Month: June 2011

Confronted With Litany of  Violence, Journalists Ask for End to Impunity

The Jakarta Globe

Confronted With Litany of  Violence, Journalists Ask for End to Impunity

The safety of journalists in this country must be guaranteed and the impunity of perpetrators of violence against them ended, activists demanded on Tuesday. 

Margiono, an advocacy coordinator for the Alliance of Independent Journalist (AJI), said that from the 651 cases of violence against media professionals in Indonesia between 2000-2010, only five cases were brought to court and only one of these was handled properly. 
“In order to have the violence against media professionals handled correctly by police, we need to increase solidarity among journalists and keep an eye on the investigations,” Margiono told a panel discussion in Jakarta. 
The cases of violence, he added, ranged from persecution and intimidation to murder. He added that journalists demanded no special treatment but that the law be upheld at all times. 
“We just want cases [of violence against journalists] handled properly, just like any other case, and the perpetrators must be prosecuted for such violations,” he said. 
According to Margiono, journalists are defacto defenders of human rights, so their safety is crucial. 
A spokesman for the National Police, Insp. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam, said that cooperation among the police, the Press Council and journalistic organizations was necessary to speed up investigations into violence against the media. 
Denny Indrayana, a member of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, said the problem with cases in which journalists were murdered was that the killing was usually ordered by powerful and rich individuals or corporations . 
He said the main difficulty in unraveling such murder cases is that they often involve “people with power and money.” 
“Therefore, I would not be surprised to find it is [always] difficult to bring journalists’ murder cases to a good conclusion,” Denny said, adding that power and money go a long way in providing impunity to the perpetrators. 
Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Darmono said that freedom of the press needed to go hand in hand with a responsible attitude. 
“We should be happy that in Indonesia there is freedom of the press,” he said. 
“However, this press freedom needs to be accompanied by a sense of responsibility toward science, the law and the community, because the media is supposed to be reporting facts,” Darmono added.

City in Uphill Battle to Clean Polluted Rivers

The Jakarta Globe

A city official has admitted that there would be no end to the dredging of Jakarta’s rivers as long as people keep dumping waste in them. 


Suprapto, head of rivers and coastal areas at the Jakarta Public Works Office, said on Tuesday that no amount of clean-up efforts would suffice as long as residents continued to choke the city’s waterways with trash. “Every day the Public Works Office dredges up to 27,000 cubic meters of plastic trash from Jakarta’s rivers,” he said. 

“We might have the necessary equipment to keep doing it, but every day there’s just more and more plastic waste in the water. So it’s really up to the citizens to dispose of their domestic waste properly, whether plastic or liquid, because the city is already doing all its can to clean up the rivers.” 

He added that besides degrading water quality, the trash also hampered the flow of the rivers, making them flood more easily during heavy rains.

“The damage to river basin areas and the subsequent flooding are basically due to the constriction of the water flow because of the amount of waste being dumped,” he said. 

“Take the Pesanggrahan River [in South Jakarta], for instance. The water quality there is exceptionally bad. Since 2008, we’ve had to dredge it three times just to restore normal water flow.” 

Rusman Sagala, head of conservation and environmental management at the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), said the Pesanggrahan was heavily polluted with both biological and chemical contaminants. 

“According to our data, 82 percent of the pollution in the river comes from domestic waste, either the liquid or plastic,” he said. “That’s because all the waste is going directly into the river untreated.” 

He added it was important for citizens to break the habit of dumping waste into waterways. 

“We can’t keep our eyes on all Jakarta residents, 24 hours a day, fining them for throwing waste into the rivers,” he said. 

“That’s impossible, so that’s why we need urge citizen involvement to address this issue.” 

Separately, Jakarta officials welcomed an offer by private water operator Aetra to revise its contract with the city, which officials previously complained would have left the city with mounting debts. 

“I appreciate Aetra’s offer to revise the contract that thus far has tended to be to the city’s disadvantage,” Governor Fauzi Bowosaid. 

“I hope the city’s other water operator now follows suit,” he added, referring to PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja). 

Under the current contract, the city subsidizes Aetra for providing piped water to residents. That leaves it unable to raise prices for consumers until a minimum standard of service has been attainted. 

The proposed revision would tie the payment of subsidies to the operator’s performance in providing a reliable water supply and bringing in new customers. 

Mohamad Selim, Aetra’s president director, said revising the contract would not be to the company’s detriment. 

