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Indonesia. Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro denied on Tuesday that the US government had negotiated with Indonesia over the removal of members of the Army’s Kopassus special forces unit who had been convicted of previous human rights abuses.

Speaking to journalists in Jakarta, Purnomo acknowledged that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates had discussed several issues with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono related to improving ties between the two countries during his visit to Jakarta last week, but that none involved the removal of certain Kopassus officers.

During the visit, Gates announced the lifting of a decade-long training ban on Kopassus, but stressed it was contingent on key reforms within the military.

The New York Times reported that in preparation for lifting the ban, US Defense Department officials said they had asked the Indonesian government in recent months to remove “less than a dozen” members of Kopassus who had been convicted of human rights abuses but were still part of the unit.

“So far, I have received no reports that someone was removed because of a human rights abuse,” Purnomo said.
The minister acknowledged that several middle-ranking military officers, including several from within Kopassus, had recently been reassigned, but said those moves were part of a normal rotation.

Two Kopassus officers — Lt. Col. Tri Hartomo and Lt. Col. Untung Budiharto — were part of a military reshuffle in March.
Hartomo was convicted by an Indonesian military court in 2003 and served time in prison for abuse leading to the death of a Papuan activist, Theys Eluay.

It is not clear where he was moved to, but The New York Times report quoted US Defense Department officials as saying Hartomo was still a member of the Indonesian military.

Untung, who was sentenced by a military tribunal to 32 months in prison for his involvement in the kidnapping of pro-democracy student activists in 1997 and 1998, was moved to a teaching job at the Army Staff College in Bandung.

But Purnomo maintained that the two officers were not moved as a result of political pressure from the US government.

“The principle of international relationships is equality. If someone is alleged to be guilty of something, we have our own legal system to process him,” he said.

Separately, Deputy Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said the timing of the reshuffle, which happened around the time of US President Barack Obama’s earlier scheduled visit to Indonesia, was just a coincidence.

“It would be unfortunate for a Kopassus officer if he never got any experience with other units,” he said.

Sjafrie himself has been implicated in a massacre in East Timor while serving in Kopassus. But US Defense Department officials said he was only implicated, not convicted.

US Senator Patrick Leahy, who authored the legislation prohibiting US support for foreign militaries that violate human rights, has said that the conditions for lifting the ban on Kopassus must be thoroughly fulfilled.

“As far as I am concerned, that includes suspending any Kopassus officers who have been credibly linked to abuses, and pledging to cooperate in prosecutions of past and future crimes,” Leahy said.