5, January 2004 Aceh Aid
Nearly 100,000 people have died in Aceh
from the devastation caused by the tsunami. It is tragic that the corrupt Indonesian military is using this
enormous human tragedy to divert aid money and continues to persecute and
harass the people of Aceh. The army insists that people seeking help must
produce an identity card. These were issued during martial law as symbols of
'loyalty'. During this period of utter repression, aid workers, and all
foreigners were forbidden access to Aceh during which time the military killed
and tortured thousands of civilians whose only crime was to seek independence
from their oppressors. It is especially tragic that prior US administrations put profit ahead of principle and trained
and supplied billions of dollars of military
hardware to the Indonesian government. The poor people of Aceh have been cursed
by the presence of the largest gas fields in
the world which should have brought wealth and a decent standard of living. Alas, Exxon-Mobile has siphoned off
billions of dollars of profit and is now being
sued for gross human rights violations. Acehnese refugees and human rights
activists have urged potential donors not to send aid money to Indonesia but
instead send donations to human rights groups such as the East Timor Action
Network or Tapol, the Indonesian Human Rights Campaign. President Bush has
again displayed his utter lack of compassion and concern by remaining silent
for the first 72 hours of this great tragedy and is now attempting to make political hay by sending his brother, father and
President Clinton. Both Bush senior and President Clinton ignored the plight of the people of Aceh during
their Presidential terms. It is extremely disquieting
that General Colin Powell announced that the US is planning to resume supplying
the Indonesian government with helicopters and
other military equipment which was suspended for a
number of years following the genocide in East Timor and Acheh. I would request
concerned readers to contact their legislative representatives to demand a
continued embargo of all military equipment to the Indonesian government.
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