“I’m optimistic that Aetra won’t lose out, even taking into account inflation and rising costs of production,” he said. 

“We’ve calculated the risks and found that we will still stand to profit.”

Speed Bump for Jakarta’s On-Street Parking Ban

The Jakarta Globe

Jakarta authorities successfully cleared cars parked along Jalan Gajah Mada and Jalan Hayam Wuruk on Monday. However, it seems they may have pushed the problem onto the sidewalks. 


At 8 a.m., the city kicked off its monthlong introductory period for an on-street parking ban along the stretch, which encompasses both roads, spanning Central and West Jakarta. 

But soon afterwards, it became apparent that motorists were circumventing the ban by simply parking their cars on the sidewalk. 

Udar Pristono, head of the Jakarta Transportation Office, said that since it was only the first day of the ban, parking on the sidewalk would be tolerated. 

“This was the first day we implemented the ban, so problems can occur,” he said. “But we still have one month to familiarize motorists with the new regulation.” 

During the socialization period, Udar said cars found parked along the road would be towed or clamped, but owners would not be fined until the month was up. 

“We are going to take serious action against whoever parks their car on the street proper or on the sidewalk, and we will be providing them with full information during the socialization,” he said, without elaborating on how much fines would be. 

“Basically, all cars and motorcycles must be parked in the designated parking areas, which are to be provided by all the buildings along Gajah Mada and Hayam Wuruk. And they cannot park their cars or motorbikes on the sidewalks,” he added. 

Udar said six major buildings in the area — Duta Merlin, the Pelni office, Gajah Mada Plaza, Hayam Wuruk Plaza, Lindeteves Trade Center and Hotel Grand Paragon — had a total of 2,711 parking spaces, which was much more than the 1,200 spaces available for on-street parking. 

But one pedestrian on Monday, Winda Astuti, 35, was livid at the number of cars blocking the sidewalk along Gajah Mada, pointing out that since the sidewalks were now full of cars, pedestrian were ironically forced to walk on the street. 

“Other than being very uncomfortable to walk on the street, it is also very dangerous because you know how crazy Jakarta drivers are,” she said. 

By 3:30 p.m., only two cars had been towed away, while another had one of its wheels booted. Some 165 police and city personnel were also deployed to inform drivers of the new policy. 

So far, only 22 of the estimated 160 affected street parking attendants have been assigned to new parking areas, while 70 others were still being processed.
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Special Team to Probe Claims of Systematic Cheating in Schools

The Jakarta Globe
Special Team to Probe Claims of Systematic Cheating in Schools

The city has vowed to probe allegations of systematic cheating after a mother’s complaint that her son’s school in South Jakarta gave students the answers to May’s national examinations.


Winda Lubis has reported State Elementary School (SDN) 06 Pesanggrahan to the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak) for allegedly providing answers to a handful of students who then distributed the cheat sheets to other students via text message.

These efforts, Winda told the commission, involved her own son, a sixth-grade student.

Mara Oloan Siregar, assistant to the city secretary for people’s welfare, said an investigative team would be established comprising members from the Jakarta Education Office, Komnas Anak as well as education experts from the city’s major universities.

“During the course of the investigation, we are going to protect students from this physically and psychologically,” he said.

Separately, Winda’s son told reporters at City Hall on Thursday that he was instructed by his teacher to “help” other students during the exams — and that they were to keep all of this a secret.

“I didn’t like the idea of cheating,” he said. “For the national exams, I’d prefer to get a bad mark through my own efforts than get good grades because I cheated.

“Moreover, my mother always told me that I have to be honest no matter what,” he added.

“And I also prepared for the national exams, so why would I cheat? Even if I did receive the answers, I wouldn’t want to see it. It goes against my principles.

“So this is why I didn’t want to distribute the answers.”

Erni Andriani, the parent of another of the school’s students, told the Jakarta Globe that she supported Winda coming forward and reporting the case because she felt let down by the school.

“I had prepared my child to take the national exams and I feel so sad and disappointed that this happened,” she said.

“This is not what I want for my child. Therefore, I support Winda’s moves in following up this case.”

Agus Suradika, deputy chief of the Jakarta Education Office, said his office would investigate the allegation by thoroughly checking the pattern of answers from the national exams.

Komnas Anak’s chairman, Arist Merdeka Sirait, however, said students should not have to retake the exams.

“I will totally reject this because this is not the solution. If a student has to retake an exam, it is as if the student was the one who made the mistake, when this is not the case,” he said.

