Muchtar Pakpahan, 43, is the president of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI), an independent trade union in Indonesia founded in 1992 that presently has 250,000 members. Pakpahan was arrested on 29 July 1996 and initially charged with subversion for his alleged involvement in the 27 July 1996 opposition demonstration. His trial opened on 12 December 1996 and still continues in the Jakart a District Court. Pakpahan is being prosecuted on six charges. The prosecutors have referred very little in court to the 27 July 1996 riot, however, as Pakpahan cannot be linked to the violence. The authorities have failed to find evidence of Pakpahan's involvement in the riots but refuse to drop the charges.
He is also charged under Article 154 of the Criminal Code for a subsidiary charge of expressing "hostility, hatred or contempt against the government of Indonesia," which is punishable by up to seven years in prison. He is being accused of expressing his views in public and of having recorded a cassette tape of religious and trade union songs. Pakpahan is also serving a four-year prison sentence f or "incitement" following riots which took place in Medan in the province of North Sumatra in 1994.
Pakpahan has been in the hospital since March 1997. He suffers from vertigo, a clot in his brain and an unidentified lung disease. Indonesia has rejected offers from U.S. and European trade unions to send him overseas for treatment.
The independent SBSI continues to be denied official recognition, and several of its leaders are still in jail. Pakpahan's trade union activities led to his detention, and the authorities are determined to keep him imprisoned as long as possible.
Social dumping policies
The newly drafted bill on manpower supports the "social dumping" policy that was made by the government to offer cheap, skilled and politically obedient labourers for the global marketplace. In April 1997, the employers' groups warned the authorities that if they did not handle the labour strikes Indonesia would lose foreign investors. The Korean Association, representing about 280 south Korean jo int venture companies, warned that they would relocate outside of Indonesia if the strikes continue. The Korean Association indicated that they currently consider China to be a strong potential area for relocation.
Meanwhile, the workers are suffering. In Jakarta, the 1996 minimum wage level was 5,200 rupiahs (US$2.25) per day. While the workers' productivity has increased, this has not been accompanied by a wage increase as the Indonesian workers receive the second lowest wages among countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Some workers though do not receive even these low wages; for of Indonesia's work force of 86.4 million, unemployment climbed to 7.25 percent in 1995.
Chronology of events
15 April 1994: Widespread labour unrest occurs in Medan, North Sumatra. Several trade unionists are jailed. Following the unrest, at least 11 labour activists, including Pakpahan, were charged and convicted of "inciting" workers to demonstrate and to strike in support of their demands.
November 1994: Pakpahan was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of "incitement" for the events in Medan in April 1994.
January 1995: Following the trial of 77 SBSI members, Pakpahan's sentence was increased upon appeal to four years in prison for allegedly instigating the April 1994 riots that rocked Medan.
25 September 1995: The Supreme Court quashed the four-year prison sentence for lack of evidence, and Pakpahan is freed.
27 July 1996: Watched by hundreds of troops and police, about 200 supporters of the pro-government faction of the Partai Demokrasi Indonesia (PDI) stormed the PDI office in Jakarta to remove supporters of the former party chairwoman, Megawati Sukarnoputri, who had been ousted by the PDI leadership in June with the support of the authorities. After the raid, more then 10,000 supporters of Megawati protested against the police-supported violent raid on the headquarters of the PDI, a legally recognized opposition party. When the police attacked the protesters, violent riots ensued, and several buildings were set on fire. The official National Human Rights Commission reported that at least five people were killed, 23 were missing and 149 were injured in the chaos. More then 240 people were als o arrested.
29 July 1996: Pakpahan was rearrested and charged with subversion for his alleged involvement in the 27 July 1996 riots in Jakarta.
8 August 1996: The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) wrote to Michel Hansenne, director-general of the International Labour Organization (ILO), regarding the "significant new violations of trade union rights" involving Pakpahan. In addition to Pakpahan, a total of 30 SBSI trade unionists are reported to be detained in various parts of Indonesia. A further 19 unionists are in terrogated but later released. Police are watching closely the SBSI offices and monitor branch officers closely. 3 October 1996: Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief confirms that Pakpahan will be prosecuted for his involvement in the 27 July riots and not for engaging in trade union activities.
25 October 1996: The Supreme Court reinstated the initial sentence of four years for inciting riots in Medan that it quashed on 25 September 1995 for lack of evidence. Thus, the Supreme Court overruled its own earlier judgement and reinstated a lower court's four-year jail sentence on Pakpahan.
