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Renewed Military Aid for Indonesia Faces Key Test
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OneWorld
US
July
17, 2002 |
Renewed Military Aid for Indonesia Faces Key Test
Wed Jul 17, 3:00 PM ET
Jim Lobe,OneWorld
US
More than 50 human rights groups in Washington D.C. are
pressing a key Senate committee to retain tough conditions on
military aid to Indonesia which the administration of President
George W. Bush ( news
- web
sites) sees as an important ally in its "war on
terrorism."
The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote
Thursday on next year's foreign aid bill, legislation that will
include any conditions on military training and sales programs for
fiscal year 2003, which begins October 1.
The administration wants all current conditions on these
programs lifted, but some 57 rights groups have written a letter
to Committee members insisting that the Indonesian armed forces (TNI)
remain an abusive and corrupt institution that do not warrant any
U.S. assistance.
"The 'war on terrorism' should not become a vehicle to
support state-sponsored military terror on civilians in
Indonesia," according to the letter which said that the TNI's
record, especially in Aceh, West Papua, and Maluku, had grown
worse over the past year.
"Military restrictions are the primary leverage the U.S.
government has over the TNI," according to the letter, which
was circulated by the East Timor ( news
- web
sites) Action Network and signed by groups such as Global
Exchange, the Washington office of the Presbyterian Church, and
the U.S. committee for Refugees. "If Congress removes them,
the TNI will take this as an endorsement of business-as-usual and
nothing will be gained."
Congress began reducing military aid to Indonesia--particularly
its eligibility to send officers to the U.S. International
Military Education and Training program--in the early 1990s as a
result of atrocities in East Timor. It cut all
military-to-military relations in 1999 after TNI-armed militias
devastated the former Portuguese colony when the inhabitants voted
for independence in a referendum.
Under current law, Indonesia must meet a number of
conditions--known as the "Leahy Conditions" after the
chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, Pat Leahy--before
aid can be resumed. These include bringing to justice those
responsible for the mayhem in East Timor and that civilian
authorities exercise control over the TNI.
Administration officials admit that Jakarta has yet to meet
these conditions, but they have argued in recent months that
Indonesia's status as the world's most populous Muslim nation and
strategic location on vital trade and oil routes between the
Western Pacific and Indian Oceans make it a critical ally in U.S.
efforts to combat terrorism, especially in Southeast Asia.
Pentagon ( news
- web
sites) officials, including deputy defense secretary Paul
Wolfowitz who served as ambassador to Jakarta when military ties
were much closer, have also argued that resuming military aid,
sales, and training would open channels to mid- and senior-level
TNI officers to persuade them to improve their human rights
performance.
But activists insist that such moves risk only encouraging the
TNI in its abuses. "For the pressure to be lifted now would
give exactly the wrong signal at the wrong time," said Mike
Jendrzejczyk of Human Rights Watch in Washington. "The
Indonesian military appears to be preparing to escalate its
operations in Aceh where there has been no improvement at
all."
Aceh, the site of a major natural gas operation run by energy
giant ExxonMobil, has become increasingly polarized between rebels
fighting for the province's secession and the TNI. Jakarta is
currently considering declaring martial law there.
The New York Times echoed the activist position in an
editorial Wednesday. "Resuming military cooperation under
present conditions would...signal that Washington no longer cares
about the human rights performance of Indonesia's armed
forces," the newspaper wrote, adding that the TNI still
constitutes a major obstacle to economic reform as well, given its
"extensive business interests."
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