NGOs Upset over Outcome of Meeting (by Adita Suharmoko, Jakarta Post)

H1N1 Flu Watch (Straits Times, Singapore)

China Steps up Ban on US Pork (Pig Progress)

Bolstering Oil Investment (editorial, Jakarta Post)

Asian Currencies Advance, Led by Korean Won, on Risk Appetite (by Kim Kyoungwha, Bloomberg)

Indonesia Must Combat AIDS Ignorance (by Ricky Gunawan, UPI Asia)

New Administration, Same Result: U.S. Trade Representative's Section 301 Report (by Kevin E. Noonan, Patent Docs)

Crisis Forcing Asia to Cut Reliance on Exports (Associated Press)

Harvard Divinity Student Faces Deportation- Indonesian Who Helped Depose Suharto Fears Persecution (by Matt Hutchins, Harvard Law Record, Harvard Law School)

Exxon and Hess Win Oil and Gas Blocks (by Alfian, Jakarta Post)

Obama a 'Glimmer of Hope' for Muslims (by Putri Prameshwari, Jakarta Globe)

Hosting Two World Meetings (editorial, Jakarta Post)

Indonesia to Add ADB's Capital (by Agoeng Wijaya and Efri Ritonga, Tempo Interactive, Jakarta)

ADB's Not-So-Capital Idea (Wall Street Journal Asia)

Groups Urge Meaningful U.S. Presure on Indonesia for Papuan Rights (by John Miller, East Timor Action Network)

Indonesia, the US: A New Partnership (by Retno L.P. Marsudi, Jakarta Post)

Indonesia Shuts Red Cross Office in Papua Province (associated Press)

Recovery Depends on US, Probably in Q1 2010 (by Mustaqim Adamrah and Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta Post)

Indonesia Advocates Migrant Rights (by Lilian Budianto, Jakarta Post)

US-lndonesian Relations in the Obama Era (by Bradley N. Nelson, Jakarta Post)

Men Jailed for Murder, Attack Plot (by Dick Christano, Jakarta Post)

Indonesia Rejects Extremism: Islam-based Parties Saw Their Vote Cut in Half (by Sadanand Dhume, Wall Street Journal)

China's strategic Ties with Indonesia (by Andrei Chang, UPI Asia)

Indonesia Advances Islam Bond (by Ditas Lopez and Reuben Carder, Wall Street Journal)

Postelection, Coalition Talks Begin in Indonesia (by Tom Wright, Wall Street Journal)

Thai Unrest Has Regional Impact (Radio Free Asia)

 

Comprised of more than 13,000 islands, Indonesia possesses several important qualities that make it a strategic interest of the United States. First, there is its location. Stretched out across 3,000 miles of ocean, Indonesia has the ability to influence, or disrupt, naval shipping routes between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Second, the country is rich in natural resources, including oil. And third, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Since the 1960s, the US has been closely involved with the Indonesian government. Some evidence suggests that the US aided in the coup that overthrew the country’s first president, Sukarno, and helped General Suharto track down suspected communists as part of a bloody purge that followed. US officials generously aided Suharto’s brutal regime with military aid until the late 1970s and even approved the ruthless occupation of East Timor in 1975. Following the 1992 deaths of two Americans (at what some suspected was the hands of the Indonesian military), the US cut off all military assistance to the government in Jakarta. But during the administration of George W. Bush, military aid was restored, despite the fact that no one in the Indonesian military has been charged for the murders or for the ongoing human rights abuses that have been committed by Indonesian security forces.

Lay of the Land: Indonesia is an archipelago covering most of the East Indies, a huge chain of 13,677 islands, more than 6,000 of which are inhabited. The islands extend for about 3,000 miles along the equator, dividing the Pacific Ocean from the Indian Ocean and providing stepping-stones between Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Except for coastal plains and river valleys, most of Indonesia is mountainous. It has 400 volcanoes, one quarter of which are active. Indonesia has a monsoon climate, with rainfall in some areas surpassing 140 inches annually. Most of the land is concentrated in a few large islands: New Guinea, which it shares with the nation of Papua New Guinea; Sumatra; Kalimantan (Borneo), which it shares with Malaysia and Brunei; Sulawesi (Celebes); Java, home of more than half of the Indonesia’s population; and Timor, the eastern half of which it shares with the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

 

Population: 237.5 million

 

Religions: Sunni Muslim 81.4%, Protestant 5.9%, Catholic 3.1%, Hindu 1.8%, Buddhist 0.8%, Shi'a Muslim 0.8%, other 0.2%.

 

Ethnic Groups: Javanese 40.6%, Sundanese 15%, Madurese 3.3%, Minangkabau 2.7%, Betawi 2.4%, Bugis 2.4%, Banten 2%, Banjar 1.7%, other 29.9%.

