For more info on Billie; Free Aceh Movement versus US trained Indonesian Military see these posts:

"Billy Nesson missing updates????"
by Friends of Billy Thursday June 12, 2003 at 12:30 AM
http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/06/1618606_comment.php#1620653

The Indonesian Network is mounting a push on capital hill to
"Demand End to Military Campaign in Aceh and Justice for East Timor"
by repost by friend of Billie Nessen Thursday June 19, 2003 at 01:44 PM
http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/06/1620664.php

These are web-sourced and unverified

Links only

Australian Broadcast News Agency: live interview
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2003/s881758.htm

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): RE: Mohamad Jamal Killed INDONESIA: Missing cameraman's body found in Aceh
http://www.cpj.org/protests/03ltrs/Indonesia18june03pl.html

Letter to Indonesian Gov't from CPJ re: Nessen:
http://www.cpj.org/protests/03ltrs/Indonesia10june03pl.html

Sydney Morning Herald:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/15/1055615680644.html

http://www.agonist.org/archives/cat_asiapac.html

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2003/06.17.2003/Indonesia.htm

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2003/06.10.2003/Indonesia2.htm

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/030615/1/3bt6q.html

w/ quotes from US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar:
http://www.theage.com.au/text/articles/2003/06/17/1055828328699.htm

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailweekly.asp?fileid=20030615.@02

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailweekly.asp?fileid=20030616.@03

http://www.tempo.co.id/news/2003/6/12/1,1,33,uk.html

http://www.tempo.co.id/news/2003/6/17/1,1,4,uk.html

http://www.tempo.co.id/news/2003/6/15/1,1,13,uk.html

BACKGROUND:

background info on web:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/06/1038950195475.html

BACK DOOR Newsletter on East Timor:
http://www.tip.net.au/~wildwood/01octarms.htm

Photos by Nessen in Aceh Times:
http://www.achehtimes.com/pu/newsphotos/012003i00.htm

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/01b54f6c2590455cc1256d4400405940?OpenDocument

Freelance Photographers
http://www.pdnonline.com/news/archive/052301.html

please take a minute to help Billie, Shadia, and the people of Aceh. Their lives are in immediate danger.

US supplied F-16 are firing on unarmed villages. Military oppression must stop now. Free Aceh, Free Billie.

War in Aceh

AP via Editor & Publisher: American journalist William Nessen on the run with rebels in Aceh province said Wednesday that Indonesia's military wants to detain him on trumped-up charges and possibly shoot him. Nessen defied a military order to surrender to the army by June 14, saying he first needs assurances he will not be jailed.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has urged President Megawati Sukarnoputri to help Nessen leave Aceh safely. The U.S. Embassy also has appealed to the government to give him safe passage.

"I'm a journalist trying to get a story and I've done nothing wrong," Nessen said by telephone from Aceh. "They have threatened me. They've called me a dog. I've heard the local commanders would love to shoot me. I believe I'm in some danger," he said. Military officials have said they would not harm Nessen but want to question him about his activities with the rebels.

Soldiers fired at him when he tried to cross into a government-controlled area with refugees this month, he said. He has stayed with villagers since then.


Ichtaca @ 08:07 PM | TrackBack (0)

Aceh toll contested
19.6.2003. 14:54:47
Fierce fighting is continuing in the Indonesian province of Aceh, with conflicting reports on the number of civilian casualties. The Indonesian military says more than 200 rebels have died along with 26 soldiers, but hasn't listed any civilian deaths. The Red Cross says it’s found almost 200 bodies since a military offensive to crush the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) began last month. An American journalist, William Nessen, who is sheltering with GAM rebels, says he is concerned for his safety after defying an ultimatum to leave. "I do fear that they're angry enough at me that they want to make an example of me and that foreign journalists shouldn't be here reporting in the areas that they don't want them to be in and saying things they don't want them to say."

Nessen reports of death tolls and attacks on villagers contests military numbers. The military leadership denies firing F-16 on un-armed villages, even though another military rep confirmed reports.

Please join the letter/fax campaign to end military aggression and for safe passage for the Nessens.

Please take a minute to help out an old friend of Social Justice.

