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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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NEWS & ISSUES
* Reflections on fall of Sukarno, and the rise of
Soeharto
* Malnutrition deaths continue in West Java
* Bali’s vanishing rice paddies see unlikely
alliance
* NGO urges help for child prostitutes
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
* Women take to streets to condemn Sharia, porn
bill
* Commemorating IWD, 100 reject pornography bill
* IWD actions held at parliament and state palace
* Women activists demonstrate at State Palace
* Yogya students reject pornography bill
* IWD rejects discrimination and pornography bill
* Acehnese women demand to be involved in policy
making
ACEH
* Aceh: Progressives form new party
* Former peace negotiator arrested over Sharia violation
* As many as 62 GAM prisoners yet to be released
* Acehnese want cloud of suspicion lifted
* Taliban-style Islamic police terrorizing Aceh
* Tsunami agencies accused of lying
WEST PAPUA
* No new command in West Irian Jaya
* West Irian election commission faces tough
questions
* West Irian Jaya voters defy violent threats
* Irate Papuans attack KPUD office due to election count
* Top diplomat dismisses West Papua
* The secret war against the people of West Papua
* US report might help Papuan boat people
MILITARY TIES
* Rice defends military ties with Indonesia
* US aid to corrupt TNI risks more rights abuses
* Rice says US ties with Indonesia transformed
POPULAR RESISTANCE
* Ambon students vent anger at shooters
* Ambon students continue strike
* Hunger strike a desperate cry for attention
* Health, money charge debate over power lines
PORNOGRAPHY & MORALITY
* Fight broadens against anti-women laws
* Parties agree to scrap anti-porn bill articles
* Pornography bill a serious threat to artists
* Big factions want porn bill changed
* Islamic moral drive spreads fear in Indonesia
* Lombok ladies angry over ’moral police state’
* Civil liberties under threat
* Bylaw makes any woman a sex worker
HUMAN RIGHTS/LAW
* Suciwati: Fighting for justice and end to impunity
* Munir, Ahmadiyah attacks, churches issues for UN meeting
* Prosecutors snowed under by graft cases
LABOUR ISSUES
* Government rapped for failing to protect migrant workers
* Workers demand new pro-labor law, reject amendments
* Indonesia targets sending 700,000 workers overseas
WAR ON TERROR
* Rice seeks to boost ties with key anti-terror ally
* Counter-terrorism tops agenda as Rice visits
GOVERNMENT/CIVIL SERVICE
* ’Suspicious’ offer from House Speaker
* Village officials beg and borrow to reach the top
* House denies pay hike plan
* SBY says no to demands of village chiefs
* Palace’s efficiency drive short lived
* ID cards sold like parking tickets, official
says
REGIONAL/COMMUNAL CONFLICTS
* Bombing at Poso temple injures one
* Security operation in Poso extended
ENVIRONMENT
* Abuses by international firms to be raised with UN
* Illegal logging in Padang extends to national park
* Newmont deal no mine of controversy
BUSINESS & INVESTMENT
* High cost holding back manufacturing
* Indonesia’s down and dirty coal fight
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NEWS & ISSUES
================================
Reflections on fall of Sukarno, and the rise of Soeharto
Jakarta Post - March 14, 2006
J. Soedjati Djiwandono, Jakarta — Scanning the
print media around March 11, it was clear that
few, if any, remembered, or perhaps most just
ignored or could not care less, what happened on
March 11 in 1966. During the 32 years of the New
Order regime under Soeharto, March 11 was regarded
as sacred.
Several important national occasions were later
held on that date, such as the beginning session
of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), the
supreme governing body of the republic, according
to the 1945 Constitution, until the onset of the
“era of reform” after the resignation of Soeharto
in 1998.
March 11, 1966, was a turning point in Indonesia’s
history. It was the day the late president Sukarno
issued an order, later known as Supersemar (Surat
Perintah 11 Maret, or the March 11 Order) to
Soeharto, then a major general.
The primary significance of the Supersemar is that
it was used by Soeharto as the basis of the
establishment of what he called “The New Order” to
replace the “Old Order”, which referred to the era
of “Guided Democracy” under Sukarno.
The rationale for the change, as Soeharto stated
in his first “State of the Union Address” as
acting president in 1967, was that Sukarno’s Old
Order had been a deviation and betrayal of the
1945 Constitution, particularly the ideology of
Pancasila (five principles) embodied in its
Preamble, and Soeharto’s New Order was meant to be
a “total correction” of that deviation, for his
New Order would be based on a "pure and
consistent" implementation of Pancasila, whatever
that meant.
Yet, Supersemar has been full of mystery. Until
now nobody knows, perhaps except Soeharto himself,
where the original order is. Three generals —
Basuki Rachmat, Amir Mahmud and M. Yusuf, all dead
now, were Soeharto’s messengers to see Sukarno in
Bogor to receive the order. The first died in 1967
of a heart attack. The other two died much later,
both taking the secret to their graves.
Some time after the resignation of Soeharto in
1998, however, a TV station rebroadcast Sukarno’s
speech about the March 11 order. This proved the
existence of Supersemar. The most important part
of Sukarno’s usual fiery speech was his emphasis
that the March 11 order was "not a transfer of
authority“. In fact, he said”poverty“instead of”authority", but he immediately corrected his slip
of the tongue.
In other words, Soeharto clearly interpreted the
order to his own advantage, in the interest of
power. That interpretation was sustained by having
Supersemar firmly entrenched in a decision by the
powerful MPR (then the provisional MPRS),
especially considering that the 1945 Constitution
provided no mechanisms for judicial reviews or the
separation of powers with an effective system of
checks and balances. Indeed, in the face of a
student demonstration (if I remember correctly,
against the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah project in
1972), Soeharto threatened to use the power of
supersemar.
A huge number of articles and books have been
published over the years since the Gestapu, the
Indonesian acronym for the "September 30
Movement". Scholars and journalists across the
world have analyzed and attempted to understand
the Gestapu, its aims, the forces behind it, and
other aspects. Yet so many questions remain to be
answered, and perhaps will remain unanswered.
From the dozens of books and articles that I have
perused over the years, perhaps all I can say is
some may be closer to the truth than others. After
all, the “truth” of an affair such as the Gestapu
may be too complex to understand completely. Using
an article by W.F. Wertheim, Soeharto and the
Untung Coup: The missing link in Journal of
Contemporary Asia, vol. 1 and 2, winter 1970, as a
starting point for her analysis, a PhD thesis
later published by Nawaz B Mody of Bombay
University, Indonesia under Soeharto (1987) is
probably, I believe, as close to the truth as
anyone has gotten.
Yet what is the “truth” of anything, anyway? What
sounds logical, coherent and sensible may not be
true, while what is true may not sound logical,
coherent and sensible, particularly in the
circumstances prevailing in Indonesia at the time
of the complex Gestapu affair.
One of the most recent books was by Antonie C.A.
Dake, Berkas-berkas Soekarno 1965-1967, Kronologi
Suatu Keruntuhan (2005), which while using a large
number of ideas and facts from lots of largely
secondary sources, does not come to any
conclusion. Yet all the ideas and facts may help
change previous conclusions, which may in the end
result in a better understanding of what happened
around the Gestapu in 1965.
First, the Gestapu was not really a coup d’etat,
because Sukarno, a dictatorial ruler, remained in
control. It was ridiculous that for some time he
was suspected of being involved in the "coup
d’etat". It was, indeed, a struggle for power,
involving not just two, but at least three
“centers of powers”: Sukarno, the Army, or
particularly a group of Army generals, and the
Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
There might have been a fourth “center” of power,
a question that remains to be answered. Will it
ever be answered? There is no need for elaboration
here. However, for those interested, Prof. Nawaz
B. Mody, among others, is trying to provide the
answer, supported by, among other sources, the
memoirs of Sukarno’s close aides Dr. Soebandrio
and Omar Dhani, who have made allusions to that
effect.
[The writer, a political analyst, received his PhD
from The London School of Economics and Political
Science.]
Malnutrition deaths continue in West Java
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
Bandung — West Java: At least 10 infants have
died of malnutrition in West Java over the past
three months, with the real number of malnourished
children estimated to be much higher in the
province.
Head of the provincial health agency’s service
division, Fita Rosemary, said they had recorded
24,067 cases of malnourished children from January
to March this year.
"These numbers are much lower than the actual
number of cases. The data was only based on
reports from community health centers where
parents take their children for treatment," Fita
said.
Fita said out of the 4.5 million children in the
province, only 40 to 50 percent received medical
attention. "Poverty and poor access to health
centers are two main constraints in dealing with
malnutrition cases,“she said.”Diseases that can afflict malnourished children
include tuberculosis, meningitis and heart
problems. Most of the malnourished children come
from poor families," she said. The three
regencies, which have the most cases of
malnourished children, she said, were Cirebon
regency, Bandung regency and Karawang regency
Bali’s vanishing rice paddies see unlikely
alliance
Agence France Presse - March 11, 2006
Ubud — Emerald rice paddies once stretched for
mile upon mile alongside the road that winds
through scenic Ubud on Indonesia’s Bali island,
but today just glimpses remain as hotels,
restaurants and shops have risen up to block the
view. Experts warn the very existence of the famed
paddies on this island paradise is under threat as
tourism-triggered development eats away at the
irrigation systems that have nourished them for
centuries.
Now farmers and hoteliers are forging an unlikely
alliance to preserve the lifelines that feed
Bali’s lush carpets that are one of the island’s
major tourist attractions.
The task is pressing. Bali’s rapid construction is
starting to damage the fields themselves, says
Wayan Kantor, head of one of Bali’s more than
1,200 “subak”, centuries-old networks that oversee
Bali’s irrigation systems, "There are some places
around Ubud where planting rice is impossible
because access to water irrigation has been
blocked by buildings," he says.
Wayan Windia, a researcher from Udayana
University, says statistics on the issue are thin,
but farmers’ complaints are on the rise: "The
problem is more severe around cities... There have
also been cases in Ubud." The subak use water
supplied by the island’s four mountain lakes and
its crisscrossing rivers in a system that
intertwines rich Hindu cultural traditions with
modern technical developments to guarantee all
members water access.
"Irrigation systems were the blood vessels of
traditional Balinese culture and economy," says
anthropologist Putu Suasta. "But that was in the
old days. The modern blood vessels of the Balinese
economy now are the networks of road and modern
transportation, centered around the airport," he
says.
Farmers are under pressure from hotels and
foreigners seduced by Bali’s beauty to sell off or
lease their paddy — a move that earns them far
more cash than they can make tilling the land
themselves.
Villager Gusti Pageh, for instance, is considering
leasing his 50 ares (a local unit measuring 100
square metres) of land. "You can make one million
rupiah (about 100 dollars) per year for one are of
land, just by leasing it to the rich," he
enthuses. “And that’s easy money, without risk.”
In lush Ubud and its surrounds, one are of
cultivated paddy can earn a farmer 80,000 rupiah
per season, or triple that per year. But normally,
complains farmer Gusti Ngurah Jelantik, one good
season is chased by two bad. "During a bad season,
we make only 50,000 or even 35,000 rupiah per are.
Being a farmer is the poorest profession," he
sighs.
Luh Sari, 45, leases her land to a family from the
capital Jakarta. "The most important thing is that
I can earn money from the land," Sari says, adding
that her husband also works as a gardener for
their tenants, earning a bonus 600,000 rupiah per
month.
It’s outsiders such as those from Jakarta, the
subak’s Kantor says, who are not aware of Bali’s
complex ecological systems and tend not to think
about how their construction might impact on their
neighbours.
"When one buys a piece of land, they often don’t
see the small irrigation channel running next to
it. They don’t realise that if they fill it, the
farmers downstream will have no access to the
water," Kantor says.
Fighting back
In a bid to highlight the issue, some subak are
now inviting the outsiders to join them, he says.
Traditionally, only Hindus, who are a majority on
the island of Bali — unlike the rest of mostly-
Muslim Indonesia — were members.
Twenty-four out of 177 members are now such
“housing” members. "One day, maybe, all these
places will be full of buildings, but the subak
system will still be preserved by building owners.
I hope it will be like that, because we have to
thank the gods for the water given to us," Kantor
says.
Concerned hoteliers are also starting to snap up
paddy to ensure that the island stays postcard-
perfect, says Cokorda Oka AA Sukawati, head of
Bali’s Hotel and Restaurant Association and vice
chairman of the Bali Tourism Board.
“It is an interesting new trend,” he says, noting
that some restaurants too have their own rice
fields — guests eat as they observe the farmers
at work.
Agung Rai, for instance, the owner of an arts
museum in Ubud as well as several hotels and
restaurants around the area, leases a piece of
land near his museum from a local farmer.
"Bali is a living museum of agrarian life. Our
culture owes a lot to rice paddy," he says.
Rai has asked the farmer to keep working the land,
so he is effectively paid to continue his usual
work but does not bear the risks he would farming
alone.
"I ask him to do what he normally does as a
traditional farmer," he says, adding that he wants
people to keep enjoying the views of the paddy.
Sue Simon, a tourist from the United States, says
the rice paddies of Bali — which also lures
tourists with its palm-fringed beaches and cheap,
stylish shopping — says rice paddies are the real
draw for her family.
"The green rice fields are number one here... We
spend hours there and our children love it too.“If the rice fields disappeared?”Bali would have
lost one of its main attractions," she says.
NGO urges help for child prostitutes
Jakarta Post - March 9, 2006
ID Nugroho, Surabaya — Eighteen underage
prostitutes were recently held at Surabaya Police
Headquarters for several days after being picked
up by officers during a raid on the city’s Dolly
red-light district.
The girls were picked up March 1 during a raid on
Dolly — believed to be one of the largest red-
light districts in Southeast Asia — after police
received information on the presence of child sex
workers in the area.
"We immediately conducted a raid and picked up 43
girls believed to be child prostitutes," Surabaya
Police chief of detectives Adj. Sr. Comr. Mulyono
said recently.
Officers determined 18 of the girls were under the
age of 20, which according to the Criminal Code
makes them legally minors. Of these 18 girls, four
were found to be below the age of 18, which under
the 2002 Child Protection Law makes them underage.
"Those girls who are underage will be returned to
their parents. Meanwhile, the police will
interrogate five people believed to have acted as
their pimps," said Mulyono.
This case underlines the fact that the trafficking
of children remains a major problem in East Java,
according to Suratman, coordinator of the group
Children in Need of Special Protection.
He told The Jakarta Post the actual number of
underage children working as prostitutes in Dolly
was probably much higher than any official
figures. The Dolly red-light district, according
to Suratman, is a known “haven” for child
prostitution.
"According to our investigations, sexually
promiscuous men come to Dolly to have sex with
child prostitutes," Suratman said.
He said many of the men who engaged in sex with
child prostitutes were under the false belief that
having intercourse with an underage girl was
somehow beneficial for their health. "The number
of child sex workers has increased because of the
high demand," he said.
Suratman urged police to continue monitoring
brothels in Surabaya, especially in the Dolly
red-light district. He said non-governmental
organizations working on the issue often had
trouble rescuing child sex workers from brothels,
and needed more cooperation from authorities. "It
is difficult to get inside the brothels that
employ child sex workers," he said.
Suratman said rehabilitation programs were vital
to prevent former child sex workers from slipping
back into the life. In many cases, police will
detain underage girls for prostitution, and as
soon as they are released they return to their
pimps because they have no other options.
Suratman said the authorities had to do more than
arrest underage prostitutes; they had to prepare
them to return to normal lives with their families
and communities. "Child victims of prostitution
should be taught skills to earn a living, while
their families and their communities should be
prepared to accept them back," he said.
=========================
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
========================
Women take to streets to condemn Sharia, porn bill
Jakarta Post - March 9, 2006
Jakarta — Women’s groups took to the nation’s
streets Wednesday to voice their opposition to
sharia law and the controversial pornography bill,
both which they said unfairly criminalized women’s
sexuality and behavior.
Demonstrations across the country to mark
International Women’s Day also called on the
government to reduce basic commodity prices and do
more to stop crimes where women were victimized,
like human trafficking and domestic violence.
In Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, around 1,000 women
protested against what they said was the unfair
implementation of sharia law in the province.
Activists told The Associated Press the "sharia
police" — religious vigilantes enforcing the
rules — were detaining women who did not wear
traditional Muslim headscarves or were found
walking outside at night unaccompanied by a man.
The women said the laws were unfair as they
curtailed women’s freedoms but not men’s.
About 200 women rallied in Jakarta to voice their
opposition to the pornography bill, which is
currently before the House of Representatives. The
bill if passed would encroach on basic freedoms,
including the right to personal expression, they
said.
Marching from the State Palace to the House of
Representatives building, the women said the
controversial bill was a move back to the bad old
days where women had little autonomy.
The bill bans people from kissing in public and
fines or jails women for exposing “sensitive” body
parts, which could include their hair, shoulders
and legs. Artists could also be prosecuted for
including nudity in their works.
The women said the bill targeted women without
examining the core issues in pornography that
mostly involved men, capitalism and the
patriarchal system.
The bill has been supported by Muslim
organizations throughout the country. Muslims
account for an estimated 92 percent of country’s
total population.
Supermodel Olga Lidya, who joined the protest,
said the bill blamed women for being the cause of
moral degradation. "The government should instead
focus on improving education," she said.
Pornography definitions had already been
incorporated into the existing Criminal Code but
were never properly enforced, she said.
The protesters called for the government to focus
more of its attention on cases of human
trafficking and domestic violence, two issues they
said were being overlooked by the administration.
In Surabaya and Yogyakarta, demonstrators also
called on the government to decrease fuel prices
and abandon a proposed electricity price hike.
High prices for basic commodities ended up hurting
women and children the most, they said. Women also
needed better working conditions, including
regulations for more maternity leave, they said.
Commemorating IWD, 100 reject pornography bill
Detik.com - March 8, 2006
Ratih Syara Maretta, Jakarta — Wednesday March 8
is International Women’s Day. A number of
beautiful and stylish women wearing sun-glasses
and hats commemorated IWD by holding an action
opposing the Draft Anti-Pornography Bill (RUU
APP).
The action was centered at the Hotel Indonesia
roundabout right in front of Plaza Indonesia on
Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta. The action by
around 100 activists from the Jakarta Women’s
Coalition only continued for around 15 minutes
ending at 10.15am.
They brought banners and white paper cartoons with
the writing “Reject RUU APP”. "Attention must be
paid to women’s lives. Pay heed to my future",
shouted one of the protesters who was accompanied
by a number of small children.
The demonstrators said that the policies of the
government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
and Vice President Jusuf Kalla have done great
damage to women. "The Draft Pornography Law pays
no attention to women’s sexuality", said action
coordinator Vivi Widyawati from the women’s
organisation Perempuan Mahardika.
After feeling they had demonstrated long enough at
Hotel Indonesia roundabout, the group marched to
the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas)
on Jl. Diponegoro. "All of the government’s
pollicies are issued by Bappenas. It is because of
this we are going there, then on to the State
Palace", explained a housewife.
The demonstration was only guarded by around six
uniformed police officers. Because the action was
orderly it did not disrupt the flow of traffic.
(ndr)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
IWD actions held at parliament and state palace
Kompas Cyber Media - March 8, 2006
Jakarta — Commemorating International Women’s Day
which falls on March 8, today, thousands of women
in Jakarta held an action at the State Palace and
the House of Representatives (DPR).
The demonstration begun at the Hotel Indonesia
roundabout at around 9am followed by a rally to
the National Development Planning Board (Bapenas)
at around 10am, then on to the State Palace and
will finish at the DPR.
"According to plans hundreds of balloons that we
brought will be released at the State Palace as a
symbol of the liberation from the poverty that
confronts women, the theme we have brought [here
today]", said one of the spokespersons for the
demonstration from the non-government organisation
(NGO) Women’s Heroin Democracy, Nuraini, prior to
the start of the action.
The action was joined by around 40 organisations
and NGOs such as Women’s Journal, Perempuan
Mahardika, the APIK (Association of Indonesian
Women for Justice) Legal Aid Foundation, the
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Women’s
Coalition and a number of labour organisations
such as the Migrant Workers Union and the
Indonesian Automotive Trade Union.
The groups brought a number of banners and posters
as well as a huge billboard containing their
demands. "We call on the government to ensure that
women’s poverty in the political, cultural and
economic sectors is ended immediately", said
Nuraini.
The hottest issue was the Draft Anti-Pornography
Bill (RUU AAP) continued Nuraini which is also
being taken up by the action, because it too
concerns women’s issues. "If the RUU APP is passed
into law then there will be discrimination against
women. It is because of this that we are asking
the government to reject the law", she said.
According to plans, the demonstration will
continue until 4pm. Similar actions commemorating
IWD are also being held in a number of other parts
of Indonesia such as Semarang in Central Java.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Women activists demonstrate at State Palace
Media Indonesia - March 8, 2006
Jakarta — Around 100 women activists from the
Women’s Anti-Poverty Movement (GPAK) held a
peaceful action at the State Palace in Jakarta on
Wednesday March 8 to commemorate International
Women’s Day.
During the action protesters urged President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to pay more attention to
women’s issues. "Women’s lives have always been
one of oppression starting with domestic violence,
human trafficking and the persecution suffered by
women migrant workers", said action coordinator
Ria Mariana.
According to Mariana, the Yudhoyono government’s
only skill is in enacting legislation, its
enforcement however remains weak, and this is
evident from the cases of violence against women
that continue to take place. The protesters also
opposed the enactment of the Draft Pornography
Bill (RUU APP) because they regard it as
restricting women’s rights.
"Aside from this, this issue is already regulated
by the Criminal Code. If bare-chested people are
to be made an issue out of what about people at
the Kraton [Sultan’s Palace in Yogyakarta] who are
linked to the history of establishing this
nation", she said.
