Women lead rallies against violence

Women lead rallies against violence

JAKARTA (JP): Birds and flowers featured in demonstrations on
Wednesday as women took to the streets in several cities to mark
the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Violence Against
Women. Students also urged an end to the "politics of violence,"
but 54 were hurt in rallies in Semarang.

Thousands of women condemned rape, sexual harassment,
trafficking in women, domestic violence and violence by the state
apparatus, including the shooting of students at the Semanggi
Cloverleaf junction on Friday 13. They mingled with students
continuing their rallies from previous days.

The United Nations Day for the Elimination of Violence against
Women was born in commemoration of a shooting spree in Montreal,
Canada, on Nov. 25, 1989, in which 14 female students lost their
lives. Activists say the motive for the shooting was "gender
jealousy" by a man angry with women encroaching on male-dominated
studies.

From Semarang, Antara reported that 54 were injured during a
an anti-military protest at the gate of the Diponegoro Regional
Military Headquarters. The protest of 2,000 students included
those grouped in the Semarang Students' Action Front (Kamus). The
agency reported that during negotiations with security officers
some students forced an empty truck to pass through the barricade
five meters in front of them. The driver identified as Wiyono was
forced to step on the gas and drive towards the barricade.

Angry officers then chased students and beat some of them
including three volunteers of the Red Cross of the Semarang
University. Military commander Lt. Col. CZI Sugeng Suryanto
regretted the incident and said a demonstrator called Roberts,
23, was being questioned.

Earlier, 200 women and students handed out flowers to
passersby. Grouped in Semarang Women's Solidarity for Reform, the
women protested outside the Central Java council building in
which they issued the same demands as their sisters in Jakarta.

In Jakarta, 500 women released pigeons at the Hotel Indonesia
roundabout to symbolize peace. The demonstrators, who belonged to
Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity), Suara Ibu Peduli
(Voice of Concerned Mothers) and a number of other groups, also
distributed tuberoses Polianthus tuberosus, known locally sedap
malam, to passersby. Clothed in white, they paraded a large blue
banner decorated with orchids and bearing the names of victims of
violence around the country -- particularly those form provinces
designated as military operations zones.

Activist Debra Yatim, said: "I believe that it is not only
women who feel sick about the level of violence here."

Debra said the action in Jakarta coincided with simultaneous
demonstrations in Surabaya in East Java, Lampung, East Timor,
Ruteng in Flores, Mataram in Lombok, Denpasar in Bali and
Samarinda in East Kalimantan.

In a statement, Solidaritas Perempuan condemned "militarism,
violence, stigmatizing, discrimination and sexual terror as a way
to maintain power."

In Dili, the Timor Loro Sae Women's Movement Against Violence
(Gertak) met with two women detained in connection with an
incident at a military command in Alas, East Timor. The women
being held in custody are Etelvina Maria Dias, 22 and Visentina
Fernandes, 20.

A group of rebels allegedly attacked a military post in the
area on Nov. 9. Three soldiers were killed and 13 more taken
hostage. Eleven of the soldiers have since been freed or escaped.

Gertak chairwoman Maria Olandina Alves and members Olsa Lemos,
Teresina Cardoso and Nona Cormelita attended the meeting, with
approval of East Timor Police chief Col. G.M. Timbul Silaen.

During a rally later in the day, Maria said the detainees
appeared to have been treated well. "They talked without fear and
asked us to tell their parents that they had not been abused,"
Maria said. The detainees deny involvement in the attack on the
military post. Gertak members also distributed flowers and
leaflets bearing the message: "A life without violence is the
right of all."

In Yogyakarta 15 women activists distributed flowers and
leaflets at the entrance to Gadjah Mada University.

Meanwhile, six students from Sunan Kalijaga Islamic Studies
Institute who had been on hunger strike since Monday received
hospital treatment for severe dehydration on Wednesday. They were
protesting the Armed Forces' (ABRI) dual function.

In Lampung, Antara reported that 20 students were camped out
in the grounds of the legislature to demand that former president
Soeharto face trial for corruption and human rights abuses.

In Bandung, hundreds of students protested at the city's main
railway station in Kebonkawung. They demanded that Minister of
Defense and Security/ABRI Chief Gen. Wiranto be held responsible
for the shooting of students on Nov. 13. (team)