Rawagede: still waiting for Dutch aid money

RNW, 13September 2011, by Michel Maas

(Photo:RNW)      

More: 

• The sole survivor's tale 
• A black page in Dutch history

Theyweren't allowed to call it reparation money or a compensation payment and ithad nothing to do with the 1947 massacre in Rawagede, but at the beginning of2009, the then Development Cooperation Minister Bert Koenders earmarked€850,000 for Balongsari, a small county in Java, Indonesia. It was developmentaid money and ostensibly had nothing to do with the fact that the village ofRawagede is also in Balongsari County.

On 9December 1947, Dutch troops rounded up and killed an estimated 431 men in theJavanese village of Rawagede. It was one of the worst massacres during the‘Dutch police action’ in the Dutch East Indies just after the Second World War.

It’s almost64 years later and the Dutch government still shies away from anyacknowledgement of guilt or hint of responsibility. It’s purely development aidmoney and not a reparations payment or compensation and it’s not for Rawagede,it’s for the entire county. The €850,000 was supposed to fund a school, amarket and expand the hospital in the village.

Waiting

Some 30months have elapsed since the money was allocated but almost nothing has beenaccomplished. On the outskirts of the village, a rice paddy measuring aroundone hectare has been cleared but the school still hasn’t been built. The localauthorities say the building plans are ready and they’re just waiting for themoney. Sukarman say construction will begin as soon as they get the money. He’sthe chairman of foundation that has already built one school in Rawagede; itstands across the road from the cleared rice paddy and has some 800 studentsalready. Sukarman: “We built that school in just 3 months. The World Bank gavethe money to our local foundation and we could arrange everything directly”.

The Dutchdevelopment aid money is taking a different route: it’s not going to Rawagede,it’s not going to Balongsari, and it’s not even going to the district ofKarawang; it’s going to the interior ministry in Jakarta. The ministry isresponsible for deciding who can build a school and when. The Hague has signedan agreement with the Ministry and a portion of the money was transferred lastDecember. The local authorities have still not received any notification fromJakarta and they still have no idea when, or if, the project will be started.

The Dutchembassy in Jakarta has defended the bureaucratic maze, calling it ‘due care andattention’. Ambassador Annemieke Ruigrok: “All of the projects must have asustainable character and everything has to be carefully calibrated and theindividual projects need to be coordinated with each other. Due care andattention take time.” She added that the ministry is currently “working out thefinal details.”

Microcredit

It’s notclear what "working out the details" means, nor is there any sign of‘coordination’. Even though the local authorities have had their plans readyand waiting for the past 2 years, the ministry still hasn’t made any contactwith them.

Not all ofthe money that was allocated in 2009 is in Jakarta; €254,500 went to the DutchHivos foundation. The organisation has used some of the money to fundmicro-credit loans in Rawagede. Hundreds of people in the village – andhundreds of others in neighbouring villages – have taken advantage of the HIVOS microcredit loans. A total of €106,533 has been lent so far, while the restof the €850,000 is doing nothing for the people of Rawagede.

Hivos hasset a cooperative up and it now has 1247 members. It is supposed to be runningan organic shop and the Dutch foundation has so far funded it to the tune of€50,000. The head of the cooperative, Riyadi, acknowledges that the shop hasn’tyet been set up although a small gas canister business has gotten off theground. According to Riyadi, the €50,000 has been sent spent on operational costsand salaries.

Apology

Severalattempts to get compensation for the victims’ relatives were dismissed on thegrounds that the events took place so long ago that the charges had lapsed. OnWednesday, judges will issue a ruling on a case brought by four relatives ofRawagede victims; they are demanding an apology and compensation.

Theirlawyer, Liesbeth Zegveld, does not believe that the case has expired, sayingthat the Netherlands still handles cases dating from World War Two. If thejudges rule in favour of the plaintiffs, it could have huge consequences forthe victims - and their relatives - of other Dutch ‘police actions’ as theycould also claim compensation.

