Sun Herald (Sydney)
February 10, 2002
Snub This Brutal Force
THE INDONESIAN Army now admits its brutal special forces unit, Kopassus, was involved in the recent murder of West Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay but Prime Minister John Howard appears to have opened the door for Australian SAS troops to again train Kopassus.
Defence sources say Howard’s commitment to help Indonesia fight terrorism means pressure will grow to resume training for Kopassus after it was stopped following a rampage in East Timor in 1999. At the time, the Nine Network’s Sunday program revealed details of a joint SAS/Kopassus training exercise in which captured East Timorese independence fighters were forced to act as targets. The Australian public did not support this sort of training. But revelations about future transgressions will become harder as a result of a tough new bill from Attorney-General Daryl Williams that will crack down on leaks. Williams claims he only wants to punish spies. He shouId also provide a public-interest defence for those who let Australians know about future co-operation with such odious outfits as Kopassus.
See also:
West Papua Information Kit:
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/cline/papua/core.htm
West Papua referendum petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/westpap/petition.html