[Kabar-indonesia] Indo News - 2/9/06

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- Local tests show two Indonesian women have bird flu
- Badminton: Indonesia scraps friendly match against Denmark
- Religious persecution
- Padang mayor defends sharia as good for development
- Minorities fall in line with the majority's rules
- Muslim leader says Indonesia radicals get too much slack
- Bill breaches Aceh deal, say rebels
- Outrage over Indonesian plans for palm oil plantation in rain forest
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Local tests show two Indonesian women have bird flu
Thursday February 9, 8:19 PM
Jakarta (Reuters)

Two Indonesian women from an area just east of the capital are in hospital
after local tests showed they had the H5N1 bird flu virus, a senior Health
Ministry official said on Thursday.

Hariadi Wibisono, director of control of animal-borne diseases at the
ministry, said the two women -- one aged 27 and the other 22 -- were being
treated at a Jakarta hospital designated for bird flu patients.

"We received the results last night. Their health condition now is
worsening," Wibisono said.

Further blood samples had been sent to a Hong Kong laboratory recognised
by the World Health Organisation for confirmation.

Indonesia has had 16 WHO-confirmed deaths from bird flu and seven
confirmed cases where patients have survived.

The two women are not related, but hail from the same suburban Jakarta
area of Bekasi.

Sulianti Saroso hospital spokesman Ilham Patu said it was not clear how
they may have picked up the virus. At least one had no direct contact with
chickens, he said.

Most Indonesian cases have shown the victims had contact with dead chickens.

Turkey and Iraq have in recent weeks become the latest countries outside
Asia to report human cases of the H5N1 strain of avian flu. The virus has
also spread to poultry in northern Nigeria, the first time it has been
detected in Africa.

While it mostly affects birds, the virus has killed at least 88 people in
seven countries since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.

Experts fear the H5N1 virus will mutate to become easily passed between
humans, triggering a pandemic. The current H5N1 strain of bird flu has not
mutated.

The highly pathogenic strain of bird flu has affected birds in two-thirds
of the provinces in Indonesia, an archipelago of about 17,000 islands and
220 million people.

The country has millions of chickens and ducks, many in the yards of rural
or urban homes, making it likely that more humans will become infected
with the virus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Badminton: Indonesia scraps friendly match against Denmark
Thursday February 9, 6:17 PM
Jakarta (AFP/de)

Indonesia cancelled a friendly badminton match against Denmark because of
security concerns amid angry protests over Danish cartoons depicting the
Prophet Mohammed, a sports official said on Thursday.

"We are unable to guarantee the safety of the Danish players,"
Sulistiyanto, foreign relations director at the Indonesian Badminton
Association, told AFP.

He said the match had been scheduled for March 14 as part of preparations
for the Thomas Cup badminton championship.

Sulistiyanto said that the Danes would be notified of the cancellation
later in the day.

The move came as protests continued in Indonesia, the world's largest
Muslim nation, against the publication by a Danish newspaper of cartoons
depicting the Islamic Prophet Mohammed.

Although the protests have been widespread, they have mostly been small by
Indonesian standards. The Danish embassy in Jakarta has been closed
temporarily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Editorial
February 07, 2006
Religious persecution

The inconsistency between what the government says and what it does (or
does not do) about freedom of religion could not have been more starkly
illustrated than it was by two incidents that took place just hours, and a
few hundred kilometers, apart Saturday.

In Jakarta, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in a speech celebrating
Chinese New Year, said the government was constitutionally bound to
protect freedom of religion and the right of all people to practice their
faith.

Using the occasion to address followers of Confucianism, here is what the
President said, in part, as quoted by Kompas: "In this country, there is
no such thing as religions that are recognized or not recognized by the
state. The Constitution guarantees the freedom of every citizen to have a
religion and to practice their faith. The state shall never interfere in
any religious teachings. The duty of the state is to protect, serve and
facilitate the building and maintenance of places of worship and to
encourage citizens to become good followers of their religions."

To the east, in a village on Lombok, about 2,000 people attacked a
compound housing 31 families of followers of Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect
with origins in India. Police sent to protect the families were far
outnumbered and helpless to stop the attackers from burning the houses.

Fortunately, there were no deaths and all of the families were safely
evacuated. Still, the ugly attack had the tacit approval of the local
administration and Muslim ulema. Nationally, Ahmadiyah has been declared a
heretical sect by the Indonesian Ulema Council, which is one reason the
authorities have been halfhearted in coming to the aid of its followers
when they find themselves under attack, including this latest incident.

The President's speech was comforting, particularly for religious
minorities in the country. To them, these were words to live by in a
country that has, since its inception, strived to adhere to the principles
of pluralism where the rights of minorities are respected and protected.

Yudhoyono was simply invoking the Constitution in his speech. He was
reiterating the duties and obligations of the government in guaranteeing
and protecting religious freedom. Although the context of his speech was
the discrimination followers of Confucianism, mostly ethnic Chinese,
continue to encounter, there was no doubt the promises and guarantees were
universal and applicable to followers of all religions and beliefs that
exist in the country.

Sadly, the reality is far from the rosy picture painted by the
Constitution and the President. If anything, the situation seems to be
deteriorating of late. Minority Christians are finding it harder to build
new churches and established Christian places of worship have been forced
to close down by their Muslim neighbors and radical groups. And the
followers of Ahmadiyah face nothing less than persecution, with very
little state protection being offered.

The President himself appeared ambiguous, if not inconsistent, in his
speech, invoking a 1965 presidential ruling that identifies six religions
-- Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism
-- that are followed by citizens of the country. This ruling amounts to a
state recognition of these religions, and by way of implication, the
nonrecognition of any other religions and beliefs.

The bureaucracy has religiously applied this policy of recognition and
nonrecognition when dealing with such issues as the religion of a person
on his/her identification card. The civil registry will not accept
marriages that are not performed in accordance with the rituals of one of
these "state-recognized" religions, much less marriages between people of
different faiths.

This practice of "selective pluralism" in dealing with religion
contravenes the very nature of the freedom of religion guaranteed in the
Constitution and invoked by the President in his speech. This policy has
many unintended consequences.

Under current practices, for example, Ahmadiyah has to be considered an
Islamic sect. But the denunciation by the Indonesian Ulema Council has
left Ahmadiyah in a quandary, while its followers continue to be subject
to violent attacks.

If the President were to wipe the 1965 ruling off the books, then
Ahmadiyah followers could safely put "Ahmadiyah" as their religion on
their ID cards. This would help end the heated debate over whether the
sect is Islamic, and the persecution of Ahmadiyah would, hopefully, cease
once and for all.

Why is there still such a huge divide between what the Constitution says
on the question of religious freedom, as eloquently evoked by the
President on Saturday, and the reality on the ground? Perhaps the
President, or someone in the government, would care to explain?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
February 09, 2006
Padang mayor defends sharia as good for development
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang

Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar dismisses concerns about his mayoralty's gradual
enactment of sharia, arguing that Islamic law is beneficial to development
because it makes people more devout.

Fauzi told The Jakarta Post it was the duty of the state to encourage
people to live according to religious teachings, not to prevent it.

"Don't politicize the Padang mayoralty's intention to enact sharia law, we
just want to help the people perform their religious teachings as
guaranteed under state laws," he said.

Academics and politicians have expressed alarm at the central government's
inaction amid a flood of religion-based regional regulations with, they
say, the potential to upset relations between religious groups, especially
in encroaching on freedoms of minorities.

Fauzi, describing himself as serving the public, said one of the people's
needs was religion, which he believed was identical to the need for
economic improvement for better welfare.

"Does religion hinder the government's effort?...It even helps it, right?
So if I do something related to religion...so people are more devout...it
will surely help improve morality, thereby boosting regional development
as security will be assured, adolescent delinquency can be curbed and
crimes reduced."

The mayoralty issued a bylaw in 2003 obliging junior high school students
to be proficient in reciting the Koran, and since then has given an
instruction on female students and civil servants to wear the headscarf in
public, recommended crash courses in Islamic teachings during the Ramadhan
fasting month as well as study sessions every Sunday morning for students.

Last month, it asked all mayoralty employees to pay alms from their
monthly salary.

The Padang mayoralty is one among many regencies and cities in West
Sumatra which have introduced such regulations. They have cited the
customary law of Adat Basandi Syarak, Syarak Basandi Kitabullah, or that
the Minang people of West Sumatra are a community with traditional rulings
based on Islam, as justification for their introduction.

Like Padang, most cities and regencies have bylaws requiring the wearing
of the headscarf by students and civil servants, as well as the ability to
recite the Koran, beginning when they are young. Elementary school
students who cannot read the Koran cannot move on to junior high, and
people must be able to recite Koranic verses to marry.

For Sudarto, director of Pusaka, a non-governmental organization promoting
pluralism, the wave of regulations shows religion being manipulated by
those in power. Whenever government officials use religious language, with
all its powerful emotional associations, the public tends to support it,
he said.

