Jakarta – A group of non-government organizations have called the 2010 Law on the 2011 State Budget "unconstitutional" for alledgely failing to provide adequate funds to improve people's welfare.

The group said it was planning to submit a judicial review on the law to the Constitutional Court in either February or early March.

Yuna Farhan, a member of the group, said the health budget, for example, totaling Rp 13.6 trillion (approximately US$1.5 billion) this year constituted only 0.5 percent of the 2011 State Budget.

"That is despite Article 171 of the 2009 Law on Health saying the government must allocate 5 percent of the state budget for health expenditures, excluding salaries," Yuna said, as quoted by kompas.com.

Representing the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA), Yuna added that this year's health budget declined by Rp 6 trillion from the 2010 figure.

Students expelled after criticizing teacher

Jakarta Post - January 23, 2011

Indra Harsaputra, Kediri – Two female junior high students from Kediri, East Java, have been expelled from their school for allegedly defaming and insulting a teacher on Facebook.

Arum Damayanti and Rizky Amelia Wahyuningtyas, however, were hopeful they could return to school, their parents said.

"The decision [to expel them] is weighing heavily on her mind and my daughter has begun to not concentrate on studying, meanwhile the national exams are just around the corner in April," Askandar, Arum's father, said over the weekend.

The case follows on the heels of an incident in November last year when the school seized students' mobile phones following a report that one student had lost their phone and some money.

Askandar said his daughter and Amelia were distraught when the school had not returning their phones, and expressed her annoyance at a teacher through Facebook.

"Arum and Amelia did not mention the school's name or the teacher. Later, Arum deleted the comments fearing she might get into trouble with the school," Askandar said.

In her posts, Arum wrote that "As [the teacher] gets older and closer to death, he should adopt a more pious attitude." Amelia responded to the post by writing "Indeed, my cell phone was also seized. The dog...he'd better be killed."

The decision to expel students for comments posted on the Internet is not the first case of its kind in East Java.

Five senior high students were expelled from their school in Probolinggo last year after criticizing school policy. The school also threatened to sue the students, saying they violated the information law.

In a similar case, the Jember district court sentenced university student Mohammad Wahyu Muharom to three months of probation for defaming and insulting his marching band teacher after he accused the teacher of stealing in posts on Facebook.

Askandar said he was hopeful the school would accept his daughter back, but the school board has instructed him to enroll Arum at another school.

Amelia's mother, Sholihatun Nadhiroh, criticized the school's decision, saying it should not have punished the girls, but counseled them.

"I wish the school taught the students on how to wisely use the Internet. I have reminded my daughter to be careful about what she posts on Facebook," she said.

Despite the case, both Askandar and Sholihatun said they would not stop their children from using Facebook. They said Facebook was a means for the girls to socialize and voice their criticism.

A fatwa (religious edict) by Muslim clerics in Kediri that using Facebook was haram has not deterred them either.

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has lent its voice to the growing criticism of the case.

"Punishing the girls is not an appropriate educational response because the students' criticism is part of their freedom of expression," Yudhie Tirzano, the chairman of the Surabaya branch of AJI, said.

Kediri deputy mayor Abdullah Abu Bakar said his administration would campaign on "proper" Internet use to prevent further occurrences of similar cases.

New book reveals CIA role in consolidation of Suharto's New Order regime

Kompas - January 22, 2011

Jakarta – The US Central Intelligence Agency very much dominated the initial consolidation of the New Order regime of former President Suharto. US international relations historian from Princeton University, Bradley R Simpson, says that the succession of laws enacted by President Suharto was drafted with strong influence from the US.

"As an example is the case of Law Number 1/1967 on Foreign Capital Investment. A succession of laws and the presence of Freeport in Papua were the initial steps in US government intervention at the time in the Suharto regime", said Simpson, who has recently launched a book published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama titled "Economists with Guns: The United States, the CIA and the Emergence of the Authoritarian New Order Regime".

The White House and the CIA played an extremely important role in efforts to reschedule Indonesia's debt after the Indonesian economy during earlier period of former President Sukarno suffered hyperinflation and problems obtaining foreign exchange.

In the initial period of the Suharto administration US intelligence greatly assisted the military dominated regime. Although there were also concerns a too large military organisation in Indonesia could be counterproductive to US interests. It was because of this that it was only in the 1970s that the US was prepared to provide primary defense equipment weaponry.

In the initial period of Suharto's reign, the military assistance provided was largely in the form of training and citizenship activities that were beneficial to society. The US pushed the Indonesian military (TNI, then ABRI) to enter society and become involved in business activities.

Simpson conducted research for the book for more than 10 years in order uncover new evidence on the New Order regime's dependency on US aid for the sake of obtaining financial assistance that was used to consolidate the regime.

The research material came from US and British archives that have been declassified or are open to the public. Simpson insists that the US and the CIA were not involved in the September Thirty Movement/Indonesian Communist Party (G30S/PKI) affair. Although following the affair, the White House and Britain approved of the eradication of the PKI down to its roots, which ended in the mass slaughter between 1966 and 1970. (ONG)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Conference on 1965 tragedy overshadowed by FPI threat

Jakarta Post - January 19, 2011

Hans David Tampubolon – Many believe that the aborted communist coup of 1965 was the result of a global conflict between world superpowers. What is less understood is the impact of the coup and the events that succeeded it on world politics.

In an attempt to shed light on what many consider the country's darkest hour, the German Cultural Center Goethe Institut is currently holding a conference on the subject.

"The title of our conference is 'Indonesia and the World in 1965'. So, we will not only talk about what really happened back then but its impact on the world," Goethe programming division head Diniah Latuconsina said.

In its official statement, Goethe Institut said that the motive behind the conference was to get a new perspective on what really happened when an aborted coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) led to the murder of hundreds of thousands people.

In the four-day conference between Jan. 18 and Jan. 21, experts including John Roosa, author of the controversial book Pretext for Mass Murder, will speak in a session titled "Indonesia in the Cold War Game: The Rise of Soeharto and the involvement of the world leaders" on Jan. 21.

Given the incendiary topics discussed in the conference, Goethe Institut has requested the police guard against threats from radical groups, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), which has threatened to close down the conference.

Goethe Institut cultural officer Lely Cabe said precautionary measures had been taken to protect the conference from the FPI. "The police are ready and prepared for any possibilities," said Lely.

On Tuesday, rumors abounded that FPI members would mob the Goethe Haus building. The threat materialized when dozens of people who called themselves members of the Youth Islamic Movement (GPI) staged a rally in front of the building, calling for the conference to be called off. Protesters carried banner denouncing the defunct PKI.

The FPI denied that GPI was part of its organization. "I don't know about that group. Our members are now busy preparing for events to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad," FPI Jakarta head Salim Alatas said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

West Papua

Light sentences and SBY's speech upset Papuans

Jakarta Post - January 23, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The light sentences sought for soldiers who tortured two Papuans, coupled with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's dismissal of the torture as "a minor incident" only perpetuates systematic torture of Papuans, activists said.

An investigation by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) also trivialized the situation for Papuans, human rights activists said in a discussion Saturday. Komnas HAM reported the torture perpetrated by security forces against the Papuan civilians were not a gross rights violation, therefore they recommended that the trial be heard by a military tribunal and not a human rights court.

On Thursday, Jayapura military tribunal prosecutors sought prison sentences of 12 months for Second Sgt. Irwan Riskianto, 10 months for First Pvt. Yakson Agu and nine months for First Pvt. Thamrin Mahagiri of the 753rd Infantry Batallion.

The men are charged not with torture, but for insubordination in a May 2010 incident where they tortured two Papuan civilians, Anggen Pugu Kiwo and Telengga Gire. The military tribunal is scheduled to hand down a verdict on Monday.

The video of the torture surfaced on YouTube in October 2010 and created global outrage. The soldiers in the video used sharp weapons on the two men and pressed a burning bamboo stick into one of the men's genitals. In a videotaped testimony sent to Komnas HAM in November last year, Kiwo said the soldiers hit them, bound their arms with rope, dragged them to the back of the army post and bound their feet with barbed wire.

The soldiers tortured Kiwo for three days, beating him with their hands and sticks, crushing his toes with pliers, suffocating him with a plastic bag, burning his genitals and other body parts, cutting his face and head and smearing crushed chilies into his wounds, as well as other forms of cruel abuse.

Komnas HAM earlier this month said three recent incidents of torture in Papua were not gross rights violations but "serious violations of human rights".

In a speech Friday to more than 200 military and police leaders, Yudhoyono called the torture "only a minor incident".

Papua Customary Council member Markus Haluk said Komnas HAM should have defined such torture as gross violations as they were not isolated incidents but rather systemic and related to the large presence of military personnel in the area.

"This is not the first time a Papuan civilian has been tortured by security forces," Markus said.

Olga Hamadi from the Papua branch of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) said there were widespread incidents of rights violations against Papuans, including discrimination, since Soeharto's New Order regime declared the region a Military Operational Area (DOM) to suppress a secessionist movement.

Papua remained a DOM until 1998 but large numbers of soldiers remain in the resource-rich region. "The discord between the military and civilians is huge. Soldiers look down at Papuans as inferior," she told The Jakarta Post.

SBY describes Papua torture as 'minor'

Jakarta Post - January 22, 2011

In a statement that may hurt his image as a champion of democracy, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday that a vicious torture incident in Papua that triggered global outrage was "a minor incident".

"Just because of a minor incident perpetrated by three soldiers, I have to explain the incident to the world, the UN, the EU [European Union] and the US," Yudhoyono told a joint meeting of leaders of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police.

He said that although the incident was "small", it made world headlines. "My time was spent explaining and handling the [fallout] of the problem, which I believe was only a minor incident as there have been no gross [rights] violations by the TNI or National Police since 2004."

The President was referring to a videotaped incident in which three soldiers from the Cendrawasih Military Command in Jayapura, Papua, tortured two Papuans accused of being members of the secessionist Free Papua Movement (OPM).

The defendants have been courtmartialed, where they face charges not of torture, but of failing to obey orders, and face only nine months to a year in a military prison, the Military Court in Jayapura was told Thursday.

Prosecutors are seeking a oneyear sentence for Second Sgt. Irwan Riskyanto minus time served prior to the hearing. They are also seeking sentences of 10 months and nine months for First Pvt. Yakson Agu and First Pvt. Thamrin Mahagiri, respectively.

Yudhoyono called for the incident to be resolved so it would not damage the already tainted image of the TNI, which has struggled to distance itself from a dark past.

The President also called on the TNI to better educate soldiers on humanitarian laws and the Geneva Convention to stop incidents of human rights violations.

Previously, New York-based Human Rights Watch blasted the prosecution of the three soldiers, who are being tried in a military court notorious for its lenient sentences and lack of independence.

Al Araf, the program director at Indonesia Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial), said that instead of emphasizing the absence of gross rights violations since being elected, the President should acknowledge that human rights continue to be violated more than a decade after the downfall of strongman Soeharto.

"An incident is defined as gross human rights violation if it is systematic, widespread and causes civilian casualties. Perhaps we have yet to see such gross violations, but there are many cases across the country that the government fails to prevent," he said.

He added that the government also failed to address the suppression on freedom of expression and gathering, citing a rally by the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) to disrupt an LGBT film festival at the Goethe Institute.

Apart from the Papua incident, soldiers found to have perpetrated numerous other rights violations also faced light sentences. In Banda Aceh, First Lt. Faizal Amin of the Simeulue military command was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Thursday for assaulting a journalist.

Human rights activists say President lied on violations in Papua

Jakarta Post - January 22, 2011

Jakarta – Human rights activists in Papua deem the president's claim that no gross human rights violations occurred in Papua under his administration as a complete farce. The statement was made by the president during a meeting between police and Indonesian military leaders.

The secretary general of Central Papuan Student Association, Markus Halo, said the statement undermined the feelings of Papuans who had been suffering from intimidation and torture.

Tortures carried out by three members of the army's 753 Batalion was a clear proof of the existence of human rights violations in Papua, Markus said. The three soldiers are now in trial, with prosecutors seeking up to 12 months of imprisonment.

"The president lied. How can he speak of no violations when there is," Markus said at KontraS headquarters in Central Jakarta as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Saturday.

KontraS deputy coordinator for Papua Olga Hamadi claimed that many had bear account to numerous violations conducted by the military in Papua, but no one could do anything. "Us civilians can only watch and campaign through human rights movements," he said.

Minister clarifies indigenous Papuan

Jakarta Post - January 22, 2011

Jayapura – The Home Affairs Ministry has asked for alteration of the definition of "Indigenous Papuans" amid the ongoing election of new members for Papua People's Council (MRP).

MRP members consist of representatives from Papuan tribal elders, the religious community and women. "Indigenous Papuan" used to be defined as the indigenous ethnic people of Papua.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi wants to clarify that "indigenous Papuans should also include those who have been accepted as Papuan people by the elders".

The "indigenous" question has become an issue in the wake of recent calls that only indigenous Papuans should be allowed to run for regent or mayor positions.

Kontras: Human rights violations in Papua still high

Detik.com - January 21, 2011

Andi Saputra, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) says that human rights violations in Papua are still high. These violations represent a threat to civil freedoms and discriminate against the Papuan people's identity.

The high level of human rights violations have been aggravated by unclear regulations and a failure to provide a sense of justice to the public.

"There is still a great deal of violence and threats against civil liberties", said Kontras Papua coordinator Olga Hamadi during a press conference at the Kontras' offices on Jl. Borobudur in Jakarta on Friday January 21.

This was revealed after Kontras held its third congress in Jakarta yesterday. According to Olga, what has been taking place in Papua is an increase in horizontal violence, both structural as well as mysterious. This has been aggravated by the lack of any legal resolution that satisfies the public's sense of justice.

"Is this in fact being setup to increase the number of security personnel in Papua?", asked Olga. "In the case of the legal process, the verdicts are always light. Five or six month's jail. This harms the public's sense of justice", he asserted.

In addition to uncovering human rights violations in Papua, Kontras also exposed the human rights violations taking place in other regions such as Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and East Java.

"In Sulawesi, most human rights violations were in the agrarian sector and the criminalisation of human rights workers. This is because there is no commitment on the part of the regional government to strengthen human rights enforcement", said Kontras Jakarta coordinator Haris Azhar during the same press conference. (asp/lrn)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Military prosecutors demand 9 to 12 months for torture

Jakarta Post - January 21, 2011

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Three soldiers of the Cendrawasih Military Command in Jayapura, Papua, could face nine months to one year in a military prison for alleged involvement in the torture of Papuans accused of being members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM).

The defendants' actions were deemed to be acts of insubordination, the Military Court in Jayapura was told on Thursday.

"Second Sgt. Irwan Riskyanto should face one year in prison minus time served prior to the hearing, and pay Rp 15,000 in court fees for violating Articles 103 [1] and [3] of the Military Criminal Code [KUHPM].

"Irwan's sentence should be heavier because he was the deputy commander," said Maj. Soemantri, one of the military court's prosecutors.

The prosecutors also demanded the panel of judges sentence First Pvt. Yakson Agu to 10 months in prison, and First Pvt. Thamrin Mahagiri to nine months. Thamrin was found guilty of insubordination, a violation of KUHPM Articles 103 (1) and (3).

Human Rights Watch, however, has blasted the sentence demands as the defendants were charged under Article 103 of the Military Criminal Code on insubordination rather than on charges of torture.

"This was a test case for the Indonesian government and it has failed," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"The charges should reflect the crimes committed. People who burn another man's genitals should be tried for torture, not simply slapped on the wrist for disobeying orders."

Human Rights Watch has long criticized Indonesia's military courts, which are not transparent and lack of independence, often serving soldiers light sentences.

Pearson went on to say that the US and other military partners should pressure Indonesia to adopt a law that would try soldiers who commit serious abuses in civilian courts.

Meanwhile in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, First Lt. Faizal Amin of the Simeulue military district was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Thursday for beating a journalist.

The outcome of the two separate military tribunals in Jayapura and Banda Aceh seem to indicate that the military places torture and the beating of a journalist on the same level when it comes to its own personnel.

Soldiers face jail for 'disobedience' over footage of Papua torture

Agence France Presse - January 21, 2011

Indonesian prosecutors have demanded jail terms of up to 12 months for three soldiers accused of disobedience after they filmed themselves torturing Papuan civilians.

In footage posted on YouTube last year, the soldiers apply a burning stick to the genitals of an unarmed man and threaten another with a knife as they interrogate them about the location of a weapons cache.

The United States has said it is "monitoring" the court martial after human rights activists slammed Barack Obama's decision last year to re-open military links with Indonesia's notorious special forces.

The soldiers each read the same confession to their separate courts martial in the Papua provincial capital Jayapura. "I committed the act. I regret it and promise not to do it again," each said.

The Indonesian military has described their actions as "unprofessional" but has not charged them with more serious offences such as assault or kidnapping. Indonesia has no law against torture.

The charge of disobedience carries a maximum penalty of 2 1/2 years in jail.

"Their superiors had never ordered them to abuse the public," each of the three prosecutors said.

Prosecutor Major Soemantri recommended Second Sergeant Irwan Rizkiyanto be jailed for 12 months for disobeying an order, slapping victim Tunaliwor Kiwo and "stepping on his head with flip-flops".

First Private Yakson Agu was accused of suffocating Kiwo with a plastic bag for "10 seconds" and burning his "genital area", and should be jailed for 10 months, prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Edi Imran said.

In the third case, Imran said First Private Tamrin Mahan Giri deserved nine months' jail for "holding a knife at the neck, lips and nose of victim Telangga Gire".

The minor charges and the authorities' alleged reluctance to investigate the torture allegations cast doubt on the Indonesian government's pledges to rein in military abuses in return for renewed US military exchanges.

The victims have refused to testify at the court martial, saying they fear for their lives and have not been given adequate security guarantees.

In a videoed statement, Kiwo has told Papuan elders he thought he was going to die during two days of torture in which he was repeatedly beaten, suffocated, burned with cigarettes, cut with a razor and tormented with pain.

Soldiers confess to Papua torture video, claim they were 'annoyed' by OPM

Kompas - January 20, 2011

Jayapura – Three members of the Indonesian military (TNI) who are appearing as defendants in a case of torture against civilians in Papua have confessed to being guilty of their actions.

They claim that the torture was spontaneous and not premeditated because they were annoyed over the actions of the armed Free Papua Organisation (OPM) group, which often harasses the authorities.

The confession was made during the cross examination of the defendants at an open hearing by the Jayapura Military Court in Papua on Wednesday January 19. During the trial that was presided over by judge Lieutenant Colonel (CHK) Adil Karo-karo, the three defendants admitted that they consciously carried out the torture even though their tactical commander had ordered them to release the two detainees who were allegedly members of the OPM.

As reported previously, on May 27 last year at a TNI security post in Gurage, Puncak Jaya regency, located around 20 kilometers from Mulia (the regency capital), Telenggen Gire and Anggen Pugukiwo, two alleged members of the OPM were tortured.

The torture was carried out by the deputy commander of the Gurage security post, Sergeant Second-Class Irwan Riskianto and two of his subordinates, Private First-Class Yason Agu and Private First-Class Thamrin Makangiri. The soldiers are from the 753 Infantry Battalion/Arga Vira Tama unit. Pictures of the torture were exposed on the YouTube website.

At yesterday's trial, differences emerged between the testimonies of the defendants and witness First Private Pratu Berno. According to Berno's version of events, which was read out by auditor Major (CHK) Obet Manase because the witness was unable to attend (currently on duties outside the office), it was revealed that the torture by Irwan was carried out by pointing an SS1 assault rife in Anggen Pugukiwo's face. The defendants however said that this testimony was incorrect because the weapon was pointed at Telenggen Gire.

Under cross examination Private Yason Agu explained that the two Papuans who were suspected of being OPM members had already been reported to the tactical commander. But because the evidence was only a dual identity card, the tactical commander ordered the security post soldiers to release Anggen and Telenggen.

However this order was not obeyed by the security post soldiers, which was currently under Irwan's command (the Gurage post commander First Lieutenant had been assigned to help the Yambi post). Instead, they tortured the detainees. (ICH)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Soldiers face jail for 'disobedience' over Papua civilian torture

Agence France Presse - January 20, 2011

Indonesian prosecutors have demanded jail terms of up to 12 months for three soldiers accused of disobedience after they filmed themselves torturing Papuan civilians.

The soldiers each read the same confession to their separate courts martial in the Papua provincial capital Jayapura. "I committed the act. I regret it and promise not to do it again," each said.

The Indonesian military has described their actions as "unprofessional" but has not charged them with more serious offences such as assault or kidnapping. Indonesia has no law against torture. The charge of disobedience carries a maximum penalty of 2 1/2 years in jail.

"Their superiors had never ordered them to abuse the public," each of the three prosecutors said.

Prosecutor Major Soemantri recommended Second Sergeant Irwan Rizkiyanto be jailed for 12 months for disobeying an order, slapping victim Tunaliwor Kiwo and "stepping on his head with flip-flops".

In the third case, Imran said First Private Tamrin Mahan Giri deserved nine months' jail for "holding a knife at the neck, lips and nose of victim Telangga Gire".

The victims have refused to testify at the court martial, saying they fear for their lives and have not been given adequate security guarantees.

