[Kabar-Irian] News: Nov 12-15 06

[Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian]

KABAR IRIAN NEWS

Nov 12-15

TOPICS

* Indonesia security treaty needs ratification: Nelson
* Editorial: Pact underscores era of co-operation
* Australia, Indonesia to sign security pact
* Treaty won't aid oppression, says Nelson
* Indonesian pact fears played down
* Indonesian deal may be smoking gun
* See the details, find the devil in new treaty
* AMERICAN SAMOA: Plans to raise Papua's profile
* Indonesian treaty signed, sealed and delivered
* Sector Snap: Gold Producers Fall
* Raw Deal for West Paupua?
* Activists fear security pact could constrain independence campaigns
* Security pact with Australia gets a warm welcome
* RI signs security pact with Australia
* Student congress ends in chaos
* Jakarta puts pact to work
* Papuans honor 'conscience' of Gus Dur

---

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1786480.htm


Last Update: Sunday, November 12, 2006. 9:11am (AEDT)
Indonesia security treaty needs ratification: Nelson

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson says a new security treaty with Indonesia
will have to be ratified in Parliament before it

comes into force.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer will sign the security pact in
Indonesia tomorrow.

The treaty covers cooperation on fighting terrorism, law enforcement and
border control.

It also commits Australia and Indonesia to support each country's
sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Dr Nelson has told Channel 10 it will not lead to the suppression of
separatist groups.

"Minister Downer will sign the treaty in Lombok but then of course it goes
to our Joint Standing Committee on Treaties in the

Parliament," he said.

"It has to be ratified in the Parliament and I know it'll be subject to
all sorts of public scrutiny as it will also in

Indonesia.

"So the ratification will need to proceed in both of our countries before
it's, if you like, locked in."

Mr Downer has told Channel Nine the public will have the opportunity to
put their views before the new treaty is ratified.

"It will be presented to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties of the
Australian Parliament," he said.

"That committee will call for public submissions and expressions of interest.

"It'll hold public hearings so people are able to make all manner of
points about the treaty and all this will happen before

ratification."


---

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20745675-7583,00.html

Editorial: Pact underscores era of co-operation
Canberra and Jakarta are back on the same wavelength
November 13, 2006
WHEN Alexander Downer and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda sign
the new security treaty between Canberra and

Jakarta on the island of Lombok today, they will be cementing a
relationship of tentative co-operation that has been building

since the Bali bombings of 2002. Australia's relations with Indonesia
reached a low point in 1999. In September that year,

Australian troops in Darwin were preparing to lead a multinational force
in restoring order in East Timor. Before they left

Australian shores, Jakarta vented its anger over Canberra's role by
tearing up the security pact then-prime minister Paul

Keating negotiated secretly in 1995 with Indonesia's authoritarian
president Suharto. Coming after years of tensions over

East Timorese independence, the terrorist bombs that tore apart two Kuta
nightclubs transformed relations between the

neighbours and prompted a new era of co-operation in countering terrorism
and people smuggling. The outpouring of Australian

sympathy and aid following the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami that cost 220,000
Indonesian lives and the humanitarian work of our

defence forces in the disaster's aftermath marked a psychological
breakthrough for the two countries reflected in the

document being signed today.

The Indonesia and Australia Framework Agreement for Security Co-operation
finally repairs the rift. Two years in the making

from Mr Downer's broaching the subject with a receptive President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono in 2004, this is a very different

treaty to its predecessor. Rather than a mutual defence pact obliging the
parties to come to the aid of each other in the

event of external aggression, the new agreement outlines key areas for
bilateral co-operation including defence, law

enforcement, counter-terrorism, intelligence sharing, aviation and
maritime security, border protection, illegal fishing,

avian flu and nuclear power generation. Negotiated in a transparent
diplomatic process between two democracies, the treaty

must be ratified by both nations before it can come into force. In
Australia, that means a public inquiry by the parliament's

Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. Overall the agreement is a welcome
development in what has been a fraught period for

Australian relations with the region, most recently expressed in
Canberra's ban on PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare

visiting Australia over the Moti affair, the ongoing strife in East Timor
and the threat of a military coup in Fiji.

The Australian's support for the pact is tempered by caution over the
provision for respecting territorial integrity. One

clause in the treaty demands a commitment that neither side will "in any
manner support or participate in activities by any

person or entity which constitute a threat to the stability, sovereignty
or territorial integrity of the other party".

Steeped in bureaucratic language, the provision plainly reflects the
deeply felt suspicions among Jakarta's political and

military elite about Australia's bona fides in the wake of the East Timor
crisis, new secessionist pressures in Papua and

Australia's decision to grant refuge to 43 Papuan asylum-seekers earlier
this year. The Howard Government shares this

newspaper's view that an independent, unstable Papua would be a disastrous
outcome both for the region and our national

interests. Indonesia is mistaken, however, if it sees the treaty as a
weapon to discourage Australia from exercising its

sovereign power to decide who it will shelter. Nor must it be used to
limit freedom of speech in Australia. Statements from a

former Indonesian presidential adviser suggesting that the treaty demands
suppression of private support for Papuan

independence are completely out of place and must be rejected without delay.

