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Indonesian groups oppose military ties with the United States |
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July 15, 2000
UNITED NATIONS, (AP) - Six Indonesian human rights and grassroots groups are opposing resumed military ties between Indonesia and the United States, saying it would send signals that Washington is ready to overlook Indonesia's alleged human rights abuses in East Timor. In a letter to members of the U.S. Congress and government released Thursday, the Indonesian groups called military ties between the two countries "indefensible." The letter also warned that any positive effect Washington's suspension of military ties with Indonesia may have would be squandered. "Any signal that the U.S. is beginning to warm up to the Indonesian military is taken as signs that the kind of violence that is going on against the East Timorese will be encouraged," said Loren Ryter of the East Timor Action Network, a U.S-based group backing the Indonesian organizations in their campaign. Ryter was referring to the situation of East Timorese refugees in Indonesian-controlled West Timor. The United Nations has long urged Indonesia to do more to improve security in the refugee camps in West Timor, where militia members responsible for last year's campaign of terror in East Timor continue to harass an estimated 120,000 people who fled the fighting. The United States severed military ties with Indonesia in September after the pro-Indonesian militias went on a killing rampage in East Timor after its people voted for independence. Washington had been Indonesia's primary supplier of weapons systems for several decades, and the two countries had an active training exchange program until the East Timor crisis last year. The United States is now reconsidering the suspension on condition that those responsible for last year's campaign of terror be punished and a peaceful solution be found to the refugee crisis in Indonesian-controlled West Timor. "Given the Indonesian military makes no distinction between national defense and domestic policing, the U.S. must admit that any training and aid provided to the military can just as easily be used against Indonesian citizens," read the statement released by the groups. The Indonesian organizations said when the Pentagon first announced joint training programs with the Indonesian military, members of a voluntary group working in East Timor were attacked while authorities watched. "It indicates the extent to which Indonesian military authorities regard U.S. overtures toward them as a green light to continue the policy that they have adopted for many months," Ryter said.
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