Tag Archives: Leahy Law

Critics Call Upcoming Pentagon Visit by Indonesian Defense Minister—Accused of Horrific Atrocities—a ‘Human Rights Catastrophe’

Prabowo Subianto—who led a notorious commando unit implicated in genocidal violence—was invited to Washington by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

By Brett Wilkins, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 10-15-2020

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto. Photo: Prabowo Subianto / CC BY-SA

Human rights advocates this week sounded the alarm on a meeting scheduled for Friday between American Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, a former U.S.-trained general in an elite army unit implicated in genocidal violence and other atrocities in East Timor, West Papua, Jakarta, and elsewhere in the archipelago nation in the late decades of the last century.

Since 2000, Prabowo has been banned from entering the United States by the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations. However, Esper last week invited the 68-year-old to Washington as the Trump administration seeks closer relations with the nation of 268 million people in a bid to counter China’s growing clout. Continue reading

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‘Important’ Bill in Congress Would Bar Israel From Using U.S. Funds to Imprison, Abuse Palestinian Children

“Israel’s system of military juvenile detention is state-sponsored child abuse designed to intimidate and terrorize Palestinian children and their families.”

By Eoin Higgins, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-1-2019

Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian child. (Photo: Institute for Middle East Understanding, Twitter)

A new bill would bar Israel from using U.S. funding to detain Palestinian children.

Rep. Betsy McCollum (D-Minn.) introduced the legislation Tuesday.

McCollum said in a statement Wednesday that the Israeli military’s practice of kidnapping and abusing children was morally wrong. Continue reading

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