Starting Points

Human Rights Watch Annual World Report

2012-01-28T18:26:00.000-05:00

Human Rights Watch launched the 22^nd annual edition of its World Report in Cairo on Sunday. The introductory essay (below), by Executive Director Kenneth Roth, addresses the international response to the momentous “Arab Spring.”

The 676-page book highlights human rights conditions in more than 90 countries around the globe and underscores the most important trends. The World Report 2012 reflects our researchers’ extensive field investigations, undertaken during the past year, often in close partnership with local human rights activists.

It includes information on Mexico’s military abuses, Somalia’s warring factions, Pakistan’s dire human rights situation, and the United States’flawed counter-terrorism policies.

You can download the World Report 2012 for free online (PDF, 4MB), orpurchase a soft-cover copy for $30.

Indonesia: From Vigilantism to Terrorism in Cirebon

2012-01-26T12:39:00.001-05:00

Asia Briefing N°13226 Jan 2012

OVERVIEW

Anti-vice raids and actions against non-Muslim minorities are becoming a path to more violent jihadism in Indonesia. The 2011 suicide bombings of a police mosque in Cirebon, West Java and an evangelical church in Solo, Central Java were carried out by men who moved from using sticks and stones in the name of upholding morality and curbing “deviance” to using bombs and guns. They show how ideological and tactical lines within the radical community have blurred, meaning that counter-terrorism programs that operate on the assumption that “terrorists” are a clearly definable group distinguishable from hardline activists and religious vigilantes are bound to fail. They also mean that the government must develop a strategy, consistent with democratic values, for countering clerics who use no violence themselves but preach that it is permissible to shed the blood of infidels (kafir) or oppressors (thaghut), meaning government officials and particularly the police.

These men represent a generational shift from the jihadis trained abroad or who got their first combat experience a decade ago in the two major post-Soeharto communal conflicts in Ambon, Maluku and Poso, Central Sulawesi. They are less skilled, less experienced and less educated than the Afghan and Mindanao alumni, most of them coming from poor backgrounds and relying on petty trade for their livelihood. Most of them were members of the Cirebon branch of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, MMI) and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), two organisations led by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, Indonesia’s most prominent radical cleric, now imprisoned, before leaving to form their own group.

This does not mean that the threat from other groups has disappeared. JAT has active cells in Poso and elsewhere, and the arrest outside Jakarta in July 2011 of Abu Umar, the Mindanao-trained leader of a Darul Islam splinter group, exposed the existence of a large jihadi organisation with a presence in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. There are other potential problems from disaffected or isolated members of older groups like Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) that have moved away from violence; fugitives from earlier operations; former high-risk prisoners or men they recruited inside; younger siblings of slain or detained terrorism suspects; and individuals, including from JAT, who have taken part in Islamist military training (tadrib) and want to test their skills. But the Cirebon men represent a path to jihadism that may become the common pattern.

Its members not only absorbed the teachings of radical clerics like Ba’asyir and the even more radical Halawi Makmun, a preacher who argues that the Indonesian government is a legitimate target for attack. They also shared the widespread anger in the radical community over the arrests and deaths of suspected terrorists that arose in the aftermath of the breakup of the training camp in Aceh in February 2010. It is hard to overemphasise the impact these operations had or the desire for revenge they engendered. Because so many people were involved in the camp, from Sumatra, Java and points east, nearly every radical group in the country had a connection to someone who took part or was involved in trying to help fugitives or raise money for the families of those detained or killed. Anger at the police reached new heights, and Ba’asyir’s arrest in August 2010 pushed it further. In Solo, a group called the Hisbah Team (Tim Hisbah) evolved from vigilantism to jihadism as a direct result of anger over post-Aceh police operations.

The fusion of religious vigilantism in the name of upholding morality and orthodoxy with jihadism vastly complicates the government’s counter-radicalisation task. While most people are willing to condemn terrorism, hardline vigilantes often have support from officials in government and quasi-government institutions like the Majelis Ulama Indonesia, especially at a local level.

If the radicalisation of groups like the Cirebon men is to be halted, the government needs to develop a strategy that builds a national consensus on what constitutes extremism; directly confronts “hate speech”; and promotes zero tolerance of religiously-inspired crimes, however minor, including in the course of anti-vice campaigns.

Jakarta/Brussels, 26 January 2012

Source page - http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-east-asia/indonesia/b132-indonesia-from-vigilantism-to-terrorism-in-cirebon.aspx

Full report - http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/asia/south-east-asia/indonesia/B132%20Indonesia%20-%20From%20Vigilantism%20to%20Terrorism%20in%20Cirebon.pdf

Three centuries of violence and struggle in East Timor (1726-2008)

2011-11-07T09:50:00.000-05:00

Source for full-text - http://www.massviolence.org/Three-centuries-of-violence-and-struggle-in-East-Timor-1726 from the author.

Frédéric DURAND, Three centuries of violence and struggle in East Timor (1726-2008), Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence, [online], published on 14 October 2011, accessed 7 November 2011, URL : http://www.massviolence.org/Three-centuries-of-violence-and-struggle-in-East-Timor-1726, ISSN 1961-9898

Table of content

Cornell University SEAP eNewsletter

2011-10-28T16:06:00.004-04:00

DW - Dams threaten Mekong's fish and region's security

2011-10-26T17:36:00.002-04:00

Source - http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15489589,00.html

ASIA | 26.10.2011

Life on the 'mother of all rivers' could change soon

The Mekong River provides food, water and work for millions of people, but development plans for hydroelectric dams pose a threat to the environment and diets. As a key decision looms, neighbors look on anxiously.

Known to the people who live long its banks as the "mother of all rivers," the Mekong provides food, water and work for some 60 million people who live along its shores.

It flows from the mountains of Tibet through Burma, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before opening into the Mekong Delta and ultimately the South China Sea off Vietnam.

It's also home to over 1,000 species of fish, including the world's 10 largest fresh water fish, making it second only to the Amazon in terms of biodiversity, according to Avia Imhoff of the International River Network.

"It's still one of the last great rivers of the world that is still in a mostly natural state," Imhoff said. "The diversity of species is still largely intact and the whole ecosystem is intact because there have been so few river interventions until now in the basin."

A cycle of life

The cycle of high and low water levels that delivers nutrients for farmers' fields and fish for locals' diets is part of the reason the region has been able to remain intact. People have grown accustomed to water levels that can rise by up to 15 meters (nearly 50 feet) during the rainy season, says Eric Baran of the Worldfish Center.

The Mekong flood doesn't catch people on its banks by surprise

"They expect a flood every year because the flood rejuvenates the agriculture and the productivity and brings fish and water," Banan said. "It is really a beneficial event."

Some 2 percent of the all the world's fish catches come from the Mekong system, making it largest source of fish after the planet's oceans.

The 1.5 million tons of pulled from the river annually are worth about a billion dollars. They also account for most of the protein in locals' diets, according to So Nam, deputy director of the Cambodian Fisheries Administration.

A growing burden

There are signs that people are already fishing too much.

"What's clear is that fish sizes and catches are decreasing, while the effort to catch them has inceased," said Martin Geiger, freshwater expert at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

People have taken to the streets to protest against damming the Mekong

The region's rapidly expanding population troubles environmental protection groups. By 2025 they expect some 90 million people to be living along the Mekong. That's a 50% increase within 15 years. More people and rising affluence is also expected to generate more demand for energy, making dams along the Mekong an increasingly attractive investment.

There are already plans for 11 hydroelectric plants along the lower Mekong, including seven in Laos alone. Four power plants currently exist on the Chinese portion of the river.

Dams pose an enormous problem for fish populations. Two thirds of the species in the Mekong travel great distances to spawn and the number of planned dams would prevent many fish from being able to use 'ladders' or other detours, according to Geiger.

"Dams would lead to the collapse of the valuable fish biodiversity as well as the supply of protein to people," he said.

Poor to bear the brunt

The region's poor would be hardest hit by a drop in protein supplies as they are least likely to be able to afford fish from aquaculture.

More and more nets are coming out of the Mekong empty

Setting up fish farms would also represent another major interference in the region's ecosystem. They take over wetlands and conditions often pollute waterways and breed disease.

"What research has suggested - that people breed rabbits or concentrate on alternative forms of income and protein supply - will be difficult," Geiger said. "It would require land and it would require investment and, of course, the know-how to do it."

No stopping progress

The Mekong River Commission (MRC), founded by Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is aware of the threats to the Mekong's resources and works to promote cooperation along the river.

In November, it is expected to give its verdict on the environmental impact of one of the dams that Laos seems determined to press ahead with: the Xayaburi.

There are no guarantees that Laos will respect its decision. The Commission is concerned that dams would prevent mineral and nutrient-rich sediment from flowing downriver into the "rice bowl of Vietnam" - a region that produces more than 16 tons of rice a year.

Laos argues that hydroelectric power will have fewer detrimental effects on the region than other sources of energy.

It aims to become "the battery" of Southeast Asia by eventually building 10 dams on the Mekong. It doesn't need the energy for itself. It intends to export it and has signed contracts with Thailand for up to 95 percent of the energy expected to be generated from its projects.

Sediment transported by the Mekong is crucial to Vietnamese rice fields

Sharp criticism from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam has led Laos to reevaluate the environmental effects the dams could have. But politicians and environmental protection groups say they realize developing economies will not put off development indefinitely.

"For us it is not about preventing all hydroelectric power dams," Geiger said. "In cooperation with the Mekong River Commission, we want to keep dams off the Mekong's main arm for the next 10 years. Until we know what the real effects will be on the population's protein supply and food security."

China holds all the cards

China's absence from the Mekong River Commission, however, makes it difficult for the organization to decide on the best dam locations. Beijing has substantial plans to develop the region. It intends to deepen the river to make commercial shipping easier and to expand on the four power plants it already has on the Mekong.

Kelly Brooks from Oxfam says that, ultimately, China's location means it holds all the cards.

The Mekong River connects many people, nations and interests

"China has a strategic geographic position," she said. "With China being upstream to all of the countries in the MRC they have the position where they can control the flow of the water."

As a transnational institution, it's up to the Mekong River Commission to come up with ways of balancing members' interests in using the river for industrial purposes and protecting the ecosystem. But that's no easy task.

"Because the region here has a history of conflicts and there are still many, many sensitive issues just below the surface," the Mekong River Commission's Joern Kristensen said. "Unless this situation is managed well, it could turn into a problem."

