Government urged to stop cooperation with Namru-2

The appeal was voiced by the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) and An Nashr Institute in a statement signed by MER-C Presidium Chairman Joserizal Jurnalis and An Nashr Institute`s Chairman Munarman.

In the release, made avalable to Antara here on Wednesday, MER-C and An Nashr also called for the deportation of US Naval staff and personnel of NAMRU-2 in Jakarta.

The call was made in view of the presence of NAMRU-2 in Indonesia over 30 years now, which failed to benefit the people of this world largest archipelagic country.

An agreement between the Indonesian and US governments on NAMRU-2 operations reached on January 16, 1970, was believed to have caused a loss to Indonesia because of the diplomatic immunity of the NAMRU-2 staff members, their tax exemption and free accommodation.

NAMRU-2 was also believed to have violated the cooperation agreement, because of their continued research work even that the contract had expired.

In addition, NAMRU-2 was also reported not transparent in their information for the Indonesian government and that their operations were allegedly linked to US intelligence operations in Indonesia.

In the meantime, the US embassy in Jakarta said ...