[asia-apec 1303] Fw: Detained American Journalist Faces Imprisonment

[rc-am]

Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 19:02:39 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp at igc.apc.org>

For Immediate Release
Contact: Amy Goodman 212-209-2812
John Miller 718-596-7668

DETAINED AMERICAN JOURNALIST FACES IMPRISONMENT

Journalist Allan Nairn remains in military detention after three days of
questioning by Indonesian authorities.

Nairn is being held and interrogated by the local Immigration Chief in
Kupang, West Timor, Mr. Zurya.  According to Zurya, the Indonesian
regime
is divided over his fate:  Justice Minister Muladi and Information
Minister
General Yunus Yosfiah, want Nairn deported; while Benny Mateus, the
Chief
Justice of Nusa Tenggara Timor province wants Nairn prosecuted and
jailed.
Nairn.  The immigration chief said Nairn could face up to 10 years
imprisonment.

During his interrogation, Nairn was asked to hand write a statement
(full
text attached).  In the statement, Nairn said:

"I know that the army has put me on the black list. They did this
because I
watched their soldiers murder more than 271 people at the Santa Cruz
cemetery. . . . Because I survived the massacre and denounced the crime
to
the outside world, the TNI/ABRI and the Suharto government banned me as
a
"threat to national security." That ban has been reaffirmed by each
subsequent TNI/ABRI commander, including General Tanjung and General
Wiranto."

Nairn was one of the last journalists to remain in East Timor after the
Indonesian military and militias began to sack Dili, forcing nearly all
United Nations personnel and independent observers to flee the country.
Indonesian soldiers picked him up at a military checkpoint on September
14
5:30am(Dili time). He was then taken to KOREM, central army command
headquarters for East Timor. There he was questioned by the Indonesian
general in charge of martial law as hundreds of Itarak militia amassed
in
the back of the army compound.

On September 16, the military expelled Nairn from East Timor, flying him
in
a military jet to Indonesian West Timor. Also on the plane were militia
armed with automatic weapons.

Nairn is a freelance journalist who filed regular reports from East
Timor
for news organizations, including The Nation magazine and Pacifica
Radio.
In 1991, while reporting for The New Yorker magazine, Nairn survived the
1991 Santa Cruz massacre in which Indonesian soldiers, armed with U.S.
supplied M-16s, gunned down more than 250 unarmed Timorese. Soldiers
fractured Nairn's skull at the time.

After the massacre Nairn, (together with Amy Goodman of WBAI/Pacifica
Radio) was banned from Indonesia and occupied Timor as "a threat to
national security." The ban has since been  personally reaffirmed by the
TNI commander, General Wiranto. Nairn returned to East Timor without the
knowledge of the Indonesian armed forces in 1994 and 1998.

Earlier this year, in defiance of the ban, Nairn again entered
Indonesia. He has been in occupied East Timor since August.

Nairn has covered military and human rights issues since 1980. His
reporting from Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, Indonesia, East Timor and
other places, has won the George Polk Award, the Robert F.  Kennedy
Prize
for International Reporting, The DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton, as well
as
awards from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the
Radio/Television News Directors Association.


# # #



For Immediate Release
Contact: Amy Goodman 212-209-2812
John Miller 718-596-7668

DETAINED AMERICAN JOURNALIST FACES IMPRISONMENT

Journalist Allan Nairn remains in military detention after three days of
questioning by Indonesian authorities.

Nairn is being held and interrogated by the local Immigration Chief in
Kupang, West Timor, Mr. Zurya.  According to Zurya, the Indonesian
regime
is divided over his fate:  Justice Minister Muladi and Information
Minister
General Yunus Yosfiah, want Nairn deported; while Benny Mateus, the
Chief
Justice of Nusa Tenggara Timor province wants Nairn prosecuted and
jailed.
Nairn.  The immigration chief said Nairn could face up to 10 years
imprisonment.

During his interrogation, Nairn was asked to hand write a statement
(full
text attached).  In the statement, Nairn said:

"I know that the army has put me on the black list. They did this
because I
watched their soldiers murder more than 271 people at the Santa Cruz
cemetery. . . . Because I survived the massacre and denounced the crime
to
the outside world, the TNI/ABRI and the Suharto government banned me as
a
"threat to national security." That ban has been reaffirmed by each
subsequent TNI/ABRI commander, including General Tanjung and General
Wiranto."

Nairn was one of the last journalists to remain in East Timor after the
Indonesian military and militias began to sack Dili, forcing nearly all
United Nations personnel and independent observers to flee the country.
Indonesian soldiers picked him up at a military checkpoint on September
14
5:30am(Dili time). He was then taken to KOREM, central army command
headquarters for East Timor. There he was questioned by the Indonesian
general in charge of martial law as hundreds of Itarak militia amassed
in
the back of the army compound.

On September 16, the military expelled Nairn from East Timor, flying him
in
a military jet to Indonesian West Timor. Also on the plane were militia
armed with automatic weapons.

