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Groups Write State Dept on Indonesia Military Aid
8 March 2006
Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Via Facsimile 202-647-7350
Dear Mr. Assistant Secretary:
We note with dismay remarks attributed to you by
media sources at your March 3 press
conference in Jakarta. Reportedly, you stated that the U.S. was
"very satisfied with the approach of the TNI (the Indonesian
military) toward reform," and expressed confidence that "the
Indonesian military is continuing on its reform path and we want to
assist in that process."
While we all wish to see positive change in Indonesia, it does a
disservice to the advancement of real democratic progress to
exaggerate the impact of small reforms, which continue to be
overshadowed by Indonesia's vicious cycle of impunity and military
insubordination to civilian authority.
Such claims of progress, coupled with Secretary Rice's November 2005
decision to waive restrictions imposed by a bipartisan congressional
consensus to maintain pressure for military reform, forfeit leverage
for real reform.
Indeed, the reality is that the TNI remains a largely rogue
institution which commits human rights violations without concern
for the law. Its political power and corruption jeopardize
democracy. Links to and support of thuggish militia, including
Jihadist groups, that intimidate minority populations reveal
unchanged adherence to military tactics brutally employed in 1999
against the people of East Timor.
A candid review of current TNI performance clearly indicates a
continuation of, and in some instances a return to, Suharto-era
military behavior. For example, the State Department's own
2004
annual human rights report for Indonesia notes that "retired and
active duty military officers known to have committed serious human
rights violations occupied or were promoted to senior positions in
the Government or TNI." Not one Indonesian officer has served a day
in jail for crimes against humanity inflicted on the people of East
Timor and the UN mission in 1999 or before. In the small number of
other cases that have gone to trial, defendants have been limited to
low-level officials, sentences are consistently not commensurate
with crimes, and command responsibility is neither assessed nor
pursued. This cycle of impunity encourages military personnel to
commit abuse and intimidates those who seek to stop it.
TNI involvement in politics and civilian government administration
remains overbearing and appears to be strengthening. While the State
Department has made much about the military's relinquishment of
assigned parliamentary seats in 2004, the TNI actually retains far
more important powers through its vast territorial command
structure. Such a structure constitutes a shadow government that is
usually more powerful than the elected or appointed civilian
bureaucracy. New TNI leadership has no plans to relinquish this
structure. Furthermore, the 2004 local government law relaxed
prohibitions on military officers running in local elections, and
military officers can occupy senior posts in the Department of
Defense, as well as in the areas of drug enforcement and
intelligence.
The vastly corrupt nature of the TNI remains unchanged. It operates
beyond civilian government control in large measure because it draws
most of its funding from non-budget sources. The president has so
far failed to issue regulations required to implement a 2004 law
ending military-controlled business interests by 2009, nor are there
timetables or benchmarks for full implementation. In the very
limited actions taken so far, the military has employed a narrow
definition of what constitutes a military business, excluding, for
example, cooperatives that constitute a significant portion of
military holdings. In addition to these formal military enterprises,
many units engage in illegal activities, including trafficking in
persons and narcotics, prostitution rings, illegal logging and
fishing, and extortion that sometimes targets U.S. firms. These
illegal businesses need to be shut down.
Progress has occurred in some areas, notably the still-fragile peace
process in Aceh. However, it is essential that the U.S. exercise
leverage to ensure the Indonesian military does not play a
disruptive role, as it did in 2003. Moreover, there are fears that
soldiers withdrawn from Aceh are being sent to West Papua.
Regrettably, a ban on foreign journalists and others has prevented
verification of this and other allegations of serious abuse in that
easternmost province.
We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations, request the
opportunity to meet with you to discuss the continued absence of
meaningful TNI reform. We wish also to express our concern that the
Administration's abandonment of congressionally imposed restrictions
on assistance to the Indonesian military rewards and encourages
continued human rights violations, impunity, and corruption, thus
undermining Indonesian democracy. We would also welcome the chance
to discuss ways for the Administration both to credibly measure
reform progress and create incentives for it.
We thank you for your consideration and look forward to your
response.
Sincerely,
Karen Orenstein, National Coordinator
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network
Bama Athreya, Deputy Director
International Labor Rights Fund
Rev. James Kofski, Associate
Asia-Pacific and Middle East Issues
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Edmund McWilliams
West Papua Advocacy Team
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Centersee also
ETAN Rejects Added Aid for Indonesian Military;
Responds to Bush Administration’s Waiver Justification
U.S.-Indonesia
Military Assistance
page
Original article
U.S. Says Reform of TNI on the Right Path
JAKARTA, March 3 (AFP): A U.S. envoy said Friday that ongoing reform
in Indonesia's powerful armed forces (TNI) was on the right path and
the United States wanted to provide more support for the changes
ahead.
Washington has been "very satisfied with the approach of the TNI
toward reform," despite past strains between the two nations, said
Christopher Hill, visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of Statefor East
Asian and Pacific Affairs."We're confident that the Indonesian
military is continuing on its reform path and we want to assist in
this process," Hill told a press briefing in Jakarta.
Hill, who held talks on bilateral, regional and international
matters with three Indonesian ministers earlier Friday, also said
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was expected to visit
Indonesia on March 14.
Indonesia -- the world's largest Islamic nation -- and the United
States resumed full military ties in November. They were severed
over human rights allegations against the military in 1991 when
Jakarta's forces launched a crackdown on pro-independence protesters
in East Timor.
Critics have blasted the resumption, saying that Indonesia's
military has not yet taken full responsibility for its past rights
abuses, particularly in East Timor before and in the run-up to its
independence in 1999.
"Of course not everyone agrees with this... but I can assure you
that the U.S. government believes this is the right approach and
this is what we are doing," Hill said.
Washington in January donated US$11 million worth of medical
equipment -- equal to a full-scale US military hospital -- to be
used as a fleet hospital by the Indonesian navy, in the first
exchange since the ban was lifted.
"We're convinced that the Indonesian government and the Indonesian
military in particular have moved quite clearly on the path of
reform and we want to support it," the assistant secretary of state
added.
Indonesia began reforming its military in 1998 after its autocratic
former president Soeharto stepped down.
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