new internationalist
issue 318 - November 1999
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To go directly to a country or the web sites, click above.
Say no to Suharto’s rich kids
AOTEAROA/NEW
ZEALAND
Suharto’s family members, plus other Indonesians who got rich
during his reign, quietly bought up real estate in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This
was first exposed by the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa who
aroused a public outcry against Lilybank Lodge – a luxury hotel and hunting
retreat built on the banks of Lake Tekapo which was owned by Suharto’s
son Tommy. Now the Campaign has discovered that Goldfield Heights, overlooking
Queenstown’s icy Lake Wakatipu, has attracted a clutch of Indonesia’s
élite to its shores, including Suharto’s middle daughter, Siti Hediati
Prabowo (‘Titiek’) and her husband, the sacked armed forces commander
General Prabowo Subianto.
The Campaign wants properties acquired by corrupt Indonesians to be seized. They also comment on the Suhartos: ‘This family of thieves presiding over a system of mass murder and institutionalized looting are the ones who should be in the dock, for crimes against the people of Indonesia and for crimes against humanity.’
| Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa PO Box 2258 Christchurch. Tel/Fax: +64 3366 3988. E-mail: cafca@chch.planet.org.nz Website: www.converge.org.nz/watchdog |
Amnesty New Zealand PO Box 793 Wellington. Tel: +64 4499 3349. Fax: +64 4499 3505. E-mail: campaign@amnesty.org.uk/ Website: www.amnesty.org.nz/ |
Stop British-made slaughter
BRITAIN
In May 1997 the new Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said: ‘We will not permit
the sale of arms to regimes that might use them for internal repression or
international aggression.’ It seemed reasonable to believe Cook –
as early as 1978 he described the sale of British Hawk aircraft to Indonesia
as ‘particularly disturbing’. But that same month, May 1997, the
new government gave the go-ahead to the export of riot-control vehicles and
water cannons which were used on unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators in Jakarta.
TV direct-action satirist Mark Thomas broadcast a conversation recorded with Paul Greenwood, director of CS-gas manufacturers Pains Wessex, who says: ‘The UK Government don’t care. I’ve had the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) down... and I’ve said can I take the order and get somebody else to make it and ship it (and they said) “Yeah that’s fine”. Just as long as we’re not shipping it in the UK they don’t give a toss.’ The Blair Government had approved 64 new arms contracts to the Indonesian Government by February this year and fewer than 1 per cent of the applications were turned down between August 1997 and August 1998. The Government sent three British Hawk aircraft to Indonesia in September this year. Campaign Against the Arms Trade are keeping up the pressure.
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Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) Amnesty UK |
Down to Earth Tapol |
Demand change in the tourism industry
AUSTRALIA
Thousands
of Australians travel to Bali each year. But most put their money into the
pockets of Suharto’s cronies who own many of the luxury hotels or international
corporations rather than helping the locals. Although millions of tourism
dollars are poured into Bali, in the words of one Balinese; ‘The people
here mainly think about how they are going to eat tomorrow.’ There are
a number of groups working to promote more ethical tourism. Contact:
Responsible Tourism Network
PO Box 34, Rundle Mall SA 5000.
Tel: +61 8 8232 2727 or + 61 8 8232 2727.
Fax: +61 08 8232 2808 or +61 8 8232 2808.
E-mail: info@tours.caa.org.au
Website: www.caa.org.au/travel/rtn
The travel retailer Flight Centre has become the first to react to the tragedy in East Timor. Flight Centre – which sends around 100,000 travellers to Indonesia each year – wrote to Indonesian embassies around the world this year warning that it will encourage its clients not to holiday in Bali. Chief executive officer, Graham Turner, said in September: ‘We will also be advising people not to fly with Garuda, the [Indonesian] national carrier.’ Flight Centre’s business to Indonesia amounts to between $130 million and $150 million a year, or 10 per cent of their business out of Australia – a powerful pressure point. When booking a holiday ask your travel agent exactly where your money is going and use your purchasing power for change.
If you are interested in finding out more, Murdoch University
offers an Asian Sustainable Development online study course. There is a special
stream on Society, Culture and Ecology in South-East Asia, co-ordinated by
Indonesia specialist, Dr Carol Warren. One of the major case studies offered
is based on Carol’s fieldwork in Bali, looking at social change impacts
of tourism.
Tel: +61 8 9360 2345.
E-mail: asianst@central.murdoch.edu.au
Website: wwwistp.murdoch.edu.au/
|
Australian Council for Overseas Aid ACFOA Human Rights office |
Action in Solidarity with Indonesia Amnesty Australia |
Refuse to support repression
CANADA
While
the Canadian Government claims to support human rights, it has a deeply complicit
set of economic relationships with the Indonesian Government and military.
