A United States joint House of Representatives-Senate committee voted on October 2 to delete $2.3 million in International Military Education and Training (IMET) funds for Indonesia from the 1993 foreign aid appropriations bill. The decision was made to protest against human rights violations in East Timor. The bill is expected to be passed by both houses and signed by President Bush soon.
The cut-off of the only US military aid program for Indonesia came despite Indonesia enlisting members of the US military, State and Defense departments and major corporations to lobby for the program, which annually trains about 150 Indonesian military officers in the US. More than 2600 have been trained since Indonesia invaded and occupied East Timor in 1975.
Charles Scheiner, coordinator of the East Timor Action Network/US, called the decision "a major victory for the people of East Timor. By resisting pressure from business interests and the Suharto and Bush administrations, Congress has sent a strong message that the ground rules have changed."
Sanctions should continue and escalate until Indonesia stops violating East Timorese human rights and allows the people there to determine their own political future, Scheiner said.
In June, the House of Representatives unanimously approved an amendment to end funding of the IMET program. It also required that economic aid to Indonesia be approved by Congress. The issue was decided in three days, and pro-Indonesia forces did not make a serious effort to influence the vote.
In the Senate, however, they had three months to lobby, and chose to make it a major issue. Business representatives told Congress that Jakarta had threatened to retaliate against US firms if aid was cut, and senators were visited and called by cabinet officials and admirals. Lobbyists for major corporations went to work. The American-Indonesian Chamber of Commerce wrote its members that the bill "could substantially affect the level of economic assistance", and that it "may directly or indirectly impact US firms doing business in Indonesia."
Human rights, church, peace, and East Timor solidarity groups mounted an intense campaign.
On September 23, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 15-12 to disallow IMET unless the State Department certified that certain conditions were met. This was a defeat for East Timor, because the conditions were weak and did not require anything concrete from Jakarta. The committee voted down a proposal by subcommittee chair Patrick Leahy that required Indonesia to permit human rights observers into East Timor and to list people killed and jailed during and after the November 12 Dili massacre. When the House-Senate conference committee met, House subcommittee chair David Obey fought for a total suspension of IMET. Senator Leahy proposed conditions stronger than those narrowly rejected by the Senate Appropriations Committee, and was supported by Representative Mickey Edwards, the ranking Republican on the House subcommittee.
When Jakarta's supporters saw that they did not have the votes, they agreed to a total cut-off, expecting that Suharto would reject conditional aid as an insult to national pride. Legislators from both parties warned of further cuts if Indonesia did not move towards human rights and self-determination for East Timor.
By fighting so hard, Indonesia's supporters have magnified the importance of the final decision. As Jakarta begins to negotiate with Portugal over the future of East Timor, this will increase pressure for a just resolution.
[East Timor Action Network/US via Pegasus.]