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Financing
Human Rights Violations in Indonesia
Part I -
November 20, 2000
Companies which directly or indirectly financed military
and paramilitary operations to repress pro-democracy and
pro-independence activism in Indonesia and East Timor
By George J. Aditjondro
INTRODUCTION:
THE November 8-10, 2000 crack down on pro-referendum
demonstrators in Acheh, in which more than 100 people were
killed by the military (TNI) and police (Polri), is the
latest example how the Indonesian state has responded to
peaceful pro-democracy and pro-independence activism in
Indonesia and East Timor during the last decade. While
violence has become a daily occurance in Acheh, thousands of
miles to the east, in the Maluku archipelago, between 4,000
and 10,000 people have died during the last two years in a
sectarian war fueled by the military and their proxies,
Muslim militants who have ironically turned their faces away
from the slaughter of innocent Muslims in Acheh (Aditjondro
2000b).
This raises the question: how could Indonesia, an
economically bankrupt state whose leaders are courting the
World Bank and the IMF to finance its economic recovery to
the extent of sacrificing the wellfare of Indonesia's poor,
finance all those violent, repressive acts?
This question has currently become more relevant with the
revelation by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group
(ICG), that: "The military, through business
enterprises and other means, raises funds to cover around 75
per cent of its expenditures. These fund-raising activities
are generally not subject to public scrutiny: military
commanders have access to large sums of money that could be
used to finance future political manoeuvres" (ICG 2000:
iii).
Speaking about political manoeuvres, or political
manoeuvring, one certainly have to raise the prevalence of
political thuggery (premanisme politik ), a legacy of the
Soeharto and Habibie regimes, of which the current
Wahid-Megawati regime has not freed itself. Three groups
formed or solidified during the last decade of Soeharto's
rule need to mentioned specifically, namely Pemuda Pancasila,
the 'Tidar boys', and the Tebas Taskforce (Satgas Tebas) (Aditjondro
2000a).
Pemuda Pancasila:
Pemuda Pancasila , or Pancasila Youth, Indonesia's largest
organisation of political thugs is led by Yapto Suryosumarno,
is close friend of the Soeharto kids, being also the son of
a retired general and also a member of the Mangkunegara
court in Solo (Central Java), to which the late Mrs. Tien
Suharto and currently, Tommy Suharto's wife, are related.
This organisation is quite notorious among Indonesian
pro-democracy activists for doing the dirty work for the
military. Many pro-democracy leaders have felt the brunt of
Pemuda Pancasila thugs, who have attacked their
public rallies and attempted to turn peaceful demonstrations
into violent riots.
The Tidar Boys:
Then, during the last years of Soeharto's rule, his
loyalists among the Indonesian army, especially the Kopassus
clique of General Prabowo Subianto, began to form vigilante
groups of civilians who were trained and led by drop outs
from the Indonesian military academy in Magelang, Central
Java. This 'Tidar Group', named after the famous hill in the
center of the military academy, mobilized members of various
martial art groups in Java to join this network, facilitated
by General Prabowo's position as Kopassus commander and
patron of a martial art group, Satria Muda Indonesia (SMI)
as well as patron of the Indonesian martial arts
association, IPSI (Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia).
Eventually, students at various Muslim boarding schools and
various Islamic congregations known as majelis taklim
were also engaged in Prabowo's vigilante network, together
with East Timorese and West Papuans to whom he lent his
patronage. Their operations were funded by Bambang
Trihatmodjo's Bimantara Group, as well as by the Suharto
cronies within the state corporations.
Satgas Tebas:
In the second semester of 1998, these vigilante groups were
joined by another network formed by Soeharto's eldest
daughter, Ms. Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, aka "Tutut",
which operated under the umbrella of YAKMI (Yayasan
Kesejahteraan Masyarakat Indonesia), a new charity formed by
Ms. Rukmana and a crony of the Suharto family, Abdul Gafur
in May 1998. These two networks -- the Tidar Boys and the
YAKMI volunteers -- provided many of the so-called
'self-help civilian guards' (PAM Swakarsa), which were
involved in demonstrations against the student activists who
demanded the trial of Soeharto & Co, after Soeharto's
handpicked successor, B.J. Habibie, came into power.
Together with the main organisation of political thugs,
Pemuda Pancasila (Pancasila Youth) and the network of
militant anti-Communist, anti-Christian and anti-Chinese
Muslim clerics groomed by Prabowo Subianto, these various
vigilante groups have increasingly been involved in
fomenting so-called 'horizontal conflicts' in 'Inner
Indonesia' as well as in discrediting anti-Jakarta
independence movements in East Timor, West Papua and Acheh.
As if these militia, paramilitary groups, or 'private
armies' were not enough to repress the upswelling demands
for greater democracy in Indonesia - and independence in
East Timor, West Papua and Acheh - the interim presidency of
B.J. Habibie saw the birth of Muslim militant groups, which
range from the Front Pembela Islam (FPI) which mainly
operates in Java (see Simanjuntak 2000: 54-55, 113-117) to
the Lasykar Jihad (Holy War Fighters)
which were deployed to Maluku (Aditjondro 2000b).
This nasty development has again its roots in the last
decade of Soeharto's dictatorship (Aditjondro 2000a). After
indications that the Indonesian armed forces (ABRI) were no
more solidly supporting his presidency and when movements
within the civil society increasingly opposed his monolothic
rule and the capital accumulation of his family and friends,
Soeharto began to mobilize support among Indonesian Muslims
by framing himself as a defender of Muslim -- and indigenous
-- Indonesian interests.
He managed to create a pro-Soeharto Muslim front by taking
three important steps. Firstly, in June 1991 he took his
entire family and Muslim members of his cabinet to the haj
pilgrimage, after which he changed his name into 'Haji
Muhamad Soeharto'. Secondly, through one of his foundations,
Yayasan Amal Bhakti Muslimin Pancasila, which was based at
the State Secretariate and staffed by State Secretariate
personnel, Soeharto began to donate the construction of
mosques and Muslim boarding schools (pesantren) all over the
country.
Thirdly, Soeharto supported the formation of the Indonesian
Muslim Scholars Association (ICMI), which was headed by his
favourte Research & Technology Minister, the
German-educated Dr. Baharuddin Jusuf (B.J.) Habibie. This
semi-official organisation was based at Dr. Habibie's office
and funded and staffed by Habibie's official staffpersons
and was also supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and the Indonesian state carrier, Garuda Indonesian Airways.
While splitting the embryonal opposition movement among the
civil society by the formation of ICMI, Soeharto's
son-in-law, General Prabowo Subianto, who commanded the
elite forces of the army (Kopassus) and later also the
strategic reserve forces of the army (Kostrad) also began to
split the ranks of ABRI along religious line to blur the
real division between Soeharto loyalists and Soeharto
opponents, who were labelled as being supporters of a
retired general, Benny Murdani, who happens to be a Catholic
and was supported by a private think tank, the CSIS (Centre
for Strategic and International Studies), which was
originally Soeharto's think tank during the first two
decades of his rule.
In addition, General Prabowo was also instrumental in
building a Soeharto support base among several groups of
staunchly anti-Communist and anti-Christian Muslim clerics,
formed in the wake of a campaign to support Bosnian Muslims.
This group is called KISDI (Indonesian Committee in
Solidarity with the Muslim World). The political aim of this
step was to split the growing anti-Soeharto movement among
the two largest Indonesian Muslim organisations, Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, which among them have about
sixty to seventy five million members.
A rarely exposed fact is that KISDI's emergence has been
facilititated by Soeharto's stepbrother, Probosutedjo, who
often acts as a spokeperson for the ailing former dictator.
This militant Muslim organisation was born out of the mass
gathering (tablig akbar ) in solidarity with the Bosnian
Muslims in front of the Al Azhar Mosque in the elite
Kebayoran neighbourhood in South Jakarta in mid February
1994. The public gathering unanimously decided to send
volunteers to wage the holy war (jihad ) in Bosnia-Hercegovina
and to raise funds to build a mosque in Serajevo, which
would be called the Haji Mohamad Soeharto Mosque. To
facilitate these two goals a committee was set up, called
the National Committee for Solidarity with the Bosnian
Muslims (Panitia Nasional Solidaritas Muslim Bosnia, or PNSM
Bosnia), chaired by Probosutedjo.
This fund raising was carried out for three years, during
which time the Bosnian Muslim Solidarity Committee opened
its account in Probosutedjo's PT Bank Jakarta. This private
bank was closed down by the Indonesian Finance Minister in
November 1996. Probosutedjo, however, was able to protect
all the assets of this bank by turning it into a syariah
bank by forming a joint venture with the
government-sanctioned Indonesian Council of Ulama (Majelis
Ulama Indonesia). So, according to a report by the Bank
Jakarta Clearance Team, on April 14, 1998, there was still
nearly Rp 2.8 billion in the PNSM Bosnia account in Bank
Jakarta. Meanwhile, no Soeharto mosque had ever been built
in Serajevo, according to a source of mine who had covered
the Bosnian wars for four years.
Therefore one can conclude that all the hype in mobilising
solidarity for the oppressed Muslim brothers in Bosnia
Hercegovina, mainly functioned for the Soehartos to ride on
the emerging Muslim revival in Indonesia, while making some
extra money from this campaign. It is also not unlikely that
initially, KISDI's activities were funded from this Bosnian
solidarity account in Bank Jakarta.
One can thus say, that Soeharto, his stepbrother,
Probosutedjo, and his son-in-law, Prabowo Subianto, had laid
the ground and sown the seeds for the emergence of a
militant Muslim network, based predominantly in Java and
South Sulawesi, which has sent up to 10 0000 young Muslims
to Maluku - supposedly to 'liberate their Muslim brothers
and sisters from their Christian oppressors' (Aditjondro
2000b).
Many of the leaders of the masses recruited to wage the
'holy war' in Maluku came from a new stream of Muslim
militants, which follows the teachings of the Wahhabi
movement. This international movement to return to Islam of
the first generation is funded by members of the House of
Saud. It is named after its founder, Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab
(1703-1787), whose teachings were adopted by Ibnu Saud when
he founded the Saudi monarchy in 1925.
In Indonesia, they found a rapidly growing support --
outside the two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdatul Ulama
and Muhammadiyah -- in the Tarbiyah Movement, which formed
congregations or jamaah salaf, among students in
several prestigious state universities, such as the Bandung
Institute of Technology (ITB). Their goal is to establish an
Islamic state, hence they are also known as the 'neo-NII [Negara
Islam Indonesia ]' movement', to distinguish them from
a prior clandestine movement linked to the army's
intelligence operations.
On January 7, 2000, they organised a gathering of between
100,000 and 400,000 people at the National Monument park in
Jakarta, calling for Muslims to wage the holy war to Ambon.
This gathering was addressed by Amien Rais, the chair of the
People's Consultative Council (MPR), Hamzah Haz, a former
minister in Wahid's cabinet, and Fuad Bawazier, a former
minister in Suharto's cabinet, and was attended by 22
militant Muslim organisations, which include Kisdi and FPI.
The commander of the Jihad forces in Maluku, Ustadz
(Teacher) Ja'far Umar Thalib, also comes from the Wahhabi
movement, who claims that after studying in Madinnah joined
the Taliban guerillas in Afghanistan.
Support for the jihad forces within the armed forces
has come from the Wiranto faction in the Army as well as
factions in the Police and Navy, who did not prevent
thousands of Jihad warriors from sailing from
the port of Surabaya in East Java to the port of Ambon in
Maluku. They also did not prevent the Jihad warriors
from transporting their sophisticated weapons and
ammunitions in containers on civilian passenger ships from
Surabaya to Ambon and eventually allowed those Muslim
militants to break the containers open in the civilian, and
not Navy, harbour of Ambon.
Financial support for the Jihad operations in
Maluku came allegedly from one of Soeharto's foundations,
Yayasan Amal Bhakti Muslim Pancasila, through Soeharto's
former Finance Minister, Fuad Bawazier (SiaR, April 18,
2000). Bawazier is also close to the former First Family,
and is the president commissioner of Indonesia's major
communication satellite operator, PT Satelindo, one of the
money making companies of Bambang Trihatmodjo and two
important partners, namely the Army Foundation, Yayasan
Kartika Eka Paksi, and a young businessman, Tomy Winata
(Editor, May 1, 1993: 69-70; Parawira,
January 22, 1994; Asiaweek, April 12, 1996: 34),
both of whom will be discussed later in this paper.
According to a very well-informed source, former Armed
Forces Commander General Wiranto and former President B.J.
Habibie themselves conspired to create the social upheavals
in Maluku and other places, to protect their former boss,
Soeharto and to cover up for their own involvement in the
high level corruption and gross human rights violations
during Soeharto's three decades long dictatorship. Further
according to this source, the current armed forces
commander, Admiral Widodo, is a close friend of Wiranto, and
is silently protecting his old mate, and so is the current
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs,
General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, known by the abbreviation
"SBY" among the media and political analysts.
Therefore, one should not only focus on Maluku but instead
on the fact that the military and the Suharto family are
still structurally involved in creating social unrest in
Indonesia, by financing their proxies, which are the Jihad
forces in Maluku, the fake GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) in
Acheh, part of the Papua Taskforce (Satgas Papua) in West
Papua, and pro-Indonesian paramilitary forces in West and
East Timor. In fact, a Kopassus-linked company, PT Gunung
Kijang, has currently obtained contracts to strategic
projects in Dili, such as renovating the villas of the
Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, because
UN bureaucrats in Dili have failed to carry out 'good
character check' on applicants of project tenders in East
Timor.
While the outlying regions of Timor Lorosae, Maluku, West
Papua, West Kalimantan and Acheh were in turmoil, the
Soeharto family members continued to busy themselves by
forming and financing thugs to fight student activists in
Jakarta and Makassar, where the strongest protests took
place against the corruption allegation of the Soeharto
family and cronies. In this field, Soeharto's youngest son,
Hutomo Mandala Putra, or Tommy Suharto, who is currently at
large, seems to be the most active player.
