26 February 2005

U.S. Restores Full Military Training Program for Indonesia

Restrictions trace back to 1992 East Timor massacre

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has acted to restore Indonesia’s full International Military Education and Training program, after determining that authorities in that country now are cooperating with an FBI investigation into the August 2002 murders of two Americans and an Indonesian in Papua province.

Announcing Rice’s action in a statement issued February 26, spokesman Richard Boucher said the State Department expects that resumption of the training program “will strengthen its [Indonesia’s] ongoing democratic process and advance cooperation in other areas of mutual concern.”

Restrictions on the training program first were imposed after the massacre of civilian protestors in Dili, East Timor, in 1992, and were maintained after Indonesian security forces and militia carried out devastating attacks in East Timor in 1999.

More recently, restrictions imposed by Congress and the Bush administration were tied to findings that the Indonesian military had not sufficiently cooperated in investigating the murders in Papua.

The text of the State Department statement follows:

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Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC
February 26, 2005

Indonesia: Secretary Rice's Decision to Certify International Military Education and Training

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has determined that Indonesia has satisfied legislative conditions for restarting its full International Military Education and Training (IMET) program.

Current restrictions on the IMET program were in put in place by the Administration, and subsequently legislated by Congress, due to insufficient cooperation by the Indonesian military in investigating the August 2002 murders of two American citizens and one Indonesian citizen in Papua province.  Secretary Rice has determined that the Government and the Armed Forces of Indonesia (TNI) have cooperated with the FBI's investigation into these murders and continue to do so, and thus have fulfilled the requirements articulated in the legislation to allow for resumption of the full International Military Education and Training Program.

Indonesian cooperation has resulted in the indictment of Anthonius Wamang, an Indonesian citizen and member of a Papuan separatist group, on charges of murder, attempted murder, causing serious bodily injury and illegal firearms.  The U.S.-Indonesia joint investigation by the FBI and Indonesian National Police continues.

Indonesia has not participated in the full International Military Education and Training program since 1992, when restrictions were first imposed in response to the massacre of civilian protestors in Dili, East Timor.  Restrictions were maintained after Indonesian security forces and their militia devastated East Timor in the wake of the August 1999 UN-sponsored independence referendum, and since then were tied to cooperation in the investigation of the Timika murders.

The Department expects that Indonesia's resumption of full International Military Education and training will strengthen its ongoing democratic progress and advance cooperation in other areas of mutual concern.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)