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Suharto's poisoned 30th birthday pr



Subject: Suharto's poisoned 30th birthday present for ASEAN

Article for the Philippines News & Features (PNF) bulletin in Manila:

Suharto's poisoned 30th birthday present for ASEAN
by George J. Aditjondro

        ON August 5, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
through a joint declaration of the Foreign Ministers of Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines, in Bangkok.

        Thirty years later, the number of ASEAN members have doubled into
ten. With the strong support from the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia,
and Singapore, last month Burma, Laos, and Cambodia were accepted as
ASEAN's new members, following Brunei Darussalam and Vietnam several years
earlier.

        The entry of Burma, Laos, and Cambodia's entry into ASEAN is seen
by some of founding members, in particular Malaysia, as fulfilling the
dream to round up "ASEAN 7" into "ASEAN 10." An excellent "birth-day
present" for the 30-years old regional association.

        However, from the perspective of many non-governmental activists,
this event has raised serious questions concerning the struggle to uphold
human rights in the Southeast Asia.

        The entry of Burma, Laos, and Cambodia into ASEAN will turn this
regional association increasingly into a club of repressive regimes.
Especially since the two remaining relatively more democratic regimes --
the Philippines and Thailand -- have increasingly yielded to the pressure
of the more repressive ASEAN regimes, in particular Indonesia.

        As an Indonesian dissident in exile, allow to focus on the relation
between the Suharto regime and Burma's military junta, the so-called State
Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Why is it that the Suharto
regime has so strongly supported an early admission of Burma into ASEAN?

        The answer is twofold. Firstly, the admission of another and more
brutal military regime into this regional bloc, helps to cover up Suharto's
own reputation in violating the rights of East Timorese, West Papuan,
Dayak, Acehnese and other peoples ruled by his bureacratic-military
-industrial regime. In other words, Suharto can use ASEAN more effectively
as his 'shield' in international political forums.

        Secondly, an early entry of Burma, Laos and Cambodia into ASEAN
provides Suharto-linked businesses with more time to prepare for the ASEAN
Free Trade Area (AFTA) in the year 2003.

        Through all the interlocking businesses between the First Family
and their cronies, the Suharto regime has already reduced ASEAN into their
private "gold mine", which has catapulted the Suharto family into the
second richest Asian head of state, with an estimated wealth of US$ 6.3
billion.

        Older ASEAN countries, such as the Philippines, have already become
a "playground" for the Soeharto-family businesses (see my articles in PNF
bulletins No. 17 and 18, Volume XIII, December 5 and 7, 1996).

        Suharto-related businesses have also penetrated younger ASEAN
countries, such as Vietnam, and other soon to become ASEAN countries, such
as Cambodia. Titiek Prabowo, Suharto's second daughter, is involved in one
of the most environment-unfriendly businesses in that country, namely
logging, through a partnership with a young Sino-Indonesian businessman,
Jopie Widjaja. Titiek's siblings, Tutut and Bambang, also has close
business partnerships with another Sino-Indonesian businessman, Prajogo
Pangestu, whose Barito Pacific Group controls a one-million hectare timber
concession in Vietnam.

        For the last seven years, Suharto-linked businesses have already
made substantial inroads into Burma. They now have covered a pretty wide
variety of sectors and commodities, ranging from consumer goods to
extractive industries.

        Let me begin by exposing the First Family's trading activities with
Burma. In August 1991, an Indonesian-based company, PT Indomiwon Citra Inti
(ICI) first exported 70 tonnes of monosodium glutamate (MSG) to Burma,
Vietnam and Hong Kong. This company is a fifty-fifty joint venture between
PT Sambada Widyacita and Miwon from Korea. PT Sambada Widyacita itself is a
joint venture between Bambang Trihatmojo, President Suharto's second son,
and Anthony Salim, chief executive officer of the Salim Group, Indonesia's
largest business conglomerates in which two of Bambang's siblings -- Siti
Hariyanti Rukmana and Sigit Harjojudanto -- are shareholders.

