INDONESIA REACTS TO RELEASE OF CAVR REPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 001078

SIPDIS


SECSTATE FOR EAP/MTS AND S/WCI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2011
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KJUS ID TT
SUBJECT: INDONESIA REACTS TO RELEASE OF CAVR REPORT

REF: 05 DILI 552 (GUSMAO OPPOSES IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF
CAVR REPORT

Classified By: B. Lynn Pascoe, Ambassador. Reason: 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) Summary. Senior GOI figures and Indonesian
politicians have reacted defensively to the allegations of
human rights abuses made in the report of East Timor's
Committee of Reception, Truth and Verification (reftel).
East Timor President Xanana Gusmao presented the report to UN
Secretary General Annan on January 20 and followed up with a

SIPDIS
statement to the Security Council on January 23. Although we
understand that the document is primarily intended to promote
reconciliation in East Timor, the GOI has taken it as an
attack against Indonesia's reputation, and has reacted by
rejecting Xanana Gusmao's request to meet with President
Yudhoyono on January 27 and by strong-arming the bilateral
Commission on Truth and Friendship (CTF) to postpone at the
last minute a planned fact-finding mission to Dili. A
commission member has told us that the postponement is to
allow for a "cooling-off" period within Indonesia, but a
commission meeting may be held in Bali on Feb. 1. The
Ambassador reminded Presidential advisor Djalal of the
continued need to address East Timor issues in a positive
fashion. We do not think the current posturing by some
politicians will derail the CTF's work. End summary


2. (SBU) GOI officials and politicians have reacted
defensively to descriptions of the contents of the report by
East Timor's Committee on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation
(CAVR) presented to Secretary General Annan on January 20 in
New York. The report covers human rights abuses committed
during East Timor's civil war and occupation by Indonesia
from 1975-98.


3. (C) Although the report has not been formally made public,
GOI figures including government officials have dismissed and
downplayed its accounts of abuses perpetrated by the
Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) under the occupation. Defense
Minister Juwono Sudarsono denied that the TNI had used napalm
or used famine to perpetrate genocide. He went on to say
that most of the other charges were rehashed allegations that
had already been dealt with. TNI Commander In Chief
Endriartono Sutarto said that the report probably exaggerated
the number of civilians killed. He flatly denied that the
TNI ever intentionally perpetrated human rights abuses
against or killed East Timorese civilians during the
occupation. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo on January 24,
Vice President Jusuf Kalla similarly denied that Indonesia
had ever committed human rights violations in East Timor.
Department of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Yuri Thamrin tried to
discredit the report, saying its recommendations were
unrealistic and that its accounts of human rights violations
had been provided by persons who were not even in East Timor
at the time. Presidential Spokesman Dino Patti Djalal struck
a more nuanced note, stressing that Indonesia's relations
with East Timor were forward-looking and that past abuses are
being addressed by the bilateral Truth and Friendship
Commission (CTF). In a conversation with Djalal January 25,
the Ambassador noted the importance of Indonesia facing the
problem squarely and not straying from the need to address
past events with a view to accountability and reconciliation.
Djalal took the points on board.


4. (SBU) Some politicians' reactions were more vociferous.
The Chairman of Indonesia's House of Representatives, Agung
Laksono, called on the GOI to take "a firm stance" against
East Timor President Xanana Gusmao for embarrassing Indonesia
in front of the international community. PDI-P Caucus chair
Thahjo Kunodo called for the GOI to break diplomatic ties
with East Timor, citing the killing of three Indonesian
citizens in an incident earlier this month on the border of
the Oecussi enclave.


5. (C) An East Timor diplomatic source in Jakarta confirmed
that the GOI had exerted pressure on this issue behind the
scenes. In advance of President Xanana Gusmao's trip to New
York, Dino Djalal had cautioned that President Yudhoyono was
"concerned" about the release of the CAVR report to the SYG
and the statement he was planning to make before the Security
Council on January 23. Following Xanana Gusmao's meeting
with SYG Annan on January 20, the Presidential Palace
formally turned down the East Timorese President's request
for a meeting with Yudhoyono on January 27. Our source told
us that Xanana Gusmao now hoped to smooth ruffled feathers

with a call to Yudhoyono during his upcoming stopover in Bali.


6. (C) The bilateral Commission On Truth and Friendship has
also postponed a trip to Dili previously scheduled for
January 29. An East Timorese member of the CTF told an
officer at Embassy Dili that an Indonesian member of the CTF
reported that the postponement was at the urging of the
Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs. The East Timorese
diplomat in Jakarta said that the DFA wanted a "cooling-off"
period of several weeks before the Dili trip took place.


7. (C) Indonesian commission member Ambassador Wisber Loeis
told A/DCM Jan. 25 that the Indonesian commissioners had to
take Indonesian "public opinion" into account and confirmed
that the cooling-off period would be necessary before travel
to Dili. The Commission had planned to consult with
government officials, civil society organizations and leading
opponents to the Commission in Dili, including the Roman
Catholic Church, to help prepare the ground for future work.
Loeis said the commission had been contacted by various
parliamentarians and was sensitive to criticism within the
Indonesian media. In the meantime, the Indonesian side was
attempting to organize a commission meeting in Bali on Feb. 1
so that work would nonetheless continue in other areas.
Loeis noted that the CAVR report would be an important one
for the commission to review and take into account as the
Commission's work moved forward.


8. (C) Comment: The temporary delay of the travel to Dili
and the posturing by some Indonesian politicians
notwithstanding, we believe that the work of the CTF will not
be derailed. As reported in ref. B, President Yudhoyono told
the Ambassador of the importance he attaches to the CTF's
work and using it to help build better ties between Jakarta
and Dili. End comment.
PASCOE