 

Languages: Javanese 31.3%, Sunda 11.3%, Indonesian (official) 9.5%, Madura 5.7%, Malay 4.2%, Minangkabau 2.7%, Batak language cluster (e.g. Angkola, Dairi, Simalungun, Toba...) 2.6%, Banjar 2.1%, Bali 1.6%, Bugis 1.5%, Aceh 1.3%, Balinese Malay 1.3%, Betawi 1.1%, Sasak 0.9%, Makassar Maly 0.8%, Makasar 0.7%, Gorontalo 0.4%, Uab Meto 0.2%, English, Dutch. There are 737 living languages in Indonesia.

 

The first known hominid inhabitant of Indonesia was the so-called “Java Man,” or Homo erectus, who lived half a million years ago. Approximately 60,000 years ago, the ancestors of the present-day Papuans reached New Guinea. Around 4 BC, they were followed by the ancestors of the modern-day Malays, Javanese and other Malayo-Polynesian groups who now make up the bulk of Indonesia’s population.

Trade contracts with India, China and the mainland of Southeast Asia brought outside cultural and religious influences to Indonesia. One of the first Indianized empires, known as Sriwijaya, was located on the coast of Sumatra around the strategic straits of Malacca, serving as the hub of a trading network that reached to many parts of the archipelago more than a thousand years ago.

On neighboring Java, large kingdoms of the interior of the island erected scores of exquisite religious monuments, such as Borobudur, the largest Buddhist monument in the world. The last and most powerful of these early Hindu-Javanese kingdoms, the 14th Century Majapahit Empire, once controlled and influenced much of what is now known as Indonesia, maintaining contacts with trading outposts as far away as the west coast of Papua New Guinea.

 

Beginning in 1602, the Dutch slowly established rule over Indonesia, except for East Timor, which remained under Portugal’s control until 1975. During 300 years of rule, the Dutch developed the Netherlands East Indies into one of the world's richest colonial possessions.

 

The Indonesian movement for independence began early in the 20th century. The Indonesian Communist party (PKI) was founded in 1920; in 1927 the Indonesian Nationalist party (PNI) arose under the leadership of Sukarno. It received its impetus during World War II, when the Japanese drove out the Dutch and occupied the islands. In August 1945, immediately after the Japanese surrender, Sukarno and Muhammad Hatta, another nationalist leader, proclaimed Indonesia an independent republic. The Dutch resisted the nationalists, and four years of fighting followed. Under UN pressure, an agreement was finally reached in November 1949 for the creation of an independent republic of Indonesia. A new constitution provided for a parliamentary form of government. Sukarno was elected president, and Hatta became premier.

 

Although Sukarno had achieved a major accomplishment in uniting so many diverse peoples and regions under one government and one language, his rule was marked by problems. The economy staggered under soaring inflation, and in 1958, a popular revolt began on Sumatra and spread to Sulawesi and other islands. Sukarno responded by imposing authoritarian measures, including dissolving the parliament in 1960 and reinstating an old constitution that provided for a strong, independent executive. Sukarno’s moves resulted in Hatta resigning from office.

 

The Indonesian army’s influence grew during this time as a result of its role in quelling the revolts. The Communist party also grew, leaving Sukarno to try to balance these two important power blocs in Indonesian politics.

 

In early 1962, Sukarno dispatched paratroopers to Netherlands New Guinea—territory still held by the Dutch. The Dutch agreed to transfer the area to the United Nations until a referendum was held in August 1969. The Indonesian government then annexed Netherlands New Guinea and changed its name to West Irian (Irian Barat), then Irian Jaya, and later Papua. A guerrilla war was begun soon after by the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM; Free Papua Movement), a group seeking Papua’s independence.

 

Meanwhile, Sukarno tried to lay claim to Malaysian territory on Borneo, beginning a three-year conflict. He also began to lean increasingly toward the left, openly summoning Communist leaders for advice, exhibiting hostility toward the United States, and cultivating the friendship of Communist China. In 1965 he withdrew Indonesia from the United Nations.

 

That same year, a coup was launched by army forces under General Suharto that eventually forced Sukarno from power. Thousands of alleged Communists were executed by the army, and a widespread massacre ensued from October–December 1965. As many as 750,000 people may have been killed, including many ethnic Chinese. Entire villages on the islands of Java and Bali were wiped out, including those having nothing to do with communism. On March 12, 1967, the national assembly named Suharto acting president. He was elected president in 1968, and reelected in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1998.

 

The economy began to grow rapidly in the 1970s, due mainly to expanded oil, gas and timber exports. In 1975–1976, Indonesia annexed East Timor, resulting in thousands of deaths and human rights abuses. The takeover was not recognized by the United Nations.

