B4-0388, 0428 and 0436/97

Resolution on Indonesia

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on Indonesia,

A. whereas the Indonesian authorities continue to severely restrict civil liberties and violate human rights, both in Indonesia and in occupied East Timor, as pointed out in a resolution by the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva,

B. whereas only three parties, all of them pro-government, have been permitted to take part in the general elections scheduled for 29 May 1997,

C. deeply concerned at the severe sentences passed by Indonesian courts against peaceful government critics and the many arrests of students who protest against the severely controlled election campaign,

D. whereas the Indonesian Government has objected to an independent election committee monitoring the elections,

E. noting that the Indonesian Government has not yet ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment,

1. Reaffirms its solidarity with the aims and goals of the Indonesian pro- democracy movement in the struggle for a just, democratic and pluralist society;

2. Condemns the harsh sentences passed against leaders of opposition parties, trade unionists and other government critics and calls on the Indonesian authorities to release all political prisoners, give international humanitarian organizations access to prisoners, respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and repeal legislation allowing for the imprisonment of peaceful political activists;

3. Reiterates its demand that the Indonesian Government bring to an end torture and executions;

4. Calls on the Indonesian authorities to accept independent monitoring of the forthcoming elections;

5. Urges the Council and the Commission to express their concern about the human rights situation in Indonesia in general and about the silencing of the opposition and the undemocratic way that elections are carried out in particular;

6. Calls on the Commission to uphold the position that trade relations with ASEAN states should be subject to respect for human rights, and to adhere to the position that these two matters cannot be discussed separately;

7. Reiterates its demand that the Member States of the European Union withhold all military assistance and all arms sales to Indonesia;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government of Indonesia, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.