Message of Solidarity

Re: March 29^th 2007 attack on PAPERNAS

Responding to the violent and undemocratic measures carried out by the Front of Defender of Islam (FPI) and Front Betawi Rempug (FBR) to prevent the declaration of The National Liberation Party of Unity (PAPERNAS) on March 29^th 2007 in Jakarta, we, the New Democratic Youth of Alberta (NDYA), would like to express our moral support for PAPERNAS in light of international solidarity of working class around the world.

The March 29^th incident was not the first one, previous violent attacks by similar groups that carry the banner of Islam and anti-communism have been recorded. Weeks before, PAPERNAS Regional Conference in East Java suffered similar fate. On January 18-20 2007 , the first Congress of PAPERNAS was also disrupted by these alleged mass organizations. Apart from attacking PAPERNAS, these thug groups have also been instrumental in disrupting many seminar and discussion events held by youth and grassroots organizations. It is therefore clear that this string of violent attacks against the freedom of speech and assembly is not a spontaneous action but a systematic intimidation against pro-people movement; in that it carries an interest of a certain group that are threatened by PAPERNAS’s banners of: repudiation of the foreign debt, nationalization of mining industry, and national industrialization.

Therefore, we from the New Democratic Youth of Alberta:

1. Condemn the actions of FPI, FBR, and similar groups that use methods of violence and intimidation against PAPERNAS. These groups represent a reaction against the pro-people banner of PAPERNAS.
2. Condemn the inability of the Indonesian police and government to protect the democratic rights of its own people, and urge the Indonesian government to investigate and persecute FPI, FBR, and similar groups because their actions were clearly against the law.
3. Call for international solidarity of all pro-people elements to unite and fight against all kind of political discrimination.

Alberta , April 2^nd 2007

New Democratic Youth of Alberta

Katharine Hay Ben Hart

Co-Chair Co Chair