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Amnesty International and several agencies wrote to the US Secretary of State (Menlu), Mike Pompeo, regarding the planned visit of Defense Minister (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto to Uncle Sam’s country. They criticized the lifting of Prabowo’s ban on entering the United States.
“We write to express our deep concern regarding the granting of a State Department visa to Prabowo Subianto, the Indonesian Defense Minister, to come to Washington DC to meet with Defense Minister Mark Esper and the President of the State. Joint Major Mark Milley on October 15, “the letter read. said Wednesday (10/14/2020).
The letter was signed by representatives of Amnesty International USA, Amnesty International Indonesia, Commission for Missing Persons and Violence (KontraS), Public Interets Lawyer Network (Pil-Net), Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (KASUM). , Imparsial, Public Virtue Institute, Setara Institute, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Jakarta, Institute for Studies and Community Advocacy (ELSAM) and LBH Pers.
They considered that giving Prabowo permission to meet with US officials had the potential to violate Laehy’s law. They asked Prabowo to cancel the invitation.
“The invitation to Prabowo Subianto must be canceled if it is intended to provide him with immunity from the atrocities of which he is accused,” he said.
“Allowing him to travel freely to the United States to meet with senior US government officials could further violate Leahy’s law and would be a disaster for human rights in Indonesia,” he added.
They said that the United States government had an obligation to investigate allegations of human rights violations committed by Prabowo under article 5 (2) of the Convention against Torture. And if there is evidence of these accusations, he continued, the United States government must prosecute or extradite other countries that are willing to exercise jurisdiction over the alleged crimes.
They brought up Prabowo’s alleged involvement in the kidnapping of Indonesian pro-democracy activists at the end of President Soeharto’s leadership.
“Prabowo Subianto has been widely accused of involvement in human rights abuses, including kidnapping pro-democracy activists in the months leading up to the end of the Suharto government. An independent official investigation tasked with investigating serious human rights violations in 1998 he concluded that Prabowo Subianto was aware of these violations and as the commander of the special forces, he was ultimately responsible for the kidnapping of pro-democracy activists in 1997-98. The charges against him were never tried in court, “they explained. .
They considered the decision of the US government in 2000 to blacklist Prabowo Subianto because his human rights violations were a very important commitment to human rights. The policy, he continued, brought hope and much-needed help to the victims.
They warned that under the Leahy Act, the United States government is prohibited from using funds to assist foreign security forces units if there is credible information indicating that the unit is committing serious human rights violationsserious violation of human rights or GVHR). The serious human rights violations mentioned include torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and rapes.
“The Department of State Leahy Act includes an exemption allowing assistance to a unit if the Secretary of State determines and informs Congress that the government of the foreign security forces unit involved is taking effective steps to bring the members responsible before justice, “he said.
“To the extent that a visa extended to Prabawo Subianto implies some form of immunity when traveling to the United States, it should be revoked to ensure that the United States meets its national and international obligations to ensure that those responsible for torture are brought to justice. justice, “he added.