In Jakarta, Tommy's main operator is Indra Hassan, a
well-built young man who hails from the Nusa Tenggara Timur
province. Hassan is in charge of about 300 men, who range
from university graduates to former Tanjung Priok political
prisoners. They have received some military training in
Lido, south of Jakarta. Apart from guarding the Jalan
Cendana - Jalan Tanjung neighbourhood in Central Jakarta
where the entire Soeharto clan have their mansions, they
often guarded Tommy Suharto during the interrogations which
this pet son of Soeharto had to undergo, which eventually
led to the trial where he was convicted of swindling public
funds through a land-for-equity swap with the government's
rice procurement body, BULOG, and sentenced to 18 months
imprisonment.
A bomb even went of at the Attorney General's office in
Jakarta on Tuesdaty, July 4, 2000, scarcely one hour after
Tommy Soeharto was interrogated in relation to that illegal
land swap deal. The bombs involved had been traced back to
the Army, a former member of Soeharto's presidential guards
and four employees of PT Goro Batara Sakti, Tommy's
supermarket company (Detikworld, July 18, 2000).
Meanwhile, Tommy's links with the Makassar underworld was
through Nurdin Halid, a former head of the South Sulawesi
government-owned coopertative network, PUSKUD, who had been
tried for swindling more than Rp 100 billion of funds owned
by local clove farmers. Halid's acquittal by the judges in
Makassar was instantly protested by student activists, wo
accused then Attorney Genera Andi Ghalib, the former Deputy
Governor of South Sulawesi for interfering in the court
process on behalf of Nurdin. These peaceful protest was
harshly repressed by the military and police who used live
ammunition against the students (Awaludin 1999). Ironically,
after the trial Tommy Suharto appointed Nurdin Halid as
chief executive officer of PT Goro Batara Sakti (Megapos,
April 14, 1999). Apart from saving Nurdin from the angry
students in Makassar, that was also Tommy's reward for
Nurdin's support for the operations of Tommy's clove
monopoly. BPPC, in South Sulawesi.
Eventually, after thousands of South Sulawesi migrants fled
from Ambon after the first months of inter-ethnic and
inter-religious violence in 1999, Makassar was plagued by
ID-sweeping operations carried out by hundreds of students (detikworld,
June 1, 2000; Dow Jones Newswire, May 31, 2000). These
operations were carried out by students in what they
perceived as solidarity with their oppressed brothers and
sisters in Maluku, by beating or extorting those whose IDs
showed that they were not Muslims. However, as my sources in
Makassar have told me, these students were provoked and
mobilised by several persons of Ambonese and Bugis and
Makassarese origin who were on Nurdin Khalid's payroll, in
Khalid's capacity as chairman of the Makassar soccer
association, PSM (Persatuan Sepakbola Makassar ), which was
very popular among the soccer loving people of Makassar.
In other words, the sectarian political thuggery
committed by some sections students and thugs in Makassar
can be seen as a tactic to undermine the student movement's
opposition against Tommy Suharto's clove monopoly which was
supported by Nurdin Halid and Andi Ghalib (Jawa Pos,
September 8, 1995).
Considering these facts that a significant proportion of
communal violence in Indonesia was orchestrated, or at least
initiated by political actors with strong economic backing,
international economic pressure needs to be exercised
against those actors. Therefore, it is essential that the
Dutch and other friendly governments should (a) close down
the financial subsidiaries of Indonesian conglomerates with
strong military and paramilitary links in their respective
countries, (b) freeze the bank accounts of those companies
and their owners, (c) seize their assets, and (d) only
return those assets to the victims of human rights abuses
carried out by the Indonesian military, police and
paramilitary forces, ranging from the victims of the
1965-1966 anti-Communist pogrom in Indonesia to the current
ongoing massacres in Acheh and West Papua, once a genuine
full-fledged civilian-led and civilian-controlled
democracy has been established in the future Indonesia,
whatever shape and structure that future political entity
might take.
Part II
By George J. Aditjondro
FINANCIAL
UNDERWRITERS:
After extensive library research and interviews with sources
in Indonesia and abroad, it can be concluded that ten
conglomerate owners have been involved in financing military
and paramilitary violence in Indonesia.
Six of these conglomerates or conglomerate groups are owned
by members of Soeharto's extended family, namely
Sudwikatmono, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Tutut), Probosutedjo,
Bambang Trihatmodjo, Titiek Prabowo and her brother-in-law,
Hashim Djojohadikusumo, and the current fugitive Hurtomo
Mandala Putra, aka Tommy Suharto.
