[Kabar-indonesia] Indo News - 11/29/05

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- Govt deems Jones a threat to domestic security
- Indonesia: A lesson in price of free speech
- Indonesian president orders lifting of ban on US terror expert
- SBY tells officials not to cover up bird flu cases
- Bird flu detected in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province
- Flu study zeroes in on healthy village
- Arrest of terrorist suspect sparks rampage in Maluku
- Poso bishop declares Catholics’ death sentence unjust
- Garuda Indonesia Forced to Capacity to Bali by 30-40 PCT
- Timor-Leste: Denial of Justice?
- Government lied to cover up war crimes in 1975 invasion of island
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The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
November 29, 2005
Govt deems Jones a threat to domestic security
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Noted American terrorism expert Sidney Jones was a threat to domestic
security, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin said on
Wednesday, explaining the government's decision to deny her entry to
Indonesia.

The minister, whose office oversees the immigration directorate general
that denied Jones entry, said that she had been barred from entering
Indonesia for a second time after a review by the relevant authorities
here found her to be a threat to domestic security.

"This is our prerogative as a state, but the decision to deny entry can be
changed and reviewed over time, he said.

Hamid did not, however, say why she was considered a threat, only saying
the decision to refuse her entry was based on input from a number of state
agencies, including the intelligence services, the National Police and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Speaking to the House of Representatives' defense commission, Coordinating
Minister for Politics, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S. said that
Jones had been denied entry due to her "attitude".

"We have received input from our representatives abroad about her
attitude. Our officials and others in the government's clearing house
discussed this and decided to refuse her entry from Indonesia due to this
attitude," he said without elaborating.

The clearing house is a special government committee consisting of
officials from the foreign ministry, intelligence agency, Indonesian
military, the police and the immigration office that has the final say on
whether to allow foreign researchers and journalists to visit Indonesia or
conflict-prone areas across the country.

Widodo said that a further review of Jones' "attitude" could be carried
out to see if she might be allowed to enter Indonesia again in the future.

Legislator A.S. Hikam said the government should have informed Jones about
the reasons behind the decision in order to avoid international criticism.

"Don't let this become a reason for the international community to
criticize us, particularly remembering that Jones is an (NGO) activist,"
he said.

This was the second time that Jones, who heads the Jakarta office of the
International Crisis Group (ICG), had been unceremoniously kicked out of
Indonesia. She was forced to board a flight out of Indonesia as soon as
she arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Thursday after a brief trip to
Taiwan.

In May 2004, the Megawati Soekarnoputri administration refused to extend
Jones' stay permit and work visa at the request of the intelligence
authorities following her revealing reports on Indonesia's poor human
rights record and communal conflicts around the country.

The Brussels-based ICG is also well-known for its in-depth reports on
Jamaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for a string of bomb attacks in
Indonesia since 2002.

Responding to the second entry ban, Jones said she was confused as she had
previously been allowed to visit Indonesia again in August after her
one-year ban expired in May.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Age (Melbourne)
Indonesia: A lesson in price of free speech
-- Journalists and experts have a hard time entering the country
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
By Mark Forbes

Jakarta --- When 76-year-old Winarno Surachmad shuffled before 30,000 of
his former teaching colleagues to recite his poem about the woes of the
education system, he drew the wrath of Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf
Kalla.

Mr Kalla scowled at lines including "when rhinos and komodo are protected,
teachers are just neglected". Mr Kalla was also invited to address the
Indonesian Teachers Association gathering in Solo on Sunday to mark
Teachers' Day.

"Teachers form the nation's soul and character," Mr Kalla told the throng,
who had warmly applauded the poem. "If you mock the nation, who will
respect it?" he scolded.

Still fuming after the meeting, Mr Kalla described Professor Winarno, the
retired, respected head of Jakarta's main teaching college, as offensive.

The outburst was another sign of the sensitivity of the supposedly open,
freedom-loving regime of new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. One year
in, the Government is facing increasingly vocal protests over
controversial measures, such as decisions to increase fuel prices, and
demands from public servants, including teachers, to boost their low pay.