Military must investigate Papua shootings: Ministry

Jakarta Post - January 17, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The military must conduct a thorough investigation of a shooting incident left two civilians dead in Papua on Friday, the Defense Ministry says.

"We cannot conclude yet what happened there or why the incident occurred without first investigating it," Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. I Wayan Midhio said on Sunday.

Wayan claimed that his office had not received information about the incident that occurred on Friday morning in a border security post in Nasem village of Merauke, Papua.

Klemen Samkakai and Amandus Galum were killed by gunfire after allegedly storming into a border security post at around 7 a.m. on Friday. The post was guarded by infantry battalion 132/Bima Sakti.

The two civilians allegedly tried to seize weapons from the post and shot First Private Sukirman with bow and arrow, hitting his left arm. The men also allegedly threatened the guards with a machete.

Jayapura's Cendrawasih Military Command official Lt. Col. Harry Priyatna said he believed that the attack was not political, calling it "purely a crime". "There are strong allegations that the two men tried to seize control over the military's firearms," he said as quoted by Kompas daily.

He added that the two men were former convicts and often threatened the villagers.

Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) program director Al Araf asserted the importance of conducting an independent investigation of the incident to determine whether it was solely an issue of self-defense by the army or a violation of human rights.

He said the investigation should also determine whether the army conducted itself properly in allegedly firing weapons that claimed civilian lives.

Al Araf said that the military officers could only fire their weapons if their lives were seriously threatened and only as a last resort. He added that the best practice was to shoot to disable.

"Therefore, we have to see the incident as objectively as possible, since Papua is very prone to incidents between the military and the Papuans," he added.

There have been three recent cases of human rights violations in Papua, involving military who allegedly tortured civilians and allegedly killed Papuan Reverend Kindeman Gire.

He urged the government, including the House of Representatives, to evaluate the situation in Papua, where the military and Papuans often clashed.

Indoleaks

US sent US$100,000 to manipulate social media in Indonesia

Detik.com - January 19, 2011

Fitraya Ramadhanny, Jakarta – The United States government used the social networking media in Indonesia, from blogs, Facebook to Twitter, to spread its influence. Additional funds requested by the US Embassy in Jakarta reached US$100,000 or 900 million rupiah.

This was revealed in a cable dated February 12, 2010 from the US Embassy in Jakarta to a US Foreign Affairs Department official named Jared Cohen. As reported by The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday January 19, the cable reveals the US's strategy to utilise the social media in Indonesia for US interests.

"The US embassy in Jakarta asked for additional immediate funds to utilise the new media and social networks to maximise the online gains for the US President's visit that was scheduled for late March 2010", read cable's summary.

The funds requested amounted to US$100,000 or around 900 million rupiah. "We asked for US$100,000 in funding from R. to push our Facebook fan membership up to 1 million people, and were able to achieve this within 30 days", read their request.

It was planned that this money would be used in three areas. The first was for advertising costing US$60,000.

"These funds were used to promote the visit and the (Facebook) fan page as a place to study and to provide exclusive advertisement on online portals, advertising banners, YouTube, Twitter and other promotional efforts, including associated bloggers, contests and prizes, and to make use of SMS technology", read the strategy outline.

The second strategy was with a Golden Ticket valued at US$15,000. The Golden Ticket strategy was to give an opportunity to a lucky Indonesian to meet with President Barack Obama during his visit to Indonesia.

How was the Golden Ticket contest organised? The US Embassy referred to social media platforms in which Indonesians were invited to make a posting saying why they should meet with Obama.

"Utilising social media platforms to connect fans with Obama's visit, also to build a sense of cheerfulness prior to the visit and follow-ups after the visit. In addition to this, we were able to form a partnership with local TV stations for the finalist event and increase coverage. If the White House does not approve, the alternative is a 'dream prize" in the form of educational trips to the US", they explained.

The final strategy was a new media team from the US Embassy that would be assisted by digital marketing specialists. The aim was that the two earlier strategies could be undertaken immediately within a limited time. The cost would come to US$25,000. (fay/nrl)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Political & civil rights

Rights abuses and rise of intolerance 'a risk to freedom'

Jakarta Globe - January 17, 2011

Ismira Lutfia, Jakarta – Despite a recent report identifying Indonesia as the only truly free country in Southeast Asia, the country's Asean human rights commissioner said weak law enforcement and rising intolerance could threaten this freedom.

According to the latest Freedom in the World findings released on Thursday by civil rights watchdog Freedom House, Indonesia was listed as a "free" country in terms of political rights and civil liberties – the only country to receive this rating in the region. The full report will be available by April 2011.

Indonesian commissioner to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Rafendi Djamin agreed with the assessment, saying, "Indonesia's general condition is obviously free compared to other Asean countries."

However, he warned that restrictive laws and regulations such as the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law could set Indonesia back from its current condition.

"Although we have been listed as a 'free' nation since 2006, we have not yet developed a mature democratic system," Rafendi said. "Our position can only be considered stable when it has remained consistent for at least a decade."

He added that weak law enforcement against human rights violations and declining respect for diversity presented serious threats to democracy.

The annual Freedom in the World report defines a country as "free" when there is open political competition, a climate of respect for civil liberties, independent civic life and independent media.

Indonesia has received a rating of "free" every year since 2006, before which it was listed as "partly free" between 1998 and 2005.

On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the ideal condition of freedom for a country, Indonesia scored 2 for political rights and 3 for civil liberties. The combined average of these scores should give Indonesia a rating of 2.5 in the final report, classifying it as a "free" country.

Fellow Asean members Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines are listed as "partly free," while Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam and Laos are listed as "not free." Two other neighboring countries that are not Asean members, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea, are listed as "partly free."

The 2011 Freedom in the World survey assessed conditions of freedom in 194 countries and 14 related and disputed territories. Out of the 194 countries, 87 were classified as "free," 60 as "partly free" and 47 as "not free." Major nations in the Asia-Pacific region listed as "free" include India, Mongolia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

According to the survey's results, 11 countries exhibited noteworthy gains toward freedom in the past year, but 25 others showed significant declines, with the number of "free" countries dropping from 89 to 87, and the number of electoral democracies dropping to 115, far below the 2005 figure of 123.

"This should be a wake-up call for all of the world's democracies," said David J. Kramer, the executive director of Freedom House.

"Our adversaries are not just engaging in widespread repression, they are doing so with unprecedented aggressiveness and self-confidence, and the democratic community is not rising to the challenge."

Human rights & law

Human rights watchdogs say SBY soft on violations

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Armando Siahaan & Nivell Rayda – Human rights activists criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for playing down human rights violations in the country, saying it was counterproductive to reform.

Speaking before more than 500 military and police officers at a joint leadership meeting in Jakarta on Friday, Yudhoyono claimed there had not been any gross violations to rights since he assumed the presidency in October 2004. "This is historic – a new chapter for Indonesia," he said.

He said this record was tarnished by the torture of two Papuans by soldiers, an incident recorded in a grisly YouTube video posted in October last year.

However, the president said lapses like this "could happen in the military of any country." "It was just one incident amid a wave of change in our country over the past few years," he said, adding that the soldiers in the torture would be punished.

Rights advocates disputed the president's claim, saying there were numerous rights abuse cases recorded throughout his term.

Indria Fernida, deputy chairwoman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the president's statement was "counterproductive toward reforms in the military and police."

"I think the president must look at the fact that there are hundreds of cases of torture, extrajudicial killings, inhumane treatment and excessive use of force over the years," she said.

"These cases show that there is hardly any accountability or fulfillment of victims' rights on violence perpetrated by law enforcers and military," Indria added.

"The president has pledged that past cases of abuse would be resolved and create greater transparency. We see very clearly that these pledges have not been fulfilled."

The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) said there had been at least 135 cases of excessive use of force by police officers since 2005.

Last week, Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers in Jambi, a province on Sumatra Island, shot unarmed farmers they thought were attempting to steal palm oil from a plantation.

The National Police had issued a regulation last year allowing its officers to use live bullets to control "anarchic situations," particularly in rowdy demonstrations.

Human rights activists said the decree violated the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which Indonesia ratified in 1990 but left unimplemented.

Indonesia has also adopted the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, but the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) recorded more than 150 cases of the maltreatment of prisoners or suspects last year.

Sophie Richardson, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch's Asia division, expressed concern over the numerous cases of impunity in Indonesia.

"It is hard to get real justice in Indonesia if you are a victim of violence perpetrated by the military," she said by phone from New York.

The international human rights organization has urged the US government to review its renewed ties with the Kopassus special forces, accused of killings in East Timor and Papua, among other rights violations.

The US imposed a training ban in 1999 against Kopassus for its alleged abuses, but it lifted it in July last year.

"Although the perpetrators in the [Papua] video were from Kostrad [the army's Strategic Reserve Command], part of the reason the ties were restored was because Indonesia assured the US that they have reformed," Richardson said.

"And we see time and time again that this is hardly the case at all. If the video had not received international condemnation, would there be any trial at all? These are some of the indications that there had not been any changes inside the military."

More witnesses, victims seeking protection

Jakarta Post - January 19, 2011

Jakarta – The Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) received 153 protection requests in 2010, up from 74 in 2009 and 10 in 2008, agency chairman Abdul Haris Semendawai told a press conference on Tuesday.

"This is good news because it indicates that LPSK's presence is in line with public expectations. At the same time, it is also a challenge for us given our limited resources and the loopholes in the legal foundations of witness and victim protection," he said.

Semendawai said the agency had received 116 requests from witnesses and victims of general crimes, such as murder and torture. "Twenty-seven witnesses and whistle-blowers of corruption cases sought our protection," he said.

Nine domestic violence victims also requested protection, and one request was terrorism-related.

In Geographic terms, 55.26 percent of the total requests in 2010 came from people in Java. "As many as 30.26 percent requests were from Sumatra, 5.29 percent from Kalimantan, while the rest were from eastern Indonesia," Semendawai said.

The LPSK has called for a revision to the 2006 Law on Witness and Victim Protection that would grant the agency more authority to summon and question people. "We also plan to establish branch offices in provinces," Semendawai said.

He said the agency had formed a selection committee to pick two new LPSK members. The new members will replace former LPSK members I Ktut Sudiharsa and Myra Diarsi, who were dismissed for ethical violations for their roles in the alleged incrimination of two Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairmen.

Indonesia police allegedly shoot six unarmed farmers

Jakarta Globe - January 16, 2011

Indonesia – Six poor farmers remained in hospital on Sunday after they were allegedly shot by members if the National Police's notorious Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Jambi province on Saturday.

The farmers are understood to be in an ongoing conflict with palm oil company Kresna Duta Agroindo, a subsidiary of the controversial Sinar Mas Group.

State news agency Antara reported that the victims were shot as they were harvesting palm fruit near the village of Karang Mendapo in Sarolangun.

The six farmers suffered serious to critical injuries, including one man who was shot through the face.

One of the victims, Nur, who was shot in the wrist and arm, said they were suddenly attacked as they harvested palm fruit on their own land.

He said the villagers could not fight back because they were unarmed. (Antara/JG)

Freedom of expression & press

Media groups in Indonesia press for release of jailed Playboy editor

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Ismira Lutfia – Three nongovernmental organizations have joined the chorus of voices calling for the courts to overturn the indecency conviction of Playboy Indonesia editor Erwin Arnada.

Erwin was sentenced to two years in prison last October by the Supreme Court, which controversially overturned his 2007 acquittal by the South Jakarta District Court.

He has since filed for a review of the case, arguing that he should have been tried under the Press Law rather than the Criminal Code, as the now- defunct Indonesian version of Playboy magazine was a registered media outlet.

On Wednesday, three NGOs – the Indonesian Media Defense Litigation Network (IMDLN), the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) and the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) – announced they had filed amicus curiae, or friend of the court, briefs last Friday.

Such briefs are filed by parties with an interest in a case but no personal connection to the proceedings, and can take the form of a legal opinion, unsolicited testimony or a learned treatise on the issue at hand.

"We're not parties to the case and we have no vested interests in this case, other than to contribute to the improvement of Indonesia's legal procedures and to uphold freedom of expression in the country," said Anggara, a senior associate at the ICJR.

He said the Supreme Court's decision to quash Erwin's earlier acquittal raised questions about whether religious standards, specifically Islamic ones, played any part in the decision to convict Erwin for indecency.

He said this case could be seen as a test for the government as a party to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and whether it could live up to its international obligation to protect freedom of expression in the country. The government ratified the covenant and passed it into national law in 2005.

The Legal Aid Foundation for the Press (LBH Pers), with the support of the Press Council, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the Tempo Media group and the Jakarta Globe, previously filed a similar set of amicus curiae briefs in support of the case review.

Hendrayana, chairman of LBH Pers, said the more parties that filed friend of the court briefs, the more information the judges would have as they considered the review.

Wahyudi Djafar, a human rights analyst at Elsam, said Erwin's supporters could also make use of an article in the 1981 Criminal Code Procedures that stipulates a presiding judge must seek new advice from parties with an interest in a case.

"We also want to promote the use of amicus curiae briefs as an alternative in the pursuit of justice and as a way to provide fresh insight to judges to give them a clearer perspective when they are presiding over a case," Wahyudi said.

Zainal Abidin, secretary of the IMDLN, said the submission of friend of the court briefs had contributed to the Supreme Court's decision in 2009 to overturn a criminal defamation conviction involving Time magazine.

That convictions stemming from a May 1999 cover story alleging that former President Suharto and his family had amassed a fortune of $15 billion over three decades of rule.

Erwin's conviction last year drew drawn national and international criticism from press-freedom advocates. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner also weighed in on the issue, saying: "It's nice to see so much support for the Playboy editor arrested in Indonesia."

Freedom of information

KIP orders police to disclose top officers' bank accounts

Jakarta Post - January 19, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Central Information Commission (KIP) ordered the National Police on Tuesday to disclose deposit information for 17 bank accounts held by high-ranking police officers.

KIP issued the order during an adjudication hearing between the police and the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), which requested the hearing after the police declined a request to the disclose results of its internal probe of the accounts.

The probe was initiated following allegations made by the ICW that police generals suspiciously obtained billions of rupiah in their bank accounts.

"We order [the police] to disclose the amount of money deposited in the banks; only the figures and dates, without the names of their owners," said KIP chairman Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih, who also led the panel.

He told the police that failure to comply with the order would only hurt them. "If you refuse to comply, it will be a consideration in our final decision."

The National Police's top money laundering official, Sr. Comr. Agung Setiadi, said that it would be difficult to collect the information and feared that the wrong data might be disclosed.

In July, the National Police's then spokesperson, Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said allegations of impropriety surrounding 17 of the 23 suspicious bank accounts reported by the Financial Transaction Analysis and Report Centre (PPATK) had been resolved.

The police declined to give more information on the 17 accounts or the 6 accounts not yet cleared.

The ICW asked the police for data on the bank accounts on Aug. 2, but two days later the police rejected the request, saying that the law on money laundering prevented them from disclosing personal information about individual bank accounts.

The 2008 Freedom of Information Law, which came into effect on April 30, stipulates that bank account data is not confidential if it concerns state officials.

Saragih said that if the police's statement that the funds in the 17 accounts were "normal and legally obtained" was true then the police must disclose the information requested.

Brig. Gen. Iza Fadri said the police could not disclose the information as the investigation into the scandal had not yet been settled, apparently contradicting Edward's statement.

"In the terms of the law, the investigation is still going on without a formal decision to stop the case. At some point there is the possibility of finding new evidence," he said, adding that disclosures now might hamper the police's investigation.

Five expert witnesses testified before the panel's third hearing on Tuesday: Andreas Hugo Pareira, one of the legislators who deliberated the Freedom of Information Law, and criminologist Adrianus Meliala were summoned by the ICW; Yenti Gunarsih testified for the National Police; and former legislator Dedi Jamaluddin Malik and PPATK member Muhammad Novian testified for the KIP.

KIP is expected to announce its ruling on Feb. 8. The ruling of an adjudication hearing is final with no chance appeal. Those refusing to obey KIP's may be punished with up to three years' imprisonment and up to Rp 20 million (US$2,220) in fines.

Politics & political parties

National Democrats continue to spread their wings

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Anita Rachman – While continuing to deny that they had political ambitions, officials of the National Democrats on Friday vowed that every single province in Indonesia would have an official representative by the end of the month.

"By January 28, we shall complete the setting up of branches on the provincial level," said Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, the membership chief of the mass social organization launched nearly a year ago by media magnate Surya Paloh.

But he stressed that the National Democrats would remain a social organization and dismissed speculations that this was yet another signal of the rapidly growing group's ambition to turn itself into a political vehicle for Surya to run in the 2014 presidential election.

"If we'd really wanted to turn ourselves into a political party, that would have been easy. But from the start, we have said we wanted to remain a [social] organization," Ferry said.

He acknowledged, though, that several members of the National Democrats had aired wishes to transform it into a political party.

In February last year – after suffering a crushing defeat in the battle to chair the Golkar Party – Surya threw a massive party at Jakarta's Istora Senayan to announce the launch of the National Democrats in front of a crowd of 12,000 people. There, Surya insisted he was committed to not transforming the new organization into a political party.

Ferry explained that the provincial representatives would be in addition to those already leading more than 100 branches across the country.

He said the National Democrats were currently represented in 103 districts and municipalities and 25 provinces. As of next week, the movement would see the opening of branches in more provinces, including West Nusa Tenggara, Central Java, Bali and Central Sulawesi, Ferry said.

The organization's moves come shortly after the revision of the Political Parties Law, which now states that parties must have representatives in each of the 33 provinces, in 75 percent of all districts and in half of all subdistricts, and permanent offices at each level. Parties previously only needed 50 members to be recognized.

The law, which has been criticized by analysts for its strict guidelines to prevent marginal parties from running, also states that parties wishing to contest the 2014 election have six months to prove they have 990 members.

Democrat allies say they'll fight Century inquest

Jakarta Globe - January 17, 2011

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Two political parties loyal to Indonesia's ruling party on Sunday said they would continue to stand by the Democrats, effectively making it almost impossible for the legislature to launch an inquest into the Bank Century bailout even with the recently lowered quorum.

The National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), which have supported the Democratic Party throughout the Bank Century saga, said on Sunday that they would not back any motion for the House of Representatives to use its right to express an opinion in regard to the bank rescue.

A Constitutional Court ruling on Wednesday lowered the quorum needed for the House of Representatives to invoke the right to express an opinion, the first step in impeaching the president or vice president.

"Give our law-enforcement institutions enough time to resolve the case," said Tjatur Sapto Edy, the chairman of PAN's faction in the House, which consists of 46 lawmakers.

Abdul Kadir Karding, head of the executive board of PKB, which has 28 lawmakers in the chamber, said the party would be consistent with its past position on the issue.

He also chided other lawmakers for threatening the government. "Don't manipulate every single political issue. We are here to take care of the nation, not to play with it," he told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday. "This [kind of move] will destroy the nation, these insignificant maneuvers."

During the House's special inquiry into the bailout, PKB and PAN voted alongside the Democrats in March to find no wrongdoing. However, the six other parties voted that the rescue violated laws and recommended criminal investigations.

Critics, who hold Vice President Boediono responsible for the bailout, have since said the investigation has not been progressing. Boediono was head of Bank Indonesia at the time of the rescue.

Last year, a group of lawmakers led by Bambang Soesatyo, from Golkar, tried to initiate the right to express an opinion. But with 148 Democrat lawmakers, or 26 percent of the 560-seat House, it was virtually impossible for the initiative to advance given the 75 percent quorum required at the time.

Following the court decision last week to lower from three-fourths to two- thirds the quorum needed for the right to express an opinion, Bambang said they would consider the move if no concrete progress was seen in the criminal probes.

However, if PAN and PKB stick with the Democrats, the three parties would comprise 39 percent of the House – still enough votes to block any attempts at expressing an opinion.

Even the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest opposition party, isn't keen on revisiting the Bank Century scandal.

PDI-P faction chairman Tjahjo Kumolo said his party would be careful in responding to the issue, as PDI-P did not want to be manipulated by other parties for their own interests.

Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, also from PDI-P, has said the new court ruling would serve as ammunition for the coalition partners in terms of their bargaining position. "There will be a trade-off with the ruling power," he said.

Bambang, however, said he believed anything was still possible if the people wanted it.

"It's not impossible, look what happened with the Bank Century [special inquiry], at first it looked impossible to gain support, but in the end we got so many of them," he said, referring to the fact that six out of nine parties in the House voted that the bailout was illegal back in March. "Why? Because they don't want to lose people's support."

Saldi Isra, a legal expert from Andalas University in West Sumatra, doesn't agree with Bambang's optimism, however. He said it would be very difficult to initiate the right unless there was widespread public support. Even then, he said, it was unlikely to result in impeachment.

The process entails forming a special committee through a plenary session to re-examine the result of the bailout investigation. The plenary would then forward its arguments to the Constitutional Court. If both branches agreed, the House could forward a proposal to impeach to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Elections

Police, protesters in Depok come to blows over mayor

Jakarta Globe - January 21, 2011

Zaky Pawas, Indonesia – Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in Depok on Thursday as opposition mounted against Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail, who on Wednesday was sworn in for his second term in office.

The protesters, gathered outside Depok City Hall, claimed that Wednesday's inauguration was illegal in light of a ruling by the West Java State Administrative Court this month that annulled the results of the incumbent's Oct. 16 victory at the polls.