Mariana warned that the government is also looking
backward, particularly to the period of the
administration Indonesia’s founding President
Sukarno when women were prohibited from wearing
clothing “you can see” [original in English - JB]
and men from wearing long hair although it was not
explicitly regulated by law.
The hundreds of activists who came from a number
of organisations including the National University
Student Activist Association (Hamas), the
Indonesian Trade Union Action Committee (KASBI),
the National Student Front (FMN), the Independent
Trade Union Movement (GSBI) and the National
Student League for Democracy (LMND) gave speeches
at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout before holding
the action at the State Palace. (Ant/OL-06)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Yogya students reject pornography bill
Detik.com - March 8, 2006
Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta — Hundreds of
students in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta
held an action commemorating International Women’s
Day on March 8 where they expressed their
opposition to the Draft Anti-Pornography Bill (RUU
APP).
The first action was held by the Yogyakarta
National Student Front (FMN) together with a
number of women activists from the Indonesian
Family Planning Association (PKBI). A second
action was organised by the March 8 Action
Committee which represents a coalition of student
groups.
The afternoon actions began at the Yogyakarta
Monument followed by a long-march to the central
post office. As well giving speeches, protesters
and women activists collected signatures on a
petition rejecting the pornography bill. They plan
to send the petition along with signatures
collected by Yogyakarta non-government
organisations and artists to the government and
the House of Representatives in Jakarta.
"The Draft Anti-Pornography Bill must be rejected,
because it will only become a political commodity
and a tool of oppression", said Herdian in a
speech at the central post office.
Asra from the March 8 Action Committee said that
the patriarchal culture that is a leftover from
feudalism must be wiped out because it continues
to make women second-class citizens and regards
them as having a lower status than men. "These
kind of cultural [views] must be wiped out,
because it is a tool to justify the exploitation
of women", she said.
Asra said that the forms of exploitation include
paying women lower wages than men, lack of
menstrual and maternal leave and the failure to
pay child allowances for women workers who are
already married.
They also expressed their opposition to polygamy
and demanded that the government revoke
legislation that discriminates against women such
as Law Number 1/1974. "The Draft Law on
Pornography must also be revoked because it will
limit women’s room to move and with the zeal of
discrediting women", she said.
The action was tightly guarded by a platoon of
Yogyakarta municipal police when they marched down
Jl. Malioboro to the Yogyakarta State Palace.
(nrl)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
IWD rejects discrimination and pornography bill
Kompas - March 9, 2006 (abridged translation)
Jakarta, Kompas — Commemorating International
Women’s Day on March 8, women in Jakarta, Banda
Aceh, Yogyakarta and Makassar held peaceful
actions demanding that the government and the
House of Representatives (DPR) resolve the
nation’s major problems.
The issues emphasised yesterday were poverty,
corruption, education and health. Protests also
rejected regulations that limit women’s political
space.
In Jakarta hundreds of women from a number of
different groups and organisations that are
concerned with issues of development and poverty
called on the government and the DPR not to shift
public attention away from urgent national
problems by using women’s issues.
In the Acehnese provincial capital of Banda Aceh,
hundred of women from dozens of women’s groups —
the majority of whom were victims of the tsunami
disaster — held a peaceful action at the Regional
DPR and the Banda Aceh offices of information and
communication. They were demanding that the
enforcement of Islamic law in Aceh not just focus
on women’s clothing but also on the eradication of
corruption.
In the Central Java city of Yogyakarta, hundreds
of women from various organisations held a
peaceful rally opposing the Draft Anti-Pornography
Bill (RUU APP)
In the South Sulawesi provincial capital of
Makassar, hundreds of women workers from various
different companies and dismissed former employees
condemned government policies that are bringing
suffering to the people. They said that the fuel
price hikes and planed increases to basic
electricity charges, the high cost of education
and healthcare and mass dismissals indicate the
government’s insensitivity to the lives of
ordinary people.
In Jakarta, the coordinator of the APIK
(Association of Indonesian Women for Justice)
Legal Aid Foundation, Ratna Batara Munti, said the
rally from the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in
Central Jakarta to the National Development
Planning Board at 10.45am and then on to the State
Palace was to demand basic rights for Indonesian
citizens.
The government is unable to fulfil basic rights
such as healthcare, education and employment. At
the same time however, women who work at night are
limited by various local regulations.
According to Munti, the action was aimed at
rejecting the politicisation of women’s bodies for
the sake of political power. What we reject is
political horse trading to obtain popular support
by discriminating against women. The inability of
the government and the DPR to fulfil basic rights
that is more urgent is now being shifted to
politicising women’s bodies said Munti.
The coordinator of Indonesian Heroines of
Democracy, Nuraini, said that the government is
unknowingly forcing women into a corner. On the
one hand the fuel price hikes and the planed
increases to basic electricity rates have forced
women to work harder to cover household expenses.
On the other hand, when they work outside of the
home, women are confronted by regulations that
restrict their movements. The RUU APP currently
being discussed in the DPR with its multi-faceted
articles will stop women from being free to be
active outside the home.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Acehnese women demand to be involved in policy
making
Aceh Kita - March 8, 2006
Radzie, Banda Aceh — Acehnese women are asking to
be involved in the process of public policy making
in Aceh. In addition to this they are also calling
for the enforcement of Islamic law not just be for
women but for crimes such as corruption.
These were the main issues voiced by Acehnese
women during the commemoration of International
Women’s Day at the Regional House of
Representatives (DPRD) on Wednesday March 8.
The lack of women’s involvement in determining
policies can be seen from the quotas in the Aceh-
Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction 2005 budget
where only 0.83 percent of funds are budgeted for
women and children’s empowerment posts. This is
despite the fact that the budget totals as much as
3 trillion rupiah.
"A policy will not have any significant influence
when it does not accommodate important points
related to the social and political rights of
women“, they said in a statement.”To the policy
makers, apply ideas of gender sensitivity and
support women’s interests in the decision making
process".
They also asked the government to provide the
broadest possible access to the public,
particularly women, of information in order to
understand the government programs and budgets in
all areas of development.
During the action that was joined by thousands of
women, they brought banners and posters with
messages opposing violence, oppression and
harassment against women. The action began in
front of the Great Baiturrahman Mosque followed by
a march to the DPRD. They also shouted slogans
such as “Viva Women”,"Women unite for Acehnese
peace" and the like.
Raihana Diani, the coordinator of the Women’s
Organisation for Aceh Democracy (Orpad), said that
the government’s attention to women’s issues in
Aceh is extremely inadequate, including in the
Draft Law on a Government for Aceh (RUU PA).
However, "Comrades have been fighting to improve
the RUU PA so it support improvements to women’s
lives“, said Diani in a speech.”If conditions for
women are good, thus Aceh will also be good".
According to Diani, women’s issues in Aceh at the
moment are complex. For example, the application
of Islamic law in Aceh severely discriminates
against women. "Islamic law has ostracised women
in Aceh", said Diani, to the applause of
participants.
In a statement read out before M Gade Salam (a
member of the Aceh DPRD who met with
demonstrators), Acehnese women asked that Islamic
law in Aceh be implemented fairly and be valid for
all components without exception. "It must also be
punishment for corrupters as violators of Islamic
law", they wrote in the statement.
In addition to this they also asked for a
standardisation of Muslim clothing that is in
accordance with and is socialised to the public so
that violations do not occur against women and
that the Wilayatul Hisbah (Islamic police) be made
up of trusted, credible people with high moral
standards that carrying out their duties in
accordance with Islamic law. [dzie]
[Translated by James Balowski.]
==========================
ACEH
==========================
Aceh: Progressives form new party
Green Left Weekly - March 15, 2006
Max Lane — The second congress of the Acehnese
Peoples Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), held
on February 23-26 in Aceh Besar, took a decision
to form a new political party in Aceh. The FPDRA
was established in the late 1990s and grew out of
student, women’s and farmers’ groups struggling
against the Suharto dictatorship.
After the fall of Suharto in 1998, the FPDRA
emerged as one of the key activist groups
independent of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) that
supported a referendum for self-determination
while continuing the struggle for social justice.
The FPDRA also built up a working alliance with
activists in Jakarta and helped form the
Solidaritas Aceh Papua (SAP), in collaboration
with Papuan students and activists from the
Peoples Democratic Party (PRD).
The Preparatory Committee of Acehnese Peoples
Party (KP-PRA) will be declared on March 16 in
Aceh’s capital Banda Aceh. Thamrin Ananda, former
secretary-general of FPDRA, has been elected
chairperson of the KP-PRA.
There is now a debate, within and outside of the
Indonesian parliament, about whether local parties
will be able to contest elections in Aceh. This
possibility was a concession won through the peace
agreement signed between GAM and the Indonesian
government last year, but is yet to be formalised
in law. In all other parts of Indonesia, local
parties are not permitted to contest elections.
Parties must prove they have branches in more than
half of the country’s provinces, as well as in a
minimum number of districts and villages in every
province.
Ananda issued a statement outlining the key
elements of the KP-PRA’s perspectives: "The
fundamental problem of Acehnese people has been
capitalism with huge foreign capital domination;
militarism in the political area; and feudal
remnants in culture. The KP-PRA stands for the
nationalisation of the main state assets which had
been plundered by imperialists; repudiation of the
foreign debt; and national industrialisation for
employment. For the majority of the Acehnese
peasantry, KP-PRA is fighting for modern, cheap
and massive technology for agriculture and also to
reduce the price of agricultural production
means."
The statement also explained that there has been a
massive influx of money into Aceh in the form of
post-tsunami aid, creating a scramble among the
local bourgeoisie to hook-up with foreign capital
in competition with Indonesian capital from
outside Aceh. "All of the factions of capital need
political stability for their commercial
activities, which is why they have backed the
peace process. But their self-seeking scramble has
meant the continuing marginalisation of the poor,
especially the peasantry."
Former peace negotiator arrested over Sharia
violation
Agence France Presse - March 14, 2006
Jakarta — A former separatist peace negotiator in
Indonesia’s Aceh province may face public caning
after he was caught with a French humanitarian
worker alone inside a car, in violation of partial
Islamic law in force there, police said Tuesday.
Banda Aceh city police chief Zulkarnaen said the
ex-negotiator of the now disbanded Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) and the woman were caught in a
parked car around midnight on Monday night by
residents in Lambhuk village.
The man was only identified only by his initials
AAM, 34, while the woman, was identified as PC,
24.
Under partial Islamic law in force in Aceh,
unrelated members of the opposite sex are not
allowed to be alone with each other in a room or
elsewhere.
Residents handed the pair over to police around
1:00 am, Zulkarnaen told AFP, adding that they
were to be released later on Tuesday.
He said the man could face up to nine stroke of
the cane and a fine of up to 10 million rupiah
(1,081 dollars) if convicted by a sharia Islamic
court. The woman, who is not a Muslim, will not be
tried.
The initials and age of the man matched those of
Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki.
He and four other negotiators were jailed for
between 11 and 15 years following the collapse of
initial peace talks in 2003. They were released
shortly after a pact was signed last August
between the government and GAM to end the 29-year
separatist revolt.
Sofyan Dawood, a former GAM commander, confirmed
to AFP that Marzuki had been arrested Monday night
but declined further details.
GAM disbanded after dropping its demand for
independence in return for wide-ranging autonomy
and the right to form a local political party.
As many as 62 GAM prisoners yet to be released
Aceh Kita - March 14, 2006
Radzie, Banda Aceh — As many as 62 Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) members detained in a number of
correctional institutions in Sumatra have yet to
be granted amnesty by the Indonesian government.
As a result they are still incarcerated in jail.
The tragedy is that several of them have fallen
ill.
On Monday March 14, dozens of former GAM
combatants from Pidie, Bireuen, East Aceh and
North Aceh Utara, asked that the Aceh Transitional
Command (KPA) endeavor to seek the release of the
GAM members still in jail. They also conveyed this
demand to the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM)
represented by Juha Christensen.
Rusli A Gani, the head of the KPA in Peureulak,
East Aceh, said that there are presently hundreds
of former GAM members still being detained on
subversion charges that have yet to be released.
Most are incarcerated at the Tanjung Gusta prison
in Medan. "In this jail there are two former GAM
[members] who were jailed on charges of
subversion, [who] are sick and not receiving
attention", said Gani.
The former GAM combatant told reporters that
Christensen has said that the AMM will follow up
the report. Christensen admitted that the AMM has
been a little slow in dealing with the cases of
GAM members who have yet to be granted amnesty. He
asked the former combatants to list the names and
places of their detention and give the data to the
AMM. "The AMM will check and investigate the
data", Christensen told them.
GAM spokesperson Bakhtiar Abdullah meanwhile, said
that there are still around 62 GAM members who are
still incarcerated in jail. Some time ago GAM had
reported there were 116 prisoners that had yet to
be granted amnesty. "At that time, we tried to
trace them case by case, and it this is still in
process", Abdullah told journalists at the KPA
offices in Banda Aceh on Tuesday March 14.
He said that during a Commission on Security
Arrangement (COSA) meeting on March 12, all of the
parties (AMM, Indonesia and GAM) agreed that 13 of
prisoners would be granted amnesty shortly. "But
what about the mechanisms, and when they will be
released is still unknown. This is still in at the
consideration stage according to Indonesian law",
said Abdullah.
Abdullah said that they would continue to work for
the release of the GAM members however it needed
time and a process."We are still concerned about
the former GAM [members] that are still in jail.
We have not forgotten them and are now trying to
get them released", promised Abdullah who resided
in Sweden for 25 years. [dzie]
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Acehnese want cloud of suspicion lifted
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta — Acehnese
appealed once again for an end to lingering
suspicion about their allegiance to the country as
the House committee deliberating the bill on the
province’s governance made a weekend trip to Banda
Aceh.
With the looming deadline of early April for the
passing of the law, legislators, scholars and
military figures are among those who have
expressed fears the proposed bill from the
government, which only partially accommodates the
original draft from the legislative council in
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, leaves loopholes for the
separation of the province.
"We reject any suspicion that the bill is a move
by Aceh to separate from Indonesia," said Junardi
Al Jundi, who led a peaceful protest on Saturday
held the provincial branch of a Indonesian Muslim
Students Action Front (KAMMI).
Antara newswire reported that Junardi presented a
rencong (traditional Acehnese dagger) to the
committee’s deputy chairman Soekartono Hadiwarsito
to symbolize that "... the Acehnese will fight and
are ready to sacrifice themselves for the bill".
Soekartono, who is from the Democrat Party, said
legislators "were listening and understood the
aspirations of the Acehnese".
The protest in the provincial capital occurred in
the middle of the legislators’ meeting with the
deputy chairman of the Aceh and Nias
Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, Tengku
Kamaruzzaman, a former negotiator of the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM).
Similar appeals to end suspicions toward the
Acehnese were made in other demonstrations and
during the House committee’s meetings with local
figures during their three-day visit, which ended
Sunday.
Last Monday, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono was
quoted as telling a House hearing that GAM was
intensifying its “propaganda” through meetings
with local figures, in response to similar
suspicions raised by a number of legislators.
In another meeting in Banda Aceh, a local Muslim
cleric assured the committee that Acehnese were
loyal to the unitary republic and the
Constitution.
If they seemed aggressive in their demands, T.
Abdurrahman Kaoy said, it was only to ensure the
government “fulfilled its promises”.
Legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI-P) have repeatedly said that
several clauses in the government draft contradict
principles of the unitary republic and the
nation’s sovereignty.
Advocates of the draft drawn up by the Aceh
legislative council say the government draft
contradicts the spirit of the Memorandum of
Understanding signed last year in Helsinki, and
effectively diminishes the autonomy promised to
Aceh.
Another Muslim cleric, T. Mohamad Husaini, asked
the legislators to accommodate Acehnese
aspirations, which he said were reflected in the
draft from the province’s legislative council.
"The Acehnese would be very disappointed if their
aspirations are not accommodated — they were all
involved in the drafting process," he said.
On Sunday, the House delegation was reminded of
the aspirations of some Acehnese for separate
provinces.
Antara quoted local figures as saying that people
of at least five regencies, who had declared their
intention to establish provinces last year, said
the demand was “non-negotiable”. The regencies are
Southeast Aceh, Central Aceh, Gayo Lues, Aceh
Singkil and Bener Meriah.
The representatives, who attended a meeting of the
committee with regents and local council speakers
in Banda Aceh, said residents of mountain areas
and the southern coast said they lagged behind
other parts of the province for development. They
are demanding the establishment of new provinces
of Aceh Leuser Antara and Aceh Barat Selatan.
"We have long raised this request to the
government and the House but it has been
neglected," representative Tjut Agam said.
Taliban-style Islamic police terrorizing Aceh
Deutsche Presse Agentur - March 10, 2006
Banda Aceh — Dewi Haryanti was in a hurry. The
25-year-old was exchanging her hotel waitress
uniform for street clothes for the trip to her
second job at a boutique she owns with her sisters
in the capital of Indonesia’s tsunami-torn Aceh
province.
In her rush to get out the door, Haryanti almost
forgot to put on her traditional Muslim headscarf.
It was a near-mistake that these days would have
easily led to police harassment, possible arrest
— maybe even a public flogging. Things have
certainly changed in Aceh since billions of
dollars began pouring to rebuild the province
following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but not
all of them are positive.
"I didn’t wear a jilbob (headscarf) at the hotel I
worked in before the tsunami," Haryanti, a native
Acehnese with Middle Eastern features and a quiet,
high-pitched voice. “Now I do.”
She has little choice. In the months following the
tsunami, the Aceh government inexplicably began
vigorously enforcing a three-year-old provincial
statute on Sharia, or Islamic Law. The provincial
Islamic law department was unleashed to crackdown
on “immorality” — alcohol, gambling, women
appearing in public without headscarves or
venturing out at night without a male escort. The
“Sharia police,” as they are known across the
province, have become a power unto themselves —
uneducated, arrogant young men operating outside
of any legal framework or rules, human and women’s
rights activists say.
Their illegal detentions and harassment of women,
intimidation of the population and violent
behaviour — they’ve publicly flogged more than
135 people for various violations in the past nine
months — has earned them comparisons to Adolf
Hitler’s “Brown Shirts” in Nazi Germany.
“It’s only going to get worse,” warned Mercedes
Chazez for the United Nations Development Fund for
Women. "It’s infuriating (because) they don’t have
the authority to be doing these arrests."
Indonesian law on Sharia is, to say the least,
vague and confusing. The constitution states that
the Muslim-majority nation is a secular, but the
national parliament in Jakarta in 2003 passed
legislation allowing Sharia in Aceh, and several
local district governments have followed suit.
Although Indonesia has 190 million Muslims, the
country has historically been mainstream. Alcohol,
cigarettes, bars and nightclubs are legal across
the country.
Residents of Aceh are considered among the most
devout Muslims in Indonesia, but the province has
never previously had Sharia or hudud — Islamic
punishments such as publicly whipping people with
a bamboo cane. That’s why both foreign and
Acehnese activists are dismayed with the Sharia
police’s campaign.
One young Acehnese woman was publicly flogged for
kissing her boyfriend in public, while another
23-year-old has been locked up in Acehnese jail
for more than two weeks without access to an
attorney after being caught drinking beer. She
could be flogged up to 40 times if found guilty by
a local religious court.
H. Alyasa’ Abubakar, director of the Sharia
enforcement office, denied during an interview
with Deutsche Presse-Agentur that his employees
were abusing their power or arresting women,
saying they "are only advising them about wearing
the jilbob." But when pressed on numerous of cases
of women being illegally detained, he said, "If
they do that, then it’s wrong," but gave no
indication that any of his officers would be
punished.
Equally troubling is the complete silence among
Western and Asian donors who have pledged billions
of dollars to Aceh’s reconstruction.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Jakarta declined
to say whether the Bush administration, which
justified its invasion of Afghanistan by saying
American troops were liberating women from the
Taliban, supported the Aceh government’s flogging
policy. The issue will likely come to a head when
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits
Indonesia on March 14.
Activists say many Acehnese are increasingly fed
up with the Sharia police’s antics. Last November,
after officers arrested a teenage schoolgirl
standing outside her front yard with a male friend
and accused her of being a prostitute, a mob
ransacked their office.
But Acehnese society as a whole remains weary of
publicly speaking out. "If anyone says they don’t
like Sharia, it can be interpreted as not
supporting Islam," said T. Ardiansyah, director of
Kata Hati Institute, an Aceh-based human rights
and conflict resolution institute.
That appears to be changing. Last Wednesday
hundreds of Acehnese women marched through the
capital demanding nondiscriminatory implementation
of Sharia, and an end to the heavy-handed tactics
by enforcement officers.
"They deserve to be hated because their way of
implementing Sharia is arrogant," said Elvida, a
protest coordinator from Flower Aceh, a local
women’s right group "Women are almost always
blamed for any infractions (while) the rich and
powerful get away with things like corruption."
More public dissent is expected. A newly formed
group of activists and attorneys is planning to
file a lawsuit against the Sharia enforcement
office to demand that it be close.
That might prevent a repeat of incidents like one
that occurred in late February at a leading Banda
Aceh hotel. Sharia policemen barged into the lobby
and arrested three women attending an
international conference because they were not
wearing headscarves. According to witnesses, an
officer screamed at one of the women: "The way you
are dressed makes my penis erect!" Ironically,
none of the witnesses could recall seeing it.
Tsunami agencies accused of lying
Sydney Morning Herald - March 9, 2006
Mark Forbes, Jakarta — An Australian aid agency
is among those to have lied about their lacklustre
efforts in Aceh’s $7 billion tsunami
reconstruction program, the program’s director
says.
Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the head of the
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, has made
a scathing attack on some charities’ efforts,
singling out CARE International. CARE’s Australian
arm has been undertaking some of the larger
rebuilding efforts in Aceh.
Dr Kuntoro told the Herald some agencies had been
dishonest. They had until June to lift their
performance or he would order them out of Aceh and
take over their projects.
"Last year CARE pledged many houses, but they keep
reducing the number, they have come down to a
third or a quarter of what they promised."
Dr Kuntoro said he was putting CARE and other
charities on notice. His agency would take over
projects that were unfinished in June next year
and order the charities responsible to leave.
CARE International’s Australian director, Robert
Glasser, said he was “floored” by the criticism.
CARE was seeking an urgent meeting with Dr
Kuntoro.
"We take this very seriously and we are committed
to doing a first-class job in Aceh. Either there
is some confusion or he has seen something we
haven’t been alerted to," he said. CARE has 1054
houses under construction, but none has been
completed.
Dr Kuntoro said some of the larger organisations
had “lied” to their donors and the public about
their progress, and were beset by high overheads
or divided by internal problems.
"One agency took pictures claiming they had built
100 houses, but they just built two houses. I am
very disappointed with the unprofessionalism of
some agencies,“Dr Kuntoro said.”In some areas
they have built houses without water or toilets."
Dr Kuntoro said 120,000 homes were required to
replace those destroyed by the 2004 tsunami, but
fewer than 20,000 had been constructed so far. He
also criticised the pace of the United Nations’
Habitat rebuilding program. Its project head, Ian
Hamilton, said there had been initial delays, but
it had built 200 homes and had promised to
construct 4000.
======================
WEST PAPUA
======================
No new command in West Irian Jaya
Jakarta Post - March 15, 2006
Bandung — There are currently no plans to develop
a new military command in West Irian Jaya
following that its separation from Papua,
according to Army chief Gen. Djoko Santoso.
Speaking in Bandung on Tuesday, he said the
Indonesian Military would instead maximize the
role of the Cendrawasih Military Command in Papua.
"There is no plan to develop a new military
command. Even with the existence of West Irian
Jaya province, the command remains the Cendrawasih
XVII Military Command," Santoso said.
He said a new command would be created only if
there was a possible threat, but currently there
was “no significant change in Papua”.
Santoso added that there were no plans to increase
the number of military personnel in Papua.
West Irian election commission faces tough
questions
Jakarta Post - March 14, 2006
Hyginus Hardoyo, Manokwari — Former Sorong regent
Abraham Octovianus Atururi maintained his lead in
the West Irian Jaya direct gubernatorial election
Monday amid threats by an opponent to take the
local election commission to court.
According to the Provincial Election Commission
(KPUD) chairperson Regina Sauyai, the number of
votes counted as of 6 p.m. Monday was 206,444, or
about 50 percent of the total of 406,651 valid
votes Abraham and his running mate Rahimin Katjong
were well in the lead with 60.9 percent votes,
while Yorrys Th. Raweyai remained a distant second
with 21.2 percent and Dortheus Asmuruf in last
with 17.8 percent.
"The results are provisional, but later we will
have the official figures," Regina said. She added
that Saturday’s election, held after being
postponed twice last year, proceeded without
significant disruptions.
According to KPUD’s schedule, the counting would
be held at the village level March 12-14, the
district level March 15-17 and the regency/city
level March 18-20. "The vote-counting process is
still going on at the lower level. We’re grateful
that we have received plenty of data so far,"
Regina said.
She played down allegations by candidates who have
charged that the election was not legitimate since
less than 50 percent of voters turned out, arguing
that it was too early to respond because the
counting was still underway.
However, she expressed optimism that there would
be better than a 50-percent turnout. "Even now,
some 50 percent of votes have been counted. So we
will see the result. According to election
regulations, if a pair gets 25 percent of votes,
they can be declared the election’s winner. So
let’s wait," Regina elucidated.
According to article 95 of a 2005 Government
Regulation on Gubernatorial Elections, a candidate
who garners more than 50 percent of the valid
votes will be declared the winner. If the
requirement is not met, the candidate with more
than 25 percent of valid votes, or the most in the
election, will be declared the winner.
Separately, Yorrys Raweyai said that based on his
team’s data, only 30 percent of eligible voters
cast their votes, therefore the election should
not be considered valid.
He also said he was upset with the candidates’
teams for conducting “black campaigns” but no
action was taken against them. However, he did not
go into detail about campaign misdeeds.
He expressed further disappointment with the KPUD
for not allowing residents without voting cards to
cast a vote, although they had other official
identification, while adding that he would
encourage the Papua Tribal Council to fight the
matter.
Abraham’s almost certain victory, however, has
been cause for celebration for his supporters,
hundreds of whom danced in traditional attire
around his home in West Manokwari on Sunday night.
One community leader in Arowi, Marthen Nauw, said
the residents spontaneously began dancing after
hearing of Abraham’s early lead. "Although the
data is still provisional, it does look to be an
unassailable lead," Marthen said.
[With additional reporting from Nethy Dharma Somba
in Papua.]
West Irian Jaya voters defy violent threats
Jakarta Post - March 12, 2006
Hyginus Hardoyo, Manokwari, West Irian Jaya —
Eligible voters in West Irian Jaya crowded polling
stations Saturday, ignoring threats of violence if
the gubernatorial election in the disputed
province went ahead.
Voting proceeded peacefully in Manokwari, the
capital of the newly established province, and
other regencies. Because Saturday was declared a
public holiday, the only activity in much of the
region seemed to be around the voting booths.
Long lines were seen at most of the polling
stations as people waited to cast ballots for the
fist governor and deputy governor of the province.
Business in the province ground to a halt with
shop-houses and other traditional markets closed.
Agus Alue Alua, chairman of the Papuan People’s
Assembly, representing Papuans opposed to the
election, said in Jakarta on Thursday that many
people in the area were prepared to fight the
establishment of the province. "Tribespeople and
students in Sorong and Manokwari will take up arms
to thwart the election," Agus said.
However, this threat failed to materialize and
there were no reports of violence Saturday. Talk
of a bloodbath had already been played down by
political leaders in West Irian Jaya and tribal
leaders.
Voting took place from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. in eight
regencies — Sorong, South Sorong, Raja Empat,
Fak-Fak, Kaimana, Manokwari, Teluk Bintuni and
Teluk Wondama — - as well as Sorong mayoralty.
According to data from the West Irian Jaya General
Elections Commission (KPUD), of a population of
about 647,000 there were at least 406,314 eligible
voters.
Three pairs of candidates are contesting the
election. They are Abraham Octovianus Atururi and
Rahimin Katjong; Yorrys Th. Raweyai and Abdul
Killian; and Dortheus Asmuruf and M. Ali Kastela.
Manokwari Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Petrus Waine
said the situation was calm and there were no
incidents during the election. He said he deployed
606 police officers to watch over the voting in
the regency.
“Don’t try and pit people against each other,” he
said, warning parties from attempting to disrupt
the polls.
As of 6:30 p.m. Saturday, only a small number of
ballots had been sent to the KPUD’s office in
Manokwari for counting.
Abraham and Rahimin took an early lead in the
provisional count, with 23,313 votes from South
Sorong, Raja Empat, Fak-Fak, Kaimana, Manokwari
and Sorong mayoralty. In second were Dortheus and
Ali with 7,260 votes, while Yorrys and Abdul
Killian were third with 6,801 votes.
Irate Papuans attack KPUD office due to election
count
Jakarta Post - March 12, 2006
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura — Hundreds of
residents angry with the results of the
gubernatorial election in Papua on Friday attacked
the General Elections Commission (KPUD) office in
Puncak Jaya regency.
The residents pelted the office with stones and
destroyed furniture on Saturday because the
candidate they supported, Lukas Enembe, did not
come out on top during the vote count at the KPUD
office in the regency capital Kota Mulia.
"They accused the KPUD of miscounting the votes
and then attacked the office. The residents
refused to accept that other candidates also
received some votes.
They wanted their candidate (Lukas) to win 100
percent of the votes," Papua Police spokesman
Kartono S. told The Jakarta Post in Jayapura on
Saturday.
Five pairs of candidates are contesting the
gubernatorial election. They are Barnabas Suebu-
Alexander Hessegem, who lead the provisional vote
count in the province; Lukas Enembe-Arobi Ahmad
Aituarauw; John Ibo-Pascalis Kossy; Constant
Karma-Donatus Mote; and Dick Henk Wabiser-SP
Inaury.
Some 1.4 million voters cast their ballots across
the province on Friday. There was no information
available on how many votes each candidates
received from the 99,322 eligible voters in Puncak
Jaya regency.
Kartono said about 150 residents were watching the
vote count at the KPUD office when the altercation
began. More residents rushed to the scene after
hearing the warning shots fired by police to
disperse the angry crowd. The police spokesman
said the residents calmed down and dispersed only
after additional officers and Lukas Enembe arrived
at the scene.
He said police did not make any arrests. "We
didn’t arrest anybody because we are trying to
keep the peace in Puncak Jaya," Kartono said.
The secretary of the KPUD in Papua, Hasjim
Sangadji, told the Post on Saturday he had not
received any official information on the attack in
Puncak Jaya, but expressed regret over the
incident.
"Blaming the KPUD is wrong. The voting was done by
residents, so ask the residents why they voted for
other candidates. This is a direct election, a
democratic process, so it’s natural that people
vote for different candidates," Hasjim said.
He said democracy was a long process and it might
take another generation before people were able to
accept political differences.
The provisional vote count in the province as of 6
p.m. Saturday had Barnabas maintaining his lead
from Friday night.
Barnabas, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P), had 111,154 votes, or
36.96 percent of the 305,691 ballots so far
counted from 591 polling stations in 11 regencies.
There are 19 regencies in the province with a
total of 2,455 polling stations.
Golkar’s candidate, John Ibo, was in second with
78,195 votes or 25.56 percent of the ballots
counted; Lukas Enembe was in third with 59,777
votes or 19.45 percent; Constant Karma in fourth
with 29,740 votes or 9.7 percent; and Dick Henk
Wabiser in last with 27,025 votes or 8.84 percent.
Top diplomat dismisses West Papua
Daily Telegraph - March 10, 2006
Washington — Australia’s top diplomat in the US
has delivered a rousing speech in support of
Indonesia and criticised the motives of fighters
for the independence of Papua.
Ambassador Dennis Richardson’s address yesterday
to a US/Indonesia advocacy group in Washington was
so supportive Indonesia’s ambassador joked that he
may soon be out of a job.
Mr Richardson, who served four years as a diplomat
in Jakarta before returning to Australia to run
ASIO, said critics of Indonesia’s hold on Papua
were misguided. Papua is a province of Indonesia,
called West Papua by some residents who want to
form an independent country.
Mr Richardson posed the question whether "those
whose raison d’etre was East Timor" had simply
adopted the Papuan cause.
"Perhaps those critics cling to an Indonesia which
no longer exists and for them to accept the
Indonesia of today and to reinforce the positive
developments in Indonesia is to deprive them of
their raison d’etre,“he said.”I certainly don’t believe that policy approaches
to Indonesia should be held hostage by the issue
of Papua."
Mr Richardson also congratulated Indonesia on its
efforts to tackle terrorism, after the four
bombings in Bali and Jakarta since the devastating
Kuta nightclub attacks in October 2002.
He said Indonesia’s anti-terror efforts had
resulted in the arrest of over 200 suspects, 40
convictions for involvement in the Bali bombings,
and the death of terror mastermind Azahari.
The secret war against the people of West Papua
Dissident Voice - March 9, 2006
John Pilger — In 1993, I and four others
travelled clandestinely across East Timor to
gather evidence of the genocide committed by the
Indonesian dictatorship. Such was the depth of
silence about this tiny country that the only map
I could find before I set out was one with blank
spaces stamped “Relief Data Incomplete.” Yet few
places had been as defiled and abused by murderous
forces. Not even Pol Pot had succeeded in
dispatching, proportionally, as many people as the
Indonesian tyrant Suharto had done in collusion
with the “international community.”
In East Timor, I found a country littered with
graves, their black crosses crowding the eye:
crosses on peaks, crosses in tiers on the
hillsides, crosses beside the road. They announced
the murder of entire communities, from babies to
the elderly. In 2000, when the East Timorese,
displaying a collective act of courage with few
historical parallels, finally won their freedom,
the United Nations set up a truth commission; on
24 January, its 2,500 pages were published. I have
never read anything like it. Using mostly official
documents, it recounts in painful detail the
entire disgrace of East Timor’s blood sacrifice.
It says that 180,000 East Timorese were killed by
Indonesian troops or died from enforced
starvation. It describes the “primary roles” in
this carnage of the governments of the United
States, Britain and Australia. America’s
“political and military support were fundamental”
in crimes that ranged from "mass executions to
forced resettlements, sexual and other horrific
forms of torture as well as abuse against
children." Britain, a co-conspirator in the
invasion, was the main arms supplier. If you want
to see through the smokescreen currently around
Iraq, and understand true terrorism, read this
document.
As I read it, my mind went back to the letters
Foreign Office officials wrote to concerned
members of the public and MPs following the
showing of my film Death of a Nation. Knowing the
truth, they denied that British-supplied Hawk jets
were blowing straw-roofed villages to bits and
that British-supplied Heckler and Koch machine
guns were finishing off the occupants. They even
lied about the scale of suffering.
And it is all happening again, wrapped in the same
silence and with the “international community”
playing the same part as backer and beneficiary of
the crushing of a defenceless people. Indonesia’s
brutal occupation of West Papua, a vast,
resource-rich province — stolen from its people,
like East Timor — is one of the great secrets of
our time. Recently, the Australian minister of
“communications”, Senator Helen Coonan, failed to
place it on the map of her own region, as if it
did not exist.
An estimated 100,000 Papuans, or 10 percent of the
population, have been killed by the Indonesian
military. This is a fraction of the true figure,
according to refugees. In January, 43 West Papuans
reached Australia’s north coast after a hazardous
six-week journey in a dugout. They had no food,
and had dribbled their last fresh water into their
children’s mouths. “We knew,” said Herman
Wainggai, the leader, "that if the Indonesian
military had caught us, most of us would have
died. They treat West Papuans like animals. They
kill us like animals. They have created militias
and jihads to do just that. It is the same as East
Timor."
For over a year, an estimated 6,000 people have
been hiding in dense jungle after their villages
and crops were destroyed by Indonesian Special
Forces. Raising the West Papuan flag is “treason”.
Two men are serving 15 and ten-year sentences for
merely trying. Following an attack on one village,
a man was presented as an “example” and petrol
poured over him and his hair set alight.
When the Netherlands gave Indonesia its
independence in 1949, it argued that West Papua
was a separate geographic and ethnic entity with a
distinctive national character. A report published
last November by the Institute of Netherlands
History in The Hague revealed that the Dutch had
secretly recognized the "unmistakable beginning of
the formation of a Papuan state", but were bullied
by the administration of John F Kennedy to accept
“temporary” Indonesian control over what a White
House adviser called "a few thousand miles of
cannibal land".
The West Papuans were conned. The Dutch,
Americans, British and Australians backed an "Act
of Free Choice" ostensibly run by the UN.
The movements of a UN monitoring team of 25 were
restricted by the Indonesian military and they
were denied interpreters. In 1969, out of a
population of 800,000, some 1,000 West Papuans
“voted”. All were selected by the Indonesians. At
gunpoint, they “agreed” to remain under the rule
of General Suharto — who had seized power in 1965
in what the CIA later described as "one of the
worst mass murders of the late 20th century." In
1981, the Tribunal on Human Rights in West Papua,
held in exile, heard from Eliezer Bonay,
Indonesia’s first governor of the province, that
approximately 30,000 West Papuans had been
murdered during 1963-69. Little of this was
reported in the west.
The silence of the “international community” is
explained by the fabulous wealth of West Papua. In
November 1967, soon after Suharto had consolidated
his seizure of power, the Time-Life Corporation
sponsored an extraordinary conference in Geneva.
The participants included the most powerful
capitalists in the world, led by the banker David
Rockefeller. Sitting opposite them were Suharto’s
men, known as the “Berkeley mafia,” as several had
enjoyed US government scholarships to the
University of California at Berkeley. Over three
days, the Indonesian economy was carved up, sector
by sector. An American and European consortium was
handed West Papua’s nickel; American, Japanese and
French companies got its forests. However, the
prize — the world’s largest gold reserve and
third-largest copper deposit, literally a mountain
of copper and gold — went to the US mining giant
Freeport-McMoran. On the board is Henry Kissinger,
who, as US secretary of state, gave the "green
light" to Suharto to invade East Timor, says the
Dutch report.
Freeport is today probably the biggest single
source of revenue for the Indonesian regime: the
company is said to have handed Jakarta 33 billion
dollars between 1992 and 2004. Little of this has
reached the people of West Papua. Last December 55
people reportedly starved to death in the district
of Yahukimo. The Jakarta Post noted the "horrible
irony“of hunger in such an”immensely rich"
province.
According to the World Bank, "38 per cent of
Papua’s population is living in poverty, more than
double the national average."
The Freeport mines are guarded by Indonesia’s
special forces, who are among the world’s most
seasoned terrorists, as their documented crimes in
East Timor demonstrate. Known as Kopassus, they
have been armed by the British and trained by the
Australians. Last December, the Howard government
in Canberra announced that it would resume "co-
operation" with Kopassus at the Australian SAS
base near Perth.
In an inversion of the truth, the then Australian
defence minister, Senator Robert Hill, described
Kopassus as having "the most effective capability
to respond to a counter-hijack or hostage recovery
threat." The files of human-rights organizations
overflow with evidence of Kopassus’s terrorism. On
6 July 1998, on the West Papuan island of Biak,
just north of Australia, special forces massacred
more than 100 people, most of them women.
However, the Indonesian military has not been able
to crush the popular Free Papua Movement (OPM).
Since 1965, almost alone, the OPM has reminded the
Indonesians, often audaciously, that they are
invaders. In the past two months, the resistance
has caused the Indonesians to rush more troops to
West Papua. Two British-supplied Tactica armoured
personnel carriers fitted with water cannon have
arrived from Jakarta. These were first delivered
during the late Robin Cook’s “ethical dimension”
in foreign policy. Hawk fighter-bombers, made by
BAE Systems, have been used against West Papuan
villages.
The fate of the 43 asylum-seekers in Australia is
precarious. In contravention of international law,
the Howard government has moved them from the
mainland to Christmas Island, which is part of an
Australian “exclusion zone” for refugees. We
should watch carefully what happens to these
people. If the history of human rights is not the
history of great power’s impunity, the UN must
return to West Papua, as it did finally to East
Timor. Or do we always have to wait for the
crosses to multiply?
[First published in The New Statesman.]
US report might help Papuan boat people
Australian Associated Press - March 9, 2006
A US State Department report alleging torture and
intimidation by Indonesian security forces against
Papuan separatists may add weight to the case of
43 Papuan boat people seeking asylum in Australia.
The US report on human rights in Indonesia said
abuses had decreased in the past year, but there
were still serious problems in Papua province,
where separatists have struggled against Jakarta’s
rule for decades.
Widespread intimidation was occurring even though
the military estimated there were only 620
guerrillas belonging to the Free Papua Movement,
or OPM, armed with only around 150 weapons among
them, the report said.
The use of torture to obtain confessions from
suspects was most apparent in Papua and Aceh,
where rebels have concluded a peace deal with the
Indonesian government.
"Torture was sometimes used to obtain confessions,
punish suspects, and seek information that
incriminated others in criminal activity," the
report said.
"Torture used included random beatings, bitings,
whippings, slashings, and burnings." The report
said the Papua Legal Aid Foundation and national
rights watchdog Komnas HAM had reported 35 cases
of torture by security forces in Papua during the
year.
"On July 14, soldiers allegedly tortured a
presumed OPM member by slashing his face and body
with a knife and razor and then pouring petrol
over his head and setting his hair on fire," it
said.
"On July 22, 14 soldiers allegedly tortured two
Papuan civilians over the course of a day. "The
soldiers reportedly kicked, bit, and punched them.
The soldiers then tied up one of the victims and
set fire to dried weeds on his back after whipping
him."
The report — part of a worldwide human rights
survey — may add weight to asylum claims lodged
by the 43 Papuan asylum seekers, including
independence leaders, women and children. The
group landed in Cape York in January after sailing
to Australia in an outrigger canoe.
They are being detained by immigration authorities
on the Australian territory of Christmas Island
while the federal government assesses their
claims. Indonesia’s government has demanded the
group be sent home and said they had no valid
claims to persecution.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised Prime
Minister John Howard the group would not be harmed
if their asylum claims were rejected.
The State Department report said while democratic
change in Indonesia was leading to an improvement
in human rights, there were still serious
problems.
"Inadequate resources, poor leadership, and
limited accountability contributed to serious
violations by security forces,“the report said.”Widespread corruption further degraded an already
weak regard for rule of law and contributed to
impunity." The head of Indonesian rights group
Elsham, Ifdhal Kasim, said it was unclear if the
US report would help the Papuans’ case.
“It’s a general report of human rights in Papua,”
he told AAP. "The asylum seekers are a specific
case and what hasn’t been found yet is whether it
is true they are being chased by the military or
others."
========================
MILITARY TIES
========================
Rice defends military ties with Indonesia
Associated Press - March 13, 2006
Anne Gearan, Jakarta — Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said Indonesia has earned the
restoration of close military ties with the United
States, despite complaints from human rights
groups that the move betrayed victims of military
brutality.
The United States lifted a six-year arms embargo
last fall and re-established other military ties
with the world’s most populous Muslim nation,
which the Bush administration views as a key ally
against terrorism. The ban was imposed in 1999
after Indonesian government troops ravaged East
Timor during the territory’s break from Jakarta.
