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Indonesia
consists of a necklace of some 17,000
islands, over
300 ethnic groups and some 500 different languages. The main island is
Java. The population is 85% Muslim.
Indonesia has 32 provinces.
(WSJ, 5/22/98, p.A15)(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D2)(SFC,
12/8/01, p.A6)(Econ, 12/11/04, Survey p.8)
The Toadja of Sulawesi use ancestral bones for
talismans.
(NH, 6/97, p.14)
1.8 Mil BC Scientists dated early
human remains in Java to this time. Sumatra, Java, Bali and Borneo were
joined to each other and the Asian land mass during glacial periods of
low sea level.
(SFC, 12/13/96, p.A4)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.20)
1.8 Mil BC In 1936 scientists discovered the skull of
a Homo erectus infant, the “Mojokerto child,” on Java that dated to
about this time. CT scans later revealed that the 12-month old infant’s
brain was 72-84% the size of an adult Homo erectus
(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.B7)
95000 BC In 2003, a 3-foot-tall adult female skeleton
was found in a cave believed to be 18,000 years old on the equatorial
island of Flores, located east of Java and northwest of Australia.
Scientists named the extinct species Homo floresiensis. Scientists in
2005 said the group had emerged some 95,000 years earlier and went
extinct about 12,000 years ago.
(AP, 10/27/04)(SFC, 10/28/04, p.A1)(SFC, 3/4/05,
p.A2)
74000BC The major Toba volcanic eruption occurred in
Sumatra about this time. It was later believed that this eruption
caused a major temperature drop and reduction in the human population.
An ice age soon followed. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA seemed to
corroborate a significant reduction in human population around this
time.
(DC, 9/2/02)(Econ, 12/24/05, Survey p.9)
23000 BCE Homo erectus survived in Indonesia to about
this time.
(Arch, 1/05, p.14)
16000BC In Sep, 2003, a 3-foot-tall adult female
skeleton was found in a cave believed to be 18,000 years old. A trove
of fragmented bones accounted for as many as seven primitive
individuals that lived on the equatorial island of Flores, located east
of Java and northwest of Australia. Scientists have named the extinct
species Homo floresiensis. Scientists in 2005 said the group emerged
some 95,000 years earlier and went extinct about 12,000 years ago. In
2009 new studies suggested the people, dubbed hobbits, were a
previously unknown species altogether.
(AP, 10/27/04)(SFC, 10/28/04, p.A1)(SFC, 3/4/05,
p.A2)(AP, 5/7/09)
535 Feb, There is evidence that
the Krakatoa volcano had a major eruption about this time. In 1869
Rangawarsita, a Javanese royal courtier, compiled the Books of
Kings, which mentioned an event from the middle of the first millennium
that sounded like a major eruption.
(WSJ, 5/15/00, p.A46)(Disc., 7/4/03)
825 The Buddhist temple of
Borobudur on the island of Java was completed about this time under the
supervision of an architect named Gunadharma. The site was abandoned
after 100-200 years. In 1814 British Gov. Thomas Stamford Raffles was
advised of its location and dispatched an expedition to locate and
excavate the legendary monument.
(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T9)(WSJ, 9/13/08,
p.W18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur)
c1400 The Toraja people came to
Sulawesi by boat from a island to the southwest and settled on the
banks of the Sa’dan River.
(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.T8)
1511 Portuguese traders reached
the Banda Islands, including Run, and broke the Venetian monopoly over
nutmeg. The Portuguese captured Melaka on the Malay Peninsula. Over the
next century the Dutch muscled in an almost cornered the nutmeg market.
The history of the nutmeg trade was documented in 1999 by Giles Milton
in his: "Nathaniel's Nutmeg."
(WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1512 The Portuguese took over
control of East Timor.
(SFC, 3/3/98, p.A6)
1600 Dec 31, The British East
India Company (d.1874) was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in London to
carry on trade in the East Indies in competition with the Dutch, who
controlled nutmeg from the Banda Islands.
http://www.theeastindiacompany.com/history.html
(WUD, 1994, p.449)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1600-1700 West Timor was seized by the Netherlands.
(SFC, 3/3/98, p.A6)
1607 In Aceh Sultan Iskandar Muda
fielded the largest fighting force of the region with an army that had
Persian horses an elephant corps and 800-man galleys to control the
seas.
(SFC, 1/20/00, p.A12)
1610 The Dutch ousted the
Portuguese by this time, but the Portuguese retained the eastern half
of Timor.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1616 Dec 25, Nathaniel Courthope,
a British merchant-adventurer under direct orders from James I, landed
his ship Swan at the Banda Island of Run. He persuaded the islanders to
enter an alliance with the British for nutmeg. He fortified the 1 by 2
mile island and with 30 men proceeded to hold off a Dutch siege for
1,540 days.
(WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)
1618-1945 The Dutch ruled Indonesia. They were drawn
to Jakarta, a fishing village which they called Batavia, for the spice
trade.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.T7)
1621 Mar 4, Jakarta, Java, was
renamed Batavia.
(SC, 3/4/02)
1628 Aug 25, There was as assault
on sultan of Mantarams of Batavia (the former name of Djakarta,
Indonesia).
(chblue.com, 8/25/01)(WUD, 1994 p.420)
1665 The British briefly
recaptured the Banda Island of Run from the Dutch.
(WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)
1684 The British settled Sumatra.
(SFC, 8/27/03, p.E4)
1722 Apr 22, In Batavia,
Indonesia, 19 VOC "komplotteurs" were executed.
(MC, 4/22/02)
1772 Aug 11, An explosive eruption
blew 4,000 feet off Papandayan, Java, and 3,000 people were killed.
(MC, 8/11/02)
1780 Jun, The East India ship
Princess Royal landed at Bengkulu on Sumatra with American rebels. The
prisoners were sent to Fort Marlboro to be trained as British soldiers.
(ON, 1/00, p.5)
1799 The Dutch East India Company
liquidated and the Dutch government took control over the islands of
Indonesia.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
c1800 During the Napoleonic Wars
Britain briefly occupied the Banda Island of Run and successfully
transplanted nutmeg to Malaya, Singapore and Ceylon.
(WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)
1811 The British began a period of
sovereignty in Java (Indonesia).
(WSJ, 9/13/08, p.W18)
1815 Apr 5, Mount Tambora on
Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, in the Java Sea began erupting. [see Apr 10]
(NOHY, 3/90,
p.41)(www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9071099)
1815 Apr 10, A third of the 13,000
foot Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, was blasted into the
air. Some 50,000 islanders were killed and the whole planet was
shrouded in a debris of sulfuric droplets. In 2006 scientist reported
finding traces of Tambora society.
(www.sullivan-county.com/immigration/e3.htm)(AP,
2/28/06)
1822 Oct 8, The Galunggung volcano
on Java sent boiling sludge into valley. The eruption left 4,011 dead.
The long-inactive volcano erupted Apr 4 and blew its top on Apr 12. The
Oct 8 and Oct 12 eruptions left 4,011 dead.
(www.emergency-management.net/volcanic.htm)
1832 Feb 6, A US ship destroyed a
Sumatran village in retaliation for piracy.
(MC, 2/6/02)
1838 Gideon Barr of England
borrowed money to buy an oceangoing schooner and sailed to Borneo,
called Kalimantaan by the natives. He put down a rebellion against the
sultan of Brunei and became the rajah of the territory. The 1998 novel
“Kalimantaan” by C.S. Godshalk was based on these events.
(SFEC, 3/22/98, BR p.6)
1869 Rangawarsita, a Javanese
royal courtier, compiled the Books of Kings, which mentioned an
event from the middle of the first millennium that sounded like a major
eruption. In about 535 there was some evidence that the Krakatoa
volcano had a major eruption.
(WSJ, 5/15/00, p.A46)
1869 Alfred Russel Wallace
(1823-1913), British field biologist, authored “The Malay Archipelago.”
He had gone to Indonesia in 1852 looking for the origin of species.
(WSJ, 3/29/08,
p.W10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace)
1873 The Dutch began colonization
efforts in Aceh province (Indonesia), which led to a decades-long war.
(SFEC, 11/7/99, p.A30)(SFCM, 11/2/03, p.8)
1883 Aug 26, The island volcano
Krakatoa in Indonesia began erupting with increasingly large explosions
and killed some 36,000 people, both on the island itself and from the
resulting 131-foot tidal waves that obliterated 163 villages on the
shores of nearby Java and Sumatra. A book by Ian Thornton: "Krakatau:
The Destruction and Reassembly of an Island Ecosystem" was published in
1996. [see Aug 27] The history of hundreds of volcanoes is at a Volcano
World Web page: (www.volcano.und.nodak.edu/vw.html).
(AP, 8/26/97)(Nat. Hist, 3/96, p.6)(HN, 8/26/02)
1883 Aug 27, The island volcano
Krakatoa erupted; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia's Sunda Strait
claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra. [see Aug 26]
(AP, 8/27/97)
1891 Eugene Dubois, Dutch health
officer, discovered the skull of a human in Java, Indonesia that he
named Pithecanthropus erectus [Java Man]. The first Homo erectus
skullcap was found near Trinil, Java.
(RFH-MDHP, p.153)(SFC, 12/13/96, p.A4)(SFC,
11/14/00, p.A9)
1895 Bank Rakyat (BRI) was founded
by the Dutch in Indonesia as an institution for the elite. In 1983 the
state bank reorganized and began lending successfully to poor people.
(Econ, 11/5/05, Survey p.10)
1901 Jun 6, Sukarno (d.1970),
Indonesia's 1st president (1949-1966), was born in Surabaya, Java.
(Internet)
1904 Jun 29, On Flores Island
Mount Lewotobi erupted.
(SFC, 7/10/99, p.A9)
1906 Sep 1, Papua was placed under
Australian administration.
(SC, 9/1/02)
1915 The explosion of Tambora in
Indonesia was estimated to be of the magnitude of 40,000 H-bombs.
(NH, 5/96, p.3)
1918 May 18, The Netherlands
Indian Volksraad was installed in Batavia (later Djakarta).
(SC, 5/18/02)
1919 May 1, In Indonesia Mount
Kelud erupted. A powerful explosion that could be heard hundreds of
miles away destroyed dozens of villages and killed at least 5,160 when
a boiling crater lake broke through the crater wall killing people in
104 small villages.
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A14)(AP, 11/3/07)
1919 May 20, Volcano Keluit on
Java erupted killing 550. [see May 1]
(MC, 5/20/02)
1920 The Indonesian Communist
Party was founded.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1921 Jun 8, Suharto (d.2008),
later dictator of Indonesia, was born.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)(AP, 1/27/08)
1925 Pramoedya Ananta Toer,
writer, was born in Indonesia. He was jailed for 2 years by the Dutch
in 1947 and spent years in a labor camp under the Suharto regime. His
novels included “This Earth Mankind.”
(WSJ, 8/10/04, p.D8)
1926 Mar 26, ACD de Graeff was
appointed Governor-General of Dutch East-Indies.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1926 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a
Muslim organization, was founded in Indonesia.
(Econ, 12/11/04, p.41)
1927 Jul 4, Ir Sukarno formed PNI
(Perserikatan Nasional Indonesia) in Batavia.
(Maggio, 98)
1929 Dec 29, Police arrested
Sukarno and 100s PNI-leaders.
(MC, 12/29/01)
1929 The Indonesian Nationalist
Party under Sukarno blended Javanese, Western and socialist influences.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1930s Outsiders discovered
hundreds of thousands Dani and other Stone Age farmers in the high
valleys of Irian Jaya.
(SFC, 2/6/01, p.A10)
1935 The film "Legong: Dance of
the Virgins" was the last silent film produced by Hollywood. It was
shot in Bali with an all-native cast and was directed by Henri de La
Falaise.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, DB p.18)
1938-1939 The film "Trance and Dance in Bali" was
produced and added to the US National Film Registry in 1999.
(SFC, 11/18/99, p.E10)
1942 Jan 11, Japan declared war
against the Netherlands, the same day that Japanese forces invaded the
Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia) at Borneo.
(AP, 1/11/98)(HN, 1/11/00)
1942 Feb 18, Japanese troop landed
on Bali.
(MC, 2/18/02)
1942 Feb 27, Battle of Java Sea
began. 13 US warships sank-2 Japanese.
(MC, 2/27/02)
1942 Feb 28, Japanese landed in
Java, the last Allied bastion in Dutch East Indies.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1942 Mar 1, The 3 day Battle of
Java Sea ended as US suffered a major naval defeat. Japanese troops
occupy Kalidjati airport in Java.
(HN, 3/1/98)(SC, 3/1/02)
1942 Mar 2, Admiral Helfrich
departed Java for Ceylon.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1942 Mar 5, Japanese troop marched
into Batavia.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1942 Mar 11, Japanese troops
landed on North Sumatra.
(MC, 3/12/02)
1942 May 18, Allied forces bombed
the harbor city of Kupang (Koepang), Timor.
(www.kensmen.com/may42.html)
1942 Apr 16, The Japanese
occupying army on Java installed film censorship.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1942 Jun 15, Xaviera Hollander,
[DeVries], celebrity "author" (Happy Hooker), was born in Surabaya,
Indonesia.
(MC, 6/15/02)
1942 Aug 25, W. van Daalen,
opposition leader on Celebes, was beheaded.
(MC, 8/25/02)
1942 The Dutch colonial government
surrendered to Japan.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1942 There was a Japanese
internment camp for women on Sumatra. Helen Colijn told of her stay
there in the 1997 book “Song of Survival: Women Interned.”
(SFEC, 4/13/97, Par p.16)
1943 Feb 15, Women's camp Tamtui
on Ambon (Moluccas) was hit by allied air raid.
(MC, 2/15/02)
1944 Feb 14, An anti-Japanese
revolt took place on Java.
(MC, 2/14/02)
1945 Mar 17, Allied ships bombed
North Sumatra.
(MC, 3/17/02)
1945 Jul 3, U.S. troops landed at
Balikpapan and took Sepinggan airfield on Borneo in the Pacific.
(HN, 7/3/98)
1945 Aug 17, Indonesian
nationalists declared independence from the Netherlands. Upon hearing
confirmation that Japan has surrendered, Sukarno proclaimed Indonesia’s
independence. Sukarno helped lead Indonesia to independence from the
Dutch. The Dutch resisted and 4 years of fighting followed.
(SFC, 10/12/96, p.A13)(SFC, 6/22/96, p.A12)(SFEC,
4/27/97, p.T7)(AP, 8/17/99)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)(HN, 8/17/00)
1945 Dec 27, The Dutch formally
relinquished sovereignty to Indonesia.
(WSJ, 7/24/01, p.B4)
1945 Indonesia, formed from the
former Dutch East Indies, claimed West Timor. East Timor remained under
Portuguese control.
(SFC, 3/3/98, p.A6)(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.A19)
1945 Indonesia’s original
constitution of 1945 had 71 clauses. By 2004 amendments had expanded it
to 199 clauses.
(Econ, 12/11/04, Survey p.13)
1946 Mar 2, Dutch troops landed on
East Bali.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1946 The Republic of Indonesia
stripped all royal families of power.
(SSFC, 2/17/08, p.A20)
1949 Aug 29, Sukarno was declared
president of Indonesia. Sukarno, an ardent nationalist, became
president at the time of Indonesian independence and helped the
Communists become the leading party in the country.
(HNQ, 5/21/98)(Internet)
1949 Aug, Armed conflict with both
Dutch and British forces—as well as political factions in the formation
of the republic—were eventually brought to an end, when the Netherlands
finally agreed to transfer sovereignty to an independent United States
of Indonesia.
(HNQ, 8/17/00)
1949 Dec 27, Queen Juliana of the
Netherlands granted sovereignty to Indonesia after more than 300 years
of Dutch rule. The Netherlands retained control of Irian Jaya,
inhabited by Melanesians, until 1963.
(EWH, 1968, p.1168)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)(AP, 12/27/99)
1949 The Dutch East Indies gained
independence under Pres. Sukarno. The western half of Timor island was
incorporated into the new nation of Indonesia when Holland transferred
sovereignty. Aceh's leaders agreed to join the new nation.
(SFC, 10/12/96, p.A13)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)(SFC,
5/18/02, p.A15)(SFCM, 11/2/03, p.8)
1950 Aug 14, Indonesia’s
legislature adopted a provisional constitution that called for a
parliamentary democracy with government to be responsible to a
unicameral House of Representatives elected directly by the people.
Sukarno became president under the new system.
(www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-6198.html)
1950 Sep 26, Indonesia was
admitted to the UN.
(www.gimonca.com/sejarah/sejarah09.shtml)
1950 Oct 25, Sukarno was appointed
president of Republic Indonesia.
(MC, 10/25/01)
1950 Aceh was given provincial
status.
(SFEC, 11/7/99, p.A30)
1950 Christians in the Moluccas
with ties to the Dutch colonial administration battled Indonesian
troops in a bid to secede.
(SFC, 12/31/99, p.D6)
1950s The US CIA led secret
missions.
(SFC, 5/29/97, p.A4)
1950s Lt. Col. Suharto was a
supply officer to an army division in central Java. He dealt with Liem
Sioe Liong, later head of the conglomerate, the Salim Group. When
Suharto took power in 1965 Liem’s business flourished. The relationship
is documented by Adam Schwarz in his book “A Nation in Waiting.”
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.A23)
1951 The UN members adopted the
Refugee Convention. It was not signed by Indonesia.
(Econ, 4/22/06, p.43)
1952 Feb 26, A
Netherlands-Indonesian Unity conference took place.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1953 Sep 22, An Islamic uprising
against Jakarta took place in Atjeh (Aceh), Indonesia.
(SFC, 1/20/00, p.A12)(MC, 9/22/01)
1955 Apr 11, Just before the
Bandung conference, an apparent attempt to kill China's then-Premier
Zhou Enlai resulted in the deadly crash of a chartered Air India plane.
Declassified Chinese documents have suggested that Taiwanese agents
placed the bomb in the mistaken belief that Zhou was on board. The
device detonated as the Lockheed Constellation, named Kashmiri
Princess, was descending north of Jakarta. It caused a fire that forced
the pilots to ditch the airliner. The co-pilot, flight engineer and
navigator managed to swim to safety, but 16 other passengers and crew
members drowned. They included six journalists and Air India's chief
pilot, Capt. D.K. Jatar.
(AP,
4/24/05)(www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=236591)
1955 Apr 17, The Bandung
Conference opened in the Javanese city of Bandung and continued to
April 25. This int’l. meeting founded the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The 1st forum of 29 Asian and African nations was marked by superpower
hostility. The aim of the conference was to oppose the Western and
Soviet blocs and stay neutral.
(WSJ, 7/24/01, p.B4)(AP,
4/24/05)(http://tinyurl.com/buaol)
1955 Open, free and safe
parliamentary elections were held.
(SFC, 5/20/98, p.A12)
1956 Mar 3, Indonesian government
of Harahap resigned.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1957 Nov 30, An assassination
attempt on Indonesian Pres. Sukarno killed 8.
(MC, 11/30/01)
1957-1959 Pres. Sukarno dismantled parliamentary
democracy, declared himself president for life and imposed “Guided
Democracy” and a “Guided Economy.”
(WSJ, 7/24/01, p.A1)
1958 Feb 15, Sjafroeddin
Prawiranegara formed the anti-government of Middle Sumatra.
(MC, 2/15/02)
1958 Gen. Abdul Haris Nasution
(d.2000 at 81) pushed through the adoption of a policy that allowed the
military a direct role in national politics.
(SFC, 9/6/00, p.D2)
1958 A secret war in Indonesia
ended abruptly when Allen Pope, a CIA contract pilot, was downed in a
dogfight. Pope was carrying a trove of documents that revealed the
extent of US involvement. The CIA had been sending weapons and advisers
to anti-government rebels on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island as mercenaries
mounted combat sorties in a fleet of unmarked B-26 bombers. Indonesia
later received a batch of 10 C-130 transport planes from the US in
exchange for Pope’s release.
(AP, 4/24/05)(AP, 5/20/09)
1959 The constitution of 1950 was
rescinded.
(SFC, 5/20/98, p.A12)
c1959 In the later 50s the
Permesta and PRRI rebellions engulfed several islands from Sulawesi to
Sumatra and some 30,000 troops were killed.
(SFEC, 11/6/99, p.A30)
1959 The Muslim region of Aceh on
the northwest end of Sumatra became a special territory with
considerable autonomy. It had been an independent sultanate until the
late 19th century when it was conquered by the Dutch.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1960 Feb 26, Soviet premier
Khrushchev voiced support for Indonesia.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1960 Bertram Smythies (d.1999 at
86), British naturalist, published "The Birds of Borneo."
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A20)
1961 Dec 1, The Territory of New
Guinea declared independence from the Netherlands.
(WUD, 1994, p.962)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)
1961 The people of Irian Jaya
declared independence.
(SFC, 2/6/01, p.A10)
1962 May 19, Indonesian
paratroopers landed in New Guinea.
(MC, 5/19/02)
1963 Mar 17, Eruptions of Mount
Agung volcano on Bali killed 1,900 Balinese. The Agung eruption killed
1,184 people.
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A14)(MC, 3/17/02)
1963 May 20, Sukarno was appointed
president of Indonesia.
(MC, 5/20/02)
1963 Sep 16, The Federation of
Malaysia was formally established. Sabak and Sarawak, Britain’s
colonies on Borneo, joined the Malayan peninsula to form Malaysia with
Tunku Abdul Rahman (60) as prime minister. The federation formed under
bitter opposition from Indonesia, which refused to recognize the
country and waged a guerrilla war against it. Race riots erupted
between ethnic Malays and the Chinese majority.
(PC, 1992, p.988)(HNQ, 5/14/98)(SSFC, 3/10/02,
p.C10)(Econ, 9/20/08, p.60)
1963 Pres. Sukarno proclaimed “To
Hell with your aid” and all but broke relations with the US and the
Soviet Union.
(WSJ, 7/24/01, p.B4)
1963 A new anti-subversion law was
instituted with penalties of death or 20 years in prison.
(WSJ, 3/6/97, p.A14)
1963 Sovereignty over West Papua
was transferred from the Netherlands to Indonesia. A UN approved
referendum, involving some 1,000 handpicked pro-Jakarta Papuans,
ratified the annexation in 1969.
(WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A23)
1963 The western part of the
island of New Guinea, Irian Jaya, became a province of Indonesia. It
was formerly a Dutch territory called West New Guinea, Dutch New Guinea
or Netherlands New Guinea. A West Papua pro-independence movement began
and by 2004 an estimated 100,000 civilians had died in the struggle.
(WUD, 1994, p.1623)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1964 Aug 25, Singapore
limited imports from Netherlands due to Indonesian aggression.
(chblue.com, 8/25/01)
1964 Sep 2, Indonesian
paratroopers landed in Malaysia.
(MC, 9/2/01)
1964 The Golkar Party (Golongan
Karya) was formed and used by Suharto to wield personal power.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.A20)(WSJ, 6/17/99, p.A21)
1965 Mar 19, Indonesia
nationalized all foreign oil companies.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1965 Sep 30, In Indonesia
procommunist military officers, calling themselves the September 30
Movement (Gestapu), attempted to seize power.
(http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/21.htm)
1965 Oct 1, In Indonesia a small
force of junior military officers abducted and killed six generals in
the early morning hours and seized several key points in the capital
city of Jakarta. Gen. Suharto crushed the coup and soon seized power
from Pres. Sukarno.
(www.namebase.org/scott.html)
1965 Oct 20, Mass arrests of
communists took place in Indonesia. Some 500,000 Chinese Indonesians
were killed in anti-Communist riots in this year. Laws restricting
Chinese culture were later established, reportedly to promote
assimilation and protect Chinese Indonesians. [see 1966] The laws
included a ban on publicly celebrating the Chinese New Year. An
estimated 300,000 Communists were massacred by the army in immediate
and later reprisals in Indonesia after an attempted overthrow of the
government in 1965.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.A23)(SFC, 2/5/98, p.A14)(HNQ,
5/21/98)(MC, 10/20/01)
1965 The 1983 film “The Year of
Living Dangerously” with Mel Gibson was set in Indonesia’s 1965 civil
war. An estimated 250-500 thousand Indonesians were killed on suspicion
of being Communist Party members or sympathizers. US CIA and Embassy
officials later admitted that they furnished as many as 5000 names of
“communist” leaders to the Indonesian army.
(WSJ, 8/17/95, p.A-1)(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.T6)(SFC,
5/16/00, p.A12,14)(SFC, 9/6/00, p.D2)
1965 Indonesia became the first
nation ever to withdraw from the United Nations. Indonesia withdrew in
protest of the seating of Malaysia on the UN Security Council. The
former Dutch colony bitterly opposed the formation of its neighbor
Malaysia in 1963, refusing to recognize it and waging a guerilla war
against it. In 1966 a peace agreement with Malaysia was reached and
shortly thereafter Indonesia resumed its membership in the UN.
(HNQ, 5/14/98)
1965-1979 Pramoedya Ananta Toer (41), outspoken
writer, was arrested and put into a Jakarta prison. He was later sent
to a labor camp on the island of Buru and was never charged with a
crime.
(WSJ, 4/30/99, p.W9)(SFEC, 5/9/99, BR p.1)
1966 Mar 11, Army generals held
guns to the head of Pres. Sukarno and forced him to sign a document
transferring power to Gen. Suharto.
(SFC, 12/9/00, p.A18)
1966 Malaysia and Indonesia
reached a peace agreement and shortly thereafter Indonesia resumed its
membership in the UN.
(HNQ, 5/14/98)
1966 In Indonesia right-wing death
squads killed as many as 500,000 people in a spasm of anti-Communist
violence. Pres. Sukarno was later ousted and replaced by General
Suharto and his Golkar Party.
(SFC, 8/9/96, p.A19)(SFC, 6/21/96, p.A14)(SFC,
6/22/96, p.A12)(HNQ, 5/21/98)
1966 The annual per capita income
was $70.
(SFEC, 5/17/98, p.A20)
1967 Aug 8, The Association of
Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established in Bangkok by the five
original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January
1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Laos and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and
Cambodia on 30 April 1999.
(www.aseansec.org/64.htm)
1967 Pres. Sukarno was placed
under house arrest and Suharto became acting president.
(WSJ, 5/22/98, p.A15)
1967 Indonesia banned the public
celebration of Chinese cultural and religious events. The ban was
revoked in 2000 by Pres. Wahid.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A16)
1967 Freeport-McMoran Copper &
Gold Inc. arrived in Indonesia. The government was given a 10% stake in
the world’s largest copper and gold deposit.
(WSJ, 9/29/98, p.A1)
1968 Mar 27, Suharto succeeded
Sukarno as president of Indonesia. Gen'l. Suharto thwarted a Communist
coup and gradually assumed power. Thousands of alleged communists were
executed amid widespread violence.
(WSJ, 5/22/98, p.A15)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)(MC,
3/27/02)
1969 Jul 14-1969 Aug 2, In West
Papua the "Act of Free Choice" was conducted by the Indonesian military
forces. A UN approved referendum, involving 1,026 handpicked
pro-Jakarta tribal chiefs, ratified Indonesia’s 1963 annexation of West
Papua. Many voted at gunpoint in the unanimous decision. In papers
released in 2004, it has been revealed that US Ambassador, Marshall
Green in 1969 had fore knowledge that Indonesia had no intention of
allowing a Papuan vote that might prevent Indonesia from annexing West
Papua as a Indonesian province; he further pointed out that any UN
member would unwise to expect free or direct elections.
(WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A23)(SSFC, 9/1/02,
p.A15)(http://tinyurl.com/7cxq3)
1970 Sukarno, former president
(1945-1965), died in Jakarta.
(WSJ, 7/24/01, p.A1)(HNQ, 8/17/01)
1970s Jemaah Islamiah began
operating as a militant Muslim group. In 2002 its alleged leader,
cleric Abu Bakar Baaysir (64), lived unmolested on Java.
(WSJ, 8/13/02, p.A14)
1971 Organized opposition to Pres.
Suharto emerged.
(SFC, 5/20/98, p.A12)
1971 In south central Kalimantan,
Borneo, Birute Galdikas established a research center and
rehabilitation station for ex-captive orangutans.
(SFC, 1/6/98, p.A19)
1972 Abdullah Sungkar (d.1999) and
Abu Bakar Baasyir co-founded the al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in
Ngruki, Java. The school went on to produce almost all of Indonesia's
to terrorists.
(WSJ, 9/2/03, p.A1)
1973 A rice crises led Pres.
Suharto on a campaign to make the country self-sufficient in the grain.
The State Logistics Board, Bulog, was assigned the task of stabilizing
the food market by buying and selling rice. The agency was very
powerful and there is evidence that it was also corrupt.
(WSJ, 10/20/98, p.A6)
1973 Mobs killed and raped ethnic
Chinese residents and looted and destroyed their businesses.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A12)
1974 Apr 22, A Pan Am 707 crashed
into the mountains of Bali, killing 107.
(www.pan-american.de/Desasters/Tinga-Tinga.html)
1974 Traditional Amungme lands
were ceded to Freeport-McMoran in exchange for promises of health,
education and economic aid.
(WSJ, 9/29/98, p.A10)
1974 Mobs killed and raped ethnic
Chinese residents and looted and destroyed their businesses.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A12)
1975 Oct 16, In East Timor five
Australian journalists were killed when Indonesian troops overran the
border town of Balibo. A 6th died weeks later when Jakarta launched a
full-scale assault on Dili. In 2009 the film “Balibo,” by Australian
director Rob Connolly, depicted the killings.
(AP,
7/22/09)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balibo_Five)
1975 Oct, US National Security
Advisor Henry Kissinger told his staff: "I'm assuming you're really
going to keep your mouth shut on the subject," in response to
reports that Indonesia had begun its attack on East Timor. This
statement was only made public in 2005.
(AFP, 12/02/05)
1975 Nov 28, The Portuguese
colonial rule collapsed and East Timor proclaimed independence, but 10
days later it was invaded by Indonesia.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-9)(SFC, 7/21/96, zone 1,
p.8)(SFC, 10/16/96, p.A18)
1975 Dec 4, Ramos Horta helped
form an independent East Timor government but was forced to flee 3 days
before Indonesia invaded.
(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.A22)
1975 Dec 6, US President Ford and
Secretary of State Kissinger met with Indonesian President Suharto and
explicitly approved Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor. This
information was only made public in 2005.
(AFP,
12/02/05)(www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/)
1975 Dec 7, Indonesia invaded East
Timor nine days after the Timorese political party Fretilin claimed
independence. Some 600,000 were left dead after a prolonged war.
(SFC, 7/21/96, Z1, p.8)(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.A19)(HNQ,
11/9/00)
1975 Mohan Lal Mittal, tired of
India’s semi-socialism, bought a tiny steel firm in Indonesia. His son,
Lakshmi (b.1950), soon led the operations there. In 2006 he created the
world’s largest steel firm with the acquisition of Luxembourg-based
Arcelor. In 2008 Tim Bouquet and Byron Ousey authored “Cold Steel:
Britain’s Richest Man and the Multi-Billion-Dollar Battle for a Global
Empire.
(Econ, 10/30/04, p.66)(Econ, 4/19/08, p.101)
1975-1999 A 2005 Australian report prepared for the
UN said Indonesia killed up to 180,000 East Timorese through massacres,
torture and starvation during its 24-year occupation.
