Indonesian Unionists Released id XAA12757; Mon, 29 Sep 1997 23:28:50 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Sep 26, 1997 by labornews@igc.apc.org INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS (ICFTU) ICFTU OnLine... 241/970922/LD Release of trade unionists detained in Indonesia Brussels, 22 September 1997 (ICFTU OnLine): The ten Indonesian trade unionists arrested on Friday (19 September) when police forcibly interrupted the 2nd Congress of the independent trade union the SBSI were released on Saturday after an international campaign and the pressure exerted on the spot by foreign trade unionists taking part in the Congress. Two Australian trade unionists who were arrested at the same time were released after spending a night at the metropolitan police station in Djakarta. The Indonesian trade unionists will have to report to the police station once a week however for an indefinite period. In a repeat of the events of four years ago at the first congress of the independent trade union, police forcibly interrupted the meeting to tell the 200 delegates gathered at the SBSI that their congress was "illegal". Since its creation in 1992, the workers for prosperity trade union (SBSI) has been in the sights of the Indonesian regime which only recognises the official trade union federation, the FSPSI. With a membership in the hundreds of thousands, the SBSI has made working conditions in Indonesia and the freedom of association the essential aims of its demands and action. Its members are regularly harassed and arrested by the police. Several independent trade unionists have even been assassinated. In 1994, Muchtar Pakpahan, President of the SBSI, was arrested and accused of orchestrating violent riots in Medan. Released in May 1995 after nine months in detention, his sentence was quashed by the Supreme Court. In July 1996, Pakpahan was again arrested, on charges of involvement in the violence which followed a police raid on the headquarters of the democratic party of Indonesia, one of the few opposition parties to be tolerated. During his detention, the Supreme Court ruling in his favour was annulled and, as his trial for "subversion" continued, the four year prison sentence was reinstated. Suffering from a tumour on the lung, Pakpahan was sent to hospital and, after several months' interruption, his trial resumed in September. Despite appeals from the ICFTU and other trade union centres, the authorities have so far refused Pakpahan the right to go abroad for medical treatment. The banning of the union's 2nd Congress was condemned by the ICFTU, as was the detention of the local and foreign trade unionists. The latter, Gregg Sword, vice-President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and President of the Asian and Pacific regional organisation of the international food and agricultural workers' federation (IUF), and Ma Wei Ping, IUF Regional Secretary, said in Djakarta that international support for the SBSI would be maintained and strengthened. Their message was backed by the other foreign delegates present at the opening of the Congress, and by the ICFTU, represented in Djakarta by Tom Etty, International Secretary of the Dutch trade union federation, the FNV. Contact: ICFTU Press, Tel. ++32 2 224 02 12 (Brussels). ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytlab-09.29.97-23:29:00-1561