---

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20747464-29277,00.html

Australia, Indonesia to sign security pact
November 13, 2006
AUSTRALIA and Indonesia today will sign a historic new security pact
reinforcing cooperation on counter-terrorism, border

security and intelligence.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his Indonesian
counterpart Hassan Wirajuda will sign the seven-page document

on the Indonesian island of Lombok at 8pm (AEDT).

It will then need to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries,
Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said

yesterday.

It is the first formal security agreement between the two countries since
Indonesia scrapped the previous treaty during the

East Timor crisis in 1999.

The wide-ranging pact covers 10 key areas such as defence, law
enforcement, counter terrorism, intelligence, energy, aviation

and maritime security and emergency aid.

---

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,20744031-5001028,00.html


Treaty won't aid oppression, says Nelson

November 12, 2006 12:00
Article from: AAP


A NEW security pact with Jakarta does not mean Australia will be training
Indonesia's military to oppress its own people,

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is due to sign the treaty with his
Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda in Lombok

tomorrow.

The pact is the first formal security agreement between the two countries
since Indonesia scrapped the last treaty during the

East Timor crisis in 1999.

The new treaty covers cooperation on counter-terrorism, border security
and intelligence, but also contains a commitment not

to support separatism.

Dr Nelson said the pact would not result in Australian forces furthering
any oppression in Indonesia.

"That's a highly provocative statement – most certainly not," he told
Network .

"It's very important that we have a cooperative relationship with
Indonesia in defence ties.

"The treaty will in a sense formalise what we are already doing."

The pledge on separatism follows a row between the two countries earlier
this year when Australia granted protection to 43

Papuan asylum seekers.

The Australian government would never support separatism, Dr Nelson said,
but he indicated that Australia would not monitor

the activities of Papuans in Australia and share the information with
Indonesia.

"The treaty covers cooperation in a number of intelligence areas, but I'm
not going to ... talk specifically about any sort

of intelligence that is conducted," he said.

"I can assure you that we don't use intelligence in relation to specific
issues, and certainly not in relation to

separatism."

While details of the treaty have not yet been publicly released, Dr Nelson
said he was satisfied it would be heavily

scrutinised by both governments.

It would have to go to federal parliament's joint standing committee on
treaties before it was ratified, he said.

"It has to be ratified in the parliament and I know it'll be subject to
all sorts of public scrutiny, as it will also in

Indonesia," Dr Nelson said.

"So the ratification will need to proceed in both of our countries before
it's, if you like, locked in."

---

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/indonesian-pact-fears-played-down/2006/11/12/1163266412610.html

Indonesian pact fears played down

Sarah Smiles


FEARS that Australia's new security pact with Indonesia will stifle the
voices of Papuan independence activists living here

have been played down by Defence Minister Brendan Nelson.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will sign the treaty with counterpart
Hassan Wirayuda in Indonesia today, cementing co-

operation in areas such as defence, counter-terrorism and intelligence
sharing.

The treaty includes a controversial clause prohibiting each side from
encouraging separatist movements in either country — a

direct placation of Indonesia's concerns surrounding the Federal
Government's decision to grant asylum to 43 Papuans this

year.

Although Canberra has effectively promised that Australia will not become
a staging point for Papuan separatism, Dr Nelson

said activists would not be stopped from holding rallies.

"We're a democratic country. We respect the rights and views of people,
and if people are in our country and expressing their

views lawfully, of course we're not going to prevent them from doing so,"
he told Channel Ten yesterday.

However, a spokesman for the Indonesian embassy in Canberra said a
decision to permit such rallies could be sensitive to

Jakarta.

"Protesting is one thing, but there is a fine line where acts of
separatism also involve conspiring for freedom within

Papua," he said.

He said the decision to permit such rallies was ultimately an Australian
domestic issue, but he added: "We have to see

further on a case-by-case basis on how these things develop."

Dr Nelson said the treaty's clause on intelligence sharing would not lead
to Australia monitoring or sharing intelligence

related to separatism.

Greens senators Kerry Nettle and Bob Brown have raised concerns that
Indonesian spies have been active at Papuan independence

rallies in Australia in the past — a claim denied by the Indonesian embassy.

Dr Nelson also played down suggestions that defence training exercises
with the Indonesia military would enhance its capacity

for oppression. He admitted Indonesia's Kopassus unit 81 — which the
Australian Defence Force recently trained with — did not

have an "outstanding record in human rights", but he stressed that
Australia needed to foster a close security relationship

with Indonesia to fight perceived terrorist threats.

A spokesman for the Free West Papua movement, Nick Chesterfield, said
Australia was merely giving the Indonesian military a

"green light" to commit human rights abuses.

"There are much better ways in which to guarantee and safeguard the
security of the region 
 (than) allying ourself with a

greater source of instability in the region," he said.

He said his organisation had received new reports of threats by the
Indonesian military to student leaders and villagers in

Papua, which he believed would be emboldened by the pact.

