DATE=4/19/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA'S MILITARY
NUMBER=5-46155
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: As Indonesia struggles to stay together
against separatist pressures, it must rely on its
army. But that army was the focus of sharp criticism
during a recent discussion at the Heritage Foundation
in Washington. Correspondent Ed Warner reports
participants said the Indonesian military should get
out of politics, a move the United States should
encourage.
TEXT: A strong military is essential for the security
of any country. But what if the military is the cause
of a country's insecurity? That is the point that
Dana Dillon of Washington's Heritage Foundation makes
about Indonesia.
A former U-S army major assigned to Southeast Asia,
Mr. Dillon told an audience at Heritage the military
is the main obstacle to creating a democratic federal
government for the vast archipelago of 13-thousand
islands:
// DILLON ACT //
Among the people I spoke with, the army and the
police are probably the most hated and
distrusted institutions in the country. Many
Indonesians feel that the military are more
interested in their business interests and their
institutional political rights than in national
security concerns. The regional organization of
the military parallels the national government
and in some cases supercedes it.
// END ACT //
On a recent trip to Indonesia, Mr. Dillon went to Aceh
on the northwestern tip of Indonesia, where the army
has repeatedly clashed with the people. He said the
military repression has never been worse; with daily
killings and numerous schools burned. Acehnese have
one basic request: get the army out of my village.
Mr. Dillon found the rebel forces no less prone to
violence. In his opinion, they do not speak for the
Acehnese - who he says seek not independence, but more
control of their province and its resources - and the
army remains dead set against local control, which
would reduce its own power.
For that reason, Mr. Dillon urges keeping the 1999 ban
on U-S military engagement with the Indonesian army.
He said it does not need to acquire more skills as a
fighting force:
// DILLON ACT //
Training did not seem to be problem, as far as I
was concerned. The problems with the Indonesia
military are systemic. They have developed a
system over the last 30-years where they are
virtually a uniformed mafia. Until there is a
significant policy shift inside the military,
there is no point in continuing to train them,
because you are just making them better
criminals.
// END ACT //
Heritage Foundation Director of Asia Studies Larry
Wortzel disagreed. He thought it would be a mistake
for the United States to give up all contact with the
Indonesian military. He believes it is not a matter
of making it more effective, but of impressing it with
democratic values:
// WORTZEL ACT//
I would at least keep open opportunities for
groups that work on things like military
justice. There are a number of programs that
the U-S military runs, that the U-S institute
for Peace runs, that the Australian military
runs, that work on fostering a sense of
subordination of the military to the rule of law
and the state in the interest of national
defense.
// END ACT //
But no less than Mr. Dillon, Larry Wortzel said
military reform is basic for Indonesian democracy.
(SIGNED)
NEB/EW/RAE
19-Apr-2000 13:17 PM EDT (19-Apr-2000 1717 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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