7 November 1996: An ICFTU-led international trade union mission visiting Jakarta meets Pakpahan and conveys its solidarity.
28 November 1996: The Federation of All-Indonesian Workers' Union (FSPSI), the government-approved trade union federation, comes to the defence of Pakpahan. Marzuki Achmad, general chairman of FSPSI, stated that the federation's national executive board expresses solidarity and sympathy to Pakpahan who is facing subversion charges.
30 December 1996: Pakpahan is charged with six offences, including anti-subversion charges linked to the riot in July 1996. Pakpahan is accused of undermining the government and of sowing hatred through a book that he wrote, Portrait of Indonesia, and through a series of speeches that he made in Indonesia and in Lisbon, Portugal, in the past two years.
February 1997: The ICFTU referred the case to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, citing attacks on defence lawyers, threats against witnesses, repeated changes in charges and the reversal of the Supreme Court decision quashing an earlier sentence. It claims that the charges are fabricated and that Pakpahan is being prosecuted for his trade union activities.
9 March 1997: Doctors found a tumour in Pakpahan's right lung, and he is admitted to the Cikini private hospital in central Jakarta where he is still being treated.
8 July 1997: SBSI Secretary-General Sunarty reports that new evidence will reveal that Pakpahan was not involved in the Medan riots of April 1994.
7 August 1997: It is reported that Pakpahan has a blockage in an artery in his brain and a tumour in his right lung. Doctors at the Cikini private hospital recommend that he have a lung imagery fluorescence endoscopy (LIFE), not available in Indonesia, to determine the nature of the tumour. The Indonesian authorities refuse to grant him authorization to travel abroad for treatment.
12 August 1997: It is reported that Pakpahan, who is seeking to overthrow his conviction on charges of inciting workers to strike, will offer evidence that he wanted to prevent industrial action. Pakpahan's lawyers inform the court that SBSI had called for a moratorium on strikes in April 1994 before the workers' riots in Medan.
4 September 1997: The trial of Pakpahan resumes at the South Jakarta District Court after a six-month adjournment due to his poor health. As in earlier court trials, the presiding judge does not allow Pakpahan and his lawyers to question the witnesses. Rather, the questions are directed to the presiding judge who then relays the question to the witness. The hearings are only conducted weekly on Th ursdays for a maximum of three hours due to Pakpahan's poor health.
1963 Anti-Subversion Law
Since 27 July 1996, subversion trials have continued with tighter control on non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Sacked legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas as well as Pakpahan were detained after the riots and charged under the 1963 Anti-Subversion Law.
Since 27 July 1996, the Indonesian government has alleged that individuals and NGOs played a role in the riots. The government accuses the Partai Rakyat Demokratik (PRD) for masterminding the riots, and its members were arrested. Some PRD members were charged with subversion. These include PRD President Budiman Sujatmiko, PRD Secretary-General Petrus Hariyanto and Dita Sari, who is president of th e Indonesian Centre for Labour Struggles (PPBI). The PRD itself has been outlawed.
In Indonesia, subversion is punishable by death. Most of those accused of subversion have merely expressed their views peacefully, views which are different from those of the government authorities. Peaceful opposition though is considered a threat to the stability of the State and its ideology.
The Indonesian government uses the Anti-Subversion Law to silence dissent by detaining without trial its alleged political opponents. Those charged with subversion are usually put through unfair trials and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment or receive the death penalty.
The Anti-Subversion Law grants the military and the prosecution exceptional powers to investigate cases and to detain people for up to one year without being charged or brought to trial. These powers have led the military and the prosecution to violate human rights during arrest, detention and investigation.
Independent trade unions
The ICFTU has stated that the Indonesian government has been using the courts to suppress independent trade unions. In 1994, the ICFTU first complained to the ILO against the Indonesian government's imprisonment of trade unionists, including Pakpahan, and the complaint is still pending. The ICFTU, which has 124 million members in 196 affiliated unions in 136 countries and territories, believes tha t the charges brought against Pakpahan are linked to his trade union activities and that all charges against him should be dropped. It wants Pakpahan to be released to continue his legitimate trade union work.
In addition, the ICFTU's annual survey of trade union rights in 1995 noted that three trade union organizers were murdered in 1994 and that more than 2,000 workers were reported to have been dismissed and blacklisted for being SBSI members.