Timeline Indonesia (A) thru 2006
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History: http://www.country-data.com/frd/cs/idtoc.html#id0031
Indonesia consists of a necklace of some 13,466 islands, 360 ethnic groups and 719 different languages. The main island is Java. Indonesia has 33 provinces.
(WSJ, 5/22/98, p.A15)(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D2)(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A6)(Econ, 6/21/14, p.79)
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)
700000 In 2016 scientists working in Indonesia reported fossil bones of Homo floriensis dating back to about this time. Remains found earlier dated back to 60k-100k years.
(SFC, 6/9/16, p.A9)
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)
671 Chinese monk I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in for 6 months during this year. Srivijaya (also written Sri Vijaya) was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivijaya)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur)(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T9)(WSJ, 9/13/08, p.W18)
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 Malacca (Melaka), the center of East Indian spice trade, was captured by the Portuguese. The Portuguese laid appalling waste to Malacca. When the Dutch gained influence in Indonesia and Jakarta they took over Melaka and built the fortress A Famosa.
(TL-MB, p.10)(SFEC, 8/3/97, p.T8)(Econ, 12/22/12, p.55)
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 A map of Asia viewed from the sea was drawn about this by a Chinese cartographer in Java. John Seldon, English lawyer, acquired this map through an English sea captain and bequeathed it to Oxford’s Bodleian library in 1654.
(Econ, 1/18/14, p.80)
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)
1619 Jul 2, Jan Pieterszoon Coen, a top officer of the Dutch East India Company, decided to expand a Dutch fort into a larger fortress. On Oct 7 he sent plans for Batavia Castle to the Netherlands. The region which became Batavia was built on the ruins of the former Jayakarta.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen)
1621 Jan 21, In Indonesia a new city built on the site of a Dutch fort was officially named as Batavia. Jan Pieterszoon Coen, recognized as the founder of Batavia (now Jakarta).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jakarta)
1621 Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587-1629), a top officer of the Dutch East India Company, he led the Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands, using Japanese mercenaries, in order to secure a monopoly on spices grown there. He was later reviled as the “butcher of Banda." In 2020 protests called for the removal of his statue in Hoorn.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen)(AP, 6/19/20)
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)
1755 The sultanate of Yogyakarta was founded in central Java Island, Indonesia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogyakarta_Sultanate)(Econ, 8/27/19, p.28)
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. Tsunamis and starvation that followed killed an estimated 60-120 thousand people.
(www.sullivan-county.com/immigration/e3.htm)(AP, 2/28/06)(Econ., 4/11/15, p.21)c
1817 Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (1781-1826), British statesman, wrote a book entitled “History of Java." He was heavily involved in the conquest of the Indonesian island of Java from Dutch and French military forces during the Napoleonic Wars and contributed to the expansion of the British Empire.
(Econ, 11/10/12, p.88)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_Raffles)
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)
1848 It was discovered that palm oil, a native of West Africa, grew well in the Far East. By 2010 Indonesia and Malaysia produced 90% of the world’s palm oil.
(Econ, 6/26/10, p.71)
1865 A native reportedly slipped Bolivian cinchona seeds to a British trader. The Dutch government got hold of them and, after 30 years, figured out how to grow them in Indonesia. By 1900 the Dutch were producing more than 5,000 tons of quinine a year.
(Econ., 12/19/20, p.35)
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)
1876 Jun 10, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) embarked for the Dutch East Indies, or modern-day Indonesia. He arrived on July 22 and on August 15 he deserted, leaving his possessions to be sold for the benefit of the local orphanage. He reappeared only on December 31, 1876, when he returned to his mother in Charleville-Mezieres in northern France. Rimbaud, who wrote the anti-militarist "The Sleeper in the Valley," had embarked on the journey after signing up for six years in the Dutch colonial army. In 2011 American writer Jamie James authored "Rimbaud in Java: The Lost Voyage."
(AP, 1/28/12)
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].
(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 36,417 lives in Java and Sumatra. In 2003 Simon Winchester authored Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: Aug 27, 1883" [see Aug 26].
(AP, 8/27/97)(SSFC, 4/6/03, p.M2)
1889 The Ahmadiyah sect of Islam was established in India and considered its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) to be a savior and messiah, counter to traditional Islamic teaching. By 2011 it had tens of millions of members worldwide and around 200,000 in Indonesia. Ahmadi Muslims believe in the separation of religion and the state.
(AP, 8/9/11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirza_Ghulam_Ahmad)(Econ, 8/8/15, p.34)
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)
1914 In Indonesia by this time some 340 principalities ruled by Hindu rajas and Muslim sultans had become protectorates within the Dutch East Indies.
(Econ., 1/16/21, p.25)
1915 The last king of Loloda died. The Indonesian area is part of the West Halmahera Regency of North Malukku.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loloda_language)(Econ., 1/16/21, p.25)
1915 The explosion of Tambora in Indonesia was estimated to be of the magnitude of 40,000 H-bombs.
(NH, 5/96, p.3)
1916 Aug 31, In Indonesia the Surabaya Zoo was established based on Acceptance Letter of the general Dutch Governor, by the name of “Soerabaiasche Planten-en Dierentuin" (the Botany Garden and the Surabaya Animal) on the merit of a journalist named H. F. K. Kommer who had the hobby of gathering the animal.
