Indonesia to US get out!

Is everyone forgetting that it is not U.S. troops that have been given a departure date - it is all foreign troops.

Quote:

January 12, 2005
LONDON TIMES
Indonesian army accused of executing tsunami victims
By Richard Lloyd Parry in Banda Aceh

Refugees from the tsunami say that two members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and seven unarmed villagers were executed by Indonesian soldiers last week.

The reports came from the village of Lampuuk yesterday, in the Indonesian province of Aceh on the island of Sumatra. The region was devastated by the tsunami waves on Boxing Day.

"They were walking through the forest to collect some motorbikes from the ruins of their homes, when they met TNI [Indonesian National Army] soldiers," said one local, who refused to be named, for fear of reprisals from the TNI.

"The soldiers called them over, made them take off their clothes, and shot them on the spot."

This account and others like it contradict the TNI's claims - repeated yesterday by its spokesman, General Endriartono Sutarto - to be seeking a ceasefire with the rebels.

"For the time being, we are making this offer," he said in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital. "We have to work together to help Aceh."

Baktiar Abdullah, a GAM spokesman in exile, based in Sweden, had welcomed the army's apparent offer of a truce.

"[This] has come a bit late, but still, it is something that is positive and good," said Mr Abdullah.

"All attempts to create a peaceful environment are welcome. We hope they will keep their promise and honor the ceasefire."

Acehnese freedom fighters have struggled for decades to win independence, first from the occupying Dutch and, since the Second World War, from the Republic of Indonesia. The province is rich in oil and natural gas, but many people remain poor, and resent the economic dominance of Indonesians from the central island of Java.

After intermittent attempts to raise a rebellion, GAM coalesced as a serious military force in the 1990s, and remains at large in the mountainous jungles of the province despite brutal counteroffensives by the TNI.

Both sides have been accused by independent aid agencies of atrocities. The army is accused of terrorising villagers suspected of supplying the rebels, and murdering Indonesian human rights workers. Elements of GAM, in turn, are said to deal in marijuana, and to extort money and supplies.

The Indonesians launched a new offensive against GAM and declared martial law after the collapse of peace talks in Tokyo in 2003.

GAM negotiators at the talks were arrested as they returned to Aceh. A number of them drowned in their cells when the tsunami inundated Banda Aceh's prison on Boxing Day.

Before the December 26 tsunami, Indonesia had sealed off Aceh to outsiders while it conducted a major military offensive to crush separatists locked in a long-running independence struggle. The conflict was temporarily suspended while Aceh province reeled from the disaster, in which more than 106,000 Indonesians died.

But for the past week, military officers have repeatedly insinuated that GAM is infiltrating refugee camps and represents a threat to the thousands of foreigners who have descended on Aceh since the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami.

The army has offered no evidence for its claims. The Government is nonetheless forcing foreign aid missions and journalists to register with authorities and be accompanied by the military if they travel outside outside the cities of Banda Aceh in the north and Meulaboh along the west coast.

Yusuf Kalla, Indonesia's Vice-President, said that foreign troops bringing help should leave within three months, and has insisted on stationing Indonesian soldiers on foreign ships and aircrafts.
"We are trying to safeguard the safety of all of you. We don't want any of you to be hurt by irresponsible GAM members," Alwi Shihab, the Welfare Minister, told reporters in Banda Aceh.

Aid agencies have expressed concern over the restrictions. Pete Sweetnam, team leader for non-governmental group Mercy Corps in Meulaboh, said that the orders "may have an effect on our operation", adding that "complete humanitarian access is the ideal".
The United Nations co-ordinator for Aceh, Joel Boutroue, said that he did not believe there was a threat from the rebels, adding that although his organisation had no objection to the measures, it was clear security was not the only goal.

Indonesian officials also said Wednesday they may reject some of the millions of dollars of aid pledged for the country as commitments may prove too costly to administer or repay.

Not sure anyone can ascribe good motives to the Indonesian goverment.

.but we should take all these government leaders and toss them into the damn pit together....

from the Independent http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=600261

Clive Williams, an Australian National University defence expert, said the Indonesians wanted to keep close scrutiny of the foreigners to conceal military abuses and corruption, not because of rebel danger.

"The big problem with dealing with TNI [the Indonesian military] in Aceh is that they're involved in a lot of corruption there and the reason I think they don't want people to go to some areas is because they're involved in human rights abuses in those areas," Mr Williams said. "Having martial law then civil emergency has allowed them to get away with a lot."

(also from The Independent)
But Jakarta has made clear it wants outside involvement in the area to end as soon as possible. Local NGOs have accused the military of trying to cover up evidence of widespread human rights abuses.

There is mounting concern in the Indonesian military that the international community could link the relief effort to a resolution of the decades-long conflict with GAM, which is demanding a separate homeland on the northern tip of Sumatra island. Similar international pressure resulted in a vote for independence in East Timor.

so true...just turn it around

Yes, the aid is needed and we have to stay and help the people.

But, I must ask, if the US had a major catastrophe that wiped out a large section of the east coast, would we tell Russian ships they weren't welcome? Would we allow people from all over the world to come on shore without registration or any record of who they are just because they say they are here to help? Allow them to stay as long as they decided they needed to?

I think if we turned it around and looked at we might see where the Indonesian government is coming from.