[Kabar-Irian] News: May 6-8 2006

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May 6-8 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS

TOPICS

•	Jakarta accuses Australian academics
•	Technically speaking: Freeport-Mac trend plugs along
•	Australian academics blacklisted from Indonesia
•	Let Indonesian citizens move abroad
•	Hospital waste causes concern

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/jakarta-accuses-australian-academics/2006/05/07/11469
40411274.html



Jakarta accuses Australian academics
By Sarah Smiles
(Note: a number of journals and news sources carried this story but we
have not posted them all as that would be repetitive)

May 8, 2006
THE Indonesian Government has accused two Deakin University academics of
promoting separatism in West Papua and warned that the country’s
institutions will have nothing more to do with the university.

Deakin has confirmed that it was aware of a letter sent on the issue by
the Indonesian Ministry of National Education.

“We understand (it) mentions that some academics hold views which they
consider to be against the interests of Indonesia,” the university said in
a statement.

The letter concerns the work of Damien Kingsbury and Scott Burchill from
the university’s School of International and Political Studies.

Dr Burchill is a senior lecturer in International Relations and
commentator on Australian-Indonesia relations. Dr Kingsbury has written
several books on Indonesia and was a mediator between the Indonesian
Government and the Free Aceh Movement in negotiating a peace treaty that
ended the province’s decades-long separatist conflict last year. Both are
regular contributors to The Age.

Dr Kingsbury said he believed the Indonesian Government might have
sidelined him for having contact with Papuan activists.

“(The letter) is obviously a reflection about a fundamental
misunderstanding about my interests and my role,” he said.

“I was intimately involved in the resolution of the Aceh problem and if
they really want a similar sort of resolution for West Papua, then I’m the
sort of person they should be welcoming.”

Dr Kingsbury, banned from entering Indonesia in December 2004, believes
the letter was written by the Indonesian state intelligence agency, BIN.

He said he believed he and Dr Burchill were part of a wider list issued by
BIN, singling out Australian activists, academics and politicians whom it
viewed as unsympathetic to Indonesia’s concerns over West Papua.

Deakin University defended the academics’ right to speak out, saying it
“supports the academic freedom of our staff members to comment, within the
law, on matters within their research expertise”.

The Indonesian consul-general in Melbourne, Wahid Supriyadi, confirmed he
had a copy of the letter but he declined to comment further, saying it was
a matter for Indonesia’s Education Minister, Bambang Sudibyo.


Dow Jones Newswire – May 5, 2006
By Stephen Cox
FCX

Technically speaking: Freeport-Mac trend plugs along New York – Copper
futures have been wired this year and the bull market in gold futures has
been anything but a flash in the pan. It was only reasonable that shares
of miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) have gone up as well.
Charts, moreover, imply that shares are about to continue upward despite
technical evidence for a correction in both copper and gold futures.

Freeport-McMoRan shares put in a major bottom at the November 2000 low of
$ 6.75. The high for the bull market that followed is $72.20, which was
recorded on April 19. There is technical evidence that the uptrend is
liable to be extended. That’s because charts suggest that a nearly $12.00
per share correction may have ended at the April 27 low of $60.99.
As of this writing, shares are trading near $66.00. Trading above $64.94
has turned the charts bullish once more. A move above $67.74-$68.64
resistance would confirm a new uptrend.
In the event of trading above $72.20 and new bull-market highs, Freeport-
McMoRan shares would be targeting $74.71 initially. Traders could then
expect a move to $79.58, perhaps after a corrective dip from $76.50-area
resistance.

Support at $63.99-$63.28 is the technical dividing line between bullish
and bearish.
Although the long-term uptrend favors the bulls, a move below $63.28 might
not stop before $58.56 was tested.

Copper, Gold Futures Set Up For Dips

Comex nearby May copper on Thursday rose as high as $3.6200 cents per
pound, which was a new high for the steep uptrend from the November 2001
low of $ 0.6080. Moreover, its corrective dip to $3.4500 earlier Friday
was a hit on a potential bottom at $3.4759-$3.4388 support. If a bottom is
confirmed by decisive trading above $3.5181, then the contract would be
targeting $3.6388-$ 3.6810 resistance.

Comex nearby gold hit an uptrend high of $687.00 per ounce earlier Friday.
The move nailed a potential top in the $680.50-$687.10 resistance band.
Decisive trading just below $680.00 would suggest that the contract is set
up for a dip as low as $667.00. An upturn and a rally to new highs would
be targeting $693.80 initially.


