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Category: US Embassy

  • Indonesia’s defensive response to US human rights report bodes ill for future

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    The government has responded with a counter attack to a critical report on human rights practices in Indonesia that was released by the United States last week.

    This response is seen as a bad sign of the state of human rights in Indonesia.

    The US government released its annual report titled, 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Indonesia on the official US Embassy website for Indonesia.

    The report discusses a number of cases of human rights violations in Indonesia during 2021.

    A number of cases were highlighted including:

    Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the report with insinuations.

    Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah questioned the US record on human rights violations.

    “Are there no human rights cases in the US? Serious?” Faizasyah asked CNN Indonesia.

    Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD also commented on several cases covered by the report.

    One of these was the government’s monitoring of citizens through the covid-19 tracing app PeduliLIndungi (Care and Protect).

    Mahfud responded with claims about the government’s achievements in dealing with the covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia, saying that it had performed better than the US.

    “If by parts of the world, Indonesia is included as very good, far better than America in dealing with covid,” said Mahfud in a video recording on the Menko Polhukam YouTube channel.

    Unwilling to accept criticism
    Al-Azhar Indonesia University political commentator Ujang Komarudin views the counter attack by the government as being because it is unwilling to accept criticism from foreign parties.

    He said that the government believed that it was being dictated to by the US through the report.

    According to Komarudin, the government wanted to reaffirm its authority in the eyes of the public and because of this strong denials were conveyed to the US.

    “They made these denials in order to safeguard the government’s credibility which is currently being questioned by the public,” said Komarudin last Sunday.

    Komarudin also believes that the government does not consider that it is at fault in cases of alleged human rights violations. He believes that this kind of political communication is a bad sign for the state of democracy and human rights in Indonesia.

    “Because it’s as if there’s no problem, as if there’s nothing wrong. This is what is currently being done by our officials,” he said.

    Government denials
    Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Deputy Coordinator Rivanlee Anandar says that every year the government responded to reports on human rights violations released by the US with denials.

    With these denials, Anandar suspected that the government wanted to cover up the human rights violations which had occurred. He is concerned that this response is a reflection on the handling of human rights cases in the future.

    “This shows an insensitivity to the report, trying to cover up the problems in Indonesia by throwing the issue back at the US. We’re concerned that this will only worsen the situation,” Anandar told CNN Indonesia.

    Anandar said that the report should be used as material for a proper evaluation by the government. He believes that the government should reflect upon the report.

    Especially since this report will be a reference for countries which are concerned about human rights in reading future trends. According to Anandar, other countries will view Indonesia based on this report.

    Anandar gave as an example the cases of violations of civil freedoms which were marked by repression by the police. In the report, the US said that these violations were triggered by government policies which gave rise to massive protest actions.

    “That is the pattern which can be seen and in the future must be fixed by ensuring that there are no more discriminative policies”, he said.

    Not obliged to respond
    National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara said that the report represented the US’s way of looking at problems related to human rights in Indonesia. According to Hapsara, the government had its own resolution and rehabilitation mechanism which could still be used.

    “It requires an official response but not as an obligation. The government and all of us can of course use the US foreign affairs report for an evaluation but not as an obligation,” Hapsara told CNN Indonesia.

    Hapsara said that several of the cases cited in the US report had come to the Komnas HAM’s attention, such as the shooting of the FPI members and cases involving the Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE).

    “Several cases have been of concern to the Komnas HAM and Komnas HAM has been actively involved in them, both in terms of monitoring and investigations as well as other efforts,” he said.

    Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. Subtitles added during translation. The original title of the article was Laporan HAM AS dan Upaya Pemerintah Jaga Kredibilitas.

  • Papua advocates slam police violence, sexual harassment at US embassy protest

    By Rahel Narda Chaterine in Jakarta

    The Papua Advocacy Team says that Indonesian police committed acts of violence and sexual harassment while breaking up a protest and arrested 17 people in front of the US Embassy in Jakarta last week.

    The team said that that the protest on Thursday was forcibly broken up by police without legal grounds.

    “During the dispersal of the rally, there were protesters who were hit in the eye, trampled on, kicked, and a Papuan woman was sexually harassed,” the team declared in a media release.

    Based on the advocacy team’s release, the protesters from the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) and several other civil society organisations arrived at the US Embassy at around 11 am.

    The action was to demand the annulment of the 1962 New York Agreement which paved the way for Papua’s integration into Indonesia, the release of all Papuan political prisoners and the withdrawal of the military from Papua.

    As they began conveying their demands the police immediately ordered then to disperse on the grounds of covid-19 social distancing restrictions.

    According to the advocacy team, teargas was fired at the demonstration when police broke up the action.

    Protester thrown out
    “One of the protesters who couldn’t stand the teargas was thrown out of a vehicle by police and injured their foot. Other protesters meanwhile were packed into a [police detention] vehicle because they door was locked from the outside,” the group said.

    According to the advocacy team, these incidents were a violation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Law Number 39/1999 on Human Rights and Law Number 9/1998 on the Freedom to Express and Opinion in Public.

    The advocacy team also believes that the police actions were a violation of freedom of expression and opinion which is guaranteed under the 1945 Constitution.

    The Papua Advocacy Team is made up of Michael Himan, representing the group Papua This is Us; Citra Referandum from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH); Nixon Randy from the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat); and Abimanyu Septiadji from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

    The group strongly urged Indonesian police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to take action against the officers and to apologise.

    “To take firm action in terms of ethical, disciplinary and criminal [sanctions] for the violations and the physical, psychological and sexual violence by the Central Jakarta Metro Jaya district police against the protesters,” the group said.

    17 demonstrators arrested
    One of the protesters, former political prisoner Ambrosius Mulait, said that 17 demonstrators were forcibly taken away by police as soon as they arrived at the US Embassy.

    They were only released on Friday, October 1, after being questioned for 18 hours.

    “It was only [on Friday] at 7.45 am that they were released without any kind of status, none were declared suspects [charged],” said Citra Referandum, an advocate for the arrested activists.

    Kompas.com reports that the Papua Advocacy Team said two Papuan activists had also been arrested by police at the Jakarta LBH despite the fact that they did not take part in the US Embassy rally.

    Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Tim Advokasi Papua: Ada Massa Ditendang hingga Alami Pelecehan Seksual Saat Pembubaran Demo di Kedubes AS”.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Police break up rally by Papua activists at US embassy in Jakarta – 17 arrested

    By Ihsanuddin in Jakarta

    Indonesian police forcibly broke up a protest marking the 1962 Rome Agreement in front of the US Embassy in Central Jakarta this week and arrested 17 Papuan activists.

    One of the demonstrators, former political prisoner Ambrosius Mulait, said the 17 arrested protesters were forcibly taken away by police as soon as they arrived at the US Embassy.

    “We hadn’t even started the action and were forced to get into crowd control vehicles,” said Mulait about the protest on Thursday.

    Mulait also said that police were “repressive” when they were arresting the protesters by firing teargas until a physical clash broke out between demonstrators and police.

    “Some of our comrades were assaulted by the police,” he said.

    Central Jakarta district police chief Senior Commissioner Hengki Hariyadi confirmed that 17 Papuan activists were arrested.

    Hariyadi said that they did not allow the protest action because Jakarta was currently under a level 3 Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities (PPKM) in order to prevent the spread of the covid-19 pandemic.

    “During a Level 3 PPKM all activities which have the potential to create crowds are prohibited, in this case they did not have a permit to express an opinion in pubic, so it was without a recommendation from the security forces,” said Hariyadi.

    The protest by the Papuan activists made six demands:

    • [The right to hold] an action in the context of marking the 59th anniversary of the Rome Agreement [that led to Jakarta’s colonisation of Papua];
    • President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to withdraw all TNI (Indonesian military) and Polri (Indonesian police) from Papua because they were making the situation for the Papuan people “uncomfortable”;
    • Release political prisoner Victor Yeimo who is currently in ill health and is being detained at the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) command headquarters in Jayapura;
    • Reject the extension of Special Autonomy for Papua which had failed to bring prosperity to the Papuan people;
    • Give Papuans the right to self-determination (through a referendum);and
    • Reject racism and fully resolve human rights violations in Papua.

    IndoLeft News backgrounds the crisis:
    The 1962 Rome Agreement was signed by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States in Rome on September 30, 1962.

    The agreement provided for a postponement of a referendum on West Papua’s status which had been scheduled to be held in 1969 under the New York Agreement signed on August 15, 1962, that the referendum would use a consultative process, that the UN’s report on the implementation of the referendum would be accepted without open debate and on US commitments to invest in resource exploration and provide funds for development programmes in West Papua.

    Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Polisi Tangkap 17 Aktivis Papua yang Akan Demo di Depan Kedubes AS”.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Keep The US Embassy In Kabul Open

    I was on the small U.S. Department of State team that reopened the U.S. Embassy in Kabul in December 2001 and strongly feel that if the U.S. really cares for the people of Afghanistan, it should keep the U.S. Embassy open.

    History reveals that generally when U.S. military strategies don’t work such as in Cuba (1959), Viet Nam (1975), Nicaragua (1979 and 2018), Iran (1979) and North Korea (1953), the U.S. closes embassies and wrecks havoc through brutal sanctions on the economies of the countries to have some sort of soul-soothing revenge for the politicians that put the U.S. in conflict with the countries.

    I’m no supporter of the Taliban, its violence, its treatment of girls and women—and boys and men who don’t agree with them.

    The post Keep The US Embassy In Kabul Open appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Opening And Closing US Embassies-From Sierra Leone To Afghanistan

    While the people of Afghanistan are in a state of fear of the Taliban who now control Afghanistan, its capital, major cities and countryside after the U.S. and NATO occupation of twenty years, please pardon my personal observances of some of my experiences during sixteen years in the U.S. diplomatic corps and opening and closing U.S. Embassies in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan and the effects on the civilian populations of the countries involved.

    In December 2001, I was a part of a very small team from the U.S. Department of State that was sent to Kabul, Afghanistan to reopen the U.S. Embassy.  The Embassy had been closed for 12 years following the Soviet exodus from Afghanistan and the subsequent civil war between the warlord militias that fought to gain land and influence. 

    The post Opening And Closing US Embassies-From Sierra Leone To Afghanistan appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.