(www.surabaya.go.id/eng/tourism.php?page=zoo)
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 Feb 6, Pramoedya Ananta Toer (d.2006), writer, was born in Indonesia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramoedya_Ananta_Toer)
1926 Mar 26, ACD de Graeff was appointed Governor-General of Dutch East-Indies.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1926 Jan 31, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) was established by Wahab Chasbullah with support from Hasyim Asy'ari, the most respected Muslim scholar in East Java. By 2010 NU was one of the largest independent Islamic organizations in the world.
(Econ, 1/9/10, p.85)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulema)
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)
1930 Nov 21, In Indonesia lava began flowing as the Mount Merapi volcano erupted. 13 villages were destroyed and some 1369 people were killed by pyroclastic flows.
(http://dogeatdogma.com/merapi.htm)
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 Feb 28, The Japanese sank the USS Houston during the Battle of Sunda Strait. The ship carried 1,068 crewmen, but only 291 sailors and Marines survived both the attack and being prisoners of war. In 2014 Navy divers from the US and Indonesia confirmed that a sunken vessel in the Java Sea is the wreck of the Houston.
(AP, 8/18/14)
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. More than 900 Dutch and 250 Indo-Dutch sailors died during the battle in which the Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
(HN, 3/1/98)(SC, 3/1/02)(AFP, 11/17/16)
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 Aug 18, Indonesia adopted a new Constitution. It was later described as a “dictator’s dream." This Constitution (usually referred to by the Indonesian acronym UUD'45) remained in force until it was replaced by the Federal Constitution on December 27, 1949.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Indonesia)(Econ, 6/21/14, p.40)
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)
1945 Indonesia’s future President Sukarno, facing the need to pull together the diverse archipelago, promulgated Pancasila as the philosophical foundation of the Indonesian state. Its five principals included: Belief in the one and only God; Just and civilized humanity; the unity of Indonesia; Democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations amongst representatives; and Social justice for all of the people of Indonesia. The doctrine protected Indonesia’s six officially recognized religions.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancasila_%28politics%29)(Econ, 1/28/17, p.35)
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)
1947 Dec 9, In western Java up to 430 men were rounded up and shot by Dutch troops in the village of Rawagedeh. The Dutch called the incident a "police action" to quell an uprising. The Dutch government conceded in 1995 that summary executions had taken place in Rawagedeh, now known as Balongsari, but said prosecutions were no longer possible. In September, 2011, a Dutch court ordered the government to compensate the widows of Indonesian villagers, to apologize for the killings and to give each of the 10 plaintiffs $27,000. Old friends and neighbors cajoled, bullied and intimidated the plaintiffs and their families until local officials jumped in, forcing them to part with half their cash.
(AP, 9/14/11)(http://tinyurl.com/5sp5psn)(AP, 11/23/11)(AP, 1/16/12)
1949 Feb 21, Tan Malaka (b.1897), teacher, Indonesian philosopher and founder of Struggle Union (Persatuan Perjuangan) and Murba Party, was executed in East Java by guerrilla forces.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Malaka)(Econ., 11/28/20, p.76)
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 Indonesia’s 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, Indonesia, 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)
1959 In Indonesia Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN) was founded to serve retired bureaucrats. It went public in 2008 following a buyout by Texas Pacific Group, a private-equity firm.
(Econ, 4/23/11, p.82)
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, In Indonesia eruptions of Mount Agung volcano on Bali killed 1,184 people.
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A14)(AP, 12/3/17)
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 In Indonesia a new anti-subversion law was instituted with penalties of death or 20 years in prison.
(WSJ, 3/6/97, p.A14)
1963 Indonesia passed “Law number 4" to sanction fierce censorship. It was lifted for the press in 1999.
(Econ, 1/23/10, p.43)
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)
1963-1966 In 2017 thousands of files from the US Embassy in Jakarta covering this period were made public after a declassification review that began under the Obama administration. They revealed new details of US government knowledge and support of an Indonesian army extermination campaign that killed several hundred thousand civilians during anti-communist hysteria in the mid-1960s.
(AP, 10/17/17)
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 1982 film “The Year of Living Dangerously" with Mel Gibson was set in Indonesia’s 1965 civil war. It was adapted from a novel by Christopher Koch.The film was banned in indo until 1999. 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)(AP, 10/4/13)
1965 In 2013 an American-directed documentary, "The Act of Killing," challenged widely held views about hundreds of thousands of deaths carried out across Indonesia from 1965 to 1966 in the name of fighting communism.
(AP, 10/4/13)
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 Indonesia enacted a blasphemy law in order to prevent abuse of religions.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_Indonesia)(Econ, 5/1/10, p.44)
1965-1966 In Indonesia some 500,000 alleged Communists were slaughtered during this period. As of 2014 the slaughter was never properly investigated.
