Local residents and fishermen have allegedly been barred from accessing a beach on Tolandona island in Wakatobi, South Sulawesi, that has been leased to a foreigner.

Metro TV reported on Friday that One Mobaa beach had been leased by the land owner, Baharuddin, to a Swiss citizen in 1996. The lease is for a duration of 20 to 30 years. A number of resorts have since been built at the location. For a weeklong stay on the secluded strip, tourists reportedly pay as much as $4000.

Locals are now banned from accessing the beach area, which is frequented by foreign tourists. The leasing of the beach to the foreigner and the access restrictions are technically not illegal, but have angered some in the community. Local fisherman have also complained that their incomes have been reduced by the ban.

In a strange twist, the Swiss national has also reportedly banned local government officers from entering the property. Wakatobi district head Hugua told Metro TV that he was under the impression that the site was owned by the foreigner.

Island leasing has been a hot issue in Indonesia for years. In August the issue resurfaced after a Web site, privateislandsonline.com, claimed to have an Indonesian island available to rent – namely Siloinak, located in the Mentawai region in West Sumatra.

At the time, a spokesman from the Fisheries Justice Coalition (Kiara) urged the government and the House of Representatives to investigate foreign involvement in managing and trading Indonesia's islands.

He also said that the government should replace policies that could lead to the privatization of small islands, as outlined in a 2003 law.

Are Indonesian newspapers yesterday's news? Not yet

Jakarta Globe - September 25, 2009

Ismira Lutfia – Print media companies in the United States are falling by the wayside in the face of stiff competition from more technologically advanced media. But the changing times haven't affected Indonesian print media as drastically as in the West, local media experts say. At least, not yet.

"There will be fewer conventional media outlets, but I don't think they will become obsolete," said Roy Suryo, a media and technology expert who was speaking at a seminar titled Toward the Death of Print Media.

Officials of various media outlets who attended the talk organized by the Indonesian Journalists Association and the Press Council said they recognized the shift to online news material by Indonesian consumers.

But there were still a number of factors keeping print media outlets afloat. Online media requires the use of gadgets and Roy said that conventional media such as newspapers or magazines enjoyed the advantage in portability.

"Only when they could be as light as paper would they start to become a threat to conventional media but until then, the new media would have more time to adapt," Roy said.

"However, gadgets keep evolving in terms of their size and companies are constantly developing new technology to make them more comfortable for use."

Djafar Husin Assegaff, an editorial board member of the Media Indonesia newspaper and Metro TV, said traditional media continue to survive based on politicians' reliance on their power to influence the masses.

"But the dying is wrong and painful," said Assegaff, whose company is owned by Surya Paloh, an influential member of the Golkar Party who is seeking its chairmanship.

According to the Internet World Statistics, there are 25 million Internet users in Indonesia, fifth highest among Asian countries. But that only accounts for 10.4 percent of the country's population, a sign that it's still a long way to go before traditional print media completely flatlines.

That doesn't mean, however, that local print media operators can rest easy.

Based on data released by the Association of Newspaper Publishers in 2008, there were 13,151,160 daily, weekly and tabloid newspapers operating throughout Indonesia, of which only 30 percent were surviving, said Leo Batubara, vice chairman of the Press Council. As a fail-safe measure, some media outlets have engaged in mergers.

"In our case, the convergence of Media Indonesia and Metro TV has been successful but it isn't always good news for a newspaper as advertising revenue keeps decreasing," Assegaff said, adding that the government needs to take an active role in sustaining the newspaper industry.

Almost symbolic of the shift from traditional to new media is the youth factor. Roy said it was inevitable for local print media to adjust to the emergence of the Internet as an important source of information because the biggest number of online users – the youth – will make up the next generation of consumers.

"Nowadays media are technology driven and they are shifting from conventional media to new media, which I think complement each other," Roy said.

Karaniya Dharmasaputra, editor in chief of news portal Vivanews.com, said the future points to online media, given the inclination of a younger generation of Indonesians to use the Internet just like the Western youth.

"Media-consuming habits in Indonesia are changing drastically with the rise of the new media," Karaniya said. "Indonesia's mobile Internet penetration ranks in the top five in the world. This holds a strong potential to develop news stories which can be accessible from mobile devices."

While people working in traditional media agree that the Internet provides information faster, Leo believes that newspapers provide more depth in their reports.

Karaniya disagrees, underscoring the common notion that material provided online and information derived from conventional media aren't far off.

"I think journalism is changing. [Online news] is timeless and spaceless as there is no space or column boundaries as in print media," he said.

"It must change as the control of news content has shifted from the hands of editorial board in a conventional media to the hands of the audience as they could immediately submit their comments or critiques to correct the news online."

Actions, demos, protests...

Community protests eviction and land seizure in North Sumatra

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2009

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Members of a traditional community in North Sumatra are protesting a government decision that will see them evicted and their palm oil plantations in Padang Laws regency repossessed by the state.

The decision will also allow 42 oil palm companies, two of which are foreign based, to exploit the protected forest in the register 40 area of the Padang Lawas regency.

The traditional community claims the government plans to seize the oil palm plantations belonging to the traditional community, which has lived in the area for the past seven generations, so that mining companies can exploit the register 40 area.

The oil palm plantations that span 47 hectares are cultivated by the traditional clan.

The decision to seize the land was stipulated in an official report on the submission of seized assets issued by the North Sumatra Prosecutor's Office to the North Sumatra Forestry Office on Aug. 26, 2009.

However, the government has yet to repossess the 47 hectares of oil palm plantations designated in the report.

Simangambat traditional tribal elder, Tongku Lubuk Raya Hasibuan, said the government's seizure of oil palm plantations owned by the traditional community was a violation of human rights.

He said the local community would fight until they had "shed their last drop of blood" if the government decided to seize their land.

"The government has hurt us, so we must fight. Why has it only seized our farms and not the other plantations owned by the 42 companies, whose operational areas are larger than ours. They have even tended to protect the areas owned by companies. Why is this happening?" Tongku told The Jakarta Post in Medan recently.

Tongku said the land they had managed as oil palm plantations was part of customary land protected under basic agrarian law.

Tongku also said that residents had applied for land ownership titles to strengthen their claim. "Members of the community own a total 1,820 land titles in the register 40 area," said Tongku, adding that every title was issued by the National Land Agency (BPN).

A member of the traditional clan's legal team, Sarluhut Napitupulu, said his team had urged the government to cease its plan to seize the farms of local residents equipped with land titles issued by the BPN.

According to him, the traditional group in Padang Lawas regency were distressed about the planned seizure of their land by the state.

"The lives of some 6,000 families depend on oil palm yields, but the government has suddenly decided to seize their land, while the 42 estate companies, whose plantations are larger, have never been questioned. This is very strange," said Sarluhut, adding that based on reports, each of the families earned Rp 2.7 million per month from their oil palm plantations.

Sarluhut said the 42 estate companies had been living in the area spanning more than 131,000 hectares since 1998.

He added that companies operating in the register 40 area included PT Mujur Timber, PT Mujur Plantations and PT Eka Pendawa Sakti owned by the Lis family. PT Eka Pendawa Sakti was recently sold to a foreign investor from Australia and changed its name to PT Ausindo Nusantara Jaya Agri.

One of the Lis family members, Adelin Lis, is on a police wanted list for his involvement in illegal logging in a protected forest in Central Tapanuli regency, but was acquitted by the Medan District Court. Prosecutors filed for an appeal at the Supreme Court over the court ruling.

Local forestry office head J. Siringo-Ringo confirmed the reports, saying recently the government had yet to take action against the companies operating in register 40 because they had not yet been legally processed.

The case of the traditional community, he said, had already been legally processed and they had been found guilty, so every asset, including oil palm plantations and buildings would be repossessed by the state.

Asked when the 42 companies would be legally processed as well, Siringo-Ringo said, "We must investigate their presence in register 40," he said. He denied the government, in this case the Forestry Ministry, had been partial in its handling of the case.

Jayapura paramedics protest, demand allowance increase

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2009

Nethy Darma Somba, Jayapura – Dozens of paramedics across Jayapura staged a rally on Monday at the Papua Governor's Office to demand the local administration increase their allowances, which are no longer enough to live on.

Leni, one of the demonstrators, said during the protest that the paramedics had asked the administration to revise the 1999 regulation on service allowances.

"Under the regulation, we receive only Rp 300 [US 30 cents] for treating a patient and Rp 500 for performing an operation," Leni said.

Maurits Okoseray, director of the regional hospital, Dok II, said the regulation had become irrelevant, with the current system of Papua residents not paying any costs if they got their health checked at state-owned hospitals.

Papua Deputy Governor Alex Hessegem said his office would form a special team to handle the case.

Minivan drivers protest Bandung busway

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2009

Jakarta – Hundreds of Bandung's public minivan drivers serving passengers on the Cicadas-Cibiru route went on strike again Thursday morning to protest against the new Trans Metro Bandung (TMB), which was launched on the same day.

The drivers parked their minivans near the TMB launching site in Cibiru and also in front of the local General Elections Commission (KPU).

Bandung administration had delayed the planned launch of the busway last year following violent protests by hundreds of bus drivers who claimed the TMB threatened their already dwindling income.

On Wednesday, Bandung deputy mayor, Ayi Vivanand said that the administration had spoken with local bus cooperatives and had reached a consensus on the launch.

East Bandung Police chief Martinus Sitompul told tempointeraktif.com that the protesting drivers were not aware of the consensus. The police have deployed around 1,000 personnel to guard the launch.

Trans Metro Bandung is a proposed public transportation service similar to Jakarta's TransJakarta busway. Trans Metro is scheduled to commence operation along Jl. Soekarno-Hatta, the Cibiru Circle and Cibeureum routes.

Aceh

Aceh governor will not sign law on stoning

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2009

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf has refused to sign the controversial Qanun Jinayat Code, or Islamic bylaw, and asked newly installed members of the Aceh legislature to deliberate on the draft again.

"I sent a letter to the DPRA [legislature] notifying them that I cannot sign the draft. I asked DPRA members to discuss it again until both the legislative and executive branches agree on the draft. Only then I can sign it," the governor told reporters in Banda Aceh on Wednesday.

New DPRA members, who are mostly cadres of the Aceh Party, a local party set up by former commanders of secessionist group Free Aceh Movement, were installed on Wednesday.

On Sept. 14, the DPRA endorsed the draft of the Qanun Jinayat Code, a set of local bylaws that replaces elements of the Criminal Code with Shariah provisions for Muslims. The measures would impose a punishment of stoning to death for adulterers and 100 lashes for people caught engaging in premarital sexual intercourse.

The bylaws have drawn strong criticism from human rights activists, while the Ministry of Home Affairs, which legally has the authority to strike down any bylaw contravening national laws, has called on the people to file a judicial review with the Constitutional Court.

Under existing laws, drafts of bylaws or bills automatically become laws 30 days after the legislature approves it with or without the signature of the regent, governor or president.

According to Irwandi Yusuf, the proposed code could not automatically become a bylaw as it was endorsed without the consent of local government. A 2006 law on governance for Aceh states that drafts of Islamic laws must be endorsed by the executive and legislative branches.

Although the controversial code was endorsed in the presence of Aceh Deputy Governor Muhammad Nazar, the Aceh provincial government had long rejected the draft.

Irwandi, however, was unsure if new DPRA members would agree to discuss the measure again. "The new DPRA may have to discuss other drafts of Islamic laws which are more urgent and pressing than this one," he said.

The governor said local and international groups had criticized the draft, which could hamper investment in the province. "But their protests have no bearing on my decision not to sign the draft," he said.

The proposal also stipulates a maximum of 40 lashes or 40 months in jail for drinking alcoholic beverages and 60 lashes and a fine of 60 grams of pure gold or 60 months in jail for sexual harassment. Convicted child rapists could get as many as 400 lashes or 400 months in jail, while those found to have committed homosexual acts could get 100 lashes.

Aceh legislative council to implement stoning bylaw

Jakarta Globe - September 27, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – Despite widespread condemnation, the Aceh Legislative Council said on Sunday that it would implement a bylaw that allows the stoning of adulterers and the lashing of persons caught having sex out of wedlock.

Raihan Iskandar, deputy head of the council, also known as the DPRA, said the bylaw had been approved by the local government headed by Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf. The law, which critics say is contrary to the wishes of the Acehnese, covers adultery, premarital sex, consumption of alcohol, rape, sexual harassment, homosexuality and gambling.

The new bylaw mandates that residents of Aceh can receive up to 400 lashes for child rape, 100 lashes for homosexual acts and 60 lashes for gambling. It is expected to come into effect on Oct. 14, a month after it was enacted by the DPRA.

Raihan, a member of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said he was unconcerned by suggestions the central government would strike out the law.

"It is fine," he said. "What's most important is that we have passed the law and if they do file a judicial review, it will need some time to do it. Meanwhile, the law can be implemented."

Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto, speaking on Friday before the local government ratified the bylaw, said the ministry would seek a judicial review before the Supreme Court as soon as the local government approved the passage of the bylaw.

"They cannot implement it as long as the local government has not approved it," Mardiyanto said.

He said that once the DPRA received approval from the local government, "we will file a judicial review with the Supreme Court. They could not implement a bylaw that's against the national law," he said.

Saut Situmorang, spokesman of the Home Affairs Ministry, said the legal mechanism did not allow full authority for the national government to repeal a law.

"We may repeal bylaws that run against public interest or contradict bylaws, but with some exceptions," he said. "The exception includes Shariah bylaws. In this case, it may only be repealed with judicial review by the government or related parties."

Tsunami survivors call for action after another year in shelters

Jakarta Globe - September 23, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – Hundreds of Acehnese displaced by the December 2004 tsunami celebrated Idul Fitri in a squalid camp in Aceh Besar district, prompting calls on Wednesday for the provincial government to determine how many people are still living in temporary housing after nearly five years.

"The provincial government should start making field surveys to determine the true conditions," said Raihan Iskandar, deputy chairman of the Aceh Legislative Council.

Raihan, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) councilor, said a lack of precise data on the number of displaced people hampered the government's ability to effectively handle tsunami recovery.

The Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) ended its mandate in April and handed over responsibility to the local Aceh Sustainability Reconstruction Agency (BKRA).

The central government established the BRR in the aftermath of the tsunami to facilitate reconstruction in affected areas. More than 170,000 Indonesians were killed or disappeared in the disaster, and hundreds of thousands more were displaced.

The local Serambinews.com Web site reported on Wednesday that more than 260 tsunami victims were still living in shelters in Bakoy village in the Ingin Jaya subdistrict of Aceh Besar.

Idrus, a coordinator for the displaced persons in Bakoy, accused the government of abandoning them since the BRR pulled out of the area.

"There are still many problems confronting tsunami victims, including relocation," Idrus was quoted as saying on the Web site. Idrus also described what he said were unacceptable conditions in the shelters, with public facilities such as toilets and bathrooms not functioning properly.

Raihan said the government should coordinate with the BKRA to assess living conditions for tsunami victims still living in temporary shelters.

"If there are people who claim that there are refugees left without proper housing, they could be sued" for defamation if the claims turn out to be untrue, he said.

"With proper data, the government could make a better plan to help tsunami victims."

Raihan said the next legislative council should have a clear plan for managing long-term rehabilitation programs in Aceh.

Councilors voted into office in the April elections, the majority from the Aceh Party, the successor to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), are scheduled to be sworn in on Sept. 30.

West Papua

Rallies in Indonesia's Papua region as new 'government' announced

Radio New Zealand International - September 29, 2009

Thousands of West Papuans have turned out in rallies in Indonesia's Papua demanding international help in mediating a political settlement between Jakarta and a new so-called West Papua Transitional Authority.

Reports indicate that the rallies in Sorong, Manokwari and Jayapura drew between five and ten thousand people.

The demonstrators called on Australia to facilitate dialogue over Papua issues such as human rights abuses and West Papuan dissatisfaction with Special Autonomy.

Several dozen West Papuans and Australians held a simultaneous rally in Melbourne at Parliament House calling for the publication of an independent report by Australian Federal Police into the murder of Austalian Drew Grant near the Freeport mine in July.

One of the rally organisers, Jacob Rumbiak of the West Papua National Authority, says they have proclaimed the Authority as a new provisional government for West Papuans.

"We want to show the world that we have clear leadership – a student movement and also people inside (Papua) from different backgrounds. They agree we must have clear political leadership inside. Today they announce it."

Calls for Australia to get involved in West Papua

ABC News - September 29, 2009

A group of West Papuans and their supporters have called on the Australian government to help mediate a settlement over the province of West Papua.

The small group, which included around 30 West Papuans, held a rally in the south eastern state of Victoria on Tuesday to draw attention to what they says are wide spread human rights abuses being perpetrated by Indonesian authorities.

West Papua has been a province of Indonesia since 1963, but much of the indigenous population have been demanding self- determination.

Talk in peace

The coordinator of Foreign Affairs West Papua National Authority, Jacob Rumbiak, who was at the rally, says he wants Australia to bring the Indonesian government and the West Papuan Transitional Authority together for talks.

"We are asking Australian government to take position as a party, to bring West Papua and Indonesia government to sit and talk in peace," he said.

But Mr Rumbiak says the sensitive diplomatic relationship between Canberra and Jakarta is a barrier to any discussions on West Papua.

Protect human rights

The call for Australian intervention has been backed by a Victorian Member of Parliament. Member of the Upper House, Greg Barber, who is also a long time supporter of West Papuans, says the Australian Government can do more to protect human rights in West Papua.

"The Australian government could alot do more in the defence of human rights, as it should in any country in the world."

Herman Wainggai, who represents West Papuan engorge living in Australia, also attended the rally. Mr Wang says there are around 47 political prisoners being held by the Indonesian military in West Papua including one of his cousins, Jack Wang.

He wants Indonesia to release all political prisoners. "We're asking for the international community to advise the Indonesian government to release all the West papen political prisoners," he said.

And if Indonesia ever decides to grant West Papuans autonomy or independence, Mr Rumbiak says West Papuans are ready to run their own country.

"We West Papuans ready, 100 per cent to run our country, today we have provisional government, we have a constitution, we have people been briefing people to explain to the world that we West Papuans are ready to run out future"

Papua to receive 'special attention,' Boediono says

Antara News - September 28, 2009

Timika, Papua – Vice President-elect Boediono, making his first ever visit to troubled Papua, said here on Monday that development in the region would be given special attention by the incoming administration.

"I want to get firsthand information about the real conditions in Papua, especially in the Pegunungan Tengah and border areas, so the central government can make the proper development plan for the province," Boediono told reporters during a stopover at the Mozes Kilangin airport.

Boediono said that to speed up development in Papua's remote areas, roads linking one place to another should be built.

Besides roads, he said the central government would also encourage district and municipal administrations in the province to focus on the development of the health and education sectors.

The former Bank Indonesia governor is scheduled to meet with nine district heads and Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu in the Jayawijaya town of Wamena on Tuesday and Wednesday before proceeding to Tanah Merah in Boven Digoel where he would officially open the Sue seaport.

Meanwhile, Puncak Jaya district head Lukas Enembe expressed hope that the central government would build a road from Yuguru to Abema.

The distance between Yuguru at the border of the districts of Mimika and Asmat, and Abema in Jayawijaya district, is about 140 kilometers while the route between Jayapura and Wamena is about 500 kilometers.

The construction of the road linking Jayapura and Wamena, which started in the 1980s, is yet to be completed due to the treacherous mountainous terrain.

Talk of slow motion genocide in Indonesia's Papua province

Radio Australia - September 23, 2009

Problems in Indonesia's Papua province include security at the Freeport mine, high HIV rates, fast-shifting demographics and the ongoing conflict between the Free Papua Movement – known as OPM – and Indonesian security forces.

Some say, all these factors amount to a "slow-motion genocide" of local West Papuans. But is this being too dramatic?

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speakers: Jim Elmslie, co-convenor, Papua Project, University of Sydney; Stuart Upton, University of New South Wales.

Lam: Jim, if I may start with you. You have written what's happened in Papua is a "slow motion genocide." Is that too emotional term, do you think?

Elmslie: Well, I have quoted somebody saying that. And the reason I have, is that many Papuan people believe that they are suffering genocide under the control of the Indonesian Government since its takeover in 1963. So the purpose of my research is to try and see how much validity or otherwise, is in that claim. And one of the factors that gives a foundation to this belief is the massive demographic changes that have occurred in Papua since the Indonesian takeover. For instance, in 1971, there was 96 per cent of the population was Melanesian, and four per cent were outsiders. While from the recent census and other figures, the migrant population is now between 32 per cent by some terms and others who believe it is now in the majority. So you have had this massive change. You have also many serious human rights violations, the impunity of the police, persistent rumours of police involvement in prostitution, which leads to the spread of Aids, et cetera. All of which give rise to the feeling on the part of many Papuans, that they are suffering a "genocide" which I believe should be taken seriously and examined.

Lam: Well, the Papuans may have been swamped by newcomers, by outsiders, but does that necessary translate into a systemic genocide, if you like by the centre in Jakarta?

Elmslie: No, it doesn't, it doesn't, but it deserves investigation. By definition, a genocide is when there are mass killings and targetted killings of a particular racial or ethnic group, with the intention of the government or authorities, that is not just a random event. The situation is disastrous in Papua, but we don't know if it's genocide. What I am saying is the calls, the claims that it is genocide are quite valid, for people to make those claims and it then becomes incumbent on other people to try and determine whether these claims are true or not.

Lam: Stuart Upton, from the University of New South Wales. You've heard what Jim Elmslie has to say. What's your reply?

Upton: Yeah, I think that Jim makes some good points. There has been a massive demographic shift in Papua in the last 30 or 40 years, but I think you can also see that happening in other areas of eastern Indonesia. If you look at East Kalimantan, for example, that's got a large number of migrants come in there and I think what is missing is a systemic aim of moving all these migrants.

Of course during the 1980s and 1990s, the trans-migration programme itself was quite influential in moving people to Papua, but that stopped in 2000.. and... actually for most of the migrants that have come to Papua, most of them, may be two thirds or something like that or economic migrants. They come from eastern Indonesia, also from Java, but mostly people, economic migrants moving to areas of eastern Indonesia as other areas of Indonesia, eastern Indonesia as they do. The same going to Papua. I cannot see that that makes a genocide. Otherwise we would call all these genocides in other areas of eastern Indonesia genocide as well.

Lam: But one might argue though, that the Melanesian culture is very distinct from the rest of Indonesia, and certainly from Javanese culture?

Upton: Certainly from Javanese culture, but there are other areas of eastern Indonesia where there are Melanesian people living in certain areas of Timor, for example, other areas around there. It's often put as an issue of religion, but if we look at the migrants who are going to this area, well, a third of them are also Christians as well as the Papuans, so I don't see that as a big issue either.

Lam: Well, before we continue this discussion, let's remind our listeners at this point that West Papua was forcibly incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia in 1963 through military aggression and some diplomatic manoeuvring. Stuart Upton, do you deny the 'Tibetisation', if you like, of Papua, that locals are being swamped by newcomers, comparable to what's happening in Tibet – the migration of Han Chinese into Tibet?

Upton: Absolutely, I think there's definitely a marginalisation of people in this area. I mean if we look at the cities in this area, they are almost mostly controlled and the demographic shows that the cities in the urban areas are mostly migrants who are living there and if you look at employment, that sort of thing, indigenous people are really concentrated still in agriculture. And non-indigenous people are controlling almost all of the employment, something like 16 times more likely to be involved in trade, seven times more in manufacturing. So what we have got is a sort of divided province where the urban areas are really dominated by migrants, and rural areas are still the indigenous people living there. And that obviously creates a lot of frustration for indigenous people. They are not able to improve their lives and give better education to their children and so on, and so in that way, it's a desperate situation for these people.

Lam: On Radio Australia and the world radio network, this is Connect Asia this morning looking at the troubled Indonesian Province of Papua, and whether there is a so-called "slow genocide" of the local Papuan population and our guests are Jim Elmslie, who argues yes and Stuart Upton who says there is no genocidal master plan.

Announcer: On Radio Australia, this is Connect Asia with Sen Lam.

Lam: Jim Elmslie, internal migration to Papua, both state sponsored and private, means that in about 15 years you say, West Papuans will be a minority in their own land. What will that mean in real terms, do you think?

Elmslie: Well, the provincial government statistics indicate that overall that they are already a minority, in the sense that more than 50 per cent of the population is now non-Melanesian. As Stuart pointed out, there is a big divide between the populations in urban areas and rural areas, so the urban areas are now overwhelmingly 70 percent-plus migrant population and in the rural areas, they are overwhelmingly Melanesian. Now this puts into place a sort of Guatemala-type situation, where there seems to be ongoing military operations against separatists or separatist supporters – people trying to break West Papua away from Indonesia – which sort of has become institutionalised and a structural part of the way the province runs. Besides the terror that this inflicts on the village people, it also does no good at all for Indonesia, because the great problem with Indonesia for the last quarter or prior to releasing East Timor was that dragged Indonesia down as a very important Muslim country in the world. Now, if you are getting this entrenched military system going on in West Papua as it is now, which inevitably creates human rights abuses and suffering and environmental catastrophe, which is associated with illegal logging, it has the potential to really harm Indonesia itself, so the problem does go back very much to Indonesia, to try and address the situation directly and resolve it and particularly to hear and sit down seriously with the Papuan leaders, to try to mitigate or resolve these massive problems they face.

Lam: But where the people movement is concerned, what sort of data do we have to work with?

