ICC -- GOI PLANS TO ACCEDE TO ROME STATUTE IN 2008

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001753 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, IO, L, PM NSC FOR E.PHU SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/APSA WALTON E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2018 TAGS: PREL KICC PGOV ID SUBJECT: ICC -- GOI PLANS TO ACCEDE TO ROME STATUTE IN 2008 REF: 07 JAKARTA 1656 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Indonesian preparations are on track to accede to the Rome Statute and become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) perhaps by late this year. The principle of accession is part of a 2004 national human rights action plan which the GOI is implementing. The interagency policy and legal rationale for the move is being drafted and legislation will follow shortly. One key reason why there is support in Indonesia for accession is the fact that the Rome Statute is not retroactive and thus GOI personnel could not come up for ICC charges for past misdeeds. END SUMMARY. PLANNING TO ACCEDE ¶2. (C) The GOI seems on track to accede to the Rome Statute. On September 12, Dep/Pol/C met with Harkristiti Harkristowo, Director General for Human Rights in the Department of Law and Human Rights, to inquire about the status of Indonesia's plans to accede to the International Criminal Court. Harkristowo said Indonesia's National Human Rights Action Plan, created in 2004, mandated accession to the ICC by 2008. The Department of Defense was still briefing the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) on the Rome Statute and the implications of accession. Defense Minister Sudarsono supported the bill, she said, but the TNI was still debating its full implications. PREPARING LEGISLATION ¶3. (C) Harkrisnowo said her office was now in the process of drafting an "academic memorandum" with background on the ICC and the policy and legal rationale for accession. Two interagency meetings had been held in the past month to develop the policy consensus and a third meeting was planned. The memorandum would be circulated to legal experts inside and outside the government for comment and would eventually become the cover memorandum for accession legislation that would be presented to the Indonesian Parliament. ¶4. (C) Harkrisnowo said her office would soon begin drafting the actual legislation. The bill would be fairly simple and would consist of 1) the decision to accede and 2) instructions to ministers to bring laws and regulations into conformity with the accession decision. She said little coordination had occurred yet with the Indonesian legislature (DPR). She noted that this step usually occurred after the draft legislation had been submitted to the president. ¶5. (C) DPR contacts have confirmed that ICC accession is on the legislative agenda for 2008. That does not guarantee passage before the end of the calendar year, but the fact that it reportedly has been moved ahead of other pieces of legislation, including the reform of the military justice system, suggests that the DPR intends to give it high priority. DPR legislation typically passes with a broad multiparty consensus. So far, there has been very little public comment on the principle of ICC accession, so it is difficult to tell how easy it will be to reach consensus. That said, if the government pushes, the DPR will probably get on board without too much problem. ¶6. (C) Neither the academic memorandum nor the bill itself would address U.S. or other third-country positions regarding the ICC, Harkrisnowo stated. The impact of Indonesia's accession on its relations with other countries was a separate issue that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU) JAKARTA 00001753 002 OF 002 was already considering but that would not play a major role in the accession. DEPLU would take the lead, once the bill had become law, to make any necessary arrangements with other countries. (Note: This is consistent with indications from DEPLU, which referred us to the Department for Law and Human Rights regarding the Rome Statute. That said, senior DEPLU officials indicated in 2007 Indonesia's readiness to conclude an Article 98 agreement with the United States--reftel.) NON-RETROACTIVITY IS KEY ¶7. (C) Given that the accession principle is already embedded in the GOI's national action plan, our sense is that the issue will not generate much debate in the DPR. GOI officials are well aware that the Rome Statute is not retroactive from the date of a nation's accession and that the ICC therefore will not have the authority to deal with human rights issues from Indonesia's past. If the ICC had retroactive jurisdiction, Indonesia would be far less ready to accede to the Rome Statute. Any DPR debate on subjecting the TNI to the ICC will, in any case, need to focus on future accountability. HUME