PAPUA -- GOI DOES NOT PLAN TO RELEASE DETAINED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001555 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/ANP, DRL, DRL/AWH DEPT ALSO FOR H NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PHUM ID SUBJECT: PAPUA -- GOI DOES NOT PLAN TO RELEASE DETAINED ACTIVISTS REF: JAKARTA 1522 JAKARTA 00001555 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Senior Indonesian officials have announced that the GOI does not plan to release two detained Papuan activists who are the subject of a recent U.S. Congressional letter. Indonesian legislators and some officials continue to condemn the letter as "interference" in Indonesia's internal affairs. Mission has released a statement that expressed our support for Indonesian territorial integrity and called on the GOI to respect human rights in the province. Contacts in Papua reported that the detained activists are being well treated. END SUMMARY. STRONG REACTIONS CONTINUE ¶2. (SBU) A Congressional letter focused on human rights in the Papua region of eastern Indonesia continues to raise hackles in Indonesia. Indonesian officials and parliamentarians have flagged their strong--and overwhelmingly negative--reaction to the letter from 40 Members of Congress calling for the release of two Papuan activists imprisoned for raising a separatist flag during a 2004 protest. (Note: The two Papuans, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage, were sentenced in 2005 to 10 and 15 years respectively for their role in the peaceful protest. See reftel). ¶3. (SBU) In comments to the media, several members of the House of Representatives (DPR) called the letter an unwarranted "intervention" and "interference" in Indonesia's internal affairs. They charged that the Congressional letter signaled that the United States supported Papuan separatists. ¶4. (SBU) Striking a more moderate tone, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said Indonesians should tolerate such protests as they did not threaten Indonesian sovereignty or territorial integrity. Indonesian officials should not "overreact" to occasional flag raising incidents, Sudarsono counseled. ¶5. (C) Mission has released a statement that reaffirmed United States' support for Indonesian sovereignty and territorial integrity. The statement also called on the GOI to implement fully Papua's Special Autonomy Law and to respect the human rights of all Indonesians. Presidential Spokesman Dino told the Ambassador that the GOI appreciated the statement. GOI WILL NOT RELEASE ACTIVISTS ¶6. (C) Speaking to reporters on August 13, Djalal said the GOI would not release the two activists. He also said Indonesian Ambassador to the U.S. Sudjadnan Parnodingingrat--not President Yudhoyono--would reply to the letter. In August 14 comments echoing Djalal's points, Gembong Prijono, a key adviser to Vice President Kalla, told Pol/C that President Yudhoyono could not answer the letter directly for political reasons. The letter had caused a "nationalistic, anti-intervention" backlash, he claimed, which had put the President in a corner. ¶7. (C) Like many Indonesians concerned about the country's territorial integrity, Prijono also took a hard-line on the Indonesian crime of using "separatist" symbols, asserting that treason was the appropriate charge. Pol/C noted that the GOI should think flexibly about the situation--GOI assertions that waving a flag during a peaceful demonstration was treason seemed excessive and was very controversial internationally. JAKARTA 00001555 002.2 OF 002 ACTIVISTS BEING WELL TREATED ¶8. (C) Poloff discussed the detained activists with Frederika Korain, an official at the Catholic Peace and Justice Secretariat in Jayapura, the provincial capital. Korain meets regularly with the two, who are being held at Abepura Prison, just outside Jayapura. She told poloff that both were in good condition and were not being mistreated. Pakage, who is diabetic, received regular medical treatment for his condition. Karma is undergoing physical therapy for back problems. That said, the prison, which dates to the Dutch colonial period, suffers from overcrowding and other problems. ¶9. (C) Korain also said that conditions in the prison were improving considerably following the appointment of the reform-minded Antonious Ayorbaba as its new director. Ayorbaba, an ethnic Papuan, maintains a good relationship with local human-rights activists and frequently acts on their recommendations. In one recent case, he immediately reassigned several prison guards who were accused of mistreating inmates. He is also pressing for the construction of a new prison in order to ease overcrowding in the current facility. HUME