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)