[R-G] Genocidal kleptocrat dies

[Anthony Fenton]

FRONT
Vuepoint
Genocidal kleptocrat dies
http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=7772

Scott Harris / scott at vueweekly.com

  The old adage which says that one should not speak ill of the dead  
has been followed to a fault by much of the international community  
following the Jan 26 death of Suharto, Indonesia’s dictator of 32 years.
US ambassador Cameron Hume interrupted his fawning of Suharto to  
admit “there may be some controversy over his legacy.” Australian  
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd referred to him as an “influential leader,”  
before conceding that “many have disagreed with his approach.” It’s  
like saying in 1953 that Stalin would be remembered for the  
development of the Soviet economy despite certain “excesses.”

For those who have a shred of concern for human rights or the  
simplest notions of justice, there is no “mixed legacy” or  
“controversy” surrounding Suharto. He was a murderous, thieving thug.

Suharto’s rise to power in Indonesia came at the cost of an estimated  
one million killed in “anti-Communist” purges. On Dec 7, 1975  
Indonesia invaded East Timor, slaughtering 60 000 Timorese in the  
first few months. It is estimated that as many as 200 000 Timorese— 
one-third of the population—were murdered or died over the next  
quarter century as a result of the Indonesian occupation. Some 100  
000 were similarly killed in West Papua and tens of thousands more in  
Aceh.

Suharto’s disdain for human rights was matched only by his  
corruption. In 2004, Transparency International ranked Suharto as the  
most corrupt head of state in history, estimating that he stole some  
$15-$35 billion during his reign.

Through it all, Canada’s position was abysmal. Canada abstained from  
UN General Assembly resolutions calling on Indonesia to respect  
international law and withdraw from East Timor from 1975 to 1979,  
before switching to the highly principled stand of voting against the  
“Question of East Timor” from 1980 to 1982. Canada supported the  
occupation with aid, trade and military equipment, stopping only when  
international condemnation was too great for even Canadian hypocrisy  
to ignore. In 1996, then-Prime Minister Chrétien led a delegation to  
Indonesia to sign $3 billion in trade deals, before playing host to  
Suharto at the 1997 APEC meeting in Vancouver, where the civil  
liberties of Canadians were deemed less important than shielding  
Suharto from any form of protest.

It is only regrettable that Suharto died without being brought to  
justice for his many crimes, laying comfortably in bed rather than in  
the jail cell he so rightly deserved. V



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