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100 arrested in Indonesia over fuel protest
Police arrested more than 100 protesters in the Indonesian capital Saturday after some burnt tyres and threw molotov cocktails during a rally over fuel price rises, police said. Indonesia hiked the cost of fuel by nearly 30 percent from Saturday in response to soaring global oil prices, and a ballooning subsidy bill, leaving hard-pressed households facing even more economic woes.
“More than 100 people have been detained for questioning,” a police officer identified only as Ari told AFP.
He said that hundreds of students staged the rally early Saturday in front of the National University in South Jakarta over the price rise decision.
“Protesters have thrown small fuel bombs (molotov) towards the police and burned tyres on the streets,” he said.
Police also arrested about 26 protesters who rallied outside the presidential palace at midnight on Friday, when the price rise came into effect, Detikcom News Website reported.
A police officer said protesters had no permit to stage a rally there.
In Bandung city in West Java, 1,000 protesters from hardline Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir held a protest Saturday morning to condemn the government’s move on prices, local ElShinta radio reported.
Many ordinary Indonesians say higher fuel prices combined with the recent surge in the cost of food will put an intolerable strain on family budgets.
The price hike sparked protests across the sprawling archipelago of 234 million people when it was flagged earlier this month by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The government defended the decision on Friday, saying in a statement that even with the hike, fuel was still subsidised and “lower than in poor countries such as East Timor.”
Police arrested more than 100 protesters in the Indonesian capital Saturday after some burnt tyres and threw molotov cocktails during ... more -
Body in suitcase sparks serial killer fear
Indonesian police were questioning a man today on suspicion that he murdered his lover and at least four other people, a police detective said. Verry Henyanksyah was arrested last week after a dismembered male body was found in a suitcase in the capital, Jakarta, said police Colonel Carlo Tewu. He said Henyanksyah allegedly said the victim was his lover and confessed to the murder. He then led police to four other bodies buried outside his parents' home in east Java, Tewu said.
Henyanksyah told police all the victims were male and that one was a Dutch citizen, he said. The bodies, which were unearthed yesterday, were too decomposed to immediately identify them or establish their sex. Tewu said he feared Henyanksyah may have killed more people, and urged residents to inform police if they knew anyone who had contact with Henyanksyah and then disappeared.
Over the past month, Indonesia has executed four people convicted for murder, two of whom were serial killers. Indonesian police were questioning a man today on suspicion that he murdered his lover and at least four other people, a police detect... more -
More religions, more trouble
THE separatist conflict in Indonesia’s Papua region—formerly known as Irian Jaya and once one of the world’s great liberal causes—has become relatively quiet in recent years. Small groups of protesters still occasionally gather to wave the Morning Star independence flag and get arrested for it. But decades of repression by the Indonesian security forces, combined with the granting in 2000 of partial autonomy from Jakarta, have sapped the separatists’ ranks. However, according to a recent report on the region, there is a risk that the separatist conflict may be rekindled or replaced by religious strife because of the arrival of new and more muscular forms of both Islam and Christianity.
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The report, by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a think-tank, says rising religious tension has already come close to triggering violence between Muslims and Christians, as is already common in the nearby, mixed-faith province of Maluku. In Kaimana district, for example, members of the two religions had long lived together harmoniously. But in December locals came close to blows over the erection of an iron tower shaped like a Christmas tree, topped with a Star of David—often used by charismatic Christian groups but best known as a symbol of Judaism.
The new Christian groups have raised Muslims’ hackles by boasting (sometimes falsely) of their conversions of Muslims. Muslims, in turn, have become increasingly vigilant against any perceived threats either to their faith or to Indonesian sovereignty. Some Islamic radicals are prone to conspiracy theories about plots to prise Papua away from Indonesia, often involving America and its majority-Christian regional allies, Australia and the Philippines.
Increased fundamentalism has sharpened each ethnic group’s fear of domination by the other. The Indonesian government has discontinued its programme of transportation to Papua and elsewhere to relieve overcrowding on Java. But migrants are still flooding in. Official figures show that in 2004 Muslims were 23% of the region’s 2m-odd population, up from 6.5% in 1964. In reality the proportion of Muslims is thought to be much higher, probably over half now—but the government has not published accurate updated figures.
Christians believe this is a cover-up to hide the truth: that migration has made Papuans a minority in their homeland. They also fear that the government in Jakarta is increasingly endorsing Islamic orthodoxy at the expense of Indonesia’s non-Muslims. The Muslims, in turn, agree that they are now the majority in Papua—a local Hizb-ut-Tahrir leader recently claimed that Papua is 65% Muslim—but they feel that Papuan autonomy could lead to them being discriminated against or even expelled from the region.
