[Kabar-indonesia] News: August 16-21 2007
Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian
editors at kabar-irian.info
Mon Aug 20 17:57:31 MDT 2007
KABAR IRIAN NEWS
Aug 15-21
TOPICS
* West Papua: Special Treatment
* Indonesian President takes hard line on Papua
* President Yudhoyono - there will be no place for ... separatism
* West Papuan boat people and church leaders...
* Seven more die from drinking alcohol
* CERD Report
* Australian academic raises concerns
* Indonesian link of Papuan separatism to terrorism...
* Indonesian President warns those pushing separatism for Papua
* RI needs new nationalism: Historian
* Naming Indonesia's islands has implications for sovereignty
* Military conscription could save Indonesian pluralism
* Atticus Raises Freeport-McMoRan Stake
* 5.6 magnitude quake jolts Bintang Mountain District in Papua
---
http://www.newmatilda.com/home/articledetailmagazine.asp?ArticleID=2422&HomepageID=216
West Papua: Special Treatment
By: Erica Vowles
Friday 17 August 2007
The rights and revenue that were supposed to flow from West Papua’s
Special Autonomy Law —
implemented by the Indonesian Government in 2001 — are yet to transpire
for the majority of West
Papuans, according to delegates at a conference in Sydney last week.
‘Most of them don’t know what Special Autonomy is,’ said J Budi Hernawan,
director of the Jayapura-
based Office for Justice and Peace, at the Paths to Justice and Prosperity
conference at Sydney
University last Thursday. ‘They hear that the money will be available but
they are waiting and nothing
happens.’
Hernawan believes that the Papuan political elite are too distracted by
the fight over resources to
implement real changes in the standard of living for Papuans.
There is a power struggle amongst the elites but for their own
interests. The ongoing creation of new
provinces is simply in the interests of political parties and the
incumbent government officials, and I think
that for most Papuans, looking at many different statistics in the area of
HIV/Aids, health, education, the
money does not go to their level. Where does it go? Don’t ask me, better
you ask the politicians.
And while Special Autonomy was supposed to lead to a reduction in troop
levels, Agus Alue Alua,
Chairman of the Papuan People’s Assembly, says numbers have escalated
sharply since 2001, with
concerning consequences.
Human rights violations are part of the Military presence — [they are]
never [conducted by] outsiders
— and during the Special Autonomy Law, the Military presence has
increased. That means that military
human rights abuses have [also] increased.
Hernawan says that while human rights abuses have not yet reached the
scales seen in Aceh and East
Timor, the population nevertheless remains terrorised.
In May we received a report of torture in Wamena [in the Central
Highlands]. A person stole money,
he confessed that he stole that money from a solider, but it didn’t stop
there. They tortured him in public.
This is a way to say to the community ‘we have the authority to do what
ever we want to control you.’
Faced with the ongoing impunity of the Indonesian Military, the thoughts
of many Papuans inevitably turn
to independence, says Hernawan.
I think many Papuans still want independence, and I believe it’s an
expression of the desperate
situation. They don’t see the concrete progress of welfare, they don’t see
that their fundamental freedoms
and their fundamental rights are respected, protected, so basically they
have nothing to lose in their
support for independence.
The latest contingent of Indonesian troops in the Merauke District of West
Papua
With the province seemingly bogged down in a quagmire of competing
problems — a lack of political will
from Jakarta to implement necessary legislation, resistance if not
outright opposition to autonomy from
the military and a Papuan political elite potentially lining their own
pockets — one could be forgiven for
thinking that aspiring for independence is naive and short sighted.
However, Dr John Otto Ondawame,
International Spokesperson for the Free West Papua Movement and member of
the Papuan Presidium,
refuses to accept autonomy as anything other than a bridge to independence.
Any discussion of autonomy should clearly spell out the possibility to
give Papuans the opportunity to
decide if they want to be part of Indonesia or a separate State and there
should be an option for a
referendum after 15 years, or 20 years. In West Papua, Special Autonomy
law never spelled it out
clearly on this matter.
As far as West Papuan people are concerned, as far as OPM is
concerned, we don’t trust Jakarta.
Faced with allegations of corruption at a local level, I ask Ondawame how
he proposed to prevent this
scourge from continuing to pollute an independent West Papua.
‘A culture of corruption is not only in West Papua, it’s part of the world
community,’ says Ondawame.
So of course it’s very hard to say we will be free from corruption.
But we have to look into the legal
system to prevent any further corruptions resulting from the large amounts
of money.
The legal system must be strengthened, democratic values have to be
strengthened, and institutions
have to be established in order to prevent this sort of corruption. We
don’t want to continue the
Indonesian style of corruption in West Papua.
Any discussions of self-determination in the Asia Pacific region also
invoke inevitable comparisons with
unstable nation States like the Solomon Islands and the world’s youngest
country, Timor Leste.
