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Indonesia News Digest 43 – November 17-23, 2013

News & issues

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News & issues

Sutarman plays down TNI-Polri rift

Jakarta Post - November 21, 2013

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – National Police chief Gen. Sutarman says that the clash between police officers and soldiers in Karawang, West Java, on Tuesday was triggered by nothing but a misunderstanding.

Speaking at National Police headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday, Sutarman said the clash did not reflect tensions between the National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI).

"Oftentimes, such clashes are incited by personal problems, such as fighting over a microphone [in a karaoke outlet] or fighting over a girlfriend. Therefore, their respective commanders must promote togetherness among police officers and soldiers by holding joint events, such as sporting events," he said.

On Tuesday, soldiers from the Army Infantry Battalion (Yonif) 305 stormed members of the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) who were guarding a protest rally in front of the Karawang regent's office.

The furious soldiers went on to destroy a police post in front of the Karawang Mega Mall. Six Brimob personnel sustained injuries in the attack.

The soldiers launched their attack following a quarrel between a soldier and a policeman earlier in the day. The policeman reportedly stared at the soldier, who was not in uniform while the latter dropped his wife off at her office, which was in the Karawang Legislative Council.

Later on, the two men became involved in a fight. The incident prompted local police and TNI officers to gather for a meeting at the Karawang regent's office. The meeting, however, failed to reduce the anger among the Yonif 305 personnel.

Sutarman said that he and TNI commander Gen. Moeldoko had agreed to take stern action against those involved in the attack. "We are coordinating the matter with the TNI commander. We will crack down on anyone who has violated the law," adding that the case would be handled by the Military Police.

Tuesday's clash was just the latest in a series of similar incidents involving police and military personnel this year. On Oct. 18, six Brimob officers clashed with four Army personnel at a karaoke outlet in Depok on the outskirts of Jakarta.

Earlier in March, dozens of soldiers stormed and set fire to the Ogan Komering Ulu Police station in South Sumatra. As a result, four police officers were seriously injured and a janitor died.

That incident began with a protest by soldiers at the police station demanding severe punishment be imposed against traffic policeman Brig Wijaya, who had shot and killed a soldier, First Pvt. Heru Oktavianus, over a personal matter.

The new rich drive up demand for luxury cars

Jakarta Post - November 18, 2013

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – Indonesian businessman Rudi Gunawan, 44, is a premium carmaker's prime target. Tremendously wealthy and enthusiastic about supercars, he represents a growing market luxury carmakers do not want to miss out on.

"I love cars with big cc-engines because they spike my adrenalin," Rudi, a property developer, said in an interview during a Lamborghini customers' gathering in Jakarta. "The supercars I drive symbolize how much I appreciate myself for all the hard work I've done."

Indonesia will join ranks with China and India as a "wealth creation giant". The amount of high net-worth individuals in the country will more than triple to 104,000 in 2015 from 2010, according to wealth management firm Julius Baer.

Surging riches have driven the appetite for luxury goods, including cars. Italian-based luxury carmaker Lamborghini has doubled its sales within the past two years in Indonesia, now Lamborghini's third-biggest market in Southeast Asia.

Twelve out of 200 units of the Aventador LP720-4 launched to mark its 50th anniversary have been sold here. The hefty price tag of between US$1.250 million and $1.350 million has does little to dampen the interests of Indonesia's rich.

"Our Indonesian clients are not only buying high performance and powerful cars but also the lifestyle. They are very loyal to the brand, not only the product," said Sebastien Hendry, the head of operations for Lamborghini in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Not only a reflection of Indonesia's burgeoning affluence, Rudi and others like him represent a new wave of rich consumers, whose emergence has been driven by the mining, plantation and stock market boom in the last decade.

Darwin Maspolim, the chief operating officer of Grandauto Dinamika, the authorized distributor of the British-made Bentley, pointed out changes in its customer profile over the years.

"Ten or 15 years ago, Bentley buyers were owners of the top-500 companies in Indonesia, the so-called old rich. But now it has changed a lot," said Darwin during the launch of a new version of Flying Spur recently.

"Many of them are now successful contractors, lawyers, doctors, plantation owners, etc. They buy it not to show off, but rather to enjoy their lifestyles," he added. And for some, one or two cars is still not enough.

"Driving supercars can really up our social status. They boost confidence when meeting up with clients and help expand networks," said Rudi, who also owns two other ultra-premium cars – a Ferrari and a Maserati – which, along with his Lamborghini, are mostly used on the weekends.

Rudi owns 10 cars – Japanese and European brands, including Mercedes, Porsche and Jeep, which he uses daily. While automakers from lower segments continue to strengthen their foothold by expanding plants, luxury carmakers are trying to enhance services, including by upgrading showrooms to appeal to buyers.

Bentley is in the midst of setting up a showroom set for operations in the third quarter of next year. The new showroom, slated to be its biggest in Southeast Asia, highlights the significance of Indonesia for Bentley in the longer term, according to Darwin.

Another ultra-premium carmaker, Rolls-Royce, plans to widen its reach to the country's other big cities to further tempt buyers.

"We're confident in the size and growth of the market here. Indonesia could be our largest market in the future," said Dan Balmer, Rolls-Royce general manager for Asia Pacific. "In overall potential, we are confident about this market in the longer term. There'll be bumpy roads, but Indonesia's potential will become larger than Singapore," he said.

Indonesia is currently the second top market after Singapore for Rolls- Royce, which recently rolled out its most powerful car – the two-door coupe Wraith.

Vivek Vaidya, Frost&Sullivan deputy president for automotive and transportation practices in the Asia Pacific, said that strong economic performance in Indonesia would continue to boost demand for ultra-premium cars. However, the country did score rather low when it came to infrastructure and general sense of security compared to its regional neighbors, particularly Singapore, which might disrupt its outlook.

"The avenues to drive performance cars in Indonesia are rather low. Law and order in a country instills confidence in buyers in regards to the safety of their cars as well as themselves," Vaidya said.

"Poor law and order results in buyers shying away from ultra-premium cars with the fear that their cars may be stolen or they might become a prime target from anti-social elements," he added.

West Papua

Six arrested after Papua police station burns

Jakarta Globe - November 22, 2013

Police in Papua arrested six men after a police station went up in flames in Mamberamo Raya early Friday morning.

The wooden police station was set on fire at 3 a.m. Friday, according to reports by the state-run Antara News Agency. It is unclear why the station was torched, or who was behind the attack, the report read.

"The fire broke out around 3:00 a.am and there were six perpetrators arrested by the police," Samay, a resident of Kasonaweja subdistrict, told Antara. Police in Mamberamo Raya could not be reached for comment.

Foreign journalists still facing hurdles to access Papua region

Radio New Zealand International - November 22, 2013

Journalists in Indonesia have called on the Government to clarify rules for journalists wanting to visit the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

While the Governor of Papua this year said the region's doors were open, many foreign journalists report a different story. Karen Abplanalp spoke to journalists and members of parliament in Indonesia.

Indonesian authorities have a "clearing house" in Jakarta where all foreign journalists must apply to have access to Papua. They usually face long delays, making it impossible to respond to current events, and often many are turned down.

The President of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, Eko Maryadi, says the Government wants to avoid the international attention that helped Timor-Leste gain independence.

"Eko Maryadi: If this current government wants to be called democratic and transparent then I think there is nothing to worry about. Papuan people should be treated fairly and similarly to other Indonesians. So if you ask about what should be changed, they have to change their mindset, and then they have to change their system, how they handle the foreign media."

An Indonesian parliamentarian, Eva Sundari, says she was surprised to hear foreign journalists were banned, and the chief of the military assured her Papua was as free as other regions.

"Eva Sundari: Why if you have freedom for press for Indonesian journalists, but not for foreign journalists, what is the point here? Is there anything you want to hide from foreigners? I cannot accept this because if we employ a democracy it must be all over Indonesia at the same time."

Ms Sundari, who is a member of the Human Rights and Security Committee, says the country has a broader human rights problem. She says having foreign media in the country is essential to ensure next year's national elections are truly democratic.

Eko Maryadi says the Government is within its rights to regulate who is coming in and out of the country, but it should take a new approach and make its rules more clear.

"Eko Maryadi: I mean to let a foreign journalist come, all they have to do is make a regulation – what a foreign journalist can do and what he cannot do."

A former Chief Editor of the Jakarta Post, Endy Bayuni, says the Government must look at problems from the inside rather than worry about outside impressions.

"Endy Bayuni: If there is a problem in Papua this is mostly because of mismanagement and misrule on the part of Indonesia in Papua. We mishandled Timor-Leste badly but we have not learned the lessons of Timor-Leste. We seem to be repeating the mistakes in Timor-Leste in preventing justice to the Papuan people"

A Papuan journalist, Victor Mambor, says government officials recently abandoned a meeting with the Indonesian Press Council because the council chair was not present.

Karen Abplanalp was in Indonesia courtesy of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Australian consular staff threatened West Papuans with police, Dfat admits

The Guardian (Australia) - November 21, 2013

Katharine Murphy – Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have now confirmed consular staff in Bali threatened to call the police if a group of West Papuan activists did not leave the Australian compound.

Three West Papuan activists entered the Australian consulate in Bali in early October in a protest that coincided with the Apec summit in Bali – an embarrassing development for Australia and the then newly elected Abbott government, given acute Indonesian political sensitivities about the pro- sovereignty movement in the Papua provinces.

The activists wanted to call on the Australian government to pressure Indonesia to release all Papuan political prisoners and open the province to routine scrutiny by foreign journalists. The three men scaled the security fence and entered the Australian consulate just after 3am on 6 October.

Immediately after the incident, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement: "We can confirm that three individuals from Indonesia's Papua provinces delivered a protest letter at the Australian consulate general in Bali this morning to Australia's consul general. The three men left the consulate voluntarily before 7am."

This statement contradicted the first-hand account of the activists, who insisted they departed because Australian officials threatened to call the local police or the military.

The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, denied on ABC Radio shortly after the incident that threats were made. "I'm advised that no threats were made," she said. "Indeed, I understand we called them a taxi... when their friend who was to pick them up didn't turn up."

Appearing before a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday, Dfat officials conceded the West Papuans were in fact told police would be called if they refused to leave the consulate.

That answer came in response to a series of questions from the Greens senator Richard Di Natale, who has expressed concern about the safety and wellbeing of the activists since the incident.

Other Senate crossbenchers, including the Democratic Labour party senator John Madigan and the South Australian independent Nick Xenophon, have also raised concerns about the safety of the three men.

The Dfat officials indicated it was protocol in cases such as the October protest to tell activists that police will be called if they don't depart.

Dfat deputy secretary Paul Grigson said Australian diplomatic posts were not a "place of automatic sanctuary" and could not operate effectively if they were treated as such.

Di Natale asked the officials could he take it then from their broad answer about protest protocols that the West Papuans were told police would be called if they didn't leave? "Yes senator," Grigson told the hearing.

Grigson said the activists had also been told they could seek a conversation with the consul general at another point if they agreed to leave.

Di Natale asked the officials, given concerns about human rights abuses in Papua perpetrated against sovereignty activists, and the concerns activists have about any entanglements with police, whether the threat to call the authorities endangered their safety. "I don't accept that senator," Grigson said. He argued the method of response was a judgment call for the head of post, "which I support".

Prime minister Tony Abbott at the time issued a public rebuke to the activists. "Australia will not give people a platform to grandstand against Indonesia," Abbott told reporters at the Apec summit in October.

"We have a very strong relationship with Indonesia. We are not going to give people a platform to grandstand against Indonesia. I want that to be absolutely crystal clear."

Vanuatu PM asks Commonwealth to support West Papua

Vanuatu Daily Post - November 21, 2013

Ricky Binihi, Port Vila, Vanuatu – Vanuatu Prime Minister Moana Carcasses is relentless in his efforts to bring the alleged sufferings and atrocities of fellow Melanesians in West Papua into the international limelight so their plight could be heard.

Again in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where the Commonwealth Heads of Governments gathered to meet during the weekend the Vanuatu PM called on all members of the Commonwealth to lend an ear to listen more closely to the cries and heartaches of the people of West Papua.

He said the people of West Papua are still bound by the whim of imperialism and colonialism so "we cannot continue to deny them their rights thus I call on our collective efforts to support their cause."

In 1969 the United Nations sponsored an Act of Free Choice where 1025 men selected by the Indonesian Army in West Papua and asked to vote by raisings hands whether they wanted West Papua be an "integral" part of Indonesia.

West Papua is home to many millions of Melanesians and not just 1025 hand- picked individuals for 1969 Act of Free Choice and recently PM Carcasses told the United Nations General Assembly that it was the UN which messed up in West Papua and the burden of blame rests with the UN so accordingly they should set the record straight.

Meanwhile the Daily Post has been told a press statement from the Prime Minister's Office that Vanuatu wishes to host CHOGM meeting in 2017 and invited a Team of Commonwealth Secretariat to visit Vanuatu next year to undertake preliminary assessment on existing infrastructure and those we plan to build.

Vanuatu in 2012 hosted the Asia Caribbean Pacific European Union high level ministerial meeting.

Indonesian journo says rules on foreign press in Papua should be relaxed

Radio New Zealand International - November 20, 2013

The President of the Alliance of Independent Journalists of Indonesia says his government should clarify the rules for foreign journalists seeking to visit West Papua.

Eko Maryadi, who was imprisoned as a journalist during the days of the Suharto regime, says even at the recent Bali Democracy Forum there was no talk of the remote provinces.

He says the Indonesian government is within its rights to regulate who is coming in and out of the country, but it should take a new approach and make its rules more clear.

"If the government believes in democracy, believes in freedom of the press, believe in freedom of expression and believe in the human rights values, so all of them should be implemented fairly easily. I mean to let a foreign journalist come, all they have to do is make a regulation – what a foreign journalist can do and what he cannot do."

Eko Maryadi says journalists can freely visit Bali and other places in Indonesia and there is no reason to make it so hard to visit West Papua.

Indonesia spies on its own in Papua

New Matilda - November 20, 2013

Marni Cordell – Amid the fallout from the presidential phone-tapping scandal, an Indonesian human rights defender has spoken out about the Indonesian state's oppressive surveillance regime against its own citizens in the province of West Papua.

Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told New Matilda, "We have unlawful intelligence gathering by the Indonesian military against their own citizens in Papua".

Harsono said the Indonesian government targets ordinary Papuans in a comprehensive surveillance program that includes recruited informants and phone-tapping because it believes Papuan civil society poses a growing threat to its power over the province.

"They recognise that the real threat [to Indonesian power] in Papua is not from the armed wing of the Papuan independence movement, but from student leaders, church leaders, civil society leaders and NGOs," he said.

Internal military documents leaked in 2011 revealed the extent of the surveillance. According to Human Rights Watch, the approximately 500 pages of documents, dated from 2006 to 2009, include detailed reports of spying on civilians and provide military perspectives on social and political issues in West Papua.

The documents also reveal the military's deep concerns about international attention on the province. A quarterly report from Indonesia's special forces (Kopassus) from August 2007 states, "Current political activity in Papua is very dangerous compared to the activities of Papuan armed groups because their access already reaches abroad".

"[There is a] deep military paranoia in Papua that conflates peaceful political expression with criminal activity," Harsono said. "It's outrageous in a modern country like Indonesia that activists, clergy, students and politicians are the targets of military surveillance."

West Papuan journalist Victor Mambor, who works for the independent online outlet Jubi, told New Matilda he is convinced that his phone is being tapped by the authorities.

"Many West Papuans have a problem with this. I don't know if it's the police or the military – they have technology to spy on us on our mobile phones," he said. "I always change my number every three months or so."

Mambor said he also regularly receives text messages from anonymous numbers.

"They send text messages saying 'we will kill you' and 'Papuan people are stupid – you want freedom, go to hell', things like that," he said. "In the beginning I was scared, but now I think they are only terrorising us to distract us. I'm sure they are just trying to disturb the focus of our work."

But Andreas Harsono is concerned that the military intelligence gathered in West Papua is being used for more sinister means. "[The Indonesian government] uses this intelligence gathering to produce their policy on the ground, and this is what Human Rights Watch is worried about, because it is very likely to be used to repress the rights of Papuans," he said.

Unlike President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose phone-tapping by Australia has caused an international crisis, ordinary West Papuans have no recourse against surveillance by the Indonesian state.

Papua forum demands infrastructure answers

Jakarta Post - November 18, 2013

Jakarta – The Awaking Papua Forum (Forum Papua Bangkit) said it suspects corruption was the cause of the long delay in the construction of a Trans Irian highway linking the southern and north ends of the country's most underdeveloped region.

The Merauke-Wamena-Jayapura-Nabire-Sorong highway was commissioned in 1992 but had yet to come to fruition, Hengky Jokhu, the forum's coordinator said in Sentani, Papua, on Monday.

"It is no longer a secret that the National Road and Bridge Agency, which hold the authority over road and bridge projects in Papua, is rampant with corruption. Road and bridge projects financed with funds from the state budget are laden with big mark-ups," Hengky said as quoted by Antara news agency.

He also accused officials in Jakarta of having a share in the corruption committed by authorities in the region. "The authorities in the regions were forced to pay a certain amount to those in power in Jakarta, including the legislators who acted as project brokers," he said.

He said half a century had passed since Papua joined Indonesia and so far Papua has been left poor, isolated and marginalized.

Hengky said the issue of more autonomous areas in Papua planned by the central government was an attempt at diverting attention away from alleged corruption and money laundering.

Aceh

National laws trump shariah, activists say

Jakarta Globe - November 23, 2013

Dessy Sagita – Rights activists are demanding the central government re- evaluate the implementation of shariah law in Aceh following a string of violations committed by the province's moral guardians, the Shariah Police.

"The biggest problem with the Wilayatul Hisbah [Shariah police] in Aceh is that they are operating on the grounds of morality instead of universal laws, so their enforcement activities only center on unimportant matters," Arimbi Heroeputri, a commissioner of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

The statement followed the arrest by Banda Aceh Police of the head of the province's Shariah police on suspicion of embezzlement.

Arimbi said Komnas Perempuan has been asking the government to review shariah law in Aceh, known as Qanun Jinayat and Qanun Acara Jinayat, the criminal code and criminal procedures bylaws.

Under special autonomy granted to Aceh following a 2005 agreement that ended decades of separatist conflict in the province, the region was granted the authority to enforce partial Shariah law. The judiciary and the education system are subject to elements of Islamic law, as are social mores.

The Qanun Jinayat and the Qanun Acara Jinayat were passed by the legislative council, known as the DPRA, in 2009. The bylaws impose harsh sentences such as stoning to death for adulterers and 100 lashes for people caught engaging in premarital or homosexual sex.

Other penalties include a maximum of 40 lashes or 40 months in jail for drinking alcohol, and 60 lashes or a fine of 60 grams of pure gold or 60 months in jail for sexual harassment.

Ironically in 2010 two Shariah policemen were jailed and sentenced to eight years in prison for gang-raping a young woman in custody.

Mohammed Nazir, 29, and Feri Agus, 28, were found guilty of raping a 20- year-old student in a police station after she was arrested with her boyfriend under local laws designed to enforce Islamic morals.

The eight-year jail sentence for the two men was lighter that the maximum penalty of 12 years demanded by prosecutors who said the defendants, as Shariah police officers, should have better morals.

"Morality can never be used as a barometer to enforce the law because the standard is not the same for everyone," Arimbi said. "What's happening in Aceh right now is that some people politicize Shariah and pursue their political ambitions wrapped in religious packaging," she said.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of tolerance watchdog The Setara Institute, said despite the special autonomy status granted to Aceh, the central government should continue its monitoring and supervision activities to ensure the implementation of the regional bylaw did not undermine the constitution.

