Summary
Indonesia's voice in Washington - Cover Story
The U.S-Indonesian Society, a lobby with former US ambassadors and pro-Suharto Indonesians as officials, aims to counteract the increasingly strong protests in the US against Indonesian civil rights violations in East Timor. The group's members, and the Clinton administration's support, are discussed.See the full content of this document
Extract
The Suharto lobby.
On December 10, 1996, the day the Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor, the Indonesian government held a meeting at the National Press Club in Washington. There, standing before a podium in a room full of reporters, Arifin Siregar, the Indonesian ambassador to the United States, delivered a smoothly worded address downplaying Indonesia's human-rights abuses in East Timor and urging Americans not to judge the Suharto regime by its past actions. "We learn from our mistakes," he said.
Following the speech, an Australian reporter turned attention to the question of lobbying, asking Siregar what role was being played by a Washington-based group called the U.S.-Indonesia Society. There was a moment's pause. Then Siregar responded, "It is not a lobbying organization--not at ...See the full content of this document
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