Film on Aceh's Dual Disasters

An invitation from YCAR (York Centre for Asian Research):


Humanitarian Disasters

The Canadian Film Premiere of 'Hidden in the Limelight of the Tsunami: Aceh's Silent Disaster'
A film by Arno Waizenegger (Cologne) and Jennifer Hyndman (York)
Tuesday, 2 March 2010 | 6 to 7pm | 102 Accolade East Bldg. | York University, Keele Campus


When it comes to disasters, international aid agencies and the international news media find themselves entangled in a complex relationship of mutual dependency. Due to what is sometimes called the 'CNN effect' and the rapid transmission of images and new, the media hugely affects the shape of the global aid landscape.

The film at hand explores how aid agencies adapt to particular media environments in disaster settings and how this impacts their priorities and performance in delivering humanitarian assistance where it is needed.

These issues are probed using the example of Aceh, the Indonesia province that was the highly publicized scene of the extraordinary well-funded 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. In contrast, the underfunded 'silent' disaster in Aceh resulting from protracted violent conflict between the Indonesia government and the Free Aceh Movement, was largely invisible.

Highlighting recent trends in the modern operandi of international news media and the aid industry, this case study indicates that transparency, independence and accountability are key principles that can avert the disparities between humanitarian disasters. silent emergencies may not be tsunamis but human life is nonetheless at risk.

For more information, contact Jennifer Hyndman at jhyndman@yorku.ca.

Please join us!

Best wishes from the President of Rights & Democracy

On December 10, the world celebrated the 60^th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The landmark anniversary of this historic document gave us all cause for reflection; despite the significant advances in human rights over the last half century, violations continue to occur on a large scale.

Rights & Democracy also celebrated its 20^th anniversary on December 10^th by awarding its annual John Humphrey Freedom Award in honour of the Canadian jurist who wrote the first draft of the Declaration. This year, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights were honoured for their courageous efforts to bring about justice and democracy in their troubled land.

I invite you to visit the 20^th anniversary brochure which presents our successes and continuing efforts in countries such as Zimbabwe and over 30 others around the world, including a number of special initiatives we have led since our establishment in 1988.

Our struggle for democracy and human rights will continue as Rights & Democracy embarks on a new chapter in its history of promoting the universal values of human rights and democracy on behalf of Canadians.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our dedicated employees and Board members in Canada and overseas, our partners in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia, as well as all our supporters and collaborators at home.

Best wishes to all for the holiday season, and we look forward to continuing our work together in 2009 and beyond.

Rémy M. Beauregard

Our Story on Munir will be Aired...

That's the title on NS' e-mail to a group of people that support and have made this thing happen. Here is the detail of this good news:

Dear friends and colleagues,
I am very happy to announce that The Global Village radio report on Munir that so many of us worked on will be aired next week on CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

The first show will be aired on CBC Radio One on January 25 at 8pm EST, and the second on CBC Radio Two on January 27at 6:30pm EST. For those of you in Indonesia, it can be heard on the internet at http://www.cbc.ca/globalvillage/ on January 26 at 8am and January 28 at 6:30am (I believe that you're ahead of Eastern Standard Time by 12 hours). It is a very short piece (just 3 minutes or so), but I hope that it captures the main messages of the campaign for justice being led by Suciwati, Kontras, Imparsial and so many other human rights activists and organizations. The report includes parts of my interview with Suciwati and with Endah Widiastuti, a young musician based in Jakarta. As you all know, The Global Village programme on CBC features "news through music", so the songs written in tribute to Munir by Endah and other Indonesian musicians (Iwan Fals and Segorames) will be played during the report. The solidarity of these and other artists is highlighted in this piece.

Thanks again to all of you who made this radio report possible. A special thanks to Suciwati, Usman, Rusdi, Mufti, Endah, Elisabeth and all the friends and family who worked hard behind the scenes to help make this happen.

With warm regards,
NS

... I'm glad, very glad indeed that this radio report on Munir will be aired on Canadian national radio (CBC) next week *smile*. While NS here there were a lot of people would go the extra mile to help her just so she could make it to the interviews, took the "ambience" during the Munir's Memorial gathering around HI, or converted the audio piece to the USB. Dear friend, we made it! Of course we have decided to donate the honorarium the CBC has paid us to do this report to help cover the costs of Suciwati and Usman's lobbying and advocacy visit to Canada. This will be a CCEVI contribution towards this important visit.

When I told one of my friends why I was so busy during that time and always re-scheduled our meeting... she later asked, "I'm concerned about it too. I wish I could join you. And, why did you do it?" I said, "Munir had done a great thing for us, for Indonesia... it's a pity if I was given the opportunity and I didn't do anything. Don't you think so?"

Like Mother Teresa said... do small thing with great love and care. Well, it's just my small contribution to the country that I love-to-hate and hate-to-love, like a drop in the ocean... Imagine lots of drops and we could make a huge wave *smile*.

Thank you, NS, for your admirable spirit!

Music to End Impunity

NS prepared the following draft script for the CBC Global Village Program. I would be very pleased if it can be broadcasted.

Music to End Impunity: The Campaign for Justice in the Murder Case of Munir

Suggested Intro:
It has been over two years since the murder of Munir Thalib Said, Indonesia’s leading and internationally renowned human rights defender, but until now, the perpetrators of this heinous crime have escaped justice. Just last week, the one person who was tried and found guilty of the murder was acquitted and released from prison. The search for truth and justice continues, and Nancy Slamet was in Jakarta last month to learn how Indonesian musicians are playing an important role in this campaign and the broader struggle to end their country’s culture of impunity.

Music Clip: Ada Yang Hilang (Someone is missing)
Play Munir’s voice at the beginning of the song (25 seconds) and the first part of the song (suggested clip is 1:45)

Fade out Music

Narrator (NS): This song titled “Ada Yang Hilang” or “Someone is missing” is the lead track of a CD dedicated to the life and work of Munir, which was put together by various Indonesian musicians and sponsored by several human rights organizations. At the beginning of the song, we hear Munir speaking at a rally about the thousands of innocent people who are “missing” because they have been disappeared or killed as a result of state sponsored violence. Tragically, Munir himself became one of the countless “missing” when he was murdered on September 7, 2004.

Speaking truth to power in Indonesia is a dangerous profession, but Munir fearlessly led the charge and dedicated his life to defending rights of people throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Munir’s death sent a country into mourning and dealt a big blow to a fledgling civil society emerging from of 32 years of dictatorship and militarism. But both his life and his death have inspired many Indonesians, including musicians to carry the torch for human rights and democracy.

Interview Clip: Endah Widiastuti

Quote about how she was inspired by Munir & therefore wrote songs about social justice and supported the work of human rights organizations

Narrator (NS): Endah Widiastuti is one of many musicians whose life and work has been influenced by Munir. As a young artist based in Jakarta, she hopes that her music can continue to carry Munir’s message of hope. Endah was inspired to compose a song in tribute to Munir which she performed at an event organized by the Swiss Embassy and a number of local and international human rights organizations commemorating the first anniversary of Munir’s death.

Interview Clip: Endah Widiastuti

Quote about what the song is about – calling on people to be like Munir who defied darkness and despair by living like a candle in the dark, not to give up…

Music Clip: Play 30 seconds to 1 minute of Endah’s song “A Thousand Candles Lighted”

Narrator (NS): Endah told me that this song will be re-recorded and re-released on her 4^th CD this spring given that Munir’s murder remains unresolved and the search for justice continues. At the forefront of this campaign is Suciwati, Munir’s widow…

Interview Clip with voice over: Suciwati

Quote about this campaign not only being important for her late husband, but all Indonesians. Truth and justice is needed in Munir’s case so that this does not happen again.

Narrator (NS): Commenting on the role of musicians in this campaign, Suciwati underscores their importance in building popular support for the cause.

Interview Clip with voice over: Suciwati

Quote about how music can reach more people and the general public - such as the music of Iwan Fals, a popular protest singer and musician of the “people” who composed a song in tribute to Munir shortly after his death.

Music Clip: Iwan Fals’ song Pulanglah or “Going home” (30 seconds)

Narrator (NS): Iwan Fals recently recorded this song, Pulanglah for his upcoming CD. It was first performed for Suciwati on December 8, 2004, Munir’s birthday, which has been a date for remembrance of his life and work ever since. Just this last December, I was in Jakarta for a public event titled “Working for Universal Human Rights: Reflections on Munir’s Life”.

Clip: Background/Ambient noise from event (traffic)

Narrator (NS): About fifty people are gathered in a round-about on one of Jakarta’s main thoroughfares. There is a hopeful air about the gathering, as earlier that day, the Indonesian House of Representatives demanded that the investigation into Munir’s death be re-opened. Family members, friends, activists, victims of human rights abuses and members of the general public are holding placards and candles, and a group musicians are playing songs about social justice to hearten and inspire the crowd. These street musicians play their music at events like these, on buses, sidewalks, and in the cafes of Jakarta, keeping alive Munir’s message of hope and human rights for all Indonesians. And indeed there is reason to hope that justice may be had, as earlier that day, the Indonesian House of Representatives demanded that the investigation into Munir’s death be re-opened.

Ambient noise from the event (music)
For the Global Village, this is NS in Jakarta, Indonesia.


Amidst my busy life and tight schdules I managed to secure interview slots to several people involved as the sources for this program for NS. Yeah, I talked to IF on direct line about interviewing him *smile*. Too bad we couldn't accommodate the only time that he had for this interview. We interviewed Endah, instead. She's good too. A young girl with a heart! (Well, it's very hard to find a young girl with a heart these days in Jakarta!) You know it's very hard to find a quiet place to conduct this interview. We ended up on the sofa of Chatterbox in Taman Anggrek Mall - the only place with acceptable level of decibel. So, while NS interviewed her, I ate the calamari *smile*. NS and I agreed if The Global Village broadcasts this piece we will donate the money for Munir's cause.


I really hope that one day we can end this cycle of impunity, we can come to terms with our violent past, we can have fair and solid foundation for reconciliation among those in conflicts, we can have more people like Munir...

Next: Our Story on Munir will be Aired.

Public Apology for Asia from Japan's Prime Minister

In the past couple weeks relations between China and Japan have plunged to a three-decade low, with massive anti-Japanese protests erupting in several Chinese cities over Tokyo's handling of its wartime atrocities in new junior high school textbooks and its bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. We have seen and heard this boiling tension between the two Asian powers, with demonstrations against Japan in China and the vandalism of Japanese property and interests in China. Both countries are outraged: China over Tokyo's approval of a textbook that many say denying history, beautifying aggression, and whitewashes Japan's wartime atrocities; and Japan over China's refusal to apologize for the current violent protests.

However, as reported by The Jakarta Post Online, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologized during the opening of the two-day Asian-African Summit in Jakarta on Friday (April 22, 2005), echoing previous apologies by Japanese leaders, for his country's aggression during World War II, in an effort to ease tensions with China and win support for Japan's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. [Read more....]

A day after this public apology, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met Chinese President Hu Jin Tao during talks in Jakarta and both agreed to rescue ties between their countries. [Read more...]. President Hu urged Japan to reflect on WWII aggression and to back up its recent apologies with action, pressing Beijing's relentless campaign for redress from Tokyo for its handling of wartime atrocities. [Read more...]

For some people this latest row has less to do with history textbooks but more to do with a long-term political and economic rivalry. [Read more...]


Following is Toronto ALPHA's call for action on the Japanese government to redress the wartime wrongdoings and injustices that had been inflicted on millions of innocent lives. Read Chinatown flexes its muscles in Globe and Mail online for this action.

Toronto ALPHA’s Position and Actions
in Response to the Recent Conducts of Japanese Government
(April 2005)

Position:
The mandate of Toronto ALPHA is to foster humanity education and racial harmony with its mission to promote public awareness, learning and preserving of the history of World War II in Asia. In light of the recent Japanese government’s authorization to revise history textbooks to distort truth and its attempt to exert international influence by bidding for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, we, as Toronto ALPHA, would like to declare our position on these Japanese government’s behaviours that have heightened tensions along the Asia-Pacific Rim, particularly between China and Japan.

Toronto ALPHA, which upholds the spirit of humanity, does not endorse group animosity of any kind, including anti-Japanese sentiments. However, we do stand firmly against the Japanese government’s continuous act to deny and dismiss the war atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army on the soil of its neighbouring countries during WWII. In recent years, this act has been manifested by its approval of the revised history textbooks, and its continuing tributes paid to the shrine of convicted war criminals. Such blatant behaviours confirm our belief that no real peace and reconciliation can be forged among the Asian Pacific countries without:

• the Japanese government openly admitting its wartime aggression and brutality against the civilians and prisoners of wars in the victimized countries;
• the Japanese government offering its official apologies and compensations to war victims and survivors, which Germany has bravely done for a long time;
• preserving and learning this seldom known history of WWII in Asia as an important human rights lesson and a strong reminder that such a holocaust should never be repeated.

Until all these issues are addressed, we remain vehemently opposed to Japan’s attempt to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.


Actions:
While we understand the strong sentiments among the people of war victimized countries as demonstrated in China and Korea in recent weeks, as an organization for humanity, Toronto ALPHA also wants to discourage any uncontrolled emotional outbursts that might lead to harmful attacks on innocent people. Neither do we think that indiscriminate boycotts of Japanese goods would be practical and effective in pressuring for change. Rather, we need to plan our responses and actions rationally and strategically in order to assure our voice and the truths be heard both emphatically and empathetically by the international community. Real impact can only be realized by exerting pressures at various strategic levels and with the support of different sectors of the broader community. The following are five important ways that we would like our community to endorse at this time.

1. Petition our Canadian government to oppose Japan’s bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council unless the Japanese government admits its war crimes and offers formal apologies to WWII survivors in all victimized countries. A Canada-wide online signature campaign is being set up by Toronto ALPHA at www.asia-wwii.org. You are encouraged to cast your vote through our website, and all collected signatures will then be presented to Ottawa as a joint petition. The Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia has in the meantime posted a world-wide online petition (sign.sjwar.org), and for the past 8 weeks over 40 million signatures from more than 100 countries have been gathered. (Please join the Global Alliance online petition if you haven’t done so.)



2. Place a full-page ad in the New York Times in late April/early May and in September to express our concerns and opposition to Japan’s UN Security Council bid unless full reparation is made by the Japanese government. The advertisement will be widely circulated to all UN member nations, U.S. Senators and House Representatives, as well as our Canada’s Members of Parliament.



3. Call for a targeted boycott of commercial goods produced by Japanese corporations, e.g., Mitsubishi and its subsidiary companies*, that are known to have been directly involved in the WWII atrocities. Not only should such a targeted boycott be sustainable and effective, more importantly, it sends a clear message that this is not an anti-Japanese move, but a sign of public indignation, concerns and condemnation over the attitude of those perpetrators who still show no remorse and refuse to face up to their war crimes. The boycott action will remain until the corporation is willing to offer apologies and compensations to the forced labourers who were kidnapped and brutally treated during the war. A list of other Japanese companies which were not involved in the WWII but have been backing its government’s militarist stand will be served notices that warn them of being targeted for a possible second-round boycott if they continue their support for extremist groups.



4. Educate the public and the younger generations about the WWII atrocities in Asia, which are rarely known in North America and most parts of the world. As global citizens regardless of country or culture, we have the responsibility to know the truth, to be the voice of the innocent victims, and to support their rights in the international community. Toronto ALPHA has been working closely with scholars and educators in promoting the teaching of this important, but largely hidden, history and human rights lesson in secondary schools.



5. Raise $100,000 in order to carry out the above-mentioned tasks. Toronto ALPHA, being a grass-root voluntary organization (chaired by Dr. Joseph Wong), relies on the generous donations and volunteer help from the community to support its missions. Those who are willing to contribute financially can make cheques payable to Toronto ALPHA with the account #: 0532-5209-009, and deposit them at any TD-Canada Trust branch.

Your support in these five endeavours will be an effective and concrete way to help promote the cause and to collectively pressure the Japanese government to redress the wartime wrongdoings and injustices that had been inflicted on millions of innocent lives.

[Please share this announcement to any interested individuals and organizations for their support. Should there be further queries about Toronto ALPHA’s position and actions, please e-mail: info@asia-wwii.org.]

*Some of the products include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Motor, Kirin Beer, Nikon Camera, Isuzu Motors, etc.


Other sources around this issue:

• Browse BBC News World Edition for background on this recent row between China and Japan: China-Japan Ties at '30-year low.'


• We can also read China-Japan press in war of words (by BBC News World Edition): [Read more...], including blogs (The Asia Blog, Danwei, Simon World, "Japanese apology for WWII Crime?" in United Subang Jaya Web Forum).


• Chronology from January-April 2005 in Taiwan Security Research.


• Japan and China Tensions and Washington’s Asia Geopolitics by William Engdahl (April 2, 2005)
  Coinciding with the re-election of George Bush we have seen a significant and strategic shift in US China policy. The shift involves a major upgrade of the US military security relationship with Japan. It portends major consequences for the dollar and world economic growth. Not surprisingly, the shift coincides with the near frantic efforts by China to secure energy security, particularly in oil and natural gas, through major deals with Iran, Russia, Canada and Venezuela, sometimes referred to as the BRIC alliance group of states. [Read more...]


• Q&A: The China-Japan Rift by Lionel Beehner from The New York Times.


• Calming The Japan-China Rift by Michael E. O'Hanlon and Professor Mike Mochizuki.


