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Indonesia & East Timor Digest

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August 24, 2008

Sydney Morning Herald - August 24, 2008

Jessica Mahar, West Timor – All Charles Meluk wants is a better future for refugees in West Timor. The 22-year-old East Timorese man has been living in the Noelbaki refugee camp since 1999, when more than 286,000 of his countrymen fled across the border away from the chaos after the vote for independence.

August 23, 2008

Jakarta Post - August 23, 2008

Khairul Saleh, Palembang – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) planned to turn its attention to the public service sector, said KPK deputy head Haryono Umar in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Thursday.

Public services has been the locus of public complaints due to well-publicized corruption cases which have left public services mired in red tape.

Jakarta Post - August 23, 2008

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – In an effort to shed its tarnished image as a violent and abusive institution, the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Friday began a three-day training program for senior officers on human rights and the Constitution.

ABC - August 23, 2008

Judicial authorities in East Timor are investigating more than 40 allegations that armed forces have used violence, intimidation, and death threats against civilians.

A United Nations report documents a litany of human rights abuses by local police and army officers in the course of their work.

Jakarta Post - August 23, 2008

Triwik Kurniasari, Jakarta – International environmental activist group Greenpeace has called on the government to immediately develop renewable energy sources to end the need for rotating blackouts resulting from the country's energy deficit.

Jakarta Post - August 23, 2008

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Less than 24 hours after being sworn in as the new head of the Constitutional Court, Moh. Mahfud M.D. on Friday slammed regional administrations for enacting sharia-inspired bylaws.

August 22, 2008

Jakarta Post - August 22, 2008

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Former top intelligence official Muchdi Purwopranjono premeditated the 2004 murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib out of ill will and revenge, a court heard Thursday.

Jakarta Post - August 22, 2008

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Commander of the Wirasakti Military Command in Kupang Col. Winston Pardamean Simanjuntak concluded Thursday that public protests against the planned construction of two battalion command posts in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, involved foreign interests opposed to their presence.

Detik.com - August 22, 2008

Didi Syafirdi, Jakarta – Around 20 West Papuans from the United West Papua Popular Struggle Front (Pepera) held an action at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta on Friday August 22.

Associated Press - August 22, 2008

Sara Schonhardt, Jakarta – Hundreds of Christian theology students have been living in tents since a mob of angry Muslim neighbors stormed their campus last month wielding bamboo spears and hurling Molotov cocktails.

The incident comes amid growing concern that Indonesia's tradition of religious tolerance is under threat from Islamic hard-liners.

Jakarta Post - August 22, 2008

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Some 7,000 workers from PT Hardaya Aneka Shoe Industry (HASI), a former Nike supplier, began striking Thursday in Tangerang to protest company policy on Idul Fitri allowances (THR).

"The management has announced this year all workers will receive less money for THR," Agus Widodo, the chair of HASI's workers union (SPN), told The Jakarta Post.

Melbourne Age - August 22, 2008

Ben Doherty and Sarah Smiles – A new guest worker scheme, this one to bring East Timorese workers to the labour-starved Kimberley region of Western Australia, appears likely to be announced as soon as next week.

Fiji Daily - August 22, 2008

The Pacific Island Forum (PIF) has been urged to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with Indonesia.

Joe Collins of the Sydney-based Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) told the Fiji Daily Post yesterday that the human rights situation in the Indonesian-ruled territory should be raised with Indonesia at the Post- Forum Dialogue.

The Australian - August 22, 2008

Paul Toohey – A secret recording of the last meeting between East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado reveals that the two men had run out of ways to end a stalemate that had held the country moribund for almost two years.

Jakarta Post - August 22, 2008

Alfian, Jakarta – A lawmaker inquiry over the country's oil and gas management kicked off Thursday with the BPK disclosing a letter it sent to police on indications of graft in the distribution of subsidized fuel.

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) sent the letter to the National Police on July 28 after making an audit on the distribution of subsidized fuel early this year.

Jakarta Post - August 22, 2008

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) on Thursday deflected criticism over findings that more than 36 million eligible voters nationwide were still not registered, six days before the registration deadline.

