6 June, 2007

Media Release:
Indonesian military abuses in Java: New Zealand should cut defence ties

Only weeks after New Zealand resumed its defence ties with Indonesia, Indonesian marines shot and killed 5 unarmed demonstrators, including a child, during a land protest in the Pasuran regency of East Java.

“ We were appalled that the Government quietly resumed defence ties with Indonesia after an eight year break, and failed to discuss this policy change with the public or with parliament, “ said Maire Leadbeater speaking for the Indonesia Human Rights Committee. “Now we learn of this grave abuse against villagers which indicates that ‘military reform’ in Indonesia is hollow.”

The killings took place when local people were trying to defend their land from being turned into a military training site for the navy. Witnesses say that marines fired directly on the protestors and that as well as the deaths, many people were seriously wounded.

An Indonesian officer commenced his training in the Staff and Command course at the NZ Defence College on May 14, 2007.

IHRC is deeply concerned that an entrenched culture of impunity prevails in the Indonesian military which has never been held accountable for the crimes against the East Timorese people or for innumerable other historic human rights crimes during the years of the Suharto regime.

“We should have regard to all the innocent victims of Indonesian military repression – nearly 200,000 people died during the time of the occupation of East Timor. Last week a retired General, now Governor of Jakarta fled Sydney rather than offer evidence to an inquest probing the 1975 death in East Timor of 5 journalists, including a New Zealander. It seems to us that the military remains a law unto itself.”

ENDS

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