US denied visa to Yudhoyono aide over alleged crimes

Philip Dorling

March 12, 2011

Not happy ... the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, with his wife, Kristiani Herawati, says the corruption allegations are lies. Photo: AFP

THE US has blackballed one of the closest advisers to the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for alleged involvement in East Timor war crimes, say leaked US diplomatic cables.

But Washington kept secret the reasons for denying a visa to the former Indonesian army general Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, and Dr Yudhoyono subsequently appointed his friend as deputy defence minister. 

In September 2009 the US government withheld the issue of a visa that would allow Sjamsoeddin, a former army general then serving as a senior presidential adviser, to accompany Dr Yudhoyono who was about to attend the G20 leaders summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

 

Mr Sjamsoeddin was subject to a US Department of Homeland Security recommendation that he be denied entry owing to suspected involvement in "terror activities" and "extrajudicial killings''. 

The US embassy cables leaked to WikiLeaks and provided exclusively to the Herald show that the US embassy in Jakarta urged that Mr Sjamsoeddin still be allowed entry, lest the issue become an "irritant" in bilateral relations between Jakarta and Washington. 

''We note that as a key adviser to the Indonesian president and possible cabinet appointee, Sjamsoeddin's travel to the United States would facilitate and strengthen US-Indonesian ties,'' the Jakarta embassy argued.

''Sjamsoeddin provides guidance and counsel to President Yudhoyono on a number of issues of importance to the US, such as mil[itary]-to-mil[itary] ties, which are a cornerstone of our efforts to ensure regional stability.''

The allegations against Mr Sjamsoeddin included that while serving as an Indonesian Special Forces commander in East Timor, he was responsible for directing the Santa Cruz massacre that claimed the lives of more than 250 Timorese pro-independence demonstrators on November 12, 1991. It was further alleged that he was responsible for widespread violence committed by Indonesian troops in Dili in the aftermath of East Timor's August 30, 1999, independence ballot. 

Mr Sjamsoeddin submitted a statement to the US embassy seeking to rebut the allegations, saying he had not been present at the Santa Cruz massacre and had instead been ''rescuing Australian and American journalists from Timorese [Indonesian Army] officials who were angered that the journalists had accused them of being involved in clandestine activities''. 

He also claimed he had been cleared by Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission for any wrongdoing in relation to the violence that swept Dili in September 1999. 

Mr Sjamsoeddin's denials were readily accepted by the US embassy in Jakarta, which argued that ''circumstantial evidence'' linking Mr Sjamsoeddin to human rights violations was insufficient to deny him a visa. 

However, this advice drew a sharp critique from the US embassy in Dili, which drew on United Nations and Timorese human rights investigations to argue that Mr Sjamsoeddin repeatedly had command responsibility for Indonesian troops that committed atrocities. 

''As commander of the Kopassus Intelligence Task Force in 1991 he was present for the November 12 Santa Cruz massacre … His claim that he was rescuing Western journalists during the massacre cannot be confirmed,'' the US embassy in Dili reported to Washington. 

''Sjamsoeddin served in Timor-Leste again in 1999 at the time of the August 30 [independence ballot]. Multiple independent investigations declare him criminally responsible for the atrocities that occurred at that time, and put him near the top of the list of responsible parties.''

With regard to Mr Sjamsoeddin's claim to have been saving Western journalists, the embassy observed that ''Multiple Western journalists were present in Dili on November 12, [1991] … All have spoken publicly or written about their experiences. 

''None of these journalists have ever mentioned a rescue scenario like the one Sjamsoeddin claims to have been involved in.'' 

The US embassy in Dili concluded that on ''Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin held senior positions of command responsibility in both 1991 and 1999, moments when atrocities undeniably occurred, and strongly indicate his personal culpability''. 

On November 9, 2009, the US embassy in Jakarta informed the Indonesian foreign ministry that if Mr Sjamsoeddin was to submit a new visa application ''he would likely be found ineligible under a provision that requires congressional notification and for which there is no waiver'''. 

A senior Indonesian foreign affairs official challenged the decision, insisting that ''Sjamsoeddin is the President's man''.

However, the US ambassador strongly recommended against Dr Yudhoyono raising the case with the US President, Barack Obama, adding that he would ''request Washington officials to refrain from any public comment on the case''. 

Two months later, in January last year, Dr Yudhoyono promoted Mr Sjamsoeddin to the Deputy Defence Minister. 

In this role he has regular dealings with Australian officials as Canberra and Jakarta implement closer defence relations including a 2009 bilateral agreement covering enhanced co-operation in counterterrorism, maritime security, intelligence, peacekeeping exercises and disaster relief. 

source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Indonesian version: Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin terlibat kejahatan perang di Timor Leste