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May 7th 2011 Rawagede - In memoriam: Sa'ih Bin Sakam†

After seven years, no progress seen in pursuit of justice for slain rights activist Munir

MarielGrazella, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 09/05/2011

TheCommission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that itcondemned the government for erasing resolution of the murder case of humanrights activist Munir Saib Thalib from its list of priorities.

Munir Saib Thalib

Munir diedof arsenic poisoning on board a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam in 2004.

Thecondemnation came during the approach of the seventh anniversary of Munir’smurder, which falls on September 1.

“There havebeen so many dynamics within the Munir case over these seven years. However,over the last three years, the justice agenda has ended in weakening the lawon” Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said on Monday in a press statement to TheJakarta Post.

“TheSupreme Court has freed Muchdi Purwoprandjono and gave Pollycarpus a number ofprison sentence reductions that have been challenged based on accusations ofobscure and vague reasoning,” he added.

PollycarpusBudihari Prijanto, who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 2008 for thepre-meditated murder of Munir, has been granted remissions every IndependenceDay and Christmas Day since his imprisonment. He recently received a 9 monthsand 5 days remission on Independence Day.

Muchdi, whowas the former deputy chairman of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), was puton trial for Munir’s murder but has been declared innocent.

He furthersaid that it was befitting that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the SupremeCourt, the Attorney General’s Office and the Law and Human Rights Ministry “sittogether and evaluate progress made in this case and ensure that justice isfulfilled”.

“We areconcerned that if President Susilo Bambag Yudhoyono remains quite and lawenforcers mum, the Munir case would be erased from notes on legal processes.Those responsible will be free, physically and politically, meaning that therewould not be any correction on that crime for Indonesia’s law and justice inthe future,” he added.

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Indonesian mayor resists building of church

Christianworshipers have been forced to pray in the open air in a town in Indonesia'sWest Java province after the town's majority Muslim population opposed thebuilding of a church.

Afterlosing all legal battles, including a verdict from country's highest court, themayor says he cannot allow a church to be built on a street with an Islamicname.

Thenational ombudsman has given the mayor two more weeks to implement the supremecourt's decision and let the congregation build its church.

Thestandoff is being seen as a national test case of religious tolerance, withrecent research showing a growing number of Muslims are against the presence ofa church in their neighbourhood.

AlJazeera's Step Vaessen reports from Bogor, in West Java.

Bali bombing suspect extradited to Indonesia

The Jakarta Post, Niniek Karmini, Associated Press, Jakarta

Top dog: In this 2007 file photo obtained by the Associated
Press  from a Philippine security official, Indonesian militant
 Umar Patek addresses fellow militants in an Abu Sayyaf mountain
 encampment on Jolo island in southern Philippines. Patek had a
US$1 million bounty on his head when he was captured in the
Pakistani town of Abbottabad Jan. 25, four months before Osama bin
Laden was killed there in a US commando attack. (AP/File)

AnIndonesian militant who allegedly made the explosives used in the 2002 Balibombings was escorted home under tight security Thursday, more than six monthsafter he was captured in northwest Pakistan.

Umar Patekhad a $1 million bounty on his head when authorities caught up with him Jan. 25in Abbottabad - the same town where Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S.commando attack four months later.

Indonesia'santi-terrorism chief, Ansyaad Mbai, told The Associated Press it did not appearto be a coincidence that they were in the same place.

"It'sfurther evidence of the link between the Southeast Asian terror network andal-Qaida," he added, hours before the 41-year-old boarded an Indonesianplane sent to a Pakistani air force base.

Patektouched down outside Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, on Thursday morning and wastaken straight to a police detention center in the West Java town of Kelapa Duawhere he will await trial, he said. No date has been announced.

Indonesianofficials say Patek has confessed to playing a key role in the 2002 Balibombings, which killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists, including 88Australians.

He alsoadmitted to making the bombs used in a string of Christmas Eve attacks onchurches in 2000 that claimed 19 lives, they say.

But becausetough anti-terror laws passed after the Bali blasts cannot be applied retroactively,he will likely be charged with illegal possession of explosives, Mbai said.

Even thoughthat charge also carries a maximum penalty of death, there are concerns hemight get off easy.