"Despite the special rights to implement Islamic Shariah, Aceh should understand that at some points it has to comply with the national law," he said. Bonar said Shariah law should be imposed on matters of public importance instead of people's personal lives.

"Lately what we have witnessed is that the Shariah law and the Wilayatul Hisbah are intruding on people's personal lives, limiting their right to express themselves, with a string of odd regulations including the prohibition on women wearing pants – it's too ridiculous," he said.

Bonar said the Ministry of Home Affairs should conduct a thorough study to determine whether a Qanun (Islamic bylaw) can bring benefit to the Aceh people before it is imposed.

Aceh's Shariah police have frequently been found to fall short of the moral standards they seek to impose on others.

In March the head of the Lhokseumawe Shariah police tested positive for marijuana use after slamming his car into a tree and a house.

Shariah police officer Zulkarnain lost control of his car after leaving his office in Simpang Asmi, Kutablang village. Another officer came to investigate the accident, where he discovered hashish inside Zulkarnain's car.

On Friday Banda Aceh Police announced they had arrested Khalidin Lhoong, chief of the provincial capital's Shariah police. Khalidin was officially detained late on Thursday afternoon and was questioned on Friday. He stands accused of misappropriating wages for contract-based personnel of the Shariah police.

Police detain Aceh shariah police chief over graft suspicion

Jakarta Globe - November 22, 2013

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Detectives with the Banda Aceh Police have arrested and detained the head of the province's shariah police on suspicion of embezzlement, an officer said on Friday.

Sr. Comr. Moffan Mudji Kafanti, who heads the Banda Aceh Police, told the Jakarta Globe that Khalidin Lhoong, chief of the shariah police, was officially detained late on Thursday afternoon and be questioned on Friday. He is being accused of misappropriating part of the wages for contract- based personnel of the shariah police.

"He is being detained on suspicion of having embezzled part of the salary – around Rp 650,000 [$56] – for each of his 1,000 underlings. The total sum he embezzled reached Rp 650 million," Moffan said.

He said that the suspect attempted to return the money he embezzled once police began probing the case. "Witnesses said the suspect had enjoyed the money he cut from the salaries," Moffan said. "But after the police started to investigate him, he quickly returned the money."

The witnesses said that the reason Khalidin had given for cutting the salaries was allegedly to pay for sports uniforms, urine tests and machines to print and laminate member cards.

Moffan said that police had actually planned to arrest Khalidin in September, but because he was due to go on the hajj, the police waited until one week after he returned from Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

He said that another suspect in the same case, identified as Teuku Armansyah, who heads the administrative bureau for the Aceh Shariah Police, was also arrested. The two could face at least five years in jail for violating the nation's Anti-Corruption Law.

Moffan also said that police had completed the dossiers for each of the two suspects, and that they will soon submit them to the prosecutor's office for the indictment preparation.

Khalidin told journalists at the city police headquarters that he was innocent, claiming that the salary cut was agreed upon by the concerned personnel. He also maintained that none of the money from the cuts went into his own pockets.

However, Moffan, remained adamant that the police would pursue the charges against Khalidin. "He is free to comment, but from the information from the treasurer of the Aceh Shariah Police, it is clear that he did enjoy the money," he said. "But when the police began investigating him, he quickly returned the money."

Under a special autonomy granted to Aceh following an agreement in the 2005 peace pact that ended decades of separatist conflict in the province, the region was granted the authority to enforce partial shariah law. The judiciary and the education system are subject to elements of Islamic law, as are social mores.

Sexual & domestic violence

Indonesia struggling to end a 'sex crime emergency' involving children

Jakarta Globe - November 20, 2013

SP/Ari Rikin – Instances of reported sexual violence against children are on the rise in Indonesia a report released by the National Commission on Child Protection (KPAI) said on Wednesday.

"At this moment, there's a sexual crime emergency situation," said KPAI Chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait. "This should be a public issue so people can fight together against sexual crimes against children."

Between January and October this year, the commission recorded 2,792 violations, including 1,424 instances of violence, 730 of which were sexual violence. Arist said the numbers had increased by 48 percent from the corresponding period last year.

"Degradation of religious and family norms keeps on happening," he said. "Families which should be the protective shelter for children have often been the main perpetrators of violence against children."

He said the 2002 Child Protection Law had not been fully implemented, leaving the rights of children unprotected.

Samsul Ridwan, secretary general of the commission, said that violence was most common in low-income households. Jakarta, as the nation's most populous city, recorded 666 cases, the most of any city, followed by Depok, Bekasi, Tangerang and Bogor.

It is unknown if increased reporting played any role in the significant increase in reported sex crimes against children.

Time for women to say no to harassment and fight back

Jakarta Post - November 18, 2013

Jakarta – Dozens of women gathered at Plaza Senayan not long after dawn broke last Saturday. These women, of all ages and from all walks of life, listened intently to a man demonstrating self defense.

"Don't think that women are weak. Throw away that mind set," shouted Eko Hendrawan, Female Self Defense at Kushin Ryu (WSDK) community trainer. He showed the women how to use items inside their handbags to protect themselves and ward off unwanted attention.

"This is very interesting. I never thought I could use my lipstick as weapon," said Sifa, one of the visitors. According to Sifa, she often experienced sexual harassment on the train, which she uses daily to commute to and from work.

"There are some carriages for women, but they are limited so I sometimes have to use the mixed carriage," she added.

Another visitor, Ana said the 30-minute demonstration helped her and her teenage daughter to prepare themselves. "Especially against pickpockets, because they have many tricks," said Ana.

Eko, who led the session, said most women were reluctant to learn real martial arts, thus, his community taught them simple moves they could use.

For example, Eko said women could grasp their lipstick, which added power to the fist, then hit their attacker on the jaw, which would unbalance the attacker.

"The key is to hit the right part," he said, adding that other body parts that were good to aim for were the genitalia and under the chin. "Women can also use their nails to scratch or their heels to step on attackers feet," he said.

The WSDK community was formed in 2006 in Bandung, West Java, by Sofyan Hambali, Eko explained, driven by frequent incidents of harassment women suffered.

"A couple of years ago, three students of Aa Gym [renowned Islamic preacher] were robbed and two died. That was the catalyst to form this community," said Eko.

According to Eko, around 2,000 women in Bandung, Jakarta and East Java were involved in the Japanese-origin martial art community. Most of them are middle-aged women.

Eko said women should only use techniques as last option. "For example, if a woman is harassed on a bus or a train, they can glare and then shout before they use self defense moves, as these are part of self defense too," he said. (nai)

Labour & migrant workers

Apindo rejects West Java minimum wage

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2013

The Archipelago – The Indonesian Employers Association's (Apindo) West Java branch has filed an objection to the 2014 minimum wage for 26 regencies and cities across West Java.

"Karawang regency is now recorded as the region with the highest minimum wage, surpassing Jakarta. The main question is, is the cost of living in Karawang higher than in Jakarta?" said West Java Apindo chairman Dedy Wijaya on Friday.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan approved the 2014 minimum wage for Karawang at Rp 2,447,450. The 2014 minimum wage for Jakarta has been set at Rp 2,441,301.

Dedy said some manufacturing companies in a number of regions, including Subang, Bandung city, Cimahi, West Bandung and Sumedang, had objected to the new wage amount.

"South Korean businesspeople in Subang have protested the new wage, saying that they may close down their businesses if the new policy is applied," Dedy said, adding that the minimum wage for Subang had been set at Rp 1,577,959 from the previous Rp 1,220,000.

Dedy said the South Korean Garment Association was considering filing a request that implementation of the new West Java minimum wage be postponed.

"We hope that they [South Korean companies] will continue running their business in the [aforementioned] regions because hundreds of thousands of local people work at the companies," he added.

According to West Java Manpower and Transmigration Agency head Hening Widiatmoko, companies from South Korea, Taiwan and China dominate the manufacturing industry in the province.

Outsourcing rule leads to kickbacks, confusion

Jakarta Post - November 22, 2013

Jakarta – As the controversial decree limiting the use of contract workers through the so-called outsourcing method took full effect Monday, businesses have complained over the pervasive illegal fees and the confusion regarding how to comply with the rule.

The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry issued in November last year Decree No. 19/2012 on outsourcing in which companies will not be permitted to outsource their core business, leaving outsourcing limited to five types of jobs: cleaning services, security, driving, support services on mining sites and catering.

The ministry has given firms one year to comply with the decree and to register their outsourced services, which are not included in the exemption lists, for approval.

However, the Indonesian Outsourcing Association (ABADI), whose 100 members supply more than 200,000 outsourced workers, found that the rule could not be enforced due to a lack of technical implementation guidance from the ministry and coordination among officials.

As a result of the red tape and confusion, officials at local manpower and transmigration agencies allegedly asked for kickbacks in exchange for eliminating the hassle and for accepting their registrations, according to ABADI chairman Wisnu Wibowo.

"The decree does not require us to pay for the registration process. But in reality we have been asked to pay between Rp 500,000 [US$42.67] and Rp 1 million for each process," said Wisnu recently.

"So if you have many branch offices using outsourced services, each of the offices has to register and pay the kickback. You can just imagine the scale of the alleged graft."

Manpower and Transmigration Ministry public relations staffer Dicky Risyana said that the ministry had not received any reports of the illegal fees. "Companies that are asked to pay illegal fees should inform us because it's a crime," he said.

But there is a bigger problem than that. Companies are now confronted with problems of major changes in their operational processes.

According to the decree, companies outsourcing work outside the allowable five job sectors are required to have them in the form of wholesale services. For example, a firm can no longer hire an outsourced worker as a receptionist. Instead, it has to procure such a service from a company that specifically provides reception work as well as supporting equipment for the job, such as telephones and desks. The firm also has to report such outsourcing with its local manpower agency to get approval.

"The decree will force companies to undergo major business changes that cannot be done overnight," said ABADI's head of international relations, Greg Chen. "This will create not only additional costs but also uncertainty in doing business."

ABADI has urged the government to delay the decree implementation as companies will need time to adjust. The association is also awaiting the result of a judicial review it filed with the Supreme Court against the decree.

Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Sofjan Wanandi expressed support over the concerns voiced by ABADI. He said he was still in discussions with officials from the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry over the implementation of the decree.

"The decree turns out to be a major blow for companies, particularly those engaged in labor-intensive sectors. Its implementation will require major changes to the operation of existing companies." (ogi)

Indonesian maids face exploitation, domestic 'slavery' in Hong Kong: report

ABC Radio Australia - November 21, 2013

Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong are more vulnerable to abuse than maids from other regions, according to Amnesty International.

The rights group says thousands of Indonesian women are trafficked to Hong Kong and risk being forced into slave-like conditions as domestic workers.

Its report, titled "Exploited for Profit, Failed by Governments", highlights the systemic failures by both the Hong Kong and Indonesian governments to protect migrant workers from exploitation.

Amnesty's Asia-Pacific researcher Norma Kang Muico told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific that women are "lured" with promises of good working conditions.

"But once they arrive in Hong Kong they realise that the reality, the true nature of their job, is not what they were promised back home," she said. "And they're not able to withdraw from this employment because they're saddled with excessive agency fees, which are illegal in both Hong Kong and Indonesia."

Amnesty says there are more than 300,000 migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, with half from Indonesia and nearly all are women. It says maids in Hong Kong are tightly controlled by their local placement agency and often by their employer.

"They work excessive hours, on average about 17 hours per day. They're not given a weekly rest day, which is mandatory in Hong Kong," Ms Muico said. "A lot of them have restrictions on their freedom of movement, and they are under paid, so paid below the statutory minimum wage for domestic workers.

"In a normal situation a worker would probably challenge these abusive conditions, but because they need to pay to their recruitment agency, they would rather stay and work for an abusive employer because it's the only way that they will earn money to repay their debts."

The report details the story of one maid whose employer set his dogs to attack her and filmed the incident on a mobile phone. The employer would allegedly replay the footage for amusement.

"Physical violence is not as common as verbal abuse and psychological abuse," Ms Muico said.

"But it does happen and it has to be taken seriously. I think what the report addresses are other abusive situations, together with physical abuse, together with verbal abuse, that makes the workers in a very vulnerable situation."

The findings of Amnesty's report are based on interviews with 97 Indonesian migrant domestic workers and supported by survey of nearly 1,000 women by the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union.

Bekasi workers demand higher wage

Jakarta Post - November 19, 2013

Rangga D. Fadillah, Jakarta – Thousands of workers in Jakarta and its surrounding areas continued rallying on Monday to demand higher salaries, the provision of health care and the elimination of the outsourcing system.

In Bekasi regency, around 5,000 workers demonstrated in front of the regent's office from 10 a.m. while waiting for the result of the Bekasi Wage Council's meeting.

The head of the All-Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI) Bekasi, Iman, told The Jakarta Post that workers were ready to strike in the same manner as they did last year – by blocking the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road – if their demands were not met by the regency administration.

"Today is our final effort. If our demands are not met, the toll road will be packed with workers once again," he said firmly.

The demonstrators came from all industrial areas in the regency. They sat patiently around the government office compound while listening to speeches. When the speeches finished, songs by legendary singer Iwan Fals blared from speakers installed on pickup trucks.

Amir Mahfuzh, the head of the Bekasi branch of the Indonesian Metal Workers Federation (FSPMI), implied that his organization was reluctant to follow the hard stance of the SPSI. He said the FSPMI would wait for the result of the meeting before deciding on the next step.

Workers in Bekasi regency are demanding a 50 percent pay increase for next year. The base wage for 2013 is Rp 2,002,000 (US$172.14) per month. Bekasi municipality has set a base wage of Rp 2.44 million, slightly less than the proposed Rp 2.49 million.

Bekasi Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Purnomo Narmiadi revealed that the agreed upon amount was proposed by the city administration. During the meeting, the association proposed Rp 1.96 million.

"The voting result was 18:2:2 [in favor of the administration's proposal]. Almost all workers' representatives supported the administration's proposal," he said as quoted by kompas.com news portal.

In Depok, the base wage has been set at Rp 2,397,000 per month, which is far below the workers recommended Rp 2.9 million.

Bogor's head of the Social and Manpower Agency, Nuradi, revealed that the regency had decided that the base wage for 2014 would be Rp 2.24 million. However, companies that could not afford to pay that amount could request a waiver.

Workers in Jakarta also demonstrated in front of the City Council building to demand that the 2014 base wage be raised to Rp 3.7 million. Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has set the figure at Rp 2.44 million.

Indonesia unions announce another strike as wage war continues

Jakarta Globe - November 18, 2013

The head of Indonesia's largest union organization has announced a new strike across several regions of the archipelago to pressure provincial governments into making greater concessions on minimum wage, a report by the state-run news agency said on Monday.

"The peak will be on Nov. 25-26," head of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers (KSPI) Said Iqbal said as quoted by the state-run Antara news agency. "When all factories in industrial areas in Jakarta will stop production and thousands of workers will head to City Hall to force governor [Joko Widodo] to revise the minimum wage in Jakarta at around Rp 3 million [$258]."

In addition to next week's scheduled strike, workers were planning on demonstrating in front of the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) building on Monday.

The cost of labor in Indonesia is frequently cited as one of the factors that has driven foreign investment and enabled domestic companies to compete in the region, especially as China's advantage in this regard has been ceded, to an extent, by approximately 15 percent aggregated wage hikes each year over the last decade.

Workers in Jakarta were given a 44 percent increase in the minimum wage this year, and have been told that the mandatory minimum will be 9 percent higher next year – roughly the level of inflation. Pay increases around the archipelago were similarly weighty in 2013 but many regional governments have yet to decide on the increase for 2014.

"The wage [for 2014] has been decided at Rp 2.44 [million]," Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said earlier in November. "There are risks to every decision. We hope this will not lead to any [rejection] by laborers."

The KSPI's position, in the case of Jakarta, is that Joko's decision on a 9 percent pay rise for 2014 is not commensurate with the surge in the cost of living with which the capital's workers are having to contend.

Unionized workers from industries ranging from textiles to metalwork held a two-day, nationwide strike beginning Oct. 31 in an attempt to show strength in numbers ahead of wage announcements. In Jakarta, they had demanded Rp 3.7 million per month – a proposal that drew several nervous proprietors to emphasize that such a sudden jump in the cost of labor would send their businesses to the wall.

Nelly Marlianti, a spokeswoman of the National Consolidation of Workers Movement (KNGB), told Metrotv.com on Sunday that, in addition to a show of numbers in the capital, workers would also rally in front of the Bekasi mayor's office and at government buildings in Bandung.

Bekasi – a satellite city to Jakarta's east that includes Southeast Asia'a largest industrial estate – has the highest minimum wage in the country at Rp 2,441,954, although it is only around 10 cents higher than Jakarta. Wages in Depok have been set at Rp 2.39 million and Bogor at Rp 2.24 million.

Prior to the two-day strike, Said had indicated that 3 million workers would down tools to demonstrate for a greater share of the spoils. In the end 50,000 people took to the streets – the majority of which were in the capital.

Many figures in the executive offices of companies – foreign and domestic alike – feel that Said was chancing his arm with what would have been a near-doubling of the minimum wage over two years if his demand had been met.

But as the threat of another strike looms large over Indonesia's labor landscape for a second time in a month, Said is hoping to persuade governors that Indonesian workers deserve a significant boost to their income as fuel-price increases and general inflationary pressures erode their purchasing power.

"We only demand the minimum wage to be increased at Rp 3 million," the union leader said. "[Joko and Basuki] should dare to take this decision."

Political parties & elections

Spy row boon for ailing PD ahead of polls

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2013

Jakarta – While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been portrayed as a victim in the spying row with Australia, the growing nationalist sentiment against a "hostile" neighbor at home may give his ailing Democratic Party an edge before the 2014 general elections.

Yudhoyono was having a hard time before the spying scandal escalated following the revelations by Australian media that he and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono had been victims of wiretapping attempts by Australian intelligence.

His approval rating continued to plunge, while his ruling party had been struggling to repair its image following a slew of graft scandals involving its top members.

Last month, the President himself was forced to hold a press conference to deny his association with a woman believed to have played a role in a high-profile corruption case. Yudhoyono has been widely seen as being sufficiently tough in dealing with the spying scandal.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political analyst Siti Zuhro said that the President's actions in response to the alleged wiretapping by Australia certainly had a positive effect on Yudhoyono's image and his Democratic Party.

"This is because the President's actions are in line with what the people want and feel. If he did nothing, the scandal would certainly bite back at him," Siti said.

However, assuming tensions between the two countries will be resolved soon, Siti noted that the effect might be short term and not necessarily last up to the general elections in 2014.

"What we can take from the Indonesia-Australia tensions is a feel for the political parties' platforms on foreign policy and their degree of nationalism, which may be a consideration for the 2014 election," Siti said.

"Parties like the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Democratic Party and the Golkar Party have sent out strong responses on the issue, whereas others have been less robust," she added.

Ari Dwipayana, a political analyst at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said that Yudhoyono and his party would gain politically from the case as the President had taken a strong stance on the issue that would be positively accepted by the people. "Society will appreciate his stance, but maybe not for long," he said.

As an indication, @SBYudhoyono saw a jump in Twitter followers after the President denounced on Monday Australia's wiretapping, garnering 42,900 more followers as of Friday, according to twittercounter.com. The week before that, Yudhoyono had only 27,300 followers. Now his followers total more than 4 million.

While most politicians only made statements condemning the wiretapping, recently appointed Democratic Party spokesman Ruhut Sitompul took to the streets on Thursday and led demonstrators outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. On Friday, the outspoken politician claimed that the wiretapping scandal had benefited his party. "After Snowden, after the wiretapping by Australia, the people are supporting SBY," he said as quoted by an online media source on Friday.