August 21, 2008

Agence France Presse - August 21, 2008

Jakarta – A former top Indonesian spy could face the death penalty after he was charged Thursday with orchestrating the poisoning murder of a celebrated rights activist who had exposed military abuses.

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) Press Release - August 21, 2008

The human rights situation in West Papua should be raised with Indonesia at the Post-Forum Dialogue in Niue, Joe Collins of AWPA said. Indonesia is a Post- Forum Dialogue partner and here is a chance for the pacific island countries to express their concerns about the human rights situation in West Papua with Indonesia.

East Timor and Indonesia Action Network Press Release - August 21, 2008

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) today welcomed the removal of Col. Burhanuddin Siagian from his command in West Papua. Siagian faces two indictments in East Timor for crimes against humanity committed in 1999.

Jakarta Post - August 21, 2008

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – With history showing many cases of leaders who failed to groom quality successors among their kin, the recruitment of legislative candidates through bloodlines has raised concern over future legislative bodies.

BBC News Online - August 21, 2008

Lucy Williamson, Jakarta – The UN in East Timor has rejected claims by the country's president that it was slow to act in the aftermath of his shooting earlier this year.

President Ramos-Horta said that international forces had not moved quickly enough to give him medical aid, and to arrest the perpetrators. But in a confidential report the UN says its response was swift.

Jakarta Post - August 21, 2008

Jakarta – The government needs to place decent and productive employment at the center of its socio-economic policies to ensure a link between economic growth and job creation, the International Labor Organization said in its latest report.

Jakarta Post - August 21, 2008

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The government has not supported the steady growth of labor-intensive industries over the last six quarters, missing a vital opportunity to reduce unemployment and poverty, several lawmakers say.

Jakarta Post - August 21, 2008

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – More than 36 million voting-age citizens might be staying at home for the 2009 legislative election, as a recent survey shows their names are not included in the official preliminary list of eligible voters (DPS).

Radio New Zealand International - August 21, 2008

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, or ETAN, has welcomed the removal of Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian from his command in Papua.

Agence France Presse - August 21, 2008

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors demanded more than five years' jail Thursday for an Islamist hardliner accused of inciting an armed attack on a moderate rally, as his trial opened amid tight security.

Jakarta Post - August 21, 2008

Jakarta Post – Wilson just had his first birthday last weekend and his mother was busy not only preparing for his party but also entertaining formula milk marketers.

Agence France Presse - August 21, 2008

Complaints of human rights abuses by East Timor's fledgling national police have shown a "notable increase" over the past year, the United Nations says.

The UN report said East Timor was at a crossroads in terms of rights, with progress since independence from Indonesia in 2002 tempered by abuses by the security forces and judicial shortcomings.

August 20, 2008

New Zealand Herald - August 20, 2008

Brian Rudman – We ban trawling off wide stretches of the coast to save rare dolphins. We ban the trade in ivory, whale meat and tiger penises to try to protect various endangered beasts.

So why are we pussy-footing around when it comes to kwila imports, most of which, apparently, are illegally stripped from the ancient rain forests of West Papua.

Jakarta Post - August 20, 2008

Jakarta – Poor hygiene and sanitation cost Indonesia's economy more than US$6 billion per year, supporting the need for greater investment in water and sanitation infrastructure, a World Bank report has revealed.

The report, The Economic Impact of Sanitation in Indonesia, was released Tuesday.

Jakarta Post - August 20, 2008

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Bajaj (three-wheeled taxi) owners and the People's Information Group (LIRA) held a demonstration at City Hall on Tuesday to demand transparency in the program to replace gas-powered bajaj.

The owners are members of the Indonesian Bajaj Society, the Bajaj Sehati Cooperative and the Surya Kencana Cooperative.

Jakarta Post - August 20, 2008

Dian Kuswandini and Maulina Sartika Pravitasari, Jakarta – The country's 10 years of reform failed to achieve the main goal of providing prosperity for all, thanks to "instant leaders" and unconsolidated parties, a discussion concluded Tuesday.