 

During Suharto’s regime, his family held sway over much of Indonesia’s economic life, and government corruption increased. While the economic conditions of many Indonesians improved, opposition to his policies continued to be suppressed. In October 1997, the country was plunged into economic upheaval when its currency plummeted. The stock market followed soon after, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to provide the country with a $40 billion aid package in exchange for economic reforms. Struggling under a huge foreign debt and Suharto's reluctance to implement the IMF reforms, Indonesia’s economy continued to worsen in 1998.

 

Student protests and riots over rising prices broke out across the country, with increasing demands for Suharto to resign. Suharto stepped down in May 1998, and his vice president, B J Habibie, assumed the presidency. In June, the government reached an agreement with foreign bankers on the rescheduling of nearly $80 billion in debt.

 

Early in 1999, Indonesia and Portugal reached an agreement permitting the people of East Timor to choose in a referendum between limited autonomy within Indonesia and independence. Fighting in East Timor between government security forces and anti-independence militias on one side and separatist guerrillas on the other increased in mid-1999 as the vote approached. In August, voters chose independence, but the territory descended into chaos as pro-Indonesian militias and the army engaged in a campaign of terror and brutality, killing pro-independence Timorese and causing thousands to flee their homes. In September 1999, after intense international pressure, President Habibie asked the UN to send a peacekeeping force to the area, and in October the United Nations agreed to take full control of East Timor until independence, which was achieved in 2002.

 

During the 1999 parliamentary elections, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, led by Sukarno’s daughter, Megawati Sukarnoputri, came in first with 34% of the vote; Habibie’s Golkar Party came in second with 22%. In the October 1999 presidential elections, Abdurrahman Wahid, of the National Awakening party, became the country’s first democratically-elected president after Megawati failed to build the coalition needed to win. She was chosen by parliament as vice president. A Muslim theologian and religious leader, as well as a defender of human rights and religious tolerance, Wahid moved to increase civilian control over the military, which lost influence and prestige following Suharto’s fall and the East Timor debacle.

 

In February 2001, the parliament censured the president, who was implicated in two corruption scandals. Wahid, who had alienated Megawati and suffered a drop in popularity, was censured again in April. Although he was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing in the scandals, the parliament voted in July to remove him from office. Megawati succeeded Wahid as president. Subsequently the parliament passed laws granting limited autonomy (including substantial control over natural resources) to Aceh and Papua, in the hope of undercutting local secessionist movements, but violence in both provinces has continued. An agreement was signed with the Aceh rebels in December 2002.

 

Relations were strained with Malaysia in 2002 when as many as 400,000 Indonesians were forcibly deported under a tough new anti-illegal-immigrant law. Constitutional amendments passed in the same year called for the direct election of the president and the elimination of the seats reserved for the military in the national legislature.

 

On October 12, 2002, a terrorist bombing at a night club in Bali that was frequented by foreigners killed 202 people, 88 of whom were Australian. Eventually more than 30 people were tried for the crime and three were executed on November 9, 2008.

 

Legislative elections in April 2004 were a setback for Megawati’s party, which came in second to Golkar. Megawati subsequently lost the presidency in September 2004 to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former general and security minister and the candidate of the Democrat Party.

 

In December 2004, a huge tsunami caused by an earthquake off Sumatra devastated Aceh, killing some 130,000 people, and a subsequent earthquake in March caused destruction on the islands of Simeulue and Nias, west of Sumatra. There was a polio outbreak in Java in May 2005 that was eventually brought under control through a massive immunization campaign.

 

Acehnese rebels signed a peace agreement with the government in August 2005 and disarmed in exchange for the establishment of local self-government.

 

In May 2006, an earthquake in central Java killed about 5,800 people. A July quake off Java caused a tsunami that killed another 400 people. Heavy rains caused massive flooding in the Jakarta area in February 2007, forcing as many as 400,000 people from their homes.

 

History of Indonesia (Wikipedia)

Indonesia's History and Background (AsianInfo.org)

It has long been suspected that the CIA was involved in the overthrow of Sukarno in 1965. A secret history produced by the State Department revealed that the US government was supporting elements that were involved with Suharto’s movement to depose Sukarno and that American agents passed on names of suspected Communists to the Indonesian army.

 

Security assistance from the United States, which began in 1950, was disrupted briefly in the 1965-1966 period, but then resumed during the rest of the 1960s and for most of the 1970s.

 

When Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975, the US government—unlike others in the international community—did not object to the military action. In fact, as the years wore on, it was revealed that the administration of President Gerald Ford, which included Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, approved the invasion. While the international community protested, the US government doubled military aid to Indonesia and prevented the United Nations from taking effective action against the country.

