Congressional election monitor urged

Congressional election monitor urged

WASHINGTON (AP): Human Rights Watch Asia is calling on the United States Congress to send monitors to oversee the coming elections in Indonesia.

Director Sidney Jones said it was important that a congressional group monitor the May 29 elections.

While the Congress currently has no plans to send a delegation, Jones said, if a request for such mission was forwarded, it would likely be accepted by the Indonesian government.

Speaking to the House International Relations subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Jones painted a gloomy picture of the human rights situation in Indonesia.

"Indonesia has been sliding backwards on human rights for the past three years," she said.

"Tightening political controls combined with widespread resentment of the government are a recipe for trouble under any circumstances in South Asia's largest and most strategically important country," she added.

However, officials from the U.S. State Department stressed on the complexity of relations with Indonesia.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Aurelia E. Brazeal testified at a hearing that Indonesia has an independent National Human Rights Commission, an active and outspoken press and an "increasingly responsible military."

Because of its size and ethnic diversity, "few countries are more difficult to characterize than Indonesia," said Brazeal, who handles East Asian and Pacific affairs.

Brazeal, outlining administration policies towards Indonesia, said the world's fourth most-populous country has one of the most dynamic economies in a booming region, with a rapidly growing middle class.

She acknowledged serious human rights concerns, including lingering problems in East Timor, violations of worker rights, limited press freedom, suppression of political diversity, claims of military abuses and rioting in some regions.

Despite having some human rights shortcomings, it's no Myanmar, she told Congress.

"Taken together, these developments are certainly cause for serious concern," Brazeal said.

But she added, "It is important not to labor under the misconception that Indonesia is some sort of archipelagic Myanmar. While Indonesian human rights problems are serious, a closer examination of the workings of this immensely diverse society provides a more complex and nuanced picture."

R. Michael Gadbaw, an official of the US-ASEAN Business Council, said U.S. interest in the nation of 17,000 islands is based on trade and investment.

"Indonesia is an excellent example of a country where trade -- not aid -- has helped conquer poverty and raise living standards," Gadbaw said. U.S. exports to Indonesia totaled US$4 billion last year and investments are estimated at $7 billion.