(AP, 1/19/06)
1976 Jul 15, Indonesia passed a
law providing for annexation of East Timor, which the President of
Indonesia signed on 17 July. East Timor became the 27th province of the
Republic of Indonesia. The act was not recognized by the UN.
(G&M, 1/31/96,
p.A-9)(www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/timor-bkg.htm)
1976 Armed uprisings began in Aceh
province. Hasan di Tiro launched the Free Aceh Independence Movement
(GAM).
(SFEC, 11/7/99, p.A30)(SFEC, 12/5/99, p.A26)(SFC,
4/20/02, p.A8)
1977 May 23, Moluccan extremists
held 105 schoolchildren and 50 others hostage on a hijacked train in
Netherlands. The children were released May 27. The siege ended June 11.
(www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=4024)
1977 Jun 11, A 20-day hostage
drama in the Netherlands ended as Dutch marines stormed a train and a
school held by South Moluccan extremists. Six gunmen and two hostages
on the train were killed.
(AP, 6/11/97)
1977 In Irian Jaya Indonesian
forces put down an uprising. Human rights groups estimated that some
tens of thousands of highlanders were killed while the government said
fewer than 900 deaths resulted.
(SFC, 2/6/01, p.A10)
1978 The Istiqlal mosque was
constructed in Jakarta, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. It was
able to host 120,000 people.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.T7)
1978 The government dismantled
student councils and boosted study loads to curtail political activity.
(SFC, 3/20/98, p.A12)
1978 B.J. Habibie was appointed
technology minister by Pres. Suharto.
(SFC, 5/21/98, p.A14)
1978-2002 The Indonesian military systematically
forced dozens of East Timorese women to become sex slaves for officers
during its 24-year occupation of the half-island.
(AP, 4/29/03)
1979 Pramoedya Ananta Toer,
outspoken writer, was released after spending 11 years in a labor camp
on the island of Buru. He was never charged with a crime. Upon his
release he wrote and published the "Buru Quartet" of novels. In 1999
his memoir of those years was published in English as "The Mute's
Soliloquey." He was kept under either house or city arrest even after
his release until 1999 when he was allowed a passport to visit New York
City.
(WSJ, 4/30/99, p.W9)(SFEC, 5/9/99, BR p.1)
1979 Hasan di Tiro, leader of the
Free Aceh Movement, went into exile in Sweden.
(SFEC, 12/5/99, p.A26)
1980 A 7 ½ mile wall was
built in West Java province to keep out jungle animals.
(SFC, 9/14/02, p.A20)
1980 Mobs killed and raped ethnic
Chinese residents and looted and destroyed their businesses.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A12)
1981 Jan 27, The Indonesian
passenger ship Tamponas II caught fire and sank in Java sea killing 580
people.
(AP, 2/3/06)
1983 Jun 20, The crew of the space
shuttle Challenger, including America's first woman in space, Sally K.
Ride, launched the Indonesian-owned Palapa B communications satellite
into orbit.
(http://tinyurl.com/2uu2fj)
1985 Pres. Suharto of Indonesia
vowed to crackdown on political extremists following an outbreak of
bombings and arson in Jakarta.
(WSJ, 3/11/04, p.D7)
1985 In Indonesia bombs exploded
at Borobudur, a Buddhist temple complex on Java. Pres. Suharto had
promised 3 weeks earlier to crackdown on political extremists.
(WSJ, 3/11/04, p.A1)
1986 In Jakarta, Indonesia, there
were bomb attacks on the US, Japanese and Canadian embassies in
Jakarta. Tsutomo Shirosaki, a Japanese Red Army terrorist, was arrested
10 years later.
(WSJ, 7/2/03, p.A1)
1989 There were more armed
uprisings in Aceh province.
(SFEC, 11/7/99, p.A30)
1989-1999 Jakarta designated Aceh as a military zone.
(SFC, 1/20/00, p.A12)
1990 Feb 10, In Indonesia Mount
Kelud erupted. Some 33 post eruption lahars took place from Feb
15-mar28 and more than 30 people were killed with hundreds injured.
(AP,
11/3/07)(www.springerlink.com/content/x7d7qvad0ct3c9bf/)
1991 Nov 12, Indonesian troops
under Lt. Gen’l. Sintong Panjaitan killed numerous people in the Santa
Cruz Cemetery of Dili, East Timor. The massacre of over 270 civilians,
gathered at the funeral of a young man killed 2 weeks earlier, by
Indonesian troops was witnessed by reporter Allan Nairn. Nairn was
arrested, beaten and banned from the country.
(SFC,11/26/97, p.C2)(SFC, 3/17/98, p.B10)(SFC,
6/19/98, p.B7)
1991 The JCET program (Joint
Combined Exchange and Training) was established under a law that
bypassed State Department policy in which military aid is restricted to
foreign units charged with human rights abuses. This resulted in US
Special Forces assignments for training exercises in Indonesia and
Columbia.
(SFC, 3/17/98, p.B2,10)
1991-1996 Batam Island has attracted $250 mil in
manufacturing investments with wages 1/5 of those in Singapore.
(WSJ, 6/13/96, p.A6)
1992 Nov, Xanana Gusmao, East
Timor rebel leader, was arrested at a "safe house" outside Dili for
fighting Indonesian forces. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1993
following a trial in which he was represented by a member of the
Indonesian security service. The sentence was later commuted to 20
years and he was moved to house arrest in 1999.
(SFC, 2/10/99, p.C2)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A14)
1992 Dec 12, At least 2,200 people
were killed in an earthquake that struck the Flores Island region of
Indonesia.
(AP, 12/12/97)
1992 John Huang, an employee of
the Indonesian-based Lippo Group, authorized a $50,000 check to the
Democrats and then sought reimbursement from company headquarters in
Jakarta. He later served in the US Commerce Dept. and as a Democratic
Party fund raiser.
(SFC, 7/17/97, p.A1)
1992 The US Congress banned
Indonesia from receiving Pentagon training under the IMET Program
(Int’l. Military Education and Training).
(SFC, 3/17/98, p.B10)
1992 The US Pentagon began
training Indonesian military forces, including the Kopassus commando
unit under the J-CET program (Joint Combined Exchange and Training).
(SFC, 3/17/98, p.B2,10)
1993 Konis Santana (d.1998) took
over leadership of the guerrilla Fretilin Party after the arrest and
jailing of Xanana Gusmao.
(SFC, 3/31/98, p.B3)
1993 James Riady, billionaire,
began to be a guest at the Clinton White House. His family runs the
Lippo Group, a financial conglomerate out of Jakarta.
(SFC, 11/5/96, p.A1)
1994 Feb 16, At least 217 people
were killed when a powerful earthquake shook Indonesia's Sumatra island.
(AP, 2/16/99)
1994 Jun 5, At least 264
Indonesian villagers in East Java were killed by an earthquake.
(AP, 6/5/99)
1994 Nov 14, President Clinton, in
Indonesia, met one-on-one with the leaders of China, Japan and South
Korea, winning pledges to keep the pressure on North Korea to freeze
its nuclear weapons program.
(AP, 11/14/99)
1994 Nov 15, The 18-member
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group concluded a two-day summit in
Indonesia by adopting a sweeping resolution to remove trade and
investment barriers in the region by 2020.
(AP, 11/15/99)
1994 Nov 16, President Clinton,
ending a five-day trip to Asia, discussed human rights with Indonesian
President Suharto.
(AP, 11/16/04)
1994 Nov 22, The Merapi volcano in
Indonesia erupted. At least 24 people were killed.
(http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Vdap/Responses/Merapi94/merapi2.html)
1994 Ati Nurbaiti and other
journalists founded the Alliance of Independent Journalists after the
Suharto regime banned 3 respected publications.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A11)
1994 Megawati Sukarnoputri,
daughter of the late Pres. Sukarno, became leader of the opposition
Indonesian Democratic Party.
(SFC, 6/21/96, p.A14)
1994 Lt. Gen’l. Panjaitan of
Indonesia was ordered by a US District court in Boston to pay $14
million in damages to the mother of a 20-year-old New Zealand man who
was among those killed in the Nov 1991 massacre in Dili, East Timor.
Panjaitan was in Boston for studies but never appeared in court.
(SFC, 6/19/98, p.B7)
1994-2000 On Indonesia’s island of New Guinea the
Meren Glacier on Puncak Jaya, a 3-mile high peak, vanished during this
period. Researchers later estimated that ice on the mountain covering 7
square miles had shrunk from 7 square miles in 1850 to 1 square mile in
2008.
(SSFC, 1/6/08, p.A11)
1995 Oct 7, An earthquake killed
100 people on Indonesia's island of Sumatra. It measured 7.0 on the
Richter scale.
(WSJ, 10/9/95, p.A-1)
1995 Indonesia ostensibly outlawed
land clearing fires after smog hit Singapore.
(WSJ, 9/30/97, p.A17)
1995 Lakshmi Mittal (b.1950),
India-born entrepreneur, transferred his steel firm's headquarters from
Indonesia to London, a city Mr Mittal rated as the world's financial
centre.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1820324.stm)
1996 Jan 19, A ferry sank in a
storm off Sumatra, Indonesia, killing about 340 people.
(AP, 2/3/06)
1996 Feb 17, A powerful 7.5
earthquake and subsequent tidal waves hit eastern Indonesia in the
region of Irian Jaya and killed at least 62 people. Tidal waves killed
more than 100 people in Indonesia.
(WSJ, 2/20/96, p.A-1)(AP, 2/17/01)
1996 Mar 12, Rioting forced the
closure of a US copper mine (82% owned by Freeport-McMoRan Copper &
Gold) in Trimika, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. At least three people were
killed and dozens injured as the army restored order.
(WSJ,3/14/96, p.A-15)
1996 Mar 19, Riots in Indonesia
killed five people during demonstrations protesting the death of a
jailed rebel leader.
(WSJ, 3/19/96, p.A-1)
1996 Apr, An army officer opened
fire in an airport in Irian Jaya and killed 14 and wounded 11. The
shootings were apparently due to a dispute between two army units.
(WSJ, 4/16/96, p.A-1)
1996 May 16, Indonesian commandos
rescued 9 hostages, members of a scientific team, seized by
separatists in Irian Jaya 4 months ago.
(WSJ, 5/16/96, p.A-1)
1996 May 25, In Indonesia’s
southern Sumatran province of Lampung, villagers were being harassed by
herds of marauding elephants. The elephants had been driven from their
usual habitats by deforestation. Two people were trampled and 8,00
villagers in the Perwakilan Suwoh subdistrict have been attacked.
(SFC, 5/25/96, p.A5)
1996 May 28, Pres. Suharto of
Indonesia banned women from participating in beauty contests abroad.
1996 May, The Hong Kong listed
Millennium Group, partly owned by the Tanuwidjaja family of Indonesia,
bought 25% of World Wide Golden Leaf, a tobacco company owned by Ted
Sioeng.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A22)
1996 Jun 13, The Supreme Court
restored a ban on the magazine Tempo for publishing stories critical of
the government.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1996 Jun 20, Fighting broke out
when the army backed dissidents who wanted to oust Megawati
Sukarnoputri as leader of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party.
Party members fought with troops in Jakarta in support of Megawati who
is seen as a threat to Pres. Suharto.
(SFC, 6/21/96, p.A14)
1996 Jul 13, Mt. Merapi volcano in
Java be about to erupt.
(SFC, 7/13/96, p.A10)
1996 Jul 27, In Indonesia soldiers
raided the headquarters of Megawati Sukarnoputri. They arrested 176
people and riots followed with 5 dead and 26 injured.
(WSJ, 7/29/96, p.A1)(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B4)
1996 Aug 11, Budiman Sujatmiko,
leader of the unauthorized People’s Democratic Party, was one of ten
people arrested. The government was considering charges of subversion.
(SFC, 8/13/96, p.A10)
1996 Oct, Guruh Sukarno Putra, son
of Indonesia’s first president, released the album “NTXTC,” short for
“Anti-Ecstasy.” It was intended as a statement against use of the
ecstasy drug that sells for up to $45 a pop across the country.
(WSJ, 1/29/97, p.A9)
1996 Nov, From Dili Jose Ramos
Horta in 1997 presented video images taken at time of torture of East
Timorese youths to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
(SFC, 4/8/97, p.A9)
1996 Nov, Cambodian leader Hun Sen
and businessman Theng Bunma attended the wedding of Indonesian
businessman Ted Sioeng’s daughter Laureen and Subandi Tanuwidjaja in
Hong Kong.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A22)
1996 Dec 10, Roman Catholic Bishop
Filipe Ximenes Belo and exiled activist Jose Ramos Horta, opponents of
Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
(AP, 12/10/97)
1996 Dec 12, Muchtar Pakpahan,
leader of the independent labor union, went on trial with members of
the leftist political party in connection with the July riots.
(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B4)
1996 Dec 19, A new city was
approved in Jonggol, 25 miles southeast of Jakarta. Pres. Suharto’s
son, Bambang Trihatmodjo, was in charge of the consortium overseeing
the project.
(WSJ, 12/27/96, p.A6)
1996 Dec 26, Muslims rioted in
Tasikmalaya in western Java after police tortured 3 Muslim teachers
accused of assaulting a policeman’s son.
(WSJ, 12/27/96, p.A1)
1996 Construction on two
610-megawatt, coal fired generators is planned to start this year, and
sales to the state utility are expected to begin in 1999.
(WSJ, 3/26/96, p.A-15)
1996 Freeport-McMoran pledged to
spend 1% of its Irian Jaya revenue, about $15 million a year, on local
development.
(WSJ, 9/29/98, p.A10)
1996 Jim Guy Tucker, former
governor of Arkansas, invested $6.5 million into a cable company later
called PT K@belvision at the invitation of James Riady. They later
planned to stitch together an Internet backbone for the country.
(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A1)
1996 Abdullah Sungkar (1999) and
Abu Bakar Baasyir, self-exiled Indonesian clerics, together with Riduan
Isamuddin, established Jemaah Islamiyah in Malaysia.
(WSJ, 1/15/03, p.A1)
1997 Feb 28, From Malaysia it was
reported that the Dayaks were killing the Madurans in the rain forest
of West Kalimantan, Borneo. The indigenous Dayaks had killed as many as
300 Madurans in fierce hand combat after a peace treaty was broken. The
Madurans were moved in by the government from an overpopulated area.
(SFC, 2/28/97, p.A16)(WSJ, 4/2/99, p.A9)
1997 Mar 19, Bre-X geologist
Michael de Guzman, husband to four wives, was reported to have jumped
to his death from a helicopter enroute to Busang, the site of a major
gold discovery. Bre-X held a 45% stake in the Busang site.
(WSJ, 4/9/97, p.A10)
1997 Mar 26, Bre-X and Freeport
Mining announced that due-diligence testing by Freeport found much less
gold than estimated in the Busang discovery by the team of Michael de
Guzman.
(WSJ, 4/9/97, p.A10)
1997 Apr 14, In SF the winners of
the 1997 Goldman Environmental Prize were: Included was Loir Botor
Dingit, Indonesian tribal chief, for struggling to protect ancestral
rain forest from logging.
(SFC, 4/14/97, p.A11)
1997 Apr 25, Some 5,000
demonstrators protested wage policies at the Nike shoe factory. They
said Nike was not paying a $2.50 per day minimum wage. A 10.7% wage
increase was negotiated the next day.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.T7)
1997 Apr 29, Police broke up a
demonstration and 5 activists were given 7-13 year prison terms on
charges of subversion.
(SFC, 4/29/97, p.A10)
1997 May 18, As elections
approached thousands of anti-government partisans have crowded the
streets of Jakarta to reflect their disillusionment in the government.
(SFC, 5/19/97, p.A13)
1997 May 23, Thousands rampaged
the streets of Jakarta after a confrontation between the rival United
Development Party and the ruling Golkar Party. A 5-day cooling off
period was declared.
(SFC, 5/24/97, p.A8)
1997 May 23, On Borneo as many as
130 people died in a shopping complex fire set by rioters during a
political clash.
(SFEC, 5/26/97, p.A10)
1997 May, In Indonesia Ahmad
Suradji was arrested following the discovery of a body in a field close
to this house in Lubukpakan, a village in North Sumatra province.
Forty-one other corpses were later found nearby. Suradji was later
convicted of murder and executed in 2008.
(AP, 7/11/08)
1997 Jun 25, In Dili East Timor
rebel leader, Alex, died of gunshot wounds. Rebels charged that he was
only slightly wounded and died under interrogation.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A11)
1997 Jul 19, A court sentenced 16
people to jail terms of 2-7 months for the May rioting that left 123
dead on Borneo.
(WSJ, 7/21/97, p.A1)
1997 Aug 9, Huge fires in tropical
forests and plantations on Sumatra and Borneo and Java were blamed on
slash-and-burn farming techniques.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A12)(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A11)
1997 Aug, A 43 billion economic
bailout package obliged the government to run a budget surplus, close
insolvent banks, end nepotism and raise interest rates.
(SFC, 1/8/98, p.A7)
1997 Sep 17, It was reported that
government spending was slashed and projects for power plants and roads
were put on hold in order to keep the economy on an even keel.
(WSJ, 9/17/97, p.A17)
1997 Sep 24, It was reported that
drought has destroyed crops across the Indonesian archipelago and could
force up to 1 million villagers into a famine diet. Forest and scrub
fires continued to burn out of control. 750,000 acres of bush land had
burned. It was the worst drought in 50 years.
(SFC, 9/24/97, p.A12)(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A11)(SFC,
7/6/98, p.A8)
1997 Sep 26, An Indonesian Garuda
Airbus A-300 crashed while approaching Medan Airport in north Sumatra
and all 234 passengers were killed. Low visibility from the areas fires
were thought to have contributed the tragedy. An air traffic control
error was cited.
(SFC, 9/27/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/29/97, p.A1)(AP,
9/26/98)(SFC, 11/13/01, p.A10)
1997 Sep 27, Two cargo ships
collided in the strait of Malacca and at least 28 crew members were
missing. Smog from fires impacted visibility.
(SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A21)
1997 Sep 28, An earthquake
measuring 6.0 hit Sulawesi island and at least 7 people were killed.
(SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A21)
1997 Oct 8, It was reported that
at least 420 people in western new Guinea had died over the last 23
months from starvation and illness due to the prolonged drought.
(SFC, 10/8/97, p.A10)
1997 Oct 26, It was reported that
120 orangutans on Borneo were killed or tortured by villagers after
they were forced out of their habitats by wildfires.
(SFC,10/27/97, p.A11)
1997 Oct 31, Indonesia was awarded
a $23 billion economic rescue package by the Int’l. Monetary Fund.
Japan and Singapore promised an additional 5 million each and the US
promised an additional $3 billion in loans to be used in case the $23
billion was insufficient to stabilize the situation.
(SFC,11/1/97, p.D1)(SFEC,11/2/97, p.A18)
1997 Nov 1, Indonesia shut down 16
insolvent banks and planned austerity measures.
(SFEC,11/2/97, p.A18)
1997 Nov 26, A recent visitor
reported that some 40,000 Indonesian troops were stationed in East
Timor among a population of 800,000.
(SFC,11/26/97, p.C2)
1997 Dec 4, Some 2,000 Dole
farmworkers on Mindanao went on strike protesting low wages.
(SFC, 2/16/98, p.A10)
1997 Dec 8, A fire gutted the top
3 floors of the central bank and at least 15 people were killed.
(SFC,12/9/97, p.B3)
1997 Dec 19, In Indonesia a
Singapore SilkAir operated Boeing 737 jet crashed by the Musi River
north of Palembang on its flight from Jakarta to Singapore. All 104
people on board were feared dead. The 10-month-old plane was later
found to have some fasteners missing. Capt. Tsu Way Ming was later
suspected of having committed suicide due to investment losses
(SFC,12/20/97, p.A10) (WSJ, 1/8/98, p.1)(WSJ,
7/30/98, p.A1)
1997 Dec 24, The currency hit a
record low at 6,300 rupiah to the dollar and closed at around 5,850.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A6)
1997 In Indonesia mobs killed and
raped ethnic Chinese residents and looted and destroyed their
businesses.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A12)
1997 In Indonesia fires originally
set by developers to clear forest for palm plantations in Borneo and
Sumatra ran out of control and darkened skies across much of Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore. The World Bank estimated that 8% of total
global emission of greenhouse gases for the year were due to the fires.
(Econ, 3/25/06, p.74)
1997-2002 Thailand and Indonesia were hit the hardest
in an Asian financial crises and suffered a slump in GDP during this
period of around 35%.
(Econ, 6/30/07, p.79)
1998 Jan 8, In Indonesia the
currency and stock market dropped and panic buying hit retailers after
the budget failed to address the nation’s urgent needs. The rupiah fell
at one point to 10,550 to the dollar and the market dipping 19%.
(SFC, 1/9/98, p.A8)
1998 Jan 14, The IMF and Indonesia
agreed to a strengthened economic restructuring plan.
(SFC, 1/15/98, p.A10)
1998 Jan 16, It was reported that
Pres. Suharto and his six children have an estimated net worth of $40
billion, equal to about half the country’s gross domestic product.
(SFC, 1/16/98, p.B3)
1998 Jan 20, Pres. Suharto (76)
announced plans for another 5-year term. He hinted that his vice-pres.
would be Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (61).
(SFC, 1/21/98, p.C12)
1998 Jan 22, The rupiah fell again
and ended the day at 12,000 per US dollar.
(WSJ, 1/22/98, p.A11)
1998 Feb 9, A curfew was imposed
on the town of Ende after 2 days of riots burned 21 stores owned by the
ethnic Chinese, who dominate most of the businesses.
(SFC, 2/10/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A1)
1998 Feb 12, Pres. Suharto ordered
the military to move against anti-government activists. The previous
day police detained some 140 protestors in Jakarta.
(SFC, 2/13/98, p.D2)
1998 Feb 13, Rioting and looting
spread to at least 8 towns.
(SFC, 2/14/98, p.A8)
1998 Feb 17, In Indonesia Pres.
Suharto fired Soedradjad Djiwandono, the country’s Central Bank chief.
(SFC, 2/18/98, p.C3)
1998 Feb 19, In Indonesia 3
Chinese tycoons led by Liem Sioe Liong, the No. 1 individual taxpayer,
started a huge food giveaway to the poor. In Kendari mobs attacked
Chinese-owned shops and homes. In Jakarta some 600 students demanded
that the government quit.
(SFC, 2/20/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 2/20/98, p.A1)
1998 Feb 22, The government banned
rallies until mid-March. Government troops last week killed 5 people
and arrested 921 others during riots.
(SFC, 2/23/98, p.A12)
1998 Feb 27, It was reported that
hundreds of fires were burning in Kalimantan, Borneo. Most were set by
loggers and small farmers. Drought was fueling the fires and already
34,600 acres were destroyed this year.
(SFC, 2/27/98, p.D2)
1998 Mar 1-11, The 1,000 member
People’s Consultative Assembly will affirm the leader for the next 5
years.
(WSJ, 4/29/97, p.A18)
1998 Mar 6, The IMF announced that
it would delay the release of $3 billion in aid because basic
requirements were not yet met.
(SFC, 3/9/98, p.A11)
1998 Mar 10, Pres. Suharto was
re-elected by acclamation of the People’s Consultative Assembly to his
7th 5-year term.
(SFC, 3/10/98, p.A8)
1998 Mar 12, Students continued
protests against Suharto and violent clashes with police broke out in
Surabaya.
(WSJ, 3/13/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 24, The Clinton
administration announced a $56 million food and medical supply donation
to Indonesia.
(SFC, 3/25/98, p.C14)
1998 Mar 24, In Indonesia a plan
to service its $74 billion foreign debt was being modeled on the
Mexican debt program of the 1980s. Some 4 million construction and
manufacturing jobs were already lost due to the crises.
(WSJ, 3/25/98, p.A18)
1998 Apr 5, An outbreak of dengue
fever killed 125 people since the beginning of the year in South
Sumatra.
(SFEC, 4/5/98, p.T13)
1998 Apr 7, Indonesia and the IMF
agreed on a new plan for the economy. Pres. Suharto and the fund made
concessions, that included continuing subsidies on food and fuel and
closing more insolvent banks.
(SFC, 4/898, p.A12)
1998 Apr 15, Anti-government
rallies were held on at least 25 campuses around the country calling
for the resignation of Suharto and his Cabinet.
(SFC, 4/16/98, p.A14)
1998 May 2, Tens of thousands of
students in Jakarta and at least a dozen other cities rallied against
the government.
(BS, 5/3/98, p.19A)
1998 May 4, The IMF resumed
lending to Indonesia with the release of almost $1 billion.
(USAT, 5/5/98, p.1B)
1998 May 5, In Indonesia thousands
of people clashed with police in Medan in protests as big increases in
the price of gasoline and other essentials went into effect under an
IMF bailout plan.
(WSJ, 5/6/98, p.A1)
1998 May 9, President Suharto left
his troubled country for a summit in Egypt with a warning his army
would quell violence over his 32-year rule and the worsening economy.
(AP, 5/9/99)
1998 May 12-1998 May 15, In
Indonesia President Suharto's security forces opened fire on student
protesters at Trisakti Univ. and 6 were killed with another 20 injured.
It was later reported that 1,188 people died in Jakarta in the riots
over this period. The nationwide toll was believed to be much higher. A
later government report indicated that the military contributed to
Suharto’s downfall. The report also concluded that 66 women, many of
them ethnic Chinese, were raped during the riots. Human rights groups
estimated that 160 women were raped.
(SFC, 5/13/98, p.A1)(SFC, 5/14/98, p.A14)(SFC,
6/4/98, p.C2)(SFC, 11/4/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 11/4/98, p.A1)
1998 May 13, Student riots
continued and at least 10 student activists were badly wounded. Pres.
Suharto planned to return home early and said he was willing to step
down if he is no longer trusted to lead the country.
(SFC, 5/14/98, p.A14)
1998 May 14, In Indonesia
widespread rioting, shooting, looting and demonstrations continued for
a 3rd day. At least 230 people were killed in the riots, with over 175
dead from a fire at the 5-story Yogya Plaza shopping center in East
Jakarta.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A1)
1998 May 15, Trapped in blazing
shopping malls, hundreds of looters burned to death in rioting that
laid smoking waste to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.
(AP, 5/15/99)
1998 May 17, Muslim leader Amien
Rais, head of the 28-million member Muhammadiyah Islamic group,
threatened to bring millions onto the streets to demand Suharto’s
resignation.
(SFC, 5/18/98, p.A10)
1998 May 19, Students took over
the parliament building after Suharto made a TV address and promised
much-needed reforms.
(WSJ, 5/20/98, p.A1)
1998 May 20, A threatened
anti-Suharto demonstration was called off to avoid bloodshed after the
army mounted a big show of force in the capital.
(WSJ, 5/20/98, p.A1)
1998 May 21, In the wake of deadly
anti-government protests, Indonesia’s Pres. Suharto resigned after 32
years in power and appointed his vice-president, B.J. Habibie (b.
6/25/36), as the new leader. In 2005 Richard Lloyd Parry authored “In
the Time of Madness,” an account of Indonesia’s transformation
following the resignation of Suharto.
(SFC, 5/21/98, p.A14)(AP, 5/21/99)(Econ, 4/2/05,
p.77)
1998 May 22, Gen’l. Wiranto
emerged as defense minister and chief of the armed forces. He
peacefully evicted student protestors from the Parliament and removed
rival Gen’l. Prabowo, a son-in-law of Suharto, to a military college in
Bandung
(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A12)
1998 May 24, State Sec. Akbar
Tanjung said that parliamentary elections would be held as soon as
possible, perhaps within 6 months to a year.
(SFC, 5/25/98, p.A10)
1998 May 25, The government
released 2 prominent Suharto critics, cancelled some public works
projects that benefited Suharto kin, and named army troops as suspects
in the May 12 shooting of 6 students.
(SFC, 5/26/98, p.A6)
1998 May 28, Pres. Habibie
promised to hold elections in 1999 as student protests continued,
though on a smaller scale.
(SFC, 5/29/98, p.A16)
1998 May 30, In Indonesia the
government cancelled tax breaks for a “national car” program run by
Suharto’s son, Hutomo Madala Putra, and with four port-service
contracts owned by Hutomo. Economic contraction was feared to reach
10-20%.
(SFEC, 5/31/98, p.A21)
1998 Jun 1, The new government
announced a broad inquiry into corruption under ex-Pres. Suharto.
(SFC, 6/2/98, p.A11)
1998 Jun 4, Creditor banks
unveiled a plan to restructure $80 billion of foreign debt owed by
banks and corporations.
(WSJ, 6/5/98, p.A1)
1998 Jun 9, Pres. Habibie offered
to grant special status to East Timor in exchange for peace and signed
a decree to release 10 [12] jailed East Timor rebels.
(SFC, 6/10/98, p.A10)(SFC, 6/19/98, p.B7)
1998 Jun 15, Habibie replaced the
attorney general, a Suharto appointee, with Major Gen’l. Andi Muhammad
Galib, chief of the military’s law office and chief auditor.
(SFC, 6/16/98, p.A10)
1998 cJun 20, In East Timor a
young Timorese was shot dead by a soldier as he gathered wood. Officers
apologized and the soldier was charged.
(SFEC, 6/28/98, p.A20)
1998 Jun 25, A revised IMF bailout
deal was loaded with fuel and food subsidies for the nation’s poor.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.D2)
1998 Jun 25, It was reported that
two new tribes were found in the Mamberamo river area of Irian Jaya.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.D2)
1998 Jun 27, In East Timor Manuel
Soares (21) was shot dead in Manatuto when troops opened fire to quell
a clash between Pro-Indonesia and pro-independence supporters. Three EU
envoys arrived on a fact-finding mission.
(SFEC, 6/28/98, p.A20)
1998 Jul 2, The World Bank
approved $1 billion loan as part of its $4.5 contribution to the $41
billion rescue package.
(SFC, 7/3/98, p.D2)
1998 Jul 7, In Indonesia troops
battled protestors on Irian Jaya who demanded independence.
(WSJ, 7/8/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 5, A human-rights group
said that graves in Aceh province held bodies of hundreds of people
killed over the last 8 years.
(WSJ, 8/6/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 14, Indonesia and the UN
signed an agreement to allow human rights observers access to East
Timor.
(SFC, 8/15/98, p.A16)
1998 Aug 24, Lt. Gen’l. Prabowo
Subianto, son-in-law of former Pres. Suharto, was discharged. He had
been the chief of Kopassus, a special forces unit that was implicated
in abductions and torture of political dissidents.
(SFC, 8/25/98, p.A8)
1998 Aug 29, In Indonesia riots
quelled after thousands of fishermen burned at least 10 trawlers in
Cilacap. They complained of exploitation by ethnic Chinese where they
were paid about 18 cents per day. There were riots all week across the
country due to economic turmoil.
(SFEC, 8/28/98, p.A21)
1998 Sep 2, Indonesian police on
Sumatra shot 2 people to death in Lhokseumawe on the 2nd day of
rioting. Rioters freed 90 prisoners and hundreds of ethnic Chinese fled
the town. Several thousand fresh troops were sent to the city in the
province of Aceh.
(WSJ, 9/3/98, p.A1)(SFC, 9/3/98, p.C18)
1998 Sep 7, In Indonesia students
rallied in Jakarta and demanded that Pres. Habibie quit. Rioters in
Kebumen attacked ethnic Chinese shops and homes.
