IHRN Media Releases

Also: American & British Women Sentenced to Four & Five Months in Indonesian Jail for Minor Visa Violations

For Immediate Release

Indonesia Human Rights Network

UK Woman Released from Indonesian Jail after Five Months

February 10, 2003 - Scottish academic Lesley McCulloch was released from Aceh, Indonesia jail on Sunday after serving five months for violating her tourist visa. Her colleague, Joy Lee Sadler, an HIV-positive nurse from Iowa, was released last month after serving four months for the same violation. While in prison, Sadler undertook a hunger strike to demand their release. McCulloch described her and Sadler’s experience as a “mental and physical rollercoaster to hell” although “a much diluted version” of what Acehnese people experience when arrested.

The two women were arrested on September 10, 2002 and endured beatings, sexual harassment, threats, long interrogation sessions, and other mistreatment. Sadler and McCulloch were convicted of violating terms of their tourist visas, an offense which normally results in, at worst, deportation. Academics, business personnel, and others routinely travel to Indonesia on such visas to attend meetings, conduct interviews, do research, and make business deals.

McCulloch has written numerous thorough, well-researched articles on Indonesian military and police brutality in Aceh. She described her time in jail as difficult, but “a really great research opportunity.” While in detention she found out she had received a US$130,000 grant to research Indonesian security sector reform from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

“The entire case was politicized from the beginning. Indonesian officials pledged to make an example of the two women. They want to frighten anyone who criticizes the Indonesian military or calls attention to its torture, rape and murder of civilians in Aceh. But such tactics have hardened Lesley’s resolve to expose the brutal and corrupt Indonesian military,” said Kurt Biddle.

Despite ongoing human rights abuses by the Indonesian military (TNI), the U.S. Congress appears set to resume the IMET program (International Military Education and Training) for Indonesia. The Bush administration considers this training, which was cut off in 1992 after the TNI massacred more than 270 unarmed East Timorese, crucial to cultivating Indonesia as a partner in the “war on terror.” But strong evidence points to TNI involvement in the August 31, 2002 murder of two Americans and one Indonesian in an ambush attack in West Papua. This incident, and continuing military crackdowns in Aceh, West Papua and other areas of Indonesia, indicate that the TNI has not broken with its brutal past.

A campaign to free the two women resulted in over 1,100 letters and faxes demanding their immediate, unconditional release sent to the Indonesian Ambassador in Washington, DC. Protests took place throughout the women’s detention at Indonesian diplomatic offices in the U.S. and in Australia.

Joy Lee Sadler is a nurse from Waterloo, Iowa who traveled to Aceh to treat sick and injured in refugee camps. She had previously volunteered in East Timor with U.S. doctor Dan Murphy at the Bairo Pite Free Clinic.

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.

American & British Women Sentenced to Four & Five Months in Indonesian Jail for Minor Visa Violations

January 15, 2003

An American nurse and a British academic were sentenced to four and five months in jail for violating their tourist visas. Joy Lee Sadler, from Iowa, and British academic Lesley McCulloch have already served over 110 days in jail in the strife-torn region of Aceh, Indonesia. Deducting the time the two already served, Sadler’s four-month sentence will end around January 13. McCulloch’s five months sentence will be over in February. Both were also fined a bizarre sum of 5,000 rupiah (approximately 56 cents).

The Indonesia Human Rights Network called the sentences a farce. “These women were considered guilty before the trial even began,” said Kurt Biddle, Coordinator of the Indonesia Human Rights Network. “Where is the proof that they violated their visas?” The Indonesian Embassy in Australia released a press release in October that said that the women were guilty.

Ms. Sadler began her 33rd day of hunger strike today. She will continue her protest until she is released. “I am of weak body, but I have a strong heart and a strong mind. I will fight until I return home,” Sadler said. Her health was already failing due to an HIV-related condition; many people are concerned she may die in Indonesian custody.

The two women were arrested on September 11 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 has been politicized. Indonesian officials said they were 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.

Indonesia’s legal system is a sham. On the same day that McCulloch and Sadler were convicted and sentenced, an Indonesian court acquitted a yet another Indonesian military officer of charges of grave human rights abuses in East Timor. Lt. Col. Yayat Sudradjat was found innocent of failing to stop his subordinates from joining an April 1999 attack on a church in Liquicia, East Timor, in which at least 22 people were killed. Sudradjat is the ninth Indonesian officer to be acquitted in the trials.

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.

A campaign to free the two women has resulted in over 1,100 letters and faxes demanding their immediate, unconditional release sent to the Indonesian Ambassador in Washington, DC. Protests took place throughout the women’s detention at Indonesian diplomatic offices across the U.S. and in Australia.

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.