ETAN Urges Justice for Victims of the Santa Cruz Massacre on 25thAnniversary

http://etan.org/news/2016/11scruz.htm

Contact: John M. Miller, National Coordinator, ETAN
john@etan.org; +1-917-690-4391

ETAN Urges Justice for Victims of the Santa Cruz Massacre on 25^thAnniversary

Photo by Steve Cox, Generations of Resistance: East Timor

November 2016 - On the 25^th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urges the international community to commit to ending impunity for the human rights crimes committed during the occupation of Timor-Leste.  

"The victims of the Santa Cruz massacre have waited too long for justice," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. “Those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Indonesia’s illegal occupation need to be held accountable for their crimes.” 

"We believed that an international tribunal is needed to credibly try those responsible for the Santa Cruz massacre and other crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Indonesia during its illegal occupation of Timor-Leste," Miller added. 

The victims of the Santa Cruz massacre have waited too long for justice. Those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Indonesia’s illegal occupation need to be held accountable for their crimes.

On November 12, 1991, U.S-armed Indonesian troops opened fire on a peaceful pro-independence demonstration calling for self-determination and protesting atrocities committed by the Indonesian military. More than 271 East Timorese were killed or died soon after and an equal number disappeared and are believed to be dead. 

The 1991 massacre -- witnessed and filmed by foreign journalists -- was a major turning point in Timor-Leste's struggle for liberation. 

During more than two decades of U.S.-backed occupation, Indonesian soldiers committed serious crimes with impunity, taking as many as 184,000 Timorese lives and torturing, raping, and displacing countless others. Timor-Leste became independent in 2002.

"The East Timorese people will need to know the where  the bodies of their relatives and friends are," said Miller. "Impunity for decades of systematic Indonesian military and police atrocities prevents both Timor-Leste and Indonesia from consolidating the rule of law as they transition from military dictatorship to democracy." 

While some deeply flawed processes have prosecuted some involved in crimes committed in 1999, those responsible for giving the orders to torture, rape, and kill have yet to be brought to justice. Those from countries such as the United States, Britain, and Australia that actively aided in these crimes by providing weapons, training, and political support have yet to be held accountable.

ETAN continues to call on President Joko Widodo to fulfill his campaign promise to address human rights violations committed during and after the Suharto dictatorship, including by establishing credible judicial processes to investigate killings like the Santa Cruz massacre. 

For more on the Santa Cruz massacre see ETAN’s backgrounder here:http://etan.org/factsheets/santa_cruz.htm

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) was founded in 199 following the Santa Cruz massacre. ETAN supports democracy, human rights and justice in Timor-Leste, West Papua and Indonesia. Website: www.etan.org Twitter: @etan009.

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"

Groups Urge Any New Government of Indonesia to Pursue Justice and Respect Rights

Read the Statement to the next government of Indonesia on human rights

Media Release

Groups Urge Any New Government of Indonesia to Pursue Justice and Respect Rights

June 30, 2014 - In a statement released today human rights groups urged the next government of Indonesia "to break with the past [and] fully and meaningfully address the legacy of impunity for past human rights violations," adding that "the continued lack of accountability for past and ongoing violations of human rights threatens lasting progress."

The statement, coordinated by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and signed by 32 organizations based in a dozen countries, urged the Indonesia government to “provide meaningful reparations for the victims, survivors and their families of egregious human rights crimes.” It also called on the next government to bring the military “fully under civilian control and the rule of law.”

Read the rest here. 

Bahasa Indonesia: Kelompok-kelompok yang Mendesak Pemerintah Baru Indonesia untuk Mengejar Keadilan dan Menghormati Hak Asasi

Prabowo on Santa Cruz massacre, being a fascist dictator

Journalist Allan Nairn writes up his notes from a conversation with former Kopassus head Prabowo Subianto, now candidate for Indonesian president. Bahasa Indonesia version of article: "Apa saya cukup punya nyali," tanya Prabowo, "apa saya siap jika disebut 'diktator fasis'?"

Nairn writes that "Prabowo talked about fascism, democracy, army massacre policy, and his long, close relationship with the Pentagon and US intelligence."

Some excerpts:

On November 11, 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, Timor-Leste:

"Prabowo's complaint was not with the fact that the army had murdered civilians, but rather that they had done so in front of me and other witnesses who were then able to report the massacre and mobilize the outside world.