Author: Alexander Freund

Editor: Nathan Witkop

Unspun Blog - Wisdom of Whores Takes Tea with the Dead

2011-10-26T17:08:00.000-04:00

Source - http://theunspunblog.com/2011/10/26/wisdom-of-whores-takes-tea-with-the-dead/

Unspun’s past life was as a journalist in a newspaper too incredible to be true, The Asia Times. It was a menagerie of strange characters from an editor who spoke like he was high all the time as speakers taller than him blasted Wagnerian music out of his office, to his deputy who had been an advisor of Lyndon LaRouche, to ex CIA, Mossad and KGB spooks pretending to be journalists and other assorted drunks, poseurs and yes, a few legit and good journalists.

One of the the journalists, and a damn good one, was this plucky woman by the name of Elizabeth Pisani. We met in Bangkok just as the paper was starting back in 1997 and became fast friends for life. I guess it was the feeling of solidarity as we seemed to be the only legit, and productive journalists there. Then, she had been a journalist for Reuters in Jakarta for several years and at Asia Times she covered Vietnam while Unspun covered Indonesia, inheriting some of Elizabeth’s friends and contacts whom she generously introduced.

When the Asia Times went South after the Asian Economic Crisis, Unspun, then already in Jakarta sought refuge in The Dark Side (Public Relations to the uninitiated) and lost track of Elizabeth.

Until she surfaced in Jakarta, this time in her other life as an epidemologist working in the field of AIDS and HIV infection. Her stint here resulted in a wonderful and controversial book, The Wisdom of Whores. Elizabeth then disappeared into the lecture and training circuit and each time I heard from her she was in some exotic location. The last I heard from her, I think was when she was kneed deep in floods in some South American country doing god-knows-what.

Now she’s popped up in Jakarta again and after a brief catch-up at Anomali in Senopati she’s vanished again, this time to Bali and on to the more remote places of Indonesia. The reason: Taking Some Tea with the Dead. That’s the title of her new book on Indonesia which will be a culmination of all the traveling that she’ll be doing for the next few months. But while she travels, Elizabeth will also be keeping a blog, Portrait Indonesia, of her journeys and the adventures she encounters in Indonesia.

She writes wonderfully and eloquently, and has a wry eye out for the unusual so it should be lots of fun. So check out her blog and you might ant to let her know in English or Indonesian (her Indonesian – and Bahasa Gaul at that – is way better than Unspun’s) some of the more unusual and interesting people or places she could visit in her travels. I believe she’s heading for Sumba as her first port of call after Bali.

Here’s what she has to say about Portrait Indonesia

In late 2011, epidemiologist, writer and adventurer Elizabeth Pisani granted herself a sabbatical from the day job and set off to rediscover Indonesia, a country she has wandered, loved and been baffled by for decades. On this site she will share photos and occasional musings from her journey, which, if all goes well, will cover some 10,000 kilometers.
The journey will form the backbone of a book (and a multimedia BookPlus), which will include also reflections on her earlier incarnations in Indonesia. The first of these was as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ten years later she was back in the very different guise of epidemiologist, helping the Ministry of Health better understand Indonesia’s HIV epidemic. That work contributed to her first book, The Wisdom of Whores, published in 2008.
The new book, with the provisional title “Taking Tea with the Dead”, will deal less with sex and drugs, and more with the other enchanting and sometimes maddening foibles of Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation. We hope it will give you a taste of this beautiful, chaotic and unfathomable land.
Sent from the back of a cab in a Jakarta traffic jam

Wired - FBI Crime Maps Now ‘Pinpoint’ Average Muslims

2011-10-24T18:45:00.000-04:00

By Spencer Ackerman
October 24, 2011

It started out as a crimefighting tool. But over the years, an FBI effort known as “geo-mapping” evolved into something more expansive — a method to track Muslim communities, without any suspicion of a crime being committed.

Last month, Danger Room revealed that the FBI was training its agents that religious Muslims tended to be “violent” and that Islamic charity is merely a “funding mechanism for combat.” In response, both the FBI and the Justice Department promised full reviews of their training materials. But the geo-mapping effort indicates that the FBI may have more than just a training problem: The suspicion of ordinary Muslims promoted in those lectures may be spilling over into its counterterrorism tactics.

Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union acquired some of the FBI geo-maps (.pdf), like the one pictured after the jump, through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Although many of the maps are heavily redacted, they represent the first public confirmation that the FBI compiles maps of businesses, community centers and religious institutions in ethnic enclaves around the United States.

The ACLU — where, full disclosure, my wife works — blasted the mapping effort, and in an interview with the New York Times, FBI agent turned ACLU attorney Mike German tied the maps to the incendiary anti-Islam trainings first revealed by Danger Room. Agents who received the briefings might be “predisposed to treating everyone from a particular group as suspect,” German said.

In response, the FBI issued a nuanced defense of its geo-mapping efforts. While pledging that the FBI “joins the ACLU in opposing racial or ethnic discrimination,” an FBI statement said that “[j]ust as putting push pins on a map will allow a local police chief to see clearly where the highest crime areas are, combining data that is lawfully collected into one place allows connections to be identified that might otherwise go unnoticed.”

Except FBI geo-mapping isn’t just aimed at tracking criminals. Over time, the maps’ rationale shifted from representing crime scenes to displaying the patterns of life in minority neighborhoods. In other words, the pushpins on the new FBI geo-maps indicate where people live, work, pray, eat and shop, not necessarily where they commit or plan crimes.

In 2004, a self-professed “visual learner” in the FBI’s Philadelphia field office, Special Agent Bill Shute, set out to prove a hypothesis. Shute took arrest reports from local cops and court records and plugged it into some off-the-shelf Microsoft mapping software (probably MapPoint) to create a visual display of where crimes occurred on his turf. His theory: If he pounded the pavement in those areas, he’d find informants who’d help him close cases. Shute called his pet mapping effort Project PinPoint.

If you ask the FBI, PinPoint was a resounding success. “The program led agents to arrests in the separate slayings of a city police officer and a 9-year-old,” according to a 2007 bureau account. “In the days after the multiple shootings at the Southwest Philadelphia bar in July, it helped identify potential witnesses and assisted with the recovery of the murder weapon.”

It shouldn’t be surprising: The effort isn’t dissimilar to New York City’s vaunted CompStat program, which displayed crime patterns to inform cops what parts of the city required more police work. Within a year, the FBI’s counterterrorism branch got in on the PinPoint action.

Deputy counterterrorism chief Willie Hulon told a congressional panel in 2004 that a massive FBI database called the Investigative Data Warehouse would collect and disseminate the maps amongst FBI agents and partner police forces across the country. “These tools allow FBI agents and analysts to look across multiple cases and multiple data sources to identify relationships and other pieces of information that were not readily available using older FBI systems,” Hulon testified.

In December 2008, however, the FBI loosened restrictions on just what “other pieces of information” those maps could collect. Its revised master plan for operations, known as the Domestic Investigational Operations Guidelines, subtly shifted the targets of those maps — from displaying criminal data to displaying data on the communities in which suspected criminals might live.

“If, for example, intelligence reporting reveals that members of certain terrorist organizations live and operate primarily within a certain concentrated community of the same ethnicity,” the revised guidelines read, “the location of that community is clearly valuable — and properly collectible — data.” (.pdf)

Danger Room asked the FBI about those maps a full year ago, before any of them had become public. We received a generic statement that read, in part: “In order to become an intelligence agency, the FBI cannot be content to wait for people to tell us about potential threats. Part of being proactive is making efforts to ‘connect dots’ to find previously undetected criminal and terrorist threats. Geospatial mapping is not nefarious.”

Tell it to Salam al-Marayati. The president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, one of the U.S.’ most influential Muslim organizations, Marayati wrote a Los Angeles Times op-ed warning that anti-Muslim efforts like the FBI training manual were a nightmare for counterterrorism. Such training will “undermine the relationship between law enforcement and the Muslim American community,” wrote Marayati, who referenced Danger Room’s stories on the subject. The maps can’t be helping.

Last week, at a civil rights conference, Deputy Attorney General James Cole reiterated what Danger Room first reported: that the Justice Department will “re-evaluate their training efforts in a range of areas, from community outreach to national security” to scrub out Islamophobic instructions. Already,anti-Muslim authors formerly taught by the FBI, like Robert Spencer, one of the ringleaders of opposition to the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” are crying censorship. But Cole didn’t indicate whether the relaxed rules on mapping “ethnic communities” will come under review as part of that scrub.

Photo: Flickr/Paul Lowry. Image: FBI, via ACLU

ANN - The rise of Asia's middle class

2011-10-24T18:35:00.001-04:00

Robin Chan
The Straits Times
Publication Date : 23-10-2011

Companies rub their hands with glee when they think of Asian consumers.

Dr Bala Shankar, an adjunct professor at Singapore Management University, recently wrote: "Asia is home to nearly four billion consumers, more than half the world. If the predictions that China and India will overtake many of the Western nations in GDP terms come true, it could be the largest bonanza for the marketers."

The key is the rising middle class.

While there is no standard definition or measurement of the middle class in Asia, whether it is by income or consumption, whatever it is, the figures show the middle class is growing, and fast.

In its report, Imagining Asia 2020, DBS Bank defines the middle income group as those individuals who spend more than US$10 a day.

By that measure alone, Asia today has a middle class of 525 million people. They make up 28 per cent of the world's middle class, said DBS.

This is projected to expand significantly to an incredible 1.74 billion people over the next 10 years.

They will then make up half of the middle class population in the world.

It's not just a China and India story but one of Southeast Asia too.

"Over the next nine years, Malaysia and Thailand will see a significant increase in the number of people who will spend more than US$10 a day," DBS said.

The growth of the upper middle class in China will surge from 80million in 2010 to 208 million by 2020.

As Asia's middle class grows, so will its demand for goods and services.

'The rising middle class will be a significant factor in reshaping national economies. They will be an influential and profitable market segment thanks to their size and emerging buying power,' noted DBS.

No wonder consumer giants like Procter & Gamble and Unilever have set up headquarters in Singapore to be closer to the Asian market.

They also have innovation centres to provide products specifically for different Asian tastes and preferences.

An example Economic Development Board chairman Leo Yip likes to cite is that the thickness of Asian hair is not the same as that of European hair, so shampoos sold in Asia must be made with different levels of conditioner.

According to DBS, global demand from the middle class will expand from US$21 trillion to US$35 trillion by 2020.

Over 70 per cent of this growth in demand will come from Asia.

How will this burgeoning middle class spend its money?

Middle class families generally have fewer children and spend more on health care, nutrition and education than the poor do, according to DBS.

Asia's middle class will be similar, influencing how their new money will be spent.

"Having fewer children would give middle class parents greater ability to afford quality education for their children," said the DBS report.

"More women would also be more likely to rejoin the workforce. Additionally, families would have more opportunities for savings and personal consumption."

Durable goods

For a start, there will be much more demand for durable goods such as refrigerators, cars, television sets and mobile phones.