 

Grant aid of military equipment from the US ended in 1978 (following the election of President Jimmy Carter and his emphasis on human rights). The United States continued to provide grant aid training under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program until 1992, when Congress cut the aid as a reaction to the human rights situation in East Timor. This restriction was partially lifted in 1995. Military assistance programs were again suspended, however, in the aftermath of the violence and destruction in East Timor following the August 30, 1999, referendum favoring independence.

 

From 1950 to 1992, more than 4,000 Indonesian military personnel received IMET training in the United States.

 

Just days after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President George W. Bush met with Megawati Sukarnoputri, the new president of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation. She was the first Muslim leader to meet with Bush after the attack, allowing him to counter criticism that the new war on terrorism was a thinly veiled war against Islam. President Megawati condemned the attacks as “barbaric and indiscriminate” and “pledged to cooperate with the international community in combating terrorism.”

 

President Bush promised Megawati economic aid totaling more than $700 million, including money for police training and civilian courses in defense under the E-IMET program (Expanded-International Military Education and Training). Bush also expressed his desire to resume regular military contact and lift the embargo on the sale of “non-lethal” weapons.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and its predecessors have provided development assistance to Indonesia since 1950. Initial assistance focused on food aid, infrastructure rehabilitation, health care, and training. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, USAID helped the country achieve self-sufficiency in rice production and in reducing its birthrate.

 

Economists with Guns: Authoritarian Development and U.-Indonesian Relations, 1960-1968 (by Bradley Simpson, Stanford University Press)

Indonesia at the Crossroads: U.S. Weapons Sales and Military Training (by Frida Berrigan, World Policy Institute)

Official History Describes U.S. Policy in Indonesia in the 60's (by James Risen, New York Times)

State Historians Conclude U.S. Passed Names of Communists to Indonesian Army, Which Killed At Least 105,000 In 1965-66 (National Security Archive, George Washington University)

The United States and the Overthrow of Sukarno, 1965-1967 (by Peter Dale Scott, Pacific Affairs)

The United States has important economic, commercial, and security interests in Indonesia. According to the State Department, Indonesia remains a “linchpin of regional security” due to its strategic location near a number of key international maritime straits, particularly the Malacca Strait.

 

Although no formal security treaties bind the two countries, cooperation between the US and Indonesia on counter-terrorism has increased steadily since 2002, following terrorist attacks in Bali (October 2002 and October 2005) and Jakarta (August 2003 and September 2004). A key target of US-Indonesian efforts is the terrorist organization, Jemaah Islamiyah.

 

The State Department admits to “friction points in the bilateral political relationship” with Indonesia, primarily over its human rights record, as well as differences in foreign policy. Officials in Washington urged the Indonesian government to capture the perpetrators of the August 2002 ambush murders of two American teachers near Timika in Papua province. In 2005, the State Department certified that Indonesian cooperation in the murder investigation had met the conditions set by Congress, enabling the resumption of full IMET funding. Eight suspects were arrested in January 2006, and in November 2006 seven were convicted.

 

In November 2005, the Bush State Department exercised a National Security Waiver provision provided in the FY 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (FOAA) to remove Congressional restrictions on Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and lethal defense articles for Indonesia.

 

Under the terms of the FY 2008 FOAA, Congress did not reimpose restrictions. However, it prevented a portion of US security assistance from being released before the Secretary of State reported on the status of certain measures of military reform, accountability for past human rights abuses, public access to Papua, and the investigation into the 2004 murder of a prominent human rights activist.

 

Regarding worker rights, Indonesia was the target of several petitions filed under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) legislation arguing that Indonesia did not meet internationally recognized labor standards. A formal GSP review was suspended in February 1994 without terminating GSP benefits for Indonesia. Since 1998, Indonesia has ratified all eight International Labor Organization core conventions on protecting internationally recognized worker rights and allowed trade unions to organize. However, enforcement of labor laws and protection of workers’ rights remain inconsistent and weak in some areas.

 

Today, USAID assistance programs focus on basic education, democratic and decentralized governance, economic growth, education, health, water, sanitation, and the environment. The United States was one of the lead donors in the reconstruction efforts in the tsunami-hit area of Aceh. Most of the US tsunami relief program is complete, although efforts toward the construction of the Aceh west coast highway continue.

A total of 39,757 people identified themselves as being of Indonesian ancestry in the 2000 US census, comprising less than 1% of all Asian immigrants to the US. Indonesians have formed communities in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New York, and Chicago, partly due to economic opportunities, and partly because these cities already had established Asian American communities.

 

In 2006, 130,963 Americans visited Indonesia. The number of tourists has been decreasing steadily since 2002, when 160,982 Americans went to Indonesia. The year 2003 saw a dramatic reduction in tourism (130,276 tourists), probably due to the terrorist attacks targeting popular western bars on Bali. 