On Thursday, the world's top expert on the terrorist network Jemaah
Islamiah -- International Crisis Group director Sidney Jones -- was barred
from Indonesia for the second time.

Dr Jones was returning from Taiwan, where she had received a Time magazine
award for her work in the region, when she was turned back at Jakarta
airport without explanation. Since being readmitted to Indonesia two
months ago, she has made numerous comments about the continuing JI threat,
praising the work of authorities while pointing out more must be done.

Yesterday the Justice Minister, Hamid Awaluddin, said the decision to stop
Dr Jones from entering Indonesia had been based on police information.

"The information and thoughts from various departments conclude that
Sidney Jones is being barred to enter Indonesia for our security," Mr
Awaluddin told a news conference. "We are not talking about security in a
physical sense but security in relation to the stability of our life in
the form of public opinion."

Australian journalists trying to cover the cavalcade of drugs cases in
Bali have had great difficulty obtaining visas. Indonesian officials --
alarmed at the Schappelle Corby backlash and some of the media's tactics
-- want reduced coverage of the trials.

Prime Minister John Howard openly acknowledged the sensitivity in his
calls for recently released model Michelle Leslie not to "tell all" about
her ecstasy possession arrest, suggesting causing offence to Indonesia
could harm the cases of other Australians facing charges. Her case
allegedly involves bribes and extortion.

Australia has been boosting ties and military links with Indonesia, citing
progress in advancing human rights and supporting Dr Yudhoyono's
anti-corruption crackdown. Free speech, Mr Howard has said, is democracy's
friend. It is a sentiment shared by Professor Winarno. "To me it seems
that the system tries to shut our mouth up, just like in the New Order
time," he said.

His poem claimed teachers could not afford to eat on their salaries, and
likened school buildings to chicken coops.

Mr Kalla said he did not like the poem, and its rendition was unbecoming
of a professor.

Professor Winarno said he did not mean to mock. "I was trying to convey
about teachers' conditions in this country," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indonesian president orders lifting of ban on US terror expert
Associated Press
Tuesday November 29, 3:59 PM

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the lifting of
a one-year-ban on US terrorism researcher and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) expert
Sidney Jones.

Analysts had warned that Jones' expulsion was a setback for human rights
and democracy in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, which
has been transitioning to full democracy since Suharto's 1998 downfall.

Immigration authorities turned away Jones, an expert on the Al
Qaeda-linked JI extremist group, when she tried to return to Indonesia
after a brief trip to Taiwan last Thursday.

"The reasoning is that the reason for the ban is no longer relevant,"
presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng told reporters at the palace
after announcing that Yudhoyono had ordered the ban lifted.

"The president made this conclusion after asking the minister for justice
and human rights (for comment) and after looking at existing files."

Jones had only returned to the country in July after being expelled 13
months earlier by the previous government for apparently upsetting
high-ranking officials over her reporting on JI, a sensitive subject here.

"Isn't it great?... I'm absolutely delighted. I'm trying to get rid of all
these phone calls so I can book an airline ticket back," Jones told AFP by
telephone from Singapore.

"They asked me to wait a couple of days to make sure that all the messages
get through to immigration. So I expect to be home shortly but definitely
this week," she said.

"It's amazing news. This is the shortest expulsion on record."

An official had called her to inform her she could return, she added.

No explanation was given to Jones for the ban, but Home Affairs Minister
Hamid Awaluddin reportedly said Monday that she was deemed capable of
swaying public opinion on terrorism and thus was a security threat.

Top security minister Adisucipto Widodo said that she was denied entry
because of her "attitude", the Koran Tempo reported Tuesday.

Activists and politicians had been rattled by Jones' expulsion, fearing it
would pave the way for other repressive action by the government.

"This is a yellow light for democracy in Indonesia," Muhammad Hikam, a
former defence minister and member of parliament representing Indonesia's
third largest party, told AFP just prior to the lifting of the ban.

Jones is Southeast Asia director for the Brussels-based International
Crisis Group (ICG), which researches the causes of conflicts worldwide.

