AGO TASK FORCE BECOMES OPERATIONAL AS POSO TRIALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 013454 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR S/CT, G/TIP AND EAP/MTS INL FOR BOULDIN AND S/CT DOJ FOR CTS THORNTON, OPDAT FOR ALEXANDRE/LEHMANN/CRAWFORD FBI FOR ETTUI/SSA ROTH C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (PASS LINE ADDEES) E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2016 TAGS: PTER PGOV KJUS ASEC ID SUBJECT: AGO TASK FORCE BECOMES OPERATIONAL AS POSO TRIALS BEGIN REF: A. JAKARTA 09443 - CT TASK FORCE INAUGURATION ¶B. JAKARTA 09160 - OPTIMISM FOR POSO PEACE JAKARTA 00013454 001.3 OF 003 Classified By: Political Officer Adam West for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Less than four months after the group's official inauguration, the Attorney General's Terrorism and Transnational Crime Task Force is now becoming operational. In October, Post delivered $100,000 worth of computers and other office equipment to the Task Force's newly-renovated office space, part of a $750,000 ESF grant which funded the group's creation. Task Force prosecutors are now tackling their first cases, among them the trials of three suspects linked to the beheadings of three school girls in Poso, Central Sulawesi in 2005 which opened in Jakarta in November. Experienced terrorist prosecutor and Task Force member Payaman Hutupea leads the prosecution team. Task Force members are also working on 10 cases involving trafficking in persons. On November 29-30, the DOJ Resident Legal Advisor organized the first of a series of INL-funded training sessions aimed at bringing advanced investigative and prosecutorial techniques to Task Force members and other prosecutors. This first training session focused on cybercrime and the use of computer-based evidence in trials. While the operational start of the Task Force is a welcome development in the AGO's efforts to combat more effectively certain types of criminal activity, questions regarding its long-term staffing policy and budgetary support remain unanswered. End Summary. Task Force Infrastructure in Place -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The AGO's Terrorism and Transnational Crime Task Force was becoming operational in November (ref A). More than two years in the making, the Task Force was created to oversee the prosecution of cases that involve terrorism, money laundering, trafficking in persons and cybercrime. A $750,000 ESF grant provides start-up funds for the group, and on September 28 Post delivered the first shipment of computers and office equipment to the newly-renovated Task Force offices. The delivery included 25 computers, two photocopiers, five printers and various small office machines and supplies. Post also purchased electronic access control pads and security cameras for the Task Force offices. Poso Beheadings Trials Are First Real Test -------------- ¶3. (C) In November, the Task Force began working on its first group of cases. The most prominent of these are the trials of three terrorist suspects arrested last spring for their alleged involvement in the 2005 beheading of three school girls in Poso, Central Sulawesi (ref B). The trials of Hasanuddin aka Hasan aka Slamet Rahardjo, Lilik Purwanto aka Haris aka Arman, and Irwanto Irano aka Iwanaka Priantono opened in Jakarta in the third week of November. All three suspects were charged under the anti-terror law of 2003. The three men are members of the Tanah Runtuh cell, a JI-affiliated militant group based in Poso. Hasanuddin, who was not present at the time of the behedings, is charged with inciting the attack and i the only one of the three facing the death penaty. Purwanto and Irano were directly involved incarryi(ng out the attack but did not actually wield the weapons. They are charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. According to our court monitor (protect: our court monitor's relationship with the embassy is not publicly acknowledged),Hasanuddin had many supporters in attendance for the November 22 opening of his trial. Well-spoken and unrepentant, Hasanuddin admitted that he had carried out "mutilation" and justified his actions as a reprisal for attacks on Muslims during the 1999-2001 sectarian fighting in the province which, he asserted, the government had left unpunished. ¶4. (C) Lead prosecutor for the three cases is Task Force member Payaman Hutupea, a veteran prosecutor with previous experience in terrorist cases, including the trials of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and Rusman Gunawan. Our court monitor praised Hutupa's performance thus far, describing the indictment as JAKARTA 00013454 002.3 OF 003 highly detailed and well-prepared. The indictments rely heavily on the testimony of witnesses and the suspects themselves, but also include some physical evidence: the fingerprints of Irano and Purwanto, which were found on the plastic bags used to store the victim's remains, and a letter found near the bags that investigators determined was written by Hasanuddin. (Note: This is a positive development because direct physical evidence such as fingerprints is rarely seen in criminal