The Jakarta Globe

Women’s Activist Gives ‘Posturing’ Female Politicians a Dressing Down

The Jakarta Globe

Female legislators and regional heads are failing to use their positions to promote gender equality, a women’s rights activist said on Tuesday.


Dwi Windyastuti, a researcher from Surabaya’s Airlangga University, said most Indonesian women tended to enter politics simply to enhance their social standing rather than champion women’s causes.

“Affluent businesswomen are more likely than other women to enter politics, which is due to the high cost of vying for public office, particularly a position as regional head,” she said.

“As a consequence, their motivation for getting into politics is more about gaining personal prestige than about improving social standards through a gender-based perspective.”

She added women in politics tended to emulate their male peers by prioritizing position and power over all else.

“Once these women get their positions, they forget that they’re meant to represent the country’s women,” Dwi said.

“They forget that they should be fighting for gender equality by addressing domestic violence, championing reproductive health awareness and ending human trafficking.”

Meanwhile, a 2010 UN Development Program Indonesia report points out that only 17.32 percent of seats at the House of Representatives (DPR) are occupied by women, up from 11.8 percent prior to the 2009 elections.

The report said there is only one woman among the country’s 33 governors — Ratu Atut Chosiyah of Banten province — along with 38 female district heads and five female ministers.

Angelina Sondakh, a House legislator and deputy secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party, said that while they remain outnumbered by men in politics, women are now increasingly taking up more important positions.

“In the past, you’d rarely see women serve in strategic positions, but now [female legislators’ roles] are improving,” she said.

She added that political parties should not only be concerned about meeting the quota to assign 30 percent of their House seats to women, they should also give them key positions in the party and the House.

However, Eva Kusuma Sundari, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that “We still have a long way to go if female politicians are to play a role as agents of change.”

Indonesia Church ‘Warned’ of Attack

The Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. An official from Bekasi’s secretariat on Monday accused the leaders of a local church of failing to heed repeated warnings from the city administration to move their prayer services away from an empty field because it might incite conflict.


Testifying as a witness in the trial of 13 men accused of assaulting two leaders of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in Bekasi, Zaki Oetomo told the Bekasi District Court that the attack on Asia Sihombing and the Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak occurred because they had ignored requests to use another venue.

During the Sept. 12 assault, Asia was stabbed while Luspida was beaten with a bamboo stick.

One of the defendants standing trial is Murhali Barda, the suspended leader of the Bekasi chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

The incident occurred as the congregation was on its way to a vacant lot in Ciketing, where it had been holding services after authorities sealed off the residential house it was using as a church in Pondok Timur Indah.

Zaki confirmed that the city administration had instructed the congregation on July 9 to no longer use the house, while permission was granted for the congregation to instead use its vacant lot in Ciketing.

“But ever since we allowed them to hold their services there, there have been continuous demonstrations from local residents in Ciketing,” Zaki told the court.

“We, from the administration, continued to monitor the situation. I personally went there three times to monitor what was going on,” he added.

“We learned that the situation was getting worse each time, so Bekasi’s deputy mayor advised the congregation to move their prayer services to a building on Jalan Chairil Anwar in East Bekasi. This request was made official through a letter the city issued on July 21.”

Zaki said he regretted the attitude of the church’s leaders for ignoring the administration’s advice. “If they had listened to us, this incident would not have occurred. The administration advised them to move, not because we were denying them their religious rights; We were genuinely worried about their security.”

The trial was adjourned until Thursday.

In a separate development, the Cibinong District Court in Bogor on Monday began the trial of three men for an attack on the Ahmadiyah community in October last year. The incident saw a mob of hundreds ransack and burn down houses, schools and a mosque in Cisalada village, home to 600 followers of the minority sect, which is deemed deviant by many mainstream Muslims.

The defendants, Dede Novi, 18, Aldi, 18, and Akbar, 17, were charged them with destruction of property and violence.

News portal VIVAnews reported that thousands of supporters of the three arrived at the court in minibuses, demanding their release. The hearing was adjourned till next Wednesday.

Dozens of police and military personnel guarded the Cisalada village on Monday in case of an attack

Moratorium Putting Maids Out of Work, Activists Say

The Jakarta Globe

The government moratorium on sending Indonesian domestic migrant workers to Malaysia has worsened the unemployment situation in the country, as alternative jobs have not been provided for the thousands of workers slated to leave for Malaysia, activists said on Sunday.


