Skip to main content

UK challenged on Indonesia arms sales and Densus 88

as the uk prepares to receive the president of indonesia for the first state visit in decades, uk groups prepare an alternative welcome for the president.
30 October 2012

As the UK prepares to receive the President of Indonesia for the first state visit in decades, UK groups prepare an alternative welcome for the President. Human rights groups are planning to mark the state visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with protests on behalf the victims of abuses in Papua, Timor-Leste and elsewhere. During the visit, from 31 October to 2 November, the British Government will also be challenged about its policy of increasing arms sales to Indonesia, its training of anti-terror police implicated in the killing of Papuan leaders, and its promotion of unsustainable business interests in Papua and elsewhere.

TAPOL has called for British-funded training of Indonesia’s anti-terror police, Special Detachment 88, to be reviewed in the light of serious concerns about the unit’s human rights record and its operations in Papua, and for an immediate ban on the sale to Indonesia of any military equipment that may be used for internal repression. Read more.

Ahead of the state visit, a number of UK-based NGOs who are concerned about human rights in Indonesia have issued a briefing, raising serious grounds for concern about the UK's plans to increase arms sales and investment in Indonesia. Read the briefing.

Themes