Hasto Kristianto, PDI-P deputy secretary-general, lauded the government's stance on the wiretapping issue, but said that the public would still hold other issues against Yudhoyono and his party.

"After nine years of his leadership, we still have a current-account deficit and dependence on imports, so clearly other factors will still keep the public perception of his party low," Hasto said over the phone.

He noted that what was happening now may be the result of the government's general weak foreign policy. "Yudhoyono may prefer talk about the Bali Democracy Forum instead of our migrant workers," Hasto said. "It is because of the government's stance on this and other issues that the international community sees us as weak," he added. (asw)

Jokowi's chances for presidency may be slim

Jakarta Post - November 20, 2013

In an interview with The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo expressed his confidence that there was no difference between managing Jakarta and Indonesia despite his lack of experience in handling national issues.

He said that it's the same being a mayor, a governor and a president as they all work for the people. He preferred to let other people judge his performance.

This is a clear sign that he is prepared to contest next year's presidential election if the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P) eventually endorses his nomination, as is widely expected by the party's supporters.

In a carefully orchestrated public relations program, the party chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri has often appeared in public with Jokowi.

The governor also regularly visits the eldest daughter of first president Sukarno at her Menteng residence. The country's fifth president has sent strong signals that she is in favor of Jokowi representing the PDI-P in the presidential race. Most polls show that the party has a very good chance of winning with Jokowi as the party's candidate.

Jokowi himself has refrained from talking openly about his possible candidacy. He has said he has not thought about being a presidential candidate. He also insists that although he has a good relationship with Megawati, he is but one of her choices.

However, Megawati, who has failed in three presidential elections, still believes that she can restore her luck and dignity if she runs again next year.

She completely controls the party although many within her inner circle often disagree with her. It seems that Megawati wants to ensure that Jokowi remains loyal to her while she also eyes a possible return to the presidency.

PDI-P accuses secret 'team' of working to damage Joko

Jakarta Globe - November 19, 2013

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Monday claimed to have uncovered the existence of a shadowy group of operatives whose sole purpose was to dig up dirt on Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and damage his reputation.

"I have received information that there's an effort to gather information about bad sides of Jokowi," said Tjahjo Kumolo, secretary general of the PDI-P. "The team also approaches media owners to reduce news coverage about Jokowi."

Tjahjo would not give any specifics about the supposed group or say who had backed it, but he did say that it had named itself "Jokowi's rivals."

Recent surveys hace placed Joko as a top potential contender in the 2014 presidential election, although the PDI-P has yet to nominate its candidate.

Democratic Party lawmakers have often been Joko's harshest critics: Ruhut Sitompul said Joko's policies were no better than those of Fauzi Bowo, the previous governor; Nurhayati Ali Assegaf said that he had not done enough to prevent fire in the city; Ramadhan Pohan blamed him for US spying because he allowed an embassy renovation; and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono blamed him for Jakarta's traffic.

Melani Leimena Suharli, a member of the Democratic Party's advisory board, denied the existence of a concerted smear campaign against Joko.

"Jokowi is not even a presidential candidate, the PDI-P has not decided," Melani said, according to Indonesian news portal Kompas.com. "If there were good things, we would praise him, if there were wrong things, we would criticize him."

Elite engineering give birth to Jokowi's ascension

Jakarta Post - November 19, 2013

The accomplishments and popularity of Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo may not have been possible without the men and women who have positioned the former furniture businessman as a strong contender for the 2014 presidential race.

The Jakarta Post's Sita W. Dewi and Kusumasari Ayuningtyas explore how Jokowi's inner circle and political elites have helped to mold him into such a figure. This is the second of a three-page story detailing Jokowi's political journey.

Jokowi, 52, may possess the personality of an ideal leader most Indonesians long for. He is humble, low profile, close to the grass roots and, thus far, seemingly immune to graft, which has long cast a shadow over the country's political life.

He also accumulated a long list of accomplishments while serving as mayor in Surakarta (commonly known as Solo), Central Java, attesting him as a leader that can deliver.

While these characteristics have undoubtedly played a role in his career, Jokowi's venture into politics has been marked by a series of fateful twists and turns.

Jokowi's candidacy and victory in the Surakarta mayoral election in 2005 would have been unlikely without the support of the city's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairman, FX Hadi "Rudy" Rudyatmo, who was then one of the city's most popular and influential politicians.

Local politicians have said that Rudy could easily have won the election himself, regardless of his partner, given the city's vast number of diehard PDI-P supporters.

However, probably due to his Catholic background, Rudy, who chaired several youth and sports organizations in the Muslim-majority city, opted to become the candidate for deputy mayor.

"I was very comfortable with Jokowi at the time, and we preferred to have him leading the city," Rudy said. "I know my capacity. I merely wanted to help a mayoral candidate," he said, adding that Jokowi was not at that time a party member.

Given Surakarta's reputation as a PDI-P stronghold, the pair easily won elections covering two terms.

A similar chance of fate led to Jokowi entering the capital in 2012 amid an ongoing battle between Jakarta's political and business titans.

In 2011, property tycoon and Public Housing Minister Djan Faridz, who was also an influential politician for the Muslim-based National Development Party (PPP) and financial backer of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, had become disenchanted with his ally, then-Jakarta governor Fauzi Bowo.

The relationship between Djan and Fauzi turned sour after the Jakarta administration aimed to take over the management of the Blok A shopping center in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, which was operated by Djan's company.

Djan initially gathered support to challenge Fauzi in the 2012 gubernatorial election. But surveys showed that he had slim chance of winning. He then joined forces with former vice president Jusuf Kalla to find a worthy candidate to take on Fauzi.

Kalla eventually proposed Jokowi, a man he barely knew. Kalla had been impressed by Jokowi after meeting him in Semarang, Central Java, in early 2011 at an event organized by the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), of which Kalla is the chairman.

"I helped bring Jokowi to Jakarta," Kalla said at a gathering at his home in South Jakarta in August. "He had been successful in Surakarta, so I figured he deserved a chance on the national stage."

In early 2012, Kalla requested his trusted friend and businessman, Sofjan Wanandi, to lobby PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to have her party support Jokowi for the Jakarta gubernatorial election.

"I did not know Jokowi at the time. But I visited Megawati several times to lobby for his candidacy," Sofjan said recently.

The proposal apparently came at a tricky moment as Megawati's husband, the late Taufik Kiemas, had pledged the PDI-P ticket to incumbent Fauzi, who was endorsed by the Democratic Party.

"At first, [Megawati] said she would consider it [Jokowi's candidacy], but she did not make a final decision for a few months," Sofyan said.

Megawati ultimately made her decision after a massive rally at the House of Representatives in March 2012 to protest Yudhoyono's plan to raise fuel prices. Megawati, whose party rejected the government's fuel plan, refused to join with the Democratic Party in supporting Fauzi.

Kalla then lobbied Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto to join their band.

Support from Prabowo, Megawati's running mate during the 2009 presidential election, was needed to pass the candidacy threshold of 15 percent of seats in the Jakarta Legislative Council. "It was not until Prabowo's final push that Megawati finally agreed to appoint Jokowi," Sofjan said.

A source familiar with the matter said that Prabowo agreed to support Jokowi on condition that the deputy governor candidate should be a Chinese-Indonesian.

Prabowo, according to the source, needed to rid himself of his "anti- Chinese" label after allegations that he masterminded the 1998 riots that left hundreds of Chinese-Indonesians dead. Prabowo refused to comment on the issue. Kalla proposed Golkar politician Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama for the post, which was agreed on condition that Ahok would jump ship to Gerindra.

Jokowi initially refused to pair with Ahok, preferring film actor and director Deddy Mizwar (now West Java deputy governor) due to concerns that he would not obtain widespread support from Jakarta's Muslim community. "But Jokowi was not in a position to choose. His fate lay with Megawati, Kalla and Prabowo," said a PDI-P politician.

Jokowi's campaign team leader, Anggit Noegroho, confirmed Kalla's role behind Jokowi's candidacy. "Before Bu Megawati appointed Pak Jokowi, Pak Kalla had suggested he run in the Jakarta election," Anggit said. "But it was Megawati as party chair who made [his candidacy] possible."

While waiting for Jokowi's candidacy endorsement, Kalla's camp had already launched campaigns in 2011 to help increase Jokowi's popularity, including through publicizing the Surakarta-made Esemka national car.

The development of the car, which was reportedly pioneered by Jokowi's deputy, Rudy, was packaged into a PR stunt that turned into a national media fun fair.

Jokowi eventually won the Jakarta election and left his job as Surakarta mayor in October 2012, three years before the end of his second term.

His leadership and management style, the antithesis to that of most of Indonesia's leaders, has caused a sensation among national media outlets and amplified his popularity nationwide.

Jokowi's so-called blusukan, impromptu visits to meet people directly and listen to their complaints and opinions, has become his headline-making trademark.

But, as his personal popularity soars, Jokowi's honeymoon period with his allies seems to be coming to an end.

Kalla has urged him to stop the image-building stunts and embark on concrete work for Jakarta. "The presidential election is still months away. Anything can happen. I feel that Jokowi needs to be able to show some concrete results, otherwise he will be left out," Kalla said.

Prabowo, who has been deemed less popular than Jokowi in a number of surveys on presidential candidates conducted this year, reminded the media that he had "made Jokowi". "I brought him from Surakarta to Jakarta," Prabowo said in July when asked about Jokowi's skyrocketing popularity.

While Jokowi has always refused to comment about his possible presidential candidacy, he said he did not feel indebted to any one individual for his current success.

"I am indebted to thousands of people who made me what I am today. There should not be claims by certain individuals just because they helped me during my campaign," Jokowi said. "In my current situation, I will not provide any special attention or preferential treatment to any individual or group. I could be lynched for that," he said in an interview in October.

Survey says TV ads fail to boost Aburizal's electability

Jakarta Post - November 18, 2013

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The electability of Golkar Party presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie remains below 10 percent and is very unlikely to improve before next year's election, according to the latest opinion poll.

A survey conducted by the Political Climatology Institute (LKP) found that regular appearances on his own media outlets hadn't made Aburizal more electable in the eyes of voters.

The LKP has conducted five-monthly electability surveys on Aburizal. On its first run in November 2012, or about four months after Golkar officially announced its decision to nominate Aburizal as its presidential candidate, only 7.1 percent of respondents said they would vote for the media magnate.

Following massive advertisement placements on national stations TV One and ANTV, which are both partly Bakrie family-owned, Aburizal's electability rose to 10.6 percent in March 2013, according to LKP's survey.

In July and November, however, Aburizal's electability dropped to 9.5 percent and 9.2 percent respectively.

"Aburizal's running mate must be at least as electable as Jokowi if Golkar wants to see their candidate have a good chance in the 2014 presidential race," LKP researcher Usman Rachman said.

Aburizal ranked far lower than Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party presidential hopeful Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto.

Aburizal has utilized his media outlets to promote himself but it has appeared that the advertisements have had a minimal effect on voters, Usman said.

The LKP survey also indicated that support for Aburizal's presidential bid was flagging among members of his own party. He was indeed still the most popular presidential candidate from Golkar, but the popularity of other party leaders had continued to rise.

LKP's survey showed that 19.6 percent of Golkar members preferred Aburizal, followed by former party chairman and former vice president Jusuf Kalla with 15.2 percent, House of Representatives deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso (13.9 percent) and party patron Akbar Tanjung (7.9 percent).

The survey, which Usman claimed to be independent, involved 1,070 respondents in all 34 provinces in the country who were surveyed between Nov. 1 and Nov. 10. The survey consisted of direct interview questions, with a margin of error of around 3 percent at the level of confidence of about 95 percent.

Last month, a survey conducted by Alvara showed that Aburizal ranked highest among the most popular presidential candidates, despite his low electability.

According to the survey, Aburizal was the most popular likely presidential candidate with 78.4 percent popularity rating, followed by Jokowi with 76 percent and Prabowo with 66.3 percent.

But when the survey respondents were asked, "Which candidate will you vote for?", 25.9 percent of respondents said they would vote for Jokowi, followed by Prabowo with 9.2 percent and Aburizal with only 7.6 percent.

Alleged PDI-P-Gerindra pact reported

Jakarta Globe - November 18, 2013

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the Great Indonesia Movement Party have reportedly signed a political pact in 2009 – dubbed the Batu Tulis Pact – that included a point where Megawati Soekarnoputri's party promised support for Gerindra chief patron Prabowo Subianto's presidential bid in 2014.

The pact – if verified – could have serious consequences for the PDI-P's ambitions to win next year's elections, despite the emergence of Joko Widodo, the current governor of Jakarta, as its rising star.

News website Liputan6.com said the pact, allegedly signed on May 15, 2009, in Batu Tulis, Bogor, West Java, included an statement indicating that Prabowo agreed to let Megawati run as a presidential candidate and Prabowo as her running mate in the 2009 presidential election.

Asked about the pact, Prabowo – who was leaving for Malaysia to appeal the death sentence currently facing Indonesian maid Wilfrida Soik – declined to clarify, stating instead that if such a pact existed it was made in confidence.

Prabowo briefly stated that Gerindra and the PDI-P were building political communications and that a coalition between both parties was still possible.

Handwritten

In the pact, it was reported that the PDI-P agreed to endorse Prabowo as the presidential candidate in 2014.

"The Batu Tulis Pact in 2009 between Megawati and Prabowo actually exists and it did happen," an anonymous source who attended the meeting where the pact was discussed, told Liputan6.com on Friday.

The source also said that the meeting was attended by 10 people from both parties. Attendees included politicians Megawati and her daughter Puan Maharani, Pramono Anung, Prabowo, Fadli Zon, Martin Hutabarat and businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Prabowo's brother.

Another source told detik.com on Sunday that the pact was handwritten and signed by both Megawati and Prabowo.

Martin Hutabarat, a member of Gerindra's board of advisers, refused to give a clear answer when asked about the existence of the pact but hinted at its existence. "I will not answer it with words, I am just going to answer it with a nod," Martin said as he nodded his head.

He also said he wanted to be careful about the political contract because Gerindra wanted the coalition with the PDI-P to remain harmonious.

Up to Megawati

"Gerindra and PDI-P's biggest contribution is by supporting certain figures that are loved by the public to hold public office and we realized that by pairing Jokowi and Ahok [Basuki Tjahaja Purnama] as Jakarta's governor and deputy governor," Martin said. "And the Gerindra Party will still give the ticket to Prabowo as a presidential candidate in 2014," Martin said.

Senior PDI-P politician Sabam Sirait who also attended the Batu Tulis meeting said he did not know that Megawati agreed to support Prabowo as a presidential candidate in 2014.

"It's true that I attended it. As far as I know it was to discuss a presidential candidate for 2009. But I'm not saying that it was just that. Whether or not there was a discussion about other issues, only Megawati and Prabowo have the answers," Sabam told Liputan6.com.

But Sabam said that there was no explicit agreement between the PDI-P and Gerindra to discuss the 2014 presidential election.

Sabam added that the PDI-P has given Megawati the full authority to decide the party's presidential candidate. "It was agreed that Megawati would decide the presidential candidate, which could be herself or another person. That decision is hers," Sabam said.

Speculation rife

Earlier this year, Gerindra said that there was still a chance that it would form a coalition with Megawati's party to support Prabowo as a presidential candidate in the 2014 election.

Suhardi, the chairman of the party, said anything could happen in the 16 months leading up to the election, despite Megawati's anger toward Prabowo for taking credit for Joko's gubernatorial victory in Jakarta in September last year.

"Regardless of all of the rumors, we will always respect Megawati," Suhardi said. "The logic is that we have a similar vision regarding the importance of nationalism and pro-people policies."

"Yes, it won't be easy," he added. "But as time goes by, Prabowo's popularity is increasing, and nobody can deny that he is the frontrunner." Suhardi added that Gerindra hopes to secure 30 percent of the vote in next year's legislative elections.

Skepticism

Most polls have named Prabowo the most popular candidate for 2014, ahead of Megawati.

However, many say that his bid could end before it begins due to a lack of party support. The PDI-P won 14 percent of the vote in 2009, while Gerindra only garnered 4.5 percent.

Although legislators are still negotiating the voting threshold required to make a presidential bid, many say the current figure of 20 percent will be maintained, meaning anyone intending to run needs support from a party or coalition of parties that have won at least 20 percent of the popular vote in the legislative elections.

Analysts say Prabowo burned his bridges with the PDI-P by glorifying his role in last year's Jakarta gubernatorial race.

Although she did not mention Prabowo by name, Megawati blasted "free riders" that took credit for Joko's victory. Megawati, has yet to announce the party's presidential candidate.

Gerindra has long hoped to get the support of the country's main opposition party as it waits for the right moment to officially declare its chief patron and founder, Prabowo, as its presidential candidate.

Ahmad Muzani, Gerindra's secretary general, said in September that Prabowo had carried out consolidation efforts in the regions and that he was confident about being chosen as the presidential candidate on the party's behalf.

Ahmad acknowledged that while Prabowo was polling well in opinion surveys, his presidential bid could "still fail." He also said he hoped that Prabowo's presidential nomination would earn the PDI-P's support.

Media & journalism

New police chief says Udin investigation was flawed

Jakarta Globe - November 20, 2013

Farouk Arnaz – National Police chief Cmr. Gen. Sutarman said the investigation into the murder case of Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin (Udin), a journalist who worked for the Bernas newspaper in Yogyakarta, had been flawed from the start.

"To be honest, Udin's case was wrong from the beginning. The crime scene investigation evidence was thrown into the sea in order to make the perpetrator confess. This is insane," Sutarman said.

He said he would reveal and reopen the case if he had at least two pieces of evidence. "I already traced the case when I was the chief of detectives. But apparently the pieces of evidence were thrown in the sea," he said.

Udin, who frequently wrote articles critical of the Suharto government, is thought to have been murdered for writing a report about alleged budget irregularities, which involved then Bantul district head Sri Roso Sudarmo, who was a colonel in the Indonesian Military.

The police named Dwi Sumadji as a suspect in the case for premeditated murder. Dwi was tried at the court but later acquitted. The indictment said Dwi murdered 32-year-old Udin out of revenge because Udin had been having an affair with his wife, Tri Sumaryani.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said it would take part in investigating the case.

Komnas HAM commissioner Natalius Pigai said the organization will push the Yogyakarta Police to immediately solve the case and reveal the mastermind in the murder, adding that Udin's family and the public in general wanted the police to solve the case.

"There's also a possibility that Komnas HAM could become the court's partner. We are concerned about the murder of Udin because it was a national tragedy," he said.

Meanwhile, reporters from various organizations are planning to take the Yogyakarta Police to a pre-trial hearing unless they are able to solve Udin's case before the end of the year. Six lawyers will represent the reporters in the Udin case.

"Our lawsuit is an effort to push the Sleman District Court to get the Yogyakarta Police to continue the investigation into Udin's case.

"But if the Yogyakarta Police aren't able to move the case forward, it should issue a letter to halt the investigation," one of the lawyers, Ramdlon Naning, said in front of the Sleman District Court.

Indonesia Press Association (PWI) chairman for Yogyakarta branch Sihono HT said his organization would continue to push the police to solve the case because it was convinced the murder was not related to an affair but more to the stories he wrote about the alleged graft in the district.

Udin was attacked by unknown assailants on Aug. 13, 1996 and died three days later. The Alliance of Independent Journalists claims eight journalists were murdered between 1996 and 2010 including Udin.

Environment & natural disasters

Google map should be used to challenge official claims

Jakarta Post - November 19, 2013

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The first high-resolution global forest cover on Google Earth should be used as a tool to revive discussion over the country's actual forest coverage and borders, environmentalists say.

