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WASHINGTON - September 24 - The U.S. Senate yesterday voted to renew bans on International Military Education and Training (IMET) and foreign military financing (FMF) for Indonesia. In passing the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, the Senate agreed to continue the ban on grants of military equipment through the FMF program and on licenses for export of lethal equipmentuntil certain conditions are met, and to extend the ban on IMET until the State Department determines that the Indonesian armed forces and government are cooperating with the FBI's investigation into the murder of U.S. citizens in West Papua.

"The continued restriction of IMET and FMF sends an important signal to the new Indonesian government that Congress believes military reform is vital to democratic progress in Indonesia," said John M. Miller, spokesperson for the East Timor Action Network (ETAN).

ETAN urged Congress to expand the conditions on resumption of IMET and extend conditionality to counter-terrorism training, which is funded under different legislation. "Congress should apply the same conditions on IMET and other military training that the Senate has imposed on FMF," Miller said.

"Many members of Congress are not satisfied with Indonesia's level of cooperation in resolving the horrific ambush in West Papua," said Karen Orenstein, Washington Coordinator of ETAN.

"Indonesia has yet to fulfill conditions previously placed on IMET, including accountability for rights violations in East Timor and Indonesia and transparency in the military budget. In fact, the military continues to systematically violate human rights, especially in Aceh and West Papua. Those indicted for crimes against humanity in East Timor continue to maintain powerful positions," she said.

The bill provides $6 million for the Indonesian Navy for "maritime security." Release of these funds is conditioned on certification that the Navy is not "committing gross violations of human rights" and is cooperating with the UN-East Timor Serious Crimes Unit, which is investigating crimes committed in 1999 during East Timor's independence referendum.

The House version of the bill, passed last July, contains similar language on IMET and would ban FMF unconditionally.

A conference committee will reconcile any differences between the two versions of the bill before final passage.

Background

Congress first voted to restrict Indonesia from receiving IMET, which brings foreign military officers to the U.S. for training, in response to the November 12, 1991 Santa Cruz massacre of more than 270 civilians in East Timor. All military ties with Indonesia were severed in September 1999 as the Indonesian military (TNI) and its militia proxies razed East Timor.

For fiscal year 2004, Congress banned IMET after a contentious debate on a bill passed in January until the State Department determines that the Indonesian military and government are cooperating with the FBI's investigation of the 2002 ambush. The administration has recently begun arguing that this condition has been met.

Although one West Papuan has been indicted in the U.S. for the murders in Timika, a number of congressional offices have insisted that the condition on IMET should remain in place until the investigation is completed and those responsible for the attack are brought to justice. Indonesia has yet to indict anyone in the killings. The TNI has been implicated in the August 2002 attack in the mining concession of Louisiana-based Freeport-McMoRan, which also killed an Indonesian and wounded 11 people, including a six-year-old child.

The Senate's conditions on FMF are similar to those passed by Congress last year and include a call for budget transparency by the TNI and presidential certification that the armed forces are "not committing gross violations of human rights," and that the government is prosecuting members of the armed forces accused of abuses or aiding militia groups and punishing those guilty of such acts.

The TNI must cooperate with the UN Security Council-mandated Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor, including the extradition of those indicted. More than two-thirds of those indicted in East Timor for serious crimes and crimes against humanity currently reside in Indonesia. A number of indicted senior military and police officials and militia are active in military operations in Aceh and West Papua.

The Indonesian navy is often viewed as having a better human rights record than the army. However, navy ships were integral to the massive, well-planned Indonesian military operation which systematically destroyed East Timor and forcibly transported a third of the population out of the territory in 1999. In July 1998, navy personnel massacred peaceful demonstrators in Biak, West Papua, and then dumped their bodies at sea. This crime has never been investigated. Marines are active in military operations in Aceh, where numerous human rights violations have occurred.

Just this week, an Indonesian naval vessel threatened and chased a tourist dive boat well within East Timor's waters. East Timor's Minister for Internal Administration, Rogerio Lobato, said warships regularly violate Timor's waters. Last December, an Indonesian warship shelled a small disputed island off East Timor's enclave of Oecussi.

In a report accompanying the bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee expressed its "dismay and disappointment with the acquittal of Indonesian military officers in connection with the 1999 atrocities in East Timor and the performance and record of the ad hoc tribunal." It also called on "the State Department to use its influence with the Government of Indonesia to ensure that international relief, media and human rights organizations have unimpeded access" to Aceh. The report further expressed concern about widespread illegal logging condoned and encouraged by the Indonesian military.

The Senate provided $22,000,000 in economic assistance for East Timor, well above the administration's budget request. With regard to the maritime boundary between Australia and East Timor, the committee report encouraged "all parties to negotiate in good faith in accordance with international legal principles,.".

Seventy organizations recently wrote the Secretary of State opposing plans to provide FMF and IMET to Indonesia, saying that Indonesia has yet to fully meet past and current congressional conditions restricting its access to the programs.

ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for East Timor and Indonesia. ETAN calls for an international tribunal to prosecute crimes against humanity that took place in East Timor since 1975 and continued restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia until there is genuine reform of its security forces.

The Senate language can be found at http://etan.org/news/2004/09senate.htm#lang
Source:
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0924-07.htm

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