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US Envoy calls for probe of Indonesian candidate Subianto's record
Wall Street Journal - June 22, 2014
"We do not take a position on Indonesia's presidential candidates," Mr. Blake, the ambassador to Indonesia, said in an email to The Wall Street Journal. "We do, however, take seriously allegations of human rights abuses, and urge the Indonesian government to fully investigate the claims."
Mr. Blake has said the US can work with whomever is elected. The embassy noted that the US supports the investigation and resolution of all human-rights allegations.
The ambassador's call for an investigation comes as Indonesia's troubled history of human rights is taking on a higher profile in the presidential campaign.
Mr. Subianto, who faces Jakarta Gov. Joko Widodo in the election July 9, was discharged from the army in 1998 for insubordination and the kidnapping of nine student activists, according to a document summarizing the findings of an honorary council that investigated his actions.
The document, which was previously confidential, was recently leaked and released via the Internet.
The investigating council of then-generals, including current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, recommended Mr. Subianto's discharge after finding that he acted unilaterally to detain the students and violated other army regulations, according to the document.
Mr. Subianto's campaign declined to comment on the document or Mr. Blake's call for an investigation of the candidate. One campaign representative said in a television interview that the discharge scenario had been engineered by Mr. Subianto's political foes to blacken his name.
Mr. Subianto also has pointed out that some of the kidnap victims from 1998 have joined the Gerindra political party he founded and support his candidacy for president.
The US government has long been concerned by Mr. Subianto's alleged involvement in human-rights violations committed by Kopassus, the Special Forces unit that he headed. He received US military training twice in the 1980s but later was denied a visa to enter the US because of his rights record.
It is unusual for a US ambassador to discuss another nation's candidate for president during the closing weeks of a campaign. The embassy said the ambassador's statement wasn't meant to target Mr. Subianto but to highlight the need for accountability for human-rights abuses during the Suharto era.
"We remain committed to close relations with Indonesia and expect that relationship to continue," Mr. Blake said in his brief statement.
For Mr. Subianto, the son-in-law of former dictator Suharto, the human-rights accusations could threaten his campaign just as he has been surging in polls.
The heightened examination of his record as a general coincides with Sunday's debate focusing on defense and foreign affairs, which should play to Mr. Subianto's strengths. But the human-rights issue could leave him vulnerable.
The Widodo campaign, which also has the backing of former top generals from the Suharto era, has sought to focus attention on the rights issue.
During the first debate June 9, when the candidates were joined onstage by their running mates, Mr. Widodo's vice presidential candidate, Jusuf Kalla, asked Mr. Subianto how he would repair damage from past human-rights violations and how he would handle the issue in the future.
"I know where your question is going," Mr. Subianto replied, his voice rising. "I am a former soldier. I did the best I could as a soldier. My superiors will judge. You do not understand that we as soldiers placed in difficult positions have to take decisions which are so difficult. I know you are trying to say that I am the one who went against human rights, right? It is OK."
Last week, the Widodo campaign raised the issue more directly. Former Army Chief Wiranto, who was Mr. Subianto's superior and is supporting Mr. Widodo, said Mr. Subianto ordered the students' kidnapping on his own initiative and that the action violated army policy.
In response, Mr. Subianto's campaign filed a complaint with the national elections commission saying that Mr. Wiranto's accusation was unfounded.
Mr. Wiranto's statements are consistent with the findings of the military council that investigated Mr. Subianto in 1998 and recommended his discharge, according to a copy of the document viewed by the Journal.
The panel concluded that Mr. Subianto committed the crimes of insubordination and kidnapping and that he violated professional ethics by not following military rules, according to the document. It is signed by the seven generals who made up the council.
[Yogita Lal in Jakarta contributed to this article.]
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