An AH-64 Apache from the US Army’s 101st Aviation
Regiment
The United States will sell the Indonesian army eight Apache
attack helicopters in a deal worth $500 million, including radar, training and
maintenance, a US defense official said on Monday.
The sale of Boeing’s AH-64E Apache helicopters was announced
during a visit by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Jakarta, his second stop
on a week-long four-nation trip to Southeast Asia that began in Malaysia on
Saturday.
The deal is a culmination of more than a year’s behind-the-scenes
work by Indonesia, which saw the helicopters as a key part of a wider plan to
modernize its weaponry.
A 14-person delegation, including Army Chief Gen. Moeldoko
and Defense Ministry Secretary General Lt. Gen. Budiman, traveled last week to
a Boeing production center in Arizona to view the helicopters.
On meeting the Indonesian delegation, Dave Bostrum, a
business development manager at Boeing emphasized the importance of the deal to
the forward momentum of the Indonesian military.
“The Apache is expected to be a key part of Indonesia’s
continuing efforts to improve its strategic defense capabilities,” he said.
When it first emerged that Indonesia was looking to acquire
the eight Apaches, two human rights groups sent a letter to the US Congress,
calling on legislators to reject the sale.
The East Timor Action Network and West Papua Advocacy Team
said that Indonesia’s “long record of disregard for civilian casualties,
corruption, human rights violations and impunity” should preclude the sale of
the helicopters.
Groups Condemn Sale of Deadly Attack Helicopters to Indonesia
ReplyDeleteCAdvocacy Team (WPAT) today condemned the U.S. government's decision to approve the sale of deadly Apache attack helicopters to Indonesia. The sale demonstrates that U.S. concern for greater respect for human rights and justice in Indonesia are nothing more than hollow rhetoric.
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The new Apache attack helicopters will greatly augment the capacity of the TNI to pursue "sweeping" operations, extending TNI capacity to stage operations after dark and in ever more remote areas.
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The sale, announced during the visit of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to Jakarta, ignores the appalling record of human rights violations by the Indonesian military (TNI), which will operate this deadly weapons system.
The helicopters are offensive weapons often used in counter-insurgency campaigns.
The TNI continues to conduct military campaigns in West Papua. The military's "sweeps" and other military operations purportedly target the few remaining, lightly-armed pro-independence guerrillas. ETAN electronic resources on East Timor and Indonesia
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