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Stop supporting dictator Suharto!

ASIET Statement - May 20, 1998

[The following statement is being circulated by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) for endorsement.]

The time has come for the Australian Coalition government to withdraw all support for the corrupt New Order regime in Indonesia. The overwhelming majority of Indonesians are clearly demonstrating to the whole world that they do not support dictator Suharto. Yet the Australian government continues to give it legitimacy by providing political, military and financial support.

Today, for the first time in its bloody 33-year history, the Indonesian government faces a grave crisis: its end is in sight. The Indonesian people are determined to rid themselves of this dictator. For this chance to become a reality, and for more bloodshed to be avoided, the Howard government must act now and withdraw its support.

Australian governments, both past and present, have long been aware of the dirty record of the Suharto government.

All the world knows that Suharto came to power after a bloodbath in which at least 500,000 people were slaughtered and tens of thousands more imprisoned. At least 15,000 were imprisoned without trial for 15 years.

All the world knows that at least 200,000 people have died in East Timor, killed either by Suharto's military or by starvation, the result of the war of occupation. All the world knows that more than 200 people were killed at the Dili massacre on November 12, 1991.

All the world knows about the increasing number of political prisoners in the 1990s: Xanana Gusmao, Budiman Sujatmiko, Dita Sari, Wilson, Sri Bintang Pamungkas and Muchtar Pakpahan. More recently, Suharto has added new names to his list: People's Democratic Party (PRD) leaders Andi Arief, Mugianto, Aan Rusdianto and Nezar Patria, as well as dramatist Ratna Sarumpaet and her daughter, and at least 200 others. Worse still, some of these figures have “disappeared”, with the government and military denying knowledge of the kidnappings.

All the world knows about the corruption, cronyism and collusion that have helped Suharto and his cronies turn themselves into billionaire tycoons. Forbes business magazine estimates Suharto's personal wealth as US$16 billion. This has been financed by World Bank and IMF-approved loans since 1967, so that Indonesia now has a total official debt of some US$60 billion. Western and Japanese banks also dived in, lending crony companies another $40 billion. The current round of IMF loans are aimed at rescuing Suharto and the big multinational corporations in Indonesia.

All the world is bracing for the next massacre as Suharto tries desperately to protect his privileges. Now, when the results of bad economic policy, worsened by corruption, collusion and cronyism are causing economic havoc and the majority of Indonesians have rejected the regime, the Howard government refuses to break its ties with the regime.

Therefore we, the undersigned, demand that the Australian government stop supporting the Suharto dictatorship. In particular, we demand that the government:

1. withdraw recognition from the Suharto government;
2. refuse any further financial support to the Indonesian government;
3. end all joint military exercises, aid and training with Suharto's military while political repression in Indonesia and military occupation of East Timor and West Papua continue;
4. demand the release of all political prisoners in Indonesia and East Timor;
5. stop trying to deport East Timorese refugees fleeing Indonesia's illegal military occupation of East Timor and grant them long-term residency visas in Australia; and
6. refuse to recognise any New Order administration (with or without Suharto), and only restore support to a government freely and democratically chosen by the Indonesian people.

Initial sponsors:

Max Lane (national coordinator, ASIET), John Pilger (author and film-maker), Senator Margaret Reynolds (ALP member of Parliamentarians for Indonesia), Senator Bob Brown (Australian Greens), John Percy (national secretary, Democratic Socialist Party), Sean Healy (national coordinator, Resistance), Harold Moucho (coordinator, Fretilin NSW), Helen Jarvis (ASIET, Asia Pacific Institute for Development and Democratisation), Jim McClelland (former Labor minister, Sydney Morning Herald columnist), Leigh Hubbard (secretary, Victorian Trades Hall Council), Martin Kingham (president, Victorian Trades Hall Council), Chris White (secretary, SA United Trades and Labour Council), Elizabeth Biok (International Commission of Jurists), Peter McGregor (University of Western Sydney), Michelle Hogan (assistant secretary, SA United Trades and Labour Council), Paul Matters (secretary, South Coast Labour Council), Colin Cooper (national vice-president, Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union), Pip Hinman (Asia Pacific Solidarity Women's Network, Democratic Socialist Party), Ray Richmond (Wayside Chapel, Sydney), David Bradbury (independent film-maker, director, Frontline Films), Vince Jones (musician), Bruce Petty (cartoonist), Stephen Spence (secretary, SA branch, Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance), James Boyle (secretary, northern NSW branch, Maritime Union of Australia), Jill Hickson (ASIET national secretariat), Ed Aspinall (lecturer, School of Indonesian and Chinese Studies, University of NSW), Bob Berghout (secretary, Newcastle University branch, National Tertiary Education and Industry Union), Susan Hopgood (deputy federal secretary, Australian Education Union), Janet Giles (secretary, SA branch, Australian Education Union), Lisa Macdonald (Green Left Weekly), Jeff Knight (secretary, Queensland branch, plumbing division, Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union), Peggy Trompf (Workers Health Centre, Sydney), Stephen Kelly (NSW Teachers Federation), Bernard Griffin (Independent Education Union of Australia), Margret Roadknight (singer), Thomas Keneally (writer), Gil Scrine (film-maker), C. Cook (Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union), D. Kemp (Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union), Darryl Smith (Maritime Union of Australia), Tony Evans (AMWU), Damien Lawson (Copwatch, Victoria), Marina Carman (vice-president, SRC, Sydney University), Katrina Curry (education officer, National Union of Students), Vanessa Badham (president, NUS NSW), Damien Cahill (education officer, NUS NSW), Ben Playle (United Nations Youth Association of Australia), Denis Doherty (Communist Party of Australia, Pax Christi, Anti-Bases Coalition), Alison Thorne (Freedom Socialist Party), Sara Wills (Melbourne University), Tony Moritz (Adelaide University). (Organisations listed for identification only.)
 

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