Indonesia,the nation with the most Muslims in the world, has been hit by a string ofterrorist attacks blamed on Patek's regional militant group, Jemaah Islamiyah,but none as deadly as the Bali blasts.

A highlypraised anti-terrorism campaign in the country of 240 million has seen hundredsof suspects arrested and convicted in recent years, but Patek is one of thebiggest to have been captured alive.

His arrestin Abbottabad raised questions over whether he was there to meet bin Laden,something that would challenge theories that the al-Qaida chief was cut offfrom his followers.

U.Sofficials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue, have saidit appeared to be a coincidence.

But Mbaicountered that Wednesday.

Severalother militants - from Asia and Europe to the Middle East - also were arrestedin the same region of northwest Pakistan at the time of Patek's arrest, hesaid.

They hadgathered there in hopes of meeting bin Laden, but it was not clear if they'dsucceeded or were planning a new terror strike.

"Patekwas very valuable for the U.S.," Mbai said. "He helped leadauthorities to bin Laden."

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Indonesia torture case vs Exxon Mobil revived

Reuters, byJonathan Stempel, NEW YORK, Fri Jul 8, 2011

(Reuters) -Indonesian villagers who accused Exxon Mobil Corp's security forces of murder,torture and other atrocities have regained their right to sue the giant oilcompany in the United States.

A federalappeals court said on Friday that companies are not immune from liability undera 1789 U.S. law known as the Alien Tort Statute for "heinous conduct"allegedly committed by its agents in violation of human rights norms.

The 15villagers contended in their lawsuit that family members were killed and thatothers were "beaten, burned, shocked with cattle prods, kicked, andsubjected to other forms of brutality and cruelty" amounting to torture inIndonesia's Aceh province between 1999 and 2001, a period of civil unrest.

A dividedpanel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said Exxon Mobil should be forced todefend against such charges.

Given thatlaws in civilized nations hold corporations responsible for lesser wrongs,"it would create a bizarre anomaly to immunize corporations from liabilityfor the conduct of their agents in lawsuits brought for shockingly egregiousviolations of universally recognized principles of international law,"Judge Judith Rogers wrote for a 2-1 majority.

Friday'sdecision reversed part of a ruling by the federal district court in Washington,D.C.

It is alsoat odds with a landmark ruling last September by the federal appeals court inNew York, raising the prospect that the U.S. Supreme Court could try to resolvethe dispute.

"Theruling basically says that corporations are not above the law," saidJennifer Green, a University of Minnesota law professor and director of thatschool's human rights litigation clinic, who submitted a brief on theplaintiffs' behalf. "When corporations have knowledge that they are aidingand abetting human rights abuses, they can be held liable in a U.S.court."

ExxonMobil, based in Irving, Texas, said it is reviewing Friday's decision, callingthe plaintiffs' claims "baseless." Indonesia's government has alsoopposed the lawsuit.

"NOTABOVE THE LAW"

Thevillagers sought to hold Exxon Mobil responsible for having retained soldiersfrom Indonesia's military as guards for a natural gas facility in Aceh, despiteknowing of past human rights abuses by Indonesia's army and that the contractwould lead to human rights violations against Aceh villagers.

In itsruling, the D.C. Circuit also upheld the district court dismissal of claimsunder a different law, the Torture Victim Protection Act.

It returnedthe case to that court, where a jury could decide liability and anycompensatory or punitive damages.

"Wehave fought these baseless claims for many years," Exxon Mobil spokesmanPatrick McGinn said in a statement.

"Whileconducting its business in Indonesia, ExxonMobil has worked for generations toimprove the quality of life in Aceh through employment of local workers,provision of health services and extensive community investment. The companystrongly condemns human rights violations in any form."

AgnieszkaFryszman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the decision makes clear thatcorporations would be "as liable as anyone else" for violatinginternational human rights norms.

DISSENT

Friday'sdecision puts the D.C. Circuit in agreement with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court ofAppeals, which has jurisdiction in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

It also putboth courts at odds with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which saidcompanies are not liable in U.S. courts for violating international humanrights law.

