Ratna Sarumpaet

 

About Ratna's contrivercial Paly, ALIA, The Wound of Aveh 2000 - 2003

Bahasa Kecemasan

Dalam Drama “ALIA Luka Serambi, Mekah”

Karya: Ratna Sarumpaet

Oleh Firman Venayaksa

 

Seniman adalah pencipta. Kadang penciptaan itu bisa lahir dalam dunia khayali, mencoba membuat sebuah tempat di mana tak ada yang bisa menyamainya dalam dunia realitas, mencoba menciptakan tokoh imajinatif yang bisa jadi sangat sempurna, atau justru sebaliknya. Seniman mempuyai nilai rasa yang tak bisa dimiliki oleh sembarang orang. Kemampuannya yang fantastis memungkinkan membuat apapun yang bisa jadi tak pernah terpikirkan oleh manusia kebanyakan. Dalam hal mencipta, banyak kemungkinan yang bisa diperbuatnya. Kadang ciptaannya lahir pula dari dunia realitas yang ia kembangkan, ia reka-reka sehingga menjadi sebuah tampilan yang berbeda dari percontohan/ objek sebelumnya. Polesan-polesan yang dilakukan oleh sang seniman inilah yang pada akhirnya disajikan kepada khalayak, mentransformasikan sebentuk pemahaman yang ada dalam benak sang kreator.

Membaca Alia Luka Serambi Mekah karya Ratna Sarumpaet membuat kita akan merenung cukup lama. Banyak paradigma pemikiran kita tentang Aceh yang senantiasa begitu rapuh untuk dijungkirbalikkan. Membaca karya yang menampilkan unsur transenden ini kita seolah tidak hanya diajak berjalan-jalan menyusuri sungai darah yang begitu memilukan hati, namun justru kita seperti benar-benar berada di sana, mempersilahkan kepada kita untuk mengambil peran, menjadi tokoh yang manakah kita?

Kejadian di Aceh bukan hanya sebuah fiksi semata, tapi realitas yang memang terjadi. Hanya saja pernahkah kita berpikir akan menjadi siapakah jika kita berada di tempat tersebut? Menjadi Alia --yang sempat menjadi korban penculikan dan pemerkosaan-- tiba-tiba dengan perkasa mengepalkan tangan ke angkasa? Menjadi Panglima Rayeuk yang oportunis? Menjadi Farhan yang mencoba memperjuangkan rakyat Aceh tanpa merasakan kepiluan dan nestapa? Menjadi Teuku Saiful mencoba mengangkat senjata melawan tentara dan terpaksa harus menyandang titel sang pembunuh demi perjuangannya? Menjadi serdadu yang dengan mengatasnamakan stabilitas nasional tetapi tidak bisa menstabilkan garnisunnya sendiri? Atau menjadi rakyat yang selalu tertindas oleh dua kekuatan yang saling bertikai?

Pertanyaan-pertanyaan di atas akan terus bergulir bahkan menggumpal sebagai sebuah bola salju yang akan meneror kita. Teror demi teror yang dibungkus dalam bentuk-bentuk pernyataan dan pertanyaan saling berhimpitan dalam kata-kata yang diusung oleh Ratna Sarumpaet, begitu ganas dan panas. Sangat sulit jika kita mencari bahasa yang syahdu dan menggembirakan, sekedar menghela nafas barang sesaat. Bisa jadi disinilah salah satu ciri khas dari karya Ratna Sarumpaet. Dalam Alia Luka Serambi Mekah pun bahasa kecemasan yang ganas dan panas kian menyeluruh dalam setiap adegan.

 

SORAYA

Dia akan disiksa, Cut Nyak…

Dia akan diperkosa

 

ZAHRA

Mungkin dibunuh, seperti lainnnya…

 

CUT NYAK

Keduanya akan ditangkap, disiksa atau dibunuh

seperti selalu mereka lakukan (hlm. 9)

 

Jika kita menyimak dialog di atas, kita bisa merasakan betapa suasana riuh penuh kecemasan terkuak dan lahir dalam nafas pemikiran di atas.

 

KOMANDAN

Rumah yang tenang, nyaman…

Setiap rumah dihantui rasa takut.

Gerakan Pengacau Liar pimpinan Wali Negeri,

Berkeliaran, menyelusup ke mana-mana.

Sewaktu-waktu dapat mengobrak-abrik

Ketenangan masyarakat.

Dan itu sangat merepotkan petugas keamanan.

Rumah ini…(hlm. 12)

 

Monolog yang disampaikan sang Komandan ketika bertamu ke tempat Cut Nyak bisa kita rasakan juga sebagai bahasa kecemasan. Dalam bertindak, seharusnya yang mempunyai pangkat komandan bisanya berbahasa persuasif. Kalimat di atas, jika kita memaknai dengan seksama, bahasa persuasif tak nampak sama sekali, bahkan terkesan mengancam, menuduh walaupun seperti tak ada yang dituduh.

 

PRAJURIT 4

Sial! Sial! Kita celaka…

Kita betul-betul celaka…

 

PRAJURIT 4

Kita akan dibunuh.

Kita akan disiksa, dianiaya,

Persis seperti selama ini

Kita menyiksa orang-orang.

Kita akan dipertontonkan kepada rakyat

Yang selama ini kita sakiti

Mereka akan menatap kita dengan sisnis

Dengan penuh kebencian…

Mereka akan mengejek kita,

Meludahi kita,

Melempari kita dengan batu.

Tidak. Aku tidak sanggup…(hlm. 50)

 

Bahasa kecemasan rupanya tidak saja melanda rakyat Aceh yang tertindas. Prajurit yang kita kenal sangat berani pun memiliki kemampuan takut terhadap takdir yang akan menimpaya. Monolog di atas dengan jelas bisa kita maknai sebagai sebuah ungkapan yang benar-benar mengekspresikan kegalauan sebagai seorang manusia biasa, teror yang melanda hati sang prajurit.

PANGLIMA RAYEUK

Kenapa?

Mengerikan, ya!

Kebohongan…kepalsuan…(hlm. 67)

 

ALIA

Itu gerakan rakyat.

Mereka melindungi rakyat dari Ancaman-ancaman kalian,

Dari pengejaran-pengejaran kalian.

Mereka bukan Pengacau Liar. (hlm. 69)

 

Penggalan dialog di atas antara Panglima Rayeuk dan Alia yang secara aliran darah masih memiliki ikatan keluarga ternyata berbahasa kecemasan pula. Semua pemikiran-pemikiran yang dilontarkan oleh hampir semua tokoh menyiratkan mengenai kegalauan. Ini sekedar pembuktian bahwa drama yang digarap oleh Ratna Sarumpaet ingin mencoba membeberkan kepada kita mengenai situasi yang terjadi di Aceh memang cukup menegangkan dan membuat bulu kuduk berdiri. Selanjutnya sebagai sebuah perbandingan terhadap situasi di atas, kisah cinta yang seyogyanya melankolis dan romantis—yang biasa terjadi dalam naskah-naskah romantisisme—tidak nampak dalam drama ini. Sebelum lahirnya kejadian tragis yang menimpa Alia, Alia dan Farhan adalah pasangan kekasih. Namun ketika mereka bertemu setelah kejadian itu, rasa rindu yang biasanya menggejala pada pasangan yang dilanda asmara tak nampak sama sekali, bahkan diluar prediksi, mereka tidak mencapai sebuah kesepakatan, yanga ada adalah berbagai proses pernyataan yang sulit untuk diyakini bahwa mereka dulunya adalah sepasang kekasih.