"The government has never disclosed the methodology they use to calculate the annual number of total forest loss in the country, which according to them is only around 450,000 hectares," Avi Mahaningtyas, adviser to the Climate and Land Use Alliance, said on Monday.

"This map opens the opportunity to clarify how many hectares of forest we have actually lost."

As previously reported, a team of researchers from 15 universities – led by the University of Maryland and assisted by Google and NASA – published a study in Science Magazine, saying that of all countries, Indonesia, according to the Google forest map, had the largest increase of deforestation between 2000 and 2012.

The country's deforestation doubled from around 10,000 square kilometers (1 million hectares) per year between 2000 and 2003 to around 20,000 square kilometers of deforestation per year between 2011 and 2012. Indonesia, according to the study, lost 15.8 million hectares in total between 2000 and 2012, ranking fifth behind Russia, Brazil, the United States and Canada in terms of forest loss.

The government has dismissed the study, saying that the country only lost 450,000 hectares annually. "The scientists only look at satellite images of areas where logging activities are taking place, without putting the country's temporary deforestation into consideration," Forestry Ministry secretary-general Hadi Daryanto said.

Avi went on to say that the map could be used to map customary forests in the country as many local administrations are still failing to determine the boundaries for such forests, which should be protected following a Constitutional Court ruling in May that rendered the government's ownership of customary forests void.

"The beauty of this Google forest map lies in the fact that we have to check its accuracy. We can involve the researchers and the people who claimed to have the rights of the land, in a hope that it can help mitigate conflicts," Avi said.

The massive deforestation in the country has long been a source of conflicts between indigenous people, businesses, regional administration and central government, due to the unavailability of the single map, according to the environmentalists.

In May, the Constitutional Court scrapped the word "state" from Article 1 of the 1999 Forestry Law, which says, "Customary forests are state forests located in the areas of custom-based communities." In theory, businesses that want to convert custom-based land must seek permission from the community first.

Kasmita Widodo, the head of National Participatory Mapping Working Network (JKPP), said that the network along with indigenous people across the country have mapped out millions of hectares of customary forest, however none of those areas have yet been included within the regional spatial planning (RTRW).

"The participative map is necessary to be used as a counter-mapping to show the government the borders of the claimed customary forest, because these people have no land certificates despite their historical links to the land," Kasmita said.

"However, most regional administrations are still reluctant to recognize the participative map that was formed by the people, even though it took a enormous effort to be finished," he continued.

A North Jakarta fishing community learns how they are being cheated

Jakarta Globe - November 18, 2013

Ismira Lutfia Tisnadibrata – Members of the Muara Angke fishing community in North Jakarta make their living from the sea, but it is a living that many residents say is increasingly at risk from pollution and environmental degradation.

So when one of Indonesia's corporate law firms recently organized a class in Muara Angke, residents packed a community hall to learn about fishery and environmental laws, and to be briefed on city bylaws and regulations for running a small business, including the process to secure a business permit (SIUP) and certification for home-based food businesses.

Tri Sutrisno, a youth activist in the area, welcomed the initiative and said it offered important information that could benefit residents.

He said, for example, that residents had learned that obtaining a SIUP should be free, as regulated in a 2012 Jakarta bylaw, as opposed to the Rp 1 million ($86) or more that residents reported being regularly asked to pay in the past.

"The process is apparently quite simple and should not be as complicated as we have encountered," he said after participating in the class, organized by the law firm Soewito Suhardiman Eddymurthy Kardono (SSEK), along with 75 other residents at the hall.

"I also found out from the session that the docking fee for a 30 to 50-ton fishing boat is actually only Rp 75,000, according to a city bylaw. In reality, we have to pay an exorbitant fee of up to Rp 1.5 million every time we dock our vessel," Tri said.

Though the deeply ingrained bureaucratic culture of red tape and illegal fees will be hard to eliminate, Tri said, at least residents were now more aware of the laws and regulations that affect their lives and their livelihoods.

That, according to Denny Rahmansyah – a partner at SSEK who helped organize the event on Oct. 19 – was the goal. He said they did not expect an immediate sea change, but the firm wanted to give the community the knowledge that would allow them to begin improving their lives.

Another partner at the firm, Dyah Soewito, agreed that it was important to take that first step of familiarizing the community with the law.

"SSEK came to Muara Angke and organized this seminar because understanding the law, realizing what is expected and required of them, and of officials, is the first step for residents in fighting for and obtaining their rights," she said.

Basso Tawang, a retired fisherman, said understanding the law was important for pushing back against the environmental degradation of Jakarta Bay that has made it difficult for fishermen to earn a living.

Basso, who was born in South Sulawesi but moved to Jakarta with his family when he was young, said he and the other Muara Angke residents now knew more about gathering evidence of environmental damage and filing complaints with the appropriate government agencies.

"Jakarta Bay is heavily polluted and it is no longer the pond of milk as described by Koes Plus in their song," Basso said, referring to the song "Kolam Susu," or "Pond of Milk," by the Indonesian band. The song talks about the riches of Indonesia's waters, with fishermen able to count on a fruitful harvest even when using just a net or fishing pole.

The legal session was held in cooperation with the North Jakarta Police, who spread the word about the class to the local community, which is administratively unrecognized by the city, and encouraged residents to attend and empower themselves to run small-scale fishery businesses.

Head of the Sunda Kelapa subdistrict police, Anton Elfrino Trisanto said police fielded numerous complaints from residents about business deals gone wrong.

Salim Gunawan, a community leader, said he had been victimized by his former business partners.

"I used to run my own flower crab wholesale business but I was conned out of money and went bankrupt," he said, adding that it was the result of blindly trusting his partners without having the proper legal knowledge of how to run a business.

Anton said the police welcomed the chance to empower the Muara Angke community. "It could help them in doing business," he said.

Graft & corruption

Kalla incriminates Boediono in Bank Century probe

Jakarta Post - November 22, 2013

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Former vice president Jusuf Kalla said that Bank Indonesia (BI) should be held accountable for the 2008 Bank Century bailout, which many believe was rife with graft.

Speaking after undergoing questioning by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Thursday, Kalla said the bailout was unnecessary and plagued with irregularities.

His statement came as the KPK stepped up its probe into the bailout. Last week, the commission arrested former BI deputy governor Budi Mulya on allegations that he accepted Rp 1 billion (US$85,969) from a Bank Century official before the bailout. His arrest has fueled speculation that Vice President Boediono, the BI governor at the time, would also be charged in the case on the grounds that decision-making in the central bank was collegial.

Kalla said he found it peculiar that Bank Century's bailout cost ballooned to Rp 6.76 trillion ($577 million) from Rp 632 billion in a span of three days.

"The [initial estimated cost of saving the bank from] failure was Rp 630 billion, but after three days, [the state] paid Rp 2.5 trillion [in the first tranche of the bailout]," he told reporters at KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

When asked who should be held accountable, Kalla pointed the finger at the decision-makers, which were the BI and the now-defunct Committee for Financial Sector Stability (KSSK), which was headed by then finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. "The one responsible was the one who paid."

Mulyani – now the managing director at the World Bank – previously said she felt she was being manipulated by the BI since she was unaware of the sudden skyrocketing bailout cost when she agreed to save the ailing bank.

A report from the BI shows that the bailout cost was mainly the result of alleged Rp 5.98 trillion fraud, bad loans and irregularities undermining the ailing bank. The report said the KSSK meeting had agreed to inject Rp 632 billion into the bank. But after spotting more irregularities, despite the bank having been under intensive BI supervision since late 2004, the KSSK decided to increase the amount to bail out the bank.

Besides blaming the BI and the KSSK for the ballooning bailout cost, Kalla also said he had been blind-sided during the process that led to the decision to save the ailing bank, despite his being the acting president at the time.

According to him, he was left in the dark about the situation concerning Bank Century when Mulyani and Boediono had a meeting with him one day before the bailout decision was made.

"The finance minister and the BI governor reported nothing to me about our economic problems. [They told me that] there was no problematic bank," Jusuf said.

He said that during the meeting with Mulyani and Boediono, they, along with other ministers at the time, explained to him that there was no looming economic crisis.

"But a few hours later, they had a meeting at the Finance Ministry and decided at dawn that one bank could cause a systemic failure [in the country's banking sector]," he said.

Despite all the signs pointing at Boediono as the one culpable in the case, Kalla declined to single him out, saying it was the BI as an institution that should be held accountable. "I'm not saying Pak Boediono [is guilty], but BI as an institution has to explain [the bailout]," he said.

PDI-P dragged further into Hambalang case

Jakarta Post - November 21, 2013

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest opposition party and a front-runner in the 2014 elections, has been dragged further into the web of graft centering on the Hambalang sports complex project in Bogor, West Java.

A trial hearing on Tuesday heard claims that the party used illicit money from the project, which was rife with irregularities, to fund its third congress in Bali in 2010.

PT Metaphora Solusi Global commissioner Muhammad Arifin said during his testimony that PT Adhi Karya director Teuku Bagus Muhammad Noor asked him to provide Rp 500 million (US$43,000) to be given to PDI-P treasurer Olly Dondokambey.

When prosecutor Kiki Ahmad Yani asked Arifin whether the money was intended for an event in Bali in 2010, Arifin said yes. That event is believed to be the party's congress.

In response to the allegation, PDI-P lawmaker Arif Budimanta said that the congress was not funded through illicit means. "All funding came from legitimate sources," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. "[The money was] pitched in together by all PDI-P members."

According to Arif, there was no need for the party to look for money from external sources as the event was conducted in a low-key manner, without lavish accommodation or fancy meals.

"The congress was a modest affair because from the very beginning, it was clear who would be the chairperson [of the party]. All of us wanted Bu Mega to be the chairwoman," he said, referring to Megawati Soekarnoputri, the current chairwoman of the party.

The PDI-P did not need a big budget to fund political campaigns unlike other parties such as the Democratic Party, according to Arif. "All of the party's members who came also paid for their own trip."

The congress was held at the Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel in Sanur, Bali, from April 6 to 9, 2010. The meeting declared incumbent party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri as the party leader for the following five years.

PDI-P deputy secretary-general Hasto Kristianto, meanwhile, said that Olly did not serve as the party's treasurer during the congress, and that the event was free from vote-buying.

"The party's chairperson was chosen through acclamation. Therefore, the congress did not need a big budget and there was no need to ask for donations from external sources," he said.

As well as allegedly accepting the money to fund the congress, Olly was also accused of accepting Rp 2.5 billion in kickbacks from PT Adhi Karya in return for his services.

Olly, who now serves as the head of the House's Commission XI overseeing finance and banking, served as deputy chairman of the House's budget committee when the Hambalang case occurred.

During Tuesday's court session, Arifin said that the Rp 2.5 billion was borrowed by Teuku from Olly, and thus Teuku was only returning the money he had borrowed. "As far as I know [the money] was a loan repayment for a project," he said. Arifin, however, said that he did not know for which project the money was intended.

Olly was also accused of accepting two wooden dining table sets from the company, which won the tender for the Hambalang project. The furniture was confiscated by the KPK during a search in Sept. 2013.

Hamdi Muluk, a political psychologist at the University of Indonesia (UI), said the allegations could be used as ammunition by other parties to attack the PDI-P.

"It will certainly be politicized by the party's opponents as the PDI-P has been gaining momentum and Jokowi's popularity is also on the rise," he said, referring to Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Supreme Court grants heavier sentence for Angelina Sondakh

Jakarta Post - November 21, 2013

Jakarta – The Supreme Court has handed down a heavier sentence to former Democratic Party politician Angelina Sondakh, from the previously sentenced four-and-a-half years in prison to 12 years.

The court's panel, led by Justice Artidjo Alkostar, also ordered the former beauty queen to reimburse Rp 12 billion and US$2.35 million (Rp 27.5 billion) to the state.

According to the panel, Angelina deserved a heavier punishment because it was proven that she had proactively asked for bribes from Mindo Rosalina Manulang, who has completed her prison term in the same case.

"Angelina was very proactive in asking for bribes. Her role is very significant," Artidjo said, as quoted bykompas.com on Thursday.

Angelina's lawyer, Teuku Nasrullah, refused to comment, only saying that he would seek verification first with the Supreme Court in regards to the ruling. He added that he would consult with his client before making any public statements.

Commenting on the ruling, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chief Busyro Muqoddas said the court's ruling better represented the public's expectation for justice.

Angelina was previously sentenced to four-and-a half years in prison and fined Rp 500 million when the graft court found her guilty of receiving kickbacks from private companies in return for project opportunities in the National Education Ministry and the Youth and Sports Ministry.(dic)

Former senior PKS politician discloses identity of Bunda Putri

Jakarta Post - November 20, 2013

Former senior politician in the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Suripto disclosed the identify of controversial figure Bunda Putri in Jakarta on Wednesday, saying that Bunda Putri was the wife of the director general of horticulture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Hasanuddin Ibrahim.

"Yes, the director general," Suripto said at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as quoted by kompas.com, when he was about to be questioned on his capacity as a witness in a corruption case on beef imports.

Suripto also said that although he knew the identity of Bunda Putri, he had never communicated with either her or Hasanuddin. Suripto claimed to also not know a businessman named Sengman Tjahja, who has been mentioned as a confidant as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The names of both Bunda Putri and Sengman arose during the trial of Ahmad Fathanah, a suspect in the beef import quota case. Bunda Putri was said to be a close acquaintance of Yudhoyono.

The KPK has thus far not yet scheduled to question Bunda Putri. The commission summoned Sengman for questioning on Tuesday, but he failed to show up.

VP in peril as KPK steps up Bank Century probe

Jakarta Post - November 18, 2013

Hans Nicholas Jong and Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) arrest of former Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor Budi Mulya for his alleged role in the Bank Century case may lead to the prosecution of Vice President Boediono, who headed the central bank in 2008 when it bailed out Century to avert financial crisis.

KPK chairman Abraham Samad said that Budi's arrest was a starting point for understanding the roles other major players had in the bailout, which caused massive state losses. In a 2010 vote, the House of Representatives decided the bailout had been illegal.

"It will help us to clearly see those implicated in the case. According to our investigation so far, we believe that there are more actors, other than Budi, who were responsible for wrongdoing in the Century case," Abraham said on the sidelines of a book launch event in South Jakarta on Sunday.

The KPK chief said that the disbursement of bailout funds was based on a "collective collegial system", meaning that responsibility for any wrongdoing in the appropriation of the funds was shared by all those behind the decision.

Abraham, however, declined to confirm whether the KPK investigation would target Boediono, who was then BI governor, and former finance minister and current managing director of the World Bank, Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

"To determine their roles we need to examine the case further. I believe that the prosecution of Budi will clearly reveal those who were responsible. Therefore, the public should not worry that some individuals will be protected. All will be revealed," he added.

When asked whether the KPK would summon the vice president in the near future, Abraham answered, "Insyaallah [God willing] that will be done." He added that no one was above the law.

Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party, one of the lawmakers who initiated the inquiry into the bailout, lauded the KPK's move to detain Budi and expected the agency would apprehend "the other culprits, including Boediono".

"Decision-making in the BI was collective. If Budi was guilty, then the BI governor would have to share responsibility," he said.

The Century case is seen by many as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Achilles heel, with his rivals repeatedly using the issue to assail his leadership. The possible prosecution of Boediono ahead of the 2014 elections would deal a severe blow to the president's party, several members of which have already been jailed for corruption.

Contacted on Sunday, Boediono's spokesman, Yopie Hidayat, refused to comment on the suggestion that Budi's arrest could jeopardize the vice president.

In September, however, Yopie said that Boediono was ready to face the investigators in the Century case. "It's not a problem. The vice president will be happy to help the KPK in the probe should they need it," he said at the time.

Boediono, a professor of economics at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), has rarely spoken to the media after being elected vice president. Last year, however, he posted 17 messages on his official Twitter account @Boediono in defense of the Rp 6.76 trillion (US$757.12 million) Century bailout.

He said it was necessary to save the country's economy, which was on the brink of recession. "The Indonesian people now enjoy the benefits of that policy because Indonesia survived the 2008 global economic crisis."

In his most recent message, he said he would stand behind his decision to bail out the bank and that he would take responsibility for the consequences of it.

Zainal Arifin Muchtar, legal expert and researcher at Gadjah Mada University's Center for Anticorruption Studies, said that Boediono's fate was now in the hands of Budi. "It all depends on the quality [of information] extracted from Budi," he said.

Zainal, however, was hesitant to say whether the arrest of Budi was a bad omen for the vice president. "There's still a debate going on over who should be named a suspect and who is responsible," he said.

Indonesia's graftbusters battle the establishment

Reuters - November 17, 2013

Kanupriya Kapoor & Randy Fabi – An inspector general of Indonesian police had just withstood eight hours of interrogation on the night of October 5, last year at the Jakarta headquarters of Indonesia's anti-corruption agency when a commotion erupted outside.

Investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission, known by its Indonesian initials KPK, had accused Djoko Susilo of amassing land, cars, mansions and stacks of cash. His arrest was an unprecedented strike against a police force with a long-held reputation for graft in a country routinely ranked as among the most corrupt in the world.

The counter punch came swiftly. At about 9 p.m. that night, dozens of policemen descended upon the KPK headquarters with one demand: hand over Novel Baswedan, 36, the celebrated investigator who had led the interrogation of Djoko.

But the police didn't reckon on a remarkable show of public support. Hundreds of protesters, lawyers, activists and journalists soon arrived to barricade the entrance of the KPK building, summoned by text messages from an anonymous KPK official. After a three-hour standoff, the police squadron left. Nearly a year later, on Sept. 3, Djoko was sentenced to 10 years in prison and the state seized $10.4 million of his assets.

It was a narrow escape for Novel, himself a former policeman and now lionized as "supercop" by Indonesian media, and once again, also for the anti-corruption agency. Since its establishment in 2002, the KPK has become, contrary to all expectations, a fiercely independent, resilient, popular and successful institution that is a constant thorn in the side of Indonesia's establishment.

Reuters spent six months examining the KPK and their campaign against corruption, gaining rare access to the agency and interviewing senior police officials, politicians, business leaders, members of Yudhoyono's inner circle and the president himself.

The KPK has won guilty verdicts in all 236 cases it has fought. Its arrests of cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, central bankers, CEOs, a judge and even a former beauty queen have exposed how widespread and systemic corruption is in Indonesia. It has certainly made big-ticket abuses of power far riskier in Indonesia.

But its success is becoming more costly. Reuters also found an overwhelmed and underfunded agency that faces mounting opposition from parliament, police and the presidency. The KPK's popularity has so far been its most effective buffer against such attacks, especially in the run-up to next year's parliamentary and presidential elections. Any attempt to eviscerate the commission would almost certainly cost votes.

"The KPK's only friend is the public," says Dadang Trisasongko, secretary general of the Indonesian chapter of global corruption watchdog Transparency International.

The international business community is watching this tussle closely. Executives surveyed in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2011-12 said corruption remained "the most problematic factor for doing business" in Indonesia.

The World Bank has said corruption across the world costs $1 trillion. No one has done a thorough study of the costs in Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country and one of the hottest emerging markets with an economic growth rate of 6 percent. The Anti-Corruption Studies Center at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta put the losses to the state at $1 billion over the past five years alone.

Gecko vs crocodile

The KPK has enemies because it is both powerful and effective. Over a third of the agency's 385 arrests since its inception in 2002 have been of politicians. The KPK's powers are considerable: it can slap travel bans on suspects, go on asset-seizing sprees to collect evidence and – the secret behind many high-profile KPK arrests – wiretap conversations without a warrant.

But the KPK started small after its creation in 2002. Early targets were mainly mid-level officials, regional leaders and businessmen. That began to change when Yudhoyono took office in 2004, vowing to deliver "shock therapy" to a graft-riddled system.

