An open letter to Alexander Downer signed by most of the detained
international delegates at the recent Asia Pacific Labour Solidarity
Conference on Neoliberalism in Jakarta, Indonesia.
To endorse this letter and add your name (or your
union's/SRC's/NGOs/workplace's) please send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
OPEN LETTER TO ALEXANDER DOWNER, FEDERAL MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
On the afternoon of June 8 the Asia Pacific Labour Solidarity Conference on
Neoliberalism in Sawangan south of Jakarta, organised by the Indonesian NGO
INCREASE, Indonesian Centre for Reform and Social Emancipation, was
violently broken up by Indonesian secret police and their right-wing
militia thugs.
Courageous attempts by the conference organisers failed to prevent the
police from herding 32 foreign participants onto police trucks and cars to
be driven to the central Jakarta police station. There they were detained
without charge by police intelligence and their passports removed.
The police left the conference site mindful that the machete- and
sickle-wielding militia thugs had stayed behind. At approximately 7pm they
launched an attack on the remaining Indonesian participants, who had to run
for their lives. A number were injured and two people were hospitalised,
one requiring emergency surgery for a slashed artery.
This vicious attack on democratic rights is of serious concern: it
signifies the beginning of an attempt by the right wing to return to the
worst of the New Order repression experienced under the former Suharto
regime. It is also reminiscent of the actions carried out by the Indonesian
armed forces in collaboration with militia thugs in East Timor in 1999 and
by similar groups in Indonesia against the democratic forces.
It is now clear that the "visa violations" were really an excuse used by
the police intelligence to close down the conference. The Indonesian
immigration authorities have stated that the foreign participants using a
short stay pass were entitled to attend seminars and did not breach any laws.
According to a senior official at the Director-General for Immigration,
Mursanuddin Gani, who was quoted in the June 11 Jakarta Post, the police
acted on their own. "The police could have contacted our office prior to
raid, but as far as I know there was no notification. If they [the
foreigners] really violated immigration laws, why were they released? The
police can only summons the organizers of the seminar for questioning, not
necessarily question the foreigners."
Gani pointed out in the same interview that foreigners visiting Indonesia
for special events like conferences and business meetings were eligible for
the visa-on-arrival facility, the same visa obtained by the Australian
participants at the INCREASE conference. Despite this, the Australian
government was quick to echo the Indonesian secret police and insist that
the detainees' plight was the result of a "visa misunderstanding".
We, the undersigned supporters of democracy and labour rights, condemn this
brutal repression of democractic rights and free speech. The Australian
government's silence on this incident shows just how out of step it is with
the democratic aspirations of both the Australian and Indonesian people.
The vicious attack on the Sawangan conference should also make it clear
that any renewal of military ties with Indonesia will give political
support to the sorts of anti-democratic actions carried out by the police
and right-wing militia thugs.
We demand that you as Minister for Foreign Affairs condemn this blatant
attack on free speech and democratic rights and that you speak out against
acts of repression. Australia's foreign policy must be geared towards
assisting the growth and extension of democracy in Indonesia. It should not
allow the former "special relationship" - cultivated for 32 years by the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Suharto regime - to take
precedence over democratic and human rights. Australians should not be
"advised" against attending political meetings in Indonesia - the latest
excuse used by DFAT - just as Indonesians should be able to enjoy freedom
of association and speech in their own country.
Signed:
1. Peter Boyle
2. Nick Everett
3. Gillian Davies
4. Pip Hinman
5. Helen Jarvis
6. Sibylle Kazorek
7. Max Lane
8. Jon Lamb
9. Doug Lorimer
10. Graham Matthews
11. Jim McIllroy
12. Rebecca Meckelburg
13. Allen Myers
14. Dave Murphy
15. Tom O'Lincoln
16. John Percy
17. Julia Perkins
18. Ian Rintoul
19. Eva To
20. Kerryn Williams
--
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