[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2621 Reported in Senate (RS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 842
106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2621

 To continue the current prohibition of military cooperation with the 
     armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia until the President 
 determines and certifies to the Congress that certain conditions are 
                               being met.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 24, 2000

 Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. L. Chafee, Mr. Harkin, Mr. 
 Kohl, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Wellstone, 
and Mr. Kerry) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

           September 28 (legislative day, September 22), 2000

                Reported by Mr. Helms, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To continue the current prohibition of military cooperation with the 
     armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia until the President 
 determines and certifies to the Congress that certain conditions are 
                               being met.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``East Timor Repatriation and 
Security Act of 2000''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The Congress finds the following:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) More than 100,000 East Timorese refugees 
        remain in West Timor, where they fled or were forcibly driven 
        by militia and members of the armed forces of the Republic of 
        Indonesia following the United Nations sponsored popular 
        consultation of August 30, 1999, in which 78.5 percent of East 
        Timor's population voted for independence from 
        Indonesia.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Most of the East Timorese refugees in West 
        Timor would like to return to East Timor but have been 
        prevented from doing so by militia forces operating with the 
        cooperation of Indonesian army elements.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Hundreds of the refugees in West Timor have 
        died from preventable illnesses while many thousands continue 
        to live in a state of danger, uncertainty and severe threats, 
        including that of forced resettlement to other areas of 
        Indonesia.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) Elements of the Indonesian army have attempted 
        to infiltrate armed militia members into East Timor, and 
        reportedly have planned a militia invasion of East 
        Timor.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) Border attacks by militia groups remain a 
        threat to peace and stability in the region and to 
        international peacekeeping forces.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) Much of East Timor's infrastructure was 
        destroyed in the violence of 1999 and remains to be 
        rebuilt.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) An estimated 200,000 of East Timor's original 
        estimated population of 700,000 perished from the effects of 
        Indonesia's occupation of East Timor before the violence of 
        1999.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (8) Many East Timorese were killed in violence 
        perpetrated by Indonesian army elements and militia in 
        1999.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (9) The prospects for justice for the victims of 
        the violence in East Timor remain unclear.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (10) An estimated 80 percent of East Timor's 
        population remains unemployed and East Timor's Nobel Prize 
        winning Catholic Bishop, Carlos Ximenes Belo, has made a plea 
        on their behalf.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (11) United States funds have been provided to 
        help rebuild East Timor.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (12) Communications and logistical units of the 
        United States Armed Forces have formed part of the 
        international peacekeeping forces that entered East Timor in 
        1999.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (13) Following historic elections in October 1999, 
        Indonesia's first democratically elected President, Abdurrahman 
        Wahid, has pledged reform and accountability within the 
        Indonesian government and military.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (14) The Government of Indonesia, led by President 
        Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, has 
        made good faith commitments to end Indonesian military support 
        for militias and to establish a fair and transparent mechanism 
        to bring to justice the perpetrators of gross human rights 
        violations in East Timor and elsewhere, but efforts of the 
        elected leadership of Indonesia have been resisted, and in some 
        cases actively disobeyed, by elements in the military and in 
        the bureaucracy.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    It is the sense of the Congress that the United States 
Government should utilize all diplomatic and economic means to press 
for--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) the safe repatriation to East Timor of all 
        East Timorese in West Timor and elsewhere who wish to return to 
        East Timor;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) an end to border incidents and infiltration of 
        militias and an end to any other violent actions by militias 
        and the armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia against the 
        people or territory of East Timor;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) processes and prosecutions leading to justice 
        for the victims of the violence in East Timor;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) rapid reconstruction of East Timor, including 
        maximum consultation with and inclusion of local personnel; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) a significant increase in employment for East 
        Timorese in all internationally-sponsored reconstruction and 
        United Nations efforts relating to East Timor.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON MILITARY COOPERATION WITH AND 
              ASSISTANCE TO THE ARMED FORCES OF INDONESIA.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law (other than section 589 of the Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2000), United 
States military cooperation with, and military assistance for, the 
armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia suspended by the President 
pursuant to the directive of the President issued on September 9, 1999, 
may not be resumed until the President determines and certifies to the 
appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Indonesia 
and the Indonesian Armed Forces are--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) taking effective measures to bring to justice 
        members of the armed forces and militia groups against whom 
there is credible evidence of human rights violations;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) taking effective measures to bring to justice 
        members of the armed forces against who there is credible 
        evidence of aiding or abetting militia groups;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) allowing displaced persons and refugees to 
        return home to East Timor, including providing safe passage for 
        refugees returning from West Timor;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) not impeding the activities of the United 
        Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) demonstrating a commitment to preventing 
        incursions into East Timor by members of militia groups in West 
        Timor; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) demonstrating a commitment to accountability 
        by cooperating with investigations and prosecutions of members 
        of the Indonesian Armed Forces and militia groups responsible 
        for human rights violations in Indonesia and East 
        Timor.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Definitions.--In this section:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The 
        term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the 
        Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on International 
        Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Crimes against humanity.--The term ``crimes 
        against humanity'' includes crimes of genocide, torture, forced 
        disappearance, extrajudicial killing, and rape, if committed as 
        part of a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian 
        population.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 5. RECOGNITION OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES ASSISTING 
              THE INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING OPERATION IN EAST 
              TIMOR.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The Congress recognizes and salutes those members of the 
United States Armed Forces who have assisted the international 
peacekeeping operation in East Timor.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``East Timor Repatriation and Security 
Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Widespread violence and destruction were carried out in 
        East Timor both before the August 30, 1999 United Nations 
        referendum and thereafter.
            (2) In the latest of numerous attacks on aid workers in 
        West Timor, 3 workers of the United Nations High Commission for 
        Refugees, including an American citizen, Carlos Caceres, were 
        murdered on September 6, 2000 in Atambua, West Timor by a 
        militia mob while Indonesian armed forces and police stood by.
            (3) Indonesian armed forces have failed to ensure the 
        security of foreign aid workers and have allowed militias to 
        terrorize refugee camps in West Timor.
            (4) Indonesian armed forces have trained and organized the 
        militias.
            (5) An estimated 125,000 East Timorese remain in refugee 
        camps in West Timor.
            (6) After the September 6, 2000 attack, all UNHCR staff and 
        other international aid workers were evacuated from West Timor, 
        leaving remaining East Timorese refugees at the mercy of the 
        militias.
            (7) Militia groups have returned to West Timor with the 
        collusion of Indonesian armed forces.
            (8) Militia attacks have claimed the lives of two United 
        Nations peace keepers, from Nepal and New Zealand, during 
        border operations.
            (9) Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, a leading human rights lawyer from 
        Aceh, Indonesia, and a permanent resident of New York, was 
        found murdered on September 3, 2000.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that the United States Government 
should utilize all diplomatic and economic means to press for--
            (1) the safe repatriation to East Timor of all East 
        Timorese in West Timor and elsewhere who wish to return to East 
        Timor;
            (2) an end to border incidents and infiltration of militias 
        and an end to any other violent actions by militias and the 
        armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia against the people or 
        territory of East Timor;
            (3) processes and prosecutions leading to justice for the 
        victims of the violence in East Timor;
            (4) rapid reconstruction of East Timor, including maximum 
        consultation with and inclusion of local personnel; and
            (5) a significant increase in employment for East Timorese 
        in all internationally-sponsored reconstruction and United 
        Nations efforts relating to East Timor.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON MILITARY COOPERATION WITH AND ASSISTANCE TO THE 
              ARMED FORCES OF INDONESIA.

