Fadli, Batam – Activists have criticized the lack of transparency in World Bank and IMF policy-making and accused the Singaporean government of violating human rights by preventing activists from attending the meetings of the two financial bodies in the city-state.
The joint statement was made Monday at a pressconference in Batam, Riau Islands, the day after the activists ended their alternative IMF-WB meetings.
Police had earlier prohibited the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) from holding a press conference Monday.
INFID's executive director Donatus K. Marut said they had been told it was too late to hold a press conference because the event had already finished.
"But I told them it was impossible to hold a press conference Sunday night, right after the forum had ended," he said, adding that police finally agreed after being told that many of the participants had returned home.
In their joint statement, the activists demanded the financial bodies shift to 100 percent grants rather than multilateral loans and called for an open and transparent audit of their lending and policies.
They urged the two institutions not to force policies that undermined the economic supremacy of a country, which would "worsen the crises in the education and health sectors".
They also demanded an end to the privatization of public services and to the bodies' involvement in projects that harm the environment.
The activists are considering taking legal action against the Singapore government. Donatus said they were gathering evidence to take the case to the International Court of Justice.
Shalmali Guttal from non-governmental organization Focus on the Global South India, said they would not stay quiet over the Singapore government's treatment of fellow activists.
In the past 11 days, Singapore deported 12 activists to their home countries. Eleven of them did not have official accreditation to attend the IMF-WB meetings, while one had his accreditation withdrawn after his arrival at Singapore's Changi Airport en route to Batam, a 40-minute ferry ride from Singapore, activists at the Batam forum said.
The organizers of the forum said Sunday that another 27 activists who lacked accreditation had been warned they might be questioned or turned away on arrival at the airport. Nine others were questioned at Changi before being released in Singapore.
On Monday, the Singapore government deported two Indonesian activists who were planning to hold a press conference in the city-state to criticize IMF-WB agricultural policy.
Two members of the Indonesian Farmers Federation (FSPI) – Irma Yanni and Achmad Yakub, both of whom lacked meetings accreditation – were detained on arrival at Changi on Sunday and held for about 12 hours.
Their luggage was searched, they were questioned and their photographs and fingerprints taken before being put on a flight back to Jakarta early Monday, Irma told Reuters. "I'm very angry about this, I'm not a criminal," Yanni said. Singapore police declined to comment.
In Batam, Peter Hardstaff, head of policy at the World Development Movement (WDM), regretted British finance minister Gordon Brown's praise of the Singapore government's solid preparations for the IMF-WB meetings.
"At a time when 2,000 activists were barred from entering Singapore to attend the IMF-WB annual meetings, Britain's finance minister praises Singapore. It's very ironic," Hardstaff said.