An Australian Parliamentary committee has recommended ratification of an broad security treaty with Indonesia – but emphasised what it calls "widespread concerns" about human rights in Indonesia.

The Parliament's Standing Committee on Treaties was reporting on the Indonesia-Australia Framework Agreement for Security Cooperation, which was signed in Lombok in November. One of the five bipartisan recommendations from the Treaties Committee refers specifically to problems in the Indonesian province of Papua.

Presenter/Interviewer: Graeme Dobell, Radio Australia's Foreign Affairs. Speakers: Chairman of the Parliament's Treaties committee, Andrew Southcott

Dobell: This is the second attempt by Australia and Indonesia to create security. The first was signed by Jakarta and Canberra in 1995, but torn up by Indonesia as Australian troops led the international intervention into East Timor in 1999. The secret negotiation of that previous 1995 treaty was recalled by the chairman of the Parliament's Treaties committee, Andrew Southcott.

Southcott: There is an interesting irony in the treaties committee considering this security treaty between Australia and Indonesia, for it was the 1995 Agreement on Maintaining Security, which was negotiated in secret and entered into force without reference to the parliament, which spurred the development of a specific parliamentary committee on treaties.

Dobell: This new treaty between Australia and Indonesia is broader – ranging over defence, law enforcement, counter terrorism, intelligence, maritime security, even proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The past tensions between Australia and Indonesia over East Timor – and now over Papua – can be seen in the emphasis in the document on mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity.

While saying the treaty should be passed by Parliament, the treaties committee recommends that Australia continue to address what it calls widely expressed concerns about human rights in Indonesia and that Australia ensure that defence cooperation with Indonesia does not directly or indirectly support human rights abuses. Further, the committee calls for more transparency in defence relations. Dr Southcott:

Southcott: Many submissions to the inquiry expressed concerns about human rights abuses by the Indonesian military. To address these concerns, the committee recommends that the Australian government increase the transparency of defence cooperation agreements to provide assurance that Australian resources do not directly or indirectly support human rights abuses in Indonesia.

Dobell: Australia's granting of asylum to a group of Papuans who fled the Indonesian province at the start of last year nearly derailed the negotiation of the treaty, which was finally signed in Lombok in November.

In the recommendations supported by government and opposition MPs, the report refers specifically to Papua and calls on the Australian Government to encourage Indonesia to allow greater access to the province by the media and human rights monitors.

Southcott: The committee is conscious that most of the submissions to its inquiry concerned Papuan human rights and the defence cooperation provisions of the agreement. As media access is restricted in the province of Papua, the committee is not in a position to comment directly on human rights matters, particularly where they relate to the Indonesian military.

However, the committee does agree that more open access to Papua would help to ensure greater respect for human rights.

Dobell: The Parliamentary committee acknowledges that lack of a specific reference to human rights in the treaty, but says the symbolic value of such a provision is not so important that the terms of the treaty should be changed or rejected. The report says Australia and Indonesia already have extensive human rights obligations under international law, beyond the terms of the Framework treaty.