(New York) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell should urge Indonesia to demonstrate effective civilian control of the military and take action to hold senior military officers accountable for human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a backgrounder released today. Secretary Powell will make his first official visit to Indonesia on August 2, where he will meet with President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Cabinet officials, including Security Minister Bambang Yudhoyono.
Powell should make clear that the U.S. support for the Indonesian military will be strictly conditioned on human rights progress," said Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington director for Human Rights Watch's Asia Division. "Removing restrictions on cooperation with the Indonesian armed forces will undercut those working for reform. If Secretary Powell goes ahead, the United States will strengthen the military at the expense of civilian institutions, and send the wrong signal to Indonesia's leaders."
Some supporters of increasing U.S.-Indonesian military ties claim that it will encourage reform and respect for human rights. But decades of U.S. support for the Soeharto-era armed forces had no such effect, Human Rights Watch said, and it is unlikely that any amount of foreign military training or exposure to democratic institutions abroad will change the military's behavior in the absence of effective civilian control and accountability for serious abuses.
"Some argue that Indonesia's cooperation in the war on terror means the United States must support the Indonesian military, no matter what," said Jendrzejczyk. "But until the Indonesian armed forces demonstrate commitment to accountability and civilian control, they will be an unreliable partner in fighting terrorism."
There are widespread allegations that elements of the Indonesian armed forces helped create and train radical Indonesian Muslim organizations. The army has certainly done very little to rein them in. For example, the Indonesian military allowed the most prominent such group, Laskar Jihad, to operate freely in conflict areas such as Central Sulawesi and the Malukus.
There are credible and widespread reports of biased interventions by army units and leakage of military weapons from security forces in the provinces of Maluku and North Maluku that have helped fuel communal violence.
Human Rights Watch also urged Secretary Powell to demonstrate his support for civilian institutions by meeting with leading human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and with members of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas-Ham).
"Powell should indicate strong U.S. support for the rebuilding of civilian institutions," said Jendrzejczyk. "That could include the Indonesian police, which have been separated from the military since April 1999."
During last September's visit to Washington by President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the Bush Administration lifted an embargo on sales of non-lethal commercial arms to Indonesia and resumed a high-level defense dialogue, as well as various bilateral and multilateral exchanges involving Indonesian military officers. However, under the Leahy amendment in the FY 2002 foreign aid bill, certain human rights conditions must be met before the administration can provide International Military Education and Training (IMET) to Indonesia or sell U.S.-funded arms and arms supplies. The new FY 2003 bill is currently under consideration in Congress.
The Senate Appropriations Committee removed any restrictions on IMET, but the legislation maintains human rights conditions on U.S. government-funded arms transfers as well as lethal commercial weapons and supplies. Senate floor action is expected in September. The House has not yet acted on the bill.
Anti-terrorism legislation passed by both houses of Congress on July 25, 2002 (supplemental 2002 foreign appropriations bill) provides $16 million to the Indonesian police, including $12 million to establish an anti-terrorism unit in the police.
The former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Robert Gelbard, wrote on July 18, 2002 to Senator Patrick Leahy, chair of the foreign operations subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, supporting conditions on IMET and other U.S. security assistance programs. He wrote: "The establishment of democracy in Indonesia is an historic event, but the military have largely avoided beginning the process of demonstrating that they are prepared to be active participants in that new democratic system. Military reform has essentially not yet begun - with no signs that it will, accountability has largely been evaded and impunity continues."
