Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution does not explicitly forbid discrimination based on gender, race, disability, language, or social status. It provides for equal rights for all citizens, both native and naturalized. In practice, however, the Government failed to defend these rights adequately, and the basic rights of women and children were frequently abused. The Government did little to defend the rights of persons with disabilities.

Women

Violence against women remained poorly documented, and NGOs estimated that only 15 percent of domestic violence incidents were reported. On July 17, the Minister of Women's Empowerment said the number of domestic violence incidents had increased 29 percent from the previous year. The NGO Mitra Perempuan reported 111 cases of domestic violence in Jakarta and its suburbs during the first half of the year. In September Jakarta's biggest hospital, Cipto Mangunkusumo, admitted 72 women injured in domestic violence. It was unknown how many spouses were prosecuted for domestic violence due to the fact that police refused to provide relevant information. The UPC studied the problem of domestic violence and concluded that domestic violence was more common than before the 1997-98 financial crisis. Two types of crisis centers were available to women in distress: Government-run centers in hospitals and NGO centers operated in the community.

Rape is an offense punishable by 4 to 12 years in jail, and the Government jailed perpetrators for rape and attempted rape. Comprehensive statistics were unavailable, but in the month of September alone, Cipto Mangunkusumo admitted 56 women and 96 girls who were raped and 106 girls who were assaulted sexually. Women's rights activists speculated that these figures were lower than actual occurrences of rape because the social stigma associated with rape resulted in the underreporting of rape. The law does not treat rape by a spouse as a crime, and requires penile penetration to constitute rape. A women's activist in Aceh said that on several occasions during the year, soldiers used bottles and other foreign objects to violate local women; however, legally this was not considered rape, and no one had been held accountable by year's end.

Rapes committed by members of the security forces were most numerous in Aceh and other conflict zones (see Section 1.c.). In the Papuan provincial capital of Jayapura, human rights activists said at least 82 documented crimes against women and children were committed during the year, including 8 rapes by soldiers or police. A senior police official in Jayapura, however, denied that any of his officers had committed rape. At some police stations the burden of rape was placed on the victims, with posters that exhorted women not to wear revealing clothing lest they be raped.

During the year, some Acehnese women turned down marriage proposals by security force members, only to have their parents threatened. Women who did become engaged to security force members sometimes became targets for GAM rebels.

Women made some progress during the year in promoting awareness of crimes against women. In July in Jayapura, Papua, LBH held an interactive program over national radio, during which rape was discussed. A police representative took part in the dialog.

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, was practiced in some parts of the country. The NGO Population Council Indonesia carried out an 18-month study of the nature and scope of FGM, mainly in West Java and on the island of Madura. Researchers found that although FGM was prevalent in those areas, the preliminary findings suggested minimal short-term pain, suffering, and complications. Two types of people performed the procedure: midwives and local traditional practitioners. Researchers said the midwives' procedure involved the tearing, cutting or piercing of part of the genitals, but not the removal of tissue. Most of the local traditional practitioners, on the other hand, said they customarily removed tissue, but the extent of this removal remained unclear. Likewise, it was unclear whether the removed tissue was from the clitoris, labia minora, or elsewhere. Some NGO activists dismissed any claims of mutilation, saying the ritual as practiced in the country was largely symbolic, and involved softly touching a young girl with a metal blade, or at worst, nicking her.

During the year there were reports that in some areas of the country, parents encouraged their daughters to work as prostitutes in large urban areas.

Trafficking in women and young girls was a serious problem (see Section 6.f.).

Sexual harassment was not a crime, but "indecent behavior" was illegal. The law reportedly only covers physical abuse and requires two witnesses.

The Guidelines of State Policy, legal statutes adopted by the MPR, explicitly state that women have the same rights, obligations, and opportunities as men. However, the guidelines also state that women's participation in the development process must not conflict with their role in improving family welfare and the education of the younger generation. Marriage law designates the man as the head of the family.

Divorce was a legal option open to both men and women. Muslims who sought a divorce generally had to turn to the Islam-based family court system. Non-Muslims obtained divorce through the national court system. Women often faced a heavier evidentiary burden than men, especially in the family court system. Many divorcees received no alimony, as there was no system to enforce alimony payments. The Citizenship Law states that a child's citizenship is derived solely from the father. Children of citizen mothers and foreign fathers were considered foreigners, and required visas to remain in the country until 18, at which age they could apply for citizenship. These children were prohibited from attending public schools, and many were forced to attend private international schools. In cases in which a citizen mother lived abroad with her foreign husband, a break-up sometimes caused severe child custody problems. The children of foreign women married to Indonesian men also faced difficulties. A foreign woman married to a citizen could obtain Indonesian citizenship after 1 year, if she desired.

