153. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Kennedy0
Washington, March 17,
1961.
SUBJECT
- Appeal on Behalf of Allen Pope
It is expected that you will shortly receive, from Mrs. Allen
Pope, a letter in which she will appeal to you to intercede,
on behalf of her husband, with President Sukarno of Indonesia during his forthcoming visit to
Washington.
Mr. Pope is an American pilot who has been in prison in
Indonesia for nearly three years and whose sentence of death is now under
review by the Indonesian Supreme Court. A decision is expected from this
Court within the next six or seven weeks which, if adverse, will leave Mr.
Pope with but one further recourse under Indonesian
law, that of an appeal to President Sukarno for executive clemency. A brief history of Mr.
Pope’s case is appended for your background
information.
It is recommended that a reply be sent to any appeal to you from Mrs.
Pope saying that you regard her appeal
sympathetically and that you will seek an opportunity to raise
Allen Pope’s case with President Sukarno when he calls upon you.
Enclosure1
ALLEN L. POPE
- 1.
- In November 1957 at a high level in our government approval was
given to a special political action program in Indonesia calling for
the maintenance as a force in being of the anti-communist, pro-West
dissident movement established by anti-Sukarno military commanders in
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Sumatra and the Celebes. This program
later authorized the provision of arms and other military aid to the
dissidents including air support. Several C.A.T. pilots volunteered
for this work, ostensibly took leave from their C.A.T. jobs and, as
“Soldiers of Fortune” employed by the dissidents, undertook combat
missions. On 18 May 1958 one of these pilots, Mr. Allen
Lawrence Pope, was shot down by anti-aircraft fire
and captured while making a bombing attack upon shipping in Ambon,
Celebes.
- 2.
- Pope was tried before an Indonesian Military Tribunal in December
1959 on various counts of aiding the enemies of Indonesia and
bearing arms against Indonesia. He was convicted and sentenced to
death on 29 April 1960. A military appellate court upheld this
decision in December 1960. An appeal is pending before the
Indonesian Supreme Court. A decision may be announced at any time.
Recent information from the Indonesian Prosecutor indicates that it
may come prior to President Sukarno’s departure in late April 1961. If, as
expected, the Supreme Court confirms the death sentence, Indonesian
law requires a thirty-day delay before the execution of the
sentence, during which Sukarno
must personally concur in the execution of the sentence and Pope
will be granted the opportunity to appeal for presidential
clemency.
- 3.
- Throughout his many interrogations and the trial itself, Pope has
maintained his story that he volunteered to fly for the dissidents
of his own free will in the belief that in so doing he would be
helping to fight communism. He has not implicated the United States
Government in his activities. The Indonesian authorities, however,
are by now well aware that the Dissident Movement was given support
and encouragement by the governments of the United States [less than 1 line of source text not
declassified].
- 4.
- Although preservation of Pope’s cover story has required
considerable circumspection on the part of U.S. officials in dealing
with Indonesian authorities on this subject, the U.S. Embassy in
Djakarta has been able to maintain contact with Pope and with the
Indonesian officials immediately concerned with his case. Following
the imposition of the death sentence, both Secretary of State Herter
and Ambassador Jones took
appropriate opportunities to express to Indonesian Foreign Minister
Subandrio their concern
over the severity of the sentence and the damage which its execution
might have on U.S.-Indonesian relations. In December 1960 Pope’s
wife visited Indonesia and was granted a personal interview with
President Sukarno in order to
plead for Sukarno’s
intercession on her husband’s behalf. Sukarno promised to give the Pope Case his “very
deepest consideration.” At this meeting, Ambassador Jones presented to Sukarno a letter from President
Eisenhower expressing a
personal interest in the Pope case. In January 1961 U.S. Air Force
General White expressed to Indonesian Air Force Chief of Staff
Suryadarma the hope that the Indonesian Government might see fit to
extend
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leniency to Pope as
a gesture of good will toward the United States. Mrs.
Pope has recently returned from Indonesia
and has written to President Kennedy requesting his intercession on her husband’s
behalf. She plans to return to Indonesia to be present when the
Supreme Court decision is handed down.
- 5.
- Despite certain debatable aspects of the Indonesian legal
proceedings, it is undoubtedly true that Pope was guilty of the
major charges on which he was convicted. It is quite apparent,
however, that the final disposition of the case will be determined
on political rather than purely legal grounds. The expected timing
of the Supreme Court’s announcement of its decision suggests a
connection with the forthcoming meeting between President Kennedy and President Sukarno.
- 6.
- In my opinion2 Pope’s conduct both before
and after his capture entitles him to our gratitude and any
appropriate action to mitigate his sentence.
