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Title 

Short News Overview.

No

90

Period

09 May 2002 – 16 May 2002

INFID Related Issues

Debt

Indonesia wants to reschedule its commercial bank debts as soon as possible to underpin improving investor confidence in the country, Finance Minister Boediono said on May 11. The Paris Club of sovereign creditors agreed last month to reschedule $5.4 billion of debt and interest, a generous settlement that bankers said reflected Jakarta's progress on economic reforms and a desire to encourage its co-operation in the global campaign against terrorism. In line with the Paris Club's principle of comparable treatment, Indonesia must now seek to reschedule $340 million of debt owed to the London Club of commercial banks that falls due between April 2002 and December 2003. Some economists have expressed concern that banks will be more reluctant than governments to reschedule interest payments, and Boediono, while saying he was optimistic, acknowledged the importance of the principle of equal treatment. During an earlier presentation to bankers and investors, the minister gave no date for the London Club meeting but said central bank negotiators had already made initial contact.

Source: Reuters 11/05

General News

VP Hamzah strikes back

VP Hamzah Haz lashed out his critics on May 10, calling un-Islamic those who disapproved of his visit to detained Laskar Jihad commander Ja’far Umar Thalib. He also brushed aside suggestions that his visit to Ja’far had hurt his relationship with President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who has been accused by some Muslim leaders of engineering Ja’far’s arrest. An adviser to the President said that Megawati had been quite offended by Hamzah because he seemed to be defending Ja’far instead of standing by her government’s decision. Instead of retreating, Hamzah openly contradicted the President. He opened a Laskar Jihad meeting on May 13 and said he did not know about the government plan to arrest Ja’far though sources insisted that Ms Megawati had consulted him several days beforehand. At the meeting Hamzah reiterated his position that Laskar Jihad should withdraw from the Maluku conflict only after the government made sure rival Christian FKM was disbanded and it was ‘safe for Muslim there’.
Hamzah has come under strong criticism over his decision to visit Ja’far at the Jakarta Police Headquarters on May 9. MPR Speaker Amien Rais accused Hamzah of intervening in the investigation process, while some political analysts suggested that Hamzah was trying to win the support of Muslims in the lead up to the 2004 general election. Political observer Arbi Sanit and sociologist Tamrin Amal Tomagola are among those who slammed Hamzah’s action. They said the visit gave the impression that the vice president sided with the detained Islamic militia leader. Foreign media even went further saying the visit showed that the vice president was supporting the Islamic militia in Maluku.
Leaders of the country’s two largest Muslim organisations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, declined to comment on the matter. NU chairperson Hasyim Muzadi said he would not comment on Hamzah’s visit before he received an explanation from the vice president. Muhammadiyah chairperson Syafi’i Ma’arif said that Hamzah’s visit was simply a humane action, and he refused to comment further. Muhammadiyah secretary-general Din Syamsudin said that Hamzah’s was not an extraordinary action. According to him, it was normal that Hamzah visited a fellow Muslim in his capacity as the chairperson of PPP and at the same time gathered support for his party.
Hamzah is courting the militants to shore up his power base. Recently he invited several extremists to his house for dinner. Among those invited were Ja’faar, Abu Bakar Bashir, accused by Malaysia and Singapore of being linked to Al-Qaeda, and Al-Habib Muhammad Rizieg bin Hussein Syihab, who threatened last year to expel Americans from Indonesia.

Sources: JP 10/05, 11/05, ST 14/05, Metro 14/05 (Flemish edition), ST 16/05

Next TNI Chief

President Megawati’s nomination of current Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto as new commander of TNI chief drew mixed reactions from political and military analysts and activists. Director of PBHI Hendardi said the decision to nominate Endriartono as the sole candidate had strengthened speculation on the return of conservatism into the President’s policy on the powerful military. Military analyst M.T. Arifin said Endriartono was the best of the available candidates to head the military. J. Kristiadi of CSIS said Endriartono was a better choice than the other candidate proposed by the military promotions council, former Army chief Gen. Tyasno Sudarto.

Sources: JP 15/05, Reuters 13/05

Trip to East Timor

Leading politicians opposed to President Megawati’s visit to East Timor have shifted their combative tone overnight, now that it is clear that the President will stick to her plan. DPR Speaker Akbar Tandjung who initially suggested that the President should postpone the visit, hailed on May 15 her planned trip to Dili because, "she will also pay a visit to the Indonesian Military Cemetery" in East Timor. Akbar said late last month, "The President should listen to the suggestions from the House. It's better for the government not to go there." MPR Speaker Amien Rais who last month urged Megawati to skip the Dili visit, said on Wednesday, "It's her right to go there," and that he only hoped the trip would bring more benefits than losses. Amien who chairs the fifth largest party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), previously said that there ought to be a longer period for the Indonesian government to assess the situation, including the unresolved problem of thousands of East Timorese refugees in Indonesia's territories. If the government ignored the problem and paid a visit to Dili, he said, then it would not be a wise decision. "But, the government has made the decision and we must support it. Let's back Megawati's visit. May it be a successful visit," he exclaimed on May 15.

Source: JP 16/05

Regional News

Aceh

Indonesia and GAM officials agreed last week in Geneva that an autonomy package offered by Indonesia could be a starting point for negotiating a settlement to end violence in Aceh. But less than 24 hours after the meeting ended, security forces shot dead a leading GAM separatist near the province’s capital of Banda Aceh. Indonesia’s chief negotiator, Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, said that time differences had kept the results of the Geneva meeting from reaching Aceh before the shooting. GAM and Aceh rights groups slammed the killing, saying Jakarta needs to shift its focus to resolve the Aceh dispute in a non-violent way.
On May  10, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said that Indonesia was likely to halt future peace talks with GAM if GAM did not move in the direction of the government’s proposal.

Sources: Reuters 14/05, JP 11/05

Human Rights

East Timor Trial

A major international think-tank has attacked Indonesia’s human rights tribunal on East Timor, saying the military’s version of events is being reinforced by prosecutors. “In the sloppiness of their work, the prosecutors have not only helped the defendants, they have trivialised the whole concept of crimes against humanity,” said ICG’s Indonesia program director Sidney Jones.
In a detailed analysis of the trials being held in Jakarta, the International Crisis Group (ICG) called on the international community not to renew military ties with Indonesia in light of the trials. It says that any plan by leading Western nations to restart military-to-military ties with Indonesia as part of the so-called war on terror would be wrong. Recently, US administration officials have spoken in favour of closer links with Indonesia’s military as part of its international campaign against terrorism.
For the full report: http://www.crisisweb.org

Sources: TA 10/05, SCMP 09/05

Links

Harold Crouch finds little reason to be hopeful about reform in Jakarta: “Drifting Along: Megawati’s Indonesia”: http://www.infid.be/megaindo.html

Abbreviations

CSIS            Centre for Strategic and International Studies
DPR             House of Representatives
FKM             Maluku Sovereignty Forum
GAM             Free Aceh Movement
MPR             People’s Consultative Assembly
PBHI            Legal Aid and Human Rights Association
PPP             United Development Party
SCMP            South China Morning Post
ST              The Strait Times
TA              The Australian
TNI             Indonesian Military
VP              Vice President

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