In the letter, the social justice advocates said fraudulent practices happened in the 2024 elections last month.

“In our monitoring, the alleged election fraud that has been questioned by the public occurred not only on voting day, February 14, 2024, but also from the beginning of the election process until after the vote count carried out by the General Elections Commission (KPU) and other officials in power,” read the letter.

They said that this fraud not only hurt the ordinary people’s conscience but also gave rise to unrest.

This could be seen from discussion among the public and on social media as well as widespread statements by professors and university lecturers.

If fraud was allowed, the letter continued, then law enforcement would be derided and democracy would collapse.

‘Acting arbitrarily, ruthlessly’
“Meanwhile, the perpetrators of the election fraud continue to act arbitrarily and become increasingly ruthless, no longer just reviving rotten and depraved precedents in the election process,” the letter read.

As a consequence, the public would not obey the leadership in power and the state policies it produced. It was hoped that the political parties would mobilise House of Representatives (DPR) faction members to propose and launch a right of inquiry.

“We are very confident and have very high hopes, that the political parties will save this nation so that they are intentionally involved in intensively maintaining the law, law enforcement and democracy and democratisation in Indonesia by saving the 2024 elections,” the letter read.

The social justice advocates themselves consist of a number of activists, academics, and former KPK employees, such as Novel Baswedan, Bivitri Susanti, Usman Hamid, Faisal Basri, Fatia Maulidiyanti, Saut Situmorang, Agus Sunaryanto and Haris Azhar.

Several political parties have already responded to the proposal for a right of inquiry in Parliament. The NasDem Party said it was ready to support the proposal and was preparing the needed requirements.

“Currently the faction leadership is preparing the materials needed as a condition for submitting a right of inquiry, including collecting signatures from faction members”, said NasDem Party central leadership board chairperson Taufik Basari.

Measured steps
Basari said that they could not propose a right of inquiry by themselves, because it must involve at least two political party factions in the House. He said each political step taken needed to be measured.

Support has also been expressed by a DPR member from the PKB faction, Luluk Nur Hamidah. He believes that the 2024 elections were the “most brutal” he has ever taken part in since reformasi — referring to the political reform process that began in 1998.

“In all the elections I have participated in since the 1999 elections I have never seen an election process that was as brutal and painful as this, where political ethics and morals were at a minus point, if it cannot be said to be at zero”, said Hamidah when making an interruption at a DPR plenary meeting at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday, March 5.

Meanwhile PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto claimed that internally the PDI-P was not divided on the plan to initiate a right of inquiry into fraud in the 2024 elections.

“There’s no [split]. Because we often talk about it as an important political process in the DPR”, he said at the University of Indonesia (UI) Social and Political Science Faculty in Depok, West Java, on Thursday March 7.

Kristiyanto revealed that the plan for a right of inquiry has already entered the stage of forming a special team. This team, he continued, had already issued recommendations and academic studies related to the right of inquiry plan.

He said that later the academic study would be complemented with findings in the field on alleged election fraud.

“Because the dimensions are very wide. Because of the dimension of the misuse of power and misuse of the APBN [state budget], the intimidation and various upstream and downstream aspects,” he said.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “50 Tokoh Antikorupsi Surati Partai-partai Desak Hak Angket Pemilu”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Dani Prabowo in Jakarta

Indonesia’s Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto — the man expected to become President after his decisive win in last month’s elections — says democracy in the country is still messy and very costly.

Prabowo said he was still not satisfied with the implantation of democracy in his homeland.

He said there was a need for improvement to democracy in the future.

“Let me testify that democracy is really very, very exhausting. Democracy is very, very messy, democracy is very, very costly,” Prabowo said during a speech in English at the Mandiri Investment Forum last week.

The speech was broadcast online on the Kompas TV YouTube channel last Tuesday.

“And we are still not satisfied with our democracy. There is a lot of room for improvement”, he said.

Prabowo also said he appreciated the participation of the Indonesian people in the 2024 elections which reached 80 percent.

Participation ‘not bad’
According to Prabowo, the electoral participation in Indonesia was not bad — especially when compared to other countries that adhere to a democratic system but where voter participation did not reach 50 percent.

“In our elections, voter participation reached 80 percent. An average of 80 percent. That isn’t bad,” he said.

“Bearing in mind many countries, democratic countries, sometimes the turnout is less than 50 percent.”

The presidential candidate referred to his experience in the 2024 elections where, because of the vast size of Indonesia, he could not visit all the existing provinces.

Of the 38 provinces in the country, Prabowo said he had only been able to visit around 26.

However, he promised that after the elections he would visit the rest of the provinces that he had never visited.

“But after this election I still have to go to and visit those provinces (which I’ve not yet visited). Because I promised [them] that I will visit,” he added.

Prabowo has faced criticism in the Melanesian provinces of West Papua region by indigenous people seeking self-determination because of his troubled human rights record in both Papua and Timor-Leste.

Translated by James Balowski for Indoleft News. The Kompas author is unrelated to Minister Prabowo. The original title of the article was “Prabowo: Demokrasi Sangat Berantakan dan Mahal, Ada Banyak Ruang untuk Perbaikan”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A West Papuan pro-independence leader has accused Indonesia of new human rights atrocities this week while the republic has apparently elected a new president with a past record of violations in Timor-Leste and West Papua.

Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto has declared victory in the presidential election on Wednesday after unofficial vote counts showed him with a significant lead over his rivals, reports Al Jazeera.

The 72-year-old former Kopassus special forces commander, who had run unsuccessfully for president twice before, was given a dishonourable discharge in 1998 after claims that his force kidnapped and tortured political opponents of Soeharto as his regime crumbled.

He has also been accused of human rights abuses in East Timor, which won independence from Indonesia amid the collapse of the Soeharto regime, and also in West West Papua.

On the day that Indonesia went to the polls — Valentine’s Day, February 14 — Benny Wenda, president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), accused Jakarta’s military of continuing its “reign of terror” in rural West Papua.

“The latest tragedy they have inflicted on my people occurred in the Puncak regency,” Wenda said in a statement.

“Military raids on the February 3 and 4 devastated a number of highland villages.

‘Villagers tortured, houses burnt’
“Numerous houses were burnt to the ground, villagers were tortured, and at least one Papuan died from his wounds — though Indonesian control of information makes it difficult to know whether others were also killed.”

Wenda said that “as always”, the military had claimed the victims were TPNPB resistance fighters — “a grotesque lie, immediately denied by the villagers and their relatives”.