Join us in efforts to ensure end to military agression against the Aceh peoples and safe passage for the Nessens.

three actions sponsored by:
Committee to Proptect Journalists
Global Exchange
Indonesian Network

Check it out at thru links
http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/06/1621005.php

http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/06/1620664.php

repost
Indonesian Army involved in Aceh atrocities

By Jo Mazzocchi

ABC
19 June, 2003

To the Indonesian military campaign against separatist rebels in the province of Aceh, and an American freelance journalist who's been playing a dangerous cat and mouse game with the invading Indonesian Forces is claiming to have witnessed their role in atrocities there.

William Nessen, who previously travelled with the rebel forces, is the only journalist who remains working within the rebel-held regions of Aceh, and he claims that unarmed civilians are being targeted by the Indonesian Army even after they've surrendered.

He also says the Acehnese civilian population is overwhelmingly behind the rebel forces and that the Indonesian Army has underestimated the sophistication of the rebel army known as GAM.

Jo Mazzocchi reports.

JO MAZZOCCHI: William Nessen is an American journalist who's a long-time Aceh watcher. He's a correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle in Jakarta, but for weeks he's been with rebel forces in Aceh.

The journalist says he stayed in Aceh when many others fled, because it was important to know the truth about the conflict.

Speaking on his mobile, he's revealed what kind of atrocities have been committed by the Indonesian Army against the civilian population.

WILLIAM NESSEN: The Indonesians have been able to cover this up partly because war is such a scary situation you can't go back to count how many people got killed.

I can't say, but I've seen people shot next to me, people who are, I saw a man raise his arms in the air and was shot. The man that was holding my camera for me, who sometimes filmed for me, was killed a few metres away from me as he raised his arms in the air.

JO MAZZOCCHI: He also claims he's seen aircraft attack villages.

WILLIAM NESSEN: But people, from many accounts that I've heard, were in a field sleeping, it was about nine in the morning, and they saw these planes come over, three planes, and they saw them circle over, and people stood up, these are unarmed civilians, these refugees who've rarely seen planes, and they saw them circle, and then all of a sudden one seemed to fall and someone said to me, we all thought oh god the Indonesian's can't even fly a plane. But no, that was coming in to bomb and it dropped a bomb.

They did not have guns, they were not shooting at them, this was not cover fire from the Indonesians, which they're claiming that they bring in the planes when they're fighting the guerrillas, these were hundreds of unarmed people looking up at the planes, and they dropped the bombs on them, and I do not know to this day how many people were killed.

JO MAZZOCCHI: He's also revealed the Indonesian Army is trying to starve the locals as one way of flushing out rebel forces.

WILLIAM NESSEN: And they're also, as part of the total strategy, they're cutting off food to those areas. People can only buy a certain amount of food.

JO MAZZOCCHI: So they're starving the villagers?

WILLIAM NESSEN: They're starving them, they're cutting off, they know, I mean they are trying to destroy the guerrillas. I believe that this is a war to destroy the guerrilla movement. They can't destroy all the Acehnese. But the guerrillas are part of that, the ordinary people. These were ordinary people three years ago, but they, so they are going after them. I don't think that their target is to kill thousands of Acehnese. Maybe it was East Timor, but today they can't get away with that or they don't want to. They are trying to make them afraid, to isolate them from the guerrillas.

JO MAZZOCCHI: And, he says, his position is still vulnerable, because he's relying on the Acehnese to help hide him from the Indonesian Army.

WILLIAM NESSEN: My position is not very safe. I mean it depends once again on the ordinary Acehnese giving information to me or when I'm with the guerrillas, to the guerrillas. I've been hidden by ordinary Acehnese for the last several days. I'm not always in, I'm usually in contact with the guerrillas because they're everywhere, and the guerrilla, the independence movement embodied in GAM is far more extensive than anyone has said before.

In every village there are 10 to 15 people, I mean in the dozens of villages I've been, who consider themselves GAM members. These are unarmed people. So you multiply that by the hundreds of villages in Aceh and you get a figure that's far greater than the several thousand fighters than they have. The civilian GAM structure is in the tens of thousands.

JO MAZZOCCHI: He's now relying on the US Embassy to guarantee him safe passage out of Aceh and Indonesia so he can reveal exactly what he's seen during this conflict.

PETER CAVE: Jo Mazzocchi with that report.


© 2003 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Published on Friday, June 20, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
U.S. Journalist, Under Attack In Indonesia, Needs Our Help
by Ira Chernus

I've never met William Nessen. I hope some day I will. He is a true American hero-someone willing to risk his life for the truth. We need more people like him. Now he needs us. We may help to save his life.