The treaty replaces a 1995 pact forged between the Keating government and
the Soeharto regime, which was scrapped during the

1999 East Timor crisis. It must be ratified by both countries' parliaments.

---

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20744752-5006029,00.html


Indonesian deal may be smoking gun

November 13, 2006 12:00am
Article from: Herald-Sun


IAN McPhedran writes: Australia and Indonesia will sign a landmark
security treaty on Monday that bans either side from

supporting rebel movements and cements links with a brutal Indonesian
special forces unit.
That means Australia will be bound to take a harder line with West Papuan
activists who arrive here seeking political asylum.

Indonesia made it clear it would not sign any deal with a clause allowing
one side to support separatist causes against the

other.

The Australia-Indonesia relationship was damaged this year when 43 West
Papuans arrived illegally seeking asylum.

The new treaty will also formalise links between counter-terrorism experts
at the Australian SAS and the feared Indonesian

Kopassus special forces.

In the past, Kopassus troops have brutally suppressed rebel movements
inside Indonesia and Kopassus was closely linked with

pro-Jakarta militias in East Timor.

In 1995, the Keating government negotiated a "secret" security treaty with
the Indonesian dictator General Suharto. The

treaty was signed by then foreign minister Gareth Evans and his opposite
number, Ali Alatas, in the presence of Paul Keating

and his very close friend General Suharto.

The pact failed its first major test when the Indonesians tore it up
during the East Timor crisis in 1999.

The new treaty, to be signed in Lombok today by Foreign Affairs Minister
Alexander Downer and his Indonesian counterpart, Dr

Hassan Wirajuda, is a much more considered document that took two years to
negotiate.

The treaty will formalise existing arrangements in a variety of areas,
ranging from law enforcement to nuclear technology.

Mr Downer promised transparency but few details were released until a few
days ago.

The deal does not include any formal military ties, but commits both sides
to closer military co-operation and intelligence

sharing. That will include closer counter-terrorism links and stronger
police co-operation.

Immigration and border protection ties will also be strengthened.

Mr Downer was highly critical of the Labor agreement, which focused on
threats from third parties, such as China.

"We don't think the Chinese honestly are going to launch an attack on us,"
Mr Downer said this week.

The Howard and Yudhoyono governments agree the key threats are terrorism
and the potential "Balkanisation" of Indonesia

through separatist movements in West Papua and Aceh.

The separatist-causes element of the agreement, which is known as the
Indonesia and Australia Framework for Security Co-

operation, may have repercussions for West Papuans seeking refugee status
in Australia.

Prime Minister John Howard said the treaty showed the relationship between
the two countries had moved on from difficulties

"arising out of East Timor and more recently out of the 43 asylum-seekers".

The seven-page treaty covers 10 key areas including defence, law
enforcement, terrorism, intelligence, aviation and maritime

security, weapons of mass destruction, people-to-people links and
emergency relief.

One element of the agreement that will raise hackles here is the joint
pursuit of nuclear technologies for peaceful means.

Mr Downer said the treaty would draw together the threads of the security
relationship and denied it had anything to do with

providing asylum to refugees.

He said the clause about non-nuclear proliferation was aimed at stopping
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"It's not about Australia establishing a nuclear power program in
Indonesia. We don't have the technology or the corporations

to do that."

He said the agreement would not encourage the export of uranium to Indonesia.

"Well, if we were to sell uranium to Indonesia, we would negotiate a
nuclear safeguards agreement."

Australian National University terrorism expert Clive Williams said his
major reservation with the agreement was the closer

ties with Kopassus.

The Indonesian special forces have a history of violence against the
Indonesian people. "Their past record is very bad," he

said. "Dealing with them carries a lot of risk."

He said there would be major issues down the track involving West Papua.

IAN McPHEDRAN is defence reporter

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20061113.E02&irec=1

See the details, find the devil in new treaty

Duncan Graham, Surabaya

The planned signing of a proposed new treaty between Indonesia and
Australia on Monday (today) by the two foreign ministers,

is being boosted in the nation next door as a significant advance in
relations between the neighbors.

What impact will it have on the average person on either side of the
Indian Ocean? Probably not a ripple -- though that

doesn't mean the exercise is worthless.

Whatever the backslapping top-level bureaucrats in Western suits
(Indonesians) and batik (Australians) say, things aren't

looking good down below.

Poll results released last month by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute for
International Policy show almost two-thirds of those

surveyed think Indonesia is a threat to Australia.

So any initiative, however bland and unformed, has to be positive. Then
maybe the hearts and minds of the populace will

follow. Maybe ...

The only public badmouth so far has been Senator Bob Brown, leader of the
minority Greens party. He claims the treaty --

properly named the Framework for Security Cooperation -- will encourage
the development of nuclear power in Indonesia and

suppress the Papuan independence movement.

Though the agreement hasn't been publicly released some details have been
leaked.

The seven-page document will have 10 formal articles. One apparently
commits the signatories to "not in any manner support or

participate in activities by any person or entity which constitutes a
threat to the stability, sovereignty or territorial

integrity of the other party."

This is a masked reference to the activities of the Papuan independence
lobby in Australia that Senator Brown supports.

But then so do the majority of Australians according to a survey earlier
this year. Canberra can give Jakarta bucketsful of

assurances, but in a robust democracy a government can't shut down
non-terrorist organizations it doesn't like.