Just take a look at these numbers for the mobile phone market: China already has some 780 million mobile phone subscribers. In India, there has been a significant growth of 66 per cent in the number of mobile phone users from 2000 to 2010.

But these figures represent only about half of the population in these countries, which means China and India still have substantially untapped markets.

While the middle class is growing, the more impressive expansion will come from the income groups of those earning between US$4 and US$10 a day, especially in Indonesia, Viet Nam, India and China, said DBS.

They will also demand goods and services but at a cheaper price, which will in turn drive the search for innovative solutions to achieve this.

Godrej, an Indian manufacturer, is one such company, selling refrigerators for just US$70.

Other companies, such as Unilever, sell 10-cent shampoo and conditioners.

Education and health care

It is not just demand for goods that will rise. The middle class will also be willing to spend more on important services such as education and health care.

DBS said the middle class in Thailand spends about 4 per cent of its income on these two services. This is more than double what the lower-income group is willing and able to spend.

The Chinese spend the higher proportion of their income on education and health care.

This will in turn drive demand for infrastructure - more schools and hospitals.

Cars and property

China's car market is already the largest in the world, overtaking the US' two years ago.

An incredible 18 million cars were sold in China last year. DBS forecasts car ownership to grow further as incomes rise, more roads are built and car makers aggressively roll out new designs for the Chinese market.

By 2020, two out of every 10 Chinese will own a car.

This means that total sales will surpass 30 million by 2020 at a growth rate of 5.3 per cent.

In Southeast Asia, car demand is expected to grow at an even faster pace. DBS expects car ownership to grow from the current 9 per cent pace to about 10.5 per cent, and at a similar rate each year from 2010 to 2020.

Housing demand in Asia is forecast to grow from a market value of US$694 billion last year, to US$1.1trillion by 2020, said DBS.

It calculated that 16.5 million property deals will be transacted in China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

The populations of these places combined make up a quarter of the world's total population.

These figures will be music to the ears of property developers, who will be able to offer a wider supply of properties catering to different income groups.

"The pace and pattern of this growth will vary according to market development and demographics in each country," said DBS.

In China, it will be driven by low ownership levels, urbanisation and a high incidence of people in the home-owning age range.

In countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, it will be sheer demand for housing, as people under 25 make up about 46 per cent of the population and will soon progress to the home ownership age.

Energy and commodities

China today consumes four billion barrels of oil a year of the 6.9 billion barrels consumed in Asia a year. This is second only to the US' seven billion barrels each year.

By 2020, China is expected to raise its consumption to 4.3 billion barrels a year.

By 2035, it will account for more than a fifth of total global oil demand, up from 17 per cent today.

With energy-hungry China and India, coal demand is also expected to remain high, and grow at an 8 per cent annual rate until 2020, said DBS.

But don't expect Asia to become much greener. Renewable energy is unlikely to be able to make up for much energy demand by 2020. Coal power plants are still estimated to account for more than 70 per cent of power generation, said DBS.

Palm oil and rubber will also be in hot demand in Asia.

"It will be home to 86.3 per cent of the 81.7 million tons of global palm oil supply, and 95 per cent of the 15.5 million tons of global natural rubber supply over the next eight years," said DBS.

Jakarta Globe - Taufik Tells PDI-P (and his Wife) To Give Younger Candidates a Chance

2011-10-24T18:01:00.001-04:00

Ezra Sihite & Markus Junianto Sihaloho | October 25, 2011

How old is too old to run for president? For Taufik Kiemas, the answer is 68 — the age his wife, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, will be in 2014.

Taufik, the chairman of the advisory board of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said his wife, the party’s chairwoman, should reconsider her own plans to run in 2014.

“It would be better if Madame thinks first before moving ahead [in the 2014 elections.] She would be 68 years old in 2014,” he said.

He said the PDI-P should be looking for a replacement for Megawati. “If we prepare younger members in the next three years, one of them will certainly emerge. The older members must give way,” he said.

Taufik’s feelings aside, a recent poll by the Indonesian Voting Network (JSI) found that Megawati and Prabowo Subianto, the founder of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), were the most popular potential presidential candidates for 2014.

Taufik declined to name any potential young PDI-P candidates, nor did he say whether his daughter, Puan Maharani, 38, would be among those groomed.

For her part, Puan said she was ready to run for president. “As a cadre, I’m ready to be assigned to any position, especially if it is mandated by the party,” she said. “My grandfather was president, my mother was also president, and hopefully in 2014 we can win.”

The same family political dynamics were seen during the PDI-P’s last congress, when Taufik pushed for the creation of a deputy chair post in the party, ostensibly for Puan, which was rejected by Megawati’s backers.

The couple have failed to see eye to eye for years, and Taufik said it was his opinion that Megawati should not run, not the party’s.

“Bung Karno once said that leaders would always be born if they were well prepared. Every era would give birth to a leader and they had to be prepared,” he said, referring to the country’s founding president, Sukarno, Megawati’s father.

He said the country and its political parties needed to do a better job of grooming as many potential young leaders as possible.

Taufik added that if the PDI-P insisted on fielding the same old candidates in the 2014 legislative and presidential elections, it risked becoming a laughingstock.

“We once laughed at Suharto when he still wanted to be president at 70. How come we are following in his steps?” he said.

Maruarar Sirait, a young PDI-P politician, rejected the idea that Megawati was too old and said the party should throw its weight behind her in 2014.

He said the results of the JSI survey, which was not commissioned by the party, showed that Megawati still had the support to be a successful candidate in 2014.

“If all the requirements are met, then there is no reason to forbid Mrs. Mega to run for the presidency,” Maruarar said.

Taufik’s comments also sparked a debate among politicians over age requirements for presidential candidates. Priyo Budi Santoso, a deputy House speaker from the Golkar Party, said that age should not become an issue for anyone wishing to serve the state.

“Megawati is also a central figure in this country. If a figure of her calibre still wants to go forward [with a presidential candidacy] then it should be respected. And the same goes for Aburizal Bakrie. If he is pushed [to run], do not forbid him,” Priyo said, referring to the Golkar chairman, who will be 66 when the presidential election takes place.

Priyo said there was no need to rush younger leaders. “If Golkar wants to back senior figures it should be allowed to, don’t scold them,” he said.

Asian Correspondent - Top 10 Incorrect Singaporean Stereotypes

2011-10-23T17:30:00.000-04:00

By Sharon Chen

Singapore is a city of contradictions. Is it a bustling metropolis? An exotic tropical island? A ruthless Asian Tiger? It’s impossible to sum up the unique country in a single phrase, but we can separate the truth from exaggeration. Here’s a look at 10 common misperceptions.

1. Singapore in China.

Yes, Singapore is 74% Chinese. No, it’s not a part of China. In fact, Singapore is located in South East Asia, just south of Malaysia, 3801 kilometers from Shanghai. While Chinese culture is a big part of Singaporean life, it’s just one aspect of its vibrant mishmash of multiethnic local traditions. Chinese New Year is a big deal, but so are Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christmas.

2. Singaporeans can’t speak English.

Non-Singaporeans are frequently astonished when they discover that Singaporeans can speak fluent English. In fact, English is the primary language of business, government and instruction here. While Chinese, Malay and Tamil are commonly used as well, almost everyone is bilingual to some extent.

3. Singapore is run by an authoritarian regime.

The People’s Action Party dominates elections, government bureaucracy and the media. There is little chance of any opposition making a serious impact on institutions and policy. This may have been true in the past, but Singapore’s socio-political landscape is changing rapidly.

The recent general and presidential elections are the best testaments to this. Newly elected President Dr. Tony Tan faced fierce competition despite strong support from the PAP and was elected by the skin of his teeth. Most dissent used to take place online and was often tinged with self-defeatist resignation. Today it is quickly spilling into the mainstream and demanding serious consideration by the powers that be.

4. Singapore is a nanny state.

You can’t chew gum, smoke weed or graffiti public transport for fear of caning and death by hanging. Seth Rogen got quite a few Singaporeans riled up when he painted the city as a “barbaric… and frightening… benevolent dictatorship” in an interview with Conan O’Brien.

While there is harsh corporal punishment for crimes involving drugs, rape, murder, vandalism and so forth, the idea that Singaporeans are living in blissful ignorance under the iron fist of totalitarianism is false. Singaporeans are well aware that the restrictions placed on them are excessive compared to other countries, but generally agree that the safety and cleanliness they enjoy are a worthy payoff. The average law-abiding citizen would have no reason to be concerned with the cane or noose anyway.

As for visitors, they are made well aware of the rules before they enter the country and it makes sense that they should be expected to follow them – just as any Singaporean would be expected to abide by the rules of whatever country they were in. Also, it isn’t illegal to chew gum here, just to import and sell it.

5. Singaporeans are uptight.

They can’t take a joke – look how they overreacted to that hilarious Seth Rogen video! This seems to stem from a perception that Asians in general lack the ability to laugh at themselves. I beg to differ. Take a look at this popular blog and website for Singaporean self-deprecation at its finest.

6. Singaporeans are apathetic and uninformed.

There is a big difference between indifference and ignorance. It is almost impossible in this day and age to be completely oblivious to the news of the day, especially when controversial issues arise. It might be true that Singaporeans are less likely to speak up for fear of sanction, but that should not be mistaken for a lack of concern.

Some might say that the lackluster showing at the attempt to “Occupy Singapore” is a symptom of passivity, but there are many other ways to achieve constructive change. The fact that such a protest was attempted, no matter how ineffectively, is proof that Singaporeans are anything but apathetic, much less uninformed.

7. Singaporean kids have no fun.

Is Singapore full of Tiger Mums (and Dads)? Well, one couple did make it onto an episode of “World’s Strictest Parents.” Singapore’s education system definitely places a strong emphasis on grades, especially since children start taking standardized tests at the tender age of 12. But children all over the world are facing increased pressure to excel in school, and parents can be equally strict everywhere. There are “cram schools” in India, China, the United Kingdom, the United States… the list goes on. Children here are just like their counterparts in other countries. There are those who study way too hard, and those who hardly study at all.

8. Singapore has no local Arts scene.

Singapore is sterile and boring – it’s only concerned with economic growth. No one is going to make a living as a singer, actor or painter. Local artistes certainly do have a tough time competing against the wave of Hollywood movies, TV shows and music that have consumed the island. But they are an ever-growing presence.

Pick up a copy of Juice, Singapore’s premier “indie” magazine, for a look into the not-so-underground world of local music. Playwrights like Dick Lee and Alfian bin Sa’at are household names. TV shows like The Pupil, Singapore’s first legal drama, and The Noose, a hilarious satirical fake-news program, are light-years ahead of previous locally produced fare.

