INFID, July 14, 2006
INFID's Short News Overview No. VII/14: July 8-14, 2006
Civilian Supremacy
Analysts criticize military elite for superior attitude
Analysts believe stronger public pressure is needed to push through internal reform in
the Indonesian Military (TNI), which they contend has been hindered by a feeling of
superiority among its leaders.
J. Kristiadi, a military analyst from the Centre for Strategic International Studies
(CSIS), said the recent discovery of an arms stash at a home of deceased Brig. Gen.
Koesmayadi reflected not only weak weaponry supervision among the military elite,
but mainly the poor management of arms procurement.
"It is unfair to blame only Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono for the lack of
accountability and intransparent arms procurement because, besides having to face a
corrupt bureaucracy, including in his office and the military institution, it is also not
easy for him to control the military elite," he said on July 7 in response to criticism
from several legislators about Juwono's supposed lack of courage in pushing through
reform.
"Despite the law, the military itself has been reluctant to yield to civilian supremacy.
The feeling of superiority has positioned servicemen as first-class citizens, a special
status that apparently allows them to do anything according to their own will."
Kristiadi termed the reluctance to accept civilian supremacy, including in its
reorganization under the Defense Ministry and not allowing servicemen to be tried by
civilian courts, to be an act of insubordination by the elite in rejecting the requirements
of the 2004 law on the military.
"There is a psychological reason for the TNI to be reluctant to comply with the law
because, besides the police having to be reorganized under the Home Ministry, it has
its own pride as a fighter force in the past."
Read more: http://www.infid.be/military_superior_attitude.htm.
Related articles:
Indonesia Military Still Strong Despite Reforms:
http://www.infid.be/military_still_strong.htm.
Getting to truth of arms cache a general challenge:
http://www.infid.be/arms_cache_truth.htm.
Source: JP 08/07
Indonesian defense budget too small: Minister
Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the budget set for the defence sector in
Indonesia, totalling US$2.8 billion, was small.
Speaking at a hearing with the House Commission I on defence affairs, the minister
said Indonesia's defence allocation was much smaller than other countries in the
region, such as Malaysia. He noted that Indonesia, with a population of 223 million,
only had a defence budget to US$2.8 billion. In comparison, Malaysia, with a
population of only 20 million, allocated US$3.5 billion to defence, while Singapore,
which has a population of only four million, spent US$4.4 billion on defence.
The minister also said that the survival of the country would not depend on the
strength of the defence system alone, but on the nation's unity and integrity.
"We cannot let the survival of the nation depend on physical defence only," he said.
He said the main problem for Indonesia would no longer come from outside or inside
threats, but from the gap in national development.
Source: AA 11/07
General News
Alliance fails to coax PKS on porn bill
Members of the Unity in Diversity Alliance came away disappointed on July 7 after
trying to persuade the Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction to stop the
passage of the controversial pornography bill and enforcement of sharia bylaws.
The alliance, which consists of artists, lawyers, and religious scholars, told PKS
members in the House of Representatives that the party was commonly perceived as
pursuing the establishment of an Islamic state. They said the party should oppose the
bill if it did not want the image to persist.
In a statement read by cultural observer Hudan Hidayat, the alliance said the
pornography bill -- which had languished in the House for several years before the
PKS and other parties revived interest in it recently -- had the potential to tear at the
country's pluralistic foundation and diminish individual rights. They also said sharia
bylaws, which have been introduced in several regencies, would have a similar
negative effect on Indonesia's multiethnic, religiously diverse society.
Zulkieflimansyah of PKS responded that the party was in a difficult position because
of the public assumptions, but declared, "we support Indonesian unity and the 1945
Constitution". But he also said the sharia bylaws were approved by members of city
councils who were mostly from the leading Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Alliance spokeswoman Ratna Sarumpaet said she was disappointed by the party's
refusal to take a firm stance against the porn bill, which she added was similar to the
ambivalent viewpoints of other major parties such as Golkar and PDI-P.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/alliance_porn_bill.htm.
Related article:
Govt told to get serious about stopping sharia inroads in society:
http://www.infid.be/stop_sharia_inroad.htm.
Female students ordered to keep covered: http://www.infid.be/female_covered.htm.
Source: JP 08/07
RI to allow dual nationality for children in mixed marriages
House of Representatives passed new immigration laws on July 11 that give children
born to mixed nationality marriages the right to hold dual citizenship until the age of
21. Under the old law, citizenship could only be handed down via a child's father,
meaning children born to an Indonesian woman and a foreign man could not become
Indonesian citizens. Such children could only live in Indonesia on temporary permits
that were expensive and time-consuming to obtain.
On reaching 21, children from mixed marriages must choose one citizenship, the law
states.
The new law also states that foreigners who have been living in the country for five
years will be able to apply for Indonesian citizenship, but they must give up their
original citizenship and be able to speak Indonesian, among other conditions.
