Subject: Panjaitan, Labor activism on the radio
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 10:32:32 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Yesterrday's Democracy Now!
radio show had a number of East Timor and Indonesia related items. It is available via
RealAudio at the web site below. Note you may need to go into the archive.
http://www.webactive.com/webactive/pacifica/demnow.html
June 22, 1998 on Democracy NOW!
Story: INDONESIA APPOINTS NEW MILITARY ADVISOR -- PANJAITAN RESPONSIBLE FOR EAST TIMOR
MASSACRE
The general who oversaw the troops who opened fire on civilians during a memorial
service was appointed senior military advisor by B.J. Habibie. Lieutenant General Sintong
Panjaitan oversaw the 1991 slaughter of 271 East Timorese and their supporters during a
memorial service in Dili. His appointment comes on the heels of Mr. Habibie's promises to
improve Indonesia's human rights record.
In 1994 General Panjaitan was ordered by a Federal District Court judge in Boston to
pay $14 million in damages to the mother of a 20-year New Zealand man who was among those
killed. The suit was filed in Boston after Panjaitan moved there for studies at Boston
University. The general, who fled the U.S. and did not contest the suit, is alleged to
have laughed when he heard news of the court's decision, dismissing the verdict as a
"joke."
Guests:
Michael Ratner, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. He was one of
the lawyers who brought the suit against Gen. Panjaitan.
Helen Todd, the mother of Kamal Bamadhaj, one of the civilians killed in the 1991
massacre.
Story: LABOR ACTIVIST VISITS INDONESIA
A conversation with an American labor activists who just returned from Indonesia.
Guest:
Jeff Ballinger, the director of Press for Change, a human and labor rights
organization. He just returned from Indonesia where he organized a party for East Timorese
workers who walked off their jobs at a Nike sweatshop.
Story: JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST QUESTIONS APPOINTED U.N. AMBASSADOR RICHARD HOLBROOKE
Last week, President Clinton appointed Richard Holbrook as the ambassador to the United
Nations. Tune in to an exchange between Holbrooke and reporter Allan Nairn upon
Holbrooke's receipt of an honorary degree from Brown University about the subject of the
1991 massacre in East Timor.
Tape:
Exchange between investigative reporter Allan Nairn and recently-appointed U.S.
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.
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