Jakarta – A number of villagers from East, Central and South Kalimantan came to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Tuesday to protest violations of human rights by four coal and gold mining companies in the three provinces.
They met with Komnas HAM members, Koesparmono Irsan and M Salim.
The trial of a supporter of Indonesian opposition leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri, on charges of insulting the country's president, military and parliament opened in Jakarta Wednesday.
Jakarta – The defence lawyers in Muchtar Papahan's trial have requested that the presiding judge Djazuli P Sudibyo be changed in a protest letter dated January 29, 1996 signed by Adnan Buyung Nasution, Bambang Widjojanto, Mochamad Assegaf, Luthfie Hakim, and Dwi Ria Latifa.
The letter listed nine violations cited by the defense team including:
Russell Skelton, Tokyo – The bitter trade dispute between Japan and Indonesia over President Soeharto's controversial national car project has taken an unexpected turn.Japanese car makers, furious at the concessions handed out by the President to a company controlled by his third son, "Tommy" Mandala Putra, to build the 1.5-litre Timor, are determined to force the same deal for them
Jayapura, Irian Jaya – The two-day clash between residents of two villages near Tembagapura, Timika, Irian Jaya, which claimed five lives and injured scores of others, is now under control, a military officer said.
Names:
Miguel Alex Correia, 22Paulino Almeida Pinto, 34Savio de Almeida, 27Paulo Lisboa, 34Abilio de Almeida,25Antonio Guterres, 26Salvador Alves, 40Martin Lopes, 53Cancio Almeida, 29Ponsiano Silvester, 20
Violations: Arbitrary Arrest
Location: Uatulari sub-district, Viqueque district, East Timor
Ref: UA 2/97 Further information: UA 12/96
Jakarta – Three tribal chiefs in Fakfak regency, Irian Jaya have given 390,000 hectares to the Ministry of Transmigration and the Irian Jaya transmigration office for a resettlement site. "No compensation has been offered in return," said the head of the Irian Jaya transmigration office, N. Hutapea, in the provincial capital of Jayapura yesterday.
Joe Leahy – The conviction on charges of blasphemy of Permadi has failed to perturb the self-proclaimed clairvoyant from standing by earlier predictions regarding Mount Merapi.
The 2,968-metre volcano in Central Java gushed lava and blew clouds of volcanic ash four kilometres into the sky on January 17.
Jakarta – Hundreds of angry street hawkers rioted yesterday in the Tanah Abang textile district, leaving one government building and five vehicles burnt, police said.
Jakarta – Most workers have shown no enthusiasm over the government's recent announcement of wage increases, saying the increase would not really help them met their daily needs.
Joe Leahy, Jakarta – The inclusion of four of President Suharto's children and scores of his key ministers and supporters in the candidates list for general elections in May may be part of moves by the ageing head of state to prepare the way for his own reelection next year, analysts say.
On 21 January, the prosecutor in the case against Budiman Sujatmiko being held at the Central Jakarta State Court presented Wilson as a witness. When asked by the presiding judge Sjoffinan Sumantri if he was prepared to be a witness, Wilson replied that he was not on the grounds that the date of birth on his summons was incorrect.
Jakarta – In three consecutive days, police shot dead seven men in separate places in Jakarta after neglecting order to surrender.
The men were suspected for committing various crimes, police said.
Jakarta – Observers and farmers evaluated government's policy to increase the price of fertilizers at the same time with the price increase of unhulled rice (gabah) and rice as something that is not right. The more the price increase of fertilizers with around 20 percent, which causes trouble for the farmer because fertilizers take up to 30 percent of the paddy production cost.
Bekasi – Tens of street vendors at the new Podok Gede market here run amok damaging an office in the complex.
This letter was sent by President Clinton to Senator Russell Feingold in response to the letter by Feingold and 14 and other Senators to the President before the APEC conference last November. It is significant that the President "notes with interest" the letter's proposal for a referendum on East Timorese self-determination. – Charlie Scheiner, ETAN
Asmawati, a worker at PT Indoshoes in Citeurep, Bogor, who appeared as a witness in the case against Petrus Haryanto, Secretary of the PRD, in the beginning of January. He was silent for a moment after being asked by Petrus' defense lawyer if worker strikes/actions had had a positive impact on workers.
Reuters in Jakarta – Tension has risen in East Timor's capital Dili as Indonesian security officers continue searching for youths suspected of involvement in the killing of a soldier on Christmas Eve, residents said yesterday.
"The youths have become more and more restless because of the continuing search at night," one resident said.
Michael Richardson, Jakarta – A group of Indonesia's wealthiest companies has agreed to intensify a program to help smaller businesses in what analysts said Sunday was an attempt to defuse government and public criticism for doing too little to bridge the gap between rich and poor.
Jakarta – The Indonesian government and military said that planned riot-alert posts will be permanent features and were not being set up just to maintain peace in the election year, a report here said yesterday. "They are not just being established only for the general election.
On January 27 thousands of street vendors attacked and set fire to the Tanah Abang sub-district offices (kecamatan). They also set fire to two vehicles owned by the sub-district Tramtib (Ketenteraman and Ketertiban) and four kecamatan vehicles.
Jakarta – Snoozing in a glass case by the entrance to a police station just outside Jakarta lies the key to a peculiar experiment in crowd control. The case contains seven cobras. They are the first stage in what the local police chief believes will be a breakthrough in his struggle to maintain law and order.
Jakarta - Indonesia believes that the case of the Garuda pilot who is now under the Dutch police custody for allegedly smuggling thousands of ecstasy pills is being politicized, Ambassador to the Netherlands Sudarmanto Kadarisman said.
Lisbon – Indonesia's Foreign Minister Ali Alatas nomination to the country's legislative elections next May as an East Timor representative does not make him a (East) Timorese, the Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama has said.
