PEN responds to cry for freedom to write

By Lewa Pardomuan

JAKARTA (JP): The cry for freedom of expression is barely heard in this country, although Indonesia could hardly claim this does not mean voices have been silenced.

Indonesian Writers would be among the first to testify that freedom of expression, a right recognized by the 1945 Constitution, has been grossly violated.

Their voice, however, is virtually unheard here, with little attention paid, even as Indonesia supposedly moves towards greater political openness. But not abroad.

A delegation from PEN, an international association of writers concerned with literary freedom, brought the issue to prominence when it visited Indonesia last month.

It came armed with a statistic that went unchallenged -- that the government of Indonesia has banned or censored 2,000 books since 1965.

The team consisted of the PEN American Center's Freedom-to- Write Committee Program Director Siobhan Dowd, and two American writers, Clark Blaise and the Indian-born Bharati Mukherjee.

PEN's American Center is the biggest of its 116 centers worldwide. PEN members include writers, poets, playwrights, essayists and novelists.

The PEN delegation appealed to the government to stop banning books, saying that only by allowing free debate and open discussion on sensitive issues can people become educated.

The three PEN members met with Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, the National Human Rights Commission, local writers, journalists and publishers in Jakarta and Yogyakarta during their week-long visit.

Among the writers they interviewed were Arswendo Atmowiloto, Eka Budianta, Toety Heraty, Debra Yatim, Ikranagara, Marianne Katoppo and Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

They concluded that the Indonesian literary community is still overpowered by censorship.

But they said they were encouraged that things are improving and that there is now a greater dialog on the issue.

Mukherjee said that what the delegation heard from Indonesian writers is best described as artificially-prolonged bitterness and suppression, contrary to the fact the Indonesia idolizes harmony.

"We hope by pointing out this discrepancy we might have contributed to a process of healing and acceleration of the creation of constructive debate," she said.

"This is a state of fear," one local author who asked not to be named was quoted by the delegation as saying. "You can say nothing directly. The censors only understand bald statements. So everything I write has to be a shadow-play," said the anonymous author.

During a discussion sponsored by Kalam cultural magazine, a number of local authors told the delegation that writers have to fight it alone for greater freedom of expression.

"We get no support from the press, middle class or other segments of society. We have to fight alone, like Lone Ranger," playwright Ikranagara said.

Most interviewees commented on the constraints on their work, suggesting that the number of taboo areas continually forces them to self censor.

The delegation unavoidably threaded a sensitive political path when it raised the issue of the ban against the works of Pramoedya, perhaps Indonesia's most prominent writer abroad as many of his books have been translated into other languages.

The government has banned virtually all of Pramoedya's works, saying that they carry the message of communism and Marxism.

The virtual absence of support for Pramoedya in the face of harsh government treatment showcases the lack of unity among Indonesian writers on the issue of literary freedom.

Many senior Indonesian writers still remember that Pramoedya himself was guilty of sending authors to jail in the 1960s during the heyday of communism in the country.

Pramoedya was sent to hard labor in Buru Island in the wake of the failed communist coup attempt in 1965. He was freed in 1979.

It was only last August that a group of 70 Indonesian writers spoke out for the first time to demand that the government review the ban against his books. The demand was rejected.

The PEN American executives tried to stay away from the political issue.

Dowd said the delegation was aware of Pramoedya's political background but said that the goal of their visit to Indonesia was not to pass judgment.

"He's been imprisoned, he can't leave the country and his books are banned. Perhaps no writer who is currently alive has suffered as much as he has," she said.

Dowd said Indonesia's record on censorship was an international issue, especially when it concerned the ban on Pramoedya's works. "Anybody in the literary community knows about that," she said.

"We are aware of what people say about one another in every literary culture, including this one," Blaise said. "But we're not here to evaluate the political dispute," he added.

Dowd said the time had come for some of the disagreements to be put aside, adding that among PEN's goals is to defend writers facing prosecution or death threats.

Dowd said there is no country in the world which has a clean record on censorship. She praised the Indonesian government's willingness to meet with them.

Minister Wardiman, for instance, agreed to press the case for re-examining banning orders at his next meeting with the Attorney General.

Wardiman also promised to give his firm support for an independent Indonesian PEN center and be willing to discuss freedom of expression issues with such a center in the future.

Blaise believes that it will only be a matter of time before the Indonesian government lifts the ban and hopes that the government will speed up this eventuality.

The slow path will hopefully accelerate in view of the 50th anniversary of the country next year and close to the 30th anniversary of the New Order, he said.

"We hope to see, in the Indonesian context, an opening toward honest harmony, so that bitter memories can be allowed to heal, and that the mission of writers to be witnesses to their time and place can be allowed its natural growth," he added.

Dowd explained that PEN has recorded 800 cases of writers around the world who have faced prosecution, threats or even death for their work. "So there really is a big, global problem," she said.

She said that most imprisonments occur in China while Turkey recorded the most attacks and killings against writers.

China and Myanmar are among the countries which refused to respond to PEN letters and calls for contact.

PEN international always works with the local chapter of a given country to help defend troubled writers, she said.

"We rely on our influence as the only international writers organization to persuade governments to think twice to imprison writers and ban books," she said. "We feel that influence is very important and is constantly growing."