PEACEKEEPING -- UN IMPRESSED WITH INDONESIA'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000605 DEPT FOR EAP, PM, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, PM/PPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2019 TAGS: PREL MARR PHUM UNSC ID SUBJECT: PEACEKEEPING -- UN IMPRESSED WITH INDONESIA'S PERFORMANCE AND POTENTIAL Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: UN officials have briefed local diplomats on talks with the GOI as part of a United Nations review of peacekeeping. The UN was impressed with Indonesia's interest and past/ongoing performance in operations (including in Lebanon, Darfur and the DRC),and wants to boost GOI contributions further. The UN team noted meetings with officials in Washington and USG assistance via the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI). The UN team also visited the ASEAN Secretariat to explore the possibility of a UN-ASEAN peacekeeping partnership. Further background re Indonesia's peacekeeping contributions is contained in para ¶7. END SUMMARY. FOCUS ON PEACEKEEPING ¶2. (U) The UN has hosted a major briefing regarding Indonesia and UN peacekeeping. Izumi Nakamitsu, Director for Policy, Evaluation and Training in the UN Department of Peacekeeping, briefed the diplomatic community in Jakarta at the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator on April 2. She was in Jakarta as part of a comprehensive review of UN peacekeeping operations and training, called "New Horizon." She met with officials from the MFA, the military and the police and also planned to meet with the ASEAN Secretariat. The UN wanted to expand the pool of peacekeepers worldwide, tapping Southeast Asia's potential and increasing Indonesia's involvement in particular. IMPRESSED WITH INDONESIA ¶3. (C) Nakamitsu said the UN team was impressed with the high quality of the discussions with the Indonesian military and police, particularly their understanding of the differences between Chapter VI (no use of force) and Chapter VII (use of force) missions. The military was somewhat ahead, owing to its greater experience in the field. Indonesia currently had 1,400 peacekeepers and planned to deploy 2000 by the end of 2009 (the Indonesian military is currently involved in such hot spots as Lebanon and the DRC; Indonesian police--including Mobile Brigade "BriMob" elements--are now in Darfur). Indonesia was planning to provide input into the New Horizon review. MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON ¶4. (C) Nakamitsu noted she had met with State Department GPOI program officials in Washington before her trip and would meet with them again upon her return. Washington wanted to work closely with the UN re this key area. She was familiar with Indonesia's plans to develop a joint peacekeeping training center and U.S. interest in funding it. Indonesia was becoming more involved in maritime peacekeeping, contributing a ship to UNIFIL (Lebanon peacekeeping) and considering a maritime contribution to Somalia operations. Nakamitsu suggested that Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore might be able to contribute a regional force, perhaps with equipment from one country and personnel from another. FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ¶5. (C) Most of the discussion after the presentation centered on foreign cooperation with the Indonesian military in the peacekeeping area. Nakamitsu said the Indonesians had underscored their desire to improve the image of Indonesia's security forces through peacekeeping and had expressed frustration that foreign partners continued to limit engagement with Indonesian forces because of past abuses. Australian and U.S. Embassy representatives explained respective bilateral cooperation, mil-mil engagement and human-rights vetting requirements. POLOFF noted U.S. cooperation with Italy at the Center of Excellence for Stabilization Police (CoESPU) in Vicenza. BACKGROUND ¶6. (U) Nakamitsu said UN peacekeeping was reaching the limits of its current capacity, and the review sought to anticipate needs and challenges to the program over the next five years. A nonpaper would be provided confidentially to member states on June 1 for discussion at the UN and in national capitals. Since the last review in 2000, UN PK forces had grown from 30,000 to 120,000. The team was examining three "pillars" of issues: -- Global Environment: missions were increasingly robust and complex, peacekeepers were increasingly becoming targets of hostilities, and new organs such as the International Criminal Court had come into existence. -- Mandate and Mode of Operation: missions were increasingly under Chapter VII, i.e., involving the use of force to defend the mandate; the lines between Chapter VII and Chapter VI missions (no use of force) were often blurred and open to debate. -- Maximizing Global Capacity: the UN was increasingly pursuing partnership arrangements with non-UN PK actors such as the European Union and the African Union, and hoped to engage with ASEAN in the future; the UN had a partnership with the World Bank, as economic arrangements were important to the support of conflict resolution. THE INDONESIAN ROLE ¶7. (C) Indonesia contributes regularly to international peacekeeping operations. Indonesia has deployed three successive peacekeeping battalions, a ship and several auxiliary units to UNIFIL in Lebanon. It also has military peacekeepers stationed with MONUC in Congo and stabilization police in Darfur. From the Indonesian perspective, deploying peacekeeping forces demonstrates reform and promotes professionalism among security forces, a factor that is important at home and for Indonesia's image abroad. President Yudhoyono, in fact, is so proud of Indonesia's record in peacekeeping that it features in his party's campaign advertisements ahead of the April 9 national legislative elections. (Note: Yudhoyono's eldest son served with distinction in Indonesia's UNIFIL contingent.) HUME