(WSJ, 9/8/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 14, In Medan a strike by
6,000 taxi drivers deteriorated into a riot.
(WSJ, 9/16/98, p.A19)
1998 Sep 15, In Indonesia a 2nd
week of looting and rioting continued.
(WSJ, 9/16/98, p.A19)
1998 Oct 15, From Indonesia it was
reported that machete-wielding gangs have killed at least 153 people in
Banyuwangi in recent months. The dead were accused of dabbling in black
magic and denounced as evil sorcerers. The killings were reported to be
spreading to the neighboring districts of Jember, Pasuruan, Situbondo,
and the island of Madura.
(SFC, 10/15/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 10/16/98, p.A13)
1998 Oct 22, Astra Int’l., the
nation’s biggest auto assembler, told creditors that it must stop
paying interest on $1.4 billion in loans due to the economic downturn.
Rini Soewandi (40) became head of Astra in this year.
(WSJ, 10/23/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 10/28/99, p.A1)
1998 Oct 28, In Indonesia some
8,000 students staged a sit-in in Jakarta and demanded the B.J. Habibie
step down.
(SFC, 10/29/98, p.A14)
1998 Nov 10, In Indonesia student
protestors demanded that Suharto be brought to trial and that a probe
of human rights abuses be initiated, while rulers initiated a 4-day
meeting to dismantle past laws and plot a democratic future.
(SFC, 11/11/98, p.A10)
1998 Nov 12, In Indonesia troops
opened fire with rubber bullets on student demonstrators. One police
officer was killed and over 120 people were injured.
(SFC, 11/13/98, p.A16)
1998 Nov 13, In Indonesia student
protests continued and 12 people were reported killed. Meanwhile the
legislative assembly approved new elections for next year and an
investigation into past corruption. A half dozen were killed and scores
wounded in what soon came to be called Black Friday.
(SFC, 11/14/98, p.A10)(SFC, 11/16/98, p.A12)
1998 Nov 14, In Jakarta residents
of poor neighborhoods attacked shopping malls, banks, car dealerships
and Chinese-owned shops. Troops took action to quell the rioting and
one police officer was reported killed.
(SFEC, 11/15/98, p.A23)
1998 Nov 18, In Jakarta thousands
marched in continuing protests. It was also reported that students were
killed the previous week with live bullets. The military had insisted
that only plastic and blank ammunition was issued.
(SFC, 11/19/98, p.C3)
1998 Nov 20, In Indonesia
thousands of students marched and demanded the resignations of Pres.
Habibie and military chief Wiranto following doctor’s confirmation that
protestors were killed with live ammunition on Nov 13-14. In Pinrang
thousands of villagers rioted after finding that they could not
withdraw savings from an outlawed bank.
(SFC, 11/21/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 11/22/98, p.A24)
1998 Nov 20, UN sponsored autonomy
negotiations on East Timor were suspended after 44 people were reported
killed under a military crackdown by the Indonesian government. The Red
Cross later denied the reports of a massacre.
(WSJ, 11/23/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/27/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 21, In Indonesia Pres.
Habibie ordered a new corruption inquiry into former autocrat Suharto.
(SFEC, 11/22/98, p.A24)
1998 Nov 22, In Indonesia rioting
in Jakarta erupted after a gang fight between Muslims and Christian
migrants. At least 14 people were killed and a dozen churches were
burned or damaged.
(SFC, 11/23/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 11/24/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 26, In Indonesia Suharto
signed over control of 7 foundations holding over $530 million.
(WSJ, 11/27/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 29, In Jakarta the
opposition Muslim Party began a 4-day rally.
(WSJ, 11/30/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 29, In Indonesia a 7.6
earthquake was centered near Taliabu Island in the Maluku Sea. At least
25 people were killed on Mangole Island and some 89 were injured.
(SFC, 11/30/98, p.B10)(SFC, 12/1/98, p.A11)
1998 Nov 30, At least 6 mosques in
the West Timor city of Kupang were attacked.
(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A16)
1998 Dec 11, Hutomo “Tommy”
Mandala Putra, Suharto’s youngest son, was charged as a suspect in a
corruption case. Also charged was Beddu Amang, a former chief of the
state-run food distribution agency known as Bulog.
(SFC, 12/12/98, p.B2)
1998 Dec 13, Indonesia announced a
plan to recruit some 40,000 young people to help suppress social and
religious unrest.
(SFC, 12/14/98, p.C2)
1998 Dec 16, In the Borneo town of
Samarinda a strike turned violent and ethnic-Chinese shops were looted
by mobs.
(WSJ, 12/17/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 17, In Indonesia some
4,000 students attempted to storm the parliament in Jakarta in a 2nd
day of riots. They were stopped by police riot squads.
(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D2)
1998 Dec 23, An Indonesian
military court charged 11 soldiers with kidnapping dissidents before
the ouster of Suharto. Prabowo Subianto, a son-in-law of Suharto led
the unit and has since fled to Jordan and become a citizen.
(WSJ, 12/24/98, p.A1)
1998 In Indonesia the 1,480-foot
Kuningan Persada Tower was scheduled for completion in Jakarta. It
would have become the world’s tallest building, but an economic crises
shelved the project.
(www.nottingham.ac.uk/sbe/tallbuildings/Articles_Books/PersadaTop.htm)
1998 In Indonesia the Islamic
Defender’ Front (FPI) was founded. It developed a record of bloodily
intimidating Christians, Ahmadis and those offending its puritanical
morality.
(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.9)
1998 Indonesia suffered an
economic meltdown in the wake of Suharto’s loss of power. The GDP
contracted 13.2% in this year.
(WSJ, 5/16/01, p.A1)(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.9)
1998 On Indonesia’s Sulawesi
Island a dispute arose in Poso between Muslims and Christians over
control of the local government. Over the next 3 years hundreds were
killed and an estimated 75,000 were forced from their homes.
(SFC, 12/14/01, p.E1)
1999 Jan 3, In Indonesia 6 people
died following a riot touched off by a military raid in Aceh province.
The military sought Ahmad Kandang, leader of the separatist Free Aceh
movement.
(SFC, 1/4/99, p.A8)
1999 Jan 5, Pres. Habibie unveiled
a draft budget that assumed no growth and 17% inflation.
(WSJ, 1/6/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 8, In Indonesia some
2,000 people rampaged in Karawang and 2 people were shot dead by police.
(SFC, 1/9/99, p.A9)
1999 Jan 9, In Indonesia 4
separatist supporters were beaten to death in Aceh province.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 20, In Indonesia rioting
extended for a 3rd day on Ambon Island where at least 22 people were
killed.
(SFC, 1/21/99, p.A14)
1999 Jan 21, In Telagakodok at
least 40 Christian villagers were killed by a mob of Muslims.
(SFC, 1/26/99, p.A14)
1999 Jan 22, In Indonesia order
was restored on the island of Ambon after 45 people died in 4 days of
rioting.
(SFC, 1/23/99, p.A10)
1999 Jan 27, In Indonesia
legislators announced that independence for East Timor would be
considered. Also Chief Xanana Gusmao was to be released from prison but
kept in confinement.
(SFC, 1/28/99, p.C3)
1999 Feb 3, In Indonesia police
fired on a crowd listening to separatist speeches in Aceh and 2 people
were killed. The death toll from Christian-Muslim clashes on Ambon was
raised to 94.
(WSJ, 2/4/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 7, In Indonesia a
passenger ship sank between Borneo and Sumatra with 332 people aboard.
19 were reported rescued.
(SFC, 2/11/99, p.C2)
1999 Feb 14, In Indonesia Megawati
Sukarnoputri officially introduced the PDI Struggle Party for her
presidential bid in the Jun 7 elections. On Haruku and Saparua Islands
in Maluku province at least 20 people were killed in rioting as troops
dispersed gangs of Muslims and Christians.
(SFC, 2/15/99, p.A10)(WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 23, Police fired on
warring Christians and Muslims on the island of Ambon and at least 5
people were killed and 12 wounded.
(WSJ, 2/24/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 1, In Indonesia 9 people
were killed when police opened fire on a crowd outside a mosque at
Ambon.
(SFC, 3/2/99, p.A9)
1999 Mar 10, Troops fired on
rioting Christians and Muslims on Ambon and at least 7 people were
killed.
(WSJ, 3/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 13, In Indonesia the
National Front Party of prime minister Mahathir Mohamad won elections
in oil-rich Sabah state with 25 of the 48 seats.
(SFEC, 3/14/99, p.A8)
1999 Mar 15, In Indonesia the
government closed 38 banks, took over 7, and agreed to bail out 9 in an
attempt to revitalize the financial system.
(WSJ, 3/15/99, p.A13)
1999 Jun 7, Elections were
scheduled and the military, known as ABRI, were scheduled to have their
allotted seats in the 500-member parliament reduced by half to 38.
(SFC, 3/15/99, p.A8)
1999 Mar 18, In Indonesia at least
59 people were killed on Borneo as ethnic groups clashed for a 3rd day.
(SFC, 3/19/99, p.A14)
1999 Mar 21, In Indonesia at least
96 immigrant Madura were killed by ethnic Malay, Dayak and Bugis men on
the island of Borneo.
(SFC, 3/22/99, p.A11)
1999 Mar 25, It was reported that
Abdurrahman Wahid (59), leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama, a rural-based
Islamic group with 30 million followers, was seeking to become
president. Wahid, also called Gus Dur (Respected Son), was nearly blind.
(WSJ, 3/25/99, p.A21)
1999 Apr 2, In West Kalimantan
Malays and indigenous Dayaks killed over 200 people over the last 2
weeks. Nearly 30,000 Muslim people, originally from Madura, were
reported to have fled their villages.
(WSJ, 4/2/99, p.A9)
1999 Apr 5, Two people were killed
during clashes in Liquisa, East Timor. Jose Alexandre Gusmao, under
house arrest in Jakarta, called for guerrilla attacks against
Indonesian forces.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 5, In Maluku province,
Indonesia soldiers found some 20 burned bodies in the village of Larat
on Kai Besar Island.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 6, In East Timor gunmen
fired shots and lobbed grenades into a church where 1500 residents had
taken refuge. Some 40 people were reported killed in Liquisa and 5
people were shot to death at the home of a parish priest. Military
officials denied the massacre and a bishop later said the number killed
might be less than 40. At least 25 people were killed by members of the
Red and White Iron militia group.
(SFC, 4/7/99, p.C12)(WSJ, 4/8/99, p.A1)(SFC, 4/9/99,
p.D2)
1999 Apr 6, In Indonesia troops
opened fire on Christian and Muslim gangs in the Spice Islands where a
week of rioting left 76 dead.
(WSJ, 4/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 13, The World Bank
delayed $600 million in loans fearing misuse with the approaching
elections.
(WSJ, 4/13/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 23, The foreign ministers
of Indonesia and Portugal completed an agreement for the people of East
Timor to vote on their future.
(SFC, 4/24/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 25, Pro-Indonesian
militias were reported to have killed over 150 people in East Timor.
(WSJ, 4/26/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 27, Pres. Habibie
announced plans for a ballot on independence on Aug 8.
Anti-independence militiamen rejected the plans.
(SFC, 4/28/99, p.C2)
1999 May 3, In Indonesia soldiers
opened fire on villagers in Pulo Rungkom, Sumatra, and killed at least
19 people. They were there to obtain the release of a soldier abducted
over the weekend. Over 30 people were killed and thousands fled the
town following the massacre.
(SFC, 5/4/99, p.A14)(WSJ, 5/6/99, p.A1)
1999 May 3, In Indonesia the
cabinet approved an autonomy package for East Timor to be voted on in
August.
(WSJ, 5/4/99, p.A1)
1999 May 5, Indonesia and Portugal
signed accords to enable the people of East Timor to vote on
independence Aug 8.
(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A15)
1999 May 14, The ruling Golkar
Party chose Pres. Habibie as its candidate for presidential elections.
Polls showed his support at 7%.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A10)
1999 May 18, In Indonesia 3
leading reformist parties agreed to unite against Pres. Habibie.
(SFC, 5/18/99, p.C12)
1999 May 19, In Jakarta tens of
thousands marched to launch the campaign of 48 parties for a new
parliament. The march was dominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Megawati Suskarnoputri.
(SFC, 5/20/99, p.A12)
1999 May 21, In Indonesia students
in Jakarta clashed with police during protests that former Pres.
Suharto be prosecuted on the one year anniversary of Suharto's
resignation.
(SFC, 5/22/99, p.A12)
1999 May 23, In Indonesia
thousands rallied in the streets of Jakarta in support of Megawati
Sukarnoputri.
(SFC, 5/24/99, p.A14)
1999 Jun 7, Elections for a new
Indonesia parliament, which would select a new president, were
scheduled. 462 members of the 700 seat assembly were to be elected.
With 14.3% of the votes counted The Democratic Party for Struggle led
Golkar 35.2% to 20.9. The opposition led by Megawati Sukarnoputri won
most of the seats but failed to get a majority.
(SFEC, 5/30/99, p.A19)(SFC, 6/11/99, p.D2)(WSJ,
9/17/04, p.A8)
1999 Jun 11, Amien Rais, candidate
for the National Mandate Party, conceded defeat and met for talks with
Pres. Habibie.
(SFC, 6/12/99, p.C1)
1999 Jul 1, On Flores Island Mount
Lewotobi erupted and at least 20 people suffered minor injuries.
(SFC, 7/10/99, p.A9)
1999 Jul 15, In Indonesia final
election results showed Megawati's PDI-P party winning 34% of 122
million votes with Golgar at 22%.
(SFC, 7/16/99, p.A10)
1999 Jul 24, In Indonesia troops
killed as many as 41 people during a raid on a rebel base in Beutong
village in Aceh province. Separatist leader Teungku Bantaqiah was among
the dead. A Jakarta inquiry in Oct. found that troops killed 54
civilians, not rebels, in Aceh. 56 students and a teacher from an
Islamic boarding school in Beutong Ateuh village were executed. In 2000
24 soldiers and a civilian were convicted for the June murders.
(SFC, 7/27/99, p.A10)(WSJ, 11/1/99, p.A1)(SFC,
5/18/00, p.A14)
1999 Jul 27, Renewed fighting in
Ambon and Aceh left 17 people dead.
(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 3, In Indonesia Pres.
Habibie validated the June 7 election results.
(WSJ, 8/4/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 7, In Indonesia a tugboat
and oil tanker collided under thick haze and the tanker ignited killing
10 people.
(SFC, 8/10/99, p.A10)
1999 Aug 10, Religious fighting
killed 18 people in Ambon.
(WSJ, 8/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 11, Police and soldiers
shot at battling mobs of Muslims and Christians. The death toll for the
last 3 days of fighting in Malaku province climbed to 23.
(SFC, 8/12/99, p.D3)
1999 Aug 12, Violence in Maluku
province left 14 people dead and raised the death toll since Aug 8 to
53.
(SFC, 8/13/99, p.D2)
1999 Aug 18, Ramos Horta of
Indonesia, 1996 Nobel Prize winner, warned the government that computer
hackers would wreak electronic mayhem on the country if voting in the
East Timor referendum is hampered.
(SFC, 8/19/99, p.D10)
1999 Aug 19, The government
launched an inquiry over $80 million in government funds funneled by
Bank Bali directors to PT Era Giat Prima, a finance and debt-collection
company controlled by a senior official of the Golkar Party.
(SFC, 8/20/99, p.D3)
1999 Aug 26, In East Timor
anti-independence militiamen left 6 people dead in Dili.
(SFC, 8/27/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 28, It was reported that
the Indonesian army had lost over 10,000 soldiers in East Timor over 24
years of sporadic warfare.
(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.A19)
1999 Sep 2, In East Timor
pro-Indonesia militiamen killed 2 UN workers as the Indonesian
government dispatched 500 riot police to maintain peace.
(SFC, 9/3/99, p.A8)
1999 Sep 3, The East Timor
election results were reported with 78.5% in favor of independence.
(SFC, 9/4/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 5, In East Timor
anti-independence militias went on a rampage and 100 people were
reported slaughtered in a church and hundreds of other beheaded as tens
of thousands tried to flee. 18 suspects were indicted for the slaughter
in 2001. In Indonesia 7 senior officials were charged in 2002 including
former East Timor Gov. Abilio Soares.
(SFC, 9/6/99, p.A1)(SFC, 2/22/02, p.A14)
1999 Sep 6, In East Timor martial
law was declared by Indonesia as militias began executing independence
leaders. A UN peace-keeping force was being formed to cope with the
violence. A mass slaying of up to 200 civilians took place in Suai. 3
Roman Catholic priests were among the dead. In 2004 Martenus Bere,
Indonesian former militia leader, was indicted for his role in the Suai
Church massacre.
(SFC, 9/7/99, p.A1)(SFC, 11/27/99, p.A14)(AFP,
9/7/09)
1999 Sep 7, The US threatened the
withdrawal of financial aid to Indonesia if violence in East Timor was
not curtailed.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 9, Pres. Clinton moved to
cut military ties with Indonesia and the IMF suspended its lending
program due to the violence in East Timor.
(SFC, 9/10/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 11, Pres. Clinton backed
by the UN General Assembly demanded that Indonesia invite an int'l.
force to restore order in East Timor.
(SFEC, 9/12/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 12, In Indonesia Pres.
Habibie said he will allow armed foreign peacekeepers into East Timor.
Reports had reached Jakarta that troops had attacked 30,000 people in
the seminary town of Dare.
(SFC, 9/13/99, p.A1,10)
1999 Sep 13, Indonesia agreed to
an int'l. commission to investigate possible atrocities in East Timor
and to create no obstacles to the deployment of a foreign peacekeeping
force.
(SFC, 9/14/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 14, In East Timor
Indonesian soldiers looted the abandoned UN compound in Dili.
(SFC, 9/15/99, p.A14)
1999 Sep 15, The UN authorized an
int'l. peacekeeping force in East Timor.
(SFC, 9/15/99, p.A15)
1999 Sep 18, Indonesian troops
prepared to leave East Timor as a multinational force steamed in.
(SFEC, 9/19/99, p.A17)
1999 Sep 24, In Indonesia the
government suspended a new law that gave the armed forces expanded
emergency powers following serious protests and 2 days of rioting in
Jakarta. The Parliament recommended that a number of officials tied to
the Golkar Party be yanked from office over the disappearance of some
$70 billion from Bank Bali.
(SFC, 9/25/99, p.A12)(SFC, 9/28/99, p.A16)
1999 Sep 25, In Indonesia student
riots extended to Medan, on the island of Sumatra, after 6 people were
killed in Jakarta.
(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.A12)
1999 Oct 1, The new national
Assembly met for the first time in the post-Suharto period. The
assembly elected Amien Rais as speaker and chose Oct 20 as the date to
select the next president.
(WSJ, 10/1/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/4/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 6, Two Islamic reform
parties named Abdurrahman Wahid as their candidate for the Oct. 20
election.
(WSJ, 10/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 11, In Indonesia the
acting attorney general announced that he was halting a yearlong
investigation into alleged corruption by former Pres. Suharto due to
insufficient evidence for prosecution.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.A10)
1999 Oct 13, In Indonesia the
military chief, Gen'l. Wiranto, was picked by Golkar as the running
mate to Pres. Habibie.
(WSJ, 10/14/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 14, In Indonesia Pres.
Habibie gave a speech lauding his accomplishments as security forces
fought back demonstrators.
(SFC, 10/15/99, p.A14)
1999 Oct 15, Thousands of
anti-Habibie demonstrators fought police and pressured the official
assembly to go forward with reforms.
(SFC, 10/16/99, p.A14)
1999 Oct 18, Gen. Wiranto turned
down Pres. Habibie's offer for the vice-presidency.
(WSJ, 10/19/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 19, The People's
Consultative Assembly relinquished the national claim to East Timor.
(SFC, 10/20/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 20, Pres. Habibie
withdrew his bid for re-election. The People's Consultative Assembly
voted Abdurrahhman Wahid as the new president. Followers of Megawati
Sukarnoputri immediately rioted.
(SFC, 10/20/99, p.A1)(SFC, 10/21/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 21, The People's
Consultative Assembly voted 396 to 284 for Megawati Sukarnoputri as
vice president over Hamzah Haz. The vote came after Gen. Wiranto
dropped his candidacy.
(SFC, 10/22/99, p.A16)
1999 Oct 26, Pres. Wahid named
Juwono Sudarsono as the country's first civilian defense minister and
replaced Gen. Wiranto with Adm. Widodo Adisutjipto as the military
chief. Wahid also abolished the Ministry of Information.
(SFC, 10/27/99, p.A12)
1999 Oct 27, Marzuki Darusman, the
new attorney general, announced a new corruption inquiry into former
Pres. Suharto.
(SFC, 10/28/99, p.D14)
1999 Oct 31, In East Timor the
last 900 Indonesian soldiers departed.
(SFEC, 10/31/99, p.A1)
1999 Nov 2, Some 10,000 people in
Aceh province took to the streets in Meulaboh calling for independence.
(SFC, 11/3/99, p.C5)
1999 Nov 4, Over 50,000 people
demonstrated for independence in Aceh province. The population in Aceh
numbered 4.3 million.
(SFC, 11/5/99, p.A16)
1999 Nov 7, In Aceh, Indonesia,
500,000 people marched for independence.
(SFC, 11/8/99, p.A14)
1999 Nov 24, Security forces
deployed hundreds of reinforcements to Aceh province where 6 people
were killed over the past week.
(SFC, 11/25/99, p.A16)
1999 Nov, Abdullah Sungkar,
co-founder of the al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Java,
died. He had allegedly founded and led the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist
network.
(WSJ, 9/2/03, p.A1)
1999 Dec 2-4, In Indonesia 3-days
of violence in the Maluku Islands (Moluccas) left 31 people dead.
Violence that began a year ago had left 700 dead.
(SFC, 12/6/99, p.A14)
1999 Dec 4, Soldiers shot and
wounded at least 12 protestors in Aceh province on the 23rd anniversary
of an independence movement. In Irian Jaya province an estimated 20,000
people protested for independence in Nabire, 400 miles west of the
capital Jayapura.
(SFEC, 12/5/99, p.A26)
1999 Dec 19, In Maluku province a
least 5 people were killed in a clash between Christians and Muslims in
Ambon. In Aceh province at least 3 paramilitary police were killed by
separatist guerrillas.
(SFC, 12/21/99, p.C8)
1999 Dec 29, In Indonesia 3 days
of strife between Christians and Muslims on Halmahera Island in North
Maluka province left some 250 people dead.
(SFC, 12/30/99, p.A20)
1999 Dec 30, Strife between
Christians and Muslims left some 74 people killed after 4 days of
violence.
(SFC, 12/31/99, p.D6)
1999 Dec 31, Thousands of
residents fled clashes between the Christians and Muslims in the Spice
Islands. 350 people had died in 5 days of violence. 5 people were
killed at Makariki on Seram Island and security forces imposed a curfew.
(SFC, 1/1/00, p.D4)
1999 Yosepha Alomang founded the
Foundation for Human Rights Anti-Violence (Hamak) in Irian Jaya,
Indonesia.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, p.A14)
1999 The militant Islamic group
Laskar Jihad was founded on Java, Indonesia.
(WSJ, 12/7/01, p.A16)
1999 Indonesia’s President BJ
Habibi adopted Law No. 45/1999 to divide the Papua province into three:
West Irian Jaya, Central Irian Jaya and Irian Jaya.
(www.achrweb.org/Review/2004/41-04.htm)
1999 The militant Islamic group
Laskar Jihad was founded on Java, Indonesia.
(WSJ, 12/7/01, p.A16)
1999 Indonesia passed a law that
prohibited censorship of the press.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A11)
1999 A planned sale of US jets to
Indonesia was suspended when it became clear that the Suharto regime
was repressing the East Timorese.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.61)
1999-2008 Indonesia cut its public debt during this
period from about 80% of GDP to just over 30%.
(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.9)
2000 Jan 3, In Indonesia new
fighting in the Spice Islands left at least 18 people dead.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A12)
2000 Jan 4, In Indonesia at least
17 people were killed when troops opened fire on Christian and Muslim
mobs on Seram Island in Maluku province.
(SFC, 1/5/00, p.A6)
2000 Jan 4-5, Thousands of people
fled violence and poured into Ternate, the capital of North Maluku.
Refugees claimed that hundreds of people died in fighting over these 2
days.
(SFC, 1/7/00, p.D3)
2000 Jan 15, It was reported that
the worst grasshopper invasion since 1968 had devastated vast areas of
cropland in West Kalimantan province.
(SFC, 1/15/00, p.A18)
2000 Jan 17, In Indonesia angry
Muslims burned as many as a dozen churches at Mataram and Ampenan on
Lombok Island.
(SFC, 1/18/00, p.A12)
2000 Jan 18, In Indonesia Muslim
mobs attacked the Christian minority for a 2nd day in Lombok.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A13)
2000 Jan 20, Madeleine Albright
told visiting Indonesian Foreign Minister, Alwi Shihab, that the US
would increase aid from $75 million to $125 million.
(SFC, 1/21/00, p.D3)
2000 Jan 31, In Indonesia a
government commission issued a report that accused the military and
militia surrogates of mass killing, torture, deportation and rape in
East Timor.
(SFC, 2/1/00, p.A10)
2000 Jan, The pro-Indonesian Red
and White Task Force appeared in Irian Jaya (West Papua) and joined
police and soldiers in an operation against pro-independence that left
18 people wounded in the Fak Fak district.
(SFC, 7/7/00, p.A12)
2000 Feb 7, In Indonesia 7 people
were killed in Aceh province in clashed between rebels and security
forces.
(SFC, 2/9/00, p.C3)
2000 Feb 9, In Indonesia clashes
between troops and rebels in Aceh province left 15 people dead.
(SFC, 2/11/00, p.D2)
2000 Feb 10, In Indonesia former
Pres. Suharto was declared an official suspect of corruption.
(WSJ, 2/11/00, p.A1)
2000 Feb 13, In Indonesia Pres.
Wahid met with security minister Gen. Wiranto and agreed to a legal
investigation over Wiranto's role in East Timor bloodshed. Wahid then
changed his mind and decided to suspend Wiranto.
(SFC, 2/14/00, p.A12)
2000 Feb 28, In Indonesia Henry
Kissinger agreed to work as a political advisor to Pres. Abdurrahman
Wahid.
(SFC, 2/29/00, p.A10)
2000 Mar 8, Singapore complained
to Indonesia about out of control fires on Sumatra and Borneo.
(WSJ, 3/9/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 9, In Indonesia 2 days of
fighting left at least 30 people dead as Christian and Muslim gangs
clashed on Halmahera Island.
(SFC, 3/11/00, p.A9)
2000 Mar 28, Mohamad Hasan (69),
an Indonesian timber tycoon associated with former Pres. Suharto, was
arrested for fraud. He had directed the state sanctioned plywood
monopoly and controlled a forest mapping company. Hasan received a
6-year sentence and was jailed at Batu prison where he soon organized
the inmate obsidian polishing operations.
(WSJ, 3/29/00, p.A19)(WSJ, 8/13/03, p.A1)
2000 May 2, In Indonesia it was
reported that a tribal conflict between the Wampe and Bilaga on West
Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, had left over 100 people dead in the last
year.
(SFC, 5/2/00, p.A10)
2000 May 4, In Indonesia the
government announced an agreement for a cease-fire with separatists in
Aceh province.
(SFC, 5/5/00, p.A18)
2000 May 4, In Indonesia a 6.5
earthquake was centered in the Maluku Sea off Pelang Island and at
least 17 people were killed.
(SFC, 5/5/00, p.A18)
2000 May 12, The Indonesian
government and separatist rebels negotiated a cease-fire in
Switzerland, the 1st in 25 years of fighting. The 3 month cease-fire
was set to begin Jun 2.
(SFC, 5/13/00, p.A8)
2000 May 29, Former pres. Suharto
was put under house arrest pending a trial for corruption and abuse of
power. In North Moluku at least 44 people were killed in an armed raid
on a mostly Christian village on Halmahera Island. The attackers were
believed to be members of the Lasker Jihad from a neighboring island.
(SFC, 5/30/00, p.A12)(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A11)
2000 May 31, A top aid to Pres.
Wahid resigned over a scandal that involved $4.1 million missing from a
government fund.
(WSJ, 6/1/00, p.A1)
2000 May, Christian forces
executed dozens of Muslims, who had surrendered on Sulawesi Island.
(SFC, 12/14/01, p.E1)
2000 Jun 4, In Indonesia a 7.3
earthquake hit Sumatra and at least 58 people were killed. The toll
climbed to 103 with relentless aftershocks.
(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)(SFC, 6/6/00, p.A13)
2000 Jun 4, In West Papua
separatists made a declaration of independence. Thaha Alhamid read the
declaration before thousands gathered in Jayapura. 500 West Papuans had
gathered for a “congress” that resulted in the declaration.
(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)(SFC, 7/7/00, p.A12)
2000 Jun 12, At least 8 people
were killed in Muslim-Christian fighting in Maluku.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A11)
2000 Jun 19, Sectarian fighting
killed as many as 161 people in the Maluku Islands, also known as the
Moluccas or Spice Islands. Thousands of Muslims attacked Christians in
the village of Duma.
(WSJ, 6/20/00, p.A1)(SFC, 6/21/00, p.A13)
2000 Jun 21, Bank Indonesia Gov.
Sjahril Sabirin was detained after he refused the president’s demands
to step down. He was suspect in the 1999 “Baligate” scandal that
involved an $80 million transfer from the insolvent Bali Bank to a
company controlled by a senior official of the Golkar Party.
(SFC, 6/22/00, p.A13)
2000 Jun 23, Street battles in the
Maluku Islands between Christians and Muslims left at least 18 people
dead.
(SFC, 6/24/00, p.A13)
2000 Jun 26, In Indonesia Pres.
Wahid declared a state of emergency in the eastern Maluku Islands. Over
the last 6 days 60 people were reported killed in Ambon.
(SFC, 6/27/00, p.A14)
2000 Jun 29, In Indonesia the
ferry Cahaya Bahari was feared to have sunk with 492 passengers killing
all but ten known survivors. The ship left Tobelo on Halmahera in North
Maluku and was bound for Manado in North Sulawesi with many fleeing
sectarian violence.
(SFC, 6/30/00, p.A16)(AP, 6/29/01)
2000 Jul 2, Ten people were
rescued from water close to Karakelong Island after 4 days at sea
following the sinking of the Cahaya Bahari.
(SFC, 7/3/00, p.A14)
2000 Jul 4, Ten people were killed
over 2 days of clashes between Christians and Muslims in the Malukus.
(SFC, 7/5/00, p.A10)
2000 Jul 16, A 2nd day of fighting
left 20 people dead after Indonesian troops joined Muslim militants
against Christian gangs in the Maluku Islands.
(SFC, 7/17/00, p.A12)
2000 Jul 26, The attorney general
filed corruption charges against former Pres. Suharto.
(SFC, 7/27/00, p.A16)
2000 Jul 27, Two Indonesian
vulcanologists were killed when Mount Semeru erupted without warning.
(SFC, 8/5/00, p.A22)
2000 Aug 1, In Jakarta a car bomb
exploded outside the house of the Philippine ambassador. Two people
were killed and 22 wounded including Ambassador Leonides Caday.
