Nusa Kambangan

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 Dutch colonial rulers and was once considered the harshest penal institution in Southeast Asia. The island was declared off-limits in 1905 by the Dutch.

Its use 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 or sympathizers. These political prisoners were never brought to trial, and many of them died from hunger or illness.

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. However, more than 90 of these refugees would later escape on September 19, 2001, sailing away in small fishing boats and are believed to have headed for Australia.

The island was also affected by the 2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami, when a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake occurred off the coast of west Java. At least 11 villagers disappeared and 8 people were killed in the ensuing tsunami, two of which were prisoners at one of the Permisan prisons. At least fifteen inmates on the Nusakambangan prison island near Pangandaran were also missing.

Geography, flora and fauna

Nusakambangan is separated from Java by the narrow Segara Anakan strait. Being isolated from mainland Java, the island is relatively under-developed and less inhabited and the wildlife is better preserved. 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 classified as protected, including Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra), woolly-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus), lesser adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus), white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), and crested serpent eagle (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 (Nycticebus 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.

Prisons

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

There are also five inactive prisons:

All of these were built by the Dutch, except Kembangkuning prison, which was built after independence. Of these, Batu (literally "stone") prison is considered the most famous.

Notable inmates

Famous people imprisoned on the island include:

Nusakambangan has also held hundreds of members of Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, but they were later released as part of a peace deal.

In June 2007, 244 inmates convicted in various drugs and narcotics offences were transported to the new Super Maximum Security 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.

Executions

On November 2008, Imam Samudra, Amrozi, and Ali Gufron, three men convicted for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombing were executed by firing squad at Nusa Kambangan after their appeals for clemency were turned down.

In late 2014, the government of President Joko Widodo announced that the execution of persons convicted of drug-related offences would be resumed. Appeals for clemency from six convicted drug dealers were turned down. The resumption of executions attracted considerable international publicity. Shortly after midnight on Sunday 18 January 2015, five convicted persons were executed by firing squad at Nusakambangan Island and another person convicted of drug dealing was executed, at the same time, in a separate prison in Boyolali in Central Java. The Dutch and Brazilian governments announced that their ambassadors to Indonesia would be temporarily withdrawn in protest since Dutch and Brazilian nationals were amongst the executed.

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.

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 (around $200,000) in preparations for the opening up of the island, most of which was used on the construction of tourist-related infrastructure. A special agency 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. No individual tourists are allowed, all of the tourists within a group of minimum 15 persons which is arranged by tourist agency then will be accompanied by security officers until maximum 6 p.m without overnight stay.

One of the main cultural events is Sedekah Laut (sea sacrifice), which is held by the Surakarta Sunanate every Satu Suro (new year) in the Javanese calendar.

Environment

In early 2015, 40 percent of Nusa Kambangan is spoiled by illegal logging and land clearing for plantations. Most of it is occurring in Selokjero, Bantapanjang, Kalijati, Jengkolan, Jongorasu, and Karanglena.