Washington – US republican congressman Frank Wolf has urged President Bill Clinton to meet East Timors 1996 Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate Bishop D. Ximenes Belo when he visits the US at the invitation of Yale University. Wolf told also a press conference on Thursday that Washington should use its good relations with Jakarta to "actively seek" a solution for the East Timor conflict.
Jakarta - The subversion trial of union leader Muchtar Pakpahan continued yesterday with presiding judge Djazuli P. Sudibyo prohibiting defense lawyers from directly questioning witnesses.
Bruce Hextall – BHP Petroleum and large US oil and gas group Phillips Petroleum should decide by the end of March whether to press ahead with the development of a $2 billion-plus liquefied natural gas (LNG) project which would exploit the Timor Sea's Bayu/Undan gas field.
Amnesty International UK (AIUK) is calling on the UK Government to urgently revoke export licences granted to a UK company, Alvis, for the sale of armoured vehicles to Indonesia. This call comes in the light of mounting evidence about the use of such equipment in committing grave human rights violations in that country.
Jakarta – Union leaders said yesterday the government's planned 10 percent increase in the minimum wage level was not sufficient, while the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged all members to comply. [The government announcement about the increase will take effect as from 1 April.]
A document believed to have been drafted by Kopassus, the crack forces unit commander by Major-General Prabowo, son-in-law of Suharto, is circulating among the mass media. It calls for an anti-Chinese and IMF campaign and accuses the Chinese conglomerates of engineering the current monetary crisis and of giving funds to the PRD.
Pui-Wing Tam – That is the message from fund managers as they survey the prospects of the Indonesian market in 1997. While Hong Kong proved to be the most popular regional investment destination at the start of this year, more fund managers are now gaining confidence in Indonesia and are putting the country on their buy lists.
Joe Leahy, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights is to investigate allegations an East Timorese woman was raped and held as a virtual slave at a military post after being accused of being a member of the territory's Fretilin guerilla movement.
Rome – East Timorese activist Josi Ramos Horta has said that the president of the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace, Roman Catholic Church Cardinal Etchegeray, was "deeply concerned" with the lack of school and professional education for the East Timorese youth. Ramos Horta made his comments on Tuesday after a 30-minute meeting with Etchegeray.
Sydney – Indonesia's Foreign Minister Ali Alatas is on the East Timor list of candidates from the ruling Golkar Party to the legislative elections scheduled for May.
Rome – The East Timor issue is "an heritage from the Cold War era" that could be solved in the current new political environment, East Timorese activist Josi Ramos Horta has said.
Washington – US republican congressman Frank Wolf has said that he will present the Clinton administration with solutions for the East Timor conflict. A spokesman for the congressman told Lusa on Tuesday that Wolf will talk about East Timor in a press conference this week at the US Congress.
Rome – East Timorese activist Josi Ramos Horta has denied that the territorys resistance movement application to become an observer at the Socialist International (SI) would link East Timor self-determination supporters to political movements.
Ong Hock Chuan, Jakarta – Family connections figure prominently in the list of parliamentary candidates for Indonesia's 1997 general elections released on Monday.
Among the 2,293 candidates nominated by the country's three official political parties to stand in the May 29 elections are seven of President Suharto's relatives, including four of his children.
Lisbon – The apostolic administrator of East Timor's diocese of Baucau Bishop D. Basmlio do Nascimento has stressed that popular revolt against the Indonesian troops can easily arise in the former Portuguese colony.
Rome – East Timor's resistance movement Conselho Nacional da Resistjncia Maubere (CNRM) has announced that it will apply for observer status at the Socialist International (SI) during this weeks IS Congress in Rome.
Jakarta – The Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), which shot to prominence shortly after its birth last year and has since been long silent, says it has found violations in some of the preparatory stages of the May general election.
Jakarta – Officials blocked Indonesia's pro-democracy leader today from running for reelection to parliament in May.
The list of 2,293 candidates approved by election officials includes four of President Suharto's children, his half-brother, a daughter-in-law and a cousin.
Lisbon – East Timorese resistance leader Mari Alkatiri has said to be "surprised" with Josi Ramos Horta's announcement last week of a plan to form a "shadow government" for the territory occupied by Indonesia.
Sydney – The Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, Hilton Deakin, has said that an Indonesian soldier was killed on Christmas Eve after he was found to have been paid to assassinate 1996 Nobel Peace Prize East Timorese Bishop D. Ximenes Belo.
Lisbon – The Indonesian group that has bought Italian car maker Lamborghini was said to be a partner in the construction of a cement factory in East Timor.
Ong Hock Chuan – When a group of students commandeered a 50-seat public bus to attack a rival gang last week, it was in many ways business as usual in Jakarta.
Student brawls happen all over Asia, but in the Indonesian capital they increasingly end as newspaper obit-uaries.
S. N. Vasuki - Though Indonesia's parliamentary elections are five months away, major political groupings have already launched an aggressive unofficial campaign. Predictably, the country's political temperature has risen in recent weeks as parties battle for the hearts and minds of the electorate.
Agence France-Presse in Jakarta - The main Muslim political party has threatened to withdraw from this year's general election, saying campaign rules unfairly favour President Suharto's ruling Golkar party.
Michael Richardson, Manado – In a country where official statistics show Muslims forming 85 percent of the 200 million population, a striking feature of the buildings lining both sides of the road on the one-hour drive between Manado and Bitung, the two main towns of North Sulawesi Province, is the prevalence of churches and chapels.
Michael Richardson, Jakarta – Strong economic growth forecast for Indonesia in 1997 along with a projected increase in exports and lower inflation are likely to push stocks significantly higher this year, market analysts say, despite lingering investor concerns about possible instability when President Suharto, the country's aging ruler, leaves the scene.