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Exxonmobil hires indonesian military for human rights abuses Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/050104.htmlhttp://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/050104.html
ExxonMobil, Aceh and the Tsunami
ExxonMobil has contributed $5 million to the Tsunami relief efforts. In Aceh, the company operates one of the largest gas fields in the world and they're being sued for gross human rights violations. We speak with a lawyer who has just returned from Indonesia where he was interviewing witnesses against ExxonMobil from Aceh. Today, as the United Nations puts the confirmed death toll from the Asian Tsunami at more than 150,000, we are going to continue our special coverage of the devestation in the hardest hit area, the Aceh region of Indonesia where the death toll is expected soon to rise above 100,000. In a few moments we are going to be joined by two Acehnese activists who were out in front of the Indonesian Mission to the UN protesting yesterday against the Indonesian military regime. But first, we turn to a story that has gotten almost no attention and that is the story of the oil giant Exxon-Mobil, a corporation that has a massive investment in Aceh. According to some estimates, ExxonMobil has extracted some $40 billion from its operations in Aceh, Indonesia.
According to human rights groups, ExxonMobil has hired military units of the Indonesian national army to provide "security" for their gas extraction and liquification project in the region. Members of these military units regularly have perpetrated ongoing and severe human rights abuses against local villagers, including murder, rape, torture, destruction of property and other acts of terror. Human rights groups further charge that ExxonMobil has continued to finance the military and to provide company equipment and facilities that have been used by the Indonesian military to commit atrocities and cover them up through the use of mass graves.
For years, the Washington DC-based International Labor Rights Fund has fought a series of legal battles to hold ExxonMobil responsible for its record in Aceh. One of the group's lawyers was in Aceh interviewing witnesses just days before the Tsunami hit.
Derek Baxter, a lawyer for the International Labor Rights Fund in Washington, D.C.
Bama Athreya, Deputy Director of the International Labor Rights Fund in Washington, D.C.
Acehnese Refugees Speak Out
We continue to look at the area hardest hit by the Tsunami – Aceh. Over 100,000 of the dead are in Indonesia alone. We'll speak with an Acehnese refugee whose mother was a woman's rights activist in Aceh, imprisoned by the Indonesian government. The prison was destroyed by the Tsunami. We also hear from Acehnese refugees who held a protest outside the UN. Acehnese and U.S. human rights groups protested yesterday outside of the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations, condemning the Indonesian military for its handling of the Tsunami. They accused the Indonesian armed forces of continuing their military operations in Aceh and of preventing the delivery of aid to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Activists charge that rather than helping the people, in a number of areas the troops are intimidating villagers, scaring them away from their villages, looting their homes, and stealing food. They called on the military to implement an immediate ceasefire. In a moment, we will be joined in our studio by two Acehnese refugees, but first we turn to some of the voices from yesterday's protest.
Eddie Suheri, Acehnese journalist
Aidel Abdul, Acehnese protester
Cut Zahara, Acehnese protester
Munawar Zainal, an Acehnese student activist with the Acheh Center in Pennsylvania.
Teuku Hendra, an Acehnese student and an activist with the Acheh Center.
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