As Indonesia's New President Takes Office, Cabinet Includes Officials Tied to Atrocities of Old

Indonesia's new president, Joko Widodo, has held his first Cabinet meeting amidst criticism from human rights activists for picking a new defense minister who once defended military killings of civilians. In July, the former Jakarta governor known as "Jokowi" defeated the U.S.trained former army general Prabowo Subianto, who had been accused of mass killings when he headed the Indonesian special forces in the 1990s. While human rights groups hailed the defeat of Prabowo in July’s election, the new president is facing opposition for picking former Army Chief of Staff Ryamizard Ryacudu to be Indonesia’s new defense minister. Over the past decade, Ryamizard has defended the military’s actions in West Papua and Aceh and publicly claimed that civilians become legitimate army targets if they "dislike" army policy or have "the same voice" as antigovernment rebels. We are joined from Indonesia by veteran investigative journalist Allan Nairn, whose dispatches shook up the presidential race when he reported on human rights abuses committed by Prabowo and the U.S.trained general's statement that Indonesia needs "a benign authoritarian regime" because the country was “not ready for democracy." Nairn also discusses his latest major report, revealing that a top adviser to Indonesia’s new president has admitted "command responsibility" in the 2004 assassination of the country's leading human rights activist, Munir Thalib.

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