William Nessen may be the only Western reporter still covering the rebellion in the Aceh province of Indonesia. The Indonesia military is determined to hold on to Aceh, which is rich in oil and other natural resources. To suppress the rebellion, they are doing things they don't want the world to know about.

Nessen wants the world to know. That's why he went to Aceh. That's why he left the safety of government-controlled territory, to go where the real war is happening. There, he told Australian TV news, he found "the independence movement embodied in [the Aceh rebel movement] GAM is far more extensive than anyone has said before.. They're everywhere." The Indonesian government knows this. That's why, as Nessen says "they are trying to destroy the guerrillas."

The Indonesian strategy is to terrorize the ordinary people, whom the guerillas need for support. Nessen says their main line of attack is to cut off food supplies: "They're starving them." He also talked to eyewitnesses of a bombing attack on defenseless civilians. An Indonesian officer told the Sydney Morning Herald that the bombing was done by U.S. - made F-16s.

As they attack the people of Aceh, the Indonesians are also attacking anyone who, like William Nessen, wants to tell the truth. He was fired on once, he told the Associated Press. "They have threatened me. They've called me a dog. I've heard the local commanders would love to shoot me." He saw a photographer, who was helping him cover the story, killed by Indonesian troops "as he raised his arms in the air."

But the Indonesian military has to be careful with Nessen, who comes from the country they rely on for most of their hardware: the United States. Last week, the Indonesian commander in Aceh, Brigadier-General Bambang Darmono, assured Nessen he would not be shot-if he gives himself up for "questioning."

Nessen wisely insisted that he be guaranteed safe passage out of Indonesia. He knows well enough what "questioning" can mean in Indonesia: "My fear is of being shot, tortured, beaten and arrested and held indefinitely in a black hole," he told the Australian newspaper, The Age.

When Nessen refused to come in for "questioning," General Darsono became furious. According to TV-Radio Indonesia, "Darsono said that the TNI [Indonesian military] would have to question Nessen to ensure that this sort of thing didn't happen again."

What "sort of thing"? The official Indonesian answer is the risk to the journalists. They say they can't be responsible for the fate of Nessen, or the 20 other foreign journalists they've just let into Aceh. That's a page right out of the U.S. military's book. If you are "embedded," you are safe. If you are independent, you might end up like the journalists killed in the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.

In other words, if you want to be independent, so that you can tell the truth, watch out! We are gunning for you. Nessen's truth-telling is the "sort of thing" the Indonesians want to make sure won't happen again.

Nessen is a peaceable American citizen. He is being threatened by agents of a foreign government, although he is not accused of breaking any laws. That should be enough to have the full power of the U.S. government come to his aid. But it is not clear that he is getting the support every citizen deserves.

Not long ago, says Joshua Nessen, William's brother, the U.S. ambassador in Jakarta told the Indonesians they could question William, as long as they did not charge him with any crime. Now, according to the Associated Press, the embassy is urging President Megawati Sukarnoputri to help Nessen leave Aceh safely. Richard Lugar, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gave Mrs. Sukarnoputri a similar message, voicing fear that Nessen may be killed or arrested.

But Joshua Nessen says that his brother deserves more than just vague promises of U.S. support. "When he comes out of the jungle, who is going to greet him?" Joshua asks. "Will he have guarantees from the U.S. embassy that he will not be interrogated by the military and that he will get free passage out of the country? Those are the questions he wants resolved before he comes out of the jungle."

U.S. officials may be walking a delicate tightrope. They don't want the embarrassment of seeing a law-abiding U.S. journalist harmed. That could cause a backlash against the Indonesian war in Aceh-a war that the U.S. government has every reason to support. The oil under an independent Aceh might be just as much beyond U.S. control as the oil beneath the sands of Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

If our government is serious about fighting for democracy, not just for oil, it has even more reason to aid William Nessen. He is a model citizen, serving the most essential function of democracy: giving citizens the information they need to make wise decisions about public policy. The U.S. has been arming and training the Indonesian military since 1965, when our government supported the anti-communist coup that may have slaughtered up to a million people. Military aid to Indonesia has been hotly debated in Congress for years.

If the Indonesians are systematically killing or terrorizing civilians, using U.S. - made weapons, we all need to know about it. If the U.S. government is once again aiding Indonesian elites who serve U.S. corporate interests, we all need to know about it. William Nessen may be the man who can tell us more than anyone else.