    (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law (other 
than section 589 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and 
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2000), United States military 
cooperation with, and military assistance for, the armed forces of the 
Republic of Indonesia suspended by the President pursuant to the 
directive of the President issued on September 9, 1999, may not be 
resumed until the President determines and certifies to the appropriate 
congressional committees that the Government of Indonesia and the 
Indonesian Armed Forces are--
            (1) taking effective measures to bring to justice members 
        of the armed forces and militia groups against whom there is 
        credible evidence of human rights violations;
            (2) taking effective measures to being to justice members 
        of the armed forces against who there is credible evidence of 
        aiding or abetting militia groups;
            (3) allowing displaced persons and refugees to return home 
        to East Timor, including providing safe passage for refugees 
        returning from West Timor;
            (4) not impeding the activities of the United Nations 
        Transitional Authority in East Timor;
            (5) demonstrating a commitment to preventing incursions 
        into East Timor by members of militia groups in West Timor; and
            (6) demonstrating a commitment to accountability by 
        cooperating with investigations and prosecutions of members of 
        the Indonesian Armed Forces and militia groups responsible for 
        human rights violations in Indonesia and East Timor.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        Senate and the Committee on International Relations and the 
        Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Crimes against humanity.--The term ``crimes against 
        humanity'' includes crimes of genocide, torture, forced 
        disappearance, extrajudicial killing, and rape, if committed as 
        part of a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian 
        population.

SEC. 5. RECOGNITION OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES ASSISTING THE 
              INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING OPERATION IN EAST TIMOR.

    The Congress recognizes and salutes those members of the United 
States Armed Forces who have assisted the international peacekeeping 
operation in East Timor.
                                                       Calendar No. 842

106th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2621

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To continue the current prohibition of military cooperation with the 
     armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia until the President 
 determines and certifies to the Congress that certain conditions are 
                               being met.

_______________________________________________________________________

           September 28 (legislative day, September 22), 2000

                       Reported with an amendment