[asia-apec 203] ID/ET: Indonesia Day of Action-October 28

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Kabar dari PIJAR

/* Written  6:06 PM  Oct 24, 1996 by ccpj in web:web.announceme */
/* ---------- "Indonesia Day of Action-October 28" ---------- */

NEWS RELEASE                                24 OCTOBER 1996

CANADIANS JOIN INDONESIAN GROUPS TO CALL FOR DEMOCRACY IN
INDONESIA

On 28 October, the International Day of Action for Indonesia, a
number of Canadian NGOs and church and labour groups will join
Indonesian activists and opposition politicians in calling for
democracy in Indonesia. Our concerns are laid out in the attached
joint statement addressed to President Suharto and Prime Minister
Jean Chretien. In Indonesia, we are calling for accountability
following a brutal crackdown during public unrest in June and
July. In Canada, we are calling on our government to take note of
human rights concerns in Indonesia, given its extensive trade
agreements with that country.

This Day of Action comes at a time when much world attention is
focused on Indonesia after Bishop Carlos Belo, the Roman Catholic
Bishop of East Timor, and Jose Ramos-Horta, a leader of the East
Timorese independence movement-in-exile, were awarded the Nobel
Prize for Peace for their pursuit of freedom in their Indonesian-
occupied homeland. On 25 November, leaders of Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries will meet in the
Philippines. Ramos-Horta has already been banned by the
Philippine government from attending a parallel NGO conference.
Prime Minister Chretien and Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd
Axworthy will attend the APEC conference. We hope they do not
choose to remain silent in the face of growing international
complaints against the repressive actions of the Indonesian
rulers.

To mark this day, vigils and demonstrations will be held around
the world at Indonesian consulates and embassies, including in
Australia, Canada, Germany, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
the Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the
United States. The day was initiated in Australia and has been
endorsed by Indonesian activists and opposition parties. The
undersigned Canadian groups are joined by a student-based rights
organization, PIJAR INDONESIA. PIJAR publishes the electronic
mail service KdP-Net, in addition to a printed magazine, whose
editor, Triagus Siswomiharjo, is serving a two-year jail for
defaming President Suharto.

In Toronto on the 28th, there will be a 24-hour fast and vigil at
the Indonesian Consulate at 129 Jarvis St. starting at 11am. In
Ottawa, Bob White of the Canadian Labour Congress will join Bella
Galhos, representing Timorese solidarity with Indonesia, at a
press conference in the press room on Parliament Hill at 10:30am.
In Vancouver, Carmel Budiardjo, a former political prisoner in
Indonesia now running TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
and 1995 winner of the Right Livelihood Award, will speak at a
press conference on the Shell oil company's role in Nigeria and
Indonesia, to be held at 10:30am (PST) in the Student Union
Building at UBC, room 207.

Contacts:
- Canada Asia Working Group (Bern Jagunos), tel: 416 921-5626, 
  e-mail: cawg at web.net 
- CCPJ (Wayne Sharpe), tel: 416 703-1638, e-mail: ccpj at web.net
- East Timor Alert Network, Ottawa, e-mail: kerryp at jungle.achilles.net
- Indonesia Solidarity Network (ISN), Toronto (Maggie Helwig), 
  tel: 416 537-7290, e-mail: maggie at web.net
- ISN, Vancouver (David Webster), tel: 604 261-7930, 
  e-mail: etanvan at web.net
- Ogoni Solidarity Network, Vancouver (Jaggi Singh), 
  tel: 604 873-8554, e-mail: ogoni at vcn.bc.ca
- PIJAR Indonesia, fax: +62 21 809 3304


========================================================================

OPEN LETTER TO THE INDONESIAN AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENTS

In 1965 -- the "Year of Living Dangerously" -- General Suharto
swept to power in Indonesia, replacing then-President Sukarno in
a bloody coup that claimed over half a million lives. He has
ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for the last thirty-one years.
But on July 27 this year, his attempt to shut down an opposition
political party -- the PDI, led by Sukarno's daughter Megawati --
caused an unprecedented outburst of popular anger.

The Indonesian government has openly admitted to only three
deaths, but some government representatives have privately said
that they believe some 75 were killed that day. The National
Human Rights Commission -- a quasi-governmental organisation --
has admitted that about 74 people are "missing" even now.

During the events of July 27, a blockade prevented journalists
from covering the seizure of PDI headquarters. According to local
sources, soldiers seized video footage belonging to Associated
Press Television and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In
addition, two local journalists covering the crackdown sustained
beatings. And since June, senior Indonesian army officers have
delivered explicit warnings to the local press about reporting on
the conflict with Megawati loyalists. According to local sources,
warnings have been issued to two leading dailies -- "Kompas" and
"Merdeka" -- for their critical coverage of the crackdown.

Suharto has used the riots to crack down on all forms of peaceful
dissent. In recent weeks: 

* Almost one hundred people have been arrested and detained for
nonviolent political activity. Many have been refused access to
lawyers or visits from their family. One family member who was
permitted to see his detained relative said that burns and scars
from torture were clearly evident;
* House to house searches, raids on university campuses, and
arrests of nonviolent activists continue even now;
* Many NGOs working for human rights and democracy, including
long-established and internationally respected organisations,
have suffered repeated searches of their offices, confiscation of
materials, and repeated interrogations of their members;
* The head of Indonesia's largest independent trade union,
Muchtar Pakpahan, is in prison awaiting a possible death penalty,
although the government cannot name a single criminal act he may
have committed;
* Other trade union organisers are being held in isolation cells;
* Journalists already serving long prison sentences for
publishing an underground magazine have been transferred to a
remote prison where families and lawyers can barely contact them;
* Megawati, and all her supporters, have been prevented from
standing in the 1997 elections.

The United States and the European Union have expressed concern
to the Indonesian government. The European Parliament has called
for an arms embargo and restrictions on trade and diplomatic
relations with Indonesia. But the Canadian government has been
silent.

We believe that peaceful democratic participation of all sectors
of Indonesian society is the best way to address the growing
unrest in Indonesia. We do not condone the riots of July 27, but
we also strongly condemn the use of force by government troops in
dealing with the protesters, and the crackdown which has
followed. Most of the NGOs which have been targeted for
harassment are seeking peaceful alternatives to violence in their
attempt to create social change in Indonesia. They are the best
hope for removing the underlying causes of the riots -- decades
of repression by the Indonesian government, widespread
corruption, growing social and economic disparity and the lack of
democratic channels for the expression of the people's
frustrations and aspirations.

We call on the Indonesian government to:
-- end the wave of arrests and stop all forms of harassment of
human rights advocates and supporters of democracy
-- drop all charges of subversion; release unconditionally all
those who have been arrested for nonviolent political activity,
most particularly Mochtar Pakpahan, Dita Sari, Coen Hussein
Pontoh and Mohammed Soleh; Budiman Sudjatmiko, I Gusti Anom and
Wilson; and journalists Ahmad Taufik, Eko Maryadi and Tri Agus
Susanto Siswowihardjo
-- ensure that those in custody are not tortured, that they have
access to legal counsel of their choice and to family members
-- account for all those still "missing" since July 27
-- establish the rights of freedom of association, including the
right to form or join trade unions, and freedom of expression,
including press freedom; immediately repeal all laws and
ordinances restricting these basic freedoms 
-- allow a free and fair referendum on self-determination in East
Timor
-- halt all military campaigns in West Papua, and the expansion
of the Freeport mining operation
-- postpone the 1997 elections until such time as candidates can
be chosen without government interference or coercion, and a
genuinely free election can take place.

We call on the Canadian government to:
-- publicly condemn the excessive force used on July 27 and the
subsequent crackdown, and call for the release of all those
imprisoned for nonviolent political activity
-- immediately halt any and all arms sales to Indonesia
-- impose a moratorium on any new trade deals or missions with
Indonesia, and on any government delegations to Indonesia
-- call for the repeal of laws restricting basic freedoms in
Indonesia.


Archdeacon Jim Boyles, General Secretary, Anglican Church of Canada
John Vandenberg, Co-chair, Canada Asia Working Group
Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists
Canadian Auto Workers
Abe Barreto Soares, CNRM Canada
East Timor Alert Network, Canada
Indonesia Solidarity Network
Ferry Haryono Machsus, chairman, PIJAR INDONESIA
Peter Hutton, Shair International Resource Centre
Stuart Wulff, South Pacific Peoples' Foundation
Rhea Whitehead, Division of World Outreach, United Church of Canada
Veronica Barufatti