ASIET attends human rights meeting in Jakarta
By Max Lane
On September 28-30, human rights and solidarity groups from around Asia met in Jakarta to discuss coordinating campaigns in support of democratisation in Indonesia.
Groups based in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia participated, along with several Indonesian democratic opposition groups, including the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, which hosted the meeting. East Timorese activists also attended.
International participation in the meeting was coordinated by Forum Asia, a human rights network based in Bangkok.
Australia was represented by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor's (ASIET) information officer, James Balowski.
The two days of discussion led to the formation of the Asian Network for Democratisation in Indonesia. An ANDI coordinating committee was formed, which includes representatives from several of the participating groups, including ASIET.
A delegation from ANDI, including Balowski, attempted to deliver a statement of protest to Indonesian prime minister B.J. Habibie's office on September 30, but officials refused to accept the letter.
ANDI decided to take up several issues, but its main focus will be on the militarisation of politics in Indonesia. It called for an end to any role for the military in political affairs and demanded that the military end the practice of branding all protest actions with "black propaganda".
There was considerable interest among participants in ASIET's publication No Australian Military Ties With Indonesia, which documents the repressive record of the Indonesian military, and the complicity of the Australian government in this repression.
ANDI is also calling for the release of all political prisoners and rejects the Habibie regime's policy of selective releases.