VZCZCXRO3159
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #2772/01 2741023
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011023Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6521
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 4365
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 1290
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1370
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0892
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 1834
RUEHJA/AMCONSUL SURABAYA PRIORITY 1954
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 7641
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0693

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002772 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS (A COPE), DRL, IO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ID BM
SUBJECT: INDONESIA -- RAMPING UP THE PRESSURE ON THE 
BURMESE REGIME 
 
REF: A. STATE 137644 
 
     ¶B. RANGOON 941 AND PREVIOUS 
     ¶C. JAKARTA 2755 
     ¶D. JAKARTA 2737 
     ¶E. JAKARTA 2693 
     ¶F. JAKARTA 2681 
     ¶G. JAKARTA 2500 
 
Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
¶1.  (U) This message was coordinated with Consulates Medan 
and Surabaya. 
 
¶2. (C) SUMMARY:  Mission continued a robust outreach campaign 
to press the Indonesian government and legislature for 
stronger action on Burma.  Indonesian students and NGO 
activists continued to protest in front of the Burmese 
Embassy in Jakarta while strongly worded commentaries 
appeared in major newspapers.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PRESSING FOR MORE GOI ACTION 
 
¶3. (C) Charge contacted Presidential Advisor Dino Djalal on 
October 1 to urge that President Yudhoyono make a public 
statement directly condemning the Burmese regime.  (Note:  FM 
Wirajuda has already made a public statement condemning the 
crackdown, but--save for some stray remarks to the press--the 
president has been silent.)  Djalal replied that President 
Yudhoyono had discussed with Singapore PM Lee the need for a 
strong ASEAN-wide statement in advance of the ASEAN Foreign 
Ministers meeting in New York on September 27.  SBY 
also--Djalal said--instructed FM Wirajuda to push for an 
ASEAN staTQHD`;er.  (Note:  Mission is urging 
journalist contacts to raise the matter with President 
Yudhoyono at the earliest available opportunity in order to 
get the president on the record.) 
 
¶4. (C) On October 1, Pol/C pressed Gembong Prijono, a key 
staffer to Vice President Kalla, for torqued up GOI pressure 
on Burma.  The Burmese regime must refrain from violence 
against peaceful protesters and should begin a genuine 
dialogue with the democratic opposition as soon as possible, 
immediately releasing Aung San Suu Kyi in the process.  ASEAN 
countries--particularly Indonesia--had a key responsibility 
to pressure the junta and to support UN Special Envoy Ibrahim 
Gambari's ongoing mission.  The September 27 ASEAN statement 
was fine, but more must be done to prevent innocent people 
from being shot in the streets and monks carted off to secret 
prisons.  Prijono responded that he would review the matter 
with the Vice President.  VP Kalla agreed that the situation 
in Burma was critical and he fully supported Gambari's 
efforts, Prijono added. 
 
¶5. (C) Pol/C also raQ\:JJOL[*qQs. 
Purwanto promised to raise the matter with the Presidential 
Palace.  (Note:  On September 28, approximately 50 DEPLU 
officials made their feelings known with a public prayer 
service in support of the Burmese people at DEPLU 
headquarters.  The DEPLU officials were among the many 
Indonesians who wore red shirts that day as a gesture of 
solidarity with the protesters.) 
 
LEGISLATURE REMAINS ENGAGED 
 
¶6. (C) Mission also continues outreach to the Indonesian 
legislature (DPR), which has been outspoken on Burma.  Pol/C 
pressed the matter October 1 in a meeting with well-connected 
DPR member Ade Nasution.  Nasution, who has traveled to Burma 
in the past and met with opposition figures, responded that 
he supported Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic opposition 
 
JAKARTA 00002772  002 OF 002 
 
 
there.  He would work with other DPR members tQ keep up the 
pressure on the government by urging that President Yudhoyono 
issue a public statement, for example. 
 
DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE 
 
¶7. (SBU) Indonesian students and human rights activists 
continued to demonstrate in solidarity with the Burmese 
people in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta throughout 
the weekend.  Students also demonstrated in other major 
Indonesian cities, including Denpassar, Surabaya, Medan, and 
Makassar, according to press reports.  To keep civil society 
engaged and informed, Mission plans to convene a gathering of 
human rights activists, academics and religious leaders to 
discuss Burma later this week. 
 
EDITORIALS SLAM THE JUNTA; CALL FOR ACTION 
 
¶8. (U) Thanks in part to Mission outreach, Indonesian media 
is now highlighting the Burmese situation in its news 
coverage and in terms of commentary.  Rizal Sukma, Deputy 
Director of Indonesia's leading foreign affairs think-tank 
the Center for Strategic and International Studies, called 
for stronger ASEAN action in an October 1 Jakarta Post 
editorial.  Saying that ASEAN's efforts to reason with the 
junta have failed, so far, Sukma urged ASEAN leaders to go 
bQQQ,]U) Also writing in the Jakarta Post, leading human rights 
activists Usman Hamid and Ari Bassin called for stronger 
Indonesian action.  They argue that with the constant flow of 
refugees out of Burma and the flourishing drug trade centered 
on that country, Burma does indeed constitute a threat to the 
peace and security of the region.  They called on Indonesia 
to support bringing Burma before the UN Security Council. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Consulate Medan has reached out to journalists in 
Medan, Aceh and West Sumatra, urging them to issue strong 
editorials exhorting the GOI to press Burma for reform. 
Several regional papers have done so and others promised to 
do so in the coming days. 
HEFFERN