US promises aid to Indonesia's unreformed military
By Sonya Neufeld August 2002
The United States has committed $50 million U.S. to Indonesia’s unreformed military, to help the country fight international terrorism.
Approximately $47 million will be used to upgrade police capabilities - according to the public affairs section of the U.S. embassy in Jakarta. The remaining $3 million has been allocated to military training. In a recent visit to Indonesia, U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell said the aid package is an opportunity to stabilise full military ties with Indonesia.
The U.S. imposed a military ban on military aid to Indonesia three years ago as a result of human rights abuses carried out by Indonesian troops in East Timor in 1999.
The Indonesian military-backed militia is associated with terrorising the East Timorese following their vote for independence that year. Hundreds of killings, massacres, rapes, burnings and lootings have been blamed on Indonesian military and on police who failed to intervene. But the move to renew ties with Indonesia has received widespread criticism from activists who insist human rights must not be forsaken for the war against terror.
“The need for justice, military reform, demilitarisation of conflict zones and respect for human rights must receive equal or greater priority to the ‘war on terrorism',” wrote Karen Orenstein, Washington coordinator for the human rights group East Timor Action Network (ETAN), in a recent letter to Colin Powell. The Bush administration argues that re-establishing ties with the Indonesian military will promote reform, respect for human rights and democracy.
But human rights activists argue that U.S. support for the armed forces during former President Soeharto’s reign had no such effect.
They insist foreign military training or exposure to democratic institutions abroad is unlikely to change the military’s behaviour. The armed forces are alleged to have a history of poor control over militia and lack accountability for abuses.
Activists warn against renewing military ties, saying the Indonesian army itself has been implicated in creating and training radical Muslim groups.
“Some argue that Indonesia’s cooperation in the war on terror means that the United States must support the Indonesian military, no matter what,” said Mike Jendrzejczyk, the Washington director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division.
“Until the Indonesian armed forces demonstrate a commitment to accountability and civilian control, they will be an unreliable partner in fighting terrorism,” he said. Indonesia, with its population of 210 million people and more than 13,000 islands spread across 3,000 miles, is considered by the U.S. as a possible safe haven or transit point for al-Qaeda operatives.
It also sees Indonesia as an important ally in its war against terrorism because it is the world’s most populous Muslim country.
The U.S. initially restricted an international military education and training program for Indonesia in response to the November 12, 1991 Santa Cruz massacre of more than 270 civilians in East Timor. Last month the U.S. (Senate Appropriations Committee) chose to lift restrictions on an International Military Education and Training(IMET) program for Indonesia. It is yet to determine whether or not it will remove the restriction on military arms enforced on the Indonesian military.
“The ‘war on terrorism’ must not become an excuse to support state-sponsored military terror on civilians in Indonesia. Military restrictions are the primary leverage the U.S. government has over the TNI (Indonesian military),” said Karen Orenstein of the East Timor Action Network.
“If congress removes them, TNI will take this as an endorsement of business-as-usual or even a signal of support for continuing abuses. Nothing will be gained and the people of Indonesia will lose,” she said.