Nairn is a freelance journalist who filed regular reports from East
Timor
for news organizations, including The Nation magazine and Pacifica
Radio.
In 1991, while reporting for The New Yorker magazine, Nairn survived the
1991 Santa Cruz massacre in which Indonesian soldiers, armed with U.S.
supplied M-16s, gunned down more than 250 unarmed Timorese. Soldiers
fractured Nairn's skull at the time.

After the massacre Nairn, (together with Amy Goodman of WBAI/Pacifica
Radio) was banned from Indonesia and occupied Timor as "a threat to
national security." The ban has since been  personally reaffirmed by the
TNI commander, General Wiranto. Nairn returned to East Timor without the
knowledge of the Indonesian armed forces in 1994 and 1998.

Earlier this year, in defiance of the ban, Nairn again entered
Indonesia. He has been in occupied East Timor since August.

Nairn has covered military and human rights issues since 1980. His
reporting from Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, Indonesia, East Timor and
other places, has won the George Polk Award, the Robert F.  Kennedy
Prize
for International Reporting, The DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton, as well
as
awards from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the
Radio/Television News Directors Association.


# # #

This is point l8 of the interrogation report on Allan Nairn. This
is the part where the Immigration chief asks him to handwrite his
position.

       I know that the army has put me on the black list. They did this
because I watched their soldiers murder more than 271 people at the
Santa
Cruz cemetery. This crime was the responsibility of the Indonesian army
commander, General Try Sutrisno and the Minister of Defense, General
Benny
Murdani.

       The murders were committed with American M-16 rifles. The
American
government also bears some of the responsibility because they have
armed,
trained and given money to the TNI/ABRI, even though they knew the
TNI/ABRI
is led by murderers and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of
thousands of Timorese, Acehnese, West Papuan and Indonesian civilians.

       Because I survived the massacre and denounced the crime to the
outside world, the TNI/ABRI and the Suharto government banned me as a
"threat to national security." That ban has been reaffirmed by each
subsequent TNI/ABRI commander, including General Tanjung and General
Wiranto.

       I do not think that I am a threat to the Indonesian or Timorese
people, but I hope that I am a threat to General Wiranto and General
Tanjung, and the other present and former leaders of the TNI/ABRI. I
believe that they feel threatened by anyone who would expose their
crimes.
General Wiranto and Generals Bambang, Zacky, Syafei, Kiki, and many
others,
for example, are responsible for the current militia terror in occupied
East Timor and for the increase in repression against the people of
Aceh.
This is no secret to the people of Timor or to the people of Indonesia
or
Aceh. They have suffered for decades under the repression and corruption
of
TNI/ABRI.vMany brave Indonesians, Timorese, Acehnese, and West Papuans
have
been killed, arrested, tortured or raped because they dared to criticize
the army and demand their right to freedom.

       As a foreigner and a journalist, particularly an American
journalist,
I know that I enjoy a certain de facto political leeway that enables me
to
say things that local people would be killed for saying. I have tried to
use that privilege to tell the truth about TNI/ABRI. If, because of
this,
the army feels they must arrest or jail me, then I know that there is
nothing I can do to stop them. But they know that they cannot arrest or
kill all the people of Indonesia. That is why they are now so fearful,
and
that is why I believe they will lose their desperate struggle to retain
their hold on power and their police state.

       During my most recent detention, I have been interrogated by
officials from army Intel, police Intel, Kopassus Group 5, and many
other
units. They have asked me many questions about my political motives and
opinions. I would summarize my opinions this way:

       I am pro human rights, pro democracy, and anti TNI/ABRI. I am a
supporter of the people of East Timor, Aceh, West Papua, and Indonesia,
and
an opponent of the officials who have repressed and exploited them.

       As an American citizen who is visiting Indonesia and occupied
East
Timor, I also want to be clear that I believe in even-handedness. The
same
political, moral and legal standards that are applied to TNI/ABRI
officers
should also be applied to the officers and political leaders of the
United
States. So while I support the UN Secretary-General's call for war
crimes
and crimes against humanity prosecution on East Timor, I think that the
prosecution should not be limited to Indonesian officials. Foreign
officials who were accomplices to atrocities in East Timor, and provided
both murder weapons and the logistics of repression should also be
charged,
prosecuted and if convicted, jailed.

       Pragmatically, it is hard to imagine General Wiranto sitting in
jail.
It is even harder to imagine President Clinton as his cellmate. But
justice
should be impartial.

       It is time for the genocide to end. Untold thousands of Timorese
lie
slaughtered. Their families are bereft. The victims of Santa Cruz,
Liquica,
and Suai can no longer speak. Those of us who can should insist that the
killing stop right now. And we should also insist that the killers face
justice, regardless of who they are.

       These same principles apply of course to atrocities everywhere. I
think that this is a simple idea and that most people would agree.

       If General Wiranto or any other officials have further questions
about my views, I would be glad to answer them personally at a time and
place of their choosing. I would also be glad to give details on the
crimes
referred to above, and on the complicity in them of General Wiranto and
other officials.
END

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John M. Miller         Internet: etan-outreach at igc.apc.org
Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network
PO Box 150753, Brooklyn, NY 11215-0753 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to timor-info at igc.apc.org to find out how to
learn
more about East Timor on the Internet
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