Dutch war crimes in Sulawesi, Indonesia

By Batara R. Hutagalung, Founder and Chairman of the Committee of Dutch Honorary Debts:

THE COMMITTEE OF DUTCH HONORARY DEBTS

PRESS  RELEASE

The Galung Lombok Massacre. Commemoration 2013

On February 1, 1947, the Dutch special troops, Depot Speciale Troepen massacred more than 700 villagers in the village of Galung Lombok, District of  Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi. The victims were from the surrounding villages of Galung Lombok, from the District of Polewali Mandar and the District of Majene.

(List of the names of the victims from booth districts, see: http://batarahutagalung.blogspot.com/2012/06/galung-lombok-massacre-list-of.html)

In connection with this horrific humanitarian tragedy, the people of the West Sulawesi Province will hold the 2nd Congress of the People of Mandar on Saturday, February 2, 2013 at the Assammalewuang Building, Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto, Majene – West Sulawesi.

The Governor of the Province of West Sulawesi, H. Anwar Adnan Shaleh will open the Congress.

Keynote speaker: Salim Mengga, Chairman of the Organisation of the People of Mandar, West Sulawesi

Speakers: 1. Drs. H. Hamzah H. Hasan, Chairman of the Parliament of West Sulawesi.
2. Brig. Gen. (ret.) H. Jawas Jusuf, son of a victim of the massacre.
3. Prof. DR. Edward   L. Poelinggomang, Historian at the Hassanuddin University, Makassar.
4. Mulyo Wibisono, SH., MSc, Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Committee of Dutch Honorary Debts.
5. H. Zainuddin, eye witness.
6. Batara R. Hutagalung, Founder and Chairman of The Committee of Dutch Honorary Debts.

To commemorate the killings of more than 700 villagers, on Sunday, February 3, 2013 a commemoration will be held at the Monument of Galung Lombok.

For the first time, a reconstruction of the massacre will be held in a theatrical performance.

More than one thousand people of the Province of West Sulawesi and the Province of South Sulawesi will attend the commemoration.

The Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia, HE Tjeerd de Zwan is also invited to  attend the congress and the commemoration.

Some Dutch sources about the massacre in Galung Lombok, see:

http://indonesiadutch.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-massacre-in-galung-lombok-bloedbad.html

To see the pictures, please click:

http://indonesiadutch.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-galung-lombok-massacre.html

Weblog: http://indonesiadutch.blogspot.com

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New Indonesian rat species discovery

From DISCOVER Magazine:

Newly discovered rat that can’t gnaw or chew

If you only looked at mammals, you could reasonably believe that the chisellers have inherited the earth. Of all the various species of mammals, forty percent are rodents. Rats, mice, squirrels, guinea pigs… all of them have the same modus operandi. They gnaw their way into their food with self-sharpening chisel-like teeth.

Whether tiny gerbil or huge capybara, rodents eat with the same special teeth. The upper and lower jaws each have a single pair of incisors that grow continuously through their lives. The front of each tooth is made from hard enamel, while the back is made of soft dentine. As the rodent gnaws, the incisors scrape at each other, and the dentine wears away faster than the enamel. This creates a permanently sharp edge, useful for cracking into wood, nuts and flesh alike. Once gnawed, the rodent passes its food to the back of their mouths to be chewed by grinding molars.

But on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, Jacob Esselstyn has discovered a new species of rodent that radically departs from this universal body plan: a “shrew-rat” that he calls Paucidentomys vermidax.Its name –a mash-up of Latin and Greek—gives a clue to its lifestyle. It means “worm-devouring, few-toothed mouse”.

The shrew-rat is just a few inches long, with small eyes, large ears, and a soft coat. Its most distinctive feature, however, is its long snout, reminiscent of the distantly related shrews that it is named after. At the end of the snout, the lower jaw has the usual flat-edged incisors, but the upper jaw has a pair of bicuspids (like the ones next to your pointed canines). And that’s it. Unlike every other rodent, this one has no molars—just four incisors, nothing else.

