Spotlight on Indonesia and West Papua
Independence activists killed in West Papua
Two residents attempting to hoist West Papua's Morning Star independence flag in the coastal city of Sorong were shot dead by Indonesian police on July 28.
More than 15,000 pro-independence supporters staged a peaceful protest in the West Papuan town of Manokwari on July 30 to mark the 1969 "Act of Free Choice" which resulted in West Papua's "integration" with Indonesia. Protesters covered a monument commemorating the referendum with black cloth saying it was "a monument to a historical lie".
Students to demonstrate in Jakarta
Hundreds of university students, under the banner of the City Forum (Forkot), plan to stage massive rallies during the August 7-18 annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly.
Maximillianus, a Forkot coordinator, said the students would reject any decisions emanating from the assembly unless former president Suharto is tried for crimes against humanity.
"Suharto should be tried over the July 27 [1996] incident, the Malari case [in 1974], the [1984] Tanjung Priok shooting and several riots nationwide, where through his orders, thousands lost their lives and families", he said. "We also demand two other things: Get rid of [the former state party] Golkar members in the legislature and disband the Golkar Party", Maximillianus said.
Farmers demand "royal land"
More than 1000 farmers gathered at the Yogyakarta campus of the Gajah Mada University in Central Java on July 21 to ask Sultan Hamengkubuwono X to hand over royal land to small farmers. The farmers, who said they represent the peasants in Yogyakarta and other towns in Central Java, read out the "Yogyakarta and Central Java Farmers' Charter" asking the sultan to support revisions to agrarian law.
One of the farmers told the July 31 Jakarta Post that most of the land along the southern coast belongs to the sultan and that local farmers have been cultivating it for years. "But now the palace is offering some of the land to investors. We may lose the land", he said. The sultan reportedly owns 30% of the land in the province.
Defence ministry counterfeit racket
A witness in a forgery case being heard by the Central Jakarta District Court last week has implicated the Ministry of Defence in a counterfeit racket which printed US$2.1 million dollars in fake 50,000 rupiah notes.
According to the Jakarta Post, senior police inspector Umar Faroq said that one of the defendants told investigators that the ministry had provided forgers with the serial numbers for the bills. He also indicated the involvement of Central Bank and state mint officials.
Another defendant is quoted as stating in a February 25 police report that, as a representative of the Ministry of Defence he was ordered to print money which would be used for the ministry's operational costs in Aceh.
[For more detailed reports on political developments in Indonesia, East Timor and West Papua, visit the web site of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor at <http://www.asiet.org.au>.]