In 2010, Singaporeans took part in an average of 92 arts- and culture- related activities everyday. It looks like that number is poised to increase as more young people choose to go to schools like the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Laselle College of the Arts over traditional universities.

9. Singaporean men are whipped.

I blame this on articles like this. Somewhere along the way, a caricature of Singaporean men as metrosexual, handbag-carrying wimps has emerged. We are talking about men who have had to spend two years in mandatory military training. They know how to fire guns, survive in the jungle and scale really high walls. In all seriousness, there is no way to prove or disprove this charge. To each his own.

10. Singaporean women are materialistic.

They are more interested in finding a man who can provide for them than “true love” (whatever that means). They want designer handbags, luxury cars and beautiful houses.Sarong Party Girls are constantly on the prowl for rich Caucasian men who can introduce them to the high life. There are those who argue that there is a fine line between materialism and pragmatism. I tried to get a response from Singaporean women but none of them could be reached. Prada just announced a 50% storewide discount.

Sharon Chen is a Regional Representative for Asian Correspondent based in Singapore. You can follow her on Twitter @thisissharons

Jakarta Post - A deciding moment for SBY and Papua?

2011-10-23T17:21:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali | Sun, 10/23/2011 9:50 AM

Coincidence or not, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Indonesia’s defense and military decision makers and US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta are all now in Bali at a time when Papua is in turmoil and US gold and copper giant Freeport is facing new threats in the province.

With Panetta planned to meet Yudhoyono either on Sunday morning or the following day and a confirmation that Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro would meet Panetta on Sunday afternoon on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting, speculation has circulated that Papua and Freeport would become the key topics of the discussion.

“We are now trying to find time for the meeting. I think if we cannot do it on Sunday morning then it most probably happen on Monday,” Presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Saturday.

Faizasyah, however, denied any connection between Panetta’s visit and what has happened in Papua in recent days.

“It [Yudhoyono-Panetta planned meeting] has been arranged at least two weeks before,” he said.

While conditions in Papua, coupled with Jakarta’s failure to address problems, there have been rising demands for independence. Analysts have agreed that the US, which has an interest to keep Freeport operations secure, played a significant role in making Papua an international issue, resembling what has happened in Timor Leste prior to 1999.

“As long as Papua’s problems are not solved, Freeport’s operations will continue to be under threat. This is the US’ biggest concern,” University of Indonesia international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan said.

“I think this will be one of the topics that will be discussed when Pak Presiden or Pak Purnomo and Panetta meet, although it will not be disclosed to the public,” he said.

Hariyadi warned that Indonesia should offer concrete ways to solve Papua’s problems to prevent the US from taking drastic steps, including sending its own soldiers to guard Freeport or even question before an international event, Indonesia’s approach to handling problems in the province and turning the issue into an international concern.

“We don’t know if all the incidents in Papua have been designed in coincidence with Panetta’s visit or ahead of Obama’s planned visit in November, but the visits have given the momentum,” he said.

At least 11 people have been killed in Papua in recent weeks after riot at the Freeport mine site in Timika and pro-independence campaign in the province’s capital of Jayapura in the last two weeks.

After three people were shot to death on Wednesday in Jayapura, unidentified gunmen killed another three people in Timika, the nearest town to the world’s largest copper and gold reserve, on Friday.

A contract worker of PT Freeport Indonesia, a local unit of US gold and copper giant Freeport-McMoRan, was killed along with two local residents of Timika, some 450 kilometers west of Jayapura, or around 3,000 kilometers east of Jakarta.

In 1967, four years after Indonesia annexed Papua from the Dutch, Freeport opened the region’s first gold and copper mining operation at the Grasberg mine near Timika.

A recent string of deadly incidents in the country’s most remote and underdeveloped province probably constitutes the most serious situation the region has faced in the past 10 years, culminating in the deadly incident as the police tried to disperse Papuan tribes gathered in Jayapura over a congress after they declared an independent Papua.

Jakarta was quick to justify their tough actions against the declaration, stating that there was no justification or compromise for such an act.

However, academics warned that the government must learn that violence would never solve problems, but could probably only worsen conditions, pointing to the series of killings in then East Timor province, including the Santa Cruz’s killings, which culminated in the creation of Timor Leste.

“Jakarta must pursue dialogues seen as genuine, honest and sincere by the Papuans. We, the academics, are ready to help with inputs for the government. Hopefully, we can offer fresh and breakthrough inputs to solve the problems,” Hariyadi said.

Today - Timor Leste's Ramos-Horta to decide on political future in January

2011-10-23T17:15:00.000-04:00

by Muhamad Fadhil

04:46 AM Oct 23, 2011

SINGAPORE - Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta said he will decide in January whether to seek re-election in the 2012 Presidential Elections.

The 61-year-old took office in 2007 after serving as Prime Minister for about a year.

"I've been saying a few times that 90 per cent of the decision has been made. I would personally decline to seek a second term ... But, I may change my mind ... I will be making my final decision on my future in early January," the Nobel Peace Laureate said in an interview with MediaCorp during a visit to Singapore.

Whatever his political future holds, Dr Ramos-Horta said he will look back at his term with no regrets. He said he tried his best to adopt a "humanitarian" approach to reach out to the population of 1.2 million.

"The presidential office is open and accessible to the people. The state has to be open to the people. I don't have heavy arms security in the palace."

His "open door" policy is part of efforts at fostering national reconciliation. Timor Leste, formerly known as East Timor, broke away from Indonesia in 1999, gaining independence in 2002. Its pre-independence period was marked by unrest and occasional violence.

But Dr Ramos-Horta said reconciliation efforts in the past few years have proven to be successful.

"In 1999, we had violent strife. Thousands of Timorese voted to stay with Indonesia and many of them engaged in destructive violence. In the past ten years, a vast majority of them had returned ... Since then, there has not been a single case of reprisal by the pro-independence movement against them. Not a single case."

But he said challenges remain ahead of the country's tenth independence anniversary next May.

"Timor has reduced poverty by 9 per cent, infant child mortality rate reduced by 15 per cent, life expectancy went up, unemployment significantly reduced. A lot still to be done. Most of our institutions are still weak, some are dysfunctional like public administration. But, we are 10 years, not 30 years old or 50 years old, so we are very proud of what we have achieved."

YouTube Release Notes: Updated Video End-Screen, WeVideo added to YouTube.com/Create and More...

2011-10-22T17:36:00.000-04:00

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011

It’s been a while since we published our last Release Notes post, sharing the latest changes to YouTube however big or small. Our scrappy engineers have still been hard at work to make your experience on YouTube even better, so we decided to resurrect this series and share a bunch of our recent changes.

Updated Video End-Screen: We’ve redesigned the end-screen that appears directly after a video finishes playing to make it even easier for you to find the next great video to watch.

Enhanced Playlist Bar: To make the experience of watching videos in a playlist better, we’ve updated the interface for video playlists, making the individual video details more visible from within the playlist and making the next, previous, auto-play and shuffle buttons more distinct.

Updated YouTube.com/Charts page: If you want to keep track of the latest and greatest videos on YouTube or know which videos have had true staying power, check out our updated YouTube Charts page. You can browse through the most viewed (standard and HD), most liked, and top favorited videos of today, this week, this month and of all time. Pulling from our ‘As Seen On’ feature, you’ll also be able to see what videos are being shared and discussed across the web. For those of you with truly niche interests, you can view charts by categories like “How to & Style” and “Pets & Animals,” and also see the most subscribed channels.

WeVideo Now on YouTube: To give you even more options to edit and touch up your videos, we’ve added the cloud-based video editing platform WeVideo as a partner to YouTube.com/Create.

YouTube Localized in More Countries and Languages: We recently added Kenya, the Philippines and Singapore to the list of countries where YouTube is localized, bringing this total number to 35. You can check out what’s popular in these countries by changing your location setting, which you can find by scrolling to the bottom of YouTube.com and clicking on Location. To further support content creators in these countries, we also launched theYouTube Partner Program here as well. Want to practice your Estonian, Icelandic, Basque, Galician, or Udu? We’ve added these new languages, making the YouTube interface available in the vernacular in 51 languages.

Smart Subscribe button: We’ve added a "smart" subscribe button on the video watch page, that will let you know if you’re already subscribed to the channel of the video you’re watching. If you so, it’ll say "Subscribed!". If not, you’ll see the standard “Subscribe” button allowing you to do so.

Nathalie Arbel, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “K’Naan NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert.”

ICG - Africa without Qaddafi: The Case of Chad

2011-10-22T17:24:00.002-04:00

Image via WikipediaImage by شبكة برق | B.R.Q via Flickr

N’Djamena/Nairobi/Brussels | 21 Oct 2011

The fall of Qaddafi’s regime, followed by his death on 20 October, could pave the way to promises of democracy in Libya but left neighbouring countries facing new potential problems that could threaten stability in the region.

Africa without Qaddafi: The Case of Chad , the latest report from the International Crisis Group, warns that those potential new problems created by the upheavals related to Qaddafi’s demise include a massive flight home of migrants, the possible resurgence of militant Islamism and the proliferation of fighters and weapons. Several uncertainties remain regarding the future of Chad-Libyan relations. Will the Chadian government and the new rulers of Tripoli be able to win each other’s trust and put aside grievances born during the eight months of crisis? How will the volatile situation in Libya’s south impact on these relations? What will be Libya’s new policy on the Chad-Sudan equation? More generally, given Qaddafi’s impact on the continent, what will be Libya’s new relationship with the rest of Africa?

“Chad’s President Déby saw Qaddafi as essential to his own regional policy – he was reluctant to accept the possibility of his fall when the Libyan insurgency broke out and slow to realise its full consequences”, says Saad Adoum, Crisis Group’s Central Africa Senior Analyst. “However, he knows from recent history that hostile relations with Libya’s new authorities could quickly endanger the stability of northern Chad”.

During his 42-year reign, Qaddafi was time and again an actor in and mediator of Chad’s conflicts. After initially playing an active role in destabilising the north, he contributed in recent years to bringing relative peace to that historically rebellious zone by mediating between armed groups. When the crisis in Libya began, Déby initially tried to defend Qaddafi’s political legitimacy by accusing the rebels of colluding with Islamists.

Though Déby’s government denied it was providing any military support, the presence of Chadian fighters among Qaddafi’s troops in Libya stripped his statements of weight. This had serious consequences for the treatment of Chadian nationals in Libya in areas where the insurgents gained control, though at least the overwhelming majority have been in the country for years for purely economic reasons. It was only when NATO intervened and power shifted away from Qaddafi, that the Chadian government took a more strategic and realistic stance, calling for negotiations and establishing preliminary contacts with the transitional insurgent authorities (the NTC). Given the security and economic interests at stake, Chad has now recognised the ex-rebels, and Déby has met with the NTC leader, Mustafa Abdul Jalil. But despite this rapprochement, the future of relations remains uncertain.

