Indonesia

Indonesia is a republic with a presidential system and three branches of government. The President is head of state and serves a 5-year term for a maximum of two terms; the President was Megawati Soekarnoputri. The country's upper legislative body is the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which convenes once a year and has the power to amend the Constitution. Routine legislative affairs, including enacting legislation, are the responsibility of the 500-member House of Representatives (DPR). During the year, the Government made progress in its transition from three decades of repressive and authoritarian rule to a more pluralistic and representative democracy. This transition included a decision to reduce the formal political role of the police and military, who retained their appointed seats in the DPR during the year but were scheduled to relinquish them in 2004. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, in practice the courts remained subject to influence, including by the executive branch.

The military (TNI) ostensibly is responsible for external defense and the police are responsible for internal security; however, in practice, the division of responsibilities continued to be unclear. They are known collectively as the security forces. The military played an overlapping role in internal security matters, particularly in conflict areas such as Aceh, the Maluku Islands, Central Sulawesi, and Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya). There was considerable friction between the police and the TNI, but in conflict areas, joint operations were common. A civilian defense minister oversees the military, but in practice exercised very limited control over TNI policy and operations. The military and, to a much lesser extent, the police continued to wield significant political influence as well as economic power through businesses operated by security force members, their proxies, and foundations. The security forces showed greater willingness to hold accountable human rights violators within their ranks; at least 35 soldiers were court-martialed during the year and dozens of police officers were dismissed or otherwise disciplined. However, most such disciplinary actions involved lesser crimes, such as beatings, and in many cases punishments did not match the crime. Members of the security forces, including from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) and the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob), continued to commit numerous serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and arbitrary detention.

During the year, the economy, which increasingly was market-driven, grew by 3.7 percent; however, 3 to 4 percent growth failed to reduce unemployment or to absorb the estimated 2.5 million new job seekers entering the market every year. Nonetheless, the actual poverty rate fell from 27 percent in 1999 to 16 percent in 2002. The population was approximately 230 million. Consumer demand was the leading force driving economic growth.

The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit serious abuses. Security force members murdered, tortured, raped, beat, and arbitrarily detained civilians and members of separatist movements. The Government also frequently failed to protect adequately the fundamental rights of children, women, peaceful protestors, journalists, disabled persons, religious minorities and indigenous people, among others. Human rights abuses were most apparent in Aceh province, the scene of a long-running separatist revolt. Despite the signing of a December 2002 ceasefire between the Government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), little progress was made on demilitarization, and alleged violations by GAM prompted the Government to place the province under martial law on May 19 and launch its biggest military operation since 1975. This operation was aimed at eradicating GAM and was ongoing at year's end. Despite some evidence that military commanders wished to improve the behavior of their troops in the field, numerous human rights violations occurred. Unlawful killings, beatings, and torture by soldiers, police, and rebels were common. In many cases, the victims were not combatants but civilians. Accurate figures on human rights abuses in Aceh were extremely difficult to obtain.

In the provinces of Maluku, North Maluku, and Central Sulawesi, respect for human rights improved; however, beginning in October, there was an upsurge in violence in Central Sulawesi. Nevertheless, the death toll for the year fell: 22 persons were killed in Central Sulawesi, and 17 were killed in the Malukus. Approximately 200,000 persons remained displaced in the 3 provinces during the year.

In the easternmost province of Papua, where separatist sentiment has been strong for decades, there was no improvement in the human rights situation. The most serious violations took place in the Central Highlands, where at least one, and perhaps as many as 10, extrajudicial killings occurred, in addition to numerous acts of torture and politically motivated arson. The TNI and police jointly investigated the August 2002 ambush near the town of Timika, which killed three persons, but the probe was ineffectual, due largely to limited cooperation between the two security services. By year's end, no arrests had been reported. Also in Papua, the Government effectively delayed implementation of the Law on Special Autonomy for the province, undermining efforts to improve basic welfare and development. In contravention of the law, the Government also initiated the partition of the province into three separate provinces, which provoked clashes that resulted in the deaths of five persons in Timika.

Retired and active duty military officers who were known to have committed serious human rights violations occupied or were promoted to senior positions in both the Government and the TNI. During the year, the country's Ad Hoc Tribunal for Human Rights in East Timor convicted only four former or serving security force members of crimes against humanity over the 1999 violence in East Timor, in which at least 1,000 persons were killed. The tribunal's performance reinforced the impression that impunity would continue for soldiers and police who committed human rights abuses.

Terrorists, civilians, and armed groups also committed serious human rights abuses during the year, and the Government was in some cases unable or unwilling to prevent these abuses. On August 5, members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist organization set off a powerful bomb at Jakarta's Marriott Hotel, killing 12 persons. By year's end, the Government had arrested 14 persons for the bombing. The Government also achieved success in establishing accountability for the October 2002 bombings in Bali, which killed 202 persons. The Government identified, apprehended, and prosecuted at least 80 persons allegedly involved in the attack. In addition, mob vigilante action and religious groups purporting to uphold public morality continued to dispense "street justice."

Police used excessive and sometimes deadly force in arresting suspects and often used torture, sometimes fatally, in attempting to obtain information or a confession. Prison conditions remained harsh. The judicial system was corrupt, and this contributed to the Government's failure, in most cases, to provide redress to victims of human rights violations or hold civilian perpetrators accountable. Security force violators used political power, not money, to avoid justice. Land disputes generated numerous human rights abuses. These frequently involved forced evictions, some accomplished with lethal force. The Government jailed at least five peaceful anti-government protestors for "insulting the President" or "spreading hatred against the Government." Politicians and tycoons showed greater willingness to take legal action against news organizations whose work they found insulting or offensive, and this trend undermined press freedom. Members of the security forces and other groups limited freedom of expression by intimidating or attacking journalists whose content they found objectionable. The Government frequently restricted the activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Violence and discrimination against women remained problems. Female genital mutilation (FGM) occurred. Child sexual abuse and violence against children remained serious problems. Discrimination against persons with disabilities and mistreatment of indigenous people were problems. The Government allowed new trade unions to form and to operate, but it frequently failed to enforce labor standards or address violations of worker rights. Forced child labor remained a serious problem. Trafficking in persons was a serious problem: however, the Government took some initiatives to address the problem, including drafting an anti-trafficking law.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:

a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life

The security forces continued to employ unlawful killing against rebels, suspected rebels, and civilians in separatist zones, where most of the politically motivated extrajudicial killings occurred. There was evidence that the TNI considered anyone its forces killed to have been an armed rebel, particularly in areas where the TNI had announced an operation and told all civilians to leave. The security forces also committed numerous extrajudicial killings that were not politically motivated. The Government largely failed to hold soldiers and police accountable for such killings and other serious human rights abuses, particularly in Aceh.

The TNI tried, jailed, and discharged some soldiers for rape, robbery, and torture; however, no security-force members were prosecuted for unlawful killings in Aceh.

In Aceh, military and police personnel committed many extrajudicial killings and used excessive force against non-combatants as well as combatants. Between December 9, 2002 and May 18, 2003, a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) was in effect between the Government and the GAM. According to the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, which monitored the ceasefire, fewer than 50 violent deaths occurred during this 5-month period, representing a significant decrease from the 1,307 violent deaths during the 11 months prior to the signing. However, little progress was made on demilitarization or the establishment of a political dialogue. The rate of violence began to surge in April, and, after last-minute negotiations between the two sides broke down on May 18, the Government placed Aceh under martial law. The President provided written authority for an anti-insurgency operation, unlike previous military operations in Aceh and elsewhere in the country (see Section 2.d.). On May 19, the Armed Forces launched their largest military offensive since 1975, involving around 45,000 members of the Army, Navy, Marines, and police force. They were confronted with what the Government said were 5,325 armed GAM rebels. The operation led to a significant increase in violent deaths in Aceh during the year.

For numerous reasons, accurate figures on the number of persons killed in Aceh were difficult to obtain. Martial law administrators limited information coming out of Aceh, including restricting access for foreign journalists, blocking cell phones and forbidding contact with GAM. The Government effectively prohibited foreign humanitarian aid workers from the province, except for a limited number of U.N. workers. Data from different sources, even within the Government, were often contradictory. NGO sources frequently questioned casualty figures announced by the security forces, claiming the number of victims was much higher, and that many of those killed were civilians. Security forces and rebels gave conflicting information on victims' identities, making it difficult to determine the breakdown of civilian, rebel, and security force deaths. During the early weeks of the military operation, many of the killings appeared to be executions. The Government and the GAM accused each other of killing captured combatants, and there was evidence to support such claims. Press reports undercounted the number of casualties. Police rarely investigated extrajudicial killings and almost never publicized such investigations.

On December 31, Aceh's provincial police chief, Inspector General Bahrumsyah Kasman, told reporters that during the military operation, 580 GAM members had been killed, along with 470 civilians, 50 soldiers and 26 police officers, for a total of 1,126 deaths. The police figure for GAM deaths was lower than that provided by the TNI earlier in the year, when the TNI simply reported all non-security force deaths as GAM deaths. The Aceh police force's figure for security force deaths also differed from information provided by the martial law administration, which noted on its website on December 20 that 105 soldiers and police had been killed in Aceh in the line of duty since the start of the military operation. On September 30, the Aceh branch of the Committee for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) stated that at least 342 civilian noncombatants were summarily killed or executed between May 19 and October 1, but noted that the total could be much higher and that the military was preventing NGOs from carrying out monitoring work. Sources linked to the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) reported that, during the first 6 months of the military operation, there were 520 noncombatant deaths. However, the sources did not identify the perpetrators.

The security forces were implicated in a number of unlawful killings. On May 20, Muhammad Jamaluddin, a cameraman with the government television network Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI), disappeared near the network's office in Banda Aceh. On June 18, Red Cross workers recovered Jamaluddin's body from a river on the edge of the city. His body displayed marks of torture and his arms were tied behind his back. NGO sources indicated that Jamaluddin might have been murdered because he was suspected of providing information to GAM and allowing rebels to borrow his camera equipment (see Section 2.a.). The case resembled that of Musliadi, a student activist abducted and later murdered by suspected intelligence operatives in November 2002. NGO sources indicated that security forces suspected that Musliadi had also been a GAM informer.

On May 21, army troops killed 10 men in Cot Rebo village, Bireuen. Residents told reporters after the incident that the men were part of a local guard force protecting the village's shrimp ponds. The military claimed that all the victims were GAM members but conceded that it had seized no weapons in the incident.

On June 16, unknown persons abducted a Kontras-Aceh volunteer, Muzakkir Abdullah, in the North Aceh area of Nisam, a GAM stronghold. The following day, villagers found Muzakkir's body tied to a tree, his throat slashed. Kontras-Aceh stated it believed that Muzakkir's killing was part of an intimidation campaign by the security forces against human rights activists in Aceh. The tactic of leaving a body in a public place had been used by the TNI in the past as a form of intimidation.

The Government made no progress in establishing accountability in a number of extrajudicial killings in Aceh in 2002, including the June killings of two farmers on Kayee Ciret Mountain and the August killings of three women in the north Aceh village of Kandang.

