Author: Claude Arpi
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 6, 2008
The US Administration is untiring in preaching
democracy and human rights to others. But it warmly embraces dictators who
loathe democracy and trample on human rights. We are seeing this in Pakistan.
We saw it in Indonesia during Suharto's brutal excesses
Rarely has democracy been so acclaimed yet so breached, so promoted yet so
disrespected, so important yet so disappointing. Today, democracy has become
the sine qua non of legitimacy... These days, even overt dictators aspire
to the status conferred by the democratic label."
These are the opening lines of the latest report of the Human Rights Watch.
One may not subscribe to the views of the editor of the 2008 report in its
entirety, but the role of Western powers, particularly the US, in fostering
dictatorship under the guise of democracy, cannot be brushed aside. The HRW
report was published a few days after the death of one of the most tyrannical
dictators of the 20th century, Gen Suharto of Indonesia.
In an article titled, "Epitaph on a crook
and a tyrant," The Economist commented scathingly: "He was a despot,
a Cold War monster cosseted by the West because his most plausible opponents
were Communists. Behind his pudgily smooth, benign-looking face lay ruthless
cruelty. The slaughter, as he consolidated his power in the mid-1960s, cost
hundreds of thousands of lives. Tens of thousands were locked up for years
without charge."
A few days before the HRW report was released,
fascinating secret documents were declassified in the US and published by
the US National Security Archives. "Suharto: a Declassified Document
Obit" details the dictator's record of brutality, repression and corruption
as well as the longstanding and constant support he received from different
US Administrations.
At the end of 1968, barely 18 months after
the massacre of supposedly Communist supporters -- between 500,000 and 1,000,000
Indonesians are said to have died in the crackdown -- the National Intelligence
Estimate prepared by the CIA depicts Suharto as a 'mild' ruler. The NIE happily
states: "The Suharto Government provides Indonesia with a relatively
moderate leadership... There is no force in Indonesia today that can effectively
challenge the Army's position, notwithstanding the fact that the Suharto Government
uses a fairly light hand in wielding the instruments of power."
'Fairly light hand' indeed! Amid his ruthless
crackdown on political parties and opponents in Indonesia, Suharto visited
the US for the first time in May 1970. Though the American Embassy in Jakarta
warned the US Administration about pervasive corruption (including smuggling,
bribery, kickbacks and nepotism) in the 'New Order' Government and among military
officials, the declassified documents say that the White House "gushed
over the state of relations with Jakarta and the Suharto regime's performance".
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told the
then US President, Richard Nixon, "There are no issues between the US
and Indonesia... and relations are excellent." Indonesia was termed as
one of the "largest democratic countries in the world".
Like Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan
who has become 'indispensable' in the US-led 'war on terrorism', Suharto,
too, was a special partner of the US in its fight against Communism. When
Suharto offered his 'help' to Nixon for the US-backed Lon Nol Government in
Cambodia, the (in)famous US National Security Adviser said, "What Suharto
has done and is doing accords perfectly with your concept of Asian responsibilities
under the Nixon Doctrine." At the same time, Mr Kissinger was already
preparing to clandestinely meet Mao and his comrades in Beijing to chalk out
the details of Nixon's trip to China.
When Suharto met Nixon in Washington, he admitted
to having "nullified the strength of the Indonesian Communist Party:
Tens of thousands of its members have been interrogated and placed in detention"
-- a euphemism for mass killings! During the meeting, Nixon confirmed American
support for Indonesia and Suharto was eventually rewarded with an increased
military package of $ 18 million. Indonesia could buy 15,000 M-16 rifles to
replace the AK-47s it had covertly sent to Cambodia to assist the Lon Nol
Government.
The same policy of turning a blind eye to
the excesses in Indonesia continued during the Ford Administration. In July
1975, Suharto met then US President Gerald Ford at Camp David. It was five
months before the invasion of East Timor. Suharto brought up the subject of
East Timor and told Ford, "The only way is to integrate (East Timor)
into Indonesia". Ford did not react.
A few days before the full-scale invasion
of East Timor by Indonesian troops, Ford and Mr Kissinger stopped in Jakarta
on their way back from China. They knew from their intelligence reports that
Suharto was planning to annex East Timor. Suddenly, in the midst of the conversation,
Suharto began talking about the former Portuguese colony: "We want your
understanding, if we deem it necessary to take rapid or drastic action."
Ford's answer was clear: "We will understand and will not press you on
the issue. We understand the problem and the intentions you have."
Mr Kissinger, however, pointed out that the
"use of US-made arms could create problems". But he offered a way
out: "It depends on how we construe it -- whether it is in self-defence
or is a foreign operation." The message to the General was to make it
appear a 'self-defence operation'. Mr Kissinger advised Suharto, "It
is important that whatever you do succeeds quickly."
The Indonesian occupation led to thousands
of deaths in Timor. In the meantime, Suharto and his family continued to rob
their own people. The Economist writes: "Perhaps no leader's family anywhere
has ever amassed so much ill-gotten loot. When he was forced to quit at last,
the economy was in a tailspin and the stability he had boasted of creating
proved an illusion."
On December 12, 1975, the UN Security Council
deplored "the military intervention of the armed forces of Indonesia
in Portuguese Timor" and called upon "the Government of Indonesia
to withdraw without delay its armed forces from the territory". But with
the US (and Australia's) support, the resolution was left to gather dust on
a shelf at the UN.
The Indonesian rule in East Timor was marked
by extreme violence and brutality. The Commission for Reception, Truth and
Reconciliation in East Timor has officially estimated that there were at least
102,800 conflict-related deaths between 1974 and 1999 "namely, approximately
18,600 killings and 84,200 'excess' deaths from hunger and illness".
East Timor had to wait till May 2002 to become a sovereign state.
The most surprising fact is that the same
policies continued during subsequent US Administrations. Even under Mr Jimmy
Carter, who still makes a big show of his pro-democracy credentials, the policy
was not changed. Mr Richard Holbrooke, then US Assistant Secretary of State,
visited Jakarta in April 1977 and had a long meeting with Suharto just before
the presidential and parliamentary elections. During the run-up to the elections,
hundreds of Suharto's opponents were arrested and critical newspapers shut
down.
Although the American Embassy had termed Mr
Holbrooke's trip "an unusual opportunity" to speak about "human
rights and democracy", the Assistant Secretary "acknowledged efforts
President Suharto appeared to be making to resolve Indonesian problems".
These 'efforts' had nothing to do with upholding human rights and preserving
democracy.
Human Rights Watch has rightly entitled one
of the chapters of its report as "Banking on the 'democrats' rather than
democratic principles". The policy continues till today under the Bush
Administration.
In 30 years, it will be interesting to read
declassified files of US-Pakistan relations and see how Washington justifies
its support for the Musharraf regime in Pakistan.
