A member of a notorious Indonesian military special forces unit linked to human rights violations in East Timor and West Papua has trained with the New Zealand Defence Force, it's been revealed.

Major Edwin Sumanta of the Kopassus special forces participated in a course at the Command and Staff College at Trentham between May and December last year, New Zealand Defence Force spokesman Major John Gordon told NZ Newswire.

New Zealand's Indonesian Human Rights Committee was shocked to discover a Kopassus officer had participated in the training course, spokeswoman Maire Leadbetter said.

Kopassus has a long history of involvement in human rights abuses, including massacres in East Timor in the decades it was occupied by Indonesia, and the ongoing violence in West Papua, she said. "It just came as a real blow us, the thought that we would be training the worst of the worst," Ms Leadbetter told NZ Newswire.

Kopassus has also been linked to the killing of five journalists, including New Zealand cameraman Gary Cunningham, who were working for Australian television networks, at Balibo in 1975, prior to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.

Ms Leadbetter said New Zealand should suspend defence ties with Indonesia, until such time as the Indonesian military has been held accountable for its past violations.

The annual 32-week Joint Command and Staff course prepares officers for senior level appointments and includes studies in command leadership and management, international relations and international law and ethics, Major Gordon said.

About 30 per cent of course participants are international students, he said.