HUMAN RIGHTS -- CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATES IN UN

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000405 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH, IO, DRL/MLGA FOR SHAMMOND IO/RHS FOR AOSTERMEIER NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ID SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS -- CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATES IN UN REVIEW REF: STATE 15507 Classified By: Dep/Pol/C Daniel Turnbull for reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Indonesia--one of the first members of the UN Human Rights Council--will be among the first tranche of countries to undergo a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by that body. Indonesian civil society coalitions have submitted information on human rights to the UN Human Rights Council for consideration during the review, which will take place in mid-April. Activists from national and Papuan NGOs have used the UPR to leverage GOI counterparts on human rights concerns. This message responds to reftel request. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) MAJOR COALITIONS INVOLVED: Several major coalitions of NGOs have provided input to the UPR process. Poloffs met separately with Rafendi Djamin, head of Human Rights Working Group (HRWG),and Budi Hernawan from the Catholic Diocese of Jayapura, who represent an interdenominational coalition of Papuan human rights groups. We encouraged their participation in the U.N. review. ¶3. (U) AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DOMESTIC ADVOCATES: Rafendi told us that HRWG had worked with 24 other NGOs to gather information to submit to the UN for use in Indonesia's review. The 24 NGOs reportedly had used the need to provide information on human rights concerns for the UPR as an opportunity to leverage meetings with GOI counterparts on key human rights concerns. HRWG had held consultative meetings with major civil society organizations, including the CEDAW Working Group of Indonesia, ELSAM, Kontras, legal aid organizations and others to gather information for the submission. Before finalizing their submission, the coalition had met with GOI counterparts, including the military and the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM),to discuss the key concerns to be included in the civil society submission to the UPR process. ¶4. (C) ANGLING FROM JAYAPURA: Human rights NGOs in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua are also participating in the UPR. The Catholic Peace and Justice Secretariat (SKP) and the Evangelical Christian Church of SIPDIS Papua--the region's major Protestant denomination--have prepared a major report on human rights in the region for inclusion in the UPR process. Given the history of human rights violations in Indonesia's two easternmost provinces, human rights groups there are keen to participate in the process. ¶5. (C) THE BOTTOM LINE: Indonesian civil society is engaged with the UPR and several major NGOs are using it to their advantage to further domestic conversations with key GOI interlocutors, such as the military, about human rights. Poloffs encouraged this and will continue to monitor civil-society reactions to the UN review of Indonesia's human rights challenges. HUME