ETAN
Urges President Obama to Put Human Rights at Center of
U.S.-Indonesia Relations During Upcoming Visit to Indonesia
Contact: John M. Miller, ETAN, +1-718-596-7668, +1-917-690-4391
etan@etan.org, Twitter: @etan009
etan@etan.org, Twitter: @etan009
October 3, 2013 - The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network
(ETAN) today urged President Baarack Obama to emphasize human rights and
the rule of law in U.S.-Indonesia relations. The president is
scheduled to travel to Indonesia this weekend.
“The U.S. must not ignore injustice and human rights violations to advance narrow strategic and economic interests that have little to do with the well-being of the U.S. or Indonesian people,” said ETAN National Coordinator John M. Miller. “While much has changed in Indonesia since the Suharto dictatorship, U.S. security assistance does not promote further change. Instead it encourages impunity and further violations of human rights.”
“We are calling for a new relationship between the two countries built on an honest assessment of the bloody past,” said Miller. “Instead of offering more weapons and more training to Indonesia’s military, President Obama should suspend this assistance until there is an end to abuses and real accountability for past human rights crimes.”
We are calling for a new relationship between the two countries built on an honest assessment of the bloody past. |
Since Obama's last visit to Indonesia, the human rights situation has deteriorated in West Papua and religious intolerance has grown.
“President
Baa can send a strong message against impunity by making clear he
and and other senior U.S. officials will not to meet with any
Indonesian politicians -- including likely presidential
candidates, such as retired generals Prabowo and Wiranto -- who
have been credibly accused of human rights and other crimes,” said
Miller.
BACKGROUND
During his planned trip to Bali, Indonesia,
Baa will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
summit and engage in bi-lateral talks with Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
ETAN
has raised issues related to human rights and Timor-Leste at
APEC, since the first APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting near Seattle
in 1993. When in 1994, APEC last met in Indonesia, East Timorese
protesters seized the spotlight when they climbed the fence of the
U.S. embassy in Jakarta.
Presidential Politics
One
of the top contenders for next year’s presidential election,
former General Prabowo Subianto, is notorious for directing crimes
against humanity in Timor-Leste, Jakarta, and elsewhere. Prabowo
headed Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces and was
commander of Indonesia's strategic forces Another candidate is
former General Wiranto, indicted for crimes against humanity
related to his command responsibility for atrocities in
Timor-Leste as defense minister and army commander in 1999. Both
are barred from travel to the U.S.
Indonesia
will hold parliamentary elections next April 9. The first round
of the presidential election will be held in early July 2014.
West Papua
Indonesian
security forces continue to suppress of freedom of expression in
West Papua and to engage in deadly “sweeps” to drive villagers
from their homes. The Indonesian government continues to jail
peaceful protesters. It holds dozens of political prisoners from West Papua and elsewhere.
Access
to West Papua by international journalists, rights investigators
and others remains restricted. West Papuans are seeking
internationally-mediated negotiations with Jakarta on their
political status and other human rights issues. (see also West Papua Advocacy Team Open Letter to President Obama)
Religious Intolerance
Houses of worship of religious minorities face physical attack and
their followers confront discrimination and physical violence in
many areas of Indonesia. Police and public officials often refuse
to defend those under threat and sometimes take the side of the
attackers, using their office to spread bigotry and enforce
discrimination.
Security Assistance and Human Rights
The U.S. government has not yet apologized for its role in supporting human rights violations -- including collaboration with Suharto's seizure of power in 1965 and the subsequent mass killings; the turnover of West Papua to Indonesia; and the backing of Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation of Timor-Leste. Instead the Baa administration has moved closer -- most recently through the sale of deadly Apache attack helicopters -- to the largely unreformed Indonesian military and police responsible for many of those crimes.
The helicopter sale was announced in late August and includes no conditions on their use. The helicopters will increase the Indonesian military's ability to pursue "sweeping" operations in West Papua and extend its capacity to stage operations after dark and in remote areas.
The U.S. government has not yet apologized for its role in supporting human rights violations -- including collaboration with Suharto's seizure of power in 1965 and the subsequent mass killings; the turnover of West Papua to Indonesia; and the backing of Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation of Timor-Leste. Instead the Baa administration has moved closer -- most recently through the sale of deadly Apache attack helicopters -- to the largely unreformed Indonesian military and police responsible for many of those crimes.
The helicopter sale was announced in late August and includes no conditions on their use. The helicopters will increase the Indonesian military's ability to pursue "sweeping" operations in West Papua and extend its capacity to stage operations after dark and in remote areas.
President Obama can send a strong message against impunity by making clear he and and other senior U.S. officials will not to meet with any Indonesian politicians -- including likely presidential candidates, such as retired generals Prabowo and Wiranto -- who have been credibly accused of human rights and other crimes. |
This
sale represents the latest step in the Pentagon's increased
engagement with the Indonesian military (TNI). In 1999,
restrictions on U.S. engagement with the Indonesian military were
tightened as the TNI and its militia were destroying East Timor
(now Timor-Leste) following the UN-conducted referendum on
independence. Through the 2000s, restrictions on engagement with
the Indonesian military were gradually lifted, even though it has not
been held accountable for atrocities in Timor-Leste and throughout
the archipelago, and continues to violate human rights violations
continue in West Papua and elsewhere.
In November 2010, prior to a previous trip to Indonesia, ETAN urged the President "to
decisively break with past U.S. support for torture,
disappearances, rape, invasion and illegal occupation,
extrajudicial murder and environmental devastation. U.S. weapons,
training, political backing and economic support of Indonesia
facilitated these crimes. President Obama should apologize to the
peoples of Indonesia and Timor-Leste for the U.S. role in their
suffering during the Suharto years and to offer condolences to
Suharto's many victims throughout the archipelago."
TNI
personnel are not accountable to the civilian judicial system,
nor is the TNI as an institution subordinated to civilian
government policy or operational control. For decades, the TNI has
drawn funding from a vast network of legal and illegal businesses
enabling it to evade even civilian government budgetary controls.
Legislation to restrain the TNI has been weak and only partially
implemented. The Indonesian government has steadfastly refused to
cooperate with Timor-Leste and international judicial processes.
Timor-Leste's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste (CAVR) 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."
ETAN,
formed in 1991, advocates for democracy, justice and human rights
for Timor-Leste and Indonesia. Since its founding, ETAN has
worked to condition U.S. military and other assistance to
Indonesia on respect for human rights and genuine reform. See
ETAN's web site:http://www.etan.org
see also
- U.S.-Indonesia Security Assistance
- West Papua Report
- ETAN/WPAT: Groups Call on U.S. to Condemn Indonesian Attacks on Peaceful Demonstrations in West Papua
- Groups Condemn Sale of Deadly Attack Helicopters to Indonesia
- ETAN Urges Secretary Clinton to Condition Security Assistance to Indonesia on Rights
- Statement of East Timor and Indonesia Action Network on President Obama's Visit to Indonesia
- Open Letter to President Barack Obama on his 2010 Visit to Indonesia from the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network
- WPAT Writes Obama Ahead of His 2010 Trip to Indonesia
- ETAN/WPAT: Suspend Training and Funding of Indonesian Police Unit Detachment 88
- ETAN Condemns U.S. Plan to Get Back in Bed with Indonesia's Kopassus Killers
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John M. Miller, National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
Mobile phone: +1-917-690-4391
Email: etan@etan.org Skype: john.m.miller
Twitter: @etan009 Website: www.etan.org
