FOREIGN MINISTRY NON-COMMITTAL ON AVIAN FLU LAWSUIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000921

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, OES/IHA, L/DL FOR DICKERSON
USAID FOR ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL
DEPT PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/ABHAT/MSTLOUIS AND HHS/NIH
DEPT PASS TO USDA/FAS/OSTA BRANT, ROSENBLUM
DOJ FOR OFL/HOLLIS
GENEVA FOR WHO/HOHMAN
NSC FOR EPHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2018
TAGS: PGOV TBIO KFLU KLIG ID
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTRY NON-COMMITTAL ON AVIAN FLU LAWSUIT

REF: A. JAKARTA 854

B. JAKARTA 843

C. JAKARTA 786

D. STATE 43100

Classified By: Poloff Adam West for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: A Foreign Ministry official was non-committal
on whether the Ministry (DEPLU) could put an end to a lawsuit
filed in a local court in April. The suit was brought by the
family of an Indonesian victim of Avian Influenza (AI). An
initial hearing is currently scheduled for May 13, but post
was not properly served and does not plan to attend based on
instructions from L/DL. DEPLU in turn requested our
assistance on several cases in U.S. courts that involve the
GOI as a litigant. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Post DOJ Resident Legal Advisor (RLA) and poloff met
May 9 with Arif Havas Oegroseno, Director of DEPLU's
Department of Political, Legal and Regional Treaties. (Note:
A Harvard educated lawyer, Oegroseno was chosen for the
approach due to his familiarity with the U.S. perspective on
legal matters.) RLA explained the circumstances of the case
and the impossibility of the plaintiff ever collecting
damages from the USG due to international agreements on
sovereign immunity. He suggested that DEPLU may want to get
involved in the case to prevent further escalation of current
misunderstandings surrounding the issue of Avian Influenza
(ref A). Oegroseno was sympathetic to these arguments and
indicated that he would send a letter to the court advising
them that the Embassy would not attend the May 13 hearing.
However, he was non-committal on whether DEPLU would be able
to halt the proceedings.


3. (SBU) The lawsuit was filed in March by the father of an
AI victim who passed away in January (ref B). The suit
alleges that the USG, along with the World Health
Organization, bears responsibility for the death. The case
is based on charges made in Minister of Health Siti Fadilah
Supari's recent book, "It's Time for the World to Change:
Divine Hand Behind Avian Influenza." The plaintiff requests
financial compensation of approximately $250,000 and that the
defendants place a printed apology in five print media
outlets. An initial hearing scheduled for April 22 was
postponed after the initial summons to the Embassy was
improperly served based on instructions from L/DL (refs C and
D). A second summons for the May 13 hearing was also
improperly served.


4. (SBU) Oegresono went on to request post assistance on
several cases currently underway in U.S. courts involving the
GOI. The three cases, as described by Oegroseno, are as
follows:

--A suit filed by State-run oil company Pertamina
seeking to lift an anti-suit injunction imposed on it by New
York District Court and currently pending review at the U.S.
Supreme Court. The injunction is preventing Pertamina from
filing a suit in the Cayman Islands against Karaha Bodas
Company (KBC).

--A class action suit, "Refined Petroleum Products
Anti-Trust Litigation" currently before the Federal Court
Southern Texas District. The case targets OPEC member
countries, including the GOI. Pertamina is also listed as a
co-conspirator.

--An attempt by a U.S. firm, Perry H. Koplik and Sons,
to re-try a case against Indonesian PT. Bank Mandiri in the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
The case had already been tried in Indonesian court, which
ruled in favor of Bank Mandiri, and the verdict was upheld by
the Indonesian Supreme Court. According to Oegroseno, Koplik
is now trying to re-try the case in the U.S. based on
complaints of widespread corruption in the Indonesian
judiciary and has cited DOS's 2003 Human Rights Report on
Indonesia in support of its claim. In 2006, the Bankruptcy
Court denied a motion by Bank Mandiri to dismiss the case.


JAKARTA 00000921 002 OF 002



5. (C) While it seems unlikely that Oegroseno was proposing
any kind of quid-pro-quo regarding these cases, in raising
them he has highlighted the difficulties involved in asking
the executive to interfere in a domestic judicial proceeding.
The lawsuit has not received significant press coverage to
date, but that could change if the hearing takes place as
scheduled on May 13. Given the current environment
surrounding the AI issue, such publicity is likely to be
highly negative towards the USG.
HUME