply of ballot papers and boxes. The General Elections Commission (KPU) failed at that time to meet the deadline it set for delivery of election logistical materials in many regions.

The new Perppu also spells out the central government's support to ensure the success of the regional elections and revises an earlier regulation on the maximum number of voters a polling station can accommodate from 300 to 600.

Yusril said the new Perppu did not stipulate a procedure for independent candidates to contest the regional election nor the accountability of the local elections commission (KPUD).

"That does not need to be regulated. Before being amended by the Constitutional Court, Law No. 32/2004 said independent candidates could only contest under the banner of political parties, but now they don't have to. Let KPUDs register eligible candidates as long as they meet the requirements set by the law," he said.

The Perppu does not regulate the accountability of KPUDs either, although the Constitutional Court said the regional bodies are answerable to the KPU.

"Maybe, (the KPUDs are accountable) to God. But, they must inform the local legislatures and the public," Yusril said.

TNI chief in hot water over remarks on electoral bid

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2005

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto's comment, that servicemen would be able to contest in the regional leadership elections without first having to resign, has raised concerns over the return of the military to practical politics.

Imparsial, a non-governmental organization focusing on military reform, condemned Endriartono's remark, which is against Law No. 34/2004 on the military that bans soldiers from involvement in politics -- both in the legislative and executives branches.

He cited Article 39 of the military law that prohibits Indonesian soldiers from becoming members of a political party, being involved in politics and business practices, participating in the elections to win legislative seats and other political jobs.

In a recent press conference held at TNI headquarters, Endriartono said that he would allow soldiers to run in the regional elections, but underlined they must tender a request to their superiors to be non-active during the election process.

He said the policy was aimed at preventing the servicemen from taking advantage of their positions, in the elections.

The four-star general sent last week a telegram to military headquarters nationwide, informing military chiefs of the policy.

Rusdi said the policy violates the regional administration law, which stipulates that civil servants, TNI and National Police officers must resign to run in the elections. He was referring to Article 59 (g) of Law No. 32/2004.

Rusdi said the soldiers would not be able to stop themselves from abusing their positions and the non-active status would be another "political privilege".

The Army claims that none of its officers have officially tendered a request to be non-active, but Rusdi questioned the TNI's neutrality in monitoring the elections when "its officers are allowed to participate in the contest." He further accused Endriartono of providing a new political arena for the soldiers, instead of pushing for the TNI's internal reform, which was aimed at preventing the institution from participating in day-to-day politics.

Leadership elections for governors, mayors and regents will be held in 11 provinces and 215 regencies and mayoralties in June.

However, critics have suggested that in conflict-prone areas, and those recently hit by natural disasters, the election process will not be without problems.

In conjunction with several related institutions -- the police, the TNI and prosecutor's offices nationwide -- the Ministry of Home Affairs' direct regional elections desk has set up a team to monitor the elections.

NGO fears graft in regional elections

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2005

Jakarta -- A non-governmental organization (NGO) urged the government on Monday not to issue a regulation allowing for a direct appointment of regional election materials providers.

The direct appointment of suppliers without a proper tender mechanism has been proposed by some people as an excuse to beat the nearing June deadline. Some regions are scheduled to hold their regional elections in June.

Hadar Gumay from the Centre for Electoral Reform (CETRO) said that such direct appointment could lead to various forms of malfeasance in the use of state funds, such as has been alleged to have been done by the General Elections Commission (KPU). Therefore, he said the government should issue a decree to make the June deadline more flexible to give each region adequate time to prepare for the elections.

 Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Faith lacking in Susilo's anticorruption campaign

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2005

Tony Hotland and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's introduction of concrete antigraft measures at state institutions will have little impact unless law enforcement institutions are reformed and his Cabinet totally supports the move, observers say.

Romli Atmasasmita, head of the Anticorruption Monitoring Forum, and Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Teten Masduki said that reforming law institutions, most of which were manned and run by corrupt individuals, and Cabinet members' support are a must in the efforts to eliminate corruption at state institutions.

"We all know the political commitment of the President against corruption. But the antigraft campaign needs more than commitment," Romli told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Susilo has made an effort to demonstrate his commitment to fighting corruption since taking office in October last year.

Romli said the eight antigraft steps announced by the President on Thursday were nothing more than mere political commitment.

"Auditing state institutions is a regular duty of the Finance and Development Comptroller (BPKP) and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK). What the President must do is ensure follow ups on the results of the audits, meaning that any violations must be taken to court," Romli said.

Audit results of the two agencies, which often release reports on the abuse of state funds, however, are often ignored by the authorities, Romli said.

"Should they take it to the Attorney General's Office, the latter ignores it. The President must know it and ensure that any violations disclosed by an audit be prosecuted," Romli said.

The President vowed that he would start ridding his office of corruption as a part of a top-down antigraft campaign involving all government institutions.

Susilo said the BPKP would audit the State Secretariat and the Cabinet Secretariat as well as the Bina Graha presidential office and the vice presidential office.

Both Romli and Teten said the President's antigraft campaign had yet to show any significant results. "It's not working, we can't feel any result," Romli said.

They said that the lack of support from Cabinet members and law enforcers was thwarting the campaign. "Susilo's commitment has yet to be translated into real action by his ministers and relevant institutions," Teten said, adding that they should follow up with more concrete objectives and determine a yardstick for the goals.

The seemingly lack of support from Cabinet members in the fight against corruption can be seen from the fact that only one minister has set up a task force to eradicate corruption in his office, as explained by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Taufiqqurahman Ruki on Thursday.

Teten warned that the major hurdle to combating corruption was in fact law enforcers combined with poor coordination among law enforcement institutions such as the KPK, the Attorney General's Office, the police and the courts.

"Susilo should take progressive moves in reforming these law institutions considering that many of them are still occupied and run by corrupt individuals," said Teten.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said on Friday that since assuming office, the President had issued permits for prosecutors to investigate 39 regional administration officials for alleged corruption, comprising four governors, 25 regents, one mayor and nine deputy mayors.

Corruption case ruins KPU's image

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2005

Tony Hotland, Jakarta -- With the walls around the alleged massive corruption in the General Elections Commission (KPU) starting to crack wider open, the commission is on the verge of losing the celebrated public trust it once proudly vaunted.

