IHRN Media Releases
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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.
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