"What's happening in West Sumatra is like a trend to use religious symbols
by heads of administrations to win the people's hearts...and other regions
merely 'copy-paste' the bylaws from other regions on religion."

Seven district heads and other civil servants in Limapuluh Kota regency
were sworn in late last month at a mosque in line with sharia.

Sudarto said there was not universal acceptance of Islamic law, but it was
only supported by particular groups.

"I deplore regional administrations' efforts to concentrate only on such
miscellaneous things...it would be much better for them to give priority
to improving public facilities, school buildings and public services to
all groups without any discrimination," he said.

"It's no longer time to uphold the issue of the Minang's past because
times have changed drastically."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
February 09, 2006
Minorities fall in line with the majority's rules
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang

In her baju kurung (traditional long dress) and headscarf, high school
senior "Dewi" blends in with the other students at her state-run school.

As one of a handful of Christians at the school, she says she has been
pressured into going along with last year's recommendation of the Padang
city administration for students to wear Muslim attire.

"I actually feel uncomfortable," she told The Jakarta Post. "I feel
depressed and anguished because this is against my religion, but what can
I do? Although I'm not (officially) obligated to wear the scarf, I would
feel different from other students (if I didn't wear it) with only six
students who are not Muslims here."

She said teachers stated that a Muslim school uniform was the dress code
for all students, regardless of their religion. They said a student who
did not wear the uniform would be fined Rp 5,000 (about 50 U.S. cents) a
day.

"Once, during the flag-hoisting ceremony, I didn't wear the scarf
properly, with my hair still visible, and I was reprimanded by the
teacher. When I told the teacher I wasn't a Muslim, I was told it was the
same for everybody," she said.

Dewi, who is Catholic, said she considered transferring to another school,
but decided against it because she only has a year left before graduation.

Initially, what the administration called a "recommendation" to wear
Muslim uniform was not only made for state and private Islamic schools but
also for Christian institutions.

In his circular to the schools in 2005, Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar
recommended all schools -- from elementary to senior high school levels,
including Christian ones -- to inform students to wear a uniform based on
Islamic principles of appropriate dress, with headscarves obligated for
female students.

The call was flatly rejected by several Christian schools.

The recommendation was part of the Padang city administration's programs
to encourage the implementation of Islamic teachings.

In 2003, the administration issued a bylaw which obligated students to be
proficient in Islamic calligraphy and to be able to read from the Koran.
The bylaw also stated that an elementary school student could not graduate
to junior high without being able to read from the Koran.

Since 2004, the mayor also issued several more circulars, including ones
obligating students and civil servants to wear Muslim uniform, to take
crash courses in religion during the fasting month of Ramadhan and study
religion every Sunday.

Fauzi told the Post his policies caused no problems since the city's
cultural background, such as wearing the baju kurung dress, was Islamic.

The move, he said, was also in the spirit of showing the country's diversity.

"Read the circulars. I only made the recommendations for Muslims and it is
also intended to uphold custom because the baju kurung is from Minang
culture," he said.

He denied requiring that non-Muslim students also wear the headscarf.

"If the teacher makes such a suggestion, it's OK since she lives in Minang
(society). Adjusting to the Minang culture is OK but not obligated. If it
becomes an obligation, it has its risks but not with this, it's only a
recommendation," he said.

Sudarto, director of Pusaka non-governmental organization that promotes
pluralism in Padang, regretted the administration's attempt to regulate
religious issues.

"If the mayor is a religious person, it's no problem but don't make it
public policy. He has to ensure that a state is of service to all citizens
without considering their religion and background," he told the Post.

Such religious-based policies, he said, would not be a problem if they did
not affect other communities.

"But if someone who belongs to the minority has to adjust by wearing a
headscarf, it's enforcement," Sudarto said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Muslim leader says Indonesia radicals get too much slack
Thursday February 9, 7:23 PM
Jakarta (Reuters)

Police and media in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country,
are too lax in their treatment of radical Islamic groups and their
violence, a leading moderate Islamic cleric said on Thursday.

But Din Syamsuddin, who leads the 30-million strong Muhammadiyah,
Indonesia's second largest Islamic group, said he would not confront those
radicals due to fears it could be too divisive.

Radical Islamic groups constitute a tiny fraction of Indonesia's more than
200 million Muslims but have a loud voice and strong visibility. In recent
years they have been behind many boisterous protests and often violent
attacks against those they perceive have offended Islam.

Their targets range from licenced bars in the capital and unlicensed
Christian churches across the country to property of Islamic sects and
Western missions.

