April 27 2001, Message from Tim Conor/NikeWatch to adidas on the Panarub case

Dear Mr. Husselbee,

Thank you for sending adidas-Salomon's statement on the case at PT Panarub, Indonesia. Several aspects of this case are extremely concerning and in light of them adidas-Salomon's suggestion that there is nothing the company can do but monitor the case is intensely disappointing.

In particular it is far from clear why Ngadinah is being held in detention pending trial. Amnesty International's Fair Trial Manual notes that "People charged with a criminal offence should not normally be held in detention pending trial" and that "the presumption of innocence requires that any restrictions on a person's liberty must be limited to those which are strictly necessary." Under internationally accepted principles of justice the circumstances in which it may be justifiable to keep a suspect in detention before trial inclue "when it is deemed necessary to prevent the suspect from fleeing, interfering with witnesses or when the suspect poses a clear and serious risk to others which cannot be contained by less restrictive means".

Ngadinah is committed to remaining in the factory as the union secretary and is therefore extremely unlikely to abscond. To the best of our knowledge there has been no suggestion that she is likely to interfere with witnesses or pose a risk to others' safety.

The second extraordinary aspect of the case is the vagueness of the charge. Amnesty International's Fair Trial Manual states that "An arrest or detention which is lawful may nonetheless be arbitrary under international standards, for example if the law under which the person is detained is vague [or] over-broad...".

The police accusation Ngadinah would appear to be "vague and over-broad". We have not seen any detailed explanation of the criminal actions for which they believe she is responsible. Adidas' statement on this matter was also extremely vague, saying only that "there was some concern that factory employees had been intimidated by those who lead the demonstrations, and that there had been a series of unlawful acts endangering people's safety and property". If adidas-Salomon has details of exactly what unlawful acts Ngadinah has been charged with it would be good to see them as soon as possible. In the absence of that information the police would appear to have used a vague and ill-defined charge to arrest Ngadinah, making her detention before trial even more concerning.

As you know from our previous correspondence those of us with experience in monitoring labor rights in Indonesia do not have confidence that the police, military and judiciary operate in an unbiased and professional manner. Rather we have observed that the police, military and judiciary frequently collude with factory owners to suppress union rights. We believe that this collusion is motivated by a desire to maintain an investment climate which will encourage factory production to stay in Indonesia. Amnesty International's Annual Report for 2000 described Indonesia's judicial system as "weak and corrupt".

As you are aware, the Social Information and Legal Guidance Foundation (SISBIKUM) believes that PT Panarub has colluded with police on this matter with the intention of suppressing the independent union at the factory. The Executive Secretary of that organisation, Arist Merdeka Sirait, notes that the factory has fired board members of this organisation in the past, an allegation to which the Adidas statement declines to respond.

Given the extraordinary nature of this case and the allegations that your supplier PT Panarub may be colluding with police in order to suppress workers' right to freedom of association, the situation demands clear and firm public statements to the Indonesian press by both adidas-Salomon and PT Panarub. These statements should call on local authorities to:

- operate according to internationally accepted legal standards and release Ngadinah pending her trial, and - detail the exact nature of the criminal actions of which she is being accused.

In making these statements adidas and PT Panarub would not be commenting on the truth or otherwise of the charges and hence would not be compromising the fairness of the trial. Rather a statement along these lines would be supporting the need for authorities to adhere to internationally accepted standards of justice.

PT Panarub should also make a clear public statement clarifying whether or not the factory asked the police to conduct the investigation which has resulted in Ngadinah's arrest.

We understand that the conditions of Ngadinah's detention are poor and that she is suffering considerable trauma. Given this there is a need for urgent action on this matter.

Sincerely,

Tim Connor, NikeWatch Campaign, Australia.

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Contact information:

The address of PT PANARUB: Jl. Moh. Toha Km. 1, TANGERANG - INDONESIA Telp.: (62-21) 5522981, 5524330, 5524412 Fax: (62-21) 5524319

David Husselbee adidas-Salomon Germany

e-mail: David.Husselbee@adidas.de