By Max Lane
On June 25, the Jakarta daily newspaper Kompas reported that the Indonesian minister of defence and the commander in chief of the armed forces, General Wiranto, had stated that the government would take firm action against anybody mobilising the masses.
On July 1, the threat became a reality when the police mobile brigade (Brimob) anti-riot squad opened fire on a 2000-strong rally in Jakarta organised by the People's Democratic Party (PRD).
Less than a month after Indonesia's general election, this outrage shows that the military is not willing to give up using its might to crush the democratic movement in Indonesia. The threat of a military crackdown against the mass movement in Indonesia is very real.
The Australian government has been silent on the Indonesian military's recent actions. Despite statements by foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer that Australia supports a peaceful transition to independence in East Timor and democracy in Indonesia, Canberra has yet to challenge or condemn the role of the Indonesian armed forces — the major blockage to achieving these objectives.
The Indonesian military's determination to repress the democracy movement must be met with a similar determination by those who support democracy and justice. The day after the brutal attack, members and supporters of the PRD reacted immediately.
In Australia, Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) coordinated pickets in most cites. ASIET urgently needs the support and involvement of many more people to show the people of Indonesia that they are not alone, that people in Australia oppose the outrageous actions of the Indonesian government.
ASIET has issued an international statement condemning the police attack and express solidarity with the protesters. ASIET is calling on organisations and activists around the world to escalate their solidarity activities.
Bloody attack in Jakarta: Stop the killing! End all military ties!
We vigorously condemn the Indonesian military and police for the violent and bloody attack on peaceful, unarmed protesters campaigning for democracy at a rally organised on July 1 in Jakarta by the People's Democratic Party (PRD).
The 2000 demonstrators were protesting against vote rigging by the ruling Golkar party in Indonesia's June 7 election. They intended to have a sit-in inside the building of the National Election Committee.
Once the protesters tried to have a peaceful sit-in, the police immediately opened fire using plastic bullets at point-blank range. Protesters were chased and then savagely beaten. More than 70 protesters were hospitalised, several have had to undergo surgery. More than 100 sustained injuries from police beatings and 160 are still missing.
Dhyta Caturani, international secretary of the PRD and a student at Gajah Mada University, was standing near the front of the demonstration and was then pulled behind the police line. There she was shot in the back and brutally beaten while lying on the ground. She is in a critical condition in hospital, after surgery.
We demand the Indonesian government guarantee the safety of peaceful protesters and an end to the role of the Indonesian military in political repression.
We call on all governments to publicly condemn the Indonesian government for shooting peaceful protesters and end all military ties with Indonesia.
As immediate steps, all foreign military attaches based in Indonesia should be withdrawn immediately and Indonesian military attaches in other countries should be immediately expelled.
@8point non = Initial endorsers (organisations and positions for identification purposes only unless indicated otherwise): Australia — Max Lane, national coordinator, ASIET; John Percy, national secretary, Democratic Socialist Party; Lisa Macdonald, editor, Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly; Allen Myers, editor, Links; Michael Karadjis, delegate Australian Services Union; Sean Healy, national coordinator, Resistance; Dr Helen Jarvis, Asia Pacific Institute for Democratisation and Development; Dr George Aditjondro, board of advisors, Solidamor; Neville Spencer, editor, Venceremos; Kate Carr, education officer, Griffith University Student Representative Council; Naldo Rei, Fretilin; Eko Waluyo, WARTA; Genevieve Derwent, national women's officer, National Union of Students; Pip Hinman, Asia Pacific Women's Solidarity Network; Stephen O'Brien, Committees in Solidarity with Central America and the Caribbean (CISLAC); Dr Kamala Emanuel, medical practitioner; Zanny Begg, editor, Resistance magazine; Peter Boyle, New Course Publications; Dr Tuntuni Bhattacharyya, medical practitioner; Jill Hickson, film-maker; Aaron Benedek, education officer, Sydney University SRC; Tim Gooden, secretary, ACT government section, Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU); Philippa Stanford, section councillor, Centrelink section, CPSU; Jaquie Lynch, student resource officer, Chisholm TAFE; Mark Cronin, section councillor, centrelink section, CPSU; Dr Jeremy Smith, lecturer, University of Ballarat, National Tertiary Education Industry Union national councillor; Melanie Sjoberg, organiser, Public Service Association (SA); Maurice Sibelle, coordinator, Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network (VTSAN); Dr Margaret Perrot, medical practitioner; Chris Latham, coordinator, Australia-Indonesia Student Solidarity Brigade; Allen Jennings, CISLAC Victoria; Ertugral Titiz, Kurdish activist; Mark Abberton, education officer, RMIT TAFE Students Association; Vannessa Hearman, ASIET Victoria; Trisha Reimers, women's officer, University of WA Student Guild; Peter Robson, NUS Queensland Education Committee; Dick Nichols, industrial convener, DSP; Dr Lynette Dumble, associate senior research fellow, University of Melbourne; Damairia Pakpahan, postgraduate student, Monash University; Nuclear Disarmament Party; Canberra FMLN Collective; Sergio Fiedler, research assistant, School of Sociology and Anthropology, UNSW; Jeremy Pyner, secretary of ACT Trades and Labor Council; Jenni Eccles, secretary, ACT branch CPSU; Helen Stitt, president, Australian National University Students Association; Jo Montieth, acting-president, University of Canberra Students Association; Ben Smith, Canberra Program for Peace; Yvonne Francis, NDP; 2XX-92.7FM, community radio, Canberra; East Timor-Indonesia Solidarity Group, Darwin; Malaysia-Australia Support Team (MAST), Darwin; The AustralAsian on-line newspaper, Darwin; Wayne Berry, ACT MLA (ALP); Dr Janet M. Eaton, International Systems Institute; Paul Lehman, Northside Christian College, Brisbane. Britain — Spencer Fitz-Gibbon, spokesperson, Green Party of North West England. Canada — Ted Everson, secretary to the executive, University of Toronto Graduate Students Union. Germany — Alex Flor, Watch Indonesia. Indonesia — Julia Suryakusuma, general coordinator, Almanak Parpol. India — Dr V Rukmini Rao, chairperson, Deccan Development Society, Hyderbad. Malaysia — Elizabeth Wong, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM); S. Arutchelvan, Parti Sosialis Malaysia; Solidaritas Timor Timur, Malaysia. Yap Swee Seng, coordinator, Labour Resource Center; Charlene Rajendran, freelance writer/teacher/theatre practitioner. Philippines — Lukas S. Ispandriarno, steering committee, SOLID (Solidarity for Indonesian Democracy-Manila); Gigi Francisco, DAWN-SEA regional coordinator. Netherlands — Harry Otten, Socialist Workers Party. Sri Lanka — Freddy Gamage. Nepal — Binda Pandey, secretary, department of foreign affairs, GEFONT trade union federation. New Zealand — Maire Leadbeater, East Timor Independence Committee, Auckland. Sweden — Thomas Johansson, coordinator and founder, Solidarisk Ekonomi.
Please return your endorsement to ASIET, PO Box 458, Broadway, NSW, Australia 2007. Phone +61 2 9690 1032. Fax +61 2 9690 1381. E-mail <asiet@peg.apc.org>. Include name, address, telephone number, e-mail address or other contact details, and organisation and position for identification purposes.