ETAN Urges Secretary Clinton to Condition Security Assistance to Indonesia
on Rights
Contact: John M. Miller,
etan@etan.org,+1- 917-690-4391
July 20, 2011 - As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton travelled to Bali, the
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urged her to condition
U.S. security assistance to Indonesia on real improvements in human rights by
Indonesia government and genuine accountability for violations of human rights.
"The
restoration of assistance to Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces
announced a year ago should be reversed," said John M. Miller, National
Coordinator of ETAN. "Kopassus training was meant to be the carrot to encourage
respect for rights. There is no evidence it has done so. U.S. law bars
cooperation with military and police units with such egregious human rights
records. The U.S should set an example by following it's own law."
On the eve of Secretary Clinton's visit, ETAN issued the
following statement:
In her February 2009 visit to Indonesia,
Secretary of State Clinton praised democratic reforms since the fall of the
U.S.-backed Suharto, saying "Indonesia has experienced a great transformation in
the last 10 years.” While Indonesia has made progress since the dark days of
Suharto, crimes against humanity and other violations of human rights continue.
U.S. policy has largely focused on narrow strategic and economic interests that
have little to do with the well-being of the Indonesian people. Meanwhile,
progress has stalled. Human rights remain under threat. The military continues
to find ways to maintain its influence. The pleas of the victims of human rights
crimes in Timor-Leste, Aceh, West Papua, and elsewhere in the archipelago are
ignored. Senior figures responsible for the worst abuses prosper.
| |
In recent years, the U.S. has
provided substantial assistance to both the Indonesian military and
police. This assistance is said to come with lessons on human rights.
The human rights lessons are not being learned. People see the police as
abusers, not protectors and military impunity prevails. Indonesia's
security forces are learning is that U.S. will assist them no matter how
they behave. |
Over the past year,
horrific videos and other reports of torture, the burning of villages
and other crimes offer graphic proof that the people of West Papua and
elsewhere continue to suffer at the hands of military and police. Soldiers
prosecuted for these and other incidents receive
light sentences.
Just this past week, four civilians, a women and three children, were
wounded when Indonesian troops shot into a hut in the Puncak Jaya area of
Papua.
As many as
100 political prisoners remain jailed: prosecuted and jailed for the
peaceful expression of opinion. In many regions, minority religious
institutions are persecuted, often with the active or tacit assistance of
local security officials. Vigilante groups, like the Islamic Defenders
Front, seek to enforce their own extra-legal version of morality, again with
the backing of officials. Journalists, human rights defenders and
anti-corruption activists are threatened and
occasionally killed. The organizers of the 2004 poisoning of Indonesia's
most prominent human rights lawyer, Munir, remain free and seemingly above
the law.
In recent years, the U.S. has provided
substantial assistance
to both the Indonesian military and police. This assistance is said to come
with lessons on human rights. Lessons that are not being learned. People see
the
police as abusers, not protectors and military impunity prevails.
Indonesia's security forces are learning is that U.S. will assist them no
matter how they behave.
U.S. State
Secretary Hillary Clinton and Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono at the presidential office in Jakarta February 19,
2009(Reuters) |
|
We urge the U.S. to condition its security assistance on an
end to human rights violations and to impunity. The U.S. should heed the
recommendation of Timor-Leste's
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste (CAVR),
which urged 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." Indonesia does not yet
meet this standard.
The U.S., as a permanent member of the UN Security Council,
should work to establish an international tribunal to bring to justice the
perpetrators of human rights crimes committed during Indonesia’s 24-year
occupation of Timor-Leste. This would provide a measure of justice to the
victims and their families and serve as a deterrent to future human rights
violators. A tribunal is supported by the many victims of these crimes and by
human rights advocates in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, the U.S., and elsewhere.
Finally, we urge Secretary Clinton to apologize to the peoples of Indonesia and
Timor-Leste for U.S. support for the Suharto dictatorship. Her visit offers the
U.S. a chance to decisively break with past U.S. support for torture,
disappearances, rape, invasion and illegal occupation, extrajudicial murder
environmental devastation. Clinton should offer condolences to Suharto's many
victims throughout the archipelago and support the prosecution of those
responsible.
ETAN was founded in 1991 to advocate for self-determination for
Indonesian-occupied Timor-Leste. Since the beginning, ETAN has worked to
condition U.S. military assistance to Indonesia on respect for human rights and
genuine reform. The U.S.-based organization continues to advocate for democracy,
justice and human rights for Timor-Leste and Indonesia. For more information,
see ETAN's web site:
http://www.etan.org.
see also