Director of the Australia Asia Pacific Institute at Victoria University,
Dr Richard Chauvel, concedes that
the shopping list of problems currently plaguing Papua — the HIV/AIDS
pandemic, labour problems
associated with the Freeport gold mine in Timika, corruption, poor health
services and education
problems — would continue to blight the province, whether it was
independent or autonomous. However,
he believes comparisons with neighbouring Papua New Guinea, which has its
own problems with political
corruption, are too simplistic.
‘I’ve always been disinclined to make the simple comparisons over the
border, or elsewhere out into the
further South Pacific and say from that that West Papua is going to be
another failed State.’
He says the historical legacy of the Dutch colonial masters’ moves to
educate a ruling elite in
preparedness for handover to Papuan independence — an event that was
stymied by the Act of Free
Choice in 1969 — needs to be appreciated, along with the skills the elite
in West Papua already have,
which have been honed from a difficult operational environment.
‘By highlighting all the problems that an independent Papua or even an
autonomous Papua would
confront is not saying that it is doomed to be a failed State. But it
would inevitably be a fairly difficult
place to govern.’
For his part, Ondawame believes the Asia Pacific region’s more troubled
countries — like the Solomon
Islands, Fiji and Timor Leste — are not failed States but emerging States.
European nation States weren’t free from being ‘failed States’ in the
16th and 17th centuries. They
went through a similar experience. Now the Melansian States, or perhaps
other third world countries, are
going through the same experience. And that’s a process that will need to
be gone through for a few
generations until the population comes to respect some fundamental level
of democratic rights.
However, Chauvel points out that an independent West Papuan State would
face a series of challenges,
not least the thousands of Indonesian migrants who now call West Papua
home, some going back
generations. Then there would be the ongoing issue of the Freeport gold
Mine in Timika.
‘The enclave mining operation at the Freeport mine in Timika is
essentially Indonesian settler run and
dominated,’ says Chauvel.
How would an independent West Papua deal with an economy that is
essentially run by outsiders?
That would be a particularly important issue. An independent Papua would
face all of the problems that
PNG has faced dealing with large multi-national corporations; an
independent Papua would be highly
dependent on the revenue generated by Freeport.
However, Dino Kusnadi, spokesperson for the Indonesian embassy in
Australia, maintains that not
enough time has been given to enable Special Autonomy to work as well as
moves to reform the
Indonesian Military to take effect.
My argument is that on the table you have Special Autonomy — wide
ranging autonomy, it’s on the
table — [the] best way forward is to make that work. We’ve seen today that
there is a lot of incompetence
within the local Government or even the [Indonesian] Government but again
out of this incompetence at
least there should be an enlightenment process about how to get that job
done.
Some of his sentiments were shared by Franz Albert Joku, Chairman of
IGSSARPRI (Independent Group
Supporting the Special Autonomous Region of Papua within the Republic of
Indonesia). While remaining
a believer in Papuan self-determination and conceding that Jakarta still
needed to implement aspects of
Special Autonomy, he maintains Papuans must work within the current
framework.
Papuans should have every reason to now, I believe, firmly embrace
Special Autonomy however
diluted, imperfect or incomplete [it] may be in the present form,
realistically there is no other option on the
table right now that we can legitimately discuss and pursue.
For Papuans, the reality of living with a Special Autonomy that is
‘diluted, imperfect and incomplete’ often
means occupying the lowest rung in the economy of their own province. It
also means living with torture
— or the threat of it — that is ongoing and unchecked.
About the Author
Erica Vowles is the Sydney-based Producer of The Wire, a national current
affairs program broadcast
on community and Indigenous radio. She is also the Australian
correspondent for US current affairs
radio program Free Speech Radio News.
Copyright 2007 © New Matilda
---
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/16/2007263.htm?section=world
Indonesian President takes hard line on Papua
Posted Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:12pm AEST
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has warned his Government
will not tolerate
interference from those who want to slow down the development of Papua.
The President issued the warning in his annual address to Parliament.
Mr Yudhoyono said the state would be strict and there would be no place
for anyone pushing separatism
that threatens the sovereignty and unity of the state.
He said Indonesia was also very serious about stamping out terrorism and
it was Indonesia's duty along
with the global community to create a safe and peaceful world.
He praised the success of Indonesia's security forces in preventing
terrorist attacks and called on
Indonesians to give more appreciation to the National Police and other
ant-terrorist forces.
---
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2007277.htm
Last Updated 16/08/2007, 22:44:59
Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has warned that his
government won't tolerate
interference from those who want to slow down the development of Papua .
Our correspondent in Jakarta, Peter Cave, says the president has issued
the warning in his annual
address to parliament.
President Yudhoyono says there will be no place for anyone pushing
separatism which threatens the
sovereignty and unity of the state.