        Two years later, another Suharto-related company, PT Prima
Comexindo Trading (PCT), began bartering Indonesian-made medicines with
Burmese products. This company is owned by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, whose
elder brother, Mayor General Prabowo Subianto, is married to Suharto's
second daughter, Siti Hediyati Hariyadi, also known as Titiek Prabowo. In
fact, Titiek is a co-shareholder in several of Hashim's companies. Hasyim's
Tirtamas Group and Titiek Prabowo's Maharani Group control numerous
overlapping companies, including cement factories and a coal mine.

        When Hashim began bartering with the SLORC, Suharto's youngest son,
Hutomo Mandalaputra Suharto, also known as Tommy Suharto, began to export
oil drilling explosives to Burma. This was carried out by PT Bina Reksa
Perdana, in which Tommy owns 55% shares. In 1994, this company received
orders amounting to more than US$ 4 million from Burma, India, Iraq, and
Australia.

        Where do the explosives come from? No problem for the president's
most-beloved son, who could easily form a consortium with the state's
explosive factory, PT Dahana, controlled by Suharto's favorite Research and
Technology Minister, Dr B.J. Habibie. Another member of the consortium is
Chartered Oiltech Services Ltd. of Singapore.

        In the good capitalist spirit of competition as well as the
notorious spirit of Suharto sibling rivalry, Tommy's elder brother Bambang
also began to expand his business activities in Burma -- via Bangkok. Four
years ago, one of Bambang's companies, PT Elektrindo Nusantara, became a
supplier for the Royal Thai Airforce and the Thai Department of Interior.

        All those businesses are still peanuts compared to Indonesia's
automobiles export to Burma, handled by another Suharto-related company, PT
Astra International. This company is currently directed by a Suharto crony,
Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, on behalf of PT Nusamba, which is 80% owned by three
charities headed by Suharto himself. Other Suharto-related companies are
co-shareholders of Astra, the largest automotive producer and assembler in
Indonesia, which main products are Toyota cars.

        After Astra's success in marketing Toyota Kijang cars abroad, the
company became the importer and sole distributor of BMW and Land Rover in
Burma. With 25% shares of Chine Motor of Burma and 5% shares of Marubeni
Auto China of Japan, Astra formed a Burma-based joint venture, named
Myanmar Astra Chinte Motor.

        Any discussion about Suharto-related businesses in Burma, however,
is not complete without talking about the First Family's airlines. In this
case, Tommy's Sempati Air, which has since 1991 served direct flights from
Jakarta to Rangoon.

        At the moment, Sempati Air has become an ASEAN airline, since a
Sabah-based company, ASEAN Aviation Inc. (AAI), has bought 40% of the
shares of Sempati, which was originally fully owned by an Indonesian Army
company. Six years ago, Tommy took over the company by buying 25% of the
shares, bringing in PT Nusamba as another (35%) shareholder. Tommy's shares
will be reduced even further from its current 15%, when Singapore
Airlines's plans to buy a stake in Sempati, will be materialized.

        All these trading links quickly led to lucrative investment plans.
The first Suharto-linked company to invest in Burma was PT Rante Mario, one
of the many companies under Tommy's Humpuss Group. Through a joint venture
with a Burmese state company, Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTI), PT Rante
Mario plans to build a wood processing industry with an investment of US$
75 million. Until 1999, however, this joint venture only has to produce
logs and lumber. After that, it plans to go into plywood.

        Meanwhile, brother Bambang also began to invest in Burma. His
electronic company, PT Elektrindo Nusantara has built small telephone
central units for 256 subscribers in Rangoon, as a pilot project for a much
bigger deal with the SLORC.

        This company is 51% owned by Bambang, and is one of the main money
makers of his Bimantara Group.  Bambang's brothers-in-law, Indra Rukmana,
who is married to Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hariyanti Rukmana, also
known as Tutut, is a fellow Bimantara shareholder.

        Simultaneous with the Elektrindo Nusantara deal, another Bimantara
company, PT Japfa Comfeed, planned to invest in an animal feed company in
Burma.

