Precedence: bulk CATATAN REDAKSI SiaR; Meskipun sudah agak daluwarsa tanggal penulisan surat ini, tetapi semangat di balik surat ini, yakni rasa solider para intelektual manca-negara dan rasa prihatin terhadap situasi Indonesia sejak Soenharto lengser dan digantikan oleh kroni setianya BJ Habibie, isisnya merupakan kehangatan tersendiri bagi kita semua. Dengan pertimbangan seperti itu dan merasakan bahwa isinya masih relevan, Redaksi SiaR memutuskan untuk memuatnya. SiaR ---- OPEN LETTER OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE INDONESIAN PRO-DEMOCRACY STUDENT MOVEMENT *(Final Version Intended for Unrestricted Circulation 19 November 1998: 12:15 p.m. PST) * Please distribute this open statement of condolences, concern and solidarity with the Indonesian Students' Pro-Democracy Movement to any and all concerned parties. Government representatives, members of the world mass media, scholars, NGO's, and the general public are all invited to sign, publish and distribute this letter. If you wish to sign your name to the list circulating on the internet just add your name to the bottom and forward it on to all individuals and organizations who are, or should be, concerned by the present crisis of legitimacy in Indonesia. Speak out for democracy in Indonesia. 19 November 1998 We wish to express our sorrow and condolences to the victims of violent Indonesian military repression carried out in the name of economic stability and "democracy" by the present transitional regime of President Habibie. Shooting and beating unarmed, non-violent demonstrators cannot be blithely categorized as a side effect of a transition to a more open Indonesian society. A number of people were killed and hundreds more, are in, or have required treatment at Jakarta hospitals. University and high school students are among the dead, and among the hundreds of injured, a six year old girl is reported to be in critical condition after being shot in the head by a "stray" bullet. Given the present climate of discontent and violent fragmentation, it is unfortunate that Indonesia has been prevented by remnants of the old regime from creating a provisional consortium of popular leadership to gently ease a transition to free and fair elections. Post Suharto invocations of the Indonesian Constitution have largely involved thinly veiled efforts to maintain power and engineer the future to accord as closely as possible to the familiar New Order shape. The employment of repressive force on an insecure, embattled, and impoverished populace is an inappropriate response to legitimate demands for representative government. The restorationist fantasies of a small group of Suharto era elite figures are endangering the future of the Indonesian Republic. Terror and intimidation tactics are not the tools of democratic governance. How can democracy grow in a climate of fear? The Habibie/Wiranto led Indonesian state apparatus must be held accountable for their actions. Thus, in solidarity, we join other members of the world academic community, and the public at large, in giving full support to the Indonesian student movement. We are in full accord with Indonesian student demands for total reform of the Indonesian state by ending the military's dual-function role in socio-political affairs. Specifically, we unequivocally support, and call on others to echo and advance, the following Indonesian student demands: 1. Formation of a Transitional Ruling Presidium composed of popular leaders and influential figures to guide Indonesia to the peaceful establishment of a demilitarized, civil democracy. 2. Establishment of standards of clean governance and accountable, transparent leadership that are responsive to, and advance, the aspirations of the Indonesian public. 3. An immediate end to the socio-political role of the Indonesian military, or dwifungsi ABRI, and an immediate halt to Indonesian military operations in Timor, Aceh, and Irian Jaya. 4. Immediate release of all political prisoners held by the Indonesian government including, but not limited to, Budiman Sudjatmiko, Dita Sari and Xanana Gusmao. Immediate repeal of the political laws of 1985. 5. Opposition to all attempts to foment chaos and influence Indonesian public opinion through violence, racism, ethnocentrism, or religious intolerance. 6. Lifting of the ban on all publications outlawed for political reasons under the Suharto dictatorship. 7. Immediate recognition of the people of Timor Loro Sae's rights of self determination Thank you, 1. Gary Nathan Gartenberg, PhD Candidate Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies University of California at Berkeley 2. Ray Chandrasekara, PhD Candidate Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies University of California at Berkeley 3. Julie Shackford-Bradley, PhD Candidate Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies University of California at Berkeley 4. Kevin Dixon, Graduate Student Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies University of California at Berkeley 5. Brandon Spars, Graduate Student Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies University of California at Berkeley 6. Juliet Lee, PhD Candidate