PRD Call for solidarity against militarismPST Statement on War Crimes in East Timor |
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| Students and workers protest in Jakarta, Indonesia. | |||
PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY -- PRD
Jl. Basuki Rahmat No. 7B
Cipinang Muara
Jakarta -- Indonesia
Phone: 62-21-8561542, 9113801
Email: prd@centrin.net.id
Jakarta, September 24 1999
To
Comrades and Friends
In Solidarity with Indonesian Democratization
Dear Comrades,
On behalf of the People's Democratic Party, the PRD Indonesia, we inform
you that on Thursday, September 23 1999, about 30 thousand students
joined with the people demonstrating in Jakarta protesting against the
adoption of the National Security Law by the Parliament on the same day.
As a comparison, the approved National Security Law is just like the
Martial Law in the Philippines, in which in certain circumstances, the
military can do what they want in the name of national security. The
application of the Military Emergency Law in East Timor by the
Indonesian government is a precondition for the application of this
National Security Law nation wide.
At the same time, in many big cities like Semarang, Solo, Yogyakarta,
Surabaya, Palembang, Ujung Pandang, Medan, Bandung, Lampung, thousands
of students and people are demonstrating on the same issue with the same
demand, namely the rejection of the adoption of the National Security
law by the Parliament.
In Jakarta itself, the demonstration, which started at 1 p.m., was
followed by about 30 thousand students. They marched from different
directions to the same destination, the House of Parliament, where the
law was being discussed and adopted.
At about 4 p.m., about three thousand heavily armed military and police
broke up the marching masses. The military and police fired on the
masses with rubber bullets and tear gas. The masses tried to defend
themselves by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. About 50 people
were wounded and taken to different hospitals. This confrontation
happened for about three hours. The masses then went back to the nearby
campus (Catholic University of Atmajaya) because of intensive shootings
by the military.
Until now (2 a.m. the next day) about 6000 students are still inside the
campus to defend themselves. Thousands of military are still surrounding
the campus. As the military keeps shooting at the students already
inside the campus with rubber bullets and tear gas the
students consequently retaliate by throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.
While outside the campus along the streets, the urban poor living along
the streets are fighting against the military. And there is news from a
reliable source that the military will raid the campus early in the
morning.
The last news from the spot reported that the students are going to stay
inside the campus until morning for continuing the demonstration again.
The people who are living around the campus and fighting against the
military are going to join with the students. The demonstration on
Friday will be a bigger mobilisation accordingly.
The number of victims until now are:
1. Four students killed
2. About 50 students are seriously wounded and are being treated in
three hospitals.
For what is happening now here in Indonesia, we are calling for the
international community and your respective parties and organisations to
support our struggle against the militarism in Indonesia by sending
petitions and condemnation of the military brutality to the Indonesian
embassy or consulate or your local and international parliament. If it
is possible, it is also much more effective if you can organize picket
lines or even mass actions in strategic places.
Thanks for your support and cooperation,
Mugiyanto
PRD International Department
PST Statement on War Crimes in East Timor
Socialist Party of Timor
PST Delegation for the Asia Pacific
Press Communique
After consideration of the actual situation developing in East Timor and
the objective situations being suffered by the whole Maubere people, and
taking into account Resolution No. 1264-99 of the UN Security Council of
15 September, the PST declares:
1. The urgent need for humanitarian aid and the provision of physical
security for all refugees that are located around the East Timorese
border (with East Nusantenggara province), and even more so with the
thousands of refugees in the mountains estimated to be many times more
than all those outside of East Timor (in Atambua, Bali, Ujung Pandang,
Jakarta and other places) and to facilitate the return of these refugees
(both through provision of health services and physical security) to
East Timor in safety and in good health.
2. To punish according to the conventions of international law and to
bring before an international court war criminals responsible for the
following categories of crimes:
* institutions/individuals/other parties who have directly or indirectly
boycotted, intimidated, killed or terrorised humanitarian organisations
seeking access to East Timorese refugees within or outside East Timor
* institutions/individuals/other parties ultimately responsible for the
massacres, terror, intimidation and scorched earth policy in East Timor
both before and after the referendum
* institutions/individuals/other parties ultimately responsible for
training, arming, financing and controlling the militia and paramilitary
who killed, terrorised and intimidated innocent East Timorese civilians
* institutions/individuals/other parties who have facilitated the supply
of military equipment for the Indonesian army during the period of
Indonesian military occupation of genocidal operations against the East
Timorese civilian population
3. End all the functions and responsibilities of the Police of the
Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian National Army having shown
their incapacity to carry out the mandate given to them under the
Tripartite Agreement to ensure stability and security before and after
the referendum and to bring them to account within the framework if
international jurisprudence all those responsible for the anarchy,
massacres and violence, which has been justified by artificial and
irrational justifications aimed at defending the interests of the
Indonesian Armed Forces and without respecting the democratic
aspirations of the majority of the people who rejected the autonomy
option as proposed by the government of Indonesia
Statement issued Jakarta, 18 September 1999
(Translated by Max Lane)