En route to Indonesia, where she arrived Monday,
Rice cited Indonesia’s cooperation in anti-terror
investigations as well as democratic progress.
"The military is an important institution in
Indonesia,“Rice told reporters on her plane.”It’s by no means completely made its reform, but
we believe those reforms are underway and that we
can have a more positive effect on the reforms by
being part of it."
Rice’s first visit here as secretary of state will
include a speech on democracy in the Muslim world
and the similarities between two trade-oriented
multiethnic democracies. She is visiting an
Islamic school and meeting with Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a US-educated
former general.
"You want to be careful not to cut off contacts
with the very people who are going to be important
for the restoration of democracy," Rice said.
Al-Qaida-linked militants have launched a series
of deadly bombings on Western targets in Indonesia
since 2002, including suicide attacks last year on
three crowded restaurants on Bali island that
killed 20 people.
The Bush administration had long wanted to lift
the arms embargo, but it was stymied by US
lawmakers demanding the military undertake
meaningful reform.
Citing national security concerns, the State
Department used recently granted powers to waive
the restrictions in November. But that action has
prompted complaints from human rights groups.
"This is a profoundly disappointing and sad day
for human rights protections everywhere," John
Miller from the East Timor and Indonesia Action
Network said then. "With the stroke of a pen...
President Bush betrayed the untold tens of
thousands of victims of the Indonesian military’s
brutality." In a letter to Rice last week, the New
York-based Human Rights First asked her to link US
military aid to real progress in reform.
Yudhoyono, elected in 2004 in the country’s
first-ever direct elections for head of state,
visited Washington twice to lobby for lifting the
ban.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said last
week the United States "lost a generation of
relationships" with the Indonesian and Pakistani
militaries because of sanctions. Most military
ties with Pakistan were severed during the 1980s
because of its nuclear weapons program.
Rumsfeld said it’s important that the United
States "not complicate efforts to build useful
relationships with nations that can aid in our
defense." He said the US military had to renew the
ties with these large predominantly Muslim
countries “almost from scratch” following the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Rumsfeld said he understands the reason why the
sanctions were imposed. But, he added, "I think
it’s something that we need to think very
carefully because as a result of some of those
actions the United States is looked at as a less
than perfectly reliable friend and ally."
The Indonesian military has long been accused of
human rights violations as it put down separatist
insurgencies in far-flung regions of the sprawling
archipelago. While Jakarta did hold trials for
some of those accused in the East Timor violence,
16 of the 18 government and military officials
involved were acquitted. That sparked outrage
among Western governments and rights groups who
labeled the rights court a failure.
The US and Indonesian militaries had close ties
during the three-decade rule of the dictator
Suharto, whose regime collapsed in 1998 amid riots
and an economic meltdown, ushering in democracy.
Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 1975 and the
subsequent 24-year occupation is blamed for the
deaths of 200,000 people — a third of the
population. Anti-insurgent activities in the
eastern province of Papua since 1969 are believed
to have caused the deaths of more than 100,000
people.
US aid to corrupt TNI risks more rights abuses
Jakarta Post - March 14, 2006
Lisa Misol, New York — US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Jakarta today is
intended to showcase Indonesia’s transition to
democracy. It follows the Bush Administration’s
controversial decision to reestablish full
relations with the Indonesian Military (TNI). That
move opens the door to renewed US assistance, but
pumping aid to an unreformed Indonesian military
would serve only to encourage further rights
abuses and undermine civilian governance.
The Indonesian military has long been responsible
for grave abuses — including extrajudicial
executions, torture, and arbitrary detention — in
conflict areas such as Aceh and Papua, as well as
a range of serious abuses across the country. But,
as recognized by the US State Department in its
annual human rights report issued last week (March
8), military personnel of all ranks have largely
been above the law.
For years, the TNI has been accountable only to
itself. It raises and spends large sums of money
completely outside government control. It is
involved in a vast network of military-owned
business enterprises, shady deals with private
entrepreneurs, criminal activities such as illegal
logging, and corrupt practices like inflating the
price of weapons purchases. Foreign corporations
operating in Indonesia can easily become linked to
lawful and unlawful military business activities.
For instance, US mining giant Freeport McMoRan
makes huge security payments to Indonesia’s
military, totaling around US$60 million through
2004. Freeport reportedly doled out at least a
third of that directly to individual commanders
and units. The company, which denies any
wrongdoing, faced recent protests in Indonesia
over its close ties to the TNI and other
practices.
Corporate protection payments that bankroll
Indonesia’s highly abusive security forces
undermine civilian control and threaten democratic
governance. These payments also facilitate abuses
of power and military impunity, because civil
authorities cannot exercise effective oversight if
they do not control the flow of funds.
Today it is estimated that Indonesia’s official
defense budget covers only between one-third and a
half of what its military actually spends.
Contributions from private companies, together
with revenue from military-run businesses and
illegal economic activities (including
corruption), help make up the rest.
The September 2004 TNI law banned the military’s
business activities and ordered the government to
withdraw the military from business by 2009. But
the Indonesian government has been very slow to
transform the potential of this law into reality.
It has suggested that its plan to take over
military businesses, when it is finally announced,
will address only a few of the 200-plus businesses
the armed forces admit to owning. It has failed to
put in place measures to prevent asset-stripping
by the military. Moreover, critics warn the
government’s narrow approach ignores the TNI’s
many other economic entanglements.
The human rights consequences are serious. Cases
investigated by human rights groups show that
soldiers have employed abusive tactics —
including violence and intimidation, extortion and
property seizures — to advance their financial
interests or those of their business partners.
One coal company in South Kalimantan sub-
contracted part of its business to a military
cooperative in order to combat illegal mining. But
the soldiers ran the operation as a coal mafia
that brokered deals for the company, oversaw
illegal mining, and exploited workers. Military
personnel extracted protection payments from
miners and used threats and beatings to keep them
in line.
In November the Bush Administration, without
consulting Congress, invoked a national security
waiver to override longstanding human rights
restrictions on military aid to Indonesia. Last
month the Administration asked Congress to approve
$6.5 million in proposed Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) for the Indonesian military, more
than a six-fold increase over the previous year.
The Administration maintains that this assistance
will "provide further incentives for reform of the
Indonesian military."
But giving more support to an unreformed military
that retains its independent money-making ventures
will not make Indonesians safer, and could make
the US complicit in future abuses. The Indonesian
military continues to act with impunity: many
officers remain on active duty even after being
indicted for war crimes in East Timor by a UN-
organized court that Indonesia has ignored.
Some US military trainers have told Human Rights
Watch that providing aid without reform is
wrongheaded. In Jakarta earlier this month,
however, US Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill declared that the Bush
Administration is “very satisfied” with progress
toward military reform.
The new TNI chief, Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto, has
pledged to advance some elements of military
reform. But he has not yet established a track
record and is expected to face internal resistance
from powerful elements in the army. Also, rather
than pledging to stamp out military economic
activity, he has argued that the TNI should be
allowed to retain some businesses.
Before the Bush Administration provides assistance
to the Indonesian military, it should demand to
see evidence of real reform. Secretary Rice should
press Indonesia to place the military under the
authority of the civilian defense ministry. She
also should use her trip to announce that the US
will refuse to provide them with lethal weapons
and will insist on robust monitoring of whatever
aid it sends.
The US can usefully support enhanced civilian
oversight, proper military budgeting practices,
the publication of audits of the military, and
efforts to clamp down on military corruption. It
also should press the government for concrete
benchmarks and a timetable to implement the ban on
military businesses. Ending military self-
financing is a precondition for the professional
army and stable democracy the US says it wants to
help Indonesia build.
[The writer, a researcher based in New York, has
investigated the human rights impact of military
economic activity in Indonesia for a forthcoming
Human Rights Watch report. She can be reached at
business hrw.org.]
Rice says US ties with Indonesia transformed
Associated Press - March 12, 2006
The emergence of democracy in Indonesia has
“thoroughly transformed” US relations with that
country, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza
Rice, said in remarks made public yesterday.
Dr Rice, due to arrive in Jakarta late tomorrow as
part of a week-long foreign tour, also praised
Indonesia’s efforts to reconcile with neighbours
and its “stalwart” role in combating terror.
"It’s also a place that shows that people of many
different faiths and many different ethnicities
can live together in a democratic system," Dr Rice
said in the interview with reporters from
Indonesia and several other countries.
In addition, Dr Rice welcomed the re-establishment
of normal relations between the US and Indonesian
military forces.
During her stay in Indonesia, Dr Rice said she
will discuss a number of issues, among them the
potential for a bird flu pandemic.
Meanwhile, Human Rights First, a New York-based
group, urged Dr Rice to raise human rights
problems with Indonesian officials during her
visit.
Of particular worry are attacks on human rights
defenders, the slow pace of military reform and
abuses by the police in the context of
counterterror operations, the group said in a
statement.
==========================
POPULAR RESISTANCE
==========================
Ambon students vent anger at shooters
Jakarta Post - March 15, 2006
At least 300 students in Ambon, Maluku, went on a
three-kilometer long march Tuesday to demand a
thorough investigation in the shooting of a
civilian during a deadly clash between police and
the military in the city last week.
The protesters from the Association of Islamic
Students were blocked by guards at the governor’s
office but they insisted on meeting Governor Karel
Albert Ralahalu.
The students called on the governor to organize a
meeting between the Pattimura Military commander
Maj. Gen. Syarifudin Summah and Maluku Police
chief Brig. Gen. Adityawarman to ask them to take
responsibility for the shooting.
"If you want to play war games, don’t do it in
residential areas because it will make residents
the victims," said a protester, Ilham Sipahutar,
in his speech.
The protesters demanded the authorities arrest
those responsible for shooting Saiful Wakano, a
Pattimura University School of Engineering student
and HMI member. Saiful was shot on the evening of
March 4 when police officers fired at a crowd of
soldiers in the Batumerah area.
During the clash between the police and military,
one police officer and a soldier were stabbed to
death in separate incidents.
During the protest, the students delivered
speeches condemning security personnel for
injuring a civilian. They also staged a
performance where a victim was dragged away by two
people clad in military and police uniforms and
carried a coffin to symbolize the death of human
rights in the province.
"The protest is to show out anger and
disappointment. If the police are no longer
professional and independent, let’s form a
people’s militia instead. How can people seek the
police’s protection if they are not doing their
job," Muhiba Tuheteru, the protest coordinator,
said in a speech.
The governor’s staff met the students and told
them Karel could not meet them because he was
preparing for the arrival of President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono on March 17.
Ambon students continue strike
Jakarta Post - March 10, 2006
Ambon, Maluku — A protest at the State Islamic
Institute in Ambon escalated Thursday when 500
students told lecturers and staff to leave the
campus. The protesting students have sealed off
the campus since Monday, forcing 3,000 students to
miss classes.
The protesters were prevented by lecturers from
blocking off the only door to the rector’s office.
Police officers attempted to intervene to end the
action, but students attacked the officers and
drove them from the campus.
Ibrahim Ruhunussa, president of the students
association, said Thursday students were angry
over a 100 percent increase in tuition fees and
the illegal fees collected by several lecturers.
Tuition at the school has risen from Rp 300,000 to
Rp 600,000.
A university official, Hasan Lauselang, said the
institute could not discuss the protest since
rector Mochamad Attamimi was in Jakarta for a
meeting.
Hunger strike a desperate cry for attention
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
Jakarta — Unruly demonstrations make for good
newspaper copy and dramatic photos, but trashing a
government building is likely to lead to criminal
punishment.
When all other avenues of protest have been
exhausted, some, like residents claiming to be
victims of the construction of extra high-voltage
electricity wires in their neighborhoods, resort
to the most drastic measure of all: hunger
strikes.
After the clamor of noisy protests has died down,
the protesters say they believe a hunger strike is
the most effective way to be heard.
Kuswiyanto, 24, and Suyoto, 38, traveled all the
way from Kalisari village in Semarang, Central
Java, to Jakarta with only enough money for a
one-way trip. They left behind their wives and
children in the village to take part in the hunger
strike.
“We have had enough. Nobody cares,” Kuswiyanto
said. "In our village, if you carry an umbrella
and touch it with an electricity rod, it will
immediately light up."
He said he was among the many villagers who
suffered mysterious health problems since state
electricity company PLN built the electricity
towers, with capacity of 500 kilovolts, in his
village in 1997.
"I’ve had respiratory problems for over nine
years. Doctors said there was something wrong with
my lungs," he said.
The two men joined the band of hunger strikers,
who had their lips sewn up; there are four today,
down from 12 earlier this month, on Jl.
Diponegoro, Central Jakarta.
The first to have their mouths sewn shut were
Ikah, 44 and Yani, 40, both residents of Cianjung
in Sumedang, West Java, on Dec. 27. They were
later joined by three farmers from Kademangan
village in Cianjur, West Java.
Many have refused to give up their protest despite
their weakening condition. One was rushed to a
nearby hospital where his stitches were forcibly
removed.
A few days later, he was back on hunger strike.
"The idea of having my lips stitched up doesn’t
scare me at all. The pain is minor compared to
what we have to stand every day. Us little people
are used to suffering," Kuswiyanto told The
Jakarta Post a day before his lips were stitched
up.
A group of 10 mentally and physically disabled
children also was brought before the media, their
handicaps a result of living below the electricity
lines, protest organizers said.
"The physical growth of some children was
seriously affected even before they were born,"
said student activist Mustar Bonaventura, who has
assisted the protesters in getting their story out
to the media. He claimed that a five-year-old girl
weighed only 11 kilograms.
Mustar said the people demanded that the
government pay attention to their health problems,
as well as their relocation from the area. "The
government can either relocate their homes or
provide land compensation at current market
value." Mustar and his group, Saksi, have helped
the residents for the last 10 years.
"We are still waiting for the right moment to
launch a strategic fight against the injustice.
Our fight will be massive," he said. As they wait
for that right time to come, the handful of hunger
strikers continues to hold out for their complaint
to be heard.
Health, money charge debate over power lines
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
A group of residents have been unrelenting in
their protest over the proximity of extra-high
voltage power lines (Sutet) to their property,
despite the seemingly blinkered government
response. The Jakarta Post’s Abdul Khalik and Andi
Haswidi look at the root causes of the problems
that drove a group of villagers to embark on a
hunger strike.
It is a warning commonly heard: Any electricity
installment is safe, unless you touch it. But is
it really safe to the about 400,000 people who
actually live under it? Without enough research
done to answer the question, the Indonesian
government was quick to conclude there was nothing
wrong with the residents who complained of health
problems some time after the first phase of the
construction of the 500,000 Volt (500 kV) Java-
Bali extra-high voltage power grid was completed
in 1989.
The protests began when residents realized the
financial compensation for property affected by
the project was not enough to buy land elsewhere.
Not only had the value of their land plunged since
the Sutet construction began, but there were no
buyers.
"My land is valued at Rp 5,000 per square meter.
Before the Sutet project, I could have gotten Rp
50,000 per sq m. Even at that price, no one wants
to buy it," said one of the residents who is
staying at the post on Jl. Diponegoro in Central
Jakarta, where they have been holding their silent
protest since December.
In June 2003, 30 people from Ciseeng village in
Bogor regency embarked on a hunger strike. They
demanded that state power company PLN provide land
compensation at current market value. That year,
the residents began to complain of illnesses
resulting from exposure to electromagnetic fields,
and reported a growing number of births of
disabled children. The protest failed to attract
the attention of the state.
Over a year later, in September 2004, thousands of
residents affected by Sutet projects across West
Java staged a rally in front of the State Palace,
demanding that president Megawati Soekarnoputri
find a solution to their problems.
Megawati established a special team to look into
the problem, but until today nothing has been
heard from the team.
In mid-2005, the protests gained momentum as
people from Central Java and Yogyakarta joined the
struggle.
In its defense, the power company insisted the
matter was out of its hands. PLN vice president
for transmission and distribution Herman Darnel
Ibrahim said that policies on compensation were in
the hands of the government.
In accordance with the 2002 Electricity Law, a
1992 Ministerial Decree on the construction of
power grids before 1999 as well as a 1999
Ministerial Decree on construction after 1999, PLN
is required to financially compensate the owners
of property acquired for PLN purposes.
Although the Electricity Law clearly stipulates
that PLN as a power distributor must financially
compensate land owners, the 1992 decree does not
require PLN to make any payments, while the 1999
decree states that the power company must pay 10
percent of the taxable value of the property
affected by the project. The 1999 decree, however,
allows residents to stay put if they should so
wish.
"We have paid compensation for land, buildings and
plants affected by the construction of Sutet
towers before 1999 and we have also paid 10
percent of the taxable value of property affected
by post-1999 projects. We have acted in accordance
with the prevailing regulations," Herman said.
The Sutet grid is a network of long distance
extra-high voltage transmission lines that carry
bulk electricity to local utilities. It spans
2,700 kilometers from west to east Java and is 30
meters wide on average. Some people living below
the lines or a short distance away from the towers
claim to have suffered headaches, dizziness and
fatigue. Others say their children’s growth was
stunted.
Noted legal expert from the University of
Indonesia, Rudy Satrio, said the problem was more
a political one. He suggested the House of
Representatives, Energy and Mineral Resources
Ministry or President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
take over the problem from PLN.
"The longer the problem exists, the greater
instability it will create in the future. The two
ministerial decrees are no longer relevant in the
current reform era, so they have to be changed as
we should take into account the decreased value of
land to accommodate the people’s feelings of
injustice," he said.
He said the government should have acquired all
property around the power lines after compensating
residents.
"Even though many scientists have said there is no
proof that the people’s health suffered as a
result of living beneath high-voltage lines, the
government should have deployed an independent
scientific mission to check on their health
complaints, to find out what really happened to
them," Rudy said.
============================
PORNOGRAPHY & MORALITY
============================
Fight broadens against anti-women laws
Green Left Weekly - March 15, 2006
Faiza Mardzoeki & Max Lane — A united front has
developed among almost all women’s rights
organisations to campaign against a new law
currently before the parliament, the Law Against
Pornography and Porno-Action (UUAPP). Opposition
to the law was the focus of International Women’s
Day protests in Jakarta on March 8.
Kompas newspaper reported that thousands of women
gathered in Thamrin Street in the city centre and
marched to the State Palace and then the
parliament. More than 40 organisations
participated, including Women’s Journal, Women’s
Freedom, the Women’s Legal Aid Centre, the
Indonesian Women’s Coalition and several trade
unions, including the Migrant Workers Union. In
addition to opposing the UUAPP, demonstrators
raised the issue of poverty among women.
The law, which was first proposed in 2002,
contains provisions under its prohibitions of
“porno-action” that in effect criminalise the
female body. Some of these provisions include a
ban on women revealing parts of their bodies in
public, including the thigh, hip, buttocks, belly
button, shoulders and — either partially or
wholly — breasts. Penalties include jail terms
for between two and 10 years. There is also a ban
on kissing on the lips in public and "erotic
dancing“or”erotic swivelling" of the hips in
public.
The proposed anti-pornography provisions include
bans on any media forms that "exploit the
attraction“of”sensual parts of the human body“,”of the naked adult body“,”of people kissing" and
of a range of heterosexual and same-sex sexual
activity. The bill provides for heavy prison
sentences of up to 18 years.
At the forefront of the parties in parliament
supporting the bill is the Justice and Welfare
Party (PKS), which has strong Islamic
fundamentalist perspectives. Other parties have
vacillated or refused to take a clear stand on the
law during the past year, but are being
increasingly pressured to either reject or revise
the bill. Apart from women’s rights groups, human
rights groups have also joined in criticising the
bill.
A wide range of figures from the arts, film and
the media have spoken out against the proposed
law, which could lead to a massive puritanical
purge of Indonesian cinema, television, and
photography, which all show kissing and other
aspects of romantic life (of course, with the
usual sexist bias of the current society).
Politicians from the more mainstream political
parties have come out in opposition to the bill.
Both members of parliament from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), as well as
its chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, have now
stated their opposition to the law. What appears
to have tipped the balance in the world of elite
politics is increasing fear of a threat to
cultural pluralism in a society that has no single
dominant cultural perspective.
A broad coalition of community organisations from
Bali have opposed the law. This stems from Hindu
Bali’s acceptance of women’s bare shoulders and
bare upper torso in traditional dress, including
the appearance of such women in traditional
paintings and other art forms, such as sculpture.
There are also concerns about the impact on
Balinese beach culture and tourism. On March 6,
the Balinese provincial parliament passed a motion
rejecting the bill, with the support of all the
major parties, including Golkar (the party of
former dictator Suharto). There have been protests
from Papuan groups on similiar grounds.
Now former Golkar chairperson Akbar Tanjung has
weighed in against the bill, arguing that there
can be no national law that cannot be implemented
in specific provinces. However it is not clear
whether these mainstream parties will reject the
bill or simply soften it. Vivi Widyawati, from
Women’s Freedom in Jakarta, told Green Left Weekly
that "the campaign against the bill has created
quite a polemic and is forcing pressure for
revision. But it is not looking good for getting
the bill stopped given the ambivalent stand of
most of the parties."
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has remained
silent, emboldening the PKS and other supporters
of the bill. Yudhoyono’s party, the Democrat
Party, has so far supported the UUAPP.
There are strong fears that the passing of the
bill will open the way for greater oppression of
women. Even before it has passed, said Widyawati,
there have been repressive actions. "In some
areas, raids and arrests have already started...
This is hitting poor women particular hard. For
example, in Tangerang, on the outskirts of
Jakarta, they have instituted a curfew for women.
Three women were arrested and fined. In other
areas, the sense that the law will be passed has
emboldened local governments to decree the wearing
of Muslim dress for women." Local governments have
issued regulations against prostitution, under
which women have been detained and sentenced
simply because they were out alone at night.
In the island of Batam, just 20 minutes from
Singapore by ferry, there have been increasing
raids on shopping malls where women have been
warned about wearing “provocative” clothes, such
as sleeveless tops. In Aceh, there have been
arrests of women walking with men who were not
their husbands or relatives.
“The driving force behind the bill is the PKS”,
said Widyawati. "They have said that they think it
will help them win the next elections. They have
tried to harden the bill by proposing an amendment
that an Anti-Pornography and Porno-Action Body be
established not only at the national level, but
for every town."
Not all Islamic groupings are supporting the bill.
Various Islamic figures from the Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU), the organisation that former President
Abdurrahman Wahid headed for 20 years, have called
on the bill to be revised and have criticised the
stand taken by other Muslim organisations. One
such cleric, Mustofa Bisri, was quoted in the
Jakarta Post on March 6 as saying that some Muslim
groups were attempting to push the law through
parliament without proper consultation. The
pressure was "a manifestation of panic from
Muslims who have no self-confidence“, he said.”It
seems that certain Muslims are so worried about
globalisation and are unable to deal with it that
they are resorting to speedily passing this law."
Islamic student organisations, such as the
Indonesian Islamic Student Union (PMII) and the
Association of NU Young Men and Women (IPPNU) have
also outright rejected the bill.
[Faiza Mardzoeki is a women’s rights activist
based in Jakarta. Max Lane writes regularly for
Green Left Weekly and lectures at the University
of Sydney in Asian Studies.]
Freeport protests hit hotel, politicians flee
Jakarta Post - March 15, 2006
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura — Dozens of angry
Papuan activists expressed their anger over mining
company PT Freeport Indonesia by storming the
Sheraton Timika hotel Tuesday where several senior
provincial government officials were staying.
The group smashed up four buses and set a car
alight. No human casualties or property damage to
the hotel proper were reported in the incident.
The latest in a series of protests against
Freeport raised such concern among the hotel’s
guests — which included several provincial
councillors and members of the Papua People’s
Council (MRP) — that they had to be evacuated to
safety.
Papua councillor Abdul Hakim told The Jakarta Post
from Timika that the action took place as a result
of disappointment by the protesters as they could
not come along with the councillors and MRP
members to visit Freeport’s mine in Tembagapura.
Eleven councillors and 18 MRP members staying at
the hotel were on a five-day working trip to visit
Freeport’s mines in Tembagapura and Timika in
Mimika regency. They were planning to collect data
following widespread protests demanding the mining
company’s closure.
"We were about to leave at 6 a.m. but the road was
blocked and we couldn’t get through. The people
wanted to come with the group but that was not
part of the plan by Freeport so they prevented us
from getting through," Abdul Hakim explained.
Since the team could not go to Tembagapura, he
said they watched videos of the mining activities
while at the hotel. But at 4 p.m., the people that
put up the road block attacked the hotel, he
added. The attackers stormed the hotel carrying
rocks, spears and machetes. They pelted the
hotel’s entrance with stones and also damaged cars
belonging to Freeport employees in the hotel
parking area, Antara reported.
Employees of the US-based mining giant and the US
hotel chain tried to fight back and chase the
attackers. "Freeport does belong to the Amung
Medan Kamoro tribe, but we and our families depend
upon Freeport for our livelihoods," one local
Freeport employee was quoted by Antara as saying.
A Freeport spokesperson, Mindo Pangaribuan, told
the Post the company had provided facilities for
representatives of the residents to join the group
as agreed following an earlier meeting between MRP
members and the crowd.
But when the team was about to leave, he said, the
people’s representatives did not show up and they
blocked the road instead.
Mindo said the company decided to evacuate all
guests from the hotel as well as the councillors
and MRP members. "We’re still evacuating (the
guests), for the next step, I have no comment,"
Mindo said.
The attack, however, did not last long as security
personnel quickly arrived and secured the area.
Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Kartono S.
claimed later Tuesday, however, that Timika had
been secured as police personnel were deployed to
several locations.
The attack was the latest incident following
protests in Jakarta and Papua over the company’s
activities. Last month, the company had to suspend
operations at its Grasberg mine, following a clash
between illegal miners and security officers after
a dispute over being allowed to sift through the
company’s tailings.
In the same month, Papuan students attacked a
building that houses the company’s office in
Jakarta. Police named nine suspects in the
building attack.
Parties agree to scrap anti-porn bill articles
Jakarta Post - March 15, 2006
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta — Several House
of Representatives factions have agreed to throw
out articles in the pornography bill that
criminalize personal conduct deemed indecent and
allow for the establishment of a special anti-
pornography body.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-
P) has voiced the most vocal opposition to the
draft law. It and the National Awakening Party
(PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the
Democrat Party — support the demands to scrap all
articles that target behavior deemed indecent.
PDI-P legislator Eva K. Sundari said her party
suggested that articles on these sanctions be
included in a draft revision of the Criminal Code,
which is due to be discussed later this year. "The
articles about criminal sanctions (on behavior
judged obscene) would be regulated in the bill to
revise the Criminal Code," she said Tuesday. As a
consequence, all articles on the establishment of
an anti-pornography body would also be eliminated,
Eva added.
The major supporters of the bill are conservative
Muslim-based parties, including the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) and the United Development
Party (PPP).
Eva said the legislators wanted the bill to only
rule on pornographic materials and industries in a
bid to protect children. "We have to make it
formal. But we are still concerned about the
paradigm of the bill. If the bill is to rule on
the distribution of pornographic materials, it
should be changed completely," she said.
Separately, deputy chairwoman of the House special
team deliberating the bill, Chairunissa, confirmed
there was an agreement to scrap such these
articles as "we are still in the stage of
listening to people’s aspirations“.”It is still a
long way before the bill is passed into law," she
said.
A series of meetings by the special team last week
only produced minor changes to the bill, including
an agreement to change the title of the bill from
the Anti-Pornography and Pornoaksi (indecent acts)
Bill into either the Bill on Pornography or the
Bill on Pornography and Pornoaksi.
The team did not discuss the substance of the bill
during the three-day meeting, which was boycotted
by PDI-P representatives. Neither did the team
compile a list of contentious articles for further
debate.
Meanwhile, several Muslim clerics from South
Sulawesi met with the special committee
deliberating the bill to express their support for
the legislation. "Please, don’t go back (on the
bill). We need it because pornography has intruded
on our children’s lives," said a cleric,
Sirajudin.
Legislator Balkan Kaplale, who chairs the House
special committee, has repeatedly said the bill
would be passed into law by June. However, it is
now unlikely the deadline will be met as the House
will enter its recess period next week.
Legislators must produce a list of contentious
articles in the bill before they submit it to the
government. After this, President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono is expected to issue a presidential
letter to approve the deliberation of the bill and
appoint ministers to represent the government in
deliberating it with the House.
The bill has drawn controversy because it bans a
series of acts including kissing in public and
nudity in public art, and also could punish people
for how they dress.
Pornography bill a serious threat to artists
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
A’an Suryana, Jakarta — Art curator Agus Suwage
had not expected that exhibiting an art work by
photographer Davy Linggar would land him in
serious trouble. "I knew from the media that a
group of people had filed a lawsuit against us,
but I was steadfast as I believed that we had done
nothing wrong. Were they joking?" said Suwage,
referring to the protest by right wing Muslim
group the Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI).
The group had staged a massive campaign against
Davy and Suwage along with TV star Anjasmara and
model Isabel Yahya, for displaying what the FPI
deemed to be obscene pictures in the CP Biennale
in Jakarta in September last year.
Despite the FPI protest, Suwage remained calm and
was convinced that the case would not be brought
to court. He was still confident that he would not
be the target of the law when he was taken in for
questioning by the police in October last year.
But the situation changed abruptly in February,
when police declared him a suspect, along with the
three others responsible for displaying the
picture in the art exhibition held at the Bank
Indonesia Museum in Central Jakarta.
"When I received the letter from the police naming
me a suspect, I was stunned, amazed. I was really
worried that in the end, I would be put in jail,"
said the father of two children on Wednesday. He
added that his wife was even more shocked than he
was.
Since he was named a suspect, Suwage and his
family have led a stressful life, uncertain of the
future. "We do hope the police will drop the
charge as we have done nothing wrong. What we
displayed was an art work and in displaying it we
had no intention of insulting any people or
religious groups," he said.
Many other artists have also been persecuted for
allegedly displaying “obscene” art or objects that
have insulted certain religious groups. "Suwage’s
case represents many others where artists and
actors have had problems with the religious
community. The situation is worrying," said
Andreas Harsono, director of the Pantau
Foundation, of which Suwage is a member.
The concern has deepened since legislators,
especially those from right Muslim parties,
proposed the anti-pornography bill, which is now
being deliberated at the House of Representatives
(DPR).
The bill — which bans kissing in public, sensual
dance and the depiction of sexual activity in
literature, paintings, photographs or recordings,
among other things — is seen as problem because
it lends itself to multiple interpretations. If
the bill is passed into the law, it will not only
allow the state to oppress the work it considers
obscene, as in the case of Agus Suwage, but it
could also lead to the demise of freedom of
expression in general.
If the bill passes, artists will no longer be able
to express their thoughts without fearing legal
prosecution, and women wearing fashionable attire
could face being criminalized for their sexuality.
The bill has also concerned people in
predominantly Hindu Bali, where nudity in certain
contexts is an accepted part of the island’s art
and culture. The Balinese are worried that if the
bill is made law, it will also affect tourism,
which has been the backbone of the island’s
economy for years. As a result, the strongest
opposition to the bill is coming from Bali.
A string of protests have been carried out since
the deliberation of the bill was announced. Bowing
to public pressure, the legislators with the DPR
have visited various over the past few days to
canvas public opinion on the bill. The legislators
themselves have promised that the protests will be
taken into account when the bill is deliberated
but there is no guarantee that the outcome will be
satisfactory to all.
Suwage stressed again that by displaying the art
work, he did not intend to insult any religions or
groups of people. "We have already said this to
both the public and the police investigators but
whether this will be heard, we have no idea. We
can only wait," said Suwage in a gentle voice.
Big factions want porn bill changed
Jakarta Post - March 11, 2006
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta — The two
largest factions in the House of Representatives
are expected to push for major changes to the
pornography bill currently being deliberated, as
the controversy over the issue continues to grow.
The Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P) occupy 128 and 109 seats
respectively in the 550-seat House.
Legislator Yuddy Chrisnandi of Golkar said his
faction would likely push for the withdrawal of
all articles regarding pornoaksi — pornographic
or obscene acts — in the bill, the title of which
is the Anti-Pornography and Pornographic Acts
Bill.
It is unclear whether articles in the bill
regulating non- pornoaksi — pornography in the
print and broadcast media and art — would also be
rejected. "It is very difficult to define
pornoaksi. How can we regulate something that
cannot be defined?" he said Friday.
Yuddy said the articles detailing alleged obscene
acts drew the most controversy because they
encroached on the personal rights of individuals
— including their right to dress and behave.
While the party wanted changes to the legislation,
Golkar members still wanted the bill deliberated
by the House, Yuddy said.
Yuddy, who is a member of the House special
committee deliberating the bill, said the Criminal
Code did not have sufficient laws criminalizing
pornography in the country.
"We need a particular law for this issue because
we have to protect our children from pornography.
Whether you like it or not, pornography has
affected our children," he said.
Meanwhile, the PDI-P vowed to do the best it could
to make major changes to the bill. "We consider
this a war. We will do whatever we can to prevent
this draft being passed into law without changes,"
legislator Eva K. Sundari said.
Legislator Afridel Jinu said the PDI-P opposed all
moves to attack freedom of expression. The faction
has decided to boycott the special committee
meetings in Puncak, West Java, which are to be
held this weekend.
"We are also planning a move to hold a vote of no
confidence in the committee chairman, who has been
very arrogant," Afridel said, referring to
legislator Balkan Kaplale of the Democrat Party.
Balkan, who wants to finish the bill’s
deliberation in June, had turned down the PDI-P’s
request to give legislators more time to submit
their list of contentious articles to the
committee.
The draft bill has articles banning public
kissing, depictions of nudity in public art, and
could also fine women who refused to cover
“sensitive” body parts like their hair, shoulders,
midriffs and legs. Violators risk jail terms and
fines of up to Rp 2 billion (about US$214,000).
Non-Muslim groups in Bali and Papua have voiced
strong opposition to the bill, calling it
culturally insensitive, while women’s groups have
said it criminalizes female sexuality.
Islamic moral drive spreads fear in Indonesia
Sydney Morning Herald - March 11, 2006
Mark Forbes and Karuni Rompies in Jakarta — Lilis
Lindawati finished waitressing at 8pm and was
waiting for a bus when the men in brown shirts
came. Five jumped from the back of a ute and
forced her into a nearby van.
The frightened, three-months-pregnant mother of
two was about to become another casualty of
Indonesia’s escalating morality war. Her crime:
she was female, alone and wearing make-up. A tube
of lipstick sealed her fate.
New bylaws championed by the ambitious mayor of
Tangerang, a satellite city on Jakarta’s
outskirts, aim to drive out gamblers, drunks and
prostitutes. They are enforced by a small army of
“public order officers” who cruise the streets,
able to arrest anyone at whim.
The move has created a de facto curfew for women
in Tangerang. If they are caught alone at night
they must prove they are not prostitutes.
As well as banning “physical intimacy” in public
places, a bylaw states a woman "who behaves
suspiciously" on streets or in hotels, theatres,
coffee shops — even private houses — will be
jailed.
Tangerang is not the only regional administration
to introduce bylaws reflecting sharia — Islamic
law. And a proposed national anti-pornography law
will ban public kissing and any clothing
considered alluring. Baring a navel would earn a
jail term.
Moderate Muslim organisations are supporting the
changes, but intellectuals, feminists and artists
are beginning to mobilise against what they
believe is a hardline agenda to reshape Indonesia.
This week, on International Womens Day, thousands
of Indonesian women demonstrated against the
morality campaign.
A fortnight ago, Mrs Lindawati, 36, was ignorant
of the debate. "For God’s sake, I am not a
prostitute. I am a good woman. I have a husband
and I have children," she protested.
But the officers ignored pleas to call her family,
jailing her overnight. The next morning she was
hauled from a two-room cottage to go on trial in
the forecourt of the palatial offices of the
Mayor, Wahidin Halim, where a large crowd was
celebrating the city’s anniversary.
“Everybody was watching,” said Mrs Lindawati. She
told the judge, Barmen Sinurat, she was not a
prostitute. He demanded she empty her handbag,
which contained face powder and lipstick.
"Then the judge said, ’There is powder and
lipstick in your bag. That means you’re lying to
say that you are a housewife,’“she recounted.”I
am hurt, insulted, because people think I am a
prostitute. Please don’t blame me if I put on
make-up. Many housewives today put on make-up,
otherwise our husbands will go away for another
woman."
Her request to call her husband, a teacher at the
local state school, was again rejected. Striking
his gavel three times, Judge Sinurat pronounced:
“You are guilty. You are prostitute.” Unable to
pay a $40 fine, Mrs Lindawati was jailed for three
days.
Mr Wahidin, brother of the Indonesian Foreign
Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, was unmoved by Mrs
Lindawati’s plight.
“She could not prove she is not a prostitute,” he
told the Herald. "It is true when my men arrested
her she was not committing adultery, but why does
she put on such make-up?" What’s more, said Mr
Wahidin, she wore tight clothes and "a good girl
would not stand in the street with that kind of
dress“.”The point is we can tell someone is a prostitute
or not ... They stand in the street moving their
body, waving their hands, trying to attract
people, seducing." Mr Wahidin denies the changes
are political. There are rumours he will stand for
regional governor and his morality bylaws have won
support from powerful, Islamic-orientated parties.
A legal aid activist, Astuti Listyaningrum, said
the show trial of Mrs Lindawati and 26 others was
an abuse of the legal process. "Of course they
looked terrible, looked terrified. Not because
they are prostitutes, but because they were
nervous," she said.
Despite the support of her neighbours, Mrs
Lindawati now refuses to venture out. Other women
have begun carrying letters from their employers
explaining they must work late.
Lombok ladies angry over ’moral police state’
Jakarta Post - March 12, 2006
Panca Nugraha, Mataram — About 300 people, mostly
women, took to the streets Saturday in a loud
protest against the antipornography bill, which
they said degraded women, insulted many local
cultures and threatened tourism.
They marched through the main streets to the
provincial council building to file their
petition, demanding that the House of
Representatives in Jakarta toss the bill in the
nearest dumpster.
Grouped in the Alliance of United People (ARB),
the demonstrators expressed concern that the bill
would provide a legal basis for the suppression of
women’s rights and kill the principle of gender
equality.
"The bill is full of anomalies, especially in its
definition of key issues. Why does the state want
to serve as our morality police and repress
women?" yelled one woman, Nyayu Erawati, the
protest leader.
The protest caught some locals off guard because
Lombok is known as a staunchly Muslim island and
the bill has found its strongest support among
Muslim groups in other parts of the country.
Three councillors met the protesters, but refused
to sign a statement rejecting the bill. However,
they conceded that they would discuss the demand
with the other 52 council members.
Like neighboring Bali, Lombok depends heavily on
tourism. Bali, where local culture has always been
tolerant of discreet nudity in the fine arts, has
fiercely rejected the bill for similar reasons.
Some Balinese are so upset, they are now
threatening to secede from Indonesia and become an
independent state.
Many people in Lombok fear that if the bill, which
carries a maximum jail term of 10 years and a Rp 2
billion fine, was passed, it would practically
kill off the tourism industry and threaten the
indigenous cultures.
"We would no longer be allowed to wear our
traditional dresses," Suhaili Mahsun, a respected
local figure, told Antara.
Local traditional attire for both women and men
does not entirely cover parts of the body that the
bill defines as “sensual”, which mostly applies to
women, such as thighs, hips, the navel and
breasts.
"If that’s what they (advocates of the bill) want,
then Lombok would eventually lose its indigenous
culture and identity," said Suhaili, who chairs
the Senggigi Business Forum.
"The government and the house should focus on more
pressing issues than this bill. The real
pornography issues in the bill have been
adequately addressed by the Criminal Code and
other regulations."
Civil liberties under threat
Jakarta Post - March 10, 2006
Charles Honoris, Tokyo — The proposed pornography
bill has created a nationwide controversy. Several
interpretations of the bill suggest that the
article outlawing women from showing "sensual
parts" could result in banning women from wearing
swimsuits or bikinis — or even the kebaya. Even
more difficult will be to define what constitutes
an “erotic dance”.
Rhoma Irama certainly thinks that Inul Daratista’s
dance is erotic, and others may even find the
traditional poco-poco dance to be so too.
If enacted, the government will be imposing
particular religious values on society, and
ignoring the diversity of the Indonesian people.
Many have claimed that the bill is not an attempt
to implement sharia law, but instead to protect
women and save Indonesia from further moral
degradation. This is clearly not true, however, as
the bill’s main supporters are conservative Muslim
groups intent on using it to push their own
religious agenda.
It is also clear that there have been constant
attempts by conservative religious groups to
insert sharia law into national laws and
government regulations. West Sumatra’s legislative
council, for example, recently endorsed a
regulation which bans women from traveling alone
without their husbands after 9 p.m. The Indonesian
Muslim Council’s Edict Commission chief, Ma’ruf
Amin, has voiced his support for Tangerang city’s
regulation preventing women from going out at
night. "That’s the way it should be. We have to
defend the nation’s morality," he said.
To protect women?
Instead of protecting women, the pornography bill
will be catastrophic to the lives of many
Indonesian women. Women may have to spend years in
prison or pay harsh fines for wearing a tanktop or
dancing to dangdut music.
In Saudi Arabia, where women are covered from head
to toe in public and not even allowed to drive a
car, there are constant reports of sex crimes. We
frequently hear of Indonesian and other migrant
maids being raped and sexually abused by their
employers. In Afghanistan, young boys are often
targets of rape by older men, and the Afghan
government has banned children from areas near
military bases in an attempt to stop the problem.
On the other hand, countries that are very liberal
on sexual issues, such as Japan and Western
European nations, have lower rates of sex crimes.
The bill, if enacted, will curtail many of our
civil liberties. It will allow the government to
impose a morality defined by certain groups. The
government will be allowed to meddle in the
private life of the individual. It is also
contrary to the spirit of two UN conventions
ratified recently by the government: The UN
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN
Covenant on Social and Economic Rights.
More importantly, the bill is in clear violation
of the foundation of this nation: The Indonesian
Constitution, which ensures freedom of expression,
freedom to develop in the field of arts, and the
protection of traditional cultures.
Balinese leaders have strongly rejected the
pornography bill. Imagine the effect on the
Balinese tourism industry if tourists were barred
from sunbathing on the beaches. One Balinese
leader even threatened Balinese independence if
the bill was enacted. If that happens, radical
groups may react the way they did in Ambon, by
sending die-hard militants.
More violence may follow the ratification of the
pornography bill. Fundamentalist groups may use
the law to justify destroying objects and
harassing people they deem “indecent”.
The pornography bill can be seen as a form of
Arabization. It is not, as claimed by supporters,
an attempt to restore Indonesian and Eastern
values.
Balinese culture has for centuries depicted nudity
as something very natural. The kebaya has been
part of Javanese culture for many years, and has
co-existed with Islam in Java.
By enacting the pornography bill, Indonesia is
gradually becoming what Newsweek editor Fareed
Zakaria calls an “illiberal democracy”. While
democratic institutions may exist, the people are
deprived of many of their civil liberties. So,
what will be next? No driving for women?
[The writer is a student of political science and
law]at the International Christian University,
Tokyo.
Bylaw makes any woman a sex worker
Jakarta Post - March 9, 2006
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang — Some 1,500 people
representing various groups staged a rally Monday
at the Tangerang administration office on Jl.
Satria, to show support for a bylaw that regards
the performance of sex work as a criminal offense.
The groups, however, urged the municipal council
to revise an article of the bylaw, which makes
unaccompanied women vulnerable to police
harassment or arrest. The bylaw, which targets
female but not male sex workers, came into effect
late last year.
The massive rally was initiated by the Tangerang
chapter of the Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI),
the Benda Community Alliance, the Betawi Forum for
Children’s Communication, the Forum for
Independent Women, Tangerang Mother’s Majelis
Ta’lim, Tangerang Government Watch and the
Confederation of Independent Labor Unions (GSBI).
"Looking objectively at the real situation — at
how sex workers have taken to every corner of our
city — for our own safety, we strongly support
the implementation of the bylaw," PGRI chairman H.
Hasan said.
However, he said Article 4 (1) of the law
contained definitions so vague they could be used
to target women who went out by themselves at
night.
The article prohibits any woman whose attitude and
behavior gives the impression she could be a sex
worker from being on the street, on a playing
field, in a hotel or dormitory, in a residential
area or coffee shop, at an amusement park, on a
street corner or at any other public place at
night.
Meanwhile, councillor Abdul Harif, who was seen
amid the crowd at the rally, said the language of
the bylaw made a woman who was alone in public
after dusk a sex worker.
"The article must be revised. It has misled some
public order officers, who made a mistake in
picking up women on the side of the road, although
they were not soliciting." In fact, the bylaw is
written in an ambiguous way, which permits
officers to apprehend women who are loitering on
the street.
Ngadinah, coordinator of the GSBI said she too had
urged the council to revise the bylaw. "The bylaw
gives a poor definition of a prostitute. It’s
wrong to judge someone based on suspicion," she
said.
She said the bylaw gave certain individuals the
license to carry out subjective policing. "Before
the bylaw was endorsed, it would have been wise
for the administration and the council to research
its possible impacts. For example, for female
workers, the administration could have suggested
to industrial firms that they provide
transportation to pick them up and take them
home," she said.
============================
HUMAN RIGHTS/LAW
============================
Suciwati: Fighting for justice and end to impunity
Jakarta Post - March 12, 2006
Duncan Graham, Surabaya — Before sociologists and
grief counselors got hold of the word, “closure”
meant keeping the door shut. Now it refers to the
absence of a corpse, unresolved disputes about
cause of death, the mystery of a sudden fatality.
And the reason. And the perpetrator. Suciwati does
not have closure. Maybe she never will.
That’s not through any lack of energy or dilution
of purpose. The widow of slain human rights
activist Munir Said Thalib isn’t short of
determination and drive; but she knows time erodes
all things, including memories and campaigns for
justice.
One man has been convicted of her husband’s murder
and is now serving 14 years in jail. A crime has
been committed, a criminal found. The gavel has
banged down, the file slammed shut.
The story seems to have run its course. It’s time
to move on to other things.
"I have to keep going to honor the spirit of my
husband and so the truth will be revealed," she
told The Sunday Post at her home in the hill town
of Batu in East Java.
"This is not about revenge, it’s about justice. My
hope is that the law in Indonesia will be upheld
and that there is no impunity for criminals,
whatever their rank and contacts. The rule of law
must be returned to our country."
But unless there are new and startling revelations
Munir’s death will slowly slip down the news
lists. An issue which once made page one headlines
will become a one-paragraph filler on a slow news
day, then disappear altogether as other scandals
eclipse the murder.
This is not an Indonesian disease; it happens
everywhere unless there’s a tireless crusader with
credibility prepared to keep going where others
falter, to put out the statements, to make the
speeches, to lobby the influential.
To maintain the rage. To stay focused. Even when
editors spike the stories because they’ve read
them all before, when only the converted come to
the meetings to make up the numbers, and the
politicians’ minders say their bosses are too
busy.
Can Suciwati keep going? She’s 37 and looks older.
Friendly, but cautious. Modest but frank. A no-
nonsense woman but not so tough that she’s lost
her femininity. On the wall just a big photo of
Mecca and an ocean of pilgrims. No photos or press
clippings, Arabic calligraphy or stirring
exhortations from Nelson Mandela in an attempt to
display commitment by association.
Understatements everywhere. She greeted this paper
politely in a tracksuit and without makeup,
dispensing with the elaborate rituals of a
Javanese hostess as though she’s been mixing with
too many foreigners and their casual-but-serious
style has rubbed off. Or that she realizes formal
rites are superficial and superfluous; they get in
the way of important talk.
The strategy now is to keep up the pressure on the
government. She has visited Europe and many
countries in Asia to tell her story. She’s been
boosted by the support of 70 US Congress members
who have urged the Indonesian government to
uncover the plot — but knows American backing
carries little political clout since the invasion
of Iraq.
Some commentators claim resolution of the Munir
case is the acid test for the Indonesian
government and its commitment to justice. But this
is unfair. No administration can be judged by a
single case in a country as complex as Indonesia.
It would be great to say Suciwati is still just as
resolved as she was in September 2004. That was
when she learned that her husband of eight years
had been poisoned with arsenic on a Garuda flight
heading for Holland.
But her eyes say this is just the beginning and
the road ahead may be even harder and longer than
the one she’s already trod.
When the poisoning was proven she met President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. She said she found him
sympathetic and concerned but bimbang, meaning
indecisive. But he did agree to commissioning a
fact-finding inquiry which has reported and been
dissolved.
The upshot was Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari
Priyanto has been convicted of premeditated
murder. So now it’s time for closure.
Not so. Suciwati is tired, but restless. The full
report has not been released. Like her colleagues
in the NGOs she believes Pollycarpus was just the
agent of her husband’s death and that other more
powerful and sinister figures masterminded the
assassination.
She believes they are linked to BIN, the state
intelligence agency and seemingly a law unto
itself.
She has two small and hyperactive children who
demand her time. Like her they seem more Western
than Javanese. They don’t know why Dad’s not
coming home or why Mom should always be talking to
adult strangers and not competing with them on
PlayStation. Caring for them is her priority.
She has to live in two places, Jakarta where she
works part time as a secretary, and in the
middle-class family home in Batu where she has
responsibilities for an aging parent.
But she is in demand for speaking engagements in
Indonesia and abroad, deputations and
demonstrations. Like it or not, she is the public
face of the campaign and if she falters, so will
others.
They are in a war of attrition against a mighty
opponent with limitless resources and countless
tricks to delay and divert: The faceless State.
And if she is a continuing success her life may be
in danger. Like her late husband.
The package of severed chicken heads delivered
after her husband’s death with a warning not to
implicate the military was well publicized. Not
known is that she was recently the victim of a
hit-and-run while out on her red motorcycle and
believes this was another threat to add to the SMS
messages.
Westerners are regularly warned about terrorism
and the possibility of kidnapping. Senior
politicians fear assassination and have been given
extra security.
But the one person who seems most at risk is
unprotected. She sits with her back to an open
window. Only three meters separate the house from
a major road. Into this space a bomb was lobbed
when her husband was still alive.
The front door is open, and so is the gate. People
wander in and out, unchallenged, including a man
in a full-face helmet. Suciwati is determined not
to become a prisoner or be silenced. "My life and
future are in God’s hands,“she said.”Everything
is in God’s plan." Even the killing of her
husband? “Everything.”
If she’d rushed into a retreat and disappeared
from public life no reasonable person could have
laid blame. Kontras (the Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence, established by
Munir in 1998) has plenty of smart activists
prosecuting the cause with vigor. In practical
terms she doesn’t need to be on the front line.
But in issues like this the public wants a face,
an ordinary individual they can relate to as an
aggrieved fellow human being. They do not want a
distant spokesperson for a complex organization
discussing abstract concepts.
The former teacher who was educated at the Malang
IKIP (Teachers Training College) was once a labor
unionist pushing for higher wages for workers.
This brought her to Munir’s attention in 1991. But
after becoming a wife and mother she saw her role
as supporting her husband and family.
“We were a partnership,” she said. "Although I
come from a traditional Muslim family we were a
modern couple, respecting each other. There were
no gender issues."
In India, Sonia Gandhi became the reluctant
politician after her husband Rajiv’s assassination
in 1991 defying demands that she return to her
home in Italy and keep out of Indian affairs.
Suciwati is in the same mold. She doesn’t hanker
for status and recognition, but she’s now the
internationally known figure representing
Indonesia’s awful record on human rights.
Every time she appears in public the world
remembers that Indonesia may be a fresh new
democracy but sinister forces are busily killing,
maiming, destroying and destabilizing the
government. A wise administration would back her
cause to fruition, if only to keep this meddlesome
woman silent and shut up the shame.
“Munir was never stopped by threats,” Suciwati
said. "Danger is everywhere. I get many messages
of support and sympathy. Sometimes not strong. I
chose the domestic life, but now I have this other
responsibility. "If you are human, then you must
be afraid. But God has a plan for me and I must
follow it."
Dangerous activism
Munir was born in 1966 in Batu, East Java. He
trained as a lawyer and started work in Surabaya
with a legal aid office. He soon made a name for
himself defending victims of abuses by government
and business.
In particular he criticized the military and
police for their treatment of labor activists and
their behavior in Aceh and East Timor.
In 1998 he started Kontras in Jakarta and won
several international awards for his promotion of
human rights.
Despite controls on the media during the New Order
government of former president Soeharto, Munir
soon became a famous face on television and
newspapers because he was always prepared to speak
out. There were plenty of threats and physical
violence, culminating in the trashing of the
Kontras office in 2003 by a mob of thugs.
Many found this curious as the fall of Soeharto
had introduced a new era of open discussion. The
political power of the military had been diluted,
and people felt more relaxed about criticizing
authority.
However Munir and his colleagues were also prying
into issues of corruption involving big business
and government agencies. Clearly they had made
some powerful enemies.
A major problem for the credibility of NGOs in
Indonesia is that most are subsidized by foreign
funds and consequently open to the charge that
they are running agendas set by overseas agencies.
By 2004 Munir felt he was in need of a break and
set off to a university in Utrecht. He told
friends at the time: "I want to take a rest, to
study again and to reflect."
He died on board Garuda flight GA 974 on Sept. 7,
two hours from his destination. An autopsy in
Holland revealed 456 milligrams of arsenic in his
body, three times the lethal dose.
Munir, Ahmadiyah attacks, churches issues for UN
meeting
Jakarta Post - March 10, 2006
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta — Munir’s murder,
the religiously motivated attacks on Ahmadiyah
followers and forced church closures are some of
issues local activist groups plan to raise at the
upcoming session of the United Nation’s Commission
on Human Rights.
A group of 15 NGOs are to attend the 62nd regular
session of the 53-nation body in Geneva from March
13 through April 21, the groups’ representatives
said Thursday.
Coordinator Rafendi Djamin, who will lead the
Indonesian delegation, said members would brief
the commission about the declining respect for
human rights in the country.
"Aside from Aceh Peace agreement, which has been
widely praised by the international community, the
human rights situation here is not improving. To a
certain extent, it’s worsening,“Rafendi said.”We
need to draw the world’s attention to this."
Rafendi said the coalition would tell the world
that the government had ignored serious religious
discrimination in the country during the past
year.
Attacks on Ahmadiyah congregations across the
country and the closures of many churches in Java
proved the government was failing to protect its
citizens’ basic rights, he said.
"Although the commission’s resolutions are not
legally binding, it’s politically and morally
important for the government to abide by them," he
said.
Elsam human rights group director Ifdal Kasim said
the coalition would also raise the unresolved
issues surrounding the murder of rights champion
Munir.
"The government has not taken any initiatives to
uncover the mystery behind Munir’s death. It shows
that it lacks commitment to settling this issue,"
Ifdal said.
Munir’s widow, Suciwati, would also attend the
session and would brief the commission on the
trial, he said.
Suciwati also attended last year’s session, where
she testified about the alleged conspiracy to kill
her husband. The commission promised to monitor
and pressure the government to investigate the
case and bring its masterminds to justice.
Munir was poisoned to death on a flight from
Jakarta to Amsterdam in September 2004. An autopsy
by Dutch authorities found excessive amounts of
arsenic in his body.
A pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was found
guilty of the murder by a court last year but
evidence emerged in his trial that National
Intelligence Agency operatives may also have been
involved.
Another delegate, Poengky Indarto of Imparsial,
said the coalition would also raise issues
relating to women’s rights, child protection and
the economy, along with social and cultural
rights.
"We will urge the commission to press the
government to improve the country’s human rights
record," she said.
Prosecutors snowed under by graft cases
Jakarta Post - March 9, 2006
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta — The government’s campaign
against graft seems to be coming unstuck at the
prosecutor’s office, with a mountain of cases
still to be tried. A paltry two of about 2,000
corruption cases have been processed in the past
six years, head of the Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office
Rusdi Taher said Wednesday.
Prosecutors cite the complicated aspects of many
of the cases, requiring expertise in banking and
finance, the involvement of powerful figures as
witnesses or suspects and a lack of human
resources in making it difficult to proceed to
trial.
"We have only been able to handle alleged
corruption cases in the sale of a state sugar
factory in Gorontalo in northern Sulawesi, and the
sale of assets of a shopping plaza in Bandung. We
only have a few prosecutors handling corruption
and banking cases in our office," he said.
For the Gorontalo case of the sale of assets of
state-owned PT Rajawali III, Rusdi said there were
problems in investigating the many businesspeople
involved as well as understanding the
technicalities of banking and financial
transactions.
Former head of the now defunct Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) Syafruddin Temenggung
and several of his staff were named suspects last
month and detained.
The office said evidence showed that Syafruddin
caused state losses of more than Rp 505 billion
(about US$54 million) in 2003 when he sold assets
in the sugar factory to a private company for Rp
95 billion, while their face value was Rp 600
billion.
Syafruddin, who denies the allegations, said he
did his job in accordance with regulations. He
argued the money raised from the sale was fair
because it was impossible to secure a transaction
based on face value amid the decreasing value of
state assets.
He also said that the sale was approved by the
Financial Sector Policy Committee, whose members
included then state minister for state enterprises
Laksamana Sukardi, then coordinating minister for
the economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and then
finance minister Boediono, who is now coordinating
minister for the economy.
Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Mustaming
said Tuesday that his office had summoned
Laksamana to verify if he gave his approval on the
sale of the sugar factory’s assets.
===============================
LABOUR ISSUES
==============================
Government rapped for failing to protect migrant
workers
Jakarta Post - March 11, 2006
Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta — The government is
yet to take serious action to protect migrant
workers overseas despite recurring cases of their
ill treatment by recruiters and employers, a
seminar concluded Thursday.
The government’s failure to provide adequate legal
protection to Indonesian migrant workers was the
focus of the one-day seminar organized by the
Habibie Center.
The seminar was held in conjunction with the
launch of a book, Development, Migration and
Security in East Asia, by Dewi Fortuna Anwar.
Human rights activist Edwin Partogi said between
2001 and 2004, about 1,000 Indonesian migrant
workers had gone missing abroad.
"Most of them hailed from West Java, East Java and
West Nusa Tenggara," he said. The migrants went
missing in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore,
Kuwait, and Qatar.
Tri Nuke Pudjiastuti, a speaker at the seminar,
said there had been many cases of unfair treatment
of migrants and even torture, which had caused the
death of many workers on foreign soil.
She said sending people abroad as migrant workers
was basically human trafficking.
"Before, many people used to ask the government to
stop (the practice) because they were concerned
workers were being exploited by the broker
companies and their employers," she said.
Other participants noted the Philippines had a
better record in protecting migrant workers than
here.
They noted Philippine President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo decided last year to withdraw the country’s
troops from Iraq to save the life of single
Filipino held hostage by militants.
Social observers Tri Nuke and Rianto Adi suggested
the government improve its policy on migrant
workers.
Indonesia passed a law protecting migrant workers
in 2004 but the government never issued the
regulations to enforce it.
Official statistics shows that remittances from
migrant workers increased from US$1.8 billion in
2004 to $2.93 billion in 2005. This year they are
expected to reach $3.5 billion.
Workers demand new pro-labor law, reject
amendments
Jakarta Post - March 9, 2006
Jakarta — About 3,000 workers took to the streets
outside Merdeka Palace on Wednesday to show their
opposition to a plan by the government and the
Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) to
revise the 2003 Labor Law.
Members of the Federation of Metalworkers Labor
Unions demanded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
cancel the revisions, which they said
discriminated against workers in favor of
employers.
"The bill will not only make workers’ conditions
even more miserable, it will also allow foreign
entities to control Indonesian companies. So
please drop the plan," union secretary-general
Said Iqbal said. The workers threatened to
organize a nationwide strike if the government
ignored their demands.
Members of the automotive, shipping, electronic
and aerospace industries, the workers began their
march at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, about
two kilometers from the palace.
Part of the union-NGO grouping, the Labor Demand
Alliance, they dismissed the amendments as "anti-
labor and pro-capitalist" and called for the
formation of a new law which had the support of
all parties.
"The 2003 labor law was designed to facilitate the
entry of investors into Indonesia, to ease the
dismissal of workers, and to weaken the unions,"
organizer Budi Wardoyo said when announcing the
protest on Tuesday.
"The revisions are worse than the law which is
already bad,“negotiator Kambusiha said.”All
industrial sectors will be affected by this
personnel outsourcing." The alliance said there
were 15 crucial articles in the 2003 law that
needed urgent revision.
One of the 15 articles revised by Apindo
stipulated that foreign employees could now hold
managerial jobs, different from the 2003 law that
limited foreign workers to technical positions.
The alliance said this would further limit
positions available for locals. "Protections for
workers are being destroyed,“said Budi.”We are
demonstrating to counter the government’s
arguments that Law 13/2003 on labor was passed in
order to increase worker prosperity," a
representative said.
Demonstrators called upon laborers and the poor to
establish a national network of unions from the
country’s industrial regions to demand a pro-labor
law. "I hope that the members of the legislature
will change their attitude (toward the bill),"
Indonesian Labor Union Federation representative
Dahlan Gurnin said.
Indonesia targets sending 700,000 workers overseas
Tempo Interactive - March 8, 2006
Zaky Almubarok, Jakarta — The government is
targeting to send 700,000 Indonesian overseas
contract workers this year, an increase of 225,900
compared to last year’s total of 474.310.
"They will be placed in Japan, Korea, Australia,
and other countries," said the Minister of
Manpower & Transmigration, Erman Suparno, in
Jakarta yesterday (8/3).
To support this target, Erman stated that he would
create new programs, including simpler issuing of
passports, which will also be available
regionally.
In addition, said Erman, there will be insurance
policies that are given to the workers directly
and not through their recruitment agencies.
An online information system will also be set up,
smart cards will be issued in cooperation with
banks so that workers have additional
identification and all official costs levied on
workers will be reviewed.
"These programs are being carried out in
cooperation with insurance companies, Bank BNI,
Bank BRI and Bank Mandiri, as well as the Legal
and Human Rights Department," said Erman.
============================
WAR ON TERROR
=============================
Rice seeks to boost ties with key anti-terror ally
Reuters - March 14, 2006
Sue Pleming, Jakarta — US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice began a trip to Indonesia on
Tuesday seeking closer ties with the moderate
Islamic country in a region where China’s
influence is growing.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York
and Washington, Indonesia has become a firm US
ally in fighting terrorism. Security issues were
expected to dominate Rice’s discussions with
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, along with
closer military ties between the two nations.
"The Indonesians are making a real effort to rid
the region and not just themselves, but in
cooperation with the region, of the terrorist
threat that has plagued southeast Asia," Rice told
reporters traveling with her to Jakarta.
The end of autocratic President Suharto’s 32-year
rule in 1998 allowed democracy to flourish in
Indonesia and encouraged better US relations.
Yudhoyono, a former general with US training,
became Indonesia’s first directly elected
president in 2004 on a strong security platform.
Last November, the United States restored military
ties with Indonesia as a reward for cooperation
against al Qaeda-linked militants and cited
reforms in the military and efforts by the
government to improve its human rights record.
Before she began her official meetings, some 400
slogan-shouting anti-American Muslim protesters
gathered outside the heavily-guarded US embassy to
protest against Rice’s visit, saying she was a
“vampire from America.” As 300 policemen looked on
with two water cannons on standby, one of the
speakers told the protesters: "Our welcome speech
will say, ’Condoleezza Rice go to hell’. Because
wherever she goes, the US targets the place not to
solve problems but to create problems."
Indonesia has seen large anti-American protests
over the past few weeks, but Rice said earlier she
was not concerned about that during her visit,
adding such protests showed democracy was working.
Rice’s first appointment was a visit to one of
Jakarta’s oldest Islamic schools, where she was
welcomed by children waving Indonesian and US
flags and students in traditional white Muslim
headscarves playing hand-held drums. Rice prayed
with the children, took part in a science
experiment and announced a $8.5 million grant for
an educational Sesame Street program.
Human rights Rice, due to give a speech on
democracy on Wednesday before going on to
Australia, dismissed criticism from human rights
groups that Washington had moved too quickly to
restore military relations with Indonesia. She
said it was a better strategy for the United
States to have contact with the Indonesian
military than to isolate it.
Some human rights groups say progress in reforming
Indonesia’s military and police has been too slow
and that the United States has not paid enough
attention to abuses committed by the military,
losing important leverage to push for change.
But the United States sees Indonesia as a voice of
moderation in the Islamic world and Rice hopes it
might have some influence in the Middle East,
particularly over the militant group Hamas, which
won Palestinian elections in January.
One area where Rice may face prickly questions
will be Jakarta’s demand for direct access to
Indonesian militant Hambali, who has been held by
the Americans since 2003. Hambali is suspected to
be the mastermind behind the bombings on
Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali in 2002 in
which more than 200 people were killed.
