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Happy Easter! Selamat Paskah! INFID News INFID is organising the
international conference on "Alternative Solutions for Indonesia’s
Debt". Information and online registration available at http://infid.ngonet.be/conference.html. During the conference, on April 8, 2002, the
INFID European Liaison Office will be closed. The INFID European Liaison Office
will be closed on Monday, April 1, 2002. For urgent matters, please contact
the INFID Secretariat in Jakarta. INFID Related Issues Debt Indonesia’s long-term sovereign
ratings are still at risk of a downgrade to "selective default"
despite recent positive economic and political developments, according to
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on March 26. Takahira Ogawa,
director of sovereign ratings at S&P in Singapore said that Indonesia’s
ratings hinge on whether Paris Club creditors will demand equal treatment for
private lenders in rescheduling the country’s huge debt burden at talks next
month. A downgrade to selective default would make it more difficult for
Indonesia to attract foreign capital and would increase the cost of
borrowing. On March 25 Finance Minister Boediono stated that Indonesia would
seek to reschedule less than US$5.5 billion debt. But this made little
difference to the ratings outlook, Ogawa said. He also said that he did not
know where Boediono got the figure from nor whether the minister anticipated
any chance that the Paris Club would ask private lenders to share the burden. Downgrade or not, investors
actually have already packed their suitcases. A new survey on Japanese
companies found that Indonesia continued to fall further behind China and
Thailand in the competition for Japanese investment. Indonesia scored lower
than both China and Thailand in domestic infrastructure, legal framework and
domestic political and social situation, according to the 2001 survey by the
Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) published this month. JBIC
is the Japanese government’s agency for the channelling of official aid.
Indonesia’s debt to the Japanese government amount to over US$27 billion, the
largest figure among all of the countries receiving aid from Japan. Japan is
Indonesia’s largest source of private direct investment. Link: Shunned by investors (The
Jakarta Post Editorial) http://infid.ngonet.be/shunned.html Despite all the pessimism,
economic observer Martin Panggabean believes the rescheduling of Indonesia’s
debt in next Paris Club meeting will be a successful one. According to
Martin, there are four main reasons why it will go smoothly. First,
Boediono’s visits to several creditor nations have resulted in rescheduling
commitments. Second, as the next Paris Club meeting is approaching,
Indonesia’s relation with donor countries becomes better than it was before
previous Paris Club meetings. Third, Indonesia at present is in the same
commitment with the creditor countries in regard to the law enforcement
issue. The BCA sale will also give a positive impact on the next Paris
negotiation. Last, the creditor nations, which are also US allies, will
support the rescheduling for the sake of the anti-terror alliance. Sources: Reuters 25-26/03, JP22/02,
SPD 27/03 General News War on Terror The US will not deploy its troops
in Indonesia to train the military, but will pursue the alleged terrorists
operating in the country through law enforcement agencies, New York Times
(NYT) reported on March 21. However, military contacts might resume for relief
operations, and it is still possible that the two militaries train together,
Paul D. Wolfowitz said as reported by NYT. Washington Post editorial on March
22 also suggested "appropriate ways" in engaging Indonesian
military (TNI) to take on terrorists. This is should be done in a way that do
not undermine "a democratic government that is at least trying to move
in the right direction", the editorial stressed. The Indonesian government has just
banned a foreign journalist for his reporting on human right issues and
denied on March 26 that it was a blow to press freedom. The government blamed
the reporter for causing the refusal to extend his working visa, saying his
reporting was authoritative. Links: Facing Indonesia
(Editorial, Washington Post) http://infid.ngonet.be/facing.html, Rules out training Indonesia Army, but will
aid its Antiterror Police (New York Times) http://infid.ngonet.be/ruleout.html Sources: NYT 22/03, WP 22/03, AFP
26/03 Tommy Soeharto Tommy Soeharto, youngest son of
Indonesia’s former president, went on trial on March 20 for the alleged murder
of the judge who convicted him of graft. He is also charged with illegal
possession of firearms and with flight from justice. If convicted he faces a
maximum penalty of death. He is currently jailed in one of the country’s
infamous installations, the Cipinang prison. So he must be having a miserable
time. Especially since he enjoyed for years a life that most Indonesians
could only dream about. He owned dozens of luxury cars, dated models and
movie stars and had an international business empire worth an estimated
US$800 million. Well, he has not. Besides the
cheering letters from his fans, Tommy continues to enjoy many facilities
behind the bars, facilities that are envied even by those millions of free
Indonesians. Details on Tommy’s Cipinang Palace:
http://infid.ngonet.be/palace.html. Sources: ST 21/03, AFP 20/03, TM
26/03-01/04 Regional News Aceh Peace will not dawn in Aceh
anytime soon, International Crisis Group (ICG) concludes in its newest report
on Aceh. The special autonomy offer probably is "the only realistic
chance of an eventual compromise peace", the report says. Complete
report: www.crisisweb.org. Source: ICG 28/03 Papua TNI Headquarters has found the
suspects on the murder of Theys Hiyo Eluay which allegedly involved military
personnel. TNI Spokesperson Maj. Gen. Syafrie Syamsuddin said on March 26
that there was strong indications TNI personnel had been involved but refused
to mention names. He also said that TNI had never ordered the murder of
Theys. But he also refused to confirm there had been insubordination. "I
can’t say it’s a insubordination. I am not the investigator", Syafrie
dodged. Source: KCM 26/03 Human Rights Human Rights Trial TNI defence lawyers on March 25
slammed Indonesia’s new human rights court as a tool of foreign powers as the
trial resumed of five army and police officers accused of gross human rights
violations in East Timor 1999. A statement, read out in turn by defence
lawyers, argued the rights court had no authority to hear case. They said
some of the charges were criminal charges and not gross violations of human
rights, that the court had no jurisdiction over East Timor and that it was
set up through a flawed regulation that violates the constitution. The
lawyers also argued the East Timor violence was not the act of Indonesian
security personnel or official policy but resulted from "the legacy of
latent enmity within an ethnic group for over 20 years". They said violence
was exclusively between East Timorese from opposing camps – pro-Indonesia and
pro-independence. They also said the violence was sparked off by alleged
fraud in the United Nations-organised independence ballot on August 30, 1999. Jakarta has come under strong
international pressure to punish the atrocities but international right
groups are sceptical that the rights court will deliver justice. None of the
defendants is in custody. Source: AFP 25/03 Abbreviations AFP Agence France-Presse Stichting TitanE |