………………………….

Aku ingat bagaimana kau tumbuh dan dibesarkan

Di tengah rumah  yang nyaman,

Yang tidak mengenal kekurangan

Lalu sekian tahun hidup di negeri orang dengan kemewahan

 

FARHAN

Dan aku tidak berubah

 

ALIA

Ya, itu intinya Farhan.

Kamu tidak berubah.

Kamu tidak membuka mata kamu,

Hingga kamu tidak melihat kalau

Semuanya sudah berubah.

 

ALIA

Kamu persis seperti mereka, Farhan.

Hidup disana dengan nyaman,

Menatap penderitaan kami dari jauh

Dengan haru dan airmata,

Kalian lalu merancang gagasan-gagasan

Untuk melanjutkan kami. Lancang! (hlm. 116-117)

 

Agaknya sulit untuk mencari tokoh yang bijak dalam drama Alia Luka Serambi Mekah. Sepertinya semua orang gamang dalam mencari letak kebajikan, mencari diksi yang menentramkan. Tentu saja hal seperti ini adalah sebuah strategi dari seorang Ratna Sarumpaet untuk meneror kita sebagai apresiator yang sudah dilenakan dengan dunia yang indah tanpa memikirkan bahwa realitas yang terjadi, yang sebenarnya berada tak jauh dari mata kita begitu butuh perhatian. Ratna Sarumpaet ingin menggugah kesadaran kita kendati hanya dalam media pementasan.

 

Tanah Air, 2004

 

Alia' cancellation an obstruction of freedom

           The Jakarta Post, Jakarta / Tue, 12/17/2002 / 7:11 AM / National

            Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned television stations' ban of a play highlighting injustices in Aceh was an obstruction of freedom of expression, activists say. Noted lawyer and human rights campaigner Todung Mulya Lubis said TVRI's decision not to air Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah (Alia, Wound on Veranda of Mecca) was repeating the censorship pattern imposed under the authoritarian rule of former president Soeharto.

""Once the media compromise with this kind of censorship -- which I believe promotes human rights abuses -- it will affect other media. And once the media follows this pattern, such repressive acts will happen again and again,"" Todung said.

TVRI signed a contract with Teater Satu Merah Panggung, which produces Alia, to air the play on Dec. 15 to celebrate International Human Rights Day, but then canceled the plan ""due to the development situation over the peace process in the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province.""

Stage actress and activist Ratna Sarumpaet, who founded Satu Merah Panggung maintained TVRI's decision was due to intervention by the Indonesian Military (TNI).

""The TV station said the military officer invited to see the script of Alia decided to ban the play, saying it would hurt the hearts of the Acehnese,"" Ratna told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, Col. D.J. Nachrowi, an official at TNI's information department, denied Ratna's accusation, saying ""we have no right to interfere with television programs.""

""Should TVRI cancel the play, maybe it is due to the script itself ... does it (the script) make any contribution to the government's efforts to create peace in the province, or even if it will affect the current process there?"" Todung, however, challenged TNI's argument and said the peace agreement for Aceh should also reflect the reality on the ground, where many Acehnese people were continuing to demand open and just trials for those responsible for rights violations in the region during military operations between 1989 and 1999.

“"I think the military should see that the play can contribute to the peace process as it reflects the real demands of the Acehnese." Todung said.

Ratna said Monday she still hoped TVRI would eventually air Alia

""Becoming an actress means that you have to reflect on the reality of life, and it really saddens me if all Indonesian actresses are afraid to do so,"" Ratna said.

Performed by Teater Satu Merah Panggung, Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah is the tale of a Alia, a daughter of Acehnese freedom fighter Cut Nyak.

A rape victim, Alia refuses to let her spirit be broken. Seeing that fear threatens to take over the lives of those in her community, she rises up in rebellion. Alia's father invites her to join the guerrilla forces fighting for independence, but she refuses, standing firm in her belief that the fight for independence is not merely for land, but also for peace

 

TVRI Batal Tayangkan “Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah”

Sabtu, 14 Desember 2002 | 11:15 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif, Jakarta:

Drama berjudul Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah produksi Satu Merah Panggung pimpinan Ratna Sarumpaet ditunda penayangannya sampai batas waktu yang tidak ditentukan. Pertunjukan yang sedianya ditayangkan TVRI malam ini (15 Desember) dalam rangka peringatan hari Hak Asasi manusia sedunia dibatalkan oleh televisi milik pemerintah ini. “Ini pencekalan dan alasannya juga terlalu dicari-cari,” kata Ratna dalam jumpa pers di Gedung Kesenian Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, kemarin. Menurut Ratna, sesungguhnya sudah ada perjanjian resmi antara pihaknya dan TVRI untuk menayangkan pertunjukan itu. Ia juga mengaku sudah melakukan publikasi ke berbagai tempat dengan dibiayai sponsor. Tetapi Jumat petang dirinya dihubungi melalui telepon genggam oleh Wijil, produser pelaksana TVRI, dan diberitahukan soal penundaan penayangan Alia. Alasan yang disampaikan pihak televisi, menurut Ratna, penayangan itu akan mengorek luka rakyat Aceh, sementara saat ini baru saja ditandatangani kesepakatan penghentian permusuhan antara GAM dan TNI di Jenewa. Awalnya, jelas Ratna, Wijil tak bersedia menyebut alasan penundaan. Namun, setelah didesak, ia mengatakan hal dilakukan setelah ada rapat tim checking, Kepala Siaran Nasional TVRI Wardi Wahid dan wakil Dispen TNI. “Tetapi dia tidak mau menyebut nama wakil Dispen itu,” kata dia. Akhirnya, sekitar pukul 21.00, datang surat resmi yang ditandatangani Wardi Wahid ke kantor Satu Merah Panggung. Surat ini menegaskan Alia ditunda tanpa batas waktu. Jhonson Panjaitan, penasehat hukum Satu Merah Panggung, menyatakan TVRI telah menyalahi kontrak karena memutuskan perjanjian secara sepihak. Selain itu, lanjut dia, ada kejanggalan dengan munculnya pihak ketiga yang tidak ada hubungannya dengan kontrak. “Dalam hal ini Dispen TNI,” ujarnya. Manajemen TVRI hingga Sabtu malam tidak ada satu pun yang bersedia memberi konfirmasi atas pembatalan itu. Sumita Tobing dan Sutrimo, direktur utama dan direktur, telpon selulernya tak diangkat, sedangkan Wardi telponnya tidak aktif. Kepala humasnya, Djoko Priyono, selain menyatakan sedang cuti mengaku tidak mengetahui persoalan itu. Sementara itu pihak TNI membantah menekan TVRI untuk membatalkan tayangan drama milik Ratna. Kepala Dinas Penerangan Umum Mabes TNI Letkol DJ Nachrowi menyatakan pihaknya tidak punya kewenangan melarang televisi menayangkan sebuah program. Ia menegaskan, TNI sekarang ini tidak memiliki otoritas melarang penayangan karya masyarakat. Namun, ia menduga, kemungkinan ada instansi lain yang melakukannya. “Mungkin acara ini dinilai bisa mengeruhkan suasana di Aceh,” kata dia. Ia tidak mau menyebutkan instansi itu.

