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U.S. Envoy Urges Indonesia on Ambush ProbeBy SLOBODAN LEKIC The Associated Press
Washington banned military ties with Indonesia in 1999 after Indonesian troops devastated the province of East Timor following a U.N.-organized independence referendum. But the Bush administration now wants to resume full ties with Indonesia's military, which it views as a bulwark against Islamic militancy in the world's most populous Muslim nation. In February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lifted restrictions on Jakarta's participation in the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick described the $600,000 program as "very limited." "For us to do more, we need more progress in terms of that investigation," he said. Zoellick said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top officials had agreed to cooperate fully in the investigation of the ambush in which eight other Americans - including a 6-year-old child - were injured. "I do see progress but I won't be satisfied until the culprits are brought to justice," Zoellick told reporters. "The sense I got is that the government understands the importance of this." Local police in the eastern province of West Papua, where the victims worked at a school attached to an American-owned gold and copper mine, initially blamed the Aug. 31, 2002, ambush on an army special forces unit. The attack was seen as an effort by the military to discredit a pro-independence movement in the province. A subsequent FBI probe led to the indictment by a U.S. grand jury of an Indonesian civilian, Anthonius Wamang. He was described as a pro-independence guerrilla, but separatist activists maintain he was a military informer. He has never been captured. Zoellick also met with Planning Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to discuss America's role in rebuilding Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province, including plans to finance a $245 million road project, embassy officials said. He witnessed the signing of an agreement for the United States to contribute $73 million in aid to Indonesia, including cash to establish an anti-corruption court aimed at stemming the country's endemic graft. May 7, 2005 12:18 PM The Jakarta Post, Thursday, May 26, 2005
Susilo Meets Widow to Help Revive U.S. TiesReiner Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Washington
"I'm happy," Spiers told journalists, when asked to comment on her talks with Susilo, who arrived here late on Tuesday for a four-day visit. She did not elaborate. The meeting came after 53 human rights, religious and peace groups urged U.S. President George W. Bush to withhold U.S. military cooperation with Indonesia until the Southeast Asian country brings to justice military officers accused of abusing and killing civilians. Presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said the shooting incident in Timika, Papua, on Aug. 12, 2002, which also killed one Indonesian teacher and injured nine others, had been a stumbling block to relations between the two countries as well as to restoration of full military ties. The U.S. slapped a military embargo on Indonesia following the killing of East Timor pro-independence protesters by the military in 1991. "With this meeting, the President reaffirms the government's commitment to resolving the Timika incident, and (this shooting incident) should not hamper relations between Indonesia and the U.S.," Dino said after the meeting, held at the Willard Hotel, where Susilo and his entourage are staying. "The meeting was very constructive ... and also emotional." Dino explained that during the 30-minute meeting, Susilo briefed Spiers about the ongoing efforts to capture Papuan rebel leader Anthonius Wamang and his followers, who according to a joint investigation by the Indonesian authorities and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were responsible for the shooting incident. The group is believed to be hiding in the vast jungles of Papua. "There has been a commitment to boost the efforts, and that one day they will all be captured and brought to court," he said. Convincing Spiers about the government's strong commitment to resolving the incident and bringing the perpetrators to justice is crucial as it might help change the opinion of some U.S. Congressmen, who have opposed plans to end the U.S. military embargo on Indonesia until Jakarta shows significant progress in resolving certain issues, including the Timika incident and past human rights violations involving the Indonesian Military. In February, the U.S. resumed a training program for Indonesian military officers after the U.S. Secretary of State declared that the Indonesian authorities had cooperated with the FBI in investigating the Timika incident. Susilo is making his first visit to the U.S. since his election as president in October 2004. The trip is expected to further boost relations between the two countries in the economic, political, security and military fields. Some analysts say that the U.S. administration has been happy thus far with Susilo's government, and is expected to support his domestic policies including those designed to boost economic growth to help provide jobs for some 40 million unemployed people, and to curb endemic corruption. During the visit, Susilo is scheduled to hold talks with President Bush at the White House and also meet with other top administration officials, including Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Finance Secretary John Snow. The Susilo-Bush summit is slated to take place at around 3 p.m. local time on Wednesday or 3 a.m. on Thursday Jakarta time. President Susilo will also meet with a number of top officials of U.S. companies, including Caterpillar Inc., Altria Corp., which recently acquired PT HM Sampoerna, Indonesia's second largest cigarette maker, Merrill Lynch, and Paiton Energy. On Friday, the President will fly to Seattle to meet Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Bush promises Susilo full military tiesReiner Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Washington
"The President (Susilo) told me that he is in the process of reforming the military and I believe him. So this is the first step toward what would be full military-to-military cooperation," Bush said. Susilo, meanwhile, said his government appreciated the resumption of the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, and hoped that relations between the two countries' militaries would be fully resumed in the near future. "Actually, conditions are positive, (but) on the part of Indonesia, we have to continue with our reform (programs) and do many things for the resumption of military-to-military relations," said Susilo, who arrived late on Tuesday for a four-day working visit in a bid to boost relations between the countries in various areas. But despite the positive remarks, it remains unclear as to when full military ties will be reestablished amid lingering opposition from activists and some U.S. congressmen over concerns of slow progress by the Indonesian government in addressing human rights abuses by the military. Another crucial issue that has to be resolved by the government is the shooting incident in 2002 in Timika, Papua, in which two Americans and one Indonesian were killed. In a joint statement issued by the White House, Susilo pledged that he would intensify efforts "to ensure that the suspect indicted by a U.S. Federal Court for the 2002 Timika killings is apprehended and that all those responsible for these crimes are brought to justice". He made the same pledge when meeting with Patsy Spiers, a widow of one of the Americans killed in the incident, during a meeting earlier in the day. The U.S. restricted military aid for Indonesia in the early 1990s due to gross human rights abuses in the country. Congress suspended all forms of military relations following the killings of East Timorese in 1999 by militiamen, allegedly backed by the Indonesian Military, during and after a UN-sponsored ballot that led to the independence of East Timor. But after the Dec. 26 tsunami that ravaged Aceh, military ties between the two countries started to improve, paving the way for the U.S. military to carry out humanitarian relief work in the province. The election of reform-minded Susilo as the country's sixth president was also deemed a positive development. The IMET program was resumed after the U.S. state secretary declared that the Indonesian government had been cooperative in the investigation into the Timika incident. Analysts have said that reviving full military ties with Indonesia was also in the interest of the U.S. government as the world's largest Muslim country could play a strategic role in the U.S.-led war against terrorism. Elsewhere in the joint statement, Bush said that his administration would support Susilo's reform programs, which aims, among other things, to improve the investment climate and boost economic growth. He also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to continue assisting Indonesia in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Aceh. He announced that "Indonesia would receive US$400 million of the total $857 million earmarked by the U.S. government for earthquake and tsunami relief and reconstruction", the statement said. In his speech during a dinner with U.S. and Indonesian business executives, Susilo said the situation in Indonesia had started to change from when the country was plagued with various problems ranging from financial and political crises to the threat of terrorism. In an apparent attempt to lure new investment into the country, Susilo described Indonesia's present picture as a country whose people have courage, compassion and solidarity as reflected in the humanitarian work carried out in Aceh. He also said that Indonesia was a vibrant democratic country, following the 2004 general election, where the people elected their president directly. Susilo added that Indonesia was carrying out tough reform programs that included eradicating corruption, and that the country was no longer inward-looking as it sought to play a greater role in "shaping regional and international order." INDONESIA: ACQUITTALS IN '84 MASSACRE COULD SET BACK U.S. TIESBy Jim Lobe 1,226 words 12 July 2005 Inter Press Service English (c) 2005 Global Information Network