Wenda also accused Indonesia of “hypocrisy” over Israel’s war on Gaza.

“We have complete sympathy with [Palestinians over their suffering] in what is happening in Gaza,” he said.

“But Indonesian hypocrisy on Palestine cannot be ignored. They are bringing a legal case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about Israel’s occupation of Palestine while intensifying their own brutal and bloody military occupation of West Papua.

“They are supporting South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ while conducting their own genocide in West Papua.

Denying West Papuan rights
“They are crying about Palestinians’ right to self-determination while continuing to deny West Papuans that same right.”

More than 500,000 West Papuans have been killed since the occupation began in 1963, says the ULMWP.

In the past six years, more than 100,000 Papuans were estimated to have been displaced, made refugees in their own land as a result of Indonesian military operations.

“Genocide, ecocide, and ethnic cleansing — West Papuans are victims of all three. The world must pay attention to our plight.”

There were no reports of reaction from the Jakarta authorities.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

With Indonesia preparing for elections next week, Human Rights Watch has sought answers from the three groups vying for the presidency on how they would resolve human rights violations.

Two of the three Indonesian presidential and vice-presidential candidates responded to a questionnaire on key human rights issues.

The presidential candidates Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo submitted responses on their policy before the February 14 vote, but Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo, did not.

In response to the question: “What is your policy on government restrictions on access to West Papua by foreign journalists and international human rights monitors?”

Baswedan’s stance is that the issue of justice is at the heart of the security problems in Papua.

According to his response, there are three problems to deal with the situation.

“Resolving all human rights violations in Papua by strengthening national human rights institutions to investigate and resolve human rights violations in Papua, as well as encouraging socio-economic recovery for victims of human rights violations in Papua.

“Preventing the recurrence of violence by ensuring justice through; 1) sustainable infrastructure development by respecting special autonomy and customary rights of indigenous communities, 2) realising food security through local food production with indigenous communities as the main actors, 3) reducing logistics costs, 4) the presence of community health centers and schools throughout the Papua region, and 5) empowering talents from Papua to be actively involved in Indonesia’s development in various sectors and institutions.

“Carrying out dialogue with all comprehensively in ways that mutually respect and appreciate all parties, especially Indigenous Papuans.”

For Pranowo, he said he would “focus on the issue of fiscal policy and asymmetric development for Papua’.

This would be done through “Reducing socio-economic disparities due to internal differences growth, development, and access to resources between regions through resource redistribution, infrastructure investment, tax incentives, or special financial support for Papua in order to achieve more equitable economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve the standard of living of citizens to those who need it most.

“We also committed a special approach to preventing corruption and degradation of natural resources in Papua, especially in newly expanded provinces,” he said.

A service for Indonesians
Human Rights Watch’s Elaine Pearson says the two teams that responded had done Indonesian voters a service by sharing their views on the critically important human rights issues affecting the country.

She said voters should be able to go beyond the rhetoric to compare actual positions, and hold the candidates to their word if they are elected.

The questionnaire contained 16 questions focused on women’s rights, children’s rights to education, the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, labour rights, media freedom, and freedom of expression.

Other questions included policies on disability rights, protection of Indonesian migrant workers, and Indonesia’s foreign policy in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

There were also questions on policies that would address accountability for past violations including the mass killings in 1965, atrocities against ethnic Madurese on Kalimantan Island, sectarian violence in the Malukus Islands, the conflict in Aceh, the Lake Poso violence, the crackdown against student activists in 1998, and killings in East Timor.

All three teams have submitted their vision and mission statements ahead of the election, which are available with the General Election Commission.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

• Here is a Human Rights Watch summary of the responses received to the questionnaire. The full answers from the campaigns of two of the three presidential and vice presidential candidates can be accessed online at:
•  Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD here
• Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar here

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A wave of criticism by Indonesia’s academic community against the leadership of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo continues to grow as the republic faces a presidential election next week.

In the latest incident a council of professors, rectors and students at Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMY) in Bantul, Yogyakarta province, has issued a national message and moral appeal to “Safeguard Indonesian Democracy”.

In a statement read by UMY’s Professor Akif Khilmiyah last Sunday, the academics and students stated that an escalation of constitutional violations and the loss of state ethics had continued over the past year.

“Starting with the emasculation of the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission], officials who are fond of corruption, the DPR [House of Representatives] which does not function to defend the country’s children and some MK [Constitutional Court] judges who do not have any ethics or self-respect,” she said.

The culmination this, continued Professor Khilmiyah, was the “shackling” of the Constitutional Court judges by the “ambitions of the country’s rulers” and a loss of ethics in the political contest ahead of the 2024 elections on February 14 — Valentine’s Day.

Instead of thinking about ordinary people who were “eliminated by the power of the oligarchy“, according to Professor Khilmiyah, the country’s rulers appeared ambitious and were busy pursuing and perpetuating their power.

“The fragility of the state’s foundations is almost complete because the state’s administrators, the government, the DPR and the judiciary have failed to set a good example in maintaining their compliance with the principles of the constitution and the country’s ethics that should be obeyed wholeheartedly,” she said.

Upholding principles
As a democratic country and based on the constitution, state administrators should be the best examples of upholding the principles of the constitution and setting an example in upholding the country’s ethics for citizens.

Without this, the professor said, the Republic of Indonesia was at risk of becoming a failed state.

“Without exemplary state administrators, Indonesia will be on the verge of become a failed state,” she said.

The ordinary people must be active in reminding all state administrators so they complied with the constitution and cared for Indonesian democracy.

“[We] urge the President of the Republic of Indonesia to carry out his constitutional obligations as a state administrator to realise the implementation of the 2024 elections that are honest and fair,” Professor Khilmiyah said.

“The use of state facilities with all the authority they possess represents a serious constitutional violation,” she said, reading out the demands of professors and the UMY academic community.

The academics urged the political parties to stop the practice of money politics and abuse of power in the 2024 election contest, demanding that they prioritise political ideas and education to enlighten ordinary people.

Independent judiciary
They demanded that judicial institutions, namely the Supreme Court and the courts under its authority and the Constitutional Court, be independent and impartial in handling various disputes and violations during the 2024 elections.

Appealing to all Indonesian people to jointly safeguard the implementation of the 2024 elections so that they were dignified, honest and fair to enable the election of a leader who was visionary and had the courage to uphold the principles of the constitution.

The wave of criticism from campuses around Indonesia has continued to spread.

Earlier, several campuses issued petitions addressed to President Widodo, starting with the Gajah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, which released a “Bulaksumur Petition” (a long road hemmed in by rice fields where a well is found) because of their disappointment with one of the graduates of the university — President Widodo.