The ICG has reported extensively on JI, and Jones was widely quoted by
international media outlets after the triple suicide bombings on the
resort island of Bali in October, which left 20 bystanders dead.

Jones suggested that those responsible had splintered from JI -- the
existence of which the Indonesian government refuses to formally
acknowledge -- to create their own hardline group.

Several analysts said that instead of being a threat, Jones' comprehensive
studies had provided much insight into local militant networks.

Yudhoyono has repeatedly pledged a more transparent and clean government
since coming to power in October 2004, and the retired general had in fact
sided with Jones during her previous exile.

JI is blamed by authorities for the 2002 bombings on the resort island of
Bali, which killed 202 people, along with a string of other attacks that
began with coordinated bombings of churches in Indonesia in 2000.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
November 29, 2005
SBY tells officials not to cover up bird flu cases
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has warned local administrations
against presenting him with fabricated "good news" on bird flu as foreign
and national media have continued running factual reports on the spread of
the lethal disease in the country.

He also said on Monday the government was to launch a bird flu monitoring
system, called "Village Preparedness", which would involve millions of
people at village level.

Under the scheme, at least five personnel, including doctors, would
monitor bird flu cases among both birds and humans in every village in
order to speed up the reporting of any outbreak, Susilo added.

The President said several regional executive heads had failed to take
measures to eradicate bird flu seriously, despite instruction from the
central government.

"I have asked them to implement what we've instructed. I'd rather get
honest and objective reports on bird flu cases in the regions than
cover-ups for the sake of a good image," he told a news conference after a
meeting with Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari and Minister of
Agriculture Anton Apriyantono.

Susilo said covering up bird flu outbreaks to please him would only result
in the situation worsening and more people falling victim to the virus.

"Such leaders are irresponsible. I am reminding them of this once more,
because I'll check them one by one," he said, threatening to make public
the names of leaders who had not followed orders if they did not make
improvements in the next few days.

Anton said avian influenza had continued to spread across Indonesia.
Currently, the H5N1 virus has infected areas in 23 of the 33 provinces.

Seven human deaths from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza have been
confirmed in Indonesia by the World Health Organization (WHO). Five other
people have either recovered from confirmed bird flu infection or continue
to receive medical treatment.

Anton said the government would announce on Dec. 15 the results of tests
on blood and other samples from poultry taken by veterinary students of
four universities. He did not elaborate.

Susilo said the government had been serious in fighting the deadly virus.

"I say to all Indonesian people -- as every day it is aired by CNN, BBC
and other international and domestic media -- that we have taken and
continue to take serious measures to eradicate avian flu.

"With cooperation and support from the public, all of the efforts will be
effective. But regional heads also need to be highly responsible," he
said.

The government vowed last week to wage a year-long fight against the
virus, which would include house-to-house checks and culls.

Susilo said the government had appointed state-run pharmaceutical company
PT Kimia Farma to produce Tamiflu after receiving approval from the Swiss
drug company Roche Holding AG, which holds the antiviral drug's patent.

The health minister said on Saturday the government would produce 220
million Tamiflu tablets.

Susilo said two million tablets would still be imported from Roche before
the start of Indonesia's production in three to five months. The
government has a stockpile now of only 800,000 tablets.

Indonesia has allocated some Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) to import
Tamiflu, the President added.

The government has also appointed another state-run pharmaceutical firm,
Biopharma, to produce avian influenza vaccines for birds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bird flu detected in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province
Associated Press
November 24, 2005

Banda Aceh, Indonesia -- Indonesia has detected the first outbreak of bird
flu in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province where hundreds of chickens have died
from the disease, the Agriculture Ministry said Thursday.

Bird flu has now been found in 23 of Indonesia's 30 provinces, said
Sjamsul Bahri, the Agriculture Ministry's director of animal health. The
deadly H5N1 strain has jumped from birds to humans, killing seven people
in Indonesia.

But the emergence of the virus in Aceh -- where tens of thousands of
people still live in crowded refugee camps following the Dec. 26 tsunami
-- is especially worrisome.

Bahri said chickens have been infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus
in at least three districts of the province. "Hundreds of chickens have
died," he said.