N’Djamena is also legitimately concerned for the plight of Chadian nationals in Libya. The new rulers of Libya and Déby should put aside grievances born during the crisis and ensure that economic cooperation and exchanges are maintained and that civilians, including each other’s nationals, are protected in both countries.

“Due to the length of his reign, his influence abroad and strong patronage politics, Qaddafi’s shadow will continue to be felt in Libya and neighbouring countries”, says Central Africa Project Director Thierry Vircoulon. “It is too early to say whether the changes will turn into medium- and long-term factors of instability in the region, but Chad’s uncertainties show what Africa without Qaddafi may look like”.

ICG - Breaking Point? Yemen’s Southern Question

2011-10-22T17:08:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Sanaa/Brussels | 20 Oct 2011

Amid uncertainty fuelled by ongoing mass protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s political future, as well as its unity - notably the status of the South - hang in the balance.

Breaking Point? Yemen’s Southern Question , the latest report from the International Crisis Group, explores the roots of the Southern issue, its relationship with the 2011 uprising and the prospects of reaching a compromise that would preserve territorial unity while profoundly redefining the relationship between the central government and regional entities. To peacefully resolve the Southern issue, political actors would need to reach agreement on a transition of power in Sanaa followed by an inclusive national dialogue. Yet, there is no indication Yemenis are heading in that direction. Instead, as mass protests continue without result, frustration is growing along with Southerners’ distrust that events in the North will have a positive impact in the South.

“We face an explosive situation”, says April Alley, Crisis Group’s Senior Arabian Peninsula Analyst. “An enduring political impasse could prompt further collapse of security and economic conditions, triggering greater unrest and instability in the South. Alternatively, if a full-fledged civil war breaks out in the North, Southerners might pursue a serious bid for separation. Secession would almost certainly spark another conflict with the North and could lead to in-fighting and additional fragmentation within the South itself”.

The former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) merged with its northern neighbour, the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR), in 1990 to form the Republic of Yemen. Unity was troubled from the start and resulted in a short but bloody civil war in 1994. Afterward, two profoundly different narratives took hold, one declaring that the war had closed the file on separation and solidified unity, the other claiming instead it marked the end of unity and the beginning of the North’s occupation of the South. Southerners’ feelings of marginalisation and injustice eventually gave way to a popular protest movement in 2007, which later shifted to calls for separation.

At its start, the 2011 Yemeni uprising facilitated cooperation between Northern and Southern protesters and opened up fresh opportunities to peacefully resolve the Southern issue. Yet, the early euphoria is giving way to resurgent calls by some for Southern independence. Political activists in the South point to two possible ways forward: immediate separation or a federation consisting of two regions. A third option, to organise the country along four to seven federal regions, has found wider appeal in the North and potentially could gain traction within the staunchly pro-unity parties, the opposition Islah and the ruling General People’s Congress. Still others advocate for a system of strengthened local governance.

To pave the way for successful dialogue, all major stakeholders, including the ruling party, should officially acknowledge the importance of the Southern issue and commit to its fair resolution through negotiations. At a minimum, Southerners should have a special status in the dialogue to reassure them that their issues will not be lost amid Yemen’s many challenges. Of course, none of this can happen without quick agreement on and implementation of a viable transition plan for the political system as a whole.

“Yemen's upheaval presents a rare opportunity to redefine its flawed and failed political compact”, says Crisis Group’s Middle East & North Africa Program Director, Robert Malley. “At the same time, it has considerably raised the price of inaction. If nothing is done soon to peacefully address both national and Southern deep-seated grievances, a darker and more ominous chapter could yet be written”.

VIVAnews - Freeport-Govt Ties Not Helping End Strike

2011-10-20T16:46:00.000-04:00

Freeport still has close ties with a government that keeps tight military control.

KAMIS, 20 OKTOBER 2011, 09:39 WIB

Bonardo Maulana Wahono

(REUTERS/ Muhammad Yamin)

When Freeport renewed its contract for one of the world's biggest copper and gold mines, some of Indonesia's top officials were on hand at the celebration, cheerfully applauding the CEO's impersonation of Elvis Presley.

Some 20 years, and several Indonesian presidents, later, that cosy relationship with the government in Jakarta is doing little to help resolve one of the resource-rich country's worst industrial disputes.

It may well be a hindrance.

The strike at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc 's Grasberg mine in the remote eastern province of Papua shut down production in mid-September, though the firm says it is back producing at reduced levels after sabotage to its main pipeline on Monday.

The dispute over pay has also drawn in local tribesmen, with their own grievances over land rights and pollution, armed with spears and arrows to join Freeport workers blocking the mine's supply roads for food and fuel this week.

The company's relationship with the central government stretches back to the 1960s when autocratic President Suharto was in the early years of his long rule.

It was a rule, which ended in 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, when a major project without involvement of the country's elite was unthinkable.

Freeport still has close ties with a government that keeps tight military control over Grasberg, which holds more gold than any other mine in the world, and the rest of its easternmost and independent-minded Papua province, to safeguard its vast reserves of natural resources.

The snag now for the Phoenix, Arizona-based company is that Jakarta, lord of all the archipelago during the Suharto era, has since handed over political authority to a locally elected governor.

"Things are different now. The central government doesn't have the same power it used to have ... Now the power to deal with the strike and pay dispute is in the hand of the local government but they just don't do that," said Yunarto Wijaya, an analyst from Jakarta-based think tank Charta Politika.

But Wijaya says the local government simply does not have the power to negotiate with Freeport.

And the central government's failure to help despite sending in officials to mediate, has only added to the resentment.

Indonesia's government owns about 9 percent in Freeport Indonesia, which contributes 1.6 percent of GDP in Southeast Asia's top economy, and its inability to broker a deal to resolve the dispute is painful.

Freeport still beat Wall Street estimates in its third quarter results on Wednesday, but said production and sales were adversely affected by the strike, to the tune of 70 million pounds of copper and 100,000 ounces of gold. That's $165 million worth of gold alone at today's prices .

Tarnished Gold

One of Suharto's first laws after rising to power in the mid-1960s was to allow Freeport into Papua, then a new province of Indonesia. In 1991, a new contract was signed to tap the huge riches of Grasberg mountain.

In a sign of how close relations were with the government's upper levels, several of its most powerful officials attended the huge party in Jakarta to celebrate the 1991 deal. The entertainment included an impersonation of Elvis Presley by the now chairman of Freeport, James "Jim Bob" Moffett.

These days, however, politicians regularly sound off against foreign investment and there is a clear split between those who are pro-international capital and those who favour not just subsidies and protectionism, but resource asset expropriation -- a divide that reaches even to the cabinet.

The new energy and mining minister, Jero Wacik, inaugurated on Wednesday, said one of his first priorities was to renegotiate "too unfair" production sharing contracts, though he did not name any company.

"Maybe now, because there is so much criticism with regard to the contract of work, and not just Freeport ... by some of the politicians and NGOs, the government doesn't want to show its close relations with foreign investors, especially the mining industry," said one Indonesia mining consultant.

"I don't think there is a special relationship between Freeport and the government. In the past yes, but that sometimes can be a burden for Freeport rather than a positive. People can be suspicious that a previous contract was based on relations at that time, and too good for Freeport," he said.

Handouts

Security consultants say it is essential for resource firms to get on better with local communities which often demand a share of profits that are kept by the central government.

Freeport says it is trying. Last year alone it spent $155 million on various sustainable development programmes in Papua, including nearly $70 million on community development in one of the country's poorest regions.

But with gold prices at record highs, and Grasberg having the world's biggest gold reserves, workers have demanded more than 10 times their current pay of $1.50 an hour.

The workers union, which has held pay talks with the firm mediated by government, says Freeport's relationship with the government is too close and argues that the local authorities are ineffectual.

"The way they let Freeport do things, such as firing people at will, forcing workers on strike to work, hiring new people to do the work are against the manpower law, but Freeport did not get a strong warning for doing so," said Juli Parorrongan, spokesman for the union.

"The local government is either too spoiled by Freeport's presence or doesn't have the ability to manage these resources."

WSJ - How Will ‘SlutWalk’ Play in Singapore?

2011-10-20T12:05:00.000-04:00

OCTOBER 19, 2011, 3:58 PM SGT

By Shibani Mahtani

: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images; Women take part in a ‘SlutWalk’ in Paris on Oct. 1.

A global movement against sexual violence known as SlutWalk has spread from Toronto to Delhi to Johannesburg, and now is set to make its Southeast Asia debut in the notoriously socially restrictive city-state of Singapore.

The grass-roots protest, sparked by a Canadian police officer’s remark in February that women should avoid “dressing like sluts” to prevent sexual assault, aims to challenge attitudes toward gender and sexual violence. That’s likely to be an even greater challenge in Singapore, where conservative attitudes toward gender roles are deeply entrenched, activists say, and where political demonstrations are strictly regulated.

Singapore SlutWalk organizers say the issue of “victim-blaming” in sexual-assault cases is a particularly relevant problem in Singapore, where a rape survivor can be discredited as a witness if shown to have a “generally immoral character.” Additionally, marital rape isn’t illegal in Singapore, which the organizers say is indicative of the city’s systemic problems.

The event, set for Dec. 3-4, follows other recent political movements that face significant hurdles in Singapore, which places tight restrictions on public gatherings.

“The idea of civil disobedience is very new here,” said Cher Tan, 24, one of the seven main organizers of SlutWalk Singapore.

Location is just one reflection of those limitations: Hong Lim Park, where SlutWalk Singapore will be held, is home to a patch of grass known as Speakers’ Corner—the only place where Singaporeans can protest, or even gather for a social cause without applying for a police permit. Even then, the event’s content isn’t allowed to touch on the subjects of race and religion.

Last week, some Singaporeans failed to launch an “occupy” movement in Singapore’s financial district. The planned protest – inspired by the Occupy Wall Street events that have quickly gone global—was deemed unlawful by the police, and organizers failed to identify themselves when the protest was meant to happen on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the relative lack of social progressivism among Singapore’s populace, the organizers of SlutWalk Singapore have been surprised at the reception of the planned event. The group’sFacebook page now has almost 700 “likes,” and its website is buzzing with commentaries, blogposts and articles.

“This has become much bigger than we imagined it to be,” said Ms. Tan, a freelance graphic designer.

But the SlutWalk has already stirred up opposition and controversy in the Singapore blogosphere. Writing in newnation, one Singaporean argued that a “slut” should “at the very least be sexually attractive.” The writer said that many “SlutWalkers” in previous demonstrations were unattractive and “do not qualify as sluts,” making it pointless for them to join the march – in the author’s words, “like a meat-eating person joining PETA.”

