Kennedy a rabblerouser: Marzuki

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)