Bird flu has killed hundreds of millions of birds in Asia since 2003, and
has jumped to humans, killing at least 67 people in the region. Experts
have warned the virus may mutate into a form that is easily passed between
people and trigger a global pandemic.

Aceh was the area hardest hit by the tsunami. More than 130,000 people
died in the province and another half million were left homeless.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
International Herald Tribune
Flu study zeroes in on healthy village
By Peter Gelling, International Herald Tribune
Sunday, November 27, 2005

BALI, Indonesia Ni Nengah Kenori is 68 years old. She has never seen a
syringe before and she has never heard of bird flu.

Outside her small house on the northern side of this island, a scientist
reached into his hard plastic case the other day to prepare his imported
medical tools. Kenori looked passively in the other direction.

Behind her, another scientist held her large pet chicken upside down while
a third struggled to draw blood from underneath the wing. Around the
corner a group of pigs began squealing as yet another scientist chased
them around a makeshift pen. Kenori's grandchildren looked on in
amazement.

The researchers are part of a team of about 20 who have been studying 42
villages in Bali over the past three weeks, taking blood samples from 800
humans and 1,800 animals. So far, it is one of the largest and most
comprehensive studies on bird flu in Southeast Asia.

The team, working with the World Health Organization, is conducting
extensive interviews to find out just how humans and animals interact
here. The experts hope they will then begin to understand a relationship
between the interaction and the distribution of the disease.

Apart from the potential scientific benefits, officials would like the
study to help educate ordinary Indonesians, many of whom live in isolated
villages and remain, like Kenori, ignorant of the disease.

Officials of the World Health Organization also said the study should help
local health officials develop an efficient procedure for response to bird
flu outbreaks, one that could be imitated in other rural areas in
Indonesia, including the tsunami-devastated province of Aceh, which
reported its first bird flu outbreak last week.

The study comes as Indonesia is substantially increasing its efforts to
combat bird flu. In Jakarta, where a majority of bird flu deaths have
occurred, health officials have just announced a yearlong strategic plan
to fight the disease, a plan that includes enlisting the military to make
door-to-door inspections for sick birds and pigs.

An important part of this effort will be Indonesia's production of
Tamiflu, the antiviral drug used to treat bird flu. Roche, the Swiss
pharmaceutical company that controls the patent for Tamiflu, gave
Indonesia permission Friday to start producing it for the domestic market.
(The company said it did not have a patent there, so Indonesia does not
have to obtain a license.) Indonesia hopes to stockpile 220 million
tablets; it now has only 800,000, health officials said.

So far, Indonesia and Vietnam are the only countries to have secured
permission from Roche to produce Tamiflu on their own. Other countries are
in talks with the company.

It is almost painfully evident just how important Indonesia's effort to
inform its citizens is. Kenori remained unfazed and uninterested as a
scientist prepared a needle and explained the procedure. It was only when
the researcher prepared to draw a blood sample from her that she showed
any understanding of what was about to happen.

While Kenori winced in anticipation of pain, the procedure was over before
she knew it had begun. She smiled and briefly examined the vial of her own
blood before returning to her house-cleaning.

"Communication is very important," said Nyoman Dibia, who works for the
Disease Investigation Center in Denpasar, Bali's capital. "They need to
know what is happening and why. Education is an important part of this."

As is the case on many islands in the Indonesian archipelago, bird flu in
Bali is a simmering threat. At a farm in the north recently, 800 ducks
died in a week.

Ducks, along with chickens, pigs and humans, interact with each other more
often and much more closely here than almost anywhere else in Indonesia.
Health experts worry that in such an environment, the H5N1 virus could
easily mutate into a form transmitted between people, setting off a global
pandemic that could kill millions.

As a questionnaire was being administered to Igo Arsa, 30, as his chickens
darted through the front door into the living room and then out the side
entrance to where the pigs spend their afternoons. Such intimate interplay
between animals and humans is one reason researchers came to Bali.

Despite such close relations, there has yet to be a single case of human
bird flu detected here. A woman was admitted to the hospital with flu
symptoms recently, but tests were negative.