• The Rape on Nanjing is one of the most bleak facts in human history. There are lots of online channels and blogs dedicated for this. Here are some of them: The Rape of Nanjing - The Other Holocaust in Ratatak blog, Scarred by History: The Rape of Nanjing in BBC News World Edition, Nanjing Massacre from Wikipedia, books on Rape of Nanjing.


• Japanese War Crimes by Educypedia.


• Massacres and Atrocities of World War II in the Pacific Region by George Duncan.
  
• Sino-Japanese Relations in Japan Reference.

Protecting Human Rights Defenders in Indonesia

Tonight I came to PBI* (Peace Brigades International - Canada) public forum about protecting human rights defenders in Indonesia. Christine Jones gave a brief introduction about PBI and the speakers.

There are 3 speakers: Rachel Sutton, Richard Rais Zaidi on behalf of Celia Guilford, and Connie Sorio.

Rachel Sutton, currently living in Ottawa, grew up in Collingwood, Ontario. She joined PBI's Indonesia project in September 2003 and returned to Canada in December of 2004. Having studied Molecular Biology and Genetics, Rachel is now considering a career in medicine. Her other interests include travel to Malaysia, HIV research and anti-war activism. Rachel is passionate about dancing, of any sort, but especially contact improvisation!

Her sharing was very touching, at least for me. She said that she was always fascinated with human rights activists. She calls them people of inspiration. Are they for real? Are they extraordinary people? What keeps them going despite many threats and tribulations? So, she’s so happy when she got the opportunity to be a PBI’s volunteer in Indonesia. She got posted in Jakarta, and then to Papua.

The key takeaways from Rachel’s presentation:

• When she was in Jakarta she tried to build a rapport with government officials and international agencies, while tried to support the team for Aceh.
• She met “Zul” an activist from Aceh in Jakarta. “Zul” came to Jakarta when he felt that he’s not safe in Aceh anymore—military was looking for him. The violence of military operation in Aceh gave him no option but to join GAM (Free Aceh Movement). But “Zul” thought that it’s not a good and permanent solution.
• She went to Papua to assess the situation for PBI’s presence there. There was no anonymity in Papua especially for foreigner. In Papua to build trust was through face-to-face meeting with the local people (government officials, NGO, and community leaders). She worked with Abepura Poor Victims Community (that was formed after the Abepura incident and testified in human rights courts for Abepura incident).
• PBI will consider their service to other parts of Indonesia (for example Maluku) if a request from the local people is justified by PBI’s assessment.
• The cultural of impunity is still prevalent in Indonesia.

You can read Rachel’s experience in Papua in PBI's Indonesia Project’s Bulletin—October 2004 edition: A Day in Jayapura (in PDF format, 600KB).


Celia Guilford's background is in organic agriculture and will start a Master's degree in peacebuilding and human security this spring. When not working to support Indonesian human rights defenders, she works to defend global food security. Celia lived and worked in Indonesia with CUSO for 2 years prior to joining PBI as the Indonesia Project coordinator in 2000.

She was in Aceh from Jan. 17 until Feb. 23. Due to her pressing family matter she couldn't present and share her experience with us. Rais read us her report. Following are key takeaways from her report:

• There are 260 organizations working together in the field of food, sanitation and health relief. UN organizes all of these organizations.
• There are about 2,000 foreign volunteers in Aceh. Most of them are in Banda Aceh, Lhokseumawe, and Meulaboh.
• Locals appreciate foreign NGOs.
• Need protection for IDPs and human rights defenders.
• As of Jan. 26: sweeping and beating were still happening despite foreign presence, military operation continues, conflict continues, report of violence in northeast Aceh.
• There are military supported militias such as Red & White Front, Anti Separatist Front.
• The military is in complete control and charge, especially outside those 3 mentioned cities.
• There was illegal road tax.
• Sexual assault and harassment towards women, including in IDPs’ camps, were widespread.
• There’s a restriction for IDPs to return to their village.
• There’s a potential of horizontal and communal fight over land rights and unequal distribution of aids.
• To keep low key to prolong the foreign presence in Aceh.
• Rebuilding and restructuring civil society will start in March 26.
• Papua 2004: provided peace education to handle community-level conflict.

Connie Sorio, is the program coordinator for Asia-Pacific, Global Partnerships of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives. Connie just returned from a recent partners' visit and program monitoring trip and was in Aceh visiting KAIROS partners. Connie is human rights activist and community organizer involved in a number of organizations here in Toronto and in Brampton.

Key takeaways from Connie’s presentation:

• Need for demilitarization and cessation of hostilities in Aceh.
• Facilitated a meeting between human rights activists and Canadian’s foreign affairs in Jakarta. It’s a way to channel their voice to the Canadian government.

To learn more about PBI's Indonesia Project you can visit their website at the IP Project. I quote the brief summary of the IP Project here. PBI has contributed to the work of peace building in civil society in Indonesia since 1999, and currently has three programs of focus: Aceh, Papua and Peace Building.

The general objectives of the Indonesia Project are to:

• open and help maintain a peaceful space for civil society to operate and grow;
• model nonviolence and promote nonviolent resolution to conflicts;
• foster social and political dialogue and reconciliation;
• promote international understanding of the situation of Indonesian and East Timorese;
• empower civil society in all of the above, so as to reduce and eventually end the need for a PBI presence.

Since winning independence from the Dutch in 1949, Indonesia has faced several internal problems. Its outermost islands have been particularly vulnerable. Recent and long-standing conflict in these regions led to invitations for a PBI presence by local humanitarian, non-governmental groups and Komnas HAM (National Human Rights Commission). These individuals and groups are routinely threatened and are often kidnapped, killed or simply dissapear.

Currently PBI has 15 volunteers forming three sub-teams serving in Aceh, Papua and Jakarta. The sub-team in Jakarta continues to focus on human rights advocacy by frequently meeting with Indonesian authorities, national organizations and the diplomatic community in order to share key information on the conflict areas of Papua and Aceh, and its impact on local civil society groups. On 17 January 2005 a PBI assessment team arrived in Aceh to examine the consequences of the tsunami on the work of PBI client organizations and to assess their long term needs.

PBI works with a number of courageous humanitarian groups and activists including: Relawan Perempuan untuk Kemanusiaan (RPuK), Flower Aceh, Koalisi HAM, Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH), Lembaga Bantuan Hukum - Apik (LBH-Apik), RATA and PB-HAM. These organizations work to provide food, shelter, legal and other assistance to the Acehnese people.

The IP has had a 5-year relationship with the province of Aceh, where we had an extensive protective accompaniment and peace education program starting in early 2001. We were forced to leave in July 2003.

After the devastation of the December 2004 earthquakes and tsunami, PBI responded with a return to Aceh. PBI plans to supplement the global relief effort with two concrete initiatives: re-establishing our protective accompaniment team in Aceh, and assessing the need for trauma counseling in the affected areas.

PBI is concerned that the conflict's protagonists are taking advantage of the current situation, and this may hamper the distribution of aid and sisaster relief. Local groups may be more at risk now than before the catastrophe.


About PBI
Peace Brigades International (PBI), founded in 1981, is an international non-governmental organization comprised of unpaid volunteers and some paid staff. Inspired by Gandhi, PBI uses nonviolent action to help deter politically motivated violence and expand space for human rights and peace activism in areas of civil conflict.

PBI teams don't try to impose solutions from the outside. Instead, they provide moral support and a "breathing space" in which local activists can continue to be protagonists of change. PBI teams can pursue avenues not open to governments or partisan organizations. Free of the strings attached to the UN and other governmental bodies, our independent presence earns the trust of local grassroots activits helping them to endure in the face of severe repression.

Offering human rights defenders a measure of protection, through our use of protective accompaniment is one element of PBI's objective in providing an international presence. Encouraging people to handle conflict in peaceful ways by sharing knowledge and skills is another.

PBI has received international recognition including the 2001 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders and a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Currently we have projects in Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Indonesia, and will assees possibility in Nepal.

To learn more and to explore ways that you can get involved:
visit their website at: www.web.net/~pbican/
e-mail: pbican@web.ca
address: Peace Brigades International - Canada
427 Bloor Street West, Suite 202, Toronto, ON M5X 1S7
phone: 416-324-9737

PBI Canada is a member of CAGI (Canadian Advocacy Group on Indonesia).

Tsunami Justice Working Group Meeting

It was the second meeting I had with Tsunami Justice Working Group. We further worked on building the statement of principles and actions, raising the profile of issues listed in the statement of principles, proposing future events and task force.

It was agreed that we should hold a set of events in the coming months in order to raise the profile of our alternative analysis of why the damage of the tsunami was so massive, and how the reconstruction should be conducted.

