Spotlight on Indonesia-East Timor
Student shot dead by police in Kalimantan
A series of peaceful protests at the parliament in the provincial capital of West Kalimantan, Pontianak, has forced the postponement of a meeting to accept or reject the annual accountability speech of the governor, Aspar Aswin. A rejection would lead to dismissal.
Calls for Aswin's resignation have redoubled since a student protester was shot dead on June 14. Critics accuse Aswin of being unable to resolve ethnic conflicts in the province and that he is a "product of the old regime".
Union offices attacked
On June 28, the offices of the Indonesian Prosperity Labor Union (SBSI) in Medan, North Sumatra, were attacked by a mob of assailants wearing vests with the emblem of the Indonesian Workers Union Federation (FSPSI).
SBSI was established by well-know labour activist Muchtar Pakpahan. FSPSI is the post-Suharto incarnation of the SPSI, a yellow trade union set up during the Suharto New Order period.
The incident occurred after SBSI members joined in a peaceful protest of some 500 workers from PT Golgon who were demanding a pay rise. Detik said that the management of PT Golgon "deployed" scores of FSPSI members to disperse the demonstrators, who then attacked the SBSI offices.
Timor's Belo demands end to family planning programs
According to a June 27 report by the Portugese news service Lusa, Catholic Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, East Timor's spiritual leader, has written to the United Nations administration and foreign health aid groups demanding a stop to the use of "artificial" family planning methods in the territory.
In a letter dated June 22, the bishop, a Nobel Peace Price winner, said the propagation and provision of family planning methods, such as condoms and day-after pills, were "totally unacceptable" in the predominantly Roman Catholic territory. Timorese women's organizations and health aid groups, contacted by Lusa, criticised Belo's initiative.
Mining firms face increasing popular resistance
On June 27, Canada's Newmont Mining Corp. said it had evacuated women, children and non-essential staff from its gold mine in North Sulawesi after "intimidation" by protesting locals who have blockaded the site. The protesters are former landowners who are demanding higher compensation for the land used by the mine. The mine was not able to restart operations until July 3.
In May, gold and silver mining company PT Kelian Equatorial Mining, owned by Rio Tinto, was forced to temporarily halt production and evacuate workers from its site in East Kalimantan after protesters seeking land compensation blockaded all access roads to the site.
The giant Freeport gold and copper mine in West Papua has also been dogged by protests by locals and environmental groups and was ordered by the government to temporarily cut production.
[Visit Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor's web site at .]