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RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS

E-Newsletter
Vol.2 No.25
June 19, 2000


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Religious Perspectives on Human Rights is now available online at: http://www.rghr.net

Religious Perspectives on Human Rights is a weekly e-newsletter issued by Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic and Christian Groups on Human Rights, initiated by the Asian Human Rights Commission.

1) Us Military Ties With And Assistance To The Indonesian Armed Forces ; The Views Expressed By The Major 
NGOs And Concerned Persons
2) Updates: BURMA, DAY OF PRAYER  6th August,  MALUKU
3) News in Brief: Death Penalty in the US,  ICC - International Criminal Court
4) Mission visit to EAST TIMOR by Peter S.H.Chen

1) Us Military Ties With And Assistance To The Indonesian Armed Forces ; The Views Expressed By The Major NGOs And Concerned Persons

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), respectively chair and ranking member of the Foreign Operations subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Senator Mitch McConnell
Senator Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20515
May 30, 2000

Dear Senators McConnell and Leahy

We are writing to you regarding the discussions in Congress on the resumption of U.S. military ties with and assistance to the Indonesian armed forces (TNI).

We, as Indonesian citizens and NGO leaders, wish to offer our views on the matter and help you make a more informed decision. If the US government wishes to cooperate with and supply aid to the TNI, that is its prerogative. But it should not claim that by so doing, it is helping democracy in Indonesia.

We are perplexed by the alacrity with which the Pentagon is resuming normal relations with the TNI since none of the conditions which the Congress stipulated last November in the Foreign Operations Appropriation law have been met. The West Timor refugee problem still exists, the military officers responsible for crimes against humanity (viz., forcible deportation, mass murder, and large-scale property destruction) in East Timor last September have not yet been brought to justice (and may well never be brought to justice given the serious flaws in the governments judicial process for the case), and the
military remains an institution largely unaccountable to the civilian leadership. Most importantly, the military has not disbanded the East Timorese militias who are continuing to stage attacks on United Nations troops along the border.

We are disturbed by this quick resumption of military assistance since the positive effect the US suspension has had is now in danger of being squandered. The military has been half-heartedly cooperating in resolving the outstanding problems of its previous crimes largely because it has been desperate to regain the US stamp of approval. Once it obtains that approval, it is likely to return to its old practices. The military runs a parallel government called the territorial structure. This is a well-entrenched nationwide structure from which the military polices Indonesian citizens. There are no laws governing the
militarys interventions into civilian life except emergency decrees of 1965-66, still in force, that give it carte blanche to do what it wills.

The Indonesian military is, according to its official doctrine of dual function, not just a military, but a political power inside the country. The Pentagon can not claim that its ties to the TNI are military-to-military ties since the TNI is not a conventional military devoted exclusively to defense against external aggression. The problem with the Indonesian military is a political one, not a technical one; it can not be remedied by any amount of training or dollars from an outside country. Removing the military from the political and economic life of the country requires the military to relinquish power. But so long as the military the shadow government of this country receives legitimation from the US, as it did for the thirty three long dark years of the Suharto dictatorship, it will feel more confident to refuse the publics demand for the reduction of its powers.

We expect that those outside of Indonesia who are sincerely concerned about democracy inside Indonesia would not wish to offer support to the military at this delicate time when the military is still resisting compliance to international demands for shutting down the East Timorese militias, allowing the refugees to return to East Timor, and bringing officers involved in crimes
against humanity to trial. Until the TNI renounces its dual function doctrine which justifies its interventions into domestic politics, US military aid to it is indefensible. By approving military relations and assistance to the TNI, the US government, whether it realizes it or not, would be making a political decision to strengthen the anti-democratic political power of the TNI within Indonesia.

Sincerely,
(PBHI) , (ELSAM), (TRK), (KONTRAS), (FORTILOS),(INFID)

2) Updates: BURMA, DAY OF PRAYER  6th August,  MALUKU

A) BURMA  Hundreds of Buddhist monks crossed into Thailand on Monday to hear a sermon by a Malaysian monk denied entry into Myanmar. The venerable Wan Ting conducted am merit-making  ceremony before 500 Myanmar monks in Mae Sot. In another development more details have been emerging about the massacre in Shan reported in our previous newsletter. Details can be made available for those interested.

B) Maluku  Indonesian military chief warns of anarchy as fresh violence erupts in Maluku islands.
C) DAY OF PRAYER  Invitation to declare 6th of August, the Hiroshima Day, a Day of Prayer. For those interested material by way of posters and lessons will soon be made available on email and by post.

3) News in Brief: Death Penalty in the US,  ICC - International Criminal Court( I ) New York  A major research into the death penalty in the United States has found that two out of three  death sentences were overturned on appeal, due to serious errors by incompetent defence lawyers or overzealous police and prosecutors who with-held evidence.

( II )APPEAL TO RATIFY International Court Bill - ICC 
The International Criminal Court aims to bring to justice people who have committed crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression, genocide and war crimes, as well as helping to  prevent conflicts. It will be set up with the ratification by 60 countries. The appeal is made for the Asian countries to ratify it which USA and a few other countries like Sri Lanka have opposed.

4) Mission visit to EAST TIMOR by Peter S.H.Chen

In March three members, including myself, from an East Timor Response Group (ETRG) in Singapore visited East Timor on a fact-finding mission.  The ETRG was convened in February by Rev Fr Colin Tan, S J who is the coordinator of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Singapore. The three-member team visited the JRS, which is registered as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in ET, the Canossians sisters, and the Salesian priests, brothers and sisters across ET.

The people of East Timor had been neglected for centuries under the Portuguese colonial rule, and oppressed under the Indonesian military occupation during the last 25 years.  Now they are free from foreign domination, but poor, very
poor and made much worst by the devastation wrought upon them by the pro-Indonesian militias who had burned their houses and properties.

The country lacks not only physical infrastructure such as telecommunications, roads, power, and buildings etc., but also the basic social, governmental, economic and security infrastructures.  Literacy is low.  The people also lack training and skills.  The majority lives a subsistence existence surviving from hand to mouth depending on subsistence agriculture for food. In the capital of Dili, the unemployment rate is 80 percent. 

As poor nutrition, lack of basic healthcare, and violence take their toll, the people of East Timor have a life expectancy of only 42 years for men and 45 years for women (compared with 77 for men and 80 for women in Singapore), and this, in the third millennium!

Our Catholic communities are measured by how we serve the least among us not only in our own communities but BEYOND THEIR BOUNDARIES  the hungry, the homeless, the sick, those in prison, the stranger.  For those who are not poor,
they must share in a systematic way and for the wealthy, they must give in proportion to their riches. We need to do more than pray for the East Timorese. We need to respond, and respond generously!