Open Letter to President Barack Obama on His 2010 Visit to Indonesia from
the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
March 18, 2010
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
Your upcoming visit to Indonesia represents an important opportunity to
usher in a new era in the relationship between our two nations -- to replace
a relationship based largely on militarism with one that respects human
rights and promotes the rule of law.
The United States can point to two periods where our country has stood up
for the human rights of the people of Indonesia and Timor-Leste: In the
1940s, the U.S. helped to negotiate the creation of the Indonesian state,
ending a bloody independence war. In late 1999, the U.S. pressured Indonesia
to honor the results of the United Nations-administered referendum, when the
majority of East Timorese chose to end the Indonesian occupation of their
country. However, the history of U.S.-Indonesia relations is much better
known for the U.S.'s largely uncritical support of the Suharto dictatorship,
from its bloody seizure of power in 1965 through its illegal invasion and
occupation of then Portuguese Timor to the Kopassus kidnappings and murders
of student leaders in 1997 and 1998.
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However, the history of U.S.-Indonesia relations is much better known for the
U.S.'s largely uncritical support of the Suharto dictatorship, from its
bloody seizure of power in 1965 through its illegal invasion and occupation
of then Portuguese Timor to the Kopassus kidnappings and murders of student
leaders in 1997 and 1998.
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You wrote in The Audacity of Hope that "for the past sixty years
the fate of [Indonesia] has been directly tied to U.S. foreign policy," a
policy which included "the tolerance and occasional encouragement of
tyranny, corruption, and environmental degradation when it served our
interests." In Dreams from My Father, you describe the dictator
Suharto's bloody seizure of power: "The death toll was anybody's guess: a
few hundred thousand, maybe, half a million. Even the smart guys at the
[CIA] had lost count." The "smart guys" had, of course, encouraged and
assisted in the coup.
In 1975, President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger visited General
Suharto in Jakarta and gave their approval for Suharto’s planned invasion of
Timor-Leste (East Timor). When resistance to the invasion proved more
intense than expected, the Indonesian military began a campaign of genocide
to eliminate East Timorese opposition. Ninety percent of the weapons used in
the invasion came from the U.S. Instead of condemning brutality, the U.S.
government continued to support the regime, increasing U.S. weapons supplies
and military training. Ultimately, up to 180,000 East Timorese died.
Consecutive U.S. administrations continued political and military support
for the Indonesian regime. The East Timorese people suffered greatly as a
result of this support, as did people across the Indonesian archipelago,
from Aceh to West Papua. They suffered rape, murder, imprisonment,
extortion, starvation, disappearances and torture at the hands of the
security forces of the Indonesian government. These human rights violations
did not end with Suharto’s fall. U.S. policy largely ignored the well-being
of the Indonesian and Timorese people, focusing instead on narrow strategic
and economic interests in an agenda written by cold warriors and big
business.
When President Clinton and Congress suspended U.S. military assistance to
Indonesia in 1999, the Indonesian military quickly agreed to end its final
destructive plunder of Timor-Leste and allow the UN and international
peacekeepers to begin the transition to independence. While these U.S.
actions are to be commended, they show how essential U.S. support had been
in maintaining the occupation of Timor-Leste.
Tellingly, as the U.S. restricted military assistance in the 1990s through
the middle of the following decade, real human rights and military reform
took place in Indonesia. Since then, military assistance expanded.
While Indonesia has made progress in many other areas,
reform of the military has stalled. The shedding by the military of its many
businesses has degenerated into farce. And the military continues to resist
efforts to bring soldiers and former soldiers into court to face justice for
committing human rights violations. Recently, the chair of the
Indonesian government's human rights commission (Komnas HAM)
told
The Jakarta Globe
that "the
country’s mechanisms for tackling human rights violations had failed,” and
pointed out that no human rights cases were brought to trial in 2009.
In the past, you have acknowledged that certain foreign policies have been
"mistakes," counter-productive and contrary to professed U.S. values. In
this vein, we urge you to forthrightly acknowledge our history with
Indonesia. Honest reflection on the past is necessary to build a strong
future relationship with the people of the world’s fourth largest nation.
Military Assistance
We urge you to avoid the destructive policies of the past. In specific, we
urge that you not offer military assistance to Indonesia, especially to
Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces. There are already
many forms
of military and other security cooperation with Indonesia. We believe
training Kopassus would violate U.S. law which forbids training military
units with unresolved human rights violations. The law is not only
meant to prevent future violations, but to encourage the resolution of past
ones. This has clearly not happened.
Working with Kopassus, with its a long history of terrorizing civilians,
will undermine those fighting for justice and accountability in Indonesia
and Timor-Leste
and would signal that U.S. concerns about human rights and accountability
are superficial at best, easily dismissed by a military which continues to
resist reform. Greater Kopassus involvement in
counter-terrorism will also undercut police and civilian primacy, while
strengthening the military's controversial internal territorial role. This
will only undermine the reforms that the U.S. claims to support.
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Working with Kopassus, with its a long history of terrorizing civilians,
will undermine those fighting for justice and accountability in Indonesia
and Timor-Leste
and would signal that U.S. concerns about human rights and accountability
are superficial at best.
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We urge you to heed the recommendation of the
Commission for Reception,
Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste (CAVR), which calls on nations to
"regulate military sales and cooperation with Indonesia more effectively and
make such support totally conditional on progress towards full democratisation, the subordination of the military to the rule of law and
civilian government, and strict adherence with international human rights,
including respect for the right of self-determination."
Justice and Accountability for
Timor-Leste
The U.S., as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, should work to
establish an international human rights tribunal to bring to justice the
perpetrators of crimes committed during Indonesia’s 24-year occupation of
Timor-Leste. Such a tribunal is supported by the many victims of these
crimes and by human rights advocates in Timor, Indonesia and elsewhere.
Last year, during the 10th anniversary of Timor-Leste's independence
referendum, Indonesia pressured the Timor-Leste government to release a
recently arrested former militia leader, Martenus Bere, "without charge,
trial, or proper court authorization," according to the
State Department's
recent annual human rights report. UN-backed prosecutors had twice indicted
Bere for, among other crimes, his role in the massacre of 30 civilians,
including three priests, at a church. "The crimes against humanity charges
against Bere included murder, extermination, enforced disappearance,
torture, inhumane acts, and rape," the report says. We urge you to condemn
the Indonesian pressure which undermines efforts to achieve justice and
accountability for crimes committed throughout Indonesia's occupation of
Timor-Leste.
Defend Freedom of Association and
Expression
We also urge you to respond to demands of civil society in Indonesia by
among other actions making clear that the U.S. supports an Indonesia that is
pluralistic and tolerant and respects freedom of expression. We encourage
you to press Indonesia to release all political prisoners.
Support Human Rights Defenders
We encourage you to press Indonesia to end the harassment of human rights
defenders. Moreover, credible prosecution of those who ordered and organized
the 2004 murder of Munir, Indonesia's leading human rights lawyer, is
essential.
Police Reform
Violations of human rights by the police remain a persistent problem. As a
leading provider of police training, the U.S. should examine the
effectiveness of its program in conveying and promoting respect for human
rights, as well as encourage Indonesia to establish an effective mechanism
to take action on civilian complaints.
Aceh
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We urge you to advocate for open access to the territory for journalists, human
rights investigators, humanitarian agencies, diplomats and others. Indonesia
must understand that restricting access to the territory is
counter-productive and unacceptable. We also urge you to support the
Papuans’ longstanding call for an internationally-mediated dialogue with
Jakarta.
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The post-tsunami peace process in Aceh has been widely praised by the U.S.
and others. However, the human rights component, which calls for the
establishment of a truth commission and a human rights court to deal with
official crimes committed during the conflict, remains in limbo. We urge you
to call for the rapid establishment of these important mechanisms.
West Papua
Finally, human rights violations and security force abuses are a persistent
problem in the provinces of Papua and West Papua. We urge you to advocate
for open access to the territory for journalists, human rights
investigators, humanitarian agencies, diplomats and others. Indonesia must
understand that restricting access to the territory is counter-productive
and unacceptable. We also urge you to support the Papuans’ longstanding call
for an internationally-mediated dialogue with Jakarta.
Your upcoming visit can be a turning point in U.S.-Indonesia relations or it
can be a continuation of business as usual. A genuinely democratic,
rights-respecting and reformed Indonesia is in both countries’ interest.
U.S. policy must promote and not hinder broadened democratization, respect
for human rights, real civilian control of the military, and a strengthened
judiciary that can stand up to the security forces and entrenched financial
interests.
Sincerely,
John M. Miller
National Coordinator, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network
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