(diah a. candraningrum/budi riza -- TNR)

 

TVRI to air controversial play `Alia'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 01/16/2003 12:00 AM |

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned television station TVRI has reversed itself and will air the controversial play Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah (Alia, Wounds on the Veranda of Mecca) on Jan. 19.

But actress and activist Ratna Sarumpaet, who directed Alia, regretted that the station waited so long to air the play about human rights abuses in Aceh, saying it had already lost its momentum.

The TV station unilaterally canceled its contract with Teater Satu Merah Panggung to air the play on Dec. 10, 2002, in conjunction with the International Human Rights Day. The station's decision reportedly came after a protest by the Indonesian Military, which said the play could effect the peace process in the country's westernmost province.

Ratna said TVRI and Teater Satu Merah Panggung, which produced Alia, came to an agreement to air the play on Jan. 19 after a series of meetings.

TVRI broke the contract after the military read a manuscript of the play. However, the military denies intervening in the TV station's internal affairs. The theater group has threatened to sue the station over the cancellation of the contract.

The play tells the story of the injustices in Aceh that affect the life of Alia, a daughter of Aceh freedom fighter Cut Nyak Din.

Alia's father invites her to join the fight for the territory's independence but she refuses to do so, saying the Acehnese are fighting not only for independence but also for peace.

Alia was performed live a number of times in several cities, including Jakarta, Semarang, Surakarta, Bandung, Tasikmalaya and Banda Aceh, in 2000 and 2001.

Despite the station's plan to air the play on Jan. 19, Ratna again threatened to file a lawsuit against TVRI if it further violated the contract. ""I want TVRI to air the play in its entirety. I will only sue if the TV station censors the script,"" she told The Jakarta Post.

 

TEMPO

30 DESEMBER 2002

 

Alia, 'Korban' Perdamaian

DIA bukan anggota Tentara Nasional Indonesia, apalagi pengikut Gerakan Aceh Merdeka. Namanya pun terdengar manis: Alia. Namun, saat perjanjian damai antara dua belah pihak yang berseteru di Serambi Mekah sudah ditandatangani di Jenewa awal Desember lalu, Alia malah menjadi korban. Itulah judul pementasan teater Satu Merah Panggung pimpinan Ratna Sarumpaet. Seharusnya, pada Hari Hak Asasi Manusia 15 Desember lalu, Ratna dan grupnya akan menampilkan Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah di Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI). Meski sudah berkali-kali mementaskan lakon ini, seluruh tim tetap berlatih berbulan-bulan mempersiapkannya. Siapa sangka, dua hari menjelang hari yang ditetapkan di kontrak, Wijil, produser pelaksana TVRI, mengabari Ratna via telepon genggam bahwa pementasan ditunda sampai batas yang belum ditentukan. Dengan kata lain, Alia tak boleh tampil di stasiun televisi milik pemerintah itu. Ada alasan resmi yang disampaikan kepada Ratna saat itu. Penayangan itu dikhawatirkan akan mengorek luka rakyat Aceh, mengingat baru ditandatanganinya kesepakatan penghentian permusuhan antara GAM dan TNI. Ratna kontan berang. Serta-merta ia menuduh ada intervensi terhadap TVRI untuk mencekal Alia, persis seperti masa Orde Baru. Sebagaimana diakui Wijil kepada Ratna melalui telepon, keputusan diambil setelah pertemuan antara Kepala Siaran Nasional TVRI, Wardi Wahid, dan wakil dari Dinas Penerangan TNI. Pukul 21.00 malam itu, surat resmi dilayangkan ke markas Satu Merah Panggung di daerah Kampung Melayu. Ratna dan teman-temannya menganggap TVRI telah menyalahi kontrak karena memutuskan perjanjian secara sepihak. "Apalagi dengan alasan yang dibuat-buat," kilah aktris yang pementasannya sempat dicekal semasa Orde Baru ini. Karena itu, melalui pembela hukumnya, Johnson Panjaitan, Satu Merah Panggung sedang menyiapkan gugatan ke stasiun televisi pelat merah itu. Apa sebenarnya yang ada dalam Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah sampai TVRI dibuat ketar-ketir karenanya? Ratna menuturkan, naskah drama yang ditulisnya pada 1999 itu berkisah tentang seorang putri Aceh yang mengalami penganiayaan dan pemerkosaan di Tanah Rencong. Meski dendam membara di hatinya, Alia memutuskan menggali kuburan para korban dan memakamkan kembali secara wajar. Upaya ini mendapat dukungan rakyat, tapi tidak dari aparat keamanan. Mereka menganggap rencana menguburkan para korban secara terhormat ini adalah simbol ketidaksukaan dan perlawanan rakyat. Karenanya, penguasa berusaha keras menghentikan langkah Alia yang sesungguhnya tanpa kekerasan itu. Ratna menegaskan, dalam Alia, kritik tak hanya ditujukan pada TNI, tapi juga GAM. Ia juga menyorongkan bukti bahwa Alia telah empat kali tampil di Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam dan mendapat sambutan baik dari warga. Ratna juga menilai Alia figur yang tak berpihak. Ketika ayahnya meminta dia bergabung ke hutan, Alia malah mempertanyakan makna kemerdekaan yang dimaksud sang ayah yang tokoh pemberontak itu. Jadi, benarkah ada campur tangan pihak ketiga-yaitu TNI-seperti dituduhkan Ratna? Maklum, kalau teori Ratna benar, berarti media di Indonesia tengah kembali mengalami pola-pola penyensoran model Orde Baru dulu. Kepala Dinas Penerangan Umum Mabes TNI, Letkol D.J. Nachrowi, menyangkal. "TNI sekarang tak memiliki otoritas melarang penayangan karya masyarakat," tuturnya. Adakah ini bentuk sensor diri TVRI? Jika benar, berarti TVRI memakai cara-cara yang tidak damai untuk menjaga perdamaian. Sayang, ketika dihubungi Tempo News Room, pihak TVRI belum bisa memberi keterangan. Andari Karina Anom, Diah Candraningrum, Budi Riza (TNR)

 

Alia's cry for peace

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/18/2002 7:15 AM | Opinion

Alia was a rape victim. She fought for peace and justice for her people and for her homeland in Aceh, but without taking up arms. Now, the powers that be in Jakarta have decided to deprive her of even a forum to convey the message of her struggle.

Alia, the title of a drama by playwright Ratna Sarumpaet, is not quite a fictitious figure. She may be the focus of a play, but she represents thousands of Acehnese women who have been the victim of acts of injustices, and are craving for peace.

It is therefore lamentable that TVRI, the state-run television network, has decided not to air Ratna's play, titled Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah (Alia, Wound on Verandah of Mecca), reportedly because of strong objections from the Indonesian Military (TNI).

By Tuesday morning, TVRI had not responded to the allegations made by Ratna that its decision not to air the play -- originally scheduled for Dec. 15 to mark International Human Rights Day -- came at the behest of the military, or because it was afraid that it would offend the powers that be.