There are other shrew-rats in Indonesia and the Philippines, and while all of them have lost the ability to gnaw, none have features quite as extreme as Esselstyn’s new find. (All of them, for example, have molars.) They’re an odd group, united by their common long-snouted appearance rather than by any evolutionary similarities. Rather than forming one unified branch of the rodent family tree, the shrew-rats represent twigs on separate branches. They evolved their odd shapes independently.

Shrew-rats typically eat earthworms and other soft-bodied creatures that don’t require gnawing teeth. That’s exactly what Esselstyn’s new species does. He collected two of the animals in March 2011, and when he examined the stomach contents of one, he found earthworms and nothing else.

Esselstyn thinks that the shrew-rat has lost the ability to chew and gnaw because it only eats soft prey. It only needs teeth for capturing food rather than processing it. As such, it has lost everything except for two front incisors, used to snag worms and cut them into easy-to-swallow pieces. Like the lost limbs of snakes and whales, the missing teeth of the shrew-rat are a reminder that evolution disposes of body parts that are no longer useful, and that those same losses can open up new opportunities.

Reference: Esselstyn, Achmadi & Rowe. 2012. Evolutionary novelty in a rat with no molars. Biology Letters. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0574

See also here. And here. And here.

New Indonesian bat discovery

This video from Australia is called Cute baby Fruit Bat.

From Wildlife Extra:

New species of fruit bat discovered in Indonesia

New bat found on Sulawesi but in danger from hunting and trapping

August 2012. A new species of fruit bat has been discovered in Indonesia. In the genus Thoopterus, T. suhaniahae has been found on the islands of Sulawesi, Talaud and Wowoni in Indonesia.

The new species of Thoopterus is a medium-sized fruit bat found in Sulawesi and small adjacent island groups. It is found in primary forest at middle and low land altitudes. The discovery of a second species of Thoopterus endemic to Sulawesi and adjacent islands provides further evidence that Sulawesi is a ‘hot spot’ of bat evolution.

Unfortunately, ongoing large scale hunting and trapping of fruit bats in the north and parts of Central Sulawesi and elsewhere, seriously endangers the survival of this species as well as other fruit bats on these islands.

See also here.

Indicator Bats Program: Online tool to identify European bat calls: here.

Bats Evolved More Than One Way to Drink Nectar: here.

Bats threatened by climate change: here.

Bats Track and Exploit Changes in Insect Pest Populations: here.

New Indonesian rodent species discovery

This video says about itself:

Sulawesi (Indonesia) – Researchers from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” discover a new mammal species in montane tropical rainforest. A new mammal species has been discovered in the Mekkonga mountains, a mountain range in the southeast of Sulawesi (Indonesia). Scientists estimate that something like 8-10 million of species are yet to be discovered. Even if the discovery of invertebrates is a relatively frequent event in a planet by centuries of explorations, the discovery of a new mammal species is quite a rare event.The new species is an arboreal rodent belonging to the genusMargaretamys, denominated Margaretamys christinae, which has been captured during an expedition carried out between December 2010 and March 2011.

From Wildlife Extra:

New mammal species discovered in Indonesia

Researchers from “La Sapienza”, the University of Rome, have discovered a new mammal species in montane tropical rainforest of Indonesia

July 2012. A new mammal species has been discovered in the Mekkonga mountains in the southeast of Sulawesi (Indonesia). The new species is an arboreal rodent belonging to the genus Margaretamys, and has been named Margaretamys christinae.

The new species was captured at 1537 m in tropical montane rainforest. The genus Margaretamys (Muridae) now contains 4 species, all endemic of Sulawesi and all adapted to arboreal life. The species are of conservation concern since two of them are listed as “Endangered” and “Vulnerable” in the IUCN red list.

Endangered

From the zoogeographic point of view this find confirms the adaptive radiation of rodents in the mountains of Sulawesi; the new species has been proposed as “Endangered” for the IUCN red list.

Tough going in The Mekkonga Mountains

The goal of the expedition was to explore the Mekkonga mountains, following the footsteps of the 1932 expedition by the German explorer Gerd Heinrich. Due to the lack of data, information on the conservation status and survival of the mammal species discovered by Heinrich was unknown. In addition to the discovery of a new mammal species it was possible to confirm the persistence of Prosciurillus abstrusus a ground squirrel endemic to the Mekkonga mountains and of a species of Maxomys, also endemic of the mountain range.

The field expedition was carried out by Alessio Mortelliti in collaboration with some inhabitants of nearby villages, which were crucial for finding the way through the thick tropical rainforest of the Mellonga mountains.

The description of the species has been carried out in collaboration with Dr. Riccardo Castiglia, researcher at the Universoty of Rome “La Sapienza”, Giovanni Amori (CNR-ISE), Ibnu Maryanto (LIPI – Bogor) and Guy G. Musser (American Museum of Natural History, NY). The discovery has been the focus of a scientific paper and will thus appear in Volume 25 of the scientific journal Tropical Zoology.

Dutch war crimes in Indonesia, photos

Translated from Dutch daily De Volkskrant:

First ever pictures of executions by the Dutch army in Indonesia

10/07/12, 07:35 – source: Lidy Nicolasen

For the first time in history, photos have surfaced of executions, which were most likely carried out by the Dutch army during the police actions

“police actions” is a Dutch governmental euphemism for the war which Dutch armed forces waged against the Indonesian republic (independence proclaimed in 1945)

in the former Dutch East Indies. The photographs are from the private album of a soldier who served as a conscript in the Dutch East Indies.

In the pictures we see the liquidation of three Indonesians. They stand with their backs to the firing squad at the edge of a ditch when they are shot. The trench is filled with corpses of executed people, according to a second photo. On the left side are two Dutch soldiers, recognizable by their uniforms.

Never before

Experts from the war studies institute NIOD and the Dutch Institute for Military History (NIMH) say such photographs have never before been seen. “They are not everyday pictures and certainly not every Dutch soldier who went to the Indies Military brought such pictures home,” said an employee of the NIMH. The NIOD also did not know about this kind of pictures, said René Kok. “We have lots of albums here. You’re waiting for the moment that such a picture turns up and that is now. Previously I have never seen this.”

The historians which we consulted do not doubt the authenticity. The exact location nor the circumstances of the execution are known. Possibly further research will provide more details.

The author is a soldier from Enschede. He is now deceased. He was sent to Indonesia in 1947, shortly before the first police action, and he only returned in 1950, after the Netherlands had recognized Indonesian sovereignty. He served in the artillery. The official military history of his armed forces branch does not mention executions. Supposedly, the artillery only assisted the infantry and the Special Forces, who did do executions.

Well known executions were in the Javanese village Rawagede and in South Sulawesi. Last year, the families of the victims of Rawagede were awarded damages by the Dutch government. The Dutch state has yet to respond to the lawsuit filed against the extrajudicial killings in South Sulawesi. How many Indonesians died in both actions is not known.

The soldier had never publicized the existence of the photos. His albums would have remained unknown if they would not have been found recently in a dumpster in Enschede. Who had thrown them there is not known.

Big new wasp species discovered in Indonesia

From Wildlife Extra:

Huge new wasp discovered in Sulawesi

Wasp has jaws bigger than its head

August 2011. The new species of wasp, discovered by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, is one of the world’s largest wasps.

2.5 inches long

The jaw-dropping, shiny black wasp appears to be the “Komodo dragon” of the wasp family. It’s huge. The male measures about two-and-a-half-inches long, Kimsey said. “Its jaws are so large that they wrap up either side of the head when closed. When the jaws are open they are actually longer than the male’s front legs. I don’t know how it can walk. The females are smaller but still larger than other members of their subfamily, Larrinae.”

Kimsey discovered the warrior wasp on the Mekongga Mountains in south-eastern Sulawesi on a recent biodiversity expedition funded by a five-year grant from the International Cooperative Biodiversity Group Program.

