UNITED STATES: New push for military ties with Indonesia

BY JON LAND

During his May visit to the Pentagon, Indonesian defence minister
Matori Abdul Djalil received signals that the United States is keen to
renew military ties with the Indonesian armed forces.

Despite reluctance by Congress to lift the bans on ties with the Indonesian
military that were introduced in 1999, US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld
is pushing for this to change. “It's time for them [Congress] to adjust
it [restrictions] substantially”, Rumsfeld told reporters at a press briefing
on May 13.

Rumsfeld added that Indonesia is “addressing human rights abuses issues
in an orderly, democratic way”.

Djalil stated it was necessary for military ties to resume because “Indonesia
and the United States have a common platform, especially on issues such
as democracy, and also on issues such as terrorism”. He cited the Indonesian
government's ad hoc tribunal for human rights abuses conducted in East
Timor in 1999 as proof of the commitment of Indonesia to hold members of
the military accountable.

Djalil said that his “government cannot interfere in the legal proceedings,
but the government continues to encourage the court to have a fair trial”.
He also claimed that the Indonesian government is committed to dialogue
in order to settle the conflict in Aceh.

Most observers, including leading Indonesian legal rights experts, have
slammed the ad hoc tribunal as a mockery of justice. In Aceh, the so-called
commitment to dialogue has been accompanied by more indiscriminate killings
(possibly more than 1000 since the start of the year) by an Indonesian
occupation force of some 70,000 troops.

Many of the officers in command or responsible for the operations in
Aceh are linked to the 1999 killings in East Timor.

From Green Left Weekly, May 22, 2002.

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From GLW issue 493