TNI has denied that it had any role in the decision, but its spokesman Col. D.J. Nachrawi was quoted by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday as saying that: ""If TVRI canceled the play, maybe it was due to the script itself -- does it (the script) make any contribution to the government's efforts to create peace in the province, or will it affect the current peace process?""

If Ratna's claim of TNI intervention was true, then TVRI's decision not to air the play by Ratna's Satu Merah Panggung Teater is yet another major setback for democracy.

The losers are not only the women and people of Aceh in whose interest the play was trying to represent, but also the nation because this means the return to censorship practices.

It takes us back to the recent bygone era where censorship was the norm. And TNI was one of those state institutions with an appalling record for curtailing the people's right to free expression. No wonder many people had a sense of deja vu upon hearing the news on Sunday that the play's airing had been canceled.

We don't share with Nachrowi's claim that it might be best not to air the show in support of the current peace process in Aceh. Peace in Aceh will be better served if stories like Alia's, as painful as they are to hear, are allowed to be told and discussed freely. Hopefully, such discussions will lead to peace and justice. Burying the truth, which is what those who oppose the drama's broadcast on TV, are doing, only creates artificial peace, which cannot be long lasting.

We hope that TVRI will reconsider its decision and air Ratna's play. Alternatively, other TV stations should take up the challenge. These TV stations owe this much to the people of Aceh, and to the people of this country, and to democracy.  Ultimately, Alia's cry for peace and justice is ours too.

 

 

A sampling of performances in Java

Julie Janson

My travels in Java coincided with the writing of my own new play The crocodile hotel, about a teacher's experiences in the Northern Territory, the Yolgnu (Aboriginal people in Arnhemland), and their relationship to Indonesia. I saw many Indonesian plays and was seduced by the vibrant energy of artists who were enjoying the creative freedom of Indonesia's reformasi era.

Yudi Ahmad Tajudin is the artistic director of Teater Garasi in Yogyakarta; Kusworo Bayu Aji is its executive director. The company creates two new performances a year and often tours to Jakarta and Surabaya.

At Utan Kayu theatre in Jakarta, I lined up with the young crowd eager to see Garasi's latest production, Percakapan di ruang kosong (Conversation in an empty room), a collaboration between the performers and the writer/ director Gunawan Maryanto. We crowded into the theatre space and took a place on the concrete floor, crouching in the darkness in anticipation. Three ash-covered actors, looking like they were set in concrete industrial cylinders, stared at us in the darkness. The audience was given medical masks, and the floor was covered in ash, perhaps a reference to the World Trade Centre disaster site. The actors recited the poem about a man taking a second wife. A beautiful woman entered, sheltering from rain under a banana leaf. She edged through the ash in a storm to the music of Sundanese drums and an electronic soundscape. She encountered a dog-man and eventually she too became a dog. Then the 'other woman' entered, creating a rich physical distortion between ugliness and delicate emotion.

Much of the work is non-verbal, but Garasi is intoxicated by Javanese traditional music and the influence of the Jathilan performance, which has a ritual basis and is performed in the open streets. They take their inspiration from Jalan Malioboro, Yogyakarta's main thoroughfare, which throbs day and night with music, and where it is possible to see seventy-year-old buskers playing the zither and singing to Dutch tourists.

In Yogyakarta, I met an old friend from Sydney, the musician Sawung Jabo. He was workshopping an innovative movement performance with street people, the desperate and creative young. He spoke about the inter-gang fights in Jakarta, with homemade bows and arrows. He hoped that the theatre and music would give them a means of expressing their feelings about current events. When I returned some months later, Jabo invited me to a rehearsal of Diantara langit dan bumi kita bergerak (We move between earth and sky) by the group Teater Oyot Suket (Grass Roots). The setting was dramatic, an earth floor outside an old house set amongst rice paddies and surrounded by flaming torches.

Aceh

Another friend, the playwright and actress, Ratna Sarumpaet, told me that her group was performing at the Bandung Performing Arts School theatre and said that I had to come. Her new play Alia, luka serambi Mekah (Alia, the wound of the verandah of Mecca) is about the war in Aceh. As in all of Ratna's plays, it concerns a woman fighting for justice. There were 32 actors so the performance had a strong ensemble character. The use of traditional Acehnese dance created a strong sense of village community. Ratna wrote about her play: Alia becomes number one enemy of the authorities ... breaking through the trap of traditional convictions for women, she becomes a person of vision and carries out the teachings of her religion (Islam) with the perspective of justice, the rights of men and women, including the rights of the dead.

When Ratna arrived in Bandung on 16th August she was interviewed on television. Immediately after the broadcast, the police came to the STSI university campus to see her. They asked her why she had not obtained permission for the performance, and she replied that it was art and as it was in a college it was no concern of theirs. The police left. I was struck by this woman's bravery, remembering that she had begun the play while in jail for three months during the days leading up to the overthrow of Suharto. In political terms, her plays are powerful documents that she takes around Indonesia, Europe and the US to educate people about human rights issues in Indonesia. In theatre terms, the plays are didactic and are prone to long impassioned declamatory speeches. Nevertheless they display a courage that is unmatched anywhere.

Overall, the modern and traditional theatre I witnessed in Java during 2001 is vital and dynamic, and it is time it was showcased in international arts festivals. If more Indonesian corporate sponsors would support these groups then the task of touring overseas would be less daunting. Indonesian theatre arts are unique, and the world awaits them.

Playwright Julie Janson (juliejanson@bigpond.com) the Asialink Literature Resident in Indonesia 2001.

 

Ratna Sarumpaet back on stage with 'Alia'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 05/12/2000 / 7:21 AM | Life

JAKARTA (JP): Ratna Sarumpaet, whose plays were often banned by the Soeharto government for alluding to chaos wrought by his authoritarian administration, is back on stage today.

Her Teater Satu Merah Panggung will perform her latest play Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah (Alia, Wound of Serambi Mekah) at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, from May 12 to May 17. It will be the theater's first show after the New Order regime crumbled in 1998.

The drama highlights the endless tragedy in Serambi Mekah, another name for Aceh. It will also be performed in Solo on May 26-27; Tasikmalaya, WestJava, on June 1-2 and Banda Aceh on June 16-17.

Alia, the protagonist, is granddaughter of a Moslem cleric (ulema) in Aceh. Once raped by a security officer, Alia grows as a tough but distressed and vulnerable woman. She mobilizes fellow villagers to exhume the remains of Acehnese people murdered by security forces and rebury them properly according to the local tradition. Her efforts to attain justice for her fellow Acehnese meet serious challenges.

""This (play) is our sincere prayer for those falling victim to violence in Maluku, Mataram, Kalimantan, Irian Jaya and Aceh,"" Ratna said in a pressstatement.

Ratna's plays are well-known for their political content. Her first work,Marsinah: Nyanyian dari Bawah Tanah (Marsinah: Song from the Underground), 1994, was dedicated to Marsinah, murdered labor heroine.

Then she performed Terpasung (Chained) in 1995, Pesta Terakhir (The Last Party) in 1996 and Marsinah Menggugat (Marsinah Revolts) in 1997.