(SFC, 8/2/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 3, Prosecutors charged
former Pres. Suharto with corruption for allegedly skimming $750
million in public funds from charities under his control.
(SFC, 8/4/00, p.D3)
2000 Aug 9, Pres. Wahid announced
that he would hand over daily government operations to Vice Pres.
Megawati Sukarno.
(SFC, 8/10/00, p.A10)
2000 Aug 18, The 700-member
People’s Consultative Assembly passed a decree that allowed the
security forces to keep 38 seats in the legislature until 2009 and
banned retroactive prosecution of human rights cases.
(SFC, 8/19/00, p.A8)
2000 Aug 22, In West Timor
pro-Indonesia militiamen severely beat 3 UN relief workers. UN relief
work in West Timor was suspended the next day.
(SFC, 8/24/00, p.A13)
2000 Aug 23, Former Pres. Suharto
was ordered to stand trial on corruption charges Aug 31.
(SFC, 8/24/00, p.A13)
2000 Aug 23, A boat from Indonesia
capsized in the Strait of Malucca and Malaysian authorities rescued 7
of 100 passengers.
(SFC, 8/26/00, p.A9)
2000 Aug 28, The parliament agreed
to begin a formal investigation into 2 financial scandals involving
Pres. Wahid.
(SFC, 8/29/00, p.A8)
2000 Aug 31, Suharto claimed
illness and failed to show up for the 1st day of his corruption trial.
(SFC, 9/1/00, p.A18)
2000 Sep 1, Prosecutors in Jakarta
named 19 people, including 3 generals as possible suspects in the
killings and destruction in East Timor in Sept. 1999.
(SFC, 9/2/00, p.A12)
2000 Sep 6, It was reported that
the body of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah (35), a human rights activist, was
found near Medah. He had disappeared Aug 5.
(SFC, 9/6/00, p.A11)
2000 Sep 6, In West Timor
thousands of armed militia rampaged through a UN office in Atambua and
killed at least 3 UN workers and burned their bodies. UN relief workers
were flown out the next day and 90,000 refugees faced shortages of food
and medicine. The militia attack followed the death of Olivio Mendosa
Moruk, an East Timorese militia leader. In 2001 Julius Naisama was
sentenced to 20 months in jail for his part in the attack. 5 others
received sentences of 10-16 months.
(SFC, 9/7/0, p.A1)(SFC, 9/8/00, p.A12)(SFC, 9/13/00,
p.A14)(SFC, 5/5/01, p.D2)
2000 Sep 7, In West Timor 20
people were reported killed in the village of Betun in another rampage
by militiamen.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A1)
2000 Sep 13, A car bomb exploded
in the garage of the Jakarta stock exchange and at least 15 people were
killed.
(SFC, 9/14/00, p.C2)
2000 Sep 15, Pres. Wahid called
for the arrest of Hutomo Mandala Putra, aka Tommy Suharto, in
connection with the recent terrorist bombing. Putra met with police on
his own accord.
(SFC, 9/16/00, p.A10)
2000 Sep 18, Gen. Rusdihardjo, the
national police chief, was fired by Pres. Wahid for not arresting Tommy
Suharto.
(SFC, 9/19/00, p.A9)
2000 Sep 20, Pres. Wahid fired
Gen. Fachrul Razi, the deputy commander of the armed forces, due to the
slow pace of reform in West Timor. Some 120,000 refugees in West Timor
faced hunger due to the withdrawal of aid groups
(SFC, 9/21/00, p.C3)
2000 Sep 22, Pres. Wahid installed
a new national police chief and ordered security forces to take quick
action to recent bombing attacks.
(SFEC, 9/24/00, p.A6)
2000 Sep 23, Police arrested 25
people in connection with the recent bombings in Jakarta.
(SFEC, 9/24/00, p.A6)
2000 Sep 28, A court dismissed the
corruption case against former Pres. Suharto (79) after doctors
concluded he was too ill to stand trial.
(SFC, 9/29/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 3, Hutomo Mandala Putra,
aka Tommy Suharto, admitted that he was guilty of corruption and asked
for clemency.
(SFC, 10/4/00, p.A10)
2000 Oct 4, Pres. Wahid denied
clemency to Tommy Suharto and ordered the arrest of a Timorese militia
chief.
(SFC, 10/5/00, p.A12)
2000 Oct 6, In Irian Jaya 7 people
were killed and 38 injured following a clash after police and soldiers
lowered the separatist Free Papua Movement’s “Morning Star” flag in
Wamena town.
(SFC, 10/7/00, p.A12)
2000 Oct 14, In Indonesia police
arrested Alip Agung Suwondo, Pres. Wassid’s masseur, on suspicion of
trying to steal $4 million in state funds.
(SFC, 10/16/00, p.F8)
2000 Oct 30, At least 43 people
died in landslides on Java due to heavy rains.
(SFC, 10/31/00, p.A14)
2000 Nov 3, Hutomo Mandala Putra
(Tommy Suharto) went missing after prosecutors issued a warrant for his
arrest.
(SFC, 11/4/00, p.A14)
2000 Nov 10, Hundreds of thousands
of people began converging on Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province,
for demonstrations on independence.
(SFC, 11/11/00, p.A14)
2000 Nov 11, At least 27 people
were killed when police cracked down on tens of thousands of protestors
in Aceh.
(WSJ, 11/13/00, p.A1)
2000 Nov 14, Some 50,000 rallied
for independence in Aceh.
(SFC, 11/15/00, p.B2)
2000 Nov 24, It was reported that
monsoon flooding killed 10 people in Malaysia and at least 5 people in
Thailand. The death toll from flooding in Thailand reached over 30,
mostly children. Over 100 people died from the flooding and mudslides
in West Sumatra.
(SFC, 11/24/00, p.D8)(WSJ, 11/27/00, p.A1)(SFC,
11/29/00, p.C20)
2000 Nov 30, Pres. Wahid ordered
military action against secessionist provinces.
(SFC, 12/1/00, p.A20)
2000 Dec 1, Police killed 6
separatists in Irian Jaya province after they tried to raise their
outlawed rebel flag, the “Morning Star.”
(SFC, 12/2/00, p.A14)
2000 Dec 7, In Indonesia a
separatist mob attacked a police station in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, and 2
officers were killed.
(SFC, 12/8/00, p.D9)
2000 Dec 12, It was reported that
Islamic militants in Indonesia had damaged hundreds of night spots,
mostly around greater Jakarta. The Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI) and
Front Hizbullah claimed responsibility.
(SFC, 12/12/00, p.A18)
2000 Dec 19, Pres. Wahid traveled
to Aceh province. He ordered troops to stop targeting civilians and
apologized for failing to stop military abuses.
(SFC, 12/20/00, p.C4)
2000 Dec 20, Nine people were
killed in a rash of shootings in Aceh province.
(SFC, 12/21/00, p.C6)
2000 Dec 21, Indonesia announced
plans for talks with local leaders in Aceh, Irian Jaya and Maluku
provinces.
(SFC, 12/22/00, p.A21)
2000 Dec 24, At least 19 people
were killed when bombs exploded outside 24 churches in Jakarta and 5
other cities and towns. In Aug 2001 Edi Sugiarto was sentenced to 11
years in jail for planting the bombs that killed at least 19 people.
(SFC, 12/25/00, p.A1)(SFC, 8/15/01, p.A7)(SSFC,
3/3/02, p.A16)
2000 Dec, A $5 billion IMF loan
program was halted due to stalled reforms.
(WSJ, 8/28/01, p.A1)
2000 Indonesia enacted laws to
empower the nations 31 provinces and 364 local districts for services
such as education, health, water and electricity. A decentralization
policy allowed regional governments to maximize their operating
revenue. A 2006 World Bank report said the 2000 decentralization policy
caused an explosion in new taxes and charges and hampered economic
growth.
(SFC, 1/2/01, p.A8)(SFC, 1/3/01, p.A10)(WSJ,
6/29/06, p.A6)
2000 On Java at least 100
people were lynched this year for being witches.
(SFC, 4/18/01, p.A14)
2000 A record 469 piracies were
reported worldwide in this year with 72 ship crew members killed. More
than a third occurred in or around Indonesian waters.
(SSFC, 11/11/01, p.F2)
2001 Jan 2, Ryaas Rasyid, the
Administrative Reform Minister, resigned and said the government was
moving too slowly to decentralize administrative policies.
(SFC, 1/3/01, p.A10)
2001 Jan 4, Rival villages clashed
on Lombok and 9 people were killed. 7 others were killed in fighting
between rival villages in North Sulawesi.
(SFC, 1/5/01, p.D2)(WSJ, 1/05/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 10, Indonesia extended a
truce in Aceh province after separatists agreed at talks in Switzerland
to halt fighting for a month.
(WSJ, 1/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 10, Searchers found a
crashed navy plane in the dense jungle of Irian Jaya and confirmed the
death of ten people.
(SFC, 1/10/01, p.A9)
2001 Jan 11, James Riady agreed to
pay an $8.6 million US fine and pleaded guilty for arranging $500,000
in illegal donations to Pres. Clinton and others.
(WSJ, 1/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 15, The cease-fire in
Aceh province was due to expire.
(SFC, 12/18/00, p.E8)
2001 Jan 17, In Indonesia
separatist rebels took 6 hostages in Irian Jaya. The kidnappers
belonged to a faction of the Free Papua Movement led by Willem Konde.
(SFC, 1/18/01, p.A16)
2001 Jan 20, Mudslides in North
Sulawesi province killed at least 33 people.
(SFC, 1/23/01, p.C14)
2001 Jan 29, In Indonesia some
10,000 protesters marched in Jakarta over corruption scandals that
allegedly involved Pres. Wahid.
(SFC, 1/30/01, p.A10)
2001 Feb 1, In Indonesia the
parliament agreed to censure Pres. Abdurrahman Wahid for alleged
involvement in 2 corruption scandals.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 5, Supporters of Pres.
Wahid demonstrated in East Java, home of the Nahdlatul Ulama,
Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization. Some 10,000 set fires to
branch offices of the Golkar Party in Situbondo and another 10,000
marched in Surabaya.
(SFC, 2/6/01, p.A9)
2001 Feb 7, Some 50,000 Wahid
backers gathered in Surabaya and threatened a holy war if the president
is ousted by political opponents. Separately the justice minister
resigned and urged Wahid to step down.
(WSJ, 2/8/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 12, It was reported that
landslides and floods in West Java had killed 94 people over the last
week.
(WSJ, 2/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 18, In Aceh gunmen shot
journalist Oz Rusli Radja and human rights worker Khairuddin to death.
(SFC, 2/20/01, p.A10)
2001 Feb 18, Fresh clashes in
Borneo and separatist violence in Aceh erupted. Fighting between the
Dayaks and immigrants left over 100 people killed.
(WSJ, 2/21/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 2/22/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 22, Security forces
fought to disperse crowds in Sampit as ethnic clashes in Central
Kalimantan province of Borneo left over 100 dead.
(SFC, 2/23/01, p.A16)
2001 Feb 23, Madurese refugees
fled Borneo as the death toll from clashes with the native Dayaks
approached 200.
(SFC, 2/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 24, Naval vessels began
evacuating some 24,000 refugees from the island of Medura, where the
death toll had risen to 210.
(SSFC, 2/25/01, p.A14)
2001 Feb 25, In Borneo Dayaks
extended their area of burning and beheading of Madurese across Central
Kalimantan. 118 Madurese were slaughtered near Parenggean when police
bolted in fear of armed Dayaks.
(SFC, 2/26/01, p.A10)(SFC, 2/28/01, p.A10)
2001 Feb 26, Dayak fighters
declared victory and end to fighting.
(SFC, 2/27/01, p.A12)
2001 Feb 27, In Borneo government
soldiers and police clashed with each other. Refugees claimed that
security forces have demanded money in exchange for permission to board
ships.
(SFC, 2/28/01, p.A10)
2001 Feb, Baharuddin Lopa (65) was
appointed Minister of Justice and Human Rights.
(SFC, 5/15/01, p.A9)
2001 Mar 2, Some 7,000 Madurese
refugees escaped from Borneo while some 13,000 still waited in camps
for boats. The killing appeared to have stopped.
(SFC, 3/3/01, p.A12)
2001 Mar 8, Pres. Wahid visited
Borneo and fighting erupted right after his departure. At least 4 Dayak
protesters were killed.
(SFC, 3/9/01, p.D2)
2001 Mar 11, Anti-Wahid students
rallied in Jakarta. A plunging currency added to the unrest on the
streets.
(WSJ, 3/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 12, In Jakarta Pres.
Wahid insisted he would not step down and warned that his ouster would
lead to the disintegration of the country as over 10,000 demonstrated
for his ouster. The main stock index fell 5% and the rupiah fell 12%.
(SFC, 3/13/01, p.A15)
2001 Mar 13, In Jakarta supporters
and opponents of Pres. Wahid staged protests as police clashed with
students who threw rocks and gasoline bombs.
(SFC, 3/14/01, p.A9)
2001 cMar 16, Two major oil and
gas companies shut down operations in Aceh province due to the
political turmoil there.
(SFC, 3/20/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 23, Attacks by Dayaks in
Central Kalimantan left at least 12 people dead.
(SFC, 3/24/01, p.A12)
2001 Mar 30, Two human rights
defenders and their driver were killed in Aceh province after leaving
the police station in Simpang Tiga Alue Pakuk.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A14)
2001 Apr 12, Pres. Wahid abandoned
attempts to negotiate with separatist rebels in Aceh and ordered his
troops to resume fighting.
(SFC, 4/13/01, p.A15)
2001 Apr 30, Legislators, 363 of
500, censured Pres. Wahid for a 2nd time this year.
(SFC, 5/1/01, p.A8)
2001 Apr, Yosepha Alomang received
a $125,000 Goldman prize for her human rights work in Irian Jaya.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, p.A14)
2001 Apr, Javanese settlers in
Aceh began carrying guns. By late May thousands turned up with M-16
rifles and military uniforms.
(SFC, 7/27/01, p.A16)
2001 May 10, In Jakarta 2 people
died in the bombing of a student dormitory. The dorm housed students
from Aceh province.
(SFC, 5/11/01, p.D4)
2001 May 14, It was reported that
bookstores in Indonesia had pulled leftist titles under vigilante
pressures.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A10)
2001 May 27, Pres. Wahid
threatened to declare a state of emergency if impeachment proceedings
begin.
(SFC, 5/28/01, p.B12)
2001 May 28, The attorney general
cleared Pres. Wahid of involvement in 2 corruption cases that led to
his censure.
(SFC, 5/29/01, p.A10)
2001 May 30, In Indonesia the
parliament voted to begin impeachment proceedings against Pres. Wahid.
Lawmakers called on a special assembly to end his 19-month tenure.
(SFC, 5/31/01, p.A12)(WSJ, 5/31/01, p.A1)
2001 May, Some 17,000 army troops
replaced the Brimob paramilitary police unit in Aceh province. GAM
forces were estimated at 5-27 thousand.
(SFC, 4/20/02, p.A8)
2001 Jun 1, Pres. Wahid fired the
security minister, attorney general, national police chief and 2 other
Cabinet ministers in an attempt to thwart efforts to remove him from
office.
(SFC, 6/2/01, p.A8)
2001 Jun 3, Over 100 police
generals rejected Pres. Wahid’s decision to fire police chief Suroyo
Bimantoro.
(SFC, 6/4/01, p.A10)
2001 Jun 5, Baharuddin Lopa (65)
was appointed attorney general and replaced Marzuki Darusman.
(SSFC, 7/8/01, p.A20)
2001 Jun 15, It was reported that
the Bush administration had decided to restore some military ties with
Indonesia. The Clinton administration had cut some ties during the 1999
upheavals in East Timor.
(SFC, 6/16/01, p.A6)
2001 Jun 18, Police fired warning
shots at students in Jakarta protesting a 30% increase in fuel prices.
(WSJ, 6/19/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 19, It was reported that
Papuan intellectuals had come up with a “special autonomy” plan Irian
Jaya.
(SFC, 6/19/01, p.A8)
2001 Jun 29, Security forces
killed 20 separatist rebels during a gun battle in Aceh.
(SFC, 6/30/01, p.A10)
2001 Jul 2, In Indonesia
humanitarian workers found 27 slashed bodies in Aceh. This raised to 50
the number of dead found in the last 3 days.
(SFC, 7/3/01, p.A10)
2001 Jul 3, A Christian gang
killed 18 Muslims, including women and children, on the island of
Sulawesi.
(SFC, 7/5/01, p.A10)
2001 Jul 3, Baharuddin Lopa (65),
the newly appointed attorney general, died of a heart attack while on a
visit to Saudi Arabia.
(SSFC, 7/8/01, p.A20)
2001 Jul 12, Paramilitary officers
guarded 2 top police commanders in defiance of demands by Pres. Wahid
that they be arrested.
(SFC, 7/13/01, p.A16)
2001 Jul 21, An impeachment
session of the People’s Consultative Assembly convened early and voted
that Pres. Wahid defend himself with an accountability speech.
(SFC, 7/22/01, p.A12)
2001 Jul 23, In Indonesia Pres.
Wahid declared a state of emergency. The military refused to carry out
his orders and parliament met to remove him. The parliament ousted
Wahid with a 591 to 0 vote and swore in Megawati Sukarnoputri as the
country’s 5th president.
(SFC, 7/23/01, p.A1)(DFP, 7/24/01, p.3A)(SFC,
7/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 24, Megawati Sukarnoputri
began her presidency while Wahid refused to leave the presidential
palace.
(WSJ, 7/25/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 26, The legislature
elected Hamzah Haz as vice president. In Jakarta a high-court justice
was assassinated by gunmen on motorbikes.
(WSJ, 7/27/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 26, Syafiuddin
Kartasasmita, a Supreme Court Justice, was shot to death by 4
assassins. Tommy Suharto was later implicated in the murder.
(SFC, 8/7/01, p.A7)
2001 Jul 28, UN troops killed an
Indonesian soldier, Lirman Hadimu (21) in West Timor near the East
Timor border.
(SFC, 7/30/01, p.A8)
2001 Jul 31, In Indonesia at least
62 people were killed when a mudslide buried the village of Sambulu. At
least 35 people were killed and some 200 missing.
(SFC, 8/1/01, p.A9)(AP, 7/31/02)
2001 Aug 1, At least 64 people
were killed on Nias island from floods and landslides. Another 200 were
missing.
(SFC, 8/2/01, p.A9)(WSJ, 8/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 1, In Indonesia Taufik
Abdul Halim, a member of the Malaysian Mujahedeen Group, blew off his
lower right leg at a Jakarta shopping mall when a bomb he carried
exploded prematurely. Halim was linked to Dedi Setiono (Abbas), who was
linked to Hambali (Riduan Isamuddin), operations leader of Jemaah
Islamiah.
(SSFC, 3/3/02, p.A16)(SFC, 9/20/02, p.A14)
2001 Aug 6, Two men, Rolan and
Noval, were arrested for the murder of justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita.
They said Tommy Suharto paid them for the murder.
(SFC, 8/8/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 9, Pres. Sukarnoputri
named a new Cabinet stacked with specialists instead of politicians. In
Aceh province police and rebels accused each other of massacring 31
people.
(SFC, 8/10/01, p.A16)(WSJ, 8/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 16, Pres. Sukarnoputri,
in her 1st state of the nation speech, apologized for atrocities in
rebellious provinces, urged the military to reform itself and ruled out
independence for Aceh and Irian Jaya.
(SFC, 8/17/01, p.A12)
2001 Aug 27, Pres. Megawati
reached an agreement with the IMF to restart a $5 billion loan that was
halted last Dec.
(WSJ, 8/28/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 6, Gunmen killed the
rector of the biggest university in Aceh province.
(WSJ, 9/7/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 8, Pres. Megawati
Sukarnoputri visited Banda Aceh and apologized for past government
mistakes. She urged residents to welcome new laws granting the region
its own legal system and a greater share of the oil income.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, p.A14)
2001 Sep 19, Ayip Syafrudin,
leader of the Laskar Jihad (Holy War Warriors), said he would declare a
jihad against the US if it attacks Muslim countries.
(SFC, 9/20/01, p.A7)
2001 Sep 27, In Jakarta,
protesters burned US flags outside the US Embassy and threatened to
kill Americans.
(SFC, 9/28/01, p.A9)
2001 Oct 1, Indonesia’s Supreme
Court threw out its corruption conviction of Hutomo Mandala Putra, i.e.
“Tommy Suharto.
(SFC, 10/2/01, p.A10)
2001 Oct 15, In Indonesia riot
police fought protesters outside the Parliament in what had become
daily battles over US bombing in Afghanistan.
(WSJ, 10/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 19, A refugee ship,
enroute from Indonesia to Australia, carrying some 353 emigrants from
Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Palestine and Algeria, sank off the island of
Java. 44 people survived.
(SFC, 10/23/01, p.C1)(AP, 2/3/06)(Econ, 4/25/09,
p.49)
2001 Oct 22, Indonesia enacted a
bill that granted Irian Jaya sweeping autonomy. It included a name
change to Papua, 80% royalties from logging and fishing and 70%
royalties from mining, oil and gas.
(SFC, 10/24/01, p.C3)(SFC, 11/27/01, p.A3)
2001 Nov 5, Nursanita Nasution
unleashed her army of unofficial morality police on 10 Indonesian
cities to root out a homemade skin flick.
(WSJ, 1/8/02, p.A8)
2001 Nov 11, In Indonesia Theys
Eluay (64), an independence movement leader in Irian Jaya, was found
strangled in his wrecked car and riots erupted. He had spent the
previous evening at dinner with local army commanders. In 2003 7
members of the Indonesia special forces were convicted for involvement
in the murder. Their maximum sentence was 31/2 years.
(SFC, 11/12/01, p.A12)(SFC, 11/27/01, p.A3)(SFC,
4/22/03, A7)
2001 Nov 27, Muslim holy warriors
began a 3 day offensive and seized 5 villages. At least 5 Christians
were killed. Muslim militants drove away security forces in
central Sulawesi and there were at least 8 confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A6)(SFC, 12/14/01, p.E1)
2001 Nov 28, Detectives raided a
mansion in Jakarta and arrested Hutomo Mandala Putra (Tommy Suharto)
for plotting the murder of a Supreme Court Judge.
(SFC, 11/29/01, p.A6)
2001 Dec 7, It was reported that
religious fighting in the Maluku Islands had left some 9,000 people
dead in the last 3 years.
(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A6)
2001 Dec 12, Lt. Gen. Abdullah
Hendropriyono, the intelligence chief, said that a network of al Qaeda
training camps were located on Sulawesi Island.
(SFC, 12/13/01, p.A12)
2001 Dec, In Indonesia Muslim and
Christian leaders signed a peace accord in the Sulawesi town of Malino.
(Econ, 9/11/04, p.40)
2001 Fighting in Aceh, Indonesia,
this year killed 60 government soldiers, 94 GAM fighters and some 1,006
civilians.
(SFC, 4/20/02, p.A8)
2001 Indonesia outlawed commercial
logging in Aceh.
(SSFC, 8/6/06, p.A20)
2002 Jan 16, In Indonesia a Boeing
737-300 with 60 people crash-landed on a river in Java. One person was
killed and 23 injured.
(SFC, 1/17/02, p.A10)
2002 Jan 22, In Indonesia troops
shot and killed Abdullah Syafei, commander of the Free Aceh Movement.
(SFC, 1/24/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan, Indonesia renamed Irian
Jaya to Papua and gave it greater autonomy.
(SSFC, 9/1/02, p.A15)
2002 Feb 11, In Indonesia warring
Christians and Muslims from Maluku province began 2 days of peace talks.
(SFC, 2/12/02, p.A10)
2002 Feb 12, Christian and Muslim
factions from Maluku agreed to end their 3-year war, ban militias and
establish a joint security patrol.
(SFC, 2/12/02, p.A16)
2002 Mar 13, In Indonesia Sjahril
Sabirin, governor of the central bank, was convicted of corruption and
sentenced to 3 years in prison. In 1999 some $80 million intended for
the bailout of PT Bank Bali was used to help finance the election
campaign of then Pres. Habibie.
(WSJ, 3/14/02, p.A10)
2002 Mar 14, In Jakarta the
human-rights trial to probe the 1999 violence in East Timor began with
3 generals among the 18 suspects accused of crimes against humanity.
(SFC, 3/14/02, p.A8)
2002 Apr 3, In Ambon a car bomb
killed 4 people and wounded 43.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A8)
2002 Apr 28, In Indonesia a mob
stabbed and burned to death 14 Christians in the village of Soya on the
outskirts of Ambon. The Muslim militia Laskar Jihad was blamed.
(SSFC, 4/28/02, p.A19)(SFC, 4/29/02, p.A5)
2002 May 5, Jaffar Umar Thalib,
leader of the paramilitary Laskar Jihad, was arrested on charges of
inciting Muslims to attack Christians near Ambon in the Maluku Islands.
(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A10)(WSJ, 5/7/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 9, A bomb exploded in
front of a discotheque in Jakarta's Chinatown area in the early hours,
wounding five people, one of them seriously, police said.
(Reuters, 6/9/02)
2002 Jun 13, In Indonesia
suspected rebels shot and killed a politician in troubled Aceh
province, the second parliamentarian murdered this week.
(Reuters, 6/14/02)
2002 Jun 17, Suspected Muslim
guerrillas have seized four Indonesian seamen, including the captain,
of a Singaporean-owned tugboat in the southern Philippines.
(Reuters, 6/18/02)
2002 Jun 23, In Indonesia tens of
thousands lined the streets of Jakarta to mark the 475th birthday of
one of Asia's most crowded capitals with parades and dancing.
(Reuters, 6/23/02)
2002 Jul 1, Indonesian police
fired water cannon at about 500 demonstrators who knocked down the
gates of parliament to protest against a decision by MPs to reject an
inquiry into a graft scandal.
(Reuters, 7/1/02)
2002 Jul 2, East Timor President
Xanana Gusmao and his Indonesian counterpart Megawati Sukarnoputri
opened a new chapter in ties between the world's newest nation and its
former foe, establishing formal diplomatic links and pledging to work
together.
(Reuters, 7/2/02)
2002 Jul 6, Rebels in Indonesia's
troubled Aceh province freed all 18 hostages held since last month,
including crew from a boat carrying supplies to an Exxon Mobil plant.
(Reuters, 7/6/02)
2002 Jul 7, In Indonesia 53 people
burned alive or jumped to their deaths when fire ripped through a
crowded Palembang karaoke bar on Sumatra island but the final death
toll could be double that.
(AP, 7/8/02)(Reuters, 7/9/02)(WSJ, 7/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 12, In Indonesia a woman
was killed and four men were wounded when a bomb exploded near Poso,
Central Sulawesi.
(Reuters, 7/13/02)
2002 Jul 24, Indonesian
prosecutors demanded that parliament speaker Akbar Tandjung be jailed
for four years over the alleged misuse of $4 million in a politically
sensitive graft scandal.
(Reuters, 7/24/02)
2002 Jul 26, An Indonesian court
sentenced former President Suharto's son Tommy to a total of 15 years
in jail for paying a hitman to kill a Supreme Court judge and other
offences.
(Reuters, 7/26/02)
2002 Jul 26, In Indonesia
bomb-like explosions hit the troubled city of Ambon, injuring 51
people, 10 of them seriously.
(Reuters, 7/27/02)
2002 Aug 3, In Indonesia some
5,000 Muslims marched peacefully through Jakarta, calling for the
nationwide imposition of sharia, or Islamic law, to rescue the country
from its many ills.
(AP, 8/3/02)
2002 Aug 6, In Jakarta, Indonesia,
thousands of protesters stormed parliament to demand constitutional
reforms including direct presidential elections.
(SFC, 8/7/02, p.A12)
2002 Aug 8, In Indonesia Lorenzo
Taddei (34), an Italian tourist, was shot dead in Central Sulawesi when
gunmen fired on the bus he was traveling in.
(Reuters, 8/9/02)
2002 Aug 10, Indonesia's top
legislature approved direct presidential elections for the world's most
populous Muslim country, marking a major step in the nation's messy
transition to democracy.
(Reuters, 8/10/02)
2002 Aug 14, An Indonesian court
sentenced a former East Timor governor to three years in jail over
violence linked to the territory's 1999 independence vote.
(Reuters, 8/14/02)
2002 Aug 15, An Indonesian court
acquitted a former East Timor police chief and five other security
officers of crimes against humanity over East Timor's bloody
independence vote in 1999.
(AP, 8/15/02)
2002 Aug 17, In Indonesia a
home-made bomb wounded 13 people, including two children, as they
gathered to mark Independence Day in Aceh province.
(Reuters, 8/17/02)
2002 Aug 20, Indonesian police
have arrested Ramli, a former soldier, and accused him of masterminding
a series of deadly bombings in the capital over the past few years.
(Reuters, 8/21/02)
2002 Aug 20, Choking smoke from
forest fires shrouded Indonesia's side of Borneo island, grounding
planes and pushing air quality way above hazardous levels in parts of
the vast region.
(Reuters, 8/20/02)
2002 Aug 31, In Indonesia
unidentified gunmen shot dead three people, including two Americans,
and wounded up to 14 others in an attack on a vehicle convoy near a
giant gold mine in Papua province. Killed in the 30-minute assault were
Rick Spier, 44, of Littleton, Colo., Ted Burgon, 71, of Sunriver, Ore.,
and an Indonesian teacher. Indonesian soldiers were later implicated in
the attack. In 2006 Antonius Wamang (31), a separatist rebel, was
sentenced to life in prison and his accomplices up to seven years.
(Reuters, 8/31/02)(SSFC, 10/27/02, p.A20)(AP,
11/7/06)
2002 Aug 31, At least 13 people
died and scores more were rescued when an Indonesian ferry carrying
more than 100 passengers caught fire and exploded after leaving Baubau
in southern Sulawesi province.
(Reuters, 8/31/02)
2002 Sep 1, Indonesian soldiers
battled an armed band in Papua and killed one insurgent, near where
gunmen shot dead three people, including two U.S. school teachers, and
wounded at least 10 in an ambush the previous day.
(Reuters, 9/1/02)(SFC, 9/2/02, p.A9)
2002 Sep 2, Thousands of illegal
Indonesian workers and their families are living in dire conditions in
camps near the country's border with Malaysia and one relief worker
said a few are selling their babies to raise cash.
(Reuters, 9/2/02)
2002 Sep 7, Indonesian officials
say 35 deportees from Malaysia have died at sprawling makeshift camps
in Borneo as they await the arrival of a navy vessel bringing medical
help.
(Reuters, 9/7/02)
2002 Sep 10, In Indonesia soldiers
arrested nurse Joy Lee Sadler (57) and academic Lesley McCullough (40)
in Aceh province on charges of violating tourist visas by meeting with
Aceh rebels. Sadler struck a commander who tried to take her friend’s
computer. Sadler was released Jan 10, 2003.
(SFC, 12/18/02, p.A21)(SFC, 1/10/03, p.A17)
2002 Sep 21, In Indonesia 10
people were killed and 15 wounded in an explosion at a fireworks
factory in the town of Slawi in Central Java province.
(Reuters, 9/21/02)
2002 Sep 9, It was reported that
Nike footwear production in Indonesia had shrunk to 30% from 38% in
1996 and that Vietnam’s share had risen to 15% from 2%.
(WSJ, 9/9/02, p.A12)
2002 Oct 4, Foreign ministers from
six Pacific nations arrived in Java's ancient royal capital of
Yogyakarta for a day of talks that Indonesia said would tackle the
thorny issue of terrorism.
(AP, 10/4/02)
2002 Oct 5, Foreign ministers from
six Pacific nations (Australia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, New
Zealand and East Timor) ended a day of talks in Indonesia's ancient
royal capital Yogyakarta, vowing to fight terrorism together but said
little about how they would do it.
(Reuters, 10/5/02)
2002 Oct 12, In Indonesia a car
bomb ripped through the Sari Club at the Kuta Beach resort packed with
foreign tourists on the island of Bali, sparking a blaze that killed
202 people and injured 300 others. It was the worst terrorist act in
Indonesia's history. Authorities said a second bomb exploded near the
island's U.S. consular office. An estimated 100 victims were from
Australia. Imam Samudra was later charged with engineering the blast.
In 2004 Samudra (34) published a jailhouse autobiography “Me Against
the Terrorist,” in which he called for fellow Muslim radicals to take
the holy war to cyberspace. In 2005 Sally Neighbour authored “In the
Shadow of Swords: How Islamic Terrorists Declared War on Australia.”
(AP, 10/13/02)(SSFC, 10/12/02, p.A1)(SFC, 12/17/04,
p.W1)(Econ, 12/17/05, p.83)
2002 Oct 19, Indonesian police
arrested Abu Bakar Bashir (Abubakar Baasyir), a militant Muslim cleric,
in a terror probe hours after the government issued two emergency
anti-terror decrees to strengthen its hand after the Bali car bomb
carnage. Bashir was hospitalized Oct 18.
(Reuters, 10/19/02)(SSFC, 10/20/02, p.A11)
2002 Oct 22, The US added Jemaah
Islamiyah of Indonesia to its list of terrorist organizations.
(WSJ, 10/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 2, In Indonesia a
powerful earthquake struck near Sumatra island and killed at least two
people, injured scores and left more than 5,000 people on a nearby
island homeless.
(Reuters, 11/3/02)
2002 Nov 4, Indonesian navy boats
and civilian craft searched waters off the volatile eastern city of
Ambon for survivors from a packed ferry that sank overnight, killing
five people and leaving 73 missing.
(Reuters, 11/4/02)
2002 Nov 5, Indonesian police
arrested Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, the bomb maker of the Oct 12 attack on
Bali. In 2003 he was convicted and sentenced to die by firing squad.
(WSJ, 7/2/03, p.A6)(SFC, 8/8/03, p.A3)
2002 Nov 7, In Indonesia a light
plane crashed on an islet off Borneo 3 minutes after it took off,
killing seven of the 10 people aboard.
(Reuters, 11/7/02)
2002 Nov 17, Indonesian police
investigating the Bali blasts identified Imam Samudra as a key suspect
as the chief planner of the attacks and said he learned bomb-making in
Afghanistan. Samudra was the field co-coordinator who decided where to
place the bombs in a crowded night club district. A colleague, named
Dulmatin, then triggered the bombs by mobile phone.
(Reuters, 11/17/02)
2002 Nov 21, In Indonesia Imam
Samudra (35), the suspected mastermind of last month's devastating Bali
bombings was arrested near Jakarta.
(Reuters, 11/21/02)
2002 Nov 22, Indonesia reported
that 3 workers at a gas field operated by U.S. oil and gas giant
ExxonMobil in Aceh province had been abducted. They were released after
2 days.
(AP, 11/22/02)(AP, 11/24/02)
2002 Dec 4, Separatists in
Indonesia's Aceh province commemorated the 26th anniversary of their
fight with at least one military flag-raising ceremony and vows to keep
fighting Jakarta's rule.
(AP, 12/4/02)
2002 Dec 5, An explosion at
a McDonald’s Restaurant in Makassar on Sulawesi island killed three
people and seriously wounded 11. A 2nd blast took place an hour later
in a car showroom owned by Indonesia's Social Welfare Minister Yusuf
Kalla.
(Reuters, 12/6/02)
2002 Dec 9, Indonesia and rebels
in Aceh signed an accord to end one of the world's longest-running
insurgencies.
(Reuters, 12/9/02)
2002 Dec 11, In Indonesia a
mudslide above a resort in East Java killed at least 60 people.
Tree-cutting above the resort was blamed and a suit against a
state-owned forestry company was planned.
(SFC, 12/14/02, p.A7)
2002 Dec 17, Malaysia won control
of two tiny palm-fringed islands when the World Court ruled in its
favor in a long-running dispute with Indonesia.
(Reuters, 12/17/02)
2002 Dec 27, In Indonesia at least
9 people including two children were killed and 50 injured when heavy
rain triggered a mud slide on Sumatra island.
(Reuters, 12/27/02)
2002 Dec, China signed a
preliminary agreement with Indonesia aimed at halting the trade in
illegal logs.
(WSJ, 12/23/03, p.A12)
2002 Indonesia passed legislation
to create its Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which was
established in 2003.
(Econ, 9/27/08,
p.54)(www.icac.org.hk/newsl/issue22eng/button3.htm)
2002 Indonesia passed broadcasting
legislation that said the state will issue licenses. It was assumed
that the Indonesia Broadcasting Commission (KPI), an independent state
body, would issue the licenses. In 2006 the information ministry pushed
to take control.
(Econ, 2/4/06, p.40)
2002 A UN analysis of timber
statistics for 2002 showed China's reported import of logs from
Indonesia to be 200 times higher that the figures reported by
Indonesian customs.
(WSJ, 12/23/03, p.A12)
2003 Jan 13, An Indonesia court
sentenced Ang Kiem Soei, a Dutch citizen of Chinese descent, to death
for operating what police say was one of the biggest ecstasy factories
in Southeast Asia.
(AP, 1/13/03)
2003 Feb 2, Indonesian police
arrested Mas Selamat bin Kastari, a major terrorist suspect, on the
island of Bintang.
(SFC, 2/4/03, p.A9)
2003 Feb 4, The United Nations
indicted 32 people, including 15 Indonesian soldiers, on allegations
they tortured and killed East Timorese during the country's bloody
split from Indonesia in 1999.
(AP, 2/4/03)
2003 Feb 24, In Indonesia a
fire sparked by an explosion caused a small ferry to sink off northern
Sumatra, killing 8 people and leaving 19 others missing.
(AP, 2/24/03)
2003 Feb 24, The UN
indicted former Indonesia military chief Wiranto, 6 generals and an
ex-governor for the bloodbath preceding East Timor independence.
(WSJ, 2/25/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 26, Pirates with
automatic weapons stormed an Indonesian tanker ship in the Malacca
Strait and escaped with equipment and cash.
(AP, 3/29/03)
2003 Mar 30, In Jakarta,
Indonesia, tens of thousands of protesters marched upon the U.S.
Embassy chanting "America Imperialist, No. 1 terrorist!"
(AP, 3/30/03)
2003 Mar 31, In eastern Indonesia
mudslides triggered by flash floods on Flores Island killed 48 people
with 28 reported missing.
(AP, 4/2/03)(AP, 4/5/03)
2003 Apr 8, Indonesia police and
the military in Aceh killed nine people.
(AP, 4/8/03)
2003 Apr 27, In Indonesia a bomb
ripped through a crowded terminal at Jakarta's main airport, wounding
11 people and sending hundreds of passengers fleeing from the building.
(AP, 4/27/03)
2003 May 5, In Indonesia singer
Inul Daratista's (24) grinding moves to Indonesia's "Dangdut" folk
music have made her a celebrity in a matter of weeks. Religious
conservatives demanded that she be banned from the stage.
(AP, 5/6/03)
2003 May 18, In Indonesia 2 days
of talks between separatist rebels and government officials ended with
no agreement on how to salvage a faltering peace pact and avert war in
the resource-rich province of Aceh. Pres. Sukarnoputri singed a decree
authorizing 6 months of martial law and ordered 30,000 government
troops to crush the 5,000 Aceh rebels.
(AP, 5/18/03)(SFC, 5/21/03, p.A3)
2003 May 19, Indonesian war planes
attacked a rebel base and troops parachuted into restive Aceh province
as the military launched a major offensive just hours after peace talks
broke down and the president imposed martial law.
(AP, 5/19/03)
2003 May 20, Indonesian troops
killed or captured dozens of insurgents in its northwestern province of
Aceh, the 2nd day of a major offensive aimed at destroying a separatist
rebellion.
(AP, 5/20/03)
2003 Jun 16, In Indonesia a
passenger train slammed into a minibus carrying wedding guests, killing
at least 15 people.
(AP, 6/16/03)
2003 Jul 3, Indonesia's military
said it killed 15 insurgents in new fighting in Aceh province, and the
rebels said they have detained two local journalists.
(AP, 7/3/03)
2003 Jul 7, In Indonesia
gunbattles between soldiers and rebels in Aceh province left 18
insurgents dead, and the bodies of five civilians were discovered in
the region.
(AP, 7/8/03)
2003 Jul 19, In Jakarta,
Indonesia, Budiarto Angsono, president of the PT Asaba computer firm,
along with his bodyguard, were murdered. Police said it was likely the
work of hitmen. Hiring a hitman to kill was said to cost about $2,300.
(AP, 7/26/03)
2003 Jul, Puspo Wardoyo (47),
owner of a chain of 31 "Wong Solo" grilled-chicken restaurants across
Indonesia, organized his 1st "Polygamy Award."
(WSJ, 11/24/03, p.A1)
2003 Aug 2, Indonesia judges
sentenced US reporter William Nessen to 41 days for failing to inform
officials of an address change in Jakarta. Nessen had already been
jailed for 40 days following time spent with rebels in Aceh.
(SFCM, 11/2/03, p.15)
2003 Aug 5, A powerful car bomb
exploded in an apparent suicide attack outside the Marriott hotel in
downtown Jakarta, killing 10 people and wounding 149, including two
Americans. The head of Asmar Latin Sani (28), the suicide bomber,
landed on the 5th floor of the hotel.
(AP, 8/5/03)(SFC, 8/7/03, p.A3)(SFC, 8/9/03, p.A3)
2003 Aug 7, An Indonesian court
sentenced Amrozi bin Nurhasyim to death in the 2002 Bali bombings that
killed 202 people.
(AP, 8/7/04)
2003 Aug 11, Hambali (39), an
Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, was captured in a raid
in the ancient temple city of Ayutthaya, Thailand. Hambali, the
operational head of Jemaah Islamiyah, was handed over to US authorities
and flown out of the country. He was al Qaeda's top man in Southeast
Asia and the suspected mastermind behind a string of deadly bombings
including the Bali attacks.
(Reuters, 8/15/03)(SFC, 8/15/03, p.A3)(AP, 8/16/03)
2003 Aug 17, Indonesian
investigators reported the arrest of 9 people in the Aug. 5 attack on
the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people and wounded nearly
150.
(AP, 8/17/03)
2003 Sep 2, In Indonesia a court
in Jakarta convicted radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir of inciting
others to overthrow the government. He was sentenced to four years in
prison for sedition. The court threw out charges that he belonged to
al-Qaida's main Asian ally. His conviction was later overturned after
he'd spent more than two years behind bars.
(AP, 9/2/03)(AP, 9/2/08)
2003 Sep 5, Wayan Limbak (106), a
Balinese dancer who helped create the island's famous Monkey Dance,
died. Working with German painter Walter Spies in the 1930s, Limbak
adopted a traditional exorcism ritual to invent the dance, known in
Indonesian as Kecak.
(AP, 9/6/03)
2003 Sep 7, A ferry boat traveling
from Indonesia's Bali island sank, killing at least six people and
leaving dozens missing.
(AP, 9/7/03)
2003 Sep 10, Imam Samudra (33),
the man accused of being the "intellectual mastermind" of last year's
Oct 12 Bali nightclub bombings was sentenced to face a firing squad
after being found guilty of the attack that killed 202 people.
(AP, 9/10/03)
2003 Sep 16, In Indonesia
escalating fighting in resource-rich Aceh province left at least 22
suspected separatist rebels and one Indonesian soldier dead.
(AP, 9/17/03)
2003 Sep, A 3-foot-tall adult
female skeleton was found in a cave believed to be 18,000 years old. A
trove of fragmented bones accounted for as many as seven primitive
individuals that lived on the equatorial island of Flores, located east
of Java and northwest of Australia. Scientists have named the extinct
species Homo floresiensis. Scientists in 2005 said the group emerged
some 95,000 years earlier and went extinct about 12,000 years ago. In
2009 new studies suggested the people, dubbed hobbits, were a
previously unknown species altogether.
(AP, 10/27/04)(SFC, 10/28/04, p.A1)(SFC, 3/4/05,
p.A2)(AP, 5/7/09)
2003 Oct 4, Eight Indonesian
soldiers plummeted into the ocean and were presumed dead after a
helicopter crew cut the ropes carrying them during rehearsal of a
mid-air stunt.
(AP, 10/4/03)
2003 Oct 5, Ministers of the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met ahead of a
leaders' summit on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, with leaders of
China, India, Japan and South Korea joining the bloc to sign trade and
security accords.
(AP, 10/5/03)
2003 Oct 7, In Bali southeast
Asian leaders from 10 ASEAN nations signed a landmark accord that would
pull together their disparate region into a European-style economic
community in less than two decades.
(AP, 10/7/03)
2003 Oct 8, In Indonesia a
semi-trailer veered out of its lane and crashed head-on into a school
bus near Situbondo. The death toll from a school bus crash reached 54
and police said they had launched a search for a truck driver.
(AP, 10/9/03)
2003 Oct 22, President Bush
praised Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, for
battling terrorism. Bush defended US policy from the Mideast to Iraq
during a frank exchange with moderate Muslim leaders during a stopover
in Bali, Indonesia.
(AP, 10/22/03)(AP, 10/22/08)
2003 Oct 29, In Indonesia an air
force helicopter crashed at an air strip on the southern outskirts of
Jakarta, killing all 7 people aboard.
(AP, 10/29/03)
2003 Nov 2, On Indonesia's Sumatra
island flash floods swept through a popular tourist resort, killing 66
people, five of them foreigners, and leaving dozens missing.
(AP, 11/3/03)
2003 Nov 6, Indonesia extended
martial law and its military offensive in Aceh for 6 months.
(SFC, 11/7/03, p.A9)
2003 Nov 23, The Indonesian
military reported it had killed six suspected rebels and captured four
others during clashes in Aceh province.
(AP, 11/23/03)
2003 Nov, The World Bank approved
increased loans to Indonesia in return for an anti-corruption
commission and strengthened government procurement methods.
(SFC, 12/2/03, p.A13)
2003 Dec 13, Indonesian troops gun
downed at least three suspected rebels, including the first female
insurgent killed in the current offensive, and captured eight others
during clashes in the war-torn province of Aceh.
(AP, 12/14/03)
2003 Dec 27, An Indonesian army
tank accidentally ran over a public minibus on Java island, killing 18
people and injuring at least five.
(AP, 12/27/03)
2003 Dec 29, The Indonesian
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was established based on the
Law No. 30 of 2002.
(www.icac.org.hk/newsl/issue22eng/button3.htm)
2003 Dec 31, In Indonesia a bomb
tore through a crowded New Year's concert in Aceh province, killing 10
people, including three children. 45 were wounded.
(AP, 1/1/04)
2003 Indonesia’s President
Megawati Sukarnoputri declared that the Chinese new year would be a
national holiday.
(Econ, 2/4/06, p.40)
2003 Indonesia HIV infections
jumped 62% for the year to some 210,000 cases.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.A1)
2004 Jan 20, In Indonesia blasts
rocked a chemical plant in Gresik, sparking a series of fires at the
complex that killed two people and injured nearly 70 others.
(AP, 1/20/04)
2004 Feb 4, John Ashcroft joined
security chiefs from 32 nations at a Bali anti-terrorism conference.
(WSJ, 2/4/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb 6, In Indonesia
earthquakes measuring 7.1 and aftershocks hit the remote Papua
province, flattening houses and leaving at least 34 people dead and
hundreds injured.
(AP, 2/6/04)(WSJ, 2/9/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb 16, An earthquake shook
Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing five people and damaging 60 homes.
(AP, 2/17/04)
2004 Mar, Indonesia became a net
importer of crude oil for the first time.
(WSJ, 5/18/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 5, Indonesians voted in
legislative elections with Golkar, the party that once supported
ex-dictator Suharto, expected to win the most seats. Some 140,000
Indonesians chose between 450,000 candidates competing for 15,276
offices.
(AP, 4/5/04)(WSJ, 4/6/04, p.A1)(Econ, 4/10/04, p.31)
2004 Apr 6, In Indonesia the
Golkar Party of former dictator Suharto held a slight lead in
parliamentary elections. Golkar won the most seats in the parliamentary
election with 21.6 percent. Pres. Sukarnoputri’s Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P) won 18.5%.
(AP, 4/6/04)(AP, 5/5/04)(Econ, 5/8/04,
p.42)
2004 Apr 14, In Indonesia Akbar
Tandjung, the leader of the party once led by Indonesian dictator
Suharto, claimed victory in parliamentary elections that were a major
setback to President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
(AP, 4/14/04)
2004 Apr 18, In Indonesia
Presidential front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he had chosen
the country's popular welfare minister as his running mate, forging a
ticket that polls show could easily defeat incumbent Megawati
Sukarnoputri in July.
(AP, 4/18/04)
2004 Apr 20, Indonesia's Golkar
Party chose ex-Gen. Wiranto as its presidential candidate. He was
indicted by the UN for human-rights abuses in East Timor in 1999.
(WSJ, 4/21/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 23, A rain-triggered
landslide smashed into a bus on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at
least 37 passengers and leaving six others buried under tons of mud.
(AP, 4/24/04)
2004 Apr 25, In Indonesia's Maluku
islands Muslim and Christian gangs fought running battles, leaving at
least 10 people dead, including two youths who were hacked to death by
sword-wielding men.
(AP, 4/25/04)
2004 Apr 26, In Indonesia's Maluku
islands mobs set fire to buildings at a Christian-run university. 18
people have died in two days of clashes between Christians and Muslims.
(AP, 4/26/04)
2004 Apr 27, In Indonesia gunmen
in Ambon killed two paramilitary police officers and critically wounded
a third and a Muslim man later was incinerated by a bomb explosion,
bringing the death toll since Sunday to 24.
(AP, 4/28/04)
2004 Apr 30, In Indonesia hundreds
of protesters clashed with police as officers re-arrested Abu
Bakar Bashir (66), a Muslim cleric accused of heading an
al-Qaida-linked terror network. Muslims and Christians with homemade
bombs and military-issue weapons clashed in the eastern city of Ambon,
leaving 15 wounded and scores of houses in flames.
(AP, 4/30/04)
2004 Apr, Australian police,
trying to break a large drug syndicate, supplied information that led
to the arrest of the nine Australians on Indonesian resort island of
Bali. The nine were allegedly carrying 11.2 kilograms (24.7 pounds) of
heroin at the time and faced the death penalty on drugs charges.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2004 May 10, A U.N.-backed
tribunal issued an arrest warrant against Indonesia's former military
chief and current presidential candidate Gen. Wiranto for human rights
abuses during the territory's bloody break with Jakarta in 1999.
(AP, 5/10/04)
2004 May, A court in West Sumatra,
Indonesia, convicted 43 provincial representatives for misusing state
funds and sentenced them to 2 years in jail.
(WSJ, 9/17/04, p.A1)
2004 Jun 8, Two volcanoes in
separate parts of Indonesia shot forth plumes of smoke and showers of
stones, killing two hikers and forcing the evacuation of 5,000
villagers.
(AP, 6/8/04)
2004 Jun 10, In Indonesia Mount
Awu on Sangihe Island erupted. Nearly 12,000 people living around the
mountain had been evacuated to a nearby town.
(AP, 6/10/04)
2004 Jul 5, Former army Gen.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) won the first round in Indonesia's
presidential election. A Sep 20 showdown set Megawati Sukarnoputri
against SBY.
(SFC, 7/3/04, p.A14)(AP, 7/5/04)(SFC, 7/7/04, p.A3)
2004 Jul 11, A truck crashed into
a house packed with guests at a wedding reception in Indonesia, killing
17 and injuring 13.
(AP, 7/11/04)
2004 Jul 29, Four Indonesian
security officers convicted over atrocities during East Timor's 1999
violence-marred independence vote were acquitted.
(AFP, 8/6/04)
2004 Sep 7, Munir Said Thalib
(b.1965), prominent Indonesian human rights activist, died of arsenic
poisoning aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight to the Netherlands. In
March, 2005, Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was taken into
custody. In June it was reported that Indonesia’s intelligence service
was involved in Thalib’s death. In December, 2005, Pollycarpus Priyanto
was found guilty of Munir's murder by an Indonesian court and sentenced
to 14 years imprisonment. In 2006 Indonesia’s Supreme Court quashed the
murder conviction citing insufficient evidence. In 2008 Indonesia’s
supreme court found Pollycarpus Priyanto guilty of poisoning Munir and
sentenced him to 20 years in prison. In 2008 Indonesian police arrested
Muchdi Purwoprandjono, a former top intelligence official, for
suspected involvement in the killing of Thalib.
(WSJ, 6/27/05,
p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munir_Said_Thalib)(AFP,
10/4/06)(AFP, 1/25/08)(AP, 6/19/08)
2004 Sep 9, In Indonesia a car
bomb exploded outside the gates of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta,
killing 10 people and wounding more than 160.
(Econ, 9/11/04, p.39)(AP, 9/9/05)
2004 Sep 20, In Indonesia Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono held a commanding lead over Incumbent President
Megawati Sukarnoputri in partial official results.
(AP, 9/20/04)
2004 Sep 21, Former General Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono took a seemingly unassailable lead in Indonesia's
presidential election.
(AP, 9/21/04)
2004 Oct 4, Retired general Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono was confirmed as Indonesia's next leader as final
counting from the country's first direct presidential polls gave him a
landslide victory over his predecessor.
(AFP, 10/4/04)
2004 Oct 15, Indonesian
prosecutors formally charged militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir with
ordering his followers to launch a suicide attack on the J.W. Marriott
hotel in Jakarta last year.
(AP, 10/15/04)
2004 Nov 5, Abilio Jose Soares,
the only Indonesian official to be punished for violence that killed up
to 2,000 East Timorese in 1999, has been released from jail, following
a court decision that overturned his conviction. Soares was the former
governor of East Timor.
(CP, 11/6/04)
2004 Nov 12, A strong earthquake
rocked parts of eastern Indonesia injuring 40 and damaging hundreds of
buildings. Six people on the island of Alor were killed.
(WSJ, 11/12/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 30, A Lion Air MD-82
passenger plane from Jakarta carrying nearly 150 people skidded off a
runway in Solo, Indonesia, and split into two pieces killing at least
31 people.
(AP, 11/30/04)(SFC, 12/1/04, p.A3)
2004 Dec 1, In Indonesia’s Papua
Province Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were arrested for raising the
Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence. In May, 2005, a
court sentenced Karma to 15 years in prison and Pakage to 10 years on
charges of treason for having “betrayed” Indonesia.
(www.amnestyusa.org/action/special/karmapakage.html)
2004 Dec 11, The world Economic
Forum ranked Indonesia 69th out of 104 countries for int’l.
competitiveness. About 50% of its people subsisted on less than $2 per
day.
(Econ, 12/11/04, Survey p.4)
2004 Dec 19, Golkar, Indonesia’s
largest party in parliament, removed Akbar Tandjung as leader and
replaced him with Jusuf Kalla, the country’s new vice-president.
(Econ, 1/1/05, p.29)
2004 Dec 23, An Indonesian
military helicopter crashed into mountains on Indonesia's Java island,
killing 14 soldiers on board.
(AP, 12/23/04)
2004 Dec 26, The world's most
powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that
slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and southeast
Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose to some
230,000 people in 14 countries. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake was the
world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the largest since a 9.2 temblor
hit Prince William Sound Alaska in 1964. The epicenter was located 155
miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province on
Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian Ocean. In
Indonesia at least 166,320 people were killed.
Bangladesh reported 2 killed; India: at least 9,691 deaths: thousands
were missing and possibly dead in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar
Islands. Indonesia: At least 101,318 people were killed on Sumatra
island and small islands off its coast. Kenya reported 1 killed.
Malaysia: At least 68 people, including an unknown number of foreign
tourists, were dead. Myanmar: At least 90 people were killed. Sri
Lanka: At least 30,680 were killed in government and rebel controlled
areas. The Maldives, an archipelago of 1,190 low-lying coral islands
and a tiny population of 280,000, at least 82 people were killed and
missing. At least 42 islands were flattened in the low-lying atoll
nation. Somalia: At least 298 were killed. Tanzania: At least 10
killed. Thailand: The confirmed death toll for Thailand reached 5,322,
but many suspected Myanmar migrants were not counted.
(SFC, 12/28/04, p.A1)(AP, 12/30/04)(SSFC, 1/2/05,
p.A12)(AP, 1/7/05)(Econ, 1/22/05, p.41)(AP, 12/25/09)
2004 Dec 29, The first Indonesian
military teams reached the devastated west coast of Sumatra island,
finding thousands of bodies and increasing the death toll across 12
nations to more than 76,700.
(AP, 12/29/04)
2004 Dec 30, The death toll from
the Dec 26 earthquake-tsunami catastrophe rose to more than 114,000.
Indonesia estimated deaths in Aceh at over 80,000.
(AP, 12/30/04)(SFC, 12/31/04, p.A1)
2004 Jean Gelman Taylor authored
"Indonesia," a history or the archipelago and its various cultures.
(WSJ, 3/11/04, p.D7)
2004 Theodore Friend authored
"Indonesian Destinies," a history of Indonesia since independence.
(WSJ, 3/11/04, p.D7)
2004 Maria A. Ressa authored
"Seeds of Terror," a focus on the last ten years of Indonesia.
(WSJ, 3/11/04, p.D7)
2004 In Indonesia the armed forces
formally withdrew from politics. They gave up their reserved seats in
parliament ending their “dwi fungsi,” or dual political and military
function. The military still owned numerous businesses, foundations and
cooperatives, which provided a good chunk of its budget. Law required
that they cede control by 2009.
(Econ, 2/18/06, p.43)
2005 Jan 1, Indonesia was forecast
for 4.8% annual GDP growth with a population at 227.1 million and GDP
per head at $1,230.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.91)
2005 Jan 1, In Indonesia
desperate, homeless villagers on the tsunami-ravaged island of Sumatra
mobbed American helicopters carrying aid as the U.S. military launched
its largest operation in the region since the Vietnam War.
(AP, 1/1/06)
2005 Jan 5, Australian PM John
Howard pledged $765 million over five years to Indonesian tsunami
reconstruction and development due to the Dec 26 disaster.
(AP, 1/6/05)(Econ, 1/15/05, p.38)
2005 Jan 5, The UN said that camps
for up to 500,000 tsunami refugees will be built on devastated Sumatra
island, while world leaders headed to Indonesia to discuss how to
distribute billions of dollars in aid.
(AP, 1/5/05)
2005 Jan 6, A tsunami aid
conference convened in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the UN asserted control
over the massive relief campaign.
(WSJ, 1/7/05, p.A1)
2005 Jan 7, Authorities raised
Indonesia's death toll by 7,000, bringing the overall total killed by
the disaster to more than 147,000.
(AP, 1/7/05)
2005 Jan 11, Indonesia's military
chief extended a new cease-fire offer to rebels in the tsunami-stricken
Aceh province, and residents in Sri Lanka were told not to rebuild near
the coast.
(AP, 1/11/05)
2005 Jan 12, Indonesia demanded
that all foreign troops providing disaster relief leave the country by
Mar 31.
(SFC, 1/13/05, p.A1)
2005 Jan 16, Indonesia increased
its tsunami death toll by 5,000, raising the overall number of people
who died in the Dec. 26 disaster to more than 162,000.
(AP, 1/16/05)
2005 Jan 19, Indonesia's Health
Ministry raised the country's death toll from the Dec. 26 tsunami to
166,320, pushing the total number of people killed in the disaster
around the region above 225,000.
(Reuters, 1/19/05)(SFC, 1/20/05, p.A4)
2005 Jan 21, It was reported that
Laskar Merah Putih (Red and White Force), the military-backed militia
notorious for killing dozens of independence supporters during East
Timor’s violent breakaway, has set up relief operations in Aceh
province.
(SFC, 1/21/05, p.A3)
2005 Jan 23, Indonesia raised its
death toll from the Dec 26 disaster by as many as 7,000 people. It
confirmed 96,000 dead and 132,000 presumed dead.
(AP, 1/23/05)(WSJ, 1/26/05, p.A1)
2005 Jan 27, Indonesian Pres.
Yudhoyono rebels in Aceh amnesty and greater autonomy in exchange for a
cease-fire on the eve of new peace talks I Helsinki. Japanese troops
arrived in Aceh to take over aid tasks from US forces.
(SFC, 1/28/05, p.A10)(WSJ, 1/28/05, p.A1)
2005 Jan 31, A UN official said
nearly 800,000 people will need food aid in Indonesia's Aceh province
in the aftermath of the devastating Dec. 26 tsunami as the country's
death toll from the disaster jumped by 5,000 for the 2nd day in a row.
The overall death toll stood between 156,000 and 178,000 across 11
nations, with an estimated 26,500 to 142,000 missing, most of whom are
presumed dead.
(AP, 1/31/05)
2005 Jan, US government
prosecutors charged Monsanto Corp. for payoffs to officials in
Indonesia during efforts (1998-2003) to sell genetically modified seed
there. Monsanto agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle the charges.
(WSJ, 4/5/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 1, Indonesia announced
that it found the bodies of 1,000 additional victims from the Dec 26
tsunami disaster.
(AP, 2/1/05)
2005 Feb 18, Indonesia welcomed
efforts by the US to restore full military training ties with Jakarta,
saying the time was ripe to resume links that were downgraded 13 years
ago.
(AFP, 2/18/05)
2005 Feb 20, Former Presidents
George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton visited Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged
Aceh province, flying over a vast wasteland of destruction.
(AP, 2/20/05)
2005 Feb 21, In Indonesia a
30-foot-tall heap of garbage collapsed onto a neighborhood near the
West Java town of Bandung, killing at least 19 people and crushing
dozens of houses.
(AP, 2/21/05)
2005 Feb 22, In Indonesia Aceh
separatists announced they are ready to accept increased autonomy
rather than independence.
(WSJ, 2/23/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 28, Indonesia welcomed a
move by the US to resume a small but high-profile US military training
program that was frozen in the 1990s because of human rights abuses in
East Timor. Human rights groups condemned the decision.
(Reuters, 2/28/05)
2005 Feb, A group called the
Environmental Investigation Agency alleged that $600 million worth of
timber was being smuggled from Indonesia to China every month. Pres.
Yudhojono pledged a crackdown in March with Operation Sustainable
Forest. The EIA described a timber-smuggling chain bringing 300,000
cubic meters of merbau, a valuable hardwood, from Indonesia’s Papua
province to China. EIA claimed Indonesia was losing an area of forest
the size of Switzerland every year.
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.42)(Econ, 5/7/05, p.39)
2005 Mar 1, Indonesia reduced
subsidies on various fuels.
(Econ, 3/5/05, p.43)
2005 Mar 3, In Indonesia the
alleged leader of a militant Islamic group was sentenced to 2 1/2 years
in prison for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that
killed 202 people but was cleared of more serious charges.