        The third member of Suharto's extended family to invest in Burma is
Hashim Djojohadikusumo. Although he already owns three cement factories in
Indonesia, last year he signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a
Burmese state-company, The Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Limited
(UMEHL) to build a one million ton per annum cement factory.  The US$ 210
million joint venture is expected to go into full steam in 2000, and will
be 70% owned by Hashim's Tirtamas Group.

        As has happened with most juicy businesses of the Suharto family,
Hashim's businesses are also milking cows for the Indonesian Army. In
particular, milking cows for the most feared Special Forces, Kopassus, also
known as the Red Berets. These troops, which have been involved in quelling
major uprisings in East Timor and Indonesia, is commanded by Hashim's
brother, Mayor General Prabowo Subianto.  Therefore it is not suprising
that the SLORC like to do business with Hashim, who knows how to please
soldiers.

        Hashim's cement factory may become a boon for other Suharto-related
projects in Burma, especially toll roads. During his recent two days visit
to Burma, President Suharto and the SLORC chairman, General Than Swee,
witnessed the signing of an MoU between a Burmese state company and an
Indonesian "private" company.

        The Indonesian company concerned was PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada,
headed by Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana alias Tutut.
Travelling as part of her father's official entourage, Tutut signed an MoU
with Union of Myanmar Holding Ltd. Although the contents of the MoU was not
disclosed, journalists promptly guessed that it covers the construction of
toll roads, since that is Tutut's specialty in Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, and China.

        Nevertheless, any discussion about Burma's economic potentials is
not complete without mentioning investments in oil mining, where two
Suharto-related companies have jumped on the bandwagon. Aside from its
Toyota, BMW, and Land Rover dealership, PT Astra International has began
oil exploration in Burma and Vietnam. Meanwhile, another Suharto-related
company, Meta Epsi Duta from the Medco Group, also plans to sign an oil
exploration in Burma in the near future. The latter company is partly owned
by Tutut's father-in-law, the late Eddy Kowara.

        It might not be long before Bambang will invest his easy gained
fortune in Burma's oil and mineral wealth as well. Right now, he is already
involved, with Indonesian, Canadian and Malaysian partners, in gold mining
in Indonesia and Khazakstan. His Sydney-based Canadian partner, Robert
Friedland, is currently developing a copper mine near Monywa in Central
Burma and is exploring for gold and copper in six other areas in Burma.
Overseeing those mining activities is a fifty-fifty joint venture between
Friedland's company, Ivanhoe Myanmar Holdings and a mining enterprise owned
by the SLORC. So it is not unlikely that Bambang is a 'silent partner' in
Ivanhoe Myanmar Holdings as well.

        With all these examples from the Suharto clan, more and more
Indonesian businesses are flocking to Burma. This trade is not limited to
civilian products, such as kretek   (clove cigarettes) which are swamping
the Burmese market. In fact, through his Singapore-based Transmarco
company, Putera Sampurna, the Sampurna kretek   tycoon,  plans  to develop
tobacco and other businesses in Burma, while overseeing Astra's Burma
operations as well, since he is also a co-shareholder in Astra with Bob
Hasan.

        There are strong reasons to believe that the Suharto regime is also
involved in supplying the needs of the Tatmadaw, the Burmese armed forces.
It could be that some of the aircraft used by the Tatmadaw's air forces,
such as CASA C-212 Aviocar transport planes, were not ordered directly from
Spain, but from Indonesia. Why? Because when General Than Swe visited
Jakarta in June 1995, he also signed an agreement to buy airplanes produced
by the Indonesian aircraft industry, Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara, or
IPTN.

        Apart from those CASA C-212 Aviocar transport planes, it is not
impossible that more SLORC arms and ammunition have come or will come
indirectly via Indonesia. This suspicion is based on the following facts.
First of all, it is well known that IPTN is a licence holder for the
Spanish aircraft factory, CASA, the German aircraft industry, MBB, and the
French aircraft factory, Aerospatiale.

        Other strategic industries under Habibie's control have their own
licence or contract arrangements with other European arm manufacturers. PT
Pindad, the former Army-controlled ammunition factory, produces rockets and
rockets launchers under licence from two Belgian arms factories, FN-Herstal
and Les Forges De Zeebrugge. PT PAL, the former Navy-controlled shipyard,
has contracts with two German shipyards -- Luerssen shipyard in Bremen and
HDW shipyard in Kiel -- to produce high-speed ships and submarines in PT
PAL's shipyard in Surabaya, East Java.

