Free Dita Sari

Dita Indah Sari is a young Indonesian woman in jail in Indonesia for the "crime'' of organising workers in her country to struggle for better working and living conditions. On April 22, 1997 Dita was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. In June last year, the biggest prison riot in Indonesian history occurred at the prison in Surabaya where Dita was held.

The prison authorities blamed Dita and moved her to an isolated prison in Malang, East Java, away from her family and friends. She is denied any reading material or TV, except for cartoons. In November, she became seriously ill with typhoid, a disease usually associated with unsanitary living and eating conditions. Dita's story is one of an outstanding activist, feminist and trade unionist.

For daring to challenge the brutal dictatorship of President Suharto, she is the lone woman political prisoner in the country. The Suharto regime is determined to break Dita's spirit and so discourage other young Indonesian women from getting involved in campaigns for democracy and justice. Since the beginning of the 1980s, there has been a huge influx of people into the new factory belts around Indonesia's major cities. These factory workers, the majority of them young women, work under appalling conditions, on wages that are barely sustainable, without health and safety regulations, and are often subject to physical abuse. Indonesians are prohibited from organising their own trade unions and women workers have been tortured and killed for speaking out against their situation.

The most infamous case was that of Marsinah, a worker in a watch factory, who argued for improved conditions, was raped, tortured and killed by military agents. Others have been killed in Bandung and Medan. Dita was detained and beaten by the military and police many times during 1995 and '96 for leading peaceful demonstrations of tens of thousands of factory workers. Finally, on July 8, 1996, she was arrested while leading a protest march of 20,000 workers from 10 factories in Surabaya, and not released.

In recognition of her political activity and courage, Dita was elected president of the Indonesia Centre for Labour Struggles (PPBI) at its third conference in 1996. The PPBI is an independent trade union organisation banned by the government but which campaigns underground for workers' rights. The government has also banned the political party to which Dita belongs, the People's Democratic Party. As well as fighting for the rights of her own people, Dita has taken a strong stand against the Indonesian government's occupation of East Timor. She has called for Indonesia to withdraw all its military and police from East Timor, and to allow an internally supervised referendum on self-determination.

Expressions of solidarity with East Timor are brutally suppressed by Suharto, yet at a protest at the Dutch and Russian embassies in Jakarta on December 7, 1995 (the anniversary of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor), Dita liaised between the protesters in each embassy, and with the media and lawyers. In 1995, Dita visited Australia to campaign for support for Indonesian workers' rights and democracy, and freedom for East Timor. She was the first Indonesian to dare to speak on a public platform together with East Timorese in Australia, knowing that she must return to Indonesia to resume her political work.

Even from jail, Dita continues to give voice to the aspirations of tens of thousands of Indonesian women workers. Her prominent role as a feminist and a trade unionist has won her broad respect, not just within the Indonesian democratic movement, but in the hearts of millions of ordinary Indonesians. Her international profile has helped highlight the plight of Indonesia's people and inspired others around the world to become active in solidarity with their demands. Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) is appealing to women in Australia to write letters of support to Dita Sari. These letters, which are smuggled in to her jail, help keep up her spirits. Jill Hickson - Sydney

Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor ASIET "Free the Political Prisoners'' petition campaign is calling on the Australian government to halt all military aid to Indonesia until Dita and all other political prisoners are released.

To send Dita a letter, help with the petition campaign, obtain a copy of ASIET's information booklet about Dita's life and struggle ($5 plus $2 postage), or make a donation, contact ASIET at PO Box 458, Broadway 2007, phone (02) 9690 1032, fax (02) 9690 1381, asiet@peg.apc.org

Message from DitaSari in Women's Prison, Jakarta