The acquittal, which was reported last week by the BBC but has yet to be officially confirmed, follows a series of court decisions that have freed military officers from responsibility for major abuses of human rights, particularly the 1999 rampage by Jakarta-backed militias in East Timor. It also follows approval by the U.S. House of Representatives of an administration request to lift all restrictions on military aid for Indonesia in next year's pending foreign aid bill. The Senate, however, is expected to approve its own version later this summer, according to one aide, who warned that the reported acquittal will make it more likely that the upper chambre will maintain existing curbs. "This kind of action suggests that it would be premature to drop existing restrictions," said the aide, noting that a recent finding by a commission appointed by Jakarta's Indonesia's president, ret. Gen. Bambang Yudhoyono, that agents of the military-run State Intelligence Agency (BIN) were behind the murder-by-poison of a prominent human rights activist would also bolster lawma kers who opposed rapid normalisation of military ties. Human Rights Watch also strongly denounced the reported court acquittals in the case of the so-called Tanjung Priok massacre, which took place in September 1984 when security forces fired on Muslim protestors during anti-government demonstrations in north Jakarta, killing 33 people. The demonstration was held to denounce the arrests of several key Muslim leaders. "Whether it is a massacre from the Suharto era or killings in East Timor, these verdicts show that the Indonesian military continues to get away with murder," said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director. "There is clearly no political will in Indonesia to address this kind of impunity." The acquittals, he added, also made clear that, in spite of Yudhoyono's election and the reformist complexion of his government, the military remained a law unto itself. "Because Yudhoyono was elected democratically, many now wrongly believe that Indonesia's military has been reformed," he said. "This is not the case. The military remains above the law, apparently too powerful for the courts to tame." The Tanjung Priok case was one of two decreed in 2001 by then-President Abdurrahman Wahid based on a law passed by the Indonesian parliament the year before that established special human rights courts. The other was aimed at investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the 1999 rampage in Timor in which hundreds of people were killed and most of the territory's infrastructure was destroyed. Sixteen military officers and two civilians were put on trial. Last year, an appeals court overturned the convictions of all of the military officers, including Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, the highest-ranking military officer to be convicted of crimes against humanity. The only convictions that were sustained were of ethnic Timorese civilians, including a militia leader, whose sentence was reduced from 10 to five years in prison, and the former governor of the province, Abilio Jose Soares, who is currently serving a three-year term. The appeals court decision elicited protests from the Bush administration which, however, has made little secret of its desire to normalise military ties that were initially restricted following the massacre of over 200 civilian demonstrators in Dili, East Timor, in 1991 and then virtually severed altogether after the 1999 rampage. As the world's most populous Muslim nation, and one where Islamic extremists have made some inroads, the Pentagon, in particular, believes that Jakarta has a key role to play in its "global war on terrorism". Since 2001, the Pentagon and the administration have waged a relentless and largely successful effort to ease restrictions on U.S. military ties with Jakarta and open up new channels of military aid, mostly through the provision of "anti-terrorism" assistance and military exercises. Under administration pressure, Congress gradually dropped a series of conditions on the resumption of military assistance after 2001, including accountability for the East Timor rampage and subordination of the military to civilian authority. The administration's courtship of Jakarta received a major shot in the arm after Washington sent an aircraft carrier task force to take part in relief operations in strife-torn Aceh province alongside Indonesian soldiers. By late last year, only one condition on renewing military aid and non-lethal military sales to Indonesia remained -- that the secretary of state certify that both the armed forces were cooperating fully with a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation of the August 2002 killings of two U.S. schoolteachers and an Indonesian colleague in an ambush in Papua province. In late February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice certified accordingly, despite the fact that the individual named by the FBI as a perpetrator of the killings had well-known links to the local armed forces commanders and was probably acting at their behest. Indeed, the suspect, Anthonius Wamang, remains at large in Papua and has yet to be indicted, let alone arrested, fueling suspicions that he has received military protection. The certification paved the way for the renewal of Indonesia's eligibility for the International Military Education and Training (IMET), a giant step towards the Indonesian military's full rehabilitation. This was followed late last month by the House, acting at the behest of the Pentagon and its Republican leadership, agreeing to lift all restrictions on military aid for Indonesia, beginning the start of fiscal year 2006 on Oct. 1. The action has angered human rights and church groups, 53 of which signed an appeal to Bush just before Yudhoyono's visit here in late May. "If the Bush administration and its allies in Congress were serious about promoting democratic reform and human rights in Indonesia," said Karen Orenstein, Washington coordinator for the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), "they would not be seeking to prop up the Indonesian military, the country's least democratic institution." In its statement Monday, HRW said the appeals court decision on the Tanjung Priok killings means that, as in East Timor, no Indonesian military officer will be held accountable. Fourteen active and retired military officers originally stood trial for the massacre. Two other soldiers accused taking part in the incident were acquitted last year, including the current head of Indonesia's special forces, Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan, who was then North Jakarta military commander. One of Muntrasan's predecessors as special forces commander, Maj. Gen. Muchdi Purwopranjono, has been implicated by the presidential commission in last September's assassination of rights activist Munir Said Thalib, who was poisoned with a lethal dose of arsenic while traveling on Indonesia's commercial airline, Garuda, from Jakarta to Amsterdam to attend a rights conference. Muchdi, who has denied any responsibility for the murder, was deputy director of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) at the time and reportedly received more than two dozen calls on his confidential number from one of the main suspects just before and after the poisoning. Muchdi served as special forces commander in the late 1990s. Document IPRS000020050712e17c00007 © 2005 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved. For Immediate ReleaseContact: John M. Miller (718) 596-7668 Karen Orenstein (202) 544-6911
"The Senate has done the right thing for the people of Indonesia and East Timor by keeping restrictions on military assistance. The Indonesian military has a long way to go before it becomes an accountable institution that respects human rights and civilian authority," said Karen Orenstein, Washington Coordinator of ETAN. The Senate version of the fiscal year (FY) 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill would continue restrictions on Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and export of "lethal" military equipment until certain conditions are met. The House version would remove all restrictions on military assistance. A conference committee with representatives from both chambers must reconcile the two versions of the bill before it is sent to the President for signature. The Senate bill, however, would provide $1.5 million in FMF for the Indonesian Navy. International Military Education and Training (IMET) funds would not be made available until the Secretary of State submits a detailed report on U.S. and Indonesian efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the ambush and murder of two U.S. citizens and an Indonesian in West Papua on August 31, 2002. "We hope the exceptions included in the bill won't undermine the Senate's message that genuine reform requires credible prosecution of officers for human rights violations, an end to the use of militia front groups, and full transparency in the military's finances and operations," Orenstein said. "The same conditions which apply to weapons sales should apply to military training and the Indonesian Navy," she said. "Any U.S. assistance will be viewed by the still unreformed, unaccountable, and intensely corrupt Indonesian military as an endorsement of business-as-usual, not as a reward for very modest reforms." "The Navy, like all other elements of Indonesia's security forces, remains largely unaccountable for many human rights violations, with a notably grisly record in West Papua," continued Orenstein. The Senate bill would also require a report on troop deployments and humanitarian and human rights conditions in West Papua and Aceh, Indonesia's most repressed provinces. This reporting would include "the extent to which members of Indonesia's security forces support these [jihadist-oriented] militia," and "the extent to which international funding for reconstruction in Aceh is being contracted or subcontracted to firms controlled by or affiliated with the Indonesian military."
ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for East Timor and
Indonesia. ETAN calls for an international tribunal to prosecute crimes
against humanity committed in East Timor from 1975 to 1999 and for
continued restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia until there
is genuine reform of its security forces.
Relavent excerpts from the appropriations bill can be found at
Background
In the House version of the FY 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill
passed in late June, only a reporting requirement introduced by
Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), who supports legislated restrictions
blocked by the Republican leadership, referenced the poor human rights and
justice records of the Indonesian military.
In light of the late May visit of Indonesian President Yudhoyono to
Washington, the Bush administration announced it would permit government
sales of "non-lethal" military equipment and excess defense articles.
In recent years, Congress had maintained only one condition restricting
full IMET: cooperation by Indonesian authorities with an FBI investigation
into the 2002 ambush murder in West Papua. In late February, Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice restored full IMET for Indonesia, even though
cooperation by Indonesia in this case has been spotty at best.
Just two days after IMET's release, the State Department's Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices said, "Security force members murdered, tortured,
raped, beat, and arbitrarily detained civilians and members of separatist
movements, especially in Aceh and to a lesser extent in Papua."