The article received backlash online, including a response from blogger Alex Au, who wrote that “everything” was wrong with opinion of the writer.

“The point is to press home an idea, and if you agree with it, you have a right to be there,” wrote Mr. Au, who believes that it is time for an event like SlutWalk to challenge widely held gender attitudes in Singapore.

“We want people to be clear about the idea behind this, our main goal isn’t to reclaim the word ‘slut,’” said Ms. Tan, who believes the movement is primarily about challenging the culture of victim-blaming in society.

“There are pictures of people who come to SlutWalks dressed provocatively all over the mainstream media, so people think it’s just about that,” said Vanessa Ho, 23, another one of SlutWalk’s organizers. “We are trying to encourage people to come in all sorts of attire.”

In a response to a No To Rape campaign in Singapore, the government issued a statement in May saying that “a balance needs to be struck between various interests, such as that of protecting vulnerable women and preserving the institution of marriage.” Officials further said that “a balanced and calibrated approach” was better than abolishing marital immunity altogether, and stressed that public education was key to dealing with domestic violence.

Unlike most SlutWalks, Singapore’s event will be held over two days, with the first day reserved for workshops and discussions. Instead of a march, the SlutWalk will be a gathering, so as to abide by legal restrictions on such demonstrations in Singapore.

Several events will also be held in the lead-up to the SlutWalk, including a “SlutRide”—a group bike ride in partnership with A Critical Mass, a cycling advocacy group, which plays on the term “village bicycle,” to raise awareness for both causes.

WSJ - Bangkok Awakes To An Uncertain Few Days

2011-10-20T11:55:00.001-04:00

OCTOBER 20, 2011, 9:09 AM SGT

By James Hookway

: Associated Press; Factory workers in the outskirts of Bangkok join hands in stacking sand bags to make floods barriers Monday. Seemore photos.

Thailand’s capital city woke up Thursday to an uncertain few days in which Bangkok’s anti-flood defenses will be given their toughest test yet.

Local newspapers spelled out the government’s latest plans for diverting the floodwaters away from the heart of the Thai economy, warning that some of the city’s eastern suburbs will be sacrificed to protect the inner core. Bangkok accounts for over 40% of Thailand’s economic output, and the spectacle of a widespread inundation there could also badly damage the country’s substantial tourism industry for months or even years to come.

Many small businesses prepared sandbags to block their doorways. International hotels and office buildings, too, were taking few chances, not knowing when or even whether the flood waters will encroach on central Bangkok.

Some residents took the precaution of acquiring rowing boats which they left propped up in condominium parking bays.

A 10-member team of U.S. Marines arrived in the country at the weekend to help Thai authorities assess the impact of the damage and the likely flow of the flood waters, which have submerged an area 16 times the size of Hong Kong, claimed at least 135 lives, and shut down six major industrial parks, severely disrupting the country’s manufacturing sector.

After submerging much of Pathum Thani province, immediately north of Bangkok, the floodwaters on Wednesday spread to cover much of Nonthaburi, to the city’s north-west. Officials said all six districts in the province were flooded.

Conflicts between the national government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Bangkok city administration led by her rivals in the Democrat Party continue, despite the crisis.

National leaders hope to drain some of the flood waters through some of the city’s canals. The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that more than 8 billion cubic meters of flood waters are flowing from the northern and central Thailand towards Bangkok, but the Chao Phraya River that flows through the center of the city can only divert around 200 million cubic meters a day. Diverting water through the city’s canals would help ease the burden on Chao Phraya.

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra remains reluctant to follow that plan, while the city is still vulnerable to heavy and often violent rain-storms.

“If we are safe from the rain and don’t need to limit the water levels (in the canals), we will open them. The BMA must manage the risk,” Mr. Sukhumbhand said.

WSJ - Malaysian Muslims Plan Rally Against Alleged Christian Plot

2011-10-20T11:20:00.000-04:00

OCTOBER 20, 2011, 8:30 AM SGT

By James Hookway

Malaysia is set for another round of noisy political protest this weekend. This time, it’s conservative Muslims angry over an alleged plot to make Christianity the national religion who are hoping to beat up a storm ahead of national elections due to be held sometime in the next 18 months.

: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images; There isn’t much evidence that Christians in Malaysia try to convert Muslims.

The supposed plan already has been discredited. A pro-government newspaper reported in May that ethnic-Chinese Christians were scheming to put make Christianity Malaysia’s official religion and place a Christian in the post of prime minister. Police investigated eight pastors, but this month Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said in a written answer in Parliament that there was no evidence to support the claims, which were first made by blogger Zakhir Mohamad, better known as “Big Dog.”

Nonetheless, conservative Muslims worried about Christian groups trying to convert Muslims to their faith aim to draw tens of thousands of people to their rather optimistically titled Himpunan Sejuta Umat, or Gathering of a Million Muslims, at a stadium in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday.

Key organizer Azmi Hamid said in a statement Tuesday said the rally was necessary to stop Muslim and Christian Malaysians treading on each other’s toes. “I would like to remind all that the evangelist movement has been on the rise globally, regionally and nationally. The efforts to approach Muslims to get them to change religions cannot be denied.”

There isn’t much evidence that Christians in Malaysia try to convert Muslims. For one thing, persuading Muslims to renounce Islam is illegal in most states in this predominantly Muslim country.

Yet seemingly innocuous events create havoc in the country, where public shows of support for Islam can be politically useful.

: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images; A Muslim man in Kuala Lumpur.

Several churches were firebombed last year after a court ruled that Malay-speaking Christians could use the term “Allah” for God. Muslim hardliners argued that only followers of Islam can use the term, even though the Arabic word predates Islam and is widely used among Christians in the Middle East and Indonesia.

The Sultan of Selangor state, meanwhile, this month said Islamic authorities would provide counseling to a dozen Muslims after they attended a community dinner at a local church hall in August. Church officials have said no proselytizing occurred at the event.

Still the situation could be worse, at least for Malaysia’s opposition alliance. The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, one of the key players in the opposition alliance lead by Anwar Ibrahim, Tuesday said it would not take part in Saturday’s protest – sparing it another round of disputes with its more secular-leaning partners.

New Matilda - Troops Open Fire On Papuan Gathering

2011-10-19T19:58:00.000-04:00

WEST PAPUA

20 Oct 2011

By Alex Rayfield

Participants in the Third Papuan People's Congress are arrested by Indonesian security forces.

The Indonesian military and police opened fire late yesterday on a gathering of West Papuan leaders. At least one person is believed to have been killed and hundreds have fled the capital

The Indonesian military and police started shooting at around 2:37pm West Papua time, yesterday 19 October. Information about what exactly transpired are still sketchy but at least one person was shot (believed dead), scores have been arrested, hundreds have fled to the hills and jungle surrounding the capital, and the capital is in a state of lockdown.

A Papuan priest who was fleeing the shooting contacted New Matilda to report that an army truck passed him carrying Papuan participants who had been present at the Third Papua Congress. According to the witness they were "covered with blood" and had been "beaten and shot".

The violence erupted at the conclusion of the Third Papuan Congress, a three-day gathering held at the Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) in Abepura, during which Papuan leaders declared their independence from the Indonesian state.

As many as 20,000 West Papuans met, danced and debated how to achieve their civil and political rights. For three days the atmosphere had been tense. The venue was ringed by Armed Personnel Carriers, military trucks and Barracudas — a type of armed jeep favoured by the paramilitary police. Machine guns were trained on the participants and thousands of soldiers and paramilitary police armed with automatic weapons were present.

Papuan activists feared that the military and police would try to forcibly break up the peaceful gathering. But the Papuans were determined to have the congress.

One activist told New Matilda "maybe we will die but the congress will go on". Continue it did. The banned "morning star" flag was flown and the banned national anthem was sung. By lunch time on the third day (19 October) Papuan activists, members of the organising committee and well connected church leaders heard that the police and military were going to use force to break up the congress.

By 2pm Jayapura time the Congress was concluding. Forkorus Yaboisembut, the Chair of the influential Customary Papaun Council was elected President and Edison Waromi was elected Prime Minister of the "West Papua Federal State". The crowd was ecstatic. One senior tribal leader sent New Matilda the following message by SMS: "Kongres has been successful! No reaction from the military. God bless!"

The jubilation was premature.

Immediately after New Matilda received that SMS, Yaboisembut and Waromi read a declaration of independence. The police and military then opened fire and stormed the stage. As Forkorus Yaboisembut was being arrested, his personal bodyguards stepped in to protect him. A witness reports at least one person was then shot. According to an SMSNew Matilda received from Yaboisembut: "hundreds were surrounded, shot, beaten and then arrested".

Prior to being arrested, Yaboisembut spoke to a journalist from Bintang Papua, a local Jayapura daily. Yaboisembut was reported as saying that the objective of the congress was to discuss the basic rights of the indigenous Papuan people and not to destroy the the republic of Indonesia.

"Although we will be discussing political rights, we respect the Indonesian government because our intention is not to destroy [the republic of Indonesia]. This is a matter of principle," he said.

"What we are doing is to struggle for the rights of the indigenous Papuan people. This includes our basic right as a nation."

Yaboisembut knows what he is talking about. He recently wrote a book about international law, self-determination and the right to secession — a right upheld by the international community most recently in South Sudan and before that Kosovo.

Human Rights defenders in West Papua can confirm that in addition to Yaboisembut, Edison Waromi and his wife and child, Selfius Bobi (Chair of the organising committee), Agus Krar, Abraham Kareni, Yudit Kambuaya and Jan Piet Mirino were also arrested.

At the time of writing those arrested were being detained at the local Jayapura police station. Another source reports that Selphius Bobii, chair of the organising committee has not been seen since. Staff from West Papua Media Alerts hold grave fears that he is being tortured.

Extreme violence has been used to break up a peaceful gathering.

This was the third time West Papuans have held a congress. The second congress was in 2000. It culminated in the election of the Papuan Presidium Council which collapsed in late 2001 after the Chair, Theys Hiyo Eluay, was assassinated by Kopassus, Indonesia’s Special Forces.

The first Papua Congress was held on 1 December 1961, a day West Papuans commemorate as their national day, and some 18 months before Indonesia occupied West Papua on 1 May, 1963.

Yesterday was the second time the Papuans declared independence from Indonesia. The first was by Seth Rumkorem on July 1 1976 at Markas Viktoria, a guerrilla base on the Papua New Guinea border.

Yaboisembut’s declaration of independence in front of thousands of Papuan people and thousands of heavily armed police is a clear escalation of the struggle for independence. It also illustrates Yaboisembut’s conviction that the struggle needs to be waged through an unarmed popular civilian uprising.