Ratna recalls that the New Order government's tight grip on freedom of expression made sponsors stay away from her.

Now that democracy is budding, going on stage is a big challenge, she said. Through Alia, Teater Satu Merah Panggung means to tell the public to keep an eye on the tragedy taking place in Aceh and elsewhere in Indonesia.

 

Ratna's 'Alia' puts human face on Aceh's tragedy

The Jakarta Post, The Jakarta | Fri, 05/19/2000 7:00 AM

JAKARTA (JP): White ropes hung down from the ceiling, separating the stage and the audience at Graha Bhakti Budaya at Taman Ismail Marzuki Cultural Center (TIM). The black cloth around the stage radiated a sense ofgrief.

Sorrow and sadness were the dominant themes from May 12 to May 17 in Teater Satu Merah Panggung. Directed by Ratna Sarumpaet, the 2.5-hour play Alia, Luka Serambi Mekah (Alia, Wounds of Serambi Mekah) told of the human tragedy happening in Aceh.

Alia is a tough Acehnese woman who is disturbed about what is occurring in her homeland. Sounds of machine guns and soldiers marching haunt her. Massacres and rape by security personnel have become commonplace; Alia herself is one of the hundreds of rape victims in Aceh.

In her 30s, Alia continually questions the meaning of true freedom.

Her complaints are typical. ""We don't have a sense of security, even whenwe bow in prayer to God ... We in Serambi Mekah (Aceh) have been crying toomuch ... We Acehnese have never been given the right to choose.""

Alia is strong and intelligent. She asks her fellow Acehnese to exhume the remains of people buried in a mass grave and rebury them according to Islamic custom. She believes her father's body is among the skeletons.

The authorities consider her act ""subversive"". An official, who is her own uncle, tries to arrest her. When her boyfriend Farhan asks her to flee Aceh, she scolds him, ""Surrendering is the last option I would ever do"".

Her father, Tengku Saiful (L. Halim), turns out to be alive and well. When he asks her to join the Serambi Mekah proindependence movement, she replies, ""Can the move make Aceh secure and free from fear?"" Her father cannot answer the question.

Ratna is known as a director who raises vivid sociopolitical issues. She emerged as ""defender"" of labor heroine Marsinah when she performed Marsinah, Nyanyian Dari Bawah Tanah (Marsinah: Song from the Underground) in 1994 and Marsinah Menggugat (Marsinah Accuses) in 1997.

There is no resolution to the drawn-out Aceh affair. ""It has been going on for a long time but what the government has been doing is politicking which does not touch the substance,"" she said.

Ratna hopes Alia will encourage people to find out more about Aceh and the crux of the matter. She needed three months to write the script based on newspaper clippings, not on her personal observations in the province. She enriched the clippings with data from Jejak (Footprint), an institute she founded to monitor human tragedies that the government refuses to resolve.

She said she decided not to personally visit Aceh ""so that I am not leaning to either side of those in the dispute"".

In Alia Ratna does try to stay neutral, which is no doubt difficult because she has been highly involved in political activities over the last two years. The Soeharto government jailed her for two months in 1998.

She is determined to return to art and she wanted to make Alia free from political slogans.

""Politics is too heavy for me. I feel I am needed more in the arts.""

Ratna, who received Rp 120 million in donations from businesspeople to stage the production, said Alia was her first step in her effort to devote herself to the arts.

""There are no political motives behind this work but people are free to interpret it otherwise after seeing the play,"" she said.

Still, Ratna has not changed. Although the political content of Alia is presented in a refined way, the overtones are obvious. It is shown in Alia's final statement: ""It's unimportant whether Alia dies or not. What counts is if truth calls you, follow it even though the road is bumpy.

           

Masa-masa Marsinah Menggugat dan Penangkapan Ratna 1997 - 2000

Speech by U.S. Ambassador Robert S. Gelbard / October 20, 2000

Distinguished Guests and Fellow Workers:

I am pleased to see this conference taking place, especially as the spouse of a woman worker. During the more than 30 years of our marriage, my wife and I have always tried to accommodate each other's careers. I am proud to say that she is now working with USAID as a consultant on maternal and child health.

It is appropriate that the leadership of Indonesia's women workers come together at this juncture to combine your talents and energy, to claim the power that you and your sisters represent, and to let the world know that you are taking your rightful place in the forefront of the forces for change in Indonesia today.

You are truly the backbone of Indonesia's economy and society, as women comprise 55 percent of the workforce in the formal and informal sectors and 100% of the workforce at home. Since long before this country began to industrialize, women have been the mainstay of small-scale agriculture and rural enterprise in Indonesia. But, in addition, the growth of the industrial economy during the last two decades has brought unprecedented numbers of women into the formal workforce.

From Medan to Makassar, from Serang to Surabaya, as factory doors opened, a large and still growing number of the workers who entered those doors were women. In addition, during the last few years the number of women migrating to work outside Indonesia has more than doubled that of men. Thus, it can be fairly said that Indonesia's economic boom has ridden on your shoulders.

 

But even when the economy was growing at its fastest, women were not reaping the full benefits of their toil. While women's wages grew faster than men's during the early part of the 1990's, they started from a much lower base and still lagged behind. After the economic crisis hit, a disproportionate share of women workers in the manufacturing, financial, and trade sectors were laid off. Women still have less access to education than do men, and the economic downturn has forced hundreds of thousands of girls to leave school and join the informal economy to help support their families.

Women workers have paid an even higher price for their leadership of efforts to promote worker rights:

-- No one should forget the fate of Marsinah, who was brutally tortured and murdered in May 1993 after she protested the firing of fellow workers at a watch factory near Surabaya who led a strike to obtain the legal minimum wage.

 

It is truly appropriate that Ratna Sarumpaet will perform "Marsinah Menggugat" this evening. This is a great drama about a courageous woman who sacrificed herself for worker rights. We were honored that during Ibu Ratna's recent visit to the United States, she directed performances of her play in several cities, bringing this powerful story to American audiences.

-- Less well known, but no less courageous, was Titi Sugiarti, a worker at a textile factory south of Bandung who was found dead under suspicious circumstances in the company's industrial waste pond in April 1994 after she sought to organize a strike to improve conditions for the company's women workers.

It is outrageous that the persons responsible for the deaths of these two brave women have never been brought to justice. It is equally shameful that many other women labor leaders--including women participating in this conference--have been arrested, imprisoned, fired, demoted, threatened, and harassed, only because they sought simple justice in their workplace. It is indeed time for a change.

The fact that you are here demonstrates that you understand the value of collective action to fight against injustice. In the workplace, history has shown that one of the most effective ways of doing this is to join a union. My own experience certainly proves the value of this approach. I got my first union card when I went to work at the age of eighteen in New York as a janitor, and I am still a union member today - though not as a janitor.

Just as I am proud to be a union member, I am also proud of the cooperation between the United States Government and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity to support the development of free, democratic, and autonomous trade unions in Indonesia and in fact, throughout the world.

For more than a quarter of a century, we have been working together in this country to help people like you master the tools of organizing unions, managing them fairly and democratically, bargaining constructively with employers, earning a living wage in a safe, dignified workplace, and struggling with like-minded groups for justice, liberty, and a better life for your families.

