Dita indah sari biography for kids
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An Interview with Dita Sari
Emily Citkowski
Posted July 14, 2008
IN A SURPRISE move by the Indonesian government, jailed labor leader Dita Indah Sari was released from Tengerang prison Monday, July 5th. Dita was jailed in May of 1997 for leading a strike of 20,000 workers. She was originally sentenced to six years, reduced on appeal to five.
Dita was recently elected president of the newly formed trade union organization FNPBI (National Front for Workers Struggle Indonesia), a coalition of progressive unions. She plans to continue her work as a labor organizer. Last winter, Dita rejected the government’s offer to release her if she agreed to cease all political activity.
Since her release, Dita has been a very busy woman. She has resumed her work as a union activist as the president of the FNPBI; she has been bombarded with press conferences and interviews; and she has visited numerous friends and family, including her niece who was born while she was in prison.
We tr
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Introduction
Dita Indah Sari -- then Indonesia's only woman political prisoner -- was sentenced to five years jail on April 22, 1997. Her "crime" was daring to fight alongside Indonesian workers struggling for a better life.
Like Dita, thousands of the regime's opponents -- communists, radical nationalists, students, Muslims and labour activists -- have been tried for subversion and other political "crimes".
Political prisoners in particular, are often held under intolerable conditions -- poor food, limited access to friends and relatives, overcrowding, inadequate recreational activity, no provision of reading or writing materials, radio or newspapers. Many are denied tillgång to legal protection and are detained for long periods before going to trial even though the state has yet to prove a case against them.
Indonesia has signed, but not ratified, the 1987 UN Convention Against Torture. Nor is it party to other international treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil
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Dita Indah Sari
Indonesian trade unionist
Dita Indah Sari | |
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| Born | (1972-12-30) 30 December 1972 (age 52) Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia |
| Occupation(s) | Trade unionist, social activist |
Dita Indah Sari (born 30 December 1972) is an Indonesian trade union and socialistactivist. As a human rights campaigner during the Suharto regime, she was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in 1996 on the charge of sedition.[1] During her imprisonment, she was named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.[2]
After her release in 1999 she was elected Chairperson by the Congress of the National Front for Indonesian Workers Struggle (FNPBI). She was awarded the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership.[3] Politically she is the leader of the PRD, a socialist party within the broader Papernas alliance.