What is happening in Indonesia now is not an emergency, but it is a chronical process which is started since the existence of the Republic of Indonesia . The peoples in Indonesia who have already suffered long enough since the colonial times, the Dutch, the Japanese, the Portuguese and become worse since 17.8.1945. What they call as the day of Independence is actually the day of another tragedy for these nations.

Indonesia is indeed not a nation. It is not by mean of anthropology, neither by philology, nor by history. The word Indonesia comes from Indo and Nesos mean the islands of Indies. It is just a geographic name for the islands of this continent. The true peoples in the regions are The Achenese in Sumatra, in the West, the Banjaris Borneo and the Bugis Sulawesi in the North, the Sundanese, the Javanese, the Balinese in the middle; the Moluccans and the Timorese in the South; and the West Papuan in the East. It was the Dutch who once invaded them through the different blood shed of war and colonized them under a single administration from Batavia (Jakarta now). They are never once a nation and never will be a nation. To tie them up with one rope and rule from Batavia was only for the benefit of the Dutch. And now they continue to rule from Jakarta which is only for the benefit of the Republic of Indonesia.

Who then represent Indonesia? 

Indonesia is represented by the Javanese. The administration system of Indonesia is just following the ruling system of the colonial, the Dutch East Indies. Indonesian administration is for the benefit of Jawa and the Javanese. All the revenues from outside Jawa are explored and pooled in Jakarta to develop Jawa. The independence of Indonesia is the independence for the Javanese in Jawa not for the rest of the peoples outside Jawa. You see the territorial integrity of the Dutch East Indies is still kept intact until today. The Dutch East Indies has never been decolonized.

The Achehnese, the Banjaris, the Sundanese, the Bugis, the Balinese, the Moluccans, the Timorese, and the West Papuans never get the chance for self determination. When you speak about Jawa then people blame you as racists. Because of fear for being called racist and then you ignore the right of many other peoples and nations and legalize the right of the Javanese-Indonesian troops to terrorize and mass murder other peoples i.e. the innocent people of East Timor, the people of West Papua, and the people of Acheh. Everyone scared to speak in Indonesia. So many newspapers and magazines were black listed. Many people, journalists and Ulamas were jailed and silenced. I think you still remember the Australian Journalists who were silenced and killed in East Timor.

However, under this military repression you still can see the peoples reaction desperately through out these 54 years as follows:

1949: Karto Suwiryo, the Sundanese, proclaimed the NII (Negara Islam Indonesia), Islamic State of Indonesia.

1951: Kahar Muzakkar, the Bugis from Sulawesi supported the idea of Karto Suwiryo, against the Republic of Indonesia to establish the Islamic State of Indonesia.

1951: The People of the South Moluccas proclaimed the Republic of South Moluccas. Their leader, Dr. Soumokil was captured, crussified and executed. Now 50.000 of the South Moluccan people are living in exile in Holland and celebrate their independence day every year in the Hague. They are expecting that one day they can celebrate it at home in the Moluccan soil.

1953: In the West of Sumatra the people of Acheh showed their military reaction against the Republic of Indonesia with their leader Teungku Mohammad Daud di Beureueh. He first co-operated with Karto Suwiryo and Kahar Muzakkar, but later in 1962 he realized that he has to liberates his people, the Achehnese, rather than to join the Indonesian ideology. He then declared the Islamic Republic of Aceh.

Thousands of people were killed. In Cot Jeumpa, West Aceh, 116 men and women were massacred , villages were changed into inferno. My father, M.Hasan Yusuf, one of the Commanders of Teungku di Beureueh, was killed at this time. His properties were seized and robbed by the Indonesian armies.

We were not even allowed to see his corpse until a year later then we knew from somebody that he was buried together with 12 other peoples in one hole.

1954: The struggle of the people from Banjarmasin under the leadership of Ibnu Hajar against the Republic of Indonesia.

1965: The revolution of Indonesian Communist Party. I do not think that they were all communists in ideology but I believe the frustration of this Indonesian administration made them become communists member and for that reason it is enough, more than enough for the Indonesian to kill them. (see the "Surviving Indonesia’s Gulag" 1996, by Carmel Budiardjo).

