Indonesia
Rice terraces in Bali, Indonesia. Around 60% of the population of Bali works in agriculture, and rice farming is an integral part of everyday life.
Country in southeast Asia, made up of 13,677 islands situated on or near the Equator, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world's fourth most populous country, surpassed only by China, India, and the USA.
Government
The 1945 constitution (amended 1950 and 1969) is based on a state ideology, the Pancacila (Five Principles), of monotheism, humanitarianism, Indonesian unity, representative democracy by consensus, and social justice. The people's consultative council (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat, MPR) is the supreme organ of state. It comprises 500 members of the house of representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) as well as 500 appointed representatives from regional assemblies and functional groups (including 200 from the armed forces). It sits once every five years to elect an executive president and vice-president, and sanctions the guidelines of state policy. The DPR functions as a single-chamber legislature, comprising 400 directly elected members and 100 presidential appointees (of whom three-quarters represent the armed forces). It meets at least once a year, with elections every five years. Indonesia has a three-party system, with Golkar holding power since 1967. The president (elected every five years by the MPR) works with an appointed cabinet, exercises the right of veto over DPR bills, and appoints governors for each of Indonesia's 27 provinces.
History
Indonesia's geographical location has always assured its historical prominence. The archipelago dominates the main lines of communication both west–east (from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to the Pacific) and north–south (from the great Eurasian landmass to Australasia).
Between 3000 and 500 BC, two waves of immigrants from the north (proto-Malays and deutro-Malays) settled in the region alongside the resident Melanesian population (still found in the eastern islands). A series of Hindu and Buddhist empires rose and fell between the 7th and 14th centuries, after which Islam spread throughout the region. From ancient times Indonesian sailors traded and voyaged as far afield as the west coast of Africa in one direction, and to China and Japan in the other.
The coming of the Europeans
The wealth of the islands of Indonesia – the East Indies – was well known to Europeans from Greek and Roman times onwards, both by reputation and by such indirect trade as took place via the Middle East. It was, indeed, the riches of the ‘Spice Islands’ (Maluku, or the Moluccas) that drew the Portuguese and Spanish, sailing in different directions around the world, to the archipelago in the first place. The spices of the region were then, in the 16th and 17th centuries, integral both to European cuisine and to European medicine, and commanded very high prices.
The establishment of Dutch rule
Although Britain occupied the islands for a brief period during the Napoleonic Wars, in general it suited British purposes to have agreed spheres of influence in Southeast Asia, and the Netherlands posed little threat to British interests. Indonesia became a Dutch colony in 1816, and from 1824 onwards a series of agreements between Britain and the Netherlands gave the latter ‘rights’ to the entire archipelago, while Britain was assured of its ‘rights’ in the area that now constitutes Malaysia and Singapore. In 1828, with the Dutch annexation of Irian Jaya, the boundaries of the modern republic were set.
Dutch exploitation in the 19th century
The Dutch attitude to Indonesia was unabashedly that the colony existed for the enrichment of the home country. When war and the secession of the southern provinces (now Belgium) bankrupted the Dutch exchequer, a system of forced labour, called the Cultuurstelsel (culture system) was imposed on Java in 1830. Under it, commercial crops were grown, under compulsion, by the Javanese peasantry for delivery to the Dutch, who shipped the goods to the Netherlands for sale. The system was extremely profitable to the Dutch (who built up their railway network and reduced their national debt from the proceeds), but, by causing neglect of food crops, it precipitated famine among the Javanese and in general impoverished them.
Changed international conditions encouraged the Dutch to open their colony to international commerce after 1870. The capital of many countries flowed in, opening up the outer islands to old and new commercial crops and products, of which tin, rubber, and oil became of great strategic and economic importance.
Changed international conditions encouraged the Dutch to open their colony to international commerce after 1870. The capital of many countries flowed in, opening up the outer islands to old and new commercial crops and products, of which tin, rubber, and oil became of great strategic and economic importance.
The beginnings of Indonesian nationalism
At the same time a nationalist movement was beginning to stir. Resistance to Dutch occupation had, of course, always existed, flaring up frequently in peasant risings and occasionally in national wars (such as that on Java from 1825 to 1830). Islam was a convenient symbol for resistance and nationalism: its spread through the archipelago had been accelerated by the arrival of the Spaniards and the Portuguese in the 16th century (as a kind of extension of the Mediterranean conflict and partly, too, as a proto-nationalist gesture).