Under Yudhoyono, humanitarian and human rights conditions have
significantly deteriorated in West Papua and militarization of the entire
archipelago has increased. Only this week, over six and half months after
the tsunami devastated Aceh, did the military finally announce it would
suspend offensive operations as the government and Acehnese rebels prepare
to sign a peace agreement. The Indonesian government continues to block
substantive international efforts at accountability for crimes against
humanity in East Timor. An appeals court this month overturned all
convictions in the first test-case of accountability for Suharto-era
crimes, the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre that left scores of civilians
murdered.
In May, 53 U.S. organizations urged President Bush not to offer military
assistance to Indonesia. East Timorese and Indonesian NGOs have repeatedly
called for maintaining restrictions on such assistance. Victims and
survivors of the West Papua killings have called for continued restriction
of IMET until their case is fully resolved.
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 by Indonesian troops wielding U.S.-supplied M-16 rifles. All
military ties with Indonesia were severed in September 1999 as the military
and its militia proxies razed East Timor.
At that time, Congress banned FMF, IMET and export of lethal defense
articles for Indonesia until a wide range of conditions were met, including
presidential certification that the Indonesian government was prosecuting
members of the armed forces accused of rights violations or aiding militia
groups and punishing those guilty of such acts.
We are pleased to forward you the following testimony given by Paul
Cleveland, USINDO trustee and former president, earlier today at a hearing
before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate.
Presiding at the hearing was Senator Lisa Murkowski, chair of the
Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Sincerely,
It is an honor and pleasure, Madam Chairman, to appear before this committee
today. May I begin by saying that the views expressed in my testimony are my
own and not necessarily those of USINDO or its Board.
The United States-Indonesia Society welcomes the focus this hearing brings
to developments in the fourth largest nation in the world and to relations
between the United States and Indonesia, the world's third and fourth
largest democracies. Not only is Indonesia's democracy flourishing, it is
flourishing in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Indonesia has always been important to us and to the world in strategic,
political, and economic cum commercial terms, but that importance has risen
substantially in the past several years as Indonesia has become an
increasingly important counterweight to China's spreading influence in the
region. Also Indonesia has become a democratic pacesetter for the Islamic
world and for the Southeast Asian region.
Indisputably, the United States has a very high level of interest in
Indonesia's success. To ensure fulfillment of that interest, our government
needs to devote more time, energy and assistance to Indonesia's development.
I am pleased to appear on today's panel with Dr. Hadi Soesastro, Executive
Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.
CSIS is Indonesia's oldest think tank and with which USINDO has had a long
and productive relationship. Dr. Soesastro is his country's leading
authority on economic, trade and business relations with ASEAN and the
larger Asian community.
Remarkable Progress
Relatively secure against outside encroachment, resource and culturally
rich, Indonesia was governed for centuries under authoritarian and colonial
rulers in such a way that political growth was stunted and the country's
full potential never came near being met.
While progress toward establishing democracy along with economic recovery
was substantial in some areas during the first six years after President
Suharto's fall in 1998, it was marked by halting leadership, continuing high
levels of corruption, only modest economic growth, and failure to grapple
comprehensively and effectively with such major problems as separatism,
military and police reform, environmental degradation, judicial and public
prosecutorial reform, plus tax and other commercial and trade related
changes necessary to attract essential foreign investment. Advances were
made on self-sustaining political/economic development, but relapse into
authoritarian control remained a widely considered possibility.
Progress made in the last year contrasts sharply.
In 2004 Indonesia held a series of remarkably clean elections with high
voter turnout, including the largest one day election in the history of the
world when it voted for parliament in April of that year. Moreover, the
electorate proved sophisticated and sought honest, progressive leadership,
voting in the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) with a
61% margin in Indonesia's first direct election of a president last
September. Among other things, SBY's campaign featured a promise to
eradicate corruption that decidedly appealed to the Indonesian people. To
satisfy the high level of voter confidence, in its first year SBY's
administration has:
By any measure it has been a remarkably active beginning and has gone far
toward locking in effective, sustainable, democratic development.
Challenges Ahead
As impressive as this beginning has been, the long term challenges ahead are
larger still. To illustrate:
These problems would be formidable enough for any new democracy to manage.
But there is much more, and I would now like to turn to several major issues
discussed below in greater detail, in which both the U.S. government and the
Society are involved: corruption and judicial reform; security; separatism
(Aceh and Papua); society and religion; and education.
Corruption and Judicial Reform
Corruption is endemic in Indonesia - the country ranks at the bottom of
Transparency International's corruption pile - and it is universally seen at
home as well as abroad as the number one problem Indonesia must overcome if
it is to restore confidence in both government and business.
Obviously closely related, judicial reform along the lines of the Indonesian
Supreme Court's "blueprint" has to be implemented. Apart from the courts,
reform has yet to take hold in the Justice Ministry and public prosecutor's
office, and upgrading and reform of Indonesia's legal fraternity also still
lies ahead.
SBY has made initial inroads into this problem. As noted, he required all
cabinet ministers to take a pledge to conduct their affairs with integrity
and to avoid corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN). He sent special
messages to key targets where corruption has been most rampant: the Attorney
General's Office, Customs and Taxation, and the Bank of Indonesia.
The Supreme Audit Agency which has had a good reputation in the past was
given sweeping powers to gather facts regarding the operations of the state
owned enterprises. He gave the Corruption Eradication Commission both
autonomy and special security protection in addition to which he formed a
special interdepartmental corruption eradication team.
Getting down to cases the administration's prosecutions are beginning to
produce results. The former governor of Aceh, Abdullah Puteh, was given a
ten year sentence for misuse of state funds; the Bank Mandiri's former
president was fired and has been indicted for a major loan scandal. New
investigations are being mounted regularly into state owned companies as
well as the activities of some 57 state officials, including governors,
mayors and legislators. The former Minister of Religion is being
investigated for filching $71 million from Haj funds.
In some areas SBY has fallen short. While he retains impeccable credentials
personally, his administration in the view of some failed to go after some
high level people it should have, leading to the accusation that he has not
come down hard enough on "the big fish." He has basically proven courageous
against the scourge of corruption and he has accumulated political capital
that he should put to use in this most vital cause. But follow-through will
be the watchword of observers and critics in the future.
The Judiciary: All the "follow-through" in the world, however, cannot
correct the corruption problem if cases can be bought off and come to naught
in the courts or the prosecutors' offices. It has been said that judges have
gathered to bid on cases that they believe hold potential for large
pay-offs. More than any other of the three sectors of government, the
Judiciary is in need of reform. Indonesia's economic, political and social
strengths cannot be upgraded in the last analysis unless the courts uphold
the law of the land. There are a number of reform needs:
The Supreme Court has a "blueprint," a widely anticipated Judicial
Commission is underway, and NGOs and outside assistance are all over the
place. Yet the overall reform process promises to continue slowly at best.
The way ahead is clear enough. A start has been made. But the need for more
rapid implementation cries out.
The United States has a substantial role to play. First of all it is useful
for the United States government and its legal profession to apply
diplomatic pressure on the Indonesians when it is clear that individual
Americans or corporations have been hard done by in the Indonesian courts.
To avoid nationalistic backfires, it is important that to the extent
possible, this be in the form of respectful assistance to those in Indonesia
who are even more concerned than we about the need for corrections. Our
approach should be to help Indonesians help themselves.
Apart from the diplomatic pressure in some cases that clearly go off the
rails, we need to help with the reform process. Through USAID we are
supporting NGOs that are providing valuable advice and inputs into the
reform process. A code of legal ethics is being developed with the
Assistance of the American Bar Association. Importantly, a joint working
group on legal reform was announced during President Yudhoyono's visit to
Washington in May and this should bring new impetus to the overall effort.
The involvement of a senior judicial official, perhaps a Supreme Court
Justice, would be a welcome spur to progress.
Defense and Security
The United States-Indonesia Society has recently produced three publications
on Indonesia's defense and security:
These studies point to three major conclusions:
Supporting these conclusions is the important progress that has already been
made to overcome the shortcomings and in some cases the abuses of the past.