“We expect the results of the in-depth investigation into the systematic cheating to come up with a resolution on how best to fix this matter, and problems such as this in the future.”

Politics Putting Off Nation’s Youth, With Many Blaming Rampant Graft

The Jakarta Globe

Talk of the 2014 elections has been heating up over the past few months, but most of the country’s Muslim youth don’t seem to have taken much notice.


“I have no interest in getting involved in Indonesian politics because once a person becomes a politician, they become selfish and work only for their own interests. They forget their promises to the society,” said Syaiful Huda, a 23-year-old student from Yogyakarta’s Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University.

His response echoes the results of a recent survey among almost 1,500 Indonesian Muslims aged 15-25 carried out by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) along with the Goethe Institute and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty.

Only 28.6 percent said they were interested in politics, only 16.1 percent of those eligible to vote have participated in every election and 48 percent dismiss politics as boring.

Maya Larasati, 23, from Atma Jaya University in Yogyakarta, feels the same way as Syaiful.

“I believe that I would never be able to win as a clean representative, so if I have a social mission, I would rather implement it outside our political system because our political system is so corrupt,” she said.

Jerry Sambuaga, a 25-year-old member of the Golkar Party and adviser to the speaker of the Regional Representatives Council, wasn’t surprised by the results.

However, he said that the only way to change the system was by getting involved.

“What we need to understand is that politics is part of our daily life and politics is a form of devotion especially when it comes to fighting for the public interest,” he said.

Furthermore, Jerry, who started becoming active in politics at the age of 17, said the liberalization of Indonesian politics had provided young people and women a lot more options to be heard.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a senior researcher at the LSI, told reporters on Tuesday that the younger generation had no interest in politics because there are just too many political problems, including graft, that needed to be fixed.

“It is very dangerous that we have young people who are not interested in politics as they are the future generation of Indonesia,” Burhanuddin said.

“If they are not interested, who will continue to rule this country?” he said.

“Therefore, it is very important that our politicians change their ways to bring about a better political system that can be interesting for our young generation.”

The researcher also said that there were ways out of the predicament.

“The simplest way is by improving political parties’ performance,” he said.

“[If we fix] the funding system, politicians would not be trapped in a vicious circle of corruption — and we all know that corruption has been playing a major role in making young people feel sick and tired of the Indonesian political system,” he said.

Survey Finds Conservative Youths

The Jakarta Globe

The nation’s Muslim youth are conservative, but not necessarily religious, according to a new survey released on Tuesday.


The poll found that Muslims aged 15 to 25 overwhelmingly disapproved of premarital sex, drug use and polygamy. But less than half of the respondents said they prayed five times a day.

The survey asked 1,496 Muslims about the role of Islam in their lives, political orientation and personal and professional goals.

“It needs to be understood that conservatism does not mean that a person is religious,” said Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a senior researcher at the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).

The group conducted the survey along with the Goethe Institute and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF).

Some 96.2 percent of those polled disapproved of pre-marital sex, while 88.7 percent were against alcohol consumption and 99.2 percent of taking mild illegal substances. Only 13.5 percent of respondents approved of polygamy, which is allowed in Islam. Far more women were against the practice than men.

More than half —59.6 percent — said they fasted during Ramadan. But only 28.7 percent said they prayed five times a day and a mere 11.7 percent professed to understanding much of Islam’s holy book, the Koran.

An overwhelming 90 percent said they believed it was important to believe in God, but only 60 percent felt it was important to be a good Muslim.

Nearly all of those surveyed — 95 percent — said technology was important to them, with 83 percent possessing a cellphone.

The survey was also sent to 1,060 Malaysian youths, and revealed differences between the two cultures.

More than 90 percent of Indonesians surveyed said they were unwilling to marry a partner from a different culture. Fewer Malaysians took exception to this, with 61.9 percent answering the same.

But in Islamic issues, Malaysians often emerged as the more conservative group.

The majority of Malaysian Muslims — 69.3 percent — said women should wear headscarves, while 38.1 percent of Indonesians answered the same.

When asked about corporal punishment, 71.5 percent of Malaysian agreed that thieves should lose a hand for their crime; only 49 percent of Indonesians agreed.

Similar opinons emerged on questions of the death penalty, with 92.5 percent of Malaysians in favor compared with 66 percent of Indonesians. As for flogging those caught consuming alcohol, 92 percent of Malaysian youth approved of the practice, compared with 68 percent of their neighbors.

