PRESSING PARLIAMENT TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 002681 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (CORRECTED ADDITIONAL ADDRESSEE) E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ID BM SUBJECT: PRESSING PARLIAMENT TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST THE BURMA CRACKDOWN REF: A. JAKARTA 02211 ¶B. JAKARTA 02500 ¶C. STATE 123219 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b)(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Pol/C met September 21 with a key parliamentarian and briefed him on the situation in Burma. Pol/C urged that the national legislature take a stand against the Burmese regime, pressing the GOI to be more pro-active. Poloff then spoke with another parliamentarian--the head of the Myanmar Caucus--who said a petition condemning the regime was being prepared, but had not yet been submitted to the President's office. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Pol/C met September 21 with Theo Sambuaga, the Chair of the Commission on Foreign Affairs and Defense in the Indonesian national legislature (DPR). Pol/C reviewed the latest news regarding the situation in Burma, noting the September 20 peaceful demonstration by thousands of Buddhist monks joined by citizens in Rangoon. Pol/C showed Sambuaga a front-page photo of the event on the cover of the International Herald Tribune. Sambuaga said he was generally aware of the situation in Burma, but was not aware of the latest news, which he noted was not being covered to any significant extent in local media. ¶3. (C) Continuing, Pol/C underscored that the USG was deeply concerned about the ongoing crackdown, which had included many arrests and beatings. The brutal crackdown and the total illegitimacy of the so-called National Convention starkly showed the regime's opposition to any genuine dialogue. Given Indonesia's role as a new democracy, it could play a key role in the UN, ASEAN and bilateral contexts in applying pressure on the regime to relent. So far, however, there was little evidence that the Indonesian government had done this--it had not issued a public statement condemning the crackdown and had not taken a stand in other contexts, for example. It would be positive if the DPR--in the spirit of 1998 when Indonesia had rid itself of an autocracy--could step forward to press the government on this, as well as stimulate public discussion of what was happening in a neighboring state. ¶4. (C) Sambuaga replied that he would see what he could do. He believed that it was vital for there to be a peaceful transition to democracy in Burma. He would be in touch with the GOI to urge that it take a pro-active position on the situation and would urge legislators to get involved in publicizing the situation. ¶5. (C) Poloff also spoke with Djoko Susilo, Chairman of the Indonesian Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar, who said the Caucus had drafted a statement condemning the regime. According to Susilo, the Caucus would relay the statement soon to the president's office as part of its broader strategy to encourage the GOI to take action on the issue. HUME