 

A total of 53,133 Indonesians visited the US in 2006. After a drop-off in the number of tourists from 2002 (45,811 visitors) tourism has grown steadily since 2003, when 40,744 Indonesians came to America.

U.S.-Indonesia Military Assistance (East Timor and Indonesia Action Network)

Priority Dilemmas: U.S.-Indonesia Military Relations in the Anti-Terror War (by Reyko Huang, Center for Defense Information)

New U.S.-Indonesia Relations: From Myth to Reality (by Dana Robert Dillon, Heritage Foundation)

Indonesia is the United States’ 31st largest trading partner. But the US is Indonesia’s second most important trading partner. Two-way trade has ranged between $15-20 billion annually in recent years. The US imports far more than it exports to Indonesia ($14.3 billion vs. $4.2 billion, in 2007).

 

Indonesia is a prime source of cheap labor for clothing manufacturers, leading to apparel and household goods being the largest import for the US (an average of $3 billion a year from 2003-2007). Other leading imports in 2007 were natural rubber and gums ($1.3 billion); fish and shellfish ($880 million); furniture and household items ($640 million); computer accessories ($375 million); televisions, VCRs and other video equipment ($355 million); industrial organic chemicals ($245 million).

 

The biggest seller among American exports to Indonesia is civilian aircraft ($538 million), followed by soybeans ($428 million), raw cotton ($341 million) and wheat ($236 million).

 

The US gave $158.7 million in aid to Indonesia in 2007. The budget allotted the most funds to Health ($43 million), Education ($29.4 million), Good Governance ($14.6 million), Stabilization Operations and Security Sector Reform ($14.3 million), and Conflict Mitigation ($11.7 million). The 2008 budget estimate increased aid to $189.7 million, and the 2009 budget request will retain high aid levels, at $186.3 million. The 2009 budget will distribute the most funds to Education ($40.1 million), Health ($30.9 million), Stabilization Operations and Security Sector Reform ($24.8 million), Good Governance ($19 million), Conflict Mitigation ($15 million), Private Sector Competitiveness ($14.2 million), and Economic Growth: Environment ($10.7 million).

 

Indonesia and the US reestablished full military-to-military relations in 2005, and in 2009 Indonesia will qualify for Excess Defense Articles as defined by Section 644 of the Foreign Assistance Act. The US sold $166.9 million of defense articles and services to Indonesia in 2007.

 

In October 2006, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) granted $55 million in a two-year compact to Indonesia, with the objective of immunizing more than 90% of children for diphthereia, tetanus, pertussis and measles, as well as fighting corruption through institutional reforms.

 

Congressional Budget for Foreign Operations (pages 370-374) (PDF)

Toward a US-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement (by Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Sjamsu Rahardja, Peterson Institute for International Economics)

In August 2008, evidence surfaced linking Indonesia’s military to the 2002 murder of two American school teachers in the remote Papua province. “Credible sources link Indonesian intelligence agents to the planning of this attack,” said co-author Eben Kirksey, an American anthropologist. “But senior Bush Administration officials—including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, and FBI Director Robert Mueller—have covered up evidence of Indonesian military involvement in the murder of US civilians. The FBI has failed to bring this case to a definitive resolution.”

 

FBI agents apprehended a group of Papuan villagers in 2006 and delivered them to Indonesian authorities. Indonesian courts sentenced seven of the men, including alleged ringleader Antonius Wamang, a guerilla fighter in Papua’s independence movement, to jail time for participating in the attack. But Indonesian military involvement was not seriously considered at the trial. “The Indonesian trial was a sham,” says co-author Andreas Harsono, an Indonesian investigative journalist. “Why did America trust this important case to a court system known for widespread corruption?”

New Study Links Indonesian Politician to 2002 Murder of U.S. Schoolteachers (East Timor and Indonesia Action Network)

 

The United States and Indonesia normalized military relations in 2005, ending a 10-year period during which Jakarta was essentially barred from receiving most forms of US weapons sales and military aid and training because of its military’s human rights abuses and corruption. But concerns over the growth of terrorism in Indonesia and growing Indonesian relations with Russia prompted the Bush administration to resume full military ties with the largest Muslim nation in the world, even though serious human rights problems continue.

 

In 2003, Indonesia bought Russian fighter planes and other hardware as part of a $192 million package of weapons. In September 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Indonesia. Moscow has extended $1 billion in loans for weapons, allowing Indonesia to purchase medium and short-range missiles, aerial bombs, and other systems.

 

In February 2008, Indonesian Air Force officials met with their US counterparts to discuss “bilateral defense cooperation.” On their wish list were Lockheed Martin’s F-16 fighters and C-130 Hercules tactical transport planes.

Indonesia's Arms Appetite (by Frida Berrigan, Foreign Policy in Focus)

 

In December 2007, it was reported that the US was training members of Kopassus, an Indonesian Special Forces unit with a long record of human rights violations, and Brimob, a para-military mobile police brigade. The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) strongly condemned American training for the two units. ETAN and WPAT urged Congress to intervene to prevent such training and called on the Bush administration to publicly pledge not to provide further assistance to the two units.

 

Dr. Damien Kingsbury, an Australian expert on the Indonesian military, has written that “Kopassus has murdered and tortured political activists, trade unionists and human rights workers. It has also trained, equipped and led militias in East Timor, West Papua and Aceh, and Kopassus members trained the notorious Laskar Jihad Islamic militia, which stepped up conflict in the Ambon region, leaving up to 10,000 dead. It was Kopassus that murdered Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay in 2001.” Kopassus was also involved in the 1998 killing of students and the kidnapping of pro-democracy activists in Jakarta.

Bush Administration Trains Members of Indonesian Terrorist Groups (East Timor and Indonesia Action Network)

 

US intelligence officers in Jakarta secretly tapped the cell phones of Indonesian civilians, it was revealed in December 2007. Some of the Americans reportedly worked out of the Jakarta headquarters of Detachment 88, a US-trained and funded para-military unit whose mission was described as antiterrorism, but that was recently involved in the arrest of a West Papuan human rights lawyer. The lawyer, Iwangin Sabar Olif, was seized by police and Detachment 88 on the street and later charged with “incitement and insulting the head of state” after he forwarded text messages that criticized the Indonesian armed forces, as well as the president of Indonesia

US Intelligence Personnel Tap Indonesian Phones. British Also Involved. Detachment 88, Kopassus Get Covert US Aid (by Allan Nairn, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network)

 

Among the billion dollar trade between the US and Indonesia is illicit movements of shoes, shrimp and garments that have been repackaged, re-labeled and re-exported after being shipped to Indonesia, establishing the country as a new regional hub for such activities involving Asian goods—particularly from China—destined for US shores. The transshipment issue cast a shadow over US-Indonesian bilateral relations and threatened to damage the Southeast Asian country’s chances of a brokering a free-trade agreement with the US.

How to beat US trade barriers (by Bill Guerin, Asia Times)

The State Department report for 2007 highlighted killings by Indonesian security forces that fell outside the norms of acceptable behavior. Rusman Robert was found dead in Solok Regency, West Sumatra, with bruises on his face and body and a broken arm. Witnesses testified that before he disappeared, he argued with the Solok military commander, Lieutenant Colonel Untung Sunanto. The military police investigated the case and arrested seven members of the Solok military command, including Untung. A military tribunal sentenced six of the men to between 18 months and five years in prison and dismissed them from the military. Because of his rank, Lieutenant Colonel Untung Sunanto was to be tried by a separate military tribunal.

 

In a clash between villagers and Indonesian marines in Alastlogo village, Pasuruan, East Java, marines shot and killed at least four persons and injured eight others. The incident occurred when villagers protested construction of a navy facility and demanded that the navy postpone development until after the villagers harvested their crop. Immediately following this incident, the commander of the marine facility, Major Husni Sukarwo, was relieved of his command. The human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) KontraS alleged that several of the victims were deliberately targeted. The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) concluded that the Alastlogo incident was not a gross human rights violation and a trial therefore would be in military court instead of a human rights court. Thirteen marines detained as suspects in this case were released from detention.

 

There were no known developments regarding the 44 civilians and 37 Aceh Liberation Movement (GAM) members whom the Human Rights NGO Coalition in Aceh reported were killed prior to the signing of the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that led to an end of hostilities in Aceh in August 2005. There were also no new developments into the following 2005 cases: the incident in Bireuen, Aceh, during which six members of the TNI special forces (Kopassus) reportedly killed two men and injured another; the incident in Nabire, Papua, in which TNI personnel allegedly beat local Papuan residents leaving seven seriously injured and one dead; the incident in Mulia City, the capital of Puncak Jaya Regency, during which the police shot and killed Tolino Iban Giri and arrested eight other persons; and the report that TNI and Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel killed three suspected rebels after capturing them during a joint operation in Serba Jaya village in Aceh Jaya District.

 

The government reported little progress in accounting for persons who disappeared in previous years or in prosecuting those responsible for such disappearances. According to the Human Rights NGO Coalition, 31 civilians and one GAM member were kidnapped in Aceh prior to the signing of the Helsinki MOU. Security forces were implicated in some of the disappearances. In 2005 GAM members allegedly kidnapped four persons, including an eight‑year-old child, and demanded a ransom. Their whereabouts remained unknown.

