INDONESIA EXPELS TWO AMCITS FROM PAPUA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 008249

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ASEC CASC AS ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA EXPELS TWO AMCITS FROM PAPUA

REF: A. JAKARTA 8058 (ARREST OF BRIAN KEANE)


B. JAKARTA 8059 (ARREST OF CASEY BOX)

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


1. (C) Summary. The Indonesian government's detention and
expulsion of two Amcits who had planned to attend a Papuan
indigenous group's conference illustrates Jakarta's
increasing sensitivity about alleged foreign support for
separatism. This suspicion has increased markedly since the
Australian government's March 23 decision to grant temporary
asylum to 42 Papuans. Although the two Amcits were not
physically mistreated, the GOI's handling of the affair will
reinforce the GOI's image in some NGO circles as a repressive
and paranoid regime. End summary.


2. (C) Amcits Brian Keane and Casey Box, members of Land Is
Life (a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based NGO),were detained by
police in Jayapura, Papua on June 26, and subsequently
expelled from Indonesia on June 29. They had arrived in
Jayapura on June 25 at the invitation of the Papua
Traditional Council (Dewan Adat Papua or DAP, an indigenous
rights group whose leaders are longstanding contacts of
ours). This account of the incident is based on information
provided by Mr. Keane and by DAP leaders, who were in touch
with the Embassy by cell phone as events unfolded.


3. (C) Mr. Keane said he had met DAP members attending a
UN-sponsored conference on indigenous rights in the U.S. He
received an invitation to the DAP's Congress in Jayapura on
relatively short notice. He and Land Is Life intern Casey
Box flew from the US to Jakarta, where they were granted an
Indonesian visa on entry, and immediately continued to
Jayapura, arriving on early on June 25. On June 26, after a
day of resting from their long trip, their presence attracted
the attention of the Jayapura police, who check hotel
registers for the presence of foreign visitors on a daily
basis. When police learned that the pair were in Jayapura to
attend the DAP event, they detained and questioned them for
several hours. The police, Keane reported, seemed to be
looking for a legal pretext to arrest them.


4. (C) The Americans were turned over to the immigration
service, which subjected them to another lengthy
interrogation. Keane said that both at the police station
and immigration office, a large number and variety of persons
tried to insert themselves into the proceedings, including
unidentified plainclothes government officials, Kopassus, DAP
members, drunken locals, and journalists. On June 27, there
was extensive coverage, featuring photos, in the Indonesian
papers including the prestigious daily Kompas. Keane said
that they were reassured by the presence of the DAP members,
who provided a cell phone, enabling them to contact the
Embassy on the evening of June 26.


5. (C) The immigration authorities, Keane said, told them
that attending the DAP congress was a political activity
incompatible with the purpose of the visa they had been
issued. Keane and Box were therefore escorted by an
immigration officer to Jakarta on a Tuesday afternoon flight.
Arriving in Jakarta near midnight on Tuesday, June 27, they
were met and interviewed by conoff, who accompanied them to
the Immigration holding center, where they spent the night.
On June 28, Conoff and poloff met briefly with Muhammad
Indra, Secretary of the Directorate of Immigration. Indra
said that Keane and Casey were being expelled because they
had become involved with an organization whose activities
were "sensitive" to the government of Indonesia. Conoff then
met with Keane and Box to finalize arrangements for their
departure from Indonesia. After a second night in
Immigration custody, the Amcits left Indonesia early on the
morning of June 29.


6. (C) Comment: This episode illustrates the central
government's increasing sensitivity to foreigners' activities
in Papua in the wake of Australia's March 23 extension of
temporary asylum to 42 Papuans. This suspicion has taken
other forms. In recent months, diplomats from the
Netherlands and New Zealand, as well as AusAid personnel,
have been refused permission to travel to Papua. Diplomats
granted permission to travel are warned sternly about the
hazards of meeting with some local NGOs such as the DAP, and
are strongly encouraged to provide detailed schedules to the
Department of Foreign Affairs. We received permission to
conduct a visit the week of July 10, but had to meet with
Foreign Ministry officials for the first time to hear

JAKARTA 00008249 002.2 OF 002


warnings about conducting ourselves properly. We declined
their offers of assistance to make appointments and provide a
detailed appointment schedule. This incident also
illustrates the short-sightedness of the central government
on these issues. Rather than permitting Keane and Box to
attend the DAP conference (a completely legal event) and to
reach their own conclusions about conditions in Papua, the
GOI has reinforced its image as a repressive and paranoid
regime, at least as far as Papua is concerned. We assume
that the two Land Is Life staffers' experiences will spread
among Papua watchers in the NGO community and on Capitol
Hill. End comment.
PASCOE