Dear Minister Marles,
I am writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch regarding the Australia–Indonesia Treaty on Common Security signed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo, on February 6, 2026, and the associated initiatives the prime minister announced.
Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization that reports on and advocates for human rights in some 100 countries around the world.
We appreciate the importance that the Australian government places on its bilateral relationship with Indonesia. However, we are also mindful of historical and more recent human rights violations implicating the Indonesian security forces, including Prabowo personally while he was a military officer and several members of his administration.
We believe the Australian government should play a long-term role in urging the Indonesian government to address security forces abuses. However, our immediate concern is in relation to the Australian government’s commitments that accompanied the announcement of the treaty being signed, in particular the commitment to joint defense training; the offer for a new embedded position for a senior Indonesian military officer in the Australian Defence Forces; and the expansion of the military education exchange forum.
All of these initiatives should be accompanied by Australia conducting its own rigorous and transparent vetting processes and the government should not include in these programs anyone who has committed serious human rights violations.
For a number of years Human Rights Watch has raised the issue of human rights vetting by the Australian government in its programs (e.g. training, equipping, embedding) with foreign security forces.
In the past, the United States has been a leader on human rights vetting for security force partners. There are two US statutory provisions (known as the “Leahy Laws”). The Leahy Laws bar US assistance and training to foreign military units responsible for gross violations of human rights unless the government has taken steps to remediate, address the abuses, and hold those responsible to account. The Leahy Laws do not apply to entire defense cooperation agreements, but rather individuals and units.
Training by Australian defense forces bestows legitimacy and professionalism on those who receive it. The Australian government should be careful not to legitimize anyone or any forces who have been involved in serious human rights violations.
In the context of this most recent treaty with Indonesia, if Australia deploys with, trains, or equips Indonesian military personnel or police who have committed grave human rights violations, it weakens the reputation of Australia’s defense forces. It erodes Australia’s credibility and risks implicating Australian soldiers indirectly (or possibly directly) in grave crimes.
In 2024, allegations of serious human rights abuses surfaced about a Fijian military officer who had been appointed to command an Australian army brigade. Questions arose at senate estimates, as well as reporting from the media and Human Rights Watch, about how this could have happened and the vetting processes the government undertook before embedding someone from a foreign military in the Australian Defence Forces. The government has at times referred to some processes and checks that are done, but there is no transparency about who does them (Australia or the sending state), how they are done, and the extent to which vetting occurs.
Absent an overall vetting framework similar to the Leahy Laws, the recent agreement between Australia and Indonesia ideally should have incorporated a human rights vetting provision that would have required the Australian government to vet anyone it trains or works with from the Indonesian security forces. This would have helped safeguard against the Australian security forces working with people who have committed serious human rights abuses.
At this stage, it is still crucial that the Australian government develops mandatory, clear, and transparent steps for vetting anyone who participates in joint exercises with or embeds in the Australian Defence Force pursuant to this treaty.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We would welcome meeting with relevant members of your staff to discuss this further.
Sincerely,
Daniela Gavshon
Australia Director
Human Rights Watch