Protests on campus by the academic community against the Widodo leadership then became more widespread such as at the State Islamic University (UII) in Yogyakarta which called for an “Indonesian Statesmanship Emergency”.

Last Friday, on February 2, at least three more campuses issued statements criticising President Widodo. In a statement, the University of Indonesia (UI) claimed it had been called on to beat the drums of war to restore democracy.

Meanwhile, several professors and academics from Hasanuddin University (Unhas) in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar warned President Widodo and all state officials, law enforcement officers and political actors in the cabinet to remain within the corridors of democracy, prioritising popular values and social justice and a sense of comfort in democracy.

Lecturer coalition
A coalition of lecturers from Mulawarman University (Unmul) in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, also joined in calling on people to take a stand to save democracy and asked President Widodo not to take sides in the 2024 elections.

The palace itself has already responded to the wave of calls from Indonesian campuses. Presidential Special Staff Coordinator Ari Dwipayana responded by saying it was normal for a contest of opinions to emerge ahead of elections. He also touched on partisan political strategies.

“We are paying close attention in this political year, ahead of elections a contest of opinion will definitely emerge, the herding of opinions,” said Dwipayana.

“A contest of opinions in a political contestation is something that is also normal. Moreover it’s related to partisan political strategies for electoral politics.”

Nevertheless, Dwipayana emphasised that the criticism by campus academics represented a form of free speech and was a citizen’s democratic right.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “UMY Kritik Pemerintahan Jokowi: RI di Ambang Pintu Jadi Negara Gagal”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The pro-independence United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has declared a boycott of the Indonesian elections next month and has called on Papuans to “not bow down to the system or constitution of your Indonesian occupier”.

The movement’s president Benny Wenda and prime minister Edison Waromi have announced in a joint statement rejecting the republic’s national ballot scheduled for February 14 that: “West Papuans do not need Indonesia’s elections — [our] people have already voted.”

They were referring to the first ULMWP congress held within West Papua last November in which delegates directly elected their president and prime minister.

“You also have your own constitution, cabinet, Green State Vision, military wing, and government structure,” the statement said.

“We are reclaiming the sovereignty that was stolen from us in 1963.”

At the ULMWP congress, more than 5000 Papuans from the seven customary regions and representing all political formations gathered in the capital Jayapura to decide on their future.

“With this historic event we demonstrated to the world that we are ready for independence,” said the joint statement.

Necessary conditions met
According to the 1933 Montevideo Convention, four necessary conditions are required for statehood — territory, government, a people, and international recognition.

“As a government-in-waiting, the ULMWP is fulfilling these requirements,” the statement said.

“As we continue to mourn the death of Governor Lukas Enembe — just as we have been mourning the mass displacement and killing of Papuans over the last five years — we ask all West Papuans to honour his memory by refusing participation in the system that killed him.

“Governor Lukas was killed by Indonesia because he was a firm defender of West Papuan culture and national identity.

“He rejected the colonial ‘Special Autonomy’ law, which was imposed in 2001 in a failed attempt to suppress our national ambitions.

“But the time for bowing to the will of the colonial master is over. Did West Papuan votes for Jokowi [current President Joko Widodo] stop Indonesia from stealing our resources and killing our people?

“Indonesia’s illegal rule over our mountains, forests, and sacred places must be rejected in the strongest possible terms.”

‘Respect mourning’ call
The statement urged all people living in West Papua, including Indonesian transmigrants, to respect the mourning of the former governor and his legacy.

“West Papuans are a peaceful people – we have welcomed Indonesian migrants with open arms, and one day you will live among your Melanesian cousins in a free West Papua.

“But there must be no provocations of the West Papuan landowners while we are grieving [for] the governor.”

The statement also appealed to the Indonesian government seeking “your support for Palestinian sovereignty to be honoured within your own borders”.

“The preamble to the Indonesian constitution calls for colonialism to be ‘erased from the earth’. But in West Papua, as in East Timor, you are a coloniser and a génocidaire [genocidal].

“The only way to be truthful to your constitution is to allow West Papua to finally exercise its right to self-determination. A free West Papua will be a good and peaceful neighbour, and Indonesia will no longer be a human rights pariah.

Issue no longer isolated
Wenda and Waromi said West Papua was no longer an isolated issue.

“We sit alongside our occupier as a member of the MSG [Melanesian Spearhead Group], and nearly half the world has now demanded that Indonesia allow a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“Now is the time to consolidate our progress: support the congress resolutions and the clear threefold agenda of the ULMWP, and refuse Indonesian rule by boycotting the upcoming elections.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Marguerite Afra Sapiie in Jakarta

Indonesia’s National Police are facing increased pressure as investigations by human rights organisations have found alleged use of torture by Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers during the recent postelection protests that escalated into riots in Central and West Jakarta.

According to rights group Amnesty International, at least 12 people suffered torture and illtreatment by Brimob personnel during crackdowns on suspected rioters on May 21-23.

In its report released on Tuesday, Amnesty said the alleged use of violence occurred in areas near the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) building, the center of the protests, including in Kampung Bali, where reports of police brutality had previously emerged.

READ MORE: Jakarta’s postelection riots

The group declined to reveal the alleged victims’ identities out of concern of their safety as well as of their families.

“The public has the right to know about what happened on May 21-23”, said Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid.

In its findings, which are the result of a month-long verification process and interviews with witnesses, victims and their families, Amnesty claimed some Brimob personnel had tortured at least five people at an empty parking lot in Kampung Bali.

The incident reportedly took place at around 5:30 a.m. on May 23 after a sweep of the area.

Beaten, dragged
Amnesty said that one victim – who was unarmed – was beaten and dragged by around 10 Brimob officers, video footage of which was captured by a witness in a nearby building and uploaded onto social media.

Meanwhile, among the four other victims who were beaten in the same parking lot, one was so badly injured, he had to be taken to the Kramat Jati Police Hospital’s emergency unit in East Jakarta and was placed under “strict monitoring by the police”, the rights group said.

“This was clearly a crime because the officers used excessive force,” Usman said.

Thousands of supporters of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto took to the streets to protest incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s reelection victory late last month.

What started as a peaceful rally turned into full-fledged riots that triggered clashes between rioters and security forces, leaving nine dead and injuring hundreds.

After the video of an unarmed man being beaten by Brimob personnel went viral, the police admitted that the footage was real and the incident had taken place.

