Fitri, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono launched a mammoth tourism project in Lombok on Friday that critics contend will lead to the forced displacement of about 400 residents.

The Mandalika resort project, in Kuta, Central Lombok, is expected to cost about Rp 27 trillion and will include five-star hotels, a convention center, sports and health facilities, a lagoon and a marina.

"We will need Rp 27 trillion to develop this area," Yudhoyono said. "We wouldn't be able to sleep just thinking about that sum, which is the equivalent of some $3 billion."

The project will involve the state-owned Bali Tourism Development Corporation and several private companies including Global Internasional, the MNC Group and the Rajawali Group.

But Wahijan, who heads the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Farmers Association, said 400 people – farmers and their families – were at risk of being forcibly evicted from their land.

"Many of these farmers have up until now not received any payment for their land. And if they do get paid, the sum involved is really low, less than Rp 200,000 per hectare, and some have even been paid with secondhand clothes," he said.

Wahijan said the authorities needed to come up with a fair solution for the 400 people including where they would be moved to.

He said the experience of farmers evicted from their land for the construction of the new Lombok International Airport, which opened this month, should not be repeated.

Yudhoyono said that while the private companies involved in the project needed to meet their commitment to develop the area, the local government also had to play its part.

The president also called on the BTDC to change its name to the Bali Lombok Tourism Development Corporation, to prevent any misunderstanding since the project was in Lombok.

West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Zainul Majdi said the Mandalika resort area was ideally located near a number of beautiful beaches.

The 1,175-hectare resort area began to be developed in the 1990s, with the building of a five-star hotel, the Novotel, but further development stalled.

Majdi said the developers needed to take care to involve locals in the project, and not to trample on local traditions. "The people of NTB are still the hosts in their own land," he added.

The governor, accompanied by the president director of the BTDC, Ida Bagus Wirajaya, presented Yudhoyono with a blueprint for the development of the Mandalika resort area.

Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for the economy, said the area was strategically located only 16 kilometers from the new international airport and just 40 kilometers from Mataram, the provincial capital.

"The location of the Mandalika resort area is very advantageous and strategic for development as a tourism resort, and I hope that this area can become a new national tourism icon," the minister said.

Yudhoyono marked the ground breaking of the project by sounding a siren. Also present at the ceremony, besides Majdi and Hatta, were the first lady, Ani Yudhoyono, and the new tourism and creative economy minister, Marie Elka Pangestu.

At the same ceremony several other memorandums of understanding were signed. They included agreements between the Central Lombok district chief and the management of the Wahanakarya Suplaindo tourism school, and the district chief, Yonasindo Intra Pratama and the management of the Bali state polytechnic nurse training college.

Number of wealthy in Indonesia skyrockets

Jakarta Globe - October 19, 2011

Faisal Maliki Baskoro – Indonesia's wealthy population surged by almost a fifth year-on-year in August, a rate three times the projected economic growth.

According to data from the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS), bank accounts with more than Rp 1 billion ($113,000) in deposits in the country increased by 19.5 percent in August from the same period a year earlier.

There were a total of 266,050 such accounts with Rp 1,424.3 trillion at Indonesia's 120 commercial lenders in August, compared with 222,600 accounts valued at Rp 1,182.9 trillion in August 2010.

According to the Certified Wealth Management Association, a wealthy individual is defined as a bank customer who has at least Rp 1 billion in savings.

Jahja Setiaatmadja, the president director of Bank Central Asia, said the number of wealthy should continue to grow in line with the country's improving GDP per capita. "Now that we have passed $3,000 income per capita [per year], wealth acceleration should go at a faster rate," he said.

Maikel Sajangbati, president director of investment consultant company MaeSa Consulting Indonesia, echoed Jahja's comments.

"If the economy grows by 6.5 percent this year, the wealthy could see their fortune go up by triple [the economic growth]," Maikel said. The government expects the economy to grow 6.5 percent this year after expanding 6.1 percent in 2010.

He said the economic woes of Europe and the United States had yet to have a significant negative impact on Indonesia's rich individuals other than making them more protective of their wealth. However, he said he was disappointed the wealthy were not increasing their investments.

"In terms of lifestyle nothing has changed, but these people are becoming more critical and hesitant in their investment decisions," Maikel said.

These bank accounts comprise about 57 percent of the Rp 2,492.51 trillion in total deposits in Indonesia as of August.

Providers agree to stop sending promotional messages

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2011

Jakarta – Bowing to pressure from the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI), 10 cellular service providers, all members of the Indonesian Cellular Phone Provider Association (ATSI), agreed on Monday to stop broadcasting short message service (SMS), pop-ups and voice messages containing promotions ordered by content provider companies.

BRTI has instructed cellular service providers to stop promoting content provider services through broadcast messages, saying it could lead to unauthorized transactions that could inflict losses on customers.

ATSI chairman Sarwoto Atmosutarno said that customers who received broadcast messages after Tuesday could file complaints to the BRTI office or providers' call centers.

"We will take every complaint seriously. I ask our customers not to hesitate to file complaints if they still get such messages," said Sarwoto, who is also the CEO of Telkomsel.

He said that such promotional messages could lead to the unfair siphoning of phone credit because customers might forget to unsubscribe to extra services after their period had expired.

"In fact, not all customers really understand the premium short message services. Sometimes they accidentally subscribe. When they want to unsubscribe, they don't know how to do it," Sarwoto said.

"In the future, we should create a better registration method. We must seek to ensure that customers who subscribe to content providers are those who really want them."

BRTI issued a directive against cellular service providers to offer content from third parties following an outcry from consumers who complained that they were being charged for services that they did not order.

BRTI previously said all operators should temporarily deactivate services for content provider companies. "On early Tuesday, we want all databases cleared," BRTI member Heru Sutadi said. "Customers can register themselves again if they want to."

Heru said that BRTI would consider revoking the permits of content providers if they were found guilty of inappropriately charging customers. "We will impose severe punishments if we still find them conducting illegal transactions and siphoning customers' phone credit," he said.

Sarwoto warned against shutting down content provider companies. "Content providers are still important. We should see them as a new way to get the best out of the technology," he said.

BRTI has also ordered cellular service providers to reimburse customers for lost phone credits.

XL head of corporate communications Febriari Nadira said that her company had paid customers for their losses. "We will likely do it again if our examinations show that our customers' phone credits have been exploited," she said.

Telkomsel said it paid out approximately Rp 300 million (US$33,900) every month to pay back customers for credit that was unduly charged.

The Jakarta Police said they would question the management of a TV station that advertised content provider services on a quiz show, in response to a complaint by Mohamad Feri Kuncoro, a customer who claimed that his phone credit had been unfairly deducted.

"We will meet with the TV station management to ask them about the premium content that it carries," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar said. (lfr)

President honors a Malaysian sultan, and courts anger

Jakarta Globe - October 17, 2011

Arientha Primanita, Dessy Sagita & Agus Triyono – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may have been flirting with political suicide when he awarded a Malaysian sultan a medal of honor on Sunday amid Indonesia's growing resentment toward its neighbor.

Ties between the countries are strained, or more strained, after Tubagus Hasanuddin, a lawmaker from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), alleged that Indonesia could lose 1,490 hectares of land in West Kalimantan to Malaysia. That immediately prompted a wave of condemnation and anti-Malaysian sentiment here.

The government denied a land grab by Malaysia, but that has failed to appease House of Representatives members.

On Sunday, Yudhoyono presented Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, the sultan of Terengganu and the current constitutional head of Malaysia, with the Adipurna medal for service to the nation.

The honor reflected the sultan's "enormous contribution in preserving and developing the friendship, good relations and cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia," the president said at the State Palace after bestowing the medal.

He was immediately condemned by activists, including those at Migrant Care, a Jakarta-based advocacy group for the protection of Indonesian workers overseas. The group says there are 151 Indonesians on death row in the neighboring country.

"There are also thousands of others who have been murder and rape victims, so we condemn the decision to give this award," Migrant Care coordinator Wahyu Susilo said.

A few months ago, the same group also criticized a decision by the University of Indonesia to award an honorary doctorate to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah for his achievements in religious tolerance and human rights.

There were similar anti-Saudi protests here, particularly over the treatment of Indonesian workers in the kingdom. An Indonesian maid, Ruyati binti Sapubi, 54, was executed shortly before the doctorate was awarded. She was convicted of killing her employer, which she said was an act of self-defense. After the execution, the Indonesian government in June stopped sending domestic workers to Saudi Arabia.

Migrant Care says there are 43 Indonesian workers on death row in Saudi Arabia.

Yudhoyono's adviser on international relations, Teuku Faizasyah, said the government had long been planning to give the Malaysian sultan the honor.

"We realize there will be controversy and even resistance from all sides," he said. " But must such resistance stop us from honoring a person who has made so many positive contributions?"

The government, he added, had planned to give the Adipurna medal in August – before the border debacle surfaced – but the sultan was unable to attend the ceremony in Jakarta.

"[He] has done a lot for our migrant workers' children, who previously had no access to formal education, by establishing a learning center for them," Teuku said.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said the award was a payback for Malaysia's decision to honor Yudhoyono for his achievements in 2008.

Actions, demos, protests...

Peaceful and violent protests mark Yudhoyono's anniversary

Jakarta Post - October 21, 2011

Jakarta – Protesters from Jakarta to Makasssar took to the streets Wednesday to mark the end the first year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second term in office.

One student demonstrator was shot in the leg after police squared off against more than 100 mostly student protesters who had blocked the road in front of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) offices in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

A peaceful rally staged by hundreds of students, activists and labor groups in front of the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta turned into chaos after protesters tried to penetrate a security barricade.

The incident began when police used water cannon to stop dozens of protesters who were attempting to tear down a barb wire barricade. Protesters later hurled stones at police who responded by firing warning shots, tear gas and pepper spray.

Officers then divided the protesters in two groups. Some demonstrators fled to Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in front of the Constitutional Court building before disbanding.

The groups that demonstrated at the Palace included the Islamic Student Association (HMI), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), various student action forums, the Congress of the Indonesian Labor Union Alliance (KASBI) and Petisi 28.

Indria Fernida from Kontras said her team took 30 victims or the family members of victims in human rights violation cases to the rally to push the President to settle human rights cases.

"Since there has been no effort to solve such cases, the chain of violence has continued until now," she told The Jakarta Post.

Kontras demonstrators carried black umbrellas that were painted with depictions of unresolved human rights incidents such as the Trisakti incident in 1998, the Tanjung Priok incident in 1984 and the murder of human rights campaigner Munir.

Political analyst Fadjrul Falaakh told the Post that the President "should be impeached because of his failure in areas such as corruption, poverty, the gap between provinces in Indonesia and civil and political rights, such as the church and Ahmadiyah attacks."

In Makassar, student protesters damaged two official cars outside Hasanuddin University and briefly took a police officer hostage. The students, who staged protests across Makassar city, accused Yudhoyono of failing to enforce the law and failing to improve people's welfare.

Police officer First Brig. Nur Ikhsan was held hostage by students for around an hour to stop nearby officers from shooting the protesters. Ikhsan was released following negotiations with Makassar Police chief detective Comr. Karim Samandi. The protest ended amid heavy rains in the afternoon.

In Cirebon, West Java, protesters set fire to tires, briefly blocking the country's main northern highway and forcing the police to divert traffic.

Students in Yogyakarta held a peaceful rally that caused a severe traffic jam in the heart of the city. In their speeches, the students criticized the government's weak foreign policy. (ipa)

[Andi Hajramurni, Slamet Susanto and Nana Rukmana contributed reporting from Makassar, Yogyakarta and Cirebon.]

Occupy Jakarta, an awareness building movement for social change

Pelita Online - October 21, 2011

Jakarta – The Occupy Jakarta movement inspired by Occupy Wall Street in New York continues to reverberate with no end in sight in the midst of the controversy surrounding the cabinet reshuffle and rampant corruption in Indonesia.

Aside from being a symbol of the fight against the capitalist system, the action is also being used as a platform for social awareness building to highlight that 1 percent of the population dominates economic life in Indonesia.

"Aside from demanding a change from the capitalist system, the action is also to make all sides aware that 99 percent of Indonesian society does not find itself in a situation that is comfortable in many areas, as a consequence of the domination of 1 percent of society who dominate the sources of our livelihood", Occupy Jakarta initiator Sari Putri told Pelita Online on Friday October 21.

Sari added that this 1 percent is a representation of the capitalists in Indonesia who although they are small in number have immense control over all sectors of life. Many laws fail to side with the ordinary people because capitalism does not just control the economy but also the political, social, cultural, education and media fields and controls the way we think.

"Even our leaders are controlled by capitalists, this is why all areas of life in Indonesia are controlled in accordance with the interests of this 1 percent of capitalists".

The form of capitalism that has developed within the administration has been marked by polices such the importation of salt, potatoes and cassava, which is creating concern over the future of Indonesia's farms. "Like the demonstration that took place not long ago in the Dieng [Plateau in Central Java], which was related to the importation of cassava and potatoes. The future of our farmers is very worrying", said Sari.

Everyone, she said, must make an effort to change this situation. Through the Occupy Jakarta movement, Sari is appealing to all people to support change to the existing system that does not side with 99 percent of the Indonesian people.

"It is most regrettable that not everyone realises that the capitalist system has taken over our lives. Because of this, through the Occupy Jakarta movement, it is hoped that all sides will realise that the dangers of capitalism are before our eyes".

According to Sari, the Occupy Jakarta actions will continue to be held on a daily basis starting at 1pm in the parking area of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX). In addition to speeches, the actions will also involve discussions as a means of raising consciousness.

The participants in the actions come from a variety of backgrounds such as students, fisherpeople from around the country, young people from Ambon, workers and so forth.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Students rally against SBY administration

Jakarta Post - October 21, 2011

Apriadi Gunawan, Rizal Harahap and Arya Dipa, Medan/Pekanbaru/Bandung – Students from across the country took to the streets on Thursday to protest "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's failure".

In Medan, North Sumatra, a protest turned violent with students clashing with police when the latter attempted to douse tires that had been set alight at the Jl. Gatot Subroto traffic circle. However, the clash did not escalate and the police were able to extinguish the fires.

The protesters shouted their criticism, calling Yudhoyono's administration a failure because of its incompetence in improving people's welfare and eradicating corruption.

Rally coordinator Andi Harahap said Yudhoyono and his ministers had failed in their mission to improve people's wellbeing, which was testified by high levels of poverty and unemployment, low wages, expensive education and a corrupt political elite.

Andi said Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono should step down from their positions, before the whole group of protesters started calling for their ouster.

The students also called for an early election to choose new leaders. "Dissolve the Cabinet, have Yudhoyono and Boediono resign and bring forth the election," Andi said.

After holding the rally at the traffic circle, the crowd assembled at the North Sumatra legislative office, where they demanded the newly approved Intelligence Law be revoked.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, scores of students affiliated with the Pekanbaru Students Executive Body (BEM) alliance commemorated Yudhoyono's seventh year in office by holding a rally in the heart of the city. They urged Yudhoyono to relinquish his post, given his weak leadership.

Riau University's BEM president Andri Yulan said Yudhoyono's seven-year leadership had not yet brought any changes for the nation. According to him, many people are still suffering and everyday life is still circumscribed by the corrupt behavior of the country's leaders.

"This country has no hope of becoming a substantial and dignified nation," he said.

He also cited a number of failures during Yudhoyono's administration, such as expensive yet low quality education, and weak law enforcement. "Also Yudhoyono does not provide protection for citizens working overseas," he said.

In Bandung, West Java, dozens of students grouped from the Bandung Muslim Students Action Alliance urged the government and House of Representatives to immediately prepare for an election.

Alliance leader Irfan Ahmad Fauzi said both leaders were proven incapable of managing the nation.

"The Law and Human Rights Ministry has released 29 graft convicts in the name of sentence remissions, despite the fact that they [the convicts] had actually seized the rights of the people," Irfan said in front of the Gedung Sate provincial administration office in Bandung on Thursday.

Another failure, he added, was evident from the democratic system constructed by Yudhoyono. According to Yudhoyono, democracy, the core of which is to realize people's welfare, is being used as a means to legitimize the pilfering of the country. "Consequently, the nation is being besieged by budgetary mafia," he said.

Meanwhile, around 50 students from the Bandung Institute of Technology conducted a protest by walking backwards. They held banners and posters with messages conveying their distrust of the government.

Malang students say government has failed, call for Yudhoyono's resignation

Detik Surabaya - October 20, 2011

Muhammad Aminudin, Malang – The second year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono's administration was commemorated by students in the East Java city of Malang with a demonstration at the Malang city Regional House of Representatives (DPRD).

The protest action by two groups from the Malang branch of the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) and the Brawijaya University Student Executive Council (BEM) was also joined by scores of students from the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII) and the Indonesian Muslim Youth (PMI).

In speeches the two groups called on Yudhoyono to resign and unfurled banners demanding an immediate rerun of the presidential elections in order to replace Yudhoyono and Boediono.

KAMMI general chairperson Amir Gunawan said that the action was an evaluation of Yudhoyono's performance who had still failed to create an Indonesia that is prosperous, just and civilised.

Gunawan said that there were 10 failures of the current government: Yudhoyono, Boediono and the Second National Unity Cabinet had failed to uphold the supremacy of the law and resolve a number of corruption cases, Yudhoyono has failed to oversee the transition to democracy, improve the economy and the people's welfare, reduce the poverty rate, eradicate corruption, create a sense of security, maintain social harmony, protect the country's natural wealth and resources, safeguard the sovereignty of the Indonesian Republic and finally, he has failed to fulfill the people's hopes causing social stress in society.

"These 10 failures force us to ask SBY to resign now on the seventh year of his term in office", said Gunawan during a break in the action on the morning of Thursday October 20.

The Brawijaya University student said that in his view, Yudhoyono has just been preoccupied serving the interests of certain groups by dividing up the cake in the form of cabinet seats. He added that the call for Yudhoyono to resign would be conveyed to the speaker of the Malang DPRD so that it can be forwarded to the State Palace and the national parliament.

The KAMMI protest was also marked by an action in which they threw shoes on the ground as a token of the Yudhoyono governments' lies which has created exasperation among the people. They also covered their faces with black plastic.

The BEM protesters made similar demands with Arief Budi Laksono saying that there are four indicators that show that the Yudhoyono administration is not functioning, namely its failure to protect the people, provide cheap education, uphold the law and bring prosperity to the people.

"These four things aren't being undertaken, we deeply regret that this has occurred", said the chairperson of the Brawijaya University BEM.

After giving speeches the students set fire to posters and banners with messages calling on Yudhoyono to resign. The action was closely watched over by security personnel equipped with a water cannon unit and backed up by security personnel from the Malang city DPRD bundling. (fat/fat)

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]

Students in Makassar blockade road, call on Yudhoyono to resign

Metro TV News - October 20, 2011

Makassar – Hundreds of students from the Anti-DPR Budget Committee Front held a protest action underneath the Makassar flyover in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on Thursday October 20 to commemorate the second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono.

The protesters called on Yudhoyono and Boediono to resign saying they had failed to lead the nation. The students also urged the government to dissolve the House of Representatives' (DPR) Budget Committee (Banggar), which they said is prone to corruption and the manipulation of projects by house members.

If the government does not immediately dissolve the Banggar, the students threatened to hold more demonstrations.

As a result of the demonstration the flow of traffic on Jl. Pettarani came to a complete standstill. The students also blockaded all of the roads underneath the flyover which is one of the main thoroughfares in Makassar city. (RIZ)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Yudhoyono and Boediono 'pray in front of corpse' at Samarinda action

Kaltim Tribune - October 20, 2011

Hasbi, Samarinda – Actions today commemorating the second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono were not just held at the State Palace in Jakarta but also in other parts of the country.

In the East Kalimantan city of Samarinda protests were held at several different locations including the Voorvo intersection in front of the Lembuswana shopping mall, the East Kalimantan Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) and the governor's office.

At the Voorvo intersection, scores of students from the East Kalimantan Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) and the Mulawarman University Student Executive Council (BEM) took turns giving speeches.

The protesters also held a theatrical action depicting the failures of the Yudhoyono-Boediono regime, which began with a scene in which Yudhoyono and Boediono "prayed" in front of a "corpse" wrapped in a cloth shroud. The corpse was then placed in front of the site where they were demonstrating.

The protesters also brought organisational paraphernalia, banners, posters and leaflets containing a list of the government's failures.

"The SBY-Boediono administration is two years old, but up until now there has not been much change taking place in this republic. Because of this SBY's failure are absolutely clear", shouted KAMMI chairperson Surahman.

Following the protest action, the students also collected funds for victims of a fire on Jl. Pahlawan.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Students in Palembang say Yudhoyono has failed to lead Indonesia

Sriwijaya Post - October 20, 2011

Syahrul Hidayat, Palembang – Student activists from the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) held an action to commemorate the second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono at the Air Mancur traffic circle in the South Sumatra city of Palembang on Thursday October 20.

During the protest they said that Yudhoyono and Boediono had failed to lead Indonesia. They also held a theatrical action in which a student wore a rope around his neck made from rambutan fruits with the word SBY on it representing the political parties in Indonesia.

Although the action attracted the attention of drivers passing the Air Mancur traffic circle it did not disrupt the flow of traffic. Security personnel meanwhile maintained watch throughout the peaceful action.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Student protest in Jember accuses 'SBY of doing political summersaults'

Kompas - October 20, 2011

Syamsul Hadi and Marcus Suprihadi, Jember – The second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono was marked by a protest action by scores of students at the Jember Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) in East Java on Thursday October 20.

The action by the Jember Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI) attracted public attention because it coincided with a plenary meeting to revise the 2001 Jember regency budget (APBD). As a consequence, it was closely guarded by security personnel from the Jember Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and the Jember Municipal Police (Polresta).

Action coordinator Sahru Romadhoni said that the Yudhoyono administration had failed and only carried out political summersaults without prioritising the problems of the nation. The Yudhoyono and Boediono leadership has lied to the public, is incompetent and has left the problems of the nation to pile up.

"In confronting the nation's problems, that are increasingly intertwined and complicated, the president has given up all responsibility and just looks for scapegoats", aid Romadhoni.

The budget allocation for the food sector is extremely high but the importation of fisheries related products is also high, even though national production is huge. The students also asked why the government is still importing salt and rice.

The government repeatedly claims that domestic economic growth is both good and stable with an annual growth rate of 6.5 percent, with a gross domestic product of around 6,300 trillion rupiah in 2010, which is predicted to rise to 7,000 trillion rupiah in 2011, and an average per capita income of 2,252,208.87 per month.

These are only macro indicators however and are flawed, given that more than 32 million Indonesian are only consuming only 2,000-2,500 calories a day.

"We don't know how many of them don't get to eat on a given day. It is natural and justified that for us to say the country and its administration has failed", said Romadhoni, who called on Yudhoyono and Boediono to step down.

The student also called for the supremacy of the law to be upheld, improvements to the political system aimed at political parties that side with the people, improvements to bilateral relations with neighbouring countries, healthcare guarantees for the poor, the complete eradication of corruption in the administration, food security, improvements to education and the even distribution of development.

[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski.]

Cirebon students blockade road, give government the 'bottoms up'

Detik.com - October 20, 2011

Faiq Rhesa, Cirebon – Around 20 students from the Reformasi Student Front (FMR) blockaded Java's northern coast road at the intersection of Jl. Brigjend Darsono and Jl. Pemuda in the West Java city of Cirebon on Thursday October 20.

The action was held to mark the second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono.

As well as blockading the road, the students also hijacked a passing truck, which they then used as a platform to read out their criticisms of the government. As a reward for the Yudhoyono administration's tardiness, the students presented the government with a gift of their backsides by giving it 'bottoms up'.

Security personnel from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) C Detachment from the West Java regional police and officers from the Cirebon city police moved in and attempted to stop the action. Several students were pushed and shoved by police and a number were kicked. One student fell to the ground and was left sprawled on the road. The traffic on the coast road meanwhile came to a halt because of the action.

"The administration of SBY-Boediono has been slow going. Social problems have grown, education costs have jumped and the government does nothing", said one of the demonstrators.

In the end a clash broke out between the students and security personnel and one student fainted. (anw/anw)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Student protesters in Solo call on President Yudhoyono to resign

Detik.com - October 20, 2011

Muchus Budi R., Solo – The Greater Solo Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) called for the resignation of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono on Thursday October 20 during a protest action in the Central Java city of Solo.

The dozen or so KAMMI members, who held the action at the Gladag traffic circle, said that Yudhoyono and Boediono had made all kinds of election promises but did not have the political will to fulfill them.

They gave as an example Yudhoyono's promise to eradicate corruption which after two years of his administration has shown no progress and a number of big corruption cases have in instead been left up in the air without any clear explanation.

They also said that the government had shown no interest in upholding human rights, giving the example of a number of cases that to this day have failed to be resolved such as the murder of human rights activist Munir and the Trisakti, Semanggi I and Semanggi II shootings of student protesters in 1998.

The other failures that were highlighted was the failure to secure state assets with the government allowing the country's natural wealth to be exploited by foreigners, the failure to create social harmony and the failure to protect Indonesians working overseas as migrant workers.

The students also said that president's recent cabinet reshuffle was simply a 'normative' measure that will not have a significant influence on the administration's performance. The reshuffle just moved a few ministerial positions around and many of the appointments were inappropriate. Several of the ministers who have been caught up in corruption cases were in fact retained.

It is because of this therefore that the students called on Yudhoyono and Boediono to immediately declare their resignation as president and vice president because after two years of work they have failed to carry out the mandate given to them by the people. (mbr/anw)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Students in Semarang present legislators with 'corpse'

Detik.com - October 20, 2011

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Hundreds of students in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang held a protest action on Thursday October 20 to mark the second year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono's administration.

The action began in front of the Baiturahman Mosque in the Simpang Lima area. The alliance of students from the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII), the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI), the Islamic Students Association (HMI) and the Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI) then held a long-march to the Videotron traffic circle on Jl. Pahlawan around 500 metres away.

In addition to banners, posters and organisational flags, the students at the front of the march also carried a 'corpse' wrapped in a shroud with the writing 'the corpse of the government'. Throughout the march the students distributed leaflets containing a statement.

At the Videotron traffic circle the protesters took turns giving speeches in which they stated that October 20 was the perfect moment to reflect upon the Yudhoyono-Boediono leadership. "Because today, two years ago, SBY and Boediono became president and vice president", said action coordinator Muhammad Harir.

Other speakers said that the government had failed to take the people in a better direction saying that poverty has yet to be overcome and corruption is still rampant. "The recent [cabinet] reshuffle that was carried out was just lip service", said one speaker accompanied by shouts from the other protesters.

Satisfied with giving speeches, the demonstrators moved off to the Central Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) located around 100 metres away. After waiting for several minutes and giving speeches, the students were met by DPRD representatives. They then handed over the 'corpse' to DPRD member Novita Wijayanti.

Although the action disrupted the flow of traffic to some extend, the protest proceeded in an orderly fashion with police closely guarding the students from start to finish. (try/anw)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Protest in Jakarta ends in chaos after students set fire to tyres

Detik.com - October 20, 2011

Ari Saputra, Jakarta – A protest action commemorating the second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono ended in chaos after students set fire to tyres in front of the State Palace in Jakarta.

At around 4pm on Thursday October 20, fifty or so students from the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII) suddenly set fire to the tyres on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in front of the Palace. They also sang the national anthem Indonesia Raya.

When the protesters began to get out of control the police, who had formed a line opposite the Palace, moved in and tried to put the fires out. The PMII students fought back and a scuffle between students and police was unavoidable.

The police were finally able to bring the situation under control and extinguish the fires. But as soon as the students had calmed down, around 100 additional protesters arrived and tried to break through the police line.

Once again the demonstrators and police were involved in a scuffle. This time the protesters were more audacious and several police officers were struck by bamboo sticks brought by the students.

The police continued to hold the protesters back and they were unable to break through the police line. In the end the students retreated and decided to hold speeches condemning the Yudhoyono administration. As of 4.25pm the protest action was still continuing. (ndr/vit)

[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski.]

Students protesters in Jakarta say state palace is 'nest of corruptors'

Media Indonesia - October 20, 2011

Rudy Polycarpus, Jakarta – Commemorating the second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono, around 500 students from the National Student League for Democracy (LMND), the Indonesian National Student Movement (GMNI) and the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII) protested in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday October 20.

In speeches the students called on Yudhoyono to resign from the presidency because he has failed to resolve a number of national problems. Not only that, Yudhoyono and Boediono are the source of the country's disasters because of their pro-corruptor policies.

"The State Palace is a nest of corruptors because [they] are busy dividing up the cake of power and lobbying with the mafia in this country", said Agus Priyatnto from LMND.

The students also said that the Yudhoyono-Boediono leadership has been incapable of solving the Indonesian people's problems and is simply an extension of foreign interests. Up until now, said Priyatnto the Yudhoyono-Boediono administration has sided with foreign capital and as a result strategic sectors of the national economy are controlled by the tentacles of foreign corporations.

"For example, under the Capital Investment law, foreigners are given full latitude to exploit Indonesia's natural resources for decades".

During the action, the students brought a number of banners with messages such as "The SBY-Boediono regime of corruptors" and "Failed state". In addition to giving speeches, the protesters also held a theatrical action in which they handcuffed both hands to symbolise that the ordinary people are not yet free from poverty. (OL-8)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Protesters in Surabaya and Kediri condemn Yudhoyono administration

Tempo Interactive - October 20, 2011

Fatkhurrohman Taufiq and Hari Tri Wasono, Surabaya – The second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono was commemorated with protests on Tuesday October 20 by students, workers and even street children in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya and the nearby East Java city of Kediri.

In Surabaya, protest actions were held in front of the East Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) on Jl. Indrapura and the State Grahadi Building on Jl. Gubernur Suryo.

An action is also planned for 7pm by protesters calling themselves the Occupy Surabaya Juang who will hold an evening of contemplation in front of the State Grahadi Building. "The SBY-Boediono administration has fallen into a path that disavows the mandate of the 1945 Constitution. Much [of the country's] natural wealth and strategic assets have been robbed and sold off to foreigners", said Occupy Surabaya Juang coordinator Catur Wibowo.

