Indonesian authorities are reported to have moved hundreds of inmates from a jail in East Java, to other prisons in the region after rioting prisoners set part of the jail on fire.
The Indonesian daily, Kompas, said inmates of the high-security Medaeng prison in Sidoarjo, south of Surabaya, rioted on Wednesday, setting fire to the prison's office and breaking down walls.
Keith Loveard, Jakarta – The outcome of an Indonesian election is supposed to be predictable and, in that regard, the May 29 parliamentary polls did not disappoint. Golkar, the long-ruling party backed by President Suharto, the military and big business, always wins. Only the margin of its victory varies a bit.
Jakarta – A Pos Makasar journalist Mohamad Sayuti known as Sandrego, died as a result of a severe beating in the sub-offices of the regency of Palopo, South Sulawasi, on Thursday June 12. The incident occurred after the journalist was confirming information about deforestation in the region.
Geneva – The UN Development Programme mistakenly included East Timor in a item on Indonesia in a 1997 report, a spokeswoman said here Friday, stressing that the UN has never recognized the annexation of the former Portuguese colony.
Sydney – Indonesian security forces killed on June 9 an East Timorese youth in the province of Viqueque, after accusing him of collaborating with the local resistance self-determination movement, a source has told Lusa.
Margot Cohen, Malang – A s village secretary, he knew every trick in the book. Presiding over previous vote counts, he would puncture ballots with a swift flick of a thumbnail, and spoil others with a rusty nail lodged under the table. He cast his own vote as many as six times at different polling stations.
On June 12, the private television station SCTV reported that a riot had occurred at the Medaeng prison, Surabaya (East Java). Dita Indah Sari, chair of the Center for Labour Struggle which is affiliated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) was imprisoned there.
Andrew Macintyre – Uncertainty hangs over Indonesia's political future. After roughly two decades of relatively smooth sailing, there are now some doubts about the stability and direction of the national political leadership.
The complete collapse of the PDI in the 1997 election left the Islamically coloured PPP as the only viable non-government party. Does this mean the Indonesian government now faces a Turkish, or even an Algerian scenario of popular opposition focused only on the symbols of Islam? No, it does not.
Jakarta – An Indonesian court in troubled East Timor has jailed a youth to six months and 15 days for involvement in violence in the main town of Dili on Christmas eve, a report said Wednesday.
Adam Sweeting – Is there any such thing as ethical arms trading? Robin Cook has pledged the Government to a policy of not selling arms to repressive or aggressive regimes. An admirable philosophy, but boil it down logically and you're left with 'we promise not to sell weapons to anybody who might use them', or 'we'll only sell weapons to nice people'.
Michael Evans and Edward Yates, Jakarta – Britain wants to persuade its European partners to sign a new code of conduct on arms exports to prevent weapons from reaching regimes that might use them for internal repression.
Jakarta – Russia is offering advanced jet fighters to Indonesia without any political conditions, a Russian embassy official said in Jakarta Tuesday.
Moscow's offer was part of Russia's marketing of its aircraft in the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asian region, an embassy information officer, Iouri I. Naskov, told the Indonesian news agency Antara.
Indonesia is now perusing a shopping list of jet fighters from various countries after pulling out of a deal to buy nine US F- 16s, a high-ranking source said here Tuesday.
Russian Sukhoi-27s, British Hawk 200s and the French Mirage-2000 were all under scrutiny by military authorities, said the Indonesian source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Jakarta – The Indonesian government on Wednesday hit out at comments by US congressman Patrick Kennedy after Jakarta's decision to forego its planned purchase of US fighter planes were absurd and outrageous.
Kennedy's statement of a "major human rights victory" following Jakarta's decision not to buy the F-16s was "simply absurd," a foreign ministry statement said.
Washington – The US House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously approved an amendment condemning human rights abuses committed by Indonesia in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor.
Jakarta – Chiefs of the Armed Forces services and National Police promoted as full generals called on Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen Feisal Tanjung here on Tuesday to report their new ranks. The newly promoted four-star generals are Navy Chief Admiral Arief Kushariadi, Air Force Chief Marshall Sutria Tubagus, and National Police Chief Gen Dibyo Widodo.
Richard Borsuk, Jakarta – President Suharto's surprise appointment of a new information minister may herald tighter control of Indonesia's media. The abrupt replacement of long-serving Information Minister Harmoko with retiring army Chief of Staff Gen. Hartono also could provide clues about the country's political succession.
A report in Britain's Independent newspaper claims as many as four-thousand people in Indonesia's Kalimantan province were ritually murdered in an ethnic war in January and February this year.
Philippa Adam reports from London that the death toll is sharply at odds with official Indonesian estimates.
Jakarta – One of four men arrested in connection with a market fire in the East Timor capital Dili has been implicated in an attack on a truck last month which left 17 policemen dead, police said.
We are inside Jakarta's fortress-like Cipinang prison for a Sunday afternoon potluck lunch. The families and friends of the political prisoners have brought specially prepared home-cooked dishes for the day's celebration. Anom Astika, arrested last year along with the entire leadership of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), has just turned 26 and his sister has recently married.
Dili – Four out of six members of GPK from Baucau and Viqueque, Timor Timur, who had been caught to have torched a public market (Old Mercado) in Dili causing 500 kiosks to burn on Saturday (June 6) were successfuly arrested by personnel of Timor Timur's criminal police bureau.
Jakarta – Indonesian security officers have so far captured 120 members of the separatist guerrilla movement in troubled East Timor after a recent surge of violence over the country's general election period, the official Antara news agency reported on Sunday.