Nur Mahmudi won 41 percent of the vote, ahead of Badrul Kamal, whom he also beat in the 2005 election, with 26.8 percent.

However, Badrul and the other candidates accused Nur Mahmudi's camp of cheating and alleged that the Depok General Elections Commission (KPUD) had conspired to rig the vote.

Their calls for the results to be declared invalid and a re-vote ordered were dismissed in November by the Constitutional Court, which hears election disputes, effectively upholding Nur Mahmudi's victory. However, the protesters on Thursday demanded that he step down.

Depok Police Chief Sr. Comr. Ferry Abraham said an estimated 200 protesters began gathering outside City Hall at 10 a.m., carrying posters with messages objecting to Nur Mahmudi's inauguration a day earlier. "They also pelted the building with frangipani flowers," the officer said.

He added the rally soon turned ugly as the protesters locked the nearby KPUD building and tried to force their way past a police barricade into City Hall.

The protesters also brought out a mock coffin made of wood and set it on fire. "We had to put out the fire because it was threatening to cause severe traffic congestion in the area," Ferry said.

Scuffles then broke out between the protesters and police, prompting senior officers and protest leaders to intervene and persuade everyone not to let their emotions get away. Ferry said the violence lasted about 15 minutes, with no injuries reported.

The police presence at the scene included a water cannon unit and 125 officers from the riot and crowd control squads.

Ferry said the protest, which ended at about noon, caused heavy congestion on the streets in the immediate vicinity of City Hall. "Fortunately, though, no one was injured in the entire incident – no protesters and no police officers," he said.

Nur Mahmudi is accused by his rivals and critics of buying votes when he handed out money during a visit to a hospital and offering free meals before and after the vote last October.

Poll monitors have also alleged that urban ward officials had gone door to door handing out money and telling people to "vote for number three," in an apparent reference to Nur Mahmudi's listing on the ballot.

However, the mayor's camp has denied any wrongdoing, attributing his victory to his achievements during his first term as mayor, including paving roads and repairing other transportation infrastructure in a bid to boost the regional economy.

Prihandoko, a member of the mayor's campaign team, earlier said Nur Mahmudi would continue the same programs in his second term in office, as well as boost lending programs for small- and medium-sized businesses, and empower local youths in a bid to reduce the unemployment rate.

Revised law 'edges out' smaller parties

Jakarta Post - January 17, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The government kicked off its process to qualify political parties looking to contest the 2014 polls, while smaller parties requested more time pending a judicial review on a newly revised law, which they claimed set difficult requirements.

Shihabuddin Azhari, the director of state administration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, said the ministry would begin registration for the verification process on Monday. "The verification process will continue until July as required by the law," he told The Jakarta Post.

The newly revised political parties law stipulates that the verification process must end two-and-a-half years before the next elections. This means all registering parties have to fulfill requirements by July or face being excluded from the next elections.

The revisions also make it more difficult for smaller parties to join the elections. It requires parties to have offices in all 33 provinces, 75 percent of the cities and regencies in each province, and 50 percent of the districts in each city and regency. The offices must be permanent, at least until the election has ended.

Most parties with seats in the House of Representatives said they were ready for the verification process despite the tighter rules.

Anas Urbaningrum, the chairman of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, said his party was prepared. "Our party has branches throughout the archipelago all the way down to the village level," he claimed.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Tjahjo Kumolo also said his party was ready.

Muhammad "Romi" Romahurmuziy, the deputy secretary-general of the United Development Party (PPP), said his party – with established offices in 33 provinces, 486 cities and regencies, and more than 6,000 districts – was also prepared for the verification process.

However, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said it would need until March to ensure it could fulfill all requirements. "We are running our own verification process from now to February," he said.

Small parties claim the new rules put them at a disadvantage, with 19 saying they planned to file a judicial review with the Constitutional Court on Monday.

"This law is a blow to democracy and impedes on the people's constitutional right to establish political parties," Didi Supriyanto, the secretary- general of the National Union Forum (FPN), which represents 15 smaller parties, said.

He said it would be difficult for smaller parties to establish hundreds of branch offices as required by the law. "It's obvious that politicians from established parties don't want small parties participating in the elections," he said.

The FPN represents parties that participated in the 2009 elections but failed to win a seat in the House.

Some politicians have raised concerns over the government's readiness for the verification process. "We are worried whether the Law and Human Rights Ministry has properly prepared officials tasked with conducting the verification process," Anas said.

Social organisations & NGOs

Golkar politician wins Ansor election

Jakarta Globe - January 18, 2011

Amir Tejo & Candra Malik, Surabaya – A congress of the Ansor Youth Movement, which is linked to the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, on Monday elected a new chairman who will serve a five- year term.

Golkar politician Nusron Wahid won after two rounds of voting, defeating rival Marwan Jakfar with 345 votes to his opponent's 161. In the first round, which included 10 candidates, Nusron received 257 votes while Marwan had 183. None of the other candidates had more than 50 votes.

Speaking after his victory, Nusron vowed he would not prevent Ansor cadres from entering politics and would introduce changes in the organization.

However, he reiterated that Ansor would abide by Nahlatul Ulama's stand of not being critical of the government. "The gist is that the NU politics is focused more on the wellbeing of the people," he said.

Nusron's election had been marked by snide comments, with some writing comments such as "chose Nusron who has received a check," "Nusron is very magnanimous" and "Nusron the donor" in ballots.

Many have aired fears that Nusron, who is known to be close to Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie, might drag the organization into the political arena.

Yenny Wahid, daughter of the late NU chairman and former Indonesian President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, welcomed Nusron's election, saying he was a genuine cadre of the Nahdlaturl Ulama.

"I do not question his background. He's a genuine cadre who started his pursuit in the NU via PMII [Indonesian Islamic Student Movement]," Yenny said.

Yenny, who also chairs the NU-linked National Awakening Party [PKB], acknowledged Nusron's ties to Golkar. She hoped that he would not drag Ansor into the political sphere.

"He should bring home Ansor to its roots as an institution to create scholars and leaders for NU in the future," she said.

Social movements & civil society

Centers in Indonesia to open for reports of government 'lies'

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran – Unfazed by a meeting they had with the president to clarify their accusation that the government has been lying to the public, a group of religious leaders on Wednesday said they would open centers to receive public reports on government lies.

"As a result of the public enthusiasm shown during a public hearing at the office of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), the working council of the Interfaith Religious Movement has decided to declare the establishment of centers to report on lies told to the public," Chalid Muhammad, the working council's coordinator, said.

Speaking at the opening of one such center at the Maarif Institute for Culture and Humanity in Jakarta, Chalid said other centers would also be opened in the regions.

He said the regional offices of various organizations such as the PGI, the Indonesian Bishops Conference, the Maarif Institute offices, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), Migrant Care, the Catholic Student Association (PMKRI), Indonesia Corruption Watch and the Wahid Institute, would also house centers.

"We need to ask the public's opinion, whether they feel the government has lied to them or not," said Effendi Gazali, a member of the working council.

"The purpose is good, to rectify the government's weaknesses, for a better future." Fajar Riza Ul Haq, executive director of the Maarif Institute, said the interfaith movement had singled out 18 government lies in various sectors, including in unresolved corruption investigations.

Its allegations clearly irritated the government, with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto convening a special press conference to deny the accusations and object to the government being called a liar.

"We're sure there are more lies," Fajar told a press conference. "To prove this, we are opening these centers so that we can tell the government that they have lots of work to do."

The religious leaders cited among the lies the government's reluctance to solve the murder of human rights activist Munir, the failure to uphold justice for victims of the Lapindo mudflow disaster and dishonest data used to claim government success in poverty reduction.

They also pointed to failure in promoting inter-religious harmony and the unresolved probe into the attack on Indonesian Corruption Watch activist Tama Satrya Langkun.

Indonesian government can't shake 'liar' label

Jakarta Globe - January 19, 2011

Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – A coalition of religious figures has vowed to remain critical of the government's failings, following a meeting on Monday night with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The group sparked an angry backlash from senior cabinet ministers last week when it accused the Yudhoyono administration of lying to the Indonesian people and failing to carry out its mandate.

Monday's gathering was called by the president to "reduce misunderstandings" over the issue, but on Tuesday the group said it was still concerned about several government failures, including note keeping vows to alleviate poverty and eradicate corruption.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-biggest Islamic organization, said that despite the "positive, warm and open" dialogue with the president, the group would not stop criticizing the shortcomings.

"We appreciate the government's goodwill, but we'll wait for the realization [of that goodwill] on the ground," he said.

"We religious figures [in the group] are independent, and fear only our respective gods. We won't be influenced at all [by Monday's meeting]." Din added the movement was not a political one and denied it was aimed ultimately at getting Yudhoyono impeached.

"We don't approve of... toppling the government," he said. "The movement was never intended for that."

Benny Susetyo, from the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI), also a member of the religious coalition, said the group was compiling data by which to assess the government's performance in various areas. "We're preparing data and agendas for improvements," he said.

Benny identified issues of particular interest to the group as the case of rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan, the Bank Century bailout, the Lapindo mudflow disaster and the spate of attacks by Islamic hard-liners against minority religious groups.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said there would be more meetings between the government and religious figures in the future.

Djoko, who was widely lambasted for saying the claims that the government had lied were "going too far," said the government welcomed deeper discussions on key issues and encouraged religious figures to bring their cases to the relevant ministries.

"The government took note of all the criticisms conveyed by the religious figures," he said. "We agreed that [Monday's] meeting was just a preliminary, opening meeting."

Din said that at least one minister during the meeting had raised objections to the group's accusations of dishonesty.

But the Muhammadiyah chairman responded by clarifying that what the religious figures meant by "lying" was "the discrepancy between the government's words and actions."

"If [the government] doesn't like the term, then that's fine," Din said. "The most important thing is for them to pay attention to the substance [of the claims]."

On Monday, the group released a joint statement at the Maarif Institute highlighting the government's failures, in particular its inaction on opposing and preventing attacks against minority religions and protect freedom of speech and of the press.

The group also said the law under the current government "is defeated by power and money" and also criticized the discrepancy between the country's strong economic growth and the weak distribution of wealth among the poor.

The government has also failed to address major rights violations, including against Indonesian migrant workers abused by their overseas employers, the group alleged.

Media & journalism

Journalists not paid enough to maintain integrity

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Ismira Lutfia& Banjir Ambarita – The appallingly low wages paid to the majority of journalists in Indonesia may cause some to compromise their professionalism, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) said.

The Jayapura chapter chairman of the AJI, Victor Mambor, said journalists working in a high-risk environment such as Papua can be paid as little as Rp 5,000 ($0.55) per story.

A survey conducted by the AJI from December 2010 to January 2011 in 16 cities found that numerous media outlets in other parts of the country pay their journalists as little as Rp 300,000 to Rp 700,000 per month.

"With such low wages and poor working conditions, journalists become prone to accepting bribes and are more willing to compromise their professionalism, which could result in impartial reporting," Winuranto Adhi, head of the AJI's workers union division, said on Friday.

AJI chairman Nezar Patria said the alliance has made recommendations regarding the minimum adequate salary for journalists across the nation as part of a campaign to improve journalistic professionalism.

The AJI's recommended minimum monthly salary for entry-level journalists ranges from just less than Rp 3 million for a reporter in a small town such as Kediri, East Java, to almost Rp 5 million for journalists working in Jakarta, where living costs are much higher.

The recommended salary for journalists in large regional centers such as Surabaya, Yogyakarta and Semarang is just more than Rp 3 million a month.

Currently, television news reporters in Kediri are paid as little as Rp 300,000 per month, while those working in Semarang receive Rp 700,000, without any transportation or communication allowances – both well below the amount recommended by the AJI.

Newspaper journalists in other areas of the country are not only paid less than recommended by the AJI, but also less than the regional minimum wage.

Winuranto said indicators used by the AJI in its survey were tailored to suit the working and living standard expected for journalists, covering miscellaneous needs such as food, clothing, housing and transportation as well as additional costs such as earning enough to purchase a laptop computer in installments throughout two to three years.

He added the AJI's survey did not base its recommendations on the minimum wage for each province because "it is meant to cover the minimum requirements [for those working in the profession], not simply cover an adequate standard of living."

In its survey, the AJI praised three media outlets already paying their journalists above the recommended minimum.

The three outlets are the Jakarta Globe, the Jakarta Post and Bisnis Indonesia, with an average salary of between Rp 5 million to Rp 5.5 million per month.

Labour & migrant workers

Moratorium putting maids out of work, activists say

Jakarta Globe - January 17, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani – The government moratorium on sending Indonesian domestic migrant workers to Malaysia has worsened the unemployment situation in the country, as alternative jobs have not been provided for the thousands of workers slated to leave for Malaysia, activists said on Sunday.

Speaking at a women's rights seminar in Jakarta on Sunday, Thaufiek Zulbahary, head of the migration program division from the group Women's Solidarity for Human Rights (Solidaritas Perempuan), said imposing the ban was a responsive move but not the best solution to tackle violence against Indonesian migrant workers.

"The government does not care about what happens to the workers [barred from leaving for Malaysia in 2009]. The workers were simply sent back to their villages without being given any alternative prospects for employment," Thaufiek said.

"The reason those workers chose to look for jobs in Malaysia as domestic helpers in the first place was because they had no opportunities in other sectors in their home country," she added.

The moratorium has been in place since 2009, when an increasing number of cases of abuse against Indonesian domestic workers sparked outrage in the country.

Malaysia and Indonesia are still in the process of discussing terms and conditions for the moratorium to be lifted.

According to the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI), approximately 36,000 workers were barred from leaving for Malaysia in June 2009 when the moratorium was implemented.

The House of Representatives was scheduled to revise the 2004 Law on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Abroad in 2010, but the bill is still pending.

Roostiawati, head of foreign cooperation at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration's directorate for overseas worker placement, said the government had no plans to revoke the moratorium in the near future.

"We will only revoke the moratorium on sending migrant workers to Malaysia once we have improved the system for protecting our workers," she said. "Ensuring the protection of our migrant workers will require cooperation from other departments and ministries."

Roostiawati said that from January this year, her ministry would be working in partnership with labor-intensive sectors on plans to absorb the prospective migrant workers into domestic industries.

The ministry is currently researching the industry potential of 159 districts in West Java, Central Java and West Nusa Tenggara where many applicants for overseas work come from.

The ministry hopes to accommodate potential migrant workers in factories, agriculture, plantations and handicrafts so they will not need to look for work abroad.

Environment & natural disasters

No more cutting natural forests, minister orders

Jakarta Globe - January 18, 2011

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – The forestry minister on Monday warned some logging companies that they needed to stop harvesting trees from natural woodlands immediately.

Minister Zulkifli Hasan's warning was aimed not only at logging firms granted concessions this year, but also at timber companies still harvesting trees from natural forest concessions they had been granted in 2010.

"We are reorganizing the management of the pulp and paper industry," Zulkifli said. "Previously, they had been allowed to cut down trees from natural forests, but after 2010, not anymore."

The reorganization comes as part of a two-year moratorium, due to start this month on granting new concessions in peatlands and primary forests.

The moratorium is part of a bilateral agreement with Norway, in exchange for which Indonesia will receive $1 billion in funding for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD-Plus) schemes.

"We are hoping that in 2011, they [2010 permits holders] are already done with their cutting and are starting planting activities."

However, he said firms which obtained their logging permits before 2010 were allowed to continue harvesting in primary forests.

Firms found to be in violation of the order would be punished, Zulkifli said. "For sanctions, the ministry has already issued a regulation stating that if the company fails to comply within two years, then, we will revoke their permits."

However, Elfian Effendi, director executive of policy development institute Greenomics Indonesia, said the Ministry of Forestry should have first ascertained whether the country's industrial, or planted, forests were adequate to supply growing demand.

"Before he came out with that statement he should have checked and explained whether we could supply [timber] solely from industrial forests and not coming from natural forests," Elfian said.

"I am not sure we can completely let go of natural forests, we are very dependent on natural forests. At least 50 percent, sometimes 60 percent of [lumber comes from them]."

Furthermore, Elfian said Greenomics had been urging the ministry to set up its own team to assess the country's ability to fulfill pulp and paper demand before putting out such statements.

"In 2002 to 2008, the government regulations decreed that industrial forests can only be established in barren areas, bush areas or non- productive areas," he said.

"However, the reality is that [timber] was coming from natural forests. The Supreme Audit Agency [BPK] has considered this an illegal activity but the ministry has never followed up on the cases," he said, citing a BPK audit that was conducted on 19 companies in Riau.

Earlier in January, the Forestry Ministry announced that 500,000 hectares of land concessions would be granted this year in previously logged areas as part of a wider plan to keep virgin forests intact and slow the rate of carbon dioxide emissions.

According to Zulkifli, the timber industry in Indonesia is worth around $16 billion annually and employs at least 240,000 workers. Last year, the industry contributed $4 billion in state revenue, or 6.1 percent of the total.

Sumatran tigers nearly extinct in Way Kambas

Jakarta Post - January 18, 2011

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – The critically-endangered Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) population in Way Kambas National Park (TNWK) has declined past recent estimates as a result of poaching and the destruction of wildlife habitats.

The latest data issued by the TNWK in Lampung this month showed that the number of Sumatran tigers in the park has dwindled to the brink of extinction.

Coordinator of the Sumatran Tiger Rescue and Conservation Foundation (PKHS) Sumianto said the current number of tigers found in the 125,000-hectare national park was estimated at less than 30.

He added that in 2000 the population was estimated at 36 to 40 tigers. "We monitored their number through camera traps in 2010 and estimated that there were around 30 tigers, a decrease compared to 2000," Sumianto said on Monday.

According to Sumianto, the biggest threats against Sumatran tigers in TNWK are poaching and deforestation.

"The population of the Sumatran tiger has continued to decline, as their reproduction rate is very slow. They may become extinct in TNWK if there are no serious efforts made by the government to preserve the forest and stop poachers," he said.

"The gestation period of a Sumatran tiger is 20 months, but that's still no guarantee, because tigers are regarded as less prolific in terms of breeding," he added.

In 2007, the Lampung Forestry Office, TNWK and Bukit Barisan National Park (TNBBS) expressed high hopes of increasing the number of Sumatran tigers, thanks to the drop in poaching between 2004 and 2007. However, they could not show the latest valid data on the Sumatran tiger populations at TNWK and TNBBS.

In 2003, TNBBS rangers discovered 13 cases of tiger poaching. The number of cases dropped to nine in 2004 and only one case was recorded in 2005. Prior to 2002, tiger poaching was alarmingly prevalent.

TNWK and TNBBS attributed the drop in the number of poaching cases to hard work by those protecting the forest.

No cases of Sumatran tiger poaching in Lampung were reported between 2004 and 2011. However, that doesn't mean that animal poaching has stopped, as Sumatran tigers still exist in the parks. Poachers and animal traders are still present near TNBBS as well. Besides that, Lampung is known as a source in the illegal wildlife trade among Java, Bali and South Sumatra. Many poachers' traps can still be found in TNWK.

Moratorium 'won't hamper' investment

Jakarta Post - January 17, 2011

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – A coalition of activists rallied to convince the government that the forestry license moratorium would not hamper investments but instead give legal certainty to investors doing business in the forest sector.

The call came after the delay in implementing the promised moratorium on the conversion of natural forests and peatland areas, following a carbon- offset agreement with Norway.

"The moratorium should be the time to restructure our forest policy," Alliance of Archipelagic Indigenous People (AMAN) secretary-general Abdon Nababan said.

He added that the moratorium offered an opportunity to resolve long- standing forest problems regarding tenure rights, forest boundaries and overlapping permits, in order to reduce forestry conflicts.

"Good businesspeople would benefit because it would provide legal certainty once the moratorium was implemented," he said.

NGOs said the break would give the government, businesses and the forest communities time regroup and start managing forests with a clean slate.

The joint call came from groups such as the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), Greenpeace, the Civil Society Forum on Climate Change (CSF), the Association for Community and Ecology-Based Law Reform (Huma) and Sawit Watch.

They called on the government to shift focus from the monetary incentive offered by Norway, which had pledged US$1 billion for the moratorium.

"The forest moratorium should not be about Norwegian money. It should aim to fix forest management for the sake of Indonesia," said Georgio Indarto of the CSF.

The moratorium remained in limbo because of an absence of legal basis. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was expected to issue a presidential instruction to legalize the moratorium.

Currently, there are three drafts of presidential instructions proposed by the Forestry Ministry and the presidential taskforce on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).

The ministry says the moratorium should only apply to primary forests and peatlands, while the taskforce wants to stop the issuing of new licenses for all natural forests – both primary and secondary – and peatlands as stipulated under letter of intent between Indonesia and Norway.

"There would be no changes if the moratorium would only be for primary forests. Even without the moratorium, primary forests have been declared as protected areas," said Bernadinus Steni, the program coordinator for climate change and REDD at Huma.

He warned that the delay would tarnish the government's image in the international arena on climate change affairs.

Women & gender

Woman's activist gives 'posturing' female politicians a dressing down

Jakarta Globe - January 19, 2011

Elisabeth Oktofani & Anita Rachman – Female legislators and regional heads are failing to use their positions to promote gender equality, a women's rights activist said on Tuesday.

