NY Times: Indonesia's Secret War

[La_Serpiente]

Indonesia's Secret War

The guerrilla war in the Indonesian province of Aceh has raged on and off for more than 25 years, but it has now gone underground. In May, the government broke off peace talks, declared martial law and sent in 40,000 troops. Since then, Aceh has been virtually sealed off. Foreign journalists, human rights groups and diplomats cannot enter. For months, the government even barred groups like Unicef and the World Food Program, which provide relief to besieged civilians. Indonesian journalists can travel in Aceh, but intimidation from the military and political pressures have kept them from reporting more than official pronouncements. Local human rights groups, harassed by soldiers, have gone into hiding.

Indonesian officials claim that they bar foreigners for their own security. Indeed, in the past, some have been kidnapped by the guerrillas, the Free Aceh Movement. But the dangers of Aceh come overwhelmingly from the army and the paramilitary police. Even when plenty of watchdogs were present, Aceh was a killing field, with a murder or kidnapping reported every day, and probably an equal number going unreported. Eighty to 90 percent of those crimes were committed by government forces. Lesser crimes were also rampant, as soldiers supplemented their low pay through looting and extortion.

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Indonesia's Secret War

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Indonesia is supposed to be one of the most progressive Muslim countries in the world. They even have a woman, Megawati Sukarnoputri, as their president.

The crackdown on jounalistic freedom in the province is very disturbing. I assume that the president is very encouraging of this war since the province is rich in oil.

If anyone knows what is going on down there in Aceh, feel free to share.

[seemslikeadream]

1. Bush Backtracks on Corporate Responsibility

(New York, August 7, 2002) The U.S. State Department has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against the Exxon Mobil Corporation for its alleged complicity in human rights violations in Indonesia, raising questions about the Bush administration's commitment to corporate responsibilty....

The civil suit, filed on June 11, 2001 in the District of Columbia, alleges that the Indonesian military provided "security services" for Exxon Mobil's joint venture in Indonesia's conflict-ridden Aceh province, and that the military committed "genocide, murder, torture. crimes against humanity, sexual violence and kidnapping" while providing security for the company from 1999 to 2001. The plaintiff's claim that Exxon Mobil was aware of widespread abuses committed by the military but had failed to take any action to prevent them.

The letter stated that the plaintiffs alleged that "Exxon Mobil Corporation and various of its subsidiaries and affiliates are legally responsible for human rights violations suffered by plaintiffs at the hands of an Indonesian Army unit engaged by Exxon to provide security for its Arun Project in Aceh,Indonesia."

Two weeks before the State Department sent its opinion to Judge Oberdorfer, Indonisia's Ambassador to the U.S., Soemadi DM Brotodiniingrat, sent a strongly worded letter objecting to the lawsuit to Richard L. Armitage, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State. Chillingly, the Ambassador noted that the lawsuit "will definitely comprise the serious efforts of the Indonesian government to guarantee the safety of foreign investments, including in particular those from the United States.

http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/08/exxon080702.htm