Nor can it easily change the public's mindset with a few ads, which are
apparently also being planned. They'd have to be

better than the failed American attempts to portray the U.S. as a
peace-loving nation that treats Muslims as equals. That

campaign bombed.

The Papua lobby in Australia includes academics notably around the
University of Sydney's West Papua Project, Protestant and

Catholic churches, NGOs linked to the Australia West Papua Association,
and supporters of human rights. They're not going to

shut up anytime soon, though a campaign is underway to discredit their
claims.

This has been led by academic Rodd McGibbon who spent six years in
Indonesia working for the UN and U.S. Aid. In a paper

titled Pitfalls of Papua released last month for the Lowy Institute and
neatly laying a welcome mat for the treaty, he argues

that activists' "utopian thinking" have misled the Australian public.

He claims the more backing Australians give Papuan separatists, the more
the Indonesian Military (TNI) and hard-line

nationalists will suppress the province, thereby setting back reform. He
also says the average Australians do not understand

the politics -- particularly the strength of Indonesian nationalism.

On this last issue he's undoubtedly right. International relationships
tend to float or founder on perceptions, not facts.

It was the "uninformed" voters who forced the Australian government to be
more active in the 1999 East Timor referendum when

the official line was to take things slowly.

The new treaty replaces the document organized in secret by prime minister
Paul Keating and Indonesian president Soeharto in

1995. This was ripped up in 1999 by president Habibie when Australia led
peacekeepers during the East Timor referendum -- an

action seen by Indonesia as a betrayal.

Critics of the original treaty (including the present PM John Howard) were
angry there'd been no public debate leading to the

pact.

Yet the same thing seems to be happening again. It's true the Australian
government has been talking about the new document

for almost two years, but we only know the headings.

These are defense, counter-terrorism, intelligence sharing, sea and air
security, weapons of mass destruction, emergency

relief, fish poaching, people-smuggling, drug running and other crimes.

All well and good. But how are these going to be implemented? Will there
be penalties for non-compliance -- and if so what?

When Jakarta is next outraged by some Australian exercising her or his
freedom of speech, what can Canberra do but say the

press is free?

What concessions has the Australian government made? The document isn't a
defense pact, so what are the "security threats"?

How will the Howard government react if Indonesia kicks out academics and
journalists who allege human rights abuses in

Papua? Is there a chapter on that possible scenario?

The Australian Federal Police have been active in Indonesia, so will
Indonesian police go to Australia and help interrogate

Indonesians suspected of terrorism? And how is "terrorism" to be defined?
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir would come under

that heading in Australia, but not Indonesia.

Will drug law enforcement lead to more Australians on death row in
Indonesia? Indonesians in Australia committing the same

offenses confront prison bars, not rifle muzzles. This is a major issue
among voters Down Under.

In the past environmentalists have condemned nuclear power in the
geologically unstable archipelago, fearing an earthquake

could release radiation from a fractured plant. The treaty could allow
Australian sales of uranium, implicitly encouraging

the building of reactors. The Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine was 20
years ago -- and people still suffer.

There are many more similar questions and concerns. The devil is in the
detail and the punters in both democracies remain

ignorant -- just as they did with the discredited Soeharto-Keating deal.

It's been reported that the new treaty will have to be ratified by
parliaments in both countries before taking effect. Maybe

then the voters will get to have their say.

The writer is an East Java-based journalist.

---

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1787054.htm

Last Updated 13/11/2006

AMERICAN SAMOA: Plans to raise Papua's profile

American Samoa's newly re-elected Congressman says its time the Pacific
region paid more attention to the Indonesian province

of Papua. Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin was returned as the US Territory's
representative in Washington for a tenth term at the mid

term elections this week. He's always spoken out about what he sees as the
plight of the mainly Melanesian West Papuans under

Indonesian rule. Congressman Faleomavaega says as a result of his own
Democratic Party's success in the election, it's very

likely he'll be in a much better position to raise Pacific regional issues
in the US political system.


Presenter/Interviewer: Bruce Hill
Speakers: Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin, American Samoa's newly re-elected
Congressman

HUNKIN: Conventional wisdom goes in that of course for those of us who
have held a democratic ranking positions on the

committees, are kind of like the shadow of German in the event there is a
change and it's very much reflective of that. I do

intend to offer my before our democratic members of the committee that I
want very much to be Chairman of the Asia-Pacific

Sub-Committee on International Relations and we'll see how it runs.

HILL: If you were to get that chairmanship, what would the implications be
for raising the profile of the Pacific within the

American legislative system?

HUNKIN: Well I have to be realistic as well. There's no question. We've
got some very, very serious issues coming out of

Asia, South East Asia, the Korean crisis, problems with India and
Pakistan, but at the same time, we've also got to pay

attention to our Pacific region and that definitely will be high on my
agenda. And I will be discussing this more forcefully

with members of our leadership, as well as our Republican friends. I
sincerely hope that there is going to be more visibility

now of issues affecting our Pacific region. I know we don't have the
numbers, but I think in geographical terms and it's

important strategically, militarily and the vast resources out there. One
third of the world's surface, and I'm talking about

the oceans. I think our country lacks any sense of initiative in
understanding and appreciation of our country to address

these serious issues and I certainly commend Australia and New Zealand for
their efforts in bringing attention to the

problems that affect our region and I think this is something that I
certainly hope will be part of our efforts from

Washington.

