INFID
INFID | TAPAK Ambon | AKUI
| PosKo Zwolle | Diverse Artikelen
Title
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Short News Overview.
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No
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92
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Period
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24 May 2002 – 30 May 2002
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INFID Related Issues
Debt
Indonesia and other developing
states are negotiating for debt-for-nature swaps to be included in a plan of
action at the PrepCom IV for Sustainable Development in Bali. “Creditor
countries should provide debt relief so that money can be used for environmental
protection instead of being used for servicing debt”, Emil Salim, the meeting
chairperson and Indonesia’s former environment minister, said. But INFID’s
Executive Secretary Binny Buchori said that Debt Swap Scheme (DSS) was not
the right choice to reduce the debt burden. Besides the fact that the amount
involved is insignificant, in DSS, the government must provide the same
amount of fund as the amount they ask in the debt swap. The fund will be
allocated for the implementation of the program as planned in the DSS
proposal. This means, the purpose of DSS to reduce the debt burden does not
happen. The most comprehensive alternative is therefore to ask for debt
reduction, Binny said in Bali. She also regretted the stance of the
Government economic team that was reluctant to look for alternative
solutions. “They are frightened by creditors’ threats. I am not saying they
are not real. It is real, but we have to make priorities, either to stay in
fear, or start looking for comprehensive solutions,” she said. DSS that we
received, she continued, was not significant. “Indonesia’s debt to Germany is
around US$3 billion, but we only received a DM50 million worth of DSS, or
around US25 million”, she explained. Meanwhile, quoting Bappenas Chief Kwik
Kian Gie, Binny revealed that 80% of the money lent to Indonesia was used to
serve the creditor nations in the form of consultants service payment, spare
parts, technology, etc. Binny suggested that the government make use of the
existing mechanism for debt reduction or look for supports from creditor
nations to have its debt reduced. “This PrepCom forum is the right time to
approach them”, she said.
Source: Kompas, 29/05, JP 30/05
Sources: MI 21/05, Republika 21/05, BI 21/05
General News
Reformasi
On May 24 President Megawati
Soekarnoputri strongly rebuffed comments from various elements of the nation
that Indonesia has failed to keep up with its reform agenda. “Eventhough
there may be a certain reluctance to say it in the open …we have to admit
that reforms have so far been working,” Megawati said during the
commemoration of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday at the State Palace. Referring
to frequent street demonstrations, Megawati said that the nation needed a
young generation who was not arrogant and not emotional in delivering their
opinion. Various Student Executive Bodies and student movements rejected to
be called arrogant, saying their actions were merely expressions of accumulated
disappointments towards the government, which they said was not serious in
carrying out reform agenda. According to the students, street demonstrations
were not forms of arrogance. In the contrary, it was the government that was
arrogant because they did not want to listen to students’ and people’s
demands.
Sources: SPD 27/05, JP 25/05
European Parliament Resolution
On May 23 Indonesian Vice
President Hamzah Haz rejected a proposed international team to look into
sectarian bloodshed in Maluku, promising the government would soon establish
an independent inquiry team. He was responding to a resolution on Indonesia
adopted by the European Parliament on May 16. Co-ordinating Minister
for Security and Political Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono lashed out at the
European Parliament, saying the recommendations as inappropriate and out of
proportion. He also reminded the European Parliament to respect Indonesia’s
sovereignty and stay out of Indonesia’s political decisions and domestic
policies. MUI also rejected the resolution, calling it an intervention into
Indonesia’s domestic affairs and a violation of international ethics. MUI is
an independent Muslim organisation, which oversees Islamic groups in
Indonesia.
The resolution was adopted after an European Parliament meeting in
Strasbourg, May 16, which specially discussed the human rights issues in
Indonesia. The European Parliament Resolution on Indonesia consists of 25
statement points divided into parts. The first part has 15 points about facts
and information collected by the parliament; the second part consists of 11
points of statement voicing the parliament concerns and regrets on the
situation in Maluku, Aceh and Papua and urging the Indonesian government to
find peaceful solutions for the three provinces.
European Parliament Resolution on Indonesia: www.infid.be/resolutionep2002.html
Sources: AFP 23/05, DPA
23/05, Kyodo 27/05
Vice President Hamzah Haz
Vice President Hamzah Haz on May
28 visited an Islamic boarding school in Central Java founded by Abu Bakar
Ba’asyir, a Muslim cleric who has been accused by Singapore to have links
with a terrorist network. Hamzah was reported to have met the director of the
school and delivered a speech to the boarding school members. The event was
described as a “brotherly visit”. Hamzah challenged the authorities to arrest
him in place of Muslim clerics charged with having links to a terrorist
network. “There are no terrorists here. I guarantee that. If they exist,
don’t arrest any Muslim clerics, arrest me,” he was quoted as saying by his
aide Said Budairy. Said said that Hamzah had stated that he would be the
first man to issue an arrest warrant if Indonesia harboured any terrorist.
Earlier this month Hamzah visited the detained leader of the Laskar Jihad
Islamic militia, Jafar Umar Thalib. Critics said he was seeking support from
hard-line Muslim groups for the 2004 elections.
