Crimes against humanity

Geoffrey Robertson

Examines the complex process of establishing international law and traces the history of attempts to define 'human rights' and efforts to punish those in power who violate them. In the crisis in Indonesia and East Timor, it serves as a timely reminder that such issues may increase in significance as we enter the 21st century. The problem with international human rights law remains the difficulty of getting countries that sign such commitments to take them seriously. Robertson suggests that March 24 1999 may come to be seen as a landmark date for international law. On that day, the principle of intervention in cases of extreme humanitarian necessity was established by the Nato bombing of Serbia; and the British Law Lords ruled there was no sovereign immunity for ex-heads of state under the Torture Convention, thus making it possible for General Augusto Pinochet to be tried

for his crimes in Chile. (SCMP 13 Nov 1999).

Viking, 1999, hbk ISBN 0713991976, US$ 30.75

Ruler's law

International Commission of Jurists

Recommendations from an ICJ visit to Indonesia March-April 1999, many of which have subsequently been taken up by the new Wahid government. The ICJ urged Indonesia to set up (a) a new constitutional court to review legislation and executive actions; (b) an independent inquiry into judicial corruption; and (c) a truth commission to look into human rights violations committed during nine years of military occupation of Aceh. ICJ secretary-general Adama Dieng said at present 'the constitution places no real limits on the president'. He also said 'the minister of justice controls all matters relating to judges,' and 'the supreme court can exercise no effective control over executive and legislative action. Compounding the dilemma is the absence of adequate mechanisms to call judges to account.'

International Commission of Jurists, Nov 1999, 143 pp, avail: www.icj.org/pub/publica.htm

East Timor - Too little, too late

Lansell Taudevin

History of East Timor by an Australian aid worker who lived in Indonesia from 1983 until he was thrown out of Dili for allegedly spying in April 1999. Taudevin was a Methodist minister until 1965, and has worked throughout Asia for the World Bank and other organisations since 1970. From 1996-99 he directed AusAID's water sanitation and supply project in East Timor. He warned Australian embassy officials, as long ago as July 1998, that the Indonesian army was arming and training pro-Jakarta militia groups. But he says his warnings 'were not taken seriously. I was eventually pulled out because I was considered to be an alarmist, biased, fraternising with Fretilin, all this kind of rubbish.'

Duffy & Snellgrove, 1999, ISBN 1 875989 63 3, AU$25, PO Box 177, Potts Point NSW 1335, Australia, tel (+61)-2-9386 0280, email info@duffyandsnellgrove.com.au, web www.duffyandsnellgrove.com.au/

Hollow development - The politics of health in Soeharto's Indonesia

Januar Achmad

A benchmark study of the limitations of New Order development. Suharto's obsessive concern with security translated into strong support for population control. But rural health issues failed to command similar support because they had no bearing on security or economic development. The Department of Health was marginalised and any health improvements were biased towards urban needs and privatised access. Januar Achmad served for 10 years as a government doctor in Central Java running a community health centre, before conducting research in the same area for the Ministry of Health. He then collected further data while undertaking a doctoral degree in demography from ANU, the results of which form the basis for this book. (Ron Witton, rwitton@uow.edu.au).

Canberra: Aust. Nat. University Demography Program, 1999, 220pp, ISBN 07315 48124, AU$ 13.50, fax (+61)-2-6249-3031, tel (+61)-2-6249-0527

Our kind of guys - the US and the Indonesian military

Allan Nairn

For years the US has sponsored paramilitary forces overseas that have successfully suppressed local popular movements. But now Washington's protege Suharto has fallen and its client army is being shaken by widespread protests. In this fast-paced, up-to-the-minute account, journalist Allan Nairn describes how Indonesia and East Timor have made significant moves toward freedom despite determined opposition from the US government. Drawing on first-hand experience and interviews with top Indonesian and US military and government officials, Nairn details how Washington has armed and trained an Indonesian military responsible for the most intensive mass killings since World War II. Allan Nairn has covered US foreign operations since 1980. His investigations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, Indonesia and East Timor have won numerous awards.

London: Verso, due June 2000, 160p, hbk ISBN 1859847358, US$20

The pesantren tradition

Zamakhsyari Dhofier

The Javanese religious schools (pesantren) system is among the largest and most complex educational networks in the Muslim world. It was the primary educational system in Java prior to 1900, and continues to play a vital role. Despite its size and importance, little has been written in European languages about the pesantren. President Abdurrahman Wahid was raised and educated in the pesantren tradition. This book describes the social and theological contexts that inform his political and religious orientations.

Arizona State Univ, Program for Southeast Asian Studies Monograph, 1999, 254pp, pbk ISBN 188104419X, US$19.95

A guide to the gamelan

Neil Sorrell

Second edition of a basic introduction to the background, playing, theory, and building of Central Javanese gamelan. Suitable for players of gamelan as well as students wishing to gain a basic vocabulary of gamelan terms. Includes photographs of individual instruments being played by Joko Purwanto.

American Gamelan Institute (AGI) for Society for Asian Music, Cornell University, 2000, US$12+$5 p/h, Box 1052, Lebanon, NH 03766 USA, tel/fax (+1)-603-448 8837, email jody.diamond@dartmouth.edu, web www.gamelan.org

Indonesian images

Niels Mulder

Subtitled 'The culture of the public world', this book sketches the development of public discourse until just before the monetary crisis of 1997. Includes sections on school social science text books, intelligentsia, the press, and some selected fiction. At that time discussion in civil society clearly showed cracks in the walls of the New Order and foreshadowed its imminent undoing. Niels Mulder is an anthropologist with a lifelong interest in emerging civil society throughout Southeast Asia.

Yogyakarta: Kanisius, 2000, 249pp, ISBN 979-672-656-4, US$10 +p/h, tel (+62)-274-588 783, fax 563349, email kanissrn@yogya.wasantara.net.id