Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia –28-04-2014 Impunity
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Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia –28-04-2014 Prabowo also gave his view on the 1998 Reformasi, namely that it came too Impunity quickly, as well as the foreign pressure. The developments in Indonesia, according to Prabowo, brought the state in real danger. Fact was that East Timor was on the loose, while Aceh was a state within the state with a very different Prabowo ready to explain 1998 law system from the Republic as a whole. “And we accepted all that,” said Kompas, 23-04-2014 Prabowo. The presidential candidate from the Partai Gerindra, Prabowo Subianto, is ready According to Agum the Pepabri continues to be neutral. That is in compliance to explain a few stories and qualifications that stick to him in relation to the with the principle of neutrality of the army and the police, he said. incidents that took place around the fall of President Suharto in 1998. Prabowo said this during a meeting with the board members of the Association of Elections 2014 retired (Pepabri). Prabowo briefly spoke privately with the Chairman of the Pepabri, former generals Agum Gumelar, Wismoyo Arismunandar, Suryo New Parliament is not better Prabowo, and Yunus Yosfiah. Kompas, 26-04-2014 In the meeting with dozens of Pepabri members he declared: “It all started in At first sight the Parliament (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) for the period 2014- 1998, or rather I was drawn to step down from 1993 onwards.” In those years the 2019 is not better than the current DPR. That is because quite a number of Indonesian economy grew with astonishing speed, had 8 percent growth, which candidates have been elected by money-politics or just because of their has only been matched by China. This period of growth collapsed in 1998. “It was popularity. And at the other hand, many activist members of Parliament, who not a crisis; it was rather an economic war.” were known for their critical and integer attitude have failed to be elected. With the fall of Suharto Prabowo also exited from the army. According to Kompas The University Teacher of the State Islam University Syarif Hidayatullah, in Prabowo was fired from the ABRI (Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia Jakarta, Andar Nubowo, said in a debate in the parliamentary complex that he [now TNI]) by its commander, general Wiranto. One consideration was the assesses that 30 % of the 560 DPR members were elected by money politics and recommendation by the Officers Honorary Council (Dewan Kehormatan Perwira), pop singers popularity. Those candidates, said Anjar, can be considered as not a member of which was Agum Gumelar. “I left the army with all qualifications having sufficient knowledge or capacity to perform in the DPR. and stories. If needed I am ready to give an explanation,” he said. Partai Golkar politician, Bambang Soesatyo, even said that part of the new DPR members can be characterized as “envelope-members”, because they distributed This Amnesty International Netherlands clipping service is made for Amnesty members and others interested in the human rights developments in Indonesia – for information only. All items have an indication of the source. External, non-Amnesty information is not to be quoted as Amnesty information. For more information or to be included in or deleted from the mailing list, write to [email protected]. For back issues view http://www.marthameijer.org/page36.php 1 Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia –28-04-2014 envelopes with bribes to people that could vote for them. “Some have given Betty also said that the KPU members had been instructed to return to Intan Jaya away hundreds of thousands envelopes with Rp 20,000 to Rp 100,000 (US$ 2 – so that the recounting can be carried out. “I have ordered them to immediately 10). And others used an “in-bulk”system (sistem borongan), they paid 50 to 100 leave Nabire. The recounting has to be done in Intan Jaya. The provincial level Million Rp (US$ 5,000 – 10,000 ) to buy 200 up to 1,000 votes per village”, said KPU has consulted the local police to guard the safety of the KPU members in Bambang. Intan Jaya, “said Betty. She said that similar things had happened in Yahukimo. Recounting in Papua faces obstacles The spokesperson of the Papua police, Pudjo Sulistyo said that his men were in touch with the army in full support of the KPU tasks. Kompas, 26-04-2014 A number of problems have arisen in the recounting process in the districts of More irregularities Intan Jaya and Yahukimo in the province of Papua. This is related to several Kompas, 26-04-2014 violent threats that have been expressed by elements who are supporters of candidates for the Parliaments (national or provincial) that failed to gather In the district of