Sources: JP 29/05, 30/05
Rupiah Exchange Rate
A survey by Kompas, Indonesia’s
supposedly most influential newspaper, revealed that the increasing rupiah
exchange rate in the last five months had not brought any positive impact on
public economy. In practice, the stronger rupiah did not result in
improvement in overall patterns of daily economic need fulfilment. According
to the survey, it was because the increasing rupiah value was not
automatically followed by decreasing prices of goods and services.
Exchange rates are often used as economic indicators. Besides the
export-import traffics, the rate is also determined by supply and demand of
the related currency. Goldthrope, a sociologist working on disparity and
development in developing countries, argues that exchange rate cannot be used
as an economic indicator of a country. Exchange rate must be based on
purchasing power parities, namely the ability to buy goods and services. The
survey drew its conclusion in line with Goldthorpe’s assumption.
The survey report, in Bahasa Indonesia, is available at: www.infid.be/belumadamanfaat.html
Source:
Kompas 27/05
Regional News
Maluku
The police and military were
blamed for failing to collect intelligence to anticipate a fatal attack on a
ferry. On May 25 three were killed, one declared missing and nine injured in
an attack in which a packed passenger ferry came under fire from gunmen in a
speedboat just off Saparua island in Central Maluku. Witnesses said the
attackers used automatic rifles and wore military-style outfits as well as
masks. Maluku Civil Emergency spokesman Maj. Heri Suhardi said that the
incident was engineered to discredit the military and to stir sentiments
between TNI and the Police. One of the injured passengers happened to be a
member of Police Mobile Brigade.
Meanwhile, the US Congress has agreed to provide US8 million to help training
Indonesia’s police forces in anti-terrorism but has yet to warm up to the
White House’s call for increased relations with its military forces. Assistance
is, however, prohibited to mobile brigade units, which it said “have a long
history of human rights abuses”. The House and the Senate committee also
specifically refused to provide any money that would have gone to Indonesia’s
military forces. Earlier, Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Jalil said that
the US government had stressed its commitment to resume military relation
with Indonesia. The British government was also reported to be willing to
assist in the resumption of US relation with Indonesia. Britain would
convince the US if the importance of military relations with Indonesia.
This week Maluku also got a new chief of its Pattimura Military Command. On
May 27, TNI Commander Adm. Widodo AS named Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso to replace
the old chief Brig. Gen. Mustopo. Djoko is likely to be the chief of the
Security Restoration Operation (Opslihkam) in Maluku. The government has
decided to restructure the Civil Emergency Administration in Maluku by
forming a co-ordinating security command which will be led by Pattimura
Military chief, along with a deputy from the National Police with a rank of
brigadier general.
Sources: ST 27/05, JP 25/05,
28/05, AP 24/05, BWM 23/05
East Timor
Maj. Gen William T. da Costa,
chief of the Udayana Military Command overseeing security in Bali and West
and East Nusa Tenggara, denied reports that its headquarters would be
relocated to West Timor. He condemned the reports as big lies, saying they
were released by people who hate him. The plan to relocate was first revealed
on May 24 by Kupang’s 161 Wirasakti Military Commander Col. Inf. Moeswarno
Moesanip and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT)Vice Governor Johanis Pake Pani. They said
the planned relocation was a good decision considering that NTT bordered
Australia and the newly independent East Timor. Army Chief of Staff Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto also spoke about the planned relocation during a recent
fit and proper test at the House of Representatives. An emotional da Costa
rejected all including the rumour that he wanted to become the governor of
NTT.
Meanwhile, on May 27 Indonesia said that it has postponed a visit by East
Timor’s new leaders because of what it described as a scheduling problem. Xanana
Gusmao, the new president of East Timor, had planned to make his first
overseas trip as head of state to former ruler Indonesia to symbolise a new
chapter in relations. Analyst on international affairs Soedjati Djiwandono
said the postpone indicated that there were still many narrow-minded
Indonesian leaders who cannot accept the secession of the former 27th
province. He added that the move could affect Indonesia’s image in
international diplomacy.
Sources: JP 30/05, AFP 28/05
Human Rights
Amnesty International Human
Rights reports
Amnesty International reported
that Indonesian authorities intensified repression of independence movements
in Aceh and Papua last year with hundreds of cases of killings, torture and
unlawful arrest. The report also said that police and troops destroyed houses
and means of livelihood as a form of collective punishment following attacks
by opposition groups on security forces. Human rights defenders were
increasingly targeted, mainly in Aceh and Papua. They were subject to
execution, unlawful arrest and torture as well as threats and harassment by
the police and military, Amnesty said. Elsewhere in the country, excessive
force by police and troops caused deaths or injuries to striking workers and
protesters in areas of ethnic and religious conflict. “Impunity continued:
there were no credible investigations into allegations of human rights
violations,” it said.
Link: Amnesty International Annual Report (released May 28, 2002), covering
events from January-December 2001: www.infid.be/amnestyreport.html
Source:
AFP 28/05
Abbreviations
AP Associated
Press
Bappenas National
Development Planning Agency
BWM BBC World Monitoring
DPA Deutsche Presse Agentur
JP The Jakarta Post
MUI Indonesian Ulemas Council (of
Islamic clerics)
SPD Suara Pembaruan Daily
ST Strait Times
TNI Indonesia Millitary
Terug
Stichting TitanE
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