Kennedy a rabblerouser: Marzuki

JAKARTA (JP): An Indonesian human rights activist has branded United States Congressman Patrick Kennedy a rabble-rouser for his reported plan to introduce a bill to cut off U.S. aid to Indonesia.

Alleged human rights abuses in East Timor, which Kennedy used as the basis for his campaign, has been a hot topic recently, Marzuki was quoted by Antara as saying yesterday. He speculated that the international attention given to the issue was what prompted Kennedy (Democrat-Rhode Island) and fellow Congressman Frank Wolf (Republican-Virginia) to raise the issue in the U.S. Congress.

"But the use of such an ineffective tool cannot help us solve the East Timor issue," said Marzuki, vice chairman of Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights.

He said Kennedy's plan was only a political maneuver often used by U.S. congressmen to gain popularity. "There are many Portuguese communities in Rhode Island and Virginia. It's not a surprise that the two congressmen used this tactic to gain popularity."

Sharing Marzuki's opinion, foreign ministry spokesman Ghaffar Fadyl said the Indonesian government would refuse any foreign assistance if it was tied to Indonesia's internal affairs.

Kennedy announced Tuesday his plan to introduce a bill on March 17 to cut off U.S. aid to Indonesia because of human rights violations in East Timor.

U.S. companies are concerned that the Rhode Island Democrat wanted to impose trade sanctions against Indonesia, but Kennedy's spokesman, Larry Berman, said the congressman was targeting military and economic aid, not trade.

"We do not want to hurt U.S. businesses who are investors over there. We don't want to put trade sanctions on them," Berman was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"What we are more interested in doing is sending a message to the government of Indonesia. We want to get Indonesia to stop abusing human rights."

Washington provides about US$50 million in annual economic assistance to Indonesia for health, environment, antipoverty, and regulatory programs. It also sends about $600,000 in assistance for military training, Reuter said.

Trade between the United States and Indonesia is worth about $6 billion, and several U.S. companies have interests in Indonesia, including Mobil., Atlantic Richfield, Unocal, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, and Reebok International.

The state of Massachusetts is debating its own legislation to bar companies that do business in Indonesia from doing business with the state. (swe)