Indonesian military escalates repression

By Lisbeth Latham & Pip Hinman

On February 20 the "cease-fire" between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military (TNI) was extended for the third time since the so-called humanitarian pause in 2000. These declarations mean nothing, Syadiah Marhaban from the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) told Green Left Weekly. That very night the TNI swept through four villages terrorising and killing people.

Following every previous cease-fire extension, attacks on unarmed Acehnese take place almost immediately; more than 100 people have been killed since January. Since GAM declared unilateral independence from Indonesia in December 1976, some 30,000 people have been killed.

Under the current cease-fire, GAM and the Indonesian government have agreed to a four-point code of conduct. However, given the lack of an enforcement authority, the TNI continues to hunt down GAM members especially in the rural areas. Ed Aspinall, who lectures in Indonesian studies at University of New South Wales and has recently returned from Aceh, told an Amnesty International forum in Sydney that the TNI routinely strafes whole villages in revenge attacks if even one of its soldiers comes under fire.

On February 15, the TNI announced an additional 6000 troops would be sent to Aceh, bringing the total deployment of combat troops to more than 30,000.

Aspinall described the northern-most city of Banda Aceh as being like a "war zone" in which there is an unofficial curfew as night falls.

"People are just too scared to leave their homes after dark. Local commanders are calling on the central government to call an all-out civil emergency", he said.

Aspinall described President Abdurrahman Wahid as pursuing a dual policy of negotiations with GAM while the TNI is allowed a virtual free hand to wage war.

And while the political situation in Indonesia remains unstable, the military is playing up their role as harbingers of peace and security.

The TNI's attempts to hunt down GAM members and terrorise its rural support base reflect the Indonesian government's unwillingness to engage in genuine negotiations over Aceh's future. The military have significant commercial operations in the gold, oil, gas timber and marijuana-rich state of Aceh.

Autonomy versus independence

Syadiah Marhaban told Green Left Weekly that a poll conducted by SIRA just before the November 8 referendum rally last year -- during which 48 people were killed, hundreds were injured and thousands of public and private vehicles damaged by the security forces -- 92.6% said they favoured independence rather than autonomy.

Despite the overwhelming sentiment for independence, the Wahid government is only prepared to allow greater autonomy -- a position the Aceh People's Council has adopted. Wahid's government is pushing the Acehnese House of Representatives to prioritise deliberation of the autonomy law which ensures the central government maintains control over financial and security affairs.

While the new autonomy laws -- scheduled to take effect from May -- are supposed to decentralise decision-making and allow Aceh to retain a greater percentage of earnings from the exploitation of its natural resources, they say nothing about reducing the number of TNI troops in Aceh.

In an attempt to shift the balance of forces and provide some legitimacy to the autonomy demand, the Wahid government is seeking to include anti-independence groups in the negotiations. However this is unlikely to be successful given GAM's strong base of mass support, and the activities of pro-referendum groups like SIRA and the radical Student Solidarity with the People (SMUR).

On February 20 Indonesian defence minister Mahfud Mahmoddin declared he was tired of prolonged talks with the independence movements in Aceh and West Papua and threatened to become increasingly tough with "separatist groups".

SIRA has evidence that the TNI has started to train militia groups in the northern part of Aceh. "Jakarta is going to try to repeat what it did in East Timor", Marhaban warned. She said that the TNI is recruiting poor transmigrants from Java for six months of training. "This shows the Wahid government's desperation. It has been unable to contain or curtail the pro- referendum sentiment by military means, and is now resorting to inciting communal conflict to achieve its ends."

Attacks increase

Following the forced resignation of the despot Suharto in 1998 the democracy movement forced a number of concessions from President Habibie's government and the TNI including the abolition of wide-ranging anti- subversion laws.

However, many restrictive laws remain on the books, including those dealing with freedom of speech (including the law banning the propagation of Marxism).

Last November Muhammad Nazar, chairperson of SIRA, was detained and charged with treason. After growing pressure he was finally set to go to trial last week. He looks set to be the first activist to be so charged since the Suharto days. According to Marhaban, some 500 extra soldiers have been deployed for his trial in Banda Aceh.

