"Military Has Already Won" Indonesian Election, Says East Timor Action Network

For Immediate Release

Contact: John M. Miller, 718-596-7668, 917-690-4391

"Military Has Already Won" Indonesian Election, Says East Timor Action
Network/U.S.

Candidates Unlikely to Limit Military

September 18 - As Indonesians prepare to go to the polls on Monday, the
East Timor Action Network (ETAN) stated, "No matter which presidential
candidate prevails, the Indonesian military has already won."

"Military reform in Indonesia is dead, and neither candidate is likely to
resuscitate it," said John M. Miller, spokesperson for ETAN. "On both
candidates' watch, the military has re-asserted itself in the areas it most
cares about."

"We urge the Bush administration to abandon its misguided plans to expand
assistance to the Indonesian military," said Karen Orenstein, ETAN's
Washington Coordinator.

"We cannot support democracy by propping up the institution that has done
the most to undermine it," she added. "Any aid will be taken as an
endorsement of military business-as-usual."

"Peaceful elections are an important element of democracy; so too is
respect for fundamental rights by institutions within a country," said Miller.

Monday's runoff pits incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri against her
former security minister Lt. General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, known as
SBY. According to the latest polling, SBY has a large lead.

"Neither candidate has a record of support for prosecution of high-ranking
military and police personnel for crimes against humanity in East Timor. On
the contrary, under their administration, several of those accused of
serious crimes have been handed responsibilities for sensitive military
operations in Aceh, West Papua or elsewhere," said Orenstein.

The Bush administration reportedly plans to release military training funds
under the IMET program by the end of this month and to request funds for
weapons under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program for 2006.
Seventy organizations recently wrote the Secretary of State opposing these
plans, saying that Indonesia has yet to fully meet past and current
Congressional conditions restricting Indonesia's access to the programs.

ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for East Timor and
Indonesia. ETAN calls for an international tribunal to prosecute crimes
against humanity that took place in East Timor since 1975 and continued
restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia until there is
genuine reform of its armed forces. ETAN is nonpartisan and does not
endorse candidates or political parties. See http://www.etan.org for more information.

Background on the Candidates

Initially Abdurrahman Wahid's vice president, Megawati became president of
Indonesia after her predecessor was impeached for corruption in July 2001,
a move many observers believe grew at least partly out of his efforts to
rein in the military and his peace overtures toward Aceh and West Papua.

Widely viewed as a passive and ineffectual leader, Megawati has failed to
bring about much-needed and popularly supported military reform, including
civilian government control over the military, transparency of the
military's budget and the dismantling of its "shadow government"
territorial command structure throughout Indonesia. Her administration has
also failed to challenge the military's impunity with respect to severe and
widespread human rights violations in Aceh, West Papua, East Timor and
elsewhere. Although she has made overtures to East Timor, her
administration has refused to cooperate with the UN-mandated Serious Crimes
Unit in East Timor. Under her watch in December 2003, Indonesian forces
bombed a disputed island near East Timor's Oecussi enclave.

Retired Lieutenant General SBY became coordinating minister for politics
and security affairs in August 2000, a post he held until he resigned in
March 2004 from Megawati's cabinet to run for president.

On behalf of Megawati's government, Yudhoyono oversaw the deployment of
tens of thousands of troops in Aceh, despite the cease-fire then in place.
When martial law was declared in Aceh in May 2003, Indonesia launched its
largest military operation since the invasion of East Timor in 1975. More
than 2000 have been killed since then, most of them civilians.

Although widely viewed as a reformer, the Western-educated SBY spent nearly
his entire career in the military and oversaw Megawati's repressive
policies in Aceh and West Papua. He was armed forces (TNI) commander
General Wiranto's top deputy in 1999, when Indonesian troops leveled East
Timor after it voted overwhelmingly for independence.

SBY has always been a stalwart defender of the TNI against allegations of
human rights violations, whether in Aceh, West Papua or East Timor. In a
January 2004 speech, he reassured military hardliners by saying,
"Democracy, human rights, concern for the environment and other concepts
being promoted by Western countries are all good, but they cannot become
absolute goals because pursuing them as such will not be good for the country."

In 1999, Yudhoyono was responsible for all territorial commands as the
TNI's chief of territorial affairs and reported directly to Wiranto. In a
June 1999 meeting with a ranking Australian military official, he dismissed
allegations of TNI complicity in ongoing violence in East Timor. After
Indonesia agreed to withdraw from East Timor, SBY minimized the military's
crimes there, telling reporters "I am worried of opinion being formed in
the international community that what happened in East Timor is a great
human tragedy, ethnic cleansing or a large-scale crime, when in reality it
is not."

SBY took part in the invasion of East Timor in 1975, serving several tours
there in the 1980s, including one as a battalion commander.

Yudhoyono was chief of staff of the Jakarta regional command when security
forces and their proxies attacked the offices of the Indonesian Democratic
Party at a time when it was chaired by Megawati. She has since failed to
support or order a government investigation into the 1996 assault which
left at least five dead.

SBY was trained in the U.S. -- at Fort Benning, GA and the Command and
General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.





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John M. Miller Internet: fbp [at] igc.org

Media & Outreach Coordinator
East Timor Action Network: 12 Years for Self-Determination & Justice

48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668 Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to info [at] etan.org to find out
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