Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and representative of the East Timorese resistance, has welcomed the Foreign Secretary's commitment to use diplomatic pressure to bring about a peaceful settlement of the conflict in East Timor and to follow through on the Government's current review of arms exports to Indonesia.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – Rumors have started to circulate in Jakarta that President Suharto is hinting that Harmoko – like many Indonesians, he uses just ne name – the chairman of the Suharto's ruling party, Golkar, will not become the speaker of the Indonesian parliament when it convenes to elect a new president next year.

[The following is a translation of an interview between Mirah Mahardika. Coordinator, Central Leadership Committee, Peoples Democratic Party (KPP-PRD) and Pembebasan (Liberation)]

Organisational questions

According to a report in Media Indonesia on 9 July, Harmoko, who was recently removed as Minister of Information is likely to be named as the next ambassador to London. Until now, it has been generally thought that Harmoko was being groomed to become the next head of Parliament and the MPR, the upper house.

Moscow – Russia intends to help Indonesia in developing that country's nuclear power industry, in particular in the construction of nuclear power plants, Russian Atomic Energy Minister Viktor Mikhailov told a news conference in Moscow Thursday.

[This is an updated and revised version of sections of a paper presented at the Oslo University public seminar on East Timor, Monday, December 9, 1996]

Moscow – Indonesia is analysing the combat characteristics of Russian military equipment and is considering the possibility of acquiring some, [Indonesian] Minister of State Bacharuddin J. Habibie said at a news conference in Moscow today.

Moscow – Indonesia and Russia on Monday agreed to expand cooperation in the field of aviation technology and electrical power, visiting Research and Technology Minister BJ Habibie said.

It is well known that since 27th July, the day on which the Suharto regime in a most violent manner crushed the peaceful movement in Indonesia which demanded a restoration of democratic rights in the country, hundreds of Indonesians have been persecuted and locked up behind bars.

[This is an abridged translation of a chronology written by Coen Husein Pontoh, chair of the PRD affiliated National Peasants Union (STN), who along with Dita Indah Sari (Chairperson, Center for Labour Struggle, PPBI) and M Sholeh (Surabaya Branch of Students Solidarity for Indonesian Democracy, SMID) were interned together in the Madaeng prison in Surabaya, East Java.]

Indonesian police are to charge a Roman Catholic priest over harbouring three pro-democracy activists following serious riots in Jakarta last year.

The newspaper, the Jakarta Post, said the charges would be brought against Father Ignatius Sandyawan Sumardi for harbouring leaders of the People's Democratic Party who were accused of instigating the riots in July last year.

'Extra-budgetary' financing has always placed a question mark over the meaning of the Indonesian state budget. A new law might change all that. But only if it enjoys enough backing to overturn decades of departmental do-it-yourself financing.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesia's intelligence chief has predicted that more violence could hit the country in the run-up to next year's presidential election, warning that the recent riots have yet to reach a climax.

Peter Montagnon, Hong Kong – Britain would lose its lucrative arms trade with Indonesia if the Labour Government insists on a broad link between human rights and equipment sales, Mr Ali Alatas, Indonesia's foreign minister, warned yesterday.

In a table headed, 'Kings, Queens and Dictators', Forbes lists the world's richest rulers, identifying the country, estimated worth, source of wealth and the year they came to power.

Interview by Greg Sheridan – The Indonesian political system does not reflect the wishes of the people and this has led to much of the recent violence in the country, according to Marzuki Darusman, vice-chairman of the Indonesian Commission on Human Rights.

[The following is a translation of a statement sent to Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) by the underground Peoples Democratic Party (PRD)]

Jakarta – The Indonesian airforce is considering fighter planes from France, Sweden and Russia as possible alternatives for the US F-16 fighting Falcons that Jakarta has refused to buy, a report said Friday.

Surabaya – Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) activists Coen Husein Pontoh and Mohammad Soleh, suffered injuries as a result of torture after the riot by inmates at the Medaeng prison, Didoarjo, Surabaya, on June 11. The reason was that they were accused of being be brains and the leaders of the riot.

On June 16, 1997, the Indonesian Government will introduce the Manpower Bill to parliament and force its passage into law, thereby consolidating its repression of the labour movement.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – One of Indonesia's most influential economists has criticised the slowdown in deregulation and warned the Soeharto Government that it must address "collusion" in business to boost the competitiveness of Indonesia's exports.

Richard Lloyd Parry – Weeks after it announced a new "ethical dimension" to foreign policy, and Robin Cook the Foreign Secretary promised to "put human rights at the heart of foreign policy", the Government has invited three senior officers of the notorious Indonesian Armed Forces (Abri) to a sales exhibition of British arms equipment.

Jakarta – An Indonesian journalist has died in hospital, two days after being admitted following a severe beating which left him in a coma.

Mohammad Sayuti, 43, worked for the Pos Makasar newspaper based in Ujungpandang, the capital of southern Sulawesi.

He was found unconscious and bleeding from the mouth on Monday in Palopo, the daily's editor, Harun Rasyid, said.

Ed Aspinall – General elections during the 30 years of President Suharto's New Order government were never times to make important decisions about the nation's future. After all, Golkar victories are never in doubt.

Indonesia has formally annouced the results of last month's general election, with the ruling Golkar party winning 325 seats in the 500-member parliament.

The National Election Institute says the Muslim-based United Development Party or P-P-P, won 89 seats, while the Christian-Nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party or P-D-I, won eleven.

The Indonesian government has cancelled a controversial plan to hold a seminar to reassess the role of founding president, Sukarno, in a failed coup in 1965.

The Youth and Sports Minister, Haryono Isman, said that after hearing the views of various leaders it was proposed to President Suharto that there was no need to hold the seminar.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Opposition leader Megawati Soekarnoputri marks the first anniversary of her ouster by a government-backed faction today, cheered by reports that she has been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Religious Affairs Minister Tarmizi Taher faced further criticism yesterday for having said it was halal (permissible under Islamic law) to take the lives of rioters.

An official of the opposition Indonesia Democracy Party or P-D-I has accused the government of tampering with election results.

In a press statement, an M-P of the P-D-I, Sukowaluyo Mintoraharjo, says the people at the National Election Institute who have tampered with the votes have committed a political crime.

Keith Loveard, Jakarta – Indonesia's ruling group, Golkar, has always been in a no-lose situation. Under the country's electoral system, only three political parties are allowed to contest parliamentary polls, and all candidates must be vetted by the authorities. Golkar is the oldest and best-organized, and the one with most government support.

Message to the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan

Your Excellence,

A new trend of "South-South colonialism" has emerged, where Southern companies are making heavy investments in the forestry sector of more backward Thirld World countries. In Denis Gray's article, "How Asia's logging companies are stripping the world's forests" (Sydney Morning Herald, August 31, 1996), several examples of this new trend was mentioned.

Margot Cohen, Jakarta – Forget Batman, Spiderman, and even Rambo. Indonesia's new celluloid superhero bears the name Fatahillah, and he's bringing a Muslim Holy War to Theaters Near You – thanks to the enthusiastic backing of the Indonesian government, bent on reviving the nation's moribund movie industry.

Jakarta – Fifteen Indonesian youths burned an American flag in front of the US Embassy today and demanded that Americans be expelled from the Muslim country.

Jakarta – Indonesia's President Suharto has ordered officials to negotiate the purchase of Russian fighter jets and other military hardware, a minister said here Friday.

Jakarta – Indonesia said on Friday it was considering buying air defence systems and fighter planes from Russia.

Greg Earl, Jakarta – The World Bank has warned that Indonesia is failing to make use of a period of high foreign investment and economic growth to resolve economic challenges that threaten its long-term performance.

John McBeth, Jakarta – There are two things President Suharto detests more than anything: critics questioning his administration's legitimacy and outsiders interfering in Indonesia's internal affairs. The Australians had a taste of Suharto's ire in the mid-1980s. The Dutch discovered it five years ago. Now the United States is getting the message too.

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – American Embassy officials here have grown increasingly somber over the past month, listening to the war of words between Indonesia and the US But help is nowhere in sight.

A World Bank report says Indonesia does not need nuclear power. The report says Indonesia has the capacity to greatly increase its electricity generation by conventional means.

It says that given the environmental risks, Indonesia should fully exploit this capacity rather than resort to nuclear power.

The Indonesian government says it's planning to try to place tight controls on what enters the country on the Internet.

Launching a new Internet service in Jakarta, the Minister for Telecommunications, Joop Ave, said it was a basic human right to have access to information.

Indonesia's new Information Minister, General Hartono, says there will be no relaxation in a law which allows the government to ban newspapers and magazines.

Speaking after a meeting with President Suharto, the general said the law was needed in case there were publications which could NOT be tolerated.

[This information was passed along to Campaign for Labor Rights by the East Timor Action Network (ETAN), in North America, which received it from East Timor Independence, in New Zealand. This report also is based on information provided by Jeff Ballinger, of Press for Change, and Max Surjadinata, in New York.]

Background

Louise Williams, Bali – A retired Indonesian naval officer stunned a diplomatic and business audience today by announcing that the geopolitical balance of power in the region meant Indonesia did not need Australia.

Jakarta – Officials say communists were to blame for recent riots in East Java, and troops have been ordered to shoot troublemakers on sight, the official Antara news agency said today.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Supporters of ousted opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri maintained pressure on the Government yesterday, demanding election results be cancelled and rival Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI) leader Suryadi be sacked.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas made it clear what he thought of objections in the US Congress over the sale of nine F-16 fighter planes to Indonesia when the issue came up early this year.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – The pressure from the human rights lobby in developed countries is getting stronger and developing countries should band together to counter it, President Suharto said yesterday.

Jakarta – The head of the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) department of education and propaganda, I Gusti Agung Anom Astika, was sentenced to four years minus the time he had already spent in jail.

In common letters to Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission, KOMNAS HAM, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, and the German Minister of Foreign Affairs seven Indonesian and German organizations urged on the necessity to send another independent fact finding mission to the City of Banjarmasin, the capital of the Indonesian South Kalimant