The Western powers' opposition to Aceh's independence is primarily motivated by a desire to maintain a politically stable environment for corporate investment throughout the Indonesian archipelago. There is a general fear within the ruling circles of the imperialist powers, in particular in Washington and Canberra, that if Aceh was to win its independence, the West Papuan independence struggle would be given added momentum and other provinces dissatisfied with rule from Jakarta would become similarly inspired.

US support is important for the Wahid administration to maintain control in Aceh. It gives political cover to Jakarta and helps keep the independence forces relatively isolated and serves to strengthen a weakening military position within Indonesia.

TNI and Indonesian police forces are increasingly stretched. It is estimated that half of Indonesia's 200,000 soldiers and 300,000 police are now deployed in provinces waging struggles for independence such as Aceh and West Papua or where communal violence is breaking out, such as in Kalimantan and Malaku.

Marhaban is under no illusions about how the fight for the right to a referendum would eventually be won. "International pressure on Jakarta, particularly from countries such as the US and Australia, is vital", she said.

US military training, or the stepping up of such training by Australia, will provide further legitimacy to the Indonesian government's effort to smash the independence forces. For this reason, she argued, the Australian and US governments must be forced to end all military ties to Indonesia.

SIRA is demanding the TNI and police leave Aceh. After that there's a need to conduct a campaign to raise consciousness among Acehnese about what a referendum would mean. "We have to be ready to take the consequences", Marhaban said, alluding to the likely difficulties a democratic government might encounter from multinational companies, such as Exxon (Esso), currently profiting from the Acehnese people's misery.

From Green Left Weekly issue #440

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Indonesian students demand: military out of politics!

By Lisbeth Latham

Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is expected to elect a new president on October 20. Sections of the ruling Golkar party have raised the possibility of dropping their candidate, President B.J. Habibie, and supporting Megawati Sukarnoputri, who polled highest in Indonesia's general election in June.

Habibie has invited the head of the armed forces and defence minister General Wiranto to be his vice-president. Megawati, in an appeal for nationalist support, has called for a delay of the vote to ratify the result of the August 30 independence ballot in East Timor. Who the president will be remains uncertain.

On October 14, 1000 students clashed with the military on the streets of Jakarta. The protesters pointed out that Habibie is a continuation of the status quo. The troops involved in the clash were drawn from the 60,000 members of the Indonesian military (TNI) stationed in Jakarta to defend the MPR session.

Students are leading the battle to remove the major obstacle standing between the Indonesian people and their aspiration for a more democratic society  -  the TNI.

Military out of politics!
Since Suharto's resignation last year, the demand to end the military's dual role  -  in "defence" and politics  -  has gained widespread support. The TNI has unelected representatives in parliament at every level. The territorial structure of command in Indonesia places TNI personnel at every level of society, right down to the village, in order to block attempts to organise the mass sentiment against the regime.

The brutality of the TNI has been further exposed by its recent terror campaigns in East Timor and Aceh, which have deepened the Indonesian people's distrust of the TNI. In response, the regime has made a number of "reforms". There is now a formal division between the TNI and the Indonesian police (Polri), members of the military are no longer able to hold positions in the public service, and there is wide agreement among the elite about the need to phase out military seats in parliament (although this is not expected for another five years).

These reforms are superficial and the struggle remains to enforce and extend them. Last month, the TNI attempted to reassert itself through the introduction of a state security bill which would have given it greater powers to declare martial law, censor the press and detain people without trial. The bill was sneaked through the old military dominated parliament on September 23, in its last few hours of existence.

Three weeks of demonstrations by students, in which eight students were killed, and the impact of the TNI's defeat in East Timor, stopped Habibie from ratifying the bill, but it remains a threat. The bill could be ratified any time the military feels it can get away with it.

Students lead the way
Students were at the forefront of the movement which brought down Suharto. Whoever Indonesia's new president is, dwi fungsi remains. Students are intervening in the presidential battles with demonstrations to demand "Habibie out!" and an end to dwi fungsi.

Students from a range of different organisations have formed the National Student League for Democracy (LMND). The LMND has supported the development of workers', urban poor and farmers' groups, and participated in protests for workers' rights. In Jakarta, student groups that are now in LMND participated in May Day protests with members of the Workers Committee for Reform Action.

