Subject: [reg-easttimor 16] [ZNet] ジャーナリストの Allan Nairn 氏インドネシア当局によって逮捕
From: "M.Shimakawa" <mshmkw@tama.or.jp>
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 20:47:57 +0900
Seq: 16
島川です。 [TO: aml, pmn, reg-easttimor]
ZNetから、更新情報に加えて、先にamlなどに投稿した
[IAC]「東ティモールにおける虐殺の背景」
<"http://www.jca.apc.org/aml/9909/13942.html>
でも触れられていた、アメリカの<インデペンデント>ジャーナリストのAllan Nairn
氏が、１４日にインドネシア当局によって逮捕され西ティモールに移送されており、
本人が声明を出している、という知らせがありました。逮捕は無許可の行動・ビザ
の期限切れを理由としており、もしインドネシア国内法によって刑が宣告されれば、
１０年の入獄という可能性があると述べ、彼の解放を訴えています。
Allan Nairn氏については、
<"http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/2487/>
に、上記[IAC声明]が触れている「ネーション」誌の記事「US Complicity in Timor」
を含め経歴等の詳しい紹介があります。
Peacenetの「EAST TIMOR: What's Going On? 」にあるAllan Nairn氏の簡単な紹介
<"http://www.igc.org/igc/pn/hl/99090812472/hl4.html>
のあとにZNetのお知らせを添付します。
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ALLAN NAIRN, "http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/2487
An award-winning journalist, Nairn has written about East Timor for The
Nation, The New Yorker and other outlets. He survived the 1991 Santa Cruz
massacre in Dili, East Timor. He is currently in East Timor and is about to
release a report that documents cooperation between the militias, the
Indonesian army and U.S. officials. He is one of the only American reporters
left in East Timor, now under martial law.
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From: "Michael Albert" <sysop@zmag.org>
Subject: ZNet Free Update -- Allan Nairn's Arrest Situation and Statement,
and the Fate of Timor and the Timorese
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 11:56:34 +0100
Hello,
Another Update from ZNet regarding Timor....
---
Please go to ZNet's Timor Pages at
"http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/Timor/timor_index.htm for regularly
updated information and analysis bearing on the events in East Timor....
If you want one preferred piece to get up to speed and inform yourself as
quickly as possible, ZNet's best overarching effort to succinctly situate
the events and our responsibilities is our Question and Answer Article, the
work of Shalom, Chomsky, and Albert:
"http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/Timor/qanda.htm
---
You may have heard, already, that U.S. journalist Allan Nairn, arrested a
few days ago seemingly solely for deportation, is now facing prosecution in
Indonesia. Benny Mateus, the chief justice of Nusa Tenggara Province intends
to prosecute Nairn for two violations of Indonesian immigration law, a local
immigration official in Kupang, West Timor has informed Nairn. Nairn is to
be charged with engaging in unauthorized activities and overstaying his
two-month visa. Both acts are considered illegal under sections 50 and 52 of
the Indonesian immigration laws. If convicted, Nairn could face 10 years in
prison. Nairn, who was arrested in Dili on September 14, was one of the last
journalists reporting from East Timor. Indonesian forces transferred him to
Kupang in West Timor, a part of Indonesia. A local immigration official, Mr.
Zurya, has been interrogating Nairn at the immigration facility in downtown
Kupang for several days. According to Indonesian officials in Kupang, while
Mateus is seeking to charge Nairn, the Minister of Justice, Dr. Muladi, and
the Minister of Information, Yunus Yosfiah, are inclined to deport Nairn.
The detainment and possible prosecution of a U.S. journalist, the only one
on the scene, is of course generating tremendous concern in the United
States. The key point about Nairn's arrest, however, and our efforts to free
him, for those who are informed and have broad and consistent moral values
is that we need to work to free Nairn while at the same time continuing to
address the plight of the Timorese, and, for that matter, while we work to
convince those aroused only by Nairn's situation that they need to broaden
their focus.
For example, approximately 100,000 East Timorese have been driven from their
country into West Timor, which is a part of Indonesia. These folks are under
the auspices of the Militia and Indonesian Army and there are no observers.
Their plight is unknown, but there is every reason to fear for their lives.