HILL: One of the issues that you've been strong on for many years is that
of West Papua, the Indonesian Province of Papua and

its pro-independence movement. If you do get to be the chairman of the
Asia-Pacific Sub-Committee of the House Foreign

Relations Committee. Will you be causing trouble for the White House and
raising this more than perhaps the president of the

administration would like you to?

HUNKIN: Well, I don't want to call it that I'd be raising trouble. It's
just that I think that what I would definitely do is

bring attention to this problem and certainly I know there's a lot of
sensitivities among our Pacific Island nations,

especially Australia's concerns. Always I hear about the Balkanisation
effect. The same thing is also being said about the

Middle East. We said that about the Cold War that if Vietnam fell, all of
Asia will become Communist. I mean it's always

easier to look hindsight. But I'm looking at the situation. I have been in
touch with some of the top leaders of the

Indonesian Government in addressing these issues and I'm beginning to see
changes that President SBY is seriously addressing

the needs, especially the basic needs of the West Papuan people. And my
point of argument always has been is that look, since

you guys have done such a lousy job in caring and providing for the West
Papuans, you might as well give them their

independence. They have been totally negligent. They have not really
addressed seriously the needs of the people of West

Papua and I think it's time also that our member states in the Pacific
should also collectively express that concern. It's

nice to go and help other countries of the world, but it seems that we
don't look at our own backyard and find out that maybe

we need to clean up our own backyard as well.

---

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/indonesian-treaty-signed-sealed-and-delivered/2006/11/13/1163266481580.html

Indonesian treaty signed, sealed and delivered


Mark Forbes, Lombok
November 14, 2006
Co-operation: An Indonesian policeman on Lombok where Australia and
Indonesia signed a security treaty.


WITH two signatures and a handshake Indonesia and Australia have
proclaimed a new era of closer relations with a treaty aimed

at ending a roller-coaster of diplomatic crises.

The ambitious security treaty was signed last night by Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer and his Indonesian counterpart,

Hassan Wirayuda, on Lombok island.

Pledging deeper links across defence, law enforcement, counter terrorism,
intelligence sharing, border protection and even

nuclear energy programs, the security framework also contains clauses
appeasing perceptions of Australian support for Papuan

independence.

The clauses, stating Australia will not interfere in Indonesia's domestic
affairs or "in any manner support any person or

entity which constitutes a threat to the stability, sovereignty or (its)
territorial integrity", will spark concerns among

human rights groups and could create unrealistic expectations in Indonesia.

The commitment to non-interference could result in Australia turning a
blind eye to the potential plight of Papuans and human

rights abuses across Indonesia.

Although the clauses apply to both countries, they are a response to
Australia granting asylum to 43 Papuans earlier this

year, sparking a three-month freeze in relations and the recall of
Indonesia's ambassador.

Officials admit the concessions are aimed at calming the waters before the
expected arrival of more Papuan asylum seekers.

Mr Downer last night said the agreement "reflects a confident and maturing
bilateral relationship", providing a legal

framework for much greater co-operation across all areas of security.

Mr Downer has been eager to distance this treaty from the security pact
secretly negotiated by Paul Keating in 1995 and torn

up amid the conflict over East Timor's independence. Both sides say this
is a broader framework for a far deeper relationship

in the future.

The deeper links will include operations with Indonesia's feared Kopassus
troops — already quietly training with Australia's

SAS — and State Intelligence Agency, which is under investigation for the
poisoning of Indonesia's leading human rights

activist in 1994.

However, this is a new treaty for new times. Under its first directly
elected president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia

had determinedly embarked on democratic reforms. Rampant abuses by the
military and police in provinces such as Aceh and

Papua have been curtailed.

The treaty has been finalised, despite the Papua crisis, with a
convergence between Mr Howard's desire to play a greater

regional role and Dr Yudhoyono's wish to reinvigorate ties with the West.

A Lowy Institute survey this year found most Australians believed
Indonesia was controlled by the military and posed a threat

of invasion.

Most Indonesians said Australia was too interfering and wanted to split
Papua from their nation.

As Mr Wirayuda said at the weekend, Australia and Indonesia are neighbours
and the treaty aims to transform potential

conflicts into greater co-operation, whoever leads either country.


---

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2006/11/13/ap3169162.html?partner=alerts

Associated Press
Sector Snap: Gold Producers Fall
Associated Press 11.13.06, 1:49 PM ET

Shares of gold producers fell in Monday trading, hurt weaker gold prices.

The overall CBOE Gold Index fell 2.4 percent, with all 10 of its component
stock marking declines. Most of the percentage

swings were greater than 2 percent.

Hurting all shares was the December gold contract losing $3.80 to $626.30
on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Among the index's big decliners, Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. lost 95 cents, or
2.5 percent, to $37.68 on the New York Stock

Exchange.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. shed $1.89, or 3.2 percent, to $56.93,
Goldcorp Inc. slipped 75 cents, or 2.7 percent, to

$27.28 and Harmony Gold Mining Co. lost 44 cents, or 2.8 percent, to
$15.24, all on the NYSE.