While reform is the focus of discussion when the subject of the military
comes up, it is important to keep in mind that the military is vital not
just for external defense but for the time being at least to the security
and stability of the domestic scene as well. The shortcomings of democracy
remain widespread. The military should be in the background and ease or be
eased out gradually to avoid violence during the present institution
building phase. The TNI has a long proud history; it cannot be cast over the
side. Reform should zero in on a careful transition to civilian control,
adequate budgets and capacity building to enable the military to play the
professional, non military role many of its best officers see in its future.
Co-equal with reform of the TNI and closely linked to the reform in the
judiciary branch is capacity-building for the police. Necessary measures
identified in the USINDO studies include:
To help ensure success in this area, Indonesia is blessed with moderate
reform-minded leaders. First, SBY himself a former General who has been
known as a reformer and who has placed other moderates at the top levels of
the armed forces, while supporting the General Endriartono Sutarto, who has
taken a strong non-political stance, as his senior military Commander. Then
there is Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono who is the best possible leader
to begin to assert the necessary civilian leadership in the defense sector.
Reform of the military and the police will take a long time as the
military's presumption of power in domestic terms has existed for a long
time; moreover it will take time to bring the police up to standard, ready
to take over. But we should not wait for some ideal to emerge. Now is the
time that United States assistance will have the most impact on the reform
process.
Against this background there are many opportunities for the United States
and other donors to assist with professional training, defense management,
improvements in command and control and establishment of a national security
or defense council and staffing in the office of the President. Through
IMET and FMF and police assistance we can help the trustworthy defense
leadership of Indonesia to make the changes we would like to see. By
continuing to stiff them we will only frustrate and eventually alienate
them.
Juwono Sudarsono had good bilateral defense talks with our administration in
early August. Congress should join the effort to further cooperation, not
impose further restrictions.
Separatism: Aceh
Indonesia has long been bedeviled by threats of separatism and separatist
forces in Aceh and Papua. While prepared to make concessions in the form of
greater autonomy, the national government has always seen a united Indonesia
as vital to its interests. Fearful not only of losing control of these
important provinces but of the centrifugal effect the losses would have
elsewhere in the country, Indonesia has resisted the separatist movements
zealously, and the United States instructed by its own history, along with
many other nations, has supported this position.
An insurgency was underway for many years in Aceh where tens of thousands of
people have been killed. The TNI has been in the vanguard of the effort to
quell rebellion and has among other things developed major vested interests
in illegal logging and other ventures in the province. Many among the
resistance have had vested interests of their own, so the antagonists became
locked in struggle despite central government efforts to reach accord.
Ironically, it took disaster to engender peace. The tsunami that struck
Aceh and killed well over 100,000 people has had a beneficial effect on the
conflict in that province and an agreement has been reached that will call
for careful monitoring and nurturing but holds genuine promise. Under a
balanced set of compromises, the GAM gives up its guns and the TNI leaves
the province, while the province achieves autonomous status but remains a
province within Indonesia. The agreement will take careful monitoring. The
government will face challenges from nationalists who believe it was too
generous with the GAM and from the Acehnese people who do not yet fully
understand the terms. The popular view favors peace. But implementation
will be as large a determinant of success as the initial agreement. We
should strongly encourage positive resolution of problems and a lasting
peace settlement wherever appropriate.
The challenge now to use the phrase of Sidney Jones is "to shift from bullet
to ballot".
The tsunami has opened the way to unprecedented public and private
assistance from the United States, other nations, and world organizations.
The outpouring of our aid, particularly our military's emergency role in the
early post disaster period, has helped repair the United States' tarnished
image throughout Indonesia.
Acehnese reconstruction in general is encouraging. While it got off to a
slow start, USINDO President Al La Porta just back from the province reports
major progress. Housing construction is now rapid, most people are out of
tents, local mosques and schools are being rehabilitated, land issues are
being sorted out, commercial activity is on the rebound.
The task now is twofold: to reconstruct Aceh's settlements and livelihoods
and consistent with the new agreement and prospects for economic growth to
reorient the province from south to north, rebuilding the entrepots in Banda
Aceh and on Sabang Island. There is also a need to upgrade the east coast
highway as well as an internal road networks and many other infrastructure
components. GAM fighters and victims of the past fighting need resettlement
assistance. According to political observers, GAM candidates are unlikely
to capture a single county-level government, but the elections rightly
should involve ex GAM fighters to give them a political outlet for their
needs and demands.
USINDO has played a small but we believe effective role directing its own
assistance efforts to rebuilding a small component of the Aceh educational
system. Agreements have just been concluded for USINDO to build a new model
high school on the campus of Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh to meet
local community need as well as provide a training facility for new
teachers. We are cooperating with the Sampoerna Foundation of Jakarta as
well as USAID and hope that the model school buildings will be opened a year
from now. We have received generous donations from the corporate sector as
well as private individuals and school children. An elementary school
walkathon in New York raised $10,000.
On the larger front the continuing assistance of the United States as well
as other donors will be needed for years to come. We have done well so far.
The new west coast road will make a major contribution as will community
development, teacher training, and schools management. United States help
in police training will help replace the roughly 2000 police lost in the
disaster, and further avenues of U.S. assistance should be considered to
support the Asean Monitoring Mission, or AMM, that is led by the European
Union (EU) and ASEAN countries. Consideration should also be given to
resettlement assistance, perhaps through the International Organization of
Migration (IOM), which is working closely with the Aceh Reconstruction
Authority (BRR).
Beyond these efforts we need to continue to work closely with other donors,
principally including the World Bank, which is in charge of donor
coordination as well as the Consultative Group for Indonesia to ensure there
is long term support in that quarter for Aceh.
Separatism: Papua
The conflict in Aceh and more recently the peace accord with the GAM have
won more publicity in recent years in the west than the challenge Indonesia
faces with Papua, nevertheless the Papuan problem could in the end prove
more difficult to resolve if it is not managed correctly.
A key fact underlying this conclusion, all too little understood outside
Indonesia, is that there are more Melanesians in the eastern islands of
Indonesia than in Melanesia itself. Multi-ethnicity exacerbates the
separatist tension that Indonesia is bound and determined to overcome.
The history of Papua's incorporation into Indonesia is unique. A resource
rich area with a population of 2.3 million, roughly 40% of whom come from
other parts of Indonesia, Papua originally remained under the Dutch after
Indonesia won its sovereignty in 1949. However, in 1962 partly in response
to heavy United States pressure, the Dutch gave up control, the United
Nations took over briefly, then Papua became part of Indonesia, with the
caveat that there be a confirming act of free choice.
In the event, the act of free choice involved selected tribal leaders who
voted unanimously for incorporation, and it has always been controversial.
The origins of Papua's incorporation, unfair return of the income from
Papuan natural resources and repression of the Papuan people have fueled a
separatist movement involving a small number of rag-tag militants, (the
OPM), but a far larger group of pro-independence, nationalist and
opportunistic supporters. The fact that rival groups claim to speak for all
of the people will make final settlement more difficult.
A special autonomy law was passed in 2003 but because of deep seated
mistrust and lack of Papuan capacity, progress toward this sensible goal has
been halting at best. Subsequently, the government in Jakarta announced its
intention to divide Papua into three parts, but this transparent effort to
weaken separatist strength was strongly opposed by the local population, and
President Megawati's decree was suspended.
Most recently in June the House of Representatives international relations
committee inserted language in a State Department authorization bill
questioning the circumstances of Papua's integration into Indonesia and this
has angered many Indonesians. In a pointed rejoinder, one Indonesian
colleague suggested to Stanley Weiss, a long-time observer of Indonesian
affairs, that the Indonesian "parliament revisit the Cherokee Indian
nation's 'integration' with the United States."
The United States has played an important role in the past in trying to help
resolve difference over Papua's relationship with Indonesia. As in the case
of Aceh, the centerpiece of our position has been to firmly support
continued integration of the province within Indonesia. We should just as
firmly reiterate that position.
In addition, we should help SBY to move forward toward his announced pledge
to negotiate implementation of the existing special autonomy law, with
additional provisions as necessary. The United States should provide
assistance for development, local government capacity building and civil
society in Papua. Assistance to education should be high on our agenda in
Papua as elsewhere in Indonesia (see below). We also need to improve
explanations of U.S. administration and congressional positions vis-à-vis
Papua in Indonesia where the policy distinctions are not so apparent. The
formation of a new United States-Indonesian working party in the Indonesian
Parliament (DPR) on September 5, which a USINDO officer attended, as well as
a high level Papua Forum in Indonesia may also provide opportunities for
improving mutual understanding on this crucial issue of importance to
Indonesian national integrity.