During the year, GAM members killed many soldiers, police, civil servants and civilians. In many cases, the victims were killed for allegedly collaborating with the security forces, while in other cases the motive appeared to be purely criminal. Although many Acehnese feared and resented the security forces, many also disliked GAM because of its extortion rackets and the criminal activities of some of its members. On May 20, residents of the Bireuen village of Geudong Alue discovered the body of Jamaluddin Hasany, a member of the local legislature. He had a gunshot injury to the stomach. Witnesses said he had left his house with a group of men the night before and never returned. On July 7, in the Bireuen village of Samalangan, unidentified gunmen shot and killed a former female GAM member, Cut Aca Budi, who had surrendered to the TNI 5 days earlier. Budi was home at the time and her young daughter was also shot and wounded. On July 22, in the Pidie village of Baroh Jong, unknown persons shot and killed a husband and wife, Muslim Sualaiman, 38, and Darmawati, 34, who were returning home from their workplace, an Islamic elementary school. GAM often targeted teachers as the most familiar civil servants in rural areas.

The Government did not report any progress in prosecuting those responsible for unlawful killings that might have been carried out by GAM members in previous years, including those of Zaini Sulaiman, Sukardi, Sulaiman Ahmad, Tengku Safwan Idris, and Nashiruddin Daud. Police continued their investigation into the 2001 killing of Dayan Dawood, rector of Banda Aceh's Syiah Kuala University who was shot after offering to mediate between the GAM and the Government; however, they refused to provide details on the case, apart from naming a suspect, Mahyudin, which might be the legal name of Tengku Don, a GAM rebel and suspect arrested in 2002 in this case.

Numerous unlawful killings that occurred in Aceh during the year could not be clearly attributed to either the security forces or GAM rebels. In early June, a local NGO reported evidence of a mass grave in Kreung Tuan, Nisam District, which had long been a GAM stronghold. According to the NGO, the grave may contain the remains of approximately 30 persons. In addition, other mass graves containing a total of at least 34 corpses were reportedly located near the Permata District villages of Guci and Wehnipasee. The TNI attributed the killings to GAM, an accusation the rebels denied. At year's end, it was unclear how many bodies existed in mass graves or who put them there. On December 31, a bomb exploded at an outdoor concert, killing nine persons. It was unclear whether the blast was linked to the separatist conflict. In the Aceh village of Lambhuk, a group of unidentified gunmen shot and killed a resident, Subhan, in his home. Police investigated and concluded that the attack was related to extortion. Subhan drove a fuel truck and his supervisor reportedly refused to make a hefty "tax" payment. In the East Aceh village of Kampung Baru, an unidentified gunman shot and killed school principal Rasyid near a police station. Police stated that they were unable to apprehend the assailant.

There were no known developments in the following cases of unlawful killings in previous years: The March 2002 killing of six persons in the town of Lombaro Angan, Aceh Besar District, which followed an incident in which 30 policemen were ambushed while searching for GAM rebels; the September 2002 killings of two high school girls in the village of Gumpueng Tiro, Pidie Regency; and the August 2001 massacre of 31 persons at a palm oil plantation run by PT Bumi Flora in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh. Witnesses in the Bumi Flora attack told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that they believed that TNI soldiers carried out the killings.

In the eastern provinces of Central Sulawesi, Maluku, and North Maluku, unlawful killings also occurred. In these provinces, communal violence in previous years caused the death of thousands of Christians and Muslims and displaced hundreds of thousands more. During most of the year, the level of violence declined, continuing a trend from the previous year. Although violent incidents did occur, the death toll was down dramatically: By year's end, approximately 22 persons had been killed in Central Sulawesi and 17 in the Malukus, compared with more than 100 conflict-related deaths, total, in 2002. The Government-brokered Malino I and II peace agreements between the two religious communities remained in effect, and residents increasingly recognized that their disputes were not based on religious differences.

In Central Sulawesi, political and economic tensions had long existed among the roughly equal populations of Christians and Muslims, and inter-religious violence flared in 1998. By 2002, after approximately 2,000 persons had been killed and more than 100,000 displaced, the violence subsided. During the year, unlawful killings included the February 8 shooting of a bus passenger by a Brimob officer, who was subsequently dismissed, convicted, and sentenced to 1½ years in prison. On June 2, unknown gunmen opened fire on two men in the Poso village of Kapompa, killing Yefta Barumuju and injuring a colleague. On July 10, in the Poso village of Sayo, a bomb exploded at a cafe, killing one person and wounding five others. Violence surged in October, after the Government withdrew large numbers of security force members from the province. Unidentified assailants killed at least 14 persons during the month, some in an attack on the Morowali community of Beteleme. Nine suspects were arrested in the wake of the Beteleme attack, but none was tried by year's end. In October, attacks on mainly Christian villages killed 10 persons; police investigations continued at year's end. On November 29 and 30, unidentified persons shot and killed 2 men in the Poso coastal villages of Kilo Trans, home to ethnic Balinese migrants, and 2 men in the Christian village of Marowo. No arrests were made by year's end. The Government reported little progress in establishing accountability in the following 2002 cases: The June bombing of a crowded passenger bus, which killed 5 persons, and the prosecution of former Laskar Jihad members for numerous crimes committed in the province.

In July, TNI authorities in Central Sulawesi announced that they would court-martial 14 soldiers in connection with several abductions and extrajudicial killings committed in Poso in December 2002. The 14 were reportedly court-martialed in the city of Manado during the year; however, the Government did not publicize the results of the proceedings.

In South Sulawesi province, the Government approved the creation of a new regency named Mamasa. On September 29, unknown persons killed two Mamasa residents in favor of the move; another disappeared. The following day, unknown persons killed another resident. Police later identified six suspects, most linked to a group that opposed the creation of the new regency. At year's end, the six suspects remained at large.

In Maluku and North Maluku, where sectarian violence erupted in 1999 following years of political, economic, and territorial tension, virtually no island had been spared from the conflict by 2000 and 2001. In February 2002, after thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displacements, the Christian and Muslim communities agreed to work for peace. During the year, the peace accord, Malino II, remained intact; an increased security-force presence followed, and members of Laskar Jihad returned to their homes on Java and elsewhere. However, some unlawful killings did occur. For example, on January 14, a bomb exploded in Ambon, killing one person and injuring two others. On March 8, a man was shot and killed on the Maluku island of Haruku by a sniper. No arrests were reported by year's end. On August 19 in Ambon, a soldier was shot and killed with a standard military rifle. Police and military officials stated that the motive was unclear.

The Government made some progress during the year in prosecuting those responsible for human rights abuses committed in the Malukus in 2002 and previous years. On July 23, the North Jakarta District Court convicted Berty Loupatty, former leader of the Christian Ambonese "Coker" gang, of numerous bombings and other attacks committed in 2000, 2001, and 2002 and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. Loupatty's attorney reported that his clients told him that Kopassus troops had facilitated many of the attacks, providing instructions, weapons, and bombs, and police asserted that some Kopassus members had helped the gang commit various crimes. A senior TNI official denied these assertions and stated that police had tortured the gang members. These allegations were not investigated, and no TNI members were charged. Among the attacks for which Loupatty was convicted was the April 2002 raid on the Ambonese village of Soya, which killed at least 12 persons.

During the year, there were no reports of any former Laskar Jihad members being convicted for crimes in the Malukus. On January 30, the East Jakarta District Court acquitted former Laskar Jihad chief Jafar Umar Thalib of inciting religious violence and two other charges. Human rights activists suspected high-level intervention in the case. They expressed concern that Thalib, whose Islamic militia killed large numbers of Maluku Christians before disbanding in October 2002, had not been charged with more serious crimes.

In Papua province, where separatist sentiment remained strong and the Government continued to conduct operations against rebels of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), there was only one confirmed case of unlawful killing by the security forces during the year. On April 15, TNI members killed Yapenas Murib in the Central Highlands city of Wamena. Dozens of witnesses saw TNI troops march Yapenas through the streets to military headquarters. Shortly thereafter, TNI officials announced that Yapenas had died in custody. A human rights activist and a doctor who viewed the corpse stated it bore clear marks of torture. Murib's body reportedly had been punched and cut until "multi-colored" and dead. In the remote Highlands area of Kuyowage, where the military launched an operation following an April 4 break-in at the Wamena armory, as many as 9 other Papuans reportedly were killed. The National Human Rights Commission (KOMNAS HAM) launched an investigation in December, stating it had come across evidence that suggested that on April 17, unknown parties shot and killed at least four Kuyowage men: Alius Murib, Yinggen Tabuni, the Rev. Enggelek Tabuni and Yesaya Telenggen. In another incident, there were unconfirmed reports that police in Wamena shot and killed an unidentified Papuan separatist on July 7. The man was reportedly one of as many as 20 persons who tried to raise the Papuan "Morning Star" flag in front of the district parliamentary office (see Section 2.b.).

Also in Papua, the TNI and police continued to jointly investigate the August 2002 ambush that killed 2 American citizens and 1 Indonesian and injured 12 other persons near a large gold and copper mine close to the city of Timika. The victims were teachers on a recreational outing. Several persons dressed in military fatigues reportedly stopped the teachers' convoy in a heavy fog on the Tembagapura-Timika road and fired at the vehicles at close range. During the initial police investigation, senior police officials were quoted in the press as suggesting that soldiers were involved in the attack. During the year, the joint probe was not able to ascertain who was responsible for the attack. Police contended they could not investigate the case without TNI cooperation. The TNI claimed that its investigation, which pinned the blame on OPM rebels, was conclusive and determined that soldiers were not involved. The TNI maintained that police access to soldiers was not necessary. Top government officials, including President Megawati, pledged to support ongoing efforts to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the attack. The case remained under investigation at year's end.

The Government made little progress in establishing accountability for numerous human rights violations committed in Papua in previous years, including those committed in the Biak and Abepura incidents. However, the Government formed an investigative team to probe the 2001 Wasior incident, in which police allegedly killed 12 civilians following an attack on a police post that left 5 policemen dead. During the year, there were developments in the case of Theys Hiyo Eluay, the Papuan pro-independence leader found dead in his car outside the provincial capital of Jayapura in 2001. In January, a military court in Surabaya opened the trial of seven Kopassus troops charged with Theys' murder. On January 31, the lowest-ranked defendant, Achmad Zulfahmi, testified that he accidentally choked Theys to death. Zulfahmi and the other defendants asserted that they were ordered to escort Theys home after a festive event at Kopassus headquarters in South Jayapura, when a verbal argument erupted. The defendants testified that Theys and his driver Aristoteles (who remained missing at year's end) shouted out for help. Zulfahmi said he then covered Theys' mouth, but this conflicted with a medical report from Jayapura Hospital, which stated that Theys' death was caused by an obstruction to his windpipe. On April 21, the court convicted the seven soldiers of causing the death and sentenced them to a maximum of 3½ years in prison. One of those convicted, Lieutenant Colonel Hartomo, also was discharged from the military. The lightness of the sentences outraged many Papuans, as did a comment by the Army Chief of Staff Ryamizard Ryacudu, who called the killers "heroes."