In Papua, as part of the province's Special Autonomy status, 30 percent of seats in the proposed Papuan People's Council were slated for women. The Council, however, had not been formed yet, and Papua's provincial legislature did not pass implementing regulations in support of the Special Autonomy Program by year's end.

In Aceh there was no compelling evidence to suggest that women's rights were undermined when the province gained authority to implement Shari'a during the year. However, in January police in Banda Aceh stopped a number of women who were riding on motorbikes and not wearing headscarves. If the woman was a Muslim, the police gave her a headscarf, but did not force her to wear it. This practice did not last long. Women's rights activists reportedly succeeded in halting a plan to create a scarf compulsory zone elsewhere in Banda Aceh.

Women suffered disproportionately from poor health and illiteracy. According to UNICEF, the illiteracy rate among women was 18 percent, compared to 8 percent among men.

A number of regulations that discriminate against women remained in place during the year. At a May 22 forum in Jakarta on the role of the military, an activist criticized the TNI's longstanding practice of requiring female applicants to the military academy to prove they were virgins; males were not asked to meet this requirement.

Although some women had a high degree of economic and social freedom, most remained at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. The Government stated that 38 percent of civil servants were women, but that only 14 percent of these women held positions of authority. Despite laws that provide women with 3 months of maternity leave, employers sometimes replaced pregnant women while they were on leave from their jobs.

In manufacturing, employers traditionally steered female workers toward lower-paying, lower-level jobs. Many female factory workers were hired as day laborers instead of as full-time permanent employees, and companies were not required to provide benefits, such as maternity leave, to day laborers. According to the government's Central Statistics Bureau, in May 2002, the unemployment rate for men was higher than that for women. If a husband and wife both work for a government agency, the couple's head-of-household allowance is given to the husband. There were reports that female university graduates received an average salary that was 25 percent less than their male counterparts.

The Indonesian Women's Association for Justice facilitated public awareness programs in Jakarta to educate young women regarding the dangers of trafficking. The NGO Mitra Perempuan operated a hotline to record abuse cases and help abused women. There were many other NGOs that addressed women's issues, including Yayasan Humi Inana and the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC). 

Children

The Government stated its commitment to children's rights, education, and welfare, but devoted insufficient resources to fulfill that commitment. Poverty put education out of the reach for many children. Child labor and sexual abuse were serious problems during the year (see Sections 6.d. and 6.f.). Among girls aged 7 to 12, 7 percent, or 923,000, did not attend school. Although girls and boys ostensibly received equal educational opportunities, boys were more likely to finish school. Hairiah, a noted rights activist in West Kalimantan, said many parents could not afford to educate all of their children, and concentrated their resources on their sons.

The Government estimated the number of prostitutes under the age of 18 at 49,500, but the actual number may have been much higher. At the country's biggest red light district, in Surabaya, 40 percent of the prostitutes were under the age of 18. Malnutrition was a growing problem, and more than 70,000 children lived on the streets (see Sections 6.d. and 6.f.).

The Government made some progress in protecting children during the year. On August 13, the President approved a National Action Plan on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. The plan consisted of 5-, 10- and 20-year goals that included raising awareness, policy development, and intervention to eliminate the worst forms of child labor (see Section 6.d.). On September 23, the DPR passed the National Child Protection Act, which addresses economic and sexual exploitation, including child prostitution, trafficking in children, and the involvement of children in the narcotics trade. The

legislation also covers adoption, guardianship, and custody, and requires parents who wish to adopt to practice the same religion as the child. The Ministry of Women's Empowerment, responsible for children's issues, opened up the bill to NGO input. On August 16, President Megawati announced the upcoming education budget, which was $1.46 billion (13.6 trillion rupiah), or less than 4 percent of total Government spending. Education experts welcomed the 15 percent increase over the previous year's allocation; however, legislators and officials of the Ministry of National Education stated they would seek a significant additional increase. In August the MPR amended the Constitution to stipulate that a minimum of 20 percent of total state and regional budgets would be allocated to education.

By law children are required to attend 6 years of elementary school and 3 years of junior high school. In practice, however, the Government did not enforce these requirements. According to UNICEF, 96 percent of children aged 7 to 12 were enrolled in school; among children aged 13 to 15, 79 percent were enrolled in school; and among children aged 16 to 18, 49 percent were enrolled in school.

The monthly fees for public schools varied from province to province, and were based on average incomes. During the year, some parents found it more difficult to afford the $1.20 (10,650 rupiah) to $5.00 (44,374 rupiah) monthly fee that most public elementary schools charged. It was unclear how many children were forced to leave school during the year to help support their families. Conflicts disrupted the education of many children during the year.

