Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
08JAKARTA571 | 2008-03-19 04:42:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Jakarta |
VZCZCXRO8800 OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM DE RUEHJA #0571/01 0790442 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 190442Z MAR 08 FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8405 INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2198 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1691 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1673 RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2437 RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 2507 RUEHBAD/AMCONSUL PERTH 0644 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000571 |
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Trilateral CT Working Group--comprising the U.S., Australia, and Japan--held a regular meeting on March 14 in Jakarta. The group reviewed CT assistance programs. Mission continues to find the Working Group highly useful in coordinating programs and maximizing donor assistance. END SUMMARY. 2. (SBU) Mission participated in a regular meeting of the Trilateral CT group hosted by the Australian Embassy on March 14. (Note: The USG hosted the previous meeting held late last year -- see reftel.) The group met to review and coordinate CT assistance programs. At USG request, each Mission brought a matrix of its programs. AUSTRALIAN PROGRAMS 3. (C) Regarding its assistance programs, Australian representatives related that the John Howard government had originally approved over $9 million for maritime security programs. The Rudd Administration has canceled the funding, however, for budgetary reasons. If funding is re-instated (which seems possible), the Australians want to provide Indonesia port security training, including vessel and cargo auditing and verification processes. A short course of 3-4 days is planned at seaports in Jakarta, Surabaya and Papua. Each course will have about 25 attendees from the GOI port authority. 4. (C) The Australians are also planning to build a police communications center in the seaport of Manado, North Sulawesi. Manado is in the heart of the tri-border region (the area bordered by Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines) and is an active transit point for illegal activity. The Indonesian Marine Police in Manado recently received four USG-funded patrol boats to help monitor the sea lanes for illegal trafficking in persons, terrorist activity, weapons smuggling and other activities. Australian Customs is working with GOI Customs officials to strengthen interagency border cooperation by providing some seaports in the tri-border area with on-line communications capabilities. JAPANESE PROGRAMS 5. (C) According to Japanese representatives, the GoJ has several small-scale CT projects with the GOI. These include seminars on immigration control, border document examination and training for immigration officers. The GoJ also provides aviation security training through seminars, providing security equipment like x-ray machines and closed-circuit television monitors, and emergency planning exercises for airport staff. 6. (C) The largest GoJ project involves training for community policing. The GoJ trains INP officials on the concept and practical application of community policing in large cities and small towns alike. The value of community policing is recognized by the INP, which has implemented it in conflict areas like Poso, Central Sulawesi and Ambon, Maluku. The GOJ also recently sent four Indonesians to its Coast Guard Academy in Japan for a one-year course. The GOJ plans to continue its CT support to the GOI for several more years and review how the situation develops. USG PROGRAMS 7. (C) U.S. representatives briefly reviewed our robust list of projects in Indonesia, including in the tri-border region. As touched on above, projects include the DOJ ICITAP purchase of small patrol boats (30 feet in length) for the Marine Police and building a Command Information Center in JAKARTA 00000571 002 OF 002 Jakarta to coordinate Marine Police patrols. ICITAP is also providing training to the police regarding environmental crimes, i.e., illegal logging, fishing and wildlife smuggling. The Diplomatic Security Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) program is continuing to train the INP's elite anti-terrorist unit, Special Detachment 88, in basic and advanced tactical skills, and will host a U.S. Army Special Forces training team in late July. The team will teach helicopter medical evacuation techniques and emergency medical skills to SD-88 members. 8. (C) USAID is continuing its Financial Crime Prevention Project which began in 2004, as well as its Anti-Corruption and Peace and Democracy Projects. The Department of Justice is also supporting the Attorney General's taskforce on Terrorism and Transnational Crime, while the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continues to work with the GOI on counternarcotics investigations and arrests. The USG and Australia are also sponsoring a Bulk Cash Courier workshop in late April for regional law enforcement officials. LEVERAGING ASSISTANCE 9. (SBU) Mission continues to find the Working Group highly useful in coordinating programs and maximizing donor assistance. The conversations at these meetings are often frank: the Australian side, for example, mused about its concern that Indonesia's interest in CT is lagging somewhat due to its successes in this area. They noted that the GOI seems increasingly interested in transnational crime. The USG team responded that we have not observed a waning of GOI interest in CT. Aside from the back-and-forth about the general CT situation, the meetings are especially useful as fora for information exchange and discussion of program prioritization, factors that are key in this era of tight budgets. HUME |