That casewas brought against Royal Dutch Shell Plc by the families of seven Nigeriansexecuted by a former military government. They accused Shell of helpingNigerian authorities violently suppress protests against its oil explorationand development in the 1990s. [ID:nN04244684]

The 2ndCircuit decision applies in New York, Connecticut and Vermont.

Judge BrettKavanaugh dissented from Friday's decision, saying it would be "quiteodd" for a U.S. court to allow Alien Tort Statute claims against acorporation based on customary international law, when no internationaltribunals would.

He alsosaid the ruling could harm U.S.-Indonesian relations, and perhaps damage thewar on terrorism.

Kavanaughwas appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush. Rogers and Judge DavidTatel, who comprised the majority, were appointed by President Bill Clinton.

Exxonshares closed up 6 cents at $82.42 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The case isJohn Doe VIII et al v. Exxon Mobil Corp et al, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals,No. 09-7125.

(Reportingby Jonathan Stempel; additional reporting by Anna Driver in Houston and JamesVicini in Washington, D.C.; editing by Tim Dobbyn, Andre Grenon and Matthew Lewis)

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Erwin’s release a victory for the press: Lawyer

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 06/24/2011

Todung Mulya Lubis, the head of former Playboy Indonesia editor Erwin Arnada’s legal team, said that the Supreme Court’s acquittal is a victory for the freedom of the press.

Todung said that, with Erwin’s release, the court decided that all legal cases concerning press publication should refer to the Press Law, not the Criminal Code.

"In Erwin's case, he was sued on a moral charge, which is not the area of the press board," he said. "This case is good jurisprudence for other Press Law cases."

He added that the court had shown its commitment to the Press Law. (rpt)

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Main Suspect in Deadly 2002 Bali Bombings Arrested in Pakistan

Fox News, Associated Press, March 29, 2011

Undated sketch of Bali bombing suspect Umar Patek. (AP)

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Intelligence sources say top Indonesian terror suspect Umar Patek has been arrested in Pakistan.

Patek is one of the main suspects in the 2002 Bali bombings that left 202 people dead.

Two officials speaking on condition that they not be named said Patek was taken into custody in Pakistan on March 2. One of the sources is an Indonesian security official, and the other is a Philippine intelligence official who cited information from U.S. counterparts.

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Justice league

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 03/22/2011

(From left to right) Leiden University’s Jakarta project coordinator
Ward Berenschot, National Planning and Development Agency director
for legal and human rights Diani Sadiawati, University of Indonesia’s
Women and Gender Studies Center chair Sulistyowati Irianto and
Judicial Mafia Taskforce member Mas Achmad Santosa pose for
photos after the launch of a book titled Akses Terhadap Keadilan
di Indonesia (Access to Justice in Indonesia) at Erasmus Huis in
Jakarta on Tuesday.

Garuda to Pay Widow Of Munir Rp 3.5b

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, February 19, 2011

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The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal filed by flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and upheld an earlier ruling ordering the airline to pay damages to the widow of slain rights activist Munir Said Thalib, lawyers said on Friday.

Munir died of arsenic poisoning on board a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in 2004. The poison was administered by off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2008 for the murder.

In 2006, Suciwati, Munir’s widow, sued Garuda’s management, former executive director Indra Setiawan, vice president of corporate security Ramelgia Anwar, flight operator support officer Rohainil Aini, Pollycarpus and five members of the cabin crew on board the flight.

The Central Jakarta District Court ruled in her favor and ordered Garuda and the other respondents to pay Rp 3.5 billion ($396,000) in damages.

Nurkholis Hidayat, director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) and a lawyer for Suciwati, said this effectively meant Garuda and the others had to pay up “for the losses caused by Munir’s death.”

“And because Garuda lost its appeal to the Supreme Court, even though it may file for an extraordinary remedy against the ruling, that will not stop Suciwati from claiming what is hers.”

Nurkholis said the ruling could be considered partial justice for Munir and his family, “even though during the criminal trial, the courts never touched the mastermind [behind the murder].”

