By: Roy Tupai, Paras, Indonesia 13 April 2006
A human rights group has criticized the US government for inviting the
chief of the Indonesian Armys elite Special Forces (Kopassus) to a
recent regional military conference aimed at combating terrorism.
The New York-based East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) says
the participation of Kopassus chief Major General Syaiful Rizal in the
Pentagons annual Pacific Area Special Operation Conference (PASOC) was
a "bad precedent and a setback for efforts at reform and
accountability".
Kopassus has long been accused of human rights violations in East
Timor, Aceh, Papua and elsewhere. Analysts say Kopassus often operated
in an illegal manner and some feel there is little evidence it has
changed its ways despite reforms within the Indonesian military since
1999.
This years PASOC was held over April 3-7 at the Waikiki Beach Marriott
Resort in Honolulu, Hawaii. The theme of the conference was Disrupting
the Conditions that Assist Terrorist Networks. It was the first time
Indonesia had participated since 1998.
"Kopassus participation in PASOC is yet another indicator of the unwise
approach the Bush administration is taking toward Indonesias military.
They may see the Kopassus as an ally against terrorism, but Kopassus
itself often acts like a terrorist group, attacking civilians for
political ends," ETAN coordinator John M. Miller said in a statement
released April 6.
"There can be no doubt that Kopassus will portray participation in
PASOC as an exoneration by the US. By publicly anointing the Kopassus
commander, the US has gravely undermined the struggle within Indonesia
to end impunity," said ETAN advisor Edmund McWilliams.
"This is a devastating betrayal of Indonesian human rights advocates
and their efforts to reform the military and its most notorious
command," added McWilliams, who headed the political section of the US
Embassy in
Jakarta from 1996 to 1999.
"With Indonesian security forces still engaged in atrocities in West
Papua and continuing to deny their role in crimes against humanity in
East Timor and elsewhere, President Bushs rush to engage the military
is counterproductive to advancing democratic change in Indonesia," said
Miller.
The US State Department last month provided formal notice that it will
consider provision of lethal military equipment to Indonesia.
According to Damien Kingsbury, an Australian expert on the Indonesian
military: "Kopassus has murdered and tortured political activists,
trade unionists and human rights workers. It has also trained, equipped
and led
militias in East Timor, West Papua and Aceh, and Kopassus members
trained the notorious Laskar Jihad Islamic militia, which stepped up
conflict in the Ambon region, leaving up to 10,000 dead. It was
Kopassus that murdered Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay in 2001."
While some analysts feel that its vital for Western nations to include
Kopassus in the fight against terrorism, Kingsbury has said the unit
should be disbanded. "My well stated opposition to Kopassus stems from
having seen it first hand perpetrate myriad abuses in a range of
places, and Im not against countries having a military as such - of
course, everybody needs to defend themselves. But Kopassus really, its
culture is so deeply entrenched that really, even the former US
ambassador has said that its impossible to reform it. It`s an
organization that really needs to be thrown out and if you want that
sort of special services unit, you have to start again," he told the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation in December 2005.
PASOC
Delegates from about 25 countries participated the 13th annual PASOC,
which was hosted by the US Pacific Commands Special Operations Center.
The PASOC website said the conference "significantly contributes to the
Global War on Terrorism by bringing together international SOF [special
operations forces] military leaders from Pacific Rim nations to
exchange ideas, develop multilateral methods and procedures in
combating terrorism, and establish professional contacts for crisis
response".
PASOC`s key objectives involve developing potential operational
approaches through multilateral cooperation to counter/alleviate
underlying conditions that support terrorism.
The countries invited to this years PASOC were: Australia, Bangladesh,
Brunei, Cambodia, China, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia,
Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,
Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Thailand, UK
and Vietnam.
Kopassus chief Rizal welcomed Indonesias return to PASOC, saying it
indicated that bilateral military relations were improving further
after Washingtons decision to lift an embargo on arms sales to Jakarta
in November 2005. "In addition, it is the start of renewed efforts to
explore possibilities of cooperation," he was quoted as saying by state
news agency Antara.
Training: From Australia To Yemen Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono
last week said Kopassus would teach Yemens Special Forces how to uphold
security and combat terrorism.
He made the announcement after a meeting with Yemeni Ambassador
Abdulrahman Alhothi in Jakarta on April 5 but did not specify when any
training would take place. "The Yemeni Special Forces has heard a great
deal about the Indonesian Army`s elite force and become interested in
learning from it," the minister was quoted as saying by Antara.
Long-serving Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh formed his country`s
Special Forces unit in 1999. The unit is led by Salehs eldest son
Ahmad.
Kopassus has reportedly provided training to Cambodias special forces
in the past.
The Australian government recently ended a seven-year ban on training
Kopassus soldiers in Australia, with the holding a joint
counter-terrorism exercise in the West Australian capital of Perth.
The decision to resume the training was announced in December 2005 by
former defense minister Robert Hill, who claimed no troops with past
records of human rights abuses would be involved. He said Canberra
decided to lift the ban to "further strengthen the regions ability to
tackle terrorism" and because Kopassus forces "might one day save
Australian lives in Indonesia".
Exercise Dawn Kookaburra took place over two weeks in Perth in February
2006, with members of Kopassus Unit 81 training alongside members of
Australias Special Air Service Regiment. "Exercise Dawn Kookaburra
focused on specific skills that would be required for counter hijack
and hostage recovery operations," said an Australian military
spokesman. "For operational security reasons, we will not be specific
about the number of personnel training in counter hijack and hostage
recovery skills," he added.
Australia has said further joint training will take place next year.
Critics such as Kingsbury argued that the training was unwarranted
because the Indonesian police, not the military, have been the most
active and successful in combating terrorism over recent years.
Asmara Nababan, executive director of the Institute for Human Rights
and Democracy Studies, concurred that the police are playing the lead
role in Indonesias war against terrorism. He questioned the relevance
and urgency of training Kopassus, saying that Australia had merely
resumed the training as a reward for improved ties with Indonesia.
Nababan also questioned whether Kopassus had undertaken meaningful
reform and warned the force could commit more rights abuses in the
future.
Some nationalist Indonesian legislators expressed reservations over the
training for Kopassus, claiming Australia might exploit the program to
intervene in Indonesias domestic affairs.