End military ties!
Political and financial support provided by the Australian government has helped the TNI maintain its powerful position in Indonesian society. This support has assisted the regime's violent repression of the movements for democracy in Indonesia and for self-determination in East Timor, West Papua and Aceh.

Even after the recent events in East Timor, the Australian government has cancelled only a few joint training exercises with the TNI. The defence treaty between Australia and Indonesia was cancelled by the Indonesian government. Australian businesses with investments in Indonesia, and their representatives in government, see the TNI as vital to protecting private profits.

The solidarity movement can play an important role in the struggle for democracy in Indonesia by maintaining the campaign to force the Australian government to end all military ties with the Indonesian regime. Resistance will continue to support this campaign.

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October 20, 1999

Originally published in Green Left Weekly #381

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Why socialists called for troops to Timor

By Lisbeth Latham

With the United Nations intervention in East Timor underway, the debate among left activists over what were the correct demands in response to the slaughter in East Timor continues.

There is general agreement on the need to force the Indonesian army (TNI) to withdraw from East Timor and disarm the militias, and that the Australian government must end military ties with the Indonesian regime, withdraw recognition of Indonesia's annexation of East Timor and recognise East Timor as an independent country.

The disagreement revolves around whether it was correct to call on the Australian government and the UN to send troops into East Timor to stop the bloodshed.

Resistance supported UN troops being sent into East Timor for three reasons:

• It was a way in which to force the immediate withdrawal of Indonesian troops and allow East Timor to be independent;
• It would stop the genocide of the East Timorese;
• It would undermine the Australian government's alliance with the Indonesian regime, weaken the Indonesian military and strengthen the struggle for democracy in Indonesia.

Was the call for "troops in" correct? This needs to be judged by the results of the demand being met. Only a few days after the intervention was announced, the TNI said it would withdraw 80% of its personnel from East Timor. This was a victory for the East Timorese people and marked a stalling of TNI's campaign. It is vital that pressure is maintained to ensure that a complete withdrawal occurs as rapidly as possible.

The International Socialist Organisation (ISO) at first argued that the demand for "troops in" could not be met as the Australian government and the UN had no wish to act against the Indonesian regime. When the mass actions around Australia did force Howard to send troops, the ISO argued that the dispatch of UN troops would result in:

• UN troops participating in the slaughter of the East Timorese and acting to create a dependent client state;
• Australians developing illusions in the capacity of the United Nations and Australian imperialism to conduct humanitarian interventions; and
• A decline in the East Timor solidarity movement.

Role of international troops
The deployment of Australian troops into East Timor was an attempt to quell mass discontent at the Australian government's failure to act to stop TNI's terror campaign against the East Timorese. In these circumstances, it would not have helped Canberra to achieve its goal if the UN troops allowed the slaughter to continue.

Trying to turn its defeat into a victory, the Howard government is claiming that it always intended to intervene. By arguing that the government actually wanted to send troops to East Timor (and that it must therefore serve the interests of imperialism rather than the East Timorese) the ISO has swallowed Howard's lies. This illustrates the ISO's lack of confidence in the capacity of mass mobilisations to change the policies of governments.

The ISO's assertion that Western countries such as Australia will try to exploit an independent East Timor following the intervention is true. But Australia does not need troops there to do this; it is already happening. Australian businesses benefit most from profits resulting from the Timor Gap Treaty.

To argue that the Australian government, or any other Western government, requires troops on the ground to make East Timor economically dependent ignores the reality that underdeveloped countries are economically tied to, and exploited by, the imperialist countries. This dominance will continue until there are successful anti-capitalist revolutions, not just in the Third World, but also in the imperialist countries.

Building illusions in the UN?
The argument that to call on the Australian government and/or the UN to send troops into East Timor "sows illusions" in these institutions is wrong. Through building a movement around specific demands which will solve the problems, we can expose the oppressive nature of capitalist institutions.

While the ISO supports demanding that the government junk its repressive industrial relations legislation and university fees, it opposes calling on the government to send troops to halt the slaughter in East Timor. What is the difference between demanding government action domestically and internationally?

