Cancel Indonesia's Arm Debts to UK

Indonesia owes the United Kingdom $1 billion for the sale of tanks and ground attack aircraft. These tanks and planes were used viciously by general Suharto, who came to power in a coup supported by Britain and the United States. The arms were used to violate civil rights, suppress political dissent and independence movements such as the ones from East Timor. During Suharto's thirty-two year rule thousands of people were killed and imprisoned. This means that in reclaiming the debt the United Kingdom is asking Indonesian citizens to bear the cost of arms that were used to oppress them. Today, Indonesian citizens struggle to create a democratic state against the maneuvering of the military, devastation caused by Tsunami and poverty with over half of Indonesian people living below the $2 per day poverty line and the repayment of the odious debt is undermining those efforts. Indonesia's total debt amounts to $130 billion. John Pilger writes: There is no debt like it on earth. It can never be repaid. It is a bottomless hole. And as said before $1 billion of this debt is owed to the UK for arms sales. According to the IMF, Indonesia is capable of servicing its debts and so is not eligible for debt relief. But the case for canceling the arms debt does not depend on this, it turns on the use to which these loans were put. Indonesia should not have to pay this debt as these arms were used to oppress the Indonesian people. And we call on the UK government to immediately cancel this odious debt.