(AP, 3/3/05)
2005 Mar 7, It was reported that
Indonesia’s army had killed 30 Aceh separatists over the past week.
(WSJ, 3/7/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 9, Indonesia and East
Timor agreed to set up a commission to deal with atrocities surrounding
East Timor's 1999 vote for independence, despite criticism led by the
UN.
(AP, 3/9/05)
2005 Mar 21, A top security
official said Indonesia plans to formally outlaw the al-Qaida-linked
terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, a move that will make it easier for
authorities to arrest and prosecute militants in the world's most
populous Muslim nation.
(AP, 3/21/05)
2005 Mar 28, An 8.7 earthquake
occurred in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, in what technically was
considered an aftershock to the Dec 26 quake. At least 330 people were
killed in collapsed buildings on Nias Island. No major tsunami
followed. The UN raised its toll to 624. The government estimated
400-500 were killed.
(SFC, 3/29/05, p.A1)(AP, 3/31/05)(Econ, 4/2/05, p.37)
2005 Mar, Indonesia’s Pres.
Yudhoyono enforced a 29% fuel price increase after promising to invest
in health and education with the cash saved.
(Econ, 10/1/05, p.40)
2005 Mar, The British-based
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) described a timber-smuggling
chain bringing 300,000 cubic meters of merbau, a valuable hardwood,
from Indonesia’s Papua province to China.
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.42)
2005 Apr 2, An Australian navy
helicopter crashed on the earthquake-devastated Indonesian island of
Nias. Media reported that nine people were killed and two were rescued.
(AP, 4/2/05)
2005 Apr 4, The leaders of
Australia and Indonesia signed a partnership agreement that they said
would lead to new security pact between their countries.
(AP, 4/4/05)
2005 Apr 8, Indonesia's Pres.
Yudhoyono was greeted in East Timor on a visit to bolster
reconciliation between Jakarta and the territory it once occupied with
brutal force.
(AP, 4/8/05)
2005 Apr 11, Indonesia sentenced
Aceh Gov. Abdullah Puteh to 10 years in prison plus a fine ($52,631)
for padding the price of a helicopter, purchased with state funds in
2002, and keeping the extra money for himself.
(WSJ, 4/12/05, p.A18)(Econ, 4/30/05, p.40)
2005 Apr 16, A Finnish mediator
said Aceh rebels and Indonesian government delegates have made a
"breakthrough" at peace talks on the tsunami-ravaged province, and will
continue negotiations in Finland May 26-31.
(AP, 4/16/05)
2005 Apr 17, In Indonesia
authorities arrested 9 young Australians, the Bali Nine, for trying to
smuggle 8 kilograms of heroin to Australia. In Feb, 2006, 2 of the 9
were sentenced to death and the rest to life in prison. An appeal by 4
sentenced to prison led to a change in their sentences to death. In
2008 3 of the convicted Australians had their death sentences reduced
to life imprisonment.
(Econ, 9/16/06,
p.52)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali_Nine)(AFP, 3/6/08)
2005 Apr 22, Indian Foreign
Minister Natwar Singh met Nepal's King Gyanendra on the fringes of an
international summit in Jakarta and pushed for a restoration of
democracy.
(AFP, 4/22/05)
2005 Apr 23, In Indonesia leaders
from Asia and Africa struck what they called a historic deal to build
economic and political links.
(Reuters, 4/23/05)
2005 Apr 24, In Indonesia
representatives of more than 100 African and Asian countries closed out
a summit (b.1955) with promises to boost economic relations and counter
the threat of globalization.
(AP, 4/24/05)
2005 May 3, The WHO said Indonesia
has detected its first case of polio in a decade, prompting the
government to launch a massive vaccination campaign that is expected to
inoculate more than 5 million children.
(AP, 5/3/05)
2005 May 8, In Indonesia US Deputy
Secretary of State Robert Zoellick signed an agreement to build a $245
million road along Aceh's western coast.
(AP, 5/8/05)
2005 May 13, Indonesia reported
that researchers had found a strain of bird flu in pigs on Java, and
feared the virus could spread to humans.
(SSFC, 5/15/05, p.A14)
2005 May 14, A magnitude 6.9
undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sumatra island.
(AP, 5/14/05)
2005 May 19, Indonesia lifted 2
years of emergency rule in Aceh.
(WSJ, 5/19/05, p.A1)
2005 May 25, Pres. Bush met with
Indonesian Pres. Yudhoyono. The US decided to lift a ban on the
government sale of non-lethal defense equipment to Indonesia as part of
a step-by-step process to restore full military ties frozen due to
human rights abuses.
(AP, 5/26/05)
2005 May 27, Schapelle Corby (27),
an Australian woman, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison
for smuggling nine pounds of marijuana onto Indonesia's Bali island.
(AP, 5/27/05)
2005 May 28, In Indonesia 2 bombs
exploded at a busy market on Sulawesi Island, killing at least 22
people and wounding 40 others in an area marred by years of
inter-religious fighting.
(AP, 5/28/05)
2005 May 30, Indonesia's first
polio outbreak in a decade widened with two new cases reported, as the
government kicked off a massive eradication campaign that aims to
vaccinate 6.4 million children in one day.
(AP, 5/30/05)
2005 Jun 15, Indonesia reported
its 1st human case of bird flu.
(SFC, 6/16/05, p.A3)
2005 Jun 24, In Indonesia 15
convicted gamblers were flogged for illegal gaming, the first time
caning was used as punishment in the world's most populous Muslim
country.
(AP, 6/24/05)
2005 Jun 29, A UN team of experts
called for an international tribunal to prosecute Indonesia’s security
forces and militia during its bloodstained exit from East Timor in 1999.
(AP, 6/29/05)
2005 Jul 7, The 150-ton KMP Digul
sank off Papua province, Indonesia, while en route from the port town
of Merauke to Tanah Merah. As many as 200 were feared dead.
(AP, 7/9/05)(AP, 7/10/05)
2005 Jul 15, Indonesian
authorities said 3 people had died of suspected bird flu in the last 10
days. They had no contact with poultry and raised concern over
human-to-human transmission. A small farm nearby was hit by the virus a
few months earlier. This raised the regionwide deaths from bird flu to
57, mostly in Thailand and Vietnam
(WSJ, 7/18/05, p.A10)(WSJ, 7/22/05, p.A10)
2005 Jul 16, In Finland
Indonesia's government and Aceh rebels reached a tentative peace deal
to end a 29-year insurgency in the tsunami-devastated province. They
agreed to sign a peace accord on Aug 15 in exchange for more autonomy.
(AP, 7/17/05)(WSJ, 7/18/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul 21, In Indonesia the
first suspect to face charges in the 2004 bombing of the Australian
Embassy was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison for assisting the
attack's perpetrators, but was cleared of more serious charges.
(AP, 7/21/05)
2005 Jul 24, A 7.2 earthquake hit
India's southern Andaman and Nicobar Islands and part of Indonesia. No
tsunami came, and no injuries or damage were reported.
(AP, 7/25/05)
2005 Jul 26, In Indonesia a 2nd
suspect tried in September's deadly bombing at the Australian Embassy
was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for helping
transport materials used in the attack. Agus Ahmad (31) told the South
Jakarta District Court he believed six bags given to him by a friend
contained crystal stones, but the three judges did not believe him.
(AP, 7/26/05)
2005 Jul 28, Indonesia brushed off
a call in a UN report for an international tribunal to try Indonesian
and militia leaders blamed for a bloody 1999 rampage in East Timor.
(AP, 7/28/05)
2005 Aug 2, Forest fires in
Indonesia's Sumatra province covered Kuala Lumpur and 32 other areas of
Malaysia with a smoky haze.
(AP, 8/2/05)
2005 Aug 4, In Bali a truth
commission set up by Indonesia and East Timor began work, seeking to
deflect growing calls for an international tribunal to probe the tiny
territory's bloody independence vote in 1999.
(AP, 8/4/05)
2005 Aug 5, In Indonesia
Denver-based mining giant Newmont went on trial in a high-profile legal
battle over charges its Indonesian unit, Newmont Minahasa Raya, dumped
toxic waste and polluted Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi, causing health
problems to residents.
(AP, 8/5/05)
2005 Aug 8, Health officials in
Indonesia reported 205 children with polio.
(WSJ, 8/9/05, p.A1)
2005 Aug 11, Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former army general, and the Timorese
ex-guerrilla fighter Xanana Gusmao witnessed the signing of documents
appointing the 10 members of the Commission for Truth and Friendship.
(AFP, 8/11/05)
2005 Aug 12, Smoke from forest
fires in Indonesia spread to more cities in Malaysia, as millions
prayed in mosques and temples for rain to wash away the hazardous haze.
(AP, 8/12/05)
2005 Aug 15, Indonesia and Aceh
rebels signed a peace treaty in Helsinki to end nearly 30 years of
fighting that killed 15,000 people, but rebel leaders voiced concern
about government troops remaining in the region.
(AP, 8/15/05)
2005 Aug 25, UNICEF said a measles
outbreak on Indonesia's Sumba island has killed five children and
sickened 711 others.
(AP, 8/25/05)
2005 Aug 31, Indonesia's President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government needs to cut fuel
subsidies, in effect raising gasoline prices for the public, to lift
the nation's beleaguered currency and stave off an economic crisis.
(AP, 8/31/05)
2005 Aug 31, Indonesia released
hundreds of Acehnese rebel prisoners, honoring a major concession in a
recent peace deal and triggering tearful reunions as the former inmates
returned to their tsunami-devastated homeland.
(AP, 8/31/05)
2005 Sep 5, In Indonesia a
domestic jetliner slammed into a crowded neighborhood after taking off
from Medan, bursting into flames and killing at 143 people including 44
on the ground. 18 passengers survived the crash, including an
18-month-old boy.
(AP, 9/6/05)(AP, 9/5/06)
2005 Sep 8, Indonesian militant
Abdul Fatah, alias Heri Segu, received a seven-year prison sentence for
his role in plotting last year's suicide bombing at the Australian
Embassy, blamed on a regional terror group linked to al-Qaida.
(AP, 9/8/05)
2005 Sep 13, Iwan Darmawan Mutho,
alias Rois (30), an Indonesian Islamic militant, vowed revenge after he
was sentenced to death for plotting a deadly bombing at the Australian
embassy which was allegedly funded by Osama bin Laden.
(AP, 9/13/05)
2005 Sep 15, Separatist rebels in
Indonesia's Aceh province started handing over weapons to international
monitors.
(AP, 9/15/05)
2005 Sep 16, Indonesia's ailing
airline PT Garuda Indonesia said it signed a $2 billion deal with
aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. to upgrade the company's fleet.
(AP, 9/16/05)
2005 Sep 17, The Indonesian
government signed a contract with state oil company Pertamina and US
oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp to develop Cepu block.
(AP, 9/17/05)
2005 Sep 18, in Indonesia the main
zoo Jakarta was shut down after 19 of its birds died of the avian
influenza that has killed four people in the sprawling country.
(AP, 9/18/05)
2005 Sep 19, An Indonesian warship
fired on a Chinese fishing fleet it suspected of using illegal nets,
killing one crew member and wounding two others in the Arafuru sea off
Papua Island.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Sep 21, Indonesia scrambled
to calm public fears of a possible bird flu epidemic after two more
children suspected of having the disease died in the capital of Jakarta.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Sep 22, An Indonesian court
sentenced the last of six Muslim militants accused in the 2004 suicide
bombing at the Australian Embassy to 10 years in prison for helping the
alleged masterminds carry out the attack.
(AP, 9/22/05)
2005 Sep 25, A magnitude 5.6
undersea earthquake rocked eastern Indonesia, but there were no
immediate reports of damages or casualties.
(AP, 9/25/05)
2005 Sep 26, The death of a
27-year-old woman took Indonesia's death toll from bird flu to six as
the government announced that 400,000 tablets of donated medicine to
fight the virus would soon arrive in the country.
(AP, 9/26/05)
2005 Sep 29, Thousands of
students, truck drivers and laborers rallied across Indonesia to
protest impending fuel price hikes, some blocking roads with burning
tires and throwing stones outside a house belonging to the vice
president.
(AP, 9/29/05)
2005 Sep 29, Officials announced
that Rupert Murdoch's Asian broadcast business is buying a 20 percent
stake in the Indonesian television network ANTV.
(AP, 9/30/05)
2005 Sep 30, In Indonesia riot
police fired tear gas at about 100 rock-throwing students who were
among thousands demonstrating on the eve of drastic fuel price
increases, which President Yudhoyono defended as the only way to stave
off an economic crisis.
(AP, 9/30/05)
2005 Oct 1, In Indonesia bombs
exploded almost simultaneously in two tourist areas of the resort
island of Bali, killing 20 people and wounding nearly 200 others.
Indonesia said suicide bombers carried out the blasts that bore the
hallmark of Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda. In 2006 Abdul Aziz
(30) was sentenced to eight years in prison for harboring the alleged
mastermind of the bombings. Aziz had also helped set up a Web site
calling on Muslims to wage war against "infidels." Mohammad Cholili
(28) was sentenced to 18 years in prison for helping to build the
bombs. Dwi Widiarto (34) was sentenced to 8 years for helping make the
bombers’ videotaped confessions. Anif Solchanudin was sentenced to 15
years in prison.
(AP, 10/2/05)(AP, 9/5/06)(AP, 9/7/06)(AP, 9/14/06)
2005 Oct 6, The US State
Department offered a reward of up to $10 million for information
leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspected mastermind in the
nightclub bombings in 2002 in Bali, Indonesia.
(AP, 10/6/05)
2005 Oct 10, Indonesia said it
will test its stock of bird flu vaccine after a corruption scandal
involving production of sub-standard doses.
(AFP, 10/10/05)
2005 Oct 21, Indonesian police
said they had arrested four people allegedly involved in smuggling
hundreds of pounds of explosive materials from Malaysia into Indonesia.
(AP, 10/21/05)
2005 Oct 29, In Indonesia
unidentified assailants attacked a group of high school girls in the
province of Central Sulawesi, beheading three and seriously wounding a
fourth. In 2006 three Muslim men were charged in the beheadings. In
2007 Abdul Muis bin Kamarudin and Rahman Kalahe were sentenced to 19
years in prison for their crimes.
(AP, 10/29/05)(AP, 11/3/06)(AP, 12/4/07)
2005 Oct 31, A UN-sanctioned panel
investigating human rights violations during Indonesia's bloody 24-year
occupation of East Timor presented its findings to the country's
president.
(AP, 10/31/05)
2005 Nov 9, Azahari bin Husin, one
of southeast Asia's most-wanted terrorist suspects, was believed to
have been killed when an elite Indonesian anti-terrorism unit stormed a
suspected militant hideout on Java. He was accused of plotting a series
of deadly bombings in Bali.
(AP, 11/9/05)
2005 Nov 24, Indonesia expelled
Sidney Jones, an American expert on Southeast Asian terrorist networks
for one year, saying her activities could cause public disorder.
(AP, 11/25/05)
2005 Nov 25, Indonesia said it
would begin producing the bird flu drug Tamiflu, while Vietnam and
China reported new outbreaks of the virus among poultry.
(AP, 11/25/05)
2005 Dec 6, Indonesia’s central
bank raised interest rates by one-half percentage point to 12.75%
signaling a continuation of its tight monetary policy.
(WSJ, 12/7/05, p.A16)
2005 Dec 6, The World Wildlife
Fund said a catlike creature photographed by camera traps on Borneo
Island is likely to be a new species of carnivore.
(AP, 12/07/05)
2005 Dec 13, Senior Health
Ministry officials said Indonesia confirmed its ninth human death from
bird flu, taking the global death toll from the disease to 71, all in
Asia.
(Reuters, 12/13/05)
2005 Dec 20, In Indonesia a court
convicted a pilot of poisoning a top human rights activist and
sentenced him to 14 years in prison. But the victim's widow alleged
there was a larger conspiracy and demanded an investigation into the
pilot's links with a senior intelligence official. The court said
Pollycarpus Priyanto, an off-duty pilot, placed a massive dose of
arsenic in Munir Thalib's meal on a Garuda Indonesia airlines flight on
Sept. 7, 2004, because he wanted to silence the outspoken government
critic.
(AP, 12/20/05)
2005 Dec 27, In Indonesia a year
after the tsunami destroyed their battlefield, Aceh rebels formally
disbanded their armed wing, effectively ending their 30-year separatist
insurgency.
(AP, 12/27/05)
2005 Dec 27, East Timor's
president formally opened a consulate in Indonesia's neighbouring West
Timor province in an effort to strengthen relations between the two
nations.
(AFP, 12/28/05)
2005 Dec 29, Indonesia's military
acknowledged for the first time that its commanders in Papua had
received "support" from a U.S. gold-mining giant, responding to
allegations that Freeport-McMoRan Co. gave the army millions of dollars
to protect its facilities in the remote province.
(AP, 12/29/05)
2005 Dec 31, In Palu, Indonesia, a
bomb packed with ball bearings and nails ripped through a meat market
crowded with holiday shoppers, killing at least eight people and
wounding 45.
(AP, 12/31/05)
2005 Dec 31, Philippine President
Gloria Arroyo announced Indonesia's Lippo Group with local partners is
investing some three billion pesos (56.5 million dollars) in a
Philippine bank.
(AP, 12/31/05)
2005 Indonesia established direct
elections for provincial governors and heads of districts and
municipalities, creating a new breed of accountable local officials.
(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.7)
2006 Jan 2, In central Indonesia
flash floods swept away hundreds houses and schools, killing at least
57 people.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2006 Jan 4, In Indonesia
landslides triggered by heavy rains swept down on a village on Java
island, burying homes beneath tons of mud and leaving dozens of people
missing and feared dead. The number of dead or missing from days of wet
weather rose to over 200.
(AP, 1/5/06)
2006 Jan 11, In Indonesia police
arrested 12 suspects in the killings of 2 American teachers in a 2002
ambush. The suspects include Anthonius Wamang, who was indicted by a US
grand jury in 2004 on two counts of murder, eight counts of attempted
murder and other related offenses in connection with the slayings.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006 Jan 17, Subur Sugiarto, an
alleged key aide to a Malaysian fugitive blamed for a series of deadly
terrorist attacks in Indonesia, was captured in the central Javanese
town of Boyolali en route to Jakarta. A local officer alleged that
Sugiarto was "a henchman" of Noordin Top, who is believed to be a
senior member of the al-Qaida-linked Southeast Asian terror group
Jemaah Islamiyah.
(AP, 1/19/06)
2006 Jan 20, Indonesian security
forces opened fire on a group of protesters outside a central Papua
police station, killing one person and injuring two.
(AP, 1/24/06)
2006 Jan 28, The UN Children Fund
(UNICEF) said 3 more children have contracted polio in Indonesia,
bringing the total cases to 302 since the crippling disease resurfaced
last year.
(AFP, 1/28/06)
2006 Feb 1, In eastern Indonesia
naval vessels picked up 114 survivors from a passenger ferry that went
down in rough seas, but there was no sign of dozens of others still
missing.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006 Feb 2, Eight survivors were
rescued two days after an overcrowded Indonesian ferry sank in rough
seas on the western side of Timor island. At least 20 people were still
missing.
(AP, 2/2/06)
2006 Feb 7, In Indonesia
scientists exploring an isolated jungle in remote Papua province
reported the discovery of dozens of new species of frogs, butterflies
and plants, as well as mammals hunted to near extinction elsewhere.
(AP, 2/7/06)
2006 Feb 9, In central Indonesia
an Islamic teacher named Sahal, suspected of involvement in a Southeast
Asian terrorist network, was arrested in the town of Poso.
(AP, 2/11/06)
2006 Feb 13, In Indonesia 2
Australians were sentenced to life in prison for trying to smuggle
heroin from the Indonesian resort island of Bali to their homeland.
(AP, 2/13/06)
2006 Feb 14, Two Australians were
sentenced to death by firing squad for leading a drug smuggling ring on
Indonesia's resort island of Bali, verdicts that could strain ties
between the countries. Andrew Chan (22) and Myuran Sukumaran (24) had
masterminded the trafficking of 18 pounds of heroin to their homeland.
(AP, 2/14/06)
2006 Feb 18, India confirmed the
H5N1 bird flu virus in chickens. Iran confirmed the virus in wild
swans. Indonesia confirmed its 19th death from the virus. Germany
France and Austria reported more dead birds. Nigeria claimed to be
bringing the virus under control.
(AP, 2/18/06)
2006 Feb 22, Indonesia said a
27-year-old woman died of bird flu earlier in the week in Jakarta and
authorities prepared to scour the capital for infected poultry.
(AP, 2/22/06)
2006 Feb 22, In Indonesia's Papua
province production at the world's largest gold and copper mine, run by
a local unit of New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
Inc, was suspended after illegal miners blocked the road leading to the
site.
(AP, 2/22/06)
2006 Feb 25, In Indonesia's Papua
province protesters obstructing access to a mine owned by a unit of US
firm Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. called off their blockade.
(AP, 2/25/06)
2006 Feb 25, Indonesia raised its
death toll due to the H5N1 strain of bird flu to 20 after tests confirm
that a woman (27) had succumbed to H5N1 in Jakarta on Feb 20.
(AP, 2/25/06)
2006 Mar 4, Indonesia raised its
death toll due to the H5N1 strain of bird flu to 21 after tests confirm
that a boy (3) had succumbed to H5N1 in central Java.
(AP, 3/4/06)
2006 Mar 7, A four-year-old
Indonesian boy became the latest suspected human casualty of bird flu
as the virus spread in Nigeria and Poland. A Russian virus expert
warned that a human pandemic was highly likely and told the government
to get ready.
(AFP, 3/7/06)
2006 Mar 7, In central Indonesia a
66-foot-high mountain of sand collapsed onto diggers, killing at least
11 people in Cipatat village near West Java's provincial capital of
Bandung.
(AP, 3/7/06)
2006 Mar 9, Exxon Mobil Corp. said
it would appeal the ruling by a US judge to allow villagers to sue the
oil giant for alleged abuses by Indonesian troops at facilities it
operated in Aceh province.
(AP, 3/9/06)
2006 Mar 10, An Indonesian health
ministry official said Bird flu has killed its 22nd human victim there,
a 12-year-old girl, according to tests by the WHO's Hong Kong
laboratory.
(AP, 3/10/06)
2006 Mar 13, Indonesia's state-run
oil and gas company Pertamina and Exxon Mobil Corp. agreed to jointly
operate the country's largest untapped oil field, ending a five-year
dispute that had shaken foreign investors' confidence in the sprawling
archipelago.
(AP, 3/13/06)
2006 Mar 15, In Indonesia
protesters, demanding the closure of a US-owned gold mine in Papua,
clashed with police in the second day of violent protests in the
province.
(AP, 3/15/06)
2006 Mar 16, In Indonesia
protesters killed four security officers after clashes broke out during
a rally demanding the closure of a US-owned gold mine in Papua. The
officers were either hacked or burned to death.
(AP, 3/16/06)
2006 Mar 17, Some 93 whales began
beaching themselves in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province. About 50
died as local villagers dragged at least 40 back to the open sea.
(AFP, 3/19/06)
2006 Mar 18, Indonesian
authorities said they have detained another 11 people in Papua province
after three policemen and a soldier died in clashes with protesters
demanding closure of a giant mine run by US-based Freeport-McMoran
Cooper & Gold Inc. 57 people had already been detained after the
March 16 violence in the provincial capital, Jayapura, on the
northeastern shore of Papua. Shooting into the air, the security forces
pulled people out of their cars, kicking and beating them.
(AP, 3/18/06)
2006 Mar 19, Newmont Mining
suspended exploration on Indonesia's Sumbawa Island after unidentified
people torched a camp for its workers. A local subsidiary said the
"unlawful and violent action" by around 50 people had forced it close
the Elang camp and suspend exploration activities in the area.
(AP, 3/20/06)
2006 Mar 22, Indonesia's Papua
remained tense with hundreds of students hiding in the jungle to evade
a police manhunt, as the death toll from riots over a US-run mine rose
to six.
(AP, 3/22/06)
2006 Mar 24, Indonesia recalled
its ambassador in Australia in response to the granting of temporary
asylum to 42 of 43 Papuans who landed in northern Australia by boat in
January. The asylum request from the 43rd Papuan is still being
considered.
(AFP, 3/26/06)
2006 Mar 25, It was reported that
Indonesia was losing almost 2m hectares of forest a year, an area the
size of Massachusetts or Wales. Timber stock continued to disappear at
a rate of 3% a year and over the last 15 years has resulted in a loss
of a third of the country’s stock.
(Econ, 3/25/06, p.73)
2006 Mar 31, Indonesia said it has
confirmed its 23rd bird flu fatality by tests carried out by the World
Health Organization (WHO). Local tests showed another patient is
infected.
(AP, 3/31/06)
2006 Apr 5, In Indonesia an
explosion in the headquarters of the paramilitary police command in the
western city of Medan killed two officers and injured several others.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 7, A toned-down edition
of Playboy magazine went on sale in Indonesia, defying threats of
protests by Islamic hardliners in the world's most populous Muslim
nation.
(AP, 4/7/06)
2006 Apr 7, Australian PM John
Howard moved to ease Indonesian outrage over a decision to grant visas
to asylum-seekers from Papua, saying his government would review the
process.
(AP, 4/7/06)
2006 Apr 10, In Indonesia
separatist rebels armed with bows and arrows stormed a military post in
Papua province, sparking a battle that killed two soldiers and two
attackers.
(AP, 4/11/06)
2006 Apr 12, In Jakarta,
Indonesia, some 150 members of the Islamic Defenders' Front, protesting
Playboy's decision to launch an Indonesian edition of the magazine,
clashed with police and stoned the company's editorial offices.
(AP, 4/12/06)
2006 Apr 13, In Indonesia police
asked Playboy magazine to stop publishing its Indonesian edition out of
fears it could enrage Muslims. Officials of the publication said they
were considering the request.
(AP, 4/13/06)
2006 Apr 14, In Indonesia a
passenger train bound for Jakarta crashed into another train stopped at
Gubuk station, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 25.
(AP, 4/15/06)
2006 May 1, In Indonesia 3 Islamic
militants were convicted and sentenced to prison for helping shelter
Southeast Asia's top terrorist mastermind and financing bombings.
(AP, 5/1/06)
2006 May 3, Indonesian police
detained the heads of the state electricity company Perusahaan Listrik
Negara (PLN) and a state fertilizer firm as suspects in corruption
cases.
(AFP, 5/4/06)
2006 May 8, Indonesia said it
supported Iran's right to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful means
ahead of a visit to the country by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
(AP, 5/8/06)
2006 May 9, Officials said Iran
will supply crude oil and equity investment to build an oil refinery in
Indonesia that will supply China and provide Iran with a secure outlet
in the face of possible sanctions.
(WSJ, 5/10/06, p.A8)
2006 May 12, Indonesia dropped
corruption charges against former strongman Suharto, disappointing
those who struggled against his repressive rule and had long hoped to
see him brought to justice.
(AP, 5/12/06)
2006 May 13, In Indonesia a summit
of 8 large Muslim countries largely skirted a diplomatic nuclear crisis
engulfing its member Iran but agreed that members should cooperate to
develop atomic energy.
(AFP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 13, In central Indonesia
a landslide at a sand pit killed 11 workers, burying their bodies
beneath tons of mud and debris.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 15, Indonesia’s Mount
Merapi erupted violently, sending searing gas clouds and burning rocks
down its scorched flanks and threatening villagers who refused to leave
because of ancient mystical beliefs.
(AP, 5/15/06)
2006 May 17, Indonesia's bird flu
toll jumped to 30 after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed
five family members had died of the virus.
(AFP, 5/17/06)(SFC, 5/19/06, p.A3)
2006 May 27, In central Indonesia
a 6.3 magnitude earthquake flattened homes and hotels on Java Island as
people slept, killing some 5,800 and injuring thousands more in the
nation's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
(AP, 5/30/06)(SFC, 6/10/06, p.B8)
2006 May 29, In Indonesia a
boiling mud flow began from a volcano in Sidoarjo, east Java. By 2007
it covered 1.6 square miles destroying 4 villages and 25 factories and
forced 16,000 people to leave their homes. The mud flow was triggered
by the drilling operations for gas of Lapindo Brantas, an energy
company whose major shareholder was the family-owned Bakrie Group.
Aburizal Bakrie, head of economics in Yudhoyono’s cabinet, called it a
natural disaster and tried to sell Lapindo to obscure offshore buyers.
The sale was blocked and Bakrie was moved to the post of coordinating
minister of public welfare. In Feb 2007 engineers began dropping large
cement balls into the crater in an attempt to stem the flow. In 2008
international scientists said they are almost certain that the mud
volcano was caused by faulty drilling of a gas exploration well.
(WSJ, 2/28/07, p.A1)(Econ, 12/1/07, p.58)(AP,
6/10/08)
2006 May 31, In Indonesia a local
health official said preliminary tests have found that bird flu has
killed another person, as the country struggles to get a grip on a
spike in cases.
(AP, 5/31/06)
2006 Jun 7, In Indonesia a defiant
but demure second issue of the Indonesian edition of US adult glossy
Playboy hit Jakarta's streets, weeks after publishers halted operations
following violent protests by Muslim hardliners.
(AFP, 6/7/06)
2006 Jun 14, In Indonesia Abu
Bakar Bashir (68), a reputed top leader of an al-Qaida-linked terror
group that has been blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings and other deadly
attacks, walked free from prison after serving 26 months for conspiracy.
(AP, 6/14/06)
2006 Jun 16, In Indonesia 2 men
were found dead in the emergency bunker where they had sought shelter
from erupting Mount Merapi.
(AP, 6/16/06)
2006 Jun 20, Indonesian officials
said a 14-year-year-old boy died of bird flu last week, raising the
country's death toll to at least 39 people.
(AP, 6/20/06)
2006 Jun 21, Indonesian officials
said heavy rains unleashed floods and landslides on a Sulawesi island,
killing at least 112 people.
(AP, 6/21/06)
2006 Jun 22, A ship carrying more
than 100 passengers and crew sunk off Indonesia's Sumatra island in bad
weather. 73 people were rescued. Soldiers in central Indonesia pulled
bodies from villages razed by floods and landslides, bringing the death
toll from days of heavy rain to more than 200 people.
(AP, 6/22/06)
2006 Jun 23, UN bird flu experts
said 7 recent deaths in Indonesia involved a viral mutation, but one
that didn’t spread beyond that gathering.
(WSJ, 6/24/06, p.A1)
2006 Jun 26, In central Indonesia
a police officer said floods triggered by heavy rain killed 22 people,
the second such disaster in the sprawling nation in less than a week.
(AP, 6/26/06)
2006 Jun 29, In Indonesia Playboy
magazine's editor-in-chief and first centerfold model were formally
named by police as suspects in an indecency case against the
publication.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jul 2, Pirates in the Strait
of Malacca off Indonesia's coast boarded two UN-chartered ships
carrying construction material for the reconstruction of the
tsunami-hit Aceh. They stole and damaged equipment on the first ship
and robbed the crew of cash and personal belongings on the other.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 11, Indonesia passed a
law granting tsunami-ravaged Aceh province greater autonomy and paving
the way for elections, cementing the terms of a landmark 2005 peace
accord with separatist rebels. The law allowed local political parties
and for the Acehnese to keep 70% of the revenues from their oil and gas
reserves.
