INDONESIA after 63 YEARS of 'INDEPENDENCE'  STILL NOT A BETTER PLACE

INDONESIA AFTER 63 YEARS OF 'INDEPENDENCE':

A CATALOGUE OF MASSACRES, TORTURE, MILITAIRY OPPRESSION, ONGOING IMPUNITY, INIQUITY, WIDESPREAD CORRUPTION, INCREASED POVERTY, PLUNDERING of  NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION, NATURAL DISASTERS AND DISEASES.

More than 10 million Indonesian illiterate
2008-09-08 20:18:52
As many as 10.16 million Indonesians, or 6.22 percent of the Indonesia population over 15 years old, are illiterate Continue.

What independence means for a young Indonesian
2008-08-15 20:40:58
if you ask me what Indonesia's 63rd anniversary of independence means my answer will probably be, "I don't know."Continue.

OPINION: Indonesians losing faith in democracy
2008-08-14 18:38:52
In 1999, some 86 per cent of Indonesians came out to vote, reflecting their hopes for democracy to improve their lives. However, many are now staying away from voting as corruption, combined with social and economic hardship, has made the populace Continue.

Noam Chomsky - "Despite democratic reform progress after the ouster of the dictator Suharto in 1998, the military still retains much power. Military reform has stalled, and perpetrators of past crimes have evaded justice for human rights violations."

Indonesia`s human rights watchdog - The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) has become a "political player." Continue.

Indonesian Military returns to politics?
2008-08-12 14:35:52
Evan A. Laksmana, Singapore - In the past few weeks, a debate surrounding the 2009 general elections has revolved around the role of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in political parties where almost every major political party has former military officers Continue.

Benedict Anderson - "there used to be one big Suharto; now there are hundreds of little ones."

Leonard C. Sebastian – President Susilo Bambng Yudhoyono enjoys the loyalty and trust of the TNI elite. The current relationship can be defined as partnership where the President protects the institutional interests of the TNI while insulating it from excessive reform measures that might impede its effectiveness and in return benefits from the assurance that the TNI will secure his Presidency.

Ch. Narendra – "The question that needs to be asked is does Indonesia know the quintessence of human rights? "

UN rapporteur Param Cumaraswamy – July, 2002 - Indonesia defends 'worst' legal system

Jimly Asshiddiqie, president of the Indonesian constitutional court: Corruption among judges in Indonesia remains a key problem and the whole judicial system still needs a root-and-branch overhaul.

U.N. Committee Against Torture - "Indonesia's police, armed forces and intelligence services routinely torture and degrade criminal suspects to extract confessions, with almost total impunity for those responsible."

George Aditjondro - "TNI is still present in places where big investments exist and we can still see a link between investment and military interests."

Allan Nairn - Oct. 25, 2007  .. the main terrorist threat in Indonesia comes not from the fanatics like the Bali bombers, who have killed hundreds of civilians, but from the Indonesian military and police forces themselves,.... In more recent years, they've done similar mass slaughter operations in Aceh, now more recently in Papua. They've done provocation operations in the Moluccas, where they set Christian and Muslim peasants against each other, in which thousands have died. BRIMOB itself, which is just one of many very menacing security forces, was notorious for using checkpoints in Aceh to take women and rape, and they're now doing political rapes in Papua. They're the larger threat.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch - "Indonesia claims to have become a democracy, but democracies don’t put people in prison for peaceful expression."

Lisa Misol, researcher with the Business and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch - "The Indonesian government says it wants to professionalize its military, but we’ve seen little evidence of real change. Troops are breaking the law, violating human rights and hiding the money they make on the side. Military reform means getting soldiers out of business and prosecuting those who broke the law."

Rully Syumanda - "Security forces have become one of the parties profiting from various national forestry policies. The military/police have played an important role in consolidating and attempting to maintain New Order power, as well as their business interests, resulting in a conflict of interest in the enforcement of laws passed to regulate industry."

Brian Fegan - "The Navy is profiting from the plunder. The navy’s cooperative, Inkopal, is the business partner of the leading foreign fishing companies whose trawlers ply the Arafura Sea. "

Mr Rafendi, the coordinator of Indonesia's Human Rights Working Group - "Our human rights court operates just like a criminal court, testimonies of the victims are not considered evidence of crimes against humanity. But in international courts, they are accepted."

Harold Crouch - "This issue of territorial integrity is always foremost on the minds of Indonesian policy-makers."

John Pilger - What happened in Indonesia, and continues to happen, is almost a mirror image of the attack on Iraq. Both countries have riches coveted by the west; both had dictators installed by the west to facilitate the passage of their resources; and in both countries, blood-drenched Anglo-American actions have been disguised by propaganda willingly provided by journalists prepared to draw the necessary distinctions between Saddam's regime ("monstrous") and Suharto's ("moderate" and "stable"). http://www.newstatesman.com/200510170022

Corruption Inc
Inside Indonesia 92: Apr-Jun 2008
http://insideindonesia.org/content/view/1082/47/

UN Development Program report - Corruption still rampant in Indonesia read more

Indonesian president says poverty rate decreased
JAKARTA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday that the country's poverty rate has decreased from 17.7 percent in 2006 to 15.4 percent in March 2008. The president made the statement in his annual address Continue.

GDP, poverty and gross national happiness
Opinion and Editorial - November 12, 2007
Jennie S. Bev, San Francisco
According to World Bank data in early 2007, the number of poor is not merely 39.1 million as calculated by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), but it is half of the total population of Indonesia, which is a whopping 110 million people.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20071112.E02

Indonesia president sees progress on graft, poverty
2008-08-15 20:40:57
JAKARTA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday gave a rosy assessment of his government's performance over the past four years, setting the stage for a re-election bid next year. Yudhoyono, a reform-minded Continue.

Martin Manurung: Jusuf Kalla and Poverty Rates: Misleading Statistics
2007-12-11
Vice President Jusuf Kalla praised the 'declining' of Indonesia's poverty rates. He even makes a 'projection' that the country's poverty rates will decrease ...

101 East - Indonesia impunity - 15 May 08 - Part 1
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=pGTBcPyqjLI&feature=related

101 East - Indonesia impunity - 15 May 08 - Part 2
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=JDHU6yj2Hso









West Papua and  South Moluccas demonstrating for Independence: no confidence in the imposed Indonesian Unity