They confirmed that the man in the video was Andri Bibir, a rioter who had been arrested.

Marguerite Afra Sapiie is a reporter with The Jakarta Post.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Evan Wasuka on ABC Pacific Beat

It may be more than a month since Indonesians went to the polls, but the country is still being shaken by violence related to the election, including in the Papua region.

At least six people died in clashes in the capital Jakarta, during protests against the election outcome that saw President Joko Widodo declared the winner over Prabowo Subianto.

There are also reports in the Jakarta Post that post-election violence erupted in the troubled Papua region with investigations taking place into the deaths of four protesters allegedly killed by Indonesian soldiers.

READ MORE: Four shot dead in postelection violence in Papua

LISTEN: ABC Pacific Beat podcast

It comes as President Widodo’s re-elected government has promised greater infrastructure development in Papua province.

But West Papuan activists pushing for independence from Indonesia have declared their election boycott was a success, saying that a majority of West Papuans did not vote.

Benny Wenda, the exiled leader of the United Liberation Movement, called for the peaceful boycott to show that West Papuans were not interested in electing Indonesia’s president.

After the preliminary count came in he claimed that 60 percent of West Papuans had not taken part in the election.

However, the official results from the electoral commission show that 88 per cent of West Papuans did vote.

ULMWP spokesman Ronny Kareni said that while West Papuan activists were glad that Joko Widodo remained in power, they did not think anything would change citing that Joko Widodo had not addressed any of the human rights cases in Papua that he said he would in his first term.

“The trust that has always been there, that gap is widening,” he said.

“The general feeling is that nothing will change, even though Jokowi is back serving for the second time”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Protests to challenge the presidential election results have escalated in the capital of Jakarta for two nights running. Video: Jakarta Post

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan says six people have been killed during the worst riots to hit Indonesia’s capital city since 1998, when a student rally demanding the ouster of then-president Suharto led to a deadly riot that killed thousands.

The riots over two nights broke out in Jakarta shortly after supporters of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against the results of the April 17 election, which they claimed were plagued with fraud, reports The Jakarta Post.

“Six people have died so far; two at Tarakan Hospital and [the others] at the hospitals Pelni, Budi Kemulyaan, Cipto Mangunkusumo and RSAL Mintoharjo,” Governor Baswedan said.

READ MORE: VP calls on Prabowo, Sandiaga to calm protesters down

The National Police confirmed that six people had died during the riots and said they were investigating the deaths.

“This has to be clarified. We don’t want [people] to speculate, since there is an attempt to provoke people by blaming the security apparatus and inciting public anger,” National Police chief General Tito Karnavian said.

The Jakarta Post reported it could only independently confirm the deaths of three people: two people reported by Tarakan Hospital in West Jakarta and one at Budi Kemuliaan Hospital in Central Jakarta.

The deceased were identified as 17-year-old Adam Nooryan, who lived in Tambora, West Jakarta, 17-year-old Widianto Rizky Ramadhan, who lived in Palmerah, West Jakarta and 30-year-old Farhan Syahfero, a resident of Depok, West Java.

Planned riots
The National Police believe the riots were orchestrated and said many of the arrested “provocateurs” came from outside Jakarta.

“We have detained 58 people suspected of being provocateurs of the riot,” Police spokesperson Inspector General M. Iqbal said at a press conference at the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister in Central Jakarta.

“There are indications that most of the rioters were from outside Jakarta and that they had been paid [to riot].”

He said the initial protesters outside the headquarters of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) were peaceful and had cooperated with police.

“The protest coordinator asked for permission to break the fast together and perform tarawih (evening Ramadan prayers), which we allowed, even though the law states that protests should end by 6:30 pm.”

He added that police had asked the crowd to disperse at 9:00 pm, which it did without incident.

“But then, around 11:00 pm, another crowd of unknown origin arrived and started to damage the security barriers [in front of the Bawaslu headquarters],” he said.

Police then drove the crowd, which had started to throw projectiles such as rocks and Molotov cocktails at the security forces, back toward Tanah Abang.

After police had mostly subdued the crowd, another, separate group of people appeared and started attacking the National Police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) dormitories in Petamburan, Cental Jakarta, setting the building on fire.

“We found an ambulance with a political party logo that was filled with rocks and other tools,” Iqbal said, declining to name the party. “We also confiscated envelopes full of money.”

A series of post-election protests also took place in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, with an unidentified group of people setting fire to a police post on Wednesday.

Social media restrictions
The government took measures to slow down the uploading and downloading of photographs on social media platforms and online messaging apps following the rioting in Central and West Jakarta.

“To avoid provocations and false news from spreading to the wider public, we are temporarily limiting access to certain features on social media,” Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said at a press conference yesterday.

Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said the sharing of videos and photos online had been blocked.

“The limitations are applied to features on social media platforms and messaging systems,” Rudiantara said at the same press conference. “We know that the modus operandi [of spreading false news] is by posting videos, memes and photos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

These posts are screen-capped and go viral on messaging apps, such as WhatsApp. So we will all experience a slowdown if we try to download or upload videos and photos.”

He said the move was necessary because the fake videos and photos triggered an “emotional response.”

Jokowi wins election
The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo as the winner of the 2019 presidential election early on Tuesday morning, giving the president a second and final term in office.

Jokowi captured 55.5 percent of the vote or over 85 million votes, 17 million more than rival Prabowo Subianto, who received over 68 million votes or 44.5 percent of the vote, reports The Jakarta Post.

The victory had been forecast by reputable pollsters in the country, including the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Cyrus Network, which forecast his victory against Prabowo at 55.6-44.4.

Jokowi won 21 of 34 provinces while Prabowo won 13 provinces, most of which were in Sumatra.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Marguerite Afra Sapiie in Jakarta

As tensions intensified between incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and challenger Prabowo Subianto over the expected results in the Indonesia election last week, the rival camps scrambled on their own to prove that their respective candidate was the rightful winner of the poll.

The Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin ticket, which is predicted to win the election as shown by the quick-count results, has even decided to up the ante against Prabowo’s victory claims, as the campaign team publicly opened their own process of final vote counting.

The campaign team also alleged that Prabowo, who had declared himself the new president, citing his own camp’s internal real count, has manipulated the public by not using complete data on the vote counts.

READ MORE: Indonesian election exposes ethnic, religious divides

Jokowi’s camp has employed around 250 people working on three different shifts, 24 hours every day to count the C1 vote tally forms from polling stations across the country in a “war room”, located in Gran Melia hotel in South Jakarta.

