Home > South-East Asia >> Indonesia

Bali terror: Indonesian military ties NOT the answer!

ASAP Statement - October 24, 2002

"Resuming military ties with Indonesia’s notorious Kopassus special forces is not the answer to terrorism", said Max Lane, chairperson of Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP).

Past US and Australian training have made no difference to Kopassus’s behaviour. SBS Dateline reported on October 23 that one of the 12 Kopassus soldiers involved in the murder of West Papuan leader Theys Eluay had completed an officer training course here in Australia.

Speaking from Jakarta, Lane observed: "Even former foreign minister Gareth Evans admitted in the International Herald Tribune on July 24 last year ‘...that many of our earlier training efforts helped only to produce more professional human rights abusers’

"Such a resumption of ties will only legitimise Indonesian state-sponsored terrorism. It will contribute to a worsening of political violence throughout the Indonesian archipelago."

Lane continued: "On the contrary, Australia must overhaul its relations with Indonesia. This should begin by ending all ties with the discredited military — our government must stop seeing the TNI as the solution to Indonesia’s problems.

"The chronic crisis and instability in Indonesia is the product of rampant free market policies imposed on such a poor country. Some 3 million people live on less than $2 a day. Its debt burden is beyond Indonesia’s capacity to pay.

"On top of that, the military fans local conflict for its extensive business rackets. This was seen during the recent Freeport killings in West Papua, with the credible possibility the TNI was trying to force the mine to resume its protection pay-offs.

"Our government must stop colluding with Indonesia’s corrupt elites and military. In fact, it should be assisting the very people and organisations that Kopassus deems its enemies — the movements for independence in Aceh and West Papua, and those campaigning for genuine democracy and economic justice for the majority of Indonesians. Australia must push to halt IMF-World Bank restructuring of the Indonesian economy.

"Only by these steps can we guarantee lasting stability and peace with justice in the Indonesian archipelago."