The KPK moved quickly to prosecute several major graft cases, homing in on politicians. In 2008, the agency ensnared the first member of Yudhoyono's inner circle: Aulia Pohan, a former deputy central bank governor whose daughter is married to the president's oldest son. Aulia was arrested with three other deputies after former central bank governor Burhanuddin Abdullah was convicted and jailed for five years for embezzling $10 million. Aulia was sentenced to four years in prison on charges in the alleged embezzlement scheme, which according to the prosecution, aimed to bribe lawmakers to influence legislation affecting Bank Indonesia.

By the time Yudhoyono ran for reelection in 2009, the agency had expanded from a staff of 100 to nearly 400, with thousands more applying for jobs.

Among them was Novel Baswedan, who joined the agency in 2007 after 10 years with the national police, where he had specialized in corruption cases. Novel, the grandson of noted Indonesian freedom fighter and one its first diplomats A. R. Novel, said he decided on a career in police work "in order to do good deeds." In his first case at the KPK in 2008, Novel nabbed the mayor of the Sumatran city of Medan for misuse of the city budget. The mayor, Abdillah, was given a five-year prison sentence.

The agents were having a big impact and capturing the public imagination. For the first time in years, Indonesia fared better on Transparency International's country rankings on corruption perception, leaping to 111th place from 133rd over five years. And that's when the KPK was thrown on the defensive.

Many of its agents came from the national police, which is also empowered to investigate corruption cases but is itself riddled with corruption, Novel told Reuters in his first interview with the media. "There is a culture of corruption that is so entrenched that it happens everywhere in the police."

In 2009, the KPK began investigating a top police detective, Susno Duadji, for allegedly accepting a bribe. Susno famously mocked the agency for taking on the police: "How can a gecko hope to defeat a crocodile?" The remark came back to haunt him. He is serving a three-and-half year jail sentence for corruption and abuse of power.

Five months later, police arrested two KPK commissioners for extortion and bribery. The charges were dropped after nationwide street protests and a Facebook campaign that gathered one million supporters. The KPK also released wiretap recordings of telephone conversations, which a court later determined showed police officials conspiring to undermine the KPK.

The agency came under further pressure later that year when its chairman Antasari Azhar was arrested for masterminding the murder of a Jakarta businessman. Antasari, who pleaded innocent, is serving 18 years in prison. The Supreme Court denied his appeal.

Chandra Hamzah, one of the two commissioners arrested in 2009 and now a lawyer in Jakarta, said that period was a defining moment for the KPK. "If the police had been successful in pushing us out then, the KPK would have crumbled. They came very close to doing that."

Accountable only to God

The KPK has continued to zero in on parliament and the police, the two most corrupt institutions in Indonesia, according to Transparency International. Over the past two years, the agency has also targeted senior politicians in Yudhoyono's Democratic Party.

Former sports minister Andi Mallarangeng – once a rising star in Indonesian politics – and party chairman Anas Urbaningrum have been declared suspects in a graft case involving construction of a sports stadium in Hambalang, West Java.

The KPK accused the two of taking kickbacks during the tendering process. Andi was arrested in October on charges of abuse of authority and causing state losses. Anas has not been charged in the ongoing investigation. They both deny any wrongdoing in the case, which the Supreme Audit Agency in September estimated caused state losses of around $41 million.

The party's former treasurer, Muhammad Nazaruddin, was sentenced to seven years in jail in January for accepting bribes linked to the construction of an athletes village for the Southeast Asia Games in Sumatra. Angelina Sondakh, a lawmaker for Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and a former Miss Indonesia, was sentenced in January to 4.5 years in prison for corruption and abuse of power in the same case.

Since then, KPK investigators have kept moving into Yudhoyono's inner circle.

In August, the chairman of Indonesia's energy regulator SKKMigas, Rudi Rubiandini was detained for questioning on suspicion of accepting a bribe after investigators said they caught him taking $400,000 in cash and a BMW motorcycle from an oil company official. The KPK said he has not been officially charged and the investigation continues. The Anti-Corruption Court in November began hearing the case against the oil company official.

Yudhoyono now seldom speaks out in favor of the agency he once championed. A week after the father of his daughter-in-law was convicted of embezzlement in June 2009, Yudhoyono echoed other politicians who claimed the KPK had grown too powerful: he described it as "accountable only to God."

At his state of the nation address in August, delivered just three days after the KPK arrested the energy regulator, Yudhoyono gave corruption only a passing mention.

Presidential spokesman Julian Pasha told Reuters Yudhoyono's support for the KPK has never wavered. "The way of his thinking on the KPK is still the same. His commitment to support the KPK actually never changed."

In early October, the KPK went after what the government calls the "judicial mafia" – a nexus that links police, prosecutors, fixers and judges that purportedly puts a price on practically anything in the legal system. The agency shocked even Indonesians jaded by the country's epic corruption scandals by arresting Akil Mochtar, the chief justice of the Constitutional Court and seizing almost $260,000 in cash. The KPK said the money came from bribes to rig a court ruling over a disputed local election. Akil has not yet been officially charged, a KPK spokesman said.

The widening investigation, which has led to the arrest of a half-dozen other figures but no other judges so far, is likely to become an issue in next year's elections.

The constitutional court was set up in 1999 after the long-ruling authoritarian president Suharto was toppled from power as part of reforms intended to free courts from political interference. Much of its work involves ruling on disputed local elections. The landmark decentralization measures of 2001 gave significant powers to local politicians making the stakes in local elections much higher.

Yudhoyono told Reuters earlier this year corruption has proven harder to eradicate than he had thought. "I am still not satisfied," he said. "I am frustrated, I am angry, I am annoyed." He denied, however, that it had risen in his nearly nine years in office. In Transparency International's latest rankings, however, Indonesia has slipped back to 118th place, putting Southeast Asia's biggest economy alongside Egypt, Ecuador and Madagascar.

Budget increase?

The KPK's 75 investigators must sift through thousands of public complaints each year to select the roughly 70 or so cases it can realistically pursue. The agency's mandate is to investigate cases of Rp 1 billion ($88,000) and above, so investigators choose the most high-profile corruption cases in the hope it will be enough to deter others.

Its high conviction rate might be the envy of its counterparts elsewhere in Asia, but it's only a drop in the bucket in Indonesia, where graft is simply part of the fabric of everyday life – from backhanders to traffic policemen to "facilitation payments" to get anything done in the country's bloated bureaucracy. The police and attorney general's office handle most of the routine graft cases.

The agency is hoping for a giant increase in its budget for an ambitious expansion into provinces, where government funds and international investment has soared under decentralization. This, however, depends on approval by Indonesia's politicians, who have been trying to curb the KPK's reach, not expand it.

"As it stands now, the KPK is a law unto itself," said lawmaker Desmond Mahesa, who has led calls in a parliamentary commission to better regulate the KPK and freeze its budget. "We have to tighten our grip and keep an eye on them," he told Reuters.

Parliament has already tried to do this. In 2009, when the KPK was getting besieged by the police, Indonesia's Minister for Communication and Information Tifatul Sembiring proposed amending the country's anti- corruption legislation to limit the KPK's wire-tapping powers. The plan was shelved amid a public backlash.

"If not for public pressure, we would have gone ahead," says opposition lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari. Pro-KPK parliamentarians such as herself do exist, but are "in the minority," she adds.

Some 700 employees are shoe-horned into the eight-story former bank building designed for half that number. Most of its windowless parking garage has been converted into office space. Outside, tucked between cargo containers used to store mountains of paperwork, are 12 holding cells for suspects considered a flight-risk. Current inmates include a former deputy central bank governor.

In 2008, the Ministry of Finance earmarked Rp 225 billion ($19.8 million) to build a new KPK headquarters with space for up to 1,300 staff. Parliament stalled on approving it. To shame their politicians, Indonesians launched a fundraising campaign called "Coins for the KPK," led by a local NGO, Indonesia Corruption Watch. Civic groups and members of the public set up stalls across Jakarta and collected over $36,000. They even received bags of bricks and cement. Parliament finally approved the allocation in October 2012.

KPK Commissioner Adnan Pandu Praja told Reuters he wants the agency's budget to be fixed at 0.5 percent of the national budget – similar to Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption on which the KPK is modeled – to avoid the annual tussles with lawmakers. Based on the 2013 national budget, that would mean nearly a 15-fold increase to Rp 8.6 trillion ($745 million) from its current Rp 600 billion budget.

'Like husband and wife'

While politicians have been mostly in the KPK's cross-hairs, its arrest last year of Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo was significant: he was the first senior police officer to be arrested while on active duty. The KPK accused him of embezzling $3 million in the purchase of driving simulators while he headed the National Police Traffic Corps.

His interrogation at KPK headquarters on Oct. 5 of last year came amid renewed tensions between the agency and the police, who had earlier ordered the recall of more than a dozen officers on loan to the agency – including Novel Baswedan, Djoko's chief interrogator. Yudhoyono later ordered the National Police to withdraw the recall orders.

To ensure their future independence, Novel and other seconded police have since left the force to become full-time KPK staff. Novel says some former police colleagues regard him as a traitor.

He said was not surprised when police tried to arrest him at KPK headquarters while he was interrogating Djoko. "On that day, I was particularly anticipating a threat [The charges related to a 2004 assault case in which Novel had already been cleared of any wrongdoing]. Of course, I was worried for my life," said Novel, the father of four girls ages 2-9. He and two other KPK agents said they have received death threats via SMS, but he declined to give further details.

The police downplay any rift. "We regard the KPK as one of our partners in law-enforcement," said Agus Rianto, deputy spokesperson for the national police. "We are like husband and wife. Even spouses clash sometimes, don't they?"

Freedom of religion & worship

Activists: Minister Suryadharma flouts constitution

Jakarta Globe - November 22, 2013

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has once again come under fire for religious intolerance after suggesting that minor religious sects, including Ahmadiyah, should disband themselves.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation lashed out at Suryadharma, saying that a minister should not publicly contradict the constitution.

"As a minister who has responsibility for upholding the constitution, he is ruining its mandates and values. The minister of religious affairs should understand the principle of unity in diversity, so that his statements don't offend anyone when he addresses a national problem," Alvon Kurnia Palma of the foundation known as YLBHI said in a press release on Thursday.

Suryadharma, from the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), made the provocative statement while attending an interfaith dialogue in Semarang, Central Java, recently. During the dialogue, Suryadharma said that the emergence of new faiths or religions was the cause of religious intolerance.

"A religion that looks similar [to Islam] but is clearly not the same has prompted anger from some believers, especially Muslims who are the majority. It eventually creates horizontal conflict, an unfavorable situation not only for the followers of both religions but also for the people who live around the conflict area," said Suryadharma.

The minister said that the most effective solution for the "Ahmadiyah problem" was to disband the sect, or to declare Ahmadiyah a new religion that should not cite the symbols or principles of Islam. "In Malaysia, that religion has been banned. In Pakistan, Ahmadiyah is considered a non-Islam minority religion," said Suryadharma.

Alvon said that the Constitution states that every citizen is free to embrace and perform prayers according to their religion, and that the law on human rights also stipulates that the government is obliged to respect, protect, enforce and prioritize the right to freedom of belief. YLBHI called on Suryadharma to retract his statement about the disbandment of Ahmadiyah.

Indonesia has a dark history of intolerance over religious beliefs. Between 2007 and 2012, there were an annual average of 216 recorded cases of acts of religious intolerance, while the first half of this year has seen 122 cases spread over 16 provinces, according to data from rights group the Setara Institute.

Alvon said that the religious affairs minister needed to understand that Indonesia's constitution is founded on the rule of law. He said that the law does not permit the forced disbandment of groups such as Ahmadiyah, which is a legal grouping whose members are entitled to pray according to their beliefs.

He added that many groups were ready to defend Ahmadiyah in the name of preventing religious discrimination.

The rights lawyer also urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was awarded the 2013 World Statesman award for upholding religious tolerance, along with his cabinet, to respect the principles of diversity including religious tolerance.

Said Aqil Sirodj, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, one of the two largest Islamic organizations in the country, described Suryadharma's anti- Ahmadiyah statement as partisan. "It's political – maybe it's because he's a politician," Said said.

The NU chief said he regretted that such a statement came from the religious affairs minister. "What else do you want to do with Ahmadiyah? They are our brothers, fellow countrymen," he said.

Said underlined that everyone born or living in Indonesia is equal in position and rights, which need to be respected as long as they don't break the law.

He called on the country's Muslims to take a milder approach. "Our responsibility is to convey our messages in such a manner that people will return to the right way," he said.

Benny Susetyo of the Setara Institute agreed that Suryadharma was violating the constitution by his statement that sought to encourage the disbanding of Ahmadiyah. Benny, who is also the secretary general of the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI), said that the minister should have known better.

"Minister Suryadharma Ali as the religious affairs minister should comply with the constitution, show commitment to carry out the constitution because that's the foundation of our country," said Benny.

Benny added that Suryadharma's statement showed that he was prioritizing the interests of the PPP rather than carrying out the government's policies.

"This is what happens when you pick ministers from political parties. They will prioritize their parties' interests rather than carrying out the central government's policies. It's true that none of these ministers are statesmen, they are party officials," he said.

In September, Coordinating Minister of Security, Political and Legal Affairs Djoko Suyanto said that the government had no plans to disband the Ahmadiyah congregation in Bekasi, despite a request from the municipality.

"The government's position is to uphold the constitution, which guarantees religious freedom and freedom to one's own beliefs," Djoko told the Jakarta Globe. "There must not be any coercion or violence by anyone toward anyone else." Djoko said that the government would uphold a joint ministerial decree to preserve religious tolerance.

In a letter dated July 26, the Bekasi municipality requested that President Yudhoyono disband the local Ahmadiyah congregation. If the denomination were to be allowed, the letter asked that Yudhoyono reclassify it by presidential decree as an accepted religion other than Islam.

Cases of religious intolerance in the country have caught the eye of international watchdog groups, and many minorities here face discrimination in the practice of their beliefs and the construction of places of worship. Such groups include the Ahmadiyah, Shi'ites in Madura, the embattled church of GKI Yasmin and others.

The right not to believe is also under attack. Last year, Alexander Aan, 32, a Minang civil servant, was sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment and a Rp 100 million ($10,600) fine for blasphemy after he declared himself an atheist on Facebook.

The most prominent recent case of state-sponsored religious intolerance came last week when Shi'ite Muslims in West Java were forced by police to abandon a ceremony to commemorate the Ashura holiday.

Armed forces & defense

Soldier's dismissal linked to sexual orientation

Jakarta Globe - November 18, 2013

Despite rejecting allegations that he was gay, Second Sergeant S.N.F. has been dismissed from his squad by a high military court in Jakarta in what appears to be the first legal case hinging on alleged homosexuality in the military in Indonesia.

S.N.F., who joined the military in 2008, appealed a decision by a Bandung court to the high court in Jakarta and rejected all accusations, including claiming that an allegation which stated that he was gay wasn't backed up by experts' opinions or a medical examination by a doctor.

S.N.F. also said that the Indonesian Military (TNI) would have detected that he was gay when he enrolled to become a military officer. S.N.F challenged the court to conduct a medical examination to determine whether or not he was gay. "The defendant strongly rejects the judges' consideration," S.N.F. said in his appeal.

However, the appeal court rejected his defense, upholding the lower court's decision and dismissing him from his job and punishing him with a five- month prison sentence.

The court insisted that the punishment was handed out not because he was gay but because he abandoned his duties for 42 days because he was embarrassed by his homosexuality.

However, Hendardi, a prominent human rights activist, demanded the court clarify whether S.N.F. really had abandoned his duties and was punished because of the desertion and not because of his sexual preference.

"Nobody can be punished because of their sexual orientation. It's part of people's basic rights that is guaranteed by the United Nations," he said.

Hendardi, however, acknowledged that a revolution in the country's mindset was needed in order for someone who was openly gay to be free to join the military in Indonesia.

Experts and activists have agreed that accepting openly gay individuals in most professions, especially in the military, will be difficult in a country where homosexuality is taboo and where many Indonesians still refuse to acknowledge gay people, with some groups even using violence against homosexuals.

The military court said that homosexuality has a negative impact on the troops, saying that such behavior could be contagious because people who are gay will search for people to continue such behavior.

"This is a threat for the strengthening of the TNI force, especially in guiding personnel because it has negative impacts," a judge said, as quoted on the Supreme Court's website on Saturday.

The court also noted that gay people were vulnerable to sexual diseases and AIDS due to their tendency to frequently change partners.

"According to experts, 95 percent of people affected by this disease [AIDS] are homosexuals," said the judges in their consideration during a February trial, without citing which experts had made the claim.

According to the World Health Orgaganization, about 35.3 million people were living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in 2012.

The judges added that homosexual activities were not in line with religious or other norms. "Homosexual behavior will ruin the troops' morality and discipline, which would eventually affect the main duties of the TNI, and especially the defendant's main duties in his unit," said the judge.

Foreign affairs & trade

Different groups see Oz as common enemy

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2013

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The ongoing friction between Indonesia and Australia over wiretapping allegations can be seen as a blessing in disguise as it is uniting groups with different ideologies to voice their concerns over what they deem is tantamount to a violation of Indonesia's sovereignty.

Paramilitary groups like Laskar Merah Putih, the Forum of Indonesian Veterans and Police and Military Retirees (FKPPI) and the Merah Putih Fighters Command shared the same ground outside the Australian Embassy with religious-based organizations like the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the Indonesian Hizbut Tahrir (HTI) to demand Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott apologize for the wiretapping incident.

Under tight police guard, the organizations deployed thousands of members as a sign that they meant business. Many FPI members threw rotten tomatoes and eggs at the embassy's fence during Friday's rally. Earlier, protesters burned Australian flags and a picture of Abbott to express their displeasure.

They threatened that things would get ugly if the Australian government was not forthcoming with an apology. The organizations demanded that diplomatic ties be severed between the two countries and that the Australian ambassador be expelled.

Public outrage has been widespread, with similar demands being made in other regions, such as Palembang, Yogyakarta and Surakarta. Others have expressed concern that the issue would eventually affect tourism as Australian tourists top the list of foreigners visiting Indonesian shores.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono previously stated that he would wait for the Australian government's official response. In the meantime, the President has halted information and intelligence exchange activities. Military cooperation has also been put on hold, as has intercepting boat people headed for Australia.

"The damage is done and things will never be the same again," said Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University political scientist Burhanuddin Muhtadi.

He said the wiretapping incident was a prime example of issues that frequently upset diplomatic relations between the neighboring countries. "This would definitely turn diplomatic relations sour, at least until the President's term ends in October next year."

Regarding the fact that the incident has united mass organizations with different ideologies to express the same concerns, Burhanuddin said it happened every time a perceived enemy seemingly attempted to breach Indonesia's sovereignty.

However, he noticed that the organizations would maintain their own perspectives when dealing with the issue. He added that unlike their paramilitary counterparts that viewed this from a national security perspective, the HTI would view Australia as part of the West infidel that was trying to mess with Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country.

He, however, said that once the two governments had settled the problem, the unity between the organizations would dissolve.

Phone tapping national leaders 'normal', says former Indonesian spy chief

Sydney Morning Herald - November 21, 2013

Michael Bachelard – Indonesia's former top spy master has accused his own President of exaggerating the problem of phone tapping, saying attempts by intelligence agencies to snoop on national leaders were "normal".

And former spy agency chief Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono has also punctured claims by his Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa that Indonesia would never tap the phones of Australian politicians, insisting it was a routine part of "black intelligence".

Despite this, Mr Hendropriyono has urged Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to apologise to Indonesia and get back to the business of building good relations.

Mr Hendropriyono, the head of Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN) until 2004, has been thrust into the Australian political debate because of a TV interview he gave in 2004, in which he admitted to bugging Australian politicians. That interview has been widely used by Mr Abbott's supporters to defend the Prime Minister's position.