Pro-independence sentiment continues to simmer in the province of Papua,
fuelled by alleged human
rights violations by security forces, and the syphoning off the region's
natural wealth by the central
government.
President Yudhoyono says Indonesia is also very serious about stamping out
terrorism and that it is
Indonesia's duty, along with the global community, to create a safe and
peaceful world.
He has praised the success of Indonesia's security forces in preventing
terrorist attacks and called on
Indonesians to give more appreciation to the national police and other
ant-terrorist forces.
---
from joe collins <seosamh20 at hotmail.com> ---
- --
Forwarding on Media release and statement put out by Herman
Wainggai, for
Parliament House on the 15 August
- --------------------------------------
MEDIA RELEASE
West Papuan boat people and church leaders call for political
solution to
violence
Press conference & Rally
Wednesday, 15 August 2007, 12.30 Pm
Lawns in front of Parliament House, Canberra
Herman Wainggai and Bishop Pat Power
Mr. Wainggai, a West Papuan political refugee and Catholic Bishop,
Pat
Power, will be meeting with political leaders at Parliament House
throughout
15 August and the West Papuan boat people will rally outside the
house at
12.30 Pm.
The delegation is seeking information on how the Australian
Government will
follow up on the recommendations of the recent joint parliamentary
inquiry
into Australia�s Security Treaty with Indonesia. The inquiry was
led by a
liberal Party MP, has called on the Australian Government to
encourage the
Indonesian Government to allow international human rights monitors
and
journalists into West Papua.
Media enquiries �Tom Burmester, Phone�0423 657 561
Herman Wainggai�s Statement
I come here today as the leader of 43 West Papuans who fled our
homeland and
sailed to Australia in a traditional canoe last year. Our arrival
alerted
Australians to the policies and practices enforced by successive
Indonesian
governments on my people. Since we landed in the safety of
Australia we have
talked to thousands and made many statements, but we are not sure
if those
who need to hear our stories are really listening.
Today we are meeting with the key Australian parliamentarians who
conducted
the recent Joint Parliamentary Inquiry into Australia�s security
treaty with
Indonesia. That inquiry has recommended that the Australian
Government
encourage Indonesia to allow greater access for the media and human
rights
monitors into West Papua.
It is vital the Government adopt this recommendation urgently. As
currently
no foreign journalists or human rights monitors are allowed to
enter West
Papua, and our land is violently occupied by the Indonesian
military.
Today, the continuing deterioration of physical and psychological
security
in our homeland forces us to recall the New York Agreement signed
by
Holland, Indonesia, and United Nations in 1962. This agreement
transferred
the administration, and sovereignty, of West Papua to the unstable
militarized republic of Indonesia. Thousands of pages and millions
of
kilobytes of documents have been produced that analyse what has
gone on in
our homeland since then, forty-five years ago.
West Papuans, who seek justice, peace, and democratic conditions do
not feel
safe in their own country. Every West Papuan family has personal
experience
of torture, incarceration, rape and political assassination by the
Indonesian military. Take a look at the physical and mental health
indicators for Papuans which show the terrible toll our history is
taking on
us. Take a look at the low education standards, the racial
discrimination we
endure and our scarce employment opportunities, which continue even
though
we are such a resource rich country.
We in West Papua are the victims of a succession of corrupt and
manipulative
Indonesian Government Regimes. Jakarta has no vision of democracy
for us and
they don�t intend to develop one in the future. They regard the
Papuans as
unimportant people who stand between them and resource riches.
I am honored today to stand beside leaders of Australian Christian
churches.
Some of them believe strongly that Australian Christians, in fact
all
Australians, a moral responsibility to concern themselves with
what is
happening in West Papua and to extend the hand of peace, love and
charity.
Many of the church leaders are realistic enough to recognize that
the root
of West Papua�s problem is political, and that therefore our
future, a
sustainable future, has to be developed from within the political
realm.
These Australian priests and pastors and bishops have looked at the
facts of
the issue, and determined their own response. They know the threats
and
dangers to Australia�s regional defense and security posed by the
current
conditions in West Papua. They know it is a lawless land where
every day
West Papuans are harassed and arrested while Islamic terrorists
exported
from Java and even Iranian Revolutionary guards � are free to train
and
refine their violent skills.
With here today along with the Australian Christian leaders, is Dr.
Jacob
Rumbiak from the West Papua National Authority. The Authority has
been
developing its Christian based democratic policies and non-violent
strategies since the mid-1980s. It is an umbrella body and
transitional
authority charged with bringing West Papua a future of freedom and
political
independence from the Indonesian Republic
For obvious reasons, the Authority has long maintained a policy of
concealing the identity of its leadership. Consequently we were all
very
surprised last week when LEMHANNAS, the government�s national
policy
administration centre in Jakarta, publicly proclaimed the depth of
West
Papua�s social and political organizations and their readiness for
�separatis�.
We regard the publication of this information as a threat to the
safety and
security of individual West Papuans, some of whom have sought
refuge in
Australia.
Merdeka-freedom for West Papua, and thank you for listening.
Herman Wainggai, Parliament House
Canberra ACT, 15 August
---
from Tapol <tapol at gn.apc.org> -----
Cenderawasih Pos, 20 August 2007
Seven more die from drinking alcohol
[Note from TAPOL: The deaths recorded in this article do not
include the
deaths of three men in Oksibil also reportedly after heavy
drinking, which
happened in early July] The total number of deaths reported here is
eleven
though only the names of even are given.]
(Very long article, slightly abbreviated:)
Strange things have been happening in Sentani recently. On Monday
13 August
four people died after drinking alcohol or attending a drinking
party. Now
the same thing has happened again but this time even worse, with
seven
victims: Danol Tepmul, 15 years, Agus Felle, 24, Aleks Kosai 35,
Mecky
Wandik 20, Niko Hubi 47, Yotham Alfred Swan government official,
and Jakson
Itlai 26. Another four men are being treated- Fit Wenda 17, Anton
Pagawak
18, Esau Felle and Karol Felle.
Although the seven died from drinking, it is not clear how Yotham
Alfred
Swan and Jakson Itlai died, whether from drinking with others or
alone.
As this article was being written and the police were gathering
data,
Cendrawasih Pos has collected information from several witnesses
who know
about the deaths.
Tinus Tepmul, the father of Danol, said that last Wednesday, his
son asked
him for some money. After rejecting this request, Danol was given
Rp.
50,000 by his older brother, then Danol off with two friends, Agus
Felle
and Aleks Kosai on a drinking spree at his home. But the father was
out at
work. At around 10am, after the party, the friends went off
together to
some place else. Then at 7pm, Danol turned up at his brother's
stall in a
very bad state.
Not long after, his father returned and asked his son where he had
been.
His son said this was none of his business. For a while Danol was
lying by
the roadside and late that night he asked for a plate of rice. .
After
eating the rice, he slept till the next morning when his condition
worsened. They asked him what he had been drinking but his body was
changing colour. He was unable to open his eyes and he was
feverish. 'When
my (other) son arrived, he said that we must rush him to hospital.'
After being rushed to hospital, he died at 7.10am. Tinus said he
did not
know what his son had been drinking though there were a couple of
bottles
containing local drink (milo) nearby.
Tinus said he was at a loss to know what to do. He had often warned
his son
about drinking but because this had become a habit, he was unable
to do
anything.
Tinus said the authorities should take action against the people
selling
alcohol. 'I dont know why they go on selling it while the police
know that
this is happening.' He said his son would be buried today at
Flavow Cemetery.
Meanwhile, the body of Agus Felle was not far from the home of
Tinus. Many
visitors came to give their condolences. Agus Felle is survived by
his wife
and one child.
Elsewhere Aleks Kosai was being buried.
A friend of the family, Robert Hilapok said that he saw the dead
man for
the last time on 15 August when they were working together, digging
stones
from the river.
'On Thursday, I went to wake him up because the lorry was waiting.
He said
that he was feeling very tired, but I persuaded him to come with
me.' But
then he laid down on the stones saying he felt feverish and had a
headache,
so he left him. The following day his wife, Welmina Dabi realised
that her
husband's condition had worsened. The friend, Robert, was unable to
go and
see him again until 11pm by which time he had breathed his last. 'I
often
warned him not to go drinking but he went on doing it, hiding it
from others.'
Robert wondered why these milo (minuman lokal) sales still went on
even
though the police were often out on patrol. He doubted whether the
police
were doing anything even though people got drunk every evening. He
then
mentioned places along the roads where alcohol was being sold. 'Are
the
police behind this?' he wondered.
Aleks had himself attended three burials but he did not draw any
lessons
from this.
Another of the dead men was Meki Wandik in Jl Mambruk, Pasar Lama.
Cepos
visited the place where his coffin, made by several friends, was
lying.
Several people were weeping over the death of Meki. The dead man's
father
was greeting relatives, while wiping tears from his eyes.
It was difficult for Cepos to speak to the father at first as he
doesn't
speak Indonesian but with the help of a friend, they were able to
piece
the story together. On Thursday at 8am, his son had attended the
funeral
of a friend who had died from drinking, then he himself started
complaining
of a high temperature. He was later rushed to hospital but it was
too late.
He died at about 2 the following morning.
Nahum Wandik said that in the past month several men had died from
drinking. He and others were asking why alcohol was still being
sold.here
in Sentaini. 'We are wondering whether there is someone behind the
selling
of alcohol here in Papua. If this is allowed to continue, we will
all be
gone,' he said. He said that the churches should deliver a moral
message
to their congregants to make sure that these things dont keep on
happening.
.. 'If the authorities dont act, dont be surprised if we take the
matter
into our own hands because there have already been many victims.'
Four of the dead men, Danol Tepmul, Agus Felle, Aleks Kosai and
Mecky
Wandik died on Saturday, 18 August, while the other three, Niko
Bubi,
Yotham Aklfred Swan and Jakson Itlai died on Sunday.
Up to the writing of this report, nothing is known regarding what
the men
were drinking or where they had had their drinking parties.
The police would not make any comment. In fact, when Cepos went to
visit
the police chief of Jayapura, he was not present. 'We are still
collecting
information about the causes of death or you can go and asked the
police
chief yourself,' said police officer Muhammad Safei SE, speaking on
behalf
of the chief of police.
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904 fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
tapol at gn.apc.org http://tapol.gn.apc.org
---
<peacemovt at clear.net.nz>
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's
Concluding Observations from the examination of Indonesia's
periodic
report during the CERD 71st session (30 July to 18 August 07) is
now
available at
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.IDN.CO.3.pdf
There is only one reference to Papua, in the section 'Concerns and
recommendations':
22. The Committee welcomes efforts made towards the
decentralization
of power and consolidation of regional autonomy. It regrets,
however,
that it has not received sufficient information on the status of
implementation of the Papua Special Autonomy Law No. 21 of 2001,
and
expresses concern about information according to which Papuans
continue to experience great poverty. (arts. 2 and 5)
The Committee recommends that the State party provide information
on
the implementation of the Papua Special Autonomy Law No. 21 of
2001,
as well as on measures adopted to ensure the enjoyment by Papuans
of
their human rights without any discrimination.
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=34547
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Australian academic raises concerns at Indonesian President’s tougher line
on Papua
Posted at 08:16 on 20 August, 2007 UTC
There is concern being expressed about the statement by the Indonesian
president, Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, linking Papuan separatists to terrorism.
In his annual address to parliament, Mr Yudhoyono said there would be no
place for anyone pushing
separatism while at the same time he had stated that Indonesia was serious
about stamping out terrorism
and praised the security forces for preventing it.
Professor Peter King from Sydney University, says the president is taking
a much harder line than
previously and it shows support for the armed forces.
But, he says it won’t stop Papuans speaking out about their right to self
determination.
“He’s aware that when they do speak out that there’s a lot of
resonance, particularly in Australia and
New Zealand but around the Pacific as well and even in America and
Britain. So, he’s really trying, I
think, to also deflect the international community from contemplating any
sort of intervention, even
diplomatic intervention.”
Professor Peter King.
© RNZI 2004
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=34542
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Indonesian link of Papuan separatism to terrorism seen as new hard line
Posted at 03:24 on 20 August, 2007 UTC
An Australian academic says the annual address by the Indonesian
president, Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, which linked Papuan separatists to terrorism, is an attempt to
deflect the international
community from intervening in the province.
Professor Peter King of Sydney University says Mr Yudhoyono’s statement on
Papua in parliament was
a hard line stance that went further than any made previously.
The president had said there would be no place for anyone pushing
separatism while at the same time,
he had stated that Indonesia was serious about stamping out terrorism and
praised the security forces for
preventing it.
Professor King says there’s been disappointment expressed at the
president’s position.
“What the president has done is to stamp the so-called separatists,
many of whom are simply talking
about human rights as terrorists so he’s really giving full backing to his
own army and his own
commanders, even the notorious ones. So, there’s a lot of disappointment
about him taking this hard
line.”
Professor Peter King.
Both the army and the police have been linked to acts of suppression,
torture and murder of those calling
for the right to self determination in Papua.
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=34509
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Indonesian President warns those pushing separatism for Papua province
Posted at 18:23 on 19 August, 2007 UTC
Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has warned his Government
will not tolerate
interference from those who want to slow down the development of Papua
province.
The President issued the warning in his annual address to Parliament.
Mr Yudhoyono said the state would be strict and there would be no place
for anyone pushing separatism
that threatens the sovereignty and unity of the state.
He said Indonesia was also very serious about stamping out terrorism and
it was Indonesia’s duty along
with the global community to create a safe and peaceful world.
He praised the success of Indonesia’s security forces in preventing
terrorist attacks and called on
Indonesians to give more appreciation to the National Police and other
anti-terrorist forces.
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20070820.A07
RI needs new nationalism: Historian
National News - August 20, 2007
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian people still need nationalism, albeit of a different kind,
when facing a globalization
movement "fueled by capitalism", says an academic.
"It is still important to stick with our nationalism as it forms our
identity," Anhar Gonggong, an historian
from the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post after a talkshow
titled "Assessing Nationalism on
the 62nd Anniversary of Indonesian Independence" on Saturday.
"We are now facing a different situation than the one in the
pre-independence period when we were
facing Dutch colonization."
Anhar said that in the colonial era Indonesians only fought the Dutch, but
in the globalization era there
were more opponents.
"Currently, we are facing a lot more colonizers, such as the U.S.,
Australia, and neighboring countries
Malaysia and Singapore, using capitalism," he said.
Anhar told the discussion that many countries did not want to see
Indonesia prospering as this would
threaten their influence in the world.
"We should make a clear concept about how we will develop the country as
we don't want foreign
countries to dictate us," he said.
He claimed, however, that nationalism was eroding among Indonesians.
Also speaking during the talkshow was a former state minister for the
development of disadvantaged
regions, Syaifullah Yusuf, who said that one of the reasons behind the
erosion of nationalism was glaring
disparities between different regions.
"That is also the reason why so many separatist movements have emerged in
different parts of
Indonesia," he said.
"The government has to ensure the even distribution of welfare and develop
all regions equally to
overcome the separatist problem."
The most recent separatist act took place Wednesday in North Aceh on
Wednesday when an Indonesian
flag was burnt and many others taken down across the province. The
incidents allegedly involved the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Former Army chief of staff, Gen. (ret) Ryamizard Ryacudu, told the
discussion that the government
should warn Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf that such incidents should not be
repeated.
"The perpetrators should be punished severely. Even demonstrators tearing
up the President's picture
can be arrested.
"Those dancers who waved the South Maluku Republic flag were also swiftly
apprehended," he said.
Asked whether Irwandi should be replaced, he said that this was not yet
necessary yet as Irwandi was
still learning the ropes.
"A strong reprimand will be enough. Besides, the situation in Aceh is not
stable yet," he said.
Irwandi, who was a GAM commander, won the direct gubernatorial election in
December 2006. Antara
reported Friday that he had asked the local police to investigate the
incidents.
Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid called Thursday for Irwandi
to be removed from his
position.
Commenting on the flag incidents, Anhar said it was an insult to
Indonesia. He therefore urged the
governor to take resolute action against the perpetrators.
"He was chosen as governor within the framework of the Republic of
Indonesia, so he's an Indonesian,"
he said, adding that as an Indonesian, Irwandi should also feel insulted
by such actions.
Anhar also warned the government of the possibility of such incidents
developing into full-scale separatist
movement if left unattended. (05)
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20070820.E04
Naming Indonesia's islands has implications for sovereignty
Opinion and Editorial - August 20, 2007
I Made Andi Arsana, Yogyakarta
Last month, the government announced its plan to register thousands of
islands with the United Nations.
The government is ready to make a submission to the UN after verifying at
least 3,046 islands in 11
provinces. The verification also includes efforts to name thousands of
previously nameless islands across
the archipelago.
It is targeted that all islands in Indonesia's 15 provinces can be
registered with the UN this month,
bringing the project that started in 2005 to a close.
It has long been believed that Indonesia has more than 17 thousand
islands, from Sabang to Merauke
(west to east) and from Rote to Miangas (south to north). One official
sources states that there are
precisely 17,504 islands in the archipelago.
But if that data is correct and has gained recognition from the
international community including the UN,
why would Indonesia need to register its islands? If the project is about
naming islands, does that mean
the islands really didn't have names before?
It does have to be admitted that not every single island we claim to be
part of Indonesia has a name. One
official has stated that there are more than 9000 nameless islands in
Indonesia that have to be named
before being registered with the UN (The Jakarta Post, June 11, 2007).
This is a fact and this is what we
are currently doing.
Toponymy is the term for island naming. It involves certain steps and
procedures endorsed by the United
Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN). Its twenty-fourth
Session will be in New
York this month, meaning Indonesia will have to submit its list of island
names beforehand.
Article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982
(UNCLOS), which Indonesia is
a party to, provides the definition of what constitutes an island. In
order to be recognized as an island, a
feature in the sea has to meet several criteria, such as being naturally
formed, always appearing on the
surface of the sea and having the capacity to sustain human habitation.
Surprisingly, as highlighted by
Alex SW Retraubun at the Department of Ocean Affairs and Fisheries, around
three thousand islands
proposed by local governments did not meet these criteria. This means the
number of islands in
Indonesia could end up being less than that we used to believe.
Notwithstanding numbering, the naming of these islands is really about
strategy for Indonesia. This is
considered the first important step in developing and maintaining small
islands. While this is important for
economic development, it has an even more significant impact on national
sovereignty.
Indonesia's outer islands play important roles regarding Indonesia's
territorial waters and maritime
boundaries with neighboring states. On many of those islands basepoints
for Indonesia's baseline have
been placed. The baseline is the line from which maritime jurisdictions
(territorial sea, exclusive economic
zones, and the continental shelf) are measured. This means that the
existence of these small outer
islands is vital.
This is the forward point from which our maritime claim is measured and
maritime boundaries with our
neighbors constructed. Simply speaking, toponymic activity (especially for
the small outer islands)
contributes significantly to Indonesian economic development, sovereignty
and sovereign rights.
With regard to sovereignty and sovereign rights, it seems that there is a
tendency for coastal states to
claim more and more maritime area. Russia, for example, is currently
conducting an expedition to the
North Pole to claim that frontier. Around 50 scientists were sent off to
the North Pole with a plan to place
a titanium capsule containing a Russian flag on the seabed as evidence of
Russia's claim.
Similarly, Australia declared its claim over the Antarctic seabed in 2004.
This is another indication of the
phenomenon of "creeping jurisdictions of coastal states". Is there any
legal basis for their maneuvers?
What Russia is doing sparks controversy all over the globe. However, there
is a legal reason for the
movement. It is the UNCLOS that enables coastal states to claim
continental shelf beyond 200 nautical
miles (M), which is also called extended continental shelf (ECS). Being
state parties to the UNCLOS,
Russia and Australia have the chance to submit their claim over ECS to the
Commission on the Limits of
the Continental Shelf (CLCS).
Similarly, Indonesia also has chances to submit ECS to the CLCS. The
deadline for the submission will
be on May 13, 2009. Indonesia is currently conducting serious
preparations, involving serious and
careful technical, scientific and legal considerations in order for the
submission to be accepted.
In addition, the cost for submitting ECS, including preparation, is
undoubtedly not cheap. This naturally
begs the question of whether it is all worthwhile. This might be difficult
to answer, especially in the short
term.
By securing more of the continental shelf, there is at least the hope of
economic advantage in the future
from potential oil and gas deposits. In addition, a claim could be a
declaration of our national sovereign
rights.
What Indonesia, Russia, Australia and other coastal states are doing is
another way of declaring their
existence. There is one important message they are delivering beyond mere
economic considerations.
That is securing their sovereignty and sovereign rights.
The writer is a lecturer in the Department of Geodetic and Geomatic
Engineering at Gadjah Mada
University. He is currently a United Nations-Nippon Fellow in Ocean
Affairs and the Law of the Sea at the
University of Wollongong, Australia. He can be reached at madeandi at ugm.ac.id
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20070818.E02
Military conscription could save Indonesian pluralism
Opinion and Editorial - August 18, 2007
A.M. Hendropriyono, Jakarta
Toward the end of the Vietnam War, the system of conscription in the U.S.
Armed Forces was dropped,
replaced by an all-volunteer arrangement that has persisted for more than
three decades. But this past
week, Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, the so-called war czar for the U.S.
conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan, suggested that a draft was an option to reduce war-related
stresses on American forces.
Others in Washington have found merit in the idea, arguing that the U.S.
should re-institute the draft as a
means of curbing an overly-aggressive foreign policy. Congressmen and
senators, so the argument
goes, would be less inclined to support sending troops overseas if the
military included drafted soldiers
from their home state.
I have long advocated a system of national conscription in Indonesia,
though for a far different reason.
As it now stands, on a per capita basis Indonesia has a relatively small
percentage of its population under
arms. With an active-duty component of about 316,000 men, our armed forces
are smaller even than
those fielded by fellow ASEAN members Myanmar or Vietnam-both of which
have populations dwarfed by
Indonesia. And our military expenditure is small, too, surpassed even by
neighbors Singapore and
Malaysia.
That said, Indonesia hardly needs a larger military. After all, we are
fortunate to be in a relatively peaceful
neighborhood, and it is difficult to image Indonesia going to war with any
bordering nation any time in the
foreseeable future.
But if Indonesia does not require more troops, and there has historically
been no shortage of volunteers,
why implement a draft? Because, the military could and should serve
another purpose: that of social
blender.
More specifically, boot camp can be seen as the great communal equalizer.
Rich and poor, Acehnese
and Javanese, Batak and Papuans, Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists: When
we are sweating together
in the midst of boot camp, we can come to see our similarities rather than
differences. Military training, in
short, can help us appreciate each other irregardless of color, creed, or
clan.
This is all the more important given the growing divisions within
Indonesian society. Whereas diversity
and tolerance was once our strength, differences now often breed
prejudices and contempt.
While conscription is hardly a cure for this, at least it could go far in
promoting acceptance,
understanding, and a sense of truly national armed forces that springs
from the people.
At present, there are several other nations in Southeast Asia which use a
draft. Their reasons for this
vary. In Singapore, which has little defense in depth given its small
size, an Israeli-type reserve system is
used in order to theoretically mobilize the bulk of the population against
foreign invasion.
Under this, all able-bodied males serve at least two years in the Defense
or Home Ministry (which
includes the police, civil defense, and fire and rescue units), and they
remain in the reverses through
their forties.
In Thailand, which faced communist threats on its borders for decades, the
armed forces were
traditionally very large. Since the end of the Cold War, however, they
have scaled back considerably and
are also considering a system with a smaller active-duty component and a
larger reserve force. As it now
stands, the Thai model is somewhat complex.
During high school, many male students enter a reserve officer training
program that requires them to
practice a few hours a week, followed by a short boot camp after
graduation. They stay in the system for
another ten years, but in practice are never called to duty. For other
ranks, they enter a lottery to
determine who will spend two years as an enlisted man or non-commissioned
officer.
In Vietnam, which spent about half of the last century at war, its bloated
military was significantly scaled
back after the Cold War and the loss of its Soviet patron. At one point,
all Vietnamese males were
required to spend several years under arms.
This has been progressively reduced to the point where, at present, the
requirement stands at just one
year-virtually all of that time being spent in a training camp. In
reality, those attending college or those
who come from families with one member already in the military, get
deferments.
If Indonesia were to adopt conscription, there will be at least two major
hurdles already encountered by
the above countries.
First, the draft system would need to be extraordinarily transparent,
especially with regard to deferments.
Drafts, after all, lend themselves to abuse by those seeking to circumvent
national service.
In Indonesia, where waving the rules has become a refined art, exemptions
to the draft would need to be
openly scrutinized; if it appears like affluent children were finding
loopholes, this could have the effect of
exacerbating social divisions rather than bridging them.
Second, there will be major budgetary constraints. In both absolute terms
and as a percentage of Gross
National Product, the Indonesian military budget has traditionally been
remarkably low. And with calls for
the military to wean itself off its business ventures, the country will be
hard pressed to maintain even this
modest amount.
The purpose of conscription in Indonesia would be to act as a social
melting pot to enhance national
unity, not due to any imminent threat to national security.
To handle this influx of recruits, the military could expand existing
training facilities within each regional
command (KODAM). Here recruits will be put through the paces together,
regardless of social standing
or ethnic background.
For those young men going on to college, they should be required to enter
a reserve officer training
program for the duration of their schooling. As with the Thai model, this
will place only a limited strain on
their studying schedule. After graduation, they will enter the reserve
system for a decade and be eligible
to be called to active-duty in the unlikely event of a war.
For those not going on to college, they would be required to enter a
lottery during which a percentage
would be selected for a year of active service.
Furthermore, I would propose that national service not be limited to
males. Indonesia, after all, was a
regional leader in the emancipation of women.
Even in limited fashion, implementing a draft in Indonesia will be a
daunting task. But the potential
resultant sense of tolerance, understanding, and camaraderie make it a
challenge worth pursuing and will
lend the armed forces significance just as important as its role in
defense from external foes.
The writer is the former chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).
---
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/20/ap4035381.html?partner=alerts
Associated Press
Atticus Raises Freeport-McMoRan Stake
Associated Press 08.20.07, 9:47 AM ET
Related Quotes
FCX 79.96 + 3.06
NEW YORK -
Hedge fund Atticus Capital LP has raised its stake in mining company
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
Inc. to 7.5 percent, according to a regulatory filing Monday with the
Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Atticus now owns 28.6 million shares of the Phoenix-based company. In a
June 11 regulatory filing, the
fund reported owning a 6.4 percent stake in the company, or 24.3 million
shares.
The hedge fund said it also has long economic exposure to 19.4 million
shares for a total exposure of
47.9 million shares, or a 12.6 percent stake in the mining company.
In the June filing, Atticus said it plans to "engage in discussion with
management and/or the board of
directors of the company to encourage them to take steps to maximize
shareholder value."
Last week, George Soros reported that his Soros Fund Management LLC also
owns a stake in Freeport
-McMoRan.
Freeport-McMoRan gained $1.90, or 2.5 percent, to $78.80 in morning trading.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press.
---
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/8/20/56-magnitude-quake-jolts-bintang-mountain-district-in-papua/
National
08/20/07 08:29
5.6 magnitude quake jolts Bintang Mountain District in Papua
Jayapura (ANTARA News) - The Bintang Mountain District in Indonesia`s
Papua province was hit by an
earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale at 4.09 a.m. local time on
Monday, causing people to
panic.
ANTARA reported from Oksibil area in the Bintang Mountain District that
the tremor suddenly woke up
local people who were shocked and then poured out of their houses in fear
of tsunami.
An official of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency`s Papua office,
Cahyo, told ANTARA that the
quake was located at 5.27 degrees of south latitude and 141.44 degrees of
east longitude in the depth of
241 kilometers from the sea surface.
"The epicenter of the temblor is located at 156 kilometers north east of
Tanah Merah area, Papua. It is
recorded at 2-3 MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity)," Chayo said.
No reports on casualty and material damage due to the earthquake were
immediately available. (*)
Copyright © 2007 ANTARA
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