RI aims at resolution of military ban in US partnership

Jakarta is seeking a “long-term political commitment” with Washington to resolve pending issues in the comprehensive partnership that leaders of both countries will launch this month, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

“In the comprehensive partnership, we’ll identify problems we’ve encountered, including the ban on [US training for Army Special Forces] Kopassus,” Retno L. P. Marsudi, the ministry’s director general for American and European affairs, said after a press conference with the visiting Dutch economic minister.

“The comprehensive partnership is an impetus for both parties to enhance relations, and we have communicated well so far.”

Under the Leahy Law, the entire Kopassus unit is banned from receiving US military education or training, following allegations of their involvement in a number of atrocities in restive provinces.

The law says the ban will only be lifted if the Indonesian government takes adequate legal steps to prosecute implicated officers.

Jakarta has been lobbying Washington to lift the ban, which is also believed to include bans on several generals from entering the US.

Former defense minister Juwono Sudarsono said Tuesday that Washington was close to lifting the ban as the ban’s main sponsor, Sen. Patrick Leahy, had “accepted” Jakarta’s progress in investigating officers accused of rights abuses.

Retno said the comprehensive partnership did not set out a specific target for the resolution of pending issues, saying that both countries would seek long-term commitment for good relations.

“We haven’t set a target because that would be short term,” she said.

“We’re seeking long-term commitment for relations. We’ve identified the problems in bilateral relations as well as future challenges and possible solutions.

“The comprehensive partnership is a political declaration for closer relations, not an agreement.”
The comprehensive partnership, first proposed by Jakarta in 2008, will be launched during the visit by US President Barack Obama to Indonesia on March 22.

It covers a wide area of cooperation, including economic, climate change, health, education and defense.

Jakarta and Washington have also negotiated a new cooperation on health following the closure of the US Navy’s Naval Medical Research Unit (Namru-2) laboratory in Jakarta. Namru was closed down after Jakarta and Washington failed to agree on its operational procedure, including on diplomatic immunity sought by Washington for US staff working at the lab.

Retno said the points of cooperation on a new civilian biomedical research lab, the Indonesia—United States Center for Medical Research, were still being discussed, with reciprocating visits by US and Indonesian negotiators having taken place.

She declined to elaborate on the pending points on the negotiations, saying the joint research highlighted lab cooperation, and adding, “We haven’t reached a deal on that.”