The results of a recently released investigative audit conducted by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has revealed indications of corruption of a fund of over Rp 800.48 billion (US$84.26 million) the KPU managed during last year's legislative election, with almost all of its members indicated to have taken part.

The report itself came quick after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said it had found preliminary evidence of corruption in the KPU, which was the fruit of an investigation into KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah who was caught trying to bribe a BPK auditor to influence audit results.

Allegations of corruption had previously been voiced by a number of non-governmental organizations who claimed to spot irregularities in the use of trillions of rupiah used by the KPU to hold consecutive legislative and presidential elections, as well as the runoff in September last year.

Such findings by the BPK and the KPK have subsequently washed off, bit by bit, the clean and trustworthy image the KPU has struggled to uphold over the years.

Many had lashed out at the KPU for failing to meet certain targets and deadlines for the general elections last year, such as voter registration, provision and distribution of materials, as well as the complicated election mechanism.

The KPU was even declared guilty late last year by a court here in a class action suit for failing to register up to 30 million eligible voters, causing them to lose their right to cast their vote. The case is currently on appeal.

"It was indeed a shock for me when I heard of the arrest of Pak Mulyana and the audit results of the BPK. While these are still allegations, it inevitably has an impact on the public given the trust the public bestowed upon them," said legislator Chozin Chumaidy of House Commission II, which works with the KPU.

"They are scholars, activists, academics, whom the public expects to have the ability to uphold accountability and idealism. If such people were involved in corruption, who is there to trust now?" he said, quickly adding that the public should respect the principle of presumption of innocence.

Commission II chairman Ferry Mursyidan Baldan said the KPU was facing an ambiguous public trial, and therefore needed to quickly provide an institutional response and clarification over the allegations being leveled at them.

"They must quit giving contradictory individual statements, because that could lead to too much public debate, which is unnecessary," he said.

However, the two see no reason yet to replace the members, or for the members to disengage from the commission, because they had not been proven guilty.

"After all, the KPU has many tasks left. One of them is to write a comprehensive evaluation of the general elections, which is very important given that their five-year term expires next year," said Ferry.

Eleven KPU members were elected in 2001 after screening by House Commission II. They were Mulyana W. Kusumah, Ramlan Surbakti, Anas Urbaningrum, Dan Dimara, Rusadi Kantaprawira, Imam B. Prasodjo, Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin, Chusnul Mar'iyah, F.X. Mudji Sutrisno, Hamid Awaluddin and Valina Singka Subekti.

Imam and Mudji resigned in 2003 due to holding dual positions, while Hamid was named justice minister. Aside from Mulyana, none of the remaining members have been declared a suspect.

 Regional/communal conflicts

Fresh violence in Mamasa claims four lives

Jakarta Post - April 27, 2005

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar -- Fresh violence broke out on Sunday in Mamasa regency in West Sulawesi province, leaving four people dead and two others seriously injured. In addition to the fatalities, seven houses were also burned down during the attack.

Two among the four died after being shot by unknown assailants while two others died after a fire razed their homes.

South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said on Tuesday that the incident occurred on Sunday night, when a group of unidentified people attacked Ranu subdistrict, Mamasa regency.

"Upon arriving in the subdistrict, the group attacked residents, vandalized and burned down houses," said the two-star police general, who also oversees the newly established West Sulawesi province.

The residents were taken by surprise and fought back, prompting the attackers to flee, Saleh quoted witnesses as saying.

A short time after the attack, the residents inspected the neighborhood to view the damage, and shortly afterwards, they found the bodies of the four people and two others who were wounded.

Police reinforcements were immediately sent to the area, and as of Tuesday evening, some 230 police personnel were already standing guard in the area.

The police have questioned nine witnesses, and have also identified five people believed to have incited the rampage in the subdistrict. However, Saleh refused to disclose their identity.

"We are tracking them down," he simply said.

The motive behind the attack is still unclear. "Whether the attack was linked to the prolonged conflict over the establishment of the new Mamasa regency administration, is still unclear," said Saleh. Ranu is a subdistrict that opposes the split of Polewali Mamasa into two regencies: Mamasa and Polewali Mamasa regencies.

The fresh violence on Sunday was the fourth bloody incident after a law was passed three years ago, which split Polewali Mamasa into two regencies.

The split drew strong protests from the predominantly Muslim districts of Aralle, Tabulahan and Mambi, who feared that they would be a minority in the new predominantly Christian regency of Mamasa.

Besides the issue of religion, the residents in the three districts also objected to the split on the grounds that the three districts were much closer to Polewali Mamasa regency. They complained that it would be efficient in terms of bureaucracy and the economy if the three districts remained under the territory of Polewali Mamasa regency.

But, the protest fell on deaf ears after the central government threw its weight behind the passing of the law that split Polewali Mamasa into two.

Mamasa regency is now part of West Sulawesi province, which recently split from South Sulawesi. West Sulawesi has five regencies: Polewali Mamasa, Mamasa, Majene, Mamuju and North Mamuju.

 Focus on Jakarta

NGO urges city to draw up plan to control air pollution

Jakarta Post - April 27, 2005

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- The city administration has been urged to prepare a concrete action plan to make Bylaw No. 2/2005 on air pollution control enforceable.

The bylaw, which will take effect early next year, bans, among other things, smoking in enclosed public places and requires public transportation vehicles to use compressed natural gas (CNG).

Chairman of the Partnership for Clean Emission (MEB) Fransiscus Suseno said on Tuesday that the action plan should consist of a detailed plan for the implementation of all rulings stipulated in the bylaw.

"Without any concrete action plan, the bylaw would not be enforceable," Suseno said at a ceremony to commemorate Earth Day.

He said drafting an action plan was the first step to following up the bylaw, which was enacted in February, before the administration held public campaigns about its policy to clean up the city's air.

In an effort to clean up Jakarta's air, which is the third worst in the world after Mexico City and Bangkok, the bylaw requires, among other things, vehicular emission checks for all vehicles and the use of CNG for all public vehicles.