As many as 350 officers from the Surabaya metropolitan district police and sectoral police were deployed to watch over the protest action. Security was also reinforced by personnel from the East Java Mobile Brigade (Brimob).

Hundreds of people from the People's Action Committee (KAR), which is an alliance of the Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI), the Muhammadiyah Students Association (IMM), trade unions and street children, were the first group to arrive at the State Grahadi Building.

They called on Yudhoyono and Boediono to resign immediately because they have failed to safeguard the country from the chasm of poverty. "It is impossible for this nation to be led by a person who is hesitant and is more interested in image that performance", said KAR spokesperson Andreas.

In addition to giving speeches, the demonstrators also held a theatrical action in which one of the participants was wrapped in white cloth until they resembled a corpse in a burial shroud. His face was adorned with a mask with a picture of President Yudhoyono.

The action was also enlivened by the arrival of three other groups of protesters from the Surabaya State University Student Executive Council (BEM), the State Institute of Islamic Studies Democratic Circle Forum (LDF) and the National Student Front (FMN).

Students from the Indonusa Esa Unggul University (Unesa) BEM smeared red paint over one of the demonstrators with the initials SBY written on their back. "This is a symbol of the death of the president's conscience", said BEM Unesa coordinator Shodikin.

Protesters from the LDF meanwhile pelted a statue of Yudhoyono with tomatoes and rotten cabbages. The also tried to set fire to a bier but were immediately stopped by police who doused the bier with water.

In Kediri, a protest action was held by the Kediri IMM in front of the city hall building and the Kediri city DPRD in which they formed a "reshuffle committee" to sack Yudhoyono from the presidency. They also forced Kediri city secretary Agus Wahyudi to sign a letter of dismissal for Yudhoyono. "The one who should be reshuffled is SBY himself", shouted action coordinator Muhammad Huda.

During the action the students also conveyed a statement by their colleges from Yudhoyono's home town of Pacitan who are ashamed of his leadership. As fellow residents of Pacitan they said that Yudhoyono had totally failed to reflect an attitude of wisdom.

[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski.]

Occupy Jakarta movement seeks to build movement for real change

Antara News - October 19, 2011

Jakarta – Scores of people attended the "Occupy Jakarta" protest action on the grounds of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building on Wednesday October 19. The protesters unfurled posters with messages such as such as "99 percent of society is oppressed by 1 percent of capitalism" and "oppose capitalism and neoliberalism".

"We have to open our eyes because there will not be a better future is it is in the hands of a system that is under the control of 1 percent", said one woman during a speech.

The protesters who said they were housewives, university lecturers, research and students, took turns in giving speeches. A number of employees from the JSX building also joined the demonstration so a number of protesters were wearing office clothing complete with ties.

"This movement is not the property of anyone, it belongs to all of us. Meaning we represent 99 percent of the people who are oppressed under this system, who want make changes and endeavour to convince people to begin something new, a movement of renewal aiming for a more prosperous life", said Occupy Jakarta action coordinator Sari Putri.

Andreas (45) meanwhile, one of the demonstrators who said he was an artist from a well known artistic organisation, said that the 1 percent are those who are in the position of being owners of capital and employers.

"We have seen that collusion and collaboration is happening by those in power who eventually control policies, in the interests of a handful of people for the accumulation of capital and to maintain power", said Andreas.

Other posters held up by the demonstrators read "1 percent trades in the bodies of 99 percent of women" and "1 percent makes history, 99 percent changes it".

During the action, participants voluntarily donated money to buy drinks for the demonstrators. The protesters also cleaned up their own rubbish. At 2pm they held a discussion on their program and follow-up actions. (SDP-02)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Capitalism benefits 1%, the other 99% suffer say Occupy Jakarta protesters

Liputan 6 - October 19, 2011

Andri Yudhistira, Jakarta – A number of people in the name of "Occupy Jakarta" protested in front of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) on Jl. Sudirman in Jakarta on October 19. The protesters said that capitalism had failed to bring prosperity to the ordinary people, and opposed the application of the capitalist system in the Indonesian economy.

"In all countries it has been demonstrated that the capitalist system only brings prosperity to a specific group of 1 percent, while the other 99 percent suffer. This is also the case in Indonesia. Capitalism has failed to bring prosperity to the ordinary people. [We must] immediately build an economic system that is humane and just for all the people of Indonesia", said Occupy Jakarta initiator Bob Sulaiman in front of the JSX building on Wednesday.

According to Sulaiman, the peaceful action was held to warn the government and the House of Representatives to put an end to the domination of the capitalist system in Indonesia that is so very harmful to the ordinary people.

The Occupy Jakarta protest offered a number of economic principles that are in line with the five principles of social justice. "There are 11 concepts, one of which was an economy that empowers and protects farmers, the traditional market and small- and medium scale enterprises from the hegemony of large companies and multinationals", explained Sulaiman.

Although there were not many demonstrators, they were closely watched over by scores of police officers from the Metro Jaya regional police. (ARI)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Occupy Jakarta protest say capitalism has derailed national development

Metro TV News - October 19, 2011

Jakarta – In concert with the Occupy Wall Street movement that is calling for reforms to the United States' economic policies, a similar movement has emerged in Indonesia. The Occupy Jakarta group has been holding protest actions at the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building on Jl. Sudirman in Jakarta.

The Occupy Jakarta group comprises university lecturers, non-government organisation activists and people working in the arts. They expressed the view that Indonesia has unknowingly been coopted by capitalist economic ideas like the US.

According to the protesters, capitalism has derailed the course of national development as mandated by the 1945 Constitution and has created sharp disparities between owners of capital and the working class or the majority of ordinary people.

The protesters also warned Indonesia to return to the [original] economic principles of Pancasila (the state ideology) that sides with the majority of people rather than domestic and foreign capitalist. Capitalism has failed to bring prosperity to the ordinary people.

The demonstrators pledged to hold daily actions in front of the JSX building. (DSY)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Students and journalists assaulted, scores arrested at Jakarta protest

Detik.com - October 19, 2011

E Mei Amelia R and Ari Saputra, Jakarta - Two demonstrators from the University of Indonesia (UI) Student Action Front (FAM) were assaulted during a scuffle with police at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Wednesday October 19 during a protest action to mark the second year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono's administration.

The two female students, Sonia and Nabiha, attempted to hold firm behind their male colleges but because the march was moving fast and the students pressed for time, the crowd became scattered and the two students were hit and elbowed in the face by male police officers.

The incident began after scores of students brought a stereo foam effigy of a buffalo head to the demonstration. Police suddenly moved in and seized the effigy but were blocked by students and a scuffle broke out that ensued for around 15 minutes. It was the end of this that that Sonia and Nabiha were struck by police.

"The police acted very excessively. They were very freighted and went overboard defending the president so our effigy was seized. Yet we were just going to hold a tolak bala ritual (to ward off evil spirits), not to insult the president. A buffalo head, in our society is customarily used for the tolak bala", said action spokesperson Dimas.

Journalists assaulted

After forcibly breaking up the demonstration, police were then involved in an altercation with journalists covering the protest.

The incident took place when police tried to prevent journalists from taking pictures of a student that had fallen to the ground during the clash with police.

Three photographers said that they were assaulted by police officers. "I was taking photographs, suddenly I was hit in the back of the head", said Indo Pos photographer Feri Pradolo and Pos Kota photographer Toga following the demonstration.

The altercation between police and journalists continued for around 15 minutes with both sides pushing and shoving each other puling at each others clothing. The situation only calmed down after Central Jakarta Police Chief Senior Commissioner AR Yoyol calmed his officers down, while the journalists were comforted by Media Indonesia senior photographer Gino Frankihadi.

Earlier, police had forcibly disbursed the demonstrating students who had set fire to photographs of President Yudhoyono, during which a scuffle broke out and two students were hit by police.

Scores arrested

By late afternoon at least 31 students had been taken into custody and are currently being questioned by police.

"So there are now 31 people who have been taken into custody by the Metro Jaya regional police. The action [was held] without prior notice", said Metro Jaya public relations bureau chief Senior Commissioner Baharuddin Djafar at the Metro Jaya police station on Jl. Gatot Subroto in Jakarta.

According to Djafar, the student action earlier in the afternoon did not have a permit and in addition to detaining the 31 students, police have also taken custody of materials that were used at the demonstration. "Including materials that could violate social norms, we were safeguarding moral norms", he explained.

When asked about the journalists who were assaulted by police, Djafar explained that he had yet to receive a report on the matter, adding that if journalists had indeed been assaulted, they should report it to the police.

[Abridged translation by James Balowski based on five reports by Detik.com.]

Occupy Jakarta starts off slowly

Jakarta Globe - October 19, 2011

Anita Rachman – It's official. Today marked the kick off of the Indonesian version of Occupy Wall Street: Occupy Jakarta.

A small number of people gathered in front of the Indonesia Stock Exchange's building on Wednesday morning, putting up a banner calling on people to wake up and realize that the end of capitalism is near.

One of the initiators, Bob Sulaiman Effendi, said the movement is aimed at asking the middle class to care about today's economic conditions, including the severe crisis that hit the West.

"Capitalism has failed," Bob, who is a director of an international oil company based in Jakarta, said. "If we look at the world, many countries are now thinking of what new system they can apply. But why are we not? While in fact our founding fathers had already set it – it is Pancasila."

The opening of Occupy Jakarta was marked by Bob reading Pancasila, the state ideology.

Bob said China and Russia are now doing fine because they do not fully rely on capitalism, but socialism-capitalism. According to Bob, Pancasila's core concept is socialism-capitalism, because it puts the public's interests above all.

Sari Putri, another Occupy Jakarta activist and a nutrition expert from an international school in Jakarta, said the movement is a continuous one and will not stop today.

"We need to tell people who are not yet aware of today's economic problems," she said. "The middle class will suffer the most once the economic crisis hits Indonesia."

She said people better realize that the crisis will eventually hit Indonesia. "We have been blinded by capitalism, with the system that so easily gives you loans. How many cars in Jakarta do you think are all paid? Many of them are under loans."

No more than 20 people have gathered so far. But Sari said although they are still small, they won't stop fighting and raising awareness.

Pitono Adhi, a writer, told the Jakarta Globe he came to the kick off because he belongs to the 99% majority, not the 1% wealthy.

"Occupy Wall Street was also supported by a small number of people, but then it grew bigger. It doesn't matter that we are still small," he said. He said he found out about the event from Facebook and Twitter.

More people are expected to join, including the director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation and some public lawyers.

Occupy Jakarta? We might if we knew we were being invited

Jakarta Globe - October 17, 2011

Anita Rachman – An Indonesian version of the Occupy Wall Street movement that went global over the weekend might gain supporters, activists and observers say, if only its organizers could get organized.

The Facebook account Occupy Jakarta only had 66 "likes" as of Sunday evening and the Twitter account @occupyjkt – which said it was urgent to occupy Jakarta because food, water, education and development are people's rights and not commodities – had 93 followers. A second, @occupyjakarta, had five.

A rally on Sunday morning at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to mark World Food Day was initially thought to be part of Occupy Jakarta as some protesters held banners saying they were part of Indonesia's 99 percent – the slogan symbolizing the marginalized majority popularized by the Wall Street protesters – but that turned out to be an accident.

"I think we need to organize this better if we want a real movement," said Mariana Amiruddin, executive director of Jurnal Perempuan, a women's rights magazine, who attended the rally thinking it was the Occupy Jakarta movement.

Yuyun Harmono from the Anti-Debt Coalition said Sunday's rally was mixed since some protestors came to commemorate World Food Day.

Despite the confusion, several Occupy Jakarta supporters said they wanted a real movement here, though for reasons different than those in Wall Street. "Indonesia's 1 percent are the government, [greedy] corporations and politicians," Mariana said. "Corruption impoverishes people."

An Occupy Jakarta supporter from Surabaya, Eri Irawan, said it was important to remind people about greedy corporations. "The 1 percent in Indonesia are businessmen who collude with each other," he said. A Facebook post invited supporters to occupy the Indonesia Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

West Papua

Police did not violate procedures in Papua Congress: Presidential spokesman

Jakarta Post - October 23, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Police and military officers acted appropriately in the way that they dispersed the third Papuan People's Congress, Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said on Sunday.

The government did not find any abuse of power nor mismanaged approaches by the security officers. Police officers and security forces just accomplished their duties mandated by the State, Julian told The Jakarta Post.

We initially had no problem with the plan to hold the congress. However, after we found out that the Congress turned into a forum that did not recognize the government and the NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia], the forces needed to do something, he added, reiterating that any attempt to secede from the country would be against the law.

At least three dead bodies were found not far from where the congress was held after security forces and the police forcefully dispersed the event. About 300 hundred of the 5,000 that attended the congress were arrested.

The government has denied that its security forces were involved in the killings. If any violations of the code of conduct are found committed by security and police officers, internal investigation must be carried out, Julian said.

Jakarta gives US its side of story in Papua deaths

Jakarta Globe - October 23, 2011

Made Arya Kencana, Banjir Ambarita & Ulma Haryanto, Nusa Dua, Bali – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has explained away last weeks deadly crackdown on civilians in Papua as a separatist rebellion that had to be quashed, at a meeting with his US counterpart on Sunday.

He said that Indonesia felt obliged to talk about the incident with the US government to avoid any misunderstandings.

We clearly explained that the [gathering] was a separatist movement, Purnomo said on Sunday after bilateral talks with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Everywhere its the same separatism has to be put down. The Indonesian government will not tolerate separatists.

He added that although Panetta had completely agreed with him on the issue of separatism, it was still necessary to set the record straight because of growing concerns over human rights violations related to what happened in Papua.

In the incident last Wednesday, security forces in Papuas Abepura district fired shots to break up the Third Papuan Peoples Congress and arrested hundreds of participants.

Though the police and military denied firing into the crowd, six bodies were found the next day outside a military facility near the site of the crackdown.

A photograph of a body purported to be that of Daniel Kadepa, a 25-year-old university student, was obtained by the Jakarta Globe. It showed the body of a man lying face down with a wound to the back of his head.

I talked to the forensic doctor who checked the body and he told me that Daniel was killed by a gunshot to the head, said Oktovianus Pogau, a member of the Papua Solidarity Society. A relative of his also told me that she saw with her own eyes a military officer shoot him.

Other photos showed bodies purported to be those of Max Asayeuw, 31, and Yacob Samonsabra, 54. Both men were part of the Papuan Caretaker Movement (Petapa) and were guarding the congress. Yacob had a gunshot wound to the chest, while Maxs face was bruised and bloodied.

The crackdown prompted US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa, to ask Indonesias ambassador to the United States for guarantees of safety for those arrested last week.

It has been reported that the Indonesian Armed Forces [TNI] fired shots during the meeting where a crowd of thousands of defenseless and unarmed civilians were engaged in peaceful political assembly, he wrote.

Faleomavaega said the reports gave evidence of crimes against humanity, adding: I have very serious concerns in the matter and I do not condone the serious acts of violence by the TNI and police on the peaceful demonstration by unarmed civilians who were simply voicing their opinions about the failure of the government of Indonesia to seriously implement the Special Autonomy Law for West Papua.

Local human rights watchdog Imparsial has urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to make good on his promise to end the long-running conflict in Papua. This is the right moment for the president to use his heart and constructive communication to end the problems in Papua, said Poengki Indarti, the groups executive director.

Continued violence will not only further erode the trust of the Papuan people in the government in Jakarta, she warned, but also tarnish the presidents image as a democratic figure with respect for human rights in the eyes of the Indonesian people and the international community.

US endorses Indonesia amid Papua separatist moves

Radio New Zealand International - October 23, 2011

The US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says Washington will continue to develop military ties with Indonesia but keep a watchful eye on human rights abuses.

Mr Panetta says the US supports Indonesias efforts against separatism – a reaction to last weeks Papuan Congress which led to its leaders being charged with treason.

However, Mr Panetta says the US is monitoring possible human rights abuses after five people were found dead after security forces stormed the pro- independence gathering.

He says the US wants to ensure that discipline is taken and exerted against anyone who violates human rights.

Six charged with treason after Papua congress

Jakarta Post - October 23, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The National Police announced that six Papuans had been charged with treason and were indicted following the third Papuan People's Congress, which was forcefully dispersed by police on Saturday.

Six people reportedly died in connection with altercations surrounding the events.

"The six suspects were the leaders of the group," Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said, adding that the police had collected evidence. "We recognize Papua as a part of Indonesia and any attempt to secede from the country is against the law. We therefore must enforce the law," the officer said.

The suspects were identified only by their initials: FY, EW, DS, AM, GW and SB.

The police and the military decided to disperse the congress on Wednesday after the participants hoisted the Morning Star flag – a symbol of the Papua independence movement. The police reportedly fired warning shots to break up the assembly, prompting numerous participants to flee into the hills.

Officials previously said the congress was granted a permit after its organizers promised the event would be limited to a discussion of the rights and welfare of Papuans.

Calls for independence have long been heard in Papua, as many among the indigenous population feel that they have been oppressed and marginalized for decades in the easternmost province, which has always been heavily controlled by the military.

These calls had been met with repressive measures. In September, a student John Raweyai, 20, was sentenced to 9 months and 17 days in prison for treason during a demonstration in December 2010.

Early this year, two Papuan activists, Melky Sehu Blesman Bleskadit and Reverend Daniel Yanu, were sent to jail for treason. They were arrested on Dec. 14 of last year for carrying the Bintang 14 separatist flag during a rally. Papuan activist Bucthar Tabuni was sentenced on Friday to three years in prison for "provocation" at a 2008 pro-independence demonstration.

However, over the past few months, violence escalated in the region that was taken over by Indonesia from the Dutch in 1967, drawing criticism from human rights activists and foreign observers over the way the government has dealt with Papua issues.

Two days after the congress, unidentified gunmen killed three people in Timika, Papua, the nearest town to the world's largest copper and gold mine. A Freeport Indonesia contract worker was killed along with two local residents of Timika.

According to Boy, the police confiscated participant identification cards, event notification and recruitment letters, among other evidence. At least 18 people from 360 participants at the congress underwent police questioning, he said.

Wednesday's incident in Abepura was followed by the discovery of two bodies near an Indonesian Military (TNI) post, about 200 meters from the site of the congress.

The bodies were identified as university student Daniel Kadepa, 25, and Papuan Land Guardian (Petapa) Max Yewon, 35. Another body was later found, identified as Yosef Samon Sabra, 53.

Talks urged on grievances after deadly crackdown

Sydney Morning Herald - October 23, 2011

Tom Allard – Indonesia's human rights commission has urged Jakarta to address grievances of indigenous West Papuans as it announced an extensive investigation into a crackdown by security forces that caused at least six deaths, following a protest rally.

The Indonesian government and security forces continue to defend their actions against what they described as a "coup d'etat".

Police and soldiers dispersed a rally of several thousand West Papuans on Wednesday, firing weapons and detaining and beating participants after a declaration of independence by the Third Papuan People's Congress.

"We deeply regret the violence and killing on Papuans done by TNI [Indonesian military] and police apparatus," said Ridha Saleh, deputy commissioner at the independent human rights body.

"We regret the application of security approach against congress participants because it is this security approach that has disturbed all attempts to bring peace to Papua and attempts to establish a dialogue long sought by both Papuans and the government."

At least two of the bodies of the dead were found dumped behind a military post and at least three of the scores injured suffered gunshot wounds.

Andreas Harsono from Human Rights Watch said autopsies had revealed three of the dead had also been shot, contradicting assurances by police and military that they only fired warning shots.

Co-ordinating Minister for Security Djoko Suyanto justified the tough action, saying, "The police raided the rally because it was already considered a coup d'etat. They declared a state within a state and did not recognise the President of Indonesia."

Most of those arrested have been released, but the senior figures involved in the congress remain in detention. They include Forkorus Yaboisembut, head of the Papuan Customary Council.

Foreign journalists cannot travel to the region without special permission and were banned from covering the congress.

'Excessive' security measures in Papua blamed for rising violence

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2011

Jakarta – Human rights defenders and analysts have again raised their concerns over what they see as "excessive security measures" in the restive province of Papua following two recent incidents in Abepura and Timika that reportedly led to at least nine deaths.

The National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Friday questioned the involvement of the military in securing the Third Papuan People's Congress in Abepura, which was deemed by the government to be "subversive". The congress ended in chaos and was followed by the discovery of six bodies behind a military post, according to the commission.

The six victims, according to the human rights watchdog, were James Gobay, 28, Yosaphat Yogi, 28, Daniel Dakepa, 25, Maxsasa Yewi, 35, Yakob Samonsabra, 53, and Pilatus Wethipo, 40. The police, however, announced that they only found three bodies.

It should be the police alone who uphold security in the country, not the Indonesian Military (TNI), commission chairman Ifdhal Kasim told The Jakarta Post.

The congress turned ugly after the participants hoisted the Morning Star flag – a symbol of Papua's independence movement – and the authorities began to fire warning shots into the air to disperse the assembly.

The commission has set up a team to investigate the incident. "The validity of the presence of the TNI during the joint-operation [to guard the congress] should be analyzed. Did the police really need assistance from the TNI? Because the congress was actually nonviolent and [the participants] were unarmed," Ifdal said.

Ifdhal further argued that although the police could ask for assistance from the TNI, they should do so in exceptional circumstances only, such as situations where the police were perceived to be incapable of acting alone.

He said that there should be a clear explanation on when the police deemed themselves "incapable" and thus in need of military assistance, especially with regard to police's handling of the Papuan People's Congress.

"The basic task of the police is to maintain domestic security, while the TNI's [basic task] is to deal with defense matters. In [the Papua case], it should have been the National Police who were in the forefront," he said.

On Friday, unidentified gunmen shot dead three people in Timika, Papua, the police said. They were two goldminers and a driver.

Muridan Satrio Widjojo, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) who conducted intensive research on Papua, also questioned the authority of the TNI to intervene in Papua and described the TNI's intervention as a "political decision".

"The TNI does not have such authority [to intervene at Papua]. The intervention of the TNI in Papua was a political decision. They do not have such authority and thus should not have joined the operation," he added.

The LIPI researcher also said that the "excessive" numbers of TNI personnel guarding the region had deteriorated Papua's political situation, as the TNI frequently applied repression and violent methods to deal with the Papuans.

"Many human rights [of the Papuans] have been violated and the political situation there is becoming worse. The presence of the TNI only breeds problems in Papua," Muridan said.

Al Araf, a researcher from human rights watchdog Imparsial, revealed in his book, Papua Security: Implications of Security Approaches to Human Rights Conditions in Papua, that currently there are around 14,000 to 16,000 members deployed to guard Papua, a region whose population stands at only around 3 million people, or about 1 percent of Indonesia's total population.

Imparsial said that the conditions in Papua were very similar with that in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam when the government imposed a military emergency situation to crack down on the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). At that time the government deployed 30,000 personnel to the province, which was populated by about 4 million people. (sat)

'Treatment like beasts' not uncommon in Papua, local priest says

Jakarta Globe - October 22, 2011

Agus Triyono, Banjir Ambarita & Elisabeth Oktofani – The violent crackdown on a pro-independence rally earlier this week that left six people dead is indicative of the government's continued treatment of indigenous Papuans as no more than animals, an activist said on Friday.

Socratez Sofyan Yoman, a prominent priest from the restive province, said the security forces' brutal actions came as no surprise because it was "something that we experience on a daily basis." "This republic truly treats us like beasts," he said at the Jakarta headquarters of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Socratez called on the government to end its policy of repression against the Papuan people and instead engage in serious dialogue.

"If the government is serious about resolving the conflict, it must hold a dialogue with Papuans, both those in Papua and abroad, and invite international third-party observers because this problem has an international dimension," he said.

"We have long asked the government to stop using violence in Papua, but it has never responded. To this day, many of our people continue to be hunted down and killed. I support the president, but I'm disappointed in him."

Socratez spoke in response to the discovery on Wednesday of six dead bodies of participants from Tuesday's Papuan People's Congress, a rally held in a field in Padang Bulan, Abepura district, that was violently broken up by security forces. Ifdhal Kasim, the Komnas HAM chairman, said the rights body would immediately dispatch an investigation team to Abepura to probe the violence and the deaths of the participants, whose bodies were found behind the district military headquarters.

"We'll try our best to have the team there by next week to look into everything, including the events leading up to the congress," he said.

In the provincial capital, Jayapura, Acting Governor Syamsul Rivai said what made the congress the target of a crackdown was that it was "questioning the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," known as NKRI.

"If people want to gather and express their views, that's fine, just don't undermine the NKRI, infringe on the prevailing laws or attempt to set up a state within a state," he said. "If that happens, there will be severe consequences."

He attributed the deaths of the activists to "excesses in the handling of the case" by security forces. "It's something that we didn't want but happened anyway because of the situation on the ground," Syamsul said.

Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. Bigman Lumban Tobing also blamed the demonstrators for getting out of hand. "We were tolerant with them. We allowed them to hold their congress without a permit, but the next thing you know they're hoisting the Morning Star flag and trying to establish their own country," he said.

The flag, a symbol of the long-running separatist struggle in Papua, is banned. Raising it is considered treason and thus brings with it a lengthy prison sentence.

Bigman brushed off allegations that the six people killed had been shot by police, saying there was no evidence so far to prove the claims. "If they really were shot, prove to us that it was the police who did it. We will process them accordingly," he said.

In Jakarta on Thursday, a discussion of the issue by a group of prominent pro-Jakarta Papuans also laid the blame for the violence on the demonstrators.

Heemskercke Bonay, a Papuan women's rights advocate, said previous iterations of the Papuan People's Congress had also "sacrificed many of our people". "That's why I call on the Papuan people not to be provoked by the issue of an independence referendum for Papua," she said.

Ramses Ohee, the head of the Papuan chapter of the nationalist militia group Barisan Merah Putih, said: "We reject outright the results of the congress that call for secession from the NKRI and the declaration of a Papuan state."

However, he conceded that the government in Jakarta was guilty of blaming the local populace over signs of unrest when it should be addressing the issue through dialogue.

At Papuan Congress, a brutal show of force

Jakarta Globe - October 22, 2011

Oktovianus Pogau, Jayapura, Papua – Anxiety was apparent among the participants of the Third Papuan People's Congress on Wednesday as they marched toward the event venue in Abepura, passing by lines of military and police officers in full combat gear and holding assault rifles.

By 8 a.m. that morning, the final day of the three-day congress, security officers were standing at the ready. Five Barracuda armored jeeps were parked not far from the Zakeus oval, the site of the event, as were seven police trucks and three trucks from the region's Cendrawasih Military Command.

As the congress drew to a close, the 3,100 officers sprang into action, marching toward the venue with their fingers on the triggers of their Pindad SS1 assault rifles. As the prospect of a full-blown attack became evident, fear could be seen in the eyes of many congress-goers.

Minutes later, the situation descended into violence. Soldiers from the Armed Forces (TNI) and police officers fired bullets into the air and ordered the participants to disband. Some of the officers pointed their weapons directly at the unarmed civilians.

As the crowd dispersed in panic, the troops pressed forward. A four-by- three-meter gate collapsed, shaken down by TNI officers. It fell onto the some 100 members of the Papuan Caretakers Movement (Petapa) who were guarding the congress.

Those outside the gate did not escape unscathed. Soldiers and police beat them with batons, bamboo poles and the butts of their rifles. Man after man fell to the ground, pleading with the officers to stop the show of force. Their pleas were met with kicking, stomping boots.

"Disband them, disband them immediately," a high-ranking officer ordered his men. "They have committed acts of treason. Disband them now."

Several men wearing kotekas, the traditional Papuan penis gourd, tried to push authorities back, but they were greatly outnumbered.

Less than 100 meters from the congress was a monastery and a pastors' dormitory. Security forces raided it. "Nobody leave the house. Everyone stay where you are," several TNI officers shouted, shooting into the air and toward the pastors' homes.

Later, bullet holes could be seen in some of the walls, and bullet fragments were found in some bedrooms. "Dozens of officials forced their way into the monastery and walked back and forth for two hours in front of us," the Rev. Adrianus Tuturu said. "We were so afraid we hid in our rooms."

More than 300 people were arrested. They included Forkorus Yoboisembut, chairman of the Papuan Customary Council (DAP), and Edison Waromi, president of the West Papua National Authority. The congress had earlier declared the men as president and prime minister of an independent Papua, respectively.

"So you want to be the president of Papua?" an officer told Forkorus, grabbing his shirt. "Try to protect your citizens who we are arresting."

The arrested were told to squat down with their hands behind their heads for two hours. Some were made to take off their trousers and shirts and lie on the earth. Blood stained many of the Papuans' cheeks.

"Papua will never be independent. Don't you dare dream. Forkorus will not set you free," witness Yustinus Ukago quoted a police officer as saying.

Eventually, security forces told the men to march, still squatting, to the police trucks. As the congress-goers made their way slowly forward, some officers kicked them in the back and side.

Some Papuans managed to escape. They hid in nearby food stalls and pretended to be innocent bystanders or made for bushes or gutters. Others fled into the forest.

Free expression or treason?

Papua has seen a low-level insurgency since Indonesia annexed the resource-rich province in 1969. Following the annexation, exploitation of Papua's mineral resources, most notably at the hands of American mining company Freeport McMoRan, and a massive security presence fueled resentment toward Jakarta.

In 2000, Indonesia granted the province special autonomous status, giving Papuans greater control over their economy. But the plan opened the floodgates for migrants into the province, further marginalizing the natives.

The recent congress was a continuation of a similar one in 2000, held to unite Papua's seven tribal areas and discuss the natives' basic human and political rights.

This year's congress once again declared independence. "The Papuans' freedom and independence must be restored in the West Papua country which was stolen by the Indonesian government in 1962," leaders there proclaimed, announcing the Victoria Crowned Pigeon as a national symbol, the banned Morning Star flag as the national banner and the song "Hai Tanahku Papua" ("Oh My Land Papua") as the national anthem.

Amnesty International condemned the crackdown, saying it "believes that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate referendums, independence or any other political solutions that do not involve incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence."

The heavy-handed repression, the group said, was "a clear violation of the rights to freedom of expression, opinion and peaceful assembly which are guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a state party, as well as the Indonesian Constitution."