Elmslie: Well, the most in depth data comes from the 2000 Indonesian census which identified ethnic groups or where people came from. And it was interrupted, because in 2000, there was a so-called "Papuan Spring" occurring which was in the aftermath of the Suharto regime collapse, where there was a huge movement for independence in West Papua and there were some areas that obviously the census was not conducted in properly. Those figures are also disputed by many Papuans who tend not to believe anything coming from the Indonesian Government and the Papuan Provincial Administration uses its own figures which indicate a much higher percentage of the migrant population. But I'd say all figures from remote areas must be taken with a certain grain of salt, just because the country has some very remote areas that are hard to properly gauge.

Lam: Well, figures are often difficult to grasp. But Stuart Upton, Papuans of course suffer the poorest health standards of Indonesian citizens. Is there some deliberate neglect there do you think, if not under the present government, certainly under the New Order regime of Suharto, who had the backing of the military in the 1980s and 90s?

Upton: I think it is very hard to tell exactly. I mean I think the health services in the remote areas are very poor, but in a lot of these areas there is very little government control of these areas, government presence at all in a lot of these areas is very slight. I mean, the missions control a lot of the flights, for example, around in the Highland areas and a lot of the education in these areas is run by mission activity. And outside some of the areas where there are military presence, there are very limited government services whatsoever. I am not sure that I see that as a deliberate policy. I think that corruption plays a large role in that. If you look at schooling, for example, a lot of the teachers who are supposed to be teaching in these Highland schools are actually sitting in Jayapura, while still getting paid for their work and I think that's one of the issues that goes along with... I think there is a bit more.

Lam: But surely the fact that the Indonesian military, the TNI, seize ownership of the region's natural resources, that in itself is not a healthy thing?

Upton: No, absolutely. And I think the military have a lot to answer for in terms of how these situations... I think that local military activity has been very important in terms of creating local problems. Military activity has done is the relationship with the indigenous people, there has been obviously there has been human rights abuses by the military, people in different situations and this sort of thing has prevented any trust by indigenous people in the government. Well, I see it as a more local issue between particular interest groups in the military and.. rather than a deliberate overall plan.

Lam: Jim Elmslie, some may argue that forced cultural change might be offensive to the locals, than politics. I take, for instance, the Iban and the Kadazans in East Malaysia. Now they seem, to have peacefully accepted federal rule from Kuala Lumpur. Why not the Papuans, why do you think Jakarta has difficulty winning the trust of the Papuans?

Elmslie: I think, this is obviously a huge question and it's perhaps too simplistic to say that independence is at the bottom of it all. But the response I have got from many people is that the Indonesian Government and military have always treated the Papuans as an enemy, as not to be trusted, because of the historical fact that the rest of Indonesia became independent in 1949, there is a 12 year lag before Indonesia managed to gain control over West Papua and the West Papuans were clearly preparing themselves and wanting independence. And so, the relationship if you like, between modern Indonesia and modern Papua started as a military operation and to some extent it has continued as such and the mentality from what I can gather within the military and within the high echelons of the Indonesian government is still to view Papua as a threat and Papuans as potentially, enemies and traders who want to leave. So that is a very negative way to have a foundation of the relationship.

Lam: Stuart Upton, if I may give you the final word, just very briefly. What do you think needs to be done for there to be a peaceful solution?

Upton: I think the military is part of the problem and I think the more we can give take away reasons for the military to be there, I think that is a very important thing. And the land and peace issue has been an important issue in terms of not providing any reason for a rational for the military to be there. I think there need to be a programme to be set up in terms of providing some sort of way forward for Papuans to turn education and employment, so they have a future in this sense and being able to live in the Papuan urban areas of Papua.

Papua schools closed for months as air link cuts strand teachers

Antara News - September 22, 2009

Classes at some schools in Papua's Mimika district have been at a standstill for the past few months because their teachers are stuck in Timika city.

The principal of Jila district's junior high school (SMP), Natalis Nimbitkendik, said he and other teachers at the school were stranded in Timika. "We can not return to Jila, because there is no transportation to get there," he said.

He said the teachers usually travel to Jila from Timika on a PT Freeport Indonesia helicopter hired by the Amungme and Kamoro Community Development Foundation (LPMAK).

Several villages in Jila district, such as Hoeya, Bela, Alama, Geselema and others are located 3,000 meters above sea level, and can only be reached by air. But since the shooting incidents near the Freeport gold and copper mine, the company's helicopters no longer fly to Jila.

Cantius Emereyauw, a Kamoro tribal community figure, said for the past three months Bona Ventura elementary school had stopped operating completely. The whereabouts of its teachers were also unknown.

"There has been no school for the past three months, because the teachers are not there," he said. He said he was concerned about the students' future now that their schooling had been disrupted.

Elementary schools in Mimika run by the Catholic Education and School Foundation of Timika were also only operating now and then with casual teachers, he added.

Meanwhile, the teachers with civil servant status were not around and were spending their time doing other things in the city, Cantius said. These teachers continued to receive their full salaries and allowances from the state.

The School Operational Assistance funds the schools were receiving from the central and local governments were also being embezzled by the school principals, he said. "We urge Mimika's local government to pay serious attention to this situation," Cantius said.

Human rights/law

PDI-P: No Prabowo link to abductions tribunal

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said on Wednesday it never intended to discredit controversial former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto by initiating the establishment of an ad hoc tribunal to investigate the disappearances of activists during the 1997-1998 unrest.

Speaking in Jakarta, Ganjar Pranowo, a senior member of the party, also known as the PDI-P, said Prabowo, who is the chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), had not requested the party withdraw its support for a House of Representatives' recommendation to establish the tribunal.

In seeking resolutions to the cases of at least 22 missing activists, Ganjar said the PDI-P's faction in the House had never linked Prabowo, who was commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) when the incidents took place, to the disappearances.

"Who can say that Prabowo was the mastermind behind the incidents? Is it not possible that Suharto, with his enormous power, was behind it all?" Ganjar said, adding that the decision to establish the tribunal was based purely on the desire to resolve the cases, and was not motivated by personal reasons.

Prabowo and Wiranto, the former commander of the Armed Forces, have been implicated in human rights violations. Prabowo ran as PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri's vice-presidential running mate in the July presidential election. Wiranto was a candidate on a separate ticket.

Following the recommendations of its special committee, the House on Monday voted to recommend that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issue a presidential decree to establish an ad hoc tribunal to try those allegedly involved in the disappearances of the missing activists.

The House also urged the government to form teams to investigate the exact fates of the activists to determine whether they had been killed or were still alive.

Meanwhile, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said on Wednesday it had delivered a letter to the House speaker urging the House to immediately submit its recommendations to the president's office.

"The president must establish the ad hoc tribunal as soon as possible, so the investigation and prosecution can be conducted in the near future," Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid said.

He said the letter also reminded the House to monitor the investigations, adding that government institutions, such as the Attorney General's Office, had in the past not given the cases the priority they deserved.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, however, said his office was ready to investigate the abductions. "If there is political support, the president will issue a presidential decree to establish the ad hoc human rights court. Then we will follow it up," he said, as quoted by Kompas.com.

In February 1999, 11 Kopassus soldiers were sentenced to jail or dismissed from service by a military court for their roles in kidnapping activists. Human rights activists, however, say the masterminds behind the disappearances have never been charged.

House urges justice for kidnapped activists

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2009

Jakarta – Parliament has called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to form a human rights court to try the cases of rights activists kidnapped in 1997.

The House of Representatives also urged Yudhoyono to find out what happened to the 13 kidnapped activists, who remain missing. Compensation for their families should also be paid, the House went on, while the government should ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

The House made the call Monday, following recommendations by its special committee on the kidnapping cases.

"Attorney General Hendarman Supandji must continue the investigation with the National Commission on Human Rights so that the suspects can be taken to court," said committee chairman Effendi Simbolon. "The court should be established by presidential decree."

After the session, relatives of the missing activists presented Effendi with a white rose "to symbolize their respect for his leadership of the committee," detik.com reported.

Effendi told The Jakarta Post the calls were made after a discussion of the cases with the human rights commission, various human rights NGOs and families of the missing activists.

"The committee didn't make any investigation of its own, but we based our recommendations on the human rights commission's investigation," he said.

He added the committee had tried to summon government officials to confirm facts in the case.

The committee had invited Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S., Indonesian Military Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Syamsir Siregar, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono, and Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata.

"None of the officials accepted our invitation," Effendi said. "We sent a letter to the President to urge the officials to come, but he didn't give any clear instructions."

He added the committee had also planned to summon suspects in the kidnapping cases, but had refrained from doing so. The suspects include failed vice-presidential candidates Wiranto, from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), and Prabowo Subianto, from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), as well as officers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus).

Mugiyanto, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared, said the families were satisfied with the House's stance.

"The House has done its part in making recommendations to the government," he said. "Now we hope the government will act on the recommendations."

He said forming a human rights court was important, since the Attorney General's Office had repeatedly postponed any investigation due to the lack of an ad-hoc court.

Mugiyanto, also kidnapped but latter released in 1997, said finding the activists was the main concern of the families.

"At the very least, the truth about their fate must be unveiled," he said. "If Indonesia doesn't want to be burdened with past human rights violations, this step must be taken."

Mugiyanto said he hoped Yudhoyono would follow up on the recommendations within the first 100 days after his inauguration. (mrs)

Civil society groups to propose new draft for state secrecy bill

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2009

Jakarta – Media associations and NGOs will draw up their own version of the controversial state secrecy bill to present to the government, after the latter withdrew its version following intense pressure from civic groups.

"We'll make a draft that is compatible with democracy and press freedom," Agus Sudibyo, from the Science, Aesthetics and Technology Foundation, said Wednesday at a discussion on the bill.

"The defense minister said he would seek input from civil society organizations regarding a new draft, so we'll make a draft to give to him."

Agus thanked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono and legislators for acquiescing to the demands from the civil society organizations. "I also want to thank the media for giving a voice to our demands," he said.

Nezar Patria, chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), said he understood the government's need for a state secrecy law. "But there must be a clear distinction between confidential information and information that deserves to be made public," he said.

He added that in drafting a secrecy bill, the government's need for secrecy should be balanced against the public's right to know the truth. "Therefore the new secrecy bill must take into account the public information law and the press law," Nezar said.

He added civic groups were in strong opposition to the previous bill because of its broad definition of what constituted confidential information.

"The previous bill talked of military secrets, bureaucracy secrets, political secrets and financial secrets," he said. "The public would have been denied any chance of knowing anything."

Nezar added the withdrawn bill may have been a ploy by the government to undermine the public information law. He also denounced what he said was "the impunity of public officials taking part in state secrecy activities".

He pointed out that under the previous bill, public officials who misused their authority could avoid prosecution by citing state secrecy, while ordinary citizens in possession of state secrets could be punished.

"It's the job of officials to keep the secret, yet the citizens will be punished," Nezar said.

He cited past cases in which military officers had marked up the prices of weapons bought by the military. "Without budget transparency, such cases might repeat," he said.

Toby Mendel, from Article XIX, an NGO promoting freedom of expression, said international standards existed on drafting such a bill.

He added certain information needed to be kept confidential, while the public's right to know should be upheld, thus necessitating public input in the drafting of the bill. "That wasn't done in the case of the first draft," he said.

Toby said information such as details of weapons purchased by the military may be deemed classified, but other items, such as the total military budget and details of non-weaponry expenses, should be made public.

A committee should be formed, he went on, to oversee the implementation of the law, with civil society groups given a role on the committee. (mrs)

Labour/migrant workers

Yudhoyono has not eased labor pains: Activists

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2009

Jakarta – Labor unionists criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's performance in the past five years, saying that the majority of workers have not experienced improved monthly minimum wages and that the deadlock over contentious industrial disputes remain unresolved.

Chairman of the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers Union (KSPSI) Syukur Sarto said Monday that workers were the most vulnerable group in the past five years as their monthly income had remained relatively static.

He said based on a recent labor union study, the monthly minimum wages have been nominally raised since 2004.

In reality the real wages have dropped by at least by 18 percent, mainly due to the annual inflation rate, according to the same study. Minimum wages were on average 15 percent lower than the minimum physical needs (KHL), he said.

"Besides the low minimum wage, many workers were dismissed because of rampant outsourcing practices," he said. "This leads to them later becoming reliant on the government's social safety net programs."

He added open unemployment has reached almost 10 million while disguised unemployment has reached 31 million.

Separately, Chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (KSBSI) Rekson Silaban concurred that there had been little improvement for the workforce under President Yudhoyono's administration.

"Some workers and their families have entered the informal sector, which means no job security or retirement benefits, because of rampant outsourcing practices and the dismissal of contract-based workers."

Rekson said workers were disappointed that the government had failed to settle crucial labor issues stemming from the contentious 2003 labor law that revised the 1992 social security law and the 2004 national social security law.

The revision reportedly left workers unprotected, especially those that had been dismissed.

"The government has intentionally ignored the deadlock between employers and workers over contentious issues in the labor law resolved and the proposed draft bill was put into the drawer," he said.

"The bill to revised the social security programs, especially the pension benefit payroll, has been hijacked by the House of Representatives.

"It is apparently impossible for the government to implement the national social security programs in Oct. 19." The President dropped the bill to revise the labor law following a strong opposition from workers during the violent 2007 May Day celebrations.

Due to high severance and service payments that are required by the law, many employers resorted to outsourcing and recruited contract-based workers.

Workers have strongly opposed the proposed elimination of the harsh chapters on severance and service payments in their bid to avoid arbitrary labor dismissals.

Chairman of the Federation of All State-owned Enterprise Workers Union (FSP BUMN) Abdul Latief Algaf called on the President and the government to gradually repair the labor conditions amid the recovering world economy.

"The President should start deliberating the bill on social security programs and address the revised draft law on labor by reviving the three-party negotiations with employers and workers."

He added that all labor unions at state enterprises would ask the next minister of state enterprises to deploy a repressive approach and force state enterprises to fully participate in the social security programs and the pension program, in an effort improve job security among workers.

Environment/natural disasters

Surabaya threatened by clean water crisis

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2009

Amir Tejo, Surabaya – Residents of East Java's capital are preparing for another water crisis, as October – the transition month from the dry to rainy season – is considered the worst month for pollution in the Surabaya River.

The waterway, a branch of the Brantas River, is the source for 71 percent of the water processed by the regional water company (PDAM) in the city.

"Based on experiences from past years, people are afraid that in October the companies near the Surabaya's riverbanks will pump their waste, stored for months, out into the river," said Soenarno, a PDAM spokesman.

This will affect water supply to the PDAM's 398,000 customers. Due to the high amount of pollutants, the processing time will take much longer, which will ultimately affect end users.

The worst-case scenario would be a repeat of the situation last year, when the PDAM told its customers that the water flowing from their faucets was not fit for consumption. "We are only an operator, thus we tell our customers honestly if our product is not fit for consumption," Soenarno said.

Pollution in the Surabaya River is already very bad. Dissolved oxygen is above 20 parts per million, when ideally it should not exceed 10 ppm, while biochemical oxygen demand is above 10 ppm, when it should not exceed 2 ppm.

Prigi Arisandi, director of Ecological Observation and Wetland Conservation (Ecoton), said that his agency's research showed the river was able to self-purify 30 tons of liquid and solid pollutants every day. The problem is, it faces 75 tons of pollutants daily.

Industrialization along the river, Prigi said, contributed to the poor water quality. Since the 1980s, about 60 factories have been built in the area. Most waste ends up in the Tengah River, which in turn flows into the Surabaya River.

To make the water fit for consumption, PDAM chemically treats it, but with fluctuating water quality, it will be hard for the company to keep up the supply of potable water.

"Surabaya's people should not just see the high water level of the river and ask why there is a water crisis – look at the water quality. A lot of bad quality water is meaningless," Prigi said.

Jasa Tirta Surabaya, which manages the Surabaya River and sells the water to PDAM, says that due to uncontrollable factors, it cannot guarantee that water quality this year would be better than in previous years.

"We already watch the industries through water patrols, surprise inspections and water quality monitoring. However, as the rainy season nears, errant industries usually dump their waste in with the high water flows from the first rains," Jasa Tirta's chief, Widyo Parwanto, said.

Review of Yudhoyono logging directive needed: Expert

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2009

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decided in 2005 to issue a direct instruction that would curb illegal logging, it was hoped that a directive coming straight from the nation's leader would finally get the job done.

Four years later, however, the fight against illegal logging has made minimal strides, one environmentalist says.

Yudhoyono's instruction called for all law enforcement agencies to have an integrated program that would contain illegal logging activities. But Mas Achmad Santosa, an environment law expert, said the president's instruction at the time was too vague and needed to be re-evaluated.

"Illegal logging is an extraordinary case but this was not implied in the instruction, as a result there was never a significant progress in the fight against it," Santosa said.

Law enforcers haven't been able to maximize their authority to detect where illegal logging activities are occurring, respond to them if they are identified and prosecute those found guilty, Santosa added.

Most of those who have been punished were small-time loggers as the bigger names have evaded punishment.

An assessment of the directive was due to determine its effectiveness, Santosa said, but it never materialized. Whether the president is determined to reassess his instruction remains to be seen, Santosa added.

Ari Jono, the chief investigator for the special crimes unit of the National Police, said arresting illegal loggers posed a challenge because they have started producing documents that would "legalize" their activities. In some cases, Ari said, police themselves were involved in illegal logging.

"We are now shifting our targets to include major players. We're not just looking for small-time crooks anymore," Ari claimed.

Haze shrouding Sumatra throwing air travelers for a loop

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2009

Putri Prameshwari – Scores of flights to and from Sumatra had been delayed or cancelled as thick haze still covered parts of the island, forcing airports to suspend operations, airline officials said on Wednesday.

Some flights had to be delayed for more than six hours and several were called off due to the haze covering Jambi's Sultan Thaha Airport, Pekanbaru's Sultan Syarif Kasim Airport and Palembang's Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin Airport, said Hanna Simatupang, a spokeswoman for PT Sriwijaya Air.

"We ask for understanding from our passengers," Hanna said. "This is qualified as force majeure [a situation out of the operator's hands]." She said the delay for each flight was not too long, but it has severely affected subsequent departures.

"It has affected our second routes," she said, explaining that if a plane has a route linking Jakarta, Jambi and then Padang, the second flight from Jambi to Padang has been delayed.

Trisno Heryadi, corporate secretary of state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II, said airports in Jambi, Palembang and Pekanbaru had been closed several times due to thick haze and limited visibility.

"Flights had to be cancelled because they could not even be diverted to the nearest airport since they were all covered by haze," Trisno said.

Edward Sirait, PT Lion Air's spokesman, said one of the airline's Boeings had been grounded in Jambi and could not fly back to Jakarta.

"There is nothing we can do but to wait for the haze to dissippate," Edward said.

Although the delays did not cause a significant breakdown of the airline's operations, Edward said Lion had suffered losses, but he gave no further details. "Our routes have been a mess," Edward said.

State flagship carrier PT Garuda Indonesia's corporate secretary, Pujobroto, said the haze created a domino effect to the airline's schedule. He said flights in Kalimantan had been disturbed besides those in Sumatra.

"We have to delay our morning flight from Palangkaraya to the afternoon," Pujobroto said.

He added that losses has not been calculated, but the delays had caused inconvenience and discomfort for passengers.

All three airlines allowed their passengers to refund their tickets or switch to the next available flight. Sriwijaya's Hanna said the arrangements were all the airline could do, since the disturbance to the flight schedules is caused by nature.

Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transportation Ministry, said that airports had to be closed when the viewing distance dropped to less than 1,500 kilometers, depending on the size of the runway and aircraft.

Jambi's Sultan Thaha Airport, he said, had been closed and opened several times during the day due to the fluctuating range of visibility.

Indonesia to monitor Timor Sea oil spill

Jakarta Globe - September 29, 2009

Putri Prameshwari & Eras Poke – Concerns over a damaged well leaking crude oil into the Timor Sea near East Nusa Tenggara have prompted the government to dispatch a team to monitor the situation.

According to Ministry of Transportation, the spill, which occurred in Australia's Montara oil field in August, has now encroached on the country's maritime border, 51 kilometers off Rote Island.

Bobby Mamahit, the secretary of the ministry's maritime department, said a team led by the Coast Guard Director Sato Bisri would meet with counterparts from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in East Nusa Tenggara.

The oil well, operated by Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production, is located 250 km northwest of the town of Truscott in Australia's far north and 690 km west of Darwin, its northernmost capital. It began leaking on Aug. 21.

Officials in East Nusa Tenggara have urged the government to take action to prevent the spill from spoiling local waters.

Nelson Matara, vice chairman of the East Nusa Tenggara legislative council (DPRD), said the central government should coordinate with the regional administrations and the Navy. "This must be settled before the local people are directly affected," he said.

On Sunday, East Nusa Tenggara Deputy Governor Esthon Foenay said that although no official report on the spill had been received, his party would work with the central government to prevent the spill from polluting nearby marine ecosystems.

"There's no definite information on the oil spill yet, thus we hope for honesty from competent parties," he said. "Although this is not our jurisdiction, we should anticipate it to prevent pollution which can destroy marine life in the Timor Gap. To prepare, we can coordinate with the central government and even the Indonesian Embassy in Australia if necessary."

He acknowledged that hundreds of thousands of liters of crude oil had already polluted the Timor Sea and surrounding areas, threatening marine habitats and the local fishing industry.

Ferdi Tanoni, head of the West Timor Care Foundation (YPTB), noted that the Montara accident was not the first spill in the Timor Sea. He said his foundation had informed the government numerous times without a response.

Ferdi, who wrote a book about the scandal surrounding the carving up of the Timor Sea by Canberra and Jakarta, added that his group had already received a scientific report from Australia on the oil spill and its impact on the environment.

"Hopefully this will make the government aware of what we have been saying all along," he said, "that aside from the right to natural riches in the Timor Sea, which has already been taken by Australia, West Timor's people also have a universal interest in a sustainable Timor Sea environment and ecosystem, preserved for future generations." Ferdi said he hoped the incident would not turn into a catastrophic disaster like the infamous Exxon Valdez tanker accident in 1989 in which 42 million liters of oil was spilled.

"If this happens, people in West Timor, Rote-Ndao, Sabu and Alor will not be able to get fish and other marine life for consumption as they will already be extinct," he said.

Indonesia lacks bargaining power in talks: Activists

Jakarta Globe - September 25, 2009

Fidelis E Satriastanti – As the climate talks in Bangkok draw near, environmentalists are worried that the country would be unable to gain much from the negotiations because of its lack of focus and overlapping policies.

The UN climate talks, which will be held from Sept. 28 to Oct. 9, are considered the start of "negotiating mode." Climate negotiators will try to trim down about 200 pages of text on mitigation and adaptation efforts, funding mechanisms, technology transfer and deeper emissions cuts.

The leaders of the G-20 countries are currently meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where climate change is on the agenda.

The Bangkok talks will be followed by a meeting in Barcelona, Spain, which aims to reach an agreement to be presented at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December.

"Indonesia has never shown strong leadership even from the previous inter-sessional meetings in Bonn, Germany, by addressing what we really want, what we have to offer, or what other countries should do [to help us]," said Giorgio Budi Indrato, coordinator of the Indonesian Civil Society Forum for Climate Justice. He compared the country to Bolivia, which has been very bold in demanding for what they needed.

Riza Damanik, the general secretary of the Fisheries Justice Coalition, said the government was too eager to sign proposals without focusing on negotiations.

"Indonesian diplomacy has the tendency to bite off more than it can chew," he said. "Meanwhile, at the national level, there are indications that sectors [of the government] are still very reluctant to take active steps in tackling climate change."

Giorgio said Indonesia's bargaining position was too weak at the international level.

"The reason for this is that it is very crucial to force developed countries to come forward with ambitious plans to reduce their emissions. After that, they'll talk about ways to deal with mitigation and adaptation efforts," he said.

"Basically, Indonesia could have the power [to force developed countries], but overlapping policies at the national level have left us powerless on the negotiating table."

Yuriyun, a representative of Aceh's indigenous people community, said the government should guarantee transparency on climate change issues.

In a haze, Indonesia slows deforestation

Asia Times - September 26, 2009

Muhammad Cohen, Bali – This year's haze season is in full swing across Kalimantan and residents of Indonesia's portion of Borneo are set for the worst. With the El Nino effect signaling a long dry season and smoke from forest fires already causing airport and school closures across the island, as well as air quality complaints from neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, it once seemed this annual rite would end only after every last hectare of Asia's largest remaining rainforest was slashed and burned.

But cutting through the fog of this war against nature, the truth is that once rapid deforestation is slowing in parts of Indonesia, including in Kalimantan. That smoldering ember of optimism is based on this reporter's observations and the consensus of knowledgeable people met while traveling across Kalimantan's 558,000 square kilometers (205,000 square miles) in 2006-07 and again this year, writing travel guides.

These resident experts overwhelmingly believe rainforest protection is improving and that the trend is sustainable. While the haze persists, in many areas it is less severe than in previous years. And despite the progress, sources caution that gains are not complete, universal or irreversible.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), elected in 2004 and re-elected this year, gets widespread credit for leading the fight against deforestation. Like his recent predecessors, Yudhoyono pledged to preserve Indonesia's rainforests. Unlike them, he's taken strong steps to keep his promise, starting with Operation Sustainable Forestry, launched in 2005.