In Maluku and North Maluku, interreligious violence displaced 452,000 persons, many of them children. Some children attended classes in makeshift classrooms at IDP camps. In August in the Maluku capital of Ambon, UNICEF introduced its "school in a box" system to help compensate for the destruction of 118 schools. Muslim-controlled areas reported a severe shortage of teachers, as a majority of teachers in the Moluccas were Christian, and many of them fled to Christian controlled areas when the violence escalated. In Central Sulawesi, bombings near schools disrupted education and displaced many of the children. The provincial capital of Palu suffered a number of such bombings, including two on September 19, which injured three persons. Clashes among student groups also drew increased scrutiny during the year.

The country's infant mortality rate remained high. According to the Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation, there were 38 deaths for every 1,000 newborns during year. Some NGOs attributed the problem to poor service at public health centers. The World Health Organization stated that prenatal care in the country was poor.

Malnutrition remained a serious problem, particularly among younger children. In 2001 UNICEF stated that 31 percent of the country's children under the age of five were moderately or severely underweight. This figure represented an increase from 26 percent recorded in 1999.

On July 29, Aris Merdeka Sirait, the Head of the National Committee for Child Protection (KOMNAS PA), called attention to the plight of child domestic workers. He estimated the child servant population at 1.8 million, based on 2000 data, and said such children faced sexual harassment and physical abuse by employers, due mainly to the absence of any legal protection (see Section 6.d.).

In December a study by Family Health International (FHI) estimated the number of street children nationwide at 70,872.  This was based on data provided by the Government and a network of NGOs that cooperate with Save the Children. Other sources provided higher estimates. East Java, Jakarta, West Java, North Sumatra, and South Sulawesi Provinces have the largest street children populations (see Section 6.f.).

Child abuse is not prohibited specifically by law; however, there were no reliable sources on violence within families. Governmental efforts to combat child abuse have been slow and ineffective due to cultural sensitivities and a lack of monitoring mechanisms and verification.

Accusations of trafficking surrounded some East Timorese children who were in West Timor waiting to be reunited with their families. The UNHCR stated that as of early October, approximately 540 East Timorese children were still in West Timor. Many of the trafficking accusations focused on the Java-based Hati Foundation run by Octavio Soares, nephew of the last Governor of Indonesian East Timor. On July 4, Jesuit Relief Services (JRS) Indonesia reportedly complained to authorities that the Hati Foundation was obstructing its attempts to reunite East Timorese children with their families, which the Hati Foundation denied. HRW reported that requests for reunification of the children by the parents, UNHCR, and the IRC were met with hostile resistance by Soares. Other accusations centered on the Lemorai Foundation run by Hasan Basri (see Sections 2.d and 6.f).

Child prostitution was pervasive during the year. NGO estimates of the number of child sex workers in the country ranged from 40,000 to 300,000. Although some teenage girls entered the sex trade knowingly, many were forced or tricked into the practice. At times law enforcement officials treated child sex workers as perpetrators of crime, rather than victims. The NGOs stated that fewer than 10 percent of child prostitutes were rehabilitated successfully. Women's rights activists and religious groups accused government officials, including police and soldiers, of operating or protecting brothels that employed underage prostitutes. During the year, there were reports that corrupt civil servants issued identity cards to underage girls, facilitating entry into the sex trade (see Section 6.f.).

Sexual exploitation of boys was a major problem in Bali, according to NGOs active there. On July 24, in the city of Denpasar, 37 local NGOs discussed the problem and urged the Government to deport foreign pedophiles. Activists also described the island of Batam as a center for child sexual abuse. On July 17, the Minister of Women's Empowerment identified Medan and other parts of Sumatra as trouble spots for child sexual abuse (see Section 6.f.).

Trafficking of children was a problem (see Section 6.f.).

There was no separate criminal justice system for juveniles. Ordinary courts handled juvenile crime, and juveniles often were imprisoned with adult offenders. The KOMNAS PA stated that more courts were starting to involve social workers in children's trials to safeguard children's rights. At year's end, the Government still had not implemented a Juvenile Justice Law, which was approved in 1997 to establish a special court system and criminal code to handle juvenile cases.

A number of NGOs promoted children's rights. The National Commission for the Protection of Children's Rights (KOMNAS ANAK) campaigned for legislation to protect children. Save The Children worked with street children, while the Institute for Advocacy of Children (Lembaga Advokasi Anak Indonesia) struggled to end child exploitation on fishing platforms.