Dwi Windyastuti, a researcher from Surabaya's Airlangga University, said most Indonesian women tended to enter politics simply to enhance their social standing rather than champion women's causes.

"Affluent businesswomen are more likely than other women to enter politics, which is due to the high cost of vying for public office, particularly a position as regional head," she said.

"As a consequence, their motivation for getting into politics is more about gaining personal prestige than about improving social standards through a gender-based perspective."

She added women in politics tended to emulate their male peers by prioritizing position and power over all else.

"Once these women get their positions, they forget that they're meant to represent the country's women," Dwi said.

"They forget that they should be fighting for gender equality by addressing domestic violence, championing reproductive health awareness and ending human trafficking."

Meanwhile, a 2010 UN Development Program Indonesia report points out that only 17.32 percent of seats at the House of Representatives (DPR) are occupied by women, up from 11.8 percent prior to the 2009 elections.

The report said there is only one woman among the country's 33 governors – Ratu Atut Chosiyah of Banten province – along with 38 female district heads and five female ministers.

Angelina Sondakh, a House legislator and deputy secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party, said that while they remain outnumbered by men in politics, women are now increasingly taking up more important positions.

"In the past, you'd rarely see women serve in strategic positions, but now [female legislators' roles] are improving," she said.

She added that political parties should not only be concerned about meeting the quota to assign 30 percent of their House seats to women, they should also give them key positions in the party and the House.

However, Eva Kusuma Sundari, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that "We still have a long way to go if female politicians are to play a role as agents of change."

Graft & corruption

New top taxman after Gayus mess

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Dion Bisara – In a move intended to improve ministry transparency, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo ordered a reshuffle on Friday, pushing top taxman Mochamad Tjiptardjo out the door.

He was replaced with Fuad Rahmany, chairman of the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) since 2006.

Tjiptardjo was due to retire in May but had been heavily criticized for his "poor performance" in resolving a number of outstanding tax cases, especially with the scandal involving convicted former tax official Gayus Tambunan happening under his watch.

"We have seen progress in tax reform, but reform alone is not enough," Agus said during the inauguration for Fuad and other officials at the Finance Ministry on Friday.

Tjiptardjo had only served as head of the notoriously corrupt Directorate General of Taxation for about a year and a half, but speculation had been rife leading up to his replacement that his position there was vulnerable.

He has dismissed speculation that his ouster was linked to the Gayus affair, saying only that "it would be better if a new official enters office at the beginning of the year, given such a complicated task facing the tax office."

The move comes a day after the director general of immigration was replaced by Bambang Irawan, previously head of the Riau Justice and Human Rights Office, and was given the task of bringing closure to Gayus's illicit overseas trips and fake passport case.

It also follows President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's delivery of 12 explicit instructions on Monday to various institutions to bolster the ongoing investigation into the Gayus affair.

Among the president's directives was for law enforcers to look into the 151 companies the rogue official was said to have helped cheat on their taxes.

In his year-opening cabinet meeting, Yudhoyono cited the tax office as one of the areas where graft was still rampant, while stating that fighting corruption would remain one his government's top priorities this year.

However, some government critics are not satisfied with only Tjiptardjo facing the chop.

Aziz Syamsuddin, a Golkar Party lawmaker, said on Friday that the investigation into Gayus's case must follow up every name mentioned by the convict during his trial, including Bank Indonesia Governor Darmin Nasution, who was tax chief when Gayus was allegedly helping dozens of firms evade their tax obligations.

Aziz called on the president to suspend Darmin from his position as central bank governor for the sake of the investigation.

The other movements within the Finance Ministry on Friday saw Nurhaida, a specialist staff member at Bapepam, take Fuad's place.

New faces also included Bambang Permadi Soemantri Brodjonegoro, an economist from University of Indonesia, as deputy finance minister in charge of fiscal policy. The post had been held ad interim by Agus Supriyanto, who took the position after Anggito Abimanyu stepped down in May.

Anggito was officially named deputy finance minister by Yudhoyono in 2009, but was never inaugurated. Instead he was overtaken by Anny Ratnawati, leading to his resignation.

Agus Supriyanto will take the post as director general of treasury, replacing Heri Purnomo, who will be shifted to fill the top spot at the directorate general for the budget, a post that had been held by Anny.

[Additional reporting by Anita Rachman.]

Watchdog says ministry took hajj funds meant for pilgrims

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Nurfika Osman – Indonesia Corruption Watch on Friday revived allegations that the interest earned on hajj funds paid by prospective pilgrims had been misappropriated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

"Based on our findings, the hajj funds are being used for 13th-month salaries, transportation, accommodation and lodging for officials [while on hajj], when it should be for the pilgrims," ICW activist Firdaus Ilyas said.

Hundreds of thousands of prospective pilgrims pay the ministry a deposit to register for one of the limited places on each year's hajj pilgrimage. The deposit was previously set at Rp 20 million ($2,200) but was raised to Rp 25 million in March.

The funds are held by the ministry in state-owned banks and can be stored for years before a pilgrim gets a place. The fund is now estimated to hold more than Rp 1.2 trillion.

Firdaus said the law covering the management of the hajj stipulates that the government should serve and protect the pilgrims. Another section of the law further states that the operational costs of hajj officials should be taken from the state and regional budgets.

"We will look at [ICW's] findings. We want this case to be completely unraveled," said Abdul Kadir Karding, head of House Commission VIII which oversees the hajj.

"We value the findings of any institution which strictly monitors the use of hajj funds such as ICW and the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK]."

The KPK last year issued a report identifying 48 flaws in the ministry's management of the hajj. The report detailed the findings of the commission's investigation into the ministry's management of the 2009 hajj, including logistics, transportation, religious education and accommodation for pilgrims.

One of the specific problems cited by the KPK in its report was the lack of transparency in the payment of interest made on fees paid by hajj applicants.

At the time, Abdul Ghafur Djawahir, secretary of the ministry's hajj directorate, told the Jakarta Globe that the KPK's findings were just weaknesses in the system that needed to be fixed and were not related to graft.

Ministry officials could not be reached for comment on ICW's allegations on Friday.

Abdul Kadir, the lawmaker, said the use of the funds should be transparent as the money belongs to the pilgrims who want to practice their religion.

"Monitoring by independent parties is very important as it will push the ministry to use the fund effectively and wisely, and keep its practices clean," he said.

He added that the ministry should be open to investigation by any concerned institution to ensure the funding was not being misused.

Gayus's claims a distraction, say political players

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Anita Rachman – Senior politicians and analysts on Friday dismissed graft convict Gayus Tambunan's claims of political maneuvering and even CIA involvement in his case as nothing more than diversions from the main issue at hand.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie, a Democrat, said all debate on Gayus and the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force was just a small part of the bigger picture that should be revealed. "Gayus is a smart man. He wants to divert one problem to another," Marzuki said.

Gayus, speaking to reporters on Wednesday after he was jailed for seven years for corruption, used the opportunity to lash out against members of the presidentially appointed task force.

For instance, he claimed that Denny Indrayana initially instructed him to flee to Singapore when the scandal over his acquittal last year blew up, and wait until his ex-lawyer, Haposan Hutagalung, was arrested before returning home.

Gayus also claimed the task force forced him to mainly target the Bakrie Group in his allegations, claims the task force members promptly denied.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), also said the whole Gayus versus task force story line should be set aside so attention would be focused on the main problem: addressing the judicial and tax mafia that allowed the entire case to occur. "It's a trivial thing, let's look at the real problem," she said.

The comments come as Golkar party lawmakers, particularly Bambang Soesatyo and Nudirman Munir, called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to disband the task force, which they said had accomplished nothing except to tangle the legal system.

"Regardless of whether Gayus's statements [about the task force] are true or not, the president still needs to disband or change [its composition]," Nudirman said on Thursday.

On Friday, Golkar secretary general Idrus Marham backed the calls, insisting that the task force was insignificant. "And in this case, the task force has caused a new problem," he said.

There has long been animosity between Golkar and the task force, which was formed by the president in 2009 to probe allegations of institutional corruption within law-enforcement agencies, fueled largely by twists and turns in the long-running Gayus affair.

Task force member Denny Indrayana has been accused of being politically motivated in attempting to link Gayus's shady tax dealings with companies owned by the family of Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Denny testified in court last year that Gayus specifically mentioned Bakrie Group firms among those that benefited from his illicit services. Denny later earned more of Golkar's ire by suggesting Gayus might have met with Aburizal during his illicit trip to Bali in November, when the taxman was supposed to be behind bars.

Arbi Sanit, a political analyst from University of Indonesia, said the new wrangle was part of Gayus's "machinations to pit coalition parties against one another by baiting the Golkar members.

"The Golkar officials falling for it, like Bambang, aren't politically experienced enough to understand the implications of what they say or do in reaction," Arbi said, as quoted by Antara. "This is part of Gayus's game, where he pulls the strings."

Marzuki, for his part, said the focus should be on eradicating the legal mafia. "All law-enforcement institutions must work together," he said. "Please disregard the uniforms, the police and prosecutors, and let's sit together."

Gayus' wild claims 'won't shield big fish'

Jakarta Post - January 21, 2011

Rendi A. Witular and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The Judicial Mafia Taskforce on Thursday warned that claims of a conspiracy by graft convict Gayus H. Tambunan were merely a distraction to skew public attention away from the core issue of judicial and tax broker rings.

Taskforce member Mas Achmad "Ota" Santosa said key players, including police generals, prosecutors and high-profile businessmen, involved in the Gayus case would not lead sheltered lives for much longer.

"Gayus' claims are a decoy to get the public to forget about the crux of the case and the big players. Our focus should now be centered on efforts to unravel the judicial and tax mafia, as well as Gayus' jaunts away from prison," he said.

Former taxman Gayus launched into a tirade after his sentencing hearing Thursday, accusing the taskforce of politically engineering his case to implicate companies linked to Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Gayus' lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, who received Rp 10 billion (US$1.1 million) in legal fees for defending Gayus, unexpectedly turned on the taskforce, with which he had previously had good ties.

Gayus also alleged fugitive fake passport suspect John Jerome Grice, an American national, was an agent with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The police said Grice was involved in making false Republic of Guyana passports for Gayus and his family.

Gayus' CIA claims became an instant sensation on most Indonesian media outlets on Thursday.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said Gayus' seven-year sentence was just the beginning of much heavier punishment to come. "Gayus still faces charges for falsifying a passport, bribery and illegal prison escapes."

Deputy attorney general Darmono also pledged that the masterminds in the tax mafia case would soon be prosecuted. "We are now investigating the source of the Rp 28 billion and Rp 75 billion in bribes received by Gayus for his services in helping large firms 'settle' their tax problems."

Gayus previously claimed the Rp 28 billion in his bank account came partly from coal companies linked to the Bakrie family, an allegation repeatedly denied by the Bakries. Police claim Gayus helped whittle down the tax payments of 151 companies, including large multinationals.

"We have been working closely with the tax office since Thursday to probe the accounts of the companies alleged to look for indications of tax crimes," National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said.

Gayus case loose ends

1. Judicial mafia

Gayus' bribery of law enforcement officials has not been followed up. So far, only former Tangerang court chief judge Muhtadi Asnun and several middle-ranking police officers have been convicted. Key players allegedly involved in the case, including Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas, Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman, and prosecutor Cyrus Sinaga remain untouched.

2. Tax mafia

Gayus' bank accounts contained Rp 28 billion (US$3.1 million) and Rp 74 billion, allegedly received from large companies for his service in helping them with their taxes. However, this aspect of the case has never been followed up. Gayus was involved in assisting 151 companies. The National Police and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are at odds over which institution should lead the investigation.

3. Prison escape

Police have been unable to uncover those behind Gayus' illegal prison jaunts, other than the involvement of several low-ranking prison officers who are currently under arrest. Gayus has been questioned for bribing the officers to be able to leave his cell, and also for obtaining an Indonesian passport, which he successfully used to fly overseas.

Seven years for corrupt Indonesian taxman

The Australian - January 20, 2011

Peter Alford – Corrupt taxman Gayus Tambunan, whose exposure demonstrated the malignancy of Indonesia's "judicial mafia", has been jailed for seven years.

The 31-year-old yesterday accused the authorities of turning him into a "political commodity" to divert attention from evidence of massive corruption in the tax administration.

The low-ranked Jakarta tax official is suspected of receiving at least 102 billion rupiah ($11.2 million) in bribes from 44 companies whose tax liabilities he agreed to reduce.

"The image has been created I'm the No 1 criminal in Indonesia," Gayus said yesterday after his conviction. "But from the beginning I was fully committed to helping the Judicial Mafia Taskforce, especially (presidential anti-corruption adviser) Denny Indrayana... so the country can be better."

Prosecutors from the Attorney-General's Office – which the case has shown to be severely compromised by judicial corruption – said last night they would appeal against the leniency of Gayus's sentence.

His sentencing on charges of corruption, conspiracy and causing the state losses of Rp570.9 million in the case of a single company came two days after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered ministers and officials to intensify efforts to clean up the corruption and tax evasion laid bare by the case.

Gayus ostensibly has been co-operating with the police investigation and the president's Judicial Mafia Taskforce since he was brought back from Singapore by Mr Denny last March. His evidence has helped convict and jail two mid-ranking police officers, a judge, a "case broker" and several business associates. A former head of the national police's detective division and his superior at the tax office are on trial and several prosecutors are under investigation.

Gayus's former lawyer, prominent Jakarta advocate Haposan Hutagalung, is awaiting verdicts on his charges of bribery and forging court documents. But the big fish in the scandal – notably two national police generals, senior attorney-general's officials and executives of the companies who bribed him – remain untouched.

Nor have the police attempted to investigate Gayus's allegation that he took $US3 million in payments from three companies controlled by the Bakrie family, whose head, Aburizal Bakrie, is chairman of the Golkar Party and a likely contender for the presidency in 2014.

Public outrage has reached a new pitch since it was revealed that, while in police custody during the investigations, Gayus had bribed his way out of jail 68 times.

Last November, he was photographed in disguise at an international tennis tournament in Bali – a revelation that knocked President Barack Obama's historic visit off national front pages. And it recently emerged he had also travelled on a false passport to Singapore, Macau and Malaysia.

The scandal first came to light last March when a disaffected former detective chief at the national police, Susno Duadji, exposed the fixing of Gayus's first prosecution by a network of senior police, prosecutors, judges and "case brokers".

After Gayus was acquitted, Susno, now on trial, accused two police brigadier-generals, Raja Erizman and Edmon Ilyas, of direct involvement in fixing the case. Neither has been charged.

Outrage at Gayus's 7-year sentence

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Heru Andriyanto & Nivell Rayda – In a verdict widely seen as failing the public's sense of justice, disgraced taxman Gayus Tambunan on Wednesday was jailed for seven years – less than half the 20 years sought by the prosecution.

The verdict, which also included a Rp 300 million ($33,170) fine, concluded a four-month trial and an 11-month saga that captivated even a nation already used to tales of graft and corruption.

While prosecutors immediately said they would appeal, Gayus seemed pleased with the turn of events.

"I would like to express my high appreciation to the panel of judges presided over by Albertina Ho who has decided fairly, in contrast to the prosecutors who blindly demanded 20 years for me, motivated by revenge," Gayus told reporters at the South Jakarta District Court after the verdict.

He said the verdict had not been "influenced by other parties who have created a public opinion as if I were public enemy number one."

Gayus was found guilty of bribing a judge and law enforcers to get an acquittal in his first trial in Tangerang in March.

The prosecution there dropped the serious charges of money laundering and corruption and left only a minor embezzlement charge unrelated to his huge bank accounts.

The South Jakarta court also convicted him of misusing authority by accepting tax complaints filed by Sidoarjo-based seafood company Surya Alam Tunggal, leading to a tax refund that inflicted on the state a loss of Rp 570 million.

Albertina explained that the verdict was limited by the scope of the indictment prepared by prosecutors.

"Despite the finding of another suspected crime, such as the Rp 28 billion bank accounts, the panel of judges in delivering the conviction refers only to what is outlined in the indictment and what is proven in court," Albertina said.

In Gayus's favor, she added, was his frankness and the fact that he had no prior convictions.

Hasril Hertanto, a University of Indonesia criminal law expert, believed the judges' hands were, in a sense, tied. "The judges can only focus on what is being tried based on the prosecutors' indictment," Hasril told the Jakarta Globe.

"I think the verdict is already fair, taking into account that Gayus didn't initiate the bribery in the first place. Gayus would have received a far more severe sentence had the prosecutors been able to identify where his enormous wealth came from," he said.

Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said that more important was how the police will proceed in investigating the tax companies that supposedly bribed Gayus to get favorable tax treatment.

"There is a more pressing question than 'does the sentence reflect the people's sense of justice or not?' – what are the police going to do next?" Emerson said.

Police, he said, should hand over the entire investigation to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as police had clearly failed to get to the bottom of this massive corruption case.

Gayus told earlier hearings that he was paid Rp 35 billion by three companies of the Bakrie Group controlled by the family of powerful businessman and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, to help them ease tax obligations.

None of the three – Kaltim Prima Coal, Bumi Resources and Arutmin – have so far come under investigation.

Gayus still faces more trials, one for bribing his way out of prison and another for using a forged passport to exit the country. However, Hasril pointed out that Indonesia does not recognize accumulation of sentences.

"Gayus will only the serve the most severe sentence out of the trials, plus one third of the harshest sentence if there was a repetition of crime," he said.

Seven years' jail for Indonesian taxman

Sydney Morning Herald - January 20, 2011

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Gayus Tambunan, the tax official at the centre of a scandal that exposed a wide network of corruption among Indonesian law enforcers and bureaucrats, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

The sentence was far less than the 20 years being sought, but the panel of judges said it could act only on the limited indictment provided by prosecutors, which did not touch on scores of corrupt activities that Gayus confessed to.

Before being taken to prison, Gayus told reporters yesterday he accepted the verdict but that he was a scapegoat. Investigators had failed to follow up his revelations about corruption by the director-general of taxation and senior prosecutors, he said.

Gayus amassed $3 million despite being a mid-level official at the tax office. He gained notoriety not only for his sensational allegations of corruption, but also for bribing his way out of prison on 68 occasions while awaiting trial, including to travel overseas and to a tennis tournament in Bali.

Not included in the indictment presented by prosecutors to the South Jakarta court were bribes allegedly paid to senior prosecutors, judges and police by Gayus, as well as payments he allegedly received from almost 150 companies he gave favourable tax rulings to.

Among those companies were three linked to the prominent business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, who is also the head of Golkar, the political party that is a coalition partner in the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Mr Bakrie denies the allegations.

Gayus's corrupt handling of the tax affairs of a medium-sized seafood company was included in the indictment. He was found guilty of this, and of bribing some low-level prosecutors, police and one judge to secure his acquittal in a corruption trial last March.

Many analysts have criticised the handling of Gayus's case, which was led by the graft-tainted police and attorney-general's office rather than the highly regarded and independent Corruption Eradication Commission.

Dr Yudhoyono on Monday responded to the criticism by ordering an audit of all the companies handled by Gayus and an investigation into all the institutions involved in the saga. Gayus was also fined 300 million rupiah ($35,000).

Graft scandal pressures Indonesia president: Analysts

Agence France Presse - January 20, 2011

Jakarta – The jailing of a rogue tax official whose exploits shocked Indonesia will do little to improve President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's standing as a corruption fighter, analysts say.

Gayus Tambunan, 31, who managed to amass $3.1 million despite being on a wage of just several hundred dollars a week, was jailed for seven years on Wednesday after a trial packed with sensational revelations.

Tambunan said he helped scores of corporations – including some belonging to the family of one of Indonesia's most powerful politicians, Golkar party president Aburizal Bakrie – evade hundreds of millions of dollars in tax.

He also admitted bribing prison guards to release him from his remand cell for dozens of "vacations," and produced a fake passport for trips to Singapore, Malaysia and Macau when he was supposed to be behind bars.

On one occasion, the tubby taxman was caught on camera wearing a wig at a tennis tournament in Bali while officials said he was secure in his cell in Jakarta.

Indonesia Corruption Watch deputy coordinator Emerson Yuntho said the authorities' handling of the Gayus case undermined Yudhoyono's repeated election promises to crack down on corruption.

"There's an impression that Yudhoyono does not care about the anticorruption drive. We see him moving slowly," he said.

"After the first year [of his second term], people have started to lose their faith. The people aren't blind. The president has to find a way to gain the public trust."

He said there were many different interests caught up in the Gayus case. "There will be many people who will be under fire if the authorities investigate further the people surrounding the case."

Yudhoyono has won two elections on a graft-fighting platform but few people now believe he has what it takes to tackle the nefarious forces that control the country's judiciary.

A recent report by the Indonesian Survey Institute showed the public's perception of the war on corruption was nose-diving. It found only 34 percent of respondents trusted the government's efforts compared with 83 percent a year earlier.

In an effort to reassert his stature as a graft-fighter, Yudhoyono on Monday issued new directives to strengthen anticorruption investigators. He also instructed them to probe the 149 companies Tambunan said paid hefty bribes to dodge their tax obligations.

Yudhoyono's directive is backed by none other than Tambunan's defence lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution, who argued that his client is just a small player in the underworld of Indonesian corruption.

"The big fish are all the 149 companies," he said. "Why don't you just arrest all of them?"

