BURMA: GOI CRITICIZES ASSK'S CONTINUED DETENTION;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001055 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, EAP/MTS (COPE) PASS TO USAID NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID ID BM SUBJECT: BURMA: GOI CRITICIZES ASSK'S CONTINUED DETENTION; ASEAN ON CYCLONE RELIEF REF: JAKARTA 1001 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Foreign Minister Wirajuda has criticized the Burmese regime's extension of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest. Indonesian legislators have also strongly condemned the regime's move and promised to press the Yudhoyono administration to take tougher action. The GOI plans to move forward with cyclone relief to the extent it can, including via the near-term dispatch of a medical team to Burma. ASEAN Secretariat officials in Jakarta outlined the latest details on ASEAN-UN cyclone relief efforts in a May 29 video-conference. END SUMMARY. CRITICISM OF REGIME RE ASSK ¶2. (C) Pol/C raised the Burmese regime's decision to extend Aung San Suu Kyi's (ASSK) house arrest with Trini Gunarti, Acting Director for North American Affairs at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU),on May 29. The same day, poloff pressed the matter with Ade Sukendar, DEPLU's Deputy Director for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Emboffs underscored the need for the regime to begin a genuine dialogue with Burma's democratic opposition. They also noted U.S. appreciation for FM Wirajuda's comments in Manila on May 27 calling on the regime not to extend ASSK's house arrest. Emboffs urged that the GOI and ASEAN keep up the pressure on the regime. ¶3. (C) Both DEPLU interlocutors said the regime's decision was unfortunate. Sukendar, who traveled with FM Wirajuda to Manila, said the Minister was following the matter closely. Wirajuda was particularly angry that the Burmese action had come so soon after the UN-ASEAN pledging conference in Rangoon. Wirajuda believed this was an insult to the international community--and especially to ASEAN--according to Sukendar. (Note: In meetings with visiting JCS Chairman Admiral Mullen, senior Indonesian officials voiced frustration regarding Burma's obstruction of relief efforts--see septel.) ¶4. (SBU) DEPLU's spokesman Kristiarto Legowo said publicly on May 29 that FM Wirajuda "deplored" the regime's decision to continue ASSK's house arrest. Indonesian parliamentarians also criticized the regime's decision. Djoko Susilo, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) Myanmar caucus, called ASSK's house arrest "a gross human rights violation." He told poloff that the DPR's Commission I, responsible for foreign affairs, plans to call FM Wirajuda to explain GOI policy on Burma in mid-June. Susilo said legislators would urge the Yudhoyono administration to increase the pressure on the Burmese regime. Susilo noted that the DPR--as it continued its ratification debate--viewed the ASEAN Charter skeptically, given its lack of effective human rights provisions. The Burmese regime's recent actions would only influence that debate to the detriment of the Charter's ratification by that body. INDONESIAN RELIEF EFFORTS ¶5. (C) Indonesia continues to move forward on cyclone relief to the extent it can. DEPLU official Sukendar told poloff that before the recent pledging conference, FM Wirajuda had pressed other ASEAN Foreign Ministers regarding access to the Irawaddy Delta. In addition to its earlier efforts (see reftels),Sukendar said Indonesia planned to send a thirty-person medical team to Rangoon on June 1 to assist in the relief efforts. The GOI would also dispatch several disaster relief specialists from the Banda Aceh Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) and the National Disaster Coordination Agency (BAKORNAS) to Burma. The Indonesian Embassy in Rangoon would coordinate their JAKARTA 00001055 002 OF 002 activities with the ASEAN-UN relief effort. Several Indonesian NGOs also planned to send medical and other relief specialists, Sukendar said, although he did not have any information about these efforts. ¶6. (C) DPR member Susilo took a tougher line. He called the regime's intransigence re cyclone relief "a crime against humanity." He and his fellow legislators planned to grill FM Wirajuda on this issue during their mid-June meeting. ASEAN TASK FORCE TAKING SHAPE ¶7. (SBU) During the second meeting of the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force by video-conference at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on May 29, Secretary General (SG) Surin noted the following developments: --The regime had nominated Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kyaw Thu to be the head of the Task Force's Tripartite Core Group (TCG); --Singapore had agreed that its Ambassador to Burma should be the head of the ASEAN contingent in the TCG, at least until July when the chair of ASEAN would pass to Thailand; --Singapore had received military permission for direct shipments of food from Singapore to Burma; and, --Visas were being processed more quickly for entry into Burma. ¶8. (SBU) SG Surin also discussed plans for mobilizing the ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team (ERAT). He urged Burma to provide at least half of the ERAT team, particularly language skills and knowledge of local conditions prior to the disaster. Surin also named the United States as one possible source of expert assistance to the ERAT team. ¶9. (SBU) The SecGen also announced that the World Bank was providing $1.5 million to support the ASEAN Secretariat in the area of disaster preparedness and management. Initially, $500,000 would be made available, but negotiations were continuing on how the funds would be provided. The World Bank would also pay to bring three experienced Indonesian damage assessors to Burma to assist in training the ERAT team. HEFFERN