Indonesia's Moderate Islam
Despite expressed concerns in some quarters, the weight of evidence supports
the conclusion that Islam in Indonesia continues the historical trend and in
the main remains moderate. Surveys conducted by the Center for the Study of
Islam and Society show a rising level of Islamic consciousness and piety;
they do not confirm a concomitant rise in radicalism, according to leading
Australian Islamic scholar, Greg Fealy, as well as a large number of other
scholars both inside and outside Indonesia.
It is true that substantial percentages of survey respondent appear to
support various aspects of shariah law, however, there is little actual
practice of extreme forms of shariah in Indonesia and only a small
percentage continue to favor shariah police which would be necessary to
enforce the law. The PPIM results says Fealy, are significant in that they
show a rising Islamic consciousness and shariah-mindedness. They indicate a
continuing Islamisation within society and culture. But they do not
necessarily show growing or increasingly radical Islamic politics.
Some read disturbing signs in the increased vote for Islamist parties, e.g.
the more radical Islamic oriented parties favoring the introduction of
shariah law. The Islamist vote in 1999 was 16% and increased in 2004 to
21%. But this rise was very largely due to a five percent increase in votes
for the Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS). And it is generally agreed that
the PKS success was largely due in turn to the party's clean image and
organizational ability. Most believe it will be very difficult for the PKS
to expand its reach further without moderating the more radical religious
elements of its platform.
It is useful also to recall that a radical Islamist bloc in the parliament
tried in 2002 to pass legislation to make it compulsory to follow shariah,
but found so little support they withdrew it.
In the immediate post Suharto era there was a rapid spread of radical
Islamist groups, but since then the trend has really been in reverse.
Violent extremist groups such as Laskar Jihad are now largely defunct, but
the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI)
still attract hardline fringe support. Furthermore, Jemaah Islamiyah, the
extremist group linked to Al Qaeda which is responsible for the bombings in
Indonesia, continues to exist and its members can be expected to attempt
future terrorist acts. No question they are dangerous. It is notable,
however, that the bombings that occurred in Bali and at the Marriott Hotel
and in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta have turned the population
at large away from violent extremism.
In sum, the continuing overall moderate nature of Indonesian Islam supports
the conclusion that it is and will continue to prove to be fully compatible
with Indonesia's nascent democracy. That is decidedly good news. Debate on
Islam will continue but that is to be encouraged so that new ideas and
political organizations compatible with the view of the diverse Indonesian
people can emerge.
To be sure intra communal conflict caused by political, economic, ethnic as
well as religious differences will continue and will have to be contained.
SBY's government is dedicated however, to resolving conflict wherever it
springs up and to furtherance of a moderate, multi-religious and
multi-ethnic society. These are goals which the United States with its own
diverse heritage is in a unique position to understand and to encourage. We
should do all we reasonable can to do so.
Education
USINDO officers have previously testified before Congress about the
importance of human resource development to strengthen U.S.-Indonesian
relations. As Indonesian universities undergo the transition toward greater
self-sufficiency and less government control, many needs but also many
opportunities for assistance and beneficial relationships are becoming
apparent. In the report of the commission on strengthening
United-States-Indonesian relations led by George Shultz and Lee Hamilton
observed in late 2003, there is a pressing need to restore the close
relationships that existed between the educational institutions of our two
countries as existed in the 1970's and 1980's when United States assistance
programs were better funded and centered on a web of university-level
collaborations. Reductions in United States development assistance, public
diplomacy initiatives and other programs in the 1990's have taken their
toll. President Bush's initiative to channel $157 million into basic
education over the next 6 years is an excellent start, but United States
assistance should be expanded to the university level. It is in tertiary
education that our country can make strong contributions to Indonesia's
continued development.
For the past two years, USINDO has been working with the Indonesian Embassy
in Washington, the Directorate General of Higher Education of the Ministry
of National Education, and a broad spectrum of Indonesian public and private
universities on a package of proposals to meet the expressed needs of the
tertiary institutions themselves. A conference held in Jakarta in March of
this year identified four main initiatives which we are pursuing:
USINDO is not a development assistance provider, nor are we highly expert
educators, but we are trying to play a project incubation role in order to
focus the university communities in both countries on common goals,
supported by their respective private sectors. The World Bank and other
multilateral institutions, along with U.S. foundations, are potential
facilitators of these projects. We are pleased that there is excellent
support for these innovative approaches on the Indonesian side, aimed
especially at improving the commitment of tertiary institutions to move
ahead in highly selective areas.
In conclusion, Madam Chairman, we believe that the advancement of Indonesian
higher education and re-forging linkages with American colleges and
universities offer an excellent opportunity to strengthen the modernist and
moderate interests of the coming generations of Indonesians. As a small
organization we in USINDO cannot claim too much, but we hope to work with
the United States Government through Fulbright and USAID programs, as well
as with multilateral institutions and other donors to help Indonesian
academic institutions to increase their capabilities.
844 words
23 September 2005
12:46 pm GMT
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
English
(c) 2005 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No
material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British
Broadcasting Corporation.
Text of report from the "Asia-Pacific" programme, broadcast by Radio
Australia on 23 September
[Presenter Sen Lam] The United States' top military commander in the Pacific
has made it clear that as far as he is concerned, it's time for America to
resume closer defence ties with Indonesia. Indeed, Adm William Fallon argues
the US should lift restrictions on arms sales and training imposed on Indonesia
in 1999. But as Peta Donald reports, there are lingering concerns in
Washington about the Indonesian military's human rights record and at least one
analyst believes a complete end to the arms embargo is far from certain.
[Donald] When the Indian Ocean tsunamis wrecked havoc across Southeast Asia,
much of it in Indonesia, the United States defence forces were among those
from around the world who were quick to help with the massive relief effort.
And in the eyes of the US military's commander in the Pacific, Adm William
Fallon, it was a turning point for the frosty relations between the US and
Indonesia.
[Fallon] We learned a lot of lessons from that event and we have seen some
terrific opportunities open because as countries realize that these types of
things are likely to happen again in the future, there is a need to have plans
made to have arrangements agreed in advance to be able to respond effectively
and quickly.
[Donald] The US Congress suspended military cooperation with Indonesia in
1999 after the involvement of the Indonesian military in human rights abuses in
East Timor around the time of the independence vote. The shooting of two
American teachers in the Indonesian province of Papua in 2002 took relations to
a further low. But now, under Indonesian President [Susilo Bambang] Yudhoyono,
things are warming up. Adm Fallon.
[Fallon] I see a willingness to engage and I think there is a lot of
potential. This is the most populous Muslim country in the world. It is
significantly more moderate that many of the Islamic nations in the world and it is an
opportunity that I think we have to take advantage of it.
[Donald] Adm Fallon wants a US restriction on arms sales to Indonesia lifted,
at least when it comes to supplying equipment like aircraft parts. But he
concedes there are some in Washington who will need to be convinced the human
rights record of the Indonesian military has improved. He says it has and he
is arguing the case.
[Fallon] I believe that there are changes that have occurred and I'm working
to try to have demonstrated action that I can take back to show some of the
political leadership in my country that there has been enough change to merit
some infusion in aid to this country. And particularly things that are not
lethal, such as parts for transport aircraft come to mind, which I believe are
needed pretty badly.
[Donald] One Australian defence analysts agrees the Indonesian military are
less involved in human rights abuses that in the past. But Hugh White, from
the Australian National University, says it would be wrong to assume Adm Fallon
and the US military will get what they want.
[White] No I wouldn't assume so. It's a very tough case to make in the US
system. US military officials from the Pacific Command have been arguing for a
long time now that they'd like to see a relaxation on US military limitations
on cooperation with Indonesia. And it has always been a very hard push,
particularly in the Congress and I'm not yet persuaded that it's a - that that
situation has changed.
