[Kabar-Irian] Irian News - 1/02/06
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- In Indonesia, the battleground has shifted
- RI, Aussie Enjoying Ever Closer Ties, Says FM
- Activists Ask for Freeport’s Payments to the TNI to be Audited
- Government warns Freeport to stop polluting river
- Illegal logging still going strong
- Supreme Court responsible for poor law enforcement
*****************************
International Herald Tribune
In Indonesia, the battleground has shifted
Tom Benedetti, International Herald Tribune
Monday, January 2, 2006
Vancouver The attention that the tsunami brought to the previously
overlooked conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh is contributing to
an end to three decades of insecurity and terror there. But while Aceh may
be moving toward peace, West Papua, at the other end of the Indonesian
archipelago, has been witnessing the opposite trend - a sudden escalation
of military activity by the same force that occupied Aceh, and East Timor
before that.
For more than 40 years, the world has looked the other way while West
Papua has been ravaged by the Indonesian military in a well-documented
program of repression and plunder. In 2004, a Yale University report
concluded that there is "a strong indication" of genocide against the
Papuans.
Since the tsunami, the number of Indonesian troops in West Papua has grown
to an estimated 50,000. The Indonesian military's power is further
augmented by police forces and local militias that they fund and protect.
This escalation of military activity is ostensibly to bolster security in
the region, even though the vast majority of indigenous Papuans remain
true to their ideal of a land of peace. The Free Papua Movement has never
been known to attack civilians during 42 years of Indonesian oppression.
Yet Indonesia has labeled the movement a terrorist organization, enabling
the Indonesian military to regain military support from the United States,
Britain and Australia that had been withheld after the East Timor
massacres in 1999.
West Papua's coalition of 250 tribes has repeatedly asked the Indonesian
military and its militias to lay down arms and show respect for human
rights so that conflicts can be resolved peacefully, through dialogue, to
no avail. If Indonesia was willing to talk peace in Aceh, why not in West
Papua? There are three major reasons.
First, foreign journalists and most researchers and aid workers are still
banned from West Papua. Unlike in Aceh after the tsunami, no one is
looking.
Second, peace in West Papua is not what the Indonesian military wants. It
earns millions selling security services to resource companies such as the
gold-mining company Freeport-McMoRan - as documented by Jane Perlez and
Raymond Bonner in the IHT (Dec. 28) and The New York Times - and conflict
is good for business.
Third, most of the military's revenue does not come from the government
but is generated from all kinds of businesses, legal and illegal. Under
the auspices of its own network of foundations, the military generates
income from private security contracts, extortion, prostitution, smuggling
and illegal logging.
A study released last November by the Dutch government calls Indonesia's
annexation of West Papua in 1969 "a sham," and explains why West Papua is
so important to the Indonesian military: "There's a lot of money available
in the territory and the troops go where the money is, ... the military
has to find 60 percent of its own budget." Others estimate that the
military finances an even higher fraction of its operating budget, and
West Papua is the Indonesian military's most lucrative area of operations.
As the number of troops mounts, so does the environmental destruction in
West Papua, Asia's largest remaining expanse of untouched tropical
rainforest. Since 2002, West Papua has been declared by Conservation
International to be the home of Asia's largest illegal logging industry,
which threatens to wipe out the bulk of its forests by 2015.
In 2005 Yan Christian Warinussy, West Papua's only indigenous independent
human rights lawyer, described human rights abuses "carried out with total
impunity by members of Indonesia's armed forces" including "torture, rape,
summary executions, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, the killing of
indigenous leaders and civilians alike, the displacement of indigenous
populations and confiscation of their lands."
In 2005, the U.S. Congress condemned human rights abuses in Papua, and
parliamentary committees in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand also
expressed concerns about injustice, crimes against humanity and military
impunity. We can only hope that mounting international pressure will
encourage Indonesian military reform, and lead to fruitful dialogue in
West Papua and other outlying regions of Indonesia.
-- (Tom Benedetti is the moderator of the West Papua Action Network, a
group of Papuans and Canadians working for justice and the environment in
West Papua.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Antara
Jan 02 10:29
RI, Aussie Enjoying Ever Closer Ties, Says FM
Pekanbaru, Riau (Antara News) - Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said
Indonesia and Australia are enjoying ever increasingly closer ties
particularly after Canberra fully recognizes Papua as part of the Unitary
Republic of Indonesia.
"Australia recognizes Papua as part of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia
so that there is no longer any stumbling block to relations between the
two countries. In fact, the relations are getting closer over the past few
years," he said here Sunday.
