Indonesia ready to answer human rights questions

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is prepared to answer questions about human rights observation if they are raised during the visit here by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas told reporters he believed the issue would not be raised at the APEC forum but more likely during the bilateral meeting Clinton will have with President Soeharto.

Clinton, who is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Sunday night, has received a petition from the U.S. Congress to raise the human rights issue during his visit to Indonesia.

The U.S. president will attend the APEC leaders meeting in Bogor on Tuesday and will stay on in Indonesia for two more days for an official state visit.

"We've heard of the appeals (from the congressmen)," Alatas said when asked about the likelihood that Clinton would raise the human rights issue during his stay in Indonesia. "However, I think it is very clear that during the APEC meetings such things will not be raised."

"Whether this will be raised or not at bilateral meetings is something we shall have to wait and see, but that is all right, because at all bilateral meetings if our friends want to talk about this, Indonesia is always prepared to discuss these issues."

He added that Indonesia will be prepared to explain its position on human rights.

The issue has been a thorn in bilateral relations between the two countries. Washington has frozen its military training aid program for Indonesia and at one stage blocked Jakarta's plan to buy U.S. built fighters from Jordan.

U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor met with Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono yesterday to review bilateral relations between the two countries and the upcoming state visit by Clinton.

After the meeting Moerdiono told journalists they had agreed on the need for both countries to clear out all obstacles for greater bilateral trade relations.

Responding to a question, Moerdiono said the recent conviction of an Indonesian labor activist was not raised during the meeting with Kantor.

A number of congressional members have urged Washington to link trade and economic ties with the issues of human rights and workers rights in Indonesia. (pwn/emb)