Tambunan, whose antics have helped him garner celebrity status in a country inured to all but the most spectacular graft scandals, has offered to play a role in cleaning up Indonesia's tarnished image.

"Make me an advisor to the National Police chief, attorney general and the KPK [anti-graft commission] chairman and I promise that within two years Indonesia will be clean," he told the court. "I would not just go after the small fish, but also the sharks and the whales."

Political analyst Arbi Sanit said the Tambunan case highlighted the president's seemingly insurmountable task in tackling corruption.

"It's like cancer which reaches everywhere," Sanit said. "People like Gayus are scary. They threaten the system of government, the political, economic and value systems in this country."

Indonesia scored 2.8 out of 10 in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2010, ranking it 110th out of 178 countries.

Treachery, CIA plots! 'Victim' Gayus keeps the saga going

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Heru Andriyanto & Armando Siahaan, Indonesia – A new war of words has erupted between members of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force and graft convict Gayus Tambunan.

Moments after he was sentenced to seven years in jail by the South Jakarta District Court, Gayus used the occasion to launch a fresh attack on members of the task force, ranging from claiming it used the CIA to trap him and using him as a political pawn.

In response, the task force immediately organized a press conference to counter the accusations point by point.

Speaking to reporters in court, Gayus said the task force members had broken many of their promises to him.

"I'm very disappointed with task force members Denny Indrayana, Mas Achmad Santosa and Yunus Husein, who had promised to help me but in the end kept on cornering me," Gayus said.

Denny and Santosa were among the team that "accidentally" bumped into then-fugitive Gayus in Singapore in March last year and persuaded him to be cooperative and return to Indonesia to face the legal process.

But Gayus on Wednesday claimed that when the scandal over his acquittal last year broke, it was actually Denny who instructed him to go to Singapore and wait until his ex-lawyer, Haposan Hutagalung, was arrested before returning home.

Santosa flatly denied this. "The task force knew nothing about Gayus fleeing to Singapore," he said.

Denny showed reporters a saved BlackBerry Messenger conversation between him and Gayus. "Gayus, where are you?" Denny wrote on March 25, to no response. On March 29, Denny once again sent a message: "Where are you[?] If you're cooperative, things will be better." He later asked, "In Singapore?"

Denny pointed out that he wouldn't be asking these questions if the task force had actually instructed Gayus to flee to Singapore.

"This is one clue [indicating] that we didn't know his whereabouts," Denny said. "From this conversation, it was very clear that we did not arrange his trip to Singapore."

Gayus also claimed in court on Wednesday that task force members forced him to mainly target the Bakrie Group.

"I was reported to having met Ical [Aburizal Bakrie] in Bali, which is untrue. Denny tried to force my wife to admit that I met Bakrie. Should she say so if the meeting never took place?" he said.

But Santosa pointed out that it was Gayus and his lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution, who mentioned Bakrie's companies in court.

Gayus, who is said to have helped 151 companies with their tax problems, testified during hearings last year that he was paid Rp 35 billion ($3.9 million) by three Bakrie Group companies – Kaltim Prima Coal, Bumi Resources and Arutmin – in exchange for helping them ease tax obligations, allegations the companies have vehemently denied.

Denny also handed out a transcript of a recorded conversation between Ito Sumardi, Tito Karavian and Gayus when they were in Singapore in March. In the transcript, it was indicated that Gayus was the first one to mention Bakrie's name. "Is it okay to link Bakrie, sir?" Gayus said, without elaborating on what he meant.

Santosa also denied that the task force specifically appointed Adnan as Gayus's lawyer, claiming that they actually offered Gayus others, such as Alex Lay, Taufik Basari and Bambang Widjajanto. "It was Gayus himself who then decided to appoint [Adnan]," he said.

Gayus said that Denny promised him that he would be treated as a whistle- blower if he agreed to help uncover the tax mafia scandal, but then "Denny used me merely as a political tool."

In a wild new allegation, Gayus said that a CIA agent working with the task force had helped him obtain a Guyanese passport "According to what John Grice has said, he is a CIA agent and his activities were known by the task force," he said.

John Jerome Grice is an American national on the National Police wanted list for allegedly helping Gayus obtain a Guyanese passport. Authorities had earlier found e-mailed copies of Guyanese passports sent by Grice to Arie Nur Irawan, a member of an alleged passport ring who supposedly took the photo used in one of Gayus's false documents.

"The task force knows nothing about that information, and Gayus has to prove the truth behind the information that he received," Santosa said.

US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel, asked by reporters at the House of Representatives about the allegation on Wednesday, said the US government had nothing to do with Gayus's case. The ambassador said the allegations a CIA agent helping Gayus obtain a fake passport only served to divert public attention away from the main legal issue.

One of the Guyanese passports found was under the name of Yosep Morris, born on May 9, 1979, in Georgetown, Guyana's capital. Another document, with the photo of a woman resembling Gayus's wife Milana Anggraeni, was under the name Ann Morris, born on May 6, 1979, also in Georgetown.

On Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Agung Sabar Santoso, the National Police Chief of transnational crimes, said it appeared Gayus and his family had been planning to move to Guyana, as they found Gayus's three sons had fake Guyanese passports as well. He said they also found fake birth certificates for the three sons.

[Additional reporting by Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Farouk Arnaz.]

Corruption on upward trend in Central Java

Jakarta Post - January 20, 2011

Agus Maryono, Banyumas – Corruption is becoming increasingly rampant in Central Java as shown by the substantial increase in the number of corruption cases found over the last three years.

The number of corruption cases uncovered in 2010 more than quadrupled to 174 from only 39 in 2009 and only 29 in 2008, according to data from the Central Java Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism Eradication and Investigation Commission.

Chairman of the commission Eko Haryanto said in Banyumas on Wednesday that most of the 35 regencies and cities engaged in corrupt practice. Nearly 90 percent of all corruption practices discovered in the regency and city level at the province were not thoroughly settled, he said.

At the national level, Home Ministry data shows that 17 of 33 governors throughout the country have been named suspects in graft cases.

"There are 17 governors who are named suspects, including [the] Bengkulu Governor [Agusrin M. Najamuddin]," Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said on Monday.

Gamawan noted that two other governors – Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah and North Sumatra Governor Syamsul Arifin – were still facing legal processes for their alleged involvement in corruption cases.

The 17 problematic governors were part of the 155 heads of regional administrations who are being legally processed for alleged involvement in graft cases.

Most of the 174 cases discovered in the 35 regencies and cities in Central Java have been left without any adequate settlement, he added.

Eko said that of the 174 corruption cases in Central Java in 2010, 88 were still in the investigation stage, 39 had been legally settled, 38 were being tried, four were in the process of appeal and four others were cases whose investigation process was being evaluated.

He explained that 11 of the 174 cases were found in Semarang, nine in Temanggung and eight in Kendal.

Other regencies varied in the number of corruption cases having between two and seven cases, while Pekalongan has only one case.

"Total funds related to corruption reach about Rp 194 billion," Eko said.

If Semarang has the highest number of graft cases, Cilacap regency has the highest amount of stolen wealth, reaching Rp 30 billion. The Rp 30 billion in funds was robbed from the regental budget by local officials, including its regent, Eko said.

Karanganyar has the second largest amount of stolen state money in Central Java with Rp 22 billion, followed by Salatiga at Rp 20 billion, he added.

Eko also said that the state money being stolen was mainly from the budget for infrastructure and social service assistance.

Tallying up the prison time from a legendary scandal

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Indonesia – Aside from the rogue taxman and his one-time lawyer, seven others have been tried in relation to Gayus Tambunan's farcical trial at the Tangerang District Court in March. Six have been convicted.

Arafat Enanie

Arafat was one of the police investigators found to have taken kickbacks to tone down the list of charges against Gayus. Arafat was sentenced to five years in prison for "multiple counts of corruption," including receiving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle from one of Gayus's associates.

Sri Sumartini

Arafat's subordinate, she was found guilty of taking Rp 80 million ($8,880) in bribes from Gayus and others in return for watering down the charges against the taxman. She was sentenced to two years in jail.

Andi Kosasih

The businessman from South Sulawesi received a six-year sentence for setting up a bogus business deal with Gayus to make it appear as though he had entrusted $2.8 million to the taxman to buy land and build a shop in Jakarta. The deal was made to cover Gayus's assets while he was being investigated.

Lambertus Palang Ama

Andi's lawyer, Lambertus, received a three-year prison term for drafting the fake agreement between the pair.

Alif Kuncoro

Businessman Alif Kuncoro, an associate of Gayus, was jailed for 18-months for providing Arafat with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in exchange for not naming his brother as a suspect in Gayus's embezzlement trial.

Muhtadi Asnun

The presiding judge in the Tangerang trial, Muhtadi was found guilty of accepting a bribe of Rp 50 million ($5,500) and was sentenced to two years.

Gayus praises judges, lashes out at task force, cites CIA role

Jakarta Globe - January 19, 2011

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Graft convict Gayus Tambunan on Wednesday said he highly appreciated the panel of judges who sentenced him to seven years in jail, far below the prosecution demand of 20 years.

He also slammed members of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force for intimidating his wife and breaking promises to help him in the case. Gayus added that he suspected that a CIA agent was involved in the reported Guyana passport bearing his photograph.

"I would like to express my high appreciation to the panel of judges presided over by Albertina Ho who have decided fairly, in contrast to the prosecutors who blindly demanded 20 years for me motivated by revenge," Gayus told reporters inside the South Jakarta District Court upon hearing the verdict.

"The verdict is purely based on the indictment, it wasn't influenced by other parties who have created a public opinion as if I were public enemy number one."

Gayus was found guilty of bribing a judge and law enforcers that led to his acquittal last March in his first, controversial trial in Tangerang, in which the prosecution dropped the money laundering and corruption charges and went on only with a minor embezzlement charge unrelated to his huge bank accounts.

The court also convicted him of misusing his authority in accepting tax complaints filed by Sidoarjo-based seafood company PT Surya Alam Tunggal, causing the tax directorate to refund payments and inflict a loss of Rp 570 million to the state.

In addition to the jail term, Gayus was also ordered to pay a fine of Rp 300 million. Gayus didn't say if he accepted or planned to appeal his conviction.

"I'm very disappointed with task force members Denny Indrayana, Mas Achmad Santosa and Yunus Husein, who had promised to help me but in the end kept on cornering me," he said.

Denny, he said, promised to bring the case to the Corruption Eradication Commission because "he doesn't trust the National Police headquarters."

He also said the task force members forced him to target the Bakrie Group, he said. "I was reported to have met Ical [Aburizal Bakrie] in Bali, which is untrue. Denny tried to force my wife to admit that I met Bakrie. Should she say so when the meeting never happened?" he said.

About his alleged Guyana passport, Gayus said: "According to what John Grice has said, he was a CIA agent and his activities were under the knowledge of the task force."

John Jerome Grice is an American national on the National Police wanted list for allegedly helping Gayus obtain a Guyanese passport. Authorities have earlier found e-mailed copies of Guyanese passports sent by Grice to Arie Nur Irawan, a member of an alleged passport ring who supposedly took the photo used in one of Gayus's false documents.

Brig. Gen. Agung Sabar Santoso, the National Police chief of transnational crimes, said earlier on Wednesday that they found that Gayus's three sons had fake Guyanese passports as well.

"There isn't only a fake Guyanese passport for Gayus and his wife, Milana Aggraeni, but for all three sons as well," he told reporters.

Gayus verdict disappointing: Graft watchdog

Jakarta Post - January 19, 2011

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has lashed out at the light sentence the South Jakarta District Court handed down to former taxman Gayus Tambunan, saying it would hurt the public's sense of justice.

"People will be disappointed since it is by no means a heavy sentence," ICW analyst Firdaus Ilyas told The Jakarta Post. Gayus was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay Rp 300 million in damages.

However, Firdaus attributed the light sentence to loopholes in the legal proceedings. "The inquiry process, evidence and legal proceedings apparently have many loopholes so that the result won't satisfy the people," he said.

According to Firdaus, Gayus' case is merely a small indication of the extent of the tax mafia's reach in the country. "It will not be shock therapy for the mafia. And since the mafia in the tax office and court remain untouched, similar crimes will continue in the future," he said.

Golkar legislator alleges mafia task force conflict of interest

Jakarta Globe - January 18, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Golkar legislator Bambang Susatyo has urged a member of the presidentially appointed Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force to reconsider his position, alleging a conflict of interest in the investigation of disgraced tax official Gayus Tambunan.

Bambang said the wife of task force member Mas Achmad Santosa, Leliana, was a lawyer for United States energy giant Chevron, whose local unit Chevron Oil Products Indonesia has been alleged to have benefited from the rogue taxman's services.

The legislator is close to Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie. Three of Bakrie's companies, Kaltim Prima Coal, Arutmin and Bumi Resources, have also been implicated by Gayus in tax evasion allegations.

Bambang has previously spoken out against Santosa, also known as Ota, for improperly targeting Bakrie for political gain in the long-running scandal.

Speaking on Monday, Bambang said that given the relationship between Leliana and Chevron, it was now clear why Santosa and other members of the task force were focusing on Bakrie's three companies, which are a large part of the Bakrie family empire.

"The Bakrie case is being manipulated by them to cover for other companies, including Chevron," Bambang alleged. "Mas Achmad Santosa must resign from his position on the task force because he is vulnerable to a conflict of interest."

House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, urged Santosa to clarify his stance.

"He must do something in relation to this matter because it could potentially weaken the credibility of the task force," he said. "It's a serious problem, moreover Chevron is one of the biggest taxpayers but it was managed by Gayus, who is known publicly to be a member of the tax mafia."

He said given the public's hopes in the task force, "any allegations of possible nepotism must be cleared up."

Santosa would not respond to the allegations, saying it was an attempt to divert his attention from investigating the tax mafia. He said that if he responded to the accusation it would take up most of his time, which is "what the judicial mafia wants."

The House of Representatives is preparing to establish a special commission to investigate tax mafia practises, including the Gayus case, raising concerns the House's attention will be again diverted from enacting new legislation to further their own interests.

The twists, turns, trials and tribulations of a rogue taxman

Jakarta Globe - January 19, 2011

July 25, 2009

Gayus Tambunan, a mid-ranking official in the tax directorate whose job is to verify complaints from taxpayers, is named a money-laundering suspect, based on the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) flagging a suspicious Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) held in his bank accounts.

Sept. 27, 2009

His lawyer, Haposan Hutagalung, arranges a meeting between Gayus and businessman Andi Kosasih where they agree to set up a bogus business deal to cover-up Gayus's assets, at that time frozen by police. In an agreement doctored to date back to May 26, 2008, Gayus receives $2.8 million from Andi to help the businessman buy land and a shop in North Jakarta. Andi asks police to unfreeze "his money" in the taxman's accounts.

Nov. 26, 2009

Police order Bank Panin and Bank BCA to lift the freeze on Gayus's accounts.

March 12, 2010

The Tangerang District Court acquits Gayus, as prosecutors drop the money- laundering and corruption charges and demand only probation for a minor embezzlement charge unrelated to his bank accounts.

March 18, 2010

Former chief of detectives Susno Duadji implicates two police generals, Edmon Ilyas and Raja Erisman, of acting as "case brokers" in Gayus's case.

March 22, 2010

Prosecutor Cirus Sinaga, believed to be the key figure behind the taxman's March acquittal, denies fabricating Gayus's case and threatens to sue Susno for libel, but the plan never materializes.

March 24, 2010

Gayus leaves for Singapore as the National Police and the Attorney General's Office are widely criticized over his case.

March 31, 2010

Gayus returns to Jakarta after surrendering to police, who immediately re- name him a suspect.

Sept. 8, 2010

The second trial of Gayus begins in the South Jakarta District Court but prosecutors again don't pursue the sources of his suspicious fortune. The defendant had repeatedly claimed he received Rp 35 billion from three Bakrie Group companies – Kaltim Prima Coal, Bumi Resources and Arutmin – in exchange for helping them ease tax obligations. Gayus is charged with bribing law enforcers and misusing authority in his handling the tax case of Surya Alam Tunggal, a small private company.

Nov. 5, 2010

Gayus, who is supposed to be behind bars at the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) detention facility in Depok, is photographed by the Jakarta Globe as he watches an international tennis tournament in Bali, disguised in a wig and glasses.

Nov. 11, 2010

Nine officers from Brimob are named suspects for the Bali trip scandal.

Dec. 22, 2010

Prosecutors recommend a 20-year sentence for Gayus, the maximum punishment for bribery, citing no mitigating factors and describing him as having exploited weaknesses in the taxation system for personal gain.

Jan. 3, 2011

Gayus lashes back at prosecutors and police, saying they know nothing about tax issues and they don't have the guts to pursue the bigger criminals in the case.

Jan. 4, 2010

Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar says Gayus has traveled to Macau and Kuala Lumpur using a fake passport under the alias Sony Laksono between Sept. 24 and 26. The passport photo bears a striking resemblance to Gayus's Bali disguise.

Jan. 7, 2010

Gayus admits to traveling to those destinations with his wife, Milana Anggraeni.

Jan. 10, 2010

In his final defense, Gayus half-jokingly says he wants to become an expert assistant to the National Police chief, the attorney general or the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman and promises that with his help, "within two years Indonesia will be clean."

Jan. 19, 2010

The South Jakarta District Court sentenced Gayus Tambunan to seven years in jail.

However, the much-awaited verdict was limited to the scope of the indictment prepared by the prosecutors, and did not touch on the source of Gayus's illicit multibillion rupiah wealth.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono steps up effort to fight corruption

The Australian - January 19, 2011

Peter Alford, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has issued a flurry of directives dealing with Indonesia's most troublesome corruption cases, as he tries to take charge of an issue seriously eroding his administration's effectiveness.

This week he made 12 directives on the Gayus Tambunan tax scandal, and five more seeking to extinguish the smouldering political risk of the Bank Century bailout.

However, having campaigned on counter-corruption policies in two presidential elections only to deflate many hopes he had raised, Dr Yudhoyono is now battling headwinds of public cynicism.

"This is the President's response to the voices who want his impeachment (over Bank Century and Gayus), which is peaking now, with religious leaders also starting to speak out," University of Indonesia political analyst Arbi Sanit said.

By October only 34 per cent of Indonesians trusted the administration's efforts against public corruption, compared with 83.7 per cent a year previously, according to the Indonesian Survey Institute.

The scale of Dr Yudhoyono's task was clear this week when the administration suspended Bengkulu governor Agusrin Najamuddin, the 17th of Indonesia's 33 provincial chiefs under graft investigation.

Dr Yudhoyono is now paying the price for refusing to intervene decisively on behalf of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the one untarnished grime-fighting institution, when the national police were mishandling the Gayus case.

Last year, he failed to adequately protect his best counter-corruption ministers, then finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Vice-President Boediono. In 2008 Dr Muliyani and Dr Boediono, then at the central bank, led a $US750 million recapitalisation of Bank Century, which had been looted by its owners, to protect the rest of the banking system.

Although vindicated by KPK and the Centre for Financial Transactions Reporting and Analysis inquiries, they came under fierce parliamentary and public attack. Public perception is that the administration was dirty in the Bank Century episode.

Which appears to be the case again with Gayus, a bent tax officer. Gayus's antics have exposed corruption at senior levels of the police, the tax office, the judiciary and the prosecution service – all interests well- represented in the national parliament.

The President's directives give KPK, PPATK and his Judicial Mafia Taskforce stronger roles, but the grossly compromised national police remain in charge of the main Gayus investigation.

"The President is trapped in the conflict of political interests," says Indonesia Corruption Watch co-ordinator Emerson Yuntho. "When he pushes on Gayus, the other parties push on Bank Century, where he is vulnerable."

Home affairs minister fed up with graft-tainted governors

Jakarta Globe - January 19, 2011

Anita Rachman & Camelia Pasandaran – Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi has painted a bleak picture of the country's regional heads, saying too many have been implicated in graft scandals.

"Among the 155 regional heads who have been named graft suspects, as of today, 17 of them are [current and former] governors," Gamawan said during his meeting with Committee I of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

In the latest scandal, Bengkulu Governor Agusrin Najamuddin is facing up to 20 years in prison for allegedly embezzling Rp 20.16 billion ($2.2 million) from the province's coffers.

Ministry spokesman Rey Donny Zar Moene later explained that the figures cited by the minister spanned cases from 2004 to 2011, and that some of the suspects had already been tried, were being tried or were being questioned as witnesses.

Among them is North Sumatra Governor Syamsul Arifin, who was arrested in October in connection with alleged corruption committed while he was head of Lankat district.

In August, the former governor of Riau Islands, Ismeth Abdullah, was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a procurement scam that cost the government Rp 98.6 billion.

Also included in the list of graft suspects are Rudy Arifin, governor of South Kalimantan, and Awang Farouk, governor of East Kalimantan.

Rey said the president had already ordered investigations into the listed governors.

Gamawan, meanwhile, urged the issue be taken seriously, calling for closer monitoring of regional heads not only after they are elected but also during election campaigning.

He said candidates in regional elections were known to spend vast amounts of money on their campaigns. He said some campaign expenditures he had reviewed reached as high as Rp 100 billion, "when, in fact, a governor can only earn about Rp 6 billion during their five-year term in office."