1971: The declaration of Independence of the West Papuan People by OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, or Free Papua Organization) .
What has happened to the West Papuan people is really the same as what is happening to the East Timorese people now. They were once invaded by the Indonesian troops, just when the Dutch left the country in 1962. The Indonesian claimed West Papua as a province of the Republic of Indonesia, then. It was just because the West Papuan territory was colonized by the Dutch once before under the Dutch East Indies administration. What is really happening is the R.I. colonized them replacing the Dutch. The West Papuan has been never given the chance to have their right for self determination.

1974: The East Timorese People’s struggle desperately shows their willingness desperately to have their right for self determination. It is crystal clear that the East Timorese is not Indonesian. Not even under the Dutch East Indies. It is just because of the East Timor is the neighbor of West Timor and it is situated in the huge ’Indonesian’ empire. Even the Dutch under the Dutch East Indies empire left East Timor for the Portuguese. Just after the Portuguese left, the Indonesian troops greedily invaded East Timor and occupied it. The same with the West Papua , they claimed East Timor as one of Indonesian provinces. I do not understand how some civilized people who cares so much about saving the tropical forests and ’orang utan’ but support the Republic of Indonesia in murdering the innocent people of the East Timor. This people has nothing to do with Java or Indonesia. They just want to be the masters in their own homes and to be as they are, the East Timorese not the Indonesian.

1976: The Declaration of Independence of the People of Acheh Sumatra. Again the Achehnese express their aspiration to gain back their freedom which once lost by the Dutch occupation and then continued by the Indonesian annexation . The world media name this peoples aspiration as "separatist". We are not separatists. We want back our freedom as we were once before. We are Achehnese not Indonesian.

The Dutch who had the longest war with us during her colonial time know who the Achehnese are. They never called us Indonesian. You can see these from the diary of the Dutch Officers like Snouck Hurgronye, Kol. Smith, van der Veer, Kol. Tijdschrift, J.Kreemer and more others. Like the East Timorese, and the West Papuan we the Achehnese also have nothing to do with Indonesia. We want to be as we are, the Achehnese, the master in our own home, Acheh.

1989-1998: The genocide in Aceh. Indonesian soldiers claimed Aceh as "DOM " (Daerah Operasi Militer) means Military Operation Area. It means that the Indonesian soldiers can shoot the Achehnese civilian on the spot without any question or prosecution.
Thanks for the Amnesty International , the International Red Cross, and the Human Rights Commsission who had revealed the terrible abuses of Human Rights and extremely world criminal of the Indonesians army against the innocent and unarmed people of Acheh. Thousands of people found in mass- graves throughout Aceh. And many innocent girls and Achehnese women were raped in front of their husbands or families just to demoralize the Achehnese. You can read the reports from the Amnesty International.

The terrorism by the Republic of Indonesia is still going on in front of you.

Just yesterday 53 men were killed in Idi Tjut, East Acheh. The people had a public meeting in the village. The Indonesian soldiers came and caught them after the meeting. It was a man found the blood drops on the bridge. He followed it and found 12 corpses under the bridge of Arakundo river. The corpses were tied to a big stone so that the body would sank to the bottom of the river.

Many peoples frightfully flee from their home, because of frightened to be taken away by midnight by the Indonesian army. I plead to the people of Australia to be frank and fair and see us as we are; the Achehnese, the Sundanese, the Javanese, the Balinese, the Bugis, the Timorese, the Moluccans and the West Papuans. We want our rights for self determination, to be free from the yoke of the Republic of Indonesia, and to be the masters in our own lands . Please be human and do not let the Indonesian army continue their massacre from Sabang to Merauke every day.

Please stop the extremely human right abuses that still going on in front of you now. You as the closest witness in this area can tell the peoples in the world that we do not go to other countries and terrorize them. It is the Indonesian soldiers who come and terrorize us, rob our natural resources etc, and kill us in our own home.

Thank you.