Researchers are now wondering if the people of Bali have something the
people of Java do not: immunity.

"It is difficult to believe that with all these sick animals and with such
close interaction, no humans have been infected," said Gina Samaan, a
field epidemiologist with the World Health Organization who is helping
facilitate the study in Bali. "We think people who have regular exposure
to infected animals, like they do here, have developed the means to remain
healthy."

Samaan said researching the distribution of the illness and the
interaction between animals and humans would help manage outbreaks and
target the responses.

Just as important, the study enlists the cooperation of the provincial
authorities: village heads and the ministries of health and agriculture.
Samaan said that when outbreaks occurred, the experience of this study
would help the authorities in such rural areas respond more quickly.

And it is starting to work.

"Recently there was a sick animal," she said. "The farmer called an animal
health clinic. That clinic then called the Ministry of Agriculture and the
chain of communication began. Within the week the investigation had been
completed."

The authorities on Java, the main island of Indonesia and its most densely
populated, have been less successful, especially around urban areas like
Jakarta.

The death toll from bird flu there continues to rise. World Health
Organization officials have confirmed seven human deaths from the H5N1
virus on Java so far. Jakarta health officials confirmed an eighth but are
waiting for definitive tests to come back from Hong Kong. Four more people
tested positive for the virus but have survived, and several more are
being examined.

The Indonesian government is struggling to convince the international
community that it is prepared to handle the problem, as major donors try
to push the government in the right direction. And everyone is scrambling
to take action.

But so far, Indonesia has been reluctant to organize mass culls of birds,
the usual first response to outbreaks of bird flu. It says it lacks the
money to compensate farmers.

Instead it is insisting on testing individual chickens in infected areas,
a mammoth task considering the number of Indonesians who keep small
numbers of chickens on their property. The study in Bali alone took months
to prepare.

"This study is really a prototype of how it should be done," Samaan said.
"But it is expensive and time-consuming." Time and money are two things
Indonesia lacks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
November 29, 2005
Arrest of terrorist suspect sparks rampage in Maluku
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

Enraged by the arrest of terror suspect Syarif Tarabubun, hundreds of
people attacked and burned down on Monday a Muslim boarding school
believed to have been harboring terrorists.

The residents of the Muslim subdistrict of Haya, Central Maluku, went on a
rampage after they learned that the school principal, Batar, had allegedly
harbored Syarif and other terrorists who had been involved in terror
activities in the formerly riot torn city of Ambon.

Central Maluku Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ngurah Gunawan said that no
fatalities had been reported in the incident.

The police officer said Batar was not in the school at the time of the
incident as he had already left the area last year after he became the
target of a police investigation for his alleged key role in an attack in
Wamkana subdistrict, Buru regency in May last year, leaving three
civilians dead.

Of five suspects in the case, only Batar and another person, Nurdin, are
still at large while three other suspects have been arrested. These three
have admitted to police investigators that they were involved in series of
attacks in Maluku, particularly Ambon city. "Batar has been our priority.
We received a tip-off that he already recruited other persons to mount
terror attacks," said Ngurah Gunawan.

In a separate development, police investigators in Ambon are still
questioning Syarif Tarabubun, who is also a police officer, for his role
in an armed attack on a cafe in Ambon that killed two people. Syarif and
16 other people were arrested on Friday last week for their alleged roles
in attacks in Ambon city over the past year.

Syarif was also named a suspect in February two years ago for allegedly
masterminding the killing of civilians Tengku Fauzi Hasbi, Edy Saputra and
Achmad Saridu.

The three were abducted from a hotel in the Waihaong area, Ambon city, and
were then murdered. Syarif and the three dead people were believed to have
all been members of a radical group affiliated to regional terror network
Jamaah Islamiyah, but an internal rift led Syarif to commit the murders.
Syarif was arrested in May 2003, but was released after a court found him
not guilty.

The preliminary investigation into Syarif and the other 16 persons
arrested recently in Haya subdistrict, Central Maluku, has found that they
knew leading terrorists Azahari, Noordin M. Top and Imam Samudera. Azahari
was killed in a raid in Malang, East Java, recently while Noordin is still
at large. Imam Samudera was convicted for the first Bali bombings and he
is now on death row.