In Banten province in western Java, the Government prosecuted those responsible for the March 2002 killing of Endang Hidayat, the village chief of Binuangeun. Seven members of the Presidential Guard kidnapped and executed Endang after he informed police that one of them had purchased stolen motorcycles. During the year, military prosecutor Major Zulkifli announced that a military court had convicted the seven guardsmen and sentenced them to between 4 and 6 years' imprisonment. Zulkifli reported that a higher court upheld the ruling. At year's end, the seven were held at the Siliwangi prison in Bandung, West Java and were appealing their cases to the Supreme Court.

In Kalimantan, where clashes between indigenous Dayaks and ethnic Madurese settlers left hundreds of Madurese dead in 2001, there were no reports of ethnicity-related killings during the year.

Police frequently used deadly force to apprehend suspects or acted recklessly in pursuit of suspects, and this sometimes resulted in the deaths of civilians. In other cases, suspects in police custody died under suspicious circumstances. During the year, broadcast media in East Java aired videotaped incidents in which suspects with their hands in the air were beaten severely by the police. On July 11 in Jakarta, alleged JI member Ihwanuddin was in police custody and reportedly managed to steal a rifle, enter a bathroom, and commit suicide with the rifle. Police Chief Makbul Padmanagara noted that Ihwanuddin was handcuffed at the time and the rifle was partly disassembled. On February 10, on the island of Rote, near West Timor, a sub-district police commander identified by the initials H.B. fatally burned a burglary suspect named Arnoldus Adu. The sub-district commander allegedly doused the suspect with fuel during an interrogation and ignited him by lighting a cigarette. It is not clear whether the killing was intentional or whether the fuel was intended to scare the suspect into signing a confession. National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar subsequently ordered the sub-district commander's dismissal. No criminal charges were brought by year's end. On June 1, two police officers in the East Java city of Probolinggo beat a local resident to death using their rifle butts. A police van was traveling past a group of youngsters when one yelled "Hey". The police stopped the van and attacked him. Thousands of persons protested the killing, and Probolinggo's police chief, AKBP Ahmad Lumumba, promised to respond fairly; however, no action was taken against the responsible officers by year's end. On June 27, Surabaya police officer Dwi Budi fatally shot street vendor Budiono, who was allegedly helping a criminal evade arrest. An eyewitness claimed that Dwi Budi was intoxicated. The police force reportedly placed Dwi Budi under arrest. The case was pending at year's end. Police in Makassar, South Sulawesi did not take disciplinary action against police officers who in September 2002 shot and killed a suspected gang member who was in their custody. The officers involved claimed they shot the suspect in the back when he tried to escape. In April, a court in Surabaya, East Java convicted seven Kopassus troops of causing the 2001 death of Papuan leader Theys Eluay and sentenced them to a maximum of 3½ years in prison.

The Government made little progress during the year in prosecuting those responsible for the Semanggi and Trisakti cases. In May 1998, four students at Jakarta's Trisakti University were shot and killed, and a number of police officers were implicated. Later in 1998, also in Jakarta, at least nine demonstrators were shot and killed at the Semanggi intersection. In September 1999, at the same location, police shot and killed four more demonstrators who were protesting proposed changes to the National Security Law. On June 10, the court-martial began of an enlisted man, one of three TNI soldiers indicted for reckless killing in connection with the second Semanggi incident. The soldier was accused of fatally shooting student Yap Yun Hap in September 1999 without orders from his superior. Two other defendants, who were officers, were to be tried separately. At year's end, all of the cases were pending.

During the year, bombs exploded in or near the cities of Ambon, Banda Aceh, Jakarta, Medan, and Poso, among others. For example, on August 5, members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist organization set off a powerful car bomb in front of Jakarta's Marriott Hotel, killing 12 persons. By year's end, the Government had arrested 13 persons in connection with that attack.

The Government made significant progress in prosecuting those responsible for bombings carried out in previous years. Authorities worked to identify, apprehend, and successfully prosecute many of those who committed the Bali bombings of October 2002, which killed 202 persons. Investigators arrested more than 35 suspects, several of whom acknowledged ties to JI, the terror group linked to al-Qa'ida. By year's end, courts in Denpasar, Bali and Lamongan, East Java had convicted approximately 30 persons in connection with the Bali attacks. Key suspects Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Ali Ghufron bin Nurhasyim (Mukhlas), and Abdul Aziz (Imam Samudra) were sentenced to death for their roles in planning and executing the attacks. In another case, the Supreme Court on July 18 rejected the appeal and extended the prison term of Tengku Ismuhadi Jafar, one of four men convicted for the 2000 bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange. On October 13, the Central Jakarta District Court convicted Abdul Jabar of transporting and detonating a bomb that exploded in 2000 at the Jakarta residence of the Philippine Ambassador. Jabar, who was also found guilty of involvement in two church bombings on Christmas Eve 2000, received a 20-year sentence. Following the December 2002 bombings in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the Makassar District Court convicted two suspects; 16 other trials were still underway at year's end.

Mobs carried out vigilante justice on many occasions, but reliable statistics on its prevalence were not available. Incidents of theft or perceived theft triggered many such incidents. For example, on January 12, in the Central Java village of Kendal, a mob killed two men for allegedly trying to steal electrical cables. Local residents allegedly caught the men in the act, tied them up, took them to a clearing, doused them with fuel, and set them on fire. On September 18 in Tangerang, near Jakarta, a mob killed two men who were allegedly attempting to steal a motorbike owned by a motorcycle taxi driver. The driver's shouts for help drew attention, and a mob seized the two men and killed them with rocks and knives. No official action was taken against those responsible for these killings.

Police and soldiers clashed on a number of occasions during the year, and at least one death was reported. On March 4, a group of 20 Air Force officers attacked a police station following the arrest of one of their intoxicated comrades. During the attack, police detective Salmon Panjaitan was stabbed and killed. The security forces later announced that approximately 20 Air Force officers had been detained for questioning. There were no reports of further action by the authorities in this case at year's end.

At schools, universities, police training centers, and other institutions, upperclassmen or superiors sometimes physically mistreated underclassmen or subordinates in continuation of a practice that dated back many years. During the year, a number of such incidents resulted in death. On September 1 in Palu, Central Sulawesi, members of Brimob hazed and killed five recruits. The victims were among 16 recruits who collapsed before reaching the finish line in a 5-mile initiation march. Witnesses reported that the cadets were beaten and kicked savagely. National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar told DPR members that police authorities had detained the Central Sulawesi Brimob chief and six Brimob members for questioning. On September 2, there was an incident of systematic abuse in Sumedang, West Java, when upperclassmen at the Government-run Public Administration Institute (STPDN) allegedly strangled sophomore Wahyu Hidayat. An STPDN student said upperclassmen beat Wahyu to teach him a lesson in loyalty after he failed to appear at a flag-raising ceremony on Independence Day. Ten students were later charged in connection with the death. On December 10, their trials opened at the Sumedang District Court and were ongoing at year's end.

b. Disappearance

During the year, hundreds of disappearances occurred, most frequently in Aceh province, and large numbers of persons who disappeared over the past 20 years, mainly in conflict areas, remained unaccounted for at year's end. The Government reported little progress in prosecuting those responsible for disappearances that occurred in previous years.

According to the Government, at least 297 persons disappeared in Aceh following the May 19 imposition of martial law (see Section 2.d.) and the launching of the military operation in the province. Provincial police commander Sayed Husaeny reported that the missing included journalists, civil servants, village chiefs, and bus passengers.

The security forces were implicated in some disappearances. On March 25 in Bireuen town, plainclothes military intelligence officers seized two student activists, Mukhlis and Zulfikar, members of Link for Community Development, a local NGO. The detentions were made in broad daylight on the main street of the district capital and took place during a demonstration by local residents opposing the construction of a police post in their neighborhood. Photographs taken by other participants clearly showed the two victims getting into an unmarked van. Witnesses stated that its plate numbers indicated it belonged to the local district military command (Kodim). Friends of the two, who were also students at the Ar-Rainy Islamic Institute in Banda Aceh, received text messages from the cell phones of the victims later in the day; however, no one has seen them since. Both TNI and police authorities in Bireuen and Banda Aceh denied holding the two men. At year's end, their whereabouts remained unknown.

The Government did not take significant action to prevent security force members from carrying out kidnappings. It was unclear whether any persons illegally detained by police or soldiers in Aceh died in custody during the year.

The GAM also abducted persons during the year. On June 29, in the East Aceh area of Peureulak journalists Ersa Siregar and Fery Santoro of television network Rajawali Citra Televisi (RCTI) disappeared as they were driving along the main Medan-Banda Aceh highway. After 3 days, the local GAM commander admitted that his men had taken Siregar and Santoro into custody, along with the wives of two Air Force officers traveling with them, to question them about their activities. Efforts by both RCTI and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to arrange for their release failed. On December 11, the driver escaped from GAM custody. On December 29, Siregar was killed in a TNI ambush of the GAM patrol with which he was traveling. At year's end, Santoro and the wives remained in custody.

During the year, prominent Muslim leaders accused police of mistakenly arresting Islamic activists in the search for members of JI, the terrorist group responsible for the October 2002 Bali bombings and other attacks. Police denied targeting religious activists. On September 8, plainclothes police officers in the Central Java city of Solo rounded up Suradi, a fried cake seller, and Ichsan Miyarso, a tire repairman, and took them to Jakarta. Police suspected the two of involvement with JI. Police planned to hold them for up to 7 days, the period allowed by the Anti-Terrorism Law for detention without charge; however, police failed to notify the families of the detainees within 24 hours of their arrest, in accordance with criminal law. Both men were released later in the year.

In Papua, there were no credible reports of disappearance during the year. The Government did not report any progress in prosecuting those responsible for disappearances that occurred in previous years, including those of Martinus Maware, Mathius Rumbrapuk, or Hubertus Wresman.

In Central Sulawesi, Maluku, and North Maluku, there were no credible reports of disappearance during the year. The Government made some progress in prosecuting those responsible for disappearances that occurred in Central Sulawesi in 2002. On July 16, TNI Major Wempi Hapan, head of the province's military police, announced that the TNI would court-martial 14 soldiers over abductions and extrajudicial killings committed in the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso in December 2002. The TNI accused 2 lieutenants and 12 privates of kidnapping of dozens of civilians in the Toyado area, but declined to make their names public. The soldiers allegedly abducted the civilians in December 2002, after one of their commanders was shot in the head during a clash between Christians and Muslims in the Sepe area. Some of the abducted civilians turned up dead, while others remained missing at year's end.