In both cases, Resistance calls on the government to act in the interests of working people. While forcing a government to grant reforms can generate illusions in the capacity of capitalism to meet society's needs, the socialist movement's role is to point out that such reforms are only concessions, which the government will attempt to take back when the movement is not so strong.

Active involvement in mobilising large numbers of people to win, defend and extend such reforms can break people's illusions in the benevolence of the capitalist state. To refuse to place demands on the government would mean that we abstain from the battle to change people's consciousness.

UN intervention or union bans
The argument that calling on the UN/Australia to intervene in East Timor is counterposed to trade union activity is totally false. Unions engaged in industrial action and supported the mass protests calling for armed intervention. Union bans alone would have taken months to affect the Indonesian regime. The East Timorese people did not have months to spare.

The ISO demand for a general strike to stop the slaughter in East Timor was absurd and it had no support. An ISO rally with this demand only attracted a handful of people. If a general strike did take place  -  something Resistance would welcome  -  what would be its central demand? According to the ISO, it would be "more union bans". Focusing exclusively on trade union bans let the Australian government off the hook because it placed no demands on the Howard government to stop the slaughter.

The ISO have said that troops going into East Timor risked further bloodshed. This concedes to the pacifist argument that all violence is bad. It ignores the fact that the East Timorese were facing genocide.

The only practical way to end the slaughter immediately was to send an armed force strong enough to counter the TNI and militia violence.

Resistance supports the right of liberation movements to defend themselves from their oppressors. Socialists in the United States argued in the 1950s, '60s and '70s that African-American communities, in the face of organised racist violence by organisations like the Ku Klux Klan and the police, should be able to arm themselves. Socialists demanded that US government troops defend black communities and protect black students who were exercising their right to attend predominantly white schools.

When the government refused, socialists were able to expose the government's racism. In instances where the civil rights movement forced the government to deploy troops, as in Little Rock to enforce the ending of segregation in education, it was a defeat for the racists and a confidence boost for the oppressed group struggling for equal rights.

Decline in the mobilisations
The public mobilisations for East Timor have declined since the announcement that troops would be sent because the movement's main demand has been won. Most of the people participating in the protests did so because they wanted to stop the genocide. For ISO members to argue that it would have been better for the movement if troops did not go suggests that they believe it would have been better for the killing to continue.

Continued mass killing of East Timorese might have meant that the protests would have continued to grow in the short term, but this would not have lasted long. It is likely that TNI would have completed its slaughter of the pro-independence activists in East Timor within a few weeks.

This would have been a massive defeat for the East Timorese nation and would have profoundly demoralised the international solidarity movement. Surely socialists should advocate policies which prevent genocide and slaughter.

The fact that the solidarity movement won its main demand provides a basis for building larger mobilisations in the future. It has shown many people that mass action can force the Australian government to do what the Australian people want it to.

To maintain the momentum, we must now raise demands which further challenge the government's foreign policy and which build public support for the independence struggle in East Timor and the struggle for democracy in Indonesia.

Resistance demands:

• No increases in military spending! The "defence" budget should be redirected to reconstructing East Timor. Australian business, such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Woodside Petroleum, which have profited from the Indonesian occupation of East Timor and the repression in Indonesia should pay reparations.
• Put those responsible for crimes against humanity in East Timor on trial! Not only Suharto, Wiranto, Prabowo, but also their Australian accomplices  -  from Whitlam to Howard.
• End all military ties with the Indonesian regime!
• Let all refugees stay in Australia and grant asylum with immediate residency to any East Timorese seeking refugee status!
• Indonesian troops out of East Timor!
• Recognise East Timor as a sovereign country! The East Timorese people alone should decide for how long UN troops remain on their soil and what they can do there.

[Latham Latham is a member of the Resistance national executive.]

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East Timor: Will the ballot stop the bloodshed?

By Lisbeth Latham
Voter registration for the August 30 ballot on autonomy or independence for East Timor finished on August 6. Around 427,000 people registered. The large number of registrations is significant, reflecting the refusal of the East Timorese people to be intimidated by the Jakarta-backed pro-integration terror gangs and the Indonesian army (TNI).

