Indonesia's human rights record
The Clinton administration is having a hard time deciding whether to impose modest trade sanctions against Indonesia for denying workers their basic rights. First it demanded changes by February 1994. Then it let that deadline pass and dropped formal scrutiny of Indonesia's performance for six months. Now it seems ready to delay any action until after President Clinton visits Jakarta next month for the Asia-Pacific summit meeting.
Such protracted delay helps no one. The administration should tell Indonesia now what it still needs to do and set a firm deadline for doing it.
As a low-income developing country, Indonesia is eligible for reduced tariffs on certain products through a program called the General System of Preferences, or GSP.
About $900 million in Indonesian exports entered the United States under this program last year. But by U.S. law, countries benefiting from GSP are required to take steps to accord their citizens internationally recognized labor rights.
In Indonesia's case that means getting the army out of labor disputes and letting workers form independent unions. As the February deadline approached, Indonesia promised Washington it would take meaningful steps in both areas. It has had eight months to put those promises into effect.
A U.S. investigative team recently visited Indonesia to assess compliance. Its findings are not yet available. Human rights groups report some progress, but say the military still interferes in labor matters and the government is still trying to crush the main independent union.
Last month, 28 members of Congress urged the administration to revoke Indonesia's GSP benefits.
But the GSP debate is now taking place in a radically changed context. In May, the Clinton administration dropped all human rights conditions on trade with China. As repressive as Indonesia's labor policies are, they are less harsh than Beijing's. In recent weeks, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown has called for expanding trade with China and Indonesia, ignoring human rights concerns.
The message is clear: Washington's human rights talk need not be taken seriously. If Clinton wants to salvage any credibility on rights, he needs to modify that cynical message at once.
Withholding trade benefits is an appropriate tool for punishing labor abuses. Such abuses offend human rights and confer unfair trade advantages to the violator. In the case of GSP, upholding labor standards is required by law. But if the administration sincerely believes that trade and development are the best ways to advance human rights, other forms of pressure are available.
These include outspoken diplomacy, votes in the UN human rights commission and restrictions on military training and sales for countries whose armed forces are involved in human rights abuse.
The latest foreign aid bill specifically instructs U.S. representatives in multilateral development banks like the World Bank to take worker rights into account when they cast their votes.
Right now, the Clinton administration seems at a loss over human rights policy. Renewing the pressure on Indonesia over labor rights could help it find its way again.
-- The New York Times