"Illegal logging decreased rapidly the first year SBY was in power," veteran travel organizer Lucas Zwaal of De'gigant Tours in Samarinda, East Kalimantan's provincial capital, said. "Powerful people, including government officials, were sent to jail for their roles in deforestation."

That jailhouse roll call includes a governor of East Kalimantan, a Forestry Ministry director, a top provincial forestry official, several Kalimantan regents and chief executives of the largest provincial subdivisions. Previous crackdowns had netted only laborers, truckers and the occasional junior police or military enlisted personnel. Times Tours and Travel founder Juniardi Saktiawan in Pontianak verifies many logging arrests have also taken place in West Kalimantan, where he regularly leads wilderness treks.

Indonesia's military has long been suspected of overseeing illegal logging, a prerogative of its status as an unaccountable, independent fiefdom. Yudhoyono is a former general, and in his quiet, quintessentially Javanese manner, sources believe he's asserted greater civilian control over the military, particularly regarding illegal logging. That said, the military remains deeply opaque and reports of reform are based largely on rumors or distant impressions rather than quantifiable evidence.

Down to the roots

Zwaal notes that the central government's war on illegal logging reaches down to the grassroots. Ordinary citizens can now anonymously report suspected instances to national authorities, bypassing possible corruption at the local level. National ministry officials in the provinces are also being replaced on tighter cycles to prevent overly cozy relationships that in the past have promoted illegal logging.

East Kalimantan Guides Association chairman Rusdiansyah and Zwaal both note that many wood processing plants and wood product factories in Samarinda closed following Yudhoyono's initial crackdown. Since then, the government has dramatically reduced legal logging as well by reducing the number of permits it issues.

Hosting the December 2007 United Nations Climate Change meeting in Bali gave Yudhoyono's drive to stop deforestation a renewed impetus. The meeting with thousands of delegates from nearly 200 countries highlighted Indonesia's breathtaking rate of deforestation that had catapulted it into the top five global countries in terms of net carbon impact, causing substantial national embarrassment.

More importantly, Indonesia's deforestation example helped create momentum for delegates to endorse REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation. If enacted as part of the UN's new climate change treaty, the program will enable government at all levels and communities to receive payments for preservation of forests and reforestation.

That has sparked projects across Kalimantan poised to take advantage of REDD funding. Whether REDD turns out to be a massive boondoggle with little conservation impact, as some environmental groups fear, or a useful tool to stop deforestation, the prospect has gotten many Kalimantan officials thinking green. Non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and international aid donors have also contributed to the decline in deforestation.

One of Kalimantan's most infamous illegal logging areas was Sebangau National Park. Logging concessions in the area ended in 1990, yet there were 147 sawmills still operating as late as 2001. Loggers had also built extensive networks of canals to transport cut timber, making the lowland peat forest area more susceptible to burning.

"The government has put forward a real effort to stop illegal logging," WWF's Sebangau conservation and socio-economic development project leader Rosenda Chandra Kasih recalls, "In 2001, only WWF was patrolling this area. Since 2006, there have been a lot of patrols by government authorities."

WWF has begun reforestation with corporate partners in 850 hectares of the worst hit areas of Sebangau, located just 45 minutes by speedboat from Central Kalimantan's provincial capital Palangka Raya and believed to have one of world's largest wild orangutan populations.

In 2007, Nokia and Equinox Publishing, Indonesia's leading English language book publisher, sponsored NewTrees, a corporate initiative that recently spawned an individual version as a smart phone application. Last year, Indonesian national flag carrier airline Garuda joined the effort with a "one passenger-one tree" planting program.

Going legit

Yayorin, a self-proclaimed "orangutan foundation that focuses on people", works to rehabilitate illegal loggers operating in and around Central Kalimantan's Tanjung Puting National Park, the world's best place to see orangutans in their native habitat. The Indonesian NGO offers villagers alternatives to logging such as cash crop farming and animal husbandry.

"My family life has become much more comfortable, I feel safer and free of fears," said Arsyad, a 30-year-old reformed logger. "I no longer have to move from one place to another; I am happier and feel proud now that I own a rubber plantation and vegetable gardens, as well as a house on my own land."

Not every expert believes less logging is purely good news. "Most easily accessible forest areas have been logged already, so now the cost of transporting timber is more expensive and difficult: more bribes need to be paid for longer distances," said Gabriella Fredriksson, founder of East Kalimantan's sun bear reserve and environmental education center near Balikpapan.

While acknowledging increased law enforcement has had an impact, Fredriksson said, "There is still a lot of illegal timber available for the local market, but possibly large shipments abroad have diminished." Fredriksson, also co-chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Bear Specialist Team, adds, "The fire situation seems similar to other years, although the damage to forests is less, as less forest is left in those areas that are easily set on fire. So less forest is being burned, but there are a similar number of hotspots."

Boediono, founder of Irrawaddy dolphin conservation foundation YK-RASI in Samarinda, observed, "Investors are now more attracted to coal mining which is more destructive than illegal logging and gives them quicker profit." Coal barges feeding energy demand from China have replaced log barges along East Kalimantan's mighty Mahakam River.

Biofueling forest destruction

"Besides that," Boediono adds, "palm oil plantations are easier to get permits [for] from the government since Indonesia always needs cooking oil." Palm oil has become a key factor in deforestation here; biofuel demand has exploded for export to China and India, even though palm oil is a particularly bad energy choice in terms of efficiency.

In Indonesia, oil palm plantation concessions have provided cover for cutting timber and then abandoning the land, often after burning it for final clearance. Even when developed, large plantations rob wildlife of habitat and are a poor substitute for native forests.

"There is more pressure on land as massive land grants have been given for oil palm plantations," Palangka Raya tour operation Kalimantan Tour Destinations (KTD) reported. "The easiest way to clear the land is to log it, then burn it. Also, for the masyarakat [common people], there have been many fires lit by small landholders to clear land for land claims and small plantations, usually rubber."

"The haze this year in Palangka Raya is akin to the horror years of 2002 and 2006, also El Nino years," KTD added. "Pollution factors are well over the dangerous limit of 500 parts per million, according to the scale updated daily in the Bundaran Besar [main traffic circle] in Central Palangka Raya, by the [local] university, and are set to rise further, as villagers plan further burns after Lebaran [Id-ul Fitri, celebrated from September 19]."

Just ahead of Id-ul Fitri, Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF), which conducts reforestation and community development in and around Tanjung Puting, urgently appealed for support for emergency fire fighting. In 2006, fires damaged the NGO's seedling nursery, but FNPF has since expanded the program. Despite this year's setbacks, many in the area believe Kalimantan's forests seem poised to continue their recovery. Former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen told America's story to the world as a US diplomat and is author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, financial crisis, and cheap lingerie. Follow Muhammad Cohen's blog for more on the media and Asia, his adopted home.

Indonesia attempts to uproot illegal palm oil plantations

Reuters - September 23, 2009

Gillian Murdoch, Aceh – For decades, the roar of the chainsaw has meant one thing in the country's national parks: illegal loggers ripping down the rainforest.

Now, the whirring blades are part of a fight back to cut illegal palm oil out of the international supply chain and slow the deforestation that has sky-high carbon emissions in Indonesia. The practice threatens the destruction of some of the world's most ecologically important tropical forests, which contain plants and animals found nowhere else.

In the country's first symbolic action to stop the lucrative crop's march into protected lands, a chainsaw-wielding alliance led by the Aceh Conservation Agency (BPKEL), Acehnese NGOs and police teams are sweeping tens of thousands of hectares of illegal palm from the 2.5 million hectare Leuser Ecosystem.

"Plantation speculators, developers, whatever you want to call them, have moved further and further in," said Mike Griffiths of BPKEL, the agency created by Aceh Governor Yusuf Irwandi to manage Leuser in 2006. "They do it by fait accompli... Go in, knock the trees down and plant, and all of a sudden the local perception is that you own it. It's Wild West stuff."

Planting a cash crop used in some of the world's best-known brands of chocolate, crisps and soaps inside protected forests and national parks may seem a high-risk strategy.

But with much land already allocated, lax law enforcement, large untapped workforces of villagers living inside remote rainforests, and high crude palm oil prices, such illegal conversions makes sense to many.

"The forest is seen as a green tangle with little real use and filled with dangerous animals and diseases," explained Jutta Poetz, biodiversity coordinator at the industry environmental standards body, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

"If this green tangle can be converted into something profitable, with the dangers largely removed, isn't that good? Plantations will develop the country, create jobs and improve people's lives. This appears to be the prevailing sentiment in Southeast Asia."

Greasy palms?

One year after Indonesia overtook Malaysia as the world's top palm oil producer, hundreds of illegal plantations are thought to riddle its nature reserves.

A 2007 United Nations report found forest conversion for palm oil plantations was the country's leading cause of deforestation, with illegal oil palm, illegal logging and illegal land clearances by fire occurring inside 37 of 41 national parks.

Leuser, Sumatra's largest rainforest expanse, and one of the last refuges for endangered Sumatran tigers, elephants, orangutan sand rhinos, was one of the worst affected, the body said.

Industry bodies, such as the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki), insist all plantations follow government regulations, and that any found playing fast and loose with the rules are targets.

"We support the clearance of illegal oil palm plantations – if they haven't followed all the regulations," said Fadhil Hasan, Executive Director of Gapki.

The Leuser chainsaw sting evicted 11 illegal estates covering 12,000 hectares, a fraction of the at least 50 other illegal estates estimated to be in the reserve.

NGOs in Aceh say corruption greases the wheels of the plantation concession system. Officials allegedly pocket millions of rupiah for issuing non-binding "recommendations" to companies lacking official permits and fail to enforce laws stipulating 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for planting in parks.

Forestry officials in the area say confusion, rather than corruption, is the problem. Conflicting maps, clashing tenure claims and overlapping authorities mean locals, district chiefs, companies and government officials may not be aware of exact park boundaries, even in Unesco-listed World Heritage rainforests such as Leuser.

"The boundaries do not match reality in the field," said Syahyahri, head of Aceh Tamiang Forestry Department. "We are now gathering boundary data."

Hidden costs

Leuser's regenerating forests will form a 'corridor' connecting two otherwise non-viable elephant herds, which have became separated by the sea of illegal palm over the last decade, said Rudi H Putra, BPKEL conservation manager.

But keeping the high-yielding crop out will take vigilance. "The problem is protecting the forest," he said. "Growing oil palm is easy."

As well as planting in parks, the oil palm industry has been accused of converting forests on carbon-rich peatlands more than 2-meters deep and setting fires to clear land.

Gapki denies knowledge of these illegal activities, which not only harm the industry's reputation but also release billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

While the companies caught in Leuser were domestic, confusion and illegality seeps upwards into the global supply chain.

Blended together at mills and shipped overseas, legal and illegal oils flow into a myriad of products such as chocolate, shampoos, soaps and biofuels, leaving multinational end-users exposed to the risk of illegal ingredients.

While the high price of segregating oils means even certified products cannot guarantee illegal oils are excluded, concerns over governance problems and the crop's environmental impact are already hitting profits.

In late August, the World Bank's private finance arm, the International Finance Corporation, which has $132 million invested in palm oil projects, suspended all palm-related investments, due to complaints about plantations' dubious licensing, land-rights conflicts and illegal logging activities.

The same month, Cadbury New Zealand pulled palm oil from its milk chocolate products following consumer protests over the crop's role in rainforest destruction here and in Malaysia.

Back in Aceh, BPKEL and police teams hope their lead will be followed in other areas. Felling illegal palm will both save forests and safeguard the industry's long-term financial security by weeding out cowboys, said Hariyanta, police chief of Aceh Tamiang district.

"The local people only get a day's food from a day's work on illegal plantations, but the companies get so much money," said Hariyanta. "That's why we go after the companies."

Certified sustainable palm oil a slippery problem

Reuters - September 23, 2009

Just 5 percent, or two million tons, of the expected crop of 40 million tons of crude palm oil produced in 2009 is expected to be certified as sustainable this year, according to estimates by an environmental standards watchdog, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

But only a small percentage of this "green palm oil" has actually found buyers, mainly due to the premium attached, making it harder to keep illegally-grown palm oil out of chocolate bars, soaps and thousands of other products, Jutta Poetz, biodiversity coordinator at the RSPO Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur, said in an interview.

Why is palm oil so attractive to illegal operators?

Its combined value as a cash crop with high yield, high marketability, versatility and a promising future.

Where does illegal palm oil typically enter the supply chain?

At the level of the individual farmer. Legal and illegal fruit bunches are mixed, as illegal and legal plantings are often contiguous, or at least close to each other. The problem is exacerbated in areas where there are no proper boundary surveys.

How do registered companies get drawn in?

Mills require multiple permits to operate – almost all are owned by law-abiding companies. However, to be economically viable many of them process the fruits of other growers and farmers as well as their own. They cannot trace the origin of all the fruit they process.

So, at present, the global supply chain cannot exclude illegal palm oil?

There are still many uncertified mills accepting both legal and illegal crops.

And certified palm oil can't be segregated out to prove its provenance?

Commercial suppliers do not traditionally bother about the origins of the oil. Segregation means additional work, adding to the processing costs at each step in the chain. With the market's current unwillingness to buy certified oil, due to the premium attached, a further price increase due to segregation is out of the question.

Can the industry lead a crack down?

Palm oil is a commodity that pervades everyday life around the entire globe. The failure to address illegal activities is not based on apathy or fear, but by the realization that commitment by governments is also essential to making the problem go away.

So how can the problem be solved?

Support for certified palm oil is the best way to stop, or at least minimize, illegal activity. Once the majority of mills are certified, and do not accept illegal crops, entry into the supply chain will stop. As the volume of certified oil increases the cost of segregation drops. Illegal growers then either need to go illegal all the way, convert to legal activities or cease operation.

What is a realistic time frame for this?

We expect certification volume to increase next year. If the markets weigh in by providing a clear incentive for RSPO certification there will be a very different palm oil industry within 20 years.

Women & gender

House expected to fight for gender issues

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2009

Jakarta – With the next House of Representatives set to see even more female legislators, hopes are being raised that they can perform much better than their male counterparts and improve the House's image in the public eye.

Ribka Tjiptaning, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and currently the only female heading a commission at the House, told The Jakarta Post Wednesday she looked forward to seeing a better House now that it had more female members.

"After years of working with the women on my commission, I find that women have more perseverance and are more diligent at work," she said.

Her party has managed to bring in dozens of women to serve as new House members through the recent legislative election, including Puan Maharani, the daughter of PDI-P's chief patron Megawati Soekarnoputri, and Rieke Diah Pitaloka, a soap opera actress and activist. Ribka and another legislator from the PDI-P, Eva Kusuma Sundari, were re-elected.

Around 17 percent of the 560 newly elected House members are female. The current House only has 11 percent of female legislators out of its 550 members.

Lili Romli, a political expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, told the Post female politicians were better than male when it came to matters of morality.

"I haven't heard of any of them getting involved in corruption, for example," he said, adding that he agreed women were more diligent than men.

"But, of course, it's not enough just to be diligent and show up at every meeting, they need to demonstrate they have the capability to play an important role in decision making," he added.

Lili said he remained skeptical, nevertheless, because he saw that many of the newly elected female legislators had backgrounds that could do little to ensure they could work optimally in the legislature.

"The new House will be filled with many celebrities and the wives or daughters of regional leaders," he said. He feared such members were inexperienced and not sensitive to gender issues and urged them to have the courage to learn quickly.

"They should not wait until they sit in office, the duties of a House member are tough," he said.

Lili acknowledged, however, that some new female legislators were of a higher standard.

"I hope Nurul Arifin, Rieke and Puan can play bigger roles in the next House of Representatives," he said. Nurul, widely known as she is a soap opera actress, is currently a House member for the Golkar Party.

With the surge in the number of female legislators at the House, many are expecting them to prevent the passing of laws that criminalize women. However, Ribka said there was no guarantee of that.

"Yes, House members are elected by the people, but once the elected members get into office, many stop fighting for the people's needs. Instead they fight for what their respective parties need," she added.

Lili said the new female legislators were facing great challenges. "They have to prove themselves to the people who elected them," he added. (adh)

Women's liberation and the struggle for socialist politics

Direct Action - September, 2009

Sam King – The National Network for Women's Liberation (Jaringan Nasional Perempuan Mahardika – JNPM) is an Indonesian women's liberation organisation consisting of local women's committees, coordinating bodies and women's sections of labour, student, peasant and urban poor organisations committed to the liberation of women. JNPM aims to develop direct involvement of women in struggling against capitalism, patriarchal culture and militarism in Indonesia and argues there can be no separation between the generalised struggle of Indonesia's majority poor population and the struggle for women's liberation. On August 22 Direct Action interviewed JNPM national coordinator Vivi Widyawati, who will be in Australia in September and October speaking at public meetings organised by Direct Action. Widyawati is also an activist in the Committee for the Politics of the Poor-People's Democratic Party (KPRM-PRD), a socialist party formed two years ago by expelled members of the leftist PRD.

What are the main campaigns JNPM has focused on since it was founded?

Since its foundation there have been many actions undertaken by JNPM such as organising rallies every March 8 for International Women's Day, developing a program of feminist education, and publishing the fortnightly bulletin Mahardhika. We campaign very broadly on the need to build a nationwide, independent women's organisation. We also strive for unity between the women's movement and the broader struggles of the poor majority. We also respond to government decisions or political attacks on women as they arise.

Currently, our main program is aimed at developing women's committees at the grassroots level in each sector. We run educational programs around the basic rights of women, the political movement, feminism, democracy and about how to organise. Secondly, we distribute as much feminist reading material as possible including distributing Mahardhika. JNPM is also actively involved in building an alliance of all democratic and leftist organisations in Indonesia and of course this includes women's organisations. We are also currently running a feminist school across three universities in Yogyakarta.

What is the history of JNPM as an organisation?

We began as women activists involved in various pro-democracy organisations who met at a national conference in 2003. The conference involved 98 participants from eight provinces in Java, Bali, Sumatra and Kalimantan. This was a spirited one-day conference in which we discussed issues related to the liberation of women. We identified three key factors holding women back – the capitalist system, patriarchal culture and militarism. Secondly, we identified the importance of direct participation of women in the struggle for their own liberation and, thirdly, we decided to build a mass women's organisation on a national scale.

In March 2006 we reconvened in a second national conference in Jakarta which also included representatives from Papua, East Java and East Nusa Tenggara and we were able to consolidate the national structure. In 2007 there was a split in the organisation. This originated from JNPM and some of its branches' involvement in the National Liberation Party of Struggle (Papernas). This party, which was initiated by members of the PRD, attempted to register for the 2009 parliamentary elections in order to present an anti-capitalist program. The undemocratic electoral laws made it extremely difficult for Papernas to gain electoral registration. In addition, its members were physically attacked by right-wing militia organisations such as the Islamic Liberation Front and the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front.

That situation spawned two counterpoised trends about how to move forward. One prioritised the tactic of trying to gain electoral registration by merging with the Star Reform Party (PBR) or another pro-capitalist party. The second rejected subordination to any capitalist party, preferring to continue advancing an independent program. This was the position of the majority of JNPM members. We preferred to break our involvement with Papernas if this involvement meant merging with the PBR because from its inception the PBR has been a party opposed to a democratic program for women. Moreover, the politics of the leadership of Papernas, who entered into the PBR, had already become the opposite of the original ideas of the party.

The split in Papernas also affected all of its founding organizations. However, for JNPM the split did not result in the formation of two competing groups because those in JNPM who supported political cooption by the PBR were only a small minority and they have not attempted to build a new women's organisation. They became busy as candidates for the PBR.

How possible is it for a serious women's liberation movement to develop in the objective conditions in Indonesia today?

The objective potential for the development of the women's liberation movement in Indonesia is enormous. It can be said that the conditions the majority of women endure are well short of what is reasonable. Domestic violence is rising. Sexual harassment in the workplace is rife. Unsafe abortions kill many women – a 2008 study found that of 2.5 million abortions performed in Indonesia each year, 70% are carried out in conditions that can potentially cause death.

The reason why the women's movement is still small today is because consciousness about the need to organise is still weak – the result of over 30 years of repression during General Suharto's New Order regime. Since democratic space has opened up after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998, the development of women's organisations has been slower than other sectors. However, I am optimistic that with the development of a poor people's movement, we can utilise the objective potential that exists to build a strong women's liberation movement.

Can you comment on the role of the key socialist organisations, including your own grouping, the KPRM-PRD, towards women's rights and the women's liberation struggle?

The pro-democracy or leftist organisations do not yet play much of a role in fighting for women's rights and for women's liberation. However, some effort has been made from those quarters to strengthen the women's liberation struggle. The KPRM-PRD is able to bring a socialist-feminist perspective to the women's movement and the democratic movement as just happened in June and July this year when the KPRM-PRD, together with the Political Union of the Poor (Persatuan Perjuangan Rakyat Miskin, PPRM), organised a series of education classes in 16 cities. These included material on the liberation of women. The KPRM-PRD also helps to organise the grassroots level women's committees and supports the feminist school in Yogyakarta.

When Suharto's military dictatorship came to power in 1965, the centrepiece of its anti-communist propaganda campaign was to demonise Communist Party women who were said to have cut off the penises of military generals during the alleged Communist-led coup.

Can you comment on the role of women in the overthrow of Suharto and what changes have there been for Indonesian women in the 11 years since?

It's true that Suharto's New Order era destroyed the women's and people's movement and, more than that, wiped out much of the people's memory of these movements. The New Order propaganda was savage towards the women's movement, such as the example you mentioned. According to all historical investigation it is all lies. There was no attack by communist women in 1965 like that propagandised by Suharto.

Many other historical lies were told by the New Order regime to create an anti-woman politics. However, to this day no post- Suharto government has corrected the historical record. The rupture in historical memory is a barrier to the development of the women's movement today. The women's movement before Suharto took power was far more advanced organisationally and politically than today's movement.

Women's role in the overthrow of Suharto was not insignificant. While it was not channelled through a single organisation, many women were involved in the demonstrations. At the time of rising anti-dictatorship sentiment, during the final moments of the regime, resistance among women rose to the surface and gave a strong shot to the popular movement as it became more audacious in its overthrow of the regime. For example the organisation Voice of Caring Mothers (Suara Ibu Peduli, SIP) organised an action for the supply of cheap milk during which the leadership was arrested. This protest action gave massive inspiration to the popular movements, including women, to consolidate their struggle to overthrow Suharto.

Today, after 11 years of the reformasi era, there have been some advances for women. The opening of democratic space has provided a massive opportunity for distribution of feminist literature, for the development of women's NGOs and for the beginning of a discussion about women's issues in the public sphere. While the women's movement is not large, Indonesia has already passed some laws for the protection of women such as those addressing domestic violence, trafficking and the establishment of a 30% quota for women representatives in parliament. In practice, many of these laws are not applied. But in our view they still represent a step forward for Indonesian democracy.

However we think it is not enough. The section of the political elite that identify themselves as "reformist" in reality do not consistently advance a program of progressive reform and have not concluded legal cases concerning human rights abuses carried out in the Suharto era. The elite reformists and elite political parties have no interest in advancing a program for the liberation of women.

The legal umbrella for the protection of women is "merely decoration", but has never been implemented. On the other hand, the reformasi era has also brought about a multitude of laws that protect foreign capital and impoverish the people such as the oil and gas law, banking law, water privatisation law and the food law. These are buttressed by regional laws that directly impoverish women. Under reformasi there has still been no significant change for women.

Since the fall of Suharto there has been a massive increase in the number of NGOs operating in Indonesia and a lot of foreign money goes into them. Can you comment on the sorts of women's rights issues the NGOs address and how effective they are?

Women's NGOs raise a great many issues, both in a coordinated way and as individual groups. NGOs are still the form of organisation that most often gives voice to women's interests. They most commonly advocate changes to government policy. This framework is effective in helping to raise basic feminist ideas in society. However, it is unable to push for maximum activity of women themselves. It has become clear that the most effective method of gaining women's participation is by building a women's movement that is supported by a unified organisation and method of mobilisation. But this approach is generally ignored by the NGOs, so it has been hard to get NGO support for a national conference to organise a unified women's movement despite what we have done in this regard with minimal funding.

At the time of the 2009 elections, the NGOs generally focused on the issue of fulfilling the 30% quota for women in parliament without looking at the politics of the parties these women were using to enter parliament. JNPM also supports the quota as an affirmative-action measure, but the number of women in parliament does not guarantee policy expanding the rights of women if these women MPs are members of parties that do not have programs for the liberation of women. For example, in the New Order era the number of women MPs was greater than the number after 1998, but women suffered attacks and discrimination under Suharto's rule.

What sort of international support and collaboration does JNPM have?

In terms of developing the women's movement in Indonesia or in other Third World nations, there is always a need for support from women's organisations internationally, primarily by increasing solidarity for struggles being carried out by the women's movement. In a situation of limited democracy, the feminist movement in Indonesia needs international support, particularly when repression is levelled against us – messages of protest against the illegal detention of feminist activists or against right-wing militia attacks. Also, I am happy to have been invited to Australia to discuss these issues. As a representative of JNPM I will take every opportunity to develop relationships with feminist and democratic organisations in Australia. Perhaps we will be able to find concrete ways to carry out mutual solidarity between the feminist organisations.

Agriculture & food security

Farmers ill-equipped to stop crop failures due to climate change

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2009

Fidelis E Satriastanti – A climate expert says the country is far from ready to deal with the harmful effects of climate change on crops, with droughts or floods likely to threaten food security down the road.

