Disasters aplenty but some light ahead<\/p>\n
The past one year saw various disasters hit the country, starting
\nwith the horrific earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Aceh and
\nNias island in North Sumatra and including the latest terrorist
\nattacks on Bali. On a brighter note, significant progress was
\nrecorded this year in the fight against corruption with several
\nmajor suspects already convicted and sent to jail. However, the
\nauthorities' failure to identify the masterminds behind the
\nmurder of human rights advocate Munir added to the country's poor
\nhuman rights record.<\/p>\n
Photo: A: Bali<\/p>\n
Reuters\/Adrees Latief<\/p>\n
BLAST SCENE: A police officer looks at one of two bomb blast
\nsites marked with red flags at Bali's Jimbaran Beach. Suicide
\nbombers were behind three attacks on the resort island on Oct. 1
\nthat killed 20 innocent people, police said.<\/p>\n
Photo B: Ball<\/p>\n
JP\/ID Nugroho<\/p>\n
LURING VOTERS: A local election committee member tries to kick a
\nball into the mini goal at a polling station in Surabaya, East
\nJava, in a bid to entice voters to cast their ballots. The
\ncommittee offered cassava snacks for every voter who managed to
\nscore a goal. The first ever direct local elections were held
\nacross Indonesia starting in June in Kutai Kertanegara regency.
\nThe polls generally passed off peacefully, with only minor
\ndisputes sparked by contested results.<\/p>\n
PHOTO C: Aceh<\/p>\n
JP\/Apriadi Gunawan<\/p>\n
ACEH DESTRUCTION: Meulaboh, the capital of West Aceh regency, was
\nleft flattened by the Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake and subsequent
\ntsunami that destroyed almost all of its houses, infrastructure
\nand public facilities. Reconstruction work has been proceeding at
\na slow place in Meulaboh and other areas across tsunami-ravaged
\nAceh, despite the government already receiving huge amounts of
\nmoney from donors and other countries.<\/p>\n
PHOTO D: KPU<\/p>\n
JP\/Mulkan Salmona<\/p>\n
SMILING NO MORE: General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman
\nNazaruddin Syamsuddin is escorted by policemen into a courtroom
\nin Jakarta. The Anticorruption Court jailed him for seven years
\nand ordered him to repay Rp 5 billion (US$500,000) in public
\nfunds that he illegally received when heading the commission,
\nwhich organized last year's general elections.<\/p>\n
PHOTO E: Munir<\/p>\n
JP\/Mulkan Salmona<\/p>\n
RIGHTS TRAGEDY: Activists hold up posters bearing images of noted
\nhuman rights campaigner Munir, who was murdered in September
\n2004, during a protest to demand his killers be brought to
\njustice. Earlier this month, the Central Jakarta District Court
\nsentenced pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto to 14 years in jail
\nfor his role in the murder case. However, the trial failed to
\nidentify the masterminds.<\/p>\n
PHOTO F: Aceh<\/p>\n
JP\/R. Berto Wedhatama<\/p>\n
NO MORE GUNS: International peace monitors receive the last of
\nthe required firearms from former insurgents in Banda Aceh, Aceh. The
\nevent on Dec. 21 marked the end of disarmament by the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) as required under the peace deal signed in August
\nin Helsinki, Finland.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/disasters-aplenty-but-some-light-ahead-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}