VZCZCXRO3651
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1753/01 2600733
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 160733Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0098
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 3421
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3035
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 3072
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2494
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 4908
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5393
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2234
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1297
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 1267
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7830
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0954
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001753 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, IO, L, PM 
NSC FOR E.PHU 
SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/APSA WALTON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2018 
TAGS: PREL KICC PGOV ID
SUBJECT: ICC -- GOI PLANS TO ACCEDE TO ROME STATUTE IN 2008 
 
REF: 07 JAKARTA 1656 
 
Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Indonesian preparations are on track to 
accede to the Rome Statute and become a member of the 
International Criminal Court (ICC) perhaps by late this year. 
 The principle of accession is part of a 2004 national human 
rights action plan which the GOI is implementing.  The 
interagency policy and legal rationale for the move is being 
drafted and legislation will follow shortly.  One key reason 
why there is support in Indonesia for accession is the fact 
that the Rome Statute is not retroactive and thus GOI 
personnel could not come up for ICC charges for past 
misdeeds.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PLANNING TO ACCEDE 
 
¶2.  (C) The GOI seems on track to accede to the Rome Statute. 
 On September 12, Dep/Pol/C met with Harkristiti Harkristowo, 
Director General for Human Rights in the Department of Law 
and Human Rights, to inquire about the status of Indonesia's 
plans to accede to the International Criminal Court. 
Harkristowo said Indonesia's National Human Rights Action 
Plan, created in 2004, mandated accession to the ICC by 2008. 
 The Department of Defense was still briefing the Indonesian 
Armed Forces (TNI) on the Rome Statute and the implications 
of accession.  Defense Minister Sudarsono supported the bill, 
she said, but the TNI was still debating its full 
implications. 
 
PREPARING LEGISLATION 
 
¶3.  (C) Harkrisnowo said her office was now in the process of 
drafting an "academic memorandum" with background on the ICC 
and the policy and legal rationale for accession.  Two 
interagency meetings had been held in the past month to 
develop the policy consensus and a third meeting was planned. 
 The memorandum would be circulated to legal experts inside 
and outside the government for comment and would eventually 
become the cover memorandum for accession legislation that 
would be presented to the Indonesian Parliament. 
 
¶4.  (C) Harkrisnowo said her office would soon begin drafting 
the actual legislation.  The bill would be fairly simple and 
would consist of 1) the decision to accede and 2) 
instructions to ministers to bring laws and regulations into 
conformity with the accession decision.  She said little 
coordination had occurred yet with the Indonesian legislature 
(DPR).  She noted that this step usually occurred after the 
draft legislation had been submitted to the president. 
 
¶5.  (C) DPR contacts have confirmed that ICC accession is on 
the legislative agenda for 2008.  That does not guarantee 
passage before the end of the calendar year, but the fact 
that it reportedly has been moved ahead of other pieces of 
legislation, including the reform of the military justice 
system, suggests that the DPR intends to give it high 
priority.  DPR legislation typically passes with a broad 
multiparty consensus.  So far, there has been very little 
public comment on the principle of ICC accession, so it is 
difficult to tell how easy it will be to reach consensus. 
That said, if the government pushes, the DPR will probably 
get on board without too much problem. 
 
¶6.  (C) Neither the academic memorandum nor the bill itself 
would address U.S. or other third-country positions regarding 
the ICC, Harkrisnowo stated.  The impact of Indonesia's 
accession on its relations with other countries was a 
separate issue that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU) 
 
JAKARTA 00001753  002 OF 002 
 
 
was already considering but that would not play a major role 
in the accession.  DEPLU would take the lead, once the bill 
had become law, to make any necessary arrangements with other 
countries.  (Note:  This is consistent with indications from 
DEPLU, which referred us to the Department for Law and Human 
Rights regarding the Rome Statute.  That said, senior DEPLU 
officials indicated in 2007 Indonesia's readiness to conclude 
an Article 98 agreement with the United States--reftel.) 
 
NON-RETROACTIVITY IS KEY 
 
¶7.  (C) Given that the accession principle is already 
embedded in the GOI's national action plan, our sense is that 
the issue will not generate much debate in the DPR.  GOI 
officials are well aware that the Rome Statute is not 
retroactive from the date of a nation's accession and that 
the ICC therefore will not have the authority to deal with 
human rights issues from Indonesia's past.  If the ICC had 
retroactive jurisdiction, Indonesia would be far less ready 
to accede to the Rome Statute.  Any DPR debate on subjecting 
the TNI to the ICC will, in any case, need to focus on future 
accountability. 
 
HUME