The insect-eating predator belongs to the genus Dalara and family Crabronidae. “I’m going to name it Garuda, after the national symbol of Indonesia,” Kimsey said. Garuda, a powerful mythical warrior that’s part human and part eagle, boasts a large wingspan, martial prowess and breakneck speed.

See also here. And here.

And here. And here.

Vittoria Amati photographs the marine life around the coral reefs of Sulawesi, Indonesia: here.

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Shrew discoveries in Indonesia

This video says about itself:

The short-tail shrew is the only North American mammal with a poisonous bite. That’s a cool fact, but too bad for an unfortunate snake!

From GreenAnswers.com:

New Small Mammals Discovered in Sulawesi

By Nick Engelfried on Sat, 07/30/2011 – 7:44pm

A survey of small mammals from a forest site on the tropical island of Sulawesi, Indonesia … has turned up between two and four shrew species believed to be new to science. Although more DNA testing is needed to determine exactly how many separate species the new shrews constitute, the discovery is a reminder of how much still remains to be learned about wildlife in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia.

Researchers from McMaster University in Ontario and the Museum of Zoology in Bogor, Indonesia conducted a week-long study of small mammals on Sulawesi’s Mt. Tompotika in April of this year. Recently released preliminary results of the study document finding four rat species previously found in other parts of Sulawesi, as well as between two and four shrews.

One of the shrews is currently classified as belonging to a known species, but further research might show the Mt. Tompotika variety to be a separate species. The others are all new to science, and are probably found only on Sulawesi.

All of the shrews found in the Mt. Tompotika survey belong to a group known as white-toothed shrews, an assemblage of more than 160 small mammals scattered over much of Europe, Asia, and Africa. While most white-toothed shrews live on the ground, some species frequently climb into trees. Like other shrews they are predators, feeding mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Because of their small size, shrews are more easily overlooked than many mammals by scientific surveys. The discovery of at least two, and possibly up to four new species on Mt. Tompotika shows the extent to which knowledge about these creatures remains incomplete. It is likely many more shrew species remain undiscovered, especially in tropical sites like Tompotika.

“Tompotika is a remarkably rich and distinctive place for biodiversity,” said a newsletter publication of the Alliance for Tompotika Conservation, referring to the mountain site where the shrews were found. The conservation organization reports that this single tropical site is now known to be home to at least nine animal species that occur nowhere else in the world. “As the area gets more scientific attention,” the Alliance says, “that number is sure to rise.”

Looking at the entire island of Sulawesi, where Tompotika is located, an even more pronounced pattern of unique and rare species emerges. Over 60% of the mammals on Sulawesi are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world. These range from the large babirusa—a forest-dwelling pig with spectacular tusks—to tiny and secretive mammals like the newly discovered shrews.

Yet as with most other Indonesian islands, biodiversity on Sulawesi is under severe threat. Only about 20% of Sulawesi’s original forest cover remains, with much of the rest having succumbed to logging, mining, and agricultural development. This means the last intact sites, like Mt. Tompotika, are especially important from a conservation standpoint.

Despite the urgency of preserving Sulawesi’s last stands of tropical forest, the island has received less attention from researchers and conservationists than nearby larger Indonesian islands. So far the bulk of international attention to conservation in Indonesia has focused on Borneo and Sumatra—the two largest islands in the archipelago nation, which are home to highly charismatic animals like the tiger and the orangutan.

As researchers learn more about the unique plants and animals of Sulawesi, more international conservation groups may turn their attention to this extraordinary and imperiled island. Increased efforts to protect the forests of Sulawesi will help ensure a future for hundreds of species found nowhere else, including the newly discovered shrews that can now be added to the island’s list of endemic animal life.

Endangered Sumatran Tiger Dies in Trap While Bulldozers Rip Rainforest Nearby (VIDEO) : here.

An investigation released today reveals that Auckland [New Zealand] based company Cottonsoft is sourcing its toilet paper from rainforests in Indonesia, home of the critically-endangered Sumatran tiger: here.

Greenwashing doesn’t wash with us – we’ll continue to expose the truth about deforestation in Indonesia: here.