VZCZCXRO8643
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1874/01 1920021
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110021Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5362
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0883
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY PRIORITY 3354
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0578
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 1575
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001874 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
H FOR KAREN GATZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ID PREL KDEM EAID
SUBJECT: REP. FALEOMAVAEGA MEETS WITH PRESIDENT YUDHOYONO 
 
REF: A) JAKARTA 1266 B) JAKARTA 852 C) JAKARTA 291 
 
JAKARTA 00001874  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  Summary.   During a July 3-6 visit to Jakarta, Rep. Eni 
Faleomavaega met with the President, Vice President and the 
Foreign Minister, receiving promises from all three that he 
could go to Papua the next time he visits Indonesia, despite 
being refused permission on this trip.  President Susilo 
Bambang Yudhoyono told the Democratic representative from 
American Samoa that the old ways of using military means to 
solve issues in Papua have failed, and that his government's 
"New Deal" for Papua emphasizes "soft power" based on 
democratic values, rule of law and respect for human rights, 
as well as adequate funding to fight poverty.   Faleomavaega 
replied that he believes the GOI is committed to helping the 
Papuan people.  Faleomavaega's willingness to come to Jakarta 
and listen to the leadership's Papua policy has built 
considerable goodwill that will ease future Congressional 
entre to that politically sensitive region.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Rep. Eni Faleomavaega visited Jakarta July 3-6 to 
meet with senior government officials and Papuan civil 
society leaders (see septel on meetings with Papuans), 
following the GOI's refusal to allow him to visit Papua on 
this trip.  President Yudhoyono, Vice President Kalla and 
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda all promised Faleomavaega 
that he could visit Papua the next time he comes to 
Indonesia.  The DCM, a PolOff and members of Faleomavaega's 
staff also attended all official meetings.  According to 
foreign ministry sources, the Foreign Minister supported 
Faleomavaega's visiting Papua, and the President was leaning 
in that direction, when members of a separatist movement in 
Maluku displayed a pro-separatist flag in front of the 
President during his visit to Ambon on June 29.   This 
incident heightened sensitivities towards separatist 
movements at the precise moment the President was weighing 
whether to allow Faleomavaega to visit Papua.  At the same 
time, from July 2-6 in Jayapura, Papua, the Papuan Customary 
Council was holding a Papua-wide regional congress, with 
hundreds of pro-separatist village leaders gathered in 
Jayapura.  Skittishness by security officials in Papua over 
the proposed timing of Faleomavaega visit, coupled with the 
Maluku flag incident which greatly embarrassed Yudhoyono, 
made it impossible for the President to grant permission at 
that time, GOI sources told us.   Nevertheless, the GOI 
apologized to Faleomavaega for denying his request, granting 
him high-level meetings and allowing some civil society 
leaders to come to Jakarta to meet with him. 
 
¶3.   In a July 6 meeting, Vice President Kalla went so far as 
to promise to accompany Faleomavaega to Papua the "next time" 
he visits, and shook hands on the promise.  However, Kalla 
also started off the meeting stating that he is concerned by 
past statements by some members of the U.S. Congress that 
could be construed as advocating separatism in Papua. 
Faleomavaega responded by saying he hopes to dispel the 
notion that he is trying to cause any friction between the 
U.S. and Indonesia, and that he appreciates efforts by the 
Yudhoyono administration to resolve issues in Papua. 
Following the meeting, Kalla reportedly told the media that 
he asked Faleomavaega not to interfere with Indonesia's 
internal affairs, including Papua, telling the media, "If an 
Indonesian parliament member went to Hawaii and asked the 
Hawaiians to separate from the U.S., the person could be 
arrested,"  according to newspaper reports.  Besides the 
governors of Papua and West Papua, others who attended the 
meeting included the Coordinating Minister for Security, 
Political and Law Affairs Widodo, (whose ministry has opposed 
the Papuan visit), Minister of Fisheries Freddy Numberi (a 
Papuan), the Foreign Minister, the State Secretary and the 
Cabinet Secretary. 
 
¶4.   During his July 5 meeting with Faleomavaega, the 
President told Faleomavaega that his government is 
implementing a "New Deal" to speed up economic development in 
Papua, outlining the Presidential Decree he issued a few 
weeks ago mandating increased food production, better 
education, improved health services, better transportation to 
remote areas and affirmative action for Papuans in local and 
national government.  The President also emphasized that the 
old ways of using "hard" power to deal with Papua had failed, 
and have been replaced with "soft power" based on "democratic 
values, rule of law and respect for human rights."   The 
military cannot be the solution, Yudhoyono said, noting that 
even though he is a top former military commander, as 
President he led the successful peace process in Aceh at a 
 
JAKARTA 00001874  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
time when it was "unthinkable" to deal with separatists in 
any way other than to crush them.  The President asserted 
that his government is addressing past human rights abuses by 
the military in Papua, and that in addition to military 
reform, soldiers are increasingly respectful of human rights. 
 He added that "accidents" still occur which disrupt the 
process of solving Papua's problems and that military reform 
must continue. 
 
¶5.  The President also said that under Special Autonomy, 
Papuans are being given a freer hand to solve their own 
problems, noting the presence in the meeting of Papuan 
Governor Barnabas Suebu and West Papua Governor Abraham 
Ataruri, who had both just flown in from Papua expressly to 
meet with Faleomavaega.  The President claimed that the GOI 
is sending more funding to Papua than it is receiving in 
revenues:  $840 million in funding versus $230 in revenues in 
2005; $1.9 billion versus $420 million in 2006; and $2.3 
billion in funding budgeted for 2007.  While this funding is 
not enough to solve Papua's deep-rooted  problems, Papua's 
2.5 million people do receive the highest per capita 
assistance in Indonesia, the President claimed. 
 
¶6.  Explaining how his interest in Papua stems from the fact 
that members of his family were missionaries in Papua about a 
hundred years ago, Faleomavaega thanked the President for his 
leadership and commitment to the Papuan people.  Faleomavaega 
said the USG also has resources to help Papua, adding that 
Freeport might be used as a partner in building 
infrastructure. 
 
¶7.  Faleomavaega also told the President and other senior 
officials that Indonesia, as a moderate, democratic nation, 
has a critical role to play in relating to other Muslim 
nations, particularly since it is the world's largest Muslim 
nation and has the world's fourth largest population.  The 
Congressman also asked for Indonesia's help in finding a 
solution for the situation in Iraq.  He expressed hope that 
the U.S. and Indonesia, along with other moderate Muslim 
countries, could continue to live together in harmony. 
 
¶8.  At a press conference following the meeting, Presidential 
foreign affairs advisor Dino Djalal described the meeting as 
very warm, "an extraordinary one, one of the most 
extraordinary meetings" the President has had.  The meeting 
got extensive television and print media coverage. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Rep. Faleomavaega gave permission for Embassy 
Jakarta to send this cable without his clearance. 
 
HUME