During questioning, Syarif and the other gang members admitted that the
three terrorists had trained them in Haya in 2000 when sectarian conflict
was tearing Maluku apart.

Ambon and other islands in Maluku were the scene of Muslim-Christian
violence between 1999 and 2002 that left thousands of people dead. The
conflict also drove hundreds of thousands of people from Maluku province.
A government-sponsored peace pact in 2002 has restored a semblance of
normality in the area but sporadic bombings and attacks still persist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AsiaNews
26 November, 2005
Indonesia
Poso bishop declares Catholics’ death sentence unjust
-- Mgr Suwatan has come out in defence of three men convicted of igniting
clashes between Christians and Muslims in Poso in 2000; the bishop said
the Catholics were victims and not instigators of the violence and that
the death penalty was excessive. Manado Diocese is praying for that the
sentence be overturned.

Jakarta (AsiaNews/UCAN) – The three Catholics condemned to death for the
violence which hit in Poso in 2000 are innocent and should not be
executed, says the Manado bishop. Mgr Joseph Suwatan has come out in
defence of the three men who were refused a pardon by the Indonesian
president earlier this month.

“I think Fabianus Tibo, Marianus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva are not the
ringleaders of the riots in Poso. They also are victims of the riots. In
my opinion, a death sentence is not proper for them," the bishop said.

The diocese of Mgr Suwatan covers Poso, a city in the province of central
Sulawesi where bloody conflict between Christians and Muslims was played
out between 1998 and 2001, claiming 2,000 lives. No Muslims have been
tried for their part in the violence so far.

The Palu District Court condemned Tibo and his two friends to death after
finding them guilty of a series of murders of Muslims perpetrated in Poso
between May and June 2000, which led to the clashes between the two
communities. The death penalty was upheld by the Central Sulawesi High
Court in May 2001 and again by the Jakarta Supreme Court in November that
same year. On 10 November last, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned
down an appeal for clemency. The execution date has not been set as yet.
For many Indonesians, the trial of the three Catholics was controversial;
intimidation by fundamentalist Muslims was widespread and frequent
throughout. Some observers said the jury had no choice but to “give in”
the groups who wanted the three men found guilty.

Mgr Suwatan said the three condemned men were simple, illiterate men, who
migrated to Poso from the island of Flores in search of a better life.
According to the bishop, the Catholics did not take part in the clashes in
Poso, rather “they became victims of riots that totally burned down St
Theresa Catholic Church and the rectory, a sisters' convent, and Catholic
schools."

The bishop's secretary said that “as soon as the bishop heard the news
that the plea for a pardon had been rejected, he said he would pray for
the three people and their families”. Fr Lengkong added that the diocese
gives the families moral support and is praying for the commutation of
their sentences.

The parish priest of St Theresa, Fr Jimmy Tumbelaka, goes often to visit
the three Christians in prison. He also met Hasyim Muzadi, president of
the Nahdlatul Ulama – Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation – who has
declared himself willing to support the cause. The parish priest intends
to speak to the apostolic nuncio in Indonesia, Mgr Malcolm Ranjith, "to
see what can be done".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asia Pulse (Antara)
Wednesday November 30, 7:29 AM
Garuda Indonesia Forced to Capacity to Bali by 30-40 PCT

Jakarta, Nov 30 - PT Garuda Indonesia has been forced to lower the seating
capacity of its flights by 30 to 40 per cent especially on its flights
from Australia or Japan to Bali and vice versa in view of declining number
of visitors to the island paradise after the second terrorist bombing
attacks on October 1, 2005.

Garuda president director Emirsyah Satar and Minister of Tourism and
Culture Jero Wacik made the statement after the launching of Garuda's Love
Bali Program to revive tourism in Bali.

Emirsyah said the number of passengers from Australia and Japan had
dropped drastically to less than 50 percent. Jero Wacik meanwhile said
that the government could not prohibit other countries from issuing travel
warnings to their citizens who wished to visit Bali.