But their values aligned on questions of politics. Muslim youth in Indonesian and Malaysia both expressed a lack of interest in the subject.

“[They] tend to distrust the government and disagree when asked whether religious leaders should play an active role in politics,” said Rainer Heufers, the representative of the LSI’s branch in Jakarta .

He said Indonesia should be viewed as a model of the integration of Islam and democracy.

“Indonesia is the role model of how much Islam is included in the Constitution and society, so Islam can be part of the solution and at the same time democracy can be preserved in Indonesia,” he said.

SBY to Focus on Migrant Protection in Geneva Address

The Jakarta Globe

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed on Monday to seek increased protections for Indonesian migrant workers during his address at the 100th International Labor Conference in Geneva today.


In a press conference prior to his departure, Yudhoyono said it was in Indonesia’s best interests to protect its workers abroad.

“That’s what I will say in my speech,” he said. “I will call on other countries that host our migrant workers to [shield them].”

He added the scope of the problems facing migrant workers was complex, which prompted the need for a national policy on managing such issues.

“Just so you know, Indonesia has ratified several very important conventions on workers,” Yudhoyono said.

“There are seven or eight key conventions. Indonesia was one of the first countries in Asean to do so. That shows how serious we are about tackling the problems facing our workers abroad.”

However, Anis Hidayah, executive director of the nongovernmental group Migrant Care, told the Jakarta Globe that the government had not ratified the International Labor Organization’s conventions on domestic workers or migrant workers.

“The government has just ratified the eight basic ILO conventions, including those on forced labor, equality and non-discrimination, freedom of association and protection of the right to organize,” she said.

“But it still hasn’t ratified the conventions on domestic workers or migrant workers. We must question why the government keeps putting of the ratification of these conventions, even in light of the fact that the conditions faced by Indonesian migrant workers are of serious concern.”

Anis said Yudhoyono’s claims of commitment to worker protection had failed to translate to action.

“It sounds like a joke when you have reports saying that Indonesia has successfully ratified the ILO conventions on migrant and domestic workers, when in fact Indonesia hasn’t done it yet.”

“So it’s very important that after the president gives his speech at the ILO conference, he must order the relevant government institutions to work on ratifying the ILO conventions.”

Retno Dewi, chairwoman of the Indonesian Workers Association (ATKI), said the failure to ratify these conventions had led to the 2004 Law on the Protection of Migrant Workers being far from effective in stipulating workers’ rights.

“Only eight of the 108 articles in the law touch on the rights of migrant workers, but they do so in a vague, ambiguous manner,” she said. Domestic workers in the country fared no better in terms of protection, she added.

“There are no laws on the statutes that recognize the rights of domestic workers,” Retno said.

Additional reporting by BeritaSatu

Producers Push for Kretek to Join Batik on World Heritage List

The Jakarta Globe
Surabaya. Amid growing demands from anti-smoking activists for tougher tobacco regulations and bans on smoking in public, cigarette lobbyists have suggested that the government apply for world heritage status for clove cigarettes.


Wahyu Hidayat, secretary general of the Association of Small-scale Clove Cigarettes Producers, said on Wednesday that clove cigarettes, known as kretek, were as much a part of Indonesian culture as batik.

While clove cigarettes can be found outside of Indonesia, kretek cigarettes originated with the Mataram sultanate in 17th century and Princess Rara Mendut, Wahyu said.

“Producing kretek cigarettes started in the era of Rara Mendut,” he said.

“The inspiration for kretek cigarettes came from here.”

Wahyu said that once kretek was registered on the World Heritage List maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), he hoped it would prompt the government to pay more attention to the “ailing kretek cigarette industry.”

He said that kretek producers were struggling to compete with large cigarette manufacturers producing regular cigarettes.

“The tobacco tax is also a major burden on us,” he said.

However, Samsul Arifien, head of the East Java Agriculture Office, said the suggestion was not likely to be considered.

“Kretek cannot be compared to batik,” he said. “All levels of Indonesian society wear batik. As for kretek, must we force people to start smoking?”

I Gusti Ngurah Putra, a spokesman for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that the ministry had not received any requests to register kretek for Unesco world heritage status.

“However, we will welcome all cultural heritage suggestions that are registered by any citizen,” Putra said.

Indonesia is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region that has not yet ratified the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The agreement requires members to ban all tobacco advertising, including sponsorships and promotions and create no-smoking zones.

