Bogor residents demand jobs from local garment
factory

Hundreds of residents of the Nagrak village of
Gunung Putri in Bogor, West Java, demonstrated in
front of a garment factory owned by PT Libra Pratama
on March 4. The action was held to demand that the
factory that specialises in exports employ local
people. Protesters said they would not leave until
their demands were met.

The demonstration was triggered by the failure of
the company’s management to fulfil an agreement
reached two weeks ago to employ local residents. As
a result of the action traffic and the factory’s
production schedule were disrupted. (Liputan 6,
4/3/2006)

Thousand demonstrate against eradicating illegal
logging

Eradicating illegal logging is good, right? But not
so for some 2,000 residents of the Kampar regency in
Riau, because it is precisely the little people that
that have been the principle victims.

Calling themselves the Kampar Public Life Concern
Forum (FPKMK), they demonstrated at the Riau
governor’s office opposing programs to eradicate
illegal logging. Their reasons make sense. They said
that the program only targets ordinary people while
government officials protect the large companies.
The protest was triggered by the arrest of 24
residents in February when they were cutting wood on
traditional land.

In a speech they expressed the hope that the
government would give them traditional rights over
land with they could use to seek a livelihood by
logging. "We cut wood only to the extent of
fulfilling our families and children’s needs. This
principle source of income is hereditary and existed
since long ago. Now we are prohibited from cutting
wood on our own land", one of the residents told
Detik.com. ( Detik.com, 6/3/2006)

Yogyakarta students demand KPK take over corruption
case

Dozens of students from the CDMA Case Advocacy
Network held a demonstration on March 6 in the
Central Java city of Yogyakarta marching to the
Yogyakarta public prosecutor’s offices. They brought
a bier containing a “corpse” to symbolise the death
of the prosecution’s ability to deal with corruption
cases.

Students said they were disappointed by the attitude
of the Yogyakarta chief public prosecutor who has
terminated a corruption case related to the
construction of a communication system based on CDMA
(code division multiple access). The prosecutor’s
office has said that case was dropped because the
money plus interest had been returned. Students are
calling for the case to be taken over by the
Corruption Eradication Commission (Media Indonesia,
6/3/2006)

Honorary teachers demand appointment as civil
servants

Hundreds of teachers and honorary civil servants
from various regions in Banten, West, Central and
East Java, demonstrated at the House of
Representatives (DPR) in Senayan on March 6. Wearing
full uniforms they arrived at about 7am, well before
any of the arrival of assembly members.

In speeches they demanded to be treated fairly, both
in terms of the size of the honorarium they receive
as well as opportunities to become candidate state
civil servants. To date they have been getting
different honorariums for each region while in order
to become civil servants they have been hampered by
administrative conditions even though they have
served for more than 10 years. A member of the DPR’s
Commission X who later met with representatives of
the teachers promised to convey their demands to the
relevant parties. (Liputan 6, 6/03/2006)

Local residents attack police station in Aceh

For the first time since the peace deal was signed,
unrest has broken out again in Aceh. Thousands of
residents attacked and vandalised a police station
in Pedawa, East Aceh, apparently over the death of a
fellow resident at the hands of police.

According to police public relations officer
Brigadier General Anton Bachrul Alam, police were
conducting vehicle checks on the morning of March 6.
When police stopped Agus Sulaiman he tried to flee
on his motorbike. He then hit the curb and fell and
was then struck by a police officers rifle butt.
Alam could not confirm whether it was intentional.

Shortly after the incident, Agus’ family and local
residents gathered at the Pedawa police station
demanding that the officer concerned by tried. When
they attacked and vandalising the station and police
fired warning shot in the air. By early afternoon
tensions had begun to diffuse. "Since the agreement
between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh
Movement, this has been the most heated incident.
However the law must still be enforced, if not,
peace will be hard to achieve", asserted Anton.
( Detik.com, 7/6/2006)

Hundreds of residents blockade roads in Madiun

Hundreds of residents from four villages in the
Central Java sub-district of Kebonsari, Madiun,
again blockaded local roads on March 7. They were
protesting the government’s slowness in repairing a
two-and-a-half kilometer length of road.

