http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9fa19d4a-5c8f-11da-af92-0000779e2340.html
Protests as US restores military ties with Jakarta By Shawn Donnan in Jakarta Published: November 24 2005 02:00 | Last updated: November 24 2005 02:00 Six years after Washington imposed an arms embargo on Indonesia as punishment for the slaughter its military led in East Timor, the US has restored full military ties in a move recognising Jakarta's place as a frontline participant in the US-led war against terrorism. Human rights groups decried the decision, announced late on Tuesday. "With the stroke of a pen," said the Washington-based East Timor Action Network, the Bush administration "betrayed the untold tens of thousands of victims of the Indonesian military's brutality in Indonesia and [East Timor] and undermined efforts at democratic reform". But while rights groups were outraged, analysts said the move recognised the reality that international pressure had done little to secure justice for the 1,500 people killed at the time of a 1999 vote for independence, and other victims of Indonesian military brutality in East Timor. Among those killed was Sander Thoenes, the FT's Jakarta correspondent at the time. "For Jakarta and the rest of the world, East Timor - or rather that episode - is kind of moving into past history," said a senior western diplomat yesterday. A United Nations panel of experts urged the Security Council earlier this year to move towards the establishment of a special tribunal on East Timor, if Jakarta did not deliver credible steps to punish senior military officers indicted by UN prosecutors and others responsible. What is likely to be a heart-wrenching final report of a UN-sanctioned East Timorese truth and reconciliation commission is also due to be made public on Monday. Analysts and diplomats said, however, that even international rights activists had begun to accept in recent months that the formation of an international tribunal was unlikely. The reason is the eagerness of the US and other western nations not to upset an increasingly strategically important country - Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim nation - or embarrass the one-year-old government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, widely seen as the best to have emerged in Jakarta since the 1998 fall of strongman Suharto. US military ties with Indonesia were scaled back after a 1992 massacre in East Timor and further curtailed after 1,500 were killed by pro-Jakarta militias and the security forces in the months surrounding the August 1999 vote for independence. Announcing the lifting of the embargo, the US State Department said it attached the "utmost importance" to its relationship with Jakarta and called Indonesia "a voice of moderation in the Islamic world". It also stressed a future focus on "counter-terrorism" aid to the military and insisted Jakarta had made significant progress in reforming its democratic institutions and practices. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. http://us.click.yahoo.com/cRr2eB/lbOLAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://www.ppi-india.org *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/