VZCZCXRO3541
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1028/01 1480649
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 270649Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9102
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0920
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2549
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3399
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 2080
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 001028 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
AIDAC 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS, INR/EAP 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS AID 
USAID FOR ANE/EAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ECON SOCI ID
SUBJECT: Aceh Update and Fourth CoSPA Meeting 
 
REF: JAKARTA 785 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary. Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari visited 
Aceh and Jakarta and pronounced his satisfaction with progress in 
the peace process while noting concerns regarding rising crime in 
the province.  These concerns were echoed by General Supiadin and 
FKK Chair Gen Amirrudin who highlighted the growing problem of GAM 
intimidation of government officials. In a positive step, GAM 
leaders and officials in Jakarta agreed that the proposed GAM party 
be called the "Aceh Party."  The Committee on Sustaining Peace in 
Aceh met on May 16 to discuss the establishment of a Joint Claims 
Settlement Commission as required by the Helsinki MOU.  End 
Summary. 
 
Ahtisaari Visit: Focus on Rising Crime 
---------------- 
¶2.  (U) Former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, the main 
mediator involved in negotiating the signing of the 2005 Helsinki 
MOU and ending the conflict in Aceh, visited the province from May 2 
to May 6 before continuing on to Jakarta for meetings with President 
Yudhoyono and Vice President Kalla on May 7.  The visit was made to 
fulfill an informal agreement that he visit Aceh annually to review 
implementation of the peace accords. The visit included travel to 
several regencies within Aceh and meetings with the senior 
Indonesian military and police commanders in Banda Aceh as well as 
meetings with Governor Irwandi Yusuf and other senior provincial 
figures. Ahtisaari told members of the press that he is satisfied 
with the progress in the peace process but is concerned about rising 
crime and encouraged both GAM and the government to work to control 
it.  Ahtisaari also stressed the need to continue reintegration 
programs. 
 
GAM Party Renamed the Aceh Party 
-------------------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) After being informed in mid-April that Jakarta had rejected 
the proposed revised name and symbol of the GAM party, party leaders 
agreed to rename the organization "The Aceh Party." Governor Irwandi 
Yusuf told Ambassador Hume, during his May 1-5 visit to Aceh, that 
he himself had brokered the deal by negotiating directly with KPA 
Commander/Party Chairman Muzakir Manaf and Coordinating Minister for 
Politics and Security Widodo.  Had he not done so, he said, there 
was a risk that the issue could fester, feeding lingering suspicions 
between the two sides.  Irwandi added that he believes GAM party 
candidates will perform extremely well in the 2009 legislative 
elections. 
 
Ex-GAM Eager for elections; Remain Impatient for Progress 
-------------------------- 
¶4.  (SBU) In a meeting with visiting National War College students 
arranged and attended by Consulate Medan staff on May 13, Aceh 
Transition Committee (KPA) Vice Chairman Kamaruddin and 12 other 
local KPA district commanders voiced their frustration at the 
progress of reintegration programs in Aceh.  Kamaruddin lamented 
what he claimed was a "total lack" of reintegration programs and 
repeatedly voiced his lack of confidence in Aceh Reintegration Body 
(BRA) chairman Nur Djuli.  Kamaruddin added that KPA had asked the 
Indonesian government in Jakarta to stop funding BRA because of this 
lack of confidence. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Despite the KPA's expressed dissatisfaction with BRA, the 
issue is primarily rooted in internal GAM politics, not performance. 
 Because of a bitter, long-standing personal dispute between BRA 
Chairman Nur Djuli and GAM "Prime Minister" Malik Mahmud, Malik's 
loyalists have refused to participate directly in programs organized 
by BRA.  This places Malik and other KPA ideologues in a bind: they 
want assistance to flow to victims of the conflict, but they want to 
be seen as directing that assistance.  If BRA is perceived as being 
too successful, it raises the profile of rival GAM leaders while 
undermining KPA's claim that the organization is needed to lobby on 
behalf of conflict victims and former combatants.  KPA's proposed 
solution is for the government to hand BRA's reins over to KPA, 
something neither the governor nor Jakarta would conceivably accept. 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The KPA district commanders stated their continuing 
preparations for forming the Aceh Party were progressing, and that 
most of those present in the May 13 meeting would run for local 
 
JAKARTA 00001028  002 OF 003 
 
 
parliament seats in April, 2009.  They also spoke repeatedly about 
the "roundtable" process of negotiations in Jakarta on implementing 
the peace process in Aceh, a parallel institution to the ongoing 
Committee on Sustaining Peace in Aceh (CoSPA) and their monthly 
meetings (reftel).  Kamaruddin added that the recent Ahtisaari visit 
was a positive sign for KPA and highlighted the continuing 
international interest in Aceh. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Kamaruddin and the KPA district commanders reiterated 
their commitment to the Helsinki MOU and their intention to abide by 
the peace agreement.  They called on the Government of Indonesia to 
do the same, adding that they believed that the Indonesian military 
was currently basing some 30,000 soldiers in Aceh, far above the 
"organic" 14,700 level allowed for in the MOU.  Nevertheless, 
Kamaruddin made it clear that the KPA remained committed to peace 
and the reintegration of all former fighters.  Pressed regarding 
what type of reintegration programs KPA desires, Kamaruddin and his 
colleagues added that they were not as interested in getting jobs as 
they were in ensuring the central government met its 
responsibilities under the peace agreement to provide either land or 
employment to able-bodied former combatants. (oops, odd 
contradiction not jobs but employment?) 
 
