POLITICS-US: Lawmakers Protest Indonesian Army Training

By Jim Lobe Reprint | | Print |

Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Mar 18 1998 (IPS) - A bipartisan group of US lawmakers is opposing Pentagon support for the Indonesian military which it says violates the spirit of a 1992 ban enacted by Congress on Jakarta’s participation in Washington’s major military training programme.

The politicians say the US Army and Air Force, using a different and much less well-known programme, have been training key Indonesian military units – including some with notorious human rights records – since the ban took effect.

The administration, however, is defending its actions, insisting that the training was legal and that increasing US military engagement with Indonesia serves Washington’s national interests. “These joint exercises enhance American military readiness and increase US engagement with an important country,” says State Department spokesman Jamie Rubin.

The controversy has surfaced at a critical moment in Indonesia where President Suharto, re-elected by his hand-picked parliament to a seventh five-year term, faces an unprecedented economic crisis touched off by last year’s collapse of the country’s currency, the rupiah.

The Indonesian leader is now engaged in a tense standoff with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is offering billions of dollars in bailout money, over whether he will follow through on a major economic reform programme which could threaten the fortunes of his family and close business associates.

Indonesia’s economy, meanwhile, has ground to a virtual halt and millions of workers have lost their jobs since the rupiah began its plunge six months ago. Sharp increases in food prices, exacerbated by an El Nino-caused drought that has set back rice production, have spurred rioting in some parts of what is the world’s fourth most populous country.

Students, traditionally in the vanguard of change in Indonesia, also have become increasingly active in opposing the regime. Protests in recent weeks have moved from the campus into the streets where they have gained the support of leaders of non- governmental organisations and even some retired military officers.

In this context, Asian analysts here are paying close attention to the powerful Indonesian military, called ABRI, which has dominated the political life of the country for more than a generation and has been called upon to enforce security during the crisis. US Secretary of Defence William Cohen visited Indonesia in January to assess the situation himself.

“The army is the only institution which operates with at least minimum consistency,” notes Prof. Dan Lev, an Indonesia expert at the University of Washington in Seattle. While the army is deeply split, according to Lev, “Suharto has been very astute in balancing out different factions.”

The United States has enjoyed a particularly close relationship with Indonesia’s military since the mid-1960s. During the Cold War, it was seen as a bulwark against Communist expansion in Southeast Asia as well as a guarantor of access through the world’s most strategic sea lanes. In addition to providing Indonesia with most of its military equipment, Washington provided millions of dollars in training over the years through its International Military and Education Training programme (IMET).

But after a Nov. 1991 army massacre of more than 200 unarmed civilians in East Timor, which Indonesia invaded in 1975 and later annexed, Congress moved to distance Washington from the Indonesian military.Over strong objections by the administration of president George Bush, it enacted a ban on Indonesia’s participation in IMET programmes.

Under pressure from the Clinton administration, Congress agreed in 1995 to permit Indonesia military officers to participate in an “expanded IMET programme” in which training was to be limited to human rights and civilian control.

According to documents obtained by some lawmakers, and published in The Nation magazine this week, the Pentagon used another little-known programme – known as Joint Combined Exchange and Training (J-Cet) – to continue training Indonesian soldiers.

Training has been quite extensive and included lethal tactics, such as “close quarters combat, sniper techniques, demolitions, mortar training, psychological operations and “military operations in urban terrain,” according to the Pentagon documents which detail 36 exercises involving fully armed US combat troops flying or sailing into Indonesia in the five years between Aug. 1992 and Sep. 1997.

“It is clear to me that Indonesia’ participation in JCET is the Pentagon’s loophole to the ban on IMET. JCET is another way the Pentagon can assist Suharto and his soldiers in suppressing their opposition,” said Republican Rep. Lane Evans, who added at a news conference Tuesday that he will press the Pentagon for an accounting of how the programme is funded.

Especially troublesome to critics is the disproportionate participation of Indonesia’s Special Forces Command (KOPASSUS) in the JCET programmes. KOPASSUS units, which have been accused by international human rights groups of torture and murder, took part in 20 of the 36 training exercises.

“It is widely recognised that the Indonesian Red Berets (KOPASSUS) are one of the most violent and ferocious military units in Indonesia,” said Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy, one of the few U.S. officials who have visited East Timor. “The fact that the US military may be assisting these violators of human rights is a sign that the United States must re-evaluate its policies towards Indonesia.”

Allan Nairn, the Nation reporter who exposed the Pentagon documents, suggests that Washington’s focus on KOPASSUS may have political implications because its most recent commander, Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, is Suharto’s son-in-law.

Prabowo recently took command of the strategic reserve forces in Jakarta, and with KOPASSUS forces already deployed to the capital, will be most directly responsible for keeping order there during the ongoing crisis, according to Lev.