[Kabar-indonesia] Groups Urge Bush Not to Offer Military Assistance to Indonesian President

[John M Miller]

Groups Urge Bush Not to Offer Military Assistance to Indonesian President

For Immediate Release

Contact: John M. Miller;  917-690-4391 (cell)

November 18 - A wide range of U.S. organizations have urged President 
Bush "to refrain from promising any military assistance to 
Indonesia's armed forces" on his upcoming visit to Indonesia.

President Bush will meet with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang 
Yudhoyono in Bogor on Monday.

In a letter to Bush, 53 human rights, labor, religious, peace and 
other groups called "restrictions on U.S. assistance to the 
Indonesian military are essential to promote concrete, demonstrable 
progress in the areas of military reform, accountability, and respect 
for human rights in Indonesia and Timor-Leste."

The groups urged the president "to maintain the best leverage the 
U.S. has - withholding prestigious U.S. military assistance, 
including foreign military financing and training such as IMET and 
JCET - to demonstrate that the U.S. government's commitment to these 
issues goes deeper than words to actual action."

The letter cites ongoing human rights violations, military 
involvement in illegal businesses and militia, and the "territorial 
command" system, through which the military operates a shadow 
government, exerting undue influence.

"Indonesia's human rights courts have proven incapable of bringing 
Indonesian military and police perpetrators of serious human rights 
violations to justice...," The letter states. "No senior officials 
have been convicted for the widespread crimes against humanity and 
war crimes committed in Timor-Leste from 1975-1999."

"Past restrictions on assistance to the Indonesian military provided 
vital leverage to bolster Indonesian reform efforts," the groups 
wrote. They criticized last year's waiver by the administration of 
congressional restrictions on military assistance.

The letter was organized by the East Timor and Indonesia Action 
Network (ETAN). Among the signers are Amnesty International, 
Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Torture Abolition and 
Survivors Support Coalition International, United for Peace and 
Justice, Peace Action,  Pax Christi USA, School of the Americas 
Watch, Veterans for Peace, Women's International League for Peace and 
Freedom, and the West Papua Advocacy Team.

The full text of the letter and a complete list of signers can be 
found at www.etan.org.

Background

In November 2005, <http://etan.org/news/2005/11conf.htm>Congress 
agreed to continue restrictions on foreign military financing (FMF) 
and export of "lethal" military equipment to Indonesia until human 
rights and other conditions were met. Two days after the bill became 
law, <http://etan.org/news/2005/11waiver.htm>the Department of State 
issued a waiver removing these restrictions. Congress had imposed 
various restrictions on military assistance for Indonesia since 1992.

When issuing the waiver, the State Department pledged that the Bush 
administration would "carefully calibrate" any assistance to the 
Indonesian military (TNI). Instead, the administration's actions have 
demonstrated a policy of nearly unrestrained engagement with the TNI.

In its <http://etan.org/news/2006/cavr.htm>final report, East Timor's 
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation called on 
countries to make military assistance to Indonesia "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..."

ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for East Timor 
and Indonesia. ETAN calls for an international tribunal to prosecute 
crimes against humanity committed in East Timor from 1975 to 1999 and 
for restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia until there 
is genuine reform of its security forces. For additional background, 
see www.etan.org.




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ETAN welcomes your financial support. For more info: 
http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm

John M. Miller         Internet: fbp at igc.org
National Coordinator
ETAN
PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391  Skype: john.m.miller
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to info at etan.org to find out
how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet

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