INDONESIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Indonesia is a multiparty ...

INDONESIA 21
At the provincial level, there was one female governor and one vice governor.
Women held disproportionately few leadership positions in local government in
some provinces; for example, in Aceh the highest position held by a woman was
that of deputy mayor, in the city of Banda Aceh.
With the exception of Aceh Province, where non-Muslims effectively were
blocked from political office by a requirement that all candidates must demonstrate
their ability to read the Qur’an in Arabic, there were no legal restrictions on the
role of minorities in politics. There were no official statistics on the ethnic
backgrounds of legislators in the DPR. President Yudhoyono’s cabinet consisted
of a plurality of Javanese, with others being of Sundanese, Bugis, Batak, Acehnese,
Papuan, Balinese, and Chinese heritage.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and the government
generally tried to implement the law. Despite the arrest and conviction of many
high-profile and high-powered officials, there was a widespread domestic and
international perception that corruption remained a part of daily life. Both the
KPK and the AGO under the deputy attorney general for special crimes have
jurisdiction over investigation and prosecution of corruption cases. During the
year the KPK conducted 76 inquiries, 65 investigations, and 45 prosecutions. As a
result of the KPK’s prevention and prosecutorial activities, it recovered a total of
approximately 134 billion rupiah (approximately $14.7 million) in state assets. In
addition, it recovered and prevented the loss of more than 150 trillion rupiah ($16.6
billion) in state assets, according to the KPK’s annual report.
Widespread corruption throughout the legal system continued. Bribes and
extortion influenced prosecution, conviction, and sentencing in civil and criminal
cases. During the year the National Ombudsman Commission reported receiving
85 complaints of judicial corruption involving judges, clerks, and lawyers. Key
individuals in the justice system were accused of accepting bribes and of turning a
blind eye to other government offices suspected of corruption. Legal aid
organizations reported cases often moved very slowly unless a bribe was paid.
As a result of an independent fact-finding team’s investigation, President
Yudhoyono formed a Task Force to Eradicate Judicial Mafia to investigate the
network of case brokers and influence peddlers who act as intermediaries in
judicial cases. As of November the task force had received 4,850 complaints,
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011
United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor