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Malay Mail
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Indonesia expands military role into medicine production, sparking authoritarianism fears
JAKARTA, July 24 — Indonesia's military will begin manufacturing medicines for public distribution under a new agreement, officials said yesterday, in the latest expansion of the armed forces' role in civilian affairs since President Prabowo Subianto took office. The president, a former defence minister and special forces commander, has expanded the powerful military's role in civic affairs since taking office last year — including running much of his flagship project to serve free school meals. In March, parliament, dominated by Prabowo's coalition, also passed a revision to military law that allows more civilian posts to be occupied by soldiers, sparking protests by student and activist groups. The moves have dismantled some of the safeguards put in place after authoritarian leader General Suharto was overthrown in 1998 and raised fears of a return to an era when the armed forces were allowed to crush dissent and dominate public life. Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin late yesterday signed an agreement with the food and drug agency for laboratories operated by the army, navy, and air force, which previously supplied medicines for soldiers, to begin manufacturing drugs for public use. 'We are thinking of ways to lower the price even more so we could provide free medicines,' Sjafrie told reporters. Mass production will begin in October and the medicines will be distributed to villages across Indonesia at 50 per cent below the retail price, Sjafrie said. Military involvement is expected to curb the flow of illegal medicines and fight the 'mafia' in the medical industry, said the drug agency's head Taruna Ikrar. But rights groups have said that the agreement was unlawful as it brought serving military officials into civilian business positions — prohibited under military law. 'This is a symptom of how the government has shifted into authoritarianism,' said Usman Hamid from Amnesty International Indonesia. The military and Prabowo's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The medicines will be distributed by 80,000 state-backed cooperatives launched by Prabowo on Monday, Sjafrie said. Prabowo's cooperatives were set up to boost economic activity and cut out middlemen by providing services directly to the general public including giving loans and selling medicines and staple foods. The defence minister has also signed another agreement with the health ministry to build hospitals staffed by military doctors and nurses in conflict areas, including Papua province, where a low-level insurgency has battled for independence for decades. — Reuters
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Indonesian military's new pharma role sparks fears of expanded powers
By Ananda Teresia JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia's military will begin manufacturing medicines for public distribution under a new agreement, officials said on Tuesday, in the latest expansion of the armed forces' role in civilian affairs since President Prabowo Subianto took office. The president, a former defence minister and special forces commander, has expanded the powerful military's role in civic affairs since taking office last year - including running much of his flagship project to serve free school meals. In March, parliament, dominated by Prabowo's coalition, also passed a revision to military law that allows more civilian posts to be occupied by soldiers, sparking protests by student and activist groups. The moves have dismantled some of the safeguards put in place after authoritarian leader General Suharto was overthrown in 1998 and raised fears of a return to an era when the armed forces were allowed to crush dissent and dominate public life. Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin late on Tuesday signed an agreement with the food and drug agency for laboratories operated by the army, navy, and air force, which previously supplied medicines for soldiers, to begin manufacturing drugs for public use. "We are thinking of ways to lower the price even more so we could provide free medicines," Sjafrie told reporters. Mass production will begin in October and the medicines will be distributed to villages across Indonesia at 50% below the retail price, Sjafrie said. Military involvement is expected to curb the flow of illegal medicines and fight the "mafia" in the medical industry, said the drug agency's head Taruna Ikrar. But rights groups have said that the agreement was unlawful as it brought serving military officials into civilian business positions -- prohibited under military law. "This is a symptom of how the government has shifted into authoritarianism," said Usman Hamid from Amnesty International Indonesia. The military and Prabowo's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The medicines will be distributed by 80,000 state-backed cooperatives launched by Prabowo on Monday, Sjafrie said. Prabowo's cooperatives were set up to boost economic activity and cut out middlemen by providing services directly to the general public including giving loans and selling medicines and staple foods. The defence minister has also signed another agreement with the health ministry to build hospitals staffed by military doctors and nurses in conflict areas, including Papua province, where a low-level insurgency has battled for independence for decades. Solve the daily Crossword
Reuters
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Indonesian military's new pharma role sparks fears of expanded powers
JAKARTA, July 23 (Reuters) - Indonesia's military will begin manufacturing medicines for public distribution under a new agreement, officials said on Tuesday, in the latest expansion of the armed forces' role in civilian affairs since President Prabowo Subianto took office. The president, a former defence minister and special forces commander, has expanded the powerful military's role in civic affairs since taking office last year - including running much of his flagship project to serve free school meals. In March, parliament, dominated by Prabowo's coalition, also passed a revision to military law that allows more civilian posts to be occupied by soldiers, sparking protests by student and activist groups. The moves have dismantled some of the safeguards put in place after authoritarian leader General Suharto was overthrown in 1998 and raised fears of a return to an era when the armed forces were allowed to crush dissent and dominate public life. Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin late on Tuesday signed an agreement with the food and drug agency for laboratories operated by the army, navy, and air force, which previously supplied medicines for soldiers, to begin manufacturing drugs for public use. "We are thinking of ways to lower the price even more so we could provide free medicines," Sjafrie told reporters. Mass production will begin in October and the medicines will be distributed to villages across Indonesia at 50% below the retail price, Sjafrie said. Military involvement is expected to curb the flow of illegal medicines and fight the "mafia" in the medical industry, said the drug agency's head Taruna Ikrar. But rights groups have said that the agreement was unlawful as it brought serving military officials into civilian business positions -- prohibited under military law. "This is a symptom of how the government has shifted into authoritarianism," said Usman Hamid from Amnesty International Indonesia. The military and Prabowo's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The medicines will be distributed by 80,000 state-backed cooperatives launched by Prabowo on Monday, Sjafrie said. Prabowo's cooperatives were set up to boost economic activity and cut out middlemen by providing services directly to the general public including giving loans and selling medicines and staple foods. The defence minister has also signed another agreement with the health ministry to build hospitals staffed by military doctors and nurses in conflict areas, including Papua province, where a low-level insurgency has battled for independence for decades.
The Diplomat
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Diplomat
Finding Truth Where Justice Is Rare
Ian Timberlake with two Indonesian paramilitary police members assigned to the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur at the Abu Shouk displaced persons' camp in Darfur, Sudan, 2013. Ian Timberlake cut his teeth as a foreign correspondent in Timor-Leste where he initially worked as a stringer for Agence France-Presse (AFP). In the late 1990s, he witnessed the end of the Suharto regime in Indonesia and the atrocities that were inflicted in the former Portuguese colony amid the fight for independence. Over the next three decades he spanned the globe, working with AFP from bases in Jakarta, Singapore, Hanoi, and Hong Kong and then further out in Khartoum, Riyadh, Washington, and finally Nicosia, from where he has just retired. He is now back in Bangkok and takes an interest in white collar crime and money laundering. He does his best to keep up with the latest technological advances deployed by criminal syndicates and international law enforcement agencies alike. Timberlake, a dual Canadian-Australian citizen, spoke with The Diplomat's Luke Hunt about a career that began in 1986 on Ontario newspapers where he specialized in his great passion, crime reporting, and shared an award for investigative reporting. That career included stints working on the decks of an aircraft carrier during the invasion of Iraq and a fact-checking desk while taking on assignments in conflicts zones like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Throughout it all, he says, justice is rare but journalists must speak truth to power and continue to hold world leaders accountable for their actions, despite the relentless assaults and issues confronting the press.
Daily Express
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Express
Rewriting the past: Indonesia's new history books spook scholars
Published on: Monday, July 14, 2025 Published on: Mon, Jul 14, 2025 By: AFP Text Size: Officials claim the new book aims to bolster Indonesian identity but warn omissions could undermine its credibility. (EPA Images pic) JAKARTA: The Indonesian government's plans to issue new history books have sparked fears that mention of deadly riots in 1998 targeting mostly ethnic Chinese in the country will be scrubbed from the text. The 10-volume account was ordered by the administration of president Prabowo Subianto, an ex-general accused of abducting activists in the unrest that preceded dictator Suharto's fall, claims he denies. Scholars fear his government could use the exercise to rewrite history and cover up past abuses. Draft volume summaries and a chapter outline seen by AFP do not include any specific section on the 1998 violence. A summary of Suharto's rule in the volume dedicated to him only mentions how 'student demonstrations… became a factor' in his resignation. 'The writing was flawed since the beginning,' said Andi Achdian, historian at Jakarta's National University, who has seen the outline. 'It has a very strong tendency to whitewash history.' Suharto ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for more than three decades after grabbing power in the wake of a 1965-6 massacre. The culture minister overseeing the government's history project, Fadli Zon, told lawmakers last week the account 'does not discuss May '98… because it's small'. Neither does it promise to include most of the 'gross human rights violations' acknowledged by former president Joko Widodo in 2023. Jajat Burhanudin, a project editor, contradicted Fadli and dismissed concerns, telling AFP the new volumes would include 1998 events, with the draft outline just a 'trigger for discussion'. Officials say the new historical account is needed to strengthen Indonesian identity but warned that any omission about its darkest past will raise eyebrows over objectivity. 'What is feared is that… the cases that have been accepted by the previous government to be resolved will be ignored,' said Marzuki Darusman, a former attorney general and head of a civil society coalition opposed to the volumes. 'Updated' history While it remains unclear how the government plans to use the books, Jajat said the volumes could be used as 'one of the main sources' for history books taught in schools. Neither historian Susanto Zuhdi, who is helming the project, nor the presidential palace responded to requests for comment. The revisionist history garnered renewed scrutiny after the culture minister questioned whether mass rape had occurred at the end of Suharto's rule. Ethnic Chinese Indonesians bore the brunt of the bloodshed during the riots, when rape squads – purportedly led by army thugs – roamed Jakarta's streets. 'Was there really mass rape? There was never any proof,' Fadli told local media in an interview last month. 'If there is, show it.' A 1998 fact-finding report, commissioned by Indonesia's first president after Suharto, found at least 52 reported cases of rape in the unrest. 'This project risks erasing uncomfortable truths,' said Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia. Fadli told AFP the nation-building project would go ahead despite criticism. 'The consensus (is) we continue,' he said. 'This is an updated version of our history,' he added, saying there would be a public debate 'this month', without elaborating. 'Historical propaganda' The project involves 113 academics, including historians, but at least one of them has resigned. Archaeologist Harry Truman Simanjuntak told AFP he quit in a dispute over language – the term 'early history' was used instead of 'prehistory' for Indonesia's ancient civilisation. Fadli told lawmakers the phrase was avoided because it was created by Indonesia's former Dutch rulers. But Harry said it showed the political influence over the text. 'It was very obvious that editors' authority did not exist. They were under the control of the government,' he said. The furore around the project has caused some opposition lawmakers and critics to call for its suspension or cancellation. Activist Maria Catarina Sumarsih, whose son was killed in a military crackdown after Suharto's fall, accused the writers of warping the past. 'The government is deceiving the public… especially young people,' she said. Others said documenting Indonesia's past was best left to academics. 'If the government feels this nation needs a history that could make us proud… it can't be through the government's version of historical propaganda,' said Marzuki. 'It should be the result of the work of historians.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
