John McBeth – It is only when United States Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume orders a cone of silence over the issue that you get a full appreciation of what is at stake as the US government explores ways to lift the 12-year ban on training with the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) because of its involvement in human rights abuses in the former East Timor.
But the signs are not good, with a senior White House official now appearing to pour cold water on the prospect of a resolution of the issue becoming part of a comprehensive US-Indonesia agreement the two sides are working on, ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia this week.
Jeffrey Bader, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, declined to give a timetable on Tuesday, saying only that the administration "hopes to be able, at some point, to move past and resolve those (human rights) concerns".
Senior US officials realise that any accord calling itself 'comprehensive' has to include a full military partnership, in recognition of the remarkable progress Indonesia has made as the world's biggest emerging democracy. Living in the past won't do.
A few weeks ago, the chances of a resolution were still 50-50. There is no indication of whether that has changed appreciably, with opposition still coming from Senator Patrick Leahy, an implacable critic of the Indonesian military, and from a vocal human rights lobby in Washington.
When Assistant Secretary of State for human rights Michael Posner paid a quiet working visit to Jakarta last month, he sought to persuade the Indonesians to commit to an undertaking that they would prosecute future cases of abuse in exchange for removing the ban.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell may have conveyed much the same message during a delayed trip to Jakarta on Wednesday (March 17).
In what has been the only fleeting intimation of the Obama administration's approach, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman has said the US is discussing a re-engagement with Kopassus "that is in accordance with our laws, our values and advances our interests".
The Indonesians have not been making it easy. During an informal brainstorming session, the defence ministry's director for international cooperation, Major-General Syaiful Anwar, criticised the US for continuing to vet the human rights records of officers selected for training.
"This condition has a harmful impact on the image and reputation of the Indonesian military institution and personnel," he told an audience of Indonesian and US officials and private-sector participants on February 24. "We have explained many times that such restrictions are not acceptable and relevant any longer."
Maj-Gen Anwar insisted that the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) has transformed itself over the past decade in terms of professionalism, discipline and attention to human rights. "TNI has to develop together and can't leave certain units and individuals behind," he said in a clear reference to Kopassus.
Although the new special forces chief, Major-General Lodewijk Paulus, was granted a rare US visa early this month to make a case for lifting the ban, a military spokesman indicated Indonesia would not compromise – at least on the issue of past abuses.
"We have our own legal system," he declared. "It is not possible for us to apply other countries' laws against our own countrymen."
None of this could have been well received by Ambassador Hume and other officials trying to get the State Department to differentiate between Kopassus as a unit and individual officers and men who are accused of past violations.
Under the 1997 Leahy Amendment, Kopassus is banned in its entirety from the International Military Education and Training programme until adequate legal steps are taken to prosecute implicated officers.
While it will take a waiver from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to change that, some US diplomats believe she is unlikely to do so unless she wins concessions from the Indonesians that Leahy may be comfortable with.
Former defence minister Juwono Sudarsono claimed early this month that Leahy, chairman of the powerful Senate appropriations sub-committee, had "accepted" Jakarta's progress on the human rights front.
The senator himself, however, begged to differ, telling The Washington Post a day later that "it would be a mistake to walk away from an important principle that has been a consistent element of our policy through several US administrations".
Human Rights Watch has called on the US government to rethink any plan to lift the ban, saying it should be repealed only if Indonesia takes sufficient steps to raise accountability and initiate reforms to deter future abuses.
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (Etan) weighed in as well, saying the renewal of training would set back efforts to achieve accountability for "past and recent" violations. Etan coordinator John Miller said: "This is a bad idea whose time has not come."
The reference to 'recent' violations is interesting because rights campaigners groups would be hard put to find any verifiable abuse committed by Kopassus in the past five years or more.
Miller argued that it is "impossible" to credit Kopassus with reforming itself when it retains what amounts to a handful of active duty soldiers convicted of human rights violations dating back nearly a decade.
He says the initial training offer is likely to involve the elite Detachment 81 because of its focus on counter-terrorism, noting that it was co-founded by then Captain Prabowo Subianto, who as a general would later take responsibility for the kidnapping of pro-democracy activists.
While Miller pointed out that it is the police who have had the major role in successes against Islamic militants, he ignored the fact that Kopassus remains the designated unit to tackle any hijack crisis or other major terrorist action. And to protect President Obama.