Indonesia's Years of Lobbying Furiously

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Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has had a complicated relationship with the U.S., especially during the Indonesian military's occupation of neighboring East Timor. After 9/11, however, the U.S. has increasingly dismissed human rights concerns to provide Indonesia with military aid. Andreas Harsono details two major lobbying contracts that helped Indonesia grease the skids. From 2003 to 2004, the firm Alston & Bird had a $200,000 per month contract with Indonesia, which stipulated that former U.S. Senator Bob Dole would "actively participate in and supervise" lobbying for military aid, increased trade and business benefits for Indonesia. In 2005, the firm Richard L. Collins & Co. was hired on a $30,000 a month contract to lobby to "remove legislative and policy restrictions on security cooperation with Indonesia." This contract was with Indonesia's intelligence agency, BIN, which has "long been linked to human rights violations, including the 2004 assassination of human rights campaigner Munir Thalib." BIN officials sometimes accompanied Collins lobbyists on visits to U.S. Congressional offices. In November 2005, the U.S. lifted human rights restrictions on foreign military financing for Indonesia -- "and Indonesia's contract with Collins & Co. came to an end."