Bali – Soldiers from the Indonesian Military's controversial Special Forces and the Australian Army's Special Air Service held joint antiterror operations at Bali's Ngurah Rai Internati

Australia West Papua Association, Sydney
PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088

Vivi Widyawati, Jakarta – Around 800 demonstrators from the National Movement for the Cancellation of Basic Electricity Rate Hikes and the Reduction of Prices held a protest action at t

Jakarta – The Indonesian Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) will conduct a joint exercise with its Australian counterpart SAS next month, Kopassus Commander, Maj. Gen.

Dian Trisnanti, Jakarta – Under the theme "Unite against capitalism and the regime that supports it, build a united national labour movement that is progressive, militant, democratic an

Donny Syofyan, Padang – During his visit to Indonesia, US Secretary of Defense Robert M.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Indonesia – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro denied on Tuesday that the US government had negotiated with Indonesia over the removal of members of the Army

Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta - The families of people allegedly killed by the Army's Kopassus special forces plan to march on the US Embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday to demand answers for why the

Suciwati, Jakarta – In announcing this week that the United States would lift a 12-year-long ban on providing military assistance and training to Indonesia's special forces unit, Defens

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta - Thursday's announcement of revived defense ties between the US military and Indonesia's special forces could prove premature as critics denounced the

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – One of the deputy chairmen of House of Representatives Commission I on Defense and Foreign Affairs criticized United States Secretary of Defense Robert

Human rights bodies in the country said Friday the US should not lift its ban on ties with the Indonesian Army Special Forces (Kopassus) as it had not reformed, a claim refuted by the m

Human rights groups reacted angrily on Friday to the US military's resumption of ties with Indonesian special forces accused of ongoing human rights violations in the young democracy.

Jim Lobe, Washington – Thursday's announcement in Jakarta that Washington will resume training for the Indonesian military's controversial special forces unit Kopassus has been denounce

Washington – A key United States senator voiced regret Thursday at the resumption of ties with Indonesian special forces and said the unit must expel officers linked to abuses before th

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today condemned the Obama administration's decision to resume engagement with Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces.

Urges President Obama to meet the families of those killed by the Kopassus during upcoming visit

Elisabeth Bumiller, Jakarta – The Defense Department said on Thursday that it was lifting a ban of more than a decade on contact with the elite Indonesian special forces, Kopassus, and

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – The United States announced Thursday it will resume cooperation with Indonesia's special forces after ties were severed more than a decade ago over alleged hum

The Obama administration has just failed a key test.

The Industry Ministry said Tuesday that the government planned to expand the pulp and paper industry to eastern Indonesia, including Papua, because of its vast tracts of forest.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – To quell public confusion on the state of Indonesia's military relations with the US, the Defense Ministry confirmed that the world's largest weapons-maker h

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The Indonesian and US governments signed a defense agreement last Thursday that may help mend bilateral ties after a US military embargo but excluded specifi

Jakarta – The government does not feel that it needs to get concerned about military cooperation with the United States, including over assurances about continued restoration of joint t

Jakarta – Indonesia and the United States said on Thursday they had signed a defence framework arrangement to pave the way for further cooperation in military training, defence procurem

Jakarta – The United States on Friday clarified that a recent Indonesian media report of an impending restoration of a cooperation between the US armed forces and Indonesian Army Specia

Jakarta – Indonesia and Australia are strengthening maritime ties as a result of Exercise Cassoary 2010 (CA10).

Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515
May 13, 2010

A Papua analyst says the US should not re-engage with Kopassus, the Indonesian Army's special forces unit, while it remains unaccountable for past and present abuses in Papua and other

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Nurdin Hasan – The Indonesian Armed Forces on Tuesday strongly denied allegations by a foreign journalist that it was behind the killings of nine Aceh Par

According to senior Indonesian officials and police and details from government files, the US-backed Indonesian armed forces (TNI), now due for fresh American aid, assassinated a series

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is calling on the United States not to cooperate with or provide military assistance to the Indonesian gov

Investigative journalist and activist Allan Nairn reveals US-backed Indonesian armed forces carried out a series of assassinations of civilian activists in late 2009.

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 g

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Despite claims from the Armed Forces that the United States would soon lift its ban on full military cooperation with Indonesia, a senior White House official

Tini Tran, Jakarta – The US should consider lifting a ban against working with a commando unit accused of human rights abuses a decade ago, saying Indonesia's military has undergone sig

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – If the United States does not lift its ban on cooperation with the Army's Special Forces, the Indonesian military says it will simply establish ties with othe

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Human Rights Watch has called on the US government to rethink any plans to lift a 12-year ban on training the Indonesian Army's Special Forces, stressing that

Resuming ties should require resolving concerns about Special Forces' abuses

Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street
NW Washington, DC 20220

Charles Fromm, Washington – The administration of President Barack Obama hopes to resume United States training of an elite Indonesian military unit whose members have been convicted of

The Indonesian Defense Ministry said Friday that Jakarta had sent a delegation to Washington to negotiate the lifting of ban on US training for Army Special Forces (Kopassus), but stopp

Howard LaFranchi, Washington – President Obama wants to signal a continued strengthening in US-Indonesia ties when he travels to the world's largest Muslim country later this month.

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Jakarta is seeking a "long-term political commitment" with Washington to resolve pending issues in the comprehensive partnership that leaders of both countrie

John Pomfret, Washington – As Barack Obama prepares to travel to Indonesia, his administration is seeking to reverse a 12-year-old ban on training an elite unit of the Indonesian milita

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) warned President Barack Obama against renewing any US training for Indonesia's notorious special forces.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Officials have said the US plan to fully resume its military and counterterrorism cooperation with Indonesia showed that the world's biggest economy appreciated

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today urged the Obama administration not to offer military assistance to Indonesia.

Dr. Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
US Department of Defense
1300 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301

Re: US Military Assistance to Indonesia

Trained in the US in 1985 and Australia in 1993, he is accused of coordinating some of the most notorious events in East Timor, including the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre and the post-re