Speaking at a women’s rights seminar in Jakarta on Sunday, Thaufiek Zulbahary, head of the migration program division from the group Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights (Solidaritas Perempuan), said imposing the ban was a responsive move but not the best solution to tackle violence against Indonesian migrant workers.

“The government does not care about what happens to the workers [barred from leaving for Malaysia in 2009]. The workers were simply sent back to their villages without being given any alternative prospects for employment,” Thaufiek said.

“The reason those workers chose to look for jobs in Malaysia as domestic helpers in the first place was because they had no opportunities in other sectors in their home country,” she added.

The moratorium has been in place since 2009, when an increasing number of cases of abuse against Indonesian domestic workers sparked outrage in the country.

Malaysia and Indonesia are still in the process of discussing terms and conditions for the moratorium to be lifted.

According to the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI), approximately 36,000 workers were barred from leaving for Malaysia in June 2009 when the moratorium was implemented.

The House of Representatives was scheduled to revise the 2004 Law on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Abroad in 2010, but the bill is still pending.

Roostiawati, head of foreign cooperation at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration’s directorate for overseas worker placement, said the government had no plans to revoke the moratorium in the near future.

“We will only revoke the moratorium on sending migrant workers to Malaysia once we have improved the system for protecting our workers,” she said.

“Ensuring the protection of our migrant workers will require cooperation from other departments and ministries.”

Roostiawati said that from January this year, her ministry would be working in partnership with labor-intensive sectors on plans to absorb the prospective migrant workers into domestic industries.

The ministry is currently researching the industry potential of 159 districts in West Java, Central Java and West Nusa Tenggara where many applicants for overseas work come from.

The ministry hopes to accommodate potential migrant workers in factories, agriculture, plantations and handicrafts so they will not need to look for work abroad

Jakarta’s Suicide Hotline Ringing Off The Hook: Ministry

The Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. The Ministry of Health’s suicide hotline has seen a sharp rise in the number of calls since its launch almost three months ago, officials said on Friday.


Dr. Bella Patriajaya, chairwoman of the Suharto Heerjan Mental Health Hospital, said more Jakartans were turning to the crisis center, reached at the hotline number 500-454, for help with their emotional problems.

“[Before], there were only three or four people calling a day,” said Bella, who works at the West Jakarta hospital chosen by the ministry to run the project.

“After the center was [mentioned] in the media in early January, the number of [callers] is now increasingly high,” he said.

Bella said about 50 to 60 calls were now handled by 30 trained counselors at the 24-hour center, launched on World Mental Health Day in October last year.

The ministry created the center to help reduce the number of suicides in the city.

While no official statistics are available to indicate rising suicides, the Jakarta Police reported 81 cases of suicide last year.

Newspapers have recently reported cases of people jumping to their deaths from mall balconies or stepping in front of trains.

Though the majority of callers at the crisis center confessed to wanting to kill themselves, Bella said, the rest experienced depression and other mental disorders.

Most of the callers, he said, were between the ages of 30 and 50, suffering from a variety of problems, from stress to relationship woes.

“It varies, ranging from job loss, like being demoted,” Bella said. “If it’s a teenager, usually the problem is romance troubles with the opposite sex.

“If the person is above 50 years old complaining about love, usually it’s because their children all live in different cities.”

Dr. Irmansyah, chairman of the Health Ministry’s directorate for medical care, said counselors at the center were not expected to solve problems but should listen with a sympathetic ear.

“If necessary, the caller will be advised to seek optimal care in a hospital, or inform them of the nearest mental health services,” Irmansyah said.

He said the ministry was planning to scale up the project and launch crisis hotlines beyond the capital, especially in stressful areas such as big cities.

World Health Organization data from 2001 pegs the country’s suicide rate at 1.6 to 1.8 incidents per 100,000 people. However, Irmansyah said the number could be “much larger.”

“In Jakarta alone, the suicide rate is more than 10 cases per month,” he said

Residency for Mixed-Marriage Spouses Back on the Agenda

The Jakarta Globe

Foreigners married to Indonesians could finally be granted permanent resident status if landmark proposed changes are made to the highly unpopular 1992 Immigration Law.


The draft amendment to the law has been with the House of Representatives since July 2009, but House members backing the bill have recently invited public discussion on the issue, helping it to regain momentum.

Under the law, foreign spouses of Indonesian citizens are not granted permanent residency and must instead possess a valid work permit to remain in the country.

That also applies to adult children from the marriage. Gayus Lumbuun, a member of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs and is deliberating the draft amendment, said on Wednesday that employment should not be the defining criteria for granting permanent residency to foreign spouses, as it is at present.