The room, which featured TV screens showing real-time vote counting, is open for everyone who wants to monitor the real vote count, Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin campaign team executive Moeldoko said.

-Partners-

“We have nothing to hide here and we want everything to be open, so there won’t be doubts or scepticism anymore […] our mechanism and standards for the real count are also accountable,” Moeldoko said on Sunday.

Similar to the real count by the General Elections Commission (KPU), the team working in the facility counts votes based on a digitised version of the C1 forms, which record the final vote count of each polling station at the district level, from hundreds of thousands of polling booths across Indonesia.

Real time data
The witnesses at all polling stations sent the photo of C1 forms to the team, established under the Witness Directorate of the campaign team, which would input the data in real time. The coordinator of witnesses in each district was responsible for overseeing and clarifying the data sent by the witnesses.

As of 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, the team had input around 23.8 million votes from 119,216 polling stations, or 14 percent of the 813,350 across Indonesia.

The data so far showed that Jokowi-Ma’ruf lead with 56.16 percent against Prabowo-Sandiaga’s 45.84 percent.

Early vote counts conducted by a number of pollsters, including the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Cyrus Network as well as Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) showed the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin ticket had 54 to 56 percent of the vote against Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno’s 44 to 46 percent.

In a controversial move, the former Army general declared his victory hours after the election and said the camp’s internal real count showed that he had won the race with 62 percent of the vote from over 320,000 polling stations across the country.

Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno campaign team spokesman Andre Rosiade explained that the real count was derived after their witnesses sent the photos of C1 forms to the Prabowo-Sandiaga campaign team as well as to the headquarters of political parties in the coalition.

Witness Directorate deputy director Lukman Edy, however, said the team had found that Prabowo’s claim was not supported by reliable data and in the revealed cases, the rival camp did not put the results from all polling stations in the province into the equation.

Quick-count results
In Lampung, for instance, the war room has gathered around 50 percent of votes, which put Jokowi in the lead with 57.6 percent against Prabowo’s 42.33 percent. The tally was already similar to quick-count results by pollsters, such as SMRC which put Jokowi at 57.7 percent.

“[Prabowo’s camp] put our votes at 40.91 percent while they won with 59.09 percent [in Lampung]. After we looked into it, turns out they only used data from 30 polling stations,” Lukman said.

A similar situation happened in Jakarta, with Prabowo’s campaign team declaring victory in the province by only counting 300 out of thousands of polling stations, he said.

Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno campaign team spokesperson Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said the team did not think too much about the analysis done by Jokowi’s camp, and said they would keep focusing on monitoring the real count. The KPU is expected to announce the final results on May 22.

Meanwhile, in what could be seen as an attempt to diffuse tensions, Jokowi has appointed Luhut Panjaitan — a retired Army general — as his envoy to engage in talks with the Gerindra Party patron.

According to Luhut, he and Prabowo had talked on the phone, describing their conversation as “full of laughter” with “a little bit of nostalgia”.

“Pak Prabowo is a good man […] I know him as a very rational man who can think clearly,” Luhut told journalists on Monday, “So I just want to suggest that he does not listen too much to those whose ideas are somewhat baseless.

“I truly want Pak Prabowo to leave behind a legacy as a leader who participates in strengthening democracy in Indonesia and respects any decision by the KPU,” Luhut said.

Marguerite Afra Sapiie is a Jakarta Post reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Karina M. Tehusijarana in Jakarta

A quick count conducted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and Cyrus Network indicates that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been reelected to the presidency in Indonesia, with the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin ticket winning 55.8 percent of the vote against Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno’s 44.2 percent.

“Today we can conclude that Pak Jokowi and Pak Ma’ruf Amin is ahead of Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno based on our quick count results,” CSIS executive director Philips Vermonte said.

“The position will not change.”

READ MORE: A thousand Indonesias at stake in one election

In contrast, challenging retired general Prabowo Subianto claimed he had “already won“.

Prabowo claimed victory hours before quick-count surveys officially ended, in a repeat of a similar declaration he made in the 2014 presidential race – which he lost.

-Partners-

He claimed a “real count” from more than 320 polling stations had placed him in the lead with 62 percent of votes.

He added that he had consulted statistics experts who said the figure would “not differ much” from the final count.

‘We have already won’
“We will avoid taking any unconstitutional actions because we have already won,” Prabowo told the media at his residence in South Jakarta.

Melanesian leaders of the two easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua had called for a boycott of the election and demanded independence.

For the quick count, the pollsters surveyed 2002 polling stations across the country’s 34 provinces.

As at 5:03 pm last evening, local time, data from 86.7 percent of the polling stations surveyed had been received. The margin of error from the quick count is 1 percent.

A quick count conducted by Jakarta-based pollster Charta Politika also shows similar results with Jokowi-Ma’ruf winning 54.3 percent against Prabowo-Sandiaga’s 45.7 percent, with 83.8 percent of 2000 polling stations surveyed.

The results were in line with the most recent polls, which showed Jokowi holding a comfortable double-digit lead over the Gerindra Party chairman.

Karina M. Tehusijarana is a Jakarta Post journalist.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

The party backing a presidential challenger in today’s Indonesian general election claims it is reporting an independent US journalist to police over accusations of spreading “lies or fake news”.

CNN Indonesia reports the deputy chairperson of Prabowo Subianto’s Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), Arief Poyuono, will report journalist Allan Nairn over the accusations.

The alleged fake news referred to by Poyuono is an article by Nairn revealing Prabowo’s strategy to weaken his political opponents if he is elected as president in the presidential election.

READ MORE: Indonesians await ‘quick count’ after country’s biggest election

Incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and First Lady Iriana cast their ballots at a polling station during the presidential and legislative elections in Jakarta today. Image: Seto Wardhana/Jakarta Post

Nairn published the report on his blog titled “Minutes of a Closed Meeting Between Prabowo Subianto and His Team” (Notulensi Rapat Tertutup Prabowo Subianto dan Tim).

“We will make the report tomorrow. We will also ask the police to arrest Allan Nairn who is currently in Indonesia. Because he has produced fake news in Indonesia”, Poyuono told CNN Indonesia.

-Partners-

In his report, Nairn- a highly respected journalist writing on Indonesian affairs – said that on December 21 last year Prabowo held a closed meeting at his private residence on Jl Jalan Kertanegara Number 4 in South Jakarta that took place between 9pm and 11.15 pm.

Nairn said that the meeting — which was attended by people in Prabowo’s inner circle including Gerindra deputy chairperson and Fadli Zon and Poyuono — discussed concrete steps to deal with strategic issues such as the Prabowo presidential ticket supporting an Islamic caliphate and political grudges against Gerindra.

