§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the government of Indonesia concerning the use of Hawk fighter jets in Aceh. [115784]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienFollowing the outbreak of hostilities in Aceh, our Ambassador in Jakarta sought to reconfirm the assurances from the Indonesian Government that British military equipment would not be used in an offensive role. Subsequently we have been told that Hawk aircraft have not and will not be used for combat; including ground attack in Aceh.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many members of the Indonesian armed forces have been trained by the United Kingdom since 1997; and at what cost. [115786]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe United Kingdom has trained 27 officers from the Indonesian armed forces since 1997 at a cost of £317,693. A further 23 officers were awarded Chevening Scholarships since 1997 at a cost of £302,924.
In addition, two officers and one civilian member of the Indonesian Ministry of Defence attended the regional 'Managing Defence in a Democracy' course held in Singapore in September 2002. The cost of this course was approximately £2,800 per student.
§ Mr. BerryTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what notification the Government received from the Indonesian Government of their intention to deploy(a) Hawk aircraft and (b) other equipment built in and exported from the UK, in Aceh; [116498]
(2) what assessment he has made of whether the activities of the Indonesian armed forces in Aceh are consistent with assurances he has received from the Indonesian authorities; [116497]
(3) what assessment he has made of the Indonesian Government's adherence to its assurances that no British military equipment will be used in counter-insurgency operations in Indonesia; [116500]
(4) whether the Indonesian Government's assurances that equipment will not be used to infringe human rights in Aceh or elsewhere extend to equipment other than armoured personnel carriers. [116499]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe British Government received notification from the Indonesian Government that they might deploy British-built military equipment to Aceh for casualty removal and logistics in August 2002. In light of this, fresh assurances were given by the Indonesians that British-built military equipment would not be used to violate human rights anywhere in Indonesia in September 2002. The Indonesians also said that the equipment would not be used offensively. These assurances cover all British-built military equipment.
The Indonesian Government confirmed that British-supplied Hawk aircraft were used in Aceh on 19 May 2003, on the first day of renewed military action, but assured us that they were not used offensively. Nonetheless, I remain concerned that the use of the Hawk in Aceh may have been in breach of earlier 437W assurances, and am actively seeking further assurance from the Indonesian Government about the future use of Hawk aircraft in Aceh. I will be raising the issue of the use of British-built equipment with the Indonesians on a visit to Indonesia this week. There have been no confirmed reports of other British-built military equipment being used in military action in Aceh. We continue to monitor the situation closely.