He said Indonesia’s ties with Australia, the United States and other
western countries were getting closer as the result of the democratization
process in Indonesia.
In addition, the Indonesian government has also been seriously fighting
terrorism which is currently posing an enemy to all countries in the
world, he said.
He firmly believed that the recent bomb blast in the eastern Indonesian
town of Palu which killed seven people and injured 44 others would not
adversely affect Indonesia’s image abroad.
"We deeply regret that there are still people killing fellow w human
beings. They must be sternly dealt with," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tempo Interactive (previously sent on 12/29/05)
Activists Ask for Freeport’s Payments to the TNI to be Audited
Friday, 30 December, 2005 | 10:12 WIB
Tempo Interactive, Jakarta: NGO activists consider think that the security
of foreign companies such as Freeport McMoran must be provided as a
compensation for tax payments to the state.
“The obligation of Freeport to pay taxes in turn obligates the state to
provide and guarantee the security of the company,” Usman Hamid,
coordinator of the Commission for Missing Person and Acts of Violence told
reporters in Jakarta on Thursday (29/12).
Hamid was responding to a recent report released by The New York Times
that Freeport, a gold and copper mining company in Papua, allocated
US$20,000 to Indonesian Military (TNI) officers and institutions and the
National Police.
Freeport considered this normal to guarantee the security of tens of
thousands of its employees.
According to Hamid, as an institution, it was not correct for the TNI to
allow its officers both active and non-active to receive illegal funds
from Freeport.
“This has indicated bad management by the government, the security
apparatus and private companies like Freeport,” he stated.
Therefore, Hamid has urged the carrying out of an audit at Freeport in
order to identify the allocation of company funds in relation to security
service provided.
If Freeport were found not to be involved, he stated, the TNI must carry
out an internal investigation, “It’s not enough just to deny the matter.”
According to Hamid, TNI commander General Endriartono Sutarto must trace
any embezzlement that might have been carried out by TNI officers or
personnel, and identify those involved.
-- (Fanny-Tempo News Room)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
December 31, 2005
Government warns Freeport to stop polluting river
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A dark cloud appears to be dogging PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) following
news reports exposing its payments to soldiers guarding the world's
largest gold and copper mining firm in Papua, and its alleged poor
pollution record.
The government said on Friday that the company was illegally dumping
hazardous waste in a river near its mine in the resource-rich province.
PTFI must stop disposing of its mining waste in the Otomina river as it
was endangering biodiversity and public health in the surrounding area,
senior officials from the Office of the State Minister for the Environment
told The Jakarta Post.
"What Freeport Indonesia is dumping in the river is toxic waste. We are
sure of that," said Rasio Ridho Sani, an assistant to the deputy minister
for the management of hazardous materials and hazardous waste in the
mining, energy, and oil and gas sectors.
"What is more important is that the company has no license to dump its
tailings, neither in the river, on land, nor in the sea. It has only been
granted a license to recycle its waste."
However, Rasio declined to comment on why the firm had been allowed to
carry out such practices for over 30 years. "The current government has
more political will to protect the country's environment," he merely said.
He said the environment ministry was investigating the pollution
allegations against Freeport to obtain convincing evidence before taking
legal action.
However, Rasio stressed that what was even more important was the
preventing of further damage to the river and its hinterland.
"We want the tailings disposed of on land and the company must reuse or
recycle its waste to minimize the amount of waste dumped," he said.
The next step was that Freeport had to stop polluting the Ajkwa river,
which flows into the Otomina river.
Deputy Minister for Nature Conservation Enhancement and Environmental
Destruction Control Masnellyarti Hilman confirmed a New York Times report
that she had reprimanded Freeport over the pollution and told it to come
up with an alternative tailing system.
"When I was the deputy for compliance, I asked the company to stop using
the river for waste disposal," she said.
Freeport's Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment, carried out by the
Washington-based Parametrix, an environmental consultancy firm, in 2002,
which was obtained by the Post, stated, "Copper and tailings solids were
the primary substances posing potential risks, and all other metals except
zinc in sediment posed negligible risks."
However, the document also said that "it appears that as tailings settle
out, they do not affect most species in the uppermost water column ( i.e.
nekton and plankton), but do pose potential risks to organisms living on
and in the bottom."
In its executive summary conclusion, Parametrix advised that, "although it
has been comprehensive, ongoing, and multi-year, it is desirable to modify
this program (tailings) to address potential risks and uncertainties
identified in this document."
