GUS DUR

VALE – ABDURRAHMAN WAHID [GUS DUR]

Andrew Alcock, Information Officer, AETFA SA Inc:
AUSTRALIA EAST TIMOR FRIENDSHIP ASSOCIATION SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC
“All people who value human rights and social justice in the Asia Pacific region will be saddened by the passing of former Indonesian president, Abdurrahman Wahid, on 30 December 2009 at the age of 69.

Abdurrahman Wahid was elected Indonesia’s third president in October 1999. His period in office, which lasted until July 2001, was a particularly difficult one as he inherited a political and financial chaos caused by the 32 year old Suharto dictatorship and he had to deal with the machinations of the brutal and corrupt Indonesian military (TNI). However, while in office, he worked for peaceful solutions to the secessionist movements in Aceh and Papua and created a broad coalition of unity.

He visited East Timor after it became independent and, at the Santa Cruz cemetry, the scene of an Indonesian military massacre of 271 civilians in 1991, he apologized for the human rights abuses committed by the TNI during its brutal 24-year occupation of the country. Wahid also removed the powerful General Wiranto from his cabinet over his alleged role in the bloodshed and human rights abuses in East Timor.

At a welcome given to Gus Dur by the East Timorese government, the then PM, Jose Ramos Horta, gave him a warm welcome, saying that he was the only Indonesian political leader who had supported East Timorese independence.

The former president allowed the West Papuans to use their preferred name of West Papua instead of Irian Jaya, a name that had been forced on them by the TNI. He also tried to give them more autonomy.

Wahid, who was fondly known by his nickname Gus Dur, was a strong proponent of human rights, social justice and was a democratic reformer. He attempted to establish a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate political killings, disappearances and massacres during Suharto’s 32-year rule and granted greater press freedom.

Prior to becoming president, Wahid became the leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim group. He used his leadership to promote moderate Islam and interfaith tolerance including with Jews.

Munir Said Thalib, or ‘Munir’, one of Indonesia’s most famous human rights and anti-corruption activist and founder of Kontras. an Indonesian human rights group was a very strong promoter of Abdurrahman Wahid. In 2001, Munir urged fellow Indonesians to vote for him because he was the only Indonesian political leader who took human rights and racial and religious tolerance seriously.

[Tragically, Munir was assassinated in 2004 while travelling to Utrecht University to undertake postgraduate studies in international law and human rights. It was discovered that an Indonesian agent had put arsenic in orange juice that he had consumed].

Yenny Wahid, Gus Dur’s second daughter, was a journalist who worked for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She covered news stories from East Timor and Aceh and for her stories on East Timor’s referendum for independence, she and her team won Walkley Award for journalism. There are stories that at great risk to herself, she frequently intervened to stop Indonesian soldiers to cease assaulting East Timorese.

Wahid had been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta and died during surgery to remove a blood clot in his heart. His condition had deteriorated because of complications from diabetes and kidney failure. The former president had struggled with illness for many years. He was confined to a wheelchair, had lost most of his sight, and had serious kidney problems.

Abdurrahman Wahid had many detractors amongst western political leaders including John Howard and media commentators, but generally they were the ones who had acted as apologists for the Suharto dictatorship and its behaviour in East Timor, West Papua and Acheh.

We should remember that Australia has lost a good friend and the world has lost a great fighter for peace, human rights, social justice and international understanding and Indonesia has lost its most humane president”.

Andy Alcock AETFA SA Inc
1 January 2010