INFID, June 08, 2006
INFID's Short News Overview No. VII/9: June 2-8, 2006
Debt & Poverty
Call for global action against international financial institutions
At the 2nd South-North International Consultation on Resistance and Alternatives to
Debt Domination, representatives of movements and organizations from more than 50
countries agreed on four joint initiatives for the coming years. One of these joint
initiatives is the Call for International Actions Against the IFIs in 2006. The initiative
was subsequently adopted by the Assembly of Social Movements, gathered in
Caracas, Venezuela, in the VI World Social Forum (polycentric) in January, 2006.
The following is a sign-on statement that expresses a critique of the role and
operations of international financial institutions and calls on social movements,
peoples organizations, NGOs, citizens groups, community organizations, trade
unions and working class organizations, and political movements to wage a concerted
campaign against the IFIs on a common platform, and organize coordinated
mobilizations in as many countries as possible leading up to and culminating during
the week of the Annual Meetings in September 2006.
We invite your organization to sign on to the statement, circulate it to all networks
and groups that you can reach, and participate actively in implementing the call.
Read more: http://www.cadtm.org/texte.php3?id_article=1893.
Source: CADTM website
General News
Indonesian officials say dropping of Suharto's case was legal
Indonesia's attorney-general's office argued on June 6 that its decision to drop a
long-running corruption case against ailing former dictator Suharto was legal and
within its authority. The South Jakarta district court on June 5 heard lawyers from
three separate groups demand that the court order the annulment of the decision,
saying that the document they issued to halt the case was illegal. They argued that
prosecutors could drop a case only when there was insufficient evidence or the
defendant died.
Prosecutors initially accused Suharto of misusing 419 million dollars, plus a further
1.3 trillion rupiah (144 million dollars at today's exchange rate) from seven charitable
foundations he established during his rule.Last month, Attorney General Abdul
Rahman Saleh said his office had dropped the charges against him for health
reasons.
The suits were filed by the Indonesian Association of Legal Attorneys and Human
Rights Counselors, the so-called Advocacy Team for the Trial of Suharto, and an
unnamed group of former student activists who opposed Suharto's rule.
Sixty-five percent of people in a recent survey think the government was wrong in
abandoning its prosecution of former president Soeharto for graft. However, 63.9
percent of the respondents praised Soeharto's leadership, especially the way he
developed the nation's economy.
Related articles:
AGO Wrong to Drop Soeharto Case: Survey:
http://www.infid.be/suharto_ago_wrong.htm.
Indonesian prosecutors ask court to uphold dropping of charges against Suharto:
http://www.infid.be/suharto_uphold_drop.htm.
Indonesian attorney general sued for dropping Suharto case:
http://www.infid.be/suharto_ago_sued.htm.
Hits and Misses in Jakarta's Anti-Graft Drive:
http://www.infid.be/corruption_hits_misses.htm.
Sources:AP 06/06, AFP 05/06, JP 02/06
Islamic State Only a Step Away: Scholars
Indonesia will turn into a Islamic state if the government does nothing to counter the
violence committed by hard-line religious groups or the repressive, sharia-inspired
bylaws passed by local governments, moderate Muslim scholars warn.
Dozens of regions across the country have enacted sharia-style bylaws and
lawmakers are currently deliberating the controversial pornography bill that is much
opposed by moderate scholars and human rights activists.
Muslim hard-liners, meanwhile, have launched a series of violent attacks on minority
Muslim sects in the country and closed down churches in Java that do not have
permits to operate. Despite these groups openly acting outside the law, in many
cases police have done nothing to apprehend the attackers.Neither has the central
government scrutinized the regional sharia-style bylaws, which legal experts say are
often in violation of the Constitution.
Speaking to a discussion on pluralism hosted by the Wahid Institute -- a group set up
to promote religious tolerance by former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid –
on June 6, institute executive director Ahmad Suaedy said Indonesia was just a step
away from turning into an Islamic state.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/islamic_state.htm.
Related articles:
Rising radicalism, intolerance threaten Indonesia's diversity:
http://www.infid.be/rising_radicalism.htm.
Battle over Indonesia's state ideology: http://www.infid.be/ideology_battle.htm.
Beware theocracy in Indonesia: http://www.infid.be/beware_theocracy.htm.
Moral Crusaders to Face Justice: http://www.infid.be/gusdur_moral.htm.
Second edition of Indonesian Playboy magazine hits streets:
http://www.infid.be/playboy_second_edition.htm.
Playboy Boldly Back On The Streets For Second Edition:
http://www.infid.be/playboy_back.htm.
Source: JP 08/06
Aceh
NGOs sense backroom dealing in Aceh bill talks
The secretive deliberation of the Aceh governance bill has sparked suspicions that
factions in the House of Representatives are engaged in political maneuvering to water
down the draft proposed by the Acehnese people. The Acehnese Network for
Democracy (JDA), a coalition of non-governmental organizations, said on June 1 the
bill's focal points of self-governance, local political parties, implementation of sharia
law and natural resource revenue-sharing presented opportunities for political
jockeying during the closed-door deliberation by the working committee.
"What is at stake now is peace in Aceh, but the working committee doesn't seem to
have a sense of crisis and chose to shut themselves off from the public to cover up
their horse trading," Agung Wijaya of the JDA told a press briefing. The network
consists of 30 NGOs in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, including the Aceh Working
Group, Center for Electoral Reform and the Aceh Development Fund.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/aceh_backroom.htm.
Meanwhile, Indonesia extended the stay of the Aceh Monitoring Mission, which
oversees the implementation of a peace agreement between the government and the
Free Aceh Movement rebel group, to September 15. The mission is still needed to
monitor the process of local elections in Aceh province, pending a parliament bill that
regulates the polls, the Aceh Monitoring Mission said in a statement. Indonesia's
Parliament missed a March 31 deadline to finish the bill. It is the second extension for
the group so farand is expected to be "the last one."
Related article:
House moves venue for Aceh bill talks: http://www.infid.be/aceh_move_venue.htm.
Give Aceh full autonomy, democracy network says:
http://www.infid.be/aceh_full_autonomy.htm.
Sources: JP 02/06, Bloomberg 08/06
Papua
Tribes reject Freeport talks in U.S.
Papuan tribal leaders oppose a plan by local councillors to meet PT Freeport
Indonesia bosses in the United States city of New Orleans to renegotiate the
company's much-criticized working contract. Any negotiation with the executives of
parent company Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc. should take place in Papua,
where it operates the world's largest gold mine, they said. Environmentalists here and
abroad have said Freeport Indonesia's have caused extensive damage to ecosystems
in the area.
Speaking in Jakarta on June 7 at a conference hosted by national environmental group
Walhi, Amungme tribal leader Yosepha "Mama" Alomang said a meeting with the
company in Papua must take place sometime this year. The Amungme tribe holds
the traditional ulayat rights in the area where Freeport's Grasberg mine operates.
Representatives from seven tribes living near the Grasberg mine also attended the
meeting.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/papua_tribes_freeport.htm.
Related article:
Freeport objects to exclusion from Norway fund:
http://www.infid.be/freeport_objects.htm.
Lawmakers target Freeport bosses: http://www.infid.be/freeport_lawmakers.htm.
Source: JP 08/06
Abbreviations
AFP Agence France-Presse
AP Associated Press
JP The Jakarta Post
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