Kinross Gold Corp. fell 24 cents, or 2 percent, to $11.90, and Meridian
Gold Inc. gave up 81 cents, or 3 percent, to $26.69,

---

Raw Deal for West Paupua?
By Shar Adams
Epoch Times Brisbane, Australia staff
	Nov 14, 2006

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer (L) and his Indonesian
counterpart Hassan Wirayuda sign a bilateral security

treaty in Lombok, on West Nusa Tenggara, 13 November 2006. Indonesia and
Australia signed the security treaty aimed at

smoothing often thorny relations between the two neighbours.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Australia and Indonesia have signed an historic new security treaty, but
critics say the treaty raises concerns over

Australia's ability to fulfil its human rights obligations in the region.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan
Wirajuda, signed the document on the Indonesian

island of Lombok on November 13.

The treaty covers 10 main areas, including defence, law enforcement,
counter-terrorism, intelligence and maritime security,

but human rights concerns hinge specifically on article two, which
prohibits either country from supporting activities that

may threaten each other's territorial integrity or sovereignty.

While the treaty acknowledges Australia's domestic laws that respect our
international obligations to provide asylum to

genuine refugees, critics say the agreement is a deliberate attempt to
prevent Australia from responding to human rights

violations in West Papua.

The president of the International Commission of Jurists ( ICJ) in
Australia, John Dowd, says his organisation has serious

concerns about Indonesia's handling of its jurisdiction over West Papua
and the treaty should be the subject of more public

debate.

"I can see no basis for a treaty with a country that's not under attack
and we're not under attack," he told the ABC. "I

think it's a mask for assisting their military."

The ICJ claims Indonesia has not honoured an international agreement made
in 1962 that West Papuans be given the right to

self-determination.

The Australian ICJ has released a specific statement on West Papua, which
notes that no democratic elections have ever been

held in the territory. The statement refers to a litany of human rights
violations perpetuated by Indonesian security forces

and the military since Indonesia's occupation.

The Greens Leader, Bob Brown, says the treaty is an "obsequious concession
to Jakarta", which will prevent Australia from

helping to bring democracy to the region.

"The Howard Government says it will actually suppress people who want to
work towards independence for West Papua," he told

the ABC. "That's undemocratic."

Alexander Downer said the Australian Government had never supported
separatist movements, but with obvious reference to East

Timor added: "I mean unless we actually decided in the case of a foreign
country that we thought that country should be

broken up, we would give no comfort or support to separatist movements."

Kevin Rudd, the opposition spokesman for foreign affairs, said Labor
believed West Papua to be part of Indonesia, but

supported "an effective and real autonomy" for the West Papuan people.

"We would therefore monitor carefully how human rights unfolded on the
ground in West Papua," Mr Rudd told the ABC. "Plainly,

significant human rights abuses continue to exist; let's not pretend that
they don't."


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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1788487.htm


Last Update: Tuesday, November 14, 2006. 4:41pm (AEDT)
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer signed the security pact with his
Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda on the island of

Lombok overnight.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer signed the security pact with his
Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda on the island of

Lombok overnight. (AFP)

Activists fear security pact could constrain independence campaigns

There are fears Australia's new security pact with Indonesia could
constrain Australian activists from agitating for the

independence of some Indonesian provinces.

That is despite the assurances of Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer.

The Lombok Treaty was signed last night, committing Australia and
Indonesia to cooperate on defence, law enforcement and

counter-terrorism.

It also means neither country can support anyone who threatens each
other's sovereignty or territorial integrity.

Rob Wesley Smith campaigned for East Timor's independence for more than 20
years.

He says the treaty could be used to obstruct ongoing independence
campaigns in Indonesia.

"This treaty has really been generated to stop the same sort of support
for West Papua as East Timor enjoyed from the

Australian people," he said.

But Mr Downer has played down those concerns.

"The unity of the Indonesian nation is not just in the interests of
Indonesians, but it's something that is in the interests

of the whole of the region," he said.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20061114.B07&irec=6



Security pact with Australia gets a warm welcome

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Senggigi, West Nusa Tenggara

The new security agreement between Indonesia and Australia is seen by
lawmakers and experts as a comprehensive basis for both

countries to eliminate mutual suspicions as well as a framework for wider
cooperation.

The treaty signed Monday includes a key Indonesian demand that Australia
will not support separatist causes in the sprawling

archipelago. Jakarta tore up a previous pact over Canberra's support for
independence for Timor Leste.

A member of House of Representatives Commission I on security and
international affairs, Djoko Susilo, who witnessed the

signing of agreement, said he was satisfied with its contents.

"First of all it is a formal acknowledgement of Indonesian territorial
integrity from Australia. I have read the draft, and I

think the agreement is quite comprehensive and covers a wide range of
issues. It will definitely strengthen our cooperation

with our neighboring country," he said.

Djoko added that members of the House of Representatives would have no
problem ratifying the agreement.

He doubted, however, that Australia could prevent its people from
supporting separatist movements in Indonesia.

