[Nasional-e] Accusing TNI indiscriminately is a mistake, Paul Wolfowitz says

[Ambon]

The Jakarta Post
Sept. 8, 2002

Accusing TNI indiscriminately is a mistake, Paul Wolfowitz says

WASHINGTON (JP): The United States Under Secretary for Defense Paul
Wolfowitz said here on Wednesday that the U.S. government was very
"disappointed" with the apparent lack of will to prosecute human rights
abusers, particularly those from the Indonesian military (TNI), but added
that it would be a mistake to paint the whole institution with the same
brush.
Wolfowitz said that the U.S. eagerly wanted to see the Indonesian military
reform itself and to cease rewarding those who continued human rights
abuses.
"Yes, we are all quite disappointed, frankly, with what seems a lack of
vigor and energy in prosecuting some of the past abuses, most recently in
the case of the actions in East Timor. But I also think it is a mistake to
accuse the entire military indiscriminately," he said.
He added that he did not agree with a suggestion to cut off all U.S. contact
with the Indonesian military because that would not help the reform process.
"But I do think that we can have a useful, maybe a very important, at least
useful positive influence in that process, and that is very much, I think,
part of helping to strengthen democracy in Indonesia," he added.
Wolfowitz, who served as U.S. ambassador to Jakarta in the early 1990s,
noted that to create contacts with the Indonesian military was going to be a
challenge to make sure that it assisted the forces of reform and did not let
all human rights abusers in the past continue their abusive ways.
He said one of the major constitutional amendments made by Indonesian
legislators was the acceleration of the departure of military
representatives from the legislative assembly because it was a very healthy
step and something that the US would certainly encourage.
"I think, if you bring an Indonesian officer to this country to participate
in kinds of programs that we have officers from many nations participating
in, they will learn a lot more about the role of the military in a
democratic society than they will if they just stay within their narrow
circle," he said.
But for the moment, he said, Washington seemed to prefer to only cooperate
with the police, as evidenced by the U.S. government's pledge to provide the
Indonesian Police with some US$31 million for training and assistance
through 2004.
He said some US$16 million would be extended to the police in fiscal year
2002 for additional capacity-building, including establishing a special
counter-terrorism unit.
Meanwhile, if approved by Congress, in fiscal year 2003, the U.S. government
would like to provide some US$400,000 for the International Military
Education and Training (IMET) for the Indonesian military, he said.
Washington and Jakarta are figuring out ways for the assistance to be used
most effectively, he said. And, "We are also required by law to make sure
that if we're assisting units, that those units be (evaluated) for human
rights concerns. So it is not something where there is a plan ready to go
but there are resources and we are trying to develop a plan," he added.
Regarding the military cooperation with Indonesia, he emphasized that the
U.S. would be more interested in restoring the IMET where training is much
more focused on the institutions and structures of the military.
"In our system, that means institutions and structures of a democratic
military, so there is a great deal about civil-military relations. There is
a great deal about good leadership, ethical behavior," he explained.
Regarding how Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration
is handling the terrorist issue in Indonesia, he said that according to the
general feeling of his country, especially by the director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other agencies of the U.S. government,
Indonesia is working fairly hard on it and is doing a decent job.

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