WSJ - Floods Set Back New Thai Leader

2011-10-19T19:52:00.000-04:00

OCTOBER 19, 2011

By JAMES HOOKWAY - BANGKOK—Recriminations over the handling of Thailand's worst floods in half a century are causing fresh setbacks for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as the financial cost of the disaster continues to mount and her government firmed up plans to inject billions of dollars to shore up the country's faltering economy.

Floods Hit Thailand

View Slideshow

Associated Press

A flood victim on a raft used a paddle to collect relief supplies dropped from a military helicopter in Pathum Thani Province, just north of Bangkok, on Monday.

Ms. Yingluck's biggest problem, analysts say, is the haphazard way information about the flood has been released, summed up by the science minister's hasty call last week for evacuating part of the capital.

The erratic information flow has unnerved residents and spooked foreign companies, which shut down operations at factories across Thailand to buy time to get a grip on the crisis. The central bank now estimates that the floods, which have taken at least 315 lives and cost over a quarter of a million jobs, will wipe as much as 1.7 percentage points off the country's growth rate this year, as the inundation continues to disrupt supply chains across Asia and beyond.

Ms. Yingluck's government Tuesday approved a plan to widen the country's budget deficit for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 to 400 billion baht, or $12.9 billion, compared with an initial target of 350 billion baht in order revive Thailand's flagging economy and provide aid to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the floods.

Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who earlier said the city had escaped the worst of the deluge, held an emergency press conference Monday night to say it will be hit by a fresh inundation of water in the next two days. "Be alert, but please don't panic," he said, before pleading for donations of sandbags. Tuesday, soldiers and civilian volunteers rushed to reinforced flood defenses with sandbags around Bangkok's northern perimeter in a last-ditch effort to divert run-off from the floods.

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Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra with flood evacuees last week

In theory, Thailand's antiflood effort is led out of a single "war room" at Bangkok's old international airport, where deep political divisions between the populist government and conservative bureaucrats and army leaders—which in the past five years have led to a coup and massive political demonstrations, including one in Bangkok in which 90 people were killed—are carefully papered over.

In reality, analysts say, the 44-year-old Ms. Yingluck is struggling to keep a grip on the situation in the first big test of the two-month-old administration. They say that's largely because of a widespread perception that the government is controlled by former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, her older brother, who lives in Dubai after being toppled in the coup five years ago.

"Ms. Yingluck, to her credit, has done her job well. She has been seen everywhere," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. "But the government also knew about the imminent floods two months ago and did little to prevent it. This is a leadership crisis."

Science Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi broke ranks on Thursday, rushing out of a top-level crisis meeting to tell people in northern Bangkok that they should leave their homes immediately to escape the flood. It was just the sort of stunt many Thais expect from Mr. Plodprasop, an excitable entrepreneur best known for putting exotic meats such as zebra and crocodile on the menu at a night safari in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

"I'm sorry to say we fell for it. We took the dog and high-tailed it out of there," said one resident of a low-lying area, who asked not to be named out of embarrassment.

Bangkok's flood defenses were, in fact, intact. Mr. Plodprasop later apologized for his confusion—but not before many people abandoned their homes in a late-night rush and triggered a panic that rippled across much of the city.

Shortly after, Mr. Sukhumbhand, the city governor, told anxious Bangkok residents to listen to him, and him alone.

Since then, the debate over how to handle Thailand's flood crisis has grown more and more tetchy. Former Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, who faced a smaller flood crisis last year, is urging Ms. Yingluck to declare a state of emergency and postpone a series of populist cash handouts that were a key pledge of her successful election campaign earlier this year. A state of emergency, among other things, would increase the flood-relief authority of Thailand's military and allow it to intervene in disputes between villagers over where to divert the run-off from the flood.

Ms. Yingluck so far has refused, arguing the declaration might scare off foreign visitors just as Thailand prepares for its peak tourist season.

Other observers, for their part, question why irrigation officials didn't begin releasing meaningful amounts of excess water from the country's reservoirs until the impact of this year's unusually ferocious rain-storms was already well under way. In previous years, the country's water managers often began releasing water from dams and reservoirs as early as July.

Enlarge Image

In the meantime, the government continues to send mixed signals. As floodwater knocks out more industrial parks—a sixth was shut down Monday—businesses are wondering just how far the crisis will go.

One of Honda Motor Co.'s Thai plants is swamped and Toyota Motor Co. said Friday that it was extending a shutdown of its Thai operations until the end of this week at least, because suppliers of key components are still affected by the floods. Makers of semiconductors and hard drives have also been badly affected, with many businesses complaining that the government hasn't developed a long-term solution for Thailand's periodic flooding.

A Japanese trade group already has said that Japanese companies—including many of Thailand's biggest foreign investors—didn't know what was happening and what was accurate.

"They received warnings but not enough information and not enough to time to decide what steps to take," said Seiya Sukegawa, an economist at the Bangkok office of the Japan External Trade Organization.

WSJ - Jakarta Papers Pan President’s Picks

2011-10-19T19:42:00.000-04:00

OCTOBER 19, 2011, 6:19 PM SGT

By Eric Bellman

The reviews are in, and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s new cabinet is looking like a disappointing sequel.

In Wednesday editorials in Indonesia’s press, SBY was given the equivalent of a middling two out of five stars for the ministerial choices announced the day before. Reaction ranged from disappointment to slight relief that at least his picks included only a few politicians, who are generally unpopular and considered inept in Indonesia.

: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images; President Yudhoyono’s cabinet picks face the press.

“The new cabinet line-up gives different signals,” opined the influential newspaperKompas. “There is some hope but also questions and skepticism. The president has kept the ministers allegedly connected to corruption cases. This could harm the public’s trust in his commitments.”

Julian Pasha, a spokesman for the president, told Southeast Asia Real Time the reviews have been too harsh. No one can question the president’s commitment to fighting corruption, he said, given that more than 100 politicians have been prosecuted during his time in office. He added that it was too early to judge what the new ministers can accomplish.

Expected to deliver a kick-start for an economic and political overhaul, the picks instead seem the work of a president already circling his wagons ahead of elections that are still three years away, the papers suggested. Rather than choose the most-qualified professionals for key positions, Mr. Yudhoyono chose close allies.

The most glaring example cited by analysts and editorials is Jero Wacik, who was given the job of energy and mineral resources minister despite his lack of experience with a crucial and complicated sector that is attracting billions of dollars in foreign investment. A member of the president’s Democrat Party, he has a background in mechanical engineering and experience as tourism minister.

And it looks like the popular outgoing Trade Minister Mari Pangestu may have lost her job in political horse trading, analysts said, because she dared to stand up to vested interest groups that were demanding protection from imports. She was shuffled to the less important position of minister of tourism.

“President SBY has thrown away any chance to create clean and competent cabinet,” said the newspaper Koran Tempo. “The benefits from a reshuffle are minimal and there is no guarantee this cabinet will perform any better than the last one.”

With so many Indonesian professionals and technocrats qualified to help revamp Southeast Asia’s largest economy and democracy, it’s widely seen as unfortunate Mr. Yudhoyono wasn’t ready to make bolder choices. On average, voters like their president more than they like other politicians, but his popularity is being dragged down by other leaders.

With the global economy looking like it could be headed toward lean times again, the current boom in Indonesia could be the last opportunity for a long time to make the tough decisions the country needs to create more jobs and wealth for its young populace, the newspapers said. An unresolved land-acquisition law, budget-draining petroleum subsidies and confusing and competing laws and regulations on everything from mining rights to bank ownership are just a few of the barriers to investment.

President Yudhoyono should understand better than anybody that his obsession with harmony has triggered paralysis and even betrayal, editorial writers said, with even his coalition allies refusing to respect the fine balance he is trying to maintain and often blocking his initiatives and delaying the country’s progress.

“This is an incredibly divisive administration, and a dangerous one for that matter, because what is sorely needed now is a cabinet dominated by professionals, who enjoy strong political backing to cope with the external threats from the discouraging global economic conditions,” said a Jakarta Post editorial titled “The Last Chance Wasted.” “The President never seems willing to learn the lessons from the failure of his coalition to advance his legislative agenda because of the constant backstabbing by his coalition partners.”

Presidential spokesman Mr. Pasha called for a different tone. “Let’s be optimistic,” he said. “The new teams will start working together and the appointed deputy ministers are going to help the ministers be more productive.”

—Yayu Yuniar contributed to this article.

VIVA - Indonesia: Wanted List of Cirebon Terrorist Circle

2011-10-18T13:15:00.001-04:00

"They are categorized as dangerous people in terrorist circle"

SENIN, 17 OKTOBER 2011, 17:11 WIB

Eko Huda S, Nila Chrisna Yulika

(VIVAnews.com)

VIVAnews - Anti-terror Special Detachment 88 has arrested several people suspected of being involved in terrorist network of Cirebon, West Java. However, so far seven members of the network are still at large.

"They are categorized as dangerous people in terrorist circle," said Head of Public Relations Division of National Police (Polri) HQ, Ins. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam at Polri HQ, Jakarta, Monday. "They are part of a terrorist cell. They can assemble bombs, recruit people and so forth."

According to Anton, this Cirebon cell had made some recordings of their exercise. "Earlier, we obtained a mobile phone that was drown in the water. They did the training at Mount Ciremai and so on. They are also involved in the case of Alfamart destruction," he said. "To people who are in the know of the information, they are expected to report to the police."

Here are the names of the seven fugitives:

1. Santoso, alias Santo aka Abu Wardah
2. Yadi Al Hasan
3. Nanang Irawan aka Nang Ndut
4. Umar Bujang aka Dede aka Rosi
5. Imam Rasyidi aka Imam Sukanto
6. Taufik Bulaga aka Upik Lawanga
7. Cahya aka Ramzah

• VIVAnews

IRIN - Thailand: New drug crackdown raises concerns

2011-10-18T12:58:00.001-04:00

Photo: Steve Sandford/IRIN

Thai officers examine seized yaba pills

CHIANG MAI, 18 October 2011 (IRIN) - Thailand's new government has unveiled plans for an ambitious crackdown on drugs, with an emphasis on rehabilitation and compassion.

Officially announced on 3 October, the policy includes placing some 400,000 drug addicts in rehabilitation programmes within the year, as well as arresting some 10,000 known dealers.

But while the planned focus on rehabilitation is seen as a step forward in a country where nearly 3,000 people were killed during the 2003 controversial war on drugs, human rights groups and activists remain sceptical.

"An ambitious and worrying target has been set to 'rehabilitate' 400,000 drug users within one year," says Human Rights Watch (HRW) spokesman Sunnai Pasuk.