As previously discussed, we will be having two public meetings: one in downtown Toronto, the other in Scarborough with speakers from the affected region. KAIROS is bringing speakers from Aceh, Indonesia for an event about the War on Terror. It was thought best to hold our meetings around the time that these guests are coming (in May). Logan also has connections to Sri Lankans who are interested in speaking with Canadians about the situation there. Logan and Connie (from KAIROS) will be working on determining specific dates for their arrival. Ethan will be working to book space to hold these events.

There is also interest in holding a press conference in preparation of the public meetings to highlight these issues. Olivia Chow's office has expressed interest in participating if the timing is right. We will also be working with Jack Layton's office to present our statement of principles as a petition in the house. Frank is working on getting Jack's office to send someone to the next meeting. We will have to get a number of people/organizations to sign the petition.

There was a discussion of lobbying government agencies and large 'mainstream' relief agencies to bring forward these issues. There was discussion of arranging meetings between our guests various NGOs. It was observed that about the time we are thinking of having our meetings, is similar times to when a number of the larger groups are having annual general meetings.

Our next meeting will be held on March 23, 2005 at CAW Hall (720 Spadina).

Following are press releases and actions distributed during this meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Concerns about the United States Government Agenda in Sri Lanka

22^nd February 2005

George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton visited Sri Lanka on 20^th and 21^st February as part of their tour of countries affected by the recent tsunami.

Their valuable work in raising private funds for the relief and reconstruction activities to rebuild the lives of the survivors is both very necessary and highly appreciated. It is reported that the people of the United States have donated a total of $700m so far. Their solidarity and goodwill is essential for Sri Lanka.

We would like to take the opportunity offered by their visit to highlight some concerns that we, the Alliance for the Protection of National Resources and Human Rights, have regarding the involvement of the United States Government in Sri Lanka.

The United States Government sent their military to Sri Lanka to assist in the immediate relief effort after the tsunami. While this work is now finished, they still maintain a presence in the vicinity, with one of their warships currently anchored in Colombo. From the experience of the United States Government in other countries, particularly most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, we find this very disconcerting, for two reasons. First, in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, former United States Secretary of States Colin Powell announced that they considered their involvement in the relief and rehabilitation to be primarily a question of ensuring the security of the United States, to prevent the thousands of displaced people living in camps from being recruited by terrorist groups. This is obviously worrying, when viewed in conjunction with the aggression currently being exercised by the United States Government under the guise of their War on Terror in other countries in the region. Secondly, there have long been rumours that the United States Military is looking to establish a permanent base in Sri Lanka in order to facilitate this same aggression. We are completely opposed to United States Military presence in Sri Lanka, under any circumstances and for any period.

The United States Government has also in the past regularly used their financial weight to push Sri Lanka further along the road of neo-liberal economic reform, both via the IMF and World Bank and their Structural Adjustment Programmes, and directly through their own bilateral finance and the new Millenium Challenge Account. This path of development has not worked in Sri Lanka and furthermore it has been wholeheartedly rejected by the people of Sri Lanka. However, it is now being resurrected in the post-tsunami rebuilding plans.

We strongly reject any misuse of the tsunami disaster to advance any other agenda than the rebuilding of the lives of the survivors, and would consider this to be an abuse of the solidarity and goodwill of the people of the United States who have so generously given their support to Sri Lanka. We encourage the United States Government to reorient their policies with this in mind.

Alliance for the Protection of National Resources and Human Rights

c/o MONLAR, 1151/58A, 4^th Lane, Kotte Road, Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka

Outcomes of Conference on Post-Tsunami Challenges

MONLAR was one of over 70 organisations that participated in the recent Asian Civil Society Conferenfe on Post-Tsunami Challenges in Bangkok, Thailand, on 13^th and 14^th February 2005. Participants discussed the challenges posed by the tsunami and strategies that could be adopted to overcome these.

Main Issues

1. Unsatisfactory nature of government's Rebuilding Sri Lanka plan, which was issued one week after the tsunami (which strongly suggests that it was a pre-tsunami plan, hastily dressed up as a tsunami response). Also the highly partisan nature of the government's three task forces to respond to tsunami, which had no representation at all from civil society or the political opposition.


2. Absence of effective assistance to the tsunami affected people who are continuing to languish in refugee camps nearly 7 weeks after the tsunami, not knowing what is in store with them.


3. Failure of government and LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam also known as The Tamil National Army) to cooperate with one another in enabling resources to flow into LTTE controlled areas to meet the needs of the people living in those areas.


4. Identifying the macro political and international dimension of tsunami relief that has seen international armed forces coming in to perform tsunami relief and also the UN decision to make President Clinton its special envoy on tsunami.

Strategies
Domestic Level

1. The need to get a study done with facts and figures and disseminate the results of that study as a critique on the governmental strategy to rebuild the nation.


2. Organise an assessment mission of Sri Lankan academics who will interview the affected people, do field research and analyse the available statistics. Currently this type of study is invariably commissioned by multilateral organizations and is done by foreign research personnel.


3. Appoint a People's Commission to make a comprehensive assessment of the situation, following public hearings with media publicity, to be a tool of public education and mobilization.


4. Sri Lankan NGOs need to provide information and ideas to their international NGO partners who will lobby internationally to ensure justice to the tsunami victims.

Regional Strategy

1. Forum Asia should be persuaded to issue a statement or resolution asking for a complete revision of the government's relief and reconstruction plans and critiquing its appointment of task forces with unsuitable representation.


2. Forum Asia to initiate and work in partnership with the International Fisher Organisation and comparable organisations, to establish the international people's commission that will have credibility with the affected communities. This process should lead to a People's Charter for Livelihood, Relief and Reconstruction in the Post Tsunami Phase.


3. The Planning group of this consultation should prepare a set of guidelines for the formation of the international commission and its work plan.

Focus Issue

1. Start lobbying for the reestablishment of people so that they can return to their normal lives. Advocate that people's homes be rebuilt from the debris of their old homes and in the same locations for speedy and low cost resettlement, along with the provision of their boats and other equipment to regain their livelihoods.


2. Advocate that people in every region should decide on their reconstruction by themselves and they should have equal access to national and international resources. Appropriate mechanism should be developed to ensure this right in civil war affected countries.


3. Study and understand the international macro political dimension that lies behind international financial and military responses to the tsunami crisis, and the role of the UN with President Bill Clinton at the special envoy on tsunami relief.

For more information on the details given here, please contact Sarath Fernando at MONLAR.

Movement for National Land and Agricultureal Reform (MONLAR)
No. 1151/58a, 4^th Lane, Kotte Road, Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka
Tel & Fax: 094 11 4407663
Tel: 094 11 2865534
E-mail: monlar@sltnet.lk

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Asian Civil Society Consultation on Post-Tsunami Challenges

14-02-2005

We, over 70 participants from community-based, national and international non-governmental organizations from the tsunami affected areas in Asia, came together at the Asian Civil Society Consultation on Post-Tsunami Challenges in Bangkok, Thailand on Feruary 13-14, 2005 to discuss the various challenges posed by the disaster of December 26, 2004.

We express our solidarity with the survivors and victims of this disaster, and acknowledge the tremendous empathy that has manifested both locally and internationally, in the wake of this tragedy. A speedy revival of normal life, through a democratic process must obtain utmost priority.

Poverty, marginalisation, exclusion, conflict and discrimination amplify vulnerability to disaster, and we believe that the resources available for rehabilitation must be used to help rebuild just and equitable societies.

1. It is important to legally recognize that all financial and other resources raised as donations from citizens of the world by government and non-governmental agencies belong to the affected people and cannot be appropriated by the government as its revenue. The government and others are only 'trustees' of this fund and are bound by the norms of accountability and transparency and need to ensure fair use of such resources.



2. It is important to note that the affected communities are highly variegated amongst themselves as belonging to fishing communities, communities allied to or subordinate to fishing activities, artisans and agricultural communities and other marginalized groups like dalits, indigenous people, migrants and migrant workers especially Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, internally displaced persons, women, children, elderly, people with disabilities that is leading to devastating impacts on them.



3. It is important to assert that the communities have a right to participate in all stages of planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring of all relief and rehabilitation processes. This is not happening satisfactorily, and we demand a radical structural change. Particular emphasis must be placed to ensure that voices of these communities are not appropriated by others and they do not become "subjects" of the relief and rehabilitation work.



4. A most worrying trend evident in all the countries affected by the tsunami is the alienation of most of the fishing and other coastal communities from the traditional coastal land where they have lived for generations. The state and some corporate interests have launched a systematic campaign denying the rights of the fishing and other coastal communities to their original homes, including through measures, such as physical force or threats, to prevent them from returning to their original homes. It is worrying to note that certain NGOs and INGOs are acquiescing to this process by not challenging or opposing this anti-people trend.