"'Santa Cruz killed us politically!,' Prabowo exclaimed. 'It was the defeat!' 

"'You don't massacre civilians in front of the world press,'" General Prabowo said. 'Maybe commanders do it in villages where no one will ever know, but not in the provincial capital'!"

On Leadership:

"He mentioned Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf.

"Musharraf had arrested his country's civilian prime minister and imposed dictatorship. 

"Prabowo said he admired him greatly.

"Prabowo ruminated on whether he could measure up, whether he could be an Indonesian Musharraf.

"'Do I have the guts,' Prabowo asked, 'am I ready to be called a fascist dictator?'"

Allan Nairn speaks on East Timor, Indonesia, ETAN, Occupy Wall Street and more

Allan Nairn at OccupyWall Street's ThinkTank. Photo by John M. Miller/ETAN

Journalist/Activist Allan Nairn's reporting has been crucial in exposing U.S. complicity with human rights and war crimes by Indonesia's security forces. He has forcefully urged that U.S. officials be held accountable for their crimes against humanity.

On November 12, 1991, Nairn with Amy Goodman witnessed the Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, the capitol of East Timor. Nairn was beaten and had his skull cracked. Their reports of the massacre inspired the founding of ETAN, and Nairn has served as a key advisor to ETAN and was a member of its Steering Committee. 

In January, Nairn spoke about the successful movement to support East Timor's self-determination and restrict U.S. military assistance to Indonesia  and its significance for Occupy Wall Street and today's global movements for justice.

On January 5, Nairn spoke at an event organized by ETAN. On January 9, he spoke at an event organized by OccupyWallStreet Think Tank.

View the video of the two talks here.

Secret Documents Reveal Kopassus Targets Papuan Churches Civilans

Allan Nairn, ETAN on Democracy Now!

President Obama arrived in Indonesia today on the second stop of a 10-day trip to Asia. It’s Obama’s first state visit to Indonesia after having lived there for four years as a child. Democracy Now! speaks with Jakarta-based investigative journalist and activist Allan Nairn, who has just released secret documents from Kopassus—the feared Indonesian special forces—which has been responsible for human rights abuses since the 1950s. Earlier this year, the Obama administration lifted a 12-year ban on funding the training of Kopassus. While Obama talks about human rights, the documents indicate that Kopassus targets churches and civilians and includes a Kopassus enemies list topped by a local Baptist minister in West Papua. We also speak with John Miller, the National Coordinator of East Timor and Indonesia Action Network

Also from Allan Nairn's blog: Secret Files Show Kopassus, Indonesia's Special Forces, Targets Papuan Churches, Civilians. Documents Leak from Notorious US-Backed Unit as Obama Lands in Indonesia

Nairn interviewed

Allan Nairn was interviewed in the Jakarta Post today about his reporting on targeted assasinations in Aceh last year. Here is an excerpt:

Critics say that because you refuse to reveal your source, you may have made it all up.

Well, I have two answers for that. One, if I’m making it up, the TNI should follow through on their own announcement to arrest me and try me publicly for libel. If they believe their denial, if they believe I’m lying, go ahead. In fact, they had a chance to arrest me last week when I made a TV appearance.

Two, why don’t they check and see if I’m also making up the names of those 10 people who were secretly detained for killing Tumijan? Was Gen. Aditya also making up the facts of those people? Was Gen. Sunarko also making them up?

The bottom line is, if you believe what you’re saying, try me publicly. I will stand before the judges and announce the details. Don’t take the cowardly way out by arresting me privately or simply deporting me. That would be a tacit admission that I’m right. And I think they already did that, since the TNI was apparently afraid to face me, not only in court but also on TV, at least so far. If they’re so confident about my facts being wrong, they should welcome the opportunity to appear on TV. It’s only logical. 

Nairn has recently done a number of radio interviews in the U.S. and Australia, here are links to a few:

Worldview (WBEZ Chicago): Journalist Uncovers Indonesian Militarys Links to Civilian Killings (April 6) (with Northwestern University's Jeffrey Winters)

Asia Pacific Forum (WBAI, New York) Indonesia: Military Assassinations and a Journalist Under Fire
(April 6) (with ETAN's John M. Miller)

The Wire (Australia): Indonesian military threatens to sue journalist (March 25)

Kopassus killings

A Jakarta Post oped Kopassus and the legend of ‘Mpu Gandring’ by journalist Aboeprijadi Santoso puts Nairn's charges of TNI and Kopassus political killings in Aceh last year. Santoso describes the heightened tension in Aceh since early last year "when the regional command was led by a Kopassus general who was dismissed shortly afterwards."

