blog @abdulmanan

DPR sedang membahas RUU Kebebasan Memperoleh Informasi Publik. Namun, akan muncul RUU Rahasia Negara. Keduanya ibarat bumi dan langit. SEKITAR 40 anggota Koalisi Kebebasan Informasi menggelar konsolidasi selama empat hari di Hotel Treva, Jakarta Pusat, dua pekan lalu. Pertemuan konsolidasi itu, diakui atau tidak, adalah reaksi atas pernyataan Kepala Badan Intelijen Negara A.M. Hendropriyono, yang menilai Rancangan Undang-Undang Kebebasan Memperoleh Informasi Publik bisa berbahaya bagi negara. Statemen orang nomor satu di intelijen itu seperti lampu kuning bagi kerja koalisi yang sedang getol mengkampanyekan RUU yang bakal memaksa badan-badan publik membuka akses informasi itu. Menurut Hendropriyono, di tengah persaingan global, informasi adalah senjata yang digunakan dalam perang intelijen. "Siapa yang dapat memegang informasi, dialah yang akan memenangkan perang," ujarnya. Untuk itu, dia tetap mengusulkan adanya pembatasan akses informasi. Pembatasan itu, kata Hendropriyono,...

The handling of mob attacks is often not encouraging. Frequently the perpetrators are only charged with minor offenses. SAEFUL Jihad was woken up by the lock of his office being broken. Before the Humanika Foundation activist had a chance to turn on the light, he felt a machete at his throat. "Don't say a word if you want to live," Saeful quoted his tall, well-built and crewcut assailant as saying. It was not the first attack or act of thuggery perpetrated against the Humanika secretariat in 2002. This particular attack on the foundation, which has its offices on Jalan Poncol Jaya, South Jakarta, occurred on August 1, 2002 at around 4:30am. The assailants had parked their minivan in front of the Ayam Goreng Ny. Suharti fried chicken restaurant. Some of them then broke the door in while others kept guard outside. By coincidence, three foundation executives were sleeping in the secretariat that evening: Saeful, Sarbini, and Sahroni. Saeful, who was sleeping in the workroom,...

LAST Saturday evening, on March 8, about four hours after the TEMPO office at Jl. Proklamasi 72 was protested by Tomy Winata's people, Ciputra, a member of PT Tempo Inti Media Tbk's (TIM Tbk) board of commissioners, drove to Tomy's East Ancol house in North Jakarta. Pak Ci--as he is familiarly called--was "invited" by Tomy to the house. Ciputra asked Daryanto Mangoenpratolo, an independent commissioner of TIM Tbk, and Leonardi Kusen, the company's CEO, to come along. The three were received by Tomy, who was dressed in boxer shorts and white T-shirt, in the fitness room of his very large home. Tomy inquired about the report Getting Burned which appeared in TEMPO's March 4 edition. Ciputra explained that he was not involved with the magazine's editorial activities. Leonardi further clarified the policy of separating the business from the editorial activities. The person responsible for the business side is the CEO while the one in charge of the news is t...

A number of `troubled' politicians are looking for a way to extend their stay at the DPR. Some of them have founded new political parties. WHAT'S been happening with the politicians whose parties did not meet the electoral threshold in the 1999 General Election, or were given the boot by their party? Well, they haven't given up yet, that's for sure. Take Abdul Qadir Jaelani, for instance. You won't always find him at the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) in Senayan, Jakarta. These days, he spends most of his time at the headquarters of his new party, the Al-Islam Indonesia Party, located on Jalan Haji Awaluddin in Tanah Abang. He is presently preoccupied with coming up with the right strategy to ensure the future of his party. He needs branch party offices in two-thirds of Indonesia's provinces and regencies, a necessary prerequisite in order to take part in the 2004 General Election. This former chairman of the Jihad Command of the Indonesian Muslim Com...

Sejumlah politikus "bermasalah" mencari jalan untuk tetap berada di Senayan. Ada yang mendirikan partai baru. APA kabar para politikus yang pada Pemilu 1999 partainya tidak mencapai ketentuan electoral threshold atau ditendang oleh partainya? Mereka belum menyerah. Lihatlah Abdul Qadir Jaelani. Ia tak melulu berada di Gedung DPR RI di Senayan. Kini sebagian besar waktunya diluangkan di markas partainya yang baru, Partai Al-Islam Indonesia, di Jalan Haji Awaluddin, kawasan Tanah Abang. Ia sibuk menyusun strategi agar partainya bisa memenuhi kuota dua pertiga jumlah cabang di provinsi dan kabupaten, untuk ikut Pemilu 2004. Bekas Ketua Komando Jihad Umat Islam Seluruh Indonesia (1966-1967) ini memang tak sendirian. Beberapa politikus di Senayan seperti Hartono Mardjono, Gregorius Seto Harianto, Manase Malo, Abdul Kholiq Ahmad, juga mengalami nasib serupa. Ketentuan electoral threshold memaksa mereka meninggalkan partai lama untuk membuat partai baru atau melakukan aliansi. Jaela...

A number of TNI officers are accused of involvement in crimes against humanity in Timor Leste. What were their `sins'? BAUCAU, 150 kilometers east of East Timor capital Dili. Dozens of domestic and foreign journalists gather in the jungle at the edge of town. On that day, August 18, 1999, Forcas Armados de Libertacao Nacional de Timor Leste (Falintil), the East Timor Freedom Army, assembled journalists for a press conference to celebrate their 24th anniversary. The eyes of the world turned to that location. Away from the eyes of journalists, on the same day, a special plane carrying President B.J. Habibie's party landed at Dili's Komoro airport. Traveling with the president were ABRI (Indonesian Armed Forces) commander Gen. Wiranto, commander of the Udayana Area Military Command Maj. Gen. Rachmat Damiri and several other officers. That afternoon, the group from Jakarta met with approximately 150 pro-autonomy (meaning pro-Jakarta) militias at the Dharma Wanita Building in Di...

A United Nations body in Timor Leste has charged several Indonesian generals with human rights violations following the independence referendum. But Xanana Gusmao does not support the move. THE man with a disturbed expression came down the airplane steps. He did not look up, and there was not a trace of a smile on his face. With the sun beating down on Dili's Nocolau Lobato Airport, the Timor Leste President, Ray Kala Xanana Gusmao, was clearly not happy. Last Friday, near the steps of the Merpati Nusantara Airlines plane that had brought him from Bali, he coolly greeted several Timor Leste officials, among them Prime Minister Mari Alklatiri, speaker of the national parliament Gutteres and Foreign Minister Ramos Horta. Several ministers, journalists and airport officials held their breaths. "The president is very angry," whispered a journalist in the local Tetun language. President Xanana, 57, was deeply disappointed. While attending the Conference of Non-Aligned Countrie...

Oleh: Ahmad Taufik, Wartawan Majalah TEMPO Prolog Peristiwa yang terjadi pada hari Sabtu, 8 Maret 2003, telah menodai kemanusiaan dan kehidupan yang beradab di negeri ini. Sekelompok orang dengan uang yang dimilikinya mengerahkan massa, menteror dan berbuat sewenang-wenang. Aparat keamanan (polisi) juga tidak berdaya, dan dipermalukan di depan masyarakat (minimal saksi mata dan saksi korban). Apa yang akan saya ceritakan disini adalah kronologi penyerbuan yang tak beradab dan penyelesaian akhir yang terputus. Saya sebagai saksi mata, saksi pelaku sekaligus saksi korban (yang mendengar, melihat dan merasakan kejadian). Saya akan klasifikasikan secara terbuka dalam laporan ini: apa itu informasi, yang saya lihat, saya dengar, saya rasakan, analisa atau kesimpulan. Soal kata akhir terserah masing-masing pihak yang tersangkut disini, karena saya tidak bisa terima dan sekaligus tertekan secara psikis. Inilah laporan lengkapnya: Rabu, 5 Maret 2003 Saya ditelepon oleh Desmon J.Mahesa, kuasa h...