Meanwhile, eight other conglomerates are more closely linked
to Army, but have also close ties to the Soeharto family.
Those are the group of companies linked to the Army's
Strategic Reserve Command (KOSTRAD), the companies linked to
the retired generals' Yayasan Kejuangan Panglima Besar (Jenderal)
Sudirman, the Army's Tri Usaha Bhakti (TRUBA) Group,
Tomy Winata's Artha Graha Group, Prajogo Pangestu's Barito
Pacific Group, Burhan Uray's Djajanti Group, Ciputra's
Ciputra Group, and Murdaya Widayawimarta's Cipta Cakra
Murdaya Group.
Members of former president Suharto's family:
Let me then first outline how the Suharto family companies
are involved in financing human rights violations in
Indonesia.
Sudwikatmono, Soeharto's cousin/half brother
According to a member of the Indonesian Democratic Advocacy
Team (TPDI), Trimedya Pandjaitan, two conglomerate owners
were involved in funding the attack on Megawati
Soekarnoputri's PDI headquarters on 58 Diponegoro Boulevard
in Central Jakarta on July 27, 1996. They contributed Rp 1
billion to complement the Rp 0.5 billion contributed by the
military, to hire about 400 thugs who ironically later sued
their former bosses since many claimed that they had not
received the Rp 200 million fee per person promised. After
hesitating for several months, in June 2000 he revealed
their names as "Sudwikatmono and Ciputra" (Panji
Masyarakat, June 9, 1997: 81; Tiras, June
9, 1997: 98-99; Indonesian Observer, March 7, 2000;
Detik.com, June 27, 2000).
Probosutedjo, Soeharto's stepbrother
As has been discussed earlier, Probosutedjo had been
involved in the Bosnian solidarity campaign which gave birth
to the formation of KISDI. It is therefore not unlikely that
he has maintained his links with this militant Muslim group,
which has strongly supported a call to wage the 'holy war'
(jihad ) against Christians in Maluku.
Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Tutut) - Soeharto's eldest
daughter
As has been discussed earlier, Tutut founded Yayasan
Kesejahteraan Masyarakat Indonesia (YAKMI), which is the
mantle organisation for the Tebas Taskforce. Members of this
taskforce have been involved in the private security guards
(PAM Swakarsa) which formed the front line in fighting the
student activists who were opposed to the November 1998
special session of the People's Consultative Council (MPR)
which was held to legitimise Habibie's presidency rather
than to prepare for a genuine democratic election, without
the intervention of the military who have to return to their
barracks.
Satgas Tebas members have also been detected in Ambon,
Maluku, during the first wave of the communal violence in
January 1999 (SiaR, January 29, 1999).
Bambang Trihatmodjo, Soeharto's second son
As has been discussed earlier, Bambang's Bimantara Group has
been involved in funding some of the activities of the
"Tidar Boys".
Siti Hediati Haryadi (Titiek Prabowo) & Hashim
Djojohadikusumo
Hashim Djojohadikusuma's Tirtamas' role in financing part of
the military's clandestine operations has been admitted by
Hashim himself in Raphael Pura's article, "Hashim
emerges in corporate Indonesia: family and political
connections bolster tough expansionary style" (The
Asian Wall Street Journal, Febr. 2,1992), that he
often provided funds to his brother, Prabowo Subianto, whom
at that time was only a Lieut.Col. of Kopassus, stating that
Prabowo "needs funds, ... as a loyal and dutiful
brother, I'll provide them. He has a lot of soldiers to take
care of." It has also been admitted by a source, who
had worked with Hashim in the 1990s. Domestically, Hashim's
conglomerate is known as the Tirtamas Group, but overseas it
uses the name Comexindo.
Hutomo Mandala Putra, aka Tommy Suharto (Soeharto's
youngest son)
As discussed earlier, Tommy allegedly coordinated most of
the pro-Soeharto rallies in Jakarta and his crony, Nurdin
Halid, financed the sectarian activities of students and
thugs in Makassar.
Army and Suharto family cronies:
KOSTRAD-linked companies
Yayasan Kesejahteraan Sosial Dharma Putera (YKSDP) was one
of the earliest military foundations set up in Jakarta, and
was founded personally by Soeharto on April 28, 1964, before
he took over the presidency from Soekarno, when he was still
the commander of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (KOSTRAD).
This foundation's fund raising activities are basically
carried out through a holding company, called PT Dharma
Kencana Sakti, which hold shares in a number of companies.
In addition, this KOSTRAD-linked foundation is also a direct
shareholder in several companies, such as Mandala Airlines
(founded on April 17, 1969) and PT Bank Windu Kentjana
(founded on May 26, 1967).
These KOSTRAD linked companies reached their financial peak
when they were collectively managed by one of Soeharto's
earlier cronies, Sofyan Wanandi (Liem Bian Koen), who used
this politico-economic platform to build his own family
conglomerate, the Gemala Group. After Soeharto divorced his
right-wing Catholic supporters to turn to the newly formed
ICMI-linked power base, the KOSTRAD-linked companies
practically dropped out of the picture while Sofyan Wanandi
built his own power base with fellow Sino-Indonesian-led
conglomerates (Aditjondro 1998: 21-23).
Only after Soeharto appointed his son-in-law to command the
KOSTRAD troops in 1997, the KOSTRAD-linked companies began
to become important milking cows again for the KOSTRAD
troops, or at least, for their commanders and their wives.
Indications about the wealth of this foundation only became
known to the public, when a new commander, Lt. Gen. Agus
Wirahadikusumah, took over from his predecessor, Lt. Gen.
Djadja Suparman, in March 2000. General Wirahadikusumah's
tenure as KOSTRAD commander only lasted five months, because
in August 2000 he was sacked, but not after an audit he had
commissioned revealed a corruption scandal of Rp 173 billion
(A$ 33 million) (Australian Financial Review, August
1, 2000).
Considering the fact that the deployment of KOSTRAD troops
supposedly to quell the communal violence in Maluku occurred
during the command of Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman, who has also
been accused of supporting militant Muslim groups, such as
the FPI in Jakarta and the Lasykar Jihad forces in Maluku,
it is not unlikely that some of the extra-budgetair KOSTRAD
funds were used to finance these paramilitary activities.
Yayasan Kejuangan Panglima Besar Sudirman-linked companies
On January 26, 1990, then Defense Minister General L.B.
Moerdani and Armed Forces Commander General Try Sutrisno
founded another army charity, called Yayasan Kejuangan
Panglima Besar Sudirman. Since then, this foundation was
officially placed under the Armed Forces Headquarters,
although Ret. General Benny Moerdani and his former deputy
during the invasion of Timor Lorosa'e, Ret. General Dading
Kalbuadi still called the shots - and must have received
their additional income from this foundation.
The foundation's main business vehicle, PT Multi Eka Karma,
has eight subsidiaries with businelss lines of
telecommunications; media and publication; data and
information; engineering and construction; diamonds and
jewelry; asphalt; oil and gas, and infrastructure. In August
1997, it signed an agreement with GN Comtext of Britain to
serve value-added telecommunications services in Indonesia.
Multi's director, Teddy Mappakaya, said the value-added
services would include store and forward telex and facsimile
facilities, and to provide the new service, Multi
Eka Karma would set up a new firm called PT Global Nusa
Caraka Ekakarma to cooperate with GN Comtext (Jakarta Post,
August 15, 1987). By that time, this Army-linked company had
also announced plans to invest in India (Asian Age,
Bombay, September 10, 1996).
Apart from its joint ventures with British and Indian
companies, Benny Moerdani and his own business associates,
such as former Airforce Commander Vi ce-Marshall Teddy Rusdy
and former Garuda Airlines CEO Moehammad Soeparno had
also spread their wings to Australia, setting up a pilot
training school near Perth, Western Australia. This company,
Australian Flying Training School (AFTS) operates under the
banner of the Perth-based holding company, Taruma Australia
Pty. Ltd. (West Australian, January 3, 1996; Kontan,
March 10, 1997; ASIC Reg. No. 071 164 335).
The foundation's most lucrative financial source, however,
is the new oil mining conglomerate, called Newconcept
Technologies International Resources Ltd. (NTI), founded by
Edward Seki Soeryadjaya, the former owner of the bankrupt
Summa Bank. In an interview with the business magazine,
Swasembada of Juky 3-11, 1997, Edward Soeryadjaya admitted
that he cooperated with this army foundation (p. 32).
Although there are no indications or reports that Benny
Moerdani and his clique of retired officers have been
directly financing military or paramilitary activities, they
are actively advising Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri
in matters dealing with 'territorial integrity,' and also
have indirect links with the pro-Indonesian East Timorese
militia gangs now based in West Timor. One of the infamous
militia leaders, Eurico Guterres, was at one stage appointed
to head the local paramilitary group of Megawati's PDI-P
branch.
In addition, Benny M oerdani was - and probably still is -
linked to the Batara Indra Group of Robby Sumampouw, who
enjoyed near monopoly over all strategic businesses in Timor
Lorosa'e during the first decade of the occupation.
Interestingly, a construction firm of this group, PT Gunung
Kijang, has recently (March & May 2000) obtained several
strategic contracts from the UNTAET to renovate the UNTAET
chief's waterfront house and to construct the generator
house at the UNTAET headquarters. So, it is not unlikely
that this military foundation and the retired generals
associated with it were or still are involved in supporting
the pro-Indonesian paramilitary forces in East Timor.