Jakarta Post - August 20, 2008

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Political parties will use alternative mechanisms to select legislators despite the election law requiring selection based on the numerical order system, which is a closed election process.

Green Left Weekly - August 20, 2008

Vannessa Hearman – Indonesian labour activist and chairperson of the Deliberative Council of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas), Dita Sari, has declared that she will run for the Star Reform Party (PBR) in the 2009 legislative elections.

Sari and around 40 other Papernas members have declared their intention to contest the elections as part of the PBR.

Melbourne Age - August 20, 2008

Jo Chandler – Two weeks ago, the families of "disappeared" victims of the 1991 Santa Cruz Cemetery massacre gathered at a site west of the East Timor capital, Dili, and held a ceremony calling for spirits of their dead to rise out of the earth.

ABC News Online - August 20, 2008

As East Timor's defence force celebrates it's 33rd anniversary, analysts say it will take time to build the force's strength.

Radio Australia's Stephanie March reports that the transition from resistance fighters to professional soldiers has not been easy.

August 19, 2008

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2008

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Sixty-three years after independence and 10 years after reform, political elite groups have come to regard ethnic and religious differences as problems, subsequently manipulating them for their own agenda, lawmakers and human rights activists said.

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2008

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The Al Mahmudah mosque is like any of the other myriad mosques scattered throughout Indonesia, where a cool breeze blows in from outside, creating a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere.

And there is nothing unusual about the outfits or behavior of the Muslims who pray there.

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2008

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said Monday it had searched the office of Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban for material evidence in connection with a new graft case.

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2008

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – After more than two years as refugees, the fate of hundreds of Ahmadiyah followers in West Nusa Tenggara remains uncertain, with the provincial government failing to take decisive action to resolve their situation.

Melbourne Age - August 19, 2008

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Evidence has emerged that challenges the belief that East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta was shot by a member of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado's gang.

Investigators now believe the shooter was wearing a different uniform from that of Reinado's men – a uniform gang members used to wear, The Age has learnt.

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2008

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Poll watchdogs urged the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Monday to reverse its decision to allow four more parties to contest next year's legislative elections.

The decision violated the 2008 elections law and would undermine the legitimacy of the election results, they argued.

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2008

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Bimo B. Basworo, 12, never met his grandfather, Nyoto, once a leader of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Two years ago, when he came across an article about his grandfather, he gave it to his history teacher. The story of the PKI in the article, Bimo said, was rather different to the one he had read in his history textbooks.

Joint Statement - August 19, 2008

[Joint statement by Amnesty International USA, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), and the West Papua Advocacy Team concerning Congressional letter to President Yudhoyono.]

The Australian - August 19, 2008

Paul Toohey - East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta has delivered a furious tirade against The Australian, accusing it of inventing an article.

The story in The Australian said rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado was shot dead at almost point-blank range inside his compound on February 11.

August 18, 2008

Jakarta Post - August 18, 2008

Erwida Maulia and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Lawmakers expressed skepticism Sunday over the government's plan to allocate 20 percent of the 2009 state budget to education, warning the amount could be used to "fool" the public because it lacked transparency.

Jakarta Post - August 18, 2008

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – After hard and painful events, ranging from political and military conflict to the tsunami disaster, the people of Aceh can now enjoy more political freedoms and special rights. Six eligible local parties will soon compete for legislative seats in the 2009 legislative election.

Tempo Interactive - August 18, 2008

Abdi Purmono, Pasuruan – The sentences handed down by the III-12 Surabaya Military Court against 13 marines who were charged over the shooting of Alastlogo village residents in the Lekok sub-district of Pasuruan, East Java, has deeply disappointed local people.

Amnesty International Public Statement - August 18, 2008

The Indonesian government should ensure proper accountability for the death of a peaceful protester apparently killed by a bullet fired by police in the country's restive region of Papua, Amnesty International said.

The Australian - August 18, 2008

Paul Toohey – Inside the Hotel Becora, as they call Dili's prison, some of the 22 men who face spending the rest of their lives behind bars for the attempted murders of East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao are starting to talk.