We can help bring him home safely. His family is urging all Americans to call their Senators and Representatives, asking them to press the State Department to make sure Nessen's safety is guaranteed, in detail. It is especially important to keep Senator Lugar actively on the case. Call him at 202-224-4814, or email him at senator_lugar [at] lugar.senate.gov

Ira Chernus is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, he can be contacted at chernus [at] colorado.edu

from http://laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=48&news_id=5591

‘Nessen Could Be Punished By Death’
June 20, 2003 11:56 PM,

Laksamana.Net - Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu says American journalist William Nessen, who has spent the past six weeks with separatist rebels in Aceh province, could be punished by death if he is proven to be a spy.

Nessen, who has a journalist’s visa to report from Aceh for the San Francisco Chronicle, has been living with members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the province’s northern jungles and providing first-hand information on atrocities committed by the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) against civilians.

"If William Nessen is really an intelligence agent then the punishment is serious, but if he is truly a journalist then there is no problem," Ryacudu was quoted as saying Friday (20/6/03) by state news agency Antara.

Nessen fears Indonesian troops will detain him on trumped-up charges and possibly shoot him if he tries to leave Aceh.

Military officials have said the 46-year-old journalist risks being shot because he failed to comply with an order to surrender to the Army by June 14.

Nessen said he would only come out of hiding if TNI and the government guarantee he will be allowed to leave the country without being arrested, interrogated or stopped.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has accused the journalist of violating his visa by writing for publications other than the Chronicle and says he could be deported.

TNI commenced its offensive to crush GAM on May 19 when President Megawati Sukarnoputri placed Aceh under martial law.

Nessen had gone to Aceh to research for a book and documentary on the long-running conflict in the province, where GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976. He has not had any articles or photographs published recently due to the loss of his laptop computer and other belongings.

According to the Associated Press, Nessen’s last article for the Chronicle was published in December, while his last story for another newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, was published in January.

However, he has kept in touch with other foreign journalists via his satellite telephone, providing them with details of killings carried out by TNI.

The scarcity of articles written by Nessen had prompted speculation within TNI and elsewhere in Indonesia that he might not be a genuine reporter and could be working with the rebels.

TNI spokesman Major General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin says he believes Nessen is a real reporter, but says the journalist must explain why he has spent so much time with GAM.

Nessen has pointed out that he is simply covering both sides of the story. He was also reportedly shot at by Indonesian troops when he tried to leave the rebels earlier this month.

Sjamsuddin on Friday said the government will soon issue guidelines restricting foreign media coverage of the military offensive in Aceh.

He told members of the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club that foreign reporters and locals working for foreign media organizations would be banned from visiting rebel strongholds or quoting "rebel propaganda".

It’s unclear whether that means journalists will not be allowed to report rebel claims that contradict military statements. A common example of this is when journalists report on claims by GAM that TNI is massacring civilians.

“Enemy propaganda is not allowed to be published, but it is good if you can report on TNI abuses," Sjamsuddin was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

TNI last month threatened to sue the Jakarta-based Koran Tempo daily for printing a report by Agence France-Presse that soldiers executed young farmers in a rebel stronghold.

But Sjamsuddin said the government does not object to such coverage. “It is okay to report on these incidents. We need to investigate them,” he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

The military recently claimed that at least five civilians had been killed in Aceh since the offensive began, but the National Police on Friday said more than 100 civilians have been killed.

Police spokesman Zainuri Lubis said the victims had been identified by their families, who denied they are GAM members.

"We stick to the principle of innocence before proven guilty. If their families say they are not GAM members it is not fair for us to label them rebels," he was quoted as saying by AFP.

He claimed that many of the civilians, such as transmigrants from Java, could have been killed by rebels.

According to military data, at least 256 people have been killed in Aceh over the past month, including 228 rebels and 28 members of the security forces.

The Indonesian Red Cross says it has collected 194 bodies since May 19, but declines to say whether they were civilians or rebels.

TVRI Cameraman
The Jakarta-based Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) on Friday sent a letter to Megawati demanding an inquiry into the death of a cameraman from state-run television network TVRI in Aceh.

The body of Muhammad Jamal was retrieved from a river on Tuesday evening. He was reportedly abducted by unknown gunmen from his office in the Mata Ie area of Banda Aceh city on May 20.

AJI said journalists have been the target of violence in the ongoing offensive. There have been at least 15 cases of journalists being intimidated and restricted in doing their work, said the letter.

NU Tells Rebels to Give Up
Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) on Thursday urged GAM to cease its rebellion.

NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said that continued rebellion would only cause more victims to fall. “I issue this advice because in Indonesia’s history, no rebellion has ever emerged victorious,” he was quoted as saying by Antara.

His assertion is not entirely true. Indonesia itself rebelled against its Dutch colonizers for years until 1949, when the Netherlands finally recognized Indonesia’s independence.

Another successful rebellion took place in East Timor, which was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and annexed the following year. The territory struggled for self-determination for 24 years, culminating in a United Nations-sponsored referendum on independence in 1999 and official independence in May 2002.

‘Crush GAM Supporters’
Aceh’s martial law administrator Major General Endang Suwarya on Friday said “white-collar” members of GAM should be crushed because they are enemies disguised as civilians.

“We will take stern action against supporters of the rebels, regardless of their background – whether they are civil servants, provincial legislators or businessmen,” he was quoted as saying by Antara at a gathering of Muslim clerics and civil servants.

Supporting the rebel movement would lead to national disintegration, said Suwarya, who was accompanied by Aceh Police chief Inspector General Bachrumsyah Kasman and Aceh Deputy Governor Azwar Abubakar.

Possible Pardons
Vice President Hamzah Haz on Thursday said the government is considering pardoning GAM members if they surrender.

“We are thinking about the possibility of pardoning GAM members who want to repent and return to the Unitary Republic of Indonesia,” he was quoted as saying by Antara.

The operation to crush the GAM is not a war against the Acehnese, but against those who are attempting to secede from the republic, he said.

Unproductive Propaganda
TNI commander General Endriartono Sutarto on Thursday claimed GAM’s propaganda efforts to win public support for its cause had failed because people in the province are opposed to the separatist movement.

“The GAM rebels try to make publicity of their capability to the public and the Indonesian government. But they fail because people are brave to oppose the separatist movement,” he said.

He did not mention that civilians are terrified they will be detained, attacked or killed if they are perceived to be GAM supporters.

Sutarto said part of GAM’s propaganda was to claim that staff of the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Center – which had sponsored a peace agreement between Indonesia and the rebels – were United Nations personnel.

Refugee Camps
Nearly 41,000 Acehnese villagers have been forced into camps to escape fighting between Indonesian troops and GAM over the past month and many are now suffering health problems due to overcrowding and a lack of clean water, food and medicines.

According to Aceh’s Social Affairs Office, there are 40,919 refugees living in camps in nine districts. More than 16,500 are in Biruen district and 10,000 others in South Aceh district.

Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah on Thursday instructed heads of district administrations in Aceh to build more refugee camps and pay more attention to sanitation.

“We have sent checks worth Rp6 billion to the relevant district administration chiefs to set up more camps and for better food,” he said.

He added that administrators should anticipate an increase in the number of refugees in the war-torn province.

Mass Grave Probe
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) plans to send investigators to Aceh next Tuesday to check reports of a mass grave allegedly containing dozens of bodies.

The grave is reportedly located in Nisam subdistrict, near the rebel stronghold of Biruen, which has been the scene of intense fighting over recent weeks.

Army chief Ryacudu last week responded furiously to Komnas HAM’s statements about the grave, saying he would “knock their heads off” if the allegation proves to be unsubstantiated.

The investigation team will stay in Aceh until next Friday and could also investigate reports that pro-Indonesia militia groups are operating in the province.

Sutarto on Thursday denied the military had trained militias, but admitted that residents were being encouraged to be more active in carrying out “residential security systems”, AFP reported.

William (Billy) Nessen and his wife Shadia, freelance journalists reporting on human rights abuses and civil strife, are in serious danger and fear for their lives following recent threats from the Indonesian military.

As Ira Chernus, Common Dreams, puts it, "We can help bring him home safely. His family is urging all Americans to call their Senators and Representatives, asking them to press the State Department to make sure Nessen's safety is guaranteed, in detail. It is especially important to keep Senator Lugar actively on the case. Call him at 202-224-4814, or email him at senator_lugar [at] lugar.senate.gov "

Please join efforts to ensure safe passage for the Nessens and an end to military aggression in Aceh and East Timor.

