TITLE: IHRN Urges Continued Ban on U.S. Aid to Indonesian Military

AUTHOR:

ORG: The Indonesia Human Rights

DATE: February 26, 2001

Contact: Lynn Fredriksson: 202-546-0044 or Michael Beer: 202-244-0951 On the eve of Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit with Indonesian Prime Minister Alwi Shihaband in a wave of fresh violence in the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan, on Borneothe U.S.-based Indonesia Human Rights Network (IHRN) has urged the Bush Administration to stand strongly in support of Indonesian democratization and to maintain and strengthen the current congressional ban on U.S. aid to the Indonesian military. "When Secretary Powell meets with Foreign Minister Shihab, we hope he will emphasize that Indonesian security forces and their allies are still perpetuating extreme human rights abuses in West Papua, Aceh, Maluku, and elsewhere," said Craig Harris, co-chair of IHRN's executive board. One example, said Harris, is the September 2000 killing of three UN aid workers by military-backed militias in the Indonesian territory of West Timor. In December, three human rights workers from the RATA, Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh, were pulled from their vehicle while working and shot in the street in the province of Aceh. The only known survivor of that incident attended a conference to launch IHRN, held February 23-25 in Washington, DC. "There's no doubt in my mind that the men who took us hostage and killed my colleagues were military," said Nazaruddin Abdul Gani. "Before there can be any resumption of military ties between Washington and Jakarta, the Indonesian armed forces must undergo significant reform. The U.S. government should accept nothing short of civilian control of the military as well as human rights trials conducted under international standards of justice as preconditions for any re-engagement with the Indonesian military," added IHRN co-chair Agatha Schmaedick. The Indonesia Human Rights Network is a grassroots movement actively campaigning, through public education and national advocacy in support of the archipelago's pro-democracy movement and against U.S. complicity with Indonesian military repression. The network is comprised of human rights advocates, educators, and concerned citizens from across the U.S. and around the world. Octavianus Mote, a West Papuan journalist who spoke at the IHRN conference, stated, "The Indonesian military and government must respect international law in its actions. In addition, the U.S. government should work to guarantee the safety of, and assistance to, the nearly one million refugees and displaced persons who have fled violence across the archipelago. The conference featured experts on Indonesia from the U.S., Europe, Indonesia, East Timor, Australia, and elsewhere. Jafar Siddiq Hamzah's sister dedicated the conference to her brother's memory. Jafar was a human rights lawyer and permanent U.S. resident, kidnapped and murdered in Indonesia in August 2000. He was working to end human rights abuses in his native Aceh and throughout Indonesia. For more information, e-mail: The Indonesia Human Rights Network END top