But chairman of the House of Representatives commission on defense, Mahfudz Siddiq, said security forces "should have been firmer" and refused to issue a permit for the congress.

The Jayapura Police chief said he would do whatever it took to quash subversion. "Whoever supports separatism or subversion activity, I will do the same as yesterday [the day of the congress]. I'll finish them," Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Setiawan told state news agency Antara.

Imam said the congress had not been conducted according to the permit it had been issued, so he was forced to take action. He said he was paid to protect civilians and the unity of the nation. "If there is anyone supporting such movements, I'm ready to die and finish them," he said. "This is my duty."

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, also defended the government's tactics, according to Antara. "The police raided the rally because it was considered as a coup d'etat," Djoko said. "They declared a state within a state and did not recognize the president of Indonesia."

The brutality of the crackdown was further revealed the following day, when all but six of the arrested were released. Many of the congress-goers had sustained cuts and bruises, and one man who had been beaten with an automatic rifle had marks all over his body.

Another man had scrape marks on his stomach. He said they came from police dragging him, face down, on the field's jagged ground.

Of the six who remained in custody, five were charged with treason. The lone exception was Gat Wenda, who was charged under the 1951 Emergency Law for carrying sharp weapons.

The five who face treason charges are Forkorus, Edison and event organizers August Sananay Kraar, Dominikus Sorabut and Selpius Bobii.

Despite military and police claims that security forces only fired warning shots, three dead bodies were found on Thursday morning just behind a military compound some 50 meters away from the congress venue. They were 25-year-old university student Daniel Kadepa and Petapa members Maxsasa Yewi, 35, and Yacob Samonsabra, 53.

That afternoon, three more bodies were uncovered: James Gobay, 25; Yosaphat Yogi, 28; and Pilatus Wetipo, 40.

"The security forces should have used dialogue and persuasion to disperse the crowd," said Matius Murib, deputy chairman of the Papua branch of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM). "Next week, officials from the central Komnas HAM office will conduct an investigation."

The Rev. Benny Giay, a respected religious leader and human rights advocate in Papua, said the TNI and police had used disproportionate force by using heavy fire power to quell a meeting of unarmed civilians.

[This report is supported by the Pantau Foundation.]

US official requests safe and humane treatment for Papua prisoners

Jakarta Globe - October 22, 2011

Banjir Ambarita – A member of the US House of Representatives on Saturday sent a letter to the Indonesian ambassador to the United States asking to ensure the safety of those arrested at the Third Papuan Peoples' Congress on Wednesday.

"I am writing to request your intervention in ensuring the safety and the humane treatment of Mr. Forkorus Yaboisembut and many others who were arrested on Wednesday, October 19, 2011, at the third meeting of the Papuan Peoples' Congress in West Papua," Eni Faleomavaega, a representative from American Samoa, wrote in his letter to Ambassador Dino Patti Djalal.

"According to numerous media outlets, it has been reported that the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) fired shots during the meeting where a crowd of thousands of defenseless and unarmed civilians were engaged in peaceful political assembly. While the crowds dispersed after the shots were fired, many West Papuans, including journalists, were attacked and apprehended by the Indonesian military and police."

Six were found dead after the attack and police have arrested Papuan Customary Council chairman Forkorus Yoboisembut, who was declared as the president of an independent Papuan state on the last day of the gathering.

Faleomavaega said the reports gave evidence of crimes against humanity, especially given that the government of Indonesia is a signatory to both the UN treaties on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Faleomavaega also cited media reports that Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Setiawan, Jayapura Police chief, may have played a significant role in the attacks.

"I have very serious concerns in the matter and I do not condone the serious acts of violence by the TNI and police on the peaceful demonstration by unarmed civilians who were simply voicing their opinions about the failure of the Government of Indonesia to seriously implement the Special Autonomy law for West Papua."

Imparsial urges SBY to speedily resolve the Papua problem

Bintang Papua - October 21, 2011

Jayapura – Imparsial had condemned the shooting that occurred on 19 October during the Third Papuan People's Congress which was held at the Zakeus field and has called on the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to take measures to resolve the Papuan problem as quickly as possible.

"There should have been no loss of life or the injuries; what happened has only made the situation in Papua worse than than ever and is not in accord with the pledge made by the president – SBY – in his address on the occasion of 17 August this year that the situation in West Papua must be handled with care."

In an open letter. Poengky Indarti, executive-director of Imparsial said that the use of excessive force by the security forces, alleging that the congress was engaged in subversion ws totally unjustified. "The mobilisation of the security forces which was very un-coordinated has only resulted in Papuan people feeling more insecure," said Indarti.

"Now is the time to resolve the problems in Papua by means of good communication with the Papuan people." she said. The continued use of force and violence will not only destroy the Papuan people's confidence in Indonesia, but will also undermine the confidence of the international community in the the president's respect for human rights principles.' Imparsial called on all sides to do everything to preserve peace in Papua, by showing respect for human rights.

According to the Papuan branch of Komnas HAM, the National Human Rights Commission, the six people who died were: James Gobay, 25 years old, Yosaphat Yogi 28, Daniel Kadepa 25, Maxsasa Yewi 35, Yacob Samonsabra 53, and Pilatus Wetipo. 40.

Those under arrest include Forkorus Yaboisembut, chairman of the Papuan Customary Council, and Edison Waromi who will face the charge of subversion under article 106 of the Criminal Code.

Others currently being interrogated include: August Makbrawnen Sananay Kraar, Selpius Bobii, chairman of the Congress, and Dominikus Sirabat, a Papuan human rights activist.

Six dead after Papua rally

Jakarta Globe - October 21, 2011

Banjir Ambarita, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ezra Sihite – Six people have been found dead a day after security officers fired shots while breaking up a pro-independence rally in Papua, a rights activist said on Thursday.

The bodies of two of the dead, identified as university student Matias Maidepa and Papua Land Defenders member Yacop Sabonsaba, were found on Wednesday behind the military headquarters in Padang Bulan, Abepura.

"On October 20, 2011, four civilians were also found dead around the venue of the Papua Congress, but their identities remain unknown," said Matias Murib, deputy chairman of the Papua office of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Some 300 people were detained by the Papua Police, though many of them had nothing to do with the demonstration held in a field in Padang Bulan, Matias said.

"Many among the hundreds of people detained were not involved in the congress, and only happened to by passing by the area when they were arrested," he said.

He added that he had received reports that hundreds of armed soldiers and police were out in force on the streets of Manokwari, some 740 kilometers west of Jayapura, the Papua capital.

He cited an unconfirmed report that a man identified as Martinus Yeimo had been killed by a member of the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Enarotali, a town in Paniai district.

Matias said the commission regretted the repressive measures employed by security personnel against the pro-independence demonstrators.

"The Papua Komnas HAM will conduct a thorough investigation and seek mediation between the people of Papua and the central government in Jakarta, to meet the standard of justice that has been sought through the congress and other Papuan forums," he said.

A Papua Police spokesman, Sr. Comr. Wachyono, said the provincial police had already released the roughly 300 people they had detained "because it was not proved that they were plotting against the state."

Wachyono said Selfius Bobby, a social media activist and organizer of the Papua Congress, had turned himself in to Papua Police headquarters in Jayapura – He said his arrest brought the number of criminal suspects to six.

Police have said the six suspects will face charges of violating articles 110, 106 and 160 of the Criminal Code.

Besides Selfius, the other suspects are Forkorus Yoboisembut, chairman of the Papuan Customary Council and president of the Democratic Republic of Papua, Edison Gladius Waromi, his prime minister, August Makbrawen Sananay Kraar, Dominikus Sorabut and Gat Wenda.

The chairman of the House commission on defense, Mahfudz Siddiq, said the security forces "should have been firmer" and refused to issue a permit for the congress in the first place. He also said the government would deal with the unrest in Papua by implementing a so-called prosperity strategy rather than a security approach.

Meanwhile, New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Indonesia to treat all detainees from the incident humanely and ensure respect for their right to due process, including giving them access to legal representation.

"Security forces shouldn't use unnecessary force in quelling a peaceful demonstration," said Elaine Pearson, deputy director for Asia at HRW.

Indonesia blamed for Papuan deaths

Sydney Morning Herald - October 21, 2011

Tom Allard, Dan Oakes – Claims by Papuan activists that Indonesian security personnel killed protesters gained credence yesterday after two bodies were found behind a military barracks a day after the bloody crackdown on an independence rally.

Witnesses said shots were fired, some activists were savagely beaten and more than 300 people arrested as military and police dispersed several thousand delegates to the Third Papuan People's Congress after they declared independence from Jakarta and elected a president and prime minister.

A Papuan police spokesman, Wachyono, confirmed yesterday two people had died. The bodies had been found about a kilometre from the oval in Abepura, where the congress was held.

One of the dead men was Dani Kabepa, a student. The other was yet to be identified but was found with his security uniform stripped from his body, indicating he was a member of Petapa, the Papuan paramilitary guard formed to protect Forkorus Yaboisembut, the man delegates elected as their leader.

Witnesses said security forces rounded up prisoners, beating some savagely. There are also unverified claims people were shot at point blank range and bundled into armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles.

Mr Wachyono acknowledged that beatings had taken place and had led to 30 people being injured, but said it was only in self-defence. Almost all of those arrested have already been released, although Mr Yaboisembut and his deputy, Edison Waromi, remain in custody.

The police spokesman said shots were fired by police, but only in the air for crowd control.

"[Security forces] had to open fire to the air as shock therapy because they were outnumbered," he said. "We went into congress compound only to get people who must be responsible for what they did. We didn't go for any ordinary people."

The cause of the deaths remains unclear and autopsies will be performed. An activist, Elias Petege, said at least two people were in hospital with gunshot wounds.

"There are five people at the Dian Harapan hospital who suffered several wounds from [the] riot," he said. "Two of them got wounds from bullets. One is a woman, Ana Ana Adi, 41. She has got wounds at her right thigh. Pilatus Wetipo, 40, was shot in the right leg. Wiler Hobi, 22, has some wounds in his head because of being beaten by the weapon, the other two have blistered wounds."

The violent end to the otherwise peaceful congress on Wednesday prompted calls for Australia to end its aid to Indonesia's military and police. "This is the latest in a series of escalating acts of repression by the Indonesian military in West Papua," the Greens senator Richard Di Natale said.

In Indonesia's easternmost reaches, Papua's distinctive Melanesian population has chafed at rule from Jakarta ever since the former Dutch colony was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a hotly disputed plebiscite involving 1025 people.

10 lawyers to assist Papua congress suspects: Kontras

Jakarta Post - October 21, 2011

At least 10 lawyers have offered to provide legal aid to six suspects recently accused of treason in relation to a deadly police crackdown in Papua, a human rights watchdog says.

"There will be around 10 lawyers to assist [the suspects]," Olga Hamadi from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said Friday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Olga added that the six suspects had been interrogated by police on Thursday without any legal representatives.

"Yesterday we met with the investigators and suspects. A few friends and I took Selpius Bobi to Papua Police. He was the Congress organizing committee chief and the suspects had no lawyers," he said.

Olga said several organizations including the Democratic Alliance for Papua and Kontras Papua had stated their willingness to provide the suspects with legal aid.

The six congress participants who have been named suspects include: Papua indigenous council chief Forkorus Yebosembut, Edison Gladius from the West Papua National Authority and Papua human rights activists August Makbrawen Sananay Kraar and Dominikus Sirabut. The suspects have been charged with treason and possession of weapons.

Around 4000 people took part in the third Papuan Congress on Wednesday. Police reportedly opened fire at members of the congress after the outlawed "Morning Star" flag was raised.

Five people were reported dead after the incident, their bodies found not far from a nearby military compound. Meanwhile, dozens of participants in the congress were reportedly punched and beaten with rifle butts and batons. The local police have denied using excessive force.

Meanwhile, the international community has become increasingly critical of Indonesian authorities in Papua, following a long history of violence in its eastern-most province.

Jayapura police chief swears to end subversion

Antara News - October 21, 2011

Jayapura – The Jayapura police chief said that he would 'finish' those who support subversion in Jayapura.

"Whoever supports separatism or subversion activity, I will do the same as yesterday [forcefully dissolve the 3rd Papua People's Congress]. I'll finish [them]," Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Setiawan said.

He said the Papua People's Congress had not been conducted according to the permit request, so he was forced to shut down the event. He said he is paid to protect civilians and the unity of the nation. "So, if there is anyone supporting such movements, I'm ready to die and finish them," he said. "This is my duty."

The police on Wednesday fired warning shots to disperse the congress after it declared a new president and prime minister for a new Papuan nation. The congress also raised the "Morning Star" flag.

Six people were reported dead after the incident. Papuan police have declared five suspects in the case: Forkorus Yoboisembut, Edison G. Waromi, Dominikus Sorabut, August Makbrawen Sananay Kraar and Gat Wenda.

Anti-separatist activists say rally organizers 'sacrificed' Papuans

Jakarta Globe - October 21, 2011

Elizabeth Oktofani – Following Wednesday's violent government crackdown on a peaceful pro-independence rally in Jayapura, some pro-Indonesian Papuan activists are saying the rally's true purpose was a cynical push by its organizers for personal political gain.

"The Papuan Congress has sacrificed a lot of Papuan people, therefore, I am asking the people of Papua not to let themselves be provoked by the referendum [independence] issue," said Heemskercke Bonay, an activist from West Papua in Jakarta.

"The referendum issue declared in the congress was pushed by elites [in the Papuan Customary Council] who claimed that it was on behalf of the people," Heemskercke said.

He was referring to the reading of a Papuan declaration of independence at Wednesday's gathering. That act, along with the raising of the separatist Morning Star flag, prompted police and military forces to attempt to disperse the large gathering by firing shots and beating and arresting dozens of people.

Six people have been confirmed killed in the aftermath of the rally. Military and police spokesmen have denied responsibility for the deaths.

Ramses Ohee, the Papuan chairman of the pro-Indonesia Red and White Troops (BMP), said his organization rejected the calls for a separate Papuan state. "We firmly refuse the calls for an independent Papua declared during the congress," he said.

Ramses admitted that there were many problems that the central government needed to address in the province, especially regarding development and local politics, but that separation from Indonesia was not the answer.

Police saw Papua people's congress actions as attack on government

Antara News - October 20, 2011

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – Police dispersed the Papua People's Congress in Jayapura in Wednesday because they considered the gathering to be an attack on the government, a senior minister said.

"Police conducted the raid because their actions were considered an attack on the government," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto said here Thursday.

Djoko is in Mataram as a member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's entourage for working visit to West Nusa Tenggara. On Wednesday the police forcibly dispersed the gathering and subsequently arrested five people as suspects in a case of separatist activity.

"They are seeking to set up a state within the state and do not recognize the Indonesian president," he said.

Asked about the fatalities in the incident, Djoko said the dead bodies were discovered not at the location of the congress but elsewhere. "A few people were indeed killed but this happened in other places and not at the congress venue during the police raid," he said.

Djoko said the wounds on the bodies were also not gunshot wounds but from sharp weapons. "The case is still being investigated by the Papua regional police command," he added.

The five people arrested as suspects in connection with the separatist gathering were identified as Forkorus Yaboisembut, Edison Gladius Waromi, August Makbrawen Sananay Kraar, Dominikus Sorabut and Gat Wenda.

Four of them would be charged with violating several articles in the Criminal Code and one based on an article in Emergency Law Number 12 of 1951 for carrying a sharp weapon.

Papua integration proponents blast government 'indecisiveness'

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2011

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Pro-Papua integration activists have urged the central government to fully implement the 2001 Law on Papuan Special Autonomy to settle various social and economic problems in the country's resources-rich but most-undeveloped regions.

The criticism came after violence broke out between police and participants of the Papuan Congress III on Wednesday.

Ramses Ohee, one of Papua's leading figures in the 1969 People's Act of Free Choice (Pepera), said on Thursday that he strongly opposed the congress' demand for Papua to secede from Indonesia.

However, he said, he still could not accept the central government's reluctance to allow the Papuan people to govern themselves according to the existing law.

"The central government, for example, has not yet issued any regulation on the inauguration of indigenous, non-political appointee members in both Papua and West Papua's councils even though the Constitutional Court issued a ruling about it in February last year," Ramses said.

Umar Askad Sabuku, a local figure from Kaimana, West Papua, concurred. Umar said the arrest against the protesting Papuans would achieve nothing if the government was not committed to tackling root problems, including undeveloped infrastructure and corruption.

Despite their criticism of the central government, both Ramses and Umar called on Papuan people to stay calm and not be easily provoked by the idea of separatism. "What we actually need is a real opportunity [from the central government] to build our land with our own hands," Umar said.

Gunmen kill three at Freeport's Papua mine

Agence France Presse - October 21, 2011

Gunmen shot dead three people Friday at a strike-ridden gold and copper mine in Papua, its US operator said, raising the number of deaths this month at the troubled facility to eight.

The Grasberg mine in the eastern Papua region, operated by US company Freeport McMoRan and one of the largest in the world, has been trouble- plagued since miners declared a month-long strike over wages on Sept. 15.

Grievances erupted into deadly violence this month when workers clashed with police, and unknown gunmen targeted contract workers brought in to replace strikers.

"Unidentified gunmen opened fire and three people were killed and one was wounded," in the latest incident Friday, Ramdani Sirait, a spokesman for Freeport's Indonesian subsidiary, told AFP.

He added that one of the victims was a Freeport contract worker, and that the identities of the three others was not immediately known. All were shot inside the mining area, he said.

Sirait said the incident occurred near a shooting last Saturday when three contract workers were shot dead in similar circumstances. "Police are now investigating the case," Sirait said.

In addition, two mine workers were killed in an Oct. 10 clash between police and striking miners. More than 8,000 of Freeport's 23,000 workers have been on strike, vowing to stay away from work until Nov. 15.

Special autonomy status for Papua final: Minister

Antara News - October 20, 2011

Jakarta – Chief security minister Djoko Suyanto said that West Papua remains part of the Unitary State of Indonesia while the special autonomy status for Papua was something final.

So "any party proclaiming a new state, a new cabinet, a new president, a new government must be dealt with according to the law," he said in a conversation with Antara here on Thursday evening.

The coordinating minister for political, security and law affairs said "everything has been dealt with according to the law. The police have acted according to the existing law."

He said the government had taken a welfare approach for Papua by giving it special autonomy status. "So, the special autonomy status is already final. Any shortcomings would be evaluated through the Papua and West Papua Development Acceleration Unit. There is an evaluation because the fund flows to Papua is huge," he said.

The Papua regional police are still chasing the chairman of the committee for the Papua People's Congress that ended in chaos on Wednesday (October 19). "Because he fled we will catch him to be held responsible," head of public relations of the Papua regional police command, Wachyono said.

He said in an effort to arrest Selpius Obi the police are now conducting an investigation. Several witnesses who attended the meeting have also been questioned. "We are still questioning witnesses to know where he went and others. After that we will conduct an investigation," he said.

Five people have so far been named suspects in connection with the incident. They are considered to have made an attack on the government.

They include the chief of the Papua Traditional Council, Forkorus Yebosembut (earlier named "president" of West Papua), Edison Gladius Waromi from the West Papua National Authority (named West Papua "prime minister"), August Makbrawen Sananay Kraar, Dominikus Sirabut, a human rights activist in Papua, and Gar Wenda.

Around 5,000 people attended the 3rd congress from various regions, which is the continuation of the second congress in 2000. The meeting was opened by Forkorus Yebosembut. The meeting ended in chaos after the police dispersed it on Wednesday evening.

Student killed in Wednesday's Papua violence: Activist

Jakarta Globe - October 20, 2011

Banjir Ambarita – One person died in the chaos following the violent dispersal of the Third Papua People's Congress by security officials on Wednesday.

A university student named Melkias Kadepa was found dead at a plantation behind the 172 PWY Military Resort Command (Korem) in Abepura on Thursday morning.

Deputy chairman of Papua's branch of the National Commission on Human Rights, Matius Murib, confirmed the death. "One person was killed in the violence. To make sure the cause of death was from a gunshot, the victim is undergoing an autopsy," Matius said.

Dozens were injured after state security forces beat protesters with rattan canes, batons and the butts of assault riffles.

"Many sustained injuries from beatings and locals had to evacuate their homes. The government, in this case, the president of the Republic of Indonesia has to open a peaceful dialogue with the people of Papua," he said.

Meanwhile, Papua Police spokesperson, Sr. Comr. Wachyono, said the police had named suspects who took part in the People's Congress where a group of Papuan leaders declared independence and raised the Morning Star flag, both illegal acts.

"We have named five suspects and we will charge them with Articles 106, 110 and 160 of the Criminal Code," he said.

Articles 106 and 110 address attempted coup d'etat and evil plots with the purpose to separate from the country, each carries a maximum punishment of 15 years to 20 years in jail. Article 160 concerns inciting people to commit crimes. This article carries a maximum punishment of six years.

The suspects are Forkorus Yoboisembut, the Papuan Customary Council chairman, who proclaimed himself president of a 'free Papua' and Edison Waromi, the prime minister. The other suspects are their accomplices, August Makbrawen, Sanany Kraar and Dominikus Sorabut.

"We also confiscated some evidence such as documents and sharp weapons," Wachyono said.

Indonesian Major General Erfi Triassunu denies firing on Papuans

The Australian - October 20, 2011

Michael McKenna and Peter Alford – The military chief of West Papua's Jayapura district last night denied his troops had shot into a crowd of pro-independence activists and killed at least one.

Major General Erfi Triassunu said TNI troops and police had only fired into the air to break up the Third Papuan People's Congress after an activist began reading a declaration of independence from Indonesia.

According to two reporters at the scene at the Lapangan Zakeus sports ground in Jayapura, police and soldiers broke up the congress's final session, scattering about 5000 activists and taking away at least 100 under arrest.

They included Papua Customary Council chairman Forkorus Yaboisembut, who had had just been elected president of a "transitional government for the Republic of West Papua", according to the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy.

Trouble erupted when he led the reading of the declaration and raised a banned Morning Star flag. However, the reporters did not confirm initial claims that shots had been fired into the crowd or that at least one activist had been killed.

The final day of the three-day congress, whose organisers had been denied the use of Cendrawasi University by authorities, opened under ominous circumstances.

Amid authorities' claims that the congress of tribal and community groups with the aim of advancing the political and civil rights of indigenous Papuans had been hijacked by militants, hundreds of armed police and soldiers imposed heavy security around the venue yesterday morning.

Organisers said the TNI and police presence scared away thousands from yesterday's session.

One journalist told the Jakarta Globe that chaos erupted as some leaders began reading a declaration of Papuan independence. Firing warning shots into the air, according to General Erfi, troops and police moved in to break up the gathering.

According to the journalist, shots also appeared to be fired from nearby hills.

Initial reports suggested at least one person was killed and others were wounded, with West Papuan Media's Nick Chesterfield saying his sources were unsure how many were hurt.

"We are getting reports that the unarmed community security guards were shot and that several women who tried to help them were also shot," he said. "Others were apparently beaten by police and the troops."

A witness claimed that the military and police then stormed the congress and "killed many, many people". "They just started shooting all the people, and chasing them into the jungle," the witness said.

Australian diplomats said they were getting "mixed messages" from the provincial capital. A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd last night said she was unaware of people being shot at the gathering.

General Erfi denied there were any casualties. "Now it's been concluded, it's already all right. We had heard that there was an indication of subversion, to change the state ideology," he said.

Tensions in the province have heightened in recent years. Last year, the Indonesian government acknowledged a video showing six soldiers torturing two West Papuans. The video, which came into circulation on YouTube, caused an international furore and refocused attention on West Papuan separatism and the Indonesian army's record of brutal suppression of such movements.

House supports police action against Papuan People's Congress

Detik.com - October 20, 2011

Hery Winarno, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) says it supports the firm actions taken by police in dealing with the Papuan People's Congress, which they consider to be subversive and threaten the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

"The measures taken by security forces were correct. I call on the national chief of police to coordinate with the TNI (Indonesian military) commander to act firmly against unilateral accts that are aimed at rebellion", DPR deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso from the Golkar Party told journalists at the DPR building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday October 20.

According to Santoso, the declaration of a Papuan president and prime minister during the congress was an act of rebellion and the state, through its security forces, cannot allow such things to happen.

"Before the declaration, I asked for the widest possible opening of space for dialogue, but after such a declaration firm action must be taken. We have to fight for every single inch of NKRI's territory", he added.

The Papuan regional police have declared five people as suspects in a case of alleged subversion in relation to the congress. One of those that has been declared a suspect is Papuan Traditional Council (DAP) chairperson Forkorus Yaboisembut.

"Aside from Forkorus, the three others that have been charged under the subversion articles are Edison Waromi, Aubus and Dominiqus", said Papua District Police public relations bureau chief Senior Commissioner Wachyono when contacted by Detik.com on Thursday.

Wachyono explained that the police have strong evidence that the suspects were involved in subversion or rebellion. When the congress was held on the Zakheus soccer field in Abepura on Wednesday October 19, they were known to have declared the formation of the Federated State of West Papua, flew the Morning Star flag and declared Forkorus as president and Edison as prime minister.

"This is a violation. We have documentary evidence", explained Wachyono. In addition to this, another person was declared a suspect and charged under Article 2 Paragraph 1 of the 1951 Emergency Law. "Under the name Gatwenda, who is known to have been carrying a sharp weapon without a permit", he added.

The suspects are being held at the Papuan regional police headquarters and are still undergoing questioning. Wachyono also guaranteed that no violence was used by police officers or TNI soldiers in breaking up the congress.

"We provided a permit for the congress because originally the event was to be held to discuss the basic rights of Papuan society. The congress, which is the third, instead issued a declaration like that", he explained. (her/anw)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Freeport's cosy Indonesia government ties not helping end strike

Reuters - October 19, 2011

Olivia Rondonuwu and Neil Chatterjee – When Freeport renewed its contract for one of the world's biggest copper and gold mines, some of Indonesia's top officials were on hand at the celebration, cheerfully applauding the CEO's impersonation of Elvis Presley.

Some 20 years, and several Indonesian presidents, later, that cosy relationship with the government in Jakarta is doing little to help resolve one of the resource-rich country's worst industrial disputes. It may well be a hindrance.

The strike at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc's Grasberg mine in the remote eastern province of Papua shut down production in mid-September, though the firm says it is back producing at reduced levels after sabotage to its main pipeline on Monday.

The dispute over pay has also drawn in local tribesmen, with their own grievances over land rights and pollution, armed with spears and arrows to join Freeport workers blocking the mine's supply roads for food and fuel this week.

The company's relationship with the central government stretches back to the 1960s when autocratic President Suharto was in the early years of his long rule. It was a rule, which ended in 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, when a major project without involvement of the country's elite was unthinkable.

Freeport still has close ties with a government that keeps tight military control over Grasberg, which holds more gold than any other mine in the world, and the rest of its easternmost and independent-minded Papua province, to safeguard its vast reserves of natural resources.

The snag now for the Phoenix, Arizona-based company is that Jakarta, lord of all the archipelago during the Suharto era, has since handed over political authority to a locally elected governor.

"Things are different now. The central government doesn't have the same power it used to have... Now the power to deal with the strike and pay dispute is in the hand of the local government but they just don't do that," said Yunarto Wijaya, an analyst from Jakarta-based think tank Charta Politika.

But Wijaya says the local government simply does not have the power to negotiate with Freeport. And the central government's failure to help despite sending in officials to mediate, has only added to the resentment.

Indonesia's government owns about 9 percent in Freeport Indonesia, which contributes 1.6 percent of GDP in Southeast Asia's top economy, and its inability to broker a deal to resolve the dispute is painful.

Freeport still beat Wall Street estimates in its third quarter results on Wednesday, but said production and sales were adversely affected by the strike, to the tune of 70 million pounds of copper and 100,000 ounces of gold. That's $165 million worth of gold alone at today's prices.

Tarnished gold

One of Suharto's first laws after rising to power in the mid-1960s was to allow Freeport into Papua, then a new province of Indonesia. In 1991, a new contract was signed to tap the huge riches of Grasberg mountain.

In a sign of how close relations were with the government's upper levels, several of its most powerful officials attended the huge party in Jakarta to celebrate the 1991 deal. The entertainment included an impersonation of Elvis Presley by the now chairman of Freeport, James "Jim Bob" Moffett.

These days, however, politicians regularly sound off against foreign investment and there is a clear split between those who are pro- international capital and those who favour not just subsidies and protectionism, but resource asset expropriation – a divide that reaches even to the cabinet.

The new energy and mining minister, Jero Wacik, inaugurated on Wednesday, said one of his first priorities was to renegotiate "too unfair" production sharing contracts, though he did not name any company.

"Maybe now, because there is so much criticism with regard to the contract of work, and not just Freeport... by some of the politicians and NGOs, the government doesn't want to show its close relations with foreign investors, especially the mining industry," said one Indonesia mining consultant.

"I don't think there is a special relationship between Freeport and the government. In the past yes, but that sometimes can be a burden for Freeport rather than a positive. People can be suspicious that a previous contract was based on relations at that time, and too good for Freeport," he said.

Handouts

Security consultants say it is essential for resource firms to get on better with local communities which often demand a share of profits that are kept by the central government.

Freeport says it is trying. Last year alone it spent $155 million on various sustainable development programmes in Papua, including nearly $70 million on community development in one of the country's poorest regions.

But with gold prices at record highs, and Grasberg having the world's biggest gold reserves, workers have demanded more than 10 times their current pay of $1.50 an hour.

The workers union, which has held pay talks with the firm mediated by government, says Freeport's relationship with the government is too close and argues that the local authorities are ineffectual.

"The way they let Freeport do things, such as firing people at will, forcing workers on strike to work, hiring new people to do the work are against the manpower law, but Freeport did not get a strong warning for doing so," said Juli Parorrongan, spokesman for the union.

"The local government is either too spoiled by Freeport's presence or doesn't have the ability to manage these resources."

Heavy handed intimidation fails to dampen Papuan Congress spirit

West Papua Media Alerts - October 19, 2011

Jayapura – Scenes of jubilation and free expression have erupted in Jayapura, West Papua as over 20,000 delegates took part in the historic Third Papuan People's Congress.

