ut of politics! Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Loop: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk Democracy for Indonesia! Military out of politics! =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D October 1, 1999 The following statement is being circulated by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET). Please circulate and sign on and forward to ASIET. We the undersigned salute the student-led pro-democracy forces in Indonesia who are risking their lives to oppose the new state security law - "Law for Dealing with a Dangerous Situation". Already eight people (seven in Jakarta and one in Lampung, South Sumatra) have died, more than 100 people have been injured, some severely, at the hands of the military. Many more have been arrested. One of those killed was People=92s Democratic Party (PRD) member Yusuf Rizal, 23, a political science student at Bandar Lampung University. The chief of the military in Lampung has blamed the PRD for the violence. The proposed law allows the president to declare a state of emergency anywhere in the country and for provincial governors and parliaments to declare a state of emergency at that level. It gives the military enormous powers of arrest and detention, as well as total control over the postal and telecommunications systems during a state of emergency. This law would have provided the Habibie government with a mechanism to repress opposition during October and November sittings of the new parliament. Widespread opposition to the law over recent weeks, led by courageous student activists from universities across Indonesia, has already scored an important victory forcing Habibie to postpone signing in the new law. The fact that General Wiranto had to push the law through the old military-dominated parliament (largely hand picked by dictator Suharto) in the last few hours of its existence on September 23, reveals just how much the pro-democracy campaign together with the independence campaign in East Timor have managed to push back the military. The Indonesian army has been forced to withdraw from East Timor following the overwhelming support for independence in the August 30 ballot and international pressure which forced the United Nations to intervene to stop the military=92s scorched earth policy. The PRD, the only party in Indonesia that has consistently supported freedom for East Timor, has called on activists in other countries to support the pro-democracy campaign inside Indonesia. We echo this call and salute the brave students who have, once again, taken the lead in this important movement for democracy. End all military ties with Jakarta! Indonesian army out of politics! Try the war criminals for the genocide in East Timor, Aceh, West Papua! Stop the killing of students struggling for democracy! Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) PO Box 458 Broadway NSW 2007 Australia Tel: 61 (0)2 9690 1032 Fax: 61 (0)2 9690 1381 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.asiet.org.au/ END. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=3Dsubscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=3Dunsubscribe%20leftlink