President Suharto's right hand man, Bob Hasan, was awarded the prestigious Indonesian environment prize – the Kalpataru – by Environment Minister Sarwono on World Environment Day (June 5th).
[Interview between Mirah Mardika. Coordinator, Central Leadership Committee, Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) and Liberation, June 7, 1997 - ASIET]
Liberation: The election seemed to have been a success, even though there were some small disturbances, What happened to the Election Boycott?
Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) termed the announcement that Indonesia has cancelled a deal to purchase nine F-19 fighter planes from the United States, due to the pressure he has applied on the Indonesian government, as a "major human rights victory".
Ian MacKenzie, Jakarta – Indonesia struck back at U.S. congressional critics on Friday, dropping its participation in an American military training program and scrapping plans to buy nine U.S.-made F-16 warplanes.
Jakarta – The armed forces headquarters (Mabes ABRI) has begun putting pressure on the Indonesian press. During a meeting of military heads in Cilangkap, last June 3, it was concluded that the mass media, especially those who covered the general elections were considered to have criticized the government.
East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta has condemned any targeting of civilians by the resistance movement.
He made the comment after allegations that nine civilians were killed by the guerillas in East Timor, in what could be a dramatic change in tactics used in the conflict.
ASIET has received information, still to be confirmed, that there are plans to move Budiman Sujatmiko, President of the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD), to Nusakambangan prison.
Budiman was recently sentenced to 13 years prison for leading the PRD in its struggle against the Suharto dictatorship.
The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) holds grave fears for the safety of seven East Timorese men arrested between 29 and 30 May, 1997, in the sub-district of Atabae, Bobonaro. The arrests are believed to be part of the repercussions which have followed the wave of violence surrounding the the recent Indonesian election.
The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received further information about David Dias Ximenes who was arrested on 31 May at his home in Dili. An ETHRC source has confirmed that a warrant was issued for Ximenes' arrest and that he has now had access to legal representation.
Canberra – Australia's labor federation will support Indonesia at an International Labor Organisation (ILO) conference to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, next june 12, a visiting Indonesian labor leader said here Thursday.
A quite surprising reorganisation of the cabinet and changes in the leadership of the army by the president were announced on Wednesday. This was announced by the State Secretary Moerdiono and armed forces chief Faisal Tanjung.
The record margin achieved by Indonesia's ruling Golkar Party in parliamentary elections in that country last week moved foreign analysts to weigh in with their assessments of the vote–which most saw as less than fair–and to comment on prospects for the future of yet another five-year term for President Soeharto.
Darwin – Twelve people have been killed and more than 200 arrested in the town of Baucau in the past two days, East Timorese activists said yesterday.
More deaths and arrests were suspected in the capital Dili, as well as in Los Palos.
Students and primary school teachers were among those arrested following rebel attacks against Indonesian forces.
Sampang – Indonesia held an unprecedented re-vote on Madura island yesterday following violence in last week's general election, but many in the area appeared to have stayed away from the polls.
The re-vote of more than 40,000 voters was held in Sampang district on the island off East Java yesterday amid tight security.
New York – We have received new information about the killing of seven civilians at the home of Castelho, a teacher at the local elementary school in Irara, Los Palos, East Timor, that raises questions about the identity of the attackers.
Jakarta – Human Rights Watch/Asia on Thursday voiced concern over what it described as widespread arrests of civilians and dissidents in East Timor by Indonesian security officers after recent guerrilla attacks.
The East Timorese armed resistance is very much alive, despite the propaganda claims by the Indonesian armed forces in the Suharto regime that the independence fighters have all been decimated. Over the weekend, East Timor independence fighters killed at least 18 Indonesian police in a highway ambush.
On Tuesday June 3, around 50 youths from the Megawati Supporters Group (Gerakan Pendukung Megawati, GPM) held an action at the national headquarters of the United Development Party (PPP).
On June 16, 1997, the Indonesian Government will introduce the Manpower Bill to parliament and force its passage into law, thereby consolidating its repression of the labour movement.
A series of attacks between May 27 and May 31 by resistance forces in East Timor, leading to the deaths of at least nine civilians and more than twenty military and police, has led to widespread arrests of suspected resistance supporters throughout the territory.
Jakarta – The French government has decided to award Indonesian Research and Technology Minister BJ Habibie with the "Grand Officier de la Legion d'Honneur" medal in appreciation of his contribution to the promotion of relations between the two countries.
[ETAN/US received the following document as a fax, in English, from the resistance in East Timor. This is the first direct report we have seen giving the East Timorese internal resistance's view of recent events.
Jakarta – The alliance between the puppet Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) lead by Soerjadi and those who have so far supported them, the government, has already split. This is indicated by the possibility that the PDI will withdraw all of its legislators from the parliament for the period 1997-2002 because they are deeply disappointed.
Jakarta – All of the predictions and results of research said that the Golput figure would increase in the 1997 elections, now it has come true. Prior to this, the results of polling of Indonesian University students and KNPI research in Malang [which indicated large percentages of students would Golput - JB] was completely rejected by the authorities.
Jakarta – The votes obtained by Golkar skyrocketed leaving the United Development Party (PPP) trailing behind at the end of vote counting. In Jakarta, a region PPP expected to mark a victory, Golkar achieved almost one million votes.
Cologne, Germany – East Timor resistance spokesman Ramos Horta said Monday a bloody weekend rebel attack is a warning to the Indonesian authorities to negotiate a solution through the United Nations.
Sampang – At least 11 United Development Party (PPP) supporters were wounded when shot by the military during a riot which occurred in the villages of Sampang and Pemekasan, Madura. The masses emotions rose because they were prevented from voting last May 29.