From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 20 Jul 92 07:29 PDT
Subject: INDONESIA: Billions in aid for Jaka
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700234:000:4685
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Jul 20 07:29:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: INDONESIA: Billions in aid for Jaka

/* Written 12:29 am  Jul 20, 1992 by newsdesk in
cdp:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: INDONESIA: Billions in aid for Jakarta despite human rights
row

an inter press service feature

by angeline oyog

paris, jul 17 (ips) -- the indonesian government obtained friday
almost five billion dollars in development aid from international
donors while pre-empting any talk on human rights abuses.

speaking to journalists after the two-day meeting with
international donors in paris, indonesian minister radius prawiro
for economic affairs cut short any questions on charges against
jakarta for human rights abuses, particularly the killing of pro-
independence demonstrators in east timor in november 1991.

jose ramos horta, special representative of a coalition  of forces
opposing the indonesian occupation of east timor, feels
''scandalised'' by the decision of the donors.

''these industrialised countries who talk so often and so loudly
about respecting human rights are the same ones who have just
given five billion dollars to one of the worst dictatorships in
the world,'' he said.

according to prawiro, human rights and the killing of the
demonstrators in 1991 should be discussed at a bilateral level.
''it is not appropriate to discuss political issues in a forum for
economic and financial matters.

''respecting human rights is a part of our system. it is one of
our pillars of principles,'' added prawiro. ''we are open to
bilateral talks.  they just need to talk to us.''

accusing it of a campaign of ''lies and defamation'',  jakarta has
since 1989 consistently refused to allow the human rights group
amnesty international to visit the country.

the consultative group for indonesia (cgi), chaired by the world
bank, took over the inter-governmental group for indonesia (iggi)
which had coordinated international aid for jakarta for the past
24 years until its dissolution last april.

jakarta unilaterally disbanded the iggi after dutch development
aid minister jan pronk stopped development aid in protest of
indonesian human rights abuses. the netherlands did not attend the
paris meeting. jakarta also sought the exclusion of the
netherlands, former colonisers of the country, from the cgi.

''we are not expecting any more aid from the netherlands, because
we got full support from the cgi,'' said prawiro.  (more/ips)

indonesia: billions in aid for jakarta despite human rights
row(2-e)

indonesia: billions (2)

dutch foreign minister hans van den broek, visiting indonesia this
week, has been told that indonesian president suharto would
restore normal relations with the netherlands if pronk resigns
from the cabinet.

at the paris meeting, the donors comprising the cgi commended
indonesia for the ''significant'' progress in its economic
adjustment programme and its growth of 6.8 percent in 1991. it
noted the tight monetary policies, fiscal restraint and the
prudent external borrowing policies.

it said, however, that much more remains to be done to meet the
needs of a fast-growing and rapidly urbanising economy. making
electric power, telecommunications, transport, water supply and
other services available and more reliable will be the key element
in sustaining growth and improving quality of life.

''we need the 4.8 billion dollars to accelerate our achievements
of our development objectives and to maintain fiscal and monetary
stability,'' said prawiro.

according to official figures indonesia's foreign debt stands at
about 53 billion dollars, guaranteed by the rich resources of the
country. critics of the suharto government say the foreign debts
are a heavy burden for generations to come.

''indonesia up till now has always honoured its financial
commitments and we will continue to do so in future. we will pay
back every cent of our foreign debts,'' a spokesman for suharto
said in jakarta, friday.

gautam kaji, world bank vice-president for the asian region, said
that only economic and financial matters were brought up during
the two days of meetings with delegations from australia, austria,
belgium, canada, denmark, finland, france, germany, italy, japan,
korea, new zealand, norway, spain, sweden, switzerland, the united
kingdom and the united states.

delegations from the asian development bank, the european
community, the international monetary fund (imf), the islamic
development bank, unicef and the united nations development
programme also attended the meetings.(end/ips/cd/ao/bm/rj/92)

Xref: sparky soc.rights.human:2701 misc.legal:14957 alt.activism:13599