In an interview with Fairfax Media, the former Indonesian army general has now amplified his 2004 comments, saying of Australia's attempts to listen to the conversations of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the first lady and their confidantes: "For intelligence, it's normal."

He added that Indonesia not only had the capacity to tap the phones of Australians, but that intelligence agencies also had a responsibility to try it, "friend or foe".

"We are fighting for life. We have to compete with many competitors so... we should collect as much as possible information," Mr Hendropriyono said.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has explicitly denied that Indonesia listens to the phone calls of its "friends", saying that such behaviour was illegal, immoral and "we don't do it". President Yudhoyono made a similar point as he suspended all military co-operation with Australia.

But Mr Hendropriyono contradicted both men: "Indonesian intelligence is smart, so it's not revealed," he said.

Asked if Indonesia could listen to Mr Abbott's phone, he said: "We have the ability to tap and to counter-tap". However, he also suggested that Australian counterintelligence would prevent this happening.

Mr Hendropriyono said human intelligence – what he called "white intelligence" – was standard practice in embassies worldwide, but that phone tapping was "the most reliable" way to confirm information gathered.

"Tapping and counter-tapping is quite common in the intelligence life, because it is one of their primary jobs," he said.

"There is no permanent friend, or there is no permanent foe. However, there is a permanent interest... our nation's interest... How can intelligence not spy [on] anybody? He must spy himself, spy his friends and spy his enemy. It's what he should do."

He acknowledged the practice was illegal, but said the main fault leading to Australia's current embarrassment was that the information had leaked, and the politicians had become involved.

"Intelligence is judged like in sport, two boxers fighting in the ring. They punch and they counter-punch... They attack and they defend themselves, but it is in the ring – the ring of intelligence. If the officials, in this case politicians, interfere in the case, that is wrong. That is very wrong."

Now that it is in the political arena, the politicians have overreacted, he said. "[It's] overreaction from both sides... none has any deep enough understanding about intelligence," he said.

"Your Prime Minister also, I think, is exaggerating. He said he... doesn't want to apologise... You can say, yes, in the diplomatic view we are supposed to apologise... like President Obama apologised as the President.

"I hope that both our leaders, SBY as well as Tony Abbott should not be too emotional... Please do not deteriorate [the relationship] because of a very small thing. This is a very technical thing."

Mr Hendropriyono also revealed a previously hidden motive for giving the original 2004 interview to the Nine Network's Sun-day program.

"I have a very good relationship with my friends, the directors of ASIS and ASIO, and I would like them to be more alert, to raise the capability of their intelligence, and that is why I mentioned, 'I tapped you'... Then your intelligence gets more budget for counterintelligence. That is the way of intelligence techniques."

Spying scandal: Australian flags burnt as protests heat up in Indonesia

Sydney Morning Herald - November 21, 2013

Michael Bachelard – Protests about Australia's spying on Indonesia moved from the palace to the streets on Thursday with the hardline "Red and White Brigade" rallying outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta and Australian flags being burnt in the capital and the student city Yogyakarta.

Outside the front of the Australian embassy, several hundred protesters gathered in paramilitary uniform, carrying signs including "Mr Abbott is stupid", "Abbott you hurt my heart" and "Boycott Australian products".

They burnt paper replicas of the Australian and American flags, and chanted and sung the Indonesian national anthem. They protesters called on Indonesia to increase its military budget so it can have better security against phone-tapping.

"We are the people of Indonesia, we have the right to defend our country. The government of Australia should immediately apologise to the people of Indonesia. If it's not done, then don't blame us if we attack the embassy," a protest leader from the organisation the Red and White brigade said.

The story of Australian phone tapping and the Indonesian government's response is front page news, and tweets in which Liberal Party pollster Mark Textor appeared to compare Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa to a porn star made the front page of at least one online newspaper, Kompas.

Hacker group Anonymous Indonesia claimed credit for denial of service attacks that briefly shut down the Australian Federal Police site and also afflicted the Reserve Bank.

Talkback TV and radio in Indonesia have also been ablaze with the story, with a number of callers expressing disgust at Australia "meddling" in Indonesian affairs. There have been calls for Australians to be denied visas on arrival when they arrive at Indonesian airports, including Bali.

However, other callers were more critical of the Indonesian government for allowing the phones of the president and his first lady to be tapped than for Australians for tapping it.

"Indonesia is so corrupt that the government officials enrich themselves and don't care about improving their security system," said one caller to news radio station Alshinta overnight. Another said Indonesia should thank Australia for exposing its weakness.

Australia updated its travel warning last night under the "civil unrest and political tension" heading, drawing attention to the protest in Jakarta on Thursday.

"Local police advise that a demonstration is planned for outside the Australian Embassy on 21 November 2013. Australians should monitor local media, avoid protests, maintain high levels of vigilance and security awareness," the new advice says. The overall level of the travel advice remains steady at "Exercise a high degree of caution".

The protest has been organised by a coalition of groups including the Red and White Brigade, the militaristic FKPPI, which includes the children of defence force and police personnel, the Institute of Indonesian People's Aspiration and the pro-army Polri Youth.

They are demanding an official apology from the Australian government for harrassing the "dignity of the unity state of the Republic of Indonesia".

Failing that they want the Australian ambassador and all his staff expelled from Indonesia. If Indonesian students living in Australia are given any trouble, they promise to "do the same to Australians living in Indonesia".

The Red and White Brigade – Barisan Merah Putih – has been known in the past for its militaristic approach to separatist movements in East Timor and Papua, and for its harassment of human rights activists in Indonesia.

At the same time, there has been an outpouring of anger towards Australia on Twitter. The hashtag #GanyangAustralia, which means "Crush Australia", has become a popular rallying point for Indonesians to respond to the spy allegations and Australia's response so far.

In the student city of Yogyakarta, about an hour's flight from the capital, students burnt an Australian flag in protest at the tapping allegations. The group demanded an apology from Prime Minister Tony Abbott and asked the Indonesian president to sever diplomatic ties with Canberra, reports said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott opened question time on Thursday, telling the Parliament he had received the letter from President Yudhoyono "that he promised last night".

"I want to assure the House that the government will respond swiftly, fully and courteously to the President's letter," he said. "As always, my intention is to do everything I reasonably can to strengthen this relationship which is so important to both our countries.

[With Karuni Rompies, AAP.]

BIN mum on past espionage allegations

Jakarta Post - November 20, 2013

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The National Intelligence Agency's (BIN) deputy of communication and information Bambang Wiyono refused on Wednesday to comment on allegations that the agency had spied on Australia about 14 years ago.

The Australian media has run reports quoting former BIN chief AM Hendropriyono's comments claimed to be made on an Australian TV program in 2004. Hendropriyono reportedly admitted that BIN had tapped Australian military officers' and politicians' phone calls during the 1999 East Timor crisis.

Bambang said he was aware about the news reports but refused to comment. "[The alleged tapping] was a very long time ago. I need to check on old data [...] I will get back to you soon," he told The Jakarta Post when contacted on Wednesday afternoon.

He had not reported back or replied to the Post's messages as of Wednesday evening. His phone also appeared to be inactive.

As well as his admission about the tapping, Hendropriyono is also reported to have said that BIN had unsuccessfully attempted to recruit Australian officials as double agents, news.com.au reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott made an obvious reference to Hendropriyono's statements.

"I do note there have been allegations and admissions in the past on this subject, people didn't overreact then, I certainly don't propose to overreact now," he said at the Australian parliament.

Indonesia halts all military co-operation

WA Today - November 20, 2013

Michael Bachelard, Mark Kenny, David Wroe – Australia's asylum-seeker measures in Indonesia have been thrown into disarray with Jakarta pulling the plug on all military co-operation in retaliation for the Abbott government's refusal to explain the phone tapping of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Relations between Canberra and Jakarta have descended to their lowest level since the East Timor crisis as the Indonesian President ordered his country's troops to stop joint exercises with Australians in Darwin, and the navy to halt any joint patrols to combat people smuggling.

"How can we do all this if we are not sure that there is no tapping of our military, which is working for the interests of the two countries?" Dr Yudhoyono said.

The sudden deterioration in ties sent the Abbott government into crisis talks, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott requesting time to address the House of Representatives at short notice to emphasise his respect for the relationship and his desire to see it repaired.

"I want to express here in this chamber my deep and sincere regret about the embarrassment to the President and to Indonesia that's been caused by recent media reporting," he said for the second time that day.

"The President indicated that he would shortly be writing to me. I would like to reassure the House that I will be responding to the President's letter swiftly, fully and courteously. As always, I am absolutely committed to building the closest possible relationship with Indonesia, because that is overwhelmingly in the interests of both our countries."

In response, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described it as a shared problem. "This is indeed a team Australia moment. This is something that has happened to both Indonesia and Australia. We need to walk this road together. Other nations have resolved these similar issues, we can too," he said.

Only last month Indonesian defence minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro agreed to deploy his navy's maritime patrol aircraft to monitor people-smuggling activity along southern coastal areas, and to beef up naval patrols.

An Indonesian navy spokesman confirmed on Wednesday night that these patrols had been suspended, but said the moves would not affect the police force, which provides most of Indonesia's assistance to Australia on people smuggling.

Dr Yudhoyono said after a crisis meeting at the presidential palace with his foreign minister, co-ordinating minister for security and intelligence chief that the suspension of military co-operation would remain in place until he had obtained "a clear explanation [from Australia] and for Australia to take responsibility".

"God willing, tonight I will send a letter to Tony Abbott demanding Australia's official stance and explanation... and then we will see what we can do in the future," he said. The explanation should "not be given through the Australian domestic setting", he added.

The President spoke warmly of the relationship with Australia, but said he had ordered the suspension or review of several areas of co-operation, particularly on information sharing and the exchange of intelligence.

"I have also asked my military to temporarily stop the joint army and navy exercises and also to temporarily stop any co-ordinated military operations, the joint patrols," he said.

"As you know, the people-smuggling issue has troubled both Indonesia and Australia, so we have co-ordinated military operations or co-ordinated patrols in the ocean, but until this issue is all clear it will be stopped."

Dr Yudhoyono also called for a binding code of conduct between Australia and Indonesia on co-operation on military, intelligence and people- smuggling issues. He said the decision by Australia to tap his mobile phone and those of his wife and their inner circle was "difficult to digest".

"It is no longer the Cold War era. It was a common thing then to spy on countries of different blocs, but today it is not like that any more. Hostile countries can tap each other, but between Indonesia and Australia we are not of different blocs, let alone hostile each other... why tap a friend, not foe?"

[With Karuni Rompies.]

Indonesia suspends people smuggling cooperation following spy scandal

Jakarta Globe - November 20, 2013

Indonesia will suspend all intelligence and military cooperation with Australia – including efforts to combat people smuggling – as officials investigate claims that Australia's intelligence agency spied on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his inner circle, the president announced on Wednesday.

"For me personally, and for Indonesia, the wiretapping conducted by Australia toward some officials, including me, is really hard to comprehend," Yudhoyono said. "It's not the Cold War-era anymore."

The president delivered the firm warning to Australian officials in the televised speech Wednesday afternoon, demanding an explanation one day after Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to apologize for the incident.

Bilateral cooperation on intelligence and military matters will be put on hold as Indonesia reviews allegations that Australia's intelligence agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, attempted to listen in on phone conversations between Yudhoyono, his wife and members of his inner circle.

The allegations, which broke in reports by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the domestic version of the Guardian on Monday, inspired anger in Indonesia as lawmakers and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa promised repercussions to diplomatic relations if Australia failed to directly address the spying scandal.

"We are downgrading Australia's relations with us," Marty said. "Like taps, we are closing off areas of cooperation one by one."

The cessation of Indonesia's efforts to combat people smuggling, a hot- button issue in Australia, is a serious step by the Indonesian government. Abbott was elected amid a wave of anti-asylum seeker sentiment on a platform promising a hard-line stance on Australia's so-called "boatpeople problem," including claims that Australia's navy would turn asylum seeker boats around once they entered national waters.

The Australian government's policies and a previous spying scandal have since damaged ties between the two nations. Jakarta viewed the "tow-back" plan and intelligence activities as a violation of Indonesia's sovereignty. This most recent scandal added further strain, pulling Yudhoyono into the fray and setting off a flood of nationalist sentiment on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, typically a vocal opponent of the central government, applauded Yudhoyono for taking firm action on the spying issue.

"I highly appreciate the government this time," Priyo told the state-run Antara News Agency, "[They] acted firm and strong by recalling our ambassador to Australia. This action is clear and shows that Australia has made us uncomfortable and unhappy with the wiretapping."

Indonesia's intelligence agency, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), said their Australian counterparts reached out and promised to no longer wiretap Indonesian officials.

"In communication with us they said that the most important thing is now and in the future there won't be anymore wiretapping," Marciano Noorman, the head of the BIN, said. "There should be a commitment from [our] intelligence partner in Australia to evaluate and improve the condition in the future."

But for some Indonesian politicians, assurances from Australia were not enough. The Golkar Party's Poempida Hidayatulloh urged the Indonesian government to invest in advanced spying technology of its own. The nation needs to take retaliatory measures against Australia, including diplomatic sanctions, as a show of force, he said.

"In solving this problem, just getting angry is not enough," Poempida said. "This is the time we should leave this loser mentality behind, especially concerning foreign countries. This is the time for Indonesia to remain tough and show the world that we cannot be humiliated."

Fahri Hamzah, of the Islamist Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS), said Indonesia needs harsher laws against wiretapping, a controversial view that could both provide legal action for those caught spying but also defang the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which can currently wiretap phones without a warrant.

"How is the president's handphone unprotected?" Fahri told the Indonesian news portal Okezone.com. "If [Yudhoyono] and his intelligence advisors are not aware that the whole world is now wiretapping [each other], they're naive. "The question is, how ready are we?"

[Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.]

Indonesia spied on Australia in 2004, says ex-intel chief Hendropriyono

The Australian - November 19, 2013

Ben Packham – Indonesia says it doesn't spy on Australia; but it did once, according to a former Indonesian intelligence chief.

In a 2004 interview, retiring Indonesian intelligence chief General Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono said his agency tapped Australian civil and military communications and politicians phone calls. It also made unsuccessful attempts to recruit Australian spies, he said.

General Hendropriyono, who headed the Badan Intelijen Negara under president Megawati Soekarnoputri's government, said it was well known both sides tapped each other's communications during the East Timor crisis.

"We want to know what is really discussed about us," he told Nine's Sunday program. "We can say this is a public secret. You know, secret but the whole public knows. This is quite common intelligence activity."

General Hendropriyono said he presumed Australia did the same thing to Indonesia. "She is silly if she doesn't do that, you know."

He said Indonesian intelligence had "almost, but not yet", been able to recruit Australian assets for of supply confidential information. General Hendropriyono claimed the spying had ended because Indonesia and Jakarta now faced a common enemy in global terrorism.

Tony Abbott yesterday played down allegations Australia eavesdropped the mobile phone calls of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, saying "all governments gather information".

But Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natelegawa issued a blunt rebuttal. "Well I have news for you. We don't do it. We certainly should not be doing it amongst friends," he said.

Indonesia-Australia business ties remain strong: Deputy minister

Jakarta Post - November 19, 2013

Jakarta – Business relationships between Indonesia and Australia will remain strong despite the recent wire tapping incidents, a senior official says.

"The [wire tapping] issue is political. Economic and business issues should be separated," Deputy Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said as quoted by Kontan.co.id on Tuesday.

Australian Broadcasting Corp. and The Guardian reported on Monday that they had documents from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that showed the agency had wiretapped the phones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and several ministers.

The documents reportedly showed that the Australian Defense Signals Directorate, now the top-secret Australian Signals Directorate, had attempted to listen to the president's phone conversations on at least one occasion and tracked activity on the phone for 15 days in August 2009.

Phone tapping revelations dominate the news in Indonesia

The Guardian (Australia) - November 19, 2013

Oliver Laughland, Jakarta – The diplomatic falling-out between Australia and Indonesia following the presidential phone tapping revelations reported by Guardian Australia and the ABC dominated the front pages of all major Indonesian newspapers on Tuesday.

The papers expressed shock, outrage and smatterings of nationalist fervour in reporting and the subsequent opinion pieces.

"Limiting the damage" read the front page of the English-language Jakarta Globe, and the paper ran a double-page spread inside covering both Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa's press conference on Monday and the relative radio silence from Canberra. "No Confirmation, No Apology From Abbott" read its headline. It carried an editorial proclaiming: "Australia has gone too far this time". It said the foreign minister had "every right to re-examine" the Lombok treaty and remarked that "this relationship now lies in tatters. Indonesia's sovereignty has been violated ..." It demanded an apology.

The Jakarta Post led with the front page "Indonesia recalls envoy from Canberra", quoting Indonesian MP and foreign affairs commission member Mahfudz Siddiq as saying: "It's clear that Australia is not a good neighbour and is even a threat." A page two editorial, under the headline "When Australia's cold war mentality goes too far", said Indonesia's National Encryption Agency had "repeatedly warned" that its Australian embassies had been bugged since 1991. "It all goes to show that while the world has changed, Australia's mindset has not," it said.

Papers in the local language, bahasa Indonesia, were more fervent. The influential Kompass, which holds one of the largest readerships in the country, ran with the page-one headline: "Australia is not a good neighbour." It quoted Tjahjo Kumolo, another MP on the foreign affairs commission, calling for diplomats to be expelled. "The foreign ministry has the right to call and deport because this is an insult to the president as the head of state," he said.

Media Indonesia, a Jakarta-based daily owned by Media Group, which also owns the 24-hour news channel Metro TV, ran with the front page: "Indonesia's move to recall its ambassador in Australia was the right decision". An editorial went under the headline "Not an inferior country". It stoked the nationalist flames, proclaiming: "Indonesia should be firm toward the kangaroo country that has betrayed a good relationship. A great country must not feel inferior when its integrity is stepped on by another country which regards itself more superior."

It continued: "It is time for Indonesia to remind the international community that it is a country that cannot be treated in an arbitrary manner."

Rakyat Merdeka, another influential title, ran with the front page headline "Australia turns out to be a dangerous neighbour" and carried news that the president had advised Indonesian intelligence agencies to investigate the tapping revelations.

Away from the press, the story continued to dominate the TV news coverage in Indonesia. And with Tony Abbott's refusal to apologise earlier on Tuesday, the coverage could well continue.

Indonesia recalls ambassador to Australia over spying claim

Sydney Morning Herald - November 18, 2013

Michael Bachelard – Indonesia will call back its ambassador to Australia and "review" Australian diplomatic positions in Jakarta as anger rises in Indonesia over revelations that Australia tapped the phone of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.

Asked how long Indonesian ambassador Nadjib Riphat Kesoema could be expected to be out of Australia, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said: "I told him not to bring a cabin bag", suggesting it could be a lengthy stint back in Jakarta.

A statement issued by the office of the Co-ordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, Djoko Suyanto, on Monday evening said Indonesia would contact Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to say the [spying] issue was not healthy for the Indonesia-Australia relationship and ask Australia to provide an official and public explanation for their actions.

It wanted Australia to make a commitment not to repeat its actions and said it would summon to Jakarta the Indonesian ambassador for a "consultation".

The Indonesian Foreign Department would also review the co-operation on the exchange of information between the Indonesian and Australian governments, including the assignments of Australian officers in the Australian embassy in Jakarta; and review all co-operation on the exchange of information and other co-operation with Australia.

"It is nothing less than an unfriendly act which is having already a very serious impact on our bilateral relations," Mr Natalegawa said at a press conference.