5. Women are more vulnerable during disasters and marginalised in their access to relief resources. To ensure that their needs and rights are properly addressed women must be involved in the consultative and decision-making processes: from camp administration and disaster management committees to policy making bodies for rehabilitation efforts.



6. Local groups and institutions must be an integral part of any response by the international community. Given the tendency of international organisations to sideline locally elected bodies and local communities in decision-making on relief and rehabilitation, INGOs and UN agencies should take extra efforts to ensure their participation.



7. The rights of minorities and marginalised people - including women, children, informal sector workers, internally displaced persons, migrant workers, ethnic minorities, dalits and fish workers - must be recognised in all response efforts. The specific needs of these groups must be adequately addressed, and appropriate arrangements made to protect these people from exploitation, violence, neglect, and abuse. Policies and interventions must acknowledge the rights of marginalised groups.



8. Synergy and co-operation are vital if we are to reach out to the poorest and most marginalised community members. Concerted efforts must be made by all involved to avoid duplication of relief efforts, and to work together for long term, sustainable rehabilitation. Relief and rehabilitation assistance should be based on binding humanitarian principles and ensure that it is neutral, impartial and universal and non-discriminatory.



9. International aid for relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction must be in the form of grants, not loans, and must be de-linked from requirements to purchase goods and services in the donors country. Similarly, all efforts must be made to cancel the existing debts of affected nations; moratoriums only shift the burden of debt to a later date.



10. Transparency in fund use is a moral responsibility of the state, INGOs, NGOs and others. Complete details of the utilisation of funds should be made public through fortnightly reports. Vitally, the information should also include details of the amounts spent on overhead and administration costs.



11. Human security must be paramount in international efforts. Areas of existing armed conflict, such as Aceh in Indonesia and North East Sri Lanka, present a particular challenge to humanitarian goals, but also an unprecedented opportunity to forge a breakthrough in peace processes. It is unacceptable that affected people living in conflict zones are denied full access to available resources. It is essential that the governments of all affected countries make the utmost efforts to respond to the needs of the victims of the tsunami disaster, especially in Burma where the military regime has failed to even acknowledge the true damage from the disaster. Governments must ensure that suitable mechanisms are developed, in consensus with all parties to the conflict, to deliver resources and promote peace-building.



12. Governments must be held accountable to the commitments they have made at the recent World Conference on Disaster Reduction. National level priorities with respect to disaster reduction, preparedness, and early warning must be defined and adequately resourced.



13. Corporate interests must not be allowed to take precedence over the interests of affected communities. It is becoming evident that corporate-driven objectives are conflicting with rehabilitation goals in some areas, and immediate action must be taken to stop and reverse this.



14. Reconstruction and rehabilitation interventions must be sensitive to ecological and social concerns and must be appropriately designed to promote social justice, equity and environmental sustainability in a manner that supports the livelihoods and just social and economic development of the affected people.



15. International humanitarian and human rights norms and standards must be respected, observed and ensured throughout all relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction efforts. This should include the UN guiding principles on humanitarian assistance and on internally displaced persons. Moreover, it is important to follow a rights based approach to humanitarian assistance specifically the Right to Participation as formulated in the UN declaration on Right to Development.

We see our own role in the tsunami response as four-fold:

1. to support humanitarian and rehabilitation efforts in all affected areas;
2. to monitor the ongoing international response;
3. to organise and empower community members, particularly marginalised groups, to demand their rights, and
4. to resist initiatives that counter the greater objective of local ownership and decision-making.

We commit to hold ourselves accountable to those affected by this disaster, and to be as transparent as possible in all our efforts. We appeal to wider civil society to join us in this commitment, and we challenge international leadership to acknowledge our demands and to uphold the rights of those devastated by this disaster.

Endorsed at the consultation, unanimously by the participants on February 14, 2005

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Source: Logan (TJWG)

Dark Clouds - Another Tsunami - and A New Government Order to Scatter and Dessimate Survivors of Tsunami in Tamil Nadu

The Government of Tamil Nadu through its Revenue Department has issued an order G.O.Ms.No.25, Revenue, dated 13.01.2005 seeking Public-Private Partnership in order to scatter and dessimate those victims of Tsunami who have not yet lost their lives after nature showed its fury. The summarized implication of the Government order is as follows:

1. that those fisherfolk who are now in temporary accomodation (read: and those on the streets - be scattered) and "permanently relocated" in sites to be alloted by the Government (read: and permanently displaced from their ancestral homesteads).


2. that NGOs, companies, corporate houses and charitable institutions (national and international) be invited to send their requests for participating in this programme.


3. that those who can mobilise 75 lakhs (for 50 families) in order to build houses, infrastructure and provide for livelihood be invited to this partnership.


4. that such proposals be given to the collector for his acceptance (or rejection!) and his final decision be forwarded to the Panchayat for its acceptance.

Ominous Clouds After Tsunami
Many of us who have been closely watching dark post-Tsunami clouds gathering:

1. Recently the Government distributed a package along with Rs3000 to 4000 to survivors in Enore and asked them to vacate the school but not to return to the beach.


2. A false warning was spread that yet another Tsunami was about to strike the Tamil Nadu coastline and that fisherfolk should not go back to the sea.


3. Some vested interests have been spreading the rumour that the fish is poisonous and Government has maintained stoic silence about it.


4. Relentless efforts are being made by the Government to coopt the voluntary sector through many innovative means.


5. While the poor are without a roof Government's priority has been a wall along the coast at a cost of Rs5000 crores (with ever ready World Bank dollars!)

Real Implications for the poor
Fisherfolk living on the beach from time immemorial in their small thatched houses with their fishing nets and boats on the coast by the side of their houses have eeked out a meagre but highly dignified life by going out into the sea and returning with their catch to the shore. The women folk then collect the catch from the fishing nets and form the first link in marketing chain which provides livelihood despite denial of the market price.

This high protein diet has not only provided nutrition for them and their children but also for the poor, including dalits, tribals and marginalised dependants on the fishing economy. The right of these fisherfolk to live on the beach is sanctified by customary law since they have lived on these beaches from time immemorial (custom has the force of law if the memory of the society knoweth not to the contrary and in the case of the fisherfolk this condition is more than adequately satisfied).

Unfortunately the Government has other plans - they would apparently like to use this natural calamity to clean the beach - and make it available for tourism and big business. The victims of this grand plan - couched in a humanitarian garb - will be the fisherfolk and especially widowed women, the orphaned children, the bereaved, the elderly and other living members of the fisherfolk who have no boats and nets to return to the sea.

Unprecedented Displacement
Dark clouds are gathering in the seat of power in Tamil Nadu - this will be worse than the first Tsunami for the living poor. There are more than seven lakh fisherfolk along the coast living in more than 600 fishing community villages (Kuppams). Their livelihood is possible only in close harmony and proximity with the sea - hence they live on the beach - because they cannot carry out their self employed livelihood except by living along with their fishing nets and boats. Any proposal to relocate them, if carried out will destroy their livelihood and make them beggars like so many tribals who have been driven out from the forest.

The state will also create the material conditions under which the unemployed youth will become available to those who seek desperate solutions for livelihood outside the Rule of Law. This will become a classical case where the state destroys existing livelihood and creates the condition for lawlessness to take over and then seek further aid to curtail terrorism and the like. We know from a long story of past experience that Government cannot give them alternate livelihoods. In any case these fisherfolk cannot be forcibly prevented from reclaiming their homestead on the beach - because - they have the right "to prior possession" as well as the "right to livelihood" as laid down by the Supreme Court - even in a celebrated case of fisherfolk themselves. (In Joseph vs. The state of Kerala)

If in spite of these apprehensions the state is hell bent on "permanent relocation and rehabilitation of the affected persons" (via Government order cited above) let them build these new houses with their own funds, provide alternate employment and offer the title deeds to the affected along with alternate jobs and then invite the affected persons to make their choice. If the alternates are attractive and real enough - surely the affected people will take them -- but -- till these utopian ideas are put into practice the Government has no right to further displace those affected - hence the NGOs, the corporates, and the charitable institutions must come together in order to rebuild the destroyed houses out of the same thatch with which the fisherfolk historically built their houses and quickly provide boats and nets so that the fisherfolk can return to the sea and resume their life of dignity pending realisation of the new government utopia!

All friends of fisherfolk, dalits and the poor should join their voices and actions to avert the next state sponsored Tsunami!

Baby Matthew
New Delhi
16 Jan 2005

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CCIC News Release - Tsunami (Jan. 18, 2005)

Hope amidst the Destruction: Time to unite against poverty

Statement by The Global Call to Action against Poverty on the policy implications of the Tsunami

1. On December 26, 2004, an earthquake of unusual violence hit Indonesia and the subsequent Tsunami affected the shores of the Indian Ocean in both Asia and Africa, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and seriously affecting the livelihoods of millions of people in many countries. Whilst this disaster has caused great despair, the global wave of solidarity and public generosity that followed it offers hope amidst the destruction.


