ETAN Interview with Allan Nairn on Justice, Indonesia, Timor, West Papua and more.

ETAN Interview with Allan Nairn on Justice, Indonesia, Timor, West Papua and more.: "Stopping the Killers From Killing An Interview With Allan Nairn on Justice, Indonesia, West Papua, Timor-Leste, and Guatemala"

ETAN Opposes Appointment of Retired General Ryamizard Ryacudu as Defense Minister

ETAN Opposes Appointment of Retired General Ryamizard Ryacudu as Defense Minister

Read in full here
October 26, 2014 - The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today condemned Indonesia President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's appointment of retired General Ryamizard Ryacudu as Minister Defense.

"The appointment of a hardliner like Ryamizard Ryacudu tells us that President Widodo is not serious about promoting human rights or reaching out to West Papua," said John M. Miller, Coordinator of ETAN.

"He is a relic of the past with a history of excusing rights violations by soldiers, threatening human rights critics, and asserting the military's right to meddle in civilian affairs."

Miller added, "While fighting corruption may be a priority for his administration. He certainly didn't take into account Ryamizard's well-reported statements on human rights. This speaks volumes about the importance of human rights to Jokowi."
Read the rest here.

Ryamizard Ryacudu

Wrong example

A intervention by by Teguh Santoso(a lecturer at Indonesia Islam University) on Western Sahara before the United Nations' Fourth Committee, avoids mentioning the most relevant Indonesian experience. Santoso told the committee (as summarized by the UN) that that "the dispute about Western Sahara was quite similar to what Indonesia had experienced in the last decade," without acknowledging that  Indonesia's December 1975 illegal invasion and occupation of East Timor, which is exactly parallel to Morocco's illegal invasion of Western Sahara.

Instead he refers to what he calls "a similar situation," which Indonesia had solved "peacefully through democratic circumstances. As a result, Aceh and Papua enjoyed special autonomy status. Only genuine democracy could solve the Western Sahara dispute, and the [Morocco's unilateral] special autonomy plan was an outcome of the high degree of democracy in Morocco."


However, a truly democratic plan would allow the Saharawi to exercise their right to self-determination. A free and fair vote under UN-supervision would allow them the choice of say autonomy under Morocco or independence. Morocco (with the diplomatic and other support of its close allies France and the U.S.) has done everything it can to undermine U.N. resolutions and plans for a vote. 


For many years, Indonesia did the same (also with U.S. support) to East Timor. Belatedly , the East Timorese people exercised their right to self-determination in 1999. In the face of threats of retaliation that were soon realized, they expressed their choice of independence.


As we wrote in 2009 in a submission to the Fourth Committee:

In doing so, the people of Timor-Leste exercised their inalienable right and expressed their "passionate yearning for freedom" described by the UN General Assembly nearly 50 years ago in its 1960 declaration (1514 (XV)) on decolonization, which unambiguously declared that "all peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine political status…"

We added: 

It should embarrass this institution – and all of you as representatives of United Nations member states – that this committee must continue to discuss the situation of Western Sahara. The discussion should have ended long ago, and its people should have exercised their right to self-determination.

ETAN Urges Secretary Clinton to Condition Security Assistance to Indonesia on Rights

As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton travelled to Bali, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urged her to condition U.S. security assistance to Indonesia on real improvements in human rights by Indonesia government and genuine accountability for violations of human rights. 

"The restoration of assistance to Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces announced a year ago should be reversed," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "Kopassus training was meant to be the carrot to encourage respect for rights. There is no evidence it has done so. U.S. law bars cooperation with military and police units with such egregious human rights records. The U.S should set an example by following it's own law."


Read the full statement here

May 2010 West Papua Report

The May 2010 West Papua Report, the 72nd in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans is now out. The series is produced by the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) and co-published with the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm. The summary is below, full issue is here.
 

Summary

Indonesia's Special Forces (Kopassus) and U.S.-backed Detachment 88 troops joined in an assault on peaceful demonstrators in Manokwari. It is unclear if any of those initial detained remain in custody. The Jakarta Post reports chronic malnutrition among Amungme and Kamoro children who live in the shadow of the massive Freeport McMoran copper and gold mine. A prominent leader of PDI-P has called for creation of truth and reconciliation commissions for Aceh and West Papua. Pressure appears to be building for a military response to dissent in West Papua, including the targeting of NGOs. Leading human rights organizations and churches have called for an end to mistreatment of political prisoners in West Papua and an investigation of security force killing of activists. Indonesian intelligence and special forces are attempting to create a false front organization in Biak to replace a legitimate one established by the local people.

Allan Nairn on Obama and Kopassus Training

UPDATE: Nairn's article with more details is now online at his blog.

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Allan Nairn appeared on Democracy Now! on Friday to discuss President Obama's again postponed visit to Indonesia and discussions within the Obama administration about whether (how?) to once again train Indonesia's notorious special forces Kopassus.

Some in the Obama administration (and the Indonesian military) argue that rights violations are in the past. Nairn's  key revelation is that Kopassus were involved in the murder of activist in Aceh in 2009:

I’ve just come out with a piece that shows that the Indonesian army and Kopassus have been involved in a series of recent assassinations of civilian political activists. The piece names the names of the officers involved, including a Kopassus general named Sunarko. These assassinations were carried out in the region of Aceh in late 2009.

The activists were from the Partai Aceh.

According to a senior Indonesian official with detailed information on these murders, they’re part of a program of political murder being carried out by TNI, the Indonesian armed forces, and Kopassus and by military intelligence. And so, these killings are still going on today. And Obama is about to give them new aid on the pretense that the Indonesian army has reformed and has stopped killing civilians, which is false.

Read the transcript, listen to the audio or watch the full interview here. Or watch below:

Part 1:



Part 2: