If you need any proof of how endemically nasty and unlawful the Indonesian government and authorities are to this very day, research the case of Munir Said Thalib, an Indonesian human rights activist poisoned on an international Garuda flight to Amsterdam (where he was going to study International law). It seems clear the Indonesian authorities committed this murder as they tried to fool the Dutch he had died from a heart attack and now, despite the Indonesian President Yudhoyono's two year long promises to properly investigate this case, the Indonesian Government have let the murderer off and refused to allow a UN investigator to get involved. It is believed the Indonesian intelligence agency ordered Munir's death to protect Suharto; Suharto has recently been pardoned for his crimes by President Yudhoyono.

The more facts I learn about Indonesia, the more I detest the Republic. God bless Munir Said Thalib (photo above).

Indonesia, land of lies (why you do not hear much about what goes on).
It is documented fact that even the Indonesian president lies to their own citizens and international community about important issues such as H5N1 bird flu (the Indonesian Government denied there was any until an Indonesian medic turned whistle blower). The media is 100% suppressed; journalists have been jailed for reporting things such as how the power military backed Golkar party offered cash to voters to elect their preferred candidate (now President Yudhoyono) and then refused to pay! The citizens of Indonesia dare not report what goes on because the much abused "Criminal Libel" law which means you can not say anything bad about anyone more powerful or connected than you without their permission; really, this is not a joke. Indonesia misrepresents it tsunami warning system (it is highly unlikely to help anyone in Bali (see: Bali tsunami risk). There is evidence Indonesia even lies about how many foreign tourists arrive at its airports to try and make westerners feel good and safe in a sheep like way about going to Bali, when they should not.

Indonesia, unlawful state which should not be tolerated or even exist under international law.
Many people say Indonesia does not just act unlawfully and murderously both within and outside its national borders, the actual Republic of Indonesia is unlawful under international law. Some of the arguments are;

1) It is likely the Indonesian Government can not investigate the murder of Munir properly because a) they are the murderers and b) any honest report would probably result in the end of their unlawful government.

2) Munir is the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of people have been murdered, tortured and otherwise violated by the Indonesian Authorities who continue to do so while the duplicitous international community stands by and allows such crimes against humanity, protected by the sweeping under the carpet and whitewashing mechanisms of diplomacy, in return for trade involving Indonesia's vast mineral wealth, much of which is in West Papua (see: Foreign Government Policies). You see, Indonesia has not signed up to the important "first protocols" of the International Conventions on Human Rights, which means individuals can not make complaints with the UN appointed body but instead have to file them with the Department of Justice (yeh right) in Jakarta where they will get denied or buried. Human Rights crimes in Indonesia such as those committed (clearly documented) in East Timor in 1999 go nowhere fast. Should Indonesia agree to the first protocol which would allow fair and just cases to be conducted by highly regulated and trained 3rd parties, the Indonesian government would collapse under the weight of complaints and International pressure / sanctions. The fact that Indonesia so deliberately renages on its international guarantees make the government unlawful.

3) Indonesia was founded by a war criminal (Sukarno) who was an axis leader working with the Japanese. Indonesia's sole territorial claim to the region was for everything controlled by the Dutch (Dutch East Indies), not according to any ethnic or other legitimate claim. Sukarno should not have been recognized as leader of Indonesia (then just parts of Java and Sumatra) but tried for his crimes and the islands of the archipelago should have been restored to their former colonial states under international law. Again, read: Foreign Government Policies to understand why it was not. Indonesia's formation was and therefore still is unlawful.

4) Indonesia was a federation of two republics, the nasty Jakarta based Republik Indonesia and neighboring Negara Indonesia Timor (Bali and everything to the East) which came about mostly because of US lead international wishes for them to do so and because the Negara Indonesia Timoracted in good faith believing the trading benefits made sense as long as their rights (e.g. to independence if they wanted it) were protected. Negara Indonesia Timor's rights were enshrined in the infamous “Round-Table Conference” at The Hague which all parties (including the Dutch) signed off on in 1949 (see: Balinese History). However, because Sukarno's ruthless and now well equipped (from Dutch weapons) was made the Federal Army and because individual states were excluded from having their own national armies, Sukarno was able to effect unlawful control over the entire federation. Despite the fact UN monitors agreed The South Moluccas had legally declared independence from the Republic Indonesia, Jakarta invaded the islands and described it as an "internal matter" while the international community stood by and watched.

The same too with West Papua, whose people of Melanesian decent are completely distinct and different genetically, culturally and historically from the rest of Indonesia. The Papuans had already achieved an independent country state aided by the Dutch but were forced into the Republik Indonesia by the US led UN on the basis they would be given a fair referendum on independence. This referendum was never held, just a sham involving a few islanders loyal to Jakarta; this is a recorded fact.

Consequently Indonesia has never lived up to its signed International agreements and constitution and is therefore illegal.

5) Every person has the right to self determination; this is an international human right which Indonesia unfortunately along with many other countries breaks because it is a conceptual right which precise definitions get argued over by everyone. However, where Indonesian provinces such as Aceh, Irian Jaya (West Papua) and Ambon (The South Moluccas) have previously been independent states which were joined by force (Dutch colonization and subsequent Indonesian military suppression), clearly even the most basic interpretation of this human right where a significant number of people within those populations demonstrate a wish for independence from Jakarta, the mechanism should exist for them to decide freely and fairly if this is to be.

Indonesia breaks this human right (does not allow independence) in a number of ways. First its military are not armed forces used to defend their national border so much as they are for "internal security", to suppress any "insurrection"; this is a widely known fact even admitted by Jakarta. Second although the constitution makes it hard for any persons or people seeking independence a crime, the Indonesians do outlaw this by proxy / subterfuge; political parties advocating independence being outlawed for example.

6) The Indonesian Government is not a democratically elected government as claimed but a civil administration in a military republic. It is a fact the TNI (Indonesian Military) claim they founded the Republic Indonesia while the civilian politicians of the time conceded to the Dutch. It is also a fact the TNI's own stated charter is to protect the integrity of Indonesia against all enemies including civilian governments; this means any political party who brings the notion of independence for any of the provinces to the point of endangering the current national boundaries would be removed by the TNI and therefore Indonesia is not a democracy. The TNI are actively involved in politics and Golkar is the unofficial civilian political party of the TNI; this used to be an official union but to make Indonesia seem like a democracy, it was made unofficial. The TNI control much of Indonesia's industry as it is required to fund itself (the civilian government only gives the TNI one third of its official operational budget) plus has its strong arm suppression of the populous role which basically gives the TNI control over massive numbers of dutiful they have no choice) voters. As such it is a well recorded fact that any successful presidential candidate would need the support of the TNI to be elected; this is not democracy.

7) The Indonesian Government and president were not legally elected. Indonesia claims to be a democracy yet wholesale fraud and corruption pervails elections according to the 3 main monitoring NGO's who reported the presidential elections so flawed so as to be void; unregistered voters (32%) were allowed to vote, probably several times, men voted on "behalf" of their wives, Golkar party officials offered money for people to vote for their preferred candidate (Yudhoyono) (and then refused to pay up), at least 10% of voters were intimidated by party supporters at polling stations, village elders instructed their villagers how to vote whilst under surveillance, etc . It is bad enough the average age at which Indonesians leave the "education" system (such as it is) is under 11 years old, but the rampant and deliberately ignored vote rigging that goes on in Indonesia means that the election results are at best optimistic as to accuracy. Many point to President Yudhoyono's pardoning Suharto recently as evidence the election was rigged and that Yudhoyono got the necessary Golkar / TNI support because he was a general himself and that a deal was struck. Unfortunately Indonesia gets its elections rubber stamped by the international community (see Foreign Government Policies) for selfish duplicitous reasons when the elections should have been ruled invalid, even unlawful.

8) The Indonesian military have ultimate control over every aspect of life in Indonesia and ensure independence claims are met with bloodshed as their mandate is to protect the integrity of Indonesia against all enemies; this includes invaders, their own civilian government and the people of Indonesia. There is clear evidence the Indonesian military control Indonesia in every sense through and in league with the president as they report or rather work directly with him; the cabinet is appointed by the president. It is a recorded fact that the Indonesian military are a great part of Indonesian politics as they were criticized in 2006 for not having done anywhere near enough to get out of Indonesian politics; not surprising really as the mechanism for them doing this was an internal army review. The extent in such a secretive society to which the armed forces affect or rather afflict what is meant to be a civilian government can only be understood by reflecting upon reports of criminal gangs (police officers no less) pretending to be senior military officers who approach local civilian government officers for donations in order to get their (the Indonesian military) "assistance" and approval for civil projects. Such power and involvement shows Indonesia's democracy to be a farce and therefore invalid.

Other relevant information:

Presidents Megawati and Yudhoyono have both stated or demonstrated that corruption comes from the top in Indonesia, which is one of if not the most corrupt country in the world law enforcement wise (Transparency International). Law enforcement corruption equals human rights abuse, so admissions of corruption coming from the top down show that the entire state is not just corrupt and committing human rights abuse on an institutional basis, but that there is no legitimate chance for correction.

The Suharto regime is credited with mass murder, yet corruption and human rights abuse has actually increased dramatically since he was removed as president.

When Megawati was president she told Indonesian newspaper "Tempo" she could not fire a member of her cabinet for corruption because she would have to fire everyone. Megawati was successfully "lobbied" by members of Indonesia's elite [sic] with large poultry businesses not to make public details of H5N1 bird flu infections; the Indonesian Government lied about having no infections until a scientist turned "whistle blower". Under Megawati and Yudhoyono the people of Aceh who are legally entitled to self determination under international law but were denied this by Jakarta, were killed in their thousands by members of Indonesia's military (TNI). Megawati started clamping down on press and other freedoms.

President Yudhoyono came to power on a "freedom" and "anti-corruption" ticket but it is clear he lied about his intentions or changed his mind after he was elected as so many opposites were instead implemented. When in power Yudhoyono actually clamped down on, not increased freedoms. In an apparent PR stunt he created the "KPK" (Indonesian Corruption Commission) who have only ever investigated fraud or corruption by Yudhoyono / Golkar's opponents. Indonesian political parties are not allowed to have separatist mandates; they can only have intentions to seek greater autonomy for regions and only in certain areas, for example tax collection and distribution. When extra tax autonomy was actually given to regional governors, Yudhoyono reversed this.

The Balinese like so many other peoples of the various Indonesian provinces are unable to express themselves freely, including about any desire for autonomy or independence because regions that do (Aceh, Ambon, Papua, etc.) are silenced by the bloody intervention of the TNI. When the Balinese in the past so much as spoke a word of dissent against the unlawful invasion of the TNI to suppress them, not just they but also their families were butchered to death. Between the Laksar (Suharto / Golkar sponsored mafia), the corrupt police, the murderous TNI armed forces and BIN (Indonesian Intelligence Service), no Indonesian citizen is being given their civil and human rights except, critically, when it suits the president and army.

The Indonesian government play lip service to their legal obligations by signing up to human rights conventions while disallowing individual complaints to the UN Human Rights Commission; Indonesia only allows state-to-state complaints which means nothing when you understand Western Government's Foreign Policies. Most within the self-serving unlawful corrupt system are given virtual impunity, so that even when international or other public pressure results in a show trial and conviction, not only are sentences light and subject to generous remissions but it is questionable if the sentences are actually served anyway (special convicts often enjoy "house arrest" rather than jail if they become officially ill).

The Indonesian constitution has been repeatedly broken. The South Moluccas proved that Jakarta will not allow any Indonesian subjects to enjoy their rights under it or international human rights laws, which is probably why Munir was murdered before he could get a degree and be more effective. Proposed laws such as the so called anti-pornography legislation is back door Islamism. God and decent westerners help the Balinese.