AUDREY'S MISSILES A newsletter dedicated to the peaceful reform of the United States government. .THE ART OF LYING Many of the world's leaders are accomplished actors and also accomplished liars. To take one example let's look at the record of the President of Indonesia, B. J. Habibie. Since last May when he took office following the resignation of Suharto, Indonesia has continued to have economic problems so severe that they have sparked riots and secessionist movements .throughout the country. When Mr. Habibie took office he ended the ban on free labor unions, released some political prisoners, dropped many restrictions on media freedom, and APOLOGIZED FOR PAST HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. The signs were good; it was hoped that a new era was beginning in that troubled part of the world. But what really happened after that? To be sure, large scale brutal army crackdowns have not been noted on the main island of Java. However, Indonesia is the third largest country in Asia, a nation of 260 million people scattered over a 13,600 islands in the vast expanse of the South Pacific Ocean. There are many foreign press representatives in Jakarta, the capitol city, but out in places like Borneo and Papua the situation is much different. There Habibie would not expect that news of what his army was doing would be known world-wide, or even known among his own people on the main island. However, the massacre at Biak was seen and recorded by foreign observers and comes to us via Reuters and the internet.. The atrocities are too numerous to detail here, but what happened in Biak should not occur anywhere in the world. Just weeks after the resignation of General Suharto, the Habibie regime dispatched 3,000 troops to Ambon Island (Moluccas - Spice Islands) and subsequently to Papua where they carried out a massacre of more than 150 people (official figures which may be low) in the remote West Papuan town of Biak. It was a revolt against the government; hundreds of residents had participated in raising a West Papuan independence flag. The details are reported by an eye-witness who writes, "Soldiers opened fire with automatic weapons on a defenseless crowd, hauled residents from their homes, beat and tortured scores of people, including children, and later used naval gunships to dump bodies... into the sea.... Children who were there, or who had heard the shooting and came down and then tried to run home, were caught by soldiers and rifle-butted in the head..... Eventually the survivors were rounded up and they were forced to crawl on their stomachs to the dock area, about 300 meters away. There they were forced to lie on their backs and look at the midday sun for about two hours. They had to keep their eyes open while soldiers marched all over them--their stomachs and their faces--and kicked them and hit them with rifle butts." The best treatment for lying despots is to expose their dirty deeds to the full glare of world-wide publicity. How will Habibie handle the coming June elections? Will anyone confront him with information concerning the massacre of the secessionists, innocent civilians, and merely curious children? Will anyone ask him about the wanton brutality of his army at Biak? Sources: Check Reuters news dispatches search for Ambon http://infoseek.go.com/Titles?qt=Ambon&col=NX%2Crf_i500sRD%2Ckt%3DA%2Cak _news1486&sv=IS&lk=noframes&svx=home_searchbox READ THIS NEWSLETTER AND THEN GIVE IT TO A FRIEND. No copyright on the content of AUDREY'S MISSILES is claimed since it is our hope that the information in this newsletter will be copied and distributed widely. Topics covered are those which are not adequately treated on TV or in the press. If you live in the 209 calling area end a request to 209 847-7588 for a free fax subscription. E-mail is free anywhere. Paid subscriptions are not accepted. If you have difficulty getting on the list write [EMAIL PROTECTED] 4/99 [Indonesia] ========================================================================== [EMAIL PROTECTED] is an moderated maillist about government reform. To join or leave send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: -------------------------------------- (un)subscribe audreys-missiles Visit http://www.uwsa.com Support UWSA.COM at http://www.uwsa.com/UWSACOMintro.html