This was dramatically demonstrated when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
violently suppressed human-rights demonstrations at the 1997 APEC summit meeting
held in Vancouver, in order to spare President Suharto embarrassment. The
National East Timor Action Network demands the Canadian Government stop all
ties to the Indonesian military including both new and old export permits
for military hardware and any training or future military sales; and suspend
all official economic aid to the Indonesian Government, instead transferring
humanitarian aid through accountable non-governmental organizations.
|
National East Timor Alert Network, Amnesty Canada |
Canadian Action for Indonesia and East Timor Canada-Asia Working Group |
Canadians Concerned About Ethnic Violence in Indonesia
119 Spadina Ave, Suite 605
Toronto, ON M5V 2L1.
Tel: +1 416 977 9871.
Fax: +1 416 977 1630.
E-mail: national@ccnc.ca
End war in Aceh
UNITED STATES
Whether we like it or not, the US has the political power to bring
warring parties to the negotiating table. Human Rights Watch has been consistently
putting pressure on Indonesia and the nations that support it to halt human-rights
abuses. They say the US can act on Aceh: ‘First, it can continue to press
both President Habibie and General Wiranto for prosecutions of officers responsible
for grave abuses during DOM (the period of military control). Habibie formally
apologized to the people of Aceh for the abuses earlier this year, but such
apologies carry no weight unless some form of redress, including prosecution
in court, takes place. Second, it can urge the Indonesian Government to reduce
troop strength in Aceh. Such a reduction would be a huge confidence-building
measure by the Indonesian Government toward the Acehnese. True, the conflict
is escalating, but in the past, more troops have just meant more massacres,
and that pattern appears to be continuing. Moreover, fewer troops might force
the Government to explore non-military solutions. The Acehnese we interviewed
also want a third party to mediate the conflict. The Government thus far has
rejected this out of hand; it does not want to give legitimacy to Aceh Merdeka.’
Human Rights Watch, 34th Floor, 350 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10118-3299.
Tel: +1 212 290 4700. Fax: +1 212 736-1300. E-mail: hrwnyc@hrw.org
Website: www.hrw.org/campaigns/indonesia/index.htm
| Yellow Ribbon Campaign (Human rights equality for Indonesian Chinese) Suite 700, 456 Montgomery Street San Francisco CA 94104-1240. Website: www.huaren.org |
Amnesty USA Campaigns Department 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE Washington DC 20003. Tel: +1 202 544 0200. Fax: +1 202 546 7142. E-mail: robinbrown@amnesty-usa.org Website: www.amnesty-usa.org/ |
Worth reading
on... INDONESIA
The Mute’s Soliloquy – A Memoir by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
(Hyperion, 1999; ISBN: 0-7868-6416-8). A great writer and political prisoner
shares his memories. Inside Out East Timor with photography by Ross
Bird and text by Xanana Gusmao, José Ramos Horta and Bishop Carlos Belo (Herman
Press, 1999; ISBN: 0-9577180-3-9). Stunning photos and captions illustrate
the beauty of East Timor and its people. Reformasi – Crisis and Change
in Indonesia edited by Arief Budiman, Barbara Hatley and Damien Kingsbury
(Monash Asia Institute, 1999; ISBN: 0-7326-1179-2). A great selection of Indonesian
and other writers explaining Indonesia’s political change. The Rough
Guide to Indonesia by Stephen Backshall, David Leffman, Lesley Reader,
Henry Stedman (Rough Guides, 1999; ISBN:1-8582-8429-5). The best and most
recent travel and country guide. Inside Indonesia magazine. A monthly
magazine on Indonesian issues. To subscribe, visit their website www.insideindonesia.org/ or contact:
PO Box 1326, Collingwood, Vic 3066, Australia.
Tel: +61 3 9419 4504. Fax: +61 3 9419 4774.
E-mail: admin@insideindonesia.org
Websites
Amnesty International campaigns for all Indonesians whose human rights
have been violated. See contact details for your country and check out the
Indonesia page of their general website: www.amnesty.org/ailib/countries/indx321.htm
The World Wide Web Virtual Library on Indonesia has links to just about every organization on Indonesia under the sun: http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVLPages/IndonPages/WWWVL-Indonesia.html
The INCORE Guide to Internet Sources on Conflict and Ethnicity in Indonesia is good for background information on the country: www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/cds/countries/indonesia.html#topsource
Indonesia Online – the National Library of Australia site has comprehensive information and links, especially useful for Australian surfers. www.nla.gov.au/asian/indo/indoline.html
SaveOrDelete – the Greenpeace site for uncovering ancient forest crime - carries an investigation of the links between The UK and Indonesia's Timber Barons. www.saveordelete.com
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