Emirsyah said flights to Australia had been reduced from 27 to 17 times a
week, adding that Garuda had also reduced its flights to Japan and
combined formerly direct services.

He said he hoped the situation would change ahead of the peak season at
the end of the year. "We will add 14,000 seats on the flights from the two
countries to Bali," he said.

"Our target this year is not making a loss or reaching a break-even point.
In view of that we will immediately meet our creditors for a
rescheduling," he said.

The state-owned company's debt service was recorded at US$110 million to
US$115 million until 2010, mostly to the European Credit Agency. The
company's total debts reach around US$840 million, he said.

Jero Wacik said the travel warnings issued by Australia, the US and Japan
had caused a significant decline in the number of foreign visitors to
Indonesia.

As has been reported 12,000 Australias had cancelled their plan to come to
Bali after the bombings on October 1. "It is undeniable that cancellations
have really occurred," Wacik said.

Through Garuda's Love Bali Program Garuda distributes 10,000 free flights
from and to Bali.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amnesty International
Public Statement
AI Index: ASA 57/005/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 322
29 November 2005

Timor-Leste: Denial of Justice?

Amnesty International is deeply concerned at President Xanana Gusmao’s
lack of political will to disseminate immediately to the public the
recently completed final report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and
Reconciliation (Comissao de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliacao de Timor
Leste, CAVR) and at his apparent reluctance to support the report’s
recommendations pertaining to justice and reparations.

Amnesty International strongly welcomes the completion of the CAVR report,
which was submitted to President Xanana Gusmao on 31 October 2005 and to
the Timor-Leste Parliament on 28 November 2005. Although the report has
not been made public yet, Amnesty International understands that it
provides a detailed account of past human rights violations which were
committed in Timor-Leste (then East Timor) between April 1974 and October
1999, and provides recommendations to the government and the international
community for further actions to be taken to support the reconciliation
process. In particular, it recommends the continuation of prosecutions of
those who have committed serious human rights violations in Timor-Leste
and the allocation of reparations to the victims in order to achieve
long-lasting reconciliation.

In a public presentation before parliament on 28 November 2005, President
Xanana Gusmao implied that he may not disseminate the report to the public
in the immediate future, thus sparking fears as to when and in what form
the CAVR report would be made available to the public. In accordance with
the law which established the CAVR (UNTAET/REG/2001/1), the report must be
disseminated 'immediately'. Amnesty International urges President Xanana
Gusmao to do so as a matter of priority in order to ensure that the
Timorese people, and in particular the victims of past human rights
violations and their families, have access in full to the report,
including its recommendations.

The CAVR recommendations pertaining to justice, which were brought forward
by President Xanana Gusmao in his speech yesterday, seem to echo the
recommendations of a recent UN report submitted by an international
Commission of Experts created by the UN Secretary-General to evaluate the
prosecution of serious violations of human rights committed in Timor-Leste
in 1999. The Commission of Experts' report, which was officially submitted
by the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council in June 2000
concluded, among other recommendations, that there was a need to continue
the UN serious crimes process which was terminated, in effect, in May this
year although full accountability for past human rights violations had not
been effected. To date, no actions have been undertaken by the UN Security
Council to act on the recommendations of the Commission of Experts'
report.

Amnesty International hopes that the release of the CAVR report will act
as a reminder both to the Timorese government and the UN Security Council
that there is an urgent need to act promptly to fulfil the long denied
right to justice and reparations for victims of past human rights
violations in Timor-Leste.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Times (UK)
November 30, 2005
Government lied to cover up war crimes in 1975 invasion of island
By Richard Lloyd Parry

THE British Government knowingly lied about Indonesian atrocities in East
Timor, including the killing of British journalists in 1975, according to
newly released diplomatic documents.
In a startling insight into foreign complicity in Indonesia’s invasion of
the former Portuguese colony, the documents show that Britain used its
position as chair of the United Nations Security Council to “keep the heat
out of the Timor business” in discussions in the UN.

