October 99
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor
2161 Massachusetts Ave.
Telephone number:
Fax number: pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Investigative Journalist Allan Nairn Arrested NEW YORK, Sept, 17-The chief justice of Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara Province province intends to prosecute US journalist Allan Nairn for two technical violations of Indonesian immigration law. Nairn is to be charged with engaging in unauthorized activities and overstaying his two-month visa. Both acts are considered illegal under the Indonesian immigration laws. If convicted, Nairn could face 10 years in prison. Nairn, in Dili on Sept. 14, was one of the last journalists reporting from East Timor. Indonesian forces transferred him to Kupang in West Timor, a part of Indonesia. A local immigration official has been interrogating Nairn for several days. According to Indonesian officials in Kupang, while the provincial judge is seeking to charge Nairn, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Information are inclined to deport Nairn. Kupang is not a safe place. The militia that have been terrorizing East Timor are now rampaging through the refugee camps in West Timor where more than 100,000 East Timorese now reside after being driven from their homes. Hostility to Westerners in Kupang is soaring. It is likely that a US citizen like Nairn will be in great danger if he is not deported immediately. While in Timor on assignment for the New Yorker magazine, Nairn was injured while attempting to stop the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre. His skull was factured by Indonesian troops wielding US M-16 rifles. After the massacre Nairn, (together with Amy Goodman of WBAI/Pacifica Radio) was banned from Indonesia and occupied Timor, as "a threat to national security." The ban has since been personally reaffirmed by the TNI commander, General Wiranto. In 1998, during the uprising against Suharto, Nairn entered Indonesia without army permission. On March 16 he published an article in The Nation and later held a press conference in Jakarta in which he disclosed documents showing that, in defiance of an understanding with the US Congress, the US military was training the Indonesian armed forces in urban warfare, Psy Ops, and "advanced sniper technique." The East Timor Action Network (ETAN), together with members of Congress, held a concurrent press conference on the documents in Washington. The day after the press conference, Nairn was arrested and deported. During interrogation he was told that if he returned to Indonesia or Timor he would be jailed for six years on charges of defying the ban and "practicing journalism without permission." The training exposé led to an outcry in Congress that resulted in suspension of the program, known as JCET (Joint Combined Exchange and Training), in Indonesia. Earlier this year, in defiance of the ban, Nairn again entered Indonesia without army permission. He has been in occupied East Timor since August. Contact: East Timor Action Network, Amy Goodman 212/209-2812, John Miller 718/596-7668 |
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