[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16734-16735]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   THE HORRIBLE VIOLENCE IN INDONESIA

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on an urgent issue 
of great concern to me. Over the past eighteen months, terrible 
violence has occurred and is still taking place in Indonesia's Moluccan 
(Maluku) Islands, focused in the provincial capital of Ambon, and no 
end is in sight. In this Indonesian province, religious conflict 
between Christians and Muslims has led to the loss of up to 10,000 
lives and the displacement of up to 500,000 people. To my great dismay, 
the Indonesian government has had little success in protecting 
Christians. In the Moluccas in the last two years almost 10,000 
buildings and churches have been burnt and mass killings go largely 
unpunished.
  Since, the situation has intensified with the arrival of members of 
the Laskar (Jihad) Force. The Laskar Jihad is a group of over 2,000 
Muslim militants who sailed to the Moluccas from the main island of 
Java. Efforts by the United States to keep this group out was in vain. 
Indonesia adhered to her open inter-island immigration policy and the 
group was allowed to go to the Moluccas. Due to internal political 
unrest and continuing economic depression, the police forces and 
military are unable or unwilling to restore order. The necessity to 
bring the populace under the rule of law and order has intensified due 
to some reports that the Muslim Jihad Force has given the Christians in 
the city of Ambon until July 31st to vacate the city. If they do not 
leave in compliance with this ultimatum, they probably will be 
murdered.
  Mr. President, the Molucca islands, known previously as the Spice 
Islands, have had a long history of contact and trade with Europe. The 
Spice Islands were greatly valued for their nutmeg and clove 
production. Due to this prolonged and extensive contact, the Moluccas 
have a much higher percentage of Christians than other parts of 
Indonesia. Indonesian President Abdurrahaman Wahid supports a policy of 
tolerance between the two religions, but such cooperation is not 
forthcoming. A history of heavy-handed authoritarianism, practiced by 
the Indonesian military under ex-President Suharto, resulted in the 
suppression of a range of disputes between the two groups. When 
Suharto's rule collapsed, these arguments were vented, and sectarian 
violence soon erupted. The spark came in January of 1999, the end of 
the Muslim month of Ramadan, when a minor incident on Ambon led to 160 
deaths and villages burned to the ground. The violence escalated 
leading to a greater frequency of killings and the destruction of 
churches and mosques. To further complicate this horrendous situation, 
the military has not acted consistently neutral in this conflict, 
aiding Muslims militants against the Christians in several disturbing 
instances. The situation is desperate.
  Mr. President, I would like to thank our Secretary of State, Ms. 
Madeline Albright, for her continuing work with the Indonesian 
government to alleviate this horrible religious strife in Indonesia. It 
is important for the United States to vigilantly and immediately 
pressure the Indonesian government to continue to take steps to restore 
civil order, foster dialogue between the Christians and the Muslims, 
and help the communities find a way to peacefully coexist. The U.S. 
also needs to press Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri to find both 
short-term and long-term solutions to this problem--for she has 
expressly been given this task. In addition, the State Department must 
continue its push to let humanitarian workers and the United States 
Agency for International Development (USAID) into the Moluccas to 
alleviate some of the human suffering that is occurring as a result of 
the warfare. The Indonesian government has taken several positive steps 
towards ending the violence, including the appointment of a Hindu to 
head the police forces in the area. This nomination, as a gesture of 
non-partisanship, was a great stride in the right direction. However, 
we must work to ensure that all actions taken by the police and the 
military are fair, even-handed, and contribute to stopping the 
violence. Indonesia has also, to my pleasure, recently mounted a 
campaign to eject the Jihad Force from the Moluccas. This development 
should alleviate some of the violence, but the basic problems remain 
unsolved. The government of Indonesia must do more. In addition, the 
United States must continue to immediately press for a solution to this 
bloody situation in the hopes of establishing a peace and stability 
that would end the persecution of Christians in the Moluccans. Thank 
you.


                        EAST TIMOR AND INDONESIA

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the 
continuing crisis in Indonesia and East Timor.

