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Kopassus, abbreviation for Komando Pasukan Khusus (Army Special Force Command) is an Indonesian Army special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabotage, counter-terrorism, and intelligence gathering. Kopassus was founded on April 16, 1952. The Special Forces quickly made their mark by spearheading some of the government's military campaigns: putting down regional rebellions in the late 1950s, the Western New Guinea campaign in 1960, the confrontation against Malaysia from 1962-1966, the massacres of alleged communists in 1965, the East Timor military campaign in 1975, and the subsequent campaigns against separatism, terrorism, or anyone considered a threat to the Suharto regime.
General Moerdani, although he never held the leadership baton, was one of the most prominent Kopassus alumni, having served in the command from its early years.
Kopassus is considered one of the best special forces units in the Pacific and South East Asia.
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Encyclopedia
Kopassus, abbreviation for Komando Pasukan Khusus (Army Special Force Command) is an Indonesian Army special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabotage, counter-terrorism, and intelligence gathering. Kopassus was founded on April 16, 1952. The Special Forces quickly made their mark by spearheading some of the government's military campaigns: putting down regional rebellions in the late 1950s, the Western New Guinea campaign in 1960, the confrontation against Malaysia from 1962-1966, the massacres of alleged communists in 1965, the East Timor military campaign in 1975, and the subsequent campaigns against separatism, terrorism, or anyone considered a threat to the Suharto regime.
General Moerdani, although he never held the leadership baton, was one of the most prominent Kopassus alumni, having served in the command from its early years.
Kopassus is considered one of the best special forces units in the Pacific and South East Asia. On the other hand, the name of the unit is linked to numerous severe violations of human rights, especially in East Timor, Aceh and Papua, as well as on some occasions in the capital Jakarta itself. Not only in the publications of radical groups but also in many articles and news items published in mainstream media, epithets such as "the notorious Kopassus" precede the unit's name.
History: Dutch colonial antecedents
On April 15, 1952, Colonel Alexander Evert Kawilarang laid the foundation for Kesatuan Komando Tentara Territorium III/Siliwangi (Kesko TT), the early name of Kopassus.
The impetus for building this special force was provided from an experience of frustration when fighting against the troops of the RMS (Republik Maluku Selatan or Republic of the South Moluccas) forces, which were supported by two companies of Korps Speciale Troepen (KST). The Indonesians on the spot were amazed with KST's ability and skills, especially its men's sniping. They were then inspired to build a similar force for Indonesia. However, at that time, neither of the Indonesian commanders had any experience or skill in special operations. However, Lieutenant Colonel Slamet Riyadi would not see his dream realized due to his death in a battle against the troops of the RMS.
Not long after, with the use of military intelligence, Colonel Kawilarang located and met with Major Rokus Bernardus Visser - a former member of the Dutch Special Forces who had remained in independent Indonesia, settled in West Java, married an Indonesian woman, and was known locally as Mohamad Idjon Djanbi. He was the first recruit for the Indonesian special forces, as well as its first commander. Due to him, the unit adopted a Red Beret similar to that of the Dutch Special Forces, which is still in use by the present Kopassus.
At that time, Indonesia's special force name was the Third Territorial Command or Komando Teritorium Tiga (KTT). It later went through no less than five name changes, going from KTT to KKAD, RPKAD, Kopasandha, and finally, Kopassus. Headquartered in Bandung, the first generation of Indonesian Forces was only around a hundred soldiers or one company.
Organization
In response to military organization reviews, the Kopassus was expanded from three groups to five and upgraded from 3,000 to roughly 6,000 personnel. The rationale for this expansion was based partly on the likelihood of a small-scale, high-intensity, short-term conflict and partly on the need for a four-part rotational cycle (a quarter of the force on duty, a quarter in training, a quarter in consolidation [rest, schooling, leave, etc.], and a quarter in reserve).