One of the key suspects in the case, former intelligence chief Muchdi Purwopranjono, was acquitted of the murder.

A former commander of the army’s Special Forces unit (Kopassus), Muchdi was forced to step down after Munir, who founded the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), shed light on the elite unit’s involvement in kidnapping dissenters.

Choirul Anam, a lawyer for Suciwati who is also deputy chairman of the Human Rights Work Group and coordinator of the Committee of Solidarity Action for Munir (Kasum), said he had been notified about the ruling on Thursday.

He said the Supreme Court’s ruling should inspire more victims and wronged consumers to file civil suits.

“Especially those who were aggrieved by the aviation industry in Indonesia, which is still far from perfect,” he said, adding the court’s decision “marks a success for consumers in demanding compensation.”

“We hope that Garuda, which has been trying to polish its image, will cooperate with us and obey the verdict without making it more complicated,” Choirul said.

Garuda spokesman Pudjobroto declined to comment on the case, telling the Jakarta Globe the company had not yet received official notification of the verdict.

Churches Ablaze in Protest in Central Java

Jakarta Globe, Candra Malik | February 09, 2011

Cars were set on fire in the parking area of a church that was attacked by
Muslim mobs in Temanggung, Central Java, on Tuesday. Hundreds of Islamic
hard-liners first ran amok outside a courthouse to protest what they considered
too mild a sentence for a man convicted of blaspheming Islam. (Antara Photo)

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Temanggung, Central Java. Roving mobs of Muslims on Tuesday attacked and vandalized five buildings, including two churches, in the small Central Java town of Temanggung following the sentencing of a man on trial for contempt of Islam.

Judges at the district court in Temanggung on Tuesday sentenced Antonius Richmord Bawengan, 58, to five years in jail, as the prosecutors had requested.

The verdict angered members of hard-line Islamic groups, who thought it was too lenient, setting off the spasm of violence.

Two churches, a school and two police stations were vandalized by the mobs and a number of cars and motorcycles were set on fire. Nine people were injured in the violence, most by thrown stones, police said.

The defendant and the judges and prosecutors had to be rushed out of the courtroom by police officers after hundred of people rushed toward them amid shouts of “Allahu Akbar” after the verdict was announced.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating ninister for political, legal, and security affairs, said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the violence, which came just days after a violent attack on an Ahmadiyah community in Pandeglang, Banten, that left three people dead and five injured.

“The Central Java Police have been instructed to immediately find the perpetrators of the anarchy and deal with them through the legal process,” Djoko said in a written statement.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said shortly after returning from Temanggung that one person had been arrested. “We have arrested one suspect and may name more as the investigation continues,” he said. “We will uphold the law against whoever breaches it.”

He said that like many of the others involved, the suspect was not from Temanggung, which he said pointed to the violence being orchestrated by outsiders.

The rioting ended some five hours after it started when hundreds of police reinforcements arrived from other regions.

Antonius, a resident of Manado, North Sulawesi, who holds a Jakarta identity card, was convicted of distributing a book titled “Ya Tuhan, Tertipu Aku” (“Oh My God, I Was Fooled”) and leaflets titled “Selamatkan Diri Dari Dajjal dan Kiamat” (“Save Yourself from the Antichrist and Doomsday”).

They were distributed in Kranggan village in Temanggung in October.

The book said the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, is a symbol of the female genital organ while the Jamrah pillar — another significant object in Islam — is the male equivalent. The texts also described Islam as violent.

Siti Mahanim, who prosecuted the case, said Antonius was guilty of violating the Criminal Code on insulting Islam and recommended the maximum sentence for the offense, five years in jail.

“I regret my deeds and plead guilty. To the religious people, especially Muslims in Indonesia, whose hearts were hurt by my actions, I apologize,” Antonius said in court. With the admission, the judges immediately announced their verdict.

The Temanggung Police had deployed more than 400 officers in and around the court building, and limited the number of people allowed inside the courtroom, police spokesman Adj. Comr. Marino said.

