| Subject: Open Letter from Aceh Forum to
Sec'y of State Rice
11 February 2005
OPEN LETTER FROM THE FORUM OF ACEH PEOPLE (Forum Rakyat) TO THE U.S.
SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZA RICE
Dear Secretary Rice:
We, The Forum of Aceh People, an Acehnese civil society group who work
for peace and democracy in Aceh, have read that you intend to re open the
IMET military training program for Indonesia and build again a structural
relationship with the Indonesian military. We urge you not to do this.
Reopening the IMET program would be a betrayal by the US government of
the people of Indonesia who are still struggling for democracy and of the
Acehnese who want to liberate themselves from military oppression and who
are still recovering from the Tsunami disaster.
Such a move would be in contrast to the voice of many pro democracy
activists and would be reminiscent of the old counterproductive US policy
of showing support for the TNI (Indonesian armed forces) even as it is
killing civilians.
The Indonesia military has long been the enemy of democracy in
Indonesia. Unfortunately they are still the same. The biggest source of
violence in Indonesia in recent decades has not been terrorist groups but
state-sponsored violence led by the government's own military, the TNI. An
essential feature of the military apparatus has been the territorial
command system, which creates structures shadowing the civilian government
down to the sub-district level, and even has non-commissioned officers
posted at the village level. Members of the armed forces played a role in
creating some of the radical Islamist groups. Human rights defenders were
targeted, including the recent assassination of Munir the most prominent
human rights figure in Indonesia.
For Acehnese, like for the East Timorese, the Indonesian military has
been involved in great human rights abuses toward the local people, but
unlike the East Timor killing, which is a thing of the past, this military
oppression is still happening at the moment in Aceh. Before the horrific
disaster rocked Aceh and killed over 250 thousand people, the military
role in Aceh had killed at least 15,000 Acehnese. Aceh is still under
military control under the civil emergency status imposed by the
Indonesian government on Aceh before the Tsunami. Thousands of members of
the military who had been in East Timor have been sent to Aceh and are now
applying the same tactics, kidnapping, killing and and staging forced
disappearances of many civilians in Aceh.
It would be wrong for Secretary Rice to assume that giving further US
support to the Indonesian military will help the situation. Restoring the
IMET would have a very dangerous effect: it would greatly strengthen the
political position of the military in Indonesia. It would give the
Indonesia military more confidence that the US government is supporting
them and is on their side despite their continuing and unpunished crimes
in Aceh and other places.
The lessons over the years show that not until the Indonesian military
is weakened politically can we find a peaceful political settlement for
the problem in Aceh and many other problems in Indonesia.
The Forum of Aceh People would like to express our strong objection to
this contemplated move by Secretary Rice. We urge the US government to
continue the embargo against the Indonesian military and to play a
positive role to support peace and democracy in Aceh and Indonesia.
Thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
MISDAWAN ERSA General Secretary the Forum of Aceh People Contact:
62-815-33749262 60-164867456 Email: mong_lie@yahoo.com
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