Annex B
LETTER FROM THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH
OFFICE TO THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST ARMS TRADE
Thank you for your letter of 13 August to Foreign
Office Minister Mr Rammell about Indonesia. Your letter has been
passed to me for reply.
Before August 2002 the Indonesian Government
had provided assurances that British-built military equipment
would not be deployed to Aceh, and that they would provide advanced
warning of any possible deployment. In August 2002 the British
Government received advanced notification from the Indonesian
Government of their intention to deploy British-built military
equipment to Aceh, and subsequently agreed to the fresh Indonesian
assurances that British-built military equipment would not be
used offensively or in violation of human rights, thus removing
the geographical limitation on the use of equipment. Since August
2002, the requirement for the Indonesian Government to inform
the British Government in advance of any deployment of British-built
military equipment to Aceh was therefore removed. Therefore Mr
Rammell and Mr O'Brien's statements are both correct.
You also raise the issue about the use of Hawk
aircraft in Aceh. The British Ambassador in Jakarta spoke to the
Indonesian Defence Minister on 20 May to seek reassurance that
Hawk were not being used offensively or in violation of human
rights. On 21 May the Indonesian Director General for Defence
Policy confirmed that the Armed Forces were fully aware that British
built military equipment should not be used for offensive purposes,
nor for action which would abuse human rights. Since then there
have been no confirmed reports that Hawk has been used in Aceh.
We will continue to investigate reports of British-supplied
military equipment being used in a way that not only breaks the
assurances, but also contravenes the Consolidated Criteria that
export licences are assessed upon.
August 2003
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