This is the flag of the South Malaku Republic, which was a part of the Republic Negara Indonesia Timor under which it had secured the right to leave (become independent). Although this right was maintained at the infamous Hague Round Table Conference in 1949 which saw the combination of the Republic Negara Indonesia Timor and the Jakarta based Republik Indonesia as a federation, the South Moluccas exercised this right and declared independence on April 25, 1950 when they realized what Sukarno's ultimate plans were. Indonesian federal troops then invaded South Malaku to forcefully incorporate it into Indonesia.

This flag is regularly burned in government organized street protests in Jakarta to try and show the world there is popular support for Jakarta's position. If you are not a government flag burner and are caught with the South Malaku flag you will face criminal charges of treason and up to 20 years of prison and torture even though it is your right under International law to both express yourself and seek self-determination through peaceful means.

Some facts about South Malaku Republic / the South Moluccas Islands.;

1) The right to independence was incorporated in (article 2b & c and article 189) of the constitution of the Republic Negara Indonesia Timor, which right was recognized and guaranteed in the Round Table Conference at the Hague in 1949 when the Republic Negara Indonesia Timor joined the Republik Indonesia under as a federation of two republics.

2) West Malaku exercised its legal right to independence in 1950 with a declaration recognized as properly, constitutionally and legally made by the United Nations' regional observers.

3) Sukarno immediately launched an invasion against this sovereign state, then The Republik Maluku Selatan.

4) The legitimate government of the South Moluccas fled to The Netherlands with 12,000 Moluccan soldiers and their families in 1950 / 1951 and established a government in exile. Unfortunately frustration seems to have gotten the better of the "RMS" (Republik Maluku Selatan) and factions of it committed "terror" attacks for example in 1978, when one RMS group took 70 civilians hostage inside a Dutch government building in Assen, Holland / The Netherlands after which the Dutch Government withdrew their support for the organization.

5) The South Moluccas is or rather was predominantly Christian but what many describe as deliberate attempts to change this through "encouraged" Muslim Indonesian migration to the region may have changed this.

6) Although the RMS lost its legitimacy in the Netherland, the right for the people of the South Moluccas Islands to achieve independence was not lost with it. International human rights groups and other NGO's still actively campaign and lobby the UN.

7) The RMS cause is currently mainly promoted by the Front Kedaulatan Maluku, whose leaders Alex Manuputty and Semmy Waileruny were tried unlawfully in absentia for treason (being separatists and waving the RMS flag as is their legal right under international law). Alex Manuputty now lives in the USA campaigning for recognition for their cause while the Indonesian authorities try to coerce the US State department into deporting him, an act many say would result in his death.

8) The Republic of Indonesia would have the world believe that the independence movement in Maluku is dead but this is false, it is still very active. If foreign tourists, aid workers or human rights observers try to travel to most if not all of Malaku they are told there are safety concerns because of inter-tribal clashes; nonsense, it is because independence is still being fought for and also Jakarta does not want people to see the human rights abuse (murder, rape, burning, etc.) going on there by their security forces.

9) In 2007 the Indonesian Government blocked independence and autonomy favoring governor nominees from registering with the result of massive protests and riots which have been put down bloodily by the Indonesian military.

For details of International efforts to help Maluku become independent, see: Republik Maluku.

For what is left of the RMS after The Netherlands withdrew support for the organization, visit: RMS