[One of Australia's top Indonesia-watchers says that Indonesia's military is promoting, not fighting, communal violence. Dr Harold Crouch has told the annual Indonesia Update Conference that it serves the interests of the Indonesian Army to keep violence going in areas such as Aceh and West Papua.]
Transcript:
Hamish Robertson: One of Australia's top Indonesia-watchers says that Indonesia'smilitary is promoting, not fighting, communal violence.
Dr Harold Crouch has told the annual Indonesia Update Conference that it serves the interests of the Indonesian Army to keep violence going in areas such as Aceh and West Papua.As Graeme Dobell reports this is at odds with the argument by the Australian Government this week that Indonesia's military – the TNI – is a crucial force for stability.
Graeme Dobell: Australia's defence minister, Robert Hill, is keen to resume the defence relationship with Indonesia building up military links in areas like intelligence, training and maritime surveillance. Senator Hill says Indonesia's military leadership wants to develop a more professional force and is a key to maintaining order.
Robert Hill: TNI will remain a fundamentally important institution in Indonesia – it's handling of difficult internal security problems across the acapellego will have a crucial bearing on stability. As a secular organisation it will remain key to the government's efforts to promote tolerance and harmony between Indonesia's many different faiths.
Graeme Dobell: But Dr Harold Crouch has spent the last two years in Jakarta as the head of international crisis group, and he describes and Indonesian military still making its own rules. The army gets only one-third of its budget from the Indonesian state. The other two-thirds of the budget is raised by the military itself – from businesses enterprises and from corruption.
Harold Crouch: The largest source of military finance is actually from illegal activities. Indeed most of the funds that are raised from what can only be called extortion. Let's say for example huge markups on military purchases, protection from foreign and Indonesian enterprises, but say the big petrol and chemical plants, big mines and that sort of thing. Wherever there is illegal mining, illegal logging, illegal fishing, cattle rustling, whatever, smuggling, you'll find military elements.
Graeme Dobell: Dr Crouch says a tacit agreement with the government means there are no real prosecutions of military officers for human rights crimes. Indeed he says, officers keep regional conflicts on the boil to serve their own interests.
Harold Crouch: It's hard to prove, but there are sort of indications that this affects the senior officers. But senior officers actually have an interest in these conflicts continuing. Just take some of the big petro-chemical or mining American firms. If there's complete peace in Aceh and Papua, are they going to make contributions to the military – of course not. Now I'm not suggesting the military has an interest in starting a full-scale war again. At the same time, they don't want a full-scale peace. They like to keep the pot boiling basically and that is very profitable for the military.
Hamish Robertson: Dr Harold Crouch, That report by Graeme Dobell.