INDONESIA — The following letter was written by East Timorese resistance leader XANANA GUSMAO and Indonesian People's Democratic Party leader BUDIMAN SUJATMIKO on June 3 in Cipinang Prison. The letter was smuggled out of the prison by a member of the Australian organisation Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor.
To: John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia
To: All members of the Australian parliament
To: All the Australian people
All of us who are political prisoners of Suharto's New Order (now under President Habibie) were shocked and disappointed when Prime Minister John Howard called President Suharto a caring, sensitive and wise leader when Howard first visited Indonesia. We now hope that he has taken note of what the Indonesian and East Timorese people really think of the former president. They came out on to the streets in hundreds of thousands at the risk of death to force him to resign.
We were also shocked and disappointed when we found out that in March 1998 a big majority of the members of the Australian Senate voted against the resolution to ask Suharto to release the political prisoners, or at least to guarantee them a speedy and free trial.
All of us, representing Indonesians fighting for democracy and East Timorese fighting for freedom, appeal to the government of PM Howard to firmly urge President Habibie to immediately release all political prisoners and guarantee all democratic rights recognised in UN declarations.
We humbly request the Australian Senate to reconsider its position and to urge the new government in Indonesia to release all political prisoners, including kidnapped activists.
We appeal to the Australian government to change its position on East Timor and to become the champion of self-determination for East Timor.
To the Australian people, we offer our thanks to all those who have actively campaigned in support of democratic rights in Indonesia and self-determination in East Timor.
We appeal to you to continue your efforts because we all know that we have still not secured either real democracy or self-determination. The people of our countries have won a victory in battle, but we still must win the war.
To all Australians who are sympathetic to our struggle, we urge you to join all collective efforts to pressure your government to change its position so it becomes a government which formally demands self-determination in East Timor and political freedom in Indonesia.
The Australian, East Timorese and Indonesian people are all neighbours who value the same thing: Freedom!