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East Timor ACTION Network ALERT"JUST SAY NO" TO NEW MILITARY ASSISTANCE FOR INDONESIACONGRESSIONAL AND PENTAGON CALL-IN TODAYThe Pentagon, with a handful of Congressional allies, is actively working to circumvent the ban on military training for the Indonesian military (TNI) initially put in place in response to the 1999 scorched-earth campaign in East Timor. Even as human rights conditions continue to deteriorate in Indonesia and justice for East Timor remains distant, they are seeking to expand military assistance. For what is the Bush administration seeking to reward the Indonesian military? Torture, rape, disappearances, and murder in Aceh, West Papua, and elsewhere in Indonesia; show trials on East Timor in Jakarta; and the revival of political imprisonment by the Megawati administration. (See additional background below.) Urge Congress to put an end to aggressive Pentagon support for the TNI! Tell Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that a military which terrorizes its own people is not a worthy ally. Together with others, make these contacts today. (sample letters follow). I. Call, fax, and email your Representative and two Senators. Tell them to use their voice and vote in Congress:
Phone calls and faxes are generally more effective than emails. The congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121 (ask for the office of your Senators or Representative), or check http://www.congress.org on the Internet for fax or e-mail information. II. Call or fax Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Tell him:
Secretary Rumsfeld - telephone: 703-692-7100 or try comment line703- 428-0711; fax: 703-697-9080. (If you get bounced to a message system, leave a succinct message and, if you want, call again and ask to talk with a live person. Please let us know the results of your contacts. Thank you! Your efforts do make a difference! Last December, Senators Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Ted Stevens (R-AK) inserted language in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (HR 3338, provision 8125) providing $17.9 million to establish a Regional Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program at the behest of Admiral Dennis C. Blair, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command (CINCPAC). There are no restrictions on which countries can participate in the new secretive program, allowing previously banned training for Indonesia. What will be taught remains undefined. This program is a calculated end-run around hard won restrictions on training for the TNI in the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. (For more information on the Regional Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program, see ETAN/Indonesia Human Rights Network media releases: Rights Groups Condemn End Run on Military Training Restrictions for Indonesia and Congress Bolsters Ban on Training for Indonesia with One Bill, While Opening a Loophole with Another. In March, the Bush administration boldly went a step further and requested another $16 million in a supplemental appropriations request -- $8 million for the "training of civilian and military personnel in support of humanitarian and peacekeeping activities in Indonesia" and another $8 million to "vet, train, and equip a counter-terrorism unit." Congress expects to begin work on the Emergency FY 2002 Supplemental Appropriations request at the end of April and hopes to pass the bill by the late May's Memorial Day recess. Meanwhile, the State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Indonesia noted, "Security forces were responsible for numerous instances of, at times indiscriminate, shooting of civilians, torture, rape, beatings and other abuse, and arbitrary detention in Aceh, West Timor, Papua… and elsewhere in the country." Nearly 2000 people were killed in Aceh in 2001, the vast majority civilians. Military and paramilitary crackdowns in Aceh and West Papua have frequently targeted human rights defenders and those suspected of pro-independence sympathies. Investigators have accused members of the notorious Kopassus special forces of the murder of West Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay, but have shied away from looking into who gave the orders. The first trials of 18 suspects indicted by the Indonesian ad hoc Human Rights Court on East Timor began last month in Jakarta. The mandate of this flawed court is limited to only two months of an extremely brutal 24-year military occupation and three of East Timor's 13 districts. Recently leaked Australian intelligence intercepts strongly implicate many senior military personnel not named as suspects by Indonesian prosecutors, including A.M. Hendropriyono, currently intelligence chief; Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin, recently promoted to military spokesperson; and Mahidin Simbolon, now head of the military command in West Papua. Military officers, including high-level personnel, have packed the courtroom in Jakarta to show solidarity with the defendants. As expected, lawyers for the defense have already questioned the constitutionality of the court. See ETAN media release 10 Reasons Why Indonesian Courts Will Not Bring Justice to East Timor for further explanation. In a separate case in Indonesia, the trial of three militiamen charged with the murder of a New Zealand peacekeeper resulted in a "not guilty" verdict. While East Timorese refugees are returning at an increased rate in recent weeks, some 60,000 refugees remain in West Timor. Militia intimidation and misinformation remain rampant, and security for the refugees inadequate. A recent UN report by the UN noted that the presence of hard-line militia in West Timor pose a long-term threat to East Timor's peace and security. Humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate in the camps, especially as the Indonesian government has largely ended its assistance. An estimated 1600 East Timorese refugee children remain separated from their parents, some 170 of whom were sent to orphanages and other institutions throughout the archipelago as part of militia-run programs. In the fall of 1999, the U.S. Congress cut off IMET and foreign military financing for Indonesia until it meets certain conditions pertaining to East Timor, including the return of refugees and accountability for human rights violations in East Timor and Indonesia. In 2002 additional conditions were added pertaining to Indonesian military reform and the release of political detainees. Conditions on these restrictions, known as the "Leahy Conditions," must be renewed annually in the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. Work will soon begin on this year's bill. For more information, check out ETAN's website, www.etan.org, or contact ETAN Outreach and Media Coordinator John M. Miller, john@etan.org, 718-596-7668. SAMPLE LETTERS (try to modify to use your own words) To Members of Congress Write: Your Senator, Senate, Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator or Representative (choose which), I am writing to urge you to actively oppose U.S. military assistance for Indonesia. The Indonesian military should not receive U.S. support while it continues to evade accountability for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor and continues to torture, murder and rape civilians throughout Indonesia. I am especially concerned that the secretive new Regional Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program will be used to evade important existing Congressional restrictions. This program clearly circumvents restrictions on International Military Education and Training (IMET) for Indonesia. I urge you to oppose Indonesia's participation in this program, as well as the administration's recent request for an additional $16 million to train the Indonesian military and police. Finally, I support the renewal of existing restrictions on IMET and Foreign Military Financing (FMF) in the fiscal year 2003 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. U.S. policy must support human rights, not abusive militaries like Indonesia's should not be rewarded. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Fax to 703-697-9080, use an online form http://www.dod.gov/faq/comment.html or mail to Secretary of Defense The Pentagon Washington, DC 20301 Dear Secretary Rumsfeld, I am writing to voice my strong opposition to your efforts to increase U.S. military assistance for Indonesia. The Indonesian military (TNI) should not receive U.S. support while it continues to evade accountability for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor and continues to torture, murder and rape civilians throughout Indonesia. Your attempts to gut restrictions on military training for the TNI undermine the rule-of-law and human rights protections for East Timor and Indonesia and subvert carefully calculated congressional actions. Your efforts legitimize the security force that destroyed East Timor and has rewarded those responsible with promotions within government and military ranks. Administration initiatives taken within the last year to work more closely with the TNI and resume commercial non-lethal defense sales have done nothing to advance military reform. I urge you to end your efforts to resume military ties with the Indonesian military. They run counter to our nation's professed support for human rights and democracy, while contributing to political instability in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country. Sincerely, Note: For those without a fax application on their computer - CallCenter V3.5.8, is a Native 32-bit Voice Telephony software application integrated with fax and data communications... and it's free of charge! Download from http://www.v3inc.com/ |
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