        There are also precedents of Habibie's strategic industries
supplying military regimes in Asia and Pacific. In August 1987, right after
Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka's coup d'etat   in Fiji, IPTN agreed to supply the
Fijian military junta with NB 109 helicopters, as well as to train Fijian
soldiers to become helicopter pilots.

        Likewise, during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1987), Indonesia has acted
as official destination for Spanish and German arms, which were actually
turned over to Saddam Hussain.  IPTN -- which at that time was still called
Nurtanio -- channelled German BO-1058 helicopters to Saddam Hussein. While
Spanish arms industries channeled explosives to Iraq, via Indonesia, the
Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

        Looking at the evolution of Suharto-related businesses in Burma in
a broader regional context, three interesting features emerge. First,
Jakarta's trade with the SLORC began to flourish after the consolidation of
the Tatmadaw's power, that is, after the SLORC refused to honour the
sweeping victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), in the May 1990 election. Secondly, Jakarta's increasing
trade with the SLORC is diametrically in opposition with Aung San Suu Ky's
call for a total boycott of foreign companies to trade with the SLORC.
Thirdly, Jakarta's cozy trade relations with Rangoon have coincided with
the forging of stronger political bonds -- and exchange of repressive
tactics -- between the two repressive regimes.

        What repressive tactics have been exchanged by the two regimes?
Firstly, learning from the overwhelming victory of the daughter of one of
Burma's founding fathers, Suharto moved swiftly to prevent any chance for
Megawati Sukarnoputri, also the daughter of one of Indonesia's founding
fathers, to challenge him in a fair and free election. On the other hand,
the SLORC has also learned from the Suharto regime, how to use thugs to
terrorize political dissidents, as they applied to Aung San Suu Kyi on
November 12 weekend, last year. Meanwhile, the SLORC is also preparing to
form a Golkar-like ruling party in Burma, to hand over political power to
an apparent civilian party, while still pulling the strings behind the
scenes.

        Hence, there is no other option for Indonesian and other
pro-democracy activists in the region, than to support Aung Sang Suu Kyi's
NLD and the non-Burman ethno-nationalist movements, who are still waiting
for a more federalistic structure in Burma followed by self-determination
acts for all the ethnic minorities, promised by Suu Kyi's father, 50 years
ago.

Newcastle, June 20, 1997

Bio-sketch:

        Dr. George Junus Aditjondro (51), specializes in the South East
Asian and Melanesian regions. He worked for ten years (1971-1981) as a
journalist for the now-banned TEMPO weekly magazine in Indonesia. Then, he
spent five years (1982-1987) in West Papua as a journalist and researcher
for a local NGO, YPMD Irian Jaya. He also has served for six years
(1980-1986) as vice president of the Indonesian Environmental Forum
(WALHI), and received a national environmental award, Kalpataru, from
President Soeharto on June 5, 1987.
        Ten years later, he returned that trophy back to Soeharto, in
protest against the awarding of a national environmental trophy to Bob
Hasan, Indonesia's most powerful timber tycoon and one of Soeharto's
closest business partner.
        After working in West Papua, in 1992 he finished his PhD at Cornell
University in the USA, majoring in education and minoring in Southeast
Asian politics and rural sociology. Since September 1992, he taught at his
former alma mater,  the Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga,
Central Java, Indonesia, in development studies. In February 1995, he had
to flee to Australia due to the military's harrassments because of his
opposition to the occupation of East Timor and Suharto's nepotism and
cronyism. While lecturing in sociology at Newcastle University, NSW, he has
been frequently written articles in the media on Southeast Asian regional
affairs, but still specializes in East Timor and the globalisation process
of the Suharto oligarchy.
        On July 22, 1996, he received -- in absentia -- the PRD Award from
the now underground Indonesian political party, the People's Democratic
Party (PRD), for his involvement in the Indonesian pro-East Timor movement.
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