NZ's ban on military ties with Indonesia supported
NZ Foreign Minister Phil Goff MP
Monday, 14 March 2005, 8:34 am
Press Release: Indonesia Human Rights CommitteeIndonesia Human Rights Committee supports New Zealand's continuing ban on
military ties with IndonesiaThe Indonesia Human Rights Committee has sent a letter of support to the
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs to back their commitment to
maintaining a ban on military ties with Indonesia.New Zealand and other western nations broke military ties with Indonesia
in the wake of the murderous military rampage that took place in East Timor
in 1999. The United States has just announced that military ties will be
resumed.While Foreign Minister, Phil Goff, has rightly said that the perpetrators
of mass killings in East Timor must be held to account, IHRC believes that
there are equally strong arguments for the maintaining the ban based on
the current behaviour of the Indonesian military.The Indonesian military is not democratically accountable or as
Indonesia's Minister of Defence Juwono Sudarsono said the military "retains the real
levers of power".In Aceh the military continues to terrorise the civilian population
without respite or mercy despite the terrible suffering the people have endured
since the Boxing Day tsunami. Many areas remain off-limits to
international aid workers, many of whom may soon be forced to leave Aceh. Innocent
civilians are killed daily.No one has been held to account for the 2002 murder of two US citizens on
a Freeport mining company road in Timika West Papua. Independent
investigations have revealed that the military was involved.In West Papua military repression is intense, particularly in the remote
highland areas, where the international media and aid workers have been
barred from entry. Thousands of refugees in the Puncak Jaya area remain
trapped behind a military cordon without proper food or medical support.
Many have died.The Indonesian military is deeply complicit in the devastation of one of
the last tracts of pristine native forests in the Asia Pacific region.
This illegal racket has been stealing 300,000 cubic metres of rare merbau wood
a month from West Papua. The Indonesian Government has freely admitted that
the military has been involved in this crime.
