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The Struggle for Self-determination in East Timor
The goals and aims of SMID, as found in its constitution are:
To unite students and the student movement to struggle against the repressive, authoritarian regimes which oppress people; To campaign, struggle for, and create civil liberty; Along with workers, peasants, oppressed sectors of society and other democratic forces to campaign, struggle for and create a multi-party system (outside of the traditional parties which exist at the moment) which is democratic; To campaign, struggle for and create an education system which is scientific, democratic, inexpensive and people orientated; To be active in building international solidarity for world peace and democracy which is anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist, including support for the right to self-determination and independence for the Maubere people.
Final developments. Represented by SMID and PPBI, the pro-democracy movement has already increased the level of its activity. The are increasing and taking up activist campaigns in a wide range of issues, including working class rights, wages and working conditions, freedom of the press and independence for the Maubere people.
Another important political development emerged in June, 1994 when the Soeharto dictatorship muzzled three major news weeklies, Tempo, Editor and the tabloid DeTIK. A large part of the street protests denouncing this muzzling and revealed the essence of support among student activists, primarily those from SMID. Support was also organised by small groups of militant activists around LBH, which had a broad network of contacts in the layers of the younger and more militant liberal-democratic opposition.
Not a single section of the liberal-democratic opposition ran any serious campaign, that was the crucial picture of the protests against the newspaper muzzlings. In reality, in many cases, these publications largely reflected their political views. Certainly, several elite opposition groups, such as the Petition of 50, Forum Democracy and more vocal student groups such as PIJAR (Information and Network Centre for Reform) issued statements against the muzzling. A number of PIJAR activists also joined in attending meetings. However, while this was so, without SMID's strength, it would not have become a mass campaign.
The lack of mechanisms such as fair elections, and the fact that the liberal opposition has no mass, activist strategy, means that it is extremely difficult for us to estimate the authority of the elite opposition's leadership of the working and middle classes. It appears as if their credibility has been eroded significantly as a result of their inability to defend these publications which in reality reflected their own ideology. One sign is the decline in PIJAR's activities. In 1993, PIJAR allied with other student groups were able to organise and launch a number of street demonstrations. In 1994, they only organised a few actions, the major one being outside the State Court during the trial of activists which had been arrested at a previous action in 1993 and campaigns around the issue of repression of ex-political prisoners. I appears that PIJAR's activists were also involved in the formation of ALDERA (Peoples' Democratic Alliance), which primarily involves student and ex-student activists which is not a tightly organised group compared to PIJAR itself. So far, ALDERA has only been able to organise a number of public meetings, however, without significant involvement of the organised working class. Over this time, PIJAR and ALDERA initiatives in 1994 were relatively sparodic, as a consequence of their dependency on alliances with elite opposition groups, however, in the future they may grow to become a pole of attraction for the radical opposition against the Soeharto dictatorship.
In a situation when the elite opposition cannot move forward (what happened was in fact the reverse, they have faltered after the shock of the press muzzling), there emerged a significant development in the central leadership of PRD (United Peoples' Democracy) which deserves attention. There are two examples which can illustrate this event:
In the end of June, 1994, PRD postponed a hunger strike in the grounds of LBH in Jakarta to protest the press muzzlings, perhaps in the thought that this action would overtake other forces. Faced with hesitation like this, student activists moved forward and took the initiative to organise the hunger strike which was initiated by SMID national, and PRD was only invited as a speaker. (In a meeting between representatives of the national PRD network and representatives of the SMID national network, it can be concluded that was not just the postponement of the hunger strike which was desired by PRD, but the cancellation of this action, although plans for this action had already been carried in the mass media.)
In reality, at PRD's founding congress it had already been agreed by resolution to support the right to self-determination and a referendum for the people of East Timor however, in the PRD manifesto and declaration which was published, this resolution was deviated and/or softened to become support for human rights and the democratic rights of the East Timorese people.
SMID's technique of taking the initiative in the organisation of political campaigns and actions has continued since the middle of 1994. SMID's major campaign has been directed at an effort to build student-worker alliance, which could campaign both for democratic rights as well as an improvement in economic conditions. The frequency of joint student-worker rallies and demonstrations has increased, both on and off campus. Since the end off October, more and more these actions have been carried out jointly by SMID and PPBI. SMID and PPBI have also raised other issues, such as supporting self-determination for the people of East Timor and the SMID and PPBI delegations who visited Australia in December and openly campaigned on the East Timor issue. PPBI's new bulletin, the Worker's Banner, also raises the issue of East Timor. They are also one of the elements which supported the November 12 action in 1994, at the American Embassy -- moreover they assisted in safeguarding the participants of the action (which had escaped arrest and could not enter the embassy) and protested to the National Human Rights Commission over the detention of 30 Maubere comrades who had been arrested on June 4, 1995.
The SMID-PPBI combination is capable of reaffirming the radical strength in PRD -- primarily that based in the provincial branches which have or will be established -- and return PRD to a more radical course and perspective. The other possibility is that the SMID-PPBI combination will take over the position of PRD, as a pole attraction for radicalising the layers of students and workers, primarily in this country's large cities. In this finally, the SMID-PPBI-STN grouping will be able to lead 10,000 peasants from STN's base, as a reaction against the many peasant land appropriations primarily in Java and Sumatra which have been carried out by the New Order regime.
