United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dr. Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Madam Secretary,

Patrick Walters, National security editor – Australia is set to strengthen defence ties with Indonesia, expanding combined exercises, training and educational links.

Canberra – Australia and Indonesia will strengthen their defence relationship on issues such as terrorism, regional security and piracy, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Thursday.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Indonesia in late February.

Timika, Papua – Four Australian military attaches arrived at the Mimika district town of Timika on Wednesday for a two-day working visit in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua.

Jakarta – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Indonesia Monday to discuss potential sales of military aircraft and deeper military ties, despite wariness on the part of both US

Kristin Roberts, Jakarta – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates landed in Jakarta on Monday, aiming to strengthen military ties with a country the Pentagon sees as a regional leader and se

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – US President George W.

Abandons human rights for Indonesia to train its worst military and police units

Increased US support for the Indonesia military is not the way to promote reform or human rights accountability.

Jakarta – A recent survey by the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) has revealed that some 60 percent of Indonesians are against the ratification of a Defense Cooperation Agreemen

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has ratified a security treaty with Australia that includes a formal acknowledgement of Indonesia's sovereignty over Australia.

Indonesia's parliament has agreed to ratify a key security treaty with Australia, a year after both nations signed the historic pact.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – New Zealand defense officials arrived in Jakarta on Sunday for a four-day visit aimed at reviving New Zealand's defense relations with Indonesia.

Jakarta – Indonesia and the United States began a joint military exercise on Monday that would run until Thursday, a navy official said.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Indonesia's plan to diversify its purchase of military equipment may be realized with British defense companies eyeing Indonesia as a promising market for their

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Indonesia faces a return of US military aid restrictions unless it prosecutes the general responsible for Jakarta's bloody withdrawal from East Timor and

The United States House of Representatives is again considering cutting military aid to Indonesia because of its failure to reform its military and to prosecute senior officers for the

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Indonesia's improved human rights record and efforts to reform its armed forces appear to have not been enough to stop a US House of Representatives panel from p

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Indonesia has branded calls to cut US aid to the country's military as superficial because they only represent the interests of a few human rights groups.

M.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The Indonesian Embassy in Washington is lobbying lawmakers in the US Congress in an effort to block a proposal to restrict US aid to the Indonesian Military (TNI

Andreas Harsono, Washington – A long string of human rights abuses had put Indonesia in a deep hole with the United States, but then the September 11 terrorists struck.

Joe Collins from the Australia West Papua Association said there should be no ties with the Indonesian military until it can be proven that the TNI has been reformed.

Salim Osman, Jakarta – Soldiers from the United States and Indonesia should train together to strengthen military ties between the two countries, said visiting US military chief Marine

Jakarta – The United States and Indonesia are discussing ways to further their military partnership and work together in the region, top US General Peter Pace said.

The revelation this week by Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono that Indonesia is considering the procurement of BAE Systems Hawk aircraft from the UK [1] confirms that the two countries

Australia and Indonesia will conduct a counter-terrorism exercise, the second since resumption of joint training involving the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) and the controversial

Mark Dodd – The SAS will hold joint counter-terrorism exercises with Jakarta's elite Kopassus special forces as part of a dramatic expansion of defence ties between Australia and Indone

Controversial British arms company, BAE Systems, is coming under renewed attack for attending this week's second Indonesia arms fair to be held in Jakarta from 22-25 November.

A wide range of U.S. organizations have urged President Bush "to refrain from promising any military assistance to Indonesia's armed forces" on his upcoming visit to Indonesia.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has denied helping the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) lobby the United States to lift a military embargo agai

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Human rights campaigners are questioning a report that the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) hired Washington lobbying firm Richard L. Collins & Co.

Rieka Rahadiana, Jakarta – The US Senate Appropriation Committee Bill is discussing an increase of foreign military financing proposed by the US Administration.

With Australia's Prime Minister John Howard set to meet Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono later today, West Papua campaigners in Australia are pleased but sceptical about r

Paul Eckert, Jakarta – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hailed restored US military ties with Indonesia, but was told that America was seen as "overbearing" when it appeared to be push

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today urged Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to promote justice and reform, not the Indonesian military, when he visits Jakarta Tu

Jakarta – Indonesia and the United States will discuss ways to improve military ties during a visit by Secretary of Defense Donald H.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today urged Congress to restore restrictions on military assistance for Indonesia in the FY 2007 Foreign Operations Appropriations bil

Human rights, religious and other organizations today urged a key congressional subcommittee to reinstate restrictions on US

Two key US Senators recently criticized the Bush Administration's "premature" use of a waiver to allow weapons exports to Indonesia.

Roy Tupai – A human rights group has criticized the US government for inviting the chief of the Indonesian Army's elite Special Forces (Kopassus) to a recent regional military conferenc

Jakarta – Indonesia and the United States will restore their joint military training programs, especially for elite forces, after they were halted due to the US military embargo imposed

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) called participation of the commander of Indonesia's Kopassus Special Forces in a US military conference a bad precedent and a setback

Jakarta – Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto said military cooperation between Indonesia and Australia would remain normal despite the souring of Indonesia-Aust

The Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) is to join the annual Pacific Area Special Operation Conference for the first time since a military embargo was imposed on the country by the United

Jim Lobe, Washington – Moving with unusual speed, the administration of US President George W Bush officially normalized military relations with Indonesia on Wednesday when the State De

The announcement during British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to Indonesia yesterday that the two countries plan to strengthen military and anti-terror ties is a blow to Indonesian

Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – British Prime Minister Tony Blair signalled on Thursday that London would normalise its defence ties with Indonesia, saying in Jakarta that the two countries wer

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) denounced today's formal notice that the Department of State will consider provision of lethal military equipment to Indonesia.