"What I interpreted from Downer's statements in the press conference, was
that he was still giving ambiguous answers to

whether Australia will prevent its people from backing Indonesian
separatist groups. So, it is a matter of implementation on

the Australian side," Djoko said. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer signed the agreement with his Indonesian

counterpart, Hassan Wirayuda.

Downer also warned that Australia could not guarantee that it would not
give visas to Indonesian asylum seekers. Jakarta

reacted angrily when the Australian government granted visas to 42 asylum
seekers from Papua earlier this year.

Hikmahanto Juwana, an expert in international law at the University of
Indonesia, also hailed the agreement. He said the most

tangible benefit for Indonesia was that both countries, at least at the
government level, could eliminate suspicion and

foster healthier relations

"However, it remains to be seen whether Australia truly wants to foster a
good longterm relationship. I am afraid that if

there is a change in power in Australia, the implementation of the
agreement will be halted," he told The Jakarta Post,

adding that the real test for the agreement was whether the asylum
incident would be repeated in the future.

Hikmahanto also hoped that the agreement was not merely meant to appease
Jakarta after changes to the immigration law

proposed by the Australian government were rejected by its parliament.

Some environmentalists have objected to the treaty. They accuse Australia
of turning a blind eye to Indonesia's plans to

build nuclear power plants. The treaty covers agreements on nuclear programs.

Indonesia's nuclear power plans were shelved in 1997 in the face of
mounting public opposition and the discovery and

exploitation of the large Natuna gas field. But the plans were floated
again last year amid growing power shortages.

"Australia is closing their eyes to the whole non-transparent process and
only putting forward their uranium export business

aspect," the Indonesian Anti-Nuclear Community said.

"It is not fair for Australia to support Indonesia's nuclear program but
prohibit the industry in some of their own states,"

Dian Abraham, a spokesman for the non-governmental organization, told AFP
on Friday.

"There seem to be no plans to consult the people in developing nuclear
plans in Indonesia as written in the 1997 Nuclear

Energy Act."

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20061114.@01&irec=0



RI signs security pact with Australia

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Senggigi, West Nusa Tenggara

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and his Australian counterpart Alexander
Downer signed a much-awaited bilateral agreement on

the framework for security cooperation Monday in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

Speaking at a press conference after the signing ceremony, Hassan said
that the Treaty of Lombok provided a structure and

legal basis for cooperation and consultation on security issues for
Indonesia and Australia.

"This agreement covers cooperation on security in the broader sense, and
is not a military pact. We strongly believe that the

agreement signing will strengthen the bilateral relations between
Indonesia and Australia," he told reporters.

The agreement, he said, reflected the maturity of Indonesia's and
Australia's relations as close neighbors. He said it was an

important landmark in that relationship as both countries had been able to
deal with conflicts and sensitive issues in more

open and constructive ways, as well as transform potential problems into
opportunities for cooperation.

Downer said that the agreement was a written expression of Australia's
commitment to respect Indonesia's territorial

integrity.

"Once the treaty is ratified then it will be part of law of Australia that
Australia won't support the break-up of

Indonesia," he said.

That pact specifies that "The Parties shall not in any manner support or
participate in activities by any person or entity

which constitutes a threat to the stability, sovereignty or territorial
integrity of the other party, including by those who

seek to use its territory for encouraging or committing such activities,
including separatism, in the territory of the other

party."

Downer, however, did not promise that the Australian government would
restrict nongovernmental organizations within Australia

that support separatism in Indonesia.

"Some people put forward in the last few days that we would crack down on
freedom of speech, freedom of expression and

freedom of activities in Australia which is of course completely absurd.
We are not planning to do that."

Downer said an upheaval in Indonesia aiming to destroy the integrity of
the country would be a human rights disaster for the

whole region, including Australia.

The two countries signed their first bilateral Agreement on Maintaining
Security in 1995, with both nations pledging to meet

regularly on defense issues.

However, an angry Jakarta rescinded the treaty in 1999 following
Australian military involvement in the former province of

East Timor (now Timor Leste) during and after its referendum for
independence.

The development of the new agreement was threatened after Canberra granted
provisional refugee status to Papuan asylum

seekers in April, causing another hostile reaction from Jakarta.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20061114.G08&irec=7


Student congress ends in chaos

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: The 30th congress of the Indonesian Christian
Student Movement ended in chaos here Saturday when

a dispute turned violent.

Congress participants were discussing whether to set up a new office in
the newly established West Irian Jaya province, to

join the already existing office in Papua.

Several representatives from Papua, including Jayapura, strongly opposed a
new office, saying more preparation time was

needed.

They said feasibility and sociocultural studies needed to be carried out
before a new office could be established.

However, representatives from Sorong and Fak-Fak, both in Papua, urged the
congress to make an immediate decision on the

matter.

"The request for the new office has the support from many branches
throughout Indonesia," said Donny Mooy, head of the

congress assembly.

Students from the opposing camps were later involved in a clash, leaving
two people injured, including one seriously after he

was hit with a chair. --JP

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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20754257-2702,00.html

Jakarta puts pact to work
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Lombok, and Patrick Walters
November 14, 2006
JAKARTA has warned Alexander Downer it will expect action against
separatist movements after the Foreign Minister last night

sealed a landmark bilateral security pact with his Indonesian counterpart.

Hailing the agreement, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he
believed that with the signing of the Lombok

treaty, groups such as the 43 Papuan asylum-seekers who travelled to
Australia earlier this year in an outrigger canoe would

find diminished support in Australia for their cause.

Speaking after the signing of the document on the Indonesian resort island
of Lombok, Mr Wirajuda admitted he did not expect

"an exodus of West Papuans to neighbouring countries in the south". But he
claimed the most recent group of Papuan asylum-

seekers had used "their presence in Australia to champion their separatist
ambition", adding he believed this would now be

less likely.

The seven-page document, which took two years to negotiate, codifies a
series of memorandums on defence and law enforcement

co-operation already in place between the two countries. It replaces the
security pact drawn by Paul Keating and former

president Suharto in 1995 and torn up in 1999 after East Timor's break
with Jakarta.

Relations between Australia and Indonesian soured again earlier this year
when Canberra angered Jakarta by granting visas to

the 43 Papuans. Mr Wirajuda said last night the countries had agreed not
to "use the territory of either party to support

separatist movements and not to use force against the territorial
integrity of the other party".

Mr Downer said in Lombok: "If Indonesia were to break up or if there were
to be massive upheaval in Indonesia, that would not

only be a disaster for Indonesians but also for the region, including
Australia. So the unitary nature of Indonesia is not

just in the interests of Indonesia but also of the region. We won't be
aiding and abetting secessionist movements and we

haven't been ... but at the same time, people in Australia can hold
whatever views they want, as can people in Indonesia."

Mr Wirajuda said with the signing of the agreement, he did not believe
Australia would be used as a "staging post" for

Indonesian separatists.

Mr Downer arrived at the tiny Mataram Airport in Lombok's sleepy capital
yesterday a few minutes ahead of Mr Wirajuda. The

two men embraced in a display of genuine affection.

Mr Downer said the new agreement would provide a strong foundation for
Australia's bilateral relationship with Jakarta. "This

has got to be a relationship that lasts long beyond personal
relationships," he said before leaving for Lombok.

The treaty outlines six principles including the key clause committing
both countries not to support any threatening

activity, including separatism.

The key areas of co-operation cover defence and law enforcement, with
co-operation in fighting transnational crime to be

focused on eight areas: people-smuggling, money laundering, financing of
terrorism, corruption, illegal fishing, cyber

crimes, drug-trafficking, and arms and explosives trafficking.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20061115.A03&irec=2

Papuans honor 'conscience' of Gus Dur

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

A noted Papuan figure criticized the Indonesian government on Tuesday,
saying it was only interested in the province's

natural resources, not its people, but praised former president
Abdurrahman Wahid (third left in photo).

Papua Traditional Council chairman Tom Beanal said that of the many
high-ranking officials in the country, only former

president Wahid, or "Gus Dur", as he is more popularly known, paid
attention to the plight of the Papuan people.

"It's only Gus Dur who has seen us with conscience ... only Gus Dur who
comprehends and hears the cries from Papuan people's

hearts," Beanal said at a ceremony presenting an award to the ex-president.

The award was handed over by Beanal and Taha Alhamid, secretary general of
the Papua Traditional Council Presidium, to Gus

Dur as a token of appreciation for a number of policies that were
favorable to Papuans during his presidency.

While in power, Gus Dur authorized the province's name change from Irian
Jaya to Papua and allowed the Papuan flag, the

Bintang Kejora, to be raised as a cultural symbol. He also authorized
funding for the second Papuan National Congress in

2000, providing Rp 2 billion (US$210,526) to finance the event.

The award was in the form of a 30-by-45-centimeter placard consisting of
Sentani stone ring with a small axe and beads as

well as text reading: Damai Sejahtera kau bawa kepada kami. Tanah Papua
menjadi milik kami Kyai Haji Abdurrachman Wahid.

Demokrasi menjadi hak milik Papua. (You have brought peace to us. Papuan
lands belong to us Kyai Haji Abdurrachman Wahid.

Democracy becomes the properties of the Papuans.)

Beanal said the award, given by the Papuan people, had no economic value
but was given with conscience and love from the

Papuan people to thank Gus Dur for his humane treatment.

In his speech at the ceremony, Gus Dur said an incorrectly implemented
government policy had led to the death of Theys Hiyo

Eluay, who aggressively campaigned for democracy and justice in Papua. To
the government, Theys was simply a rebel, Gus Dur

said.

"When Pak Theys was still alive, he together with Pak Tom Beanal met with
me a a number of times to discuss the future of the

Papuans, who have been unfavorably treated," Gus Dur said.

The struggle of the Papuan people to create a new community was still long
and arduous, he said, adding that while Papua was

rich in natural resources they had not improved the welfare of its
poverty-stricken people.

"I'm sure there are still many things we can do to help improve welfare,"
he said.

Gus Dur said the award meant a great deal to him because what he had done
during his presidency could not be compared to the

sacrifices and contributions of Theys.

"If Pak Theys did not care about the Papuan people's struggle, he could
have just enjoyed life in his kampong as a noted

figure ... but he left all of them to struggle together with the Papuans
before he was finally killed," he said.