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'Kambangan' (also 'Nusa Kambangan', 'Nusakambangan' or 'Nusa Kembangan') island is located in the Indian Ocean, separated by a narrow strait off the southern coast of Java island; the closest port is Cilacap in Central Java province. Dubbed as the "Alcatraz of Indonesia", the island is notorious for its maximum security prisons, home to convicted murderers, terrorists, drug dealers and those convicted in high profile corruption cases.

Contents

History

Geography and nature

Demographics

Prisons

Notorious inmates

Tourism

References

History

The island was made into a prison island during the Dutch period. The colonial government built a high security prison on the isolated island to exile criminals and political dissidents. The prison on Nusakambangan was opened in the mid-1920s by Indonesia's former Dutch colonial rulers and was once considered the harshest penal institution in South East Asia. The island was declared off-limits in 1905 by the Dutch.
Its usage as a prison island continued after independence. During the rule of former President Suharto, hundreds of political dissidents were imprisoned on the island. Most were political prisoners, members of the banned Communist Party of Indonesia.
In 1996 the island was finally opened to the public as a tourist destination.
The island has also been involved in refugee handling. About 140 Afghan refugees were detained on the island after their boat, which was en route to Christmas Island, Australia, sank in rough seas on August 17 2001. ^[1]
However, more than 90 of these refugees would later escape in September 19, 2001, sailing away in small fishing boats and are believed to be have headed for Australia. ^[2]
The island was also affected by the July 2006 Java earthquake, when a tsunami triggered by a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake off the coast of Java. At least 11 villagers diappeared and 8 people killed in the aftermath, two of which are prisoners in Permisan prison. ^[3]. And at least fifteen inmates on the Nusakambangan prison island near Pangandaran were also missing. ^[4]

Geography and nature

Nusakambangan is separated from the island of Java by the narrow Segara Anakan strait. Being isolated from mainland Java, the island is relatively under-developed and less inhabitated and the wildlife is better preserved.^[5] The eastern side of a bay is a nature reserve area where an old Dutch fortress is located on the Karangbandung beach. As a lowland tropical rain forest, Nusakambangan is biologically diverse.
More than 71 different bird species, 14 reptile species and various mammal species are found in the island. Twenty-three bird species are in classified as protected, including Kuntul Karang (''Egretta sacra''), Black Egret (''Ciconia episcopus''), Bangau Tongtong (''Leptoptilos javanicus''), white-bellied sea eagle (''Haliaeetus leucogaster''), elang bondol (''Haliastur indus''), and elang bido (''Spilornis cheela''). Several other protected mammal species include the black-spotted leopard (''Panthera pardus''), Javan Muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak'') and Javan mouse deer (''Tragulus javanicus''). Four of six endemic primates in Java, namely Javan Lutung (''Trachypithecus auratus''), the crab-eating Macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), Javan Surili (''Presbytis comata''), and kukang (''Nyctibus sp.''), have been reported to live on the island.

Demographics

The island population is 3,000, excluding the prison inmates and staff; most inhabitants are Javanese. Their main occupation is fishery and some work in rubber and teak plantations. However, illegal logging activities, mostly conducted by outsiders, threaten the island environment. Such activities have resulted in a vast critically threatened land area of approximately 30 km².^[6]

Prisons

There are nine prisons built in the island, four of which are still used:

★ Permisan prison, built in 1908,

★ Batu prison, built in 1925,

★ Besi prison, built in 1929,

★ Kembangkuning prison, built in 1950.
There are also five inactive prisons:

★ Nirbaya prison, built in 1912,

★ Karanganyar prison, built in 1912,

★ Karangtengah prison, built in 1928,

★ Gliger prison, built in 1929,

★ Limusbuntu prison, built in 1935.
All of these were built by Dutch, except Kembangkuning prison, which was built after independence. Of these, Batu prison is considered the most famous. ^[7]

Notorious inmates

Famous people once imprisoned on the island include:

★ Pramoedya Ananta Toer, poet and novelist, jailed as political prisoner.

★ Bob Hasan, former Minister of Forestry, convicted of corruption charges,

★ Imam Samudra, Amrozi, and Ali Gufron, three men convicted of organising the 2002 Bali bombing. They were expected to be executed there. ^[8][9]

★ Tommy Suharto, son of former president Suharto, convicted of masterminding the murder of the judge who sentenced him for corruption. ^{[10] [11]}

★ Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marianus Riwu, three men convicted as provocateurs of a deadly riot in Central Sulawesi; they have been executed there.
Nusakambangan has also held hundreds of members of Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, but they were later released as part of a peace deal. ^[12]
In June 2007, 244 inmates convicted in various drugs and narcotics offences is transported to the new Super Maximum Secutity Prison (SMS) in Nusakambangan. These inmates came from various prisons in the country. The moving is intended to isolate them and cut drug circulation in Indonesia. ^[13]

Tourism

From the mid-1990s, the island was intermittently promoted by local authorities as a tourist destination, primarily for its caves, beaches, and unusual wildlife that is extinct on Java.^[14]
Notable attractions include Permisan beach (''pantai Permisan'') with its beautiful white and gray sands near the Permisan jail lighthouse, Ranca Babakan on the west coast of the island, White Sands beach (''Pantai Pasir Putih''), and several caves such as Queen's cave (''Goa Ratu'').
According to the Cilacap Tourism Office, Nusakambangan was opened as a tourist destination following an agreement between the Central Java Governor and Ministry of Justice in 1996. The Cilacap government then invested some Rp 1.7 billion in preparations for the opening up of the island, most of which was used on the construction of tourist-related infrastructure.
A special agency (BPOW) was also established to manage tourism on the island, with the Nusakambangan Prison warden made head of the agency and Cilacap Tourism Office chief as the deputy. ^[15]
One of the main cultural events is ''Sedekah Laut'' (sea sacrifice), which is held by the Surakarta Sultanate every new year in the Javanese calendar.

References

1. Seeking Asylum
2. Afghan refugees escape Indonesian Alcatraz
3. Eleven Parmisan villagers still lost
4. At least 105 dead as Indonesia's tsunami nightmare returns
5. Nusakambangan: Relief for Prison Island Animals
6. Enhancement of Community Management Land in Nusakambangan under A Collaborative Management Scheme
7. Mencari Makna Kemerdekaan Manusia dari Nusakambangan
8. Bali bombers execution date set
9. Bali bombers to be executed in jail
10. Tommy Suharto moved to prison isle
11. Tommy moved to Indonesian 'Alcatraz'
12. Aceh rebels released as part of peace deal
13. Tuntas, Isolasi 244 Napi Narkoba
14. "Central Java to promote island resorts", ''Asia Pulse'' September 18, 1997.
15. Nusakambangan, a beautiful tourist resort