Appropriately, devoutly Muslim Atjeh (now Aceh), a principality in northern Sumatra, held up against Dutch repression well into the 20th century, the resistance overlapping in time with the formation of Sarekat Islam. The latter was a nationalist movement that had begun as an organization of Muslim traders, but had quickly, after 1912, extended its appeal. It became a genuinely mass movement, with millions of followers.
During World War I, the apprehensive Dutch permitted the formation of a people's assembly (Volksraad) as a safety valve, but they kept it firmly in their control and on a strict leash. More significantly, left-wing ideas began to enjoy currency in nationalist circles, and the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) was founded in 1920 (thus predating even the Chinese Communist Party). In 1926 and 1927 the PKI attempted revolution, but the fragmented risings were soon crushed. The Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), led by Achmed Sukarno, was founded in 1927, but was brutally suppressed by the Dutch and its leaders exiled.
Regional tensions and World War II
The Japanese overwhelmed Dutch resistance in 1942 with humiliating ease, taking the archipelago in a mere few days, and subjecting the former colonial masters to every conceivable indignity. The PNI, with Sukarno at its head, was installed as an anti-Western puppet government.
For the Indonesians the occupation had positive and negative features. On the one hand, they were allowed use of the national anthem, the national language, and the national flag, and given military training by the Japanese. On the other, countless thousands were recruited for slave labour on such infamous projects as the Thai ‘death railway’, from which few returned. For those who remained in Indonesia, Japanese rule quickly revealed itself as even more oppressive than that of the Dutch. However, the Japanese did make efforts to improve rice production and to stimulate a local textile industry, and some of their officers genuinely contributed to the advancement of Indonesian nationalism.
Independence achieved
As defeat loomed, the Japanese moved to grant Indonesia independence. They were forestalled when Sukarno declared independence on 17 August 1945. The British were entrusted with restoring Indonesia to Dutch colonial rule, and quickly found themselves engaged in armed confrontation with the nationalists. By the late 1940s the Dutch, who had taken over the task of suppression, were clearly losing, and the USA used the weapon of Marshall Aid (post-war financial assistance to European countries) to force the Netherlands to the conference table. Sovereignty was transferred to the new state of Indonesia in 1949, and in December 1949 Sukarno was elected president.
Indonesia under Sukarno
Sukarno accordingly introduced the policy of ‘Guided Democracy’ in 1957. A relatively stable period followed due to an alliance between Sukarno, the PKI, and the army. From then until his loss of effective power in 1965 Sukarno pursued an anti-imperialist and nationalist policy, became a prominent member of the non-aligned movement, and nationalized foreign enterprises.
However, by the 1960s, inflation was running at 650% per annum as, under Sukarno's increasingly authoritarian rule, foreign debts accumulated. International relations were strained and Indonesia left the United Nations and moved increasingly into the Soviet sphere. Soviet-supplied arms were used in the confrontation with the Dutch over the recovery of Irian Jaya in 1960–62 and with Malaysia over Borneo in 1963.
The overthrow of Sukarno
In October 1965 six army generals and their aides were kidnapped and murdered in an attempted coup. An unknown army officer, Gen Suharto, defeated the coup's leaders, undermining both Sukarno and the PKI, who were linked to the plot. There followed several months of mass political murder as up to 700,000 people were killed by the army, and many more imprisoned without trial. Anyone remotely suspected of having communist sympathies was killed, including large numbers of Indonesian Chinese believed to have links with communist China. The PKI was obliterated. It was later revealed that the CIA had supplied the army with lists of communists and their sympathizers.
Suharto's ‘New Order’
Although not elected president until 1967, Suharto instituted a ‘New Order’ from 1966, with political power concentrated in the hands of a group of army and security-force officers. Sukarno's policies were reversed, and Suharto set about stabilizing a chaotic economy with the aid of a group of US economists nicknamed ‘The Berkeley Mafia’. Lavish incentives were introduced to encourage new foreign investment, assets nationalized by Sukarno were restored to their former colonial owners, and generous compensation paid for losses suffered by foreign companies as a result of Sukarno's policies. Support for China and the Soviet Union was abandoned and Indonesia turned to the West, while maintaining a non-aligned policy.
