PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath,
Surrey CR7 8HW, UK
Tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904 Fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
Email tapol@gn.apc.org
Website http://www.tapol.org
| News & Statements |
| Bulletin Archive |
| Press Releases |
| Reports & Papers |
| Publications |
| Links |
| How you can help |
Solidarity greetings to KontraS
As KontraS celebrates the tenth anniversary of its birth in 1998, TAPOLwishes to congratulate you as you celebrate a momentous decade in the
struggle in support of the victims of violence and the disappeared.
The decision to set up KontraS represented a new era in the struggle for
human rights in Indonesia, drawing attention in particular to the huge
number of people who disappeared and were never accounted for during the
repressive military regime presided over by Suharto.
It was in late 1997, that many people were captured as the military regime
was nearing its demise, many of whom have never been accounted for. It was
this terrible incident that prompted the establishment of KontraS.
Over the three decades of the Suharto regime, there were many cases of
disappearances of which the worst occurred in the months following 1965,
when hundreds of thousands of people were subjected to inhuman atrocities,
killed or taken into custody by military units or by gangs of people
engaged in a nationwide campaign of terror against anyone suspected of
holding leftwing views, in many case together with their families and
friends. Vast numbers of these people have never been accounted for and to
this day, no one has been called to account for this wholesale orgy of killing.
We warmly welcome the statement you issued on 18 March 2008 strongly
criticising the Defence Minister and the chief of the Indonesian Armed
forces for calling on former officers of the armed forces not to respond to
any summons from the National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM, which
you condemn as a deliberate and illegal act by the Government of Indonesia
to justify the Obstruction of Justice and prevent Komnas HAM from seeking
justice and accountability in the many cases of human rights abuses that
have occurred over the past forty years.
On your tenth anniversary, we also recall the profoundly important role of
your founding member, Munir, in pursuing these ideals while upholding the
principle of non-violence. We express our support for all your efforts to
bring to justice all those involved in the conspiracy to murder Munir and
to bring to light the criminal intentions of those forces who masterminded
the conspiracy to eliminate Munir.
Please accept our warm wishes on your tenth anniversary,
Carmel Budiardjo, TAPOL, London
Search
 |
| Subscribe |