Our partnership in sponsoring this conference is a concrete demonstration of the importance we attach to your struggle, and our commitment to see you succeed.

This conference is not the only way in which the United States Government is working to help you and your colleagues around the country.

-- Through a regional initiative called ARIAT, the U.S. is working with Asian governments and NGOs to eliminate the scourge of trafficking in women and children for forced labor, prostitution, and other exploitation;

--Second, through our economic aid program, we are supporting the involvement of women in micro, small and medium-scale enterprise development throughout Indonesia;

--Third, we are working with the American Center for International Labor Solidarity and a consortium of NGOs to address problems of Indonesian women migrant workers, and promote leadership programs for women in unions;

--And fourth, as part of our effort to enhance the position of women in the global economy, we are also promoting women's access to education and the enforcement of legislation against discrimination, so that women will have the opportunity to make full use of their talents.

And just in case any of you forgot, my boss is a woman. She is the first American woman to become Secretary of State. As one of the most important and powerful women in America, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, has said, "Efforts to advance the status of women can never again be confined to the backwaters of American interest. They . . .have become part of the mainstream of U.S. foreign policy."

Secretary Albright also said, "Of all the forces that will shape the world in the 21st century, [the women's movement] may be the most important." Everywhere she has gone, Secretary Albright has been witness to women reaching out to each other, standing up for their rights, and building platforms for future progress. In fact, I should tell you that she has formed a working group of all women Foreign Ministers around the world.

We can help you as you seek the empowerment of women workers in Indonesia, but only you can summon the collective energy and will to bring about real change here. A. Philip Randolph, one of our foremost labor organizers and a crusader for civil rights, once said, "Freedom is never granted: it is won. Justice is never given: it is exacted. Freedom must be struggled for by the oppressed of all lands and races."

Through your discussions here over the next three days, I hope you will find greater strength in ideas, spirit, and solidarity, that will prepare you to go out and organize your sisters and brothers throughout Indonesia to work for the betterment of all Indonesians.

I certainly would never want to be accused of interfering in Indonesia's internal affairs, but in closing I can't resist passing on a profound piece of wisdom from one of our greatest women labor leaders, Mary Harris Jones, fondly remembered as "Mother Jones." She was a tireless defender of America's most vulnerable workers during America's industrialization in the 19th century.

Here was her advice to those who joined her in the struggle for social justice: "Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living." I can't think of a better creed for you and your compatriots in the struggle for industrial justice and democracy in Indonesia. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be with you this morning. I wish you well in your work here and in the days ahead.

Source: U.S. Embassy, Jakarta
Indonesian Women Workers Conference, Hotel Santika
Jakarta, Friday, October 20, 2000

 

__________________________________

Ratna Sarumpaet - accused, and defiant      

(BARBARA HATLEY traces the life of Ratna Sarumpaet, among the most prominent of Indonesia's new political prisoners)

On the evening of Wednesday 11th March, viewers of Australian ABC television's '7.30 Report' witnessed a startling event - the arrest of playwright and theatre director Ratna Sarumpaet. Ratna and others had planned a gathering to coincide with the joint sitting of the Indonesian parliament, about to formally re-elect President Suharto. The international press and foreign embassies were invited. But the program of discussions was cancelled when security officials intervened.

As we watched from our living rooms, Ratna informed a small crowd that the event could not go ahead, and led them in the singing of two patriotic songs, Indonesia Raya and To you our country. Then, as they prayed silently before dispersing, the order went out to take Ratna Sarumpaet. We heard Ratna's sharp cries of protest 'Where is your warrant? Where is the warrant?', and saw her companions attempt vainly to prevent security police from forcing her into a car. Eight were arrested and taken with Ratna to the police headquarters in Jakarta.

Crime
Eventually six people were charged with holding an illegal political meeting. At the time of writing they remain in detention awaiting trial. Ratna herself faces two charges. One under a Sukarno-era ban on 'anti-revolutionary' political gatherings (with a maximum sentence of one year in prison), the other under an infamous colonial law against the spreading of hatred (maximum seven years). Both charges are filled with irony. A pre-trial appeal, protesting irregularities in their arrests, was summarily dismissed. The judgement stated in part that 'singing Indonesia Raya and To you my country is proof of their political crime'.

Ratna's supporters around the world have rallied in her defence, with letters of protest to the Indonesian authorities, a web page focussed on her case, and a world-wide program of readings from her works. But, confronting a regime which indicts the singing of patriotic songs as a political offence, they face a tough struggle. At one level Ratna's arrest was hardly a surprise. Over the past few years the outspoken, determined playwright has been involved increasingly combative confrontations with the authorities. She joined protests against the banning of Tempo magazine. She participated in the 1997 election campaign with a street theatre involving a coffin labelled 'democracy'. The last straw was her outright defiance of a ban imposed in Lampung last December on the performance of her monologue 'Marsinah accuses'. She proceeded with the show in a darkened, locked theatre complex before an audience who had evaded security guards by climbing a back fence.

Funeral
Her political activities have been accompanied by an increasingly critical stance in her creative works. Her 1994 production Marsinah: Nyanyian dari bawah tanah ('Marsinah: A song from the underworld') reflected on issues of political violence and repression inspired by the Marsinah case. Terpasung ('Shackled') explored themes of male dominance and violence towards women. Pesta terakhir ('The final celebration') depicts the grand funeral of a deceased authoritarian leader at which not one guest appears. And in the monologue Marsinah Menggugat ('Marsinah accuses') Ratna returns to the Marsinah theme, speaking directly in the voice of the murdered worker, who details the horrific brutality of her torture and death.

Indeed, Ratna's words just before her arrest show her moving to a savage indictment of a parliament which betrays the hopes of 200 million people. 'Who and what are we before our children, before the coming generations, before hundreds of millions of people far less empowered than ourselves', she called out passionately to those present, 'if, as our nation faces such a desperate situation, we can do nothing?'.

Ratna's activities do not, of course, remotely justify her detention. But they may suggest how a paternalistic, authoritarian regime, outraged at such provocation by a mere woman, feels the need to silence her. And they raise an intriguing question. How is it that a woman playwright who until a few years ago had been quite uninvolved in politics has taken up such a critical, outspoken position, at a time when better-known literary and theatre radicals are silent?

Rendra Both Ratna's parents had been politicians. But as representatives of Christian parties, marginalised and disfavoured in the Sukarno period, they did not bring up their children to be political. The emphasis, Ratna reports, was on working hard to do something useful. She was studying architecture at the University of Indonesia in 1969 when she saw a production of one of Rendra's plays and decided immediately that this was the path she wanted to follow. She went to Yogya and joined Rendra's group. After a time she left, with the aim of becoming a director and proving that in this way she could do something for society.

But instead she fell in love, married and had children. At first her husband, a businessman, refused to allow her to perform. Later he financed her in staging several productions. These were adaptations of foreign works - Rubaiyat of Omar Kayam, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet, in the last case with Ratna playing Hamlet. Then from 1976 to 1989 Ratna stopped performing theatre, though still working in television and film, as she struggled with the traumas of an unhappy, violent marriage. When she returned to theatre after her divorce, her productions were informed by a sustained focus on the situation of women. Ratna explains that her adaptation of Antigone to a Batak setting, for example, reflects the privileging of sons and brothers in Batak society and the lack of rights held by women.