Department of Anthropology University of Virginia 7. Professor Peter Dale Scott (Emeritus) Department of English University of California at Berkeley 8. Professor R. P. Goldman Sarah Kailath Professor in India Studies Professor of Sanskrit and Chairman,Center for South Asia Studies Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies University of California at Berkeley 9. Professor Charles Schwartz (Emeritus) Department of Physics University of California, Berkeley 10. Edith Turner Lecturer in Anthropology University of Virginia 11. Ben Abel Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY 12. Professor Rita Smith Kipp Department of Anthropology Kenyon College 13. Professor Joseph Errington Anthropology and East Asian Languages & Literatures Yale University 14. Professor Jeffrey A. Winters Department of Politics Northwestern University 15. Gert de Jong Marine Biologist and former researcher in Indonesia Amsterdam, the Netherlands 16. Dr. Jim Hagen Population Research Institute Penn State University 17. David Zimmerman Independent Anthropologist Former Volunteers in Asia teacher in Vietnam 18. Syed Faiz Ali PhD candidate, Department of Sociology University of Virginia 19. Patricia B. Henry, Associate Professor Indonesian Language & Literature Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures Northern Illinois University 19. Lisa Brooten, Graduate Student School of Telecommunications Ohio University 20. Emily Jindra, Undergraduate student Ohio University Free Burma Coalition 21. Professor Elizabeth Fuller Collins Department of Philosophy and Southeast Asian Studies Program Ohio University 22. Naoko Yamada, Graduate Student Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Ohio University 23. Dr. William Collins Acting President Center For Advanced Study Phnom Penh, Cambodia 24. Ben Wirtz Student/ Photojournalist Ohio University 25. Dr. Daniel T. Sicular Alumni, Department of Geography University of California, Berkeley 26. Elna Brunckhorst, M.A. Alumni, Department of Geography University of California, Berkeley 27. Cheryl Fralick Alumni, Virginia Polytechnical and State University 28. Dildar Gartenberg, M.L.S. Alumni, Department of Library Sciences University of California, Berkeley 29. Robert H. Sicular Jr. Actor, Berkeley, California 30. Mary Letterii, Consultant San Francisco, CA 31. Professor Rene T.A. Lysloff Department of Music (Ethnomusicology) University of California, Riverside 32. Professor Martino Traxler Visiting Professor in Philosophy Ohio University 33. Medea Benjamin Co-Director, Global Exchange 2017 Mission St., Rm. 303 San Francisco, CA 94110 34. Professor Frederick H. Damon Department of Anthropology University of Virginia 35. Patience Epps Graduate student, Department of Anthropology University of Virginia 36. John Herrmann PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology University of Virginia 37. Joseph Lipten Ph D candidate Department of Anthropology University of Virginia 38. Professor Teju Olaniyan Department of English University of Virginia 39. Naznin Karim Director, Hallpoint Ltd. Student at Kingston University, Surrey, UK 40. Dr. Judith Becker, Professor of Musicology, School of Music University of Michigan 41. Elizabeth Chandra, Student Department of Asian Studies Cornell University 42. A. Made Tony Supriatma Graduate Student Department of Government Cornell University Ithaca, NY 43. Professor John Roosa U. of Wisconsin Instructor in Asian History 45. Professor Ellen Contini-Morava Department of Anthropology University of Virginia 46. William H. Lockhart Instructor and Graduate Student Department of Sociology University of Virginia 47. Kathryn S. Quick, Graduate Student University of California, Berkeley 48. Eveline Ferretti Albert R. Mann Library Cornell University 49. Mercedes Chavez, Graduate Student City and Regional Planning Cornell University 50. Larry Chavis, M.A. Alumni, Southeast Asia Program Cornell University 51. Professor Martin Hatch Department of Music and Department of Asian Studies Cornell University 52. Scott Kennedy, PhD Candidate Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences Harvard University * Please distribute this open statement of condolences, concern and solidarity with the Indonesian Student's Pro-Democracy Movement to any and all concerned parties. Government representatives, members of the world mass media, scholars, NGO's, and the general public are all invited to sign, publish and distribute this letter. If you wish to sign your name to the list circulating on the internet just add your name to the bottom and forward it on to all individuals and organizations who are, or should be, concerned by the present crisis of legitimacy in Indonesia. **This letter was drafted collectively and agreed to via internet by scholars at U.C. Berkeley and elsewhere who are deeply concerned by the current state of affairs in Indonesia. *** This formal, unrestricted version of this letter dated and sent after 12:45 pm PST, 19 November 1998, and signed electronically by 52 people, corrects, supersedes, and negates all past draft versions which have been circulated informally on the internet. ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
