Wednesday, June 24, 6:30 pm - Indonesia's Elections a Decade After Suharto: The Elite-Mass Gap, Human Rights, and Mass Movements from Below At the Peace Pentagon (339 Lafayette Street, Manhattan). Free (Donations Encouraged!) Sponsored by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (www.etan.org) This summer Indonesians will elect a new president. More than a decade after social movements forced the ouster of the notoriously corrupt and ruthless president Suharto, the Indonesian political system is still systemically corrupt, and human rights violations are still routine. Presidential and vice presidential candidates have overseen and been directly involved in major violations of human rights in East Timor as well as Aceh, West Papua and elsewhere. There is a major gap between elites and the social movements organizing from below. Social movements in the nation continue to push for basic land rights, labor rights, and respect for human rights.   Order from ETAN   Australian human rights activist and world-renowned scholar on Southeast Asia, Max Lane, will discuss the relation between Indonesian social movements and the upcoming presidential elections. He will address the state of human rights and discourse on human rights in Indonesia, and the strengths and weaknesses of Indonesian movements today. Discussion will follow presentation. Max Lane is author of Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and After Suharto, He is Visiting Fellow, Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore. In addition to numerous academic publications, he has actively supported political change in Indonesia since the mid-1970s, and has translated work by the acclaimed Indonesian novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer. He maintains a blog available at http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/maxlaneintlasia. Directions to 339 Lafayette: 6 Train to Bleecker or F/V train to Broadway-Lafayette For more information contact: etan@etan.org or call 718-596-7668