SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2017, Issue No. 17
March 6, 2017

Secrecy News Blog: https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

DECLASSIFICATION OF INDONESIA FILES IN PROGRESS

The National Declassification Center has completed declassification review of more than half of the classified files from the U.S. Embassy in Djakarta, Indonesia from the turbulent years of 1963-1966. The remainder of the task is expected to be completed by this summer.

So far, 21 of 37 boxes of classified Djakarta Embassy files have undergone declassification review, said Sheryl Shenberger, director of the National Declassification Center. Remarkably, the declassification of the Indonesia records was prioritized in response to public comments.

What new light will they shed on the past?

"As to the discovery of anything new, I leave that to you and the researcher community," said Alex Daverede of the National Declassification Center, who is performing the declassification review.

"I think you will gain some insight about US perspectives on the 30 September Movement [military personnel who assassinated six Indonesian generals, triggering a campaign of mass killings]. You will also get some close observations about Sukarno and the cast of characters around him. You will also see the Embassy's perspective on the awkward transition from Sukarno to Suharto. There is a lot of information on Indonesia's economic woes in 1965-1966 and of the efforts to get food to what was a bankrupt country," Mr. Daverede said.

In a 2014 draft resolution, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) pressed for declassification of U.S. records from this period.

"It is a painful history to recall. On October 1, 1965, six Indonesian Army generals were killed. According to scholars, these generals were killed by military personnel, but their deaths were blamed on Indonesia's Communist Party, which was used to justify mass murders."

"The next few months were horrific for the Indonesian people. The CIA has called it one of the worst periods of mass murder in the 20th century. Hundreds of thousands were killed. Many others were imprisoned, tortured, raped, starved, and disappeared across the country. These individuals were targeted for their alleged association with communism, but they came from all walks of life, including women's groups, teachers, intellectuals, and others. Most were unarmed, and none had due process of law."

"The United States provided financial and military assistance during this time and later, according to documents released by the State Department, and General Suharto consolidated his power, ruling from 1967 to 1998," Senator Udall noted. CIA also conducted covert operations in Indonesia during this time, though records of that activity may not be included in the Embassy files.

"Unfortunately, while Indonesia has made important economic and political strides since the systemic repression of the Suharto years, impunity for the horrific crimes of the 1960s and during the final years of the independence struggle in East Timor remain glaring examples of unfinished business that are inconsistent with a democratic society based on the principle that no one is above the law," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in 2015.

"We need to recognize the role of our own government in this history, declassify relevant documents, and urge the Indonesian Government to acknowledge the massacres and establish a credible truth and justice mechanism," he said.

Now some of those relevant records are being declassified and they should soon be released. Last month, Mr. Daverede wrote about an episode involving the detention of an American missionary in Indonesia in 1965 that was discussed in the files being declassified. See The Curious Case of Harold Lovestrand, NDC Blog, February 10.

The National Declassification Center was established by President Obama's 2009 executive order 13526 to help coordinate and expedite declassification of historically valuable U.S. government records.

JASON ON SUBCRITICAL NUCLEAR TESTS

Subcritical nuclear tests remain useful for maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of nuclear explosive testing, the JASON defense advisory panel affirmed in a letter report last year. But "a gap exists in the current US capability to carry out and diagnose such experiments," the panel said.

Subcritical experiments simulate aspects of nuclear explosions using chemical explosives. But since a subcritical mass of plutonium (or a surrogate material) is used, no actual nuclear explosion occurs.

The main purpose of subcritical experiments is to identify and decrease uncertainties in weapon performance. "For all weapons in the current stockpile, at the present time margins are adequate and uncertainties are within margins, both for normal operation and for nuclear safety should accidents occur," the JASON panel said. "However, future aging of these weapons and their remanufacture may increase uncertainties, and JASON finds that scaled [subcritical] experiments in Pu [plutonium] may significantly reduce uncertainties that may arise in the future."

But "JASON finds that x-ray radiography is needed to diagnose subcritical experiments in Pu... and that the US currently lacks adequate radiography at U1a [the nuclear complex in Nevada] for this purpose."

The JASON letter report was prepared for the National Nuclear Safety Administration at the direction of Congress. A copy was released by NNSA last week under the Freedom of Information Act. See Enhanced Capabilities for Subcritical Experiments, JSR-16-Task-011, October 7, 2016.

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ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING, AND MORE FROM CRS

A new report from the Congressional Research Service provides a comprehensive overview of government efforts to combat money-laundering, discussing the scope of the money-laundering problem, the strategies employed to combat it, and the resources that have been made available for that purpose.

The US government has provided anti-money laundering support to more than 100 countries. But "Halting the introduction and circulation of criminally generated proceeds in the financial system, and, ultimately, depriving criminals from using illicit wealth remains a challenge," the CRS report said.

See Anti-Money Laundering: An Overview for Congress, March 1, 2017:

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

The Scalia Vacancy in Historical Context: Frequently Asked Questions, March 1, 2017:

Majority, Concurring, and Dissenting Opinions by Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, March 1, 2017:

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA): A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements, updated March 1, 2017:

Federally Funded Academic Research Requirements: Background and Issues in Brief, February 28, 2017:

An Overview of Recent Tax Reform Proposals, February 28, 2017:

Independence of Federal Financial Regulators: Structure, Funding, and Other Issues, February 28, 2017:

U.S.-Mexico Water Sharing: Background and Recent Developments, updated March 2, 2017:

Russia: Background and U.S. Interests, March 1, 2017:

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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