"Crops are very sensitive to weather changes. It cannot be too dry or too wet. Climate change will result in a gradual increase in the overall temperature, which would result in longer dry seasons and shorter rainy seasons," said Rizaldi Boer, executive director of the Center for Climate Risk and Opportunity Management in Southeast Asia and the Pacific at the Bogor Agricultural University.

"As a result, if we plant crops in a particular area twice a year, when it's an El Nino or La Nina year, the second planting usually fails," Boer said. "That means we have not been handling it very well and we are still suffering from crop failures due to drought or floods."

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report indicates that an increase of two degrees Celsius in average global temperatures above pre-industrial levels would have devastating affects on world agriculture.

"If we reach two degrees, then it could decrease 20 percent of rice production in tropical countries such as Indonesia by 2050," he said, adding that the country is already expected to lose around 6 million metric tons of rice production due to land conversion alone. With the addition of climate-change effects, that loss could increase to 15 million tons, Boer said.

He said the Ministry of Agriculture should implement an integrated plan of action because one institution was not enough to handle the problem.

"In order for the farmers to be able to avoid crop failures, they would need to have better weather forecasts, which are normally issued by the BMKG," he said, using the acronym for the country's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.

"However, the major problem is that nobody really knows how to use the data because there are few outreach officials who understand climate-change issues."

He called for the establishment of a central institution that would shoulder the responsibility to disseminate key climate information to farmers.

"We cannot expect farmers to just understand weather forecasts. Meanwhile, human resources are still inadequate," he said, adding that local government and media also have a major role in distributing information.

"The local governments could not just announce that farmers need to plant non-rice crops for the season without enough information," he said. "We're not just talking one or two hectares. We're talking about hundreds of hectares. They'll need to think about what is needed to be done with the seeds for other crops."

Furthermore, he said the Ministry of Agriculture should develop new varieties of seeds with shorter harvest cycles or which require less water in order to meet two harvests each year. "This will need major funding because more research is needed," he said, adding that the current climate change talks should give more attention to ways of helping developing countries adapt to these effects.

Meanwhile, Ati Wasiati Hamid, the Ministry of Agriculture's director of food crop protection, said the government was prepared to deal with climate change through harvest modules and outreach officials.

Health & education

New law tightens regulation for hospitals

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2009

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The House of Representatives passed the hospital bill into law yesterday, granting the government authority to oversee private hospitals and abolish their licences for misconduct.

Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said the new hospital law would provide better protection of patients' health services rights while in hospital.

"This is a breakthrough," said Siti. "With this law, we will now be able to regulate and oversee hospitals across Indonesia, including private hospitals and foreign-owned hospitals if the latter are established later on.

"All hospitals will have to comply with our regulation," Siti denied an accusation that the law would benefit private hospitals, and said that it provided even stronger ground for regulating hospitals in Indonesia.

"We used to only have a ministerial regulation [to regulate hospitals]. Now it is strengthened with the presence of this law.

"And obviously the government can now supervise and charge hospitals. Formerly we could not do so. Besides, the spirit of the law is to protect patients, not hospitals."

The Health Ministry inspector general Faiq Bahfen explained that under the hospital law, hospitals that violated existing regulations could be prosecuted and, depending on the case, have their operating licences revoked.

The government will regulate private hospitals by applying a fee pattern, using cost units to determine hospital fees, Faiq said.

"We will determine the fee pattern. If the hospitals belong to the Health Ministry, the ministry will decide the fees,' he said. "If they are region-owned hospitals, then the regional administrations will decide the fees.

"Private hospitals can decide their own fees, but they must be in line with the fee patterns we are preparing."

The Head of the House's special committee for the hospital bill, Charles Tjensang, was quoted as saying on kontan.co.id that the hospital law would provide legal certainty for both patients and hospitals' owners. He said the law would also guarantee quality of hospital services, with its ruling for regular medical and performance audits.

"Article 40 of the law specifies that to improve the quality of their services, hospitals must regularly take part in accreditation; at least once every three years," Charles said. "The accreditation will be carried by independent institutions according to accreditation standards."

He also said that the law specified patients and hospital owner's rights and obligation. Charles also stated that Article 20 of the law specifies that ownership of public hospitals could not be handed to the private sector.

Committee member Umar Wahid, said the new law indicated the government's responsibility to pay hospital fees for people living in poverty, and that this would apply to both public and private hospitals.

Another committee member, Ribka Tjiptaning, said that the law did not allow class-based services in public hospitals and forbade hospitals from rejecting any patients.

"Public hospitals should have only third class," Ribka was quoted as saying by detik.com. "Class-based services will no longer be allowed in government-owned hospitals."

As for private hospitals, she said, they were obliged to have 25 percent of their rooms as third-class. Ribka also said that the law would protect patients' rights to complain about unsatisfactory service.

Students campaign against violence

Jakarta Globe - September 25, 2009

Nurfika Osman – Now those oppressed at school can say they have a voice. Eleven Indonesian students will head to Thailand next month to attend an event protesting against child violence at schools.

Paulan Aji, a spokesman for Plan Indonesia, a nongovernmental organization protecting children's rights, said the two-day event in Bangkok called Young Hearts festival would include various activities promoting a school environment that is free from violence.

Plan Indonesia released a study showing that 43 percent of students in Indonesia experienced varying degrees of violence. The most common types were cases of bullying, sexual harassment, physical violence, corporal punishment and gang violence.

The culprits were usually teachers, other school employees and even parents and other family members. The study had a sample of 1,500 students from Bogor, Jakarta, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.

"We are going to bring the results of our research [to Bangkok] to open people's minds about the dangers of violence in school and that it can happen anywhere," Aji said.

The Bangkok event runs from Oct. 3 to 4 and will be officially opened by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. The students, who will participate in the festival, attend high school at SMA 82 in Jakarta.

"In the festival, the children will be given a chance to speak up against violence at schools on different platforms, including making posters, shooting pictures, creating animation or documentary videos, writing short stories or poems and producing dramas," he added.

Other participating countries include India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Based on its annual report, the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak) confirmed 1,520 cases of child abuse in 2007, a 35 percent increase from the previous year.

Corruption & graft

Indonesia passes 'ambiguous' Anti-Corruption Court bill

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Febriamy Hutapea – The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed into law what is considered to be a vague version of the controversial Anti-Corruption Court bill that leaves more questions than answers.

Under the version passed on Tuesday, the embattled Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will retain its ability to prosecute corruption cases and the power to conduct wiretaps of suspects, although the Anti-Corruption Court would determine their admissibility.

The bill has stirred controversy in recent weeks. Opponents have framed it as an attempt to strip power from the KPK, which has been at the forefront of the country's battle against corruption. Even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono weighed in, saying the bill should not be rushed.

The House's 10 factions unanimously passed the law in a sparsely attended plenary session just one day before its term expires after a final session today.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Andi Mattalata, who attended Tuesday's session, said the new law was important for maintaining the credibility of law enforcement and the eradication of corruption in Indonesia, two key goals of the Yudhoyono government. "Through this law, the government is trying to lay a strong legal foundation for the establishment of the Anti- Corruption Court," he said.

He added that stripping the KPK of the right to prosecute must come from an amendment to the law that created the KPK. The bill passed on Tuesday was originally intended to re-establish the Anti-Corruption Court's legal basis.

A recent version of the bill would have stripped the KPK of its authority to prosecute corruption cases. The KPK has made many enemies in the House, the National Police and Attorney General's Office because of its determined and successful prosecution of current and former officials from those bodies.

Although the KPK seems to have won the fight to keep its powers, activists are saying other aspects of the new law would still weaken it. For example, the new law requires the establishment of anticorruption courts in each of the country's 33 provinces, meaning the KPK could no longer prosecute its cases in one special court in Jakarta, where it has had a 100 percent conviction rate.

For Jakarta, one such court would be established under the Central Jakarta District Court. This was met with derision by anticorruption activists.

"We cannot trust any judges in the district courts," said Agung Andri from the Indonesian Muslim Student Union, one of two student organizations that rallied against the bill outside the House building.

Indonesia Corruption Watch and several other anticorruption groups announced that they would file a request for a judicial review with the Constitutional Court. Febri Diansyah, a legal researcher for ICW, said many articles of the bill failed to give clear authority to the antigraft court and left room for differing interpretations.

Police in hot water after criminalizing KPK officials

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Six national commissions criticized the police on Tuesday for criminalizing two deputy chairmen from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"We regret and are concerned with the criminalization of KPK deputies carrying out the commission's function, duty and authority to eradicate corruption in Indonesia," National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas-HAM) chairman Ifdhal Kasim said in a joint statement prepared by the six commissions.

The statement was signed by representatives of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), the KPK, the Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK), the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) and National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan).

The commissions said the action had indications of legal uncertainty and a was a violation of human rights.

The two KPK deputy chairmen – Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto – were named suspects two weeks ago for an alleged abuse of power in issuing travel bans on corruption suspects Anggoro Widjojo and Djoko S. Tjandra (who are now at large) and for lifting a travel ban on Djoko.

The police subsequently accused them of having received bribes from Anggoro to halt investigations into corruption cases implicating Anggoro's company, PT Masaro Radiokom.

However, the police have failed to convince the public over the accusations, as to date they have failed to produce any evidence to support the charges.

Both Chandra and Bibit have been suspended from their duties because of their status as suspects, and President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono has set up a five-member selection committee to shortlist candidates to replace them.

"This will damage Indonesia's image especially regarding its commitment to fighting poverty, and reduce international trust for investment in this country," Ifdhal said as quoted by Antara state news wire on Tuesday.

Ifdhal urged the police to speed up the legal processing of the two KPK deputy chairmen so they could have legal certainty. "Should the police not have enough evidence to support these allegations, their names should be cleared."

The KPK is currently led by two deputy chairmen, Haryono Umar and M. Jasin, of its original team of five.

Aside from Chandra and Bibit, suspended KPK chief Antasari Azhar is also facing legal problems because of his implication in the murder of the director of a state-owned firm, Nasruddin Zulkarnen.

According to Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, his office handed over Antasari's murder case files to South Jakarta District Court on Monday. "But we have yet to inform the President of this development," he said.

If the dossier was accepted by the court and Antasari becomes a defendant, he must be dismissed from his position.

The selection committee for the replacement KPK leadership is holding a series of intensive meetings to discuss potential candidates.

Anti-corruption activist Teten Masduki claimed he had turned down an offer for the position because there were no guarantees he would not be criminalized by police while doing the KPK's job.

Hendarman, on the other hand, said he had proposed 8,000 names of attorneys to the committee, and expected at least one to be appointed to chair the commission.

Candidates turn down nominations to anticorruption commission

Jakarta Globe - September 27, 2009

Nivell Rayda – The government encountered its first setback in its bid to find temporary replacements for three suspended leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission, after most of the candidates refused to participate out of fear that they would meet the same fate as the suspended leaders, a lawyer involved in the matter said.

"They were not prepared to be nominated because they were afraid they could be targeted and meet the same fate as the two KPK deputy chairmen accused by police of abusing their power," said Todung Mulya Lubis, a prominent lawyer and member of the government-appointed team tasked with finding the replacements.

Todung said that seven of the 10 potential replacements that the government team approached had declined.

Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah were accused of abuse of power earlier this month in relation to requests for travel bans against two businessmen.

Critics have described the National Police's allegations as a way to oust the two deputies from the commission, known as the KPK, because they were trying to investigate National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji in connection with a major graft case related to PT Bank Century.

Under intense criticism from antigraft groups and legal experts for "criminalizing KPK procedures and authority," the police on Friday identified Chandra and Bibit as suspects in a separate bribery case.

A source familiar with the selection process told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that among those nominated were former police chief Gen. Sutanto, current deputy attorney general for intelligence, Wisnu Subroto, and former Justice Minister Marsilam Simanjuntak.

The source refused to confirm if the three were among the seven candidates who had declined the offer. The three were also not available for comment.

Febri Diyansyah, a researcher at Indonesia Corruption Watch, said the bribery case connected to the Bank Century matter would test the independence of the replacements.

The KPK has not identified any suspects in the Bank Century case, but has intercepted telephone conversations between Susno and tycoon Boedi Sampoerna.

In the conversations, Sampoerna reportedly offered the detective a bribe if he could arrange the return of Rp 2 trillion ($208 million) invested in Bank Century assets, which are now frozen.

The Sampoerna family was one of the biggest campaign donors behind President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's bid for reelection this year.

With Antasari Azhar, the KPK chairman, also suspended for allegedly ordering the murder of a businessman, the antigraft body is now one leader short of legally being allowed to make strategic decisions.

Last Tuesday, Yudhoyono issued a regulation in lieu of law, also known as a perppu, allowing him to bypass the law on the KPK and select the replacements for the commission himself.

On Sunday, academics representing the Coalition of Civil Society said that they would file a judicial review to the Constitutional Court to challenge the perppu.

"The perppu helped to legitimize the criminalization of the KPK officials," group representative Asmara Nababan said.

"If people allow the president to issue a perppu without any limitations, the president will be able to intervene in other independent bodies for even more vague and less urgent reasons."

KPK deputies say police accusations against them full of holes

Jakarta Globe - September 27, 2009

Nivell Rayda – Embattled Corruption Eradication Commission deputy chairmen Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto on Sunday rejected police allegations that they had received Rp 3 billion ($312,000) in bribe money from fugitive businessman Anggoro Widjaja, saying the accusations were insulting and slanderous.

Speaking at a news conference at the Law and Policy Study Center in Kuningan, South Jakarta, Chandra and Bibit told reporters they had documents that proved their innocence.

Bibit said police had alleged he had taken Rp 1.5 billion from Ary Muladi, a suspect connected to the Anggoro case, between Aug. 11 and 18 at the Bellagio Residence apartments, but this was not possible because he was in South America at the time.

Bibit showed reporters an assignment letter from the commission, also known as the KPK, a letter from the Embassy of Peru in Jakarta and his passport. "I have never been to the Bellagio and at that time I was in Peru attending a meeting with our counterparts there," he said.

Bibit and Chandra were controversially charged with abuse of power connected to travel bans requested against two corruption suspects earlier this month.

Critics have described the police's decision as a maneuver to oust the two deputies from the KPK, which was moving to investigate the chief detective of the National Police, Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, in relation to a major corruption investigation.

After protests from antigraft groups and legal experts for "criminalizing the KPK's procedures and authority," the police on Friday announced Chandra and Bibit as suspects in a separate bribery case.

At the press conference, Chandra pointed out inconsistencies in the police charges. "Allegations against me changed several times," he said. "First Ary Muladi told police investigators that he gave the money to me on Feb. 27, then police said it was on April 15, and finally police on Friday announced that it happened in March."

Chandra went as far as to say the allegations were slanderous. "I have never taken bribes from anyone. I feel insulted by the charges laid against me," he said.

Little is known about Ary Muladi, who is now in police custody, other than the fact that he is a self-employed man with a degree in agriculture.

Police investigators handling the case told the Jakarta Globe previously that Ary had been inconsistent in his testimonies and could not produce solid evidence to back his claims that he had bribed officials at the request of Anggoro.

Anggoro fled the country when the KPK began investigating his company, PT Masaro Radiokom, last year for irregularities in a procurement project for the Ministry of Forestry in 2007.

Separately on Sunday, Transparency International Indonesia demanded the government form an independent team to look into police dossiers on the case to see whether the police had enough preliminary evidence to charge the KPK officials.

"If not, then we can say that there is a hidden motive behind the police's decision," said Teten Masduki, the watchdog's secretary general.

Bambang Widodo Umar, an independent police expert and professor at the University of Indonesia, said that Susno should temporarily step down from his current position due to the potential conflict of interest.

"The fact that Susno had been wiretapped by the KPK is enough reason to temporarily remove Susno," he said. "By declaring Chandra and Bibit as suspects, Susno has only given the police a bad name, let alone if the two are found not guilty in a court of law."

NGOs, traditional traders lambast Governor's gifts

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2009

Jakarta – Activists and a traditional market association have criticized Governor Fauzi Bowo for handing out goods from modern retailers as Idul Fitri gifts, likening the practice to gratuity.

"Although the gifts were given to the public, the administration officially conducted the event. And while the governor didn't pocket any money, he still took the credit for making the donations (from private companies). That can lead to a conflict of interest," deputy coordinator for Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) Emerson Yuntho told The Jakarta Post.

Fauzi handed out 6,000 gifts at City Hall on Monday, each consisting of Rp 40,000 (US$4) in cash and basic commodities.

Fauzi confirmed earlier that several private companies had donated the basic commodities, but the money had come from his own pocket. The event ended with a stampede, injuring dozens of people.

"It would be a disaster if the Governor didn't understand what gratuity was," Emerson said, adding that the governor's actions could be categorized as gratuity under the 2001 Corruption Law.

Hasan Basri, chairman of the Indonesian Traditional Market Vendors Association (APPSI), said he was disappointed with Fauzi's decision to used goods from modern retailers for his gifts.

"That really hurts us. I think it's clearer now why he seems to stand on their (modern retailers) side rather than ours," he told the Post.

Small traders have long criticized modern retailers for pushing them out of business, although prevailing regulations – the 2007 presidential decree on planning and construction of retail enterprises and the 2002 bylaw on private markets – specify that modern markets should not affect nearby traditional ones. The regulations state modern markets should be built at least 2 kilometers away from traditional markets.

Last year, hundreds of merchants from Muara Karang traditional market in North Jakarta staged several rallies against retailer Carrefour, claiming the Megamal Pluit outlet was built only 1.5 kilometers from the Muara Karang market.

In Cempaka Mas, Central Jakarta, another modern outlet has reportedly affected three nearby traditional markets, Cempaka Putih, Serdang and Sumur Batu.

Carrefour, one of the retailers giving the donation, confirmed it had taken part in the gift distribution.

"However, we are just one of the participants, nothing more. Please don't politicize it," Carrefour Indonesia's corporate affairs director Irawan A. Kadarman told the Post. "The administration invited us to participate. We also took part in similar events elsewhere."

City Secretary Muhayat played down the gratuity accusations. "We just channelled the donations (from several companies). In previous Idul Fitri festivities, we helped pass donations from big companies to residents," he said.

A group of NGOs filed a report with the city police on Thursday accusing Governor Fauzi Bowo of negligence, which led to the stampede. Edi Saidi, spokesman for the Urban Poor Consortium, Jakarta Legal Aid and the City Poor Network (JRMK), said the governor should be held responsible for the chaos.

Muhayat, however, claimed his administration had taken precautionary measures to prevent the stampede. "The stampede happened because they (the residents) were not patient," he said. (bbs)

Indonesia corruption body under attack: activists

Agence France Presse - September 25, 2009

Jakarta – The future of Indonesia's powerful anti-corruption commission has been put under threat by what activists say is a concerted campaign to shut down progress made against entrenched graft.

Lawmakers are expected to pass a law next week that would strip the independent Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of the authority to prosecute – a power that has seen it put away high profile politicians and officials.

The law, part of a rash of legislation before the end of the current parliament's term, would leave the KPK solely as an investigator while the corruption-tainted attorney general's office (AGO) would be left to prosecute. "The grand scenario is the government is trying to weaken the KPK," Indonesia Corruption Watch secretary general Teten Masduki told AFP.

The law is likely a reaction to successes that have seen the KPK-linked Corruption Court achieve a 100 percent conviction rate in a country known as one of the world's most corrupt, Masduki said.

"I think everyone knows the DPR (parliament) is always reluctant to go with the process of anti-corruption. They don't really support the KPK."

The looming legal changes come as the KPK was paralysed by the suspension this week of two of its remaining four commissioners after they were named suspects in a police graft probe.

The suspension of deputy commissioners Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto comes just months after the arrest of KPK chief Antasari Azhar for murder and is the latest chapter in what activists have called a war between the KPK and top police officers.

They have repeatedly denied they are out to weaken the KPK, in spite of reports that senior police officers have been angered by the commission investigating their own members.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has created a team to fill the gaps in the KPK's leadership, but Masduki said it appeared the president had soured on the commission after one of his relatives, former central bank deputy governor Aulia Pohan, was sentenced to a jail term of four-and-a-half years for graft.

"When the police were trying to investigate the KPK, the president didn't try to stop them. I think he pushed the police to investigate the (two) commissioners without enough evidence," Masduki said, adding that it remained to be seen if the selection of replacement KPK heads would be fair.

Political analyst Wimar Witoelar said that while the KPK remains hated by many politicians and police, Yudhoyono – who goes by the initials SBY and was re-elected this year with a strong mandate thanks in part to the KPK's strides against corruption – remained committed to tackling graft.

"If SBY really wanted to let the KPK suffer, he wouldn't have intervened with the regulation in-lieu-of-law," he said, referring to the formation of the team to pick replacement KPK commissioners.

Indonesia is ranked the world's 126th cleanest country by Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International, on an equal pegging with countries such as Uganda and Ethiopia.

Embattled antigraft body accepts appointment of temporary leaders

Jakarta Globe - September 24, 2009

Nivell Rayda – The Corruption Eradication Commission said on Thursday that it accepted the government's decision to issue a regulation in lieu of law, or perpu, to select temporary replacements for three suspended officials from the antigraft body.

Haryono Umar, one of the two remaining active leaders of the commission, known as the KPK, said he and his colleagues were simply "following the mandate of the law."

On Tuesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued the perpu to personally select three replacements, bypassing a selection process in the House of Representatives that is set out in the law on the KPK.

With only two active commissioners, the KPK is one member short of the number legally required to make key decisions.

"If the president has issued the perpu, then all we can do is accept it as it is," Haryono said.

"We will accept the president's decision, but we hope the government will consult with us on the matter. We are already disappointed because the president didn't consult with us when he issued the perpu."

A day after passing the perpu, Yudhoyono appointed a five-member team to recommend replacements. The team, which must produce names for the president to select by next week, had its first session on Thursday.

Todung Mulya Lubis, one of the team members and a prominent lawyer, said that given the tight deadline, the selection team would resort to head-hunting rather than open recruitment.

"We don't have the time to make a public announcement, accept applications, screen candidates and interview them, in line with the proper [KPK commissioner] selection process," he said. "We will come up with a shortlist of names and approach the candidates personally."

Todung added that Thursday's discussion focused on the criteria for choosing the temporary replacements, rather than specific names. "We are looking for people with integrity who are acceptable to the public, as stated in Article 29 of the KPK law," he said.

"We also have some other criteria. We are looking for people who are able to work with the current commissioners."

KPK chief Antasari Azhar has been suspended as he awaits trial for the murder of a businessman. Two of Antasari's deputies, Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah, were controversially accused of abusing their powers by the National Police last week. They were both suspended on Tuesday.

Adnan Buyung Nasution, a lawyer and another member of the selection team, said that if the case was halted before it reached prosecution, Bibit and Chandra would be welcome to return to active duty.

Antigraft groups and legal analysts have protested against the matter, saying that police were trying to find excuses to oust KPK leaders who were trying to investigate a senior police officer in a major bribery case.

Some of them also objected to the perpu itself, claiming that Yudhoyono was trying to undermine the KPK's independence.

"The move is not meant to save the KPK," Hendardi, the chairman of the Setara Institute, said on Thursday. "The passage of the perpu is linked to the police's decision to question the KPK's authority. There is no proof that the KPK could not perform well with just two members."

Separately, antigraft groups outlined their own criteria for the replacements. The groups – including organizations such as Indonesia Corruption Watch, the National Consortium for Legal Reform (KRHN) and the Center for Law and Policy Studies (PSHK) – argued that people who have professional or personal ties to the president should not be chosen as replacement officials.

They also objected to lawyers who have represented clients in KPK cases, as well as law-enforcement officials and individuals affiliated with specific political parties.

Businesses express concerns over negative impacts of KPK fiasco

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2009

Abdul Khalik, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US – Indonesian businesspeople have asked the government to quickly resolve problems surrounding the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) while demanding the police to be transparent on their charges against two anti-graft body leaders to avoid the issues negatively affecting foreign investment in the country.

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamspbers of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) MS Hidayat said the absence of certainty would raise public suspicion against the police in their probe into the two KPK leaders, who have been suspended following their implication in criminal cases.

"Prolonged uncertainty will adversely affect Indonesia's investment climate, as trust in a clean government is among primary considerations to invest. We hope that President's move to establish the team of five to select the replacements of the KPK leaders will give certainty," Hidayat told reporters in the sidelines of the G20 summit on Thursday.

He said the inclusion of two human rights activists, Adnan Buyung Nasution and Todung Mulya Lubis, in the team of five would dismiss public's accusation that the government aimed to control the independent anti-graft body. "The police also must quickly present solid evidence supporting their allegations. I believe that whoever commits a crime must be punished so the police don't have to be afraid," Hidayat said.

House 'to pass Corruption Court bill in a week'

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2009

Jakarta – With only a week left, legislators deliberating the Corruption Court bill at the House of Representatives say they are determined to pass the bill into law before their term ends.

"I believe we can finish the deliberation process by the end of this month, because we only need to agree on the prosecution issue," a member of the working committee, Gayus Lumbuun from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Currently, prosecutors at the Corruption Court are district prosecutors appointed by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The special prosecutors, combined with the court's current composition of three ad-hoc (appointed) judges and two career judges, has been proven to be effective.

Research by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) highlights that with the current ratio of career to ad-hoc judges, the Corruption Court has a 100 percent success rate of sending those involved in corruption to jail.

However, the idea of revoking the KPK's power to prosecute by returning it to the Attorney Generals' Office (AGO) emerged during a recent lobbying session between the House and the government.

