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News |
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| IFA
regrets: |
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| Indonesian
leading press are no longer able to sustain their freedom |
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| PRESS
STATEMENT |
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| New
York, June 17, 2001(IFA)
—— The International
Forum for Acheh, a human rights organization monitoring and
reporting on human rights violations in the Indonesian
province of Acheh denounced today the Indonesian National News
Agency ANTARA for 'lies' regarding a letter by six U.S.
Senators to the commander of the Free Acheh Movement (GAM) in
the troubled province.
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'It
is quite clear that the "honeymoon period" of the
freedom of the press in Indonesia is over.'
'The
letter that was released to the Indonesian press by TAPOL of
London, and was first mutilated by ANTARA, the Indonesian
National News Agency, then reprised and commented in an
editorial by the sole Indonesian language daily published in
Acheh, Serambi Indonesia,..' |
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IFA STATED THAT 'the level of
misinformation, distortion and falsification of facts taking
place in Indonesia as concerned Acheh has reached the level
of real incredulity not seen since the fall of the Suharto
military dictatorship. Even from such usual sources of lies
as the Indonesian National Police contingent operating in
Acheh one does not expect to read such blatant lies as those
relating to the letter from six US Senators addressed to GAM
commander Teungku Abdullah Shafii'.
After its recent meeting in the US capital last April, IFA
with the help of its friends in the Indonesia Human Rights
Network of Washington (IHRN) have met with staffers of all
these senators and provided them with documents and reports
pertaining to the situation in Acheh. It is believed that the
Senators have written the letter based on this feedback.
It is quite clear that the "honeymoon period" of
the freedom of the press in Indonesia is over. The letter
that was released to the Indonesian press by TAPOL of
London, and was first mutilated by ANTARA, the Indonesian
National News Agency, then reprised and commented in an
editorial by the sole Indonesian language daily published in
Acheh, Serambi Indonesia, and then based on that,
"elaborated" again by the official spokesman of
the police command in Acheh, Drs Sad Harun.
The letter was sent to GAM commander through Teungku
Nashiruddin, the GAM-Joint Committee on Security Affairs, at
Kuala Tripa Hotel, Banda Acheh,
which in itself should show Teungku Abdullah Syafii's
standing as someone the American Senators feel comfortable
enough to write to, despite the oft
repeated American support of the unitary format of the
Republic of Indonesia and the Police portrayal of him as a
separatist leader. |
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It
reads:
"Dear Tgk
Nashiruddin,
We are writing to convey our concern about the deteriorating
situation in Acheh. We support the territorial integrity of
Indonesia and we believe that the use of arms to solve
Acheh's problems is unacceptable. We feel strongly that
dialogue is the only way to end the conflict, and hope that
both sides will continue to search for ways to restart
negotiations".
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But
from Drs Sad Harun, it somehow came out as: "the
international community, in particular members of the
US Senate and Human Rights Watch, are closely watching and
monitoring the acts of violence being carried out by GAM against the civilian population in Acheh. (The
letter does not mention the New York based Human Rights
Watch at all, but probably his recent meeting with the
fearless HRW Executive Director, Sidney Jones, have clouded his mind somehow). |
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The
original letter continues:
"We understand that in
Acheh there are many groups and individuals who claim to be
GAM, and that actions have been carried out in the name of
GAM that were never endorsed by the GAM leadership. We are
encouraged by your practice of repeatedly denouncing such
violations and hope you will continue to do so, but we are
also concerned that some GAM actions may prolong the
violence, rather than resolve the conflict. One example is
the attacks led by Sofyan Daud at the end of March as part
of a 'defensive strategy' against the soldiers stationed
around the Exxon-Mobil plant."
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From
Drs. Sad Harun came: "International organisiations are
very concerned about the systematic acts of violence being
undertaken, on the pretext of waging struggle.
But their
activities are being properly monitored; these organisations
are getting accurate information about the cruel actions
recently undertaken by GAM against the population, adding
that this is as it should be because they have been getting
information from official sources and from institutions that
are credible."
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The
letter:
"While we do not believe
that the US government should support a military offensive
in Acheh, we would also oppose GAM actions that in any way
violate human rights. We urge GAM to respect the fundamental
rights of all individuals, including non-Achenese in Acheh,
and that GAM as an organization adhere to the principles
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the Geneva conventions as they relate to internal
conflicts".
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This
last phrase was of course totally ignored by Drs. Sad Harun. |
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The
concerned Senators are:
Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat
Senator James M Jeffords, formerly Republican, now
Independent
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat
Senator Russell D Feingold, Democrat
Senator Robert D. Torricelli, Democrat
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Carmel
Budiardjo of TAPOL who first released this letter to the
Indonesian press noted: "The letter has already been
reported in the Indonesian language press, giving the
impression that the senators pressed GAM to engage in
dialogue whereas the plea for dialogue is made to both
sides.
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View
detail
of TAPOL's response regarding Indonesian press
on the Senators letter |
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The reports make no
mention of the first two
sentences in paragraph two and give the impression that the
senators accused GAM of launching an attack on ExxonMobil
whereas their letter regrets the 'defensive strategy'
against the soldiers stationed round the company, which is
rather a different matter." End of PRESS
STATEMENT |
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M.
Nur Djuli is a Press & Communications Director for International
Forum for Acheh (IFA)
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| iNTERNET;
related stories
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| See
also news on ExxonMobil
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