Tri Usaha Bhakti (TRUBA) Group
This conglomerate is predominantly owned by the Army's
largest charity, Yayasan Kartika Eka Paksi. Its holding
company is PT Tri Usaha Bhakti (Truba), whose commissaris if
Mayor General Kivlan Zein, who daily coordinates army
experts at the Army Headquarters in Jakarta. This general
has been named as the successor of Prabowo Subianto in
coordinating the "Tidar Boys," and has also been
accused by Abdurrahman Wahid of being involved in
instigating the sectarian violence in Ambon, an accusation
which Kivlan Zein has vehemently denied (Tempo, March
29, 1999: 32-33; SiaR, March 9, 1999; Xpos,
March 4-10, 1999; Kompas, Nov. 3, 2000).
Tomy Winata (Artha Graha Group)
Apart from coordinating its own conglomerate, Yayasan
Kartika Eka Paksi is also a major player in another
conglomerate, the Artha Graha Group, which is directed by a
major co-shareholder, Tomy Winata. This young businessman
(born: July 23, 1958) has thereby become of the main
financial providers for Indonesian generals. He is a close
friend and alleged financer of Yorris Raweyai, executive
chairman of pro-Suharto paramilitary organisation, Pemuda
Pancasila (Tempo , 6 June 1999: 42, 48, 51).
At one stage, Tomy Winata carried out General Prabowo
Subianto's order to raise funds for Kopassus from a group of
fourty conglomerates. In other words, Tomy Winata became the
go-between of Kopassus and a group of Sino-Indonesian
conglomerate leaders. A part of these funds were used for
the anti-Chinese operations of Kopassus on May 13-15, 1998,
which eventually led to the downfall of Suharto. All the
Sino-Indonesian business leaders were furious at Tomy Winata,
because their money was eventually used to kill fellow
Chinese and rape Chinese women. Obviously, they ceased to
'donate' their funds to Tomy Winata.
In addition to the satelite communication businesses, Tomy
Winata also hasanother joint venture with Bambang which
operates a huge fishing fleet in the Banda Sea (Maluku).
This joint venture, PT Ting Sheen Bandasejahtera (TSB), is
55% owned by a Taiwanese company, Ting Sheen Oceanic
Development Co. Ltd., while the remaining shares are divided
between Bambang and Tomy Winata. According to a
well-informed source, Tomy Winata has his links with the
Pentagon through intermediaries in Taipeh, Taiwan. It has
also been well-documented that he had contributed US$
200,000 to President Bill Clinton's presidential campaign
(AP, Febr. 5, 2000; Panji Masyarakat, Febr. 16, 2000:
75). .
Prajogo Pangestu (Barito Pacific Group)
This conglomerate is closely linked to the Suharto family,
with joint ventures with Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana in paper
and pulp projects in South Sumatra, shares in Bank Andromeda
(which has now been closed) with Bambang Trihatmodjo, while
its CEO, Prajogo Pangestu, was one of the two taipans who
helped to bail Suharto's PT Bank Duta out from a US$ 421
million foreign exchange speculation in 1990 (see section on
Indover Bank, Amsterdam).
During the last decade of Suharto's rule, since Brig. Gen
Kuntara became the commander of Kopassus in 1988,
there were about 3,000 'clandestine' Kopassus members, who
did not have official registration numbers who were funded
by Prajogo Pangestu. These are highly trained troops, where
even a sargeant has the capacity also to fly some fighter
airplanes. They are certainly very well-trained snipers.
These forces, who were only loyal to Prabowo Subianto,
Soeharto's son-in-law, were based in East Kalimantan, not in
Java where the three main Kopassus bases are located in
Jakarta (Cijantung, Kopassus' HQ), West Java (Batujajar) and
Central Java (Kandang Menjangan). However, Barito Pacific in
June 1995 failed to raise funds in Malaysia, when its
planned share-swapping with a Malaysian conglomerate, CASH
(Construction and Supplies Houses) Berhad at the KL stock
exchange was rejected by the Malaysian Securities
Commission. Since Prajogo had no more case to fund those
unregistered Kopassus members, they were then funded
directly by Suharto, through the national budget, under
Armed Forces Commander General Faisal Tanjung.
