Senator Robert Hill
Minister for Defence
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

31 October 2005

Re: resumption of ties with the Indonesian military.

Dear Senator Hill,

I am writing to you with great concern about the resumption of ties between our special forces SAS, and the Indonesian special forces, Kopassus.

Without going into any great detail of its past history, Kopassus has been notorious for its role in human rights abuses in East Timor and West Papua.

In light of recent media reports about the activities of the Indonesian military, AWPA believes that it is untimely for our military to recommence cooperation with the Indonesian military.

A report in the Weekend Australian of the 29-30 October, stated that in the past 6 weeks, there have been nine violent incursions over the East Timorese border. The Australian also reported that UN mission chief in East Timor Sukehiro Hasegawa said there were grave concerns that tensions were escalating, giving rise to fears of increasing violence in the sensitive border regions. In the report the East Timorese Foreign Minister, Mr Ramos Horta "admitted Indonesian troops had been stoking border violence in the country's northwest".

On a recent SBS Dateline program, former President Wahid alluded to the possibility of TNI involvement in terrorist bombings in Indonesia.

As the Indonesian military receive only 30% of their budget from the government and must raise the other 70% themselves, it should be realised that such an institution is open to corruption. A recent report "Genocide in West Papua?" from the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, documents the military's involvement in illegal activities including illegal logging, rigged construction projects and theft of aid. While such entrenched practices continue, it is highly unlikely that the professionalism of the Australian military will have any influence on the TNI.

AWPA believes that the training of Kopassus troops in particular, is fraught with danger for the West Papuan People. By their very nature, Special Forces troops such as Kopassus will always be used in conflict areas such as West Papua. We urge you to reconsider any possible involvement in the training or aiding of the Indonesian military.

Joe Collins
Secretary
AWPA (Sydney)

CC.
The Hon. Alexander Downer MP
Kevin Rudd MP
Senator Andrew Bartlett
Senator Natasha Stott Despoja
Senator Bob Brown
Various human rights organisations

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088
Ph/fax 61.2.99601698 Email: bunyip@bigpond.net.au