Marsinah
But it was the murder of the female worker Marsinah in 1993 which set Ratna on a new direction in her work. Marsinah was a factory labour leader who was almost certainly murdered by military men acting on behalf of management. 'I am obsessed by Marsinah', Ratna said before the performance of her Marsinah play. She recounts how the murdered worker's face had appeared before her as she wrote the script, and how, after the production, she cried out to Marsinah's spirit to release her from her overwhelming influence.

Ratna identified intensely with Marsinah in her brutal silencing, not just as a worker but as a woman. The way Marsinah was treated, her raped and mutilated body simply discarded in a forest, to Ratna symbolised the deep, trivialising contempt which men, especially powerful men, feel towards women who dare to speak out. She herself had suffered enforced silencing and physical abuse in her marriage.

Stimulated by Marsinah's story Ratna went on, both in 'Marsinah: A song from the underworld' and in 'Shackled', to explore links between male dominance of women in the family and the exploitation of weaker forces by the power-holders in the paternalistic Indonesian state. Over the months and years the abuses of this authoritarian political system came to serve as an ever stronger focus of personal anger for Ratna. Artistic exploration flowed into direct political action.

If personal suffering has fuelled Ratna's attacks on the political system, so too, she suggests, such experience has given her courage to sustain the consequences. Surviving the trauma of her marriage, and the long struggle to obtain a divorce through Islamic courts which preached reconciliation until convinced by hospital reports of her broken ribs, gave her new confidence. Speaking prophetically in 1995, Ratna stated that she was now not afraid to speak out, not even of going to prison. The only things she feared were harming others and God.

Though there are powerful feminist resonances in Ratna's story and in her creative work, her relationship to feminism as a movement is an ambivalent one. She reports that feminist groups in Indonesia always want her to make a Statement about women in her plays, and to do something about the situation of women through her work. But this is too hard a thing to ask, she says. Social change does not happen in this way. In any case her concern is for all weak, oppressed people, women as well as men. She feels she can best assist Indonesian women by providing an example of achievement which others can follow.

Feisty defiance That achievement, as the only recognised Indonesian woman playwright and director in an otherwise all male field, has been hard-won. Ratna's personal style - assertive, forthright, self- confident, sharply critical at times - has both been central to her success and has also aroused criticism and controversy.

Similar complexities are evident in her present situation. The same feisty defiance which has seemingly provoked the authorities into hard-line repression is also sustaining her strongly through its effects. When her pre-trial appeal was rejected she issued a statement questioning President Suharto's re-election promise of openness to criticism - was this gold or dross, real commitment or lip-service?

She told journalists: 'Although I am physically in prison, my ideas about truth and justice will not be imprisoned'. She was recently hospitalised briefly with severe back pain due to a pre-existing condition, but remains positive.

While awaiting trial, she says she is learning from her 'new friends' - her ten cell-mates, whose backgrounds and experience are totally different from her own. And each day she is gratified to read in the newspapers of the ongoing struggle by the students to achieve political reform.

To these young people Ratna in turn is a source of inspiration as an artist who has dared to speak out for the same cause as theirs. Ratna's international supporters, while pressing for concrete political action, are also sustaining the spirit of this determined, idealistic, idiosyncratic fighter for justice, and thereby contributing to a spirit of solidarity and resistance.

Ratna was sentenced to 70 days jail on 20 May (the day before Suharto's resignation). The sentence equalled the time of her detention, and she was immediately released. For general information about Ratna and her writings, how to send letters of protest about her case, and to donate to a support fund, see http://www.en.com/users/herone/Ratna.html. For information about play readings, including some being held in Australia, see http://members.aol.com/leharper/index.html.

Barbara Hatley has written widely on Indonesian theatre. She teaches at Monash University in Melbourne

_________________________________________________

Important World Conference Of Cultural in Stockholm

about Ratna's Political Situation  

One of our invited guests, Ratna Sarumpaet - playwright from Indonesia - will not be able to participate because she was arrested during a pro-democracy meeting in North Jakarta on the 10:th of March.

INDONESIA:
Playwright faces up to 12 years jail

_______________________________________________________________

Title -- INDONESIA: Playwright faces up to 12 years jail - P66
Date -- 23 April, 1998
Byline -- none
Source -- WiPC; PEN; IFEX
Copyright -- CPJ
Status -- Unabridged
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch

23 April 1998

Playwright faces up to 12 years imprisonment

SOURCE: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), International PEN, London

**Updates IFEX alerts of 13 and 11 March 1998**

 

(WiPC/PEN/IFEX) - According to information released by WiPC on 22 April 1998, actress and playwright Ratna Sarumpaet was arrested on 10 March 1998. She continues to be held in police custody in Jakarta and will be tried on charges of "unacceptable political activity" and "the expression of feelings of hostility . . . towards the government." If convicted she could face a prison sentence of up to 12 years.

 

Ratna Sarumpaet is the Coordinator of Solidarity for Amien Rais and Megawati (SIAGA) and a prominent pro-democracy proponent. She is an actress, a television and stage director, as well as a playwright. One of her plays, "Marsinah's Song from Beneath the Earth" - about a woman worker who was killed - has been banned from performance and publication in Indonesia.

She was arrested on 10 March 1998 at the Horison Hotel in north Jakarta, where she had called a meeting to discuss the consequences of the country's economic crisis. The local chief of police broke the meeting up and arrested her as well as eight others in attendance. The eight include her daughter Fathom Saulina, Ging Ginanjar, freelance journalist and correspondent for Australian radio SBS, and Adi Hermawan, a freelance journalist and former correspondent for "Merdeka", and Bonar Tigor Naipospos, a human rights activist who was imprisoned four years ago for distributing the works of banned novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

 

All those arrested are to be tried under law number 5/PNPS/1963 which punishes unacceptable political activity with a five-year jail term. Ratna Sarumpaet additionally faces charges under Article 154 of the Criminal Code which punishes the "public expression of feelings of hostility, hatred, or contempt towards the government" with up to seven years imprisonment.

A legal challenge against her detention and that of five of the others was rejected by the District Court in North Jakarta on 31 March 1998.

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to authorities:

- calling on them to release Sarumpaet, Ginanjar and Hermawan immediately and drop all charges against them, as there is no evidence to suggest that they were involved in any criminal activity, and instead were merely exercising their right to freedom of expression

 

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency President Suharto
Office of the President
Jakarta, Indonesia
Fax: +62 21 360517 or 367782

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact the WiPC, International PEN, 9/10 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7AT, U.K., tel: +44 1 71 253 3226, fax: +44 1 71 253 5711, e-mail: intpen@gn.apc.org.

The information contained in this action alert is the sole responsibility of WiPC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit WiPC.

____________________________________________

Women Playwrights Worldwide Support Jailed Indonesian PLaywright, Ratna Sarumpaet  

By Roger Armbrust

In recent days, the international news media has been casting eyes on turmoil in Indonesia. The Asian country--with a population of 210 million--has witnessed riots and calls for the resignation of its 30-year leader, President Suharto.

