Confessions of a Misguided Trio

The controversial plans for stronger military ties were first announced during Prime Minster’s Tony Blair’s visit to Indonesia in March 2006 [2]. In November, BAE Systems attended the second Indonesia arms fair in Jakarta [3]. Last week, Defence Minister Sudarsono held talks with BAE Systems during a visit to London for the inaugural meeting of the UK-Indonesia Partnership Forum set up during Mr Blair’s visit to Indonesia [4].

Despite embarking on a process of reform, the Indonesian armed forces (known as TNI) continue to be implicated in human rights violations and to resist accountability for past abuses. The TNI has been notorious for its use of imported military equipment in conflicts in Timor-Leste, Aceh and West Papua.

TAPOL is particularly concerned about the possible use of Hawk aircraft in the conflict area of West Papua where Indonesian rule is strongly contested, human rights violations are routine, and
military expansion is under way.
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Timor-Leste’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) recently recommended that business corporations which profited from the sale of weapons to Indonesia during the occupation of Timor-Leste should contribute to a reparations programme irrespective of whether the equipment they supplied was used in specific violations. The British company that derived the most profit - mainly through the sale of Hawk aircraft - was BAE Systems (then known as British Aerospace) [5], but it has made no attempt to act on the CAVR recommendation.