The Government made limited progress in prosecuting those responsible for the 1996 attack by hundreds of pro-government civilians and soldiers on the Jakarta headquarters of what was then the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI); 23 persons disappeared and 5 persons died in the attack. The Central Jakarta District Court charged five persons, three of them civilians, with vandalism and assault during the attack: Colonel (retired) Budi Purnama, Lieutenant Suharto, Mochammad Tanjung, Jonathan Marpaung, and Rahimmi Illyas. However, Petrus Kurniawan, a key figure in a group pressing for accountability, called the trial an "orchestration," saying the defendants were field operators, not the leaders behind the attack. Police investigators submitted to prosecutors six dossiers on the case, but prosecutors returned five of them, stating that they were incomplete. Named in the allegedly incomplete dossiers were Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, who in 1996 served as Jakarta's military commander; former State Intelligence Chief Zacky Anwar Makarim; Brigadier General Syamsiar Wangsamihardja; former Jakarta Police Chief Hamami Nata; Central Jakarta police official Abubakar Nataprawira; Colonel Haryanto; and former PDI Chairman Soerjadi.

The Government made no progress toward prosecuting those responsible for the late 1997 or early 1998 disappearances of 12 or more pro-democracy activists, including poet Wiji Thukul. At an August 1 seminar in Jakarta marking International Day of the Disappeared, relatives of some of the missing criticized the Government for not doing enough to solve the cases. Payan Siahaan, the father of missing Perbanas college student Ucok Aris Munandar, believed the Government knew whom the leaders and perpetrators of the kidnappings were, but had no political will to arrest and prosecute them. Tuti Kotto, the mother of missing political activist Yani Afri, said no investigation had ever been undertaken despite the fact that her son was reportedly seen at Kopassus headquarters after he was kidnapped in 1997.

Retired Army Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, who once admitted ordering the abduction and torture of nine pro-democracy activists, competed for the presidential nomination of the Golkar party, as did retired Armed Forces Commander General Wiranto, who was indicted by the U.N. Special Crimes Unit for his role in the 1999 violence in East Timor.

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Criminal Code makes it a crime punishable by up to 4 years in prison for any official to use violence or force to elicit a confession; however, in practice, law enforcement officials widely ignored such statutes. Security forces continued to employ torture and other forms of abuse. The Government made some efforts to hold members of the security forces responsible for acts of torture. During the year, the use of torture to obtain confessions from suspects was most apparent in Aceh and Papua. According to the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), at least 694 cases of torture were recorded in the country during the year. Kontras reported 289 confirmed torture cases for this period, more than two-thirds occurring in Aceh or Papua.

Torture was sometimes used to obtain confessions, for punishment, and to seek information that incriminated others in criminal activity. Torture also was used by the security forces to extort money from villagers. NGOs that worked with torture survivors, including ICMC, reported that the use of torture appeared to have increased over the previous 3 years; however, reliable figures were difficult to obtain. Physical torture cases included random beatings and acts involving the hair, nails, teeth, and genitals. Heat, suffocation, electricity, and suspension were also used. Psychological torture cases reportedly included food and sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation, being forced to witness torture, and being forced to participate in torture.

During the year, press restrictions in Aceh province limited media reports on cases of torture there. However, some cases were reported. In June, the military sentenced six soldiers to jail terms of between 4 and 5 months for the torture and beating of civilians in the Bireuen Regency village of Lawang. The soldiers reportedly committed the crimes after the civilians failed to hand over a rebel whom the troops said was hiding in the village. On August 31, 12 soldiers tortured and beat residents of the North Aceh village of Geulumpang Sulu Barat. Witnesses said the crimes were committed when residents failed to provide information on a wanted man, who allegedly escaped on a motorcycle while the questioning was underway. On October 10, a military court in Lhokseumawe acquitted the 12 soldiers, stating that although the troops had beaten civilians, they could not be held responsible because the victims and witnesses had been unable to identify the assailants. In June, Brimob officers in Banda Aceh detained 12 individuals (10 of them State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) University students), took them to a police station, interrogated them over possible GAM links, and beat them.

According to Kontras, at least 17 verified cases of torture or beatings involving women or children were recorded in Aceh during the military operation, which began on May 19 and continued through year's end. According to a November press report, a TNI military commander in Aceh, Brigadier General Bambang Darmono, declared that beating suspected rebels was acceptable: "For example, my soldier slugs a suspect across the face. That's no problem, as long as he is able to function after the questioning. [But] if it's gross torture, which causes someone to be incapacitated . . . that's a no-no."

The Government reported no progress in prosecuting those responsible for acts of torture committed in Aceh in 2002, including the beating and burning of civilian Rizki Muhammad.

In the Papuan city of Wamena, where unidentified gunmen raided a government armory on April 4, TNI officials announced that a suspect detained for questioning, Yapenas Murib, had died in their custody on April 15; his body bore clear marks of torture (see Section 1.a.). KOMNAS HAM launched an investigation into reports that dozens of residents of the Central Highlands area of Kuyowage were tortured by unknown parties during a military operation that followed the break-in at the Wamena armory. NGO activists reported that the victims were burned with cigarettes and struck in the face or legs with wooden planks. Kontras reported that at least 124 men were tortured in Papua during the year. In one case, an OPM member who was detained and interrogated at Wamena military headquarters on May 3 and 4 reported that, while there, he saw another ethnic Papuan whom he recognized from the town of Tium "whose fingernails and toenails had all been ripped out." The Government did not report any progress in prosecuting those responsible for acts of torture committed in Papua in 2002, including the torturing to death of Yanuarius Usi.

On August 6 in Banyuwangi, East Java, police abducted Mohammad Bian from his house in the village of Wonoroje late at night and during the following 24 hours of his detention, tortured him. Bian was in a land dispute with real estate company PT Budisanjaya, also known as PT Wonorejo. The police released Bian after attorneys from the Legal Aid Society of Surabaya filed a complaint with the East Java police chief.

Rapes, some punitive, occurred frequently in conflict zones. Human rights advocates blamed many of the rapes on soldiers and police. Statistics were unavailable, but credible sources provided a number of accounts that involved both soldiers and police. In 2002, an interfaith organization operating in Poso, Central Sulawesi, reported high rates of depression among female internally displaced persons (IDPs) because many had been raped and impregnated by Brimob members.

At schools, universities, police training centers and other institutions, upperclassmen or superiors sometimes physically mistreated underclassmen or subordinates. This was not a new development but the continuation of a practice that dated back many years. During this period a number of such incidents resulted in death (see Section 1.a.). On July 17, a number of female graduates of a Jakarta senior high school abducted 17 girls and abused 7 of them. On September 8, the South Jakarta District Court sentenced four of the perpetrators to 3 months in prison.

In June in Bali, JI member and Bali bomber Ali Ghufron bin Nurhasyim (Mukhlas) complained that he had been tortured in police custody. Mukhlas alleged that he had been struck in the genitals with sticks, burned with matches, and forced to make a false confession. However, police and prosecutors insisted that defense attorneys were present when Mukhlas was questioned, and there was no physical evidence of the alleged torture.

The Government failed to make progress in establishing accountability for the May 1998 riots, which included acts of torture and other attacks against Chinese Indonesian women in Jakarta and other cities. From March through September, an investigative team from KOMNAS HAM investigated the incident, received the testimony of dozens of witnesses, and identified 20 suspects. However, at the end of the investigation, team leader Solahuddin Wahid declined to publicly name the suspects, some of whom were members of the police and military. The team summoned 86 civilians, mostly witnesses, to testify; all but 5 complied. The team also summoned 48 government, military, and police officials, of whom only 3 complied. Among those who did not comply were former Armed Forces commander Wiranto, TNI spokesman Major General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, and the former commander of the Army's Strategic Command Reserve (Kostrad), Lieutenant General (retired) Prabowo Subianto. KOMNAS HAM prepared a 1,500-page report on the riots and stated that it planned to forward the report to the Attorney General's Office, in the hope that it would conduct an investigation of its own.

In Aceh province, many politically motivated acts of cruelty or punishment occurred during the year, including the burning of more than 603 school buildings since the start of the military operation on May 19; a majority were elementary schoolhouses. The Government attributed the arson attacks to GAM, which has a history of destroying public buildings, including schools, both as the most visible symbols of government presence and because security forces often used abandoned government facilities as barracks or village headquarters. The GAM denied these allegations.

Occasionally Brimob personnel used arson as a form of punishment. The Government investigated the October 2002 burning of 80 shops and homes in Keude Seuneddon, North Aceh, an incident that occurred immediately after two Brimob officers were killed. Witnesses alleged that police burned the buildings intentionally as a form of revenge; however, in September, Police Commissioner Suryadarma claimed the fires resulted from the explosion of a stove at the market. He stated that this occurred at a time when Brimob members were at the site chasing rebels who had killed the two police officers. The case was under investigation at year's end.

The extremist Islam Defenders Front (FPI), which carried out a number of attacks on nightclubs in 2002 and in previous years, halted its operations in November 2002 following the arrest of the FPI leader Habib Rizieq. In February, the FPI restarted operations. Although the FPI held demonstrations and other actions during the year, including a recruitment drive for volunteers to fight the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was not linked to any attacks on nightspots. Previous attacks were exercises in extortion and, to a lesser extent, punishment for businesses that allegedly tolerated or promoted vice. On August 11, the Central Jakarta District Court convicted Rizieq of organizing mob attacks in October 2002 and sentenced him to 7 months in prison. On September 28, approximately 150 members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR), a group of criminals who claimed to be native Jakartans, raided a number of nightspots in the Jakarta areas of Cilincing and Muara Baru, saying the businesses were immoral and should close within a week. Police officers reportedly stood by as FBR members terrorized the nightspots. It was the FBR's first major attack since its March 2002 attack against members of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) at the Jakarta office of KOMNAS HAM. On June 27, self-described FBR members also forced the closure of a church in East Jakarta (see Section 2.c.).

Conditions at the country's 365 prisons and detention centers were harsh, and overcrowding was widespread. Facilities frequently were two or three times over capacity. Guards regularly extorted money and mistreated inmates. Unruly detainees were held in solitary confinement for up to 6 days on a rice-and-water diet. The wealthy or privileged had access to better treatment in prison. In July, the country's most famous inmate, Hutomo "Tommy Suharto" Mandala Putra, son of former President Suharto and convicted of arranging the killing of a judge, reportedly enjoyed the use of a special guest room to accommodate his many visitors. The air-conditioned room reportedly had a large TV set, an aquarium, and other amenities. Prison officials also granted special treatment to jailed Suharto crony Mohammed "Bob" Hasan, according to press reports.

Prison authorities housed female inmates separately from men, but in similar conditions. Most children convicted of serious crimes were sent to one of 13 juvenile prisons throughout the country. Until they were convicted, most juveniles were held with adults at detention centers. In theory, prisons held those convicted by courts, while detention centers housed those awaiting trial; however, in practice, pre-trial detainees were at times held with convicted prisoners. At the country's biggest prison, Cipinang in Jakarta, 1,537 of the 2,830 inmates were pre-trial detainees, rather than convicts.

There were no official restrictions on prison visits by human rights monitors; however, in practice, prison officials did not provide full access to outsiders and monitored information provided by inmates. The ICRC made some visits to prisoners during the year.

d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

The Criminal Procedures Code contains provisions against arbitrary arrest and detention but lacks adequate enforcement mechanisms, and authorities routinely violated it. The code provides prisoners with the right to notify their families promptly, and specifies that warrants must be produced during an arrest. Exceptions were allowed if, for example, a suspect is caught in the act of committing a crime. The law allows investigators to issue warrants; however, at times, authorities made arrests without warrants. No reliable statistics existed on how many arbitrary arrests and detentions took place during the year.