2. The destruction from the Tsunami was not merely a "natural disaster" but was greatly exacerbated by extreme poverty and marginalization for which governments both in the affected countries and in the rich world must take responsibility.


3. The substantial support now promised by governments is a direct result of pressure from the public and civil society organizations across the world. This demonstrates once again that when ordinary people unite across the world against injustice they can force world leaders to act.


4. The significant financial pledges that have now been made need to become a reality. We must see the pledged money turned into real money and spent on ensuring that the rights of the poorest and most marginalized people are fulfilled. The members of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty will monitor this at every level.


5. Relief is not enough and a return to the status quo would still leave the communities most affected by the Tsunami in poverty. We need a shift in national and international policies to eliminate poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This includes trade justice, debt cancellation, a major increase in the quantity and quality of aid, and national anti-poverty efforts that are democratic, transparent, and accountable to citizens.


6. The form of the relief and development effort is as important as the amounts of money spent on it. Already members of the Global Call to Action against Poverty have witnessed discrimination in the Tsunami response based on religious, caste, ethnic, economic and gender inequalities. Everyone involved in the Tsunami response has a duty to ensure that there is no discrimination at any level, that women and men are shown equal respect, and that all affected people, especially the poorest and most marginalized, are able to shape the relief and development effort carried out in their name. Particular attention must be paid to the protection of children.


7. All tsunami aid must be additional and not at the cost of aid to the poorest countries; and just as the Tsunami necessitates debt cancellation in Asia, so HIV/AIDS necessitates debt cancellation in Africa.


8. Whilst the devastation following from the Tsunami has resulted in unprecedented media coverage, the devastation wreaked on Africa, Latin America and Asia every week from continuing international inaction on debt, aid and trade is actually greater in scale. Avoiding this weekly "man-made Tsunami" requires the same solidarity and determination in the global public response as has been shown in response to the "natural tsunami". On July 1^st before the G8 meeting, and on 10^th September before the UN Special Session, millions of people will put on a white band as a symbol of their demand for action against poverty.


9. Earthquakes are unpredictable, but many of the deaths resulting from the Tsunami could have been avoided if a warning system had been in place. Similarly, we already know that thousands of children are going to die this year from diseases that can be cured and the livelihoods of millions of poor people are going to be affected by decisions on trade and finances taken by the leaders of the richest countries of the world. Wearing white bands will be our early warning. World leaders have no excuse for not taking action.

Note: The Global Call to Action against Poverty (www.whiteband.org) is a world-wide alliance committed to pushing world leaders to live up to their promises, and to make a breakthrough on poverty in 2005. Many of the members of the Global Call to Action against Poverty are actively working on the ground right now to help the people affected by the Tsunami.

Oleh-oleh Dari Peringatan 50 Tahun Hubungan RI-Kanada (5 of 5)

Enhancing Indonesia-Canada Partnership:
Challenges and Opportunities

Addressed by:
Ali Alatas

At the Symposium Commemorating
Fifty Years of Canada-Indonesia Relations

Ottawa, 13 March 2003

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Dear Friends,

Today we mark an important milestone in the relations between our two countries. Fifty years ago, Canada and Indonesia officially established diplomatic relations by opening embassies in each other's capital. Our friendship, however, started well before that - during our revolutionary struggle for independence. It was with the support of an eminent Canadian, Gen. Andrew George L. McNaughton, then president of the UN Security Council, that the Council adopted resolutions that helped bring about universal recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty.

Over the past 50 years, our friendship and cooperation have grown from strength to strength. That is because, although we have many differences, there are far outweighed by our similarities.

The differences are obvious: Indonesia is a nation of islands, in fact the largest archipelago in the world; Canada spans the vast North American continent. Indonesia is a developing country; while Canada is the eighth largest industrialized country in the world and outranks all other countries on the UNDP human development index.

On the other hand, our similarities are much more significant: both our nations take pride in our rich diversity - of cultural heritage, religions, ethnic origins and languages. We thus put a premium to national unity and to tolerance. Both countries extend over vast territories endowed with abundant natural resources. And while our political and social systems are quite different, we are both deeply committed to democracy both within and among nations, and to human rights and dignity.

As medium powers, both our countries are committed to diplomatic activism and attach great importance to regionalism and multilateralism. We are both committed to the shaping of a better world of peace, justice and equitable prosperity. As such we have collaborated in addressing various global and regional issues, such as the North-South dialogue, the Law of the Sea, disarmament, and the management of potential conflict in the South China Sea.

Indeed, the annual informal Workshop on Managing Potential Conflict in the South China Sea, launched by Indonesia in 1992 and nurtured over the years with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the University of British Columbia, stands out as an important initiative in preventive diplomacy and confidence building in East Asia.

Over the past five decades, Canada has strongly supported and contributed to Indonesia's social and economic development. In turn, Indonesia has always sought to provide a hospitable environment in which Canadian business interests can prosper and grow.

We deeply appreciate Canada's "people-oriented" policies in development cooperation, directed towards such concerns such as basic human needs, small and medium enterprises, human rights, democracy and good governance, women in development and gender equality, human resources development and the environment. We appreciate Canada's assistance all the more because it comes in the form of grants.

Our bilateral trade has steadily grown: Indonesia's exports to Canada have considerably risen over the past five years, reaching $620.6 million in 2001. Canada ranks eighth among countries with foreign investments in Indonesia, with a total of well above US$6 billion in 2002, mostly in mining ventures. Recently, Canadian investments have also been channeled to the financial sector and to such fields as agribusiness and the environment.

Canadian-Indonesian relations, however, cannot be viewed solely in a bilateral context. They are inevitably influenced by the larger regional and global issues. And, conversely, Canadian-Indonesian relations can have a positive or negative impact on regional and even global developments. I do belive that our two countries, each according to its own capabilities and unique perspectives, have a proactive role to play in this post-Cold War era. By fulfilling that role in a spirit of constructive cooperations, we will not only strengthen our bilateral ties, but also enhance the prospects for stable peace, common security and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

This is especially true in the context of our two countries' activities in the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conferences (PMC) with Dialogue partners, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

That shared role is of equally acute relevance to the need to respond to the challenges of the post-Cold War era. Allow me, therefore, to share my thoughts with you on three of the most pressing of these challenges.

First there is the challenge of globalization, with its all-encompassing scope and implications, both positive and negative. Driven by the swift advances in science and technology, globalization, in tandem with liberalization, offers the prospects of benefits through enlarged markets, greater productivity, faster economic growth and new trade and investment opportunities.

But over the years, globalization has proven to be an indiscriminate force, incapable of distinguishing between advanced and developing countries, between the strong and the weak. Thus, globalization is indeed opening up vast oportunities for economic progress, but only to the stronger economies, those capable of seizing such opportunities. On the other hand, it poses real and often severe risks to the vulnerable developing economies that can cause economic and even political upheavals.

Hence, the international community and like-minded developed and developing countries, such as Canada and Indonesia, are called upon to find ways of eliminating or at least ameliorating the adverse effects of globalization so that it will wreak no havoc on the developing economies and its benefits can be shared by all.

The second challenge is the issue of human security. As distinct from the conventional notion of state security, the concepts of human security, which Canada has pionereed and promoted, can now be said to be almost universally accepted. It has been increasingly realized that when a state is secure, and its territorial sovereignty and integrity well protected, it does not necessarily follow that the people within that state, the human beings, are also secure.

This realization has come about with the growing shift in the nature or armed conflicts, from interstate wars to armed conflicts and turbulence within states, as well as the emergence of new types of security threats - those posed by organized transnational crimes and gross violations of human rights. Hence, security should now not merely be conceived and pursued in terms of the interests of the state but also in terms of the needs of human beings to be shielded from acts or threats of violence.

Out of this realization emerged the question of what the international community of states must do when one of them is unable to protect its own citizens from violence or, as it sometimes happnes, when it is the state itself that does violence to its citizens. It is in this regard that the concomitant issue of humanitarian intervention has arisen and posed an acute dilemma to the international community, especially to the United Nations.

It is a dilemma because on the one hand there is the acknowledged necessity of putting an end to man-made humanitarian disaster whenever it occurs, while on the other hand, there is the question of legitimacy of and the bad precedent set by an intervention by a country or group of countries without the authorization of the United Nations or the consent of the targeted country.

There is great sensitivity and concern among developing countries at the notion of eroding or superseding state sovereignty as implied in humanitarian intervention. There is also the fear that those engaging in or leading humanitarian interventions will most likely be the advanced countries of the "North" and those subjected to the humanitarian intervention will be the developing countries of the "South," thus adding yet another dimension to North-South contention.

Furthermore, it is unrealistic to expect that humanitarian intervention will ever be carried out against any of the veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council or their allies for that matter, or against a major regional power, thus strengthening the perception that it is by nature selective and discriminatory.

To Canada's great credit, in response to this dilemma, it took the initiative of establishing in September 2000 the International Commission on Intervention and State Soverignty, co-chaired by former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans and Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun of Algeria.

The Commission, in its recently published report, put forward an innovative approach in which conceptually the whole debate was re-characterized as a question not of "the right to intervene" but rather of the "responsibility to protect" - a responsibility owed by all sovereign states to their own citizens in the first instance, but one that must be assumed by the international community if the state in question is incapable of fulfilling it.

Correspondingly, in order to reconcile the sovereignty-intervention dichotomy, the Report proposes that the concept of sovereignty be reconsidered not as much as an inherent right or capacity to control but rather as a responsibility. In this way, the Commission may be able to steer away from the dilemmas and controversies that the terminology and concept of humanitarian intervention have raised.

Untimately, however, if humanitarian intervention or protection is to be accepted as a new norm in international relations, it must always be based on the principles of legitimacy and universal applicability or non-discrimination. It must be justly and consistently applied, regardless of which country or group of countries is affected.

I am therefore of the firm view that the fundamental questions raised by this issue need first to be thoroughly discussed by the international community and debated in the UN so as to arrive at a global consensus on the criteria and principles, the mandates and guidelines as well as the specific conditions under which such humanitarian intervention could take place. And here again, Canada and Indonesia can and should cooperate constructively so that such a consensus may be achieved.

Finally, we come to the third challenge: the scourge of international terrorism. This is not a new phenomenon: since ancient times, violence or the threat of violence has been used to pressure governments and societies into accepting radical political or social change. But after the horror of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, international terrorism became the malignant burden of the age og globalization. And after the terrorist bombings in Bali last October, which killed 197 individuals of various nationalities, it became clear that no society, no community in the world today is safe from terrorist attack.

Like all the other forms of transnational crime, international terrorism cannot be effectively fought through unilateral action. Nations must cooperate with one another in a multilaterally concerted effort that is more appropriately directed and coordinated by the United Nations.

Long before the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the Bali tragedy of 12 October, Indonesia and the other ASEAN countries have begun to address the threat of terrorism as one of the most virulent forms of organized transnational crime, linking it to the problem of the traffic in illicit drugs and the smuggling of arms and people. But we were so focused on economic cooperation that our moves against these threats were slow and tentative.

The shock of 9/11 and the Bali tragedy, however, have galvanized the entire region into vigorously addressing this threat in concert.

Indonesia has signed with Malaysia and the Philippines a "Trilateral Agreement on Information Exchange and Communication Procedures" to facilitate cooperation among ourselves in combating transnational crime, primarily terrorism. Cambodia and Thailand have acceded to this Treaty, and Indonesia is confident that all ASEAN members will eventually join the arrangement.

Indonesia and other ASEAN countries have signed with the United States Government a Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism. Moreover, ASEAN has formulated a regional work plan to combat terrorism that will entail the participation of its Dialogue Partners, including Canada. There are indeed a number of activities in the programme that Canada can undertake with ASEAN, the most obvious of which being exchange of information that will enable each side to intensify police and intelligence work.

Likewise, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), in which Canada is a participant, has begun to intensify work on international terrorism. Canada is, of course, expected to take part in any anti-terrorism activity developed within the ARF, particularly those listed in the ARF Declaration against Terorism that was adopted in Brunei Darussalam last July.

However, the most sophisticated military intelligence and police work, even when carried out in concert by an array of governments, will not suffice to defeat international terrorism. Apart from focusing on its symptoms, its root causes must also be effectively addressed. And there is no doubt that abject poverty and glaring social inequality have a great deal to do with the sense of injustice and alienation, the anger and irrational hatred that erode respect for property and regard for the value of human life.

We must not forget, moreover, that in recent years, the most severe blow against the security and political stability of Southeast Asia was neither a war nor a terrorist attack but a financial and economic debacle.

In the ultimate analysis, the only lasting security is broad-based development that leads to an equitable distribution of prosperity and the enlightenment that attends such prosperity. That is why the threat of terrorism must not distract us from our agenda of development - whether national, regional or global.

Thus, in a globalized world where a welter of non-governmental actors are active, where persistent sociopolitical issues must always be taken into consideration, where notions of security are constantly evolving and terrorism threatens every nation - there is much that Canada and Indonesia can do together and for each other.

We should now be earnestly exploring ways not only to intensify and broaden our economic cooperation in terms of trade and investment and the promotion of development, but also to strengthen our cooperation in the political and security field and coordinate our advocacies in international forums.

We can do all these because Canadian-Indonesian relations are as solid and as broadly gauged as they have ever been. As in any close realtionship, there may occasionally arise some point of controversy due to our differences in cultural background. But always the broad and vital interests of our two nations coverge in a manner that compels us to turn to each other for mutual support and collaboration.

By doing so we can help remove the environment of poverty and ignorance in which terrorism thrives, help remove in international affairs the distrust and tendency to miscalculation that often result into interstate wars, help the citizens of every country lead more secure lives, and also address the rigours imposed upon the developing countries by the downside of globalization.

Then we can truly say that Canadian-Indonesian friendship has been a factor in the shaping of a better world.

Oleh-oleh Dari Peringatan 50 Tahun Hubungan RI-Kanada (4 of 5)

Seorang bapak yang bernama Mohamad Tauchid (MT) memberikan pertanyaan tentang investasi pertambangan dalam hubungannya dengan peraturan desentralisasi yang dibicarakan oleh Andi Mallarangeng. Kebetulan dia duduk di belakang saya… dan jarang bagi saya mendengar seorang Indonesia bertanya tentang pertambangan dalam forum seperti ini. Karena itu pada coffee break saya datangi dia. What a surprise! Ternyata dia adalah alumni Geologi ITB angkatan 1955. Seperti umumnya jika alumni ketemu, kita lalu cerita banyak hal yang berhubungan dengan almamater.

MT banyak bercerita tentang Prijatna (Pak Koesoemadinata) dan Benny Wahju. Dia juga menceritakan bahwa geologist wanita Indonesia pertama yaitu Ibu Karmajuni Pratignja sekarang tinggal di Vancouver. MT sendiri sejak lulus ITB tidak pernah kerja di Indonesia, tapi melanjutkan masternya ke Kanada. Pernah bekerja di UNDP yang berkantor di Jenewa, Swiss selama belasan tahun. Pekerjaan ini pula yang membawanya ke beberapa dunia ketiga dalam kapasitasnya sebagai konsultan bidang geologi. MT agak meragukan keberhasilan desentralisasi tingkat distrik seperti yang akan dilakukan di Indonesia. Sutara, mantan Kadin Kanada-Indonesia juga menyuarakan keraguan yang sama.

Ketika dia mengatakan akan mengunjungi Indonesia akhir tahun ini saya langsung ‘nodong’ beliau untuk memberikan sedikit pengalamannya bagi teman-teman di himpunan. Beliau setuju. Ada lagi seorang bapak yang bekerja untuk perusahaan minyak di Kanada dan sudah lama tidak menetap di Indonesia dan seperti halnya MT hanya tertawa ketika saya tanyakan apakah tidak akan balik menetap di Indonesia. Dalam hati saya tanyakan berapa banyak aset seperti ini yang bertebaran di luar negeri? Anak negeri yang tetap punya kerinduan untuk memberikan sesuatu bagi negaranya tapi tak pernah menjadi penduduk Indonesia.

Kalau dulu manusia-manusia seperti ini sering ‘dimusuhi’ kalangan pejabat kedubes atau konsulat Indonesia, dianggap sebagai ‘penghianat’ atau orang yang cuma tahu senang untuk diri sendiri. Entah sekarang… Yang jelas Indonesia kembali harus belajar dari beberapa negara yang malah merangkul orang-orang seperti ini, karena merekalah jembatan menuju dunia luar.

Pada diskusi terakhir kami sempat menanyakan apakah ada kemungkinan Indonesia memperlakukan kewarganegaraan ganda. India sudah melakukannya. Cina punya perjanjian khusus dengan Kanada tentang hal ini. Mereka melihat keuntungannya lebih besar daripada kerugiannya, terutama dalam era globalisasi semacam ini. Menurut Ali Alatas sudah ada draft RUU-nya, tapi apakah akan jadi UU masih belum dapat dipastikan, terutama karena isu loyalitas bagi kalangan pembuat kebijakan ini cukup besar.