(Econ, 8/9/14, p.36)
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 Apr 15, A US embassy communication to the Department of State about the number of deaths in Indonesia said: "We frankly do not know whether the real figure is closer to 100,000 or 1,000,000 but believe it wiser to err on the side of the lower estimates, especially when questioned by the press."
(AP, 4/18/16)
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 A team at Cornell Univ. published an influential report on what really happened during the violent takeover of Indonesia, in October 1915. Benedict Anderson (1936-2015), born in China to an Anglo-Irish father and English mother, was part of the team.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Anderson)(Econ, 5/21/16, p.77)
1966 Malaysia and Indonesia reached a peace agreement and shortly thereafter Indonesia resumed its membership in the UN.
(HNQ, 5/14/98)
1966 Indonesia’s 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 was revealed that US Ambassador Marshall Green in 1969 had foreknowledge 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 be unwise to expect free or direct elections.
(WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A23)(SSFC, 9/1/02, p.A15)(http://tinyurl.com/7cxq3)(Econ, 6/30/12, p.46)
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)
1972 Australia and Indonesia agreed to a maritime boundary set by the deepest point between them in the Timor Sea.
(Econ, 6/8/13, p.44)
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)
1976 PT Dirgantara Indonesia was founded as a state-owned company to produce prestige-enhancing aircraft.
(Econ, 2/15/14, p.57)
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)
1982 In Indonesia over three-quarters of the Riau province of central Sumatra was forested. By 2010 this dropped about a quarter.
(Econ, 10/30/10, p.44)
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)
1988 American geologist James Moffett (b.1938), founder of Freeport-McMoRan (1981), oversaw the development of Grasberg in Indonesia, one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines.
(Econ, 1/2/16, p.50)
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 Mount Lokon, one of about 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, erupted. It killed a Swiss hiker and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
(AP, 10/26/11)
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, In Indonesia the Merapi volcano erupted. Pyroclastic flows and surges killed 43 people.
(http://dogeatdogma.com/merapi.htm)(Reuters, 10/26/10)
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)
1995 A flight operated by the Indonesia-based Merpati Nusantara Airlines disappeared over open water while flying between islands in the archipelago nation. The de Havilland Twin Otter 300 with 14 crew and passengers was never found.
(AP, 3/14/14)
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 The Mega Rice Project was initiated in in the southern sections of Kalimantan, the Indonesian section of Borneo. The goal was to turn one million hectares of unproductive and sparsely populated peat swamp forest into rice paddies in an effort to alleviate Indonesia's growing food shortage. The project did not succeed, and was abandoned in 1999 after causing considerable damage to the environment.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Rice_Project)(Econ., 8/15/20, p.34)
1996 Construction on two 610-megawatt, coal fired generators is planned to start this year, and sales to Indonesia's state utility were expected to begin in 1999.
(WSJ, 3/26/96, p.A-15)
1996 In Indonesia 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 Indonesia.
(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)
1996-2001 In Indonesia, fighting over this period in West Kalimantan province between Dayaks and Muslim migrants from the island of Madura left thousands of people dead.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.30)
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 31, The 7-member ASEAN alliance, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, met in Kuala Lumpur and agreed to allow Burma to become a member in July. Laos and Cambodia were also to be admitted. The members were Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
(SFEC, 6/1/97, p.D3)
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, In Indonesia huge fires in tropical forests and plantations on Sumatra and Borneo and Java were blamed on slash-and-burn farming techniques. 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.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A12)(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A11)(Econ, 3/25/06, p.74)
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 Indonesia’s Bank Harapan Sentosa (BHS) went under despite a bailout loan of more than $260 million from the Indonesian central bank. In 1998 bank director Sherny Kojongian Saroha was detained and questioned over her role in the bank's failure and disappearance of the money. Saroha entered the US the following year and applied for permanent residency without disclosing her prior arrest. An Indonesian court in 2002 convicted her in absentia of misusing bank funds and sentenced her to 20 years in prison. In 2012 she was extradited from the US and handed over to Indonesia n authorities.
(AFP, 6/13/12)
1997 In Indonesia mobs killed and raped ethnic Chinese residents and looted and destroyed their businesses.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A12)
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 Defenders’ Front (FPI) was founded by security forces to counter leftist students. It developed a record of bloodily intimidating Christians, Ahmadis and those offending its puritanical morality.
(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.9)(Econ, 12/24/16, p.52)
1998 Indonesia suffered an economic meltdown in the wake of Suharto’s loss of power. The GDP contracted 13.2% in this year. The IMF insisted on the dismantling of monopolies tied to the Suharto regime as a condition of giving aid.
(WSJ, 5/16/01, p.A1)(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.9)(Econ, 4/9/11, p.76)
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)
1998 In Indonesia fires this year devastated over 5 million hectares of forest.
(Econ, 9/25/10, SR p.6)
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 5, Indonesia enacted Law No. 5 Concerning the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unhealthy/Unfair Business Competition (popularly know as the Competition Law or the Law), after the IMF required Indonesia to pass laws that ensure fair competition. The Commission to Monitor Business Competition (KPPU) was charged with enforcing the Law.