All efforts of virtually any sort to publicize and arouse concern for Allan
Nairn and outrage at his incarceration will help him and also all East
Timorese. But, such efforts will be that much more effective, on both
counts, if they occur in context of continuing attention the lot of the
worst off and most defenseless...and if they emphasize not solely a
violation of a Western Journalist by the Indonesians, but their quarter
century-long willful violation, abetted by their U.S. sponsors, of the
rights and lives of the Timorese. Nairn himself has no confusion on these
matters. He is not only courageous, but consistent, not only a fine
reporter, but also a moral, socially concerned and consistent person. In
fighting for Nairn's freedom we should learn from his focus and courage and
keep the broader context and issues always forefront.
Here then is Nairn's Own Statement to his captors (point l8 of the
interrogation report on Allan Nairn, the part where the Immigration chief
asks him to handwrite his position).
Nairn's Statement in West Timor to his Captors
I know that the army has put me on the black list. They did this because I
watched their soldiers murder more than 271 people at the Santa Cruz
cemetery. This crime was the responsibility of the Indonesian army
commander, General Try Sutrisno and the Minister of Defense, General Benny
Murdani.
The murders were committed with American M-16 rifles. The American
government also bears some of the responsibility because they have armed,
trained, and given money to the TNI/ABRI, even though they knew the TNI/ABRI
is led by murderers and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of
thousands of Timorese, Acehnese, West Papuan and Indonesian civilians.
Because I survived the massacre and denounced the crime to the outside
world, the TNI/ABRI and the Suharto government banned me as a "threat to
national security." That ban has been reaffirmed by each subsequent TNI/ABRI
commander, including General Tanjung and General Wiranto.
I do not think that I am a threat to the Indonesian or Timorese people, but
I hope that I am a threat to General Wiranto and General Tanjung, and the
other present and former leaders of the TNI/ABRI. I believe that they feel
threatened by anyone who would expose their crimes. General Wiranto and
Generals Bambang, Zacky, Syafei, Kiki, and many others, for example, are
responsible for the current militia terror in occupied East Timor and for
the increase in repression against the people of Aceh. This is no secret to
the people of Timor or to the people of Indonesia or Aceh. They have
suffered for decades under the repression and corruption of TNI/ABRI.vMany
brave Indonesians, Timorese, Acehnese, and West Papuans have been killed,
arrested, tortured or raped because they dared to criticize the army and
demand their right to freedom.
As a foreigner and a journalist, particularly an American journalist, I know
that I enjoy a certain de facto political leeway that enables me to say
things that local people would be killed for saying. I have tried to use
that privilege to tell the truth about TNI/ABRI. If, because of this, the
army feels they must arrest or jail me, then I know that there is nothing I
can do to stop them. But they know that they cannot arrest or kill all the
people of Indonesia. That is why they are now so fearful, and that is why I
believe they will lose their desperate struggle to retain their hold on
power and their police state.
During my most recent detention, I have been interrogated by officials from
army Intel, police Intel, Kopassus Group 5, and many other units. They have
asked me many questions about my political motives and opinions. I would
summarize my opinions this way:
I am pro human rights, pro democracy, and anti TNI/ABRI. I am a supporter of
the people of East Timor, Aceh, West Papua, and Indonesia, and an opponent
of the officials who have repressed and exploited them.
As an American citizen who is visiting Indonesia and occupied East Timor, I
also want to be clear that I believe in even-handedness. The same political,
moral and legal standards that are applied to TNI/ABRI officers should also
be applied to the officers and political leaders of the United States. So
while I support the UN Secretary-General's call for war crimes and crimes
against humanity prosecution on East Timor, I think that the prosecution
should not be limited to Indonesian officials. Foreign officials who were
accomplices to atrocities in East Timor, and provided both murder weapons
and the logistics of repression should also be charged, prosecuted and if
convicted, jailed.
Pragmatically, it is hard to imagine General Wiranto sitting in jail. It is
even harder to imagine President Clinton as his cellmate. But justice should
be impartial.
It is time for the genocide to end. Untold thousands of Timorese lie
slaughtered. Their families are bereft. The victims of Santa Cruz, Liquica,
and Suai can no longer speak. Those of us who can should insist that the
killing stop right now. And we should also insist that the killers face
justice, regardless of who they are.
These same principles apply of course to atrocities everywhere. I think that
this is a simple idea and that most people would agree.
If General Wiranto or any other officials have further questions about my
views, I would be glad to answer them personally at a time and place of
their choosing. I would also be glad to give details on the crimes referred
to above, and on the complicity in them of General Wiranto and other
officials.
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島川雅史 mshmkw@tama.or.jp
mshmkw@jca.apc.org
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