Students Chechnya protests quiet down
Students Chechnya protests quiet down
JAKARTA (JP): Two groups of Moslem students yesterday staged a
peaceful but noisy demonstration outside the Russian embassy, calling
for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.
Around 70 members of the Communication Forum for Young Moslems
Generation demonstrated in front of the embassy carrying banners and
posters protesting Moscow's military actions in the predominantly
Moslem region of Chechnya.
Female students wearing headscarves were included in the group,
chanting Koranic verses and yelling Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest).
From the Russian embassy, they went on to the United Nations
representative building to deliver their petition.
"We protest...the military intervention because it's great
cruelty," the students said in their statement. "We demand that the
Russian government stop its actions and pull its troops out of
Chechnya."
They also demanded that Chechnya's declaration of independence
and sovereignty be recognized and that international bodies allow the
UN to intervene and help solve the conflicts ravaging the Caucasian
region.
"To the United States and European countries: you defend Kuwait
but you neglect Bosnia and Chechnya," cried one banner carried by the
female students.
Ansor Youth
Later on in the morning, another group of youths came to the
Russian embassy and were received by some officials. The members of
the Ansor Youth, an organization under the largest Moslem
organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), also carried banners and posters.
"We condemn the Russian military aggression against Chechnya as
barbaric, anti-democratic and as absolute oppression," the students
said.
They demanded that NU and other international organizations
solve the situation "by any means and effort necessary to get Russian
troops out of Chechnya as soon as possible".
"Yeltsin, go to hell!" one of their posters read.
The youths, led by Syaifullah Maksum, also lashed out at
countries that talk to no end about the upholding of human rights but
"always base their decisions on their geo-strategic, geopolitical and
geo-economical interests" yet fail to take "concrete measures"
towards finding a solution in Chechnya.
They also urged the Indonesian government, as current chairman
of the 111-country Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to take the initiative
and put a stop to "massacre" in Chechnya.
"Our Constitution mandates that freedom is the right of every
nation, and that oppression must be erased as it violates humanity
and justice," the students said.
"Unless some concrete measures are taken, we're afraid that
Chechnya's tragedy might set a precedent for other similar disasters
that could befall other nations," they said.
According to the students, the officials at the Russian embassy
had told them that Chechnya part of their territory and is therefore
Russia's "domestic affair".
"That's what they said...but we still see Russian intervention
as an act of oppression," Syaifullah said.
Yesterday's protests were the fourth and fifth demonstrations to
be held outside of the Russian embassy concerning Chechnya. The
students pledged that they will keep up their efforts until they see
"real actions" taken to correct the situation. (swe)