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said his office would
protect the country's environment by forcing major companies, such as
Freeport, to comply with the nation's environmental legislation and
regulations through its PROPER annual environment audit system.
"We are in the process in increasing the number of companies in the PROPER
system from only 466 to include more firms prone to polluting, including
Freeport and others," he said, adding that around 250 more companies could
be included in the system.
Meanwhile, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment
(Walhi), Chalid Muhammad, demanded that the government set up a special
team comprising the police, prosecutors, relevant government officials and
environmentalists to investigate the Freeport pollution case.
"The government has to show its full authority in enforcing the law
against any institution the violates our laws," he said.
Freeport executives refused to comment when the Post tried to reach them.
However, the firm's 2004 economic, social and environment report said PTFI
secured a government-approved AMDAL (environmental impact analysis) in
1997 as well as the ISO 14001 certificate, which showed that the company
was adhering to environmentally-friendly mine management.
The report also said it had conducted two environmental audits last year,
involving Crescent Technology Inc., and had taken a number of actions to
comply with the recommendations made by the auditor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 02, 2006
Illegal logging still going strong
Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
When the world's biggest timber smuggling operation from Papua to China
was exposed last year, it marked a turning point in the fight against
illegal logging in the country.
Released in February by the London-based Environmental Investigative
Agency (EIA) and its local partner Telapak, the report -- which openly
accusing high-ranking Indonesian Military (TNI) officers of being in
cahoots with other government officials and law enforcers in running the
racket -- worked like magic.
Wasting no time, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rounded up his
subordinates and ordered a huge crackdown led by the National Police and
supported by the Indonesian Military against the smuggling operation --
estimated to be worth around one billion dollars a year in merbau logs
from Papua to China amid a log export ban in place since 2001.
Just within three months after the report was launched, Telapak recorded
that the Rp 12 billion (US$1.2 million) crackdown has netted 173 suspects
and seized over 385,000 cubic meters of logs.
The police also reported in May that they had submitted case files on at
least 25 suspects, including three middle-ranking Papua police officers,
to prosecutors, while case files on the remaining 151 suspects were still
being completed.
The crackdown has also affected the market for merbau timber, a hardwood
used mainly for flooring, with shortages and price rises reported in both
Indonesia and China.
But the crackdown failed to impress long enough, nor failed to stop the
country's rapid deforestation rate, claimed to be the world's worst with
an area the size of Switzerland being lost every year.
Telapak's forest campaigner, Muhammad Yayat Afianto, said the crackdown
had an immediate affect on reducing illegal logging but lamented the
significant fact that the major criminal networks were not broken although
the government has been informed of the officials involved in the racket.
Come December, the magic has completely worn off.
Around the country, illegal logging continues as before -- even reaching
deep into protected forested areas like national parks.
>From 144 million hectares of tropical forests that the country had in
1991, it has shrunk to 110 million hectares in 2003 as deforestation
caused by illegal logging, forest fires, forest conversion is unstoppable
at a rate which is estimated at more than 2.8 million hectares per year.
Weak law enforcement, political will and conflicting policies -- which
look good on paper, but because capacity and resources are lacking, cannot
be enforced -- have meant that deforestation is still on the rise in many
parts of the country, like Kalimantan, Sumatra and Sulawesi.
In Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, millions of hectares of forest are
currently at risk if the government proceeds with a plan to open the
world's largest palm oil plantation on the island.
The plan -- which is expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares
along the 850 kilometer Indonesia-Malaysia border in the northern areas of
West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces -- is feared might harm not
only the forest but also the rich forest biodiversity in Kalimantan, which
has a vast area of tropical rain forest and is home to several
near-extinct species, like orangutans.
All these years, according to the World Wife Fund for Nature, Kalimantan,
which has 27 million hectares of forests, has suffered from rapid
deforestation at the rate of 1.2 million hectares per year. The World Bank
even predicts that by 2010, all of Kalimantan's lowland forests will
disappear if nothing is done to curb deforestation.
Timber smuggling operations are also hard to miss in Lampung where illegal
logs are being shipped out of the Way Kambas and Bukit Barisan Selatan
national parks to illegal sawmills in broad daylight.
The illegally processed logs are then openly transported to ports --
equipped with all the legitimate documents like the Processed Timber
(SAKO), Log Transportation (SAKB) and Forest Products Validation (SKSHH)
certificates -- to reach Java and other islands, causing the country an
estimated Rp 15 trillion in losses per year.
However, during raids, the bosses escape arrest, leaving their smalltime
workers in the hands of law enforcers.