ICW and anticorruption groups claim that both the House and the government intend to weaken the KPK by revoking its right to prosecute.

The committee chairman, Arbab Paproeka from the National Mandate Party (PAN) caucus, said Wednesday the public had misunderstood the idea behind the prosecution issue.

"We believe it is fine for the KPK to appoint district prosecutors, but it has to maintain good coordination with the AGO. Now, it seems the KPK walks on its own," he said.

Before the House entered its final recess period on Sept. 18, a committee member, Nasir Jamil from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said there were only three caucuses that insisted the KPK maintain its prosecution right.

They included the PKS, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Star Reformation Party (PBR) caucuses. The Democratic Party was said to initially support the revoking of the KPK's authority, but in a final meeting before the recess, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the KPK's role was still necessary.

Nasir said that if nothing went wrong at the last minute, the bill could be endorsed and would maintain the original spirit of strengthening the fight against corruption by maintaining the KPK's right to prosecute.

"However, there is always a possibility of a sudden change. This is the House that we are talking about, in a political institution, anything can happen," he said.

"If we cannot pass the bill the deliberation will continue in the term of the next House. However, doing that is risky because the next House will only start to establish its committees in October, whereas the deadline for the bill is in December," he added.

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana from the PKB caucus said the committee planned to have its first meeting after the recess on Sept. 28, just two days before the House ended its term. "I hope that we can produce a law that is in line with the President's instruction," she said. (hdt)

Activists defend graft commission

Jakarta Post - September 23, 2009

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang (East Java) – The alleged efforts of the House of Representatives, Indonesian Police, Attorney General Office and Supreme Court to diminish the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) have received strong objection from activists of the Malang Corruption Watch (MCW).

In a rally prior to the Idul Fitri celebration at Alun-alun Malang Square, dozens of activists wore masks bearing the faces of National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji while carrying "Save KPK" placards.

Marching together with students from local universities, they yelled phrases condemning the four institutions and accusing them of attempting to reduce the KPK, which they said had been a super body in the corruption eradication in the country.

"We reject the criminalization of the KPK and the approval of the bill on corruption court," said Zia Ul Haq, coordinator of the protesters.

He said the refusal was expressed because both the House and the government had agreed on the draft of the bill regardless of whether the bill would instead weaken the role of the corruption court.

"We therefore demand that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issues a replacement law (perppu) regarding the matter as soon as possible," Zia said.

In accordance with the Constitutional Court's decision, the law on corruption court is expected to strengthen the court's existence and role in dealing with corruption cases and will be the only court in charge of such cases in the country.

However, Zia said House and the government had systematically conducted efforts to weaken its role and existence "In fact, it's them that have to provide political guarantee to strengthen the corruption court," he said.

Activities considered to have weakened the court's role and existence included the composition of the judges, comprised of two career judges and an ad hoc one according to the draft, which the activists felt degraded the existence of the ad hoc judge.

Others activities included what they considered as unrealistic establishment of corruption courts at all provincial levels and the reduction of the KPK's authority in which it is required to hand over the prosecution of corruption cases to prosecutors' offices.

"These are things that are not stipulated in the Constitutional Court's decision," Zia said.

Luthfi J Kurniawan, executive director of In Trans Institute, an institute concerning people's civilian rights, expressed the same thing, saying that efforts to weaken the KPK's role must be refused. "Weakening the KPK is the same as reducing the people's basic rights," Luthfi said.

He added both the House and the government were very disappointing in terms of the bill on corruption case as what they decided was not in line with the people's aspiration. "The draft is not advantageous for the corruption eradication efforts and will instead create a setback," Luthfi said.

He expressed hope that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who had promised to eradicate corruption, would show his commitment and be a savior in the case.

"The President has to act clearly and fully support the corruption eradication by controlling the deliberation and preparing a regulation-lieu-in-law (perppu) to issue soon," he said.

President signs regulation on KPK: Cabinet minister

Jakarta Post - September 22, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Cabinet Minister Sudi Silalahi says that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signed a government regulation in-lieu-of-law (perppu) to fill the vacant leadership in the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), three of whose five leaders have been implicated in criminal cases.

"Yes, [it] has been signed," he told reporters after a closed meeting at the State Secretariat in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com. He said that the office was now drafting a presidential decree as a follow up of the regulation issuance.

Presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng earlier said that the issuance of the regulation on KPK was the best solution to help KPK conduct its duties following implication of three of its five leaders in criminal cases.

Yudhoyono was slated to announce the regulation before his departure to Pittsburg in the United States on Sept. 23 to attend the G-20 summit of the world's most powerful economies.

The meeting on Tuesday was also attended by State Secretary Hatta Radjasa, National Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji.

Yudhoyono said last week that he had consulted with the heads of three state institutions – the House of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono, Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD and Supreme Court chief Harifin A. Tumpa – on the matter, and that they all agreed on the perppu issuance.

"All three think it is logical to issue the perppu in the absence of [legal] reference to tackle this issue [of vacant KPK leadership]," he said

Suspended KPK chief Antasari Azhar will soon stand trial for murder and will have to relinquish his post in accordance with the KPK law. Deputy chiefs Chandra M. Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto have been named suspects for their alleged abuses of power.

War on terror

Jakarta suicide bombers set sights on Australia

The Australian - September 30, 2009

Angus Hohenboken – Two Indonesian suicide bombers were filmed discussing martyrdom and being instructed to target Australians, just weeks before they blew up two Jakarta hotels, killing seven people, including three Australians.

The video was found on a laptop in a backpack worn by terrorist leader Noordin Mohammed Top after he was killed by police during a raid on a home in central Java earlier this month.

Lounging back in a park across the road from the Ritz-Carlton, terrorists Dani Dwi Permana, 18, and Nana Ikhwan Maulana, 28, chat in the footage with an unseen cameraman, who tells them "this is our target".

"America has to be destroyed," the cameraman says. "Australia has to be destroyed. Indonesia has to be destroyed."

Permana, a high school graduate, justifies the violent act through an extreme interpretation of his religion. "This is a very noble way to destroy the enemies of Islam," he says. "This is not suicide. Suicide is only for frustrated people."

Three weeks later, the men walked into the lounges of the Ritz- Carlton and Marriott and triggered bombs that killed seven people, including Australians Craig Senger, Garth McEvoy and Nathan Verity, and wounded more than 50 others.

The cameraman, believed to be fugitive Top follower Saifuddin Jaelani, is alleged to have recruited the bombers.

Releasing the footage yesterday, Indonesian police aired suggestions that the terrorist group planned to increase the frequency of their attacks to as often as once a month, citing evidence found in a separate raid on a terror safehouse in Jati Asih, outside Jakarta.

Attacks had previously been carried out annually with the Bali bombing in 2002 and first bombing of the Marriott in 2003, followed by the Australian embassy in Jakarta attack in 2004 and a second Bali in 2005.

Detective Tito Karnavian, of the Indonesian police anti-terror unit, said the group had planned "serial attacks", with another bombing, this time targeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, scheduled for August in Jati Asih.

A letter on the laptop seized by police and allegedly written by Jaelani to his family in July detailed the level of organisation within Top's group, with responsibilities divided between religious guides, financial managers, recruiters and others charged with sourcing weapons and cars or protecting the families of "mujahid" or holy warriors.

Mr Karnavian said police still regarded the network Top built as a potent threat despite his death. The laptop contained evidence the group had re-established links with Middle East terrorist groups such as al-Qa'ida.

Other videos on the computer show the bombers stretching and jogging on a road that passes the hotels, scoping out their target. (Additional reporting: agencies)

Protests still prevent indonesian terror suspect burial

Jakarta Globe - September 28, 2009

Candra Malik, Solo – Tensions over the burial of a terrorist are not over, with hundreds of residents protesting over the weekend at the two cemeteries near Solo considered for the interment.

Hadi Susilo, aka Adib, who was one of the four killed during a police raid on his rented house in Kepuhsari near Solo on Sept. 17, was to be buried at Pracimoloyo public cemetery in Sukoharjo, Central Java. That did not sit well with residents who protested the burial on Saturday.

Following the rejection, it was suggested that he be buried at the Khusus Orang Shalat (Only for People Who Pray) Cemetery in Sragen, near Solo, where Air Setiawan and Eko Sarjono, suspected terrorists killed during another raid, were buried.

On Sunday afternoon, residents of Kalijambe in Kaliyoso, where the cemetery is located, also demonstrated against laying the terror suspect to rest. "We reject the remains of a [suspected] terrorist to be buried in this village," said Sucahyono, a resident who participated in the rally.

He said people would do anything necessary to prevent Susilo's body from entering the village. "We do not want the image of [our] village to be tainted."

Officials have yet to decide where to bury Susilo's body. "We have fought to have Susilo's remains accepted here," said Katino, chief of the ward in Kagokan, Solo, where Susilo hails from.

"Kagokan residents are willing to allow the [funeral to be held at his] parents' house, but when the residents near Pracimoloyo Public Cemetery rejected [the burial], we have no idea what to do next," Katino said.

Wahyudin, the director of Al Mukmin Islamic Boarding School in Ngruki on the outskirts of Solo, regretted the slow response of the police on the matter.

"Do not let people fight with one another. Do not let your hatred toward a group make you unjust. This person has already died. What's all the fuss for," he said.

Solo Police Chief Sr. Comr. Joko Irwanto said he could not take a side on the debate. "We are still waiting for the decision and order from the National Police about how local officers should respond to people's rejection of the suspected terrorist's body," he said

Joko said that if the National Police allowed the remains to be taken to Kagokan and buried, the local police would provide security. Joko said people had the right to mount protests to express their aspirations.

Protests of terrorist burials driven by fear of stigma: Analysts

Jakarta Globe - September 25, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – Analysts on Friday said an uproar over the burials of three terrorists in Central Java stemmed from a residents' deep aversion to being labeled as extremist areas.

Bagus Budi Pranoto, Ario Sudarso and Susilo, suspected members of a violent splinter cell of Jemaah Islamiyah, were killed in a raid along with terror mastermind Noordin M Top near Solo on Sept. 17.

Some villagers in the three men's hometowns have rejected plans to bury the men. Islamist supporters clashed with protesters on Thursday in one of the proposed cemeteries in Solo.

The reaction of those protesters contrasts with that of supporters during funerals for two suspected terrorists shot dead in a police raid last month, in which hard-line Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir staged a "hero's burial" that was attended by throngs of people.

Imam Prasojo, a sociologist from the University of Indonesia, said people in Central Java were concerned their towns be tainted by the terrorism.

"With the comprehensive media coverage, people worry that their villages or districts will be named as the hometown of terrorists," Iman told the Jakarta Globe. "They are also anticipating even bigger coverage during the burials."

Imam said the local government may also be playing a role in the grass-roots rejection of the burials because of fears that associations with terrorism could hurt the local economy.

"It may hamper investment," he said. "This is a global era and the government as well as local citizens are concerned about how their area will be branded. It is important for them to project the sense that their areas are safe, environmentally friendly and free from terrorism."

However, respected Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra said, from a purely religious perspective, the rejection of the burials was intolerable.

"They are upset about terrorism," Azyumardi said. "Probably they based their actions on the principle of 'not in my backyard.' People may be afraid that many supporters of terrorists will visit the graves later, or that their hometowns would carry the stigma of a terrorist hometown."

He said that instead of rejecting the burials, residents should pay more attention to strangers. "This will be a good lesson for those who want to be terrorists. Don't expect to get into heaven when even the earth on which they were born rejects them."

Given the objections, Azyumardi suggested that family members and the government should consider laying them to rest in a neutral area. "Despite the fact that we should not tolerate the people's rejection, family should also understand people's feelings," he said.

Azyumardi said the bodies could be interred in a cemetery in Jakarta. "They can be buried in a public cemetery which no village or certain group lays claims to," he said.

Indonesia's terror burial anger boils over

Jakarta Globe - September 25, 2009

Candra Malik, Solo – The suspected terrorists killed here last week continued to cause trouble on Thursday, with anger between groups of armed protesters over one of their burials nearly sparking a street battle.

Bagus Budi Pranoto, aka Urwah; Ario Sudarso, aka Aji; and Susilo, aka Adib, were shot dead along with Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist, Malaysian Noordin M Top, during a raid on Susilo's rented house in Kepuhsari near Solo, on Sept. 17.

Urwah's family wants to bury him in their home village in Kudus, Central Java, but has this week faced strong opposition from locals there, while Aji's family has also generated anger over their plan to bury him in his home village of Purbalingga, also in Central Java.

Susilo's family and neighbors have prepared for him to be buried at Solo's Pracimoloyo public cemetery.

Thursday's stand-off came as a result of friction over posters criticizing Susilo's burial. A group calling itself the Alliance of Solo Youth Organizations on Wednesday night put up scores of banners expressing their objections.

Later that night they were pulled down by members of the Solo chapters of two radical Islamic groups – the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid, chaired by hard-line Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Alliance supporters put up new posters on Thursday morning, and when the FPI and JAT members tried to pull them down again around noon, the rival groups swelled to about 800 people, mainly from the FPI and JAT.

The stand-off occurred on Solo's busy main thoroughfare, Jalan Slamet Riyadi, although armed officers from the police's elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit dispersed the crowd before they clashed.

Police arrested six FPI and four JAT members for possessing weapons including rocks, sticks, knives and chains, Solo Police Chief Sr. Comr. Joko Irwanto said.

"If there is enough evidence to support the case, they will be charged with violating Article 170 of the Criminal Law on violence against people and property."

He said the alliance had a police permit to conduct a rally and put up the banners, so removing them was criminal. "Especially because they were caught red-handed with weapons that might cause injury to others," he said.

Alliance coordinator Kusumo Putro, said the posters, with slogans such as: "Solo United Against Terrorists," reflected the community's sentiments. "We don't want the people of Solo, who are actually friendly and against terrorism, to become victims of terrorist propaganda," he said.

Khoirul Rus Suparjo, FPI chairman in Solo, said he regretted the arrests of the group's members, especially because it allegedly involved police violence. "Even if they had to make the arrests, there was no need to beat them."

Sholeh Ibrahim, a JAT leader from Bashir's Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in nearby Ngruki, agreed, saying it had been a "peaceful rally."

Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said he could sympathize with the anger felt by residents. "Poor Solo. Its people are actually kind and friendly, but because of the terrorists, with the ring leader even killed here, the city's image had been more or less besmirched," he said.

Meanwhile, in the suburb of Kagokan, where Susilo's parents live, residents said they had prepared a grave at a local cemetery two kilometers away.

"Even though [Susilo] turned out not to be a good citizen outside of his village, he remains remembered as a good citizen here," said Katino, a neighborhood head.

Meanwhile, Endro Sudarsono, a lawyer representing the families of Urwah, Aji and Susilo, said representatives would collect the bodies from Jakarta on Friday.

Wanna take a bite out of Noordin M Top? Entrepreneurs cash in

Jakarta Globe - September 25, 2009

Candra Malik – Anyone want a piece of Noordin M Top? Business savvy locals in Kepuhsari village in Solo, Central Java, have opened up small stalls selling "terrorist cuisine" after Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist and three others were killed during a police raid in the area last week.

One of the dishes on offer is Noordin M Top's pecel, a steamed vegetable salad with sweet peanut sauce. The stall is owned by Sudarso, a local whose house is directly in front of the building where Noordin was killed along with three other terror suspects.

Pecel is not the only terrorist-themed dish at Sudarso's stall. There is also "terrorist lotis," a fruit salad with spicy chili sauce. Sudarso said he named it so because the sauce is so spicy that it "terrorizes the tongue."

He also sells vegetable fritters called Bakwan Urwah. Urwah was the name of one of the men killed in the raid.

"Urwah is also the acronym for 'untuk rakyat bawah' (for the lower class people) because our fritter is not as rich as the ones sold in restaurants," he said.

Sudarso's daughter, Putri, said that they did not initally give all of their dishes terrorist labels, but finally caved in after requests from many customers. Pupon, Sudarso's wife, said that their capital was only Rp 300,000 ($30), but on the first day of business they earned almost Rp 1 million. Nowadays they make around Rp 750,000 a day.

"I never met Noordin. I never saw his face. But his death has brought us a lot of good," Pupon said. "Our pecel is sold out and our neighbors also make a fortune. The young men who run the [unofficial] parking business make millions of rupiah each day," she said.

Pupon she could not care less about her village's new nickname, the 'Solo Terrorist Tourism Village.' "What matters the most is no one from our village was involved in a terrorist network or joined any terrorism acts. We didn't ask people to come and have a picnic in our village. Are we to blame for taking the opportunity?" she asked.

A visitor from Jakarta said they admired the family's creativity. "My family laughed so hard when we read the sign 'Noordin M Top's Pecel.' It is very creative. For us, it's not important how the pecel tastes, what's important is that we can chew Noordin M Top," said Tonny Pradjoko, who visited with his wife and three children.

"Ibu Pupon should have made a super spicy chili sauce and named it 'bomb explosion chili sauce,' " said Tonny's daughter, much to the amusement of other customers.

The visitors who come to the village not only buy the terrorist- themed food – - they also take pictures of themselves near the stall as a proof that they have visited the terrorist house. "We hope the house will be turned into a terrorist museum, it'll be good for our business," Sudarso said.

More protests greet terror suspects' burial

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2009

Dicky Christanto and Agus Maryono, Jakarta, Purbalingga – Relatives of deceased terror suspects Bagus "Urwah" Budi Pranoto and Ario "Aji" Sudarso insisted on bringing home the bodies of their loved ones, despite burly resistance from locals.

The relatives of Urwah and Aji were scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Friday to collect their bodies and bury them in their respective local cemeteries.

However, hundreds of locals from Aji's Karangreja village, Purbalingga, and Urwah's Mijen village in Kudus, both in Central Java, protested the families' plans to bury the bodies in their local cemetery.

"We reject Aji's funeral here. We are ashamed of his terrorist acts that killed many people. He is not entitled to a burial in an Islamic cemetery here," Imam Sarikin, a noted figure in Karangreja, said.

As a protest led by Imam was taking place, another group of locals from the same village abruptly stormed the rally.

"What is going on here? Aji is our brother. Although he made a mistake committing an act of terrorism, let God punish him. It is not fair to reject his funeral in this village," Karengreja village head, Iwan Mudiarto, told the rally.

In the village of Mijen, dozens of residents also protested against the plan to bury terror suspect Urwah in the local cemetery, as a form of rejection of his terrorist acts. "We want to show our opposition to all forms of terrorism," Sukis Jiwantoro, a representative of Mijen People's Association, said.

Urwah and Aji were shot dead in a gun fight at a recent raid on a house in Kepuhsari village, Surakarta, Central Java. The country's most wanted fugitive, Noordin M. Top, was also killed in the raid.

The police said the location of the two terror suspects' funeral remained unclear partly due to the public's strong rejection.

"Locals have strongly objected to the funeral, but the bodies must be buried. We are still waiting to see what will happen," National Police's deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Iskak said on Thursday.

The residents of Cilimus village in the West Java town of Kuningan also rejected the funeral of hotel bomber Ibrohim, forcing his family to move the burial to Pondok Rangon in East Jakarta.

The police said they would continue to hunt down the two other terrorists on their list, Syaifudin Zuhri bin Jaelani Irsyad and Muhammad Syahrir. "We are still hunting for them throughout the holiday," National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Ketut Untung Yoga said recently.

A field operative who asked not to be named said the police had intensified their search for Zuhri and Syahrir. "We have two remaining targets left. We want to get over it as soon as possible," the source said.

Zuhri was known as the recruiter-cum-fundraiser for the terrorist group led by the late Noordin, while Syahrir, the former Garuda Airways technician, was also involved in planning the recent terror attacks.

Bodies of Indonesian terror suspects shunned

Jakarta Globe - September 24, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran & Bati Kartini – Two suspected terrorists killed earlier this month in Indonesia's Central Java province may have been able to ingratiate themselves with community members in life, but in death, and with their true identities revealed, they have become outcasts and targets of scorn.

Residents of Kudus and Purbalingga districts in Central Java rallied on Wednesday against the planned burials in their communities of two of the four suspected terrorists killed during a police raid earlier this month.

Bagus Budi Pranoto, also known as Urwah, and Ario Sudarso, also known as Aji, were killed during a raid on a house located on the outskirts of Solo, Central Java, along with Hadi Susilo, a religious teacher who rented the house, and Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist, Malaysian Noordin M Top.

Muhammad Kurniawan, a lawyer for the families of Bagus and Ario from the Islamic Study and Action Center, said the families of the two would arrive in Jakarta on Friday to view and possibly take the bodies home.

The bodies of all four killed in Solo are currently at the Police Hospital morgue in East Jakarta. Bagus is expected to be buried in Kudus and Ario in Purbalingga.

There has been no word from Hadi's family on when they will retrieve the body from Jakarta, but the Solopos newspaper quoted the head of Kagokan ward in Solo, Katino, as saying that residents were helping the parents prepare a burial plot at Pracimoloyo public cemetery.

Katino said Susilo's parents were good citizens and that their neighbors were not influenced by banners that appeared early on Wednesday near at several busy intersections in the city stating "Solo rejects the bodies of terrorists."

Ibrahim, who was suspected of involvement in July's twin hotel bombings in Jakarta that left nine people dead, had to be buried in the capital after residents in Kuningan, West Java, opposed plans to bury him there. Ibrahim was killed in a police raid on his hideout in Temanggung, Central Java, earlier this month.

In Mijen village in Kudus, people calling themselves the Public Forum for Peace rallied in front of the village hall and later at the local district office, demanding that Bagus not be buried in the village. They said Bagus was no longer a resident of Mijen because it had been years since he had lived in his parents' home.

On Wednesday morning, Solo residents were greeted by banners placed along at least eight major intersections denouncing plans to bury Bagus and Ario in the area. The banners were taken down later in the day.

It was reported that Ario's wife, Titi Rochyati, with the approval of the village chief, had already prepared a grave for him in Karangreja, Purbalingga. However, residents of Karangtenggak, a neighboring village, protested the plan.

Meanwhile, the National Police have yet to receive news from Noordin's family in Malaysia regarding his burial plans. "We haven't heard from the family when the body is going to be taken," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Sukarna said.

Amidhan, chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), said that as Muslims, the four should be allowed a burial, but added that he understood the public protests as a form of punishment for having tarnished the image of home villages or cities. "It should be a good lesson for those who want to be terrorists so that they think twice," he said.

Public rejection of terrorist's funeral a 'lesson for government'

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2009

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Dozens of residents of Mijen village in the Central Java town of Kudus protested Wednesday against plans to bury terror suspect Bagus "Urwah" Budi Pranoto in the village.

The protesters said they stood against terrorism and did not want their village linked to a terror suspect. "We expect the local administration to have the guts to make our demands known (to the government)," Sukis Jiwantoro, a representative of the Mijen People's Association, said as quoted by kompas.com. "Our actions are a show of opposition to all forms of terrorism."

Urwah was among four men killed after a lengthy gunfight during a raid on a house in Kepuhsari village in Surakarta, Central Java. One of the others killed was Noordin M. Top, the country's most wanted fugitive, and his accomplices, Hadi "Adib" Susilo and Ario "Aji" Sudarso.

Police observer Bambang Widodo Umar, responding to the Mijen villagers' protest, urged the local administration to respond accordingly.

"The government must act quickly by explaining to the people that the state is against the spread of terrorist ideology, but not against the burial of a human being," he said.

He said a prompt response would help prevent further social segregation among the people, which could lead to future conflicts.

Criminologist Adrianus Meliala said the varying public responses to the issue of terrorism were quite normal. "This situation will help law enforcers take anticipatory measures in the future," he said.

He added if communities accepted or treated dead terror suspects like heroes, the police could modify their mapping of communal support for radical movements across the country. Based on the mapping, he went on, the police could take the necessary steps to prevent acts of terror.

"A series of de-radicalization plans could be tailored according to each region's capacity," he said. "This will allow the police to conduct better de-radicalization programs in the future."

The same public resistance was also visible in Cilimus village, in the West Java town of Kuningan, prior to the burial of suspected hotel bomber Ibrohim. The protest forced his family to move his burial to Pondok Rangon in East Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Noordin's body will be flown to his home in Malaysia for burial there. Asluddin Hadjani, the lawyer for Noordin's third wife, Arina Rahmah, said the decision had been made because Noordin was a Malaysian national.

"I've discussed the burial plans with Arina, and she has agreed that it would be better for us to return Noordin's body to Malaysia," he said.

Local government should handle terror suspect burials: MUI

Jakarta Globe - September 23, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – One of Indonesia's highest authorities on Islam on Wednesday demanded that local government handle burial arrangements for the terror suspects killed in a raid last week after public outcry over plans to intern the bodies in Central Java.

Amidhan, chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, said that the local government in Central Java should take over the burial plans for the terror suspects.

"As there has been rejection [from the community], the local government should bury them in a public cemetery," Amidhan said. "Most importantly, the government should make people understand that these terrorists were still Muslims who were lost," he said.

"I believe the terrorists even think that they are more Islamic than many other believers. They probably pray more than others do, but they are lost. They think that being terrorist is a ticket to heaven. So, they should not be condemned, nor glorified."

However, Amidhan also said that people had no right to claim that the terror suspects were not Muslim. "They're just lost in their beliefs," he said.

On Wednesday morning, banners had been placed at some intersections in Solo, Central Java, declaring "Solo rejects the terrorists' corpses" in response to rumors that some of the suspects killed in the raid, including Bagus Budi Pranoto, known as Urwah, and Ario Sudarso, known as Aji, would be buried in the district. By Wednesday afternoon some of the banners had already been removed.

