U.S. Groups Oppose U.S. Training of Indonesia's Notorious Kopassus Special Forces

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Oppose U.S. cooperation with Kopassus

U.S. Groups Oppose Training of Indonesia's Notorious Kopassus Special Forces

Contact: John M. Miller, ETAN, +1-718-596-7668

July 23, 2009 - More than 50 U.S. organizations today urged the U.S. government to "strictly prohibit any U.S. cooperation with or assistance to the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus)' in a letter sent today to President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of Congress. The letter was coordinated by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN).


photo from kopassus.mil.id

"Restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia are needed to support democracy and human rights in Indonesia. Supporting Kopassus, which has a long history of terrorizing civilians, would send the worst possible signal to those fighting for justice and accountability in Indonesia and East Timor," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN.

The letter, signed by human rights, religious, peace and other groups, states, "The history of Kopassus human rights violations, its criminality and its unaccountability before Indonesian courts extends back decades and includes human rights and other crimes in East Timor, Aceh, West Papua and elsewhere."

A recent Human Rights Watch report documents how Kopassus soldiers "arrest Papuans without legal authority, and beat and mistreat those they take back to their barracks."

In 2008, the Bush administration proposed to restart U.S. training of Kopassus. the State Department legal counsel reportedly ruled that the ban on training of military units with a history of involvement in human rights violations, known as the Leahy law, applies to Kopassus as a whole.

"The previous administration was forced to conclude that training Kopassus was both illegal and bad policy. The Obama administration should maintain this restriction," said Miller.

see also

Background on Kopassus and Brimob
Radio New Zealand: Call for US to cut ties with Kopassu
Senators Write U.S. State Dept. on Training Kopassus and Brimob (April 3, 2008)
Bush Administration Trains Members of Indonesian Terrorist Groups; Abandons Human Rights for Indonesia to Train Kopassus, Brimob (December 19, 2007)
U.S. Should Not Cozy Up to Kopassus; Notorious Military Unit Commander Participates in Hawaii Pentagon Conference (April 6, 2006)

PDF version of the letter

We the undersigned organizations call upon the U.S. government to strictly prohibit any U.S. cooperation with or assistance to the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus). This force, more than any other in the Indonesian military, stands accused by the Indonesian people of some of the most egregious human rights violations. The annual human rights report of the U.S. Department of State, the East Timor's (Timor-Leste) truth commission (CAVR), United Nations human rights monitors, and the full range of Indonesian and international human rights have reported in detail the many crimes of Kopassus. Those responsible for these violations continue to enjoy broad impunity for their actions, even in a democratizing Indonesia.

Kopassus patch The history of Kopassus human rights violations, its criminality and its unaccountability before Indonesian courts extends back decades and includes human rights and other crimes in East Timor, Aceh, West Papua and elsewhere. In 1998, a program -- organized and led by then Kopassus commander (and recent vice- presidential candidate) General Prabowo Subianto -- kidnapped, tortured and killed pro-democracy activists. Prabowo told reporters he is unrepentant over these crimes saying, "we could say it was preventative detention." Other well-documented Kopassus crimes include organizing anti-Chinese rioting in Jakarta in 1998 and the 1984 massacre at Tanjung Priok in Java.

Throughout 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation of East Timor, Kopassus personnel, tortured and killed civilians in an attempt to intimidate and terrorize the population. Kopassus personnel played a key role, including organizing militia proxies, in the violence and destruction during 1999, the occupation's final year.

The crimes of Kopassus are not only in the past. A recently published Human Rights Watch report details ongoing Kopassus human right violations in West Papua. The report documents how Kopassus soldiers "arrest Papuans without legal authority, and beat and mistreat those they take back to their barracks."

Those who favor engagement argue that U.S. training could lead to reform of Kopassus. This argument is clearly refuted by history. For decades, the U.S. trained and gave other assistance to Kopassus personnel, including General Prabowo and other leading officers. This relationship had no ameliorative affect, rather, it provided the equipment and skills used for repression.

U.S. law prohibits the training of military units with a history of involvement in human rights violations. This provision has been long been interpreted as narrowly as possible. However, in 2008, the State Department ruled that the ban, known as the Leahy law, applies to Kopassus as a whole. We believe that this ruling should apply and the U.S. must continue to refuse to train Kopassus.

Sincerely,

John M. Miller, National Coordinator
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network

Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D., Executive Director The Fellowship of Reconciliation

Dave Robinson, Executive Director Pax Christi USA

Mubarak Awad, President Nonviolence International

Jim Winkler, General Secretary United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society

Kevin Martin, Executive Director Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund

Land is Life

SOA Watch

West Papua Advocacy Team

Marie Dennis, Director (Rev.) James Kofski, M.M., Asia/Pacific and Middle East Issues Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Mary Anne Mercer, DrPH, Deputy Director Director of Timor-Leste Operations Health Alliance International

Marie Lucey, OSF, Associate Director, Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Sharon Silber, Chair, U.S. Section Society for Threatened Peoples

Carol Jahnkow, Executive Director Peace Resource Center of San Diego

Rosemarie Pace, Director Pax Christi Metro New York

Mary Beaudoin, Director Women Against Military Madness

Eileen B. Weiss, Co-Founder Jews Against Genocide

Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC

Elaine Donovan Concerned Citizens for Peace, Honeoye, NY

Jeffrey Ballinger, Executive Director Press for Change

Diana Bohn Nicaragua Center for Community Action (NICCA) Berkeley, CA

Bruce K. Gagnon, Coordinator Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space

Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace Olympia, WA

Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service Oakland, CA

Mary T. Whittlinger, Treasurer GOMA ( Ecumenical Moluccan Church).

Ben Manski, Executive Director Liberty Tree

Blase Bonpane, Ph.D., Director Office of the Americas

Pierre Labossiere, Haiti Action Committee

David Swanson After Downing Street

Joanne Landy and Thomas Harrison, Co-Directors Campaign for Peace and Democracy New York City

Diane Farsetta, Coordinator Madison (Wis.)-Ainaro (East Timor) Sister-City Alliance

Joan Kirby, UN Representative Temple of Understanding

Rev. John Chamberlin, National Coordinator East Timor Religious Outreach

Zelia Cordeiro and Felix Jones, Executive Team Members VIVAT International

The Greater Boston United for Justice with Peace Coalition

Michael Eisenscher, Coordinator Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice (LC4PJ)

Mass Peace Action

Daniel LeBlanc, DPI/NGO Representative at the UN Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Roger S. Clark Board of Trustees International League for Human Rights.

Alan Muller, Executive Director Green Delaware

WESPAC Foundation

Mariza Costa Cabral ETAN/Seattle

Bill Ramsey Human Rights Action Service, St. Louis, MO

Peaceful Response Coalition Portland, OR

East Timor Action Network/Portland (OR)

Seattle International Human Rights Coalition

John J. Witeck, Coordinator Philippine Workers Support Committee Honolulu, Hawaii

Ben Gordon Pax Christi New Orleans

Jim Haber War Resisters League/West

Ellen E Barfield former national Vice-President, co-founder Baltimore Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter Veterans for Peace

David McReynolds, former chair War Resisters International

Leslie Cagan Former co-chair United for Peace and Justice*

Sam Diener, Co-Editor Peacework Magazine, AFSC*

Robert Hanson, Past Chair, Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center* Walnut Creek, CA

Dr. Brad Simpson Asst. Professor of History and International Affairs, Princeton University Director, Indonesia and East Timor Documentation Project*

S. Eben Kirksey, Ph.D. Center for Cultural Studies, University of California, WPAT

Peter Bohmer, faculty in economics and political economy The Evergreen State College. Olympia, WA

* organization for identification purposes only

Radio New Zealand International

Call for US to cut ties with Kopassus

Posted at 01:41 on 24 July, 2009 UTC

Concerns over Indonesian military abuses in Papua are at the heart of a letter to the US President from more than 50 organisations urging Washington to cut ties with the Indonesian Special Forces, or Kopassus.

The letter, signed by human rights, religious, peace and other NGOs, calls on President Barack Obama to prohibit any cooperation with or assistance to Kopassus.

The Papua region is recognised as the last region in the country where Indonesia's military can still operate beyond civilian control.

One of the letter's signatories is the West Papua Advocacy Team whose Ed McWilliams says Kopassus factions are suspected of being involved in this month's wave of deadly attacks on Freeport mine employees in Timika.

"Some are loyal to their former commander Prabowo (General Prabowo Subianto) and some are not. So it's a very complex situation on the ground in the Timika/Tembagapura area and as a consequence we?re hoping that we can get an investigation that will be transparent and something we can respect in terms of outcome."

Ed McWilliams

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