§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether Akhmad Buldan, communication platoon leader of an infantry battalion in the Indonesian army has been offered a place at the Royal Military College of Science, Cranfield. starting October 1992 to read for an MSc in Military Electronic Systems Engineering; how many other officers of the Indonesian armed forces have been offered places at United Kingdom institutions of higher education at the expense of the taxpayer for the academic years 1991– 92 and 1992– 93 respectively; and how they reconcile these awards with the doctrine of conditionality, under which aid is dependent on human rights performance by the state concerned.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyAkhmad Buldan has been accepted for an MSc course in Information Technology at Nottingham University. The FCO Scholarship and Awards Scheme met the costs of the courses in the UK for five officers from the Indonesian armed forces in 1991– 1992, and is expected to pay for seven officers to attend courses in 1992– 1993. Development assistance funds are not used for training of military personnel. Training courses in the UK can be expected to contribute to human rights policy objectives by increasing trainees' awareness of the importance of discipline, professionalism, competence and respect for human rights.
§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether Minulyo Suprapto, weapon and vehicle base workshop officer in the Indonesian army, has been offered a place at the Royal Military College of Science, Cranfield, starting October 1992, to 52WA read for an MSc in Information Technology or Material Engineering; whether this officer com-pleted a 5-week general English course at the British Council's English Language Centre, Jakarta, in October 1991; and whether they will suspend all training of personnel from the Indonesian armed forces until the commanders of the troops responsible for the Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, East Timor, on 12th November 1991, have been charged, and until they have had an opportunity of considering the report to the United Nations Secretary-General by his special representative Dr. Amos Wako on the circumstances of the massacre, which has so far been withheld from member states.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyMinulyo Suprapto is to attend an MSc course in information technology at the Institute of Technology, Cranfield. He completed an English Language Training Course in Jakarta in early 1992.
We do not believe that the cancellation of education assistance to personnel of the Indonesian armed forces would help the human rights situation in East Timor.
It is for the UN Secretary General to decide whether to release Dr. Wako's report. We understand he has decided not to do so.
§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether Kustanto Widiatmoko, platoon leader in the First Armour Squadron of the Indonesian Presidential Security Service, has been offered a place at the Royal Military College of Science, Cranfield starting October 1992 to read for an MSc in Information Technology or Defence Administration; whether the cost of this award is to be met partly from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Scholarships and Awards Scheme and partly from the UK Embassy in Jakarta's "UKMTAS allocation"; what these initials mean; what is the total size of the Embassy's "UKMTAS allocation"; who are the other beneficiaries of this money and what amounts are to be allocated to them in each case.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyMr. Widiatmoko is likely to undertake a Master's degree course in Defence Administration at the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham during the next academic year. The funding arrangements have not been finalised. The FCO Scholarships and Awards Scheme (FCOSAS) and the UK Military Training Assistance Scheme (UKMTAS) are both possible sources of such funding. A total of £14– 7 million is available under UKMTAS worldwide in this financial year. The allocation of funds to individual countries varies from year to year and is not made public, and details of the training courses paid for under UKMTAS are not normally disclosed.
§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they consider that the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian 53WA Persons in Time of War, which relates to the protection of civilians under military occupation, applies to the Territory of East Timor; what evidence they have of breaches of Article 147 of the convention by the Indonesian forces of occupation, including "wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, unlawful deportation or transfer, wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial" proscribed in the convention, and extensive destruction and appropriation of property; and whether, in pursuance of their obligation under Article 146 of the convention to "search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such grave breaches" and to "bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its own courts", they will investigate the backgrounds of personnel of the Indonesian armed forces seeking admission to the United Kingdom, including those who have been invited to undergo training here.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyThe Government do not recognise the incorporation of East Timor into Indonesia. But the status of East Timor has not been clarified in such a way as to enable a definitive view to he taken on the possible applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Nevertheless the Government have made clear to the Indonesian authorities the importance they attach to full respect for human rights, and take this aspect into account in relations with Indonesia (including the arrangements for education of Indonesian students).