U.S. Congress urged to lift sanctions on RI
U.S. Congress urged to lift sanctions on RI
P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse, Washington
The U.S. Congress was asked on Wednesday to consider lifting restrictions on training for Indonesia's police to help the predominantly Muslim nation combat terrorism and get its military completely out of internal security duties.
The National Commission on U.S.-Indonesian Relations, an influential U.S. group led by former U.S. secretary of state George Shultz, made the proposal during a hearing on strategic developments in Asia at the House of Representatives.
The United States restricted training aid to Indonesia's military in 1999 because of alleged abuses by the armed forces in formerly controlled East Timor.
Washington has demanded a full accounting for the alleged military abuses in the island territory, which became independent in 2001. At that time, the Indonesian police was under military control.
The United States also wanted a proper inquiry into the killing of two Americans and an Indonesia employee attached to a U.S. company in the country's Papua province in 2002.
The commission on Wednesday argued that U.S. training for the Indonesian police should resume now as the force had been removed from control by the military about three years ago and now operating directly under President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
"The police have made significant progress in reform and we urge the Congress to consider removing restrictions on U.S. assistance through our regular aid program," Edward Masters, the commission's vice-chairman, told the hearing of the House's committee on international relations.
Masters said the role of the police in combating terrorism was crucial for Indonesia, where the Southeast Asian chapter of Osama bin laden's al-Qaeda terror network remained a threat to regional security.
Indonesia has crippled Jamaah Islamiyah "but by no means eliminated it as a threat," he said.
"There are good indications that new recruits are falling in behind those who have been picked up, and the organization remains dangerous," Masters warned.
Jamaah Islamiyah, whose goal is to establish by force a large Muslim state cutting across much of Southeast Asia, has been accused by Jakarta of staging the Bali bombing that killed more than 200 people, mostly foreigners in October 2002.
"We believe it is essential that the Indonesian police be trained and expanded as quickly as professionally possible," Masters said.
It was also "critical" for the police to be trained by the United States to get the military out of the field of internal security.
"With the police now slowly emerging from military control, we think it is a golden opportunity for the U.S., in fact also the other countries, to move and help make it a really professional force," Masters, a former U.S. ambassador in Jakarta, told AFP.
On military aid to the Indonesia armed forces, he said the commission would like to see selected training programs resumed.
"But we recognize that political support for resumption of a military-to-military relationship will be lacking until there is a satisfactory resolution" to the killings.
Although there seems to be some support among circles in Washington, Congress voted again recently to block the restoration of military aid to Indonesia until it addresses human rights abuses by the army.
The commission also sought U.S. assistance in the fields of education, public diplomacy and investments in Indonesia.
Dan Burton, a senior Republican House member, last month set up a Congressional Indonesian Caucus to boost bilateral ties while former Republican Senate majority leader Bob Dole has agreed to play a key role in firming up Jakarta's links with Washington, officials said.