INDONESIAN AGO IMPLEMENTS NEW TRAINING SYSTEM

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000889 DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, INR/EAP, INL FOR CARLON DOJ FOR AAG SWARTZ, OPDAT FOR ALEXANDRE/BERMAN/JOHNSON NCTC SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KCRM KJUS SNAR PHUM ID SUBJECT: INDONESIAN AGO IMPLEMENTS NEW TRAINING SYSTEM REF: 2008 JAKARTA 1658 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO) has successfully implemented a new training approach involving two-month internships and distance learning modules for all incoming prosecutors. These changes are part of a wider effort to move the AGO from a traditional bureaucracy to a more professional prosecutorial service capable of handling complex crimes. The training reforms are a product of the August 2008 INL-funded study visit to DOJ's National Advocacy Center and related assistance provided by the DOJ/OPDAT Resident Legal Advisor (RLA). End summary. ¶2. (SBU) The AGO's Training Center (Pusdiklat) is a key institution in the AGO's efforts to reform itself. In previous years, approximately four hundred new prosecutors spent six months at Pusdiklat in Jakarta for their basic training. This traditional training approach, however, involved highly theoretical lectures and considerable internal administration, but little practical experience. As a result, AGO graduates were ready to process paper and march in straight lines, not prosecute sophisticated criminal cases. ¶3. (SBU) In December 2008, Pusdiklat head Halius Hosen announced a series of major reforms for the coming year, including the establishment of a two-month internship program for new prosecutors that incorporated distance learning approaches and a more interactive, practical curriculum focused on more advanced topics during the follow-up classes to be held at Pusdiklat. In announcing these changes, Hosen credited an August 2008 study visit to DOJ's National Advocacy Center (NAC) in Columbia, South Carolina as instrumental in developing this new approach. Hosen and other Pusdiklat leaders had observed the basic trial course for new DOJ prosecutors taught by current prosecutors using interactive techniques, as well as seeing how DOJ relied upon distance learning to reduce housing and transportation costs (reftel). ¶4. (SBU) On May 20, 2009, Hosen invited the RLA to Pusdiklat the see the results of his reform efforts. He described how each of the new recruits had just completed their internships at a local prosecutor's office prior to coming to Pusdiklat. During the internships, the prosecutors combined practical observations based on their work with more experienced prosecutors while also completing ten subject matter modules regarding basic criminal enforcement and the prosecutorial function prepared by Pusdiklat's teaching staff. The Pusdiklat instructors were also available by email to answer questions from the participants during the internship. Last month, Hosen sent his Jakarta staff out to each of the provincial capitals to conduct oral and written tests of the new prosecutors to determine the success of the new program. Having completed the internship, the new recruits arrived at Pusdiklat to begin the introductory course, which was trimmed from six to four months, and refocused on more advanced subjects as the participants already had some basic practical experience. Hosen observed that the internship was essential because many of the new recruits previously had lacked a basic understanding of their role when they had arrived for the Pusdiklat class and noted that for next year, he had received funding to expand the internship to a third month. His staff observed that during their field inspections, it seemed that the new prosecutors had readily adapted to the internship system, but some of the more senior officials out in the districts were still only getting the message. ¶5. (SBU) The RLA also met with a class of new prosecutors who had completed the internship program and recently begun their classroom program at Pusdiklat. They indicated that the internship experience had been particularly beneficial because it required the experienced prosecutors in their offices to adopt a more mentoring role by explaining to the new recruits what they were doing in their cases. They noted that it would be helpful if the internship program also included more computer training. ¶6. (SBU) Hosen was generally positive about the AGO's support for prosecutorial training. He informed the RLA that the AGO was planning to break ground next year on a second training center in Jakarta that would focus only on new prosecutor training. The new facility would free up more space in the current location for programs with more experienced prosecutors while reducing class sizes at the new training center to allow for the use of more interactive methods. Still, he acknowledged that Pusdiklat had a long way to go as most Indonesian prosecutors only participated in training only twice in their careers - at the outset and as part of a mid-level class. He stated that finding experienced prosecutors to teach at Pusdiklat remained a major challenge because he wanted instructors with real world experience. He also noted that Pusdiklat needed to develop a database to track who at the AGO had received training and how they had performed. ¶7. (SBU) Pusdiklat has moved forward in just five months with fundamental changes to its teaching model by developing real world internships and emphasizing more practical, case-study, hands-on curriculum. The successful implementation of these changes will be a key factor in allowing the AGO to transition to a more evidence-based criminal system that places greater emphasis on skills. Bureaucratic reform is the often repeated mantra within the AGO and the Indonesian Government more generally; teaching new prosecutors not to be bureaucrats is a necessary first step. HUME