In 1997, the Kopassus was reportedly able to operate in a three-part rotation cycle (training, duty, consolidation). It is unknown whether Kopassus will be able to obtain the numbers needed to operate a four-part cycle.
The Kopassus is composed of five groups, plus the Presidential Guard (Paspampres) and headquarters. Each group is headed by a Colonel and all groups are para-commando qualified. Of note is the unusual nature of Group IV, possibly also called "Sandhy Yudha," which consists of select members from Groups I, II, and III. The duties of these specially trained personnel include attacking behind enemy lines (Infiltration tactics). Group IV also, reportedly, works with the Joint Intelligence Unit on interrogations, and carries out clandestine operations around the country.
| Kopassus Groups | Location | Comments | | Grup 1/Parakomando (Para Commando) | Serang, West Java | 3 battalions | | Grup 2/Parakomando (Para Commando) | Kartasura, Central Java | 3 battalions | | Grup 3/Pusat Pendidikan Pasukan Khusus (Training) | Batujajar, West Java | Center of Training | | Grup 4/Sandhi Yudha (Combat Intelligence) | Cijantung, East Jakarta | Combat Intelligence | | SAT 81/Penanggulangan Teror (Counter-terrorism) | Cijantung, East Jakarta | Counterterrorist |
Even though there are many groups in Kopassus, all groups can operate on land, sea, and air.
Training
Members of the Kopassus are selected from other units for their mental and physical toughness and ideological soundness. Those who pass an initial screening take part in a 9-month selection, with heavy emphasis on physical endurance. At the end of this phase, a 380-km march is conducted through mountainous terrain with minimal rations. Then a week-long evasion and escape phase is conducted; if caught, one is removed from the program. As manpower is increased to meet a three- and four-part rotational cycle, additional training would be expected. Also, as units have been used fairly extensively throughout the years, many of the Kopassus members have actual mission experience.
This training is the qualification for new members to join Kopassus. After joining Kopassus there is still more advanced training, divided into two categories:
- Intelligence Gathering Abilities
- Counter Terrorism Unit
During the 1990s Kopassus conducted training with various other special forces, such as the British SAS (Special Air Service Regiment), the Malaysian Grup Gerak Khas in jungle warfare, urban terrain and counter terrorism skills, the American Delta Force in counter terrorism skills, and the American Green Berets in jungle warfare and training the local communities to conduct intelligence-gathering and to provide support. Kopassus and the Malaysian Grup Gerak Khas (GGK) enjoy a close relationship and both train extensively together.
Intelligence abilities
Intelligence is vital in order to win a war. In Kopassus, intelligence is taught after members have passed the selection process. The syllabus in intelligence can be sub-divided into two categories: Sandi Yudha, and gathering intelligence behind enemy lines, of which Sandy Yudha is considered the more specialized. Sandy Yudha is defined as the ability to persuade people to do something, and the ability to create exploitable situations.
During the 1980s, Kopassus troops improved their skills in intelligence gathering by cross training with world famous intelligence services, such as the Israeli Mossad, even though Indonesia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. With the help of third parties, it became possible to conduct this training in Indonesia. The nickname for the trainer was "Arizona". After Arizona finished the training of Kopassus, the British were invited, with their MI6. The training specialized in the effective and efficient use of intelligence gathering devices.
Counter Terrorism Unit or SAT 81 Penanggulangan Terror (SAT 81 Gultor)
This unit is most famous for its counter-terrorism skills. Their first international mission was to release hostages held by Jihad Command at the Don Muang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand in 1981. The training is the same as above, but improved skills are required in SAT 81. In SAT 81, all members are required to acquire various figting skills, including:
Weaponry and equipment
For much of its history Kopassus was equipped with the most advanced and complete technology of all the units in the Indonesian armed forces. The rule was that Kopassus's equipment, when damaged, was not repaired but instead updated to the new model.