This week the Indonesian versions of protests against Danish cartoons
depicting Prophet Mohammad included vandalism of the Danish embassy and
Danish and U.S. consulate property.

Syamsuddin said the unruly actions of radical groups often are tolerated
by authorities and win more media play than they deserve.

"Those radical groups are not massive organisations. But they have a voice
because ... the media, domestic and international, do not want to expose
the voice of moderate Islam," he told a group of foreign journalists and
diplomats in a panel discussion.

"Why those radical groups can engage in violence but no extra effort from
the police? That's my question," said Syamsuddin, elaborating cases in
which police stood by while militants damaged targets.

Syamsuddin accused the radical groups of getting financial backing from
elements in Indonesia's political establishment but conceded he himself
was reluctant to antagonise them.

"We have our own way ... to handle the problem because we don't want to
have an internal conflict" among Muslims, he said.

Indonesia's mainstream Islam is mostly moderate, and the government is
secular, but there is a growing desire among Muslims to show their
identity.

Religious harmony is being tested through the growing presence of the
radicals, which some believe is a by-product of the 1998 downfall of
President Suharto's despotic regime. It had put a tight leash on religious
extremism and overt links between the state and Islam.

Franz Magnis-Suseno, a German-born Catholic priest and an authoritative
figure in interfaith relations, said Christians in Indonesia feel
increasingly uneasy, especially after Muslim radicals forcefully shut down
some churches which had no permits in recent months.

"Will traditional tolerance in this century maintain its condition or will
tendencies of intolerance increase? It is still open-ended," said
Magnis-Suseno, who was also on the panel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Australian
Bill breaches Aceh deal, say rebels
Sian Powell, Jakarta correspondent
February 10, 2006

Fears are held for the future of the fragile peace in Indonesia's
once-warring province of Aceh, with the rebels claiming the Government's
Aceh bill fails to follow the peace agreement hammered out in Helsinki
last year.

Rebel leader Bachtiar Abdullah said provisions in the bill for splitting
the province were a clear breach of the peace agreement.

"Breaking up Aceh undermines the memorandum of understanding (signed
between the separatists and the Indonesian Government in Helsinki)," he
said. "It was clear in the MoU that the border of Aceh is based on the
1965 agreement."

Chief negotiator with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Mr Abdullah said the
bill had been created to benefit certain minorities within Aceh.

"This is not for Aceh people, but for the sake of certain political
elites," he said. "This is the effort from certain groups to break up Aceh
and who want the Aceh process to fail. Their reason is because they have
been neglected by the local government."

The peace deal, accelerated by the 2004 tsunami that killed more than
170,000 Acehnese, has exceeded expectations. The rebels have disarmed and
most of the supernumerary police and military have withdrawn from Aceh,
ending three decades of conflict that killed 15,000 people.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been nominated for a
Nobel Peace Prize for his part in the deal. Yet wrangling over the bill
could stall the progress towards establishing a peaceful and largely
autonomous Aceh within Indonesia.

Under the peace agreement, the bill should be enacted by March 31, but it
has yet to even be debated in the national parliament, with discussions
continuing yesterday on whether the debate should be conducted by a
special committee, or by the Home Affairs Commission.

Nationalist parliamentarians, particularly members of the Democratic Party
of Struggle led by former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, have voiced
concerns the bill has gone too far to placate the rebels, and they fear
other rebellious provinces could demand similar concessions.

However, the Yudhoyono administration has majority support in the
parliament, which should ensure the passage of the bill.

GAM leaders concede that because they have already disarmed it is unlikely
they will return to fully fledged war, and negotiation is their last
remaining weapon.

"Actually, what's been the aspiration of the Acehnese people is how to get
the draft to pass," Mr Abdullah said. "That is the aspiration, how to find
a way out for the problems in that draft."

A spokesman for the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) -- the international
organisation set up to oversee the peace process -- said the developments
regarding the bill would be carefully observed. If there were deviations
from the peace agreement, the interested parties would be notified, he
said.

The rebels have yet to determine a course of action should the parliament
fail to pass a bill they approve of by the March 31 deadline. "We will ask
for a way out, we will have meetings and discuss it," Mr Abdullah said.
"It is due to be finalised by March 31, and if it's late, we will discuss
what we should do. We will report it to AMM, the parliament and even the
President."

Budi Arianto, from Aceh's Cultural Community Network, said Acehnese people
were concerned about the contents of the new bill.

The Indonesian Government should ensure the Acehnese have the control over
their rich natural resources promised to them under the peace agreement,
he said, and independent candidates should be permitted to stand in
elections prior to GAM forming its own political party.

