[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 58 (Monday, May 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4609-S4611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN INDONESIA

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter 
that I have sent to the President, which expresses my concern about the 
ongoing human rights abuses in Indonesia, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                     Washington, DC, May 11, 1998.
     Hon. William J. Clinton,
     President of the United States,
     White House, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: I write to express my deep concern 
     about the ongoing human rights abuses in Indonesia. According 
     to the State Department's Country Reports on

[[Page S4610]]

     Human Rights Practices for 1997, the Indonesian Government 
     met calls for political reforms with arrests and crackdowns 
     on opposition parties. The Suharto regime maintains its power 
     through policies of corruption, intimidation and government 
     enforced repression of opposition groups. According to many 
     credible human rights NGO reports, government critics are 
     frequently arrested, tortured, raped, unlawfully killed or 
     disappeared. The people of Indonesia are systematically 
     denied democratic freedoms such as free and fair elections, 
     freedom of the press and freedom of assembly. The lack of an 
     independent judiciary and the lack of accountability for 
     members of the armed forces play a major role in the 
     continuation of serious human rights abuses.
       Countless thousands have been subjected to arbitrary 
     detention, with torture used to force detainees to produce 
     names of opposition supporters. Mr. Pius Lustrilanang, a 
     prominent opposition leader who was abducted earlier this 
     year and detained for two months, has said that his captors 
     beat him and administered electric shocks to his hands and 
     feet in an attempt to discover details of his political 
     activities. Lustrilanang spoke out about this experience at 
     great personal risk, endangering not only his own safety, but 
     that of his family as well. Student leaders of the People's 
     Democratic Party, which was banned last September, have been 
     arrested and sentenced to heavy terms of up to thirteen 
     years. Their crime was organizing worker rallies, calling for 
     a referendum on East Timor, and campaigning for a more open 
     political system.
       The United States has pursued a policy of engagement and 
     friendship with Indonesia. I feel that we could do more to 
     promote freedom and human rights. While I commend the 
     Pentagon's recent decision to cancel a joint training 
     exercise with the Indonesian military, I am deeply troubled 
     by reports earlier this year that the United States may have 
     been involved in the training of KOPASSUS Special Forces, 
     Indonesia's notoriously brutal military unit, responsible for 
     torture; night raids; and frequent disappearances. The United 
     States also has supplied the Indonesian government with much 
     of the military hardware which is used to foster a climate of 
     fear and intimidation. The military plays a key role in 
     preserving nondemocratic rule in Indonesia by deploying 
     forces at all levels of society to crush peaceful dissent. 
     Continued military support indicates U.S. approval of the 
     Suharto regime's ongoing repression. As a worldwide symbol of 
     freedom and democracy, our foreign policy should reflect our 
     philosophy of political pluralism and government by the 
     consent of the people.
       In our economic support for the Indonesian government, 
     through institutions such as the IMF, we should be using our 
     leverage to press for political reforms, democratization and 
     greater respect for human rights. Instead, we have virtually 
     ignored the IMF's statute where it is written. ``The 
     International Monetary Fund shall advance the cause of human 
     rights, including by seeking to channel assistance toward 
     countries other than those whose governments engage in gross 
     violations of human rights of citizens.''
       How can the United States justify bailing out a regime 
     which grows more repressive by the day? We have made economic 
     reforms a condition of our bailout and, at least so far, the 
     Indonesian government has complied. However, the solution to 
     the present economic crisis will require more than just 
     financial transparency and the elimination of corruption. 
     Lack of confidence in the political system is preventing new 
     investments from the private sector. Markets respond with 
     greater confidence to transparent, stable political 
     environments. If we are truly concerned about the welfare of 
     the Indonesian people, our continued funding should be 
     contingent upon greater political openness and improvements 
     in Indonesia's human rights record.
       It is time to clearly signal to the Suharto regime that we 
     support multi-party democracy, fair labor practices and a 
     respect for human rights.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Paul Wellstone,
                                                      U.S. Senate.

