RI performs rights balancing act to win U.S. help<\/p>\n
Victor Tjahjadi, Agence France-Presse, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A delicate balancing act of resisting international concern over
\npast atrocities while appealing for foreign military help has
\nbegun to pay off for Indonesia with Washington on course to
\nrevive ties frozen due to human rights violations.<\/p>\n
Last week the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to lift
\nmilitary aid restrictions to Jakarta that were imposed in 1991 in
\nresponse to Indonesian military violence in its 1999 breakaway
\nprovince of East Timor.<\/p>\n
Although the US$20.3 billion foreign aid bill, under which
\nIndonesia is eligible for help, has yet to win Senate approval
\nand be signed by U.S. President George W. Bush, the Congressional
\ngreen light removes a major obstacle.<\/p>\n
Yet, even as it rubs its hands in anticipation, Jakarta is
\nfacing renewed demands to account for its actions in East Timor,
\nwith UN experts calling for Indonesian alleged rights abusers to
\nface an international tribunal.<\/p>\n
If Indonesia succeeds in winning military aid from the United
\nStates, it will mark a major coup for new President Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono, who visited Washington in May on a charm
\noffensive aimed at lifting the restrictions.<\/p>\n
It will also help smooth relations between America and the
\nworld's largest Muslim-populated nation, the scene of several
\nmajor militant attacks, at a time when support for the U.S.-led
\nwar on terror is floundering.<\/p>\n
Susilo's government successfully salved the concerns of
\nCongress by cooperating with an FBI probe into the killings of
\ntwo U.S. citizens in Papua in 2002, after which the concerns over
\nEast Timor have apparently been sidelined.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told AFP last
\nweek that he \"positively welcomed\" the move by the House of
\nRepresentatives, however the move has angered rights campaigners.<\/p>\n
\"The passing of the bill shows that the U.S. is inconsistent
\nwith the decision-making of their foreign policy,\" said Hendardi,
\nchairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
\nAssociation.<\/p>\n
\"They claimed that the embargo was part of their pledge to
\nuphold human rights, yet, the endorsement of the bill is clear
\nevidence of their own political and economic interests,\" he told
\nAFP.<\/p>\n
Key to the concerns of rights campaigners is Jakarta's failure
\nto jail any senior officials over the violence in which pro-
\nIndonesian militia gangs -- allegedly directed by Indonesian army
\nofficers -- ran amok in East Timor.<\/p>\n
They killed about 1,400 independence supporters in the former
\nPortuguese colony, laid waste to much of the infrastructure and
\nforcibly deported 250,000 people after the poll resulted in an
\noverwhelming vote for separation.<\/p>\n
Last week, a UN Commission of Experts panel report said an
\nIndonesian rights court used to try senior officials was
\n\"manifestly inadequate\" and \"shows scant respect for -- or
\nconformity to -- relevant international standards\".<\/p>\n
Human rights trials held in Indonesia to try those
\nresponsible, and deflect UN calls for a proper tribunal, ended
\nlast year after acquitting all but one of the 18 security
\nofficers and officials who appeared before them.<\/p>\n
With both Dili and Jakarta keen to turn a corner on their
\ntroubled past, Indonesia insists it is justified in seeking a
\nrestoration of military help, particularly as it attempts to
\nrebuild in the wake of last year's tsunami.<\/p>\n
\"What we need is the full revocation of the embargo for spare
\nparts for our defense equipment manufactured in or outsourced
\nfrom the United States,\" Defense Minister Juwono told AFP in an
\ninterview.<\/p>\n
He criticized rights groups and the UN panel for their
\nrelentless pressure over East Timor, saying that they were
\nwrongly attributing blame for the violence, after which Indonesia
\nhad done its best to deliver justice.<\/p>\n
\"They are too fixated on what they deem gross violations of
\nhuman rights. We have explained to them that absence of power was
\nthe cause of the mayhem and destruction in East Timor,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Juwono defended the outcome of the trials, blaming Indonesia's
\nlack of funds to carry out judicial investigations and absence of
\na mechanism to bring East Timorese witnesses to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The logistics of our justice, particularly the (mechanism)
\nfor full-accountable justice, are things that we do not have,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot provide that because we don't have the judiciary
\nlogistical basis to undergo such an undertaking of full
\naccounting. It's not for lack of trying, politically. It's just
\nthe logistics of it,\" Juwono argued.<\/p>\n
He said the creation of a joint panel established by Indonesia
\nwith East Timor -- or the Commission of Truth and Friendship --
\nwas a \"better\" solution for both countries to reconcile their
\npast differences.<\/p>\n
But, says the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, a human
\nrights group, any attempt by Indonesia to deal with its past also
\nfails to address concerns over current military action,
\nparticularly against separatist rebels in tsunami-hit Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia's armed forces have not met existing congressional
\nconditions,\" said Karen Orenstein of the Washington-based group.<\/p>\n
\"The action, just six months after the tsunami devastated
\nAceh, represents a slap in the face for survivors who continue to
\nbe victimized by the Indonesian military.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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