LAKSAMANA.Net, June 7, 2004 10:49 PM
Hendro Continues Criticism of Sidney Jones
Laksamana.Net - National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Ahmad Hendropriyono, who
pushed the government to expel respected US human rights advocate and terrorism
expert Sidney Jones, is now criticizing her Indonesian supporters.
Jones, the Indonesia director of the International Crisis Group (ICG), was forced to
leave the country on Sunday (6/6/04) because authorities had refused to extend her
work visa after Hendropriyono criticized her reports as "inaccurate" and branded her a
"threat" to Indonesia's security.
Also ordered to leave was Jones' 27-year-old Australian assistant Francesca
Lawe-Davies. The two are now staying in Singapore while considering their options.
Several Indonesian intellectuals and human rights activists condemned the dual
expulsion, warning the move signals a return to the repressive era of former dictator
Suharto.
Hendropriyono, who was reputed to be one of the most notorious yet eloquent
generals of Suharto's military-backed regime, on Monday claimed that Jones'
supporters in Indonesia had received money from her.
"It seems they accepted money. How could we let a foreigner besmirch us? That
would be betrayal. As long as Indonesia is independent, we must not be colonized by
foreigners," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
He failed to name any of the individuals or groups that he claimed had been paid to
speak out in defense of Jones, but warned that any form of support for her must
cease.
Hendropriyono said there had not been any problems at the ICG office in Jakarta until
Jones took over in 2002. "Only one person feels dejected," he said.
He also questioned why the leadership of the Brussels-based ICG had supported
Jones' efforts to remain in Indonesia. "I do not understand why."
ICG president Gareth Evans, a former foreign minister of Australia, has said that
although the expulsion was indefensible, he believed it was isolated and Indonesia's
slow transition toward greater democracy would continue.
"It is a little bit of a last twitch of the dinosaur exercise, I think, rather than heralding
any larger slide into authoritarianism in Indonesia… But unless it is rather quickly
reversed that impression will certainly gain a hold," he was quoted as saying by the
Australian Associated Press.
The ICG office in Jakarta opened in 2000 and was initially led by Australian academic
Harold Crouch. After Jones took over, the ICG produced more than a dozen in-depth
reports on regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah and on conflict areas such as
Aceh, the Maluku islands, Sulawesi and Papua.
Some of the critical reports pointed out the shortcomings of Indonesia's military and
intelligence agencies in dealing with terrorism and cited their involvement in rights
abuses. One report in particular stands out: The Ngruki Network in Indonesia, which
was published in August 2002 and is regarded as one of the most definitive pieces of
research on Jemaah Islamiyah.
One section of the report mentions that Hendropriyono led the 1989 massacre of an
estimated 100 civilians at a Muslim school in Lampung, southern Sumatra.
Despite his reputation as a ruthlessly efficient former member of the Army's notorious
Special Forces (Kopassus), Hendropriyono also has considerable political and
diplomatic skills. After a fall-out with Suharto, he subsequently became close to
ex-president B.J. Habibie and President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
As Habibie's transmigration minister, Hendropriyono was accused by some foreign
journalists of playing a key role in funding pro-Indonesia militia groups that went on
killing sprees in East Timor in 1999.
Anti-Jones Demo Outside Parliament
About 100 youths rallied outside the national parliament building in Jakarta on
Monday to demand that legislators support Jones' expulsion and not allow her back
into Indonesia.
The demonstrators claimed to be members of two hitherto unknown groups – the
Alliance Against Rotten NGOs (Aliansi Anti LSM Busuk) and the Community Forum
to Rescue the Nation (Forum Komunitas Penyelamat Bangsa). They displayed
banners with slogans such as "ICG and Sidney Jones are Provocateurs"
FKPB member Handriansyah, who led the rally, said Jones had deserved expulsion
because she was a provocateur who had caused conflict in Indonesia.
"We reject allowing Sidney Jones to return to Indonesia to conduct her activities that
could cause conflict in the nation," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
He also criticized the chairman of parliament's Commission I on foreign affairs,
defense and information, Ibrahim Ambong, who has reportedly stated that legislators
will consider helping Jones to return to Indonesia.
"We ask that the statement be retracted in order to give priority to the national
interest. We ask the government and parliament to review the ICG's ongoing presence
in Indonesia," he added.
Jones (52), who speaks Indonesian fluently, first came to the country in 1977 as
program officer with the Ford Foundation. She also studied Islam and politics in
Indonesia, spending 10 months living at an Islamic boarding school in East Java.
Taxing Times
Fanning the flames of the anti-Jones movement, Taxation director general Hadi
Purnomo said Monday the American researcher was suspected of having committed
a fiscal offence.
He said Jones was officially registered as a taxable subject in Indonesia but had failed
to submit a tax return for the 2003 fiscal year.
"Ms Jones has been deported or whatever you call it but she failed to submit her Tax
Assessment Return for 2003. And this is a violation of the law," he was quoted as
saying by state news agency Antara.
Purnomo said his office would conduct an investigation into whether Jones' failure to
submit a tax return had caused the state to suffer financial losses.
Asked how an investigation could be conducted while Jones was no longer in the
country, he said his office would cooperate with other government agencies,
especially with the National Police.
Indonesia's Tax Law No.17/2000 divides foreigners into taxable and non-taxable
subjects. Those exempt from paying tax are members of foreign diplomatic missions
and officials of certain international organizations.
The law defines a resident taxable person as an individual residing in Indonesia for
more than 183 days in any 12 month period. Under a taxation decree, people who
earn more than Rp2.88 million per year are required to pay tax.
Furthermore, companies employing foreigners are supposed to pay a tax of $100 per
month per expatriate employee, with the money purportedly to be spent by the state
on training Indonesian nationals to replace expatriates in various fields of work.
Some devious companies slyly cut the $100 per month from the salary packages of
their foreign employees, while some other firms allegedly manage to avoid paying their
full tax obligations due to the rampant corruption within the Indonesian bureaucracy.
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