Chinese - Indonesian protest removal of Buddha statue

The Indonesian-Chinese community in Tanjung Balai municipality in North Sumatra has protested against the administration’s plan to dismantle a statute of Buddha on top of the Tri Ratna Temple.
Mayor Sutrisno Hadi has ordered that the statue be removed, claiming that this was called for by public pressures.

Muslim Group Backs Jakarta Plan to Deny Free Care for Smoking-Related Illness

Jakarta smokers may soon find themselves on their
own if their habit makes them sick

A Muslim group has weighed in to support Jakarta’s plan to withhold free medical care for smoking-related illnesses as part of efforts to curb tobacco consumption.

The chairman of the South Sumatra Ulema Council, KHM Sodikun, said on Tuesday that the policy would warn smokers that their habit had more risks than advantages.

But Amidhan, chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), said the smoking issue should not be linked to the health insurance plan for the poor.

“I haven’t heard South Sumatra’s Ulema Council’s suggestion but if it’s true, then it’s wrong,” Amidhan told.

“Pronouncing smoking as haram [sinful] is one thing, while the health security scheme for poor people is another thing. If we can help those infected with HIV/AIDS, why can’t we help the smokers?”

Muhammadiyah, the country’s second-largest Muslim organization, recently declared smoking sinful, but the MUI and Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest, have maintained it is undesirable but not forbidden.

The Jakarta government said in February that it would smoking-related cases would not be eligible for the Gakin health scheme, considering that smokers from poor families spent 22 percent of their income on cigarettes.

Dien Emawati, head of the city health agency, told it would start informing the public of the plan soon.

“We will promote it via posters and information provided at public health clinics,” she said, adding that they agency would hold a survey to identify Gakin card holders who smoked. They would be counseled on the dangers of smoking and the risk to their families’ future.

“In 2012 we will enforce the sanction. Smokers will not get health care for illnesses caused by smoking,” she said.

But Gakin beneficiaries would still be entitled to coverage for unrelated conditions.

“We don’t want to push it by force as this is actually an education for the head of families to be concerned about the health of themselves and their families.”

Governor Fauzi Bowo said the city could not justify paying the bills of people who ruined their health by smoking.

Fuad Baradja, head of the education unit of the Indonesian Smoking Control Foundation (LM3), said the move would make people reconsider their decision to light up.

“Smokers consciously endanger their own health and that of people around them and then ask the government to pay for them. It doesn’t make any sense," he said.

“We must ensure people are fully aware of the harsh consequences, like losing their health insurance coverage, if they keep on smoking.”

But he added that the policy must be applied flexibly.

“If someone has stopped smoking but his tobacco-related disease appears months or years later, the government should give free treatment,” Fuad said. “The most important thing is the person has quit smoking."

Indonesian Army Officers in Firing Line Over Attack on 4 Boys

The National Commission for Child Protection on Tuesday condemned the alleged beating of four minors by Army soldiers.

“It is not only against children’s rights, but also is against human rights as [the soldiers] are state officials and have an obligation to protect the country,” Arist Merdeka Sirait, the secretary general of the commission, known as Komnas Anak. “It is very saddening and it is a gross violation of human rights.”

Arist said the five Army soldiers involved in the alleged beating had been detained by the Military Police.

He said the four boys, the oldest among them 14 years old, were traumatized by the incident.

“However, they went back to school on Monday after we treated them,” he said.

The alleged beating took place in Cilodong, Depok, two weeks ago. Arist said the four boys were physically assaulted by five members of the Army’s Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) at night while they were returning to their homes after playing video games.

“They stopped the children and forced them to admit to things that they had not done. They also hit the children with clubs and forced them to undress,” he said.

Arist said the boys were forced to admit that they had been stealing bicycles in a housing complex in Cilodong. He said there had been an incident of a bicycle being stolen in the complex.

“Even if the children stole the bicycle, it does not mean that it should have been settled that way,” he said, adding that the children had not been involved in any thefts.

Arist said it was unfortunate that the soldiers, because of their status as servicemen, could not be charged with violating the Law on Child Protection regarding assault, which carries a minimum prison sentence of five years.

The servicemen will instead be dealt with by a military tribunal, where they could get off with a lesser sanction.

“However, the Military Police have promised to take this case seriously as the servicemen have admitted to their offense,” Arist said.

He said the case would go before a military tribunal after the soldiers had been held for 20 days pending the preparation of their case files.

Eyes on Indonesia to Put Pressure on Burma's Human Rights Record

Even if Indonesia could help bring changes to Burma after this week’s summit for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, reforms there would not come easily, political and human rights experts said on Tuesday.

Teuku Rezasyah, an international relations expert from Bandung’s Padjadjaran University, said Indonesia had the opportunity to take the lead and encourage other members of Asean to influence Burma.

“Indonesia’s diplomacy has always used the soft approach, speaking heart-to-heart. Our president should use this summit to push for a democratic government in Burma,” he said, adding that Indonesia was well-respected in Burma.

Leaders of Asean’s 10 member states are scheduled to hold their biennial talks on Thursday and Friday in Hanoi, Vietnam.

A spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Dino Patti Djalal, said the president would leave for Hanoi today and return on Saturday. Aside from attending the opening ceremony, Yudhoyono is expected to attend working dinners, plenary sessions and an interparliamentary assembly, as well as meetings with other heads of state.

Dino said that Yudhoyono “mainly supports” the seven-step roadmap to democracy as promised by the Burmese government. Although the issue would not be discussed formally at the summit, it might be discussed at a working dinner if Burma brought it up, he added.

Yudhoyono had sent a letter to Sr. Gen. Than Shwe, Dino said, although he declined to go into further detail about what was in it.

Asked whether Indonesia would become involved as an observer in Burma’s polls, which are expected to be held later this year, Dino said the government first wanted to know plans for the elections, which Burma had yet to release as promised.

Rezasyah said that considering the current good relations between Asean countries, including Burma, there was general confidence that the region could influence Burma to take the path to democracy.

But Thant Myint-U, a Burmese human rights expert, said Indonesia should give its assistance at the grassroots level instead of focusing on Burma’s military junta. “There is a lot to be done,” he said, adding that it was time for a broader take on the issue.

Only person-to-person contacts and empowering nongovernmental organizations would lead to democracy, he added.

Other experts were less optimistic. Christopher Roberts, a lecturer in Asian politics and security at the University of Canberra in Australia, said Asean was still divided between conservative governments and those seeking change, such as Indonesia.

Yap Swee Seng, executive director of Forum Asia, an umbrella group for regional human rights organizations, said that unlike many other Asean countries, including Vietnam, rapid economic development and rising education levels had not created a strong middle class in Burma that could help push for democracy.

Hirim, an activist with the Indonesia-based Human Rights Working Group, said that even if Asean supported democracy in Burma, the change would not come easy. “It will not be quick,” she said. “It will take a strong commitment, starting with that from civil societies.”

The Asean summit is expected to produce a joint declaration on the region’s economic recovery and sustainable development, as well as a joint response on climate change.