On 26 February 2005, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "determined that Indonesia has satisfied legislative conditions for restarting International Military and Educational Training (IMET)", a small but symbolically important part of the military relationship between the two countries. The decision is a major blow for Indonesia's fragile transition to democracy.
Human rights campaigners are angry that the US decision was made for strategic reasons associated with the war against terror and ignored compelling evidence that Indonesia has not fulfilled the key condition which required co-operation by the Indonesian military (TNI) with the FBI in investigating the August 2002 killings of two Americans and one Indonesian near the Freeport copper-and-gold mine at Timika, West Papua.
The decision represents a victory for the Indonesian government and those in the Bush administration, led by neoconservative cheerleader and former US Ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Wolfowitz, who have been pushing hard for re-engagement. The US has exploited the improved relations between the two countries following the contribution the American military and aid agencies made to the tsunami relief effort in Aceh.
TNI as abusive as ever
The tsunami relief operation has not, however, changed the nature of the TNI. It remains as powerful, abusive and unaccountable as ever. Secretary Rice's decision is remarkable for the fact that just two days after it was announced, her own department issued its annual country report on Indonesia, which concluded that: "Government agents continued to commit abuse, the most serious of which took place in areas of separatist conflict. Security force members murdered, tortured, raped, beat and arbitrarily detained civilians and members of separatist movements, especially in Aceh and to a lesser extent in Papua."
The problems of the TNI are systemic and unlikely to be addressed by the training of individual officers. The normalising of relations endorses the role of the TNI and encourages its continued resistance to accountability and reform.
Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy, who sponsored earlier conditions requiring Indonesia to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations in East Timor, said "...the Secretary's decision will be seen by the Indonesian military authorities who have tried to obstruct justice as a friendly pat on the back" [statement issued 28 February 2005].
Given the leading role played by Paul Wolfowitz, the scepticism expressed by fellow neoconservative Ellen Bork in an article entitled "Premature Engagement" was somewhat surprising. She pointed out that although President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was himself a graduate of IMET, US officials were reportedly dismayed to discover that 15 military officers allegedly involved in crimes against humanity in East Timor were former IMET students.
Bork argued that "...before any steps are taken, the administration should provide an accounting of past programs and their effectiveness in promoting reform, and outline a strategy that integrates military cooperation into a plan for advancing democracy and human rights in Indonesia" [The Weekly Standard, 19 February 2005].
Unanswered questions about Timika killings
The indictment by the US Department of Justice in June 2004 of an alleged commander of the Free Papua Movement (OPM/TPN), Anthonius Wamang, for the Timika killings left many unanswered questions about the long-suspected role of the military in the deadly attack.
Patsy Spier – a survivor of the attack which killed her husband Rick - has questioned why Wamang has still not been apprehended despite his whereabouts being known, why Indonesia has not issued an arrest warrant, and why there was no apparent contact between the Indonesian police and the FBI for seven months after the indictment. In February 2004, she was told by Deputy Secretary of State, Dick Armitage, that "cooperation" by the TNI was required until to the "exhaustion" of the Timika case [email communication to members of Congress, 29 January 2005].
It is clear that the case has reached nowhere near exhaustion. Initial investigations by the Indonesian police and the respected West Papuan human rights organisation, ELSHAM provided strong indications that Kopassus special forces officers or other army were units used in the attack.
The evidence suggested that whereas Papuan proxies such as Wamang may have participated in the attack, the operation was conceived and orchestrated by the military.
New evidence of TNI involvement
In a statement issued on 17 February 2005, John Rumbiak, international advocacy co-ordinator of ELSHAM, and US researchers urged Secretary Rice to consider new evidence of military involvement in the attack. They pointed to documentary evidence that the TNI paid for Wamang to visit Jakarta in January 2002 and suggested that the visit may have been to provide Wamang with weapons training. He has reportedly claimed that the attack was planned during this trip. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in August 2004, he admitted buying bullets from the TNI.
ELSHAM says it has evidence concerning two other presumed co-conspirators who helped procure the weapons for the attack. One of the co-conspirators purchased automatic rifles while staying at the Jakarta home of serving TNI officer, Colonel Sugiono, it says. The weapons were stored at the Cikini police station in Jakarta.
Rumbiak and others speculated that the TNI's motive for the attack was to seek higher security payments for protecting the Freeport mine. Such payments are a lucrative source of income for the TNI and the evidence suggests that Freeport made direct payments of up to $2,100 per month into the personal account of the regional military commander for West Papua. These payments were discontinued in the months leading up to the Timika killings. According to a communication from Freeport to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company paid the TNI $5.6 million in 2002.
Leahy reaction
Senator Leahy called Secretary Rice's decision "premature and unfortunate". The only reason why there has been progress in the case, he said, was due to pressure from Congress and Patsy Spier. "Now the Secretary, in one of her first acts, has thrown away the last bit of leverage we had." He suggested that Wamang is being left alone because of what he might reveal:
"Why hasn't the one person indicted by the United States, who has confessed to the crime, been indicted and arrested in Indonesia? One can only surmise that since he has implicated the Indonesian military, they don't want the FBI to interview him. This is not cooperation with the FBI, no matter what the Administration says." [statement, 28 February 2005]
Current military ties
Restrictions on IMET, which brings foreign military officers to the US for training, were first imposed in response to the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor. All military ties were suspended following TNI involvement in the violent destruction of East Timor in 1999. Conditions were imposed requiring accountability for human rights violations in East Timor and a commitment to civilian control of the armed forces. These conditions were later replaced by the one requiring cooperation on the Timika killings.
The US adminstration has allocated $600,000 for IMET for Indonesia in 2005.
The two countries already enjoy a considerable level of military engagement following the 11 September attacks. Current programmes and activities include expanded IMET (E-IMET) and the Counter-Terrorism Fellowship Program (CTFP). The CTFP for Indonesia is the largest such programme anywhere in the world.
Military exercises and other contacts through officer visits, educational exchanges and port visits also take place. The only remaining restriction will be on the sale of lethal equipment, but that may also be lifted soon.