In Mijen village, people from the Public Forum for Peace rallied in front of the village hall rejecting the burial of Urwah in their village. They carried banners rejecting the burial plan and demanding the local government to reject his corpse, claiming that Urwah was no longer a citizen of the village. Protestors also gathered outside the district call, chanting their stance using loudspeakers mounted to a car.

Urwah and Aji's lawyer, Muhammad Kurniawan from the Islamic Study and Action Center, said that the protest banners were an irresponsible act. "Those who put the banners are provocateurs," Kurniawan said, as quoted by Antara. He said that it was not clear who erected the banners in Solo.

Kurniawan said that Urwah and Aji will not be buried in Solo. Urwah will be buried in Kudus, while Aji will be buried in Purbalingga. Urwah's family plans to take his body to his hometown on Friday. Despite the public outcry in Kudus, Kurniawan said that there were no plans at the moment to bury the suspects anywhere else.

Though Amidhan said he disagreed with the public's reaction, such a phenomenon was common as a form of social punishment.

"Seeing it from a religious point of view, they should not reject the burial," he said. "However, we can understand it as a form of social punishment, so we should not blame them. It will be a good lesson for those who are considering becoming terrorists to think twice."

How Islamic militants recruit teenagers at schools, sports clubs

Reuters - September 23, 2009

Sunanda Creagh – Unbeknown to 12-year-old Andika Bayu Pamungkas and his friends, the seemingly innocuous martial arts sessions in their Indonesian village were actually the first steps towards being turned into suicide bombers and militants.

Recruitment efforts of young, malleable boys such as Andika at schools and sports clubs is a routine method used by militants in Southeast Asia to cultivate the next generation of suicide bombers and separatist rebels.

Andika and his friends discovered the real purpose of their martial arts classes when their instructor, Susilo alias Adib, was unmasked as an associate of Noordin Mohammad Top, the mastermind behind a string of suicide bombings. Malaysian-born Noordin was being harbored in Susilo's house.

"Susilo told my friends and I to stay back at the house after all the other students had gone home and the four of us would learn martial arts. He was afraid of other people finding out," Andika told Reuters. "He told us, 'This is our secret. Don't tell your friends or your parents, OK?.'"

Kevin Yovi Pratama, 9, was another of Susilo's secret students. "We always practiced in a room with the door shut, so my mother and my friends wouldn't know about it," he told Reuters.

Susilo also lectured at a nearby Islamic boarding school where he told students that suicide bombers were "martyrs," rewarded in heaven for their acts.

Recruitment drives such as these, as well as other activities such as nature trips, after-school activities and blogging, can be stepping stones to more hardcore recruitment processes such as oath-taking or weapons training.

But these activities do not break the law, posing a conundrum for lawmakers who risk driving the groups underground and offending voters by cracking down on legal religious activities.

While the vast majority of Indonesia's Islamic boarding schools are moderate, a handful have played a vital role in producing the region's top militants.

"The problem is not so much the curriculum as it is the small after class religious study sessions, where individual teachers can assess the potential of students and draw them into more extremist activity," analyst Sidney Jones wrote in a report for the International Crisis Group in August.

"Given the extent that radical preachers have relied on 'nature training' and other excuses to take youth groups out to nearby hills for physical fitness training, there should probably be increased alertness on the part of parents to such programs."

Several of the Indonesian schools are linked to the regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which has as its spiritual head Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Bashir's al-Mukmin boarding school at Ngruki, Solo, produced several graduates who went on to plan and execute a string of deadly attacks in Indonesia.

But JI does not appear to have been involved in militant attacks in recent years and Jones believes the current centres of radicalism are more likely to be other boarding schools in Java, such as Al-Muttaqien, Darusy-Syahada, Mahad Aly and Darul Manar.

Video indoctrination

Hand-picked potential militants are often shown videos depicting the violent oppression of Muslims in places such as the Middle East, or Ambon and Poso in eastern Indonesia.

"When you read about how Syaifudin Jaelani recruited people in the mosque, it was by using videos of Ambon and Poso and engaging younger people in discussions," said Jones, adding that it was Jaelani who recruited the suicide bombers for attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta in July.

Oath-swearing and eventual introduction to more senior members of cells would follow for suitable recruits.

Similar tactics are used in southern Thailand, where ethno- nationalist Malay Muslims are fighting to secede from Buddhist Thailand, which they say treats them as second-class citizens. Thai insurgents rely on teachers to find promising students, who swear an oath of commitment and secrecy before joining a clandestine, multi-cell network whose senior leaders they are never told about.

An ICG report in June suggested Islamic schools in Thailand invited devout Malay Muslim youths to join "extracurricular indoctrination programmes" before becoming rebel foot soldiers. The classroom was the first point of contact.

"Recruiters invite those who seem promising devout Muslims of good character who are moved by a history of oppression, mistreatment and the idea of armed jihad to join extracurricular indoctrination programs in mosques or disguised as football training," the report said.

Most of the young recruits are invited to join small cells and are given basic weapons training. They are believed to be the perpetrators of the daily drive-by assassinations carried out mostly by pairs of young gunmen riding together on a motorcycle.

The authorities view these schools as breeding grounds for militants but of late have eased off after years of raids and crackdowns and scores of arrests of teachers.

Bloody crackdowns, extra-judicial killings and tough Thai security policies have angered young, disaffected Muslims and aided recruitment, analysts say.

Many of the teachers, or 'ustaz' studied in the Middle East and in Pakistan. Thailand has named several as suspected leaders of the insurgency, though without firm evidence, prompting some to flee abroad fearing for their lives.

Some Thai Muslims – as well as Indonesians, Malaysian and Filipino Muslims – trained and fought with the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, but analysts see little evidence they are involved in the Thai insurgency.

Yet bomb-making and guerrilla warfare skills suggest some of the rebels are well-trained. How and by whom, is unclear.

Indonesia's Islamists appear to have Middle East links, possibly to al Qaeda. Noordin Top's trusted lieutenant, Mohamad Jibril, who police arrested for obtaining overseas funding for the July 17 hotel bombings, studied in Pakistan and is suspected of making contact with radicals there.

An ICG report in August said Syaifudin Jaelani, who recruited the July 17 suicide bombers and is still at large, studied in Yemen and "almost certainly had contact with al-Qaeda."

During the period 1985-1994, a couple of dozen Indonesian Islamists trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Jones, but that was less common now.

Jihadi publishers

In Indonesia, books, magazines and videos produced by Jemaah Islamiyah or Noordin Top's splinter group are freely available at bookshops.

Reuters found books by JI-linked publishing house Kafayeh Cipta Media at a Jakarta book store, while "Jihadmagz" a magazine devoted to Muslim holy war, was sold at Jakarta's international airport. Blogs, Facebook pages and online book order sites can be found promoting JI and their publications.

"The publications are important. They are a way for them to continue the spirit of the ideology," said Noor Huda Ismail, who shared a room with one of the Bali bombers when he was a teenage student at Bashir's Ngruki boarding school.

He said militants use the publications to bolster their beliefs and justify disobedience of national law, which is described by many of these books as un-Islamic and illegitimate.

"I call it shopping for fatwas," he said. More important than the actual reading material, however, are the networks created by the jihadi publishing industry.

"Part of the reason Noordin eluded police for so long is because there were so many people in that circle of publishers who are willing to help him," he said.

South Thailand's insurgents are unusually secretive and have no known websites or publications.

Banning publications that promote jihad would only draw attention to material available on the Internet anyway, said Jones, who is also opposed to a crackdown on radical schools.

"A more sophisticated strategy would be to enforce tax laws," she said. "If it were found, as I am sure it would be, that these publishing houses had not fulfilled all their legal requirements or that some of the individuals had not paid their taxes, then that would allow for sanctions that didn't relate to curbs on freedom of expression."

She also suggests undercover monitoring of Friday prayers at mosques where recruitment is known to have taken place and training local community leaders to be on the look out for recruitment activities in their neighborhoods.

Islam/religion

Alliance plans to propose review of blasphemy law

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2009

Jakarta – The National Alliance for the Freedom of Religion and Faith (AKKBB) has planned to file a request with the Constitutional Court to review the 1965 blasphemy law which they say is discriminatory and against the amended 1945 Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion in the country.

The alliance comprising of, among others, the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP), Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), the Wahid Institute and the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) said the law had raised a public outcry and triggered sectarian conflicts as people were required to accept only the six official religions – Islam, Catholic, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Kong Hu Chu – and those with different faiths were branded heretics.

"We are in the process of completing the necessary documents to be given to the Constitutional Court," AKKBB coordinator Anick Hamim Tohari said here last week.

The 1965 law on the prevention of religion abuse and blasphemy stipulates that no one is allowed make interpretations deviating from the official religions' teachings. Anick, executive director of ICRP too, said the alliance had formed a small team who was still preparing the judicial review proposal and supporting documentation.

Febi Yonesta of the LBH Jakarta said the official request for the judicial review would be filed as soon as the documents were complete.

Ahmadiyah and Lia Eden were two Muslim communities that have been rejected because their teaching and doctrine were different to what has been designated official Islamic teaching and doctrine. Many mosques belonging to the two communities have been burned down and their followers displaced from their villages in the West Java regencies of Bogor, Sukabumi and Kuningan, and Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara.

Ahmadiyah is a religious sect whose teachings are claimed to be heretical by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and who have been attacked by various Muslim groups. Last year, the government made the decision that Ahmadiyah members were allowed to perform their religious activities but banned them from proselytizing new believers. The decision was made based on the law on religious blasphemy.

Lia Eden is a sect leader who has been sentenced to prison for religious blasphemy. "The law is the foundation of article 156 of the Criminal Code Law which criminalizes many religious minorities. Lia Eden has been charged under this article.

"Our constitution guarantees religious freedom. All religious groups deserve equal treatment. Therefore, this law which gives the government the power to intervene in religious matters must be annulled," Anick said, referring to the 2008 joint ministerial decree barring Ahmadiyah from disseminating its teaching.

Febi said the Alliance had been planning to ask for the judicial review since 2005. "However, we had many considerations to take into account which postponed the plan."

He said in 2005, the situation was very tense and many groups were showing great resentment against religious sects. "We do not want to raise controversies and conflicts. We want the Constitutional Court to be able to decide on the review with a clear conscience. We do not want any political pressure to affect the legal process," he said.

He said in the past, a believer of an unofficial religion must declare themselves a believer of one of the official religions in the religion section of his or her identity card. "However, the 2006 administration law allows them not to fill in the religion column," Febi said.

"We hope if the 1965 law is annulled, all laws and regulations which take reference from this law will be applied without discriminating against any religious group," said Feby. Anick said the alliance's top priority was to annul the terminology of official religions.

"Other laws and regulations, such as the marriage law, the population administration law, the joint ministerial decree which regulates houses of worship building permits also took the official religions from this law," he said, adding that, to be consistent with the decree, the state did not recognize marriages between believers of different faiths. (mrs)

Over 300 killed in Indonesia Eid al-Fitr road exodus: police

Agence France Presse - September 23, 2009

Jakarta – More than 300 people have been killed in road accidents in Indonesia during a mass exodus to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

"The latest number of road accidents nationwide is 893, in which 312 people were killed," national police spokesman I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana told AFP, using data collected since September 13. "Most of those killed were riding motorcycles," he said.

More than 27 million people left major cities and towns across the archipelago to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Yoga Ana said that the number of people killed was expected to increase as millions of people returned to big cities this week after Eid holidays.

Transport ministry figures show that the number of travellers driving motorcycles home for Eid is increasing every year. Data shows that most of the people killed on Indonesian roads last year were riding motorcycles. At least 548 died in the exodus.

Police said they had sent 120,000 officers to monitor major travel routes throughout the country.

The number of passengers expected to head home is nearly nine percent higher than last year's figure of 25.63 million, according to the ministry.

It said that 16.25 million people will use planes, trains and ferries, while 11 million will travel home by car and motorcycle.

Around 90 percent of Indonesia's 234 million people are Muslim, but the country also has sizeable Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Confucian minorities.

Muslim group refuses verdict

Jakarta Post - September 23, 2009

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – A conflict between a Protestant group and a Muslim group in Cinere, Depok, may continue to heat up as a local group opposing the construction of a Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) church in the area objected to a recent court verdict acquitting Depok mayor's decision to revoke the church's building permit (IMB).

Budi Waluyo, chairman of Cinere based Muslim Solidarity Forum (FSUM), said he was disappointed with the verdict after learning that the court did not consider the community refusal to the construction of the church to be signifi cant.

"The judges only see this case as an administrative matter. They were supposed to also consider how the church construction has triggered serious conflict in our community," he told The Jakarta Post.

In September last year, dozens of FSUM members raided the church's construction site in the Bukit Cinere Indah residential complex (BCI), erecting provocative banners and posters and forcing the workers to stay away.

The organization has long claimed that the church's construction committee used "fake" residents signatures to obtain their building permit. The group, however, could not prove that the signatures were fake.

Regulations stipulate that one can build a worship place after securing 60 approving signatures from non-Christians.

Budi, a retired army general, said he and several other FSUM leaders would soon meet Depok Mayor Nurmahmudi Ismail to discuss a plan to face the upcoming legal battle over the revocation case. "We will advise the mayor to hire top lawyers for the next appeal."

The HKBP church construction committee received their building permit from the administration in 1998, but left the land untouched for almost 10 years as former Depok mayor Badrul Kamal suggested the committee stop the church's construction in May 1999, following a series of protests.

In September 2008, the committee decided to continue building the church, but stopped after FSUM members attacked its workers and sealed the construction site. After the attack, the committee sent three letters to Nurmahmudi, a former president of the Muslim based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), asking the mayor to facilitate a dialogue. Instead they received a permit cancellation on March 27.

The HKBP, represented by lawyer Junimart Girsang, filed a lawsuit on May 6 to get the revocation cancelled, saying it had fulfi lled all required stipulations, including a recommendation from the government-sponsored Interfaith Communication Forum (FKUB).

After running eight hearings since June, the Bandung State Administrative Court (PTUN) overturned on Thursday the Depok mayor's decision to revoke the HKBP church building permit, saying he had no legal right to cancel the permit as long as the church did not misuse it.

Depok municipality spokesman Eko Herwiyanto confi rmed that the administration would appeal the verdict at the higher court.

Junimart said his clients were prepared for another legal battle. "Public pressure is a normal thing, but when the court has handed over its fi nal verdict, everyone is supposed to be able to accept that."

Holiday tainted for mudflow victims

Jakarta Globe - September 22, 2009

Amir Tedjo, Sidoarjo (East Java) – Idul Fitri celebrations were muted for former residents of a town destroyed by a mud volcano that has buried thousands of homes and forced residents into temporary shelters.

Residents from Besuki in Sidoarjo, East Java, observed the Muslim holiday in makeshift shacks erected along the abandoned Porong toll road, which was cut off by the mudflow more than three years ago.

The community of displaced people took up residence along the road in February last year when hot mud inundated the banks of a containment pond and buried their village. The residents set up camp along the road and are waiting for compensation for their lost property.

"At first we expected the payment to come in a matter of months, so we stayed on the toll road. But apparently the payment takes years," said Nastain, one of about 950 people squatting along the road.

The villagers forwent several Ramadan traditions this year in light of the disaster. As in many parts of the country, local mores dictate that people visit family graves during the last days of the fasting month. Nastain said he decided not to pay his respects because of his family's dampened mood.

Some residents also sat out another local holiday hallmark, the takbiran procession, in which residents from several neighboring villages gather on the eve of Idul Fitri to pray and usher in the holiday.

"The village used to be separated by the toll road, but we celebrated takbiran night together," Nastain said. "People circled the village carrying torches and used loudspeakers to praise God."

He said invitations had been sent to residents of east Besuki, but they went unanswered. Nastain speculated that the residents did not take part this year because of resentment – residents of the western half of the town had already received compensation from the government.

He said the squatters would remain until everyone had received money for their losses.

In May 2006, mud began spewing from a crack near a gas exploration well operated by PT Lapindo Brantas, a company that is part of the Bakrie group controlled by the family of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie. Total damages are estimated at $4.9 billion.

Elections/political parties

Campaign loans leave legacy

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2009

Oyos Saroso H.N. and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Bandar Lampung, Padang – Many councilors at Lampung provincial legislature and 11 regency and municipal legislatures have reportedly used their letters of appointment (SK) as collateral for loans, raising doubts among observers about their performance.

More than three-quarters of the councilors took out loans of between Rp 90 million (US$9,000) and Rp 300 million, mostly from Bank Lampung (owned by the provincial administration), for periods ranging between three and five years, Bank Lampung central office head Lihan said.

"We offer special privileges for councilors and civil servants hoping to borrow, but amounts are still within reasonable limits because councilors receive large salaries," Lihan said.

For a five-year loan of Rp 200 million, monthly installments were around Rp 6 million, he said. Many of the loans were to pay for debts incurred in councilors' legislative election campaigns, Lihan said.

According to a 2006 law on regional councilors' salaries, a provincial councilor in Lampung receives a monthly salary of about Rp 20 million, while the speaker receives some Rp 27 million. A councilor at Bandarlampung municipal legislature receives about Rp 15 million a month.

Despite their relatively large salaries, however, many councillors have been criticized for poor performance.

With the added burden of monthly installments they have to pay, councillors performance was likely to decline, political observer Syarief Makhya of Lampung University said on Monday.

"A big debt is not be a problem if it does not affect (the councillor's) performance. Experience, however, has shown that it does," Syarief said.

Having borrowed heavily from banks, many councillors became lazy and sought ways to earn additional money on the side, he said. Apart from using loans to pay for their election campaigns, many councillors had taken out loans to buy new cars, Syarief said.

Separately, in West Sumatra, West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi said he would not seek another term in office next year, adding that it was very costly. The tenures of Gamawan and Deputy Governor Marlis Rahman will conclude April 28 next year.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on sharia economics, in Padang on Monday, Gamawan said a governor's monthly salary of Rp 8.5 million was not enough to cover the amount he had spent on his election campaign.

"It's impossible (for me) to break even on a salary of that amount while maintaining a commitment to clean governance," he said. Under these conditions, Gamawan said, such positions were only be suitable for sincere figures who purely wanted to serve the people and who were not looking to break even.

PDI-P, Golkar should provide opposition: Poll

Jakarta Globe - September 28, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – A nationwide survey released on Sunday by the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information showed that nearly 90 percent of respondents wanted the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle to form an opposition bloc in the House of Representatives.

"Most of the respondents said that it was necessary to have an opposition voice to the [executive] government," said Ahmad Faisol, research program coordinator at the institute, also known as the ISAI. "They also want the opposition to establish an effective and clean government."

The ISAI conducted the telephone survey from Sept. 17 to 24 with 1,300 respondents in 25 cities. The poll had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.

The survey suggested the public was concerned about speculation that Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) would join President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ruling Democratic Party coalition.

A source within the PDI-P claimed it had reached a deal with the Democrats that would give the PDI-P four seats in the cabinet, including seats for Puan Maharani, the daughter of party chairwoman and former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, as well as a seat for party secretary general, Pramono Anung.

The survey said 55 percent of PDI-P supporters wanted the party to remain an opposition voice, while only 30 percent favored the party joining the coalition.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of Golkar supporters said they wanted the party to provide opposition to the Democratic coalition.

Political activist Fadjroel Rachman said there would be no democracy without an effective opposition bloc.

"Democracy will be in grave danger," he said. "There will be no checks and balances for the parliament or the government." Ahmad said that with no opposition, the country would revert to the same situation seen during the New Order era.

"There will be no more discussion in the House to pass a bill," he said. "The government will also face no challenge because all will agree with its policies. People may simply define opposition as a voice against the current government, but it's not that simple. What the PDI-P did in the previous government was not what we could describe as opposition, because the party was unable to come up with policy ideas that were different from those of the government."

If PDI-P and Golkar decide to become opposition voices, they will need to propose alternative policies, he said. However, "being in the opposition doesn't mean being confrontational," Fadjroel said.

"In a true parliamentary system, an opposition party has its own programs, as well as a shadow cabinet. This way, they can offer alternative programs to the public."

An opposition party's shadow cabinet can also help to observe and criticize government policies, he said. "If a shadow cabinet is structured properly, it becomes clear who is watching over the government," he said.

Race to head Indonesia's Golkar Party heats up

Jakarta Globe - September 28, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea – Candidates for the Golkar Party chairmanship are scrambling to secure the support of regional leaders as the competition heats up ahead of the party's national congress next week.

Tommy Suharto, a convicted murdered who is a son of former dictator President Suharto, has reportedly been busy schmoozing regional delegations in Jakarta to share his vision for the party if he were elected chairman.

"In one day, two to three delegations come to Tommy in Jakarta," said Yusyafri Syafei, a close aide and campaign team member for the controversial high-flying businessman.

Taking a different tack from the other candidates, who have been visiting the regions to gain support, Yusyafri said that Tommy refused to expose his strategy and only conducted closed-door meetings.

Tommy, he said, had inherited a lot of clout from his father, who had dominated Golkar during his New Order regime, and did not need to seek more popularity by visiting the regions.

"We're using a stealth strategy. We don't need to claim support we already have. The important thing is how the regions will choose Tommy in the party congress," Yusyafri said, claiming the provincial and district leaders came to Tommy on their own initiative.

"There is a soul connection between the district chairmen and Tommy because of his father," he said.

During the party congress, the candidates will need to get the support of the 33 provincial branch chairmen, 470 district branch chairmen and 10 Golkar organizational wings.

Another young candidate, Yuddy Chrisnandi, visited West Kalimantan, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara over the weekend to meet with branch leaders. He said he stood out in the field of candidates because he took the initiative to contact the branches and was invited to meet with them.

Separately, Surya Paloh visited Semarang in Central Java, Padang in West Sumatra and Palembang in South Sumatra over the weekend to promote his candidacy.

Paloh officially received the support of 19 district branch chairmen in Padang, who declared their support for him on Sunday. Branch chairmen in Papua, South Sulawesi, Java and West Sumatra also announced their support for him during his visit to each of their provinces.

Paloh, a media mogul, had previously declared that if he were elected party chairman, he would ensure the party's independence and not join the next cabinet.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, Paloh met with the current Golkar chairman, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, although Kalla denied that the meeting meant he was offering support. Kalla said he wanted to be neutral and did not back any candidate.

Paloh praised Kalla's stance. "Kalla is a party chairman who can maintain party unity," he said.

Golkar relaxes criteria to run for top seat

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2009

Dianto P. Simamora and Dicky Christanto, Jakarta, Makassar – The Golkar Party has relaxed criteria for chairmanship, paving the way for Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, who has yet to hold a leadership post in the party, to continue running for the party's top seat.

The decision was made in a plenary meeting of the party's executive board chaired by Chairman Jusuf Kalla on Friday, just a week before Golkar's national congress in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Oct. 4-7.

The draft of the new statute says members of executive board of the party or its mass organizations were allowed to run for the party's chairmanship.

"With such criteria, Aburizal, who is currently a member of the Golkar's advisory board, will be eligible for the contest," Poempida Hidayatulloh, the party's deputy treasurer, told reporters after the meeting.

The party's existing statute says aspiring chairmen must have held positions on the party's executive board, one of its regional chapters or with a Golkar-affiliated organization for at least five years. The party's advisory board's members were not fit to contest the chairmanship.

The rules, however, were "twisted" at Friday's meeting, where proposals, submitted by steering committee that was tasked with formulating rules and drafting statutes to be agreed in the congress, were discussed. The committee was led by Syamsul Muarif, who was deemed to be an Aburizal supporter.

Poempida said that the fate of chairman hopeful Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, remained unclear. "The verification team is still searching for data on whether Tommy ever held a leadership post in Golkar."

The steering committee did not make changes on the 30 percent of minimum supports to allow candidates to race for the party's top seat. The requirement would make difficult for legislator Yuddy Chrisnandi to join the chairmanship contest.

Meanwhile, media magnate Surya Paloh on Friday continued to reap support for the candidates for the party's top seat from Golkar's branches in South Sulawesi.

In his campaign, Surya, the party's chief of patrons, vowed that if elected, he would put priority in reorganizing Golkar in the years ahead instead of joining upcoming administration.

"Reorganizing Golkar is my most urgent agenda right now as we all know that Golkar is in the middle of its declining period. If we are not doing something to save the party then it will vanish immediately," Surya told thousands of Golkar members in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar.

He said a major replacement program within the party's top officials was part of his priority.

He added it was the right time for the new blood to fill many important positions in the party. "I would need many young yet talented cadres and professionals from outside the party to rebuild the party."

A Golkar-affiliated business group, known as Kosgoro, kicked off its national caucus on Friday to determine its final stance for the congress in Pekanbaru.

The group's chairman, Agung Laksono, who is also one of Golkar's deputy chairmen, said the meeting was aimed at determining the group's final stance concerning upcoming Golkar congress.

"A chairman will play a vital role in helping Golkar to regain its old glory. Therefore, he must fulfill a number of criteria," Agung said.

"For example, he must be willing to fully concentrate on his job and he must also record an impressive accomplishment whether in one of the party's mass organizations or professional organizations." Agung did not specify any names during his speech, but he acknowledged that he favored Aburizal to win the chairmanship during a later interview with reporters. (hdt)

Andi Hajramurni contributed to this article from Makassar.]