Latest newswire report, 'Nessen Could Be Punished By Death' June 20, 2003 11:56 PM
http://laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=48&news_id=5591

Other Ways to Help:
Please FAX two letters today
(sample letter at http://www.stanford.edu/group/gradethenews/pages/media%20alerts.htm)

US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph Boyce.
Fax: 011-6221-3435-9922

Indonesian Ambassador to the U.S. Soemadi D.M.
Brotodiningrat.
Fax: 202-775-5365
---------
End Military Aggression:
http://www.indonesianetwork.org/action/2003/congress_signon.htm

Committee to Protect Journalist
http://www.cpj.org/protests/03ltrs/Indonesia10june03pl.html

Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7127

For more Info or to help Billie and Shadia e-mail scottb [at] igc.org or google ("William Nessen") or (Billy Nessen)

American in Aceh surrenders
June 24, 2003

AN American holed up with rebels in Aceh province presented himself today to Indonesia's military which has threatened to prosecute him for allegedly spying.

William Nessen, who has worked as a journalist in the past and maintains he is still a reporter, has been with the rebels since Indonesia launched its latest offensive against the insurgents on May 19.

The military has repeatedly demanded he leave the rebels, and have questioned whether he is really a journalist, a rebel supporter or a spy.

Looking thin but healthy, Nessen was met by a US Embassy official and a senior officer from the Indonesian military when he gave himself up in Paya Dua village in the north of the province, an AP reporter at the scene said.

Witnesses said he was alone when he walked out of a swamp and surrendered.

repost excerpt: The Indonesian military had threatened to prosecute Nessen for allegedly spying because he was traveling with rebels in a province where martial law had been declared. Nessen, who refused to turn himself in until he had a guarantee of safety, surrendered Tuesday, believing he would be free to leave the country.

If convicted of immigration violations, Nessen faces up to five years in prison, said Aceh police spokesman Lt. Col. Sayed Huseini.

Hermine Nessen learned what happened from an Indonesian official who called her Wednesday morning.

She will fly to Jakarta today to pressure officials to release her son.

"It's been very frustrating," his mother said. "We've had assurances, and I'm sure they were in good faith, but the Indonesian scene is a very tangled one."

U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce has been in contact with William Nessen since he was detained. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter on June 15 to the Indonesian president, requesting Nessen's safe passage.

The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders have also written to the president and regularly report on Nessen's plight.

William Nessen is charged with two counts of violating the conditions of his visa, including failure to notify the government that he had traveled to an area in conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Nessen had been traveling since May 19 with rebels in the oil- and gas-rich province of Aceh. Separatists from the Free Aceh Movement have been fighting for independence since 1976.

Nessen writes for the San Francisco Chronicle and other newspapers around the world.

"There was a question about what stories he was writing," Hermine Nessen said. "He hasn't had a story in a while and that was one of their complaints - where was his story?"

Jack Epstein, the foreign service editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, said the newspaper last received a story from Nessen in December. Reporters Without Borders said Nessen was planning to write a book and make a film about the conflict in the Aceh province, but could not send stories because the army had blocked communication lines.

Nessen initially met with a U.S. Embassy official and a senior officer from the Indonesian military when he surrendered on Tuesday.

Kelly Shannon, spokeswoman from the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs, said Nessen has met with an American official since the charges were filed.

"When an American goes abroad, they are subject to their laws," she said. "They can be deported, let off with a warning, or they can be sentenced."

Hermine Nessen is taking clean clothes for her son and said she hopes to visit him in Banda Aceh.

"I wish I had gone at the first instant of trouble," she said. "As a mother, I have a right to insist that he be let free."


depperschmidta@rockymountain news.com or (303) 892-2957. AP contributed to this report.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/ 0,1299,DRMN_21_2068201,00.html

Heres the latest from reporter without borders.

http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7127

Freelance US journalist William Nessen surrendered to the Indonesian army on 24 June and has since been interrogated at length by police in Banda Aceh (capital of Aceh province in northern Sumatra), who accused him of violating immigration laws and misusing his journalist's visa. He is also suspected of spying for or supporting the rebel Free Aceh Movement

free press
free association
free white and 46
us citizen
member of the fourth estate
credentialed journalist
wife acehnese
published reports covering civil war in Aceh
passport,
visa,
ticket to Aceh before martial law
ummmm.....
reporter to:
abc/sydney;
sfchron;
boston globe, more;
credited for photo-journalism;
oft cited writings;

and you were saying...? uh, doh! Civil War and civil strife is NEWSWORTHY! Unless you suscribe to corporate info-mercials from Clear Channel.

misusing his journalist's visa..........hum
suspected of spying............................well
suspected of supporting the rebel Movement ....

