INDONESIA -- NOMINATION FOR DOL AWARD FOR ELIMINATION OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001906 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, DRL, DRL/IL (MMITTELHAUSER) NSC FOR EPHU DEPT OF LABOR FOR ILAB/OCFT EMUIRRAGUI, ILAB BSASSER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV ELAB ID SUBJECT: INDONESIA -- NOMINATION FOR DOL AWARD FOR ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOR REF: A. STATE 99123 ¶B. 07 JAKARTA 3359 JAKARTA 00001906 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Mission Jakarta nominates Seto Mulyadi, a campaigner for child protection, for the USDOL Iqbal Masih Award for Elimination of Child Labor. Details of his leadership in the area of child protection follow. END SUMMARY. THE NOMINEE ¶2. (U) Nominee: a. Name: Mr. Seto Mulyadi b. Title: Chair c. Organization: National Commission for Child Protection d. Address: Jl. TB Simatupang No. 33, Pasar Rebo, Jakarta Timur, 13760, Indonesia e. Telephone/fax/e-mail: tel: (62-21) 840-0573; fax: 841-6158; e-mail: komnaspa@rad.net.id EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ¶3. (U) Background: Child psychologist, former children's talk show host, and founder of an elementary school for home schooled children, Seto Mulyadi has chaired the National Commission for Child Protection (Child Commission or Komnas Anak) since 1998. Because of his intrepid work to rescue children from the worst forms of child labor, he has been barraged with life threatening phone calls and his office was destroyed by arson in early 1998. The fire destroyed thousands of records, computers and furniture, forcing the Child Commission to start from scratch. Due to his efforts, Seto Mulyadi is a worthy recipient of the Iqbal Masih Award. RESCUING CHILDREN FROM SLAVERY ¶4. (U) Over the past 10 years, Mulyadi and a small staff have uncovered cases of the worst forms of child labor involving tens of thousands of children, rescuing many of them. Mulyadi's Child Commission also operates a child protection hotline, and carries out campaigns to protect children from abuse, smoking, pornography, etc. In the past year alone, Mulyadi personally: -- Undertook dangerous trips in early 2008 to the jungles of the Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) region in order to document children enslaved in illegal logging camps. His findings were nationally publicized. He continues to fight for action to rescue these children. -- Led a fact-finding team in August 2008 to plantations in Malaysian Borneo (Sabah) in order to uncover the situation of tens of thousands of children allegedly trapped in bonded labor on plantations. The investigation received widespread national and regional publicity. The Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta announced in September 2008 that it was jointly investigating the situation with the Indonesian Consulate in Sabah, in response to Child Commission findings. -- Penetrated hidden factories in Jakarta where kidnapped children worked round the clock behind locked gates processing birds' nests to export for birds nest soup (Ref B). Mulyadi persisted despite police unwillingness to cooperate, finally convincing authorities to raid one factory, rescuing a dozen young children and arresting the traffickers. The Child Commission team continues to investigate other hidden factories which exploit child labor, working to gather enough evidence to convince authorities to act. ¶5. (U) In previous years, Mulyadi led efforts to document and rescue children trapped in sex slavery throughout Indonesia. Following the December 2004 tsunami in Aceh, he led efforts to prevent orphaned children from being trafficked and set up a children's trauma center. A LEADER'S WIDE IMPACT ¶6. (U) Dozens of NGOs and individuals in Indonesia are carrying out JAKARTA 00001906 002.2 OF 002 local efforts to rescue children from the worst forms of child labor but the Child Commission Anak leads in the scope and impact of its efforts. It systematically investigates some of the worst cases and through cooperation with authorities and publicity the Child Commission has succeeded in bringing terrible conditions to light and rescuing children. This is largely thanks to the leadership of Seto Mulyadi. For his efforts and to support his work in the future, Mission strongly nominates him for this prestigious award. ¶7. (U) Mulyadi is aware of this nomination and approves it. HEFFERN