(Econ, 4/9/11, p.76)(http://tinyurl.com/3b2rty9)
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 Apr, Indonesia formally split the national police from the armed forces. The process was completed in July 2000.
(Econ, 11/6/10, p.55)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_National_Police)
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 May, Indonesia's parliament devolved murch authority from the center to localities turning the Indonesia into one of the world's most decentralized countries.
(https://tinyurl.com/2d89vrbd)(Econ., 1/16/21, p.26)
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 26, In Indonesia Frenchman Michael Blanc was arrested with 3.8 kg (8.4 pounds) of hash hidden in diving canisters. Blanc maintained his innocence, insisting that he was given the diving canisters to transport by a friend. In 2000 he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. On Jan 20, 2014 he was freed on parole.
(AP, 1/20/14)
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, In Indonesia at least 17 people were killed when troops opened fire on Christian and Muslim mobs on Seram Island in Maluku province. Thousands of people fled violence and poured into Ternate, the capital of North Maluku. Refugees claimed that hundreds of people died in fighting over 2 days.
(SFC, 1/5/00, p.A6)(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)
2001 Indonesia authorized Aceh province to introduce sharia Islamic law as part of a “special autonomy" aimed to end a long-running separatist war. In 2014 sharia law was extended to cover everyone in Aceh.
(Econ, 2/15/14, p.34)
2001 Irian Jaya, the Indonesia half of Papua New Guinea, was renamed Papua.
(Econ, 6/30/12, p.46)
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 31, In Indonesia the number of people killed during two days of widespread flooding grew to at least 33. Flooding in Jakarta eventually killed about 60 people.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1791623.stm)(Econ, 3/17/12, p.48)
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 4, China signed a landmark agreement, “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," with ASEAN (Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam) on avoiding open conflict in the disputed South China Sea Spratly Islands. Indonesia objected and Taiwan was barred from signing.
(Reuters, 11/4/02)(Econ, 5/22/04, p.40)(www.aseansec.org/13163.htm)
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. 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)
2002 Eka Kurniawan (b.1975), Indonesian novelist, authored “Cantik Itu Luka" (Beauty is a Wound). An English translation by Anni Tucker was published in 2015.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.75)
2002 After this year’s October 12 Bali bombing the government of Indonesia created Detachhment 88, an elite cunter-terror squad financed and trained by America and Australia.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.34)
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 Benny Wenda a leader of an insurgency against Indonesian rule in the eastern province of Papua, escaped from a Papuan jail and was granted asylum in Britain. He remained wanted by authorities in his homeland for alleged arson and murder. In 2011 Indonesia had Interpol put Wenda (37) on a wanted list as he continued to promote the cause of Papuan independence.
(AFP, 11/25/11)
2002 PT Dirgantara Indonesia won a contract to produce wing parts for the Airbus A380.
(Econ, 2/15/14, p.57)
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. Some 230,000 people were killed in a dozen countries.
(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)(AP, 11/12/13)
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)
2004 Producers and users of palm oil, 90% of which is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, set up a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.59)
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 8.3 kg 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 three of the convicted Australians had their death sentences reduced to life imprisonment. In 2011 Australian drug smuggler Scott Rush (24) won an appeal reducing his death sentence to life imprisonment.
(Econ, 9/16/06, p.52)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali_Nine)(AFP, 3/6/08)(AP, 5/10/11)
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. In 2012 the justice ministry recommended granting clemency Corby. Lawyers argued she had gone insane after being jailed in Bali’s Kerobokan prison. Her sentenced was reduced by 5 years. Corby was released on Feb 10, 2014.
(AP, 5/27/05)(AFP, 4/4/12)(AFP, 5/21/12)(AP, 2/10/14)
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 In Indonesia Andrea Hirata authored his autobiographical novel "The Rainbow Troops." In 2013 Angie Kilbane made it available in English.
(Econ, 2/9/13, p.80)
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)
2005 Indonesia’s government gave a 30-year permit to Putri Naga Komodo, a nonprofit joint venture company partially funded by The Nature Conservancy and the World Bank, to operate Komodo National Park tourist facilities in hopes of eventually making the park financially self-sustaining. The deal collapsed in 2010, when Putri Naga Komodo's permit was yanked.
(AP, 4/20/12)
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 death for trying to smuggle 18.3 pounds of heroin in 2005 from the Indonesian resort island of Bali to their homeland. In February, 2015, Myuran Sukumaran (33) and Andrew Chan (31) faced immediate execution.
(AP, 2/14/06)(SFC, 2/15/15, p.A6)(SSFC, 2/15/15, p.A6)
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 Apr 30, Pramoedya Ananta Toer (b.1925), Indonesian writer, died in Jakarta. 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 “Beauty Is a Wound" and “This Earth Mankind."
(WSJ, 8/10/04, p.D8)(Econ 7/15/17, p.73)
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)
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Indonesia consists of a necklace of some 13,466 islands, 360 ethnic groups and 719 different languages. The main island is Java. Indonesia has 33 provinces.
(WSJ, 5/22/98, p.A15)(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D2)(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A6)(Econ, 6/21/14, p.79)
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)
700000 In 2016 scientists working in Indonesia reported fossil bones of Homo floriensis dating back to about this time. Remains found earlier dated back to 60k-100k years.
(SFC, 6/9/16, p.A9)
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)
671 Chinese monk I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in for 6 months during this year. Srivijaya (also written Sri Vijaya) was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivijaya)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur)(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T9)(WSJ, 9/13/08, p.W18)
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 Malacca (Melaka), the center of East Indian spice trade, was captured by the Portuguese. The Portuguese laid appalling waste to Malacca. When the Dutch gained influence in Indonesia and Jakarta they took over Melaka and built the fortress A Famosa.
(TL-MB, p.10)(SFEC, 8/3/97, p.T8)(Econ, 12/22/12, p.55)
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 A map of Asia viewed from the sea was drawn about this by a Chinese cartographer in Java. John Seldon, English lawyer, acquired this map through an English sea captain and bequeathed it to Oxford’s Bodleian library in 1654.
(Econ, 1/18/14, p.80)
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)
1619 Jul 2, Jan Pieterszoon Coen, a top officer of the Dutch East India Company, decided to expand a Dutch fort into a larger fortress. On Oct 7 he sent plans for Batavia Castle to the Netherlands. The region which became Batavia was built on the ruins of the former Jayakarta.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen)
1621 Jan 21, In Indonesia a new city built on the site of a Dutch fort was officially named as Batavia. Jan Pieterszoon Coen, recognized as the founder of Batavia (now Jakarta).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jakarta)
1621 Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587-1629), a top officer of the Dutch East India Company, he led the Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands, using Japanese mercenaries, in order to secure a monopoly on spices grown there. He was later reviled as the “butcher of Banda." In 2020 protests called for the removal of his statue in Hoorn.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen)(AP, 6/19/20)
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)
1755 The sultanate of Yogyakarta was founded in central Java Island, Indonesia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogyakarta_Sultanate)(Econ, 8/27/19, p.28)
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. Tsunamis and starvation that followed killed an estimated 60-120 thousand people.
(www.sullivan-county.com/immigration/e3.htm)(AP, 2/28/06)(Econ., 4/11/15, p.21)c
1817 Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (1781-1826), British statesman, wrote a book entitled “History of Java." He was heavily involved in the conquest of the Indonesian island of Java from Dutch and French military forces during the Napoleonic Wars and contributed to the expansion of the British Empire.
(Econ, 11/10/12, p.88)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_Raffles)
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)
1848 It was discovered that palm oil, a native of West Africa, grew well in the Far East. By 2010 Indonesia and Malaysia produced 90% of the world’s palm oil.
(Econ, 6/26/10, p.71)
1865 A native reportedly slipped Bolivian cinchona seeds to a British trader. The Dutch government got hold of them and, after 30 years, figured out how to grow them in Indonesia. By 1900 the Dutch were producing more than 5,000 tons of quinine a year.
(Econ., 12/19/20, p.35)
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)
1876 Jun 10, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) embarked for the Dutch East Indies, or modern-day Indonesia. He arrived on July 22 and on August 15 he deserted, leaving his possessions to be sold for the benefit of the local orphanage. He reappeared only on December 31, 1876, when he returned to his mother in Charleville-Mezieres in northern France. Rimbaud, who wrote the anti-militarist "The Sleeper in the Valley," had embarked on the journey after signing up for six years in the Dutch colonial army. In 2011 American writer Jamie James authored "Rimbaud in Java: The Lost Voyage."
(AP, 1/28/12)
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].
(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 36,417 lives in Java and Sumatra. In 2003 Simon Winchester authored Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: Aug 27, 1883" [see Aug 26].
(AP, 8/27/97)(SSFC, 4/6/03, p.M2)
1889 The Ahmadiyah sect of Islam was established in India and considered its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) to be a savior and messiah, counter to traditional Islamic teaching. By 2011 it had tens of millions of members worldwide and around 200,000 in Indonesia. Ahmadi Muslims believe in the separation of religion and the state.
(AP, 8/9/11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirza_Ghulam_Ahmad)(Econ, 8/8/15, p.34)
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)
1914 In Indonesia by this time some 340 principalities ruled by Hindu rajas and Muslim sultans had become protectorates within the Dutch East Indies.
(Econ., 1/16/21, p.25)
1915 The last king of Loloda died. The Indonesian area is part of the West Halmahera Regency of North Malukku.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loloda_language)(Econ., 1/16/21, p.25)
1915 The explosion of Tambora in Indonesia was estimated to be of the magnitude of 40,000 H-bombs.
(NH, 5/96, p.3)
1916 Aug 31, In Indonesia the Surabaya Zoo was established based on Acceptance Letter of the general Dutch Governor, by the name of “Soerabaiasche Planten-en Dierentuin" (the Botany Garden and the Surabaya Animal) on the merit of a journalist named H. F. K. Kommer who had the hobby of gathering the animal.
(www.surabaya.go.id/eng/tourism.php?page=zoo)
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 Feb 6, Pramoedya Ananta Toer (d.2006), writer, was born in Indonesia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramoedya_Ananta_Toer)
1926 Mar 26, ACD de Graeff was appointed Governor-General of Dutch East-Indies.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1926 Jan 31, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) was established by Wahab Chasbullah with support from Hasyim Asy'ari, the most respected Muslim scholar in East Java. By 2010 NU was one of the largest independent Islamic organizations in the world.
(Econ, 1/9/10, p.85)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulema)
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)
1930 Nov 21, In Indonesia lava began flowing as the Mount Merapi volcano erupted. 13 villages were destroyed and some 1369 people were killed by pyroclastic flows.
(http://dogeatdogma.com/merapi.htm)
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 Feb 28, The Japanese sank the USS Houston during the Battle of Sunda Strait. The ship carried 1,068 crewmen, but only 291 sailors and Marines survived both the attack and being prisoners of war. In 2014 Navy divers from the US and Indonesia confirmed that a sunken vessel in the Java Sea is the wreck of the Houston.
(AP, 8/18/14)
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. More than 900 Dutch and 250 Indo-Dutch sailors died during the battle in which the Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
(HN, 3/1/98)(SC, 3/1/02)(AFP, 11/17/16)
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 Aug 18, Indonesia adopted a new Constitution. It was later described as a “dictator’s dream." This Constitution (usually referred to by the Indonesian acronym UUD'45) remained in force until it was replaced by the Federal Constitution on December 27, 1949.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Indonesia)(Econ, 6/21/14, p.40)
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)
1945 Indonesia’s future President Sukarno, facing the need to pull together the diverse archipelago, promulgated Pancasila as the philosophical foundation of the Indonesian state. Its five principals included: Belief in the one and only God; Just and civilized humanity; the unity of Indonesia; Democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations amongst representatives; and Social justice for all of the people of Indonesia. The doctrine protected Indonesia’s six officially recognized religions.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancasila_%28politics%29)(Econ, 1/28/17, p.35)
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)
1947 Dec 9, In western Java up to 430 men were rounded up and shot by Dutch troops in the village of Rawagedeh. The Dutch called the incident a "police action" to quell an uprising. The Dutch government conceded in 1995 that summary executions had taken place in Rawagedeh, now known as Balongsari, but said prosecutions were no longer possible. In September, 2011, a Dutch court ordered the government to compensate the widows of Indonesian villagers, to apologize for the killings and to give each of the 10 plaintiffs $27,000. Old friends and neighbors cajoled, bullied and intimidated the plaintiffs and their families until local officials jumped in, forcing them to part with half their cash.
(AP, 9/14/11)(http://tinyurl.com/5sp5psn)(AP, 11/23/11)(AP, 1/16/12)
1949 Feb 21, Tan Malaka (b.1897), teacher, Indonesian philosopher and founder of Struggle Union (Persatuan Perjuangan) and Murba Party, was executed in East Java by guerrilla forces.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Malaka)(Econ., 11/28/20, p.76)
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 Indonesia’s 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, Indonesia, 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)
1959 In Indonesia Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN) was founded to serve retired bureaucrats. It went public in 2008 following a buyout by Texas Pacific Group, a private-equity firm.
(Econ, 4/23/11, p.82)
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, In Indonesia eruptions of Mount Agung volcano on Bali killed 1,184 people.
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A14)(AP, 12/3/17)
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 In Indonesia a new anti-subversion law was instituted with penalties of death or 20 years in prison.
(WSJ, 3/6/97, p.A14)
1963 Indonesia passed “Law number 4" to sanction fierce censorship. It was lifted for the press in 1999.
(Econ, 1/23/10, p.43)
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)
1963-1966 In 2017 thousands of files from the US Embassy in Jakarta covering this period were made public after a declassification review that began under the Obama administration. They revealed new details of US government knowledge and support of an Indonesian army extermination campaign that killed several hundred thousand civilians during anti-communist hysteria in the mid-1960s.
(AP, 10/17/17)
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 1982 film “The Year of Living Dangerously" with Mel Gibson was set in Indonesia’s 1965 civil war. It was adapted from a novel by Christopher Koch.The film was banned in indo until 1999. 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)(AP, 10/4/13)
1965 In 2013 an American-directed documentary, "The Act of Killing," challenged widely held views about hundreds of thousands of deaths carried out across Indonesia from 1965 to 1966 in the name of fighting communism.
(AP, 10/4/13)
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 Indonesia enacted a blasphemy law in order to prevent abuse of religions.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_Indonesia)(Econ, 5/1/10, p.44)
1965-1966 In Indonesia some 500,000 alleged Communists were slaughtered during this period. As of 2014 the slaughter was never properly investigated.