when you travel to another country you are subject to their laws, as a Reporter he should know this.
and in as much as he is in another country
he should be careful not to get into trouble.
but as usual Americans think they can do as they wish
without consequences, this might be an expensive lesson

papers lost when fired upon while trying to cross combatant lines...read, man read...journalists from "reputable" papers with "reputable" sources have already reported these facts...

cease and desist until you've studied up a bit.

free press
free association
protect sources
civil war
civil strife
martial law
thousands killed
thousands more injured
military targeting journalists...one dead, two threatened
US made F-16s firing on unarmed villages
EXXON-MOBIL Natural Gas fields
er,
NEWS

'Aceh a Forbidden Province as Military Step Up War on Rebels' JULY 2.By JOHN MARTINKUS Herald Correspondent

excerpt:
MARTINKUS:>>....The official said: "As long as you are not American. We are looking for an American. If you are American I kill you"....It was a bad joke. He was referring to William Nessen, who at that time was still at large....<<
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,990749,00.html
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http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/articles/2/62885.html
JULY 5. 14:27:08 suaramerdeka.com/tvri/index.html
broadcast on SBS in Bahasa Indonesia

MILITARY HAILS ‘EVIDENCE’ FIND
Four members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have been killed in a fire fight with members of the Indonesian military’s 18th Airborne Brigade in the Cot Blang area. Those killed were said to have been found with evidence that places US journalist William Nessen with the rebel group. The military found a battery recharger as well as an Aceh-English dictionary that they believe was sent to Nessen. Brigade commander, Colonel F. G. Siahan says the military’s finds indicate that Nessen was involved with the rebels. He speculated that the dictionary was sent to Nessen from outside Indonesia, possibly Sweden. _________________________
Special Broadcasting Service, Australia
Jakarta JUNE 26.13:30:21 suaramerdeka.com/tvri/index.html
broadcast on SBS in Bahasa Indonesia
excerpt:
ACEH JOURNALISTS RECEIVE ‘APOLOGY’
The media in Aceh has received an apology from Major General Endang Suwarya for his failure to communicate with them. The military commander of the emergency government in Aceh spoke out after journalists said they would boycott reporting the activities of the military government. The commander has apologised to the journalists, saying he was wrong not to explain matters better and to receive input from journalists. He expressed his appreciation of the role that journalists play in securing an end to the conflict in Aceh. However, military spokesman Lt. Col Ahmad Basuki announced that Japanese photographer Tokagi Toganomu is being questioned for allegedly being in Aceh without permission.

Meanwhile, after two days in police detention US journalist William Nessen has been taken to the Zainal Abidin hospital in Aceh Besar for checks. Nothing was apparently found wrong with Mr Neesen, although he was taken to a laboratory for further tests following the medical.
Source: World Watch
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Top stories from TVRI, Jakarta
JUNE 26. 13:04:21 suaramerdeka.com/tvri/index.html

GOVERNMENT INTERROGATES US JOURNALIST
Coordinating political and security affairs minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says the government has the authority to interrogate US journalist William Nessen who recently surrendered to authorities in Aceh after spending a month with rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). He says authorities are required to interview Mr Nessen to determine his reasons for being in Aceh and his actions with the GAM rebels. He says reports from the public that Mr Nessen violated Acehenese laws will also be investigated. Mr Yudhoyono says if he’s found to have broken the law appropriate action will be taken, but if Mr Nessen is found to be a truly neutral journalist then it won't be necessary. He says there’s been no pressure from the US government to release the journalist. Mr Nessen has officially been declared a suspect over the alleged violation of immigration laws. Police interrogation so far suggests he has no visa, passport or permission to be in Aceh. He will be detained for 20 days dating back to June 25. [NOTE: release on Mon July 14th?? not July 11th??mob]

MILITARY PLAYS DOWN JOURNALIST CRACKDOWN
The head of the Indonesian military (TNI) information centre Major-General Syafrei Syamsuddin says the TNI will not throw out foreign journalists in Aceh, but is asking them not to report on military operations in the province without permission from the department of foreign affairs. He says this applies to foreign journalists and Indonesian journalists working for foreign media outlets. The TNI says there are 10 foreign journalists reporting from Aceh, but only six have permission to do so. After 35 days of military operations in Aceh, more than 35,000 refugees are now spread across refugee centres in 10 regencies. The centres have been set up by the government and security forces, with humanitarian aid and medicine provided by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF.