16 January 1998

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release



TAPOL CONDEMNS AWARDS TO INDONESIAN FORESTRY MINISTER
AND INDONESIAN TYCOON


The decision by the Finnish President, Martti Ahtisari, to give prestigious
state awards to Indonesia's Minister of Forestry, Djamaluddin
Suryohadikusumo, and the Indonesian tycoon, Sukanto Tanoto, director of the
conglomerate, APRIL, is a disgrace to the good name of Finland. The Minister
has for years been presiding over the systematic destruction of pristine
Indonesian forests to serve the commercial interests of timber companies,
the pulp and paper industry and conglomerates like APRIL. 
 
For more than six months last year, fires raged out of control in Kalimantan
and Sumatra, devastating nearly two million hectares of forest and causing
serious health hazards for millions of people in Indonesia and throughout
Southeast Asia. 

The contract recently signed between Sukanto Tanoto's APRIL and the Finnish
company, UPM-Kymmene, can only result in yet more violations of the rights
of local inhabitants in Riau, driven from their ancestral lands without
proper consultation or compensation. The award will certainly be seen as an
affront by local communities who have been waging struggles against APRIL
and local military and civilian authorities in defence of their land.

On two occasions recently, representatives of TAPOL met senior officials of
UPM-Kymmene in Helsinki to express their rejection of the company's deal
with APRIL, in view of the gross attack on local people's rights. They also
warned that the company could soon be dragged down by the impending collapse
of the Indonesian economy, weighed down by the greed and nepotism of the
country's dictator, Suharto. That collapse has now occurred even sooner than
we thought, bringing in its trail grave economic and social consequences for
the Indonesian people.

Carmel Budiardjo of TAPOL said: 'I am appalled at the decision to grant such
awards. The forest fires last year have been described as the worst
environmental disaster this century, hardly an event worth awarding. It
would be better for the Finnish government to direct attention towards
condemning forestry practices in Indonesia and helping to defend the local
communities victimised by current forestry policies.'

TAPOL has campaigned to expose human rights violations by the Indonesian
regime for the past twenty-five years. 

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