Sporadic labor rallies continue in Medan

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Strikes and sporadic vandalism continued yesterday in the provincial capital and its surroundings, as the military remained visible throughout the region.

Seven shops here were damaged in an attack early yesterday while hundreds of workers staged protests at 15 companies in Tanjung Morawa during the day. Twenty workers were arrested on suspicion of vandalism.

The city gained a semblance of its formal self, but the heavy security presence persisted in the areas considered prone to riots.

Strikes were also reported near Belawan port and along the road linking Medan and Binjai.

In Pematang Siantar, some 90 kilometers from the capital city, workers still gathered to list their grievances, but they managed to meet with their employers.

North Sumatra Military Commander Maj. Gen. A. Pranowo told reporters here yesterday that the military had intensified its control of several pockets in the city to prevent more violence, saying that the protests have led to intimidation and terrors.

He claimed that workers at several companies in Tanjung Morawa were forced to take part in the protests to prevent their factories from being attacked.

"This kind of situation needs special handling," he said, adding that the protests border on a SARA issue. SARA is the Indonesian acronym for the four things that are most prone to upset national security and stability: sectarianism, racialism, tribalism and religious differences.

Even though Medan was relatively calm yesterday, many shops stayed closed and several roads looked deserted. A number of home owners put white flags in front of their houses or prayer mats to show they are not ethnic-Chinese, the main targets of the vandalism.

The workers have complained about the dominant role of the Chinese in the province's economy.

In an apparent attempt to quell the strikes, the military and Police deployed hundreds of personnel to guard areas considered prone to violence while tanks stood at the ready in several corners of the city.

Pranowo acknowledged that his command was a little bit late in intervening to cope with the riots, but he contended that there were special procedures to adhere to before he could step in.

"When the problems have become complicated, there will be a request from other institutions for my command to take part in restoring order," he said.

He said that workers were depressed because of the discrimination in term of facilities and salaries. "So social envy emerges, while the employers do nothing but make empty promises." he said.

The Armed Forces said Wednesday that the independent Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) was responsible for fanning the race riots and vandalism which have raged in Medan and its surroundings for the past seven days. The riots left a Chinese businessman dead, many cars damaged and 150 factories and shops ransacked.

Pranowo said that the military was still searching for Hamosi Telaumbanua, chairman of the Medan chapter of SBSI, and stressed that it would not hesitate to arrest SBSI chairman Mukhtar Pakpahan if there was an indication that he had called for the strikes.

The Armed Forces has said that the actions of the demonstrators and their demands were in accordance with Pakpahan's methodology and teachings.

Pranowo said that the terror and intimidation smacks of the modus operandi of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which was wiped out in the middle 1960's. He said that the authority would not hesitate to question any non-governmental organization involved in the strikes.

North Sumatra Police Chief Brig. Gen. Soebandy S. said that Telaumbanua had disappeared with his family in an apparent attempt to avoid arrest. He said that the police still have the secretary of the Medan chapter of the SBSI, Riswan Lubis, on suspicion of masterminding the strikes.

Soebandy also said that the police have completed 15 dossiers of the workers involved in the violence during the strikes.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government yesterday expressed concern over the riots in North Sumatra, calling for concerted efforts to defuse the situation.

Wu Jianmin, the spokesman for the foreign ministry in Beijing, was quoted by AFP as saying yesterday that "we hope and believe that the Indonesian government will properly settle the case."

In Jakarta, spokesman for the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Hendardi said that some non-governmental organizations have decided to send a team to Medan to help the leaders detained by the authorities following the strikes.

The team would be led by Sukardjo Adidjojo, a senior lawyer at the foundation.

According to Hendardi, it is not impossible that the riots were provoked by several entrepreneurs to turn people's attention from labor matters to racial issues.

He said that there were pamphlets which were obviously not issued by the workers, whose contents urged workers and students to attack the Indonesian Chinese and to label Pakpahan as a member of the PKI.

Teten Masduki, a labor specialist at the foundation, said that 112 workers have been arrested in Medan.

YLBHI also urged the government yesterday to review its labor policy and denounced the repressive measures employed by the military to handle the Medan strikes. (rmn/09/par/vin)