"Concerns remain about the potential arbitrary arrests and detention of drug users in compulsory drug 'rehabilitation' centres, mostly run by the military and Interior Ministry, where 'treatment' is based on military-style physical exercise, with little medical assistance for drug withdrawal symptoms," he added.

HRW is not alone in its concern.

"We need to ensure that in working with the government that full respect for human rights is maintained and that the treatment provided to drug users is voluntary, evidence-based and rights-based," Gary Lewis, regional representative for East Asia and the Pacific in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said.

In 2010, more than 80 percent of all persons who received drug treatment in specialized treatment facilities and correctional institutions reported methamphetamine pills as the primary drug of use.

Thailand is one of the few countries in the region that provides specialized treatment for amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) usage, according to the UNODC's 2011 Global ATS Assessment.

That is due, in large part, to the alarming increase in drug seizures in the region in recent years. UNODC reports that the number of methamphetamine pills seized in South-East Asia leaped from 32 million in 2008 to 133 million in 2010, with Thailand remaining one of the largest markets.

"In the region the international community and the countries of the region have taken their eye off the ball in drug control," said Lewis.

"For various reasons we are now in a situation where we are facing a significant increase in seizures as well as opium production, largely in east and south Shan state in Myanmar," Lewis added.

Due to increased illicit manufacture in neighbouring Myanmar, seizures of methamphetamines in both pill and crystalline forms in Thailand have increased each year since 2007.

During that period, methamphetamine pill seizures rose from 14 million in 2007 to 22 million in 2008, 27 million in 2009 and nearly 50 million in 2010, according to UNODC.

Earlier this month, just one day after the launch of the crackdown, Thai Navy forces seized nearly a million amphetamine pills from a Chinese vessel hauling fruit and vegetables down the Mekong River.

Lessons learnt

In the hills of northern Thailand, where most of the drugs are smuggled across the porous border, Captain Sompong Taweeklamkun has seen first-hand the damage caused by the illicit trade.

The commander is confident the new crackdown will not be a repeat of the 2003 controversy. "We have learnt from the past, use better tactics to get inside the community by using volunteers to go to every village on the drug list," the veteran member of the Thai military's anti-drug Pha Muang task force, which oversees enforcement in the north, told IRIN.

Indeed, the new policy has key elements that sound good - at least on paper - but there are still concerns about implementation.

And there is little comfort for the thousands of victims' families from the crackdown seven years ago - who still wait for full investigations to take place. "To date, there is no sign that the government will continue the 'war on drugs' investigations," says HRW's Pasuk.

ss/ds/mw

Asian Correspondent - Italian priest shot dead in Philippines

2011-10-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

By Edwin Espejo Oct 17, 2011 3:28PM UTC

Photo of slain Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio in the PIME website

MANILA – An Italian missionary was gunned down Monday morning outside his parish church in Arakan Valley, Cotabato as he was preparing to attend the Presbyterium of the Cotabato diocese in southern Philippines.

Reports said Fr. Fausto Tentorio, a PIME priest, was approached by a lone gunman who shot him in the head and chest before fleeing on a motorcycle.

Witnesses were not able to describe the face of the gunman, who was reportedly wearing a crash helmet.

The priest was rushed to the hospital in Kidapawan City but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police are still investigating the motive and the identity of the lone gunman.

Prior to his death, Fr. Tentorio revealed in the website of PIME (Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions) that armed men who introduced themselves as members of Bagani were casing his parish convent and asking for his whereabouts early in the month.

The armed men were also reportedly asking around the neighborhood as to Fr. Tentorio’s whereabouts.

Villagers however declined to reveal the priest’s location.

One of the armed men reportedly said they “will just arrest” the priest and bring him to their superiors.

“Worried of the possible consequences, the people denied to them that I was there. They told me and my companions to stay quiet in the house and hide there because the Bagani were looking for me. We decided to listen to their advice because to try to run would have been too dangerous. We did not know how many of them were there, and where they were hiding,” the priest narrated.

On Monday, however, Fr. Tentorio became the third member of the PIME congregation to be killed in Mindanao.

The first was Fr. Tulio Favali, who was killed in Tulunan town also in Cotabato in 1985. The other was Fr. Salvador Carzedda who was gunned down in Zamboanga City in 1992.

According to local Mindanao-based online publication www.mindanews.com, the slain priest was active in his advocacy of the protecting the rights of indigenous tribes in the province and was a staunch anti-mining advocate.

Fr. Tentorio had organized the tribal organization called the Tinananon-Kulamanon Lumadnong Panaghiusa or TIKULPA.

IRIN - Cambodia worries about long-term flood fallout

2011-10-17T16:58:00.000-04:00

Photo: Brendan Brady/IRIN

More than 1 million Cambodians have been affected

KRATIE PROVINCE, 17 October 2011 (IRIN) - Severe flooding across Cambodia poses serious risks to the country's food security, according to NGOs.

Flooding has spread across 17 of Cambodia's 24 provinces, killing 247 people, forcing the evacuation of more than 34,000 households, and destroying some 200,000 hectares of rice fields, which comprise nearly 10 percent of the country's harvest, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), a government agency.

It said flood damage, including destruction of more than 1,000 schools and some 2,400km of roads, would exceed that caused by devastating floods in 2000, which cost US$161 million in damage.

Leh Smah, 62, said a third of residents in his community, Chhoer Teal Plun Village in Kratie Province in the northeast, had lost large parts or all of their rice harvest.

The 20kg rice sacks donated to affected families by the Red Cross will last a week, he said. "Soon they will be out of food again and will have to purchase food on credit unless they receive more aid."

More than 80,000 families have received aid, according to the NCDM.

Francis Perez, head of Oxfam in Cambodia, said flood relief varied by province, with robust assistance in most areas but there were still "huge pockets where emergency response has been very inadequate".

The southeastern province of Prey Vey in particular, he said, had received far less flood relief than other provinces and some communities were facing food shortages.

Recovery

The longer-term impact of the flooding remains uncertain but, says Rosaleen Martin, a spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme, there are widespread concerns over food security.

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced last week that the government would create a $100 million fund for relief and rehabilitation but no details have been given on how this money would be managed.

The Agriculture Ministry says it plans to distribute rice seeds to flood-affected communities to help offset losses from destroyed crops.

In a move to stabilize rice prices, which began to rise because of the flood, government authorities released 120MT of government-stocked milled rice on to the market on 16 October.

A spokesperson for the UN Disaster Management Team in Cambodia said the group was drafting a proposal for an emergency fund that would include assistance for emergency relief and the rehabilitation of destroyed fields.

Oxfam's Perez said that because of losses to their rice harvest, farmers would likely turn to borrowing, which is commonly done at usury rates "that drive people into a risky cycle".

Health risks
Health officials say the flooding had prolonged the dengue fever season: 54 children have died from the disease in the first nine months of this year, compared with 28 in 2010, according to the government's National Dengue Control Programme.

Dengue outbreaks are spurred by heavy rain, which forms pools that harbour the eggs of mosquitoes carrying the disease.

Other health risks associated with flooding include water-borne diseases spurred by damage to toilet and drinking water facilities, as well as respiratory infections and measles.

The UN and a number of NGOs were coordinating with government agencies to provide water purification tablets, ceramic water filters and jerry cans for safe water storage.

Nima Asgari, a public health specialist with the World Health Organization in Cambodia, said no signs had yet emerged of disease outbreaks in affected communities.

The main task for health officials is to restore emergency health services, including assisted birthing, to affected communities.

The UN Children's Fund is releasing funding for rural government health offices to form mobile teams to travel to families cut off from regular healthcare access because of the floods, said Richard Bridle, the group's country representative.

bb/ds/mw

Timor-Leste’s Tasi Mane Project

2011-10-16T17:04:00.000-04:00

By Mong Palatino

October 17, 2011Diplomat

Part of Timor-Leste’s Strategic Development Plan is the building of three industrial clusters on the country’s southwest coast, which will be the backbone of its petroleum industry. But civil society groups have warned that the ambitious project will have little impact on the economy.

The Tasi Mane (Male Sea) Project will involve the development of an integrated petroleum infrastructure in the coastal zone from Suai to Beaço over the next two decades. The plan includes the construction of the Suai Supply Base cluster, the Betano Refinery and Petrochemical Industry cluster, and the Beaço LNG-Plant cluster.

Suai will become a centre for providing services, logistics, fabrications and human resources for the petroleum industry. The supply base will require the establishment of a sea port in Kamanasa, a housing complex, heavy metals workshop, shipbuilding and repair facilities and a rehabilitated Suai airport. In Betano, a refinery and petrochemical complex will rise in a new centre that will be known as Petroleum City. And finally, in Beaco, an LNG Plant complex will be constructed near the towns of Nova Beaco and Nova Viqueque. The existing airport at Viqueque will be upgraded into a regional airport.

Aside from addressing the long term domestic energy requirements of Timor-Leste, the Tasi Mane Project is expected to generate substantial revenues, jobs, and livelihood opportunities in the country’s southern corridor. The government is confident that it will boost the petroleum sector, which can be used to directly promote the industrialization of the economy.

Timor-Leste is dependent on its oil revenues, but economists have already advised it to diversify its economy by venturing into non-oil activities since its oil and gas reserves are estimated to reach its peak in 13 years. But La'o Hamutuk, a Timor-Leste-based NGO, believes that Tasi Mane reflects the continuing dependence of the country on the petroleum industry. In its critique of the government’s development strategy, the group noted that petroleum processing seems to be the only industrial development discussed in the paper. ‘What about agricultural processing, or light industry to replace imported products?’ the group asked.

The group also questioned the government allocation of over 30 million for the Tasi Mane project, which is more than twice the budget of the Agriculture Ministry. ‘We lamented the nearly exclusive focus on the petroleum industry and resulting in lost opportunities to explore other possibilities for economic development,’ the group said.

The project blueprint is also silent on the concrete and real impact of Tasi Mane on the local economy and the communities in the south coast. ‘Nothing is said about how many jobs these projects will provide for Timorese workers, how much land they will take from uses such as agriculture and fishing, how many people will have to be displaced, or how much revenue they will generate for the state,’ La'o Hamutuk added.

Parliament is being urged by the NGO not to grant the government a blank cheque for a project that’s lacking transparency and whose economic viability is in doubt.

Still, the Tasi Mane Project is the flagship programme of Timor-Leste’s development strategy, and it has much potential since it can harness the country’s petroleum resources for the long term benefit of the local population. It can redirect the oil revenues to spur industrialization and the diversification of the local economy. But the issues raised by La'o Hamutuk and other NGOs are also valid, and they require immediate government consideration and action. Timor-Leste’s leaders must clarify these issues by engaging and consulting with the people, especially the communities that will be affected or displaced by Tasi Mane.

Image credit: Flickr / yeowatzup