VZCZCXRO4430
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1130/01 1140013
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 240013Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4442
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001130 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EAP/RSA, G/TIP, EAP/MTS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ELAB KWMN SMIG ID
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT SIGNS ANTI-TRAFFICKING LAW 
 
REF: JAKARTA 778 
 
 ¶1.  Summary.  President Yudhoyono signed the comprehensive 
Anti-Trafficking Law on April 19.  Passed by Parliament on 
March 20 (reftel), the law would have gone into effect 
automatically but the President's signature was a signal of 
his personal support of the law.  NGOs which lobbied for over 
two years for passage of a strong law said it includes all 
the major elements needed to fight trafficking and that the 
lawmaking process was noteworthy for inclusion of suggestions 
from Indonesian civil society and international NGOs.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  Indonesia's new comprehensive Anti-Trafficking Law went 
into effect with President Yudhoyono's signature on April 19: 
 Law Number 21 of 2007 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of 
Trafficking in Persons.  Even without the President's 
signature, it would have gone into effect automatically then 
since it was 30 days after Parliament passed the law.  The 
President demonstrated his political will to fight 
trafficking by penning the bill. 
 
¶3.  NGOs commented that one reason for success in producing a 
strong law was the transparency in the drafting process.  As 
one leading Indonesian civil society expert on trafficking 
said, the Parliamentary special committee which drafted the 
bill was "most open and accommodating to inputs from 
stakeholders, especially to concerns from both Indonesian 
civil society and international organizations."  In fact, the 
law's passage was delayed from November 2006 until March 2007 
because civil society was still not content with some 
provisions as of late last year, and these were ironed out 
during the intervening months.  Three international NGOs that 
worked with Indonesian civil society over two years to lobby 
Parliament and the GOI for a strong law agreed that it has 
strong provisions on all major elements needed to fight 
trafficking. 
 
Key Definitions Meet International Standards 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶4.  Follows (paras 4-10) are consensus observations by the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM), American 
Center for International Labor Solid (ACILS) and The Asia 
Foundation (TAF): 
 
Key definitions are included in the main body of the bill, 
including exploitation, sexual exploitation and debt bondage. 
 Law enforcement and prosecutors can clearly see that these 
definitions have legal force, more so than if the terms were 
defined in the elucidation appendix to the law, as originally 
proposed.  Some key definitions in the law include: 
 
--  Definition of debt bondage corresponds well to the 
international definition. 
 
--  Child is defined as under age 18, consistent with 
international definitions. 
 
-- Definition of trafficking is consistent with international 
standards, criminalizing both cross border and internal 
trafficking. 
 
-- There is a specific criminal provision for trafficking by 
government officials. 
 
-- Consent of victim is irrelevant to trafficking, consistent 
with international standards. 
 
-- Falsification of documents is criminalized. 
 
-- One clause allows corporate entities to be charged with 
trafficking, a stipulation which can be applied to illegal 
manpower recruitment and placement agencies. 
 
-- Not all illegal adoptions are considered trafficking, only 
adoptions "with the intention of exploitation," consistent 
with international standards. 
 
Harsher Punishments for Trafficking 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶5.  The law also provides harsher punishments for trafficking 
than in previous Indonesian laws.  Standard sentencing under 
the Anti-Trafficking Law is a minimum of three years and a 
maximum of 15 years in prison, and a minimum fine of 120 
million rupiah (USD 13,200) to a maximum fine of 600 million 
rupiah (USD 66,000).  The sentence will be one-third higher 
if the act causes serious injury, mental disturbance, 
infectious disease, pregnancy or endangers life.  The same is 
true if the act is committed against a child (under age 18, 
including unborn babies).  If the act results in death, the 
perpetrator is subject to between five years and life in 
 
JAKARTA 00001130  002 OF 002 
 
 
prison and a fine of between 200 million rupiah (USD 22,000) 
and five billion (USD 550,000).  Government officials guilty 
of trafficking are liable to a one-third higher sentence.  By 
comparison, previous laws provided less harsh punishments: 
maximum six years in prison for trafficking, nine years for 
rape -- maxiumum12 years if the rape resulted in injury; 
maximum 15 years if rape resulted in death.  The 
Anti-Trafficking Law notably provides minimum sentences, 
although it will be up to the court's discretion to choose 
between the more lenient three years and the harsher 15 
years, depending on circumstances. 
 
Victim and Witness Protection 
------------------------------------- 
¶6.  There is an entire chapter on Protection of Witnesses and 
Victims, with confidentiality principles for witnesses and 
victims and stipulation that victims do not have to testify 
in court; they can testify remotely by audio or video. 
Victims and witnesses have rights to be accompanied by an 
advocate or other support person and to be kept informed on 
the progress in the case.  Children receive special 
provisions during court proceedings and victims receive 
special police services during investigation. 
 
Public Services for Victims 
-------------------------------- 
¶7.  The law provides reasonably good stipulations for 
services to be provided by the government, including return, 
reintegration and basic services such as medical attention. 
The law orders the government to provide mechanisms for such 
services.  A major drawback to this part of the law is that 
it requires the victim to report the crime to police in order 
to receive these services.  This does not follow 
international standards and IOM had lobbied strongly against 
that requirement.  The law does cover services for foreign 
nationals trafficked to or within Indonesia, although it does 
not poovide for the possibility of a long stay during a 
criminal proceeding nor for the possibility that the victim 
might not want to return to country of origin; i.e., the 
question of the right to stay or work in Indonesia is not 
addressed. 
 
Restitution 
------------- 
¶8.  The law provides for restitution by the perpetrator to 
the victim upon decision by the court, an unanticipated and 
welcome addition to the law.  The law provides for freezing 
of bank accounts during investigation but not for other means 
to get at the traffickers assets. 
 
Prevention 
------------ 
¶9.  The law has strong provisions calling for overall efforts 
by the GOI to prevent and address trafficking through task 
forces, budget allocation, international cooperation and 
opening avenues to civil soi(ety to engage in these efforts. 
The law does little to ensure that budgets will be allocated. 
 
Deficiencies in Law 
----------------------- 
¶10.  The requirement that victims report their crime to 
police in order to receive services was the biggest negative 
pointed out by NGOs, in that all victims need services but 
many do not want to file charges.  A second major question is 
defining which ministries are responsible for providing which 
 
services.  Both of these issues could be resolvedt hrough 
implementing regulations.  Finally, the Ministry of Women's 
Empowerment will be responsible for drafting implementing 
regulations, but will require strong cooperation from the law 
enforcement agencies if the law is to be effective. 
 
Next Steps 
------------ 
¶11.  Drafting of implementing regulations and actual 
implementation of the law will be the next crucial steps. 
Also crucial will be socializing the law among law 
enforcement agencies, other government agencies, and civil 
society so that the law is known and understood.  Educating 
officials and the public at the local levels will be 
important because of Indonesia's decentralized system. 
 
HEFFERN