During the 1970s Indonesia's oil revenue enabled the government to invest in numerous development programmes. By the 1980s the country was self-sufficient in rice, thousands of new schools and health centres had been opened, and communications with the outer islands had been improved. However, the new oil wealth also gave rise to corruption on an unprecedented scale.
Separatist wars
In 1975 Indonesia annexed the former Portuguese colony of East Timor. The area remained isolated (as a result of travel restrictions) until the early 1990s as the army fought to quash the secessionist movement, which was spearheaded by the Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin). An estimated 200,000 people out of a population of 700,000 died from war or related famine during this period. The United Nations refused to recognize Indonesia's claim to East Timor. Other separatists movements opposed to Suharto's authoritarian rule flared up in Maluku (the Moluccas) and in Irian Jaya, where the Free Papua Movement (OPM) systematically opposed Indonesian rule.
Resettlement programmes
Reform and repression
International outrage followed the massacre in November 1991 of 50 Timorese demonstrators by the Indonesian army. The new political openness appeared threatened in 1992 after two students were arrested for taking part in a satirical review mocking the forthcoming elections, and in early 1993 several student
publications were shut down.
The ruling Golkar Party was returned to power in the 1992 assembly elections, but with a 5% drop in support. President Suharto was re-elected for a sixth consecutive term in 1993. He installed Minister Harmoko as the first civilian leader of Golkar, causing consternation among the military who were eager for Suharto's successor to be drawn from their ranks. The election in 1994 of former president Sukarno's daughter, Megawati Sukarnoputri, as head of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) aroused further fears among the
Ruling Golkar elite.
In June 1996, Golkar engineered a split in the PDI, forcing out Megawati (she was later ordered to close her political office in Jakarta). Her ousting as leader led to violent street demonstrations by members and supporters of the PDI. The crackdown on anti-government activists continued in August 1996 when supporters of the PDI and the People's Democratic Party (PRD) were arrested on charges of subversive activities during the July riots in Jakarta.
In October 1996, Carlos Belo, the bishop of Dili, East Timor, and José Ramos-Horta, the exiled spokesperson for Fretilin, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts against Indonesian human-rights abuses in East Timor. November 1996 saw the release of the jailed supporters of Megawati.
Several hundred people were reported killed and more than 1,200 were missing after rioting and violence between indigenous ethnic groups and migrants in the province of West Kalimantan between January and March 1997. In April 1997 the radical opposition party, the PRD, was banned from taking part in the May general election. Its leader, Budiman Sudjatmiko, was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for ‘subversion’.
Financial crisis
In response to the financial crisis generated by a sharp 30% depreciation in the value of the currency, the rupiah, it was announced in September 1997 that major construction projects, including roads, power stations, and oil refineries, would be postponed until the economy improved. In the province of Irian Jaya it was reported in October 1997 that more than 460 people had died from famine caused by prolonged drought.
Also in October, Singapore and Malaysia pledged US$10 billion and US$1 billion respectively in financial assistance to help the battered Indonesian economy, and in November an International Monetary Fund (IMF)-led rescue worth over US$43 billion was agreed. The associated restructuring reforms included closure of 16 banks, including some controlled by relatives of President Suharto, but matters failed to improve. It was estimated that the country's level of external debt exceeded annual GDP at the reduced exchange rate, and the rate of unemployment jumped to over 10%.
Economic crisis
Forest fires that first blighted large areas of South Asia in 1997 continued to burn out of control on Indonesian territory in the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in February 1998. About 1,000 forest fires were burning in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo, killing or putting to flight endangered species such as orang-utans and proboscis monkeys. A report published in February 1998 said that the 1997 haze caused US$1 billion of damage, most of it as a result of damage to health and lost tourism and industrial production. The crisis in Indonesia claimed its first victims in mid-February 1998 as troops shot and killed civilians in escalating riots over the rising price of food. The rupiah continued to fall sharply from January 1998 (it had fallen 80% against the dollar since September 1997), as the market reacted to the government's failure to adhere to the IMF's austerity package. In late January Suharto was forced, at the IMF's behest, to rein in nepotistic monopolies, but the IMF withheld the release of its credits as it was not convinced that the government was keeping to its promises.