Crime and Intimidation 
---------------------- 
¶8.  (SBU) According to both General Supiadin and the leadership of 
FKK, intimidation of government officials and private businesses, 
ostensibly by former GAM members, has is an extremely serious 
problem.  FKK Chairman General Amirrudin told Ambassador Hume that 
former combatants have threatened government officials demanding 
contracts or money.  Several newly installed office heads, he said, 
have already received a bullet and note warning them that they are 
being watched.  The point, he said, was to terrorize and soften the 
officials up for when ex-combatants compete for contracts or other 
benefits. 
 
Breakthrough on UXO 
------------------- 
¶9.  (SBU) All around Aceh, Amiruddin added, there are small caches 
of grenades, mortar rounds, and other explosives that were hidden by 
GAM members during the conflict.  Since the end of the conflict 
there have been numerous incidents in which people have been injured 
by these weapons.  General Amiruddin told Ambassador Hume that GAM 
had recently agreed to help FKK locate the caches so the weapons can 
be destroyed.  FKK, he said, would welcome any assistance the U.S. 
could provide in disposing of these weapons. 
 
Governor Irwandi: Focus on Economics 
----------------- 
¶10.  (SBU) During a May 13 meeting with Governor Irwandi Yusuf and 
visiting students from the National War College, the governor told 
Consulate Medan staff that his main focus remained the economic 
development of the province.  He cited aquaculture and agribusiness 
as two areas for expanded economic activity in Aceh.  Irwandi added 
that he has great confidence in the current government in Jakarta 
and their commitment to the peace process.  The governor added, 
implausibly, that rising crime may be a fact of life, but that in 
relation to other provinces in Indonesia the crime rate remains in 
fact very low and that the current focus is the result of 
post-conflict sensitivity to any violence in Aceh. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Irwandi also described calls to divide the province as 
extremely unhelpful because they provided false hope to those who 
were dissatisfied with Aceh's provincial government.  He saw those 
seeking to encourage these parts of Aceh in their separatist 
tendencies as political opportunists.  Apparently unaware that Riau 
Island province was carved out of Riau province despite strong 
opposition from the provincial government, governor Irwandi insisted 
that any decision to create a separate province would require both 
his and the provincial legislature's approval, something that he 
stated would never realistically happen. 
 
Fourth CoSPA Meeting: Joint Claims Settlement Commission 
--------------------- 
¶12.  (U) The CoSPA meeting held on May 16 focused on the 
establishment of a Joint Claims Settlement Commission (JCSC) as 
required by the Helsinki MOU.  Attendees included Governor Irwandi 
 
JAKARTA 00001028  003 OF 003 
 
 
Yusuf, General Supiadin AS on behalf of the Indonesian Military, FKK 
and GAM representatives, and representatives from the Indonesian 
National Police.  The attendees agreed that the JCSC should be 
composed of 5-7 independent representatives designed to review 
reintegration cases where the BRA had denied benefits and the 
petitioner appealed the BRA's decision.  It was agreed by the 
members in attendance to establish a small working group to decide 
the parameters and method of choosing the JCSC. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) General Supiadin repeatedly noted that any actions taken 
by the CoSPA in establishing the JCSC would also act as precedents 
for areas of conflict in Indonesia such as Maluku and Papua. 
Supiadin stressed the need for careful consideration in the process 
of defining who had the right, as an ex-combatant or as a victim of 
the Aceh conflict, to seek compensation from the BRA and eventually 
the JCSC.  Supiadin's concerns seemed to stem from the fact that 
while the BRA is a local organization with an Aceh-only mandate, the 
proposed JCSC involves formalizing the elements of the Helsinki MOU 
dealing with this issue, therefore requiring the central government 
to approve the process and creating a legal precedent for future 
post-conflict negotiations. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) The second topic on the agenda of the CoSPA, the question 
of using civilian courts to try soldiers accused of crimes against 
civilians during the conflict, was turned aside by General Supiadin 
through his argument that the CoSPA lacked jurisdiction on the 
matter. (A draft reform bill on military justice is being worked 
with the DPR; it would institute civilian trials.)  Supiadin 
provided an overview of the Indonesian military's current progress 
in internal reforms designed to improve the military courts system 
and noted that again this question is Indonesia-wide and not 
Aceh-specific, therefore the government of Indonesia could not agree 
to discuss details in an Aceh-only forum.  He added again the 
question of impact on the regions of Maluku and Papua and the 
question of precedent.  The attendees agreed to postpone discussion 
on the issue. 
 
HUME