Controversial British arms company, BAE Systems, is coming under renewed attack for attending this week's second Indonesia arms fair to be held in Jakarta from 22-25 November.
"We are concerned that a company being investigated for corruption is touting for business in a country which still has its own deep-seated problems with bribery and corruption, especially in relation to the funding of the armed forces," said Paul Barber, a spokesperson for TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.
"Furthermore, the company's lack of concern for the impact of its business on human rights is evident from its role as a major supplier of arms to Indonesia during the occupation of East Timor. BAE Systems has conspicuously failed to provide redress for its policy of supporting the aggressor in the conflict," he added.
Allegations of systematic corruption in deals with Saudi Arabia arranged by BAE Systems are currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office in London. Claims that a deal in the mid-1990s for the sale of light tanks and armoured vehicles to Indonesia by the British company Alvis – now owned by BAE Systems – was made possible by the payment of a massive bribe have not been addressed [see note 1].
Despite undergoing a process of reform, the Indonesian armed forces (known as TNI) continue to be implicated in human rights violations, benefit from impunity, and remain insufficiently accountable to the civilian authorities. The TNI has been notorious for its use of imported military equipment in conflicts in East Timor, Aceh and West Papua.
The Indonesian authorities continue to use UK-supplied equipment in West Papua. Last year two Tactica armoured personnel carriers fitted with water cannons were sent to West Papua to control protests against Jakarta.
East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (known by its Portuguese acronym, CAVR) recently recommended that business corporations which profited from the sale of weapons to Indonesia during the occupation of East Timor should contribute to a reparations programme irrespective of whether the equipment they supplied was used in specific violations. The British company that derived the most profit mainly through the sale of Hawk fighter aircraft – was BAE Systems (then known as British Aerospace) [2], but it has made no attempt to act on the CAVR recommendation.
The CAVR report is being launched in the UK at Westminster next week (Tuesday, 28 November) and TAPOL is calling upon the company to acknowledge its complicity in the suffering of the East Timorese people by undertaking to pay reparations to the victims.
Last week, in a Country Briefing on Indonesia, Jane's Defence Weekly concluded that effective implementation of military reform remains a problem and highlighted concerns about the business interests of the TNI, including illegal activities such as illegal logging, brothels, entertainment venues and gambling. It said that uncontrolled access to funds from military businesses has undermined civilian oversight of the armed forces and provides opportunity for corruption [3].
In a report last year, Human Rights Watch found that military businesses undermined civilian control, contributed to abuses of power by the armed forces and impeded reform [4].
For more information contact Paul Barber on 01420 80153 or 0774 730 1739
Notes for editors:
1. See http://tapol.gn.apc.org/bulletin/2005/Bull178.htm#bribe
2. Eight British Aerospace Hawk fighter jets were sold to Indonesia in 1978. More orders for a total of 40 aircraft followed in the 1990s. See http://tapol.gn.apc.org/bulletin/2005/Bull181.htm#truth
3. 'Reforming Forces', Jane's Defence Weekly, 15 November 2006.
4. 'Too High a Price: The Human Rights Cost of the Indonesian Military's Economic Activities' Human Rights Watch, June 2006.