Thunderous cries of "Papua Merdeka!" filled the streets as tens of thousands of people marched towards the Congress venue Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) in Abepura, after the Indonesian government prevented the Congress from being held at the Cenderawasih University. Despite threats by Indonesian security forces to derail the Congress, held for only the second time since Indonesia's invasion in 1963, Papuan delegates openly discussed their rights to self-determination and the pathways to referendum on the future of West Papua.

The Third West Papuan People's Congress was called by the West Papua National Committee and supported by the majority of civil society and political groups across West Papua, including the Papuan Customary Council (DAP) and the West Papua National Authority (WPNA), with the exception of some elements of the armed wing, the TPN/OPM.

Over 5000 people had already gathered from 8 am at the Taboria oval, with the numbers continuing to grow steadily throughout the day. Organisers were hoping for up to 40,000 attendees from across Papua, and at least 20,000 were present by Monday afternoon.

Approximately 5000 people from Yapen, Waropen, Mamberamo, Manokwari, Sorong, and Jayapura conducted a "long march" rally from Yawa dormitory in Abepura towards the Taboria oval. This march was under the responsibility of WPNA and security was provided by over a thousand Petapa community security personnel, although over 500 police were following behind the march in trucks.

Amid tight security due to the threat of violence from Indonesian military and police apparatus, 100 guests were allowed to attend the opening of the Congress which followed with a traditional mumu or feast. 14 pigs were killed with several Paramount customary Chiefs present, as the Sampari dance group performed the traditional dances. The Sampari dance group was infamously persecuted by the Indonesian military as "separatists" after an emotional performance at the Second Papuan Peoples' Congress in 2000 that depicted the Biak Massacre of 1998. They also danced with the sacred Morning Star flag, banned by Indonesia, which was officially raised around 2pm. Sampari dancers presented the Papuan Collective Leadership, comprising Forkorus Yaboisembut, Eliezer Awom, Septinus Paiki, and the Reverend Edison Waromi of the WPNA, with a traditional Tifa drum, on which he beat a rhythm to officially open the Congress.

The initial stages of Congress featured speakers from across Papuan civil society speaking on the need to take strong action to end impunity for human rights abuses and to implement the pathways to self-determination.

The Chairman of the Baptist Church in Papua, Sofyan Yoman, was one of the opening speakers on behalf of Papuan Council of Churches who spoke about crimes against humanity being committed daily against the Papuan people. He called upon those present to help in "challenging all the Churches to speak up for human rights for West Papuan people". "These churches who are living in fear should and must speak out about the atrocities and ongoing injustice in Papua," Yoman said.

Other speakers from across Papuan civil society and customary leaders spoke of the will of the Papuan people being a step closer to realisation through the holding of the Congress, but a long road was still ahead of Papuan to gain freedom or Merdeka.

The Chairman of the DAP, Forkorus Yaboisembut, was elected on the first day as the Chairman for the Congress. As reported in Indonesian news outlet Kompas, Yaboisembut explained Congress is "part of the struggle of indigenous Papuans to enforce their fundamental rights." He argued that Papuans are not seeking to undermine or destroy Indonesia. however "we strive to uphold our fundamental rights, including political rights, including the right to independence as a nation." According to Yaboisembut, the Collective Leadership Committee has no particular agenda. "The people who will proceed in the congress. And whatever be produced, the Government of Indonesia should able to appreciate it."

West Papua Media stringers report that preliminary recommendations had been made by both the organising committee and speakers of the makeup of mandated office holders for a new Congress 3 Presidium, that would officially speak for West Papua's independence movement. In a surprising display of common purpose, delegate have initially endorsed the consideration of office bearers, though no binding decisions have been made. Frans Kapisa of WPNA, had recommended that Forkorus Yaboisembut, the Chairman the Papuan Customary Council – be elected as the inaugural President of the Democratic Republic of West Papua.

Participants at Congress have indicated that the deliberations could extend until Friday or beyond, and that any political, logistical, timetable, and office-bearing positions arrived at currently are far from finalised.

Security Force intimidation

Despite the jubilation and ability to engage in open and peaceful free expression at Congress, sources report that Indonesian security forces are continuing to gear up for an imminent potential assault or dispersal on the Congress participants. Bintang Papua reported that the announced presence of the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto at the Congress would not be attending, despite the promise by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that he would attend to represent Indonesia.

However the Papuan-based Indonesian police commander Bigman Tobing has stated that his forces will not be there to cause unrest, merely to protect the proceeding of the Congress. "The joint forces have to obey in order not to cause Unrest in the community," he said. Local newspapers in Jayapura reported that security forces were preparing 2,200 personnel with armour, "not to frighten the people but to ensure calm'. Unconfirmed reports state that all police leave has been cancelled around the greater Jayapura area.

Over 3000 Petapa Community Security Guards have been trained and deployed to provide security for the Congress, with duties of surveillance, detection of intelligence agents, and keeping a physical buffer zone between Papuans and Indonesians to minimise any potential for contact. The proactive but peaceful work of the Petapa force is believed to be stymying any legitimacy of the Indonesian security forces to action, a strategy which according to sources inside Petapa has caused simultaneous frustration and admiration from security forces with apparent lines of communication open between senior police as part of the Papuan security strategy. Petapa personnel are greatly outnumbering the deployed Indonesian security forces, though any direct confrontation would probably see Indonesian weapons being used, a scenario that Petapa have trained for.

On Tuesday afternoon, credible local stringers for West Papua Media reported that several hundred fully armed Indonesian police and military took up offensive positions outside the offices of the DPRD. Five Indonesian Army Pansers with.50 calibre machineguns, one company of soldiers from the TNI and 1 SSK (Strategic Company – 150) of Brimob paramilitary police reportedly in full combat gear made manouevres to attempt tho dissolve the gathering. Based on observation by local human rights sources and troop dispositions provided to West Papua Media, surrounding the Congress were 13 Ranger trucks, 24 Army troop transports, 20 Brimob trucks, water cannon, 3 police buses, 2 mobile prisons, Military police/Provost units (to ensure military discipline), 6 Army Pansers and 4 Police Barracuda Armoured Personnel Carriers, all containing fully armed troops. Approximately 2200 Indonesian security forces were surrounding Congress in a display that participants believed were deliberately designed to intimidate. Security forces also conducted several high profile convoys of armour and hardware throughout the proceedings of Congress, and conducted very visible drills throughout the day and night.

West Papua Media's stringers have reported that there is a understanding amongst delegates that brutal action from Indonesian security forces seems inevitable, but that the intimidation is not going to stop them from discussing the options for their future. At time of writing a credible source stated that the Joint TNI/Polri security force plan to occupy the field on the morning of October 19, though this has not been fully decided. It is likely that any plan for taking over the field will lead to conflict and bloodshed.

Brimob, military out in force for last day of Papuan congress

Jakarta Globe - October 19, 2011

Participants of the Papuan Congress in the provincial capital of Jayapura were shocked at being greeted at the venue by five armored vehicles and hundreds of heavily armed police and military officers, an attendee of the congress said on Wednesday.

"Three tanks belong to the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) of the Papua Police and the others are the military's," a participant named Oktovianus told the Jakarta Globe.

The meeting, held annually to push for the rights of indigenous Papuans among the many disparate tribes there, has been ongoing since Monday. More than 5,000 participants from 234 tribes in Papua have been in attendance. The event was scheduled to enter its last day on Wednesday at 9 a.m., but as participants arrived at the field in Padang Bulan Abepura where the congress has been held, they were greeted by the show of force from the police and military, Oktovianus said.

He added that the unannounced and heavy security presence unnerved some participants but that scheduled events went on as planned.

"The congress must go on because this is what every indigenous Papuan from Sorong to Merauke wants," he said. "The congress discussed the rights of the indigenous Papuans, especially political rights," Oktovianus said.

Organizers, he added, had notified the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal and Security Affairs about the congress well in advance. "The central government had been informed about the event, as well as the National Police and the military, two weeks before the congress."

However, he said, no permission had been granted by any of those institutions to hold the event. "The worst possibility is that we will be forcefully dismissed, but we hope everything is going to be fine," he said.

Andreas Harsono from Human Rights Watch urged the military not to use violence. "The Human Rights Watch condemns any forms of violence because violence does not solve the problem," Andreas said.

"The congress participants may speak of sensitive issues but they do it peacefully, no chaos, and no one is harmed," he said, adding that according to Indonesian law any form of gathering is allowed as long as the police are notified.

"I know such laws do not seem to apply in Papua but I ask the police not to discriminate the Papuans because they are also part of Indonesia," Andreas said.

Papuan people's congress part of democracy

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Jayapura – Papua interim governor Syamsul Arif Rivai said that the third Papua people's congress, held from Oct. 17 to 19, was a form of democracy and guaranteed by the law, as long as it was not anarchic and its activities did not disturb others.

"There's no problem, as it is part of democracy and the state guarantees freedom of organization, so long as it does not disturb other people, is not anarchic or against the law and remains within the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," he told reporters in Jayapura on Tuesday.

In response to the hoisting of the separatist Bintang Kejora flag incident, Rivai said it was tolerable because it was carried out internally and it was also part of democracy.

Separately, in a press conference, congress organizing-committee chairman Selpius Bobii said that the second day of the meeting heard viewpoints from representative factions, such as the Free Papua Movement TPN, traditional community councils, West Papua National Authority and all components of society.

In the afternoon, the congress proceeded with the division of commissions, comprising of political committees, legal commissions, financial commissions and special committees. Selpius said that on Oct. 19, the commissions would deliver their recommendations. The congress will wind up on Oct. 22.

The congress is being held at the Zhakeus Field with minimum facilities, but secured tightly by Papua Land Guardian (Petapa) members. Journalists who are not equipped with press cards issued by the organizers are not allowed to enter the congress area and are banned from taking pictures.

Declaration of independence prompted warning shots in Papua: Military

Jakarta Globe - October 19, 2011

Warning shots fired by Indonesian soldiers were prompted by the reading of a declaration of independence by high-profile Papuan leaders in Jayapura on Wednesday, a regional military commander said.

Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen.Erfi Triassunu said that contrary to some media reports, soldiers had not opened fire on live targets but were merely trying to break up a large gathering of the Papuan Peoples' Congress that crossed the line with the reading of the unlawful document.

Police have arrested Papuan Customary Council chairman Forkorus Yaboisembut, would-be president of a free Papua, who read the declaration aloud at the Peoples' Congress, according to the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (Elsham).

The declaration lists several points, among them:

- Papua's independence has been declared. - The people will elect the president of West Papua. - The national flag is the Morning Star flag. - The currency is the Gulden (old Dutch currency). - The national languages are Virjin, a local dialect, and Malay.

Other prominent Papuan leaders reportedly arrested include Selphius Bobii, chair of the congress' organizing committee, and Edison Waromi, who was slated to serve as the new prime minister of the independent state.

'Chaos' as shots ring out at Papuan Peoples' Congress

Jakarta Globe - October 19, 2011

A local journalist at the scene of the "chaos" at the Papuan Peoples' Congress in Jayapura on Wednesday said shots from a nearby hill rang out as Papuan leaders declared their independence from Indonesia and began waiving the banned Morning Star flag.

The journalist, who has gone into hiding because of fears for her safety, told the Jakarta Globe that after the shots at 3 p.m. Jayapura time, police officers and members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) began returning fire toward the hill.

She said security officers then attempted to shut-down the congress and moved in to make arrests. At this point, the journalist said she fled, along with hundreds of others, many of whom who fled for the hills.

She said police had asked organizers prior to the congress, not to declare independence or raise the Morning Star flag.

Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. Erfi Triassunu previously told the Globe that the TNI began firing "warning shots" after the independence declaration.

There are reports that hundreds of people have been detained, though there are no confirmed reports of deaths or injuries. Other journalists in Jayapura say shops in the provincial capital have closed.

Dozens injured as Papua group declares independence from Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - October 19, 2011

Banjir Ambarita & Camelia Pasandaran, Jayapura – Dozens of people have been injured after Indonesian security forces pistol whipped or beat protesters with rattan canes and batons during a peaceful protest against Indonesian rule in Papua on Wednesday.

There are as yet no reports of deaths after security forces, including the Indonesian Military (TNI), opened fire during the Papuan Peoples' Congress in Jayapura – The number of injured cannot be confirmed. Journalists were among those beaten, including at least one cameraman as he attempted to film the chaos.

Police, meanwhile, confirmed they had made dozens of arrests after a group of Papuan leaders declared independence and raised the Morning Star flag.

Papuan Customary Council chairman Forkorus Yaboisembut, who proclaimed himself president of a "free Papua," and Edison Waromi, the prime minister, were among those detained, Papuan Police spokesman Wachyono told the Jakarta Globe.

Markus Haluk, a member of the Papuan Customary Council (DAP) that attended the congress, told the Globe that Forkorus and Edison had been elected to their positions during the congress.

He said that not long after the independence declaration was made, police fired shots into the air, causing widespread panic. "The Indonesian government should learn that shooting will not solve the problem," he said.

Wachyono said Forkorus and Edison had been "secured" for breaching the permit for the three-day congress, which was due to close on Wednesday.

"On the first day they raised the Morning Star flag and on the closing day they declared independence for Papua," he said, adding the actions contravened the permit. He said the suspects faced possible treason charges.

Strikers blockade Freeport's mine in Indonesia

Associated Press - October 18, 2011

Ali Kutarumalos, Jakarta – Thousands of striking workers blockaded roads leading to Freeport-McMoRan Cooper & Gold Inc.'s mine in easternmost Indonesia on Tuesday, preventing food, medicine and other supplies from reaching holed-up staffers and their families.

Production at the mine was at a near standstill for a second day because of security concerns and damage to the pipeline that channels concentrates to the port, said Ramdani Sirait, a spokesman for PT Freeport Indonesia.

Strikers at the Grasberg mine in Papua province – which holds some of the largest gold and copper reserves in the world – are demanding salaries equivaent to what the Phoenix-based company pays in other countries.

Analysts say that's unlikely given the high cost of doing business in the remote, mountainous region, which is also home to a decades-long low-level insurgency.

Tensions soared with the deaths last week of five miners – two shot by police tryig to control a crowd and three killed by unidentified gunmen – prompting Freeport to announce a halt to operations Monday at both its underground and open-pit mines.

Reduced levels of concentrate were being produced Tuesday, the company said, but it was ready to suspend activity at any time if conditions warrated.

The blockade around the mine and at the port has prevented Freeport from sending supplies to replacement workers and their families, said Sirait, the company spokesman.

"With no food or medical supplies, we're very worried about the condition of our employees and their families," he said. "We realy hope the government will help open this blockade."

About 90 percent of the mine's 12,000 employees went on strike on Sept. 15 demanding that their current salaries of between $2.10 to $3.50 an hour be pushed to as high as $17 to $43.

But analysts say the high cost of additional infrastructure needed tosupport operations in Papua's rugged Puncak Jaya mountains – like roads and housing – make it unlikely they will be able to negotiate a globally competitive wage.

It's the second strike this year at the gold and copper mine in Papua. The company said the first, eight-day work stoppage in July affected itsrevenue by $30 million a day.

5,000 attend 3rd Papuan people's congress

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2011

Around 5,000 people on Monday swarmed Zhakeus Field in Padangbulan, Jayapura, Papua, to attend the opening of the 3rd Papuan People's Congress, which runs through Oct. 19. They came from seven customary areas in Papua as well as West Papua.

The congress, themed "Upholding Papuans' basic rights now and in the future", began with a thanksgiving prayer led by Rev. Max Ebe. "Papuans have long been oppressed and have suffered destruction, so they must liberate themselves," Ebe said.

Organizing chairman Selpius Bobii said Papuans had lived as if they were in heaven despite the conflicts. He said social harmony was assured by the traditions of Papuan society. "Papua has become a hell during the Dutch administration and the Indonesian neocolonial era," Bobii said in the opening address.

The congress is expected to serve as a means to unite Papuans to fight against injustice, he added. "We greatly need support and solidarity from every party that upholds the values of democracy, basic human rights, honesty and justice for the sake of protecting the people of Papua from genocide," Bobii said.

At the opening of the event, it was reported that the Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) separatist flag was hoisted during a dance performance. Bobii said the flag was hoisted in honor of the Papuans who had suffered, and those who wished to protect their basic human and political rights.

The Merah Putih group in Papua objected to the 3rd Papuan People's Congress because it was aimed at undermining the unity and integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) and wanted Papua to separate from the NKRI.

"We, the sons and daughters of the West Irian freedom fighters are against activities that intend to separate us from the NKRI. We are ready to divide and defend Papua within the NKRI," Izaak Samuel Karubaba, head of the Children of Papua and West Irian Freedom Fighters Communications Forum, told the media in Jayapura.

He said that the history of Papua was final and that the implementation of the Papua special autonomy must be overseen so as to improve the welfare of Papuans.

"Let's fill the special autonomy era with efforts to improve the people's well-being in the field of education, healthcare and economy so that Papuans' quality of life will also rise," he said.

Pipeline 'sabotage' pushes Freeport to halt production

Jakarta Globe - October 18, 2011

Banjir Ambarita & Ririn Radiawati Kusuma, Jayapura – The Indonesian unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan announced on Monday that it was suspending its operations in West Papua amid a suspected pipe sabotage and a blockade by striking workers.

The halt, which concerned both the Grasberg gold and copper mine and underground operations, occurred because of "sabotage," said Nurhadi Sabirin, Freeport's vice president for open mines.

The company's pipe network, which carries gold and copper concentrate from the processing center to the port, was tampered with and damaged, he said. "All operations are halted starting this morning because it is impossible for us to work if it is not safe," Nurhadi said. "The concentrate pipe can also no longer channel the concentrate."

Freeport Indonesia executive vice president and chief administration officer Sinta Sirait confirmed that the alleged sabotage had caused the company to halt production.

"The channeling of the gold and copper concentrate from Mile 74 to the portside at Mile 45 has been disturbed seriously, so we have decided to halt production," Sinta said. He added that the company's pipe network for gold and copper concentrate was severed at Mile 25.

Neither Sinta nor Nurhadi would comment on who was suspected of damaging the pipe, but Freeport has faced a general strike with union workers demanding better working conditions and higher pay.

"The mob outside of the Freeport complex is still blocking the way," said Freeport spokesman Ramdani Sirait, adding that the protesters were using heavy digging and earth-moving machinery to enforce their blockade.

Freeport has been operating at only about 80 percent capacity in the past week, Sinta said. The mines' production capacity is between 220,000 tons and 230,000 tons of gold and copper ore per month. The ore is processed at the refinery at Mile 74 into concentrate at a rate of 6,000 to 7,000 tons per day. That concentrate is sent to the port through the pipeline.

The protesters have also been blocking the airport and the local port, cutting off the supply of supplies to the Freeport complex in Tembaga Pura and Kuala Kencana since Sunday.

"We employees inside the Kuala Kencana complex do not have any food stocks left and cannot work. Please solve this matter immediately," said Solihin, a Freeport employee during a video conference with the president and the concerned ministers on the problem at the mine.

Debi Upela, the wife of a Freeport employee in Tembaga Pura, said during the same video conference that employees' children were afraid to go to school.

A total of 1,300 non-staffers and 5,000 employees of contractors who were hired by Freeport have continued to turn up for work at the mine. The halt in production is expected to cause some $8 million in losses to the government, industry sources said.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said officers were still looking for the six gunmen who attacked a Freeport vehicle and killed three employees on Friday. "We are still pursuing the perpetrators by combing the area around the location. We are also using sniffer dogs," he said.

Third Papuan Congress opens in a field

Bintang Papua - October 17, 2011

Jayapura – The Third Papuan People's Congress opened in Jayapura today and took place in a field in the open air, after failing to get permission to use either the UNCEN auditorium or GOR, the sports stadium in Jayapura.

Selpius Bobii, chairman of the congress, said that the congress would open at 9am on Monday on Lapangan Sakeus (Sakeus Field). He said the opening would take place as planned with communal prayers, followed by a seminar which may or may not be addressed by a speaker from the central government.

The format of the congress would be more or less the same as previous congresses – a seminar, followed by discussions and a plenary session.

The speakers would include a spokesperson from the NGO Foker, Septer Manufandu, church leaders, Rev. Benny Giay, Rev Socrates S. Yoman and Rev. Yemima Krey.

The theme of the congress is as previously announced: "To uphold the basic rights of the Papuan people now and in the future."

Bobii said that the participants have come from kampungs throughout the territory who were paying their own way; they would convey their opinions about what they feel.

"Our task is only to accommodate them and facilitate the congress. They will speak about the situation in their own regions and will adopt decisions and decide what they need to do to implement these decisions."

He also conveyed thanks to the central government for giving its blessing to the event. "We also convey our thanks to the community in general for their participation, and for their help in ensuring that this event takes place in a conducive situation."

Meanwhile groups who oppose the congress also expressed their thoughts.

The chairman of the DPD (central council) of Garuda Indonesia Komando, Richard Kabarek, whose parents and grandparents are from Bali and Java, expressed the hope that the congress would discuss the situation of the Papuan people and how they can improve their living conditions.

As for the top officials of the provincial and local administrations, he said: "We hope that they will stop doing things that create panic and confusion among the population."

He went on to say: "We are the younger generation and we acknowledge that there are discrepancies between us and the Papuan people. We are from the Republic of Indonesia – NKRI, we too need help, we need education and we need decent living conditions."

He appealed to the central government "to draw up a programme of development so as to ensure that the people living in the interior experience improvements in their living conditions." He also expressed the hope that the Third Papuan Congress would adopt decisions that would not be harmful to their own situation and to the community in general.

Another person who expressed his views was Yusak Pakage who decided not to attend the congress. He said that he had attended the Second Congress when the situation was different from the present day. On that occasion, the central government supported the congress and also provided financial assistance and security.

Much depends on those who were given a mandate by the second congress, said Pakage: "Many things have happened since then for which they are responsible. Those who are given a mandate this time should report their activities to the people and should not do anything detrimental to the people. We also know that there are those who are for and those who are against this congress, in particular the TPN/OPM led by Lambert Pekikir, who is chairman of the Revolutionary Council of West Papua."

Speaking on behalf of the TPN/OPM, Pekikir said: "The Papuan people should not be influenced by the organisaion, the congress or whatever form of dialogue is agreed. It should not result in the Papuan people becoming victims because of the differences of opinons, between the 'pros' and the 'contras'".

Note:

No reference is made to the fact that the second congress took place in 2000 during the presidency of Abdurahman Wahid – Gus Dur – who was sympathetic towards the Papuan people – which may well have been one of the reasons why his presidency ended with his impeachment.

[Abridged in translation by TAPOL.]

Another Freeport worker involved in recent clash dies

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2011

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Another worker at giant copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), who was wounded in a clash with security officers at Gorong-Gorong bus terminal in Timika, Papua, on Oct. 10, died on Saturday at his home in Kwamki Lama.

The body of the worker, identified as Leo Wandagau, 36, was being kept at the secretariat of PTFI labor union SPSI in Timika on Sunday. A PTFI worker named Petrus Ayamiseba was shot dead during the clash when the police fired warning shots.

The dispute, which was initially sparked by demands by the workers for a wage increase, has apparently spread. It no longer only concerns PTFI and its workers but now also involves local tribesmen. The clash on Oct. 10 followed a lengthy negotiation process on the part of the company in response to the workers' demands for a wage increase.

Leo's family demanded that PT FI took responsibility for his death. "The family has asked PT Freeport Indonesia to accept responsibility for Leo's death. They further ask Freeport to stop production activities until they settle the issue properly, otherwise the company will have to bear all responsibility for the consequences. That was the family's demand given to us," Virgo Solossa, head of PTFI labor union's organization unit said on Sunday.

According to Virgo, in line with the results of a postmortem examination carried out at Timika General Hospital, Leo's wound was trivial and not serious as it was no more than 0.5 centimeters in depth. However the family only knew that Leo died after being involved in a clash between the protesting workers and security officers.

"We've given the results of the postmortem examination to the family, but they have rather limited understanding of the case and insist that Leo died because he was shot," Virgo explained.

When asked about the burial, Virgo said he did not know when it would be held. "The family is still discussing about the burial and also demanding compensation from PT Freeport Indonesia. We from SPSI just hope that the company will respond wisely to the family's demands so as to prevent any further problems," he said.

Meanwhile, Timika General Hospital director Frans Thio said that Leo was one of several wounded workers treated at the hospital after the clash in Gorong-Gorong.

"Leo was wounded in the upper part of his back and his condition was not critical. The wound was to his muscle tissue but did not endanger his life. After being treated, he was allowed to go home," Frans said.

"On Oct. 12, Leo was back in the hospital to have a reexamination of his wound. He was declared healthy, but suddenly we received information that he died on Saturday," he said.

The result of an X-ray on Oct. 10, Frans said, showed that there was nothing left in his body and this had also been explained to his family. "In order to answer rumors circulating in the public and so as to determine the cause of Leo's death, a postmortem examination has been conducted, but I have no authority to announce the results," he added.

Freeport halts production on security concerns

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2011

Jakarta – Copper and gold mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia has been forced to halt production following a deteriorating security situation around its mining site in Grasberg, Papua.

"We have been forced to halt production due to security reasons," Freeport Indonesia open pit mine vice president Nurhadi Sabirin said Monday during a teleconference with journalists in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara state news wire. He added that the move affected mining activities in both Freeport's open pit and underground mines.

Nurhadi added that a pipeline, used to channel copper and gold concentrates to a port, had been cut in several places and could no longer be used, and that the production halt would be imposed until the security situation improved.

Freeport's Papua mines produce between 220,000 and 230,000 tons of ore per day. The ore is processed at a refinery in Mimika, into concentrates weighing between 6,000 and 7,000 tons.

The wet concentrate is then channeled through a 114-kilometer-long pipeline to the port, where it is dried before being sent to buyers. According to 2010 data, each ton of this ore contains 8 kilograms of copper and 0.91 grams of gold.

Freeport's productions have been disrupted recently due to strikes and protests launched by thousands of Freeport workers demanding for pay rise. One of the rallies turned violent last week, killing one protester and injuring several others in a clash between protesters and security officers.

Military ties

Panetta to focus on military ties with Indonesia

Agence France Presse - October 23, 2011

Mathieu Rabechault, Nusa Dua, Bali – US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his Indonesian counterpart on Sunday will discuss the two countries' growing military ties after more than a decade-long suspension by Washington over human rights issues, a senior US official said.

In his first trip to the region since taking the helm at the Pentagon in July, the former CIA director begins his tour in Indonesia before heading to Japan on Monday and South Korea on Wednesday.

Panetta's trip coincides with sensitive direct talks between the United States and North Korea in Geneva on Monday to try to lay the ground for reviving long-stalled nuclear disarmament negotiations.

In his meetings with Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro on the resort island of Bali, Panetta will discuss regional issues and Washington's growing "military relationship" with Jakarta, said the defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Relations with the Indonesian army had nearly screeched to a halt and remained frozen for 12 years over abuses during former dictator Suharto's 32-year rule.

Indonesia's Kopassus commando unit is accused of deadly abuses in East Timor, Aceh and Papua during Suharto's rule, which ended in 1998, paving the road to democracy.

The defense official said that gradual and limited cooperation with the elite corps, begun in July 2010 by Panetta's predecessor Robert Gates, would continue because Jakarta had shown a commitment to transforming its armed forces.

"We've seen incredible commitment of the Indonesian military and [defense] ministry to transforming the Indonesian armed forces," the official said.

"As a result of that transformation, we've been able to do more with them, both in terms of personnel exchanges, experts exchanges, exercises and even some defense trade and cooperation in sales and security relations," he added.

He said cooperation that was initially focused on the highest echelons of the army now extended to the operational level, including training in human rights.

The human rights issue "is still something that we closely monitor and ensure that no training is going toward anyone who can credibly be accused of human rights abuses," the official said.

During his stay in Bali, Panetta will also meet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the sidelines of the bloc's meeting on the island.

"There's a clear message that I'm going to bring to the region, and the message is this: that we will remain a strong Pacific force in the 21st century, and we will maintain a strong presence in the Pacific in the 21st century and be a strong force peace and prosperity in that region," Panetta told reporters traveling with him.

Disputes between Asean members and China over the resource-rich South China Sea are likely to feature high on the agenda, as Washington has called for a regional code of conduct and insisted on "freedom of navigation" through the crucial global shipping route despite Beijing's territorial claims.

China says it has sovereignty over essentially all of the South China Sea, where its professed ownership of the Spratly archipelago overlaps with claims by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia. Panetta's trip also comes as the United States and North Korea are to hold direct talks in Geneva.

Before any broader discussions, the United States and South Korea are insisting the North take concrete steps to demonstrate it is sincere about resuming full six-party nuclear talks which also include Japan, Russia and China.

In meetings in Tokyo and Seoul, Panetta "will have an opportunity to discuss with his counterparts where we are in the diplomatic process," the senior defense official said.

The defense chiefs will examine steps to bolster diplomacy, but also ensure that they are prepared, should North Korea "choose to undertake a provocation," said the official.

Human rights & justice

Yudhoyono ignores human rights: Kontras

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2011

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), an NGO focussing on human rights issues, says the newly installed Cabinet and the government's new directives were unlikely to do anything to tackle human rights issues.

"We have learned that this administration has no sympathy, let alone the will to tackle the many cases that show indications of human rights violations," Kontras national coordinator Haris Azhar said Thursday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The unresolved murder of former Kontras coordinator Munir was a clear example of how the government had done nothing in this area, he said.

Aside from the human rights issues, he added, the President's latest decision to put an army general in charge of the National Intelligence Body (BIN) could also be seen as setting a bad precedent in the country's growing democratic climate. During the recent reshuffle, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman to replace Gen. (ret) Sutanto, a former national police chief, as the head of BIN.

Political parties & elections

West Java ballots suffer low public turnout

Jakarta Post - October 21, 2011

Bandung – While the number of eligible voters is predicted to rise, public participation in elections is tending to decrease, according to the head of the West Java Elections Commission (KPUD).

Ferry Kurnia Rizkiansyah said that a decrease in turnout during the latest elections was found in seven regions, with Depok suffering the biggest decrease. The Depok mayoral election in 2010 recorded only 54.14 percent of eligible voters casting their vote, far lower than the 71.2 percent recorded in 2005.