(AP, 7/11/06)(Econ, 7/15/06, p.42)
2006 Jul 17, In Indonesia a
magnitude 7.7 earthquake sent a 6-foot-high tsunami crashing into
Pangandaran on Java island, killing at least 659 people with some 330
missing.
(AP, 7/19/06)(AP, 7/22/06)
2006 Jul 29, Daniel Lev (72), a
leading Indonesia scholar and longtime University of Washington
professor, died following a battle with lung cancer.
(AP, 8/2/06)
2006 Aug 3, Siti Fadilah Supari,
Indonesia’s health minister, declared that genomic data on bird flu
viruses could be accessed by anyone.
(Econ, 8/12/06, p.65)
2006 Aug 6, It was reported that
illegal logging in Indonesia’s Aceh province had risen to record levels
as people reached into virgin forests to rebuild some 130,000 homes
destroyed in December, 2004, tsunami. Deforestation across Indonesia
had already led to a 40% loss in the last 50 years.
(SSFC, 8/6/06, p.A20)
2006 Aug 7, Indonesia barred
Islamic militants from traveling to the Mideast to fight Israel after a
Jakarta group said more than 200 had already gone.
(WSJ, 8/8/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 8, Indonesian health
officials said 2 teenagers have died of bird flu. This would bring
Indonesia's death toll to 44 and make it the world's hardest-hit
country.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 11, Indonesian officials
issued a last-minute stay of execution for three Christian militiamen
on death row, but they added that the sentences would still be carried
out. Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva, were
scheduled to be executed August 12. They had been sentenced to death
for inciting and carrying out attacks on Muslims in 2000 during
religious violence on Sulawesi that left 1,000 dead from both faiths.
(AP, 8/11/06)
2006 Aug 17, In Indonesia an
Islamic militant convicted in the 2002 Bali bombings was released from
prison and 11 others jailed for minor roles had their sentences reduced
to mark independence day.
(AP, 8/17/06)
2006 Aug 17, In Indonesia a woman
died of bird flu in a village where authorities were investigating a
possible cluster of human cases of the H5N1 virus.
(AP, 8/20/06)
2006 Sep 2, Indonesia said it will
send up to 1,000 troops to southern Lebanon by the month's end, after
Israel dropped objections to its participation in the U.N. peacekeeping
force.
(AP, 9/3/06)
2006 Sep 6, An Indonesian appeals
court sentenced four Australian members of a drug smuggling ring to
death, prompting a protest from the Australian government. Scott Rush,
Tan Duc Than Nguyen, Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman had originally
received life terms for trying to take home more than 18 pounds of
heroin from Indonesia's resort island of Bali last year.
(AP, 9/6/06)
2006 Sep 22, In Indonesia
Christian mobs torched cars, blockaded roads and looted Muslim-owned
shops in violence touched off by the execution in Central Sulawesi of 3
Roman Catholics convicted of instigating attacks on Muslims. Fabianus
Tibo (60), Marinus Riwu (48), and Dominggus da Silva (42), were found
guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks
on Muslims in May, 2000, that left at least 70 people dead. Some 200
prisoners escaped in the town of Atambua, and only 20 had been
recaptured by mid-afternoon.
(AP, 9/22/06)
2006 Sep 27, Indonesia’s
government said it will resettle more than 3,000 families whose houses
have been swamped by mud surging from a gas exploration site and will
dump the sludge into the sea to avoid more destruction. The eruption
took place 4 months earlier 150 meters from where PT Lapindo Brantas
was drilling an exploratory well. The company was controlled by the
family of Aburizal Bakrie, Indonesia’s welfare minister.
(AP, 9/27/06)(Econ, 10/7/06, p.51)
2006 Oct 2, Smoke and ash from
land-clearing fires in Indonesia blanketed a large swath of the
country's west, sending air quality levels plummeting there and in
neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.
(AP, 10/2/06)
2006 Oct 11, Indonesia apologized
to Singapore and Malaysia for the choking haze over both countries and
agreed to convene a meeting of regional environment ministers to tackle
the problem. This was the worst smog since 1997 and 1998, when tens of
thousands of people were hospitalized.
(AP, 10/11/06)(Econ, 10/14/06, p.47)
2006 Oct 13, An Indonesia a woman
(27) died from bird flu. 2 more deaths from the virus in the next 2
days brought the nation's toll to 55.
(AP, 10/17/06)
2006 Oct 16, In central Indonesia
an unidentified gunman killed a Christian priest, where religious
tensions have been mounting since the executions last month of three
Roman Catholic militants.
(AP, 10/16/06)
2006 Oct 17, Indonesian television
broadcast the photo of Sudjiono Timan, a fugitive convicted of
embezzling millions of dollars in state funds as part of a new campaign
against corruption. Timan, was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in
jail for embezzling $140 million after his bank received emergency
funds meant to bail out banks crippled during Indonesia's 1998
financial crisis. This was the first installment of a weekly TV program
exposing people convicted of corruption, which remains endemic at all
levels of government.
(AP, 10/19/06)
2006 Oct 24, In Indonesia 2
Islamic militants jailed for the Bali bombings that killed 202 people
were freed. Mujarod bin Salim and Sirojul Munir had been convicted of
hiding two of the bomb plotters. 9 others had their sentences reduced
45 days to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month.
(AP, 10/24/06)
2006 Oct 30, Hutomo Mandala Putra
(44), the youngest son of former dictator Suharto, was paroled from
prison after serving less than a third of his 15-year sentence for
ordering the assassination of a Supreme Court judge.
(AP, 10/30/06)
2006 Oct, Indonesia began a
massive crackdown on illegal smelters on the island of Bangka. 37
smelters were shut down for lack of proper licenses.
(Econ, 3/3/07, p.81)
2006 Nov 8, Indonesian troops
found detonators and 63 tons of explosive powder on a Chinese ship
anchored off Batam island after it broke down in the Malacca Strait.
(AP, 11/8/06)
2006 Nov 10, Asian nations reached
their first international agreement to implement what has been dubbed
the "Iron Silk Road." Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia,
Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and seven other
nations agreed to meet at least every two years to identify vital rail
routes, coordinate standards and financing and plan upgrades and
expansions, among other measures. The UN first conceived the
Trans-Asian Railway Network in 1960.
(AP, 11/10/06)
2006 Nov 10, A first batch of
Indonesian troops arrived in Beirut to join a UN peacekeeping force,
whose commander warned of growing tensions in south Lebanon.
(AFP, 11/10/06)
2006 Nov 12, The Australian
government denied that a new security pact with Indonesia means that it
would be party to the suppression of Indonesian separatists. The new
agreement was to be signed Nov 13 on the Indonesian resort island of
Lombok.
(AP, 11/12/06)
2006 Nov 20, President Bush in
Indonesia shrugged off protests that greeted him in the world's most
populous Muslim nation, calling it a sign of a healthy democracy. Bush
praised Indonesia's "pluralism and its diversity" and said that the
world should look to the predominantly Muslim country as an example.
(AP, 11/20/06)
2006 Nov 22, Indonesia's foreign
minister said that his country would be willing to send peacekeepers to
Iraq and could encourage other Muslim countries to do the same.
(AP, 11/22/06)
2006 Nov 25, A third batch of
Indonesians left to join a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, bringing
the Asian nation's Middle East deployment to more than 830 troops.
(AP, 11/25/06)
2006 Dec 7, The Constitutional
Court ruled Indonesia's much-criticized truth and reconciliation
commission to be illegal, casting doubt on whether victims of former
dictator Suharto will ever see justice.
(AP, 12/8/06)
2006 Dec 11, In Indonesia Irwandi
Yusuf, a former GAM rebel leader, headed to easy victory in the first
elections in Aceh province since the government and the separatists
signed a peace deal in the tsunami-ravaged region last year.
(AP, 12/11/06)(Econ, 12/16/06, p.40)
2006 Dec 15, In Indonesia a
landslide swept over a remote village on Sumatra island before dawn,
killing at least 17 people.
(AP, 12/15/06)
2006 Dec 18, In Indonesia a
moderate earthquake killed at least seven people and injured 100,
spreading panic across a large swath of Sumatra, the island worst hit
by the 2004 Asian tsunami.
(AP, 12/18/06)
2006 Dec 19, In Indonesia's
Central Java province 10 people, mostly teenagers, were killed and
dozens injured in a stampede at a packed music concert.
(AFP, 12/20/06)
2006 Dec 21, Indonesia overturned
a terror conviction against the militant Islamic cleric Abu Bakar
Bashir, who served 2 1/2 years for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali
nightclub bombings that killed more than 200 people.
(AP, 12/21/06)
2006 Dec 23, In Indonesia 12
people were dead and dozens remain missing while more than 70,000 have
fled their homes as floods swept the island of Sumatra.
(AP, 12/23/06)
2006 Dec 24, Officials said at
least 94 people were killed and dozens left missing by floods in
Indonesia and Malaysia. Looting broke out in areas of Malaysia
abandoned because of rising waters.
(AP, 12/24/06)
2006 Dec 28, The Tri Star I, a
passenger ferry, capsized in rough waters off Indonesia’s coast of
Sumatra, leaving one dead and 36 missing.
(AP, 12/29/06)
2006 Dec 29, The Senopati
Nusantara, a crowded Indonesian ferry, broke apart and sank in the Java
Sea during a violent storm. The vast majority of the nearly 640
passengers were still missing a day later. Some 200 people survived the
sinking.
(AP, 12/30/06)(Reuters, 1/1/07)
2006 Dec 31, Indonesian rescue
boats picked up some 177 exhausted survivors from the Senopati
Nusantara, an Indonesian ferry that sank in the Java Sea, but they also
recovered dozens of bodies and around 400 people remained missing.
(AP, 12/31/06)
2006 Dec, In Indonesia the
Constitutional Court struck out clauses in the criminal code that made
it a crime to insult senior figures.
(Econ, 5/24/08, p.64)
2006 Indonesia overtook Malaysia
as the world’s largest producer of palm oil.
(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.10)
2007 Jan 1, Flight KI-574, an
Indonesian passenger plane carrying 102 people, disappeared in stormy
weather off Sulawesi island. Rescue teams were sent to search in the
area where the Boeing 737-400 sent out a distress signal. In 2008
investigators said the pilots had accidentally disconnecting the
plane's autopilot. A speed boat capsized in poor weather off the coast
of Borneo island, killing 15 people.
(AP, 1/1/07)(AP, 1/2/07)(AFP, 3/25/08)
2007 Jan 9, A landslide in a
western Indonesian village killed up to 13 people, burying several
homes and a small mosque.
(AP, 1/9/07)
2007 Jan 10, A 14-year-old
Indonesian boy died from bird flu, just days after being hospitalized.
It was the first H5N1 fatality in the country in six weeks.
(AP, 1/10/07)
2007 Jan 11, Indonesian police
raided a house on Sulawesi Island where several alleged Islamic
militants were staying, sparking a fierce gun and bomb battle that left
one suspected terrorist dead.
(AP, 1/11/07)
2007 Jan 16, An Indonesian
passenger train jumped its tracks, sending a crowded rail car plunging
nearly 20 feet near the central Javanese town of Purwokerto. Five
people were reported killed and more than 250 injured.
(AP, 1/16/07)
2007 Jan 21, A major 6.5-magnitude
undersea earthquake has rocked Indonesia's northern Sulawesi province.
The earthquake left four people dead and four injured.
(AFP, 1/21/07)(AP, 1/22/07)
2007 Jan 22, In Indonesia 16
people, including a policeman, were shot dead and others wounded in a
shootout with residents on Sulawesi, as police searched for suspected
militants in the restive town of Poso.
(AFP, 1/22/07)(Econ, 1/27/07, p.42)
2007 Feb 3, Indonesia’s
Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said Indonesia will pursue its
plans to develop nuclear power as part of efforts to find alternative
energy sources to address its growing needs. Officials said flooding
has killed at least 44 people and left more than 340,000 others
homeless in Jakarta, as neck-high waters submerged large sections of
the city.
(AP, 2/3/07)(AP, 2/6/07)
2007 Feb 6, An Indonesian ban on
sand exports went into effect. The ban was directed at Singapore, which
purchased sand to reclaim land from the sea.
(Econ, 2/10/07, p.42)
2007 Feb 8, In Indonesia fresh
rains triggered more flooding, compounding the misery for hundreds of
thousands forced from their homes. Irwandi Yusuf, a former rebel
leader, was inaugurated as governor of Aceh province, cementing a peace
deal to end 29 years of fighting that killed more than 15,000 people.
(AP, 2/8/07)
2007 Feb 10, The death toll from
massive flooding in Indonesia rose to 80.
(AFP, 2/10/07)
2007 Feb 18, Twin landslides hit
Indonesia's Java island, killing at least 12 people after they were
buried under mounds of earth.
(AP, 2/18/07)
2007 Feb 22, A fire broke out on
an Indonesian ferry carrying 300 passengers. The number of dead, soon
climbed to 49. Scores of passengers jumped into the sea and 120 people
remained missing.
(AFP, 2/23/07)(AP, 2/26/07)
2007 Feb 25, Levina 1, a charred
Indonesian ferry, sank while investigators and journalists were on
board inspecting the damage from a fire last week. At least one
cameraman drowned and three other people were missing. The death toll
from the Feb 22 fire continued to rise.
(AP, 2/25/07)
2007 Feb 26, Indonesian engineers
dropped several large concrete balls into Lusi, a volcano, to try to
stem a gushing mud eruption that has engulfed hundreds of homes and
displaced 11,000 people. Over the next few weeks, authorities plan to
drop nearly 1,500 balls, each weighing up to 88 pounds, into the crater
that started spewing mud at a gas drilling field on Java island nine
months ago.
(AP, 2/26/07)(Econ, 3/10/07, p.79)
2007 Feb 28, Indonesia said it is
planning to ban local carriers from operating jetliners more than 10
years old as part of a safety campaign following a string of crashes
and accidents.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2007 Feb, A UN report said all
lowland forests on Indonesia’s Borneo and Sumatra islands could be lost
by 2022 at current logging rates of 2.8 million hectares a year.
(WSJ, 1/3/07, p.A5)
2007 Mar 3, In eastern Indonesian
a bomb packed with nails exploded at a port in the city of Ambon,
wounding 12 people. Landslides triggered by days of heavy rain killed
at least 40 people in eastern Indonesia, and nearly 30 more were
believed to be buried under the mud.
(AP, 3/3/07)
2007 Mar 6, In western Indonesia a
6.3 earthquake crumpled houses across a large swath of Sumatra Island,
killing over 70 people and injuring hundreds.
(AP, 3/7/07)(AP, 3/10/07)
2007 Mar 7, A packed Garuda
Indonesia jetliner crash-landed and erupted in flames at Yogyakarta
airport, killing 22 people trapped inside the burning wreckage. More
than 115 others escaped through emergency exits as black smoke billowed
behind them.
(AP, 3/7/07)(Econ, 3/10/07, p.40)
2007 Mar 16, In Indonesia an
official said Bird flu has killed a 32-year-old man, taking the death
toll in the nation worst hit by the disease to 65.
(AP, 3/16/07)
2007 Mar 19, In Indonesia an
official announced that bird flu has killed a 21-year-old man, taking
the death toll in the nation worst hit by the disease to 66. In Bali
the Hindu majority marked the start of the Muslim year 1386 with the
new year holiday called Nyepi, a day of silence, rest and reflection.
(AP, 3/19/07)(Econ, 3/24/07, p.49)
2007 Mar 21, In Indonesia 3
Islamic militants were found guilty of decapitating three Christian
schoolgirls in 2005 and dumping their bloodied heads in nearby
villages. They were sentenced to between 14 and 20 years.
(AP, 3/22/07)
2007 Mar 29, Indonesia reopened
its border with East Timor because the fugitive rebel who caused its
closure is no longer considered a threat.
(AP, 3/29/07)
2007 Apr 3, Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a meeting of Islamic clerics that Muslim
nations should ultimately replace coalition forces in Iraq after a
period of national reconciliation. Cliff Muntu (21), a student at
Indonesia’s Institute of Public Administration (IPDN), died from wounds
due to hazing by his seniors. This was the 35th death in the school
since 1993.
(AP,
4/3/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Muntu)(Econ, 4/21/07, p.49)
2007 Apr 5, The editor-in-chief of
Playboy Indonesia was acquitted of charges that he violated the Muslim
nation's indecency laws by publishing pictures of scantily clothed
women.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 6, Health officials said
teenage girls in Cambodia and Indonesia have died of bird flu as the
virus continues to stalk across Asia.
(AP, 4/6/07)
2007 Apr 12, India test-fired a
new missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads with a 1,900-mile
range. Indonesia said the missile forced 2 of its jetliners off course.
(AP, 4/12/07)(WSJ, 4/14/07, p.A1)
2007 Apr 15, Blind British aviator
Miles Hilton-Barber, With the aid of co-copilot Richard Meredith-Hardy,
landed his microlight aircraft in Jakarta to complete another leg of
his London-Sydney charity flight.
(AFP, 4/15/07)
2007 Apr 20, Thousands of mine
workers in Indonesia's remote Papua province protested for a third day
as marathon talks with US firm Freeport McMoRan over pay and benefits
showed signs of progress.
(AP, 4/20/07)
2007 Apr 24, In Indonesia Richard
Ness an American director of Newmont Mining Corp., the world's largest
gold producer, was acquitted of charges the company dumped dangerous
amounts of toxic waste into a bay off Sulawesi Island.
(AP, 4/24/07)
2007 Apr 25, In Indonesia the MT
Maulana, an oil tanker that had just unloaded its cargo, exploded on a
Sumatran river, killing four crew members.
(AP, 4/26/07)
2007 Apr 28, It was reported that
pro-Indonesian militias had regrouped in the mountainous center of Aceh
as the Communication Forum for Children of the Nation (Forkab).
(Econ, 4/28/07, p.47)
2007 May 1, In Indonesia tens of
thousands of workers marked May Day by taking to the streets to demand
better wages and job security, amid a heavy police presence.
(AP, 5/1/07)
2007 May 10, The armed forces of
Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to step up cooperation to boost security
along shared borders after successful patrols in the Malacca Strait.
(AFP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 29, In Indonesia a
teenage girl died of bird flu, taking the death toll in the nation
worst hit by the virus to 79.
(AFP, 6/1/07)
2007 May 30, Indonesian marines
shot and killed five people on Java island during a violent protest
over a plot of land allegedly owned by the force.
(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 Jun 8, In Indonesia Dago
Simamora (59), a junior high-school teacher in South Sumatra, was shot
dead by a killer on a motorcycle. It was later alleged that he was
killed because he was accused of trying to convert girls in his class
to Christianity. In 2009 ten members of the Palembang jihadist group
that killed him were jailed on terrorism charges. One member said:
“Dago Simamora was killed because he forbade his students to wear
headscarves at school.”
(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.8)(http://tinyurl.com/mdzqrl)
2007 Jun 9, Indonesian police
captured Abu Dujana (37), a leader of the Southeast Asian terror
network blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings and a string of other
devastating attacks in recent years. Indonesian police also captured
Zarkasih (37), aka Mbah, the head of Southeast Asian extremist network
Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for some of the deadliest terror attacks in
the region.
(AFP, 6/13/07)(AFP, 6/15/07)
2007 Jun 11, Indonesia's tropical
rain forests were disappearing 30 percent faster than previously
estimated as illegal loggers raid national parks, threatening the
long-term survival of orangutans, according to a new UN report.
(AP, 6/11/07)
2007 Jun 12, In Bali, Indonesia, a
gathering of religious leaders and victims of terrorist attacks,
sponsored by the US Libforall Foundation, denounced Iran’s president
for claiming the Holocaust was a myth.
(SFC, 6/13/07, p.A15)
2007 Jun 28, The European
Commission said all Indonesian airlines and several from Russia,
Ukraine and Angola will be banned from flying to the EU due to safety
concerns.
(AP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jun 28, In Sudan China's No.
1 oil company, CNPC, and Indonesia's PT Pertamina agreed to co-develop
a Sudanese offshore oil block, ignoring international efforts to
isolate Sudan over the crisis in its Darfur region.
(AP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jul 3, Indonesia barred Eni
Faleomavaega, the Democrat congressman for American Samoa, from
visiting Papua, but has denied the move is to cover up alleged human
rights abuses in the remote region. Faleomavaega has been a critic of
Jakarta's policies in Papua.
(Reuters, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 5, Human Rights Watch
released a report saying Indonesian security forces have killed and
beat unarmed civilians, and on two occasions raped women during recent
operations against separatists in Papua province. The 96-page report
detailed 8 alleged killings by police and military officers in the
province's central highlands since 2005 and several vicious beatings.
(AP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 5, China's Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi visited Indonesia and said their countries should
cooperate to defend the interests of developing nations as they work to
enhance bilateral ties.
(AFP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 7, In Indonesia a
speeding bus carrying a group of junior high school students and their
teachers plunged into a 30-foot ravine on the main island of Java,
killing 14 people. Poisonous fumes from the Indonesia’s Salak volcano
killed six teenagers who were camping on the mountain.
(AP, 7/7/07)(AP, 7/8/07)
2007 Jul 9, In Indonesia
prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against former dictator Suharto
(1921-2008), toppled in 1998, seeking $1.54 billion in damages and
funds allegedly stolen from the state during his 32 years in power. He
allegedly forced state banks and others to contribute millions to the
Supersemar Foundation, much of which was siphoned off to companies run
by members of his family and cronies.
(AP, 7/9/07)(Econ, 7/14/07, p.48)
2007 Jul 11, A passenger ship
carrying 70 people disappeared off eastern Indonesia after reporting
engine failure in stormy seas. The bodies of two children were found
drifting in nearby waters along with several survivors.
(AP, 7/11/07)
2007 Jul 23, Officials said flash
floods and landslides in central Indonesia have inundated villages,
destroyed bridges and roads, and sent thousands fleeing their homes
with over 80 people killed.
(AFP, 7/24/07)(AP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul 26, In Indonesia a dozen
Christian men were convicted and sentenced to up to 14 years in jail
for beating to death and beheading two Muslims to avenge the government
executions of three Christians last year.
(AP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul, In Indonesia the
Constitutional Court again struck out clauses in the criminal code that
made it a crime to insult senior figures.
(Econ, 5/24/08, p.64)
2007 Aug 1, Denmark, France and
Indonesia offered to contribute to a joint UN-African Union mission for
Darfur, a 26,000-strong force expected to be made up mostly of
peacekeepers from Africa with backup from Asian troops. Sudan accepted
a UN resolution approving a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping force
in Darfur.
(AP, 8/1/07)(AFP, 8/1/07)
2007 Aug 3, China banned
Indonesian seafood after checks turned up dangerous contamination.
Indonesian authorities called the move an apparent reaction to an
Indonesian ban on some tainted Chinese products. The Chinese
administration said Indonesian products have been found to contain
mercury and cadmium, metals that can accumulate in water and soil from
burning garbage, mining or other industrial processes.
(AP, 8/4/07)
2007 Aug 8, Millions of people in
Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, voted for governor for the first time,
the latest in a wave of local elections hailed as key to strengthening
democracy in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Researchers from the
University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill reported that coral
coverage in the Indo-Pacific, an area stretching from Indonesia's
Sumatra island to French Polynesia, had dropped 20 percent in the past
two decades. They said the decline was driven by climate change,
disease and coastal development.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 12, In Indonesia nearly
90,000 followers of Hizbut Tahrir, a hard-line Sunni organization with
an estimated million members, packed a stadium in Jakarta, calling for
the creation of an Islamic state.
(AP, 8/12/07)
2007 Aug 12, A woman (29) in Bali
died from infection with the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
(www.news-medical.net/?id=28736)
2007 Aug 13, Armed pirates
attacked a Malaysian barge in the Malacca Strait and kidnapped 2
Indonesian crew, in the first high sea abduction in the busy waterway
in more than 2 years.
(AP, 8/14/07)
2007 Sep 2, Dozens of Muslim
clerics issued an edict against the construction of Indonesia's first
nuclear power plant on seismically charged Java island, saying the
potential dangers far outweighed the benefits.
(AP, 9/3/07)
2007 Sep 6, Indonesia and Russia
signed a $1 billion defense deal that will allow Indonesia to buy
dozens of helicopters, tanks and submarines, part of visiting Russian
President Vladimir Putin's efforts to boost his country's military
clout in Asia.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 10, Indonesia’s Supreme
Court ordered Time magazine to pay $106 million in damages for defaming
former Indonesian dictator Suharto by alleging in a May 1999 story that
his family amassed billions of dollars during his 32-year rule. Lower
courts had earlier ruled in Time’s favor. Time appealed the decision.
(AP, 9/10/07)(Econ, 5/10/08, p.70)
2007 Sep 12, A massive 8.4
earthquake struck Indonesia, killing at least 10 people, injuring
dozens and triggering a tsunami that hit one city on the island of
Sumatra.
(AP, 9/12/07)(Reuters, 9/13/07)
2007 Sep 13, Three powerful
earthquakes jolted Indonesia in less than 24 hours, triggering tsunami
alerts and sending panicked residents fleeing to high ground. At least
10 people were killed in the tremors.
(Reuters, 9/13/07)
2007 Sep 14, Powerful earthquakes
struck Indonesia for a third day, terrorizing thousands of people who
slept outside in fear of tsunami and falling debris. The death toll
reached 21 and seismologists warned that the worst may be yet to
come.
(AP, 9/14/07)(Reuters, 9/15/07)
2007 Sep 16, The death toll from
Indonesia's massive earthquake rose to 23 as more villagers started
returning home.
(AP, 9/16/07)
2007 Oct 17, In Indonesia's Papua
region rival tribes armed with bows and arrows clashed close to a
US-owned gold mine, killing eight people.
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 18, In eastern Indonesia
a crowded passenger boat capsized, killing at least 15 people, with
several others possibly missing.
(AP, 10/18/07)
2007 Oct 30, An Indonesian court
dismissed a legal challenge to the death penalty brought by lawyers for
members of an Australian drugs gang on death row for heroin smuggling.
(AFP, 10/30/07)
2007 Oct, Hardline Indonesian
cleric Abu Bakar Bashir likened tourists to "worms, snakes, maggots"
and called for signs to be placed in Muslim areas warning them to dress
modestly in a speech to an Islamic youth organization in east Java.
(AFP, 3/23/08)
2007 Nov 3, In Indonesia
continuous tremors beneath the Mount Kelud volcano, in the heart of
densely populated Java island, became so strong that they could no
longer be read on seismological instruments, leading scientists to
evacuate their posts and warn that an eruption appeared to have
occurred. It was a false alarm but the volcano showed signs of an
imminent eruption.
(AP, 11/3/07)(AFP, 11/4/07)
2007 Nov 12, IUCN, a Geneva-based
conservation group, said the world's smallest bear species faces
extinction because of deforestation and poaching in its Southeast Asian
home. The sun bear, whose habitat stretches from India to Indonesia,
has been classified as vulnerable by the World Conservation Union.
(AP, 11/12/07)
2007 Nov 16, A coroner urged the
Australian government to seek war crimes charges against former
Indonesian military officers over the 1975 killing of five Australian
newsmen during Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.
(AP, 11/16/07)
2007 Nov 24, In central Indonesia
a fire on a crowded passenger bus killed 12 people, including three
children.
(AP, 11/24/07)
2007 Nov 25, Two strong
earthquakes struck Indonesia’s eastern island of Sumbawa and killed at
least three people, including a child, and injured 45 others.
(AP, 11/26/07)(Econ, 12/1/07, p.58)
2007 Nov 26, In Indonesia the
capital of Jakarta was partially flooded, forcing thousands of people
to flee homes and cutting off a highway to the international airport.
(AP, 11/27/07)
2007 Nov 27, The Mezzanine, a
Panamanian freighter, hit rough seas off Taiwan's north coast and 26
Indonesian sailors were feared dead.
(AFP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 28, Indonesia, which is
losing its forests at a faster rate than any other country, launched a
campaign to plant 79 million trees ahead of a critical climate change
conference on the resort island of Bali.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Dec 3, In Jakarta, Indonesia,
6 Islamic militants were sentenced to up to 19 years in prison for
terrorist acts in eastern Indonesia that include beheading three
Christian schoolgirls in 2005 and shooting to death Rev. Irianto
Kongkoli in 2006.
(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Dec 3, In Bali, Indonesia,
climate experts at a massive UN conference urged quick action toward a
new international pact to stem global warming. The UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) hoped for an agreement to mitigate
climate change after the Kyoto protocol runs out in 2012.
(AP, 12/3/07)(Econ, 12/1/07, p.73)
2007 Dec 6, In Indonesia American
climate negotiators refused to back down in their opposition to
mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, even as a US Senate panel
endorsed sharp reductions in pollution blamed for global warming.
(AP, 12/6/07)
2007 Dec 8, The chief US
negotiator at the climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, said the US
will come up with its own plan to cut global-warming gases by mid-2008
and won’t commit to mandatory caps.
(SSFC, 12/9/07, p.A17)
2007 Dec 10, Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said a 10-year program has begun to save
endangered orangutans from extinction by protecting tropical jungle
habitat from logging, mining and palm oil plantations. As many as
50,000 orangutans have been lost over the past 35 years due to
shrinking habitat. As of January 2004, about 6,650 Sumatran orangutans
and 55,000 Borneo orangutans remained in the wild.
(AP, 12/10/07)
2007 Dec 12, In Indonesia new
Australian PM Kevin Rudd completed ratification of the Kyoto Protocol
as he pressed for all nations, rich and poor, to commit to fighting
global warming.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 13, Nobel laureate Al
Gore accused the United States of blocking progress at the UN climate
conference, and European nations threatened to boycott US-led climate
talks next month unless Washington compromises on emissions reductions.
(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 14, Indonesia, the nation
hardest hit by bird flu, announced its 93rd death due to the H5N1
virus. In China, the military in eastern Nanjing banned the sale of
poultry this week after a father and son came down with the disease
earlier this month. Health officials confirmed the 24-year-old man died
from the virus a day before his father, 52, became sick. It was the
country's 17th bird flu death. The WHO confirmed Myanmar's first human
case of bird flu and praised the secretive country for its quick and
open handling of the infection. State media reported a girl (7) was
hospitalized on Nov. 27 and released on Dec. 12 in good condition after
being treated with the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
(AP, 12/15/07)
2007 Dec 15, In Indonesia 2 weeks
of international climate talks marked by bitter disagreements and angry
accusations culminated in a last-minute US compromise and an agreement
to adopt a blueprint for fighting global warming by 2009.
(AP, 12/16/07)
2007 Dec 26, In western Indonesia
rescuers dug for survivors after landslides and floods triggered by
days of torrential rain killed over 87 people.
(AP, 12/26/07)(AP, 12/27/07)
2008 Jan 26, In Indonesia a small
cargo plane disappeared and apparently crashed during a short flight
over Borneo island, and all three people aboard were feared dead.
(AP, 1/26/08)
2008 Jan 27, Indonesia, the nation
hardest hit by bird flu, recorded its 100th human death as the virus
picked up speed across Asia.
(AP, 1/28/08)
2008 Jan 27, Former Indonesian
President Suharto (b.1921) died. The US Cold War ally led one of the
20th century's most brutal dictatorships over 32 years that saw up to a
million political opponents killed.