cases in Indonesia.) ¶5. (C) One of the main gaps in the indictment is that it fails to mention the videotaped confessions that the defendants made in May while in police custody, which Poloffs viewed in July. In the videos, the three suspects admitted their involvement in several attacks over the past few years, including the schoolgirl beheadings, the May 2005 Tentena bombing that killed 22 people and the murder of several prominent individuals in Poso. However, the indictments mention their roles in the beheadings only. Police contacts told us that they have little evidence on which to base a prosecution for the Tentena bombings and the other attacks, but were hopeful that charges would be brought at a later date after the arrest of additional suspects. Hutupea told us that he had met several times with investigators at police headquarters but that he had not been told about the videos. He described the police dossiers as "incomplete" and the cases as relying primarily on the testimony provided by six witnesses from Poso, including the sole surviving victim of the beheading attack. Hutupea said the police had agreed to pay for the witnesses to travel to Jakarta to testify. Trafficking in Persons -------------- ¶6. (C) The Task Force is also pursuing 10 cases involving trafficking in persons. Task Force prosecutors Laksmi Rohmulyati and Asep Maryono are handling two cases in coordination with a local prosecutor in Subang, West Java, the venue for the trial. Rohmulyati was confident that the distance would not negatively impact her ability to work with the local prosecutor, whom she knew personally. However, she was unclear as to which office was considered to have the lead in the case, and indicated that the relationship between the Task Force and the local prosecutors' offices with which they collaborated had yet to be defined. Training in Cybercrime and Computer-based Evidence -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) On November 29-30, DOJ Resident Legal Advisor (RLA) organized the first of a series of training seminars targeted at Task Force members and other prosecutors and funded by the ESF grant. The seminar brought 35 prosecutors together to explore the themes of crimes committed on computers and the use of computer-based evidence in trials. In his introduction, Task Force Chief Thomson Siagian said the growing usefulness of computer-based evidence in conducting criminal investigations contrasted with the lack of clear regulations in the Indonesian criminal code concerning the use of such evidence in court. He explained that while computer-based evidence was explicitly permitted under the laws regulating terrorism and corruption cases, the legal basis for its use in more common cases was uncertain. Presenters from the Indonesian National Police Cybercrime Unit discussed various types of crimes committed via computer and highlighted a recent case in which two men with links to Bali I bomber Iman Samudra we re tracked and eventually arrested based on their on-line chatting. ¶8. (SBU) DOJ Adviser focused on practical ways in which computer evidence could be used, both in police investigations and in the courtroom. He described ways in which the source of an email could be traced, how the content of old emails could be retrieved and how to preserve the integrity of computer evidence during the investigation. He cited cases studies which showed how computer-based evidence could be used in an investigation, and emphasized how international legal cooperation was often essential in bringing the investigation to a successful conclusion. JAKARTA 00013454 003.2 OF 003 Questions About Budgets and Staffing -------------- ¶9. (C) The beginning of Task Force operations is a welcome development in the AGO's efforts to more effectively combat certain types of criminal activity. Still, a number of long-term issues remain unclear. One of these is how Task Force operational expenses will be funded. According to Rohmulyati, the Task Force lacks its own budgetary allocation. As a result, most of the prosecutors assigned to it must divide their time between the Task Force and the offices from which they were drawn (and which continue to pay their salaries),reducing the workload the group is able to bear. Moreover, the lack of an independent budget has a direct impact on the tenure of the prosecutors assigned to the Task Force. All prosecutors in Indonesia rotate to new positions at regular intervals, nominally every two years but often shorter. Rohmulyati said she expects transfers of Task Force members will be based on their cycle in the offices where their salaries are paid rather than assignment to the Task Force, thereby accelerating the turnover on the Task Force. Indeed, we have already confirmed that one prosecutor will be transferred to another city in February 2007, less than nine months after the establishment of the Task Force. Task Force member Reda Manthovani expressed optimism that the Task Force would receive its own budget line in the coming fiscal year, but this outcome seems far from certain. Post will continue to monitor these issues as they unfold in the coming months. PASCOE