Although the bylaw will become effective in February next year, the administration has not done nothing to prepare for it, such arranged to have public vehicles converted for CNG use.

Only five gas stations sell CNG in the city, while the total number of public transportation vehicles stands at around 83,000.

The city administration, state oil and gas company Pertamina, and state gas distributor PT Perusahan Gas Negara signed a memorandum of understanding on gas supply for public vehicles early this month.

The administration has focused on establishing one CNG station on Jl. Daan Mogot, West Jakarta, and another on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan, East Jakarta, to supply some 200 buses to be operated along the second and third busway corridors.

MEB secretary-general Ahmad Syafrudin expressed disappointment on Tuesday that the city administration had not followed up adequately on the bylaw.

"We are really worried the bylaw will become a paper tiger that will not be applicable to cleaning up the city's air," he said.

He added that the bylaw on air pollution control should not be viewed as a burden on the city to clean up the air, but as a long-term business opportunity.

The opening of new CNG stations, according to Ahmad, is a lucrative business in the long term as long as public transportation vehicles are required to use CNG.

"I think investors would be interested in opening gas stations if the administration remains consistent about its CNG policy," he said, adding that for the first step, the administration needed to offer incentives to investors, such as a tax holiday.

Meanwhile, City Land Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendy Sidabutar admitted that the city was not ready to implement the bylaw next year.

 Environment

International NGOs criticize Newmont

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2005

Jakarta -- Representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Indonesia, Peru, Ghana, Romania, and the United States state of Nevada called on Wednesday Newmont Mining, the world's largest gold producer, to reform its environmental practices at its global operations.

Speaking at Newmont's annual shareholders meeting, the activists, was quoted as saying in a release sent by the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi), urged Newmont to stop the practice of dumping its waste into the ocean and cancel all plans for new open-pit mines.

Newmont is facing multi-million dollar lawsuits in Indonesia and Peru. Indonesian police have accused the company's subsidiary, PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, of polluting Buyat Bay in South Sulawesi and causing severe ailments to local residents, while the environment ministry has lodged a civil suit of around US$100 million.

Five East Java firms on pollution blacklist: Minister

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2005

ID Nugroho, Surabaya -- Five private companies in East Java have been included on the environment office's blacklist of polluters, State Minister of the Environment Rachmat Nadi Witoelar Kartaadipoetra said on Wednesday.

"There are 42 companies listed as polluters, but eight of them are blacklisted and I want action taken against them," Rachmat said in Surabaya on Wednesday.

According to environment ministry data, of the eight blacklisted companies, three are state-owned companies -- paper producer PT Kertas Padalarang and sugar factory Jati Tujuh, both in West Java; and paper producer PT Kertas Blabat in Central Java.

The five blacklisted private companies in East Java are PT Surabaya Industri Estate Rungkut (SIER) in Surabaya; PT Pasuruan Industri Estate Rembang (PIER) in Pasuruan; PT Hanil Jaya Metal Baja in Sidoardjo; PT Ispatindo in Sidoarjo; and PT Jatim Taman Steel in Sidoardjo.

Rachmat said the state minister's office has sent letters to State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto and governors across the country to take action against polluters.

"If they (the state-owned companies) ignore it, the companies' directors will be replaced," he insisted.

For the five private companies in East Java, he urged strict sanctions to be imposed on them by the East Java provincial administration.

"The provincial administration, which gave them operational permits, could revoke these permits if they (the companies) keep polluting the environment," said Gempur Adnan, deputy minister of the environment.

Head of PT SIER and PT PIER's general affairs division, Wiji Sudarmi, denied the minister's statement.

"We disagree with the accusation. In fact, our companies are regularly cited as being models of good waste management...," she told The Jakarta Post.

She said that when visiting representatives from foreign companies came to Surabaya, they would ask to visit PT SIER and PT PIER to learn of the companies' waste management processes. "How can companies that are regularly cited as role models become polluters?" she asked.

Representatives from the other companies were not available for comment.

Rachmat said his office regularly found problems in taking action against polluters.

"When the state minister of environment wants to take strict action, other offices do not even move... it's hard," he said.

His office, he said, had proposed that the President formulate better regulations to ensure the office's position. "If such regulation is there, we can exert much pressure," Rachmat said.

He cited the cases of toxic waste being dumped in the country as an example. Such waste, he added, could only be treated at the Cileungsi dumping site in Bogor, West Java. But limited space and facilities made it impossible for the dumping site to treat all toxic waste from across the country.

"The state minister of environment can't directly order the expansion of Cileungsi dumping site, or the building of similar sites in other provinces," Rachmat said.

However, he added, his office has worked together with Bank Indonesia so that proven polluters of the environment are not provided with loans.

"We've handed the polluters' data to the bank, and the bank distributes it to its branches across the country. So if any of these companies ask for loan, it won't be approved by the bank," he said.

 Islam/religion

Artists accused of blasphemy

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2005

Hera Diani, Jakarta -- They fight "infidels", they rail against city nightlife, and now they have turned their overzealous worldview against popular soft rock band Dewa.

However, the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) is not the first group that has lashed out at artists over religion, accusing them of blasphemy.

Last year, musician and working-class hero Iwan Fals outraged the FIMHD, a Hindu organization, for putting an illustration of the Hindu God Vishnu on the cover of his album, Manusia 1/2 Dewa (Demigod). Earlier in 2003, the same group, also protested against writer Dewi Lestari for putting the holy symbol of the Hindu God Omkara, on the cover of her novel, Supernova 2.1: Akar (Root). Bowing to the pressure, Dewi, Iwan and Dewa changed their covers.

Soft rock band Dewa is now the object of rage from the FPI and several Muslim groups, which reported the band to the city police for contempt of religion on Tuesday, over the use of the word Allah written in Arabic on the cover of its Laskar Cinta (Soldier of Love) album.

The groups were also outraged when the band members put their feet (a cultural/religious sign of great disrespect) on the design during a gig, as it was emblazoned on the stage.

One of the most hostile flare-ups by religious groups against the entertainment/arts industry, was a contempt of religion verdict against Monitor tabloid, which included the banning of its publication. Its chief editor was sentenced to four and a half years in jail in 1990 for publishing a survey that measured the popularity of Prophet Muhammad compared to other figures.

Muslim scholars here are on the side of Dewa, however, in this spat. Scholar and sociologist Muhammad Sobary says that arts, no matter how bad it is, is an effort to pursue and understand the existence of God.

"It's another form of dakwah [preaching]. There's nothing wrong with putting Arabic language [on an album cover], it's beautiful and there is nothing blasphemous in it. Things would be different if the band used profanity and obscenity," he said.

Many Muslim clerics years ago, he added, banned music, sculptures and many other forms of performing arts. "If we tolerate such extremism, arts won't develop," Sobary said.

Syafiq Hasyim from the International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP), said that hardline groups such as the FPI had no right to use religious arguments to attack others as this country is not based on a certain religion.

"Their objection is a debatable issue. It should be discussed through dialog. There should be no power to claim that it is right or wrong," he said.

While Dewa might be wrong for putting their feet on letters of the Arabic alphabet, he added, still there is no reason for any group to claim that such an act is blasphemy.

Syafiq suggested that the hardliners be allowed to file reports to the police, as they have the right to do so.

"If they are unwilling to hold a dialog and negotiate, let them be. Let the police follow up on the report, but they must do it professionally and consider it a regular report. And let the courts decide," he said. Hardline groups will always exist and find ways to voice their beliefs, but it is not necessary to curb them, Syafiq said.

"The government and law enforcers need to keep them from resorting to violence and making use of them for their political interests," he added.

Sobary said the government should step up efforts to promote tolerance and understanding among people. "It's up to the FPI to be anything they like, but don't created conflicts with others. There are many ways to understand God," he said.

FPI reports rock group Dewa to police for blasphemy

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2005

Jakarta -- Several Islamic organizations, led by well-known vigilante group the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), have reported popular rock band Dewa to the city police for alleged blasphemy over the use of the word Allah written in Arabic script on the cover of its Laskar Cinta (Soldier of Love) album.

They also expressed anger that the word also appeared on the floor of the stage during a recent Dewa concert aired by a television station in the capital.

FPI lawyer Ari Yusuf Amir said the complaint was a follow-up to a formal complaint made last week, which Dewa had apparently ignored.

"It was not our intention to file a complaint. But since Dewa has not desisted, we had to report the band to the police," said Ari, after filing the complaint at city police headquarters on Monday. According to Ari, Dewa had violated Article 156 of the Criminal Code on blasphemy.

The organizations also submitted what they claimed to be evidence to the police, including recordings of Dewa's recent concert, and album covers.

Other organizations joining the FPI in reporting Dewa to the police included Tangerang's Mujahiddin Assembly, Jakarta's Islamic Defenders Paramilitary Force, the Jakarta Islamic Propagation Institute, the Indonesian-Chinese Islamic Association (PITI), and several Islamic boarding schools.

Besides reporting Dewa, they also reported PT Aquarius Musikindo (the record label) and PT Djarum as the sponsor of the Dewa concert that was broadcast on television.

PITI chairman Jayadi Mahmud Yunus said his organization had decided to become a party to the complaint as it was unacceptable to see the name of Allah on the stage floor so that it was walked on repeatedly by the band members. No members of Dewa were available for comment on Monday.

 Society & culture

Women's political role still 'marginal'

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2005

Hera Diani, Jakarta -- After 10 years of implementing the declaration of the United Nations conference of women in Beijing, most Asian countries including Indonesia have yet to meet the mandates, particularly in increasing the numbers of women in positions of power.

A discussion on the Beijing platform for action revealed that in most Asian countries, women's representation in government and parliament was still less than the 30 percent quota.

In Indonesia, there have been some improvements, including the implementation of affirmative action and regulations mandating women's participation.

Yet, women continue to be the silent majority, marginalized from power structures and decision-making processes.

Women activists said that aside from entrenched social and cultural issues, reluctant political parties remain major stumbling blocks in increasing women's political participation.

Activist Ani Widyani Soetjipto referred to politician Eros Djarot, leader of the Bull Nationalist Freedom Party (PNBK), who once asserted that politics was naturally a man's domain. Thus, according to such thinking, women entering politics went against nature.

"It's still tough to change the internal mechanism of a party," said Ani, who launched her book Politik Perempuan Bukan Gerhana (Women Politics is not Eclipse) at the discussion.

Legislator Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi from the Golkar Party said that women are always placed in less strategic positions, such as treasurers or deputies of social welfare issues.

"They think affirmative action is just a women's way of getting a position without fighting for it. They don't understand that it hasn't been a level playing field," said Aisyah, also an advisor on the House of Representatives' Women Caucus.

She added that the House Speaker was reluctant to issue a decree officiating the caucus, saying that the latter was not part of the House.

"There are also very few women placed in the House's special and working committees. There should be a legally binding sanction so that the quota can be pursued," Aisyah said.

Activist and sociologist Francisia S.S.E. Seda, or Ery Seda, said that the level of political familiarization for women is still low and few women are active as party cadres.

Political leaders are mostly men, and in turn they tend to nominate male candidates whom they believe have a greater potential to win. Female candidates are only selected if they have a close connection with men in power.

"Political parties rarely assist women candidates to raise funds, while general elections require high outlays and funds, and few women have independent resources to commit to this," Ery said.

Lack of mobilization and an unwillingness or inability to support each other, have also put women in a vulnerable position and disadvantaged women in taking active stands in asserting and aiming to strengthen women's rights and needs.

Thus, Ery said, it is necessary to provide training for women candidates in terms of organizational development, lobbying, and campaigning. "It is also important to secure broad changes in the political system, which can be done if the political parties are more democratic," she said.

She recommended more assistance be given to political parties to be more gender sensitive. There is also a need to develop a critical mass of civil society organizations committed to improve the status of women.

Other recommendations are to use existing cultural and religious institutions to increase awareness among people in rural areas, as well as training women cadres at the grassroots level.

"Political participation should not be assessed only in terms of the number of representatives in the House or the administration, and political parties. The quality of women's political engagement must also be strengthened.

"It's a long term challenge whose efforts depend on a multi- strategy approach that involves ministries, legislators, political parties and civil society organizations," Ery said.

 Armed forces/defense

Military picks indicted general as spokesman

Associated Press - April 26, 2005

Jakarta -- Indonesia's military named as its spokesman a general indicted by UN prosecutors for alleged war crimes during East Timor's break from Indonesia in 1999 -- a posting likely to anger rights groups calling for those involved in the violence to be punished.

Suhartono Suratman was named chief spokesman in a ceremony at military headquarters on Tuesday, said Sri, a member of his staff who gave only one name.

His appointment to the high-profile job follows similar promotions for other generals accused in the rampage by Indonesian troops and their militias following a UN referendum ballot. Up to 2,000 people were killed and most of the territory destroyed during the violence.

UN prosecutors in East Timor indicted Suratman in 2003 for "crimes against humanity, murder, deportation and persecution," a spokesman for the country's Serious Crimes Unit said Tuesday.

Suratman, who was a local military commander at the time of the violence, is one of about 50 Indonesians indicted by prosecutors in East Timor. Jakarta refuses to hand over any suspects.

The 54-year-old soldier was also among 18 Indonesian military and government officials tried in 2003 at a special human rights court in Jakarta for his role in the violence. Twelve of them were acquitted, including Suratman, and five had their sentences overturned on appeal. One appeal is still pending.

Rights groups have criticized the military's decision to allow senior officers to remain on active duty if they refuse to cooperate with probes into the violence.

Appointments like Suratman's "send a message to others in the Indonesian military that they are above the law and that impunity is tolerated," said New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Kostrad off-loaded business units

Jakarta Post - April 25, 2005

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- As the government tries to draw up an inventory of the myriad business interests of the Indonesian Military (TNI) as part of the preparations to remove them from military control as required by law, the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) claimed that it now only has interests in three business units.

Kostrad Commander Lt. Gen. Hadi Waluyo said recently that the force owned 100 percent of the shares in commercial aviation company PT Mandala Airlines and healthcare group Darma Medika General Hospital, and had a 25 percent stake in cargo company PT Darma Mandala.

"We're now trying to revamp Mandala Airlines," he said, pointing out that the company had not performed well due to mismanagement.

Hadi said that part of the revenue from the three companies had been used to help improve the welfare of soldiers and their families, brushing aside criticism that the military businesses had only benefited the generals as a result of rampant corruption.

Hadi claimed that Kostrad had gotten out of the timber business long ago. However, he did not provide any details on why and when the force had divested its interest in the lucrative timber sector.

He said that Kostrad had also unloaded its shares in "other businesses", such as construction companies, as many of them had not performed well.

He added that the stakes in the "other companies" had been given to Kostrad by private investors for free. He failed, however, to explain why private investors should gave Kostrad shares in their companies.

He pointed as an example to a road construction company in which Kostrad had shares, which won the contract to build the Malang- Gempol highway in East Java. "The project, however, did not proceed well, so of course we didn't get any money," Hadi said.

Hadi's statement is the first explanation given by a senior military officer on the state of the TNI's vast business interests since the Indonesian Military Law passed last year stipulated that the TNI must relinquish its business interests within a five-year period to ensure improved professionalism.

TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has claimed that the divestment of the military's business interests could be completed within the next two years.

The once supremely powerful TNI obtained its various business units under the 30-year authoritarian regime of former president Soeharto. But critics have said that the military's involvement in business has increased corruption and undermined military professionalism, while the direct benefits to low ranking soldiers and their families have been meager.

Hadi, however, rejected the criticism. He said that in the case of Kostrad, profits from its business units had been partly used to provide scholarships for soldiers' children and compensation for the families of soldiers killed on active service.

"Roughly, we spend Rp 300 million to Rp 400 million on supporting the education of the children. We also provide Rp 25 million to families whose sons or husbands were killed during operations," he said. Other Kostrad spending took the form of housing allowances.

While the mechanism by which the TNI will divest its business interests remains unclear, some government officials have floated the idea that the government take over part of the businesses and turned them into state-owned enterprises.

But a researcher with Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), Danang Widoyoko, has warned the government to be very careful when acquiring the business units of the TNI since many of them had been mismanaged. He was worried that their acquisition would only increase the burden on the state (and the taxpayers) as a result of the propping up of loss-making firms.

 Police/law enforcement

Conflict areas get top priority for new police stations

Antara - April 28, 2005

Jakarta -- National Police (Polri) Chief Da'i Bachtiar said here Wednesday (27 April) setting up police stations in conflict areas and regions bordering other countries was to be have top priority in Polri's physical development programmes.

The areas which will get first priority in the establishment of police stations are located in Aceh, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, East Nusatenggara, Papua, Maluku, North Maluku and Poso, Bachtiar said when dedicating a number of Polri's physical development projects.

"In Aceh alone, Polri has set up 11 police stations at district level and 200 stations at subdistrict level which have been completed with standardized facilities," the police chief said.

Although several buildings, operational vehicles and communication means were damaged by the 26 December tsunami in Aceh, development and procurement of support facilities in the conflict area continued, he said.

"In North Maluku, we have built the headquarters of provincial police while the provincial administration has yet to set up buildings for the prosecutor's office and the governor's office," Bachtiar said.

In Gorontalo, Bangka Belitung and Banten provinces, Polri has set up preparatory provincial police offices, he said, adding that the Banten police have even had an adequate building with complete support facilities.

He further said when a conflict occurred in Morowali, West Sulawesi, the police could overcome it as there have been the Morowali district police with adequate facilities.

"We will establish many buildings for police stations to serve the people better and the Polri headquarters will only deal with strategic policies while crimes in general would be handled by the provincial, district and subdistrict police quarters," he said.

He said Polri has given priority to the procurement of operational vehicles and communication means in the past three years, and it will prioritize physical development as of this year.

[BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific.]

 Foreign affairs

TNI denies deal over warships withdrawal

Jakarta Post - April 26, 2005

Rendi Witular, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) denied on Monday reports saying it had reduced its naval presence in a maritime area of Ambalat that has been at the center of dispute with Malaysia.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said he had no knowledge of a deal with Malaysia to limit the presence of warships in the area to one each.

"Until now there has been no warships or other warfare equipment withdrawn (from Ambalat)," Endriartono said after accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in receiving Chinese President Hu Jintao and his delegation at the State Palace.

Endriartono was commenting on a statement by Malaysian deputy prime minister and defense minister Najib Razak, who said over the weekend that an agreement had been reached at a recent meeting between the Malaysian and Indonesian naval chiefs to scale back their fleets in the disputed area off eastern Kalimantan.

Navy chiefs of both countries met in Batam earlier this month to ease tension that followed an incident in which warships from the two neighbors collided near the Karang Unarang reef, where Indonesia has built a lighthouse in an effort to strengthen its territorial claim to the disputed region.

"I have received no confirmation from Malaysia regarding such an agreement to reduce military force in order to ease tension," Endriartono said.

The two neighbors had previously been involved in a border dispute over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan that are close to the Ambalat waters. In December 2002, the International Court of Justice ruled that the islands belonged to Malaysia.

Endriartono also said TNI was considering the possibility of purchasing submarines from China to renew its naval fleet.

Indonesia and China agreed on Monday to defense and security cooperation that for the time being will be limited to trade in light arms.

Indonesian defense minister Juwono Sudarsono said China had proposed joint production of arms and other military equipment with Indonesian aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia, arms producer PT Pindad, ship builder PT PAL and explosives firm PT Dahana.

"We could not accept the offer as they were demanding that the companies provide all their research data for free as part of the agreement. They could understand our objection," Juwono said.

The agreement with China comes as Indonesia seeks a full restoration of military ties with the United States, which imposed an arms embargo in 1992 following an incident in the former Indonesia province of East Timor in 1991.

Juwono said that besides China, France and Germany were also offering their submarines, jet fighters and carrier planes.

 Opinion & analysis

Aceh's inconsistent law is a means of repression

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2005

Otto Syamsuddin Ishak, Jakarta -- Law enforcement is one of the Indonesian government's strategies for the settlement of the war in Aceh. Which law does the government seek to enforce? Who will enforce the law and how? Is this law enforcement based on morality or is it merely a political tool?

From the legal perspective, political and moral relations are in a heated competition. The law is indeed a venue where politics and morality compete, either when the law is drafted or when it is implemented.

There is a clear distinction between the law as a political product and as a moral product. If the law is a political product, its substance is to protect the ruling powers and their political instruments, and an instrument to justify the state, where the ruling elite takes shelter. If the law is a moral product, its substance is to protect the morality of individuals, the community or the state per se. The law is then an instrument to reveal the truth and provide justice.

Aceh is a region where conflict has simmered for a very long time. It is also a region that has just been devastated by the December's massive earthquake and tsunami. As such, Aceh is a region where the law and its implementation are the least consistent.

When Aceh was under military rule, during the military operation region (DOM) period, through most of the 1990s, there was a rape case involving an Acehnese woman and a soldier deployed to Aceh. According to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), that is a human rights violation. Of course, to find the truth, the right judicial court should be a human rights court.

However, the case, involving a soldier from North Sumatra province was quietly transferred to a military tribunal in Medan.

The second case is also on rape, which can even be categorized as sex slavery, against a number of women. The rapes took place in military barracks in South Aceh during the post-DOM period (2001). The military's solution to this case, was to relocate the victims to other regions and arrest all the human rights activists, who were snooping around trying to investigate the sex slavery case. The victims were persuaded, with some compensation and an offer to be hired as female soldiers. Finally, the victims were used as instruments to attack human rights activists who were branded as people that had defamed state's institutions.

The third case was a group rape perpetrated a number of soldiers against a number of small girls and women in the early days of the 2003 martial law.

This is also a human rights violation. However, part of this case was processed through a military tribunal, while the remaining part of the case was settled through acts of terror against the victims and their relatives.

The three cases referred to above demonstrate three models of law enforcement.

First, transferring the case from a human rights court to a military tribunal.

Second, the superiors of the perpetrators and the institution to which the perpetrators belong took over the case and then the superiors of the perpetrators offered compensation to the victims. The superiors used the victims as a means to attack the process of truth revelation.

Third, the perpetrators, their superiors and their institutions shelved the case through acts of terror against the victims and their relatives.

It is important to note that crimes against humanity were committed intensively and massively in the early days of martial law, which began in May 2003.

There are two types of judiciary systems in Aceh. One was developed by the Indonesian military (TNI) and the other one by the Acehnese Tradition Council (MAA).

In the post-tsunami days in East Aceh regency (March 2005), the TNI accused a man and his son of committing a crime as GAM members. The son was subjected to an extra-judicial killing before his trial began, then some 200 villagers were mobilized to witness a customary trial for the father. Also witnessing this customary trial were a number of SGI (intelligence task force) soldiers and members of Company C of 503 Infantry Batallion. One of the military men, took the position as a mediator in this court.

Chief of the MAA of Lhokseumawe, Usman Budiman, said that a customary court was set up at a village level. The reason is that today the public is not sufficiently knowledgeable in terms of Acehnese customs. The court serves to restore the well-mannered behavior of the public so that it will conform to Acehnese customs.

So, there are two versions of customary courts in Aceh.

The first version is the soldiers'. According to this version, a customary court is used as an instrument to try Acehnese by Acehnese. This version is used to manipulate cases related to crimes against humanity so that they will become criminal cases that the local customs will settle. The soldiers, who are armed and involved in summary execution, would like to create their own image as mediators (in a conflict being promoted as horizontal.)

The second version is that of the MAA. In this version, a customary court is used to make Acehnese behave better. A customary court is an instrument to reform the Acehnese people in terms of the perception of the customary norms of the elite.

And there is still another law that is only imposed on the Acehnese, namely the court based on the Islamic law, called the sharia court.

In its implementation, a sharia court controls morality and criminal acts.

Moral control encompasses the implementation of religious services, educating the young, and making sure everyone is dressed according to Koranic code.

Corruption and murder do not fall within the sharia court's jurisdiction.

Acehnese of lower socio-economic classes can be reached by the instruments of civil law and public criminal laws. Acehnese of the higher classes are relatively untouched by the customary laws and the Islamic law.

Corruption, for example, is not an act violating either the customary legal system or the Islamic law.

Therefore, law enforcement in Aceh can have a different outcome depending on the legal subjects and objects. For the subjects (the ruling elite and the upper classes), the law is a means for self-protection, and at the same time a legal instrument of repression.

[The writer is the Program Director of human rights organization Imparsial, Jakarta.]

Poverty and apathy

Jakarta Post Editorial - April 28, 2005

We heard resolute words from Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Wednesday -- that in three years, there should be no more elementary school buildings on the verge of collapse. In various areas, he said, many schools are in bad condition and need urgent attention, so that in a couple of years "we should no longer see schools without seats, or schools without walls", he said when opening a national conference on overcoming poverty here.

In the near future, he added, no more community health centers should lack medicine either.

The Vice President aptly highlighted a snapshot of what it means to be poor -- to have your children study at the cheapest schools, which could mean schools with not much more than poorly constructed buildings plus a few teachers and books, even in places not far from the capital; or having to rely on a local health center which, while cheap, often lacks essential medicine for the wide community to which it caters.

Reducing poverty is among the top priorities of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration, and, as we have since learned, a major area of cooperation planned by over 100 nations that participated in last week's 50th jubilee of the Asian- African Conference. The leaders of at least four billion people in the regions are some of those who committed to the United Nations "Millennium Development Goals" -- the first being eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

In Indonesia's case, the task of reducing poverty has become even harder since the December tsunami, after which an estimated one million people were added to the figures of the nation's poor of over 36 million people, or 16.4 percent of the population.

Even before appealing for world solidarity to fight poverty at last week's Asian-African Summit, President Susilo took measures to ensure that citizens better off than those who live on US$1 a day or less help out by making sacrifices. Amid uproar and skepticism, last month he raised fuel prices through the cutting of subsidies, for decades enjoyed by the upper and middle classes, pledging that these funds would instead help pay for the education and health care of poor families.

But entering the sixth month of the President's tenure, the questions stemming from decades of mistrust continue: how can a government hope to help the poor in an even slightly significant way while money continues to be siphoned off to line the pockets of those not entitled to it? One answer coming from another discussion on poverty was: end public apathy, involve the poor. Corruption continues to occur in part because of a helpless, compliant society, said Teten Masduki of the Indonesian Corruption Watch, one of the speakers at a forum on poverty held by non-governmental organizations here.

Others, however, cited experiences among the poor that throw light on the degree of widespread apathy here -- such as years of fighting for one's land that has yet to bear fruit in the face of powerful people.

We were reminded in these talks that however dismal the situation, we are in different era from the days of the New Order, when it was not surprising for a vocal dissident to suddenly vanish off the streets. Nowadays a more discriminating, bold public, with a more vigilant press, should be able to prevent, for instance, budget designs that allocate disproportional amounts of cash for a governor's wardrobe compared to that allocated for schools.

There's no shortcut to reducing the ranks of the poor, or to end the corrupt practices that steal their money. More involvement from an informed public is needed, and along with that, more authorities detached from the former culture of thinking that common people have no business questioning their actions.

Human rights violations continue to haunt us

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2005

Aguswandi, London -- Oppression is bad for a government's image, especially a government such as Indonesia that is still struggling to repair its reputation internationally. It deprives it of its legitimacy and provides other countries with a justified reason to censure it.

The continuation of human rights violations, conflicts and oppression in Indonesia in the post-Soeharto era, especially in Aceh and Papua, has clouded some positive developments in Indonesian democracy. It has made the world cautious about giving Indonesia a fuller role in the international arena.

While other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and India are proudly campaigning for a seat on the UN Security Council, after its reforms Indonesia is still busy explaining to the world its domestic actions and policies that contravene international standards of human rights.

In public meetings overseas on Indonesia, several questions are asked again and again by many who are concerned about the country's transition to democracy. Questions are regularly posed about the reform of the military, Islamic militants, sustaining the work of democratization, corruption and the problems of human rights, especially in Aceh and Papua.

Government representatives have standard answers to most questions apart from those relating to Aceh, West Papua and human rights. They usually highlight current positive developments with optimism. On military reform they refer to policies designed to control the political and business role of the army.

On the question of Islamic militants, diplomats will point out that moderate Islam, rather than militant Islam, is still dominating religious discourse. Other positive developments are also used to prove the regime is changed and more democratic.

But the nervous parts of the answers usually occur when the diplomats have to explain the human rights situations, especially in Aceh and Papua. They find themselves in difficulty because they have to explain and defend the indefensible.

On Aceh and Papua, the common answer for hard line diplomats, is that it is a problem of separatism, and for moderate ones, that it is a legacy of the past -- the Soeharto regime. But both would stress that the current government will do whatever it can to solve the problem peacefully.

However answers by diplomats abroad are ultimately more about spin -- preempting a situation where they would be held to blame -- than about avoiding the oppression in the first place.

It is difficult but important to accept that even the present government continues to allow the military to continue its old and anachronistic method -- the use of force to solve both conflicts. The continuation of the military offensive in Aceh and the build-up of the military presence in Papua represents the continuity between present government and the old one. In the case of Aceh, it is unfortunate that while the government is talking about peace, the Army is making war. There are further plans for new troops to be deployed to Aceh, as well as Papua and Poso in Central Sulawesi.

These military operations in conflict areas have resulted in continuing violence and human rights violations. Although the authorities try to keep the conflicts secret, human rights reports from these militarized areas regularly come from beneath the radar. They hurt Indonesia's reputation overseas and adversely affect the image of positive democratic developments in the country.

On the same day that the foreign minister, Hassan Wirayuda, proudly spoke in front of the UN Security Council meeting in New York last year about how great Indonesian democracy was after the successful and peaceful elections, Human Rights Watch published a report about extrajudicial killings, torture and unfair trials in Aceh.

When Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently visited Australia and New Zealand trying to seek support, the public and even members of parliament protested about the killings in Aceh and Papua. When on many other occasions Indonesian diplomats try to convince the world about the wonderful progress made in Indonesia, they are frequently interrupted with questions about Aceh and West Papua and the general problem of human rights.