The same repression, the contemptible and merciless violence has also been experienced by the Maubere people. Since 1975 the New Order military regime has annexed -- in a brutal colonial manner -- East Timor. Thus began the dark times full of suffering for the ex-Portugese colony. The massacre of two hundred and fifty thousand people is not a thing easily forgotten by the Maubere people, who will never accept the New Order regime as their master. Truthfully, the sprinkling of resistance has arisen (and has still not stopped) is proof that the Soeharto regime is not the choice of the Maubere people to develop their country. The Soeharto regime, which has been there for 19 years, has been unable to gain the Maubere peoples' trust, meaning that basically, it does not have the right to claim that East Timor is the 27th province of Indonesia.
All of this must become a part of the strategy and tactics of all Maubere activists to pressure the Soeharto regime to withdrawal its soldiers from East Timor and give the Maubere people to right to hold a referendum.
Acts of arbitrary and indiscriminate use of power have also been experienced by Acehenese freedom fighters. In 1992, Two thousand Acehenese people were slaughtered for being suspected of being involved in the Free Aceh Movement. The Free West Papua Moment has also brutality butchered; more than 800 West Papuan people were killed in 1991. Not yet counting the repression taken against the pro-democracy movement.
The wars in East Timor and Aceh have caused many children of peasants and the urban poor to die in vain - only for defending themselves against the blood sucking and oppressive regime -- that is the reason for so many provisions and requests from them to end this war, which has consumed so many of their children.
The most effective pressure to corner this brutal regime, and most certainly one which will broaden the scope of the campaign over the issue of the Maubere peoples' right to independence, is the issue of the Maubere peoples' independence becoming a political program and agenda of the Indonesian pro-democratic movement, which must be carried out from two sides; from within the country -- through the pro-democratic movement, which is active in strategic sectors along with real forces (workers- students-intelectuals- democrats -peasents); in strategic areas (JABOTABEK, GERBANGKERTASUSILA, Semarang, Medan, Bandung, Solo, Yogya, Malang, Bali); and with effective political tools (mass actions, dissemination of information, pamphlets, open campaigns) -- and on the other side outside the country -- united with the democratic movement of workers, students, youth and intellectuals; in countries wherever there are Maubere and Indonesian people with sympathies with the Maubere and Indonesian people (East Timorese -- for us East Timor outside of the sovereignty of our country -- Australia, Portugal, Northern Europe, Japan, America, Mozambique, South Africa, Libya, Iraq, the Philippines, North and South Korea, Nepal and so on); with mass actions at Indonesian embassies and consulates and a broad campaign of diplomatic pressure. The difficulty with Maubere peoples' struggle for independence being resolved only at the official international negotiating table, through official international institutions such as the United Nations, the European Economic Community, CGI and the Non-Aligned Movement, is principally based on the Soeharto regime's fear that independence is given to the Maubere people this action will ignite other separatist movements in Indonesia.
Because of this, the moment has already arrived to unite the struggle demanding prosperity, political freedom, social justice, and genuine independence for the Indonesian and Maubere people. We are oppressed by the same power. The bullets which riddle the bodies of Maubere patriots are the same bullets which kill Indonesian pro-democratic activists. The weapons which are imported from America, Australia, England, Sweden and Germany are the same weapons used to kill the Indonesian and Maubere people, as when Indonesia was under the power of Dutch colonialism for 350 years.
SPRIM is based on a political agenda and program aiming to: democratise the whole of Indonesian society and support the self-determination and independence of the Maubere people.
SPRIM is a single organisational front established in March 1995. SPRIM is made up of PPBI, SMID, Serikat Tani Nasional (STN - National Farmeers Union), and Jaringan Kesenian Rakyat (JAKER - Peoples Artists Network).
SPRIM in its political activities believes in the strength of mass action, and the forms of official national and international negotiations, which have already been established to strengthen the struggle of the Maubere people. The diversity of SPRIM's members proves that the struggle of the Maubere people has already received support not only from students, but also from workers, peasants and the artistic community. This therefore, makes it easier for SPRIM's campaign work to be taken to all the layers of oppressed society in Indonesia, which now is already indicating its initial strength which has the potential to develop as a unique democratic strength.
SPRIM has already planned an initial work agenda formed of: publications -- primarily large scale information distribution -- campaigns -- most importantly those which push the issue of independence for the Maubere people to become part of the political agenda of the pro-democratic movement, for example its inclusion in the agenda of newly formed alliances, KPRI (the Indonesian Peoples' United Movement) -- and mass actions principally aimed at related institutions, which are bear responsibility for the independence of the Maubere people.
Translated by James BalowskiDistribution of information throughout all sectors of Indonesian society about the Maubere Peoples's independence struggle; Distribution of information and build a reaction in Indonesian society and internationally about the acts of the New Order regime against the Maubere people; Push pro-democratic movement groups to support the independence struggle of the Maubere people in their political agendas; Convince the international community that the people of Indonesia support the independence struggle of the Maubere people; Seek an opportunity and basis of mass support -- with a unique strength in political bargaining with the New Order regime -- to demand: A halt to war The withdrawal of all military powers (including police) in Indonesian and East Timor The formation of a provisional Maubere peoples' government And to value the right to self-determination -- as independence -- of the Maubere people through referendum, as soon as possible