The documents have been obtained after a long-running campaign by
relatives and supporters of Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie, two British
journalists who were working for Australian television. In October 1975,
along with three colleagues from Australia and New Zealand, they were
killed while filming a clandestine attack on East Timorese soldiers in the
town of Balibo by Indonesian soldiers and East Timorese opposed to
independence.

Witness reports suggest that they were murdered in order to prevent
evidence of Indonesia’s covert war on East Timor from being broadcast to
the outside world. Their bodies were immediately burnt and nothing more
than a few charred bones has been recovered. Public opinion in Australia
was outraged by the deaths of the men.

But Sir John Ford, Britain’s Ambassador in Jakarta, asked the Australian
Embassy to refrain from pressing the Indonesians for details of their
deaths. “We have suggested to the Australians that, since we, in fact,
know what happened to the newsmen it is pointless to go on demanding
information from the Indonesians which they cannot, or are unwilling to
provide,” Sir John wrote. “Since no protests will produce the journalists’
bodies I think we should ourselves avoid representations about them.”

His cable, dated eight days after the deaths of the so-called Balibo Five,
ends by suggesting that the journalists were responsible for their own
deaths. “They were in the war zone of their own choice,” he wrote.

In the Cold War atmosphere of 1975, after the US defeat in Vietnam,
Indonesia’s status as a pro-Western, anti-communist leader was far more
important to Britain than justice for tiny and obscure East Timor.

The documents show that Britain’s main priority was to prevent the issue
from outraging British public opinion. “Timor was high on (US National
Security Adviser) Henry Kissinger’s list of places where the US do not
want to comment or get involved,” Sir John wrote in October 1975 before
the invasion.

“I am sure we should continue to follow the American example.” On
Christmas Eve 1975, in a cable copied to 10 Downing Street, Sir John said:
“Once the Indonesians had established themselves in Dili (the East
Timorese capital) they went on a rampage of looting and killing . . . If
asked to comment on any stories of atrocities I suggest we say that we
have no information.”

Sir John told The Times last night that he could not remember writing the
cable. He suggested, however, that the source who had told the diplomats
about the atrocities may not have been regarded as reliable.

At New Year, Sir John counselled his Indonesian counterparts to brace
themselves for stories of atrocities. “Sooner or later news of (the
atrocities) was bound to leak . . . I thought it was important that the
Indonesians should prepare for this eventuality.”

Britain’s complicity in the Indonesian invasion went beyond merely
suppressing information. The documents record the warm thanks officials
received from Indonesia for ensuring that the statement of condemnation in
the UN was relatively mild. In February 1976 Murray Simons, head of the
South-East Asia Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, wrote
that “the Indonesians were evidently much gratified at the way in which
the British delegation took account of their interests, and considered
that the language was one they could quite well live with”.

So successfully was the Indonesian invasion buried as a source of
international scandal that Britain’s own UN mission expressed misgivings —
the fear was that by colluding in the illegal annexation of a former
colony, Britain would leave its own possessions vulnerable to similar
attack, particularly the Falklands.

“In the real world it is probably both inevitable and understandable that
Timor should be incorporated into Indonesia,” Andrew Stuart, of the
British Embassy, wrote in February 1976. “The Timorese as a whole will not
lose by this.” By 1999, when they finally gained their freedom, about
200,000 of them had been killed

Official Secret
“I’m assuming you’re really going to keep your mouth shut on this subject?”
National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to his staff in October 1975 in
response to reports that Indonesia had attacked East Timor

“They were in the war zone of their own choice.”
Sir John Ford, on the journalists killed filing the clandestine Indonesian
invasion

“We had successfully managed to keep the heat out of the Timor business in
New York.”
Sir John Ford on Britain’s role in the debate on Indonesia in the UN
Security Council

“The Indonesians ... went on a rampage of looting and killing ... I
suggest we say that we have no information.”
Sir John Ford on the invasion of East Timor

“A primitive territory.”
Murray Simons, head of the Foreign Office’s South-east Asia Department, on
East Timor

“Britain’s interests indicated a low profile ... This policy has paid off
handsomely. The lack of involvement has largely kept Timor out of the
British and US headlines”.
FCO report on East Timor