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.

La'o Hamutuk call for rejection of the Copenhagen climate accord

La'o Hamutuk has written to Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão urging that Timor-Leste to reject the Copenhagen Accord on climate change. The group offers 7 arguments including:

The Copenhagen Accord contradicts some basic principles of the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change], including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. It also contradicts the Kyoto Protocol because it leaves it up to the developed countries to reduce their emissions, with no legally binding targets. It is not a democratic agreement because it was decided only by a small group of countries, not by all countries in COP. This is against the principle of consensus in the UNFCCC. If Timor-Leste associates to this Accord, we are going against some principles in UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol that we have ratified.

La'o Hamutkuk writes that "a small group who don't want to take responsibility for their actions which have destroyed the global climate" negotiated The Copenhagen Accord.

Read the full letter here.

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.

ETAN to President Ramos-Horta on justice, accountability & international tribuanl

ETAN has written to President Ramos-Horta in response to his recent remarks on justice and accountability for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999), and his attack on Amnesty International. It begins:

"We are writing to express our sadness and deep dismay on reading your speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 11, 2010. In your address, you refer to having been "unfairly criticized by some fringe elements in this amorphous international community” for decisions made by you and the Government of Timor-Leste concerning justice and accountability.

"While you did not mention Amnesty International by name, the target of your anger was clear as it directly followed a public dispute with them regarding your stance on an international tribunal. It is ironic that one whose heart is as forgiving as yours would issue such a strong attack on another Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Amnesty International has stood strongly for peace, and collaborated closely with you throughout the Indonesian occupation during the long campaign for human rights in Timor-Leste. To refer to them as “fringe” and accuse them of “regurgitating ready-made clichés or academic jargon on justice” is both disrespectful and engages in the same rhetorical excess you decry."

Read the full letter here.

The Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal (ANTI - Aliansi Nasional Timor Leste Ba Tribunal Internasional) delivered their own letter the other day.

As citizens of this country, our feeling and desire for justice for serious crimes is not enough when our leaders become spokesmen to express views which don’t follow what we feel and work for. Our thirst for this justice draws its legitimate power from Article 160 of the Constitution of RDTL, that “…crimes against humanity of genocide or of war shall be liable to criminal proceedings with the national or international courts.” Therefore, we are sad and strongly lament when a leader of Timor-Leste makes a statement that the Timorese people don’t need an international tribunal for crimes against humanity and show ignorance of the fundamental principles of our democratic constitution which expresses the wishes of the common Timorese people.

Candles are lit at the Indonesian Embassy in Dili on September 6, 2009, the anniversary of the Suai Church massacre, where Maternus Bere was thought to be residing. Ramos-Horta told the Human Rights Commission that no Timorese had lit candles in protest of Bere's release. Photo by La'o Hamutuk.