NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH UNIT -- LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001247

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR P, EAP, L, OES, G/AIAG, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP
NSC FOR E.PHU
SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/AP - P. IPSEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/26/2018
TAGS: PREL MARR TBIO AMED ID
SUBJECT: NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH UNIT -- LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS

REF: JAKARTA 1199 AND PREVIOUS

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Indonesian House of Representatives
(DPR) held hearings June 23 and 25 to discuss the future of
the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU 2) based in
Jakarta. The DPR heard testimony from high-level
representatives of the Ministry of Health, the military, and
the Department of Foreign Affairs. While the tone of some
ministers and the military chief of staff was critical of
NAMRU, other comments were more favorable. Mission
continues to work with the GOI to set dates for negotiations
of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on NAMRU 2. END
SUMMARY.

FOREIGN MINISTER TESTIFIES


2. (SBU) On June 23, the DPR's Commission I dealing with
foreign and defense policy held long-planned hearings on
NAMRU 2. Testifying for his ministry, Foreign Minister
Wirajuda said that Indonesia wanted to work closely with the
USG on this matter and was planning to hold discussions on
the MOU shortly. He noted, however, that only the director
and deputy of the facility should have "diplomatic immunity
and privileges" and no one else. "The laboratory is a
research facility and not a diplomatic mission; we've been
trying to limit such privileges to only the top two American
staff," he said. This issue would figure in the discussions
with the USG, he added. (Note: Our position remains that all
NAMRU-employed Americans require A & T staff status, not
diplomatic status.)


3. (SBU) Eddy Pratomo, Director General for International
Law and Agreements at DEPLU, provided the Commission with the
history of NAMRU 2, a review of its legal status and the
current status of negotiations on the MOU. He said that
since the Ministry of Health was the recipient of NAMRU-2
research DEPLU would defer to it for an opinion on the
benefits of NAMRU 2 for Indonesia.


4. (SBU) Pratomo also told the Commission that the function
of an embassy is not to do medical research and that the
position of NAMRU 2 as a part of the U.S. Embassy should be
reviewed. He continued that DEPLU is having difficulty
supervising NAMRU officials because their diplomatic status
is unclear. Pratomo also commented that all "interested" GOI
agencies would be involved in the final decision on NAMRU 2's
status, including the Ministry of Health, military (TNI),
Intelligence, Customs and the Department of Justice. Echoing
Wirajuda, he underscored that the GOI looked forward to
discussions on the NAMRU 2 MOU with the USG.

HEALTH MINISTRY, MILITARY COMMENTS


5. (SBU) During the continuation of the hearings on June 25,
Minister of Health, Siti Supari, stated she was "very
disappointed" in the visit of the Commission's members to
NAMRU 2 earlier this month. She said the visit was
"worthless" because NAMRU 2 did nothing to further the
interests of Indonesian medical research--only the U.S.
military receives any benefit from the facility. She also
stressed that the Health Ministry's Research and Development
Center had not gained anything from the cooperation with
NAMRU 2 except for small research jobs. Supari also said the
cooperation is not equal--the GOI also should have the
reciprocal right to take virus samples from hospitals in
Washington, D.C. She told the Commission that "if the
Philippines can expel NAMRU 2, Indonesia should do the same."
Supari closed by adding that the original cooperative
agreement to allow NAMRU to operate in Indonesia was signed
in 1970 and did not--she asserted--"respect Indonesian
sovereignty."

JAKARTA 00001247 002 OF 002




6. (SBU) Armed Forces Chief Djoko Santoso, in a troubling
addition to the criticism re NAMRU 2, told the hearing that
NAMRU should be allowed to continue operating only if the
terms of the MOU are made more equal. He said the Indonesian
Navy should be the counterpart rather than the Ministry of
Health. He also complained that international protocols make
it mandatory for Indonesia to allow inspections of all
facilities within a radius of 350 miles if a biological
accident occurs--forcing the GOI to allow access to sensitive
government and military installations. Defense Minister
Juwono Sudarsono also testified, with a basically negative
view, criticizing NAMRU 2 for lack of transparency and
equality. Santoso stated: "If this agreement is to
continue, the military wants to see conditions imposed. For
instance, traveling researchers must go through clearance,
and they need to register and operate with lines of
accountability that we can monitor."


7. (SBU) In more upbeat comments, Kusmayanto Kadiman,
Minister for Research and Technology, told the Commission
that he supported NAMRU 2 as long as it was based on the
spirit of international research cooperation. He said that
equity is the key to cooperation and that the cooperation
should protect Indonesia's resources and intellectual
property rights. Kadiman also said that so far the
cooperation had been based on an equal partnership between
the two countries, and that the research has been shared
fairly. He finished by reminding the Commission that
Indonesia also had medical research agreements with Germany,
the Netherlands and Slovenia.

SOME OPTIONS


8. (SBU) After the June 25 hearing, Commission I members
proposed the following three possible outcomes re NAMRU 2:

-- 1) Shut down NAMRU 2 now;

-- 2) Stop NAMRU 2's operations, while evaluating its benefit
to Indonesia's national interests; or,

-- 3) Continue to allow NAMRU 2 to operate under new
appropriate, negotiated conditions.


9. (SBU) The Chair of Commission I, Theo Sambuaga, noted
that he personally supported option "3," commenting that he
thought that NAMRU was "doing valuable research." He added
that some of the terms of the MOU needed to be adjusted,
however, which could be done during the upcoming
negotiations. Over all, observers noted that GOLKAR party
members (like Sambuaga) seemed inclined to support NAMRU,
while the opposition Indonesian Party of Democratic Struggle
(PDI-P) and some Muslim parties were not.

NEXT STEPS


10. (C) In a June 26 meeting, Pol/C asked Tri Sukma "Nanu"
Djandam of the President's Office about the Commission I
hearings. He replied that the DPR's views were "non-binding"
on the executive branch. President Yudhoyono was firmly
committed to negotiations on the MOU, he noted. Djandam
added that he would be a member of the GOI negotiating team.
He confirmed that Eddy Pratomo of DEPLU would head the GOI
team. As for the date of the negotiations, he said the
Indonesians wanted to hold them as soon as possible, but were
still reviewing dates. He expected the talks to take place
in early July.

HUME