Gamawan said salaries for governors were Rp 8.6 million a month on average. With additional incentives, such as for helping meet tax collection targets, governors could take home anywhere between Rp 34 million to Rp 90 million per month.

The minister cited Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo to illustrate a hypothetical case. "Let's say, Pak Fauzi Bowo gets Rp 100 million per month, plus benefits. He could earn Rp 1.2 billion per year. In five years, he could earn Rp 6 billion," he said.

Siti Zuhro, an analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said so-called investors supported candidates running for regional elections, who would later ask for the favor to be returned after their candidates were elected.

"Once they are regional leaders, they would work for the investors' interests," she said. "This fact just shows how our regional elections have been tainted by money politics and opportunism."

The minister said that he was increasingly concerned about how pervasive corruption had become. "Every week, there is a regional leader who is named as a [graft] suspect," he said.

Gamawan said his ministry was ready to hold a special meeting with the DPD to discuss the regional elections, with the government currently re- evaluating the entire monitoring system for all polls.

He said multiple monitoring systems were being looked at, including by the public and Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).

Probe urged as Indonesian football graft fears surface

Jakarta Globe - January 17, 2011

Arientha Primanita – Indonesia Corruption Watch called in a news conference for a thorough audit of the much-maligned Indonesian Football Association's (PSSI) finances, which the group said lacked transparency.

Abdullah Dahlan, a researcher at ICW, said they would use the Freedom of Information Law, newly enacted six months ago, to ask the PSSI to open its books. He said they would also request the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to audit the association.

Earlier, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said it had found indications of possible misuse of PSSI funds set aside for the improvement of teams nationwide.

The PSSI annually receives Rp 27 billion ($3 million) from the Indonesian Super League, a subsidy of Rp 2.2 billion from FIFA and Rp 4.5 billion in foreign-player registration fees, Koran Tempo reported last week.

It also collected the proceeds of fines from discipline violations totalling around Rp 4.5 billion last year, adding to donations from businessmen and ticket sales from events such as the hot-selling Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup.

PSSI treasurer Achsanul Qasasi said the association was audited annually by a public accountant. He also argued that FIFA, the international governing body of football, routinely checked PSSI's use of the annual subsidy.

"We have always been audited. [We] are transparent," Achsanul told the Jakarta Globe. "What kind of transparency are these people asking? Do they want to tear apart our financial reports?"

He said the PSSI would welcome financial data requests as well as a BPK investigation, even though the association, which is not a state institution, is not under the audit body's auspices.

"We receive funds from the state budget through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs. We are accountable to the ministry for the funds," he said.

Football clubs also get a slice of regional government budgets – a fact that ICW strongly criticized.According to Tempo, each club received Rp 8 billion to Rp 15 billion last year from regional funds.

Abdullah said these funds, which went to 17 of 18 ISL clubs, were being spent "without clear accountability" and could be misused by politicians.

Velix Wanggai, the presidential adviser for regional autonomy and development, said this budget system should be scrapped. The money should be used for training young athletes and improving sports facilities, he said.

"Many football fields in the country have not met the standards of a [suitable] field," he said. "There are even clubs that don't have their own pitch, like Persipura Jayapura."

I Gusti Kompyang Manila, a former manager of the national football team, cited the recently launched Indonesian Premier League, a breakaway from the PSSI-sanctioned ISL, as proof that some teams are aiming to succeed without financial support from regional governments.

Manila said scrutiny of the PSSI's management and finances would keep the association in top form. "This is the right momentum needed to improve our football management," he said at Sunday's press conference.

If many were opposed to the regional budget allocation for football clubs, Achsanul said, then the system should be changed. In the first place, he said, the PSSI had "never asked for any province to give budgets to clubs."

17 governors are graft suspects

Jakarta Post - January 17, 2011

Jakarta – Seventeen of 33 governors in the country have been named graft suspects, Minister of Home Affairs Gamawan Fauzi revealed Monday.

The last case involved the Bengkulu governor, who was allegedly involved in corruption of land and building taxes worth Rp 23 billion (US$2.4 million).

"I signed the letter [to lay him off] two days ago. Hopefully in two or three days the President will issue a letter to lay him off," he said in a meeting with regional representatives in Jakarta.

He said that two governors, Ismeth Abdullah of Riau province and Syamsul Arifin of North Sumatra, were still facing legal processes due to corruption charges, kompas.com reported.

"Today, 155 regional heads became suspects. But I think there will be more. Every week there is a new suspect. Three months in the office and they become suspects...," he said.

Gamawan, a former West Sumatra governor, said to become a governor, one should spend a lot of money, between Rp 60 and 100 billion. However, the highest monthly salary of a governor, like the Jakarta governor, was only Rp 90 million, he added.

Freedom of religion & worship

Ahmadiyah villagers still enduring abuse from neighbors after attack

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Ulma Haryanto, Indonesia – More than three months after their homes, school and mosque were torched, members of a beleaguered Ahmadiyah community near Bogor continue to be persecuted by their neighbors.

The community of about 600 was the target of a mob of 200 hard-liners on Oct. 1 in an attack that saw their homes looted and set on fire.

During a visit to Cisalada village by the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday, several of the homes were being rebuilt while others had simply had their broken windows covered with cardboard.

The mosque and school were fully renovated, although the mosque still sported a police line and its entrance was boarded up with large planks of wood. "It's just a cover," says Rahmat Ali, 33, a resident. "We enter the mosque through a side door."

The trauma from last year's attack, he adds, will take a long time to get over, particularly for the children. "One neighborhood kid had nightmares about the incident for weeks," he says.

But even now, the community is not allowed to rebuild in peace. On Tuesday, neighboring villagers blockaded the entrance to the community's residential complex and taunted any Ahmadiyah follower passing by.

The entrance opens onto the road leading to Pasar Salasa and Kebon Kopi villages, where the mob from the Oct. 1 attack had come from. "Some of us still avoid the road to this day," Rahmat says. "We use the main road or take the long way around that goes through Cimanggu village."

Seventh-graders Dinar Agnelia, 12, and Alisya Alka, 13, were not afforded that option. They were bullied and had to plead to be allowed through on their way home from school.

"There were these young men, some of them from junior high, blocking the road," Dinar says. "They told us to use another road."

But because the other roads were also blocked, they had to plead their way past. Mira Susila, 32, received worse treatment as she tried to get through to pick up her visiting grandmother.

"There were women standing there, shouting to the men to rape me if I passed," she says. "They said: 'The Ahmadiyah should find their own way. Don't let them pass.'?"

The blockade, which began at 11 a.m., was finally ended at 5 p.m. when Bogor Police, soldiers and administration officials met with leaders from Cisalada.

Rahmat says the community has been bullied since the 1940s. "We've asked the government to mediate, but it never works," he says.

Government urged to tackle hard-liners

Jakarta Globe - January 18, 2011

Nurfika Osman – Religious freedom advocates have expressed disappointment with the government over its failure to stand up to hard-line Islamic groups that have unlawfully persecuted members of minority faiths.

In a statement released to the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday, the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy said: "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should call on the National Police chief to take action against vigilante groups that make the people feel uneasy."

"This is not just for the image of the president, but to uphold the law," the statement read, referring to raids by such groups.

Last week, police in Surabaya broke up a meeting on tolerance hosted by Setara and several rights and religious minority groups after members of the Force of the Defenders of Islam (LPI) tried to disband the gathering.

On Sunday, a transexual beauty pageant in Jambi province was broken up by members of the Muslim Students Association (HMI), while on Tuesday, Siliwangi villagers in Bogor blocked the entrance to a residential estate for Ahmadiyah sect members.

The local military command said it was powerless to stop the move but vowed to "prevent the Ahmadiyah community from being targeted by residents."

Setara said the public and law-enforcement officials should not stand for such violations. "Allowing these groups to keep up their actions is to cede law enforcement to civilians who are fond of violence," it said.

It also said police scrapped an event scheduled for this Friday because of pressure from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). The event, "Indonesia and the World in 1965," would have addressed the coup attempt of 1965, which the military and government have officially blamed on the now-banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

The FPI had earlier broken up meetings it claimed were attempts at reviving the communist movement.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam denied the force had allowed groups like the FPI to take the law into their own hands. "We always take legal action against the FPI," he told the Globe.

Radical Indonesian muslims to take legal action over Bogor church permit

Jakarta Globe - January 17, 2011

Arientha Primanita, Jakarta – A hard-line Islamic group is set to file a class-action lawsuit against the Bogor administration for its failure to rescind the Indonesian Christian Church's building permit.

The move follows the announcement on Friday that the Supreme Court had rejected the administration's request to uphold the revocation of the church's permit to construct a place of worship.

The church, also known as GKI Yasmin, has been fighting for nearly a decade with the Bogor administration and Islamic hard-liners for the right to finish building.

"In the name of the FUI [Islamic People's Forum], we are going to file a class-action suit with the Bogor District Court as soon as possible," said Ahmad Iman, chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum (Forkami), a member of the FUI.

"We are so disappointed with the Bogor administration for its failure to resolve this matter. All Muslims are disappointed with the Bogor administration," he said.

"We are certain that this church had never fulfilled the prerequisites to acquire a legal permit to establish a church. It failed to follow the guidelines set out in the joint ministerial decree on houses of worship.

"We are not opposed to religious freedom. We protest the illegal establishment of this church," Ahmad said.

He was referring to a 2006 decree that requires any planning application for a place of worship to have the approval of at least 60 residents in the immediate vicinity, copies of 90 identity cards from congregation members and written recommendations from the local offices of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interreligious Communication Forum (FKUB).

Ahmad pointed out that the Bogor administration had failed to take any action over the church, even though the Supreme Court ruling had been issued on Dec. 9 last year. The contents of the ruling were only made public on Friday.

"If they had been serious about handling this issue, they would have monitored their request to uphold the revocation all the way,' Ahmad said. "It's as though they just filed the request for fun."

Sex & pornography

Porn ban for phones a case of 'moral panic'

Sydney Morning Herald - January 22, 2011

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Millions of Indonesian owners of BlackBerry smartphones will have access to pornographic material severely limited after the manufacturer of the phones agreed to government demands to filter the content.

The filter, installed at the internet service providers that support the phone, is believed to be a world first for BlackBerry and comes as Indonesian authorities grapple with an explosion in the availability of sexually explicit material, much of it shared on mobile phones.

It is part of a broader clampdown on pornography in Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population but is secular and has been long known for its moderate interpretation of the religion.

The government says the efforts to stifle pornography are desperately needed to protect the country's youth but critics deride it as arbitrary, highly politicised and a worrying indication of the growing influence of conservative Islamists.

They point to a two-year prison term handed down last year to the editor of the local edition of Playboy magazine, a toned-down version of the periodical which featured relatively modest photos of women in lingerie. Meanwhile, the pop singer Nazril Irhan, better known as Ariel, is before the courts and could face a long prison term after homemade videos of his love-making with two female celebrities were stolen from his laptop, posted online and widely distributed via smartphones.

Leading the anti-pornography push is the conservative Communication Minister, Tifatul Sembiring, a senior figure in the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party. "Tifatul Sembiring thanks God that the pornography content filtering process carried out by RIM on its BlackBerry service has started successfully," a press release on the ministry's website said on Thursday.

The scandal surrounding the public airing of Mr Nazril's videos prompted the crackdown on BlackBerry, the most popular smartphone in Indonesia. The company failed to meet a deadline last August to introduce the filters but threats from Mr Sembiring to ban their sale in the lucrative Indonesian market forced a rethink by Research In Motion, the Canadian company that manufactures the devices.

"RIM looks forward to continuing our investments in the Indonesian marketplace and to continue supporting the needs of our customers, developers and distribution partners," the company said.

Even so, a spokesman for Mr Sembiring agreed the filter would not prevent BlackBerry users accessing all types of pornography. "Technically, it cannot filter all porn sites otherwise it will disturb the internet service altogether," the spokesman, Gatot Dewa Broto, said.

BlackBerry owners will still be able to share pornographic photos and videos via email and through social networks. Indonesians are the second biggest users of Facebook in the world, with more than 32 million members. Twitter is also immensely popular.

The prominent Indonesian feminist and author Julia Suryakusuma described the pornography crackdown as "moral panic" and a "policy of distraction" at a time when there is seething public anger about entrenched corruption.

"How can you regulate or legislate against desire?" she asked. "Tifatul is one of those people in the government who is making a mockery of governance in Indonesia."

Mr Sembring attracted media attention last year when he was upset at shaking Michelle Obama's hand.

After Blackberry win, Tifatul says police should target racy DVDs

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Armando Siahaan & Ulma Haryanto – Fresh from his moral crusade to block access to pornographic Web sites on BlackBerrys, the minister of communications and information technology says police should now get tough on pornographic DVDs.

Speaking at the State Palace on Friday, Tifatul Sembiring said his ministry was responsible for the "technical aspect" of the antipornography drive and had done its part by cracking down on Internet pornography and strong- arming Research in Motion, BlackBerry's Canadian manufacturer, to install Internet filters.

"If there are porn DVDs out there, then the police should take action," he said in response to a question on what he intended to do about this other widely accessible source of pornography.

He added his ministry was prepared to forward reports from the public. "If you know a place where they sell porn DVDs, you can report it to us and we'll report to the police," he said.

Tifatul warned all Internet service providers to comply with regulations obliging them to filter out pornographic content or face legal consequences.

He said his ministry had not yet checked to see if all ISPs had complied with the requirements, but if any were found in violation of the rule they would be summoned to the ministry and possibly end up in court.

Tifatul added that the conflict over pornography should not be the sole responsibility of the government. "The public should also join in the campaign," he said.

A spokesman from the Jakarta Police said the force was ready to answer the minister's call, saying pornography was "a disease."

Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar said the police had been proactive in suppressing pornography, arresting six men for distributing pornographic DVDs last month during a raid in West Jakarta and Tangerang. "From the raid, we seized more than two million porn DVDs and VCDs," he said.

Baharudin said such raids were not part of a regular exercise but rather were carried out "depending on the situation."

"The raid was conducted so that there would be no more porn videos circulating among the public, because they can ruin society – especially children," he said. "From watching porn, [a person can get ideas that can] lead him to rape someone or commit [pedophilia] with the neighbor's children."

He added the Jakarta Police had not yet planned their next raid, and he called on anyone with information about pornographic DVDs being sold in their area to report the matter to the police.

"Officers on duty are also obliged to arrest anyone caught selling the items in a public space," he said.

Given the current "social phenomenon" with respect to pornography consumption, Baharudin said, "There is a need to coordinate with the Information Ministry to eradicate porn."

Protesters prevent Ariel from leaving court

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Yuli Krisna – Pop star Nazril "Ariel" Irham was briefly trapped inside the Bandung District Court on Thursday by Muslim protesters demanding he receive a harsh punishment over a sex-tape scandal.

What started out as a celebrity sex scandal has turned into a closely watched legal case as the lead singer of the band Peterpan is tried on charges that he distributed pornographic material.

On Thursday, hundreds of protesters blocked the police convoy transporting Ariel from the courthouse to his prison cell. Members of the Islamic Movement Alliance (API), mostly women, crowded in front of the east gate of the courthouse where the convoy was expected to leave from.

The protesters became involved in a brief skirmish with the police when they attempted to approach the car carrying Ariel. About 200 other API members gathered at the front of the courthouse, shouting "block all the gates. Don't let Ariel leave."

Prosecutors hustled the singer back into the building to prevent the situation from deteriorating. The protesters continued their rally, calling on Ariel to repent and make a public apology to his family, the public and the Islamic community.

Police were forced to divert traffic near the courthouse as the group held a mass prayer that spilled out into the street.

Muslim hard-liners have targeted Ariel since videos allegedly showing the singer having sex separately with presenters Cut Tari and Luna Maya turned up on the Internet.

After waiting more than two hours for the crowd to disperse, prosecutors and police escorted the singer back to the Kebon Waru detention center around noon.

Ariel told reporters before leaving the courthouse that he was not disturbed by the protest. "I trust the police guarding the area," he said.

According to a Bandung Police spokeswoman, Comr. Endang Sriwahyu Utami, the police had anticipated the protest.

"Ariel was transported safely back to jail, as we can all see," she said, adding that there were 500 officers on guard and a water cannon on standby at the court.

Inside the court, judges heard the response of Ariel's defense team to the prosecution's sentence demand of five years in jail.

"The prosecution's sentence demand was baseless as there is no proof that Ariel was involved in distributing pornographic videos," Ariel's lawyer, Afrian Bondjol, told reporters after the closed-door hearing.

The singer has been charged under the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law, the 2008 Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE) and Article 56 of the Criminal Code.

He could face up to 12 years in jail and Rp 6 billion ($670,000) in fines if convicted. The judges will deliver their verdict on Monday.

Indonesian government hails Blackberry porn filters

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Shirley Christie – The government on Thursday praised Research in Motion for installing filters the day before to block access to pornography through its ubiquitous BlackBerry devices ahead of a state-imposed deadline.

"Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring thanks God that the pornography content filtering process carried out by RIM on its BlackBerry service has started successfully," a press release on the ministry's Web site said.

The ministry had given RIM until today for the filters to be up and running.

RIM earlier released a statement saying its technical solution had met the ministry's requirements and was designed to utilize the same standard of filter provided by the government to the telecom industry, referring to the DNS Nawala project, a local open-source filtering service created in 2009 by the Nawala Community, a group of Internet users concerned about pornographic Web sites.

Irwin Day, a deputy for public relations at Nawala, told the Jakarta Globe that the group was invited by the ministry to meet on Tuesday with RIM officials and the six operators that provided BlackBerry services in Indonesia. "We were asked if we could solve the problem, so we did," he said.

Irwin, who also heads the Indonesian Internet Cafe Association (Awari), said all of the operators chose to use Nawala's filtering service, the only locally created system available in Indonesia.

"Since then, we've started to block domains related to pornography," he said, adding that the process was still under way.

According to Irwin, Nawala has not been involved in the dealings between the government and RIM, and was only solicited to provide a solution. "I don't know whether RIM will pay for the service or not, but as of now we are providing the service for free," he said.

Gatot Dewa Broto, the Communication Ministry's spokesman, confirmed filtering began on Wednesday at 4 a.m.

Attempts to access pornography on the Web are now being met with a notification saying: "This site is included as one of the sites not allowed to be accessed through this network because it is are shown to contain: pornography, gambling, phishing/malware, SARA or proxy."

Irwin said Nawala received at least 60 e-mails a day reporting questionable sites to be added to its blocking system. "Mostly, it is filtering pornography and gambling," he said.

RIM said it looked forward to continuing its investment in Indonesia and supporting the needs of customers, developers and distribution partners. "We are pleased to have implemented the solution in advance of the date requested by the ministry," it said.

But the Canadian company has yet to meet others requirements set out by the government, including allowing data to be intercepted and monitored and setting up a regional network aggregator.

Heru Sutadi, commissioner of the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI), said RIM had plans to build an aggregator for the Southeast Asian region but had yet to confirm a site. The ministry has lobbied for the aggregator to be built here.

"Indonesia is their biggest market base in Southeast Asia, and we would like them to set it up here so that it will reduce BlackBerry tariffs," Tifatul had told the media on Monday.

Tifatul Sembiring claims Blackberry has blocked pornographic sites

Antara News - January 20, 2011

Jakarta – A day before its deadline, Research In Motion was able to install the filters necessary to block access to pornography through its ubiquitous BlackBerry devices in Indonesia.

"Thank God RIM has begun to block top-ranked pornographic Web sites with Nawala," Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring said on Thursday. He was referring to DNS Nawala project, a local DNS filtering service.

"Today those sites cannot be accessed through Blackberry. This is a great start," Tifatul added.

RIM on Monday agreed to block access to porn sites after Tifatul gave the Canada-based company a two-week timeline to do so. The deadline was Friday. RIM also agreed to filter negative contents through its web-browsing platforms.

Tifatul, who drew sharp criticisms from Blackberry users online for his demands, sent out a "4 thumbs up" message through his Twitter account in response to RIM's decision to comply with Indonesia's Anti-Pornography Law.

"If [RIM] wants to do business in Indonesia they must uphold the law. The ministry's move is to protect Blackberry consumers in Indonesia through after-sales services. Parents will also stop worrying about their children who use Blackberry," the minister said.

The Canadian company said in a statement that it would develop its market and investment in Indonesia by cooperating with Blackberry distributors and developers throughout Indonesia.

"We shall see if RIM is committed in keeping those promises," Tifatul said.

Tifatul holds firm on Blackberry porn deadline

Jakarta Globe - January 17, 2011

Anita Rachman & Ismira Lutfia – Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring is holding firm to his Jan. 21 deadline for the manufacturer of BlackBerry to filter access to pornographic Web sites on the device's browser, among other requirements.

"The government is obliged to protect its citizens who use BlackBerry," he said, reiterating that the ministry would not back down on the deadline.

The ministry also wants Research In Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerry, to indicate their willingness to comply with the requirements in a formal letter.

Speaking to reporters before the start of a meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission I, Tifatul said that RIM has also agreed to the ministry's demand to enable authorities to legally intercept and monitor messages exchanged on the device.

The ministry would also be verifying RIM's claims that it has opened 40 service centers in the country, Tifatul said.

"They are committed to complying with our requirements, although for some points, we are still giving them time [to fulfill the requirements], until Jan. 21, as I have previously demanded from them," he said.