But women playwrights worldwide have been peering toward that land within the Maylay archipelago since March 10. That's when authorities jailed Ratna Sarumpaet, considered the country's most prominent female dramatist, following a peaceful pro-democracy event in North Jakarta, Indonesia's capital and largest city. The demonstration was timed to coincide with Suharto's election to a seventh five-year term.
Local police detained Sarumpaet, her daughter, and seven other people, including members of her theatre company. While all were charged with crimes which could sentence them to a maximum of five years in jail, only Sarumpaet received an added charge with violating "hatzaai artikelen," or the "hate-spreading act." The law, actually an old colonial regulation, bans any public expression against the government; it carries a maximum seven-year sentence. According to latest reports of the International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP), six of those arrested are still being detained.

"Ratna's still in prison, and having health problems," says Laura Henry, a New York playwright, who told Back Stage of Sarumpaet's imprisonment. According to the ICWP, Sarumpaet experienced severe nerve pain in late April, and was hospitalized. Attending physicians urged police to keep her at the hospital, but on May 1, authorities returned her to her cell. A court has denied her bail.

Around the globe, women playwrights have known and admired the dramatic work of the activist Sarumpaet, who is also an actor and director. She supervises Satu Merah Panggung, a production company for contemporary performance arts in Jakarta. Besides her several original plays, she has adapted Batak versions of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," "Antigone," and a modern opera of "Romeo and Juliet." She has presented work at the prestigious Festival of International Theatre in Avignon, France, and at ICWP conferences in Australia and Ireland.
Since her incarceration, the ICWP has begun a movement to free her: the group has inspired "Readings for Ratna," public presentations in different countries which call attention to the playwright's work and her plight. ICWP has also disseminated information and started a letter-writing campaign.
The conference's efforts have been organized entirely over the Internet, where women playwrights began E-mailing one another about the possiblity in their communities of reading Sarumpaet's play "Marsinah," a passionate response to the rape, murder and mutilation of a young female labor organizer.
The readings have taken place since late April and will extend through the entire month of May. They range from gatherings in Austria to Australia to the U.S. and Canada. Here in the U.S., the presentations have stretched from Oregon's Shakespeare Festival to a two-woman performance in a Providence, R.I. bookstore. In many cases, said the ICWP, groups of theatres and other organizations are banding together as co-sponsors.
"The number of events changes daily," notes Henry. "We had planned a 10-day period of readings. But since the situation in Indonesia has become front-page news, the presentations keep going. Those in the U.S. were supposed to be over, but one is set up in San Francisco, and [ perhaps] in Atlanta. Readings are also coming to Australia."

The ICWP is primarily an "on-paper organization" which communicates primarily through the Internet and bi-annual conferences, says Henry. It is encouraging interested parties to write U.S. government officials--including President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeline Albright--and U.N. representatives including the Indonesian ambassador on behalf of Sarumpaet. Sample letters are on the ICWP's website at http://members.aol.com/leharper, which also provides news updates about readings on a daily basis.More details about Sarumpaet are also available at http://www.en.com/users/herone/Ratna.html.

______________________________

Bila pekan-pekan ini Ratna Sarumpaet, 48 tahun, rajin mendatangi kantor Komnas HAM dan YLBHI, itu bukan bagian adegan pementasan monolog Marsinah Menggugat. Marsinah yang dimaksud dalam lakon ini adalah buruh wanita di Jawa Timur yang gigih memperjuangkan nasib rekannya dan akhirnya tewas terbunuh—tapi sampai kini kasusnya masih misterius dan tak diungkap siapa pembunuhnya.

Pementasan Marsinah ala Ratna Sarumpaet ini di Surabaya dan Bandung dicekal aparat keamanan. Tentu saja pencekalan ini membuat adik artis Mutiara Sani ini naik pitam dan hilang kesabaran. "Secara pribadi kedatangan saya ke Komnas dan LBH karena menginginkan hal yang lebih kongkrit. Saya tahu Komnas HAM punya keterbatasan yang tidak bisa dihindari," ujar pemimpin teater Satu Merah Panggung di kantor LBH Jakarta, Senin, 8 Desember lalu. Ratna didampingi Jajang C. Noer dan Arswendo Atmowiloto mewakili Solidaritas Seniman Jakarta.

Ratna menyesali tindakan pihak kepolisian yang melarang pementasan ini. Ia bisa maklum jika pementasannya dilarang di Surabaya, karena kebetulan kasus misterius ini terjadi di Jawa Timur. Tapi ia heran, kenapa juga dicekal ketika akan mentas di gedung CCF (Pusat Kebudayaan Prancis) Bandung pada tanggal 6 Desember lalu. "Akhirnya saya sadar bahwa ternyata Marsinah masih minta korban. Ada sesuatu yang tidak terselesaikan, sehingga membuat polisi merasa berhak intervensi atas segala kegiatan berbau Marsinah. Ini konyol dan keterlaluan sekali, " hardiknya dengan nada marah dan wajah memerah.

Senin siang itu kemarahan Ratna memang tergambar jelas di kantor LBH. Ketika acara tanya jawab dengan wartawan, Ratna kelihatan sangat emosional. Mengenakan baju serba putih, Ratna yang diterima Direktur YLBHI Bambang Widjojanto, bilang, "Ketika saya bicarakan dengan YLBHI, ada satu kesepakatan yang lebih kongkrit, misalnya menggugat Kapolri atau mempertanyakan ini apa maksudnya?" tutur wanita kelahiran Sumatera Utara ini, dengan dialek khas dan tegas.

Ratna sangat kecewa dengan tindakan kepolisian yang semena-mena melarang pertunjukkan ini. Padahal, kata dia, berdasarkan petunjuk lapangan yang dikeluarkan Mabes Polri 29 Desember 1995 No. Pol Juklak/02/XII/1995 tentang perizinan dan pemberitahuan kegiatan masyarakat yang diteken Kapolri, disebutkan bahwa pertemuan budaya berupa pagelaran musik, tarian, drama, pembacaan puisi, opera, pantomin, kesenian daerah dan bentuk lain sejenisnya adalah pertemuan yang tidak memerlukan izin atau pemberitahuan.

Bukan kali ini saja Ratna berurusan dengan polisi. Waktu pemilu lalu Ratna sempat diinterogasi karena mengusung keranda bertuliskan "Matinya Demokrasi di Indonesia",di kawasan Pancoran, Jakarta. Adakah karena sepak-terjang dan pementasan Ratna berbau politis? "Saya menyadari pementasan ini bermuatan politis. Apa pun dalam hidup manusia mengandung unsur politis. Harga cabe di pasaran melonjak karena kebijakan politik. Sebagai seniman, saya berekspresi karena peduli dengan apa yang menimpa bangsa saya. Masa tidak boleh ngomong dan bicara," tutur Ratna tajam.

 Seyogyanya masih ada dua pementasan yang bakal digelar Ratna di kota Padang dan Bandar Lampung. Ia berharap agar tak lagi dicekal. Jika tetap dihentikan polisi? "Saya akan menggugat Kapolri yang sudah merugikan saya secara pribadi. Karena itu saya mempercayakan YLBHI untuk membantu saya melakukan gugatan ini," ucap Ratna, tegas.

 Kalau begitu, ganti saja judulnya: Ratna Sarumpaet Menggugat