September 1, 1999
His Excellency Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie
President, Republic of Indonesia
Office of the President
Bina Graha, Jalan Veteran No. 17
Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia
Your Excellency,
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by widespread instances of violence and intimidation directed against both foreign and local journalists during the period surrounding the August 30 referendum on the future of East Timor. In the course of the last week alone, CPJ has documented numerous cases in which journalists were singled out for attack. The vast majority of the incidents were apparently committed by pro-Jakarta militias backed by the Indonesian military.
Militia members have shot journalists, attacked hotels where journalists are staying, blocked access to news events, beaten cameramen, and threatened to kill dozens of reporters and photographers. In the current atmosphere, journalists covering East Timor live and work in constant fear for their lives.
According to the Safety Office for the Media in East Timor (SOMET), a project of the Jakarta-based Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), armed pro-Jakarta militias responsible for pre-election violence against journalists have continued their harassment in the immediate post-election period. Journalists have been told that they will not be allowed to leave the territory, and militia members have been seen stopping reporters from boarding boats bound for other islands.
“The local journalists are facing not only attacks, but intimidation and terror. And it is happening every day, every day,” said Ezki Suyanto, AJI’s head of advocacy, who is coordinating SOMET’s efforts in East Timor. “Especially for local journalists. The foreign journalists have evacuation plans. But not for local journalists, they have no help.”
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists concerned with the safety of our colleagues around the world, CPJ is dismayed that Indonesian security forces have done so little to protect journalists working in East Timor.
CPJ notes with appreciation that the Indonesian press has become more free since the resignation of former President Suharto in 1998. But press freedom is meaningless if journalists face physical attack for practicing their profession. The Indonesian government has failed to curb the activities of the militias and to guarantee that journalists are able to work without fear of physical violence. These failures cast doubt on your administration’s commitment to a free press.
Foreign Minister Ali Alatas signaled the Indonesian administration’s unwillingness to protect the press in East Timor this May, when he told a joint delegation from CPJ and the Brussels-based International Press Institute that journalists “cannot avoid being attacked. It is a situation of conflict. These journalists should know they are in harm’s way.” However, CPJ reminds Your Excellency that Indonesia signed a United Nations-brokered agreement promising to ensure “a secure environment devoid of violence or other forms of intimidation,” while acknowledging that responsibility for “the general maintenance of law and order rests with the appropriate Indonesian security authorities.”
CPJ therefore respectfully calls on your government to disarm the militias in East Timor, investigate the incidents documented in this letter, and bring those responsible for the attacks to justice. We also urge Your Excellency to instruct police and security forces stationed in East Timor to guarantee the safety of journalists working there, and to discipline those officers who do not comply with these orders.
We thank you for your attention to these urgent matters, and eagerly await your response.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Join CPJ in Protesting Attacks on the Press in Indonesia
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His Excellency Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie
President, Republic of Indonesia
Office of the President
Bina Graha, Jalan Veteran No. 17
Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia