Mr. Maurice Glhlh-Ahanhanzo Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance c/o United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Palais des Nations 8-14 Ave de la Baix CH-1211 Geneva,10, Switzerland Phone: 41-22-917-3410 Fax : 41-22-917-0212 Dear Mr. Glhlh-Ahanhanzo, We, the undersigned - organizations of the international community, -write this letter to you in regard to the continued acts of racial discrimination against Indonesian citizens of ethnic Chinese origin. In the wake of the economic and political decline of Indonesia, as a result of the financial crisis in Asia last year, the Indonesian Chinese community had been intentionally and violently targeted in numerous riots that swept across the archipelago. We appreciate the concern of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights with the current situation in Indonesia, and we were very encouraged by a UN Press release of last November in which you had expressed your intention to visit Indonesia on a mission to investigate racial discrimination in that country this year. We are very pleased that Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against women visited Indonesia and will report to the Commission on Human Rights regarding her findings of the systematic rapes against ethnic Chinese, East Timorese, West Irianese and Acehnese women in Indonesia. Indeed, the Human Rights record of the 32 years of Suharto’s regime is appalling and victims are certainly not confined to ethnic Chinese. We understand that you postponed your visit due to other commitments. We nevertheless feel that your visit, looking at the atrocities of the May Tragedy and other atrocities from the angle of racial discrimination is of the greatest importance. The discrimination against ethnic Chinese is deeply entrenched. Anti Chinese discrimination dates back to the Dutch colonial period, but the process of a systematic campaign against ethnic Chinese Indonesian citizens became particularly blatant since Suharto’s rise to power in 1967 on the pretext of suppressing a suspected communist coup. In a campaign to purge communists, an estimated 500,000 people and some believe more than a million, were slaughtered by soldiers and vigilantes. The massacre included Chinese Indonesians who were wrongfully blamed as communists. Today, after 32 years of misrule by Suharto, discrimination, social tensions and Human Rights abuses are rampant. Despite recent assurances by President Habibie in Taiwan that racial discrimination does not exist anymore in Indonesia, today, more than twenty discriminatory laws and regulations are still in place (See appendix for a selective list of these other laws), most of them having been enacted by Suharto’s New Order government, and the stated purpose of some of these measures was supposedly to integrate ethnic Chinese into Indonesian society and to prevent ethnic Chinese from acting as "spies" for the People’s Republic of China. These discriminatory laws prohibited the use of Chinese characters, banned Chinese-language publications and Chinese schools, banned the public celebration of the Chinese New Year and the building of Chinese temples, and obliged all ethnic Chinese to take "Indonesian" names. Informal quotas were set for ethnic Chinese Indonesian citizens at subsidized and elite universities, forcing them to study abroad or to establish private universities at high cost. A government minister, Juwono Sudarsono recently admitted in Singapore that a quota of 10 percent was secretly enforce. A particularly humiliating law was the replacement of the widely used word "Tionghoa" with "Cina" which is derogatory in the Indonesian cultural context. Furthermore, ethnic Chinese Indonesians must carry a special code on their identity cards or passports identifying them as ethnic Chinese, thus, subjecting them to be abused at random by any official or hoodlum who so desires- very much like the use of the Jewish star in Nazi Germany. This discrimination also applies whenever an ethnic Chinese applies for company licenses, passport, legal papers, and other documents by way of additional illegal "charges." Chinese were also banned from entering the civil service and the military. Because of this pressure, the ethnic Chinese can only participate in professional and business related occupations, even though not everybody of Chinese ethnicity has a talent for business. A few ethnic Chinese had been nurtured by Suharto’s cronyism, corruption and collusion policy, "KKN" in Indonesian, to serve Suharto’s financial empire-building and had became super rich by world standards, but the Chinese community as a whole has few political and social rights. They became dependent on the government, especially for patronage and protection, or the