A Papua analyst says the US should not re-engage with Kopassus, the Indonesian Army's special forces unit, while it remains unaccountable for past and present abuses in Papua and other

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Nurdin Hasan – The Indonesian Armed Forces on Tuesday strongly denied allegations by a foreign journalist that it was behind the killings of nine Aceh Par

According to senior Indonesian officials and police and details from government files, the US-backed Indonesian armed forces (TNI), now due for fresh American aid, assassinated a series

Investigative journalist and activist Allan Nairn reveals US-backed Indonesian armed forces carried out a series of assassinations of civilian activists in late 2009.

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is calling on the United States not to cooperate with or provide military assistance to the Indonesian gov

John McBeth – It is only when United States Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume orders a cone of silence over the issue that you get a full appreciation of what is at stake as the US g

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Despite claims from the Armed Forces that the United States would soon lift its ban on full military cooperation with Indonesia, a senior White House official

Tini Tran, Jakarta – The US should consider lifting a ban against working with a commando unit accused of human rights abuses a decade ago, saying Indonesia's military has undergone sig

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – If the United States does not lift its ban on cooperation with the Army's Special Forces, the Indonesian military says it will simply establish ties with othe

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Human Rights Watch has called on the US government to rethink any plans to lift a 12-year ban on training the Indonesian Army's Special Forces, stressing that

Resuming ties should require resolving concerns about Special Forces' abuses

Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street
NW Washington, DC 20220

Charles Fromm, Washington – The administration of President Barack Obama hopes to resume United States training of an elite Indonesian military unit whose members have been convicted of

The Indonesian Defense Ministry said Friday that Jakarta had sent a delegation to Washington to negotiate the lifting of ban on US training for Army Special Forces (Kopassus), but stopp

Howard LaFranchi, Washington – President Obama wants to signal a continued strengthening in US-Indonesia ties when he travels to the world's largest Muslim country later this month.

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Jakarta is seeking a "long-term political commitment" with Washington to resolve pending issues in the comprehensive partnership that leaders of both countrie

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) warned President Barack Obama against renewing any US training for Indonesia's notorious special forces.

John Pomfret, Washington – As Barack Obama prepares to travel to Indonesia, his administration is seeking to reverse a 12-year-old ban on training an elite unit of the Indonesian milita

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Officials have said the US plan to fully resume its military and counterterrorism cooperation with Indonesia showed that the world's biggest economy appreciated

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today urged the Obama administration not to offer military assistance to Indonesia.

Dr. Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
US Department of Defense
1300 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301

Re: US Military Assistance to Indonesia

Trained in the US in 1985 and Australia in 1993, he is accused of coordinating some of the most notorious events in East Timor, including the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre and the post-re

We the undersigned organizations call upon the U.S. government to strictly prohibit any U.S. cooperation with or assistance to the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus).

More than 50 US organizations today urged the US government to "strictly prohibit any US cooperation with or assistance to the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus)' in a

Tom Allard, Jakarta – A Melbourne man has been shot dead near the giant Freeport mine in Indonesia's Papua province in an apparent sniper attack.

In a letter to the Australian Prime Minister, Australian-West Papuan support groups have called on the Prime Minister to cease all ties between the Australian military and the Indonesia

TAPOL has today called on the British Government to suspend its plan to conduct training for Kopassus, Indonesia's special forces, in October this year in view of reports of abuses perp

Melbourne – Five Australians made an emotional return after a nine-month ordeal in which they were detained by Indonesian authorities for flying their light plane into a sensitive provi

Adam Gartrell – A new report calls on Australia to cut off ties with Indonesia's feared special forces group Kopassus over new evidence it is terrorising civilians in Papua.

Jakarta – Thirteen-year-old Isak Pesakot, a Papuan resident who was reportedly shot by an Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier near the Papua New Guinea (PNG) border in Papua on Monday, is

An NGO, the West Papua Advocacy Team, says it's sad that the US House of Representatives has scrapped provisions, highlighting the conditions of Indonesia's Papua, from a Foreign Relati

Leaders of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation [WPNCL] call on Indonesia for peaceful dialogue as the only viable conflict resolution to the West Papuan issue.

"President-elect Barack Obama's rumored selection of Admiral Dennis C.

By John M. Miller (National Coordinator, ETAN)

The election season is already in full swing.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Indonesian and Australian defense companies will jointly build military equipment for both countries in the near future under a partnership that may ease Indones

Jakarta – Indonesia and Australia have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in defense field based on mutual trust to create a regional stability.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today said the promotion of Brigadier General Pramono Edhie Wibowo to chief of Kopassus, Indonesia's notorious Special Forces unit, th

United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dr. Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Madam Secretary,

Patrick Walters, National security editor – Australia is set to strengthen defence ties with Indonesia, expanding combined exercises, training and educational links.

Canberra – Australia and Indonesia will strengthen their defence relationship on issues such as terrorism, regional security and piracy, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Thursday.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Indonesia in late February.

Timika, Papua – Four Australian military attaches arrived at the Mimika district town of Timika on Wednesday for a two-day working visit in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua.

Jakarta – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Indonesia Monday to discuss potential sales of military aircraft and deeper military ties, despite wariness on the part of both US

Kristin Roberts, Jakarta – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates landed in Jakarta on Monday, aiming to strengthen military ties with a country the Pentagon sees as a regional leader and se

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – US President George W.

Abandons human rights for Indonesia to train its worst military and police units

Increased US support for the Indonesia military is not the way to promote reform or human rights accountability.

Jakarta – A recent survey by the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) has revealed that some 60 percent of Indonesians are against the ratification of a Defense Cooperation Agreemen

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has ratified a security treaty with Australia that includes a formal acknowledgement of Indonesia's sovereignty over Australia.