Source: AP 11/07
Indonesian citizenship law recognizes Chinese descendants as natives
Indonesia's House of Representatives on Tuesday enacted a law on citizenship that
recognizes Chinese-Indonesians as "indigenous" Indonesians.
"To create brotherhood and strong nationalism as the Indonesian nation, citizens of
Chinese descent in particular and Arabian, Indian and other ethnic groups (in general)
have become 'indigenous Indonesians' like other Indonesians from Java, Papua,
Sulawesi, Sumatra, Kalimantan, etc.," said Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, a lawmaker
who joined a team to formulate the law.
"The definition of an 'indigenous Indonesian' is an Indonesian who has been an
Indonesian citizen since birth and has never purposely assumed foreign citizenship,"
the law stipulates.
Indonesians of foreign descent have long been regarded as "nonindigenous."
Compared to others of foreign descent, however, Chinese-Indonesians, who dominate
70 percent of the country's economy, always receive discriminatory treatment.
Government officials have been widely reported as forcing Chinese-Indonesians,
including poor ones, to pay much higher fees than others when applying for
documents such as birth certificates, identification cards and passports.
The law imposes punishment of up to three years in jail against government officials
who hamper the citizenship process.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/chinese_native.htm.
Source: Kyodo 11/07
Ratifying convention necessary to protect RI's migrant workers
Looking at the fact that Indonesian migrant workers abroad are often exploited and
abused by their employers and lack legal recourse, Indonesia is urged to ratify a
convention on migrant workers as a tool to convince destination countries to protect
foreign workers.
Government employees, experts, and non-governmental organizations all agreed on
July 11 that it was urgent for Indonesia to ratify the International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers as the first step toward unified
international efforts to establish a legal basis for protecting all migrant workers,
including Indonesian workers abroad.
"Based on reports from Indonesian representative offices abroad, some 300
Indonesian migrant workers died in 2006 alone. The data shows how widespread
human rights abuses against them are," Foreign Ministry director general for
multilateral affairs Mochamad S. Hidayat told a seminar on migrant workers in
Jakarta.
He said that despite this sobering fact, the 2.7 million migrant workers abroad
managed to send remittances of US$2.9 billion to their villages and towns, and, in
turn, become a locomotive to turn around the local and national economy.Indonesian
workers are found in Malaysia, Singapore, the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S.
The convention, which came into force on July 1, 2003, has been ratified by 34
countries, most of which are migrant workers providers.
Once ratified, the convention requires the signing country to make sure foreign
workers' basic rights are fulfilled, including protection from mental and physical abuse,
receiving the minimum wage, and freedom to pray according to their religion. The
parties to the convention will be also required to give a report to the United Nations on
the progress of the application of the convention.
An expert in international law at the University of Indonesia Hikmahanto Juwana,
however, warned that it would be useless to ratify a convention without enforcing it
through the national legal system.
"We have ratified so many conventions without implementation at all. So, what is the
convention for? We have to prepare the legal system and law enforcers for the
convention," he said.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/ratify_migrant_workers.htm.
Related articles:
Activists push for legal protection of housemaids:
http://www.infid.be/protection_housemaids.htm.
Mideast NGOs raise concerns over local migrant workers:
http://www.infid.be/mideast_ngos_workers.htm.
Source: JP 12/07
EU May Inquire About Munir Case
Local activists claim they have the support of European countries for a fresh
investigation into the 2004 murder of human rights campaigner Munir.
"The Dutch parliament and the European Union have expressed their commitment to
bringing up the Munir case at the European Union," said Usman Hamid, the director of
human rights watchdog Kontras, on July 12.
"They will send a letter asking the Indonesian government how its investigation is
developing," Usman said.
Munir was found dead aboard a Garuda Airways flight bound for Amsterdam on Sept.
7, 2004. In December last year, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Garuda
pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto to 14 years in jail for the murder of Munir. An
autopsy report said the activist died of a massive dose of arsenic. Activists unhappy
with the court's findings have called for an independent investigation.
Source: JP 14/07
1.52m Yogya Quake Homeless in Need of Shelters: UN
Additional funding is urgently required to address the need for transitional shelters for
over 350,000 families made homeless by the May 27 earthquake in Yogyakarta and
Central Java.
"This is three times the number of people left homeless in Aceh in the wake of the
tsunami," the Emergency Shelter Coordination Group (ESCG) of the United Nations
Coordination Center Yogyakarta said in a press release.
The ESCG says the figure represents some 1.52 million people. Unfortunately, only
about 16 percent of the needs so far can be met by civil society and humanitarian
groups.
Additional resources such as toolkits, financial assistance, and technical support
have also been targeted to communities for self-help. However, they still fall far short
of the total requirements.
The ESCG also warns that with the rainy season only a few months away, the
immediate need for shelters is undeniable.
Source: JP 14/07
Aceh
GAM, rights activists slam Aceh bill
Former separatists and human rights activists have condemned as unjust the final
draft of the Aceh governance bill, which the House of Representatives is slated to
pass into law on July 11.