Suharto re-elected
Growing civil unrest
From February 1998, demonstrations began on university campuses, protesting against Suharto's re-election and calling for democratic reform. These continued, gathering momentum between March and May, in defiance of government bans. A series of student demonstrations in Jakarta, as well as in Medan, Yogyakarta, and Bandung in May led to clashes with police in which at least 12 students were killed and dozens injured. The students, who claimed their action was peaceful, were calling for the removal of President Suharto and protesting at the rise in fuel prices. The most serious rioting took place in Medan, the biggest city of Sumatra, where police fired live bullets at demonstrators. The riots, considered the worst since the beginning of the Asian economic crisis in 1997, were not confined to a university campus, but spilt on to the streets and became dominated by ordinary working-class Indonesians. Indonesia's official human-rights body later claimed the death toll exceeded 1,000.
The demonstrations had followed the government's implementation of austerity measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund in return for its bailout of the failing economy. Petrol prices had risen 71% and kerosene, used as a cooking fuel by the poor, had risen 25% as a result of the end of government subsidies. The disturbances had depressed the stock exchange and driven down the value of the Indonesian rupiah. The increase in fuel prices had further affected the transportation cost of basic commodities. The economic crisis had rendered most Indonesian companies technically bankrupt. Many were laying off employees, and it was this increasing desperation which appeared to be additionally fuelling the disturbances.
Suharto steps down
On 21 May 1998 President Suharto bowed down to the pressure and resigned from office. His constitutional successor, vice-president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, was sworn in. The commander of the country's armed forces, Gen Wiranto, pledged his support for the new president. Suharto's resignation met with cautious optimism, though certain opposition leaders warned that the nomination of Habibie, a life-long protégé of Suharto, would not hasten any significant democratic changes in the country or improve its human rights record.
In July 1998, the ruling Golkar Party removed seven relatives of Suharto from the People's Consultative Assembly, while the government offered partial autonomy to East Timor, but ruled out independence. In the same month, Akbar Tanjung, a close ally of President Habibie, was elected Golkar chairman in its first-ever free vote.
In August 1998, the IMF, which was satisfied with continuing economic reforms, released another US$1 billion of its rescue package. Former President Suharto's son-in-law was sacked from the army.
By August 1998 more than 40 new political parties had been formed and registered, while the popular Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of the former president Sukarno, resumed leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). In December 1998 a new party, the Justice and Unity Party (JUP), was formed by a number of senior former members of the ruling Golkar party, including General Try Sutrisino, the vice-president between 1993–98.
Civil unrest and political reform
In September 1998 there were riots and looting of houses and shops owned by the country's ethnic Chinese minority, caused by rising food prices, and student protesters demanded President Habibie's resignation. In November 1998 at least 16 people, some of them students, were killed after troops opened fire on demonstrators in Jakarta. The protests, which attracted 20,000 demonstrators, had been organized to coincide with a special session of the law-making People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). This had been convened by President Habibie to make political reforms ahead of the June 1999 House of Representatives (DPR) parliamentary elections and the August 1999 election of a new president by the MPR. The protesters called for an end to the military's representation in the legislature and for the president's resignation.
The MPR special session repealed much of the repressive legislation of the Suharto era, including the restriction to three officially sanctioned political parties. New political parties were now legalized and a two five-year term limit was imposed on future presidents. There would also be a reduction of the military's quota of seats in the 500 member lower house from 75 to 38; some devolution of political power; and, it was agreed in January 1999, proportional representation, with seat allocation at the provincial level.
Unrest continued throughout 1998 and into 1999, when religiously-motivated fighting escalated, especially on the eastern Spice Island of Ambon. The violence, carried out by Christian and Muslim gangs, took religious and racial tensions to breaking point, and claimed more than 50 lives.
In October 1998, after the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement with the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM), the government ended the status of the eastern province of Irian Jaya as a military operation zone.
