LM Report 2000

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INDONESIA

Key developments since March 1999: There is no evidence of use of antipersonnel mines by any side in the 1999 violence and fighting in East Timor, or in on-going conflicts elsewhere in Indonesia.

Mine Ban Policy

Indonesia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, but it has yet to ratify. At the First Meeting of States Parties in Mozambique in May 1999, Indonesian Ambassador Sjaiful Amanullah said, “The entry into force of the Convention on 1 March 1999 has truly been a historic landmark.... This demonstrates the shared commitment of the majority of the international community to achieve a rapid and comprehensive solution to the disastrous consequences of anti-personnel landmines.... Indonesia hopes that eventually all major countries which traditionally produce, use and export, as well as mine-infested countries will join as parties in order to ensure its universal adherence and effective implementations.”^[1]

At that time, Ambassador Amanullah also said that Indonesia “looks forward to an appropriate time to finalize the process of its ratification.”^[2] In April 2000, Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Hasan Kleib said that ratification had not moved forward because the Mine Ban Treaty was not considered a priority for the Indonesian Parliament, given that Indonesia does not have a landmine problem.^[3]

Indonesia has voted for every pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution since 1996, including the December 1999 resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty. Interestingly, Indonesia has participated in Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Standing Committee of Experts meetings on Stockpile Destruction (December 1999 and May 2000) and on Victim Assistance (September 1999).

Indonesia has not signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). However, Indonesia did participate in the First Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II (Landmines), in December 1999 in Geneva. It did not make a statement to the conference.

Indonesia is a member of the Conference on Disarmament, but has not been a strong supporter or opponent of efforts to negotiate a transfer ban in the CD.

The Indonesia Campaign to Ban Landmines, in cooperation with the Australia Network of the ICBL, held a Regional Conference for South and East Asia on Public Education on Landmine Issues on 26-28 March 1999. The Indonesian Campaign also translated the Mine Ban Treaty into the Indonesian language and distributed it to members of Parliament, sent letters to Parliament urging ratification, and distributed posters throughout much of the country.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling

According to Indonesian officials, Indonesia has never produced antipersonnel mines.^[4] There is no evidence or allegation to the contrary. Indonesia is not believed to have ever exported antipersonnel landmines. In the past Indonesia imported AP mines in limited number from foreign countries, including Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the United States.^[5]

Indonesia stockpiles antipersonnel mines, apparently only in a limited number. The number, types, and location are still military secrets. Major General Ferry Tinggogoy told Landmine Monitor that antipersonnel mines are stockpiled and used only in military training programs for engineers, not for operational purposes. Thus, he said, these stocks will not be destroyed.^[6]

Use

Although Major General Tinggogoy told Landmine Monitor last year that the Army had never laid antipersonnel mines to defend its borders, nor in internal combat,^[7] in interviews in April and July 2000 he said that Indonesia used mines in East Timor in the 1970s and in West Papua during the conflict with the Netherlands in 1961-1962.^[8] He said that AP mines had not been used since 1975.^[9]

The General’s admission is surprising in that Landmine Monitor interviews in 1999 with Indonesian soldiers, rebel fighters, and political opponents did not result in any allegations of use of antipersonnel mines in any of Indonesia’s internal conflicts.^[10] Xanana Gusmao, the noted East Timor leader, stated in an interview that neither Indonesian soldiers nor East Timor fighters ever used antipersonnel landmines.^[11] Mujikar, formerly with the Marine Corps, was involved in combat operations in West Papua 1962-1964 and in East Timor 1976-1978, and said that antipersonnel landmines were never used by government or rebel forces.^[12] Branco Gregory was imprisoned for 20 years due to his struggle for the independence of East Timor. He said that there was no use of antipersonnel mines by either side and that he was unaware of any Timor mine victims.^[13]

Yet, Mr. Made Sujana, the Chief of Administration at a complex for East Timor veterans located in Bekasi, said he suffered an antipersonnel mine accident in East Timor in 1978 and his left foot had to be amputated. He said about 30 people among the 400 veteran families living in the complex had amputations due to landmine explosions. He also said that many members of Battalion 503 from East Java stepped on landmines during the war in East Timor in the 1970s and 1980s.^[14]

There is no evidence of use of antipersonnel mines in East Timor during the fighting in 1999 (See separate Landmine Monitor 2000 report on East Timor).

Research by the Indonesian Campaign to Ban Landmines into the conflicts in Aceh and Ambon, as well as the Indonesia-Malaysia border in Borneo and the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border, did not produce any allegations of use of landmines.^[15]

Mine Action Funding

Indonesia is not mine-affected. Indonesia has contributed $40,000 to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance, with funds earmarked for the demining effort in Cambodia.^[16]

Note: See separate Landmine Monitor 2000 report on East Timor.

[1] Statement by H.E. Ambassador Sjaiful Amanullah at the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Maputo, Mozambique, May 1999.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Interview with Hasan Kleib, Chief of Section for Disarmament, International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 April 2000.
[4] Interview with Major General Ferry Tinggogoy, Member of Parliament, 26 April 2000.
[5] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 410, for more detail. Also, interview with Gen. Tinggogoy, 26 April 2000; telephone interview by LM/HRW, 25 July 2000.
[6] Interview with Major General Ferry Tinggogoy, 26 April 2000; telephone interview by LM/HRW, 25 July 2000.
[7] Interview with Maj. Gen. Tinggogoy, Jakarta, 23 February 1999.
[8] Interview with Maj. Gen. Tinggogoy, 26 April 2000; telephone interview by LM/HRW, 25 July 2000.
[9] Telephone interview with Maj. Gen. Tinggogoy by LM/HRW, 25 July 2000. The General said that while there had been no use of factory mines since 1975, soldiers would have made and use improvised explosive devices in the field.
[10] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 410-411.
[11] Interview with Xanana Gusmao, 17 February 1999.
[12] Interview with Mujikar, 15 February 1999.
[13] Interview with Branco Gregory, Cipinang Prison, Jakarta, 19 December 1999.
[14] Interview with Made Sujana, Chief of Administration of Komplek Seroja, Bekasi, 26 March 2000.
[15] Aceh province has seen separatist conflicts since 1989. But there has not been any indication of landmine use in this area. From January 1999-March 2000 Mr. Munawarman, coordinator of Kontras (Commission for Involuntary Disappearances and Torture), investigated human rights abuses by the military in Aceh. He did not find any allegations of antipersonnel landmine use (Interview, 11 April 2000). Pia Makasar, Coordinator of Tapak (Advocacy Team for Ambon Case Settlement) said that during the conflict from January-July 1999 she never heard reports of any victims of antipersonnel landmines (Interview, 20 April 2000). Colonel Adnan, military attaché at the Malaysian Embassy said that he had never heard reports of landmine use on the shared border in Borneo. (Interview 17 April 2000). Colonel Yaura Sasa, military attaché at the Papua New Guinea embassy said that neither Papua nor Indonesia planted antipersonnel landmines on their shared border. (Interview 17 April 2000).
[16] “Assistance in Mine Clearance: Report of the Secretary-General,” UN General Assembly A/53/496, 14 October 1998, p. 29.