Reformasi and resistance: Human Rights Defenders and Counterterrorism in Indonesia May 2005

Human Rights First’s report traces the negative impacts that Indonesian and U.S. government policies have had on human rights and the activists who defend them. President Suharto’s fall from power in 1998 ushered in an unprecedented period of reformasi, or political reform. But reform has been met with resistance, particularly from the military. As both countries have grappled with the very real problem of terrorism, security concerns have undermined progress in military and human rights reform in Indonesia.

Major setbacks include the intensified conflict in Aceh; overly broad counterterrorism legislation; continued attacks on human rights defenders; and weakening of restrictions on US-Indonesian military relations.

Key Examples

The Poisoning of Munir: At least 15 human rights defenders have been killed in the last five years. Their vulnerability was dramatically demonstrated in September 2004 when a leading activist named Munir was poisoned with a massive dose of arsenic while flying to Amsterdam to continue his studies. President Yudhoyono agreed to appoint a fact-finding team. Despite resistance, the team has helped identify suspects working for the state airline and is interviewing members of the intelligence service, which may be linked to Munir’s death.

Libel suit: Hendardi, another leading human rights defender, was sued for libel by the head of the state intelligence agency after the human rights lawyer accused the agency of harassing activists instead of looking for terrorists. The lawsuit demanded 1.1 million dollars and threatened to claim the activist’s house as security.

Counterterrorism Laws: Legislators promised to amend an Anti-Terrorism Law, which was passed in haste after the bombing of a Balinese nightclub in October 2002. But the amendments proposed would further undermine rights. The anti-terrorism law has allowed authorities to threaten such diverse groups as protesting farmers and civilian negotiators representing the Acehnese rebels in international talks.

Human rights after the Tsunami: International aid to the hard-hit province is likely to run into deeply-entrenched human rights problems in the province of Aceh. As a party to the ongoing conflict in Aceh, the military should not be directly involved in reconstruction efforts. In a sign of business as usual, a company partly owned by the military (and represented in Aceh by a retired general indicted for war crimes) entered the running for a massive reconstruction contract on the devastated province’s west coast. Threats and intimidation against local NGOs continue in Aceh despite the international presence.

The Timika Killings: After three teachers -- two Americans and one Indonesian -- were killed in a roadside ambush near the American-owned Freeport mine in Papua, the U.S. Justice Department indicted a lone Papuan gunman they identified as a member of a separatist group. There was no mention of the man’s acknowledged ties to the Indonesian army. But an earlier Indonesian police investigation had linked the killings to the military. Using the indictment as a sign of progress in the case, the U.S. Secretary of State decided to certify Indonesia’s eligibility for a controversial military training program, suspended for over a decade.