PROLIFERATION SECURITY -- INDONESIA CONTINUES TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003396

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, ISN/CPI
NSC FOR E.PHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2017
TAGS: PREL PHSA PARM PTER ID AS
SUBJECT: PROLIFERATION SECURITY -- INDONESIA CONTINUES TO
ENGAGE

REF: A. STATE 164809

B. JAKARTA 3356

C. JAKARTA 2161

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: The GOI-hosted conference on the
Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) on December 12
yielded a constructive exchange of views. U.S. and
Australian participants felt the exchange moved forward the
dialogue with the GOI. While noting--sometimes
unhelpfully--familiar reservations, Indonesian participants
sounded some positive notes suggesting that the GOI continues
to review PSI with a view to possible low-level cooperation
in the future. Mission recommends that the USG work with
Australia to find additional ways--including observation of
exercises--to engage Indonesia in the near term. END SUMMARY.

INDONESIA'S CONFERENCE


2. (SBU) On December 12 in Jakarta, Indonesia hosted a
conference on PSI in the context of maritime security. The
conference presented the pros and cons of PSI before an
audience of about 70 officials from various Indonesian
agencies whose work deals with maritime security policy.
Speakers from the U.S. Department of State, the Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the National
University of Singapore and two Indonesian agencies gave
15-20 minute presentations, followed by a lively
question-and-answer session. The conference was designed to
educate Indonesia officials on PSI and secondarily to explore
possibilities for Indonesian cooperation with PSI.

AN OBJECTIVE INQUIRY


3. (SBU) Mulya Wirana from the Office of International
Treaties and Legal Affairs in the Indonesian Department of
Foreign Affairs (DEPLU),opened the conference. In his
balanced remarks, he highlighted the maritime security theme
by posing the question of how to reconcile the right of free
passage on the high seas with the need to interdict certain
contraband cargoes.


4. (SBU) Philip (Tony) Foley, Director for
Counterproliferation Initiatives, and Theodore (Ted) Knez,
Deputy for Counter- proliferation in the International
Security Division of the Australian Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade, provided an overview of PSI and its main
features. Foley and Knez emphasized that PSI complemented
and reinforced existing laws and treaties, that dramatic
interdiction operations were rare, that most PSI activities
occurred quietly and out of the public view, often within the
host country. They noted that PSI was designed to identify
and upgrade a country's capabilities, that flag-state consent
was important and that participant countries were under no
legal requirement to act.


5. (C) The U.S. and Australian presentations were followed
by a rather polemical statement by Andy Rachmianto, Deputy
Director for International Security and Disarmament at the
Department of Foreign Affairs. Rachmianto recited the
standard Indonesian reservations about PSI: that its
membership was "selective, voluntary and not internationally
negotiated;" that it was not a UN program; that it
deliberately targeted so-called "rogue states" while sparing
proliferators like Israel, India and Afghanistan; that the
dual-use character of most WMD materials made it difficult to
identify them and risky to take action; and, that false
interdictions impeded free trade.


6. (C) The generally negative tone of Rachmianto's remarks
was not replicated by subsequent Indonesian officials. Pol/C
later spoke with Rachmianto, underscoring that the USG and
the GOI had agreed to a "Strategic Partnership," which
underlined the need for cooperation between the two nations
on security and other matters.

PRESSING FOR COOPERATION


7. (SBU) Robert Beckman, an Amcit and Professor of Law at
the National University of Singapore, made a constructive

JAKARTA 00003396 002 OF 002


presentation. He noted that PSI was only one element of
maritime security, which also involved trafficking in
persons, illegal fishing, piracy and terrorism; that the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) had given maritime
security a high priority after September 11, 2001; and, that
a country's permission was required in order to board a ship
in its territorial waters.


8. (SBU) Beckman also highlighted the problem of stopping
the air transport of WMD, suggested PSI interdiction requests
could exacerbate tensions between countries and asserted PSI
might conflict with the Law of the Sea. On the other hand,
he said Indonesia could not close its eyes to the importance
of its strategic location in the world, could not "just say
no" to PSI and should become better informed about PSI. He
suggested that Indonesia's long fight against terrorism
(since independence) and its strong CT laws could serve as a
model for Indonesian engagement on PSI.


LET'S KEEP THE DOOR OPEN


9. (SBU) Hasyim Djalal--a GOI adviser on maritime issues and
a highly influential former ambassador--focused his
presentation on legal aspects of the UN Convention of the Law
of the Seas (1982),enunciating standing Indonesian
reservations about the legal implications of PSI. He also
highlighted the concern that, once a member, Indonesia would
be expected to act and would be subject to international
criticism if it did not.


10. (SBU) In one of his more positive approaches on the
subject to date, however, Djalal made clear that the GOI
should keep the door open to PSI. He called for going "step
by step" with PSI in order to become more familiar with it,
encouraged Indonesia to participate in U.S. and other
international programs to strengthen port security and export
controls, and urged Indonesia to participate "ad hoc" in, or
observe, PSI training programs and exercises which were open
to non-members. He added that Indonesia should in any case
amend its laws to comply with PSI principles.

NEXT STEPS


11. (C) Mission appreciates Washington's quick and
supportive response to the short-notice Indonesian request
for a speaker and ISN/CPI Director Foley's participation in
the conference. While Indonesian officials did express some
familiar reservations re PSI, they did seem newly open to the
initiative and to discussing it further. They admitted that
as a government they are in a learning mode re the whole
issue and noted that they had limited resources to support
PSI if they became a member.


12. (C) Mission recommends that the USG work with Australia
to find additional ways to engage Indonesia on this topic in
the near term. One way forward is to press an Australian
proposal (ref c) for a more in-depth discussion of PSI with
the purpose of seeking to resolve Indonesian concerns.
Australian Embassy contacts subsequently indicated a
similarly favorable assessment of the Indonesian effort and
expressed appreciation for U.S. support in including an
Australian speaker at the conference.

HUME