To:
ELSHAM,
11 Kampus STIJ, Padang Bulan
Jayapura 99 225
INDONESIË

Dear friends,

Your struggle for human rights in Papua is attracting attention from the public in the Netherlands, especially in the churches. Together with you, we acknowledge the right of every human being to have a dissident opinion, to speak out freely without fear of capture, court, beating up or torture. From the stories we hear and read, this is still not the case in Irian Jaya-Papua. People who speak out or use symbols to express their aspirations are constantly living in fear, and well-documented accounts show atrocities in many parts of the island, especially inside police quarters. Together with you we are worried about this situation.

As a token of solidarity with you and with the victims, we just have sent a letter to your vice-president Mrs. Megawati Sukarnoputri (as she is the highest commander of tfie policeforces) and to your coordinating minister of security and political affairs Mr. Yudoyhono in which we call for the:
  1. immediate and unconditional release the 5 friends in Wamena, in March 2001 sentenced to years of prison for conspiring to commit separatism, and
  2. immediate and unconditional release 17 pro-independence supporters also were sentenced to years of prison in March of this year.
We protest their unfair sentences, their imprisonment and their treatment. Trials should be fair and open. This was not the case.

We wish you much strength, wisdom and courage in these cases. Please feel supported by us in this important task. A copy of this letter was sent also to our sister churches, with whom you co-operate. We feel deeply related to them in this difficult task to find fair solutions in an unfair era. We feel happy that they have supported you from the start of your work. This shows their strength and commitment to give witness of their hopes on a better world in Christ.

Please convey our deepest greetings to the people who are imprisoned, and let them know that their names will be mentioned in our prayers, until they will be free again.

In friendship,

Nederlandse vertaling brief aan Elsham

De brief die wordt gezonden aan de mensenrechten organisatie ELSHAM heeft (samengevat) de volgende inhoud: Uw inzet voor mensenrechten op Papoea trekt onze aandacht. We steunen u in uw strijd tegen overtredingen van mensenrechten en verklaren ons solidair met de slachtoffers. Wij hebben daar ook blijk van gegeven in onze brief aan de vice-president en aan minister Yudhoyonom. We wensen u kracht, wijsheid en moed toe. Vertel aan de mensen in de gevangenis dat wij in gebeden hun namen zullen noemen, totdat ze vrij zullen zijn.

NB Een kopie van deze brief werd door Kerken in Aktie, red. gestuurd aan de kerken in Papoea. de Evangelisch Christelijke Kerk, de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk en de Kingmi-Kerk. Vanuit deze kerken werd elsham opgezet. Zij steunen dit werk. Er zijn ook medewerkers van deze kerken onder de mensen die gevangen zitten of nog voor het gerecht moeten komen. Onder hen zijn ds. Yudas Meage en ds. Herman Awon

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