In November, an independent commission reported on the country's May 1998 riots and blamed the military for provoking unrest, in an effort to create an emergency to enable Suharto to stay in power. It also urged the government to investigate former President Suharto's son-in-law, Lt-Gen Prabowo Subianto, for his activities at the time. (Prabowo officially retired from the army in late November). At the same time, Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the ruling Golkar faction within parliament, publicly apologised for past mistakes.
East Timor's independence referendum
In mid-November 1998 44 civilians were reported, by the Catholic Church, to have been killed during a military crackdown against separatist rebels in southern East Timor. In January 1999 after months of increasing political pressure, the government consented to consider further the possibility of autonomy or even independence for East Timor, annexed by Indonesia in 1976. In April 1999, despite the signing of a peace agreement while talks on autonomy continued, fighting broke out between opposing factions. Over 25 East Timorese refugees were massacred by the militia without the Indonesian army attempting to intervene. In May, Indonesia and Portugal signed a UN-brokered deal for a referendum on autonomy for East Timor to be held on 8 August. The choice would be independence or autonomy within Indonesia. However, the referendum was postponed in June to allow UN monitors to improve security.
In July 1999, the country's election commission rejected the results of the June parliamentary elections. The failure to endorse the results came after 27 of the 48 parties which contested the June election refused to sign off on the final vote count because of claimed irregularities. The five major parties who had won most of the seats in the new parliament had all signed off. The election commission finally accepted the election results in August and President Habibie conceded that the party of his rival, Megawati Sukarnoputri, had come first with 34% of the vote, followed by his Golkar party with 22%. The election was the first free ballot in Indonesia in 44 years and the result was regarded as crucial to the democratic transformation of the after decades of authoritarian rule.
In September 1999, nearly 80% of East Timorese population voted for independence in the territory. This sparked wide-spread violence throughout East Timor, which led to a humanitarian crisis. After more than 7,000 people had died and more than 300,000 made refugees by three weeks of violence which was, on the whole, instigated by pro-Indonesian militias, an Australian-led International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) peacekeeping force was sent to East Timor to try and restore order, despite Indonesian protests. All but 4,500 of the 26,000 Indonesian troops and police in East Timor were withdrawn by the end of the month. By October 1999, the Indonesian parliament had agreed unanimously to accept East Timor's independence, and the UN agreed to send 11,000 peacekeepers to oversee the implementation of independence.
Corruption allegations against Suharto
In December 1998 the former president, Suharto, was formally questioned for the first time over allegations that he illegally amassed a fortune, estimated at between US$4–20 billion, during his 32 years in power. In October 1999, amid an atmosphere of mounting political tension, Indonesian legal authorities decided to drop a corruption investigation into financial irregularities allegedly committed by Suharto because of insufficient evidence. However, the allegations were brought against him again in March 2000 when he was ordered to appear in front of the attorney-general for questioning, but was reported by his lawyers to be too ill to do so. This, his second refusal to appear for questioning, was responded to by the public with violent demonstrations. Actions were renewed in April 2000, banning him from leaving the capital. There were protests, some violent, demanding his imprisonment. He was placed under house arrest the following month, however in September 2000, a court ruled that, having suffered from three stokes in the past year, Suharto was incapable of standing trial. In October 2000, his son, Tommy Suharto, was arrested in connection with a bomb that had killed 15 people in Jakarta's financial district. Tommy admitted his part in the US$11 million corruption scandal that surrounded the Suharto presidency and was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. He was the first member of the Suharto family to admit any wrongdoing.
Wahid's presidency
The Indonesian leader, B J Habibie, withdrew from the presidential race in October 1999 after he lost a key vote in the top legislature. The presidency went to Abdurrahman Wahid, leader of the National Awakening Party (PKB), and a moderate Muslim in poor health. By a remarkable 373 votes to 313, MPs voted him president of Indonesia. Wahid, a scholar best known by his nickname ‘Gus Dur’, had secured the support of some of those who had earlier backed the outgoing president. Many had expected Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose party won the parliamentary elections in July, to win and her surprise defeat in the presidential election provoked violence in Jakarta. She was elected vice-president and, as Wahid called for unity and more equal sharing of wealth, protests and rioting petered out across the country.
