RI activists slam Wolfowitz nomination<\/p>\n
Slobodan Lekic, Associated Press\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Paul Wolfowitz' candidacy for World Bank president has triggered
\ncriticism from rights activists in Indonesia, where he served as
\nU.S. ambassador during Suharto's dictatorship but never spoke out
\npublicly against the regime's violent abuses or endemic
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
Wolfowitz, considered the key architect of the U.S.-led
\ninvasion of Iraq, has been nominated by U.S. President George W.
\nBush to succeed the outgoing bank president, James Wolfensohn.<\/p>\n
International organizations and Third World countries -- the
\nmain recipients of World Bank loans -- are questioning his
\nqualifications and commitment to international development.<\/p>\n
Analysts in Indonesia, where Wolfowitz served as ambassador
\nduring the military-backed government of former President Suharto
\nfrom 1986 to 1989, say the candidate has a poor track record in
\nother areas crucial to the World Bank, such as fighting graft and
\nrespect for human rights.<\/p>\n
\"Of all former U.S. ambassadors, he was considered closest to
\nand most influential with Suharto and his family,\" said Abdul
\nHakim Garuda Nusantara, head of the state-sponsored National
\nCommission on Human Rights.<\/p>\n
\"But he never showed interest in issues regarding
\ndemocratization or respect of human rights,\" said Hakim, who at
\nthe time headed the Legal Aid Institute that defended dissidents
\nand sought to free political prisoners.<\/p>\n
\"Wolfowitz never once visited our offices.\"<\/p>\n
\"I also never heard him publicly mention corruption, not
\nonce,\" he said.<\/p>\n
At the time, thousands of leftists detained after the 1965
\nU.S.-backed military coup that brought Suharto to power were
\nstill languishing in jail without trial. And tens of thousands of
\npeople in East Timor -- a country Suharto's troops occupied in
\n1975 -- died during the 1980s in a series of army anti-insurgency
\noffensives.<\/p>\n
During his 32-year reign, Suharto, his family and his military
\nand business cronies transformed Indonesia into one of the most
\ngraft-ridden countries in the world, plundering an estimated
\nUS$30 billion.<\/p>\n
After being ousted in 1998 by pro-democracy protests, Suharto
\nwas finally charged in 2000 with personally embezzling $600
\nmillion. The charges were dropped when judges ruled he was too
\nill to go to trial.<\/p>\n
Still, Wolfowitz publicly lauded the dictator, praising his
\n\"strong and remarkable leadership\" in congressional testimony.<\/p>\n
Wolfowitz \"never alluded to any concerns about the level of
\ncorruption or the need for more transparency,\" said Binny
\nBuchori, director of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian
\nDevelopment -- a coalition of 100 agencies promoting democracy in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"He was an effective diplomat, but he gave no moral support
\nfor dissidents,\" she said. \"He went to East Timor and saw abuses
\ngoing on, but then kept quiet.\"<\/p>\n
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a former foreign policy adviser to B.J.
\nHabibie, Suharto's successor as head of state, also agreed that
\nWolfowitz was a competent and popular envoy.<\/p>\n
\"He was extremely able and very much admired and well-liked on
\na personal level ... but he never intervened to push human rights
\nor stand up to corruption,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"At the time, Washington didn't care too much about human
\nrights and democracy; it was still the Cold War and they were
\nonly concerned about fighting communism.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-activists-slam-wolfowitz-nomination-1447893297",
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