ABOUT 120 vehicles from Tasikmalaya, West Java, did not set out on their usual supply run. The vehicles, which transport embroidery from 400 or so businesses, did not depart for Jakarta's Tanah Abang Market after it was consumed by fire on Wednesday, two weeks ago. Truly unfortunate, for the fire on February 19--which burned down about 3,400 of the market's 7,638 kiosks--was an ill-fated omen for the Indonesian textile industry. Tanah Abang holds a strategic position in the national textile market. According to Adi Sasono, an advisor to the Indonesian Cooperatives Board, about 80 percent of its goods are sold in domestic markets. The rest, 20 percent, enter the export market--going mostly to Nigeria. Supp- liers and traders at the market come from a number of regions. Centers of textile production which greatly depend on Tanah Abang include, among others, Tasikmalaya (West Java) and Pekalongan (Central Java). These regions supply large amounts of fabric to produce the turnover ...

BAUCAU, 150 kilometer ke arah timur dari ibu kota Provinsi Timor Timur, Dili. Puluhan wartawan dalam dan luar negeri berkumpul di sebuah hutan di pinggiran kota. Hari itu, 18 Agustus 1999, Forcas Armados de Libertacao Nacional de Timor Leste (Falintil), tentara pembebasan Timor Timur, mengumpulkan wartawan dalam sebuah konferensi pers untuk merayakan hari ulang tahun mereka yang ke-24. Mata seluruh dunia menatap ke tempat itu. Luput dari pengamatan juru warta, pada hari yang sama, pesawat khusus yang membawa rombongan Presiden B.J. Habibie mendarat di Bandar Udara Comoro, Dili. Ikut bersama Presiden: Panglima ABRI Jenderal Wiranto, Panglima Daerah Militer Udayana Mayjen Adam Rachmat Damiri, dan sejumlah perwira lainnya. Sore harinya, rombongan dari Jakarta itu bertemu dengan sekitar 150 komandan milisi pro-otonomi di Gedung Dharma Wanita Dili. Seorang anggota milisi Tim-Tim pro-integrasi yang hadir dalam pertemuan tersebut memberikan kesaksian penting. Pemerintah Jakarta melalui Presid...

SEKITAR 120 mobil asal Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat, Rabu dua pekan lalu urung bergerak. Mobil yang mengangkut aneka bordir milik 400-an pengusaha itu tak jadi meneruskan perjalanan ke Jakarta setelah Pasar Tanah Abang, yang menjadi tujuan ekspedisi dagang, dilalap api. Sial benar, kebakaran 19 Februari yang menghanguskan sekitar 3.400 dari total 7.638 kios itu memberikan sinyal buruk bagi dunia industri tekstil kita. Tanah Abang punya posisi strategis dalam pasar tekstil nasional. Menurut penasihat Dewan Koperasi Indonesia, Adi Sasono, sekitar 80 persen barang dari sini dijual di pasar dalam negeri. Sisanya, 20 persen, masuk ke pasar ekspor--saat ini yang terbanyak ke Nigeria. Para pemasok dan pedagang di sini datang dari berbagai daerah. Sentra produksi tekstil yang sangat bergantung pada Tanah Abang antara lain Tasikmalaya (Jawa Barat) dan Pekalongan (Jawa Tengah). Daerah itu menyuplai bahan cukup besar bagi perputaran uang di Tanah Abang, yang omzet tahunannya bisa mencapai Rp 15 triliu...

TERTATA rapi, cermat, kronologis, lembaran-lembaran dalam bundel itu seakan bercerita tentang periode-periode paling mendebarkan dalam sejarah diplomasi Indonesia untuk Timor Timur--provinsi termuda yang lepas dari Indonesia sejak Agustus 1999. Adalah Ali Alatas, diplomat senior dan mantan Menteri Luar Negeri RI--selama tiga periode, di bawah dua presiden--yang menata seluruh catatan tersebut. Isinya adalah upaya diplomatik dan notula rapat kabinet tentang Timor Timur (kini Republik Timor Loro Sa'e), yang sudah terhapus dari peta Indonesia sejak hampir empat tahun silam. Bundel dokumen itu menjadi amat berarti ketika pekan-pekan ini Ali Alatas muncul di persidangan sebagai saksi kasus pelanggaran hak asasi manusia di Timor Timur. Menyeret beberapa petinggi Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI)--Jenderal (Purnawirawan) Wiranto, antara lain--kasus ini menyita perhatian nasional dan dunia internasional. Ali duduk di kursi saksi di Pengadilan Ad Hoc Hak Asasi Manusia di Jakarta Pusat dua pe...