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