"We have heard and followed the clarifications and information provided by the Australian side... we are not satisfied with the kind of dismissive answer provided, as if this is an activity that has been carried out as a matter of course.

"This is not a clever thing. It's not a smart thing to do. It violates every single decent and legal instrument that I can think of. National in Indonesia, national in Australia, international as well."

The revelations that Australian spies tried to tap the phones of Mr Yudhoyono and his wife prompted the President to call in his own security agency to investigate as a furious reaction erupted among Jakarta's political elite.

The spying revelations have "devastated" the President, according to his special adviser for political affairs, Daniel Sparringa.

"Until today, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has always paid special attention toward the deepening of the two countries relations. Therefore the news has devastated us.

"Indonesia's concerns on the issues have been long shown by our government's official inquiries to the Australian ambassador earlier.

"If no serious acts are taken to immediately end the issues, it will continue to impede our countries' [relationship]. President SBY hopes that the Australian government would re-evaluate the approaches used to collect information."

Australia's deputy ambassador to Indonesia, David Engel, has also been called into the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs to answer questions about the spying revelations.

Last time the Indonesians recalled their ambassador to Australia was in 2006, over Papuan asylum seekers.

Documents released by whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal that in 2009 Australia's Defence Signals Directorate targeted the personal mobile numbers of both Dr Yudhoyono and his wife, Kristiani Herawati, as well as eight others in the President's inner circle, including the Vice-President.

On Monday morning, Dr Yudhoyono instructed the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to find out which Indonesian officials were the subject of phone tapping and to advise him what to do about it. His spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, also called on the Australian government to "urgently... clarify this news to avoid further damage". "The damage has been done and now trust must be rebuilt," Mr Faiza said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott declined to comment on the specific allegations, but defended information gathering in principle while reiterating that the relationship with Indonesia was "all in all our most important". "All governments gather information... and all governments know that every other government gathers information," he said.

However, Australia used information to "help our friends and our allies, not to harm them". "My first duty is to protect Australia and to advance our national interest and I will never ever depart from that. Consistent with that duty, I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close co-operation that we have with Indonesia."

The revelation will add to tensions between the two nations, which are already heightened over boat turn-backs and Indonesia's dissatisfaction with the Abbott government's explanation of earlier revelations of spying.

It's understood that the President called his closest advisers together tonight to discuss the allegations and a response, as senior members of Indonesia's parliament pressed him to take a firm line.

Senior members of parliament and people the subject of phone taps reacted furiously.

A deputy chairman of the parliament's foreign affairs committee, Tubagus Hasanuddin, said Australia had "crossed the line" and that ambassador Greg Moriarty should be ejected from the country if Australia did not provide a timely explanation.

The revelation was contained in documents leaked by Edward Snowden and revealed by the ABC and website Guardian Australia on Monday.

The phones of the President, his wife who is known as Ibu Ani, Vice- President Boediono, former vice-president Yusuf Kalla and Dr Yudhoyono's foreign affairs spokesman, Dino Patti Djalal, were all targeted as were a number of senior ministers.

Mr Dino, until recently Indonesia's ambassador to Washington, Yusuf Kalla, and another spying victim, Hatta Rajasa, have presidential ambitions in elections next year. Another minister on the list, though, Andi Mallarengeng, has been detained by the country's anti-corruption commission.

The documents reportedly reveal that Australia attempted to listen to Mr Yudhoyono's personal phone calls on at least one occasion in 2009.

The material comes in the form of a slide presentation. One slide entitled "IA Leadership Targets + Handsets" bears the names of the top political figures, the types of phones they own and the network they use – which in all cases is 3G.

The slide's footer bears an Australian Defence Department slogan: "Reveal their secrets – Protect our own".

Another slide is titled "Indonesian President Voice Events" and has a graphic of calls from Mr Yudhoyono's Nokia phone over 15 days in November 2009.

Mr Dino told ABC's 7.30 that he felt "very violated" by the tapping. Mr Hatta, who was state secretary, said he was concerned because, at the time, he was discussing "state secrets, which were certainly not for public consumption, let alone for another country's".

And former vice-president Yusuf Kalla said "there must have been sensitive information" discussed, but at the time the two countries had "a good relationship".

The deputy speaker of the Indonesian parliament, Budi Priyo Santoso, said there was great anger at the revelations among MPs.

"I'm deeply disappointed and upset... Why would they use this kind of thing if they try to conduct their diplomacy to a high moral standard? We need clarification, otherwise it will affect our bilateral relationship... Already many MPs have expressed their anger at this, it's becoming a very hot discussion," he said.

The bugging of Ibu Ani would not appear simply to be an attempt to extract personal information about the President, but to have an ear to one of the most important policy relationships in Indonesia.

In a 2007 WikiLeaks cable, Ibu Ani was named by US diplomats as the country's "cabinet of one", and sources in Jakarta's political elite described her as having a "gatekeeper role" to the President halfway through his first term.

The latest leak follows revelations that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was bugged by US spies the National Security Agency. Dr Merkel was outraged by the discovery and complained directly to US President Barack Obama.

Tensions are already high between Australia and Indonesia on the matter of surveillance after Fairfax Media reported that the Australian embassy in Jakarta was being used to house electronic spying equipment.

Last week during his visit to Canberra, Vice-President Boediono said the Indonesian public was concerned about the previous spying revelations and called for a truce on using information gathered by spying against each other.

"I think we must look forward to come to some arrangement which guarantees that intelligence information from each side is not used against the other. There must be a system,"' he said.

After those reports, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa threatened to reduce co-operation on people-smuggling and counter- terrorism.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam called for an immediate inquiry, saying that Australian intelligence gathering and the US surveillance program were out of control.

Former Coalition government foreign minister Alexander Downer said the revelations were damaging to Australia. "It's a shocking situation in which Australia will pay a big price," Sky News cited Mr Downer as saying.

Boediono plays down asylum seeker and spying disputes with Australia

ABC Radio Australia - November 17, 2013

Indonesia's vice president, Boediono, has shrugged off suggestions that recent disputes with Australia regarding asylum seekers and espionage claims have damaged the countries' relationship.

"It's normal for next-door neighbours to have problems," Dr Boediono said in an interview with Newsline's Jim Middleton. "I think Australians and Indonesians are quite committed to the long-term interests of both countries."

Dr Boediono's visit to Australia comes shortly after a much publicised stand-off between the two countries, when Australia failed in its bid to return a boatload of asylum seekers rescued off the south coast of Java.

Despite this, the vice president says he did not discuss the issue in detail during a meeting with Australian prime minister Tony Abbott last week. "We did not talk much about the asylum seekers. Of course, there were some references to that," Dr Boediono said.

Returning asylum seeker boats to Indonesia "when it is safe to do so" was a major election platform for Mr Abbott, but Dr Boediono said such a policy was not discussed during his meeting.

"The [people smuggling] network is international. I think Indonesia and also certainly Australia are the victims of all these things," he said. "I think what should be established is working together. Especially at the origin of this problem."

It comes shortly after a member of Indonesia's foreign affairs and defence commission, Helmy Fauzi, told Newsline that the Coalition's policy to turn boats around was placing an unfair burden on Indonesia.

"We realise that as a transit country, we have to share responsibility concerning these asylum seekers," he said. "But it doesn't mean Australia should put all the burden to us."

Dr Boediono would not discuss his views on the policy.

Vice president raises espionage concerns

Dr Boediono said he raised concerns with Mr Abbott about allegations the Australian embassy in Jakarta had been used for espionage. "It is a public concern in Indonesia. And therefore we should find some joint ways to allay public concern," he said.

"Of course, we didn't go into details, but the willingness is there to look to the future with cooperation that will not risk the interests of each parties."

In an interview with the ABC's 7.30 following his meeting with Dr Boediono, Mr Abbott would not comment directly on the reports, but noted spying is common practice in international affairs. "All countries, all governments, gather information. That's hardly a surprise," Mr Abbott said.

"One of the things that I've offered to do today in my discussions with the Indonesian vice president is to elevate our level of information sharing, because I want the people of Indonesia to know that everything, everything that we do is to help Indonesia as well as to help Australia."

Dr Boediono would not be drawn on whether Indonesia had ever spied on Australia.

"I certainly cannot guarantee anything about that kind of thing," Dr Boediono said. "Certainly, as part of the Indonesian government, whatever we do in our embassy in any country will follow international law."

Mining & energy

Ruling revoking ban on raw ore exports 'meaningless'

Jakarta Post - November 22, 2013

Raras Cahyafitri, Jakarta – The Supreme Court's ruling ordering the revocation of a decree restricting the export of unprocessed ore issued by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources in February 2012 will have no impact on the government policy because the decree has already been revised, an official has said.

The ministry's spokesman Saleh Abdurrahman said in Jakarta on Thursday that the decree restricting the export of unprocessed ore had been revised with the issuance of ministry regulation No. 20/2013. Under the revised regulation, export of unprocessed ore is allowed, albeit with certain conditions, he said.

The Supreme Court's ruling was released on the court's official website on Thursday. The court ruled against the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister in a legal suit challenging ministerial decree No. 7/2012 on the restriction of unprocessed iron ore exports.

Under the regulation, which went into effect May 2012, raw minerals must be processed domestically before being shipped overseas. According to the court, the regulation violated Mining Law No. 4/2009, and thus the court ordered the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to revoke the decree. The suit was filed in May 2012 by a bauxite miner named Wello.

In his plea, Wello asked the court to revoke the decree because it would be impossible for miners to build smelters only three months after the issuance of the regulation.

Prior to Wello's suit, several others also filed challenges with the court, including the Nickel Association. The court also ruled in favor of its plea.

A director for the Indonesian Minerals Businessmen Association (Apemindo) and bauxite and iron ore miner, Ladjiman Damanik, said that the court ruling had no impact at all. "However, the court's ruling indicated that mining officials issued the decree carelessly," Ladjiman said.

The government had issued the ministerial decree as part of an attempt to combat what it considered the over-exploitation of mineral resources ahead of the implementation of a ban on unprocessed mineral exports stipulated in the 2009 Mining Law.

The ban in the Mining Law, which is set to go ahead next year, faces uncertainty as only a few processing facilities have thus far been built and will be operational next year.

The government has said that it wanted to fully implement the ban, but the country's poor trade balance, due to declining commodity prices has forced the government consider relaxing the law to help shore up the widening deficit.

"The Mining Law itself mentions nothing about prohibiting unprocessed ore exports. It only talks about an obligation to build smelters," Ladjiman said, adding that he was attending a meeting in Bali on Thursday with staff from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and other related institutions to discuss the regulation.

He added that the government was preparing to issue a revision of the ministerial decree No. 20/2013, which would regulate the export of unprocessed ore after January 2014.

"They are aiming to finalize it by the end of this month," Ladjiman said, adding that participants also suggested the central government establish better coordination with local administration on mining regulations.

Infrastructure & development

Gender responsive budgeting accelerates progress toward MDGs: Watchdog

Jakarta Post - November 19, 2013

Jakarta – Independent watchdog on state and local budget, Pattiro, says the implementation of gender responsive budgeting (ARG) will accelerate progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.

ARG is a budgeting mechanism which involves men and women simultaneously to actively participate in each stage of the budget process to ensure interests of the two genders are equally fulfilled.

"ARG will give the government a chance to understand the focus of financing activities for financially-marginalized and disadvantaged groups of people," said Pattiro in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

It further said the implementation of ARG in the budgeting process would clearly disclose focus areas that would be intervened by the government using its MDGs work programs. With such a budgeting process, all programs would hopefully meet the identified needs and specified targets.

With less than two years left until the 2015 deadline, it is likely that the government will miss several of the MDGs targets, including on reducing maternal mortality rate.

The 2012 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (SDKI), jointly commissioned by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the Health Ministry, and the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), shows the maternal death rate (AKI) in Indonesia stood at 359 per 100,000 live births, up from 228 per 100,000 live births in 2007. The government targets to reduce AKI to 102 per 100,000 live births to meet targets of the MDGs in 2015.

Pattiro said a gender responsive budgeting mechanism would force the government to be able to clearly determine, for example, the extent of coverage in infant and maternal health programs so that it could run effectively.

"It's crucial for the government to ensure the availability of valid data," it said. (ebf)

Analysis & opinion

Culture of impunity thrives in 'democratic' Indonesia

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2013

Endy Bayuni, Jakarta – Today is International Day to End Impunity, an issue relevant to Indonesia but sadly one the nation appears to be ignoring, at its peril. If Indonesia is struggling in its march toward democracy, perhaps the question of impunity should be explored.

This is not one of those international days launched by the United Nations, but rather the initiative of a handful of advocacy groups for freedom of expression under the Canadian-based IFEX. Maybe that's why the message failed to register in Indonesia.

There are several reasons why everyone concerned with freedom of expression should join with the rest of the world in marking Nov. 23 as International Day to End Impunity. The relevance of the message is much closer to home than many of us assume.

For one it marks the 2009 massacre of 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers in Maguindanao in the Philippines, for which not a single person to date has been brought to justice.

Since 2011, IFEX and all its network organizations have used Nov. 23 to call for an end to impunity, including the culture of impunity, all over the world. IFEX says more than 500 journalists have been killed in the last 10 years, and that in nine out of 10 cases, the murderers have gone free. "Murder is the ultimate form of censorship, and media are undoubtedly on the frontline of free expression," states the IFEX campaign website daytoendimpunity.org.

The day is not dedicated solely to journalists who lost their lives but everyone – ordinary citizens, artists, bloggers and musicians – who died fighting for their basic human rights to express themselves and those who were harassed, threatened, tortured, intimidated and jailed.

Indonesia is no stranger to the culture of impunity, even today, one is almost tempted to call it its middle name, the Republic of Impunity Indonesia.

Journalism in Indonesia has had its share of martyrs who died fighting, and yes, the majority of the murderers got away. According to the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), which is a member of IFEX, there have been eight cases of journalists who were killed or died under mysterious circumstances since 1996. These cases remain unresolved.

Only one murder case, involving a journalist in Bali, led to the jailing of a killer. That is one-in-nine, worse than the IFEX world's average of one- in-10.

One particular case is the death of Fuad Muhammad Syarifuddin alias Udin, of the Bernas daily in Yogyakarta, who was slain in August 1996. His case went to court but the convicted person was released after Udin's wife said they had put the wrong person in jail. The case was reopened, but it has made no progress. With the statute of limitations, Udin's case would have to be officially declared closed next August.

No doubt this will be a boost to supporters of the culture of impunity, of which there are many in this country as well as a huge setback to journalism and freedom of expression and, ultimately, to democracy.

Indonesia should also dedicate the day to the most celebrated case of impunity in the country, the murder of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib in 2004. He was not a journalist, but he had been on the front line in fighting to ensure that people had human rights, including and not solely their freedom of speech, protected by the state.

One indication why impunity not only thrives but has become very much ingrained into the nation's political culture is the way Indonesia collectively views the massacre of communists and suspected communists in 1965-1966.

One figure cited that as many as 2 million people were summarily executed during the campaign led by the military, which through its propaganda, unleashed nationwide anger against anyone suspected of being a communist or related to one.

Some recent attempts to address this issue or to even shake the nation out of its collective amnesia have been thwarted.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) earlier this year completed an investigation into the killings by the state, and found that there was a gross violation of human rights and that the state should investigate further and issue an apology. Komnas HAM's recommendations were ignored and the report shelved by the government.

And there is the documentary movie The Act of Killing, whose British-based American producer Joshua Oppenheimer decided to offer it as a free download for Indonesian viewers.

The movie centers on a character in Medan, North Sumatra, who gladly retells the story of his involvement in the massacre and gave the gory details of his killing methods. The message of the movie is not so much about impunity. No, we have turned this person, and many other villains like him, into national heroes.

Something has to change in the way we regard these killings, many of which were perpetrated by the state or at least certainly condoned. If we tolerate impunity, we are just making a mockery of our democracy.

[The writer is a senior editor of The Jakarta Post.]

Concessions to Jakarta are Tony Abbott's only way to respond

The Australian - November 23, 2013

Paul Kelly – The onus now resides with Tony Abbott to demonstrate a flexible and new approach to intelligence and security issues by offering concessions when he replies to the letter from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Nothing else will suffice. The key to the Prime Minister's reply must be the recognition that this is not just an intelligence crisis with Indonesia. It is a political crisis. It must be treated as a political crisis. That dictates against the mere "neither confirm nor deny" stance, plus regrets taken by Abbott, because this position cannot satisfy the political pressures now unleashed.

It is easy to assert, and certainly true, that Yudhoyono has overreacted. But that testifies to the personal insult he feels, the extent of anti- Australian sentiment within Indonesia's political system and the failure of Abbott's initial statement.

The responsibility now rests with Abbott to offer concessions to appease Yudhoyono and give him some leverage, not just to halt further retaliation but to restore the suspended co-operation on people-smuggling activity and military ties.

The truth is that Australia now operates in a fog of uncertainty. Neither Abbott nor his advisers know what exactly is needed to fix this problem. It would be folly for Abbott to try to cure anti-Australian sentiment on the Indonesian street. His sole aim must to convince Yudhoyono by word and deed that Australia wants to rectify the situation.

Security expert and Australian National University professor Hugh White tells Inquirer: "Intelligence is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. Abbott's task now is to repair the political relationship with Indonesia even if that involves damage to our intelligence capability."

It is the core point. As former US assistant secretary of state for East Asia Kurt Campbell, now visiting this country as a Lowy fellow, says, the combination of WikiLeaks and the mass release of secrets from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has transformed the norms surrounding intelligence policy. Abbott is in a situation where nobody knows how the new norms will evolve.

The situation has declined since Abbott's statement to parliament last Tuesday. Indonesia feels a double insult: its President has been spied on and Abbott's response has triggered a new wave of anger from Jakarta.

In Abbott's reply to Yudhoyono, he must get pro-active and find a new formula. In his statement, Yudhoyono seemed to give Abbott negotiating flexibility.

The Australian government still has faith in Yudhoyono. Abbott believes he remains our friend. The government's assessment is that Yudhoyono is under intense domestic pressure and had to respond.

"Abbott's initial statement was dismissive of Indonesia's concerns," White says. "He was really saying, 'We will spy on whoever we want and that will be good for us and good for Indonesia.' He now needs to find a new formula that can placate Indonesia and that won't be easy."

Yudhoyono has ordered a series of unfriendly actions against Australia. He envisages they may be temporary. The assumption is that he is merely turning up the political heat on Abbott to force concessions. Australian officials told Inquirer last night there was little operational impact so far.

If, however, Yudhoyono's retaliation becomes a new and permanent policy then Australian-Indonesian ties will face a full-blown crisis with disastrous consequences.

Abbott faces a huge task: to restore the status quo ante. Is that possible? Nobody knows. But it means sitting pat is not an option.

If the spiral is not reversed then recriminations will intensify. Anti- Australian sentiment in Indonesia's media and streets will feed a backlash in this country from media, talkback radio and Indonesian loathers, only intensified if Jakarta's retaliation produces an upsurge in boat arrivals and the destruction of one of Abbott's core pledges as Prime Minister.

Both nations are hooked on the sovereignty issue. Given Indonesia's fragility as a nation-state, this is an obsession. But when Abbott first visited Jakarta after becoming PM he said in public and private to Yudhoyono that the boats issue was about Australia's sovereignty.

He chose those words deliberately. He meant them. It is doubtful if Jakarta fully comprehends this: it may regard the boats as a minor irritant it can turn on and off to provoke better Australian behaviour. Abbott's position is far more difficult than appreciated.

Abbott is not going to apologise. Yudhoyono has not asked for an apology. He asks for an explanation for the spying against himself, his wife, cabinet members and close advisers in 2009 under Kevin Rudd's government. He is not satisfied with Abbott's comments so far. He seeks new and binding protocols covering security and intelligence and a code of conduct.

