Indonesian Forces Tapped by Obama for Renewed US Aid Implicated in New Assassinations

[Jefferson23]

In a Democracy Now! exclusive, investigative journalist and activist Allan Nairn reveals US-backed Indonesian armed forces carried out a series of assassinations of civilian activists in late 2009. The news comes as the White House moves towards increasing aid to the Indonesian military and lifting a twelve-year ban on the training of the notorious Indonesian military unit known as Kopassus. A US-trained Kopassus general who coordinated the assassinations confirmed to Nairn an Indonesian army role in the killings.
JUAN GONZALEZ: We end today’s show looking at US-Indonesian relations. The White House is moving towards increasing aid to the Indonesian armed forces and lifting a twelve-year ban on the training of the notorious Indonesian military unit known as Kopassus. The special forces unit has been linked to scores of human rights abuses in East Timor, Aceh, Papua and Java since its formation in the 1950s.


On Monday, Jeffrey Bader of the National Security Council acknowledged Kopassus had committed human rights violations in the past, but he said the Obama administration, quote, “hopes to be able, at some point, to move past and resolve those concerns.”


AMY GOODMAN: President Obama was scheduled to travel to Indonesia next week but the White House has announced the trip will be postponed ’til June because of the healthcare negotiations on Capitol Hill. The trip to Indonesia would have marked Barack Obama’s first time returning to Indonesia since he was elected president. He lived in Indonesia for several years as a child.


Well, yesterday I reached investigative journalist and activist Allan Nairn about his new investigation into assassinations by US-trained Indonesian army and Kopassus officers. I reached him in Southeast Asia.


ALLAN NAIRN: President Obama wants to restore military aid to the Indonesian armed forces, including Kopassus, the Red Berets. I’ve just come out with a piece that shows that the Indonesian army and Kopassus have been involved in a series of recent assassinations of civilian political activists. The piece names the names of the officers involved, including a Kopassus general named Sunarko. These assassinations were carried out in the region of Aceh in late 2009.

remainder here: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/19/exclusiveindonesian_forces_tapped_by_obama_for