Ferry made his comments on the sidelines of a workshop to devise strategies to increase turnout during elections. The workshop on Thursday was attended by KPUD representatives from 26 regions in West Java.

The West Java KPUD expects 33.5 million eligible voters – up from 30 million in 2009 – for the 2013 gubernatorial election, which will take place along with four other elections, namely in Sumedang regency, West Barat regency, Sukabumi municipality and Cirebon municipality. It was decided to hold all five elections together to save operational costs.

The making of a president - In voters' opinion

Straits Times - October 21, 2011

Bruce Gale – A little-known opinion poll carried out in August and published by the Indonesian-language Kompas newspaper has thrown up some interesting information about voter preferences that could have a bearing on the outcome of the 2014 presidential elections.

Instead of quizzing voters about the personality they preferred, the Kompas survey took a different approach. Respondents were given a list of potential candidates and asked three basic questions about each: (1) Did they follow mass media reports about the individual concerned? (2) Did they like him or her? (3) Did they think he or she was qualified to become president?

Potential candidates with the highest public profiles were former vice- president Jusuf Kalla, former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa, and Ani Yudhoyono (President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's wife). At least 70 percent of respondents said they followed reports about all four in the local media. Next in line in terms of voter awareness (with at least 60 per cent of voters following their respective careers) were Gerindra leader and former general Prabowo Subianto, Golkar leader and tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum and Tommy Hutomo, the controversial youngest son of former president Suharto.

Voter awareness, however, is not the same as popularity. Only around 15 percent of respondents said they liked Hutomo, for example. And despite Bakrie's widely acknowledged political influence and financial clout, only about 30 per cent seemed to have any sympathy for him.

Hutomo was jailed in 2002 for paying a hit man to assassinate a Supreme Court judge, but was later given a conditional release. Many Indonesians believe this was solely because of his position of wealth and power. Bakrie's popularity suffers from his association with a drilling company widely held responsible for the disastrous mud volcano that devastated a large part of East Java in 2006.

Jusuf scored the best on likeability, with 60 percent of respondents expressing approval. This was closely followed by Sri Mulyani and Yudhoyono. Next in line, with an approval rating of around 40 per cent, were Prabowo and Hatta. Constitutional Court chairman and former defense minister Mohammad Mahfud was also in this bracket.

In general, likeability and voter perceptions about whether or not a particular candidate was qualified to become president were strongly correlated. However, there was one important exception. Less than 25 percent of respondents saw the First Lady as suitable presidential material. Supporters of President Yudhoyono who believe she would be the best person to carry on her husband's work after he steps down in 2014 may have to rethink their strategy.

But much more than this can be gleaned from the survey results. In Indonesia, money does not necessarily buy popularity. Nor does the backing of a major political party. Lacking both advantages, Sri Mulyani outperformed everyone except Jusuf. Indeed, opposition attacks on the reformist minister last year probably did more to enhance her reputation in the eyes of voters than any campaign by her supporters.

Despite the longstanding belief among political observers that only a Javanese would be able to gain the necessary backing to win the presidency, survey respondents showed no such preference. Apart from Jusuf, who hails from South Sulawesi, Hatta (South Sumatra) and Mahfud (Madura) also won the approval of a large number of voters. And Sri Mulyani's strong showing suggests that many are willing to vote for a female president.

Responses to supplementary questions were also revealing. Indonesians, it seems, like their president to be relatively young, with 64.3 percent saying he or she should be between the ages of 40 and 50. Asked whether they preferred a president with a military or a civilian background, many voters were unsure. Of those who did respond, however, working-class voters displayed a marked preference for a military man. Such considerations could have important implications for the sort of issues Prabowo's Gerindra party might choose to highlight should he run for president.

The survey had some limitations, of course. It is unclear, for example, why potential candidates such as opposition PDI-P leader Megawati Sukarnoputri and popular Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwana X were omitted from the list. Given Indonesia's huge population, the random sample of just 828 respondents from 12 cities also seems a bit small. In a note on methodology, Kompas said the margin of error was 3 to 4 percent. The newspaper also admitted that the sample was biased towards urban voters.

Overall, however, the survey gives just about everyone something to think about.

After reshuffle, supporters say PKS has lost its way

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Once seen as a "clean" Islamic party led by young, urban and devout professionals, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is now perceived by some as another practitioner of dirty politics.

The PKS, the country's largest Islamic political party and a member of the ruling coalition, is again embroiled in controversy following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet reshuffle.

Party leaders were perturbed by Yudhoyono's decision to fire PKS member Suharna Surapranata as research and technology minister, which observers said was done in retribution for the PKS' repeated departures from the coalition's line in the House of Representatives.

Despite threats from PKS secretary-general Anis Matta to disclose backroom dealings with Yudhoyono if PKS ministers were fired, the President replaced Suharna with Gusti Muhammad Hatta, who handed his job as Environment Minister to a nonpolitical appointee, Balthasar Kambuaya, the rector of Cendrawasih University in Papua.

PKS leaders are considering withdrawing from the coalition and pulling its three remaining ministers from the Cabinet. Such a move, coming after a series of graft and sex scandals and its ministers' mediocre performance in the Cabinet, will likely further tarnish the image of the Islamic party.

PKS supporter Fardis Amir, 60, who voted for the party in the past two elections, said that he was seriously considering switching sides because he was disappointed with the PKS lately as many of its politicians were fake. Losing a minister, Fardis said, proved that the party had failed to perform.

Nugraha Sang Surya, the son of a PKS supporter, said the bad behaviors evinced by several PKS politicians was "shameful". "They have left their original image of a clean party. Clean is supposed to mean clean from any scandals including corruption, pornography, as well as bad temper," he said. "I won't give my support to them ever again."

Several PKS lawmakers have been reviled for inappropriate behavior, including lawmaker Fahri Hamzah, who attacked the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on several talk shows, describing the KPK as a "super- body" that was incompatible with democracy.

Fahri also called for the dissolution of the KPK when meeting top law enforcement officials, which critics said was done in defense of colleagues on the House budget committee who were implicated in a high-profile corruption case currently under investigation by the KPK.

Another PKS legislator, Arifinto, resigned after he was caught red-handed watching pornography during a House session, while PKS lawmaker Muhammad Misbakhun was sent to prison for fraud.

Not all PKS supporters, however, think the party has fallen from grace. Ahmad Dahlan said the party's image was not deteriorating.

"Despite critics who have put it in a tight corner and despite losing one minister at the new Cabinet, I will stick with the party," he said. The 25-year-old, however, added that the party should leave the coalition should it fail to carry out its commitments.

Fardis agreed, saying that it would best if the party ditched the coalition. "Just leave the coalition. The PKS must act firmly. It does not need to pursue power within the system," he said. "The PKS must restore its initial function for the people as a moral guardian."

Cahyadi Takariawan, a respected member of the PKS advisory council, said that the council would soon determine its stance following the reshuffle. (rpt)

Tensions simmered as Yudhoyono sought advice behind the scenes

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Rendi A. Witular and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Outgoing Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Minister Fadel Muhammad was apparently a persona non grata when he made an unscheduled visit to the State Palace to consult with President Susilo Bambag Yudhoyono on Tuesday.

Soldiers from the Presidential Security Force could not stop Fadel as he marched into to the President's sanctum. State Secretary Sudi Silalahi was called in to confront the minister before he proceeded further.

Fadel left the Palace after talking with Sudi, telling reporters he wanted to see the President to prepare for an upcoming meeting with Malaysia over border issues.

"The President refused to meet Fadel because he was busy preparing for the reshuffle," Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said, denying Fadel wanted to protest Yudhoyono's decision to fire him.

The impromptu visit was the latest part of the drama that unfolded after Yudhoyono announced his new Cabinet lineup on late Tuesday.

Fadel, who was replaced by fellow Golkar Party politician Sharief Cicip Sutardjo, was among the collateral damage in behind-the-scenes skirmishes fought by Yudhoyono and his political partners.

While Yudhoyono's announcement ended weeks of speculation, it remained unclear who had been advising the President as he determined his new Cabinet lineup.

According to sources in Golkar and the Democratic Party, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono; Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, whose daughter will marry Yudhoyono's son next month; Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng; Golkar Party chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie and tycoon Chairul Tandjung were among those counseling the President.

One source who declined to be named said pressure from Ani, Andi and other Democratic Party politicians encouraged Yudhoyono to give Democratic Party politicians and his close aides strategic Cabinet posts and to oust ministers with marital problems, including Democratic Party politician Freddy Numberi, who was ousted as transportation minister, and United Development Politician Suharso Monoarfa, who resigned as public housing minister before the reshuffle was announced.

Among the Cabinet posts handling strategic policies and huge projects are the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Transportation Ministry, State- Owned Enterprises Ministry, Trade Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

"Some of them are basically being put there to raise sufficient resources to fight in the 2014 election," said a businessman familiar with the reshuffle who declined to be named.

Meanwhile, Ical wanted to oust Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo from the Cabinet following a string of disputes between Golkar politicians, who previously contributed to the firing of Agus' predecessor, Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Agus, escaped the cutting block after Vice President Boediono defended the minister.

Ical's touch may have also apparent in Fadel's firing, which been reportedly was triggered by Golkar infighting. Fadel lagged behind other Golkar ministers in raising support from party officials at the grassroots level. Aburizal, whose party is the second-largest in Yudhoyono's coalition, has repeatedly denied the issue.

Also noteworthy contributor was Chairul Tandjung, who according to sources worked to build bridges between Yudhoyono and the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Chairul reportedly touted his good friend Dahlan Iskan, president director of state power company PT PLN, to be the next state-owned enterprises minister.

Chairul's negotiations prevented PKS leaders from retaliating when Yudhoyono proposed that the party's representation in the Cabinet be reduced to two ministers.

The PKS is fortunate that it only lost one of its four Cabinet seats. Research and Technology Minister Suharna Surapranata was replaced by Balthasar Kambuaya, a non-political appointee who will represent Papua.

However the story of the PKS had yet to play out on Tuesday, as party leaders met in Lembang, West Java, to determine their stance after losing Suharna.

The PKS leaders are expected to decide whether to accept losing a seat in the Cabinet and remaining with the coalition or to leave Yudhoyono and pull its three remaining representatives from the Cabinet.

"Yudhoyono's decision to cut our share was made unilaterally, without prior consultation with our patron [Hilmi Aminuddin]. We will decide our stance sooner rather than later," PKS deputy secretary-general Mahfudz Siddik said.

PKS mulls reducing commitment to coalition

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is considering reducing its commitment to the government coalition in response to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's dismissal of one of its members from the Cabinet.

The President announced Tuesday that he replaced Research and Technology Minister (and PKS member) Suharna Surapranata with Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, while appointing Papua's Cendrawasih University rector Balthasar Kambuaya as the new environment minister.

PKS chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaq said Suharna's dismissal was a sign of the President's reduced commitment to the PKS.

"With the President's commitment to PKS being reduced, our party members demand that the [PKS] commitment to the President is also reduced," Luthfi said at the residence of PKS chief patron Hilmi Aminuddin in Bandung on Tuesday evening.

Luthfi added, however, that PKS had yet to decide what it would do to reflect its reduction in commitment. "The patron board will decide," Lutfi said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

PKS deputy secretary-general Mahfudz Siddiq, meanwhile, said the dismissal of Suharsa was a violation to the coalition contract that Yudhoyono had signed with the PKS around time of the President's re-election in 2009. Mahfudz said this contract needed to be renewed, or the PKS would leave the Democratic Party-led coalition.

If you dump us, we dump you, PKS warns Indonesian president

Jakarta Globe - October 18, 2011

The Prosperous Justice Party has repeated its threat to quit the coalition government if President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reduces the party's number of cabinet positions.

The Islam-based party, known as the PKS, currently has four cabinet posts but has often proven to be more of a thorn in Yudhoyono's side rather than a committed coalition partner.

Despite ongoing criticisms of controversial Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring, speculation is pointing to Minister of Research and Technology Suharna Surapranata as potentially being the one on his way out.

One name that has been suggested as his replacement is Berth Kambuaya, the rector of Cendrawasih University in Jayapura, Papua, though he is expected to be named environment minister.

Rumors doing the rounds also suggest that if Kambuaya was appointed to either position, it would be unlikely Yudhoyono would have two Papuans in his cabinet, meaning Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi could be shown the door. Former Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta has already been mooted as a replacement.

Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri, one of the PKS's four ministers, said all of the party's cabinet members would obey instructions to resign in the event even one of them was replaced.

Yudhoyono is expected to announce his new cabinet line-up at 8 p.m. The ministers of trade, state-owned enterprises, justice and human rights, administrative reform and public housing are expected to be replaced.

Golkar thrives as Democrats wane

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2011

Jakarta – The Golkar Party is the strongest party in the country, according to recent surveys, which also show that the Democratic Party's popularity continues to wane amid a series of corruption scandals implicating its top executives.

The latest survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) shows that Golkar – which in the past served as a political vehicle to maintain former president Soeharto's decades-long authoritarian leadership – has again surpassed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party as the country's most popular political party.

"Golkar has become the strongest party since it launched its populist program in the regions, while at the same time the Democratic Party was getting entangled in the high-profile corruption scandal centered on [former party treasurer] Muhammad Nazaruddin," LSI researcher Ardian Sopa said in a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday.

In its June survey, the LSI found that 17.9 percent of respondents said that they would support Golkar in elections, while only 15.5 percent said they would opt for the President's party.

In its October survey, the Democrats managed to raise their approval rating to 16.5 percent but failed to beat Golkar, which attracted the support of 18.2 percent of 1,200 respondents in 33 provinces.

In the 2009 general election, the Democratic Party garnered 20.5 percent of the vote, followed by the Golkar Party at 14.45 percent and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with 14.04 percent.

The survey's findings will come as a blow to Yudhoyono, who is now attempting to improve his administration's performance by conducting a Cabinet reshuffle ahead of the 2014 elections.

Critics, however, doubted that the reshuffle plan would boost his image, with many seeing it as nothing more than political horse-trading with his coalition partners.

The LSI survey also found that the approval rating of the party's figureheads – such as Ani Yudhoyono, Anas Urbaningrum, Edhie Wibowo and Marzuki Alie – had also declined, according to Ardian.

Meanwhile public support for the leading lights of other parties like Megawati Soekarnoputri of the PDI-P, Prabowo Subianto of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and Aburizal Bakrie of Golkar was rising.

The LSI claimed that the Democratic Party's recent decline against Golkar was connected the drop in Yudhoyono's approval rating. The President's public-approval rating has dropped to 46.2 percent this year, from 63.1 percent in January 2010 when he began his second term.

According to LSI, respondents were unsatisfied with the Yudhoyono government's performance in managing the economy, social issues, law enforcement, foreign affairs and politics.

"Regarding the economy, most respondents were unsatisfied with the rising prices of staple foods. In the social area, violence against minority groups is viewed as a major problem. As for law enforcement, people are disappointed with the poor handling of corruption cases," Ardian said.

Ardian added that in foreign affairs, the execution of Ruyati, an Indonesian migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, had become an issue of particular concern. Lastly, in the political field, respondents indicated their hopes that in the interest of stability the political atmosphere could become more consolidated.

Environment & natural disasters

Watch mining activities around forests: Walhi

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2011

Jakarta – Mining activities in the vicinity of protected forest areas should be watched carefully as industries frequently neglected environmental conservation, an NGO warns.

Hartono, the Executive Director for the Indonesian Forum of Environment (Walhi), said on Wednesday that there was convincing data showing that industries caused substantial environmental damage in several districts and cities in Southeast Sulawesi.

Among the industries neglecting environmental responsibilities in the province was nickel mining at a forest conservation area at Lamusango, Buton district.

"The mentality of investors who conduct mining activities in Southeast Sulawesi are really bad," Hartono said as quoted by Antara news agency.

So far, the local Buton government has issued a warrant to temporarily halt any mining activities of PT Bumi Buton Delta Megah, as they allegedly neglected their responsibilities in their mining practices.

PT Bumi Buton Delta Megah possessed the right to conduct mining activities in 675 hectares area of production forest, which bordered with the 27,700- hectare Lambusango protection area. The Lambusango river, which is a water source for residents, is located in the company's area of mining activities.

Another Greenpeace activist sent packing from Indonesia

Reuters - October 20, 2011

Indonesia has been accused of attacking Greenpeace after the environmental group said on Thursday that a second campaigner had been deported by immigration officials in less than a week amid a row over deforestation.

Last week, Greenpeace accused Indonesia of trying to undermine its work in halting deforestation after one of its directors was stopped from entering the country.

Andy Tait, a forests campaigner for Greenpeace, was detained by immigration authorities on Wednesday, the group said in a statement. Tait's work focused on attempts to reform the work practices of Indonesian paper giant Asia Pulp and Paper, which it has accused of destroying rainforests.

"Greenpeace is coming under attack in Indonesia because of our work to stop deforestation in the country," said Nur Hidayati, head of Greenpeace's Indonesia office, describing the latest incidents as part of a smear campaign.

"Blocking Greenpeace campaigners from Indonesia won't stop our work to end deforestation in the country."

Indonesia's Immigration Office said Tait was deported for "purely immigration purposes."

"We suspect he was doing some journalistic activities, while the permit given to him was not for that purpose," said Maryoto Sumadi, the spokesman for the Immigration office. He said Tait was deported late on Wednesday.

Greenpeace said last week there had been accusations about the legal status of its Indonesia operation and the source of its funding over the past few weeks, as well as small demonstrations outside its Jakarta office.

Indonesia is seen as a key player in the fight against climate change and is under intense international pressure to curb its rapid deforestation rate and destruction of carbon-rich peatlands.

A year ago, Greenpeace accused palm oil giant Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) of clearing peat land and forests that sheltered endangered species. The palm oil producer said in February it would work with the government and a non-profit body to improve its forest conservation policies.

A moratorium on new permits to clear forests in Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, came into force in May for an initial two years. In June this year, Greenpeace criticized toy manufacturers it accused of using packaging produced by Asia Pulp and Paper.

Greenpeace hits out at Indonesia's dirty politics

Antara News - October 19, 2011

Greenpeace has lashed out at allegations made by a legislator that one of its top British activists managed to skirt an entry ban into Indonesia by using a false passport.

Nur Hidayati, Greenpeace's country representative for Indonesia, said on Tuesday that Andy Tait entered the country using a valid passport and that attempts to deport him last Saturday failed because the purported entry ban was riddled with errors.

She was responding to allegations of passport falsification raised by Tubagus Hasanuddin, deputy chairman of House of Representatives Commission I, which oversees defense and foreign affairs.

"There must be due legal process by the police to investigate this document falsification," Tubagus, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker, had said.

He also said Mas Achmad Sentosa, a member of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, should be investigated for his intervention at Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, where Tait, a Greenpeace UK forest campaigner, was stopped by immigration officials.

Desmon Mahesa, a Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) legislator on House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said the task force should be evaluated because of indications that Sentosa had used his authority for personal reasons in helping Tait evade a potential deportation.

"Why should task force members get away with breaking the law in the name of the people?" Desmon said.

Sentosa said he was simply doing his job by questioning why Tait faced deportation or if the entry ban against him was even valid. The Directorate General of Immigration has already denied ever issuing an entry ban for the Greenpeace representative.

The controversy came days after John Sauven, the Greenpeace UK director, was turned back at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by immigration officials last Thursday despite having a valid visa. The government has since said his presence posed a threat of "instability and disorder" to the country but did not elaborate.

In a statement on the Greenpeace UK Web site on Monday, Sauven said he had been scheduled in the country to "meet with a number of government officials, the UK ambassador and one of the country's largest palm oil producers. I was also planning to bear witness to the deforestation caused by Asia Pulp and Paper in Sumatra for myself.

"I had the correct visa, issued by the Indonesian embassy in London, but apparently that doesn't count for much when you are part of an organization fighting companies who have powerful connections in government."

NGO, legislators question acquittal of forestry investor

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Indonesian Antigraft Society (MAKI) and legislators have questioned the recent acquittal by the Buntok District Court in Central Kalimantan of a Thai investor accused of violating forestry regulation and called on prosecutors to lodge an appeal to the High Court to uphold justice in the case.

MAKI executive director Boyamin Saiman urged the Judicial Commission to investigate the controversial verdict, which he said was concluded due to the interference of a judicial mafia allegedly involving the panel of judges and the investor's coal mining company, PT Multi Tambangjaya Utama (MTU).

"We have closely monitored the court, which can be easily bought in the remote regency. When the case was brought to court, MTU CEO Warayot Sermsaksakoon was held suspect for the company's violation of the 1982 ministerial decree on rainforest areas.

After several court sessions, Warayot was freed and his subordinate Watana Pundet, who is in charge of the company's operation in the mining site, was asked to take charge. In their verdict, the panel of judges acquitted Watana," he said after a meeting with the law and environmental affairs commissions at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

He said MAKI suspected a bribe had been given by the company through its legal team to the judges who tried the case. "The police held the CEO as a suspect because his company was found guilty of exploiting vast tracts of rainforest in the regency. The governor recommended the company continue its mining activities in the forest while the case was still being processed in court," he said.

The panel of judges presided by Adeng Abdul Kohar acquitted Watana of charges in their verdict at the end of September because the coal company was not proven guilty of exploiting forestland in Buntok. Adeng said the condition of the forest when the ministerial decree was issued was far different from current conditions because the Central Kalimantan provincial government has yet to issue spatial planning regulations for rainforest areas in the province.

The team of prosecutors led by Sudi Hajendro was considering filing an appeal to the Higher Court.

House of Representatives law commission deputy chairman Azis Samsuddin and commission member Ruhut Sitompul, who is also a member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, called on the Judicial Commission to look into the court's controversial verdict to help eradicate judicial mafia in remote district courts.

"The central government and local authorities should also monitor the operation of all coal companies in Kalimantan because their activities have impacted the state and local people," said Azis.

House's Commission VII deputy chairman on mining and environmental affairs Effendi Simbolon vowed to look into the case during his field tour to the province during the upcoming recess.

"The Corruption Eradication Commission should investigate the case because many foreign mining companies have overexploited coal deposits in Kalimantan while they have paid less in royalties to the state and have contributed little to empowering locals living near their mining sites," he said.

MTU's director of technical affairs Bagus Jaya Wardhana declined to comment on the court's verdict and said he knew very little about the case because he spends most of his time in Jakarta.

MTU spokesman Daniel said his company and its legal team had never paid bribes to the panel of judges to buy the verdict and had instead relied on the judicial process.

Suspicions raised surrounding attempt to deport activist

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2011

Jakarta – The immigration office claimed on Monday that it did not issue a warrant to deport Greenpeace campaigner Andrew Ross Tait, prompting speculation that the warrant shown to him and other Greenpeace activists on Saturday was fake.

Events surrounding the attempt to deport Tait were also suspicious. According to Greenpeace, Tait had been followed by two unknown individuals while he waited for a cab at his hotel in Kemang, South Jakarta. Tait was traveling to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, where he planned to join Greenpeace's flyover to Sumatra (not Kalimantan, as earlier reported) to observe forest deforestation on the island.

As Tait mingled with other Greenpeace members at the airport, three men, including the two individuals who had followed him from the hotel, approached the group and showed a deportation warrant, which ordered that Tait be deported back to England, his home country.

The deportation attempt failed as Tait and other Greenpeace members found out that the deportation warrant contained many irregularities. No photograph of Tait and no official stamp from the directorate general of immigration could be seen on the warrant. Even Tait's full name and passport number were written erroneously.

On Monday, Maryoto, spokesperson for the immigration directorate general at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, told The Jakarta Post that the immigration directorate general had never issued a deportation warrant to any Greenpeace campaigner on Saturday. "There was no deportation attempt by the immigration directorate general to Andrew Ross Tait," Maryoto said.

This statement raises suspicions over the possibility of efforts directed at intimidating Greenpeace, which has made many enemies following its recent revelations of forest destruction, allegedly carried out by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), one of the world's largest paper companies that is controlled by Sinar Mas Group. The revalations are included in a report entitled How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet.

Since Greenpeace's allegations against APP were made public, the organization had experienced various forms of intimidation and attacks, apparently directed toward halting the former's investigations.

In addition to the recent deportation attempt against Tait, on Thursday last week, Greenpeace UK executive director, John Sauven, was denied entry to Indonesia by the government at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, in spite of Sauven holding an official visa that had been issued from the Indonesian Embassy in London.

Greenpeace Indonesia media campaigner, Hikmat Suryatanuwijaya, said on Monday that efforts to suppress Greenpeace were normal, since Greenpeace's work and published reports placed various industries' interests at stake.

"These deforestation acts were carried out by industries, and here we are talking about big, big industries with massive financial power and political clout," Hikmat said.

APP has repeatedly denied Greenpeace's string of allegations. In its official release, distributed to the press on Jun. 7, APP's Head of Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement, Aniela Maria, urged Greenpeace to "Do the responsible thing and share with the public the detailed scientific analysis and independent results."

"Regarding the recent Greenpeace issues, [the attacks on Greenpeace] are in no way related to our operations," said Aniela when she was contacted by the Post on Monday. (sat)

Unilever resumes palm oil purchases from Indonesia's Sinar Mas

Reuters - October 18, 2011

Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever has resumed palm oil purchases from Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) after the planter adopted new green policies, the Indonesian palm oil firm said late on Monday.

SMART, which runs the Indonesia palm oil operations of its Singapore-listed parent Golden Agri-Resources, was given a mixed score card last year in an independent environmental audit after Greenpeace accused the firm of clearing peat land and forests that sheltered endangered species.

Major palm oil consumers such as Unilever, Nestle and Burger King stopped buying from SMART because of environmental concerns.

The palm oil firm said in February that it would work with the government and a non-profit body, and Golden Agri then developed a Forest Conservation Policy in collaboration with The Forest Trust (TFT), a non-profit organization that seeks to promote green business methods.

"SMART has received a purchase order from Unilever today, a decision which SMART views as an acknowledgement of its sustainability commitments including Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification," the firm said in a statement.

The RSPO is an industry body of consumers, green groups and plantation firms that aims to promote use of sustainable palm oil products. This month, Nestle, the world's biggest food group, also resumed palm oil purchases from SMART.

The palm oil industry has come under increasing pressure to improve practices and halt deforestation blamed for speeding up climate change, ruining watersheds and destroying wildlife. A moratorium on new permits to clear forests in Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, came into force in May for an initial two years.

Late last month however, the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki) withdrew its membership from the RSPO, instead giving its full backing to an Indonesian sustainability scheme.

Many major European palm oil buyers say the RSPO will remain the international sustainability marker. SMART President Director Daud Dharsono also said the firm was supportive of the RSPO and would also continue to work with Gapki.

Corruption task force member defends Greenpeace

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2011

Jakarta – A member of the presidential Judicial Corruption Task Force is questioning government efforts to ban two Greenpeace activists from entering Indonesia, saying it might tarnish the image of the nation and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Greenpeace has supported Indonesia's forest preservation efforts, task force member Mas Achmad "Ota" Santosa told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. The task force investigates the work of the so-called "forest mafia", among other things.

"Greenpeace is being attacked and discredited systematically, as if the NGO is a threat to our national security. In fact, I see statements and studies [of Greenpeace] that are relevant and supportive of President Yudhoyono's commitment to prevent deforestation and reduce carbon emissions," he said.

Immigration officials tried to deport British Greenpeace campaigner Andrew Ross Tait at Halim Perdana-kusuma Airport in East Jakarta on Saturday as he departed with Ota, Greenpeace Indonesia activists and several UK officials to inspect deforestation in Kalimantan.

The attempt failed, however, after the travelers discovered that many of Tait's personal details were not listed accurately in the deportation order.

"After we carefully looked into the deportation letter, we refused the deportation attempt because the personal details in the letter were different," Nur Hidayati, Greenpeace Southeast Asia's country representative for Indonesia, told the Post.

"The name and the passport number in the deportation order were different. The letter also did not have any photo or official stamp," Nur Hidayati said.

Tait's name was written "Andrew John Taits" in the deportation order, Nur Hidayati said, adding that Tait said his middle name was not John.

Immigration previously denied entry to John Bernard Sauven, the executive director of Greenpeace in the UK, when he arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport although he held a business visa issued by the Indonesian Embassy in London. Sauven, who arrived on the same day as Tait, was forced to return home.

Nur claimed that the government's moves were part of several "attacks" launched against Greenpeace in Indonesia, which have intensified since the NGO published reports depicting forest destruction allegedly perpetrated by Asia Pulp and Paper, a unit of Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group.

Greenpeace's campaigns against the Sinar Mas Group reportedly cost the company dearly, with prominent firms such as Burger King, Carrefour, Kraft, Mattel and Unilever all reportedly cutting Sinar Mas companies, especially the Asia Pulp and Paper, out of their supply chains. A representative from the Sinar Mas Group was not available for comment on Sunday.

"The recent attacks against Greenpeace have embarrassed President Yudhoyono to the maximum extent, as the President was once committed to reducing carbon emissions and promoting forest conservation," Nur said.

Immigration spokesman Maryoto refused to disclose the reasons behind the government's decision to deny entry to Sauven, claiming that the government had the sovereign right to deny entry to Sauven and that the Greenpeace official had "not fulfilled the requirements to enter Indonesia". (sat)

Officials fail to stop Greenpeace rep

Jakarta Globe - October 17, 2011

Agus Triyono, Rizy Amelia & Fidelis E. Satriastanti – Days after immigration officials courted criticism for denying entry to a top Greenpeace representative, a similar attempt on Sunday to block his colleague fell spectacularly short.

Andy Tait, a forest campaigner with Greenpeace UK, arrived at East Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma air base on Sunday had to be allowed through the immigration checkpoint despite an entry ban having been issued for him. Nur Hidayati, Greenpeace's country representative for Indonesia, said the ban failed because of flaws in the letter ordering it.

"The immigration officials wanted to take him into detention, but they couldn't because the letter was full of mistakes," she said at the airport, where she met with Tait.

Among the mistakes were errors in Tait's name, passport number and date of birth. In addition, the letter did not have his photograph as required. "This clearly shows that they didn't even know who they were trying to stop. They were just making it up as they went along and were trying to entrap him," Nur said.

