SPEAKING FREELY
Rethink needed on US arms to Indonesia
By Ed McWilliams
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say.
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During the Cold War, the United States built alliances with notoriously
corrupt, abusive regimes, including that of Suharto in Indonesia. Since
September 11, 2001, a policy of strengthening relationships with disreputable
militaries has re-emerged in the name of fighting terrorism. President Barack
Obama should re-evaluate the partnership his predecessor established with the
Indonesian military.
The US once again is providing material and training assistance to the
Indonesian military (TNI). While democracy has made
significant gains since the 1998 overthrow of Suharto, Indonesia's military
remains much as it was during the three decades of the Suharto era: corrupt,
unaccountable, beyond civilian control and a notorious violator of human
rights.
The US-Indonesian military relationship is a longstanding and troubled one. In
1991, the Indonesian military murdered more than 270 East Timorese students
engaged in a peaceful demonstration. That atrocity prompted the US Congress to
impose restrictions on military assistance.
Although the Indonesian military remained an unreformed force, it curtailed
some of its most abusive actions. But in 1999, following the East Timor's
overwhelming vote for independence, the Indonesian military and its militias
murdered more than 1,400 civilians and destroyed most of East Timor's
infrastructure.
In response, the US suspended all military assistance. For the first time,
there was modest military reform in Indonesia. The military agreed to pull its
unelected members out of parliament; the police and military were separated;
and 18 people, including some senior military officers, were indicted for the
1999 atrocities in East Timor. In 2004, the administration of newly-elected
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono passed legislation mandating divestment of
the TNI's business empire by October 2009.
The requirement that the military divest itself of legal businesses could be a
vital step in Indonesia's democratic reform. The TNI's empire of legal and
illegal businesses has allowed it to operate outside of civilian scrutiny and
control. Indonesian human rights advocates fear that the military will disrupt
upcoming elections and ignore the 2009 divestment deadline. They have urged the
US to use its leverage to encourage TNI reform.
Washington's pursuit of the TNI as a "partner" in the fight against terrorism
raises other fundamental issues. American assistance to and cooperation with
the TNI ignores the reality that it is the Indonesian police and not the
military that are responsible for fighting terrorism. (The latest Department of
State "Country Reports on Terrorism" praises civilian efforts and does not
mention the TNI.)
In November 2005, the George W Bush administration issued a "national security
waiver" to eliminate congressionally mandated restrictions on aid to the TNI.
At the time, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice pledged that US
military cooperation would be "carefully calibrated" to the pace of reform and
accountability.
However, there was no calibration and reform has stopped. Specifically, TNI
business divestment is dead in the water. The government has yet to release a
long-completed inventory of TNI businesses despite the Defense Minister's
repeated promises that he would do so. Reportedly, assets have been stripped
from TNI-owned firms. The US State Department's annual human rights report
describes TNI prostitution rings in Papua, while illegal logging and extortion
of foreign and domestic firms continues there and elsewhere.
The TNI remains unaccountable for its crimes in East Timor, West Papua and
elsewhere. None of those tried in Indonesia for crimes in East Timor in 1999
were convicted. Many of the officers indicted by the UN-backed judicial process
in East Timor received military training in the US. All remain free in
Indonesia, often receiving promotions or retiring to lucrative careers in
business or politics.
The organizers of the 2004 assassination of Indonesia's leading human-rights
advocate, Munir Said Thalib, have yet to be successfully prosecuted. Evidence
points to retired senior military officials. On taking office, Yudhoyono called
bringing to justice the killers of Munir a test for his administration. Thus
far, it has failed the test.
Despite declarations of neutrality, the TNI has already interfered in upcoming
elections. Senior officials expressed a strong preference among the senior
retired officers running for governor in Central Java. Its "territorial command
system" will allow the TNI to exert direct influence on voters down to district
and sub-district levels. The TNI-backed fundamentalist Islamic Defenders Front
has been intimidating smaller parties and individuals critical of the military.
The record is clear. In the decades prior to 1991, broad US engagement with the
Indonesian military enabled its worst excesses. Only after aid restrictions and
a full cut-off were instituted, did any real reform occur. Since the US
re-engaged with the TNI, reform has stalled and accountability for past
violations has faltered. A resumption of restrictions on aid is essential to
military reform.
An unreformed Indonesian military is a threat to democratic progress in
Indonesia. Its ties to Islamist militias and drug and people trafficking, make
the TNI a threat to regional stability. Moreover, US support for the abusive,
corrupt and unaccountable military damages the US's reputation in Indonesia.
Obama should break from his predecessor's failed policies by again conditioning
military assistance to Indonesia.
Ed McWilliams is a retired US diplomat. He worked as political counselor
in Jakarta and received the American Foreign Service Association's Christian
Herter Award for creative dissent by a senior foreign service official.
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say.
Please click hereif you are interested in contributing.
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