Australian academics blacklisted from Indonesia

The World Today – Monday, 8 May , 2006  12:21:00 (emailed to us without
source) Reporter: Eleanor Hall

ELEANOR HALL: The tension in the relationship between the Indonesian and
AustralianGovernments over the Indonesian province of Papua has just
beenratcheted up a notch.
The  Indonesian  Government  has announced it’s blacklisted staff from
Victoria’s Deakin University, and has warned that university academics
will not be allowed any further contact with Indonesia’s tertiary
institutions.
The Indonesian Ministry of National Education has written a letter,
accusingtwo of Deakin’s prominent academics, Doctor Damien Kingsbury and
Doctor Scott Burchill of promoting separatism in the Indonesian province
ofPapua.
The academics say their writings and teachings have been misinterpreted
bythe Indonesian Government, and Deakin University has issued a statement
saying it supports theacademic freedom of its staff.
Scott Burchill is a senior lecturer in International Relations at Deakin
University, and he’s speakinghere to our reporter, Lynn Bell.
SCOTT BURCHILL: The Government of Indonesia has accused two members of
Deakin University’s staff of anti-Indonesian activities and supporting
separatism in Indonesia.
It is therefore collectively punishing Deakin University for the views
oftwo of its staff members and a researcher, and has advised its
affiliatedhigher educational institutions in Indonesia not to cooperate
with DeakinUniversity as a result of these views.
LYNN BELL: You’re one of the academics obviously, and you’re accused,
alongwith  your  colleague Damien Kingsbury, of promoting separatism in
the Indonesian  Province  of Papua.  Do you see that in any way as a fair
interpretation of your writings or lectures on the subject?
SCOTT BURCHILL: No. In fact I’ve made it explicitly clear in my comments
recently that it’s not for outsiders to support independence orseparatism
in Indonesia. The decision about the future of West Papua should be made
bythe West Papuan people.it shouldn’t be decided by outsiders, in
Australia, or it shouldn’t be decided by people in Jakarta orJava
generally. It’s something that the people  of West Papua must decide, and
what’s missing from 40 years of Indonesian rule is a genuine expression of
the views of those people.
LYNN BELL: Why then do you think the complaint’s been made? Do you think
it’s an expression of the sensitivity of the subject, and particularlythe
area, the province of Papua, at the moment?
SCOTT BURCHILL: Well, there are two reasons. One is there’s a domestic
powerstruggle going on within Indonesia, between reformists and hardliners
in themilitary in particular. And given concessions that were made over
autonomyfor Aceh, there’s a great deal of reluctance to grant a similar
degree ofautonomy  for  West  Papua. So it’s part of an internal domestic
power struggle.
But also, of course, Indonesia doesn’t want its behaviour in West Papua
tobe aired publicly. It doesn’t want public discussion about what’s been
goingon there over the last four decades to be made. So it’s going to try
and intimidate people into silence I suspect.
LYNN BELL: The letter, as you said, expresses a warning that Indonesia’s
institutions won’t have anything more to do with Deakin University. What
impact do you think that’s going to have on you personally as a lecturer
and also on the university?
SCOTT BURCHILL: Well, to the credit of the university, it supports the
right of its staff to express their views without political interference.
So theprinciple of academic freedom is being upheld, which is a very good
thing.
But I suspect that, like all institutions which have international links
throughout South East Asia, the university will perhaps suffer in some
financial way through any contracts or agreement that it currently haswith
Indonesian higher educational institutions.
LYNN BELL: Do you expect to discuss this with the Australian Department of
Foreign Affairs, or indeed to involve the Foreign Minister in any way?
SCOTT BURCHILL: I think the Australian Government has enough on its plate
in relation  to  the West Papuan asylum seekers, and the backlash against
granting them temporary protection visas.
I’m  sure that they’re probably not keen to involve themselves in this
particular issue, apart from the fact that they probably don’t agree with
some of the views expressed by myself and colleagues about the issue of
West Papua. So I suspect Foreign Affairs will stay clear of the issues if
it can.
ELEANOR HALL: Deakin University academic Scott Burchill speaking to Lynn
Bell in Melbourne.And we contacted Indonesia’s Consul-General in Melbourne
about this issue,but he did not want to make any comment.


Http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060508.F03&irec=5

Let Indonesian citizens move abroad

In the period of globalization and growing demands for the exercise of
human rights today, in my view, any attempt by Indonesian citizens to move
abroad should not be prevented.

In the past, a lot of Indonesians wishing to leave for America, Japan,
Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia were even willing to pay Rp 35 million per
person for a visa, let alone citizenship.

The asylum-seeking Papuans who have obtained visas from the Australian
government should be grateful for not having to pay such a large sum, as
long as Australia has no objection. We also feel relieved that we are rid
of the burden of any human rights demands.

If after getting the visas they are engaged in political activities in
their destination countries, their action is part of the play they need to
perform in order to stay there. As democratic nations, local governments
find it difficult to ban their political activities.

An exception would be their involvement in criminal or civil cases, in
which case we would need to seek the help of Interpol or the local police
to arrest them. If they demand freedom, we should find out why before
condemning them, because we may be at fault.

H. ILHAMY ELIAS
Jakarta


http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060508.H04&irec=6
Hospital waste causes concern

JAYAPURA: A community organization demanded the provincial administration
put an end to the alleged waste disposal problems of private and state
hospitals.

The chairman of the Jayapura-based Tribal People Institute, George Awi,
said Saturday the group supported the environmental impact management
agency’s move to deploy a special team to investigate the problem. He
charged many hospitals were built without any analysis of their
environmental effects.

“Residents living around hospitals have been suffering from skin diseases
and breathing problems, something they didn’t have before,” he told
Antara.

He also questioned whether the hospitals are equipped with waste disposal
systems to manage their liquid and solid waste, or whether they simply
throw their waste into gutters that lead to rivers and the sea. -- JP