Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – Indonesia welcomed a US decision to lift a six-year arms embargo to help the mostly Muslim nation fight terrorism, but human rights groups said Wednesday it betrayed victims of military brutality.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a US-educated former general, said the move represented "a new chapter" in relations between the two countries, and would enable Indonesia to modernize its aging military inventory.
The Bush administration had long wanted to lift the arms embargo, imposed in 1999 after troops ravaged East Timor during the territory's break from Jakarta, but was stymied by US lawmakers demanding the military undertake meaningful reform. Citing national security concerns, the State Department used recently granted powers to waive the restrictions.
"Indonesia plays a unique strategic role in Southeast Asia... and is a voice of moderation in the Islamic world," spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement Tuesday explaining the decision.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and is seen by Washington as a key ally in the war on terror. Al-Qaida-linked militants have launched a series of deadly bombings on Western targets since 2002, including suicide attacks last month on three crowded restaurants on Bali island that killed 20 people.
But analysts say the decision to lift the embargo may also reflect Washington's desire to boost its influence in Southeast Asia to counterbalance China's growing economic and strategic clout.
"This is a profoundly disappointing and sad day for human rights protections everywhere," said John Miller from the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network. "With the stroke of a pen... President Bush betrayed the untold tens of thousands of victims of the Indonesian military's brutality."
Parts of the embargo had already been lifted – chiefly a small officer-training program – but until Tuesday lethal weapons could still not be sold to Indonesia.
McCormack said the administration planned to help modernize the Indonesian military and support US and Indonesian security objectives, including counterterrorism, but that Washington "remained committed to pressing for accountability for past human rights abuses."
Moves to restore ties received a boost after the December tsunami, which killed 130,000 people on Indonesia's Sumatra Island. The US and Indonesian militaries worked together to deliver aid to victims.
"We welcome this opportunity to work with the United States again," Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told The Associated Press on an official visit to India.
Yudhoyono, who was elected a year ago in the country's first ever direct elections for head of state, has visited Washington twice to lobby for a full lifting of the ban.
Critics say that the Indonesian police – not the military – should be responsible for fighting terror, and that the embargo was a valuable tool in leveraging Indonesia.
The military has long been accused of human rights violations in the course of putting down separatist insurgencies in far-flung regions of the sprawling archipelago.
While Jakarta did hold trials for some of those accused in the East Timor violence, 16 of the 18 government and military officials involved were acquitted. That sparked outrage among Western governments and rights groups who labeled the rights court a failure.
The US and Indonesian militaries had close ties during the three-decade rule of former dictator Suharto, whose regime collapsed in 1998 amid riots and an economic meltdown, ushering in democracy.
Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975 and the subsequent 24-year occupation is blamed for the deaths of 200,000 people – a third of the population. Anti-insurgent activities in the eastern province of Papua since 1969 are believed to have caused the deaths of more than 100,000 people.