 

By year's end the government had taken no action regarding the findings of a September 2006 report to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) by a Komnas HAM ad hoc team on the 1998 abductions of between 12 and 14 prodemocracy activists. Despite refusals from military personnel to cooperate in the investigation, Komnas HAM concluded that all victims still missing were dead and identified suspects for an official investigation without publicly releasing their names. During 2006 the AGO took no action, stating that it could not prosecute these crimes unless the House of Representative (DPR) declared them gross human rights violations.

 

The government made some efforts to hold members of the security forces responsible for acts of torture. During the year the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, reported evidence of torture in many police detention facilities in Java. Nowak reported torture was common in certain jails and used to obtain confessions, punish suspects, and seek information that incriminated others in criminal activity. Torture typically occurred soon after detention. There were reports that detainees were beaten with fists, sticks, cables, iron bars, and hammers. Some detainees reportedly were shot in the legs at close range, subjected to electric shock, burned, or had heavy implements placed on their feet.

 

Two gay men in Banda Raya, Aceh, were physically and verbally abused by their neighbors and then arbitrarily arrested, beaten, and sexually abused by police. Four police officers were suspended and administratively sanctioned for their abuse of the men. At year's end the case was still under investigation, but the authorities maintained they were unable to file charges because one of the victims had fled Aceh and the other refused to be questioned.

 

Police detained a labor leader for his actions leading a rally earlier that day. The next day, while in police custody and a few feet from police personnel, another inmate allegedly beat him. Subsequently, by his account, he was coerced into signing a confession by an interrogating officer who threatened that if he did not sign, the inmate(s) who had beaten him would “cripple” him.

 

During the year 47 persons were publicly caned in Aceh for offenses under the local Shari'a (Islamic law) such as gambling, consumption of alcohol, and being alone with members of the opposite sex who were not blood relatives. This was a decline from 2006, when at least 61 persons were caned for these offenses.

 

Conditions at the country’s 397 prisons and detention centers were harsh. Overcrowding was widespread. In Java occupancy frequently was two or three times more than recommended capacity. Guards regularly extorted money from and mistreated inmates. There were widespread reports that the government did not supply sufficient food to inmates, and family members often brought food to supplement their relatives’ diets. Family members reported that prison officials often sought bribes to allow relatives to visit inmates. Unruly detainees were held in solitary confinement for up to six days on a rice-and-water diet.

 

Human Rights Watch reported that at least 18 Papuan independence activists were in detention for flag raising. They were charged with incitement of hatred and rebellion.

 

Authorities arrested Papuan human rights activist Iwanggin Sabar Olif on suspicion of incitement of hatred and defamation for forwarding text messages. Some observers believed he was singled out for arrest for his human rights activities.

 

In some parts of the country, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, local residents believed that government‑sponsored transmigration programs, which move households from more densely populated areas to less populated regions, interfered with their traditional ways of life, land usage, and economic opportunities. Although the number of new persons in transmigration was significantly less than in previous years, the government continued to support approximately 100,000 households moved over the years from overpopulated areas to 403 isolated and less developed areas in 26 provinces.

 

The government used its authority, and at times intimidation, to expropriate land for development projects, often without fair compensation. In other cases, state-owned companies were accused of endangering resources upon which citizens’ livelihood depended. In 2005 President Yudhoyono signed a decree on land acquisition for public use, that allows the government to acquire land for private development projects even if landowners have not agreed on the amount of compensation. A number of NGOs argued that the decree served the interests of wealthy developers at the expense of the poor.

 

During 2007, land disputes continued to generate charges of unfair evictions and use of excessive force by security officials. There was an increase in evictions of squatters and street vendors during the year. The NGO Poor People's Alliance reported that more than 20,000 persons were evicted from their homes or informal businesses. The NGO Jakarta Legal Aid estimated that security officials evicted 5,935 persons from the North Jakarta turnpike during 2007, compared with 6,000 in all of Jakarta in 2006.

 

The country remained a major source for international trafficking in persons and faced a significant internal trafficking problem. It also was a receiving country for trafficked prostitutes, although the number was small relative to the number of Indonesian victims. Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, as well as other countries in the Middle East and Asia were destinations, and there were a few isolated cases of alleged trafficking to the United States. Prostitution, domestic servitude, and work in restaurants and hotels were the primary purposes, with some forced labor in construction and plantation work. Women and girls were also trafficked into forced marriages, particularly to Taiwan. Boys and girls under age 18 and secondarily women of all ages were most vulnerable to trafficking; however, all impoverished citizens were potential victims.

 

Victims were subjected to physical and psychological abuse, sometimes resulting in death due to abuse or suicide. According to medical records approximately 70% of trafficked women, including domestic servants, contracted venereal disease. Some trafficking victims were forced to work long hours, seven days a week, without pay and in inhuman conditions.

