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Along with TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, CAAT has long campaigned against arms sales to Indonesia. The Indonesian Army has an appalling human rights record, and has consistently used its foreign-supplied military equipment against civilians.
New Labour: Business as usualWhen New Labour came to power, it ignored calls to revoke the export licences granted by John Major’s Government for the (at the time) undelivered Hawk aircraft, Scorpion tanks and Stormer armoured personnel carriers (APCs). Although Suharto was swept from power in 1998, and democracy introduced to Indonesia, the Indonesian Army’s human rights record has remained as appalling as ever [more]. Despite committing crimes against humanity in East Timor, prosecuting brutal wars in the provinces of Aceh and West Papua, and using UK equipment against civilians, the Indonesian Army has continued to recieve a steady supply of weapons from the UK (see Arms to Indonesia Factsheet). Most of the equipment currently being licensed appears to be spares for the Hawks, Scorpions and Stormers, judging by the Government’s regular arms export reports. Frequent protests about the continuing supply of equipment to Indonesia have been ignored. Indonesia was also one of the victims of the Asian financial crisis of 1998, and subsequently defaulted on its payments for past arms purchases. It had built up very large debts as a result of its arms purchases from the UK over the previous 20 years. In November 2004, Indonesia still owed the UK's Export Credit Guarantee Department £551 million. CAAT's Indonesia campaignDuring this time, CAAT has brought a legal challenge to UK arms exports to Indonesia [more], campaigned against the use of UK equipment in the brutal war in Aceh [more], exposed the secret watering down by the UK Government of the conditions under which the Indonesian Army could use UK supplied equipment in Aceh [more], and exposed UK Government knowledge of corruption in arms sales to Indonesia [more]. We have also called, and continue to call for a UK and international arms embargo on Indonesia. This demand is supported by 90 other NGOs (see TAPOL website). Further Reading
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Campaign Against Arms Trade, 11 Goodwin St, Finsbury Park, London N4 3HQ
Tel: +44-(0)20 7281 0297 | Fax: +44-(0)20 7281 4369