Tifatul added that RIM is planning on setting up a network aggregator in the Southeast Asian region.

"Indonesia is their biggest market base in Southeast Asia and we would like them to set it up here so that it will reduce the BlackBerry tariff here," he said.

Agriculture & food security

Fearing an onslaught of cheap imports, farmers bring complaints to Boediono

Jakarta Globe - January 21, 2011

Camelia Pasandaran, Palembang – In the midst of global worries over food availability, farmers are just as worried about their livelihood.

Maryati, a farmer in Banyu Urip village, in South Sumatra's Banyu Asin district, has heard about the government's plan to allow duty-free imports of foodstuffs and is not pleased.

"As local farmers, we're worried," she said. "When we enjoy a little bit of a higher price on chilies, people complain. When will local farmers enjoy the proper price of food?"

On Thursday, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu announced the government was considering instituting duty-free imports for 30 types of food commodities and their related products. The decision sparked negative reaction from farmers.

Maryati, who is the head of her local Farmers and Fishermen Association, said she disagreed with the policy.

"If we're flooded with imported products with competitive prices, it will make it difficult to sell our own products," Maryati said.

"The condition of the farmers is not good. They hardly enjoy the benefits of production. People even complained when chili prices only slightly increased."

Vice President Boediono, visiting the area, told Maryati that he would stabilize rice prices.

"It should not cause a loss to the farmers or the consumers," Boediono said. "We will control how much food comes in duty free, but we need to understand that imported food is needed because there are some regions that are lacking food."

One way to increase rice production may be to encourage the use of a new seed variety, Impara, which can be planted twice a year and holds the promise of more harvests.

"The new seed variety has been proven to stand up," Agriculture Minister Suswono said. "You can ask your local agent to get the seed."

In addition to facing the threat of imports, local farmers had other complaints, including minimal access to credit to develop their farms, low prices for agricultural products and bad infrastructure that results in higher transportation fees to deliver products.

"We really hope farmers can enjoy proper prices," Tukijo, a farmer, told Boediono. "We never enjoy the government's basic price. Moreover, we never have access to credit."

Another farmer, Sugiyono, complained about a lack of infrastructure. "The government should provide better road infrastructure that can connect villages," he said. "It has increased our production costs."

Responding to concerns over the low cost of unhusked rice, Suswono said farmers could sell their crops to the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) at Rp 2,690 (30 cents) per kilogram.

Boediono said he did not see any reason Indonesia could not fulfill its own food needs. "We must not allow the kinds of food scarcities seen in other countries happen in Indonesia," he said.

"It is only a matter of how we support our farmers to intensify our production. It is our job to secure food availability, and if possible also to supply food for other countries."

Boediono cited Central Statistics Agency data showing annual population growth at 1.5 percent, or around 3.6 million people.

"The growth in rice consumption has not matched population growth," he said. "However, the increasing demand is not just because of population growth but also better welfare, with people eating more and better."

Government to lift import duties on staple foods

Jakarta Post - January 20, 2011

Esther Samboh, Jakarta – The government will soon abolish import duties for 30 staple commodities starting from the end of this month amid rising concerns over a possible food supply shortage at home and surging food prices in the world market.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said Wednesday that the commodities included wheat, animal feed, fertilizer, soybean as well as many others.

"There will be a time frame for the scrapping of the import duties, so once global food prices have stabilized, there will be an evaluation as to when it would be revoked," Mari told reporters after a meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy in Jakarta.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said the Finance Ministry would issue a regulation on Thursday (today) on the abolishment of the import tariffs of these 13 commodities.

"The team has suggested 30 types of staple commodities that are all food- related. We want to safeguard the people's needs as well as the industries' at the same time," Hatta told reporters at the same event.

Mari added that the regulation would be similar to that in 2008, when the finance minister issued a new ruling to stabilize prices in the midst of surging food prices. The United Nation's food agency has said that food prices hit a new high last month, even higher than prices in 2008.

Surging food prices have resulted in mounting inflationary pressures, with headline inflation reaching a 20-month high of almost 7 percent in December mainly due to a nearly 18 percent spike in volatile food prices.

The government is also finalizing a presidential regulation on the procurement of fertilizers and seeds. "This is regulated in a presidential regulation to ensure food stocks and supply so that extreme weather will not delay planting season," he added.

Hatta has also said that the government would intensify market operations to ensure food stocks and supply as well as to stabilize prices. "Social security programs, rice subsidy and a low-cost market will be mobilized and intensified as soon as possible," he added.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar urged state-owned enterprises to organize a low-cost market and sell staple foods at low prices in the hopes of stabilizing the surging food prices.

"There are a number of state firms spread throughout the archipelago. Their role in keeping prices stable has been effective, so we want to utilize them to sell rice, cooking oil, sugar and other staple food at low prices," he said, adding that he hoped the markets would open at the beginning of February at the latest.

Food security program

1. Abolishing import duties for 30 types of staple commodities such as wheat, animal feed and fertilizer.

2. Allocating Rp 3 trillion to mitigate impacts from climate change and to curb prices through market operations.

3. Procuring 1.5 million tons of rice through State Logistics Agency (Bulog), partly through imports.

4. Providing 1,000 dryers in rice production centers across the country.

5. Developing 2 million hectares of agricultural land in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Merauke (Papua).

6. Procuring fertilizer and seeds for farmers through a presidential regulation.

7. Giving Bulog flexibility to buy unhusked rice from farmers through a presidential regulation.

Legislation & parliament

DPR plans PR blitz on building plan

Jakarta Globe - January 23, 2011

Anita Rachman – The House of Representatives on Friday said it would try to raise public awareness of its need for a controversial new office tower in a bid to counter criticisms that the project was unnecessary.

Taufik Kurniawan, a House deputy speaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the House leadership had duly noted the opposition to the project, both from the public and from political parties within the legislature, and would "allow those aspirations to be heard."

"The decision has already been made to build the new office tower," he said. "The recent criticism that has been voiced is something that we will need to resolve without really changing the decision that we've already made."

Taufik said the House would make public "complete information" related to the project in an attempt to "re-educate the people" on why the building was really needed.

The controversy began last year when the House proposed a new Rp 1.8 trillion ($200 million) office building for legislators. After a public outcry, it revised that figure down to Rp 1.3 trillion, while House Speaker Marzuki Alie this month said the cost could go below Rp 1 trillion.

A coalition of six nongovernmental groups, including the Indonesian Civic Network (LIMA), filed an formal objection to the project on Wednesday, calling it an "evil conspiracy" that no amount of public indignation could derail.

Ray Rangkuti, LIMA's director, said on Friday that an awareness campaign was not what the public needed or expected. "All we want is for the House to scrap the project," he said.

Promoting the urgency of the project to the public is futile, he added, because most people are already convinced that illegal money is behind the building.

Ray also cast doubt on the House's willingness to share information about the project. "We demanded that a complete report of all the meetings they've held be posted on their Web site, but they haven't even done that," he said.

"So what 'complete information' will they share with us? These statements only lend credence to the notion that they'll proceed with the plan anyway."

Setya Novanto, the Golkar Party's chairman in the House, welcomed Taufik's news, saying his party was ready to help in the awareness-raising campaign.

He said Golkar's leaders would help get details of the plan out in the media and get the party's legislators to promote the project to their constituents across the archipelago.

Setya said that only by promoting the benefits of the project to the public would it be accepted. "The current office building for legislators can only hold 1,300 people, but there are more than 1,600 of us [including staffers]," he said. "In the future, we'll even have more, so we need more room."

'Conspiracy' behind Indonesia's new DPR building

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – The House of Representatives' insistence on building a controversial new office tower is an "evil conspiracy" that no amount of public indignation can derail, watchdogs said on Wednesday.

In a joint letter to the House leaders, six nongovernmental organizations, including the Indonesian Civic Network (LIMA), the Concerned Citizens for the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi), Indonesian Budget Center and the Indonesian Voters Committee (Tepi), raised their objections to Rp 1.3 trillion ($143.6 million) project.

The letter highlighted the widespread opposition to the plan from the public and some parties at the House, and suggested that the money would be better spent on pressing issues such as education and health care.

The fact that the House has not abandoned the project in the face of this opposition, said Tepi chairman Jeirry Sumampouw, indicates "an evil conspiracy."

He said there were strong suspicions of a high-level conspiracy involving the House leaders and the companies linked to the project, but declined to elaborate.

"That's because this obstinacy to push ahead with the project is very strange and illogical," Jeirry said. "There have been objections from the people and from politicians, yet the House keeps flogging the plan. And it's doing that by chiseling down the estimated cost so that people will accept it. That's strange."

The controversy began last year when the House proposed a new office building for legislators, slated to cost Rp 1.8 trillion. It later revised that figure down to Rp 1.3 trillion, while House Speaker Marzuki Alie said this month that the cost could go below Rp 1 trillion.

Marzuki had also claimed the project received unanimous support from all parties, although the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) have both filed formal objections to the plan. Jeirry said Marzuki's refusal to scrap the project raised suspicions that backroom deals may have been done before construction of the building had even begun.

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), a budget watchdog, previously alleged that legislators had been promised kickbacks from a coal-mining magnate vying for a contract in the project. "I'm sure they've received some financial benefits," Jeirry said.

Sebastian Salang, from Formappi, said the fact that the House could slash the estimated budget so significantly was suspicious. "Who's playing with the figures and who stands to benefit?" he said.

However, Refrizal, a deputy chairman of the House's Household Affairs Committee (BURT), which is in charge of the project, denied that legislators had received kickbacks to push the project through. He added there was no conspiracy and welcomed the public and antigraft watchdogs to monitor the project.

House wants Bank Century probe to focus on the trail of trillions lost

Jakarta Globe - January 20, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – In its latest hearing with law enforcers investigating the Bank Century bailout, the House of Representatives called on Wednesday for a forensic probe into the money trail.

At a previous hearing, the government proposed its final terms of reference for a forensic audit by an independent party that would be carried out on all the bank's activities since 2001.

However, most of the legislators on the House team monitoring the bailout investigation have since complained that the TOR will not focus on where the Rp 6.7 trillion ($739 million) used for the November 2008 bailout has ended up.

"So we want the government to focus on the central bank's decision to form Century through the merger of several existing banks, and on the flow of the Rp 6.7 trillion bailout fund," House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said at Wednesday's hearing.

Akbar Faisal, from the opposition People's Conscience Party (Hanura), said the current TOR were long-winded and any probe conducted under it would take a long time to reach a conclusion, whereas the House was seeking a speedy resolution.

Deputy Finance Minister Anny Ratnawati, testifying at the hearing, defended the TOR, saying It was aimed at getting a clearer picture of the problems that plagued Century and led to its near collapse.

"But for sure, we're all on the same page in terms of wanting to settle this case," she said.

Legislators at the hearing also demanded that the government take immediate measures to recover money embezzled by Century's former owners and stashed overseas.

However, Heru Budihargo, chairman of the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS), said the government could not realistically be expected to seize all those assets.

He said a more pragmatic way of recovering the money would be to sell off Century, which has since been renamed Bank Mutiara, at a high price. "We have to be realistic," he added.

In a separate hearing between the House monitoring team and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), some legislators called for an audit of the central bank, particularly its dealings around the time of the bailout.

But BPK Chairman Taufiequrachman Ruki said he doubted such an audit into Bank Indonesia could be carried out, but added it could be an option of last resort.

In March, the House adopted a resolution saying the Bank Century bailout was illegal, and called for criminal probes by the National Police, Attorney General's Office and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

In regular updates to the House monitoring team, the police, AGO and KPK have so far said there were no indications of graft or money-laundering in the bailout.

Legislators complain about their new official homes

Jakarta Post - January 19, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih and Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie called on legislators to reject their newly completed official residences because of the poor construction – allegedly below the required specifications.

"I advise all legislators not to live in the houses but instead make notes on the specification discrepancies they find in the houses for a complaint to the contractor," Marzuki said Tuesday.

The renovation of 495 official legislator residences in Kalibata, South Jakarta, has sparked controversy since the contractor, state-owned PT Adhi Karya, failed to finish the project on time.

The project, worth Rp 445 billion (US$49.4 million), was supposed to be completed on Jan. 1 of this year after a series of delays from the initial projection of September 2010.

No legislator has moved into the renovated houses yet. They were forced to rent houses with a Rp 15 million monthly allowance during the construction.

Teguh Juwarno of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said all the legislators from his party were considering filing an official protest against the House of Representatives secretariat that was in charge on the project.

"The marble for the flooring was made in China and is of bad quality. The paint on the walls was poorly applied and the furniture looked very cheap," he said.

Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) legislator Bukhori Yusuf agreed with Teguh. "It's very disappointing. They have been asking us to be patient about the delays only to find a subpar house," he said, adding that the homes were "inhumane" because the rooms for domestic workers were very small. "They are so tiny they only fit a bed."

Marzuki has called on the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to investigate following allegations of corruption and mark-ups in the controversial project. He also suggested the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigate.

People have speculated the project was delayed because many parties were seeking the benefits of mark-ups being done on the project. "The BPK and KPK's role will be very important to clear everything up," he said.

House secretary-general Nining Indra Saleh said Tuesday she would be ready if the KPK began an investigation. "As a state official, I must obey the law," she said.

Nining blamed the project delays on the contractors. "PT Adhi Karya and furniture supplier PT Sarijati have been fined because of their failure to meet the deadline," she said, while refusing to disclose the amount of the fines.

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) has found that the project's mark-ups might involve sums worth Rp 97 billion, or 22 percent of the project's total worth.

He said PT PP subcontracted the project to a number of firms. "PT PP was supposed to construct houses with each worth Rp 619 million. But the amount dropped to Rp 152 million a house after being subcontracted. That difference totals Rp 97 billion," Uchok said.

Another controversial House project is the plan to build an office building, slated to begin later this year. The 36-story building will cost Rp 1.31 trillion (US$145.4 million). Nining said the construction was running on schedule.

Jakarta & urban life

Indonesia lawyers get fired up by smoking ban

Jakarta Globe - January 21, 2011

Arientha Primanita, Jakarta – A group of lawyers has mounted a bid to challenge the city's new antismoking decree, saying it violated human rights.

Habiburokhman, a lawyer for the group, which calls itself the People's Rights Advocacy Team (TAHR), said on Thursday that the decree was "very discriminatory against smokers."

"It treats smokers like criminals, whereas cigarettes are legal products," he said.

The gubernatorial decree, issued in October last year, reinforces a 2005 bylaw on air pollution control, which in turn was issued to enforce an earlier decree specifying certain public areas as smoke-free zones.

The new decree bans smoking in all public buildings, whereas the previous decree allowed smoking in designated rooms.

Habiburokhman claimed the measure was a violation of human rights and contravened prevailing laws on regional administration and regulations.

He said the group last week filed a judicial review with the Supreme Court challenging the latest decree. He also said the group would file for an executive review of the decree with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono today.

Daru Supriyono, another lawyer for the team, said a third suit could be brought based on an official notification of protest filed with the city administration this month.

"We sent the notification on January 4, and if within 45 days they don't issue a response, then we'll file suit with the Central Jakarta District Court," he said.

He added all the suits were being filed on behalf of private parties opposed to the decree.

The group accused the city and nongovernmental organizations that pushed for the decree of doing so in exchange for foreign funding, although it could not elaborate.

Ridwan Panjaitan, head of law enforcement at the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), said his office had informed the city's legal office of the pending suits. "We're prepared to face any lawsuit in the supreme or district court," he said.

He added his office had also been meeting with the TAHR, medical experts and antismoking groups to discuss the issue.

"This is a matter of health, and I'm sure more people back the decree than oppose it because more people want cleaner air in their offices and at restaurants," Ridwan told the Jakarta Globe.

"It's possible that those objecting to the decree are being backed by cigarette companies."

Suroso, coordinator of the 100 Percent Love Indonesia group, said the decree was discriminatory because it hurt those who worked in the tobacco industry.

He also said the regulation threatened the city's lucrative entertainment businesses by shutting out customers who smoked. Aside from smokers, Suroso complained that the decree also impacted thousands of tobacco farmers around the country.

"The decree will hurt the income of many people," he said. "Besides, kretek [clove] cigarettes are a uniquely Indonesian product that should be preserved."

He said the old decree was "fairer" and provided a "win-win solution" for both smokers and nonsmokers alike. "We want to encourage ethical smoking that doesn't disturb nonsmokers, but we also want our rights to be considered and protected," he said.

Jakarta's new means of instilling order: Oil

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Dofa Fasila, Jakarta – Gooey, black oil. If just the thought disgusts you, the Jakarta administration might have found a way to make people respect road safety regulations.

The administration, frustrated by the failure to stop passengers getting off at Central Jakarta's Dukuh Atas train station from jumping queues and scrambling to get on crowded city buses, has taken to smearing wire rope barriers with oil.

City transport chief Udar Pristono on Friday said he hoped the new measure would stop people from breaking road safety rules.

"We want to stop people from bursting onto the road to catch their bus by jumping queues and the barrier itself," he said.

"Initially, we tried ropes. Then we changed to wire rope barriers and smeared them with black oil. This is specifically for all [unruly] train passengers who get off at the Dukuh Atas station on Jalan Sudirman."

"Mostly they get off at that train station and take city buses to proceed to their final destinations," he continued.

"We understand that most of them want to get to their workplace, so they will not want to get oil on their hands or clothing. It is impossible for them to show up at work in dirty clothes."

Udar explained that since commuters could not be kept in line by regular law enforcement methods, the oil-smeared wire ropes were just another option at the city's disposal to teach people about the importance of road safety.

"Should this fail as well and people still manage to jump over those barriers, we will find a way that will make those passengers feel sorry they broke road safety rules," Udar warned.

City parks chief Sunandar acknowledged he had worked with the transport chief on the project. "The function of the oil-smeared rope is simple – to get people to cross the road and get on buses in disciplined, orderly fashion," he said.

City drivers face daily extortion

Jakarta Post - January 20, 2011

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Life is hard for those who operate Jakarta's public transportation. Besides the heavy traffic, the increasing number of private vehicles on the road and the TransJakarta busway, they also have to deal with street-side extortion.

"In certain areas we frequently pass people who ask for money from every mikrolet driver that passes by. Those are areas thugs claim as their own," Parmo, a mikrolet public minivan driver serving the Rawajati-Pasar Minggu line in South Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post.

Parmo, who has worked as a driver for various kinds of public transportation over 15 years, said one of the most popular areas for thugs in South Jakarta was Pondok Labu, where many unemployed and drunk people congregate, especially on Saturday nights.

"When they're drunk they start extorting money from drivers who pass through the area. They used to ask for Rp 5,000 [55 US cents] every time I passed their 'territory'," Parmo said.

He said most drivers just give the thugs the money from their meager daily income of Rp 50,000 in the hopes there won't be any trouble.

"I just want to work in peace. As long as that money keeps them quiet, I just give it to them." Another place known for rampant extortion was the Blok M bus terminal, he said.

The drivers are left to their own devices in battling these forms of coercion, as the authorities don't monitor the drivers and the pressures they face every day. Their income is also decreasing due to the rapid increase of private vehicles and the operation of TransJakarta buses.

Jakarta is now home to 8 million motorcycles and 3 million cars. The cheap price of vehicles and easy credit have contributed to the excess number of vehicles, which, in the end, affects the business of public transportation.

Another driver, Syarifuddin, said drivers could not avoid street-side extortion because those in authority did nothing. "I think the police back them up," he said, adding that the Tanah Abang business district in Central Jakarta was a notorious spot for money demands.

Syarifuddin, who drives a mikrolet plying Tanah Abang and Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, said he once spoke to the thugs, who said each of them paid the police Rp 15,000 a day in order to "keep the police silent".

"Even though we have protested, [the police] don't take any action," he said, adding that the extortion would only stop if there was a raid by the Jakarta Police. "But, it will only stop them for one or two days."

Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Baharudin Jafar said, "if such a thing occurs the victim should file a report with the police, because the police only act based on reports."

But, most people are reluctant to report such activities because they believe it would cost them more than what they spent giving money to the thugs on the side of the road.

Experts maintain Jakarta city plan is illegal

Jakarta Globe - January 19, 2011

Arientha Primanita – Planning and environmental experts have lambasted the Jakarta administration over its draft of the city's spatial master plan, which they argue contains two unlawful points. The 2010-2030 Spatial Master Plan is being deliberated by the City Council and is expected to be passed in the form of a bylaw next month.

However, Nirwono Joga, an urban planning expert from Jakarta's Trisakti University, said the draft deviated from the 2007 Law on Spatial Planning on some key points.

The law stipulates that 30 percent of the city's area be dedicated to open green space, with the administration providing 20 percent and the private sector 10 percent. However, the bylaw calls for the city to provide 14 percent and the private sector 16 percent.

"This is a violation of the law, which clearly states that the public- private split be 20 to 10," Nirwono said.

He added that while the administration was trying to shirk its duty by setting itself a lower target, it could still achieve its legally mandated goal within 20 years if it was willing to do so.

"Based on my satellite photo research, we can potentially open up another 23 percent of the city's area as green space," he said. "So combine this with the 9.6 percent already dedicated to green space, and we can achieve even more than the 30 percent stipulated in the law."

