| Kopassus Reinstatement Stirs Outrage |
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| Written by Our Correspondent | |
| Friday, 23 July 2010 | |
 US gives a conditional okay to Indonesia's ill-starred and murderous special forces unit
Human rights organizations across Asia and the world are reacting with disappointment and anger over the July 22 decision, announced in Jakarta by US Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates, to lift his agency's decade-old ban on cooperation with the Army's elite Kopassus special forces unit, which has been accused of widespread terrorism against foes of the Indonesian government. The ban was instituted in 1999 in the wake of charges that Kopassus had taken part in extensive human rights abuses as the Suharto regime teetered on its last legs. There is considerable speculation that the Indonesian government, which has been seeking reinstatement of Kopassus's status for several years, was threatening to seek tie-ups with the Chinese military for training and assistance if the Americans didn't do it. Eyewitnesses have accused Kopassus of being involved in or even supervising riots in Jakarta in May of 1998, including the mass gang rape of ethnic Chinese women amid serious racial tension between Indonesians and the Chinese minority. Prabowo Subianto, the now-divorced son-in-law of the strongman Suharto, commanded the Kopassus from 1995 through 1998 and was accused of involvement in various "riots, plunderings, rapes and murders" by various human rights organizations over his attempts to keep East Timor from seceding. Nonetheless, Prabowo survived to become a businessman and politician to run as vice president in 2009 national elections with Wiranto, another army general who was widely accused of human rights violations. Kopassus soldiers were also accused of abducting student activists during the 1998 crisis. Four Kopassus soldiers were convicted of the strangulation killing of Thuys Eluay, the former chairman of the Papuan Presidium Council in 2001. Two received light prison sentences of three and a half years and two others received three years and none were discharged from the service. Indonesian human rights organizations say the unit has continued to commit abuses in Papua, which continues to have a strong breakaway movement. The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), where separatists bore the brunt of Kopassus suppression during East Timor's 1999 secession from Indonesia, condemned the Obama administration's decision. John M. Miller, the national coordinator for ETAN, said that: "Slipping back into bed with Kopassus is a betrayal of the brutal unit's many victims in Timor-Leste, West Papua and throughout Indonesia. It will lead to more people to suffer abuses. Working with Kopassus, which remains unrepentant about its long history of terrorizing civilians, will undermine efforts to achieve justice and accountability for human rights crimes in Indonesia and Timor-Leste (East Timor)." Amnesty International, in a statement from Washington, DC, said the reinstatement "sends the wrong message in a country where mass and severe human rights violations have taken place in an atmosphere of impunity. US support to this unit undercuts the recent efforts advocating reform within the Indonesian military." The human rights organization called on the Obama administration "to make public what commitments they received from the Indonesian authorities about bringing Kopassus military leaders to justice and also calls upon President Obama, in his upcoming visit to Indonesia, to speak publicly about human rights abuses in Indonesia and to meet the families of those killed by the Kopassus." Human Rights watch, in a statement issued in New York, said "The Obama administration's decision to lift a more than decade-long ban on US military assistance to Indonesia's abusive Special Forces seriously undermines its commitment to promoting respect for human rights in Indonesia and weakens US standards for military cooperation globally. Kopassus has been responsible for numerous serious human rights abuses - including killings, enforced disappearances, and torture - since the 1990s. The Indonesian government's failure to remove Kopassus soldiers convicted of serious abuses from the military, and its recent appointment of officers credibly linked with abuses to leadership posts within Kopassus and the Defense Ministry made repealing the ban particularly inappropriate." US Sen. Patrick Leahy, the author of the law that bans US support to foreign militaries that violate human rights, said Kopassus "remains unrepentant, essentially unreformed and unaccountable," adding that "I deeply regret that before starting down the road of re-engagement, our country did not obtain and Kopassus did not accept the necessary reforms we have long sought." Nonetheless, Gates defended the decision, saying: "The United States will begin a measured and gradual program of security cooperation activities with the Indonesian Army Special Forces," during a news conference after meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He added that the decision was made as "a result of Indonesian military reforms over the past decade, the ongoing professionalization of Tentara Nasional Indonesia, the Indonesian Armed Forces, and recent actions taken by the Ministry of Defense to address human rights issues." "I understand there's been a dramatically declining number of violations of human rights," Gates said, adding that the US government was "responding to the progress." The initial stages, Gates said, could include allowing Kopassus to participate in select conferences and events involving non-lethal subjects like rule of law, human rights and the military decision-making process. "I noted to the president that these initial steps will take place within the limits of US law and do not signal any lessening of the importance we place on human rights and accountability," the defense secretary said. "Our ability to expand upon these initial steps will depend on continued implementation of reforms within Kopassus and TNI as a whole," Gates said. The officials said that the Defense Department is not seeking funding from Congress for the renewed engagement with Kopassus. The US State Department would be in charge of vetting individual members of Kopassus before allowing them to participate in training with the American military. Leahy, who heads the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that authorizes funding for foreign operations, was relieved that Gates did not announce full-fledged cooperation. "A conditional toe in the water is wiser at this stage than diving in," Leahy said. "We're going in with our eyes open," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "Kopassus has a dark past. We recognize that. We're going to be insisting that Indonesia live up to its stated commitments."
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(7)
 written by SC , July 26, 2010
alistair cordon, The US and China are equally guilty of double standards and dodgy dealings. It is possible to quote a long list of questionable things that both countries have done/are doing.
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written by alistair cordon , July 25, 2010
You get what you see. No moral grandstanding while killing Iraqi children (wikileaks video anyone?). No double standard (Palestine anyone?).
Votes: +1
They are not nice. They are brutal. But they don't tell you to do as you are told not as they do. You know exactly where they stand. REALPOLITIK!   report abuse
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written by Bam Bam , July 24, 2010
Don't drag China into this. It is big bad USA's game. As long as USA benefit from it, OK is more than willing to support rogue organizations.
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written by SC , July 23, 2010
"There is considerable speculation that the Indonesian government, which has been seeking reinstatement of Kopassus's status for several years, was threatening to seek tie-ups with the CHINESE military for training and assistance if the Americans didn't do it."
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Big bad USA. China were however willing to do the same thing, with a body that is charged with mass rape of Chinese women... I disagree with much of what the USA does, but if you are going to be balanced then you have to be critical of China in this case as well. report abuse
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written by Aisan , July 23, 2010
U.S. of America is the mother of all evils.
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written by john francis lee , July 23, 2010
The officials said that the Defense Department is not seeking funding from Congress for the renewed engagement with Kopassus. The US State Department would be in charge of vetting individual members of Kopassus before allowing them to participate in training with the American military.
Votes: +3
The US State Department is now a branch of the US War Department. State is going to be hiring its own army in Iraq after War "leaves". Running a goup of killers in Indonesia means that State will be taking over the goon squads world-wide now from the military and CIA. War, War, War is what the USA is about from now until its complete collapse from over-extension. And the only people the USA wars against are those who cannot fight back... villagers in Afghanistan, villagers in Indonesia. The descent of the USA into hell itself has been swift, and now it's accelerating. report abuse
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written by Hippoman , July 23, 2010
How do you suggest that US promotes democracy-In Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia-draconian legislation stifle dissent, imprison,torture and hurt the common man who want to exercise the freedom of seeach or assembly. Just plain hipocracy-what is the difference between Burma and these countries I have mentioned. As long as it does not affect US interest interest all is OK.In Iran when the Shah was a friend to the USA, so was Saddam Hussein-so long as the oil keeps pouring out and the "terrorists" are kept as far away from the USA as possible-everything goes-Democracy goes out of the window and in comes Hipocracy!!
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