East Timor and Indonesia Action
Network
West Papua Action Team
c/ o PO Box 21873, Brooklyn NY 11202
January 29, 2008
Ambassador Cameron R. Hume
U.S. Embassy
Jakarta, Indonesia
Via e-mail
Dear Ambassador Hume,
As U.S. organizations that care deeply about human rights, as well
as the image of the United States in Indonesia and within the
international community, we find
your statement regarding the death of the dictator General Suharto
appalling. We are deeply dismayed that your condolence statement on
behalf of the U.S. government fails to even acknowledge the
extraordinary crimes of this brutal and corrupt dictator. You must
be aware that these crimes include the extra-judicial killing of
hundreds of thousands of his own citizens, the murder of more than
100,000 civilians in East Timor, the imprisonment of hundreds of
thousands of political prisoners, and the theft of billions of
dollars from his country's coffers.
His legacy is a country that
suffers under an unaccountable military that continues to commit
egregious human rights violations and a judicial system incapable of
affording justice to victims of the ruling military and corporate
elite to which his regime gave birth. His legacy is a political
system shorn of its best and brightest, literally, by the sword.
Finally, no U.S. statement could credibly have addressed these
failings without acknowledging that it was the U.S. which made
Suharto's brutal reign possible. U.S. intelligence agents provided
lists of those who were killed in 1965. U.S. air-to-ground attack
aircraft and other weaponry facilitated the invasion and subjugation
of East Timor. U.S. weapons and training transformed the Indonesian
military under Suharto into the widely-feared machine which
kidnapped, tortured and killed. U.S. diplomatic action prevented
effective UN action to address the Indonesian invasion of East Timor
as an act of aggression. Suharto's military remains unrepentant and
unaccountable. It is his military which continues to repress
civilian populations in West Papua and elsewhere. And it is his
military which the current U.S. administration plans to continue to
train and arm.
Your failure to acknowledge the enormous harm done to the people
of Indonesia and East Timor by this dictator, and your unwillingness
to admit the central role the U.S. played in empowering and
encouraging this tragedy, is a travesty of history. It is a shameful
view of Suharto from which we feel compelled to disassociate
ourselves.
Sincerely,
John M. Miller, National Coordinator, ETAN
Ed McWilliams, West Papua Advocacy Team
Cc: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill
Members of Congress
The original statement by Amb. Hume:
-
U.S. EMBASSY
- PRESS RELEASE
- PUBLIC
AFFAIRS SECTION
- January 27,
2008
-
- Ambassador Hume Expresses U.S. Condolences
-
- Jakarta,
January 27 -- U.S. Ambassador Cameron R.
Hume paid his respects to former Indonesian
President Soeharto on Sunday, January 27,
2008 at the Cendana Palace. Ambassador Hume
conveyed condolences from the United States
of America:
-
- The United
States expresses our sincere condolences on
the death of President Soeharto. President
Soeharto led Indonesia for over 30 years, a
period during which Indonesia achieved
remarkable economic and social development.
In the international arena, President
Soeharto co-sponsored the formation of the
ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, and gave Indonesia an important
role in the non-aligned movement while
retaining close ties to the United States.
Though there may be some controversy over
his legacy, President Soeharto was a
historic figure who left a lasting imprint
on Indonesia and the region of Southeast
Asia.
-
-
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See also