Persons with Disabilities

The law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities; however, the Government generally did not enforce these provisions. The Disability Law requires companies that employ over 100 workers to set aside 1 percent of their positions for persons with disabilities. However, the Government did not enforce the law or pressure any company to comply, and persons with disabilities faced considerable discrimination. The law also mandates accessibility to public facilities for persons with disabilities; however, extremely few buildings and virtually no public transportation facilities provided such accessibility. Recent statistics on the disabled population were not available. In 1999 the U.N. estimated that 5.43 percent of the population (about 10 million persons) was disabled, while the Government put the number at 3 percent (6 million persons). The Government groups persons with disabilities into four categories: the blind, deaf, mentally disabled, and physically disabled. The Constitution requires the Government to provide them with care; however, "care" was not defined, and the provision of education to disabled children was never inferred from the requirement.

On May 20, hundreds of supporters of an advocacy group, the Forum of Struggle for the Disabled (Forpadi), rallied in the West Java city of Bandung; they accused government institutions and state universities of failing to provide facilities for the disabled. In October a workshop in Jakarta focused on political empowerment of the disabled. Members of the Indonesian Blind People's Association (Pertuni) and the Indonesian Disabled Association (PPCI), among others, called for revisions to the election bill to protect the rights of the disabled. Some called on the Government to provide ballot papers in braille. Facilities such as wheelchair ramps existed mainly in the larger cities, including Jakarta and Yogyakarta. On July 1, eight blind applicants to the University of Indonesia took the entrance examination in Jakarta; it was unclear whether any had been accepted at year's end. However, the Indonesian Union of the Blind (PERTUNI) stated there were a number of blind students studying during the year at public universities, including Jakarta State University.

The law theoretically provides children with disabilities the right to an education and rehabilitative treatment. However, many young persons with disabilities encountered difficulties in receiving an education and rehabilitative treatment; some resorted to begging for a living. According to a UNICEF report in 2000, there were approximately 2 million children with disabilities between 10 and 14 years of age.

NGOs were the primary providers of education for disabled children. There were 1,084 schools for persons with disabilities; 680 were private and 404 were government operated. Of the government schools, 165 were "integrated," serving both regular and special education students. The Government also ran three national schools for those with visual, hearing, and mental disabilities.

Indigenous People

The Government views all citizens as "indigenous," with the notable exception of ethnic Chinese; however, it recognizes the existence of several "isolated communities" and their right to participate fully in political and social life. The Government estimated the number of persons in isolated communities at 1.5 million. This included such groups as the Dayaks of Kalimantan, families living as sea nomads near Riau Province and South Sulawesi Province, and indigenous groups in Papua, where the Government in July revised the official count of tribes from 250 to 312.

Previous improvements in the legal framework, such as the government's acknowledgement of traditional land rights, did not translate into significant improvements for indigenous people, who remained subject to widespread discrimination during the year. Representatives of indigenous communities complained that religious courts continued to deny the legal status of indigenous belief systems. NGOs stated that mining and logging activities frequently violated the rights of indigenous people, and that many violations resulted from the Government denying indigenous people their ownership of ancestral land, as well as the erosion of their traditional social structure.

Exploitation of rainforest resources contributed to the erosion of traditional land rights, particularly in Papua and Kalimantan. The Government failed to stop domestic and multinational companies from encroaching on indigenous people's land, often in collusion with the local military and police. On May 16, the Head of Papua's Social Welfare Office said excessive logging was pushing at least 51 isolated tribes living in eastern parts of the province to near extinction. Logging companies drove the tribes to mountainous areas around the Mamberamo River. On April 22, in Central Sulawesi, more than 100 indigenous people protested plans by a subsidiary of a multinational mining company to open a gold mine on land traditionally inhabited by the Poboya people, in the Kambuno mountains. In July the Government accused copper and gold mine operator PT Freeport of polluting two Papuan rivers that served as a water source for thousands of indigenous people near the towns of Tembagapura and Timika.

In Southeast Sulawesi, the Moronene people continued their decades-old struggle to secure government recognition of their claim to ancestral land in what is now the Rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park. On May 1, the Brimob raided the villages of Hukaea and Laea, detained 11 residents, and relocated 147 others. The Moronene, however, soon returned to their villages. Plans to permanently relocate them were hindered by the fact that the land set aside for them already was occupied by other civilians.

In Papua tension continued between indigenous Papuans and migrants from other provinces. Some in the indigenous community accused the newcomers of price gouging and condescension, while some newcomers said indigenous Papuans treated them with resentment and suspicion. During the year, many indigenous Papuans expressed alarm over the influx of migrants who were displaced by violence in the Moluccas and Central Sulawesi. Some indigenous people also expressed concern about the increasing presence of LJ, the Java based Islamic extremist group, fearing that its members would team up with nationalist militiamen to fight proindependence Papuans under the banner of protecting Muslims and the country's unity.

On January 1, the Papua Special Autonomy Law took effect, formally giving the province the right of self-governance, except in the fields of foreign affairs, defense, some monetary matters and judicial appeals. Under the law, only indigenous Papuans can be elected as Governor and Vice Governor, or as members of the planned Papua People's Assembly or the existing regional legislature, the Papuan Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD). Although the central government considered the law generous, many Papuans were skeptical of any arrangement that kept their homeland a part of the country. Many Papuans continued to complain they were treated as second-class citizens in their own land and that they were forced to follow a foreign culture. By year's end, the DPRD had not passed most of the law's implementing regulations, and the effect of special autonomy was unclear.

Human rights activists stated that the government-sponsored transmigration program violated the rights of indigenous people, bred social resentment, and encouraged the exploitation of natural resources on which many indigenous persons relied. Some human rights activists said the Government used transmigration as a political tool to increase the number of nonindigenous persons in certain areas, in part to preclude secessionist movements. In some areas, such as parts of Sulawesi, the Moluccas, Kalimantan, Aceh, and Papua, relations between transmigrants and indigenous people were hostile. In December in Papua, an OPM unit attacked a migrant settlement and raised the separatist flag until TNI reinforcements arrived. Indigenous groups in various parts of the country said they received less government support than transmigrants, and transmigrants claimed that in some cases they were moved to areas with undesirable land, or where the land's ownership was in dispute.

Tensions continued in West and Central Kalimantan between indigenous Dayaks and Madurese migrants over land issues, economic opportunity, and cultural differences (see Section 1.a.). The Madurese community in Kalimantan developed around an earlier group of government-sponsored transmigrants, although the majority of Madurese in the area migrated spontaneously. In West Kalimantan, an estimated 30,000 Madurese were unable to return home during the year. On May 26, the decapitation of a 65-year-old Madurese man prompted the exodus of dozens of ethnic Madurese families from the Kapuas district of Central Kalimantan. It was unclear who was responsible for the killing. The People's Congress of Central Kalimantan advised the Madurese who had fled to wait between 5 and 25 years before returning.

Members of the Betawi ethnic group, which is indigenous to Jakarta, clashed on several occasions with ethnic Madurese during the year. In one such clash on July 15, fighting in the city's Cakung district left three persons with stab wounds and a number of homes destroyed.

National /Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The Government officially promotes racial and ethnic tolerance.

Ethnic Chinese accounted for approximately 3 percent of the population, by far the largest nonindigenous minority group, and played a major role in the economy. During the year, there were instances of discrimination and harassment. In July in the East Java regency of Garut, an ethnic Chinese businessman reportedly borrowed money from a number of persons, including police and soldiers, but when he was unable to repay his debts, regency officials summoned representatives of the Chinese community and informed them that the community would have to cover the debts. Central government officials later demanded an explanation from the regency officials, and a Chinese community organization, Paguyuban Marga Tionghoa, lodged a complaint.

To obtain a passport, business license, or credit card, or to enroll a child in school, a Chinese-Indonesian must first show a Republic of Indonesia Citizenship Certificate (SBKRI), a document not required of non-Chinese-Indonesians. This requirement provided an extortion opportunity for the many bureaucratic institutions involved in the issuance process. In May a controversy surfaced after a Chinese-Indonesian badminton champion was unable to obtain an SBKRI, which he needed to travel to China to compete. Only the President's personal intervention enabled him to obtain the SBKRI and to participate in the competition.

The Indonesia Anti-Discrimination Movement (GANDI) and other advocacy groups urged the Government to repeal dozens of laws that discriminate against Chinese-Indonesians, including one which prevents mixed-religion marriages.

Chinese language books and music were freely available, and Chinese songs often were heard on radio and TV (see Section 2.a.).

During the year, some Chinese-Indonesians complained that the Government had not done enough to investigate the 1998 violence against Chinese-Indonesians and their businesses.

Indigenous Papuans complained that they were underrepresented in the civil service of that province and that government officials discriminated against them. Others expressed fear that the Brimob forces aimed to eradicate indigenous Papuans; however, there were no reports during the year of politically motivated killings.

In Kalimantan, indigenous Dayaks faced discrimination in obtaining civil service jobs and generally were worse off economically than transmigrants. Ethnic Madurese transmigrants, who had clashed frequently with Dayaks in the province, complained that they were driven off of their land and that the Government seemed uninterested in their plight.