(Econ, 8/9/14, p.36)
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 Apr 15, A US embassy communication to the Department of State about the number of deaths in Indonesia said: "We frankly do not know whether the real figure is closer to 100,000 or 1,000,000 but believe it wiser to err on the side of the lower estimates, especially when questioned by the press."
(AP, 4/18/16)
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 A team at Cornell Univ. published an influential report on what really happened during the violent takeover of Indonesia, in October 1915. Benedict Anderson (1936-2015), born in China to an Anglo-Irish father and English mother, was part of the team.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Anderson)(Econ, 5/21/16, p.77)
1966 Malaysia and Indonesia reached a peace agreement and shortly thereafter Indonesia resumed its membership in the UN.
(HNQ, 5/14/98)
1966 Indonesia’s 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 was revealed that US Ambassador Marshall Green in 1969 had foreknowledge 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 be unwise to expect free or direct elections.
(WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A23)(SSFC, 9/1/02, p.A15)(http://tinyurl.com/7cxq3)(Econ, 6/30/12, p.46)
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)
1972 Australia and Indonesia agreed to a maritime boundary set by the deepest point between them in the Timor Sea.
(Econ, 6/8/13, p.44)
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)
1976 PT Dirgantara Indonesia was founded as a state-owned company to produce prestige-enhancing aircraft.
(Econ, 2/15/14, p.57)
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)
1982 In Indonesia over three-quarters of the Riau province of central Sumatra was forested. By 2010 this dropped about a quarter.
(Econ, 10/30/10, p.44)
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)
1988 American geologist James Moffett (b.1938), founder of Freeport-McMoRan (1981), oversaw the development of Grasberg in Indonesia, one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines.
(Econ, 1/2/16, p.50)
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 Mount Lokon, one of about 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, erupted. It killed a Swiss hiker and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
(AP, 10/26/11)
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, In Indonesia the Merapi volcano erupted. Pyroclastic flows and surges killed 43 people.
(http://dogeatdogma.com/merapi.htm)(Reuters, 10/26/10)
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)
1995 A flight operated by the Indonesia-based Merpati Nusantara Airlines disappeared over open water while flying between islands in the archipelago nation. The de Havilland Twin Otter 300 with 14 crew and passengers was never found.
(AP, 3/14/14)
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 The Mega Rice Project was initiated in in the southern sections of Kalimantan, the Indonesian section of Borneo. The goal was to turn one million hectares of unproductive and sparsely populated peat swamp forest into rice paddies in an effort to alleviate Indonesia's growing food shortage. The project did not succeed, and was abandoned in 1999 after causing considerable damage to the environment.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Rice_Project)(Econ., 8/15/20, p.34)
1996 Construction on two 610-megawatt, coal fired generators is planned to start this year, and sales to Indonesia's state utility were expected to begin in 1999.
(WSJ, 3/26/96, p.A-15)
1996 In Indonesia 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 Indonesia.
(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)
1996-2001 In Indonesia, fighting over this period in West Kalimantan province between Dayaks and Muslim migrants from the island of Madura left thousands of people dead.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.30)
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 31, The 7-member ASEAN alliance, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, met in Kuala Lumpur and agreed to allow Burma to become a member in July. Laos and Cambodia were also to be admitted. The members were Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
(SFEC, 6/1/97, p.D3)
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, In Indonesia huge fires in tropical forests and plantations on Sumatra and Borneo and Java were blamed on slash-and-burn farming techniques. 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.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A12)(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A11)(Econ, 3/25/06, p.74)
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 Indonesia’s Bank Harapan Sentosa (BHS) went under despite a bailout loan of more than $260 million from the Indonesian central bank. In 1998 bank director Sherny Kojongian Saroha was detained and questioned over her role in the bank's failure and disappearance of the money. Saroha entered the US the following year and applied for permanent residency without disclosing her prior arrest. An Indonesian court in 2002 convicted her in absentia of misusing bank funds and sentenced her to 20 years in prison. In 2012 she was extradited from the US and handed over to Indonesia n authorities.
(AFP, 6/13/12)
1997 In Indonesia mobs killed and raped ethnic Chinese residents and looted and destroyed their businesses.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A12)
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 Defenders’ Front (FPI) was founded by security forces to counter leftist students. It developed a record of bloodily intimidating Christians, Ahmadis and those offending its puritanical morality.
(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.9)(Econ, 12/24/16, p.52)
1998 Indonesia suffered an economic meltdown in the wake of Suharto’s loss of power. The GDP contracted 13.2% in this year. The IMF insisted on the dismantling of monopolies tied to the Suharto regime as a condition of giving aid.
(WSJ, 5/16/01, p.A1)(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.9)(Econ, 4/9/11, p.76)
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)
1998 In Indonesia fires this year devastated over 5 million hectares of forest.
(Econ, 9/25/10, SR p.6)
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 5, Indonesia enacted Law No. 5 Concerning the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unhealthy/Unfair Business Competition (popularly know as the Competition Law or the Law), after the IMF required Indonesia to pass laws that ensure fair competition. The Commission to Monitor Business Competition (KPPU) was charged with enforcing the Law.
