U.S. lawmakers ask for names of army suspects

U.S. lawmakers ask for names of army suspects

By Yenni Djahidin

WASHINGTON (JP): A panel from the U.S. House of Representatives
has asked to be given the names of members of the Indonesian
armed forces involved in the kidnapping and torture of political
activists.

"It is very important to know whether or not they have
received U.S. military training," said Rep. Christopher Smith,
chairman of the House International Relations Subcommittee on
International Operations and Human Rights.

Smith is among lawmakers who object to joint U.S. military
training with foreign forces. U.S.-trained units, particularly in
Colombia, have been accused of human rights abuses.

"Our joint exercises and training of military units that have
been charged over and over again with the gravest kinds of crimes
against humanity, including torture and murder, cry out for an
explanation," Smith said, adding: "How could we not have known
who these people were?"

The U.S. military has been training the Indonesian military,
including the Army's special force (Kopassus), which was
allegedly behind the recent kidnapping and torture of a number of
activists and students.

Eleven members of Kopassus have been arrested and will face
court martial in Jakarta.

The assistant secretary of defense for international security
affairs, Franklin Kramer, said in his testimony that his office
did not have a list of Indonesian soldiers involved in a special
training program known as JCET (Joint Combined Exchange
Training).

Kramer said that as a matter of policy, the United States
refused to train with any Indonesian military unit involved in
human rights violations.

"We will not train with any unit until we are satisfied that
all necessary corrective steps have been taken," he said.

Asked whether top Indonesian military officials might have
been involved in the kidnapping and torture of activists, Kramer
said it was possible.

"So far as I'm aware we're not certain who they are nor how
high up it goes," Kramer told lawmakers. "I have some indications
that it may go up high, but I don't know."

He said the indications were based on U.S. intelligence
information.

The assistant secretary of state for human rights, John
Shattuck, said in his testimony that the U.S. administration
hoped to see an end to human rights abuses perpetrated by the
security forces in Indonesia.

To achieve this goal, he said, it was very important for the
Indonesian government to continue to investigate the kidnapping
and disappearance of activists, "and to bring to justice any
officials, at any level, who were involved in these crimes."

He said the U.S. is watching very closely to see who is
arrested or formally charged.

Shattuck said Washington supported the current political and
economic reforms in Indonesia. "The political reforms are
continuing on track. We will follow them very closely, and we
will assist the Indonesian government financially with that
process."

Shattuck said he believed it was critical for the United
States to continue its engagement with the Indonesian military at
the present time, "to make sure that we know who the bad actor
is. That is why this justice process is so important," he said.

Shattuck said that although there were signs of progress,
including the release of some political prisoners and
preparations for early elections, it was still too early to say
whether the process of reform would continue over the long run
and lead to a genuine democratic transition.

Eni Faleomavaega, a member of the subcommittee from American
Samoa, an island in the South Pacific, said the Soeharto
government was guilty of one of the greatest mass violations of
human rights in recent history.

Faleomavaega said the Indonesian government was responsible
for the wholesale murder and "disappearance" of as many as
300,000 indigenous Melanesians in West Papua New Guinea, also
known as Irian Jaya.

"The Indonesian people, I love. I have some very close friends
(in the country), but the policy of the government stinks," he
said.