[Donald] Prof White has observed signs of Indonesia and Australia building a
new defence relationship. The old one was changed forever when Australia sent
troops into East Timor in 1999. And while cooperation between the two navies
on terrorism has flourished, at the defence level, relations have remained
cool. Hugh White is urging caution.
[White] I think we need to be careful about how far and how fast we try and
push it. Before 1999, we built up over a period of many years a very
elaborate, rather institutionalized, quite busy defence relationship. And I think one
of the things we learnt in '99 was that in the end that didn't have very deep
foundations in a real sense of shared interests and shared perspectives. And
I think this time round it will be better for us to go slower, not to be so
ambitious, to be more patient and to pay more attention to digging deeper
foundations and addressing the kind of deeper grounds of misunderstanding like
the sort of perception of threat that I think a lot of Indonesians still have
about Australia. I think we need to deal with those things rather than trying
to gallop off - organizing lots of new exercises and new joint committees
and that sort of thing.
Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 1005 gmt 23 Sep 05
a338addb
Document BBCAPP0020050923e19n00231
Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
443 words
23 November 2005
Copyright 2005, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved
The State Department cited the "national security interests" of the United
States as the reason for waiver, noting that Indonesia plays a strategic role
in Southeast Asia and is a "voice of moderation in the Islamic world."
"This is an abuse of discretion and an affront to the Congress," said Sen.
Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the author of legislation tying military aid to
human rights conditions. "To waive on national security grounds a law that seeks
justice for crimes against humanity -- without even obtaining the Indonesian
government's assurance that it will address these concerns -- makes a mockery
of the process and sends a terrible message. The Indonesians will see it as
a clean bill of health."
The restrictions, which affect foreign military financing and sales of
lethal items, are largely symbolic; Indonesia currently receives $1 million in
military financing for its navy and appears to have no plans to obtain lethal
items. State Department officials stressed that the decision does not trigger
new assistance and the quality and quantity of any sales will be guided by
Indonesia's willingness to address rights concerns.
Human rights experts and congressional aides said the Indian Ocean tsunami,
which devastated Indonesia's Aceh region, had helped lessen objections to
restoring military ties. Other factors included the government's peace pact with
Aceh rebels, counterterrorism cooperation and the fact that the FBI has
received renewed cooperation in investigating an ambush in Timika, in Papua,
where two Americans were killed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Document WP00000020051123e1bn0003i
16 Jan 2006 10:50:59 GMT Source: Reuters
The eight were arrested on Wednesday over an ambush that killed two Americans and an Indonesian, all teachers from a school run by PT Freeport Indonesia, a unit of U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., which operates mines in Papua's mountains.
"We are now searching for four more," police chief General Sutanto said after a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Patsy Spier, the wife of one of the slain Americans.
Sutanto did not say why police were specifically looking for four people, but four men detained along with the eight suspects last week have since been released.
Police dossiers against those eight were nearly complete and their trials would take place in Jakarta, Sutanto said.
"Statements from some suspects say all of them did it. But we need to get input from more witnesses, including from the Americans who have returned to the U.S.," Sutanto said, without elaborating.
The eight suspects could face the death penalty.
Spier, a survivor of the ambush, praised Indonesia's efforts to find the killers but insisted American agents should also continue to be involved.
"We discussed the importance of a transparent and credible process for this case. President Yudhoyono clearly shares this goal of transparency," she told reporters.
"I believe the process should include our FBI investigators participating in the interviews," said Spier, referring to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which was involved in last week's arrests.
Indonesia-U.S. ties were strained by the incident.
Relations have improved and the arrests came after Washington restored military ties in November with the most populous Muslim nation as a reward for helping the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
One of the eight suspects is Anthonius Wamang, a separatist indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in 2004 on two counts of murder and several counts of attempted murder over the killings.
The investigation into the shooting was a key factor behind the U.S. decision to restore military ties.
Before the resumption, Washington had said full military ties required prosecution of the people behind the Papua killings.
Washington cut back military ties after Indonesian troops shot demonstrators in East Timor in 1991, killing dozens, when the tiny territory was ruled by Jakarta.
Ties were severed after pro-Jakarta militias backed by elements in the military sacked East Timor in 1999 when the territory voted for independence.
JAKARTA POST
Gen. Sutanto also denied persistent allegations that soldiers themselves were involved in the attack close to a massive U.S.-owned gold mine. The claims had complicated relations between Indonesia and the United States.
"Don't spread opinions like that, there is no proof," Sutanto told reporters.
Sutanto was speaking alongside Patsy Spier, the widow of one of the victims, after they both met with Indonesia's president.
Spier, who was injured in the attack, said she was in Indonesia to be interviewed by the police as a witness.
Last week, police arrested eight suspects in the killings on a windy and foggy road leading to the mine. One of the men, Anthonius Wamang, was indicted by a U.S. grand jury over his alleged role in the attack.
Sutanto said the attackers were all members of Papua's tiny separatist army, and that they intended to kill soldiers who patrol the road. He said police had forensic and other evidence, as well as confessions, to support the charges.
"Indonesian soldiers were in the first vehicle that went past, but they (the attackers) did not have time to shoot," he said."Then the second vehicle went past and they thought it also contained Indonesian soldiers."
Sutanto said the trials of the eight men would take place in Jakarta, and the men could face the death penalty for murder.
In a brief statement, Spier said the arrests were a"remarkable" development and praised the cooperation between the police and the FBI, which also took part in the investigation.
She declined to answer questions from reporters. (***)
310 words 6 February 2006 11:00 am GMT Associated Press Newswires
English (c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
His comments follow claims that direct payments by U.S. mining company Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. to officers commanding units guarding its massive gold mine in Papua province may have been illegal.
The New Orleans-based company has denied violating Indonesian or U.S. laws, saying it has been transparent about providing support to soldiers in the town of Timika.
Sudarsono said the practice of paying for protection from the armed forces was not limited to Indonesia, but should be regulated and clearly defined.
"All across the world ... in-kind payments are made in various kinds of arrangement, some legal, some illegal," he said. "It's a matter of scope and degree."
The use of military units to provide protection for foreign enterprises was instituted by former dictator Suharto, himself a five-star general, as a way of extorting additional funds for the military brass who formed his principal power base. But since Suharto's ouster in 1998, the police force -- previously been part of the armed forces -- has been made independent and is now tasked with ensuring domestic security.
The practice of paying Indonesia's corrupt and often brutal military came under renewed scrutiny after a 2002 attack on a convoy of teachers working at Freeport's massive mine in Papua killed two U.S. citizens.
Local and foreign rights groups accused soldiers of taking part in the attack, allegedly to extort more security payments money from Freeport.
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
They were scheduled for the first hearing at the Central Jakarta District
Court on Tuesday but declined to attend, sending a letter to their lawyer
not to appear in court.
"They are refusing to attend the trial on the grounds that they want to be
tried in Timika, the site of the incident," said their lawyer, Johnson
Panjaitan, on Thursday.
He said he had received an invitation from the court to attend Tuesday's
trial along with a copy of the indictment. "But I didn't attend the court
proceedings as per my clients' request," he said.
In cooperation with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the
police arrested 12 Papuans, including Anthonius Wamang, who was indicted by
a U.S. grand jury in 2004 for the killings. Five were later released.
The seven suspects, including Wamang, have officially been named suspects.
They were flown to Jakarta and were set to stand trial Tuesday for the
ownership of illegal arms and actions resulting in death.
Johnson said he found the relocation of the trial from Timika District Court
to Jakarta unreasonable.
He said the transfer was made following an order from the Supreme Court chief
justice in February 2006.
"The Supreme Court has no right to move the trial, it's the justice minister
who has the authority to do so based on a proposal from the Supreme Court
chief as stipulated in the Criminal Code," he asserted.
Johnson said he had not seen any instruction from the justice minister to
move the trial venue.
"So there's no reason for holding the trial in Jakarta," he said, adding that
the move would not guarantee justice for the Papuans.
He said the trial was moved to Jakarta due to security concerns, especially
the security of 12 American witnesses.
"I've coordinated with community and religious leaders to help ensure
security if the trial is conducted in Timika," he said.