Police fired three warning shots and tear gas canisters outside the court but the mob then split up and attacked a Pentecostal church, St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church and the Shekinah school in the complex of Bethel Indonesia Church. They burned vehicles and later set fire to two police trucks.

Benny Susetyo, head of the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI), told the Jakarta Globe that reports from Temanggung indicated the rioters were probably not locals. “Our team reported that they were transported to the locations in trucks. It seems like they were from outside the district,” he said.

Benny called on the government to “arrest the perpetrators, whoever they are and whatever their motivation was.”

Additional reporting by Farouk Arnaz, Dessy Sagita, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Hartono

Blasphemy effect: (Krisna Krisna Sumargo/Tribunnews)

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United States Welcome to Monitor Torture Trial: Indonesia Military

Jakarta Globe, Markus Junianto Sihaloho | January 14, 2011

Jakarta. The Indonesian Military says it welcomes the United States governments pledge to closely monitor the trials of three Indonesian soldiers accused of torturing two Papuans.

TNI spokesman First Admiral Iskandar Sitompul said on Friday that the military tribunal — described by Human rights activists as a sham — was open to the public and anyone was permitted to attend the hearings.

“For us, interest in the case from anyone is not a form of [foreign] intervention. The trial is open to the public,” Iskandar said.

He claimed, however, that the legal process must be conducted independently by those involved in the legal process.

“[The United States] knows this and they will respect it.”

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Former Sex Slaves Call on Japan for Full Apology

Jakarta Globe, November 25, 2010

Portraits of former Indonesian sex slaves during Japan colonization called Jugun Ianfu (comfort women) exhibited at Erasmus Huis in Jakarta. Six former Korean wartime sex slaves and more than 200 supporters gathered Thursday in Tokyo to call on Japan for a full official apology and compensation in a petition to Prime Minister Naoto Kan. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

Tokyo. Six former Korean wartime sex slaves and more than 200 supporters gathered on Thursday in Tokyo to call on Japan for a full official apology and compensation in a petition to Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, they submitted a petition of around 600,000 signatures collected in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and other regions.

“I really hope for no more wars, which would inevitably create victims like me,” said one of the former comfort women, 83-year-old Gil Won Ok from South Korea.

South Korean lawmaker Lee Mi-Kyung also visited with a petition signed by 177 South Korean parliamentarians.

The elderly Korean women and their supporters faced abuse from dozens of Japanese nationalists who staged their own protest outside the parliamentary office building where they had gathered.

Up to 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries are estimated to have been kidnapped and forced to work as “comfort women” in military brothels used by Japanese troops during World War II.

Japan has apologized for the military’s involvement in crimes against the women, but denies responsibility for running a system of military brothels before its surrender to Allied forces in 1945.

The issue has long proved an irritant in relations between Japan and its neighbors.

The movement seeking an official apology and compensation from Japan has gained momentum following political change in the country, with the center-left Democratic Party ousting the conservatives last year, organizers said.

Agence France-Presse

Aging Filipino women who claim to be former wartime Japanese sex blow whistles in front of the Japanese Embassy in Manila, Philippines on Wednesday. The group demands from the Japanese government an apology and the redress of the crimes committed against Filipino women during World War II. (AP/Aaron Favila)

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Indonesian Cleric Gets 4 Years Jail Over Sex With Child Bride

Jakarta Globe, November 24, 2010

Jakarta. An Indonesian court sentenced a wealthy Muslim cleric to four years in prison on Wednesday for having sex with a 12-year-old girl he took as his unofficial wife.

Pujiono Cahyo Widiyanto, center in white, a wealthy
Muslim cleric was sentenced to four years in prison
on Wednesday for having sex with a 12-year-old girl
he took as his unofficial wife. (AFP Photo)

Pujiono Cahyo Widiyanto, 45, from the Central Java city of Semarang, sparked nationwide controversy over his decision to wed Lutfiana Ulfa in August, 2008.

"The defendant has been proven to have had a sexual relationship with an underage girl, Lutfiana Ulfa. We sentence him to four years in prison," judge Hari Mulyanto said.