West-Bandung 1.600 original ballot papers have been found enough votes. among civilians, whereas these may only be found among KPU officials. Until 25 April the Monitoring Body Bawaslu did not know who the perpetrators of this ”The Monitoring Council in Intan Jaya has reported that not one of the members illegal act have been. Complaints about this fraud had been lodged by 32 of the election commission (KPU) was present. So the recounting was not candidates from 12 political parties. There will be an investigation. It would possible,” said the chairman of the Provincial Bawaslu (Body for Election indicate that the safety of original papers has not been sufficiently guaranteed. Monitoring) for Papua, Robert Horik, 25 April in the capital of Papua, Jayapura. The sheds doubts on all papers. Robert said that there were indications of those threats by candidates who were In the district South Nias (North Sumatra) the Bawaslu has suggested that there not satisfied with the outcome of the elections. ”This is very damaging. It will should be held a re-run of the election. The counting papers of a number of take much more time,” said Robert. polling stations (82) had not been sent to the district offices in time. The KPU will investigate the need for a re-run. A member of the KPU at provincial level, Betty Wanane, acknowledges what happened in Intan Jaya. “All KPU members in Intan Jaya are in Nabire. They want Similar situations have arisen in the district of Sampang (Madura, East Java), to change the location of the recounting to Nabire because they are afraid of where the safety of the officials seems to have been the reason. Re-runs have conflicts between certain candidates,” said Betty. already been carried out in four polling stations in the district of Blitar, East Java. This Amnesty International Netherlands clipping service is made for Amnesty members and others interested in the human rights developments in Indonesia – for information only. All items have an indication of the source. External, non-Amnesty information is not to be quoted as Amnesty information. For more information or to be included in or deleted from the mailing list, write to [email protected]. For back issues view http://www.marthameijer.org/page36.php 2 Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia –28-04-2014 Presidential elections According to him, the average amount of rice produced on Indonesian farms was between four to five tons for each hectare of land, while the population grew by three million each year. Jokowi presents agricultural Manifesto “Like it or not, we need to prepare more food for this growth. Additionally, in the The Jakarta Globe, 27-04-2014 past five years there has been a significant increase in food imports,” he said, Over a month after officially entering the presidential race, Jakarta Governor Joko citing hikes in the imports of several staple food items such as rice, corn, soy, Widodo, nominated as presidential candidate by the Indonesian Democratic flour, sugar, salt, beef, onions and fruits. Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, has begun introducing his vision and mission to the voters. Visiting local farmers at the Tanjungrasa village in Bogor district’s Cariu subdistrict, Joko on Sunday addressed six points in the field of agriculture and food security that would be his focus should he be elected president in the election set to take place on July 9. Productive agricultural lands, Joko said, should not be converted into other use, such as residential or industrial areas, and should instead be preserved. Additionally, he said farmers would have to be assisted in making sure that even the smallest plots of lands were used productively and that farmers were educated not to use chemically engineered seeds or pesticides. Joko also emphasized the need to build better infrastructure for farmers, the need to monitor the quality of water in the fields, as well as improved monetary benefits for farmers and better access to capital and financial support. “I asked farmers, how many tons [of rice] can be produced from one hectare [of “We import fish. We are a maritime nation but our fish imports have spiked,” land]? Apparently it was six tons, because farmers here are using a good mix,” Joko said “These are issues that need to be sorted out. These things are the Joko said during his visit on Sunday. reason why inflation on certain basic commodities easily occurs for a long period of time and repeatedly.” This Amnesty International Netherlands clipping service is made for Amnesty members and others interested in the human rights developments in Indonesia – for information only. All items have an indication of the source. External, non-Amnesty information is not to be quoted as Amnesty information. For more information or to be included in or deleted from the mailing list, write to [email protected].