>Dansgroep gearresteerd en gemarteld na tonen Molukse vlag

>Terwijl het AD kennelijk de Indonesische staatspropaganda heilig heeft verklaard, stelt Kamerlid Harry van Bommel vragen aan de Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken.

Wat is er namelijk gebeurd: Tijdens een bezoek van de Indonesische president Yudhoyono aan Kota Ambon, de hoofdstad van de Molukken, zou een dansgroep met de Molukse RMS-vlag hebben gezwaaid. Aanspraken op niet nagekomen beloften worden door de Indonesische autoriteiten doorgaans niet erg gewaardeerd, hetgeen leidde tot de arrestatie van de dansers:

Indonesian police have arrested 31 people after dancers staged a separatist protest in front of the president in restive Ambon last week, reports said on Sunday.[..]

He reportedly said that the 31 suspects could face charges of conspiring to plot against the state, which carries up to 15 years in jail.
The protesters launched into their dance during a speech by the provincial governor at a ceremony in the Maluku capital of Ambon, where a separatist movement has simmered for decades.

They then pulled the banned flag of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) out of a traditional local drum.

Het AD, in de persoon van Hilde Jansen, beweert dat er duizenden Molukkers de straat op zijn gegaan om te protesteren tegen het “separatisme.”

In Ambon trokken maandag duizenden Molukkers de straat op om hun hechte band met de Indonesische republiek te demonstreren. Ook in verschillende steden in Oost Java en in Makassar uitten Molukse studenten hun ongenoegen. In Surabaya verbrandden boze studenten de RMS vlag voor het Amerikaanse consulaat, terwijl ze luidkeels de uitlevering van de Molukse RMS activist Alex Manuputy eisten.

Ik heb zo mijn twijfels over die “duizenden ” Molukse demonstranten tégen de RMS. In ieder geval waar het de spontaniteit van die demonstraties betreft. (ja, ik heb wel enig zicht op het Molukse sentiment.-J.) Eén van de dansers is trouwens overleden na zijn arrestatie. Waar ik daarom minder aan twijfel is dit:

Press Release: Anti terror squad detachment 88 abuses dancers in Ambon

source: FKMCPR, Amsterdam, updated: 2007-07-03 14:33:30

After the arrest of 28 RMS freedom fighters last Friday, FKMCPR sources in Ambon report that the group that is still under arrest by detachment 88 is constantly severely abused. During night time the prisoners are kept awake with cold water. The prisoners are constantly interrogated and beaten without any regard for their basic human rights.

In a time that Indonesia is promoting itself as an democratic country claiming to respect the basic human rights just like any other democratic country, it’s a hard lesson to learn that people who peacefully express their will to be independent are put in jail by an anti terror squad. These people are no terrorist; they did not carry weapons, they only danced and pulled out the RMS flag. A question that comes to mind is: why is an anti terror squad used to arrest these activists? Why are they being abused? Could it be a way to intimidate the people of Maluku to keep them from standing up for their rights? If this is Indonesia’s democratic way of solving their issues, then Indonesia is still far from becoming a democratic country.

During the National Family Day in Ambon last Friday a group of 30 freedom fighters in custom clothes danced a traditional Maluku war dance in front of the President and his entourage. They ended their dance after 15 minutes while puling out the Indonesian outlawed RMS flag. Consequently, they were immediately arrested. Earlier on Tuesday 26th of June 7 RMS activists were arrested for making RMS flags. On the 1st and 2nd of July police found 6 flags flying in different villages around Ambon island. On the second of July an anti-RMS protest took place in front of the Alfatah Mosk in Ambon other small protest rallies were hold in Malang and Jakarta.

The Republic of the South Moluccas (RMS) was proclaimed on the 25th of April 1950 in Ambon. After 8 months of bloody war Indonesia occupied most of the central Maluku Islands. The RMS government was evacuated to the mother island Ceram where they continued a guerrilla war until the 1960s. After RMS President C.R.S. Soumokil was arrested and killed by a firing squad on the 16th of April 1966 the RMS government in-exile was formed in the Netherlands. Until today the resistance against the occupation by Indonesia in Maluku continues.

For more information see: www.fkmcpr.nl

Laat ik niet vergeten te vermelden dat elementen binnen het Indonesische regime nooit vies zijn geweest van geweld, aanslagen en het stoken tussen bevolkingsgroepen. Zie o.a. de uitlatingen van ex-president Wahid. Begrijp je meteen waarom ik de verhalen over massale anti-RMS-demonstraties niet geloof.

In ieder geval heb ik uit anonieme betrouwbare bron vernomen dat in Ambon een pro-Indonesische demonstratie is opgezet door het propaganda-apparaat. Opkomst 500 man.