List of names
In relation to the caliphate issue, the meeting decided to appoint retired TNI (Indonesian military) Major General Arifin Seman to draft a list of names that would be suitable as the new head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

“A massive internal reshuffle inside BIN will be directed towards an attack on political opponents and to paralyse the HTI [the banned extremist Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia], the FPI [the hardline Islamic Defenders Front], JAD [the banned terrorist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah] and equivalent groups,” wrote Nairn in the report.

“BIN’s other task will be to weaken [Prabowo’s] coalition parties to increase Gerindra’s domination in the administration: the PKS [the Islamic based Justice and Prosperity Party] and the Democrat Party will have their wings clipped completely through various old and new corruption cases,” read the report.

In relation to political grudges, Nairn’s report said that Fadli Zon and PKS politician and current deputy House of Representatives Speaker Fahri Hamzah would be tasked with selecting the next Attorney-General.

“The new Attorney-General’s principle task will be to convict as many political opponents as possible from the PDI-Perjuangan [President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle], NasDem [the National Democrats], the Golkar Party, the PKB [National Awakening Party] and the PPP [the United Development Party],” wrote Nairn in the report.

Nairn claims to have obtained the information about the meeting from an intelligence source. Poyuono on the other hand, who is cited as having attended the meeting, says that Nairn’s report is nothing more than a hoax or fake news.

Poyuono conceded that he was once interviewed by Nairn on March 20, 2019. During the interview, Poyuono said Nairn asked many questions, one of which was about the December 21 meeting at Kertanegara.

‘No meeting’
“He asked me ‘did I take part or not?”. I said no, because there was indeed no meeting on December 21. If there had been a meeting [on that date] I would most certainly have taken part because I am a [party] leader and close to Prabowo,” said Poyuono.

Poyuono said that Nairn is a “made to order” journalist who has been tasked with destroying Prabowo in the lead up to the presidential and legislative elections. Poyuono even claimed to have data which corroborates the accusation that Nairn is a journalist who is paid to write specific reports.

He presented CNN Indonesia with evidence of this in the form of a money transfer receipt of around US$2 million paid into Nairn’s DBS Bank account in Singapore. Poyuono said that the money was part of a payment made to Nairn to slander and build a black campaign against Prabowo and the TNI.

“He has indeed been tasked by people who have placed an order with him. By our political opponents. People still remember when during the Jakarta Pilkada [gubernatorial election in 2017] he said the TNI was planning a coup d’etat, it turned out to be a hoax. The Pilkada proceeded smoothly and peacefully,” said Poyuono.

Nairn himself denies Poyuono’s accusations. On his Twitter account @AllanNairn14, Nairn said Prabowo’s team had sent the press a fake Singapore bank receipt to the press containing the alleged transfer of US$2 million.

“I think that this is an indirect confirmation by Prabowo that the report is accurate and he is trying hard to discredit it,” wrote Nairn.

Translated by James Balowski of Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “Gerindra Polisikan Allan Nairn Soal Dokumen Siasat Prabowo”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Up to 193 million eligible voters in Indonesia will go to the polls today, in what will be the world’s largest single-day election.

The election will see incumbent president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo go head-to-head with Prabowo Subianto, a former general in the Indonesian armed forces who lost to Jokowi in 2014.

This election is also significant as for the first time in Indonesia’s history, the presidential and legislative elections will be held on the same day.

READ MORE: Indonesia’s political system has ‘failed’ its minorities – like West Papuans

Why should New Zealand care? We put the question to some Indonesia experts…

Lester Finch, Director, AUT Indonesia Centre:
“Which country is New Zealand’s most disregarded Pacific neighbour? An archipelago of 17,000 islands, more than 300 languages spoken and 260 million people. Yes, it’s Indonesia.

“This large country is full of economic and social development opportunities for entrepreneurial Kiwis yet we don’t know what’s going on there. Many don’t know that the presidential elections are to be held this month and the outcome of those elections will have an impact on New Zealand.

“Indonesian language is a doorway to the culture. Australia has around 20 institutions teaching the Indonesian language while New Zealand has just one. Why? We just haven’t yet realised the opportunities Indonesia has for us.

“Indonesia is an exciting country with fine traditions and culture, especially its vibrant music and dance. Let’s pay some attention and step out of our comfort zone to get to know wonderful Indonesia and find out about the two individuals vying for the presidency.”

Natasha Hamilton-Hart, Director, New Zealand Asia Institute:
“For New Zealand, the election carries two major points of relevance. First, there are the implications for Indonesia’s future trajectory with regard to human rights and civic freedoms. While neither candidate is a liberal democrat, Prabowo’s platform, history and allies clearly speak to a greater willingness to espouse illiberal limits on individual and minority freedoms.

“Second, there are implications for Indonesia’s trade policy. Both candidates endorse strongly nationalist programmes, including a policy of self-sufficiency in food – which directly impinges on New Zealand’s export prospects in key products, including meat and dairy.

“There is at least a rhetorical difference, however. In the campaign, Prabowo has strongly criticised rising food imports in 2018, leaving Jokowi to defend these imports as necessary to maintain food price stability.

“Jokowi’s administration has been forced to allow these import increases despite an underlying commitment to an ostensibly pro-farmer self-sufficiency strategy. Imports have risen when food prices spiked, but the longer term strategy is likely to be here to stay.”

Sharyn Graham Davies, Associate Professor of Social Sciences at Auckland University of Technology:
“Given New Zealand’s recent overwhelming support of its Muslim community, including women donning the head scarf on the Friday following the Christchurch massacre, it is a shame that New Zealand will not find a kindred spirit in the next president of Indonesia.

“Both of the front-runners have poor track records when it comes to human rights. New Zealand rightly finds it difficult to ignore human rights abuses on the diplomatic stage.

“While the incumbent, Jokowi, is perhaps not malevolent, he has done little to support women or the LGBT community since his election in 2014. While Jokowi’s lacklustre presidency may not be a huge cause for concern, his appointment of vice-presidential candidate, Ma’ruf Amin, is an ultra-conservative Islamic hardliner who thinks Indonesia should be cleansed of its LGBT community.

“Distressingly, though, the Jokowi-Ma’ruf ticket almost looks almost benign compared to the other front-runner, Prabowo. Having married the daughter of former authoritarian ruler Suharto, Prabowo is implicated in a number of mass murders.

“New Zealand needs to pay attention to the upcoming Indonesian election to get to grips with how it will deal with our most populous neighbour when further human rights abuses occur.”

Indi Soemardjan, Chairman of the New Zealand-Indonesia Friendship Council:
“New Zealanders can start looking at the size of this election. There will be 800,000 polling stations, six million election workers, and the most complicated single-day ballot in global history.

“Altogether, there are more than 245,000 candidates running for more than 20,000 national and local legislative seats across hundreds of islands, in addition to the headline presidential contest.

“Paper ballots and nails are simply the method. No electronic nor digital ballots used.

“Unfortunately, this has also been considered the most divisive presidential election in Indonesia due to the fact that both candidates have effectively used social media channels (and millions of chat/WhatsApp groups) to create public opinion regarding their ‘ideological differences’, if any.”

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Research Professor, Indonesia Institute of Sciences:
“With its population of over 260 million people, its strategic location at the crossroads between the Indian and Pacific Oceans and between Asia and Australia and its dynamic economy, Indonesia is the largest member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and plays a pivotal role in promoting regional peace, stability and prosperity.

“Indonesia is also the world’s largest Muslim nation, the world’s third largest democracy as well as a member of the G20. Indonesia prides itself as a country where Islam, democracy, modernity and women empowerment walk hand-in hand.

“Indonesia’s legislative and presidential elections serve to affirm its identity as a vibrant democracy, while at the same time the rise in identity politics and the proliferation of fake news have become serious concerns as both can undermine democracy. The results of Indonesia’s elections are clearly of interest to Indonesia’s neighbours, including New Zealand, as they will determine the direction that Indonesia will take in the next five years.”

Chris Naziris, lawyer at MKK Jakarta and Wellington:
“The 2019 election will be defined by competing populist policies, economic nationalism and rising religious conservatism. These could significantly impact New Zealand’s $1 billion worth of exports, the security of the region and the safety of New Zealanders.

“Indonesia has been a pluralistic and largely tolerant nation but continued low mineral prices (Indonesia’s extractive economy mirrors Australia’s) and increasingly ineffective nationalistic economic policies have failed to lift millions out of extreme poverty.

“This has led to frustration and resentment among many, especially outside Jakarta. In a time of growing US-China tensions, BREXIT, and European economic stagnation, the stability of Indonesia, as the largest economy in Southeast Asia is vital to New Zealand.”

Siah Hwee Ang, Chair in Business in Asia:
“Indonesia is a close neighbour to New Zealand and its economic ties with New Zealand have strengthened in the last couple of years. Indonesia’s trade and investment policies might adjust depending on the outcomes of the coming election.

“This will have an impact on New Zealand businesses either currently trading with our Southeast Asia neighbour or those with the market in sight.

“Even intermediaries that engage with Indonesian counterparts will have to keep themselves abreast of the potential change in political and business climate in Indonesia. More broadly, Indonesia’s election will have ramifications for ASEAN as a whole and the wider Asia-Pacific, which New Zealand is a part of.

“There will be ripple effects on trade and investment fronts, even if trade agreements may have ring-fenced some of these potential effects. Overall, clearly the election in the largest economy in ASEAN would have both direct and indirect effects on business engagements with the country and the wider context of the Asia-Pacific.”

Compiled by the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Asia Media Centre.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By David Robie

A human rights defender and researcher has warned in a new book published on the eve of the Indonesian national elections tomorrow that the centralised political system has failed many of the country’s 264 million people – especially minorities and those at the margins, such as in West Papua.

Author Andreas Harsono also says a “radical change is needed in the mindset of political leaders” and he is not optimistic for such changes after the election.

Harsono is author of Race, Islam and Power: Ethnic and Religious Violence in Post-Suharto Indonesia, a book based on 15 years of research and travel between Sabang in Aceh in the west and Merauke in West Papua in the East.

READ MORE: Indonesian elections – environment a missing topic

Race, Islam and Power – Andreas Harsono’s new book on human rights in Indonesia. Image: Monash University

Founding President Sukarno used the slogan “from Sabang to Merauke” when launching a campaign – ultimately successful – to seize West Papua in 1961.

But, as Harsono points out, the expression should really be from Rondo Island (an unpopulated islet) to Sota (a remote border post on the Papua New Guinean boundary.

Harsono, a Human Rights Watch researcher since 2008, argues that Indonesia might have been more successful by creating a federation rather than a highly centralised state controlled from Jakarta.

“Violence on post-Suharto Indonesia, from Aceh to West Papua, from Kalimantan to the Moluccas, is evidence that Java-centric nationalism is unable to distribute power fairly in an imagined Indonesia,” he says. “It has created unnecessary paranoia and racism among Indonesian migrants in West Papua.

Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono … violent repression has “created unnecessary paranoia and racism among Indonesian migrants in West Papua”. Image: HRW

‘They’re Melanesians’
“The Papuans simply reacted by saying they’re Melanesians – not Indonesians. They keep questioning the manipulation of the United Nations-sponsored Act of Free Choice in 1969.”

Critics and cynics have long dismissed what they see as a deeply flawed process involving only 1025 voters selected by the Indonesian military as the “Act of No Choice”.

Harsono’s criticisms have been borne out by a range of Indonesian activist and watchdog groups, who say the generals behind the two presidential frontrunners are ridden with political interests.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM) have again warned that both presidential candidate tickets — incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and running mate Ma’ruf Amin as well as rival Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno — have close ties with retired TNI (Indonesian military) generals.

These retired officers are beholden to political interests and the prospect of resolving past human rights violations will “become increasingly bleak” no matter who is elected as the next president.

President Joko Widodo and his challenger retired general Prabowo Subianto … “problematic track record on human rights”. Image: Jakarta Post

Kontras noted that nine out of the 27 retired officers who are behind Widodo and Ma’ruf have a “problematic track record on human rights”.

“Likewise with Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno where there are eight retired officers who were allegedly involved in past cases of HAM violations”, said Kontras researcher Rivanlee Anandar.

Prabowo himself, a former special forces commander, is implicated in many human rights abuses. He has been accused of abduction and torture of 23 pro-democracy activists in the late 1990s and he is regarded as having knowledge of the killing hundreds of civilians in Santa Cruz massacre in Timor-Leste.

90,000 killed post-Sukarno
Harsono’s 280-page book, with seven chapters devoted to regions of Indonesia, documents an ”internally complex and riven nation” with an estimated 90,000 people having been killed in the decade after Suharto’s departure.