Campaign audits a waste, election watchers say

Jakarta Globe - September 24, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – A recent audit of the campaign finance reports from this year's presidential and legislative polls was a waste of money as it failed to root out any violations, electoral watchdogs said on Thursday.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) spent more than Rp 5.2 billion ($541,000) to audit the reports from the legislative elections and nearly Rp 300 million to check those of the presidential race.

Engelbert Johannes Rohi, deputy secretary of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP) dismissed the audit as a waste of money because it produced no significant results. "Compared to previous elections, there has been no follow up on any violations regarding campaign financing," he said.

The KPU announced the results of its presidential campaign audit on its Web site on Sept. 17, but only revealed the total donations received by each candidate and how much they had spent. It mentioned nothing about whether irregularities had been found.

Within a week of its release, however, the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) reported the campaign teams of all three presidential candidates to the police for alleged financial violations.

For the legislative elections, the KPU was late in publishing its audit and also in handing the report over to Bawaslu.

"We could not do anything about the audit results from the legislative elections because the KPU gave us the data too late," Bawaslu member Bambang Eka Cahya Widodo said. The board had only three to five days to file a complaint to the police.

Indonesia Corruption Watch in June suspected that at least Rp 161.3 billion in donations to several major political parties in the legislative elections were potentially fraudulent.

A study by the antigraft watchdog alleged that only three of the nine parties that secured seats in the House had clean campaign funding – the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

The ICW on Wednesday said that the audit results were inaccurate and did not take into account the many allegations of irregularities put forward.

Ibrahim Fahmy Badoh, ICW coordinator for political affairs, said that the KPU should make the full reports public. "This way, the public can make a judgment on the three candidates."

Senior Golkar official announces leadership bid as race heats up

Jakarta Globe - September 24, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea, Papua – Golkar Party advisory board chairman Surya Paloh officially announced on Thursday his candidacy for the chairmanship of the faction, promising to lead the battered party back to its former glory.

"I declare [myself] to be an official candidate for Golkar Party chairman in the upcoming national congress," Paloh told supporters at Cenderawasih Sports Hall in Jayapura, Papua. "Under your blessing, I am ready to bring the mandate and trust."

Analysts have predicted that Paloh, a media tycoon, would struggle to beat billionaire Aburizal Bakrie, the current coordinating minister for people's welfare, who has the far deeper pockets required to secure the backing of the regional branches of the party ahead of its national leadership congress from Oct. 4 to 7.

Tommy Suharto, playboy son of the former dictator, has also announced his candidacy, despite his conviction for ordering the murder of a Supreme Court justice who found him guilty of corruption. The verdict was later overturned.

Golkar's districts leaders, cadres and supporters were crammed into the hall to hear Paloh's announcement. Carrying posters and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the words "Bringing Back Golkar's Victory," they voiced their support for Paloh, who they think can restore Golkar to its perch as the nation's largest party.

Paloh said he declared his candidacy after hearing about the support he received from 29 Papua district chairmen, seven district chairmen in West Nusa Tenggara and eight district chairmen in Bali.

Golkar is scheduled to hold its five-year national congress next month to choose a chairman to replace Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who led Golkar to back-to-back election defeats this year. Golkar typically won 70 percent to 80 percent of votes during the Suharto years, but only received about 14 percent in the April legislative election.

Paloh said Golkar was now at a crossroads that would determine whether the party would return to power or die. "The one who determines our party's fate are Golkar's cadres and the constituents themselves, not someone else," he said.

Paloh said the party suffered defeats in this year's elections because it failed to attract public support. Golkar, he said, was trapped by false rhetoric, refusing to accept criticism and no longer listening to people's aspirations. "It's like a bitter pill which should become a valuable lesson," he added.

Paloh called on Golkar members not to leave the party, but instead improve it by making smart and objective decisions that could bring the party back to supremacy.

After visiting Papua, Paloh is scheduled to declare his candidacy in South Sulawesi then on to West Kalimantan, Central Java, and south and west Sumatra.

Paloh is also facing competition from two up-and-coming party members, Yuddy Chrisnandi and Ferry Mursyidan Baldan.

Hilda Wanggober, the Sipiori district chairwoman, said if Golkar did not rise in 2014, the party would fade into memory. "We have to win the 2014 legislative and presidential elections. This should be a goal which has to be reached by the next party chairman," she said.

Bakrie laying foundations for 2014 presidential run

Reuters - September 22, 2009

Sara Webb & Olivia Rondonuwu – Tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, who wants to run for president in 2014, believes that better infrastructure is more likely to attract foreign investors to Southeast Asia's biggest economy than fighting corruption.

Bakrie, coordinating minister for people's welfare in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government, is a member of the Golkar Party, the political machine that dominated the House of Representatives for decades under former President Suharto but which has lost much of its support in the post-Suharto democracy.

Bakrie, whose family controls coal-miner PT Bumi Resources, plantations, property and telecoms firms, is regarded as a holdover from the Suharto era. He is an opponent of Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the finance minister and coordinating economic minister who has promoted reform and the fight against graft. Bakrie also owns infrastructure businesses such as toll road builders.

"What they [investors] want is infrastructure," followed by less red tape and more transparency, Bakrie said in an interview with Reuters on Monday.

"During the Suharto era, total investment per year was much more than now, and at that time the corruption was a lot [greater] compared to now, yet they [foreigners] invested."

Foreigners frequently cite corruption, bureaucracy, an unpredictable legal system and poor infrastructure as deterrents to investment, and many have welcomed progress in tackling graft.

Bakrie said he expects to win next month's contest for the leadership of Golkar – defeating rivals Surya Paloh, a media magnate from Aceh, and Tommy Suharto, President Suharto's wealthy youngest son who spent time in prison for ordering the murder of a judge. But he does not want to be in the next cabinet or join Yudhoyono's coalition for the next five-year term.

Golkar, which typically won 70 percent to 80 percent of the votes during President Suharto's rule, only got about 14 percent in the House elections in April.

Yudhoyono's Democrat Party won a fifth of the votes, on the back of its pro-reform policies, and will form the new government in October with a coalition of several smaller parties.

Investors are now watching closely to see who Yudhoyono will pick for his key cabinet posts, with Sri Mulyani widely tipped to retain the finance ministry and possibly also keep her post as coordinating economic minister – potentially paving the way for further clashes with Bakrie over his business empire.

"I never have trouble [or] disagreement with Sri Mulyani," said Bakrie, who previously held the post of coordinating minister for the economy, adding that "we differ sometimes" on policies.

"She's good as a finance minister, but she's not good as a coordinating minister. She doesn't understand a thing about the real sector. But [as] finance minister [she] is good, as a cashier she's good."

Government/civil service

Court head: Indonesian legislators don't understand law

Jakarta Globe - September 30, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – The head of the Constitutional Court criticized the House of Representatives on Tuesday, labeling the outgoing crop of legislators as being beholden to political interests and having a "bad" understanding of how the law actually worked.

Justice Mahfud MD identified two specific problems about the lawmakers, whose terms expired on Wednesday.

"Their mistake is their bad understanding of the substance of the law," he said. "With this lack of understanding, they keep on drafting bills that are contradictory to other laws."

"The second mistake is political affairs," Mahfud said. "They know it is wrong, but they pass the bills by design. People then lodge judicial reviews with the court and we annul it."

He said composing bills and enacting legislation required technical expertise and that the "legal experts in the House are not good enough."

Irman Putra Sidin, a constitutional expert, also said the problem with the House legislative output was related to political interests.

"There is too much political involvement during the process of drafting bills," Irman said. "The political parties in the House have been implementing a centralized political system."

More often, agreements on a bill are based on votes of House factions and not individual members. "Individual members should be free to give their own opinion," Irman said.

Analysts also agreed that legislation enacted by the House during the 2004-9 period only reflected the interests of the sitting lawmakers.

Lili Romli, a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the poor performance of the House was reflected by the number of laws rejected by the Constitutional Court – nearly 30 percent.

"[The legislators] have make the Constitutional Court a trash bin for bad laws," Lili told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday. "This demonstrates the House's failure to carry out their duties."

Sebastian Salang, head of the Forum of Citizens Concerned About the Indonesian Legislature, said the problem with the laws was caused by House members who have vested political interests and take too long to deliberate on an issue.

"Several of the laws are not logical," Sebastian said. "They have carelessly produced laws that are contradictory to one to another."

Indonesia eyes new cabinet posts for natural resources

Reuters - September 29, 2009

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who begins a second five-year term next month, may create new ministerial posts to spur development of the natural resources sector, sources told Reuters.

Indonesia has some of the world's largest deposits of natural gas, nickel, copper, tin and coal, and is the world's biggest palm oil producer and second-biggest rubber producer.

But a combination of red tape, legal uncertainty, graft and heightened nationalism has deterred many foreign investors and held back development of energy and mineral resources, depriving Southeast Asia's biggest economy of important sources of revenue.

"One idea is to establish a new coordinating minister for resources to accelerate permits and licensing to develop natural resources," said a government source, who declined to be identified by name.

The new arrangement could also separate the energy and mining portfolios, with the coordinating minister overseeing these, as well as agriculture, forestry, and environment, the source said. Disputes between ministries have often held up development of natural resource projects.

"Introducing a new coordinating ministerial post for natural resources could really help rectify a lot of the inconsistencies and contradictions in policies issued by the various ministries to date, but in practice it will depend on the individual figure chosen," said Kevin O'Rourke, a political risk analyst.

A second source said that under the law, the president would have to scrap other portfolios in order to establish new ones, and may merge trade and industry into one portfolio.

Trade Minister Mari Pangestu has an international profile and generally backs pro-market policies. She and the industry minister, Fahmi Idris, appeared at odds during the economic crisis over some protectionist policies, for example when Idris told civil servants to buy only locally made shoes.

Little mining investment

Yudhoyono's government passed a new mining law last year, after years of delays. The drawn-out process has meant little new investment, while Indonesia has also become a net importer of crude oil as its older oilfields age.

Yudhoyono is due to announce his cabinet before he is sworn-in on Oct. 20, and has said he is still considering candidates.

During his first term, when his Democrat Party had only a tiny share of the seats in parliament, Yudhoyono gave key cabinet posts to politicians from his coalition partners in an attempt to win their support in parliament. But the strategy often misfired, making it hard for him to push through reforms.

Now the Democrats have the biggest share of parliamentary seats he may pick more technocrats for his new cabinet.

"There are several ministries related to resources that have in the past found it very difficult to reach decisions. The new coordinating minister is expected to handle these problems," said the source.

One area of uncertainty and friction is between the mining, forestry and environment ministries, where legislation at central and at local government levels may be conflicting, with the result that investors are uncertain over who is issuing permits.

Newmont Mining Corp's Indonesian unit said in July that mining could be hit if the forestry ministry did not renew a permit allowing it to clear land for waste disposal at its Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in Sumbawa island. Newmont, which had submitted its request in 2004, finally got a permit this month.

Local media have named several candidates for energy minister including Evita Legowo, current director general of oil and gas at the energy ministry, Gita Wirjawan, a former banker with JP Morgan who now runs an investment firm specialising in the energy sector, and Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, a former energy minister who won praise for his running of Aceh's post-tsunami reconstruction.

The current energy and mining minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, could be a possible candidate for the new coordinating post if that structure was adopted, a government source said.

The cabinet currently has three coordinating ministers, one overseeing social welfare, another for economics, and a third for security, legal and political affairs.

Additional reporting and writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Sara Webb and Alex Richardson.]

Indonesia to swear in legislators

Straits Times - September 26, 2009

Lynn Lee & Wahyudi Soeriaamatdja, Jakarta – Five months after they were elected in April's parliamentary elections, 560 new legislators will be sworn in next Thursday.

The inauguration ceremony reportedly will cost some US$4.7 million (S$6.7 million), with a third of the funds going towards hotel rooms, bus rentals, clothing and bags for the legislators, who are coming from across Indonesia.

Each legislator will also get 2 million rupiah (S$290) in pocket money for that period, according to The Jakarta Globe.

Three in four, or 73 per cent, of the lawmakers are said to be new faces – and this includes plenty of celebrities and entertainment personalities – due to tweaks to the voting system that allowed the country's 171 million voters to directly pick parliamentarians on April 9.

Previously, they would cast their vote for the party, which would then select the legislators to send to the House.

Observers have, for months, rued the fact that the majority of parliamentarians have no experience in making and drafting laws – a process crucial for Indonesia as it undertakes widespread reforms of its bureaucracy to attract more investment and develop the country. They have urged newbies to bone up on their knowledge of the law, among other things.

A recent survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) showed that members of the public are hopeful that their choices for the House will represent them well, said senior researcher Burhanuddin Muhtadi. Some 1,600 people from different income brackets were polled for the survey.

As for the performance of the current lawmakers, only half of the respondents were satisfied.

"For some, it was the attitude and behaviour of legislators, who are known to skip Parliament sittings and spend all their time in Jakarta instead of being on the ground with their constituents," Mr Burhanuddin told The Straits Times.

When the next term starts, the new legislators will have to tackle a number of Bills left over from their predecessors during their five-year tenure.

Out to lunch: Government employees stay away for 'first day back'

Jakarta Globe - September 24, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran & Arientha Primanita – Spot checks during the first post-holiday workday revealed shameful numbers of bureaucratic desks around West Java and Jakarta were – not-so- surprisingly – vacant.

The district head of Garut in West Java, Aceng Fikri, said a total of 6,000 district officials, about 30 percent of the staff, failed to report for work. "The national holiday from September 18 to 23 has ended. All employees should be back to work again," Antara quoted him as saying.

In one telling example, hundreds of officials from Garut's Secretariat Office who dutifully showed up on Thursday found themselves barred from their offices. The person entrusted the keys to the building could not be found – and was suspected to be taking "extra" holiday time.

Garut regional secretary Iman Alirahman told state news agency Antara that he blamed ignorance and a lack of discipline for the oversight. The homeless employees reportedly made the best of it, swapping holiday stories and photos outside the office.

In the provincial capital Bandung, about one in 10 local bureaucrats "played hookey." In Bogor, just south of Jakarta, about half of the local government workforce failed to show up.

According to news Web site Tempo Interactive, the governor of Bogor, Rahmat Yasin, who conducted a surprise inspection, promised to give the absent officials a warning.

In the Indramayu district of West Java, Kompas.com reported that a staggering 80 percent of local officials were absent.

Ahmad Juniadi, a local government spokesman, said civil servants should set a good example of a strong work ethic. "This is embarrassing," he told Kompas.com.

Dede Yusuf, deputy governor of West Java, recently declared that employees found to be absent from work after the holiday would be fired.

Snap inspections by Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo revealed the city' civil servants were slow to get back to the grind. The Regional Planning Board and the Jakarta Human Resources Agency passed muster, but the Public Works Agency on Jalan Taman Jati Baru in Central Jakarta failed to impress.

Agency secretary Kukuh Hadi said out of 367 employees, 327 showed up. Of the missing, 17 were absent without leave, 20 had taken official leave and three had been granted special permission, he said.

But 32 staff members had signed the morning work register and the end-of-work register at the beginning of the day, checking in and out at the same time, a clear violation of city rules. "We will reprimand employees who put multiple signatures on the attendance list. They will also get sanctions from the governor," he said. Fauzi said scheduled pay increases for absent officials should be delayed and that they should be demoted for one year.

"We will not tolerate undisciplined employees. Sanctions will be imposed on all delinquent civil servants regardless of their office and rank."

Outgoing lawmakers avoid first work day

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2009

Jakarta – Despite the fact that Thursday was the official day for House of Representatives members to resume work after the Idul Fitri holiday, only a few legislators and commission members showed up.

House Speaker Agung Laksono was the only legislator, as far as The Jakarta Post could observe, who came to the House building before 2 p.m.

When asked whether the House had decided to add an extra day to the holiday, Agung said there was no such thing. He also said that he had no idea why there were no activities until late in the afternoon. "I don't know whether there are any commission meetings today as I don't have any official schedule," he said.

"And as for the legislators, probably they are still stuck in the traffic," he joked since Jakarta was still quiet with many residents not yet having returned home from the Idul Fitri exodus.

Earlier in the morning, there was a gathering in the House to celebrate Idul Fitri. House Secretary General Nining Indra Saleh said that legislators were invited to the occasion. However, none of the invited legislators showed up or were apparent during the gathering.

It was only after 3 p.m. that two official House meetings finally took place.

The first meeting was between House Commission VII on Energy and Technology with the State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman. Less than half of the legislators on the commission attended the meeting.

Another meeting was a closed hearing between Commission IX and Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari.

A great number of the outgoing legislators were absent despite public criticism towards their lack of productivity in producing quality laws in the last few years.

As of now, it is estimated the House can only produce 178 of its targeted 284 laws by the end of its five-year term, ending this month.

Sebastian Salang from the Indonesian Parliamentary Watchdog said that he was no longer surprised with the legislators' bad attitudes. "What more can we say? I am just speechless," he said.

While there would be no sanction against absent lawmakers, public servants who were absent on their first working day would be punished.

The government had decided Monday and Tuesday as the official Idul Fitri holiday and Wednesday as a collective day off.

The Office of the State Minister for Administrative Reform has instructed managers of government institutions to scrutinize the attendance of their subordinates on Thursday. Civil servants, who were absent without strong reasons, would face a delay in their salary hike and promotion. They may even be demoted from their current positions.

State Minister for Administrative Reform Taufiq Effendi himself carried out impromptu inspections on several offices, including the Jakarta City Hall office, the Financial Minister Office, and state-run Fatmawati Hospital. However, he did not find evidence that there were any absent civil servants in these three offices.

"We can see that most civil servants resumed working today. This is proof of discipline within the civil service," he said.

Also on Thursday, the Office of the State Minister for Administrative Reform announced that state institutions would recruit 325,000 new civil servants this year. Some institutions have began their recruitment process, but most will begin the process next month. (hdt/mrs)

Armed forces/defense

House drops bill on TNI tribunals

Jakarta Globe - September 29, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – In what critics say is a blow to attempts to reform the military, the House of Representatives on Monday abandoned deliberations of the military tribunal bill that would have allowed soldiers accused of criminal offenses to stand trial in civilian courts.

The development was immediately criticized by the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), as well as the government-aligned National Mandate Party (PAN), which said the decision would only ensure continued impunity for members of the Armed Forces (TNI).

The move was backed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party faction in the House, as well as the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

PDI-P legislator Andreas Hugo Pareira, who chaired the special committee tasked with deliberating the bill, said the decision meant the new crop of legislators, due to be sworn in on Thursday, would have to begin the process from the beginning.

But I hope they will not change the basic principle of the bill, that soldiers must be tried in civilian courts for criminal offenses," Andreas said.

Patra M Zen from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) said the failure of the House to enact the legislation demonstrated the lack of commitment on the part of lawmakers and the government to support reform within the military, elements of which have faced accusations of gross human rights abuses and involvement in criminal enterprises.

Lawmakers had spent more than four years debating the bill. In 2006, a year-long impasse between the special committee and the Defense Ministry forced President Yudhoyono to weigh in on the debate. He issued a statement indicating his administration supported the bill's basic principles.

Under the bill, military courts would still preside over trials related to soldiers' military performance, but all criminal or civil offenses committed by soldiers would be handled by civilian courts, which often hand down tougher sentences than their military counterparts.

The drafting of the bill stalled last June when the Defense Ministry proposed preserving the power of the Military Police to investigate soldiers alleged to have committed civil offenses. It stalled again at the end of last year when the Defense Ministry and the TNI insisted that soldiers suspected of civil criminal offenses continue to be investigated exclusively by military officers.

The current policy maintains that civilian authorities can only become involved after the military briefs are handed over to prosecutors and civilian courts.

Democratic Party legislator FX Soekarno, chairman of the legislative body responsible for coordinating bill deliberations, confirmed the bill and the equally contentious state secrecy bill, which has been called a threat to freedom of expression by critics, would not be discussed during the last House plenary session today.

Indonesian and US air force start military exercise

Tempo Interactive - September 29, 2009

Alwan Ridha Ramdani, Jakarta – The Indonesian airforce began on Tuesday a joint military exercise with the US Airforce at the Husein Sastranegara Airbase, in Bandung, West Java.

The Teak Iron 2009 exercise, scheduled to run until October 8th involves 150 Indonesian personnel from seven units or sub units including the airforce elite Pasukan Khas, the 31st Air Squadron, the 32nd Air Squadron, paratroopers from the 461st Battalion, and the military equipment maintenance unit.

While the US Airforce brought 75 personnel and suporting staffs from the special operation 320 STS. The Indonesian airforce will uses one C-130 Hercules in the training, while the US force uses the MC-130P Hercules.

Spokesman for the Indonesian Air Force Colonel Iman Sudrajat said the training would hopefully improve the flying, jumping, intelligent, and security technics of the indonesian personnel.

While US Air Force Chief Mission, Colonel Robert Toth said the Indonesian force could improve their knowledge on how to maintain an aircraft.

Nationalism & chauvinism

Indonesia dresses up after batik 'victory' over Malaysia

Agence France Presse - September 30, 2009

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Indonesia's president is pressing the country's 234 million people to wear batik clothes to celebrate a triumph over neighbour Malaysia in a poisonous feud over cultural heritage.

The UN cultural organisation UNESCO is set this week to add Indonesia's method of making the cloth – through a laborious process of wax-dipping and dying – to its list of the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed Indonesians to celebrate the day the decision becomes official, Friday, by donning their best shirts, dresses, blouses and sarongs made from the material.

"I urge Indonesians wherever they are to wear batik on October 2," Yudhoyono was quoted as saying this week by state news agency Antara while in the United States for the G20 meeting of world leaders.

Yudhoyono said the country should have a "batik party" to let the world know that the art form comes from Indonesia.

Media here have been in triumphal mode over the impending UNESCO decision, which is the latest chapter in a spat that has seen protests over Malaysia's alleged "theft" of everything from batik to dances and songs.

Many Indonesians say the use of batik techniques and motifs by Malaysians is outright plagiarism.

But Indonesian Heritage Society batik expert Judi Achjadi said UNESCO's recognition of Indonesian batik doesn't mean Malaysia, which has its own tradition of making the cloth, has no right to the art form, which is spread across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

"The focus of this achievement shouldn't be on Malaysia," Achjadi said. "They have their own batik and this doesn't stop them from promoting theirs."

UNESCO culture specialist Masanori Nagaoka said the recognition for Indonesia's cloth does not mean other countries cannot claim batik, but simply that Indonesia's government went to the trouble to submit a nomination.

The dispute between the two nations came to a head in August when it was misreported that Malaysia had screened tourism advertisements featuring the traditional "pendet" dance of Indonesia's Hindu-majority Bali island.

Outrage over the "theft" has continued to circulate in Indonesia, despite the fact that the ad in the end turned out to be a promotion for a Discovery Channel programme.

While the recognition of batik has been broadly welcomed, fashion designer Edward Hutabarat said the actual enthusiasm for Indonesians to wear the cloth has been on the wane.

"Batik clothing and couture was booming here in 2007. Everyone was wearing it at the malls all of a sudden, but it cooled down the year after," Hutabarat said.

"As cultural heritage, batik needs to be more than just a trend. Consumers still think a six million rupiah (600 dollar) piece of batik is very expensive but it can take up to six people over a whole year to create a piece of batik."

Indonesian vigilantes prepare for battle in Malaysia

Jakarta Globe - September 25, 2009

Ade Mardiyati – At this moment in Jakarta, a group of Indonesians are putting the final touches to their plan to invade Malaysia and wage war. Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat has announced Oct. 8 as the date of this D-day, when it says it will avenge all the wrongs committed against Indonesia by its neighbor.

Established during this year's presidential election, the group, also known as the People's Democratic Defense, has attracted public attention with its protests calling on Indonesians to "kill Malaysians." Earlier this month, the group set up roadblocks in Menteng, Central Jakarta, in an attempt to detain Malaysian citizens.

However, the roadblocks failed to net any Malaysians, according to Mustar Bona Ventura, the group's coordinator. "If we had caught them, we would have sent them home," the 32-year-old economics student said.

He said the group's anti-Malaysian stance was not motivated solely by claims that the neighboring country has been busy stealing Indonesia's culture.

"It's the whole thing, including the claims on our islands and the abusive treatment of Indonesian migrant workers," he said. "The breaking point was when they insulted us through our national anthem, 'Indonesia Raya.'?"

Tensions between the neighboring countries have reached a fever pitch this year due to unresolved sovereignty claims in the Ambalat waters; accusations that Malaysia has claimed Indonesian cultural heritage as its own, including the Balinese pendet dance, various dishes and batik; a recent offensive parody of Indonesia's national anthem; and the abuse of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

Mustar said Bendera had already recruited more than 1,200 members and expects to sign up at least 300 more. The group said it recruited 600 volunteers in Greater Jakarta alone last week.

"People from all sorts of backgrounds came and registered," he said. "We have students, farmers, lawyers, fishermen, teachers and many more. Disabled people also signed up." The group reportedly has 40 recruits who are deaf, 10 with limb deformities and 10 who are confined to wheelchairs.

Bendera's seeming enthusiasm for conflict and claims that the planned invasion is going forward is contrary to government warnings: Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, has said the group's members won't get anywhere near Malaysia.

"If there are any Indonesian nationals who are intending to go to Malaysia for a confrontation, they will be arrested. It will be impossible for them to enter the country," he said.