After the hostage taking fiasco of the OPM in West Papua in
the first semester of 1996, in which Prabowo manipulated
ICRC helicopters, Prabowo was appointed as commander of all
the Kopassus troops, which were suddenly expanded from 4,000
to 7,000, with the 'new' group specialising in
counter-intelligence operations, and with additional troops
which were then formally integrated into Kopassus, Prabowo's
ranks from Brigadier General to Mayor General. Since the
Santa Cruz massacre of 12 November 1991, the US stopped
financing the Timor war, for which they had allegedly
provided US$ 3.5 million per day, or around US$ 1 billion
per year since 1975. That was to help Indonesia to contain
'Communist expansion' from Fretilin. Since Santa Cruz,
Pentagon also stopped exporting ammunition for the
Indonesian military which have a shooting range of more than
50 metres. This also drove the Indonesian army -- especially
the special forces of Kopassus and Kostrad -- to increase
their own 'fund-raising' activities by inserting their
foundations as shareholders in many conglomerates owned or
close to the Suharto family.
Burhan Uray (Djajanti Group)
The Djajanti Group is a diversified forestry, fishery, and
cement conglomerate, where Sudwikatmono is a shareholder of
several of its member companies (PT Artika Optima Inti,
1.954%; PT Kamundan Raya, 10%; PT Nusantara Plywood, 5%). In
the past, it had been managing some of the military timber
concessions in Maluku, and also did not hesitate to use the
military muscles to evict the local villagers from their
land to make way for their forestry, fishery, and cement
factory (aborted) on the island of Seram, or to force local
villagers to sell their Agathis trees for
Djajanti's plywood factory for a ridiculous low price by
accusing them of being supporters of the outlawed South
Moluccan Republic (RMS). Currently, PT Nusantara Plywood,
their subsidary in Gresik, Surabaya, which process logs from
Kalimantan, Maluku, and West Papua, has the local army
cooperative (Primkopad Korem 143) as one its shareholders (IBRA
Press Release 2000; Aditjondro 2000b).
Ciputra (Ciputra Group)
As discussed earlier, this top Indonesian real estate and
property developer, who has also built and operated the
Horizon hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, has also been accused of
sponsoring the July 27, 1996 attack on the PDI headquarters.
Murdaya Widayawimarta (Cipta Cakra Murdaya Group)
The CCM Group, known internationally as one of the Nike
sport shoes producers in Indonesia, is led by
husband-and-wife team, Murdaya Widyawimarta (Poo Tjie Guan),
and his wife, Siti Hartati Murdaya, who also leads the
national Buddhist association, Walubi. During the Soeharto
and Habibie periods, Walubi was the only nation-wide
Buddhist organisation recognised by the government, mainly
to mobilise support from rich Indonesian Chinese Buddhist
for Suharto's ruling party, Golkar.
CCM, which was initially known as the Berca Group, made
their fortune from contracts with the state electricity
corporation, PLN (Perusahaan Listrik Negara), which at one
stage was nicknamed "Poo eL eN", due to the
dominance of the Berca Group in winning many lucrative
contracts. That dominance was partly caused by the fact that
the Berca/CCM Group, was also the only private sole agent
for the Swiss-Swedish engineering giant, ABB.
Since current President Abdurrahman Wahid had cancelled
Walubi's position as the only Buddhist organisation in the
country, and the former ruling party that they had
supported is now not anymore in power, the Murdayas have
allegedly alligned themselves with factions in the military
that are openly and covertly opposing Wahid's presidency.
Newcastle, November 18, 2000.
Bibliography:
Aditjondro, George J. (1998). Dari Soeharto ke Habibie -
Guru kencing berdiri, murid kencing berlari: kedua puncak
korupsi, kolusi, dan nepotisme rezim Orde Baru. Jakarta:
Masyarakat Indonesia untuk Kemanusiaan (MIK) & Pijar
Indonesia.
(2000a). Chopping the global tentacles of the Suharto
oligarchy: can Aotearoa (New Zealand) lead the way? Keynote
address at the Conference on "Seizing Suharto's
Assets", organised by the Indonesian Human Rights
Committee (IHRC) and the Campaign Against Foreign Control of
Aotearoa (CAFCA) in Auckland, NZ, April 1.
(2000b). "Guns, pamphlets and handy-talkies: how the
military exploited local ethno-religious tensions in Maluku
to preserve their political and economic privileges."
In Ingrid Wessel and Georgia Wimhoefer (eds). Violence in
Indonesia. Hamburg: Abera, pp. Awaludin, Hamid (1999).
"Nurani keadilan Nurdin Halid," Forum Keadilan,
March 29-April 4, 1999, p. 32.
IBRA [Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency] (2000). Press
Release tentang Djajanti Group. Jakarta: IBRA. ICG
[International Crisis Group) (2000). Indonesia: keeping the
military under control. ICG Asia Report No. 9.
Jakarta/Brussels, International Crisis Group. Simanjuntak,
Togi (2000). Premanisme politik. Jakarta: Institut Studi
Arus Informasi (ISAI).
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