[asia-apec 34] statement of solidarity with the Indonesian people

[daga]

PHILIPPINE SOLIDARITY FOR EAST TIMOR AND INDONESIA (PHILSETI)
c/o PCISP, 17 F. Calderon St., Brgy. Marilag, Project 4, Quezon City, Phils.
Tel: (+632) 9438 5228   Fax: (+632) 438 5227   
E-mail:<infolink at snap.portalinc.com>

STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE INDONESIAN PEOPLE
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 51ST YEAR OF INDONESIAN INDEPENDENCE*

For the past 31 years, the Indonesian people have been suffering one of the
most repressive regimes in the world under the iron-fisted army general
Soeharto and his cohorts. No freedom of expression: the citizens cannot  get
together and  discuss their future; the mass media is strictly censored;
vocal journalists are jailed. 

No right of free association: workers can join only the government-sponsored
union; students must belong only to the government-favored association;
lawyers must join the association recognized by the government. Nor can
citizens mobilize fellow citizens to action. Political parties need
government approval for their candidates. 

There are no laws and practices respecting and protecting human rights.
Instead, the state has, since 1965, been enforcing a system designed to
deprive citizens of these rights, with the Indonesian military casting its
huge shadow over politics and society in its entirety. The Soeharto regime
is one of the most brutal in the world - having murdered three quarters of a
million people, alleged to be communists or communist supporters, and
imprisoning another quarter soon after his coup attempt in 1965. 

However, citizens have started to protest. NGOs are proliferating. Workers
are now organizing into independent unions. Academics are becoming more
vocal. Peasants now dare to demonstrate to protect their land and
livelihood. There have been mass rallies in support of opposition leader
Megawati in most cities throughout Indonesia. The government has been forced
to step back. But with these too, more coercion. 

The world can not also forget that Indonesia continues to occupy East Timor
since December 1975, brutally repressing the nationalist aspirations of the
Maubere people. 

It is in this light that we in Phil-SETI, the Philippine Solidarity for East
Timor and Indonesia, congratulate the Indonesian people on the 51st year of
their independence. We recall with you the glorious birth of the Indonesian
nation. We are also one with you in recouping thirty one years of suffering
under the Soeharto's regime. We are in solidarity with you in your struggle
for democracy as we are with the Maubere people's struggle for independence
from Indonesia.

The time has come to bury an anachronistic system. The time for freedom is NOW!

Restore democratic rights to the Indonesian people!
Indonesia, out of East Timor!

16 August 1996.

*read during a picket-rally in front of the indonesian embassy. flags of
east timor and indonesia were raised. activity culminated with the burning
of the ABRI flag. participating organizations included philseti, apcet,
pcisp, iid, task force detainees-national capital region. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Documentation for Action Groups in Asia (DAGA)
96, 2nd District, Pak Tin Village
Mei Tin Road, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong
Tel : (852) 2691 6391/ 2691 1068 ext 54
Fax: (852) 2697 1912
E-mail: daga at hk.super.net  
----------------------------------------------------------------------