“In East Timor, President Suharto’s successor B. J. Habibie agreed to have a referendum [on independence]. Indonesia lost and it generated a bloodbath,” says Harsono.

“Habibie’s predecessors, Megawati Sukanoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, refused to admit [that] the Indonesian military’s occupation, despite a United Nations’ finding, had killed 183,000 people between 1975 and 1999.”

Harsono notes how in 1945 Indonesia’s “non-Javanese founders Mohammad Hatta, Sam Ratu Langie and Johannes Latuharhary wanted an Indonesia that was democratic and decentralised. They advocated a federation.”

However, Sukarno, Supomo and Mohammad Yamin wanted instead a centralised unitarian state.

“Understanding the urgency to fight incoming Dutch troops, Latuharhary accepted Supomo’s proposal but suggested the new republic hold a referendum as soon as it became independent. Sukarno agreed but this decision has never been executed.”

The establishment of a unitarian state “naturally created the Centre”, says Harsono. “Jakarta has been accumulated and controlling political, cultural, educational, economic, informational and ideological power.

Java benefits
“The closer a region to Jakarta, the better it will benefit from the Centre. Java is the closest to the Centre.

“The further a region is from the Centre, the more neglected it will be. West Papua, Aceh, East Timor and the Moluccas are among those furthest away from Jakarta.”

The centralised political system needed a “long and complex bureaucracy” and this “naturally created corruption”, Harsono explains.

“Indonesia is frequently ranked as the most corrupt country in Asia. Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd listed Indonesia as the most corrupt country in Asia in 2005.”

Harsono also notes how centralised power has helped a religious and ethnic majority that sees itself as “justified to have privileges and to rule over the minorities”.

The author cites the poet Leon Agasta as saying, “They’re the two most dangerous words in Indonesia: Islam and Java.” Muslim majority and Javanese dominance.

Harsono regards the Indonesian government’s response to demands for West Papuan “self-determination” as “primarily military and repressive: viewing Papuan ‘separatists’ as criminals, traitors and enemies of the Republic of Indonesia”.

He describes this policy as a “recipe for ongoing military operations to search for and destroy Papuan ‘separatists’, a term that could be applied to a large, if not overwhelming, portion of the Papuan population”.

Ruthless Indonesian military
“The Indonesian military, having lost their previous power bases in east Timor and Aceh, ruthlessly maintain their control over West Papua, both as a power base and as considerable source of revenue.

“The Indonesian military involvement in legal businesses, such as mining and logging, and allegedly, illegal businesses, such as alcohol, prostitution, extortion and wildlife smuggling, provide significant funds for the military as an organisation and also for individual officers.”

Andreas Harsono launched his journalism career as a reporter for the Bangkok-based Nation and the Kuala Lumpur-based Star newspapers. In the 1990s, he helped establish Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists – then am illegal group under the Suharto regime, and today the most progressive journalists union in the republic.

Harsono was also founder of the Jakarta-based Institute for the Studies on the Free Flow of Information and of the South East Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA).

In a separate emailed interview with me in response to a question about whether there was light at the end of the tunnel, Harsono replied: I do not want to sound pessimistic but visiting dozens of sites of mass violence, seeing survivors and families’ who lost their lost ones, I just realised that mass killings took place all over Indonesia.

“It’s not only about the 1965 massacres –despite them being the biggest of all– but also the Papuans, the Timorese, the Acehnese, the Madurese etc.

“Basically all major islands in Indonesia, from Sumatra to Papua, have witnessed huge violence and none of them have been professionally understood. The truth of those mass killings have not been found yet.”

Professor David Robie is director of the Pacific Media Centre.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Tom Stayner of SBS News

A West Papuan independence leader and Nobel peace prize nominee is calling for a mass boycott of Indonesia’s upcoming elections to bring attention to their independence struggle.

Benny Wenda was granted political asylum in the United Kingdom 16 years ago – following an escape from custody while on trial in West Papua.

In exile, he has led the campaign for the self-determination that his countrymen say they have lacked since Indonesia gained internationally-recognised control of West Papua through a disputed referendum vote 50 years ago.

WATCH VIDEO: SBS Skype interview with Benny Wenda

Wenda told SBS News from London, that he is calling for a mass boycott of Indonesia’s upcoming elections to again bring attention to a decades long independence struggle.

“This is a critical time for our people because the election for a colonial occupied force is not legitimate,” Wenda said.

“From now on we will not take part in Indonesian elections because we are not Indonesian.”

-Partners-

“We are Melanesian. We are the Pacific islanders… People are fed up – enough is enough,”he said.

Indonesian elections
On April 17 – more than 190 million registered Indonesian voters will go to the polls for presidential and general elections.

Favoured incumbent President Joko Widodo is being challenged by former military general Prabowo Subianto.

Subianto is also the son-in-law of long-time former President Suharto – who led Indonesia for three decades.

Southeast Asia analyst Damien Kingsbury said both candidates have adopted “nationalist” sentiments in their campaign so far.

“There are both populists that are operating on a populist agenda,” he said.

“Jokowi is trying to broaden his appeal out to the middle ground of Indonesian voters. Prabowo is appealing much more to a base.”

Professor Kingsbury said despite making up some recent ground, Subianto is well behind President Widodo in most polling.

“The polls have been showing that Jokowi is running at around the 50 percent mark in terms of popularity,” he said.

“Prabowo is running at around the 30 percent mark with a significant number of undecided voters.”

This is the second time the two rivals will face off after President Widodo defeated Subianto in elections five years ago.

According to the West Papua National Committee, hundreds of thousands of West Papuans boycotted those elections in 2014.

West Papuan militants back boycott
Indonesia’s control of West Papua has long been a flash-point for ongoing low level conflict between Indonesian forces and Indigenous Papuan militants.

Indonesia recently deployed 600 soldiers to protect the building of a major highway in West Papua, in response to the killings of 19 Indonesian road workers. The road project was a signature promise that President Joko Widodo made to the region.

In following clashes with militants, Indonesia’s military said three of its soldiers were killed along with up to 10 rebels.

But despite this escalation, Professor Kingsbury said West Papua had essentially been a “non-issue” in the election campaign.

“Both candidates believe that that Melanesian West Papuans should accept they are Indonesian.” he said.

“[They believe] the separatist movement [in West Papua] is essentially a criminal organisation.”

In a statement seen by SBS News, the West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB-OPM) declared its intention to support the push to boycott 2019 elections.

“The TPNPB-OPM never recognised the existence of the Colonial Government of the Republic of Indonesia in Papuans Customary Lands,” the statement reads.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz