[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15911-15912]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                               INDONESIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to protest the widespread 
violence and killing of innocent people occurring daily in the Malukus, 
the Spice Islands and Ambon in Indonesia.
  The mass killings in Ambon are deeply disturbing. There are members 
within the current Indonesia government and former government and the 
military who do not care how many innocent lives are stamped out. These 
people simply care about their ultimate goal of controlling Indonesian 
society and keeping their hold on power. It is deeply disturbing and 
offensive, Mr. Speaker, that these individuals would allow this. They 
are in the same league as those who ordered the deaths of innocent 
people in the concentration camps of World War II.
  Horrifying reports and photos arrive each day in my office. I have 
photos of destroyed homes, businesses, churches, places of worship. I 
have photos of men, women, children, lying in streets with severed 
limbs, heads blown off, photos much too graphic to bring to the House 
floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I traveled to Indonesia at the end of May, met with 
various leaders, including President Wahid and leaders from both the 
Christian and Muslim communities.

                              {time}  1845

  They long for peace to reign again. But it seems impossible because 
of numerous reports of behind-the-scenes maneuvers by Suharto, Habibie, 
their cronies, various military officers and others who want to 
destabilize the present government.
  These former government leaders and military leaders are really 
people with no hearts. Why do I say that? Because only uncivilized 
people could coldly and callously calculate to cause the deaths of 
whole societies simply to maintain their power.
  Mr. Speaker, the mass killings continue. Day after day, more and more 
people in these islands become refugees with no access to food, 
clothing, medicine or shelter.
  Reports suggest that the tension in the Malukus is not simply an 
economic issue; it is a religious issue as well. Members of the more 
extremist Islamic community, including the current leader of the 
People's Consultative Assembly, Dr. Amien Rais, openly have supported 
calls for ``jihad'' or an Islamic holy war against the Christians and 
other religious minorities in Indonesia.
  The influx of Laskar Jihad fighters into Maluku has only happened 
through complexity of members of the military who have allowed a mass 
influx of men and arms into the Ambonese communities.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to share a couple of excerpts from letters 
and reports that we have received:
  ``Before the military arrived, we were fine. There was no fighting. 
They came and the attacks came with them. When we were boarding the 
evacuation ship, the soldiers had stolen most of our things, including 
our rings, necklaces, et cetera, and sold them in front of us for 
almost nothing. A chain saw that costs several hundred dollars was sold 
for $10. If we carried two bags of clothes to bring, they threw one 
out. We took only part of what we had fled with. The clothes I have on 
are the only ones I now own. This shirt I wore during the attacks. I 
had no long pants.''
  ``For the 3 days of the fighting, soldiers were shooting at us, many 
of

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them died. Two of our kids died. One was handicapped, and the soldiers 
hung him and burned him alive. These two had not died in the fighting; 
it was after when the soldiers rounded us up. The soldiers murdered 
these two.''
  ``The attacks continued until the evening the 3rd of July in the 
village. The next day, the attack continued. When it was known that the 
mobs planned to burn down the university, the villagers again asked the 
military's help to stop the mobs. Again, the request was ignored with 
the excuse that there are villagers, civil security personnel, and the 
students regiment who could guard the university campus.''
  Here is an AP article from July 17: ``The leaders of an armed Muslim 
militia have vowed to rid the islands of Christians. Most members come 
from Indonesia's central island of Java, and its leaders are Suharto 
supporters. In the television footage, many of the Muslim militants can 
be clearly heard speaking Javanese as they plan their attack on 
Christian parts of Ambon.
  ``In television footage shot over the weekend . . . Indonesian 
soldiers are seen fighting alongside hundreds of Muslim militants in 
Ambon. Many of the extremists were filmed carrying military-issue 
assault rifles.''
  Mr. Speaker, out of desperation, many community leaders from Ambon 
have urged the international community to help stop these continued 
killings by bringing in U.N. observers and peacekeepers and boycotting 
Indonesian businesses involved in supporting the destruction of the 
Malukus.
  Mr. Speaker, we should not stand idly by and watch while the death 
count continues to rise. Our Nation should not do business with 
businesses supporting this bloodshed. We are starting our military 
assistance again. We should not lend our military expertise to military 
officers who approve of the killing of innocent women and children. We 
have laws that impose sanctions on Nations that allow persecution of 
ethnic and religious groups.
  I call on Members to join me in sending a letter to President Wahid 
and President Clinton. I call on the Indonesian and U.S. Governments to 
act immediately to stop the killings and bring to justice the parties 
responsible for this reign of terror.

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