Wahid formed his cabinet and pledged to work for national economic recovery. The new cabinet balanced radical reformers with allies of the former dictator, Suharto. In February 2000 President Wahid replaced his powerful military chief, General Wiranto, with a civilian, stating Wiranto's alleged role in atrocities in East Timor as the reason. Wiranto remained in the cabinet as coordinating minister for security.
The new Indonesian government under Abdurrahman Wahid declared in November 1999 that it was willing to allow a referendum, but it was unclear whether it would be about independence or the introduction of Islamic law.
Renewed trouble in the provinces
In December 1999, the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a 5,000-strong guerrilla force, effectively gained control of much of Aceh province. President Wahid rejected demands by the army to impose martial law to put down the GAM. In mid-December 1999 more sectarian fighting broke out in Maluku (the Moluccas). The riots were reported to be between Muslims and Christians, and brought the number of victims of religious killings in the archipelago in 1999 up to 1,500. The conflict provoked demonstrations in Jakarta; some protested against the government's failure to stop the fighting, while Muslims there called for a holy war against the Christians in Maluka, on whom they blamed the slaughter of hundreds of Islamic faith.
In January 2000, the EU lifted its ban on arms sales to Indonesia, which had been imposed four months earlier during the violence in East Timor. Criticism of the EU's move was based on the idea that it could endanger Indonesia's fragile democracy, but President Wahid denied that the country was about to fragment, and dismissed rumours of an impending military coup, but seemed unable to control the spreading violence in the territories of Lombok and Bintan.
May 2000 saw the first step towards ending 24 years of confict in the province of Aceh, as Indonesia and separatist rebels signed a three-month ceasefire agreement. However, the agreement did not tackle the issue of sovereignty, and the Indonesian government continued to rule out recognition of Aceh as a separate state, saying that the agreement would not lead to a withdrawal of troops from the province. In November, there were further clashes between pro-independence residents and security forces.
Further violence in Jakarta saw mobs attack the city's Chinese community following a decline in the economy, which found the currency at its lowest level for seven months. Religious violence between Muslims and Christians continued in the Maluku islands, bringing the toll of casualties resulting from the violence for the period January 1999 to May 2000 to over 3,000. The Indonesian province of Irian Jaya declared independence on 5 June 2000. President Wahid stated, however, that the declaration was unrepresentative of true feeling in the province. Indonesia experienced disruption in another form when an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck the island of Sumatra in June, killing more than 100 people, and causing multiple injuries and widespread homelessness.
Continued religious fighting in the Maluku islands in July 2000 led to the declaration of a state of emergency and the admission from the Indonesian military that some of its soldiers had taken part in the violence. In Jakarta, a number of bombs were discovered, belying the atmosphere of political instability. Conflict and political tension continued to drive down the value of the currency, and in July 2000 Christian leaders in the Maluku islands appealed to the UN for intervention. This was ruled out by President Wahid, despite increasing criticism, coming even from his own government. As increasing numbers of armed Muslims attempted to travel to the area to join the religious fighting, the government warned that the war could lead to the nation's collapse. Wahid's policies to deal with the situation included a shuffled cabinet and the delegation of some authority to the vice-president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, which included the daily running of government.
In October the UN refused to send aid workers back to West Timor, where three UN officials had been murdered in September. An official claimed that militia gangs were still holding thousands of refugees hostage.
The same month, international aid donors pledged US$5.3 billion to finance the country's large budget deficit. This was in addition to an existing IMF loan of US$5 billion. In return the government pledged to reform the economy and act against the militias in West Timor, promptly arresting the leader of the most powerful militia.
Violence in October left more that 30 people dead on Irian Jaya in clashes between native Papuans and the police. Further clashes occurred in December in both Irian Jaya and Aceh.
The trial of Suharto
The trial of ex-president Suharto, charged with stealing US$571 million during his presidency, began on 31 August 2000. The charges were dropped in September on grounds of ill-health, but in early November Jakarta's high court overturned this judgement and ruled that the trial should recommence. In February 2001, the Supreme Court overturned the high court's ruling, declaring that Suharto was indeed unfit to stand trial.
Christmas bombing
13 people were killed and 95 injured by 15 bombs, which exploded within minutes of each other outside churches across Indonesia on Christmas Eve, 2000. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Towards impeachment
In January 2001, violent conflict erupted in Indonesia between supporters and opponents of President Wahid in response to calls for his resignation over two multi-million dollar corruption scandals. As members of parliament agreed to investigate the allegations of corruption, 10,000 students broke down the gates of the Indonesian parliament and engaged with riot police. In February, Wahid fired his justice minister for publicly siding with critics of his financial affairs. Thousands of Wahid's supporters stormed the offices of political opposition parties in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-biggest city, and East Java, and called for the death of politicians who wanted him impeached. However, the Indonesian parliament voted overwhelmingly to proceed with the impeachment of President Wahid in May. The vote was the third stage in a complicated four-part impeachment process, and around 1,000 supporters of President Wahid stormed the parliament compound in protest; police opened fire on the demonstrators and at least two people were killed. Determined to stave off impeachment, Wahid fired four Cabinet members and the police chief on 1 June, and claimed that he wanted to make peace with his deputy, Sukarnoputri, who had spurned an earlier power-sharing offer. Wahid became increasingly politically isolated on 12 July 2001 when his order for the arrest of his chief of police, General Bimantoro, was defied by the police force, who formed a protective cordon around Bimantoro's home. In response, Wahid reiterated his threat to declare a state of emergency if members of parliament did not abandon moves to impeach him. However, on 23 July, the Indonesian parliament voted to impeach President Wahid, and to install vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri. Wahid had tried to avoid impeachment by dissolving parliament the day before, and declaring a state of emergency. However, the move backfired when ministers resigned and the military refused to enforce the decree. Despite the successful impeachment, many liberals were concerned about Sukarnoputri's conservative policies and her close links with the military. Hamzah Has became vice-president.
Further violence in 2001
In February 2001, indigenous Dayaks, who are mainly Christian or animist, killed between 500 and 1,000 Muslim Madurese in central Kalimantan, in Borneo. Thousands of people fled gangs armed with machetes and spears. After ten days, security forces took steps to regain control. 15,000 Madurese had been transported to Java, with another 20,000 guarded by the military in refugee camps in Sampit waiting to go.
Fighting between Muslims and Christians continued in the South Moluccas, centred on Ambon. At least 5,000 had died since the wave of fighting erupted in January 1999, set off by Laskar Jihad, a group of Muslim outsiders, and resisted by Laskar Kristus (the army of Christ) and the Maluku Sovereignty Front.
Violence in Aceh
In April, after talks with Acehnese rebels broke down, President Wahid authorized his army commanders to restore law and order in Aceh, effectively resuming the war that has affected the province since the 1970s. In September, the Indonesian government sought to appease rebels in Aceh province, where violence had been on the increase since mid-August, by promising an honest and open dialogue. However, President Megawati Sukarnoputri made it clear that the government would only offer greater autonomy, and not complete independence.
Outbreaks of violence in Sulawesi province continued in early July. Thirteen bodies, all Muslim, were found in a village outside the town of Poso. Poso had been tense since April, when a local court sentenced three Christians to death for inciting clashes with Muslims in the town.
Pro-independence leaders murdered
Pro-independence leaders murdered
Theys Eluay, the leader of the main independence movement in Irian Jaya province, was kidnapped and killed in November 2001. His widow blamed the security forces. Riots erupted as news of his death spread, with independence supporters setting fire to several buildings in Jayapura, the provincial capital. In January 2002, police in Indonesia shot dead Abdullah Syafei, the leader of Gerakin Aceh Merdeka (GAM; Free Aceh Movement), a group seeking independence for the province of Aceh. The move was seen as further evidence of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's increasingly hardline anti-separatist policies.
Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of former president Suharto, was arrested on 28 November, a year after he was convicted of corruption and accused of ordering bomb attacks and the assassination of the judge who had sentenced him. The fugitive billionaire had been Indonesia's most-wanted man.
In January 2002 the government signed to agreements with the former province of East Timor, aimed at easing relations. East Timor achieved formal independence on 20 May. In February, Christian and Muslim leaders from the Moluccas signed a peace accord to end the three years of sectarian fighting that had claimed 5,000 lives and created 750,000 refugees.
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