Dear Mrs. Madeleine Korbel Albright,
Very thanks for you and your government, because the "security" of Asia
crisis is holding on United States policy.
We always concern about Indonesian's radical reform. It hint the civil rights movement
and political chaos would explore more serious civil war.
There is a new's report may be useful for you and your government.
As Indonesians struggle to comprehend an economic crisis that in just a few months has
wiped out 30 years of growth. The search is on for a scapegoat. "We little people
don't understand where this crisis has come from." says a driver who earns 20 cents a
day in south Sulawesi's riot-hit city of Vjing Pandang. "Our thoughts automatically
run to the Chinese".
Though Chinese-bashing has became a knee-jerk response in Indonesia to economic
problems, things haven't always been so tense.
When the first Chinese merchants and artisans arrived in the 13th century, relations
with local Indonesians were largely harmonious. That began to change about 400 years later
with the arrival of Dutch colonialists. In their apartheid system, the Dutch employed the
Chinese as intermediaries and tax collectors. Everyone know it, the tax collectors was
acted a evil instead as long as Jesus' times.
Intermediaries are hated as a swindler.
Sowing the seeds of distrust that persist to this day.
As "successive waves of refugee fleeing war and famine in China touched down on
Indonesia's shores, the animosity occasionally erupted into violent assaults against the
minority.
Many Chinese, particularly those with money, aren't waiting to see if another way can
be found. Thousands have already sought refuge in Bali, storing their cash and gold or
buying land on the resort-filled Hindu dominated island.
Others are sending family members with suitcases full of dollars to Hong Kong or
Singapore, further decimating Indonesia's economy.
Of more than $40 Billion that is estimated to have been taken out of the country in
recent months. More than half is thought to belong to Indonesia's Chinese minority.
But most Chinese lack the wealth to pick up and move and, increasingly,
they fear the worst. In the darkened bicycle shop in Balung, a small woman is still
listening for the terrible sound of breaking glass.
Jakarta, Indonesia, June 10
--- Indonesian human right and women's groups Wednesday(June 10, 1998) claimed dozens
of ethnic Chinese women were raped and assaulted during a wave of rioting that rocked,
Jakarta last month.
An official estimate says at least 1,188 people were killed in the violence, which help
forced ex-President Suharto to resign, ending 32 years of authoritarian rule, when the
violence climaxed on May 13 and 14.
"Women were gang raped in front their neighbors, some were stripped
naked and forced to dance. They were humiliated." said Nugroho Katjasungkana, a
volunteer from a coalition of social welfare group. She said more than 100 cases had been
documented.
Many of the rapes were allegedly committed by mobs who broke into
Chinese-owned shops and homes that were also looted and set a fire.
She cited one case of a 12-year-old girl being raped by a group of seven
intruders who forced her parents to watch. One man said a group of rapist mutilated his
wife with a razor. Another man said his two sisters were gang raped and then thrown into a
burning building where they died.
Rape victims in traditionally conservative Indonesia are often too shamed or afraid to
press charges. The anarchy that reigned during the rioting might also make it difficult to
locate independent, witnesses and identify suspects.
So, we only to tell the truth to you and your government, with hopes to help the
Indonesian ethnic Chinese women.
With best wishes to you.