[[Page 16735]]

  Earlier this week, a peacekeeper from New Zealand, Leonard William 
Manning, was killed while tracking a group of men whom senior officials 
in Timor have identified as militia members who had crossed into East 
Timor from Indonesia. Private Manning was serving the cause of peace, 
his death is tragic, and I want to take this opportunity to express my 
sympathy to his family.
  In the wake of this incident, the United Nations Security Council and 
the ASEAN Regional Forum have called on Indonesia to disband and disarm 
the militias operating in the refugee camps of West Timor, and to stop 
the militias' cross-border incursions into East Timor. But Mr. 
President, this call has echoed around the world for months now. It is 
a call that has gone unheeded.
  The activities of Indonesian militias threaten the stability of 
Indonesia, the safety of peacekeepers and humanitarian workers, and the 
basic human rights of Indonesians and East Timorese. It was the 
militia, Mr. President, that waged a brutal campaign of violence and 
destruction immediately after East Timor's vote for independence last 
year. It was the militia that enjoyed the direct support of the 
Indonesian military throughout that operation. And it is the militia 
that continues to operate in the refugee camps of West Timor, where the 
most vulnerable East Timorese are subjected to threats and 
intimidation. It is the militia that has forced UNHCR to suspend 
operations in West Timor after a series of violent assaults on its 
staff.
  I believe that many in the Indonesian government, including President 
Wahid, want to stop the militia violence and to end the intimidation in 
the refugee camps. But they are unable to make this happen, because too 
many people in powerful positions in Indonesia remain unwilling to make 
it happen. And that, Mr. President, is all that this country needs to 
know when the question of resuming military relations with Indonesia 
comes up.
  Ominous reports of a deeply disturbing relationship between the 
Indonesian military and the militias continue to pour out of the 
region. Peacekeepers on the ground in East Timor have noted that the 
group that attacked Private Manning appeared to have benefitted from 
serious and significant military training. At one point recently, UNHCR 
personnel witnessed militiamen beat a refugee from East Timor and rob 
several others while a 70-strong Indonesian military detachment 
witnessed the incident but did not intervene.
  And it's not just Timor, Mr. President. In the Moluccas, where 
sectarian violence has risen to such alarming levels that many have 
pondered international intervention, reliable reports indicate the 
Indonesian military has been complicit in the conflict, and has even 
provided support to certain factions. In Papua, or Irian Jaya, militia 
groups have already taken violent action against community leaders.
  The simple and unfortunate facts, Mr. President, are that a power 
struggle continues in Indonesia, between those committed to a 
responsible and professional military operating under civilian control, 
and those who would cling to the abusive patterns of the past. I have 
introduced a bill, the East Timor Repatriation and Security Act of 
2000, which would codify a suspension of military and security 
relations with and assistance to Indonesia until certain conditions are 
met. This legislation would permit military and security programs from 
J-CETS to military sales to resume only when the President determines 
and submits a report to the appropriate congressional committees that 
the Government of Indonesia and the Indonesian Armed Forces are doing 
the following--
  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;
  Taking effective measures to bring to justice members of the armed 
forces against whom there is credible evidence of aiding or abetting 
militia groups;
  Allowing displaced persons and refugees to return home to East Timor, 
including providing safe passage for refugees returning from West 
Timor;
  Not impeding the activities of the United Nations Transitional 
Authority in East Timor;
  Demonstrating a commitment to preventing incursions into East Timor 
by members of militia groups in West Timor; and
  Demonstrating a commitment to accountability by cooperating with 
investigations and prosecutions of members of the Indonesian Armed 
Forces and military groups responsible for human rights violations in 
Indonesia and East Timor.
  These certainly are not unreasonable conditions. They work in favor 
of the forces of reform within Indonesia. And by linking military and 
security assistance to these benchmarks, Congress will ensure that the 
U.S. relationship with Jakarta avoids the mistakes of the past, and 
that U.S. foreign policy comes closer to reflecting our core national 
values.
  But recent events make it crystal clear that these conditions have 
not yet been met. Mr. President, the U.S. must continue to insist on 
them. In the pursuit of justice, in the pursuit of stability, and in 
support of the forces of reform, this country cannot send a signal that 
where we are today is somehow good enough. Again, Mr. President, I add 
my voice to the chorus, because U.S., Indonesian, and Timorese 
interests all demand that the militias be stopped and that the military 
must be united in the pursuit of professionalism, accountability, and 
civilian control.

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