There are some moderating influences: last year, mainstream Muslims set up a new body, the Papuan Muslim Council, to put the case for tolerance. Some of the charismatic Christian groups, far from inciting separatism among ethnic Papuans, argue for accommodation with the Indonesian powers-that-be (render unto Caesar and all that). Even so, argues the ICG, there is a danger that continuing migration, combined with the radicalisation of both main religions, could re-ignite the dormant separatist conflict.
THE separatist conflict in Indonesia’s Papua region—formerly known as Irian Jaya and once one of the world’s great liberal causes—has ... more -
Plea To Spare Death Row Terrorists
Brian Deegan - whose son Joshua, 22, was among 202 killed in October 2002 - said killing the trio risked turning them into martyrs.
He wants their death sentences commuted to life in prison.
Mr Deegan, in an open letter to Indonesian authorities, wrote: "Nothing will return my son to me, to his mother, his family and his friends.
"But the execution of a selected few who were responsible for his death and the death and maiming of hundreds more will not cure the pain.
"I see that no good will come from their execution. I see only harm.
"I will not beg for their lives to be spared. But I seek that which I consider more appropriate. A penalty which will serve as a constant reminder to others. A penalty which will not destroy the lives of their families."
Mr Deegan, a barrister and magistrate in Australia, said he and his footballer son were opposed to the death penalty in all cases.
Authorities have convicted more than 30 Islamic militants over the attack and the three are the only ones on death row.
An Indonesian court has this week rejected a final appeal by the trio - they can still appeal for clemency to the president, but have said they will not do so.
None has shown any remorse and maintain their acts were sanctioned under Islam as revenge for Muslim deaths in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Islamic militants have carried out three other major attacks on Western targets in Indonesia since then.
The last, in 2005, was also on Bali when three suicide bombers killed 11 people in restaurant attacks.
It is feared the execution of the men could trigger a backlash in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
But most analysts expect any reaction to be small and most likely limited to a show of solidarity at their funeral. Brian Deegan - whose son Joshua, 22, was among 202 killed in October 2002 - said killing the trio risked turning them into martyrs. ... more -
Illegal trade in Indonesian markets putting wild animals in danger
Tiger skins and rare caged primates openly sold at markets in the heart of Indonesia's capital are the most brazen and visible aspect of a thriving illegal wildlife trade.
Indonesia is struggling to take on a multi-million-dollar industry that is stripping the archipelago nation's vast forests of endangered species for enormous profit by selling them to buyers around the world.
With corruption rife and authorities overwhelmed, conservationists say police and forestry officials have barely made a dent.
Activists and the government estimate Indonesia loses at least 80 million dollars a year through the illegal trade, with rare animals -- dead and alive -- being sold at huge mark-ups once they get to overseas markets.
"What's interesting is that an orangutan caught in Kalimantan (on Borneo island) costs no more than three million rupiah (327 dollars) and is sold in Jakarta for five million rupiah," said Asep Purnama from the non-government organisation ProFauna.
"Once they get to Taiwan they will sell for around 100 million rupiah and in Europe they'll sell for 400 million," he said, adding that an estimated 100 orangutans are taken every year from Kalimantan's forests alone. Purnama's group estimates around 10,000 animals found only on Sumatra island were poached in 2007 to supply the illegal trade.
Most buyers likely don't know trade in the seemingly cute animals is illegal -- or that they usually die within weeks from the stress of captivity -- but the sellers do, and they are extremely camera shy.
Occasional raids have driven most of the high-profile endangered animals from clear view, but buyers from around the world still place orders for goods as exotic as tiger cubs and ivory, den Haas said.
While conservationists have been pushing for a crackdown, they say authorities are often either under-resourced, corrupt or unaware of the problem.
Tiger skins and rare caged primates openly sold at markets in the heart of Indonesia's capital are the most brazen and visible aspect ... more -
Indonesia funded 'E Timor abuse'
The Indonesian army funded militias that committed human rights abuses in East Timor, according to a truth commission report seen by the BBC.
The commission has been investigating human rights violations committed as Indonesia withdrew from East Timor nine years ago.
It says the Indonesian army was responsible for gross human rights abuses carried out by militias there.
The report says the crimes included murder, torture and sexual violence.
It also suggests that the United Nations police at the time allowed civilian militias to be rearmed.
Crimes against humanity
The contents of the report have been kept largely secret.
It is due to be handed over to the presidents of both Indonesia and East Timor next week.
The report was never meant to name individuals, but among the institutions it lists there is little doubt which one comes off worst.
Indonesia's army, it says, armed and funded pro-Indonesian militias in a highly organised way.
These militias were the main perpetrators of the crimes against humanity that occurred in Timor in 1999.
They carried out murders, rapes, torture and forced deportations which amounted to a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population, according to the report.
Army commanders knew these crimes were happening, it says, but kept on arming and organising militia members.
Taking responsibility
Indonesia's civilian authorities also bear institutional responsibility.