Lutfiana screamed hysterically when she heard the sentence read out in court.

"We'll appeal against the decision," Widiyanto's lawyer OC Kaligis said.

Widiyanto — also known as Sheikh Puji — said the girl had reached puberty when he married her in an unofficial religious ceremony, and claimed his actions were acceptable under Islam.

The age of consent in Indonesia is 16 for married females and 18 for males.

Indonesian law has harsh penalties for pedophilia, but unregistered marriages between older men and under-age girls are common in rural areas.

Agence France-Presse

Father John M. Fiala, arrested in area sex case

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Govt steps up heat on Saudi Arabia over worker abuse

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 11/20/2010

In reality, it will be worse: Activists from the Indonesian Workers Association and Migrant Care stage a theatrical performance with a theme of torturing Indonesian maids in Saudi Arabia in front of the Royal Saudi Arabia Embassy in Jakarta Friday. Sumiati bini Salan Mustapa, an Indonesian maid, was inhumanly tortured by her Saudi employer recently. JP/Nurhayati

Indonesia’s fury over the abuse and murder of migrant workers has found no relief. A regional government has imposed a complete moratorium while the President considered reviewing the practice of sending workers to Saudi Arabia.

Indonesia would review sending migrant workers to “uncooperative, non-transparent” countries, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters at the State Palace after a Cabinet meeting on Friday.

The President said “all out diplomacy” would be deployed against non-transparent countries to protect the interests of Indonesian workers.

Indonesian migrant worker Sumiati binti Salan
Mustapa after she was brutalized by her Saudi
Arabian employers. (Photo courtesy of the Saudi
Gazette)

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that “uncooperative, non-transparent” countries were generally in the Middle East, and included Saudi Arabia.

Marty summoned Saudi Arabian Ambassador Abdurrahman Mohammad Amen Al-Khayyat on Friday for the third time this week on yet another incident involving a migrant worker.

He previously summoned the ambassador twice and sent a letter to the Kingdom’s foreign minister following the case of 23-year-old Sumiati, a West Nusa Tenggara resident who was allegedly abused by her Saudi Arabian employer.

East Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Zainul Majdi imposed a moratorium Friday on sending female domestic workers from the province to Saudi Arabia following the news on Sumiati. Sumiati was reportedly tortured and sustained cuts around her mouth that suggested she was attacked with scissors. She also reportedly has burns that may have been caused by a hot iron.

“Today [Friday], we’ll also call the Saudi Arabian ambassador, again. It is not because of the case of Ibu Sumiati, but another case that was just revealed last night [Thursday],” Marty said, referring to Kikim Komalasari, another Indonesian migrant worker who was found dead in garbage bin.

Kikim’s neck was reportedly slashed, and she also had cuts to the rest of her body.

Marty said it had taken longer than usual for the Kingdom’s police to inform the Indonesian Embassy about Kikim’s death because she was previously misidentified as a Bangladeshi.

“Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern countries in general don’t recognize [bilateral] MoUs in the informal sector. They only want to sign ones on the formal sector,” Marty said.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar cited Saudi Arabia and Jordan as two countries Indonesia had not yet managed to sign good agreements on migrant workers with.

The result of the review might lead to a decision to halt the sending of workers to these countries, he added.

President Yudhoyono also said the government was mulling the prospect of equipping Indonesian migrant workers with cell phones to help them reach officers more easily when they face problems.

“Based on our experiences, we often receive reports on what has happened with our migrant workers [after it] is too late,” the President said.

Muhaimin explained afterward only migrant workers sent to Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan had been equipped with cell phones.

“Cell phones should be a means of an open communication system included in the MoUs. Agents abroad must provide the phones, and the employers should not be allowed to take them [away],” the minister said.

Yudhoyono said currently about 4,300 Indonesian workers overseas are facing various hardships, ranging from being denied their salaries, overwork, and physical and even sexual abuse. Approximately 3.27 million Indonesians are now registered as migrant workers.

A protest over the torture of Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, outside
the Saudi Arabian embassy in Jakarta. on Nov. 18. (Photo: CNN)

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