The lack of action has led activists to describe Indonesian programs to fight tobacco addiction, especially among young smokers, as the “worst in the world.”

Official data show that more than 60 percent of Indonesian men are cigarette smokers, while more than 43 million children live with smokers.

Unesco has already recognized batik, the kris (Javanese ceremonial dagger) and the angklung musical instrument as world cultural heritage items from Indonesia.

Deal Pledges ‘Safe Havens,’ Support for Domestic Abuse Victims

The Jakarta Globe

The Social Affairs Ministry and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency on Tuesday announced they were teaming up to provide safe havens for domestic abuse victims and others vulnerable to abuse.

Harry Hikmat, the ministry’s director of children’s services, told the Jakarta Globe that his office had signed an agreement with the agency, as known as the LPSK, on Monday to provide social services for witnesses and victims of certain crimes.

“We need each other to implement social rehabilitation for victims and witnesses of certain criminal acts such as domestic violence,” he said.

“The ministry can provide the facilities such as rehabilitation centers, while the LPSK has a stronger legal basis to provide protection.”

Harry acknowledged that the ministry’s own mandate to offer protection to victims and witnesses was weak.

“Although the 2004 Law on the Elimination of Domestic Abuse allows for us to offer temporary protection for up to seven days, sometimes family members of the victim or witness refuse to allow government to get involved,” he said.

“Therefore the LPSK’s involvement will be much needed.” He said that victims of domestic violence would be placed in protection centers provided by the ministry.

“Female victims will be placed in the women’s protection center, while children will be placed in the juvenile protection center,” he said.

“Juvenile victims will also get psychological and physical check-ups, then we’ll follow up with a case discussion and protection plan, including the issue of custody and education, because we don’t want the children to have their studies disrupted.”

Harry added that during their stay in the protection centers, the adult victims and witnesses would get skills training.

“The government will also give them start-up capital of Rp 5 million to Rp 10 million [$585 to $1,170], depending on their skills,” he said.

“Once they’re ready to go back into society, their skills will allow them to create their own jobs and be financially independent.”

There were more than 105,000 reports of abuse of women last year, according to the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) and its partners nationwide, 96 percent of which were incidents of domestic violence.

Sri Nurherawati, a commissioner in charge of recovery, said the government must make sure there is strong legal protection for victims of domestic violence under the terms of the new MoU.

“The implementation of the MoU will be successful only if the victims’ rights can be fully respected, be it the right to the truth, to rehabilitation or to justice,” she said.

“They must be free from any abuse and terror before and after the legal process is done, and they must be allowed to go back into society without any stigma for being victims of domestic violence. They must be entitled to their full social, cultural and economic rights.”

Navy Set to Spend $1b on New Subs

The Jakarta Globe

Navy Set to Spend $1b on New Subs
A$1 billion budget has been drawn up this year to fulfill a six-year-old plan to purchase one or two new submarines for the Navy. 

Navy spokesman First Admiral Tri Prasojo said on Monday that the country had been looking to add to its aging submarine fleet in 2005, but budget problems and a desire to ensure the best-quality vessels were procured had caused the plan to be delayed. 

“The government has been planning to purchase submarines since 2005 because, as a large country, the Navy has been lacking facilities,” he said. “Currently, we only have two submarines.” 

He said the two German-made submarines — KRI Cakra and KRI Nanggala, which are based in Surabaya — were purchased in the 1980s but were still in a good condition. 

“However, since Indonesia has a long coastline, we need a minimum of 10 submarines: Three for western, central and eastern Indonesia, another three for training and four for standby,” he said. 

But the $1 billion budget will likely only be enough to buy one or two submarines. In 2005, the government earmarked $700 million for the purchase of two submarines, with each being costed at about $350 million. 

According to Prasojo, the 2005 price had not risen. 

“We do not know yet how many submarines we are going to buy with the budget because it will depend on the results of the negotiation process,” he said. 

Prasojo said the Navy had already formed an evaluation team to negotiate the price. However, he declined to name which countries the Navy was looking to purchase the submarines from. 

“We are prioritizing the technical and operational requirements that our Navy needs,” he said. “Of course, the most important thing is the quality, and it takes some time to work out the technical details.” 

Prasojo said the purchase price was expected to include complete weapons systems and mechanical and operational training for Navy personnel. 

“We just want the procurement process be completed as soon as possible,” he said. 

“The latest should be by the end of this year.” 

The government has in the past said it is looking to purchase submarines from Russia, among other countries.