The report says they also continued to fund militias despite knowing about the gross human rights violations they were committing.
Pro-independence groups also committed violations, it says, though far fewer and less serious in nature.
Some of this has been said before - part of the commission's task was to analyse previous data - but this is a bilateral body, commissioned not by the UN, but by the two governments themselves.
Indonesia has traditionally said the violence in 1999 was sporadic - the result of the actions of a few individuals.
The question now is whether an admission of responsibility be enough for every Timorese - and whether it be too much for some in Indonesia. The Indonesian army funded militias that committed human rights abuses in East Timor, according to a truth commission report seen by t... more -
Famed Indonesian penis growing grandma couldn't extend own life
Well guys, looks like if you planned to visit the famed Mak Erot for a little lengthening, your time has run out
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Indonesian childrens' growth stunted as food prices rise
The World Food Programme says child malnutrition on the Indonesian island of Lombok has reached 40% in some places, reports the BBC.
Part of the problem here, says the WFP's country director Angela van Rynbach, is not how much children eat, but what they eat.
She says meals here often consist of a disproportionate amount of rice and very few vegetables.
Families are able to grow rich crops of vegetables in the fertile ground - cassava, beans, aubergines, spinach - but they are having to sell their vegetables in order to make ends meet, and to be able to afford to buy rice as prices rise.
"It's more important to buy rice," one mother explained. "It's better for my children to eat more rice, rather than more vegetables. Even if we only have rice, without any vegetables - as long as we have salt - it's OK."
But according to nutritionists, it is not OK. Eating rice and little else, they say, puts children at risk of stunted growth, lower IQ and weaker immune systems.
But rice has an almost mythical status in rural Asia - as food, as livelihood, as a symbol of life itself.
Many people live, and farm - and eat - much as their grandparents did.
But their connection to the global economy is closer now, and as the price of rice goes up, so does the pressure on families to turn more of their vegetables into money rather than food.
The World Food Programme says child malnutrition on the Indonesian island of Lombok has reached 40% in some places, reports the BBC. ... more -
Ruthless drought in West Timor puts children in crisis
REMOTE WEST TIMOR (CNN) -- Maria's labored breath echoes within the walls of her family's mud hut. Her tiny, bony hands open and close in slow claw-like motions.
She's 15 months old, but weighs just 10 pounds -- one of countless children under the age of 5 facing severe malnutrition in Indonesia's West Timor. A typical infant weighs about 24 pounds at 15 months.
"Maria sleeps most of the time. Sometimes she cries but not often," her 25-year-old mother Adolphina Fao says softly.V
Maria is fighting to live, wasting away in her remote village where aid officials say climate change has brought on a severe drought in recent years. It's nearly impossible for residents to live off the land like they have for generations.
"It's hard to feed her," her mother says. "Some are good days, some are bad. Sometimes she eats a whole plate, sometimes nothing."
As Fao speaks, she spoons glutinous rice into Maria's tiny mouth. The baby spits out most of it.
Aid officials say Maria is one example of a chronic crisis that has been worsening in West Timor, the Indonesian portion of the island of Timor that is home to about 1.5 million people.
According to a joint survey by aid groups Church World Service, Helen Keller International and CARE, more than 50 percent of children under 5 in West Timor are suffering from malnutrition. In some areas it's as high as 70 percent -- a higher percentage than areas of Africa.
Of those, nearly 1 in every 10 children suffer from acute malnutrition, meaning they are near death, according to organizers. The study also found that 61 percent of the children suffer from stunted growth.
"Stunting is the result of extended periods of inadequate food intake, poor dietary quality, increased morbidity or a combination of these factors," the study says. "This finding indicates that the diet has been very poor quality for a very long time." REMOTE WEST TIMOR (CNN) -- Maria's labored breath echoes within the walls of her family's mud hut. Her tiny, bony hands open and clos... more -
Orangutan Extinction
In the steep mountain jungles on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the rush for environmentally-friendly fuel is endangering the existence of orangutans. Over the past two decades, thousands of acres of tropical rain forests have been converted into palm oil plantations destroying the orangutans' natural habitat. Some UN scientists believe that these plantations could lead to the extinction of the species by 2012. Anna Sussman and Jonathan Jones of www.backpackjournalist.org go to Sumatra to report on the situation.
-- In the steep mountain jungles on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the rush for environmentally-friendly fuel is endangering the exist... more -
5 Airlines Fail to Meet Safety Standards in Indonesia
Five airlines failed to meet minimum safety standards and have been grounded. The airlines have three months to make changes or all right and privileges will be revoked. Five airlines failed to meet minimum safety standards and have been grounded. The airlines have three months to make changes or all ri... more
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Tree Man
35 year-old Indonesian fisherman Dede has been afflicted by a rare disorder that has left his hands and feet looking as though they have roots growing out of them. 35 year-old Indonesian fisherman Dede has been afflicted by a rare disorder that has left his hands and feet looking as though they ha... more
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Indonesia executes 2 Nigerian drug smugglers to mark UN anti-drug day
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Indonesia executed two Nigerians convicted of smuggling illegal drugs, with officials saying Friday that the executions were timed to mark the U.N. anti-drugs day.
Samuel Okoye, 37, and Hansen Nwaolisa, 40, were arrested at Jakarta's international airport in 2001, each carrying more than 6.5 pounds (three kilograms) of heroin. They had been held at a high-security prison on Nusakambangan island since their conviction.
"We have carried out the sentence, according to the court's decision," said local prosecutor Muhamad Yamin.
The executions by firing squad took place overnight, marking the international anti-drugs day on Thursday, Indonesia's anti-narcotics agency said.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,How to spice a UN action day. JAKARTA, Indonesia: Indonesia executed two Nigerians convicted of smuggling illegal drugs, with officials saying Friday that the execu... more -
Fuel Protesters Doused in Indonesia
Reuters - Tuesday, June 24 05:10 pm
Police in Indonesia use water cannons to disperse students ouside parliament protesting against fuel price hikes.
Reuters - Tuesday, June 24 05:10 pm ... more -
Fuel protesters in Indonesia
Police in Indonesia use water cannons to disperse students outside parliament protesting against fuel price hikes.
The protesters also urged the government to investigate the recent death of a student beaten by police during an anti-fuel hike protest last month. Police in Indonesia use water cannons to disperse students outside parliament protesting against fuel price hikes. ... more -
Monnezza elettronica
Nell'enorme discarica di Denpasar, nell'isola di Bali, in Indonesia, il popolo degli scavatori cerca e raccoglie rifiuti elettronici: circuiti, interruttori e metalli più o meno preziosi. Nel gergo internazionale si chiama "e-waste", immondizia elettronica: è una delle tante contraddizioni della contemporaneità. Proprio a Bali è in corso Nona Conferenza dell'ONU dei firmatari della Convenzione di Basilea sul controllo dei movimenti oltre frontiera di rifiuti pericolosi (COP9). La convenzione internazionale, in occasione della chiusura del tavolo del Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative (MPPI), dedicato ai rifiuti della tecnologia telefonica cellulare, dovrebbe adottare politiche specifiche per il problema dall'immondizia elettronica per il biennio 2009-2010.
Sito ufficiale COP9:
http://www.cbd.int/cop9/ Nell'enorme discarica di Denpasar, nell'isola di Bali, in Indonesia, il popolo degli scavatori cerca e raccoglie rifiuti elettronici: ... more -
Corruzione ai vertici in Indonesia.
Corruzione per migliaia di dollari nel dipartimento della dogana in Indonesia. L'Indonesia è uno dei paesi più colpiti dal fenomeno della corruzione all'interno delle strutture statali.
La denuncia agli impiegati del Dipartimento alla Dogana è scattata nel quadro della campagna anti-corruzione lanciata dal presidente Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono alla vigilia delle elezioni che si terranno il prossimo anno. Corruzione per migliaia di dollari nel dipartimento della dogana in Indonesia. L'Indonesia è uno dei paesi più colpiti dal fenomeno de... more -
Barack Beyond Our Borders: The Indonesian Years 1967-1971
Barack Obama has been widely criticized for his lack of foreign policy experience. Obama has argued that he understands the world at the grassroots level much better than his Republican opponent John McCain from having grown up in Indonesia for four and a half years as a child. Obama says the experience helps him understand some of the current foreign policy issues of today. Using Obama’s autobiographies as their guides, backpack journalists Jonathan Jones and Anna Sussman travel to Indonesia to see what they can learn about Obama in Indonesia. They learn that Obama and his mother arrived in Indonesia two years after a massive purge of communists and their sympathizers, which resulted in between 500,000 and one million deaths, and forced 750,000 others imprisoned or forced into exile. It is one reason that Obama says Indonesia “serves as a useful metaphor for the world beyond our borders – a world in which globalization and sectarianism, poverty and plenty, modernity and antiquity constantly collide.” Barack Obama has been widely criticized for his lack of foreign policy experience. Obama has argued that he understands the world at t... more
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Earthquakes hit Japan, Alaska, Puerto Rico, New Guinea, Indonesia, Chile... at the...
...At the same time. Many at the exact hour. ORANGE are earthquakes today. RED dots are eathquakes within the last hour.
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Stranded divers chase off Komodo Dragon on Island
How's this for a bad day? After these divers were stranded in shark infested waters and washed ashore they had to chase off this large Komodo Dragon. How's this for a bad day? After these divers were stranded in shark infested waters and washed ashore they had to chase off this larg... more
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