However, Mustar said that self-defense training and black magic spells designed to protect the troops had already been provided, with 150 members taking part in two sessions held at Bendera's headquarters. The offices are located on Jalan Diponegoro in Menteng, Central Jakarta, an address that was formerly used as the headquarters for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

"This [training] is to support our people, and we have also armed them with weapons that volunteers donated, such as samurai swords, ninja sticks and sharpened bamboo sticks," Mustar said. "We really meant it when we said we were going to deploy [troops] to Malaysia to fight them on [Octoer 8]."

Asked how they intended to get their weapons through airport security, Mustar said, "It's just a matter of technique. But of course we're not telling you how." He added that the cost of traveling to Malaysia was being covered by each individual.

He said the group had earlier sent letters to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta containing its list of demands.

"First, we asked the government to close the Malaysian Embassy here and send all the country's citizens back home. Second, the government should close our embassy there and send home all the Indonesian migrant workers. "And last of all, we demanded that the government declare war against Malaysia."

Single mother Yuni said she felt it was her duty to help Indonesia protect its cultural heritage from Malaysia and to stand up for the rights of abused migrant workers. Just last month, she registered as a volunteer for Bendera and said she was ready to go to Malaysia to join the war, even if that meant leaving her three children behind in Pandeglang, West Java.

"Malaysia stole our islands and insulted our national anthem. As a citizen, I am called to participate [in the war]," she said.

She said that if the Indonesian government and military failed to take action, it was up to citizens to take over. "My will is strong for saving our beloved Indonesia," the 40-year-old said. "I'm not afraid of anything."

Another recruit, Endo Kosasih, echoed her sentiments, saying he was not afraid to die if he had to go to the battle zone. "It will be the same if you die now or tomorrow," the 26-year-old said. "I am brave."

Like his fellow Bendera members, Endo took part in the self- defense training course. He also learned how to shoot a bow and arrow, and said his aim had become quite accurate.

Endo said he had the support of his family and was determined to join the troops going to Malaysia so he could defend the motherland. "We don't want our nation to be harassed, our culture to be stolen or [the lyrics of] our national anthem to be twisted," Endo said.

Mustar said the group had already sent 10 people to Malaysia, to conduct reconnaissance and draw up battle plans. "You could say they are our spies," he said.

And on Oct. 8, Mustar continued, 1,500 Bendera troops will leave for Malaysia by air, land and sea, although he refused to elaborate. The group also plans to deploy a second batch of troops at a later stage, he said, adding that Bendera would work with Indonesian migrant workers and students in Malaysia to help boost its numbers.

"And once we get there, we will fight furiously in an open war with the Malaysians. Just like the wars you've seen on TV," he said. "For us, Malaysia has really crossed the line. And if our government has no courage, then [it is time] we start a war."

Volunteer Sugeng Widodo plans to leave his wife, who is four months pregnant, should the group call upon him. "I prioritize my country," the father of two said. "My wife and children breathe the air of this country. That's why [I prioritize it]."

Back home in Klaten, Central Java, 37-year-old Sugeng is a farmer but said he had been trained in Jakarta to use arrows and spears. He said Bendera members would also be trained in the use of guns. He said he was determined to fight and would stay in Malaysia until the issue of Indonesian ownership in the Ambalat waters was resolved.

"We see how our migrant workers are treated and the government doesn't do anything about it," he said. "Every citizen has the right to be protected. I will fight until the last drop of my blood. That is what I will do to defend my country."

Asked what the group would do if the planned invasion on Oct. 8 failed, Mustar said they would evaluate and then go back to the drawing board. The main priority, he said, would be to demand the Malaysian government publicly apologize to all Indonesians.

However, he said he was optimistic that nothing would stop the invasion, not even the Indonesian government, and that everything would go according to plan. "Indonesia will win! Indonesia will win!" he said.

Economy & investment

Indonesia's local demand a saviour

Straits Times - September 28, 2009

Jakarta – Hunched over in brightly lit assembly lines, 300 women churn out 60,000 pairs of sports shoes a month at a factory in Tangerang, an hour's drive from Indonesia's capital.

By November, the women will be working overtime to produce 100,000 pairs a month, says Arifin Chen, the company's general affairs manager. "We will soon be reaching our full capacity, which is 150,000 pairs a month, a figure we haven't hit for more than a year," he told The Straits Times.

Indonesia's footwear industry – estimated to be worth US$2 billion (RM7 billion) – is slowly getting back on its feet after last year's global economic downturn stopped demand in its tracks.

Some 90 per cent of the 1.2 billion pairs of shoes produced here annually are exported, with the rest sold domestically.

The Indonesian Shoe Association said there was a 15 per cent decline in exports last year between July and December compared with a year earlier. Now it is bullish about future growth in both exports and local demand.

Said association secretary-general Binsar Marpaung: "Most of the gains are coming from Europe, which is our biggest export destination."

Local shoe producers are cheering the government's efforts in the past year to strictly limit cheap imports of a variety of goods – including shoes and textiles – from China. They believe that such a measure will help them increase their market share in the country from 40 to 60 per cent in the next five years.

All this is good news for the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Recently elected resoundingly for a second term, Yudhoyono has promised Indonesians higher economic growth of 7 per cent by 2014, up from the estimated 4.3 per cent that it expects to hit this year.

To meet that target, he will need to push what economists have called Indonesia's three main drivers of growth – domestic consumption, commodities and infrastructure development.

World Bank economist Shubham Chauduri said in his outlook for the Indonesian economy earlier this month: "Domestic demand is likely to continue as the main driver of growth, as the government continues to disburse its stimulus, and in 2010, investors will regain confidence."

He was referring to the 73.3 trillion rupiah (RM25.7 billion) the government had set aside this year to fund tax incentives for individuals and firms, fuel and electricity price cuts and infrastructure projects, in a bid to sustain consumer spending and create jobs.

With a population of 234 million, two-thirds of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) comes from household consumption.

Most recent economic figures suggest the stimulus, plus growing confidence in the Yudhoyono government, has worked somewhat to keep people spending at previous levels. The economy grew 4 per cent in the second quarter of the year, a sign that it will likely hit its 4.3 per cent target by the year end.

The economy has also been shielded by its relatively low dependence on export receipts – which contribute only around a quarter of GDP – compared with its export-dependent neighbours such as Malaysia and Singapore.

Also, Indonesia's exports are dominated by commodities such as crude palm oil, coal and rubber. Prices took a hit late last year but have since regained some strength, helping to boost rural incomes. Prices are expected to rise as the world population grows.

Analysts are now placing more stress on infrastructure development – better toll roads, harbours, airports and power plants – to woo investors, improve business costs and expand manufacturing activities, among other things.

Fortis Bank's head of equity Alvin Pattisahusiwa told Reuters: "In order to achieve a much higher economic growth, (Indonesia) cannot depend solely on domestic consumption... To achieve 7 to 8 per cent economic growth, of course, investment and exports should have more weighting."

The government has also done its part to make the country more conducive to further investment and growth. It has made some headway in boosting laws to protect businesses, simplifying regulations and reforming the tangled bureaucracy, and has promised to do more going forward.

The positive sentiment is palpable. Notwithstanding the threat of terror, both the stock market and rupiah have rallied in the past few months. The rupiah is Asia's best-performing currency this year, with a nearly 13 per cent gain against the US dollar.

"We have already seen the signs of recovery this year and are looking forward to more improvement," said Rexon B. Jons, who manages a shoe factory. "Our buyers have told us that next year will be better."

World Bank approves US$1 billion in loans to Indonesia

Reuters - September 25, 2009

Jakarta – The World Bank has approved new long-term loans worth $1.1 billion to Indonesia, most of which will be targeted at improving the investment climate in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

The World Bank said on its website the loans will help the investment climate by strengthening institutions in charge of providing investment services and improving tax administration.

The loans, with 24.5 year maturity and 9-year grace period, will also be used to strengthen poverty reduction programme in the world's fourth most populous country.

An annual World Bank report released this month ranked Indonesia as the top reformer of business regulations in East Asia and Pacific, but the report still ranked the country 122nd out of 183 countries in terms of the ease of doing business.

Indonesia last week passed a new law on special economic zones, which industry officials said could help attract up to $50 billion in new investment in the next two-three years.

Asian Development Bank upgrades forecasts for Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - September 23, 2009

The Asian Development Bank raised its growth forecasts for Indonesia on Tuesday, as it did for regional heavyweights China and India, saying the region is leading a global recovery but warning against ending stimulus efforts too quickly.

The ADB forecast that Indonesia's economy would expand 4.3 percent this year, compared with its 3.6 percent estimate in March.

The bank said "robust growth in private consumption, underpinned by easing inflation and a surge in election-related government spending, drove better-than-expected economic growth in the first half of 2009."

The report added that the country's "fiscal stimulus measures supported growth. Net exports contributed to the expansion as imports contracted faster than exports, though investment weakened.

"Relative to forecasts made in March this year, the full-year growth projections are revised up for 2009 and 2010, and inflation will likely be lower. Risks to the outlook include higher-than-expected oil prices, which would propel inflation and hurt consumption, and dry weather that could damage harvests."

Meanwhile, the bank increased its 2009 growth forecast for China from its 7 percent outlook in March to 8.2 percent, and India from 5 percent to 6 percent. The region-wide forecast was also raised from 3.4 percent to 3.9 percent. (JG, Agencies)

People

Jusuf Isak (1928-2009): Socialist journalist and publisher

Direct Action - September, 2009

Max Lane, Jakarta – Watching Jusuf Isak's body wrapped in white linen being passed down to his sons, standing deep in the grave dug in Java's rich, red muddy soil, was like watching life itself being buried, for Jusuf was somebody who never stopped living life to the full, to the very last moment. He died on August 15, aged 81.

Despite suffering with a heart condition, he could not stop working. Only the day before he died, he was invited to be the main resource person at a seminar organised by the weekly Tempo magazine to discuss the life and ideas of Njoto, one of the leaders of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) who was murdered in General Suharto's mass anti-leftist purge in 1965 and whom Jusuf knew well. Jusuf was there at the centre of the seminar until early evening. He was scheduled to meet a delegation of left-wing activists and intellectuals the next morning.

In the weeks before he died, he was working on manuscripts to be published by Hasta Mitra, the publishing company he had helped form in 1980. Hasta Mitra, which now has a reputation for quality publishing, was run by Jusuf, with one assistant, Subowo, out of a 1.5- by 4-metre windowless office at the back of his home. His front living room became the site of thousands of discussions with leftist activists and intellectuals from around the world and from around Indonesia.

Jusuf began work as a very young journalist during the period of the revolutionary struggle against Dutch colonial rule (1945-50). He had learned Indonesian for the first time in 1942, having been brought up in a Dutchified home. He read widely in English and Dutch after 1942, "borrowing" the books a cousin was able to retrieve from the abandoned homes of the Dutch elite who had fled the March 1942 Japanese invasion. He was first aligned to the pro-Western social-democratic Socialist Party of Indonesia (PSI) but was later won to radical socialism through the ideas of Sukarno, Indonesia's first president, who was deposed from power by General Suharto in 1965 (though formally remained president until 1967).

In the 1950s Jusuf was one of the youngest editors of a major daily, but was soon in conflict with the owner as he took the paper in a more left-wing direction. After leaving this paper, he was elected to office-bearer positions in the Indonesian Journalists Association and eventually became the secretary- general of the Asia Africa Journalists Association (AAJA). In this position, he travelled throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Cuba, advocating journalists act in solidarity with the national liberation movements of the Third World. In Indonesia, he played a leading role in the campaign to convince journalists to support the struggle for socialism.

Jusuf was in and out of the army's detention centres during 1965-68, when Suharto's army was implementing its systematic arrest, torture and murder of the left. At least 1 million people are believed to have been killed and hundreds of thousands arrested during that period. Another 20,000 were kept in prison until 1978-79, including Jusuf. He was released in 1978.

He played a key role – explicitly acknowledged by former US president Jimmy Carter in his preface to a recent book on the Suharto years – in convincing the US government to press Suharto to release the prisoners on Buru Island. They came out in 1979. After his own release, Jusuf had the opportunity to discuss the issue with US officials. He had the knack of being able to find the wavelength of almost anybody he spoke to and win them over. He was famous in Salemba prison in Jakarta for having being able to do this even with the prison block commandant.

After the novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer and another journalist, Hasyim Rachman, were released from Buru Island and had returned to Jakarta, the three men joined forces and set up the publishing company, Hasta Mitra, in defiance of the Suharto dictatorship's ban on former political prisoners being involved in publishing. They quickly moved to publish Pramoedya's novels, This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps, and House of Glass, all declaring boldly on the cover: "Works from Buru Island". One by one these novels were banned. Hasta Mitra defied each ban, proceeding to publish the next novel.

Jusuf and Rachman were repeatedly called in by the military for interrogation. After Jusuf's son, Verdi, organised a meeting on campus with Pramoedya as a speaker, Jusuf was imprisoned again for three months. His son was expelled from the University of Indonesia. But on release, Jusuf continued to publish more books.

It is almost impossible now to imagine Indonesia without Pramoedya's books being a part of its political and cultural history. Despite the bans, in one way or another, huge numbers of people have read his books. But without the courage, tenacity and tactical brilliance of Jusuf Isak, those books would never have been published in Indonesia until after Suharto had fallen. Nobody else in Indonesia would have done it. Nobody else from the old left had the political resources and initiative to make the impact those three men did. They are without doubt national heroes who made a contribution of huge importance to their nation.

Indeed, without Hasta Mitra's literary political defiance of the regime in the 1980s, it is likely that Pramoedya's books, especially those now known as the "Buru Teratology" might never have made it beyond academic circles. Now they are in Penguin's paperback collection. Pramoedya provided the manuscripts, while Rachman was the commercial leader and Jusuf Isak the political leader of the trio.

All three were remarkable for their faith in the young activists who had developed in the 1980s and '90s with a completely different political culture than that of Jusuf's generation. Jusuf, in particular, was remarkable for his ability and enthusiasm for finding ways to relate to contemporary developments. Suharto created a new Indonesia, the reverse image of the Indonesia from before 1965. Suharto's Indonesia was defined by corruption and greed, dependence on foreign capital, and official and elite contempt for intellectual culture. In the face of this, Jusuf was alive always to every opportunity to intervene to regenerate a left culture. Historical research later will surprise people when it can be identified how many publications Jusuf ghost wrote for others.

After Suharto's regime fell in 1998, Jusuf never stopped working, keeping Hasta Mitra going by himself. Rachman died of cancer in the 1999. Pramoedya began a family company to publish his books. Among the many books Jusuf brought out was an Indonesian translation of the three volumes of Marx's Capital and a translation of the hundreds of pages of CIA-compiled US government documents connected to the Suharto take-over and the mass killings in 1965. He published many memoirs of left-wing activists and intellectuals who had been important in Indonesian history. Many more manuscripts flowed in than he could possibly handle.

Wherever he wrote a preface or a comment, he never tired of advocating the necessity to fight for social justice, for national dignity and the superiority of socialism over capitalism. It was a sad privilege for me to speak of him at his graveside. He gave so much to his nation and to everybody who had anything to do with him.

Max Lane is the translator into English of Pramoedya Ananta Toer's novels This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps, and House of Glass, and is the author of Unfinished Nation: Indonesia before and after Suharto (Verso, 2008). He is a member of the Revolutionary Socialist Party.]

W.S. Rendra (1935-2009): Dissident in the wind

Direct Action - September, 2009

Max Lane – On August 6, Wahyu Sulaiman Rendra, Indonesia's greatest dramatist and most influential poet, died in Jakarta, aged 74. More than a thousand people, mostly villagers but also intellectuals, attended his funeral on August 7 at his home and theatre group centre, Bengkel Teater, outside Jakarta. There would have been few people in Indonesia who had not heard of or seen Rendra on stage or in one of the movies in which he appeared.

Rendra began his career as a poet in the 1950s writing romantic, erotic and semi-sacrilegious religious poetry. He soon found himself aligned with the writers opposed to the rapidly growing organised left. His own poems, especially those with erotic content, were criticised by the left in a period where mainstream socialist politics was still influenced by Stalinist puritanism.

Rendra's own experience, however, eventually separated him from the spectrum of anti-left writers with which he was initially aligned. In 1964, when the left-right conflict in the Indonesian arts was starting to sharpen, he left to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts' New York campus. While his peers became more deeply involved in the campaign against the Indonesian left and either participated in or supported the violent suppression and massacres of the left in 1965, Rendra was becoming immersed in the bohemian culture of New York City in the 1960s.

When he returned to Indonesia in 1967, he still associated with his anti-left artistic friends, but his own poems and his new dramas, rapidly diverged from the dominant right-wing discourse. By the 1970s, he was at the forefront of providing a political critique with a distinct left-wing character of General Suharto's dictatorship, emphasising class polarisation and exploitation, anti-capitalist ideas and opposition to foreign economic exploitation and domination of Indonesia. In addition to his brilliant and oratorical use of metaphor, his plays were renowned for their comic genius and satire. His landmark play of 1975, Perjuangan Suku Naga (The Struggle of the Naga Tribe, published in English in 1979), was criticised by some of his colleagues for echoing the "propagandistic style" of the Communist pamphleteers of the pre-1965 period. He responded by writing a brilliant collection of political poetry, which he reproduced and distributed in handwritten form, entitled Pamflet Penyair (A Poet's Pamphlets).

He worked closely with the anti-dictatorship student movements that surged in 1973-74 and again in 1978. He was arrested and detained for almost a year after a rousing poetry reading before thousands of supporters in 1978. Solidarity protests demanding his release took place around the world, including in Australia, where they were organised by the Campaign Against Repression in the Pacific and Asia (CARPA).

While being the primary articulator of anti-dictatorship and anti-injustice ideas in the 1970s, Rendra remained deeply suspicious of attempts to build permanent or structured institutions for protest and always attempted to stand outside them. He held strongly to the view that a poet must be a "voice from the wind", untied to any organised force of practical politics. He remained very prolific and produced some wonderful poems and dramatic performances in the 1980s and '90s, but his role in the protest movement was not as central to its leadership as it had been in the 1970s. Sometimes his supporters and admirers on the left would be disappointed when he seized the opportunity to use the platform of a right-wing politician, polemicised against writers on the left or worked with wealthy impresarios. His basic political stance against injustice, foreign capitalist exploitation and dictatorship never waned however. In assessing where he stood, perhaps his poetry speaks best of all:

Yes! There are those triumphant, those who are humiliated Those with weapons, those with wounds There are those who sit, and those who are sat upon Those with abundance, those from whom so much has been taken And we ask here: "for whom are your good intentions? On whose side do you stand?"

(from "Poem of the Students Meeting", 1977)

Indonesia will not be the same without his confident and full-of-life personality, without both his political and other poetry, his massive impact on theatre – he trained many of the country's actors and theatre workers – and without his political courage and consistency.

Analysis & opinion

The Golkar factional competition

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2009

Hanta Yuda A.R., Jakarta – Who will replace outgoing Vice President Jusuf Kalla as the next chairman of Golkar when the party holds its congress in October? Some figures are certainly ahead in the race.

They are, among others, Aburizal Bakrie (a business tycoon and the current chief welfare minister), media tycoon Surya Paloh, and upstart Golkar legislator Yuddy Chrisnandi.

Finally, all of a sudden the youngest son of former president Soeharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, also announced his intention to join the race. Tommy's sister, Siti "Tutut" Hardiyati Rukmana may also join her brother win the chairmanship of the party, which was founded by their father, Soeharto. Tommy's financial power will be able to change the party constellation.

There are least possibilities for the congress. First, there could be four factions: Aburizal, Paloh, Yuddy and Cendana (the Soeharto clan). Of these four factions, Aburizal's and Paloh's seem to be the most prepared in terms of power and strategy. In addition, they meet all the organizational requirements.

Second, there might only be three factions: Aburizal, Paloh and Cendana. This could happen if Tutut joins the race, while Tommy and Yuddy quit. Yuddy will likely support Tutut. All of them have similar power, political capital, personality, financial strength. With the political map like this, the three factions have relatively balanced power.

Third, the race could crystallize into two blocs: Aburizal and Paloh. This could happen if the Cendana candidates are stopped by the party's rules.

The next question is, if Tommy is hampered by the organizational requirements, to whom will he divert his support? It seems the Cendana clan do not want the Golkar Party to be controlled by Aburizal and his supporters (Akbar Tandjung, Agung Laksono and Ginandjar Kartasasmita), who are considered traitors by the Cendana clan. The family would throw their weight behind Surya Paloh.

Therefore, the pattern of the Golkar congress five years ago in Bali would be likely happen again: a discourse that the Triple-A alliance (Aburizal, Akbar and Agung) would be matched by the new alliance of Paloh, Yuddy and Tommy/Tutut.

If the Triple-A tend to direct Golkar to join the government, the alliance of Paloh-Tommy-Yuddy is based on similar ideas to make the party an independent one, free from power. If this alliance could be achieved, the convention will be interesting to see. In a situation like this, it is not impossible for Paloh to win the larger battle.

Apart from the leadership issue, Golkar needs to remember it is experiencing a political famine. The indications were seen from the decline in votes from election to election during the reform era. In the 1999 elections, votes from Golkar decreased drastically from 74.1 percent to 22.3 percent. The percentage of votes dropped again in the 2004 elections, to 21.5 percent, and in the 2009 elections to 14 percent. The Golkar Party also failed in the presidential election of July 8, 2009, with candidate Kalla taking only 12 percent of votes.

There are at least four diseases eroding away at the number of votes for Golkar in the 2009 elections. The diseases are supposed to be work for the new management.

First, the political engine of the organization is less effective, because the elite are too busy enjoying the power. The political energy of the elite has been drained for external affairs, so the internal affairs lack attention.

Second, the prolonged elite factionalism has led to the weakening of the organization. Since the fall of the New Order, divisions in Golkar continue to occur.

In presidential elections from 1999 to 2009, the Golkar elite have never been united in their support of presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Third, pragmatism has undermined the militancy of Golkar members, thus causing the political engine of the organization not to run optimally.

Fourth is the decline in the quality of the recruitment system. The elite are too busy securing high positions in the government. As a result, many do not operate effectively. Some have jumped the fence, joining other parties. In addition, the pattern of recruitment of members is not based on the merit system, thus strengthening the practice of nepotism in the elite environment of the Golkar Party.

Golkar needs to take major measures to stem its declining popularity among voters.

First, reconciliation amongst factions. The momentum of defeat has to be used to consolidate the party.

Second, the ideology of revitalization to improve the militancy of the party should not undermine the organization.

Third, the regeneration of cadres should be conducted to refresh the party. Fourth, the restructuring of the organizational structure and the organizations under the party should also be performed.

Fifth, the reorientation of the leadership of the party. The leadership of the party should also pay attention to internal matters. Therefore, Golkar's future leader should be visionary, transformative, innovative and qualified in performing managerial roles.

Sixth, political repositioning should also be considered. By being outside the government, the Golkar Party will have the space and time to make corrections internally.

The six agendas of this rescue can only be done by a leader who is oriented toward bringing independence to the Golkar Party.

The writer is a political analyst and researcher at the Indonesian Institute, Jakarta.]

The revival of feudalism in the public sphere

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2009

R. Kristiawan, Jakarta – The recently passed film law shows up an irony for democracy in Indonesia, especially in the quality of the public sphere. The old law, Law No. 8/1992, was not reformed, while the press law and the broadcasting law have been adjusted to democratic principles.

The crucial point of the old film law was the existence of the Censorship Body, which, under Soeharto's regime, was the extension of authoritarianism.

People have been waiting for a revision. The Indonesian Film Community proposed a judicial review to the Supreme Court, but was rejected in April 2008. Quietly, the House of Representatives (DPR) revised the law without the full participation of all stakeholders.

They then passed it on Sept. 8, 2009. Ironically, the new law is far from the spirit of democracy and freedom of expression.

The new law still regulates the existence of the Censorship Body (Article 58). Indonesia, then, is a country where public aspiration is selected by some people. Norms, morality and ethics are then determined by 17 "special" people to "protect" society. It is true there is a slight difference compared to the old law.

Under the New Order, the Censorship Body was founded to control subversion. However, other articles show the spirit of film- controlling by the state through the process of preproduction permit and distribution limitations.

The new film law is one of the laws that promote feudalism in the public sphere. Some laws – Press Law No. 40/1999, Broadcasting Law No. 32/2002, the newly passed freedom of information law – have successfully promoted open flow of information. However, other laws – the new film law, Electronic Transaction Law No. 11/2008, the draft state secrecy bill – have shown the opposite.

A healthy public sphere requires the same positions of stakeholders. In the modern era, there are three main actors determining the quality of the public sphere: the state, the market, and society. Domination by one over the others will decrease the quality of the public sphere.

The idea of the public sphere comes from Jurgen Habermas in The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962). Habermas idealized the public sphere as a main source of public opinion needed to legitimize authority for the sake of a mature democracy.

There are five conditions to propose a democratic public sphere: unlimited access to information, absence of coercion to society, equal rights to participate, the rule of law – especially on state subordination – and absence of ideology in rational dialogue. The main cause of the failure is a situation where the public sphere merely becomes power representation. The state tries to colonize the life world.

In Indonesia now, the tendency of the revival of feudalism is taking place by the state's intervention into the public sphere.

The state operates a show of authority rather than rational dialogue, and sustains old regulations that were clearly formed to support authoritarianism.

Regulations are formed not to support a healthy public sphere, but to affirm their power over society. There is big ambivalence of law between maximizing the quality of the public sphere and controlling the public sphere as representation of interest.

The writer is an activist at the Tifa Foundation, Jakarta.]