By Max Lane
Students from major campuses around Java and farmers from the Blangguan area of East Java were arrested on Saturday, January 23 during protest action against the local marine base.
A marine battalion which wants the area is attempting to force off their land 136 farmer families, 600 people in all.
Throughout December the farmers were subjected to bombardment of their corn fields and tanks running down their fences and through their fields and crashing into their houses. Many families had their houses wrecked by tank attacks or by marines dismantling the roofs and taking the tiles or other materials back to the base.
The local food stall was ordered permanently closed, and the farmers were told that if they planted any new corn, the marines would come and pull it all out.
The farmers had already protested the attempt to seize their land to the local parliament but without result. They had particularly raised the issue of the paltry offer of Rp 200 (13 cents) per square metre for quite good land.
The January 23 protest was to take the form of mass planting of corn on the land. A delegation of 25 students from several cities were also to participate as an act of solidarity.
On arriving, the students found that the area was saturated with marines. Entrances to the villages were tightly guarded by armed sentries. Jeeps patrolled the lanes and roads. At the bus station in the nearby town, there were large detachments of intelligence operatives taking notes and following students. The students' bus was also followed.
One student and one representative from the village who had come out to meet the students went back inside on Saturday evening to find out what was happening. As of Sunday, they had not returned.
Meanwhile the students gathered in a house on the edge of the area. Marines as well as local army and police units began house to house searches to find the students. Women's screams could be heard as the soldiers attempted to extract information.
The students decided to withdraw to spare the villagers further intimidation. The 25 students made their way across flooded rice fields, apparently followed by army units.
About 40 students and farmers then gathered in an effort to carry out the planned corn planting. They were soon surrounded by marines, who arrested the entire group, although later reports said that some of those arrested were able to escape.
In Sydney, the Indonesia solidarity committee Aksi has urged Australians to send protests against these militarist actions to the Indonesian Embassy (Darwinia Place, Yarralumla, ACT).
"Again and again we receive reports of farmers being brutally pushed off their land and of students being arrested and harassed. All the students and farmers should be released immediately", said a spokesperson for Aksi.
"What is just as bad is that the Australian government continues to conduct joint exercises with the Indonesian political police, that is the army, and continues to dole out Australian working people's tax dollars to the regime while Suharto and his family cream off millions from all their joint ventures with Japanese and US business."
Send protests to: H.E. Sabam Siagian, Indonesian Ambassador, Embassy of Republic of Indonesia, fax (06) 273 3748 and/or Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gareth Evans, Parliament House, Canberra 2600.
Report on human rights: page 21.