Stop WAR on ACEH: Emergency Protests WORLDWID
Action in Solidarity with Asia+Pacific - 21.05.2003 11:07
No to war in Aceh! Lift martial law and withdraw the troops
Statement issued by Australia-Aceh Association, Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP), and the Greens
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More info and an appeal from ASAP to sign on, can be found at
 http://www.sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=30770&group=webcast
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ASAP-Action-at-Town-Hall.jpg (Sydney, last year)
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Find the Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, and Darwin CALLs FOR EMERGENCY PROTESTS below. Also the world-wide action announcements. ALL OUT AGAINST THIS LATEST OIL-WAR BY THE TERRORIST INDONESIA MILITARY/MILITIAS AGINST THE PEOPLE OF ACEH !!!
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASAP-Sydney/message/221/
The Indonesian government has rejected a peaceful resolution to the 27-year conflict and instead declared martial law, launching a full-scale military operation against the people of Aceh.
The last time the Indonesian government declared martial law was in 1999, when its military and military-backed militia waged a campaign of terror in East Timor after the local population voted overwhelmingly for independence.
Today, the people of Aceh are calling for peace, and for their own democratic right to a peaceful process of self-determination, through a United Nations-facilitated referendum.
Contrary to reports in the mainstream media, calls for self-determination are not being by sought by armed separatists calling for an Islamic State, but rather by a broad-based, non-violent civil society movement that includes farmers, fishermen, women’s organisations, student groups, religious leaders and businessmen.
The people of Aceh are not harking back to a traditional past, but to a future of peace and prosperity through democracy and social justice. This future will not come as long as the Indonesian military continues to act with impunity against the people of Aceh, Papua, Maluku and its own citizens throughout the archipelago.
It will not come as long as governments around the world (including the US, Britain and Australia) continue to give military aid to Indonesia.
We invite you to get active in solidarity with Aceh: rally in support of democracy and justice in Aceh, East Timor, Indonesia, and around the world on Friday May 23.
Protests will be taking place on this day around the world, including in the US, Germany, Holland, Britain and Australia.
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASAP-Sydney/message/225/
Human Rights Groups Protest Indonesia's War in Aceh Throughout World Demand an End to Human Rights Abuses
May 20, 2003
Protestors around the world are gathering at Indonesia’ s diplomatic offices this week to oppose the launch of a massive Military campaign in Aceh. In Indonesia’s biggest military operation since the invasion of East Timor in 1975, an estimated 45,000 troops are now in Aceh, on the northern-tip of the island of Sumatra.
Top ranking Indonesian military (TNI) officials have boasted that they will “crush” the rebel Free Aceh Movement in six months. But the civilian population will be the hardest hit. The Indonesian government estimates that the number of refugees in Aceh will grow to 100,000 from the current 5,000. More than 12,000 people have been killed in the almost 27-year old conflict.
In the United States, rights groups will demonstrate at the Indonesian Embassy in Washington on Wednesday in an event sponsored by Amnesty International USA, the East Timor Action Network, and the Indonesia Human Rights Network (IHRN). On Friday, demonstrators will gather in New York at Indonesia’s Permanent Mission office to the United Nations and the UN.
“Indonesia cannot keep Aceh by destroying it”, said Kurt Biddle, Coordinator of the Indonesia Human Rights Network. “This war will only kill more civilians and strengthen the Acehnese resolve to be independent. Human rights will be the main casualty of this war.”
Indonesia is currently using U.S.-supplied weaponry and combat aircraft in their war in Aceh. On Monday C-130 Hercules transport planes dropped hundreds of TNI paratroopers into Aceh and counter-insurgency aircraft, OV-10 Broncos, were used to fire rockets into villages outside of the capital city of Banda Aceh.
Last December, the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) concluded a landmark accord on the Cessation of Hostilities (COHA), which was enthusiastically welcomed by the Acehnese people and led to a dramatic decrease in the number of casualties. The Indonesian foreign minister has declared the COHA defunct.