Presumably, Abbott will agree in principle to negotiate such arrangements. He will offer Yudhoyono an expanded intelligence-sharing deal between Australia and Indonesia. This was Abbott's plan before the crisis blew up. He discussed it when Vice-President Boediono recently visited this country. This situation gives Abbott potential to offer concessions to Yudhoyono short of an apology or grievously compromising our intelligence activity. It remains unclear, however, how far Abbott needs to go.

Offering Yudhoyono an explanation leads to the pivotal issue: does Abbott give assurances of no future intelligence operations against the Indonesian President? This is what Yudhoyono must prefer. It is the promise US President Barack Obama gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel, so a precedent exists.

From his remarks, Abbott seems determined to avoid this position. So does Australia's national security establishment. Given Australia's intelligence activity across Southeast Asia, any such public pledge would extend the problem, make it regional and provoke demands from other nations – think Malaysia and Papua New Guinea – for the same assurance. It would become farcical.

In careful comments this week, Campbell said the Obama-Merkel situation was not the same as Australia-Indonesia. It is the truth people want to ignore. Australia has many reasons to run intelligence on Indonesia and its location as a source of Islamist terrorism that has led to many Australian deaths cannot be ignored.

The undisguised preference of the Labor Party for the Obama-Merkel formula only complicates Abbott's dilemma and weakens his bargaining position with Yudhoyono. But this concession can be avoided only if Abbott can produce an alternative formulation satisfactory to Yudhoyono. This is the challenge.

Abbott's problem is that if our major intelligence partner, the US, has adopted this formula, how tenable is it for Australia to reject this approach when confronted by the leader of a close and friendly nation who is deeply offended by being made an intelligence target?

The standoff is riddled with hypocrisy. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who has led the charge against the Coalition from the day of its election, denied that Indonesia listened to the phone calls of friends. "We don't do it," he said. That is a false statement. The Abbott government knows it is false. The former head of Badan Intelijen Negara, Indonesia's national intelligence agency, has contradicted Natalegawa. Such deceptions do not help.

The further truth is that Australian intelligence operations in Indonesia have been used, as Abbott implied, as part of counter-terrorism measures that contribute to the safety of Indonesians.

Meanwhile, the chief of Indonesia's intelligence agency, Marciano Norman, was reported in The Australian this week as saying a deal had been done with Australian agencies on no more wiretapping and this was concluded before the Snowden revelations.

The point is that beneath the politics there is another reality: Australian and Indonesian agencies are well aware of their respective capabilities. Yudhoyono, as a former co-ordinating minister for security, is aware of these capability though, of course, was angered to find himself a target.

This crisis is sure to re-draw the map on intelligence. WikiLeaks and Snowden have changed the ground rules. Intelligence operations against friendly leaders work only when kept secret. If they cannot be kept secret they are not worth conducting; if they are not worth conducting, pressure will mount to formalise this.

The ANU's White says: "Ordinary intelligence leaks are deniable. But this situation is different. Snowden had the documents and the response of the Obama administration has really validated these documents. "Abbott's problem is that this situation is different. The normal confirmation or deny rules won't work on this issue with Indonesia."

Abbott's statement last Tuesday was technically perfect: every nation conducts intelligence; he would not apologise for protecting the national interest; he would not give details of our intelligence operations; he regarded Yudhoyono as one of our "very best friends" in the world.

Yet the Prime Minister missed the political chemistry. Having said in Jakarta that there was no more important nation than Indonesia, he failed to put this principle into action over the intelligence insult to Yudhoyono.

Now Abbott has another chance, with his written reply to Yudhoyono's letter. Abbott has a lot at stake. Consider the list. Indonesia has the power to ruin Abbott's pledge to stop the boats. It can destroy his "Jakarta not Geneva" foreign policy. It can weaken Australia's regional position.

A rational Indonesia would do none of this. So Abbott must encourage the forces of rationality in Jakarta. The principle of interdependence needs to be resurrected.

Australian gaffes explode into Indonesian diplomatic crisis

Asia Sentinel - November 22, 2013

Laura Gumbs – Australia's stumbling Abbott government has managed to insult two Asian nations over spying allegations, with a key advisor to the prime minister tweeting that Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa resembled a 1970s Filipino porn star.

The row over the tweet is just one of an astonishing string of gaffes by a government in Canberra that appears increasingly inept on the international front and risks doing lasting damage to Australia's position in the Asian Century.

The tweet, by Mark Textor, the ruling Liberal Party's pollster and chief strategist, overshadowed Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's statement to Parliament in Canberra that he would do everything he "reasonably can" to repair relations with Jakarta.

Textor immediately removed the tweet, which read "Apology demanded from Australia by a bloke who looks like a 1970's Pilipino [sic] porn star and has ethics to match," He has since apologized volubly and said he wasn't referring to anyone in particular, although Natalegawa is the foreign minister and the man who demanded the apology from Australia.

"Apologies to my Indonesian friends – frustrated by media-driven divisions – Twitter is indeed no place for diplomacy," he tweeted Thursday. While Textor is not a member of the government, his proximity to power is close enough to outrage the Indonesians.

With protesters in the streets of Jakarta demanding war – although Indonesia's war machine is no match for Australia's – the government, led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, has managed to alienate large swaths of not just Indonesia but much of Asia over a series of missteps, the latest when the premier ignored a call for an apology over revelations that Australian spymasters had tapped the telephones of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the president's wife, and eight cabinet ministers. Certainly it has driven down relations between the two countries by a good two decades.

"Had Abbott just picked up the phone, called SBY, and said 'This is very embarrassing but I want to tell you we are really very sorry and anyway it was all [former Prime Minister] Kevin Rudd's fault,' they could have contained this," said a western political observer in Jakarta. "You can count on the Indonesians to ramp it up."

The "ramping up" included violence both Wednesday and Thursday, with hundreds of demonstrators, some in military fatigues, in front of the Australian Embassy to burn flags and spray red paint on the front wall of the structure. Police had to move in to restrain the demonstrators.

On Wednesday, Australia issued a travel warning for "civil unrest and political tension" due to the likelihood of violent protests in Jakarta. Members of the nationalist organization, Laskar Merah Putih, burned Australian flags in indignation, protesting the attack on Indonesia's sovereignty and the Abbot's refusal to apologize. The demonstration called for expulsion of all Australian diplomats from Indonesia and a boycott of Australian products.

The allegations of Australian spying and now even Australian hacking have exploded in the Indonesian media, with every Indonesian minister in Parliament making strong statements and Indonesia backing up its ire with diplomatic scolding. Australia, however, has remained true to its current policy of media silence, refusing to comment on security and intelligence gathering activities and stubbornly evading a direct apology, which is what Indonesia wants and which could now amount to too little, too late.

Yudhoyono said on Wednesday that Indonesia would freeze several bilateral projects, including operations to stem the influx of undocumented migrants from the Middle East, joint military exercises and the exchange of intelligence information, until the air had been cleared. Indonesia pulled its F-16 fighter jets from participating in a joint military exercise in Darwin and has ceased joint military exercises being run by the Australian Special Forces.

Indonesia's Attorney General Basrief Arief also said he is on standby to refrain from working with the Australian Attorney General's Office, perhaps pending the response to SBY's letter.

"People smuggling is a problem for Indonesia and Australia [and] we have a cooperation framework called the coordinated military operations [or] the coordinated sea patrols. I have asked for it to be suspended. We cannot continue such shared duties," Yudhoyono said in his first press conference after the snooping revelations came to light.

Whether the immediate ructions can be calmed down by Abbott's statement to the Australian Parliament is one thing. The bigger question is the long- term damage the new government, which came to power in September, is doing with its actions, with such unnecessary statements as one by his foreign minister, Julie Bishop, that Japan is Australia's "best friend in Asia," a statement not looked kindly upon by the Chinese, Australia's biggest trading partner, or the South Koreans, who are embroiled in a multi-level dispute with the Japanese.

Even before the September election, Abbott had already put Indonesians' backs up with campaign rhetoric that he would turn back the boats of asylum seekers, a pledge that he almost immediately put in practice once taking office.

Two weeks ago that culminated in an embarrassing standoff when an Australian navy ship answered a call for help to pick up a boatload of asylum seekers in Indonesian waters. When the ship sought permission to drop off the asylum seekers at the nearest Indonesian port, the Indonesians turned them down. Finally the Australians were forced to ferry the asylum seekers to Christmas Island in Australian territory.

Exchanges between the two countries ended up with growing tensions in which hackers attacked hundreds of Australian and government websites.

Australia has alienated other Asian countries with Abbott's order to nullify climate change research. He angered the Chinese government with a decision to deny the Chinese telecoms company Huawei the right to bid on Australian telecoms projects and offered to lower the current Foreign Investment Board threshold on overseas purchases of agricultural land, from A$248 million (US$232 million) to A$15 million (US$14 million).

Now Australia's closest Asian neighbor has been insulted unintentionally enough, but what started out as a thorny but manageable issue rather sadly bids fair to be the catalyst for a far more guarded foreign policy regarding Australia. With elections in Indonesia due in less than a year, a future leader may be exceedingly conscious of affronts and will see no point in courting public disfavor at home by genuflecting toward Australia.

Australia row a 'godsend' as Indonesian leader stumbles into twilight

Reuters - November 22, 2013

Kanupriya Kapoor – His popularity is sliding in the polls. Accusations of graft are mounting against political allies. The once-powerful economy is limping.

As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono struggles in the twilight of his second term with elections looming next year, this week's diplomatic brawl with Australia offers an opportunity to stoke nationalist sentiment and rebuild support.

A storm of resentment against Australia has blown up after reports emerged that Canberra spied on top Indonesians including, most sensitive of all, Yudhoyono's wife.

But the indignation underscores an uncomfortable truth for the president: his administration is growing increasingly irrelevant and the nationalist fervor is unlikely to provide enough momentum to revive his lame-duck presidency.

"This is a God-sent moment for us and we shouldn't waste it," said Ruhut Sitompul, a senior member of Yudhoyono's ruling Democratic Party and a confidant of the president.

"You can see the people who are out there supporting us in the streets," he said. "I think our ratings in opinion polls will definitely go up because everyone is uniting behind the president and behind the Democratic Party because our response has been very firm."

Yudhoyono has served two terms and cannot run again. He will be focusing on his legacy while his party will be hoping to turn the controversy to their advantage and stay in power. But it remains to be seen how much of a gift the row with Australia will turn out to be.

While there have been some anti-Australia protests, they have been modest compared with demonstrations during the last major rift in 1999 when Australian troops went into East Timor after the Indonesian military violently pulled out of the former Indonesian colony.

Noticeably, presidential hopefuls and senior politicians from other major parties have kept largely silent on the issue, suggesting any push to build nationalistic sentiment may not gain wide traction.

"Our government has been very harsh in its reaction," Prabowo Subianto, a former general and a front-runner in the presidential race, told media this week. "Australia is an important country so if possible we should find a way to maintain good relations."

'Welcome distraction'

Indonesia's outrage was sparked by reports quoting documents leaked by former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that Australia had tried to monitor the phones of senior Indonesian officials in 2009.

Yudhoyono announced on Wednesday he was freezing military and intelligence cooperation with Australia, including over asylum seekers, which has long been an irritant in relations.

The row comes as Indonesia's economic growth has slowed. Twin deficits in the current account and in trade, and a sliding rupiah, have dampened investor sentiment in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

It also comes as the ruling party faces a sharp drop in popularity over a series of graft scandals that dragged in a cabinet minister and members of Yudhoyono's inner circle and which could come to court just as parties gear up for parliamentary elections in April.

It is not just parliament at stake. Parties must win at least 20 percent of the national vote, or 25 percent of parliamentary seats, to nominate a candidate for July's presidential election. Judging by the most recent polls, Yudhoyono's party is unlikely to reach that threshold.

The party enjoyed 40 percent of national support at its peak in 2010, but is projected to gain only 7 percent of the vote in 2014, according to pollsters.

Nurhayati Assegaf, a senior member of the Democratic Party, acknowledged that corruption cases had hurt the party but said the president's leadership would help the party.

"We are determined to improve our image by showing our constituents all over Indonesia that we – Yudhoyono and the Democratic Party – we are successful leaders... and we can defend the country when the need arises," Assegaf said. "What the president has done and said in response to the spying issue shows his effort in solving the problem."

Political analyst Kevin O'Rourke said the row with Australia was a "welcome distraction" for Yudhoyono, but it would only be temporary. "When elections arrive, voters will be thinking about larger issues of governance and economic management, rather than tales of espionage and bilateral relations," he said.

Canberra doesn't trust Jakarta

Sydney Morning Herald - November 19, 2013

Philip Dorling – The news that Australia's electronic spy agency, the Defence Signals Directorate, has targeted Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's mobile phone won't come as a surprise to the many hundreds, indeed thousands, of Australian intelligence officers, diplomats, bureaucrats and politicians who are well aware of the extent of our espionage against our neighbours.

Why do we do it? Behind all the declarations of friendship and good neighbourliness by successive Australian governments, Canberra just doesn't trust Jakarta. We work closely with Indonesia, including in the fields of security and intelligence, but we don't trust them. We never have, and probably never will.

We find Indonesia's political system opaque, riddled with corruption and prone to nationalist outbursts. We don't regard Indonesia as a true friend (certainly not in the way, for example, we view New Zealand or our other "Five Eyes" partners) and we don't rule out the possibility that some day, perhaps in the distant future, it may be a threat.

Our industrial-scale spying probably says a lot about Australia's deep- seated sense of separateness from Asia, and our continuing closeness to our English-speaking partners – Prime Minister Tony Abbott's beloved "Anglosphere".

After all, more people read Australian intelligence reports in the United States and elsewhere in the "Five Eyes" intelligence community than in Australia.

These latest revelations of Australian espionage activity will no doubt cause some further diplomatic difficulty, but that will probably pass before too long. It may not be cricket as Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa recently complained, but then we don't play cricket with Indonesia.

Instead, we've spied on Jakarta for a very long time. Australia's embassy in Jakarta was the location of the first overseas station of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, established in 1954, and ASIS has always made Indonesia its top priority.

The unpublished diaries of one of Australia's early ambassador's to Indonesia, Sir Walter Crocker, also show the Defence Signals Directorate was routinely breaking Indonesia's diplomatic cyphers from the mid-1950s onward.

In the 1960s, GCHQ helped Defence Signals crack the Swedish manufactured Hagelin cypher machines used by the Indonesian embassy in Canberra.

In the 1970s, the Defence Signals radio facility at Shoal Bay outside Darwin monitored Indonesian military communications and provided ample warning of Indonesia's intentions to invade East Timor.

In 1999, leaks of top secret Defence Intelligence reports on Indonesia and East Timor showed Australian intelligence still had extensive access to Indonesian military and civilian communications. The burning of East Timor's capital Dili by the Indonesian military and militias in September 1999 came as no surprise to Australian intelligence.

Every Australian prime minister since Robert Menzies has been thoroughly briefed on the extent of the Defence Signals Directorate's continuous penetration of Indonesian diplomatic, military and increasingly civilian communications.

A key to prime minister Paul Keating's diplomatic embrace of president Suharto was his direct knowledge of Suharto's thinking on regional diplomacy and relations with Australia.

Indeed, Keating was able to consolidate his amicable relationship with the dictator by sharing with him what Australian intelligence had learnt about the Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. (ASIS had apparently successfully bugged the Malaysian cabinet room.)

It is now clear that the Defence Signals Directorate has more recently provided Australian intelligence analysts and policy makers with an intimate picture of Yudhoyono's political and personal relationships.

These intercept operations, part of a wider "Five Eyes" program codenamed "STATEROOM" appear to be conducted from a secret facility located at Australia's embassy in Indonesia's capital.

These intelligence operations have reportedly contributed to the collection of information relating to terrorist threats, but, as one former Australian intelligence officer recently told Fairfax Media, "the main focus is political, diplomatic and economic intelligence".

"The huge growth of mobile phone networks has been a great boon and Jakarta's political elite are a loquacious bunch. Even when they think their own intelligence services are listening, they just keep talking," he said.

The latest revelations will cause further diplomatic embarrassment, but Australia isn't going to stop spying.

We can't afford to be ignorant on Indonesia

New Matilda - November 19, 2013

Clinton Fernandes – Just before Christmas 1981, Indonesia's foreign minister Mochtar Kusumaatmadja asked to meet Australia's ambassador to Jakarta, Rawdon Dalrymple. In the course of their meeting, Mochtar asked why some people in Australia "had such a hostile attitude towards Indonesia".

He thought the hostility derived from fear, and recalled that when he had spoken on behalf of Indonesia at a major seminar in Canberra, he had received the strong impression that many of the Australians present were afraid of "waves of brown people coming down".

Dalrymple explained that "that sort of Australian anxiety had probably died out in about 1910". Rather, he said, "there were people in Australia who had reflected on the fact that Indonesia had used armed force on three occasions to change, or seek to change, international borders".

As it happens, those people were correct. Indonesia seized West Papua by a combination of military pressure and diplomatic threats in the 1960s. The same decade, Indonesian troops launched a series of cross-border raids into Malaysian territory in order to destabilise the newly formed Malaysian federation.

Australian forces were deployed against Indonesian troops in order to protect Malaysia. Twenty-three Australians died during this episode, known as "Confrontation". In 1975, Indonesia illegally invaded East Timor, a non-self-governing territory as defined by the United Nations Charter.

According to Article 73 of the UN Charter, there was "a sacred trust" to uphold "the well-being of the inhabitants of these territories". However, Indonesia's invasion and 24-year occupation of East Timor caused the largest loss of life relative to total population since the Holocaust.

Little wonder, then, that Australians who have to think professionally about national security don't pay too much attention to press releases professing friendship between Australia and Indonesia. They don't have that luxury.

What counts for them is capability. Intentions matter, and are part of intelligence assessments, but capabilities are much more important. Unlike intentions, which can change rapidly, capabilities take a long time to build up. This is why the role of the Defence Signals Directorate is:

"To obtain intelligence about the capabilities, intentions or activities of people or organisations outside Australia in the form of electromagnetic energy, whether guided or unguided or both, or in the form of electrical, magnetic or acoustic energy, for the purposes of meeting the requirements of the Government, and in particular the requirements of the Defence Force."

The DSD and other agencies have long been interested in obtaining intelligence on Indonesia, and other countries in the region. That's their role under the Intelligence Services Act. Far from them being out of control, they are doing exactly what they are required to do under Australian legislation. They are as much a part of the Australian Defence Force's capability as aircraft, tanks and submarines.

The revelations about Australian intelligence collection against Indonesian targets should be seen in context. For one, it's natural that DSD would focus on the senior Indonesian leadership and their trusted interlocutors. Who else would they focus on, given their role under the Intelligence Services Act? A rickshaw driver in Jakarta?

For another, there is a well-designed asymmetry between Australia and Indonesia. The Australian Defence Force is small compared to Indonesia's military, and the Australian Army in particular is much, much smaller. The advanced technological gap that Australia enjoys in terms of intelligence, fighter aircraft and naval vessels compensates for this disadvantage in size.

Also, Australian foreign policy has protected the Indonesian government on many occasions; although Indonesian troops murdered Australian journalists in Balibo and Dili, East Timor, no Australian government has taken meaningful steps to bring those responsible to justice.

During the 24-year occupation of East Timor, when Indonesian forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, Australia supported Indonesia diplomatically and in many other ways.

Even today, despite numerous allegations of serious human rights abuses in West Papua, successive Australian governments continue to do all they can to protect Indonesia from international criticism. We continue to train Indonesia's military and police, and give them weapons.

Seen in that context, Indonesia's protestations about spying not being cricket seem a little overblown.


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