VZCZCXRO6178
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #3348/01 3411013
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071013Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7318
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1722
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2128
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1478
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003348 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL, DRL/PHD, INR/EAP 
NSC FOR EPHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PHUM PREL EAID ID
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS -- PROTECTING CIVIL LIBERTIES IN 
INDONESIAN LAW 
 
REF: A. 2006 JAKARTA 13476 
     ¶B. 2006 JAKARTA 12607 
     ¶C. 2006 JAKARTA 03159 
 
¶1.  (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Indonesia's new democracy continues to 
tackle thorny issues.  A coalition of civil society groups 
has been lobbying hard to ensure that the new draft criminal 
code adequately protects civil liberties, a new concept for 
institutions recovering from authoritarian and colonial 
legacies.  On December 5--as part of this ongoing 
campaign--the coalition held a public seminar to discuss key 
issues with the GOI.  Mission is providing support to this 
process.  END SUMMARY. 
 
  A CODE THAT NEEDS REVISING 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Reform of the current criminal code (KUHP)--in 
place since the Dutch colonial office enacted it in 1918--has 
stalled for decades.  The Ministry of Law and Human Rights 
reinvigorated debate on the matter in 2004.  Despite 
widespread recognition that the code is anachronistic and 
authoritarian-leaning, the latest draft of the criminal 
code--while an improvement on the colonial code--does not 
fully respect civil liberties.  Human rights activists and 
legal scholars have recently organized to advocate for 
revisions that better protect human rights (ref B).  In the 
past year, a major civil society coalition has engaged in 
intensive engagement with the GOI's legal drafting team. 
USAID has assisted this group (see below). 
 
  PRESSING THE CIVIL LIBERTIES ANGLE 
 
¶4.  (SBU) DepPol/C attended a December 5 public seminar 
organized by the National Alliance for Criminal Code Reform, 
where civil society experts discussed with key GOI officials 
the impact of criminal law reform on human rights.  DepPol/C 
discussed the advocacy efforts of the civil society coalition 
with Gordon West and Andrew Thornley of Democratic Reform 
Support Program (DRSP), the USAID partner supporting the 
civil society campaign. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) West, the DRSP country representative, told us that 
the biggest concerns with the draft of the KUHP now under 
review are the freedom of expression and defamation clauses. 
Forty-nine articles in the draft relate directly to freedom 
of expression, defamation, slander and the press--potentially 
undermining the landmark 1999 Press Law, which provided 
protection for press freedom.  Thornley told us that a major 
freedom of expression issue in the draft KUHP is that slander 
and libel are not clearly defined.  Journalists and other 
professionals can be jailed and lose their professional 
licenses--and thus lose their jobs--for comments deemed as 
insults against the president, vice-president, or government, 
which are also deemed to have promoted civil unrest, Thornley 
said.  This, despite a 2006 Constitutional Court decision 
that struck down three articles in the existing criminal code 
that made insulting leaders a crime (ref. A).  Other clauses 
could impact religious freedom. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) According to West, 400 plus articles of the latest 
draft of the KUHP relate to human rights.  In a conversation 
with poloff, Bivitri Susanti, Executive Director of the 
Indonesian Center for Law and Policy Studies (PSHK), said 
that even if the draft bill is submitted to parliament (DPR) 
soon, legislators could take years to review the over 700 
articles of the new draft.  Therefore, according to 
observers, passage of a new criminal code before the 2009 
elections is very unlikely. 
 
  USG ASSISTANCE 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The U.S. has tried to help the process along. 
Members of the coalition received advocacy training with USG 
funding.  The U.S. has urged inter-action with the Indonesian 
government by civil society groups.  The U.S. has also urged 
civil society to work with the media and also with the DPR, 
which must in the end approve any draft law.  To enhance 
civil society engagement with DPR, Mission is seeking to 
 
JAKARTA 00003348  002 OF 002 
 
 
arrange a roundtable between members of the coalition and 
parliamentarians. 
 
  PROGNOSIS 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Under pressure by civil society to rewrite the 
provisions of the draft code that would infringe on civil 
liberties, the GOI is struggling to draft a law which would 
appease ultra pro-"law and order" elements of the government 
and pro-human rights civil society groups.  The extended 
deliberations may be a sign that the government is 
considering the impact of draft legislation on human rights 
and that ongoing civil society engagement in the process is 
having a positive impact.  That said, because of the 
complexities involved, this whole process--which highlights 
the new Indonesia's embrace of democratic norms--will take 
time. 
 
HUME