Developed countries 'use rights issue for protection'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said yesterday that developed
\ncountries used human rights issues merely as a pretext to protect
\ntheir own economic and political interests.<\/p>\n
The industrialized countries often used irrelevant issues to
\ndisrupt developing countries' development programs because their
\nown economic growth was discouraging while some developing
\ncountries grew steadily, he said.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said this was why Indonesia faced mounting pressure
\nfrom the U.S. Congress and other sources over its human rights
\nrecord.<\/p>\n
"They manipulate human rights, democratization, labor problems
\nfor their own interests," Soeharto told journalists aboard a
\nGaruda Indonesia aircraft while returning from Sunday's summit of
\neight predominantly Moslem developing countries (D-8) in
\nIstanbul, Turkey.<\/p>\n
"You can see how pressure is mounting on Indonesia, from U.S.
\nCongress' resolution on East Timor from Senator Kennedy,"
\nSoeharto said, referring to Patrick Kennedy who is campaigning to
\nstall U.S. aid to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"We have to prove that we in Indonesia implement human rights
\naccording to our understanding and concept of it," he said.<\/p>\n
Last month, Indonesia canceled the purchase of nine U.S. F-16
\njet fighters and pulled out of the American-run International
\nMilitary Education Training (IMET) in response to several
\ncongressmen's insistence that the jet fighter sale be canceled to
\ncensure Jakarta for its human rights record.<\/p>\n
Congressman Patrick Kennedy drafted the Indonesia Military
\nAssistance Accountability Act aimed at stalling aid to Indonesia.
\nThe US$600,000 IMET program trains senior foreign military
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
Soeharto told President Clinton, in a letter dated 26 May,
\nthat "wholly unjustified criticism in the U.S. Congress against
\nIndonesia" was one of the factors that led to the cancellation.<\/p>\n
"We want peace instead of war, dialog instead of
\nconfrontation, cooperation instead of exploitation, equality
\ninstead of discrimination, justice instead of double standards
\nand democracy instead of oppression," Soeharto recited the
\nprinciples of the D-8 contained in Sunday's declaration.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that developing countries had to set up
\norganizations, including the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which has
\n113 members, Group of 77 (G-77) and Group of 15 (G-15), to
\ncounter the strength of developed countries.<\/p>\n
"But the cooperation groups have become so big that they are
\nno longer effective," the president said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia hosted a NAM summit in Jakarta in September 1992 and
\nchaired it for three years before handing it over to Columbia.<\/p>\n
The movement recently rejected a bid by the International
\nLabor Organization's (ILO) chief, Michel Hansenne, to move
\ntowards a system of social labeling of goods produced in
\nconformity with ILO's core labor standards.<\/p>\n
The G-15 consists of prominent developing countries including
\nMalaysia and Indonesia. Malaysia is expected to host a G-15
\nsummit in October.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said the D-8 leaders had asked Indonesia to
\ncoordinate poverty alleviation programs because of its long
\nexperience which had earned it recognition from the United
\nNations Development Programme (UNDP).<\/p>\n
Last week the UN agency praised Indonesia's success in
\nreducing poverty and developing human resources.<\/p>\n
The UNDP will hold a world conference on poverty alleviation
\nin Jakarta this year.<\/p>\n
"The UNDP will give an award to us on Sept. 8," Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
He said Indonesia had won several awards from international
\norganizations including the Food and Agriculture Organization for
\nsuccessfully achieving self-sufficiency in rice and its family
\nplanning program. (06)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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