Being hostile to foreign and domestic members of the public and groups critical of the human rights problem is not a solution. Indeed it actually worsens the already existing problem. The current policy to ban foreign groups or individuals working on human rights from visiting Aceh and Papua will make the world ask "what are you afraid of?" and "are you hiding something?"

It is even a legitimate question to ask what Indonesia has in common with North Korea, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe -- countries infamous for their grave human rights abuses. The answer is that Amnesty International and other human rights group are not allowed to visit these places. The UN commission of experts recently set up by Kofi Annan to review the prosecution of serious crimes in East Timor, was refused entry to Indonesia this month. I wonder how Makarim Wibisono, the Indonesian ambassador as the chairman of the UN commission on Human Rights, explains this in Geneva.

The event to commemorate the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta, of course, will be full of praise for the government, but it will be a superficial image of Indonesia's leading role in the international community. The current Helsinki talks to pursue peace in Aceh, are a far better way to creating a better situation on the ground and a better image of Indonesia overseas.

The correct diplomatic strategy for Indonesia is not to try and defend the many wrongs done by its Army in Aceh and West Papua and in other human-rights sensitive areas but to try and solve the problems and improve the situation on the ground via peaceful methods. Dignified diplomacy is diplomacy based on correcting the policy from inside, not justifying the wrongs through exploiting the pragmatism of international politics outside. Without genuine work to improve its conditions domestically, it will continue to be difficult for Indonesia to play a significant role internationally.

[The writer is a human rights advocate working for TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign in London.]

'Why didn't FPI accuse parties?'

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2005

Popular rock group Dewa has been reported to city police by a number of Muslim organizations led by the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) for using the Arabic script of Allah on the cover of its Laskar Cinta (Love Militia) album. FPI accused Dewa of blasphemy and demanded an apology. The Jakarta Post interviewed residents here to get their comments on the issue.

Mala, 24, is a student of the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java. She lives with her parents in Ciputat, South Jakarta.

I think FPI has gone too far in accusing Dewa of insulting and exploiting Islamic symbols. I also wonder why the group didn't say anything when political parties exploited Islamic symbols for their own benefit in the elections. Why does FPI treat Dewa differently? I am a Muslim, but I'm not a fan of Dewa. I see reasons behind why Dewa chose that kind of cover. I think Dewa wants to introduce Islamic symbols to a wider public. Not many people know about such Islamic art writing.

For instance, previously I didn't know anything about such symbols. With the dispute, I am interested in learning about Islamic writing. So, Dewa actually introduces Islamic symbol to the public. Why can't FPI see it this way?

Tri Budiarti, 29, is a secretary for a foreign company in Central Jakarta. She lives with her parents in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.

I am suspicious that the conflict is being deliberately created by both Dewa and FPI in order to boost Dewa's popularity, which has dropped lately, or to increase the sales of Dewa's latest album. Also, FPI can look good name by showing to Muslims that they are the true defenders of Islam once again.

What I see is that many people have started looking for the album since the dispute emerged several days ago, just to know about the songs and see the cover. Even people who are not fans of Dewa are now talking about the album. If this is the case, I urge both of them to stop trying to fool the public. I suggest that Dewa creates a better album so that they don't have to use such tactics to boost sales of their albums.

Munir's death probe: How far can it go?

Jakarta Post - April 27, 2005

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta -- It's been seven months since rights activist Munir Said Thalib, popularly known as Munir, died of arsenic poisoning on a flight to the Netherlands, while the government-sanctioned fact-finding team and the police have yet to complete the inquiry into the case.

A autopsy report by the Dutch police revealed that the 38-year- old activist had nearly 500 milligrams of arsenic in his body, four times the lethal dose.

Munir was an outspoken critic of the government and the military, accusing the latter of human rights violations in the troubled provinces of Papua and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and of running a criminal network involved in illegal logging and drug trafficking.

The prolonged investigation and the level of involvement of the murder suspects who are considered the "executors" rather than the masterminds behind the murder is obvious proof that the team and the police find it difficult to uncover the truth and/or conduct the investigation.

The police have only named three Garuda (national flag carrier) officials, who were on the Sept. 7, 2004 flight, as suspects. They are pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who was on board but off-duty during the flight, and flight attendants Dedi Iriyanto and Yeti Susmaryati.

The only lead is that it is widely rumored that Pollycarpus was once attached to the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), however this has yet to be substantiated.

Without ignoring the possibility of the involvement of other organizations or individuals in Munir's death, the reason why the focus of attention has moved to BIN is understandable because of its predecessor's notorious track record, that is, the State Intelligence Coordinating Agency -- BAKIN.

Apart from the alleged BIN connection, House of Representatives member Djoko Susilo of the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction had hinted that, at the very least, intelligence officers were involved in the murder. Djoko quoted the progress report of the fact-finding team, which indicated the involvement of a number of former senior intelligence officers.

In response to the progress in the investigation, BIN chairman Syamsir Siregar has instructed three BIN officers to assist the police and the investigating team. Syamsir, however, has declined to reveal the identity of the three officers, leaving the public guessing about their capability and contribution to the success of the ongoing investigation.

The investigation, however, is still far from completion as even if the finding of the investigating team later uncovers a link between the death of Munir and the intelligence agency, it still has to find out whether the agency was involved as an institution or only individuals linked to the agency.

If we turn back the clock to the date of Munir's death, the case occurred when the agency was still under the leadership of Gen. (ret) A.M. Hendropriyono. Hendro, as the general is popularly known, tendered his resignation on Oct. 20, 2004 when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took his oath as the country's new president replacing Megawati Soekarnoputri.

It is common practice in any intelligence organization that no matter how covert an intelligence operation may be, the chief of the intelligence organization must be aware of it.

It is also the responsibility of the agency chief to report to the president any significant or high-profile activities of the agency. The country's constitution places the BIN chief under the president, meaning that he reports directly to the president.

It is also not impossible then that the president -- Megawati -- also knew about the case.

It is therefore a challenge for the police and the investigating team to uncover the truth and reveal it to the public. It is also a challenge for the three BIN officers assisting the investigation to show that their inclusion in the investigation is fruitful.

[The author is a staff writer for The Jakarta Post.]


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