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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 013372 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KJUS MARR ID
SUBJECT: YUDHOYONO ALLEGEDLY APPROVES TRYING SOLDIERS IN 
CIVILIAN COURTS 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Marc L. Desjardins, for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  According to media reports citing 
Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Minister Awaluddin, 
President Yudhoyono has signaled his support for draft 
legislation which would clear the way for military personnel 
charged with criminal acts to be tried in civilian courts. 
The report, if accurate, would go a long way towards 
addressing widespread concerns about the Indonesian 
military's historical impunity and mark a step forward in the 
reform of the Indonesian military (TNI) in accordance with 
Indonesian expectations.  SBY's alleged endorsement of the 
legislation would remove the last major hurdle to the bill 
and allow its passage by the Indonesian House of 
Representatives (DPR) as early as January, 2007.  Embassy 
contacts familiar with deliberations surrounding the bill, 
however, questioned the accuracy of the Justice Minister's 
report and emphasized that the bill would need the 
President's unambiguous support in order to pass.  Defense 
Minister Sudarsono, who has opposed civilian criminal 
jurisdiction over the military, has said he would seek 
clarification from the President before accepting the report. 
 End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Awaluddin's statement came after his telephone call 
with a State Secretary traveling with President Yudhoyono in 
Japan.  According to Awaluddin, the State Secretary stated 
that Yudhoyono had "in principle approved the substance of 
the bill."  Defense Minister Sudarsono, who has been 
representing the government in the DPR along with Awaluddin 
on this issue,  has gone on record several times before the 
DPR opposing any jurisdiction of the military by civilian 
courts.  Sudarsono asserted that such a move would disrupt 
the country's defense system and that the country's legal 
infrastructure was not ready to try military personnel. 
Specifically, civilian judges were not sufficiently familiar 
with military conditions.  An additional element, we note, 
which remains unspoken because of its sensitivity, is the 
fact that civilian jurisdiction over military personnel would 
in effect subordinate the military to the police, which until 
2000 was part of the military structure. 
 
¶3. (C) Sudarsono was unwilling to accept Awaluddin's 
announcement at face value and told the press he would ask 
the President directly for an explanation.  If the report 
turned out to be true, Sudarsono said, he and the TNI would 
seek to find a way to implement the President's decision. 
Sudarsono noted, however, that the Code of Military Justice, 
the Criminal Code and the Civil Code had yet to be revised 
and asserted this should occur before taking this step. 
 
THE LEGISLATION 
--------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The DPR introduced the Draft Bill on Military 
Tribunals in September of 2005, but until now the legislation 
had stalled in a special DPR deliberative committee.  The 
special committee, or PANSUS, convened by the DPR to 
negotiate the bill's provisions, entered into negotiations 
with the government on the bill in late October 2005, but 
progress was slow.  Embassy contacts reported that while most 
of the factions deliberating the bill agreed in principle 
with the concept of trying soldiers in civilian courts, 
concerns about how the legislation would mesh with 
pre-existing legislation, coupled with the government's lack 
of enthusiasm for the bill, handicapped efforts to move the 
bill forward. 
 
¶5. (C) The draft legislation would amend relevant parts of 
Presidential Order number 37/1977, which is the basis for 
Indonesia's current system of military justice.  Much of the 
DPR discussion revolves around a landmark resolution of the 
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in 2000 (VII/MPR/2000) 
which set out the major principles for reform of the TNI. 
Because it is cast in broad strokes, it provides no explicit 
guidance one way or the other on the question of military 
justice.  The MPR decree directed the military to stay out of 
political affairs, to uphold democracy, respect the law and 
human rights and prohibited the military from both seeking 
political office and voting until 2009, but did not address 
the question of whether military personnel could stand trial 
in civilian courts.  Proponents and opponents alike of the 
new measure cite the MPR resolution in defense of their 
agenda.  On the other hand, article 65 of DPR law 34/2004 on 
 
JAKARTA 00013372  002 OF 002 
 
 
military reform already provides for the trial of soldiers in 
civilian courts for commission of general crimes.  The 
necessary implementing regulations, however, have not been 
issued.  Critics of the current legislation, including 
Sudarsono, argue that this should occur first. 
 
¶6. (C) Yuddy Chrisnandi, a Golkar legislator and member of 
the PANSUS on the military tribunal bill told us SBY's 
support was critical to the bill's passage.  He noted that 
the fundamental objective of the bill - to create a legal 
mechanism that would allow members of the military to stand 
trial in civilian courts for civilian crimes - was relatively 
uncontroversial in the DPR and that lingering concerns could 
easily be worked out.  He said the far more serious obstacle 
was SBY's failure to endorse the draft legislation.  Yuddy 
said that the President's reluctance so far could be 
attributed to intense TNI lobbying, and he emphasized that 
the PANSUS would not move forward with the bill until SBY had 
endorsed it unambiguously.  Yuddy doubted whether such an 
endorsement would be forthcoming in the near future. 
 
¶7. (C) Mohammad Hatta, Golkar's DPR faction leader and a 
member of the PANSUS also had concerns about the bill's 
prospects.  Hatta told us Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono 
briefed the PANSUS recently and outlined his strong 
objections to any move that would strip the military of its 
authority to bring military personnel to justice.  Hatta said 
Juwono's comments carried considerable weight within the DPR 
as most legislators viewed the Defense Minister as the 
country's foremost authority on defense issues.  He said that 
as a result of Juwono's comments, select members of the 
PANSUS would visit with every territorial command to solicit 
input on the proposed legislation and listen to concerns. 
PASCOE