INDONESIA REACTS, SPURRED ON BY REGIME'S BLOODY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002737

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL, EAP/PD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ID BM KPAO
SUBJECT: INDONESIA REACTS, SPURRED ON BY REGIME'S BLOODY
CRACKDOWN

REF: A. USUN 797


B. JAKARTA 2693

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: FM Wirajuda broke the government's silence
on Burmese events, calling September 26 for the regime to
exercise restraint and noting that the matter will be
discussed in the ASEAN context. Mission continues to press
the GOI to use all levers available to try to pressure the
regime. Indonesian legislators have ramped up their
anti-regime posture. Indonesian students have taken to the
streets, protesting in front of the Burmese Embassy. The
media--urged on by Mission--is now giving prominent coverage
to the situation. END SUMMARY.

GOI BREAKS ITS SILENCE
--------------


2. (U) Speaking September 26 in New York where he is
attending UNGA, FM Hassan Wirajuda urged the Burmese regime
to exercise restraint and not to use force against
protestors, stating:

"Indonesia urges Myanmar not to resort to coercive measures
in handling the peaceful rallies. If they go that way, it is
negative for the Myanmar people as well as for ASEAN."


3. (U) Recent developments showed that the so-called "road
map to democracy" was going nowhere, despite the regime's
protestations to the contrary, he stated. FM Wirajuda
doubted that further sanctions would be effective, saying
that the regime was already isolated. He did, however,
endorse bringing the issue of Burma to the UN Human Rights
Council. Wirajuda added that ASEAN foreign ministers would
discuss Burma as part of a previously scheduled meeting in
New York on September 28.

MISSION OUTREACH
--------------


4. (C) Noting that Wirajuda's comments were basically
positive, but hardly enough given the bloody events in Burma,
Pol/C underscored to Harry Purwanto, Director for North
American Affairs at the Department of Foreign Affairs
(DEPLU),the need for intensified Indonesian pressure on
Burma. Noting the Indonesian PermRep's basically positive
comments during the UNSC discussion of Burma on September 26
(Ref A),Pol/C urged Indonesia to continue putting pressure
on Burma in the UN and especially in ASEAN contexts,
including at the planned September 28 meeting. Purwanto
acknowledged these points. He did not have any information
regarding GOI plans to bring the issue to the UN Human Rights
Council, but would look into the matter. Asked for a formal
text of Wirajuda's remarks, he said he would try to get one.


5. (C) Pol/C also stressed the importance of a strong ASEAN
stand to Gudadi Sasongko, DEPLU's Deputy Director for East
Asian and Pacific Affairs. Sasongko replied that a Burmese
representative would brief ASEAN foreign ministers on the
situation during the September 28 meeting. After that
briefing, Sasongko expected the ASEAN ministers present to
criticize the regime sharply. In making his comments,
Wirajuda had been spurred on by the brutal images emerging
from Rangoon, he added. Pol/C underlined the importance of
Indonesian cooperation with Special Envoy Gambari and his
planned trip to the region.


6. (C) In continuing outreach to influential opinion leaders,
Pol/C discussed Burma with Rizal Malarangeng, director of the
Freedom Institute, a public policy institute. Pol/C
emphasized the need for Indonesian civil society to take a
firm stand in support of the people of Burma and to do it
now. Malarangeng agreed that the GOI needed to take action
and said he delivered this message to presidential spokesman
Dino Djalal in a September 26 conversation. Malarangeng said
he would host a television discussion on Burma this weekend
and noted that numerous Indonesian think-tanks were planning
near-term events to discuss the situation. He added that he
planned to discuss the situation with his brother, a

JAKARTA 00002737 002 OF 002


presidential spokeman.

LEGISLATORS RAMP IT UP
--------------


7. (U) Indonesian legislators continue to ramp up their
criticism of the Burmese regime (Ref B). On September 26, 28
Indonesian parliamentarians from across party lines signed an
open letter from the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus
(AIPMC) to ASEAN, China, and India. The letter urged the
three recipients to work together to "encourage the Myanmar
government to deliver genuine political and economic
reforms." Djoko Susilo, the Chair of the Indonesian
Parliament's Myanmar Caucus, was among the signatories, as
was Marzuki Darusman, another well-respected member of
Parliament. Later in the day, AIPMC issued a press release
condemning the violence against peaceful protesters in
Myanmar. The release noted that:

"AIPMC parliamentarians from Malaysia, Indonesia,
Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore condemn the
actions of the junta and strongly urge it to initiate
peaceful discussions with the monks as well as all political
and ethnic leaders to resolve the conflict."

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS
--------------


8. (U) In a demonstration that netted media coverage, a group
of Indonesian students--some of whom belonged to the
country's small Buddhist community--protested peacefully in
front of the Burmese Embassy in Jakarta on September 26. The
students carried pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi and called for
her immediate release. They also called on Indonesians to
show solidarity with the people of Burma.

HYPED UP MEDIA COVERAGE
--------------


9. (SBU) After some weeks of relatively little focus on the
matter despite the build-up in anti-regime momentum, the
Indonesian media is now clued in to what is occuring in
Burma. Indonesia's leading newspapers gave the protests
front-page coverage on September 27, with many providing maps
of Rangoon showing the areas where protests were taking
place. Press coverage also highlighted FM Wirajuda's
comments on the situation. The English-language "Jakarta
Post" carried a strongly worded editorial criticizing ASEAN
leaders for failing to take stronger action against the
Burmese regime. The paper also specifically called on
President Yudhoyono to play a greater leadership role in
ASEAN re the situation. Mission will continue to reach out
to media contacts to urge that they remain focused on this
issue.
HEFFERN