The current figure of 9.6 percent is still lower than the 13.9 percent of green space that Jakarta was supposed to possess by the end of 2010.

Nirwono also questioned the inclusion in the draft bylaw of a coastal land reclamation project that the Environment Ministry had not yet approved.

The city is reclaiming a 32 kilometer-long stretch off Jakarta Bay to provide an additional 2,700 hectares of land. The project failed to pass an environmental impact analysis (Amdal) and was ordered halted by the Supreme Court.

Ubaidillah, executive director of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the reclamation project would only foster social injustice by serving the interests of companies and wealthy residents at the expense of poorer ones.

"There will be injustice because the reclamation project will provide land for industries and lavish housing complexes, while people living along riverbanks will be evicted," he said.

Wiryatmoko, head of the city's Spatial Planning Office, defended the administration, saying the project was necessary to accommodate the city's growing population. He claimed the matter had been discussed with the Environment Ministry.

Armed forces & police

Yudhoyono orders brass to tighten ranks

Jakarta Globe - January 22, 2011

Armando Siahaan & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday demanded that leaders of both the Indonesian Armed Forces and the National Police to clear their ranks of misconduct.

Speaking during the two institutions' annual joint leadership meeting in Jakarta that was attended by more than 500 high-ranking officers, the head of state raised alarming concerns.

"End markup practices in both weaponry and non-weaponry procurement," Yudhoyono ordered.

"If there is a case that I cannot tolerate, I will ask the BPKP, BPK and KPK to take action," he said, referring to State Finance and Development Comptroller, the Supreme Audit Agency and the Corruption Eradication Commission, respectively.

The president pointed out the government has increased the budget for both institutions, and expected them to use the funds "optimally and right on target."

Subsequently, the president addressed the military's human rights issues. "I am concerned about a violation of law and discipline in Papua. Although small-scale... I want it to be dealt with," he said. The president was referring to the torture of two Papuans by soldiers last year.

"It may seem small, an act involving just one Second Sergeant and two First Privates, but the impact is international, reaching the United Nations, Europe and the United States."

Yudhoyono said the abuse was not a policy endorsed by the Armed Forces (TNI) or the government, but an act perpetrated by individual soldiers. The troops in the Papua case face up to one year in prison.

Yudhoyono, however, said Indonesia had made significant progress in addressing human rights concerns. "Since 2004, there have not been any gross violations of human rights," he said. "This is historic – a new chapter."

The president said the Papua case was "just one incident amid a wave of change in our country over the past few years." Regardless, he raised the need for the TNI to continuously educate and train its members to uphold human rights principles.

The president then moved on to raise the need to maintain the utmost level of discipline and integrity in the military and the National Police.

"There are still officers who abuse their power, who do not maintain their integrity and discipline," he said, adding that the state institutions should not protect members involved in any wrongdoings.

While the message was directed at both institutions, the president specifically pointed to the members of the National Police implicated in the Gayus Tambunan saga. "Punish them," he said, "so that the police can maintain the public's trust."

The president also urged the National Police to maintain its antiterrorism effort, including its deradicalization programs, while telling the military to be ready to assist police.

He also instructed both security forces to always be ready to be deployed for natural disaster management in times of crisis, while reminding the military that the government wanted part of its strength to be available for international peacekeeping missions.

Lastly, the president expressed the government's commitment to improve the welfare of TNI members and police officers, including through pay raises, but called upon both "to improve your performance and achievements."

Yudhoyono's instructions came a day after the TNI announced its 16 priorities for this year. At a press conference after Friday's meeting, TNI Chief Adm. Agus Suhartono said dealing with threats against the nation's sovereignty was topping the list.

"It's also a priority for us to tackle any armed separatism... especially in Papua," he said.

Similar to last year's priorities, Papua, Maluku and Aceh will also get a lot of military attention this year. "The intelligence units tell us that these areas are still the most vulnerable to conflict and separatism," Agus said.

Also on the agenda for the TNI in 2011 is dealing with the threat of religious radicalism, troop readiness for peacekeeping missions, human rights education for subordinates by unit commanders and anticipation and tackling of social unrest.

Military's top brass gathering to set plan of attack for years to come

Jakarta Globe - January 19, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian Armed Forces on Wednesday kicked off a two-day national leaders' meeting to evaluate its performance last year and to decide on the military's priorities in years ahead.

For the meeting, around 140 high-ranking military officers gathered at the Armed Forces (TNI) headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro opened the meeting and said one of the main targets of the gathering was for officers to determine a Minimum Essential Force capable of dealing with any threat to the country over the next 15 years.

"I am still optimistic that we can meet all targets mentioned in the MEF planning," he said.

"We must also be able to convince other countries that this MEF program is not part of an arms race, nor an expansion plan, but only serves to increase our deterrent capacity and is a part of measures to build self- confidence."

Another topic to be discussed in Cilangkap is the reform of the military's bureaucracy. Purnomo said that as part of the reform initiative, the military should also not forget "to accelerate the transferring of military businesses."

The TNI still holds various business interests, despite moves to force it to divest.

Meanwhile, TNI Chief Adm. Agus Suhartono praised the military performance in many missions – including peacekeeping, disaster relief and keeping the country safe from threats – despite having limited means at its disposal.

However, he also stressed the need for military commanders to find ways to improve soldiers' image in the public eye.

"The TNI is from the people and for the people," Agus said, adding that members of the military should thus endear themselves to the people. "Arrogant actions and vigilantism will only undermine the reform we have been struggling with for years," he said.

The military has come under broad criticism over alleged abuses – including torture – of civilians, especially in Papua.

Marine Lt. Gen. Nono Sampono, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, during a discussion between Purnomo and other top brass said there was a need to increase military forces in Papua, citing the province's huge energy and mineral riches.

Although Nono said he believed there was no current foreign military threat to the province, he warned that it was possible Papua could secede.

"In the future, with sufficient political pressure, there may be [international] demand for a referendum [on self-determination] in Papua," he said.

"Before it's too late, we must strengthen our presence there, so that we can monitor the situation and prevent any serious threat from arising," Nono added.

Purnomo said the government was aware of this possibility and had prepared measures as part of the national security bill, which will soon be discussed at the House of Representatives.

If passed into law, the bill would provide the government with a legal umbrella to classify national security threats and to deploy forces to deal with it, he said.

"But if you want to specifically discuss the way in which our presence [in Papua] should be adjusted, go ahead," he added.

The Army is already studying the possibility of establishing a new military command in Papua, which would allow for a considerable increase in forces there.

Indonesian military to intensify discipline drive

Jakarta Globe - January 18, 2011

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Dessy Sagita – The military says it wants to serve as a model of discipline and good conduct for the country and its battered legal system.

In announcing plans on Tuesday to improve soldier discipline and strengthen the military police, the military's chief of staff made several references to the country's law enforcement system, which is suffering a crisis of confidence after a string of scandals, including the Gayus Tambunan affair.

Adm. Agus Suhartono said the military could not ignore what was happening in the country, and needed to serve as a role model of legal respect. "We must provide protection and justice for all the people," he said in a statement.

He said that to improve discipline in the ranks and enforce' respect for the law, the military police would be more active in cracking down on infractions. "Our hope is that the military police can help create legal order within our environment," the statement said.

Air Vice Marshal Eddy Hardjoko, chief of the General Staff, said the military police would focus on the six main types of offenses committed by soldiers: traffic violations, desertion, persecution of civilians, adultery and immorality, drug use and possession, and misuse of firearms.

The military police, he said, had recorded 985 offenses by soldiers in 2010, from 1,148 the previous year. Of the incidents last year, 423 were traffic violations, from 432 in 2009.

"However, the number of soldiers involved in traffic violations last year was 428, up from 400 in 2009, so we'll give special attention to disciplining them on this issue," Eddy said.

He said 406 soldiers had been dishonorably discharged in 2010, less than half the 862 discharged in 2009. The main offense committed by soldiers last year was desertion, with 1,137 servicemen fleeing the force.

Cases of persecution of civilians came second with 413, followed by adultery and immorality with 403, drugs with 174 and firearms misuse with 50.

But Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the military's effort to polish its image would be useless as long as it refused to allow soldiers to be tried in civilian courts.

"The military often claims that the trials and sentences from a military tribunal are harsher than from a civilian court, but often that's not true," he said.

He added that while it was important to punish soldiers who committed crimes, it was even more crucial to prevent such crimes from happening. "Many times violations occur because soldiers are allowed to live among civilians," Haris said. "Why not let them live in special barracks?"

Infrastructure & development

Going bananas at the rotten state of Indonesia's roads

Jakarta Globe - January 17, 2011

Vento Saudale & Zaky Pawas, Jakarta – Angered over the dismal conditions of the nation's pockmarked roadways and the attendant traffic snarls and safety hazards they create, residents are increasingly venting their frustrations at local administrations whom they see as clueless at best and negligent at worst when it comes to street maintenance.

While protests are common, more and more that anger has been expressed through an unlikely and hard-to-miss symbol: banana trees, planted squarely in massive potholes that pose a risk to motorists' safety.

Tangerang residents on Sunday turned up at Jalan Raya Serang – a rutted and pitted main thoroughfare on which traffic often backs up for several kilometers – to plant the leafy green symbols of their discontent.

It's not the first time for Tangerang. Locals have recently planted banana trees in potholes on damaged roads across the city, from the Lebak Wangi village in Sepatan Timur to the Jambe subdistrict.

But officials say the horrible traffic on Jalan Raya Serang can't be blamed entirely on bad roads.

"I know that this road in particular is really damaged because it is being repaved," Balaraja Police Chief Comr. Jarkasih said. "We are working on repairing that road, which is why it is being repaved, and therefore causing so much traffic. On many points of the road, the conditions are horrible. Some of them are just patchwork jobs and they get inundated very quickly during the rains."

The banana tree markers are not exclusive to Tangerang, either. According to media reports from Sulawesi, Makassar residents in November planted banana trees on a road connecting the districts of Bantaeng and Bulukumba to show their anger toward contractors who they said did nothing to repair the streets.

And in North Sumatra, Medan residents recently blocked a road by planting banana trees on it. Last week, residents in Indramayu, West Java, planted dozens of banana trees in protest of poor road conditions.

And in September a badly damaged road in the Kepuh village of West Bandung spurred residents to plant the trees along the street, referring to them as "signs."

"People fall and get hurt on these roads," 50-year-old resident Didin said. "We plant these trees so that motorists see them as signs and be extra careful when passing such roads."

So how do local administrations react to complaints? According to Asep Ruhiyat, head of the Ciawi, Bogor, road and water agency, they can only warn the parties believed to be most responsible for the damage.

Oftentimes, that's not enough. On Jan. 5, officials in Bogor were forced to order six water refilling depots in the Ciawi subdistrict to suspend operations, a day after residents held a violent protest against the companies.

Locals accused the companies' water tanker trucks of severely damaging the road. All six firms are located along an eight-kilometer stretch of Jalan Veteran that is pockmarked with potholes up to a meter wide.

Asep said the road was repaved in the middle of last year but was quickly damaged by the heavy truck traffic going to and from the depots. "Most of the tankers weigh in excess of 12 tons. It's obvious why the road is so badly damaged."

Asep said his office had repeatedly warned the companies not to overburden the road, but they ignored the warnings.

Such stories point to a fed up public. And banana trees may become an increasingly common sight for commuters. In a Saturday editorial, the Kompas daily railed against what damaged roads say to the public.

"Frustrated residents have planted banana trees in the middle of roads pockmarked with potholes," it read. "The success or failure of a government should be measured by visible indicators, like the availability of infrastructure. This has a direct affect on the public's quality of life."

Economy & investment

Moody's upgrades Indonesia credit rating grade

Jakarta Post - January 18, 2011

A credit rating upgrade to one step below investment grade for Indonesia by Moody's Investors Service was overdue given the persistent improvement of the country's economy in the past few months, a government official says.

Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chair Gita Wirjawan said Monday Moody's rating upgrade was overdue.

"The rating upgrade is a good thing despite its being overdue, because our macroeconomic conditions have been continually improving," the investment chief said, as quoted by news portal detikfinance.com.

Gita said that with its sound economic fundamentals, Indonesia deserved a higher credit rating grade.

Economic observers said economy-wise, Indonesia deserved an "investment grade" ranking for the past few years, but factors apart from the economy such as corruption and the country's complicated bureaucracy have hampered an upgrade for the country's credit rating.

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Darmin Nasution also welcomed the rating upgrade, saying it would attract more foreign direct investment as Indonesia would now be a more attractive destination to do business.

"We hope the new rating will improve to 'investment grade' in the next year. We need to fill in the gap between other countries that have been categorized as 'investment grade'," Darmin said in a statement Monday.

After more than a month of review, Moody's upgraded the Indonesian government's foreign and local-currency bond ratings by one notch to "investment grade Ba1" with a stable outlook, the highest level since the Asian financial crisis hit the country hard in 1997.

Investment grade is a rating that indicates a government or corporate bond has a relatively low risk of default.

Moody's cited the country's economic resilience and sustained macroeconomic balance, the government's improving debt position and adequate foreign currency reserves, as well as the prospects for foreign direct investment inflows as the main reasons for the rating upgrade.

However, Moody's also noted several risks for Indonesia's economic outlook with the key risks "mainly embedded in the country's political system".

"Opposition from coalition partners has slowed the government's drive to implement far-reaching economic reforms," Moody's vice president and lead sovereign analyst for Indonesia Ananda Mitra said.

The government is hoping for an eventual graduation to "investment grade" from top international rating agencies this year.

Rahmat Waluyanto, director general of the Finance Ministry's debt management office, said the Moody's upgrade was special because it was issued during hard economic times for other countries.

"This will add to investor confidence, especially foreign investors," Rahmat told The Jakarta Post, citing the potential for more capital inflows.

Indonesia received a total of US$13 billion in foreign funds through the nation's stock and debt markets in 2010, raising concerns that such excessive amount of foreign funds could create shock and hurt the economy if a sudden reversal occurs. (est)

Analysis & opinion

Filter my dirty mind

Jakarta Globe - January 21, 2011

Desi Anwar – Now that we're becoming a nanny state, set on protecting our citizens by filtering all sorts of unsavory stuff, why stop at just BlackBerry?

After all, to quote American founding father George Washington, "mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government."

In Indonesia this has been taken to mean that when left to our own devices, we will automatically seek out pornography, because we are all inherently morally unfit beings.

And yes, I confess I do have one hell of a dirty mind whose licentious workings need to be supervised at all times.

Hence, although I'm not in the habit of using my BlackBerry to browse for porn, the screen being far too small to provide much by way of graphic titillation, anything that adds an extra barrier between me and the object of my temptation can only be a good thing, right?

It is, after all, for the protection of my soul in the afterlife – not to mention for the benefit of our information minister's moral righteousness, which I certainly have no wish to upset.

But I'm sorry to say that some devilish individuals have already sent me links to bypass the BlackBerry filter, should I wish to succumb to my weakness and peruse sexy sites that I didn't even know existed until now.

Which makes the whole exercise a bit of a joke, but hey, when it comes to filtering porn, no effort can go too far, especially when there really is nothing more pressing to do in this life than to ensure our idle hands are not engaged in wicked activities.

But how to filter my habit of texting filthy language and sexy messages? Perhaps Minister Tifatul could force the mobile software makers to create predictive texts that automatically change lewd words into something more morally acceptable?

For instance, if you typed an expletive it could change itself to something like "bless you."

That would really be helpful, especially as we all know the Internet is a paradise for teenagers who delight in nothing more than to spew forth filth and expletives to one another.

My rudest text messages are practically puritanical compared to my high school-age niece's expletive-ridden Twitter updates and BB messages.

So, on top of the BlackBerry filter, I propose we look around and see what other things we can throw a veil over in order to protect our eyes from being sullied by the sight of offensive filth.

I hear in some places they are already covering naked statues – no doubt to prevent people from breaking into Bacchanalian orgies at the sight of some larger than life petrified bosom or well-chiseled buttocks.

But it shouldn't only be statues. We are surrounded by potentially pornographic objects that might remind us of the filthiness of the human form.

Victorian England got it right when they covered everything up so as to conceal its natural shape, including curvy table and piano legs. I have a good mind to do the same to the legs of my own furniture.

There must be a reason why the dog is always trying to hump the dining room chair, or why the cat is always rubbing herself salaciously against the coffee table.

Keyholes for bathroom doors should be banned altogether. Those things have a pernicious influence on the peeping Toms among us.

While we're at it, we should also disallow people from undressing when taking a bath or shower. Who knows what effect the sight of one's own naked body in the mirror could have on one's moral health.

Porn, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Looking at the many regulations and restrictions against pornography in Indonesia, it would appear that we have many more people cursed with a dirty mind than those possessing a healthy, mature and well-adjusted one.

People who, instead of seeing things as artistic, cultural or just plain neutral, always see the pornographic side of things, as if stuck in some sort of Freudian world where every banana is a phallic symbol and every word is a double entendre.

We should be thankful that our leaders have taken it upon themselves to adjust our world to meet such a low standard of self-government, saving us the trouble of trying to evolve to a higher level of consciousness where the finer side of human sensibilities reside.

Much like the padded walls of the mental asylum, such adjustments cushion the impact of banging one's head against the wall without having to address the desire to bang one's head against the wall in the first place.

How pleasant it is to have the responsibility of one's actions given over to someone else, lest we continue to succumb to our weak ways and once again give in to our iniquities.

Thank goodness we can blame it all on somebody else – – like the government and RIM for not filtering our BlackBerrys properly.

[Desi Anwar is a senior anchor at Metro TV. She can be contacted at www.desianwar.com and www.dailyavocado.net.]

Sex education please, not censorship

Jakarta Post - January 18, 2011

Rinaldi Ridwan, Jakarta – Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring's plan to ban BlackBerry service in Indonesia unless it filters pornographic content is a threat to our democratic way of life.

We should be proud of international recognition of Indonesia as the most democratic nation in Southeast Asia, but Tifatul's warning will threaten to end our fight to preserve freedom of speech as part of basic human rights.

In his ultimatum, Tifatul gives a Jan. 21 deadline to Research in Motion (RIM) to block all access to porn sites or else six providers in Indonesia, as RIM partners, will be asked to stop their BlackBerry service.

Protests have streamed into Tifatul's Twitter account from some 2.5 million BlackBerry users in Indonesia since the warning was issued on Jan. 7.

Banning people from using their gadgets, including BlackBerry, to browse information is obviously an intervention in private life.

This is a violation of human rights as stated in the 1945 Constitution Article 28F, which says that everyone has the right to communicate and retrieve information to develop themselves and their surroundings.

As a consequence, the government must respect people's right to privacy and refrain from any forms of censorship. The state must not intrude into the private lives of citizens.

In China, the communist government blocks pornographic contents, while in fact it is censoring any opposition views toward the regime.

Once censorship on the Internet is implemented, censorship in other aspects of life will follow, and next we will be welcoming the New Order Part Two.

According to a feminist theory, a regulation over body and mind is a start to further regulation of civil and political freedom – thereby producing the "personal is political" phrase.

Based on this phrase, personal is political, pornographic matters should be handled from a personal rather than political level.

Censoring the Internet looks like trying to sweeten the sea, which is impossible to do. There are millions of porn sites on the Internet, and there are many other channels for pornography to intrude into our lives.

We cannot block all pornographic materials. Moreover, there is always a chance for blocked content to still be accessed.

Therefore, the success rate in preventing pornography, from the political side, is very low. Looking at the size of the Communications and Information Technology Ministry, this would be an impossible task. Excessive efforts to suppress pornography will put civil freedom in danger. Therefore, we should handle pornographic matters from a personal and individual consciousness level.

The government must instead focus its program on providing wider access to the Internet all over the country.

Based on Google trends search, countries with strict moral policies are precisely the same countries that have the highest rate of citizens accessing porn content.

Topping the list is Pakistan, with Indonesia at fifth, as countries which have searched "sex" as the keyword the most. This is proof that strict moral policy would not be effective.

Instead of censorship, we should provide young people with sex education and instruction on how to use the Internet wisely.

The young generation should be empowered in dealing with their sexuality and obtaining information related to the issue of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) from credible sources.

It can be said that young people become curios about sex and porn materials because they lack credible information on this matter.

Therefore, discussion about sexuality should be opened to youths, particularly by their parents, to make them better understand and respect their bodies.

Sexuality is not a taboo. Making sex taboo is like calling the existence of life taboo. Research conducted by Susan M. Blake (Susan M. Blake, et al; 2001) revealed that children whose parents talk with them about sexual matters or provide sex education or contraceptive information at home are more likely than others to postpone sexual activities.

The children have fewer sexual partners and are more likely to use contraceptives such as condoms.

They are at reduced risk for pregnancy, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases than young people whose parents do not engage in open communication about sexual matters.

National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh has deemed sex education as unimportant because children will get to know sex by themselves as soon they mature and get married.

However, a recent survey conducted by the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) shows that around 50 percent of young teenagers in Greater Jakarta have been sexually active.

The lack of information and ignorance of this phenomenon amounts to a disaster for youths as it will spark unwanted pregnancies and spread the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Sex education is a must, and the need for it is urgent. It must be formulated in a specific curriculum to ensure that youths have knowledge about their bodies and sexuality, and can thereby act make more responsible choices.

[The writer works for the Women Journal Foundation.]