(AP, 1/27/08)
2008 Feb 2, An Indonesian health
ministry official said floods in Jakarta have killed three people and
displaced nearly 100,000 after two days of torrential rain.
(AP, 2/2/08)
2008 Feb 7, A new security pact
between Australia and Indonesia came into force at a ceremony in Perth
attended by the foreign ministers of the at-times testy neighbors.
(AP, 2/7/08)
2008 Feb 7, Libya’s National Oil
Corp and Indonesia signed a deal for the north African state to supply
the world's most populous Muslim nation with crude oil for the next 20
years.
(AFP, 2/7/08)
2008 Feb 9, A stampede at an
Indonesian punk rock concert left 10 people dead and dozens more
injured, most of them teenagers.
(AP, 2/10/08)
2008 Feb 15, A 3-year-old
Indonesian boy died of bird flu, the country's second death from the
illness in one day. The two cases, which were apparently unrelated,
brought Indonesia's bird flu death toll to 105.
(AP, 2/16/08)
2008 Feb 20, A powerful earthquake
struck western Indonesia, killing three people and injuring 25 others.
(AP, 2/20/08)
2008 Feb 28, An Indonesian court
rejected a civil case against the youngest son of ex-dictator Suharto
for alleged corruption and awarded him 550,000 dollars in a countersuit
he filed.
(AP, 2/28/08)
2008 Mar 17, Indonesia and South
Africa agreed to reduce obstacles to trade and business and jointly
explore new avenues for electricity generation.
(AFP, 3/17/08)
2008 Mar 25, Officials said
Indonesia plans to restrict access to pornographic and violent sites on
the Internet after the country's parliament passed a new information
bill.
(Reuters, 3/25/08)
2008 Mar 28, Indonesian police
said they were investigating the deaths over the last 2 weeks of 21
people who drank a concoction labeled an herbal remedy.
(AP, 3/28/08)
2008 Apr 4, Indonesia's Supreme
Court overturned the conviction of a notorious militia leader accused
in attacks that left about 1,000 people dead following East Timor's
1999 independence vote. With Eurico Guterres' upcoming release, all 18
suspects originally indicted will have been acquitted or set free.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 8, Indonesian Internet
companies blocked access to YouTube and MySpace, heeding a government
order aimed at stopping people from watching an anti-Islam film by a
Dutch lawmaker.
(AP, 4/8/08)
2008 Apr 16, Mount Egon volcano on
Flores island in eastern Indonesia spewed ash and smoke 2 1/2 miles
into the sky, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of nearby villagers.
(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 20, In Indonesia several
thousand hardline Muslims protested outside the presidential palace in
Jakarta demanding that Pres. Yudhoyono ban Ahmadiyah, an unorthodox but
moderate Muslim sect founded in India in the 19th century.
(Econ, 4/26/08, p.59)
2008 Apr 21,
In Indonesia Self-proclaimed Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders Abu
Dujana and Zarkasih, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings, were sentenced
to 15 years each at separate trials in the South Jakarta district court.
(AFP, 4/21/08)
2008 Apr 22, In Indonesia
torchbearers ran laps with the Olympic flame in front of an
invitation-only crowd after officials changed the relay route from
Jakarta's streets to a sports stadium amid pressure from China to keep
away demonstrators.
(AP, 4/22/08)
2008 Apr 28, In Indonesia hundreds
of protesters in West Java province chanted "Kill, kill" and set fire
to a mosque belonging to the Muslim Ahmadiyah sect they claim is
heretical. Last week, a team of prosecutors, religious scholars and
government officials said the sect "had deviated from Islamic
principles" and recommended it be outlawed.
(AP, 4/28/08)
2008 May 6, Officials in Indonesia
said at least 13 illegal gold miners were killed in a landslide in
remote Papua province.
(AP, 5/6/08)
2008 May 21, In Indonesia
thousands of students took to the streets across the country to protest
the government's plan to raise fuel prices.
(AP, 5/21/08)
2008 May 22, Indonesians faced
runaway inflation and higher interest rates after the government vowed
to hike subsidized fuel prices by an average 28.7% despite widespread
protests.
(AP, 5/22/08)
2008 May 23, Indonesia's
government raised gasoline pump prices by nearly 30 percent because of
the surging cost of oil and gas on the global market. The move
triggered generally peaceful protests throughout the vast Indonesian
archipelago.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 4, Indonesian police
launched a major crackdown on Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a radical
Islamist group blamed for a weekend attack on a rally for religious
tolerance, arresting 59 including the outfit's firebrand leader.
(AP, 6/4/08)
2008 Jun 9, Indonesia issued a
quasi-ban against a minority Islamic sect in the face of violent
protests by Muslim hardliners. Liberal Indonesians accused the
government of caving in to extremists. Ahmadiyah leaders said they did
not recognize the decree and would appeal.
(AFP, 6/10/08)
2008 Jun 12, In Indonesia a local
health official said at least 21 toddlers have died of malnutrition in
eastern Indonesia in recent months due to a food shortage that
threatens the lives of thousands more children.
(AP, 6/12/08)
2008 Jun 13, The leaders of
Australia and Indonesia pledged to join forces to fight climate change
by saving forests and promoting carbon trading.
(AFP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 20, Maftuh Fauzi 27) a
student at Indonesia’s National University, died in hospital. He had
been among 100 fuel price protesters arrested May 24, but there were
conflicting reports about the cause of death.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 24, In Indonesia about
1,000 Indonesian protesters angered by a student demonstrator's death
after his arrest burned tires and hurled stones at police guarding the
Parliament. Participants in the demonstration in Jakarta also demanded
that the government revoke a 30 percent fuel price increase imposed
last month.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 26, In Indonesia a 1984
Casa-212 plane disappeared during an aerial surveillance mission about
60 miles south of the capital, Jakarta. All 18 aboard were killed.
(AP, 6/27/08)(AP, 6/28/08)
2008 Jul 3, In Indonesia a police
source said that a group of 10 suspected Muslim militants detained in
raids on Sumatra island by Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit was plotting
to attack Western targets. The raids followed the capture of a
suspected militant after a tip-off by authorities in Singapore.
(Reuters, 7/3/08)
2008 Jul 8, At Developing Eight
summit of Islamic nations, meeting in Kuala Lumpur, the leaders of
Indonesia and Malaysia called for boosting world food production and
finding a permanent solution to skyrocketing oil prices, saying the
twin problems have become "grave threats" to the world economy.
(AP, 7/8/08)
2008 Jul 10, Indonesia executed
Ahmad Suradji (57), a man convicted of killing 42 women and girls in a
series of ritual slayings he believed would give him magical powers.
(AP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 10, In Indonesia Asnawi
Sandri, a 38-year-old father of two, died in the hospital, days after
he came down with symptoms of bird flu. This raised the unofficial toll
in the world's hardest hit nation to 111 in three years.
(AP, 7/17/08)
2008 Jul 12, In Jakarta,
Indonesia, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged cooperation on biofuels during talks
in a bid to take advantage of surging oil prices.
(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 13, Algeria’s government
newspaper El Moudjhaid said a consortium of British-based oil services
company Petrofac and Indonesian engineering company IKPT provisionally
won a contract to build an LNG plant in western Mediterranean port of
Arzew.
(AP, 7/13/08)
2008 Jul 15, Indonesia's president
acknowledged that his country carried out gross human rights abuses
during East Timor's 1999 break for independence, but stopped short of
offering a full apology and said no one would be prosecuted.
(AP, 7/15/08)
2008 Aug 3, In Indonesia a top
health official said a factory worker had died of bird flu west of
Jakarta, bringing the death toll in the country worst hit by the virus
to 112.
(AP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 7, Japan accepted over
200 Indonesian nurses into the country, an unprecedented move as Tokyo
struggles to quell a labor shortage triggered by sinking fertility
rates.
(AP, 8/7/08)
2008 Aug 16, On Indonesia's
Sumatra island at least nine people have died and dozens were injured
when a slow-moving passenger train hit a parked freight locomotive.
(AP, 8/16/08)
2008 Sep 15, In Indonesia at least
23 people were killed in a stampede as they crowded an alley to receive
$4.25 in cash handouts for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(AFP, 9/15/08)(WSJ, 9/16/08, p.A20)
2008 Sep 26, In eastern Indonesia
a packed ferry caught fire and sank between two coastal villages in the
Maluku islands, killing at least eight people.
(AP, 9/27/08)
2008 Oct 21, Indonesia's
parliament ratified the Southeast Asian charter committing ASEAN member
nations to promote democracy and human rights, clearing the way for its
formal adoption before year's end. Anti-terrorism police seized
bomb-making materials and a large cache of weapons and ammunition
during a raid on a house in Jakarta. Anti-terrorism squads arrested
five suspected Islamic radicals believed to have been plotting to blow
up Indonesia's largest fuel depot.
(AP, 10/21/08)(AP, 10/22/08)
2008 Oct 30, Indonesia's
parliament passed a bill banning pornography, ignoring opposition from
lawmakers and rights groups who worry it will be used to justify
attacks on artistic, religious and cultural freedom.
(AP, 10/30/08)
2008 Nov 9, Indonesia boosted
security after three Islamic militants (Imam Samudra, 38, and brothers
Amrozi Nurhasyim, 47, and Ali Ghufron, 48) were executed for the 2002
Bali bombings that killed 202 people. Emotional supporters thronged
ambulances carrying their caskets through narrow streets, some calling
for revenge.
(AP, 11/9/08)
2008 Nov 12, Indonesian health
officials said test results from two laboratories in the capital came
back positive confirming that a girl (15) died of bird flu last week.
(AP, 11/12/08)
2008 Nov 14, In Indonesia 5 people
were killed and 14 were feared dead after a landslide triggered by
heavy rain crushed scores of houses in West Java.
(AFP, 11/14/08)
2008 Nov 17, In eastern Indonesia
a 7.5 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sulawesi killed at least 6
people, damaged hundreds of homes and briefly triggered a region-wide
tsunami warning.
(AP, 11/17/08)(SFC, 11/17/08, p.A3)(AP, 11/18/08)
2008 Nov 24, In Indonesia health
workers and rights activists sharply criticized a plan by lawmakers in
remote Papua province, who have thrown their support behind a
controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted
with microchips, part of extreme efforts to monitor the disease.
(AP, 11/24/08)
2008 Dec 11, Indonesia and
Malaysia agreed to heighten intelligence cooperation to anticipate
rising cross-border crime due to the impact of the global economic
crisis.
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 16, An Indonesian
province beleaguered by a spiraling HIV infection rate scrapped plans
to implant microchips in those with full-blown AIDS, following strong
opposition from government officials, health workers and rights
activists.
(AP, 12/16/08)
2008 In Indonesia Prabowo Subianto
(b.1951), a former son-in-law of Suharto, formed the Great Indonesia
Movement Party (Gerindara) with backing from his billionaire brother
Hashim Dojohadikusumo. Subianto had led a special forces unit under
Suharto (1995-1998) that over the years was accused of many atrocities.
(Econ, 3/14/09,
p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabowo)
2008 Indonesia achieved rice
self-sufficiency for the first time in 24 years.
(Econ, 1/10/09, p.38)
2009 Jan 4, In eastern Indonesia a
series of powerful earthquakes toppled or badly damaged more than 100
buildings and left one person dead and dozens injured.
(AP, 1/4/09)(AP, 1/5/09)
2009 Jan 11, In Indonesia scores
of people were feared dead after a ferry carrying more than 260
passengers and crew sank in stormy seas off Sulawesi island.
(AP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 21, Indonesia’s Health
Ministry said 2 people have died of bird flu, apparently after contact
with sick chickens, raising the country's death toll to 115.
(AP, 1/21/09)
2009 Jan 27, Indonesian police
opened fire on hundreds of people in Papua province during a protest
against alleged police violence. 4 people were injured.
(AP, 1/27/09)
2009 Jan 30, Indonesia said it
will repatriate 174 "economic migrants" who fled Myanmar claiming
persecution, as new accounts emerged of their harrowing sea journey and
alleged abuse by the Thai navy. The 174 Rohingya and 19 Bangladeshis
being kept at an Indonesian naval base landed in Weh Island off
northern Sumatra on January 7.
(AFP, 1/30/09)
2009 Feb 2, Indonesia's navy
picked up 198 starving, dehydrated boat people from Myanmar who said
they drifted for three weeks after authorities in Thailand forced them
to sea in a boat without an engine. Indonesian fishermen had discovered
the 40-foot (12-meter) boat off Aceh's coast in northern Sumatra and
towed it to shore.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009 Feb 3, Indonesia’s central
bank cut its key interest rate a half point to 8.25%.
(WSJ, 2/4/09, p.A10)
2009 Feb 12, In Indonesia at least
42 people were injured and hundreds of homes and buildings damaged when
a major earthquake struck off Sulawesi island near the Philippines.
(AP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 19, About 12 pirates
armed with guns attacked the tug and barge in the Malacca Strait and
kidnapped two crew members as the vessel was en route to Singapore.
(AP, 2/20/09)
2009 Feb 21, In western Indonesia
a Sumatran tiger mauled two illegal loggers to death, bringing to 5 the
number of people killed by the critically endangered cats in less than
a month.
(AP, 2/22/09)
2009 Mar 3, An official said 4
Indonesians have died of bird flu over the last 2 months, bringing the
death toll in the country over the past several years to 119.
(AP, 3/3/09)
2009 Mar 5, Indonesia and South
Korea agreed to cooperate more closely on a range of issues including
defense, the global financial crisis and alternative sources of energy.
(AP, 3/6/09)
2009 Mar 10, Two cargo ships
collided off the coast of a central Japanese island, leaving 16 South
Korean and Indonesian crew members missing.
(AP, 3/10/09)
2009 Mar 11, Forbes magazine
released its list of 793 of the world’s richest people. Joaquin "El
Chapo" Guzman, a suspected drug lord and Mexico's most-wanted fugitive,
made the list of billionaires with a fortune described as "self made."
He was No. 701 on the list. The list included 5 Indonesians.
(AP, 3/11/09)(SSFC, 3/15/09, p.A4)
2009 Mar 12, The leaders of two of
Indonesia's biggest political parties signed an agreement on shared
goals amid speculation they could join forces against President
Yudhoyono.
(AFP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 14, In Indonesia Nasrudin
Zulkarnaen, the head of a state-owned pharmaceutical company, was shot
dead. On May 4 Jakarta police arrested Antasari Azhar, chairman of
Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission, as the alleged
mastermind of the drive-by murder.
(Econ, 5/9/09, p.46)
2009 Mar 23, In eastern Indonesia
2 Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death. An 8-year-old boy was
killed in 2007, the first recorded deadly attack on a human by one of
the endangered lizards in three decades.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 24, Indonesia's
controversial Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said she wants to
end vaccinating children against meningitis, mumps and some other
diseases because she fears foreign drug companies are using the country
as a testing ground.
(AP, 3/25/09)
2009 Mar 24, In Indonesia rangers
found the bodies of 2 rare Sumatran elephants with gunshots to the head
hours after they were used for a patrol against illegal loggers and
several hundred yards from their camp.
(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Mar 27, In Indonesia
torrential rain caused a dam to burst outside Jakarta, sending a wall
of muddy water crashing into a densely packed neighborhood and killing
at least 96 people with some 130 still missing. The earthen dam, built
in 1933 when Indonesia was still under Dutch rule, surrounded a
man-made lake in Cirendeu on the southwestern edge of Jakarta.
(AP, 3/27/09)(AP, 3/29/09)
2009 Apr 6, An Indonesian military
plane carrying 24 people crashed into an airport hangar during heavy
rains and burst into flames, killing everyone on board.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 9, Indonesians flooded
polling stations across the sprawling island nation, capping a decade
of democracy in a parliamentary election that boosted the reform-minded
president's chances of re-election. Pres. Yudhoyono’s party won 20.8%
of the popular vote. Nine parties appeared to have passed the 2.5%
threshold to win seats in the 560-member parliament.
(AP, 4/9/09)(SFC, 4/10/09, p.A2)(Econ, 4/18/09,
p.44)(AP, 5/10/09)
2009 Apr 16, Indonesia's top court
cleared Time Magazine of charges it had defamed former dictator Suharto
in a cover story that alleged his family amassed billions of dollars
during his decades-long rule.
(AP, 4/16/09)
2009 Apr 16, Five people were
killed and dozens wounded when a blast tore apart a boat carrying more
than 40 Afghan refugees off Australia's northwest coast. The Australian
Broadcasting Corporation later said it was told the refugees had doused
the boat in petrol to try to force the navy to land them in Australia
and not turn them back to Indonesia, but that the blast was an
accident. On Oct 28 two Indonesian fishermen were jailed for five years
for smuggling the boat full of Afghan refugees.
(AFP, 4/20/09)(AFP, 10/28/09)
2009 Apr 19, The annual Goldman
Environmental Prize was awarded to 7 activists from 6 nations. Rizwana
Hasan (40) of Bangladesh was awarded for exposing environmental damage
and exploitative practices used in the country’s ship dismantling
industry; Marc Ona Essangui (45) of Gabon, the founder of Brainforest,
was awarded for exposing secret agreements for a Chinese mine project
that threatened Gabon’s rain forests; Yuyun Ismawati of Indonesia was
awarded for designing environmentally safe waste management systems for
poor Indonesia n communities; Olga Speranskaya (46) of Eco-Accord in
Russia was awarded for her efforts to control and store chemicals in
Russia and former Soviet republics; Wanze Eduards (52) and Hugo Jabini
(44) of Suriname, leaders of the maroon community, were awarded for
their efforts that led to a landmark ruling ending tribal exploitation
by the government. Maria Gunnoe (40) of West Virginia was awarded for
her fight against the practice of removing of the tops of mountains and
filing valleys below with tailings.
(SSFC, 4/19/09, p.A18)
2009 Apr 28, An Indonesian court
sentenced a Singaporean man to 18 years in prison on terrorism charges.
Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin (36), who claimed to have met Osama bin
Laden on many occasions, was convicted of plotting to kill a teacher
and planning a deadly attack on a bar frequented by Western tourists.
(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 May 1, Indonesia's top
graft-buster, Antasari Azhar (56), was named a suspect and a mastermind
in a murder case, dealing a blow to the agency that's played a key part
in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's fight against corruption. He
was one of several suspects in the March 14 murder of Nasrudin
Zulkarnaen, a businessman who, according to local media reports, had
been a witness in a corruption case investigated by the agency.
(Reuters, 5/1/09)
2009 May 4, Indonesia's top
graft-buster, Antasari Azhar (56), was arrested as a suspect and a
mastermind in the March 14 murder of businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen.
(AP, 5/5/09)
2009 May 7, In northwestern
Indonesia 2 rare Sumatran elephants, believed to have been poisoned
with cyanide-laced pineapples, were found dead with their tusks
removed. Just 3,000 Sumatran elephants are believed to still be living
in their natural surroundings.
(AP, 5/8/09)
2009 May 15, In Indonesia 6
Asia-Pacific countries, meeting at the World Oceans Conference, agreed
on a management plan to protect one of the world's largest networks of
coral reefs, promising to reduce pollution, eliminate overfishing and
improve the livelihoods of impoverished coastal communities. The Coral
Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security covered
an area defined as the Coral Triangle, which spans Indonesia, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East
Timor.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2009 May 19, Environmental groups
in Indonesia said Singapore-based Asia Pulp & Paper, one of
the world's largest paper companies, plans to clear a large swath of
unprotected forest in Indonesia being used as a sanctuary for
critically endangered orangutans.
(AP, 5/19/09)
2009 May 20, An Indonesian C-130
Hercules military transport plane, carrying troops and their families,
crashed into a row of houses in East Java and burst into flames,
killing 99 people.
(AP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 28, A ship packed with
Afghan migrants sank off Indonesia's western coast, killing at least 9
people and leaving 11 others missing.
(AP, 5/28/09)(AP, 5/29/09)
2009 May 29, Indonesian government
marine geologist Yusuf Surachman said that a massive underwater
mountain discovered off the island of Sumatra could be a volcano with
potentially catastrophic power. It was discovered earlier this month
about 330 kilometers (205 miles) west of Bengkulu city during research
to map the seabed's seismic faultlines.
(AFP, 5/30/09)
2009 Jun 7, In Indonesia 19
leading agricultural exporting nations, including Australia, Brazil and
South Africa, kicked off talks in Bali aimed at pushing forward
troubled world trade negotiations. The Cairns Group of nations
accounted for more than 25% of the world's agricultural exports was
also expected to take aim at US and European dairy export subsidies.
(Reuters, 6/7/09)
2009 Jun 12, In Indonesia a male
Sumatran elephant was found dead in a pulp plantation in Riau province,
Sumatra with its tusks removed. Six other endangered Sumatran elephants
had been killed in Riau in the last two months and two were found with
missing tusks.
(AP, 6/15/09)
2009 Jun 16, In Indonesia 16
miners were rescued after a massive explosion of methane gas collapsed
a coal mine owned by local residents in West Sumatra province. 5 of the
rescued miners died in hospital and the death toll rose to 31 the next
day after rescuers unearthed more bodies. One more miner was believed
to be buried.
(AFP, 6/16/09)(AP, 6/17/09)
2009 Jun 30, Indonesia committed
to the conservation of its dwindling tropical forests in a multimillion
dollar debt-swap deal signed with the American government. Jakarta's
payments to Washington will be reduced by $30 million over the next
eight years under the US Tropical Forest Conservation Act.
(AP, 6/30/09)
2009 Jul 8, Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won a second term. Exit polls gave him a
massive lead in only the second presidential vote since the fall of
Suharto. Yudhoyono won 61% of the vote. Jusuf Kalla, his former
vice-president, won 12%. Megawati Sukarnoputri won 27%.
(AP, 7/8/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.4)
2009 Jul 12, In Indonesia gunmen
killed a security guard working for US mining conglomerate Freeport,
then ambushed police responding to the attack blamed on separatist
rebels in one of Indonesia's most underdeveloped and remote regions.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Indonesia a
policeman's body was found at the bottom of a ravine near the
Indonesian operations of US mining conglomerate Freeport, raising the
death toll from a series of weekend ambushes in restive Papua province
to three.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Indonesia suicide
attacks at the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta killed 9
people and wounded 53, dealing a blow to Indonesia's image as an
increasingly stable nation. Suspicion quickly fell on Jemaah Islamiyah
and anti-terror desk chief, Ansyaad Mbai, said evidence pointed to
Malaysian-born extremist Noordin Mohammed Top.
(AP, 7/17/09)(AFP, 7/18/09)(AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 2, In eastern Indonesia a
plane carrying 16 people disappeared over a jungle-clad and mountainous
region of Papua. All aboard were killed.
(AP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 7, Indonesia's
anti-terrorism unit engaged in a shootout in Central Java during a raid
targeting suspected militants behind deadly bomb attacks in Jakarta
last month.
(Reuters, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 8, Indonesian police
reportedly killed Noordin Mohammad Top, the self-proclaimed Southeast
Asian commander of al-Qaida, in a 16-hour siege of a village hide-out
in Central Java. Authorities said they could not confirm that a
recovered body was that of the militant leader without DNA tests. DNA
tests failed to confirm Top’s death. Police raided a house on the
outskirts of Jakarta where they killed two suspected militants and
seized bombs and a car rigged to carry them. The house was just 3 miles
(5 kilometers) from the president's residence.
(AP, 8/8/09)(AP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Indonesia UNAIDS
regional director Prasada Rao cited a new report saying more than 1.5
million women living with HIV in Asia were infected by their partners
and 50 million more are at risk of infection. Rao spoke on the
sidelines of the ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the
Pacific (ICAAP), which is being held on the Indonesian resort island of
Bali.
(AFP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Indonesia a dump
truck, packed with more than 60 plantation workers and their families,
overturned and killing at least 25 with dozens injured. At least three
children were among the dead near Sampit town in Central Kalimantan.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Indonesia a group
of thieves killed an endangered Sumatran tiger in a zoo in Jambi
province on Sumatra island and stole most of its body. Police suspected
the theft was motivated by the animal's valuable fur and bones. The
number of Sumatran tigers has dwindled to about 250 from about 1,000 in
the 1970s, according to the Washington DC-based World Wildlife Fund.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 26, A small Indonesian
ferry sank off the resort island of Bali, killing nine people while
three others are still missing.
(Reuters, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Indonesia the
overcrowded ferry Sari Mulia capsized in the Negara River in the South
Kalimantan province, leaving at least 19 people dead and 15 others
missing.
(AP, 8/29/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Sep 2, A powerful 7.0
earthquake rattled southern Indonesia, killing at least 64 people
crushed by falling rock or collapsed buildings and sending thousands
fleeing outdoors for safety in the middle of the work day. More than
10,000 buildings were severely damaged.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 7, A small Indonesian
military plane crashed on Borneo with nine passengers and crew aboard,
killing four.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 9, Australia announced
that it has launched a war crimes investigation into the 1975 killing
of five Australian-based journalists during an attack by Indonesian
forces in East Timor.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 14, In Indonesia expanded
Islamic law was passed by the regional parliament in Aceh province. One
key article regarding adultery threatened 100 cane lashes for the
unmarried and stoning to death for those who are married.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Sep 17, Armed Indonesian
police stormed an Islamic militant hideout in a raid that killed
fugitive terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top (41) and 3 other
militants in central Java.
(AFP, 9/17/09)
2009 Sep 19, In Indonesia a strong
earthquake shook the popular resort island of Bali, injuring at least
seven people and sending panicked tourists and residents fleeing out of
homes and hotels.
(AP, 9/19/09)
2009 Sep 21, In Indonesia Akbar
Risuddin came into the world at a national record 19.2 pounds (8.7
kilograms). He was born to a diabetic mother in a 40-minute cesarean
delivery that was complicated because of his unusual weight and size.
Guinness World Records cites the heaviest baby as being born in the US
in 1879, weighing 23.75 pounds (10.4 kilograms). However, it died 11
hours after birth. The book also cites 22.5-pound (10.2-kilogram)
babies born in Italy in 1955 and in South Africa in 1982.
(AP, 9/25/09)
2009 Sep 30, A 7.6 underwater
earthquake rocked western Indonesia, briefly triggering a tsunami alert
for countries along the Indian Ocean and sending panicked residents out
of their houses. The quake toppled buildings, cut power and triggered a
landslide on Sumatra island. The UN later said 1,100 had been
killed in and around Padang, a port city of 900,000 that sits atop one
of the world's most active seismic fault lines along the Pacific "Ring
of Fire." At least three villages were obliterated by
earthquake-triggered landslides that buried as many as 644 people
including a wedding party under mountains of mud and debris.
(AFP, 9/30/09)(AP, 10/2/09)(Reuters, 10/2/09)(AP,
10/3/09)
2009 Sep, Indonesia’s Parliament,
regarded as the most corrupt of Indonesia’s institutions, passed a law
weakening its Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.44)
2009 Oct 1, In Indonesia rescue
workers used excavators to pull out victims from the heavy rubble of
buildings felled by the previous day’s 7.6 earthquake. The death toll
was expected to rise. The region was jolted by another powerful
earthquake, causing damage but no reported fatalities.
(AP, 10/1/09)(AP, 10/2/09)
2009 Oct 8, In Indonesia
controversial tycoon Aburizal Bakrie was elected to lead the Golkar
party after the Suharto-era ruling party suffered its biggest electoral
defeat.
(AFP, 10/8/09)
2009 Oct 9, Indonesian police
raided a house near the capital, shooting dead suspected
al-Qaida-linked militants Syaiffudin Djaelani and his brother, Mohamad
Syahrir, wanted in the suicide bombings of luxury hotels in Jakarta.
Djaelani was believed to have recruited two young bombers for the July
17 strikes on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton.
(AP, 10/9/09)(Reuters, 10/12/09)
2009 Oct 21, Indonesia’s customs
chief said a group of 10 alleged Iranian drug smugglers, including
eight veiled women, were caught with $12.5 million worth of
methamphetamines at the main airport. The group had arrived on flights
from Malaysia, Syria and Qatar on Oct 19-20.
(AP, 10/21/09)
2009 Oct 30, Indonesian officials
and fishermen said thousands of dead fish and clumps of oil have been
found drifting near the coastline more than two months after an
Australian underwater well began leaking in the Timor Sea on Aug 21.
(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Nov 9, In central Indonesia
6.7 undersea earthquake killed one person, injured dozens and damaged
hundreds of houses on remote Sumbawa Island. Local officials said
torrential rains have triggered a series of landslides on Sulawesi
island, killing at least 14 residents and burying many more.
(AP, 11/9/09)
2009 Nov 21, Indonesian
authorities picked up Abdul Basir Latip, a co-founder of the Al
Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf extremist group, at Jakarta airport for using a
false passport.
(AFP, 12/16/09)
2009 Nov 22, Nearly 250 people
were pulled from the sea after the Dumai Express went down in heavy
rain and huge swells off Karimun island in the north of the Indonesian
archipelago. At least 29 people were killed and 20 were missing.
(AFP, 11/22/09)(AP, 11/23/09)
2009 Nov 26, In Indonesia police
broke up a protest by the environmental group Greenpeace against
deforestation on the island of Sumatra, arresting 12 foreign and six
Indonesian demonstrators.
(AP, 11/26/09)
2009 Dec 1, Indonesia banned the
film “Balibo,” an Australian-made film on the alleged murder of six
Australian-based journalists by Indonesian troops during the 1975
invasion of East Timor.
(AFP, 12/2/09)
2009 Dec 5, In Indonesia an
ecumenical group launched more than 10,000 twinkling paper lanterns
into the night sky above Carnaval Beach in Jakarta, setting a world
record. Freedom Faithnet Global said it organized the lantern release
as a symbol of hope and prayer as part of annual celebrations. This
year's celebrations have an environmental focus.
(AP, 12/7/09)
2009 Dec 15, Australian scientists
reported the discovery of an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut
shells for shelter, unusually sophisticated behavior that the
researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an
invertebrate animal.
(AP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 16, Indonesian police
killed Kelly Kwalik (60), one of the most active Papuan rebel
commanders, sparking angry protests in a region scarred by unrest and
rights abuses. Police said they shot Kwalik after he threatened to open
fire on them during a raid on a house in Timika. Kwalik commanded the
Free Papua Movement (OPM) in southern Mimika district.
(AFP, 12/16/09)
2009 Dec 19, Hundreds of
supporters of a slain Papuan rebel leader Kelly Kwalik pelted
Indonesian police with stones as tensions flared ahead of the
commander's funeral.
(AFP, 12/19/09)
2009 Andrew Beatty,
anthropologist, authored “A Shadow Falls: In the Heart of Java,” a look
at the cultural conflict between Javanism, a pre-Islamic mystical
tradition, and orthodox Islam.
(Econ, 4/4/09, p.87)
2009 Marcus Mietzner authored
Military Politics, Islam and the State of Indonesia: From Turbulent
Transition to Democratic Consolidation.”
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.37)
2009 Indonesia’s population at
this time numbered about 240 million people.
(Econ, 4/4/09, p.18)
2009 The world Muslim population
was estimated at 1.57 billion, or about 23% of the global population of
6.8 billion, including 203 million in Indonesia, 174 million in
Pakistan and 160 million in India.
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.62)
2020 Bill Hayden former
governor-general of Australia proclaimed that Indonesia will be one of
the great powers by this time.
(SFC, 4/26/96, p.A-12)
