US-Jakarta ties 'threat to Papua,' threat to rights

"No military aid without justice!!!" says the banner at a protest opposing renewed assistance to Kopassus at the U.S. Embassy. Mugiyanto, who was kidnapped in 1998, tells Al Jazeera that by training Kopassus the "U.S. is legitimizing impunity in Indonesia, that the U.S. is accepting the fact that impuniy prevails, that the perpetrators of human rights violations are not yet held accountable..."


Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma tells Al Jazeera, that renewing military co-operation between the US and Indonesia will only leave the Indonesian military "better equipped to commit their murders." 

KontraS's Usman Hamid on assistance to Kopassus and the Indonesian military

Usman Hamid, coordinator for the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS),  has published an op-ed in the Jakarta Post, "No justice, no aid to Kopassus!" He wrote that "restoring assistance would be seen as Washington’s 'green light' for further military impunity in Indonesia. Such a policy threatens the hopes of democracy and justice in Indonesia."

If the US does restore all aid to Kopassus, without concrete and meaningful preconditions, it would be a disaster for Indonesian human rights. Aid which is not meant just for Kopassus, but also for the TNI, the State Intelligence Agency, and the Ministry of Defense should be carefully tailored to exert maximum pressure to put structural reforms in place that can ensure accountability and civilian control.

He continues:

Accountability for past crimes is not a separate question from military professionalism and human rights protection in present-day Indonesia. Kopassus has been implicated in major crimes such as the Wamena tortures in 2001 and the assassination of Papuan leader Theys Eluay in 2001, as well as recent reports of the assassination of Aceh political activists in 2009. These occurred under democratic governments, precisely because Kopassus has never been held accountable.

Vetting is not the answer.

The Obama administration has indicated that it only intends to give aid to officers and soldiers who have passed human rights “vetting”. But this procedure only operates on an individual basis, and does so ineffectively. It is not possible to know the names of all these who have pulled the trigger, and, in any case, the disappearances, tortures and murders are not the result of individual soldiers running amok.

Sign the petition opposing U.S.  cooperation with Kopassus

Give A Heart for Ila and Others In East Timor!

Medical Aid for East Timor

GIVE A HEART FOR ILA AND OTHERS IN EAST TIMOR!

We are writing to you today to ask for your help in contacting your U.S. Senators and Representative about the visit of the US Navy Hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) which is expected in East Timor for a short two week visit beginning August 6. 

Dr. Dan Murphy of the Bairo Pite Clinic and numerous Timorese heart patients are seeking your help in convincing the US Navy Sealift Command to provide the use of one surgical bay on the USNS Mercy Hospital Ship in order for a team of Australian heart surgeons to help untold numbers of East Timorese with heart problems. At present East Timorese with heart problems needing surgery have little hope of survival unless they are one of the chosen few sent to Australia for heart surgery. Sending East Timorese to Australia is difficult, expensive and involves complicated visa and immigration paperwork - all of which takes precious time, resources and money from being used in other critical areas of healthcare at the clinic and East Timor. As of next year the national hospital in East Timor will have a heart surgery bay, but in the interim the US Navy has the facilities, resources and opportunity to help these patients and we hope you can spend some time to make this happen.

An 8 year old little girl by the name of Ila with severe mitral valve disease needs your help to give her the chance to live a full vibrant life, full of energy, like other children have. At this point little Ila has no chance of growing up to early adulthood, but, with a few minutes of your time she may live a full life. Please do not allow this opportunity to pass without contacting your elected officials in Washington and encouraging them to contact the US Navy Sealift Command to make this happen for Ila and many others with heart disease.

Please call or send e-mail to your elected officials encouraging them to contact the US Navy's Sealift Commander Rear Admiral Mark H Buzby immediately and express support for offering a surgical bay aboard the USNS Mercy hospital ship, for use by the Australian surgical team in Dili, East Timor.

Call your Senators and congressional Representatives via the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 (ask for the office of your Representative and Senators), or check www.congress.org for other contact information.  

This small effort requires only a little time only your valuable voice of support for the future of numerous East Timorese medical patients. We hope that you will see this small effort through to its successful completion.

Dr Mike Iltis/ communications

Elliot Stokes/facilitator
elliotisaacstokes@yahoo.com
Medical Aid for East Timor

Keep us up to date on the response you get.

If you have time please also contact:

Dean Tano, Humanitarian and Civic Affairs,
Commander, Pacific Fleet, (NO1H),
250 Makalapa Dr, Pearl Harbor, HI. 96860. 
808-471-2463, fax 808-474-7806,
Dean.Tano@navy.mil

Other contacts:

Rear Admiral MH Buzby, c/o Public Affairs, 
914 Charles Morris Court, Navy Yard, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20398-5540 or
phone 1-888-SEALIFT (888-732-5438).

Give a heart for Ila and others in East Timor


PHOTO: USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) anchored in Dili harbor in 2008. U.S. Navy photo By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph Seavey.