A defendant may challenge the legality of his arrest and detention in a pre-trial hearing and may sue for compensation if wrongfully detained; however, it was virtually impossible for detainees to invoke this procedure or to receive compensation after being released without charge. Military and civilian courts rarely accepted appeals based on claims of improper arrest and detention. The Criminal Procedures Code also limits periods of pre-trial detention. Police are permitted an initial 20-day detention, which can be extended to 60 days, and prosecutors may detain a suspect 30 days initially, with a 20-day extension permitted. Prosecutors may extend police detention periods, and a district court may further extend prosecutors' detention of a suspect. The District and High Courts may detain a defendant up to 90 days during trial or appeal, while the Supreme Court may detain a defendant 110 days while considering an appeal. In addition, the code of criminal procedures allows detention periods to be extended up to an additional 60 days at each level if a defendant faces a possible prison sentence of 9 years or longer, or if the individual is certified to be mentally or physically disturbed. Authorities generally respected these limits in practice.

The country's police forces had a combined total of 250,000 officers, serving at the local, regional, and national levels. During the year, police generally improved their professionalism and capacity to deal with civil disorder, and succeeded in apprehending a large number of suspects in terrorist attacks. However, these improvements were not matched by an increased effectiveness at fighting crime, whether ordinary crime or crimes related to human rights. Impunity and corruption remained significant problems. The extent of wrongdoing within the nation's police forces was difficult to gauge. Police commonly extracted bribes, from minor payoffs in traffic cases to large bribes in criminal investigations. Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Makbul Padmanagara did not deny or confirm media reports of blackmail and extortion among his officers. His deputy, Brigadier General Nanan Soekarna, said that, during the year, at least 379 officers were disciplined for misconduct, including 80 who were dismissed. The NGO Police Watch said the number of crimes committed by police officers increased during the year over 2002.

In areas of separatist conflict, such as Aceh and Papua, police frequently and arbitrarily detained persons without warrants, charges, or court proceedings. The authorities rarely granted bail. The authorities frequently prevented access to defense counsel during investigations and limited or prevented access to legal assistance from voluntary legal defense organizations. At least one person died in custody during the year (see Section 1.a.).

Human rights activists expressed concern over a number of controversial prosecutions, including that of prominent Acehnese political activist Muhammad Nazar. On July 3, a Banda Aceh court operating in a province under martial law gave Nazar a 5-year sentence for "spreading hatred against the Government." Nazar was former chairman of SIRA, which had long campaigned for a referendum on Acehnese independence. On February 12, police arrested him after he allegedly failed to notify the Government of a political rally held in the city of Lhokseumawe on January 9. Armed Forces chief Endriartono Sutarto defended the arrest, although the COHA between the Government and GAM rebels, which was in effect at that time, gave civil society the right to "express without hindrance their democratic rights." This was the second time Nazar was arrested for expressing his political views. In 2001, he served a 10-month sentence for "spreading hatred against the Government." His crime had been attending a campus rally and putting up banners critical of the TNI and supportive of Acehnese independence. In another case, prosecutors in Aceh brought criminal charges against a young Acehnese activist, Muhammad Rizal Falevi Al Kirani, for peacefully expressing his political views. Falevi, a university student and chairman of the Association of Anti-Militarism Activists (HANTAM), was charged with "inciting hatred and insulting the Indonesian Government." The charges stemmed from remarks Falevi made at a December 2002 political rally in Banda Aceh, at which he called for a referendum on the future status of the province. At the time of his arrest, police said Falevi lacked the proper permits for a public rally, but they later charged him with other offenses. In October, a Banda Aceh court convicted Falevi and sentenced him to 3 years in prison.

There was some controversy surrounding the Government's application of the terrorism decree passed in October 2002 and the ensuing anti-terrorism laws passed in March (which allow the use of evidence from wiretaps, video recordings, and other surveillance to be used in court) in the cases of at least five individuals associated with GAM. They included former negotiators Teuku Kamaruzzaman, Teuku Muhamad Usman, Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki, Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, and Nasiruddin bin Achmed. On October 21 and 22, the Banda Aceh District Court convicted the five for acts of terrorism and sentenced them to between 12 and 15 years in prison. All five sentences were under appeal at year's end. Prosecutors argued that the defendants should have made concerted efforts to subdue the escalating violence and comply with the COHA, which GAM and the Government signed in 2002 in Geneva. Some human rights activists expressed concern that the terrorism decree was being misapplied to individuals who were not engaged in terrorism; others noted that the five were arrested on May 19, the day the Government declared martial law and launched its military offensive.

Also in Aceh, the Government freed two foreign women who were detained, convicted, and imprisoned in 2002 for violating the terms of their tourist visas. It released an American citizen on January 3, after 4 months in prison, and her colleague, a British citizen, on February 9, after a 5-month imprisonment.

On September 26, police in Jakarta arrested and briefly detained anti-corruption activist Azas Tigor Nainggolan. Tigor, chairman of the Jakarta Residents Forum (FAKTA), allegedly slandered Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso by claiming that he had bribed city councilors.

The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The Constitution provides for judicial independence; however, in practice, the judiciary remained subordinate to the executive and was often influenced by the military, business interests, and politicians outside of the legal system. The law requires that the Justice Ministry gradually transfer administrative and financial control over the judiciary to the Supreme Court by 2004, but the Ministry indicated during the year that this transfer would only begin in 2004. Judges were civil servants employed by the executive branch, which controlled their assignments, pay, and promotion. Low salaries encouraged corruption, and judges were subject to pressure from governmental authorities, which often influenced the outcome of cases.

Under the Supreme Court is a quadripartite judiciary of general, religious, military, and administrative courts. The law provides for the right of appeal, sequentially, from a district court to a High Court to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court does not consider factual aspects of a case, but rather the lower court's application of the law. The judicial branch was theoretically equal to the executive and legislative branches and had the right of judicial review over laws passed by the DPR, as well as government regulations and presidential, ministerial, and gubernatorial decrees. In practice, the judiciary was less influential than the executive and legislative branches, and it was often heavily influenced by the executive branch. During the year, the budget for courts, as well as promotions and transfers for judges, was controlled by the Justice and Human Rights Department, but these functions were scheduled to be transferred to the Supreme Court in 2004.

In the country's 2,418 district courts, a panel of judges conducts trials by posing questions, hearing evidence, deciding on guilt or innocence, and assessing punishment. Judges rarely reversed initial judgments in the appeals process, although they sometimes lengthened or shortened sentences. Both the defense and prosecution can appeal verdicts.

The law presumes that defendants are innocent until proven guilty. It also permits bail, which was used in practice. Court officials commonly received an illicit payment in exchange for approving the security guarantee upon which the defendant's temporary release was based. Defendants have the right to confront witnesses and call witnesses in their defense. An exception is allowed in cases in which distance or expense is deemed excessive for transporting witnesses to court; in such cases, sworn affidavits may be introduced. Prosecutors were reluctant to plea bargain with defendants or witnesses or to grant witnesses immunity from prosecution. As a result, many witnesses were unwilling to testify, particularly against government officials. The courts often allowed forced confessions and limited the presentation of defense evidence. Defendants did not have the right to avoid self-incrimination, and some were compelled to testify against themselves.

The Criminal Procedures Code gives defendants the right to an attorney from the time of arrest and at every stage of examination. Persons summoned to testify in investigations do not have the right to legal assistance. The law requires counsel to be appointed in capital punishment cases and those involving a prison sentence of 15 years or more. In cases involving potential sentences of 5 years or more, the law requires the appointment of an attorney if the defendant is indigent and requests counsel. In theory, indigent defendants may obtain private legal assistance, but in practice few actually obtained the services of an attorney. In many cases, authorities quietly persuaded defendants not to hire an attorney. In many cases, procedural protections, including those against forced confessions, were inadequate to ensure a fair trial. On July 16, the head of the Association of Indonesian Lawyers (IPHI) met with the Vice President and the Minister of Justice and Human Rights and alleged that, in Aceh, the Government was depriving suspected GAM rebels of their right to an attorney. According to media reports, the Government was not providing defense attorneys to separatists on trial and actively hindered efforts by legal aid lawyers to join GAM-related cases.

Widespread corruption continued throughout the legal system. During the year, Transparency International reported that the country was among the world's most corrupt, and, in October, the World Bank stated that endemic corruption in the country was compromising law and order. Bribes influenced prosecution, conviction, and sentencing in countless civil and criminal cases. Most judges earned only $200 to $225 per month, while a judge with three decades' experience earned approximately $660 per month. Key individuals in the justice system not only accepted bribes but appeared to turn a blind eye to other government offices suspected of corruption. During the year, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) repeatedly accused the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and National Police of not following up on cases of suspected corruption that had been referred to them. In September, BPK chairman Satrio B. Judono stated that, since 2001, the BPK had reported 6,162 cases of suspected corruption to the AGO and National Police, but that only 505 cases--approximately 8 percent--had been investigated by both offices. Judono estimated that state losses caused by the 6,162 cases could reach $242 million. He added that the BPK had met with resistance from various ministries and state agencies where it had detected non-budgetary funds (those not listed on balance sheets).

In August, the Legal Review journal investigated the buying of verdicts in corporate civil lawsuits at district courts, high courts, and the Supreme Court. Based on information obtained from leaked corporate memos and other sources, the Review published a list that estimated the "price of victory" in a court case. Prices ranged from as little as $8,300 at the Bandung District Court to as much as $600,000 at the Supreme Court.

During the year, military courts prosecuted members of the armed forces, generally for common crimes. Apart from the handful of soldiers who were tried in human rights' courts, soldiers were always tried in military court, even for offenses that involved civilians or occurred when soldiers were not on duty. If a soldier was suspected of committing a crime, military police investigated and then passed their findings to military prosecutors, who decided whether or not to prepare a case. Military prosecutors, like military judges, were managed administratively by the TNI but were responsible to the Attorney General's office and the Supreme Court for the application of laws. Trials were conducted before a three-person panel of military judges. Appeals were made to the Military High Court; such appeals may question matters of fact or law. A Military Supreme Court based its rulings only on the application or interpretation of law. TNI convicts were held at prisons in the cities of Bandung, Medan, Makassar, and Surabaya. Each cell holds up to five persons. Some civilians complained about the brevity of prison sentences handed down by military courts. TNI legal officials responded that all troops sentenced to terms of 3 months or longer were discharged from the armed forces, regardless of their record or length of service, thus constituting a significant punishment.

Gross human rights violations can be adjudicated by four district courts. The law provides for each to have five members, including three non-career human rights judges, who were appointed to 5-year terms. Verdicts could be appealed to the standing High Court and the Supreme Court. The law provides for internationally recognized definitions of genocide, crimes against humanity, and command responsibility, but it does not include war crimes as a gross violation of human rights.

On August 5, the ad hoc human rights tribunal for East Timor concluded its trial phase in Jakarta with the conviction of Major General Adam Damiri of crimes against humanity. Damiri, who remained free on appeal, became the sixth of 18 Tribunal defendants convicted in connection with atrocities that occurred during April 1999 and September 1999 in 3 East Timor locations: Liquica, Dili, and Suai. The tribunal was convened in March 2002 although, according to even a broad interpretation of the human rights tribunal law, the Attorney General should have commenced prosecution in February 2001. The Government's failure to meet statutory deadlines in preparing cases for the tribunal represented a major procedural violation that could provide grounds to overturn any convictions on appeal.

During the year, the East Timor ad hoc human rights tribunal concluded the last four of 18 trials. Judges convicted former Dili police chief Hulman Gultom on January 20 (sentenced him to 3 years in prison), Army Brigadier General Noer Muis on March 12 (5 years) and Damiri, the highest-ranking defendant, on August 5 (3 years). These convictions followed the 2002 convictions of former Aitarak militia leader Eurico Guterres (10 years), former East Timor Governor Abilio Soares (3 years), and Army Lieutenant Colonel Soedjarwo (5 years). The court convicted Gultom for failing to control his subordinates in connection with the April 1999 massacre at the Dili home of pro-independence leader Manuel Viegas Carrascalao, and for failing to prevent similar violence at the workplace and residence of Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo in September 1999. Noer Muis was convicted for failing "to prevent acts of omission by his subordinates, with the result that crimes against humanity occurred in the forms of murder and persecution" in Suai and Dili, according to the judgment. Judges ruled that Damiri, as commander of the military area that included East Timor, failed to take steps to avert a massacre when pro-integration militiamen went on a post-referendum rampage.

Although the human rights tribunal law stipulates 10-year minimum terms of imprisonment for the charges against the defendants, all but one of the six sentences handed down by judges were for shorter periods. In the case of Noer Muis, judges acknowledged that the 5-year sentence fell short of the minimum for crimes against humanity, but cited mitigating factors. Human rights activists criticized the sentences as incommensurate with the crimes. All six of those convicted remained free at year's end pending appeal. The law allows not only appeals of convictions, but prosecutorial appeals of acquittals, and there were indications that prosecutors were appealing many of the 12 acquittals to the Supreme Court.

The trials featured weak indictments and sub-standard work by prosecutors, who were hampered by severe time and geographical restrictions placed on the tribunal's jurisdiction. Most prosecutors built their case around the defendants' "failure to act," rather than their role in organizing or perpetrating atrocities, as strongly suggested by evidence gathered and offered by the U.N.'s Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) in Dili. The prosecutors' failure to fully use the resources and evidence available to them called into question the overall credibility of the Tribunal, as did their decision to call few East Timorese witnesses. Most of the witnesses called were themselves either defendants in other Tribunal cases or were individuals with a stake in supporting the defendants. Former president Habibie on March 21 testified that the U.N. was responsible for the unrest because it did not give the country enough time to prepare troops for the announcement of the result of East Timor's referendum in 1999. Meanwhile, defense attorneys and even judges sometimes badgered or otherwise mistreated witnesses, creating a climate of intimidation in the courtrooms. Uniformed soldiers armed with bayonets packed the gallery during many of the trials. Amnesty International reported that the Tribunal proceedings were "not honest, truthful, or fair." Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the trials a sham, proving that there was no interest in holding senior TNI officials accountable for their actions. A Government spokesman in April acknowledged "shortcomings" in the trials, but stated that these were due to technical deficiencies, rather than a deliberate miscarriage of justice.

On September 15, the ad hoc human rights tribunal for the 1984 Tanjung Priok incident held its first court session in Jakarta. Four 5-judge panels consisting of career and ad-hoc judges began to hear four cases: One against 11 soldiers, and the other 3 against 3 high-ranking active or former military officers, retired Major General Pranowo, Army Major General (retired) Rudolf Adolf Butar-Butar, and Army Major General Sriyanto Mutrasan, the commander of Kopassus. All of the defendants faced charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the 1984 mass shooting that occurred near the Jakarta port of Tanjung Priok and left at least dozens, and possibly hundreds, dead. The killings occurred when 11 soldiers opened fire on a large group of Muslim demonstrators who were marching toward the District Military Command and demanding the release of several detained colleagues. At the opening of Sriyanto's trial, soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder at the doors to the courtroom and prevented some observers, including journalists and foreign diplomats, from attending the session. Following the same session, some Tanjung Priok victims reported that they had received death threats from soldiers at the courthouse. Some of the defense teams argued that charges of crimes against humanity were unfairly being applied retroactively to their clients. The tribunal generated considerable domestic interest as the first human rights court to hear a case involving crimes against humanity committed during Suharto's rule.

A number of high-profile trials held during the year produced complaints that justice had not been served. On September 2 in Jakarta, the conviction of suspected JI leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir on a treason charge disappointed both his supporters and his critics. The latter were upset that Ba'asyir was not convicted on the primary charge of planning treason and stated that his sentence of 4 years was not adequate for the crime. Judges ruled that he had taken part in a plot to overthrow the Government, but noted that it was not proved that he was the leader of this plot or that he headed JI, which was blamed for such terrorist attacks as the church bombings of Christmas Eve 2000. Ba'asyir was also convicted on two of three immigration-related charges. Both Ba'asyir and the Government subsequently appealed the district court's decision. In November, the Jakarta High Court overturned Ba'asyir's conviction for taking part in a plot to overthrow the Government, but upheld his conviction on immigration charges. Judges said Ba'asyir's involvement in JI and his blessing of various bombings, including the October 2002 Bali bombings, were acts of terrorism, not treason. Both Ba'asyir and the Government appealed to the Supreme Court, and both appeals were pending at year's end.

In Central Sulawesi, the June 16 conviction for weapons possession of Rev. Rinaldy Damanik, a leader of the province's Christian community, was criticized. Police arrested Damanik after a vehicle in which he was riding was stopped and found to contain 14 firearms and ammunition. A Palu court sentenced him to 3 years in prison. Some of Damanik's supporters argued that he had been entrapped; others claimed he was being persecuted for being a Christian who spoke out on behalf of his community. Others complained that Muslims involved in similar offenses in Central Sulawesi had yet to be prosecuted. Legal experts said Damanik had hurt his legal defense by refusing to show up for a number of court sessions. In a separate case, on January 30, the East Jakarta District Court acquitted Jafar Umar Thalib, former leader of the Islamic militia Laskar Jihad, of inciting religious violence and other charges. The verdict was criticized by human rights activists and Christian community leaders, who noted that Laskar Jihad was responsible for the deaths of large numbers of Maluku Christians. Two days earlier, a North Jakarta District Court had sentenced in absentia Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM) leader Alex Manuputty, a Christian, separatist and supporter of the South Maluku Republic movement, to 3 years in prison for plotting a rebellion in the Malukus. Manuputty appealed his conviction to the High Court and then to the Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction on December 16. Manuputty was a fugitive from justice at year's end.

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home or Correspondence

The law requires judicial warrants for searches except for cases involving subversion, economic crimes, and corruption. The law also provides for searches without warrants when circumstances are "urgent and compelling." Security officials occasionally broke into homes and offices. The authorities generally did not monitor private communications, but they occasionally spied on individuals and their residences and listened in on telephone calls. There were reports that the Government occasionally infringed upon privacy rights of migrant workers returning from abroad, particularly women. Corrupt officials sometimes subjected migrants to arbitrary strip searches, stole their valuables, and extracted bribes at special lanes set aside at airports for returning workers.

Land disputes generated charges of unfair evictions and excessive force by the public security officials. FAKTA estimated that public security officials evicted at least 40,000 persons during the year, compared with 20,000 in 2002. On July 18, police in Bondowoso, East Java, who were enforcing a court order in a land-dispute case, fired a rubber bullet and killed the daughter of the losing party in the court battle. Four officers reportedly were injured in the incident and 31 persons were arrested. On August 26, public security officers in Tambora, West Jakarta brutally evicted approximately 10,000 squatters from privately owned land. FAKTA and the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) argued that the evictors acted as defacto mercenaries on behalf of PT Cakra Wira Bumi Mandala, the company that owned the land and planned to resume building a business complex there. On September 17, a separate mass eviction occurred in Cengkareng, West Java, where security officers forcibly evicted thousands of residents from land owned by a state-owned company. One week later, a person died of injuries sustained in the eviction. According to the victim's brother, the man's kidney was punctured by a broken rib resulting from a struggle with Brimob officers and West Jakarta security personnel. A 15-year-old female evictee was believed to have been sexually assaulted by security officials immediately after the raid (see Section 5).

On January 15 in the Central Java village of Darmakradenan, approximately 2,000 farmers disappointed with a court decision occupied state land that they argued was stolen from them by the military in 1965. Shortly thereafter, a large number of Brimob officers and soldiers ousted the farmers, and injured 31 persons. The Indonesian Farmers Movement Network (JGPI) reported that canes, boots, rifle stocks, and rubber bullets were used in the clash, which allegedly continued in a residential area even after the farmers had fled the occupation site. On August 21, farmers from the West Java regency of Garut met with officials of KOMNAS HAM and alleged systematic violence by the security forces. The farmers, supported by the West Java Farmers Union and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), reported that this violence had occurred in mid-August when security forces apprehended 54 farmers who had been cultivating land owned by a state-owned forestry company. They added that the security forces had burned the homes of at least 39 farmers and seized tools and other property. In Sumatra, local communities involved in the pulp and paper industry reportedly were experiencing persistent human rights abuses, including land seizures, by police and corporate security guards. HRW also alleged that companies such as Arara Abadi routinely seized local residents' land for plantations, with little or no compensation.

Human rights activists viewed the national identity card (KTP) system as a form of government interference in the privacy of citizens. The KTPs, which all citizens are required to carry, identify the holder's religion. NGOs charged that the KTPs undermined the country's secular tradition and endangered cardholders who traveled through an area of inter-religious conflict. Members of the five religions officially recognized by the Government–-Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism—-had little or no trouble obtaining accurate identification cards during the year; however, members of minority religions frequently were denied a card, or denied one that accurately reflected their faith.

Looting was a problem in areas of Aceh province where the security forces had forced residents to move to refugee camps. In July, hundreds of residents of the Bireuen village of Juli Keude Dua and 10 neighboring communities returned home to find that their houses and shops had been looted. Televisions, radios, cassette players, and refrigerators were among the missing items.

In many parts of the archipelago, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, local residents believed that the government-sponsored transmigration program interfered with their traditional ways of life, land usage, and economic opportunities. During the year, the program moved at least 89,097 households from overpopulated areas to a total of 351 more isolated and less developed areas. The Government sent at least 12,136 households to Central Kalimantan, making that province again the top destination.

In Central and Western Kalimantan, NGOs accused the Government of not adequately addressing the issue of assets lost by ethnic Madurese following inter-ethnic violence in 2001.

The Government used its authority, and at times intimidation, to appropriate land for development projects, particularly in areas claimed by local persons, and often without fair compensation. In other cases, state-owned companies were accused of endangering resources upon which citizens' livelihood depended. On March 17 at Singkarak Lake in West Sumatra province, approximately 1,400 fishermen reportedly threatened to cut off the water supply to a hydropower plant operated by the State Electricity Company (PLN), alleging that its operations had depleted the lake's fish population.

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and freedom of the press; however, the Government at times restricted these rights in practice. During the year, the Government jailed at least five peaceful anti-government protestors convicted of "insulting the President" or "spreading hatred against the Government." In addition, politicians and powerful businessmen showed greater willingness to file criminal or civil complaints against journalists whose work they found insulting or offensive, and this trend undermined press freedom. Also during the year, journalists faced increasing threats or violence.

In January, after protests that followed a Government announcement of price increases, the President, police, and Cabinet ministers all spoke out against protestors who insulted "state symbols." By July, the Government had in the preceding 24-month period prosecuted 25 protestors who had peacefully expressed their political views. On April 28, the Yogyakarta District Court found Ignatius Mahendra Kusuma Wardana and Yoyok Edo Widodok guilty of burning a photo of the President and Vice President at a January rally and sentenced them to 3 years in prison. On June 16, a Jakarta court sentenced Iqbal Siregar of the Islamic Youth Movement (GPI) to 5 months in prison for insulting the President at an anti-government protest in front of the State Palace. Siregar had carried a poster featuring the President with tape covering her eyes and had also started a chant: "This is the President who has disappointed the people." NGOs such as HRW, Amnesty International, and Kontras criticized the Government's prosecution of peaceful protestors.

In Aceh province, press freedom deteriorated during the year. Martial law administrators took various steps to limit information coming out of Aceh, including restricting access of foreign journalists and diplomats, blocking cellular telephones, and forbidding contact with GAM. Journalists in Aceh experienced serious difficulties operating under martial law. The Government issued a decree that required each news coverage activity to "be supported by written permission by the head of Aceh's Emergency Military Authority." However, enforcement of the decree was erratic. In practice, only foreign journalists and local journalists reporting for foreign news organizations required special permits from the martial law administrator. The administration did not directly censor reporters' stories, but many local journalists felt intimidated by public criticism from army spokesmen about specific stories, as well as by passionate statements from military commanders urging journalists to report "patriotically." Journalists also expressed concern that critical reporting of TNI operations could cause them to lose access to military press briefings. Finally, the uncertain security situation in many parts of the province limited access to many areas. In the early weeks of the operation, the TNI operated a program of "embedding" journalists with military patrols. Many journalists who worked in Aceh--both embedded and independent--indicated they felt threatened by both GAM and the TNI in reporting on events. The military terminated the embedding program after 1 month. Some journalists complained that pressure by the TNI on their Jakarta-based editors also limited negative reporting of the conflict. For example, in late May, the Surya Citra Television network (SCTV) fired reporter/producer Dandhy Dwi Laksono after the network aired Laksono's interview with an Acehnese man who said he had been tortured by soldiers. Laksono told a media watchdog group that the TNI took offense at the report and that this prompted his dismissal.

Journalists faced violence and intimidation from police, soldiers, government officials, rebels, thugs, students, and ordinary citizens. During the year, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) recorded at least 36 physical attacks against journalists as well as 24 non-physical acts that included death threats and lawsuits. For example, on February 26 in the West Java city of Bandung, police assaulted five journalists who were covering a student protest outside the provincial assembly building (DPRD). Dedi Sudandi of the daily Pikiran Rakyat was preparing to photograph a policeman who was beating a student when Sudandi was dragged into a crowd of policemen and pummeled. Police intentionally fired a water cannon at the other four journalists and damaged their television equipment. On August 23, approximately 30 unidentified youths ransacked the Maluku Media Center in Ambon, injuring a number of persons and destroying furniture. Police later arrested nine persons and said the attack was not news related but linked to an earlier dispute that occurred near the center.

There were many violent attacks against journalists in Aceh. For example, on June 19, the corpse of TVRI cameraman Jamaluddin was found near Banda Aceh with his hands tied, mouth sealed, and head covered with a plastic bag (see Section 1.a.); however, evidence suggested that the killing may have been unrelated to his press activities. On July 20 in the North Aceh community of Krueng Keukeuh, unknown gunmen opened fire on the home of Waspada newspaper journalist Idrus Jeumpa, killing Jeumpa's wife and injuring him and his two children. In early July in the South Aceh village of Panton Luas, five soldiers allegedly beat brutally 68H radio journalist Alif Imam Nurlambang. On June 29, the GAM abducted journalists Ersa Siregar and Fery Santoso, along with the wives of two Air Force officers (see Section 1.b.). The GAM's commander in East Aceh, Ishak Daud, defended the abductions by saying that TNI intelligence officers frequently used vehicles marked "press," an assertion confirmed by journalists.

Expulsion was occasionally used against journalists. For example, on June 24, Aceh military authorities forced Korean reporter Jeong Moon Tae and Indonesian Reuters photographer Tarmidzi Harva to leave the province.

On March 8, persons linked to well-connected tycoon Tomy Winata appeared at Tempo Magazine's headquarters in Jakarta and criticized an article that implied Winata stood to benefit from a mysterious fire that destroyed a Jakarta market. They assaulted Tempo journalists, including Chief Editor Bambang Harymurti, both at the headquarters and later at a police station. Tempo lawyers reported the matter to the authorities and sued the assailants, but judges exonerated the group's leader. Winata's attorneys responded by initiating four new lawsuits (two civil and two criminal), actions that free press activists asserted were attempts to intimidate media companies into silence. On September 29, a judge in one of the four suits impounded the home of one of the defendants, Tempo columnist Goenawan Mohammad. The seizure warrant was issued after the impoundment occurred. A separate panel of judges called the action "erroneous," but declined to reverse the court order. On October 6, a Jakarta court ruled in favor of AJI in a civil suit against the police, who failed to act to protect journalists during the March 8 Tempo attack.

Government leaders and politicians showed greater willingness to use legal action against journalists for defamation claims. In September, Jakarta prosecutors demanded a 1-year sentence for Rakyat Merdeka daily editor Soepratman, who was charged with defaming President Megawati by publishing four defamatory headlines, such as: "Mega's Mouth Reeks of Diesel Fuel." On October 22, Soepratman was acquitted of slander; however, he was convicted of spreading hatred against the Government and given a 6-month suspended sentence. On September 9, a Jakarta court delivered a suspended 5-month sentence to another Rakyat Merdeka editor, Karim Paputungan, for a front-page political cartoon that showed an unflattering portrayal of Akbar Tandjung, the Golkar Party chairman and DPR Speaker who was convicted in 2002 of embezzling $4.5 million in state funds intended for public food assistance.

The Government did not initiate legal action against any person responsible for crimes committed against journalists in 2002. However, following a lawsuit filed by AJI, the Central Jakarta District Court on January 27 ordered Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso to apologize to a reporter who had been intimidated by a city public order officer. The journalist, Edi Hariyadi, was reporting on an eviction in March 2002 when the officer, Dapot Manihuruk, tried to prevent him from covering the story. Hariyadi later experienced repeated acts of intimidation. Sutiyoso's lawyers appealed the decision to the High Court and the case was under consideration at year's end. In a separate case, the Government did not make any arrests in connection with the June 2002 police beating of journalist Wisnu Dewabrata. According to Media Watch, Kompas sued the police force but then, fearing difficulties with the police, withdrew the suit. Police then allegedly sent an apology to Dewabrata.

Pervasive corruption undermined journalism, as did the lack of an enforceable journalistic code of ethics. According to an international survey published in September, the country was among the three countries where journalists were most likely to compromise their integrity by taking bribes.

During the year, the Government began implementing the Broadcasting Law that was passed in November 2002, including issuing frequency licenses and forming what appeared to be a fair broadcasting commission; however, since the law was still under judicial review for conformity with the Constitution, it was not fully implemented by year's end. Some critics argued that the law could permit censorship.

Despite numerous incidents of violence and intimidation of the press, there were some positive developments. Unity among journalists and their commitment to protect their colleagues appeared to have strengthened. Some members of the press also continued their aggressive reporting on such issues as corruption, Aceh, and environmental degradation. As decentralization proceeded, regional media increasingly prospered. In addition, moderate Islamic publications increased in number and popularity; some observers characterized the publications as the voice of the "silent majority." Panjimas magazine reinvented itself to present moderate views more aggressively, and the women's magazine Noor tried to promote a modern Islamic female lifestyle. Editors of both magazines said they were consciously responding to radical publications such as Sabili magazine, which they asserted did not reflect the majority Muslim view of the world.

A Government-supervised Film Censorship Institute continued to censor domestic and imported movies for content that is pornographic or deemed religiously offensive. By law, Communist teachings cannot be disseminated or developed. Although no mainstream books were banned during the year, Central Java Police Chief Didi Widayadi announced on September 19 that the provincial government had banned publications that describe methods for carrying out acts of terrorism or holy war.

The Government did not restrict Internet usage or content.

The law provides for academic freedom, and the Government did not restrict academic freedom.

b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted this right in certain areas. The law requires that persons planning to hold a demonstration notify police 3 days in advance and appoint someone accountable for every 100 demonstrators. The law generally does not require permits for public social, cultural, or religious gatherings; however, any gathering of five or more persons related to political, labor, or public policy required police notification (see Section 6.a.).

Police used excessive force at a number of demonstrations during the year (see Section 1.c.). For example, on February 26 in Bandung, West Java, police forcibly dispersed a demonstration outside a government building and many students reportedly sustained head injuries. Journalists were also injured (see Section 2.a.).

In Aceh, the security forces interfered with or shut down a number of public rallies, ostensibly for a lack of proper permits. For example, on January 9, police physically prevented thousands of civilians from attending a rally demanding the withdrawal of the security forces from the province. At one point, Brimob officers fired warning shots; four demonstrators were injured, two seriously. Although the shootings appeared to be accidental, police later charged two speakers at the rally with "spreading hatred." One of those charged, Muhammad Nazar, was convicted and sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment (see Section 4). The other, Kautsar, fled prosecution and remained at large at year's end.

On some occasions, counter-protestors violated the right to peaceful assembly. For example, on March 20 in Malang, East Java, members of an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) youth group attacked students from various universities who were calling on the President and Vice President to resign. The violence resulted in 31 injuries, 6 of them serious.

The Government did not report any progress in prosecuting those responsible for the September 2002 forcible dispersal by Jakarta police of participants in a massive rally against the reelection of Governor Sutiyoso. Similarly, no arrests were made in connection with the distribution of food containing cyanide at the same rally. In addition, no arrests were made over the May 2002 attack in the Central Java city of Semarang on two anti-poverty activists by persons who claimed to be members of the ruling PDI-P.

The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the Government restricted the exercise of this right. Although the Papua Special Autonomy Law permits the flying of a flag symbolizing Papua's cultural identity, the police prohibited the flying of the Papuan Morning Star flag. There were unconfirmed reports that on July 7 in Wamena, police shot and killed one person, whose name was not released, for attempting to raise the Morning Star flag in front of a government office. In related incidents, police removed such flags at numerous locations and continued their crackdown against Papuan nationalist T-shirts, stickers, bracelets, and other items they felt were associated with the separatist movement. In September, police reportedly carried out a "sweep" for such accessories in the Central Papuan Highlands city of Wamena.