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, the context of my speech on the floor 
of the Senate today is as follows. I have been, as the Senator from 
Minnesota, moved by the courage of students in Indonesia who are 
challenging a very repressive government. They do this at great risk. 
But they have shown the courage to speak out. President Suharto has 
left for a conference in Egypt and has made it crystal clear that 
students and others in Indonesia who dare to speak out will suffer the 
consequences.
  The Suharto regime has been corrupt; it has been repressive. There 
are many reports by all of the reputable human rights organizations of 
people being arrested, tortured, raped, killed, or they have 
disappeared. It is in this environment that these young people in 
Indonesia now step forward with a tremendous amount of courage to speak 
for freedom and democracy in their country--Indonesia.
  It is for this reason that as a U.S. Senator I come to the floor of 
the Senate to support them. It is for this reason I have sent this 
letter to the President. It is my hope that our Government, and all of 
us here in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, will make it 
clear to Mr. Suharto that we will not turn our gaze away from this 
repressive government, and that we will support these students and 
other citizens in Indonesia who speak out for the very things that make 
our country such a wonderful country--freedom, the right to be able to 
dissent, democracy.
  Mr. Pius Lustrilanang, a prominent opposition leader, was abducted 
earlier this year and was detained for 2 months. He talks about the 
ways in which his captors beat him, administered electric shocks to his 
hands and feet, in an attempt to discover details of his political 
activity. His political activities were political activities we take 
for granted. He was writing, speaking, and doing things people should 
be able to do in their countries.
  Student leaders of the People's Democratic Party, which was banned 
last September, have been arrested and sentenced to terms of up to 13 
years. Students, young people--I say to pages who are here--your age, 
have been sentenced to 13 years in prison. What was their crime? They 
organized worker rallies, they called for a referendum on East Timor, 
and they were campaigning for a more open political system; in other 
words, for the right of people to be able to organize and to speak out. 
They now are faced with 13-year prison sentences.
  I am concerned about what is now happening in Indonesia. I think our 
Government should be stronger in our support of the students and for 
the men and women who are speaking up for democracy and human rights in 
Indonesia. I commend the Pentagon's recent decision to cancel a joint 
training exercise with the Indonesian military. But I am deeply 
troubled by reports that the United States may have been involved in 
training with the Indonesian special forces, which has really become or 
is known as a very brutal military unit responsible for the torture, 
the midnight raids, and the frequent disappearance of citizens.
  Mr. President, in addition in this letter that I have sent to 
President Clinton, I raise questions about the ways in which we bail 
out a regime which grows more repressive day by day. The infusion of 
capital by the IMF makes ``economic'' reform a condition for the 
bailout. I am not sure the IMF prescription has helped. I have said on 
the floor before that I am an internationalist. I think we ignore the 
world at our own peril. I think economic development support is 
critically important, as is humanitarian assistance. I sometimes think 
the IMF just pours fuel on the fire. In this particular case, the 
Government says it is raising fuel prices and taking other action like 
this in response to the IMF, which, of course, imposes additional pain 
and hardship on the poor, not on Suharto and his family.
  But, in any case, it seems to me that if we are truly concerned about 
the welfare of the Indonesian people, our continuing funding should be 
contingent upon greater political openness and improvement in 
Indonesia's human rights record.
  I don't know why the administration--President Clinton, the 
administration, our Government; really, the President speaks for our 
Government--I don't know why we are not more insistent on these 
governments who attack, torture, rape, and murder their citizens to 
abide by elementary standards of decency. In some kind of way, we 
should make some of our assistance contingent upon this. Surely we can 
at least speak up. Surely we can at least send a clear signal to the 
Suharto regime that we support democracy, that we support fair labor 
practices, that we support human rights, and that we will not stand by 
idly as this regime, the Suharto regime, continues to repress its 
citizens.
  I come to the floor of the Senate today to speak for the students. I 
come to the floor of the Senate today to call on the President to speak 
for the students, courageous students, courageous young people, who I 
believe are capturing the imagination of Indonesia. They are lighting a 
candle with their courage. And I think the President and I think the 
U.S. Congress and the United States of America ought to be on their 
side.

[[Page S4611]]

  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota is recognized.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I appreciate very much what the Senator 
from Minnesota had to say about the dissidents in Indonesia who, at 
their own peril and at the risk of their lives, are saying that they 
would like the right of self-determination and they would like freedom.

  I was in China the day Wang Dan was sentenced to 11 years, I believe, 
in prison in China for criticizing his Government. And I saw Tiananmen 
Square, I say to the Senator, and I thought about that young man in the 
white shirt.
  You remember the picture during the demonstration in Tiananmen Square 
when the tanks came to break up the demonstrators and this young man in 
a white shirt walked out and stood in front of this column of tanks in 
front of the first tank and forced the tank to change course. Then he 
moved over again in front of the tank.
  I watched that. I thought, What on Earth must be inside of this young 
man? What kind of courage must it take to say, ``I am going to stand in 
front of a tank and risk my life for freedom''?
  That is what the Senator from Minnesota is talking about with respect 
to the price that is paid by, in many cases, young people, and older 
people as well, who demonstrate to resist regimes that are oppressive 
and regimes that tend to try to squelch freedom of speech.
  So I think this country should always be vigilant about the need to 
stand up for those around the world who do that at their own peril. 
They are asking for only what we understand in this country makes a 
good society. That is freedom--freedom of speech, freedom of movement.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Will the Senator yield for a comment?
  Mr. DORGAN. Yes. Certainly.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Given what the Senator just said about Tiananmen 
Square, given the courage, again, of the students and others, that is 
why I wish the President would not go to Tiananmen Square. I think the 
President is making a terrible mistake. I didn't think the President 
should be there.
  I will just make that comment to my colleague.
  Mr. DORGAN. I would respond to the Senator by saying that I think, 
and have always thought, that our foreign policy must always have a 
human rights component to it. That is, it seems to me, what we owe to 
others around the world who struggle for freedom. And I appreciate the 
leadership of the Senator from Minnesota in this matter. He is once 
again today calling the Senate's attention to the importance of human 
rights.

                          ____________________