(AJI/IFEX) – The following is an AJI press release: **New cases and updates to IFEX alerts of 13 August, 10 August and 9 August 1999** CEASE TERRORISING JOURNALISTS IN ACEH AND EAST TIMOR Violence and terror against journalists abounds in Aceh and East Timor. Two journalists working for the American magazine Time in East Timor […]
(AJI/IFEX) – The following is an AJI press release:
**New cases and updates to IFEX alerts of 13 August, 10 August and 9 August
1999**
CEASE TERRORISING JOURNALISTS IN ACEH AND EAST TIMOR
Violence and terror against journalists abounds in Aceh and East Timor. Two
journalists working for the American magazine Time in East Timor were
attacked today by members of the Aitarak militia. According to AJI’s
representative in the SOMET office in Dili, John Stanmeyer and his
Indonesian assistant, Heriyanto, were attacked outside the Aitarak
headquarters in the capital, Dili, where they were taking photographs of
members of the militia who were carrying guns.
At 11.30 a.m., the two men drove down the street where the militia has set
up its main office. Stanmeyer says there were about 50 autonomy supporters,
most wearing autonomy t-shirts, walking around carrying knives. One had what
looked like a homemade pistol. When he starting photographing the men, they
started to hide their weapons inside their clothes. The man with the gun
stuffed it inside his pants. The man with the gun asked Stanmeyer and
Heriyanto to leave. “I said ‘no, it’s a public street,’ and so they just
left me alone,” Stanmeyer said. At this stage Stanmeyer decided to call some
other journalists, deciding there was safety in numbers. While John was on
the phone, Heriyanto saw one of the Aitarak militia pull a knife. “He went
to stab John but John didn’t know about it because he was still on the
phone,” Heriyanto said. Heriyanto negotiated with the man with the knife,
and tried to convince him not to stab Stanmeyer, who had annoyed the
militia.
The Aitarak asked Stanmeyer to leave, but he stayed and watched as a man
wearing a United Nations observer accreditation tag was scared off by a
member of the militia brandishing a knife. “One of the guys jumped over the
fence and ran towards him and pulled out a circular sickle,” Stanmeyer said.
Despite witnessing the confrontation, Stanmeyer decided to hang around a
little bit longer. He was again told by the militia members to leave. This
time he decided to heed their warning and started to go. “They got a little
bit ugly about it, came up on us, started grabbing cameras, grabbing my
camera bag, grabbing me, grabbing Heri.” At this stage they were threatened
with a sickle and were threatened that they were going to be cut into
pieces. “Then they grabbed my cameras and then hands started flying at us.
Heriyanto was injured in this scuffle. He said the man with the knife
attempted to stab Stanmeyer again but missed. This angered the man, who
tried to punch Heriyanto, but failed to make contact. “He took John’s camera
and hit me with it on my face,” Heriyanto said. “It all happened very
quickly, maybe only five minutes.” Heriyanto is now sporting a gash above
his left eye. He did not need stitches, although he was covered in blood.
Stanmeyer escaped without injury.
Following the murder of a Medan Pos journalist, Supriyadi (on 5 August), the
perpetrator of which is yet to be determined, a further case of terror has
occurred with the bombing of the residence of Syamsul Kahar, editor-in-chief
of Serambi Indonesia, Aceh (10/8). Rumours hold that the perpetrator was
Teungku Maulida, who claims to be a member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM),
although GAM deny this. Maulida has also threatened to kill Kompas
journalists. This threat has been taken seriously, with the result that in
addition to Syamsul Kahar, all Kompas journalists in Aceh have been
evacuated to Jakarta, including Basri Daham (Chairperson of AJI, Lhokseumawe
bureau). Supriyadi is the second journalist this year to be killed as a
result of the violence in Aceh. The first was Mukmin Fanani (37), a
journalist with Panji Demokrasi, also published in Medan. He was shot dead
by an unknown gunman (26 February) in Aluw Awe Peunteut, Lhokseumawe (North
Aceh). This case also remains unsolved.
Journalists have also once again become the targets of a terror campaign in
East Timor. This time the target was Eddy Hasbi, a photojournalist from
Kompas. Eddy Hasbi arrived in Dili, the capital of East Timor, on 15 August.
Only several hours after landing, at 5:00 p.m., Eddy Hasbi received a
telephone call from a person calling themselves Supri, from the Joint
Intelligence Unit (SGI) in Kolmera, Dili. On the phone, Supri said that he
had received a report that Edy Hasbi had, in the past, helped the
pro-independence movement. Based on the information obtained by the Alliance
of Independent Journalists’ representation in Dili, the terror did not cease
there. Later, Hasbi received another telephone call, this time from a person
calling themselves Domingos Martins. The message was the same: asking
whether Hasbi had ever helped pro-independence supporters. The caller also
asked that Hasbi meet him at a local Police Office on Monday, 16 August.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” he said.
In response to this spate of violence and terror against journalists, the
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI):
1. Criticises violence and terror towards journalists who are engaged in
their task of obtaining and disseminating information. Requests various
parties to cease violence and terror against journalists.
2. Demands that the police immediately fully investigate the murders of the
two journalists, Supriadi and Mukmin Fanani, and prosecute the perpetrators.
Investigations should also include the terrorising of Serambi Indonesia
journalists.
3. Appeals that any parties who object to journalists’ reports express their
dissatisfaction through the right of reply, or by referring the matter to
the courts.
4. Appeals to all journalists to always work in an independent and
professional manner, never favouring one side but rather favouring only
facts, truth and justice.
5. Hopes that journalists will not be affected by these terror campaigns,
and will continue to work in accordance with the requirements of their
profession.
6. Appeals to all parties to the conflicts in Aceh and East Timor,
particularly the Indonesian Police and Armed Forces, to guarantee the safety
of journalists on assignment, and respect law and order.
Jakarta, 17 August 1999,
Lukas Luwarso
Chairperson
Ging Ginanjar
Coord. Advocacy