The security forces continued to enforce a prohibition on the flying of the GAM flag. In July, Aceh's Governor instructed all Acehnese to fly the Indonesian national flag from July 8 to September 1, and residents who displayed a worn or tattered one were reportedly ordered to buy a new one. The flying of the red-and-white national flag was seen as a test of their loyalty to the state and their rejection of the separatist movement. On May 21, 37 homes in the Bireuen subdistrict of Peusangan were reportedly burned for not displaying the national flag. Some human rights activists accused the Government of forcing civilians to take part in patriotic mass rallies, such as the June 17 event in Banda Aceh, in which 10,000 young persons declared their loyalty to the unitary state of Indonesia. Similar rallies were held in Aceh Besar, Pidie, Bireuen, North Aceh, and East Aceh.

c. Freedom of Religion

The Constitution provides for "all persons the right to worship according to his or her own religion or belief," and states that "the nation is based upon belief in one supreme God." The Government generally respected the former provision, but only five major faiths--Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism--received official recognition in the form of representation at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Other religious groups were able to register with the Government, but only with the Ministry of Home Affairs, and only as social organizations. These groups experienced official and social discrimination. By stipulating that the country is based on belief in one God, the Government does not recognize atheism.

Following a sharp drop in violence between Christians and Muslims in the provinces of Maluku, North Maluku, and Central Sulawesi, inter-religious tolerance and cooperation improved during the year. During the first 6 months of the year, many Muslims and Christians in those provinces worked together to repair mosques and churches. In the Malukus, local governments reunited many government offices that since 1999 had separated into Christian and Muslim units. In Bali, where some feared that the October 2002 bombings would strain relations between Hindus and Muslims, no confrontations were reported during the year. As in previous years, some political parties advocated amending the Constitution to adopt Islamic law (Shari'a) on a nationwide basis, but most Parliamentarians and the country's largest Muslim social organizations remained opposed to the idea.

During the year, at least 7 churches were attacked; in 2002 attackers destroyed or forcibly closed 20 churches. Attacks occurred in the West Java communities of Haur Ngomong, Melayu Barat, and Cilaku; the Jakarta communities of Pondok Bambu and Kemayoran; the Central Java village of Modalan; and the North Sumatra village of Bandar Selamat Asahan. Approximately half of these attacks involved arson committed by unidentified persons, while others featured forced closures, either by mobs or by the authorities. No attacks on mosques occurred during the year. This marked an improvement from 2002, when at least two mosques were attacked. On March 13, a homemade bomb was found on the roof of Ambon's Al-Fatah mosque, but it did not explode and it was believed been there for a long period. The Government did not report progress in prosecuting those responsible for the September 2002 mob attack on a mosque, homes, and shops belonging to the Ahmadiyah community in the East Lombok town of Selong; however, the ICG reported that the attack--and another attack the same month on a Lombok mosque belonging to the Institute for the Proselytization of Islam in Indonesia (LDII)--came after district government chiefs issued decrees that said the two sects were not officially sanctioned. It was unclear what, if any, government investigation followed the July 2002 attack on a mosque in the predominantly Catholic town of Maumere and the September 2002 attack on an LDII mosque in Bima.

The civil registration system continued to discriminate against members of minority religions. Civil Registry officials refused to register the marriages or the births of children of Animists, Confucians, members of the Baha'i faith, and others because they did not belong to one of the five officially recognized faiths. Hindus, despite official recognition of their religion, sometimes had to travel far to register marriages or births, because in many rural areas the local government could not or would not perform the registration. Persons whose religion was not one of the five officially recognized faiths, as well as persons of Chinese descent, had difficulty in obtaining a KTP, which was necessary to register marriages, births, and divorces. On April 9, followers of the indigenous belief system "kepercayaan" met with commissioners of KOMNAS HAM in Jakarta and complained about official discrimination, most notably in the area of civil registration. The 100-member delegation from the Cigugur Adat (traditional) community, based in West Java, reported that they could not get births or marriages registered, and that their children were disadvantaged at schools because they did not belong to one of the five officially recognized religions. The visitors also expressed concern about a movie titled "Infidel" which was popular at the time. They asserted that its depiction of the late Cigugur founder, Pangeran Madrais, as a witch doctor was harshly offensive and that he was in fact a holy man who had brought people together.

Men and women of different religions experienced difficulties both in getting married and registering the marriage. The Government refused to register any marriage before a religious marriage ceremony had taken place. However, very few religious officials were willing to take part in any wedding involving a man and woman of different faiths. For this reason, some soon-to-be brides and grooms converted to their partner's religion, sometimes superficially, in order to be married. Others resorted to traveling overseas to wed.

During the year, religious instruction sparked intense public debate. Such instruction is required for students at elementary and secondary public schools. On June 11, the DPR passed a controversial Education Bill that drew in part on "faith and piety" language newly included in the Constitution. Muslims largely supported the law, while Christians generally rejected it. It states, among other things, that each student has the right to receive religious instruction by a teacher of the same faith. Because few non-Muslims attended Muslim schools, such schools would likely be unaffected by the law, and thus not required to hire non-Muslim teachers, create a program for a (non-Muslim) religion class, or create a space for worship by Christian or other students. However, many Catholic and Protestant churches, church groups, and schools viewed the law as state intervention into private religious affairs. They expressed concern that high-quality Christian schools which attract many Muslim students would be forced to hire Muslim teachers, create a program for an Islam class, and set up a mushollah (prayer room). Muslim supporters argued that the nation's moral decay required swift action to instill ethics and morality in its youth. Other Muslims said the law was aimed at assuring Muslim parents that their children could receive a high-quality Catholic school education and still receive Islamic guidance. Many Muslim intellectuals opposed the law, saying it was too steeped in religion and that education should be based on enlightenment, rather than piety. Political observers saw the bill's passage as politics in preparation for 2004 elections. By year's end, the Government had not taken any concrete steps to implement the bill's provisions.

On March 3 in Aceh province, the Government began the implementation of Shari'a by issuing a presidential decree establishing Islamic law courts in that province. There was no evidence that suggested that Shari'a was being applied to non-Muslims in Aceh. Some in Aceh worried that implementation of Shari'a would provide new powers to already-discredited law enforcement institutions and provide opportunities to intrude on private religious matters, such as whether an individual attends Friday prayers. At year's end, such concerns thus far appeared unfounded. Women's groups played an active role in helping draft local regulations in order to avoid provisions that might restrict women's rights.

In some municipalities, local leaders applied stricter Islamic practices during the year. For example, in the West Java regency of Cianjur, a local regulation required all government workers to wear Islamic clothing every Friday. Virtually all women complied with the regulation, and women's groups including Women's Solidarity (Solidaritas Perempuan) said the women were afraid to not comply. Some residents alleged that the authorities were meddling in private affairs. In some areas, Islamization campaigns that began in 2002 seemed to lose momentum during the year. In the Madura regency of Pamekasan, the regent had set up a "local Shari'a" implementation committee and promulgated a decree calling for Muslim attire for civil servants and for public and work activities to cease during the call to prayer. During the year, the committee set less ambitious goals such as that persons should obey the rules of the road and not build food and drink stalls on sidewalks and medians.

The Human Rights Law allows conversions between faiths, but converts to minority religions sometimes felt reluctant to publicize their conversions because they feared discrimination.

As in previous years, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, many local governments ordered either the closure or limited operating hours of various types of "entertainment" establishments. The Jakarta decree ordered the month-long closure of non-hotel bars, discos, nightclubs, sauna spas, massage parlors, and venues for live music. However, billiard parlors, karaoke joints, and hotel bars and discos were permitted to operate for up to 4 hours per night. Some members of minority faiths, as well as some Muslims, felt that these orders infringed on their rights. However, enforcement of the orders varied.

Foreign missionaries who obtained visas were generally allowed to work without serious restriction.

For a more detailed discussion, see the 2003 International Religious Freedom Report.

d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The Constitution allows the Government to prevent persons from entering or leaving the country, and sometimes the Government restricted freedom of movement. The Law on Overcoming Dangerous Situations gives the military broad powers in a declared state of emergency, including the power to limit land, air, and sea traffic; however, the Government did not use these powers.

The Government restricted freedom of movement through a system of "travel letters," which were required for travel within Maluku, Aceh, and Papua. Enforcement was inconsistent. In parts of Papua, officials required a travel letter for a resident to walk from one village to another. The system promoted police graft and the monitoring of citizens' activities.

On May 18, President Megawati issued a decree establishing martial law in Aceh province for an initial period of 6 months. On November 19, the Government extended martial law for 6 months. The decrees name the President as the central martial law administrator and appointed Aceh Regional Military commander, Major General Endang Suwarya, as regional martial law administrator. The decrees give the regional martial law administrator overall government authority for the province and power to issue emergency measures to control travel, trade, transport, and other civilian activities. The basis for the decree is a 1959 "Government Regulation with the Force of Law" on National Emergencies. Human rights activists called the President's decrees vague and stated that, by drawing their authority from a 44-year-old law, the decrees do not explicitly recognize subsequent human rights legislation or the rights of non-combatants in a conflict area.

The Government restricted some residents' movements through the issuance of new national identity cards. These cards required the signatures of the holder's local military commander, local police chief, and village head. Acehnese who wished to travel or leave the province had to produce these cards at security checkpoints along main highways. Failure to produce the card was cause for arrest. In practice, the cards were easily obtained.

The Government also restricted movements in order to close avenues of supply to GAM rebels. In the remote Lokop district of East Aceh, home to 30 villages and a heavy rebel presence, TNI units monitored and controlled food shipments moving in and out of villages and limited shipments to TNI-linked suppliers. Soldiers also limited the amount of food each family could purchase, and this resulted in malnutrition, according to the Aceh branch of Kontras. In addition, troops reportedly restricted the hours that fishermen could fish, and the hours that rice farmers could work their fields.

In Central Kalimantan, where inter-ethnic violence in 2001 prompted approximately 130,000 ethnic Madurese migrants to leave, mainly to Madura and East Java, at least 13,000 ethnic Madurese returned to Central Kalimantan between March and the end of the year. However, in the interim, a number of regency governments, including those of Barito Utara, Barito Selatan, and Kotawaringin Barat, had introduced regulations that prohibited the return of ethnic Madurese unless they could prove they had previously lived in the area for a certain length of time--such as 10 years--and did not have a criminal record. Several minor incidents of ethnic violence occurred during the year. Relations between Madurese and Dayaks remained poor. The West Kalimantan city of Sambas remained effectively inaccessible for its former Madurese residents.

In September, the Government lifted a 3-year state of emergency in the Malukus and ended a dusk-to-dawn curfew. The Government also ceased requiring foreigners to obtain a special permit to visit the Malukus.

The Government prevented at least 282 persons from leaving the country during the year and at least 4,000 persons from entering. The Attorney General's Office and the High Prosecutor's office prevented most of these departures and entries. Some of those