Allan Thompson, Ottawa – Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy last year approved the sale of military equipment to Indonesia, which has been criticized for its human rights record and occupation of East Timor.

Export permits for the sale of $1.6 million worth of military goods to Indonesia were approved in late 1996 by Axworthy, according to documents obtained under the Access to Information Act by Ottawa-based Parliamentarians for East Timor.

"This is more than appalling, this is a complete abandonment of human rights in Canadian foreign policy," said Sharon Scharfe, director of the group's international secretariat.

News that Axworthy approved the sale of such military goods as armored vehicle and aircraft components and specialized military training equipment comes on the eve of his visit to Indonesia, scheduled for tomorrow. Axworthy has been in the region attending a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Indonesia.

Axworthy told the House of Commons in June, 1996, that he wanted to make it tougher for Canadian companies to sell military goods to countries that abuse human rights or are embroiled in conflict.

"I want to make Canada an even more responsible player in the global military goods market," Axworthy told the Commons on June 18, 1996. He said he had instructed his officials to "apply a stricter interpretation of human rights criteria" when considering requests for military export permits.

Canada's official policy on military exports is to "closely control" such exports to countries "involved in or under imminent threat of hostilities." The policy also calls for control of exports to countries "whose governments have a persistent record of serious violations of the human rights of their citizens, unless it can be demonstrated that there is no reasonable risk that the goods might be used against the civilian population."

Jennifer Ledwidge, a foreign affairs spokesperson, said no permits would have been issued "if it was judged that there was a likelihood the goods might be used to exacerbate the human rights situation."

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1975.

By some accounts, more than one-third of the people of East Timor have been killed in organized genocide since Indonesia seized the area by force and began settling Indonesians there. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have consistently ranked Indonesia as one of the world's worst human rights violators.