(Econ, 4/9/11, p.76)(http://tinyurl.com/3b2rty9)
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 Apr, Indonesia formally split the national police from the armed forces. The process was completed in July 2000.
(Econ, 11/6/10, p.55)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_National_Police)
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 May, Indonesia's parliament devolved murch authority from the center to localities turning the Indonesia into one of the world's most decentralized countries.
(https://tinyurl.com/2d89vrbd)(Econ., 1/16/21, p.26)
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 26, In Indonesia Frenchman Michael Blanc was arrested with 3.8 kg (8.4 pounds) of hash hidden in diving canisters. Blanc maintained his innocence, insisting that he was given the diving canisters to transport by a friend. In 2000 he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. On Jan 20, 2014 he was freed on parole.
(AP, 1/20/14)
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, In Indonesia at least 17 people were killed when troops opened fire on Christian and Muslim mobs on Seram Island in Maluku province. Thousands of people fled violence and poured into Ternate, the capital of North Maluku. Refugees claimed that hundreds of people died in fighting over 2 days.
(SFC, 1/5/00, p.A6)(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)
2001 Indonesia authorized Aceh province to introduce sharia Islamic law as part of a “special autonomy" aimed to end a long-running separatist war. In 2014 sharia law was extended to cover everyone in Aceh.
(Econ, 2/15/14, p.34)
2001 Irian Jaya, the Indonesia half of Papua New Guinea, was renamed Papua.
(Econ, 6/30/12, p.46)
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 31, In Indonesia the number of people killed during two days of widespread flooding grew to at least 33. Flooding in Jakarta eventually killed about 60 people.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1791623.stm)(Econ, 3/17/12, p.48)
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 4, China signed a landmark agreement, “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," with ASEAN (Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam) on avoiding open conflict in the disputed South China Sea Spratly Islands. Indonesia objected and Taiwan was barred from signing.
(Reuters, 11/4/02)(Econ, 5/22/04, p.40)(www.aseansec.org/13163.htm)
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. 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)
2002 Eka Kurniawan (b.1975), Indonesian novelist, authored “Cantik Itu Luka" (Beauty is a Wound). An English translation by Anni Tucker was published in 2015.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.75)
2002 After this year’s October 12 Bali bombing the government of Indonesia created Detachhment 88, an elite cunter-terror squad financed and trained by America and Australia.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.34)
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 Benny Wenda a leader of an insurgency against Indonesian rule in the eastern province of Papua, escaped from a Papuan jail and was granted asylum in Britain. He remained wanted by authorities in his homeland for alleged arson and murder. In 2011 Indonesia had Interpol put Wenda (37) on a wanted list as he continued to promote the cause of Papuan independence.
(AFP, 11/25/11)
2002 PT Dirgantara Indonesia won a contract to produce wing parts for the Airbus A380.
(Econ, 2/15/14, p.57)
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. Some 230,000 people were killed in a dozen countries.
(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)(AP, 11/12/13)
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)
2004 Producers and users of palm oil, 90% of which is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, set up a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.59)
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 8.3 kg 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 three of the convicted Australians had their death sentences reduced to life imprisonment. In 2011 Australian drug smuggler Scott Rush (24) won an appeal reducing his death sentence to life imprisonment.
(Econ, 9/16/06, p.52)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali_Nine)(AFP, 3/6/08)(AP, 5/10/11)
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. In 2012 the justice ministry recommended granting clemency Corby. Lawyers argued she had gone insane after being jailed in Bali’s Kerobokan prison. Her sentenced was reduced by 5 years. Corby was released on Feb 10, 2014.
(AP, 5/27/05)(AFP, 4/4/12)(AFP, 5/21/12)(AP, 2/10/14)
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 In Indonesia Andrea Hirata authored his autobiographical novel "The Rainbow Troops." In 2013 Angie Kilbane made it available in English.
(Econ, 2/9/13, p.80)
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)
2005 Indonesia’s government gave a 30-year permit to Putri Naga Komodo, a nonprofit joint venture company partially funded by The Nature Conservancy and the World Bank, to operate Komodo National Park tourist facilities in hopes of eventually making the park financially self-sustaining. The deal collapsed in 2010, when Putri Naga Komodo's permit was yanked.
(AP, 4/20/12)
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 death for trying to smuggle 18.3 pounds of heroin in 2005 from the Indonesian resort island of Bali to their homeland. In February, 2015, Myuran Sukumaran (33) and Andrew Chan (31) faced immediate execution.
(AP, 2/14/06)(SFC, 2/15/15, p.A6)(SSFC, 2/15/15, p.A6)
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 Apr 30, Pramoedya Ananta Toer (b.1925), Indonesian writer, died in Jakarta. 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 “Beauty Is a Wound" and “This Earth Mankind."
(WSJ, 8/10/04, p.D8)(Econ 7/15/17, p.73)
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)
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