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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9947
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001655 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR DRL/IL (M.MITTELHAUSER), EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, 
DRL, DRL/AWH, 
NSC FOR E.PHU 
DEPT OF LABOR FOR B.SASSER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ELAB PHUM ID
SUBJECT: LABOR/HUMAN RIGHTS CONTACTS ALLEGE HARASSMENT, 
POSSIBLY BY GOI AGENCIES 
 
REF: A. JAKARTA 1594 
     ¶B. 07 JAKARTA 2431 
 
Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  A prominent Indonesian freelance 
writer--and former fellow at Harvard--told Labatt that he 
believes that he has been under surveillance by GOI 
intelligence agencies.  He says this could be because of his 
investigative reporting on human rights issues.  He asked 
that the USG keep the matter confidential at this time in 
order not to draw more attention to him.  Labor union 
contacts also briefed Labatt about what they alleged was 
surveillance and harassment by intelligence agents. 
 
¶2.  (C) SUMMARY (Con'd):  If accurate, these cases are 
possibly related to heightened GOI sensitivity in the run-up 
to the 2009 national elections.  Mission checked with other 
contacts who are not reporting similar issues.  We will 
continue to monitor the situation.  END SUMMARY. 
 
ALLEGING HARASSMENT 
 
¶3.   (C) Mission has recently heard some allegations of 
harassment, possibly involving official agencies.  Andreas 
Harsono, a leading figure in the Suharto-era free press and 
democracy movement, briefed Labatt on August 26 about what he 
considers to be scrutiny he has received from Indonesian 
intelligence services.  He speculated that the suspected 
surveillance is linked to one of two issues: 
 
-- investigative reports he co-authored with American 
academic S. Eben Kirksey (please strictly protect) alleging 
Indonesian military (TNI) involvement in the 2002 murder of 
two Americans and one Indonesian in Timika, Papua; or, 
 
-- articles he wrote about the 2004 murder of human rights 
activist Munir Thalib. 
 
(Note:  A joint Indonesian Police-FBI investigation into the 
Timika shooting found several members of an illegal Papuan 
separatist group responsible for the attack.  An Indonesian 
court convicted them in November 2006.  The convicted killer 
of Munir is now in jail.  A high-level intelligence official 
has been charged with conspiracy in the slaying--see reftel.) 
 
¶4.  (C) Harsono claimed that a "student" who attended his 
writing class for a time in January was an Indonesian 
National Intelligence (BIN) officer, based on checking this 
student's name and description with NGO sources.  A scholar 
Harsono knows in Papua said he has heard that security agents 
are interested in him (Harsono), Harsono related.  Most 
recently, he received two anonymous phone calls "politely" 
complaining about his articles on the Timika murders, 
beginning August 17 (the day that an update of his report was 
published by the British publication, "South East Asia 
Research").  (Note:  Mission has responded to questions about 
the Harsono/Kirksey report with interagency cleared guidance 
that affirms our view that justice was done in this case.) 
 
¶5. (C) Harsono, a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard 
University, said his suspicions are based on a "gut feeling." 
 He became further alarmed when Munir's widow, Suciwati, 
warned him to be careful.  Harsono had sent a message to a 
U.S. human rights organization expressing his concern, which 
DRL conveyed to Labatt.   Harsono told Labatt that neither 
the Mission nor DRL should take any action that would call 
attention to him, and that any messages we might convey to 
the GOI on his behalf would not be helpful.  He said he does 
not really believe he is in danger but is a little spooked. 
We promised to meet regularly to monitor the situation. 
 
JAKARTA 00001655  002 OF 002 
 
 
Harsono added that he would travel to Papua in October to 
investigate the human rights situation there. 
 
REPORTS FROM LABOR UNIONS 
 
¶6.  (C) Separately, Labatt met with Jamie Davis 
(Amcit--strictly protect), the country director of the 
American Center for International Labor Solidarity 
(ACILS--the international representative of the AFL-CIO) to 
discuss allegations of recent harassment of ACILS-organized 
labor union activities by security intelligence agents.  The 
agents clearly identified themselves to labor leaders when 
they intruded on their activities, Davis remarked. 
 
¶7.  (C) Davis related that four plain clothes police officers 
monitored an August 23-24 legal aid workshop held in 
Surabaya, East Java, hanging around outside the meeting room, 
inviting themselves to meals.  They also asked for a list of 
participants, which the organizers refused to provide. 
 
¶8.  (C) The previous week, plain clothed police officers 
apparently monitored two days of an ACILS gender workshop in 
Bandung, West Sumatra, but were not disruptive.  Finally, a 
military intelligence officer showed up at an ACILS legal aid 
workshop in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on August 23-24 
inquiring about the purpose of the event, Davis asserted. 
Davis did not ask that we take any action in these cases but 
wanted to make sure we are informed since what he 
characterized as "such blatant intrusion" has not occurred 
for several years. 
 
HEIGHTENED SENSITIVITIES IN RUN-UP TO ELECTIONS? 
 
¶9.  (C) One possible explanation for all this is that 
elements of the GOI might be more sensitive to NGO and human 
rights-related activities in the run-up to the 2009 national 
elections.  That said, Labatt checked with several 
international NGOs working in the field of democracy and 
governance.  They had not noticed any unusual interest by the 
GOI, however.  While we will respect the wishes of Harsono 
and ACILS not to call attention to their specific cases, we 
will continue to monitor the situation.  Such surveillance 
was common under former president Suharto, but has decreased 
markedly over the years. 
 
HUME