When they allowed Tait through, she said, immigration officials made him leave his passport with them. "How strange was that?" Nur said. "We believe they did this so they can now issue a new entry ban and deportation order."

The incident came days after John Sauven, the Greenpeace UK director, was turned back at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by immigration officials on Thursday despite having a valid visa to enter. The government has since said his presence posed a threat of "instability and disorder" to the country, but it did not elaborate.

Immigration office spokesman Maryoto denied on Sunday that an entry ban had been issued for Tait, saying that as far as he knew, Sauven was the only Greenpeace representative banned.

Critics have linked the government's actions to an ongoing campaign of hostility against the environmental organization by hard-line groups and businesses.

Jimly Asshiddiqie, the former chief justice of the Constitutional Court, said the smear campaign against foreign nongovernmental organizations highlighted the low level of appreciation for efforts by civil society groups to address environmental concerns.

"Many of these groups are misunderstood, including Greenpeace, which is now being treated as a public enemy," he said during a speech to mark the 31st anniversary of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

"Around the world, national leaders are busy tackling the issue of environmental degradation and climate change because of its impact on humanity. Here, we're too preoccupied with politics, corruption and law enforcement. Yet we stand to be hit the hardest by climate change."

Women & gender

Health official claims circumcision guidelines prevent female mutilation

Jakarta Globe - October 22, 2011

Dessy Sagita – The Health Ministry has spoken out against criticism by women's rights activists and health experts of a ministerial guideline on female circumcision, saying the instruction was issued specifically to combat genital mutilation.

Ministry spokeswoman Murti Utami said that many families, especially in rural areas, still believed in the importance of circumcising female babies for religious reasons.

"I would like to stress that female circumcision is not genital mutilation, which is indeed dangerous. They are two things that are very different," she said on Friday.

In June, community organizations spoke out in a letter to the government, opposing the ministerial instruction, which directs health professionals not to cut a girl's genitals but to "scrape the skin covering the clitoris, without injuring the clitoris."

Medical experts also spoke out against the ministry's move. "This will give doctors a new motivation to circumcise [girls] because now they can say the Ministry of Health approves of this, and the Indonesian Council of Ulema [MUI] approves of it," said Jurnalis Uddin, a doctor and lecturer at Yarsi University in Jakarta.

On Friday, Murti said the ministerial instruction, which was issued in June, governed procedures for female circumcision in cases where it is deemed necessary by families. It did not constitute government support for the practice, she claimed. "The minister wants to protect girls from genital mutilation," she said.

Murti added that the guidelines provided directions on performing the procedure properly and safely and required that circumcision must only be carried out with parental consent. Furthermore, parents must be given information beforehand on pros and cons of the procedure.

Circumcision is typically done at birth, or before a girl reaches the age of 5. Traditionally, the procedure was mostly symbolic, with a small cut made on the clitoris, or by rubbing it with tumeric root. However, Uddin said he had found that when medical practitioners performed the procedure, there was a trend toward more extensive cutting of the clitoris.

More agencies will apply gender-based budgeting in 2012: Agency

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2011

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – The government will implement what it calls a "gender-responsive budget" in 27 ministries and institutions and 10 pilot provinces next year, according to the nation's development agency.

The policy is part of the 2010-2014 Midterm National Development Plan to create gender-responsive governance, as mandated by a 2000 Presidential Instruction on gender mainstreaming in national development. This includes translating the government's commitment to upholding gender quality into budgetary policies in which female and male citizens are equally involved in development.

The ministries and institutions to be involved in the 2012 gender- responsive budget are, among others, the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the Forestry Ministry as well as the Supreme Court and the National Land Agency. The provinces are East Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, Banten, West Java, North Sumatra, Bangka- Belitung, Riau Islands, West Kalimantan and Lampung.

"The Home Ministry is expected to play an active role as a driver, especially for the legal basis and instrument drafting of the gender- responsive budget in the regions," Sanjoyo, director of demography, women's empowerment and child protection at the National Planning Development Board (Bappenas), said.

He said that the board, along with the Finance Ministry, the Home Ministry and the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, was to draft a national strategy for the gender-responsive budget for the central government and local administrations.

Currently, Bappenas is evaluating the gender-responsive budget pilot project applied in seven ministries and institutions this year. The seven ministries and institutions have adopted two versions of the gender- oriented budgeting program: service delivery and capacity development and advocation.

The service delivery ministries are the Education and Culture Ministry, the Public Works Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry. The capacity development and advocating ministries and institutions are the finance, women's empowerment and child protection and the national development planning ministries.

Sanjoyo said that his office had given recommendations to the ministries and provinces to prioritize budgeting for activities that could benefit women.

"For example, when there is a region that has low participation of girls in education, we recommend that they be granted scholarships. We also monitor the budgeting process, to make sure that it really is responsive to the problems in the society."

Syamsiah Ahmad, head of Indonesian Center for Women in Politics, said that before applying gender-responsive budgeting, the government should understand what kind of problems they wanted to address.

"We should cooperate with statistic agencies to see where the gaps are, such as in education participation or maternal mortality rate, conduct analysis of why it happens and allocate the budget to respond to the problem," she said.

Data from the National Statistics Agency showed that Indonesia's Gender Empowerment Index score in 2004 was 0.597 and 0.635 in 2009. National Labor Force Survey (Sakernas) recorded that the rate of open unemployment of women decreased to 8.23 percent in 2010 from 13.7 percent in 2006.

The number of women holding public positions has increased. In judicatory institutions, there are 1,869 female judges, or 23.4 percent of the 7,974 judges nationwide, and 6 female justices, accounting for 15.4 percent of the 39 justices.

In the House of Representative 11.6 percent of legislators sitting in 2004 were female, and 17.9 percent in 2009, while in the Regional Representative Council, 19.8 percent of counselors were female in 2004 and 27.3 percent in 2009.

Religion, tradition limit village women

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2011

Jakarta – Indonesian Women's Coalition secretary-general Dian Kartika Sari says that religion and tradition are used to prevent women in villages from accessing public services, such as education and health care.

"Religion and tradition are used to discriminate against women, particularly those living in villages, to stop them from participating in the public and social domain," she said.

Dian said that based on the coalition's work to promote gender equality in villages in 28 provinces, the best way to help women was to make them aware of the impact of traditional and religious values and to understand how those factors might hinder their access to public services.

"We also approach and build good relations with noted local leaders and religious figures because they can influence men to open themselves to the idea of granting similar civil rights to females," she said, adding that expanding the role of women in developing villages would benefit all community stakeholders.

"Empowering women in villages will also help empower villages and thus reduce poverty," Dian said recently during a discussion held to commemorate International Village Women's Day, observed on Oct. 15; World Food Day, observed on Oct. 16; and the International Day Against Poverty, observed on Oct. 17.

Dian said the coalition would hold events to mark the days in five provinces – Aceh, Central Java, East Kalimantan, East Nusa Teng-gara, South Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara.

According to the Indonesian Women's Coalition, the government has yet to make significant progress in villages around the country despite the fact that villages comprise the largest portion of Indonesia's administrative governments.

The Home Affairs Ministry recorded that Indonesia had 67,172 villages. The National Statistics Agency said that the number of poor people in Indonesia was 31.02 million in 2010, down from 32.52 million in 2009.

Even though the number of poor people across the nation has decreased, the percent of villagers living in poverty stood at 64.23 percent in 2010, up from 63.38 percent in 2009.

Darwini, an Indonesian Women's Coalition coordinator working in Indramayu, West Java, said that much of the government's support, including financial support, had yet to reach the village level.

"For example, the government claims that it allocated a certain amount of money to eradicate illiteracy in the regions in the country – but none of the funds have reached the community-based illiteracy program in the Beduyut village where I work," she said.

The National Education Ministry previously announced that it would allocate Rp 15 million (US$1,755) to each of the 550 organizations cooperating with the ministry to organize reading centers, and Rp 25 million for each new sustainable development program.

The coalition has recommended that the government prioritize villages in crafting development programs and apply gender-equality principles in creating policies related to development to positively affect women in villages.

The coalition also urged the government to coordinate the efforts of the various ministries and state institutions focusing on villages, create public spaces for women in villages to facilitate their participation in the public sphere and involve the people in promoting the rights of women in villages.

"We have to remember that government officials can only implement recommendations, including issuing gender equality policies, only if they also don't take traditional and religious values for granted, and are gender-equality literate," the coalition said. (msa)

Freedom of religion & worship

Hard-line group occupies Yasmin church sidewalk

Jakarta Globe - October 17, 2011

Vento Saudale, Bogor – Hundreds of men from a local Muslim hard-line group occupied the roadway in front of the GKI Yasmin church on Sunday, forcing congregation members to hold their service a kilometer away from their sealed building.

The churchgoers have been staging prayers on the sidewalk outside their church for more than a year now, after the Bogor city government sealed off the building. However, on Sunday police had blocked access to the church by 7 a.m.

"[The congregation members] were not permitted to come any closer for security reasons. We are afraid they will clash with members of Forkami," said Bogor Police Chief Adj. Comr. Hilman, referring to the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum.

Since dawn on Sunday, some 200 Forkami members had been occupying the pavement in front of the GKI Yasmin where churchgoers usually staged their prayers. The men, dressed in white robes and skullcaps, shouted praises to Allah and were on the lookout for GKI congregation members.

"We are grateful that no GKI Yasmin people dared to show their faces here," Forkami chairman Ahmad Iman told his members in the oration. "We want this church building to be gone next week. If it still stands, then we will personally bring it down."

Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto has stood in defiance of a Supreme Court order to reopen the church after the court ruled that its closure was illegal. The Ombudsman commission has also written to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saying that Diani had violated the court order.

"This is just a recommendation for the president and the legislature, so there is no problem for the Bogor city government [in not abiding by the ruling] because any institution has the right to issue such recommendations," the mayor said.

The Bogor administration initially issued a building permit for GKI Yasmin in 2006, but it revoked it two years later, alleging that the church had falsified the signatures required by law to obtain it.

Since the closure decision was annulled by the court in December, Diani issued another letter ordering the church to be relocated, saying that GKI Yasmin had been built on a street with an Islamic name.

"The city government has been given the authority by the central government to resolve the dispute, so we did, by issuing a decision letter on March 11," Diani said, adding that the surrounding neighborhood had been opposed to the church's construction.

"GKI is welcome to use the land provided by the city government on Jalan Siliwangi and all expenses will be compensated."

GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging said that by rejecting the court's decision, the mayor was blatantly refusing to abide by the law.

"We see that the central government has remained silent and showed no commitment in executing the Supreme Court decision and Ombudsman recommendation," he said. "When can we pray in our legally built church?"

The chairman of the Bogor Communion of Churches (BKGS), Henky Benaya, said the city government has discriminated against the construction of new churches as well. "We see that acquiring building permits for churches in Bogor is difficult and can take years," he said.

Henky added that the BKGS, as the representative of some 84 churches in Bogor, had never been consulted in the city's decision to seal off or relocate the GKI Yasmin. "We just hope that the matter will be resolved soon, and we all are praying for it," he said.

GKI Yasmin members worship under police guard

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2011

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – Members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) performed their Sunday service under the watchful eyes of the Bogor Police, who earlier managed to stave off troublemakers from local vigilante groups who tried to disrupt their mass.

Members of the Bogor Police arrived early in the morning to erect roadblocks at sections of Jl. KH Abdullah Bin Nuh to keep back members of local Muslim groups, who had pledged to evict GKI Yasmin congregation members from their place of worship.

Bogor Police chief of operations Comr. Irwansyah said a 600-meter section of the road was closed and was divided into two in order to separate more than 250 local Muslim protesters and more than 30 members of GKI Yasmin who performed their Sunday service in front of a car dealership office.

"We were trying to prevent the two groups from clashing, otherwise the Sunday service could not have taken place," he said.

Earlier, members of the GKI Yasmin congregation were harassed while trying to conduct holy communion. Violence again broke out last week when Bogor public order officers allegedly tried to grab a church minister who was about to lead the Sunday service.

Bogor Public Order Agency head Bambang Budianto was injured in the incident and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital. Following the incident, Bambang filed a report with the Bogor Police against GKI member Jayadi Damanik over alleged misconduct. Jayadi followed suit by filing a complaint with the police.

On Sunday, the GKI Yasmin congregation managed to perform a two-hour service under police guard. Members of Muslim groups, some of whom donned Muslim garb, arrived as early as 4 a.m. and proceeded to patrol the area.

They called on GKI Yasmin members to stop conducting their Sunday service on the street, and encouraged them to worship in a new location provided by the Bogor municipal government.

Some among the group were concerned over the disruption to public order that the Sunday service had caused. "We don't want to prohibit them from performing their religious service. We just don't want them to use public facilities as it will disrupt order," said Agus, one of the protesters.

The protest wrapped up at 11:30 a.m. soon after the Sunday service had ended. The Yasmin congregation reiterated their stance that the Bogor municipal administration must reopen the church soon.

"We hope the government does not bow to their [Muslim groups] request. We have a solid legal foundation for the construction of the church with the Supreme Court ruling and a decision made by the Ombudsman," GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging said.

The Yasmin church has been sealed off by the Bogor adminisitration since 2008, despite a Supreme Court ruling last year, which upheld the legality of the church. Members of the church have held Sunday services on the sidewalk in front of the church's construction site ever since.

Tolerance bill 'may support intolerance'

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A new bill drafted to boost religious tolerance in the country may serve as a tool for the government to inhibit religious freedom and foment intolerance, religious leaders and scholars say.

Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Catholic priest and professor at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy said that the bill, which has been under deliberation between the House of Representatives and the government, was too prone to state intervention in pursuit of religious tolerance.

He argued that the bill consisted of contentious clauses that should be revised and rephrased to avoid public unrest. He cited for instance Chapter 17 on religious propagation, which would invite state intervention because propagation was mandatory in all religions.

"The bill allows religious propagation among infidels or atheists but in reality all people hold their religion in accordance with their own beliefs, including our brothers in remote areas in Sumba and Kalimantan," he said in a public discussion here last week. The discussion was jointly organized by the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Asian Muslim Action Network to seek input for the House in deliberating the bill.

The bill has been prepared to accommodate the 2006 Joint Ministerial Decree on construction of houses of worship and in response to increasing social conflict and incidents triggered by the construction of houses of worship in Java, especially in Jakarta and surrounding areas.

Magnis-Suseno criticized chapters in the bill that prohibit the propagation of sectarian teaching and questioned the state's authority in determining whether certain religions were sectarian or not.

"In the Christian perspective, Protestantism is sectarian. Who is the authority to decide on sectarianism? The state has no competence and authority to make decisions on the truth of a religion. This is also the case regarding the Sunni and Shia sects in Islam," he said.

Siti Musdah Mulia, a professor at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, concurred, saying that the bill's substance did not reflect its title.

"We cannot judge the book by its cover. The bill's title is religious tolerance but I cannot find in the bill what that really means," she said.

She questioned the state's authority to recognize only six religions – Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism – while according to research, there were at least 23 religions with their own adherents in the country.

"In Surabaya, for instance, there is a small Jewish group but their religion is identified as Islam on their identity cards. Is this the kind of religious freedom the government wants?" she asked.

She accused the government of hypocrisy, saying it had intentionally prepared the bill to demonstrate to the world Indonesian religious tolerance but this was not really implemented and the government did not manage sectarian conflict well.

The bill, she said, should reflect the government's neutrality by giving equal treatment to all religions no matter who was in the majority or minority.

Chairman of the PKB faction Marwan Jafar appreciated all the input and said the PKB would enhance cooperation with other parties to hold similar meetings to seek input from all stakeholders, including civil society groups, to make a law that promoted tolerance among religious communities and maintained pluralism.

Agriculture & food security

NGOs protest genetically engineered crop regulation

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2011

Jakarta – A group of NGOs advocating agricultural issues are calling on the Agriculture Ministry to revoke its new regulation that allows cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMO).

The Executive Director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, Henri Subagiyo, said in a press conference on Thursday that the GMO regulation was flawed, so it should be revoked or reviewed.

Early this month, the ministry issued a regulation on the testing, assessment and removal of crop varieties, which gives farmers the green light to grow GMO crops. The NGOs said the regulation was counter to the Environment Law and threatened the ecosystem.

"The Environment Law requires all GMO products to undergo an environmental impact analysis [Amdal] before being used, especially for commercial purposes. The new regulation did not specifically stipulate that," Hendri said.

The regulation only stipulated that the GMO products follow biosafety requirements, which is likely to function as a recommendation, rather than an Amdal, which includes a thorough assessment before declaring a GMO safe for the environment. Hendri added that the regulation also did not stipulate environmental risk analysis.

On the same occasion, Tejo Wahyu Jatmiko, the national coordinator for the Alliance for Prosperous Villages, said the government was reckless in issuing the regulation, knowing that the transgenic products could damage the environment.

"The regulation poses a threat to the environment because the planted GMO varieties could change local ecosystems and could contaminate organic crops," he said.

He said that Indonesia had tried to use agribusiness giant Monsanto's genetically modified cotton plant seeds in South Sulawesi in 2001. However, the modified genes spread into the local cotton plants and harmed the local ecosystem.

"In the South Sulawesi case, farmers were forced to spray pesticides because the cotton worms were eating the plants that were genetically modified to be resistant to those very worms. There were also other pests such as grasshoppers that unexpectedly started eating the plants," Tejo said.

The South Sulawesi case was the initial commercial establishment of transgenic plants in Indonesia, it was conducted in seven regencies in South Sulawesi but was eventually terminated by the Agriculture Ministry because it experienced crop failures and caused conflict between farmers and Monsanto's subsidiary company, Branitha Sandhini.

A transgenic system that produces the GMO has evoked global controversy concerning whether its implementation will result in negative side effects both for the environment and for the people who consume the product.

Regulations of genetically modified plants differs among countries. The US has the least stringent regulations compared to the EU.

Debates on using genetically modified organisms for food are also rife in Indonesia, as the technology was deemed necessary for fostering food security. So far no widely accepted scientific explanations have linked genetically modified foods and human health problems. (rpt)

Rice imports 'starve' millions of farmers

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2011

Jakarta – The government should refrain from importing vast amounts of rice to avoid impoverishing farmers, a campaigner says.

Tejo Wahyu Jatmiko, the national coordinator for the Alliance for Prosperous Villages (ADS), said that the government's decision to import rice impoverished more than 44 million people who worked as farmers in the country.

"Currently, we are self-sufficient in rice. The question is, therefore, why is imported rice still being brought to Indonesia in vast amounts?" he asked during the commemoration of World Food Day on Oct. 16.

Tejo added that the government's policy to liberate trade and implement an almost zero-tariff policy has led to the flood of imported rice to Indonesia, causing the country's small-scale farmers to suffer.

The Central Statistics Board (BPS) imported 1.5 million tons of rice in 2010, with Vietnam and Thailand the largest exporters. Through until June of this year, Indonesia imported 500,000 tons of rice. But with the inclusion of Idul Fitri in September and the holiday season at the end of the year, the amount of imported rice in 2011 could possibly reach last year's figure of between 1.5 million and 1.6 million tons.

Tejo explained that even though the amount of imported rice may seem small - merely 5 percent of Indonesia's total rice consumption, in reality, it placed a heavy burden on farmers, as the rice was frequently imported during local farmers' harvesting periods.

Gunaryo, the Trade Ministry's director general on domestic trade, told The Jakarta Post that importing rice was still important to support the country's rice reserves to combat any sudden shocks in supply, such as unexpected droughts or natural disasters.

If supplies were hit and the country faced the risk of running out of rice, the price of rice could consequently skyrocket and many Indonesians living close to the poverty line could suffer.

Gunaryo explained that the rice-import policy was imperative to ensure two things. First, to maintain rice supplies throughout the year, while harvesting usually only occurred in March, April, and May.

The second, he said, was to maintain rice supplies across all provinces in the country, while rice production remained concentrated in only a few areas.

"[The harvest] does not occur simultaneously in the rice-producing areas across Indonesia. More importantly, Indonesia's rice-production provinces are still concentrated in West Java, Central Java, and East Java," Gunaryo said.

According to Kadir Ruslan, a statistician at BPS, Indonesia has achieved a rice surplus since 2008. Kadir, however, warned that the BPS data should not be used as a benchmark, since there could have been flaws in the process of collecting the data in the field, and BPS' calculation methods were still conservative.

"The methods [used by BPS] to calculate rice production are very conventional. Besides, [BPS] officials sometimes make mistakes when they collect data in the field," Kadir told the Post on Tuesday. (sat)

NGO says government approval on transgenics hurts farmers, environment

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2011

An NGO has criticized the Agriculture Minister's regulation No. 61/2011, which would allow transgenic seeds companies to conduct business, as it could harm greater interests.

"It is obvious that the government is ignorant to the fact that transgenic products can cause potential damage from an environmental, socioeconomic and health perspective," the Alliance for Prosperous Villages' national coordinator, Tejo Wahyu Jatmiko, told a press conference on Thursday.

He then cited similar projects that were tested around 10 years ago, in the form of a cotton transgenic seed plantation in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, and a joint project between the ministry and US agriculture giant Monsanto, but both were big failures.

"This policy won't aid farmers; it will only profit big companies," he said. (rpt)

Parliament & government

Another survey reports SBY's approval rating in decline

Jakarta Post - October 23, 2011

Another survey, this time by the Indonesian Voice Network (JCI), concluded that the public approval rating of the performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dropped to 53.2 percent this month.

The figure has fallen substantially from 70 percent in January 2010 and 62 percent in October 2010, JCI executive director Widdi Aswindi told a press conference announcing the survey results in Jakarta on Sunday. "This does not indicate positive perceptions," Widdi said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The survey also measured the public approval of Vice President Boediono's performance, which was recorded as 45 percent in October, down from 49 percent in October 2010 and 51 percent in January 2010.

Widdi said the declining approval ratings were attributable to a number of factors, including graft cases that have emerged during Yudhoyono's second term and failures of both the President and the Vice President to fulfill their campaign promises.

A recent survey by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) showed similar results, although it put the President's public approval rating this month at only 46 percent.

After years of resistance, House tables plan for new office

Jakarta Post - October 21, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – It took Rp 40 billion (US$4.52 million) of the state budget, a major property eviction and protests from millions of citizens to make lawmakers surrender their plans for a new office compound.

Leaving the project idle for months, the House of Representatives announced on Thursday that it had suspended the Rp 1.3 trillion ($146.9 million) project. Its Household Affairs Committee (BURT) has returned Rp 800 billion to the state that had been allocated for the project this year.

BURT deputy chairman Refrizal said that the House leadership came to the decision after the project was met with widespread protests. "The funds were returned to the state through the revised [2011] state budget to avoid them sitting idle, when they could be used to help accelerate the development of strategic industries," he said.

Initiated in 2009, the new building project came into the media spotlight after the eviction of Taman Ria Senayan, once an iconic amusement park in Jakarta.

It gained stronger criticism early this year after the release of the grand design of the building that had swallowed up Rp 40 billion in consultation fees.

Detractors said the project value was overestimated and that the huge sum should be allocated to the poor. They suggested that lawmakers make the best of their current building.

Refrizal said the House's secretary-general would explain how they spent the consultation money to the Supreme Audit Agency. "BURT will report on the decision while the House's secretary-general will answer when the Supreme Audit Agency assesses the suspended project," he said.

BURT member Djamal Azis said the household committee that coordinated with the House's secretary-general in handling the project returned the initial budget after an agreement with House leaders to suspend the project.

"The House will not tackle the project and leave the matter to the government on whether it is necessary to build a new building for the House or not. BURT will no longer push for the new building because it is not earmarked for the current 560 legislators," he said.

Djamal regretted the project's suspension, saying the House really needed a new building to allow legislators to do their jobs optimally.

"The House building's capacity can no longer accommodate the 560 legislators and their supporting staff, including secretaries, administrative personnel and experts, and the room for a legislator is far smaller than the presidential office, although they are at the same level in the Constitution," he said.

Following strong opposition from the public, House factions have been at loggerheads over the project, with the People's Conscience Party, Great Indonesia Movement Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the National Mandate Party all opposing the project.

Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung Wibowo appreciated the project's suspension, as it had been demanded by numerous factions. According to him, the project's suspension would take effect until 2014, "and if the next House lifts the suspension, a new building can be constructed".

He admitted that the House was in need of a new hall to provide standard rooms for legislators, but it was deemed the wrong time due to economic difficulties.

New House building finally suspended

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2011

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The much-criticized House of Representatives has finally bowed to public pressure to suspend the Rp 1.3 trillion new House building construction project, after the household committee (BURT) returned to the state Rp 800 billion that was allocated as the initial budget for the project.

BURT deputy chairman Refrizal on Thursday said the Rp 800 billion had been returned to the government.

"The funds were returned to the state through the revised [2011] state budget to avoid it sitting idle, when it could be used by the government to help accelerate the development of the strategic industries such as PT PAL, PT Pindad, PT Dirgantara Indonesia and Merpati Nusantara Airlines that are currently facing financial difficulties," he said.

The new building project had drawn a strong opposition from the public, including corruption watchdogs that said the House did not deserve the new building because many current buildings in the parliament compound were not being utilized optimally.

Observers also accused the House of lacking a sense of crisis, because until now there are still many Indonesian people living in poverty. Asked to comment on the huge amount of funds paid as consultation fees and for the grand design for the new building, Refrizal said the House's secretariat-general should answer to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).

The new cabinet and ministerial-level officials in full

Jakarta Globe - October 19, 2011

The Cabinet

1. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs: Djoko Suyanto
2. Coordinating Minister for the Economy: Hatta Rajasa 3. Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare: Agung Laksono
4. State Secretary Minister: Sudi Silalahi
5. Home Affairs Minister: Gamawan Fauzi
6. Foreign Affairs Minister: Marty Natalegawa. Deputy: Wardana [new]
7. Defense Minister: Purnomo Yusgiantoro. Deputy: Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin
8. Justice and Human Rights Minister: Amir Syamsuddin [new]. Deputy: Denny Indrayana [new]
9. Finance Minister: Agus Martowardojo. Deputy: Mahendra Siregar [new]. Deputy: Anny Ratnawati
10. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister: Jero Wacik [new]. Deputy: Widjajono Partowidagdo [new]
11. Industry Minister: M. Hidayat. Deputy: Alex SW Retraubun
12. Trade Minister: Gita Wirjawan [new]. Deputy: Bayu Krisnamurthi [new]
13. Agriculture Minister: Suswono. Deputy: Rusman Heriawan [new]
14. Forestry Minister: Zulkifli Hasan
15. Transportation Minister: E.E. Mangindaan [new]. Deputy: Bambang Susantono
16. Fishery and Maritime Minister: Syarif Cicip Sutardjo [new]
17. Manpower and Transmigration Minister: Muhaimin Iskandar
18. Public Works Minister: Djoko Kirmanto. Deputy: Hermanto Dardak
19. Health Minister: Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih. Deputy: Ali Ghufron Mukti [new]
20. Education and Culture Minister: Muhammad Nuh. Education: Musliar Kasim [new]. Culture: Wiendu Nuryanti [new]. 21. Social Affairs Minister: Salim Segaf Aljufri
22. Religious Affairs Minister: Suryadharma Ali. Deputy: Nasaruddin Umar [new]
23. Tourism and Creative Economy: Mari Elka Pangestu [new]. Deputy: Sapta Nirwandar [new]
24. Communication and Information Minister: Tifatul Sembiring
25. Research and Technology Minister: Gusti Muhammad Hatta
26. Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister: Syarifuddin Hasan. Deputy: Mahmuddin Yasin [new]
27. Environment Minister: Berth Kambuaya [new]
28. Woman Empowerment and Children Protection Minister: Linda Gumelar
29. State Administrative Reform Minister: Azwar Abubakar [new]. Deputy: Eko Prasodjo [new]
30. Minister for Development of Disadvantaged Regions: Ahmad Helmy Faishal Zaini
31. Minister for National Development Planning: Armida Alisjahbana. Deputy: Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo
32. State-Owned Enterprises Minister: Dahlan Iskan [new]
33. Public Housing Minister: Djan Faridz [new]
34. Youth and Sport Affairs Minister: Andi Mallarangeng

Ministerial-level officials

1. State Intelligence Agency chief: Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman [new]
2. National Investment Coordinating Board chief: Fuad Rahmani [new]
3. Chairman of the Presidential Working Unit for Development, Supervision and Oversight: Kuntoro Mangkusubroto

Loyalty saves problematic ministers

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Ina Parlina and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Near absolute loyalty to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may have been what saved at least three highly controversial ministers from getting the boot in the Cabinet reshuffle, a political analyst says.

"The President kept the bad ministers due to 'considerations' other than their performance," political analyst J. Kristiadi from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said. The President took the controversial decision only to secure his future agenda, Kristiadi said.

Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng and Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar both retained their positions despite being implicated in high-profile graft scandals at their office by witness testimonies.

Andi is currently under the public spotlight because his ministry's secretary, Wafid Muharam, is on trial at the Corruption Court for alleged bribery in the construction of the athletes' village for next month's SEA Games. The case has also implicated former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, who has been named a corruption suspect in the same case, as well as in other corruption cases.

The minister served as the President's spokesman for five years before being promoted to the Cabinet in 2009. He still spends much of his time working with the President despite his ministerial position.

Muhaimin is the chairman of the Islamic-nationalist National Awakening Party (PKB). His party is a loyal member of the President's ruling coalition. Muhaimin is known to have punished legislators who were not loyal to the President.

He was allegedly involved in a bribery case linked to a Rp 73 billion (US$8.24 million) project to build infrastructure in four resettlement areas in Papua that was commissioned by his office. The minister also said that his office had done its best to ensure the protection of migrant workers abroad.

Emerson Yuntho from the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said that the President seemed to be willing to "share his political pie to secure mutual hostage relationships with other political parties".

"Why keep Andi Mallarangeng and Muhaimin who are allegedly linked to corruption cases? It's a mutual hostage strategy, I believe," Emerson said, adding that the President's move contradicted his own so-called war against corruption.

Meanwhile, despite demands from the country's two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, and public outcries about the treatment of religious minority groups, the President decided to keep Suryadharma Ali as the minister of religious affairs.