Santoso writes:

...at issue is not a formal Kopassus assignment [to Aceh] (which was probably none since this would explicitly violate the Helsinki pact), but covert operations involving individual Kopassus members.

Neither, unfortunately, has the military been able to spell out the reform of the Kopassus, which they claim to have performed during the last 12 years....

Many of the atrocities in the former conflict areas, the killings, poisoning and missing activists elsewhere in Indonesia have been linked to the Kopassus or its individual members. None of these has been brought to justice or satisfactorily resolved. Impunity thus runs as a thread from the 1965-66 tragedy, to troubles in East Timor, Aceh and Papua.

Ask any local around the former Rumah Geudong in Pidie, Aceh, or the surviving families in Kraras, near Viqueque, East Timor. They will tell you what they know about the Kopassus (or its predecessors, the RPKAD).
To be fair, the killing-machine image should include some infamous battalions of the Army’s Strategic Reserves Command or Kostrad (in the case of East Timor) and the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Aceh.

Kopassus blocks Nairn from appearing on Indonesian TV

Indonesia's TV One cancelled an appearance after pressure from Kopassus by Allan Nairn to talk about his story about last year's killings by the Indonesian army in Aceh today. The Indonesian military has threatened to bring Nairn to court for his reporting, saying it is defamatory.

Nairn wrote:

As I was making my way to their studio for our agreed live interview on Indonesian armed forces (TNI) assassinations, I received a call with the news that TV One, the Indonesian national news channel, had canceled my appearance due to pressure from Kopassus....

Even though TV One had agreed to interview me alone for 15 to 30 minutes, they decided unilaterally -- without telling me -- that they would only let me on air if the Kopassus commander, Gen. Lodewijk was there to rebut me. 

I would have been glad to face and question the General, but the catch was that the General refused to face me. 

A week ago, METRO TV ended a scheduled half hour interview:

Within a couple of minutes I was pulled off the air. A producer came on the phone and acknowledged that I had just been "censored."

Sign ETAN's petition opposing U.S. training of Kopassus.

Allan Nairn to Indonesian miltiary - bring it on

UPDATE: Allan Nairn on Wednesday's Democracy Now! Journalist Allan Nairn Facing Possible Arrest in Indonesia for Exposing US-Backed Forces Assassinated Civilians

Allan Nairn challenges Indonesian military to follow up military threats to prosecute him for his report on Kopassus killings in Aceh. He wrote on his blog:

In response to my report revealing their assassinations of political activists (see posting of March 21, 2010), the US-backed Indonesian armed forces (TNI) are threatening to have me arrested, presumably on criminal defamation charges. (See Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Nurdin Hasan , Jakarta Globe, "Indonesian Military Threatens Legal Action Over Aceh Party Killings Claims.")...

I will be glad to stand in court before the Indonesian public and detail TNI's role in numerous tortures, disappearances, massacres and assassinations.

I would welcome the opportunity to enter a formal, public legal proceeding which would afford the opportunity to question TNI Generals under oath.

If given such a chance I would also attempt to call US personnel as witnesses, and question US military, CIA, State Department, and White House officials about their support for TNI. I would ask these Americans why they have given weapons, training and money to TNI, even as they have seen that force repeatedly kill civilians.

Criminal defamation laws have often been used in an attempt to silence criticism of Indonesian officials. A recent example is the filing of defamation charges against Usman Hamid of KontraS in September 2009 on a complaint by retired general Muchdi Purwopranjono, accused in the murder of human rights lawyer Munir.

Under Indonesia's criminal code, conviction for defamation of a public official carries a maximum sentence of 5 years and fines. Various other laws incorporate defamation. The Law on Information and Electronic Transactions, passed in 2008, calls for a penalty up to 6 years and a fine up to one billion rupiah. In Indonesia, those of accused of crimes with penalties longer then 5 years are denied bail.

Allan Nairn on Obama and Kopassus Training

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

--

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: