|
|
see also: Groups Urge Bush Not to Offer Military Assistance to Indonesian President PO BOX 21873 November 18, 2006 President George W. Bush Dear Mr. President: As organizations concerned with human rights and justice in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, we are writing in anticipation of your November 20 visit to Indonesia. While Indonesia has made some advances in overcoming decades of dictatorship, restrictions on U.S. assistance to the Indonesian military are essential to promote concrete, demonstrable progress in the areas of military reform, accountability, and respect for human rights in Indonesia and Timor-Leste. We therefore respectfully urge you to refrain from promising any military assistance to Indonesia’s armed forces.We are deeply troubled by ongoing human rights violations by Indonesia’s security forces, especially in Papua; its continued resistance to civilian control and oversight, lack of budget transparency, and persistent emphasis on internal security; and its widespread impunity for crimes against humanity and other serious violations committed against the peoples of Timor-Leste and Indonesia. Last June, Human Rights Watch concluded that until the Indonesian military is barred from pursuing its own business interests, civilian control over its activities will be limited and human rights will suffer. We urge you to emphasize these issues in your discussions with President Yudhoyono. We remain deeply concerned about the lack of progress in bringing to justice all those responsible for the now two-year-old assassination of Munir, Indonesia’s foremost human rights defender. President Yudhoyono called resolving this crime a "test case for whether Indonesia has changed." After reversal of the only murder conviction to date in October, no one has been held accountable for this crime. We urge you to press him to ensure that the investigation leads to credible criminal proceedings against the masterminds and perpetrators. Indonesian and international media have exposed military involvement in a range of illegal activities, including gun running. The Indonesian military at best tolerates and, more ominously, continues to back militias, whose principle role is to intimidate civilians, particularly ethnic and religious minorities. The Indonesian military has successfully resisted civilian efforts to end the "territorial command" system, through which the military operates a shadow government, exerting influence over civil administration and politics, commerce, and justice right down to the village level. The State Department’s most recent human rights report documents the Indonesian military’s ongoing human rights violations, illegal business dealings, and impunity. Indonesia’s human rights courts have proven incapable of bringing Indonesian military and police perpetrators of serious human rights violations to justice, including those involved in the Tanjung Priok massacre, Abepura (Papua) violence, and many other cases. Jakarta’s ad hoc Human Rights Court on East Timor acquitted all but one defendant (an East Timorese civilian). No senior officials have been convicted for the widespread crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Timor-Leste from 1975-1999. The bilateral Commission on Truth and Friendship (CTF) is not a satisfactory response to these events. It enshrines impunity for human rights violations rather than encourage justice. We urge you to refrain from offering any U.S. backing to the CTF under its current mandate. In its final report, Timor-Leste's official Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) called on governments to make military assistance to Indonesia "totally conditional on progress towards full democratization, the subordination of the military to the rule of law and civilian government, and strict adherence with international human rights.” By heeding the CAVR’s and similar calls from within Indonesia to withhold or condition military assistance to Indonesia, the U.S. can promote democracy, accountability, and respect for human rights. East Timorese and Indonesian NGOs have repeatedly called for restrictions on military engagement to be maintained. We urge you to maintain the best leverage the U.S. has - withholding prestigious U.S. military assistance, including foreign military financing and training such as IMET and JCET - to demonstrate that the U.S. government’s commitment to these issues goes deeper than words to actual action. Past restrictions on assistance to the Indonesian military provided vital leverage to bolster Indonesian reform efforts. This reform remains in its early stages. A year ago, your administration waived remaining congressional restrictions on military assistance. In its Memorandum of Justification, the State Department wrote “The U.S. remains committed to pressing for accountability for past human rights violations, and U.S. assistance will continue to be guided by Indonesia's progress on democratic reform and accountability.” Given a lack of benchmarks, these words will continue to ring hollow as long as your administration continues to provide additional military assistance. We thank you for your serious consideration. Sincerely,
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