Meanwhile, director of the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy for
West Papua (Els-Ham), Alloysius Renwarin, said the Amungme tribe, led by
Papuan feminist Yosepha Alomang who is also an Amungme tribal leader, had
asked the Timika District Court to let the seven suspects be tried in Timika.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said previously the 2002 killing of an
Indonesian and two American teachers in Papua were caused by local separatist
soldiers firing at civilians by mistake, saying there was no evidence the
Indonesian Military (TNI) had been involved, despite the claims of
activists here and abroad.
The incident led to strained ties between Indonesia and the United States,
with the U.S. Congress cutting off assistance to the TNI in 2003 amid
suspicions of the involvement of some of its members.
The January arrests came after Washington restored military ties in November
2005 as a reward for Indonesia's assistance in the U.S.-led war on
terrorism.
Nethy Dharma Somba and Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Timika
The Indonesian Military (TNI) formally handed over the responsibility of securing giant mines operated by PT Freeport Indonesia to the National Police in the Papuan regency of Mimika on Monday.
The handover was signed and endorsed by Trikora Military Commander Maj. Gen. George Toisutta, Papuan Police chief Insp. Gen. Tommy Jacobus, Frank D Reuneker, executive vice president of security at PT Freeport Indonesia and Rear Adm. Djoko Sumaryono, an assistant to the coordinating minister of political, legal and security affairs, in Timika, the capital of Mimika.
The handover was carried out in line with Presidential Instruction No. 63/2004 on maintaining security at vital national objects. PT Freeport is included in the classification through a 2004 decree issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on vital objects.
Up to 350 personnel from the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), who have been stationed there over the last 11 months, were replaced by 600 Mobile Brigade police officers from Kalapa Dua in Jakarta, who had just arrived in Timika on Sunday.
Despite the withdrawal of the TNI soldiers, up to 350 others will still assist the police.
"Even though formally the responsibility has been entrusted to the police, it doesn't mean there will not be TNI involvement. The duty and challenges faced there would still necessitate assistance from the TNI, hence 350 soldiers will be assigned," Djoko said.
PT Freeport, Djoko said, will have to improve its own capacity in safeguarding its own properties.
Reuneker of PT Freeport said that his company actually had 628 security officers, but they were not capable of handling various problems that have arisen so that the presence of the police and TNI members was still needed. "Like a baby, PT Freeport has to thank the government for the security assistance it provides," he said.
As a company, which is 9.34 percent owned by the government and employs over 19,000 workers, the capital intensive investment company, which contributes greatly to the gross domestic regional product in Mimika regency, constitutes a vital object which should be protected by all concerned parties, he said.
When asked about the funds earmarked by PT Freeport for security purposes, Reuneker declined to give details, explaining that he had just assumed his post two months ago.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Mimika chapter of the Human Rights and Antiviolence Foundation, Yosepha Alomang, said he hoped the police officers to be stationed at PT Freeport would be able to understand the local customs so as to help empower the local people.
"Possibly both the local people and security officers are wrong...but let's forgive each other to help achieve a better future," Yosepha said.
Out of the 27 national vital objects, PT Freeport is the last to hand over security protection to the police from the TNI due to the difficult terrain and the complexity of specific challenges necessitated adjustments in stages.
Djoko denied accusations that the delay in the handover was caused by a bloody shooting incident in August 2003, in which two American citizens and an Indonesian were killed.
A member of the Papuan Legislative Council, Albert Yogi, said that the handover of the security management constituted the government's response to the people's aspirations.
He urged the Papuan legislature to invite the Papuan Police chief to make a kind of presentation on security management at PT Freeport's mines, including the number of personnel, weapons and ammunition used.
The Jakarta Post
Seven suspects charged over the 2002 killings of two U.S. nationals in Papua province will go on trial in Jakarta this week, court officials said as their lawyer called for the case to be heard in Papua.
The shooting spree near a gold and copper mine operated by US-owned Freeport McMoRan in the remote province in August 2002 killed two American teachers and an Indonesian colleague.
The seven suspects include Anthonius Wamang, who was indicted by a U.S. grand jury in 2004 for the attack and was allegedly a commander of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) at the time.
A court official, Tutti, said the case would open Tuesday morning at the Central Jakarta District Court.
The suspects? lawyer said his seven clients were demanding the case be heard in Timika, Papua, where the fatal attack took place.
?They object to having the trial in the central Jakarta court and ask according to their rights under the law that their case is heard in Timika,? Johnson Panjaitan said.
Johnson said he would not attend Tuesday?s hearing at the request of his clients.
The seven suspects, who are being held at police headquarters in Jakarta, would probably be forced to attend, he said.
Wamang and the six others face a possible death sentence for premeditated murder and weapons possessions, their lawyer said.
Police have said the other six suspects were also OPM members, but Panjaitan said they were ?just ordinary people?.
Aloy Renwarin, another lawyer for Wamang, claimed earlier this year that Wamang admitted he had fired 30 shots during the attack on the vehicles carrying the American teachers.
But Wamang had also implicated the military in the attack, he said.
The seven suspects were arrested in January in an operation involving the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Papua-based rights groups have alleged that the military ordered the attack to ensure that Freeport would continue making large cash payments for security in and around the mine.
OPM rebels have been fighting a sporadic and low-level guerilla war since 1963 when Indonesia took over the huge mountainous and developed territory from Dutch colonizers.
The next trial date is August 1st, 2006. The defendants did appear for this
court session, but their defense lawyers did not.
Patsy
184 words 18 July 2006 08:25 am GMT
Associated Press Newswires
English
(c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Prosecutors alleged the men -- all indigenous Papuans -- were members of a
small rebel army fighting for a separate state in the resource-rich eastern
province.
The suspects could face the death penalty if found guilty.
The alleged ringleader, 30-year-old Antonius Wamang, is being tried
separately from the six other defendants.
State prosecutor Fernando Tulus Siagian said the attackers shot at the
teachers' vehicle in the mistaken belief that it was carrying soldiers hired to
guard the mine, operated by New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold
Mine Inc.
Killed were Rickey Lynn Spier, 44, of Littleton, Co., and Leon Edwin Burgon,
71, of Sun River, Ore.
The killings complicated ties between Jakarta and Washington amid suspicions
that Indonesian security forces were involved.
The defendants were not required to enter a plea and the trial at the Central
Jakarta District Court was adjourned until later this month.
By Asikin Nurrachmad
Ties between Indonesia and the United States were strained by the incident
and only improved after they agreed to collaborate in solving the case, which
initially sparked suspicions the Indonesian military was involved.
After previous failed attempts to bring lead defendant Antonius Wamang to
court in recent weeks, prosecutors indicted him for premeditated
murder, a felony
carrying a possible death sentence.
Trials on similar charges began separately for six accused accomplices of
Wamang, a Papuan separatist.
The prosecution said he and other gunmen were near Freeport's Grasberg mine
in late August 2002, under orders from Papuan separatist commander
Kelly Kwalik to attack Indonesian soldiers who were part of the mine's security detail.
The mine is believed to hold the world's third-largest copper reserves and
one of the biggest gold deposits. Its copper output in 2005 was
793,000 tonnes,
with gold production at 3.55 million ounces.
The Grasberg mining operation has been a lightning rod for controversy of
many kinds.
Environmentalists, with recent support from the government, say the company
has not done all it could to protect forests and rivers. Other
activists object to payments for security made to Indonesia's military.
Prosecutor Anita Asterida told the Central Jakarta court that Wamang thought
white cars passing through the mining area carried troops and decided to open
fire. In fact, the two vehicles were transporting Americans and Indonesians
who worked for a Freeport-run school.
Three people were killed in the shooting and four others were seriously
injured, Asterida said.
She said the gunmen then shot at three trucks, wounding the drivers of each
vehicle.
Wamang had "committed acts with intent and premeditation that robbed other
people's lives", Asterida said.
Wamang was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in 2004 on two counts of
murder and several counts of attempted murder over the killings.
The seven defendants refused to obey two previous court summons, arguing they
should be tried in Papua not in the Indonesian capital, and last week judges
had to order the prosecutors to present them to court using all means
necessary.
On Tuesday, Wamang first told the court: "I don't want to be tried in Jakarta
but am willing to go on trial in Papua." He then joined around 20 of his
supporters sitting in the gallery.