It is clear, however, that the violence will continue up to the ballot and after. On August 5 and 6, the UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) was attacked by terror gangs. There are reports that the "militias" are stockpiling weapons and preparing terror attacks if the vote rejects autonomy.
On August 10, the East Timor Student Solidarity Council Information Centre in the district of Viqueque, about 200 kilometres east of Dili, was attacked. Two students were abducted. The following day the militias shot at the information centre, killing two students and injuring several others.

The police headquarters in Viqueque is located just 300 metres from where the attack occurred, yet no action was taken to protect the students or apprehend the gang members. This is not surprising, since it is the TNI and the police that have been repressing the East Timorese people for the last 25 years.

The Indonesian regime, especially General Wiranto, defence minister and head of the armed forces, has attempted to depict the violence as clashes between "rival factions". It claims that the task confronting TNI is to prevent the outbreak of another civil war such as occurred in 1975.

In reality, if civil war does break out, it will be the result of the Indonesian regime's arming and funding of the militias. In 1975, Indonesian military intelligence instigated civil unrest in order to provide the pretext to invade East Timor.

There are no warring "factions" in East Timor. In the response to the violence by the TNI and the terror gangs, the pro-independence Falintil (Armed Forces for the Liberation of East Timor) has implemented a cease-fire and begun to move its guerillas into four camps in the mountains for the duration of the ballot.

The leadership of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) has offered to accept pro-integration supporters into a government of national unity if the people vote for independence.
Falintil commander Taur Matan Ruak said on August 7 that the result of the ballot will be accepted by his fighters if the vote is "democratic and free".

A vote against autonomy will not result in immediate independence. Before independence is formally won, legislation must be passed by a meeting of Indonesia's parliament, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). The first MPR session is not due until late October. This will give TNI and the terror gangs two months to continue the violence in East Timor.

The violence has resulted in calls from human rights organisations for a larger UN police presence. The UN will have a limited impact as long as the Indonesian regime is responsible for security. Any genuine attempt to end violence in East Timor requires the immediate withdrawal of all Indonesian military personnel and the disarming of the militias.

We need to demand that the Australian government impose an arms embargo on Indonesia and sever all military ties. This would have a significant impact on the regime's capacity to continue to repress the people in East Timor, Aceh, West Papua and the rest of Indonesia.

The Australian trade union movement should impose bans on Indonesian companies, as the ACTU threatened to do in May.
August 18, 1999

Originally published in Green Left Weekly #372

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West Papua: resistance continues

By Lisbeth Latham

Since West Papua was transferred from Dutch to Indonesian control in 1963, the region has been subject to continuous human rights violations by the Indonesian regime and its armed forces.

In 1969, the Indonesian regime organised a phony "act of free choice" on West Papua's status. Only 1000 of the 1.8 million West Papuans were able to vote. Those who did were threatened and intimidated into voting for integration with Indonesia.

Since that time, any indication of support for an independent West Papua has been met with violence and repression. In 1977, villagers in the southern highlands, near the giant US-owned Freeport copper mine, were bombed because they were accused of collaborating with the Free West Papua Movement (OPM). OPM fighters cut the pipes taking the copper slurry down the coast.

In 1979, the Indonesian military killed 3000 members of the Dani tribe in the central highlands because they refused to swap their traditional clothing for trousers. In 1996, 22 West Papuans were massacred in the region near the Freeport mine.

In response to the political turmoil inside Indonesia, protests escalated in 1998. On July 2, 700 people in Biak raised the West Papuan flag and declared independence from Indonesia. The Indonesian government flew in troops on July 6 to remove the flag, killing five people and wounding 150 others in the operation. In the following week, the body count reached 70 as Indonesian troops hunted and killed independence supporters.

This crackdown sparked an angry response. Thousands of people raised the West Papuan flag in defiance of Indonesia. In February, Habibie was forced to hold a meeting with 100 West Papuan leaders, who demanded independence.

On May 14, Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer confirmed that there had been a new crackdown in West Papua. There are now 48 West Papuan political prisoners in Indonesia's jails. The police have banned discussion of the February meeting with Habibie. Many of the 100 West Papuans who attended this meeting have been harassed and intimidated by Indonesian authorities.

This article originally appeared in Green Left Weekly #361

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