GOI--REACTING TO CONCERNS--ADJUSTS REMISSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 002892 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, S/CT, INL FOR BOULDIN, INR/EAP DOJ FOR CRIM AAG SWARTZ, DOJ/OPDAT FOR LEHMANN/ALEXANDRE/BERMAN DOJ/CTS FOR MULLANEY, ST HILAIRE FBI FOR ETTUI/SSA ROTH NCTC WASHDC NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2017 TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV KJUS ID SUBJECT: GOI--REACTING TO CONCERNS--ADJUSTS REMISSION POLICY FOR THOSE CONVICTED OF TERRORISM REF: A. JAKARTA 2852 B) 06 JAKARTA 12773 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In response to international concerns, the GOI has quietly adjusted its sentence remission policy for those convicted of terrorism-related offenses. Instead of applying the annual holiday-timeframe remissions policy for all prisoners indiscriminately, the GOI will take time to review the files of those convicted of terrorist offenses before deciding whether or not to take action. This new rule was put in place by the GOI specifically in time for the fifth anniversary of the October 12, 2002, Bali bombings. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On October 12, Mission again expressed our concerns to the GOI regarding its policy of granting remissions to convicted terrorists annually on the Idul Fitri holiday (October 13 this year) as part of the general policy of routinely granting remissions to all Muslim prisoners for good behavior. Pol/C underscored USG concerns with Department of Foreign Affairs contacts. Pol/C also emphasized our concerns to Untung Sugiono, Director General for Correctional Institutions, the second-highest official in the Ministry of Legal Affairs. Pol/C underlined that granting remissions to terrorists is wholly inappropriate and insensitive to the feelings of their victims; moreover, it sends the completely wrong signal to the international community. ¶3. (C) Sugiono apologized for the policy, which he said predates the September 11, 2001, attacks. He explained, however, that a 2006 law does restrict the eligibility for remissions for those convicted of terrorism and other transnational crimes (e.g., terrorism, money laundering, and narcotics),requiring that they serve a third of their sentence before being eligible, compared to only six months for those convicted prior to the 2006 law. ¶4. (C) Furthermore, he continued, no convicted terrorists or person convicted of transnational crimes would be granted remission on October 13 (when the policy will be implemented for those convicted of less serious crimes). For terrorists and others convicted of transnationa crimes, authorities must submit the requests through provincial governments to the Ministry of Legal Affairs, which will decide on the remission requests in approximately two months. He said this rule (which apparently has not yet been made public) was instituted this year specifically out of concern for the feelings of October 12, 2002, Bali bombing victims (a commemoration ceremony will take place in Bali today marking the fifth anniversary of the deadly attacks). ¶5. (SBU) Sugiono added that 52,400 prisoners will be granted routine remissions on October 13. These legally-mandated sentence reductions are given on three dates each year, Idul Fitri, Christmas (for Christians) and Indonesian Independence Day (August 17),provided that the prisoner has demonstrated good behavior. ¶6. (C) Mission compared notes with the Australian Embassy which has been very active on this matter. We agreed that the new policy--while not perfect--was an improvement over the old one, which--in its blanket application--was correctly seen as very lenient on terrorists. HEFFERN