However, police escorted him back to the defendant's chair where he sat
silent until the end of the session.
A defence lawyer told Reuters Wamang was involved in the incident although
felt no guilt while the rest were innocent.
The shootings prompted Washington to demand Jakarta prosecute the people
behind the Papua killings if Indonesia wanted the resumption of military
ties.
Those relations were severed in reaction to Indonesian military
actions in East Timor in the 1990s when Jakarta occupied the tiny territory.
Last November, Washington restored military ties with Indonesia, the world's
most populous Muslim nation, as a reward for its help in the U.S.-led war on
terrorism and after expressing satisfaction with cooperation in the
Papua case.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The suspects were forcibly brought to trial by police after twice refusing
to appear. The defendants demanded that the trial be held in Timika.
"It's useless to hold the trial here. We won't talk," defendant Ishak
Onawame, 54, told presiding judge Andriani Nurdin. The judge was
questioning Antonius Wamang, who remained silent.
Antonius, 30, who is accused of orchestrating the killings, is being tried
separately from the other six defendants: Ishak, Agustinus Anggaibak, 23,
Yulianus Deikme, 26, Esau Onawame, 23, Hardi Sugumol, 34, and Yairus Kiwak,
52.
The seven Papuans insisted they would stand trial only in Timika, where the
alleged crimes took place.
"Don't force us!," cried another of the accused, while Papuan supporters
attending the session applauded. Antonius, who was seated in front of the
judges, returned to the visitors' seats to join the other defendants in protest of
the proceedings.
"I want this trial closed now!" cried Ishak.
Judge Andriani pleaded with them to agree to stand trial but failed. The
situation was exacerbated by the absence of the defendants' lawyers, who
are from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association. They had been asked by
the Papuans not to attend.
The police finally forced Antonius to return to his seat so that the
indictments could be read. "You may file your objection in a written
statement in your defense later," Andriani said, adding that the trial must go on.
In the indictment, prosecutors alleged that Antonius was a member of the Free
Papua Movement (OPM) and was ordered by OPM leader Kelly Kwalik to sabotage
Jalan Tembagapura in Timika and to attack Indonesian Military (TNI) troops
that passed along the road near the Freeport mine.
"Antonius Wamang recruited 11 people to launch the attack," the indictment
said. "In his action, he was backed by preacher Ishak Onawame who gave him
two sacks of rice and a tent ..."
The indictment claims that on August 31, Antonius and the rest of the attackers, using M-16, SS-1 and Mauser rifles, ambushed the vehicle carrying five Americans and an Indonesian, which they believed was also carrying TNI
soldiers.
U.S. nationals Ricky Lynn Spier, 44, and Edwin Leon Burgen, 71, and an
Indonesian, FX Bambang Riwanto, died in the attack.
During the session, a Papuan woman kept yelling that the seven defendants
were innocent. "They are just farmers. Farmers don't have guns, soldiers do!"
The defendants are charged with premeditated murder and weapons possession,
for which they could face the death sentence.
Prosecutor Anita Asterida said the Timika District Court and the Papuan
provincial prosecutor's office had pleaded with the Supreme Court to move
the trial to Jakarta for security reasons.
"It is exactly as stipulated in the Criminal Procedures Code," she told The
Jakarta Post.
The trial was adjourned until August 1, when the defendants and their lawyers
will present their pleas.
Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Lawyers for seven men charged with the 2002 killings of two Americans and one Indonesian in Papua province entered a not guilty plea for their clients Tuesday, saying the indictments were obscure or baseless.
"The defendants have been made scapegoats as part of an effort to clean up the image of the TNI (Indonesian Military) and mend military ties between the United States and Indonesia," chief lawyer Johnson Pandjaitan told the Central Jakarta District Court. He did not elaborate.
The suspects were indicted for killing U.S. nationals Ricky Lynn Spier, 44, and Edwin Leon Burgen, 71, and their Indonesian colleague, FX Bambang Riwanto, in an armed ambush near PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika district.
Johnson said the charges against key suspect Antonius Wamang, who has confessed to shooting at the vehicles carrying the Freeport employees, were obscure.
"Prosecutors charge Antonius with recruiting the other six defendants to help him vandalize the road to Freeport, but they do not clearly say whether he planned to vandalize the road or to commit murder," Johnson said.
He said the indictments against Agustinus Anggaibak and the five other defendants were premature as their case was related to that of Antonius, who had not been proven guilty.
Antonius' six colleagues are accused of aiding him in launching the assault. "The police said Agustinus Anggaibak and Yulianus Deikme knew nothing about the order, while the rest only knew that there was a request from Antonius to sabotage the Freeport road," Johnson said.
He said the seven suspects could not be charged with premeditated murder because they actually intended to vandalize Jl. Tembagapura, rather than commit murder.
Johnson also said the Supreme Court's order to move the trial from Timika district to Jakarta was invalid.
Such an order should have been issued by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, the lawyer argued.
Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin adjourned the trial until Aug. 15, when it will continue with or without the presence of the defendants.
The hearing was opened for the public at 1:15 P.M. The session began with the reading of the Prosecutor Response to the Defense Objections. The defendants refused to sit in the defendants' chairs when the judges ordered them to be seated. The judges made the decision to continue the hearing with the absence of the defendants, and ordered the officials to escort the defendants back to detention. The defendants' defense lawyers did not show up today, but they did send a letter to the judges explaining their reasons for not attending.
The hearing was adjourned at 1:45 P.M. with the next hearing to take place on Tuesday, August 29th. The hearing is postponed until the 29th, because one of the judges will be traveling to the US and will not be in country. At the hearing on the 29th, the judges will rule on the objections given by the defense and prosecution.
The hearing started at 12.50 pm. Six of the seven defendants were present. Hardi Tsugumol was absent because of illness. After the session began the lead judge asked the defendants to sit in the defendants' chairs, but they did not respond to that request. Then the defendants' lawyers asked the defendants to sit in the defendants' chairs; the defendants again did not respond to the request. The judge then considered the situation and ordered the the defendants to return to detention.
The judge then read the Provisional Verdict which in conclusion rejected all of the defendants? objections raised by the defense lawyers, and declared that The District Court of Central Jakarta had the authority to try the case.
The judge then made the decision to begin the Witness Testimony phase on Tuesday, September 5th, 2006.
The trial will be held on Tuesdays and Fridays during the witness phase. sp
The hearing was opened at 11.40 A.M., the defendants were in the court room, but the the defense lawyers had not arrived. The judge asked the defendants to sit in the defendants' chairs, but the defendants did not respond to the request. Before the judge ruled that the defendants should be returned to detention because their lawyers were not present, four of the defense lawyers arrived. The defense lawyers asked the judge for permission to enter the hearing, which was granted, and then the defense lawyers asked the defendants to sit in the defendants' chairs. The six defendants did agreed to sit in the defendants' chairs (the seventh defendant was not present because of illness). The four defense lawyers asked the judge whether the hearing could be suspended until their colleague Johnson Panjaitan arrived, but the judge ruled to continue the hearing without the presence of Mr. Panjaitan. Mr. Panjaitan did arrive later, but was not allowed to join the other defense lawyers until the next session began.
The hearing continued and the prosecutors summoned Patsy Spier to testify. The questioning eventually came to ask her to describe the ambush. When she had described (with a Bahasa interpreter) the events that lead up to the ambush (about 10 minutes of testimony) one of the defense lawyers objected and asked the court, or the prosecutors, to provide an interpreter in the interest of the defendants, since according to the defense lawyers, the defendants could not speak or understand Bahasa. The defense lawyers told the court that the defendants only spoke Amungme. The prosecutors responded that in the process of the investigation that the need of an interpreter was never mentioned by the defense lawyers. The prosecutors said that they saw that the defendants did understand Bahasa and that Bahasa only needed to be spoken slowly and carefully.
The judges then ordered the prosecutors to find an interpreter for the defendants, and the hearing was suspended until 2:00 P.M. Shortly before 2:00 P.M. the hearing was re-opened and because the prosecutors had not produced an interpreter, the hearing was suspended until Friday, September 8th 2006.
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