American and British Women Detained in Indonesia For More than Three Months on Minor Charges
Protests to Mark Resumption of Trial
The Indonesian Human Rights Network
Dissident Voice
December 17,
2002
The long-delayed
trial of an American nurse and a British academic charged with alleged visa
violations in Aceh, Indonesia is scheduled to resume on December 19. Joy Lee
Sadler, from Iowa, and British academic Lesley McCulloch have been detained in
the strife-torn region of Aceh, Indonesia for almost 100 days. Ms. Sadler began
her 20th day of hunger strike today. She says she will continue until the trial
is sped up and she is moved from jail to house arrest. Sadler¹s health was
already failing due to an HIV-related condition; many people, including her
cellmate Ms. McCulloch, are concerned she may die in Indonesian custody.
Sadler and
McCulloch’s trial began on November 25, but was adjourned for a day to allow
time for prosecution witnesses to travel to the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
When court resumed on November 27, the judge granted the prosecuting attorney¹s
request for a postponement of three weeks to prepare his case.
On December 18,
the eve of the trial resumption, actions to demand the immediate release of
Sadler and McCulloch will take place at Indonesian consulate offices in San
Francisco, Austin, Texas and at the Indonesian Embassy in Washington.
A campaign to
free the two women has resulted in over 1,000 letters and faxes demanding their
immediate, unconditional release sent to the Indonesian Ambassador in
Washington, DC.
The two women
were arrested on September 10 and have endured beatings, sexual harassment,
threats, long interrogation sessions, and other mistreatment. Sadler and
McCulloch have been charged with violating the terms of their tourist visas,
which normally results in, at worst, deportation. Academics, business
personnel, and others routinely travel to Indonesia on tourist visas to attend
meetings, conduct interviews, do research, and make business deals.
McCulloch has
written numerous thorough, well-researched articles on Indonesian security
forces brutality in Aceh. When she was arrested, McCulloch’s laptop computer
was confiscated; police have since been combing through it and reading her
scathing critiques of their work.
“This case is
clearly politicized. These women have been in jail for over three months for
minor visa violations. Indonesian officials have said they are going to make an
example of the two women. They are trying to frighten anyone who criticizes the
Indonesian military or calls attention to its torture, rape and murder of
civilians in Aceh,” said Kurt Biddle, Coordinator of the Indonesia Human Rights
Network.
The Pentagon and
the State Department have rushed to resume full relations with the Indonesian
military after ties were almost completely cut by Congress when the Indonesian
military and its militia proxies razed East Timor in 1999. The administration
is now anxious to cultivate Indonesia as a partner in the “war on terror.” But
evidence points to Indonesian military involvement in the August 31 murder of
two Americans in West Papua. This and the show trial of Sadler and McCulloch
are just two examples that the Indonesian military has not abandoned its casual
employment of extreme brutality.
Joy Lee Sadler
is a nurse from Waterloo, Iowa who traveled to Aceh to treat the sick and
injured in refugee camps. She had previously volunteered in East Timor with Dr.
Dan Murphy at the Bairo Pite Free Clinic. She spent her 57th birthday in
Indonesian jails on October 16.
Lesley McCulloch
is an academic whose work has focused on Aceh. Until recently, she was a
lecturer at the University of Tasmania in Australia.
The Indonesia
Human Rights Network (IHRN) is a U.S.-based grassroots organization working to
educate and activate the American public and influence U.S. foreign policy and
international economic interests to support democracy, demilitarization, and
justice through accountability and rule of law in Indonesia. We seek to end
armed forces repression in Indonesia by exposing it to international scrutiny.
IHRN works with and advocates on behalf of people throughout the Indonesian
archipelago to strengthen civil society. For more information, see the
Indonesia Human Rights Network website, http://www.indonesianetwork.org
Available for interviews:
Edmund McWilliams
Former Political Officer at the Embassy
of the United States in Jakarta,
Indonesia
(703) 237-3913 home
(202) 487-7496 mobile
edmcw@msn.com email
Mattie McCulloch
Mother of Lesley McCulloch
+ 44 1369 702 611 home
donaldm138@aol.com email
Kurt Biddle
Coordinator of Indonesia Human Rights
Network
(510) 559-7762 office
(510) 375-2114 mobile
kurt@indonesianetwork.org email