In response to these most recent attacks, the Indonesia Human Rights Network has renewed its calls to maintain the cut off of U.S. arms sales to Indonesia and restore the ban on military training to that country.
Fueled by Jakarta¹s broken promises and brutal repression by the TNI and Indonesian police, the Acehnese have been fighting for independence since 1976. During Indonesia’s national revolution in 1945, Aceh was promised autonomy for its role in fighting the Dutch colonists during Indonesia’s independence struggle in 1945. But Jakarta never fulfilled that pledge. Rich in natural gas and other resources, most of Aceh’s wealth flows to multinational corporations and Jakarta without benefiting the local people.
The Indonesian government fears that resource-rich Aceh will go the way of East Timor, which voted overwhelmingly for independence in an UN-sponsored referendum in 1999 and celebrates one year of independence today.
The Indonesia Human Rights Network (IHRN) is a U.S.-based grassroots organization working to educate and activate the American public and influence U.S. foreign policy and international economic interests to support democracy, demilitarization, and justice through accountability and rule of law in Indonesia. We seek to end armed forces repression in Indonesia by exposing it to international scrutiny. IHRN works with and advocates on behalf of people throughout the Indonesian archipelago to strengthen civil society. For more information, see the Indonesia Human Rights Network website, http://www.indonesianetwork.org/ .
The East Timor Action Network/U.S. (ETAN) supports human dignity for the people of East Timor by advocating for democracy, sustainable development, social, legal, and economic justice and human rights, including women’s rights. ETAN, which has 28 local chapters throughout the U.S., calls for an international tribunal to prosecute crimes against humanity that took place in East Timor since 1975. For additional information see ETAN's web site http://www.etan.org/ .
Locations for demonstrations in the US.
Washington, DC
Wednesday, May 21
12:30 - 1:20 pm
Indonesian Embassy, 2020 Massachusetts Ave., NW
New York City
Friday, May 23
10:30am - Noon: Outside the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to United Nations, 325 East 38th Street (between 1st and 2nd Ave)
Noon - 1:30 pm: Outside the United Nations, 1st Ave between 42nd and 43rd St.
Kurt Biddle, Coordinator, Indonesia Human Rights Network
 Kurt@IndonesiaNetwork.org
http://www.IndonesiaNetwork.org/
P.O. Box 2162, Berkeley, CA 94702-0162, USA
(510) 559-7762 phone
(561) 760-0456 eFax
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EMERGENCY PROTESTS in Solidarity with the people of Aceh
After undermining the Ceasefire Agreement signed last December, nearly 50,000 Indonesian troops are on the ground to take part in a full-scale war in Aceh, ostensibly to put down pro-independence rebellions.
The Acehnese people have been struggling for self-determination since 1976 - under the current military operations, they will again be displaced, tortured, disappeared and killed. The Howard government cannot allow a repeat of what happened in East Timor under Indonesian occupation. Come to the emergency protest to demand:
- Indonesian troops out!
- Lift martial law!
- Howard, end military ties with Jakarta!
- Referendum now!
Melbourne: 12.30pm, Friday, 23 May Garuda Indonesian Airways office Monash House, 30 Collins St Melbourne. Enquiries: Vanessa 0407 023 672
Sydney: 4-6pm, Friday, 23 May Steps of Sydney Town Hall. Enquiries: Iggy 0421 322 175, Pip 0412 139 968
Newcastle: 4-6pm, Friday, 23 May. Beaumont St Clock Tower, Hamilton. Enquiries: Jon - 0438 162 597 or 4926 5328
Darwin: Contact Ruth 0421 504 376 or Rob Wesley-Smith 0419 807 175
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More info and an appeal from ASAP to sign on, can be found at
http://www.sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=30770&group=webcast
]
 E-Mail: ASAP@asia-pacific-action.org  Website: http://www.asia-pacific-action.org/
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