[ETAN-key] Groups Urge Congress to Restrict Assistance to Indonesian Military

[John M Miller]

Groups Urge Congress to Restrict Assistance to 
Indonesian Military in Legislative Mark-up

For Immediate Release

Contact: John M. Miller (718) 596-7668; (917) 690-4391 (cell)

May 18 - Human rights, religious and other 
organizations today urged a key congressional 
subcommittee to reinstate restrictions on U.S. 
military assistance to Indonesia as the best way 
"to influence positive change in Indonesia and to 
encourage justice for the people of Timor-Leste."

The 15 organizations wrote the House of 
Representatives Subcommittee on Foreign 
Operations Appropriations that, "Legislated 
restrictions on FMF [Foreign Military Financing] 
and lethal defense exports, without a national 
security waiver, represent the most important 
leverage the U.S. Congress can exercise..."

The subcommittee is scheduled to meet tomorrow 
morning to mark-up the Fiscal Year 2007 foreign 
aid appropriations bill, the first step in 
determining what, if any, 
congressionally-mandated restrictions will apply 
to U.S. military assistance to Indonesia.

The groups wrote that they "strongly disagree" 
with the Administration's decision, announced 
last week, to provide up to $19 million for the 
Indonesian military through a new Pentagon 
program "to build foreign military force 
capacity.... This amount dwarfs recent assistance 
levels," and that “this appropriation further 
invalidates any justification to comply with the 
Administration’s $6.5 million request for FMF for 
Indonesia for FY07, which itself represents more 
than a six-and-a-half fold increase over the FY06 estimated expenditure.”

The Administration's actions "illustrate moves 
toward unrestrained engagement with the TNI, and 
assume that this will somehow result in reform. 
The history of past engagement shows that such 
optimism is not warranted," the letter said.

Despite pledging last November to "carefully 
calibrate" any assistance, "the Administration 
has no benchmarks that we are aware of by which 
to measure progress in military and human rights 
reform in Indonesia," the groups wrote.

In addition to assistance through the new 
Pentagon program, other recent Administration 
moves include waiving human rights conditions on 
military assistance to Indonesia only two days 
after the 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations 
Act was signed last November and the 
participation of the commander of Kopassus, the 
Indonesian military’s notorious special forces 
unit, in the Pentagon's annual Pacific Area 
Special Operation Conference (PASOC) in April. 
This week, the Indonesian military for the first 
time is participating in the Cobra Gold regional 
military exercise with the United States and other countries.

The letter was coordinated by the East Timor and 
Indonesia Action Network. The full text and a 
list of signers are available below.

-30-
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18 May 2006

The Honorable Jim Kolbe, Chairperson
The Honorable Nita Lowey, Ranking Member
Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Subcommittee
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives

Dear Representative Kolbe and Representative Lowey:

As organizations with longstanding concerns about 
human rights and justice in Indonesia and 
Timor-Leste, we urge you to fully restrict 
foreign military financing (FMF) and the export 
of lethal defense articles for the Indonesian 
military in the FY07 Foreign Operations 
Appropriations Act. We strongly urge that a 
national security waiver of these restrictions not be included in the Act.

The State Department has failed to follow through 
on its pledge, given when it exercised the waiver 
only two days after the 2006 Foreign Operations 
Appropriations Act was implemented last November, 
to “carefully calibrate” any assistance for the 
Indonesian military (TNI). Rather, the 
Administration has no benchmarks that we are 
aware of by which to measure progress in military 
and human rights reform in Indonesia, and none 
are planned. Actions thus far by the 
Administration illustrate moves toward 
unrestrained engagement with the TNI, and assume 
that this will somehow result in reform. The 
history of past engagement shows that such optimism is not warranted.

Last week President Bush announced that Indonesia 
will be among the recipients of a new Pentagon 
program, which will reportedly provide up to $19 
million for the TNI, to build foreign military 
force capacity (section 1206 of the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006). 
This amount dwarfs recent assistance levels. In 
April, the commander of Kopassus, the TNI’s 
special forces unit, participated in the 
Pentagon’s annual Pacific Area Special Operation 
Conference (PASOC) in Hawaii. In March, the 
Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral 
William Fallon, testifying before the Senate 
Armed Services Committee about the TNI, endorsed 
“a rapid, concerted infusion of assistance.” This 
statement appears to accurately demonstrate the 
Administration’s current approach of engagement with Indonesia’s armed forces.

The conditions the waiver overrode – pertaining 
to justice for serious crimes, civilian control 
over the military, and respect for human rights – 
have not been met (section 599F(a) of the FY06 
Foreign Operations Appropriations Act). Not a 
single Indonesian officer has been held to 
account for crimes against humanity in 
Timor-Leste. While conditions in Aceh have 
improved, the situation in West Papua has 
worsened; the province remains largely 
inaccessible to international journalists, 
diplomats and international human rights 
organizations. The Defense Ministry remains 
overwhelmingly staffed by serving military 
officers, and efforts to gain civilian control 
over the massive military business empire (which 
provides off-the-books funding for the military) 
have been half-hearted at best. The masterminds 
of the arsenic poisoning of world-renowned 
Indonesian human rights lawyer Munir have not been brought to justice.

While we strongly disagree with the 
Administration’s decision to provide up to $19 
million for the TNI, we feel that this 
appropriation further invalidates any 
justification to comply with the Administration’s 
$6.5 million request for FMF for Indonesia for 
FY07, which itself represents more than a 
six-and-a-half fold increase over the FY06 estimated expenditure.

Congress, time and again, has redirected 
Administration policies when they have strayed 
from principles of democracy and protection of 
human rights. The Administration must not be 
allowed to squander the opportunity to push for 
security reform in Indonesia. We trust that 
Congress will continue to be a strong advocate 
for an Indonesian citizenry still repressed by 
its own military and for accountability for 
crimes committed by Indonesia in Timor-Leste. 
Legislated restrictions on FMF and lethal defense 
exports, without a national security waiver, 
represent the most important leverage the U.S. 
Congress can exercise to influence positive 
change in Indonesia and to encourage justice for the people of Timor-Leste.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Veena Siddharth, Asia Advocacy Director
Human Rights Watch

T. Kumar
Advocacy Director for Asia & Pacific
Amnesty International USA

Neil Hicks, Director of International Programs
Human Rights First

Karen Orenstein, National Coordinator
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network

Rajyashri Waghray, Director, Education & Advocacy
Church World Service

Joe Volk, Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers)


Emily S. Goldman, Senior Program Officer
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights

Adam Isacson, Director of Programs
Center for International Policy

John Oei, Founder
Indonesian, Chinese and American Network

Eileen B. Weiss & Sharon Silber, Co-Founders
Jews Against Genocide

(Rev.) Jim Kofski, M.M., Asia/Pacific and Middle East Issues
Marynoll Office for Global Concerns

Sr. Sheila Kinsey,OSF, Coordinator
Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Office
Wheaton Franciscans

Marie Lucey, OSF, LCWR Associate Director for Social Mission
Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Frida Berrigan, Senior Research Associate
Arms Trade Resource Center, World Policy Institute

Dr. Gregory H. Stanton
President, Genocide Watch
Founder and Chairman of the Board,
International Campaign to End Genocide


cc: Members of Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing and Related Programs Subcommittee

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John M. Miller         Internet: fbp at igc.org

Media & Outreach Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network
48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668
Web site: http://www.etan.org

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