[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3918 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3918

  To prohibit the transfer of lethal military equipment, helicopters, 
replacement structural components and ammunition for that equipment and 
    helicopters, and other related assistance to the Government of 
    Indonesia unless the President certifies that the Government of 
Indonesia has been elected in free and fair elections, does not repress 
civilian political expression, and has made substantial improvement in 
human rights conditions in Indonesia, East Timor, and Irian Jaya (West 
                                Papua).


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 20, 1998

  Ms. McKinney (for herself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. 
Hall of Ohio, Mr. Evans, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Olver, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. Lee, 
Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, and Mr. Farr of California) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit the transfer of lethal military equipment, helicopters, 
replacement structural components and ammunition for that equipment and 
    helicopters, and other related assistance to the Government of 
    Indonesia unless the President certifies that the Government of 
Indonesia has been elected in free and fair elections, does not repress 
civilian political expression, and has made substantial improvement in 
human rights conditions in Indonesia, East Timor, and Irian Jaya (West 
                                Papua).

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Indonesia Human Rights Before 
Military Assistance Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The political and economic crisis in Indonesia has 
        deteriorated to a crisis of legitimacy of the Suharto regime.
            (2) The Suharto regime controls a vast military network 
        (ABRI) that it uses to maintain control over a population of 
        200,000,000 people now suffering from the loss of some 
        10,000,000 jobs, skyrocketing inflation, and food shortages 
        leading to severe hunger and political unrest.
            (3) The Indonesian military has dramatically increased the 
        number of troops in urban areas and has cracked down on the 
        civilian population through the use of lethal force against 
        student demonstrators, through mass arrests, through torture of 
        prisoners, and through frequent disappearances of pro-democracy 
        leaders especially in and around the capital city of Jakarta.
            (4) General Suharto seized command of the Government of 
        Indonesia 32 years ago in a bloody coup that claimed between 
        500,000 and 1,000,000 Indonesian lives.
            (5) The Indonesian military continues to maintain brutal 
        control over the people of Irian Jaya (West Papua).
            (6) The Indonesian military's suppression of popular 
        dissent in Aceh and economic oppression have resulted in the 
        mass exodus of thousands of individuals seeking refuge in 
        Malaysia, and those individuals forcibly returned to Aceh face 
        detention in a prison maintained by the Indonesian special 
        forces unit (KOPASSUS).
            (7) KOPASSUS and other Indonesian military units are widely 
        known for their exceedingly brutal methods of repression and 
        torture against the people of both Indonesia and East Timor.
            (8) Indonesian military violence now receiving 
        international attention in Jakarta has been the rule in East 
        Timor since 1975.
            (9) Indonesia invaded East Timor on December 7, 1975, and 
        has illegally occupied that nation for over 22 years.
            (10) The Indonesian occupation has claimed the lives of 
        over 200,000 East Timorese in massacres, by torture, and 
        through forced starvation.
            (11) The Government of Indonesia has amassed troops in 
        urban areas in East Timor and during this period of crisis and 
        human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial 
        executions, disappearances, and torture continue to mount.
    (b) Declaration of Policy.--The Congress declares that the United 
States will no longer accept, condone, finance, or supply the 
Indonesian military's violence against its own people, the people of 
East Timor, and the people of Irian Jaya (West Papua).

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO THE 
              GOVERNMENT OF INDONESIA.

    United States military assistance may not be provided to the 
Government of Indonesia for any fiscal year beginning after the date of 
the enactment of this Act unless the President certifies for that 
fiscal year that the Government of Indonesia--
            (1) has been elected in free and fair elections;
            (2) does not repress civilian political expression; and
            (3) has made substantial improvement in human rights 
        conditions in Indonesia and East Timor, as determined by 
        independent international or United Nations monitors and the 
        Secretary of State, including--
                    (A) the release of political prisoners;
                    (B) open access throughout Indonesia, East Timor, 
                and Irian Jaya (West Papua) to international monitoring 
                and relief organizations as well as the press; and
                    (C) the establishment of the rule of law in 
                Indonesia, including civilian control of the military 
                and the cessation of disappearances, torture, and 
                extra-judicial executions in Indonesia and East Timor.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSISTANCE DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``United States military assistance'' means 
lethal military equipment, helicopters, replacement structural 
components and ammunition for such equipment and helicopters, and any 
other assistance under the following provisions of law:
            (1) Chapter 2 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
        1961 (relating to military assistance), including the transfer 
        of excess defense articles under section 516 of that Act.
            (2) Chapter 5 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
        1961 (relating to international military education and 
        training).
            (3) The ``Foreign Military Financing Program'' under 
        section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act.
            (4) The transfer of defense articles, defense services, or 
        design and construction services under the Arms Export Control 
        Act, including defense articles and defense services licensed 
        or approved for export under section 38 of that Act.
            (5) The transfer of dual use goods and technologies the 
        export of which is controlled under the Export Administration 
        Act of 1979.
            (6) The transfer of crime control and detection instruments 
        and equipment the export of which is controlled under the 
        Export Administration Act of 1979.
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