http://www.netizen.com/netizen/96/34/special0a.html

   HotWired, The Netizen
   19 August 1996

   Trouble in Paradise
   by Declan McCullagh (declan@well.com)
   Washington, DC, 18 August
   
   Indonesian democracy activists have taken their fight for freedom
   to the Net, and the government doesn't approve.
   
   After distributing email messages about riots in Jakarta last month to
   an international Indonesian-politics mailing list, Prihadi Beny
   Waluyo, a lecturer at Duta Wacana Christian University, was arrested
   and interrogated by the military. Since then, the mailing list has
   been banned from the country and Waluyo has returned to his house,
   where he remains under surveillance.
   
   Until now, Indonesian cyberspace has been relatively free, with no
   regulations or laws explicitly restricting online discussions. By
   contrast, newspapers and magazines are subject to strict censorship,
   following a 1984 ministerial decree requiring the press to obtain
   licenses from the government.
   
   Now that may change. A May 1996 report from Human Rights Watch, an
   international watchdog organization, said, "The military had suggested
   to the Communications Ministry the need for some sort of 'toll gate'
   to 'black out' news that could damage culture or affect security." The
   Army's increasing scrutiny of online activities is likely to hasten an
   Internet crackdown by the government.
   
   "He [Waluyo] was arrested and accused of sending messages to Holland
   and printing out photocopies," said Sidney Jones, executive director
   of Human Rights Watch/Asia. "The army is out to stop any kind of
   discussion of the riots."
   
   The censor-happy regime of President Suharto tried to stop journalists
   from reporting on the outbreaks of violence - which shattered his
   carefully cultivated image of a stable Indonesia. The worst domestic
   disturbance in a decade, the uprising started after police stormed the
   headquarters of an opposition party and ejected anti-government
   activists from the building. Four people died and 50 were injured in
   the riots.
   
   "It goes back to the fact that Suharto feels threatened in the support
   the opposition party may have. The group that was accused of
   masterminding the riot is a left-wing group the government has accused
   of being communists," said Jones. "They're using the anti-communist
   frenzy of the 1960s. It's so anachronistic, it's unbelievable. Even
   photocopying machines are being watched." (The Communist governments
   of Russia and Eastern Europe were notorious for restricting the use of
   photocopiers and computer printers.)
   
   In a letter sent recently to Indonesia's US ambassador, 
   Human Rights Watch/Asia said: "We believe that [the Net provides] a
   truly unique opportunity for people from around the globe to share
   their views with an international audience.... If the Internet is to
   achieve its potential to become a global information infrastructure,
   it is important, at the present moment, to agree to allow its
   unrestricted development. We urge that Dr. Waluyo and every other
   citizen be allowed to receive and transmit electronic mail without
   fear of harassment, intimidation, or arrest."