lack of the latter thereof, as the May riots vividly proved. During the riots, Chinese-owned shops and homes were targeted, their properties were looted, destroyed and burned, some Chinese were burned to death in their own shops or homes, hundreds of Chinese were physically attacked, many Chinese women were sexually assaulted and brutally gang-raped. The May 14-16 1998 tragedy in Jakarta and other cities such as Medan, Solo, Palembang, and Surabaya was orchestrated, with anti-Chinese sentiment manipulated by mob leaders. It has now been widely established that the barbaric atrocities were not spontaneous acts committed by crowds of ordinary poor people. The provocateurs and leaders of these goon groups of the riots were seen by eyewitnesses as having been transported by trucks and buses from elsewhere. They were equipped with sharp weapons, explosives and walkie-talkies. Most of these hooligans had short hair and wore army boots. The failure of the government to punish the perpetrators and address the roots of the violence makes it all the easier for unscrupulous groups to mobilize anti-Chinese feeling for their own purposes. Since the May riots, anonymous flyers have circulated in several Indonesian cities, threatening rapes of Chinese women and castration of Chinese men in the crudest possible terms. Isolated but well-documented rapes of and sexual assaults on ethnic Chinese women continued to have taken place in June, July, and August, 1998. The May 1998 riots against ethnic-Chinese Indonesians was the culmination of the riots that had began in January and February of 1998 which spread from one town to the other, devastating Chinese properties and churches in about forty towns in January/ February of 1998. Again, there were indications that these riots were instigated by provocateurs from outside. These riots had been fanned by irresponsible anti ethnic Chinese insinuations by top members of the Suharto government. A top level and powerful Indonesian general on January 14, 1998, in a press conference called thirteen large conglomerates to bring their dollars back from abroad. Nowhere was the word, Chinese, used but the so-called appeal was an implicit accusation that wealthy Chinese are contributing to the crisis by keeping dollars abroad. In late January 1998, after a Friday’ prayer at Taman Sunda Kelapa Mosque, several top military and lay leaders spoke of "eradication of rats" who are not patriotic and at times of crisis "are salting away the fruits of our national development". It was again clear that they were referring to ethnic Chinese. On January 23, 1998, Lt. General Prabowo Sugianto, the son-in-law of President Suharto, then the commander of the dreaded KOPASSUS forces, held another such hate-rally in the guise of an "opening the fast" religious meeting. During the festivities, attended by five thousand Muslim clergy, Prabowo and others, including General Syafrie Syamsuddin, the sinister commander of the Jakarta military command, helped fuel anti-Chinese sentiment by making veiled references to "traitors" who took their money abroad. He blamed a ‘political conspiracy’ for the Indonesian financial crisis. He urged his fellow officers and Muslim leaders to "close ranks" in facing the challenges ahead. The challenges ahead were not identified but other speakers explicitly linked the conspirators to the "conglomerate group" and "their henchmen operating overseas.", two phrases which were clear references to the Chinese Indonesians. Prabowo has since been relieved of all his duties for his suspected atrocities and human rights abuses. Earlier, Prabowo’s "Research Director", Fadli Zon, a declared anti-Chinese told the Far Eastern Economic Review fervently that "If necessary, we’ll go backwards 10 or 15 years. The Muslim majority is ready to face any challenge, as long as there is economic justice. We can start to develop our country without them." This explains the burning of everything modern, including shopping malls. General Syafrie Samsuddin, Prabowo’s close associate and now relieved of all his duties, not only failed to provide effective protection but was even seen giving orders to military personnel wearing plain clothes to instigate brutal attacks on the Chinese. The viciousness of the threats and violence led to a mass exodus of ethnic Chinese from Indonesia and a desire of many more to emigrate. However, the fact is that the majority of the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia is too poor to leave the country. No previous episode of anti-Chinese violence has so convinced this important sector of Indonesia’s population that they will never be accepted as equal citizens nor ever be physically safe in the country that has been home to them for generations. The deep wounds of the May tragedy will be difficult to heal, if ever. Ethnic Chinese still fear racist attacks in the now crime ridden capital and other major cities of Indonesia. The Indonesian government has so far failed to create a climate in which a serious investigation can take place, free of accusations and recriminations. Appeal In view of the overwhelming evidence, we appeal to you, Mr. Glhlh-Ahanhanzo, to have as the first priority, on your intended visit to Indonesia, to verify and confirm these acts of discrimination and report them to the UN Commission on Human Rights soonest. The UN is our only hope to bring justice to the ethnic Chinese minority in Indonesia. We make this appeal on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Indonesia who live in constant fear of a recurrence of the horrors of last may. We plead that: Indonesia ratifies the International Convention Against All Forms of Racial Discrimination and joins the rank of the 150 States that have already done so. The Indonesian Government repeals all discriminatory laws against ethnic Chinese and ensures that repealed laws no longer be implemented. The Indonesian Government investigates the anti-Chinese riots thoroughly and brings the culprits to justice. The UN initiate efforts to bring to justice, in an international criminal court, the atrocities committed by the Suharto regime against ethnic Chinese, dissidents, political opponents, and other ethnic groups in Aceh, East Timor and West Irian. Submitted respectfully, United Overseas Chinese of Greater New York APPENDIX Discriminatory laws against ethnic Chinese Indonesian citizens Policy for Resolving the Chinese Issue," Cabinet Presidium Instruction No. 37/U/IN/6/1967, which states, among other things, that no further residency or work permits will be issued to new Chinese immigrants, their wives, or children; any capital raised by "foreigners" in Indonesia cannot be transferred abroad; no "foreign" schools will be permitted except forthe use of the diplomatic corps and their families; in any national school, the number of Indonesian pupils must exceed that of "foreigners"; and that implementation of the "Chinese issue" will henceforth be the responsibility of the minister for political affairs. "Presidential Instruction No.14/1967 on Chinese Religion, Beliefs, and Traditions," which states that manifestations of Chinese religion and belief can have an "undesirable psychological, mental and moral influence on Indonesian citizens as well as obstruct the process of assimilation." It bans celebration of Chinese religious festivals in public and states that religious practice and observation of Chinese traditions must be kept indoors or within the household. The minister of religion and the attorney general are charged with enforcing the act. "Home Affairs Ministry No.455.2-360/1988 on Regulation of Temples" forbids any land from being acquired for the construction of Chinese temples, building any new temples, expanding or renovating existing temples, or using any other building as a temple. "Circular of the Director General for Press and Graphics Guidance in the Ministry of Information No.02/SE/Ditjen-PPGK/1988 on Banning the Publication and Printing of Writings and Advertisements in Chinese Characters or the Chinese Language" restricts any use of Chinese to a single newspaper called Harian Indonesia on the ground that dissemination of material on China or Chinese characters will obstruct the goal of national unity and the process of assimilation of ethnic Chinese as a result of Chinese in books, calendars, almanacs, food labels, medicines, greeting cards, clothing, decorations, or other logos and signs is banned. "Instruction of the Ministry of Home Affairs No. X01/1977 on Implementing Instructions for Population Registration" and the confidential instructions No.3.462/1.755.6 of the Jakarta government dated January 28, 1980 both authorize special codes to be put on identification cards indicating ethnic Chinese origin. "Cabinet Presidium Circular SE-06/Pres-Kab/6/1967 on Changing the Term China and Chinese" obliges Indonesians to drop the use of the term "Tionghoa" (as ethnic Chinese refer to themselves) and replace it with the term "Cina" (then and now a derogatory term). Note: One of the consequences of the May 1998 violence is that ethnic Chinese are demanding that they be referred to as "Tionghoa" akin to "Javanese" or any other ethnicity as opposed to the more common "Indonesian citizens of foreign descent" often just abbreviated "descent" keturunan) or simply as "Cina.". So far, few concrete steps have been taken thus far to repeal the discriminatory decrees. ____________________________________________________________________ Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1
