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Human Rights Groups Oppose Joint Training with Indonesian Military(see also US Warships Arrive For Exercise With Indonesian Navy and U.S., Indonesian Military Exercise Opens Despite Criticism) For Immediate Release Contact: The East Timor Action Network/U.S. (ETAN) and the Indonesia Human Rights Network (IHRN) today condemned Indonesia's participation in joint military exercises with the U.S. The groups warned that any military cooperation sends the wrong message to the Indonesian military (TNI), which has yet to be held accountable for past human rights abuses in both East Timor and Indonesia and continues to engage in systematic violations across the archipelago. The CARAT 2001 (Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training) military exercise with the TNI is scheduled to begin May 17 in the Riau Islands. Previous CARATs, including one held in August 1999 just before East Timor's independence vote, have included patrolling, live fire training, and raids. Some Indonesian officers went directly from the 1999 exercise to East Timor and participated in the referendum-period violence there. Indonesian military officers this month are also observing the annual Cobra Gold exercise, which involves the U.S., Thailand and Singapore "The U.S. should refuse to engage the Indonesian military in any way while it rejects cooperation with UN investigations of human rights abuses in East Timor and continues to promote many of the officers identified as most responsible for the violence during East Timor's referendum. Not one has been indicted or tried," said John M. Miller, spokesperson for ETAN. "The few militia prosecuted so far have received token sentences. The militias in West Timor continue to operate with TNI support, persecuting East Timorese refugees and launching raids across the East Timor border." "This exercise is taking place just 400 miles from the region of Aceh, where Indonesian security forces are killing civilians on a daily basis," said Kurt Biddle, Washington coordinator for IHRN. "The Indonesian armed forces operate without any concern for human rights there. In December, they murdered three humanitarian workers, and just last week beat up three journalists." "IHRN and ETAN are working with members of Congress and others to make sure that U.S.-Indonesia relations promote human rights and democracy rather than a return to old habits of coddling a military whose commitment to reform is highly suspect," added Biddle. "Whenever the U.S. Congress or administration has blocked military training or weapons transfers, the Indonesian military has taken notice. But each time the U.S. has moved to resume or reinforce military ties, TNI has taken it as signal to continue its brutal business as usual," said Miller. On September 9, 1999 President Clinton suspended all U.S. ties with Indonesia. Soon after, the Indonesian military began to pull out of East Timor and Indonesia gave permission for an international peacekeeping force to enter the territory. Later that year Congress put part of this ban into law. The FY 2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act renewed those conditions that must be met before normal military ties can be restored. These include the return of refugees to East Timor and accountability for military and militia members responsible for human rights atrocities in East Timor and Indonesia. They also require Indonesia to actively prevent militia incursions into East Timor and to cooperate fully with the UN administration in East Timor. None of these conditions have been met. The CARAT 1998 was cancelled after the congressional uproar over JCET (Joint Combined Exchange Training), the program under which the U.S. taught urban warfare and sniper techniques in circumvention of the congressional ban on IMET (International Military Exchange Training) for Indonesia. In testimony before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Rights on May 11, 2000, journalist Allan Nairn, said "One of these officers, Lt. Col. (later Col.) Willem, helped coordinate the Indonesian naval forces in CARAT and then went to Dili where he served as a senior official in KOREM military headquarters, the very base from which the Aitarak militias staged their terror raids during late September. I saw this first hand since I was a prisoner in KOREM and was interrogated by Col. Willem." The East Timor Action Network/U.S. supports human dignity for the people of East Timor by advocating for democracy, sustainable development, social, legal, and economic justice and human rights, including women's rights. ETAN, which has 28 local chapters throughout the U.S., calls for an international tribunal to prosecute crimes against humanity, which took place in East Timor since 1975. For additional information see ETAN's web site: http://www.etan.org. The Indonesia Human Rights Network is a U.S.-based grassroots organization working to educate and activate the U.S. public and influence U.S. foreign policy and private financial interests to support democracy, demilitarization, accountability, rule of law, and civil society in Indonesia. We seek to help end armed forces repression and violence in Indonesia by exposing it to international scrutiny. IHRN works with and advocates on behalf of people throughout the Indonesian archipelago. For more information see http://www.indonesianetwork.org. -- 30 -- Associated Press US Warships Arrive For Exercise With Indonesian Navy JAKARTA (AP)--Three U.S. warships arrived in Jakarta Thursday for a joint humanitarian exercise amid criticism of ties with Indonesia's military. Rights groups said the visit would send the wrong message to Indonesia's army which is yet to be held accountable for alleged atrocities in East Timor. "The U.S. should refuse to engage the Indonesian military in any way while it rejects cooperation with U.N. investigations of human rights abuses in East Timor," said John Miller, the spokesman for the East Timor Action Network, a U.S. human rights group. Indonesia's army and militia proxies rampaged through East Timor in 1999 after the territory voted to break away from Indonesia in a U.N.-sponsored referendum. About 1,000 people were murdered and 70% of the province's buildings destroyed. Indonesia has failed to prosecute those responsible and refused to extradite them to East Timor, which is now under temporary U.N. administration, to face trial there. In a statement, Miller said Indonesia's armed forces were continuing to commit human rights abuses. The three U.S. warships - the landing ship USS Rushmore and the frigates USS Wadsworth and USS Curts - will remain in Indonesia until May 24. During their visit, they will take part in several disaster relief drills designed to enhance the two navies' ability to work together. The exercises are part of the annual Cooperation Afloat and Readiness Training - or CARAT - mission. Exercises are also held with the navies of other Asian nations, including Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. The Indonesian army, which is blamed for committing human rights abuses in East Timor and elsewhere, has been pointedly excluded from the joint project. The U.S. has maintained an embargo on weapons sales to Indonesia since the 1999 violence in East Timor. Jakarta has repeatedly tried to have the ban lifted.
Associated Press US, Indonesian Military Exercise Opens Despite Criticism KALI BARU, Indonesia (AP)--As U.S. marines and sailors toiled in the stifling heat and humidity to refurbish a little schoolhouse in a slum on the outskirts of Jakarta, dozens of children laughed and scrambled to touch the visitors. "This is great to come and give something to this poor community," said Sgt. John Davis, 33, a marine from Ocala, Florida. "It's a very humbling experience. The children are so poor but so excited to see us." The arrival of the landing ship USS Rushmore and the guided missile frigate USS Wadsworth marked the first time U.S. warships have visited Jakarta since 1999. In September that year, Washington cut military ties with Indonesia after its troops devastated East Timor following an independence referendum. The visit comes at a crucial time for Indonesia, the world's fourth most-populous nation, as it struggles to hold itself together amid numerous political and social crises. Alarmed by the prospect of Indonesia's disintegration, U.S. policy makers have slightly eased the ban on military links to allow for joint humanitarian exercises. The current mission, involving about 1,000 U.S. sailors and marines and hundreds of Indonesian navy personnel, coincides with a sharp escalation in a separatist war raging in Indonesia's westernmost Aceh province. Meanwhile, parliament is moving ahead with plans to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid, the country's first democratically elected leader in four decades, over alleged corruption. The naval visit has drawn criticism from international groups because of the Indonesian army's dismal human rights record. "The Indonesian armed forces operate without any concern for human rights," said Kurt Biddle, the coordinator for the Washington-based Indonesian Human Rights Network. The exercises are part of the annual Cooperation Afloat and Readiness Training - or CARAT - mission. Similar exercises are held with other Asian nations, including Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. The two warships are also scheduled to take part in several disaster relief drills with Indonesia's navy. The training is designed to enhance the two navies' ability to work together. The Indonesian army, which is blamed for most human rights abuses across the far-flung archipelago, has been pointedly excluded from the joint project. Jakarta has repeatedly tried to have the ban on equipment sales lifted. Defense Minister Mohammed Mahfud claimed that a shortage of spare parts for Hercules C-130 transports prevented the security forces from deploying reinforcements to end ethnic fighting on Borneo island that killed 500 people in February. Washington rejected Jakarta's criticism saying that the ban on spare parts sales was relaxed last year to allow the air force and navy - which weren't blamed for the bloodshed in Timor or other human rights abuses - to purchase non-lethal equipment. Not far from the school where the marines were sawing, sanding and painting, a medical team was treating sick and injured local residents. Hundreds of people from the shantytown queued up for hours to get free medical care. Working with doctors from Indonesia's navy, the team carried out simple operations, extracted teeth and distributed drugs.
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