 

H. Merle Cochran
Appointment: Dec 28, 1949
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 30, 1949
Termination of Mission: Left post, Feb 27, 1953
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Feb 2, 1950. Embassy Jakarta was established Dec 27, 1949, under the informal direction of the Consul General pending Ambassador Cochran's arrival and presentation of his letter of credence.

 

Hugh S. Cumming, Jr.
Appointment: Sep 3, 1953
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 15, 1953
Termination of Mission: Left post, Mar 3, 1957
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 26, 1954.

 

John M. Allison
Appointment: Feb 21, 1957
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 13, 1957
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 29, 1958

 

Howard P. Jones
Appointment: Feb 20, 1958
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 10, 1958
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 24, 1965

 

Marshall Green
Appointment: Jun 4, 1965
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 26, 1965
Termination of Mission: Left post, Mar 26, 1969

 

Francis J. Galbraith
Appointment: May 27, 1969
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 19, 1969
Termination of Mission: Left post, Feb 3, 1974

 

David D. Newsom
Appointment: Dec 19, 1973
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 27, 1974
Termination of Mission: Left post, Oct 6, 1977

 

Edward E. Masters
Appointment: Nov 3, 1977
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 10, 1977
Termination of Mission: Left post, Nov 10, 1981

Note: John C. Monjo served as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, Nov 1981–Feb 1983.

 

John Herbert Holdridge
Appointment: Dec 10, 1982
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 19, 1983
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 7, 1986

 

Paul Dundes Wolfowitz
Appointment: Mar 4, 1986
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 11, 1986
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 12, 1989

 

John Cameron Monjo
Appointment: May 22, 1989
Presentation of Credentials: May 31, 1989
Termination of Mission: Left post, July 18, 1992

 

Robert L. Barry
Appointment: Jul 7, 1992
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 11, 1992
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 10, 1995

 

J. Stapleton Roy
Appointment: Dec 19, 1995
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 27, 1996
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 12, 1999

 

Robert S. Gelbard
Appointment: Aug 9, 1999
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 18, 1999
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 14, 2001

 

Ralph Leo Boyce
Appointment: Oct 1, 2001
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 24, 2001
Termination of Mission: Left post, Aug. 2, 2004

 

B. Lynn Pascoe
Appointment: Oct 18, 2004
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 25, 2004
Termination of Mission: Left post, Feb 17, 2007

 

 

Born on September 10, 1965, Djalal was raised in a diplomatic family (the second of three children). His father, Hasjim Djalal, was Indonesia’s ambassador to Canada and Germany and an international expert on the law of the sea. He was also the first Indonesian student to attend the University of Virginia, from which he received a doctorate of jurisprudence in 1959.

 

Djalal was exposed to Islamic education (Muhammadiyah elementary and Al Azhar junior high) and Western education, graduating from McLean High School in Virginia in 1981 at the age of 15. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Carleton University and his master’s in political science from Simon Fraser University, both in Canada.

 

Djalal joined Indonesia’s Department of Foreign Affairs in 1987.

 

In the early years of his career, he was an assistant to Director General for Political Affairs Wiryono Sastrohandoyo.

 

In 1999, he was the spokesman for the Task Force for the Implementation of Popular Consultation in East Timor. The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network and the West Papua Advocacy Team cited Djalal’s work in East Timor as reason why he should not have been accepted as ambassador to the U.S.

 

According to the human rights organizations, “Djalal was a defender of the Suharto dictatorship, and his career involved him in brutal repression. While defending the Indonesian security forces in East Timor (now independent Timor-Leste), he would often attack human rights investigators and organizations. He sought to portray the violence there as civil conflict among East Timorese, rather than resulting from repression of resistance to Indonesia's illegal and brutal occupation.”

 

Following his work in East Timor, Djalal was posted to London, during which stay he received a doctorate degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, after completing and defending a thesis on preventive diplomacy (2000).

 

He then was sent to Washington, DC, before being appointed director for North American affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2002-2004).

 

From October 2004 until becoming ambassador to the U.S., Djalal served as international affairs special staff and presidential spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, becoming the longest-serving presidential spokesperson in modern Indonesian history. During this time, he was the Indonesian representative of the Leaders Network in Support of United Nations Reform in 2005 as well as Indonesia’s “sherpa” for the G-8 Outreach Summit meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, in 2008.

 

As an advocate for youth engagement, he founded Modernisator, a movement of young leaders, as well as the youth program Generation-21.

 

Djalal has written written three books: The Geopolitics of Indonesia’s Maritime Territorial Policy (1996), Harus Bisa! (2008) and Energi Positif (2009).

 

Djalal and his dentist wife, Rosa Rai Djalal, have three children.

 

Official Biography (Embassy of Indonesia)

Groups Urge Obama Administration to Reject Dino Patti Djalal as Indonesia's Ambassador (East Timor and Indonesia Action Network and West Papua Advocacy Team)