“Mixed-marriage couples have long been a reality in this country but the government continues to give them a hard time by making it difficult for spouses to obtain permanent residency,” he said.

“Therefore we need to help spouses achieve their goal of staying with their families in the country.”

However, he said any amendment should not allow for unscrupulous foreigners to gain residency through a contract marriage with an Indonesian.

“As such, applicants should meet a minimum time requirement of being married to the same person,” he said.

Julie Mace, a representative for the International Rainbow Alliance (APAB) and the Indonesian Mixed Marriage Society (PerCa Indonesia), suggested several amendments to the law, including that requirements for permanent residency be clearly regulated.

Another is to allow permanent residency for adult offspring retaining their foreign parent’s nationality but wanting to stay in Indonesia.

She said that foreign spouses were essentially treated like migrant workers, despite having family in the country. “It’s not fair for our families,” she said.

“The government needs to change the 1992 Immigration Law, especially with regard to the permanent residency issue.”

She added it was impractical to force spouses and adult offspring to get a work permit, which requires that the applicant have certain skills, work experience and a corporate sponsor.

“What if the son or daughter is only 22, just out of college in the foreign parent’s country, where they may be eligible for free education, and now wants to come back and work in Indonesia?” Julie asked.

“They don’t have the necessary work experience, and while they can stay here on a social visit visa, it doesn’t allow them to work, which is what they need to gain experience.”

TV Show Canceled At Urging Of Police

The Jakarta Globe

A television station in East Java’s Malang district has pulled a musical based on the life of a national hero after police voiced concerns about the program’s “communist” content.


Batu TV was visited by intelligence officials from the local police department to inquire about the musical, based on the life of nationalist and communist leader Tan Malaka.

Sr. Comr. Yantofan, a spokesman for the Batu Police, said the officers found indications of communist-related content in the recorded musical, though he did not provide any details.

“ ‘Opera Tan Malaka’ is totally different from the film ‘G30S/PKI,’ which dealt with the topic of communism in a more traditional way,” Yantofan said on Tuesday.

“G30S/PKI” is a film promoting the Suharto government’s vision of the events surrounding a failed coup d’etat in 1965, which was blamed on communists.

“Because there are elements of communism [in the musical], Batu TV should not broadcast it,” Yantofan said. “And even if Batu TV wants to broadcast it, I wonder who will watch it as [the recording] is blurry.”

Adj. Comr. Kuncoro, an intelligence official from the Batu Police who visited the TV station last Thursday, said the visit was not to ban the program, but simply to “get information about the substance of the program, ‘Opera Tan Malaka.’ ”

“I met with Andry Hoediono, the director of Batu TV. He told me that he had not watched the recorded musical but promised that Batu TV would not broadcast the recording,” Kuncoro told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

The musical was produced by Tempo TV, a television production company that offered the package to 45 television stations in the country. Ten stations agreed to air the musical on different dates in January.

“Unfortunately, of the 10 stations, Batu TV and KSTV in Kediri [East Java] canceled their broadcasts of ‘Opera Tan Malaka’ after they were visited by intelligence officials from local police departments and were urged not to broadcast it,” said Eri Sutrisno, from TempoTV.

Muftie Ali, the operational coordinator of KSTV, confirmed that intelligence officials from the Kediri Police had visited the station.

“The intelligence officials who came to see us never banned the film, they just advised against broadcasting the film because it contains communist elements,” he said.

Nezar Patria, the chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalist (AJI), criticized the police’s handling of the program.

He also pointed out that the musical had already been performed live for hundreds of people in October. 

“If there is a problem on Tan Malaka, then why can we still enjoy the book about Tan Malaka nowadays? So, it is clear to see that the problem is the lack of understanding of the country’s history at a local level,” he said.

Nezar regretted that BatuTV and KSTV decision to submit to the intelligence units suggestion for canceling the broadcasting of the Opera Tan Malaka.

HKBP Leaders Testify About Alleged Attack on Church by FPI Hard-Liners

The Jakarta Globe

Two protestant congregation leaders testified in the Bekasi District Court on Monday about a brutal attack on one of their church’s services in September at which both were injured.


The Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak and Asia Sihombing of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) were presented as witnesses in the case against 13 men accused of brutally assaulting them on Sept. 12, 2010.

Asia was stabbed during the attack while Luspida was beaten with a bamboo stick. The incident occurred as the congregation was making its way to a vacant lot in Ciketing, where it had been holding services after authorities sealed off the home that the HKBP had used as a church in Pondok Timur Indah.