Suryadharma Ali has been blamed for failing to prevent several provincial bans on the Ahmadiyah religious minority sect and recent closures and attacks on churches.

Suryadharma is the chairman of the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP), a member of the coalition government. The party rarely criticizes the government.

Erna Ratnaningsih, chairwoman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, which represents Ahmadiyah congregations across the country, said that religious freedom was the right of all citizens.

"In terms of religious tolerance, minorities are ruled out while the majority rules," she said, adding that she regretted the Presidents move to keep Suryadharma, who "obviously failed to represent all groups".

SBY controls 'lucrative' posts

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has grabbed more power and control of state assets by appointing his close aides to key ministerial posts during the Cabinet reshuffle, and in the process has managed to trick the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and maintain the support of the Golkar Party.

After weeks of drama that have witnessed the tears and smiles of outgoing and incoming ministers, Yudhoyono told the public on Tuesday evening that he had reshuffled the Cabinet for the good of the country, while stressing that he had reduced by one the number of ministerial posts held by his Democratic Party members; in what may have been a message to the PKS, who also lost one post, to accept the hand that was dealt to them.

However, while the Democratic Party did lose one ministerial post, Yudhoyono's party members grabbed a monopoly on the nation's most strategic posts, including state-owned enterprises minister, trade minister, energy and mineral resources minister and law and human rights minister, prompting accusations that the President's agenda had been to secure funding for the 2014 elections at the expense of appointing capable candidates to run the country.

There were also debate as to why Yudhoyono did not boot several ministers who have been implicated in high-profile corruption cases.

"There is no chance that this Cabinet will be better in any way," Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) political analyst J. Kristiadi said after the new Cabinet announcement.

Kristiadi cited the appointment of former culture and tourism minister Jero Wacik as the new energy and mineral resources minister and former administrative reforms minister E.E. Mangindaan as the new transportation minister as examples of the President's blatant power mongering.

"Are those two really competent at those posts? It was just Yudhoyono's trick to keep lucrative ministries under his full control," he said.

With no expertise nor experience in energy and mineral resources, Jero's appointment was seen as a move to ensure that the ministry, which reaps a massive portion of the state's revenue, continues to serve the interests of those in power.

Kristiadi judged that Yudhoyono's public announcement that he had reduced the number of ministers from his Democratic Party, from six to five, was merely "a tactic", most likely aimed at the PKS, which lost some crucial ministerial posts.

Golkar retained three of its members in the Cabinet but saw former Maritime Affairs and Fisheries minister Fadel Muhammad dismissed. Fadel was replaced by Golkar deputy chairman Syarif Cicip Sutardjo.

Given Golkar's influential political power at the House of Representatives, Yudhoyono may have seen Golkar's support as crucial to securing his remaining three years in office.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, who had been rumored to have been let go at Golkar's request, retained his position.

The appointments of Gita Wirjawan as trade minister and Dahlan Iskan as state-owned enterprises minister were seen as part of Yudhoyono's attempts to "secure" strategic posts, as the two have close relations with the President and his family.

Dahlan's new position oversees hundreds of state-owned enterprises, which, according to Indonesian Institute of Sciences political expert Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, are potential cash cows for the 2014 election.

While Yudhoyono has paid great attention to maintaining the political balance in his Cabinet, the reshuffle has also reflected his concern for retaining regional representation.

The appointment of Balthasar Kambuaya, rector of Jayapura-based state Cendrawasih University as environment minister, for example, will ensure Papuan representation in the Cabinet after the departure of former transportation minister Freddy Numberi. Gusti M. Hatta, who represents Kalimantan, was appointed research and technology minister.

SBY's new cabinet lineup disappoints some

Jakarta Globe - October 19, 2011

Arientha Primanita, Anita Rachman & Camelia Pasandaran – A chorus of disappointed sighs greeted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's announcement of his reshuffled cabinet lineup on Tuesday, which critics said fell short of expectations.

The new lineup, which features seven new names and five ministers with new portfolios, includes two more professionals. But it also saw the president retain his close associates in new cushy – and important – positions.

"In this reshuffle, there are two ministerial seats from political parties that will be lost.... This is to accommodate professionals who do not come from political parties," Yudhoyono said.

The Democratic Party now has only three cabinet seats after losing Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi. The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) also lost a seat with Research and Technology Minister Suharna Surapranata on his way out. The party now has three ministers, the same as another coalition party, Golkar.

However, eyebrows were raised at the portfolios given to the remaining Democratic ministers.

Jero Wacik, the outgoing tourism and culture minister, was appointed as the new energy and mineral resources minister, replacing Darwin Zahedy Saleh. And outgoing State Administrative Reforms Minister E.E. Mangindaan was given the crucial transportation portfolio.

Along with the new justice and human rights minister, Amir Syamsuddin, Jero and Mangindaan are members of the Democratic Party's ethics council and are all close to the president.

Ahmad Mubarok, a member of the Democrats' advisory board, dismissed accusations of a power play by the party. "If we have to, we can remove the three from the ethics council," he said.

One welcome appointment was the transfer of outgoing Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu to the newly renamed Tourism and Creative Economics Ministry.

Yunarto Wijaya, from Charta Politika, a political research institute, said the new lineup reflected a problematic managerial style. He said it was clear the president picked candidates first and decided on their posts later.

He said the president had the right to put loyalists in the cabinet, but pointed out that they were put in important posts, such as Jero Waci, who was heavily criticized as tourism minister.

"The Energy Ministry is one of the lucrative posts. I don't want to accuse people, but it's not a secret anymore that ministries are seen as profit centers," he said.

Questions were also raised about the ministers retained. Adnan Topo Husodo, from Indonesia Corruption Watch, said the president was using a double standard by keeping two ministers tainted by graft allegations – Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar and Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng.

"I don't see that the president considers his ministers' integrity as one of the points in appointing them," he said. "I doubt that he has a strong will to truly eradicate corruption."

State Secretary Sudi Silalahi told reporters that the president respected the legal process and highlighted that the two were only witnesses and not suspects.

Yudhoyono also refuted allegations that the current cabinet was fatter – there are now 10 new deputy ministerial posts. "Deputy ministers are not members of the cabinet," the president said.

Judging that the load of the Ministry of Finance was "very heavy," Yudhoyono said he had appointed another deputy, outgoing deputy trade minister Mahendra Siregar, in addition to the current deputy, Anny Ratnawati.

Education Minister Muhammad Nuh will have two deputies, one for education, Muslihat Kasih, and another for culture, Windu Nuryanti. The new cabinet members will be sworn in on Thursday.

Who's who in the new lineup

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Public Housing Minister Djan Faridz

Birthplace/date: Jakarta/Aug. 5, 1950
Education: Bachelor's degree in architecture; Tarumanegara University, Jakarta
Previous jobs: President director, PT Priamanaya Djan International (1996-present); Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member representing Jakarta (2009-2014).
Affiliation: United Development Party (PPP), Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Jakarta chapter chairman (2011-2014).
Controversy: In 2000, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) reported Djan allegedly received a credit facility from former energy and mining minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita through a non-transparent procedure to finance power substations. ICW claimed there were indications that the cost of the projects was inflated by up to US$600 million.

Djan is known for his good relationships with military and political figures. He loaned a property on Jl. Kramat Raya, Central Jakarta, to be used as the headquarters of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, according to Democratic Party politician Kastorius Sinaga.

He was behind the controversial renovation of Jakarta's Tanah Abang textile market, the largest in Southeast Asia, in 2004.

Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin

Birthplace/date: Makassar, South Sulawesi/May 27, 1941
Education: Law doctorate, University of Indonesia
Previous jobs: Founder of Amir Syamsuddin Law Offices and Partners in 1983, founder of the Center for Law and Justice Studies
Affiliation: Democratic Party board of advisers
Controversy: Amir once represented Akbar Tanjung in 2003 when the former Golkar Party chairman was on trial for graft. Amir's legal genius convinced the Supreme Court to acquit Akbar.

Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar

Birthplace/date: Banda Aceh/June 21, 1952
Education: Master's degree from Syiah Kuala University, Aceh
Previous jobs: National Mandate Party (PAN) lawmaker on the House Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, Aceh deputy governor (2000-2004) and acting governor (2004-2005)
Affiliation: National Mandate Party (PAN)
Controversy: Azwar's running mate, Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh, was convicted of graft and numerous counts of corruption while in office. Azwar stated he knew nothing about any wrongdoings.

National Intelligence Agency (BIN) director Army Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman

Birthplace/date: Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan/Oct. 20, 1954
Education background: National Military Academy, 1978
Previous jobs: Army Training and Education Center chief (April- October 2011); Jakarta Military District commander (2009-April 2011), Presidential Security Force commander (2008-2009)
Affiliation: Yudhoyono's confidant when assigned to the Jakarta Military District in the 1990s.
Controversy: Marciano was a mid-ranking cavalry officer when the 1998 riots broke out in Jakarta. However, his role remains unclear.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan

Birthplace/date: Magetan, East Java/Aug. 17, 1951
Education: State Islamic Institute Sunan Ampel, Surabaya, East Java; 17 August University, Samarinda, East Kalimantan
Previous jobs: President Director, state power company PT PLN (2009-2011), CEO, Jawa Pos Group (1982-2009); journalist, Tempo (1977-1982)
Affiliations: Former member of Golkar Party's East Java chapter. Dahlan is also known for his close ties to tycoon Chairul Tandjung, whom he once touted as a vice presidential hopeful for Yudhoyono during the 2009 general election.
Controversy: None

Trade Minister Gita Irawan Wirjawan

Birthplace/date: Jakarta, Sept. 21, 1965
Education: Bachelor's degree from the University of Texas; Master's of Public Administration, Harvard University; Master's of Business Administration, Baylor University (US).
Previous jobs: Head of Investment Coordinating Board (2009-2011); president director and senior country officer, JP Morgan Indonesia (2004-2009); vice president for investment banking, Goldman Sachs Singapore (2000-2003)
Affiliation: A confidant of Yudhoyono's confidants who reportedly used connections to help Yudhoyon's son Agus Harimurti gain admission to Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Controversy: When working with Goldman Sachs, Gita was involved in the controversial privatization of state-owned telecommunication company PT Indosat. Gita also had a role in the controversial sale of a new tanker owned by state oil and gas company PT Pertamina to overseas buyers.

Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya

Birthplace/date: Sorong, Papua, 1956.
Education: Doctorate from Hasanuddin University, Makassar.
Previous jobs: Professor of economics and rector, Cendrawasih University (2006-present), Bank Papua commissioner (since 2002)
Affiliation: Selected to represent Papuans in the Cabinet.
Controversy: None

Marie Elka Pangestu (Tourism and Creative Economy Minister)

Birthplace/date: Jakarta/Oct. 23, 1956
Education: Doctorate in International Trade, Finance and Monetary Economics from the University of California at Davis
Previous jobs: Trade Minister (2004-2011)
Controversy: Despite being highly regarded by the international community for managing crucial initiatives at the WTO, Mari will face a tough fight in Indonesia as her policies tend to sacrifice the local private sector at the expense of foreign interests.
Affiliations: Non-political appointee

Jero Wacik (Energy and Mineral Resources Minister)

Birthplace/date: Bali/April 24, 1949
Educational: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology; bachelor's degree in Marketing, University of Indonesia
Previous jobs: Culture and Tourism Minister (2004-2011)
Controversy: With limited background in the oil and mining industry, Jero will have to work hard to prove that he can handle his new job.
Affiliations: Democratic Party, where he serves on its ethics council.

Let. Gen (ret.) Evert Erenst Mangindaan (Transportation Minister)

Birthplace/date: Surakarta, Central Java/Jan. 5, 1943
Education: National Military Academy (1964)
Previous jobs: Administrative Reforms Minister (2009-2011)
Controversy: None
Affiliations: Democratic Party, where he serves on its ethics council.

Gusti Muhammad Hatta (Research and Technology Minister)

Birthplace/date: Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan/Sept. 1, 1952
Education: Doctorate from Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Previous jobs: Environment Minister (2009-2011)
Controversy: None
Affiliations: Non-political appointee

Sharif Cicip Sutardjo (Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister)

Birth place/date: Yogyakarta/1948
Previous jobs: The Golkar Party's head of elections for Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and North Nusa Tenggara; National Economic Committee member.
Controversy: Earlier this year, PT Ariobimo Laguna Perkasa, one of Cicip's companies, won a lawsuit against the Jakarta administration to continue its plan to transform the Taman Ria complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, into a shopping mall. Many experts and activists, however, have expressed concern about the plan, saying that the Senayan area, home to five malls, needed more green space.
Affiliation: Golkar Party

Deputy Ministers

Wardana (Deputy Foreign Minister)

Birth place/date: Klaten, Central Java/June 23, 1954
Education: Bachelor's degree in Social and Political Sciences from Diponegoro University
Previous jobs: Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore (2006-June 2011)
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Ali Ghufron Mukti, 49 (Deputy Health Minister)

Birth place/date: Blitar, East Java/May 17, 1962
Education: Public Health degree, University of Newcastle, 2000
Previous jobs: Medicine, Mada University, 2008
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Sapta Nirwandar (Deputy Tourism Minister)

Birth place/date: Tanjung Karang, Lampung/May 13, 1954
Education: ParisIX-Dauphine University, Paris
Previous jobs: Director General for Marketing at Culture and Tourism Ministry
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Musliar Kasim (Deputy National Culture and Education Minister for Education Affairs)

Birth place/date: Padang Ganting, West Sumatra/April 29, 1958
Education: Doctorate in Agronomy from the University of the Philippines Los Baqos (UPLB)
Previous jobs: Inspector General for internal oversight at the National Education Ministry
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Wiendu Nuryanti (Deputy National Culture and Education Minister for Cultural Affairs)

Birth place/date: Yogyakarta/May 15, 1959
Education: Doctorate in Tourism Planning and Regional Development from the Universities of Surrey and Bournemouth in the UK
Previous jobs: Professor of Architecture and Tourism Planning in the Dept. of Architecture, School of Engineering, Gadjah Mada University
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Nasaruddin Umar (Deputy Religious Affairs Minister)

Birth place/date: Ujung Bone, South Sulawesi/June 23, 1959
Education: Doctorate from IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
Previous jobs: Director General of Guidance to the Muslim Community at the Religious Affairs Ministry
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Denny Indrayana (Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister)

Birth place/date: Kotabaru, South Kalimantan/Dec. 11, 1972
Education: Doctorate School of Law, University of Melbourne, Australia
Previous jobs: Presidential special staff on legal affairs
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Widjajono Partowidagdo (Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister)

Birth place/date: Magelang, Central Java/Sept. 16, 1951
Education: Ph.D. in Engineering, University of Southern California, USA
Previous jobs: Professor in Petroleum Economics and Field Management, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, the Bandung Institute of Technology. Member of National Energy Council
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Mahendra Siregar (Deputy Finance Minister)

Birth place/date: Muara, North Sumatra/Jan.1, 1970
Education: Master in Economics from Monash University
Previous jobs: Deputy Trade Minister (2009-2011)
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Bayu Krisnamurthi (Deputy Trade Minister)

Birth place/date: Manado, North Sulawesi/Oct. 18, 1964
Educational background: PhD in Agriculture Economic, Bogor Institute of Agriculture
Previous jobs: Deputy Agriculture Minister (2009-2011)
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Mahmuddin Yasin (Deputy State-Owned Enterprises Minister)

Birth place/date: Jakarta/July 12, 1954
Education: MBA from Washington University, St Louis, USA
Previous jobs: Secretary of State Enterprises Minister
Controversy: Mahmudin was reportedly involved in PT Krakatau Steel IPO scandal last year, where most of the state steel maker's shares were distributed to well connected politicians to seek profitable return. Krakatau's shares were sold at Rp 850 (less than 10 US cents) per share during the IPO, but analysts deemed the price was too low, saying the share should have been more than Rp 1,000 per share. Share price then jumped 50 percent on first day of listing on IDX.
Affiliation: non-political appointee

Eko Prasojo (Deputy Administrative Reforms Minister)

Birthplace/date: Kijang, Riau Islands/July 21, 1970
Education: Master's degree and doctorate in Public Administration from Deutsche Hochschule fur Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer (Speyer Post-Graduate Program for Public Administration), Germany
Previous jobs: Chairman of Postgraduate Program for Administrative Sciences at School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

Rusman Heriawan (Deputy Agriculture Minister)

Birth place/date: Bogor, West Java/Nov. 4, 1951
Education: Prof. Agriculture economics from Bogor Institute of Agriculture
Previous jobs: Head of the Central Statistic Agency (BPS)
Controversy: none
Affiliations: non-political appointee

– JP/Hasyim Widhiarto

Cabinet reshuffle results disappointing: Setara

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2011

Jakarta – The chairman of the human rights watchdog Setara Institute, Hendardi, has criticized the results of the Cabinet reshuffle, saying the changes were disappointing.

"The results are not impressive and are an anticlimax to a scene that has been created," Hendardi said Tuesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government had not been running optimally because it was burdened by many political interests, especially those of his own Democratic Party, several members of which were allegedly involved in several graft cases.

Hendardi said the President was accommodating the chiefs of political parties as ministers in the government coalition, even though they were not functioning properly in that capacity.

"The President does not have the guts to replace them. He has added deputy ministers simply to secure his own [position]," he said.

Reshuffle resembles power play

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2011

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed in Jakarta on Monday three of his close aides to strategic ministerial posts, a move analysts say is an attempt to strengthen his grip on power and secure funding ahead of the 2014 elections.

While the final face of the new reshuffled Cabinet would not be seen until Tuesday afternoon, Yudhoyono is likely to maintain if not increase the number of ministers from the Golkar Party, largely considered to be the country's most powerful party, in his Cabinet.

Incorporating politicians from Golkar, the country's oldest political party, would likely ensure stability for his administration's final three years before the 2014 elections, as much of its political clout in the House of Representatives is based in its coalition with Golkar.

Yudhoyono pushed for the appointment of Amir Syamsuddin, one of his closest aides to the position of law and human rights minister, currently occupied by Patrialis Akbar of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

PAN has been left with the relatively minor post of state administrative reforms minister, with party member Azwar Abubakar, who is a former Aceh deputy governor and a lawmaker, taking over the post.

His long-time ally, Gita Wirjawan, who is currently the chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), will take up the post of trade minister.

Rumors suggest that the current trade minister, Mari Pangestu, is slated to be moved to head the Culture and Tourism Ministry, replacing Democratic Party official Jero Wacik, who could become transportation minister or Energy and mineral resources minister, both of which are considered more important.

Gita is a respected businessman whose tenure has been seen as a success for his role in attracting foreign investment. Some said that Yudhoyono was indebted to Gita, who reportedly used his connections to help Yudhoyono's first son, Agus, get admitted to study at Harvard.

President Director of state electricity company PT PLN Dahlan Iskan will likely be promoted to state-owned enterprises minister, replacing ailing Mustafa Abubakar.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) professor of politics Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said that Yudhoyono's maneuvers were aimed at gathering more power and financial clout for his Democratic Party.

"The government has said that Dahlan would re-arrange state firms to be profitable. However, behind this goal, we know that there are many political interests," he said, adding that state firms were potential cash cows for the 2014 election.

The President also nominated Djan Faridz as the new public housing minister, replacing Suharso Monoarfa, who has resigned. Both are members of the United Development Party.

Yudhoyono also nominated Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman, to become the head of State Intelligence Agency, replacing former police Gen. Sutanto, a move likely intended to strengthen the military's loyalty to his administration. Speculation suggests that Yudhoyono will share strategic Cabinet posts with Golkar to avoid a clash with the party.

Analysts have also said that Yudhoyono's choices show that he wants a Cabinet that represents all major provinces in the country.

Outgoing state administrative reforms minister EE Mangindaan, for instance, could replace Freddy Numberi as the transportation minister. However, as Freddy is from Papua, he would probably remain in the Cabinet, or, if not, another Papuan would be elevated to the Cabinet to maintain Papuan representation.

Both Yudhoyono and Golkar would be interested in the communication and information post, which means it likely that the current minister, Tifatul Sembiring of the Prosperous and Justice Party, will be shown the door.

New ministers get business interests' approval

Jakarta Globe - October 17, 2011

Faisal Maliki Baskoro & Dion Bisara – Indonesia's business community hailed the latest in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet reshuffle as he seeks to re-energize his government.

The president announced on Monday two major appointments that will directly affect the economy – promoting the chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Gita Wirjawan, as new trade minister, and the president director of state utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Dahlan Iskan, to minister for state-owned enterprises.

The appointments cheered financial markets as the Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.8 percent on Monday while the rupiah rose 0.5 percent to 8,845 against the dollar, from 8,893 on Friday.

Both appointees are viewed positively by the business community. Wirjawan, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, has succeeded in raising foreign direct investment by more than 300 percent in the past two years, while Dahlan approached investment in the power sector with a commercial perspective.

Djimanto, secretary general of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said the move was positive and should spur economic growth. "From our experience, Iskan understands the state enterprises inside and out. His experience as chairman of PLN confirmed that. PLN has performed well under his supervision."

Iskan will replace Mustafa Abubakar, who recently suffered a stroke, while Wirjawan will take over for Mari Pangestu, who is expected to take over the Ministry of Tourism.

One of Wirjawan's main tasks will be to boost exports, which reached $150 billion last year and are expected to increase to $170 billion this year. Exports account for around 28 percent of Indonesia's $700 billion economy.

Analysts and investors in Jakarta shared the same view. "The key thing to note here is that it is very positive given that the new ministers are coming from commercial and professional backgrounds versus being political appointees," said an analyst at a foreign brokerage company.

With Iskan's appointment, local businessmen are more confident that the government's ambitious plan to create six new economic corridors will be realized.

But while the new cabinet appointments are viewed favorably, Sofjan Wanandi, chairman of Apindo, said coordination among the various ministries was the bigger challenge for the government.

"What business wants is seamless coordination within bureaucracy, whether it's within a ministry or between ministries," Wanandi said. "We have had to cope with an inefficient bureaucracy for far too long."

He added that the appointment of 13 new deputy ministers may complicate procedures further and urged the president to give clear job descriptions to all cabinet members.

"I can understand the president wants to back up ministers with professionals. This scheme could succeed as well as fail. Let's see what happened in the next six months," he said.

SBY 'sacrifices' cabinet for image, safety first

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2011

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – While showing too much concern about his image and potential strikes from his coalition partners, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seems to be unaware that his decision to appoint so many new deputy ministers might instead jeopardize the Cabinet and the budget.

Analysts and politicians have slammed Yudhoyono's decision to create nine new deputy ministerial posts, two of which will be added to the Finance Ministry and the National Education Ministry.

Yudhoyono's administration will have 19 deputy ministers, with possibly billions of rupiah having to be spent for their new offices.

"Despite repeatedly voicing the importance of bureaucratic reform, Yudhoyono is instead creating new positions, which will provide more inefficiency, both in terms of bureaucracy and the budget," University of Indonesia analyst Andrinof Chaniago said.

Three of the potential new deputy ministers fulfilled Yudhoyono's summons to the State Palace on Sunday. National Energy Council member Widjajono Partowidagdo will serve as the energy and mineral resources deputy minister; Islamic scholar Nazaruddin Umar will become the religious affairs deputy minister; and presidential special staffer in legal affairs, Denny Indrayana, will serve as the law and human rights deputy minister.

Many have praised the reputation and track records of the new deputy ministers. However, the absence of clear job boundaries between a minister and a deputy minister, or between a deputy minister and a secretary-general or a director general, will instead waste the deputy ministers' capabilities.

Critics have also suggested that Yudhoyono does not have enough courage to drastically change the composition of his Cabinet. Twenty of Yudhoyono's 34 ministers are politicians from the six coalition parties.

Changing the composition could create political jealousy in certain coalition parties, something that such a "safe player" like Yudhoyono would like to avoid. It is rumored that Yudhoyono would prefer to appoint a competent professional as a deputy minister rather than replace an under- performing minister – particularly when the minister hails from a coalition party – in the hope that the ministry's performance will be improved without having to significantly disturb "political stability".

His fear of confronting political party leaders, however, could also sacrifice able and proven ministers. For instance, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, well-known for his tough reform efforts, is speculated to be one of Yudhoyono's upcoming reshuffle targets because of his failure to serve the business interests belonging to the family of Golkar chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie.

Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring is also considered to be in a precarious position, as his post is closely eyed by Bakrie's empire, which includes businesses in the telecommunications sector. Golkar executive Lalu Mara denied the speculations. "Pak Ical told me that he respected the President's prerogative to pick his aides," he said.

Some analysts, however, view it as a possible part of Yudhoyono's "political survival" and "exit strategy".

Given Golkar's impressive political lobbying at the House of Representatives, particularly when it comes to sensitive issues such as the Bank Century bailout inquiry, it is necessary for Yudhoyono to please Golkar's interests in order to secure his remaining three years in office, as well as to ensure that all scandalous cases implicating him and his family are buried after his tenure ends in 2014.

Customs & immigration

New immigration law confuses one and all

Jakarta Globe - October 20, 2011

Ulma Haryanto – When the long-awaited revision of the 1992 Immigration Law was passed in April, thousands of foreigners living here greeted it with cautious cheers and applause.

The revisions are supposed to make it easier for foreigners who qualify to obtain permanent residency permits, but the months since the law's passage have proved to be confusing both for the supposed beneficiaries and the office supposed to implement it.

Anxious questions

Hundreds of mixed-marriage couples are at the forefront of those waiting anxiously for the new law to become effective.

"The spirit of this new law is to accommodate long-time married couples whose spouses still have to renew their permit once every year," said Sandra Tjahyakusuma, a member of International Rainbow Alliance (APAB), which is part of the advocacy team for the 2011 Immigration Law.

The new law stipulates that foreigners who have been legally married to an Indonesian for at least two years will be immediately granted a permanent residency permit (Kitap). It also allows foreigners to remain in the country even if they divorce their Indonesian partner, as long as their marriage lasted at least 10 years.

Sandra, an Indonesian citizen who has been married to a British national for 18 years, said the old law did not accommodate foreigners who wanted to get a permanent residency permit unless they held top corporate positions.

"Now if you are married for a minimum of two years with an Indonesian citizen, you are eligible for it," she said. But there remain plenty of questions and complaints.

In effect or not?

The most common question asked since the law's passage is: When will it go into effect? And here lies the first confusion: Technically, a law needs implementing rules and regulations to be enforced properly.

"We are still waiting for the [implementing rules] on this," said Asriyani, one of the bureau heads at Central Jakarta Immigration Office.

A thick draft of the regulations, which would be issued in the form of a governmental decree, was shown to the Jakarta Globe, but officials say this won't be finalized until next year. The law states that such regulations should be issued within a year of a law being passed, though this hasn't always happened. The 2009 Health Law, for instance, still doesn't have implementing rules and regulations. The regulations are needed to detail exactly how to interpret the law.

However, in July, Erwin Azis, director of immigration information systems, explained in a public forum that even without the government decree, certain parts of the law were already in effect, like the one where foreigners who have been legally married to an Indonesian for two years are entitled to obtain a Kitap. But it seems not everyone is on the same page.

Insufficient answers

Sandra said they've compiled the most common responses given by immigration officials who reject applications for a Kitap, as submitted by dozens of frustrated mixed-marriage couples.

The first one is that the law is not yet in effect, she said. "We find this ridiculous because the new law includes a transitional provision that says the legal spouse of an Indonesian citizen who has had a Kitas [temporary residency permit] for at least two years can immediately get the Kitap," Sandra explained.

The second relates to fees. Earlier this month, APAB also received a report that a staff member at the Immigration Directorate General demanded Rp 15 million ($1,700) for the Kitap.

According to the old law, a Kitap that's valid for five years costs Rp 3 million, and an extension would cost Rp 2 million. The implementing regulations to be issued next year are supposed to define the new costs.

"The third response is that the applicant still needs a sponsor even though Article 63, Paragraph 4 of the new law says a sponsor is no longer needed for those married to Indonesian citizens," Sandra said.

Irregular implementation

With or without implementing regulations, the West Jakarta Immigration Office has gone ahead and applied aspects of the new law and issued Kitaps to foreigners who met the requirements for mixed-marriage couples.

Office head Mirza Iskandar said they did not judge applications based on occupations, "as long as they are married to an Indonesian for at least two years. That's what the law says. But not that many people come here. I think most of the mixed-marriage couples go to the South Jakarta Immigration Office," he said.

Mujiyono, the head of the South Jakarta Immigration Office, said he had recently begun accepting applications from foreigners wishing to make use of the new law, but not all were approved.

"Of course I have to filter them first. Only applications from those who have been married at least two years and can show a document from their embassy will be forwarded to the provincial [immigration] office," he said.

Burhanuddin, who is responsible for issuing Kitaps in West Jakarta, said the process usually took at least a month as staffers needed to verify the information including by home visits. "If they are really married to Indonesians, and for how long, etcetera," he said.

After the field check, the district immigration office will hand over the data to the provincial office. "We cannot predict how long that part will take. It could be a month or more," he said.

The Central Jakarta Immigration Office, however, said it was not yet accepting applications.

Immigration spokesman Maryoto Sumadi apologized for the different treatments foreigners received at district offices. "We are not yet finished with the awareness campaign for the new law," he said.

Maryoto also said that even though the new law allowed holders of temporary and permanent residency permits to work or own businesses, separate work permit requirements would still be regulated by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry. A spokesman there, Suhartono, said his office was still in the process of revising its regulations to match the new Immigration Law. "But the requirements will still be the same," he said.

Going around the system?

A seasoned "agent" at the Central Jakarta Immigration Office, who only wanted to be identified as Raja, told the Globe that to get a Kitap, one should be prepared to pay through the nose.

"If you want to use an agent, the cost to get a Kitap could be as high as Rp 30 million," Raja said. "You can just sit back and we will deliver it to you. You only need to come to the immigration office once to get your picture taken."

Raja recommended people apply for the permit themselves, but still, one has to prepare for "additional fees."

"You will basically need to get your application through three different offices: district, provincial and ministerial," Raja said. "For the first two, you need to give between Rp 250,000 and Rp 500,000 over the counter. But at the directorate general in Kuningan, you have to pay around Rp 5 million, but you can negotiate."

Refusing to pay these fees, he continued, could affect the application. "Of course if you ask staff here they will say that they know nothing about the prices, but none of them will object if you give them money," he continued. "It also gets them to approve your application faster."

APAB's recommendations for the implementing regulations

1. Kitap holders from mixed marriages should get a special registration number to differentiate them from business owners.

2. The term "relative through marriage" should be clarified.

3. Foreigners married to an Indonesian for over two years should be able to get their Kitap without first applying for a Kitas.

4. Sponsorship should no longer be needed for foreign spouses.

5. For those mixed-marriage couples who have already been married for a long period of time, a statement from the foreign spouse's embassy of a good record and marital status should no longer be necessary.

A refresher on the key points

1. Foreign spouses of Indonesian citizens can get a permanent residency permit (Kitap) after two years of marriage. They will only be required to report to the immigration office once every five years – a free service – instead of the annual renewal currently required.

2. If they have been married to an Indonesian citizen for at least 10 years, foreigners can stay in the country even after a divorce.

3. Foreign spouses will be allowed to work in the country without a sponsor.

4. Others who are eligible for a Kitap are:

Children from mixed marriages, regardless of their nationality. However, these children still have to choose a citizenship at the age of 18, with three years of possible extension. If they choose foreign citizenship, they have to apply for a temporary or permanent residency permit.
Foreigners who have held a Kitas for three years, less than the five years previously required, can get a Kitap.
Former holders of Indonesian citizenship.

5. Foreigners with a Kitap who leave Indonesia for long periods of time will not lose the permit as long as they obtain multiple re-entry permits.

Social security & welfare

Hundreds march on State Palace for social security

Jakarta Globe - October 23, 2011

Ismira Lutfia – Hundreds of women marched from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the State Palace on Sunday to call for the government to implement the National Social Security System.

The demonstrators also called on the government to finish deliberations with the House of Representatives over the Social Security Organizing Bill (BPJS), which will merge four state-owned insurers to manage the system.

Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, a member of the House special committee deliberating the BPJS who led the rally from her wheelchair, said the government had violated the Constitution by failing to enact the much-discussed social security system, known as SJSN.

"This is against the Constitution," she said on Sunday. "We also hope that the BPJS bill could be passed soon so that the SJSN law could be implemented. It has not been implemented for various reasons, [which is] against the Constitution and the government should step down."

The BPJS, which some legislators are rushing to pass before the House goes into recess next week, is needed so that the provisions SJSN can be implemented.

The bill aims to merge four state firms already handling social security services. They are social security provider Jamsostek, civil service pension fund Taspen, military pension fund Asabri and health insurer Askes.

Rieke accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government using the recent cabinet reshuffle to delay further action on the BPJS.

She said that the demonstrators were marching in the hope that "there will be no more Indonesian people being rejected by the hospitals."

Judicial & legal system

Many false logics in Indonesia's court rulings

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Jakarta – A recent research by the Judicial Commission and university researchers has found that many judges both at district and high courts level are still producing "poor" verdicts with inconsistent logic.

"The inconsistencies that we found refers to the verdicts which had many incriminating considerations during the trial's reasoning process, but turn out sentencing light verdict," judicial commissioner Jaja Ahmad Jayus told press conference on Tuesday.

Of a total of 100 court ruling observed in 2010, 44.12 percent are considered poor verdicts while in 2011, the number was increased to 54.9 percent from a total of 152 rulings.

A contributing researcher, F.X. Joko Priyono, said that there was a case, which put four years imprisonment charge, with a lot of incriminating considerations but the verdict turn out only two years imprisonment.

"For example, many 'soft' court's ruling on illegal logging cases which in fact have a big and destructive impact also influence many people," he said. He added that progressive rulings were hard to find especially in corruption cases as most of the poor verdicts were merely a flat ruling.

Justices restore court's power

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court revived its authority on Tuesday after annulling the latest additions in the newly revised law that had limited its powers of judicial review.

The court annulled 16 clauses in 10 articles from the 2011 Constitutional Court Law on Tuesday, including a controversial article that had stripped its authority to issue ultra petita verdicts – those that are beyond requests in a review case.

"If it concerns public interests, Constitutional Court justices should not only be fixated on a petition," justice Akil Mochtar said during the hearing, adding that ultra petita was commonly used by constitutional courts in many countries.

He added that the argument claiming the bench had abused its power by delivering an ultra petita ruling was wrong. "Institution of constitutional review, first born in the United States in 1803, was beyond what was requested by the plaintiff," said Akil.

The House passed a second revision of the Constitutional Court Law in late June that includes significant changes to the court's authority. The revision has widely been perceived as significantly limiting the bench's authority and posing a potential threat to the court's independence in handling future cases.

Aside from barring the court from delivering the ultra petita verdicts, the revisions also did not allow the court to change articles in a law and also put the court under the oversight of the House of Representatives, the government and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Petitioned by a coalition of NGOs, a judicial review concerning the controversial articles was filed a week after the law's enactment. An individual named Fauzan also filed another judicial review against the ultra petita and the authority to change articles in a law.

Akil said the absence of the authority to change articles in a law would reduce the court's flexibility in a review case. "[The article] constraints the court to test the constitutionalism of norms," he said.

He further argued that in cases that the court had annulled legal articles, there would be "an absence of law" if such arrangements are not available.

With Tuesday's verdicts, the court has regained all of its authority prior to the second legal revision.

The court only rejected an article concerning the maximum age of a court justice. It has kept the article that rules that court justices must be 47 at the youngest and 65 at the oldest.

Wahyudi Djafar from the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), which is also a member of the coalition, said that Tuesday's ruling was not only a victory for Indonesian democracy, but also proof of how poorly the House had performed in carrying out its legislative function.

"It is obvious that the House never tried to draft an appropriate regulation," Wahyudi told The Jakarta Post after the hearing.

"Since the reformation era, they always try to hinder our democratic process in terms of establishing a good law as its foundation, including stripping citizens' constitutional rights in the revision of law."

Wahyudi admitted, however, that ultra petita authority had both positive and negative attributes. "But you must see the bigger picture. Most of the cases concern public interests. It is for the greater public good not to harm or benefit only one side."

The court's recent ruling, which stated that Busyro Muqoddas should retain the position of chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for the next four years, is an ultra petita ruling from a review of the 2002 KPK Law. The plaintiff asked the court to clarify the definition of the KPK leaders' four-year tenure and whether it is possible to replace someone such as Busyro.

The court also restored its authority to use laws other than the Constitution in their consideration in delivering a ruling. "However, in certain cases the bench must see all laws as one system where laws should never overlap each other," Akil said, adding that the new provision would only be an obstacle.

Intelligence & state security

New BIN chief is proof of police failure: IPW

Jakarta Post - October 23, 2011

Jakarta – The Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) says that the ouster of former National lice chief Gen. (ret.) Sutanto as National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief underscores a lack of confidence in the police to prevent future terrorist attacks.

Army Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman was tapped to lead the nation's spy agency by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during last week's Cabinet reshuffle.

"The replacement shows that a National Police officer who has been entrusted with the highest position in the country's intelligence community has failed in his duty. The position has now been entrusted to the military," IPW chairman Neta S Pane said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Marciano's appointment could indicate difficulties for the National Police generals who currently occupied strategic posts in the BIN, Neta said.

All would be well if Marciano could prevent a recurrence of the attacks that occurred under Sutanto's tenure, such as the suicide bombings in Cirebon and Surakarta, according to Neta.

"The IPW hopes that Marciano can make BIN work professionally and carry the early detection on foreign parties that threaten the country's unity through social, political or economic threats."

New intelligence chief vows to stay in line

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2011

Jakarta – The newly-installed National Intelligence Agency (BIN) director, Army Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman, has promised that the agency will not abuse its additional powers as stated in the new intelligence law.

"I will not tolerate any violation against the existing intelligence law," he said on Wednesday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Marciano, a former army training and education commando commandant, has been appointed to replace Gen. (ret.) Sutanto, also a former national police chief.

Behind the scenes, speculation grew that Sutanto's replacement was a massive disappointment for most of the agency's members with military backgrounds.

Marciano denied the speculation, saying that the appointment was merely based on professional considerations. "It's not like that," he said.

He said that his task as intelligence chief was to accelerate and improve cooperation between the intelligence body and other institutions, such as the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), the police and the army's strategic intelligence agency, in order to safeguard the nation's interests.

Economy & investment

Investment soars as confidence in Indonesia's economy grows

Jakarta Post - October 21, 2011

Esther Samboh, Jakarta – Investment rose in the third quarter on business confidence that Indonesia's economy will remain resilient amid global financial turmoil, with Singaporean investors taking the lead.

The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) announced on Thursday that the realized investment of both domestic and foreign entities in Indonesia jumped 15.3 percent to Rp 65.4 trillion (US$7.26 billion) in the July-to- September period, driving total investment in the first nine months of the year to Rp 181 trillion.

Total investment between January and September was up 20.9 percent from the same period last year, comprising 75.4 percent of the BKPM's full-year target of Rp 240 trillion. "We are upbeat on reaching the target, or even surpassing it," BKPM deputy chairman Azhar Lubis told reporters in his office in Jakarta.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) comprised Rp 46.4 trillion, more than 70 percent, of overall investment in the third quarter, the BKPM said.

Singaporean investors accounted for $1.31 billion of overall investment, about 25 percent, while the United States, the Netherlands, South Korea and Japan, boosted their spending in Indonesia by more than $400 million. Most foreign investors increased spending in transportation, telecommunications, mining, base metals, machinery and electronics in Banten, Jakarta and West Java.

Domestic investors spent Rp 19 trillion, accounting for a 30 percent share of total investment, up from 14.5 percent in the same period last year, and focused on the forestry, electricity, gas, water and paper and printing sectors in East Java, Jakarta and West Java. "Investors really don't have any other alternatives. Indonesia is the only big market that has not yet suffered overheating, as indicated by its declining inflation," Aviliani, an economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, said.

Indonesia, which relies heavily on consumption driven by its population of almost 240 million, saw inflation ease to 4.61 percent in September from 7.02 percent at the beginning of the year.

Despite overall growing interest from foreign investors, FDI growth in the third quarter grew by 15.7 percent, slower than the 21 percent recorded in the second quarter, signaling a potential speed bump for foreign investment amid fears the eurozone debt crisis might affect global economy.

Bank Central Asia (BCA) economist David Sumual said the situation might not be resolved quickly. "There's a possibility that foreign investors might go into a wait-and-see mode. They are calculating if the crisis will continue or not." However, David said, Indonesia would continue to attract FDI given the nation's strong economic fundamentals.

Indonesia's economy grew at over 6 percent for the past two years, amid slowdowns overseas and increased investment and rising domestic consumption. "Investors are factoring in macroeconomic stability, demographics and political stability," David said.

David and Aviliani agreed that government needed to do several things to boost investment in Indonesia, including developing infrastructure, reducing regulatory bottlenecks, and reforming downstream businesses and land procurement.

Indonesia's 'doing business' rank slips on lack of reform

Jakarta Post - October 21, 2011

Esther Samboh, Jakarta – It is getting easier to start a business in Indonesia but the improvement is negated by the lack of reform in other business-related fields, including high electricity costs as indicated by a drop in the latest Doing Business index, a World Bank report, issued Thursday, shows.

Indonesia's index of doing business dropped three notches in 2012 to rank 129th out of 183 economies covered by the report, compared with 126th this year, although with positive notes in business start-up, construction permits, property registration and investors protection.

"Indonesia made starting a business easier by introducing a simplified application process allowing an applicant to simultaneously obtain both a general-trading license and a business-registration certificate," reads the report.

According to the "starting a business" index, in which Indonesia ranks 155th, it takes 45 days to start up a business in the country, going through an average of eight procedures. The government recently implemented a one-stop service for investment, aiming to process licensing in as fast as five hours or in seven days at the latest.

Local businesses, however, seemed not to agree with the improvement in starting a business. "Getting a license, especially in regions, is getting harder. This needs to be fixed by the government," said Sofjan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).

Satria Hamid, an executive at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), said lengthy bureaucracy remained a "principal issue" to ease licensing for business start-up. "For instance, 44 licenses are needed to be obtained for just one retail firm," he said. "There's a one-stop service now, but there are actually many other 'stops'."

The report also highlighted the issue of Indonesia's high electricity costs, citing data that showed that the cost of electricity for business was high at 1,379 percent of the country's income per capita. "Indonesia made getting electricity more difficult by increasing connection fees," it said. Indonesia ranks 161st in the "getting electricity" index.

Sofjan hoped that the government would not make things worse by raising base-electricity tariffs next year as planned, while Satria said associated "costs" could be even higher. "In some cases, we were told that the electricity power was not suitable, but it could be worked out after a certain 'negotiation'," Satria added.

Ahmad Erani Yustika, an economist with the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance Indonesia (INDEF), said a three-notch drop in rank was not worrying but should act as "an alarm call" to address Indonesia's classic issues of electricity supply, bureaucracy, infrastructure and human resources.

"There hasn't been a meaningful improvement on these issues," he said, calling for reforms by boosting electricity projects, making government works more efficient and easing land procurement.

Comparing regulations for domestic firms, the report covers 10 areas which affect businesses, namely: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency or closing a business.

Singapore and China ranked first and second in the index, while neighboring countries in the top 20 are Thailand (17th), Malaysia (18th) and Japan (20th).

Analysis & opinion

Indonesia, Papua and the prisoners of history

Sydney Morning Herald - October 23, 2011

Richard Chauvel – Last Wednesday the Papuan People's Congress was closed down by the violent intervention of Indonesian police and military.

At least six people were killed, more than 300 were taken into custody, the leaders accused of treason, and many others were beaten by police and soldiers. This has been traumatic for Papuan society and a terrible assault on Indonesia's democratic aspirations.

The congress was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first declaration that West Papuans considered themselves to be a nation and had a right to establish a state.

The political manifesto of October 19, 1961, was issued at the time when the United Nations was debating a Dutch proposal to internationalise the administration of West Papua, then Netherlands New Guinea, and secure the UN's support for Papuan self-determination.

Papuan leaders who formulated the manifesto supported the Dutch proposal, but they wanted to introduce a Papuan voice into a decade-long dispute between Indonesia and the Netherlands about their homeland and their future.

Last week's congress sought to realise the ideal expressed in the 1961 manifesto by declaring an independent state and electing a president and prime minister.

It is as if Indonesia is entrapped by the history of its incorporation of West Papua in the 1960s. Indonesia seems condemned to repeat the repressive policies that have alienated Papuans, rather than able to devise a framework in which Papuan values and interests can be accommodated in the Indonesian state.

When Indonesian foreign minister Dr Subandrio spoke to the UN in November 1961 he threatened that Indonesia would take military action if moves were made to establish a separate state in West Papua. A month later President Sukarno ordered his armed forces to destroy the "puppet" state of West Papua.

Last week, 50 years later, when the congress proclaimed a state, the compulsive institutional reaction of the police and military commanders in Papua was violent force.

In contemporary Indonesia, following the separation of East Timor and the resolution of the conflict in Aceh, there are few more sensitive issues than the independence of West Papua.

For much of the past decade since the assassination of the pro-independence leader Theys Eluay, Indonesia has sought to prevent any public discussion of independence.

But there have been signs of a reopening of the political space in Papua. In June 2010 there was a mass public consultation organised by the Papuan People's Assembly and in July this year there was a "Peace Conference" at which the Indonesian Co-ordinating Security Minister and local military and police commanders were keynote speakers. The discussion at these two political gatherings had much in common with last week's congress – human rights abuses by the security forces, the economic marginalisation and dispossession of Papuans, the illegitimacy of Papua's incorporation into Indonesia and independence.

There seems to be a policy impasse in the central government and a political vacuum in Papua. The government's policies seem directionless. The incumbent governor, Barnabas Suebu, has been replaced by a caretaker, a Jakarta bureaucrat. The lack of policy direction from Jakarta and the departure of Suebu means the two sources of leadership capable of restraining the military and police were absent last week.

While many influential Papuan leaders were not involved in the congress, the coercion used by security forces is likely to have a unifying effect.

The congress's 50th anniversary commemoration is the first of a series of highly symbolic anniversaries for Papuan nationalists, the most important of which will be the 50 years of the first raising of the Papuan flag on December 1.

Papuan leaders will have to manage a volatile mix of alienation and distrust of Indonesia and high expectations of what might come of these commemorations. Indonesian security forces need to recall President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's statements that the old ways of using military means to solve issues in Papua have failed.

[Richard Chauvel is an Indonesia specialist and teaches at Victoria University.]

It's time to take a stand on Papua

New Matilda - October 23, 2011

The violence in West Papua this week is deeply worrying – and raises uncomfortable foreign policy questions for the Australian government, writes Senator Richard Di Natale.

Yesterday afternoon news reached my office that unarmed Papuans – women, young people, church leaders, academics, tribal elders – and at least one Australian citizen, were being shot at by the Indonesian security forces.

We now know that at least four people are confirmed dead, scores severely wounded and hundreds have been detained at the police station in Jayapura, the capital of West Papua.

We are deeply concerned that a number of these people including Forkorus Yaboisembut, the Chair of the Papuan Customary Council, were beaten or tortured.

Their crime? Reading an aspirational declaration of independence and meeting to discuss how West Papuans might peacefully secure basic freedoms that you and I in Australia take for granted.

It is not my place to get into the politics of independence. That is for the Papuans to decide. It must be said, however, that until there is a free and fair vote of all eligible Papuan citizens in the territory, any claim by the Indonesian government that there is democracy in West Papua will be highly contested.

The fact is that the Australian government and many other western countries were party to a fraudulent transfer of sovereignty during the 1960s. That is not hyperbole. It is fact. Professor Pieter Drooglever and Dr John Saltford have separately documented the travesty of justice that unfolded in West Papua during the transfer from Dutch to Indonesia rule. Less than 0.01 per cent of the population participated in the so-called Act of Free Choice in 1969 and those that did were forced to do so.

But this week's peaceful gathering at Zaccheus Field in Abepura was not about the past. It was about the kind of future that West Papuans want. The Papuans' desire for freedom is irrepressible. Many of the civil and political rights Papuan people want – like freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, an opening up of the province to foreign media, and respect of land rights – could be realised within the framework of the Indonesian state. By shooting and jailing Papuans who peacefully demand these legitimate rights, the Indonesian government is creating a bigger problem and fuelling political instability.

These events in our nearest neighbour raise serious questions back home. We are we providing funds, training and equipment to the Indonesian Military (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, or TNI) and the Police force, including the counter-terrorism police (Detachment 88). There is mounting evidence that they are anything but a positive force for human rights in the region. By furthering our close military ties, we become complicit in acts of repression by the TNI such as that unfolding in West Papua today.

The Australian government has been secretive with regards to these links. We don't know exactly what kind of military assistance is being supplied to the TNI and the police. The Australian government needs to come clean about the extent and nature of our level of defence cooperation with Indonesia. The shootings in West Papua – and indeed in other places in Indonesia – raise serious questions about what, if anything, the Indonesian military and police have learnt from East Timor. And whether our own government has learned anything, either.

One thing we do know from East Timor is that when violence like this occurs and political rights are continually repressed you can guarantee that West Papuan resistance will continue and eventually become a mainstream issue. West Papua is on our doorstep. I hope we can be good neighbours.

We can not ignore West Papua any longer, and we need to send the strongest possible signal to the Indonesian government that violent repression of peaceful meetings, people merely exercising their right to free speech and assembly, is totally unacceptable.

Indonesia insists it is a democracy. Its constitution guarantees all its citizens the right to free speech and free assembly. We should hold them to this promise by immediately suspending all military assistance to and cooperation with Indonesia. There is no compelling evidence that on the balance of things Australia's military assistance in Indonesia has improved human rights. I fear that our anti-terrorism support is sometimes being used to harasses and intimidate human rights defenders.

I want to be a part of a Parliament that can encourage the Indonesian government and the West Papuan people to find peaceful and democratic ways to address the root causes of conflict in West Papua. Guaranteeing free speech and releasing political prisoners would be a good first step. The President has promised an open dialogue, and he must keep that promise.

In the meantime those of us in Parliament need to seriously reflect on the kind of relationship we want with Indonesia. For the sake of our West Papuan neighbours, and for Australia's long-held commitment to human rights, we must be prepared to take a bold stand.

When inequality is ignored

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 21, 2011

The forceful dispersal on Wednesday of the concluding session of a three- day gathering of indigenous Papuans – self-proclaimed by the organizers as the third Papua People's Congress – in the provincial capital of Jayapura was another display of Jakarta's inability to identify and settle the prolonged problems of isolation and inequality in the resource-rich region.

The local security authorities' failure to anticipate the unexpected conclusion of the gathering – the hoisting of the outlawed Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag and the proclamation of the West Papua state – also indicates that both the local and central governments failed to pay attention to details, including the growing pains felt by the native Papuans. Jayapura Police had allowed the congress to take place based on the organizers' testimony that its agenda would only discuss basic rights of Papuans for the sake of improving their welfare.

By all means, it is legally unacceptable worldwide for a group of people or a community to establish a state within a sovereign state. And Indonesia has had an abundance of experiences dealing with such "separatism" since its independence was officiated in 1945.

Most of the separatist movements in the country – the PRRI/Permesta in the 1950s, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) from the mid-1970s to 2005, the on-and-off Islamic State of Indonesia movement (NII), the guerilla war in former East Timor province, and the prolonged Free Papua Movement (OPM), the embryo of Wednesday's declaration of the West Papua State – have all been handled with force.

Extensive military operations wiped out the rebels, but they only led the country to disgrace with the involvement of the international community overseeing the subsequent peace processes in East Timor and Aceh. The former East Timor province gained independence after a UN-sanctioned referendum in 1999, while in the Aceh separatism ended with a peace agreement signed in Helsinki in 2005.

Trillions of rupiah have been poured into Papua since 2002 as part of its special autonomy status, but that poverty remains rampant there shows something is going wrong.

Separatism in Indonesia, including Papua, is rooted in dissatisfaction with the central government's unfair treatment and ignorance of local people's problems and aspirations. Dialogue, rather than use of force, is needed to address the discontent.

The last chance wasted

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 19, 2011

The latest Cabinet shake-up announced by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the eve of the third year of his second and last term in office has sent a negative signal to the market and the public in general, as his new working team has simply strengthened our perception of his being strongly beholden to the political parties within his coalition government.

The reshuffle of his working team, long overdue, was the last chance for the President to show the people that he is really in charge and ready and willing to take bold, firm decisions for the interests of the country.

However, contrary to the Cabinet reshuffle he made in early December 2005, during his first presidential term when he established perhaps the best economic team since 2000, headed by Boediono (now the Vice President), the new Cabinet simply trumpets, "it is business as usual."

Instead of bringing in more professionals, regardless of their political affiliations, Yudhoyono has overloaded his Cabinet with so many deputy ministers that his working team is at the risk of self-destructing in the areas of coordination and job implementation.

At a time when bold, quick decisions and firm actions are needed to cope with the big uncertainties about the global economy, due to the government debt woes in Europe and economic slump in the United States, the President has instead erected "bumps" in the way of decision-making and job execution.

Even with clear-cut job descriptions and scope of responsibilities, it would be difficult to achieve strong teamwork in the ministries because each of the ministers and deputy ministers would feel accountable only to the President, who appointed them.

Who then is really in charge in the ministries? Will the President give the deputy ministers – many of whom are experienced professionals with considerable technical competence – adequate political backing to ensure their policies and actions are not second-guessed by the ministers, which would thereby make them vulnerable to political attacks?

This is an incredibly divisive administration, and a dangerous one for that matter, because what is sorely needed now is a Cabinet dominated by professionals, who enjoy strong political backing to cope with the external threats from the discouraging global economic conditions.

The President never seems willing to learn the lessons from the failure of his coalition to advance his legislative agenda because of the constant backstabbing by his coalition partners.

True, there are concerns that a Cabinet without representation from the coalition partners would not be able to survive in such a fragmented political system, where there are nine parties in the legislature.

But after gaining almost 62 percent of the vote in the 2009 presidential election, Yudhoyono should have exercised more courage to reach out directly to the people, communicating and marketing his vision and programs of action to alleviate poverty, combat corruption and other measures to improve people's welfare.

But Yudhoyono seems to remain aloof, far removed from the nitty-gritty of governing, continuing to pander to popular sentiment and polishing his image, while doing nothing to assure people that the government is in charge and is doing its best to boost economic growth and reduce unemployment and poverty.

At most, the Cabinet has only about 18 months remaining to function as a united working team because, starting in mid-2013 at the latest, the ministers representing six different political parties will embark on their respective political agendas, as they gear up for the legislative elections in April 2014 and presidential election thereafter.

The dark side of Indonesia's poll success

Jakarta Globe - October 17, 2011

Sahil Mahtani – In the parlor game of flavor-of-the-month economics, Indonesia is doing rather well. It offers, as usual, a heaving population on the cusp of mass consumption, and, more recently, impeccable economic stability amid distant European conflagrations.

Don't say it too loudly, but the out-performance has been mostly accidental. The consumer boom was the gift of an economy that could no longer delever – total banking system assets had been falling since 1999 and the credit cycle was bound by the laws of mathematics to turn. A commodity binge in East Asia is also trickling down to a tropicalized and satiated citizenry. But Indonesia tends to get credit for political stability.

"If anybody would have asked myself and many others in '98 or '99 whether or not Indonesia was going to Balkanize or disintegrate, it would have been tough to disagree," the country's investor relations chief, Gita Wirjawan, recently told US talk show host Charlie Rose. And it's true – the Indonesian elections in 1999 and 2004 were notable for their order, transparency and legitimacy.

How alarming then that the country's political stability is being re- evaluated, at least by one long-time observer. In a recent analysis of the 2009 elections, Adam Schmidt, the Indonesia head of the International Foundations for Electoral Systems, writes that the contest was marred by significant chaos and a lack of transparency, and that it would have triggered larger issues if President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's margin of victory had not been so convincing. The post-Yudhoyono era is likely to yield closer outcomes that will probably rock the boat sooner rather than later.

The most contentious issue in 2009 was voter registry. Wide-scale omission of eligible voters and misrecorded details disenfranchised anywhere from "hundreds of thousands of Indonesians to tens of millions," Schmidt says. The losing candidates filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court, which dismissed calls for a re-run because of Yudhoyono's wide margin of victory. A closer result would have exposed the judges to greater public scrutiny, politicizing the issue, paralyzing politics and calling into question the contest's legitimacy.

A second clue of 2009's chaos was the large number of invalid votes cast – around 14.4 percent of the total (compared with 8.8 percent in 2004.) Invalid votes exceeded those received by the third highest-ranking party (the 14 percent of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, PDI-P), and were only slightly below the votes cast for the second-place party (the Golkar Party's 14.5 percent).

Voters were flummoxed by the electoral commission's decree to mark the ballot paper with a pen rather than punching a hole in the ballot paper. Though a relatively minor change, the commission chose to maintain a rigid interpretation of voter intent that disqualified a large number of votes. This may happen again.

Finally, the vote-counting process was not as transparent as it should have been. At the polling station level, things worked fine, but the process by which the results reached the next administrative level were opaque. Schmidt noticed that many of the forms had been crossed out and re-entered at various stages and that this was not really explained. Manipulation? Certainly some candidates for the legislative elections thought so, and complained that the final tab did not reflect results reported by polling stations.

Many will dismiss these concerns as quibbles – most will never have even heard of them. And it's not wrong to say that the bigger story was the massive voter turnout in a peaceful poll marked by lively political exchanges. But to what extent were major flaws covered up by Yudhoyono's thumping victory? Surely it is worrying that, according to at least this one account, 2009 fell short of many of the same voting standards that had been achieved in 2004. A prolonged, disputed outcome in 2014 could turn procedural wobbles into a bigger political crisis.

[Sahil Mahtani is a management consultant and writer based in Jakarta.]

Enough is enough

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 17, 2011

Should the nation let itself be trapped by greedy elites and their cronies, and should we simply wait for a miracle when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono eventually regains enough courage to carry out the tasks and obligations mandated to him by Indonesian voters in the 2004 and 2009 elections?

There are systematic attempts by corrupt bureaucrats, police and other law enforcers, politicians and dirty businesspeople to eliminate the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) because the antigraft body keeps haunting them in their daily life. It is unbelievable that even the orthodox Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has taken a frontline position in the dirty war against the antigraft warriors.

For how long must we tolerate the disgusting behavior of our legislators at national and regional level who shamelessly loot the state coffers?

We, the people, have to force the politicians and the President to change. We should tell them that they have had long enough to abuse their power. In 1998, the nation was able to force then president Soeharto to end his three-decade dictatorship. Now is perhaps the time to repeat the same message to our corrupt and selfish state power holders: Enough is enough.

Young demonstrators are taking to the streets in many countries in Europe and in the United States to protest against the hegemony of capital owners and multinational corporations whose tight control over the economy ensures little opposition from governments.

We cannot just wait until 2014, when we will have a new president and new legislative bodies. As a nation we must take concerted action now as a stern warning to the government, politicians and other key playmakers in this state that we have run out of patience with them.

These days, millions of Indonesians can only shake their heads in disbelief and disappointment over the "drama" of the Cabinet reshuffle played out by President Yudhoyono at his Cikeas private residence over the last several days. Important actors in this boring show have included the leaders of political parties who threatened to disrupt the government unless the President acceded to their demands.

The President decided to appoint several more deputy ministers. Meanwhile his audience, the whole nation, can only wait for the realization of his promise that before Oct. 20, he will have a new cabinet team that will guarantee the success of his mission to create a corruption-free government and prosperity for the people.

However, we see little hope that the President can regain full control of the government, knowing his personal character and his weak position against major members of his ruling coalition.

Corruptors have no fear in this country because they know how easy it is to bribe police, prosecutors and judges. Even when they are jailed, it is a simple matter to stay out of prison. It is only a matter of money; the corruptors merely need to distribute some of that which they have already stolen to the state's law enforcers.

The new cabinet reshuffle will not mean much for the people. The question is whether we should allow this abuse of power to continue? The answer is: Enough is enough. Let us stand up and force these selfish and greedy people to end their unscrupulous behavior.