Dubya's retreat on Indonesian human rights<\/p>\n
Brad Simpson, Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
There is a bitter irony to the Bush Administration's
\nannouncement in late February that it will restore military
\ntraining for the Indonesian armed forces, which came just days
\nbefore the State Department's annual human rights report charged
\nthat in 2004 \"security force members murdered, tortured, raped,
\nbeat, and arbitrarily detained civilians.\"<\/p>\n
Just as surely as it used the attacks of Sept. 11 to enlist
\nauthoritarian and human-rights abusing regimes in the so-called
\n\"war on terror,\" the Bush Administration is now exploiting the
\ntragedy of the Asian tsunami to expand military ties with
\nIndonesia. If we are serious about advancing reform in Indonesia,
\nCongress and the American public should oppose such a move.<\/p>\n
Congress first restricted International Military and
\nEducational Training (IMET) for Indonesia in 1992 following the
\nmassacre of more than 270 unarmed civilians in Dili, the capitol
\nof then Indonesian-occupied East Timor. Over the next several
\nyears, Congress further restricted most forms of military
\nassistance in response to clear evidence of Indonesian military
\nparticipation in human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
The Clinton Administration finally cut military ties with
\nJakarta entirely in September 1999, after the Indonesian Army and
\nits paramilitary proxies murdered an estimated 1,500 people and
\nburnt much of East Timor to the ground following the territory's
\nvote for independence in a U.N.-sponsored referendum.<\/p>\n
After 1999, Congress demanded that Indonesia assert civilian
\ncontrol over the military and hold accountable military officers
\nresponsible for crimes against humanity in East Timor before
\nmilitary aid could be resumed. In a series of ad-hoc trials
\ncondemned by the State Department, however, Indonesian judges
\nproceeded to acquit every military officer brought before them,
\nsending a clear signal that Jakarta did not believe in
\naccountability for human rights crimes.<\/p>\n
Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. government
\nauthorized the provision of \"anti-terrorism\" assistance to the
\nIndonesian Armed Forces, using the terrorist attacks to justify
\npartial re-engagement with the military. Increased involvement
\nwith the Armed Forces has not led to a reduction in abuses.<\/p>\n
In May 2003, Indonesia broke off internationally mediated
\npeace talks with separatist forces in Aceh, launching a massive
\nmilitary operation in which several thousand Acehnese were
\nkilled, many of them civilians. No ranking Indonesian military
\nofficers have been held to account for crimes that include the
\nkilling, torture, arbitrary detention and even rape of civilians.<\/p>\n
In West Papua, Indonesian security forces continue to commit
\nserious abuses, especially in areas near concessions run by
\nFreeport McMoran, a U.S.-based mining company. In August 2002 two
\nAmericans teachers working for Freeport in the town of Timika
\nwere killed when gunmen opened fire on a caravan of vehicles. The
\nFBI has praised Indonesian cooperation in the case, though no one
\nhas been arrested and Indonesian police concluded that members of
\nlocal Kopassus (Special Forces) units were likely behind the
\nkillings.<\/p>\n
In spite of this sordid record, Bush Administration officials
\nclaim that Indonesia has met the sole Congressional condition for
\nthe resumption of military training. That extremely narrow
\ncondition merely requires cooperation in investigating the Timika
\nkillings.<\/p>\n
While Indonesia has doubtless made progress on many fronts,
\nmost importantly by holding free elections last year, the Armed
\nForces willingness to hold itself accountable for human rights
\nabuses is a crucial litmus test of its commitment to democratic
\nreform. So far the signs have not been encouraging.<\/p>\n
Concern about the U.S. re-engagement with the Indonesian
\nmilitary is not confined to Congressional critics such as Senate
\nForeign Relations Committee member Patrick Leahy, who agues that
\nthe resumption of IMET \"will be seen by the Indonesian military
\nauthorities who have tried to obstruct justice as a pat on the
\nback.\" Writing in the conservative Weekly Standard on Feb. 28,
\nanalyst Ellen Bork cautioned that U.S. military aid should be
\nconditioned to a strategy \"for advancing democracy and human
\nrights in Indonesia.\"<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claims that U.S. military
\ntraining will imbue Indonesian officers with respect for human
\nrights and civilian control, but the history of U.S. engagement
\nwith the Indonesian military suggests that the opposite is true.
\nSince the late 1950s, when training began, U.S.-trained soldiers
\nand officers have been involved in the murder and torture of
\nhundreds of thousands of civilians in East Timor, Aceh, West
\nPapua and other parts of the Indonesian archipelago.<\/p>\n
Military engagement has reinforced, not reduced, the power of
\nthe Armed Forces in Indonesian society, who view increased
\nassistance as Washington's stamp of approval for brutal military
\npractices.<\/p>\n
Indonesian defense minister Juwono Sudarsono is visiting
\nWashington this week for talks with U.S. officials. Congress
\nshould make clear to both Minister Sudarsono and the Bush
\nAdministration that increased military assistance will only come
\nafter genuine accountability for past and present human rights
\nabuses.<\/p>\n
Military aid is both carrot and stick, but, more important, a
\npotent political symbol of the values that the U.S. holds to be
\nimportant in foreign policy making. Increasing military
\nassistance to Indonesia at this time will send a clear and
\ndamaging signal to the rest of the world that respect for human
\nrights is but another casualty of the recent tsunami and the
\nbroader war on terror.<\/p>\n
The writer is an assistant professor at Idaho State University
\nand a Research Fellow with the National Security Archives in
\nWashington, DC, specializing in U.S.-Indonesian relations. He can
\nbe reached at simpbrad@isu.edu<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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