PROVIDING AN ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF INDONESIA'S HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000248 SIPDIS SIPDIS G, P, DRL, DRL/AWH, EAP, EAP/MTS NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2018 TAGS: PREL PHUM ID SUBJECT: PROVIDING AN ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF INDONESIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD REF: JAKARTA 00056 Classified By: Ambassador Cameron R. Hume, reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Post is working with the Department to finalize the 2007 Indonesian Country Report on Human Rights Practices. Indonesia has undergone dramatic changes in recent years in expanding democracy and advancing human rights protections. Writing the report by DRL's guidelines does not allow for an accurate description of where Indonesia stands today. While we accept the changes agreed to in paragraph two of the introduction, the Ambassador believes it is essential to include paragraph three to fully reflect Indonesia's current human rights record. We propose the following language. ¶2. (C) Mission's proposed language follows: Indonesia is a multiparty emerging democracy with a population of approximately 245 million. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became the country's first directly elected president in free and fair elections in 2004. Since that time, voters have participated in elections for the House of Representatives (DPR) and the House of Regional Representatives (DPD) as well as for numerous local and regional offices for the first time. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, although the fact that the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) continued to be self-financed weakened this control. The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the frequency and severity of abuses continued to be reduced. However, weak legal institutions, limited resources, and insufficient political will prevented accountability for serious abuses that occurred in the past. Problems during the year included: killings by security forces, although the government did undertake to investigate and deal with such killings; vigilantism; harsh prison conditions; impunity for prison authorities; arbitrary detentions; corruption in the judicial system; some limitations on free speech and on peaceful assembly; interference with freedom of religion, sometimes with the complicity of local officials; intimidation of human rights groups by security forces; serious instances of violence and sexual abuse against women and children; trafficking in persons; forced labor; and failure to enforce labor standards and workers rights. Despite these challenges, the enhanced openness ushered in by the start of the Reformasi era 10 years ago, which has served to assert civilian control over the military and provide tangible improvements to freedom of speech, assembly, press, and religion for people throughout the archipelago, continued to spur positive human rights developments during 2007 on all fronts. During the year, the police and the courts visibly pursued the 2004 murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib; the Constitutional Court issued verdicts bolstering freedom of expression; the government granted followers of traditional beliefs the right to marry in their religion; the parliament inaugurated an energized new Commission on Human Rights; the President signed a strong antitrafficking bill; professionalism of security forces continued to demonstrate marked improvements in respecting human rights; and there were no reported terrorist attacks. HUME