Since the Asian Economic Crisis, Kopassus' performance has been affected greatly especially in terms of their weaponry which has become obsolete as compared to other Special Forces in the world. Although there was expressed a strong willingness to renew or upgrade their weapons, it is far from sure when this would be implemented. Nevertheless, army commanders have expressed themselves "in no doubt about the dedication of every Kopassus member".
Types of arms used by Kopassus
- Side arm: SIG-Sauer P226/P228, Berreta 92SB/92F, Browning HP, Walther PPK, Pindad P1/2, Glock 17, Glock 19, FN Five-Seven
- Submachine gun: Heckler & Koch MP5 variants, CZ-Scorpion, Uzi, Daewoo K-7, FN P90.
- Assault rifle: Pindad SS2, Pindad SS1 variants, AK47, Steyr Aug A1/A2, M16A2, M4A1, H&K HK53, H&K 416, SIG 552, H&K G36C, Galil .
- Shotgun: Franchi SPAS-12, Benelli M3T.
- Sniper Rifle: Pindad SPR-1, Sig-Sauer SG550, H&K MSG 90, H&K G3 Sniper, Galil Sniper, Remington 700, Accuracy International AWM.
- Machine gun: FN Minimi, Ultimax 100, Daewoo K-3 LMG, FN MAG, and M60
- Recoilless rifle : Armbrust, Carl Gustav recoilless rifle
- Water devices : Drager, Spero, Oxydive, Farallon, Rubber (Zodiac type) boats
- Knife : Kopassus black Fairbairn-Sykes made by Carl Schlieper Germany
List of Kopassus Commanders
Kopassus is currently led by Commandant General or Danjen, who holds the rank of Major General. Below is a list of commanders who have led the special forces.
Missions
There have been several missions conducted by Kopassus. Of which, some were successful and some not. The most notable missions are detailed below.
- The Hijacking of Garuda Flight GA 206 on 28 March 1981. The hijackers, a group called Commando Jihad, seized control of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 "Woyla", which was flying from Jakarta to Medan via Palembang. The plane was diverted to Penang, Malaysia, where one passenger was released and food and maps were provided. It then flew to Don Muang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand. The hijackers demanded the expulsion of Israeli military advisors from Indonesia, and the release of 34 political prisoners belonging to Kommando Jihad, an extreme Islamist group. This number later increased to 80 people, and then came a demand for US$1.5 million in cash. The hijackers threatened to blow up the plane if their demands were not met by 1pm on March 30. Following approval from president Suharto for a military operation, a squad of 72 men was assembled for a possible rescue mission This team trained on a spare DC-9 provided by state airline Garuda Indonesia. Despite attempts to keep it a secret, the Thai press reported the arrival of the Indonesian team in Bangkok on March 30. Meanwhile, the chief hostage negotiator told the hijackers that the prisoners were to be released the following day. Information from a CIA-provided listening device propmpted Moerdani to order the assault for 3am when the hostages were tired and had eaten. The soldiers used a small number of Israeli-supplied Uzi sub-machine guns in the raid, and friendly fire from these probably accounted for a number of the Kopassus casualties. Eventually, the Kopassus team managed to overpower the hijackers and free the hostages. A total of five people were killed in the raid including the airplane captain Herman Tante (probably by 'friendly fire'), and three of the five hijackers. The Kopassus commando probably shot by his own comrades, Achmad Kirang, died a day later in a Bangkok hospital. The two remaining hijackers who had surrendered were killed on the airplane carrying the Kopassus troops back to Jakarta.
- Mapnduma Hostage Rescue 8 January 1996. The mastermind for this case was the OPM (Papua Liberation Organization or Organisasi Papua Merdeka), led by Kelly Kwalik. He took a number of Western and Indonesian researchers in the Lorentz National Parc hostage. The OPM demanded that the Indonesian government would give independence to West Papua. At that time the Kopassus commander was Brigadier General Prabowo Subianto, an ex GSG 9 student, and son-in-law of President Suharto. For the safety of the hostages, Prabowo preferred a negotiation process rather than a military operation. Negotiations were first conducted by an American missionary and the bishop of Jayapura and then by the ICRC led by Henry Fournier, the ICRC head of mission for Indonesia. The negotiations broke down, and Prabowo had to resort to force. The mission involved 100 soldiers from Kopassus and 400 soldiers from the Navy, Kostrad, Kodam VIII Trikora, and Penerbad. The mission was a success. Two hostages, were killed by OPM guerillas. There were no casualties among other hostages and Kopassus and others army members. During this mission Prabowo also retrieved help from other countries, who sympathised with Indonesia, among other Singapore, which lent its UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Mazlat Scout and Night Vision Goggles, and, possibly, Western mercenaries.
- Other operations:
- DI/TII (Darul Islam/Tentara Islam Indonesia)
- The Talang Betutu Operation against the rebellion in Tentara Teritorium (Territorial Troops) IV
- Destroying operation PRRI/Permesta
- Kahar Muzakkar Rebellion
- The Trikora Operation (to invade Netherlands New Guinea in 1962)
- The Dwikora Operation (to oppose the formation of the Federation of Malaysia)
- The Naga Operation (to guarantee a 100% yes vote for integration with Indonesia by the Papuans in the so-called Act of Free Choice or Pepera in 1969)
- The Seroja Operation in East Timor in 1975
- The Aceh Operation
Human rights issues
Kopassus has been accused of a great number of human rights violations. Its name appears frequently in the reports of Amnesty International and other international human rights organizations, as well as in the reports by Indonesian human rights groups. Kopassus members are frequently accused of assault. For example, Koes Sofyan of the Association of Human Rights Victims Abuse (SPKP HAM) was in 2003 detained by members of Kopassus in Aceh. He was detained for nearly three months and tortured, before being released without charge. Such charges were already made in the years of the Suharto dictatorship, though making them then in Indonesia itself was difficult and quite risky.
After the fall of Suharto in May 1998, Kopassus, still as powerful as ever, became a major concern of the pro-democracy movement. At the same time, world attention focused on the special forces unit due to the charges that it has been behind the mass killings and burnings in East Timor in 1999, shortly after the referendum, whereby the population of East Timor choose for independence from Indonesia.
Later, it was charged that Kopassus was using similar violent methods in order to suppress the independence movements in Aceh and Western New Guinea.
In 2001 Amnesty International took up the specific case of Gaspar Wespar, a Papuann who several times visited the Kopassus base in Betaf, the main town in Pantai Timur Sub-district, to inquire about his nephew who was taken at night from his home by five armed people. The uncle was reportedly kicked and beaten by Kopassus personnel, threatened with being prosecuted for libel, and finally "disappeared" himself. .
In November 2001 Kopassus killed Theys Eluay, the chairman of the Presidum Dewan Papua. Two years later four Kopassus members were convicted for this murder.
At the same time, older affairs in the heartland of Indonesia itself were taken up by the reformers, such as the naming of fourteen people, among them a former commander of Kopassus, as suspects in the killing of a large number of people in Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, in 1984, when security forces opened fire on demonstrators.
Australian Journalist Martin Daly of "The Age commented
"the insistence by the [Australian] Defence Minister, Senator Ray, that Australia's Special Air Service regiment will continue to train here and in Indonesia with the notorious Kopassus regiment. The regiment is alleged to be responsible for murder and torture in Dili and Aceh, where 2,000 people are believed to have been killed by Indonesian troops between 1989 and 1993(...). Kopassus camps became known in Aceh as torture centres(...). Bodies began to be found on roadsides, in bus shelters and beside streams", says Amnesty International".
Kopassus has also been associated with illegal economic activities, like involvement in the trade of kayu gaharu and illegal gold mining in West Papua and other areas, and the trade in drugs.
Famous members
General references
- Ken Conboy (2003) KOPASSUS Inside Indonesia's Special Forces, Equinox Publishing, ISBN 979-95898-8-6
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