The blockade was put into place the previous night
when angry residents cut down mango and banana trees
and planted them in the middle of the road. They
also set fire to tyres. Residents were angry because
the Madiun regent, Djunaedi Mahendra, and the
speaker of the Madiun DPRD failed to meet with them.
The planned meeting was to discuss repairs to roads
at the villages of Tambak Mas, Sukorejo, Palur and
Tanjung Rejop. Residents are threatening to continue
the action until their demands are met. (Liputan 6,
7/3/2006)

Recipients of direct cash subsidies demonstrate
again in Java

Hundreds of recipients of direct cash assistance to
compensate for fuel price increases from three
villages in Brebes, Central Java, have again
demonstrated at the offices of the Brebes regent.
They were demanding that a village head and other
village officials be removed from their posts for
deducting as much as 99,500 rupiah from each
families’ subsidy. (Liputan 6, 7/3/2006)

Pre-trial hearing in Purwokerto marred by
demonstration

Hundreds of residents from the village of Kalipagu
in Banyumas, Central Java, demonstrated at the
Purwokerto State Court demanding that law
enforcement officials act in a just manner in the
pre-trial hearings of the Banyumas district chief of
police, the Banyumas regional police chief and the
Central Java chief of police. Demonstrators believe
that police have acted arrogantly in the arrest of
two collages that had been charged with stealing
timber. (Liputan 6, 7/3/2006)

Hunger strike at Chinese Embassy in Jakarta

On March 6, 10 people began a hunger strike in front
of the Chinese Embassy in Mega Kuningan, South
Jakarta. They are demanding that the Chinese
government end acts of oppression committed by the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The hunger strikers came from Falun Dafa Solidarity
(Falun Gong) and the Mandarin language newspaper The
Ephoc Times. They are the Indonesian contingent of a
group of hunger strikers in the Asia Pacific region
who are opposing various forms of oppression and
persecution by the CCP.

Protesters said that millions people have been
slaughtered by the CCP, 3,000 of which are Falun
Gong activists. Compared to similar protests on
February 16 and 25, this action is regarded as more
important because it coincides with the National
People’s Congress in Beijing. (Liputan 6, 7/3/2006)

25,000 plantation workers go on strike in Medan

The plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara
(PTPN) II Tanjung Morawa has been plagued with
problems. After its executive director was arrested
on charges of corruption, now 25,000 of its
employees have gone on strike.

The strike was held because the company has failed
to pay workers’ wages for February. On March 8
thousands of employees from the PTPN II Independent
Trade Union (SPM) held a demonstration at the North
Sumatra DPRD in Medan. Despite arriving at 10am by
12noon not one assembly member was prepared to
receive them.

According to SPM chairperson, Josem Ginting, the
strike that started on March 6 was over a number of
issues but primarily unpaid wages. Workers are also
asking for a 20 percent wage increase, annual and
extended leave, contributions for accidents and that
that the company review problems related rice
allocations for workers. ( Detik.com, 8/3/2006)

NGO in Surabaya oppose draft law on pornography

Dozens of activists from a number of non-government
organisations in the East Java provincial capital of
Surabaya demonstrated on March 8 against the draft
law on pornography.

According to demonstrators, if the law is ratified
it will only create discrimination against
Indonesian women. "It is not impossible that our
grandmothers in the villages will be accused of
being criminals and arrested because they were batik
sarongs that don’t cover all of their bodies", said
action coordinator Purnomo in a speech.

Although they explicitly support the government’s
efforts against pornography, they said that they did
not agree if this has to be legislated. "We must
oppose pornography, however simplifying the issue by
ignoring the reality of the diversity of gender,
sexuality and unique local cultures is a violation
of humanitarian principles", they said. (Tempo
Interactive, 8/3/2006)

East Kalimantan election result meeting marred by
demonstration

Hundreds of members of the Clean Pro-Democracy
Social Forum demonstrated at the offices of the
General Elections Commission in the Kutai Barat
regency of East Kalimantan on March 8. The action
almost resulted in a clash when the coordinator of
the demonstration who was driving a truck broke
through the police blockade. He then forced his way
into the offices where a plenary meeting on the
results of election of regional heads was taking
place. (Liputan 6, 8/3/2006)

Demonstration against electricity hikes in Medan

Hundreds of people from the North Sumatra United
People’s Committee held a protest at the Medan DPRD
on March 8. The demonstrators, who were protesting
the planned increases to basic electricity rates,
tore down and destroyed the front gates when they
were prevented from entering the assembly building.
(Liputan 6, 8/3/2006)

Hundreds of public transport drivers strike in
Padang

Hundreds of public transport drives in Padang, West
Sumatra, went on strike on March 9. The trigger for
the strike was the increasing number of illegal
public transport vehicles operating in the city.

The drivers parked their vehicles in front of the
West Sumatra DPRD and demonstrated until
representatives were received by a member of the
DPRD. The day before they also demonstrated by
parking their vehicles at the Imam Bonjul Padang
Field leaving thousands of passenger stranded and
seeking alternative means of transport.

The drives said that the large number of illegal
operators had cut into their income and demanded
that the Padang municipal government cancel plans to
increase the number of vehicles plying existing
routes. (Media Indonesia, 9,3/2006)

Presidential visit to Semarang met with protests

The arrival of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in
the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang was
greeted by student demonstrations on March 8.
Demonstrators were protesting the planned increases
to basic electricity rates and demanding an
investigation into a number of corruption cases
involving government officials. They called on the
president to speed up approvals for local officials
suspected of corruption to be investigated.

Yudhoyono’s visit to the Meteseh housing complex in
the Tembalang sub-district was to officiate over the
opening of 100 low-cost housing units. The
demonstration was almost marred by a clash with
students and police pushed and shoved each other as
protesters tried to get nearer the event. (Liputan
6, 9/3/2006)

Protesters in Mataram condemn draft law on
pornography

On March 11 another demonstration against the draft
law on pornography took place in Mataram, West Nusa
Tenggara. Like earlier demonstrations in Bali,
protesters condemned the law as discriminating
against women and injuring cultural diversity in
Indonesia.

The protest, which was held on the main street in
Mataram city, included women wearing traditional
local clothing. As well as giving speeches they also
brought banners and posters condemning the law. They
also went to the West Nusa Tenggara DPRD where they
called on the people’s representatives to
concentrate on solving the nation’s more substantial
problems such as corruption. They said that the law
only represents the political interests of a small
number of groups who support it in the name of
religion. (Liputan 6, 11/3/2006)

Police break up protest by public transport drivers

Police broke up a demonstration by hundreds of
public transport drivers plying the route between
Maros and Makassar in South Sulawesi on March 10.
Police said they did so because the demonstration
was creating traffic congestion. The drivers were
demanding the removal of prohibitions on operating
in the city of Makassar. During the police action 10
drivers were arrested as suspected provocateurs.
(Liputan 6, 11/3/2006)

Students in Medan oppose inauguration of governor

Thousands of students in Medan demonstrated against
the inauguration of Rudolf Pardede as the governor
of North Sumatra on March 10. They even sealed off
six offices of political party factions at the DPRD
who were attending Pardede’s inauguration at the
department of home affairs in Jakarta. The
protesters are refusing to accept Pardede as the
governor because he is still as suspect in a case of
diploma forgery. (Liputan 6, 11/3/2006)

Housewives seal off PLN offices in Makassar

Hundreds of housewives sealed of the state-owned
electricity company PT PLN offices in the South
Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on March 11.
The women were protesting the government?s plan to
increase basic electricity charges. (Liputan 6,
11/3/2006)

Protesters call for immediate enactment of draft law
on Aceh

A visit by a team from the DPR’s special committee
on the draft law for a government for Aceh at the
office of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and
Reconstruction Agency in Banda Aceh on March 11 was
greeted by protests. The demonstrators were calling
for the draft law to be enacted immediately because
it is essential for the Acehnese people. The action
ended with the handing over nine traditional
Acehnese daggers to the team. (Liputan 6, 12/3/2006)

********************************

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