Another topic that could have been contentious, a
long-running dispute over whether US company Exxon
Mobil Corp or Indonesia’s state-owned energy firm
would operate a promising new oil field, was
settled on the eve of Rice’s visit with a
compromise giving the US firm the dominant role.
[With additional reporting by Jerry Norton, Tomi
Soetjipto and Telly Nathalia.]
Counter-terrorism tops agenda as Rice visits
Agence France Presse - March 14, 2006
Jakarta — Fighting terrorism and military
cooperation are set to top the agenda in talks
between visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono.
Rice, who arrived for her first visit to the
world’s most populous Muslim nation earlier in the
day, kicked off her trip by praising Indonesia as
“a real success story” notable for its religious
tolerance and democratic progress.
During talks with reformer Yudhoyono, she is also
expected to raise regional efforts to tackle bird
flu, which has killed at least 22 Indonesians so
far, and seek Jakarta’s help in breaking the
political impasse in the Middle East.
Before lunching with her counterpart Hassan
Wirayuda, Rice visited the Al Makmur Islamic
School in central Jakarta, where amid tight
security she took questions from the young
students.
Ten-year-old veiled Angina asked the Secretary of
State how as a woman she had become a minister. "I
studied very hard. Maybe one day you can do this,
and then you could become a minister later," Rice
told the girl.
Posing beside a man dressed as the red monster
Elmo from Sesame Street, Rice announced the US
would grant Indonesia an additional 8.5 million
dollars to create an Indonesian version of the
famous American children’s programme. The school
is part of a five-year 157 million US aid deal
which funds educational programmes in Indonesia’s
Muslim schools.
Talking to reporters shortly before her arrival,
Rice praised Indonesia’s efforts at clamping down
on Islamic militants, who have staged a string of
deadly bomb attacks in Jakarta and on the resort
island of Bali.
The country has been actively pursuing members of
the Jemaah Islamiyah group, which has some links
to the Al-Qaeda network.
Rice hailed the "transnational cooperation that we
have on everything from counter-terrorism, where
the Indonesians are making a real effort to rid
the region — not just themselves but in
cooperation in the region — of the terrorist
threat that has plagued Southeast Asia.“”Indonesia is increasingly a real success story of
a place,“she said.”The people of Indonesia seem to be coming
together around religious tolerance, ethnic
diversity and democracy. And so it’s a place that
is making real strides forward." Indonesia’s
emergence in 1998 from 32 years of autocratic rule
had promoted warmer ties between the two
countries, allowing the lifting of a military
embargo and increasing security cooperation, Rice
said.
"If you look at where Indonesia was just a few
years ago and the ability now to carry out
repeated presidential elections democratically...
this is a state that has really made giant strides
over the last several years. "I think that this
relationship with Indonesia stands right at the
heart of our strong efforts at cooperation
throughout Southeast Asia," she said.
Indonesia is becoming strategically more important
to the United States as China’s influence in the
region grows, analysts say.
The two countries last November resumed full
military ties that were largely severed in 1991
when Indonesian forces launched a bloody crackdown
on pro-independence protesters in East Timor.
Relations notably improved after the United States
launched a massive effort to help survivors of the
2004 tsunami, which killed 168,000 Indonesians.
But Yudhoyono has had a tough task balancing close
ties with strong anti-American sentiment among
some political factions.
Around 400 protestors from several Muslim groups
held a peaceful demonstration outside the US
embassy criticising the US’s involvement in Iraq.
Rice has said she would also discuss the surprise
election victory of Palestinian militant group
Hamas in January elections when she meets her
counterpart Wirayuda later.
The top US diplomat heads to Australia Wednesday
for talks with her Australian and Japanese
counterparts. The focus there is expected to be
Iran, Iraq and Northeast Asian security.
===============================
GOVERNMENT/CIVIL SERVICE
================================
’Suspicious’ offer from House Speaker
Jakarta Post - March 16, 2006
Jakarta — Lawmakers slammed Wednesday an
invitation by from House Speaker Agung Laksono for
legislators to participate in a launch of budget
airline AdamAir’s new flights in Singapore.
"(Participating in the event) could constitute a
conflict of interest," House transportation
commission member Afni Ahmad of the National
Mandate Party said Wednesday.
Agung, who is AdamAir’s commissioner, should
publicly explain why he had invited House members
to the launch in his capacity as speaker, Afni
said.
AdamAir was recently brought to the attention of
the House’s transportation commission after one of
its aircraft was lost in the air for two hours
last month and had to make an emergency landing in
Tambolaka, East Nusa Tenggara.
An investigation into the incident has not yet
been released. Commission chairman Ahmad Muqawwam
said Agung had opened himself to allegations of
abuse of power by inviting lawmakers to the
ceremony in his capacity as House speaker.
"It wouldn’t be a problem if he invited us in his
capacity as AdamAir’s commissioner," Ahmad said.
Village officials beg and borrow to reach the top
Jakarta Post - March 15, 2006
Slamet Susanto and Suherdjoko, Yogyakarta/Semarang
— The social status that came with the position
convinced Sugiharto to put aside hunting for a
regular job and run instead for Srihardono
subdistrict head in Bantul, Yogyakarta.
The university graduate’s campaign warchest was Rp
200 million (US$21,276), taken from his own
savings and by borrowing it from his family.
Although he got the job, he has yet to get his
money back halfway through his six-year term in
office.
Although the official pay is paltry, the position
of subdistrict head is considered a potentially
lucrative one, with officials entitled to use up
to 10 hectares of land during their term.
He has leased out 2.9 hectares for Rp 12 million
per year, supplementing his monthly allowance of
Rp 152,500 from the local administration.
"It’s hard to get all my money back but I was
determined to become subdistrict head, not to earn
money but for the social status," the 32 year old,
who has a degree in economics, told The Jakarta
Post on Tuesday.
The hefty campaign fund was spent on gladhanding
and entertaining villagers. "Two months before
voting day, my supporters began holding regular
meetings. I couldn’t ignore them. I provided them
with meals, cigarettes and transport money," he
said.
Regaining all the funds is still a long way off,
and last week he joined fellow subdistrict heads
in a protest in Jakarta, demanding that their
terms in office be extended to 10 years. "If it’s
only six years, then a development project is just
about to start but the time has run out," argued
the father of four.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dismissed the
demand, as well as one to allow them to
participate in political parties.
Ani Widayani, Sumbermulyo subdistrict head in
Bantul, agreed that subdistrict heads, although
elected officials, should focus on serving the
people and not get into playing politics.
"As subdistrict heads, we directly deal with the
residents. If we take sides, what will also happen
to the people," said Ani, who has been in the job
for a year.
The election of a subdistrict head also provides a
source of income for villagers. Purwanto, a
resident of Sukaraja Kulon, Banyumas regency,
Central Java, recalled that villagers were
promised Rp 15,000 each to vote for a particular
candidate in 1991.
"But they did not get the cash immediately, only
coupons which they could exchange with money once
the candidate won. At that time, Rp 15,000 was a
lot," he said.
Central Java has 8,672 subdistrict heads, whose
tenure has see-sawed along with regulations from
changing central governments.
During the old days, it was considered a lifelong
position, until a 1979 law determined the term at
eight years. A 1999 law changed it to five years
with the opportunity for reelection, but five
years later it was set at a period of six years,
again with the option to run for reelection.
Supahar, the subdistrict head in Kepuh, Nguter
district, Sukoharjo regency, complained of
uncertain harvests on his five hectares of land.
"Yields will only be good if there’s no pests or a
long drought, and the rice price is good. But if
the rice price drops during harvest time, it’s the
same as getting nothing because production costs,
especially to buy expensive fertilizers, are
high," he said.
Villagers have also become more demanding, some of
the subdistrict heads said, especially in seeking
cash assistance from the central government’s
program for the needy. "If the situation goes on
like this, I wouldn’t mind retiring early," joked
Rowandi of Kalimiru subdistrict in Purworejo
regency.
House denies pay hike plan
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta — House Speaker
Agung Laksono denied reports Saturday that members
of the House of Representatives would receive yet
another pay hike.
"There will be no salary hike in 2006. We don’t
know yet if there will be any in 2007 or 2008. We
last got a salary increase approved in 2005, but
it has yet to be disbursed," he told reporters.
Agung said that the finance ministry had not yet
paid the 2005 hike because they needed to
prioritize more urgent needs, such as malnutrition
in some provinces.
Agung was responding to media reports that the
House internal affairs board is finalizing a plan
to increase legislators’ monthly salaries by
between Rp 14 million and Rp 16 million.
If true, it will make legislators some of the
highest paid people in the country. For example,
an ordinary member’s take-home pay would reach
about Rp 50 million a month, a deputy House
Speaker would get Rp 75 million and a House
Speaker 90 million a month.
The media reports have sparked public protests.
Critics say that the planned pay hike reflects the
legislative body’s insensitivity in times when
poverty across the country has been worsening.
The internal affairs board has confirmed that they
planned to ask the government to pay the 2005
salary hike, but denied seeking further increases.
"The finance ministry has yet to disburse last
year’s allowances for the legislators," legislator
Roestanto Wahidi of the Democrat Party, who chairs
the board, told reporters. The allowances include
that for health care and communications.
Last year, the legislators’ salaries were
increased by around Rp 10 million a month. The
increase also earned strong public protests
because it was announced when people were
struggling to make the ends meet following the
October fuel price increases.
The latest pay hike plan was leaked to the media
by legislator Suryama M. Sastra of the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) last week.
Suryama’s move angered some other legislators.
Nizar Dahlan, the internal affairs board deputy
chairman, threatened to report him to the House
disciplinary commission for leaking the
information.
"It (pay hike plan) was not supposed to be made
public until we reported it to the House
leadership," Nizar said. He also demanded that
Suryama be dismissed from the internal affairs
board.
SBY says no to demands of village chiefs
Jakarta Post - March 10, 2006
Suherdjoko, Wonosobo — President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono told protesting subdistrict heads
Thursday that he would not heed their demands for
longer terms of office, and added that such a move
would be against the law.
Speaking during a dialog with farmers in Siwuran
village, Central Java, Yudhoyono said limiting
office terms was a good reform measure. A
subdistrict head can only be in office for a
maximum of two terms of six years each.
"In this case, if they (subdistrict heads) came to
Jakarta to demand longer office terms, up to 10
years, it’s clearly against the law," Yudhoyono
said.
He reminded the subdistrict heads that their term
in office remained longer than his own as well as
that of governors, regents and mayors (five
years). "Such things have been regulated by
law...," he said.
Yudhoyono urged the local administration leaders
not to fixate on extra powers. "Leaders should not
talk about power. It’s embarrassing. Staying long
in a position (will not mean anything) if they
cannot give the best for the people. As leaders,
they should think about what’s best for the
people," he asserted.
On Wednesday, thousands of local administration
chiefs held protests outside the Home Ministry and
the House of Representatives, demanding a revision
of the 2005 Village Administration Regulation and
2004 Regional Government Law.
Apart from an extension of their time in office,
the village heads also told the government to
allow them to become political party executives
and urged the central government to finance
village and subdistrict elections.
During Wednesday’s protest, a spokesman from the
Indonesia Village Administration Association,
Abdul Hadi, told Kompas daily that the government
should allow local leaders to become political
party executives. "If Vice President (Jusuf Kalla)
can be a political party leader, why can’t we?" he
asked.
He expressed disappointment with the central
government because most village leaders had an
inadequate benefit package, even though they were
the ones who remained “close to the people”.
However, Yudhoyono said the government would
listen to their demands. "If they want better
welfare and better administration management,
these things we can consider. They are part of the
overall government. And if they’ve gone to Jakarta
for that, it’s ok. I just want them to hurry home
so their village administrations can run as
usual," he said.
Responding to the farmers during the dialog, he
also insisted that the government had continued to
pay attention to farmers’s needs.
"It’s not true if people say I don’t care about
farmers. I was born in Pacitan, a poor and arid
area. I can make friends with farmers and
fishermen. I come from an ordinary family. That’s
why I care about them all," Yudhoyono explained.
He said his administration’s consideration for
farmers was evident in the lowering of fertilizer
prices due to a government subsidy, which rose
from Rp 2.5 trillion to Rp 3 trillion last year.
While in Wonosobo, the President signed a plaque
for the Dieng Plateau tourism development agency,
which is hoping to make the area the province’s
top tourist draw.
Palace’s efficiency drive short lived
Jakarta Post - March 11, 2006
Tony Hotland, Jakarta — Eight months ago, top
officials were seen attending Cabinet meetings
dressed simply. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
often wore smart, short-sleeved batik shirts and
his Cabinet also sported casual attire.
Air conditioners in the meeting room and in the
Vice President and President’s offices were set to
25 degrees Celsius from the previous 16-17 degrees
— as part of the nationwide energy saving
campaign.
The drive began last July when Yudhoyono issued
the Presidential Instruction No. 10/2005 on energy
saving following the government’s fuel subsidy
cuts. The rule was supposed to apply in all
government offices across Indonesia.
Lamps were turned off during the day. Bureaucrats
were supposed to travel less in cars and Yudhoyono
and deputy Jusuf Kalla set very public examples by
cutting down the number of vehicles in their
motorcades.
But few of these noble, belt-tightening moves are
visible now.
From the outset, Yudhoyono’s campaign received
some skeptical responses from the public. His
critics dismissed it as a show to appease the
public’s resentment of soaring basic commodity
prices following the fuel price hikes.
These days, most officials are seen wearing heavy
formal suits at the presidential office; from the
press officers, the presidential guards to the
Cabinet ministers — all the President’s men.
In the press rooms in the Merdeka Palace and in
the State Secretariat, air conditioners are set at
between 16 and 20 degrees, otherwise officials
would be steaming in their suits.
In the Presidential offices, rooms are brightly
lit all day long, and lamps are even on outside.
Motorcade sizes are also back to normal.
The vice president’s offices are just as
comfortable. Rooms are brightly lit and cool with
the air conditioner temperature also set below 24
degrees. Lights in the vice president’s media
bureau are all on, even though the glass doors
allow ample sunlight to come through.
A cleaner at the presidential office joked: "Well,
it’s getting hotter these past months and I guess
they (officials) are not used to this heat.
Besides, other political issues have diverted
their attention."
Ahmad Rusdi, the head of the presidential office,
said: "If weather is hot, what’s wrong with
setting the aircon cooler?" He insisted the lights
were switched on only when necessary, saying at
night, only lamps in certain areas were on.
ID cards sold like parking tickets, official says
Jakarta Post - March 9, 2006
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta — Poor
coordination among government agencies, a lack of
security features and systemic corruption makes it
all too easy for criminals to get hold of multiple
identity cards, a Home Ministry official says.
Director general for demographic administration
Abdul Rasyid acknowledged Wednesday that criminals
were exploiting the weaknesses in the system,
creating fake IDs to facilitate crimes of
corruption, terrorism and human trafficking.
Saleh told a hearing of House of Representatives
legislators there was not much he could do to fix
the problem until the single identification number
system being deliberated by the House was made
policy.
"Only with the law can we control the issue of ID
cards," he said in response to a question from
Latifah Iskandar, who chairs the special committee
deliberating the human trafficking bill.
Quoting a report by non-governmental organization,
Latifah said criminals frequently used fake ID
cards in human trafficking cases.
Rasyid said with more than 6,000 offices issuing
ID cards throughout the country, it was easy for
criminals to obtain "as many cards as they
wished“.”I say that producing ID cards is as easy
as creating parking tickets. Anyone can do it" he
said.
The absence of a national standard and security
features made it easy for even small firms to
print the cards he said. Many businesses were
selling identity cards on demand, Rasyid said.
When he had ordered several firms — one a used-
car dealership — to stop producing the cards,
three of them had taken legal action against him,
Rasyid said.
Rasyid also said he was threatened on a daily
basis when trying to regulate the business. "I
have brought this to the attention of the (Home)
Minister (M. Ma’ruf) and the Vice President (Jusuf
Kalla)," he said.
The government is preparing a new administrative
system that will provide each citizen with a
single identification number for life.
===========================
REGIONAL/COMMUNAL CONFLICTS
===========================
Bombing at Poso temple injures one
Jakarta Post - March 11, 2006
Jakarta, Makassar — A bomb exploded at a Hindu
temple in the conflict-scarred town of Poso,
Central Sulawesi on Friday, a day after the
government announced an extension of its security
operation in the area for another three months.
National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto urged people
not to be provoked by the bombing, which exploded
at 7:45 a.m. at Natanaraga Grand Temple in Toini
village, Poso Pesisir district and injured
40-year-old I Nengah Sugiarta.
"The police are still investigating to find the
exact cause and other evidence," Sutanto said in
Makassar Friday. He called on people to stay calm
and assumed that it was designed to heighten
tension in Central Sulawesi. More than 1,000
people died in sectarian violence in the area
between 2000 and 2001.
The police have no leads on the latest bombing and
Sutanto declined to speculate if it was related to
the planned execution of Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus
da Silva and Marianus Riwu, convicted for inciting
sectarian violence in the area. There have been
civil protests from their lawyers and supporters.
"We’ll investigate the bombing so the widespread
rumors will not mislead people. But the most
important thing is to arrest those responsible,"
Sutanto said.
In Poso, detectives have questioned at least three
witnesses about the bombing. "For security
reasons, we will keep the (witnesses) identities
secret," deputy chief of Poso Police, Comr. I
Wayan Andreas told Antara on Friday.
He said the preliminary investigation on the site
showed that the bomb was a “low explosive” type.
“All evidence has been secured,” Wayan added.
"We’re still investigating the motive and looking
for those responsible."
The violence came just a day after the government
announced an extension of its security operation
in Poso, because tensions remain high. Police
Brig. Gen. Paulus Purwoko, the operation
commander, said despite the extension, no more new
police or troops would be deployed to the region.
"Our aim is to prevent more terror attacks in the
next three months," he said after attending a
closed-door meeting of top government officials.
About 4,000 reinforcement police and soldiers were
sent to restore order in Central Sulawesi in late
2005 after a series of shootings, beheadings and
bombings in the region.
The Poso Center, a coalition of over two dozen
non-governmental organizations in the area, said
the bombing was evidence that the government’s
security operation was a failure, and the security
personnel were not doing their job.
The center’s secretary, Ma’fud Masuara, said
Friday it had failed to detect the terror act;
bombing of place of worship. "This definitely
shows the operation’s failure despite the fact
that it is financed by billions of rupiah from the
coffers," Masuara told Antara.
The attack, he said, was likely intended to worsen
the situation in Poso and could lower people’s
trust in security police and soldiers. He urged
the formation of a joint fact-finding team
involving various elements in the community to
solve all the terror cases in Poso.
"Such a team could be the way to solve various
(terror) cases in Poso at a time when people’s
trust in security personnel is low," he said.
The explosion damaged a small house in front of
the temple, which serves as a meeting place, but
did not harm the temple proper, which is located
40 meters away. It left a crater of some 30 cm in
diameter.
The injured victim, I Nengah Sugiarta, who is also
Moengko Lama village secretary, is currently in
intensive care at Poso Hospital.
Security operation in Poso extended
Jakarta Post - March 10, 2006
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta — The government
has extended its security operation in the
conflict-scarred region of Poso, Central Sulawesi,
by another three months because it says tensions
remain high in the area.
Police Brig. Gen. Paulus Purwoko, the operation
commander, said despite the extension, no more new
police or troops would be deployed in the region.
"Our aim is to prevent more terror attacks in the
coming three months," he said after attending a
closed-door meeting of top government officials.
The meeting was attended by Coordinating Minister
for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo
Adi Sucipto, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono,
State Intelligence Agency head Syamsir Siregar,
Indonesia Military chief Air Marshall Djoko
Suyanto, Religious Affairs Minister M. Maftuh
Basyuni, Home Minister M. Ma’ruf and Social
Services Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah.
About 4,000 reinforcement police and soldiers were
sent to restore order in Central Sulawesi in 2005
after a series of shootings and bombings in the
region.
The House supports the government’s plan to extend
the command’s term, with legislators saying it
needed more time to arrest and prosecute those
behind the attacks.
Purwoko, a top police officer from National Police
Headquarters, said his command had focused on
cooperating with security agencies in Central
Sulawesi.
In the next three months, the command would
tighten security in the region, he said, building
checkpoints at the entrances to Poso city. "The
checkpoints will normally be open but will close
if there are new attacks," Purwoko said.
The command would work with the local legislative
council, non-governmental organizations, police
and the military, he said. "Our job is to
coordinate (these agencies)," he said. Purwoko
said he believed the perpetrators of recent
attacks included members of radical groups linked
to Jama’ah Islamiyah.
Separately, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh
said the three Christian men convicted of inciting
sectarian violence in the area would be executed
as planned despite protests from their lawyers and
supporters.
The convicts are Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva
and Marianus Riwu. "The Supreme Court has rejected
their appeal for a case review. The President has
also refused to pardon them. There is no more
chance to file another judicial review motion," he
said.
More than 1,000 people died in sectarian violence
in the area between 2000 and 2001.
===========================
ENVIRONMENT
============================
Abuses by international firms to be raised with UN
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta — Indonesian
environmentalists plan to discuss pollution and
rights abuse by multinational companies during the
upcoming UN Human Rights Commission meetings in
Geneva.
Activists grouped in the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment are dismayed by what they perceive as
the government’s failure to properly address the
problems, which mainly affect local communities.
The 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Commission
will take place from March 27 to April 8.
The forum’s deputy director Ridho Saleh told The
Jakarta Post over the weekend that the Indonesian
NGOs planned to discuss how law enforcement had
been lacking as far as pollution by multinational
companies was concerned.