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) said the proposed law, aimed at cementing terms of
a 2005 peace deal with the government in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, violates the
spirit of the accord.The former rebels called for amendments to the bill, and said that
should lawmakers fail to implement them they will take their dispute to the EU-led
Aceh Monitoring Mission or Crisis Management Initiative, which helped end the
decades-long civil war.
GAM spokesman Munawarliza Zain said on July 8 the former rebels would oppose the
bill through all legal means, but will not resume violence.
"It has the potential to ruin peace," he was quoted by AP as saying of the bill, arguing
it would hamper democratization in Aceh, including the first-ever direct elections for
the governor. Articles in the proposed law about the extent of the central government's
authority and the role of the Indonesian Military in Aceh are unclear and could foster
distrust, he said.
One article of the bill changes wording from the peace deal, effectively limiting Aceh's
say over decisions taken in Jakarta about international cooperation in the province.
Human rights activists also slammed the bill, which they say exempts perpetrators of
past human rights violations from facing justice. Choirul Anam of rights watchdog the
Aceh Working Group said the refusal of the government and the House of
Representatives to include retroactive justice principles in the bill allows those
responsible for atrocities to remain free. The final draft would set up a human rights
tribunal that could only hear cases that have taken place in Aceh after the legislation
came into effect.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/aceh_slam_bill.htm.
Aceh-related articles:
Aceh Says Indonesia Law Falls Short on Autonomy:
http://www.infid.be/aceh_fall_short.htm.
General Strike Mars Aceh Law's Enactment: http://www.infid.be/aceh_mars_bill.htm.
Aceh Peace Train: http://www.infid.be/aceh_peace_train.htm.
Foreign monitors give initial nod to Indonesia's Aceh law:
http://www.infid.be/aceh_foreign_nod.htm.
EU, World Bank laud Aceh reconstruction: http://www.infid.be/aceh_eu_laud.htm.
Source: JP 10/07
Papua
Security job at Freeport given to police
The Indonesian Military (TNI) formally handed over the responsibility of securing giant
mines operated by PT Freeport Indonesia to the National Police in the Papuan
regency of Mimika on July 10. The handover was signed and endorsed by Trikora
Military Commander Maj. Gen. George Toisutta, Papuan Police chief Insp. Gen.
Tommy Jacobus, Frank D Reuneker, executive vice president of security at PT
Freeport Indonesia and Rear Adm. Djoko Sumaryono, an assistant to the coordinating
minister of political, legal and security affairs, in Timika, the capital of Mimika.
The handover was carried out in line with Presidential Instruction No. 63/2004 on
maintaining security at vital national objects. PT Freeport is included in the
classification through a 2004 decree issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources
Ministry on vital objects.
Despite the withdrawal of the TNI soldiers, up to 350 others will still assist the police.
Reuneker of PT Freeport said that his company actually had 628 security officers, but
they were not capable of handling various problems that have arisen so that the
presence of the police and TNI members was still needed. "Like a baby, PT Freeport
has to thank the government for the security assistance it provides," he said. As a
company, which is 9.34 percent owned by the government and employs over 19,000
workers, the capital intensive investment company, which contributes greatly to the
gross domestic regional product in Mimika regency, constitutes a vital object which
should be protected by all concerned parties, he said. When asked about the funds
earmarked by PT Freeport for security purposes, Reuneker declined to give details,
explaining that he had just assumed his post two months ago.
Meanwhile, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that a
comprehensive audit on the operation of PT Freeport Indonesia, which was initially
expected to be completed last month, is not finished yet.
'Today we just listened to a report from the audit team on the five subjects. We will
have other meetings,' he said. The five subjects of the audit are environmental impact,
security, community development, production and revenue. Separately, Witoro
Soelarmo, the ministry's technical environmental director who chairs the audit team,
said he hopes the final result will come out in two weeks.
The ongoing audit was partly sparked by violent protests back in March, requesting
the closure of Freeport's gold mine operation in Papua.
Under its contract, Freeport must make royalty payments to the government of
between 1.5 and 3.5 pct of its copper sales and 1 pct of its gold and silver sales. The
government is also entitled to receive dividends for its 9.36 pct stake in Freeport.
Company sources have said that Freeport's total payment to the government in
dividends, taxes and royalties in 2005 was estimated at 1.09 bln usd, compared with
260 mln in 2004 and 334 mln in 2003. The sharp rise was attributed to price and
production increases.
Related articles:
Security job at Freeport given to police:
http://www.infid.be/freeport_security_police.htm.
Papua-related articles:
The Papua region is the HIV capital of Indonesia -- but why?:
http://www.infid.be/papua_hiv_capital.htm.
Abepura defendants face stiff sentences: http://www.infid.be/papua_abepura.htm.
Source: JP 11/07, XFN-Asia 14/07
Abbreviations
AA Asia Pulse/Antara
AFP Agence France-Presse
AP Associated Press
JP The Jakarta Post
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