Bukit Barisan Selatan and West Lampung Police recorded only 17 cases of
illegal logging and apprehended 24 suspects from January to November,
2005.
Out of the 17 cases, only suspects in three cases were given up to four
months jail and fined up to Rp 200,000 (US$20) per person, while six other
cases are still under trial and the remaining eight cases are still under
investigation.
In line with Article 50 F and H of Law No. 41/1999 on forestry, smugglers
could face a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Head of Lampung Forestry Office, Arinal Djunaidi, claimed there were
extensive operations being conducted to curb illegal logging, which caused
the province to lose 12,500 hectares of forested area per year, but they
mostly exposed small cases since the province only relies on 200 forest
rangers.
The absence of proper employment was also blamed for the spread of illegal
logging in Lampung, with residents willing to spend up to five months in
jail as long as they can get Rp 50,000 each for carrying illegal logs,
according to Joko Santoso of the Lampung-based Illegal Logging Response
Center.
In Papua, however, the Bogor-based Telapak did see some significant
progress after the crackdown with almost no more illegal shipments
reported from April to November 2005.
"But we have heard no progress on the trial, although the attorney general
said that 87 percent of the cases were already in their hands," Yayat
said, adding that if the timber mafia are removed it will give a chance to
the Papuans to benefit from their own natural resources.
With the magic gone -- no real law enforcement by handing down the maximum
sentence for big timber bosses involved in illegal logging, no support for
the forestry community, more natural forest conversion and no coordination
among institutions like law enforcers and officials -- the future of the
country's forests is bleak.
"I think the government still has to work hard to reduce illegal logging
in 2006. If we fail to stop it, Indonesia will have no more natural forest
by 2010," Yayat said.
-- With additional reporting by Oyos H.N. Saroso in Lampung and Nethy
Dharma Somba in Papua.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 02, 2005
Supreme Court responsible for poor law enforcement
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Consistent law enforcement remained elusive in 2005, which a legal aid
foundation said was the fault of the Supreme Court.
In its year-end review issued over the weekend, the Indonesian Legal Aid
Foundation (YLBHI) said the subpar performance of the Supreme Court was
evident in its failure to supervise judges and prevent violations of the
profession's code of ethics.
YLBHI said the establishment of the Judicial Commission would help the
Supreme Court carry out its supervisory task, but "there is a tendency for
the commission to restrict its work to examining verdicts delivered by
judges instead of investigating whether certain judges abuse their power".
"In several places, such as Papua, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, judges
dismissed charges against businessmen accused of involvement in illegal
logging during preliminary hearings. This discouraged the work of
prosecutors and the police, who might have expanded their investigations,"
YLBHI executive director Munarman said.
Once of the cases he referred to was the South Tapanuli District Court's
decision to dismiss charges against D.L. Sitorus, an executive at timber
company Torganda, in October during the preliminary hearing.
There was a similar case in Padang, West Sumatra, where the local district
court dropped a case against Teddy Antoni from PT ATN and two officials
from the regency transportation agency in Mentawai.
"Officials in charge at the Supreme Court lack the political will to
improve the performances of judges. They are reluctant to take action
against judges who may have abused their power.
"The principle of independence has only helped the judges escape
punishment," Munarman said.
The Supreme Court is being scrutinized by the Corruption Eradication
Commission over allegations of bribery.
Regarding human rights issues, Munarman called the ongoing investigation
into the killing of leading human rights campaigner Munir as "a critical
point in the country's commitment to human rights".
"Many parties not connected with the judiciary have meddled in the
investigation into the murder. At the same time, the police lose their
power when they have to confront an institution seen as more powerful
(than the police)," Munarman said, referring to the National Intelligence
Agency (BIN).
The Central Jakarta District Court found Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari
Priyanto guilty in the Munir murder, but said there were indications the
killing was a conspiracy involving other parties.
However, the police have said they lack the evidence to expand their
investigation and look at the possible involvement of other parties in the
crime.
The court heard that several phone conversations took place between
Pollycarpus and former BIN director Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Poerwoprandjono
and other BIN officials prior to the murder.
The YLBHI also praised the House of Representatives' ratification of
international covenants on civil and political rights, and on economic and
social rights.
But it regretted the government's failure to follow up the ratification
with supporting regulations.
Doni Hardiyanto, who heads the foundation's political rights division,
said the government had discouraged the implementation of the two
prominent covenants.
The government's policies in contravention of the covenants include the
submission of a state secrecy bill and the decision to raise fuel prices,
Doni said.
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