Luspida told the court the congregation had received written permission from the regional secretary of Bekasi to use the vacant lot after their church had been shut.

“We first moved our Sunday service to Ciketing on July 11, 2010. However, before we ran our first Sunday service there, several protest banners had been erected saying that the local residents did not want us there,” Luspida said. “We didn’t think our Sunday service would really disturb anyone in the area, so we went ahead and conducted our normal activities such as praying and preaching.”

Luspida told the court she had held a dialogue with the protesters before the assault, including with Murhali Barda, the leader of the Bekasi chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), about conducting a church service on the lot at Ciketing. During the talk she presented letters from authorities granting her church permission to hold services there, but she said the FPI rejected her argument.

Asia Sihombing, secretary of the Bekasi congregation, told the court that the protests started in December 2009 when the HKBP was holding Sunday Masses in the house in Pondok Timur Indah.

Asia also testified that the HKBP had received a letter from the regional secretary allowing them to use the vacant lot in Ciketing after they were evicted from their house of worship.

Following the leaders’ testimonies, defendant Murhali’s lawyer, Shalih Manggara Sitompul, presented two letters to the court from local authorities advising the HKBP against holding Sunday services at the vacant lot and directing them to use the sports building at Jl. Chairil Anwar in East Bekasi instead for Masses.

“They were advised by the government not to hold their service in the vacant lot, but proceeded to ignore that advice. That is why the local residents rejected the church holding their services there,” he said.

Judge Wasdi Permana reviewed the letters presented by Shalih and concluded that the local authorities had indeed advised the HKBP not to worship at the vacant lot.

“This is not an issue of obstructing the congregation’s freedom of religion but they were reminded even by the government not to hold services there. But they neglected this advice,” Shalih added.

He also insisted on his client’s innocence because of the 11 eyewitnesses presented thus far, none have implicated Murhali. Shalih asked that his client therefore be released from detention. He further claimed that Luspida and Petersen Purba had not been truthful under questioning.

The hearings will continue at the district court on Thursday with more testimony from eyewitnesses.

KPK Moves to Investigate Use of Football Funds

The Jakarta Globe

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has said it will call for a thorough audit of the funds set aside by the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) for the improvement of teams across the country.


Johan Budi, spokesman for the KPK, said on Friday that the commission had preliminary findings pointing to the possible misuse of state funds earmarked for football teams nationwide.

“We believe there is unrecorded usage of funds by the PSSI,” Johan told the Jakarta Globe.

“The funds from the government to improve the quality of football teams nationwide are disbursed through the PSSI, which receives the funding through the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs as well as KONI [the National Sports Committee of Indonesia].

“However, based on information and data we received a few days before the AFF [Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup] finals, there is a discrepancy in the usage of funding by the PSSI.

“Therefore, we require an audit to check if all the funds were used correctly or otherwise. We ourselves plan to review the PSSI.”

Indonesia lost 4-2 on aggregate to Malaysia in the final, with the first leg played at Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil Stadium on Dec. 26 and the second leg taking place at Gelora Bung Karno on Dec. 29.

On the matter of the PSSI allegedly sending free tickets to state officials to watch the final — which the KPK considers bribery — Johan said the KPK had yet to invite the general secretary of the PSSI, Nugraha Besoes, for questioning.

“We have only written him a letter to clarify whether or not the PSSI had sent off free tickets to state officials. Other than that, we have not taken any further action so far,” he said.

PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid was previously jailed for corruption, though he continued to serve as chairman from behind bars.

State, NGO Offer Opposing Claims About Maid’s Rape in Malaysia

The Jakarta Globe

Camelia Pasandaran, Elisabeth Oktofani & Antara

The state body in charge of migrant workers’ welfare denied allegations that an Indonesian maid had been raped by a Malaysian government minister three years ago, but an NGO said otherwise.


Jumhur Hidayat, chairman of the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI), said on Friday that the maid, identified as Rubingah, had denied being raped.

“There has been a direct written explanation from Rubingah that she was never raped while working in Malaysia,” Jumhur was quoted by Antara as saying.

The rape allegation emerged earlier this month in Malaysian media, based on a WikiLeaks document of an investigation by Migrant Care, an Indonesian nongovernmental organization.

The alleged perpetrator, Rais Yatim, Malaysia’s minister of communication and culture, has vehemently denied the claims.

But Anis Hidayah, Migrant Care’s director, said Rubingah had claimed at the time that she had been raped.

“She told us in 2007 that she was raped,” Anis said.

“We never meant to publicize the investigation, but after it was reported by WikiLeaks, we’ve had to open it.”

“We’re not in a position to say whether the allegations are true or not, and I don’t wish to go against the BNP2TKI’s statement,” she added.

Migrant Care, she said, had already submitted a copy of its 2007 investigation report to the National Police and the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

She urged the state to speed up the implementation of a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia on increased protection for Indonesian migrant workers.

The two countries have been deadlocked over the issues of minimum wages for migrant workers and who must shoulder workers’ placement fees.

Wahyu Susilo, a migrant worker policy analyst, said the memorandum’s provisions should comply with International Labor Organization standards to prevent the exploitation of Indonesian workers in Malaysia.

“Currently, employers don’t allow their workers to retain their own passports or to have a weekly day off,” he said.

Many Indonesian workers, he added, are also barred from associating with fellow workers or contacting their embassy.

But Anis said it would be hard to get the two governments to adopt ILO standards since neither country had laws enshrining these protections.

“If both countries had laws guaranteeing workers’ rights as per ILO standards, then they could implement the [memorandum] sooner,” she said.

Both countries, she added, had also failed to ratify the pertinent ILO conventions.

Neither Indonesia nor Malaysia has ratified Convention 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining. Indonesia has not ratified Conventions 138 and 182 on abolishing child labor.

Malaysia did ratify Convention 105 on eliminating forced and compulsory labor in 1958, only to reverse its decision in 1990.

Anis said it was crucial to have the memorandum in place to end worker abuse as well as to prevent Indonesian workers from going to Malaysia illegally to find work, in defiance of a moratorium imposed by Jakarta in the wake of abuses.

Worship Decree an Excuse For Attack

The Jakarta Globe

Elisabeth Oktofani & Yuli Krisna

Two men standing trial for a brutal assault on two church leaders in Bekasi told the district court on Thursday that they had been motivated to confront the victims because of a government decree that placed restrictions on houses of worship.


In total, 13 men stand accused of assaulting Asia Sihombing and the Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak, leaders of a congregation of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP), on Sept. 12.

Asia was stabbed during the attack while Luspida was beaten with a bamboo stick.

The incident occurred as the congregation was on its way to a vacant lot in Ciketing, where it had been holding services after authorities sealed off the home it was using as a church in Pondok Timur Indah.

Questioned by prosecutor Indra Pribadi, the first defendant, Supriyanto, said that even though he was not from Bekasi, he had been motivated to confront the church leaders by updates on the Facebook page of Murhali Barda, a suspended leader of the Bekasi chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). Murhali is also a suspect in the case.

Indra read out one of Murhali’s updates to the court. “Praise be to God. Reskon Sitorus, the HKBP priest who likes to hide under a woman’s armpit, I challenge you to show up.

On the 12th [of September] we will fight one-on-one,” it said. “Hey, you priests who like to use their congregation to gain popularity and respect, I challenge you next Sunday.”

Supriyanto told the hearing that news about the Ciketing services had made him angry.

“More so after reading Murhali’s Facebook update. I was motivated to help the government to enforce the law.”

A 2006 joint ministerial decree on houses of worship requires the approval of at least 60 residents in the immediate vicinity of a house of worship, copies of 90 identity cards from congregation members and written recommendations from the local offices of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interreligious Communication Forum (FKUB).

Supriyanto added that he did not know Murhali personally, having only met him on Sept. 12, the day of the attack, at Miftahul Jannah Mosque in Ciketing.

Meanwhile, Ade Firman, another defendant in the case, said he had met with at least eight of the other suspects at an Islamic get-together when he received a message from Murhali.

“It said that society should reject the HKBP’s Sunday services in the vacant lot in Ciketing because it violated the 2006 joint ministerial decree,” he said.

Ade said Murhali had suggested they meet at Nurul Huda Mosque, which is located some distance away from Miftahul Jannah Mosque.

“We did not get to Nurul Huda because before we could, we saw the HKBP congregation. We saw some of the congregation members beating up a motorcyclist,” he said.

“Some minutes later, I saw a motorbike with three people coming toward me. I was trying to defend myself and I hit the woman who was sitting on the back of the motorcycle.”

The woman that was hit was identified as Luspida.

The motorcyclist allegedly beaten by the HKBP congregation was Ismail bin Abdullah, another defendant who addressed the court on Thursday.

“I was driving my bike when suddenly the HKBP congregation got hold of me and called me a thief,” he said.

“All I knew was that I was supposed to meet my friends for a get-together at the Nurul Huda Mosque. Ade asked some of us to go to Ciketing, but he did not explain why.”