Selama di Ottawa kami (saya, Bang JH, dan MK) menginap di apartment JM mantan pekerja NGO yang sekarang bekerja di HRDC. Karena kami tidak memberitahukan kehadiran kami sebelumnya pada JM, maka kamipun ‘terpaksa’ menunggunya di depan pintu apartmentnya. Tiap malam selalu kami lewati untuk omong2… terima kasih buat JM yang ‘merelakan’ tempat tidurnya untuk saya, sementara dia, Bang JH dan MK harus ber-sleeping bag di ruang tamu. *senyum* Pembicaraan paling panas memang soal Bush, Irak, media, imigran, dan policy HRDC, tapi kami juga membicarakan soal trek bersepeda yang terindah di seputar Ottawa. *senyum*

Dalam perjalanan pulang saya dan MK sempat bicara soal pentingnya studi tentang unaccounted illegal immigrants. Suatu problem sosial yang jika tidak dipahami dan ditangani dengan baik akan menjadi masalah Kanada di masa yang akan datang. Kanada dengan prinsip multikultur-nya dan program kesejahteraan bagi penduduknya yang sangat ‘bermurah-hati’ menjadi negara impian bagi banyak imigran negara2 lain. Kanadapun mengakui dual citizenship.

Pada seri berikut akan saya bagikan isi presentasi Ali Alatas sebagai keynote speaker dalam forum ini.

Lanjut ke: Oleh-oleh Dari Peringatan 50 Tahun Hubungan RI-Kanada (5 of 5)

Oleh-oleh Dari Peringatan 50 Tahun Hubungan RI-Kanada (2 of 5)

Kamis, 13 Maret 2003 berlangsunglah acara simposium yang membahas empat topik diskusi yaitu: Indonesia—Current Trends and Challenges, Economic Reform in Indonesia, Development and Social Issues, The Future of Indonesia—Canada Relations.

Datang agak pagi hari ini dengan harapan dapat melakukan ‘networking’, syukur kalau ada teman-teman NGO yang saya kenal. Akhirnya saya ‘tertambat’ pada dialog dengan Dubes Thailand untuk Kanada. Setelah bertukar courtesy, saya lalu memuji negaranya yang telah sanggup keluar dari krismon (krismon adalah singkatan untuk krisis moneter) yang lalu, dan saya teruskan bahwa Indonesia harus belajar banyak pada Thailand terutama untuk sektor pertanian dan perkebunan. Dia agak tidak setuju ketika saya mengatakan bahwa Indonesia harus belajar dari pengalaman Thailand. *smile*

Kurang lebih begini katanya: sebagai bangsa dan negara, Indonesia harus tahu kekuatan dan kekurangannya sendiri dulu sebelum dapat menentukan arah perkembangan bangsa dan negaranya. Thailand punya seorang raja yang walaupun tidak memainkan peranan dalam pemerintahan, tapi memainkan peran penting di hati rakyatnya. Thailand dengan mayoritas penduduknya yang beragama Budha tentu lain dengan Indonesia yang mayoritas penduduknya beragama Islam. Thailand juga punya penduduk yang beragama Islam, tapi dengan karakteristik yang berbeda dengan yang ada di Indonesia. Kebanyakan rakyat Thailand bukan orang yang dapat diperintah untuk mengerjakan sesuatu, tetapi rakyat yang punya ‘sense of belonging and ownership’ dalam melakukan sesuatu. Akibatnya, proyek-proyek pertanian dan perkebunan lokal biasanya punya tingkat partisipasi yang sangat tinggi dari rakyat setempat. Thailand sudah tahu hal ini jauh-jauh hari karena itulah sektor pertanian dan perkebunan digenjot habis-habisan. Produk pertanian dan perkebunannya mulai dari beras, santan dalam kaleng atau santan bubuk, buah dalam kaleng, bumbu-bumbu masak, bahkan durian-nyapun sampai ke belahan dunia di luar Asia.

Jika dulu proporsi ekspor terbesarnya adalah Amerika Serikat, diikuti oleh Eropa dan negara-negara ASEAN, maka kini tujuan pemasarannya berkembang ke Cina disamping tiga tujuan ekspor tadi. Rencananya beberapa tahun mendatang akan ditembusnya pasar Amerika Selatan, sementara proporsi ke Amerika Serikat dan Eropa mungkin akan dikurangi. Hal ini dilakukannya karena selain melihat peluang pasar lain yang berkembang juga untuk mengurangi ketergantungan pada Amerika Serikat dan Eropa. Rencana 10 tahun mendatangnya terutama di bidang IT dan Healtcare, mencoba menjadi kompetitor Malaysia dan Singapura. Ya, kemungkinan besar orang-orang sakit yang punya uang tidak lagi ‘harus’ berobat ke Singapura tapi juga ke Malaysia dan Thailand.

Berkali-kali dia mengatakan bahwa Indonesia harus mengetahui, menyadari, mengakui, dan belajar dari kekurangan dan kelebihannya sendiri. Terutama berani mengakui kekurangannya hingga dapat melakukan langkah-langkah tepat untuk maju sebagai bangsa. Ada beberapa isu sosial-budaya yang cukup sensitif juga disinggungnya…. It’s amazing that he wanted to talk to me candidly whereas in fact he didn’t know anything about me.

Ali Alatas masih merupakan seorang diplomat yang punya karisma, terbukti banyak kepala berpaling ketika dia masuk ruangan, dan banyak yang menunggu untuk berjabat tangan dan berbicara dengannya. Tak terkecuali Dubes Thailand yang sedang berbicara dengan saya. Kali ini Pak Alatas datang dengan kapasitasnya sebagai penasihat dan utusan khusus Presiden RI. Dari David Kilgour saya dengar kalau saja tragedi bom Bali tidak ada sudah pasti dia akan menjadi salah seorang kandidat untuk menduduki jabatan Sekjen PBB.

Ali Alatas yang menjadi keynote speaker dalam simposium ini menyinggung ada tiga hal yang menjadi tantangan Indonesia sekarang dalam era post-Cold War:

1. Tantangan Globalisasi dengan semua implikasi positif dan negatifnya. Di satu pihak, kemajuan iptek dan globalisasi serta liberalisasi membuka banyak pasar, meningkatkan produktivitas, percepatan perkembangan ekonomi dan membuka kesempatan investasi dan perdagangan baru. Tapi di lain pihak, globalisasi juga akan membuat disparitas negara maju dan sedang berkembang menjadi makin besar… yang terkadang dapat menciptakan pergolakan ekonomi bahkan politik. Oleh sebab itu dibutuhkan jalan untuk mengurangi efek-efek negatif globalisasi ini terutama pada negara sedang berkembang agar keuntungannya dapat dinikmati semua orang.



2. Tantangan Human Security. Tidak seperti konsep state security, human security menempatkan kepentingan keamanan negara beserta manusia yang hidup di dalamnya. Contohnya adalah: interstate wars atau konflik/kekacauan dalam negara hingga bentuk baru organisasi kejahatan transnasional dan pelanggaran berat terhadap hak asasi manusia. Apa yang dapat dilakukan jika suatu negara melakukan kejahatan pada rakyatnya sendiri atau jika sebuah negara mengancam kestabilan regional? Dapatkah dilakukan intervensi kemanusiaan? PBB sudah lama menghadapi dilema ini: usaha untuk mengakhiri penderitaan manusia vs. legitimasi intervensi. Isu ini cukup sensitif karena dapat berkembang menjadi pertikaian Utara-Selatan dimana Utara adalah negara-negara maju yang umumnya melakukan atau memimpin intervensi kemanusiaan, dan Selatan adalah negara-negara sedang berkembang yang harus tunduk pada intervensi kemanusiaan tadi.



3. Tantangan Terorisme Internasional. Ini tentunya bukan fenomena baru. Sudah dari jaman dahulu kala kita melihat bahwa kejahatan atau ancaman kejahatan sering dipergunakan untuk menekan pemerintahan atau masyarakat untuk menerima perubahan politik dan sosial yang radikal. Globalisasi juga membawa dan membuka pintu bagi berkembangnya kejahatan transnasional, yang dalam dimensinya mungkin dapat melampaui kegiatan ekonomi transnasional. Contohnya: tragedi 9/11, tragedi Bom Bali, perdagangan narkotika dan obat terlarang, prostitusi, dll.

Ketiga tantangan di atas bagi beberapa negara di Asia Tenggara terutama Indonesia berakar pada kemiskinan. Kemiskinan membuat perasaan ketidak-adilan dan keterasingan berkembang menjadi kemarahan dan kebencian tak masuk akal yang mengikis sikap menghargai akan milik, kehormatan dan nyawa orang lain. Apa yang harus dilakukan? Jawabannya adalah: keadilan dan kesejahteraan bagi seluruh rakyat. Ini adalah salah satu sila dalam Pancasila dan dihafal sejak SD. Mudah dikatakan memang... buktinya sering terdengar dari mulut para aktor dan selebriti sosial, politik, ekonomi, budaya di Indonesia. Tapi kenyataannya? Setelah 58 tahun merdeka, seberapa besar janji itu sudah kita penuhi?