Wardah goes to Attorney General's Office

Wardah goes to Attorney General's Office

JAKARTA (JP): Braving intimidation, Wardah Hafidz of the Urban
Poor Consortium (UPC) reported findings of alleged abuse by the
People's Sovereignty Party (PDR) and Golkar of social safety net
funds worth US$800 million to the Election Supervisory Committee
on Monday.

Wardah earlier tried to report the UPC findigs to the Attorney
General's Office but was unable to meet with officials there.

At almost the same time as Wardah reported the findings, a
news conference was given by Minister of Cooperatives and Small
Enterprises Adi Sasono, who reportedly helped found the PDR,
saying UPC's allegation was politically motivated.

Officials at the Attorney General's Office on Jl.
Sisingamangaraja, South Jakarta, initially closed their doors on
Wardah and her lawyers. Security personnel were seen pushing the
lawyers' vehicle, with Wardah inside, out of the grounds.

After a heated argument, officials finally allowed Wardah to
enter the building.

Once inside, she canceled her plan to submit her
organization's report on the alleged misuse of funds, after
discovering that the newly appointed Deputy Attorney General for
Special Crimes Ramelan and one of the directors Bismar Mannu were
not there to meet her.

"It is very disappointing because they said earlier they would
be available," Wardah said. "This demonstrates the Attorney
General's Office is not responsive or ready to receive data from
the public."

Wardah was accompanied by lawyers from the Indonesian Legal
Aid and Human Rights Association, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute
and the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy.

She went on to visit the Election Supervisory Committee in the
Aspac Building on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, submitting to
committee member Dadang Hawari her organization's findings on the
alleged misuse.

The UPC has accused PDR and Golkar of diverting US$800 million
earmarked for a poverty alleviation program for their election
campaigns and of distributing the money under the parties' names.

Dadang said after a two-and-half hour meeting that the
committee had launched an investigation into the matter.

"The committee at the provincial and regency levels are still
trying to gather all the evidence," Dadang said, adding that both
parties had denied the allegation.

Wardah said she was pessimistic the committee would be able to
take any significant measures against the two parties.

She told a news conference last week that Golkar and the PDR
had used some of the World Bank-funded social safety net funds to
help promote their parties.

The Social Safety Net program is a World Bank fund aimed at
helping millions of people forced to subsist below the poverty
line by the country's economic crisis of the past two years.

Adi's office is in charge of numerous assistance schemes to
help farmers and small traders through cooperatives. Adi has
denied any formal links with the PDR, despite a huge party
newspaper advertisement carrying his picture and identifying him
as the party's prospective president.

In a related development, in Yogyakarta, the local Election
Supervisory Committee alleged the PDR on May 27 held a party
meeting at the compound of the local office of the Ministry of
Cooperatives.

Intimidation

During Wardah's visit at the Attorney General's Office, some
30 women's rights activists staged a peaceful protest outside the
compound over the alleged funds abuse.

The activists also protested alleged threats leveled against
the UPC office and activists. "Stop terrorizing witnesses who try
to seek justice and uncover the truth," read one of the placards.

Earlier, Wardah said in a statement the UPC office in East
Jakarta had received phone threats before and after the Wednesday
press conference.

She also said a group of unidentified people pelted a glass
window in the front of the office with stones on Friday.

Secretary-General of the Independent Election Monitoring
Committee (KIPP) Mulyana W. Kusumah and PBHI executive director
Hendardi also strongly condemned the alleged threats on Monday.

"It must be stressed that the central theme of our client's
effort is the government's accountability to the public,"
Hendardi said in a statement. (23/43/edt/byg/gis)