"In these conditions of post-disaster and conflict, the Acehnese had
better be given some room to control the money," Mr Arianto said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Outrage over Indonesian plans for palm oil plantation in rain forest
Wednesday February 8, 11:27 AM
Jakarta (AFP)

Activists and economists are outraged at Indonesian plans to cut a swathe
through one of the world's largest remaining areas of pristine rain forest
to create a massive Chinese-funded palm oil plantation.

The remote stretch of land on Borneo island, home to countless species of
rare birds, plants and mammals including the largest remaining wild
orangutan population, could be decimated in what critics fear is a ruse to
access timber.

The 2,000-kilometre-long, five-kilometre wide (1,242-mile, three-mile)
plantation proposed by the economics ministry in mid-2005 would traverse
almost the entire border between Indonesia and Malaysia, slicing through
three national parks.

"The question is, why there on the border, when Indonesia has such huge
abandoned, unproductive palm oil plantations or degraded forest areas
across the country," said Togu Manurung, from Forest Watch Indonesia.

Indonesia is already losing rain forest equal to half the size of the
Netherlands every year, or some two million hectares (4.9 million acres),
conservation group WWF estimates.

Prominent economist Faisal Basri accuses the economics ministry of
offering timber in exchange for Chinese investment in infrastructure
projects, knowing that it is unlikely the area will actually be farmed
once it is cleared.

News of the planned plantation hit headlines weeks after President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono returned from a trip to Beijing last July which saw
several pacts inked.

Details of what was agreed on the plantation have not been made public.

"I think that the final objective of the project is to exploit logs --
yes, giving free timber in exchange for developing infrastructure," Basri
told AFP.

The spoils would include valuable ramin timber, exports of which are
officially banned by Indonesia.

"It's too ridiculous from an environmental point of view, but also from a
technical point of view too," Basri said.

Separate studies by Indonesia's agriculture ministry and WWF have found
the region is too mountainous to support effective palm oil farming, which
is most productive on flat terrain.

A preliminary ministry study found that only 10 percent was suitable for
palm oil, Ahmad Dimyati, director-general for plantations in the
agricultural ministry, told AFP.

Greenomics, an environmental auditing group, has estimated Indonesia would
lose 15 trillion rupiah (1.5 billion dollars) annually for five years
after the area is cleared, then 2.7 billion dollars for each of the next
five years.

The figures take into account the loss of legally and illegally logged
timber, loss of access to forest resources for tribal people located along
the border, and the cost of landslides and flooding.

The economics ministry argues that the plantation would bring an estimated
eight billion dollars in investment to an impoverished backwater and
create as many as half a million jobs.

"The border area has many serious problems, mainly poverty. Compared to
other parts of Indonesia, it is behind," deputy coordinating economics
minister Bayu Krisnamurti told AFP.

Developing the under-policed border region would also strengthen security
and create a government presence, thus reducing the smuggling of illegal
logs and other goods into Malaysia, Krisnamurti said.

The deputy minister, who insisted development would take into account
people's welfare, national security and environmental concerns, said
criticism of the proposal was being evaluated.

Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said this week the overstretched
military was unable to guard much of Indonesia's vast borders, so economic
development of remote regions was part of defence policy.

Environment groups say the clearing of the land would speed up the
extinction of the orangutan and be remembered as one of Indonesia's
largest agricultural failures.

"In 2005, when they stated they would like to have the plantation along
the border, we were shocked," said the WWF's Fitrian Ardiansyah.

The area is home to 14 out of 23 of Borneo's watersheds, he said, warning
that clearing it could damage clean water sources for much of Indonesian
Borneo.

At least three new species have been discovered each month in the past
decade in the heart of Borneo, WWF says.

Development could wipe out hundreds of species and also prevent scientists
from researching more undiscovered plant, animal and fish species, it
warns.

"Borneo is a hotspot for biodiversity. Along with the Congo, it has an
amazing level of biodiversity," said the WWF's Bambang Supriyanto.

Large mammals, such as orangutans and the Borneo pygmy elephant, would be
particularly affected because they need vast areas of interconnected
forest to survive, he noted.

"Palm oil is the number one enemy of orangutans and all wildlife in
Borneo," Birute Galdikas, founder of Camp Leakey, Kalimantan's main
orangutan sanctuary. told AFP in 2005 just before the plans were
announced.

"Time is running out for the orangutans because the palm oil plantations
are spreading. Illegal logging may seem horrific but at least illegal
logging leaves some canopy in place. Palm oil plantations leave nothing."