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Indonesia demands explanation after US refuses entry to military chief Gatot Nurmantyo
WA Today - October 22, 2017
General Gatot – who earlier this year suspended military ties with Australia over teaching materials perceived as derogatory at a Perth Army base – was travelling to Washington to attend a conference at the invitation of General Joseph Dunford, the US's highest ranking military officer.
However he received a notice from United States Customs and Border Protection informing him he could not enter US territory despite having a visa.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said the Indonesian Embassy in Washington DC had sent a diplomatic note to the US Foreign Ministry to obtain clarification on what had happened.
"Considering the US Ambassador is out of Jakarta at the moment, the Deputy Ambassador has been summoned to Kemlu (the Foreign Ministry) tomorrow to give an explanation," Mr Nasir said.
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Aaron Connelly said it appeared to be an "administrative SNAFU" given General Gatot had been invited to attend a conference on countering violent extremism by General Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.
"If there were a substantive issue preventing his entry into the United States, then he wouldn't have been invited," Mr Connelly said.
"But because Gatot has built his reputation on identifying phantom threats to Indonesian sovereignty and pride, a slight like this can only boost his standing among Indonesians in a nationalist mood."
General Gatot had previously raised concerns about the US Marines that rotate through Darwin, pointing out the close proximity to West Papua and Indonesia's giant Masela gas block.
"I, as TNI (Indonesian military) commander, have to wonder what it's all about," General Gatot said in a lecture. "Why not in the Philippines? They have a base there. No problems, but it's Darwin."
He also spoke of putting a stop to Australia trying to recruit Indonesian officers as spies or agents of influence.
"In public speeches he often espouses his pet theory that foreigners are engaged in a proxy war to undermine Indonesia," author and Indonesia commentator John McBeth wrote in Asia Times this month.
President Joko Widodo named General Nurmantyo, the former army chief, to the position of Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) chief on July 8, 2015.
Evan Laksmana, a senior researcher with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, tweeted that entry refusal was a very serious matter for bilateral relations.
He said he was sceptical it was related to typical alleged human rights abuses because the entry refusal was last minute and General Gatot had entered the US before.
Mr Laksmana tweeted that typical refusal of entry was related to military operations and career, as several TNI officers had experienced in the past.
"But not sure how this applies to Gatot. Like most he did have operations in Timor but I can't remember his name coming up in investigations over that period or lately."
Fairfax Media is seeking comment from the US Embassy in Jakarta.
General Gatot, who is believed to have political aspirations when he retires from the military in March next year, stirred controversy last month when he alleged a number of non-military institutions had ordered 5000 illegal firearms from overseas.
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