Among the issues to be raised is the government’s
failure to properly addressed pollution by PT
Freeport Indonesia in Papua and PT Newmont
Minahasa Raya in North Sulawesi.
Ridho said he would push the commission to produce
a resolution obliging multinational companies to
protect the environment and the people living near
their operation areas.
"We will demand that the commission force
companies to apply protection of these rights by
revising the commission’s ’norms of corporations
and other enterprises’, which presently does not
include these conditions," he said, in reference
to the 2003 UN document entitled Norms on the
Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and
other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human
Rights.
Rich in natural resources, Indonesia has recently
experienced heightened tension with giant
multinational companies that extract the country’s
oil, gas and mineral resources.
Environmentalists have blamed some of the
companies for the pollution of the environment, as
well as a lack of concern for the people living
near their operation areas — specifically mining
companies, such as Freeport and Newmont and their
tailings disposal.
In addition, Exxon Mobile Corp.’s operation in
Aceh drew criticism this past week for allegedly
violating human rights of villagers near a major
gas field in the province. A US District Judge,
Louis Oberdorfer, granted a lawsuit by
Washington-based advocacy group International
Labor Rights Fund to sue the oil giant over the
rape and torture of local Acehnese, allegedly
perpetrated by Indonesian Military troops guarding
the company’s facilities.
All these companies have denied the allegations
against them, saying that they have abided by
Indonesian regulations on the environment and have
not caused pollution nor contributed to human
rights abuses.
Ridho said the Indonesian delegates to Geneva,
consisting of activists from 15 human rights
groups, would also call for the commission to
raise the issue in the upcoming General Assembly
meeting.
Illegal logging in Padang extends to national park
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang — Illegal loggers
have stripped bare at least 20 percent of the
forest in Kerinci Seblat National Park in West
Sumatra, and the losses will continue unless the
authorities take action, an official says.
Aman Zamora, an official with the 271,870-hectare
national park, located in Pesisir Selatan regency,
told The Jakarta Post that satellite images had
pinpointed 11 large-scale illegal logging sites
that are currently operating.
"The most extensive damage has been done along the
planned Kambang-Muara Labuh highway, construction
of which has been halted by the forestry minister,
where all of the trees 200 to 500 meters from both
sides of the road have been cut down," he said.
Some 60 kilometers of the road were completed
before the minister put a halt to the project. A
20-kilometer stretch of trees along the road from
Kambang, and four kilometers from Muara Labuh,
were affected.
According to Aman, there are 11 illegal sawmills
operating just outside the national park which are
encouraging illegal logging in the park,
particularly by residents. He said that though the
sawmills were illegal, authorities had done
nothing to restrict their operation.
"I’m sure the level of illegal logging would
dwindle if the sawmills were closed down, because
that’s where residents sell their timber. To tell
you the truth, we can’t stop the sawmills because
they always know when we are coming and
disappear," he said.
The group West Sumatra People Against Illegal
Logging (MAIL), said the national park in Pesisir
Selatan was one of the main victims of illegal
logging in the province.
"Indonesian Military and police personnel are
believed to be involved in escorting timber trucks
that are not carrying legal documents," MAIL
coordinator Vino Oktavia said Friday.
MAIL is an alliance of 31 NGOs in Padang, among
them the West Sumatra chapters of the Indonesian
Environmental Forum and Conservation
International, which conducted investigations of
illegal logging locations in Pesisir Selatan in
January.
The groups discovered 18 unlicensed sawmills
operating in the regency, most fed with timber
coming from Kerinci Seblat National Park.
"Illegal logging in Pesisir Selatan begins with
businessmen placing orders for timber from sawmill
owners. The sawmill owners then order timber from
chain saw owners, who then pay residents to fell
trees. The timber is then transported to the
border between Pesisir Selatan and Muko Muko in
Bengkulu province, and taken back to Padang
equipped with legal documents from Bengkulu in the
names of forest concession holders there," said
Vino.
MAIL blames flash floods in several districts in
Pesisir Selatan in January and February on illegal
logging in the national park.
Three districts in Pesisir Selatan were hit by
flash floods on Feb. 26, damaging hundreds of
houses, hundreds of hectares of fields and a
number of bridges and schools. Material losses
have been estimated at about Rp 114 billion (US$12
million).
"If the regency administration doesn’t put a stop
to illegal logging in Pesisir Selatan immediately,
the area will continue to be at risk of floods
that will cause extensive damage," Vino said.
Newmont deal no mine of controversy
Jakarta Post - March 9, 2006
Tb.Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta — A technical snafu
Wednesday meant legislators were unable to
scrutinize the government’s controversial US$30
million out-of-court settlement with PT Newmont
Minahasa Raya over a pollution case.
A stream of stinging questions fired at State
Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar
suddenly turned into a noisy debate among the
legislators after they realized they had no copy
of the agreement.
After spending some 90 minutes arguing among
themselves, the 34 members of the House of
Representatives Commission VII overseeing the
environment decided to postpone the hearing
indefinitely until each had a copy of the deal.
A red-faced legislator Ramson Siagian then
announced the hearing was adjourned. "Allow us
time to find and study the documents," commission
chairman Agusman Effendi told the smiling Rachmat.
The meeting was scheduled to discuss the "Goodwill
Agreement" reached between the government and
Newmont in February. That deal brought an end to
the government’s court case against Newmont for
allegedly polluting Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi.
Last year, the government lodged a civil lawsuit
against the company with the South Jakarta
District Court, which found in favor of Newmont in
November. The government then lodged an appeal of
the verdict with the Jakarta High Court.
Environmentalists and the police have alleged that
Newmont, the local unit of Denver-based Newmont
Mining Corporation, had polluted the bay with tons
of toxic waste from its Messel mine.
However, the firm has consistently denied the
allegations, saying there was no scientific
evidence to back the claims up.
A World Health Organization-backed report in 2004
found no evidence Newmont had polluted the bay.
The deal obliged the government to dismiss its
civil lawsuit against the company in exchange for
10-year post-mining research and community
development project paid for by Newmont worth $30
million.
Rachmat said he was unaware the House members had
not received copies of the document.
Mining Advocacy Network director Siti Maimunah
said the incident showed the House and the
government did not care about the consequences of
the agreement for the country.
"The House should have called a hearing right
after the government signed the deal. Now that
everything is approved what can possibly be
fixed?“she said.”It is proven — both the government and the House
have failed to represent the people." Rachmat said
he would stand by the government’s decision if he
was summoned again by a House committee.
"The agreement was far more efficient than waiting
for court’s verdict on our appeal. And I assure
you that the agreement will not affect the ongoing
court proceedings against the Newmont director,"
he said.
NMR executive director Richard Ness is being tried
in a Manado district court on criminal charges for
polluting the bay. He faces a maximum 10-year jail
term and a US$68,000 fine if found guilty.
==============================
BUSINESS & INVESTMENT
===============================
High cost holding back manufacturing
Jakarta Post - March 13, 2006
Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta — The government needs
to provide better infrastructure and simplify
regulations so as to lower logistics costs and
help boost the growth of the country’s
manufacturing sector, an economist says.
"Manufacturing growth declined last year and if
the government wants to see it improve, reducing
costs is the key," said M. Chatib Basri, an
economist with the University of Indonesia’s
Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM-
UI).
An LPEM-UI study based on figures from the Central
Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that the
manufacturing sector’s growth declined to 4.63
percent last year, as against 6.38 percent in
2004.
Almost all industries were suffering declining
growth, with the textile, leather, wood, chemical
and cement industries seeing the most drastic
drops, especially in the last quarter of 2005.
"Indications of the decline can be seen also in
the falling investment trend, both domestic and
foreign, in machinery and equipment," Chatib
explained during a discussion with members of the
Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).
The decline in investment in capital goods was
also partly driven by the tendency for loans to be
extended to the trade and services sector due to
the appreciation in the exchange rate.
Meanwhile, wages in the real sector had declined,
the study says. Construction workers in urban
areas, for example, received 4 percent lower pay
in January 2006 compared to January 2005.
Among the factors leading to the decline in the
overall growth of the manufacturing sector were
high logistics costs, Chatib said.
The study showed that logistics costs accounted
for 14.08 percent of total operating costs in
manufacturing companies, a high ratio compared to
the perceived efficiency rate of 8.5 percent.
"Inefficiency in loading and unloading processes
in ports and poor infrastructure quality
contribute to the high costs," he said.
The infrastructure package launched last month
looked pretty good, but any improvements would
depend on its implementation, Chatib stressed.
"The government should also continue to reduce the
current high costs by lowering import tariffs on
raw materials and capital goods, as well as
simplifying import procedures," he said.
The private sector had previously called on the
government to adopt policies that would support
the real sector, saying that growth in the sector
would boost overall economic growth.
Chatib said that the country’s economy would
continue to put in a sluggish performance in the
first quarter of 2006. This would continue in the
second quarter before a recovery in growth in the
third quarter.
Indonesia’s down and dirty coal fight
Asia Times - March 8, 2006
Bill Guerin, Jakarta — In a closely watched,
highly contentious court case, a German bank is in
the dock in an ongoing legal battle against a
Singapore-registered company over ownership of
Indonesian assets that are now partly owned by the
Singaporean government.
In a controversial and secretive deal, Deutsche
Bank in 1998 sold off shares in Indonesia’s
largest coal mine after Singapore-based Beckkett
Pte Ltd defaulted on a US$100 million bridging
loan at the height of the 1997 Asian financial
crisis.
The assets were bundled and sold off at a bargain
basement price to PT Dianlia Setyamukti (DSM), a
company controlled by Edwin
Soeryadjaya, son of the ethnic-Chinese tycoon
William Soeryadjaya, the founder of Indonesia’s
biggest car group, Astra International. Another
well-known tycoon, Benny Soebianto, was also privy
to the deal.
The storyline is convoluted and features cameos by
some of Indonesia’s wealthiest tycoons. Beckkett
previously owned 40% of the shares in Indonesia’s
second biggest coal miner, PT Adaro Indonesia
(Adaro) and PT Indonesia Bulk Terminal (IBT), and
is itself owned by three separate entities through
the ASMEC group. The three principals are
Indonesian pulp-and-paper tycoon Sukanto Tanoto,
Hashim Djojohadikusumo and his sister-in-law,
Titiek Prabowo, former president Suharto’s second
daughter, with their Tirtamas group, and Graeme
Robertson, an Australian native who took up
Indonesian citizenship.
Put simply, Beckkett accuses Deutsche Bank of
colluding with Jakarta-based company Dianlia and
the management group to buy the shares in the mine
for a mere $44.2 million in a private deal in
February 2002. With the recent upswing in global
commodity prices, that stake is now estimated to
be worth more than $400 million.
Beckkett is seeking the full restoration of its
40% stake. The company has also said in court that
in the event neither Deutsche Bank nor Dianlia is
able to procure the restoration of equity to their
original respective percentages, Beckkett will
seek a claim for damages to be assessed by
reference to the present market value of the
shares in their original percentages — or roughly
$400 million.
In Tuesday’s session in Singapore’s High Court,
Beckkett, as the plaintiff, said the sale of the
pledged shares by Deutsche Bank to DSM, as the
first and second defendants, was part of a
“conspiracy” between the two companies. Among the
team of lawyers representing Beckkett is one known
by the single name Lucas, who gained notoriety for
the successful bankruptcy application against
Manulife’s Indonesian unit.
In a bizarre 2002 ruling, a Jakarta commercial
court declared insurance firm Manulife Indonesia,
a unit of the Canadian firm Manulife, bankrupt for
not paying a 1999 dividend to its former
Indonesian partner, which it bought out after the
partner got into trouble during the economic
collapse of 1997 and 1998. By most internationally
recognized standards, the company was solvent. The
same court in 2004 controversially declared
Prudential, one of Indonesia’s top 10 insurance
companies, bankrupt.
So, just as Indonesia struggles to regain favor
among foreign and local investors, the battle for
ownership of a stake in the country’s second
biggest coal mine puts the country’s notoriously
corrupt legal system back in the international
spotlight. A string of questionable rulings
against foreign investors has eroded confidence in
the ability of Indonesian courts to enforce
contracts or to protect firms’ legal rights, and
the lack of legal recourse is widely viewed as the
top obstacle to doing business in Indonesia.
Although the legal action will ultimately
determine the true ownership of the shares, the
broader significance of the case is that, for
once, the Indonesian legal system is not in the
dock at all. The problems with Indonesia’s
judicial system are not only due to corruption,
but also attributable to flawed laws and
inexperienced judges. These issues are arguably
being dealt with for the first time ever.
The Beckkett/Deutsche Bank case is not the average
tale of pitched legal battles between indebted
Indonesian companies and their foreign creditors
over debt restructuring agreements and asset
disposals. Rather, it is a rare, probably unique,
example of a foreign bank successfully seizing
assets in Indonesia. In a startling contrast to
the many tales after the 1997 Asian financial
crisis of slippery Indonesian businessmen and
corrupt courts fleecing foreign investors,
Deutsche Bank takes the stand accused of
committing fraudulent price-fixing during an
asset-disposal deal.
Depending on the final verdict, the case could
demonstrate that it is not only local businesses
but also foreign ones that sometimes exploit the
many loopholes and blind spots in Indonesia’s
underdeveloped, flightily monitored regulatory
regime to win ill-gotten gains. If found guilty,
Deutsche Bank’s reputation in the region would be
in tatters, say observers monitoring the case.
Of course, the foreign bankers beg to differ.
Deutsche Bank representatives have described
Tanoto and Djojohadikusumo as "cynical Indonesian
businessmen who believed that they would be able
to refuse to repay their loans and yet prevent
security from being enforced". The lack of a
credible legal infrastructure makes seizing assets
in Indonesia almost impossible, foreign investors
often carp.
The case, watched closely by a bewildering array
of international creditors, private equity
investors and hedge fund managers, has been dogged
by endless legal battles over document disclosure,
marred by threats of intimidation and harassment,
and complicated by the complex web of the
company’s operations and share holding structure.
The roller-coaster saga stretches back as far as
1991, when PT Asminco Bara Utama (Asminco) took
over management of the Adaro concession. The
corporate structure was complex, with Australia’s
Soul Patterson holding 69.3% of New Hope, which
held 40.83% in Adaro. Naturalized Indonesian
Robertson has been closely associated with
developing Indonesia’s infrastructure and coal
mining industries, and at the time was a non-
executive director and head of Australia’s Soul
Pattinson’s coal operations, New Hope Ltd, which
then owned 50% of Adaro.
Asminco, which owned a 15% stake in Adaro,
borrowed $100 million from Deutsche Bank in
October 1997, mainly to buy out the 25% stake in
Adaro and 15% in the related bulk terminal held by
Tirtamas. The guarantor of the loan was Beckkett,
which owned Asminco and pledged all 40% of its
shares as collateral.
In August 1998, at the height of the regional
financial crisis, Asminco, which had management
control of Adaro, was unable to repay the loan
because of all-time-low global coal prices and a
sharply depreciated rupiah. Attempts to
restructure the loan over the next three years
failed, and in February 2002, Deutsche Bank
foreclosed on the loan and sold the pledged shares
to Dianlia. Beckkett claims it was left in the
dark about the deal and says it only found out
about the sale three days after it took place.
The ownership structure has since changed
dramatically, as has the Adaro concession’s
fortunes. In 2003 a consortium of Indonesian
buyers led by Soeryadjaya bought New Hope’s 41%
stake in Adaro for $378 million and then the
remaining 11% of Indonesian interests, giving it
majority ownership and control.
Last June, a consortium of international banks and
strategic investors bought Adaro from Dianlia for
about $950 million, leaving Soeryadjaya and his
cousin TP Rachmat each with about one-third of the
company. The new foreign investors include the
Government of Singapore Investment Corp, the Kerry
Group and the private-equity arms of Goldman Sachs
Group Inc and Citigroup Inc.
Lawyers for Deutsche Bank say they tried
unsuccessfully for two years to restructure the
loan before foreclosing on the shares in Adaro,
but Wolfgang Topp, Deutsche Bank’s Asia-Pacific
managing director, talks of the bank "literally
being held to ransom", according to court
documents. He claims in documents submitted to the
court that he was interrogated by Indonesian
police over allegations he was party to "deception
and fraud" over the sale of the Adaro stake.
The police investigation was dropped in September
2002 because “no criminal acts were committed”,
Topp says. And Deutsche Bank insists that the
disposal of the shares in a private sale was in
full accord with the loan contract. But, as
Beckkett’s Jakarta lawyer OC Kaligis notes, "If
this were true, why did [Deutsche Bank] get court
decrees prior to the sale?"
This would seem a telling point on its face. The
South Jakarta District Court, through no fewer
than 16 separate decrees issued at the request of
the bank between December 2001 and February 2002,
gave a green light to the sale, court records
show. If the sale transaction was legal as per the
loan contract, then Deutsche Bank never would have
needed court endorsement.
Beckkett, however, successfully appealed to the
Jakarta High Court, which declared the South
Jakarta District Court decrees invalid. Dianlia
later asked the Supreme Court to rule against the
High Court decision, saying the decrees issued by
the District Court could not be appealed, as they
were not case-based verdicts. The Supreme Court
has yet to make a pronouncement.
Deutsche Bank has strongly contested the case and
says it plans to launch a counterclaim against
Beckkett for more than $110 million in outstanding
loan and interest payments. Certainly Beckkett
will have to pay up if it loses the action, but
the company could be forgiven for taking a stance
that all bets were off once it had launched its
case against Deutsche within weeks of the
foreclosure.
It hardly needs the sophistry of a Singapore
counsel to spot what is so ludicrous about the
idea of such a counterclaim, particularly in view
of what Steven Chong, Beckkett’s senior counsel,
claims was the real game. "The plan was to sell at
under value and use the balance amount owing by
Asminco to wind up Beckkett, the guarantor," he
said.
Beckkett believes there was a conspiracy between
Adaro’s management team and Deutsche Bank and
Dianlia to sell the shares at a fraction of their
real worth to a consortium that included members
of the management team. Chong told the court that
documents provided by Deutsche Bank clearly showed
that the bank and Dianlia acted together against
Beckkett’s interests.
In apparent anticipation of legal wrangles over
the deal, the sale agreement reportedly shows that
Dianlia agreed to fund all legal costs incurred by
Deutsche in enforcing the action against Beckkett
and also agreed to put $1.5 million into the kitty
for the enforcement proceedings. This adds weight
to Beckkett’s claim that the whole deal was a fix
between the bank and the buyer of the undervalued
assets.
Looking the other way when it comes to sloppy
disclosure may have worked in the Jakarta
jurisdiction, but stalling tactics are unlikely to
impress the Honorable Judge Kan Ting Chiu, court
observers say. State-owned Bank Mandiri,
Indonesia’s biggest bank, is said to have given
Dianlia an interest-free loan of $40 million. The
Singapore Court of Appeal turned down a Deutsche
Bank request to prevent one telling document from
being disclosed — which revealed that the $40
million loan from Adaro to Dianlia was a "non-
commercial" arrangement.
Court observers say Deutsche Bank presumably
wanted the document suppressed because it pointed
to the obvious consideration that Adaro, then in
the hands of the management team, had handed over
enough cash to Dianlia to buy the shares.
According to the court transcript, counsel for
Beckkett pointed out to the Court of Appeal that
the documents revealed that most of the funding
for DSM’s (PT Dianlia) $46 million purchase of the
shares from Deutsche Bank appeared to have come
from a $40 million loan obtained by Adaro from
Bank Mandiri and was later on-lent to DSM as an
interest-free loan.
For its part, Bank Madiri is riddled with bad
loans from politically powerful debtors on its
hands, and there are a number of ongoing
investigations which threaten to erode the bank’s
already suspect reputation.
The Indonesian media have intensively investigated
Tanoto coincident with the action in Singapore,
where he currently lives. At least three
investigative pieces have focused on the tycoon’s
ownership of Unibank, whose operations were
suspended by the central bank (Bank Indonesia) in
October 2001.
The bank’s assets of Rp4.4 trillion ($475 million)
were frozen after it failed to pay trillions of
rupiah in obligations to Bank Indonesia. Yet
months before the bank was closed down, Tanoto and
his companies held less than 5% of the shares in
Unibank. Sources close to the case say the media
coverage of the issue in Indonesia is no
coincidence.
Neither is it a coincidence that several
Indonesian reporters are on the case, as it were,
in Singapore, with expenses paid by at least one
public relations group linked to the plaintiff.
Deutsche Bank has also brought up the allegedly
poor credit history of his companies in an
affidavit to the court. The trial is expected to
run for three weeks and a verdict is not expected
until June.
Regardless of the final verdict, would-be
investors will once again note the risk of
becoming embroiled in litigation over Indonesian
assets and just what can go wrong with investing
in the country.
If Beckkett loses the action, the company is
expected to move the legal battlefield back to
Jakarta, where it could initiate action against
Deutsche Bank for breaches of Indonesian law.
Deutsche Bank, says Beckkett, breached the
Indonesian Civil Code, when it executed its rights
in Indonesia and sold them to Dianlia.
If the court rules against it, the German bank
will be seen as the architect of its own demise.
Beckkett is asking for the full restoration of its
40% stake, but if it proves impossible to unwind
the complicated transactions that followed the
foreclosure, it will seek damages equivalent to
the present market value of the shares in their
original percentages. Shareholders will likely be
up in arms should the sale be canceled and the
shares returned, or if damages of about $400
million are awarded to the original shareholders.
More important, perhaps, a guilty verdict would be
a major blow to Deutsche Bank’s reputation and
credibility in the region. International banks
will get the message that although they lent vast
sums of money to companies in a country where the
legal system has consistently been found wanting,
they will find it is not so easy to seize assets
without the full backing of the law, even in
Indonesia.