this past weekend, it was probably no surprise to see celebrations and symbols of independence – bar-b-ques…fireworks…flags...but in indonesia, the simple act of waving a flag cost two men their freedom...shots were fired into a crowd as the morning star flag, a symbol of independence in the papua province of indonesia, was raised during a commemorative ceremony in december 2004...the indonesian police, armed with guns and batons, rushed in on the nonviolent gathering of at least 200 people...return rights to indonesian prisoners detained for peacefully exercising their right of free expression...
filep karma and yusak pakage, charged with "rebellion" for their alleged role in leading and organizing the flag-raising event, are currently serving their 15 and 10-year prison sentences respectively...a court ruled that arma and pakage were guilty of treason for having "betrayed" indonesia by flying the outlawed papua flag...
amnesty international considers the two men, who were wrongly detained, to be prisoners of conscience...pressure the president of indonesia to release prisoners of conscience...
sadly, filep karma was reportedly beaten by prison guards last april...this comes in the context of ongoing human rights violations by Indonesian authorities...urge your representative to act quickly to pressure the indonesian government to release prisoners of conscience, karma and pakage...
to prevent any further abuse of their rights, immediate action must be taken on behalf of prisoners of conscience, filep karma and yusak pakage...
urge your representative to pressure the indonesian government to release two men imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression...
celebrate your rights, by helping to protect theirs...
peace out <3
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